Legspinner signs three-year deal after finding opportunities limited at his boyhood county

Vithushan Ehantharajah19-Jun-2023

Matt Parkinson will leave Lancashire at the end of the season to join Kent on a three-year-deal.The 26-year-old legspinner has found his opportunities limited at his boyhood county, despite starting the season with a five-wicket haul in the first round of this season’s County Championship against Surrey. He then played one match on loan at Durham before returning for Lancashire’s Vitality Blast campaign.Parkinson made his Test debut last summer as a concussion substitute for Jack Leach during the Lord’s Test against New Zealand but has since fallen down the pecking order for club and country. That remains the last of 12 international caps as other spin-bowling options, such as Rehan Ahmed and Will Jacks, came to the fore over the winter.Parkinson’s travails were compounded when he was overlooked for the Hundred draft, despite taking 20 wickets for Manchester Originals across the first two seasons of the men’s competition. In the end, a move suited all parties, with the emergence of finger spinner Tom Hartley at Lancashire, who also offers greater value with the bat.Nevertheless, Parkinson still boasts exceptional first-class and Twenty20 records, with 151 dismissals at an average of 25.92 and 139 at 18.96 respectively.”The time is right for me to embrace a new challenge and environment,” said Parkinson in a Kent statement. “I’m so excited that this will be at Kent.”I’m proud of my record in the game so far & I believe my best years as a leg-spin bowler are ahead of me. I’ve heard very positive things about the squad and I’m looking forward to working with Matt Walker and the other coaches.”I promise my new team-mates and the Kent supporters that I will throw myself into this new challenge and I can’t wait to get down to Canterbury to get started.”I’d also like to take this opportunity to thank the Lancs members for the support they have given to me during my time at Old Trafford. I thank my teammates for their friendship and wish them the best.”Kent’s Director of Cricket, Paul Downton, said: “Everyone at Kent is really excited that Matt has decided to join the club on a long-term contract.”To have a proven match-winning leg-spinner in our ranks will be a major boost to the squad. Matt is also a feisty competitor who will bring a lot to our dressing room. We look forward to welcoming him to Canterbury.”Mark Chilton, Lancashire’s Director of Cricket Performance, said: “On behalf of everybody connected with Lancashire Cricket, I would like to thank Matt for all of his commitment and efforts since making his first-class debut in 2016, having progressed through our academy.”Matt has found first-team opportunities limited this season and we respect the decision that he has made to move on at the end of his contract, in order to seek a new challenge elsewhere. We would all like to wish Matt well for the next stage of his career at Canterbury.”It seems unlikely Parkinson will move on loan for the remainder of the season, as is usually the way with these sorts of deals. The fact Lancashire (seventh) and Kent (ninth) are separated by 20 points at the foot of Division One makes that an awkward proposition.

Fast, furious and relentless through an unbroken spell of 11.5 overs despite a toe injury, Shamar bowled West Indies to a famous win in just his second Test

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Jan-202430.5: Shamar Joseph to Green, OUT
Bowled him! Through the gate off the elbow! This leapt from a length, gets through the gate, hit the back elbow and dropped onto the stumps! Extra bounce from nowhere. What a delivery. Wobble seam as well and some nip in. Ball tracking says it bounced 12cm more than the average length in this game Australia 113/330.6: Shamar Joseph to Head, OUT
King pair! 141kph yorker thunders into the base of off! What a yorker! Around the wicket, 141kph, missile at the base of off, Head couldn’t get his bat down and West Indies are alive thanks to the wonderkid! Australia 113/4
34.3: Shamar Joseph to Marsh, OUT
Edged and taken! Shamar Joseph gets Mitch Marsh! That’s a peach of a delivery. Dug in back of length on a fourth-stump line at 144kph, the ball straightens. Marsh has to play at that. He looks to defend and the extra bounce means it comes off high on the bat and straight to Athanaze at second slip who can’t hold on. The ball pops out to third slip where Greaves holds on to complete the catch Australia 132/536.2: Shamar Joseph to Carey, OUT
Knocks him over! He nails the yorker again and Australia go six down! Alright, this wasn’t quite on yorker length, but it was fired in full at 145kph. Goes off the pad and knocks the off stump back. Australia 136/640.5: Shamar Joseph to Starc, OUT
In the air again and this time, Starc is gone! Shamar Joseph has two five-wicket hauls in two Tests! What a spell this is. Coming back after that toe injury yesterday. And he gets his revenge on Starc as well. Starc again swings at a back of length delivery going across him. Comes off the toe end and goes high in the air and Sinclair has to just move a little to his left from backward point to grab it. Shamar Joseph kneels with his head on the ground in celebration. This match is very much alive! Australia 171/742.3: Shamar Joseph to Cummins, OUT
Edged to the keeper and Shamar wheels away in celebration! Length ball outside off at 141.6kph kicks up and takes the outside edge. Goes wide of the keeper and Da Silva throws himself at it for a diving catch. Shamar Joseph is kicking up a storm here! Australia 175/850.5: Shamar Joseph to Hazlewood, OUT
West Indies win! Shamar Joseph flattens off stump! They charge off in celebration. Shamar Joseph takes seven! The West Indies huddle together. Brian Lara is nearly in tears in the commentary box! Perfect length, angled into middle and off, it straightens past the edge and flattens off! That is so good. Australia 207/10

