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Manchester United fans should not expect their club to join the race for Kylian Mbappe, with Sir Dave Brailsford answering a cheeky transfer question.

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Article continues below

Article continues below

PSG superstar running down contractSet to hit free agency in the summerExpected to link up with Real MadridGetty ImagesWHAT HAPPENED?

World Cup winner Mbappe is generating plenty of headlines as he runs down his contract at Paris Saint-Germain. With no extension option in the French capital being triggered, the 25-year-old forward is preparing to hit free agency.

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He has been linked with a move to England at Liverpool or Arsenal, but the expectation is that he will end up at La Liga giants Real Madrid. There have been reports of a deal being agreed there, with Los Blancos landing themselves another ‘Galactico’.

GettyWHAT BRAILSFORD SAID ABOUT MBAPPE

United were never in the running for Mbappe, with Brailsford – who forms part of the new leadership team being put in place at Old Trafford by Sir Jim Ratcliffe – responding to a fan asking him if the Red Devils could sign the France international: “I don't think so, he's probably off to Real Madrid ain't he.”

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Shabnim Ismail’s three wickets in seven balls and Dane van Niekerk’s two in an over helped South Africa Women defend 125, which seemed a sub-par total, and claim their first-ever Twenty20 win over West Indies Women

The Report by Firdose Moonda04-Mar-2016
ScorecardFile photo: Shabnim Ismail picked up three wickets to bowl South Africa to their first T20I win against West Indies•Getty ImagesShabnim Ismail’s three wickets in seven balls and Dane van Niekerk’s two in an over helped South Africa Women defend 125, which seemed a sub-par total, and claim their first-ever Twenty20 win over West Indies Women. South Africa’s victory, which comes two weeks after they achieved the same feat over England, bodes well ahead of the World T20.On a slow, spin-friendly surface in Durban, West Indies restricted South Africa and would have fancied their chances of taking the early honours, but the hosts’ attack was up to the task. Ismail was instrumental in reducing West Indies to 16 for 4, before Deandra Dottin and Stacy-Ann King put them back on track. They shared a fifth-wicket stand of 72 but van Niekerk removed them both to take South Africa to a historic win.Ismail set the tone with an early strangle. She gave away just two runs in her first over against a watchful West Indies opening pair. Moseline Daniels, her opening partner, was more generous and pitched the ball up, but Ismail showed the way with the short balls. She had Stafanie Taylor caught at midwicket, attemping a pull, and followed it up with a fuller one, inducing an edge from Hayley Matthews, who was caught behind. Ismail stuck to the fuller length for the hat-trick ball, but it was defended.Ismail could not stay out of action. She took a catch at mid-on off debutant Odine Kirsten to send Kyshona Knight on her way before returning to dismiss Kycia Knight. South Africa would have already sensed an improbable victory at that stage, but had Dottin to deal with.Dottin took a liking to Kirsten and was strong down the ground as she started to claw West Indies back. She found an able partner in King, who was circumspect up front, and then began to pierce the gaps and threatened to take the game away.The pair took West Indies to within 38 runs of victory before van Niekerk struck. She broke through King’s defence to give South Africa some hope. Dottin holed out at the end of the over, and then all South Africa had to do was contain.Shemaine Campbelle and Shaquana Quintyne kept West Indies in the hunt by finding the fence in each of the last three overs, but left themselves too much to do. They needed 20 off the last over, but Ismail conceded just eight runs to seal the win.West Indies were disappointed after they dragged South Africa back from 39 without loss in the first five overs. Van Niekerk and Trisha Chetty took advantage of some loose bowling early on, but Anisa Mohammed ended their charge. She removed the openers in her first over, forcing them to rebuild.Three boundary-less overs followed and South Africa lost their captain Mignon du Preez to reach the halfway stage at 59 for 3.Lizelle Lee sensed the urgency to accelerate and opted to take on the spinners. She shared a stand of 48 runs, the highest of the innings, for the fourth wicket with Marizanne Kapp and set South Africa up for a strong finish. But she did not stick around to do it herself and was dismissed in the 16th over. South Africa lost three wickets for 24 at the death to finish with a total they may not have been confident of defending, but eventually did.

