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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.
They chased down a tricky target of 125 on a slow pitch in Sharjah with ease in the end
Andrew Fidel Fernando07-Oct-2024Nat Sciver-Brunt produced one of the innings of the Women’s T20 World Cup so far to guide England home in the final over, against South Africa. Her 48 not out was not only the most substantial of the match, it was also the most aggressive, coming off 36 deliveries.It was Sciver-Brunt’s 64-run stand with Danni Wyatt-Hodge that swung the match decisively in England’s favour, as they pursued a target of 125.South Africa’s spinners had been valiant, particularly Nonkululeko Mlaba, who took 1 for 22 from her four overs. But with England’s strong batting line-up, they needed more of the chances the bowlers created to be taken. South Africa could not capitalise on two half-chances offered by Wyatt-Hodge, and though Sciver-Brunt rode her luck to some extent too, none of the mis-hits went to fielders.The win leaves England in a strong position to qualify for the semi-finals, with two wins from two and a solid net run rate of 0.653. South Africa have more work to do.Sciver-Brunt shakes things upAlthough England had been careful not to lose wickets early on, they required an injection of energy through the middle overs to set them properly on course for victory, and Sciver-Brunt was the woman to provide it. She was immediately dynamic at the crease, hitting her fourth ball for four behind square on the offside, before settling into her usual rhythm of picking runs through the legside.She would frequently shuffle to off and target the square leg boundary against the spinners, even if, on such a slow surface, she didn’t always find the timing. She hit 32 of her runs in the arc between fine leg and deep midwicket, scoring four boundaries in that direction.Though Wyatt-Hodge was stumped with 11 still to get off 12 deliveries, Sciver-Brunt struck a four in each of the last two overs, and iced the game.South Africa had a couple of half-chances but couldn’t make the most of them•Getty ImagesEngland’s spinners keep a lid on South Africa’s scoringBetween them, left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone, legspinner Sarah Glenn, and offspinner Charlie Dean bowled 12 overs for 58 runs, and took four wickets. Linsey Smith, also a left-arm spinner, took 1 for 32 off her four overs too.But it was the tight, varied bowling of Ecclestone and Glenn that really kept the scoring down through the middle overs. Ecclestone got the two biggest opposition wickets – bowling Laura Wolvaardt in the 16th over, before crashing another one into the stumps of an advancing Marizanne Kapp int he 19th over. She finished with figures of 2 for 15 from her four – the best returns in the game.Wolvaardt’s mixed dayShe’d started so strongly. South Africa’s captain won the toss in what was an obviously bat-first situation, and looked excellent in the powerplay, in which she scored 22 off 15 balls, helping take South Africa to a healthy 37 for 1. But then England’s spinners applied the brakes, and she was unable to find the boundary for the remainder of her innings, which went until the 16th over. She maintained a decent scoring rate thanks to her singles and twos, but against a batting order of England’s quality, South Africa needed a score in the vicinity of 150 to feel safe.Then, in the field, she let two half-chances off Wyatt-Hodge slip through her outstretched fingers, the first of those let-offs coming when the batter was on only 8.Still, Wolvaardt’s was the most substantial of South Africa’s individual contributions – she made 42 off 39.
Ajaz also bowled a higher percentage of overs than any spinner in the first innings since 1952
S Rajesh04-Dec-20214:11
Daniel Vettori: ‘Rare’ Ajaz Patel 10-wicket haul is greatest individual feat in NZ Test cricket
3 – Instances of a bowler taking all ten wickets in an innings. Ajaz Patel joins Jim Laker (10 for 53 against Australia in 1956) and Anil Kumble (10 for 74 against Pakistan in 1999) in this exclusive club. The two previous instances came in home Tests, and in the second half of the game: Laker’s ten came in the third innings, and Kumble’s in the fourth. Ajaz also overtook Richard Hadlee as the bowler with the best figures for New Zealand; Hadlee had taken 9 for 52 against Australia in 1985.ESPNcricinfo Ltd43.55 – Percentage of deliveries bowled by Ajaz in India’s first innings: he sent down 47.5 out of 109.5 overs. Since 2000, there have been only three instances of a bowler bowling a higher percentage of overs in an innings which lasted at least 100 overs. Two of those were by India spinners: R Ashwin bowled 52.5 overs out of 119.5 (44.09%) against Australia in Adelaide in 2018, while Ravindra Jadeja bowled 44 out of 100, also against Australia, in Ranchi in 2017. Saqlain Mushtaq bowled 47 out of 105.1 (44.69%) in England in 2001.Watch live cricket on ESPN+ in the US
India vs New Zealand is available in the US on ESPN+. You can subscribe to ESPN+ and tune in to highlights of day two of the 2nd Test in English or in Hindi.
