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Phil Parkinson has explained why he did not join Wrexham’s promotion-winning party in Las Vegas that was paid for by Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney.

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Dragons promoted into the Football LeagueRewarded with a trip to the United StatesCoaches headed off to Portugal insteadWHAT HAPPENED?

After seeing the Dragons bring their 15-year exile from the Football League to a close, the club’s Hollywood co-owners funded an all-expenses-paid trip to Nevada for the players that made a record-setting return to the League Two ranks possible.

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The likes of Paul Mullin, Ollie Palmer and Ben Foster made the most of a visit to Sin City as they took in relaxing pool parties and visits to famous nightclubs, but Parkinson and his coaching team made a point of steering well clear of those shenanigans.

WHAT THEY SAID

Parkinson has told of why he avoided the Vegas excursion and where his backroom team headed instead: "I didn't make the Vegas trip. It was by choice. It was by choice only. I thought just let the players go and enjoy it, and all the staff. The owners very kindly paid for the staff to go to Portugal, so we left the players to it."

When asked if he opted out as he did not want to “cramp the players’ style”, Parkinson added: "Exactly. Exactly. I would have done."

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Getty ImagesWHAT HAPPENS NEXT?

Parkinson has continued to work with Reynolds and McElhenney in building a squad that Wrexham believe is capable of securing back-to-back promotions, with the Welsh outfit currently sat fifth in the fourth tier table after taking in 13 eventful league games during the 2023-24 campaign.

USMNT captain Tyler Adams has announced that he and his partner, Sarah Schmidt, are having their first child together – a baby boy!

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Adams announces he and partner having a baby boyUSMNT midfielder currently sidelined with injuryPotential return to pitch in FebruaryWHAT HAPPENED?

"Baby boy coming in January, beyond grateful👶🏼🩵," Adams posted on Instagram, with USMNT teammates and players from around the world flooding the comment section following the brilliant news. One user even pointed out that 18 years on from his child's birth, the U.S. could find themselves playing in the 2042 FIFA World Cup, with a prodigy in the making potentially forming part of that line up.

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The USMNT midfielder made a big summer move from relegated Leeds United to Bournemouth, but only managed one appearance for the Cherries before returning to the injury table. Last spring, Adams suffered a season-ending injury for the now-Championship side, and returned in September before finding himself sidelined once again. He seemingly cannot catch a break, but the hope is that this latest surgery has permanently fixed the issue that has been bothering him.

DID YOU KNOW

Adams nearly made a move to Premier League giants Chelsea over the summer, even undergoing a medical with the Blues, before talks collapsed. He then agreed a deal with Bournemouth instead.

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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR TYLER ADAMS

The USMNT midfielder is going to be out for at least three more months, with Cherries boss Andoni Iraola saying that he won't take to the pitch until at least February. Until then, he'll be getting ready to welcome his new arrival.

Barcelona boss Xavi made a bizarre claim that his side would be top of the league if 'big data' was to be believed.

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Barcelona steal late winBeat Celta Vigo 2-1 with stoppage-time penaltyBarca sit seven points off MadridGetty ImagesWHAT HAPPENED?

Xavi spoke after the game and was critical of his side's wasted chances as they stole a narrow 2-1 victory over strugglers Celta Vigo. A resurgent Robert Lewandowski scored a brace, including a 97th minute penalty, to secure the three points. However, perhaps a little frustrated the Polish striker hasn't been able to be at his best all this season, Xavi bemoaned the number of opportunities to score they pass up.

AdvertisementWHAT XAVI SAID

Speaking after their victory, Xavi said: "We dominated. But we struggled to create in the final third. [Celta] worked so hard defensively. It's an agonising triumph, but it's welcome.

"They passed me a stat saying that, according to Big Data, we would be leaders [going] by chances created."

Getty ImagesDID YOU KNOW?

Xavi's side have a number of players capable of producing special moments out of nothing. No more so than Ilkay Gundogan who has created 67 chances for his team-mates this season, second only to Real Betis' Isco (68). Maybe the Spanish boss has a point.

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WHAT NEXT FOR XAVI AND BARCELONA?

