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da esport bet： O Conselho Deliberativo do Juventude confirmou, por aclamação, a reeleição de Fábio Pizzamiglio para comandar o clube no biênio 2026/2027. Presidente desde o fim de 2022, o dirigente, reeleito para o ciclo 20 24/20 25, inicia agora seu segundo mandato consecutivo com a meta de recolocar o clube na elite do futebol brasileiro.

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da dobrowin： ➡️ Siga o Lance! no WhatsApp e acompanhe em tempo real as principais notícias do esporte

Em 2024, segundo relatório da PLURI Consultoria, o Juventude registrou superávit de R$ 34,2 milhões e receita recorde de R$ 131 milhões, sem depender de venda de atletas. A dívida foi reduzida para R$ 12 milhões, uma queda de 69% em somente um ano. Em 2025, a diretoria do Juventude prevê fechamento com novo superávit, o que deverá reduzir ainda mais a dívida remanescente.

Pizzamiglio credita os resultados à disciplina orçamentária e ao modelo de gestão adotado. O cartola iniciou sua trajetória no clube aos 17 anos, como funcionário de TI, e hoje completa quase três décadas de vínculo com o Jaconi.

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— Mostramos ser possível fazer futebol com responsabilidade. Nosso compromisso é manter o Juventude saudável, independente e preparado para crescer no longo prazo — afirmou o presidente.

A nova composição da diretoria executiva contará com pilares estratégicos e incorpora reforços técnicos para a próxima fase do projeto. Entre as mudanças, Luis Carlos Bianchi assume a vice-presidência de Futebol, enquanto Leonardo Tonietto passa a comandar a área financeira, antes administrada por Paulo Stumpf, que permanece como 1º vice-presidente. A estrutura ainda conta com Rafael Bellei, no Patrimônio, e Bruno Zaballa, no Marketing.

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— Temos desafios grandes pela frente. A missão é reconstruir no campo com a mesma maturidade que demonstramos fora dele, preparando o Juventude para voltar à elite de forma sustentável — destacou.

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Futebol NacionalJuventude

أعلن هيثم شعبان، المدير الفني لفريق طلائع الجيش، التشكيل الرسمي لفريقه استعدادًا لمواجهة الزمالك، في المباراة التي تجمع بينهما مساء اليوم على استاد القاهرة الدولي، ضمن منافسات الجولة الثالثة عشرة من بطولة الدوري المصري الممتاز.

ويدخل طلائع الجيش اللقاء محتلاً المركز السادس عشر بجدول ترتيب الدوري برصيد 10 نقاط، ويطمح لتحقيق نتيجة إيجابية تساعده على الابتعاد عن مناطق الهبوط.

وفي المقابل، يحتل الزمالك المركز الرابع برصيد 19 نقطة من 11 مباراة، بعدما حقق الفوز في خمس مواجهات وتعادل في أربع وتلقى هزيمتين.

طالع أيضًا | أحمد عبد الرؤوف يعلن تشكيل الزمالك أمام طلائع الجيش.. الجزيري يقود الهجوم تشكيل طلائع الجيش أمام الزمالك في الدوري

حراسة المرمى: محمد شعبان

خط الدفاع: خالد عوض – محمد فتح الله – خالد سطوحي – أحمد علاء

خط الوسط: حامد الجابري – أحمد عبد الرحمن زولا – مصطفى الخواجة

خط الهجوم: كريم طارق – علي حمدي – إسلام محارب بدلاء طلائع الجيش أمام الزمالك

محمد مجدي – عمرو طارق – مؤمن محمود – أبو بكر كيتا – غيث المدادحة – حسن السويسي – محمد عاطف – أحمد طارق – محمد هاني

MLB announced the winners of the first major annual award on Monday, revealing the winner of the Jackie Robinson Rookie of the Year award for both the American and National League.

The Rookie of the Year awards are annually voted on by the Baseball Writers Association of America, with 30 voters determining who was the top rookie in MLB during the season. The reigning Rookie of the Year winners are Yankees pitcher Luis Gil and Pirates pitcher Paul Skenes.

