كُشف النقاب منذ قليل عن هوية الفائز بجائزة أفضل فريق للرجال في العالم لعام 2025، التابعة لجوائز مجلة “فرانس فوتبول” الشهيرة، حسبما أُعلن مساء يوم الإثنين.
وتُقام مساء يوم الإثنين مراسم حفل توزيع جوائز الأفضل في العالم، المُقدمة من مجلة “فرانس فوتبول” الشهيرة، وعلى رأسها الكرة الذهبية (لمتابعة البث المباشر من هنا).
وتضم جوائز اليوم العديد من الفئات، بخلاف الكرة الذهبية لأفضل لاعب في العالم للرجال والسيدات، حيث هناك جائزة كوبا لأفضل لاعب شاب، وجائزة ياشين لأفضل حارس مرمى، جائزة كرويف لأفضل مدرب، إلى جانب جائزة أفضل نادِ للرجال والسيدات.
وتنافست 5 أندية على تلك الجائزة، وهم باريس سان جيرمان الفرنسي، ليفربول الإنجليزي، برشلونة الإسباني، تشيلسي الإنجليزي وبوتافوجو البرازيلي.
وحسبما أُعلن، حصل نادي باريس سان جيرمان على جائزة أفضل فريق للرجال في العالم لعام 2025، بعدما حقق العديد من البطولات الموسم الماضي تحت قيادة لويس إنريكي.
وحقق باريس سان جيرمان كل من الدوري الفرنسي، كأس فرنسا، كأس الأبطال الفرنسي، دوري أبطال أوروبا والسوبر الأوروبي.
من جانبه، قال رئيس النادي ناصر الخليفي: “يشرفني أن أكون هنا أمام أساطير ومدربين ومقدمين رائعين، هذه الجائزة تعني الكثير للنادي، وهي ما سعى إليه الفريق دائمًا”.
وأضاف: “أود أن أشكر جميع اللاعبين الذين لم يتمكنوا من الحضور اليوم، شكر خاص لماركينيوس، الأسطورة، وللمدرب والمسؤولين السابقين، ولللاعبين السابقين، هذه الجائزة تُمثل لهم شيئًا”.
وواصل: “كرة القدم ليست مهمة سهلة، عليك بذل الجهد والعمل الجاد، لدينا أكاديمية رائعة والعديد من النجوم هنا الليلة، لدينا أيضًا استراتيجية طويلة المدى، لدينا فريق عمل ممتاز، دوري أبطال أوروبا في النهاية مسألة تفاصيل، وهو حلم بالنسبة لنا، لدينا مدرب رائع، معًا، حققنا نتائج جماعية رائعة”.
Jack Leach claimed three wickets as Somerset built a strong position on the second day of their County Championship match against Durham at Taunton.Somerset began by extending their first-innings score from an overnight 395 for 6 to 492 all out, James Rew dismissed for 103, having set out on 89, and Kasey Aldridge making 44. Callum Parkinson finished with 4 for 136.By the close, Durham had replied with 272 for 6, left-arm spinner Leach taking 3 for 103. Alex Lees hit a solid 59, but it was an unbroken seventh-wicket stand of 102 between Brydon Carse (59 not out) and Ben Raine (51 not out), which kept the visitors in the game after they had slumped to 170 for 6.At the age of 20, Rew already his eight first-class centuries to his name, the latest completed with a streaky edged boundary between wicketkeeper and slip off Carse early in the morning session. He had faced 112 balls and hit 12 fours and a six.James Rew celebrates his hundred•Harry Trump/Getty Images
The impressive innings ended off the very next ball when another drive at Carse saw Rew edge to Ashton Turner at slip. Somerset were 417 for 7 and Lewis Gregory soon signalled his intentions by smacking a delivery from Raine over midwicket for six.The skipper brought up 450 and a fifth batting bonus point with a three through the off side off Carse and Aldridge, unbeaten on 12 at the start of play, celebrated the landmark by clearing the ropes off Parkinson.The score after 110 overs was 465 for seven so Durham had to settle for two bowling points. Gregory and Aldridge completed a half-century stand before Aldridge was caught behind attempting to reverse sweep Parkinson.Overton hit his first ball for four and then launched big sixes off successive deliveries from George Drissell before falling to the offspinner attempting another maximum. Gregory had moved to 31 before being last man out in similar fashion, giving Parkinson his fourth wicket.Durham were left with eight overs to bat before lunch and found themselves facing Leach and young offspinner Archie Vaughan before the interval. It was the 18-year-old son of former England captain Michael Vaughan who struck the first blow on debut with the sixth ball of his first-class career, turning a delivery which pitched on leg stump to pin Ben McKinney lbw for 15.At lunch, Durham were 29 for 1. There seemed little prospect of the collapse to come when Lees and Scott Borthwick began the afternoon session with a half-century stand off 67 balls.But Leach was starting to threaten and Borthwick, having moved to 35, edged a back-foot shot to slip where Overton took a sharp low catch to make it 86 for 2. Still, Lees looked untroubled, largely content to milk singles in moving fifty off 101 balls.Jack Leach celebrates after bowling Ashton Turner•Harry Trump/Getty Images
