All posts by h716a5.icu

Also: who had the most innings in ODIs without ever being out for a duck?

Steven Lynch16-Apr-2024Sam Northeast followed 166 not out in his last first-class innings of 2023 with an undefeated 335 in his first of 2024. What’s the record for the most first-class runs without being dismissed? asked Jeremy Bradshaw from England
You’re right that Sam Northeast finished last season with an innings of 166 not out (for Glamorgan against Yorkshire in Cardiff) and started this one with an unbeaten 335 at Lord’s – the highest individual innings there, as we noted last week. He added 14 not out in the second innings of that Lord’s match, then in the last round of Championship matches was out for 11 (and 0) against Derbyshire in Cardiff.Northeast thus made 526 first-class runs between dismissals, which puts him fairly high on this list. It’s actually his second purple patch of more than 500 runs without getting out, as he also made 525 in 2022 (105 not out, 410 not out and 10). He’s only the third batter to have two such streaks, following Patsy Hendren (630 and 514, both on England’s tour of the West Indies in 1929-30) and VVS Laxman (538 in 1997-98 and 530 in 1999-2000).The overall leader is Khanmohammad Ibrahim of India, who amassed 709 first-class runs between dismissals in 1947-48. Starting for his own XI in the Bombay Festival Tournament, he scored 218 and 36 (both not out) against MN Raiji’s XI, and 234 and 77 (also not-outs) against MK Mantri’s XI. Ibrahim followed that with 144 for Bombay in a Ranji Trophy match against Sind.Next comes Graeme Hick, with 645 first-class runs between dismissals for Worcestershire in 1990: 171 and 69 against Somerset, 252 and 100 against Glamorgan (all four innings not out), then 53 against Derbyshire. The Test record is 614 runs between dismissals, by Australia’s Adam Voges: in 2015-16 he had successive innings of 269 not out and 106 not out (against West Indies) and 239 (vs New Zealand).Who has bagged the most ducks in the IPL? asked Ahmed Datta from India
Three players – all of them current – share the unwanted lead on this table at the moment: Glenn Maxwell (126 innings as I write), Dinesh Karthik (226) and Rohit Sharma (243) have all been dismissed for a duck on 17 occasions in the IPL.Four players, three of them primarily bowlers, come next with 15: Rashid Khan of Afghanistan, Sunil Narine of West Indies, and the Indian pair of Piyush Chawla and Mandeep Singh.I was looking at the scorecard for Wilfred Rhodes’ final Test, and noticed that Andy Sandham scored 325 in the first innings. But he scored fewer than 1000 runs in total! Has any other Test triple-centurion finished with fewer runs? And what’s the record for double and single centurions? asked Joshua Mann from England
The match you’re talking about – the 58th and final Test for England’s Wilfred Rhodes, the oldest-ever Test player at 52 – was a nine-day “Timeless Test” in Kingston in 1930 that nonetheless finished in a draw as the England team needed to catch their boat home.England’s first innings featured a score of 325 – Test cricket’s first triple-century – from the 39-year-old Surrey opener Andy Sandham. It was his last Test too, as the regular openers Jack Hobbs and Herbert Sutcliffe (who had missed the West Indies trip) returned for the 1930 home series against Australia.Sandham finished his Test career with 879 runs. The only triple-centurion with fewer is the Indian Karun Nair, whose 374 runs included 303 not out against England in Chennai in 2017 (his next-highest score is 26). Nair is still playing, so it’s not impossible he might yet add to his tally of six Test caps.The fewest runs in a Test career by someone who made a double-century is 320, by Brendon Kuruppu, who made 201 not out on his debut for Sri Lanka against New Zealand in Colombo in April 1987, but won only three more caps. And Andy Ganteaume of West Indies scored 112 in his first Test innings, against England in Port-of-Spain in 1948, and was never given another chance, so he finished his Test career with 112 runs.Kepler Wessels (centre) played 51 ODIs for Australia and 54 for South Africa and never bagged a duck•Getty ImagesWho had the most innings in ODIs without ever being out for a duck? And who holds this record for Tests and T20s? asked Mick Johnston from Australia
The runaway leader in one-day internationals is Kepler Wessels, who had 105 innings – 51 for Australia and 54 for South Africa – and was never out for a duck. Next, a long way behind with 40 duckless innings, come Wessels’ sometime South African team-mate Peter Kirsten, and the 1983 Indian World Cup-winner Yashpal Sharma.The Test record is held by the 1950s Australian opener Jim Burke, who had 44 innings without ever being dismissed for nought. An even earlier Australian, Reggie Duff, is next with 40.In men’s T20 internationals, the leader is the West Indian Marlon Samuels (65 innings and no ducks). But that’s a long way behind the leading woman, Esha Oza of the UAE, who has had 72 innings in T20 internationals so far – and no ducks.At one point in their latest Championship match, Warwickshire were 562 for 1. Has any team ever bettered this with one wicket down? asked Tim Westcott from England
Warwickshire’s second wicket (Alex Davies for 256) against Durham at Edgbaston last week fell at 562: the only higher score at the fall of the second wicket in a Championship match was 569, by Yorkshire against Derbyshire in Chesterfield in 1898. The English first-class record is slightly higher: Somerset reached 571 for 1 against Cardiff MCCU at Taunton Vale in 2012.The first-class record was set in Pakistan by WAPDA (the Water and Power Development Authority) in reaching 656 for 1 against Sui Southern Gas in a Quaid-e-Azam Trophy match in Sheikhupura in 2009-10. The Test record was set by Sri Lanka against India in Colombo in 1997: they were 615 for 1 before a mini-collapse as Roshan Mahanama (225) and Sanath Jayasuriya (340) were both out at the same score.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

