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How to watch Suriname vs Mexico from the US, as well as kick-off time and team news

Mexico will start their journey under Diego Cocca with an away match against Suriname in the Concacaf Nations League.

⚽️ Watch Mexico vs Suriname in Paramount+ in the US!

Former coach Tata Martino departed after a disappointing outing at the 2022 World Cup in which El Tri crashed out in the group stages of the marquee tournament. Cocca has a rebuilding job on his hands and will be desperate to start on a winning note given that they are facing 139th-ranked Suriname.

Suriname will have to put their best foot forward if they want to get a result against the South American heavyweights. They have a good mix of youth and experience and will look to pull off an upset.

GOAL brings you everything you need to know about how to watch the game in the United States.

Getty ImagesKick-off time

Date:

March 23, 2023

Kick-off time:

8:10 pm ET

Venue:

Flora Stadium

The game is scheduled for March 23, 2023, at Flora Stadium.

It will kick off at 8:10 pm EDT in the US.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesHow to watch Suriname vs Mexico online – TV channels & live streamsTV channels & streaming options

Country TV channel Live stream

U.S.Univision, Univision NOW, TUDN USAFuboTV, Paramount+, TUDN App/Website.

In the U.S., the match can be broadcasted on Univision, Univision NOW, and TUDN USA and live streamed onFuboTV,Paramount+, and TUDN App/Website.

Getty ImagesTeam news & squadsMexico team news

Mexico will miss Hector Herrera, Andres Guardado, and Jesus ‘Tectatito’ Corona.

Position Players

Goalkeepers:Ochoa, Acevedo, Rodriguez. Defenders:Gallardo, Araujo, Montes, Sanchez, Arteaga, Angulo, Alvarez, Vasquez, Sepulveda, Reyes, J. Araujo, Orozco. Midfielders:Alvarez, Antuna, Rodriguez, Gutierrez, Alvarado, Romo, Lainez, Cordova, Chavez, Beltran, Sanchez, Gonzalez, Ruiz. Forwards:Jimenez, Lozano, Pineda, Martin, Gimenez, De La Rosa. Suriname team news

Suriname will miss striker Mitchell Tevreden with an injury.

Position Players

Goalkeepers:Kort, Roggeveen, Hok-AhinDefenders:Malone, Abena, Pinas, Dankerlui, Mac-Intosch, Blackson, Dijksteel, Sporkslede, Benali. Midfielders:Eduard, Leerdam, Biseswar, R. Vlijter. Forwards:G. Vlijter, Jozefzoon, Rigters, Becker, Hilterman, Kappel, Gravenberch. Head-to-head record

Date Result Competition

October 15, 1977Mexico 8-1 SurinameWorld CupJune 11, 2022Mexico 3-0 SurinameConcacaf Nations LeagueENJOYED THIS STORY?

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Chris Dent maintained his impressive early season form as Gloucestershire put promotion-fancied Worcestershire under pressure on the third day of the Division Two match in Bristol