Ollie Robinson made 26 in helping Lees add 42 for the third wicket before falling to an even better Overton catch, diving to his left to clutch the ball one-handed. Boosted by a second wicket, Leach struck again with the total 136 as Turner was bowled by a delivery that turned and clipped off stump.By tea Durham were 150 for 4 and their plight worsened considerably in the first over after the interval. It was bowled by left-arm spinner Lewis Goldsworthy from the River End and saw Overton pouch a third slip catch as Lees pushed forward outside off stump.The last thing Durham needed was a run out, but it happened with the total on 170 as Carse called for a quick single to cover and Bas de Leede failed to beat Tom Abell’s throw to wicketkeeper Rew.With six wickets down, Carse and Ben Raine went on the counter-attack, Raine hitting two sixes in the same Goldsworthy over as the pair put together a half-century partnership off 71 balls.Raine hit Leach over mid-wicket for another six and Carse cleared the ropes at long-on off Vaughan in moving to an 86-ball half century to mark his return to the Durham team after suspension. Raine followed to the same milestone of 94 deliveries just after the century stand had been completed, much to Somerset’s frustration.
ESPNcricinfo understands the PCB is likely to reject NOCs to several all-format players for upcoming franchise tournaments
Danyal Rasool13-Jul-2024The PCB is set for a collision course with some of the biggest names in Pakistan cricket after deciding to refuse an NOC to Naseem Shah for the Hundred.ESPNcricinfo understands the PCB is likely to reject NOCs to several all-format players for upcoming franchise tournaments. While the Global T20 League in Canada has not yet been officially sanctioned by the ICC – without which the PCB cannot issue NOCs to centrally contracted players – it is believed Shaheen Shah Afridi, Mohammad Rizwan and Babar Azam will not be allowed to play there either way, with workload management likely cited as the reason.The immediate implications of the decision mean The Hundred’s Birmingham Phoenix will lose out on Naseem next month, while Afridi, Rizwan and Babar will be unavailable for the Global T20 League Canada. Neither tournament directly clashes with any international cricket Pakistan play, but with a busy upcoming schedule for the national side, it is understood the PCB wishes to see their all-format players rest up ahead of Pakistan’s two-match Test series against Bangladesh, which starts on August 21.Related
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Though the GLT20 awaits official ICC sanction, the Pakistan players drafted were fully expected to be allowed to play the league; Afridi is scheduled to travel to Canada shortly, with the tournament officially slated to begin on July 25. Naseem, meanwhile was set to earn £125,000 for his time at The Hundred, which starts on July 23.This doesn’t necessarily mean no NOC requests will be entertained, with the latest NOC repressions likely to only affect those considered all-format regulars. Usama Mir, who had his NOC denied last month for the T20 Blast, will be allowed to play The Hundred, as will Haris Rauf.The NOC rejections are set to go further than just the leagues over the next month. Pakistan have a virtually non-stop cricketing schedule from October to May the following year. They play three Tests against England at home that month, followed by limited-overs series in Australia, Zimbabwe and South Africa, a Test series in South Africa, a home Test series against the West Indies, a home tri-series featuring South Africa and New Zealand, a home Champions Trophy, and the PSL. It is understood the PCB will entertain no NOC requests during that period for all-format players, which coincides with a spate of T20 leagues.The three-year central contracts the PCB and the players signed last year allowed for two overseas franchise leagues per year, as long as those tournaments did not clash with the player’s international commitments. While the contracts do state the PCB has the right to refuse NOCs if they feel it is in the best interests of Pakistan’s international obligations, the decision to withdraw the players from leagues which do not directly clash with international cricket is set to cause discontent among players affected, and questions around whether the allowance made in central contracts is being respected in spirit.The past month has seen an uneasy quiet take hold after Pakistan’s disastrous T20 World Cup campaign which saw them exit in the first round. Initial reports suggested PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi wanted to enact “major surgery” on the side, but no immediate ramifications followed in the wake of the exit. Of late, however, there have been signs that events are beginning to gather speed, with Wahab Riaz and Abdul Razzaq sacked from the PCB selection committee.
