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Earlier in the day, Hilton Cartwright returned to bat having dashed off the previous evening for the birth of his child

Tristan Lavalette22-Oct-2024Josh Inglis continued his outstanding start to the Sheffield Shield season with another century before Western Australia’s attack tore into Tasmania late on day three at the WACA to close in on victory.After Inglis’ 101 helped WA to a 55-run first innings lead, recruit Brody Couch starred with three wickets to leave Tasmania in ruins at 135 for 9. There were echoes of last season’s final when Tasmania disintegrated late on day four, but they hung on before bad light ended play early.With a lead of just 80 runs, Tasmania are facing an inevitable defeat in a disappointment after they had restricted WA’s lead. But their fightback was short-lived after Couch removed opener Jake Weatherald in his first over.Much like during his impressive performance in Tasmania’s first innings, when he claimed 3 for 33 from 17 overs, Couch reached speeds of 142 kph and also picked up the wickets of Charlie Wakim and Brad Hope.Allrounder Aaron Hardie enjoyed his first wicket of the Shield season when he removed Jake Doran with a superb delivery that angled across and caught the edge of the left-hander’s bat.Having bowled just six overs in Tasmania’s first innings, Hardie is building up his bowling loads as he works his way back from a quad injury that ruled him out of the season opener against Queensland.Touted as a potential like-for-like replacement for injured Test allrounder Cameron Green, Hardie bowled lively short spells either side of tea to finish with 1 for 12 from six overs.Offspinner Corey Rocchiccioli chipped in with the late wickets of Mitch Owen and Kieran Elliott as WA gained a stranglehold over a match that had ebbed and flowed over the opening couple of days.The start of the day’s play was delayed by 45 minutes due to light showers in what might be the last drops of rain seen in Perth for several months with oppressive heat imminent.WA eyed a sizeable first-innings lead as allrounder Cooper Connolly rolled to his third half-century from his first five innings in First Class cricket. After a watchful start, Inglis rediscovered his supreme touch from late on day two and cruised to his century following on from a rapid ton against Queensland.Inglis is arguably the in-form batter in the country, but does not appear to be in the Test frame given incumbent wicketkeeper Alex Carey is firmly entrenched. Such is his commanding form, Inglis could become a bolter to play as a specialist batter.But he fell shortly after his ton when he nicked off to allrounder Beau Webster, who led Tasmania’s rally having in his previous over claimed Connolly for 55.There had been uncertainty over whether Hilton Cartwright would bat after he dashed out of the ground at tea on day two with his wife in labour. She gave birth to a boy in the wee hours of the morning, but Cartwright shrugged off undoubted exhaustion to continue on from his unbeaten 52 after getting permission from the match referee and Tasmania to resume his innings.Cartwright was understandably scratchy and added 13 runs until he holed out off quick Riley Meredith. WA’s bid for a big lead evaporated, but it appears they are still headed for a comfortable victory after another vintage effort from their outstanding attack.

After submitting a fresh bid to sign Anthony Elanga from Nottingham Forest, Newcastle United have already reportedly turned their focus towards their next top target.

Newcastle "optimistic" after fresh Elanga bid

Having seen their first offer turned down for the Swede, it always seemed possible that Newcastle could return with a second attempt to sign Elanga. And soon enough, that has proved to be the case with reports now suggesting that the Magpies have submitted a second bid worth around £55m to sign the Swede.

Now reportedly optimistic that they’ll reach an agreement with Forest, Newcastle could be about to kickstart their summer business by adding the final part to what could be a scintillating front three alongside Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon.

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One of the quickest trios that the Premier League is likely to see next season, Newcastle could yet retain their Champions League place and more in the next 12 months.

Nottingham Forest will be well aware of the quality that they will be losing if Elanga completes a summer switch to Newcastle, with Nuno Espirito Santo full of praise for his winger throughout the last campaign.

When asked about Elanga after the Swede scored an incredible solo goal against Manchester United in April, the Forest boss told reporters: “He’s a special boy and he gives this team his speed. He does it by himself and we are delighted.”

PIF believe 22-cap international will join Newcastle as £55m bid submitted

They could get their man at long last…

ByTom Cunningham Jul 4, 2025

That said, Elanga is unlikely to be the last through the door this summer. If reports are anything to go by, Newcastle and PIF have already turned their focus towards another top target even as negotiations continue over the winger’s signature.

Newcastle now prioritising Scalvini deal

According to The Times’ Martin Hardy, Newcastle are now prioritising a deal to sign Giorgio Scalvini from Atalanta once their deal to welcome Elanga is completed this summer. The 6’4 defender is reportedly valued at just £30m and is now among the Magpies’ top targets as they look to add another centre-back to their ranks.

Dubbed a “magnificent” centre-back alongside countryman Riccardo Calafiori in the 2023/24 season by scout Jacek Kulig, Scalvini could now join the Arsenal man in the Premier League.

Since the 23/24 campaign, the towering Italian has only pushed on and could hand Newcastle a bargain deal at just £30m. Given that Fabian Schar is now 33 years old too, it should be seen as a very real possibility that 21-year-old Scalvini could break into Eddie Howe’s best side if he completes a summer move.