All three efforts were in the team’s second innings, though. If we filter this to the first two innings of a Test (with a 100-over cut-off), then the last time a bowler a higher percentage was way back in 1977, when Australian seamer Mick Malone bowled 47 out of 101.2 overs against England.To get the last instance of a spinner bowling a higher percentage in the first two innings of a Test, you would have to go back all the way to 1952, and India’s second Test victory, when Vinoo Mankad bowled 47 out of 104.3 overs in Pakistan’s first innings.
1 – Not only is this the first instance of a left-arm spinner taking ten in an innings in Tests, it’s also the first instance of left-arm spinners collectively taking ten in an innings. There have been a few instances of them taking nine, the last of which happened earlier this week, when Veerasammy Permaul and Jomel Warrican took nine in Sri Lanka’s first innings.2 – New Zealand bowlers who have taken ten in an innings in a first-class match. The only other bowler to perform this feat is Albert Moss, a fast bowler from Canterbury who took all ten against Wellington in 1889.
India will face Bangladesh in the final in Dubai on Sunday
PTI06-Dec-2024
Vaibhav Suryavanshi top-scored with 67•Associated Press
Vaibhav Suryavanshi starred with a second successive half-century as India stormed into the Under-19 Asia Cup final with a comprehensive seven-wicket victory over Sri Lanka in Sharjah on Friday.The 13-year-old, who became the youngest cricketer ever to be bought at an IPL auction last month, smashed five sixes and six fours for his 36-ball 67 as India chased down a target of 174 with as many as 170 balls to spare.India will face Bangladesh in the final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Sunday.Related
Bihar's Suryavanshi becomes youngest IPL player at just 13
Bangladesh defeated Pakistan by seven wickets, completing a chase of 117 in 22.1 overs in the first semi-final in Dubai.Opting to bat, Sri Lanka could only manage 173 in 46.2 overs despite a valiant effort from Lakvin Abeysinghe (69 off 110) and Sharujan Shanmuganathan (42 off 78).Their innings struggled to gain momentum but Indian bowlers were in full control with Chetan Sharma (3 for 34), Kiran Chormale (2 for 32), and Ayush Mhatre (2 for 37) wreaking havoc in the middle overs.Ayush Mhatre’s 34 off 28 laid a solid foundation for the chase as he put on a stand of 91 with Suryavanshi for the opening wicket.The young left-hander from Bihar troubled the Sri Lankan bowlers from the beginning as he started with consecutive sixes and a boundary off Sigera, who ended up giving away 31 runs in his opening over.Mhatre too played his strokes at the other end as the duo raced to 87 for no loss in eight overs before Vihas Thewmika gave Sri Lanka their first breakthrough by removing the batter.But Suryavanshi kept the run rate ticking despite losing his opening partner, forging another crucial association with C Andre Siddharth (22).He didn’t stop there, taking the attack to the bowlers with his aggressive strokes, including scoring two sixes off Aayan Khan. Captain Mohamed Amaan (25 not out) and KP Karthikeya (11 not out) then completed the chase.