Here’s a look at the 2025 Rookie of the Year winners.

American League Rookie of the Year Winner

Winner: Nick Kurtz, Athletics 1B

Finalists: Roman Anthony, Red Sox OF and Jacob Wilson, Athletics SS

Nick Kurtz made his debut for the Athletics on April 23, 2025 and finished his stellar rookie campaign slashing .290/.383/.619 with 122 hits, 90 runs, 36 home runs, 86 RBIs and a 1.002 OPS. Kurtz, nicknamed the “Big Amish” and known for his butter churning celebration, finished 10th in MLB in home runs and led all rookies in 2025 in home runs, RBIs, runs and walks.

Kurtz’s finest performance of the season came on July 25, when he went 6-6 with four home runs and eight RBIs against the Astros, becoming the first rookie ever to hit four home runs in a single game.

He is now the unanimous AL Rookie of the Year. Teammate Jacob Wilson finished second in the voting with 23 second-place votes while Roman Anthony comes up in third after receiving three second-place votes and 15 third-place votes.

“It’s a great ending to the first year,” Kurtz told MLB Network. “Like Jacob said earlier, use this and keep on grinding and come back better next year.”

National League Rookie of the Year Winner

Winner: Drake Baldwin, Braves C

Finalists: Caleb Durbin, Brewers 3B and Cade Horton, Cubs pitcher

Drake Baldwin made his MLB debut at the start of the season on March 27, 2025. Over the course of 124 games during his first season, he slashed .274/.341/.469 for 111 hits, 56 runs, 19 home runs, 80s RBIs and a .810 OPS. Baldwin finished the season leading all National League rookies in RBIs, second among NL rookies in home runs and second on the Braves in WAR.

There was speculation the enclosure would be renamed due to the political dynamics in the country

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jan-2025

The PCB has dismissed speculation that former captain and politician Imran Khan’s name would be removed from an enclosure at the recently-renovated Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore owing to his imprisonment on charges of corruption.Speculation was doing the rounds that PCB had removed Imran’s name due to the current political situation in Pakistan. The Gaddafi stadium has been renovated for the Champions Trophy that starts on February 19.The Imran Khan enclosure, which is one of the VIP stands in the stadium, has been a permanent fixture at the venue since 1992, when he led Pakistan to victory in the ODI World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. Tickets for Champions Trophy games in Lahore are being sold online under the ‘Imran Khan Enclosure’.Imran is presently in Adiala jail in Rawalpindi and has denied allegations of corruption, insisting he is a victim of a political vendetta. However, a court recently convicted him and his wife Bushra Bibi in a corruption case, sentencing them to 14 and seven years respectively in prison.Imran, who leads the Tehreek-e-Insaaf party, is currently in opposition to the ruling coalition government of Pakistan Muslim League (N) and Pakistan Peoples Party. The Punjab province is governed by a PML (N) government led by Maryam Nawaz, the daughter of former premier, Nawaz Sharif.

Henry Hunt and Liam Scott made half-centuries were part of a stop-start SA batting display

AAP01-Nov-2024Former Test paceman Peter Siddle has again proven age is no barrier as the 39-year-old ensured a weakened Victoria remains well placed after day one of their Sheffield Shield match against South Australia.Wickets fell at regular intervals throughout the second and third sessions as South Australia ended the day 286 for 9 after being given first use of the Adelaide Oval batting strip by visiting captain Will Sutherland.Related