Left-arm spinner Gohar took five wickets and opener Aslam made an unbeaten 72 to lead Pakistan U-19 to an eight-wicket win over UAE U-19

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Dec-2013
Scorecard
Left-arm spinner Zafar Gohar took five wickets as Pakistan Under-19 ran away to their third win on the trot, beating UAE Under-19 by eight wickets in Sharjah. Pakistan bowled UAE out for 104 before opener Sami Aslam powered them to their target with an unbeaten 66-ball 72 inside 20 overs.Sent in to bat, UAE began well, with openers Chirag Suri and Shivank Vijayakumar taking them to 45 after seven overs. Gohar came on at this point and struck with his first delivery, getting Vijayakumar caught at slip for 22. Gohar took his second wicket in his third over, trapping Suri lbw for 34.Wickets fell regularly after that, and only one of the remaining UAE batsmen got into double figures – Qazi Ayub, who made 11 – as Gohar and left-arm seamer Mohammad Aftab ran through their lineup to bowl them out in 30.3 overs. Gohar finished with figures of 5 for 18 in 10 overs, while Aftab took 3 for 43 in 8.3. Legspinner Karamat Ali, meanwhile, chipped in with two wickets.Pakistan Under-19 captain Aslam – who, at 17, has already played 14 first class matches – set off in a hurry, starting the chase with three fours in the first over off Mavuru Aditya. UAE dismissed Hussain Talat and Imam-ul-Haq to leave Pakistan 35 for 2 after 7.1 overs but the left-handed Aslam continued to punish their bowling , scoring successive boundaries off Qazi Ayub and smacking Aditya for three successive sixes to go from 39 to 57.Pakistan reached their target off the penultimate ball of the 20th over, with Saud Shakeel contributing 16 to an unbroken third-wicket partnership of 70.

Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim has completed his Masters degree in history from Jahangirnagar University

Mohammad Isam25-Dec-2012Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim has followed up his Man of the Series performance in the ODIs against West Indies with another notable achievement: he has completed his Masters degree in History from Jahangirnagar University. It’s a rare accomplishment for top professional cricketers and Mushfiqur, who was accorded a reception by the university on Sunday, has said he hopes to set an example for his younger team-mates so that their futures are more secure.After finishing school and college from BKSP, he joined the university in 2007 and has now completed an honours and masters. The specialisation in the latter was in contemporary South Asian history, and he finished with an impressive CGPA of 3.49. According to Mushfiqur, it wasn’t a solo effort as his classmates and teachers ensured he didn’t miss anything while playing for Bangladesh.”This degree is a huge honour for me,” Mushfiqur said. “Apart from my efforts, I would give credit to the university teachers and my friends who guided and assisted me. I couldn’t attend most of the classes, and had to take notes from my friends while the university authorities made sure my attendance wasn’t an issue.”The teachers also considered my attendance issues because my cricket commitments didn’t allow me to attend regular classes. I also had to work extra hard but whenever possible, I went for classes and took the exams.”Mushfiqur’s degree is a major boost for him personally and a source of inspiration for cricketers in the country, especially the younger ones. It goes to show how education and an international career can be managed in Bangladesh where most cricketers abandon their studies to pursue the game professionally.As a result, Mushfiqur wants to stress on the importance of education in the young players’ lives, though he believes it is ultimately a matter of choice. “Cricket is just a part of life, there’s nothing more important than education. I think it should be a message to our younger fans.”Everyone has their own philosophy in life, and if they want to study I would say it is their choice. It is not easy to handle both. I always encourage those younger than me that they must take their education seriously.”Mushfiqur described the scramble ahead of exams, most of which he had to appear in isolation as he would usually miss the scheduled dates. “You wouldn’t believe it but when I was returning from tours, I had to study at planes and airports, because I had exams the following day.”Between matches maybe everyone else was free to roam around whichever country we were playing in, but I had to take notes and stay back in the hotel to study. But my team-mates were nice, they never teased me.”He found inspiration from within his family and also from Kumar Sangakkara, especially the manner in which the Sri Lankan cricketer has carried himself over the years. “It is appreciated that someone like Sangakkara’s sports personality is shaped by his education. He is obviously an inspiration.”After I had completed my Higher Secondary Certificate exam, I didn’t want to pursue studies but I was reminded of its importance. My family encouraged me, told me not to give up on studies. They are very proud of me and I am inspiring my younger brothers and sisters in the family by doing two things at a time.”In future, Mushfiqur hopes to work closer to his sport than history, saying that the degree has taught him many lessons about life. “I have to give cricket a lot of time but I learned a lot by going through the process of graduating, and I want to do an MBA or a PhD, preferably on something close to cricket so that I can add that to my current profession.”

