Lei do ex prevalece e Diego Renan garante vitória para a Ponte Preta

MatériaMais Notícias

No Orlando Scarpelli, Figueirense e Ponte Preta travaram um duelo com objetivos diferentes na Série B. O time de Santa Catarina estava seis jogos sem vitória na competição, já o adversário queria encostar nos primeiros colocados. Diego Renan, aos 31 do primeiro tempo, marcou o único gol da partida e fez valer a famosa ‘Lei do Ex’ – o jogador atuou pelo Figueira ano passado. Diego relembrou que não foi a primeira vez na sua carreira:

– Em 2016 eu fiz dois gols no Cruzeiro jogando pelo Vitória, mas ontem foi diferente. Único gol do jogo, feliz por mais uma vez a Lei do Ex dar certo comigo. A gente veio sabendo da dificuldade que iríamos enfrentar, mas todos conscientes que poderíamos surpreender e buscar os três pontos. Soubemos jogar o jogo, fizemos o gol, depois conseguimos suportar bem as investidas do Figueirense. Série B tem que ter esse espírito fora de casa – afirmou.

Diego comentou sobre a jogada do gol e sobre a recente fase difícil da Ponte na competição:

– Foi um lance muito rápido, percebi que a bola poderia sobrar ali e fui feliz na finalização. É uma bola muito difícil, mas no momento foi a única opção que eu tinha para definir rápido. A gente sabe que em um campeonato, toda equipe passa por momentos difíceis, soubemos lidar muito bem com a sequência negativa, saímos mais fortalecidos e cientes do que é preciso fazer para mantermos uma regularidade – finalizou.

Bangladesh complete 3-0 whitewash

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
The year 2014 has just become a whole lot nicer for Bangladesh. After 10 months of losses, failures, suspensions, resignations and sackings, they have completed a 3-0 Test series win over Zimbabwe with a 186-run margin in Chittagong.The final wicket fell in the 85th over when Natsai M’shangwe was trapped lbw by Shafiul Islam. Craig Ervine, Richmond Mutumbami and Tinashe Panyangara also fell the same way while Shingi Masakadza had his off stump pegged back.File photo: Shuvagata Hom removed the two overnight batsmen before lunch•WICB Media

Regis Chakabva was the sole source of resistance, making 89 off 181 balls with seven fours and a six. He hardly played a false shot despite several leg-before appeals, surviving through two reviews, and a chance on 21 when Mushfiqur Rahim dropped a sharp chance.For Bangladesh, there were two wickets each for Shafiul, Rubel Hossain, Jubair Hossain and Shuvagata Hom.Zimbabwe’s eccentric start to the day gave Bangladesh early inroads. Through loud appeals and inside edges, Hamilton Masakadza and Sikandar Raza, having added 67 last evening, looked to play all sorts of shots against spin from both ends. In the fourth over, Raza completed his second fifty of the match with a four that he could easily have dragged on to his stumps. In the next over, Taijul Islam had a review denied after replays showed the ball was hitting him outside off stump. It was the ninth time in the series that Bangladesh had their review denied.Masakadza, having added just 12 runs in the morning and constricted with his drives, played a reverse sweep which was neither attempted nor executed correctly. He did not go down on his knees enough to lay into the shot as the delivery from Shuvagata took his glove and popped up for Mushfiqur Rahim. Soon after the 93-run second-wicket stand ended, Shuvagata got his second wicket. This time Raza hammered a full toss down Taijul’s throat at deep midwicket, ending his innings on 65 off 75 balls with nine fours and two sixes.Brendan Taylor also gave away his wicket, playing a loose drive to Jubair, getting out to him for the third time in the series, all to drives. This time he was caught at point for 24, ending a mediocre series for himself. Seven minutes before lunch, Jubair took his second wicket when Elton Chigumbura, who had top-scored with 88 in the first innings, cut a ball low to slip where Imrul Kayes took a sharp catch to his right.Almost everything went to plan for Bangladesh. Mushfiqur has had very little to worry about with Shakib Al Hasan and Tamim Iqbal doing well and the bowling attack able to pick up 20 wickets in each of the three Tests. Zimbabwe’s lack of form also played into their hands, but ultimately the win will count. And for Bangladesh, it would count with much effect.