Arsenal look set for a busy summer in the transfer market, with Mikel Arteta looking to go one better in the Premier League after three successive second-place finishes.
To do that, the Gunners may make a number of marquee additions ahead of the 2025/26 campaign, with attack a key area of focus for those at the Emirates Stadium.
New sporting director Andrea Berta is tasked with bringing a star striker to north London after injuries left Arteta with a lack of final third options in 24/25.
A number of players have been linked with moves to Arsenal, which has resulted in Grok, the AI tool on X, predicting the Gunners’ summer transfer business.
Arsenal's most expensive signings of all time
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ByCharlie Smith Sep 5, 2025
It has thrown up some interesting results, with Berta potentially spending just over £250m between now and the September 1 deadline.
AI predicts 5 Arsenal summer signings 1 Martin Zubimendi Real Sociedad (£59m)
It shouldn’t come as a shock that AI have predicted Martin Zubimendi to be one of Arsenal’s first summer signings, as it has been widely reported that the Real Sociedad midfielder is set to swap Spain for England.
The Gunners have been chasing the central midfielder since the start of the year and they regard a transfer as “done and signed”.
There were rumours of Real Madrid coming in to hijack Arsenal’s move, however, it looks a matter of time before Zubimendi’s transfer is announced, with Grok citing a £59m fee.
2 Kepa Arrizabalaga Chelsea (£5m)
Set to follow Zubimendi through the Emirates door this summer is goalkeeper Kepa Arrizabalaga, so again, it isn’t a shock that he’s on AI’s Arsenal list.
Still the world’s most expensive goalkeeper after his £70m+ move to Chelsea back in 2018, Arrizabalaga has fallen out of favour at Stamford Bridge and spent the last two seasons out on loan with Real Madrid and Bournemouth.
Arsenal will reportedly pay just £5m to sign the ‘keeper, who will serve as back up to David Raya in north London.
3 Benjamin Sesko RB Leipzig (£70m)
A centre-forward will be at the top of the to-do list for Arsenal after deals for Zubimendi and Kepa, with both Benjamin Sesko and Viktor Gyokeres mooted as targets for the Gunners.
Grok thinks Sesko will be the striker to arrive in north London following transfer talks at a total cost of £70m.
RB Leipzig
87
39
8
RB Salzburg
79
29
11
FC Liefering
44
22
6
Slovenia
41
16
6
AI state that the Slovenian’s ‘physicality, goal-scoring ability and potential to develop into a Haaland-like forward make him a strong fit for Arsenal’s need for a statement striker’.
4 Nico Williams Athletic Club (£50m)
Should Arsenal land someone like Sesko, they could then move to bolstering their options on the wing, and Nico Williams has been a player of interest to Berta and co.
The Athletic Club could be on the move in 2025 and has been linked with going Arsenal. In fact, there were claims saying the Gunners were very close to signing Williams.
Grok says Williams ‘seems more attainable’ than someone like Rodrygo and would offer ‘pace and youth’ and the Emirates, placing a £50m figure on the Spain international.
5 Marc Guehi Crystal Palace (£70m)
The final of Arsenal’s five predicted summer signings come in defence, with Crystal Palace star Marc Guehi backed to move to the Emirates.
A former Chelsea youngster, Guehi has grown into one of the best centre-backs in the Premier League, and although Arsenal have William Saliba and Gabriel, the Gunners could be on the search for more.
There have been suggestions Arsenal are ready to swoop for the England international, and Grok says a deal could be worth up to £70m.
Leeds United might well have a reported £100m in the bank to spend on new players ahead of their Premier League voyage, but the Whites have plenty of talent already being organically grown on the youth pitches at Thorp Arch.
After all, even when Championship promotion was narrowly missed at the end of the 2023/24 campaign, Archie Gray stood out as a homegrown gem, leading to a £30m deal with Tottenham Hotspur being agreed.
Moreover, if we move away from more recent examples with Daniel Farke at the helm, Marcelo Bielsa also had a huge part to play in Kalvin Phillips turning into an England regular, with the Leeds-born midfielder still eternally grateful to his hometown side.