International cricket could next year be held in Australia in April for the first time since 1877, with the possibility of Canberra hosting the national team for the first time

Brydon Coverdale29-Mar-2012International cricket could next year be held in Australia in April for the first time since 1877, with the possibility of Canberra hosting the national team for the first time. The has reported that Australia are likely to host New Zealand in two limited-overs matches in the first week of April 2013, as part of the city’s centenary celebrations.Canberra’s Manuka Oval has been the venue of two one-day internationals, between South Africa and Zimbabwe in the 1992 World Cup, and between India and Sri Lanka in 2007-08. It is also the site of the annual Prime Minister’s XI game, but it is the only state or territory capital yet to host the Australia team in a full international match.”We’re looking at the centenary year as not just a one-off big party, it’s about setting the groundwork for longer-term legacies,” Andrew Barr, the Australian Capital Territory’s sports minister, told the paper. “There certainly was interest from Cricket Australia as a longer-term goal to look at having more international cricket in Canberra and they’re seeing the centenary year as a great opportunity.”This is obviously a big thing for Canberra, we’ve never had the national team in the national capital so Cricket Australia, the Australian government, the ACT government were all very keen for that to occur and have worked very hard behind the scenes to get us to this point.”Should the plan go ahead, it will be the first occasion international cricket has been held in Australia in April since the second Test of all, which started at the MCG on March 31, 1877. A Cricket Australia spokesman confirmed that CA was keen to hold cricket in Canberra next year as part of the centenary celebrations, but said details were yet to be finalised.

With the exception of Alastair Cook, England’s batsmen failed to impress on the second day against the ICC Combined XI in Dubai

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Jan-2012
ScorecardBoyd Rankin took two wickets include his county team-mate Ian Bell•AFPWith the exception of Alastair Cook, England’s batsmen failed to impress on the second day against the ICC Combined XI in Dubai as the visitors stumbled during the afternoon until Andrew Strauss declared 96 behind on 185 for 8. England’s pace bowlers then responded by reducing the ICC XI to 8 for 3 before they recovered to extend their lead to 186 at the close.Having yesterday fought back from 90 for 6 to post a decent first-innings total, the ICC XI continued to provide England with tough opposition in the build-up to their Test series against Pakistan. Hamid Hassan, the Afghanistan pace bowler, took two early wickets before injuring himself with a fall over the boundary fence and during the second session England lost six further wickets. Cook was sixth out for a well-compiled 76 but no one else passed 19 and a more convincing effort will be required in the run chase.England had started the day on 16 without loss and the opening stand moved to 44 when Andrew Strauss pulled Hassan to square leg. It didn’t take long for Hassan to double his tally when Jonathan Trott glanced a catch down the leg side but Cook, in the company of Kevin Pietersen, steadied England to 98 for 2 at lunch.However, any thoughts of a steady day of accumulation for the top order vanished after the break. Pietersen edged Boyd Rankin, the Ireland and Warwickshire paceman, to the keeper and Rankin then won the duel with his county team-mate Ian Bell. The collapse was in full swing when Eoin Morgan edged Mohammad Nabi to slip as the ICC XI gave an excellent account of themselves.Cook, meanwhile, had remained secure and steady much as he had for most of 2011. His fifty came off 66 balls as he picked up regular boundaries and he appeared set for three figures before giving Mohammad Shahzad his fourth catch of the innings. By this time Hassan had been taken to hospital after falling over the boundary fence while trying to stop the ball and, although he was cleared of serious problems, won’t take any further part in the match. George Dockrell, the Ireland left-arm spinner, replaced him for the second half of the game and will be allowed to bat and bowl.Majid Haq, the Scotland offspinner, struck with his first ball to remove Steven Davies and Broad, after some strong hitting, became Nabi’s second success of the day. Graeme Swann and James Anderson cut the deficit down to below three figures which prompted Strauss’s move to end the innings shortly before tea.England’s pace bowlers were soon among the wickets for a second time. William Porterfield was caught down the leg side and Broad’s impressive outing continued as he trapped Paul Stirling lbw then had Saqib Ali caught behind.Swann provided another breakthrough when Craig Williams drove to cover but Shahzad didn’t back down from the challenge and thumped his first ball from Swann straight down the ground. Shahzad continued in his attacking mindset and with the score on 71, ICC XI lost Kyle Coetzer when he dragged one onto his stumps.Shahzad was involved in a few words with the England bowlers as he and Nabi, his Afghanistan team-mate, guided the ICC XI to the close. After the efforts of the lower order on the opening day they will still be confident of leaving the visitors with a testing target on the final day.