The Pittsburgh Pirates are parting ways with longtime third baseman Ke'Bryan Hayes, having reportedly agreed to trade him to the Cincinnati Reds, per a report from ESPN's MLB insider Jeff Passan.

Hayes, 28, is in his sixth MLB season, having played his entire career with the Pirates. He's emerged as one of the best defensive players in all of baseball and won a Gold Glove at third base in 2023. His hitting leaves plenty to be desired, however. In 2025, Hayes is logging a career-low .569 OPS with two home runs, 36 RBIs and 10 stolen bases.

Per Passan, heading to the Pirates as part of the trade will be shortstop prospect Sammy Stafura, as well as veteran left-handed pitcher Taylor Rogers. Stafura, 20, is ranked as the No. 9 prospect in Cincinnati's farm system by MLB Pipeline and is currently playing at Single A.

Rogers, who could potentially be dealt again by tomorrow afternoon, owns a 2.45 ERA with 34 strikeouts across 33 innings in relief this season.

Arsenal wonderkid Max Dowman has made Youth League history after breaking three records during the Gunners' 4-1 loss to Atalanta.

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Arsenal's lose 4-1 in UEFA Youth LeagueDowman becomes youngest scorer in UYLAlso breaks two more Youth League recordsFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Arsenal began their 2024/25 Youth League campaign with a disappointing 4-1 loss to Atalanta, but it wasn't an entirely disappointing evening as 14-year-old Dowman broke three records. Gunners boss Max Portman gave Dowman the start in Italy making him the second-youngest debutant and the youngest starter in a Youth League clash.

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Dowman also scored Arsenal's lone goal on the night early in the second half as he became the youngest goal scorer in the Youth League, beating the record set by 16-year-old Rin Ahmeti, one day earlier. Dowman was also highly praised by former Arsenal youth coach Jack Wilshere last season, as he said the forward could easily be fast-tracked into the Mikel Arteta's side.

WHAT WILSHERE SAID

Speaking to the club media last season after Dowman's U-18s debut at the age of 13, Wilshere said: “There’s always a concern when fielding such a young player in these matches, but if you’re good enough you’re old enough.

“He can be more consistent but he’s only 14 and hasn’t even started his GCSEs yet."

WHAT NEXT FOR DOWMAN?

The 14-year-old will have another chance to light up the Youth League when Arsenal take on Paris Saint-Germain at home on Tuesday, October 1 as the Gunners look for their first points.

And who was the fastest player to a hundred Test caps?

