Four years ago, Rauf snuck into an open cricket trial and clocked 92.3 mph in the final round; he hasn’t looked back since

Umar Farooq11-Nov-2021In the summer of 2017, three boys from a working-class family travelled by road from Islamabad to Gujranwala, four-and-a-half hours away, to participate in an open cricket trial. They arrived late and were denied entry as the stadium was filled to capacity. The trio had made the journey in peak hours on one of the busiest roads in the country — the Grand Trunk Road. There was no way they were going back without taking part in the trials. One of the scouts persuaded them to break into the stadium from one of the less-busy entrances. They broke an iron-gate lock and snuck in, mixing with the thousands of boys already inside and waiting for their turn in the nets.The three boys were all fast bowlers, all , hardened tape-ball cricketers. Each one of them was seriously quick and effectively a professional on the tape-ball circuit, freelancing for villages, and any other team that paid them well enough. The games took them around the country. They had never played hard-ball cricket, nor did they have any ambition to, but the prospect of open trials being held by Lahore Qalandars lured them in. All they had were raw pace and athletic bodies. They managed to clear the initial rounds,  but only one made it to the final round of the day. The last session had narrowed down the field from the thousands to the dozens.Related

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It wasn’t about bowling accurately as much as it was about bowling as quickly as they could. The one who made it to that final round was Haris Rauf and in that round, the speed gun clocked him at 92.3 mph. Five hundred thousand had turned up over the course of these trials, of whom 145,000 were bowlers.Officially, the PCB has 3822 clubs registered all over the country, with approximately 80,000 players at the grassroots level. Unofficially, there are millions out in the open, playing cricket daily who never fall into this official circuit.

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These trials are part of a Player Development Program that Lahore Qalandars launched in 2016, holding trials from Rawalpindi all the way down to south Punjab. The program has welcomed boys of all ages and from all backgrounds. Some have turned up barefoot and been given shoes. Others have turned up in and still managed to get a chance to do what they do. Everyone has had a fair chance to bat and bowl with scouts whittling down attendees each day.Those selected at the end of each trial are organised into eight city-based teams who compete against each other in a tournament that is broadcast every year. The 15 best performers in those games are picked in a development squad, who are then fast-tracked: this squad has travelled to Australia to compete against clubs there. In 2018, the development squad won the Abu Dhabi T20 trophy, an international tournament that included a full-strength Titans side, the reigning T20 champions of South Africa. While the program has taken time to mature, several players are now coming through.”To identify any talent in the world, you need a few seconds,” Aaqib Javed, the Qalandars coach and the man behind the program, says. “If something is natural in you … for instance, it takes just 10 seconds to judge the potential of a singer. Similarly in cricket, if you know what you are looking for, it takes three balls to judge if anyone has basic talent in him. This is exactly what we did in our program. There were hundreds of thousands who turned up and that was systematically filtered through down to the very best.”The process was stringent enough to catch the good ones. We weren’t looking for ready-made players. We wanted players to show potential, and we will invest in them. Rauf had pace, and bowling at 92.3 mph isn’t a joke. We saw his potential, and there followed a process of nurturing and developing him. He had the pace, but he needed two years of proper training to become a proper bowler.”Aaqib Javed – “We saw his potential, and there followed a process of nurturing and developing him”•Lahore Qalandars

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Until he was 23, Rauf had no hard-ball experience. He had grown up near one of Islamabad’s biggest cricket clubs – Diamond CC – but had never enrolled himself there. The son of a welder who worked for the Public Works Department, Rauf had done his Intermediate and was in the process of completing an IT degree before cricket took over his life. He worked as a salesman at a mobile shop but would make extra money on the tape-ball circuit, playing for teams he had no attachment to other than that they were paying him to play.If you wanted a fast bowler who can hit the blockhole ball after ball with a tape-ball in those days, the guy to call was Rauf. He was only ever a phone call away and always ready to roll as long as teams could afford his travelling expenses. How did he choose which team to play for? Simple: whichever one paid him the most. A good tournament could make him up to Rs. 50,000 and more. But because tape-ball cricket is not regulated, the earnings fluctuated. There were good days and bad days as far as earning money went.His parents were never keen that he make a career out of it by playing hard-ball cricket – that was too risky a path. Risky because of the widespread belief that you can only make it with some . In a game played mostly by the working class but run by an elite, it’s hard to quash the notion that you need the right support from somewhere to elevate yourself.Cricket was something he played for fun and a little bit of spending money. The priority, while he was studying and then working, was always to make a living. A career in cricket was always the fantasy, but he was hesitant about committing himself to the path that took him there.”I had never given any trials ever before this,” Rauf had said while talking to ESPNcricinfo in 2019. “Never really trusted that there would be a fair trial, and I would be selected. I didn’t even play club cricket mainly because I didn’t find fairness as they also used to play their own boys. When Lahore Qalandars were taking trials all around the country, I missed the one near my home in Rawalpindi because I had a tape-ball match in Attock.”But my friends took me along with them to Gujranwala, and it was just an outing and a bit of fun for us until we started competing with each other on who could generate more pace as Aaqib was watching us. One of them hit around 87 or 88, and I wanted to push it further. I pushed my limit and hit 92.3 mph which caught Aaqib ‘s attention and that is where I was selected. It was just one ball.”Rauf was handed a contract and taken in by the franchise for further development. At 5″11 and 71kg, he needed to put on some serious muscle to make sure his body could handle the pace he could bowl at. Qalandars set him a strict training and nutrition plan and Aaqib took personal oversight of his training. He was sent to Australia as part of the program to feature in competitive cricket with Hawkesbury Cricket Club. He made his T20 debut for Qalandars against the Hobart Hurricanes in 2018 and picked up 1 for 23 in Qalandars’ defeat of Titans in the final of that tournament. It was then that he was picked by the franchise for the PSL, where in his first season in 2018-19, he took 11 wickets in 10 matches with an economy rate of 7.41. That included a match-winning 4 for 23 against Karachi Kings.That same year, he hit the jackpot when he landed a Big Bash contract. Dale Steyn’s debut in the BBL for the Melbourne Stars was delayed due to an injury. Rauf was already in Australia playing grade cricket in Hobart. Sameen Rana, one of the Qalandars’ owners, pushed Rauf as a replacement with the BBL authorities, telling them that if he didn’t perform, they never needed to listen to him again.Rauf was duly picked and quickly became one of the headlines of the season, more than filling his own hero Steyn’s shoes. He bowled with great pace consistently and despite playing only 10 games, ended up as the fourth-highest wicket-taker that season with 20 wickets. His strike rate of 11.3 was second only to Sean Abbott’s among those who took at least six wickets. The highlight of his season was taking a hat-trick on the same day as Rashid Khan.Back home, Mohammad Amir and Wahab Riaz were fading away from the scene, and within a couple of months, the PCB had signed Rauf on to an emerging central contract.

