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Two local boys will be savouring a Test in Chennai for the first time since 2013, though it comes against the backdrop of the devastation wrought by Cyclone Vardah

Arun Venugopal in Chennai15-Dec-2016R Ashwin and M Vijay are different characters in quite a few respects. While Ashwin is an extrovert, Vijay opens up only to a select few. Ashwin is a Rajinikanth fan, but Vijay swears by Kamal Haasan. For a long time they represented rival teams in the city’s first-division league.Their paths, however, converge at their mothership: Chennai. Many in the city dote on them – they are currently Chennai’s biggest cricketing icons – and they can’t love it back enough.They last played a Test match in Chennai nearly four years ago with contrasting fortunes – Ashwin grabbed 12 wickets whereas Vijay could muster only 16 runs in two innings and was probably one failure away from being dropped. However, when they head to Chepauk on Friday morning, such memories will come a distant second to the emotions that have surrounded them and their city over the last few days.Chennai has had two horrific Decembers in succession, with Cyclone Vardah ripping through the city, uprooting trees, claiming lives, and dismantling communication and logistics. Vijay and Ashwin have been deeply affected, just as they were during the floods that claimed hundreds of lives last year. This time they have also had to cope with personal bereavement: while it is learnt that the brother of Ashwin’s grandfather died during the cyclone, Vijay dedicated his century in Mumbai to a close friend’s father who had passed away on the first day of the Test.Former India wicketkeeper Bharath Reddy, who is in charge of Jolly Rovers – the team that Vijay played for in the TNCA league – says Vijay kept tabs of the situation on the ground in Chennai while he was away. “I am sure he will try to get a hundred and dedicate it to the victims of the cyclone,” Reddy says. “While he was away from Chennai, he checked with me to see how people were, and also told me, ‘If anybody approaches you for help, let me know. I am willing to help them when this tour finishes.'”Vijay’s love for people, according to Reddy, means he also fancies a career in politics once his playing days are over. “He is 100% [a Chennai boy at heart], that’s why he wants to get into politics,” Reddy says. “He has been telling me this for the last two years. He is a fun-loving person, he feels safe in this place and he feels like a king also, which undoubtedly he is because he is a Chennai boy.”Former Tamil Nadu batsman R Prasanna, who counts among a handful of Vijay’s best friends, recalls a conversation with Vijay sometime in 2008 when he hadn’t yet become a part of the IPL. Vijay, according to Prasanna, wanted Chennai to be the first franchise he turned out for. “I still remember that we were discussing this at a tea shop opposite to the stadium after our Ranji Trophy camp. He went on to play for Chennai Super Kings and that proved to be a big break for him.”Former India wicketkeeper Bharath Reddy’s prediction for M Vijay ahead of the Chennai Test: ‘I am sure he will try to get a hundred and dedicate it to the victims of the cyclone’•BCCI”Whenever he is out of Chennai, he longs to return to the city as soon as he can and spend time with his friends,” Prasanna says. “During the floods last year, he was away in Delhi for the Test match against South Africa, but was anxious about my safety in Chennai. We spoke a week after the floods, and he said he would come home because he hadn’t seen my baby daughter till then.”Sai Kumar, a close friend of Ashwin who lives and works in the UK, says Ashwin, too, did his bit during the floods. “During the floods last year, Ashwin wasn’t available – I think he and Prithi [Ashwin’s wife] were in Delhi for the Test match against South Africa – but he was trying to help in whatever way he could. Although he couldn’t be physically present, he was retweeting all the tweets on the flood situation. He even donated notebooks to one of the schools.”[The cyclone aftermath] is a very tough time, and this is the ground he has grown up playing on, so emotions will definitely run high. Knowing his personality, I am sure he will rock in Chennai.”In 2013, when Ashwin garroted Australia, he said Chepauk had never looked more beautiful. “I was in complete awe, smiling all through. I feel the air talks to me,” he said then. “Even if it turns out to be my last Test match, this will remain the happiest moment of my life.”Four years on, Ashwin and Vijay are quite some way from the finishing line, and are in a far better space. “Chennai will turn up in numbers and I am pretty sure about it,” Ashwin told . “The only factor will be how easily it is accessible from outside – because the trees have fallen all over the city, the commuting is a bit of a problem. But, if there is any city that will come back to its feet fast, it is Chennai. When my name is announced to bowl or bat, the way the crowd will erupt is something I really look forward to.”And erupt it will, each time Ashwin and Vijay set foot on the ground.

