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To watch Mitchell Johnson zip the ball through at pace on a bouncy Potchefstroom pitch, to see him curve the ball just enough to trouble the batsmen, it was impossible not to think back to his tour of South Africa in early 2009. On that trip, Johnson was at times unplayable, his combination of aggression, speed and swing a menace to South Africa’s strong batting line-up.At the time, it seemed Johnson could have been anything. In the two and a half years since, he has been everything: hero, villain, leader, follower, superstar, nobody. Back then he was the spearhead, the new-ball star who had just demolished Graeme Smith’s men – and his hand – in Australia.A new-look Australian attack was being built around him, but within two years he was being fitted in around the rest of the bowling group. On the last day before his thirtieth birthday, Johnson showed that he can still deliver some of those same traits that made him a champion in 2009, with his effort against South Africa A.There was a hint of his aggression, when he banged in a bouncer that JP Duminy couldn’t escape, his bat fending the ball down accidentally. There were moments of swing, perhaps most impressively an inswinging yorker that ended the innings by bowling the No.11 Marchant de Lange. And there was speed that troubled both batsmen and the wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, who at least once failed to get his hands in position in time to collect Johnson’s delivery.It wasn’t the Johnson of 2009, but it was a recognisable imitation. Admittedly, the conditions could hardly have been more helpful. Peter Siddle was equally difficult for the South Africans to handle, and Vernon Philander troubled Australia’s batsmen later in the day. Australia went in without Pat Cummins and Ryan Harris, both of whom would have thrived on the surface.”We could have played all five [fast bowlers],” Johnson said at the end of day on which he took 4 for 38. “It looked like a bit of a WACA wicket … You could see how much bounce there was and how much carry, there were a few balls that really took off today. Fast bowlers always love seeing that.”There was a little bit of up and down [bounce]. It seemed like there was a spot from the top end that if you hit it back of a length it just went through a little bit low and if you bowled a touch fuller it was jumping. Especially with the newer ball it was doing that more so, and their boys did the same sort of thing, getting that bit of extra bounce as well.”Not that Johnson bowled with a very new ball. He hasn’t had that job for some time: only three times in the past 18 months has he opened the bowling for his country in a Test. At first change he has been able to settle in to his rhythm without the pressure of being expected to curve the new ball like a hoop. And despite his love of South African conditions, it might not be something that changes on this tour.”I’m happy to bowl wherever I’m needed for the team,” he said. “I’d love to bowl with the new ball. If I get the opportunity to in the second innings I’ll definitely put my hand up for it. I’ve bowled first change for a while now, especially in one-day cricket it’s probably been my strong point. We’ll wait and see.”It didn’t really swing as much with the new ball for myself. I got a couple to swing, but I found that it swung a little bit later on when I came on for my second spell. Peter Siddle said the same thing, he said it was swinging a little bit more as well. It’s almost like English conditions, where you get the lacquer off the ball and get a nice shine on it, and it swings a bit more.”Johnson picked up two lbws in the top order, neither of which swung dramatically, and his delivery that bowled Robin Peterson was angled in to the left-hander. But Johnson is at his most dangerous when his variety surprises the batsmen, and that was the case on the first day in Potchefstroom.Come the Cape Town Test, the conditions may not suit him quite as well, with a slower Newlands pitch likely. But he will love bowling at the Wanderers in the second Test. He took eight wickets in a Test there two and a half years ago and was Man of the Match, then ultimately Player of the Series.He is not the same Mitchell Johnson that he was last time he visited South Africa, but he’s performing a reasonable impersonation. For now, after his ups and many downs since the 2009 Ashes, the Australians will take that.

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O Atlético-MG e o diretor de futebol do clube, Alexandre Gallo, foram julgados peloSuperior Tribunal de Justiça Desportiva (STJD), nesta quinta-feira. Por decisão unânime, o clube alvinegro foi absolvido, assim como o dirigente. O processo estava pautado nas denúncias feitas com base na súmula doárbitro Fifa, Dewson Fernando Freitas da Silva, durante o jogo entre Atlético-MG e Corinthians. A partida, vencida por 1 a 0, pela equipe mineira, aconteceu no dia 29 de abril.

