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MatériaMais Notícias

A defesa do Santos tem uma nova dupla titular: Gustavo Henrique e Luiz Felipe, que concedeu entrevista coletiva na tarde desta segunda-feira, no CT Rei Pelé, e não escondeu sua satisfação em poder ganhar uma sequência na temporada. Para Luiz Felipe, a saída de David Braz do Peixe representa um misto de alegria e tristeza. O ex-camisa 14 se despediu dos companheiros nesta tarde, pouco antes de viajar à Turquia, para selar seu empréstimo ao Sivasspor por uma temporada.

-Ficamos tristes com a saída do Braz, porque é um cara que nos ajudou bastante, era um líder. Mas feliz também porque é uma coisa boa para ele. Ele queria ir. Está conseguindo alcançar os objetivos pessoais dele. Para mim, é muito importante ter essa sequência. Vai ser bom. Formar dupla de novo com o Gustavo me deixa muito feliz, deu bastante certo em 2016. Foi praticamente o melhor momento da minha carreira – ponderou Luiz Felipe, e completou:

-Eu sempre procuro seguir uma linha. Quando eu entrar, tenho de ir bem para deixar uma boa impressão. Para mim, está sendo muito importante. Venho de um longo período sem jogar, fica aquela dúvida. Será que ele vai voltar jogar o que jogava? Isso é bom, me sinto bem em estar jogando.

O problema é que a fase do Santos não é boa. O time ainda não venceu desde o retorno da disputa do Campeonato Brasileiro, após a disputa da Copa do Mundo, e está na zona de rebaixamento do torneio de pontos corridos. Por isso, vencer o Ceará, nesta quarta-feira, em jogo adiantado da 20ª rodada, tornou-se crucial.

-Até é uma pergunta que nós mesmos nos fazemos (por que só dois gols marcados desde o retorno do Brasileirão?). A gente chuta, o goleiro defende de cabeça. No contrapé do goleiro, ele defende com a perna… Acho que é momento, estamos tentando, estamos aprimorando no treinamento para que possamos melhorar nossa pontaria – garantiu o beque, que participou do treino de finalizações da tarde desta segunda-feira.

-Cuca gosta de seguir treinando no pós-jogo, tem boas ideias, pode nos ajudar bastante. Estamos confiantes. Nós também falamos para não perdermos a confiança em nós e no companheiro. Cada um está dando seu melhor, sabemos onde erramos e estamos trabalhando. A gente sabe da qualidade de cada um. Seguir essa linha é o principal – finalizou.

RelacionadasSantosEm treino sem Ferraz, David Braz se despede dos companheiros no SantosSantos06/08/2018SantosPerto de acerto, Santos muda de ideia e desiste de fechar com Marco RubenSantos06/08/2018

Has Brad Haddin played his last one-day match for Australia? Matthew Wade is not allowing himself to think that way

