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No date has been set for Australia’s cricketers to go back to work as the shock created by Phillip Hughes’ critical head injury evolved into widespread grief around the country on Wednesday.Michael Clarke, Brad Haddin, Steven Smith and Shane Watson were among the visitors to St Vincent’s Hospital in Darlinghurst during the day, as the only update provided by the Cricket Australia doctor Peter Brukner was that Hughes’ condition remained unchanged and critical.A suburb away at the SCG, the New South Wales team gathered for counselling and support on what should have been day two of their Sheffield Shield match against Hughes’ South Australia. The Redbacks had flown home to Adelaide on Wednesday morning without Hughes, a tearful chief executive Keith Bradshaw saying the players were “completely shattered” by events.”They are completely gutted and completely shattered,” Bradshaw said. “Phil is … Phil is a very loved and respected and admired player, he’s just a terrific guy. This is just a tragic event and everyone is just devastated. He’s much loved and we’re just praying that he’s okay. He’s absolutely one of the favourites.”A similarly downcast mood was evident at CA’s headquarters in Melbourne, where staff who knew Hughes personally were also able to access counselling about the episode.Alistair Nicholson, the chief executive of the Australian Cricketers Association, said that the players’ union had viewed the welfare of the Shield combatants from all states as paramount as they processed the news around Australia. As such, no discussion has been had about when cricket might resume.”It’s too early to say at this stage, not something we’ve discussed at the moment. Just managing the 24 hours we’ve had now,” Nicholson said. “There’s obviously a large degree of shock and the overall playing community are devastated to hear what’s happened and at the moment we’re wishing Phillip and his family all the best and the whole cricketing community contributing to that.”He’s obviously part of the Australian squad and both states that were involved yesterday. At end of play, there were counselling services for both teams and today they’ve been working through an overall plan in regards to their support through the counselling service. What that means at the moment, the best support, so they can support Phillip as well.”The decision to abandon the Shield round in its entirety was taken after CA and the ACA consulted with team leaders from each state. “Speaking to the state captains through last night and then this morning in regards to the playing groups, there were a number of players that were very shocked and devastated by what had happened,” Nicholson said.”In conjunction with Cricket Australia eventually made the decision not to play and I think that was the right decision. Players are going home where it’s relevant and to be looked after in their states and by the ACA.”There have been services for NSW players and South Australian players and we’re coordinating services for the other states. That’s around psychologists and counselling services and then also PDM’s who work in the state system currently in conjunction with the ACA.”Central to the support provided has been the young NSW allrounder Sean Abbott, who bowled the routine bouncer that felled his former state squad-mate Hughes. “He’s got a lot of support around him from his team-mates and obviously the counselling services,” Nicholson said. “So he’s someone we’re monitoring closely and he’s receiving a lot of support.”

فرض التعادل الإيجابي كلمته على مباراة الشباب والرياض بهدفين لكل فريق، والتي جمعت بينهما ضمن منافسات بطولة الدوري السعودي.

والتقى الشباب والرياض، على أرضية استاد الأمير فيصل بن فهد (الملز)، في إطار مواجهات الجولة الـ 9 من بطولة دوري روشن السعودي.

وافتتح فريق الرياض التسجيل في الدقيقة 36، عن طريق لاعبه أندري غراي، بعد كرة عرضية استقبلها بتسديدة سكنت الشباك.

طالع | فيديو | التعاون يقتنص صدارة الدوري السعودي بثلاثية أمام الطائي

وأدرك فريق الشباك التعادل في الدقيقة 53 عن طريق رومان سايس، من كرة عرضية من داخل منطقة الجزاء استقبلها سايس بتصويبة داخل الشباك.

بينما تقدم خوانمي لوبيز بالهدف الثاني للرياض في الدقيقة 73، بعد تمريرة رائعة من داخل منطقة الجزاء استقبلها خوانمي بتصويبة صاروخية على يمين حارس المرمى.

وأضاف إياغو سانتوس هدف التعادل الثاني للشباب في الدقيقة 88، بعد تنفيذ ركلة ركنية لتجد الكرة سانتوس الذي وضعها برأسية متقنة داخل الشباك.

