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The ice of Pujara and Rahane could be as big a test for Australia as the India captain’s fire

Daniel Brettig19-Nov-2020Eighty-five years ago an Australian team toured South Africa with Vic Richardson as captain while Sir Donald Bradman remained at home.Officially this was to continue his long recovery from illness suffered on the 1934 tour of England, but also to captain South Australia to the Sheffield Shield. Seldom since then can be found any sort of parallel with the news that Virat Kohli will be missing all but one of this summer’s Test matches between Australia and India due to the impending birth of his first child.Then, as now, the player in question is not just the pre-eminent batsman in the game, but also the biggest box-office draw of his or many other eras. Bradman was the unrivalled star of a much smaller cricket universe than the one that Kohli dominates now. Television broadcasting was still more than 20 years away in Australia when Bradman missed that tour, but it’s hard to think of another player who would have got the watermark treatment, his smiling face tattooed onto the top right corner of the television screen, as Kohli has been on Fox Cricket this week.That bit of branding, alongside plenty in News Corp’s newspapers, has a lot to do with the fact that the limited-overs portion of the tour, which Kohli is not missing, is exclusive to the pay TV service, leaving the free-to-air Seven Network with just one Test match from which to extract its pound of Kohli-hype. As far as the broadcasters are concerned, the early exit of India’s megastar captain is tantamount to losing Bradman, and Fox are taking every opportunity to ram home the discrepancy.What should also be remembered about the 1935-36 tour, however, is that in Bradman’s absence and after the retirement of the long-time captain Bill Woodfull, the Australians gelled impressively under the tactically astute and socially outgoing Richardson, winning the series 4-0 while playing an enterprising brand of cricket. The South Africans, though not having to face the batting giant of the age, were attacked from all sides.One advantage India have by comparison to the 1935-36 Australians is that they know far better the capabilities of their likely stand-in captain: Ajinkya Rahane. Through many matches for India A and a handful of occasions with the senior side, Rahane has shown himself to be a sharp and aggressive leader, even if in bearing and outward countenance he and Kohli could not be more different as personalities. In this, he provides some parallels with Kohli’s greatest top-order batting asset, Cheteshwar Pujara, who in 2018-19 simply bored the hosts into defeat.Virat Kohli is pumped up after India’s MCG Test win in 2018•Getty ImagesWhere Kohli brings instant theatre, combative moments and the drama of an elite athlete operating on the edge, Rahane as a captain and Pujara as a batsman offer an almost preternatural calm at times, and much less of an Alpha “contest” for the Australians to get into. For all of Kohli’s pre-eminence as a batsman, recent evidence suggests that Australia quite like locking horns with him, not only for the scope of the challenge but also for the fact they come out on top as often as not.In 2017 in India, Kohli made 46 runs in three Tests before Rahane took over for the deciding match in Dharamsala; two years later, Kohli produced arguably the innings of the summer on a fiery Perth pitch, but was otherwise more or less tamed while averaging 40.28 for the series. Certainly, the energy created by his arrival at the crease has focused the Australians more than it has detracted from their bowling and fielding. Pujara, meanwhile, has stretched Australian patience far more often.”Every batter’s a little bit different, but they’re probably polar opposites,” Australia fast bowler Josh Hazlewood said. “For me it’s about not really seeing the batsman down the other end, it’s just about seeing the wickets and seeing where I want to pitch the ball and taking the batter out of the equation, whether that’s Virat or Pujara.”That’s the way I go about it, I know everyone’s different and they like to get in the fight with Virat and they think that brings out the best in them as a bowler, but I think it’s just about treating every batsman the same, whether they have a lot of energy or not, that’s the way I go about things.”Most intriguing on the batting front will be the fact that Pujara will be able to focus exclusively on his preparedness to bat for long periods, while Hazlewood, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc must adjust their focus after the suite of white-ball games that will also feature Kohli. All the quicks plus Nathan Lyon are seasoned enough to know that shifting gears from white ball to red requires a greater application of patience, but equally will realise that is easier said than done without the requisite match practice.”Patience is probably the big thing for me, moving from white ball to red ball,” Hazlewood said. “You’ve got 10 overs in a white-ball game ad you’re probably not always looking for wickets, but you know you’ve only got 10 overs and you’ve got to try and make an impact, so when we head back to that red ball it’ll be patience as the key for me and sticking those right areas all day. That’s probably the one thing I set my mind to in that change of format.”When we got [Pujara] at Perth he didn’t hurt us on a bit quicker, bouncier track, so his game’s obviously set up, he’s played the majority of his cricket in India on slower, lower wickets, and he’s hard work on those tracks to find a chink in the armour. The more pace and bounce we can get at a few of the grounds will be helpful, but I think it’s a patience game with him and it’s just about outlasting him and knowing he’s going to face a lot of balls, and not going away from our plan we’ve talked about. Keeping to that as best we can.”Josh Hazlewood on Cheteshwar Pujara: ‘It’s just about outlasting him and knowing he’s going to face a lot of balls’•Getty ImagesAs for Rahane, the likes of Cummins, Lyon, Steven Smith and David Warner will recall how he marshalled India brilliantly in that deciding 2017 Test, particularly in how the Australians were placed under pressure in the third innings when starting only 32 runs behind. Mentally tired at the end of a long and often spiteful series, they cracked for 137, leaving Rahane to help run down a modest fourth innings target and then gracefully allow Kohli the opportunity to lift the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.Nonetheless, Rahane is nowhere near as transcendent a batting talent as Kohli, and the Australians will have the chance to corner him over successive matches on bouncier surfaces than those commonly produced in India. This applies both ways of course: Rather than a one-off with Kohli in the dressing room, Rahane will get three matches in which to assert himself as a leader.”India is very, very lucky to have a stand-in captain like Rahane,” Ian Chappell told ESPNcricinfo in 2017. “I thought he did a fantastic job and it’s not easy to do the job as a fill-in, because you know the full-time captain has got a certain style. What do I do, do I try and copy that style, do I try and captain the same way as him, or do I just be myself, and Rahane did the right thing – he captained in his own way and I thought he did a terrific job. Aggressive in his own quiet way.”You don’t have to be a gung-ho captain to have the whole team behind you, you just need to do a good job, and have the guys having faith in what you’re doing. If you’re making the right moves and the aggressive field-placing moves that Rahane was making, then that creates a belief in the team. The team are looking at your captain and they’re thinking ‘well, the captain thinks we’ve got a real chance here in this game, he thinks we’ve got a chance of getting a wicket’, so that brings the team behind the captain.”So yes, Kohli is a loss to the series, but his absence will not necessarily make Australia’s task an easier one. Well acquainted with Kohli’s fire, Tim Paine’s team will need to find better ways to cope with the ice of Pujara and Rahane.

