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The MCC committee has rejected plans for a residential development at Lord’s

George Dobell24-Jul-2017The MCC committee has rejected plans for a residential development at Lord’s. Having consulted with MCC members over recent weeks, the committee has instead recommended the redevelopment of Lord’s in line with the club’s original, though updated, Masterplan.The club’s 18,000 members will be asked to approve a resolution consenting to the plans at a Special General Meeting on September 27. If the vote is passed and planning permission gained, work on replacing the Compton and Edrich Stands would begin in late 2019 after the ground has staged the World Cup final and an Ashes Test in the preceding summer. It is scheduled to be completed by June 2021.Subsequent developments will include a new building at the East Gate which will, among other things, house the ECB offices, a shop, a car park and contain hospitality facilities. It is scheduled to be completed by 2025.The recommendation means there is an end in sight to an acrimonious chapter in MCC history that has rumbled on for several years, costs hundreds of thousands of pounds and seen former Prime Minister John Major resign from the committee in 2012.It also means a rejection of the Morley Plan. The controversial proposal was based upon the building of two ten-storey apartments (containing 97 residential plots) either side of a new Nursey Pavilion which would have been leased to the MCC. The plans would not only have funded the redevelopment of the Compton and Edrich Stands, but left the club with more than £100 million in the bank. The developers had also offered a sweetener of £15m to members to cover two years of their subscriptions to the club in acknowledgement of the disruption the building operation would cause.The developers behind the Morley Plan were the Rifkind Levy Partnership (RLP). Charles Rifkind, an investor and cousin of former Conservative minister Malcolm Rifkind, outbid MCC in 1999 to buy, for £2.35 million, a long-term lease on a 38-metre strip of land running the length of Lord’s at the Nursery End. It means that, while MCC owns the lease for the top 18 inches of land, Rifkind owns the disused train tunnels that lie under the surface. Rifkind and co had hoped the MCC would relinquish its lease to allow building work to progress.The MCC committee’s decision follows a two-year process which involved one of the biggest pieces of analysis ever conducted by the club and a consultation exercise with members. Five consultation meetings were held at Lord’s and around the country in June and members were also asked to complete a survey which accompanied a summary of both proposals. The review and consultation process is understood to have cost £500,000.There were 4710 responses to the survey and, among the 2000 members who chose to add their own views at the end of the form, those in favour of the MCC’s Masterplan outnumbered those in favour of the Morley Plan by a margin of more than ten to one.”Today’s decision by the MCC committee provides clarity on the extremely important and often controversial subject of ground development,” MCC’s chairman, Gerald Corbett, wrote in an address to members. “Put simply, the club can afford to develop the ground using its own resources and it will do so in the coming years without the need for enabling residential development.”The Morley scheme, with flats at its heart, was considered by the committee to detract from the ambience and special feel of Lord’s, as well containing a number of operational, security, execution and planning risks. Moreover the club’s advisers were unable to recommend the proposed commercial terms.”Although the Morley scheme offers a potential cash windfall, and the opportunity to acquire the leasehold land, the committee considered the flats and the effect on the grounds character too big a price to pay and risk to take. The committee also considered the advice of its five principal subcommittees, who all recommended to implement the club’s Updated Masterplan and to reject flats and the Morley scheme.”Being new to the committee – and this issue – two years ago, I have had the opportunity to ask questions, to get into the detail and to listen to the full range of opinion as to what is best for the future of Lord’s. The consultation events and survey responses are unequivocal – members do not want flats at Lord’s and they want MCC to continue ground development through its own finances.”The programme for the next stage will be voted on by members in September and then the club can put this issue to bed by ensuring that developments at Lord’s are based on retaining the unique character of the ground, are cricket-led and operationally feasible and provide the best possible experience for players and spectators.”All members have been consulted. Many have spoken. The committee has decided. The club will now vote and we will then move on.”

Stats preview to the first Test between Australia and Sri Lanka in Brisbane

Mathew Varghese07-Nov-2007Sri Lanka head in to the two-Test series against Australia in quest of
their first win in the country, something that they haven’t achieved
on eight previous attempts. Australia have only lost one Test against
Sri Lanka till date, in Kandy in 1999.