Kalvin Phillips' unbelievable rise at Leeds
Nobody could have quite anticipated the unbelievable rise Phillips would enjoy at Elland Road, with the local starlet eventually leaving the comforts of West Yorkshire behind when a £45m move to Manchester City came to be.
Eight years prior to his big move to the Etihad, however, Phillips was a wide-eyed starlet attempting to cut his teeth with the Whites, with his first moment in the senior spotlight coming during the 2014/15 season under former youth coach Neil Redfearn.
The rest is now history for the 29-year-old, with those opportunities under Redfearn catapulting Phillips into a first-team regular, before Bielsa went on to refine the midfield battler’s game even more when he took over duties in the Elland Road dug-out.
By the end of his celebrated spell at Leeds, Phillips would notch up 14 goals and 13 assists from 234 total clashes, with his heroics also helping his beloved outfit gain promotion up to the Premier League under the eccentric South American.
Amazingly, there is another gem entirely of Leeds’ own making that has just tasted the glory of promotion, with the potential here for another new starlet to surpass Phillips and become an even brighter talent.
Leeds' finest young talent since Phillips
Unfortunately, the 29-year-old has experienced a lot of pain since exiting Elland Road, with only 31 first-team appearances coming his way at the Etihad to date, on top of other unmemorable loan moves just not working out, namely at West Ham and Ipswich Town.
So, who’s the next cab off the rank? Well, Harry Gray could well look up to Phillips and indeed his brother, Archie, when examining the potential for minutes at a first-team level.
Much like Redfearn before him with Phillips, Farke gifted the teenager his first ever senior clash in Leeds white at the end of the 2024/25 campaign, with his outrageous numbers in the youth set-up for some time now making this somewhat of an expected promotion.
Indeed, across just 18 appearances for both the U18s and U21s to date, the forward has bagged a deadly 11 strikes, living up to his billing as “one of England’s best prospects in his generation,” in the words of data analyst Ben Mattinson.
1. Tom Elliott
16 years, 2 months, 25 days
4
2. Aaron Lennon
16 years, 4 months, 7 days
43
3. Harry Gray
16 years, 6 months, 13 days
1
4. James Milner
16 years, ten months, 6 days
54
5. Neil Aspin
16 years, ten months, 8 days
38
It’s rather frightening how ahead Gray already looks with his development, considering it would take Phillips a number of seasons before he was fully settled into first-team life.
With the new Thorp Arch sensation, however, he looks ready to already make an impact to keep his blistering goal record at youth level up.
Nobody can accurately predict what the future holds for Gray, but if he can continue to learn and grow under the tutelage of Farke, he could one day be an even bigger sale than Phillips, and perhaps even solidify himself as more of a Premier League worthy talent than his counterpart ever managed.
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It wouldn’t be unfair to say that, for much of this year, there’s not been much for Arsenal fans to celebrate.
First, the club failed to sign anyone in the winter transfer window, then they crashed out of the FA Cup and League Cup, and to top it all off, injuries and a lapse in form saw them bow out of the Premier League title race.
However, in the last month or so, the team feel like they’ve turned a corner and, following what will go down as a legendary victory over Real Madrid in the quarter-finals of the Champions League, there is a palpable sense of optimism and positivity coursing through the fanbase.
This turnaround in the team’s fortunes has also been reflected in individual players, with perhaps the most significant transformation – alongside Mikel Merino – being that of Jakub Kiwior.
The Polish international has gone from a worrying afterthought to a growing fan favourite and someone who looked impeccable away at the Bernabeu, but football is a brutal business, and if recent reports are to be believed, the club could already be eyeing up his replacement.
Arsenal transfer news
Before we get to the player in question, there are a few other defenders who have been touted for moves to Arsenal this summer, such as Dean Huijsen.
Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
The Bournemouth gem reportedly has a £50m release clause in his contract. However, just because the club knows how much he’ll cost doesn’t mean he’ll be easy to sign, as sides like Real Madrid, Chelsea and Liverpool have also been credited with interest.
Another name that has, rather surprisingly, come up in connection to the North Londoners in recent days is Nathan Collins.
Nathan Collins
The Brentford ace has been enjoying a stellar campaign with the Bees this season and, according to journalist Graeme Bailey, is someone the Gunners have been looking at.
However, it probably wouldn’t be entirely accurate to describe the Irishman as being better than Kiwior, which could be said about Murillo.