ECB Reporters Network26-Apr-2016
ScorecardChris Dent has been the main threat to Worcestershire•Getty ImagesChris Dent maintained his impressive early season form as Gloucestershire put promotion-fancied Worcestershire under pressure on the third day of the Division Two match in Bristol.The 25-year-old left-hander followed up a big hundred against Derbyshire and 59 in the first innings of this game with a rock solid 81 not out off 175 balls to help the hosts to 217 for 6 in their second innings at the close, a lead of 186. Matt Henry claimed 3 for 60.Ian Cockbain (67) gave good support in a second-wicket stand of 108 after Worcestershire had been bowled out for 411, Joe Clarke top-scoring with 135, backed up by Ben Cox (69) and Henry (42 not out).The morning session saw Clarke add 32 to his overnight score after Worcestershire resumed their first innings on 297 for 5. The 19-year-old was dropped on 106 by Cockbain at point off Kieran Noema-Barnett, but otherwise built soundly on his second day hundred.Clarke had hit 17 fours when ninth man out, bowled by Liam Norwell with a good delivery that surprised him by nipping back off the seam.His overnight partner Cox had been equally surprised by the first ball of the day from Noema-Barnett, which somehow split his bat in two as he played defensively.After summoning a replacement Willow, Cox added ten to the 59 he scored on day two before being caught behind by the diving Gareth Roderick off Norwell.Joe Leach was bowled shouldering arms to a David Payne inswinger and when Ed Barnard was well held by Dent at second slip, driving at Norwell, Gloucestershire looked favourites for a first-innings lead.But Henry then contributed to stands of 39 with Clarke and 41 with last man Jack Shantry to ensure his side of maximum batting points and a lead of 31.Gloucestershire overtook the deficit without losing a wicket as Dent and Cameron Bancroft put together and opening stand of 49 before the latter was caught behind off Barnard for 29.Dent was unbeaten on 46 at tea, having added 80 with a confident looking Cockbain, who reached his half-century two balls after the interval by pulling Leach for his tenth boundary.Cockbain was particularly impressive when driving and didn’t play like a batsman who managed only 139 Championship runs last season at an average of 13.9.Dent soon followed him to a more sedate fifty off 102 balls with 8 fours. But, with Gloucestershire getting on top, Leach struck twice in the same over, taking a return catch off a leading edge to dismiss Cockbain and then pinning Gareth Roderick lbw with a full delivery for a third ball duck.First-innings centurion Hamish Marshall had made 17 when bowled by Henry with the lead 159 and the Kiwi paceman followed up by dismissing George Hankins and Noema-Barnett with successive balls in an impressive late burst from the Ashley Down Road End. But Dent stood firm to keep Gloucestershire hopes alive.Worcestershire captain Daryl Mitchell said: “Matt Henry’s spell at the end of the day has put us in with a great chance. I would be happy to chase any reasonable figure tomorrow because the pitch remains a very good one.”We have a new ball due before too long and it has nipped around more in the morning sessions, so hopefully we can take the last four wickets pretty quickly.”What a prospect Joe Clarke is. He played exceptionally well for his 135 and is a big presence in our changing room for a 19-year-old lad. He has a fantastic future and it was a terrific knock in a difficult situation.”

David Green, one of county cricket’s great entertainers, has died at the age of 76

David Hopps19-Mar-2016David Green, one of county cricket’s great entertainers, whether on the field for Lancashire and Gloucestershire or in the press boxes on the county circuit after his retirement, has died at the age of 76. He had been suffering from respiratory problems and had spent the past fortnight in hospital near his Devon home.When made Green – “Bodger” to his chums, and there were many – one of their Five Cricketers of the Year in 1969 their judgment could hardly have been more apt. “David Green is undoubtedly the sort of player the game demands – aggressive, talented and entertaining,” was their verdict.Green was true to an era when drinking after a day’s play was considered almost : a man who could down a pint with the same sort of indecent haste that he could hit a half-century. Perhaps his conviction that professional cricket was about camaraderie as well as victory meant that he did not entirely achieve his potential, but the game – and many who followed it – was richer for his presence. He was a raconteur par excellence, a man capable of filling a day with laughter. As one journalist struck by his presence remarked: “I wish I had seen him play; I am very glad I heard him talk.”After his retirement, he would often jovially relate that there was nothing finer than a run-a-ball fifty and the completion of the crossword before lunch on the first day of a Championship match. It was a rebellious act, too, because this was largely an era of dour, defensive cricket on bowler-friendly pitches.He had an acerbic, intelligent wit – his career at Lancashire ended prematurely when he called the chairman a “prat” – “I could have called him much worse,” Green would later reflect – but there was a fairness and gentleness about him, too, that was always reflected in the way he wrote about and discussed cricket. He cared deeply about the standards of the game.Although Green was born in the Caernarvonshire village of Llanengan in 1939, he was raised in Timperley in Cheshire and learned his cricket in Lancashire. He was regarded as a teenage prodigy at Manchester Grammar School and won his cricket Blue at Oxford University, where he studied history, for three seasons from 1959, making his Lancashire debut in the first of those and passing 1000 runs for the first of seven times.Famously, as Lancashire’s vice-captain, he topped 2000 first-class runs in 1965 without hitting a century – a unique statistic – but in 1967 his season was limited by a leg injury, and he was released at the end of the summer. He was snapped up by Gloucestershire and repaid them immediately by scoring 2137 runs at 40.32 including a career-best 233, an achievement that earned him his accolade from . It was his most driven of seasons: Lancashire had been well and truly put in their place. He regarded batting with his opening partner, Arthur Milton, as “an education”.When limited-overs cricket was introduced to English cricket in the late ’60s, it might have been designed for him.He was also a talented rugby union player, turning out for Sale and Cheshire, and later for Bristol. After retiring he worked as a journalist, almost exclusively for the . His writing style was antithetical to his cricket. Given his county cricket wordage for the day, often less than he would hope, he would draw lines down his page, each box representing a single word. He would have caused hilarity for much of the day but his copy was shrewd and analytical.His first book, , published in 2013 and covering both his cricket and rugby lives, was part-autobiographical, part-anecdotal, part-cricket analysis and always irreverent. David Green was not easily compartmentalised.