Sri Lanka’s task is even more challenging when one considers this fact:
Australia have not lost a Test in the venues for this series – the Gabba
in Brisbane and the Bellerive Oval in Hobart – in nearly 20 years. The last time Australia lost at the
Gabba was in November 1988, while they have never
lost one at the Bellerive Oval. Incidentally, Sri Lanka were
Australia’s opponents in the inaugural Test at the Bellerive Oval, a match the hosts won by 173 runs.

The consolation Sri Lanka can take is that they have managed a draw in
the solitary Test they have played at the Gabba.Sri Lanka do possess a potent bowling attack – Chaminda Vaas,
Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando and Muttiah Muralitharan – that could
trouble Australia. Since 2005, Sri Lanka’s bowling unit has been the
best in terms of average and strike-rate.

However, the figures are slightly misleading, as Sri Lanka have played seven
Tests in that period against Bangladesh, managing 137 wickets at 18.19
apiece. If you exclude figures against Bangladesh, Sri Lanka average
30.65 per wicket and Australia 27.26.The upcoming Test series will also be the first for Australia after the
retirements of Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. The impact that McGrath and Warne have made is well reflected in the Australia’s win-loss ratio over the past few years
in matches with and without them.

Of the four series that Australia didn’t manage to win this decade –
against India away in 2001, against New Zealand at home in 2001, against India at home in 2003-04 and the Ashes away in 2005 – Warne and McGrath played in the entire series only twice, in 2001 against India and New Zealand. While both McGrath and Warne missed the home series against India, a freak injury
before the start of the second Ashes Test meant McGrath only played two of the last four Tests.However, if the recent records of the Stuarts – MacGill and Clark, the
two who will take over from Warne and McGrath – are anything to go by,
Ricky Ponting need not panic over the absence of his strike bowlers.

The batsmen have tended to do well at the Gabba, the venue for the first
Test, with both spinners and the pace bowlers not having much success in
Tests of late.

Sri Lanka’s batsmen will need to string together partnerships at the
Gabba, something which the visiting teams have failed to do in recent years.

With the retirement of Justin Langer, Matthew Hayden will have another
left-hander – Phil Jaques – as his partner at the top of the order for
Australia. Hayden has been involved in the two most successful
partnerships in the 2000s – with Langer and Ponting. Sri Lanka’s likely
opening pair – Atapattu and Sanath Jayasuriya – figure in the top five
while the middle-order pair of Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara
are in sixth place.

MCA and TNCA believe the rescheduling of two Group A fixtures to after the final round of matches would be unfair on the other teams, and have expressed their displeasure to the BCCI