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

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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.

South Africa 235 for 7 (Tryon 62, Kapp 56, de Klerk 37*, Nahida 2-44) beat Bangladesh 232 for 6 (Shorna 51*, Sharmin 50, Mlaba 2-42) by three wickets For the second match running, Nadine de Klerk produced the crucial winning hand – an unbeaten 37 from 29 balls, albeit with several huge slices of late luck – as South Africa outmuscled a spirited Bangladesh to seal a thriller by three wickets and with three balls to spare in Visakhapatnam.The final result mirrored their previous win over India on this same ground on Thursday, but the manner in which it was secured was significantly less assured. Against a potent attack led by Nahida Akter and Ritu Moni, Chloe Tryon produced a priceless knock of 62 from 69 balls, with Marizanne Kapp also chipping in with a hard-fought fifty. However, the final difference between the teams came down to Bangladesh’s fielding under pressure with a succession of crucial chances going down in the fraught final overs.The most crucial of those came with just ten runs needed from eight balls. De Klerk miscued a drive off Rabeya Khan to long-off where Shorna Akter, 18 years old and fresh from a breakthrough innings of her own, looked set to seal a match that she deserved to make her own. Instead, the chance slapped off her palms to the turf, and with eight still needed in the final over, de Klerk capitalized with a four and a decisive six in three balls.Bangladesh were crestfallen at the conclusion, and little wonder. After winning the toss in an overcast Visakhapatnam, their captain Nigar Sultana had chosen to stare their shortcomings in the face by batting first despite a previous tournament highest total of 178, rightly assessing that a score on the board of any description was the best means to give her bowlers “a chance”, as she had put it at the toss.And so it came to pass, though perhaps not in the manner that many would have predicted. South Africa created few out-and-out chances in their bowling display, as each of Bangladesh’s top four reached at least 25. Sharmin Akhter anchored the innings with 50 from 77 balls. But for the first 30 overs of the innings, South Africa scarcely needed to make breakthroughs, such was the safety-first attitude of a batting line-up that conceded 126 dot-balls, or more than four per over, across that period of the innings.By degrees, however, Bangladesh turned South Africa’s lack of penetration to their advantage, and when Nigar holed out to cover to bring Shorna to the crease at 150 for 3 with 9.5 overs of the innings remaining, the stage was set for a transformative onslaught.Shorna Akter and Ritu Moni shared a 37-run stand off just 18 balls•Getty Images