Steven Lynch20-Feb-2024Was Ben Duckett’s century in Rajkot the fastest for England in a Test against India? asked Glenn Daniels from England
Ben Duckett reached three figures in Rajkot in just 88 balls. There are only seven hundreds for England known to have been faster than that, and none of them came against India.Of England’s faster hundreds overall, two of them – both in 86 balls – were by Ian Botham against Australia in 1981. England’s quickest of all remains 76 balls, by Gilbert Jessop in a famous innings at The Oval in 1902.Duckett reached his century in Rajkot from the fifth ball of the 26th over, the earliest in any England innings, beating Crawley in Rawalpindi, where he reached three figures from the last ball of the 29th over. The earliest any batter has reached 100 in a Test innings is 19.4 overs, by David Warner for Australia against India in Perth in 2011-12. (There are several Tests for which we lack ball-by-ball details, but it seems unlikely this one will have been bettered.)The others are all by Duckett’s fellow exponents of Bazball: Jonny Bairstow (77 balls against New Zealand at Trent Bridge in 2022), Harry Brook (80 vs Pakistan in Rawalpindi in 2022-23), Ben Stokes (85 vs New Zealand at Lord’s in 2015) and Zak Crawley (86 in the same innings as Brook, against Pakistan in Rawalpindi in 2022-23).England’s previous-fastest hundred against India was by Graham Gooch, in 95 balls at Lord’s in 1990 (this was in the second innings, after his monumental 333 in the first). Mohammad Azharuddin also made an 88-ball century in that Lord’s game, but the fastest-known for either side in England-India Tests to date came in 86, by Kapil Dev in Kanpur in 1981-82 . For a list of the fastest Test centuries by balls, click here. There are many Test matches for which we do not have full balls-faced details.With Ben Stokes playing his 100th Test match, I wondered who was the fastest (and slowest) to reach a century of caps? asked Mark Illingworth from England
Ben Stokes became the 16th England player to appear in 100 Tests when he took the field for last week’s match against India in Rajkot. It took him just over ten years, from his debut against Australia in Adelaide in December 2013.The fastest to 100 Test caps in terms of time is Alastair Cook, in around seven years and nine months from his debut in Nagpur in March 2006 . It’s a measure of how often England play these days that they provide the five fastest to 100 caps: Cook, Joe Root (December 2012 to February 2021), Andrew Strauss (May 2004 to August 2012), Kevin Pietersen (July 2005 to November 2013) and Stuart Broad (December 2007 to November 2016). The fastest non-Englishman is Australia’s Mark Waugh, in just under nine years (January 25, 1991, to January 2, 2000).Cook’s Essex guru Graham Gooch took the longest to get to 100 – about 17.5 years from July 1975 to January 1993. Clive Lloyd and Geoff Boycott also took more than 17 years. Boycott was the oldest to reach 100 caps – he was around three months short of his 41st birthday in the Ashes Test at Lord’s in 1981. And Cook was the youngest – he was a fortnight shy of his 29th birthday when he played his 100th Test in December 2013, breaking a record previously held by Sachin Tendulkar (29 in 2002).In the second Test at Seddon Park, the very first ball of the match was bowled by one captain to the other. How often has this happened? asked Keith Martin from New Zealand
You’re right that the opening delivery of the second Test in Hamilton last week was bowled by New Zealand’s Tim Southee to his rival captain, South Africa’s Neil Brand. This was the first such instance since 2002-03, when Shaun Pollock, of South Africa sent down the first ball in Centurion to Sri Lanka’s skipper Marvan Atapattu.There had been only nine cases before that, five of them involving Imran Khan for Pakistan against India: on three occasions (all in 1982-83) he bowled the first ball to Sunil Gavaskar, and twice in 1989-90 to one of Gavaskar’s successors, Kris Srikkanth.It seems to be something of a Pakistan specialty, as Wasim Akram did it twice (to Mark Taylor of Australia in Brisbane in 1995-96, and Mike Atherton of England at The Oval in 1996), while back in 1958-59 Fazal Mahmood bowled the first ball of a Test in Lahore to West Indies’ Gerry Alexander.The first such instance was almost 100 years ago, at Lord’s in June 1924, when Arthur Gilligan of England bowled the first ball of the match to South Africa’s Herbie Taylor.Will O’Rourke’s haul of 9 for 93 in the second Test again South Africa is the best match return for any New Zealand debutant•Hannah Peters / GettyAlex Carey took eight catches in a Marsh Cup tie the other day. Was this a record for a one-day game? asked Kelvin Nickson from Australia
Test wicketkeeper Alex Carey took eight catches in South Australia’s match against Queensland in Adelaide last week. This equalled the List A record, set by Somerset’s Derek Taylor against Combined Universities in Taunton in 1982, and matched by Jamie Pipe for Worcestershire vs Hertfordshire in Hertford in 2001.There are two other instances of a wicketkeeper making eight dismissals in a List A match, with some stumpings involved. The former South African keeper Steve Palframan collected five catches and three stumpings for Boland against Easterns in Paarl in 1997-98, and Peter Nevill had six and two for New South Wales against a Cricket Australia XI at Hurstville Oval in Sydney in 2017-18.The men’s ODI record is six dismissals in an innings, which has happened on 16 occasions – six of them by Adam Gilchrist. There are also four cases of six in women’s ODIs.Has anyone taken more wickets on debut for New Zealand than Will O’Rourke? asked Nick Templeton from Scotland
The Surrey-born seamer Will O’Rourke finished with 9 for 93 in his first Test, against South Africa in Hamilton last week. This turns out to be the best match return for a New Zealand debutant, beating the 8 for 188 of offspinner Mark Craig, against West Indies in Kingston in 2014.Paul Wiseman (1997-98), Colin de Grandhomme (2016-17), Ajaz Patel (2018-19) and Will Somerville (in the next Test in 2018-19) all took seven wickets in their first Test.With 5 for 34 in Hamilton, O’Rourke is one of only ten men to take five wickets in an innings on Test debut for New Zealand. Only four of them achieved the feat before 2007: those that have done it since include O’Rourke’s current captain Tim Southee, with 5 for 55 against England in Napier in 2007-08, and de Grandhomme, whose 6 for 41 against Pakistan in Christchurch in 2016-17 remain New Zealand’s best innings figures on debut.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

The fans might still be basking in what ended up being a brilliant Premier League weekend, but Arsenal now have to shift their focus to the Champions League.