Arun Venugopal27-Nov-2016Mumbai Cricket Association and Tamil Nadu Cricket Association have opposed BCCI’s decision to reschedule two postponed Delhi fixtures (due to pollution and smog) to after the completion of the ninth and final round of matches in the ongoing Ranji Trophy season.The Group A clash between Gujarat and Bengal and the Group C fixture between Hyderabad and Tripura will now be played four days after the completion of the final round, from December 15 to 18, in Visakhapatnam and Kolkata respectively.The MCA has already lodged an official protest against the rescheduling of the Group A clash, and the TNCA is expected to follow suit on Monday. Mumbai are currently group toppers with 26 points, while Gujarat, with 21 points, are two points behind second-placed Tamil Nadu.While Tamil Nadu and Mumbai only have one and two games respectively, Gujarat have three by virtue of the rescheduling. According to , MCA joint-secretary Unmesh Khanvilkar had stated in his letter to the BCCI the rescheduling was unfair to the other teams.”The rescheduling of the said match after the completion of all matches gives unfair advantage to the participating teams with respect to their qualification the knockout phase,” Khanvilkar wrote. “This would be unfair for the rest of the teams who would have finished all the matches by then.”TNCA secretary Kasi Viswanathan said the matches in question shouldn’t be rescheduled, and that the points should be shared retrospectively. “In a league stage you cannot do this; it will be a disadvantage to the other teams. It is an act of God, and you should have only shared points,” he told ESPNcricinfo. “Last year we lost almost four days due to rain against Gujarat; so many matches have been affected by fog, nothing was done then.”We are saying the matches should not be rescheduled and that points should be shared like in any match that is washed out. We have orally conveyed [our displeasure] to the BCCI. We will have a meeting with our president and office bearers, and then we will file an official protest tomorrow mostly.”Viswanathan said they should have waited till the fourth day before calling the games off in Delhi. “After all, only two days of play had elapsed; they could have still completed the game on the third and the fourth day,” he said. “It has happened in so many games in the past; it is not something new.”He also contended the technical committee wasn’t empowered to reschedule the games. “The BCCI press release says that the two matches were called off by the technical committee,” he said. “I would like to point out that the technical committee has no jurisdiction over it. Only the senior tournament committee has the powers to decide this.”In Group C, the top-three teams are separated by only three points. While table-topper Andhra and third-placed Haryana have two more matches remaining, Hyderabad, who trail Andhra by only two points, have an extra game against Tripura, who are in the bottom half. Andhra coach Sanath Kumar admitted Hyderabad would have the advantage of knowing what they need to do in the last match, but said there was no point worrying about it.”All we have to do is our two games we have to focus and have to do our best. If we win one of the games and take the first-innings lead in the other we are anyway through,” he said. “These things we can’t do anything about. It is not intentionally done or something like that. Definitely it is an advantage, but you can’t avoid it; you can’t do anything else.”The BCCI had also pushed back the knockout matches to accommodate the two games. The quarter-finals, initially scheduled to begin on December 17, will now be held from December 24 to 28. The semi-finals were moved from December 27 to January 3, while the final, originally set to be played from January 7, will now take place from January 12 to 16.

On a dead Lord’s track, the Championship leaders have got themselves into a position where they almost certainly cannot lose

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Lord's27-Jun-2016
ScorecardAlviro Petersen racked up 191•Getty Images

What ingredients there were for a high-quality encounter at Lord’s look already to be heading for a bland conclusion. That may seem melodramatic – should Middlesex collapse tomorrow, it may enter into “misguided” or “facetious” – but there were few other conclusions to draw from a day in which eight wickets fell yet only one was taken.Lancashire’s seven were shed in the pursuit of quick runs to hammer a tiring Middlesex attack further into the dust. Even Tim Murtagh’s shoulders, constantly in a slumped relaxed state, plummeted to knee height. Even Murtagh, a bowler who can make the ball talk for fun could barely muster a whimper from a pitch that does the long-form more harm than good.What should have been a compelling day’s cricket, in near-perfect conditions, asked spectators to find their own source of amusement. The evening session hosted a low sun and with it the chance for them to shed some clothing, get some colour and indulge in the sorts of conversations with opposing fans that only beer and minor heatstroke encourages.”So you see, it’s those bastards across the way – they’re the tight ones,” concluded one such tête-à-tête. It’s those across the way that Lancashire are looking to build a lead over: level on points with Yorkshire going into this match but leading Division One by virtue of number of games won.Middlesex, with their six draws from seven, sat 16 points off the Northern rivals. This fixture between first and fourth felt like it could set the tone for the next half of the season, when captains roll the dice and each session weighs heavier on the nerves.The opening exchanges were very much in Lancashire’s favour as they amassed their highest innings score of the season. Alviro Petersen was thoroughly unflustered, picking up where he left off to add 86 to an overnight 105: perhaps the only surprise was his failure to bring up his double hundred. Looking to move the game on, he was caught and bowled by Toby Roland-Jones, whose 31-over toil was made relatively worthwhile by four wickets.Flanking Petersen were the offerings from the middle order cavalry of Steven Croft, Karl Brown and Liam Livingstone. It was with Livingstone in particular that the most damage was done: 103 runs put on together at six an over – 67 coming in 11 overs after lunch, as Livingstone brought up a 54-ball half-century filled with reverse sweeps and the odd wristy thwack through the leg side. To nitpick, 500 perhaps should have come up easier than it did: a scampered single between Lancashire’s 10 and 11 that nearly resulted in a run out.But even with scoreboard pressure and a 12-over session before tea bowled by Kyle Jarvis and Neil Wagner – perhaps the best opening duo in the domestic game at present – Lancashire were unable to land a telling blow on the hosts. Even the one wicket they managed looked a tad lucky, though that is simply going by Sam Robson’s forlorn expression after he had been adjudged caught at first slip off the leg spin of Matt Parkinson. The disappointment was understandable: he had looked on the cusp of one of those Lord’s vigils he embarks upon when he basically invokes squatter’s rights.If anything, Robson’s wicket sharpened Nick Gubbins’ focus, who gave up driving for a while and worked his way to 71 at the close. He will recommence tomorrow with Stevie Eskinasi, who goes to bed on a new first class best of 43.Lancashire will be hoping that when they wake up tomorrow the pitch might too. Unfortunately this is yet another Lord’s track that needs a defibrillator rather than a roller. The new ball brings something out of it but not for long. From then on, whatever movement there is comes once the ball had passed the stumps. Steven Croft found that out the hard way as he scrabbled around to contend with the late dips and swerves. The skip in his step at the start of the final session had slowed to a trudge when stumps was called.If anything, perhaps the Lancashire bowlers might leave the match with a bit of sympathy for their Middlesex counterparts, whose charge has consistently been hampered by these sorts of pitches. Still, the Championship leaders have got themselves into a position where they almost certainly cannot lose. If they are not still bowling by this time tomorrow then they should consider that a victory.

