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A big part of the world of sports is keeping an eye on which player moves from which team to which team. One player exchange can completely destabilize the thriving system of a team that is already doing well, or it can be the missing link in the chain that needs strengthening. If you play the soccer odds, you’ll need to keep an especially close eye on these trades and not be taken in by rumours flying around the best teams in the league. Here are some of the transfers that were rumoured for a long time but never quite came true.

Cristiano Ronaldo Moving To Liverpool

There was never much truth to this in-the-moment suggestion that Ronaldo moves over to Liverpool. Gerard Houllier is the one who can claim to have discovered his incredible talent, and he says it was a suggestion to Sir Alex Ferguson that started all the talk of his move. Ronaldo was playing on the Toulon U21 tour, and Man United was playing a friendly against Sporting Lisbon, whose players went out of their way to encourage Ferguson to take Ronaldo on. Houllier had said to Ferguson how badly he wanted to hire Ronaldo, but he knew he didn’t have the wages available to keep the player happy.

Ronaldinho Moving to Manchester United

Alex Ferguson had a lot to say about why he believed Ronaldinho would become such an influential player. He knew if they managed to get him on their team, they would have a real chance at conquering Europe. Without this spark to light their fire, Man United would just go on as they had been before. In the bidding war that came for his skills, Barcelona bid 21 million pounds, but Kenyon didn’t better it, which seemed like a strange move given the money that Beckham’s transfer had just brought in. Years after Barcelona had won that war, Ronaldinho would lead the team to a UEFA Championship and gain himself a FIFA player of the year award twice in a row.

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Pepe Reina Moving to Arsenal

It’s not a well-known fact, but it is true: Arsene Wenger once submitted a 20-million-pound bid to get the Spaniard on his side. Reina said of the offer that it made it clear how much they wanted him. He believed that the bid was an enormous amount to pay for a goalkeeper at the time. Liverpool was having none of it from the start, though: no sooner was the bid received than it was rejected on the basis of Reina being too good a keeper to let go. It later came out that Reina himself was never going to be leaving the team but was simply being used as a bargaining chip in the sale of the club.

Andriy Shevchenko Moving to West Ham

It came as a shock to the League Managers’ Association when Harry Redknapp stated that, while he was at West Ham, he and Frank Lampard Snr were approached by two frightening individuals who claimed to be doing some business in Ukraine and had some talent for the men to check out. Lampard and Redknapp were so scared of the two that they went along on the excursion without much other info. One of the players scored a winning goal against Barnet Reserves, and the strangers said they wanted a million pounds to sign him. Lampard shot the idea down, and in the end, they let the talent that is Andriy Shevchenko pass them by.

Alan Shearer Moving to Manchester United

After an incredible run of 21 goals for Southampton, Alan Shearer was hot property and in high demand. Shearer recalls feeling rather slighted by Manchester United. The club told him it would take them around a month to get the funds together to offer enough for a transfer. He felt that if the proper motivation was really there, this process would have been considerably shorter. Instead of waiting around for Manchester United, Shearer joined the Blackburn Rovers. Years later, when the chance came again for him to join Manchester United, he chose to join his boyhood club at Newcastle Unites instead.

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Sergio Aguero Moving to Chelsea

While it is true that Aguero had long dreamed of a move to Chelsea, it was simply not to be. Aguero was quoted as saying that Chelsea was an excellent club, and he felt they had become one of the most feared in Europe at the time. He loved the idea of living in London and felt that he and his wife would find a very happy life for themselves there. The rumor was that Chelsea thought Aguero’s wage requirements weren’t in line with his playing abilities; they felt that Fernando Torres was more in line with their needs and finances.

Wrap Up

While the truth is often stranger than fiction, these transfers were never designed to become reality.

And who will be the Player of the Tournament: Jos Buttler? Virat Kohli? Mitchell Starc?