Alongside Elanga and James Trafford, the Atalanta defender would make it three impressive signings for the Magpies in a summer which initially looked destined to be full of frustration.

Poor you. Haven’t heard of the Hundred then?

Alan Gardner16-Aug-2021The Hundred is here, bat slung casually over one shoulder, proudly wearing a cricket:team t-shirt and with its official merch snapback turned to face the other way – very much a “How do you do, fellow kids?” kind of vibe. And don’t worry, if you had any doubts about whether cricket could be considered a cool sport, they’ve now been fully dispelled.The game’s fourth format (although it’s technically recorded as T20 – more on that later) has arrived to take the world of sports entertainment by storm. “Not a fan of cricket? That’s okay! We’re not that bothered about it ourselves. Look, we’ve got fireworks and a band! Plus a DJ… We’re all about the choons!” If you turn up during the afternoon, it’s basically just a kids’ party with some human billboards promoting snack foods in the background. Of course, it then descends into something more like a kegger once the grown-ups have indulged on their fruit juice for a few hours…Still, are we not entertained? (Don’t answer that unless you’re a nine-year-old with a guileless smile.) The take-no-prisoners approach has been most evident on the TV broadcasts, which tries to sex up and dumb down at the same time – and remember this is still cricket we’re talking about, a sport which is both too clever by half and about as sexy as a librarian in galoshes. (It’s fine if that’s your thing, we’re not here to judge.)Related

New and weird, but a strangely satisfying experience

Want the truth about the Hundred? It's smoke, mirrors and gimmickry

The Hundred is tearing English cricket apart

Did we really need the Hundred?

Obviously a bit of flannel for a new enterprise is to be expected – in the early days of the Light Roller, we liked to describe ourselves as “like the Briefing, but funny” – but some of the Hundred’s coverage would make the editor of wince. Kass Naidoo, brought in to anchor Sky’s coverage, seems a very personable sort, but her habit of standing in front of an empty stand while hailing the “great crowd today” is bold, to say the least. You suspect even Prof Pangloss might recommend toning it down.Meanwhile, a cavalcade of former players have picked out choice spots on the bandwagon – and some are noticeably more objective than others. The astonishment with which Andrew Flintoff greeted a decent crowd for Old Trafford’s first fixture would suggest he’d never even been to a T20 Blast game, never mind played in several (including bringing out the Freddie-as-Jesus pose to rapturous applause at Finals Day a few years back). Kevin Pietersen, too, seems ready to lose the run of himself every time he steps into the pod. But maybe he’s just excited at being back in the ECB’s good books.And the product itself? Well, if you think of it as 20 five-ball overs with one or two quirky playing conditions and a real fetish for timekeeping, it all looks suspiciously like T20. Which, you may have noticed, was already quite successful. But then some clever folk thought New Coke was a good idea too.

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To Bangladesh. Which is not a phrase you hear Australians utter very often. And perhaps that’s understandable, what with the gulf between the sides, the inevitable mismatches, lop-sided scorelines, and so on. Anyway, after the conclusion of Bangladesh’s 4-1 win in the T20Is, reports emerged that Justin Langer was involved in a “heated confrontation” with a staffer from cricket.com.au, after Cricket Australia’s media arm posted a video showing the home team celebrating enthusiastically, while being politely applauded by the visitors. But what was it that got Langer in such a stew? Was Australia’s coach perhaps hoping that, with the series not being broadcast back home, people might not find out about the result? Maybe he felt the humility being displayed by the Australians fell short of “elite”? Either way, as the wags on Twitter have pointed out, if you don’t want people to laugh at the fact you got thrashed by Bangladesh, you should try not getting thrashed by Bangladesh in the first place.

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To Bangladesh… at some unspecified date in the future. That is what’s been agreed between the ECB and the BCB, after they announced that England’s limited-overs tour scheduled for later in the year was postponed. Is it a coincidence that this removes a clash with the IPL, meaning England’s players will now be able to participate in the rearranged second half of the tournament? Or maybe someone at the ECB simply spotted the aforementioned footage on cricket.com.au? We’ll let you be the judge.

The best batting, bowling and all-round performances from the tournament

Anantha Narayanan20-Jul-2019This is an analysis of the leading performers of this year’s World Cup, based on my ODI performance-ratings methodology. The complete details of the methodology can be perused here – click here for the batting methodology, and here for the bowling one.A significant tweak for the World Cup
Readers might remember that I use the par score values, both batting and bowling, extensively in my performance-ratings work. I determine the par scores based on a comprehensive analysis of the decisive matches, by period. For the last period, i.e. 2014-19, the batting par score was 300 and the bowling par score 233. All my initial work was based on these values. However, as we came up to the knockout stages of the World Cup, it was clear that the scores were nowhere near as high as expected; the tournament had many scores below 300.I also did a complete analysis for the World Cup itself. Lo and behold, what did I find out? The batting par score was 268 and the bowling par score 222. I could not just ignore these significant variations, especially considering it was such an important event, so I made a tweak, only for the World Cup. Once I applied these tweaked par scores, the batting points moved higher and the bowling points lower. Now that the World Cup is over, I am going to completely overhaul my ODI ratings system, based on ideas offered by readers and my exchanges with them.One important point: for the purposes of the performance ratings analysis, since the final was a tie, the players get credit for a tied match, which is two-thirds of a that for a result match. What happened afterwards, in the Super Over, is not part of this analysis. More on that later.