“I wanted Haris to be free from the burdens of the legacy of fast bowling in Pakistan, of Wasim, Waqar and Imran, which can weigh a new bowler down”Aaqib Javed, Lahore Qalandars’ head coach

“He is a special character,” Aaqib says. “A person who absorbs a lot and is very self-aware. He knows what he is doing and what he wants to do. I have come across so many boys, and a lot of them lose focus easily, but Rauf was committed. The clarity in his mind about what he wants is exceptional. Having talent is one thing, but the basic difference is his determination. All I did was just make Haris be himself.”Playing in an actual cricket stadium could only have been part of the imagination of this tape-ball cricketer who grew up playing on streets and in open, dusty fields. It’s still difficult to grasp that in just over two years, Rauf has gone from no experience with a hard ball into one of the hottest commodities at the T20 World Cup.”Players often come with a lot of misconceptions about the game,” Aaqib says. “They think it’s just about bat and ball, but it’s more than that. You are committing to a profession that takes everything out of you. Only a very few manage to really find the true essence of cricket.”I wanted Haris to be free from the burdens of the legacy of fast bowling in Pakistan, of Wasim, Waqar and Imran, which can weigh a new bowler down. I didn’t want him to feel overwhelmed by me or anyone else. He responded well, and I am proud of him and happy that Lahore Qalandars made a real difference and gave back a superstar Pakistan deserves.”

أعلن الاتحاد الدولي للتاريخ والإحصاء، عن قائمة اللاعبين المرشحين للحصول على جائزة أفضل صانع ألعاب في العالم، لعام 2025.

واعتاد الاتحاد الدولي للتاريخ والإحصاء، إجراء تصويت سنويًا لمنح الجوائز في مختلف الفئات، بناءً على الأداء من يناير إلى ديسمبر، وليس بناءً على الموسم.

وتتألف لجنة التحكيم الدولية من أعضاء الاتحاد الدولي لتاريخ وإحصاءات كرة القدم (صحفيين رياضيين وخبراء كرة قدم) من 120 دولة من جميع قارات العالم.

وتشمل الجوائز كل من: أفضل هدافي العالم، تصنيف الأندية العالمية، أفضل الدوريات العالمية، وسيتم الإعلان عنها بعد 15 يناير 2026.

اقرأ أيضًا | بعد ابتسامة خجولة.. ميسي يكشف اللاعب الأعظم في تاريخ كرة القدم

وبالنسبة للفئات الأخرى، فهناك أفضل حارس مرمى في العالم، أفضل حكم في العالم، أفضل لاعب شاب في العالم، أفضل لاعب في العالم، أفضل صانع ألعاب في العالم، أفضل مدرب أندية في العالم، أفضل مدرب وطني في العالم (للسيدات والرجال).

سيعلن الاتحاد الدولي للتاريخ والإحصاء يوميًا عن المرشحين لعام 2025 من الفئات المختلفة للتصويت، وسيتم نشر النتائج بعد 10 ديسمبر 2025.

وفيما يخص المرشحين لجائزة أفضل صانع ألعاب، فقد ضمت العديد من النجوم على رأسهم النجم الأرجنتيني ليونيل ميسي، قائد إنتر ميامي والأرجنتين.

ولم تشهد قائمة المرشحين النجم المصري محمد صلاح، لاعب ليفربول، رغم تألقه مع كتيبة آرني سلوت خلال موسم 2024/25. المرشحون لجائزة أفضل صانع ألعاب في العالم 2025

أردا جولر: تركيا، ريال مدريد.

برونو فرنانديز: البرتغال، مانشستر يونايتد.

كول بالمر: إنجلترا، تشيلسي.

فلوريان فيرتز: ألمانيا – باير ليفركوزن / ليفربول.

جود بيلينجهام: إنجلترا، ريال مدريد.

كيفن دي بروين: بلجيكا، مانشستر سيتي / نابولي.

لامين يامال: إسبانيا، برشلونة.

مارتن أوديجارد: النرويج، آرسنال.

بيدري: إسبانيا، برشلونة.

فيتينها: البرتغال، باريس سان جيرمان.

ليونيل ميسي: الأرجنتين، إنتر ميامي.

جيمس رودريجيز: كولومبيا، ليون.

ريو هاتاتي: اليابان، سلتيك.

محمد قدوس: غانا – وست هام / توتنهام.

مالك تيلمان: الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية، آيندهوفن / باير ليفركوزن.

