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The New York Mets staked starting pitcher Kodai Senga a 3-0 lead against the Washington Nationals on Thursday afternoon.

Pitching with two outs and the bases empty in the bottom of the second, Senga decided it was the perfect opportunity to explore the space with a 2-2 eephus pitch to José Tena. It didn't go as expected, as the righthanded hurler tentatively sailed a 50 MPH lollipop several feet above the intended strike zone.

No one was more amused by the misfire than Senga, who could only laugh as he got the return thrown from his catcher. He was able to get the third out of the inning on the very next pitch, which was clocked as a 95 MPH fastball.

The lesson? Try new things. Even if they don't work out it can provide a chance to make your friends chuckle. And yourself.

Now opposing teams are going to have to put this weapon in their scouting reports. Not because it appears to be particularly effective, but so they don't step on the punchline.

They might not have got the win, but Sunday evening’s game against Arsenal was a success for Chelsea.

Enzo Maresca’s side utterly outplayed the Premier League leaders in the first half, and despite losing Moises Caicedo for over half the match, came away with a point.

There were sensational performances across the pitch from the hosts, with the most impressive undoubtedly being Reece James’.

The club captain has been unreal all season for Chelsea, and now it looks like Cobham could already be brewing his heir.

James' performance against Arsenal

Now, James putting in a strong performance for Chelsea is really nothing new; he is the captain after all.

However, against Arsenal, the Englishman truly stepped it up to a whole other level and did so from the middle of the park, not right-back.

In a game that was billed as a midfield showdown between Caicedo and Declan Rice, it was the full-back who came out as comfortably the best player on the whole pitch, let alone the middle of it.

That might sound hyperbolic, but his man-of-the-match award would suggest otherwise.

On top of doing all the defensive work you would expect of him, the “gargantuan” presence, as dubbed by presenter Olivia Buzaglo, was a serious attacking threat and provided the assist for his side’s opener.

Moreover, he completed three of his four crosses, played two key passes, was successful in 100% of his dribbles and generally didn’t let up for the entire encounter.

In all, it was perhaps one of James’ best performances in a Chelsea shirt and a shining example of why so many people rate him so highly.

Therefore, fans should be ecstatic about the fact that Cobham may already be producing another version of the international monster.

Chelsea's next James

When it comes to producing top-quality Premier League talent, few academies can match Chelsea’s Cobham.

In The Pipeline

Football FanCast’s In the Pipeline series aims to uncover the very best youth players in world football.

As always seems to be the case, there is another cohort of incredible youngsters coming up at the moment, like Reggie Watson and Shim Mhueka.

However, there is another, perhaps slightly lesser-known prospect fans should start taking more notice of, someone who could be the next James: Lewi Richards.

The 17-year-old has been with the Blues since the under-8s level and became a scholar at the start of the season.

However, the youngster has made such an impression this year that he put pen to paper on his first professional paper just a couple of months later, at the end of October.

With that said, what makes him like James?

Well, the first thing is that, like the club captain, he has shown an impressive level of positional versatility, playing at right-back, left-back and centre-back for the u18 and u21 sides.

Moreover, he even spent time playing in the middle of the park when he was playing for the lower levels of the academy.

On top of this ability to be deployed all over the pitch, the teen phenom has already shown an ability to marry technical quality with physicality.

For example, respected analyst-turned-Como scout Felix Johnston has described him as a “technically strong” prospect who is “monstrous in the tackle” as well as “fearless in the air” and blessed with “bags of pace.”

Ultimately, Richards still has plenty of development to do, but he looks to be an extraordinary academy prospect and one whose versatility, technical ability, and power mean he could be another James in a few years.

Man Utd lining up January move for "powerful" £53m Liverpool & Chelsea target

The Red Devils are looking to sign a 22-year-old, who is being targeted by some of the Premier League’s biggest clubs.

By
Dominic Lund

Dec 2, 2025

Manchester United struggles to find a long-term replacement for David de Gea are over, according to ex-Chelsea keeper Mark Schwarzer. Since the imposing Dutchman left in 2023, Utd have tried unsuccessfully to fill his position with the likes of Tom Heaton, Dean Henderson, Altay Bayindir and, more recently, Andre Onana, but Schwarzer says Ruben Amorim has finally found a worthy replacement.