Top Batting performances in World Cup 2019

RtgPts	Batsman	I-BP	Vs	Runs	Balls	In at	IVI	Result
69.0	RG Sharma (IND)	2-1	Sa	122*	144	0 / 0	8.7	Won
68.4	KS Williamson (NZ)	1-3	Wi	148	154	0 / 1	6.8	Won
68.3	DA Warner (AUS)	1-1	Bd	166	147	0 / 0	5.8	Won
68.2	BA Stokes (ENG)	2-5	Nz	84*	98	71 / 3	4.8	Tie
68.2	AJ Finch (AUS)	1-1	Sl	153	132	0 / 0	6.8	Won
68.0	RG Sharma (IND)	1-1	Pak	140	113	0 / 0	6.5	Won
67.8	KS Williamson (NZ)	2-3	Sa	106*	138	12 / 1	5.8	Won
67.6	EJG Morgan (ENG)	1-4	Afg	148	71	164 / 2	7.5	Won
67.0	RA Jadeja (IND)	2-8	Nz	77	59	92 / 6	6.7	Lost
66.5	JJ Roy (ENG)	1-1	Bd	153	121	0 / 0	6.5	Won
65.5	MDKJ Perera (SL)	1-1	Afg	78	81	0 / 0	6.2	Won
65.3	NM Coulter-Nile (AUS)	1-8	Wi	92	60	147 / 6	7.0	Won

The best innings of this World Cup was played early in the tournament. The Indian bowlers kept South Africa to a sub-par 227. It was not going to be an easy chase, considering the quality of South Africa’s bowling. Rohit Sharma played a mature, measured and beautifully paced innings of 122 not out to take India to a comfortable win.For New Zealand against West Indies, Kane Williamson came in at 0 for 1 and saw the score slump to 7 for 2. Few would have realised that the match would hang in balance till the last ball, about seven hours later. Williamson scored a truly magnificent 148 at almost a run a ball and took New Zealand to a match-winning 291. The importance of Williamson’s innings, and of this particular match, cannot be over-emphasised.Bangladesh have a world-class bowling attack. When Australia played them at Trent Bridge, David Warner was in blistering form and scored a quick-fire 166, the highest score in the tournament, and took Australia to 381. All those runs were needed since Bangladesh scored well over 300 in the chase.Ben Stokes played arguably his greatest ODI innings in the final, against New Zealand. Coming in at 71 for 3, he stayed till the last ball, scoring 84 priceless runs to tie the match. What he did in the Super Over is outside the purview of this analysis. His tour de force ultimately proved to be a World-Cup-winning effort, if not a match-winning one. Since the match was a tie, Stokes only gets tie-related points. Else, this would have been the best innings of the World Cup.Aaron Finch‘s 153 against Sri Lanka was almost identical to Warner’s effort and gave Australia an easy win.Readers can see that the top six innings are all within a point’s range. Two innings deserve mention. Ravindra Jadeja‘s 77 in 59 balls, which almost took the semi-final away from New Zealand, and Nathan Coulter-Nile‘s masterly 92 at a strike rate of 153.33, which lifted Australia from 147 for 6 to a match-winning 288 against West Indies. Jadeja’s was in a lost cause, but Coulter-Nile’s innings saw Australia narrowly sneak home.

Top Bowling performances in World Cup 2019

RtgPts	Bowler	Vs	Analysis	BatIdx	SWQ	Result
76.4	JP Behrendorff (AUS)	Eng	10.0-0-44-5	43.9	29.1	Won
74.5	SL Malinga (SL)	Eng	10.0-1-43-4	44.6	35.3	Won
73.5	Mitchel Starc (AUS)	Nz	9.4-1-26-5	40.9	25.2	Won
71.9	Shaheen S Afridi (PAK)	Bd	9.1-0-35-6	38.0	33.4	Won
71.7	LH Ferguson (NZ)	Eng	10.0-0-50-3	46.4	20.6	Tie
71.0	Mohammed Shami (IND)	Eng	10.0-1-69-5	46.4	40.8	Lost
70.6	LE Plunkett (ENG)	Nz	10.0-0-42-3	40.9	20.8	Tie
69.2	Mitchel Starc (AUS)	Eng	8.4-1-43-4	43.9	28.2	Won
68.4	MJ Henry (NZ)	Ind	10.0-1-37-3	40.6	27.2	Won
68.0	Shakib Hasan (BD)	Afg	10.0-1-29-5	32.7	26.2	Won
67.8	Mitchel Starc (AUS)	Wi	10.0-1-46-5	42.2	20.1	Won
67.8	JDS Neesham (NZ)	Eng	7.0-0-43-3	46.4	18.0	Tie