Once notoriously injury-prone, he’s improved his fitness, amped up his pace, and become the leader of Bengal’s attack

Shashank Kishore02-Jan-2020It can be hard to make inferences from domestic cricket scorecards. You need match footage, a live telecast or, better still, be there to watch in person.The scorecard of Ishan Porel’s Ranji Trophy debut in November 2017 will tell you this: Vidarbha’s openers put on 259 in the first innings, laying base for a total of 499. Bengal lost by 10 wickets, after following on. Faiz Fazal, an India international, made a century, and Wriddhiman Saha, the India wicketkeeper, missed one by three runs.It would be easy to miss the figures next to the name of a 19-year-old debutant playing for the losing side. But India’s junior selectors were at the venue, and didn’t miss a thing.They were in the midst of narrowing down the India squad for the 2018 Under-19 World Cup in New Zealand. They had watched Porel before, but hadn’t been enthused by his fitness history. He had already gone through a side strain, a medial collateral ligament injury, an anterior cruciate ligament injury, and a partial tear in his left knee while fielding in a selection match.But Porel’s bowling had always been talked of highly. So the selectors watched him bowl 22 wicketless overs on the first day. On day two, they watched him bowl unchanged between lunch and tea.”He was sharp, accurate, and generated bounce from a docile track,” Venkatesh Prasad, the junior selection committee chief, said at the time. In 35-degree heat and sapping humidity, Porel sent down 47 overs in Vidarbha’s first innings, nearly a third of the 138.1 overs Bengal bowled, and finished with figures of 4 for 139. It was enough evidence of his fitness.Porel was soon part of India’s squad for the Under-19 Challenger Trophy, and eventually the Under-19 World Cup. He returned from New Zealand in February 2018 as a World Cup winner. His story could have been a lot different if he hadn’t been noticed that day.Two years on, another set of selectors, the ones who pick the senior India team, are keeping a close eye on Porel. He’s been part of India A squads, bowled a title-winning spell in the Deodhar Trophy, featured in the Duleep Trophy, and will return to New Zealand in January 2020 with the India A team that is shadowing the senior India squad’s tour of the country. Later this year, he will share a dressing room with his Bengal senior Mohammed Shami at Kings XI Punjab.Ishan Porel runs in to bowl•ICC/Getty ImagesIn 2014, Porel was categorised as “underweight” at the National Cricket Academy. He had a wrong-footed action – “somewhat like Sohail Tanvir,” he says – that played a part in sparking his spate of injuries. The basic assessment was that he was unfit. “Not overweight, unfit,” Porel stresses.For a year, he worked on his fitness in his own way. Running. Not in air-conditioned gyms, but from his home in Chandannagar to the railway station, a 30-minute journey, with his kit resting on his shoulders. From there, he’d board a train to Howrah and then take a bus to Salt Lake or Eden Gardens. On his way home, he’d repeat the run back.”For one year, I worked on my fitness without going to the gym. Just running, some hand and shoulder exercises, good diet,” Porel says. “I wanted to prove I could bowl fast. In my first year at NCA, batsmen used to hit me all over the park. It hurt me that I was classified as medium-fast. I wanted to be ‘Ishan Porel, fast’ or Ishan Porel, fast-medium’. That was my goal.”A year after the NCA snub, he was part of a Bengal Colts team in Bangladesh. “That tour, I did really well,” he says. “I played with a lot of the current Bangladesh Under-19 players. One of the coaches complimented me also. He said ‘why don’t you come to Bangladesh and play for our club? We don’t have fast bowlers.’ I’m sure they said it jokingly, but it was a good compliment.”The Colts tour helped Porel establish himself in the Bengal age-group teams, and from there he worked his way up until he was playing in an Under-19 World Cup. That high was followed by what could have been a crushing low, as a heel injury forced him to hobble off 4.1 overs into India’s tournament-opener. He would be out for two weeks. “I was crying every day,” he says.Rahul Dravid, the then India Under-19 head coach, understood that this was the moment Porel had trained for. Sending him back home would crush a young dream, even if it may have been the easiest thing to do. Instead, Porel was given confidence and recovery time. An injury reinforcement was called in, but Porel stayed on and worked, sometimes overtime, with Anand Date, the trainer.He returned for the quarter-final against Bangladesh, bowled a match-winning spell of 4 for 17 in the semi-final against Pakistan, and ended the tournament with a tight opening spell, and the wickets of both openers, in the final against Australia.He came back to a “Chandannagar hero returns home” headline, keys to a brand new motorbike – a Royal Enfield Classic 350 – and the promise of a big future, which is what he continues to pursue.”Ranji Trophy teaches you patience,” he says. “I have been in the circuit for three years. No two wickets have been the same. You can’t bowl the same way in Eden like you do in Bangalore or Hubli. I hadn’t figured this out earlier, but playing domestic cricket allows you to learn on your own and figure things out.”Back of a length isn’t something you can bowl on good tracks in India, and that is my natural strength because of my height. So I’ve learnt to bowl up, swing the ball. Earlier, I used to do it at 130kph. Now, I’m close to 140. That has also made a difference.”Ishan Porel goes up in appeal•Getty ImagesPorel’s ability to swing the ball at a good pace, and his improving death-bowling skills, made an impression on the IPL’s talent scouts. He had been snubbed twice earlier – “when I wanted to badly get into the IPL” – and was understandably cautious when the player auction got underway in December.”Last year, Kolkata Knight Riders were impressed and asked me to be ready, but it didn’t happen,” he says. “Even before that, I had my hopes high. This year, Sunrisers Hyderabad called me on trials on 15 December. I would have had to travel on 14th, come back on 16th and play a Ranji game from 17th.”I’ve learned from my past injuries. Also, Ranji Trophy is a different league altogether, the emotions are different. I didn’t want to take a risk and start a game tired. If I do well, I will be picked. If I don’t, I won’t. For two years, I wanted to play badly, but I didn’t get a chance. Even this year, I hoped to be picked but it wasn’t like I was constantly thinking about it, and it worked.”It did, and Kings XI picked him up at his base price.Either side of the auction, Porel has taken eight wickets in two Ranji Trophy games at an average of 17.38. In Ashok Dinda’s absence for disciplinary reasons, he has become the de facto leader of Bengal’s pace attack. He relishes the responsibility.”I’m looking forward to it,” he says. “Every match I play, be it for Bengal, India A or Board President’s XI, I approach it with the same intensity. The goal is to win matches, get the team into a better position than they were at earlier. It’s that simple. If we all do that together, we will all be moving in the right direction.”Asked to pick a favourite spell, Porel says nothing has come close to the rhythm he felt in the second Ranji Trophy game of his debut season, against Punjab in Amritsar. “I bowled badly in the first innings because I got carried away looking at the wicket,” he says. “Then in the second innings, the ball was reversing, and I came back really well to pick up five wickets in the second innings and we won the game. That was something.”Indeed it was something. He was full of confidence, having just been told he would be playing in an Under-19 World Cup. It’s this confidence he hopes to carry with him to become a flagbearer for Bengal, and maybe India, for years to come.

