The T20 World Cup begins in Dallas on June 1st when hosts USA face local rivals Canada.
England are among those who have already declared their squad but reaction to England’s provisional squad provisional squad for the T20 World Cup set to take place in the USA and West Indies this June has beem muted rather than enthusiastic or negative.
Speaking exclusively to Prost, author, writer and broadcaster Jon Batham reviewed England’s T20 squad selection.
This squad contains few surprises and it is probably sensible to have a nucleus of the team which won the last World Cup 18 months ago.
However, for Buttler to be captain after the shambles of the ODI World Cup defence is far from inspiring.
It is to be hoped Phil Salt will be given the gloves because for Buttler to be captain, wicketkeeper and opener is asking too much of any mortal.
While we’re on the subject of wicketkeepers for Rob Key to state Salt and Bairstow can stake a claim for the wicketkeeping gloves in the summer’s Test through performances in this tournament is simply another slap in the face for Ben Foakes.
England’s wicketkeeper in Tests should not even be up for debate.
The punt on Archer’s fitness feels like one England had to take on a player with real stardust. Fingers crossed it comes off and more importantly Archer comes through unscathed.
The omission of Dawid Malan while widely predicted appears harsh given his record. It also makes no sense to end a player’s international career just months after giving him another central contract.
It’s not as if the sport’s overseers have money to burn. It’s not the first time Malan has been treated shabbily by England’s hierarchy, but he’s not the first to suffer that fate.
Nor I fear will he be the last.
More squads are announced
The full England squad is:
Jos Buttler (Lancashire, capt), Moeen Ali (Warwickshire), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Sam Curran (Surrey), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Tom Hartley (Lancashire), Will Jacks (Surrey), Chris Jordan (Surrey), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Phil Salt (Lancashire), Reece Topley (Surrey), Mark Wood (Durham).
Australia have also announced their squad and it contains no shortage of experience.
Captained by Mitchell Marsh, there are many familar names with no shortage of experience such as Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and David Warner.
The full Australia squad is:
Mitchell Marsh (c), Ashton Agar, Pat Cummins, Tim David, Nathan Ellis, Cameron Green, Josh Hazlewood, Travis Head, Josh Inglis, Glenn Maxwell, Mitchell Starc, Marcus Stoinis, Matthew Wade, David Warner, Adam Zampa
Other notable squad announcements:
Afghanistan: Rahmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Ishaq, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan (c), Nangyal Kharoti, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad Malik.
Reserves: Sediq Atal, Hazratullah Zazai, Saleem Safi
Nepal: Rohit Paudel (c), Aasif Sheikh, Anil Kumar Sah, Kushal Bhurtel, Kushal Malla, Dipendra Singh Airee, Lalit Rajbanshi, Karan KC, Gulshan Jha, Sompal Kami, Pratis GC, Sundeep Jora, Abinash Bohara, Sagar Dhakal, Kamal Singh Airee
New Zealand: Kane Williamson (c), Finn Allen, Trent Boult, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee.
Travelling Reserve: Ben Sears
Oman: Aqib Ilyas (c), Zeeshan Maqsood, Kashyap Prajapati, Pratik Athavale (wk), Ayaan Khan, Shoaib Khan, Mohammad Nadeem, Naseem Khushi (wk), Mehran Khan, Bilal Khan, Rafiullah, Kaleemullah, Fayyaz Butt, Shakeel Ahmad. Reserves: Jatinder Singh, Samay Shrivastava, Sufyan Mehmood, Jay Odedra
South Africa: Aiden Markram (c), Ottniel Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs
Middlesex CCC – The Championship Years by Jon Batham and Ben Kosky is available at Amazon.co.uk.
The book covers Championship winning sides from the 1970s, before and after, containing interviews with many of the key players from those successful sides.
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]]>England, favorites India, South Africa and Afghanistan have revealed the names so far.
The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) ensured India was among the early nations to unveil their squad.
Rohit Sharma will captain India with Hardik Pandya named his deputy. Rishabh Pant’s recovery from a car accident continues as he is also selected. Sanju Samson and Yuzvendra Chahal were the two final names added to those expected.