The league match between Australia and England was a curtain-raiser to the semi-final a couple of weeks later. England needed to win to comfortably qualify for the semis and they looked to be on track when they restricted Australia to a good but not imposing total of 285. Then left-armer Jason Behrendorff took centre stage, dismissing both openers and later taking three wickets when Stokes mounted a counterattack. His 5 for 44 takes pride of place.Four days before the Australia game, England had lost unexpectedly to Sri Lanka, though they kept them to a middling 232 for 9. They had no answers against Lasith Malinga, who took everyone back a decade with a devastating spell of pace bowling, eventually finishing with 4 for 43 in a 20-run win.In third place is Mitchell Starc, for his 5 for 26 against New Zealand. Australia scored only 243 and New Zealand seemed well on their way when Starc produced a masterclass of left-arm seam bowling. His five-for bowled New Zealand out for 157.The theoretical chances Pakistan had of qualifying depended on their defeating Bangladesh by over 300 runs – an impossible task. However, they started well and put up 315. Then Shaheen Afridi ran rings around the Bangladesh batsmen, taking six wickets for 35, which included four top-order wickets.In the final, Lockie Ferguson produced a bowling masterclass of 3 for 50 – two top-order wickets and the timely dismissal of Chris Woakes took this spell into the top five. If New Zealand had won, this might have been the best bowling performance of the World Cup.The other performance worth a mention is Matt Henry‘s match-winning burst at the top of the India innings in the semi-final. This spell of 3 for 37 fetched more points than many four- or five-wicket spells.
Let us also not forget Liam Plunkett’s three top-order wickets in the final.

Top all-round performances in World Cup 2019

RtgPts	Player	Vs	Runs(Balls)	BatPts	Analysis	BowPts	Result
118.2	Shakib Hasan (BD)	Wi	124*( 99)	63.1	8.0-0-54-2	55.1	Won
118.1	Shakib Hasan (BD)	Afg	51 ( 69)	50.1	10.0-1-29-5	68.0	Won
110.0	JE Root (ENG)	Wi	100*( 94)	58.0	5.0-0-27-2	52.0	Won
109.8	BA Stokes (ENG)	Sa	89 ( 79)	61.4	2.5-0-12-2	48.4	Won
109.7	Mohammad Hafeez (PAK	Eng	84 ( 62)	58.0	7.0-0-43-1	51.7	Won
109.5	RA Jadeja (IND)	Nz	77 ( 59)	67.0	10.0-0-34-1	42.5	Lost
106.2	C de Grandhomme (NZ)	Sa	60 ( 47)	56.6	10.0-0-33-1	49.6	Won
104.0	CR Brathwaite (WI)	Nz	101 ( 82)	61.6	6.0-0-58-2	42.4	Lost
102.9	Shakib Hasan (BD)	Sa	75 ( 84)	55.6	10.0-0-50-1	47.3	Won
101.3	Imad Wasim (PAK)	Afg	49*( 54)	52.5	10.0-0-48-2	48.8	Won
95.0	DM de Silva (SL)	Eng	29 ( 47)	29.5	8.0-0-32-3	65.5	Won
93.1	Mohammad Nabi (AFG)	Ind	52 ( 55)	47.3	9.0-0-33-2	45.8	Lost