فيديو | ميسي يقود الأرجنتين للفوز على بيرو بثنائية في تصفيات كأس العالم

قاد ليونيل ميسي، منتخب الأرجنتين، لتحقيق فوز سهل، على حساب مضيفه، بيرو، بهدفين دون رد، فجر اليوم الأربعاء، ضمن تصفيات كأس العالم 2026.

وشارك ميسي منذ بداية المباراة عكس مواجهة أوروجواي السابقة، وسجل الهدف الأول في الدقيقة 32 بتسديدة قوية سكنت أعلى الشباك بعد عرضية من نيكولاس جونزالز.

اقرأ أيضًا.. سبورت: ميسي سيفوز بالكرة الذهبية هذا العام

وفي الدقيقة 42، عاد ميسي وسجل الهدف الثاني له ولمنتخب الأرجنتين بالطريقة نفسها بعد عرضية من الناحية اليسرى، ولكن هذه المرة كانت العرضية بأقدام إنزو فرنانديز. ملخص مباراة الأرجنتين وبيرو في تصفيات كأس العالم

في الشوط الثاني، وبالتحديد في الدقيقة 59، سجل ليو ميسي الهدف الثالث، لكن تم إلغاؤه بعد العودة لتقنية الفيديو، لتنتهي المباراة بفوز الأرجنتين 2-0.

بتلك النتيجة، يواصل منتخب الأرجنتين الانفراد بصدارة تصفيات كأس العالم 2026 لقارة أمريكا الجنوبية بالعلامة الكاملة، برصيد 12 نقطة من 4 مباريات، ويتجمد رصيد بيرو عند نقطة واحدة في المركز التاسع.

فاروق جعفر يكشف اقتراحه لحل أزمة عقود لاعبي الزمالك.. ويصرح: حسين لبيب منافسي في الانتخابات

كشف فاروق جعفر المرشح لـ رئاسة نادي الزمالك عن موقفه من التعامل مع ملف العقود في فريق الكرة، معلقًا على المنافسة على مقعد رئاسة القلعة البيضاء مع الثنائي حسين لبيب وعمر هريدي.  موعد انتخابات الزمالك 2023

وتقام انتخابات الزمالك، يوم الجمعة المقبل 20 أكتوبر، لتشكيل مجلس إدارة جديد يقود القلعة البيضاء من الفترة 2023 حتى 2027.

وقال فاروق جعفر في تصريحات تلفزيونية عبر قناة صدى البلد: “هناك توقفات للدوري العام كثيرة، لدينا فرصة للعب مباريات ودية في الدول العربية، سواء في السعودية أو الإمارات أو الكويت أو البحرين أو عمان”.

وأكمل: “أريد أن أتحدث عن الشق الاجتماعي في النادي، الأعمار السنية لأعضاء النادي كبيرة، أريد أن أجعل كبار السن يشعرون بالراحة، أريد أن أجلب سيارة إسعاف، وتطوير الوحدة الصحية”.

وأردف: “أريد تطوير الحضانة في نادي الزمالك، والحفاظ على اللغة العربية لأن معظم الأطفال يتعلمون اللغات”.

وواصل: “لم أكن أذهب لنادي الزمالك في الفترة الماضية، عملت مستشارًا فنيًا مع اللجنة الأولى، وحصلنا على الدوري مرتين والكأس، ولكن لم أكن موجودًا أيام فيريرا، والإمكانيات كانت سيئة جدًا”.

وحول مقترحاته لعلاج أزمة عقود اللاعبين، تابع: “لا يوجد مخرج للحصول على الأموال غير من رجال الأعمال، لكن دائمًا الفكر هو الذي يجلب الأموال”.

