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The pace bowler has returned for Sydney Thunder following her break from the game last season

AAP24-Oct-2022Of all places for a former Australia fast bowler to rediscover their love of cricket, playing second row in country rugby league must be among the most unlikely.But for Sydney Thunder speedster Belinda Vakarewa, sport without pressure and a life outside of cricket proved the perfect tonic.”It was just about playing sport for a bit of fun again,” Vakarewa told AAP. “Yeah, we were all competitive. So we wanted to win every week. But overall it was just playing a sport where it was about fun, where we could just enjoy ourselves on and off the field.”Sydney-raised, Vakarewa played her sole ODI in the 2017 World Cup against Sri Lanka and was part of Australia’s squad until midway through last year.Related

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Smith and Beaumont combine to help Thunder down unbeaten Scorchers

However the point came amid her third season with Tasmania when she realised cricket had become all encompassing, taking over every aspect of life. The issue came to a head last summer when she became another player to take personal leave, eventually foregoing a contract and moving back to Sydney with no set plans of a return.”I was living cricket. At training, outside of training,” the 24-year-old said. “And I kind of just lost myself a little bit. I just needed to get out of the state a bit and come home. I missed the lifestyle. I was ready for a change back. I wasn’t sure if I was going to play cricket [after moving back] or not.”Vakarewa has since taken up casual work, pick-packing in a warehouse for 40 hours a week and fitting limited training around that.She was also MVP of her Campbelltown rugby league team, playing with her cousin in the run to a grand final. It’s given her a life outside of the cricket, while being able to spend time back among friends she grew up with and her nephews and nieces.Eventually the Thunder approached, inviting her back to where she began in the WBBL.”With what happened with me last year with my mental state, I wasn’t sure for a while if I wanted to go back,” Vakarewa said. “But I love the game. Having some time away, I missed it. So that made it a little easier for me to do it again.”Vakarewa is still undecided if, and when, she will want to return to cricket in a full-time capacity, happy with her current balance”I’m not too sure. I think I would love to go back to full-time cricket eventually,” she said. “My focus right now is just to get through this Big Bash and see where it goes.”

USMNT star Christian Pulisic occupies an exclusive group of just two players at AC Milan, with a transfer update being delivered at San Siro.

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American poised to sign new contractBecome a talismanic presence at San SiroQuestions being asked of team-matesFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

It is shaping up to be a busy summer for the Rossoneri. They are yet to determine what the 2024-25 campaign will bring, with European qualification being chased down in Serie A and domestic cup competition.

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Milan, who sit ninth in the Italian top-flight, are into the Coppa Italia final – where they will face Bologna on May 14. Pulisic, with a personal best return of 16 goals recorded this season, is hoping to star again with major silverware up for grabs.

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According to , the United States international is one of only two players that are assured of their future in Milan. Tijjani Reijnders has already signed a new contract, with Pulisic expected to follow that lead as he lands a significant pay rise.

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They will be retained by the Rossoneri, but question marks reportedly hang over every other member of Milan’s squad. Mike Maignan and Theo Hernandez have been discussing fresh terms, but neither has put pen to paper.

Archer, who hadn’t played competitively since July 2021 because of injuries, is currently playing for England Lions in Abu Dhabi

ESPNcricinfo staff23-Nov-2022Jofra Archer looks set to return to competitive cricket in South Africa in January after becoming MI Cape Town’s wildcard signing for the inaugural season of the SA20.Archer, the leading wicket-taker and Super Over hero for England in their 2019 ODI World Cup triumph, has not played an international game since March 2021 because of a long-standing elbow issue, which was followed by a stress fracture of the lower back. He has spent the last two weeks in the UAE as part of an England Lions training camp and, on Wednesday, made an encouraging return to action in a three-day warm-up match against England’s Test squad, hitting Zak Crawley in the head with a sharp bouncer in the first of nine threatening overs.Archer was signed by Mumbai Indians in the last IPL auction for INR 8 crore [US$ 1.06 million approx. at the time] despite the franchise knowing he would be unavailable. He has, in fact, been retained for the 2023 season. And on Wednesday evening, he was unveiled as a wildcard signing by MI Cape Town – the SA20 franchise and Mumbai Indians are owned by the same group, Reliance.