ESPNcricinfo staff27-May-2019Who will win the World Cup?Sambit Bal,
India have best bowling and England have the best batting, but might sneak it again. They are peaking at the right time, and at the World Cup, they will pick their best bowling unit, which has decent spin options. I’m tipping Glenn Maxwell to fire in the slog overs.George Dobell,
I have this recurring fear that in this much-hyped “summer of cricket”, could spoil England’s party by going home with the Ashes the World Cup. But England really do look strong, and if they are ever going to do it, it is going to have to be now. India are also dangerous.Melinda Farrell,
. We’re all dooming them, aren’t we? India have the best bowling attack (Australia and New Zealand aren’t rubbish, either), but are a better side than they were in the 2017 Champions Trophy.Andrew Fidel Fernando,
. England may have a more impressive batting order, but as we found out in the 2017 Champions Trophy, bowling is vital to winning big tournaments as well. And India have the most dynamic attack around.Who will win the World Cup? Play Cricket Picks and winNagraj Gollapudi,
. In big tournaments, big finals, Australia somehow find their mojo. There are enough hungry players in that squad – David Warner, Steven Smith, Maxwell, Pat Cummins – who can perform well under pressure.Mohammad Isam,
‘s transformation into this big-scoring side certainly makes them dangerous, especially at home. India and New Zealand have the tools to do well in English conditions too.Jarrod Kimber,
should be favourites. They may find a hilarious way to lose, but few teams have ever been this dominant between World Cups without winning. Which will make it even funnier if they do lose.Andrew Miller,
. Their batting is currently on another planet. Their bowling has depth to mitigate leakiness, and an injection of class in Jofra Archer.Sidharth Monga,
. They have the best bowling attack; just need Hardik Pandya and Kedar Jadhav to do okay as the fifth bowler.Osman Samiuddin,
(which really means that there is no chance they will actually win it). A once-in-a-generation freak batting order has come together. Their bowling is serviceable – in that if they score 450, they will concede about 400. Jofra Archer being in the squad makes a difference.Sharda Ugra,
.Could West Indies throw up some surprises in this tournament?•Getty ImagesWho’s your dark-horse pick for the tournament?Bal: . They have the bowling, and no one expects them to win this time.Dobell: don’t appear to have much death bowling, but they could chase down any target on their day. New Zealand have a really good, well balanced side.Farrell: I want to say Pakistan, just because of how they trolled us all two years ago, but I’m going with , sneaking up on the outside.Fernando: . Apart from their wonderful bowling, they have a solid middle order and are continually at the cutting edge of fielding standards.Gollapudi: . They have suffered enough.Isam: The inclusion of some of their most experienced cricketers will make stronger, and if their bowling clicks, top sides won’t be able to afford to take their eye off the ball against Jason Holder’s men.Kimber: went about two years without winning more than a handful of ODIs, and they are Australia, so they still have a chance of winning because of national birthright. And they have, in recent times, looked like an ODI team again. They might be the lightest dark horse in history, but they are certainly not favourites.Miller: India… no, I’m kidding. have the six-hitters to batter any team into submission.Monga: . Flying totally under the radar, but they have a good bowling attack tooSamiuddin: . As always solid, but have a really, really good pace attack this time round.Ugra: .Jasprit Bumrah is one of the most dangerous ODI bowlers around•BCCIWho will be the Player of the Tournament?Bal: . In ODIs, he is AB de Villiers 2.0.Dobell: .Farrell: . The freak.Fernando: . Already the best batsman on show at the World Cup, expect him to rack up a few centuries on the highways that seem to pass for ODI pitches in England.Gollapudi: . He was the best batsman in the last two editions of the Champions Trophy, both played in England. He’s the only left-hander in the Indian batting line-up and will be a vital cog if he can get powerful starts and a good partnership with opening partner Rohit Sharma, who could be also a contender.Isam: or , the highest run getter and wicket-taker since the 2015 World Cup, must be front-runners. But given how the pitches are expected to be, a good fast-bowling performance throughout the tournament should be rewarded. , the Man of the Tournament from the previous World Cup, is therefore my front-runner.Kimber: Someone else will say Rashid Khan, so I’m flipping it – literally – and going for . My theory is, no one can play left-arm wristspin because there are no left-arm wristspinners in the world. Kuldeep has bowled 63% of all deliveries bowled by his breed in the last two years. And he has also taken 87 wickets in the last two years at an average of 21. He could be on course for a 30-wicket World Cup if India make the final – and India should make the final.Miller: has the range of strokes and the run of form to do something extraordinary.Monga: . He’s the best white-ball bowler going around.Samiuddin: Ugra: Can Rabada and Ngidi take South Africa to their first World Cup final?•AFPWho will be the breakout young talent to emerge from the World Cup?Bal: . Afghanistan will spring a couple of surprises, and Rashid is likely to be at the heart of them.Dobell: There are so many options. Jofra Archer is exciting. So too is Shimron Hetmyer. And while Rashid Khan and Kagiso Rabada are young, nobody is going to be surprised if they have brilliant tournaments. But though neither is especially young, I’m really looking forward to seeing , who is fast and fun, and , who I thought would have been a superstar by now.Farrell: . A huge opportunity for an exciting bowler.Fernando: . Not quite as fast as Rabada, but accurate, and frequently penetrative.Gollapudi: . The pace, the brain, the talent, the youth – he has it all, and if he can capture the intensity of the one-on-one battles he made his name with in Test cricket, he could set this World Cup aflame.Isam: There are very surprises left in international cricket these days, but the story of , if he does perform well, will be a beautiful one.Kimber: is more firework than human. It has taken him a couple of years longer to work out his game than he’d like. In the last two years of T20 cricket, he has averaged over 35 while striking at over 150. I wouldn’t expect many long innings, but given he swings so madly from ball one, you wouldn’t want to miss many.Miller: I won’t be surprised, but can expect to turn a few heads on the world stage.Monga: Nobody should surprise you at such a restricted World Cup, but is one of the lesser accomplished players I expect to light up the World Cup.Samiuddin: Ugra: Is the India-Pakistan match still the marquee rivalry of the World Cup?•AFPWhich game are you looking forward to the most, and why?Bal: . Brute batting v gun bowling.Dobell: Any of the games in Taunton or Trent Bridge. If a team is going to make 500 in this tournament, I expect it’ll be at one of those grounds.Farrell: . Massive contest in front of the noisiest crowd. And it’s at my home ground, Edgbaston.Fernando: . Surely it’s past time we got a good World Cup match out of this massively hyped encounter.Gollapudi: No brainer – . There are so many match-ups that are mouth-watering.Isam: It has to be at Edgbaston on June 30, for the fight between two dominant batting units as well as two of the most skilled bowling attacks.Kimber: Rashid Khan versus all the teams that haven’t had to face him much in ODI cricket. So that’s Australia, England, New Zealand and South Africa. In the last couple of years he has done better when bowling against teams that have qualified for this World Cup than the teams that haven’t.Miller: at Trent Bridge. The 500-run scorecards might have been printed with this contest in mind.Monga: . Cummins v Bumrah. Two of the best.Samiuddin: . Simple – one of the best bowling attacks up against the best batting side.Ugra: , of course.What’s the one thing are you most looking forward to, on or off the field?Bal: Wristspinners versus giant hitters.Dobell: We often say the sport needs a strong Pakistan or a strong West Indies and that’s true. But it needs a strong England too, and I hope this summer provides a chance for the nation to get behind their cricket team and revive interest in the game. Cricket is in danger of becoming a niche sport in England. It will be great to see it take centre stage for once.Farrell: As corny as this may sound, catching up with colleagues and friends from all around the world. They provide both the fun and the support network.Fernando: Low-scoring thrillers. Can we please, please get a few to keep it interesting?Gollapudi: Images that will stick forever. And a final on July 14 that goes to the last ball. (And a Roger-Rafa final at Wimbledon happening in parallel.)Isam: How the ICC, media and fans react to a mankading dismissal if any bowler dares to smash that beehive.Kimber: The bit where people moan about how it’s only a ten-team World Cup before going on to just watch the tournament.Miller: The sort of carnival atmosphere that accompanied the 1999 World Cup, without the hosts passing out down a side street before things get properly lively.Monga: Afghanistan v Ireland. Great rivalry: 13-13 on head to head. Mostly played without the world taking note. Oh well.Samiuddin: Legspinners. All of them.Ugra: The game’s global fans and their equal music. Also, Brexit jokes and sticky toffee pudding.