• Keeper conundrum causes major headache

  For over a decade, De Gea was the undisputed Man Utd number one, winning the Premier League Golden Glove in his final season, 2022-23. However, his limitations with playing out from the back led to his departure, which many felt was handled poorly, without a proper transition plan. 

  His replacement, Andre Onana, was signed from Inter Milan for £47 million in July 2023 to fit a modern, ball-playing system. Onana's time at the club has been marked by high-profile errors that cost the team points and knocked the defense's confidence. Despite flashes of quality, his inconsistency led to him being dropped and eventually sent on a season-long loan.

  The back-up situation has been equally turbulent. Academy graduate Dean Henderson was never given a consistent chance and eventually forced a move for regular first-team football. Altay Bayındır, signed for a low fee also looked shaky and unconvincing when called upon. 

  But Schwarzer, who made 514 Premier League appearances for Chelsea, Fulham, Middlesbrough and Leicester, believes Senne Lammens, signed from Royal Antwerp for £18 million ($24m) in the summer, is the long-term solution to United’s keeper question. 

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• Getty Images Sport
  

  Schwarzer: 'Old-fashioned goalkeeping'

  Speaking to Joe Fortune, former Chelsea goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer said: "I think Senne Lammens has done exceptionally well. It's an interesting one because I think anytime you go to a club of Manchester United's magnitude, there's going to be pressure, let alone at a time where the goalkeeping position has been a real big problem for them for a number of seasons. And of course, you've got Andre Onana, who's a massive personality, one that has really struggled in that shirt. He's always gonna feel pressure, but I think it was a little bit under the radar because no one really knew much about him. I think people kind of almost dismissed him before he started playing. So maybe there was a little bit less pressure on him, but it doesn't matter. He's performed really well. He's played with confidence. 

  He added: "You know what it is for me? It's a bit of old-fashioned goalkeeping back in it again. He's catching the ball, he's taking crosses. He's doing the simple things well. I think we've gotten a little bit carried away with what a goalkeeper does and what the fundamentals of a good goalkeeper are. I think what Lammens has done is he's come in and he's just simplified things, he's been really consistent and by doing that, by dominating, taking crosses, not making mistakes, in particular, big mistakes, he's given his teammates confidence. The ball comes up high in the box. They know that the goalkeeper is going to come out and get it. Okay, there can be a mistake, there's no doubt about it, but so far, he's dealt with everything. So I've really enjoyed watching him play. 

  "I've really enjoyed the simplicity of his game and the understated performances that he's had and I don't say that disrespectfully, I mean that in a really positive way. I mean that he's not trying to get limelight."

• Stretford End favourite

  Despite only being at the club a matter of weeks, his performances have earned him high praise from the Old Trafford faithful, who have likened him to legend Peter Schmeichel, and they’ve even coined a song in his honour. Lammens said: "It was really nice to hear it already in the first game (against Sunderland). I think it is a sign that the fans are happy with me. It feels really good that I can give them that trust."

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• Getty Images Sport
  

  Lammens faces Cherries test at Old Trafford

  Manchester United have to wait until Monday for their next Premier League fixture and, if results go their way, they could find themselves back in the Champions League spots, heading into the busy festive period. United beat Wolves last time out and are expected to ease past Bournemouth. However, the Cherries have won their last two Premier League away games against Old Trafford, beating them 3-0 both times.

Manny Machado tricked some baseball fans on Saturday during the San Diego Padres–Cincinnati Reds game.

It looked like Machado flubbed catching an easy pop-up from Spencer Steer in the fifth inning, causing a loud reaction from fans at the Great American Ball Park. However, it was actually a strategic move for him to throw to second base to get Reds star Elly De La Cruz, who was at first base from a walk prior to Steer, off the basepaths.

Cruz is known for his speed, especially when it comes to stealing bases. The Padres would much rather have Steer on base than Cruz, who has already stolen 22 bases this season.

Check out the interesting play here.