Dewson Fernando Freitas da Silva relatou na súmula queum copo foi atirado por um torcedor alvinegro aos 41 minutos do primeiro tempo e que o quarto árbitro foi atingido. Nas anotações, ele chegou a citar que o torcedor foi identificado.

Como o Atlético-MG identificou o responsável pela ação, o clube foi absolvido de qualquer punição. Já o diretor Alexandre Gallo foi inocentado da denúncia por reclamação desrespeitosa. A decisão ainda cabe recurso.

Conforme a súmula do árbitro principal, o dirigente se dirigiu a ele, durante o intervalo, para reclamar do gol de Róger Guedes, anulado pelo assistente adicional, que fica atrás da linha de fundo.

– No intervalo da partida, na saída do campo de jogo para o vestiário, ao passar na zona mista, o senhor Alexandre Gallo, diretor de futebol do Clube Atlético Mineiro, proferiu as seguintes palavras para a equipe de arbitragem: ‘Porra, assim vocês fodem com todo o nosso trabalho, inaceitável um erro desse’ – registrouDewson Fernando Freitas da Silva.

Presente no julgamento, Alexandre Gallo prestou depoimento para esclarecer os fatos narrados na súmula.

– Tenho o maior respeito pelo árbitro. No caso o que mais incomodou a todos que estavam no jogo foi a demora do retorno, da marcação ou não. Foram mais de 3 minutos para voltar atrás num lance. Corinthians é um adversário duro de ser batido e nos incomodou por ser um gol que nos deixaria vivo na partida. Demorar para voltar um lance em uma marcação de gol ou não. Depois do acontecido muitos falaram da demora e na minha posição voltando para o vestiário e interpelei o árbitro. Na minha posição eu sinto muito estar aqui. Essa questão da nomenclatura me pegou no afã do momento. Dentro do futebol é um termo normal pelo calor da emoção. Hoje aqui não falaria de nenhuma maneira, mas no futebol é normal – explicou o diretor de futebol.

Cricket South Africa will spend R8 million ($1,142,857) on a new semi-professional competition that will replace the amateur provincial format from the 2011-12 season

Firdose Moonda07-Jun-2011Cricket South Africa will spend R8 million ($1,142,857) on a new semi-professional competition that will replace the amateur provincial format from the 2011-12 season.The 13 provincial teams currently in the fray, will be able to contract seven players, who must be South Africa-based and qualified, and not Kolpak-contracted. The competition will consist of first-class three-day cricket, 45-over and 20-over matches.”The players will be paid out of our [CSA’s] budget,” Gerald Majola, chief executive of CSA told ESPNcricinfo. “We will also look for a sponsor for the competition.” The competition was sponsored by Standard Bank until the end of the 2010-11 season, when the company ended all sports sponsorships. CSA are yet to announce a new sponsor for the competition.The semi-professional league will provide players with the opportunity to be selected for a seventh franchise, which will compete in the Twenty20 competition along with the six existing franchises. The seventh outfit will operate out of the High Performance Centre in Pretoria, overseen by former national coach Corrie van Zyl. The semi-professional seventh side will be allowed to contract four international players and field a maximum of three per match, while the other six franchises can sign two foreign players apiece.Under the current system, the six franchises play each other, while the 13 provinces, affiliated to the different franchises, compete in another league. The amateurs turning out for the provinces were not allowed to be contracted, but had the chance to be selected by the franchises based on their performances. Now they have a chance to earn more since they have the opportunity to sign contracts with the provinces.Majola said the changes were made in order to “bridge the gap between provincial and franchise cricket”. With 13 amateur teams feeding the country’s six franchises, there was concern among cricket administrators that players were either lost in the system or struggled to make the leap into professional cricket when coming up from the provinces.There is also an effort being made to smooth the transition process from domestic to international cricket with the MTN40 changing to become a 45-over competition. Andrew Hudson, convenor of selectors, had in April said that the MTN40 would change in order to bring it more into line with the ODI format. The change does not exactly mirror the international competition, but was made with some elements of marketing in mind.”We had to also consider the crowd figures,” Majola said. “If we play 50-overs and start at 2pm we will have empty stadiums, especially mid-week. We will start the 45-overs game at 4pm. All the rules will be the same as ODIs – there will be three Powerplays and no substitutions. The bowlers will bowl nine overs each.”South Africa’s limited-overs competition was a 45-over event until two seasons ago, when it changed to 40-overs. It allowed franchises to name squads of 13 players per match and make use of substitutes. It included three Powerplays in the first season and was reduced to two in 2010-11. The innovation was in keeping with an anticipated change in the ODI format, which now appears to have been shelved.

