Enzo Maresca claimed he is not to be blamed for Cole Palmer's dip in form as the Chelsea boss admitted that the Blues talisman is "worried".
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Southern Brave overwhelmed after fifties from Allen, Vince and Conway lead them to 196 for 1
Alan Gardner26-Aug-2023Manchester Originals ransacked their way to the highest successful run-chase in the men’s Hundred on a night of boundary-fuelled belligerence at the Kia Oval, sweeping past a seemingly intimidating target set by Southern Brave with seven wickets and four balls to spare. Jos Buttler was at his imperious best, striking 82 off 46, and although he wasn’t there at the end, victory was sealed in fitting style as Jamie Overton crashed Chris Jordan high over long-off.Brave looked to have shrugged off the disadvantage of losing the toss and being inserted, following a delay for mopping-up after rain washed out the women’s eliminator, becoming the first side to record three individual half-centuries in a 100-ball innings. Finn Allen set the initial tempo with 69 off 38, before James Vince added a 24-ball fifty during the closing stages; Devon Conway was neat and tidy in between times to anchor the innings with an unbeaten 51 off 38.But as Originals set about their chase in ruthless fashion, it immediately called into question whether Brave had spent their batting resources wisely. Phil Salt’s first three balls all went to the boundary – albeit two of them were thick edges between slip and gully – as he hammered five fours and two sixes from 14 powerplay deliveries, Originals posting 61 without loss.The scoring rate only went up with the fielding restrictions off. Buttler, whose one miscue came from his second ball when he just cleared cover running back, hammered Craig Overton for his first six down the ground before Salt drilled two more brutal hits in a set costing 21. Salt fell to his next ball to depart for an incendiary 47 off 17, Vince roaring in celebration after scooping a low catch in the covers as Mitchell Santner’s introduction paid off – but Buttler kept the pressure on by hitting Santner into the crowd before new batter Max Holden carved and scooped George Garton for sixes from his fourth and seventh balls.Originals had raced to 100 from 41 balls, equalling their own record from the 2022 edition, and they were 115 for 1 at halfway. The carnage continued for Brave’s seamers as Jordan was struck for 17 in the next set, Buttler bringing up a 26-ball half-century, and the Originals captain took back-to-back boundaries off Tymal Mills before the competition’s leading wicket-taker ended Holden’s cameo with a slower delivery.Buttler’s calculated assault continued as he crashed Rehan Ahmed for two more sixes during a run of ten consecutive balls from the teenaged legspinner, at the end of which Originals needed 26 from 20. The requirement was down to 17 when Buttler finally top-edged one into the night sky to be held by the scrambling Rehan and Laurie Evans’ emphatic blow into the crowd off Mills kept Originals on course.Buttler, England’s white-ball captain, has been a vocal backer of the tournament in recent days and extended his lead at the top of the run-scoring charts. This has been his first full season of involvement and he will now lead Originals out at Lord’s against Oval Invincibles on Sunday, looking to go one better than the side did in his absence last year.ESPNcricinfo Ltd
Following the abandonment of the early game, and with the threat of more rain interrupting proceedings in south London, Buttler had no hesitation asking Brave to set a target. He admitted afterwards to being a “bit disappointed” with his side’s effort with the ball – which included conceding 20 extras – but added: “Once we got that momentum it was hard to stop us.”There was swing and seam movement for the Originals new-ball pair of Richard Gleeson and Josh Little, but although the Brave openers only managed four scoring shots in the first 15 balls, they still had 24 on the board through a combination of leg byes and wides – which had increased to 37 without loss after the powerplay.Allen’s first boundary came off a thick edge over slip, and he then needed assessing by the physio after playing a rolling ramp shot straight into the grille of his helmet. He launched Little for a sweetly struck six over deep midwicket, while Conway got going by chipping his fourth ball over cover for four, but there were few other examples of timing during a scratchy start.After back-to-back boundaries in the eighth set, Allen then took Calvin Harrison for four and six, followed by another straight smash over the ropes off Zaman Khan to bring up a 31-ball half-century and put Brave on the front foot at the halfway stage of their innings on 84 for none. Harrison was again targeted in the 12th, as both Allen and Conway cleared the ropes in a set that cost 20. But two balls after hammering Paul Walter over long-on for his fifth six, bringing up a record opening stand for the competition, Allen was finally removed attempting to reverse-scoop and feathering a catch behind.That was to be Originals’ only breakthrough with the ball, but they nevertheless managed to keep on top of the scoring. Vince also made a slow start, eking out six runs from his first ten balls, but a flicked six off Zaman seemed to bring him to life. Off his next 12 balls, Brave’s captain smoked 40 runs, with Originals paying the price for missing the cut-off and only being allowed four men out for the final 11 deliveries.Conway had batted throughout the innings without ever dominating, reaching a 37-ball fifty during the final set, as Brave notched the highest Hundred total at The Oval – only for Buttler’s men in black to produce an extra-terrestrial response.