بهذا التعادل، يحتل الشباب المركز الحادي عشر في جدول ترتيب الدوري السعودي، برصيد 9 نقاط، بينما يأتي الرياض في المركز الثالث عشر، ولديه 8 نقاط. أهداف مباراة الشباب والرياض في الدوري السعودي

كشفت تقارير صحفية أن لاعب فريق باريس سان جيرمان، ماركو فيراتي، رفض المشاركة مع منتخب إيطاليا في فترة التوقف الدولي الحالي.

وخاضت إيطاليا مباراة ضد مقدونيا الشمالية في إطار التصفيات المؤهلة إلى يورو 2024، قبل مواجهة أوكرانيا المرتقبة.

ووفقًا لما ذكرته صحيفة “ليكيب” الفرنسية، فإن لوتشيانو سباليتي، المدير الفني الجديد لمنتخب إيطاليا، كان راغبًا في الاستعانة بخدمات فيراتي في فترة التوقف لهذا الشهر.

وأوضحت أنه بالرغم من ذلك، فإن فيراتي رفض ذلك الاستدعاء، حيث إنه عانى من أيام صعبة في الفترة الأخيرة بسبب مستقبله.

ولم يعد فيراتي مطلوبًا في باريس سان جيرمان، ولا يمثل جزءًا من خطط المدرب لويس إنريكي.

وارتبط فيراتي بأكثر من نادِ، في موسم الانتقالات الصيفي، قبل أن يستقر على الانضمام إلى صفوف فريق العربي القطري.

وأفادت أن فيراتي كان يعاني من فترة صعبة، ولذلك فضّل التأني والتفكير في مستقبله بدلًا من المشاركة مع منتخب بلاده في تلك المرحلة.

Daniel Christian, the Australia allrounder, will play for Middlesex as one of their overseas players during the NatWest Blast

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Apr-2014Daniel Christian, the Australia allrounder, will play for Middlesex as one of their overseas players during the NatWest Blast. Christian, who helped Hampshire to win the Friends Provident t20 in 2010, is expected to be available throughout the season, with most of the matches in England’s new domestic T20 competition being played on Friday nights.Capped 34 times by Australia, Christan was recently in action at the World T20. The 30-year-old has played 125 T20 matches in his career to date and was a member of the Brisbane Heat side that won the Big Bash League in 2012-13. He has also played in the IPL and for Gloucestershire in county cricket.”When we sat down to identify the type of cricketer Middlesex CCC required for this summer’s NatWest T20 Blast a seam bowling allrounder was top of our list,” Angus Fraser, Middlesex’s director of cricket, said. “We are therefore delighted to have attained the services of such an experienced, talented and dangerous cricketer.”Unlike many of this summer’s T20 signings Dan is available for selection for all of our NatWest T20 Blast Group matches, which was important to us. We believe Dan will offer the team experience and match winning performances; assets that any team would want to have. His recent appearances for Australia highlight how highly regarded he is Down Under too.”Christian, who has scored 1644 runs and taken 106 wickets in T20, will arrive in May ahead of the start of the T20 Blast. Middlesex begin their campaign with back-to-back matches against Essex and Sussex at Lord’s on May 17, with newly appointed limited-overs captain Eoin Morgan set to take charge.”I am delighted to have signed with Middlesex for the 2014 Natwest T20 Blast,” Christian said. “The opportunity to play at the Home of Cricket is a dream come true and I can’t wait to pull on a Middlesex shirt for the first time. Kicking off the tournament with a double-header at Lords against Sussex and Essex in front of what I am sure will be a full house promises to be one of the highlights of my career. I look forward to helping Eoin and the boys challenge for silverware this year.”