Less than a month after joining the BCCI’s cricket advisory committee, Sachin Tendulkar has agreed to be a part of the Mumbai Cricket Association’s Cricket Improvement Committee (CIC) as a special invitee

Amol Karhadkar25-Jun-2015Less than a month after joining the BCCI’s cricket advisory committee, Sachin Tendulkar has agreed to be a part of the Mumbai Cricket Association’s Cricket Improvement Committee (CIC) as a special invitee.Dilip Vengsarkar, who became the MCA vice-president last week and will be chairing the committee that will look after all of its cricket activities, announced Tendulkar’s first formal involvement in MCA affairs.”I spoke with Sachin today and he has agreed to share his views on improving Mumbai cricket and attend CIC as a special invitee whenever he is in town,” Vengsarkar said during a media conference on Thursday.The eight-member CIC includes six former international cricketers – Vengsarkar, Ajit Wadekar, Sanjay Manjrekar, Pravin Amre, Ajit Agarkar and Diana Edulji – apart from Amol Muzumdar and Deepak Patil.The CIC, a brainchild of the MCA president Sharad Pawar, was formed in 2001 to look into cricketing affairs. It was disbanded in 2011 after Pawar exited the MCA for a term. It was reconstituted earlier this year but didn’t serve any purpose since it was formed towards the end of the domestic season.Vengsarkar said the first CIC meeting would be held early next week. The first major responsibility of the committee will be to finalise selectors and coaches for all Mumbai teams. Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy team is without a coach, with Amre clarifying that he isn’t interested in extending his stint.The MCA, Vengsarkar said, would also form a disciplinary committee to keep a check on indiscipline by cricketers on and off the field. “We will not tolerate any indiscipline by any player, be it the best superstar or an under-14 cricketer,” he said.Last year, Suryakumar Yadav stepped down as Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy captain midway through the season following prolonged disciplinary issues, including spats with teammates. That was followed by Sarfaraz Khan making obscene gestures at selectors while playing an Under-19 match, after being dropped from the Ranji team. The MCA had decided to withhold both players’ match fees as security deposit for decent behaviour.Vengsarkar also announced that the Kanga League, the only wet-weather tournament in India, will revert to its traditional monsoon format. It had been rescheduled from October to February for the last two years. This year, the tournament will be played from August 2 to October 25.The managing committee also decided, Vengsarkar said, to allot one membership of the clubhouse at the MCA’s Bandra-Kurla complex to each of its 329 affiliates. The promise of membership was one of the decisive factors in the Pawar-Mahaddalkar panel’s sweep in last week’s election.

