da leao： Com o apoio de sua torcida, o Vitória venceu o Figueirense, por 1 a 0, neste domingo (18). Os times se enfrentaram no Barradão, pela 5ª rodada do quadrangular da Série C do Brasileirão 2022. Tréllez marcou o gol solitário do confronto.
da aposte e ganhe： Aplicativo de resultados do LANCE! está disponível na versão iOS
Embalado pela torcida, o Vitória dominou o Figueirense durante todo o primeiro tempo. O time baiano pressionou e teve as melhores chances da primeira etapa. Honório, por exemplo, quase marcou, com uma bomba de fora da área. Aos 34, Rafinha, que havia retornado de lesão, fez bela jogada e mandou para Tréllez, que anotou o gol. Pelo Figueirense, Tito surpreendeu, mas parou no goleiro Dalton.
Na segunda etapa, o Vitória teve um grande baque. Mantendo o ritmo do primeiro tempo, o time baiano sofreu aos 15minutos. Em uma disputa pelo alto, Sanchez atingiu Natan Masiero com o cotovelo. O lateral levou vermelho direto e desfalcou os donos da casa. Depois disso, em vantagem, o Figueirense teve chances, mas nada marcou.
England Women have suffered a major injury setback at the start of their tour of the Caribbean, with Alice Capsey sustaining a broken collarbone after landing heavily in the field during the first ODI in Antigua on Sunday.Capsey, 18, had been promoted to open the batting for the first time, making 17 from 13 balls, but is set to fly home from the UK and is now a serious doubt for the rest of England’s winter engagements, including the T20 World Cup in South Africa in February.”Alice Capsey sustained an injury on the field during the first ODI against West Indies Women,” read an ECB statement. “Upon further examination, she has broken her left collar bone and will be unavailable for the remainder of the tour. Capsey will now return home to the UK.”The injury occurred as Capsey dived at fine leg to intercept a top-edged hook during England’s 142-run win the first ODI. She was in obvious pain as she remained on the ground for several minutes to receive treatment, but was eventually able to walk from the field before being taken to hospital for further treatment.It’s a major setback both for Capsey personally, but also for England, who had hoped to bed her into her new top-order role, alongside Sophia Dunkley, as part of a new more attacking outlook under the incoming head coach Jon Lewis.Capsey was awarded her first ECB central contract in November, and had just returned from her maiden stint with Melbourne Stars in the Women’s Big Bash.Nat Sciver, the senior allrounder who made her comeback from a three-month mental health break to be named Player of the Match for her decisive innings of 90 off 96 balls, said she and the team were “gutted” for Capsey.”When anyone goes down on the pitch you’re not really sure what’s happened and it’s a weird thing to stand as a group on the pitch and feel sorry for your team-mate, feel sorry for your friend,” Sciver said.”We found out this morning that she’s going home, so just really, really gutted for her. She’ll be back, she’ll be back firing, I’m sure.”It’s a broken collarbone and I don’t know how long that means the recovery time is. She’ll be as gutted as anyone really to be missing out on this trip and I don’t know what that means for the new year.”
da betano casino： A vitória por 1 a 0 sobre o Avaí, na noite desta segunda-feira, pela 23ª rodada do Campeonato Brasileiro, foi de extrema importância ao Internacional para entrar de vez na briga por uma vaga no G4.
RelacionadasFora de CampoAtacante do Sport finge ser torcedor e faz brincadeira inusitada com motoristaFora de Campo22/08/2022BrasileirãoNo apagar das luzes, Inter vence o Avaí e cola no G4 do BrasileirãoBrasileirão22/08/2022InternacionalApós ofensa ao quarto árbitro, Mano Menezes é expulso de campo; confiraInternacional22/08/2022
da bwin： Diante do feito, Pedro Henrique, ao final da partida, fez uma revelação. O atacante, por sua vez, contou que pediu a Edenilson, cobrador oficial do Colorado, para cobrar o pênalti destacando sua confiança no momento do lance.
“Futebol é questão da confiança. Uma temporada atípica para mim, na última temporada na temporada fiz cinco gols de pênalti. Cheguei aqui e esperei a oportunidade. Temos um grande batedor que é o Edenilson. Hoje pedi a ele para bater porque senti que poderia sair com a vitória. Esta torcida merece, compareceu. É para eles e minha família. Estamos juntos em todos os momentos, independente se é bom e ruim”, disse o jogador de 32 anos ao ‘SporTV’.