[England unveil provisional squad]
KL Rahul is the biggest name to miss out.
As well as the names in the squad above, Shubman Gill, Rinku Singh, Khaleel Ahmed and Avesh Khan make the reserve list.
The team will play their first T20 World Cup match on June 5 against Ireland at the Nassau County Cricket Stadium in New York, following which they will face Pakistan on June 9 at the same venue.
They will also play the USA in New York and against Canada in Florida.
Afghanistan too have named their squad:
Ra hmanullah Gurbaz (wk), Ibrahim Zadran, Azmatullah Omarzai, Najibullah Zadran, Mohammad Ishaq, Mohammad Nabi, Gulbadin Naib, Karim Janat, Rashid Khan (c), Nangyal Kharoti, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Noor Ahmad, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Fareed Ahmad Malik
Reserves: Sediq Atal, Hazratullah Zazai, Saleem Saf
Please check back for more T20 World Cup coverage on Prost Amerika.
[ICC coverage of India squad release]
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]]>Jos Buttler will captain the side but perhaps the most eye catching name is 29-year-old pace bowler Jofra Archer, who has been cleared after a stress fracture in his right elbow that plagued him for more than four years.
England will play four warm-up games against Pakistan next month and the announced squad is the provisional selection for the tournament that starts on 1 June in the West Indies and the United States.
Archer was born in Bridgetown, Barbados and would be delighted to perform there where England face both Scotland and Australia.
England also play Oman and Namibia.
The paceman has appeared in only 14 of England’s 65 T20s over the last four years due to injury and the news will prove to be an enormous boost for England fans.
In an experienced squad, Tom Hartley and Will Jacks are the only players who have not previously played in either the T20 or ODI World Cup.
Only seven of England’s 18 counties are represented in the 15 man squad with Surrey and Lancashire providing four players each.
Yorkshire provide three more meaning just three counties account for 11 of the 15 playing squad.
Moeen Ali (Warwickshire), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Mark Wood (Durham) and Archer, nominally a Sussex player make up the remainder.
Lecisetershire’s Rehan Ahmed looks to be the most notable omission.
The full squad is:
Jos Buttler (Lancashire, capt), Moeen Ali (Warwickshire), Jofra Archer (Sussex), Jonathan Bairstow (Yorkshire), Harry Brook (Yorkshire), Sam Curran (Surrey), Ben Duckett (Nottinghamshire), Tom Hartley (Lancashire), Will Jacks (Surrey), Chris Jordan (Surrey), Liam Livingstone (Lancashire), Adil Rashid (Yorkshire), Phil Salt (Lancashire), Reece Topley (Surrey), Mark Wood (Durham).
New Zealand were the first team to announce their 15-member squad for the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup 2024.
Kane Williamson (c), Finn Allen, Trent Boult, Michael Bracewell, Mark Chapman, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Matt Henry, Daryl Mitchell, Jimmy Neesham, Glenn Phillips, Rachin Ravindra, Mitchell Santner, Ish Sodhi, Tim Southee. Travelling Reserve: Ben Sears
The Kiwis face Afghanistan, West Indies, Uganda, Papua New Guinea, in a group they should be confident about.
South Africa have selected the following:
Aiden Markram (c), Ottniel Baartman, Gerald Coetzee, Quinton de Kock, Bjorn Fortuin, Reeza Hendricks, Marco Jansen, Heinrich Klaasen, Keshav Maharaj, David Miller, Anrich Nortje, Kagiso Rabada, Ryan Rickelton, Tabraiz Shamsi, Tristan Stubbs
Their group includes Sri Lanka, Netherlands, Bangladesh and Nepal and looks to be one of the tricker challanged facing a test playing nation.
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]]>Bolt holds the 100m sprint World Record at 9.58 seconds and is an eight-time Olympic gold medallist.
As Major League Cricket gears up for its launch, the Jamaican believes cricket can prosper in America on the back of co-hosting this year’s ICC Men’s T20 World Cup and a successful foray back into the Olympics in 2028.
Like most West Indians, Bolt grew up playing cricket on the Caribbean Island of Jamaica and only turned his attention to athletics when urged to try track and field events by his cricket coach in high school.
