أعلن دونالد ترامب رئيس الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية أنه مستعد لاتخاذ قرار مهم قبل انطلاق منافسات كأس العالم لكرة القدم 2026 في الصيف القادم.
ونشرت صحيفة “موندو ديبورتيفو” الإسبانية أن دونالد ترامب رئيس الولايات المتحدة أعلن أنه على استعداد لنقل مباريات كأس العالم 2026 المقرر إقامتها في مدن يعتبرها غير آمنة إلى أماكن أخرى إذا لزم الأمر.
وقال ترامب للصحفيين في البيت الأبيض: “كأس العالم سيكون آمنًا، إذا وجدت أنها غير آمنة في مدن معينة، فسنقوم بنقل المباريات لمدن أخرى”.
وندد رئيس الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية بشكل خاص بإحصائيات الجرائم في مدينة شيكاغو الأمريكية التي لا تستضيف كأس العالم.
أقرأ أيضاً.. صورة | الكشف عن 3 تمائم لـ كأس العالم 2026
وأضاف ترامب: “إذا شعرنا أن مدينة ما ستكون غير آمنة ولو قليلاً لاستضافة كأس العالم أو دورة الألعاب الأوليمبية التي ستقام في لوس انجلوس عام 2028، خاصة كأس العالم نظراً لانتشار البطولة في عدد من المدن، فإننا لن نسمح بإقامة المباريات هناك بل سننقلها”.
وتشمل المدن التي تستضيف بطولة كأس العالم وتعد معاقل للحزب الديمقراطي في الولايات المتحدة مثل لوس أنجلوس “8 مباريات مجدولة”، وسان فرانسيسكو “6 مباريات” وسياتل “6 مباريات”.
ونشرت إدارة ترامب الحرس الوطني هذا العام للحفاظ على النظام في بعض المدن التي يديريها الحزب الديمقراطي، مثل لوس أنجلوس على الرغم من اعتراضات السلطات المحلية.
وتستضيف الولايات المتحدة كأس العالم 2026 في الفترة من 11 يونيو إلى 19 يوليو بالاشتراك مع المكسيك وكندا، وقد عين ترامب نفسه رئيساً لفريق عمل البيت الأبيض المعني بكأس العالم.
سجل الدولي الإسباني ماركوس يورينتي، لاعب الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي أتليتكو مدريد هدف التعادل لصالح فريقه أمام ليفربول في المباراة التي تجمعهما ضمن منافسات دوري أبطال أوروبا.
ويفتتح أتليتكو مدريد مشواره في دوري أبطال أوروبا بمواجهة ليفربول الإنجليزي، على ملعب “آنفيلد” في الجولة الأولى لمرحلة الدوري ببطولة دوري أبطال أوروبا.
وتقدم ليفربول في النتيجة وأحرز هدفين في أول 6 دقائق بالمباراة بأقدام روبرتسون ومحمد صلاح لتذهب المباراة في اتجاه النادي الإنجليزي الذي سيطر على كل مجريات اللقاء.
لكن رجال سيميوني رفضوا الاستسلام وسجل يورينتي الهدف الأول في الوقت بدلًا من الضائع من الشوط الأول بعد تسديدة نفذها بشكل مهاري على يمين الحارس البرازيلي أليسون بيكر.