The PCB has overhauled the domestic system by separating the regional and department sides

Umar Farooq27-Sep-2012The PCB has overhauled the domestic system by separating the regional and department sides, the cricket committee headed by Javed Miandad announced on Thursday at the Gaddafi Stadium. The 2012-13 Pakistan domestic season will begin with the President’s Trophy Grade 1 between October 3 and December 7 which will be contested by corporate sides.The structure of domestic cricket in Pakistan has seen several changes over the years, with revamps almost every two years in the past decade. The format of the first-class tournament has now been changed with regions and departments playing separately though regions can recruit five players from departments of whom four can be part of the playing XI.The re-structuring mainly centered on the Quaid-e-Azam trophy, the country’s premier first-class tournament. Instead of having both regional sides and department sides, it will now have 14 regional teams, including a new one – Bahawalpur. These will be divided in two groups – the top eight will be in a super-eight group while the remaining six teams will play a plate-league. The two top teams from super eights will play the final.Either way, each team will at least play nine matches.In the President’s Trophy, ten departmental teams will play a round-robin league phase, with the top two teams making the final. The teams are: PIA, ZTBL, NBP, HBL KRL, SNGPL, WAPDA, SBP, UBL and PQA, who qualified for first-class cricket earlier this year.”The idea is to separate the regions from departments to create competitiveness among teams with equal strength,” Miandad, PCB director general, told a press conference. “Regions and departments have a huge difference in their strength and both weren’t matching the competition level so it was necessary to let regions play among those who are of their aptitude.”Miandad said the emphasis was on producing good quality and competitive players from regions. “Cricket has always been in a transition process and things have been changing for the betterment of the game.”The change will provide a culture of more competition rather than having dull and one-sided games. Each team, either department or regions, will play an equal number of matches in their respective event but for regions the revamped format will bring in more competition as teams will have an equal chance of making it to the top two of their respective groups.”The committee also said that the board approved having random dope tests in the upcoming season. The anti-corruption unit will strictly monitor matches while the preparation of pitches will also be supervised.”Another important decision was made to take dope tests during the season and that would be random while matches will be supervised by the anti-corruption unit confidentially. Also, the emphasis will also be on making quality pitches, ensuring that the ball does not start spinning on day one.”Apart from the two first-class tournaments, regions and departments will play a spate of domestic one-day tournament between March and April. The window for the national Twenty20 cricket tournament is yet to be finalised. However ESPNcricinfo understands that the regular 13 (now 14) regional team national Twenty20 will be reorganised as a premier T20 tournament.

After 35 wickets – 31 to spinners – fell in two days at the Moti Bagh Stadium, groundsman Vishvjeet Sinh Padhiyar said batsmen from both sides played like “in the IPL”

Nagraj Gollapudi29-Nov-2013Thirty-five wickets have fallen at Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara in days. That is, in six sessions of play. Importantly, 31 of those 35 wickets have been claimed by the spinners. No other match in this Ranji Trophy has seen so many wickets fall in so short a time. Madhya Pradesh have already lost five wickets, chasing an improbable 337 for victory against hosts Baroda. It is easy then to wonder if the Moti Bagh pitch is fair or unsporting. While the ground’s curator and the visiting coach are not too fussed about the track, the BCCI seems to have taken note of the flurry of wickets, and an inspection is likely.According to the groundsman, Vishvjeet Sinh Padhiyar, neither the umpires nor the match referee had shown any concern about the pitch. But Sanjay Patel, the BCCI secretary, who is from Baroda, while saying there was nothing alarming about the pitch, admitted that he had asked the board’s ground and pitches committee to submit a report on it.”The BCCI ground and pitches committee will write to the Baroda Cricket Association asking for a report for certain. The ball is turning too early,” another senior board official said. “The BCCI directive has been to ask curator to prepare pitches where there should be gradual wear and tear. Such pitches need to be looked into by the ground and pitches committee.”Padhiyar, though, said the slew of wickets was because most of the batsmen from both sides played like “in the IPL”. Padhiyar has been with Baroda for four years and he felt that the key to succeed was to stay at the crease. “The ball was taking turn. The bounce was good. Baroda made 244 in the second innings. [In contrast] Madhya Pradesh batsmen did not show the patience,” he said.To support his opinion on the pitch, Padhiyar pointed to the 72-run final-wicket partnership between Yusuf Pathan, who hit a century, and Baroda No. 11 Munaf Patel. He also cited the example of the match previous at the ground, where Railways got the better of Baroda by an innings and 48 runs. “Arindam Ghosh and Mahesh Rawat just stood resolute to play for one full day and barely score 150 runs, even when the ball was turning,” Padhiyar said. Even Uttar Pradesh, who beat Baroda in their first home match, showed more patience, Padhiyar stressed.Mukesh Sahni, Madhya Pradesh coach, said the pitch was turning and the bounce was occasionally uneven, but he did not blame the curator for his team’s plight. Instead, he agreed with Padhiyar’s remarks and put the onus on his batsmen, who he said committed unnecessary errors. “The wicket is not proper in terms of the spin it took straightaway from the first session but it is fine as both teams played on the same pitch,” Sahni said. “We played bad shots.”One of the biggest hurdles for the BCCI’s ground and pitches committee, which is headed by Daljit Singh, is a shortage of manpower. The BCCI reduced the committee’s strength from 12 members to five, which, it is understood, is proving to be a restraint considering Daljit’s panel has to monitor 108 group matches in this Ranji Trophy. It is learned that the West Zone member on the panel, Dhiraj Parsanna, will be asked to do an inspection of the Moti Bagh pitch.