Shorna cracked three fours and three sixes, each of them over long-on, in her 34-ball fifty, the fastest by a Bangladeshi in women’s ODIs. It was hitting with power and purpose, unrecognizable from the defensive fare that had preceded it. She was joined in her up-tempo approach by Moni, who lashed each of her first three balls for four off a previously parsimonious Kapp, to seal a flying finish with 19 not out from eight balls, as 37 runs came from the final three overs.A target of 233 was probably 60 runs more than South Africa had been bargaining for after Bangladesh’s moribund start, and their anxieties were heightened in the second over of their chase. With five ODI centuries in 2025, Tazmin Brits is arguably the in-form batter in all of 50-over international cricket, yet now she registered back-to-back ducks – and back-to-back caught-and-bowleds – after meeting her first ball with a tentative back-foot push that Nahida grabbed in front of her face.Brits’ latest dismissal wasn’t quite as spectacular as Kranti Gaud’s one-hander in last week’s India contest, but it needed to be held all the same … as Rabeya went on to demonstrate three overs later. This time, Laura Wolvaardt – on 11 – pushed through the line off the back foot, but Rabeya couldn’t close her hands around on a near-identical chance off her fourth ball.It looked like being an innings-turning let-off. Anneke Bosch got herself up and running with a brace of boundaries before Wolvaardt punished Rabeya with back-to-back fours square of the wicket, and as the pair pushed through to a 55-run stand inside the first 15 overs, the chase seemed to be entirely under control.Then, however, calamity struck out of the blue. On 30, Wolvaardt nudged the legspinner Fahima Khatun off her pads but failed to commit fully to a potential second run. Fargana Hoque tracked the ball down at midwicket, and as the batters hesitated mid-pitch, an accurate return to the keeper left South Africa’s skipper stranded.Rabeya Khan celebrates after bowling a ripper•ICC/Getty Images

Bosch thumped her next ball through the covers to hint that all was still well. But one ball later, she too was gone, caught on the edge of the ring by Sobhana Mostary for 28, as she failed to connect with an ambitious launch through the line.At 62 for 3, and with two new batters yet to face a ball, a big rebuild was required. Instead, Annerie Dercksen and Kapp managed two scrambled singles in their next 17 balls, before the former was extracted by the ball of the match, and arguably the tournament to date – an inch-perfect legbreak from Rabaya that drifted in and gripped just enough to kiss the outside edge of the off stump, and leave Dercksen utterly bamboozled as she turned to the square leg umpire to determine whether she was out.Four overs later, Sinalo Jafta also lost the top of her off stump, although there were no such doubts about her dismissal, as Fahima skidded a high-kicking topspinner through her back-foot push, like a latter-day Anil Kumble.At 78 for 5, South Africa had lost 4 for 20 in 44 balls, and their challenge was in tatters. It could have been even worse when Kapp, on 15, climbed across a short ball from Shorna and under-edged a tough half-chance that the keeper Nigar couldn’t gather.Chloe Tryon did not let the momentum slip for South Africa•Getty Images

Marufa Akter returned to the attack in the 27th over, but her extra pace was much more to South Africa’s liking, as Tryon cuffed a brace of cuts through point – the first of them being her side’s first boundary for 43 balls. Though Bangladesh quickly reverted to spin, that 12-run over had just loosened the shackles a fraction, and Kapp’s subsequent sweep for four off Fahima brought up a fifty stand for the sixth wicket from a relatively brisk 62 balls.Speaking at the toss, Wolvaardt had said she’d be happy to chase given the likelihood that dew would be a factor at the back end of the second innings, and sure enough there was a lengthy break at the final drinks break to run a rope around the outfield. Nevertheless, the spinners held their threatening full lengths, stretching the required rate past 7.5 per over until Kapp seized on a rare full-toss from Shorna to club the first six of the innings over long-on and bring up a 67-ball fifty.She was unable to push on, however. With 71 required from the final ten overs, Kapp stepped into a drive off Nahida, and picked out Shorna, who coolly made amends, ten metres in from the rope at long-off.Bangladesh celebrated wildly as South Africa’s mainstay departed for 56, but after de Klerk had announced herself with an immaculate second-ball sweep for four, Tryon set about ripping the contest back towards her team, although not without a big slice of luck. On 40, she found an under-edge off Moni that raced through the keeper’s legs for four. Then on 46, she wound into a slog-sweep to deep midwicket, but the substitute Sumaiya Akter ran through the chance without laying a hand on it.Tryon then cashed in with a huge leg-side six to make it 16 in the over, but once again, Bangladesh found a means to battle back – this time via a sharp shy from Moni at backward point, which caught Tryon inches short to send her on her way for 62 from 69.With the run-rate nudging eight an over, Masabata Klaas brought up the 200 with a streaky single to mid-off, which would also have been run-out had Fahima’s shy found its target. De Klerk then walked across her stumps to hoist a priceless boundary through backward square, and when Fahima served up an untimely front-foot no-ball, she stepped back to lift the resulting free hit over the covers.Even then the anxieties weren’t done. With 11 still required, de Klerk top-edged a full-toss into the gap at square leg – and nearly ran herself out in the confusion – but two balls later, she received the decisive let-off. A miscued slap to long-off, where Shorna was waiting to complete the heroics she had begun. The chance went begging, and so too did Bangladesh’s hopes. For South Africa, however, their wild campaign marches on, with three wins in a row, and one foot firmly planted in the semi-final standings.

