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Birmingham City have opened the door for Wayne Rooney to join Tom Brady at St. Andrew’s, with manager John Eustace surprisingly sacked.

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Blues riding high in the second tierHave parted company with bossLinked with ex-England captainWHAT HAPPENED?

The Blues currently sit sixth in the Championship table, with an 18-point haul from 11 games enough to have them perched inside the play-off places. The Blues enjoyed a 3-1 derby win over West Midlands rivals West Brom last time out, but Eustace has now been axed as the club prepares to head in a different direction.

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Birmingham have said in a statement on the club’s : “It is essential that the Board of Directors and the football management are fully aligned on the importance of implementing a winning mentality and a culture of ambition across the entire Football Club. With this in mind, Birmingham City has today parted company with Head Coach, John Eustace. Eustace departs after 15 months in charge, having helped to stabilise and strengthen the Club on the pitch following his appointment in July 2022.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE

The Blues have also said that “a new First Team Manager will be announced in the coming days who will be responsible for creating an identity and clear ‘no fear’ playing style that all Birmingham City teams will adopt and embrace". It may be that Manchester United legend Rooney is charged with the task of guiding the second tier club forward.

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Rooney has walked away from his role at MLS side D.C. United, with the ex-England captain and former Derby boss planning a return to his homeland. His profile would fit the bill at St. Andrew’s, with Birmingham drawing up ambitious plans after already seeing NFL icon Brady invest in the club alongside Knighthead Capital Management LLC.

Shane Watson and Brett Lee may be taking early leave from Australia’s sobering tour of England after both suffered calf injuries in the tourists’ eight-wicket loss to England at Durham.

Daniel Brettig07-Jul-2012Australia have called the left-armer Mitchell Starc, currently bowling well for Yorkshire in county cricket, into their squad for the final ODI of the series against England at Old Trafford on Tuesday, after injuries to Shane Watson and Brett Lee. Starc is due to join up with Australia after playing in Yorkshire’s final FLt20 group match on Sunday.Watson and Lee may be taking early leave from Australia’s sobering tour of England after both suffered calf injuries in the tourists’ eight-wicket loss at Durham. Watson could bowl only one over in England’s innings before leaving the field, while Lee had bowled two balls of his second spell when he felt pain in his right leg and also headed to the treatment room, following an abortive attempt to bowl a third.Watson and Lee are being assessed by Australia’s physio Alex Kountouris and the team doctor John Orchard, with the results of MRI scans to be known as early as Sunday. Both are unlikely to take part in Manchester, leaving Lee stranded one wicket shy of Glenn McGrath’s Australian ODI wicket-taking record. As he digested his first series defeat as Australia’s Test or ODI captain, Michael Clarke confirmed the calf injuries, and that he had advised Lee to get his problem checked out before trying to bowl again.”I haven’t had time to speak to Alex yet, but I do know they’ve both got calf injuries – to what extent, I don’t know,” Clarke said. “I ran from slip to ask what it was about, and he said it was cramp. I just said at that stage ‘go off, and find out if it is’. I haven’t seen him since.”Though Australia had to cope with the most difficult of the conditions at Chester-le-Street having been sent in to bat after heavy overnight rain, Clarke would not offer any excuses for another comprehensive loss to England. The margins of defeat has only grown with each match in this series, reminding the tourists of how far they have to go to provide a serious challenge for the Ashes on English soil in 2013.”I do believe England got the better of conditions, but it’s easy to make excuses,” Clarke said. “I think we had the better of conditions at Lord’s as well, and England still found a way to beat us. That’s what you have to do, against good opposition – in all different conditions around the world; you’ve got to find a way to have success. Unfortunately, once again today, we were outplayed.”How far apart, are we? I don’t know; you do everything you can to try to win every game, taking the field for Australia. Unfortunately, sometimes you lose; on this tour, we haven’t seen the other side. But we’ve got one game to go, and I’d be very disappointed to go home without a win.”Australia’s failure to make significant totals has been matched by their inability to make a dent in England’s top order, an area Clarke noted with particular disappointment. As an aggressive captain searching for wickets, Clarke has not been short of ideas, but his bowlers have foundered on the rocks of Alastair Cook, Ian Bell and Jonathan Trott.”I’d like to see more of their batting order, that’s for sure. We can’t get through the top three or four at the moment,” Clarke said. “We haven’t taken wickets – Clint McKay’s been really our only wicket-taker. I don’t care what form of the game it is, you’ve got to get blokes out.”If you want to slow the scoring you take wickets – that’s always been my attitude in any form of the game. “It’s been very disappointing that we haven’t been able to bowl England out. Credit to them – they’ve used the conditions better, bowled very consistent areas to build up pressure.”As for the question of whether or not the defeat had added to the scar tissue Australia carry from their past two Ashes losses, Clarke hoped there would be few ramifications in 12 months’ time. But he will not know for sure until the likes of James Pattinson, Matthew Wade and David Warner face England again.”We’ve got a lot of guys involved in our Test squad who aren’t involved in the one-dayers. Yes, the result hasn’t gone our way on this tour so far,” Clarke said. “But it’s been a great opportunity for the players who haven’t played much cricket in England to get here and see the conditions – especially for our young bowlers.”It’s been good for our batters who haven’t had the chance to play against a really good English attack to see how good they are. We know we’ve got some work to do, in one-day cricket but also Test cricket before the next Ashes.”