Captain Daryl Mitchell completed the 10th Championship century ofhis career as Worcestershire nudged ahead of Essex in the Division Two table

31-May-2013
ScorecardDaryl Mitchell made the most of a dead game•PA PhotosCaptain Daryl Mitchell completed the 10th Championship century ofhis career as Worcestershire nudged ahead of Essex in the Division Two tableafter a rain-hit draw with their promotion rivals at New Road.With more than 200 overs lost because of the weather, the home side occupiedthe crease throughout the last day with Mitchell making 156 towards adeclaration in the last hour at 351 for 6. This fulfilled all objectives in taking them into a lead of 136 while accruingfour batting points and restricting their opponents to two for bowling.Essex stuck to their task but the ball did not swing as it had done forWorcestershire’s Jack Shantry when the left-arm seamer posted a personal-bestChampionship return of 7 for 69 in dismissing the visitors for a below-par215.There were some uneasy moments for Mitchell early in the day but nothing thatcould shake his temperament as he set about building his first Championshiphundred since last August. The first 50 was easier on the eye, with nine fours in 66 balls, but the nextphase took twice as long as he became becalmed, albeit with less than half ofthe strike, through 15 overs in the 90s.A square drive off Sajid Mahmood took the pressure off as he moved into threefigures with his 15th boundary and there was another change of gear as heaccelerated to a third 50 from 53 balls.After the early season domination by seam bowlers, it was the turn of batsmento enjoy a day in warm sunshine, although for most of the time the scoring ratewas pegged at little better than three runs an over. The only wicket to fall in the morning was that of Matt Pardoe, caught at shortleg for 17 when offspinner Tom Westley nipped in for one over to break an openingstand of 62.However, there was to be a lot more toil for Essex as Mitchell shared in onlythe second and third century partnerships for Worcestershire this season. Moeen Ali hit 10 fours in making 54 out of 127 before he was caught at extracover off Graham Napier and Thilan Samaraweera played with customary efficiencyas the third wicket yielded 107 in 28 overs.Essex finally claimed some reward with the new ball as David Masters took threewickets before Samaraweera, unbeaten with 70, took his team to their target of350 with 13 balls to spare. Masters began his spell by bowling Mitchell afterthe opener had batted for a little over five hours.

A century from Chamu Chibhabha and an unbeaten knock of 80 from wicketkeeper Regis Chakabva helped Mashonaland Eagles secure a draw in a thrilling finish

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Feb-2013
ScorecardChamu Chibhabha’s century on the final day kept Mashonaland Eagles in hunt of a win, but wickets pegged them back•Zimbabwe CricketA fighting century from Chamu Chibhabha and an unbeaten knock of 80 from wicketkeeper Regis Chakabva helped Mashonaland Eagles secure a draw in a thrilling finish against Matabeleland Tuskers in Harare. Chasing 288, Chibhabha’s wicket, which fell 14.2 overs before stumps on the final day, sparked a collapse and Eagles slipped from at 192 for 4 to 218 for 7. Tuskers picked two more wickets, the ninth in the last over of the match, but could not take the final one.The match, over the course of four days, had been evenly contested, with no team scoring more than 269 or less than 250 in any innings. After scoring 268 in the first innings, led by half-centuries from Sean Williams and Bilal Shafayat, Tuskers had reduced Eagles to 55 for 5. Seamer Glen Querl had done most of the damage, taking four of the five wickets. The captain Stuart Matsikenyeri and Chakabva rescued Eagles with a 148-run stand, scoring 78 and 79 respectively. The Eagles were eventually bowled out 18 runs short of their opponents’ score, with seamer Keegan Meth taking six wickets.Tuskers put on a commanding batting performance in their second dig, with another fifty from Shafayat, and decent contributions of 44, 44, 38 and 31 from four of their other top-order batsmen. They declared on 269 for 6 on the final day, before a spirited chase from Eagles looked likely to achieve the target. But left-arm spinner Williams turned the game around with three quick wickets, and the match ended with Tuskers one wicket short of achieving a win.