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O Santos venceu o Avaí por 2 a 0 nesta sexta-feira (26), na Ressacada, pela segunda rodada da Série B do Campeonato Brasileiro. Melhor no segundo tempo, o Peixe garantiu o resultado com gols de JP Chermont e Julio Furch.

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⚽ COMO FOI A PARTIDA?

Santos e Avaí começaram a partida indo ao ataque e criando boas chances dos dois lados. Logo no início, Gil aproveitou cobrança de escanteio e quase abriu o placar para o Peixe. Pouco depois, João Paulo fez grande defesa em chute de William Pottker. Nos minutos finais da primeira etapa, os donos da casa ocuparam mais o campo de ataque e pressionaram pelo gol, mas sem resultado.

No segundo tempo, o Santos cresceu na partida e impôs seu jogo. Depois de minutos de pressão, o garoto JP Chermont, lateral de apenas 18 anos, avançou pela direita, cortou para dentro e bateu da entrada da área; bola desviou na defesa e morreu dentro do gol. O Peixe seguiu melhor e conseguiu amplicar o placar com Julio Furch, após linda jogada individual de Guilherme.

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👀 O QUE VEM POR AÍ?

O Avaí visita o Paysandu na próxima sexta-feira (3), às 19h, pela terceira rodada da Série B do Campeonato Brasileiro. Já o Santos volta à Vila Belmiro e recebe o Guarani no dia 6 de maio, segunda-feira, também pela Segundona.

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Ruben Amorim’s tenure at Manchester United has finally shown glimpses of lift off over the last couple of weeks, with the first-team squad now adapting to the demands of his 3-4-2-1 system.

Ahead of the 2025/26 campaign, his future at Old Trafford was massively up in the air, especially after only being able to register a 15th-place finish in the Premier League last season.

However, he maintained the backing of the board, with such a decision now proving to be the right one, especially if their recent run of form is anything to go by.

The Red Devils remain unbeaten in each of their last five outings, winning three in a row in the process, leading to the 40-year-old claiming the division’s Manager of the Month award.

However, one player who joined the club during the off-season has somewhat struggled to make the desired impact in recent weeks, leading to question marks around his future.

What former Man Utd players have made of Sesko’s start at the club

Benjamin Sesko joined United in a £74m transfer from RB Leipzig, with the fanbase having real expectations on the centre-forward to change their fortunes in the final third.

The Slovenian has already featured in 11 league outings to date, but has only managed to find the net twice, failing to score in any of the last four matches in the Premier League.

Given his lack of goals, questions have been asked about the 22-year-old’s role at Old Trafford, with many former players voicing their concern over his struggles in England.

Former right-back and now pundit, Gary Neville, spoke about Sesko early this month and gave an honest review on the youngster’s start to life at the club.

The 50-year-old stated: “The jury is out. He’s well off it compared to the other summer signings Manchester United made up front, like Cunha and Mbeumo.

“He looks awkward. He had a couple of good opportunities against Forest, but his touch wasn’t quite right. For £80 million, you can say he’s young and settling in, but you still want to see a bit more.”

He wasn’t the only former Red Devils first-team member to speak out on the striker’s lack of form at present, with Peter Schmeichel also questioning the big-money transfer.

The former goalkeeper said: “You spend £70 million-plus on Sesko, when we don’t have the number six we should have, and there’s the goalkeeping position as well.

“Why did we bring someone in that we didn’t need? Because the head of recruitment [Christopher Vivell] comes from Leipzig and he’s got to make a mark.”

However, Wes Brown has jumped to Sesko’s defence in the last couple of weeks, with the Englishman offering a more open-minded view on his early months in Manchester.

He claimed that: “The quality in wide areas is very good now, so this season can be a positive one for Manchester United. I think Sesko has all the attributes to score plenty of goals for Manchester United. He is mobile, good in the air and with his feet, so it all bodes really well for the club.”