ESPNcricinfo keeps track of the decisions that the umpires got wrong in a big way this IPL season

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Apr-2017There have been more than 25 umpiring errors in the 59 games played so far this IPL. Of those, 13 were blunders that did not need replays to spot. Four of those went against Mumbai Indians while five were in favour of Kolkata Knight Riders. Among the umpires, Anil Dandekar made the most howlers – three – while Nitin Menon, whom the BCCI nominated last year to be part of the ICC’s international panel of umpires, C Shamshuddin and S Ravi made two each.Rohit Sharma declared out off Washington Sundar, Mumbai Indians v Rising Pune Supergiant
As well as young Washington bowled in his first IPL playoff game, a giant stroke of luck played its part in embellishing his figures. Rohit tried to paddle an offbreak in the direction of short fine leg but failed to execute. Before hitting the pads, the ball deflected off the inside edge, a deviation that was visible to the naked eye. Umpire Shamshuddin didn’t think so, and the Mumbai Indians captain was, not for the first time in the tournament, at the receiving end of a bad decision.David Warner declared not out off Ankit Soni, Sunrisers Hyderabad v Gujarat Lions
Sunrisers were chasing and the match was in the balance when Soni had Warner edging to Dinesh Karthik. The deflection was so obvious that Karthik did not bother to appeal. Anil Chaudhary was the umpire and his decision was a confident “no”. Replays showed a huge edge, and Warner took his side to victory in a crucial fixture, remaining unbeaten on 69.Yusuf Pathan declared not out off Yuzvendra Chahal, Kolkata Knight Riders v Royal Challengers BangaloreWith just three runs to get, Yusuf Pathan poked at a wide one outside off stump, and the ball took an under-edge en route to Kedar Jadhav’s gloves. Chahal, and the fielders around the bat, pleaded with umpire Anil Dandekar only to be met with a firm shake of his head.Robin Uthappa declared not out off Basil Thampi, Kolkata Knight Riders v Gujarat LionsFor the second time in the tournament, Uthappa was given a reprieve. Thampi struck him in front of middle with a full ball that was going to crash into leg stump, but umpire Nitin Menon did not even seem to consider giving it out. Instead, he moved quickly to get into position to adjudicate a possible run-out. The ball had hit Uthappa, who was batting on 71, on the back foot, which made it more puzzling that the umpire had dismissed the appeal so quickly. Luckily for Lions, the decision didn’t prove too costly. Uthappa added just one more to his score.ESPNcricinfo LtdManan Vohra declared not out off Mohammad Nabi, Sunrisers Hyderabad v Kings XI PunjabVohra played one of the innings of the tournament against Sunrisers, getting 95 off 50 balls, but he should have been out when he was on 32. Nabi hit him on the pad in front of off stump, and it looked as though the ball would hit middle. But Dandekar reacted to the appeal by suggesting there had been an edge. Replays confirmed there wasn’t one.Robin Uthappa declared not out off Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Kolkata Knight Riders v Sunrisers HyderabadUthappa got the rub of the green as early as his first ball, when he edged a Bhuvneshwar Kumar outswinger to the keeper. Dandekar, though, missed it. Uthappa went on to hammer 68 off 39 balls.Kedar Jadhav declared out lbw off Varun Aaron, Royal Challengers Bangalore v Kings XI PunjabKedar Jadhav was Royal Challengers’ in-form batsman going into this game. At 22 for 2, they needed him to anchor the innings along with AB de Villiers, but Varun Aaron’s indipper struck him high on the pad. Jadhav, while not a tall man, was jumping at the point of impact. Replays showed the ball was going over the stumps.David Warner taking strike after hitting a boundary off the last ball of the previous over, Sunrisers Hyderabad v Mumbai IndiansWarner had glided Jasprit Bumrah to the third-man boundary off the final ball of the sixth over. As Mitchell McClenaghan ran in to bowl the first ball of the seventh over, Warner was on strike again. This gaffe – concerning a basic aspect of the game – was arguably worse than the rest. Umpires Nitin Menon and CK Nandan had been caught napping.ESPNcricinfo LtdCarlos Brathwaite declared not out off Yuzvendra Chahal, Delhi Daredevils v Royal Challengers BangaloreDaredevils needed 45 from 33 when Brathwaite was pinned in front of off and middle, having failed to pick up a flatter googly. Umpire Virender Sharma was unmoved by a pleading Chahal, but the error didn’t cost Royal Challengers as Chahal bowled Brathwaite next ball.Rohit Sharma declared out lbw off Sunil Narine, Mumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight RidersMumbai received their second poor decision in two overs when Rohit was adjudged lbw despite getting a big inside edge before the ball struck his pad. Narine had been bowling legbreaks throughout the over and foxed Rohit with an offbreak. Umpire Nandan gave it out immediately, and Rohit stood at the crease shocked. When asked about decisions going against Mumbai, Parthiv Patel refused to comment after the game, citing the heavy fines in place.Jos Buttler declared out lbw off Ankit Rajpoot, Mumbai Indians v Kolkata Knight RidersIn the previous over, Buttler received his second howler of the tournament, having got off to a blazing start in a chase of 179. Ankit Rajpoot swung a low full toss into the right-hander. Buttler missed it, and while the appeal was vociferous, the ball was sliding down the leg stump by a distance. This time, it was Menon at the centre of the howler.Kieron Pollard declared not out off Imran Tahir, Mumbai Indians v Rising Pune SupergiantMumbai received a rare slice of luck when Pollard was rapped on the pad by Tahir; the ball looked likely to have crashed into the stumps. The doubt was whether the ball had hit bat or pad first. Umpire Ravi thought it was the former, while replays showed it hit pad first. Pollard survived and went on to make 21 more. Rising Pune wicketkeeper MS Dhoni signalled for the DRS in jest, and was reprimanded after the game.Jos Buttler declared out lbw off Imran Tahir, Mumbai Indians v Rising Pune SupergiantButtler had smashed 38 runs off 18 balls, including 12 in the previous over, before he played all around a length ball that skidded on. It had taken a massive deflection off his bat before rapping him on his front pad. Umpire Ravi, though, had his finger up before Pune’s fielders had completed their appeal.

