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England players met a 100-year-old fan who went viral on TikTok for her heartwarming reaction upon receiving a Lionesses shirt as a gift.

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England players meet 100-year-old fanWent viral for a heartwarming videoPraised Mary Earps for her goalkeeping prowessWHAT HAPPENED?

A 100-year-old England women's national team fan, named Lyn, went viral on TikTok due to her heartwarming reaction upon receiving her first-ever Lionesses shirt as a gift.

Recently, the English players sat down with her at St George's Park, and Manchester United star Katie Zelem suggested that they should do a TikTok dance collaboration – to which Lyn suggested they should try 'The Jitterbug'.

AdvertisementWATCH THE CLIPGettyWHAT LYN SAID TO THE LIONESSES

Lyn told the players that she regularly watches them in action and singled out England and United goalkeeper, Mary Earps, for praise.

She said: "I always sit with this [shirt] when you are playing. I love seeing you play. And Mary, the goalkeeper, how she saves the goal. I am full of life today. Still going. But they've been feeding me up today, I'll need a bigger size!"

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Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT FOR ENGLAND?

Sarina Wiegman's side, who are currently third in their group in the Women's Nations League, are set to face England and Scotland in the competition on December 1 and 5 respectively. Earps and Zelem will be in line to feature in both games before returning to club duty at United, who will next face Tottenham in the WSL on December 10.

Mukhtar Ahmed’s 96 and Fawad Alam’s unbeaten 76 guided Pakistan A to a consolation win over Sri Lanka A to finish the three-match series 2-1

ESPNcricinfo staff02-May-2015 ScorecardFile Photo – Mukhtar Ahmed struck 11 fours and two sixes but fell four short of his ton•AFPA 93-ball 96 from Mukhtar Ahmed and Fawad Alam’s unbeaten 76 helped Pakistan A to a consolation win over Sri Lanka A in the third and final unofficial ODI at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.Chasing 278, Israrullah was trapped leg before by Nisala Tharaka in the seventh over. Mukhtar was then involved in two 70-plus partnerships with Khurram Manzoor and captain Fawad Alam, where he struck 11 fours and two sixes before falling to Lakshan Sandakan in the 31st over.With the score at 185 for 3 after Mukhtar’s departure, Ali Waqas put on 54 with Fawad Alam before losing his wicket to Shehan Jayasuriya when Pakistan required a further 37 runs for victory.Fawad then teamed up with wicketkeeper Mohammad Rizwan to guide Pakistan to their first win the in three-match series.Pakistan had put Sri Lanka in, who rode on fifties from openers Jayasuriya (67) and Kusal Perera (87) and a couple of 20-plus scores from their middle order to finish on 277 in 47.2 overs. Left-arm spinner Imad Wasim picked up 4 for 29

Neil McGarrell, 41, has been named as USA’s captain in a 15-man squad for the 2013 World Twenty20 Qualifier next month in the UAE