Describing his love for cricket, his cricketing memories, and how big the upcoming event in the West Indies and USA can be, he said:
“I am thrilled to be an ambassador for the upcoming ICC Men’s T20 World Cup.
“Coming from the Caribbean where Cricket is a part of life, the sport has always held a special place in my heart, and I am honoured to be part of such a prestigious tournament.
“I look forward to bringing my energy and enthusiasm to the World Cup and contributing to the growth of cricket globally.”
A long-time friend of West Indies great Chris Gayle, Bolt said he was looking forward to playing a part in the tournament that will run in the USA and Caribbean from June 1-29.
The athlete expects to see the party atmosphere in full force in the Caribbean – with ‘fans enjoying the dancing, music and high-energy’ atmosphere it is renowned for but he is also keen to see how much of an impact cricket can make in its first major venture into the American market with venues in Florida, New York and Texas.
As an avid watcher of American sports, Bolt expects cricket to thrive in its new surroundings and thinks there is every chance the sport can make a long-term impact in the market on the back of a successful T20 World Cup.
“America believes a lot in sport and high intensity and for me to get into that market is big,” he suggested.
“When they follow a sport, they follow a sport properly and they go all in and I feel like if they can crack into it, they will get into it the right way
“If we bring energy like I know we will for the T20 (World Cup) it is going to be wonderful.”
And Bolt expects further inroads to be made in 2028 when cricket makes its return to the Summer Olympics for the first time since it appeared at the Games of the II Olympiad in Paris back in 1900.
“If you listen to NBA players and the way they talk about winning a gold medal, they have won NBA titles, they have their rings, but they are like ‘we went to the Olympics’,” Bolt noted.
“The other day I watched the documentary about how they (USA basketball team) lost (at the 2004 Olympics) and there was a Redeem Team (at the Beijing Games in 2008) and the focus and the hard work (they needed to win).
“That is how big (important) getting a gold medal is. Every sport tries to get into the Olympics because it is such a big thing and it is such a great feeling to be on a podium winning that gold medal.”
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]]>Exeter Chiefs Director of Rugby Rob Baxter admitted he always knew there would be tough days this season as he tries to rebuild his squad.
The Chiefs were well beaten by Sale Sharks, losing 41-5 at the Salford Community Stadium, which was their heaviest defeat of the campaign to date.
Not many people would have predicted the Chiefs to be in contention for the play-offs at the start of the season and Baxter admitted defeats like they suffered against Sale were always going to happen with such a young team.
“I’m trying to be very pragmatic about it,” he said.
“I have to say I kind of always knew there’d be days like this when we started to put the team together.
“That there’d be days when we got things a bit wrong and things could go against us pretty quickly, especially when a team are on it and they’re really desperate and fighting for something.
“But it’s a little frustrating because I probably thought we’d probably accelerated through, not quite getting caught out like we were today.”
The Chiefs made costly errors in their defeat to the Sharks and Baxter admitted his frustration at his team’s performance.
He said: “We just weren’t tough on a few things.
“We had some sloppy lifts and someone knocks on.
“Then there was an early engage at scrum.
“We just weren’t tough enough on the detail of how we had to play and how we had to keep that ball on the field and a game of multi-phase rugby between the two teams would have happened.
“That would have suited us way more.”
“With about 15 minutes to go, I think we probably should score in the corner, but we don’t give the scoring pass there.
“Two tries at that stage I think we would have had a fighting chance of pushing for a bonus point try, and I think that’s the very least we needed after the first half.
“But even then we couldn’t quite manipulate things.
“Even when we did get offloads going and we did get tempo in the end, we couldn’t quite stick it together to force those next couple of tries.”
With such a young squad at Exeter, Baxter is keen for his players to use this experience and benefit from it ahead of the last four league games.
He said: “For me, today doesn’t cause any damage if we learn from it.
“I’ve just reminded the lads of something we said on day one of pre-season, which was basically the biggest thing for me is that at the end of the day, you’re a better player than you were at the start of the day.
“By the end of the week, you’re a better player than you were at the start of the week.