.@JofraArcher, welcome to Cape Town. @SA20_League wild card pick pic.twitter.com/7EWaQ7fwRH

— MI Cape Town (@MICapeTown) November 23, 2022

The SA20 runs from January 10 until February 11, with a short break in late January for England’s re-arranged ODI series in South Africa. Archer could make his return to international cricket in that series, especially if he can prove his fitness playing for MI Cape Town.The wildcard system, which SA20 commissioner Graeme Smith said would “offer our teams an opportunity to add another world-class player to their squad”, was formally unveiled by CSA on Monday. The only other franchise to announce a wildcard signing so far are Sunrisers Eastern Cape, who brought in Jordan Hermann, the uncapped South African batter. Wildcard players will have a minimum salary of Rand 175,000 [US$ 10,290 approx.], but their wages are not going to count towards teams’ salary caps.Archer will join his England team-mates Sam Curran, Liam Livingstone and Olly Stone at MI Cape Town, whose squad also includes Kagiso Rabada, Dewald Brevis and Rashid Khan.

Arsenal are believed to be in pole position to sign an £83 million striker, even ahead of European champions Real Madrid, as things stand – with manager Mikel Arteta recently finding out the hard way that his side need further options up front.

Arsenal lose Kai Havertz for the rest of the season

Star striker Kai Havertz, in some terrible news for the Gunners, is set to miss the rest of this 2024/2025 campaign after tearing his hamstring on a warm-weather training trip to Dubai.

£50m forward seriously considering exit after Arsenal express real interest

He’s highly versatile.

ByEmilio Galantini Feb 12, 2025

Havertz joins Gabriel Jesus on the treatment table for the remainder of this campaign, with Gabriel Martinelli and Bukayo Saka also not expected back until March as Arteta attempts to navigate a selection crisis in attack.

Leicester City (away)

February 15th

West Ham (home)

February 22nd

Nottingham Forest (away)

February 26th

Man United (away)

March 9th

Chelsea (home)

March 16th

The 25-year-old had scored 15 goals and registered a further five assists in all competitions, but Arteta must now find a solution to cope with Havertz’s absence. Raheem Sterling can play as a makeshift striker when required, and the previously out-of-favour Englishman could be about to see a lot more match action.

With Arsenal also seven points behind Liverpool in the Premier League title race, the odds are stacked against Arteta’s side in terms of domestic glory this season, with Emirates Stadium chiefs already having one eye on 2025/2026.

They’ll be eager to ensure that the north Londoners do not find themselves in this precarious position next campaign when it comes to shortages in attack, with RB Leipzig starlet Benjamin Sesko firmly on their transfer shortlist.

Arsenal favourites to sign RB Leipzig starlet Benjamin Sesko

Sesko rejected a proposal to join Arsenal last summer, instead deciding to sign a contract extension, on the condition of a “gentlemen’s agreement” that he can leave this year or 2026.

Now, German news outlet SportBILD, via Sport Witness, claim Arsenal are the “hottest contender” to sign Sesko this summer – above Real, Bayern Munich and other big-name sides.

Despite reports of a £65 million release clause, the news website reports that this isn’t a fixed clause, and Leipzig will hold out for a bidding war as they seek to raise around £83 million for Sesko’s signature.

Luckily for Arsenal, this is actually a drop from the price tag mentioned recently, with SportBILD denying claims that Leipzig want as much as £109 million.

The 21-year-old has been in red-hot form again this season with 15 goals in all competitions, and he’s been called a “special” player by former Leipzig technical director Christopher Vivell.

“This one has been a long time in the making,” says Strikers’ captain, who has also won the Ashes, ODI World Cup and CWG gold this year