Peter Della Penna24-Oct-2013Neil McGarrell, 41, has been named USA’s captain in a 15-man squad for the 2013 World Twenty20 Qualifier next month in the UAE. McGarrell, who played four Tests and 17 ODIs for West Indies between 1998 and 2001, made his debut for USA in 2012 against Canada, and takes over from Steve Massiah, who had been captain for seven years. Massiah was retained in the squad along with Orlando Baker, who captained USA to an 8-0 record in a stand-in capacity at the 2013 ICC Americas Division One Twenty20 tournament in March.Adam Sanford, 38, and Imran Awan are also making their way into the squad as fast bowlers. Sanford, who played 11 Tests for the West Indies from 2002 to 2004, played for USA in a series of trial matches against Bermuda this past weekend, and is set to make his official debut for USA in their opening match against Canada in Abu Dhabi on November 15. Awan, once considered one of the fastest bowlers in the Associate world, hasn’t played for USA since 2010 after struggling with his accuracy.USA’s lack of experienced pace bowlers was apparent earlier this year during the ICC World Cricket League Division Three competition, where they finished third. Seamer Usman Shuja, who was dropped ahead of WCL Division Three, was not brought back into the squad for the tour to the UAE, though he had been included in a list of 28 probables in September. Timroy Allen has decided to return for USA after announcing his retirement following the end of WCL Division Three in May to focus on work and family commitments. Allen has subsequently been named vice-captain for the tour.Three players from USA’s tour of Bermuda for WCL Division Three earlier this year are not in the squad for the qualifier. USA’s batting will likely struggle in the absence of Sushil Nadkarni and Rashard Marshall. Nadkarni had to withdraw due to work commitments, and it is believed Marshall was unavailable for the same reasons. Medium pacer Naseer Jamali is the third player not retained. Only five players who played for USA at the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier in 2012 – Baker, Muhammad Ghous, Elmore Hutchinson, Japen Patel and Steven Taylor – will be traveling back to the UAE in November.Besides Sanford, the only other player in the squad yet to play in an official match for USA is Srinivasa Santhanam. An allrounder originally from Tamil Nadu, Santhanam now plays for Microsoft Cricket Club in Seattle. The Pacific Northwest, and Microsoft CC in particular, has been a growing source of talent for the USA in recent years, with former USA spinners Samarth Shah and Saurabh Verma also hailing from the club, while Naseer Jamali plays in the Seattle area.USA has been placed in Group A along with Canada, Hong Kong, Ireland, Italy, Namibia, Uganda and the UAE. USA finished 12th at the qualifier in 2012, but posted a noteworthy upset of Scotland at the event. The top six teams in this year’s qualifier will advance to the 2014 ICC World Twenty20 in Bangladesh.USA Squad: Neil McGarrell (captain), Timroy Allen (vice-captain), Danial Ahmed, Imran Awan, Orlando Baker, Barrington Bartley, Akeem Dodson (wk), Karan Ganesh, Muhammad Ghous, Elmore Hutchinson, Steve Massiah, Japen Patel, Adam Sanford, Srinivasa Santhanam, Steven Taylor (wk).

Alex Hales hit a blistering half-century as Nottinghamshire continued their three-pronged assault on England’s domestic trophies by cruising past group leaders Hampshire in the Clydesdale Bank 40.

Jeremy Culley17-Jul-2012
ScorecardAlex Hales hit a blistering half-century as Nottinghamshire continued their three-pronged assault on England’s domestic trophies by cruising past group leaders Hampshire in the Clydesdale Bank 40.Hampshire, for whom James Vince’s magnificent unbeaten century served only to make them competitive, still top their group but now lead Notts, who have two games in hand, by only three points.Hales and James Taylor, who struck 74 to take the hosts to the brink of their six-wicket victory, delivered telling messages to Hampshire’s listless bowling attack ahead of next weeks’ Twenty20 quarter-final between the sides. Hampshire’s total of 230 never looked adequate once Hales cut loose.Notts’ skipper Chris Read opened with the slow left-arm of Samit Patel – as he did at Surrey on Sunday – and swiftly took two catches off his bowling to leave Hampshire in early trouble. Jimmy Adams thinly edged his first delivery while attempting a cut before Simon Katich nicked a temptingly wide delivery from Patel.Sean Ervine’s demise will have particularly frustrated Hampshire as he breezed to 31 before gifting a return catch to Graeme White. Dawson then clipped a half-tracker to Adam Voges to provide a cheap wickert for Darren Pattinson whose otherwise torrid afternoon saw him concede 48 in five overs.Dimi Mascarenhas briefly added energy to Hampshire’s innings, striking a huge six over long-on before being bowled by Andy Carter, but the only consistency was provided by Vince, whose impeccably-timed innings steadily built to a crescendo when he took 17 off one Pattinson over, before registering his hundred in the last over.Vince was overlooked for last week’s Championship match with Yorkshire and has not featured in four-day cricket since May. After carrying his bat with such maturity here, a recall will surely be in the offing.Notts’ response began briskly, Hales hitting successive boundaries off Kabir Ali in the fourth over and Dawson in the sixth. Hales appeared intent on inflicting a few mental scars on Hampshire’s bowlers ahead of next week’s quarter-final and reached his half-century in only the ninth over.Riki Wessels, opening in Michael Lumb’s absence with a back injury, struck three successive fours in a Dawson over that went for 19 but his ambition soon cost him his wicket, as left-arm spinner Danny Briggs trapped him leg before attempting a reverse sweep.Briggs, who played in an ODI against Pakistan in Dubai in the winter, was achieving considerable turn and soon claimed the precious scalp of Hales, when he tamely chipped to Dawson at long-off .Taylor and Patel, however, showed the application necessary to build on Hales’ platform and brought up their 50 partnership in the 28th over. Patel then mounted a charge to the finish, hitting sixes in successive overs of Ali and Dawson, but eventually sliced to Katich at backward point.The patient Taylor only hit two boundaries in reaching 50 but then hit four in eight balls to make victory safe before offering a return catch to Katich.