ESPNcricinfo picks out the five reasons why Australia lost the Ashes

Daniel Brettig at Trent Bridge08-Aug-20151) Pitches
When Australia’s coaches and selectors peered down at the Trent Bridge surface for what seemed like forever on the first morning, their scepticism was clear. A similar scene had taken place at Edgbaston. On both occasions Australia wound up batting, though on the second they were sent in to do so. The team’s subsequent inability to cope with seaming, swinging English conditions would define their two heavy defeats and undo all the good work done on a less helpful surface at Lord’s. All series it was apparent that Australia expected a repeat of the sort of dry surfaces glimpsed in 2013, but it was clear this would not be the case once a low, slow Cardiff pitch posed more problems for Australia’s batsmen and bowlers than it should have done. England’s captain Alastair Cook and coach Trevor Bayliss asked for pitches that would accentuate their team’s powers of swing and seam, and in helpful climes at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge they got them. Having dominated at Lord’s, Australia’s batsmen failed utterly to make the requisite adjustment.2) Hubris
“I can’t wait to get over there and play another Ashes against England in their conditions after beating them so convincingly in Australia. It’s going to be nice to go in their backyard. If we continue to play the way we have been playing over the last 12-18 months, I don’t think that they’ll come close to us to be honest.” That was Steve Smith’s oft-quoted view of this series, stated to ESPNcricinfo while in India for the IPL. There was a sense of hubris about Australia all the way through the tour, even to the extent that the players refused to admit the jig was up when facing near impossible circumstances in Cardiff, Birmingham and Nottingham. Confidence runs deep in this Australian team, and at their best in Australia they have every reason to believe in it. But the hype should not extend to difficult assignments anywhere overseas other than South Africa. This was never more evident than in the bowling selections, where Peter Siddle’s strong record in England was ignored in favour of Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc alongside Mitchell Johnson. The loss of Harris before the series was a grievous blow, but the selectors stuck doggedly to the view that Starc, Hazlewood and Johnson could blast England out, even after it was readily apparent that a cannier operator was required.3) England
Just as Australia were able to wrong-foot England by replacing Mickey Arthur with Darren Lehmann in 2013, the reverse was true this year as the ECB appointed Trevor Bayliss to take over from Peter Moores. The bold, abrasive approach favoured by Lehmann had worked beautifully when pitted against the more attritional styles of Andy Flower and Moores, most recently when England were battered in the opening match of the World Cup. But an evolving captain in Alastair Cook, a smiling but savvy coaching duo in Bayliss and Paul Farbrace and a demonstrably younger team rounded out by the most experienced new ball duo in world cricket found a formula that appropriated Australian aggression but also added English knowhow in these parts. Bayliss made one misstep in talking up Australia’s fightback powers after Cardiff, but he learned quickly to concentrate on moulding his team. It was hardly the first time that the younger, emerging Ashes team had overcome their elders.4) Clarke and Smith
At Nos. 3 and 4, Smith and Clarke were the critical pivots in the Australian batting order, either carrying on from the early good work of the openers Chris Rogers and David Warner or forming a bulwark against the new ball should the top two be separated early on. In four first innings this series, only Smith at Lord’s was able to make the sorts of scores expected of him, while Clarke’s decline as a batsman was so marked that he could not get past 38, a score he managed in his first innings of the series. Clarke tried every method to get himself going, spending endless hours in training and alternating between aggressive and conservative starts. At Trent Bridge he even batted in his past No. 5 position. But Clarke’s failure to find his work led ultimately to the admission of retirement, something also brought about by the failure of others around him. Smith will wonder at the mental challenge of the Ashes, something that not only had his trigger movement across the crease getting more exaggerated each time, while his earlier commitment to play watchfully until set was forgotten in a flurry of nervous shots in Nottingham. Australia could not win this series without runs from both Clarke and Smith, and they didn’t.5) Allrounders
Not since 2005 has an England allrounder contributed as much to an Ashes series win as Ben Stokes, something the captain Cook had accurately predicted beforehand. By contrast, Australia burned through both Shane Watson and Mitchell Marsh over the first three Tests, and at Trent Bridge abandoned a long-held belief that five bowlers were a critical component of the team’s balance. Watson may never play another Test match, and Marsh has plenty of learning to do before he can become the finished article. A stint in the English county game – something Marsh tried to achieve last year but could not secure a contract – would not go amiss. Having had a chastening experience of Ashes defeat in 2015, Marsh may well be ready to be a more dominant performer next time around, much as Stokes learned from his promising showings in 2013-14 to be a major player this time.