This table is led by two magnificent performances by Shakib Al Hasan. The first was against West Indies. He took 2 for 54 in the huge West Indian total of 321 and then scored a blinding 124 to take Bangladesh to a comprehensive win, with nearly nine overs to spare. Against Afghanistan he made a half-century in Bangladesh’s 262 and then took 5 for 29 to defend the middling total.Joe Root and Stokes just about did enough bowling to qualify for this table, and their batting-dominant performances take them into the top five. (I recognise either five overs or two wickets as a “valid” spell.)Mohammad Hafeez‘s lovely innings of 84 and a controlled bowling performance against England gets him the fifth place.Jadeja, in addition to his brilliant innings, had an excellent run-restricting spell of 1 for 34 in the semi-final against New Zealand and gets into the top ten.Ben Stokes made five scores of 50-plus in the World Cup and turned up to bat in the Super Over in the final after making an unbeaten 84 earlier in the innings•Getty ImagesMy takeaways from the tournament
My favourite batting performances were Coulter-Nile’s attacking match-winning innings against West Indies and the two equally stirring innings by Carlos Brathwaite and Jadeja, both in losing causes. If Brathwaite’s shot against New Zealand had travelled a metre further, the story of the World Cup might have been different. In Jadeja’s case, India’s chances always looked difficult. Coulter-Nile’s innings tops it for me, then, since it was in a winning cause.On May 27, 1999, Australia looked forlorn and listless at Chester-le-Street, staring at the stark reality that they needed to win every one of their remaining matches to win the World Cup. Starting with Bangladesh, they did just that, also sneaking in a tie in the semi. The two players who contributed the most towards this resurrection were Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne.On June 30, 2019, England looked similarly forlorn and listless, needing to win every one of their remaining games to win this World Cup. They had a tougher task than Australia did, having to face the mighty Indians at Edgbaston. They duly beat India and all their other opponents, and the batsmen who contributed the most towards this resurrection were Jason Roy and Jonny Bairstow, who added 160, 123, 124 and 28 for the first wicket. It is no wonder that they form the most formidable pair of the 2019 World Cup.My favourite bowling performance was Matt Henry’s burst at the beginning of the India innings in the semi-final. Looking at what transpired later, if New Zealand had not struck a few times during the first ten overs, the match would have slipped out of their fingers. It was great bowling but also nothing short of a miracle. Henry did something similar against Sri Lanka, but this performance came in a semi-final.The match of the tournament was, arguably, this semi-final. The tactical awareness of Williamson and Ross Taylor, the situation-inspired batting in the later stages, the opening burst, the brilliant catching and fielding, the quality of India’s bowling, and the mercurial, never-say-die batting of Jadeja all made me think back to the Edgbaston semi-final 20 years ago, which was one of the greatest World Cup matches ever. The other semi-final was a romp in the park. I have chosen to ignore the final because the excitement of the match does not hide errors of umpiring and shortcomings in the tournament guidelines relating to the second level tie-break.The player who changed the course of the tournament has to be Stokes. Just consider the following:Five scores between 79 and 89. Each of these innings came when the chips were down and the runs were good as gold. The 84 in the final was followed by key strikes in the Super Over. The blistering 79 in the league game against India was the real match-winner. Then there were the magnificent 89 and 82 in losing causes against Australia and Sri Lanka; and his 89 against South Africa, which won the match for England. Add to these the key wickets he took and his superlative fielding efforts, and it is clear no other player had a greater impact on the World Cup.Trent Boult might be a contender. He had several highlights – the hat-trick against Australia, the catch off Brathwaite, the ball that dismissed Virat Kohli – but unfortunately he went wicketless in the final.The final: Two teams fight tooth and nail for eight hours and score the same number of runs in 50 overs. Then they get into another contest for an over each and score the same number of runs. What is the need to decide the winner based on the quirky and unfair number-of-boundaries rule? Why could the ICC not have declared the two teams joint winners? That was the option, after all, if the match day and the reserve day had been rained off.I would have said the same thing if “wickets taken” had been the second-level tie-breaker. How would England and their supporters have taken that loss? This is said while acknowledging that England had the best credentials to be named the winner of the World Cup. They are not responsible for the ICC’s rules, decided a few years back. “Neither team deserved to lose” should not just be a phrase in passing; it should be backed up by the rules. What happened was not anticipated but should have been.The DRS: In the semi-finals and final, there were some tricky DRS situations. Roy’s dismissal did not matter but Ross Taylor’s was crucial, and New Zealand didn’t have a review to appeal the wrong decision. A solution has to be found to avoid umpire howlers. One option is to give a team two DRS referrals per match instead of one per innings. If a team uses both referrals in the first innings, they have no referrals for the second. If they do not use one in the first innings, they have two for the second.A poignant tale to end this article
I was in touch with Martin Crowe between 2013 and 2015, after he contacted me to express his happiness at seeing the recognition received by iconic New Zealand players in my analyses. After New Zealand lost the 2015 World Cup final, I emailed him, and this is a relevant extract from that mail. “Four years from now, New Zealand would enter the World Cup final and I am sure you would be at Lord’s to wish and cheer for them. All my prayers and best wishes to you for this.” His reply was immediate and it read: “Many thanks, Ananth, for your wishes and prayers. I do not know how much time I have and whether I have enough days available to see the 2019 World Cup. I hope your wish comes true.” Sadly, that was his last mail to me. He passed away a year later.For the past year, I have been expressing my wish in various fora that I would really like two teams from either of South Africa, New Zealand or England to contest the 2019 final. No disrespect or lack of patriotism, simply a wish to have a new deserving winner, and a part of this was also influenced by the above-referenced correspondence. Martin would have wanted New Zealand to win the World Cup, and for his sake, I hoped they did, although I have no problems about the outstanding England team having won. This is not a heart v mind situation. I like both teams.My next article will be on my favoured format – Test cricket. My ideas plate is full and the problem I have is to select which idea to cover.

Just over a month from the start of the tournament, England’s settled line-up suddenly looks in disrepair

Andrew Miller26-Apr-2019

Fears…

Alex Hales
Where to begin with Hales’ latest bout of career self-harm? Having finally turned a corner after his role in the Bristol fracas, his plaintive statement last month, that he didn’t want to make “mediocre decisions” anymore, has already aged spectacularly badly. He was never likely to be a first-choice in the World Cup XI, thanks as much to the quality of the men around him as his own decision-making, but a 21-day drugs ban in the final countdown to the tournament has undoubtedly jeopardised even that squad berth. Assuming he is retained in the final cut on May 23, will he be in the right state of mind – let alone form – to be the super-sub that England are bound to have to call upon in the course of an arduous six-week tournament?Jason Roy
The holder of England’s record ODI score – 180 against Australia at Melbourne in 2017-18 – Roy is such a shoo-in for England’s first-choice World Cup XI that much of the pre-season talk has centred around his potential for a Test debut during the Ashes in August. But he hasn’t taken the field for Surrey’s last two Royal London matches after suffering a back spasm against Gloucestershire. Surrey’s coach, Michael Di Venuto, insisted he will be back up and running before long, but his vulnerability just goes to show how vital that squad depth will be.Eoin Morgan
No major concerns surrounding England’s captain, although his early-season form – including some rare red-ball outings – hasn’t been quite as rambunctious as his international displays had been in the preceding few months. Morgan did, however, miss Middlesex’s victory over Surrey in the London derby on Thursday after complaining of sore shins.Sam Billings
The nearly man of England’s white-ball squad, Billings seemed at last to have shown his worth in slamming a matchwinning 87 from 47 balls in England’s final T20I against West Indies in March – and his selection for next week’s Ireland ODI was an indication that he was at the head of the waiting list should a squad vacancy crop up. Instead, on the same day of Hales’ self-sabotage, Billings was himself ruled out for three to five months, effectively the entire season, after dislocating his shoulder within minutes of taking the field for Kent against Glamorgan.