Shohei Ohtani has done it again.

Ohtani on Thursday night captured his second straight National League MVP award—his third straight MVP award overall and fourth in his career—vaulting the Dodgers two-way star into some truly elite company while capping off yet another magical season that saw Los Angeles capture its second straight World Series title.

Ohtani was the unanimous choice for the 2025 NL MVP, earning all 30 first-place votes on the ballots voted on by the BBWAA. Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber finished second with 260 points in the voting, and Mets outfielder Juan Soto finished third with 231 points.

Ohtani has won the MVP via a unanimous vote all four times he has earned the award in 2021, ‘23, ‘24 and ‘25.

Ohtani was his usual dominant self at the plate, posting an NL-leading 1.014 OPS while excelling in his return to the pitching mound after undergoing elbow surgery in 2023.

Ohtani makes history in plethora of ways by winning 2025 NL MVP award

Stop me if you've heard this one before: Shohei Ohtani has made MLB history by winning the NL MVP award. Just last year, Ohtani took home MVP honors in the NL and etched his way into the history books by becoming just the second player all-time (along with Frank Robinson) to win the MVP award in both the American and National Leagues. This year, Ohtani became the first player in MLB history to win multiple MVP awards in each league.

Here are a few other notable ways Ohtani made history by securing the 2025 NL MVP:

Ohtani is the first Dodgers player to win back-to-back MVP Awards

Ten different players have won 13 MVP awards for the Dodgers. But no player, until Ohtani in 2025, had captured consecutive MVP awards. Ohtani also joins Hall of Fame catcher Roy Campanella as the only players in franchise history to win multiple MVP awards.

Equaling Barry Bonds in more ways than one

By winning the 2025 NL MVP, Ohtani became just the second player to win four MVP awards in a career, joining Barry Bonds, who won seven in his decorated—and pilloried—career. He also joined Bonds as the only players to win three straight MVP awards. Bonds accomplished the feat when he took home four straight MVP awards from 2001 to ’04. Pretty, pretty good.

Combining regular season and postseason excellence

Ohtani is the first player since 2010—Josh Hamilton—to win a LCS or World Series MVP and a regular season MVP in the same season, a feat that has been accomplished by just seven players.

Ohtani‘s MVP award comes on the heels of legendary postseason

After a bit of a quiet postseason for the Dodgers‘s in '24, Ohtani was a menace in '25, belting eight home runs and posting a 1.096 OPS while recording a 2–1 record as well as a 4.43 ERA (2.84 FIP) with 28 strikeouts in 20 1/3 innings pitched.

During the Dodgers‘ repeat title run, Ohtani authored one of the greatest performances in sports history—it's difficult to think of one that tops it—by smashing three home runs and pitching six shutout innings with 10 strikeouts to power the Dodgers to victory over the Brewers in Game 4 of the NLCS and secure LCS MVP honors.

Ohtani then left his mark on a Dodgers‘ marathon victory in 18 innings in Game 3 of the World Series against the Blue Jays, belting a pair of home runs while reaching base an unimaginable nine times (a postseason record) thanks to five walks.

With yet another MVP award added to his trophy case, Ohtani continues to scale the mountain of MLB greatness.

Los Xeneizes are now winless in 11 straight matches, facing a full-blown football crisis both on and off the pitch

• Set to face Racing on Saturday
• Surpassed previous winless streaks from 1957 and 2021
• Miguel Ángel Russo under heavy scrutiny

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• Getty Images Sport
  

  WHAT HAPPENED?

  Huracán beat Boca Juniors a 1-0, courtesy of a stunning goal from USMNT rising star Luka Miljevic. The result marks Boca’s 11th consecutive match without a win – the worst streak in the club’s long and storied history in Argentina’s top flight.

  Confusion reigned throughout the game, as head coach Miguel Ángel Russo’s erratic substitutions and questionable decisions only deepened the team’s disarray. The historic winless run is a stark reflection of Boca’s current state under Russo’s leadership.

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• Getty Images Sport
  

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  There’s a clear lack of direction. The tactics are muddled, and even marquee names such as Edinson Cavani and Leandro Paredes have struggled to make an impact. The absence of urgency, clarity, and confidence has left the team adrift in unfamiliar territory.

  Now, all eyes are firmly on Russo and the team’s veteran players to find quick answers. Boca must rediscover structure, commitment, and purpose if it hopes to avoid an even deeper crisis. For a club of this stature, extending this dismal run would be unthinkable.

• Getty Images Sport
  

  DID YOU KNOW?

  In both 1957 and 2021, Boca endured 10-game winless streaks – and coincidentally, Russo was also the manager during the 2021 skid.

• Getty Images Sport
  

  WHAT NEXT FOR BOCA JUNIORS?