With tournaments like Champions League T20 nudging Duleep Trophy towards the margins of India’s domestic calendar, the once-popular event is facing an identity crisis

Amol Karhadkar21-Oct-2013The last time the Duleep Trophy was shared, before this year’s edition, was 16 years ago when the 1997-98 final between West Zone and Central Zone in Chennai lost three days of play due to rain. The common strands between then and now are the weather and the four-match format of the tournament.However, the significance of the tournament to India’s domestic calendar has changed. Sixteen years ago, the Duleep Trophy was the last hurdle on the domestic circuit to earning a national call-up. In 2013, the tournament is struggling to find a slot in the domestic calendar that allows at least the zonal stars to participate. The tournament has clashed with the Champions League T20 for the last few years, and had the status of the Duleep Trophy not devalued, it would have seen domestic stars in whites rather than the coloured clothing of their franchise.In such a scenario, one of the semi-finals this year was decided by a coin toss, followed by a final that saw just 10 overs played over five days – the last thing the tournament, already in the midst of an identity crisis, needed.Amay Khurasiya, who led Central Zone in that final 16 years ago, feels it’s time to realise the declining worth of the Duleep Trophy.”If there are so many avenues for a person to get selected for India, then some avenues are going to dip in terms of significance,” Khurasiya, who is now the director of Madhya Pradesh Cricket Association’s academy, told ESPNcricinfo.The Champions League matches were mostly held in cities that were unaffected by rain. A match scheduled to be held in Ahmedabad was moved to Jaipur following heavy rain. Yet that facility was not extended to the Duleep Trophy final that was held at the same venue where, 72 hours earlier, the semi-final had been washed out.Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI’s general manager – game development, told that October was the only slot available and the tournament could only be held in the southern part of India because other venues around the country were involved with the Champions League or the India-Australia series.TC Mathew, the Kerala Cricket Association president who is also a member of the BCCI’s senior tournament committee, also cited the same reasons.”First and foremost, we must understand that the rains were expected to subside in October,” Mathew said. “And it wasn’t raining every day, so the question of informing the Board of our (KCA) inability to host the final after the semi-final disaster didn’t arise.”At the same time, I don’t think the Board was in a position to shift the final at the eleventh hour because of the volume of cricket played around the country. At the end of the day, when Kerala has seen rains more than 180% of the average annual rainfall, despite putting in all the possible human effort, we couldn’t have more than 10 overs in the game.”The BCCI finds itself in a conundrum of scheduling too many tournaments in limited span of time, with recent additions such as the Corporate Trophy, IPL, Champions League and the Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy. With a prolonged Ranji trophy, which now assures each team of at least eight games per season, there are questions over whether the BCCI should let go of the Duleep Trophy that, until recently, used to be a marquee event. Khurasiya isn’t averse to the idea.”In an era when a four-over spell or an eight- or ten-over burst with the bat can catapult a youngster into the national team, Duleep Trophy has almost lost its value,” Khurasiya said. “Nothing lasts forever. With times everything changes.”You need to have vision. If something’s not worth it, you better not continue with it. No doubt plenty of avenues have been created for cricketers to get noticed. At the same time, too much of cricket is also not good if it’s affecting the quality. And I suppose the quality is being affected these days.”