طالع | حسين لبيب يوضح موقفه من اعتذار إمام عاشور لـ الزمالك.. ويصرح: كهربا أساء للنادي

وبسؤاله من منافسه في الانتخابات، أجاب: “حسين لبيب، حسين شخصية محترمة، والمستشار عمر هريدي منظم في حديثه، لكن المنافسة تذهب لنقطة قيمتك عند الجمعية العمومية”.

واختتم: “عمر هريدي قيمة كبيرة، لكن الظروف الحالية تجعل النادي في احتياج لرئيس رياضي أكثر، وأنا إذا وفقت في الانتخابات سوف أستعين بأي شخص يريد العطاء وعنده ولاء ويعمل من قلبه، الزمالك يستطيع بأبنائه”.

Clarke issued 'please explain'

James Sutherland, the CA chief executive, will ask for an explanation from Michael Clarke about why he continued to plan for a grade-match appearance despite advice to the contrary from the national selectors

Daniel Brettig25-Nov-20141:47

Clarke and selectors butt heads

Michael Clarke is expected to be ruled out of the Gabba Test but may have to repair his relations with Cricket Australia and the national selectors•Getty ImagesMichael Clarke is likely to lose his fight to play in the first Test against India but faces a far bigger and more significant struggle to regain the trust of Cricket Australia and its selectors following the events of the past week, which have seen the captain and the board at odds over his fitness.Clarke’s single-minded quest to play in the first Test of the summer has left a trail of equal parts confused and furious CA officials, coaches and selectors in its wake, while the contrivances of the grade game he had chosen to prove his availability are now under investigation. It remains to be seen whether the selectors, including the chairman Rod Marsh and the coach Darren Lehmann, can still work with him.An announcement ruling Clarke out of the Gabba was expected on Tuesday, but was put to one side by events at the SCG, where Phillip Hughes was felled by a bouncer and taken to hospital for emergency surgery. Clarke drove to St Vincent’s Hospital to be at Hughes’ side, but only after being asked to explain why he had defied the selectors over how he would prove his fitness for Brisbane.James Sutherland, the CA chief executive, will ask for a “please explain” from Clarke about why he continued to plan for a grade appearance with Western Suburbs this Saturday despite advice to the contrary from the national selectors.”I will speak to Michael and others who have been involved in the process to make sure I understand where these things have gone awry,” Sutherland told .”It’s not really appropriate for me to go into any more detail. All I can say is I am concerned that there are some mixed messages coming out of Cricket Australia in the last 24 hours or so and I want to understand why things have fallen off the rails a bit there.”ESPNcricinfo understands that Clarke had been informed as early as Wednesday last week of the selectors’ desire to have him play the two-day match against the Indians at Adelaide Oval from Friday. Yet Western Suburbs still went into the club fixture intent on making sure Clarke could bat in Sydney on the second Saturday.The efforts of the club’s captain Jeff Cook to ensure this eventuality took an extreme form, declaring at 0 for 17 and effectively surrendering the first innings to Paramatta. That day’s events are to be investigated by Cricket New South Wales at the conclusion of the round.After the weekend’s events, Clarke was to be named by the selectors in the squad for the Gabba on the condition that he proved his fitness by playing in Adelaide. But Clarke still hung on to the view that he should be allowed to test his hamstring out via the Sydney grade game.So when the chairman of selectors Rod Marsh announced the team and stated that the captain needed to play the two-day game, Clarke was at the SCG preparing on a schedule that would have him ready to appear for Western Suburbs on Saturday. He then said as much later that afternoon at a promotional appearance in Sydney, directly contradicting the words of Marsh.On Tuesday morning, Clarke did so again, saying he still expected to be fit for Brisbane. “I really hope I’m fit and I’m there to captain Australia,” Clarke said on Nine’s . “If I’m not, then I think Brad Haddin the vice-captain should definitely takeover the captaincy.Clarke went on to say that he had no plans to retire in the next 12 months. “My goal is to continue to play for Australia for a lot longer; I love both forms of the game. I want to continue to play both forms of the game.”Once you get past the age of 30, I think naturally there’s always talk about who’s going to be next, how long you play for. I probably experienced the other side of that as vice-captain. People should be looking and thinking about who is going to take that role once I’m either dropped or not selected, or I retire.”Experienced players, coaches and officials around the country have not seen anything quite like the events of the past week.