Aproveitando a deixa, o atleta ainda complementou fazendo uma análise do confronto diante os catarinenses.
“Um jogo de muito contato físico. O Avaí nos impôs muita dificuldade até pela situação que vive. Soubemos acalmar os ânimos, temos qualidade para isso e conseguimos esta vitória importante”.
Calendário
O Inter voltará a campo apenas na próxima segunda-feira (29), diante do Juventude, às 20h (de Brasília), no estádio Beira-Rio.
عزز منتخب إسبانيا أهدافه أمام البرتغال، بهدف ثانٍ خلال مباراة الفريقين، بمنافسات بطولة دوري الأمم الأوروبية.
ويلاقي منتخب إسبانيا نظيره البرتغال، في نهائي دوري الأمم الأوروبية، على ملعب “آليانز آرينا” بمدينة ميونخ الألمانية.
وجاء هدف إسبانيا الثاني في الدقيقة 45 قبل نهاية شوط المباراة الأول، عن طريق ميكيل أويارزابال.
الهدف جاء عقب هجمة مرتدة بعدما قُطعت الكرة من برناردو سيلفا، لتصل تجاه بيدري، الذي مررها بدوره إلى أويارزابال داخل المنطقة، ليسددها في الشباك وسط أخطاء دفاعية متكررة من البرتغال.
وأكدت تقنية الفيديو صحة هدف إسبانيا الثاني، بعد وجود شك بشأن تسلل على برناردو سيلفا.
كانت إسبانيا تقدمت بهدف لمارتن زوبيميندي في الدقيقة 21، وتعادلت البرتغال بهدف لنونو مينديز. هدف إسبانيا الأول أمام البرتغال في نهائي دوري الأمم الأوروبية
أويارزابال يترجم أفضلية إسبانيا بهدف التقدم في اللحظات الأخيرة من الشوط الأول#دوري_الأمم_الأوروبية #اسبانيا_البرتغال pic.twitter.com/4NOjPu8U6T — beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) June 8, 2025
Stats highlights from an unusual Ashes series in which the winning team didn’t necessarily have the better stats
S Rajesh25-Aug-2015In every way, this was a bizarre series. Out of a possible 25 days of cricket, there were only 18, making this the joint-shortest five-Test series, along with the England-West Indies series of 2000; there were only 7920 balls bowled in the entire series, the third-lowest in a five-Test series with results in all five matches; for the first time in a five-Test series, no match went into the fifth day.It wasn’t the most compelling Ashes series of recent times, though. The team which took the early initiative in each Test invariably dominated the rest of the game and won by a huge margin. The only fightback was on the opening day of the series, when Australia had reduced England to 43 for 3 and then dropped Joe Root, who led a magnificent recovery and allowed England to finish the day on 343 for 7. Through the rest of the series, neither team was able to recover from early setbacks.Even so, the matches were largely action-packed – wickets fell in a hurry, and yet both teams continued to score at a frenetic run rate: England’s series run rate was 3.74, and Australia’s 3.72. The overall series run rate of 3.73 is the third-highest in Ashes history, next only to those in 2001 and 2005. A wicket fell every 49 balls, and the average score in a full day’s play (90 overs) was 336 runs for the loss of 11 wickets.Australia lost their fourth successive Ashes campaign in England, but in two of those series – in 2009 and 2015 – they ended with a higher batting average than England. The 2015 averages were obviously influenced by the dead-rubber last Test, when Australia scored 481 for 10 wickets compared to England’s 435 for 20; after four Tests of the series, England averaged 31.63 runs per wicket to Australia’s 29.77. In 2009 Australia averaged 40.64 to England’s 34.15, despite losing the series 2-1, while in 2013 England had an advantage of only three runs despite winning by a 3-0 margin.
