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Wolves striker Jorgen Strand Larsen has put pen to paper on a bumper five-year deal, with the option to extend it by another season. It’s a massive show of faith in the 25-year-old, who rattled in 14 goals on loan from Celta Vigo last season before sealing a £23 million ($34m) permanent move in July. Now, despite heavy interest from Newcastle United, Wolves have made sure their star man isn’t going anywhere without a fight.

• Pereira commits, Strand Larsen follows

  It’s been a week of loyalty pledges at Molineux. Just a day before Strand Larsen inked his new contract, manager Vitor Pereira signed his own three-year extension. The message is crystal clear: Wolves are building for the long haul, with stability at the heart of their vision.

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• Strand Larsen speaks from his heart

  “I’ve been incredibly happy here at Wolves,” Strand Larsen said in a statement. “Signing a new deal shows that my commitment is here, I’m happy here, I love all my friends and teammates, the fans are amazing, and we just want to make it a better season than last year. The most important thing for me is to come back to the pitch and for us to start winning and get out of the bad start we had.”

• When Newcastle were left fuming

  The Magpies came knocking hard in the summer, testing Wolves’ resolve with two offers, the biggest valued at £55m ($74m). But the Midlands club held firm, batting away the interest and doubling down with a fresh deal for their talisman.

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  Back from the treatment table

  The challenge for Strand Larsen now is to kick on. Last year’s haul of 14 goals and four assists proved he can deliver in the Premier League. Moreover, the timing of the extension couldn’t be better. Strand Larsen has been sidelined for the past two games with an Achilles injury, but he’s expected to make his return this Saturday against Leeds United.

Tottenham are now thought to be the most serious side about signing a £70 million defender who's been called "similar" to star centre-back Micky van de Ven.

Ange admits Spurs could sign another centre-back after Dragusin

The £25 million signing of Radu Dragusin from Genoa in January was thought to be a significant deal for Spurs, as they were starved of quality alternatives to van de Ven and Cristian Romero at the time.

Tottenham could now offer Gil in swap move for prolific £17 million striker

This is an “attractive” proposal.

ByEmilio Galantini Jun 12, 2024

The latter star's hamstring injury last November seriously exposed Spurs' lack of defensive depth. Indeed, van de Ven's absence midway through 23/24 prompted a brief but poor run of form, and perhaps alerted Lilywhites transfer chiefs to the glaring weakness in Ange Postecoglou's squad.

A move for Dragusin was then swiftly completed in the winter window, with the Romanian seriously helping to bolster Postecoglou's back line. His presence also allowed Spurs to cover for the injured Destiny Udogie at the end of last season, with van de Ven moving to left-back and Dragusin taking his usual spot in the centre.

Sheffield United 0-3 Tottenham

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Aston Villa 0-4 Tottenham

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Tottenham 2-1 Luton Town

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Fulham 3-0 Tottenham

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However, despite the 22-year-old's arrival at N17, Postecoglou has previously admitted that Spurs could look to sign another centre-back this summer – as they eye even more cover.

“If you’re saying, ‘Is it an area we can strengthen?’, yes it’s an area we will probably look at”, the Tottenham manager said.

“With all these things, it’s about trying to strengthen the group as much as anything else. If you think about when I first arrived, we had maybe six or seven centre-backs at the club. So it’s not just numbers. It’s more about the ability of those players to play the football we want and to fit in to what we’re trying to build here.

“I think it is an area of the park we will look to strengthen, but I think we’ll look to strengthen all areas of the park come the end of the season. That is planning that’s already underway, and other people are in charge of it at the moment.”

Tottenham made an offer to Tosin Adarabioyo before he joined Chelsea, as revealed by club insider Paul O'Keefe at the time. Spurs also held an interest in signing Lloyd Kelly on a free transfer from Bournemouth, but the Englishman is on his way to Newcastle United instead (Simon Stone, BBC).

With both free deals out of the window, Spurs apparently have their eyes on a far more expensive option in Nottingham Forest star Murillo.

Tottenham most serious side in race for Murillo

The Brazilian, who starred for Forest over his 32 Premier League starts, is also being chased by their north London rivals.