Mikel Arteta’s side are currently sitting on a 100% record in the competition after wins against Athletic Club and Olympiacos, but will face their biggest challenge against Atlético Madrid.

While famous for their defensive nous in seasons past, Diego Simeone’s side are looking a far more potent threat this year, and should give the Emirates faithful a spectacle.

However, to ensure his team comes out on the right side, Arteta might need to make a few changes and keep a keen eye out for two particularly dangerous Atleti stars.

Atlético Madrid's dangermen

Unfortunately for Arteta and Arsenal, more than a handful of Atlético Madrid players could cause them some real trouble on Tuesday night, but there are two who perhaps stand out above the rest.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

The first is, of course, Julián Alvarez, who the Gunners will already be all too familiar with due to his time winning Premier League titles with Manchester City at their expense.

However, while the Argentine has ultimately had the last laugh over the North Londoners, his personal record against them isn’t great, as in the four matches he’s played against Arteta and Co, he has won two, lost two and failed to score or assist a goal.

Yet, the player fans saw leave England last summer is not the same one who’s become Atléti’s talisman, as in 57 appearances last season, totalling 3967 minutes, he scored 29 goals and provided eight assists, which works out to a goal involvement every 1.54 games, or every 107.21 minutes.

Then, so far this season, the Calchín-born monster has scored seven goals and provided three assists in ten appearances, totalling 800 minutes, which is an astounding average of a goal involvement every game, or every 80 minutes.

Appearances

57

10

Minutes

3967′

800′

Goals

29

7

Assists

8

3

Goal Involvements per Match

0.64

1.00

Minutes per Goal Involvement

107.21′

80′

There is no doubt that Alvarez is the most dangerous player for the Spanish side.

Even so, Arteta and Co cannot forget about Antoine Griezmann, as while he’s no longer as prolific as he once was, he is still more than capable of causing trouble and pulling strings from just behind the centre-forward – plus he scored his 200th goal for the club last month.

In all, the attack is what Arsenal have to worry about most from Atlético, so it’s good that the Gunners’ defence is their biggest strength, although Arteta should make at least one change to it.

The change Arteta should make

It should go without saying that for a game of this magnitude, William Saliba and Gabriel Mageheles simply have to start, and Jurrien Timber probably should as well, leaving Riccardo Calafiori as the man to come out of the side.

Now, this is no slight on the Italian international, as he has been exceptional for much of the campaign, so much so that it would be hard to disagree with one analyst’s opinion that he has been “Arsenal’s Player of the Season so far.”

However, there are a few reasons he should come out of the lineup for this game, the first of which is his fitness record.

24/25

175

30

23/24

4

2

22/23

53

15

21/22

73

18

20/21

118

33

19/20

43

5

18/19

291

75

Since joining the club last summer, the former Bologna gem has missed 30 games for club and country through injury, four of which have been problems with his knee.

So, considering he has already started nine games this season, it would make sense to let him sit this game out, as losing him to fatigue could be detrimental to the league campaign.

Second, while he is a maverick on the pitch and really helps out with attacks, it would be fair to say he has not shown himself to be quite as solid defensively, especially when compared to the player who should come in to replace him: Myles Lewis-Skelly.

The incredibly talented Hale Ender was Arteta’s starting left-back for much of last season, and while he has the ability to help out offensively, and has a wand of a left foot, he’s even better when it comes to locking down attackers.

For example, he helped keep a clean sheet at home against Real Madrid last season, and then looked brilliant at the Bernabeu as well.

The 19-year-old has a real tenacity about him, an edge that makes opposition attackers think twice before having a go, and that is why he has been hailed as a “future captain” by club insider Hand of Arsenal.

Ultimately, with Calafiori needing a rest and Lewis-Skelly being more than good enough to lock down Alvarez and Co, this change feels like a no-brainer for Arteta.

Arsenal have signed a "monster" who could help Saka reach Henry's level

The potentially game-changing Arsenal star could help Saka reach the levels of Henry.