Xavi has made the decision to leave Barcelona at the end of the season so will be dreaming of ending his spell in charge on a positive note. They sit seven points off league leaders Madrid, who have a game in hand, and begin their Champions League knockout stage run on Wednesday against Napoli.

Adam Voges and Marcus North helped Western Australia chase down 256 to stay in contention for the Sheffield Shield final as they secured a four-wicket win over Tasmania in Perth

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Feb-2014
ScorecardMarcus North continued his outstanding summer with 79•Getty ImagesAdam Voges and Marcus North helped Western Australia chase down 256 to stay in contention for the Sheffield Shield final as they secured a four-wicket win over Tasmania in Perth. The Warriors began the final day on 2 for 27 and the early loss of Marcus Harris for 18 gave the Tigers hope that they might be able to skittle the home side.However, North and Voges then put together a 135-run partnership that brought victory within sight for Western Australia, although both men fell after reaching the 70s. North was caught off the bowling of Sam Rainbird for 79 and Voges was caught by Rainbird off Xavier Doherty’s spin for 75, leaving 53 runs still required.But contributions from Mitchell Marsh (18), Ashton Turner (13 not out) and Sam Whiteman, who made 29 not out, got Western Australia home. The win means with three rounds still to play, Western Australia sit in third position on the Shield table, four points behind both New South Wales and South Australia.

On a frustrating evening with four rain stoppages, sensational death bowling and a cameo from Naman Ojha set up an eight-wicket win (Duckworth-Lewis method) for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Delhi Daredevils at the Feroz Shah Kotla

The Report by Rachna Shetty10-May-20144:02

Insecurity weighing Delhi down

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsOn a frustrating evening with four rain stoppages, sensational death bowling and a cameo from Naman Ojha set up an eight-wicket win (Duckworth-Lewis method) for Sunrisers Hyderabad against Delhi Daredevils at the Feroz Shah Kotla. This was the fourth consecutive loss for Daredevils on their home ground in this IPL.Sunrisers gave away just 22 in the last five overs, restricting Daredevils to 143 for 7, before their own chase was shortened first to 117 off 15 overs, then 97 of 12 overs and finally 43 off five.Daredevils nearly clawed back into the game, as Rahul Shukla dismissed Aaron Finch with Sunrisers still needing 18 off 10 but Naman Ojha and David Warner ensured there were no further hiccups. Warner put away a full toss and Ojha followed it up with a slog over deep midwicket that brought the equation to six off the last over. Ojha’s six off Laxmi Shukla took Sunrisers home with four balls to spare.Daredevils in many ways ended up paying the price for steadfastly pigeon-holing two of their best batsmen this season as finishers. They were a comfortable 87 for 2 in the ninth over when Mayank Agarwal was dismissed but Daredevils held Duminy back and sent Laxmi Shukla in at No. 5. The allrounder added 55 runs with Dinesh Karthik but the innings struggled for impetus, specially after the first, hour-long rain break. Both Karthik and Shukla fell in the 17th over, leaving Duminy and Kedar Jadhav 18 balls between them to give Daredevils some sort of a finish. Unsurprisingly, they floundered against intelligent bowling from Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Irfan Pathan and Dale Steyn.Their ending – 11 runs off the last three overs – was in stark contrast to the sprightly start, a result of Kevin Pietersen’s cameo in his first IPL appearance as an opener. Pietersen was hesitant early on and in danger of a being run-out a few times, but looked to be getting his groove back when he punched a square drive off Bhuvneshwar Kumar for his first boundary.After Quinton de Kock fell to Steyn, Pietersen took charge, smacking a six and four each off Karn Sharma and Moises Henriques in successive overs to guide Daredevils to their best Powerplay period of the tournament. Against Mishra, though, he mistimed a drive straight to cover, giving the bowler his 100th IPL wicket.Mayank Agarwal squandered a start leaving the rebuilding to Dinesh Karthik, who scored 39 off 30. Karthik kept the strike turning early on and made the most of a reprieve at fine leg to scoop Steyn for a six over the same region. He swatted Karan Sharma for a six and a four after the resumption of play but fell to a well-judged catch by Steyn at the long-off boundary.