That is according to Football Transfers, who also claim that Tottenham have shown the most interest in signing Murillo at this point. They may need to stump up a considerable transfer fee, though, and it could be as high as £70 million.

FT have also called Murillo "similar" to van de Ven, which is an enticing comparison when considering just how crucial the 23-year-old is to Spurs.

The LSG captain said they were “20-25 runs short” after making 171 at the Ekana Stadium

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Apr-20252:13

Rapid Fire: How big a concern is Pant’s form?

Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) started IPL 2025 with two big totals in away games – even though one resulted in a very slim loss – but when they got to Lucknow for their first home game, they fell “20-25 runs short” after they were put in to bat because they are “still assessing” the conditions at the Ekana Stadium and captain Rishabh Pant said he is “still figuring out a lot of things for the team.”LSG managed 171 for 7 against Punjab Kings (PBKS) and saw the visitors chase that down in just 16.2 overs with eight wickets in hand.”Definitely [our total] wasn’t enough, we were like 20-25 runs short but that’s part and parcel of the game,” Pant said after the game. “It’s our first home game so still assessing the conditions.”LSG went for a track on the slower side, but it came back to bite them after they were asked to bat by PBKS captain Shreyas Iyer. The hosts stuttered to 35 for 3 in the fifth over as Pant fell for a third low score of 2 off five balls to follow a duck and 15 in the first two outings, and finished the first six overs with just 39 on the board, their slowest powerplay of this IPL.”Definitely it’s always going to be tough to get a big total when you lose early wickets, but that’s how the game progresses every day, like you can’t control everything,” Pant said. “Each and every player is trying to take the game forward from there.”When it was time for LSG to defend their below-par total, Pant used three overs of spin – two from Digvesh Rathi and one from Ravi Bishnoi – hoping that the slowness of the track would get him success, but only Rathi got the wicket of Priyansh Arya while Bishnoi was taken apart for 15 runs by Prabhsimran Singh.”The idea was to get a slower wicket because we felt that it was a home game, it’s going to stop a little bit. And I think when you were bowling slow into the wicket, they were still sticking in but we weren’t good enough on the given day. We going to learn from it and move forward.”LSG now have two losses from their first three games but have three more home games out of their next four to get used to the conditions at Ekana.”It’s early in the tournament, can’t say much, still figuring out a lot of things for the team but hopefully it’s going to come nicely for us.”2:11

Aaron: Bishnoi needs to take more responsibility

After Prabhsimran set the base with a 34-ball 69, Iyer sealed his side’s second straight victory, staying unbeaten on 52 off 30 balls. Nehal Wadhera, who was not out on 43 off 25 at the other end, said “all the credit” went to Iyer for the way he is leading them.”All credit goes to the way he’s captaining us and also the way he is boosting our confidence and the way he was telling me things, like, ‘play your natural game, just go with the flow,’ and I just love playing like that,” Wadhera said.Wadhera came on as an Impact Player, in place of Yuzvendra Chahal after he had bowled out, and said he didn’t even know when he reached he ground that he was going to play and was carrying just the one kit for the day. Wadhera was bought by PBKS after playing for two seasons for Mumbai Indians, and is now under a new captain and a new coach, Ricky Ponting.”He’s one of the best coaches I have ever worked under,” Wadhera said. “I’ve never heard any negative talk ever from his mouth and that’s the best thing about him. He just talks positive and when a coach gives you such positive remarks, that automatically boosts your confidence.”

Majestic batting from Nat Sciver-Brunt, middle-overs acceleration from Hayley Matthews, and power-hitting from Harmanpreet Kaur helped Mumbai Indians post a daunting total of 213 in the Eliminator. That proved to be too much to chase down, and Mumbai’s 47-run win extended their head-to-head dominance over Gujarat Giants to 7-0 and powered them into their second WPL final in three years. On Saturday, they will face Delhi Capitals in a repeat of the 2023 finale.Giants were without Deandra Dottin for their first knockout game in three WPLs after the allrounder hurt herself only five minutes before the toss, and was replaced by England’s Danielle Gibson. Giants didn’t do themselves any favours as they misfielded through the innings and put down four catches that cost them heavily. In the run chase, they lost their three top-scorers this season – Beth Mooney, Harleen Deol and Ashleigh Gardner – in the powerplay as Mumbai held on to their catches and effected run-outs.Phoebe Litchfield scored a quickfire 31 off 20 balls, but once she was stumped off Amelia Kerr, Giants were all but out of the chase at 107 for 5, with the asking rate above 13 an over.