ولأن “آنفيلد” ملعب السعد على الدولي الإسباني، أحرز يورينتي الهدف الثاني لصالح فريقه في الدقيقة 85 من عمر اللقاء بعد تشتيت دفاع ليفربول الكرة على حدود منطقة الجزاء سددها يورنتي ببراعة ارتطمت باللاعب ماك أليستر وسكنت مرمى أليسون. يورينتي يسجل هدف التعادل لصالح أتليتكو مدريد أمام ليفربول في دوري أبطال أوروبا
Australian Daniel Hughes made 144 as second division leaders Sussex established a strong position after day one against Derbyshire at Hove.Derbyshire elected to bowl first then saw Hughes and Tom Haines put on 196 in just 36 overs. Haines made 72 and after Hughes departed Tom Alsop hit an unbeaten 69 as Sussex closed on 391 for 4.It was just the response they would have wanted after losing only their second game of the season to promotion rivals Yorkshire last week.They began the game six points clear of second-placed Middlesex and nine ahead of Yorkshire, who are playing each other at Headingley, but three of their remaining four matches are at the 1st Central County Ground where they won three out of four this season and know the conditions well.Once again there was a good covering of grass on the pitch which would have influenced Derbyshire skipper David Lloyd’s decision to insert Sussex but his seamers, armed with the Kookaburra ball which is being used for the next two rounds of Vitality County Championship fixtures, struggled for consistency, particularly before lunch, and Hughes and Haines cashed in.It wasn’t until deep into the second session, when spinners David Lloyd and Jack Morley operated in tandem, that the run rate dipped below five an over but by then Sussex had taken control.Hughes offered one chance on 35 when he drove at Zak Chappell, but Derbyshire skipper Wayne Madsen couldn’t hold on to the edge diving to his right at second slip, and by lunch the two left-handers had plundered 161 from 28 overs, targeting the short boundary on the scoreboard side.Hughes duly eased to the ninth first-class hundred of his career just after lunch and it was a surprise when he fell for 144 off 142 balls. South African Daryn Dupavillon had bowled a wide earlier in the over when he speared another delivery outside off stump which Hughes could have ignored, but instead under-edged to keeper Brooke Guest. Hughes hit 18 fours and three sixes, but it was a somewhat tame end to an excellent innings by the 35-year-old from Sydney, who has already confirmed that he will return to Sussex next season. It was also the 1500th century scored against Derbyshire in all formats.Haines had already departed for a fluent 72 when Chappell tempted him into a loose drive and this time Madsen held on at slip while Tom Clark, one of the five left-handers in Sussex’s top six, squandered a promising start when left-armer spinner Morley found extra bounce and the edge looped to slip high off the bat.But by then Alsop was easing to his seventh half-century of the season as he added 66 for the fourth wicket with James Coles, who looked untroubled until he played across the line to off-spinner Lloyd. Alsop has yet to convert any of those fifties into a hundred but he won’t have a better opportunity when he resumes tomorrow, having so far put on 39 for the fifth wicket with captain John Simpson, who was dropped by Madsen off Dupavillon on 21 late in the day.
Chelsea are now in “ongoing” negotiations over a deal to sign an “incredible” striker, with a meeting taking place “in recent days”, according to RMC Sport journalist Fabrice Hawkins.
Blues looking to bolster squad before Club World Cup
The initial summer transfer window is set to close on June 10th ahead of the Club World Cup, before reopening on June 16th, and the Blues are looking to get a number of deals over the line before the first deadline.
Jamie Gittens has emerged as a major target since it was confirmed Jadon Sancho will not be making a permanent move to west London, while there have long been doubts over the goalkeeper options, with Robert Sanchez and Filip Jorgensen being used interchangeably last season.
The interest in Hugo Ekitike is a little stranger, given that Enzo Maresca has already added Liam Delap to his squad this summer, but the manager may feel he needs a more experienced option at centre-forward, with the former Ipswich Town man yet to prove himself at the top level.
There has now been a new update on Chelsea’s Hugo Ekitike pursuit, with Hawkins taking to X to reveal they are in “ongoing” negotiations over a deal for the Eintracht Frankfurt striker, having held a meeting with his camp “in recent days”.
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1
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Dominic Lund
Jun 8, 2025
The Blues are still considering a move for the forward, with contact yet to be broken off, despite talks not progressing, but a deal will not be cheap, with Frankfurt currently unwilling to compromise on their asking price of €100m (£84m).
Ekitike could be "incredible" signing for Chelsea
While the 22-year-old is the same age as Delap, he has more experience than the Englishman, having regularly provided goals and assists for Reims, Paris Saint-Germain and Frankfurt across spells in Ligue 1 and the Bundesliga.