Plays of the day from the third match of the Asia Cup, between Bangladesh and United Arab Emirates

Mohammad Isam26-Feb-2016The brain freezeMohammad Mithun tried to work a ball from Rohan Mustafa past point for a single, but the delivery had turned sharply and taken his inside edge. However, the ball trickled to the wicketkeeper Swapnil Patil as Mithun ran out of the crease. Patil quickly broke the stumps but he must have been bemused too. Mithun didn’t follow the ball and was left ruing a sure-shot fifty.The confirmation catchMustafizur Rahman had a catch denied, although replays were inconclusive whether he had complete control over the ball after he had landed on his right hand. When he foxed Mohammad Shahzad in the first ball of his next over with an offcutter, he completed the simple return catch and threw the ball up. Just to be sure, Nasir and then Mustafizur looked up and caught the falling ball.The momentary misjudgementAs Soumya Sarkar swung wildly at Amjad Javed, the top edge lobbed up towards third man where Saqlain Haider made a critical mistake of taking a backward step. That cost him the wicket in the fifth over, as he dived inches short of the ball. Javed wasn’t pleased, this was the second catch in three balls that didn’t go to hand.The better pick-up shotSoumya Sarkar and Mohammad Mithun had struck sixes with pick-up shots but it was Rohan Mustafa’s that looked the most effortless. At the end of the third over, he moved towards the leg stump to pick a full-length Taskin Ahmed delivery for six over backward square leg. It was the best of the three, a small consolation for UAE.

Allrounder Calum MacLeod nearly lost his way with a faulty action, but he’s back and key to Scotland’s hopes of making an impression at the World Cup

Tim Wigmore30-Oct-2014On January 13, 2014, Scottish cricket was threatened with irrelevance. Six weeks earlier, Scotland had failed to be one of the six Associates to qualify for the World T20. Now they lost their opening game in the World Cup Qualifier to Hong Kong, and had to win six consecutive matches to make the 2015 World Cup.Somehow they managed to pull it off, even going on to beat the UAE in the final to make it seven victories in a row. They will rub shoulders with the elite in Australia and New Zealand as a result.This remarkable recovery would not have happened without Calum MacLeod, who embodies much of Scottish cricket’s newfound vibrancy. He made four international hundreds in 2014, fusing raw power-hitting down the ground with late cuts and scoops. Two centuries in consecutive games in January – a 62-ball 113 against the UAE and 175 against Canada – propelled Scotland to the World Cup.In many ways MacLeod is a surprising poster boy for Scottish cricket. He is certainly no product of the Edinburgh public schools that in the mistaken assumption of some still dominate Scottish cricket. MacLeod has roots in the island of South Uist in the Outer Hebrides, from where his grandfather moved to Glasgow. He is also a Gaelic speaker. MacLeod attended an inner-city Gaelic School in Glasgow in which, he says, “there wasn’t a lot of cricket mentioned or spoken about” let alone played.It was his father, a social member at a cricket club, who imbued MacLeod with a love of the game. In 2008, just after his 19th birthday, MacLeod was signed by Warwickshire as a pace bowler. The following year, he acted as a substitute fielder for England in an Ashes Test – becoming the first Gaelic speaker to appear in a Test. That little moment of history passed by largely unnoticed.But MacLeod’s career already seemed to be falling apart. A growing number of bowlers today could relate to the reason: coaches were late recognising flaws in his action.”I developed some bad habits in my bowling action and never really rectified them or did the correct technical work. So I ended up throwing – for want of a better word. I’d rather someone had had the difficult conversation earlier, when the habits were starting to form, because they would have been able to rectify them.”In July 2009, MacLeod’s action was reported by the umpires after an Intercontinental Cup match. A year of remedial work followed, including sessions with the former South Africa quick Allan Donald, then bowling coach at Warwickshire, but MacLeod was not much use to his county. He was released at the end of 2010. “I wasn’t a good enough batter or a good enough bowler. It was a decision I completely accepted.”