“By the end of the first game we play, we’re a better team, you’re a better player, and I’ve just said that to them.
“That doesn’t just happen with winning, that also happens with losing.
“There’s some lessons that we’ve got to learn collectively and individually today and I think if we learn them, then days, like today, can be one you look back on and go that was an important day for us.”
Exeter now sit in 6th place after the defeat, two points off Harlequins in fourth place and Baxter admitted it is now a tough task ahead of them as they look to creep into the play-off places.
“If we want to be featured in the top four, it looks likely now we’re going to have to go to Gloucester and win,” he said.
“We’re going to have to go to Leicester and win.
“We’ve got to learn some lessons from today about how we can turn up.”
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A Tom Roebuck hat-trick helped Sale Sharks reignite their play-off hopes with a massive bonus-point win over Exeter Chiefs.
The hosts got revenge over their Southern opponents, who white washed the Sharks in the reverse fixture in October to help their play-off hopes with four matches to go in the Gallagher Premiership season.
Sale led 22-0 at half-time thanks to tries by Tom Roebuck, Luke Cowan-Dickie and Gus Warr before seeing out the victory in the second-half with a further two efforts from Roebuck and a quick-thinking try by Raffi Quirke.
The match started in a slow manner with a blood replacement and an Ernst Van Rhyn injury leading to long stoppages early on.
Sale got on the board first in the 10th minute when winger Roebuck flew in in the left corner after a brilliant carry and offload by returning captain Ben Curry in the build-up.
England International George Ford added the extras to extend the Northern side’s lead to seven points.
Exeter, who went into the game with a chance of rising to second place, struggled to get out of their own half in the opening 40 minutes, only getting into Sale’s 22 courtesy of a Henry Slade 50-22. On that occasion a knock-on in the lineout led to Sale getting possession back again.
Chiefs’ back rower Richard Capstick took his frustration out on Gus Warr in the 21st minute leading to a penalty to Sale, which Ford duly slotted over to put the Sharks 10-0 up.
The hosts added another try in the 27th minute through former Exeter player Cowan-Dickie, who burrowed over from the back of a driving maul. Ford added the conversion.
With five minutes left of the half things got worse for the travelling Chiefs as Josh Hodge, after a TMO review, was awarded a yellow card for deliberately knocking the ball on when Sale looked to have found space out on the right.
Sale made the most of this additional man, going over for their third try in the last minute of the half.
Scrum-half Warr was the beneficiary of some sumptuous rugby by the Sharks, as he finished of a brilliant move involving Roebuck, Joe Carpenter and Curry. Ford missed the conversion meaning Sale led by 22 at half-time.
It didn’t take Sale long to get their bonus-point try, going over a minute after the interval through Roebuck once again.
The winger beat Stu Townsend in the air from a Warr box kick before pirouetting and running half the pitch to score his second try of the day.
Despite the ball falling off the tee midway through his shot clock time, Ford added the extras to extend Sale’s lead to 29 points.
The Chiefs finally got on the board in the 49th minute when returning England star Immanuel Feyi-Waboso went over following a brilliant backs play, which exposed Joe Carpenter on the left wing.
Quirke came on in the 53rd minute and it only took him two minutes to get his name on the score sheet, burrowing over from close range, after taking a penalty quickly.
Roebuck thought he had scored his third try of the day in the 58th minute when he hunted down his own kick, but the wide man knocked the ball on when diving on the ball.
He didn’t have to wait long to complete his hat-trick though, going over a minute later when he received the ball out the back on the loop from Ford to run in unopposed.
Exeter had one of their strongest spells in the match just after Sale’s fifth try, but couldn’t make it count, missing a try making pass on the left.
Sale had chances to bag their seventh try late in the half when O’Flaherty was released down the left following another brilliant move off the lineout by the Sharks, but the wide man was forced into touch five metres out.
Exeter huffed and puffed late on but couldn’t reduce the arrears as they slumped to a bruising defeat in their race for the top four.
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Struggling Sale Sharks welcome Exeter Chiefs to the Salford Community Stadium on Sunday afternoon as they attempt to stay in the play-off mix.