Their form since the 2018 tournament has been horrid, but on their day there is the talent to shine
Deivarayan Muthu20-Feb-2020OverviewWest Indies stormed to the title in 2016 in India and then progressed to the semi-finals at home in 2018, but their fortunes have turned for the worse since. So much so that, among the ten teams that will turn out at this World Cup, they have the second-worst win-loss ratio (0.4) since the 2018 edition. Only Sri Lanka, who have suffered nine successive losses, have fared worse than West Indies during this period.West Indies’ drastic fall coincided with an injury to their star allrounder Deandra Dottin, who had featured in a mere three T20Is out of 15 in their lead-up to the World Cup. Dottin, though, is fit again, as is experienced seamer Shakera Selman, who had recently returned from her own injury in the T20Is against India in November last year. Shamilla Connell, who could potentially take the new ball along with Selman, has also regained full fitness. Much like the men’s side, the women’s team is getting the band back together in a bid to reclaim the title down under. Dottin’s return, in particular, spruces up the batting line-up that was prone to collapses during their 5-0 whitewash at the hands of India at home. At the Providence, West Indies had suffered the ignominy of dawdling to 59 for 9 – their lowest-ever T20I total.Can West Indies shake off that hangover and fire in unison as they did in 2016?SquadStafanie Taylor (capt), Aaliyah Alleyne, Shemaine Campbelle (wk), Shamilia Connell, Britney Cooper, Deandra Dottin, Afy Fletcher, Cherry-Ann Fraser, Sheneta Grimmond, Chinelle Henry, Lee-Ann Kirby, Hayley Matthews, Anisa Mohammed (vice-capt), Chedean Nation, Shakera Selman (coach: Gus Logie)Group fixturesFebruary 22: West Indies v Thailand, WACA
February 26: West Indies v Pakistan, Canberra
March 1: West Indies v England, Sydney Showground
March 3: West Indies v South Africa, Sydney ShowgroundT20 World Cup historyWest Indies have been among the most consistent sides in the T20 World Cup since their first-round exit in 2009. They’ve made it to the knockouts – or beyond – in the past five editions, having won it in 2016. In 2018, an awful batting meltdown against eventual champions Australia cost them the semi-final at home.Form guideWest Indies will want to look away from their section. They went down 5-0 to India and have won just four out of 15 T20Is since the last World Cup. And three of those four wins had come against Ireland, who are ranked 10th in the shortest format.Key playersDeandra Dottin can be destructive both with the bat and ball and it will be mighty difficult to stop her if she gets on a roll. The boundaries in Australia may be bigger for other players, but not so much for Dottin. But, does she still that power-hitting in her after undergoing a corrective shoulder surgery? Dottin had even told the Cricket West Indies website that she had “felt like giving up” during the rehab. Apart from Dottin and Hayley Matthews, Stafanie Taylor is the only other West Indies player with WBBL experience. The West Indies captain has had stints at Adelaide Strikers and Sydney Thunder, making 1074 runs in 56 innings at an average of 26.19 and strike rate of 101.41. She was also in fine form in the ODIs at home against India and with Dottin just easing her way back into the set-up, West Indies will bank on Taylor to shoulder greater responsibility with the bat.What would be a success at the tournament?On current form, it’s quite hard to imagine West Indies making the semi-finals once again, let alone reclaiming the crown. But, count them out at your own peril. If Dottin gets cracking, and the others can rally around her, West Indies can make things happen.
تُجرى في الوقت الحالي مباراة بين فريقي ليفربول وبرينتفورد، في إطار منافسات الدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز، لصالح الجولة التاسعة من عمر البطولة المحلية.
ويحل ليفربول ضيفًا على برينتفورد في خضم لقاءات الجولة المذكورة من بطولة الدوري الإنجليزي، حيث تأخر الريدز بهدفين لهدف في الشوط الأول.
وتأخر انطلاق الشوط الثاني من عمر المباراة، حيث طالت الاستراحة لأكثر من 15 دقيقة، أي أكثر من الوقت المعتاد.
اقرأ أيضًا.. فيديو | كيركيز يسجل هدف ليفربول الأول أمام برينتفورد
وتساءل البعض عن السبب وراء ذلك، قبل أن يتم إيضاح الأمر عبر الموقع الرسمي للبطولة، حيث تقرر تغيير الحكم، سيمون هوبر، الذي يبدو أنه عانى من شيء ما جعله غير قادر على استكمال الشوط الثاني.
وبناءً على ذلك، تغيير خروج سيمون هوبر من المباراة، وسيحل محله الحكم الرابع تيم روبنسون، وهو ما تسبب في حدوث إرباك وتأثير على انطلاق الشوط الثاني.
