• England's Eoin Morgan and teammates celebrate after beating New Zealand to win the 2019 World Cup. Reuters
    England's Eoin Morgan and teammates celebrate after beating New Zealand to win the 2019 World Cup. Reuters
  • Jofra Archer, left, and Chris Woakes after England's triumph over New Zealand in the World Cup final at Lord's in July 2019. PA
    Jofra Archer, left, and Chris Woakes after England's triumph over New Zealand in the World Cup final at Lord's in July 2019. PA
  • Liam Plunkett holds the World Cup trophy aloft alongside captain Eoin Morgan. Getty
    Liam Plunkett holds the World Cup trophy aloft alongside captain Eoin Morgan. Getty
  • England's Jos Buttler, second left, celebrates with teammates after running out New Zealand batsman Martin Guptill to win the World Cup final on July 1, 2019. AP
    England's Jos Buttler, second left, celebrates with teammates after running out New Zealand batsman Martin Guptill to win the World Cup final on July 1, 2019. AP
  • England players celebrate after winning the Cricket World Cup final at Lord's. AP
    England players celebrate after winning the Cricket World Cup final at Lord's. AP
  • England's Chris Woakes celebrates taking the wicket of New Zealand's Henry Nicholls that was later overturned by DRS. Reuters
    England's Chris Woakes celebrates taking the wicket of New Zealand's Henry Nicholls that was later overturned by DRS. Reuters
  • England fans during the World Cup final. Getty
    England fans during the World Cup final. Getty
  • Jason Roy of England celebrates with fans after victory. Getty
    Jason Roy of England celebrates with fans after victory. Getty
  • England's Jofra Archer appeals unsuccessfully for the wicket of New Zealand's Martin Guptill. Reuters
    England's Jofra Archer appeals unsuccessfully for the wicket of New Zealand's Martin Guptill. Reuters
  • A screen at Lord's signals the game is going to a Super Over. Getty
    A screen at Lord's signals the game is going to a Super Over. Getty
  • A member of The Red Devils parachute display team before the match. Reuters
    A member of The Red Devils parachute display team before the match. Reuters
  • General view inside Lord's before the match. Early showers over London delayed the coin toss by 15 minutes. Reuters
    General view inside Lord's before the match. Early showers over London delayed the coin toss by 15 minutes. Reuters
  • The Cricket World Cup trophy. Reuters
    The Cricket World Cup trophy. Reuters
  • England's Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali before the match. Reuters
    England's Adil Rashid and Moeen Ali before the match. Reuters
  • England players celebrate after clinching victory. PA
    England players celebrate after clinching victory. PA
  • England players celebrate. PA
    England players celebrate. PA
  • England celebrate victory. PA
    England celebrate victory. PA
  • England players celebrate on the balcony at Lord's. PA
    England players celebrate on the balcony at Lord's. PA
  • Jos Buttler of England celebrates running out Martin Guptill. Getty
    Jos Buttler of England celebrates running out Martin Guptill. Getty

Jos Buttler says England could play two teams at same time to help solve fixture pile-up caused by coronavirus


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Jos Buttler has said England could play could field two different teams on the same day with the cricket schedule set to be squeezed due to the coronavirus crisis.

Professional cricket has been suspended until at least May 28 casting a shadow over the summer plans, with England set to host West Indies, Pakistan, Australia and Ireland.

One answer to the potential fixture pile-up could be for the Test and limited-over teams to play simultaneously.

"If it was logistically possible, you would get the crowds," said Buttler. "People will want to come because they haven't had any sport. It's a really interesting scenario.

"Is it an option? Could you put two games on the same day? Potentially you could, in different areas. It’s right that it is being considered."

There has also been talk of games behind played behind closed doors. "Lots of us haven't watched any sport for a long time and I just feel like people would be ready to watch some," Buttler said.

"It would be nice for people who have been in isolation and lockdown for a long time to see their heroes and role models back on the TV."