Trent Alexander-Arnold settled the Cristiano Ronaldo vs Lionel Messi GOAT debate, but the Liverpool defender snubbed his own team-mate Mohamed Salah.

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• TAA picks the best player in the world
• Defender chooses Salah over Kane
• Had to choose between the two GOATS in the final

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  WHAT HAPPENED?

  Participating in a 'football bracket' challenge for JD Sports on TikTok, Alexander-Arnold engaged in a knockout tournament format, pitting 16 footballing icons against each other. In the final, he unequivocally chose Messi over Ronaldo, indicating his belief that the Argentine maestro reigns supreme in the realm of football greatness.

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• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  While Egyptian sensation Salah had an impressive run in Alexander-Arnold's imaginary tournament, defeating Bayern Munich's Harry Kane in the round of 16, he ultimately fell short in the semi-finals against Portuguese forward Ronaldo. Whereas, in the other bracket, Messi knocked out former Real Madrid star Karim Benzema to set up a finale with Ronaldo.

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  WHAT NEXT?

  Alexander-Arnold is currently nursing an injury which will keep him out of the Carabao Cup final against Chelsea on Sunday. While Conor Bradley has admirably stepped in to fill the void, his leadership and versatility will be sorely missed by the Reds faithful.

In an age obsessed with speed, Ramesh Powar is charmingly headed the other way. Siddhartha Vaidyanathan met him