Andrew McGlashan26-Nov-2022Tahlia McGrath has won a lot this year: an Ashes, an ODI World Cup and a Commonwealth Games gold medal. Now, after two painful near-misses, she can add a WBBL title to that list.Although the WBBL sides are distinct from the state teams, in reality they remain very close, particularly when it comes to playing squads. For McGrath, who was named Australia vice-captain last week, her whole career has been in South Australia, which meant there was a lot of meaning when she was able to hold aloft the trophy.”That’s a tough one, it has been a good run,” she said when asked about where it sits alongside the national honours. “This one is special for different reasons. My home state, something I’m very passionate about, been there since day one. This one is pretty special. There’s World Cups, there’s Comm Games, but this is special for different reasons.”This one has been a long time in the making. When you get so close so many times, you keep the same group together, you keep fighting and you finally get one. So this one is pretty special.”Adelaide Strikers had been on a 6am flight to Sydney on Friday morning following their Challenger victory over Brisbane Heat in Adelaide. McGrath said most of the squad had spent yesterday afternoon sleeping but perhaps the rapid turnaround helped them avoid overthinking the final.Having been given a strong base with an opening stand of 51 between Laura Wolvaardt and Katie Mack, Strikers then laboured through the next 11 overs before Deandra Dottin, who was named Player of the Final, helped lift them to 147, still short of what is normally needed at North Sydney Oval.But a remarkable start to Sydney Sixers’ innings all but decided the contest. After dropping two catches in the same over, Strikers were able to remove Alyssa Healy for 1 and by the end of the sixth over, Sixers were 4 for 17, which included a double-wicket maiden for Dottin.McGrath conceded it was not Strikers’ best fielding display – although that was hardly top of her list of thoughts in the immediate aftermath – but insisted there was never any panic throughout the game as they looked to rebound from last season’s 12-run defeat in the final against Perth Scorchers, a match that had almost identical totals to this year’s decider.”It was a sense of composure,” she said. “There was a calmness around the team today, everyone was relaxed, everyone knew what they needed to do, we didn’t get overawed by the occasion. We got off to a really good start, stumbled in the middle, then D-Dot [Dottin] was awesome at the end. We walked off thinking it was a little below par but at the same time there was enough in the wicket if we were disciplined enough, subtle changes of pace, [and the] best bowling attack in the league…”It’s never ideal dropping catches but, again, we just stayed calm… Our bowlers were amazing. I would back us to defend any total and once again they did the job today.”

Crystal Palace star Eberechi Eze took a break from his footballing duties to win an online chess tournament.

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Eze a keen chess playerWins online tournamentPockets $20,000 cash prizeFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱Chess.comWHAT HAPPENED?

The England international has many hobbies outside of football and one of those is chess. This week, Chess.com reported that the 26-year-old took part in the PogChamps 6 tournament. After receiving a bye to the last four, the attacking midfielder won his semi-final and final 2-0 to claim the online competition.

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Aside from chess, Eze is in red-hot form for Palace, with his performances guiding the club to a rare FA Cup final. The Eagles have never won a major trophy and now they are just one game away from making history.

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By winning the chess tournament, which had six players in the 'Championship bracket', Eze pocketed $20,000 and became the sixth PogChampion.

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Before Palace's FA Cup final against Manchester City later this month, Eze's side host Nottingham Forest in the Premier League on Monday.

What a game at the Etihad Stadium it was between Manchester City and Real Madrid. It was a Champions League classic, in which the visitors ran out 3-2 winners late in stoppage time, in one of the most enthralling games of the season.

After early chances for Madrid, which they probably should have scored from, Erling Haaland gave City the lead 19 minutes into the game. The Norweigan finished off a lovely team move, in which Jack Grealish clipped a pass over to Josko Gvardiol, who chested it down to Haaland for 1-0 to the home side.

Their lead lasted until the 60th minute when Kylian Mbappe had his say on the game. It wasn’t a clean strike from the Frenchman, but he lifted the ball over Ederson and it looped into the back of the net for 1-1.

With time ticking away, it seemed like the next goal could be decisive. It was once again Haaland who scored, converting a penalty won by first-half substitute Phil Foden, who was brought down just on the edge of the box.

However, the City number nine’s strike was anything but decisive. In classic fashion, Los Blancos scored two late goals to equalise and then win the game, in what was a calamitous few moments for Pep Guardiola’s side.

The man who scored the winner, Jude Bellingham, proved to be a real thorn in City’s side as they collapsed in the final minutes of the crunch clash.

Bellingham’s brilliance as City collapse

The last six minutes of the game, from the 86th to the 92nd minute, were a calamity for the Citizens. Firstly, the Spanish side equalised through a former City academy graduate, Brahim Diaz.

It was poor defending from the Premier League champions, who did not pick up their former player, allowing him to waltz into the box unmarked. He got on the end of a rebound from Vinicius Junior’s shot and fired home to make it 2-2.

It got worse for the home side, however, in the 92nd minute when Madrid won the game. Who else but Bellingham, the “big game player” himself, as Statman Dave called him. The England international was superb on the night and got the decisive touch to win the game for his side.

It was, again, terrible work from City. Mateo Kovacic sloppily lost possession in midfield, selling Rico Lewis short with his pass. Vinicius ran onto the ball, clipped it over the onrushing Ederson and into Bellingham’s path. He got ahead of Three Lions teammate John Stones and sealed a remarkably victory.

Bellingham was excellent on the night, and City simply fell away. They would have been looking for their own creative force to step up like Bellingham did, but he was, in many ways, outclassed by the Madrid number five.

Performance in Numbers

Want data and stats? Football FanCast's Performance in Numbers series provides you with the latest match analysis from across Europe.