Yes, according to a recent report from Caught Offside, Arsenal are one of the Nottingham Forest star’s ‘main suitors’ ahead of the summer transfer window.
Alongside the Gunners, the report has revealed that Liverpool, Chelsea and Real Madrid are also interested in the talented defender, but that the Tricky Trees value him at around €80m, which is about £69m.
Nottingham Forest defender Murillo
It would be a costly and complicated transfer to get over the line, but Murrilo would undoubtedly improve Arsenal’s squad, although he’d be bad news for Kiwior.
How Murillo compares to Kiwior
So, if Arsenal were to get their way this summer and bring Murillo to the Emirates, it seems unlikely, at least to start with, that he’d replace either William Saliba or Gabriel Magalhães as the team’s starting centre-back.
Therefore, he’d likely be the first backup option and, in turn, be in direct competition with Kiwior, but who comes out on top when we compare them?
Well, as raw output isn’t something that really matters all that much for a central defender, it’s more useful to take a look under the hood, at their underlying numbers, and when doing this, it’s clear that the Brazilian is far superior.
Non-Penalty Expected G+As
0.07
0.05
Progressive Passes
3.17
3.07
Progressive Carries
0.60
0.53
Key Passes
0.38
0.40
Passes into the Penalty Area
0.35
0.13
Shot-Creating Actions
1.11
0.67
Goal-Creating Actions
0.06
0.00
Tackles
1.56
1.47
Tackles Won
1.05
0.67
Blocks
2.10
0.80
Interceptions
0.92
0.27
Clearances
6.95
3.87
Errors Leading to a Goal
0.10
0.27
Successful Take-Ons
0.83
0.27
Ball Recoveries
3.94
2.27
Aerial Duels Won
1.14
1.07
For example, he comes out on top in almost all relevant metrics, including but not limited to, progressive passes and carries, tackles and tackles won, interceptions, blocks, clearances, aerial duels won, ball recoveries and more, all per 90.
On top of that, while the former Spezia ace has seriously stepped up for the North Londoners in recent weeks, the Forest monster has been performing at a top level for the entire season and has played a key role in why they stand a brilliant chance of qualifying for the UCL next season.
Moreover, it’s been his incredible form this year which lends serious credence to the claim he’s “one of the best defenders in the PL” made by certain experts on Brazilian football.
Finally, while this isn’t massively important today, it does help that the Sao Paulo-born star is three years younger than the Tychy-born international, as that could see him coming into his prime years around the same time as Saliba and helping to further future-proof the team.
Ultimately, while he might cost a lot of money, Arsenal should do what they can to sign Murillo this summer, as he looks like he could be a mega defender a few years from now, and he’s already a better player than Kiwior.
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Win the toss by any meansThe toss seems to be worth more at Wankhede Stadium than other venues. The true pitch, the small boundaries and the dew are a nightmare for teams batting first. Among the active IPL venues, Wankhede offers chasing sides the best win-loss ratio in night games over the last five years: 1.8. This year only Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) have defended successfully in a night game at Wankhede, scoring 221 and then just scraping home by 12 runs.What do you do if you lose the toss?MI are much more likely to overcome the toss disadvantage. They have the batting to keep hitting through the 20 overs and post a par-plus total. However, they haven’t yet been able to display how it can be done as they haven’t batted first and won a night game at Wankhede this year.They came close the one time they lost the toss, but that was on a seaming pitch. If they play on the same surface as they did against Gujarat Titans (GT), scoring just 155 and then taking the match to the last ball amid rain breaks, MI will back themselves because of a stronger pace attack. Especially given how DC are without Mitchell Starc, they might even want to play on the same track.DC will have a taller order if they have to bat first. They are coming off a match where KL Rahul scored a hundred in a total of 199, which turned out to be inadequate. On the usual flat Mumbai track, DC will have to bat out of their skins to post a challenging total.4:34
Are DC equipped to succeed without Starc?