Hopes…

Ben Foakes in action for Surrey•Getty ImagesJonny Bairstow
The undoubted good news story in the England squad. His IPL debut was an unmitigated triumph – his partnership with former , David Warner, was a revelation, and he will link up with the England squad in Cardiff on Saturday with a haul of 445 runs at a strike rate of 157 – second only to Warner for the whole competition – and with his confidence as sky-high as it has ever been in an England career that has often been conducted against a mildly paranoid backdrop of point-proving.James Vince
From the very margins of England recognition to the brink of a World Cup berth in the space of two breaking news stories. Not that Vince would have been paying much attention to the updates on Billings’ injury lay-off, or Hales’ travails. He was too busy racking up a monstrous 190 from 154 for Hampshire against Gloucestershire at the Ageas Bowl, an innings laced with the sort of power, poise and beauty that has made his supporters sigh for years. It’s not impossible that he has timed his run to perfection.Ben Foakes
Another unlikely beneficiary of others’ misfortune. Even Foakes’ county coach, di Venuto, recognises that his man lacks the raw power of his England rivals, and it’s probably the need for someone to wear the gloves in the absence of Bairstow, Jos Buttler and now the luckless Billings, that has earned him his opportunity against Ireland and Pakistan next week. But, he has scotched expectations once already in his England career with the manner of his Test batting in Sri Lanka before Christmas, and he will be going to Ireland on the back of three consecutive Royal London half-centuries.Joe Root
England’s Test captain and ODI linchpin is reassuringly fit, and although he has not been involved in the Royal London Cup, he began with scores of 73, 130 not out and 94 in two Championship outings for Yorkshire. The selectors will be praying he doesn’t walk under a ladder any time over the next few weeks.

Celtic are preparing for another exciting campaign under Brendan Rodgers, but they may have to lose one of their key stars while preparations are ongoing ahead of pre-season.

Celtic's early window priorities start to emerge

Next campaign, Celtic don’t have the luxury of automatic qualification in the Champions League, which may bring their transfer planning forward regarding targets in a few key positions.

Kieran Tierney will return to Parkhead on a free transfer from Arsenal to address their left-back berth, leaving an element of mystique regarding who will compete with the Scotland international in his position.

Further up the field, Brendan Rodgers is also keen on a new striker after opting not to replace Kyogo Furuhashi following his move to Rennes in January.

In a rapid turn of events, Telstar forward Youssef El Kachati has rejected a move to Hannover amid interest from the Bhoys. Available under freedom of contract, the 25-year-old has confirmed he will make his next destination known soon.

He stated before playing a starring role in his current side reaching the Dutch top-flight: “I think it is 100 per cent certain that I will make a fantastic step this summer.

After Bain: Rodgers must ruthlessly axe Celtic flop who's a "bit soft"

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“But first, I want to leave something behind at Telstar that will make them never forget me. I think it is very important that I end my time here well.”

Speculation over incomings will dominate the landscape for supporters as the Bhoys look forward to another campaign they hope will be littered with success.

However, they may now have to proceed forth without one of their established stars if recent reports are anything to go by.

Celtic star Greg Taylor presented with exit proposal

According to Greek outlet Sportal, Celtic left-back Greg Taylor has been presented with a two-year contract offer by PAOK and they are now ‘anxiously awaiting’ a response from the Scotland international, who could leave Parkhead for nothing this month.

Out of contract in Glasgow’s east end, he has been offered a greater salary than his current terms at the Hoops and is said to be the main defensive target for Razvan Lucescu’s men this summer.

Greg Taylor’s Scottish Premiership statistics in 2024/25 (Fotmob)

Chances created

36

Successful dribbles

10

Pass accuracy

88.1%

Tackles won

22

Duels won

109

Recoveries

111

Labelled “instrumental” by Rodgers, the 27-year-old has registered nine goals and 33 assists in 216 appearances across all competitions at Celtic, contributing to the delivery of 11 trophies during his extremely successful spell.

Seeking replacements, the Bhoys have reportedly made an approach for Peterborough United youngster Harley Mills. The 19-year-old is also attracting interest from Fulham regarding a move during the off-season.

Either way, the wheels certainly appear to be in motion as Celtic plan for the coming months, though they may need to part ways with Taylor officially before making advances for his successor.