Zimbabwe Cricket has created a new post, managing director, cricket, to help identify and develop talent for the national team

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Dec-2014Zimbabwe Cricket has created a new post, managing director, cricket, to help identify and develop talent for the national team. Former Test captain Alistair Campbell is seen as a frontrunner for the position after having held talks with ZC, though the board said it wanted to interview other candidates as well. ZC also announced positions of general manager cricket operations and director of coaching. The announcements came after ZC’s board meeting last week.Campbell had been critical of Zimbabwe Cricket last month, calling for more former international players in the national coaching set-up. National coach Stephen Mangongo, who has no high-level cricketing experience, had responded to those statements by saying the lack of finances was holding back the team, not the lack of experienced internationals in the coaching set-up.Zimbabwe are coming off a disastrous tour of Bangladesh, where they lost all three Tests and five ODIs. “We have to strengthen the cricket side of it while also improving administratively,” ZC board chairman Wilson Manase said at a press conference. “That is why we have said for the position of managing director, cricket, we want somebody that has played cricket before at the highest level. On the international front, cricket is changing. We have Associate nations pushing to break into top ten and we have to up our game.”With participation in the 2019 World Cup guaranteed to only the top eight teams, Manashe said Zimbabwe needed to get its act together. “High performance is required now to stay at the top. So we are making immediate changes in order for the results to improve. We will do anything and everything to get the results and everybody will need to perform their duty, otherwise we will act accordingly.”Manashe also said results needed to improve for Zimbabwe to “win back investor confidence” and that ZC aimed to be profitable by 2019. “Our major problem is lack of adequate finance. We have sponsorship and we are grateful, but it is not enough. Even the franchises are struggling. We have set out a programme, that will see us out of the red by 2019.”

Former Australia coach Mickey Arthur has defended himself against criticism from Brad Haddin, who said Arthur was “very, very insecure” as coach and had contributed to the negative atmosphere around the team

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Nov-2013Former Australia coach Mickey Arthur has defended himself against criticism from Brad Haddin, who said Arthur was “very, very insecure” as coach and had contributed to the negative atmosphere around the team. Haddin said this week that there were smiles on the faces of the players in the lead-up to this Ashes series, unlike the previous series in England, in which Arthur was sacked shortly before the first Test and replaced with Darren Lehmann.Haddin said Lehmann had reminded the players of the brand of cricket they wanted to play and had sent a clear message of how to get there, while Arthur had not been “secure enough in himself to get us to where we needed to go”. However, Arthur responded during an interview on Perth radio on Wednesday, in which he noted that Haddin had not been part of the setup for much of the time Arthur was in charge.”Brad for a long period of the time wasn’t part of the team,” Arthur said. “So for Brad to say those things is a little bit naive. Brad wasn’t aware of the direction I was taking the team. Brad was one of the senior players who lost his place, was left out for a young guy like Matthew Wade to come in for us to build a brand that was going to be sustainable over a period of time, because at 35 the brand wasn’t going to be sustainable with Brad Haddin keeping wicket.”A couple of them that were jumping at shadows were the guys who weren’t doing what was expected, those were the guys trying to take short cuts. You don’t come in and mess with a culture that has been successful … [but] the cycle had turned, we had lost a lot of experienced players, which meant we needed to create our own brand, our own culture, and put in place a sustainable value system that any player coming up from state level could walk straight in and feel comfortable and know what is expected of them.”I did that job to the best of my ability, I can look back on my time there and say I gave it an almighty crack. If that crack wasn’t good enough, I can live with that, but I did try to get Australian cricket back to where it deserved to be.”Arthur was appointed head coach in late 2011, following the departure of Tim Nielsen in the months after the Argus report, which in turn followed the disastrous 2010-11 Ashes campaign at home.

According to a recent report from the BBC, Crystal Palace are interested in a January move for striker Cenk Tosun. The Turkey international currently plays his football at fellow Premier League outfit Everton and has done so since January last year, although struggles for regular game time under new Toffees manager Marco Silva has plunged his future at Goodison Park into huge doubt.

And a recent report from the BBC suggests that Roy Hodgson’s Eagles are eyeing up a loan move for the 27-year-old this month as they seek to bolster their striking ranks, with a move to Selhurst Park potentially what’s needed to reignite Tosun’s flailing Premier League career.