Chris Rushworth completed a 10-wicket haul in the match as Durham took only 16 balls to wrap up their fifth win of the season on the final day againstDerbyshire at Chester-le-Street.

11-Jul-2013
ScorecardChris Rushworth’s 10 for 103 were his first-class best match figures•Getty ImagesChris Rushworth completed a 10-wicket match haul on his birthday as as Durham took only 16 balls to wrap up their fifth County ChampionshipDivision One win of the season on the final day againstDerbyshire at Chester-le-Street.Rushworth, the right-arm seamer, turned 27 today and removed Tim Gronewald, the penultimate wicket to fall, to pick up his tenth wicket in the match. His second-innings 4 for 39 followed 6 for 64 in the first innings.Rushworth’s wicket was the second of three to fall on the final day as Derbyshire’s last three batsmen offered no resistance, leaving Tom Poyntonstranded on 58 not out as they were all out for 192 to lose by a crushing 279runs.Jon Clare went to the second ball of the day, dabbing at a short, wide one fromBen Stokes to be caught behind. Groenewald was also in no mood to hang around, swinging a good-length ballfrom Rushworth high over square-leg before attempting to hook a short balland giving Phil Mustard another catch.The batsman seemed nonplussed by the decision, indicating the ball had brushedhis upper arm, but it left Rushworth with match figures of 10 for 103 – the best match figures of his career.Last man Mark Footitt also came out swinging and was backing away towardssquare leg when Stokes splattered his stumps to finish with 4 for 62.The crushing defeat deepens Derbyshire’s trouble at the foot of Division One. They remain winless and trail Somerset – seventh in the table – by 30 points with seven matches to play. Durham now have the most wins of anyone in the division and are well-placed for a tilt at a third Championship title, currently 10.5 points behind leaders Sussex.

Pat Cummins will travel with the Australia A party to England later this month, although he will not be part of the official squad, and is hoping to make a full return during the Australia A tour of South Africa in July