The last four Ashes series in England
YearTeamRuns scoredWkts takenBat aveResult2015England23658029.193-2Australia25658132.062-32013England28568933.603-0Australia27358530.730-32009England28697134.152-1Australia28868440.641-22005England29628931.842-1Australia28109331.571-2England’s middle-order mightEngland’s average score at the fall of the second wicket was 43; Australia’s was 131. The opening partnership was one of the success stories for Australia, while Adam Lyth’s lack of runs – he had one of the poorest series for an Ashes opener – meant England always lost at least one early wicket. Rogers and Warner, on the other hand, put together 514 runs, one of only 12 instances when an opening pair has added more than 500 runs in an Ashes series.Australia’s problem, and England big advantage, was their middle and lower middle order. For wickets three to seven, England, on average, added 184; Australia managed just 115. That turned out to be the key difference between the two teams. Root got enough assistance from England’s middle and lower order to stitch together useful partnerships almost every time – Moeen Ali made useful runs down the order, while Ian Bell and Ben Stokes made a couple of vital contributions (though Bell’s overall series numbers were very ordinary). For Australia, middle-order wickets consistently fell in a heap. England’s No. 4 to No. 8 batsmen scored 1228 runs at 30.70, with two hundreds and eight fifties, while Australia managed just 737 runs at 18.89, with four half-centuries and no hundreds. Australia had more players who topped 400 runs in the series – three to England’s one – and more batsmen who averaged 40-plus, yet in the final analysis that didn’t count for much. (Click here for England’s player-wise batting and bowling averages in the series, and here for Australia’s.)
Partnerships for each wicket
EnglandAustraliaWktInngsP’ship runsAve stand100/50p’shipInngsP’ship runsAve stand100/50p’ship1st914716.330/ 01056562.773/ 32nd923726.330/ 1961468.221/ 33rd931439.250/ 4918122.620/ 14th848560.622/ 1826933.621/ 05th831739.621/ 1814317.870/ 16th819824.750/ 1822828.500/ 27th816220.250/ 289812.250/ 08th822327.870/ 2833141.370/ 39th823529.370/ 27689.710/ 010th8476.710/ 07689.710/ 0The bowling comparisonComing into the series, Australia claimed they had the best fast-bowling attack in the world, but in this series there’s no doubt that they were second-best to England. Until Peter Siddle came into the line-up at The Oval, Australia’s pace attack consistently leaked runs at an uncomfortable rate – the combined economy rate of the two Mitchells, Starc and Johnson, and Josh Hazlewood, was 3.76 runs per over, compared to 3.24 for England’s five fast bowlers – Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Steven Finn, Mark Wood and Stokes. Both Starc and Johnson averaged more than 30, which, in the context of a low-scoring series, wasn’t quite good enough, especially when Broad’s 21 wickets came at just 20.90 each.Nathan Lyon was clearly the more skilled of the two specialist spinners on view in the series, but Moeen Ali made some vital contributions with the ball, dismissing Warner four times and Smith twice.
Pace and spin for each team
PaceSpinTeamWicketsAverageSRWicketsAverageSREngland6427.2349.91642.5657.4Australia6327.7446.61729.1151.2The head-to-head battlesFive-Test series allow a lot more time for batsman-bowler rivalries to develop, and there were a few interesting ones in this series as well. Root was the only batsman from either side who scored more than 100 runs against three opposition bowlers – Starc got him out three times, but against Johnson and Hazlewood he averaged more than 50, and those battles went a long way in defining the series. Cook was very good against Johnson and Hazlewood, but not quite as successful against Starc and Lyon. Moeen clearly preferred the spin of Lyon to the pace of Johnson – he may have lost the battle of offspinners, but won his personal duel against Lyon. Lyth, meanwhile, struggled against most of the bowlers he faced in the series – he was dismissed three times each by Starc and Hazlewood, and against Siddle in the last Test, Lyth faced 20 balls, didn’t score a run, and was dismissed twice.
England batsmen v Australian bowlers
Batsman Bowler Runs Balls Runs/over Dismissals AverageJoe Root Mitchell Johnson 115 168 4.10 2 57.50Joe Root Josh Hazlewood 104 146 4.27 2 52.00Joe Root Mitchell Starc 102 155 3.94 3 34.00Moeen Ali Nathan Lyon 89 120 4.45 0 – Alastair Cook Mitchell Johnson 83 143 3.48 1 83.00Joe Root Nathan Lyon 83 111 4.48 0 -Alastair Cook Mitchell Starc 75 137 3.28 3 25.00Alastair Cook Josh Hazlewood 68 159 2.56 0 -Moeen Ali Mitchell Johnson 63 90 4.20 4 15.75Alastair Cook Nathan Lyon 59 186 1.90 3 19.66Adam Lyth Mitchell Starc 44 94 2.80 3 14.66Adam Lyth Josh Hazlewood 28 63 2.66 3 9.33Jos Buttler Nathan Lyon 18 41 2.63 4 4.50Among the Australian batsmen, Rogers scored 100-plus runs against Anderson and Broad, but while Broad dismissed him five times, Anderson couldn’t get him out even once. On the other hand, Anderson had plenty of success against Rogers’ opening partner, Warner, but Broad failed to dismiss him all series. Broad, though, was generally superb against Australia’s top order, dismissing Smith three times and Clarke twice. In fact, Clarke fell twice each to Broad, Wood and Finn, suggesting that Broad wasn’t his only nemesis. In fact, he faced only 12 balls from Anderson in the entire series, indicating how insignificant his batting was through the summer.