The Breakdown

Ultimately, the £18 million-rated star (as per Transfermarkt) made the move to Goodison Park 12 months ago as former Everton boss Sam Allardyce sought the answer to his side’s striking woes, and Tosun certainly started well on Merseyside with five goals in 14 Premier League appearances in the second half of last season.

And with two goals and two assists in his first nine games of this term under new Toffees chief Silva, the 27-year-old looked set to play a part in the 41-year-old’s revolution of things at Goodison Park, although those numbers certainly mask the problems Tosun had in converting plenty of chances into goals.

And once the goals dried up around November, the Turkish star has found regular football hard to come by since with just one Premier League start since the middle of the September – and in a team which doesn’t play with a natural number nine in Richarlison, that is a damning indictment of just how unconvinced Silva is in the 27-year-old’s ability.

However, his start to life in English football, alongside his excellent goal-scoring record at Besiktas, simply cannot and should not be ignored, with a fresh start at Hodgson’s Palace perhaps what’s needed to get Tosun’s Premier League career going.

Ultimately, the Eagles are in dire need of striking reinforcements heading into the second half of the season given they have netted just 23 times in their 23 Premier League games this term, with their top goal-scorers being Luka Milivojevic and Andros Townsend with six in all competitions, neither of whom are strikers.

In fact, their top-scoring striker this term is Jordan Ayew with a paltry three to highlight just how much of a struggle things have been in the final third, but with Townsend and star man Wilfried Zaha in the side, it surely only requires someone in the right place at the right time to put the ball in the back of the net – Tosun is that man.

Not only did he start well in England last year, but the 27-year-old earned a move to Everton as a result of his brilliant goal-scoring exploits at Besiktas, for whom he bagged 64 goals in just 142 appearances to help them to back-to-back Super Lig titles during his time at the club.

And with that predatory instinct in the 18-yard box, Tosun could be exactly what Palace need to turn their territory into goals – and a fresh start at Selhurst Park could be exactly what Tosun himself needs to finally get his Premier League career going.

Palace fans… what do you think? Let us know!

Emotional outburst is now the accepted rationale of Mushfiqur Rahim’s resignation from the Bangladesh captaincy but BCB president Nazmul Hassan has vowed to get to the bottom of this sudden decision, hinting that there were other contributing factors.

Mohammad Isam09-May-2013Emotional outburst is now the accepted rationale of Mushfiqur Rahim’s resignation from the Bangladesh captaincy but BCB president Nazmul Hassan has vowed to get to the bottom of this sudden decision, hinting that there were other contributing factors.Mushfiqur’s inability to control himself has been well known to those close to him, and given how easily Bangladesh went down to Zimbabwe in the ODI on Wednesday, it was enough for him to get riled and defeat to Zimbabwe would obviously lead to anger in the Bangladesh dressing-room.There were far too many poor shots played by senior batsmen, including Mushfiqur, and the bowling was not efficient enough to defend 247 on Wednesday or 252 in the 2nd ODI. In general, there was a lack of hunger, noticeable in the players’ body language.There was, predictably, a lot of expectation on Bangladesh. A team that can beat West Indies and Sri Lanka would certainly be expected to win the subsequent series against Zimbabwe. Instead the pressure of expectation got to the players, some taking the contest too lightly while others, like Mushfiqur, visibly crumbled.When he took over as captain in 2011, former Bangladesh national selector Faruque Ahmed, who picked Mushfiqur at the age of 16 to play the Lord’s Test in 2005, pointed out only one blemish in Mushfiqur’s make-up, saying: “He has difficulty handling matters when he doesn’t do well himself.” In essence, Faruque meant that when his batting or wicketkeeping sees bad days, he has a difficult time coming to terms with it.At the time this was a minor factor as some argued that he was mature enough to keep a positive outlook in tough times. There was a short honeymoon period in his captaincy before losses to Pakistan at home, but over the last 12 months, Mushfiqur has led well and kept the team on an even keel.But in Zimbabwe, his preparation was hampered by poorly organised practice sessions and trouble in the hotel. For someone who is very particular with preparation, these were important issues that needed to be taken care of. Then came the 335-run defeat in the first Test, after which Bangladesh recovered with a series-equalling win in the second Test. Mushfiqur led from the front, his 93 in the second innings being the clinching factor. But the 2-1 ODI series defeat ultimately became the trigger for his announcement.He talked to BCB president Hassan on Wednesday night, but like he told his teammates and the media earlier, he did not elaborate on the “why” and “why now”. Apparently he was sobbing as he talked to Hassan, who was critical of the time he chose to quit, especially as it was done while on tour and with two more matches left to play.”Mushfiqur couldn’t speak properly when I called him,” Hassan said. “He was probably choking back tears. He just told me that he can’t give proper leadership, and that there were issues with teamwork. We will investigate all of this when the team returns.”But it wasn’t smart to give up the captaincy while on tour. We will find out upon his return why he quit so suddenly. We need to find out what compelled him to take this decision, if there were any instigating factors. If we find anyone guilty of hampering our team’s progress in any way, we will definitely take action.”Hassan said he will also talk to Mushfiqur about some of the shots the senior batsmen played. Throughout the three ODIs, there were ordinary dismissals from the top and middle-order batsmen that led to collapses but while they recovered through Nasir Hossain, Mahmudullah and one occasion Abdur Razzak, it was not enough in the second and third ODIs.”We probably still don’t know how to bat in such conditions,” Hassan said. “But at the same time, the way some of the batsmen gave away their wickets at crucial times was just astonishing. I have told the management to investigate already, but I think it’s best to talk to Mushfiqur directly.”The Bangladesh captaincy has changed hands quite frequently over the last decade, despite the cultural subtext that success was not always the defining factor. Since the team loses more often, the captains over the years have been expected to lead from the front. In his stint, Mushfiqur has done it well on the field, but this move will lose him a lot of goodwill.If there were internal issues that prompted him to quit, Mushfiqur should have spoken to the players directly or gone through the cricket board. A defeat to Zimbabwe is unacceptable in Bangladesh, but this was no case to kick out the captain. It should have led to introspection, and now perhaps there will be, but with a lot of hue and cry.

