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January 6, 2023

January 6, 2023 IFMSPORTS

Alice Capsey And Kate Cross Named In England Squad For The Upcoming ICC Women’s T20 World Cup In February

Despite suffering a fractured collarbone in December, Alice Capsey has been nominated to England Women’s team for the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup.

Capsey and Kate Cross, who missed the series whitewash in the West Indies last month, have been nominated to head coach Jon Lewis’ 15-player roster.

England’s campaign began on February 11 against the West Indies as part of a group that also includes India, Pakistan, and Ireland.

Before the official ICC warm-up games, they will play three warm-up matches against New Zealand.

Issy Wong and Dani Gibson have been named in the squad for South Africa as travelling reserves.

Source: Sky Sports.com

December 16, 2022

December 16, 2022 IFMSPORTS

Rehan Ahmed, 18, will become England’s Youngest Men’s Test Cricketer After Being Handed Debut Against Pakistan

Teenage leg-spinner Rehan Ahmed will become England’s youngest men’s Test cricketer after being given his debut in Saturday’s series finale against Pakistan in Karachi.

When the final Test starts, the Leicestershire player will be 18 years and 126 days old, breaking the record of Brian Close, who was 18 years and 149 days old when he played against New Zealand in Manchester in July 1949.

Ahmed is one of two changes to England’s lineup as the visitors look for a record 3-0 series sweep and their ninth victory in ten Tests since Ben Stokes took over as captain and Brendon McCullum became head coach.

Ahmed and wicketkeeper Ben Foakes replace seamer James Anderson and off-spinner Will Jacks in the XI.

Foakes will reclaim the gloves from Surrey teammate Ollie Pope, who batted in the first Test in Rawalpindi while Foakes was ill and then held his place behind the wickets for the second match in Multan.

Ahmed will not be the youngest person to play a Test for England; that honor belongs to Holly Colvin, who was 15 years and 336 days old when she made her debut for the women’s squad against Australia in 2005 at Hove.

June 15, 2022

June 15, 2022June 15, 2022 IFMSPORTS

Costa Rica Become Last Team To Qualify For World Cup After Win Over New Zealand

Costa Rica became only the last team to book their place ahead of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar with victory over New Zealand in the intercontinental play-off.

Costa Rica hit the ground running early on as they took a third-minute lead when ex-Arsenal player Joel Campbell shot low into the bottom corner.

New Zealand ended the game with 10 men as substitute Kosta Barbarouses was sent off for fouling Francisco Calvo.

Ranked 31st in the world, Luis Fernando Suarez's side go into Group E, which also contains four-time winners Germany and a Japan side who have advanced beyond the group phase in three of the past five tournaments.

After finishing fourth in CONCACAF qualifying, Costa Rica faced Oceania winners New Zealand with their tie taking place at the Ahmad bin Ali Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar.

New Zealand, ranked 101st in the world, had a good spell just after conceding the goal, but Alex Greive, Matthew Garbett and Newcastle striker Chris Wood all failed to convert chances from inside the penalty area.

Costa Rica have now qualified for the World Cup six times and this will be their third successive appearance.

Their best performance came in 2014 when they reached the quarter-finals, finishing top of a group that included Uruguay, Italy and England, before beating Greece on penalties in the last 16 and losing in a shootout to the Netherlands.

The World Cup begins on 21 November with Costa Rica beginning their campaign against 2010 champions Spain on 23 November.

March 26, 2021

March 26, 2021March 26, 2021 IFMSPORTS

New Zealand Deputy Pm Criticises Adesanya Over Comments

UFC star Israel Adesanya has been slammed by New Zealand's deputy prime minister for making 'flippant comments' about rape after sending a grim taunt to a rival fighter.

The middleweight champion has received significant backlash for his offensive video after hitting out at Kevin Holland by saying in a now-deleted Instagram post: "Bro, I will f***ing rape you."

And the New Zealander has now been criticized by his own country's deputy prime minister Grant Robertson, who has taken a dim view on his words and appeared to call on the UFC to take action against him.

"There is never a time to make flippant comments about rape. It's just not something anybody should do."

"I'm sure Israel understands that. I believe he has deleted the tweet in question. It will be up to the UFC as to what they do.

"But I would certainly be making clear to him, and to anybody actually, that we have to take rape seriously.

Adesanya, who was born in Nigeria but has been a New Zealand citizen since he was 10, failed to respond to the comments directly but appeared undisturbed by the criticism.

He tweeted a gif alongside the words, "Incoming click bait NZ media in 3, 2, 1... This is what it's all about...CLOUT!!"