Afghanistan have called up an uncapped Najeeb Tarakai in place of Afsar Zazai to boost their batting for the World Twenty20

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Feb-2014Afghanistan have called up an uncapped Najeeb Tarakai in place of Afsar Zazai to boost their batting for the World Twenty20. The flamboyant wicketkeeper-batsman Mohammad Shahzad will continue to open the innings for Afghanistan and Tarakai will be expected to add more power to the top order.Afghanistan also announced the squad for their maiden Asia Cup appearance. Noor Ali Zadran, who had been withdrawn from the World Twenty20 qualifier due to an injury and was left out of the World T20 squad, has been included for the Asia Cup. Allrounder Fazal Niazai has been rewarded with a call-up to the ODI team after recent consistent performances for the Afghanistan A team.Heading into their third World T20, Afghanistan, who had finished second in the tournament qualifier last year, are slotted in Group A and will compete with Bangladesh, Hong Kong and Nepal for a spot in the final-ten stage. The team has been in Sri Lanka for the last month for a conditioning camp and will fly to Bangladesh for the Asia Cup, which is scheduled to begin on February 25. Afghanistan will start their World T20 campaign with a match against Bangladesh on March 16, the first game of the tournament.Afghanistan squad for Asia Cup: Mohammad Shahzad, Noor Ali Zadran, Karim Sadiq, Nowroz Mangal, Asghar Stanikzai, Mohammad Nabi, Samiullah Shenwari, Rahmat Shah, Mirwais Ashraf, Fazal Niazai, Hamza Hotak, Hamid Hassan, Shapoor Zadran, Dawlat Zadran, Najeeb ZadranAfghanistan squad for World T20: Mohammad Shahzad, Najeeb Tarakai, Karim Sadiq, Nowroz Mangal, Asghar Stanikzai, Mohammad Nabi, Samiullah Shenwari, Shafiqullah Shafaq, Mirwais Ashraf, Gulbadin Naib, Hamza Hotak, Hamid Hassan, Shapoor Zadran, Dawlat Zadran, Najeeb Zadran

Mitchell Johnson admitted he had doubts about his own consistency after blowing England away in their first innings in Adelaide

Daniel Brettig at Adelaide Oval07-Dec-20130:00

‘Emotional and special performance’ – Johnson

Mitchell Johnson doubted his ability to follow up on Brisbane as much as anyone.Having shattered any notions of his former inconsistency by delivering a spell for the ages at Adelaide Oval to push the Test and Ashes series firmly Australia’s way, Johnson admitted his rich relief at finally putting two such performances together.”For me to be able to back up a performance like Brisbane and do it here it is a really nice feeling for me,” Johnson said after scooping 7 for 40, twice reaching the verge of a hat-trick. “There’s been talk in the past, I can have those performances where I can blow a team away and then the next one not turn up. For me I think that was why it was a bit more emotional and special, because I was able to stick to my plans and go through.”The ball came out of my hand exactly how I wanted it to. There was a bit of talk about me not hitting the stumps much in Brisbane, but I was excited about the variable bounce and the reverse swing Adelaide provides, so it was really nice today, a really nice feeling, backed up by all the bowlers. There was a period there where the ball wasn’t really doing a lot, but we stuck to our plans and got a little reverse there.”England were put on notice that Johnsons had maintained his speed and rhythm when he bowled Alastair Cook with a fiendish delivery on the second evening, but his most memorable impact was to be had after lunch on day three. After defeating Ben Stokes and the completely out-of-sorts Matt Prior, a now trademark piece of gamesmanship by Stuart Broad allowed Johnson to regather himself and inflict further damage.”It was quite good that Broady stopped me and held up the game for a little bit, because you can get overexcited,” Johnson said. “It was actually a good time for me to relax and think about what I was doing, because you can get too involved in how the crowd is reacting and start thinking about going for the jugular when you should just keep bowling those good areas.Mitchell Johnson followed up nine wickets at the Gabba with another match-turning performance•AFP

“I think it’s something I’ve really improved on, I guess it’s just come with maturity and knowing my game a lot better. I definitely felt I was in one of those zones where nothing’s really going on in your mind.”Johnson’s appearances in this series were his first since a single Test on the abortive tour to India. He had earlier missed near enough to the whole of 2011-12 with a toe injury at a time when his desire to play the game had been sliding. He said the time away had been a great help in allowing him to focus on finding the consistency he had always lacked despite passing 200 Test wickets.”I didn’t doubt I could get back into the Australian team,” he said. “I knew if I worked hard, gave myself every chance, through my toe injury I made sure I did everything right whereas in the past when I first had my stress fractures I rushed back. I really worked on what I needed to work on, met some really positive people along the way, which have been a big help, but having that belief in myself has been the biggest thing.”I was definitely nervous at the start of the series, hadn’t played a Test in a long while, and what England have done to us in the past was on my mind, but I was able to push that aside and bowl the way I wanted to bowl.”As for the Mephistophelian moustache that has seemingly added to his menace this series, Johnson has committed to keeping it until the Ashes are won. But no further. “Some have called it a magical mo, and it’s going okay at the moment,” he said. “But once the series is over I’ll end it…”