Graeme Smith is ready to “leave it all out there” when he captains South Africa for the last time in an ODI tournament, starting on Thursday against the West Indies in Delhi. “I feel I am best prepared going into this tournament as I have been throughout my career. I am just excited to be able to lead the guys.”So ready is he that he almost left it all out there when a reporter persisted in asking if Smith thought the team would be able to drop the chokers tag, given their record under pressure. When Smith said that there is a “luck element” in tournaments such as this, the journalist went on to ask if South Africa’s nerves often undid any luck that the team may have secured. Smith sneered in reply. “So you have been out in the middle, you will understand that?”Silence.No one on the outside can really understand the unique kind of pressure that has weighed South Africa down, or how stoically they’ve had to deny that it’s had any effect on them. Every few years, when questions like the one above get asked, we get a small glimpse into the burden of underachievement South Africa cricketers carry. It’s why each tournament, for them, seems bigger and more important than the previous one and why this one is “the biggest tournament” for this group of players to date.”A lot of the guys who are here for the first time have definitely said that,” Smith said. “The expectation, the energy around India and before we left, the things that were going on around the group, especially compared to the other World Cups, this is a lot bigger.”The heightened importance of this tournament may stem from the fact that South Africa have brought their most dynamic line-up to a major competition, especially in the bowling department. “It’s the most variety that we have ever had,” Smith said. “We now have pace, we have bounce, we have left-armers, we have got a few spin options.” The variation means that South Africa hope they will be “a lot harder to prepare against” because their starting XI is going to be more elastic than it has been in the past. “Tactically we have got our ideas about how we would like to set up in this tournament. We have covered every base there and we are really excited to get going.”South Africa have been training in India for just over two weeks and although that time has allowed the squad to settle in, there is still an element of uncertainty going into their first game in the World Cup. The Feroz Shah Kotla stadium is hosting its first match after a 14-month ban it incurred in December 2009 for having a dangerous pitch. It has been since relaid, with a surface that promises even bounce, but Smith said neither side knows what to expect from it. “It’s an unknown factor for all of us. But I think you can see they have made a really big effort out here.”It’s also the first time Smith will use the Umpire Decision Review System in a one-day international and it may prove tricky when the team is in the field because “with our bowlers, every decision is out,” Smith said. “I’ll have to trust AB also because I am not always going to be in a position to really judge the lines and where the ball has pitched.”What’s not a first is coming up against the West Indies in the opening match of a World Cup. The last time that happened, South Africa were put to the sword by a blustering innings from Chris Gayle. Smith is wary of not allowing the same kind of flamboyant performance to undo South Africa again. “They have guys who on their day can really punish you and take the game away from you. That’s why in Cup competitions, they are a very dangerous opponent to come up against.”The West Indies struggle with consistency, as Smith noted, and often fall away in a four- or five-match series, but playing them in a one-off match is as much a competition as playing anyone else. Their strategy is based on a certain casual yet colourful flair. In many ways, on their day, they are side that leaves it all there. To see them come against a South African captain who hopes to do the same promises an explosion.

USA Cricket Association President Gladstone Dainty is attempting to arrange another set of matches involving New Zealand later this year that could potentially be played in New York