Brydon Coverdale10-May-2013At 18, Pat Cummins made his Test debut in Johannesburg and was Man of the Match. There could hardly have been a more exciting prospect in Australian sport at the time. Eighteen months later and Cummins, who turned 20 last week, has not only failed to add another Test to that eye-catching performance at the Wanderers, he hasn’t even played a first-class match since then. The teenager who looked like the future of Australian fast bowling has become its forgotten man.But slowly Cummins is making his way back. He will travel with the Australia A party to England later this month, although he will not be part of the official squad, and is hoping to make a full return during the Australia A tour of South Africa in July. If he makes it through those trips without any setbacks, he could press for selection for the ODIs in England that follow the Ashes. But it won’t be exactly the same Cummins who startled South Africa as a tearaway Test debutant.After a foot injury ruled him out of most of the 2011-12 summer and a back stress fracture left him a spectator in 2012-13, Cummins knew that his bowling action would need to be assessed. He is now at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane where he has been put through three sessions a week of bowling with a streamlined action that he, the bowling coach Troy Cooley, and Cricket Australia’s medical staff hope can keep him fit and firing.”It’s been trying to straighten everything out in my action,” Cummins told ESPNcricinfo. “Through a running coach I’ve been trying to fix my mechanics and be a more efficient runner in my approach to the crease, and then when I get to the crease trying to straighten out all the alignments. Hopefully it gets me a bit more swing and consistency.”It’s going against everything I’ve done for the last 20 years and trying to do something totally different. It’s certainly been a little bit foreign, but at the same time I want to nail it down because I know it’s going to turn me into a better bowler. It’s exciting but at the same time it’s challenging. You get a lot of satisfaction out of seeing improvements after every session.”It should mean I can bowl the same pace, if not quicker, but hopefully I’ll just be more efficient, which means I’ll be able to bowl more consistently and for longer in a game. Hopefully I can turn my swing into more consistent swing instead of having some days where it’s not swinging for me. It’s about having a less injury-prone action but also about enhancing the performances.”Not surprisingly, Cummins is itching to bowl with the red ball in a match situation again. That opportunity could come in England; although he won’t be part of the Australia A squad he might be used in their warm-up matches and he hopes there could be a chance to test himself in some league cricket during the trip. Of course, given his injury history, everything that Cummins or Cricket Australia says about his plans is prefaced with a “depending on…” or a “hopefully”.It had been hoped that he could return to the first-class scene at the start of the 2012-13 summer for New South Wales and that he would be in contention for the Tests against South Africa. He was building his workload back up during September and October as part of Australia’s squad for the limited-overs games against Pakistan in the UAE, the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka and for the Sydney Sixers in the Champions League, but a stress fracture in his back ended his season.”I really enjoy playing one-day and T20 cricket and I’d never want to give that away, but playing it for a couple of months made me realise how much I missed bowling with a red ball and building up a bowling innings,” Cummins said. “At the end of it I really just wanted to try to get back to that.”I think I played almost 20 Twenty20 games in a couple of months. I love playing it but I was really looking forward to playing Shield cricket after that. Unfortunately it didn’t happen. The long-term goal is definitely to get back into the red-ball game with Shield matches for New South Wales and down the track Tests is the goal.”First, he’ll have to keep himself fit enough to add to his 16 wickets from four first-class appearances. And having already experienced the thrill of Test cricket once in his short career, Cummins knows that sitting out of last season, even if his back soreness felt manageable, was the right decision in the long run.”It’s not acute pain but it’s just something that’s there,” he said. “The nature of a stress-fracture injury is that there’s a little crack and if you keep bowling it’s going to turn into a big crack. It’s one of those injuries that could turn into a massive injury if it’s not managed.”

There were enough Pakistan supporters at The Oval to give the impression that this warm-up ahead of the Champions Trophy mattered, but in essence it was pointless

