everybody in the gym was holding their breath every

Afghanistans attempts to gain more ODI fixtures leading into the September 2017 cut-off for 2019 World Cup qualification is likely to gather steam with a proposal in the works to secure annual bilateral matches against India and teams touring India beginning next year.If we sign the MOU which we sent to India, potentially Afghanistan Cricket Board will be in a better position than where we are right now, scheduling ODIs with India and scheduling ODIs with teams traveling to India on an annual basis, ACB chief executive Shafiq Stanikzai told ESPNcricinfo. But still it will be bilateral ties. If a traveling team to India wants to play us in India, it is totally up to them.Stanikzai said the draft had been presented to BCCI president Anurag Thakur in May and further discussions had during the ICC Annual Conference in Edinburgh. The BCCI officials have not yet commented on the proposal.With Afghanistan shifting their home ground from Sharjah to Greater Noida, outside Delhi, Stanikzai said Afghanistan were well placed, geographically and rankings wise for fixtures against India and sides touring India in the same way Ireland had secured more ODIs against teams touring England.Since induction into the FTP, a larger challenge arose for Afghanistan, Stanikzai said. A is arranging fixtures with Full Members and B is funding it and finding funds to accommodate your needs. The expectation of the Afghanistan people has grown immensely. Afghanistan Cricket Board is under tremendous amount of pressure by not having fixtures with Full Members. Comparatively, Ireland has obtained 14 [11] fixtures with Full Members.The advantage Ireland has is geographical and teams traveling to England getting quality cricket against Ireland … but Afghanistan is a totally different story… For us, being in the FTP, yeah the window has opened but the challenges are much greater.A strategic plan unveiled recently by the ACB set targets for Afghanistan to be a top-six ODI team by 2019 and a top-three team in both T20Is and ODIs by 2025. Stanikzai was confident it could be achieved, considering Afghanistans rapid growth on and off the field. He, however, said the gains would be stunted, if there werent enough fixtures against Full Members.The biggest challenge for us for the time being is the competition structure or the fixtures for Afghanistan to compete against Full Members, Stanikzai said. Thats somewhere we are lacking and somewhere we need the support from ICC, or maybe Full Member boards should realise they need to make this great game more globalised and take it into the Associate world.Afghanistan team is rapidly growing and the flow that Afghanistan national team currently is in is quite brilliant. If we dont get any fixtures - we dont have any confirmed fixtures after our Holland game for the rest of the year - so we are in danger of losing the flow, the momentum we have gained so far in the last nine to 12 months.Stanikzai hoped that the problem would be fixed if the proposed 13-team ODI league was ratified. In particular, he believed a guaranteed set of 36 fixtures would open up big sponsorship opportunities. He said that tours like Afghanistans current trip to both Scotland and Ireland eat up a large chunk of resources, which could be offset if Afghanistan had more teams to market and compete against.Afghanistan needs to be considered in a very exceptional case, Stanikzai said. Obtaining UK visa cost me USD 80,000 for the team. We dont have a UK High Commission in Afghanistan. We need to travel to India and obtain visas. Going there, staying there, it took us 21 days to obtain UK visa to make this tour possible. Playing Scotland and Ireland is costing us more than USD 350,000.If we are to host a Full Member, we are able to cover 80-90% of the costs but if we are traveling to play any other Full Member and they are asking us to cover our own passage, it is an extra burden on us. So things need to balanced. Either we need to be in a regular competition, which this 13-member ODI league will help us quite drastically and prosper quite hugely, and the Test league is also another good prospect for us. Male Swimmer of the WeekCaeleb Dressel ? FloridaSophomore ? Green Cove Springs, Fla.At the Georgia Tech Invitational, Dressel won four individual events and was a part of four relays that took second place. He registered NCAA cuts on six of the eight and totaled three individual A-cuts, the most of any other male competitor at the meet. Individually, Dressel was responsible for 104 points toward Floridas team total. His 200 IM (1st), 50 free (1st), 100 fly (tied for 1st) and 100 free (1st) times are all best in the nation.Male Diver of the WeekJuan Celaya-Hernandez ? LSUFreshman ? San Nicolas de los Garza, MexicoCelaya-Hernandez took first place on the three-meter, posting a final score of 418.75 to lead the charge on the second day of the Mizzou Diving Invite. On the platform, he earned his second-straight first-place finish after scoring 424.30 at the Mizzou Aquatic Center. His score is the second-highest in school history behind Michael Neubacher. In the one-meter, Celaya-Hernandez finished with a 367.85 in the finals, earning second place overall.Male Freshman of the WeekZane Waddell ? AlabamaBloemfontein, South AfricaAs the Alabama men took first place at the Georgia Tech Invitational, Waddell finished in second place behind Floridas Caeleb Dressel in the 100 free and 100 fly and third in the 50 free. His time of 43.15 in the 100 free is the sixth best time nationally, while also ranking in the top 20 in the 50 free (seventh - 19.66) and 100 fly (T16th - 47.10). Waddell was also a part of the winning 200 and 400 free relay and 200 medley squads.Female Swimmer of the Week Sarah Gibson ? Texas A&MSennior ? San Antonio, TexasGibson claimed five individual wins and six NCAA qualifying cuts, including an A cut in the 100 fly, at the Art Adamson Invitational.dddddddddddd Five of her times from the Adamson rank in the top 15 nationally: 100 free (No. 11, 48.52), 200 free (tNo. 7, 1:44.37), 500 free (No. 9, 4:40.69), 100 fly (No. 2, 51.37), 200 fly (No. 2, 1:54.59). Gibson also swam on all five of the Aggies relays, which all rank in the top nine nationally after the Adamson.Female Diver of the WeekJulia Vincent ? South CarolinaJunior ? Gauteng, South AfricaVincent took top honors in both springboard events at the Georgia Tech Invitational. She finished first in the one-meter with a score of 313.95 and in the three-meter with a score of 359.40, with both marks qualifying her for Zone diving. Vincent remains undefeated in the 3-meter dive this season and is 4-1 in the 3-meter dive.Female Freshman of the WeekJulie Meynen ? Auburn LuxembourgMeynen remained undefeated in the 100 free by winning the event in 48.33 at the Georgia Tech Invitational. The time is the ninth-fastest in the country and makes her the fourth-fastest performer in the event in Auburn history. She tied for second in the 50 free in 22.56, a season-best and the 24th-fastest time in the country. Meynen swam on both of Auburns winning sprint freestyle relays, swimming the second leg on both. The 200 free relay time is the fourth-fastest in the country, and the 400 free relay time is sixth-fastest in the country. ' ' '