On a blustery day at the Basin Reserve, the home side’s understanding of the conditions came to the fore
Andrew Fidel Fernando05-Jan-2025On a blustery Wellington day, an Antarctic chill blowing in with the southerly, New Zealand’s home advantage may have played a role in their victory. This is what Matt Henry thinks, after his 4 for 19 led the demolition of Sri Lanka’s batting order. Bowling first on a green pitch, New Zealand rolled Sri Lanka over for 178. And yet Sri Lanka’s seamers were unable to exert similar pressure, New Zealand winning by nine wickets, inside 27 overs.Though this is midsummer in New Zealand, the temperature was around 15 degrees Celsius in the morning. And as almost always at the Basin Reserve, there was an end at which the bowlers had to work against a substantial wind. New Zealand understood how to harness these conditions, Henry said.Related
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“It’s probably about understanding ends,” he said. “The wind plays a huge part here at the Basin. That’s the home advantage – knowing what it looks like to attack from both ends, and using the bounce that’s usually available here as well. Thankfully we were able to force some errors and take some wickets.”The first ten overs, at the end of which New Zealand had Sri Lanka 23 for 4, were the definitive period of this match. Henry claimed the first wicket – that of Pathum Nissanka – and Jacob Duffy and Nathan Smith also took wickets in their first spells.Jacob Duffy knocked over Kusal Mendis in the first powerplay•Getty Images
“The way we started with the ball, we were able to create pressure at both ends, and take wickets throughout, which is our key objective as a bowling group,” Henry said. “Any time you get the new ball you want to have an impact on the game. It’s nice to have that success, but you don’t have that without the guys doing the job at the other end as well. Starting with the new ball down-breeze, the way Duffy started and Smith as well – that’s how chances come as well. I thought it was a great team performance.”New Zealand also produced an outstanding fielding effort, with Mark Chapman in particular electric in the point region. The highlight of the fielding performance, however, was Mitchell Santner swooping on a ball from cover to fire in an underhand throw as he dived forward, to hit the single stump he had to aim at. This ran out Kamindu Mendis in the 10th over.”We pride ourselves on our fielding,” Henry said. “With these windy conditions, you can get lost out there. The engagement was brilliant, and we were taking our chances when they came. To have a run-out in the first 10 overs through Mitch Santner, with a great bit of fielding, it really puts a team under pressure and puts momentum in your favour. Little moments like that have a huge impact on the game.”Henry himself has entered a new phase in his career – one in which he makes all three New Zealand teams. For much of the last 10 years, he’d been in the shadows of the likes of Tim Southee, Trent Boult, and Neil Wagner. With all three now retired, Henry is the senior-most bowler around.”It’s great to have that continuity. Playing for New Zealand in all forms is something I’ve wanted to do. I’ve been involved with this group for 10 years now. I love playing for New Zealand.”And though playing all three formats could pose fresh challenges to a fast bowler’s body, Henry is unconcerned.”That’s the beauty of the strength and conditioning coach, who does a great job. We play all year round now, and it’s something that I’ve always done. I’ve played a lot of county cricket as well. It’s probably about understanding your body and how to stay fresh.”
da pinup bet： More ambitious than ever before under FSG in the transfer market, Liverpool may now offer a play-plus-cash deal to sign yet another key target for Arne Slot.
Jurgen Klopp delivers "insane" Wirtz verdict
da brdice： Slot has been given the keys to the kingdom so far this summer with his Premier League medal acting as his right of passage. Jeremie Frimpong became the first to arrive to replace Trent Alexander-Arnold before the Reds then took things to an entirely new level by signing Florian Wirtz. Since then, Milos Kerkez has also arrived alongside third-choice goalkeeper Freddie Woodman.
It’s the type of spending spree that Jurgen Klopp only saw once during his time at Anfield when Liverpool signed Alisson Becker, Virgil van Dijk and Fabinho in the space of six months before winning both the Champions League and Premier League.
He's like Salah & Isak: Liverpool join the race to sign £43m "superstar"
Liverpool may need to enforce further change up top this summer.
ByAngus Sinclair Jun 30, 2025
The German, having seen the impact of top signings at the club in the past – albeit not without the sacrifice of Philippe Coutinho – recently had his say on Wirtz’s big-money arrival.
Klopp told reporters: “There’s no question about it, it’s an insane sum. One that a player at Liverpool is aware of if things don’t go well for two or three games.
“We all agree that we’re talking about a great player here. I know I once said that I’m out if we pay 100 million euros for a player. But the world is changing. That’s just the way the market is.
“He’s an outstanding player who can give any club something great. Whether he’ll make the reigning English champions even better remains to be seen.”
Even after spending that “insane sum”, however, those at Anfield may not be done with their spending. Reports are now suggesting that Michael Edwards and Richard Hughes could even decide to offer a swap deal to land one particular target.
Liverpool "could" offer swap deal to sign Guehi
According to Fabrizio Romano, Liverpool “could” offer a player-plus-cash deal to sign Marc Guehi from Crystal Palace this summer. The England international has found himself on the Reds’ radar following reports that Jarell Quansah is set to join Bayer Leverkusen and amid concerns that Ibrahima Konate could leave following the end of his current deal next summer.
With fresh talks set to take place this week, Guehi remains one to watch as Liverpool aim to solve a potential centre-back problem in bargain fashion.
