Tom Cooper has played 38 internationals for the Netherlands, but is still aiming for an Australia call-up
Brydon Coverdale02-Oct-2014
Tom Cooper: “I’ve been fortunate that I’ve been able to have so many experiences with the Dutch and get a taste of it. But as a kid, playing for Australia was that No.1 goal”•ICC
Tom Cooper is in elite company. His one-day international average of 48.80 is higher than that of Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke and Dean Jones. It’s not quite up to Michael Bevan levels, and of current Australians George Bailey is also ahead of him, but there is no doubt that Cooper’s figures are impressive.The only thing is, all his runs have been scored for the Netherlands. That in turn means the majority have come against other associate nations – his top five scores all been at the expense of either Afghanistan or Scotland. There was an unbeaten World Cup fifty against West Indies in 2011, and 47 against England in the same tournament, but opportunities against top nations are scarce.Cooper hopes that will change one day, for as much as he has learnt from going Dutch, he would rather wear the yellow of Australia than the orange of the Netherlands. Or, better still, a baggy green. To that end, he hopes that 2014-15 will be a repeat of his strong 2013-14 season, a summer in which he was second only to Marcus North on the Sheffield Shield run tally with 881 at 51.82.But first comes the Matador Cup, the one-day tournament that begins on Saturday and runs through most of October. Cooper was among the top 10 run scorers in the competition last year, with 294 at 49.00, and his efforts across both formats earned him an Australia A call-up this winter. Now he has to ensure that last year was not an anomaly.”It doesn’t matter if you do well one year and not the next,” Cooper told ESPNcricinfo. “The challenge for me this year is to go out and do it all again. I had some decent form in the Australia A series and now just chomping at the bit to get into the season and hopefully re-enact what happened last year.”Cooper’s Australia A selection led to an unbeaten one-day century in Darwin, and a pair of first-class half-centuries against South Africa A in Townsville. But he knows that big hundreds are required to take his game to the next level, the kind of scores his South Australia team-mate Phillip Hughes keeps accumulating match after match, season after season.”That’s where I’d like to take my game,” Cooper said. “It’s just a matter of consistently scoring those runs and once you get a start, turn them into big scores. There’s no better example than what Hughesy has done over the last couple of months and forcing his way back into the side. It’s unbelievable what he’s done. It makes you want to do it yourself.”But there are some things Cooper has done that Hughes has not: played in a World Cup and a World T20. They were opportunities that arrived through the fact that his mother, Berni, is from the Netherlands. In fact, it was her idea that Cooper apply for an EU passport to make it easier to travel in Europe and perhaps play county cricket, and from there he was rapidly propelled into the Dutch side.”I had no idea up until six or seven years ago, Mum mentioned the idea more for the travel side of things than cricket,” he said. “It’s been a great opportunity to play in a couple of World Cups and experience things that not many people get to experience in their life. It doesn’t get any bigger on the world stage than that.”Just to compete against the best teams in the world, if you play against South Africa and see how AB de Villiers goes about his game, and just being there watching them play and prepare, and getting to rate yourself at that level. If you do well it gives you a lot of confidence to know what you’re doing and that you’re somewhere around the mark.”The tournament nature of the World Cup will be reflected in the Matador Cup again this year; it begins on Saturday, when South Australia take on New South Wales at Allan Border Field in Brisbane, and defending champions Queensland host Victoria at the Gabba. Then for the next three weeks, it’s all one-day cricket before the Sheffield Shield begins on October 31.Given Cooper’s success in the Shield last summer, and the fact that new Test batsmen such as George Bailey and Alex Doolan have failed to fully grasp their opportunities, it is not out of the question that he could find himself in contention for a baggy green over the next year. If that were to happen, he would have to forgo the Dutch orange, but it would not be a hard decision to make.”As a kid it’s always been a dream to play for Australia,” he said “I’ve been fortunate that I’ve been able to have so many experiences with the Dutch and get a taste of it. But as a kid, playing for Australia was that No.1 goal that I wanted to do and still want to do.”
أجرى الدولي المصري، وأحد قادة آرسنال الإنجليزي، محمد النني، حوارًا مع إيفنينج ستنادرد، وتحدث فيه عن كواليس تجديد عقده مع النادي اللندني وأشياء أخرى.
وقال النني: “في نادي أرسنال يعرفون أنني أحبهم كثيرًا بنسبة 100%، إنهم يعرفون أنني لا أريد المغادرة، أريد البقاء وإنهاء مسيرتي هنا بنسبة 100%”.