Competition
Appearances
Goals
Assists
Bundesliga
47
19
10
Ligue 1
52
13
8
Teammate Rasmus Kristensen has also been left impressed by the Frenchman, lauding him as “incredible” back in January, so it is little wonder that Chelsea are keen to take him to Stamford Bridge, although there are doubts over whether he is worth £84m.
With the Frankfurt star contracted until 2029, the German club are in a strong negotiating position, but the Reims-born striker is yet to prove himself in the Champions League, while a return of 15 goals in 33 Bundesliga games last season isn’t out of this world.
As such, while Ekitike could go on to be a top striker, the £84m asking price is a little steep, so the Blues should continue to try and negotiate a lower fee.
The fans and players might have a Europa League final to look forward to next week, but the powers that be at Tottenham Hotspur will be looking past that and at the upcoming transfer window.
Daniel Levy and Co have to ensure it’s a massive window this year; otherwise, Ange Postecoglou – or whoever replaces him – could just find themselves in the same place this time next season.
Fortunately, there has been an increasing number of reports linking the North Londoners to a host of incredibly exciting players in recent weeks.
However, while the talented attackers touted for moves to N17 should excite the fans, they could also spell trouble for some of the club’s current stars, such as Bayern Munich loanee Mathys Tel.
Tottenham transfer news
Before we get to the player in question, it’s worth examining some of the other exciting attackers linked with Spurs in recent weeks, like Eberechi Eze and Liam Delap.
Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
The former could reportedly cost the North Londoners a cool £68m, but given his ability to play in a number of positions and the fact he’s racked up 12 goals and 11 assists in 40 games this season, it would be hard to argue with that valuation.
Likewise, while Delap is still young and relatively inexperienced, his £30m release clause seems more than fair for a striker who has scored 12 goals and provided two assists in 35 Premier League games this season.
Ipswich Town'sLiamDelapreacts
However, if a player is going to come in and send Tel packing back to Bayern, they’re going to have to be someone seriously special, someone like Rayan Cherki.
Yes, according to a recent report from Caught Offside, Spurs are one of several sides incredibly interested in the Lyon gem.
The report has revealed that the player’s agent has approached a number of ‘top Premier League clubs’ over a potential transfer, and according to reports from earlier this week, the North Londoners have already inquired about the player, who could be available for just £19m.
It could be a complicated transfer to get over the line, but given Cherki’s immense ability, it’s one worth fighting for, even if it could be bad news for Tel.
How Cherki compares to Tel
So, the first thing to say is that Cherki is capable of playing off the right of a front three and in attacking midfield, but with James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski locking down the former and Brennan Johnson scoring bags of goals from the latter, we reckon the Frenchman would play off the left at Spurs.
Rayan Cherki
Therefore, his arrival in the summer could see the club thank Tel for his service and send him back to Bayern in the summer, as when we compare the two players, it’s abundantly clear that the Lyon ace is the far more dangerous and effective attacker.
For example, in terms of pure output, the “insane” 21-year-old, as dubbed by U23 scout Antonio Mango, has scored 12 goals and provided 19 assists in 43 games, totalling 3009 minutes, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 1.38 games, or every 97.06 minutes.
In contrast, since moving to North London, the Sarcelles-born gem has scored three goals and provided one assist in 18 appearances, totalling 1083 minutes, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 4.5 games, or every 270.75 minutes.
Unfortunately for the Bayern loanee, the incredibly one-sided nature of this comparison only continues when we take a look under the hood at their underlying numbers.
Non-Penalty Expected G+As
0.69
0.37
Non-Penalty G+As
0.83
0.27
Progressive Passes
9.03
2.52
Progressive Carries
4.47
2.52
Passing Accuracy
78.6%
75.0%
Key Passes
3.23
1.17
Passes into the Final Third
4.38
1.35
Passes into the Penalty Area
3.27
1.62
Live Passes
53.1
29.8
Shot-Creating Actions
6.09
2.54
Goal-Creating Actions
0.88
0.27
Successful Take-Ons
2.03
1.62
For example, in practically every relevant metric, Lyon’s “future ballon d’Or winner,” as dubbed by The Athletic’s Alex Barker, comes out on top.