Brydon Coverdale at the MCG05-Feb-2012

Has Brad Haddin played his last one-day match for Australia? Matthew Wade is not allowing himself to think that way, but it is a scenario that becomes more likely with every game Wade plays. Two Man-of-the-Match performances for Australia in the past week have confirmed Wade as a player of international standard, and it would be a brave selection panel to drop him later in the series.For now, Wade, 24, has been picked for the first three matches of the tournament. The national selector John Inverarity said when announcing the squad that Haddin, 34, was rested, but Haddin took issue with that wording and said he felt as if he had been dropped. Either way, Wade is doing his best to make the limited-overs wicketkeeping position permanently his own.His 67 in Australia’s win over India at the MCG was the sixth-best score by an Australia ODI debutant, and he showed no nerves facing the reigning World Cup holders. That followed scores of 72 and 32 in the two Twenty20 internationals, but despite his strong form Wade insists he is looking no further ahead than the three matches for which he has been chosen.”I think that would be a bad option for me,” Wade said. “I just want to do as well as I can in the three games for which I’ve been picked. If you look too far ahead you don’t know what’s going to happen. It’s a pretty fickle game that we play. From day to day it changes. You’ve just got to live in the moment and concentrate on the next ball. It’s pretty clichéd but that’s what I’m doing.”The environment that I’m in, the Australian cricket team, no one is talking about what will happen down the road. Everyone is just focusing on the next game; all our planning, all our meetings, all the stuff we do is pretty much for the next game that we’re going to play. It’s all about what we can do in the present moment.”For Wade, that means making runs and taking catches. Given the chance to open alongside David Warner, he anchored the innings either side of a long rain delay, displaying impressive concentration and temperament. He does not have the power of Warner but rarely gets bogged down, and he has looked comfortable at international level. It has not all been easy, though.”The intensity,” he said when asked what was the major difference from domestic cricket. “When Mike [Michael] Hussey walked out and started running between the wickets like he was there was definitely a step up in intensity. I think that’s the major thing. Everything is just a bit faster. When you have to run with Mike it’s even harder.”He did not have much trouble keeping up with Hussey, although twice during his innings he needed to dive full length to make his ground. At 170 centimetres, he does not have the stretch of some of his colleagues. That has not hurt his effectiveness with the bat, nor with the gloves. In Friday’s T20 he took a terrific catch diving to his right to get rid of Virat Kohli.In the first ODI he pouched a pair of catches and one of them, Gautam Gambhir’s edge to a rising ball from Mitchell Starc, came through with surprising bounce at an awkward height. Effortlessly, Wade switched his hands from facing downwards to skywards, and he gloved the ball with no problem. His critics have questioned whether his glovework is up to international standard, but Wade believes he has never been in better form behind the stumps.”I definitely feel like I’m keeping as well as I ever have,” he said. “To be in the environment of the Australian cricket team, I’m catching more balls every day. Things are going really well. I feel on top of my game.”For now, he has two more matches to present his credentials. After that, it’s up to Inverarity and Co. to decide whether he wins the job permanently. Haddin will be watching on nervously.

MatériaMais Notícias

Neste domingo, o Náutico recebe o Bragantino na Arena Pernambuco, às 17h, para ir em busca do tão sonhado acesso para o Campeonato Brasileiro da Série B 2019. A partida é o confronto de volta das quartas de final da Série C.

Na partida de ida, o time paulista derrotou o Timbu por 3 a 1, e o único gol do time nordestino foi anotado pelo atacante Ortigoza, que teve passagens por Palmeiras e Cruzeiro. O atacante acredita que o apoio da torcida vai ser essencial para o time conquistar o principal objetivo da temporada.

– Saímos em desvantagem nessa primeira partida e agora temos que usar o fator casa para conquistarmos essa vaga. Estamos felizes com o carinho e apoio que o torcedor tem nos passado, e isso vai ser muito importante para a decisão, eles são o nosso combustível e jogaremos por eles – comentou o atacante.

Com apenas sete pontos nas primeiras oito partidas, o Timbu embalou na competição após a vitória diante do Remo, em junho, por 3 a 2. Desde então, foram nove jogos sem derrota, com sete vitórias e dois empates nesse período.

– Não começamos do jeito que a gente queria, mas depois conseguimos nos recuperar dentro da Série C e conquistamos os pontos perdidos. Temos que usar essa concentração e esse foco para o jogo diante do Bragantino. Vamos nos preparar bem para estar bem fisicamente e mentalmente – finalizou.

حرص محمود الخطيب، رئيس النادي الأهلي، على استقبال وفد ‏الاتحاد العربي للكرة الطائرة، برئاسة عبد الهادي الشبيب، ظهر اليوم بمقر الجزيرة، .