Peter Della Penna28-Feb-2011USA Cricket Association President Gladstone Dainty is attempting to arrange another set of matches involving New Zealand later this year that could potentially be played in New York.”We’re very seriously looking to do something in August,” Dainty told ESPNcricinfo. “We don’t have another [team] yet, but we’re looking to do something in August.” USA hosted New Zealand and Sri Lanka in Florida last May for a pair of Twenty20 games that took place shortly after the conclusion of the World Twenty20 in the West Indies.While matches might be played in Florida, New York could also become a viable option after Dainty revealed plans to install a turf wicket at Brooklyn’s Floyd Bennett Field. A USA XI played two matches against a West Indies XI captained by Brian Lara at the same ground in 2006. Floyd Bennett Field also shows up in the 2008 Joseph O’Neill novel , a fictional story about a man who uses cricket to help piece his life back together after 9/11.”We’re still working on getting this facility in New York going,” Dainty said. “I’m hoping that it’ll be ready by August.” Dainty would not reveal how much money it would cost to make upgrades including the turf wicket at Floyd Bennett Field. It is also unknown if the costs would be covered by the group of investors behind Cricket Holdings America or if the money would be coming from a different source.Dainty feels that the turf wicket would be ready for immediate use once it’s put in place while the long term viability of the facility would be achieved by utilising the site for a domestic Twenty20 league in the USA. Dainty told ESPNcricinfo in December that CHA was hoping to start the proposed league by the summer of 2012.USA played Jamaica in a series concurrent with the Sri Lanka and New Zealand matches in Florida last year, but Dainty did not know if something similar would be planned to involve USA for the next time around. Speaking about the team’s fortunes at the ICC WCL Division Three in Hong Kong, Dainty acknowledged that the squad was underprepared for the tour and that it played a part in USA’s last-place finish.”The team to me didn’t do very well in Hong Kong,” Dainty said. “I’m not going to be the one that’s blaming the team alone. For all of us, I would say that the team was not a very well prepared team. In terms of when they were playing, it was their offseason for most of them. Even during the national championships, I didn’t see the energy from a lot of the players.”I really think that when we did not get [Neil] McGarrell in the team that it hurt us a lot,” Dainty said, in reference to the former West Indies Test spinner who was originally included in USA’s squad. McGarrell had to be replaced when the ICC ruled him ineligible to play for USA based on residency requirements. “What happened in Hong Kong is not a failure of 14 or 17 guys; it’s the program as a whole because they were not well prepared. It was US cricket as a whole. We needed additional funding for them to play some more.”Even though there is a significant amount of funding that USACA is set to receive from signing the deal with CHA, the bulk of it will not trickle down until later in the year.”We have sources of funding now. I wouldn’t say we have all the money right now, but we have sources now,” Dainty said. “We’ve got enough funding to do what we want to do, but remember we didn’t have a lot of funding to run the national championship, even the Under-19 tournament we had to put off. Since then we had one camp and then the funding came in.”Dainty was unhappy that Howard Johnson, the team’s 46-year-old assistant coach, was inserted into the starting XI for the match against Papua New Guinea. Johnson was added to the squad after batsman Aditya Thyagarajan went down in the second game against Denmark with an injured knee. Johnson last played for the USA at the 2005 ICC Trophy in Ireland prior to his one-off appearance in Hong Kong.”Based on what I knew in terms of Howard being included in the squad, we had a player who was injured and because of the logistics, we were more concerned about somebody emergency fielding,” Dainty said, indicating that it did not make sense to fly in a replacement player from the USA. “And then you know … never did I think he would be put there as a player. If we knew that Howard was such a strong candidate to play, we should have known that before. I was as disappointed as anyone else.””That should not be a reflection of Howard. Howard is a very nice and decent man and I don’t think he should have been asked to do that at all. I don’t know who should take responsibility but I hope it won’t happen again. I’ve never been a micromanager, but this type of situation certainly needs more managing.”

Yasir Hameed, the Pakistan batsman, has lodged a formal complaint with the UK Press Complaint Commission against the tabloid , which had done a video sting operation on him last year

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Feb-2011Yasir Hameed, the Pakistan batsman, has lodged a formal complaint with the UK Press Complaint Commission against the tabloid . Hameed, who last played for Pakistan on the 2010 tour to England, was the subject of a video sting operation by the tabloid, in which he was seen discussing the fall-out of the Lord’s spot-fixing controversy and, among other things, an approach by a bookie during the 2004 Champions Trophy in England.Hameed says he was duped by the investigative reporter who came to him in a hotel in Nottingham claiming to be a representative of a global airline who wanted to talk about possible sponsorship deals, days after the end of the four-Test series, and is now seeking a formal apology and retraction from the tabloid.The complaint centres on four points, of inaccurate reporting, a breach of privacy, misrepresentation of character and harassment. Hameed opted to wait till the end of the spot-fixing hearings and a definitive verdict before he filed the complaint.Soon after the video came to light, Hameed was called to the Pakistan High Commission in London to explain his utterances in the video. He issued a statement later that day saying that the man, an Abid Khan, sent him intimidating SMSs after the meeting when Hameed denied what had been attributed to him.Hameed was also asked to explain the incident to the PCB’s integrity committee earlier this year, and he apologised to the board about the conversation. “I was trapped into it but I should not have said all that before a stranger and I apologise to all the players who were hurt because of that,” Hameed had told . It is believed the board has held back on his payments from the tour, though it isn’t clear whether it is because of this incident.

