The left-arm orthodox, who played three Tests for Australia in India last year, has signed with Tasmania after not playing any Sheffield Shield cricket for Queensland last summer
AAP23-Apr-2024
Matthew Kuhnemann has moved to Tasmania in a bid to return to Test cricket•Getty Images
Three-Test spinner Matthew Kuhnemann has signed with Tasmania in a bid for red-ball game time ahead of Australia’s tour of Sri Lanka next summer.The 27-year-old didn’t play for his home state of Queensland in last season’s Sheffield Shield and has made the move south with hopes of becoming Tasmania’s No.1 Shield spinner and push his case for an Australia recall ahead of the two-Test tour next year.Kuhnemann, who has 20 first-class matches under his belt, played three Tests for Australia in India in early 2023. After being flown over mid-tour, the left-arm finger spinner took 5 for 16 in his second Test to help Australia beat the hosts at Indore.Related
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“I’m very grateful to be given the opportunity from Tasmania to join their talented squad,” Kuhnemann said on Monday.”I’m excited to get down there, challenge myself, and help contribute to winning games and competitions for Tasmania.”Kuhnemann will be eyeing a spot in Australia’s Test squad for their tour of Sri Lanka in February, after a summer series on home soil against India.He will also be available for 50-over selection for Tasmania and remains contracted to the Brisbane Heat in the Big Bash League.”We are excited to have a player of Matt’s calibre join the Tigers and believe he will play a key role for us in the white-ball format of the game,” Cricket Tasmania high-performance manager Salliann Beams said.”Matt’s left-arm orthodox bowling craft will provide us with a different option to our bowling line-up, as someone who has had success for Australia, and on a national stage in the BBL.”Tasmania lost to Western Australia in March’s Sheffield Shield final, with Jarrod Freeman (18 wickets at 46) their first-choice spinner for the season.Kuhnemann, who has also played four one-day internationals, was stuck behind leg-spinner Mitchell Swepson, who took 30 wickets for the season for Queensland.The Tigers also announced the signing of 22-year-old Queensland quick Will Prestwidge, who played two one-day games for the Bulls across three summers.
Chelsea still have plenty to play for over the next two months as they fight to end the 2024/25 campaign with a trophy to show for their efforts on the pitch.
The Blues have one foot in the semi-finals of the Conference League after they travelled to Poland to hammer Legia Warsaw 3-0 in the first leg of their quarter-final clash on Thursday evening.
Tyrique George opened the scoring, with his first senior goal for the club, and Noni Madueke scored twice to secure a comfortable victory for Enzo Maresca’s side.
The Blues will be hoping to win their first Conference League trophy to claim a piece of silverware in the manager’s first season at the club, whilst also attempting to qualify for the Champions League.
Chelsea are fourth in the Premier League and now know that the top five in the division will qualify for Europe’s premier cup competition, which means that they are in a great position at this moment in time.
Despite the fact that it could be a successful end to the season, the Blues are reportedly active in the market ahead of the summer – with Liam Delap one player who is of interest to the London giants.
Why Chelsea want to sign Liam Delap
It was recently reported that Chelsea are serious about a deal to sign the England U21 international, and that they have already opened talks to snap him up from Ipswich Town.
The 22-year-old striker is set to be relegated to the Championship with the Tractor Boys, who are 12 points adrift with seven matches left to play, and the Blues could take advantage of that to bring the forward to Stamford Bridge this summer.
Ipswich Town'sLiamDelapapplauds fans after the match
Despite Ipswich’s struggles in the Premier League this season, the former Manchester City centre-forward has proven his ability to find the back of the net on a regular basis.
He has scored 12 goals in 30 appearances in the division, despite his team having only scored 31 times in 31 games in the league, and outscored current Chelsea number nine Nicolas Jackson.
As you can see in the graphic above, Delap has been significantly more clinical with the ‘big chances’ that have come his way than Jackson has for the Blues this term.
This may be why Chelsea are interested in signing the English youngster when the summer transfer window opens for business later this year, because he could improve the team’s ruthlessness in the final third.
The Blues, however, have now been linked with interest in a player who could be a even better signing than Delap from another Premier League team.
Chelsea have made contact to sign Premier League star
According to The Athletic’s David Ornstein, Chelsea are one of a number of clubs interested in a deal to sign central defender Dean Huijsen from Bournemouth in the upcoming summer transfer window.