Matthews, Sciver-Brunt set solid platform

Put in to bat, Mumbai went back to opening with Yastika Bhatia, but it didn’t change her fortunes. After collecting three boundaries in her 14-ball stay during a sedate powerplay in which MI didn’t take too many risks, Bhatia pulled Gibson to midwicket to fall for 14.The wicket brought out the in-form Sciver-Brunt, who didn’t bat an eyelid to get going alongside Matthews, who started with only 17 runs off her first 22 balls before taking off. Sciver-Brunt took the aerial route straightaway. She ended the seventh over with consecutive boundaries, which Matthews followed up by smacking three of her own off the next three balls from Priya Mishra to power the run rate past eight an over. Three of those five consecutive fours came off short deliveries, a length the Giants bowlers often bowled and got punished for.Their sloppy fielding didn’t help either, leading to a number of boundaries. The first came in the ninth over when Sciver-Brunt drove to deep cover, where Simran Shaikh let the ball go through her. Soon after, Sciver-Brunt reverse paddled Gardner for her fifth boundary in 12 balls. Kashvee Gautam then let one through at point when Matthews cut one square. By then, Matthews had started to find her A game, and a six off Tanuja Kanwar’s short ball brought her fifty up off 36 balls, and the team’s 100 in 11 overs.With Mumbai at 111 for 1 after 12 overs, Meghna Singh and Mishra brought some sort of balance back by conceding only 13 runs in two overs. But from the cushion of 124 for 1 with six overs to go, it was time to floor the pedal.Harmanpreet Kaur smashed 36 off just 12 balls•BCCI

Harmonster demolishes Giants again

Harmanpreet already had her helmet on in the dugout, and was shadow-practicing her big swings while waiting for her chance. Sciver-Brunt deposited Gibson over deep midwicket and long-on to raise a 29-ball fifty. Giants, meanwhile, continued their wretched run on the field when the reliable Gardner dropped Matthews on 57 straight down the ground.Matthews made them pay immediately, hitting Mishra for back-to-back sixes over long-on and cover with deft footwork. Such was Mumbai’s luck that even a top-edge off the next ball went for four. But that luck ran out when Matthews edged Gautam behind for 77 off 50 balls, and Mooney took a sharp catch standing up.Harmanpreet averaged nearly 79 against Giants before this game, and the number could have fallen had Mishra held on to a catch at midwicket when she was on 1. But Mishra didn’t, and Harmanpreet became Harmonster. She went deep in the crease and opened her stance to cart the ball around, whether it was in the slot or not.Harmanpreet started the 18th over by hammering Kanwar for 6, 4, 4 – even that sequence included a misfield – before ending the over with her trademark slog-sweep for six. That over went for 22 in all. Sciver-Brunt also got a life in the next over – sandwiched between two boundaries off Gibson – when Kanwar made a mess of a skier. Giants were punished yet again next ball, but finally ended the partnership when Litchfield caught one at deep midwicket, leaving Sciver-Brunt seven short of 500 runs this season, and three short of 1000 in the WPL overall.Harmanpreet was gifted two balls in the slot at the start of the last over, and she happily collected sixes off both. Meghna, however, finished well, giving away just two off the next three balls before nailing a yorker that led to Harmanpreet being run out for 36.Danielle Gibson’s dive wasn’t enough for Amanjot Kaur’s flat throw from the deep•BCCI

Mumbai’s fielders show how it’s done

It took only five balls for the hosts to show their superiority in the field on the night, despite the presence of dew. When Shabnim Ismail drew Mooney’s edge, Matthews leapt to her right from first slip to grab the ball with both hands. When Harleen Deol and Gibson got into a mix-up in the fifth over, 20-year-old Sanskriti Gupta put in a dive at point and hurled the ball quickly to the wicketkeeper to find Deol short. And just before the halfway mark, Gibson also fell short when attempting a second run, and her dive wasn’t enough to beat Amanjot Kaur’s flat throw from the deep.In between, Gardner lost her off stump against Matthews, which meant Giants were 43 for 3 in the powerplay. Litchfield was their only hope and she used her feet regularly against Kerr and struck two boundaries against Ismail that showed her class on either side of the wicket. But when Litchfield ventured out of the crease against Kerr once again and missed, Bhatia did the rest to leave Giants 107 for 5.