ByJack Salveson Holmes Oct 20, 2025

He wanted to continue batting but was taken off the field by India A coach and the physio

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Nov-2025Rishabh Pant gave India a brief injury scare ahead of next week’s first Test against South Africa in Kolkata by having to retire hurt while batting for India A against South Africa A at the BCCI Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.During the first session of the third day, Pant was struck three times – on his body and helmet – by fast bowler Tshepo Moreki, forcing him to retire hurt on 17 off 22 balls in the 34th over of India A’s second innings.However, he allayed fears of serious injury by returning to bat in the final session, after Harsh Dubey put on 184 for the sixth wicket with Dhruv Jurel, who made an unbeaten 127. Pant took on the spinners, racing to a half-century before declaring India A’s innings on 382 for 7. He was dismissed for 65 when he top-edged a slog sweep off left-arm spinner Kyle Simmonds to the wicketkeeper.Pant had walked out to bat at No. 5 in the third over of the day after overnight batter KL Rahul was bowled for 27 – he added just one to his overnight score – by an inducker from Okuhle Cele. Pant didn’t take long to get going, his first three scoring shots were 4, 4 and 6 – all off Cele – but a series of short deliveries left him wincing in pain.Related

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Kamboj, Suthar take India A home after Pant 90

Rishabh Pant returns to India's Test squad

While Pant was keen to continue batting, he had to be taken off by India A coach Hrishikesh Kanitkar and the physios as a precautionary measure. He was grimacing in pain every time the ball thudded into his bat, and his range of motion was limited due to some taping on his elbow after being hit there.The first blow Pant suffered was to the helmet when he attempted a reverse pick-up shot off Moreki, who had bowled a short ball from around the stumps. Pant was off balance at the point of impact and immediately fell to the ground, forcing the physios to conduct a mandatory concussion test. Once cleared, he pulled out from his stance to take his helmet off and gather himself before taking strike.The second blow had Pant groaning as the ball thudded into his right elbow as he shaped to play a short-arm jab. This time, the physio administered some pain-relief spray and taped the elbow. The third blow to the abdomen from a delivery that cut back in off the seam eventually forced the management to take Pant off the field.Having proved form and fitness with a 90 in the second innings of the first four-day fixture that India A won last week, Pant has had a more challenging time in the second game. In the first innings, he was rapped on the glove by a short ball from Moreki and caught at slip for 24.At the toss of the second game, Pant had kept an exact count of the number of days he’d been away for – 98 – while recovering from a fractured toe after being hit by Chris Woakes during the fourth India-England Test in Manchester in July.He spent two months in rehab at the Centre of Excellence following surgery, and resumed training in early September before playing for India A to get some match time ahead of the South Africa Tests. In his absence, Dhruv Jurel kept wickets during the two home Tests against West Indies as well as the fifth Test at The Oval, which India won to level the five-Test series at 2-2.India play two Tests against South Africa from November 14 in Kolkata, and then from November 22 in Guwahati, a city that will be hosting Test cricket for the first time. India are currently third in the World Test Championship table with 61.90% points; South Africa, meanwhile, are fifth with 50% points.

Dylan Cease could be on the move before the 2025 MLB trade deadline.

That shocking news hit on Wednesday, as ESPN's Buster Olney reported the San Diego Padres might try to get creative as they attempt to compete down the stretch. The Padres have a number of pressing needs as the deadline approaches, with left field and catcher at the top of the list. Given their financial situation, moving some salary while making additions makes a lot of sense.

Cease has ace-level stuff, but has struggled this season. After finishing fourth in NL Cy Young voting in 2024, he has been a different pitcher in 2025. Through 21 starts, the 29-year-old is 3-10 with a 4.59 ERA, a 1.30 WHIP and 144 strikeouts against 42 walks in 113 2/3 innings. The one thing to note here is that Cease's xFIP is 3.30, meaning he's gotten pretty unlucky this year.

The Padres are set to lose Cease at the end of the season as he'll hit free agency. They could, instead, leverage his value given the lack of available starting pitching at this year's deadline and hope a team will bank on Cease's bad luck turning around, or their staff making minor tweaks. San Diego could then use assets acquired to help improve their roster for the stretch run.

What follows is a look at the best fits for Cease as we approach the trade deadline.

Chicago Cubs

Shota Imanaga and Matthew Boyd have been excellent for the Cubs this season, but there remains a Justin Steele-sized hole in the rotation. As a group, the team's starters rank 13th leaguewide in ERA (3.93) and have allowed the third-most home runs (87). Chicago needs to add juice to the starting rotation, and the organization knows Cease intimately. The Cubs selected him in the sixth round of the 2014 MLB draft and Cease wound up being a top prospect before the club dealt him to the Chicago White Sox as part of the ill-fated Jose Quintana trade.