  On Saturday, they’ll host Racing – and a win is now more than just desired; it’s desperately needed.

Justin Mohamed is at the centre of what the sport is doing to try and correct years of ignoring a vast part of history

Daniel Brettig09-Sep-2020Justin Mohamed remembers feeling somewhat cheated. It was late in Jason Gillespie’s storied career when he discovered, purely by chance, that Glenn McGrath’s greatest fast bowling offsider was, like him, an Aboriginal Australian.”I actually worked with his father [Neil] – and early in Jason’s career I didn’t realise he was Aboriginal,” Mohamed tells ESPNcricinfo. “Then I met his father and thought ‘Gillespie’ and said ‘oh do you know Jason’ and he said ‘yeah, that’s my son’, and I remember thinking ‘wow’, and feeling a little bit ripped off that I couldn’t sit and watch him and feel proud of another Aboriginal person running in to bowl at Lord’s.”Up to that point, most of Mohamed’s role models in cricket had been members of the great West Indian sides of the 1980s and early 1990s, largely because there was a stronger sense of common ground than he shared with Australia’s national team. “Seeing the West Indies out here and seeing people of a similar sort of colour doing their thing, where I grew up in Bundaberg in Queensland, we connected with that team.”Mohamed’s childhood sense of identification with West Indies, and then his belated discovery of shared heritage with Gillespie, speaks volumes for the landscape of cricket that he entered and sought to help change when he became co-chair of Cricket Australia’s National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cricket Advisory Committee (NATSICAC). If the name of the group is a mouthful, the brief was greater still – finding ways to connect the nation’s Indigenous population to a game that, after some notable early history, more or less ignored them for 80 years.ALSO READ: Dan Christian lifts lid on casual racism in Australian cricketMany have carried the burdens of that willful neglect over numerous generations, not least the West Australian opening batsman John McGuire, whose struggles for first-class recognition in his home state have been well documented. More recently, he asked to have his name removed from a WA under-age trophy because he had tired of what he saw as a lack of substance behind gestures, whether they be trophies, statues, or Welcome To Country ceremonies before matches.Justin Mohamed: ‘The important piece in having an Aboriginal person on the board, it is very clear they’re there for what they bring, who they are, their experience and expertise’•Getty ImagesIn the obvious pain emanating from McGuire’s story, Mohamed sees the key to what he and others have been building on for more than five years now, since the 2015 release of For The Love Of The Game, an often-searing independent report on the history of cricket’s relationship with Aboriginal Australia.”When I heard about that, this is part of the example we see – you can’t just window dress things, and that’s what John was saying,” Mohamed says. “Having my name on a trophy’s fine, but then I look around to the championships and I see very few if any Aboriginal young people coming through, so it’s a bit of window dressing where you’re acknowledging Aboriginal people, but the work that’s done beneath that is not enough to get the involvement that’s needed.”That’s a good example of someone standing up and saying, well, it’s alright to raise the Aboriginal flag, or have a Welcome To Country, but if that’s all you do, that is not going to resolve the imbalance that is happening. John was saying ‘I’m not going to let my name be used to window dress something when there’s not enough happening behind that’. Each state and territory is different in how they’ve acknowledged or seen their champions.”One of the things where I think it is pretty well known is the number of Aboriginal athletes that have come through other team sports compared to cricket. When you see that, you know something’s not right, because the hand eye co-ordinations and reflexes that flow with other sports, knowing when I was younger many of us played cricket, but we never saw it as a pathway. There’s a couple who broke through that, but one or two breaking through doesn’t mean all is working well.”

One of the things where I think it is pretty well known is the number of Aboriginal athletes that have come through other team sports compared to cricket. When you see that, you know something’s not rightJustin Mohamed

Another area touched on by the report, and seen in practice by Mohamed almost as soon as he joined NATSICAC, was that the focus seemed too much about the short-term, a couple of events each year such as the Imparja Cup, and gestures over substance.”I think at my very first meeting, there were these groups and people in states and territories feeding information up to CA, but a lot of it was around activities like the Imparja Cup and getting to tournaments on game day, getting CA to get behind some of the local or state initiatives,” he says. “A lot of the things that were done in the Aboriginal space were once offs and not really part of the strategic plan, which all organisations would have. So there wasn’t a lot of planning, if something important came up there’d be a lot of lobbying and talks about ‘we should do something on this date’ instead of planning it out to say ‘in 2022 we have this coming up and we want to have this focus’.”From early days it was more about getting short or small wins, carnivals, small recognition at particular times of the year, but this approach was saying it needed to be more strategic, it needed to be drawn across all of CA and all that it does. That’s the journey we’re on now. Not just the designated Aboriginal carnival, but all parts of CA. That was from the history of the game through to the elite level and the grassroots.”Early on, Mohamed had a win when he found himself co-chairing NATSICAC with Earl Eddings, who would eventually find himself rising to the position of CA chairman. This offered a sense of gravity to discussions, in the knowledge that this was not just being shared with a CA board member, but one of its most senior directors. Numerous events, from a 2018 tour of England to commemorate the Aboriginal trailblazers of 1868 to a reconciliation match involving the Australian women’s team earlier this year, were given impetus by this avenue.At the same time, players, staff and officials are all on the journey of fully appreciating and acknowledging how cricket missed a chance to keep Indigenous Australia close for nearly a century and must not toss that opportunity away again.”With Aboriginal Australia’s history, sadly in the cricket sense, there was a rich involvement which was never valued at the level it should have been,” Mohamed says. “The value of cricket went back to the Sir Donald Bradman era, whereas the first XI [in 1868] was seen as something which happened, but it was never really spoken about at the level it should have been.”If cricket wants to have an edge over the AFL, rugby league or any other sport, the first ever team to travel and represent Australia is in the form of cricket and an Aboriginal team doing that. But it was a missed opportunity. Once people started seeing this was factual and the amount of activity that happened with Aboriginal Australia in these early days, and the influence that it had on our national game, people like Earl and others said ‘we need to be doing more about an embarrassing situation we’re in’.”Justin Langer addressed the Australian Indigenous Men’s and Women’s team at Lord’s when they met the men’s ODI squad•Getty ImagesSeeing past that embarrassment to deal with the sometimes ugly truth was a pivotal idea behind the decision to set-up a series of panel discussions under the banner of Cricket Connecting Country, in which Dan Christian spoke frankly of his experiences this week. At the same time, members of Australia’s men’s team are working through their own process of education and understanding, helped in some cases by on-on-one meetings with the New South Wales and Brisbane Heat paceman Josh Lalor to talk through the cricket experience of people of colour.Inside CA’s own organisation, its diversity and inclusion manager Adam Cassidy has done an enormous amount of work in helping to build towards greater connection, aided by CA’s Indigenous engagement specialist, Courtney Hagen. For Hagen, the end of the journey is one where any person of colour sees cricket as an enticing and welcoming place to be.”It would show that cricket stands for the rights of human beings and that doesn’t stop when it comes to people of colour in Australia,” she says. “It’s not in a tokenistic way, it’s a real journey, an authentic movement, and by creating this positive environment for conversations to be shared, I think as a prospective cricketer you’d have a lot more respect for the game.