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Test wicketkeeper Alex Carey was again among the runs while there were half centuries for Henry Hunt and Liam Scott but it was Siddle who made the day’s most decisive contribution.Siddle struck twice in an over to remove Daniel Drew and Jake Lehmann for a second duck in as many matches.The indefatigable Siddle returned late in the day to clean bowl Scott and send the home side’s last recognised batter on his way for 53, and ended the day with 3 for 44 from 18 overs.Siddle, player of the match with 5 for 49 against a strong New South Wales last weekend, returned to the Shield side among a host of absentees for Victoria.Bowlers Scott Boland, Todd Murphy and Fergus O’Neill, as well as opener Marcus Harris, all missed the third round match due to Australia A commitments.Siddle, a veteran of 67 Tests, complemented a young Victoria bowling line-up featuring the returning Cam McClure, Mitch Perry and spinner Doug Warren, who replaced Murphy.The day began in bizarre fashion with the fifth ball of the match eluding wicketkeeper Sam Harper and striking the fielding helmet for five penalty runs.Despite the early gift, South Australia were unable to score fluently and only reached a scoring rate of two runs an over in the final moments of the morning session to be 62 for 1 at lunch.Conor McInerney was the only batter to fall, off the bowling of Sutherland, before Siddle made his double breakthrough after the interval.Hunt made a typically watchful 62 only to edge Warren to first slip from the first ball of the left-arm spinner’s spell.Siddle was also in action in the field, catching the in-form Carey on the boundary off the bowling of Perry.Carey’s knock ended on 44 as a pull shot failed to clear the narrow Adelaide Oval boundary to leave the home side at a wobbly 159 for 5.Scott then played an important innings to revive South Australia, with assistance from Ben Manenti and debutant Henry Thornton.

Mithun, Unadkat, Vinay, Pankaj, Karn are all domestic stalwarts who have struggled on their debuts overseas. That trend could change

Varun Shetty23-Dec-2020If India decide to make a routine of naming XIs a day before the Test, we can make a reasonable assumption that one of Mohammed Siraj and Navdeep Saini is likely to know of a Test debut on Christmas.It’s never prudent to speculate on players’ emotions, but even in the din of 36 all out, and the exits of two more senior players, it’s hard to imagine Siraj and Saini are feeling anything but excitement.It has taken them years of consistently being the frontrunners in India’s representational teams to break into a bowling line-up that’s been described by various people, including those in it, as India’s best ever. A line-up where it took injuries to two key members for one spot to open up.Not bad for a pair who hadn’t played anything beyond tennis-ball cricket through their formative years. To say it’s the stuff of dreams would be reductive; to Saini, who wears a wolf tattoo to signify his free spirit, and who just wanted to bowl fast as Gautam Gambhir fought to make him a regular in Delhi cricket. And to Siraj, who might well have been unavailable for this game if he’d chosen to go home after his father’s death this month, and who stayed after his mother reminded him that it was his father’s wish to see him play for India.Related

