England may have made a somewhat shaky start to their T20 World Cup title defence in the group stages but look to have sparked into life following their first Super 8 game, with a convincing win over co-host nation West Indies.
In fact, they were so impressive in the opening game of the divisive phase that their performance was labelled as near perfection by ex-England bowler Steven Finn.
Speaking on BBC’s Test Match Special coverage, Finn said simply, “England turned up – the England that everyone has enjoyed watching over the last few years”, claiming that, “barring a couple of overs with the ball, this was almost a perfect performance”.
The former fast bowler went on to insist that this could be a good opportunity for them “to set a marker down” for the rest of the tournament. The star of the show was undeniably Phil Salt – exhibit A:
Salt, who was rightly awarded Player of the Match after opening the batting with 87 from 47 balls not out, produced a commanding display to give England a strong advantage from the off, including a staggering run of 30 runs in just one over.
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Only more quality followed him as Johnny Bairstow stepped up to go unbeaten for 48 from 26 and seal the win over the heavy favourites by 180-4 with 15 balls to spare.
Heaping further praise on the national team set-up, including former Windies captain Kieron Pollard whose work as the new England batting coach is clearly working, Finn added: “They batted with power and bowled with skill.
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“They knew that when they got the bat in hand, once they got the momentum, they could take advantage of it.”
England now find themselves in a very strong position to qualify for the semi-finals, with South Africa and the other joint-host USA left to play in this stage.
The South Africans only managed a narrow victory over America on the same day, meaning that England seemingly boast the best form in their Super 8 group as they look to take control of the top two.
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Can the reigning T20 World Cup Champions do it two years in a row?
With the Vitality T20 Blast also underway, The Hundred set to kick off next month and the live music lineup for the likes of the Manchester games already out, it’s going to be a summer full of cricket.
You can find out everything you need to know about Manchester Originals fixtures and the rest of this year’s tournament down below.
Details released of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners while Mayor
Emily Sergeant
Details of Andy Burnham’s meetings with Manchester City owners during his tenure as Mayor of Greater Manchester have been released.
In case you need bringing up to speed on the situation a little first, Manchester City was found guilty back in September all of its charges related to the Premier League’s financial rules over a nine-season period, and on top of that, was also found guilty of the majority of charges in relation to its failure to co-operate with the League’s investigation.
According to the Premier League, the independent Commission found that Manchester City had arranged so-called ‘sham’ commercial deals with a number of its sponsors.
These were part of a disguised funding scheme – with those sponsors only required to pay a portion of the relevant sponsorship fees.
The remainder was then funded by Abu Dhabi United Group Investment & Development Ltd (ADUG), which owned the club.
The Commission also concluded, as quoted by the Premier League, that the club had ‘made concerted efforts to stop and frustrate the Premier League investigation’.
Within the past week or so, it has since come to light that now-Prime Minister Andy Burnham had dealings with Manchester City during his tenure as Greater Manchester Mayor, and Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA) has now issued a public statement, giving details on the matter and what these ‘dealings’ entailed.
A spokesperson for GMCA confirmed that Burnham had a ‘formal meeting’ with Man City Chairman, Khaldoon Al Mubarak, back in October 2021.
The statement reads in full: “In October 2021, Andy Burnham, in his role as Mayor of Greater Manchester, had a formal meeting with Khaldoon Al Mubarak at the UK Government’s Global Investment Summit arranged by the Department for International Trade.
“In his capacity as Mayor, he was a guest of Manchester City FC at home matches on a small number of occasions, including attending Vincent Kompany’s testimonial match in September 2019, where he met the Chairman informally in the stands. These have been declared in the usual way.
“Also during his time as Mayor, representatives of Greater Manchester sporting clubs would routinely join business delegations as part of Mayoral international visits.
“This included representatives from Manchester United travelling to Austin and Dublin, Lancashire Cricket Club joining a delegation to India, and Manchester City FC staff supporting visits to China and Japan.”
Featured Image – Lauren Hurley / Number 10 Downing Street (Press Image via Flickr)
Sport
Multiple arrests made for ‘tragedy chanting’ and police officer assault as Man City defeated Liverpool
Emily Sergeant
Multiple people were arrested over the weekend as Manchester City defeated Liverpool in a Premier League clash.
Merseyside Police have confirmed that a total of 10 people were arrested during the policing operation at Liverpool’s home ground of Anfield as they hosted Manchester City on Sunday 11 October.
One man was arrested on suspicion of assaulting a police constable, five were on suspicion of tragedy chanting, one on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly, two for affray, and one on suspicion of throwing items onto the pitch.
Police are now appealing to the public, and are particularly looking to speak to witnesses of the assault of the officer.
At around 6:35pm, as fans left the stadium, a police officer sustained a ‘serious facial injury’ during the arrest of a man on Anfield Road, and was subsequently taken to hospital for treatment but is now recovering at home.
Investigating officers are now conducting enquiries, speaking to witnesses, and analysing CCTV and camera phone footage.
Chief Inspector Leanne Hobin said it’s ‘extremely disappointing’ that an officer has sustained a serious injury while carrying out their duty.
“I hope the arrests send a clear message and act as a deterrent to others,” Chief Inspector Hobin continued. “Anyone who engages in this abhorrent behaviour risks ending up in custody and getting a criminal record.
“Despite the actions of a few, the overwhelming majority of the 60,000 fans in attendance behaved well and I want to thank them for their co-operation.”
Manchester City ended up defeated Liverpool 3-0 during the Premier League clash at Anfield.
Danny Jones -
20th June 2024 