The Report by David Hopps at The Oval03-Jun-2013
ScorecardRyan McLaren helped give South Africa’s total respectability but it was not enough to challenge Pakistan•AFPThere were enough Pakistan supporters at The Oval to give the impression that this warm-up ahead of the Champions Trophy mattered, but in essence it was pointless, not just in terms of the group stages but also in the general scheme of things.Pakistan will claim a psychological advantage after breezing to a six-wicket victory against South Africa with more than four overs to spare, they were vastly superior throughout and their supporters celebrated a well-drilled victory with their usual enthusiasm, but it will not much matter in the morning.These sides meet again at Edgbaston in a floodlit affair in Group B in a week’s time, but if Pakistan’s comprehensive victory will ensure they will go into the match with their confidence high, it will all count for little the moment the real match begins.AB de Villiers, not surprisingly, took such a view. With South Africa so comprehensively beaten, he would have been a fool not to. “It’s not about the result, it’s about what you get out of it. I am sure each guy will stand up when the time is right. I think Pakistan’s loss in South Africa will have affected them more than us today. That was a competitive series; this was just a warm-up game.”South Africa beat Pakistan 3-2 in that series but it was a scratchy series victory which provided further evidence that their dominance in Test cricket is not replicated in the one-day game.Of more concern to South Africa will be the state of Dale Steyn’s back. “It’s a bit stiff and sore – we will reassess it in the morning,” de Villiers said. Steyn departed at the end of the fifth over, clutching his side, but it could have just been that he does not like warm-ups, especially a warm-up which included his loss of a bouncer battle with Nasir Jamshed, who got two in three balls, top-edged the first one and then hooked the second over fine leg for six.It is an odd thing that the top eight teams in the world are in England for the Champions Trophy and that some of them are practising against each other a few days before the off, but not in any sort of meaningful way, in the nonsensical “15-a-side, bat and field 11” hybrid that is gradually gaining currency as a way to provide decent practice, while quietly undermining the game in the process.Pakistan rested arguably their two most threatening bowlers, Saeed Ajmal and Mohammad Irfan and took a look at the rest of their attack. It was a shrewder move than playing all 15 and they were not complaining when they made good use of helpful bowling conditions and reduced South Africa to 83 for 7 after 22 overs.But South Africa did field 15 and, when that happens, the best XI almost invariably get to bat. With JP Duminy coming in at No 8 and Ryan McLaren one place lower, their position was in essence stronger than it appeared. The eighth wicket added 94 in 23 overs and South Africa escaped to the sort of score that gave Pakistan some decent batting practice.That did not scrub out Pakistan’s good memories in the field. Hashim Amla lasted only two balls before Junaid Khan had him lbw. Colin Ingram took a single to Misbah-ul-Haq which was presumably based on the Always Run To The Oldest Player In The Tournament theory, only to find that his stumps were thrown down at the non-striker’s end.Asad Ali bowled a decent new-ball spell and finished with 3 for 30, while Wahab Riaz, who took identical figures, responded to his destruction of South Africa’s middle order – Faf du Plessis, Farhaan Behardien and David Miller within the space of four overs – by fist-pumping celebrations that he would struggle to beat were he to take wickets in the final itself.When Pakistan batted, life continued to go swimmingly. Jamshed ran himself out carelessly, a direct hit by Amla from midwicket, but Imran Farhat batted capably, Mohammad Hafeez retired out with a half-century to his name and the most outlandish dismissal of all, suffered by Asad Shafiq, as the bowler Lonwabo Tsotsobe freakishly parried his drive to Aaron Phangiso at mid-off raised merely an eyebrow or two.Somehow, cricket just about gets away with these low-intensity games. The warm-ups have been deliberately under-promoted so as not to devalue the real tournament, but TV still provides live coverage of this cricketing wallpaper and treats it with fake seriousness. The matches are played with a respectable level of intent and, who knows, some players might even be playing for their places, but there is no discernible tension. The game just floats by in a vaguely harmless manner.Pakistan’s tour of Scotland and Ireland, and South Africa’s warm-up in the Netherlands were proper warm-ups, offering the chance of an upset that matters. So, too, the series between England and New Zealand. The game would have better served if other warm-up matches had taken place against the counties, offering further chance of a spot of giant-killing, but there is so much cricket in England you could not have trusted the counties to put out full-strength sides and no doubt the telly would not have liked it.

Neither Alan Richardson nor Glen Chapple were ever capped at Test level. But, even aged 37 and 39 respectively, England’s loss remains county cricket’s gain.