If he is to reach the heights many anticipated earlier this summer, he will definitely need time to adapt to the demands of the Premier League, with Amorim needing to show patience in the talisman.

The United star who’s becoming INEOS’ worst signing

Despite Sesko needing time to prove his worth at United, the same can’t be said about numerous other talents who were brought to the club by INEOS in recent years.

Manuel Ugarte was signed for a reported £50m from PSG last summer, but his move to Old Trafford has fallen way below the expectations many had upon his arrival.

The Uruguayan was seen as the perfect ball-winning option at the heart of the side, but he’s struggled to cement his place in the starting eleven under Amorim.

It’s evident that the manager currently doesn’t trust the 24-year-old at present, with the boss currently selecting 33-year-old Casemiro ahead of him in the pecking order.

Given his tally of just two starts in the league throughout 2025/26, it would be a surprise to no one if he was sold in January, with the club needing to recoup as much of their investment as possible.

However, he might not be alone in that aspect, with forward Joshua Zirkzee another player who has struggled with the expectations after his own move 18 months ago.

INEOS forked out a reported £36m for his signature last summer, but the Dutchman has massively struggled to adapt to life in the Premier League.

The 24-year-old featured in 49 matches across all competitions last season, but was only able to register a measly tally of seven goals – an average of one goal every seven games.

This season has been a new low for the Dutchman, with the attacker only making four appearances in the league under Amorim – none of which have been from a starting position.

During those outings, he’s only featured for a combined total of 82 minutes, with the likes of Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha ahead of him in the pecking order.

His struggles may be down to his own confusion, with Zirkzee even stating that he sees himself as a 9.5, often liking to drop deeper and affect the player – with the manager’s system just not suiting his playstyle.

Games played

32

Goals & assists

4

Pass accuracy

72%

Shots taken

1.8

Chances created

0.8

Dribble success

38%

Aerials won

29%

Times dispossessed

2.8

His performances have unfortunately fallen way below what many expected last summer, leading to one analyst dubbing him as “terrible” after being hooked before half time against Newcastle United.

Given his lack of impact, there’s no denying that his move to Old Trafford has been a failure, with the board desperately needing to offload him in the upcoming window.

Whilst Sesko has had his own doubters in recent months, Zirkzee is on another level in terms of failures at the club – potentially going down as one of their worst dealings in the last couple of years.

Their own Anderson: Man Utd to make £53m bid to sign "world-class" CM

Manchester United are set to make a January move for another top-level central midfielder.

ByEthan Lamb Nov 13, 2025

The men’s Vitality Blast will be reduced from 14 to 12 group-stage matches next season as part of a broad overhaul of English domestic white-ball cricket in the men’s and women’s game. However a mooted revamp of the men’s first-class cricket has yet to be agreed upon, with parties hopeful of a decision before the end of the month, ahead of the return of the County Championship in September.Following agreements from the required two-thirds majority of the 18 Professional County Cricket Clubs (PCCCs) and in collaboration with the Professional Cricketers’ Association (PCA), the men’s county T20 competition will shift from two groups of nine to three six-team regional groups, as it was during the Covid-affected summer of 2020.Each county will play the others in their group home and away (a total of 10 matches), with an additional home-and-away fixture against a side from the two other groups. The top two teams in each group plus the best two third-placed teams will progress to the quarter-finals. The winners of the quarter-finals will progress to Finals Day. The competition will be played in a block and completed in July, before the start of the Hundred.Related

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• Players want cut to 12 County Championship games, says PCA