Promote StubbsIt is not a question of just intent. DC made 56 boundary attempts as against GT’s 44 when they failed to defend 199. The conditions play a big role. The ball stops just a little when the pitch is fresh, but under lights it comes onto the bat beautifully. There are no match-ups or weak links for DC to exploit.The one tweak they could make is promote Tristan Stubbs to No. 3 if the first wicket doesn’t fall early. You can still have Abhishek Porel bat at 3 if the opportunity comes with a lot of powerplay deliveries left, but Stubbs has the highest ceiling among the DC batters after the openers. If DC find themselves batting first, it makes sense to give Stubbs as many deliveries as possible because what looks like a par score is never enough at Wankhede.The Surya-Tilak combinationDC are a rare team whose spinners have done well against Suryakumar Yadav. Axar Patel has gone at under a run a ball, and Kuldeep Yadav got him out the last time he came up against Suryakumar. However, Tilak Varma more than makes up for it with a strike rate of 178 against both of the spinners. We might just see MI promote Tilak if they get off to a good start or Axar bringing himself on should Surya and Rohit Sharma bat together. That is one pairing MI should look to avoid: both go at under a run a ball against Axar and aren’t great against Kuldeep either. Considering spin is DC’s strength, don’t bet against some flexibility in the order should Ryan Rickleton be the first batter dismissed.Target Deepak ChaharMI love to bowl a lot of Deepak Chahar in the powerplay so that they have Boult and Jasprit Bumrah for the death overs. Chahar has never got Rahul out. He has bowled just 11 balls to Faf du Plessis but has gone for 22 runs for no wicket. The best scenario for DC is to attack Chahar, force MI to take him off and make him come back late or make Hardik Pandya bowl those overs.
After years of seeing his name on scorecards, our correspondent watched him in action for the first time, and it was worth the wait
Shashank Kishore28-Jun-2023Going through Ranji Trophy scorecards can be exhausting. Especially if you’ve to look up the performances of players and teams you almost never get to watch. It can become an endless scroll of numbers next to names. This is why selectors and talent scouts often seek out match referees for detailed reviews of certain players on their radar.If you’re from Tripura, a team that has won a grand sum of nine Ranji Trophy games since it came into existence in 1985-86, you can pass under the radar more easily than most. But those who have pored over scorecards involving the team will be familiar with Manisankar Murasingh – Tripura’s highest wicket-taker and run-getter in first-class cricket.Related
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Murasingh, 30, like hundreds of others from the region, grind it out in anonymity, often in sub-par facilities. Adding to their woes is the weather in India’s Northeast, where it can rain non-stop for days together between June and October, a time when players would love to be tuning up for the season. That Murasingh has managed to hold it together for 14 seasons now speaks volumes of his resolve and skill.On Wednesday in Alur, I got to watch Murasingh in action for the first time, after years of seeing his name next to impressive numbers on scorecard after scorecard.Several questions gnaw at you at the top of his mark. How quick is he? What’s his action like? Is he a swing bowler or seam bowler? Is he skiddy? Can he hustle the batters? Over two sessions, blurry ideas formed through the perusal of all those scorecards come into focus, and you begin to see a picture of Murasingh the bowler.Murasingh bowls in the high 130s (kph), or so it seems. He bustles in gun-barrel straight, gets into his delivery stride with a small jump, and transfers his momentum into a smooth release and follow-through. He doesn’t swing the ball big. Or he didn’t, in his 20 overs on Wednesday. Instead, he relies on minute deviation off the deck. This is a skill he has learned over all his years in domestic cricket.Murasingh’s 5 for 42, his 13th five-for in first-class cricket, was one of the highlights of the opening day of the 2023 Duleep Trophy, which ushered in India’s new domestic season. In nondescript Alur, Murasingh quietly delivered as East Zone shot Central Zone out for 182 before they ended the day 32 for 2.In addition to his seam bowling, Murasingh is also an explosive lower-order batter•ESPNcricinfo LtdMurasingh’s wickets came in the classic modes: nicked off, caught and lbw. The one that gave him most satisfaction was his first, of the opener Vivek Singh, beating the batter with seam movement, getting the ball to nip away past his outside edge and hit off stump. It’s a delivery fast bowlers dream of. While whatever he did after that may not have matched the thrill of that wicket, his intensity hardly dropped. After the spell, he spoke of how he has kept himself match-ready through the off-season.”Unlike earlier, where I’d trial with IPL teams and get rejected for some reason after just one or two match simulations, I decided I had to train and play more in the summers,” Murasingh said. “Since 2015-16, I kept getting a few chances, but I didn’t go. After Covid, in 2021, I’ve been playing in the Minor Counties in England. In fact, until June 24, I was playing for Philadelphia Cricket Club in the Northeast