This would be a chance for the Cubs to land Cease back on the North Side to help the team's starting pitching depth as they make a push for an NL Central crown.

New York Yankees

The Yankees' focus is sure to be finding a third baseman, but the pitching also needs help. Max Fried and Carlos Rodon have carried the starting rotation this season with Gerrit Cole and Clarke Schmidt out after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Luis Gil is close to a return, but the rest of the team's starters have been shaky at best and awful at worst. As a group, New York's starters rank seventh in ERA (3.74) but they don't have the rotation depth to win a World Series.

Cease has the kind of elite stuff that can show up in October. While he struggled in the 2024 postseason, his average fastball velocity (97.1 mph) ranks fifth in MLB among starting pitchers and his slider was one of the best pitches in baseball in 2024. A few tweaks could have him dominating hitters again.

New York Mets

The Mets have a really good rotation, led by Kadai Sengal and David Peterson with Sean Manaea healthy again to back them up. But they also have a ticking time bomb on their hands. Converted reliever Clay Holmes has already thrown 108 2/3 innings, which is 38 2/3 more than his previous career high of 70. He has been really good this season, posting an 8-5 record with a 3.48 ERA and a 1.27 WHIP. But so far in July he has an ERA of 5.66, and has surrendered 13 earned runs on 21 hits in 20 2/3 innings. He could be hitting a wall.

If Holmes continues to struggle, New York needs to find another option for the stretch run. Frankie Montas is back, but he has a 4.62 ERA and a 1.30 WHIP this season through five starts. His last two starts have been better but he's risky. Adding another starter feels like a must for the Mets.

Toronto Blue Jays

Like the Mets, the Blue Jays look solid on the surface, with Jose Berrios, Chris Bassitt and Kevin Gausman leading the rotation. But if you look under the hood, the team's starters rank 24th in ERA (4.53). Max Scherzer (5.14 ERA) was sidelined for months thanks to a thumb injury and has yet to look ready for primetime, and Eric Lauer (2.80 ERA) is a low-ceiling lefty who has had some success this season but his 3.82 xFIP says he's getting incredibly lucky.

Cease would be a high-ceiling arm that could add the depth to the rotation Toronto has struggled to find a year.

As they come to terms with another World Cup heartbreak, India may wonder if their middle order could have taken a few more chances

Sidharth Monga19-Nov-20233:38

‘We kept losing wickets at critical intervals’

Rohit Sharma looked like he was trying to hold back tears. Mohammed Siraj couldn’t. Jasprit Bumrah, who doesn’t let results sway his emotions, consoled him. KL Rahul sank to his knees. Virat Kohli hid his face in his cap. Mohammed Shami walked back dejected.The spirit had left them.It hurts. The ones who will not play another World Cup will be hurting even more. The morning after will be even worse. It is good they have their families with them. There’s more to life than a World Cup. They will need that reinforced come Monday morning when there is no training to go to. The ones who don’t have families with them will need their team-mates to do the reinforcing for them.Related

Rohit: 'It was not so easy to just move on' from World Cup final defeat

India's heartbreak is most poignant in the dashed hopes of Rohit Sharma and Rahul Dravid

Advance Australia, inevitably

Rahul Dravid: 'We haven't played any fearful cricket in this final'

Head hunts down victory as India fall prey once again

That is the cruel nature of a league-knockout hybrid format. It will hurt India more than any team knocked out earlier in the tournament. That’s the price you pay: to fight for the biggest joy, you must risk the biggest heartbreak. It will hurt them more than it can hurt anyone on the outside.All those runs and wickets will feel empty, just like the seats emptied by people who had moved on to more mundane things like avoiding traffic jams well before the last ball had been bowled. All the joy and the noise they had bathed in for a month-and-a-half suddenly gave way to a hollow hum. Rohit scored more runs than any captain ever has in one tournament. Kohli scored more than any batter ever has. Shami was the highest wicket-taker despite not playing four matches. These facts mean nothing to them in the moment.However, in a cricket world with so much professionalism, with the top-three sides having equal access to knowledge, facilities, technology and talent, it is still rare that you can beat the conditions. In the league match against Australia, India were on the right side of the conditions. In the final, they lost to the conditions.The many faces of despair – India’s World Cup dream goes up in smoke•Getty ImagesAn example of how much the pitch changed is how often Marnus Labuschagne dabbed the ball gently behind square for singles; those easy singles hadn’t been available to India. The pitch had been so slow in the afternoon that there was risk involved in manipulating the bat face to pick up singles once the field spread out and the ball became old. Kohli was dismissed in exactly this manner, inside-edging Pat Cummins on to his stumps.If Rohit’s words at the toss – he said he would have batted first had he won it – actually reflected the team management’s thoughts (sometimes a captain’s words can be just a front), it would be fair to say India misread the conditions. That didn’t matter because Australia won the toss, and they decided to play a different game.India expected the pitch to keep getting slower and offer more turn, which happened in the Kolkata semi-final. They hoped they could capitalise on the brittleness of Australia’s chasing.Australia went by recent trends. During this World Cup, batting has consistently become easier under the lights in Ahmedabad. They banked on the pattern continuing, and expected a drier-than-usual pitch to be at its most difficult in the afternoon. They wanted to exploit India’s relative weakness on slow pitches.The second ball he faced from Josh Hazlewood, who had dismissed him in the teams’ league meeting, Rohit charged and crashed the ball through the covers for four. Rohit was playing the World Cup final like it should have been: just another game. All through the tournament, he had made it easy for India’s middle order by scoring quicker than anyone else in the first powerplay.5:24