Alex Sanderson’s side are in a poor run of form, winning just one of their last six Gallagher Premiership encounters, leading to them dropping from first place to eighth.
With only five matches left of the regular season, the Sharks can ill afford any more slip ups if they are to qualify for the play-offs once again.
The visiting Chiefs on the other hand are well placed for a play-off push with five games to go.
Rob Baxter’s side have picked up three wins in their last five outings, beating Newcastle Falcons last weekend to kick-start their run in.
A win for the Chiefs, who currently sit in fifth place, will see them climb the whole way up to second place, highlighting the competitiveness of the Gallagher Premiership this season.
Baxter has made seven changes to the side that picked up a bonus-point win over Newcastle Falcons last weekend, with Will Rigg in from the start after making his Premiership debut from the bench last time out.
The centre will be joined by experienced head Henry Slade in the middle of the park after he returned from England Six Nations duty.
Exeter also welcome back rising star Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, who is sure to give former Chiefs winger Tom O’Flaherty a difficult afternoon in Salford.
The Chiefs will deploy a Welsh duo in the engine room of the scrum with Dafydd Jenkins returning to partner Christ Tshiunza.
Fresh from signing a new one year deal with the Sharks Luke Cowan-Dickie starts in the front-row for Sale alongside academy products Bevan Rodd and James Harper.
Captain Ben Curry is set to make his return from injury in the back row while Josh Beaumont continues to fill in for stricken Jonny Hill in the second row.
Just the one change in the Sale backline as O’Flaherty comes in for Arron Reed as he looks to get one over his former side.
The round fourteen encounter kicks-off at 3pm at the Salford Community Stadium on Sunday and you can keep across all the action on Prost International’s channels.
Sale Sharks XV:
- Joe Carpenter, 14. Tom Roebuck, 13. Rob Du Preez, 12. Manu Tuilagi, 11. Tom O’Flaherty, 10. George Ford, 9. Gus Warr; 1. Bevan Rodd, 2. Luke Cowan-Dickie, 3. James Harper, 4. Cobus Weise, 5. Josh Beaumont, 6. Ernst van Rhyn, 7. Ben Curry, 8. Jean-Luc du Preez
Replacements:
- Tommy Taylor, 17. Ross Harrison, 18. Asher Opoku-Fordjour, 19. Ben Bamber, 20. Hyron Andrews, 21. Sam Dugdale, 22. Raffi Quirke, 23. Sam James
Exeter Chiefs XV:
- Josh Hodge, 14. Immanuel Feyi-Waboso, 13. Henry Slade, 12. Will Rigg, 11. Olly Woodburn, 10. Harvey Skinner, 9. Will Becconsall, 1. Scott Sio, 2. Jack Yeandle, 3. Ehren Painter, 4. Dafydd Jenkins, 5. Christ Tshiunza, 6. Ross Vintcent., 7. Richard Capstick, 8. Greg Fisilau
Replacements:
- Dan Frost, 17. Danny Southworth, 18. Marcus Street, 19. Lewis Pearson, 20. Jack Dunne, 21. Stu Townsend, 22. Will Haydon-Wood, 23. Zack Wimbush
Warrington Wolves utility halfback Stefan Ratchford has equalled the world record and set a new Super League record for the most consecutive successful conversions.
The 35 year-old is showing no signs of slowing down with age, after being drafted into Sam Burgess’ 17-man squad for Sunday’s trip to London Broncos.
Warrington ran in 10 tries in a 4-58 demolition of the London club, and Ratchford was awarded player of the match after a stunning performance.
Scoring a try and assisting two others, Ratchford went on to convert all but one of his attempts at goal, perhaps missing the easiest of the lot.
With a mixture of kicks from the side line and in front of the posts, his first seven successful conversions were enough to break the Super League record that was previously held by Leeds Rhinos’ Rhyse Martin(39).
His eighth successful goal kick of the day took his total tally to 41, equalling the world record set by Rhyse Martin, Liam Finn and Jamie Ellis. However, with a new record in sight he sliced his next attempt wide of the posts, keeping that world record intact.