The report claims that Arsenal, Tottenham Hotspur, Newcastle United, and Liverpool are the other Premier League sides keen on a swoop for the Spain international, who has caught the eye with the Cherries this season.
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It states that all four of those clubs, as well as Chelsea, have made contact with the player’s representatives to see where his head is at ahead of the summer.
Ornstein’s report adds that the Spanish centre-back has a £50m release clause in his current contract with Bournemouth, which would allow teams to snap him up without having to have drawn out discussions with his club.
It reveals that the Cherries and Huijsen both want a transfer, or for him to commit to staying at the Vitality, as early as possible in the window, to avoid any late drama.
This means that Chelsea could get a deal for the young central defender wrapped up early, allowing them to focus on other positions later i the window.
Why Huijsen would be a better signing than Delap
Whilst Delap would be an excellent addition to the squad, for the reasons mentioned earlier, Huijsen would be an even better signing for the Blues for several reasons.
Firstly, the Spanish colossus is three years younger than the Ipswich sensation and this means that Chelsea could get more out of him in the long-term, assuming both players are successful and go on to be long-serving performers at Stamford Bridge.
AFC Bournemouth's DeanHuijsenduring the warm up before the match
Secondly, Huijsen is already accustomed to playing in a team that wins games fairly regularly, as Bournemouth are tenth in the division and have won 12 and lost ten. This means that he could hit the ground running for the Blues in a team that is on the front foot and expected to perform well as a team.
Whereas, Ipswich have only won four of their 31 matches and this means that Delap has often been chasing long balls or trying to fashion chances for himself against the run of play, which would be completely different to the way that Chelsea play with their possession-based football under Maresca.
That is not to say that the English ace could not adapt to the new style, but it suggests that Huijsen is less of a gamble and has a greater chance of hitting the ground running.
Delap is also yet to show that he can create chances for his teammates on a consistent basis, with 0.7 key passes per game, three ‘big chances’ created, and just two assists in 30 league matches.
Whereas, Huijsen, who football talent scout Jacek Kulig hailed as “extremely dominant”, has excelled at both parts of the game in his respective position at centre-back, by offering consistent quality in and out of possession.
Non-penalty goals
0.09
Top 10%
Shot-creating actions
1.64
Top 5%
Progressive passes
4.49
Top 20%
Progressive carries
1.45
Top 8%
Blocks
1.50
Top 25%
Interceptions
2.10
Top 1%
Clearances
6.78
Top 4%
As you can see in the table above, the Spain international ranks incredibly highly among his positional peers when it comes to progressing play to create chances in possession, whilst also being an outstanding defender who is typically in the right place at the right time to make vital interceptions and clearances.
This suggests that there are not many, if any, flaws in the 19-year-old star’s game, whilst there does seem to still be some gaps in Delap’s development, and that is why he could be an even better addition than the England U21 international.
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The Blues could bolster their squad by signing both of these young talents in the summer transfer window, but – for the reasons listed here – Huijsen should be their top priority.
أعلن الإسباني خافيير باسكوال، مدرب منتخب مصر لكرة اليد، قائمة المنتخب “دون اللاعبين المحترفين” لخوض معسكر مغلق في أول تجمع للفراعنة تحت قيادته.
ويبدأ منتخب مصر أول تجمعاته يوم الأحد القادم في المركز الأولمبي، ضمن خطة الإعداد للمراحل المقبلة وبداية الاستعداد لكاس الأمم الإفريقية في روندا.
طالع| اتحاد كرة اليد ينفي تصريحات باسكوال بشأن لاعبي منتخب مصر لكرة اليد
ويبدأ منتخب مصر الأول الاستعداد لبطولة إفريقيا المقرر إقامتها في رواندا يناير 2026.
ومن المقرر أن يجتمع الجهاز الفني للمنتخب يوم الأحد المقبل مع اللاعبين المختارين من نجوم الدوري المحلي، بحضور الكابتن خالد فتحي، رئيس الاتحاد، والكابتن مؤمن صفا، المشرف العام على المنتخبات الوطنية في اتحاد كرة اليد. قائمة منتخب مصر لليد استعدادا لبطولة أفريقيا
حراسة المرمى: عبدالرحمن حميد ومحمد إبراهيم ويوسف ناجي ويوسف وليد ومصطفى بيومي.
da leao： O Palmeiras está no mercado em busca de reforçar o elenco para a temporada de 2023. Uma das prioridades do clube é contratar um atacante que atue pela ponta esquerda, carência diagnosticada pela comissão técnica de Abel Ferreira. Um dos nomes debatidos nos bastidores palmeirenses é o de Michael, que atua no Al Hilal, no entanto uma série de obstáculos impediram que uma conversa avançasse. Agora, com o término do Mundial de Clubes, o cenário pode mudar em favor do Verdão.