Siddhartha Vaidyanathan07-Sep-2007

It’s said that some cricketers belong to a different era. Ramesh Powar belongs to a different century.He is from an age when cricketers came in different shapes and sizes, wore outsized red sunglasses and delectable hair bands, and bowled slow, really slow. We’ve heard about the adrenalin rushes, speed barriers and shoulder-aches that the fastest bowlers experience. Now it’s time to celebrate the slowest among the slow.Over his last five games Powar has defied the modern notion that bowling in one-day cricket is about restriction. In a high-scoring series he has rarely darted the ball in at a flat trajectory, never beaten batsmen with speed. He has wound the clock back to the golden age of cricket, the Edwardian twilight preceding the first World War, and risked conceding runs for wicket-taking rewards. Expectedly he has got wickets (six in five games); surprisingly he has been economical (4.41). Only Andrew Flintoff, who has played two games fewer, has done better.A ten-minute chat with Saqlain Mushtaq, when the Indians played Sussex during the early part of the tour, made a big impact. Powar was fretting over not getting any of the Indian batsmen out in the nets. Saqlain’s advice was simple: “If you succeed in making these guys defend you, then you are bowling very well. Don’t think of getting a Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar or a Rahul Dravid out. Even if you are able to bother them in the nets, it’s good enough.”Powar has grown in confidence with every game since, so much so that he has not hesitated in slowing down his pace considerably. He usually operates in the 45-to-55 mph range. Occasionally, especially when he bowls the undercutter that goes straight, he gets slightly faster. More often, when he simply lobs up a moon-ball that goes straight, he gets slower. Once he dropped as low as 41mph. He admits it’s his slowest phase yet but, fascinatingly, thinks he can “easily get slower”.At Edgbaston, in the third game of the series, brought on in the 16th over, with Ian Bell and Alastair Cook at the crease, Powar slipped in a really slow one and nailed Cook on the top-edged sweep.”In the third game it struck me that if I bowl a little slower, they might sweep,” he said. “I knew they wouldn’t try to hit over the fence because they rely on batsmen like KP [Pietersen] and Bell to stay at the wicket. They couldn’t afford to take many chances. So I’ve been taking chances against Cook, Bell, [Paul] Collingwood and Pietersen.”It’s helped that Powar is usually operating with Piyush Chawla, the legspinner, who is comparatively faster. “It always helps with Piyush bowling at the other end, because the batsmen tend to always go after those bowling quicker. So, suddenly when the slower bowlers come on, it becomes difficult for them to work around it. And with my kind of pace, I don’t think they can do that easily.”Does he think he can slow it down further? “For left-handers I might go a lot slower because they play against the spin. For right-handers I think it’s fine. Because I’m an open-chested bowler, I can adjust my action easily. I deliver the ball behind my ear and lose pace since I am a side-arm bowler. And since I’ve been bowling like this for seven-eight years, I know how to lose pace with the same action. Sometimes you don’t tweak the wrist – just let it go. Sometimes you hold the ball in the palm, sometimes you hold it in two fingers rather than three. There are a lot of ways to lose pace and I’ve worked on different methods in the nets.”

Powar’s Headingley dismissal of Ravi Bopara, one of England’s best batsmen against spin, underlined the value of pace variations. Two quick ones, at around the 55mph mark, were followed by a straight dolly, lobbed up at 42.4mph. Bopara, completely deceived, popped a simple return catch.”They had changed the ball just then,” Powar said. “It was a newish ball and I knew that tossing it up may help getting some bounce. Maybe he didn’t expect it to spin or bounce that much. There was not much spin but some extra bounce.”Powar anticipates the batsmen’s intentions much better these days. He has always been a shrewd bowler but thinks his gut feel pays off more often these days. Paul Collingwood’s case is worth mentioning. “Collingwood always played the chip shot against me [lobbing over midwicket]. So I decided not to bowl any offbreaks that will help that chip shot. In ten balls I will probably bowl seven straight balls to him. I’m guessing better right now.”The straight one which he utilises so effectively was mastered by watching a great legspinner on television. “I learned that delivery watching Shane Warne bowl. I used to try it earlier also but it used to spin a bit. That’s maybe because at the Wankhede anything spins. When I tried it here in England at the beginning of the tour, it was going straight really well. I don’t know whether the release has changed slightly but it is working. That’s all that matters.”Powar’s trade requires him to bide his time and wait for success. His philosophy in life – one that has seen its fair share of tribulation – is similar. “I’m not the kind who wants success every day,” he says sombrely. “I’ve seen life in and out. So success and failure in a game shouldn’t be taken too seriously.” It’s a perspective that has made Powar the cricketer he is. It’s also helping him become the bowler he wants to be.

A thrilling Women’s World Cup final at a sold out Lord’s was a match years in the making and can define the future of the game