There’s now four players stuck on 41, but Ratchford will be hunting that mammoth tally once again after converting his final attempt of the day.
After the game Ratchford was congratulated and commiserated when asked how he felt after such an agonising attempt at the world record. He responded:
“Definitely a mixture of that. Obviously I’m delighted with what I had done previously, but I think with that last kick I kind of got inside my own head and the technique just went out the window.
“It was like one of my golf shots, a nice old shank to not break the record. But overall it was a good afternoon.”
Ratchford has lacked game time so far this season, but his performance on Sunday and his continuously excellent kicking ability shows that his motivation is higher than ever. He went onto say:
“I’ve had to bide my time and I’m one of those players that will just do what they’re asked when the time comes.
“We’ve got a quality squad here and you can only pick 17 for each game. The lads who don’t play every week are right behind the 17 that do.
“We’ve just got to be ready to perform when the time comes and hopefully my performance has given Sam a few headaches.”
Warrington host London again this weekend in the Challenge Cup where Ratchford will be hopeful he can get more game time, and continue his impressive form with the boot.
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Wigan Warriors winger Abbas Miski stars in World Club Challenge.
From making his senior debut at Manly Sea Eagles in 2019, to scoring in the World Club Challenge and becoming a World Champion in 2024 with the Wigan Warriors, following their 16-12 victory over the Penrith Panthers on Saturday night. It has been an amazing few years for the winger who was born in Penrith, Australia.
Miski started his professional Rugby League career with the Eagles in the NRL in 2019, making just six appearances scoring two tries, before heading to the UK in 2020 to join the London Broncos for the 2021 Betfred Championship season. During the season he showed his prolific try scoring ability we have seen during his time at Wigan Warriors with 18 tries in 21 Championship games.
2022 saw the Warriors come calling for the Lebanon International, with some fans questioning the signing, but following his debut against Toulouse Olympique and ending the 2022 season with eight tries in nine appearances he has gone on to prove all his doubters wrong.
In 2023 Miski spent some time out on loan, before being called back into the first team picture due to the team suffering with injuries. The winger then cemented his spot in the starting 13, finishing the season with 29 tries in 26 games in all competitions, finishing as top try scorer for the Cherry and Whites and in the Betfred Super League. Helping the team to lift both the League Leaders Shield and the Super League Trophy.
His biggest challenge on the pitch came on Saturday night, with the three-peat NRL champions, the Penrith Panthers, visiting a sold out DW Stadium in the hope of winning their first ever World Club Challenge. But it wasn’t to be for Ivan Cleary’s side who suffered their second consecutive World Club Challenge defeat following their loss to St Helens last year. The fireworks on the field began in the first minute with both sides having to be separated and ended on the final hooter.
Having been forced to defend their own line in the opening minutes, the hosts scored against the run of play. A touch from the Panthers handed Wigan a repeat set and they took full advantage. A sublime cut-out pass from Bevan French found Miski who gave Wigan the perfect start. But the Panthers hit back through Nathan Cleary with Miski unable to take a high kick.
After falling behind, in just their second opportunity at the Panthers line, the Cherry and Whites scored the try of the match. Adam Keighran sent Miski away down the line with a brilliant offload, he fed Willie Isa on his inside before Kruise Leeming dove over to regain the lead. However, the scoring in the first half didn’t finish there. In the dying moments Cleary again showed his class dragging his team around the field, the ball back inside to Dylan Edwards allowed the full-back to dive between two Wigan defenders to hand the Australian side a 12-10 lead heading into the break.
The second half continued as the first ended, with Penrith putting the Wigan defensive line under pressure, but as it did all game, the defence stood firm with an unbelievable try saving tackle from
Jai Field the standout from an excellent defensive display from Matt Peet’s side. His side were rewarded for the hard work, when Jake Wardle latched onto a neat kick through from Harry Smith to wrestle his way over the line, however after consulting the Video referee, the try was awarded leaving the entirety of the Rugby League community in shock.