> Veja classificação e simulador do Paulistão-2023 clicando aqui
Vale destacar que, segundo a apuração do LANCE!, o Alviverde nem chegou a discutir valores com o clube da Arábia Saudita. Ou seja, não houve proposta até aqui. De acordo com o que foi contado à reportagem, a conversa superficial se deu justamente pela negativa em querer negociar o atacante. Dessa forma, os dirigentes do Palmeiras recuaram, mas não descartaram uma nova tentativa.
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da bet7： Na época, o Verdão foi informado que o Al Hilal impediria a saída de qualquer jogador, pois passa por uma punição da Fifa, que proibiu o clube saudita de contratar novos jogadores em duas janelas de transferências. Uma já havia sido cumprida, e acabou de cumprir a segunda no fim de janeiro. Se liberasse algum atleta, não poderia contratar uma reposição bem na véspera do Mundial de Clubes.
O Al Hilal acabou indo longe na competição no Marrocos. Depois de eliminar nos pênaltis os donos da casa do Raja Casablanca, venceu o Flamengo na semifinal e perdeu a final para o Real Madrid-ESP, no último sábado, encerrando sua participação no torneio como vice-campeão do mundo.
> Veja as principais transferências no Mercado da Bola do LANCE!
Em resumo, dois dos principais obstáculos impostos pelo clube saudita foram deixados para trás, ou que poderia reacender as conversas do Palmeiras para tentar contratar Michael. Da parte do jogador, os dirigentes alviverdes já sabem que uma volta ao Brasil é vista com bons olhos e há o interesse em defender o Verdão. Com essas cartas na manga, a negociação pode começar.
Uma coisa é certa: para contar com o atacante, o Alviverde terá de desembolsar um valor considerável. Há um pessimismo em relação a um negócio por empréstimo, portanto somente uma compra em definitivo deve atrair a atenção do Al Hilal. A equipe saudita pagou cerca de 8,5 milhões de dólares (R$ 46 milhões) pelo jogador, o que já seria acima das pretensões palmeirenses.
>Palmeiras admira futebol de Andrey, mas considera o negócio ‘quase impossível’
A avaliação interna no Verdão é de que Michael se encaixaria perfeitamente dentro do que Abel Ferreira planeja para a temporada 2023, mas há o entendimento de que se trata de um negócio com algo grau de dificuldade. A tendência é seguir o interesse e monitorar o andamento das conversas, mas dando espaço para outros nomes serem observados para essa função na ponta esquerda. Um deles é o de Luiz Araújo, do Atlanta United-EUA, cujas conversas também não tiveram avanços.
Arsenal are now preparing an £83m offer for a midfielder, who has been identified as a potential alternative to Real Sociedad’s Martin Zubimendi, according to reports from Spain.
Gunners linked with Zubimendi move
Zubimendi has been a well-known target for the Gunners for quite some time now, with journalist Steve Kay at one stage suggesting a summer deal is almost inevitable, given that personal terms were agreed a long time ago.
“It’s very close, Arsenal will sign him, they will trigger his release clause in the summer of €60m. Personal terms were agreed in March, but that is a normal thing with the player, that’s the first thing you do. That was done long ago.
Club chiefs are hoping to have the move fully wrapped up prior to the summer transfer window, but it is still yet to be made official, and there are now indications the north Londoners could move on to alternative targets.
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Last week, it was revealed Arsenal are looking at Atletico Madrid’s Pablo Barrios, who may be brought in instead of Zubimendi, and there has now been a major update on their pursuit of the midfielder.
According to a report from Spain, the Gunners are now preparing a €100m (£83m) offer for Barrios, having identified him as their main target if a move for Zubimendi alludes them.
Atletico Madrid's PabloBarriosin action with Real Madrid's Fran Garcia
The Sociedad midfielder is still attracting attention from Real Madrid and other European clubs, so it is by no means a certainty the Spaniard moves to the Emirates Stadium this summer.
There is a belief Barrios could fit perfectly into Mikel Arteta’s team, indicating he is an ideal alternative target, but there may be competition from a number of other Premier League clubs, with Chelsea, Tottenham Hotspur and Liverpool expressing interest.