و‏توجه رئيس الاتحاد العربي بالزيارة للنادي الأهلي اليوم الإثنين، للإشادة بدوره في دعم كل التوجهات للاتحادات ‏العربية، والتأكيد أن مؤسسة الأهلي لا يقتصر دورها فقط كنادٍ رياضي بالنسبة إلى الشباب ‏العربي وإنما يمتد إلى كل المجالات.‏

ووفقًا لموقع الأهلي الرسمي فإن الوفد ضم كل من: الدكتور عبد الهادي الشبيب رئيس الاتحاد العربي ‏للكرة الطائرة، ورئيس الاتحاد بدولة الكويت، والمهندس ياسر قمر رئيس الاتحاد المصري ‏للكرة الطائرة ونائب رئيس الاتحاد العربي.

كما ضد الوفد أيضًا إبراهيم المقبالي نائب رئيس ‏الاتحاد العربي للكرة الطائرة ورئيس الاتحاد العماني، وحسن عابد المدير التنفيذي للاتحاد ‏المصري للكرة الطائرة ومدير البطولة العربية للأندية، وعبد الله أمين رئيس اللجنة ‏الإعلامية بالاتحاد العربي.‏

ومن جانبه حرص محمود الخطيب على إهداء درع وعلم وقميص الأهلي لوفد الاتحاد العربي، كما ‏قام رئيس الاتحاد العربي للكرة الطائرة بإهداء الكابتن الخطيب درع الاتحاد العربي، وفي ‏نهاية الزيارة قام الوفد بجولة داخل النادي، اشتملت على زيارة ملعب التتش وصالتي ‏الأمير عبد الله الفيصل والشهداء، وزيارة النصب التذكاري للشهداء.‏

وقال رئيس الاتحاد العربي للكرة الطائرة: “سعداء بالتواجد اليوم، ونقدم خالص الشكر ‏للكابتن محمود الخطيب ومجلس إدارة النادي، وجميع القائمين على لعبة الكرة الطائرة، لدورهم وسعيهم الدائم إلى تطوير اللعبة”.

كما أشاد بدور الاتحاد المصري للكرة الطائرة ‏ومساهمته في نجاح البطولة العربية المقامة بمصر.‏

طالع أيضًا.. الأهلي يُعلن ضم محترف أمريكي وآخر من جنوب السودان لتدعيم فريق السلة في بطولة إفريقيا

وأشار الشبيب إلى أنه لفت نظره عند دخول النادي شعار الأهلي تاريخ.. مبادئ.. تطوير ‏وأنهم سعداء جدا بالتواجد في هذا الصرح الرياضي.

وأكد الشبيب أن الأهلي دائمًا ما يكون حاضرًا في البطولات سواء العربية أو القارية ‏والعالمية، وأن مشاركة الأهلي تضفي علي أي بطولة القوة والإثارة من خلال القاعدة ‏الجماهيرية الكبيرة التي يتمتع بها، إلى جانب المستوى الفني، وأيضًا وجود الأهلي يمثل في ‏حد ذاته تسويقًا ودعمًا كبيرًا للبطولة العربية، وتم الاتفاق على أن يكون الأهلي ‏مشاركًا في جميع البطولات.‏

وتطرق الدكتور عبد الهادي الشبيب إلى الحديث عن البطولة العربية للأندية للكرة الطائرة ‏المقامة في مصر، قائلًا: “مصر سباقة في إقامة بطولات دولية وعالمية، وليس مستغربًا على ‏مصر استضافة بطولة الاتحاد العربي للكرة الطائرة ونجاحها، لا سيما أن لعبة الكرة الطائرة ‏في مصر تشكل شعبية كبيرة وتم اختيار مصر لتنظيم البطولة وفق معايير ثابتة وراسخة، ‏وهناك بطولات قادمة سيتم تنظيمها في مصر بالتعاون مع كل الجهات المسئولة”.