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Still, it is difficult not to feel wary about their potential entry into Test cricket later this week. Embarrassing losses in the backdrop or not, Indian bowlers over the last decade haven’t debuted well overseas. Apart from Jasprit Bumrah, who is yet to play a Test at home, there is a considerable list of bowlers since the start of 2010 who were handed what now seem like cursed debuts.Karn Sharma, a fairly successful domestic cricketer and owner of multiple IPL winners’ medals, is perhaps most widely remembered as the latest entrant of that list. His debut in Adelaide in 2014, as then stand-in captain Virat Kohli’s attacking gambit, came with the wickets of David Warner – twice – and Michael Clarke. But at the cost of 238 runs and an economy of 4.85, which was the foreboding of an end. He hasn’t played for India in any format since.And yet, in some ways – consider he was a spinner in Australia attempting damage control alongside M Vijay and Rohit Sharma – that was one of the better overseas debuts. Go further behind, and you have domestic giants like Jaydev Unadkat, Pankaj Singh, Vinay Kumar, and Abhimanyu Mithun either coming apart on overseas debuts to never play again, or debuting and not holding onto spots over the next few series. Praveen Kumar was successful on tours to England and West Indies, but lasted all of six Tests for a variety of other reasons.Navdeep Saini has worked his way up the ranks despite being branded an ‘outsider’ in Delhi•Getty ImagesIt was the story of the early parts of the decade, India bouncing around from one overseas loss to another, cycling through their best from the Ranji Trophy to form ultimately toothless fast bowling attacks. The best seam bowlers were lost for bite on faster pitches, and the faster ones seemed largely rudderless. In almost each of their cases, they were undercooked.Any fears now of a bowler not being Test-ready would presumably come from a different, healthier context – perhaps the fact that India’s stringent workload management has kept their key fast bowlers fit for most cricket over the last few years. There has been little room to test a prospective bowler. Shardul Thakur was India’s last fast-bowling debutant, at home in October 2018. Ostensibly, India carry no such fears. At least that was the case before the series began.”We have a fabulous five,” Ravi Shastri was quoted as saying by ahead of this series. “[Umesh] Yadav has the experience. Saini is young and fast. Bumrah one of the best in business. [Mohammed] Shami is raring to go. Siraj is an exciting prospect. You put up runs on the board and watch these fast bowlers hunt the opposition. They can beat Australia in their own den.”Until the batting meltdown of Adelaide, the script was largely as Shastri had said it would be. In the absence of Kohli, however, India will worry about how to put runs on the board. Without the edge of Shami’s spells with the older ball, the dramatic notion of hunting Australia down, or staging comebacks, will also be restricted – and it generally is, in Melbourne.But things may not be as bad for a debutant as they have been in the past. Bumrah’s still leading the attack. R Ashwin’s already hit a nice rhythm early in the tour, and Umesh Yadav showed glimpses of that in the first innings. From India’s nets on Wednesday, there is a serious chance that Ravindra Jadeja could be back, and that would make for the best fifth bowler in Test cricket at the moment.Jaydev Unadkat hasn’t managed to add to his one Test appearance in 2010•AFPShould Saini or Siraj make it to the Boxing Day Test, they will not struggle for support. But could they still be unprepared?Since 2015, Shahbaz Nadeem is the only bowler to play more matches for India A, 19, than Siraj (16) and Saini (14). That effectively makes them, at least on numbers, the most experienced options in India’s bowling pool. And on closer look, Siraj’s numbers make a very good case for him.For starters, that’s 16 of his overall 38 first-class matches played at a higher level than the Ranji Trophy. In those games, he’s taken 70 wickets – second to Nadeem, who has 75 – at 21.88 and a strike rate of 42.2. In comparison, Saini has 34 wickets in 14 matches at 34.35, and strikes at 71.4.Siraj has also played more cricket overseas, 12 matches stretched across Australia, New Zealand, England, South Africa, and West Indies. In those he has 44 wickets at 27.63 as opposed to Saini’s 20 in 8 matches, at 40.45.Outside of a statistical analysis, Siraj was the more effective bowler during India’s practice games on this tour, and has previously bowled to the likes of Travis Head and Marnus Labuschagne, who were both part of his career-best haul of 8 for 59 in 2018.If Siraj ends up debuting in Melbourne, the obvious difference from those who were picked on numbers in the past will be that the decision will be better informed, with a lot more than just data, and the bowler much better prepared for a Test match. Saini’s pace and bluster have been among the most exciting things to emerge in Indian cricket over the last 18 months, so apart from the relatively poorer numbers, there is no obvious reason that he doesn’t get picked either. But pace and bluster is not a new phenomenon – bowlers like Yadav and Varun Aaron were all fast-tracked through exactly those attributes, with varying results.This new structure, the investment in preparing a solid pool, means an Indian bowler is less likely to be forced to learn on the job in the middle of an overseas Test. While that doesn’t guarantee a shift away from the trend for debutants, it does suggest that they are more likely to stay in the fray for longer, and to challenge for incumbent spots. Even if the start is rough. Six years ago, that would have been a Christmas miracle.

Once, there was a future. Now, there is nothing. But still, “cricket can be a life for me”, she hopes

Firdose Moonda27-Apr-20227:07

Roya Samim: I play cricket because I know it’s my future

Roya Samim has finally represented Afghanistan in a cricket match.Virtually, that is.Her avatar, so to say, turned out in an Afghanistan shirt, with her name, a number and the Afghanistan flag on it, for an e-sports contest organised by Global eSports that was an act of protest against the fact that there is no real national Afghanistan women’s team. They played against Australia in a virtual women’s World Cup final, and lost, just like all the teams that played Australia in the actual tournament.But it was not about the result at all.Related