MacLeod acted as a substitute fielder for England in an Ashes Test – becoming the first Gaelic speaker to appear in a Test. That little moment of history passed by largely unnoticed

As MacLeod’s first forays in the Scotland side were batting at No. 9 or 10, the collapse of his bowling threatened to wreck his career. “I wasn’t entirely sure what direction I was going to go in. I didn’t know whether to give the game up and try something else or go and play hockey.”Even five years earlier, MacLeod might never have recovered. But Cricket Scotland had introduced player contracts at the end of 2008, and MacLeod was given a summer contract for 2011. They were not about to let go of his talent easily.”Without that in place I don’t think I would have been able to come back,” he says. “I would have had to have gone and found a job. I wouldn’t have been able to train as much and wouldn’t have been able to have the enthusiasm to do the extra sessions and do the extra work that I had to do. Plainly I just wouldn’t have had the time.”MacLeod scored centuries in youth cricket, but these were “mostly down to shots and luck, as opposed to building an innings properly”. He resolved to turn himself from a merry hitter into a batsman of substance. “The biggest thing I had to change was my understanding of the art of batsmanship – how to compose innings and how to do it consistently.” At the tail end of his career at Warwickshire he spent copious time watching Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott train. “It’s almost more valuable than practice in the nets.”When he returned north of the border, MacLeod had Scottish club cricketers for company instead. It would have been easy to make excuses if his standards had relented, but MacLeod is not the type to do so. “I’m quite single-minded when it comes to my training.”He forced his way into the side as a batsman, and enjoyed some success in the World T20 Qualifiers in March 2012. “It was really after that that I thought ‘Maybe I can do this.’ I set myself higher standards and began to demand more of myself.” Still, MacLeod’s form remained inconsistent. Before the World Cup Qualifiers, he had “a pretty frank conversation” with Scotland’s captain Kyle Coetzer. “He didn’t think that I was scoring the runs that I should be.”MacLeod also benefited from time spent with Paul Collingwood, who coached Scotland last winter. He attributes his upturn to “being able to work closely with him and have the confidence to go out and play aggressively”. Collingwood enjoyed working with MacLeod too – so much so that Durham, on his recommendation, signed MacLeod. That was initially just as a T20 player, but MacLeod impressed so much that he was given a permanent contract. He ended his first season back in county cricket by winning the Royal London One-Day Cup. In time, it is even just about conceivable that England could eye up his top-order hitting. “You would think if the opportunity came up, it’d be very hard to turn down,” MacLeod says.Given his circuitous route to success, it is surprising that he is still only 25. But though he may have turned his career around, there is still some way for Scotland to go to rival Afghanistan and Ireland as the world’s premier Associate. “We’ve underachieved over the last five to ten years,” he admits. “We need to beat some Full Members. If we manage to do that then the exposure of the game will increase.”Scotland’s only victory against a Test side remains a T20 win over Bangladesh in 2012. With his range of shots and improved judgement over when to use them, aligned to his fierce self-belief, MacLeod represents his team’s most likely chances of adding to that achievement in the World Cup.The Auld Enemy, who Scotland face in Christchurch on February 23, should beware MacLeod channeling the spirit of Kevin O’Brien in Bangalore.

Plays of the day from the opening match of the Champions Trophy between India and South Africa

David Hopps in Cardiff06-Jun-2013Blow of the day
It took South Africa until the 22nd over before they took a wicket but Virat Kohli got a rude awakening from the first ball he faced. Ryan McLaren banged in a bouncer that did not get as high as expected and followed Kohli as he tried to sway outside the line. He dropped his wrists skilfully enough but he was struck full on the helmet grilleFluff of the day
AB de Villiers batted with panache but his fluffed stumping of Shikhar Dhawan was the low point of a mediocre South Africa fielding display. The bowler, JP Duminy, outdid Dhawan as he tried to defend, well out of his crease. De Villiers had a clear sight of the ball and took off the bails with a flourish but the ball was fumbled and Dhawan escaped. De Villiers’ consolation was that Dhawan, 102 not out at the time, only added another 12.Limping South African of the day
The last thing South Africa needed as India threatened to get close to 350 was the sight of Morne Morkel limping from the field. Morkel failed to finish his seventh over because of thigh trouble, leaving South Africa with the awful prospect that they could enter the next game without Morkel, Dale Steyn and Jacques Kallis, three stalwarts in their fast-bowling ranksMix-up of the day
South Africa required 145 runs from the final 18 overs. Faf du Plessis, still new at the crease, had only faced five balls and JP Duminy and de Villiers had fallen in each of the previous two overs. There was no room for a mix-up but du Plessis flicked Suresh Raina towards the leg side and rushed out of the blocks, intending to take advantage of the gap at square leg. While turning for a second he slipped; David Miller did not notice and dashed back to finished the run. Ishant Sharma, who had earlier missed running out de Villiers, threw back to Raina, who relayed the ball safely back for MS Dhoni to knock off the bails. After the third umpire was consulted about which batsman, both at the same end, was out, Miller went on his way.Gesture of the day
Morkel came out to bat, despite the injury that had prevented him completing his spell, with 75 needed off 44 balls and South Africa nine wickets down. It was a gesture of defiance which might have been better undelivered until one considered the importance of net run rate. Morkel could barely run, risked worsening his injury, and logic suggested India had the match won, but he had little choice but to take guard and South Africa gained 48 runs as a consequence.