India will be trying to level the five-match Test series against England on what looks like a traditional subcontinent pitch in Visakhapatnam.The last time these two teams played a series in the subcontinent, an unexpected result gave rise to surfaces that were heavily loaded in favour of spin. The pink-ball match of that series ended in two days. It is the shortest Test match ever played in India.This time, though, the focus on the pitches has been noticeably less. Hyderabad looked like it was selectively watered, with the spinners’ good-length area looking rougher than the rest of the rest of the pitch, but it still produced over 1000 runs at a healthy rate.Related

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And Visakhapatnam will probably be even better for batting. Ben Stokes at the press conference on the eve of the game said, “It might be a good wicket for maybe a day or two. But out here in India and other parts of the subcontinent, you tend to see it start to spin more and more as the Test goes deeper and deeper. Even though it does look like there’s a little bit more moisture in there, with the heat – and today is very hot again – any footholes and stuff like that might come into play the further the Test goes.”It might play a little bit better initially than it did last week [in Hyderabad], but we don’t like to go in with too many preconceived ideas. We like to have some kind of idea because obviously that’s how we pick the team, then we just play what’s in front of us.”India have been hurt in the past on rank turners at home, notably in Indore when Australia bowled them out for 109 in 33.2 overs on day one. Matthew Kuhnemann picked up five wickets in nine overs then, belying the fact that he had only played 14 first-class games until that point in his whole career.1:32

Miller: Bashir debut another ‘no fear’ pick from England

England’s Tom Hartley did something similar at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium when he took a seven-for to follow up a first-innings display where he leaked a run a ball because there was considerably less help for him. And, as a result of that, India were much more confident in dealing with him.This may be a sign that India are trusting the quality of their spin bowling to draw more out of a pitch that may not be as responsive as some of those in the past; that their experience will help them get one over on an opposition that will be fronting up with a debutant in Shoaib Bashir, who has ten first-class wickets to his name, to go with Hartley and Rehan Ahmed, who are on their first tour of India. Jack Leach, England’s most experienced spinner, is out with a knee injury.That India’s batting has been taking some flak, and is now deprived of some of its solidity with Virat Kohli, KL Rahul and Ravindra Jadeja unavailable, may also have had a part to play. The coach Rahul Dravid has been clear that the young batters he is in charge of have had to face some tough conditions and that they need time to figure things out.

Titans have five Tamil Nadu players – Sai Sudharsan, Sai Kishore, Vijay Shankar, Shahrukh Khan and Sandeep Warrier – but CSK have none

Deivarayan Muthu25-Mar-20242:17

‘Mohit one of the best bowlers when the ball is wet’