The Spanish manager will be able to point to his first signature win at the helm if he can beat the Magpies at Parc des Princes

Luis Enrique insisted he did everything right. On October 4, he took his team to St. James Park, and before 50,000 riled-up Geordies — and a side playing its first Champions League home game since 2003 — deployed a swashbuckling 4-2-4 formation. The result wasn't hard to see coming. Newcastle battered PSG from the first minute, a 91st-minute strike from marauding centre-back Fabian Schar sealing an emphatic 4-1 win for the home side.

After the game, Luis Enrique suggested that there were positives, ones that admittedly few keen observers might have seen: "The result is so big for them. But I think we didn’t deserve that result."

Deserved or otherwise, his side were handily beaten on Tyneside, and now, after losing to AC Milan in their last Champions League encounter, find themselves desperately in need of a win against the Magpies — this time on their own turf.

Parc des Princes has been an imposing place to visit for European sides in recent years, a ground where the Parisians haven't lost a group game since 2020. Include games with fans — not interrupted by the relative silence of the COVID-19 pandemic — and you would have to go back to 2004 for PSG's last home defeat before knockout football kicks in.

The stage is nicely set, then, for revenge. And this is an important one, too. The Parisians are second in their Champions League group, while the Magpies are bottom, but just two points separate the two teams. A win for PSG and qualification should be solidified. Lose, and the French champions could end the matchday sat in fourth with just one game to go, and likely relying on results elsewhere to guide them through the group.

Luis Enrique has already overseen some big games in Paris. But facing elimination in a competition that he admitted the club is "obsessed" with, this will be the biggest. This time, he has to get it right.

GettyWhere it went wrong at St. James' Park

You could see it going wrong for PSG from the first minute in the north-east of England. Newcastle's midfield is chunky and awkward to play against, and Eddie Howe made sure it was more beefy than usual. He deployed a trio of Bruno Guimaraes, Sandro Tonali and Sean Longstaff — a combative mix of flair and physicality. Luis Enrique, meanwhile, fielded just two midfielders, an overwhelmingly technical Warren Zaire-Emery, and a brutish Manuel Ugarte. It was no surprise when the duo were overrun, and exhausted by half-time.

The Parisians were lucky to only be trailing 2-0 at the break, and then, Luis Enrique had the chance to change things. He could have added an extra midfielder, or altered his tactics. He certainly would have noticed the flow of the game — his side had only put one shot on goal. Fabian Ruiz, Danilo Pereira and Vitinha were all sat waiting on the bench, so at the very least, he could have matched Newcastle in midfield.

Instead, the former Barcelona boss stuck with his system. And things got even worse. PSG were outmuscled once again, while Howe ensured that Kylian Mbappe didn't have any breathing room. PSG's only real chances fell to a wasteful Ousmane Dembele, who put one volley narrowly past the post, and squandered another clear effort after a wonderful winding run down the wing.

Newcastle added two more goals, with Lucas Hernandez's header offering little more than a consolation. The manner in which it came — a dink from a midfielder onto the forehead of a left-back — had little to do with the relative effectiveness of Luis Enrique's set-up.

AdvertisementGetty Images'I expect that same intensity'

Gaining revenge, then, must start with a reconsideration of the system. Luis Enrique is a manager who believes in his principles, but has admittedly shown a willingness to adapt the way in which they are applied.

He still has some non-negotiables. Gianluigi Donnarumma must play the ball out of the back; his midfielders must carry the ball forward; and Mbappe should tuck inside, and receive the ball on the run. How, exactly, this is applied, can vary. Since the Newcastle defeat, PSG have fiddled around with their tactics. Sometimes they have deployed a 4-3-3. At others, the manager has set up something looking like a more traditional 4-4-2. That dreaded 4-2-4 hasn't been totally removed from the playsheet, either.