Melinda Farrell at Lord's23-Jul-2017Where were you when England won the World Cup?Where were you on Sunday morning when the queues to get into the ground, half of them women and girls, stretched along Wellington Parade almost the entire way to St John’s Wood station? Were you in the excited, buzzing throng, ignoring the touts? Who could have imagined they would ever hear the slightly seedy muttering of “Buy or sell any tickets? Buy or sell any tickets?” on their way to a women’s match?Where was the late Baroness Rachael Heyhoe-Flint when the trophy, which many feel should bear her name, floated by balloon into the ground in the arms of a twirling and tumbling courier clad all in white, as if sent to earth from the heavens above? Even the most hardened atheist would wish for an afterlife if they knew Heyhoe-Flint could look down and see the Home of Cricket – a place where she fought so tenaciously for female recognition – jammed with jubilant mothers and fathers and sons and daughters, made over for a wholehearted celebration of the women’s game.Where was Charlotte Edwards when Tammy Beaumont creamed back to back boundaries off Shikha Pandey with the most delicious pair of cover drives? She wanted to be in the middle, she wanted this to be her swansong. But the darling of England cricket made way for the new generation. She has played a bigger part than most in this sport. And she was still at Lord’s, barely able to move through the crowd for fans wanting autographs and selfies. “You ate one of my brownies once at a match!” calls out one delighted fan. Lottie nods and beams and shakes a sea of hands before joining an overwhelmingly female commentary line up: Mel Jones, Lisa Sthalekar, Lydia Greenway, Isa Guha, Ebony Rainford-Brent – legends all – have also played their part in this momentous day and the game’s journey towards it.Where was the Bharat Army when Jhulan Goswami turned the match on its head with back-to-back wickets in a two-over spell of ferocity and guile? There they were, banging out Bhangra beats on a dhol, surely the first to be allowed in a prim and proper Lord’s. They were there waving Indian flags, competing for air space with those bearing the Cross of St George. Flags? At Lord’s? Draped on the balcony outside the Indian dressing room? Of course they were, this was a day when everything seemed possible; when conventions made way for joyful expression.Where was John Etheridge, the ‘s veteran cricket reporter, during the 1993 Women’s World Cup Final at Lord’s? He was in the old press box at the top of what is now the revamped Warner stand, watching England’s 67-run victory over New Zealand in front of a few thousand fans. He would write of the match: “The charm of the game was its femininity. They dressed like girls and played like girls. And Kirsty Bond, the Kiwis’ No 3, had the striking beauty to catch any selector’s eye.”And here was Etheridge on the edge of his seat in the new Lord’s press box, as the game reached its crescendo, writing about the thrilling climax, not the dress, at his second Women’s World Cup final, the scene unrecognizable from the one he witnessed 24 years earlier.A few seats along in a full media centre, containing more female journalists than anyone there could remember seeing in a press box, sat Mike Atherton, his appreciative cry of “Shot!” carrying over the tapping of fingers on keys as Veda Krishnamurthy threaded a perfect cover drive to the boundary. Twenty-four years earlier, as the newly installed England Men’s captain he’d sent a telegram to his female counterpart, Karen Smithies, on the eve of the final to wish her good luck. Now he was one of several high profile newspaper writers – Vic Marks, Lawrence Booth, Scyld Berry among them – biting their nails and craning at replays, completely absorbed in the breathtaking contest.Alex Hartley claimed the key wicket of Harmanpreet Kaur but the main drama was still to come•AFP