The Man City star who was outclassed by Bellingham

It was not the worst performance ever from Kevin De Bruyne against Los Blancos, but Guardiola would have wanted more from City’s star man. He threatened to impact the game with a goal or assist but did not actually manage to do so in that sense.

The Belgian stalwart’s stats via Sofascore from the game were, perhaps, a little disappointing. He did manage to create three chances, although lost the ball 19 times and had a dismal 74% pass accuracy. Off the ball, he was underwhelming too, winning just one from nine ground duels.

In comparison, Bellingham managed to create two chances himself, lost the ball just nine times and had an impressive 92% pass accuracy. He was imperious off the ball, winning seven from 12 ground duels, and, of course, scored the all-important winning goal.

Touches

51

60

Pass accuracy

74%

92%

Passes completed

24/35

36/39

Key passes

3

2

Dribbles completed

0/2

3/3

Number of times ball lost

19

9

Ground duels won

1/9

7/12

There is no doubt that Guardiola will have been seeking more complete display from his number 17. So often a rich source of goals and assists, the Belgian did cause Madrid problems at times, but nothing too concerning. The Manchester Evening News journalist Simon Bajkowski described his balls into the box as “a nuisance”, but they did not lead to anything for City.

In the second leg, the Citizens will be desperate for their star man to show up for the count if they are to turn the tie around. De Bruyne already has eight goal involvements in ten games against Madrid, including Tuesday’s clash, but will be hoping to add to that next week in Spain.

Whether or not he starts, however, remains to be seen with both Omar Marmoush and Phil Foden waiting in the wings. Perhaps a place on the bench beckons next time out.

Man City's answer to Nwaneri: Pep must unleash "insane" teenage star

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2 ByBen Gray Feb 7, 2025

Manchester United are reportedly listening to offers to sell one Old Trafford star who Ruben Amorim wants out.

Man Utd come from behind to beat Ipswich Town

The Red Devils secured a much-needed Premier League win over relegation-threatened Ipswich Town at Old Trafford on Wednesday evening, despite having 10 men for more than half of the game.

United came from behind thanks to an own goal from Sam Morsy and defenders Matthijs de Ligt and Harry Maguire getting on the scoresheet to win 3-2.

January signing Patrick Dorgu received a red card shortly before half time, which resulted in Amorim bringing on Noussair Mazraoui in place of Alejandro Garnacho to keep a back five in place.

However, Garnacho wasn’t thrilled at the decision and went straight down the tunnel, with Amorim admitting after the game that he would speak to the Argentine following his actions.

“You are making a connection with Rashford, right? I know, I know. What I’m saying is that I’m obviously going to talk with Garnacho about that. So I will probably talk about that if you want in the next press conference.

“The thinking was we’d play more in the 5-3-1. I know that is a risk because you are taking maybe the only player who has one-against-one pace but I felt the team was OK in the controlling of the game, almost at half-time.

“Then you make the substitution. We have to choose someone to go out, we have to think about set pieces also, so it was my choice.”

Ratcliffe determined to sign £86m "best striker in the world" for Man Utd

The Man United co-owner has set his sights on a prolific forward, who joins the likes of Victor Osimhen and Viktor Gyokeres on the list of targets.

ByDominic Lund Feb 27, 2025

Garnacho, on £50,000-a-week, had been linked with an Old Trafford exit in January, with Chelsea showing a strong interest in signing the forward.

However, a move failed to materialise, but it looks as if a move away from Manchester or Garnacho is still on the cards in 2025.

Amorim wants Garnacho out of Man Utd with Red Devils listening to offers

As per a report from Spain, Amorim wants Man Utd to sell Garnacho due to his attitude. It is claimed that ‘the controversies surrounding him have deteriorated his relationship with the coaching staff’, and that a ‘lack of discipline and some controversial episodes have exhausted the patience of the board’, who are already ‘listening to offers’ for the 20-year-old.

Serie A side Napoli are emerging as a destination for Garnacho, with the Italians seeing the forward as someone who can add speed and talent to their squad.

It remains to be seen how much the Red Devils will demand for the Argentine attacker, but it does look as if his days in Manchester could be numbered, making this one to keep an eye on over the coming months.

Simon Jordan has criticised Gary Neville and David Beckham for aiming to copy the Wrexham model by taking over Salford City.