Após multa da Conmebol, Fla pede à Nação: 'Torça com responsabilidade'

MatériaMais Notícias

A Nação fará mais uma vez sua parte na quarta-feira, lotando as arquibancadas do Maracanã diante do Internacional no jogo que abre o confronto das quartas de final da Libertadores. A presença e o apoio da torcida é bem-vindo, mas, por conta da recente punição sofrida pelo clube pelas bombas e sinalizadores acessos durante a partida contra o Emelec (EQU), na fase anterior da Copa, a diretoria reforçou o pedido por um comportamento consciente dos torcedores.

– Torça com responsabilidade. Seu apoio é fundamental para que nossos atletas busquem as vitórias dentro de campo, e sua consciência na arquibancada é primordial para que o clube não seja punido”, diz parte da nota publicada pelo clube da Gávea nesta segunda-feira, em seu site oficial.

A preocupação na Gávea é que, em caso de reincidência, “medidas mais duras” devem ser tomadas pela Conmebol, que já puniu o Flamengo com dois jogos de portões fechados na Copa Libertadores de 2018 por conta dos incidentes na final da Copa Sul-Americana de 2017. A direção do clube pede que os torcedores respeitem regulamento da Copa e reforça que, caso seja punido novamente, o Fla pode até perder mando de campo em torneios da Conmebol.

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Enquadrado em artigos do Regulamento Disciplinar do Regulamento de Segurança da Conmebol (veja os detalhes abaixo), o Flamengo foi multado em 10 mil dólares por conta das bombas e sinalizadores acessos na partida contra o Emelec, do Equador, no Maracanã, nas oitavas de final da Copa Libertadores.

A torcida esgotará as entradas para a partida contra o Internacional, na quarta, no Maracanã. Até às 13h desta segunda haviam sido vendido 55.050 entradas, restando pouco mais de mil ingressos para o Setor Sul e Maracanã Mais.

O clube reforça que a Nação “não jogue objetos no gramado, não danifique ou vandalize as estruturas do estádio, não utilize fogos, bombas, sinalizadores ou qualquer objeto pirotécnico no interior do estádio”, entre outras questões.

Confira abaixo, na íntegra, a publicação feita pelo Flamengo nesta segunda:

“Na última sexta-feira (9/8), o Tribunal de Disciplina da CONMEBOL puniu o Flamengo por infringir as normas da confederação, na partida contra o Emelec, nos artigos 13.2, inciso c), e 21 TER. REINCIDENCIA, no Regulamento Disciplinar, e no artigo 25, incisos e) e g), no Regulamento de Segurança, descritos abaixo:

Regulamento Disciplinar:

ARTIGO 13. OUTRAS INFRAÇÕES

2. As sanções disciplinares previstas nos Artigos 18 e 20 deste Regulamento podem ser impostas às Associações Membro e clubes em casos de comportamento incorreto ou inapropriado de seus torcedores, incluindo:

c) Sinalizadores, fogos de artifício ou qualquer outro objeto pirotécnico.

ARTIGO 21 TER. REINCIDÊNCIA

1. Haverá reincidência quando o autor tiver sido sancionado, nos dois anos anteriores, por qualquer infração à disciplina esportiva da mesma natureza ou similar.

2. A reincidência será considerada, em todos os casos, como uma circunstância agravante.

Regulamento de Segurança:

Art. 25 – Proibições – Entrada no estádio e/ ou manipulação antes, durante e depois dos jogos, os objetos listados abaixo são proibidos:

e) Objeto pirotécnico de qualquer tipo e/ ou forma de ativação.

g) Bombas de estrondo.

Como consequência, o clube foi multado em US$10.000,00 e ainda recebeu uma notificação, advertindo que em caso de nova reincidência nestas quartas de final – o Flamengo já havia sido punido pelos acontecimentos na final da Copa Sul-Americana de 2017 -, medidas mais duras seriam tomadas.