Motie and Shepherd picked up three wickets each to set up the game for West Indies; Hope and Carty then did the job with the bat
Himanshu Agrawal29-Jul-20231:23
Jaffer: Suryakumar will probably get one last chance in the third ODI
West Indies beat India in an ODI for the first time since December 2019, the six-wicket win in the second of three games their first after nine defeats in a row. The win helped West Indies level the series 1-1 after losing the first ODI on Thursday.After Gudakesh Motie and Romario Shepherd got three wickets each and Alzarri Joseph picked up two to bowl India – they had rested Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli – out for 181, captain Shai Hope and the inexperienced Keacy Carty took care of the chase, which was completed with more than 13 overs to spare.It was comfortable in the end for West Indies, but didn’t come without its share of hiccups – they slipped from 53 without loss in the ninth over to 91 for 4 after 17, Shardul Thakur the main reason for it. That must have raised India’s hopes, but Hope and Carty ensured smooth sailing after that. Hope scored 63 not out, and put up an unbroken stand of 91 with Carty (48 not out) for the fifth wicket.The pitch in Bridgetown offered grip and turn throughout the game, with the spinners’ economy rate across two innings being 3.89 as against the pace bowlers’ 5.20. However, before Kuldeep Yadav and Ravindra Jadeja tested West Indies’ middle order – Jadeja was fast and flat; Kuldeep was slow while getting more turn – it was Thakur who removed the top three batters in the space of 25 balls to open the game up.Once they got together, Hope and Carty were content to do it in singles after Kuldeep had cleaned Shimron Hetmyer up with one that was quicker and skidded through to hit off stump.1:40
Should Axar Patel have bowled more for India to defend 181?
Carty got to a patient 48 off 65 balls, opening up only after the job was almost done and smashing consecutive boundaries off Hardik Pandya to finish the game off. But the fact that West Indies had only 182 to chase was down to a collective bowling effort, along with a combination of a helpful pitch and refreshing athleticism from the fielders.India, asked to bat at the toss, suffered two collapses of their own. First, from a solid 90 for 0 to a dicey 113 for 5, and then from 146 for 5 to 181 all out. These came either side of a lengthy rain break. West Indies sensed an opportunity in the absence of Rohit and Kohli, and they pounced. It all started in the 17th over, when a full, tossed-up delivery from Motie had Shubman Gill lofting to long-off for 34, his highest score in seven international innings across formats since June.For a change, West Indies also put up an impressive fielding and catching display•AFP/Getty Images
That got West Indies going, and in the 18th over, Alick Athanaze dived to his right at point to send Ishan Kishan back for 55. It was Kishan’s second successive half-century in the series. Two overs later, Shepherd got one to rise sharply at Axar Patel, promoted to No. 4, and he was cramped for room with the ball angling in from around the wicket. Axar tried to drop his gloves, but still ended up tickling to the wicketkeeper.Jayden Seales then got his only wicket of the day when a shoulder-height bouncer to Hardik had him pulling straight to midwicket, before Yannic Cariah foxed the comeback man Sanju Samson with turn and bounce. Landing one on a good length around off stump, Cariah got the legbreak to jump as well as move considerably away from the batter, who edged it to slip.India were sliding, and then came heavy rain. When Suryakumar Yadav and Jadeja added 33 to signal a brief recovery after the stoppage, it seemed like the break had come as a blessing for them. But West Indies seized control again, picking up the last five wickets for just 35 runs.Shepherd pitched short at Jadeja, having him top edge a pull to fine leg in the 32nd over. Motie, getting turn and bounce, had Suryakumar slashing to point after an entertaining 24. Soon after came another moment of spectacular fielding from West Indies, when Carty rushed in and dived forward from deep square leg to send back Umran Malik in the 38th over.Motie wrapped the innings up when he got last man Mukesh Kumar in the 41st, finishing with 3 for 36. As a result, West Indies now have a shot at a first ODI bilateral series win against India since May 2006.
