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Sports

Fizzle of Shoaib Bashir’s algorithmic magic echoes wider decline of Test spin | Jonathan Liew

Left out of squad to tour South Africa, spin bowler’s exclusion points to a sport reshaped by the needs of T20 and hard data During the summer, Sky Sports would frequently run an advert for one of English cricket’s blue-chip financial sponsors. I forget its exact name – something like WXYZ Tradify or Crypto Max 301 or Wealth Centaur would be my guess. But I remember there was a mind-shreddingly banal male voiceover (“diversify your forex contingents and start making your money bleed today”), to which England players like Harry Brook and Jacob Bethell were depicted engaging in various feats of

The Guardian
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Entertainment

Harry Kane’s England caps record: an illustrious career in numbers and charts

Striker to play historic 126th match and that’s far from the only statistic that sets him apart for his country Harry Kane will become the most capped player for England’s men when he features against Croatia at Wembley. Yet in the context of the grand history of international football, his record total will be relatively low. Kane will draw level with players including Dani Alves, Eden Hazard and Paolo Maldini on 126 caps. Illustrious players, none of whom lead their country’s appearance standings. Neither do Kevin De Bruyne or Luís Figo, on 127, or Manuel Neuer with 128. It will be some time

The Guardian
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Politics

The Booker prize winner described a dystopian Britain. But haven’t we been living in that since Brexit? | Zoe Williams

It didn’t need a novel: even Leave voters understand the damage that has been done, as does the PM. Now all he has to do is persuade his party Earlier this week, some people on the radio were talking about a very British dystopia. The government had disintegrated, but everyone was carrying on pretty much as they had before. Britain was isolated on the world stage and people missed Europe like hell, but weren’t allowed to visit, let alone live there. I thought the radio people were discussing Britain post-Brexit, circa 2022. In fact, they were talking about the plot of the Booker prize-winning

The Guardian
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Sports

Less drama, more listening, but is Kozo Tashima the candidate to topple Infantino?

Japan FA honorary president is hoping a calmer approach that makes fewer unwelcome headlines for Fifa will be welcomed by football Not many remember Japan’s bid for the 2022 World Cup, when the country finished the race with only two of the final 22 votes. Kozo Tashima was involved then, and now the honorary president of the Japan Football Association is going it alone in the hope of ousting Gianni Infantino. The 68-year-old Tashima is an unlikely insurgent and an unlikely challenger to Infantino. He is, however, a familiar and respected figure in Asian and global football politics, and ready

The Guardian
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