Barrios could be a suitable Zubimendi alternative
Zubimendi seemingly remains Arsenal’s top target in midfield, but there are signs the 21-year-old Atletico man could also be a solid signing, having established himself as a key player for the Spanish side at a young age.
The Madrid-born midfielder has made 27 appearances in all competitions this season, providing two assists, and he has received high praise for his dribbling ability by football talent scout Jacek Kulig, who also dubbed him a “future legend”.
The Spaniard is also extremely adept defensively, ranking in the 90th percentile for interceptions per 90 over the past year, when compared to his positional peers.
Barrios is a well-rounded midfielder, who would be useful for Arteta at both ends of the pitch, but he is not yet showing “world-class” signs, unlike Zubimendi, who should remain the top target.
After criticism from the NWSLPA, the league said future matches will be abandoned in such circumstances
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NWSL acknowledges the game should not have continued King underwent successful surgery for a heart abnormalityNWSLPA issued statement acknowledging league responseFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?
The NWSL issued a statement Friday expressing "regret" for continuing a match after an Angel City player collapsed on the pitch last week, and said it will abandon future matches under such circumstances.
This statement comes after the league declined to abandon the Angel City vs. Utah Royals match last Friday when Savy King collapsed, received more than 10 minutes of medical attention and was transferred to the hospital. Angel City said that King underwent successful heart surgery on Tuesday to address a heart abnormality, adding that her prognosis is "excellent."
The league acknowledged its regret in a social media post, saying "the health and well-being of the entire NWSL community remains our top priority."
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The NWSL received heavy backlash from players, media and fans following its inaction last week. The NWSL Players Association criticized the league this week, saying "these moments demand humanity, sound judgment, and restraint. Any medical emergency that requires the administration of life-saving care should bring play to an end. The match should not have continued."
After the league acknowledged "regret" and plans to alter procedures for any future incidents, the NWSLPA on Friday issued a statement highlighting it as "a meaningful step forward."
"The League's acknowledgement that the game should have ended – and its commitment to adopting this protocol for the future, should it ever be needed – represents a meaningful step forward. It's a change made possible by the strength and unity of our players," it said in a statement. "Player safety is not a slogan. It is a practice. We are grateful that NWSL has listened."
REACTION AFTER THE MATCH
After last Friday's game, Utah Royals manager Jimmy Coenraets suggested the match should have been stopped.
“In those moments, I’m not sure if we should have continued the game,” Coenraets told reporters after the match. “You’re emotionally – not only them but also our players were just scared. That’s not the right situation to be in but in the end, we played on. That’s the decision other people have taken, which is fine.
"It was a really tough moment. It’s the same after the game. Like, what do you want to focus on after the game? Yes, you have the result of the game but you want to make sure people feel safe, healthy and good and I think that was the focus after the game for us.”
Washington Spirit and U.S. women's national team forward Trinity Rodman offered prayers for King and her Family on social media, adding: “In no world should that game have continued.”
WHAT'S NEXT?
King joined Angel City from Bay FC ahead of the 2025 NWSL season from Bay FC.
The NWSLPA said this week that the focus remains on King's recovery.
"Our focus remains on supporting Savy during her recovery, and we ask that her and her family's privacy continue to be respected during this time. We are deeply appreciative of the swift, professional response from the medical staff, emergency personnel and others on site who ensured Savy's safety Friday night."