كشف عمر كمال عبد الواحد لاعب فريق فيوتشر، موقفه من الانتقال إلى صفوف الأهلي أو الزمالك حال تلقيه عرضًا من كليهما، موضحًا رأيه في اقتراب انضمام إمام عاشور للقلعة الحمراء.

وقال عمر كمال في تصريحات تلفزيونية عبر قناة “أون تايم سبورتس”: “انضمامي للزمالك كان في صفقة انتقال حر، وعندما تم غلق باب القيد بدون تفعيل عقدي انتقلت إلى نادي فيوتشر وأنا ليس لي صلة بالرجوع للقلعة البيضاء أو لا”.

وتابع: “كان هناك اتفاق بين الزمالك وفيوتشر حينها بشكل ودي، وأنا ليس لي دخل في قرار الانتقال إلى الزمالك، ولكن لو هناك فرصة للانضمام للأبيض سأدرس الأمر أولاً”.

وبسؤاله عن موقفه حال تلقيه عرضًا من الأهلي والزمالك، أوضح: “لم يتحدث معي أي شخص من الزمالك وأترك الأمر كله لوكيل أعمالي وأهم شيء لي هو المشاركة في المباريات والاحتراف أهم شيء في قراري ولا توجد عاطفة في الكرة”.

طالع | بالتفاصيل المالية.. الأهلي يُنهي ثاني صفقاته الصيفية في خط الهجوم

واستطرد: “لم يتحدث معي أي مسؤول من الزمالك ورأيت حبًا كبيرًا من جمهور الأبيض قبل ارتداء قميص النادي وجعلني أشعر أنني مرتبط به، مع وجودي في الأهلي سأواجه صعوبة في المشاركة بسبب محمد هاني وخالد عبد الفتاح وأكرم توفيق وكريم فؤاد بمركز الظهير الأيمن وهم لديهم رصيد كبير”.

وأردف: “الزمالك أيضًا لديه لاعبين كثيرين في مركزي الظهير والجناح ولكن لدي فرصة كبيرة بالمشاركة، ولكن إذا تم التعاقد معي كجناح سأنافس بيرسي تاو فقط في الأهلي”.

وعن رأيه في صفقة إمام عاشور وانتقاله لـ الأهلي، أجاب: “كنت أتمنى استمراره في الاحتراف مع ميتلاند خاصة أنه ما زال صغير السن ولديه فرصة كبيرة بالتألق في أوروبا”.

واختتم: “إمام عاشور لاعب جيد ومؤثر في أي فريق، ولكن خطوة الاحتراف مهمة وهناك أحمد المحمدي الذي ظل في احترافه حتى نهاية مسيرته”.

Chandika Hathurusingha, assistant coach of New South Wales, has brought four young Australian spinners on a coaching tour of Sri Lanka