So rather than making wholesale tactical changes, Luis Enrique may instead look to add an extra layer of physicality to his team. He alluded to that likelihood in a press conference on Monday: "If you watch Newcastle's game against Chelsea, their physicality is important. They went to press with up to six players and they are capable of maintaining a very quick pace. I expect that same intensity against us."

Besides, he might not have a choice. Zaire-Emery, the midfield lynchpin, is out for the rest of the calendar year with an ankle injury. That could mean bringing Danilo or another more defensively-minded player into a three-man midfield.

That would be a personnel tweak that can be made while still keeping Luis Enrique's principles intact. His vision of PSG can still exist – it just has to be altered slightly.

GettyDembele the difference-maker?

Luckily, Luis Enrique insists that he has a secret weapon. It is not Mbappe, a known quantity who the manager hasn't been afraid to disparage in recent weeks. Neither is it Randal Kolo Muani, who has impressed in moments, but failed to find a goalscoring rhythm in Paris.

Instead, Luis Enrique has claimed, Dembele will make a difference. This is a puzzling player to highlight. Dembele has been a polarising presence in the French capital, ashe seems to do everything wonderfully well in the final third, right up until the key moment. He will scamper down the wing, leave numerous defenders in the dust, and then skew a shot. He will dart left, cut to his right, throw in a stepover, find daylight inside the box, and then pass the ball to the feet of a grateful centre-back.

Dembele has only scored once for the Parisians, despite taking 34 shots, albeit less than half of those efforts have been on target. Still, Luis Enrique heaped praise on the Paris native.

"I’ve known him for many years and, in my opinion, he’s a different type of player to anyone else," he said. "Now I know him personally, too. He doesn’t care if he makes a mistake, he doesn’t care if he gets criticised… I have absolutely no doubt he is the biggest game-changer in world football."

There is some evidence to back up the manager's lofty claim. Dembele scored his first goal in a PSG shirt against Monaco on Friday, and it was an eye-catching one, the winger flicking a lofted pass with his weaker foot using his trailing leg, accelerating into open space, and hitting his effort into the roof of the net from a tight angle.

This was not a normal goal, but if Dembele's manager is to be believed, he is not a normal player, either. Perhaps he just needed one to go in to kickstart life back in his homeland.

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Getty ImagesNewcastle in desperation mode

Newcastle, for their part, arrive at Parc des Prince in a precarious spot. The Magpies are a much-changed side from the unit that battered the Parisians nearly two months ago. Tonali is out of the team, banned for a year after admitting to betting breaches. Dan Burn, Harvey Barnes, Sven Botman, Joe Willock and Callum Wilson will all also miss the contest due to injuries.

Alexander Isak, who played a starring role in the reverse fixture, has only just returned from a knock. They may have thumped Chelsea on Saturday, but since October 4, Newcastle have dropped points to West Ham, Wolves and Bournemouth in the Premier League. More significantly, they have fallen to Borussia Dortmund home and away in Europe, and failed to score in both contests.

Howe's side may be fearsome at home, but their away record in 2023-24 — two wins, three draws and four losses — doesn't exactly paint a picture of optimism. If the manager had to pick a scenario for a must-win European game for his team, he probably couldn't do any worse. A loss will see his side exit the competition, and a point might not be enough, either.

Other results have done them few favours. The defeats to Dortmund will mean that they will finish behind the German side in the group if they end up level on points due to a tiebreaker. Milan's recent run, which included a win over PSG, suggests that they might be able to get a result at San Siro against Dortmund — which would also eliminate Howe's side. It all puts the Magpies in must-win mode.

Howe knows it, telling his pre-match press conference: "I don't think the motivation could be any bigger for us. We want to be in [the Champions League] as long as we can be and that makes tomorrow a huge moment in our season. We have a plan and we will try to get ready to execute it and be ready for the game."