Para não sofrer mais qualquer tipo de punição – que pode chegar à perda de mandos de campo em futuros jogos de torneios da CONMEBOL -, o Flamengo faz um pedido à Nação Rubro-Negra: torça com responsabilidade. Seu apoio é fundamental para que nossos atletas busquem as vitórias dentro de campo, e sua consciência na arquibancada é primordial para que o clube não seja punido.

Não jogue objetos no gramado, não danifique ou vandalize as estruturas do estádio, não utilize fogos, bombas, sinalizadores ou qualquer objeto pirotécnico no interior do estádio. Não provoque brigas com outros torcedores, não leve para o estádio faixas, bandeiras, rolos de papel, apitos, guarda-chuvas ou iluminação a laser e ajude a identificar os torcedores que por ventura cometam algum tipo de infração. Os principais prejudicados, caso estas infrações aconteçam, serão o Flamengo e a própria Nação Rubro-Negra.

A torcida rubro-negra é nosso maior patrimônio e já mostrou que pode ser decisiva em diversos capítulos da história centenária do Flamengo. O time precisa do apoio incondicional da Nação: vamos, mais uma vez, jogar juntos.”

Younis stays modest as records tumble

Around 11,000 spectators created a festive atmosphere as Younis Khan made his fifth Test double century to leave Australia reeling in Abu Dhabi. It was his third hundred on the trot, and came against the backdrop of his exclusion from the one-day squad last month.The decision to axe him had prompted Younis to stridently question the selectors. He was retained in the Test squad though and while he has broken a slew of batting records, he insisted this wasn’t about showing up the selectors. “I am not here to prove anything to anyone,” he said after another productive day in Abu Dhabi. “I just wanted to show my character and wanted to win the games for my country after Pakistan lost four matches to Australia. So the intentions were never to prove a point but to help Pakistan.”Younis, though, said that the week after being dropped was an important period for him. “I still remember that one week that I spent with my family. I am not able to forget that moment. My family and friends were tense. The media was tense, the entire Pakistan was tense for me, wondering he could retire now, who knows what he could do now after having spoken out. The media has supported me a lot. Each and every moment from that week is with me and [I am] thinking positively from that.”He was also pleased with his preparation for the series. “It was my good luck that I landed here in UAE a week earlier and worked a lot on my batting with the help of the batting coach. The Australians would also practice nearby and whenever I got the opportunity, I would observe their body language and try to learn about them. So that week really made a difference.”During this series, Younis became Pakistan’s highest Test century maker, and reached 8000 Test runs, prompting debates over whether he is Pakistan’s greatest Test batsman. “I don’t think I can become a great… like Javed, Inzamam, Yousuf, Saeed Anwar, Zaheer Abbas, Hanif Mohammad … I can’t compare myself with them,” he said. “The era I am playing in, many things are easy for me compared to the time they have played their cricket. It was so difficult for them. I want to be remembered as a team man who served the team and as someone whose performances made his country proud.”He said he drew energy from the large holiday crowd in Abu Dhabi to complete his double century just before tea. “When I was around 160 or 170, my body’s response started to go down, but when I saw so many fans were coming in, I thought that if I push myself a little more, then I could get to 200…”When I saw so many people coming in for a Test, I felt very happy, I took motivation from the crowd, I wanted to hang in there and reach 200, so that all the people who have come to see me, I shouldn’t disappoint them.”The situation looks hopeless for Australia, but Younis, while hoping to win the Test, expected some tough days ahead. “Obviously when you score runs and contribute a lot in the game you want the team to win comprehensively so I hope we manage to pull off a whitewash.”But it isn’t going to be easy for us, we still have to put in the hard work. Though we have good spinners, Australia have been in this situation several times… they have Warner, Clarke, Smith and Haddin who had played a big role for them to win the Ashes. So it won’t be easy. We aren’t thinking that the contest will be over tomorrow or day after and I think the Australian team is capable of making a comeback.”