Sa'adi Thawfeeq07-Jul-2013Chandika Hathurusingha, the assistant coach of New South Wales, has taken three potential teenage spinners – Soumil Chhibber, an offspinner who has a bowling action like Muttiah Muralitharan, and legspinners Shane Cassel and Daniel Sallens – along with Australian left-arm spinner Steve O’Keefe on a 15-day coaching tour to Sri Lanka.The four NSW spinners have been practising and playing in the ongoing SLC Under-23 tournament to gain experience of bowling in subcontinent conditions . They are also due to meet the coaches of SLC’s spin bowling staff, headed by former Sri Lanka spinner Piyal Wijetunge.Hathurusingha, who is assistant coach to Trevor Bayliss at NSW, is on a mission to help the state groom spinners for the future. “The state gets a sponsorship grant each year under the Basil Sellers Scholarship Programme and this year we thought of coming to Sri Lanka and groom some spinners giving them the subcontinent experience,” he said.Midway last season, when NSW sacked their head coach Anthony Stuart, it was Hathurusingha that the state turned towards to take them through the rest of the season.”We won seven out of nine matches and were deprived of a place in the Sheffield Shield final by one point because we had some points deducted for a slow over rate,” Hathurusingha said. He was also part of the coaching staff of Sydney Sixers when they won the Champions League T20 in 2012-13, beating South Africa’s Highveld Lions in the final by 10 wickets in Johannesburg.With Bayliss returning from coaching Kolkata Knight Riders in the IPL, NSW made him head coach and retained Hathurusingha as assistant coach. In the Big Bash League, where Sydney have two teams, Bayliss is coach of the Sixers and Hathurusingha coaches the Thunder.”It’s a big honour for me to coach arguably the best domestic cricket team in the world – NSW Blues,” he said. “I am more settled and I am quite happy.”Following his success with the NSW teams, Hathurusingha has been appointed assistant coach to Troy Cooley of the Australian A team that is due to tour South Africa and Zimbabwe for from July 18. When asked if the chance to coach NSW was the best thing that had happened in his coaching career, Hathurusingha replied, “It was a good break but there’s nothing like coaching your own national team.”Hathurusingha had been groomed to become the next head coach of Sri Lanka after Bayliss, but was unceremoniously dumped by the SLC interim committee headed by DS de Silva in early 2011, after which he left for Australia with his family.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Ajinkya Rahane anchored the innings with an unbeaten 68•BCCI

This match was billed as a clash of the legends, with three of cricket’s greatest run-getters – Rahul Dravid, Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar – featuring, and there was the added draw of Sreesanth and Harbhajan Singh facing off days after Sreesanth’s barrage of tweets re-opened the Slapgate controversy from the first season of the IPL. To dash the dreams of the marketing men, the three legends played 12 deliveries in all, and Sreesanth was rested from the game as Rajasthan Royals wanted to ensure they didn’t overwork him soon after a long lay-off.Still, the fans at the Sawai Man Singh stadium were treated to one of the joys of the IPL, watching journeymen cricketers take their chance in the limelight as Royals brushed away their underdog tag to go top of the table after demolishing the high-profile Mumbai Indians. Dishant Yagnik made the most of being promoted to No. 3 to ensure the momentum wasn’t lost after Shane Watson’s high-octane start, the unheralded offspinner Ajit Chandila can tell his grandkids he’s the first bowler to have dismissed both Tendulkar and Ponting in the same match, and the under-rated Siddharth Trivedi virtually ended the chase by getting the dangerous Rohit Sharma in a wicket maiden.This was a night on which almost everything went right for Royals. Their Twenty20 superstar Watson took apart Mumbai’s main threat, Lasith Malinga, to lead Royals to 58 after six overs. The trouble for Royals has been that they have struggled to kick on once Watson departs – this time in the eight over – but Dravid decided to demote himself and gave Yagnik a go.Yagnik had shown in the limited chances he has got that he is not short on confidence, and loves to try unorthodox strokes. He began with a streaky four past the keeper, but then became far more assured as he thrashed Kieron Pollard over midwicket for six, and drilled several boundaries to point before falling for a 24-ball 34 while attempting a reverse-sweep.Ajinkya Rahane was at the other end when Watson and Yagnik were going ballistic, and though he too played some big hits in the Powerplay, he couldn’t find the boundary easily after that. He wisely decided to turn the strike over to the power-hitters, anchoring the innings with his typically orthodox strokes. He hit three fours in the final over after an extended dry spell in the second half of the innings, but the real acceleration came from Twenty20 expert Brad Hodge, who slammed a 15-ball 27.Mumbai had to chase 180 to win, and against the innocuous Chandila and left-arm spinner Ankeet Chavan, they lost Tendulkar and Ponting cheaply. Tendulkar top-edged a sweep and Ponting lobbed back a return catch, and when Trivedi had Rohit holing out to midwicket in the seventh over, Mumbai were virtually out of it. Pollard was promoted but he was done in by an inswinger from Stuart Binny in the eighth over, after which Mumbai were only looking to limit the margin of defeat. They didn’t do too well on that front either, slumping to their biggest loss in terms of runs.