Hashim Amla is yet to translate his success in Tests and ODIs to T20s. But in current form, that may not be far away

Andrew Fernando19-Sep-2012Given Hashim Amla’s colossal recent form, finding a weakness in his game seems a frivolous exercise. Beyond the mountain of runs, a Test average breaching 65 over the last three years and an ODI average touching 60, he has a gift for playing innings notable as much for their impact as their heft. Amla’s reputation as classy, but slow delayed his introduction to limited-overs cricket, but when he arrived in ODIs, his success was almost immediate.The only format in which he can’t claim to be among the best in the world is Twenty20. He has played 10 innings, all as an opener, to score 198 runs at an average of 22 and is yet to record a half-century.It is not that his cricket is unsuited to the shortest format – he has developed a mindset and ability to score off almost any ball, and few errant deliveries escape the swing of his blade – but for the moment, there is something preventing his success in Twenty20s.Perhaps he has not yet warmed to the format; a problem not helped by the infrequency of matches. He was less than prolific in his first 34 Tests too, averaging in the low 40s before three centuries in two Tests against India in 2010 burst the dam and heralded the torrent. There has been a concerted effort to tune his game to the ODI format as well, and that has brought spectacular results. Maybe that mental switch has not yet been flipped in Twenty20, and those technical adjustments remain unmade.Others of his ilk have adapted and thrived in Twenty20. Kumar Sangakkara is more straight lines and precision than Amla’s artistry, but Sri Lanka’s middle order would seem a shell without him in it. As he showed during his innings against Zimbabwe on Tuesday evening, Sangakkara has developed new modes of scoring, and assumed a more aggressive disposition, even if he can sometimes seem uncomfortable wearing it. Ian Bell has been another who has introduced innovation to remain relevant in the 20-over game. Despite Amla’s success in limited-overs cricket, he has not strayed far from convention.”I’m relatively inexperienced in the Twenty20 format,” Amla said on the eve of South Africa’s first match of the World Twenty20. “Fortunately I managed to get some runs in England, which helped with the confidence. I am playing in a very good team, and that really helps as well. Batting with guys like Jacques Kallis who have been involved for some time, I’m taking every game as a learning experience.”Amla comes into the tournament in supreme form, and an international reputation that is the best it’s ever been. South Africa pack plenty of power in their batting, and with stiff competition for spots in the top four, Amla will need to translate that momentum into telling performances, just to keep his place. If he can provide a calming influence to a side not renowned for keeping their heads in major tournaments, then all the better.”Every cricketer goes through times in their career where they excel, and I’ve been very fortunate to fit into that category over the last couple of months,” he says. “I don’t look too much at the spotlight that comes when you are scoring runs, I just try to keep things simple and hopefully get the team off to a good start.”Amla’s impressive run in ODIs has already revealed his hunger to improve and impress at every opportunity. That his Twenty20 numbers have not caught up to the rest of his game will irk him. He will look to make drastic improvements to that record, and South Africa’s big-tournament fortunes in general, in the weeks to come.

The series was decided in three sessions but the collapses, twists and sharp turns ensured it was an entertaining one