Australian batsmen v England bowlers
Batsman Bowler Runs Balls Runs/over Dismissals AverageChris Rogers Stuart Broad 113 216 3.13 5 22.60Chris Rogers James Anderson 109 181 3.61 0 -Steven Smith Stuart Broad 77 122 3.78 3 25.66David Warner Moeen Ali 69 77 5.37 4 17.25David Warner Stuart Broad 66 134 2.95 0 – Steven Smith James Anderson 63 112 3.37 0 -Steven Smith Steven Finn 42 69 3.65 3 14.00David Warner James Anderson 32 72 2.66 3 10.66Michael Clarke Stuart Broad 29 57 3.05 2 14.50Michael Clarke Mark Wood 29 55 3.16 2 14.50Michael Clarke Steven Finn 4 33 0.72 2 2.00
Tottenham Hotspur have a “really exciting” teenager who could be about to replace long-serving defender Ben Davies, with the former Swansea City star potentially playing out his final season in north London.
Ben Davies nearing Spurs exit after 11-year stay
Next summer will mark 11 years at Spurs for Davies, following his move to N17 from Swansea in 2014.
Tottenham have "made a bid" to sign attacking gem who's "flying" right now
He’s a very wanted man.
By
Emilio Galantini
Oct 16, 2024
Since making the switch to London from Wales, the versatile defender has made an impressive 333 appearances in all competitions for Tottenham, playing in some huge games for the club and showcasing real reliability.
However, the 31-year-old is now reaching the twilight phase of his career and has barely been called upon by Ange Postecoglou so far this season. Davies captained Spurs to a dramatic 2-1 win over Coventry City in the EFL Cup, whilst also starting both of their Europa League games, but he hasn’t played a single minute of Premier League football.
Tottenham’s next five Premier League games
Date
Tottenham vs West Ham
October 19
Crystal Palace vs Tottenham
October 27
Tottenham vs Aston Villa
November 3
Tottenham vs Ipswich Town
November 10
Man City vs Tottenham
November 23
Davies didn’t even make the matchday squad for Spurs’ most recent top-flight clashes against Brentford, Man United and Brighton, with the centre-back/left-back reduced to being a bit-part cup player.
It is believed that Davies earns more than both Destiny Udogie and Micky van de Ven at Tottenham, despite the latter pair’s status as mainstays in Postecoglou’s starting eleven, so chairman Daniel Levy and technical director Johan Lange may well opt to let go of him when his contract runs out in 2025.
Ben Davies among Tottenham teammates
Luckily, Postecoglou appears to have a ready-made replacement for the veteran in summer signing Archie Gray. The 18-year-old can play in a variety of positions, including at full-back, so Gray may well stand out as a very good option to take Postecoglou’s side forward in the coming seasons.
Gray is widely regarded as one of England’s most promising up-and-coming talents, with Spurs utilising his quality on a number of occasions already following his stellar campaign at Leeds United in the Championship last season.
Tottenham tipped to replace Ben Davies with Archie Gray
Speaking to Tottenham News this week, pundit John Wenham has tipped Spurs to replace Davies with Gray. The former could be about to pass the torch down to Levy’s summer signing, with Wenham also branding the teenager “really exciting”.
“Gray is doing really well,” Wenham said.
“I think, at a minimum, he is going to become the next Davies in the squad, in terms of his reliability in multiple positions. Davies is out of contract this summer and I can see Gray taking his role in the squad. Him being so young and counting as homegrown too, that is really exciting.”
Leeds were heartbroken to lose their Thorp Arch academy graduate in the summer, highlighting just how highly rated he is by those working in the beautiful game.
“Understanding the attraction of Premier League and European football, the club, with a heavy heart, agreed the transfer, but the move has strengthened the board’s resolve to ultimately return Leeds to a position where it can meet the footballing ambitions of even its brightest stars,” wrote Leeds in a candid statement (via Ben Jacobs).