Mudgal panel submits final report in IPL corruption case

The Mudgal committee investigating spot-fixing allegations in the IPL has submitted its final report to the Supreme Court, which will take it up on November 10

ESPNcricinfo staff03-Nov-2014

This report could determine, among other things, whether ICC chairman N Srinivasan can seek re-election as president of the BCCI•AFP

The Mudgal committee investigating spot-fixing allegations in the IPL has submitted its final report to the Supreme Court, which will take it up on November 10. The report could determine, among other things, whether ICC chairman N Srinivasan can seek re-election as president of the BCCI.”We have submitted the report in a sealed envelope to the court,” Raju Ramachandran, a lawyer for the panel, told , without elaborating.The panel, which is headed by former judge Mukul Mudgal and includes ex-India captain Sourav Ganguly, had in February presented a sealed envelope to the court containing names of 13 individuals who needed to be probed further.The panel’s preliminary report had concluded that Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan – who was the team principal of the Chennai Super Kings franchise – could be guilty of illegal betting on IPL games.Super Kings is owned by India Cements, whose managing director is Srinivasan.The court barred Srinivasan from carrying out his duties as president of the BCCI until it had delivered its final verdict, but did not stop him from heading the ICC.In May this year, following the panel’s initial report into IPL corruption, the Supreme Court gave the Mudgal committee greater powers to investigate the contents of the sealed envelope that it had provided India’s highest court along with the report. The sealed envelope contained names and details of allegations made against 13 individuals, including Srinivasan.The committee was given assistance by former senior Indian Police Service (IPS) officer BB Mishra, and greater investigative powers for search and seizure of relevant documents and the recording of evidence, though not the power to arrest. Mishra and the panel were provided with assistance from one senior police officer each from Mumbai, Chennai and Delhi, and it was the first two months of their investigation led to the panel submitting its interim report by the end of August.This specific case dates back to June 2013 when AdityaVerma, secretary of the Cricket Association of Bihar (CAB), raised charges of a conflict of interest in the BCCI’s original two-member inquiry panel for the IPL corruption issue. A Bombay High Court ruling later termed the probe panel “illegal”. The BCCI and the CAB filed petitions in the Supreme Court against this order, with the CAB contending that the Bombay High Court could have suggested a fresh mechanism to look into the corruption allegations.The Supreme Court then appointed a three-member committee, headed by former High Court judge Mukul Mudgal and comprising additional solicitor general L Nageswara Rao and Nilay Dutta to conduct an independent inquiry into the allegations of corruption against Meiyappan, India Cements, and Rajasthan Royals team owner Jaipur IPL Cricket Private Ltd, as well as with the larger mandate of allegations around betting and spot-fixing in IPL matches and the involvement of players.

Australia eye World Cup return for Clarke

Australia have not given up hope of captain Michael Clarke leading them at the World Cup after positive reports from the surgeon who operated on his injured hamstring this week

Brydon Coverdale17-Dec-20143:43

‘Australia don’t miss Clarke in ODIs’

Australia have not given up hope of captain Michael Clarke leading them at the World Cup after positive reports from the surgeon who operated on his injured hamstring this week.Clarke suffered a serious injury to the tendon component of his right hamstring on the final day of the Adelaide Test and had surgery on Tuesday, and recovery from such an operation can take months. It is still possible that the Test tour of the West Indies in June might be Clarke’s next chance to play international cricket, but the World Cup has not been ruled out.”Our aim is for him to play in the World Cup,” team physio Alex Kountouris said. “That’ll be the goal. He’s had the surgery and he’s going to do the rehab with that intent but we’ll only know that in the coming weeks when we know how he’s recovering and progressing through the rehab.”The rehab is dependent on how he progresses from each stage. There’s different goals and one day post-injury there’s no magic number that ends the rehab. He’ll just have to progress through each stage. Initially it’s going to be nice and easy. Then he’ll start jogging and if he copes with that, he’ll be running faster and he’ll start doing strength work. We’ll know that in the weeks coming.”The reports from the surgeon who operated on Michael Clarke’s injured hamstring this week were positive•Getty Images