Match detailsChennai Super Kings (CSK) vs Gujarat Titans (GT)
Chennai, 1930 IST (1400 GMT)Big picture: Gaikwad vs GillWhen Chennai Super Kings ran into Gujarat Titans in a bizarre three-day rain-hit final in IPL 2023, MS Dhoni and Hardik Pandya were in charge of the teams, respectively. Shubman Gill took over Titans’ captaincy after Hardik had moved back to Mumbai Indians in what is arguably the biggest player trade in IPL history.Then, on the eve of the IPL season-opener, Ruturaj Gaikwad was announced as CSK’s new captain. Gill’s expression at the captains’ conference was roughly how most of Chennai reacted to Dhoni handing over the captaincy to Gaikwad. Gill and Gaikwad, the most inexperienced Indian captains in the IPL, will now face each other at Chepauk on Tuesday.Gill and Gaikwad have already grabbed the headlines with their captaincy. After Titans snatched victory from Mumbai Indians’ grasp in Ahmedabad on Sunday, their debutant Spencer Johnson talked up Gill’s leadership, saying the captain sat alongside him on the bus to help calm his nerves in the lead-up to the game. As for Gaikwad, he rifled through fielding changes in his first game as IPL captain, and one such change, which involved extra-cover moving to sweeper cover, brought CSK their first wicket.Related

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The other interesting subplot in this game is the Chennai boys vs Chennai Super Kings. Titans have as many as five Tamil Nadu players in their side – Sai Sudharsan, Sai Kishore, Vijay Shankar, Shahrukh Khan and Sandeep Warrier. Among the quintet, Sudharsan, Kishore and Vijay are set to slot into Titans’ XI or XII (accounting for the Impact Player). Sudharsan, Kishore and Vijay all have been part of CSK or Junior Super Kings, their grassroots programme. And back in the day, Shahrukh used to be a ball boy at Chepauk for IPL matches. In contrast, CSK don’t have a single local player in their main squad.At his pre-match press conference, CSK coach Stephen Fleming was even asked if this would be a “home game” for Titans. “A few of the players will be at home in terms of conditions,” Fleming responded. “But yeah, it’s hard to say.”Sai Sudharsan should start if Gujarat Titans bat first•BCCI

Team news: Pathirana links up with CSKSri Lanka’s death-bowling specialist Matheesha Pathirana has joined CSK’s squad in Chennai, but it remains to be seen if he will be rushed into action after having suffered a hamstring injury. Mustafizur Rahman, who marked his CSK debut with four wickets in a space of ten balls in the season-opener, could keep his place in the team ahead of Pathirana.Toss and Impact Player strategyIf CSK bat first, Shivam Dube should start, with Mustafizur coming in as an Impact Player in the second innings. It could be vice-versa if CSK bowl first.Chennai Super Kings
Possible bat-first XI: 1 Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), 2 Rachin Ravindra, 3 Ajinkya Rahane, 4 Daryl Mitchell, , 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 Sameer Rizvi, 8 MS Dhoni (wk), 9 Deepak Chahar, 10 Maheesh Theekshana, 11 Tushar DeshpandePossible bowl-first XI: 1 Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), 2 Rachin Ravindra, 3 Ajinkya Rahane, 4 Daryl Mitchell, 5 Ravindra Jadeja, 6 Sameer Rizvi, 7 MS Dhoni (wk), 8 Deepak Chahar, 9 Maheesh Theekshana, 10 Tushar Deshpande, Gujarat Titans
Having won their first match of the season, Titans might persist with the same XI and Impact Player strategy. Sudharsan should start if they bat first, and could be replaced by Mohit Sharma or one of the bowlers. And it could be vice-versa if Titans bowl first.Possible bat-first XI: 1 Shubman Gill (capt), 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), , 4 Azmatullah Omarzai, 5 Vijay Shankar, 6 David Miller, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Umesh Yadav, 10 R Sai Kishore, 11 Spencer JohnsonPossible bowl-first XI: 1 Shubman Gill (capt), 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Azmatullah Omarzai, 4 Vijay Shankar, 5 David Miller, 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Umesh Yadav, 9 R Sai Kishore, 10 Spencer Johnson, MS Dhoni has hit Umesh Yadav for 68 runs off 38 balls in seven IPL innings•BCCI