Sidharth Monga25-Jul-2009It was a series decided in three sessions. Not to take any credit away from Sri Lanka, but Pakistan lost the series in those three sessions, their first defeat in Sri Lanka. Nineteen sessions were played in the first two Tests, and Pakistan won 12 of them. Sri Lanka capitalised on the other sessions in a spectacular manner because they hung in when Pakistan did well. They were never quite blown away like Pakistan. In little over three of those fatal seven sessions, Pakistan lost 27 wickets for 171 runs, which is why they didn’t deserve to win the series.Those sessions, though, shouldn’t detract from the big picture in the series, which looks pretty good for Sri Lanka. For the last year or two they would have sensed a harsh reality lurking around the corner: that Muttiah Muralitharan and Chaminda Vaas won’t be around forever. One policy decision and one freak injury suddenly brought them face to face with the truth.Vaas was dropped, and Murali hurt his knee on the eve of the first Test. To have grappled with the question is one thing, to suddenly meet such a situation is quite another. For the last 15 years or so, Sri Lankan cricket has been impossible to imagine without Vaas and Murali. The last time Sri Lanka beat a proper Test opposition with both of them missing was in December 1986, long before they had made debuts. Before the start of the series, Murali and Vaas had taken 1119 wickets between them; wickets taken by all the other Sri Lankan bowlers in all their Test history added up to 1488.Add to it that the new leader of the attack, Ajantha Mendis, looked largely ineffective and had to be dropped for the final Test. The way Nuwan Kulasekara and Thilan Thushara repaid the faith invested in them will reassure the Sri Lanka management. Thushara’s spell on the final morning of the Galle Test didn’t feature a single loose ball, the pressure he created was relentless and his contribution in that win was bigger than just the two wickets he took. Kulasekara was brilliant throughout. He doesn’t have the persona of a menacing fast bowler, but he showed how much he has improved skillswise in the last year. The inswinger swung big, with the newly acquired straighter one making it even more dangerous.Vaas got a farewell Test at the SSC. He was fittingly given a memento and a million rupees at the post-series presentation for his great service to Sri Lanka and world cricket. Moments later, Kulasekara received the Man-of-the-Series award for his 17 wickets. There couldn’t have been a moment more indicative of which way Sri Lanka cricket is headed.Rangana Herath was the surprise weapon, a shrewd choice of a replacement for Murali. Sri Lanka obviously knew Herath had done well against Pakistan, who had also struggled against other left-arm spinners Monty Panesar and Paul Harris. Herath took with both hands perhaps the only opportunity he would get, bowling a wise mix of flighted orthodox spin and the arm balls. Between them the three took 44 wickets, and Murali and Vaas were not even discussed during the series.Sri Lanka also gambled on the wicketkeeping front, getting Tillakaratne Dilshan to step in for the injured Prasanna Jayawardene. The move resulted in better balance, and a broken finger for Dilshan, but hopefully Jayawardene will take his place back after this series. He is the best wicketkeeper in the world today, and Test cricket deserves those skills.Sri Lanka were led by a sharp new captain, Kumar Sangakkara. He was bold and decisive in his moves off the field, and instinctive and ahead of Pakistan on it. He surprised Pakistan by starting the fourth day of the Galle Test, on a moist pitch, with a spinner. At P Sara Oval, he threw the second new ball to Herath, claiming rich dividends with both decisions.Most importantly Sri Lanka were alert whenever Pakistan slipped up. And they slipped up Pakistan big time. They would be correct in their own right if they think they lost the series, and were . Cynics will scoff at the use of the term yet again, but it’s a team rebuilding itself. It would perhaps be too simplistic to be harsh on them. They had four debutants, and the others were playing proper Test cricket for the first time in two years (the pitches in the earlier series at home hardly tested their batsmen).Still it was frustrating to watch them throw it away so spectacularly. If an outsider saw it thus, one can only imagine how gutted the team would have felt. They played good Test cricket for long periods of time, showing Test cricket was worse off without them, but when they were bad they were really bad. How different and way more intense the last day of the series would have been had Pakistan concentrated for another one hour in either of the first two Tests, and gone into the final match with the series still alive.There were positives to be taken for them. Seventeen-year-old Mohammad Aamer had a promising start to his Test career too; their pace attack now looks in good health, with Mohammad Asif slowly coming back to fitness. Saeed Ajmal is now competition for Danish Kaneria. The latter was more urgent and aggressive when he finally got a Test, the third. Fawad Alam’s fighting spirit, scoring a century on Test debut while opening for the first time in first-class cricket, was one of the beautiful stories of the series. Mohammad Yousuf made a successful return to Test cricket, too, getting his 25th century on comeback.The drama, the sharp turns, the collapses, this series had aplenty. But both teams will also agree that the general quality of cricket was not the best. The pitch in Galle tested the batsmen with the moisture, but P Sara Oval and SSC laid out good batting pitches and didn’t merit first-innings scores of 90, 240, 299 and 233. The collapses were not Pakistan’s exclusive prerogative, Sri Lanka went from 177 for 3 to 240 all out at P Sara. The organisers may as well have given away seat belts to those who came to watch. Overall these were three entertaining Test matches in three weeks, which can’t be so bad for Test cricket in the current climate.

Alexander Isak's reasons for wanting to leave Liverpool have now been revealed amid interest from Premier League rivals Liverpool.