Seeing some of the Australian one-day players seeing the Aboriginal teams’ shirts and saying ‘we should have some of those designs on our uniforms’, it was a really good moment

“You’re probably more likely wanting to engage more in the sport itself, because you know that in the environments you’re going to be in, you’re culturally safe and that you’re welcome. You won’t be put in situations where you’re going to suffer harassment or racism in the game, because we’ve moved so far forward, and that cricket as an organisation will look after you.”Mohamed’s best illustration of what he is aiming for is to ask people to think of something they value, and why. “There’s definitely no one thing that can make it happen, it’s a combination of things, but really the way I like to look at it is you’ve got to create a space where people can value something,” he says. “The only way you value something is you need to be knowledgeable about what that is. You do your research, or you’ve been brought up and told something, or you have a hands-on experience and put it into your life and it becomes something to value.”Once you value something then you want to look after it and you also want to show that to other people, you’re proud of it. We’ve seen enough stories of where people leave their chosen sport, not so much because they’ve lost their love of the game, they just haven’t felt welcome in the space. That’s the challenge for cricket from the junior to the elite level, and it is important that there are familiar things within that.”This is not to say that Mohamed, Cassidy and Hagen haven’t experienced moments of the connection they are striving for. One in particular stands out. “When we went over to England to do the 150th anniversary and follow the footsteps of that tour [in 2018], there was a moment at Lord’s where the Australian one-day side was there, Justin Langer was the coach and our women’s and men’s teams went to look at Lord’s. Justin wanted to bring the two teams together, which was a great thing for our players.”Justin made an effort to get the two teams together in the change rooms, and he got up and spoke and I felt it was a very special moment. Justin said these words, ‘not very often you get three national teams in the one room’. So, he classed our women’s and men’s Indigenous sides as equal to the Australian one-day team. I just think that was a really good moment to say here we are, we’ve all got the green and gold on, and we’re all representing the same country, and really showing the value of all that.”Seeing some of the Australian one-day players seeing the Aboriginal teams’ shirts and saying ‘we should have some of those designs on our uniforms’, it was a really good moment. That’s what we’re talking about, and that’s what cricket should be able to do.”Among the decisions made at the most recent CA Board meeting was to formally expand NATSICAC’s advisory role to the whole of the organisation, not just community cricket. In many ways, change is afoot.

Babar Azam-led Karachi Kings have dynamic batters in their side but Mohammad Amir’s recent form is patchy