With the clock approaching the 79th minute, the NRL three-peat champions had one last chance to score, starting the set 20 metres out from the Warriors line. The hooter sounded as they switched the ball from right to left giving Taylan May an opportunity to dive over in the corner, but another try saving tackle appeared to have stopped the winger. The Video referee was called upon one again. Referee Liam Moore sent the try up to the screen as a No Try, and after a nerve wracking couple of minutes for both sides, the try was refused handing Wigan a 16-12 victory and an record-equalling fifth World Club Challenge trophy. An unbelievable finish to a fantastic game.
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Super League winners Wigan Warriors host the NRL champions Penrith Panthers on Saturday night, as two worlds collide in the 2024 World Club Challenge.
The History
A fixture that is steeped in history will once again be contested in England, after last year’s edition went down under. 2020 was the last time an Australian side travelled to the UK for a game.
The first competitive outing of this competition was held back in 1989, and just two years later it was Wigan and Penrith that met at Anfield stadium in the second edition. That particular game was won by Wigan, who would go on to win two more in the following 33 years. Penrith have featured in another two games since then, but are yet to come away with a victory.
This year has a particularly interesting storyline, as each country has 13 competitive titles. Therefore, Saturday’s winner will propel one country into the lead again.
Wigan Warriors celebrate winning the 2017 World Club Challenge
The Clubs
There’s no shortage of motivation for either side. Penrith’s current squad are widely considered as one of the greatest ever rugby league sides, having won a hattrick of premierships over the past three years, the first ever club to do that in the NRL era.
The Western Sydney side are looking to right some wrongs, they were defeated in their own back yard by St Helens last year, and are yet to put their name on this trophy. After such a dominant run in Australia the Panthers simply need to win this title.
Wigan dethroned their rivals St Helens last year, and will be desperate to cement themselves as the best side in English rugby by following in the footsteps of their neighbours.
The 2023 World Club Challenge trophy
The Game
Early advantages lie with the Warriors. The players are more adjusted to the climate, and are also up to speed with match fitness. Penrith are yet to play a competitive game in 2024, whereas Wigan played their opening Super League game last weekend.
Penrith have also had to travel 17,000 Kilometres, and are without their star man Jarome Luai. Hosts Wigan will have a capacity crowd of around 24,000 cheering them on, but will miss a couple of key men, with new signings Luke Thompson and Sam Walters set to miss out on the clash.
Wigan will look towards their flash players for creativity, Bevan French and Jai Field. Although they will rely on the steady hands of Harry Smith to control the tempo of the game. Smith’s opposite number Nathan Cleary is touted as the best player in the world, so the academy product is up for a very tough night.
Nathan Cleary posing with the 2023 NRL trophy
The Coaches
Wigan’s head coach Matt Peet has heaped praise on Penrith, and said he hopes to come up against the best of them:
“I think both teams want to come up against the best of each other.
“I want to put on record what Penrith have done committing to this competition over the past two seasons, it is testament to them.
“The English teams crave this fixture, but it’s big for them to commit to coming over here so I think it’s obvious for what their organisation stands for.”
The World Club Challenge has largely been played every year, but each time it’s up in doubt as both clubs have to agree when and where it will take place, with it being a huge commitment for one.
Like Peet, Penrith’s boss Ivan Cleary was excited for the fixture, saying he’s glad that it’s back where it belongs:
“We’re really stoked to be here and to be part of this occasion. You don’t get invited to this fixture you have to earn it, and it’s so hard to win a Championship. Both of us have earned this right.
“The World Club Challenge went quiet for a few years due to Covid. I think it’s back in its rightful place and I’m really looking forward to it.”
Liam Farrell, Matt Peet, Ivan Cleary and Isaah Yeo at the World Club Challenge Press Conference
Photo Credit – Adam Clarke
The Squads
Peet has made just the one change to his 21-man squad that kicked off the Super League campaign last weekend, with Tiaki Chan replacing Luke Thompson.
The only noticeable absentee from Penrith’s 21-man squad is of course Jarome Luai, with youngster Jack Cole stepping into the number six shirt.
https://wiganwarriors.com/blog/2024/02/22/wigan-squad-for-penrith/
https://www.penrithpanthers.com.au/news/2024/02/22/nrl-teamlist-world-club-challenge/
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