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“Anyone who played that game showed that they stand with us,” 28-year-old Samim told ESPNcricinfo from her home in Canada. “It’s like a candle-light protest, but instead of lighting a candle, it’s playing cricket. And it reminded people that we are here. We exist. I cannot play on the national ground but I played virtually, and when I see that, I am just proud of myself that ‘Yes, I was in the Afghanistan team’.”Samim became interested, and involved, in cricket as an adult, playing with her siblings despite the raised eyebrows of those in their community, who said “cricket is not for you [girls/women]”. Mostly, they played indoors in their home in Afghanistan, but found like-minded enthusiasts, and in 2019, began campaigning for a professional women’s cricket set-up. At the time, Samim was working as a mathematics teacher, but “hoped that cricket could become my career”.By November 2020, the Afghanistan Cricket Board (ACB) was convinced enough to roll out contracts for 25 women, with the plan that they would slowly progress to playing competitive fixtures.Though the board indicated it would take time to get a women’s team on the park, given the cultural and traditional norms in Afghanistan, Samim saw attitudes shifting around her.Roya Samim brushes up on her forward defensive•Roya Samim”There were people that accepted us, appreciated us, and said we can do it,” she said. “There were those who allowed their girls to go to the school, to go to cricket, and to go to other sports. It was becoming acceptable.”Spurred on by the pockets of support they got, the group of Afghan women trained as hard as they could. “We had professional coaches – the trainers for the international men’s team, they trained us too,” Samim recalled. “The ACB provided us with camps and three or four days of training in a week. We had two teams and we played against each other. We made ourselves professional.”We spent seven or eight hours a day on cricket. First, we’d go to the ACB headquarters, then we’d go to the [Victory Cricket] academy, then we’d go to the fitness clubs. We wanted to be professional and we developed a lot.”In that time, there was some talk of organising matches against Oman or Bangladesh but that never came to fruition. In fact, nothing did. “Not even six months of our contract was complete when the Taliban came and everything was destroyed.”The Taliban’s political takeover in Afghanistan began in May 2021, and escalated in August. In the space of a week, they claimed territory from Kunduz to Kabul and it was during that period that Samim decided she had to reconsider her options.”At the time, the Taliban had more than two provinces and the big city of Herat. We were just afraid. I went to my cricket manager and said, ‘If you know that cricket can go ahead and there will be peace, I will not leave’, to which she replied, ‘No, I cannot guarantee that, and the situation is not good for girls, so you should leave’. That’s when we left Kabul,” Samim said. “Three days afterwards, the Taliban took [over] Afghanistan. We were in a hotel and my team-mates called me and they cried.”Everything – any dream, any wishes, any hope that me and my team-mates had – was gone. It was such a bad situation. When I remember now, I just want to cry.”While many of Samim’s team-mates remained in Afghanistan, she made it to Canada with “only two pieces of clothing”. Her brother and two sisters joined her, but she had another brother in a different country. She has had to adjust to many things, not least the “completely different weather”, and has just been through a winter with “lots of ice and lots of snow” as well as the loss of both her cricketing and professional career.

“Women’s education is really important for any country. If you want to change the future, you have to have women’s education”Samim on how difficult it has been for women in Afghanistan