• Reduced County Championship on agenda for latest domestic review

The reduction in group matches follows recommendations from the county-led men’s Domestic Playing Programme (DPP) review. While the limited-overs portion of the review has been heeded, the PCCCs are yet to agree upon a preferred layout of the County Championship.It is understood that at present there are three red-ball options on the table, with no clear favourite. There is a strong desire out of necessity to establish a preferred option by the end of August to ensure counties know what they are playing for in the final rounds of this season.The most innovative would see a 12/6 split between Division One and Two, with the top-tier made up of two groups of six. Each Division One team would play home and away plus two further fixtures against teams in the other group. The top two will then go into a final for the County Championship title, mooted for the middle of September.The bottom team in each Division One group would subsequently be relegated, replaced by the team that finished top of Division Two, with the last promotion spot determined by a play-off between second and third. Despite only having six teams, Division Two sides will also play 12 fixtures; home and away against the other five teams, followed by home-and-away fixtures against two others.The other alternatives are a two-division split (10 in Division One, eight in Division Two) with 12 matches played; or a continuation of the existing 14-match set-up. At present, four counties – Middlesex, Somerset, Surrey and Yorkshire – have publicly stated their preference to retain a 14-match County Championship season.In a statement released by the ECB on Tuesday, Mark McCafferty, chair of the Professional Game Committee (PGC), which was set up in 2023, lauded the changes confirmed so far. He said: “These changes to the men’s Vitality Blast will be a springboard to further investment in a historic and much-loved domestic T20 competition which is recognised as one of the world’s best.”The new group format intensifies the importance of many of these local derbies, and brings the quarter-finals and the iconic Finals’ Day back into July, so improving the sporting and commercial narrative for sponsorship and TV partners, as well as meeting player wellbeing objectives by improving the group-stage schedules and travel demands to allow players to perform at their very best.”The revamp is part of the current work to further strengthen all our men’s and women’s domestic competitions and on behalf of the PGC, I’d like to express my thanks and appreciation to the counties and to the PCA for their ongoing collaboration on this work, as we progress in the next phase to the Rothesay County Championship and the Metro Bank One-Day Cup.”The women’s Vitality Blast will also reduce to 12 matches next season in Tier 1, the result of a separate vote from the 18 PCCCs that was not linked to the men’s changes. With Yorkshire moving up from Tier 2 in 2026, making nine teams in the top tier, each county will play six home and six away matches, playing four counties twice and four counties once.Tier 1 Finals Day will expand to house two semi-finals and the final, meaning the top four teams progress to the showpiece event. Previously the team finishing first went through to the final automatically, to play the winner of second versus third earlier in the day. The Vitality Blast Women’s League 2 (Tier 2) will maintain eight group-stage matches, but move to a single group – changing from North and South Groups in 2025 – with a second-versus-third eliminator before the final.The Tier 1 Metro Bank One-Day Cup competition will increase to 16 matches from 14, with a shift to an eliminator instead of two semi-finals. League 2 will be reduced from nine to eight group-stage games with each county playing each other once. The top four at the end of the group stage will progress to the knockouts stages. The winners of the two semi-finals progress to the final.”The changes for 2026 were developed in consultation with the game and the players,” Beth Barrett-Wild, ECB director of the women’s professional game, said. “The player representatives did voice a desire to increase the volume of cricket, to allow an even home-and-away Vitality Blast in Tier 1, but also recognised the scheduling challenges that would cause.”There was always going to be a settling-in period across Tiers 1 and 2 during these first few seasons, and these changes are set to be for next summer only with a planned review again ahead of the 2027 season, when Glamorgan will move from Tier 2 into Tier 1. This will also follow another phase of learning as the new women’s competitions embed into the overall county structure.”Speaking on the overall changes to limited overs cricket, ECB chief executive Richard Gould said: “County cricket in England and Wales has long been the gold standard and it has been important that the counties have led the discussion in consultation with the game as we look to make all of our men’s and women’s county competitions the best they can be.”

Men’s Vitality Blast from 2026

Group A: Derbyshire Falcons, Durham, Lancashire Lightning, Leicestershire Foxes, Notts Outlaws, Yorkshire
Group B: Bears, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Northamptonshire Steelbacks, Somerset, Worcestershire Rapids
Group C: Essex, Hampshire Hawks, Kent Spitfires, Middlesex, Surrey, Sussex Sharks

Women’s Vitality Blast (Tier 1)

Bears, Durham, Essex, Hampshire Hawks, Lancashire Thunder, Somerset, Surrey, The Blaze, Yorkshire

Women’s Vitality Blast League 2 (Tier 2)

Derbyshire Falcons, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Kent, Leicestershire Foxes, Middlesex, Northamptonshire Steelbacks, Sussex Sharks, Worcestershire Rapids.

Women’s Metro Bank One-Day Cup (Tier 1)

Bears, Durham, Essex, Hampshire Hawks, Lancashire Thunder, Somerset, Surrey, The Blaze, Yorkshire

Women’s Metro Bank One-Day Cup League 2 (Tier 2)

Derbyshire Falcons, Glamorgan, Gloucestershire, Kent, Leicestershire Foxes, Middlesex, Northamptonshire Steelbacks, Sussex Sharks, Worcestershire Rapids

Micky van de Van scored a stunning solo goal for Tottenham in their Champions League clash with FC Copenhagen, but a couple of his club colleagues have snubbed the Dutchman when naming the best strike that they have ever seen. Another effort recorded in European competition, by Portuguese GOAT Cristiano Ronaldo, gets the nod from a few of those in north London.

Van de Van scored stunning solo goal against Copenhagen

Van de Van illuminated the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium when facing Danish opposition as he charged almost the full length of the pitch before hitting the back of the net. The Netherlands international is famed for his pace and running power.

