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The Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) has unveiled its annual calendar for 2026, outlining a packed schedule of international and domestic tournaments involving Nepal’s men’s and women’s teams. CAN made the calendar public during a press conference on Saturday.

According to the calendar, Nepal will host the ICC Women’s T20 World Cup Global Qualifier in January, while the men’s national team is scheduled to play the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup in February. A Women’s Premier Cup has also been proposed. In March, the men’s team will compete in the ICC Cricket World Cup League 2, while the women’s team will play a bilateral series, and the U-19 team will tour Bhutan.

April will feature a series for Nepal ‘A’, along with series for the women’s team and the U-19 women’s side. In May, the men’s team will play League 2 matches followed by a T20I series, alongside series involving Nepal ‘A’ and the women’s team. The men’s team will continue with a T20I series in June, while the U-19 women’s team will tour Malaysia.

The calendar lists a League 2 series for the men’s team in July, along with the Women’s Asia Cup and the U-16 East Zone Cup. In August, Nepal will compete in the ACC Premier Cup and play a T20I series against Kuwait, with participation in the Top End series also planned. September will see bilateral series for both the men’s team and the women’s team, with the latter scheduled to play against the UAE.

In October, the men’s team will again feature in League 2, while the women’s team will play a tri-nation series. The Nepal Premier League (NPL) is scheduled for November, and both men’s and women’s international series are planned for December.

Chelsea parted ways with Enzo Maresca on Thursday, a dramatic fall from grace for the Italian who was named manager of the month for November before the club won just one of their last seven league games to fall out of the Premier League title race, Reuters reported ​​​​​​. 

The Italian, who joined Chelsea in 2024 after steering Leicester City to Premier League promotion, leaves 18 months to the day since he was tasked with reviving the club's fortunes after two years of failing to qualify for the Champions League.

Maresca eventually guided the London side to Champions League qualification with a fourth-placed finish, the Conference League trophy and the Club World Cup title in his first season with a young but expensively-built squad, according to Reuters. 

The past three Africa Cup of Nations finals were littered with giant slaying performances and shock results but the latest edition in Morocco has gone with form and assured a heavyweight line-up of teams for the knockout fixtures at the weekend, Reuters reported. 

The first round of matches concluded on Wednesday with only one former champion, Zambia, eliminated but the other 11 past winners reached the last-16, setting up potentially mouth-watering showdowns from now on.

Only Mozambique and Tanzania had never progressed to the knockout stages previously, squeezing through among the best third-placed finishers, while Sudan are past the first round for only the second time since they won the competition in 1970, according to Reuters. 

Liverpool could only manage a 0-0 New Year's Day draw with Leeds United on Thursday that cost Arne Slot's men precious points in the Premier League title race, Reuters reported. 

Holders Liverpool are fourth in the standings with 33 points after 19 games, 12 behind leaders Arsenal, while Leeds are 16th with 21 points, seven above the relegation zone.

"It doesn't come along that often that you get a clean sheet and a point at Anfield," Leeds boss Daniel Farke told the BBC. "We had to defend and suffer but we are newly promoted and came to the defending champions."