Football: Smells like team spirit as Albrighton salutes Leicester success

May 3, 2016

London, May 3: Leicester winger Marc Albrighton says the secret to his side's astonishing Premier League title triumph was their bloody minded refusal to accept defeat.

Football

Claudio Ranieri's team were crowned English champions on Monday after Tottenham's 2-2 draw against Chelsea completed one of the most unlikely sporting success stories of all time.

Just 12 months ago, the Foxes barely avoided relegation to the Championship and they started this season as 5,000-1 outsiders for the title following the widely criticised appointment of boss Claudio Ranieri, whose previous job as Greece coach had ended with the humiliation of a loss to the Faroe Islands.

But Leicester defied the odds in spectacular fashion and Albrighton is convinced the roots of their astonishing rise lie in the way Ranieri and his players cultivated an unusually strong sense of togetherness.

At a time when the vast wages and disparate cultures at Premier League clubs can often cause dressing room rifts, Leicester have bucked the trend.

That spirit was visible in the way they responded to the two-game absence of suspended leading scorer Jamie Vardy by thrashing Swansea and drawing with Manchester United in their last two matches, and was also evident in a series of come from behind heroics earlier in the campaign.

"We've got that never-say-die attitude. I think that's won us a lot of points this season," Albrighton said.

"Early on this season you've got the draws at Stoke and Southampton, we were 2-0 down in both of them, and 2-0 down in the home game against Villa.

"So that showed our character early in the season and we've continued to do that. We've gone behind at Old Trafford, which is a daunting place.

"It's a big pitch and the fans are behind them, but credit to the lads, we carried on going, got the equaliser and held on."

Albrighton revealed Leicester's players had left Old Trafford on Sunday frustrated that they missed the chance to celebrate winning the title with their 3,000 travelling supporters.

"We came to win the game and to wrap up the title, but it wasn't to be," he said.

"We were probably thinking what could have been and that we could have been over there celebrating with our fans."

But, although Leicester were unable to secure the title at Manchester United, they had to wait only another 24 hours to seal the first top-flight triumph in the club's 132-year history.

Albrighton, who has been rejuvenated since being released by Aston Villa two years ago, admitted the enormity of Leicester's achievement wouldn't become clear until long after the season is over.

"I don't think it will for a while. It might sink in later on in the summer," he added.

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June 29,2020

Jun 29: The West Indies cricketers will sport a 'Black Lives Matter' logo on the collars of their shirts during the upcoming three-Test series against England to protest against racism in sports.

Skipper Jason Holder, who has voiced his support to the cause that has once again come to the forefront after the killing of American George Floyd, said in a statement on Sunday: "We believe we have a duty to show solidarity and also to help raise awareness."

The ICC-approved logo, designed by Alisha Hosannah, will be the one which featured in the shirts of all 20 Premier League football clubs since the sport's resumption earlier this month.

"This is a pivotal moment in history for sports, for the game of cricket and for the West Indies cricket team," Holder was quoted as saying by ESPNcricinfo.

"We have come to England to retain the Wisden Trophy but we are very conscious of happenings around the world and the fight for justice and equality. "As a group of young men, we know of the rich and diverse history of West Indies cricket and we know we are guardians of the great game for a generation to come."

Holder, who wants racism to be treated at par with doping and corruption, said they arrived at the decision to wear the logo after much thought.

"We did not take our decision lightly. We know what it is for people to make judgments because of the colour of our skin, so we know what it feels like, this goes beyond the boundary. There must be equality and there must be unity. Until we get that as people, we cannot stop," he said.

"We have to find some way to have equal rights and people must not be viewed differently because of the colour of their skin or ethnic background."

The West Indies players are likely to wear the shirts for the first time in this week's four-day warm-up match at Emirates Old Trafford, starting on Monday.

The opening Test of the series, which will mark the resumption of international cricket after the coronavirus-forced hiatus, will get underway at the Ageas Bowl in Southampton on July 8.

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February 29,2020

Feb 29: India were all out for 242 in their first innings following a stunning battling collapse, triggered by paceman Kyle Jamieson on the opening day of the second cricket Test against New Zealand at the Hagley Oval, here on Saturday.

India were steady at 194 for five at tea but lost wickets in quick succession after the play resumed. Jamieson returned figures of 14-3-45-5.

Hanuma Vihari top-scored for India with his combative 55 while Prithvi Shaw (54) and Cheteshwar Pujara (54) hit contrasting half-centuries.

Virat Kohli's (3) poor run continued while his deputy Ajikya Rahane (7) also fell cheaply.

India lost last five wickets for 48 runs, of which 26 were contributed by last-wicket pair of Mohammed Shami (16) and Jasprit Bumrah (10).

Brief Scores:

India 1st innings: 242 all out in 63 overs. (H Vihari 55, P Shaw 54, C Pujara 54 batting; Kyle Jamieson 5/45, Tim Southee 2/38, ).

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June 24,2020

New Delhi, Jun 24: Star Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan deeply regrets his "silly mistake" of not reporting a corrupt approach by an Indian bookie to the ICC, leading to his one year suspension from the game.

Shakib was banned for two years, one year of it suspended, for failing to report corrupt approaches during an IPL edition by an alleged Indian bookie named Deepak Aggarwal.

"I took the approaches too casually When I met the anti-corruption guy and told them and they knew everything. Gave them all the evidence and they knew everything that happened," Shakib told Harsha Bhogle on 'Cricbuzz in Conversation'.

"To be honest, that's the only reason I was banned for a year, otherwise I'd have been banned for five or 10 years," he added on the ICC's investigation.

The 33-year-old, who was in brilliant form before the ban, amassing 606 runs in the 2019 World Cup in the UK, said he regrets how he went about the situation.

"But I think that was a silly mistake I made. Because with my experience and the amount of international matches I've played and the amount of ICC's anti-corruption code of conduct classes I took, I shouldn't have made that decision, to be honest."

Lesson learnt, Shakib's advice to all young criceters is to never take any such message lightly.

"I regret that. No one should take such messages or calls (from bookies) lightly or leave it away. We must inform the ICC ACSU guy to be on the safe side and that's the lesson I learnt, and I think I learnt a big lesson," he added.

The all-rounder, whose ban ends on October 29, said he became a bit arrogant and never felt he was doing anything wrong by not reporting the bookie's approach immediately.

"Because you do most things right in your life, you tend to get arrogant with some decisions. You may not realise but you're doing wrong by the books. It never came to my mind that I am doing something wrong

"It was just a feeling of 'okay, what's going to happen, leave it' and I continued with my life. But that's the mistake I made. And that happens," Shakib said.

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