Those qualities were on full display as he muscled his way down the middle of the field, shrugging off opponents as he went, and crashed the ball home to put Spurs three goals to the good on the night – with Thomas Frank’s side eventually running out 4-0 winners despite having Brennan Johnson sent off.

AdvertisementBest goal seen live? Spurs stars make their choice

Unsurprisingly, Van de Van’s solo masterpiece has been the subject of much discussion at Tottenham’s training ground. For many of those watching on, from the pitch and the stands, said strike is the greatest that they have ever seen.

Not everybody falls into that category, though, with there plenty of current Spurs stars that are happy to cast their mind a little further back in order to find the pick of the goals that they have witnessed live.

Wales international Johnson went for a goal registered for his boyhood club Nottingham Forest – a spectacular free-kick from Lewis McGugan – while sticking with the Reds theme, Djed Spence picked his own effort scored against QPR during a loan spell at the City Ground.

Archie Gray also offered a nod to former employers, as he plumped for Patrick Bamford’s stunning volley for Leeds in an FA Cup clash with Peterborough, and Xavi Simons went for Lionel Messi’s iconic effort for Barcelona against Bayern Munich in the Champions League – as he left Jerome Boateng chasing shadows.

Brazilian forward Richarlison went for a legendary overhead kick from Ronaldo, as did CR7’s fellow Portuguese Joao Palhinha. That acrobatic goal was recorded for Real Madrid during a European outing against Juventus in April 2018.

Plenty of Van de Ven’s current team-mates were happy to side with him in the best goal debate, including Pedro Porro, Pape Matar Sarr, Wilson Odobert, Radu Dragusin, Kevin Danso, Mohammed Kudus and Kota Takai. The man himself went for a goal from Max Arnold for Wolfsburg against Mainz.

What was going through Van de Ven's mind?

Van de Van told Spurs’ official media channels of his stunner against Copenhagen and what was going through his mind as he raced towards goal: "I get the ball in our own box, and every time I saw a little gap of space in front of me, and I started dribbling, I was like, hey, every time I can get a bit more. I know when I get my speed and acceleration it's difficult to catch up sometimes, and then in one way I was like, hey, I'm through. I was like, ‘I'm going all the way now’, just try to score.

"When I came through, to be honest, in my head I was like, ‘I know my strike is quite good, my left inside foot is quite strong’ but, at this point, you just say in your head, ‘I need to score this one, man’.

"Another team-mate was next to me, I don't know who it was, and I know their centre-back was in the middle, and of course at one point he needs to make a decision. I was like, ‘nah, I keep going all the way now’ and just try to shoot a short corner. To be honest, I haven't seen it go in. I just heard everyone celebrating, I just knew I had to score."

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GettyMan Utd & north London derby: Tottenham fixtures

Spurs will be back in Premier League action on Saturday when playing host to Manchester United. They will return after the latest international break with a derby date against north London rivals Arsenal on November 23.

يسعى نادي ريال مدريد الإسباني للتعاقد مع قلب دفاع لتعزيز صفوف الفريق، تحت قيادة المدير الفني تشابي ألونسو، وقد ارتبط بعدة أسماء.

وربطت تقارير صحفية بين ريال مدريد وكل من دايوت أوباميكانو لاعب بايرن ميونخ الألماني، إبراهيما كوناتي مدافع ليفربول، ومارك جويهي من كريستال بالاس.

وكشفت صحيفة “آس” الإسبانية عن آخر التطورات المتعلقة بارتباط ريال مدريد بجويهي، وموقف النادي الإسباني من التعاقد معه.

وبحسب ما ورد، تراجع ريال مدريد عن فكرة التعاقد مع جويهي، وذلك بسبب المطالب المالية للاعب الذي ينتهي عقده مع كريستال بالاس بنهاية الموسم الحالي.

اقرأ أيضًا | الأزمة مستمرة.. استدعاء مبابي وباريس سان جيرمان إلى محكمة العمل في باريس

وتشير الصحيفة إلى أن مطالب جويهي المرتفعة، سواءً من حيث الراتب أو مكافأة التوقيع، تجعل من شبه المستحيل تعاقد ريال مدريد معه.

ويعد جويهي محل اهتمام لكل من ليفربول وبايرن ميونخ الألماني، وكان النادي الإنجليزي يسعى لضمه في السوق الصيفي الماضي، لكن المفاوضات فشلت في اليوم الأخير للانتقالات.

Former Sheffield Wednesday manager Danny Rohl has rejected an offer from Rangers as their search for a new manager continues amid uncertainty over Steven Gerrard's availability. Gers are in search of a new head coach after they parted ways with Russell Martin following a nightmare start to their 2025-26 campaign. Gerrard was at one point the favourite to take the job but he later pulled out, although his name is now back in the headlines.