Xavier Doherty’s sudden elevation to the Test squad will only turn into a trip to Brisbane if he can out-bowl Nathan Hauritz at the SCG this week. Doherty, the left-arm spinner, will go head-to-head with the incumbent Hauritz when Tasmania play New South Wales from Wednesday.Having gained a full-time spot in the Tigers’ line-up this season, Doherty jumped into a one-day debut two weeks ago. He is on the verge of another big leap after being picked in the huge 17-man squad for the opening Test, but has to make the final cut when the outfit is trimmed to 12 or 13.”I guess it’s probably come down to that given the fact that they will cut it back by the end of the week,” Doherty said in Sydney. “They are obviously looking at something this week, I guess this week’s performances probably won’t hurt too much.”Like most people, Doherty, 27, was surprised by the elevation. “I guess it wasn’t that long ago that I was not even carrying the drinks for Tassie,” he said. “It comes as a bit of a shock and it’s a nice shock.”Usman Khawaja was on the tour to England for the Pakistan Tests during the winter but didn’t get a game. It has made him even more desperate to play.”Just getting a baggy green one day would be a dream,” he said in Hobart. “I never try to put too much pressure on myself. If it is meant to happen it happens.”Khawaja will be jostling with Callum Ferguson and Steven Smith in Australia A’s match against England, although the tourists will have their four best bowlers preparing in Brisbane. Ferguson, who is back after a knee reconstruction, is in his first ODI squad after impressing in 26 ODIs.”After 11-and-a-half months of rehab, I really didn’t expect to be here right now,” Ferguson said. “There’s a lot of uncertainty when you hurt your knee like I did. I’m just thrilled to be back playing cricket.”Ryan Harris is battling a persistent knee injury and doesn’t expect to play at the Gabba, but he insists he’ll be ready when needed. “In all honesty I don’t think I’ll be included in that first Test,” he told AAP. “But if someone goes down and things change, I will be ready to go. That’s going to be my role – to be ready if anything goes wrong.”Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, said Phillip Hughes was disappointed to miss out, but the team did not need cover for the openers Simon Katich and Shane Watson. “We would consider him in a middle-order position,” Hilditch said, “but at the moment we think the two young players from Australia A we picked are in a bit better form and ready to go.”

Sky Sports have relayed news live on TV regarding Manchester United midfielder Nemanja Matic and his decision to leave the club at the end of the season.

The Lowdown: Matic’s Old Trafford career

Matic made the move to United back in 2017 from Chelsea in a deal worth over £40m. Since then, the holding midfielder has gone on to make more than 180 appearances for the Red Devils, with 27 of those coming this season.

His current contract still has over 12 months left to run, however, Matic has now announced that he will leave the club over the coming months.

The Latest: Sky Sports relay on-air news

United shared the news on their official website, with Sky Sports News sharing the update live on TV.

They labelled it as ‘significant if you support Man Utd’, describing the midfielder as ‘the first out of the door’ at Old Trafford.

The Verdict: First of many?

Erik ten Hag looks set to come in to replace Ralf Rangnick in the summer and may well have plenty of key decisions to make on a number of players.

United have five players who will be out of contract at the end of June, including Paul Pogba and Jesse Lingard, while Cristiano Ronaldo’s future is also in doubt.

Matic’s departure could prove to be the first of many in a major Old Trafford shake-up under Ten Hag, and a new defensive midfielder could now be a priority heading into the summer.

In other news: ‘Expected’ – Fabrizio Romano drops first blow for Ten Hag at Man Utd with appointment ‘imminent’. 