Machado's master plan didn't end up working in his favor, though, as Steer ended up scoring a run for the Reds when his teammate Tyler Stephenson later hit a sacrifice fly when Steer was on third base.

He was always an excellent new-ball bowler, but Matt Henry has evolved into a fine death-overs bowler now, and being the leader of the attack has freed him up

Deivarayan Muthu07-Mar-2025Between the otherworldly swing of Trent Boult and Tim Southee, Matt Henry’s own swing and seam had often gone underappreciated. In New Zealand’s first ICC competition without Boult or Southee since 2010, Henry has finally emerged from the shadows of those two greats, topping the Champions Trophy wickets chart with ten strikes in four innings at an average of 16.70 and economy rate of 5.32.Much like Boult and Southee, Henry is known to the wider world as a new-ball phenom. When he was a late addition to New Zealand’s squad for the 2015 ODI World Cup, he reminded Martin Crowe of a young Richard Hadlee. Ten years on, Henry isn’t just about swing or seam anymore. He has evolved into a complete fast bowler, who can be just as potent with the old ball.Matt Henry with the old ball? Stop kidding me!Related

• Shoulder injury keeps Matt Henry out of Champions Trophy final

• India and New Zealand, the most dominant forces in ICC events

• Stead: Hectic travel schedule 'takes it out of you a little bit'

• Henry's availability for Champions Trophy final 'a little bit unknown'

No, really. Since 2023, Henry is the joint-highest wicket-taker, alongside Shaheen Shah Afridi, in the last ten overs in ODI cricket, with 25 strikes in 20 innings (Shaheen has the benefit of bowling in 22 innings) at an economy rate of 6.79. And nobody has a better bowling average than Henry’s 12.36 for a minimum of 200 balls between overs 40 and 50 since 2023.His corresponding numbers in the death between his ODI debut at the start of 2014 and end of 2022 were poor: 23 wickets in 41 innings at an average of 26.86 and economy rate of 8.56.Henry’s outrageous improvement with the old ball has transformed him into an all-purpose, all-format bowler. Since 2023, he is also the highest wicket-taker in international cricket across formats with 136 strikes in 66 innings. Ravindra Jadeja (125), Jasprit Bumrah (124), Afridi (124) and Mitchell Starc (117) all slot in behind Henry on this list.The IPL, the Hundred and the MLC all wanted Henry. You can’t just sit idle with your skills these days. Unless you keep upgrading them, cricket will leave you behind.Henry refused to be left behind. A career-threatening back injury had already left him far behind during his early years. He then spent a number of years watching Boult and Southee, and then Kyle Jamieson, surge ahead of him.ESPNcricinfo LtdIt was the 2023 T20 Blast that unlocked the old-ball skills of Henry. While he continued to attack and hunt for wickets with the new ball, he developed defensive skills with the older, softer one, hiding it away from the hitting arcs of batters with slower balls and cross-seamers. He came away with 31 wickets in 14 matches at an average of 13.25 and economy rate of 7.85 on surfaces that were largely flat and favoured hitting through the line.Henry’s title-winning run at Somerset in the T20 Blast gave him the belief that he could succeed with the old ball as well. Henry doesn’t have a magic slower one, like the knuckle ball or the back-of-the-hand variation, yet, but he can get his offcutter to react differently on different pitches.Look at this dismissal from the 2023 ODI World Cup. Mushfiqur Rahim collapses to the floor like a house of cards. The slower ball hits the Chennai pitch and skids under his bat – as opposed to bouncing higher – and knocks out his off stump.Henry can also get his offcutter to rise at the rib cage or even higher. He drew a mis-hit from Hardik Pandya with that slower bouncer in Dubai last Sunday on his way to a five-wicket haul. His change-ups, bowled without any discernible change in his action, were particularly vital to New Zealand limiting India to 249 for 9.