Clarke has had trouble with his left hamstring over the past few months but it was his right that forced him from the field in Adelaide. Kountouris said that surgery was decided upon in order to reduce the risk of the injury returning in the future.”Over the last 10 years it’s become apparent the tendons when they become injured, they don’t heal as well and are prone to reccurrence,” he said. “We explored with the surgeon and radiologist, and decided this was the best course of action.”Speaking to the surgeon, everything went really well. He found what he expected to find and there were no surprises. He managed to do a good repair and he’s confident Michael is going to make a good recovery. It’s going to heal and it’s going to minimise risk of reoccurrence, and that’s the goal.”In the immediate aftermath of suffering the injury, Clarke admitted that he might have played for Australia for the last time and he might need to consider his cricket future. However, deciding on surgery was a clear indication that he retained the desire to come back and play for Australia again.Clarke’s injury forced the selectors to consider who would captain the side in the Brisbane Test and they decided on Steven Smith, which indicated a forward-thinking approach. Smith’s official role is now as vice-captain to Clarke in the Test side, and if Clarke returns it will give Smith a chance to serve an apprenticeship before taking on the role full time.While Smith led Australia for the first time on day one against India at the Gabba on Wednesday, Clarke spent much of the day tweeting his thoughts on the match from his bed. “@stevesmith49 doing a very good job,” Clarke tweeted at one point.

Clarke's series clouded despite brave 128

Injections, massage, exercise and no little motivation allowed Michael Clarke to fashion a remarkable hundred in the midst of a back flare-up at Adelaide Oval, but Australia’s selectors must now deliberate over how sustainable such a combination will be for the remainder of the Test series against India.Scarcely a ball went by without Clarke wincing in pain as he forged on to 128 on day two, more than doubling the 60 on which he had retired hurt. The hundred was believed to be the first ever by an Australian Test batsman having been forced from the field due to injury, but its courage is no substitute for the rest and strength work that Clarke has customarily leaned on whenever his back has complained in the past.Short-term salves for the issue, such as painkillers and constant movement, should be enough to ensure Australia do not go through the difficulties of being effectively a man down in this match, though it remains to be seen how much Clarke can field.Though he said it was unrelated to recent hamstring troubles on the opposite side of his body, the team physio Alex Kountouris conceded Clarke’s injury was a major one, leaving the chairman of selectors Rod Marsh and the team performance supremo Pat Howard to ponder wider plans.”As everyone knows, he has got a chronic back injury and he dived to get back into the crease when David Warner was on 99, he felt it a little bit there and then just tried to get out of the way of a bouncer and it really grabbed,” Kountouris said. “Unfortunately it is quite a significant back injury. He hasn’t had anything like this for 18 months. The last time he had this was in the Champions Trophy in England. It’s poor timing and he is struggling at the moment.”The hamstring injury is on the other side. He has been carrying a left hamstring injury and this is his right lower back. This is his old injury, it’s what he has had in the past with his back. I don’t think it is directly related to his hamstring. You don’t want to be a man down, so he is very determined to give it a go and see how he goes.”Steven Smith, who went on to an unbeaten 162 largely in Clarke’s company, said his captain had made the very best of a bad situation. “He was pretty keen to get out there this morning,” Smith said. “He had a good hit this morning and he just came out and played beautifully. A few shots hurt him but he got himself into as many good positions as he could and manipulated the field a little bit as well. He played beautifully under the circumstances.”In the breaks he was getting a bit of treatment, he was walking around, trying to stay as active as he could – sitting down’s probably the hardest thing for him with his back. He was trying to stay quite active.”Clarke has battled his back and hamstring troubles since he was a teenager, and has often worried about how long his body would allow him to play. Over the past few weeks he has shown extraordinary leadership capacity while staying close to the family of Phillip Hughes, underlining how much Australia’s players would dearly love him to be fit for the remainder of the summer.”He has done amazing over the last couple of weeks,” Smith said. “It has been tough for all of us but he spent the whole time by Hughesy’s family’s side. Just the strength and courage he has shown through those times was unbelievable. He must be mentally drained coming into this game but the way he played speaks the world of that guy. He came out here and tried to do something for Hughesy and he certainly did that.”

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