Kevin Pietersen’s return to the IPL for Sunrisers Hyderabad has been scuppered by a calf injury suffered while making the triple century for Surrey that helped build a tidal wave of protest at his continued England freeze-out

Melinda Farrell and David Hopps13-May-2015Kevin Pietersen’s return to the IPL for Sunrisers Hyderabad has been scuppered by a calf injury suffered while making the triple-century for Surrey that helped build a tidal wave of protest at his continued England freeze-out.Andrew Strauss, England’s new director of cricket, has blocked any potential Pietersen comeback this summer because of “massive trust issues” that soured the later stages of his England career and have contributed to his 18 months in the international wilderness.That decision seemed to signal a speedy return for Pietersen to play for Sunrisers in the final stages of the IPL but he had a scan on a damaged calf in London on Wednesday and returned to the Kia Oval with a noticeable limp. The prognosis was that the injury was expected to take a couple of weeks to heal.His mood was soon to be enhanced as Surrey, led by their openers Steve Davies and Jason Roy, pulled off a dramatic run chase against Leicestershire, ensuring that his unbeaten 355 – the highest score of his life – would at least set up a victory for his county, if not resurrect his England career.Sunrisers’ CEO K Shanmugam had announced that Pietersen would join the team on Friday in Hyderabad. He was bought by the franchise in this year’s auction but was allowed to return home to England to play county cricket at his request. They lie third in the IPL table and had hoped that Pietersen would give them additional firepower in their last home game against Mumbai Indians on Sunday as they press for a top-four place.Tom Moody, the head coach, had also been excited by his return. “It is great news that KP will be joining us earlier than planned,” he said. “To add a world-class batsman to our squad at the business end of the tournament is a huge bonus.”Pietersen’s priority will now be to recover fitness in time for his stint with St Lucia Zouks in the Caribbean Premier League. His future with Surrey remains uncertain.Sunrisers purchased Pietersen at his base price of 2 crore rupees (approximately GBP 200,000) at the IPL player auction in February. They agreed to release Pietersen ahead of the season to allow him to press for England selection.In an irate column for the newspaper Pietersen accused the ECB of being “deceitful”. He signed off the column by confirming he would be flying out to India to honour his IPL commitments.”Under the agreement of releasing me from my IPL contract, Sunrisers Hyderabad have the right to recall me for the final stages of the tournament, so on Friday – at their request – I’ll be travelling out to India,” he wrote. “It’ll give me a good opportunity to cool down and assess what I’m going to do next. I’m just sorry it won’t be putting on an England shirt.”Should they qualify for the knockout stages, Sunrisers will also be without their New Zealand pair of fast bowler Trent Boult and batsman Kane Williamson, who will leave after Sunday’s game to join the national squad ahead of their first Test against England starting on May 21.However, they can count on the encouraging form of Eoin Morgan and Moises Henriques besides captain David Warner and the availability of Dale Steyn, who has been part of the playing XI in just four games so far.Sunrisers’ retention of Williamson has caused New Zealand to abandon plans to field him – albeit belatedly – in their final pre-Test warm-up which begins against Worcestershire in Worcester on Thursday. Corey Anderson will still travel up to Worcester as planned on Thursday but Trent Boult, Tim Southee and Brendon McCullum will arrive early next week, along with Williamson.

Barcelona have made contact with Girona winger Savinho ahead of a potential 2024 transfer as Xavi pushes for reinforcements in attack.

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Barcelona want Girona's SavinhoDeco in touch with player's representativesHas contract with Troyes until 2027WHAT HAPPENED?

The 19-year-old has made a huge impact at Girona since joining the club on loan from Troyes, having scored four goals and provided as many assists in 15 La Liga appearances. His performances have helped Girona embark on a brilliant run of form that has seen them rise to second in the Liga table, tied on points with leaders Real Madrid. Barcelona sporting director Deco is known to be an admirer of Savinho, and is now reportedly in touch with the player's representatives as the club plot a summer move for him, according to .