Isak has asked to leave Newcastle this summerAngered after club went back on contract promiseStill a target of big-spenders LiverpoolFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

The Sweden international has rocked Newcastle by informing the club he wants to leave. According to the Daily Mail, the decision stems from Newcastle reneging on the promise of a new contract last summer. Isak was reassured by former co-owners Amanda Staveley and Mehrdad Ghodoussi in March 2024 that a new and improved deal was in the works but it did not materialise. The duo left the club four months later which saw Paul Mitchell appointed as sporting director. Mitchell saw that Isak was already one of Newcastle's top earners, and still had four years left on his contract, and was unwilling to offer the terms Isak wanted. The decision is said to have left Isak "furious" with the club.

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Isak's anger stems from the fact he reportedly believes he is being paid "well below market value," but he also wants to see the club's Saudi owners to show more ambition and invest in new signings and better facilities to help the team progress. The 25-year-old's goals last season helped Newcastle end a long trophy drought to win the League Cup and also secure Champions League football for next season. However, the club have gone on to endure a difficult transfer market, missing out on top targets such as Joao Pedri, Bruan Mbeumo and James Trafford.

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Liverpool could now move for Isak despite spending heavily this summer already. The Reds have splashed out on Florian Wirtz, Jeremie Frimpong and Hugo Ekitike but could still go for the Swede. Meanwhile, Newcastle are thought to be considering Benjamin Sesko as a potential replacement for Isak if he does leave.

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Isak has stayed at home while Newcastle have jetted out on a pre-season tour of Asia. Team-mate Bruno Guimaraes has made it clear he hopes Isak stays at Newcastle but the Magpies appear to be facing a real battle to hold onto their star man this summer.

Manchester United sent a scout to monitor Cristiano Ronaldo Jr's debut for Portugal Under-15s this week.

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United scout Ronaldo Jr on U15s debutSpurs also present to see him in action Wore No.7 jersey associated with his dadFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

The 14-year-old came on as a substitute as Portugal beat Japan 4-1 on Tuesday and reports that a scout representing United was present as the club continue to keep an eye on the son of their former star.

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United are already aware of the teenager's talent after his spell in the club's youth system during Ronaldo's second spell at Old Trafford. However, they are not the only club tracking him, with Tottenham and several Bundesliga clubs also represented in the youth clash in Croatia, in which he wore the No. 7 jersey associated with his father.

WHAT RONALDO SAID

The 40-year-old Al-Nassr star congratulated his son on his first appearance for the national youth team, writing in an Instagram post: "Congratulations on your @portugal, debut, son. Very proud of you!"

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Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT FOR RONALDO?

The youngster will hope to feature when his side face Greece and England in their next matches, while Ronaldo senior and his Al-Nassr co-stars will face Al-Taawon on Friday.

MatériaMais Notícias

A dois dias da disputa do terceiro lugar do Mundial de Clubes, a Fifa oficializou a mudança do local do jogo entre Flamengo e Al Ahly, do Egito, que será realizado em Tânger. A mudança, além de prejudicar os torcedores, também obrigou o clube da Gávea a alterar sua programação. Afinal, Vítor Pereira e companhia estão concentrados próximos à capital Rabat – onde inicialmente estava marcada a partida – e terão que viajar. A delegação volta à Tânger após a atividade de sexta-feira.

+ ‘Quebra-cabeça’ de Vítor Pereira expõe carência antiga do Flamengo e status de Vidal

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Após a eliminação para o Al Hilal, da Arábia Saudita, os titulares voltam a trabalhar em campo nesta tarde, às 12h (de Brasília). Na sexta, realizam uma atividade mais cedo e embarcam para Tânger, como aconteceu na preparação a semifinal do Mundial de Clubes, na última terça-feira.

O treinador Vítor Pereira, em busca de um encaixe na equipe, não deve fazer mudanças estruturais na escalação do Flamengo. Gerson, expulso, e Léo Pereira, que deixou o jogo com dores, devem ser substituídos por Erick Pulgar e Fabrício Bruno.

O retorno da delegação do Flamengo para o Rio de Janeiro segue previsto para domingo. Depois do Mundial de Clubes, o Rubro-Negro já tem compromisso pelo Campeonato Carioca no dia 15 de fevereiro, além da Recopa Sul-Americana, contra o Independiente Del Valle, nos dias 21 e 28.

O confronto entre Flamengo e Al Ahly, marcado para às 12h30 (horário de Brasília), acontece no próximo sábado.