Another run-out and Giants go down

Giants hardly had any steam left in their tank, and their poor running added to their misery. Next to fall short was Gautam, who was sent back when she hurried out for a quick single after drilling the ball to cover, from where Harmanpreet fired the ball back for the sixth wicket.With another 102 runs to get from the remaining 42 balls, and their top five back in the hut, Giants’ only hope of getting anywhere close to their target was Bharti Fulmali. She started with a straight six off Amanjot, dispatched Kerr to the leg-side boundary, and flayed Matthews for consecutive boundaries behind square. But when Fulmali backed away looking for a third boundary in a row, Matthews beat her attempted cut and knocked the stumps over.Mumbai continued their stellar fielding display as Harmanpreet took a diving catch to send Shaikh back, and Sciver-Brunt ran to her left at deep midwicket to seal victory in the last over.

تمكن فريقا الزمالك والبنك الأهلي من تسجيل هدفين في 3 دقائق خلال اللقاء الجاري الآن ضمن منافسات مسابقة الدوري المصري الممتاز.

ويلتقي الزمالك مع البنك الأهلي، على استاد السلام، في الجولة الافتتاحية من مسابقة الدوري المصري الممتاز موسم 2024 – 2025.

طالع..فيديو | ناصر ماهر يسجل هدف الزمالك الأول أمام البنك الأهلي

وسجل محمد هلال هدف تعادل البنك الأهلي في الدقيقة 50، من عمر المباراة من ركلة جزاء تحصل عليها ياو أنور.

وفي الدقيقة 53 سجل ناصر منسي، هدف الزمالك الثاني من كرة رأسية بعد عرضية رائعة من ناصر ماهر.

وكان ناصر ماهر قد أحرز هدف الزمالك الأول، بعد عرضية من عبد الله السعيد قابلها ماهر بتسديدة داخل الشباك في الدقيقة 38.

يذكر أن الموسم الماضي من بطولة الدوري احتل الزمالك المركز الثالث برصيد 60 نقطة، جمعها من خلال الفوز في 17 لقاء وتعادل 9 مرات وخسر 8 مواجهات.

ويشهد هذا الموسم تغييرًا في شكل ونظام بطولة الدوري المصري، حيث سيُلعب من دور واحد، على أن يتم تقسيم الدور الثاني لمجموعتي حسم اللقب والهروب من الهبوط، بواقع 9 فرق في كل منهما، ليصبح عدد مباريات كل فريق 25 مباراة بدلًا من 34. هدف تعادل البنك الأهلي أمام الزمالك

  هدف الزمالك الثاني أمام البنك الأهلي

da dobrowin： Southampton would have come away from the 2-1 win at Leeds United on the action-packed final day in the Championship full of confidence again, having lost their last three league encounters before this joyous trip to West Yorkshire.

da esoccer bet： The Saints constantly troubled a nervous Leeds side on their own turf, with Kyle Walker-Peters' awareness for Southampton's second on the day showing the desire of Russell Martin's men in spades with the right-back gambling on the ball not going out of play, to then tee up Will Smallbone to fire home.

Not everything went swimmingly, however, despite the positive final scoreline with Che Adams limping off in the second half with a worrying knock.

This would be a major blow for Martin's men if the Saints goal machine isn't fit enough for the drama of the playoffs, having come into his own in recent months up top for the promotion-chasers.

Che Adams' numbers this season

Often seen in the shadow of Adam Armstrong's immense goalscoring numbers at St. Mary's, with the experienced former Newcastle United man bagging 21 goals this season, Adams is standing out in his own right now for Martin's side.

With Armstrong drafted out to the right wing for large portions of this campaign, the Scotland international has led the line as the lone striker predominantly with his prolific edge in front of goal shining in the process.