AdvertisementGetty ImagesTHE BIGGER PICTURE

The Catalan giants have not enjoyed the brightest of starts to their title-defence, as they find themselves third in the league, four points behind Girona and their arch-rivals Real Madrid. In search of a goalscorer, they have already lined up the arrival of another Brazilian youngster, Vitor Roque, who will travel to Barcelona later this month ahead of his official registration. Xavi still wants more quality on the left flank, though, which is why Deco is now sounding out Savinho's representatives.

DID YOU KNOW?

The 19-year-old Girona sensation began his professional career at Atletico Mineiro before moving to Troyes. He is still under contract at the French outfit until 2027, but it will be difficult for them to turn down any big-money bid from Barcelona next year.

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WHAT NEXT FOR SAVINHO?

For now, Savinho will continue to focus on his duties at Girona, who will next face Orihuela in the second round of the Copa del Rey. The teenager will then have the chance to come up against his potential suitors, with Barcelona set to host Girona in La Liga on December 10.

Who are the greatest African players to represent the two Spanish giants?

Getty Images10Alex Song

Song transferred, at the height of his powers, to Catalonia to join Barcelona from Arsenal.

The box-to-box midfielder was indispensable for Arsene Wenger's Gunners, but it never quite worked out for Song in La Liga, and he subsequently returned to England on loan at West Ham United.

He's currently playing in Djibouti following spells with Sion and Rubin Kazan, and it's safe to say that his career hasn't lived up to the early promise of his pre-Barca years.

AdvertisementClive Brunskill/ALLSPORT9​Emmanuel Amuneke

During his playing career, the former Tanzania coach was a glittering wideman who enjoyed dismal fortune at Barcelona, where injuries completely shattered his career in Catalonia.

The 1994 African Footballer of the Year scored twice in the Nations Cup final that year as Nigeria defeated Zambia, and also clinched honours in Portugal, Egypt and in his homeland.

Yet despite a clutch of honours won with Barca, it’s tempting to beg the question, what might Amuneke have become had injuries not taken their toll?

Getty8Emmanuel Adebayor

Adebayor has been a fan favourite at almost every club he has played at, but he is also known for his controversial nature and at times it has overshadowed his excellence at some European giants.

He made 143 appearances for Arsenal managing 62 goals, of which 30 came in the 2007/08 season, which remains his finest campaign.

His brilliance flickered at Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur, but he never truly looked the part during a brief loan spell with Real in 2011.

He's currently a free agent after leaving Paraguayan giants Olimpia.

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Denis Doyle/Getty Images7Mahamadou Diarra

Diarra doesn’t always get the credit he deserves for the consistent excellence he brought to the table at Real Madrid during his time at the Bernabeu.

Between 2002 and 2008 the Mali international won six consecutive league titles with Olympique Lyonnais and then Real, helping the Spanish giants to end a four-year trophy drought with their championship triumph in 2006.

Finally, largely thanks to Diarra’s positioning, awareness and sharp tackling,  had a long overdue replacement for Claude Makelele.

Lancashire have confirmed the signing of James Faulkner as one of their overseas players for this season