Robin Bist scored his third consecutive half-century to help Rajasthan overcome the 148-run target against Madhya Pradesh with ease and register their first win this season

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Dec-2013
ScorecardRobin Bist scored his third consecutive half-century to help Rajasthan overcome the 148-run target against Madhya Pradesh with ease and register their first win this season. Bist, following up from his first innings score of 84 not out, was unbeaten on 63 with the help of 10 boundaries.Rajasthan needed 71 runs on the fourth morning and they made a quick dash towards the target, scoring 73 runs in 10 overs to achieve the win. Ashok Menaria missed his half-century by one run, but his 49 came off 34 deliveries with the help of nine boundaries. It was Menaria’s best showing with the bat this season.Rajasthan have now 11 points from six matches while MP are lingering near the bottom with eight points from the same number of games.
ScorecardA delayed declaration from Jharkhand allowed a shaky Mumbai side to escape with a draw at the Wankhede Stadium, though the visitors picked up three crucial points for their first-innings lead. With the hosts effectively six down given seamer Akbar Khan’s fractured hand, Jharkhand agreed to a stalemate halfway into the final hour, after having batted for an hour and 45 minutes in the morning.Read the full report here.
ScorecardTamil Nadu’s campaign received a timely boost in the form of their first victory of the season, over Baroda in Chennai. A career-best five-wicket haul from the 24-year-old offspinner Malolan Rangarajan swerved a match that was snailing towards a draw and helped the hosts climb to fourth place on the Group B table. With three games left in the preliminary stage, two of which would be at home, Tamil Nadu’s bid for the Ranji crown is back on track.Read the full report here.
ScorecardIt took around half an hour for Anureet Singh and Krishnakant Upadhyay to ensure three points for Railways but cricketing achievements became incidental in their ill-tempered Ranji Trophy match against Bengal that witnessed a poor display of sportsmanship from players of both sides.Anureet who bowled tirelessly for 45 overs was rewarded with a match-haul of 5 for 97 as Bengal were bowled out for 270 in 133.5 overs with Railways getting a 36-run first innings lead to take their points tally to 20. While Railways, currently No. 2 in the group, remain firmly in contention for a place in the last eight, Bengal with 12 points from six matches will need to win both their matches in order to qualify.Read the full report here.