“Whilst we understand that supporters will be hugely disappointed to lose such a home-grown talent, and a family name so synonymous with Leeds United, the move improves the club’s chance to compete for automatic promotion next season by increasing our ability to build a competitive squad within the league’s financial control regulations. Everyone at Leeds United is heartbroken to see one of our own depart and would like to thank Archie for all his efforts and professionalism.”
The Pigeons celebrate their 10th anniversary with a home jersey that pays homage to the iconic New York City skyline.
Kit features reflective design mimicking glass and steel
Commemorative patch marks club’s 10th anniversary
Set to debut in March 2025 home opener at Yankee Stadium.
Shop kits at the MLS Store nowBuy here
WHAT HAPPENED
New York City FC has revealed their new home kit for the 2025 season, dubbed the “Excelsior Kit,” which draws inspiration from the reflective nature of New York City’s iconic skyline. The kit, which will be worn for the 2025 and 2026 seasons, features a design that aims to capture the essence of the city’s towering architecture.
“Reaching our 10th anniversary is a major milestone for everyone involved with New York City FC — our players, staff, and, most importantly, our fans,” said NYCFC CEO Brad Sims.
“The new home kit celebrates our journey and reaffirms our commitment to progress. In just 10 years, we’ve grown from an expansion club to champions, invested in youth development, and expanded soccer’s reach across the five boroughs. The Excelsior Kit embodies our past and future as we build the future of soccer in NYC and strive to make it one of the next soccer capitals of the world,”
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WHAT THE CAMERA SPOTTED
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Created by Adidas, New York City FC’s new home kit’s base color remains the signature light blue, a hallmark of the club’s brand since its inception. The kit features a subtle pattern of lighter and darker blue shading, creating an abstract visual effect reminiscent of sunlight reflecting off the glass and steel of Manhattan's skyscrapers. The club crest is proudly displayed on the left chest while the shirt sponsor, Etihad Airways, takes center stage across the chest. On the back of the jersey, just below the collar, a small New York City flag.
WHAT LIES AHEAD FOR NEW YORK CITY FC?
NYCFC kicked off their pre-season schedule towards the end of January and are unbeaten in their four games played so far. The club has two more friendlies left on its schedule before kicking off its 2025 MLS season against Inter Miami on Feb. 22.
da casino： Aston Villa have made some superb signings under Unai Emery since the Spaniard took charge of the club back in October 2022. He has overseen four transfer windows as Villans boss so far, spending a few hundred million to strengthen the squad.
da betway： That has certainly paid off, with the Midlands club now competing for the top four and in the Champions League.
The most expensive player the former Arsenal boss has signed during his tenure at Villa Park was Amadou Onana. The Belgian midfielder cost £50m from Premier League rivals Everton. The Villans have also signed Jhon Duran from Chicago Fire and Pau Torres from Villarreal.
Aston Villa striker Jhon Duran
Arguably Emery’s best signing as Villa manager, however, is Morgan Rogers.
Rogers’ stats for Villa
Since making the move to Villa Park in January 2024, versatile attacker Rogers has been a revelation for the club. He left Championship side Middlesbrough to join Villa, in a deal worth an initial £8m, but with the potential to rise to £16m with add-ons.
It has been an exceptional start to life in the Midlands for the Manchester City academy graduate. Rogers has quickly become a key player under Emery and is now a regular starter in both the Premier League and the Champions League.
So far for the Villans, he has played 30 times and already has six goals and four assists to his name. This term in the Premier League, the 22-year-old has been in impressive form, with five goal involvements so far.
Rogers stats per competition for Villa
Competition
Games
Minutes
Goals
Assists
Premier League (2023/24)
11
641
3
1
Europa Conference League (2023/24)
5
339
0
0
Premier League (2024/25)
10
813
3
2
Champions League (2024/25)
4
334
0
1
Stats from Transfermarkt
There have certainly been plenty of high-profile people who have taken notice of the electric attacker. One of those is former Liverpool defender turned pundit Jamie Carragher. Earlier in the season, he described the Villa number 27 as a “machine”, explaining that he looks “unstoppable” when he dribbles.
Rogers is hitting new heights each week and continues to excel in that famous Claret and Blue shirt. His value has risen to £18.2m as per Transfermarkt, exceeding the price he cost the Midlands club.
With that being said, there is a former Villans loanee who is also having an impressive season and is now worth even more than their star man.