ESPNcricinfo staff10-Apr-2015Lancashire have confirmed the signing of James Faulkner as one of their overseas players for this season, with the Australia allrounder to fill the gap left by Peter Siddle’s Ashes involvement.Siddle had been expected to play the first four months of the season, after he was dropped from Australia’s Test side, but a recall to the squads to tour West Indies and England means his Lancashire stint has been reduced to the first four Championship matches. Faulkner will then arrive to play across all formats after the conclusion of the IPL.”James is a world class cricketer and we are absolutely thrilled to bring him to Lancashire,” Ashley Giles, Lancashire’s director of cricket, said. “While he is better known at the moment for his performances in white-ball cricket his record in first-class cricket is fantastic. Having James available for all cricket is a real boost for the club and I’m certain all Lancashire cricket fans will be delighted at the prospect of watching him play at Old Trafford this season.”When we originally signed Peter we had hoped that we would get him for the majority of our County Championship campaign. When you sign high-quality overseas players there is always an unavoidable risk that you will end up losing them for all or part of the summer.”Peter is a renowned international performer with a fine pedigree and I am pleased that Cricket Australia have allowed him to play in our first four County Championship matches. It is important that we get off to a good start and his world-class experience will add a great amount of quality to our bowling attack.”Faulkner has played one Test for Australia, during the 2013 Ashes, and was a member of the side that lifted the World Cup last month, winning the Man of the Match award in the final. After completing the IPL season, where he is playing for Rajasthan Royals, at the end of the May, he will be available for Lancashire until the end of August, when the limited-overs leg of Australia’s tour begins.Faulkner said: “Lancashire is a huge county with a fine history in the game and I am looking forward to joining the squad next month. Playing in English conditions will benefit my career and I cannot wait to work with Ashley and the rest of the team.”

Andrew Strauss, the former England captain, and an increasingly influential voice in cricket administration, has issued dire warnings about the survival of Test cricket

David Hopps02-Oct-2014Andrew Strauss, the former England captain, and an increasingly influential voice in cricket administration, has issued dire warnings about the survival of Test cricket, predicting that Twenty20 could dominate the landscape within 20 years.Strauss, who since his retirement has been appointed to the cricket committees of the ICC and MCC as well as sitting on the Middlesex management board, lays part of the blame for Test cricket’s potential ills on the restructuring of the ICC.The deal, which if TV rights deals come to fruition could bring India a ten-fold increase in income, with England and Australia also benefiting financially, will in Strauss’ view condemn Test cricket to a growing number of mismatches which will quicken its decline.Strauss’ pessimistic view – particularly notable as it comes from one of the game’s avowed traditionalists – comes in an updated paperback edition of his autobiography, which is published today.”India can argue that they bring the most money into the game, and thus deserve more out of the precious ICC broadcasting rights, but skewing the distribution of the three boards that are already the most financially secure can only create a situation in which the rich get richer and the poor poorer,” Strauss writes.”With only ten teams playing Test cricket and four of those already struggling to stay competitive, the risk of the game degenerating to the extent that the result of many Test series is a foregone conclusion is both high and real.”Strauss paints a bleak picture of the Test game in which he built his reputation, leading England in 50 of his 100 Tests and gaining a reputation as one of the finest man managers in England’s history.”I have to admit that I become more and more concerned about the plight of Test cricket every year,” Strauss admits. “Watching a Test match between the West Indies and New Zealand in an empty stadium with no more than a handful of spectators in attendance sends out warning signals. Seeing that the viewing figures for a county Twenty20 game rival those for a Test match adds to the growing perception that Test cricket is in crisis.”Part of the new ICC restructure provides a Test fund so that some of the smaller nations can play each other in Test series even though they aren’t financially viable. While I definitely welcome this news, I can’t help feeling that we have already reached the tipping point as far as Test cricket is concerned.”The teams will keep playing each other over the next eight years, but aside from iconic series like the Ashes or England v India, I fear that the game is slowly going to fizzle out as a mainstream attraction, especially away from the ‘big three’ nations.”It is too late to turn the tide, especially with the glitz and glamour of Twenty20 cricket managing to gain more and more traction every year.”Strauss predicts a future in which the ICC is powerless to prevent control moving towards the T20 franchises. His warning comes in a week when Australia have conceded that their T20 side against Pakistan could be potentially weakened by absentees in the Champions League – another sign of the creeping power shift between club and country.”It is not a huge stretch of the imagination to see a situation in which most players will be contracted to franchises and play the majority of their cricket in the Twenty20 format,” Strauss concludes. “It will not happen for a while , as the international boards will do everything in their power to prevent it, but market forces are likely to win the battle in the long term. In twenty years, the game of cricket will look very different.”Driving Ambition: Andrew Strauss (Hodder & Stoughton) £8.99