India women’s head coach Amol Muzumdar has emphasised the importance of “fielding and fitness” as India gear up for a busy few months beginning with the first ODI against South Africa on Sunday in Bengaluru.”When I took over last December, we had said that fielding and fitness have been the cornerstone and we have been driving that message to the group. They [the players] have responded really nicely to that,” Muzumdar said. “Fielding is a work in progress and we are working very hard towards it and trust me, you will see some results out of it.”India play three ODIs, one Test match and three T20Is against South Africa over the next four weeks. Following that, they will head to Sri Lanka for the women’s Asia Cup starting July 19 and then travel to Bangladesh for the Women’s T20 World Cup which kicks off on October 3.Related

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Muzumdar highlighted the scheduling of the South Africa series as an advantage to be seized upon. “The continuity is very important in the few months leading up to the World Cup,” he said, “This series, the format that we are playing is ODI format, then the Test match, then the last one is T20. It is a very well-scheduled series and we go into the Asia Cup which again is T20s.”By then I think, we should be ready for the World Cup. Then we have a layoff of about seven and a half weeks before we head off to Bangladesh. It is a very well-thought-out series and [we are] really looking forward to it.”India are coming into the series against South Africa on the back of a series sweep over Bangladesh. They played all five matches in Sylhet, the venue for India’s group games at the Women’s T20 World Cup later this year.”We have had a fantastic preparation in the last eight weeks,” Muzumdar said. “We went to Bangladesh and had a desired result; 5-0 we won the T20 series. We also practiced over there, in the same ground where we would be playing the World Cup. We’ve had a couple of camps before this series. We had a split camp. The bowler’s camp was held at NCA here in Bengaluru and the batter’s camp was held in Navi Mumbai. It was a concentrated camp and we had the fruitful desired results for the camp.”Muzumdar was also effusive in praise of Smriti Mandhana, who led Royal Challengers Bengaluru to the Women’s Premier League title earlier in the year.”She is a fantastic leader. We do have a leadership group within the team and Smriti is a big factor in that,” Muzumdar said. “Going forward, she definitely has got a role to play. She has a good camaraderie with the current captain Harmanpreet Kaur and we are all working together. She is definitely a fantastic leader as we’ve seen in the WPL. She has won the title for RCB.”

Tottenham Hotspur are in ongoing talks with a “superstar” player who’s already announced that he’s set to leave his club this summer, with chairman Daniel Levy attempting to reinforce the Spurs squad early doors after an injury-ravaged campaign.

Ange Postecoglou dealt injury headache ahead of Europa League final

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Statistically, Postecoglou is Spurs’ worst-ever manager of the Premier League era, having recently guided the club to their record number of defeats in a single campaign since the competition’s inception.

Their dismal number of top-flight losses this season now stands at 21, following Spurs’ 2-0 defeat at Aston Villa on Friday, but Postecoglou still has a chance to etch his name into the club’s history books in much more positive fashion on Wednesday.

Son Heung-min

7.00

Pedro Porro

6.98

James Maddison

6.98

Dominic Solanke

6.85

Dejan Kulusevski

6.83

via WhoScored

The Lilywhites face-off against fellow strugglers Man United in a blockbuster Bilbao encounter, where Postecoglou could win Spurs their first major trophy in 17 years while simultaneously qualifying for next season’s Champions League.

However, the tactician, akin to the vast majority of this campaign, has been dealt an injury headache going into the final – with Dejan Kulusevski, James Maddison and Lucas Bergvall all set to miss the Europa League final next week.

Postecoglou was also dealt a major Pape Sarr scare, after the Senegalese went straight down the tunnel following his substitution against Villa through injury.

Even though Postecoglou has since confirmed that he doesn’t think Sarr’s problem is too serious, the series of aforementioned injury blows highlights Tottenham’s need for reinforcements in key areas, as Spurs head into their biggest game of the season with a weakened squad.

Injury absences have debilitated Postecoglou’s options and chances of success throughout 2024/2025, and it’s made the need for Tottenham to strengthen this summer pretty evident.

Tottenham in talks with Lille striker Jonathan David

The trouble for Levy is that credible media sources report Spurs may need to operate on a sell to buy policy, with transfer funds seemingly limited.

That makes world-class free agents, like Lille star Jonathan David, all the more tempting for Tottenham’s recruitment team.

The Canada international has been free-scoring in Ligue 1 since his move there five years ago, racking up strikes in big Champions League games this season against the likes of Real Madrid, Atlético Madrid and Liverpool.

Earlier this week, David announced that he is set to leave Lille when his contract expires, and this has piqued interest from a host of top sides, including Spurs.

Postecoglou’s side have had some contact with the 25-year-old’s camp leading up to the summer (Graeme Bailey), but as per esteemed French newspaper L’Équipe, Tottenham are in ongoing talks with David over joining them right now.

The north Londoners, despite murmurs of advanced Napoli talks for the Brooklyn native, haven’t given up hope of striking a deal for David, with Spurs, Antonio Conte’s side, Juventus and Aston Villa all in the mix.

While David is technically a free agent, Levy could still end up forking out around £28 million for his signature when factoring in salary, various commission fees and his signing bonus (Sacha Tavolieri). That being said, his impressive goalscoring record still marks the “superstar” out as a serious bargain.

Arsenal have been handed a huge boost in their pursuit of Viktor Gyokeres, with a clause greasing the wheels of €60m deal.

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Arsenal handed Viktor Gyokeres boostClause in contract revealed

€60m deal to be struck

Follow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

A Bola in Portugal report that from July 1, any offer of €60m for Gyokeres that Sporting reject would see the club have to pay €6m to the player's agent. That stipulation could mean a deal moves fast if any club can hit that figure.