Stats that matter
Gaikwad has a strong head-to-head record against Rashid Khan in the IPL: 95 runs off 60 balls in seven innings at an average of 47.5, and a strike rate of 158.3. Only Sanju Samson (111) has scored more runs than Gaikwad against Rashid in the IPL. Ajinkya Rahane’s first-ten balls strike-rate since the start of IPL 2023 is 158.3. In comparison, his first-ten balls strike-rate between 2018 and 2020 was just 85.1. Dhoni has hit Umesh Yadav for 68 runs off 38 balls in seven IPL innings with just one dismissal at a strike-rate of nearly 180. Since IPL 2023, Titans’ seamers have taken 25 wickets in the powerplay at an economy rate of 8.35. No other team has picked up more wickets in the first six overs during this period. Azmatullah Omarzai, a genuine swing bowler from Afghanistan, has strengthened Titans even further in this area.Pitch and conditions
The Chepauk pitch that was used on Friday was an atypical one, with not much turn on offer for the spinners. Instead, the ball slid on to the bat nicely, especially in the early exchanges. Believe it or not, CSK’s spinners didn’t take a single wicket in the season-opener. It was only the second instance of CSK’s spinners going wicketless at Chepauk since May 2015.”If you’ve noticed my comments over the last couple of seasons, we’ve been guessing a little bit about the wicket as well,” Fleming said. “But it looks pretty good [today].”

GOAL Convo: The goalkeeper discussed his Gold Cup run with the national team, finding form in MLS, and growing as leader

Matt Freese hates his phone.

The NYCFC and USWNT goalie was the talk of U.S. soccer when he saved three penalties in a shootout against Costa Rica in the Gold Cup quarterfinal. To say that he didn't care would be inaccurate. But he stayed away from the hype that followed him around in online spheres.

"I just hate technology, dude. I stay off my phone as much as possible," he tells GOAL.

Seems a bit much? That's just who Freese is. The shot-stopper has always been a bit of a technophobe, a soccer nerd who did a research project at Harvard about the psychology of saving penalties. There are a bunch of athletes who are simply hyper-focused on their craft, the kind of guys who at their most comfortable just talking about soccer.

Freese is of that ilk. You kind of have to be as a goalkeeper, he says. It has certainly helped NYCFC. The Piegons have been rather up and down this season, and find themselves in seventh in the Eastern Conference, struggling for consistency in their first season under head coach Pascal Jansen.

"We beat Cincy, beat Philly, and then drop points elsewhere totally unnecessarily," Freese says. "It's something that we've dealt with, I'd say, for the last year and a half, and it's something that needs to change. It will change."

Are they a playoff team? Certainly. But they are hunting for more, and Freese will be central to that effort – even if he is the last line of defense, and not the main guy in attack for the side that has currently scored the fewest goals of any team in a playoff spot. Still, they have a new designated player, Nico Fernandez, in the fray, and their performances have certainly improved of late. With Freese between the sticks to back it all up, that might be enough.

And on the USMNT front, Freese started all six Gold Cup matches ahead of incumbent Matt Turner, and is locked in a positional battle with several contenders looking to be the starter in the 2026 World Cup.

Freese talked about the USMNT, NYCFC and finding consistency in the latest GOAL Convo, a Q&A with central figures in the American soccer scene.

• Getty Images
  

  ON THE GOLD CUP

  GOAL: Let's start with the USMNT. Did the Gold Cup feel like a bit of a moment for you in your national team career? Have you had time to reflect on it a bit?

  FREESE: I didn't take any time to reflect until after the tournament. I think the worst thing you can do as a new guy getting your chance, getting your moment, is have one good game or one good moment, and then get ahead of yourself and forget that in two days you have another game. And so I really didn't take any time to reflect during the actual tournament itself. And then afterwards it took some time to think about it, take it in, if that makes sense.

  On one hand, it was a huge opportunity for me, and a huge moment for me to not just get a game, not just get two games, but actually get six competitive tournament games and help be part of the team that gets to a final. It was a huge learning experience for me, and hopefully is another step in my career. I don't want to be naive and say, "Oh, that was my moment, because I hope there are many more moments.' You know, I'm not someone who has a moment and then gets happy and says, 'Ah, that's the one I'll remember forever." Because I always want to keep pushing. And I hope there are many more moments like that.

  GOAL: What is it like to get a heightened level of attention? There are so many more eyes on you when you're playing for the USMNT. How do you come to terms with that?

  FREESE: I block a lot of it out, to be honest. During the tournament, I didn't go on any social media. My phone, obviously, was busy after the Costa Rica game, and I pretty much didn't answer texts. I answered my mom, answered my girlfriend, and then texted my family group chat, and I was about it pretty much, until after the Gold Cup final. With more eyes on you, does it change you? Does it change your preparation, does it impact you at all? Not really just because I just hate technology, dude. I stay off my phone as much as possible.