Tillakaratne Dilshan, the Sri Lanka captain, has said that his team can do well in South Africa if they can manage to put runs on the board

Firdose Moonda in Benoni07-Dec-2011Sri Lanka’s Test squad have arrived in South Africa with an obvious weakness – their bowling. Tillakaratne Dilshan, their captain, chose to say almost nothing about it.”Any fast bowler who comes to South Africa likes to bowl here,” Dilshan said in Benoni, where Sri Lanka are preparing to play a warm-up match against an Invitation XI starting on Friday. And that was that.He made no reference to their missing quintet of seamers that includes Suranga Lakmal, their carrying of the perennially under-performing Dilhara Fernando, the responsibility that will sit on the shoulders of Chanaka Welegedara or the adjustments Ajantha Mendis and Rangana Herath will have to make to be effective in South Africa. He made no comments about the need to take 20 wickets to win a Test – something Sri Lanka have never done in South Africa.Instead, Dilshan’s plans for success in a country with some of the most seamer-friendly, pacy and bouncy pitches in the world did not involve the ball at all. “If the batting unit can put some runs on the board, we will do well in South Africa,” he said.Except that even in the batting department, Sri Lanka have not been their usual powerful selves. Only Kumar Sangakkara scored a century in their recent three-Test series against Pakistan, which they lost 1-0. Sri Lanka were bowled out in five of the six innings, three times for less than 260. “We know in the last few series, batting didn’t click,” Dilshan admitted.Yet when asked to identify the area which could prove match winning for Sri Lanka, Dilshan was adamant that it would be batting. If the line-up could use Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara as their kingpins and perform around them, Dilshan predicted they would do well. “The batting unit is experienced; Mahela and Sanga have played a little bit in South Africa. Those are experienced guys. We can build around them. Thilan [Samaraweera] has come back into the side, he is experienced guy in the middle order. Myself and the youngsters, like Chandimal, have to put their hands up.”Jayawardene and Sangakkara are two of the three players (the other being Fernando) to have played a Test in South Africa before, Sri Lanka last toured the country nine ago, in 2002. Dilshan admitted that his team will have to make a speedy adjustment to the conditions that are foreign to them. “We have played on and off one-day series in South Africa and that has helped a little bit,” he said. “But, everyone should get ready for these conditions as soon as possible.”The warm-up match will be Sri Lanka’s only opportunity to acclimatise to conditions and the pitch in Benoni should provide them with a good introduction to South African surfaces.Although not a particularly spicy pitch, it has recently produced a match in which wickets fell heavily. The SuperSport Series contest between the Titans and the Cobras in October saw the Titans dismissed for 112 in their first innings and nine wickets fell on the second day.Dilshan did say that some of his batsmen, including him, are already comfortable with such pitches. “Sanga, Mahela and myself really like bouncy tracks,” he said. “If we get runs on the board as a batting group in this three-day match and everyone can come into form, that will be important for us. We have to play our brand of cricket. If we can play our brand of cricket we can beat South Africa.”At the same time, Dilshan recognised that Sri Lanka had no room for mistakes. “We can’t make any mistakes. We have to be at 100% commitment for this series. Everyone should put their hands up and take responsibility.” Hopefully, that includes the bowlers as well.