Premier League in Durham. Bowling those long spells have been beneficial.”Murasingh doesn’t worry about the opportunities that haven’t come is way. He’s grateful for what he’s had. “Opportunities like these are gold dust for someone from the far east,” he says. “I don’t want to trade this experience for anything. I get that satisfaction from knowing many people from Tripura look up to me for inspiration.”Last September, when Murasingh was named in the India A squad for the one-dayers against New Zealand A at home, he was given a rousing reception by the Tripura chief minister, and hailed as a hero. “It’s very motivating, I look at it as reward for the hard work,” he says. “It’s been tough, but you can’t play for so many years without being dedicated.”Murasingh is a big fan of Yuvraj Singh, one of the reasons why he wanted to become an allrounder. His seam bowling is his biggest asset, but his explosive lower-order game has brought him 3308 first-class runs at an average of 26.67, with four centuries and 14 half-centuries. He has a T20 strike rate of 133.95. Shouldn’t he be a valuable proposition then?”I’ve never understood how all of it works,” he says. “I trialled with Mumbai Indians in 2019. This year, I went to trials organised by Gujarat Titans. It’s hard for me to see what traits they pick. If they gave me match-time, then I’d be in a better position to assess my shortcomings. But I’ve started putting a lot of work in during the off-season. Now, England stints have helped. Otherwise, I just do gym and running in the off-season. Club cricket has now started developing so there are chances to play. So that has made a bit of a difference. Otherwise, I play a bit of football.”Beyond the fun and games, Murasingh’s immediate goal is to bowl East Zone to the title. Then he’s hoping to be picked for the 50-overs Deodhar Trophy. “I’m due to fly back to England in early August to finish my commitments. I have six more games to play. Hopefully I can go there after Deodhar and come back for the [rest] of our domestic season with enough overs.”
Skerritt explains the bidding process and logic behind picking the hosts for the ICC tournaments from 2024 to 2031
Interview by Nagraj Gollapudi19-Nov-2021Fourteen hosting venues for eight men’s events in the next rights cycle. How big is that for the ICC and cricket? There are three themes. One is to show the extent to which the ICC has committed to spread its major events geographically across the world. All the Full Members are involved in hosting in this next eight-year cycle from 2023-31 except Afghanistan, and three Associate members factored in, in some of the partnerships – Scotland, Namibia and USA. Remember, just not so long ago, when I became a member of the ICC board, there was this very strong perception that only three countries could host any events – the Big 3 (India, England and Australia). The Big 3 story was hammering the ICC by the media. So I would say that this venue allocation is a statement that’s very powerful in a new direction of inclusiveness.Related
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But the biggest story of that would be the West Indies partnership with USA for the obvious reasons and the multiplicity of strategic objectives that it would tick. So it’s about the balance and about the outreach to grow the game, and about the obvious, inevitable, I would say, move into the US and whether this is going to be a big step or a small step that depends a lot on how we all work together, including internal forces in the USA.What was the process to finalise the hosts? There was an events hosting sub-committee put in place to review the bids. There were several bids that were basically expressions of interest with some depth of why me. That’s how it works generally. [The bidder says] I would like you to consider me and my board and my country, my venues, and here’s what we have, and here’s why we think that we can help you meet your various objectives by bringing a particular event in a particular year or particular time of the year. The bids were not final documents. Even with the present decisions, there’s still a period up until March next year [2022], when venue agreements will have to be sort of hammered out.What were the parameters used to determine the hosting country? We know India remains the commercial driver for world cricket. So you would want the marquee tournaments in India. But can you explain the process? It is not by accident that in the eight years, India is involved with three events. But you see that two of the three events are in partnerships: India and Sri Lanka [2026 T20 World Cup] and India and Bangladesh [2031 ODI World Cup]. So economic returns on media rights and commercial investments was clearly one of the criteria. The four key objectives we used were: Geographic spread Alignment with the ICC strategic objectives, which includes growing the game Distribution of events in Asia Commercial outcomesOther considerations like time zones matter. The USA-Caribbean time zone is one of the weaker time zones, but geographic spread and strategic objectives would have overpowered that. You will note, for instance, that the Australia-New Zealand event and West Indies-USA event – we’ve sort of broken them into two four-year event cycles. These are the two weaker markets so to speak. So the two couldn’t be too close together in terms of the economic yield.