Dravid: ‘We gave it everything we had’

It was even more important that Rohit did it here. Kohli got off to a great start too. Having seen Shubman Gill get out early, Kohli stuck to the team plan and ditched the risk-free game that had brought him 700-plus runs in the tournament. He took a risk off the ninth ball he faced, dragging Mitchell Starc over wide mid-on. It wasn’t a perfect shot, but Kohli knew he needed to take that chance during the powerplay.With the ball, India had their early plans spot-on. They got Shami to open the bowling because of his superior numbers against left-hand batters. They would have been pleasantly surprised by the help Bumrah and Shami got but that zip and that movement came at a cost. In the evening, as it most noticeably happened for New Zealand against England in the tournament-opener, the pitch had quickened up, and the ball gripped much less.Once Australia weathered the early storm, once the movement died down, only a genius delivery from Bumrah, a final reminder of the magic India have created through this tournament, got them a wicket, that of Steven Smith with a viciously dipping slower one. The rest of the story we have heard before in many a chase in India. Would India have won at the Wankhede 12 years ago had there been no dew?There will of course be a review within the team. Perhaps Rahul could have been braver through the middle overs. Kohli has the game to keep scoring at the strike rate of 80 to 90 without having to hit boundaries. Kohli got a delivery that lifted on that slow pitch and got big on him. On another day the inside edge could have run past the leg stump. Not in this final.Others have to take risks. It is no rocket science why Rahul didn’t take risks. India’s batting is shallow. I have asked the coaches on more than one occasion at press conferences how the batters have reacted to India not having any batting after No. 7. Particularly now their outlook to risk has changed. The coaches have maintained that they don’t even want to think about it because the top seven are good enough to do the job. It didn’t look like that at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.1:37

‘Rohit and Kohli stood up for India in every moment – Anil Kumble

They will look back at just the nine boundary attempts in 180 legal balls in the middle overs and wonder if that was sufficient. It meant India scored just four boundaries outside the first powerplay, the joint-lowest in any ODI since 2005. On a slower pitch, bowlers do have a larger margin for error, but only India can answer if they couldn’t have tried to push the bowlers off their lengths a little harder.It is not like no batting lower down the order was a selection error. What Shardul Thakur brings at No. 8 is often notional. There is no reason to believe Siraj doesn’t offset that notional depth with what he brings with the ball as compared to Thakur. The problem is, none of India’s first-choice bowlers bat as well as even, say, Starc and Pat Cummins.You might look back and say the India fast bowlers could have bowled more cutters, perhaps the spinners could have gone slower in the air to try to get the ball to turn because the pitch had something in it not too much earlier. They could have perhaps trusted Suryakumar Yadav more and not promoted Ravindra Jadeja to face a poor match-up against spin, as a result of which overs 30 to 36 featured no intent at all.However, these are marginal issues. Had Rahul taken more risks, they might have come off but we also know the flip side of it. The players will not say it, but the change in the conditions from afternoon to evening was the biggest deciding factor. It doesn’t make them chokers or mentally less strong or less courageous. They have played so much cricket that they know they just have to roll with it.And yet it will be the toughest thing for them to do. They have known this feeling before, but it never gets easier. And this time they came closer than ever since 2011. To fight for the biggest joy, you must risk the biggest heartbreak.