Tim Wigmore at Old Trafford11-Apr-2013
ScorecardGlen Chapple, like his opposite number Alan Richardson, still counting the wickets not the years•Getty ImagesNeither Alan Richardson nor Glen Chapple were ever capped at Test level. But, even aged 37 and 39 respectively, England’s loss remains county cricket’s gain.There is much linking the two. They are euphemistically described as elder statesman. Let’s face it: that means by the standards of professional cricket, and especially fast bowlers, they are rather old.They are two seam bowlers destined to be labelled ‘workmanlike’ by those who rarely see them. And, on a day in which rain, gloom and sheer cold might have put off many, both Richardson and Chapple were typically exemplary, mixing accuracy with enough late-career nip to induce OCD in batsmen constantly having to check the safety of their off-stumps.Yet the differences between the two are, perhaps, even more significant. Chapple is a one-club man of the sort 21st Century sport is meant to have eradicated while Richardson is onto his fourth county. Chapple enjoyed early stardom in his career – he almost played for England as a 21-year-old in 1995, and was a regular on A tours in the mid-to-late 1990s – but Richardson has undergone a more circuitous route to success.After a solitary game for Derbyshire in 1995, Richardson spent a few years playing Minor Counties cricket and could easily have drifted out of the game. It was only in 1999, at the age of 24, that Richardson enjoyed success at first-class level. He has continued his trajectory of improvement ever since: averaging 33 for Warwickshire, for whom he played until 2004, then 27 for his next county Middlesex, who he represented until 2009. But that season, he took only 11 wickets at 56: nearing 35, would anyone give him another?Happily the answer was yes, and Worcestershire have been spectacularly vindicated ever since: 185 wickets, and counting, at an average of 23. Last year, Richardson even had the honour of being named one of Wisden’s Five Cricketers of the Year. Fittingly, Chapple was rewarded in the same year, after leading Lancashire to their first Championship in 77 years.Not only because he plays at Old Trafford and is in his 40th year, Chapple could be described as the Ryan Giggs of county cricket. And – like Giggs and indeed Richardson – he probably now needs an element of protection to ensure readiness for the biggest challenges. Lancashire and Worcestershire will be reluctant to do so but surely need to rest the duo from limited overs games to maximise their chances of immediate Championship promotion in 2013.Although descriptions of their bowling styles inspires many of the same adjectives, Chapple and Richardson have subtly different virtues. Chapple has a smooth, rhythmical action and generates just enough seam movement to worry batsmen. Equally reliable, Richardson’s action could hardly be described as smooth – just before his delivery stride, he shapes as if like a windwill. It is slightly ungainly, but what comes next isn’t: able to extract more bounce than Chapple, Richardson can shape the ball both ways.As they have edged towards middle age, Chapple and Richardson have lost a little pace but have acquired new skills – they are both adept at bowling either over or around the wicket. Richardson used this variation to trouble Lancashire’s openers in a typically testing spell (8-2-13-0) towards the end of the day.Chapple, after a first day in which his wicket-taken impact was limited to an athletic catch, claimed two wickets, including opposite number Daryl Mitchell for an attractive 74, to restrict Worcestershire to 334. They had earlier reached 315-6, thanks to a 96-run stand between Mitchell and Gareth Andrew, who smashed Simon Kerrigan for a six over mid-wicket en route to his 52.The washout of the entire afternoon session, and the threat of further interruptions in the game – notwithstanding the use of floodlights – makes it likely that Chapple and Richardson’s efforts will soon be forgotten as mere features of an uneventful drawn game. That may be true, but their career-long exploits certainly will not.

A century from Riki Wessels and a solid opening stand between Alex Hales and Neil Edwards put Nottinghamshire in a strong position after two days

Jon Culley at Trent Bridge07-Apr-2012
ScorecardJust when it seemed Worcestershire were in position to pull off an improbable victory at Trent Bridge, a late burst of destructive bowling tipped the balance back in favour of Nottinghamshire. Worcestershire had been favourites to win before the second new ball became available but they enter the final day suddenly facing a tall order to avoid defeat. They are 134 behind, with only four wickets in hand and the new ball has had only five overs of wear.Yet, even if the final day has defeat in store for them, they can console themselves with the knowledge that the competitive spirit that enabled them to defy their status as relegation favourites last season remains intact. Chasing what seemed likely to be no more than a nominal target of 392 to win, they managed to reduced it to 157 while losing only Michael Klinger and Vikram Solanki. At that stage, with the pitch behaving as well as it had throughout the match, you would not have bet against them pulling it off.But a partnership of 174 between their captain, Daryl Mitchell, and the allrounder Moeen Ali, ended when Ali, six short of a century, was caught behind off a slightly weary drive against Andre Adams. Then what had been such a promising position unravelled rather dramatically.Nottinghamshire, by then a little ragged in the field and getting scant help from the pitch, were toiling. Once Moeen had departed, with the new ball imminent, responsibility rested on the shoulders of Mitchell to hold things together. Mitchell’s task became more onerous when Ben Phillips, the right-arm seamer who has bowled well throughout this match, needed only six deliveries with the new ball to deal Worcestershire another blow, bowling Alexei Kervezee off his padsMitchell had played superbly, anchoring the innings for more than five hours. He had been granted an unusual reprieve during the morning, allowed to continue on 9 despite being apparently given out leg before by umpire George Sharp, who then reversed the decision when Adams, the bowler, declined to appeal.He completed a fine century off 237 balls with his 12th boundary but faced only one more before Luke Fletcher bowled him. The ball was swinging for the broadly-built seamer and he struck again with his next delivery, badly misjudged by new batsman Ben Scott, who did not offer a shot.  Now the Worcestershire target suddenly looked a considerable one.In the morning, Nottinghamshire had added 48 runs to their overnight total, 25 of them coming in a typically violent assault by Adams. Riki Wessels stretched the century he had completed on Friday evening to 113 before he was leg before playing across one from Alan Richardson, whose five-wicket haul was just reward for carrying the heaviest workload among the Worcestershire bowlers, at 36, and as unselfishly as ever.Substantial though it is, Worcestershire’s target does not require them to break any records. In June 1996, at Bath, they chased down 446 to beat Somerset by one wicket with three balls to spare. Steve Rhodes, then wicketkeeper, now director of cricket, scored 92 not out. Solanki, aged 20 and in only his eighth first-class match, made 71.He looked as if he might do something similar, if not better, for a while yesterday, but having been dropped at first slip on 20 he aimed a loose drive at Adams to be caught at backward point. He was annoyed with himself, with just cause.  Another 50 or so from him and Worcestershire might still be favourites.Instead, Nottinghamshire can anticipate a winning start to the season, having already had one piece of good news in the shape of an England Performance Squad that includes neither Alex Hales, who has appeared in four Twenty20 internationals, nor James Taylor, the England Lions captain who joined them from Leicestershire during the winter.Having seen Samit Patel make his Test debut in Sri Lanka, Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket, had been worried his side’s prospects might be seriously compromised should England see fit to fast-forward Hales and Taylor in their international development. To his relief, Jonathan Bairstow, Jos Buttler and Ben Stokes appear to be ahead in the pecking order.Edited by David Hopps