Dean Foxcroft included in a squad which sees a number of senior players rested before the World Cup
ESPNcricinfo staff02-Sep-2023Lockie Ferguson will captain New Zealand in their ODI series against Bangladesh later this month with Tom Latham among a group of senior players given a break before the World Cup.Latham, currently leading the one-day side in place of Kane Williamson, has been rested from the three-match tour in late September along with Devon Conway, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Glenn Phillips, Mitchell Santner and Tim Southee to allow them a short period at home.Trent Boult will feature along with Kyle Jamieson and Adam Milne. The spin bowling will be shared between Ish Sodhi, Rachin Ravindra and Cole McConchie.Related
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Ferguson recently captained New Zealand in a T20 warm-up match against Worcestershire on the current tour of England.”Lockie is an experienced bowler at the international level, and this is an opportunity for him to really lead from the front with not just the bowling group but the team as a whole,” head coach Gary Stead said. “He stepped into the role for the warm-up matches in England and led a group with a lot of moving parts well.”We have a very full schedule between now until the end of our tour to Pakistan in April including the World Cup and the start of the new World Test Championship cycle so trying to keep players and staff fresh and ready at the right times is paramount,” Stead added.”Balancing workloads also provides opportunities and it’s exciting to have different players in the group and learning in an environment like Bangladesh. It can be a challenging place to tour and getting used to different conditions quickly will be important over the next few months.”Dean Foxcroft, who has recently qualified for New Zealand and made his T20I debut against UAE last month, has been included in the squad.”Any time a player is selected for the first time it’s exciting and Dean’s shown as the [Otago] Volts’ leading white ball run scorer last summer the talent he has,” Stead said. “We were impressed with the way he came into the group with the T20 squad, and this will be another great opportunity to keep learning in our environment.”Mark Chapman and Jimmy Neesham weren’t considered for selection because of the birth of their first children.The three ODIs will take place in Dhaka on September 21, 23 and 26 with the teams then heading to India for the World Cup.New Zealand ODI squad vs Bangladesh Lockie Ferguson (capt), Finn Allen, Tom Blundell, Trent Boult. Chad Bowes, Dane Cleaver, Dean Foxcroft, Kyle Jamieson, Cole McConchie, Adam Milne, Henry Nicholls, Rachin Ravindra, Ish Sodhi, Blair Tickner, Will Young
da esoccer bet： Derby County face Blackburn Rovers in the race to sign a versatile midfielder with the same agent as Craig Forsyth, according to a new report.
Forsyth signs new Derby contract as Eustace targets attackers
da brdice： Earlier this week, Derby announced that experienced defender Forsyth has signed a new two-year contract to remain with the Rams. The left-back’s contract was set to expire at the end of this month, but John Eustace, who was a teammate of Forsyth’s during his playing career, has decided to keep the 36-year-old at the club until 2027.
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Forsyth played 39 times for the Rams in the Championship last season, as they avoided relegation to League One. In those appearances, the defender managed to score an impressive three goals and grab four assists. This latest contract will see Forsyth extend his football career to 20 years, and this contract will also see Derby support him in getting his coaching qualifications.
As Eustace decides to keep valuable experience in his defence, in a fan forum held at Pride Park, the Derby boss has revealed that signing new attackers is a priority for the club this summer, given their lack of goals last season.
Derby County manager JohnEustace
Eustace said, via BBC Sport: “I’d love to play a back four, some exciting attacking wingers and two good strikers.”
This comes as the Rams have agreed a deal with Luton Town to sign striker Carlton Morris, who is set to undergo his medical once he returns from holiday.
Derby face Blackburn in race to sign Russell
The arrivals at Pride Park don’t look to be stopping there, as according to Football League World, Derby are keen on signing midfielder Jon Russell from League One side Barnsley.
It isn’t just the Rams looking at the 24-year-old however; Blackburn Rovers, Oxford United and Stoke City are also keeping an eye on the player’s situation ahead of a potential move.
Russell, who is a former Chelsea academy graduate, has been with the Tykes since January 2023, when he joined from Huddersfield Town.
The Jamaica international has been a key contributor for Barnsley in his two full seasons at the club – he played 31 times during the 2023/24 League One season, as Barnsley reached the play-offs. He then bettered that last term, as he played 40 times in the league, scoring an impressive 11 goals, as well as grabbing two assists.
Jon Russell’s 24/25 League One stats
Apps
40
Starts
34
Goals
11
Chance conversion
19%
Assists
2
Touches per game
38.9
Key passes per game
0.8
Big chances created
4
Duels per game (won)
4.0 (50%)
This report doesn’t claim how much the League One side would want for Russell, but given his contract expires next summer, Barnsley may have to consider cashing in on the midfielder now, before he leaves for nothing.
In further good news for Derby, they may hold an advantage in this race, as Russell, who can play in a defensive role as well as an advanced role in midfield, has the same representatives, Two Touch Agency, as Derby defender Forsyth, who they have of course recently concluded positive talks with.
