association

Somerset pair Craig Overton and Sophie Luff have won the top prizes at the Professional Cricketers’ Association awards.

Overton, the men’s player of the year, had a stellar season across formats as Somerset just missed out on a first County Championship title and reached the semi-finals of the T20 Blast.

Luff becomes the first winner of the women’s player of the year award not to have played international cricket since 2021. As well as superb form in county cricket, the 32-year-old was part of the Trent Rockets team that won The Hundred.

Pace bowler Sonny Baker and left-arm spinner Tilly Corteen-Coleman won the two young player of the year awards.

All-rounder Overton, 32, scored three first-class hundreds and averaged less than 20 with the ball in the County Championship.

His form has led to talk of a recall to the England team to fill the vacancy left by Ben Stokes, four years after he won the last of his eight Test caps.

Overton beat off other shortlisted nominees Joe Clarke, George Hill and Dan Lawrence.

“It’s a phenomenal feeling,” said Overton. “To be chosen by your peers to win this award is very special, it means so much to me.

“I felt like I got in a groove where my body was in a good spot, not 100% because of the schedule, but mentally I felt like I was in a great spot to be able to go out and perform when games come along near enough every other day.”

Somerset captain Luff scored more than 1,000 runs across formats during the summer, including averaging in excess of 40 in the One-Day Cup.

Luff triumphed ahead of three internationals on the shortlist – Maia Bouchier, Sophia Dunkley and Mady Villiers.

“I’ve always been a leader that wants to lead from the front, but I think people are seeing that play out in games now,” said Luff. “I think this year I’ve just showcased what I’m capable of.

“I’ve had a new role at Somerset opening the batting and it’s safe to say it’s gone pretty well and I’ve probably unlocked something to bring the best out of me as a player. I’m so grateful to all my team-mates and coaches at Somerset that have supported me.”

Baker, 23, made his Test debut against New Zealand at The Oval in June. He was part of the Manchester Super Giants team that won The Hundred and the Hampshire side that reached the final of the T20 Blast.

Corteen-Coleman, 19, was a surprise inclusion in the England squad for the T20 World Cup.

Former England captain Heather Knight was given the Outstanding Contribution Award following her international retirement.

Another international retiree, Tammy Beaumont, won a Special Merit Award.

WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump threatened on Wednesday to cut trade with the European Union after the bloc proposed to make Canada its first ever associate member.

EU chief Ursula von der Leyen raised the prospect a day before Canadian leader Mark Carney was due to address the European Parliament.

Her pitch comes as both Canada and the European Union seek to pivot away from an aggressive United States under Trump’s leadership.

“I think it’s laughable,” Trump told reporters when asked about the plan.

“If they do that, if I think it’s at all a hostile act, I will put very serious tariffs or stop trading with Europe, on many things.”

He added: “If it’s a good intention, that’s fine. If it’s a bad intention, we’ll put very heavy tariffs on Europe, which is a possibility.”

Von der Leyen pitched closer cooperation on tech, defense and energy to Carney, who became the first non-European head of government to attend the annual “State of the European Union” speech.

The German told the European Parliament in Strasbourg that, as democracies face a “fracture in the international rules-based system,” Brussels and Ottawa needed to pull closer together.

“I would like to work with you on opening the door for Canada to be the first associate member of the EU,” von der Leyen told the Canadian premier, drawing a standing ovation in the chamber.

A broader alliance

Carney has been pursuing closer ties with the European Union as Canada gets drawn ever deeper into a trade war with the United States.

He is set to address the parliament on Thursday, with his visit meant to act as a catalyst ahead of an EU-Canada summit in Montreal next month.

Von der Leyen said it was time to move from cooperation based on trade to a broader “alliance for the future” and “bring the relationship with Canada to the highest level possible.”

“We will work on intelligent manufacturing. We will create a tech alliance. We will integrate defense industrial bases. We will make the Arctic a flagship joint project,” she said.

She listed energy, critical minerals, batteries, AI, cyber and economic security as other fields of cooperation.

“This is a partnership not against anyone else, but for our common strength,” she said.

But both the EU and Canada have been buffeted by tariffs and territorial threats from the US and competition from China.

“In a more dangerous and divided world, Canada is forging stronger relationships with trusted partners,” Carney’s office said in a statement.

What’s in a name?

While EU treaties do not envision the possibility of becoming an “associate member,” the idea was first floated by German Chancellor Friedrich Merz this year for Ukraine.

Under that plan, which met a cold reception from a country pushing for full membership, Ukraine would have been allowed to attend the bloc’s summits and have a representative in the European Commission.

It would have also benefited from parts of the EU budget, but without full voting rights.

“We don’t really know yet what it means,” said Tobias Cremer, a center-left European lawmaker from Germany and the main sponsor of a resolution urging stronger EU-Canada cooperation, after von der Leyen’s “associate membership” pitch.

Under EU rules, member states have to approve any form of partnership with a third country and it was unclear how much support von der Leyen’s proposal would receive from capitals.

Brussels and Ottawa already enjoy a considerable level of cooperation.

The CETA free-trade agreement that abolished almost all tariffs has been credited with boosting trade in goods and services by more than 80 percent since 2016.

And this year Canada became the first non-EU country to join a flagship defense loan program.

Carney later flew to Britain for his first meeting with new UK Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

They attended a football match between Everton and Wolverhampton together before Carney’s return to Strasbourg for his Thursday speech.

CAPE TOWN: The head organizer of the 2010 World Cup was re-elected president of South Africa’s soccer federation on Saturday despite facing criminal charges over alleged fraud while in office.

Danny Jordaan, 75, beat challenger Sandile Zungu, a South African businessman and soccer club owner, by 157 votes to 82, according to an announcement by the South African Football Association. Jordaan has been head of SAFA since 2013 and will serve a fourth term.

Jordaan was a pivotal figure in bringing the World Cup to Africa for the first time in 2010 and his work was praised in helping make the tournament a success.

But he has been followed by controversy since then.

He came under scrutiny in 2015 over if he had knowledge of an alleged $10 million bribe made by South Africa to a FIFA official to help win the 2010 hosting rights. The allegation against unidentified South African bid officials was contained in an indictment by the US Department of Justice. South Africa denied the allegation.

Jordaan was accused in 2017 of rape by South African singer and political activist Jennifer Ferguson, who said the rape happened more than two decades earlier. Jordaan denied that allegation, and charges against him were dropped because of a lack of evidence.

Jordaan was arrested in 2024 and charged with fraud and theft for the alleged misuse of around $70,000 while SAFA president. He was accused alongside several others, including a former acting CEO of SAFA and the chief financial officer of SAFA.

The charges accuse Jordaan of using SAFA money to hire personal security and a PR company to enhance his public image in the wake of the Ferguson rape allegations.

The fraud case has been bogged down by delays and is yet to go to trial. Jordaan and his co-accused denied wrongdoing.

The buildup to Saturday’s SAFA election was also troubled, with the national association saying some voting officials had received death threats and others had been harassed and intimidated. SAFA said it would notify the police but didn’t say who was behind the threats.