“It’s really hard to explain how my life is. In Afghanistan, I had a good career and I had other things. I had friends, and my team,” she said. “When people saw me, they were proud of me. Here, I had to start from zero. But I started because I feel that I am so strong, I can handle anything. I have some friends, I started playing cricket, I started working. I’ve got many friends. Everything is going normal. Well, I want to pretend it’s normal.”Samim has stopped teaching and is now a settlement worker who aims to help other refugees. She laments the loss of learning opportunities for women in Afghanistan but hopes to keep the conversation alive by speaking about it.”When I heard that the Taliban were not going to allow girls to go to school and I wasn’t in Afghanistan to stand against it, I just cried,” she said. “I can’t do anything. It’s so hard, because education – especially women’s education – is really important for any country. If you want to change the future, you have to have women’s education. It is really hard to see that we have completely lost our country. It’s really hard but we can’t do anything. I just raise my voice like this.”Similarly, she is also keeping her cricket ambitions burning and has found a place for it: Fredericton Cricket Club in New Brunswick. She hopes it will open doors for her to play elsewhere – including franchise leagues – and appeals to anyone who has an opportunity to provide it.”Any small chances that are given to us as cricket players, we will be happy,” she said. “Even a trial, if people want to give it to us, we are ready. I play cricket because I know that it’s my future. Sometime in the future maybe I will get into a national team. I am really working for this. I am really training hard. I have lost everything, so cricket can be a life for me.”Samim aims to play for another five to seven years before turning her attention to coaching. With so much invested in cricket, she does not want to see Afghanistan shunned from the world stage. She supports the men’s team in continuing to play rather than face any sanctions, and believes it brings joy to Afghans, wherever they might be.”I would like the men to continue to play. I don’t want the situation to have an effect on them. They are the only team that can bring some happiness in my country. It’s only cricket, not other sports [do that]. It’s good that they continue.”And she hopes one day she will be able to join them in real life in a match for Afghanistan.”To go home now is impossible because the Taliban don’t accept me and I don’t accept them. But if anything changes – for example, maybe they will allow girls to play cricket – [and] if there are matches, I should be there. It’s my country.”

With the T20 Asia Cup less than two weeks away, it might seem like an odd time to schedule an ODI series, but both sides have plenty to play for

Danyal Rasool15-Aug-2022For the Pakistan cricket team right now, this is a decidedly weird time to find themselves in the Netherlands’ second largest city. It is less than two weeks to the start of the T20 Asia Cup, whereas Pakistan are here to play three ODIs against the Netherlands. The Asia Cup is to be held in the UAE, a place that’s hot and dry almost no matter what time of year you’re talking about, while Rotterdam this week is expected to be wet and windy. The surfaces Pakistan will encounter, Babar Azam mused last week, would be similar to the ones they deal with in the UK, worlds removed from what Sharjah and Dubai and Abu Dhabi will throw up.And yet here Pakistan are. To give everyone their due, they didn’t exactly schedule it this way; this is a series carried over from last year, one of the victims of the sledgehammer the Covid-19 pandemic took to the cricketing schedule. It’s perhaps also an encapsulation of where the ODI game sits right now, with any games in that format feeling out of context just about whenever they’re played.Related