Where were you when Punam Raut threatened a rout of England’s bowling? When Mithali Raj couldn’t make her ground? When Sarah Taylor missed a stumping? When catches were dropped and rash shots were played? Were you screaming at the television at home, at work, listening on the radio along with millions of others? Were you Hassam on the M2 motorway? Were you Dharmesh or Anil or Vigay in the Republic of Congo? Or Kinshuk in the Netherlands? Were you Sabbah watching in a tiny village, 7500 feet up in Himalayan Kashmir? Or maybe Aishwaryaa in the rural Tamil Nadu district of Dindigul. James in Taiwan, Dhaval in Bergen, Shiwe in Harfield, Cape Town? Or perhaps you were Oni, sitting on bench number 3, platform number 2, at the Bhatinda Punjab railway station. Sitting by a swimming pool in Crete, like Beni. Sharang in Phoenix, Arizona. Prague, Hyderabad, Shanghai, Darwin, Dallas, Hong Kong. All tweeting with hope and fear and pride and trepidation.Where was 12-year-old Kirin? She was sitting at the back of the Warner stand, cheering loudly with her family. After travelling to Derby and witnessing India beat England in the opening match of the tournament she told her mother she wanted to play for England. The following week she asked her teachers at school if she could start playing cricket. No, they told her. It’s not available for girls. She is now playing rounders.Here, a pause. There is still much work to be done.Where was Anya Shrubsole in 2001? She was in the stands of an empty Lord’s, a ten-year-old girl gazing around the ground while her father, Ian, snapped photos. In one of them, posted on Twitter on the eve of the final, she turns back to the camera and smiles. “What a place!” the caption reads. “I’d like to play here… for England… in a World Cup final.”And there was Shrubsole at a sold out Lord’s playing for England in a World Cup final, arms spread wide after she bowled Smriti Mandhana through the gate, the ball smashing into the stumps. And there was Shrubsole again at the death, with India closing in on the target and the crowd screaming behind her as she shattered the stumps again. This time it was Goswami, this time it was the inswinging yorker that has always been her stock and trade in big moments. And there she was hurling the ball at the stumps. And at the end, roaring with delight as the final wicket fell. How many ten-year-olds roared along with her in a Lord’s as full with the dreams of little girls as it was with physical bodies? Which one of them will stand in the middle sometime in the future, winning a World Cup for their country, while their father tweets pictures of them from this wonderful, glorious day?Where was Raj, for so long the backbone of India, when the dream ended? She was there, comforting her young charges, knowing this was her last World Cup appearance, then she was facing the media with all the class and intelligence she has always shown. Raj and her team-mates may have lost the final but they have won over the world. And most importantly they have awakened India. Seven television stations broadcast the final in that cricket-hungry country in three different languages. And where were senior BCCI officials, rarely seen at women’s matches? They were at Lord’s, they were awarding bonuses worth more than three times an annual contract, they were looking out over a heaving, rocking crowd. They must now surely realize there is an audience for this.And where was Heather Knight? Where was Mark Robinson? Where was England?They were leaping on a podium with the trophy that was flown in from the heavens, showered in champagne and streamers, dripping in laughter and tears and joyful relief.Where were you when England won the World Cup?You were everywhere. And you were here.

The tri-series, involving Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, will be followed by two Tests and two T20Is between Sri Lanka and Bangladesh

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Dec-2017Bangladesh will host a tri-nation ODI series involving Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, beginning on January 15. It will be the first tri-nation series hosted by Bangladesh since January 2010.

SL tour of Bangladesh fixtures

Tests:
1st Test: January 31-February 4, Chittagong
2nd Test: February 8-12, Dhaka
T20Is:
1st T20I: February 15, Dhaka
2nd T20I: February 18, Sylhet

A Zimbabwe XI will take on BCB XI in a one-day warm-up match on January 13 at the BKSP 4 Ground. Bangladesh will then take on Zimbabwe in the tri-series opener in Dhaka where all seven day-night matches, including the final on January 27, will be held. Each side will face each other twice during the league stage before the final.Sri Lanka had won the previous tri-series involving the same teams in Bangladesh in January 2009.After the tri-series, Bangladesh will host Sri Lanka for two Tests in Chittagong and Dhaka respectively. The first Test will be played from January 31 to February 4 and the second match from February 8 to 12.Sri Lanka’s tour will end with two T20Is – the first on February 15 in Dhaka and the second on February 18 in Sylhet.

Barcelona star, Ilkay Gundogan, has been blasted for his underwhelming performances with Germany by DFB vice president Ralph-Uwe Schaffert.

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• Gundogan's form with Germany under the scanner
• Schaffert believes midfielder is a shadow of his Barcelona self
• Urged for more fighting spirit from the German team in general

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Gundogan, who arrived at Barcelona in the summer, has been an integral figure for the Blaugrana, participating in all 24 matches played in La Liga and the Champions League under manager Xavi. However, his form for Germany has led Schaffert to criticise his contrasting performances between his club and national team. The FA official believes that Gundogan plays exceptionally well for Barcelona but his form dips significantly when he turns up for Die Mannschaft.

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• WHAT SCHAFFERT SAID ABOUT GUNDOGAN

  Speaking to Schaffert said: "Gundogan strangely plays outstandingly for the club and then plays in such a way for the national team that one can come to think: Has he sent his twin brother, with less talent? I don't understand it."