People remember Dilley with the bat at Headingley, but he was a genuinely quick bowler who could have gone far if only he had some more support in his mid-80s pomp

Rob Steen07-Oct-2011People generally remember two things about Graham Dilley, whose sudden and horribly premature passing has been received with shock and grief. One, that he took the lead and clobbered 56 of that unforgettable 117-run stand with Ian Botham at Headingley in 1981, inspiring, even embarrassing, his partner into an eruption of Australian-deflating shots that turned a 92-run deficit and impending defeat into a lead – the first giant step towards the most miraculous victory yet seen in a Test match. Two, that he lent his name to the daftest pun ever perpetrated in the title of a cricket book: . He deserves to be commemorated for rather more than that.In his pomp he was a fearsome fast bowler possessed of a certain elegance. Blond and rangy, with an elbow-pumping action, he surged to the crease in almost stately fashion, arms high at the point of delivery, a chilling vision in that chest-on release; batsmen had every reason to suspect that they were about to be impaled by a javelin.Sadly, fitness and confidence were not regular assets. Most grievously, in 1984 a disc became trapped against his spinal cord; the surgeon decided to replace it with a piece of reshaped bone transplanted from his left hip, an extremely delicate and chancy procedure. Had anything gone awry, he was warned, “there was a real danger I could end up a cripple”. Nor was there any guarantee that “feeling would return”. It robbed him of an entire season just as he was beginning to make an unanswerable case to succeed Bob Willis as England’s spearhead. Happily he recovered to enjoy a brief reign as the world’s finest Caucasian quick. To describe him as his country’s best out-and-out fast bowler of the eighties might draw all manner of retributory fire from Botham and Willis, but for 25 months he was as intimidating, and as good, as both.Plucked from Hatton Garden, where he was training as a diamond-cutter, Dilley always looked the part. That he was quick became painfully clear to one experienced opponent when, at 18, he made his championship debut for Kent against Middlesex: he struck Mike Selvey on the right calf with such ferocity that the resulting haematoma prevented the former England seamer from walking that evening. Two years later Dilley was imperiing the Australians in Perth, sending back Peter Toohey and Rod Marsh, as England’s seventh-youngest debutant. In the second innings he achieved a snickering sort of immortality, the last link in that most assonant of scorebook entries: Lillee c Willey b Dilley.But consistency proved as elusive as health. There were 11 wickets in three Tests against West Indies in the sodden summer of 1980; in Bridgetown early the following year he inflicted ducks on Gordon Greenidge and Viv Richards, and dismissed the latter three times in the series; but when he took guard that afternoon at Headingley he knew the only way he could keep his place was to “score some runs”. One of the main reasons Australia reached 401 “was that I bowled crap”.His frank recollections, conveyed to Alastair McLellan during our research for , spoke eloquently, if depressingly, of the fragility of the sporting psyche. “My bowling was dreadful, absolutely dreadful.” Indeed, for all those heroically lusty lashes through the covers, he was dropped for Edgbaston. “Two weeks [later] I was bowling that badly, I was playing for Kent Second XI against The Army at Woolwich. I’d lost it totally. Some people are relatively fortunate in as much as once they lose it, it goes from being all right to not relatively quickly. Mine took three months, running up to bowl thinking ‘I’m not too sure where this is going.’ Eventually it got worse and worse, until I had no idea where it was going.”Fulfilment arrived in the second half of the decade. In a purple patch that extended from the start of the 1986 series against India until the end of June 1988, he was the world’s leading wicket-aggregator in Tests, taking 82 at 25.84, at a strike rate of 53.7, including half-a-dozen five-fors. His most memorable contribution, the defining stint of his international career, came at the Gabba in the opening installment of the 1986-87 Ashes. Swinging the ball at pace and generating sharp bounce, he took 5 for 68 in Australia’s first innings, his first such haul in Tests, laying the foundation for a comprehensive victory that gave Mike Gatting’s party a lead they never relinquished.