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But then again, if there’s anything more tedious than the alleged impending demise of the one-day game, it’s the relentless talk about it, so we might as well get into the actual cricket. These ODIs might feel something of a chore to Pakistan but they’re likely very welcome to all stakeholders at the KNCB, not least the players who get a rare opportunity at taking on a world-class side. That’s even truer in the wake of Pakistan’s squad announcement, with the visitors announcing nigh-on a full strength side for the three games, with Shaheen Shah Afridi’s likely absence from at least the first two games the only elite omission.Pakistan, like most other nations, have only played a handful of intermittent short ODIs series since the 2019 ODI World Cup, making it tricky to gauge their form and the side’s overall health ahead of next year’s showpiece event in India. But even from the scraps that can be gleaned, there’s some evidence of a side building up steam leading up to that tournament.The first half of this cycle saw them lose a home ODI to Zimbabwe, sneak past a depleted South Africa and find themselves utterly outclassed by a third-string English side. Since then, a come-from-behind series win against Australia and a clean sweep of the West Indies has injected confidence into the side. While anything but an undefeated series against the Netherlands would be a failure, these games also give Pakistan the opportunity to plug some of the holes in their 50-over side.There is perhaps an opportunity for the middle order to find some runs and confidence, with Pakistan’s top three responsible for about two thirds of all ODI runs since the 2019 World Cup, for no other side is that figure above 55%. There’s a compelling positive reason for that, of course – Imam-ul-Haq and Babar Azam are the most consistent ODI batting pairing in the world, and with Pakistan having won 11 of the 17 ODIs they have played this cycle, that leaves little for the rest of the lineup.However, on the occasions the middle order has been left with work to do, more often than not, that work has been left undone. No one from outside the top three has scored a single ODI hundred in this cycle, and just four half-centuries have come from outside the top four. Haris Sohail and Wahab Riaz were responsible for two of those, not exactly batters Pakistan will rely on in the long term.The new-ball bowlers, too have a chance to shine in Afridi’s absence; for the most part, it has proved a struggle from the other end. As many as seven bowlers besides Shaheen have been used as new ball options, without anyone really looking like making that slot theirs. Babar did speak glowingly of fast-bowling depth, but quantity is far less likely to win World Cups than quality.Netherlands have generally tended to play attacking cricket•Michael Bradley/AFP/Getty ImagesThe Netherlands find themselves depleted for reasons beyond their control, with the Hundred and the One-Day Cup tying down more than half a dozen players the home side might have wanted to call upon. Fred Klaassen, Colin Ackermann, Roelof van der Merwe, and Timm van der Gugten are all currently participating in the Hundred, with Paul van Meekeren, Shane Snater and Brandon Glover involved in England’s domestic one-day competition.Pieter Seelaar’s retirement leaves a hole to be fulfilled, but Scott Edwards, the replacement skipper, was outstanding in the recent series against England, scoring 214 runs, and half-centuries in each game. (Incidentally, he also bats outside the top four, so in that series alone, he was responsible for nearly as many middle order half-centuries as Pakistan have managed in the past three years.)While that series might have been dispiriting for the Dutch – England swept them aside in all three games, record-breakingly so in the first – Netherlands have since had something to cheer about. They had a successful T20 World Cup qualifying campaign in Zimbabwe, going through to the tournament proper in Australia alongside the hosts. In the bigger picture, that was much more significant in lifting Dutch spirits than anything England did to deflate them in July. Netherlands have generally tended to play attacking cricket, but with that weight off their shoulders, that might be exacerbated against Pakistan.In a sense, both sides have more exciting challenges to look forward to. The cricketing world will move past this series without taking so much as a second glance, with both Netherlands and Pakistan putting it to the back of their minds soon after it’s over.But even the most curmudgeonly would find it difficult to moan about spending a week in Rotterdam in August. The weather is cool and mild, far removed from the heatwaves and droughts ravaging so much of Europe currently. It isn’t quite as crowded as its big brother Amsterdam, which gets most of the tourist crowds and the concomitant problems that go with that. A stroll around the Old Harbour is always relaxing, and those world-famous cube houses are iconic enough to merit a visit on their own. Oh, and there’s cricket on.Come to think of it, perhaps it isn’t such a strange time to be in Rotterdam.

With a depleted squad, on a spinning pitch, they chased 395 with two debutants the heroes

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Feb-2021
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• Mayers' knock brings father Shirley Clarke to tears

They were without six first-choice players
Ten West Indies cricketers opted not to travel to Bangladesh amid Covid-19 concerns, including their Test captain Jason Holder, and vice-captain Roston Chase. Shai Hope, Darren Bravo and Shamarh Brooks, all likely to have made the XI, also opted out of the tour, as did first-choice keeper Shane Dowrich, for personal reasons. Shimron Hetmyer, who could have made the Test team for the first time since 2019 as a replacement batsman, also missed out.They fielded three debutants
All the absentees meant West Indies had to field three debutants in the first Test in Bangladesh: Shayne Moseley, Nkrumah Bonner, and Kyle Mayers, who batted from No.3 to No.5. Their wicketkeeper Joshua Da Silva was playing just his second Test. Kraigg Brathwaite took over from Holder as captain.West Indies had lost 0-2 on their previous tour to Bangladesh
Even with a full-strength side, West Indies would have been underdogs in Bangladesh, having lost both Tests there on their 2018 tour. They had a near full-strength squad for that series, but their batsmen struggled on the turning tracks, only once getting a total of more than 250.They had been swept in the ODI series of this tour
Those vulnerabilities against spin were apparent on this tour as well, as West Indies’ ODI batting line-up crumbled for scores of 122, 148 and 177 in the three-match series. They could not get to 300 in either innings of the tour match before the Tests, and when they were bowled out for 259 in the first innings of the first Test, it looked like it would be another long series for their batsmen.The heroes of the win were two debutants
Left 395 to chase on a fourth and fifth-day pitch, West Indies would have had most of their hopes pinned on their captain Brathwaite, and more experienced batsmen, John Campbell and Jermaine Blackwood. Instead, the two heroes were debutants – Mayers, who scored an incredible 210 not out, and Bonner, who got 86; the pair put together 216 for the fourth wicket. Mayers is 28 and Bonner 32 – both have been on the first-class scene for a while, and when finally given the opportunity, produced memorable knocks.