These metrics include things like expected and actual non-penalty goals plus assists, progressive passes and carries, passing accuracy, key passes, passes into the final third and penalty area, shot and goal-creating actions, successful take-ons and more, all per 90.
Ultimately, it’s clear that Cherki is a far superior player to Tel, and while it would be handy for Spurs to have both next season, we wouldn’t be surprised that signing the former will force the latter to move on.
Ange can fix Maddison & Kulusevski blow by starting "incredible" Spurs star
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Looking to rebuild an ageing midfield, Manchester City have now reportedly made contact to sign a Serie A star with sporting director Hugo Viana hoping to secure his signature this summer.
Man City set to kick-start summer rebuild
The Premier League already received a glimpse of what Manchester City’s rebuild may look like in the January transfer window when the Citizens welcomed the likes of Omar Marmoush and Abdukodir Khusanov. Now, six months on, the Manchester club could seriously step things up. With a Kevin de Bruyne-shaped hole to fill, the rumours have already been coming thick and fast.
Names such as Morgan Gibbs-White and Florian Wirtz have both been mentioned, with a move for the former looking particularly likely to take place when the summer arrives. Following an excellent season at Nottingham Forest, the midfield star has earned the attraction of those at The Etihad, who are primed to make their move in the coming months.
If there were any doubts that Manchester City needed a rebuild, then their recent 0-0 draw against relegated Southampton should have acted as a timely reminder. The Saints were on course to match Derby County’s record low points tally in the Premier League before the most unexpected point saw them avoid embarrassment.
After a frustrating afternoon, City boss Pep Guardiola went against Ruben Dias’ criticism of Southampton’s defensive approach, telling reporters: “They can do whatever they want.
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ByBen Gray May 13, 2025
“For many years here, we faced teams in different approaches, and they decided they have to play. It’s on us to break them. In those terms, many times teams have played five in the back or six and the striker has gone on our holding midfielder and there’s no space, it’s difficult.
“You have to break it, and we had the chances. When you review the chances for nothing, we could not score and it happened. Now we prepare the [FA Cup] final and now it is next time and Fulham.”
Man City open talks to sign Reijnders
Away from their frustration on the pitch, meanwhile, the Citizens have pushed on with their summer rebuild. According to The Athletic’s David Ornstein, Manchester City have now made contact to sign Tijjani Reijnders from AC Milan and whilst there is yet to be a formal offer, talks have begun and Viana is hoping to get a deal done this summer.
It would certainly be a statement opening for the new sporting director to sign such a talent, especially if Manchester City then go on and rebuild their midfield even further with the likes of Gibbs-White and Wirtz. In three swift moves, Guardiola’s side could be back to their dominant best.
Minutes
2,948
2,050
1,628
Goals
10
0
4
Assists
4
5
7
Ball Recoveries
110
105
63
Once dubbed an “immense” signing for AC Milan by U23 scout Antonio Mango, all signs are pointing towards Reijnders becoming equally impressive if he decides to join Manchester City this summer. In a summer of change at The Etihad, the Dutchman could be the start of a much-needed midfield rebuild.
While the mood around the club has dramatically improved following their Europa League win on Thursday night, Tottenham Hotspur have had to deal with plenty of problems this season.
The most significant has been the near-endless stream of injuries, which has made it impossible for Ange Postecoglou to field his first-choice defence for much of the campaign.
So, it’s not surprising to hear that Daniel Levy and Co are looking to add to their defensive ranks in the summer.
In fact, recent reports have touted a former Premier League player with a move to N17, a player who’s been compared to Cristian Romero.
Tottenham Hotspur transfer news
It looks like it will be a big summer for Spurs this year, so before getting to the player in question, it’s worth looking at a few of the club’s other targets, such as Oihan Sancet.
Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
The Athletic Bilbao monster will reportedly cost around £69m in the coming months, and while that is a lot, it might well be worth it, as in just 30 appearances, he has scored 17 goals and provided three assists, which comes out to a goal involvement every 1.30 games, almost exclusively from midfield.
An even more expensive signing could be Matheus Cunha, with reports from earlier this month claiming that the North Londoners would be willing to spend £75m to secure his services ahead of the chasing pack.
Wolverhampton Wanderers' MatheusCunhareacts
Again, it’s an enormous sum of money, but given the fact that the Brazilian international has scored 16 goals and provided four assists in 30 appearances this season, it might well be value for money.
However, as mentioned above, bringing in some more defensive cover appears to be one of the club’s priorities this summer, which helps explain their interest in Eric Garcia.
Yes, according to a recent report from Spain, Tottenham are interested in signing the former Manchester City gem, who is currently on loan with Girona, from Barcelona.
In fact, the report goes a step further, claiming that the Lilywhites are ready to make an offer of around €15m for the Spanish defender, which amounts to about £13m.
Barcelona'sEricGarciareacts
It could be a bargain for a relatively young centre-back who has plenty of experience playing at a high level, and he’s already won comparisons to Romero.
How Garcia compares to Romero
So, before getting into the other reasons Spurs might want to sign Garcia this summer, it’s worth exploring this comparison to Romero and where it comes from.
Well, in this instance, it stems from FBref, which looks at players in similar positions in Europe’s top five leagues, the Champions League and Europa League, then creates a list of the ten most comparable players for each one and, in this instance, has concluded that the Argentine star is the fourth most similar centre-back to the Spaniard.
The best way to see where this comparison has come from is to look at the underlying metrics in which the pair rank closely, including, but not limited to, non-penalty expected goals plus assists, shots on target, passes into the penalty area, live passes, goal-creating actions, tackles, blocks and more, all per 90.
Garcia & Romero
Statistics per 90
Garcia
Romero
Non-Penalty Expected G+As
0.16
0.14
Shots on Target
0.40
0.53
Passes into the Penalty Area
0.48
0.53
Live Passes
73.4
71.5
Goal-Creating Actions
0.32
0.26
Tackles
2.06
2.17
Blocks
1.35
1.18
Aerial Duel Win %
55.6%
60.6%
All Stats via FBref for the 24/25 League Season
On top of winning comparisons to the World Cup-winning Lilywhites ace, the £99k-per-week “monster,” as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, also has some seriously impressive underlying numbers in his own right.
For example, FBref places him in the top 1% of centre-backs across Europe’s top five leagues for goals, goals plus assists, shots on target, non-penalty expected goals, penalties won and tackles in the middle third, the top 3% for long pass completion and passes into the final third, the top 5% for progressive passes and much more, all per 90.
FC Barcelona'sEricGarciacelebrates scoring their fourth goal
Ultimately, even if he cost more than is being reported, Spurs would be smart to sign Garcia, so if they can get him for around £13m, then that would be a no-brainer, as he’d be an ideal backup for Romero and Micky van de Ven at the very least, if not a competitor for game time.