Dhaka Gladiators made it to the final of the Bangladesh Premier League with a nine-run victory over Khulna Royal Bengals in the second semi-final, in front of a packed Shere Bangla National Stadium that backed the home team as well as could be expected

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Feb-2012
ScorecardAzhar Mahmood top scored for Dhaka Gladiators with 65•BPL T20

Dhaka Gladiators made it to the final of the Bangladesh Premier League with a nine-run victory over Khulna Royal Bengals in the second semi-final, in front of a packed Shere Bangla National Stadium that backed the home team as well as could be expected. Dhaka successfully defended their total of 191 for 4, Khulan making 183 for 7 in 20 overs. Khulna threatened Dhaka for a good part of the chase, courtesy a rapid knock from their captain, Shakib Al Hasan – he scored his first Twenty20 half-century, an unbeaten 86 off 41 balls – but it just wasn’t enough to see the team through.After a revamped Dhaka – Shahid Afridi, Saeed Ajmal and Awais Zia flew in from Dubai in time for the match, following the conclusion of Pakistan’s series against England – chose to bat, Khulna bowled quite poorly from the onset. Dhaka lost the big-hitting Zia and Nazimuddin by the time they got to 22, but then Pakistan’s Imran Nazir smashed 41 off 25 balls with six fours and two sixes to steady them. Nazir fell in the eighth over to another Pakistan player who had arrived at the BPL just in time for the knock-outs – Mohammad Hafeez.Dhaka’s total was chiefly built around a 72-run fourth-wicket stand between Mohammad Ashraful and Azhar Mahmood, who made 65 off 39 balls with six fours and three sixes. Ashraful struck four boundaries and a six in his 33-ball 47. Afridi came in towards the end and provided the final surge, with an 11-ball 27. He was particularly harsh on Shakib, hammering 19 in the left-arm spinner’s last over.In the chase, Khulna lost their overseas batsmen (Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Herschelle Gibbs, Hafeez and Dwayne Smith) within eight overs, but Shakib and Nasir Hossain held on for a fine fifth-wicket stand of 87. Shakib was deprived of a few well-struck runs when two of his straight-drives hit Nasir and the stumps. Yet, he managed to reach his half-century off 22 balls. Big swings to the leg side apart, he gathered runs through flicks, sweeps and scoops off Elias Sunny, Ajmal and Afridi.The thirty-one required off the final over, though, proved just beyond Shakib’s reach – he could manage only 21 runs off Azhar Mahmood. Sunny shone with the ball, taking 3-29 – a credible showing, especially with two top-quality spinners playing alongside him.

حقق فريق الكرة الأول بالنادي الأهلي فوزًا صعبًا على نظيره المقاولون العرب بهدفين مقابل هدف وحيد.

المباراة أقيمت على ملعب استاد الأهلي وي السلام في خضم مؤجلات الجولة السابعة عشر من عمر الدوري المصري الممتاز.

وسجل هدفي الأهلي، علي معلول عن طريق ركلة جزاء محرزًا الهدف الثاني له هذا الموسم، وفاروقا كابوري مدافع المقاولون في مرماه عن طريق الخطأ.

أما هدف المقاولون العرب الوحيد فقد سجله جون أوكلي محرزًا الهدف الخامس له هذا الموسم، مقتحمًا ترتيب الـ5 الأوائل في سلم ترتيب الدوري.

فيديو | جون أوكلي يسجل هدف المقاولون الأول أمام الأهلي ترتيب هدافي الدوري المصري بعد مباراة الأهلي والمقاولون

1- مابولولو (الاتحاد السكندري)، أحمد الشيخ (غزل المحلة) برصيد 9 أهداف.

2- أحمد سيد زيزو (الزمالك) برصيد 8 أهداف.

3- محمد حمدي زكي(أسوان)، رزقي حمرون (فاركو) برصيد 7 أهداف.

4- رمضان صبحي (بيراميدز) أحمد ياسر ريان (سيراميكا كليوباترا)، رفيق كابو (إنبي) برصيد 6 أهداف.

5- جون أوكولي وجوزيف أوشايا وعبد الرحمن خالد (المقاولون)، محمد شريف (الأهلي)، مصطفي فتحي (بيراميدز)، مصطفى عبد الرؤوف (حرس الحدود)، كريم بامبو (البنك الأهلي)، حسام حسن (سموحة)، محمد حمدي زكي (أسوان)، مروان حمدي (المصري)، سمير فكري (الداخلية) برصيد 5 أهداف.