The 27-year-old forward is only four goals behind his deadly teammate, with five of his 15 second-tier goals for the season coming in a fruitful April for the ex-Birmingham City man.

If Adams' knock is a serious one, the composed Saints number ten would leave a gaping hole in attack when such crunch matches are crying out for the 5 foot 9 striker to excel in.

Still, the absence of Adams could prepare Southampton for an uneasy summer to come with the 27-year-old out of contract and waiting to be snapped up by many a Premier League suitor.

This could give another striker in the Saints camp the impetus to make the gaping hole left by Adams their own if he isn't fit for the matches to come, with one returning attacker desperate to make an impression.

The players who could replace Adams

One bold candidate to take Adams' place could be Ross Stewart, with the former Sunderland man finally tasting more second-tier action for the South Coast club against Leeds after being in the treatment room for most of this campaign.

This seven-minute run-out could well have been Martin assessing whether or not the Scotsman still looked rusty, with the forgotten 27-year-old going on to win 100% of his ground duels as a lively late option in West Yorkshire.

Having netted six goals in Scotland with Alloa Athletic and with Sunderland in their respective playoff structures, Stewart could thrive under the intense strain of the tense matches to follow if given a chance by Martin.

The safer play by the 38-year-old boss against West Bromwich Albion over two legs could be to reintroduce Sekou Mara into the first-team fold, with the Frenchman deemed not fit enough for a spot on the bench against Leeds but should be ready for the playoffs.

Mara has starred in flashes for his promotion-seeking side this season, with six goals managed in all competitions from 33 matches.

Yet, there must be some temptation on Martin's end to throw Stewart in at the deep end instead with one of his ex-Sunderland teammates Alex Pritchard describing the striker as "unbelievable" when securing the Black Cats promotion to the second-tier back in 2022. Could he fancy another big promotion moment on his CV?

Arsenal head into their crunch clash with Manchester City on Easter Day sat top of the Premier League.

A win for Liverpool a few hours before may well bump them down but the fact remains, this is a pretty good time to be a fan of the Gunners.

They have recovered from a mini-slump around the New Year period to crash home a bucket load of goals in their pursuit of domestic and continental glory.

Mikel Arteta and Edu have also concluded some important business behind the scenes over that time, tying down defenders Takehiro Tomiyasu and Ben White to new contracts.

White now sits on a pretty pay packet of a reported £150k-per-week, extending his stay in north London until 2028 at the least.

That said, PR surrounding White hasn't all been positive over the last fortnight with his unwillingness to play for England being revealed by Gareth Southgate.

Ben White's situation with England

To date, White has only earned four caps for the England national team but it doesn't appear as though he'll be adding to that total anytime soon.

The right-back was part of the squad for the last Euros and was also part of the World Cup squad in Qatar, a richly deserved call-up for his progression with Arsenal.

Sadly, the 26-year-old didn't feature in either tournament and as has been well documented now, left the World Cup early.

The reason? Well, an alleged altercation of sorts with one of Southgate's coaches, Steve Holland.

The Athletic believe that Holland wasn't a great fan of White's attitude, with the coach reportedly calling the defender out for not taking things seriously enough. Southgate denies any disagreement staunchly, but it's led to the £50m man making himself unavailable for his national team.

That said, speaking in his pre-international break press conference, the England boss is still open to a return to the setup for the Arsenal star.

He commented: "On form, I can't sit here and say [White] doesn't deserve to be in. John McDermott [technical director] had a call from Edu last week to say Ben didn't want to be considered for England squads at this time.

"That's a great shame, he's a player I really like, he's a player we took to the Euros when he was at Brighton, to the World Cup. I spoke to him post-Qatar, because I wanted to pick him. There was clearly reticence from his side, I don't know fully why that is."

The reaction has been quite something with some in the footballing sphere criticising the defender. However, some, like Lee Dixon have shown a little more understanding of the situation.

What Lee Dixon has said about Ben White

Speaking to Football FanCast on behalf of BetVictor Casino Dixon wasn't too critical of White's decision.

The well-known pundit said: "He might be sitting there in 15 – 20 years time and going 'oh, I wish I would have played for England' but that’s up to him.