Martin Stovold, who played as a batsman for Gloucestershire between 1978 and 1982, has died after a lengthy illness

Martin Williamson26-Jun-2012Martin Stovold, who played as a batsman for Gloucestershire between 1978 and 1982, has died after a lengthy illness. He was 56.Stovold followed his better-known older brother Andy from Loughborough College to the county but failed to make the same impression. A left-hand batsman and very occasional offspinner, he made his county debut in 1978 and over the next five season played for the county without ever holding down a regular first-team place in the three-day game, although in 1980 and 1981 he was more in the one-day side than out of it.In 25 first-class matches he managed 518 runs at 16.70 and in 34 List A games he scored 325 runs at 13.00. He made only two fifties with his best 75 against Oxford University.He was released by the county in 1982, continuing to coach in South Africa, but returned to England in 1986 where he took up the role of cricket professional at Cheltenham College, becoming master-in-charge in 1993. He also taught geography and was a housemaster.”Martin was one of the most dedicated teachers in the College’s long history and inspiration to generations of young people as a housemaster, geography teacher and master in charge of cricket,” Dr Alex Peterken, Headmaster of Cheltenham College, told the PCA. “Just last week he emailed staff from his hospital bed to lament the effect the wet weather was having on the College’s cricket schedule. ‘The tide will turn and the sun will shine’ he said. These proved to be his last public words and the sun now shines on his memory.”

Former New Zealand wicketkeeper and coach Warren Lees says the gap between seniors and juniors in the national setup is too wide

Firdose Moonda in Dunedin12-Mar-2012Unless New Zealand Cricket fashions a clear plan to help junior players move through the stages seamlessly, the team will be plagued with underachievement, according to Warren Lees, former national wicketkeeper and coach. Lees used Tim Southee, who was axed for the second Test, as a prime example of the increasing gap between rookie and veteran and how it will affect the country’s cricketing future.”I believe in having three groups as a cricket team. Everyone should start as an apprentice and then work their way into middle management and then become administration,” Lees told ESPNcricinfo during the first Test in Dunedin.”What’s wrong with the New Zealand team is that Tim Southee is in administration. He should be an apprentice. But, circumstances forced that on the team. Tim Southee isn’t the only one but he is an example and a glaring one. He should still be sitting in the corner with his hands in his lap and listening. Then, it should take five tours and two years before he moves up.”Southee was dropped from the New Zealand squad after a string of poor performances against South Africa. He has gone two matches wicket-less. He has also been expensive, lost his lines and with that, his self-belief. “Tim didn’t have the game of his life,” Ross Taylor, the New Zealand captain, said after the match, the first hint that Southee may be dropped. “He struggled a little bit with his action but he’s played a few Tests now. He’s a confidence player and hopefully he can bounce back from this.”The ability to recover and continue to the next phase of international cricket is something that Lees feels will only be possible if players have the right management and team-mates who are in various stages around them. In the past, he does not think New Zealand had a structure with these distinctions.Lees referred to his own coaching stint, between 1990 and 1993, and highlighted it as being the period in which the gap between the newest players and their seniors widened. He blamed the divide to the inability of players at the mid-level to take youngsters under their wing and help them assimilate.”New Zealand did reasonably well performance wise when they had [Nathan] Astle,[Chris] Cairns and [Craig] McMillan, but none of them wanted to take the management roles,” Lees said. “If you were a youngster getting into the team, none of those players offered anything. So there was this huge gap between Stephen Fleming and his seniors and the apprentices. We weren’t developing a culture for the future so when they left the team had no direction.”In recent months, New Zealand appear to have found a path and Lees hopes John Wright, the current coach who he played with, can keep them on it. He believes Wright will act as the bridge between players at different levels. “The one good thing about the team at the moment is that I can’t see too many of them retiring anytime soon,” Lees said. “Ok, Chris Martin has a limited life and Daniel Vettori is not going to be there forever, but he is not as effective as he was anyway. There’s a stronger promise of what could happen in the future. And I think John Wright is the right sort of person to bring that out.”With Wight’s commitment, Lees said the New Zealand team will not want for dedication or a desire to produce their best. “They may lose through a lack of skill but they won’t lose through a lack of effort,” he said. “We saw a bit of that in this game. The first day taught some of those bowlers quite a lot and as a group they grew through the mistakes of day one. You could see for the rest of the Test there was more of a collective effort.”Edited by Kanishkaa Balachandran