Visiting captain finishes off the game himself as South Africa go down heavily in second Youth Test
ECB Reporters Network06-Feb-2025England U19s 353 (Sawant 130, Fonseka 52, Rossouw 5-74) and 25 for 0 beat South Africa U19s 224 (James 84, Hansen 63, Jack 3-42) and 153 (Rowles 71, Vaughan 6-19) by 10 wicketsYoung Lions captain Archie Vaughan put the finishing touches on a comfortable 10-wicket win over South Africa Men U19s in the second Youth Test at Cape Town.Vaughan helped tidy up the home tail on the fourth morning to return 6 for 19 before he and Ben Dawkins knocked off a victory target of 25 in just 3.1 overs.The tourists needed two wickets to end the Young Proteas’ second innings when play resumed and Vaughan, who did the damage on the third evening with five wickets, immediately made an impact bowling Sandiswa Yeni for a duck.Eddie Jack wrapped up the innings when Nqobani Mokoena hit out to Alexander Wade in the deep as the hosts were bowled out for 153.The England Men U19 openers made light work of the chase, with Vaughan lap-sweeping Mokoena for six before Dawkins crunched Nathan Rossouw to the rope to win the game.England Men U19s won the series 1-0, after falling one wicket short of victory in the first Youth Test last week. South Africa Men U19s had won the preceding Youth ODI series 2-1.
The 23-year-old finally returned to training, admits that it "sucks being away from the team and being away from soccer'
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There’s an inevitable distraction the fallout from the episode will create in the lead-up to and during the Gabba Test
Andrew McGlashan19-Nov-2021Tim Paine took the Australian Test captaincy with the men’s team in the midst of a crisis and he leaves with them plunged back into another one.Very rarely do captaincy tenures end in a good way – it’s not the nature of the job – but to lose consecutive Test leaders the way they have does not paint Cricket Australia in a good light.The board and the executive, albeit one with very few survivors from 2018 when CA was shredded by the fallout of the Newlands scandal, have some important questions that need answering. The timeline revealed on Friday said that the complaint was made about Paine’s messages in June 2018. What has the current leadership of Cricket Australia, and the ones over the last three years, known of this issue while in charge?Related
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Tim Paine's full resignation statement
In a previous era, the Australian Cricket Board, as it was then, was found out for having tried to keep a controversy under wraps with Mark Waugh and Shane Warne’s links to a bookmaker in the mid-1990s. The story eventually emerged midway through the 1998 Ashes series. As, so often, these things emerge.By June 2018, Paine was already installed as the Test captain and at that moment was leading the side on a limited-overs tour of England. A few months later, following the publication of the culture review into Australian cricket, Paine was front and centre in acclaiming a “player pact” to usher in a new era for the team as they looked to rebuild their image.
At the beginning of this week, the game was basking in the glow of having won their first men’s T20 World Cup title. Now, and not for the first time in recent years, Cricket Australia has been left with both reputational and cricket questions to answer.
However, lurking in the files at Jolimont were the complaints and investigations into Paine’s messages. The outcome that Paine was found not to have breached the code of conduct and that the messages were between consenting adults was enough for the case to be put away and kept in-house. And when they have been hidden away for so long, the fallout is even greater.We don’t yet know the full extent of conversations that were had regarding Paine’s captaincy credentials at the time, but clearly the outcome was that he was deemed suitable to continue. The fact he was cleared of any offence by the investigation does not necessarily equate to him still being a fitting captain. That this came at a time when Cricket Australia was pushing a new image for the men’s team so strongly makes it appear even more mismanaged. There will be a few who won’t be slow to jump on some of Paine’s utterances over the last few years in the wake of his departure.Amid his tearful resignation, Paine said he was determined to remain a player for the Ashes series. It was a notion supported by the board. The Australia Cricketers’ Association, the players’ union, went a step further in a statement by saying they were “saddened that he felt the need to resign”.Right now, it’s hard to be certain that Tim Paine hasn’t played his last game for Australia.•Getty ImagesBut there has to be a question mark over whether he can realistically play in less than three weeks. On a basic fitness level, will he be able to focus on his return to action after disc surgery that was meant to involve a club and second XI game over the next week? And then there’s the inevitable distraction the fallout from the episode will create in the lead-up to and during the Gabba Test.There’s a fundamental cricket argument as well. Without being captain, does Paine remain the best option to be the wicketkeeper-batter in the Test team? Some of the commentary around his batting returns have been over-egged – his average of 32.63 is comparable to that of Jos Buttler (33.33) and Jonny Bairstow (33.70) – but there is no shortage of high-quality alternatives in the game. Alex Carey would be leading the way, while Josh Inglis is also part of the Australia A squad and Queensland’s Jimmy Peirson is having a terrific season.Right now, it’s hard to be certain that Paine hasn’t played his last game for Australia.And then there’s the small matter of the captaincy. Pat Cummins is the leading candidate and now CA is likely to be forced to jump headlong into the decision of appointing him at least six months before it would have wanted to. There is still some talk of a return to Steven Smith – and what a circle that would complete if he was to return in these circumstances – but it won’t happen. He will, however, have a vital senior role to play alongside Cummins. A reminder, too, that while Cummins was appointed New South Wales’ one-day captain last season he has never led in a first-class match.At the beginning of this week, the game was basking in the glow of having won their first men’s T20 World Cup title. Now, and not for the first time in recent years, Cricket Australia has been left with both reputational and cricket questions to answer.