“I could tell you from the new leadership in Pakistan [at the PCB] and its neighbours, and from a cricket perspective, there’s a growing desire to support the sustainable return of international cricket in Pakistan”
When it comes to having the USA as a hosting venue, what were the factors considered? Did the Olympics play a role? This move to actually bring USA Cricket and Cricket West Indies in a bid partnership is historic. It came about primarily because of the kind of attitude that we saw from the new leadership in the USA Cricket. The first time I met Paraag Marathe and Iain Higgins [USA Cricket chairman and then CEO respectively] was in England at the ICC meetings in July 2019. It was my first meeting at the ICC board as CWI president and so too theirs. We began to talk about how we could do some meaningful stuff together. Then, just before the pandemic hit, Johnny Grave [CWI CEO] and myself actually travelled to the USA to have some further discussions with USA Cricket. We all agreed that it was an opportunity to go after an [global] event. We were committed to doing something together. And you know, the rest is history.But the history has to be made now in the implementation and that is where we have to move speedily to put a more detailed structure and plan together in terms of how we are going to do this. We have a pretty good idea because we’ve already agreed on some principles. For instance, of the 55 matches, we have proposed that a third of the games will be in the USA, two-thirds will be in the Caribbean.How will organising the 2024 T20 World Cup in the USA have an impact on the ICC’s Olympics dream? I’m not into any details of the Olympics, but the process is underway. It’s now about getting support from the International Olympic Committee. It is one step at a time. But it opens up the reality that there are two or three facilities right now available for cricket in the USA, and whether USA Cricket will be able to deliver some more cricket stadiums in advance of the Olympic Games. We have been told that there are three grounds that can be made ready for the T20 World Cup.All the men’s ICC events between 2024-2031•ESPNcricinfo LtdYour committee also finalised Pakistan as the host for the 2025 Champions Trophy. It is a major decision considering Pakistan has not hosted a global event since the 1996 World Cup and then the Asia Cup in 2008? We fitted Pakistan in the most pragmatic spot in a way in which Pakistan can meet its own objectives while the ICC meets its own. We are aware of the special circumstances that have surrounded Pakistan, but I could tell you from the new leadership in Pakistan [at the PCB] and its neighbours, and from a cricket perspective, there’s a growing desire to support the sustainable return of international cricket in Pakistan.I can’t speak for either of them [the BCCI and the PCB], I could just tell you my observations. But when you bring past cricketers together in leadership positions, they have a lot of respect for each other, and they’re not going to undermine each other in ways that can derail these kinds of possibilities. So we’re very excited at our committee that we were able to achieve this because it was an objective that we put in place – that we want to spread the Asian component. India was going to be the No. 1 priority. I have no hesitation to say that India is the commercial backbone of cricket. And that will continue. But we wanted to spread that as much as we could in Asia.Was there any hesitation with respect to Pakistan at all? Not in our committee. Not at all. Not at the ICC board as well. When we presented it, the board received it with great support. Let me put it this way, we were committed from day one, to spread ICC events in Asia. And getting Pakistan and Sri Lanka and Bangladesh involved were key objectives of the committee. Remember, we had the mandate to take the received bids and rearrange them, with some discussions with the bidder, and to suggest the formation of partnerships where it could help the success of the bid. We were not too worried about who was competing against who. We were prepared to get partners together where necessary.
The Tigers can feel good as they near the final month of the 2025 MLB season. After sweeping the Astros this week and winning eight of their last 10 games, they seem to have come out of the slump they hit midway through the year.
Detroit was one of the hottest teams at the start of the season, but cooled off toward the All-Star break when they lost four games going into the break followed by eight of their first nine games after the Midsummer Classic.
That slump naturally brought out concerns from Tigers fans who initially thought their team was on track to contend for their first World Series title in over 40 years. Those worries don't bother manager A.J. Hinch though.
"I think we should just thank them for being passionate enough to care," Hinch said, via 97.1 The Ticket.
The Tigers not only have seemingly emerged from their slump, but regained their lead in the American League Central. Detroit holds a 9.5-game lead over the Royals and a 10.5-game lead over the Guardians, as well as the best record in the league. Hinch knows they can't slow down, but is glad to have the passion from Detroit as they head down the final stretch of the season.
"We’re still going to run the race, we still have a lot of games left, we’re still going to play our game, but I love the emotions that come with sports and respect them for loving us," said Hinch. "I don’t fault people for caring or being super passionate. That’s the kind of city that we want (to play in). But don’t forget to love on us a little bit when things are bad."
The Tigers have given reason for their fans to feel excited again, but they'll need to build off their momentum to keep them feeling confident as the postseason approaches.