Marizanne Kapp’s hat-trick spearheaded South Africa women’s second nine-wicket win in as many matches to secure the T20 series against Bangladesh women in Potchesfroom

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Sep-2013Allrounder Marizanne Kapp’s hat-trick spearheaded South Africa women’s second nine-wicket win in as many matches to secure the three-match T20 series against Bangladesh women in Potchesfroom.Bangladesh composed a slow start after winning the toss, requiring 12 overs to cross 50 but made sure they had nine wickets still in hand. Taking advantage of their foundation proved difficult though with Ayasha Rahman the top-scorer with 34, holing out at long off in the next over. Lata Mondal held firm at the other end, but Kapp returned for her final spell in the 19th over, which ended up as a triple-wicket maiden.No. 5 Rumana Ahmed top-edged to the keeper and both Ritu Moni and Fahima Khatun were bowled. All three fell without scoring and Bangladesh managed 84 for 6 in 20 oversThe chase proved straightforward with the openers Lizelle Lee and Trisha Chetty recording 71 runs in nine overs. Rumana got rid of Lee for 37, but by then the result was all but decided.”I enjoyed my bowling today,” said Kapp, “I stuck to my plans and that really paid off for me. I wasn’t really thinking about the hat-trick, my game plan was to bowl line and length and fortunately that plan came off.”Winning the series is a great way for us to start the season,” she added. “We haven’t played a lot of cricket together in the off-season so it was important for us to start this series off positively. Hopefully we can make it 3-0 tomorrow and move that momentum into the ODI series starting next week.”