The former Villa star worth more than Rogers
One of the biggest cult heroes at Villa Park in recent years was Tammy Abraham. He was a pivotal figure in their promotion success back in 2018/19 when he spent a year on loan at the club from Chelsea.
tammy-abraham-aston-villa-transfer
That season was simply phenomenal for the Cobham graduate. He scored 25 goals in 37 Championship games, and a further strike in the play-offs as the Villans won promotion by beating Derby County at Wembley.
Four of those finishes came in a hectic 5-5 draw at home to Nottingham Forest.
Since his loan at Villa Park expired, the striker has gone on to play for some big European clubs. Of course, he returned to Chelsea where he played for a few seasons, before moving to Italy. Abraham joined Roma from his boyhood club, and impressed despite missing a season with a bad injury.
For the duration of the 2024/25 campaign, the 27-year-old is on loan at Milan. He has scored once and has two assists to his name in seven Serie A appearances, although has played just 355 minutes. That is the equivalent of 3.9 full 90 minute games. With three goal involvements in just over three full games, his numbers are stacking up well.
With that in mind, the striker, who was described as an “outstanding” player by football statistician Statman Dave, is now valued higher than Rogers.
According to Transfermarkt, Abraham is worth £20.7m, although that has dropped given he missed a season with injury.
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?
Looking back on it, Villa fans surely wish they had tried to keep the deadly marksman, who has shown impressive form and is now playing for one of Europe’s biggest clubs.
They can only dream of how many goals he would’ve scored for the club if he had stayed at Villa Park longer.
Aston Villa once had one of England's best teens, then Gerrard sold him
Aston Villa may regret one transfer during Steven Gerrard’s reign
da bwin： Com cerca de 55 mil torcedores no Maracanã, o Flamengo venceu o Fluminense por 2 a 1, no último domingo, pela oitava rodada do Campeonato Brasileiro. Andreas Pereira e Gabigol marcaram os gols da vitória rubro-negra. Assista aos bastidores no vídeo acima.
> Veja a tabela do Brasileirão
O Rubro-Negro chegou a 12 pontos e ao oitavo lugar do Brasileirão. A próxima partida será diante do Fortaleza, novamente no Maracanã, às 16h deste domingo, pela nona rodada da competição.
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Compared to the serene circumstances that Essex had enjoyed for most of the opening day at Chelmsford, Matt Critchley’s maiden innings for the club had begun amid a healthy degree of jeopardy. From 220 for 0 with one century banked and another on the way, his appearance at 262 for 4 with 13 balls of the first day remaining was a sub-optimal situation, to say the least.And yet, all things are relative when you’ve spent the past few seasons as a perpetual middle-order firefighter in a rather less vaunted county line-up. Never mind a 200-run platform from your openers – on the opening day in 2019, Critchley had watched his Derbyshire top-order slump to 0 for 2, even before the season had officially started. And then, as if to prove that that opening gambit had been no fluke, they reprised that exact scoreline at Edgbaston last summer – a year ago to the day in fact – then even went one notch worse with a third duck inside the first half an hour.And yet, on each occasion, Critchley had been instrumental in battling back from that initial adversity – with vital runs and wickets in an unlikely 125-run win on the former occasion, and then with twin innings of 64 and 83 to grind out a draw. Such were the circumstances that made his 1000-run haul last summer all the more impressive, and why – during a mightily impressive century on Essex debut – he looked like a man thoroughly at ease with the expectations of his new surroundings.”It wasn’t even 11 o’clock yet!” Critchley recalled of that 2019 scramble for pads. “It was definitely a lot more chilled this time. Chef [Alastair Cook] is the best in the business, and Browny [Nick Browne] is up there among English openers. Westley, Lawrence … it’s a pretty good line-up to come behind. Hopefully I can wait up there with a coffee for a long time to come.”The second morning dawned brighter and less breezy than the first, and briefly it seemed the pitch had woken up in a more playful mood too. After an all-run four to get his juices pumping first-ball, Tom Westley lasted just six overs before Jackson Bird lured him outside his eyeline with some extra zip off the deck, and suddenly, with that slump now extended to 5 for 68 in 20.2 overs, Essex were in some danger of squandering their first-day efforts.Related
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Shan Masood misses Lord's ton but provides solid foundation for Derbyshire
Ben Foakes' unobtrusive hundred forces England to take note