  GOAL: Was that an intentional decision? Did you go into the tournament deciding that you weren't going to look at your phone?

  FREESE: I just stay off all of it pretty much regardless. That's kind of what I always do. In that moment, obviously, I did know that there were more eyes on me than there normally are, and so I very purposely just stayed off of all social media.

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• Getty Images Sport
  

  ON NYCFC'S INCONSISTENCY

  GOAL: You guys are seventh in the Eastern Conference right now. Would it be fair to say that it's been a bit of an up and down season in terms of results?

  FREESE: That's in no way, shape, or form a leap. It's been inconsistent from us, and that's something we're aware of, and it's something we're working to fix. You know, we have games where we go to Columbus and tie 0-0. We beat Cincy, beat Philly, and then drop points elsewhere totally unnecessarily. It's something that we've dealt with, I'd say, for the last year and a half, and it's something that needs to change. It will change. I am not a big excuse guy, to be honest. And I'm not saying this as an excuse, more so a potential reason: we're young. We're a very young group. I don't know exactly our average age. But if I'm not wrong, we have, like, maybe the second youngest roster in the league.

  Consistency and experience, consistency and age, consistency and maturity, those are directly correlated. There's just no way around that. And so the challenge is expediting your maturation process and expediting your experience as much as possible. That leads to consistency, and then focusing on the details, and focusing on the preparation every single day: what you're doing in the gym, what you're doing on the field, and holding yourself to high standards, holding your teammates high standards, that is what expedites that process, so that it doesn't take years. It can be a matter of months.

• Getty Images Sport
  

  ON LEADERSHIP

  GOAL: And when you go through those ups and downs, what's your role like specifically? Do you tend to take accountability, or feel like you have a role in it?

  FREESE: Definitely. Two years ago, when I just got here, I was in and out, and I'm now playing every game. Maybe that's something I wasn't thinking about as much. But now I've developed into one of the guys who's trying to lead this team forward. It is something we talk about, something we think about. And personally, in my view, is you have to stay very level-headed. I think you can say, "Yes, we're inconsistent, we're up and down." But there are two other options. One is always up, another option is down, and then you keep going down.

  Part of the reason, potentially, we're not going down and and then continuing to stay down or going down, down, down, down, each game, further down, is because we are very level-headed. There's very purposefully, I think, an appropriate amount of positivity and an appropriate amount of discipline and accountability. Obviously, with it being a young group, you have to learn how to make sure everyone's enjoying it, but hold them accountable at the same time. And when guys are down, probably not the time to push them down. And when guys are, when guys are up, probably not the time to forcefully lift them even further up.

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• NYCFC
  

  ON NEW SIGNINGS

  GOAL: You guys have just brought it a new DP, Nico Fernandez, what kind of a lift do you think he might give the team?

  FREESE: He's got a fantastic resume! Looks like he has a lot of quality, even the few days I've seen him. Our staff, and the recruiting at New York City FC and CFG as a whole did a great job finding him and getting him here. I think he's gonna be huge. He's very creative. Seems like he's kind of like a little bit of a killer. You need some killers out there. And I can tell he has that bite to him, and he has that tenacity and and I think another important piece. With Nico, he has a physical strength that this league requires. I think a lot of people say blah, blah, blah about MLS, or MLS versus other leagues.

  The one thing you can be sure of is that MLS is a very physical league. There's a lot of strong people, there's a lot of fast people, there's a lot of athletes, former college athletes. Defenders that were lifting four or five times a week during their college days. And you have to be able to compete with that. It's just a fact. And I can tell that he has that physical side of him where he'll be able to do that, which is great.

  GOAL: Do you think foreign players underestimate the physicality of the league?

  FREESE: There have been some quotes about that from some of the big European guys across the league that they were surprised about how physical the league was and how difficult it is. But it is a difficult league. You're traveling, and you're flying across the country, getting home at 4 a.m. and then waking up and getting into the facility for training. It's a very unusual league, a very difficult league to find consistency in and so yeah, I could see some, some people having, having been surprised by that.