That Dilley was quick became painfully clear to one experienced opponent when, at 18, he made his championship debut for Kent against Middlesex: he struck Mike Selvey on the right calf with such ferocity that the resulting hematoma prevented the former England seamer from walking that evening

He saved his most productive outing for the mighty West Indies. At Lord’s in 1988 he brushed aside the game’s most formidable top four, Greenidge, Desmond Haynes, Richie Richardson and Richards, before lunch on day one; that spell of 13-4-35-4 would have been still more impressive had Derek Pringle not dropped Gus Logie. Dismissing Haynes and Greenidge the second time round, Dilley finished with 9 for 128 all told.It was not, however, a match-winning performance. They seldom were. His misfortune, not to mention that of his country, was the palpable lack of effective support. That England won just two of those 20 Tests – both against a modest Australian side – can be attributed in good part to the comparative impotence of Dilley’s aides; the other bowlers who claimed more than 20 victims during that span all had greatly inferior strike rates: John Emburey (40 wickets, SR 145.1), Phil Edmonds (34, SR 95.3), Neil Foster (31, SR 66.9), Phil DeFreitas (23, SR 93.8) and Derek Pringle (21, 67.8). Nor does it say anything terribly complimentary about that attack that Dilley shared new-ball duties with no fewer than eight other bowlers during those two years, including Emburey, an offspinner. In another era, abetted by a foil such as Brian Statham or Bill Voce, his overall record – 138 Test scalps at 29.76, SR 59.3 – would assuredly have been even better.He left Kent after that triumphant Ashes expedition, believing they were not paying him what he was worth, and joined Worcestershire, whom he helped win two County Championships. His international career, like that of many others, ended when he signed on for Gatting’s ill-fated “rebel” tour of South Africa in early 1990. By then, though only 30, the mind was making promises that a battered body had scant hope of keeping. Had he remained at Kent, and hence not missed out on a benefit, he may have felt less inclined to cock such a flagrant snook at the Gleneagles Agreement. Then again, Chapter 4 of his aptly titled 1987 autobiography, , did carry the headline “Oh for Hindsight”, a rueful reflection on his decision to pull out of Graham Gooch’s South African Breweries-backed tour of 1981-82; it would have given Dilley “far greater financial security than I was to achieve staying within the legal framework of the game”.Retiring in 1992, he flew below the radar, beset by financial troubles, before embarking on a series of coaching gigs with England (men and women), Zimbabwe, Surrey and, latterly, Loughborough University. When he was captaining England and Dilley was working with the bowlers, Nasser Hussain, never one to mince words, said Dilley was far too nice for the hurly burly of a senior international dressing room – “a lovely bloke but not hard, dynamic or imaginative enough” – which doubtless hampered his prospects.As Middlesex’s director of cricket, Angus Fraser, who made his England debut in Dilley’s final Test, worked with him at Loughborough over the past two summers: “He was as accommodating and helpful as anyone could be. It is extremely sad that such a wonderful talent and decent man is no longer with us.” A fitting epitaph to a man for whom fortune smiled just once.

The regular Monday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions
about (almost) any aspect of cricket. This week it’s a World Cup
special

Steven Lynch20-Mar-2007The regular Monday column in which Steven Lynch answers your questions about (almost) any aspect of cricket. The World Cup dominates your questions again this week:

Has anyone played in three World Cup-winning teams? asked Michael Docherty from Brisbane
The only team which has won the World Cup three times is Australia (1987-88, 1999 and 2003), and no-one played in all three games. But three members of the current team were on the winning side in both the last two finals – Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist and Glenn McGrath, who thus stand to become the first three-time winners if Australia can justify their favourites’ tag again this year. Graham Gooch played in three finals for England … and, uniquely, lost the lot.I’m just watching Ireland play and they seem to have a lot on non-Irish-born players. How many of them are there, and what are the qualification rules? asked David Thompson from Huddersfield
The Irish squad includes four players who were born overseas – the captain Trent Johnston, Jeremy Bray and Dave Langford-Smith, who were all in Australia, and Andre Botha (South Africa). The full regulations are rather complicated, but basically a player born outside the country he wishes to represent can do so provided he has lived there for most of the preceding four years (and has not played for any other country in that time). Scotland’s squad also includes four players born outside the country – as does England’s – but the “leaders” in this regard at this World Cup are Canada, who have only three home-born players in their squad (John Davison, Ian Billcliff and Kevin Sandher) and Holland, who have eight players in their squad who were born outside the Netherlands. The full qualification rules can be found on the official ICC siteWho won a World Cup winners’ medal as a player but never played a World Cup match? asked Siddharth Ramesh from Chennai
I think the man you’re looking for has an even more remarkable claim to fame than that: Sunil Valson was in India’s World Cup -winning squad in 1983, but didn’t play in the competition – and in fact never played in a one-day international at all. Valson was a left-arm medium-pacer who took 212 wickets in first-class cricket, most of them for Delhi. In 2002-03 the offspinner Nathan Hauritz replaced Shane Warne in Australia’s squad when Warne was banned after a positive drugs test: Hauritz didn’t play in the tournament, but he has played in eight ODIs outside World Cups.Is Bermuda’s Dwayne Leverock the heaviest man to play international cricket? asked Savar Kashif from Kolkata
Bermuda’s genial left-arm spinner Dwayne Leverock is variously reported as weighing in at between 19 and 20 stone. I’m sure this makes him the heaviest player to appear in a World Cup, and probably in any one-day international, but there’s at least one player who outweighed him in Test cricket: Warwick Armstrong, the Australian captain who inflicted the first Ashes whitewash on England in 1920-21. By the time of the 1921 tour of England, Armstrong – who was known as “The Big Ship” – was thought to weigh around 22 stone. I read in a recent interview that Leverock lives above a curry house – and, he admitted with a twinkle in his eye, “there’s another one next door.” A recent Cricinfo column looked at some other beefy batsmen and bowlers.Ricky Ponting reached 1000 World Cup runs early in his hundred against Scotland. Is he the first Australian to do this? asked Colin Matthews from Perth
Ricky Ponting started this World Cup with 998 runs, and his first scoring shot in this tournament (a four off Dougie Brown) took him into four figures. And his next scoring shot – another boundary off Brown – took him past Mark Waugh (1004 runs) as Australia’s leading scorer in World Cup history. Ponting ended that match with 1111 runs (quadruple Nelson, perhaps?), behind only Sachin Tendulkar (1732) in the World Cup lists at the time. For updated details of the competition’s all-time leading runscorers, click here.Regarding the recent question about the current players who also appeared in the 1992 World Cup, didn’t Sourav Ganguly also do so and score 3 against West Indies … asked Pradyumna Dhore
No, Sourav Ganguly didn’t play in the 1992 World Cup, although I can see why you might have thought he did – he made his one-day international debut in Australia in 1991-92 – against West Indies at Brisbane – and did indeed score 3. But that was in the traditional Australian three-way one-day series, which was played before that season’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Ganguly didn’t make the Indian squad for that tournament – or the 1996 one.