Usain Bolt, the fastest man on earth and a cricketer in his youth, has been unveiled as the ambassador of the 2024 men’s T20 World Cup, to be played in the West Indies and the USA in June.”Coming from the Caribbean where cricket is a part of life, the sport has always held a special place in my heart, and I am honoured to be part of such a prestigious tournament,” Bolt, who grew up playing cricket in his native Jamaica, said in an ICC statement. “I look forward to bringing my energy and enthusiasm to the World Cup and contributing to the growth of cricket globally.”Bolt said he expects “dancing, music and high energy” in the matches in the Caribbean, and also for the World Cup to go a long way towards making the USA a bigger cricket centre than it currently is.”America believes a lot in sport and high intensity and for me to get into that market is big,” Bolt said. “When they follow a sport, they follow a sport properly and they go all in and I feel like if they can crack into it, they will get into it the right way. If we bring energy like I know we will for the T20 [World Cup] it is going to be wonderful.”The T20 World Cup won’t be the end, of course. In 2028, cricket will make a comeback to the Olympic Games – it last featured in 1900 in Paris – in Los Angeles, with men’s and women’s T20Is.”If you listen to NBA players and the way they talk about winning a gold medal, they have won NBA titles, they have their rings, but they are like ‘we went to the Olympics’,” Bolt said. “That is how big getting a gold medal is. Every sport tries to get into the Olympics because it is such a big thing and it is such a great feeling to be on a podium winning that gold medal.”

يواصل ألكسندر إيزاك مهاجم نيوكاسل يونايتد إثارة المزيد من الجدل والتكهنات حول مستقبله ومصيره خلال سوق الانتقالات الحالية.

ويشعر إيزاك بأن حقبته مع نيوكاسل انتهت، ويصر المهاجم السويدي أنه لن يرتدي القميص الأسود والأبيض مجدداً إذا تم إجباره على البقاء ضمن صفوف الفريق، ويترقب ليفربول حسم موقف اللاعب هذا الصيف

أقرأ أيضاً.. من نجريج للعالمية.. شبكة “بي بي سي” تكرم محمد صلاح بإنتاج فيلم وثائقي

ويأتي موقف اللاعب صاحب ال25 عاماً في أعقاب قراره بإلغاء جولة نيوكاسل التحضيرية في آسيا، وأنه يعاني من إصابة في الفخد ولكنه سافر لإسبانيا للتدريب الشخصي مع ريال سوسيداد.

وكانت آخر خطوة قام بها إيزاك هي أنه قام بإخلاء منزله في نيوكاسل، وقد عرض منزله الذي قضى فيه ثلاث سنوات للإيجار.

وبحسب صحيفة “التايمز” فقد عرض إيزاك العقار للبيع لأول مرة يوم انسحابه من جولة نيوكاسل الآسيوية يوم 24 يوليو، وأعاد عرضه مرة أخرى هذا الأسبوع بعد أن أصبح شاغراً مرة أخرى.

ويرفض إيزاك اللعب مع نيوكاسل وغاب عن مبارياته الودية في كأس رابطة الأندية الإنجليزية المحترفة نهاية الأسبوع الماضي، وأكد إيدي هاو أنهلن يشارك على الأرجح في المباراة الافتتاحية ضد أستون فيلا يوم السبت المقبل.

ويعتقد بأن إيدي هاو مدرب نيوكاسل أصبح منفتحاً الآن على رحيل إيزاك، بعد أن استشاظ اللاعب غضباً بعد إبلاغه بضرورة بقائه حيث أكد أنه لا يتحمل مسؤولية فشل النادي في التعاقد مع بدلاء مناسبين.

ويعتقد إيزاك أنه قدم من وقته ومجهوده كافيين في سانت جيمس بارك وأنه غير مستعد للمخاطرة بمسيرته بالانتظار لمعالجة ثغرات نيوكاسل في سوق الانتقالات.

ويشعر صاحب الـ25 عاماً أنه لا ينبغي أن تتأثر مسيرته سلباً بسبب عدم قدرة نيوكاسل على ضم لاعبين جدد، وأصبح إيزاك في إضراب حالياً عن اللعب ولا يرغب بلعب لقاء أستون فيلا يوم السبت، وقد يتم معاقبته من النادي بسبب ذلك.