ESPNcricinfo previews the second ODI between West Indies and Zimbabwe in Grenada

The Preview by Devashish Fuloria23-Feb-2013Match factsFebruary 24, 2013
Start time 0930 local (1330 GMT)Could Darren Bravo’s hundred in the first ODI be his breakthrough innings?• WICB Media/Randy Brooks PhotoBig pictureIn a short three-ODI series that doesn’t last a week, a heavy defeat in the first game can quickly become a nightmare. It wouldn’t be outlandish to say that 3-0 to West Indies is an expected result, but for Zimbabwe, who hardly play international cricket these days, this series offers a vital chance to show improvement. Their first outing was forgettable, but they need to avoid a repeat performance.Their bowlers were battered by the West Indies batsmen, who could have got more than the 337 they eventually did, and when it was their turn to bat, their batsmen slipped at the first sight of Sunil Narine. In the end, it became a question of how badly would they lose. That they lasted 50 overs was largely due to a 67-ball 18 by No. 8 Prosper Utseya. In both innings, there were only a couple of performers of note and in international cricket, other teams feast upon such weaknesses. Zimbabwe need to regroup quickly, as a team, and must show the will and confidence to stay competitive.West Indies, on the other hand, need to find the ruthlessness that went missing after their World Twenty20 title win. They are expected to steamroll the opposition in this series and the only competition is with themselves. Can they get more if they bat first? Can they bowl out Zimbabwe within 40 overs? These are the challenges that Dwayne Bravo would want his team to take head on after the recent reverses in ODIs in Australia.Form guideWest Indies WLLLL
Zimbabwe LLLLWIn the spotlightDarren Bravo has been around for close to four years now. He has shown numerous glimpses of his talent in the past – especially in Tests – but the hundred on Friday was his first in 51 ODI outings. He followed up his maiden Test hundred with two more soon after. With the quality of bowling Zimbabwe offer, he would certainly be hoping for another one in this series.If Zimbabwe need to show improvement, it has to start from two of their experienced batsmen, Brendan Taylor and Hamilton Masakadza. The two were out in consecutive overs without getting into double-digit scores. With 249 matches between them, Zimbabwe would hope the pillars of their batting line-up show some resistance.Team newsKieron Pollard, who missed the previous match due to travel difficulties in getting to Grenada, will be available for selection for the second ODI.West Indies: (probable) 1 Johnson Charles, 2 Kieran Powell, 3 Darren Bravo, 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Dwayne Bravo (capt), 7 Andre Russell, 8 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 9 Kemar Roach, 10 Tino Best, 11 Sunil NarineZimbabwe (from) Brendan Taylor (capt), Hamilton Masakadza, Vusi Sibanda, Tino Mawoyo, Kyle Jarvis, Tendai Chatara, Chris Mpofu, Prosper Utseya, Regis Chakabva, Malcolm Waller, Keegan Meth, Craig Ervine, Chamu Chibhabha, Tino Mutombodzi, Natsai M’shangweStats and trivia Zimbabwe’s first ODI win against West Indies came in their ninth encounter – in July 2000. Their last win against West Indies was three years ago, in Providence.Quotes”A first century in a winning cause is a great feeling. The hard work is paying off and the aim is to continue and get more big scores.”
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The Hagley Oval in Christchurch has been cleared by Environmental Court to move ahead with preparations to host matches in the 2015 World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Aug-2013The Hagley Oval in Christchurch has been cleared by Environmental Court to move ahead with preparations to host matches in the 2015 World Cup. According to reports in New Zealand papers, the court also ruled that the ground can host 13 days of major-cricket fixtures a year and New Zealand Cricket, aside from the World Cup games, could add temporary seating to boost the ground’s capacity from 12,000 to 20,000 twice every three years.Canterbury Cricket’s plans to develop the Hagley Oval as an international cricket venue found opposition from some members of the public, who started a petition that said Hagley Park, within which the ground is located, “was gifted to Christchurch to be reserved as a Public Park forever and for the enjoyment and recreation of all. This proposal goes against that original intention and sets a precedent for the loss of open public space and further commercial development within Hagley Park.”The ground is scheduled to host New Zealand’s opening fixture of the World Cup, against Sri Lanka, on February 14. Later on in the tournament, it will host two more group-stage matches, featuring Pakistan and West Indies on February 21 and England and a qualifier on February 23.The court has not ruled fully in favour of Canterbury Cricket, though, granting them only some concessions. Other specifications state that temporary facilities and structures associated with major-cricket fixtures may not occupy the ground for more than 40 days per season, two or more major fixtures may be scheduled within the same week, provided that on each occasion the temporary facilities and structures don’t occupy the ground for more than 14 consecutive days, and floodlight headframes – which are yet to be installed – are to be removed at the end of the cricket season.Now, the city council will need to approve Canterbury Cricket’s plans for the ground. Canterbury Cricket chief executive Lee Germon was quoted by papers as saying: “While we are very pleased with this decision we know that the matter now needs to go before the [council] to consider whether to grant a lease to Canterbury Cricket for the proposed pavilion and light towers. We are obviously hopeful the council will approve this.” The plans for the ground include a built-up pavilion, light towers and a grass embankment.The group that lodged the petition, Hands off Hagley, has 15 days to appeal the Environmental Court’s decision, but this would have to be based on a point of law.