MatériaMais Notícias

A Chapecoense oficializou a contratação de mais um reforço para o grupo. O goleiro Rafael Copetti, de 27 anos, que firmou contrato com o clube até o final da temporada. Rafael já está em Chapecó, passará por exames e, posteriormente, será integrado ao elenco.

Natural de Chapecó, Copetti tem, no seu currículo, passagens pelo Internacional, pelo Benfica-POR, pelo União Leiria-POR, pelo Vasco e pelo Bragantino – entre outras equipes – tendo sua última atuação pelo Treze, da Paraíba.

É a primeira contratação feita pelo clube desde a chegada do novo executivo de futebol, André Figueiredo. Além de um goleiro, o Verdão também busca no mercado um atacante para repor a vaga deixada por Wellington Paulista.

RelacionadasChapecoenseAtacante da Chape quer vitória sobre o Palmeiras e para iniciar sequênciaChapecoense29/08/2018ChapecoenseDiretor da Chape afirma problema técnico de WP e já mira reforçoChapecoense29/08/2018

FECHADO COM A CHAPE! 💚🏹⚽
O goleiro Rafael Copetti, de 27 anos, é o novo contratado da Chapecoense para o restante da temporada. Bem vindo à família, Rafael!#VamosChape pic.twitter.com/2lPZJIuatr

— Chapecoense (@ChapecoenseReal) 29 de agosto de 2018

Graham Gooch, England’s batting coach, has jumped to the defence of his embattled captain Andrew Strauss as doubts intensify about his international future

Andrew McGlashan30-Mar-2012

Graham Gooch, England’s batting coach, has jumped to the defence of his embattled captain Andrew Strauss as doubts intensify about his international future.With England slumping to their fourth straight Test defeat, Strauss’ batting form has become a far greater issue than when a winning side was laying claim to the No. 1 Test ranking that they are now on the brink of surrendering.Strauss refused to be drawn into speculation over his future when pressed following England’s 75-run defeat in Galle where he contributed 26 and 27 to England’s efforts before falling trying to attack Rangana Herath on both occasions.Since the start of the 2010 England season he has averaged 32.55 from 22 Tests with just a lone hundred against Australia at Brisbane in November of that year. From that point his average dips further to 28.52 with a highest score of 87.Gooch, though, remains convinced Strauss can return to the form that marked the start of his captaincy stint when he took the job in chaotic circumstances for the West Indies tour in 2009 and struck three hundreds in the series.”If you get defeats you’re going to get tough questions,” he said. “As far as I’m concerned, Andrew Strauss is the best guy to captain England at the moment and he and Alastair Cook are the best opening batsmen in the country. I have every confidence in him. I see the passion, the commitment every day on the training pitch, trying to improve his game. The way he’s trying to play spin, approaching his innings with a more positive mindset, the attacking shots he’s looking to play.”We all know that as the captain you’re praised if things do go well and you take the flak if they don’t. He’s a big lad and he’ll be able to take it on the chin and he’ll be doubly determined to do well in the next game.”Gooch led England in 34 of his 118 Tests so knows all about the pressures of combining the two jobs although his record suggests that captaincy was always an inspiration for his batting. As captain, he averaged 58.72 against his overall figure of 42.58. He expressed confidence that Strauss would emerge from the toughest period of his captaincy.”He’s having a bit of a lean time in Tests but he scored a hundred at SSC [in the warm-up match] so he’s had runs under his belt and he’s been practising well,” Gooch said. “You have to take it on the chin when things don’t go well. There have been plenty of Test captains who have struggled. We have to remain faithful to all our players and believe in their ability. A few months ago we were winning Tests, in different conditions, and I’m confident these guys, including Andrew, will come good.”More importantly, each player has to believe they’re going to do well. You’ve got to remain solid, keep your nerve and believe in your technique. Andrew Strauss has an excellent Test technique, he has been a very successful player for England in the past and I have no reason to believe he won’t be a successful player in the future.”England’s batting problems are not just focussed on Strauss. Although Jonathan Trott made one of his finest Test hundreds in the failed chase in Galle, and Ian Bell showed signs of return to form with a half-century, England laboured for the fourth match in a row. Alastair Cook received a good ball in the first innings (as did Bell) but the visitors were also guilty of further soft dismissals.”Having lost four on the bounce, you know you need to master the conditions much better,” Gooch said. “Since I’ve been in Sri Lanka I have seen guys working on their game, buying into the ideas being put to them and really trying to improve. Improving your technique, shaping it against the turning ball in particular, is not a quick fix. You have to work on it. It’s the mindset, the way you approach your innings, how you mix attack and defence, how you get good habits into your game, the way you’re going to play with the spin, the way you’re going to defend.”The sweep was a major factor in England’s dismissals although Trott avoided trouble and also brought out the reverse option when slip was left vacant. The conventional sweep was a shot that Gooch used profitably, particularly during the 1987 World Cup on the subcontinent, but admits the impact of DRS means the shot now comes with greater risk.”The sweep against the turning ball is an alternative, but we have to look at the fact that with DRS, if you’re sweeping off the stumps there’s a lot of risk there. It’s an area we need to look at. I wouldn’t advocate leaving it out altogether but you have to be more selective.”Edited by David Hopps