Buttler, meanwhile, says that the shirt he wore when England won last year's World Cup final now taken on "extra meaning" as he auctions it off to raise money in the fight against Covid-19.

Wicketkeeper Buttler was the man whose run out of New Zealand Martin Guptill secured the trophy at Lord's and he has revealed that the match jersey would be listed on eBay on behalf of the Royal Brompton Hospital in London.

Bids are due to close just before 10.30pm (UAE time) on Tuesday night and the prospect of owning the prized memento has already generated offers of more than £65,000.

That money will effectively enable the purchase of a high-tech life support machine for the heart and lung specialist facility, which is on the frontline of the country's pandemic response.

"I think £65,000 (Dh294,00) is an amazing amount of money and, having spoken to the guys at the hospitals, I know what that can buy them. That's an ECMO (extra corporeal membrane oxygenation) machine," he said.

"That machine is vital not just for Covid-19 patients but all heart and lung patients. The Royal Brompton is one of only five ECMO centres in the UK so that's going to be a big thing for them. It's a very special shirt to me but I think it takes on extra meaning now."

Buttler hinted that the winning bidder may have to hold their nose when the delivery arrives, having worked and played hard in his kit. "There were 50 overs of fielding and the super over that's the shirt so it smells pretty authentic," he said.

"I probably took it off about 7am the next morning. They were great times ... headed back to the hotel bar with everyone still in full kit. It's seen it all, that shirt."

Buttler followed up his personal donation by joining the rest of his centrally contracted England teammates in stumping up the equivalent of 20 per cent of their ECB salaries for the next three months.

The precise beneficiaries of that sacrifice were unclear at the time but Buttler has revealed the squad are keen for it to help keep afloat recreational cricket, rather than covering expected shortfalls at the professional level.

Joss Buttler with the signed shirt he wore when England beat New Zealand to win the World Cup. eBay
Joss Buttler with the signed shirt he wore when England beat New Zealand to win the World Cup. eBay

"I hope the money can be used in all the areas where it is really needed," he said. "There are so many different areas that are going to be affected – grassroots, youth coaching and disability sports.

"All the areas I think the players would love that money to go towards are those kinds of community things.

"As players we're all very aware of the other affects this is going to have drip feeding down into the game and without grassroots cricket we're nothing really.

"That's the people we're trying to inspire. That's the whole point of something like The Hundred, to inspire a new generation and bring new people into the game.

"So I know the players are very strong on wanting that money to help that grassroots structure and pathway because we need to bring people into the game and make sure that is very strong."

Bids for Jos Buttler's shirt can be made at http://bit.ly/JosShirtAuction

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Conflict, drought, famine

Estimates of the number of deaths caused by the famine range from 400,000 to 1 million, according to a document prepared for the UK House of Lords in 2024.
It has been claimed that the policies of the Ethiopian government, which took control after deposing Emperor Haile Selassie in a military-led revolution in 1974, contributed to the scale of the famine.
Dr Miriam Bradley, senior lecturer in humanitarian studies at the University of Manchester, has argued that, by the early 1980s, “several government policies combined to cause, rather than prevent, a famine which lasted from 1983 to 1985. Mengistu’s government imposed Stalinist-model agricultural policies involving forced collectivisation and villagisation [relocation of communities into planned villages].
The West became aware of the catastrophe through a series of BBC News reports by journalist Michael Buerk in October 1984 describing a “biblical famine” and containing graphic images of thousands of people, including children, facing starvation.

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Bob Geldof, singer with the Irish rock group The Boomtown Rats, formed Band Aid in response to the horrific images shown in the news broadcasts.
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Live Aid was a series of simultaneous concerts that took place at Wembley Stadium in London, John F Kennedy Stadium in Philadelphia, the US, and at various other venues across the world.
The combined event was broadcast to an estimated worldwide audience of 1.5 billion.

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