وأضاف: “لقد أصبت وكان عقدي على وشك الانتهاء ولم أتمكن من اللعب في الموسم الماضي، وجاءوا مباشرة بعد إصابتي في اليوم التالي وقالوا لي: “مو، ما نوع العقد الذي يجب أن يكون؟” نحن نحبك هنا ونريدك أن تبقى، حقًا هذا النادي رائع، بكيت حينها”.
وعن إطلاق ناديه الجديد الذي يحمل اسمه، حيث يأمل أن يمنح فرصة للاعبين الشباب أصحاب الموهبة، قال: “أفكر في كرة القدم طوال الوقت”.
وأكمل: “أعلم أنه كان لدينا لاعبون أكبر سنًا من قبل وأنهوا مسيرتهم، ولا يعرفون ماذا يفعلون بعد ذلك، من الأفضل أن تفكر الآن، لأنه عند الانتهاء من ذلك، يمكن أن يكون لديك شيء تم بناؤه بالفعل”.
وواصل: “بدأت الفكرة من ذلك لأننا نريد البقاء في إنجلترا، لكن لا يمكنني البقاء في إنجلترا بدون عمل، لا أستطيع البقاء في المنزل دون القيام بأي شيء”.
وزاد: “لهذا السبب كنت أفكر حول العمل الذي يمكنني القيام به، لا أستطيع فتح مطاعم لأن شغفي هو كرة القدم منذ اليوم الأول”.
وحول أحلامه منذ الصغر، أجاب: “بعض الناس لا يفهمون الفكرة، لكن بالنسبة لي، أحب أن أحلم، ولهذا السبب أحتاج إلى أشخاص جيدين من حولي، بالطبع قد يستغرق الأمر 15 أو 20 عامًا، لكن لدي الهدف الذي أريد أن نصل إليه”.
ويتذكر النني إحدى المقابلات عندما كان لاعبًا في نادي المقاولون العرب: “قال لي أين تريد أن تلعب؟ قلت له: أريد أن ألعب في كامب نو في برشلونة، أقسم لك أنه غادر للتو ولم يكمل المقابلة معي، لم يقل شكرًا لك، لا وداعًا أو أي شيء”.
وتابع: “إذا لم تكن لديك أحلام كبيرة في كرة القدم، فلن تحصل على أي شيء، إذا كان حلمك كبيرًا، على الأقل ستكون قريبًا، وهذا ما أؤمن به حقًا، أحب أن أحلم، ماذا سأخسر؟”.
واحتتم بالحديث عن اعتزاله: “أريد أن أنهي مسيرتي عندما أبلغ 37 أو 36 عامًا، لذلك لا يزال أمامي خمس أو ست سنوات متبقية”.
وأضاف: “أنا أعمل بجد كما هو الحال دائمًا وأحاول العودة إلى التشكيلة الأساسية لأرسنال، بالتأكيد، هذا هو هدفي، أعلم أنني عدت من إصابة طويلة وهذا ما أفعله في ملعب التدريب؛ القتال والقتال والقتال من أجل العودة والتواجد في التشكيلة الأساسية”.
وأنهى: “لهذا السبب أعطي 100% كل يوم لإظهار أنني مستعد للعب، وبعد ذلك عندما تتاح لي الفرصة للعب، يجب أن أظهر أنه لا يزال بإمكاني البقاء هناك وإعطاء كل ما لدي لهذا النادي”.
Nesta próxima rodada do Campeonato Brasileiro, os principais holofotes estarão voltados para o estádio do Morumbi, palco do duelo entre São Paulo e Ceará e que deve marcar as estreias de Daniel Alves e Juanfran pelo Tricolor.
Vindo de duas vitórias seguidas, o Vozão irá ao Morumbi com pensamento de somar os três pontos e, por consequência, ofuscar a festa dos estreantes do dia e de mais de 50 mil torcedores são-paulinos nas arquibancadas.
– O São Paulo está empolgado com as recentes grandes contratações que a diretoria fez, o estádio estará lotado, mas estamos indo para fazer o nosso trabalho e honrar as cores do Ceará. Queremos voltar para casa com uma vitória e para isso teremos de entrar concentrados apenas no jogo e aproveitar bem as oportunidades – disse o meia Ricardinho.