Danyal Rasool and Umar Farooq27-Jan-2022 Quetta Gladiators Captain: Sarfaraz Ahmed
Coach: Moin KhanFull squad: Sarfaraz Ahmed (capt), Shimron Hetmyer, Will Smeed, James Faulkner, Mohammad Nawaz, Iftikhar Ahmed, Shahid Afridi, Mohammad Hasnain, Naseem Shah, Umar Akmal, Sohail Tanvir, Ben Duckett, Khurram Shahzad, Luke Wood, Abdul Bangalzai, Asher Qureshi, Ali Imran, Ahsan Ali, Dan Lawrence, Ghulam MudassarLast season: Finished bottom (eliminated after group stage)Gladiators appeared to have the firepower to challenge for the title last season, but a combination of poor fortune – they lost each of their first six tosses – and a star cast that underperformed doomed them well before the business end of the tournament. Dale Steyn, in particular, found himself off the pace, and in a number of tight games, the bowlers found the pressure getting to them as they looked to defend totals.Sarfaraz’s mounting frustration, often publicly directed at them, gave off the image of a disjointed, demoralised side, but a number of below-par showings as a team meant the other five franchises pulled away fairly quickly. While the other fellow Karachi strugglers Multan Sultans upped their game in Abu Dhabi, the Gladiators wilted further, with a 110-run thumping at Sultans’ hands in their penultimate game perhaps a fitting reflection of how the season had gone for them.What’s changed for the season? Plenty, and perhaps not enough at quite the same time. Azam Khan has been traded out for Iftikhar Ahmed, who’s in the form of his life, and might yet become the Gladiators’ X-factor. Umar Akmal returns to the PSL for the first time since he helped the Gladiators to the title in 2019. James Vince and Sohail Tanvir have moved to the franchise from the Sultans, while instead of Steyn, the overseas fast bowler this time is Englishman Luke Wood.But a side that reached three of the first four finals doesn’t quite appear to have made the wholesale changes required to correct their recent slump. Mohammad Hasnain and Naseem Shah are a touch too similar to truly balance out a bowling attack; the cloud hanging over Hasnain concerning his bowling action is concerning enough as it is.James Faulkner was successful in Abu Dhabi but his medium left arm might not carry the same potence in Pakistan. The absence of Jason Roy and Vince from the start could be an issue, with no obvious opening replacements of a similar calibre. Moin Khan and Sarfaraz Ahmed continue as coach and captain respectively, who have overseen both the rise and then the fall of this franchise. If they can orchestrate another successful season, it might be their most salient achievement yet.Player to watch Umar Akmal has at times become the subject of ridicule and outrage within Pakistan cricket, but when it comes to the PSL, few Pakistani batters match his consistency. He remains in the top 15 highest scorers in the competition’s history despite not playing the last two seasons; no players with fewer games has more runs than him. His 604 runs have come at a strike rate of 137.91; of the Pakistan batters with more PSL runs, only Asif Ali (164.29) and Sharjeel Khan (144.74) outpace his scoring rate. Suggesting Umar is the same player he was before this lengthy absence, or that he’s even as sharp, would be foolhardy, but he nevertheless remains an intriguing cricketer to keep an eye on over the next month.Key statSarfaraz is the only player to have captained his side in every PSL season. His record since being appointed Quetta Gladiators skipper at the inception of the league reads 32 wins, 29 losses.Babar Azam will lead Karachi Kings in PSL 2022•Pakistan Super LeagueKarachi Kings Captain: Babar AzamCoach: Peter MooresFull squad: Babar Azam (capt), Imad Wasim, Lewis Gregory, Mohammad Nabi, Mohammad Amir, Aamer Yamin, Sharjeel Khan, Joe Clarke, Umaid Asif, Ian Cockbain, Rohail Nazir, Mohammad Imran Junior, Mohammad Ilyas, Mohammad Talha, Talha Ahsan, Tom Lammonby, Shahibzada Farhan, Jordan Thompson, Chris Jordan, Faisal Akram, Qasim AkramLast season: FourthWon three out of their first five games, but stumbled midway, losing three successive games. They edged Lahore Qalandars on net run-rate to eventually qualify for the playoffs after beating Quetta Gladiators by 14 runs on the last day of the group stage. However, they were thrashed by Peshawar Zalmi in the Eliminator, where Hazratullah Zazai smashed a 38-ball 77. They had a strong squad last season, headlined by Babar Azam and Sharjeel Khan, but the bowling attack couldn’t make much of an impact. Mohammad Amir managed only five wickets in 11 matches while conceding 8.37 runs an over.What’s changed for this season?They lost Arshad Iqbal and Waqas Maqsood, but Chris Jordan’s return will boost the bowling attack that will also include Amir and Aamer Yamin. The major change is Babar taking over captaincy from Imad Wasim. Lewis Gregory will add all-round value to the side while fellow Englishman Ian Cockbain brings strong form from the BBL. Tom Lammonby, another uncapped English player, lends further firepower to the batting line-up. The 21-year-old has a strike rate of 152.02 in T20 cricket and can provide an extra bowling option with his left-arm medium pace.Player to watch Amir’s PSL form has plummeted after he lost his place in the national side and subsequently announced his international retirement. In the last two PSL seasons, he has picked up only 15 wickets in 22 matches at an average of 45.06 and economy rate of eight. He has been demoted from Platinum category to Diamond this season and the onus is now on him to remedy those numbers and step up.Key statJoe Clarke has scored 1490 runs in 51 T20s since 2020, at a strike rate of 167.04, the second-best among the 83 players with 1000-plus T20 runs during this period. Clarke is coming off a successful stint with Melbourne Stars in the BBL, where he struck four consecutive fifties. Clarke was also part of the first leg of PSL 2021, where he had scores of 46 and 54, both at a strike rate of 200.

Celtic will be in the market to add to their options in the wide department after Nicolas Kuhn officially completed a permanent transfer to Como for a reported fee of £16.5m.

The German forward racked up 13 goals and nine assists from the right flank in the Scottish Premiership last season, which shows the kind of quality that Brendan Rodgers has lost.

On top of that, Portuguese winger Jota may be out until January or February with a knee injury that was sustained against Dundee United back in May.

This means that the Hoops are short out wide, even with the addition of Benjamin Nygren this summer, which is why they are reportedly keen on adding another winger to their squad.

Celtic place star at the top of their wishlist

The Scottish Premiership champions are looking to dip into a rarely-utilised market, for them, as they plot to repeat the masterclass they played with Victor Wanyama by signing another star from the Belgian Pro League.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

According to the Daily Record, Royal Antwerp forward Michel-Ange Balikwisha is at the very top of their wishlist to replace Kuhn during the summer window.

The report adds that the Belgian winger is out of contract at the end of next season and that Antwerp sporting director Marc Overmars has opened the door to sales for players in that situation.

It has previously been claimed that the Hoops have been in talks with the Pro League side to discuss a deal for £5m-rated attacker, and this latest update now suggests that he is a priority target for the Scottish giants.

Why Balikwisha could be a Wanyama repeat

As per the Daily Record, Rami Gershon from Standard Liege in 2013 was the last player the club signed from the Pro League, whilst the last notable signing was the deal to bring Wanyama to Parkhead from Beerschot in 2011.

The Kenya international went on to score 13 goals in 91 appearances for Celtic in all competitions as a central midfielder, before Southampton signed him for a reported fee of £12.5m in the summer of 2013.

Balikwisha could be the first player to become a star at Parkhead after moving from the Pro League since Wanyama made that successful transition between 2011 and 2013, based on his form for Antwerp over the past two seasons.

The 24-year-old forward, who was described as a “creative” talent by analyst Will Glavin, racked up 14 goals and nine assists in 59 games in all competitions between the 2023/24 and 2024/25 campaigns combined.