With just one year remaining on his current contract, Crystal Palace are reportedly demanding just £45m to sell their star defender this summer. Liverpool, however, are still looking for that valuation to drop before making their move to sign Guehi as Edwards and Hughes continue their ruthless streak.
Described as “great” by England teammate John Stones at the Euros last summer, Guehi’s first move back to a top English club since leaving Chelsea has been a long time coming, but now he could be on his way to the home of the Premier League champions.
Forty-eight hours from the start of the day-night Test against Australia in Adelaide, India know what their batting order is going to look like, particularly who their openers are going to be.”I’ve been told [my position],” KL Rahul, who began the Border-Gavaskar series as opener, said on Wednesday. “But I’ve also been told not to share it. We’ll have to wait for day one or maybe when the captain [Rohit Sharma] comes here tomorrow.”So it seems Rohit, who has been a regular for India at the top of the order for the last five years, has made his decision. He batted at No. 4 in Canberra, where Virat Kohli didn’t take part in the practice game against a Prime Minister’s XI. That was the only opportunity India had to face the pink ball in a match situation and it feels telling that they were happy with Rahul and Yashasvi Jaiswal at the top.Related
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India have since moved to Adelaide and spent two sessions at the nets, getting used to the rhythms of day-night cricket, and they have found it quite enlightening. Rahul said it hasn’t always been straightforward to see the ball out of the hand. Mohammed Siraj said holding it in the hand can feel a bit weird at the start. Those are steps one and two of batting and bowling and they are almost having to re-learn it. Only eight members of this squad have ever played day-night Test cricket and of those only three – Kohli, Jasprit Bumrah and R Ashwin – have experienced the quirks of this format in Australia.These quirks rise out of the pink ball having a few extra layers of lacquer to protect it from wearing and tearing too quickly and that seems to have a significant impact in the way it behaves. “[It] seems a bit harder than the red ball,” Rahul said. “While fielding as well, you can feel it hitting your hand a lot. A lot quicker and a lot harder. Same with batting. It just seems to get to you much quicker than the red ball.”It does seam around a little bit more than the red ball [too]. So that’s the challenge we’re looking forward to. For me it’s exciting because it’s my first pink-ball game. So I’m going in with a clean state. I’ll go there and see what really happens. And try and face up to whatever comes my way.”These few days have only been about understanding how the ball reacts. And how easy or hard it is to play against the pink ball. If you look at all the games that have been played with the pink ball, it hasn’t really lasted a long time.”So that tells you that there will be a lot of help for the fast bowlers. And there will be a lot of seam movement. That’s something that we faced even in the nets. But that happened even in Perth on day one. There was a lot of seam movement. And I’m sure that will be the same [in Adelaide].”There are strategies unique to day-night Test cricket as well. Australia, who have won every day-night match in Adelaide, typically try to bat first, bat big, and set themselves up to bowl at twilight on day two. The 15-20 minutes leading into sunset – which will be around 8pm local time – and the 15-20 minutes after that are the times teams pay particular attention to.”It’s just getting used to seeing the ball off someone’s hand and just getting used to that,” Rahul said. “And I feel like that’s step one of a batter. If you can pick that, then you give yourself the best chance to react and be in good positions. So yeah, that’s been something that all batters have been speaking about and trying to play a lot more balls so that you get used to it.”The curator Damian Hough will be leaving 6mm of grass on the Adelaide pitch – same as the 36 all out game and same as a few nail-biting games in the Sheffield Shield this season. South Australia hung on for a nervy draw against Western Australia in the closing stages of day four, helped a little bit by some rain. There are thundershowers forecast for Friday, the first day of the Test match, but from there on the weather should be clear and conducive for cricket.”Everything seems to stay the same,” Hough said about the pitch he is preparing. “So it’s, of course, matted grass, even grass cover, good, deep moisture, but dry and hard. So, something where quicks will get a bit out of it, spinners will be able to get some height and bounce, but also important for [batters] to get some partnerships in at the most, and be able to play their shots.”Both teams have, like, elite bowlers, world-class bowlers. I mean, we’ve seen enough day-nighters to know that if you get the new rock under lights with two new batters in, that it can be very tricky. So, you know, the teams obviously play that game and adapt and are quite tactical when they do that. If there’s an opportunity to get the new ball under lights, it’ll be tricky. So if they don’t, which the Shield pitch showed, that if you didn’t get the new ball under lights and you had a couple of set batters in, you’re able to see through some night-time cricket.”