O Ceará conta em seu elenco com um atleta que sabe bem o que é jogar ao lado de estrelas. Em janeiro, o meia Wescley retornou ao Vissel Kobe, do Japão, e dividiu vestiário com Andrés Iniesta e David Villa, ex-companheiros de Daniel Alves no Barcelona e rivais de Juanfran, quando jogava pelo Atlético de Madrid.
– Tive a honra de conviver ao lado de jogadores de nível extremamente alto. Sei como a qualidade deles agrega ao time. Se você joga anos em clubes como Barcelona, Atlético e tantos outros gigantes é porque sua qualidade é indiscutível. Quem ganha (com a chegada de Daniel Alves e Juanfran) é o futebol brasileiro. Vamos respeitar muito o time do São Paulo, que está ainda mais qualificado com os reforços, mas temos com tudo para vencer – contou Wescley, que deve começar novamente no time titular, neste domingo.
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Rahul Dravid has said that his disagreement with Sachin Tendulkar over the famous Multan declaration against Pakistan in 1994 when Tendulkar was unbeaten on 194 was over by the end of the day’s play
Amol Karhadkar06-Nov-2014
Rahul Dravid: “I was telling people if every time I answered a question about Multan I got a rupee, I would be a multi-millionaire by now”•Jewel Samad/AFP
Rahul Dravid has said that his disagreement with Sachin Tendulkar over the famous Multan declaration against Pakistan in 2004* when Tendulkar was unbeaten on 194 was over by the end of the day’s play.”The abiding memory for me in that particular Test match was me giving the ball to Sachin Tendulkar to bowl the last over of the day and he got Moin Khan out. We walked off as a team celebrating that wicket,” Dravid said. “For me, that was what it was all about. India was on the verge of a historic Test win, winning a Test match in Pakistan for the first time. And Sachin began to forget all of that and focus like he has done so many times on what was the most important thing to do, to win Test matches for India. With the ball, and just to see that joyful glee… for us as a team, that for me as the captain was brilliant.”Dravid was speaking in Mumbai during the release of Tendulkar’s autobiography, . The book release function also saw the Fab Four of Indian batting – Tendulkar, Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman – on the same stage for the first time after their retirement. Tendulkar, who had expressed surprise over the declaration after the end of the day’s play, added that Multan was a closed chapter between him and Dravid, then stand-in captain.”There are so many disagreements we have in the dressing room, it just happens behind the closed doors and the whole world doesn’t get to see that. This one happened on the field but that doesn’t mean we are fighting and we are not talking to each other,” Tendulkar said. “We closed that chapter immediately and we have had many match-winning partnerships after that and above all, Jam and I continue to be good friends so that is what really matters.”Ganguly, who formed a formidable opening pair with Tendulkar in ODIs, revealed how he had to make way for Tendulkar at the top of the order after Virender Sehwag’s emergence. “Well, it was him. It was he who had to open and I had to bat somewhere else. And I have done that. I had to bat at No 3, 4, 5. He would open and I would bat somewhere else,” Ganguly said.Ganguly laughed as he recalled an incident against Pakistan when he was struggling to score and had requested Tendulkar to take strike, something that he detested. “I remember I wasn’t scoring runs taking strike, so I walked up to him, ‘Sach, can you take strike?’ I was struggling to score runs so just to change the luck, two or three games. He said, ‘No, no, no. I have never done that. You do it.’ So I said, fine, I will do it.”I was the only captain who had to ask from my player, ‘can I do this?’ No, I am serious. And so one day when we walked out, I was pretty annoyed. Come on, for one day you can do it! But I didn’t say anything. We walked up, we just walked past each other and I went up and stood at the non-striker’s end. And then, just find your place wherever you want to play. And then, he took guard and went to play. I think he got some runs.”The book has detailed how Tendulkar felt the Indian dressing room was at its lowest during Greg Chappell’s stint as the coach from June 2005 till the 2007 World Cup. According to Laxman, when he came into the Test side in 2006 “it was the toughest period for me as far as dressing room atmosphere was concerned”.Tendulkar has also mentioned in the book that the Indian team, which made a preliminary round exit from the World Cup, would have been better off without Chappell in the West Indies. “I have written that in my book,” he said. “The only reason I felt – I agree with Laxman