ما زالت صفقة مهاجم الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي باريس سان جيرمان، كيليان مبابي، تلقى بصداها داخل أروقة ريال مدريد رغم تجديد الفرنسي لعقده قبل نهاية الموسم الماضي حتى يونيو 2025.

كان هناك اتفاق بين مبابي وريال مدريد على الانتقال إلى “سانتياجو برنابيو” بعد انتهاء عقده بالمجان مع راتب سنوي كبير ولكن اللاعب استسلم للضغوط الكثيرة وعلى رأسها رئيس فرنسا، إيمانويل ميكرون.

ظل مبابي مرتبطًا بإمكانية الانتقال إلى ريال مدريد منذ أن كان لاعبًا في موناكو في عام 2016 حتى مايو 2022 قبل التوقيع على العقد الجديد مع باريس سان جيرمان ووقتها كان هناك صرف نظر عن الصفقة.

لكن عاد الصدى من جديد يدوي جدران ريال مدريد بعد خروج باريس سان جيرمان من دوري أبطال أوروبا بخسارته أمام بايرن ميونخ في دور الـ 16 وتوديع كيليان مبابي البطولة الحلم التي يريد تحقيقها مع النادي الفرنسي.

اقرأ أيضًا..

هناك آراء متناقضة داخل ريال مدريد البعض يرون أن هناك فرصة للتعاقد مع مبابي بعد تصريحاته عقب مباراة بايرن ميونخ والتي قال فيها: “هدفنا الآن هو الفوز ببطولة الدوري الفرنسي وبعد ذلك سنرى ماذا سيحدث (حول مستقبله).

ومع ذلك هناك نسبة غير قليلة داخل ريال مدريد ضد هذه الفئة ولم يعدوا يسمعون ما يقوله مبابي على الإطلاق بعد التجديد الصادم لعقده مع باريس سان جيرمان وشعروا بالملل واللامبالاة تجاه تلك التصريحات، ولكن بماذا تفكر الإدارة؟!

تؤكد صحيفة “ماركا” الإسبانية أن الإدارة بقيادة، فلورنتينو بيريز، لن تتحرك خطوة تجاه تلك الصفقة، سيظلون يراقبون من بعيد، ولن يضعوا خططهم بناءً على تصريحات من مبابي لتدعيم الفريق في الموسم المقبل 2023/2024، لأنه لا يعتبرون ما يقوله مبابي مشكلة بعد تجديده منذ 9 أشهر فقط.