"I’ve gone on record before as saying if he doesn't play, we don't know the full reasons and we might never know the full reasons, that’s up to him. If he doesn't want to play. Okay, fine. Well, thanks for trying. Who's next? That's exactly where I sit with it."

The former Arsenal man followed that up by suggesting the pressure of playing for your country could have been a further reason behind White's decision, using his own playing career as an example.

Like Arsenal's current number 4, Dixon never appeared at a major tournament for England, having made the first of his 22 caps in April 1990. He endured a period of international exile between 1994 and 1999 when he made his final outing for England in a 2-0 defeat against France.

Detailing that experience, the 60-year-old warned White that the pressure may well be even greater if and when he does play for the Three Lions again: "When I came back to play for England when I was in my late 30s and I got called back by Howard Wilkinson the pressure that I was under then after seven years out was huge. I didn't enjoy it. I played one game and I really didn't enjoy it.

"I was at a time in my career – he’s not at that – he’s a lot younger and it's different, but I can relate to it if it is a pressure thing. I felt that when I first played for England it’s a different pressure because you want to play and I would always want to play for England, but he doesn't so fine. There's the line, thanks a lot, shake his hand and get on with it."

Ray Parlour raves over Arsenal star who is "very similar" to Overmars

Speaking to FFC, Ray Parlour gave us insight into the mindset of Gabriel Martinelli.

By
Matt Dawson

Feb 6, 2024

da 888casino： Manchester United are ready to sell a £350,000-a-week player this summer who reportedly regrets joining the club.

Sir Jim Ratcliffe’s busy Sunday

da esoccer bet： Sir Jim Ratcliffe had a frantic Sunday, running the London Marathon before heading over to Wembley to watch Man Utd’s FA Cup semi-final against Coventry City.

When he arrived at Wembley for the second half, the Red Devils were in control of the tie before giving up a 3-0 lead to the Championship side. They almost threw it away in extra time but managed to prevail on penalties, with Ratcliffe saying prior to the game that patience is required among the Old Trafford fanbase.

“We're not there with football yet. One of the biggest problems with football is you get these new guys coming into the team, they're capable people but they're all on gardening leave. It's a big problem in football. The fans are impatient. It's a journey, they have to be patient. It's not a light switch. We will turn it around.”

Ratcliffe’s gardening leave comments appear to point towards Newcastle United’s Dan Ashworth, who is wanted as sporting director at Old Trafford. Should Ashworth arrive in time for the summer, he may work closely with new technical director Jason Wilcox, who has joined from Southampton. A number of incomings and outgoings could be on the cards ahead of Ratcliffe’s first full season as co-owner, and by the looks of things, they are ready to sell one player.

Man Utd ready to sell Casemiro

According to Football Insider, Man Utd are ready to sell Casemiro this summer. This comes after a poor performance at Wembley where the Brazilian turned out at centre-back alongside Harry Maguire, missing his penalty in the shootout.

Sources have told FI that ‘United now feel Casemiro is unsuited to their side and are ready to consider offers for his services in the summer’, looking to get his huge £350,000-a-week base salary off the books at Old Trafford.

Casemiro hasn’t exactly had the best of times in Manchester lately, with Jamie Redknapp slamming the 32-year-old midfielder after United's draw against Bournemouth earlier this month.

“I love watching him play. But right now he looks like he’s in Soccer Aid. He looks like he’s playing at such a pace where the game is a bit of fun and there’s celebrities coming on the pitch. No. This is the Premier League, you’ve got so much experience. That isn’t the case of anything else apart from running.”

Related Ratcliffe in contact with a "top manager" to replace Ten Hag at Man Utd

The manager is a genius in the Champions League.

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There have also been reports this season that Casemiro ‘regrets’ his decision to leave Real Madrid for Man Utd back in 2022, so parting ways with the midfielder could be best for all involved this summer. The Red Devils also appear to have replacements lined up for the Brazilian, with Fluminense defensive midfielder Andre a reported concrete target, so the coming months could represent a new era both on and off the pitch.