Starts

27

12

xG

6.46

2.65

Goals

7

4

Big chances created

6

7

Key passes per game

1.5

1.6

Assists

5

3

As you can see in the table above, Balikwisha has delivered 11 goals and eight assists in his last 39 games in the Pro League, outperforming his xG as a finisher in both of those seasons.

These statistics show that he is an efficient finisher who could thrive in a dominant Celtic team, which has won the Premiership in each of the last four years, that creates plenty of chances for him from the wing.

His creative numbers, with at least 1.5 key passes per game, also show that he has the potential to create opportunities for his teammates on a regular basis on the flank, if the youngster can translate his form from Belgium over to Scotland, as Wanyama did over a decade ago.

It is fair to say that Celtic hit the jackpot when they signed Wanyama, who was a key player on the pitch and made the club a fortune, and Balikwisha appears to have the qualities to follow in his footsteps next season.

He's even better than Miller: Celtic circling to sign "tenacious" £9m star

Celtic are reportedly eyeing up a move for a star who is even better than Lennon Miller.

ByDan Emery Jul 14, 2025

Therefore, the Belgian whiz could be a shrewd addition from a market the club rarely looks to explore if they can wrap up a deal for him this summer.

Diogo Jota's family will be in attendance for Liverpool's clash with Bournemouth in their first competitive game following the Portuguese's death.

Jota and brother killed in car crashLiverpool face Bournemouth in PL openerFamily to attend Anfield gameFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Ever since Jota and his brother Andre Silva died in a car crash in early July, tributes have flooded in for the former Liverpool forward, with the club repeatedly honouring the 28-year-old. Now, according to Reds boss Arne Slot, Jota's wife, Rute Cardoso, their kids, and family will be at Anfield on Friday night for the Bournemouth game.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportWHAT SLOT SAID

In Slot's programme notes, he said: "As I have said previously, the tributes that have been paid throughout the world, and especially within the LFC community, have been truly special and I know that tonight (Friday) we will come together to honour them once more. I believe that Diogo's wife, his children, and his family will be in attendance, and it is important that, as a club, we show that they will always have our love and support as they deal with this most tragic of situations. We are there for them always."

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Jota's death has rocked Liverpool and much of the footballing world. For his family, this will have been an unutterably difficult time but the way in which the ex-Wolves man has been honoured may bring them some solace. It will be an emotionally charged game at Anfield as the Reds try to win this match for Jota.

Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT?

More tributes are likely to take place before and during the game for Jota, who had his No.20 shirt retired by the club earlier this summer, as defending Premier League champions Liverpool host Bournemouth at 8pm (BST) at Anfield.

Celtic appear to be closing in on an exciting addition to their attacking arsenal as they pursue a deal for FC Nordsjaelland winger Benjamin Nygren.

Sky Sports journalist Anthony Joseph recently claimed that the Hoops are close to agreeing a fee to sign the Sweden international from the Danish outfit.

For a fee of around £2m, the 23-year-old attacker could be a very cost-effective and shrewd signing for Brendan Rodgers ahead of the 2025/26 campaign.

Why £2m is a bargain fee for Benjamin Nygren

The Scottish giants appear set to land a bargain deal for the left-footed winger because his contract with Nordsjaelland is due to expire at the end of December.

This means that the Danish outfit have to cash in now, for a reduced fee, because they would otherwise risk losing him for nothing in the January transfer window at the start of next year.

It also looks to be a bargain because of the quality that he could provide at the top end of the pitch, after the flanker scored 15 goals in 30 league matches this season.

Market Movers

Football FanCast’s Market Movers series explores the changing landscape of the modern transfer market. How much is your club’s star player or biggest flop worth today?

The £2m fee also means that Nygren is set to be worth less than the majority of the Celtic squad, including centre-back Liam Scales, who the club have hit gold on.

Celtic have hit the jackpot on Liam Scales

The Hoops swooped to sign the Ireland international from Shamrock Rovers in the summer of 2021 for a reported fee of £500k, which has turned out to be a bargain fee for the defender.

Scales has scored six goals in 97 appearances for the Scottish giants in all competitions to date, and has been a regular starter at the back under Rodgers in the past two seasons.

The left-footed titan even made the PFA Team of the Year, alongside defensive partner Cameron Carter-Vickers, at the end of the 2023/24 campaign, thanks to his impressive showings in the Scottish Premiership.

Scales’ emergence as a regular starter, and excellent performer, for the Hoops in the last two seasons has caused his market value to soar way beyond the £500k they initially paid for him, and beyond the fee they are set to pay for Nygren.

Liam Scales’ soaring market value
Date	Market valuation
July 2021	£500k
December 2022	£600k
December 2023	£1.7m
May 2024	£2.1m
October 2024	£3m
December 2024	£3.4m
March 2025	£3m
June 2025	£3.4m
Valuations via Transfermarkt

As you can see in the table above, the 26-year-old defender’s value is now at a whopping £3.4m, which is significantly more than the £500k they invested in him four years ago.

It also means that Scales, who was dubbed “underrated” by Neil Lennon, is worth £1.4m more than a winger who scored 15 league goals this season, Nygren, which is still impressive in spite of the forward’s contractual situation.

His market value shows that Celtic hit the jackpot by snapping him up from Shamrock Rovers for a modest fee, as he has developed into a regular starter and a very valuable asset who could make the club a healthy profit in the future if they decide to cash in on him.

As exciting as Nygren: £7m star is now a target for Celtic this summer

Celtic are eyeing up another forward alongside the signing of Benjamin Nygren.

By
Dan Emery

Jun 17, 2025

Hopefully, Scales will continue to be a dependable figure at the back for the Scottish giants next season, which could lead to his value soaring even higher.