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Beckham and Neville take ownershipRemainder of Class of 92 move awayJordan believes Peter Lim has been 'rinsed'Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Beckham and Neville have completed a takeover of Salford City, backed by a new consortium and with aims of reaching the Championship within five years. The remaining Class of '92 members are no longer shareholders but may still hold roles at the club., and Beckham has admitted to being inspired by both Wrexham and Birmingham City, two clubs owned by big American stars; the Welsh side are owned by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, while Tom Brady is part-owner of Birmingham.

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Salford, once a non-league minnow, have enjoyed a rapid rise through the football pyramid, largely funded by businessman Peter Lim. With Beckham and Neville now at the helm, the club hopes to emulate the commercial and on-field success of Wrexham under the ownership of Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, but Jordan believes Lim was "rinsed" by the pair, who have now "discarded" him. Lim actually sold his remaining shares in the club to Neville in August of last year, per The Guardian.

WHAT SIMON JORDAN SAID

Jordan said: "You can be damn sure this ain't their money. They've rinsed poor Peter Lim, he's had enough of it, like a crisp packet in a microwave, he's been crumpled up and thrown away. They've used his money. Minimum wage Neville has probably found somebody else to bear the cost.

"They've got a window of opportunity because they've seen what Wrexham have done. They've seen the value of star power and that value of star power has given revenues to Wrexham via Ryan Reynolds and the other fella (Rob McElhenney), that's given them the resources to punch their way into the Championship."

He added: "I find it very difficult to applaud Gary Neville on many things. He's a resourceful character. If you've taken the task on, it's incumbent upon you if you have a set of standards and you rate yourself, which most certainly he does, to produce an outcome that's meaningful and when they're looking at Wrexham, they must be thinking 'that's a bit of an embarrassment'."

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Salford finished eighth in League Two in 2024/25 and will be targeting automatic promotion next season under their new ownership.

The bowling coach also calls South African bowlers conceding at 3.96 during Australia’s first innings a “red flag”

Alex Malcolm28-Dec-20222:14

Nortje: ‘My role is to be aggressive, try and speed it up’

South Africa bowling coach Charl Langeveldt has called on Kagiso Rabada to improve his control on flatter pitches in the same manner as Australia captain Pat Cummins, after South Africa conceded 575 for 8 at the MCG.Having caused Australia’s batters all sorts of problems in the two-day Test in Brisbane on a lively green monster, South Africa’s bowlers could not contain their opponents on a flatter surface in Melbourne across three brutal days in the field as David Warner made a double-century, Alex Carey a century, and Steven Smith, Travis Head and Cameron Green all made half-centuries to grind South Africa into the dirt.There was widespread praise for the efforts of Anrich Nortje who bowled with express pace and picked up three wickets. Langeveldt, meanwhile, singled out Rabada after he finished with figures of 1 for 144 from 28 overs with just one maiden and was the only South African bowler to concede more than five runs per over.Related

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Carey's maiden ton and Green's defiant fifty bury South Africa

“I think KG wasn’t on song if I can single him out,” Langeveldt said. “For KG, he is a wicket-taker, he always takes wickets. The challenge always for him is to be able to control that. I think Cummins when he started off, he leaked a few runs but then he got consistent, and he was aggressive. And I think that’s [Rabada’s] challenge going forward to make him a brilliant bowler. At the moment he is one of the leading wicket-takers in red-ball cricket. But going forward playing on flatter wickets, I think that’s going to be the challenge for him.”Kagiso Rabada finished with figures of 2 for 144 in the first innings at the MCG•Associated PressRabada is currently the leading wicket-taker in Test cricket in 2022 and is the only man in Test history with more than 200 Test wickets and strike rate under 40. Rabada’s strike rate of 39.8 is better than Cummins’ 46.5. Cummins has a slightly better average, but Rabada’s career economy rate of 3.38 is significantly more expensive than Cummins’ 2.73.Langeveldt said Australia’s run rate of 3.96 in the first innings was something that the entire group needed to take note of given it was even higher than what England’s Bazballers produced (3.89) against South Africa in Manchester in August.”It’s definitely a red flag,” Langeveldt said. “We always pride ourselves on bowling 18 consecutive balls and that’s kind of one of our KPIs. And we haven’t achieved that in this game and it’s a red flag going forward. We need to improve on that.”It’s been a tough three days for us I think as a bowling unit. The first session we probably didn’t start well on day one. The only problem is just our control. I think it’s something that we need to speak about, something we can improve.”But being a young bowling attack, it’s not an excuse, they’ve played a few tests together. It’s just being able to control the run rate for longer periods. But I was happy with the enthusiasm that the guys showed. I think they were brilliant. Can’t fault them.”