that the atmosphere could have been better. It wasn’t a healthy atmosphere, the atmosphere has to be such in the dressing room that it brings out the best in you in the middle. And I felt that wasn’t happening.”The environment was very negative and it was a downfall from there on. I thought if we travelled without that, it would definitely change the atmosphere in the dressing room. And I also said that we senior players are willing to take the responsibility and we will manage the team.”It was a memorable evening with commentator Harsha Bhogle moderating four discussions. The function opened with four of Mumbai cricket stalwarts – Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Ravi Shastri and Vasu Paranjape – recalling Tendulkar’s early days.It was followed by the discussion between Tendulkar, Dravid, Ganguly and Laxman. Then, Tendulkar, his wife Anjali and elder brother Ajit, who has been his mentor spoke about his life off the field before Tendulkar released the book and presented a copy to his coach Ramakant Achrekar. The evening ended with a one-on-one chat between Bhogle and Tendulkar.* November 6, 2014: 4.40am GMT The year of the Multan Test has been corrected
After being outspun in the first Test in Dhaka, Zimbabwe have been practicing using a square piece of net on the pitch to prepare for the turners in Khulna
Devashish Fuloria29-Oct-2014
Hamilton Masakadza – “It helps to some extent, gives spin, bounce and do unusual things so I think it’s very good practice for the boys”•Associated Press
Hamilton Masakadza is among five Zimbabwe batsmen who are familiar with the conditions in Bangladesh and therefore, entrusted with the responsibility to counter the home side’s spin attack. However, the collective experience of Hamilton, Vusi Sibanda, Sikandar Raza, Brendan Taylor and Elton Chigumbura amounted to only one half-century in the Dhaka Test, as Bangladeshi spinners confounded them with turn and bounce.Zimbabwe had been preparing for spin knowing it would be the decisive factor in the three-match series, but the quick finish in Dhaka had been a reality check, forcing the team to brainstorm for quick solutions before the Khulna Test. One of them was the use of a square piece of net on the pitch.”Yeah it helps to some extent, gives spin, bounce and do unusual things so I think it’s very good practice for the boys,” Hamilton said after an indoor net session. “Some of us in the team have experience with the conditions here so we are trying to put in all the knowledge for the team and let others know about things.”Lots of different things are being thrown around, people are trying different things, we tried different stuff in the nets today, so there is a lot of discussion going on to try and find the counter of what’s been happening.”The coach Stephen Mangongo had said yesterday that the only way to prepare was to practice against the turning ball. However, in the absence of big turners of ball within their ranks, he said the team was dependent on the bowling machine to simulate the real-world problems. The use of the patch of net was an innovative solution, but would it help the team be ready before Khulna? Only time will tell.Hamilton has played in T20s in Khulna before, but he said the pitch for the Test will be different from the flat ones he had seen in the past and more akin to the one in Dhaka.”I will expect a similar wicket there. It might have a spin in it and that’s what we are training for. All the top six batters have to put in contributions and I didn’t contribute in this game so it had a big impact on the team.”In the first innings in Dhaka, Hamilton attempted to hit over the top the second ball he faced from a spinner and was caught at mid-on. In the second, he had faced only six balls of spin before he left an angled delivery from Shahadat Hossain only to see his stumps splayed. “I didn’t face too much of spin,” he said. “I think I played only six balls or so. I am still backing what I came with from home so I don’t see anything to change yet.”Having scored only two half-centuries from the 25 innings he has played for Zimbabwe in Bangladesh, the visitors may not mind a change.
كشفت تقارير صحفية عن الأجر المنخفض الذي يحصل عليه البرتغالي جواو فيليكس مع فريقه برشلونة الإسباني.
وانضم جواو فيليكس إلى برشلونة في الصيف الماضي، على سبيل الإعارة من أتلتيكو مدريد الإسباني.
وشارك فيليكس مع برشلونة في ثماني مباريات منذ بداية الموسم، وسجل ثلاثة أهداف وصنع مثلهم.
وأثرت مشاكل برشلونة المالية على الراتب الذي يتقضاه فيليكس مع الفريق الكتالوني، وبحسب صحيفة “ديلي ميل” البريطانية، حصل على فيليكس على راتب سنوي قدره 400 ألف يورو فقط (345 ألف جنيه إسترليني).
ويوضح التقرير أن هذا يعادل 6.635 جنيهًا إسترلينيًا فقط في الأسبوع، وهو مبلغ صغير بالنسبة لموهبة مثل فيليكس، مقارنة بالرواتب التي يحصل عليها أمثاله من اللاعبين.