انتهت الجولة الأولى من دور المجموعات، من بطولة كأس العالم قطر 2022، بنهاية مباراة البرازيل وصربيا، والتي فاز بها منتخب السامبا 2-0.

وتألق عدة نجوم مع منتخباتهم، ليشتعل الصراع على لقب الهداف من الجولة الأولى.

اقرأ أيضًا.. مهاجم غانا: إذا سقط لاعب مثل رونالدو على الأرض فمن السهل احتساب ركلة جزاء

وسجل النجم الأرجنتيني ليونيل ميسي هدفا في الخسارة أمام السعودية 2-1، كما سجل كريستيانو رونالدو هدفا في فوز البرتغال 3-2 على غانا. ترتيب هدافي كأس العالم 2022

أولفييه جيرو، منتخب فرنسا، هدفان.

إينير فالنسيا، منتخب الإكوادور، هدفان.

بوكايو ساكا، منتخب إنجلترا، هدفان.

مهدي طارمي، منتخب إيران، هدفان.

فيران توريس، منتخب إسبانيا، هدفان.

ريتشارليسون، منتخب البرازيل، هدفان.

سالم الدوسري، منتخب السعودية، هدف.

كريستيانو رونالدو، منتخب البرتغال، هدف.

ليونيل ميسي، منتخب الأرجنتين، هدف.

كيليان مبابي، منتخب فرنسا، هدف.

أدريان رابيو، منتخب فرنسا، هدف.

جودي بيلينجهام، منتخب إنجلترا، هدف.

جاك جريليش، منتخب إنجلترا، هدف.

رحيم ستيرلنج، منتخب إنجلترا، هدف.

ماركوس راشفورد، منتخب إنجلترا، هدف.

ألفارو موراتا، منتخب إسبانيا، هدف.

داني أولمو، منتخب إسبانيا، هدف.

كارلوس سولير، منتخب إسبانيا، هدف.

ماركو أسينسيو، منتخب إسبانيا، هدف.

جافي، منتخب إسبانيا، هدف.

صالح الشهري، منتخب السعودية، هدف.

كاريج جودوين، منتخب أستراليا، هدف.

بريل إمبولو، منتخب سويسرا، هدف.

رفائيل لياو، منتخب البرتغال، هدف.

جواو فيليكس، منتخب البرتغال، هدف.

أندريا أيو، منتخب غانا، هدف.

عثمان بوكاري، منتخب غانا، هدف.

تيموثي وياه، منتخب أمريكا، هدف.

رتسو دوان، منتخب اليابان، هدف.

تاكوما أسانو، منتخب اليابان، هدف.

ميتشي باتشواي، منتخب بلجيكا، هدف.

جاريث بيل، منتخب ويلز، هدف.

إلكاي جوندوجان، منتخب ألمانيا، هدف.

كوادي جاكبو، منتخب هولندا، هدف.

دافي كلاسين، منتخب هولندا، هدف.

Baroda Cricket Association XI handed Kenya their third successive defeat in the tri-series as the hosts fell short by 32 runs in their chase of 257 in Nairobi

Cricinfo staff03-Aug-2010
ScorecardBaroda Cricket Association XI handed Kenya their third successive defeat in the tri-series as the hosts fell short by 32 runs in their chase of 257 in Nairobi.Pinal Shah, the captain, and Yusuf Pathan put on 98 runs for the fourth wicket after Baroda were in trouble at 90 for 3. Both batsmen hit aggressive sixties before Shah fell to offspinner James Ngoche. At 227 for 4, with Pathan at the crease, Baroda were poised to score 300. However, Pathan’s dismissal to Ngoche triggered a collapse and Baroda lost their last six wickets for 29 runs. Ngoche took three of those six wickets, finishing with 4 for 59 off eight overs, as Baroda were dismissed with 26 balls remaining.Kenya had been reduced to 33 for 3 in their chase when Collins Obuya and Jimmy Kamande came together. The duo added 125 runs with Kamande being particularly watchful, taking 99 balls for his 68. Once Obuya fell for 86, however, the target of 257 proved beyond the other batsmen, and Kenya finished on 224 for 8 off 50 overs.