Australia allrounder has been approached by the PCB to fill the vacant men’s national coaching role

Danyal Rasool09-Mar-2024The PCB has sounded out former Australian allrounder Shane Watson as one of its prime contenders for the head coaching role of the men’s national side.The side currently does not have a head coach and wishes to find a candidate for the top job before New Zealand visits Pakistan for a white-ball series in April. It is understood the PCB is eager to find someone to fill the role on a permanent rather than temporary basis, as was the case when Mohammad Hafeez was appointed for tours of Australia and New Zealand in December and January.Watson is currently in Pakistan and was appointed coach of the Quetta Gladiators in the PSL this year. He has overseen a turnaround for the franchise, who are set to qualify for the playoffs for the first time in five years.Related

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While Watson is not the only one the PCB are looking at – former West Indies captain Daren Sammy is another desired candidate – ESPNcricinfo understands Watson has been approached. However, it is not yet guaranteed he will accept the job should an offer come his way.He lives in Sydney with his young family and already has a busy schedule throughout the year. He serves as coach of the San Francisco Unicorns in Major League Cricket and has commentary commitments with Star Sports in ICC events as well as the Indian Premier League. He has previously worked for two seasons under Ricky Ponting as an assistant for Delhi Capitals in the IPL.Daren Sammy is also understood to be in the running•Getty ImagesThe PCB are understood to have been impressed by what he has brought to the Gladiators as well as the interpersonal relationships he has been able to strike. But the likelihood of the two parties reaching a deal will depend upon how much time the PCB requires the head coach to spend in Pakistan. When Mickey Arthur was pursued by the board last year, he was offered a flexible role that allowed him to juggle a coaching role with Derbyshire in the English county season alongside his position of Director of Cricket with Pakistan, with Grant Bradburn appointed the full-time head coach.Earlier this week, newly appointed PCB chairman Mohsin Naqvi said the board was in contact with “a few different options”, promising that no expense would be spared in procuring the best coaches for Pakistan.To that end, Sammy is also believed to be in the reckoning, with his long-standing relationship with Pakistan cricket counting in his favour. Sammy is West Indies’ current limited-overs coach but is hugely popular within Pakistan since his days as captain of Peshawar Zalmi, most notably deciding to tour the country for the 2017 PSL final, with all overseas players from his side following him to the country when Quetta Gladiators’ overseas players opted to stay away. He is currently head coach of Peshawar Zalmi, who have also qualified for the playoffs this season.Pakistan’s appointment of coaches has been complicated by the instability of the administrative side of the PCB. Former PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf decided to remove Arthur and Bradburn after an indifferent World Cup, sending Hafeez to lead the tours to Australia and New Zealand instead despite having no coaching experience. Arthur and Bradburn were in turn only appointed during Ashraf’s predecessor Najam Sethi’s brief stint at the helm.

MLS shared they're repeating the format from October 2024, which drew 6.4 million views tune in across platforms to watch the Argentine and Miami

‘Messi cam’ will track the Argentine star throughout entire matchStream will feature mobile-friendly vertical format with custom graphicsPrevious Messi-focused stream in Oct. 2024 drew 6.4 million viewsGet the MLS Season Pass today!Stream games nowWHAT HAPPENED

Major League Soccer announced Thursday that Lionel Messi will be the focus of an exclusive TikTok livestream during Inter Miami's Aug. 2 Leagues Cup matchup with Necaxa. The special broadcast will feature a dedicated camera tracking the 38-year-old Argentine superstar throughout the entire game, presented in a mobile-friendly vertical format with custom graphics.

MLS is calling the broadcast series "Player Spotlight: Messi" and plans to produce a total of four such streams during the 2025 season.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportTHE BIGGER PICTURE

This continues an approach MLS first tested in October 2024, when a similar Messi-focused stream during his playoff debut attracted 6.4 million views across the league and team's TikTok pages, making it the most widely viewed sporting event in Apple history according to the company.

The match, Messi's playoff debut, saw the defeat Atlanta United 2-1 in game one of their Best-of-3 series that eventually saw the South Beach club eliminated in the opening round of the postseason.

MLS commissioner Don Garber spoke Wednesday ahead of the MLS All-Star Game, claiming the league is averaging 120,000 unique viewers per season pass stream in 2025. The number is an "almost 50 percent" increase from last year, per Garber.