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On the way to the series win in SL, Nathan Lyon also became the third Australian to 550 Test wickets
Namooh Shah09-Feb-20254 – Australia have clean swept their opponents for the fourth time in a Test series in Asia where they have played at least two matches. The previous instance of that had come back in 2006, when they had beaten Bangladesh 2-0.5 – Number of Test wins by Australia in Galle is the most by a visiting team in Sri Lanka at any venue, going past Pakistan, who have four wins in Galle. Victory in the second Test against Sri Lanka, which concluded on Sunday, also gave Australia their first Test series win in the country since 2011.33 – Number of wins Australia have across the two cycles of the World Test Championship. That takes them past England, who have 32 wins.Related
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3 – Australia’s win by nine wickets in the second Test against Sri Lanka was only the third instance of a visiting team winning a Test in Sri Lanka with nine or more wickets remaining. The last time it happened was in 2022, when too Australia had won in Galle.43.58 – Difference between the batting and bowling averages in the Test series against Sri Lanka for Australia. It is the highest for Australia in an away series of at least two matches. The next highest of 30.21 had come way back in 1949-50 in South Africa.5 – Steven Smith now has the joint-most Test wins by an Australian captain in Asia, equaling the record of Ricky Ponting.ESPNcricinfo Ltd24 – Number of Test hundreds by Smith in winning causes. He goes past Don Bradman and Matthew Hayden – 23 hundreds each – to become the player with the fourth-most Test centuries in victories. Only Ponting (30), Joe Root (25) and Steve Waugh (25) are ahead of him.200 – Catches taken by Smith is the most by an Australian fielder in Tests. With that, he equals Jacques Kallis, and is only behind Rahul Dravid (210), Root (207) and Mahela Jayawardene (205).553 – Number of Test wickets taken by Nathan Lyon after the completion of the second Test in Galle, where he took seven wickets. Lyon became the third Australian bowler to reach the landmark of 550 Test wickets, after Shane Warne (708) and Glenn McGrath (563). He also completed 150 wickets in Asia, which is the most by a non-Asian bowler there, having already started the series against Sri Lanka well clear of Shane Warne.
India fell short against Bangladesh, but Gill appeared to bat on a pitch different to the ones the others struggled so much on
S Sudarshanan16-Sep-20232:35
Gill: My dismissal was a miscalculation
What do you look at closely when you watch a batter? The bat swing? Hands and eyes? The transfer of body weight? The execution of the shot? The reaction of the batter after?With Shubman Gill, at times, it’s best to watch the feet. Like against Bangladesh on Friday evening at the Asia Cup. It was as much about his feet as anything else.If Shakib Al Hasan appeared to bat on a pitch different from the one the others did in the first innings, Gill took it to another level – or pitch, if you will – in the second.Related
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While the other batters seemed to struggle against the turn on the slowish track, Gill was at home.When Suryakumar Yadav walked out at 94 for 4, Gill was on 57. He had hit six fours and one six at that point, the six over deep midwicket off Mahedi Hasan had brought up his half-century. This was after watching KL Rahul fall attempting a similar shot in the offspinner’s previous over.Against Mustafizur Rahman, Gill took a forward step and played a cover drive. And then off a fullish ball angling away, he went back and punched through backward point when one, perhaps, expected another front-foot drive. Against the spinners, he often went deep in the crease to cut the shortish or length balls and forced them to pitch it up. When they did, he stretched out to get to the ball and caressed it along the carpet.You could choose your music, and Gill’s feet would have been in sync.”On slow wickets, there are a lot of dot balls. Our chat as a batting group is to reduce dot balls and rotate strike,” Gill said later in the press conference, his 121 in 133 balls having gone in vain. “The track was slow and was taking turn, so taking singles is not easy, especially for new batters. The talk was about playing it late and close to the body.”On slow wickets, more runs are scored square of the wicket and less down the ground. So, the aim was to do that.”The feet played along.2:03
Uthappa: ‘You can see Gill’s evolution with this knock’
He slammed Mehidy Hasan Miraz for two sixes in an over before completing his century. The trademark roar-and-bow celebration followed but the job was far from done. It never got done. With the asking rate climbing to over nine for the final seven overs, Gill perished playing one shot too many. He slog-swept Mahedi over cow corner before holing out to long-off the next ball.”There’s so much adrenaline when you are batting, sometimes you miscalculate,” Gill said. “That was a miscalculation on my side. When you got out, you saw there was a lot of time left. If I had batted a bit normally or not that aggressively, we should have been able to get over the line. Fortunately, this was not the final for us. These are the kind of learnings that as a batsman you want to take and move forward.”For the second game in a row, India’s batters struggled against spin. Against Sri Lanka two nights ago, India found themselves in a web spun by Dunith Wellalage’s left-arm spin, when he took 5 for 40.Gill put it down as an “area we are looking to improve on”.”We had a camp in Bangalore before coming here and practised on similar surfaces,” he said. “The World Cup is such a long tournament, and as we go deep into the tournament, the wickets will get slower. It is not easy for batsmen coming in to rotate strike and minimise dot balls. That’s what as a batting unit and bowling group we are looking to overcome.”You’d say Gill, more than any other India batter, has overcome it already – 1025 runs from 17 innings this year, for an average of 68.33 and, not to forget, four centuries including a double, would suggest that.