“He’s always had the reputation of being an outstanding new-ball bowler, but you see the development in his game is using that slower bouncer and different fields, etc at the back end. He’s a much more rounded bowler and that’s why he’s having success across formats”Shane Bond on Matt Henry

Shane Bond is so impressed with Henry’s versatility that he rates him as one of New Zealand’s best ODI bowlers. “When you look at New Zealand’s great one-day bowlers, you think of Trent Boult… but Matt Henry has been his partner-in-crime for a long time. If you line up their records, it will be pretty similar,” Bond said on ESPNcricinfo’s Match Day show. “He’s got an exceptional one-day record, and he just continues to be a world-class bowler now. He does it on the big occasions.”He showed that he’s really developed his skills at the back-end of the innings. He’s always had the reputation of being an outstanding new-ball bowler, but you see the development in his game is using that slower bouncer and different fields, etc at the back end. He’s a much more rounded bowler and that’s why he’s having success across formats.”Two of New Zealand’s frontline quicks, who usually operate with the old ball, Lockie Ferguson and Ben Sears, were sidelined from the Champions Trophy even before the start of the tournament. All of Will O’Rourke, Nathan Smith and Jacob Duffy had never played in an ICC tournament before this Champions Trophy, but despite various setbacks, Henry has made Black Caps’ seam attack work across four venues in two countries.ESPNcricinfo LtdHe won’t agree that he’s the leader of this attack, but he certainly has all the attributes of one: he fronts up to bowl across phases, produces significant breakthroughs and is often spotted at mid-on or mid-off, passing inputs to the rookie bowlers and putting his arm around them, like a protective older brother embracing his younger one, when they get hit.All of New Zealand perhaps went down with Henry when he landed awkwardly on his shoulder to grab the catch of Heinrich Klaasen at long-on in the semi-final against South Africa. Henry then picked himself and New Zealand up, returning to bowl two boundary-less overs at the death to go with the wicket of Kagiso Rabada with a grippy offcutter from over the wicket. New Zealand are hoping that he will be fit for the final.India, of course, will be more familiar with new-ball Henry. He blitzed through their line-ups in the 2019 ODI World Cup semi-final in Manchester and more recently in the Bengaluru Test last year with his mastery of the upright as well as the wobble seam. He even tricked Shubman Gill into playing across the line with an inducker when New Zealand met India in Dubai.Henry makes things happen with the new ball. Now, he can make things happen with the old ball too. Bet against Henry 2.0 at your own peril.

The New York Yankees placed outfielder Aaron Judge on the 10-day injured list over the weekend with a flexor strain in his right elbow. Though Judge will have to miss some time, he did avoid a more serious injury or any damage to his ulnar collateral ligament, and his elbow will not require surgery.

"I think we in the big picture dodged something pretty good," Yankees manager Aaron Boone told on Tuesday. "Hopefully this little bit of downtime does the trick and also serves as a little bit of a physical reset for him in a long season where you're playing every day."

Boone added that he thinks Judge will begin hitting off the tee on Tuesday or Wednesday, and will resume throwing 10-15 days after the injury. Boone remains unsure of how long it will take Judge to be ready to go in the outfield after he starts throwing again.

Per Bryan Hoch of , Boone said the "hope" is that Judge will play as the designated hitter when he's eligible to return from the IL on Aug. 5.

The Yankees have talked to designated hitter Giancarlo Stanton about playing outfield with Judge out and for depth down the stretch. Though Stanton is "eager" about the opportunity and will do some drills in the outfield this week, Boone is unsure if he will actually use Stanton in that role.

Jack Grealish peeled away in celebration. The joy on his face was palpable. Infectious. This was the moment, sending the roof off at the Hill Dickinson Stadium, with Everton sealing a last-minute winner against Crystal Palace in the Premier League.

19 games unbeaten. No more. The Eagles had been grounded and Everton had taken off. That’s 11 points on the board for the Toffees, and only seven matches played. Last year, 12 fixtures were needed to reach the same points total.

David Moyes’ squad are coming together, even with the centre-forwards still toiling. Beto is beginning to look rather stale, while £27m summer signing Thierno Barry hasn’t yet provided the quality or fluency to suggest he can lead the line.

It’s a familiar problem on the blue half of Merseyside.

Everton's striker issues

After Moyes’ appointment last winter, Beto came alive. He had previously laboured under Sean Dyche’s management, but scored five from four Premier League games to rebind the rigging and turn the ship away from relegation danger.