اقرأ أيضًا | شكوك حول جاهزية دي يونج قبل مباراة برشلونة وريال مدريد.. وتشافي حذر
ويشير التقرير إلى أن برشلونة طالب فيليكس بقبول الراتب القليل حتى يتمكن النادي من حسم التعاقد وضمه، وبموجب العقد يوجد بند يشير إلى أن راتبه سيتم زيادته بمجرد أن يسمح الوضع المالي لبرشلونة بذلك.
ويرتفع أجر فيليكس السنوي إلى 4 ملايين يورو (3.45 مليون جنيه إسترليني) لبقية فترة إعارته للموسم، مع زيادة بنسبة 900 في المائة.
وكان فيليكس يحصل على راتبًا أسبوعيًا مع أتلتيكو مدريد بقيمة 280 ألف يورو في الأسبوع (250 ألف جنيه إسترليني).
وأكد نائب رئيس النادي إدوارد روميو لصحيفة “L’Esportiu” الإسبانية: “هذا صحيح، جواو فيليكس خفض راتبه إلى 400 ألف يورو للانضمام لبرشلونة، بذل جهدًا مهمًا للغاية للانضمام للفريق”.
Além da importância para o momento de baixa que vive o atacante Luan, o tento feito na vitória por 2 a 1 contra o Athletico-PR serviu também para que ele alcançasse uma nova marca com a camisa do Grêmio: chegar ao posto de 12° maior artilheiro na história do clube.
Antes com 74 gols feitos em 289 confrontos disputados, Luan estava igualado com Renato Portaluppi, seu atual comandante, além de Loivo, atacante que jogou no time de Porto Alegre entre os anos 70 e 80. Agora, ele está um a frente dessas duas referências na história do Grêmio e tem somente três gols de desvantagem para Jonas, atleta que recentemente pendurou as chuteiras pelo Benfica.
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Comentando sobre o feito, ele pontuou que a melhor maneira que pode agir mediante as críticas é se recuperando dentro das quatro linhas:
-É muito bom, né. A melhor forma de retribuir é ficar em silêncio e trabalhar no dia a dia, retribuir com gols, assistências, o que seja, entrega dentro de campo. Respeito o torcedor, pelo que a gente, não só eu, conquistou. E eu sempre tive um carinho muito grande por esse clube. A melhor forma de retribuir em campo é fazendo gols e trabalhando no dia a dia.
Zimbabwe batsman Hamilton Masakadza has said that the send-off given by the Bangladesh players had provoked his angry reaction after his dismissal in the third ODI in Mirpur
Mohammad Isam27-Nov-2014
Hamilton Masakadza: “I was a bit more annoyed with the guys giving me a send-off”•AFP
Zimbabwe batsman Hamilton Masakadza has said that the send-off given by the Bangladesh players had provoked his angry reaction after his dismissal in the third ODI in Mirpur. Masakadza was given an official reprimand for a Level 1 breach of the ICC Code of Conduct, while Tamim Iqbal was docked 15% of his match fee for his role in the incident.The incident occurred in the fifth over of Zimbabwe’s innings after Masakadza was given out caught down the leg side by umpire Anisur Rahman. He stood at the crease for a while after the umpire had raised his finger, even as the Bangladesh players converged to celebrate. After TV replays showed that he had not nicked the Mashrafe Mortaza delivery, there was footage of Tamim saying something in his direction.Masakadza reacted strongly, slapping the air with his bat a couple of times and even shoving away the substitute Zimbabwe player who was trying to appease him.”I think it [the incident] is done,” he said. “It was just a spur of the moment thing on the field. It is already finished. It has been a frustrating tour for us. Things have not gone our way. That does get to you a little bit towards the end, I guess.”He [Anisur Rahman] is only human. You can’t expect him to give everything 100% right. But I was a bit more annoyed with the guys giving me a send-off as I was walking off even though that was a bad decision.”Some of the guys said a few things to me as I was walking off. That’s what I was not happy with – not necessarily the decision, but the reaction of the Bangladeshis.”Tamim was found to have breached Article 2.1.4 of the Code for using “language or a gesture that is obscene, offensive or insulting during an International match.” Masakadza, meanwhile, was reprimanded for breaching Article 2.1.8, which deals with “conduct that either (a) is contrary to the spirit of the game or (b) brings the game into disrepute”.During the Dhaka Test, there was sledging between the Bangladesh players and Zimbabwe batsman Sikandar Raza, while Mushfiqur Rahim and Tendai Chatara exchanged a few words during the second ODI. These incidents were not reported by the umpires.