Australia have reached a seventh successive T20 World Cup final but not without an almighty fight from India, who came five runs short in a thrilling semi-final in Cape Town. The margin of defeat is four runs smaller than it was at the Commonwealth Games final last year, but that will be little consolation for India, who came agonisingly close while chasing 173.They were clumsy in the field, conceded at least 15 runs through overthrows and misfields and dropped two crucial catches – of Meg Lanning on 1 and Beth Mooney on 32 – and were equally nervy between the wickets. Two crucial run-outs dented their chase including that of Harmanpreet Kaur, which led to India’s slide.The India captain was ill on the eve of the match and briefly hospitalised with a fever but fronted up to lead her side and almost took them home. After a poor start which left India on 28 for 3 in the fourth over, Harmanpreet shared in a 69-run fourth-wicket stand with Jemimah Rodrigues and then brought up her first fifty of the tournament. She had barely celebrated it when her bat got stuck in the ground while sliding it for a second run and Alyssa Healy was quick to break the stumps, leaving India’s middle and lower order to get 40 runs off the last 32 balls.

Shafali Verma fumbles, then flounders, then finally holds on

Shafali Verma was responsible for the first misfield on a messy day for India, when she dived over the top of a Healy drive to allow what should have been a single turn into two in the first over. India let at least two more ones get doubled up on before they got their first wicket when Healy charged against Radha Yadav and was stumped to give them some joy.Radha should have had another in her next over when Mooney lofted a drive to Shafali at long-on. The ball came to her at waist height and should have been easily taken but she let it slip through her hands and bounce over the boundary. Mooney went on to hit three more fours before trying to cut a Shikha Pandey ball that was too close to her body and found Shafali again. She was stationed at point and made no mistake this time for the simple catch. She was clearly relieved and celebrated by banging the ball into the turf. Mooney was dismissed on 54, which meant Shafali’s miss cost India 22 runs.

Ashleigh Gardner’s late attack

After Healy and Mooney’s opening stand of 52, and Mooney and Lanning’s 36-run stand off 27 balls, Ashleigh Gardner arrived to put the finishing touches on an innings that was well set up. She found her first boundary with a clip off Sneh Rana in an over that cost 14 runs and then upped the ante for high-octane entry into the last five overs. Gardner slog swept Radha over midwicket, then lofted her between long-off and cover and then took back-to-back boundaries off Renuka Singh. She had plundered 28 runs off her first 14 balls and put Australia in a position to push for a total above 170. She was bowled by a Deepti Sharma yorker in the 18th over, and Australia still managed 30 runs in the last two overs to reach 172.Ashleigh Gardner’s cameo pushed Australia forward•ICC/Getty Images

Mayhem in the middle

India’s chase started in the worst possible way when Shafali was given out lbw as she missed a flick off Megan Schutt. She was hit above the knee roll and reviewed, with both height and the prospect of the ball missing leg stump on the cards, but was confirmed out on umpire’s call. Five balls later, a Gardner arm ball trapped Smriti Mandhana in her crease as she tried to defend and Australia reviewed on suspicion of pad first. They were right and India had lost their openers.But the worst came in the over after that when Yastika Bhatia, included in the side after last playing in India’s tournament opener, flicked Darcie Brown to Grace Harris at short midwicket and set off for a run even though Rodrigues didn’t move. By the time Bhatia turned to get back, Harris’ throw had already reached Healy, who had the time to run in and break the stumps. India were 28 for 3 in the fourth over.Jemimah Rodrigues and Harmanpreet Kaur took India close•AFP/Getty Images

Rodrigues rides the wave and Harmanpreet falls short

Rodrigues and Harmanpreet were not rattled by the early wickets and took charge of the innings for the next 6.4 overs. Harmanpreet showed few signs of being under the weather and Rodrigues displayed the confidence she showed against Pakistan. Harmanpreet struck India’s first six with a strong swing over long-on and Rodrigues turned it on with two gorgeous lofted off drives off Georgia Wareham. India were 93 for 3 after 10 overs, with the required run rate at eight an over and the pair were going smoothly.Rodrigues started the second half of the innings with another classic drive and then tried to get cute against a Brown short ball. She shaped up to ramp it over Healy’s head but got a thin edge and was caught behind to leave her captain to complete the chase. Harmanpreet got to her fifty off 32 balls and took India to within 40 runs of victory before she was run-out for the first time in nearly five years in T20Is, and India’s lower order couldn’t take them over the line.

MatériaMais Notícias

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