• Rangers search for a new manager continues

  Rangers sacked Martin just months after his appointment at Ibrox in the summer. Many considered him to be a perfect fit at the club due to his ball-playing philosophy, but his tenure turned out to be a nightmare. In their first seven matches in the Scottish Premiership, Rangers have registered just one win and are now languishing in eighth position in the league table, 11 points behind league leaders Hearts and nine behind rivals Celtic. 

  Following Martin's exit, Rangers have been looking for a suitable candidate to fill the managerial vacancy. Last week, it was reported that Liverpool legend Gerrard could make a sensational comeback after four years. In his first stint in Glasgow, Gerrard guided Gers to a league title and thus, naturally, he had the fans' approval. The former England midfielder even flew to Scotland from the Middle East to hold talks with club officials, only to later withdraw his name from the race as he felt that the time was not right to return to football management.

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  Rangers snubbed by another mangerial candidate

  Other than Gerrard, Rangers also had former Sheffield Wednesday boss Danny Rohl on their managerial shortlist. Accordingly, the Scottish giants approached the German coach with an offer and had even held concrete talks with the 36-year-old, but now reports that Rohl has rejected their offer as he does not feel the timing is right to take charge of the club. Rohl's reason is seemingly the same as Gerrard's, as he is not ready to return to the dugout after something of a torrid time at the Championship strugglers.

• Gerrard saga continues

  Days after turning down Rangers' offer, Gerrard has supposedly re-emerged as the frontrunner to take charge at Ibrox once again. reported on Wednesday that the former England star has suddenly become the bookie's favourite to manage the Gers. , though, also claims that despite that surprise update, Gerrard is unlikely to be in contention anymore and he has already flown back to Bahrain. 

  On Wednesday morning, the 45-year-old's odds were as high as 20/1 with William Hill. Spokesperson of William Hill, John Hill, told : "Despite ruling himself out of the job just a few days ago, Steven Gerrard has been heavily backed in our next Rangers manager market this morning. Gerrard is now just evens to return to Ibrox for a second spell in charge."

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• Rangers make club-record offer to Dyche

  Following Rohl's rejection, Rangers have now sent a club-record financial offer to former Everton and Burnley boss Sean Dyche, according to journalist . The bid has seemingly caught Dyche's attention as the 54-year-old English manager is said to be considering the offer. The experienced Premier League tactician has been out of work since being sacked by the Merseyside club in January 2025, having overseen a poor run of results that left them one point above the relegation zone. Nevertheless, it would be seen as something of a coup for a Scottish club if he were appointed in Glasgow.

Originally a white-ball series for both formats, the boards agreed to make it an all-T20I series with a T20 World Cup early next year

Danyal Rasool30-Apr-2025

Faisalabad will host international cricket for the first time in 17 years when Bangladesh visit Pakistan for five T20Is in May. A total of 24 Tests and 16 ODIs have been played at the Iqbal Stadium, but this will be the first time it will host T20I cricket when the first two T20Is of the series are played there on May 25 and 27.The remaining three games will take place at the newly renovated Gaddafi Stadium; it will mark the first time Pakistan’s national side will play international cricket here since the redevelopment. All five matches, which take place at the height of the dry summer season, will start at 8pm, when temperatures are relatively more moderate.Related

BCB in 'active discussions' with PCB over upcoming Pakistan tour

Litton Das named Bangladesh T20I captain; Mahedi Hasan to be his deputy

The addition of Faisalabad to Pakistan’s international venue list makes it the fifth city in Pakistan to host international cricket since it resumed following a near-decade long hiatus after the terror attacks against the Sri Lankan national side in 2009. It supplements Lahore, Rawalpindi, Karachi and Multan: the four cities where international matches have taken place in during this time.Bangladesh’s visit to Pakistan was initially pencilled in as a joint T20I and ODI series, with three games in each format. However, the boards agreed to replace the ODIs with two additional T20Is as preparation for the T20 World Cup in February-March 2026, scheduled to take place in India and Sri Lanka.Bangladesh are due to arrive in Pakistan on 21 May, with the final T20I on 3 June. A return series in Bangladesh is scheduled for July, with the sides expected to contest four T20Is, though the official schedule of that series is yet to be confirmed.The series begins a week after the end of the Pakistan Super League on 18 May, extending a home season for Pakistan that has been almost non-stop since England’s visit for a three-Test series in October. Bangladesh, meanwhile, are currently contesting a two-Test series against Zimbabwe at home.