In April, MLS and TikTok announced a multi-year partnership to bring live match highlights and fan reactions to the platform. Now, come the Leagues Cup, a live match will be shown as the clash with Necaxa – a club co-owned by a group of A-list celebrities including Ryan Reynolds, Rob McElhenney, Mesut Özil, Kate Upton, Odell Beckham Jr., Justin Verlander, Victor Oladipo, and Eva Longoria.

WHAT SETH BACON SAID

“Everything we’re doing is focused on fan growth,” MLS EVP of media Seth Bacon said in an interview via Sportico. “We’re a league that is going to put the content where the people are…Everything is on Apple, but we’re also going to find you in other ways, so that you can see it, experience it, and then you know that it’s on Apple.”

“We have the ability to say, ‘Hey, come this way, or come this way, or come this way,” Bacon added. “We’ve got ways to entertain and engage people, no matter what level of interest they have.”

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Getty Images SportWHAT’S NEXT?

Messi and his teammate Jordi Alba could face a suspension for Inter Miami's game against FC Cincinnati on July 26 after failing to show up for the MLS All-Star game.

The TikTok stream will be the first of four planned "Player Spotlight: Messi" broadcasts scheduled for the 2025 season, though MLS has not yet announced the dates for the remaining three streams. Inter Miami will face Atlas first in the Leagues Cup on July 30 and then Necaxa on Aug. 2 before their final group stage game against Pumas UNAM on Aug. 6.

CA announces ten-year action plan to increase investment, interest and participation in women’s cricket

Alex Malcolm29-Apr-2024

Cricket Australia (CA) has reduced the WBBL season to 40 games plus finals to bring it in line with the BBL and fit within a burgeoning women’s cricket calendar, while also creating a new state-based T20 competition that will sit alongside the WNCL (Australia’s female 50-over competition) to create additional player opportunities for domestic players with payments to be raised.CA made the announcements as part of a ten-year Women and Girls Action Plan that is designed to increase investment, interest and participation in women’s cricket along with the clear objective of trying to win gold medals at the 2028 and 2032 Olympic games when cricket will be part of those events.The reduction in the length of the WBBL season had long been forecast given the window for this year’s tournament had shrunk due to the scheduling of the T20 World Cup in Bangladesh in September and October and a three-match women’s ODI series between Australia and India that starts in Brisbane on December 5.Related

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MCG to host historic women's Ashes Test to mark 90-year anniversary of format

BBL draft shake up looms, WBBL expected to be reduced to 40 games

Players and coaches had publicly supported a reduced season that was in line with the BBL which would create a better schedule and context for matches, while not reducing the number of games on free-to-air TV.The major concern was reducing the total playing opportunities for domestic players. But CA has found a solution by creating a new state-based women’s T20 competition that will run in conjunction with the WNCL and could serve as the perfect warm-up for the WBBL. The new competition will also raise female domestic player salaries next season. The average female player in Australia with a WBBL and state contract, plus receiving full match payments for playing in every domestic fixture, will earn AU$163,322, which is an AU$12,303 increase on last season.Beyond the restructuring of the WBBL, the creation of the new state T20 tournament, and the goal to win two Olympic gold medals, CA has boldly stated its wish to increase total revenue from women’s cricket by AU$100 million in the next ten years, increase participation for girls aged 5-12 from 25,000 to 100,000, invest AU$500 million in women’s cricket infrastructure and have at least 40% female representation in key positions across Australian cricket including executives, boards and community roles.There is also a commitment from CA to schedule more women’s matches in major Australian stadiums, starting with the women’s Ashes Test early next year at the MCG which will celebrate the 90th anniversary of women’s Test cricket. During the multiformat series, Australia and England will also play women’s T20Is at Adelaide Oval and the SCG.Australia’s star allrounder Ellyse Perry was supportive of the initiatives.”Australian Cricket has been at the forefront of the growth in women’s sport providing some of the best opportunities for players with resourcing and remuneration and it’s reassuring to know this commitment will not only be sustained, but greatly enhanced over the next 10 years,” Perry said in a CA statement.”With viewing audiences increasing, the public appetite for women’s sport is now indisputable and we would love to see major stadiums filled with fans for our international and WBBL games and more girls inspired to play cricket.”It is also extremely important that the increased interest in women’s sport is reflected in sponsorship and broadcast deals, and I hope this plan will continue to drive this growth so that women’s cricket continues to thrive.”