The CPL winner, who’s hoping to make his West Indies debut next month, wants to build on his experiences in the IPL, the T20 World Cup, and the T10
Deivarayan Muthu29-Nov-2021″Little Vassy, you think you could bat here?”This was Chris Gayle to Dominic Drakes after St Kitts and Nevis Patriots were reduced to 75 for 4, chasing 160 in the CPL final in September this year. Drakes, promoted ahead of Fabian Allen, took on the likes of Wahab Riaz and Kesrick Williams, scoring an unbeaten 24-ball 48 to steer Patriots to their first CPL title. At the post-match presentation, Drakes said that his dad, Vasbert, the former West Indies allrounder, had been more nervous than himself while watching the action from Barbados.Drakes has enjoyed a whirlwind rise in the past few months and is set to become a West Indies international after being called up to the T20I squad touring Pakistan in December.A day after his CPL title-winning exploits, Drakes flew to the UAE to join Mumbai Indians as a net bowler for the second leg of IPL 2021. While he was there, Chennai Super Kings roped him in as a late replacement for the injured Sam Curran, and Drakes went on to win another T20 title in the space of a month (although he didn’t feature in any games). And then he joined West Indies’ T20 World Cup squad as a net bowler.
Vasbert Drakes shirt number 48
Dominic Drakes 48* to win the final of the @CPL 2021
What’s story – injured in Super50 and what a redemption. Congrats young man pic.twitter.com/wKQU02jxP7
— Carlos Brathwaite (@CRBrathwaite26) September 15, 2021
He’s still in the UAE, now part of the Delhi Bulls squad in the Abu Dhabi T10 league, where he has reunited with his Patriots captain Dwayne Bravo and is eyeing his third title in nearly three months.”I wouldn’t say [I’m] a champion [like Bravo] yet. It’s a stretch,” Drakes says. “If someone told me at the start of the year, you would win CPL, you’d go the IPL, Delhi Bulls, I’d have asked: ‘Are you crazy?’ Everything happens so quickly, and wow, sometimes I don’t believe it, honestly. Even at CSK, I felt so welcomed – like you belong there and you’ve been there for years. Here at the Bulls too, the team environment is amazing.”Ten [runs per over] on a day is going good with the ball [in T10]. If I’ve to bat, I’ve to go for more [boundaries] from the first ball to help out the team. It’s challenging to bowl, but exciting to play and watch.”The temperatures are much cooler now than when I joined the IPL for sure. I’m like: ‘Am I in a different place?’ When I came down for practice the first day, I felt like, is it a little chill here for the first time ().”Drakes can hit sixes lower down the order, like he showed in the CPL final, and he can be a pinch-hitting No. 3, like he showed against Deccan Gladiators in the T10. He can bowl the back-of-the-hand slower ball in addition to the standard offcutter, which often dips. His tall frame and high-arm release enable him to find extra bounce from back of a length or short of a length. Plus, he’s a livewire on the field, often patrolling the boundary hotspots.Related
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Drakes’ multi-dimensional skills prompted Bravo to earmark him as one of the allrounders who could replace him in West Indies’ T20I side.”His skippership is absolutely amazing,” Drakes says of Bravo. “He’s always believed in his players and I really look up to him. How he goes about his training, how he goes about his diet at such an old – I don’t want to call him old, but old in terms of cricket years. He has everything down to a tee. Honestly, I’d love to mimic him – his training and stuff.”He’s always had confidence in me, and once you have that confidence from your skipper, you could do anything. He helped me with little things in my game – not just skills but also the mental aspect of the game. He tells me, ‘Be confident and always know what you’re doing and take it one ball at a time.’ That has really helped me.”Drakes is particularly excited to be playing alongside Romario Shepherd, another seam-bowling allrounder who Bravo believes has the potential to slip into his T20I shoes. After bagging 18 wickets in nine games in the CPL, Shepherd has been lethal with the bat in the T10, clubbing an unbeaten 11-ball 39 against Team Abu Dhabi and an unbeaten ten-ball 26 against Gladiators.”He’s amazing and an extremely hard-working cricketer,” Drakes says of Shepherd. “If you look at his performances in the CPL, he had, like, second-most wickets and every time he had a chance, he contributed with the bat, and he’s a phenomenal fielder. Here in T10, if you look at his bowling, he’s really taken it on. I don’t think he went at over ten [runs an over] yet – maybe the odd game.”Drakes on Bravo (right), who captained him in the CPL and the T10: “He’s always believed in his players and I really look up to him. I’d love to mimic him – his training and stuff”•Abu Dhabi T10Drakes’ calendar may be packed right now, but things were a lot different earlier this year. He played only one match in West Indies’ domestic Super50 Cup for Barbados before being ruled out of the rest of the tournament with an ACL tear. Around the same time, he had to deal with the passing of someone close to him.”It was extremely difficult,” he says. “In February, I felt really good and my pace was up, and I bowled a couple of overs and came back at the death. Then I went to dive at a ball at one point. Going back to the hotel room, the physio was telling me I would need surgery and it will take nine months. That was not a very good place. That was at the height of Covid as well – come home by yourself, quarantine. You had a whole week to think about it.”When Patriots’ team management sat down with Drakes before the start of the CPL, they were impressed with his resolve and desire to get fit and succeed despite his recent turmoil.At that point, Drakes wasn’t a CPL regular either. After failing to defend 16 off the final over for the Barbados franchise (then Tridents) on CPL debut in 2018, with his father watching from the dugout as Barbados’ assistant coach, Drakes featured in only seven matches until the start of CPL 2021.He was picked by Patriots in 2019 and retained as their emerging player despite the uncertainty surrounding his fitness and the CPL in general due to Covid. He overcame those fitness concerns and became one of Patriots’ main players in 2021.”From a physical standpoint, we were not able to do much with Drakes,” says Malolan Rangarajan, Patriots’ assistant coach. “The fact that the CPL was a little bit postponed gave him more time to recover and work on his fitness. We were absolutely certain of retaining Drakes – [it] was a no-brainer. We knew the skills he possesses and how he would be able to provide us with that point of difference. If you have watched him in previous years, even though he didn’t have performances like last season, he did show sparks of his ability, both with bat and ball.Drakes took 16 wickets in the CPL and is currently at the top of the charts for Delhi Bulls in the T10 league•CPL T20/ Getty Images”In one of our get-together sessions mid-season, him and Josh [West Indies keeper Joshua Da Silva] and myself sat together and talked about various things. Drakes was very grounded, and they were obsessed to become better cricketers. Whatever he’s getting today is a by-product of that mindset.”If you’d have told him in August that in November-December you’ll be playing in maroon [for West Indies], he’d have laughed it off. I just credit the guy’s determination and he repaid the faith we had in him.”Drakes repaid that faith in spades in the final against St Lucia Kings. On debut in 2018, it was Allen who laid into him in that final over. Three years later, Drakes was bumped up ahead of Patriots’ gun finisher, partly in order to maintain a left-right combination, with Bravo in the middle. With Wahab bowling into the pitch and firing in yorkers, Drakes sat deep in the crease and, once he got the leverage, maintained a strong base and swung for the hills. When Wahab thumped a heavy length and shifted his lines wide of off, Drakes’ foot was out of position, but he still extended his hands and crunched the ball over extra cover for six – a candidate for the shot of the tournament.Drakes has spent most of his time in the UAE since the CPL final, but ahead of his first T10 stint with Bulls, he returned home to Barbados and relived his CPL heroics with his parents.”He’s always nervous,” Drakes says of his father. “Even coming down to T10, he’s like: ‘Make sure, you got this, got that.’ I say: ‘Yes, Daddy, I understand’ (). We actually sat home and watched [the CPL final] it as a family with my mom. After each ball, he would tell me how he was feeling at that time and stuff like that.”That most exciting part of it was when he said my mom was extremely nervous too (). He said that the one part he could never forget was the last ball, because Roston Chase was playing for St Lucia – he plays for Barbados [in domestic cricket]. So a majority of Bajans were watching the game. He said for that one ball everything stopped in Barbados. He couldn’t even hear a car pass.”While Drakes is currently the top wicket-taker for Bulls in the T10 league, with nine wickets from six innings at an economy rate of 9.81, he is yet to fire like can with the bat.Hitting sixes on demand is a difficult skill, more so in T10 cricket, and Drakes says he just goes back to the basics to get it right.”Even at the nets, I don’t try to smash it from the first ball. I try and make sure I’m in a right position – head over ball – and just try and let the instincts take over.”Drakes is keen to avoid complacency and hopes to build on his gains in the past four months. It may not be long before “Little Vassy” becomes Big Vassy.”For me, it’s always trying to be better and not sit back and relaxing,” Drakes says. “I don’t want to look back and say I had a better 2021 than 2022. I always want to be better than last year and better than my last performance. I don’t want to be stagnant – just want to keep training as hard.”