If there is one thing Arsenal need to add to their team this summer, it’s goals.
Mikel Arteta’s side finished as runners-up in the Premier League this year for the third time in as many campaigns, and while they produced the best defence in the competition, they scored 17 goals fewer than first-placed Liverpool.
So, it’s hardly been a surprise to see the Gunners so heavily linked with Viktor Gyokeres again recently, as the Swedish international managed to score 54 goals in 52 games for Sporting CP this season.
The former Coventry City star would be an incredible addition to Arsenal’s squad, and the good news is that, based on recent reports, they could be about to sign a wide attacker who’d be a dream teammate for him.
Before we get to the player in question, it’s worth looking at some of the other talented wingers who have been linked with Arsenal in recent weeks and months, such as Kenan Yıldız and Rafael Leao.
Transfer Focus
Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.
The former could cost around £68m and would certainly be an investment for the future, as while the 20-year-old enjoyed a good season with Juventus this year, he wasn’t exactly unplayable, racking up nine goals and seven assists in 48 games for the Old Lady.
Leao was a fair bit more effective than the youngster, scoring 12 goals and providing 13 assists in 50 appearances for AC Milan, but with a price tag of at least £84m, he might just be out of reach.
Fortunately, another exciting international has been heavily linked with the club, someone who’d cost a lot less than the Portuguese ace and could form a brilliant partnership with Gyokeres: Nico Williams.
Yes, according to a recent report from transfers expert Fabrizio Romano, Arsenal are still incredibly interested in the Athletic Bilbao star.
In fact, Romano claims that the Spaniard is now at the “top” of the Gunners’ list of targets, although he has also revealed that German giants Bayern Munich are just as interested.
The Italian journalist reaffirms that the dynamic winger has a release clause in his current deal worth €58m, which comes out to around £49m, and that his salary demands could be a sticking point.
It looks like this could be a complicated and rather costly transfer to get over the line, but given Williams’ immense ability and potential, it’s one worth fighting for, especially as he could be unreal with Gyokeres.
Now, while there are likely many reasons why Williams could be an incredible teammate for Gyokeres, two take precedence, and the first is his output.
Since the start of the 23/24 season, the “electric” Spaniard, as dubbed by Statman Dave, has scored 19 goals and provided 25 assists in 82 appearances, which comes out to a brilliant average of a goal involvement every 1.86 games.
So, just imagine how devastatingly effective someone who’s racked up 97 goals and 28 assists in 102 games across the last two seasons might be with the Bilbao dynamo to his left and then Bukayo Saka to his right.
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Williams’ recent form |
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|---|---|---|
|
Season |
23/24 |
24/25 |
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Appearances |
37 |
45 |
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Minutes |
2729′ |
3130′ |
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Goals |
8 |
11 |
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Asssists |
18 |
7 |
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Goal Involvements per Match |
0.70 |
0.40 |
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Minutes per Goal Involvement |
104.96′ |
173.88′ |
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All Stats via Transfermarkt |
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Not only would he have chance after chance created for him, but he’d also likely see his own assist tally increase.
The second reason why the Pamplona-born star will be so useful for the former Coventry poacher is that he’s incredibly direct and effective at taking on his opposite number.
For example, FBref places him in the top 2% of attacking midfielders and wingers in Europe for successful take-ons and the top 7% for progressive carries per 90, which in turn will force defenders to focus more on him, leaving space for the North Londoners’ other attackers to exploit.
Ultimately, Williams is an undeniably talented and dynamic winger who will be an exceptional teammate for Gyokeres, thanks to his output and ability to terrify defenders.
Therefore, even if his salary demands are high and the competition is fierce, Arsenal should do all they can to sign him this summer.
Arsenal submit "concrete offer" to sign star who wants over £250k-per-week
The Gunners have lodged their opening bid.
By
Emilio Galantini
Jun 13, 2025