A wrap of the third day of the ninth round of Ranji Trophy matches in Group C

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Dec-2012
ScorecardThe Yadavs continued to dominate the Group C match between Services and Jharkhand. Ajay Yadav followed his first-innings five-for with 6 for 43 in the second innings to give Jharkhand a shot at victory, which can get them a place in the quarters. In the innings between the two, Services’ Suraj Yadav took six for himself.Services began the day at 32 for 2 after the Delhi fog had delayed the start yet again, but kept losing wickets regularly. However, Services also would have found out during the day that neither Assam nor Andhra can win their match outright, which ensured their qualification for the quarter-final.Jharkhand, though, had to do all the running, and running they did. Captain Shahbaz Nadeem provided Ajay full support with four wickets of his own. Bowling Services out for 152, Jharkhand were left with a target of 218. They knocked off 35 of those without losing a wicket by stumps.
ScorecardFor the first half of the day, Assam looked good to take a first-innings lead over Goa’s 381 and remain in contention for the quarter-finals, but they lost their last eight wickets for 124 runs to fall short by 15.Assam were third before this round started, but needed at least three points to stay alive. At 134 for 1 at the start of the day, they looked in control, a position they only solidified by reaching 208 without any further loss. However, when Sibsankar Roy fell to make it 242 for 3, a collapse began.Only Dheeraj Jadhav and J Syed Mohammad arrested the slide to add 52 for the sixth wicket, but the end of that partnership kickstarted another glut of five wickets for 50 runs.
ScorecardAndhra fought hard to attain the first-innings lead despite centuries from VA Jagadeesh and Sanju Samson, but it turned out they didn’t need to. Towards the end of the day, in Guwahati, Assam dropped out of the race by failing to take a first-innings lead.Andhra’s only competition now is Jharkhand, but these three points will only take them level with Jharkhand should the latter win their match in Delhi. Andhra stand no chance of winning that tie, because Jharkhand will have posted three outright wins as opposed to Andhra’s one.This was a strange innings from Kerala, one that revolved around the new ball. The first one claimed three wickets for 80, after which Jagadeesh scored his fourth century of the season to go with Samson’s second. The second new ball, though, wreaked havoc, ended 199-run partnership, and then ran through the rest for the addition of just 31 runs. DP Vijaykumar and T Atchuta Rao took four wickets each.In a bid to take the Jharkhand result out of the equation, Andhra added 38 runs in six overs before stumps, but it is unlikely they will risk the points already earned by doing anything fancy on the final day.
ScorecardIn the stop-start, inconsequential match Jammu & Kashmir and Tripura, only 85 overs have been bowled over three days. Tripura have moved sedately to 226 for 5.