No bad moment then, for the club’s two new boys to come together in circumstances that might have been designed to test their worthiness to join such a trophy-harvesting outfit.Quite why Adam Rossington is here at all remains an issue laced with innuendo, following Northamptonshire’s last-ditch decision to strip him of the captaincy and his even more 11th-hour loan move south-east – a situation described as “disappointing” in a notably peevish press release from his old club.There certainly hadn’t been much about his most recent visit to Chelmsford to encourage the belief that Rossington would fit in at Essex – in last summer’s final match of the season, his Northants side managed to lose by an innings within half an hour of the second morning, with his own dismissal at 30 for 7 confirming the speed of their surrender.But from the outset of this innings, Rossington rippled with pugnacity as he brought up Essex’s 300 with a punch through the covers off Bird, before dismissing Nathan Gilchrist with a firm flick through long-on, his bottom hand whipping through the stroke in a manner not unlike his Northants forebear, Allan Lamb.Matt Quinn was then dispatched through the covers for another boundary before the pièce de Rossington’s résistance – back-to-back straight drives, the first with the top hand guiding the stroke to its target with a “yes sir” flourish, à la Jack Nicklaus at Augusta in ’86.The partnership had reached 65, and the total was past 350, before the spell was broken by that man Darren Stevens, rumbling in for his 18th over, and opening his account for the season in typically sleight-of-hand fashion, as Rossington, on 41, played down the line of what he thought to be off stump, only to lose that same pole with some devious late jag.Critchley, by this stage, had 34 unfussily compiled runs to his name from 79 balls – his tall and steady stance backed up by an uncomplicated technique that, crucially, grants him that extra split-second for decision-making. And as Adam Wheater came out to join him, Critchley’s decision was to accelerate smoothly into the afternoon session, with the final 98 runs of his knock coming from precisely 100 balls.His uptick in tempo began with a rare blemish, a nick past the slips for four off Gilchrist, but thereafter every stroke that he played was delivered on his own terms. Bird over-pitched, and was crashed down the ground; Stevens offered width, and was biffed on the up through the covers. Critchley’s fifty came up with a firm pull, hoisted in front of square, and thereafter he embarked on a series of cute dinks through third man, as Matt Milnes and Quinn were picked off with soft hands.Wheater was for the most part content to play the holding role, though he too caught the mood with a brace of slaps through the covers as Quinn offered him too much width. But on 37, a change of angle did the trick, as Quinn this time used that width to his advantage, pushing the ball across Wheater’s bows to lure an inside-edged hack into his stumps, and end a seventh-wicket stand of 94.Matt Critchley clips into the leg side during his hundred•Getty Images
Critchley, by now, was in no mood to stand on ceremony. On 92, he marched to his hundred with two sublime drives in three balls, twice striding to the pitch to thump Quinn through long-off, before peeling off his helmet and saluting all four corners of another amply filled ground.And as Essex’s total stretched towards 500 and a tea-time declaration drew nigh, he turned up the tempo a further notch, clouting Tawanda Muyeye’s offspin inside-out over long-off for six before depositing a Gilchrist short ball over midwicket. With partners running out, Critchley was last man out for 132 – five short of a career-best, but with his horizons surely feeling broader now than at any previous stage of his burgeoning career.”The way the team is set up, it’s nice to go out like that and play our natural game, backed to play how we want to play,” Critchley said. “I played a lot against Ross [Adam Rossington] over in the East Midlands so nice to be out there with him. But there’s hundreds all the way down, with Wheats at 7. We’re capable of putting big scores on like this or post challenging scores on wickets that do a bit more.”Kent’s tough time in the field could have longer-term ramifications too, with Joe Denly pulling up sharply with a suspected hamstring strain while chasing down a drive. Jack Leaning is also hamstrung, and with Zak Crawley and Sam Billings absent for differing reasons, Kent were already down to the bare bones of their batting strength before Daniel Bell-Drummond fell lbw to Sam Cook for 11.But out of adversity came a counterpunching stand of no little skill and intent. Ben Compton, another man making his first appearance for a new club, took early lumps out of Jamie Porter in particular, picking off five of his seven fours in Porter’s first three overs before throttling back as the shadows lengthened. At the other end, Muyeye took the opposite approach with a flamboyant finish to his own day’s work. His unbeaten 43 included a brace of no-ball boundaries off a pumped up Mark Steketee, whose eight overs were expensive but hostile, and included a blow to Compton’s shoulder as he ducked into another short ball. Compton, however, knuckled down, and will resume the third day three runs shy of his own half-century.