لا يرغب مسئولي ريال مدريد في التفاوض مع الإدارة القطرية بعد ضربة الموسم الماضي، بالإضافة إلى أن خطط ريال مدريد ليست بها الكثير من الصفقات القوية للموسم الجديد، بجانب أن النادي الإسباني يدرك جيدًا أن ملاك باريس سان جيرمان لن يفرطوا بسهولة في هداف كأس العالم قطر 2022، لأنهم رفضوا عرضًا من بيريز بقيمة 180 مليون يورو في عام 2021.

يأتي ذلك في ظل وجود شكوك حول حالة كريم بنزيما البدنية، لكن هناك أيضًا قناعة بأن الفرنسي سيستمر في الموسم المقبل ولن تكون هناك مشكلة مع نية الإدارة في رحيل بعض المهاجمين غير المرغوب فيهم وقرار التمديد للبعض الآخر في أبريل المقبل.

الجدير بالذكر أن هناك لاعبين مثل ماريانو دياز تأكد رحيله عن الفريق بعد انتهاء عقده والذي ينتهي عقده في 30 يونيو المقبل بسبب عدم مشاركته المستمرة في المباريات.

Worcestershire’s Auastralian Michael Klinger struck an undefeated 69 to make light of a previously treacherous Oval pitch where all 22 players had batted the previous day. Rain forced an abandonment with Surrey under pressure.

David Lloyd at The Oval22-Apr-2012
ScorecardMichael Klinger, seen here for South Australia, steered Worcestershire to safety•Getty Images

So the script went something like this: a pitch that produced several examples of uneven bounce on the third day – when 19 wickets fell and the ball seamed about so much that 12 players were caught by keeper or slips – would deteriorate further, leaving Surrey to win with ease.There were no thoughts of a rewrite, either, once Alan Richardson had scuttled a few deliveries through at grubber height in his first couple of overs on the fourth morning to finish with match figures of 10 for 128.But all good plots have a twist – and what a turn-up we could have had here but for rain washing out the final session when Worcestershire needed a further 152 runs from 39 overs. They had progressed to 94 for 1 with something approaching ease, losing only their captain Daryl Mitchell a moment or two before bad weather stopped play for the umpteenth and final time in this contest.So what went right, so to speak, from a batting point of view? Well, for a start, Michael Klinger – a 31-year-old Australian, who has joined Worcestershire on a short-term basis while countryman Phil Hughes tours West Indies – played wonderfully well.He struck ten fours, many of them threaded through the covers, and drove a sumptuous six, against spinner Gareth Batty, while making an undefeated 69 from 95 deliveries. But on top of that the pitch, spiteful at various times, looked almost docile while the sun shone for most of the afternoon.”It confused me as well,” said Chris Adams, Surrey’s team director, when asked to explain what had happened to a dry, hard surface. “It looked a belter this afternoon. We certainly expected more with the new ball, in terms of movement, but having said that I thought their batsman played really, really well. That is the first time I have seen Klinger and he looks a very well organised player who takes the game to the opposition.”Adams, of course, was widely quoted last week when he lambasted the Lord’s pitch after Surrey lost to Middlesex by three runs as the worst he had seen at HQ. In this match, the stand of 94 between Klinger and Mitchell was one of only two half-century partnerships and there was almost a positive outcome, despite six of the 12 scheduled sessions being lost to rain.Adams had no intention of back-tracking on his comments of seven days ago, asking people to bear in mind that he was comparing the Lord’s pitch with the “superb” surfaces he has encountered there on other occasions.As for cricket generally this showery April, Adams said: “My sympathies go out to batsmen around the country at the moment because clearly conditions are proving very difficult. For three days here it was very difficult for all batsmen.”What it is producing is an entertaining spectacle because people are seeing action and entertainment on a consistent basis. What I don’t think it is producing is the quality of cricket we want to see from a batsman’s point of view. “It is anyone’s guess how this match would have panned out given another two or three hours of play. But Worcestershire would certainly have fancied their chances of pulling off a terrific victory against a powerful attack after being set what appeared an out-of-the-question target of 246 from 70 overs.