Tridents sign banned Smith for T20 campaign
Deposed Australia captain Steve Smith will turn out for Barbados Tridents in the upcoming Caribbean Premier League (CPL), organisers announced yesterday.
The 29-year-old, the world’s leading Test batsman, will replace Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib-al-Hasan who “is no longer available for the tournament”, the CPL statement said.
Head coach Robin Singh said despite the regret of Shakib’s absence, Smith would add value to the Tridents line-up.
“It is a huge blow to lose Shakib for the tournament but in Steve Smith we have a truly world-class replacement who can help to bring power to our batting lineup,” he noted.
“As a man who has played cricket at the highest level all over the world, we are very confident that Smith will be a big success with the Tridents.”
Smith copped controversy last March when he was found guilty of ball-tampering during the third Test against South Africa in Cape Town.
He was subsequently slapped with a 12month ban for his actions by Cricket Australia and stripped of the captaincy.
However, while he is barred from playing international and state cricket, Smith is free to play in tournaments outside of Australia.
As such, last month he turned out in the inaugural Global T20 Canada for Toronto Nationals.
The CPL runs from August 8 to September 16, with the Tridents opening their campaign against Guyana Amazon Warriors on August 12 in Georgetown.
Pavard’s goal against Argentina voted best of World Cup
Benjamin Pavard has beaten Juan Quintero into second place in a fans’ online vote to pick the best goal of the World Cup.
France defender Pavard’s spinning right-foot shot against Argentina in the round of 16 came top out of 18 candidates for the award.
More than three million votes were logged on FIFA’s website, football’s world governing body said yesterday.
Pavard turned around France’s fortunes, minutes after the team trailed for the only time in the tournament. His goal levelled the score at 2-2 before France went on to beat Argentina 4-3. France went on to win the tournament, beating Croatia in the final.
Quintero scored for Colombia with a slow-rolling free kick under a jumping Japanese wall of defenders in a group-stage game.
Luka Modric’s long-range goal for Croatia against Argentina was voted into third place.