Kapp, van Niekerk’s wife, has since recovered but recognised her illness could be down to her vegetarian diet

Firdose Moonda23-Apr-2020

ICC via Getty

It’s difficult enough having to decide if you will risk fielding your team’s premier allrounder in a World Cup semi-final after they the player has taken ill, but that decision was made even tougher for South Africa captain Dané van Niekerk because that player is also her wife. Marizanne Kapp, the fast-bowling allrounder who married van Niekerk in 2018, suffered a viral infection during the recent T20 World Cup in Australia, which ultimately kept her out of the rain-reduced, crunch knockout game.ALSO READ: Marizanne Kapp and Dane van Niekerk tie the knot (2018)”I was very conflicted. It was a very difficult decision,” van Niekerk said during a joint press conference with Kapp during South Africa’s nationwide lockdown. “I was sitting with [coach] Hilton Moreeng, and we had a lot of time [to decide] because of the weather. He is a family guy and I said to him it was difficult for me to know [what to do].”But the way she looked, it would have been wrong for us to push her to play a game. Yes, it was a semi-final and it was very important but with a team like ours, I am sure we will get into more semi-finals and she will get her shot to play in another semi-final. Having said that Nadine de Klerk did very well. I couldn’t have asked for more.”De Klerk took 3 for 19 as South Africa kept Australia to 134 for 5 in their 20 overs and DLS calculations left them with a target of 98 in 13 overs. They fell short by five runs and missed out on a first major tournament final but for van Niekerk and Kapp, there was more at stake.Kapp first felt fatigued before South Africa’s group-stage match against Pakistan but decided to ignore the symptoms. “I made the choice to play the game against Pakistan where I wasn’t 100%,” she said. “But that day it happened to be 30 degrees or higher, so I think that just put my body into shock and I didn’t recover after that.”She scored 31 off 32 balls in that match, batting at No.3, to help South Africa recover from 17 for 2 to 136 for 6, but was unable to bowl. South Africa, however, defended the total to guarantee a place in the semi-finals, which allowed Kapp to skip the final league-stage match against West Indies to give herself time to recover for the semi-final. But she didn’t, and she still isn’t quite sure why. “We did a lot of tests in Australia and when we got home and I am sick and tired of giving blood but we couldn’t find anything,” Kapp said. “I was still quite sick when I got home and was off for another two or three weeks.”Kapp has since recovered but recognised this as part of an ongoing problem (she also sat out matches on South Africa’s tour to New Zealand) which may have something to do with her nutrition. “I am a vegetarian, so I don’t always eat as well as I should,” she said, touching on a topic that will be further highlighted in a feature for next month. “Sometimes if I have a really tough game or training session, I seem to get sick the next day.”Nadine de Klerk finished with 3 for 19•Getty Images

That cycle of optimal fitness and severe slumps is tricky for Kapp to manage, especially because she can’t get enough of being on the field. She described herself as being “quite annoyed” with the current stay-at-home exercise enforced by the global coronavirus pandemic, which saw South Africa’s home series against Australia postponed and threatens to do the same to their away tours to West Indies and England. But on the positive side, it’s allowing Kapp some time to discover there is more to life beyond the game.”Even though I didn’t want this break, it’s a good break for me,” Kapp said. “I love watching cricket and talking about cricket but Dané is the one that has tried to teach me that cricket isn’t everything. Because to me, cricket is everything.”Kapp and van Niekerk have occupied themselves with keeping fit and projects around the house, though Kapp has yet to explore the kitchen. “I wish I could say that Marizanne has started cooking but that hasn’t happened,” van Niekerk said. “I’ve become a bit of a DIY person and I’ve been plastering walls and things like that. And we’ve got some gym equipment downstairs.”Both of them are still eyeing being able to play for the Oval Invincibles in The Hundred and the WBBL, where they represent the Sydney Sixers, but understand that those tournaments may not take place. If that is the case, their focus will shift to preparing for next year’s ODI World Cup in New Zealand where van Niekerk will captain South Africa to a fourth world tournament. Naturally, she will hope for a fully-fit Kapp to be available but has promised no special favours.”She says I am tougher on her than anyone else in the team. I think we are just trying to set the precedent that when we are around the team and we are training and playing, it’s strictly a professional relationship and anything personal stays off the field,” van Niekerk said. “Obviously, we’ve had our fights on the field but I am a bit more tough on her because I just want to show the team that there is no favouritism. We are there to do a job and we need to be professional.”But there’s also the human element and both van Niekerk and Kapp acknowledged that having the same profession has an obvious advantage. “When you see how your team-mates miss their partners on a tour, you realise that we are always lucky enough to have each other there, especially when it’s not going well,” Kapp said.