The allrounder revealed she has been nursing an elbow problem after a matchwinning display to start the Ashes
Valkerie Baynes12-Jan-2025
Ash Gardner made a big impact on the opening game of the Ashes•Getty Images
Confidence can go a long way, but it can be quickly over-run and Australia are well aware of both dimensions as they carry the first points of the Women’s Ashes into Tuesday’s second ODI in Melbourne.A four-wicket win led by Ash Gardner’s all-round effort and Alyssa Healy’s half-century in the series opener – worth two points – at North Sydney Oval gave the hosts an early upper hand.But, having gone 6-0 up in the 2023 Ashes in England only to draw eight-all, means this year’s hosts will be checking any natural instinct to feel like they’re properly on top. Adding to their caution will be the fact that England threatened – ever so fleetingly – to make what looked like a straightforward run chase for Australia more difficult than they would have liked.Related
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Alice Capsey’s spilled catch off Ellyse Perry on 7 didn’t prove overly costly after Lauren Bell bowled the dangerous Australian allrounder for 14. But what might have been if Sophie Ecclestone hadn’t dropped Garder, having controlled the ball for a time at mid-off before she tumbled to the ground and it popped out of her grasp, will never be known.At the least it would have provided an intriguing twist if Gardner was dismissed on 31 with Australia needing 22 more runs for victory and what would have been three wickets in hand. As it was, Gardner remained unbeaten on 42 as she and Alana King reeled in the deficit with with 11.1 overs to spare.Gardner and King had also combined with the ball, taking 3 for 19 and 2 for 35 respectively after seamers Kim Garth and Megan Schutt had kept a lid on a nervy England start.For Gardner, it was a continuation of her fine form against India and New Zealand last month after a lean run by her standards with the bat. Against India, she scored fifty and took five wickets in the third ODI, her first international half-century in white-ball cricket since July 2023, her 49 for the Sixers against crosstown rivals Thunder her only innings of note in the most recent WBBL season, where she was more damaging with the ball. She went on to score 74 in the third ODI against New Zealand immediately before this series.”I’ve taken a lot of confidence out of what I was able to do in the New Zealand series,” Gardner said. “To contribute with both bat and ball was something that I wanted to do to start the series off well and take some confidence into the back end of this series. We know that there’s a long way to go in this Ashes series.”We realised that pretty quickly in England last time we were six-nil up and then that got chased down pretty quickly. We could be playing amazing cricket, but England is such a good team and they always find a way.1:19
Gardner ‘super excited’ by Australia’s Ashes potential
“They certainly fought really hard in that series and we know that they’re going to look at this game today and look at the things that they didn’t do too well and the things that they did do well. We know that they’re going to come back firing next game.”Gardner revealed that she has been nursing an elbow problem for a couple of months but insisted it wasn’t an issue.Healy, meanwhile, completed her comeback from a knee injury, scoring 78-ball 70 after returning to wicketkeeping duties for the first time since mid-November in England’s innings.”She’s going to take a lot of confidence out of today,” Gardner said. “Even just watching the way that she was batting through that New Zealand series, she was striking the ball really well and got some starts, but then I think today scoring 70-odd in front of her home crowd as well probably spurs you on as captain, she’s leading from the front.”But I know just from a body point of view that she’s going to take a lot of confidence out of keeping for as long as she did and then being able to back that up at the top of the order, so really pleasing for her and hopefully it’s some signs to come that she can score heaps more runs.”Sometimes you can get caught in chasing a low total, just chasing the total rather than actually just trying to bat properly, and we always speak about if you’re chasing small total, sometimes they’re the hardest to actually chase. Today it will just give our team a lot of confidence. People stood up in different moments, whether that was with bat or the ball, and going forward we can take a lot out of today.”Alyssa Healy made a controlled half-century in the chase•Getty Images
Gardner claimed the important wickets of England’s top-scorer Heather Knight and regular match-winner Nat Sciver-Brunt, both sweeping to Perry at deep midwicket, which will give the tourists something to think about ahead of the next game at Melbourne’s Junction Oval.In fact, it was Australia’s bowling combined with a rash of soft dismissals that restricted England to a below-par score and left them with things to work on.A record crowd for a women’s international at North Sydney Oval of 6236 was a fine start to a series with lofty ambitions for attendance, particularly at the day-night Test at the MCG which closes the contest from January 30.”This is my home ground, I’m from Sydney, I’ve played a lot of cricket here and I’ve played a lot of successful games of cricket here for either the Sixers or Australia,” Gardner said. “So I guess to start the series off in front of what that crowd was, hopefully it leads to more crowds like that throughout the rest of the series.”We are playing at some really cool venues, so to hopefully play some entertaining cricket throughout the series will, fingers crossed, draw people in to come and watch us and hopefully lead to some more success.”