With one top-flight goal this season, things need to change if Beto is to retain his star spot as the frontman. Everton have been here before, with struggles at centre-forward a common theme since Farhad Moshiri first purchased a stake in 2016.

While Dominic Calvert-Lewin had some high points across his long stay in Liverpool, the tall and commanding star lacked control of his fitness levels and toiled over the final years of his Everton career.

Few and far between are the strikers who have left Everton with their heads held high, and Beto knows he needs an upswing in form if he wishes to edge away from an unwanted reputation when he does play his football elsewhere.

Here is a list of differing fortunes, but there are more than a few strikers who will look back at their time at Goodison Park with regret.

Moise Kean, for example, arrived from Juventus as a teenage prodigy with a weight of expectation. But it didn’t work out in England.

Everton's new Moise Kean

Everton haven’t always hit the jackpot in the transfer market over the past several years, but recent additions certainly speak of greater accuracy and synergy when planning for the future.

Kean, who completed a £25m move to England in August 2019, was billed as a real coup for a first-class prospect, but he never managed to make it work on Merseyside and returned to his homeland, having scored only four times and completed a series of loan spells.

Now, Kean is a superstar in Italy with Fiorentina, prolific and powerful, and Everton might want to bear that one in mind when considering Tyler Dibling, who arrived from Southampton this summer for £42m but has endured a difficult start, used sparingly by Moyes and yet to show off the skills that caused such a furore regarding his services.

Sunday’s tie was considered a huge opportunity for the 19-year-old. Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall was suspended, after all. But he failed to take the opportunity, with the Liverpool Echo slapping him with a 4/10 match rating and saying he was ‘anonymous at times’.

Dibling is young and talented and has demonstrated his potential already in the Premier League, but he’s a work in progress. He was hounded out of any promising positions at the weekend, and it’s unlikely he has gained Moyes’ trust at this stage.

This “world-class talent”, as he has been described by Southampton youth coach Andy Goldie, may well reach the end of the campaign with little individual triumphs to boast about. Perhaps there will be scrutiny, and knots of adversity and frustration from which he must disentangle himself and keep his head down and work hard.

Dibling impressed with Southampton last year, a bright spark during a difficult year. Saints were doomed, and that was a fact long before the season curtailed. But Dibling shone, notching seven goal involvements across the term and impressing with his strength and pace and gusto.

The lesson here is that Everton have paid for a youngster who is anything but the finished product. Maybe it will take time, and maybe he will need a loan spell away to find his feet.

Perhaps he won’t. But Everton must keep the faith in a top prospect and watch him bloom into a star down the line, because Everton and Moyes know what they have paid for, and there is a lofty, grand-scale future for this one.

Moyes must ditch £56m Everton duo who have been holding Grealish back

Moyes’ Everton have made improvements but there are some stars who need to be dropped.

By
Angus Sinclair

Oct 2, 2025

By hitting two home runs on Sunday, Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh broke the record for the most home runs by a catcher in a single season. Raleigh has now accumulated an MLB-leading 49 home runs on the season, breaking Royals catcher Salvador Perez's previous record of 48 home runs in 2021.

Raleigh's two-home run game additionally broke Ken Griffey Jr.'s Mariners franchise record for themost multi-home run games in a season, and Mickey Mantle's MLB record for most multi-home run games by a switch-hitter in a season, per Sarah Langs.

"It was a lot of fun," Raleigh said after the Mariners' 11-4 over the Athletics. "I guess I'll just remember tipping the cap to the crowd and everybody on their feet. It was really a cool moment."

Raleigh admitted that he initially felt hesitant to step back up on the field for his curtain call, but it turned out to be among the most memorable moments for him.

"I didn't know that would be a thing," Raleigh said. "They were kind of pushing me out there and I was like, 'I don't want to look dumb if I go out there.' It was really cool to see everyone up on their feet. Special moment, definitely will remember that."

What made the moment even more special was that his record-breaking performance took place in front of the home crowd, who gave Raleigh a standing ovation and chanted "MVP" after hitting the historic home run.

"Obviously our fans are amazing and to do it here—to do it anywhere would be really special—but to do it here in front of the fans and to give them that, see the appreciation was a really cool moment, on top of a really good game," Raleigh said.