The only sign that a career had ended was a guard of honour at the start of play
Mohammad Isam11-Jul-2021Mahmudullah’s final day of Test cricket was an intriguing one.At the start of play, he was given a guard of honour by his team-mates. He even led them out onto the field. But from then on he just faded into the background.He didn’t take a catch. He wasn’t needed to bowl any overs. He was just there, experiencing the last highs of a gruelling format as Bangladesh completed a fine victory over Zimbabwe.Mahmudullah has been on a bit of a roller coaster ride this series. Called up as an emergency replacement. Batting at No. 8. Making his highest Test score (150). Retiring mid-way through the game. And walking into the sunset with a Player-of-the-Match award. All of that merits some sort of noise. Except there was none.Related
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Mominul Haque admits Bangladesh 'got away' thanks to long batting line-up
Donald Tiripano disappointed Zimbabwe let early advantage slip
In the presentation ceremony, Mahmudullah came up, collected his prize, spoke about his innings and went back. No mention of a career coming to an end. Just a strange silence.Bangladesh’s captain Mominul Haque had a tougher gig while addressing the post-match press conference. He was bombarded with questions about his team-mate’s retirement, to which, once again there was silence.But eventually the “I can’t comment” turned into a long-winded reply about dedicating the victory to Mahmudullah.”It is his personal decision,” Haque said. “It is difficult for me to comment on it. Anyone can take a personal decision.”We thought that if that’s how it is for him, we would dedicate the win to him. I heard that he won his debut Test as well, so he has now won his last match as well. If that’s how it is, although I don’t know.”The questions wouldn’t stop. The press wanted this silence broken. Finally when Haque was asked to describe Mahmudullah’s last day in Test cricket was, the emotions came out.”As a young captain, I am supposed to feel bad,” he said. “If I don’t feel bad, it is unusual.”Mahmudullah announced his retirement to his team-mates after the end of the third day’s play. As much as the decision was shocking, it was the timing that took everyone by surprise. Cricketers don’t usually quit in the middle of a match.The news sparked strong rebuke from BCB president Nazmul Hassan who, in an interview to said Mahmudullah’s decision was “unusual”, “unacceptable” and based on “emotion”. He also accused the 35-year old of going back on his word – specifically those on a form that the BCB had provided to its players to determine their availability for each of the three formats.Hassan’s anger has been the only non-wishy-washy response to the matter of a Test career ending. Even Mahmudullah hasn’t said a word in public. This, despite coming on a video shot by the BCB on the day he told his team-mates of his decision.ESPNcricinfo understands that the BCB has sent instructions to the touring party not to speak publicly about Mahmudullah’s retirement.Bangladesh’s cricketers have a bumpy history when it comes to retirement. Aminul Islam, the former captain who made a century in their inaugural Test, never formally announced his retirement. The exits of Akram Khan, Khaled Mashud and Khaled Mahmud were all uneasy as well. Javed Omar retired in 2014, seven years after his last international match, apparently carrying disappointment with the selectors’ treatment at the time of his axing.Mashrafe Mortaza, who led Bangladesh to 50 ODI wins in a celebrated captaincy stint, is still in limbo. He had a public fallout with the BCB over the timing of his retirement and since then he just hasn’t been picked to play.Mahmudullah meanwhile will continue to be in Zimbabwe. He is in the ODI side and leads the T20I team.