AdvertisementAFPTHE BIGGER PICTURE

The same report goes on to state that "Arsenal are willing to reach this value". The Gunners have been on the hunt for a new number nine all summer and this development could see the Swede move to the top of the queue.

DID YOU KNOW?

Mikel Arteta's side were previously said to be closing in on a deal for RB Leipzig's Benjamin Sesko, though negotiations have proved difficult. They are also reportedly back in the mix for Eintracht Frankfurt forward Hugo Ekitike.

Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT FOR ARSENAL?

Arsenal will be keen to get a new striker in the door in time for the beginning of the new Premier League campaign, which they kick off against Manchester United on Sunday August 17.

Rishabh Pant will start IPL 2024 as Delhi Capitals’ captain but will not keep wicket in the first half of the season, franchise co-owner Parth Jindal has said. In a chat with ESPNcricinfo, Jindal also said Capitals were expecting South Africa fast bowler Anrich Nortje to be fit to play from their opening game, against Punjab Kings on March 23.Jindal said the Capitals think-tank, led by the team director Sourav Ganguly and head coach Ricky Ponting, was confident about Pant starting the IPL, subject to fitness clearance from the BCCI which is imminent.”Rishabh is batting. He’s running. He has started his wicketkeeping. He is likely to be fully fit for the IPL,” Jindal said on Thursday. “I am expecting Rishabh to play IPL and he will lead from match one. First seven games we are going to play him only as a batter and depending on how his body reacts, we will take a call for the rest of the IPL.”Related

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The IPL will mark Pant’s return to competitive cricket since the Test series in Bangladesh in December 2022. After his horrific car crash on December 30, 2022, Pant has worked hard to make a remarkable recovery post successful surgeries to three major knee ligaments in his right leg. Having told his doctors that he would shave at least six months off their prescribed time of recovery, Pant played practice matches in Bengaluru this week, which were organised by the National Cricket Academy.On Tuesday, Pant also posted a video on his Instagram doing some wicketkeeping and mobility drills, which have become part of his lower-body conditioning over the past six weeks. On Wednesday, he batted and fielded in a 20-over match, which comprised a series of match-simulation exercises. The game was overseen by the BCCI medical staff. There were no visible concerns. Pant is expected to play at least a few more such games before joining Capitals. Once the BCCI clearance comes, he will join the side for a preparatory camp in Visakhapatnam, where the team will also play two home matches.With the second half of WPL 2024 – comprising 11 games including the playoffs – set to be played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, the Capitals men’s team had to shift their home base for the early part of the IPL to ensure they didn’t start on tried pitches. In the 21-match IPL schedule released on Thursday, Capitals are scheduled to play two home and three away matches. Jindal confirmed the team would return to Delhi for their remaining five home games.

Anrich Nortje ‘good to go for first game’

Nortje, who has been out of action for a while because of injuries, is good to go and is also expected to join the camp in Visakhapatnam, Jindal said. Nortje had recovered from a groin injury to play ten matches for the side in the 2023 season before heading home for personal reasons. He was retained by the franchise ahead of the 2024 auction.While he played the inaugural season of Major League Cricket in the USA, he pulled out of the ODI series at home against Australia in September following a suspected stress fracture in the back and was eventually ruled out of the ODI World Cup as well. Doubts about his availability for IPL persisted after he did not play the SA20 either.Anrich Nortje played ten games in IPL 2023•Associated Press

“He’s fit,” Jindal said. “Right now, he is bowing at 80% intensity. Next week, he will bowl at 100%. He’s going to make his comeback in the IPL. He is going to join our camp and should be good to go for our first game.”Jindal also said Australia fast bowler Jhye Richardson is unlikely to be fit for the initial part of the tournament as he recovers from a side strain that had ruled him out of the latter half of the BBL as well as the home ODI series against West Indies. Richardson was bought by Capitals at the mini-auction in December for INR 5 crore (US$ 602,000 approx).”He’s touch and go but will definitely be available for some part of IPL,” Jindal said.

Harry Brook set for No. 6 role

Jindal was confident Capitals would make the playoffs mainly because Pant’s return provided the right balance to the team. He also said Tristan Stubbs and Mitchell Marsh made the team a well-rounded unit.”We feel very confident, the balance of the team is a lot better with Rishabh coming back in,” he said. “We have a very good squad and a lot of options with players like Tristan Stubbs, who had a phenomenal SA20 [with champions Sunrisers Eastern Cape], and Mitch Marsh becoming captain of Australia’s T20I team.”Jindal said he was also expecting big things from David Warner, an IPL legend, who is likely to feature for one last season at Capitals with the mega auction in 2025. Jindal also said he was looking forward to England power hitter Harry Brook playing a key role in the lower order.Another key reason behind Jindal’s optimism for this season is the recruitment of a fresh batch of uncapped Indian players who, he said, were scouted and recommended by Ganguly. Among the uncapped Indians bought by Capitals at the auction are Jharkhand wicketkeeper-batter Kumar Kushagra, Haryana allrounder Sumit Kumar and Madhya Pradesh batter Ricky Bhui (who is currently the leading run-scorer in Ranji Trophy).”We know our younger Indian players [better], we know which players to back in what positions a lot better than we did in the last season,” Jindal said. “A lot of credit goes to the systems and processes put in place by [Ganguly].”