Though Raleigh was rather humble about his achievement, Mariners manager Dan Wilson did a better job quantifying how impressive Raleigh's feats have been this season.

"Unbelievable," Wilson said, via Aaron Levine of . "As much as I want to talk about his homers, I want to talk about his blocking even more. When you talk about Cal Raleigh, you talk about homers, but you talk about the job he does behind the plate even more."

From making his first MLB All-Star Game, winning the Home Run Derby, becoming a legitimate MVP candidate to now breaking MLB records, it's been a storybook season for the Big Dumper.

Sussex’s 17-year-old legspinner, the first “Blast baby”, is taking it all in his stride

David Hopps23-Aug-2021Is cricket cool? Well, there’s a loaded question if ever there was one. Even its greatest devotees would struggle to contend that it has ever been the height of fashion, not in England at any rate, where periodic attempts to improve its image have failed to shake a resistance movement that imagines it can be a little, shall we say, monotonous.So is cricket cool? Archie Lenham, the first Blast baby, the first county professional born after the birth of T20 in England, has no doubts. “I think it’s really cool,” he said, with the confidence of a 17-year-old who had just spent a week with Southern Brave (inactive maybe but highly instructive) during the climax to the Hundred. For once, he will not be drowned out by cries of derision when he modestly responds: “I think my mates are quite proud of me.”The debate over how the Hundred can co-exist symbiotically with county cricket remains a pressing and complex one, but that’s for others to work out: for the likes of Lenham, cricket feels a little different and with good fortune he has a career ahead of him to lap it up.Related

• Wright advocates staging Blast 'in a block' as quarter-finals loom

• Wright, Salt assault sets up Sussex before Lenham cleans up

• Sussex seal quarter-final spot as Archer makes low-key return

“Before I came into the Hundred I was watching on TV and I thought it was really cool,” he said. “Just the crowds – the last couple of games I have been at the crowds were electric, really loud, really getting behind the sides. I really enjoy white-ball cricket.”Next up is the Vitality Blast quarter-final against Yorkshire on Tuesday night and, as it must be staged on a neutral ground because Headingley is hosting the third Test against India, the atmosphere at Chester-le-Street might be a bit of a come down. Not the message the Blast needs to send as it takes up the mantle. Capacity crowds will follow later in the week.Lenham’s legspin is expected to be central to Sussex’s challenge, something that was inconceivable when this season’s tournament started. Then he burst onto the scene in his second game, against Hampshire at Hove, when he took a wicket with his first ball, held a skier and generally had the time of his life in one of the great stories of the summer. That positive impression remained by the end of the group stages as his bowling stats stacked up alongside such luminaries as Chris Jordan, Tymal Mills and, briefly, the Afghan legbreak bowler, Rashid Khan.Luke Wright, Sussex’s seasoned T20 captain, is just one of several senior players who have wrapped a protective shell around Lenham.”Any time you get to play some youngsters it’s a breath of fresh air and I think it’s just getting the balance right,” Wright said. “We’re lucky that in the T20 side we’ve got a lot of senior guys to help the young guys when they come in. In the four-day team that’s the difficulty, that there’s hardly any senior players there to help them and guide them through.”That’s a challenge in its own right for that team but for ours, obviously Archie has been the standout and has been a great story. More than any skill, for me it’s always the character. For any youngster to be able to come in and play in front of decent-sized crowds and land the ball like he has done, that’s a testament to his character.”

It’s all pretty crazy to be honest. At the beginning of the season playing my first Sussex second team game, then making my full debut. Six weeks later I’m training with Southern Brave in the HundredArchie Lenham