‘We have to get the cricketing world to respect West Indies cricket again,’ says veteran allrounder

Nagraj Gollapudi28-Mar-2020

It rained sixes with Andre Russell at his destructive best•Associated Press

Andre Russell is one of the most valuable players in T20 cricket, and now his West Indies team-mate Dwayne Bravo has likened the Jamaican to “our Chris Gayle, our Brian Lara” in T20Is. Bravo’s praise came in the wake of Russell’s impactful return during the two-match T20I series in Sri Lanka, which was also the first series he played for West Indies since being ruled out of the 2019 World Cup due to an injury.West Indies won the series 2-0 with Russell playing a big hand, scoring 35 off 14 balls in the first T20I and 40 off 14 in the second. The latter was, in particular, a whirlwind knock as Russell packed six sixes to add to the four he hit in the first match, enough to fetch the Player-of-the-Series award.”He’s the best in the world,” Bravo, who was part of the West Indies side, said in praise of Russell in a chat with Trinidad-based radio station I955 FM on Friday. “It’s the same I used to say of Chris Gayle when Chris Gayle was in his prime – we are happy to have him representing us, we didn’t have to come up and bowl against him in an international match. It’s the same with Andre Russell. Andre Russell now is our Chris Gayle, is our Brian Lara, in the T20 format. He is the superstar.”The Sri Lanka T20I series was Bravo’s second in the West Indies dressing room after he came out of retirement this January for the home T20I series against Ireland. That series was Bravo’s first international assignment after 2016, the last time he had played for West Indies.ALSO READ: Who is the MVP across all T20 leagues over the last 12 months?Despite being the defending T20 World Cup champions, West Indies have been inconsistent in a format where most of their players have become household names. Last November they lost 2-1 to Afghanistan the T20I series played in India. Another 2-1 defeat followed immediately in the T20I series against India. In January this year, they bounced back in the final game of the three-match T20I series against Ireland to level the series 1-1 with one game washed out. Then they started the Sri Lanka tour losing the ODI series 3-0 before winning the T20I series. According to Bravo, the team management, led by captain Kieron Pollard and head coach Phil Simmons, had acknowledged that there was a lot of work to be done with West Indies preparing to defend their title in the T20 World Cup, scheduled for October-November in Australia this year. Bravo said the team had set itself the bigger goal of making West Indies once again the “dominant” team in world cricket.”Prior to that [T20I series in Sri Lanka], we weren’t really consistent as a team over the years in T20 cricket,” Bravo said. “With the 3-0 loss in the ODI series, we T20 guys had a chat among ourselves along with the management and made a pledge that we want to start back winning series. We said we wanted to be back being the most dominant team in the T20 format.”We have produced some of the best players in the world and when we are together in the same team, we have to stamp our authority, and to get the cricketing world to respect West Indies cricket again and especially West Indies’ T20 team. We said, ‘All hands on deck, let’s start with this Sri Lanka series and make sure we send the message.’ Yeah, that’s what we did.”Bravo said the depth of talent in the West Indies T20 set-up could be gauged from the fact that he, despite being the most experienced player in the squad, had to bat at a position he had never batted at previously. “When the coach wrote the batting line-up, I was down to bat at number nine. I said to the guys, ‘This is the first time I’ve ever been in a T20 team and I’m down to bat at number nine.'”Putting all egos aside, I’m happy with that because at the end of the day, I accept the fact guys like Rovman Powell and Fabian Allen and [Shimron] Hetmyer, the talent and the ability they have to hit the ball, I’m just happy to be like that – father-figure, mentor, guide, to allow these young boys to go out there and showcase their talent to the world. All of us are on the same page, no egos in the dressing room, one common goal to just win cricket games and dominate.”