The New South Wales captain Steve O’Keefe did his India tour cause no harm by nabbing three wickets against Western Australia on day one at Blacktown Oval

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Jan-2013
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Steve O’Keefe took three wickets to peg Western Australia back in Sydney•Getty ImagesGranted a glimmer of hope for the tour of India when Michael Beer suffered a shoulder injury at training this week, the New South Wales captain Steve O’Keefe did his cause no harm by nabbing three wickets as Western Australia struggled on day one of the Sheffield Shield match at Blacktown Oval.Sending Michael Hussey’s Warriors in to bat appeared a curious call at first, but O’Keefe winkled out the first wicket, that of Marcus Harris, and added two more to ensure the hosts ended the day in control of proceedings.As significantly, O’Keefe impressed observers with his control and subtle variations, in what was perhaps his most convincing spell at the bowling crease all season. Given the circumstances, this was a strong sign for the national selectors.It was a well-rounded display by the Blues, for all five bowlers picked up wickets, including Moises Henriques, who arrived after the game had commenced due to his early flight from Hobart where on Wednesday night he had helped Australia to an ODI series tying victory over Sri Lanka.WA’s batsmen struggled for rhythm and occupation in the first match since the end of the BBL, no-one passing 50 despite a quintet of starts. Hussey managed 29 before becoming a victim of Chris Tremain, playing his second first-class match after a debut late last season.

Though their Blaugrana home kits are iconic, Barca have also delivered some tasty alternative strips over the years

Barcelona's red and blue stripes may be famous, but the Catalan club has shown throughout its history that it can still put together an impressive away shirt. Indeed, the Blaugrana have been toying with creative and colorful designs for nearly 50 years, coming up with some absolute beauties at various points.

From the bright yellow donned by the famous "MSN" attacking trio, to the classic Cruyff diagonal stripe shirt of the 1970s, Barca have donned some classics.

And so following the release of Barcelona's new away kit for the 2023-24 season, GOAL takes a look at some of the best away and third kits to have ever been worn by the Spanish giants…

Getty Images10Ronaldinho's toe poke genius (2003-05)

Ronaldinho loved a long-sleeved Barcelona kit. He had plenty of memorable moments in them, highlighted by a now-famous Man-of-the-Match performance at Santiago Bernabeu that brought Real Madrid fans to their feet.

This shirt, meanwhile, was associated with another iconic moment, the Brazilian's toe-poke finish from outside the box against Chelsea in the 2005 Champions League last 16. Although Jose Mourinho's Blues would go on to win, this kit is associated with one of great European goals.

Advertisement9Catalan stripes (2013-14)

This strip was a special one for local Barca fans. For the first time in the club's history, Barcelona donned a kit based on the Catalan flag. There were other details that connected it to the club's local roots, too, including the "Mes que un club" motto stitched onto the back of the neck lining.

Outside of the local area, the kit split opinion. And as some publications pointed out, the Blaugrana enjoyed limited success in the shirt, going winless in their first five contests wearing it.

Still, its homage to Barcelona's Catalan heritage made the kit important in its own right.

Getty Images8Soon to be a classic? (2022-23)

Can a kit released so recently be considered among the best ever? This gold strip from the most recent season certainly makes a case.

It's one of the best shirts Nike has designed for Barca for some time, with its bold colourway paying homage to some of Barcelona's memorable kits of the early 2000s (more on that later), as well as the 30th anniversary of the 1992 Olympic Games that were held in the city.

And it will be associated with success, too. The Blaugrana won back the Liga title in 2023, an achievement that will forever immortalise this kit.

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Getty Images7R9 in a Kappa classic (1996-97)

Ronaldo only played for Barcelona for one year. And in those 12 glorious months, he donned some memorable kits. The home shirt, an effortlessly cool reimagination of the classic 80s strip, is one of the best ever. And the away one wasn't bad, either.

The Brazilian wore it while playing out one of the best individual seasons in Barcelona's history. Ronaldo scored 47 times in 49 appearances, including 34 in the league. And although his time in Catalunya ended after one year, he will forever be associated with breathtaking goals and classic kits.