Wright also signed at 16, for Leicestershire. His county debut came in 2003, the inaugural season of T20 in England, but many players were reluctant to take it too seriously and it was approached in a hit-and-miss fashion. It was a different world.”There wasn’t really an academy at Leicester so I was on the playing staff. I certainly wasn’t playing T20 in front of big crowds. But I see a lot of traits in terms of absolutely loving it and throwing himself in at the deep end – that was something that I wanted at that time.”I don’t think you see the negatives at that age where you worry about failing or anything, you just see the positives of playing. You have no worries and no fear whatsoever. You can give him the ball against the best players and he’s still excited. He obviously got a go in the Hundred with the Brave and then got a winners’ medal so he’s not had the worst year, so hopefully he can go even better and win the Blast as well.”Lenham’s level-headed and equable nature is striking considering the demands placed upon him. It was only a few hours before the Hundred final when he agreed to a video chat – he had just finished a bowler’s meeting – and he undertook it with a relaxed and generous air that did him great credit.He has been fortunate to have been surrounded by good advice since birth, whether it is his from his father, Neil, grandfather, Les, both former Sussex players, or his mother, Petch. Both his parents coach cricket at his school, Bede’s School in Hailsham, set in 140 glorious acres of the Sussex Downs. Then Sussex’s spin bowling coach, Ian Salisbury, who also coaches the 1st XI in the Championship and 50-over competitions, is a former England leggie. There are far too many to mention. Everywhere, support when it is needed.”I don’t feel the pressure too much,” he said. “My first Sussex game I was really nervous, walking out to look at the pitch before the game and obviously they all saw me not talking very much and came over and helped me out a lot. CJ [Chris Jordan] just tells me, ‘just try to get a wicket, I don’t mind if you get hit, we back you,’ so it takes a lot off my shoulders.Lenham has enjoyed a remarkable debut summer•Getty Images”Ian Salisbury is a brilliant legspin coach so that experience is really useful for me. He is really good with tactics – field settings and where to bowl to different batsmen, when I should use my variations and so on.”And, most recently, a week with Brave and a chance for their coach, Mahela Jayawardene, a consummate player of spin bowling, to offer his own input. At barely 17, such experiences are invaluable – and Lenham knows it.”He has been helping me with trying to find new variations and change my pace, maybe a slower ball from back of the crease, so that batsmen don’t get used to me. I bowl it pretty quickly. In England quite a lot of the pitches we play on don’t turn big so if you bowl too quickly people can line you up a little bit. Just do things that play in the batsmen’s heads so they don’t get used to you.”It’s all pretty crazy to be honest. At the beginning of the season playing my first Sussex second team game, then making my full debut I was thinking this is really cool. Then six weeks later I’m training with Southern Brave in the Hundred in their squad for the final. Now a Blast quarter-final against Yorkshire. I would never have dreamed about it at the start of the season.”Whether he even sneaks in a Championship debut might be influenced by whether Sussex reach Finals Day in the Blast, although there is an end-of-season match against Derbyshire at Hove, a game of no great consequence, which might offer an opportunity, and which will not risk affecting his white-ball rhythm.Then it is back to Bede’s for the start of his final year – and BTECs in Double Sport and Business. Mostly course work – except he has been doing it for real – with a single exam that might put the cricket on the back burner for a couple of months (hours?) early next season.
“Luckily, Bede’s have been really good to me so they have given me extensions on work.”Archie Lenham says “luckily” a lot, and you sense that he appreciates how lucky he is. He has gone a long way to showing this summer how deserving he is.

Tigers ace and reigning American League Cy Young Award winner Tarik Skubal left his start against the Marlins with a team athletic trainer Friday night.

He appeared to grab the left side of his upper body after a pitch in the fourth inning which caused manager A.J. Hinch and a member of the training staff to head out to the mound. After a brief discussion, Skubal exited the game. You can watch the unfortunate sequence below:

Per 's Cody Stavenhagen, the team said the Cy Young Award frontrunner left his 29th start of the season with tightness in his left side and is getting evaluated. Heading into the night, he is 13–4 with a 2.10 ERA and 222 strikeouts. He leads the AL in ERA, trailing only Paul Skenes (1.92) for the best mark in baseball. Only Red Sox ace Garrett Crochet has more punchouts with 228.

Something was off with Skubal from the start Friday as he gave up two home runs in his first two innings and ended the evening allowing four earned runs to two strikeouts. He pitched 14 innings of scoreless baseball over his two previous starts while striking out 10 batters along the way.

Javier Báez exited early for Detroit Friday also after he fouled a ball off his head earlier in the game.