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  The German team has been going through a lean patch of form since the 2022 World Cup where they were ousted in the group stages. The DFB replaced Hansi Flick with Julian Nagelsmann at the helm of affairs but their fortunes have not turned around as they remain winless in their last three international fixtures including defeats to Turkey and Austria.

  The recent results led Schaffert to express doubts about Germany's prospects in the upcoming European Championship, citing a significant disparity between potential, aspirations, expectations, and reality. He attributed the team's struggles not solely to the coach but pointed to a broader issue of attitude and commitment among the players.

  "I have many doubts regarding next year's European Championship," he said. "In terms of potential, we can go far. But aspirations, expectations and reality are so far apart at the moment that it is absolutely inexplicable to me. I don't think it is due to the coach. I have the feeling that quite a few of the players who are currently on the pitch believe that they can go out on the field with maybe 85% of their possible commitment, and then you have to discover that this is no longer enough against Turkey and Austria.

  "I don't even want to imagine what will happen if we play against France or England with this attitude. Maybe we will no longer need only those who are very talented, but also those who are willing to roll up their sleeves. The best example of how to do this was given by our under-17 when they won the World Cup."

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  WHAT NEXT?

  Gundogan will get an opportunity to prove his critics wrong when Germany face France and the Netherlands in two friendlies during the next international break in March. In the short term, he will return to action with Barcelona on January 4 against Las Palmas.

Luis Rubiales refuted claims he 'inappropriately' touched England's players before his non-consensual kiss on Jenni Hermoso after the World Cup final.

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• Rubiales accused of touching England players
• Ex-RFEF president hit back at the claims
• Official has been banned for three years

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The former Spanish Football Federation (RFEF) president responded to accusations by Football Association (FA) chair Debbie Hewitt that he "cupped and stroked" England star Laura Coombs' face and "seemingly forcefully kissed" Lucy Bronze. Hewitt then said that when the Spain players came up to accept their medals, Rubiales was "tactile" as he kissed their cheeks and "rubbed some on their back, tapped one on her bottom, grabbed some by their arm, lifted several off their feet, and one was hoisted twice".

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Hewitt's comments were submitted to FIFA as they investigated Rubiales because he kissed Spain star Hermoso, sparking outrage across the football world. The president refused to apologise or resign from his post at the RFEF, but was initially temporarily suspended by FIFA before the governing body handed down a three-year ban from football in October.

• WHAT RUBIALES SAID

  Rubiales was given the opportunity to respond to Hewitt's comments as part of FIFA's investigation and his representative labelled her account "astonishing" as he accused the FA chair of doing the same as he had been accused of.

  The response, which was published by FIFA on Wednesday, states that Rubiales felt "the need to point out that Ms. Hewitt, hugged several players even after clearly noticing that they were extending their hands to receive a handshake, which applying the same logic she used, could be understood as a forceful nonconsensual physical contact, or even when greeting the referees, it can be seen Ms. Hewitt touching all of them in their arms, while [Rubiales] limited his interaction to a plain handshake. The hypocrisy is blatant."

  It adds: "The way she presents a gentle gesture of comfort to all the rivals in the final of the [Women's World Cup], suggesting that [Rubiales] is some sort of creep is absolutely disgusting. Also, she either purposely or negligently decides to obviate some of crucial facts, first Ms. Coombs was injured during the final, had to receive stitches and was wearing a bandage in her head, reason why [Rubiales] tried to comfort her.

  "And second, Ms. Bronze not only plays in Spain, but she was also super cup champion in Spain just few months before in which celebration Mr. Rubiales obviously participated. This conduct was not denounced when on June 18, 2023, he hugged Mr. Luka Modric after the final, precisely for the same reasons he hugged Ms. Bronze."

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  WHAT NEXT FOR RUBIALES?

  The 46-year-old has vowed to appeal the suspension he was hit with, though FIFA said in its ruling that the disgraced official could have been given an even more severe sanction. He could also face criminal prosecution as the incident is being investigated by a Spanish judge.