D’Arcy Short made 127 while Ashton Agar and debutant Bryce Jackson took three wickets in a 52-run over Tasmania to keep WA’s three-peat hopes alive

AAP14-Feb-2024A D’Arcy Short century has helped Western Australia reach a fifth consecutive Marsh Cup final after beating an injury-depleted Tasmania with more than 13 overs to spare, to keep the dream of a three-peat alive.Chasing 321 on Wednesday in Hobart, Tasmania lost Mac Wright to a knee injury and Mitch Owen to a side injury with neither able to bat after they were hurt in the field. Tasmania’s faint hopes of reaching the final rapidly disappeared as they were bowled out for 268, having lost only eight wickets in 36.2 overs.New South Wales will now host WA in the February 25 final, with a Sydney venue yet to be determined. WA are the two-time defending champions and have played in six of the last seven finals, finishing third in the other season.Opener Short top-scored with 127 from 121 balls, with 15 fours and a six. It was his fourth List A century and his first since 2019 having averaged just 17 this season. Cameron Bancroft scored 64 in a 147-run stand for the second wicket with Short that set up WA’s formidable innings.Sam Whiteman also contributed 49, while Hilton Cartwright (23no) and Nick Hobson (29no) scored at better than a run a ball at the end of the innings.Billy Stanlake (2-54 from 10 overs) was the only Tasmanian bowler to take multiple wickets. Charlie Wakim gave some respite from the WA batting onslaught when he took an outstanding one-handed catch in the deep to dismiss Whiteman. The shot off Stanlake appeared certain to be a six, but Wakim brilliantly snared it on the boundary rope.Wakim top-scored in the chase with 68 from 53 balls, including six fours and a six, as Tasmania’s top five batters all made starts. Jordan Silk also made 61, but no-one in the top order could score the century Tasmania needed to overhaul WA’s imposing total.WA debutant Bryce Jackson took 3 for 67 from nine overs and Ashton Agar’s 10 overs yielded 3 for 57.

Mushfiqur Rahim has hit back at the criticism of Bangladesh’s senior cricketers, saying great team performances in T20 cricket require experienced hands as much they do the fearlessness of youth.Mushfiqur, 36, pointed towards the success of Fortune Barishal, who beat Rangpur Riders in the second Qualifier on Wednesday to make it to the final of BPL 2024. Apart from Mushfiqur (36), Barishal have two more players older than 35: Mahmudullah (37) and Shoaib Malik (41). All three have chipped in with important contributions during the season.”Didn’t you say before the tournament that Barishal is the ‘team of the old’?” Mushfiqur said. “Didn’t you say that T20s can’t be won with experience? I think this is a wrong concept. You need experience in every format. New players will come, the older ones will go, but they will combine well to build the team. We want to leave a legacy, and we want the likes of [Towhid] Hridoy and Tamim [Tanzid Hasan] to leave a legacy when they become senior players [for Bangladesh]. It is supposed to be smooth sailing.”Related

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Mushfiqur made a call for fitness and performance to be given preference over age when considering players.”It [the criticism] doesn’t motivate me,” he said. “It hurts me. I can guarantee you that I am better than most players in terms of fitness. I can write it down. More than age, I think the criteria should be fitness and performance. Age is just a number.”All three matches between Barishal and Rangpur this season were billed as Shakib Al Hasan vs Tamim Iqbal battles, with crowds booing both players on several occasions. The pair’s differences first came to light last year when BCB president Nazmul Hassan said Shakib and Tamim were not on speaking terms. When Tamim retired, unretired and then resigned from ODI captaincy, Shakib slammed Tamim in a TV interview.They both deserved better, Mushfiqur said. “To be honest, if the limelight is on the two players, then the rest of us can relax. They will have their ‘war’, and we will watch. They are both legends. They have given a lot to Bangladesh cricket. This [a form of booing in Bengali] chant, if they have to hear it, the rest of us should be buried in the ground.”Mushfiqur also added that he was pleased with Bangladeshi players dominating the BPL batting and bowling charts.”It is a positive sign. The top five run-getters and [four of the top five] wicket-takers are all from Bangladesh. Such consistency doesn’t happen by chance. If we can deliver in crunch moments, it means we have cool nerves. Such a thing is helpful for the cricketer and his team.”