Sri Lanka vs Pakistan is a rivalry that is full to bursting with final day fun and this match is no exception

Andrew Fidel Fernando19-Jul-2022Are we ready for this? A nerve-wracking final day? Come out from behind the couch. You can face this. Let’s do it together.The factsPakistan need only 120 runs, and have seven wickets in hand. One of the not out batters is centurion Abdullah Shafique. Since coming on the scene, he’s quelled a bowling attack containing Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Nathan Lyon. Now he’s got a fourth-innings hundred in Galle. As far as fourth-innings hundreds go, this is one of the toughest assignments. Only three batters have ever done it here before, and only one (Dimuth Karunaratne in 2019) in a victory.The pitchGenerally, on days four and five, the surface at Galle is not so much a cricket pitch as much as an altar on which batters are sacrificed to the spin gods. We’ve seen big turn from the first day of this Test, but when Shafique, Imam-ul-Haq, and Babar Azam were batting on day four, the pitch didn’t seem to be providing the kind of rapid, unplayable turn that is often a feature here.That is until the last 10 overs of the day, in which Shafique and Babar – who were sailing – suddenly hit a wall, and the Great Galle Spinmonster stirred from its slumber. Prabath Jayasuriya and Maheesh Theekshana suddenly had the ball spitting – basically pouncing out of the rough like terrifying lionesses at helpless gazelle fawns. This big turn got Babar out. He tried to pad away a delivery that pitched way outside the line of the stumps and was bowled – not un-embarassingly – behind his legs.Even Shafique, who was on triple figures, played out the last few overs meekly.Related

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The bowlersWhat Pakistan’s top order have done so far is play Jayasuriya well. They’ve been patient against him, but have watched intently for that straighter ball, that got several batters in trouble in that first innings. Although he’s taken three five-wicket hauls, Jayasuriya is in only his second Test, and is unused to the task of bowling Sri Lanka to victory. Ramesh Mendis, ostensibly the most-senior spinner, is only in his ninth Test. Maheesh Theekshana is in his second as well.They’ll start on day five under substantial pressure, but they’ll have a shiny new ball in hand. The theory is that the new ball, with its hard seam, turns more on these pitches than the older one. Whether this is true or not, it forms the hope Sri Lanka cling desperately to.The historyThe last time Pakistan played a Test on the island they chased 377 at Pallekele, thanks largely to Younis Khan’s all-time mastery, with strong support from Shan Masood, and Misbah-ul-Haq. But that was a very different kind of surface, on which both teams fielded three specialist quicks. By the fourth innings, the juice had left it, and it had flattened out.At Galle, the most comparable match is the 2009 Test between these teams, which Pakistan began with 87 to get, and eight wickets in hand, until Rangana Herath gobbled up the batting line-up wholesale. Sri Lanka won that by 50 runs.There’s no Herath in Sri Lanka’s attack anymore, though. Though there’s also no Younis in Pakistan’s batting order.The fansLook. We get it. Pakistan fans perhaps feel they have the market cornered on drama. Against Sri Lanka, though, this is not necessarily true. There have been wild results – matches they had no business winning, losses they had no business even contemplating, match-winning innings from unwinnable situations, primary-school level fielding errors, and weapons-grade bowling stupidity. It’s all there. These narratives belong to both sets of fans. Whatever takes place tomorrow, there are enough bonkers cricketing memories here for it to be typical Pakistan. Or typical Sri Lanka.