Marnus Labuschagne forced to open after back spasm forces Usman Khawaja off the field

Alex Malcolm21-Nov-2025

AFP/Getty Images

Usman Khawaja was unable to open for Australia after an ill-timed decision to leave the field to get treatment for back spasms just before England’s first innings collapse on the opening day of in Perth leading to a hasty reshuffle of their top order.After months of debate about Australia’s batting order and the selectors’ decision to reinstate Marnus Labuschagne at No. 3, he was forced to open anyway alongside debutant Jake Weatherald after Khawaja spent the last three overs of England’s innings off the field as they lost 5 for 20 in 23 balls to be bowled out for just 172.”I didn’t know about it until the ninth wicket when he still had 10 minutes or so [to make up],” Mitchell Starc said. “We got caught off guard a little bit with the wickets falling pretty quickly in the back end there. It’s just unfortunate that was the case. He’ll manage that overnight and see how we’re at tomorrow.”Khawaja, 38, had left the field several times in the first three hours of play and exited again with the score at 152 for 5 after 29 overs. Khawaja battled back stiffness through the day and had a back spasm the second time he left the field.Related

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England then collapsed while he was stretching to overcome the spasm and it left stand-in captain Steven Smith calling for Khawaja to come back onto the field. Khawaja eventually did return to the field for the end of the innings but according to ICC rules had not returned for the equal amount of time he had been off and therefore was ineligible to open the batting.”I don’t think we really realised he wasn’t going to come out at the start of the innings. It was probably more unsettling for the Aussies,” Brydon Carse said after play.It is understood Khawaja did not have a prior back injury. However, Khawaja did play 18 holes of golf on Thursday, having missed Australia’s last optional training session, and also played several times earlier in the week. It is not unusual for Khawaja to play golf the day before a Test match. Scott Boland and Mitchell Starc, who took a career-best 7 for 58 on Friday, also played on Thursday along with several members of the coaching staff.It meant Weatherald faced the first over from Jofra Archer, although he may have done so anyway. Weatherald had not faced the first ball of an innings in each of his last 20 first-class innings before his Test debut, during a run of form that saw him earn his first Test cap.He was trapped lbw second ball by a searing full delivery from Archer that knocked him off his feet. His duck mirrored that of Nathan McSweeney’s on Test debut for Australia when opening against India at the same ground 12 months ago in very similar circumstances.Given the wicket fell so soon into the innings, it meant Smith walked out at No. 3 for the first time in a Test since 2017, although he had opened alongside in four Tests in early 2024 before returning to his preferred No. 4.Khawaja made his way to the middle at No. 4 after Labuschagne fell to Archer after tea. Like a few in the top order, he didn’t end up surviving long, gloving a superb delivery from Carse to the keeper for 2, as Australia followed suit in struggling with the bat and ended the day on 123 for 9.

Following their recent dip in form, Celtic have reportedly expressed their first interest in signing a Champions League-winning defender for Brendan Rodgers.

Sutton can't "see things improving" at Celtic

It’s been a frustrating few weeks for those at Celtic Park. So used to dominance in the Scottish Premiership, the Bhoys have recently been forced to get used to the taste of defeat. Hearts, meanwhile, have taken full advantage to form a shock five-point lead at the top of the league in what could yet result in a shock victory come May.

Whilst there is still plenty of football left to be played, former Celtic striker Chris Sutton admitted that he can’t “see things improving” at the club, claiming that the Bhoys are “bang average” going forward.

It’s a damning verdict and one that Celtic must work to reverse, starting this Thursday against SK Sturm Graz in the Europa League. Searching for the first victory of their European campaign, there’s no time like the present for Brendan Rodgers’ side.

That said, what hasn’t helped their current form is the big question mark surrounding Rodgers’ future. The former Liverpool boss has less than a year left on his current deal and is yet to put pen to paper on fresh terms. As things stand, he’s set to leave as a free agent at the end of the season.

"Brilliant" ex-Premier League manager seriously considering replacing Rodgers at Celtic

This would be quite the move…

ByTom Cunningham Oct 22, 2025

That uncertainty mixed with poor form has created a toxic mixture, but the addition of a Champions League-winning defender may yet prove to be the perfect cure when the January transfer window swings open.

Celtic express January interest in Andy Robertson

As reported by SportsBoom, Celtic have now expressed interest in signing Andy Robertson from Liverpool in January. The Scotland captain has less than 12 months left on his Anfield contract and will likely be available for a bargain price this winter as a result.

Given his love for Celtic and his position outside of Arne Slot’s strongest line-up even amid the Reds’ recent struggles, a move back to Scotland and back to Celtic for the first time since he was a teenager would arguably be the most ideal move for Robertson. The Bhoys, meanwhile, would be landing a complete serial winner and one of the best left-backs in Liverpool history.

Previously described as “outstanding” by Scotland manager Steve Clarke, there’s some that would argue that Robertson should still be in the Liverpool side – that’s the level he’s still capable of – and Celtic would be foolish not to take advantage of his current predicament.

For the 31-year-old, it would be a full-circle moment after being released by the Bhoys at just 15 years old. It would be a move of redemption for a player who went from that release to Scotland captaincy and Champions League glory.