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Holder, Cottrell, Hosein among reserves in Pollard-led squad

Deivarayan Muthu09-Sep-2021Nearly a decade after winning the T20 World Cup in Sri Lanka, seamer Ravi Rampaul has a chance to add to his title after being picked in West Indies’ 15-member squad for the upcoming edition of the tournament.Rampaul, now 36, had last played a T20I for West Indies in November 2015 but is now back in the mix after emerging as the best seamer on the spin-friendly St Kitts tracks in the ongoing CPL.Offspin-bowling allrounder Roston Chase, who is uncapped in T20Is, elbowed his way into the squad after impressing in both CPL 2020 and 2021 for the St Lucia franchise. However, there was no place for Sunil Narine and Jason Holder was only part of the reserves.”Ravi Rampaul is a highly experienced bowler who performed well in the last CG Insurance Super50 Cup and the current Hero CPL to date,” lead selector Roger Harper said in a media release. “He will boost the team’s wicket-taking options in the powerplay and the middle phase and will provide another option for the death overs.”Roston Chase has shown that he is a very capable T20 player. He performed well in the CPL in 2020 and has been outstanding in the 2021 edition so far. He has shown the ability to knit the innings together while still scoring at a fast rate with a low dot-ball percentage. He will be an excellent foil for the explosive players in the team.”West Indies squad for the 2021 T20 World Cup•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Narine has been active in the CPL and the IPL and was more recently part of the Hundred as well, but he hasn’t been in action for West Indies since 2019, when he indicated to the national selectors that he was “not ready” for international cricket. In Narine’s absence, legspinner Hayden Walsh Jr is the only specialist spinner in the group. He will be assisted by fingerspin-bowling allrounders Fabian Allen and Chase. Left-arm spinner Akeal Hosein didn’t make the main squad but is among the travelling reserves as is Darren Bravo.Dwayne Bravo, who had suffered a groin injury during St Kitts & Nevis Patriots’ clash against St Lucia Kings on September 4, and hasn’t played in the CPL since, however, was cleared for selection. Bravo had come out of T20I retirement in December 2019 to reunite with captain Kieron Pollard in the hunt for another world title.Tearaway Oshane Thomas, who has played only two T20Is this year, also found a place after bowling sharp spells for his new CPL side Barbados Royals. Thomas hit speeds north of 140kph and cranked it up when he bowled Chris Gayle with a 142kph rocket.Rampaul, though, is the biggest surprise although he is currently the top wicket-taker in the CPL, with 17 strikes in eight matches at an average of 13 and an economy rate of 7.20. In addition to pounding the deck with pace, Rampaul has been effective with his slower cutters. Earlier in the 2020-21 Super 50 Cup, Rampaul was the second-highest wicket-taker, with 14 strikes in six matches for Trinidad & Tobago. Obed McCoy lends more variety to the attack with his left-arm angle and change-ups.As for Chase, he is the top-scorer in this CPL, with 281 runs in seven innings at an average of over 70 and strike rate of over 150. In the past two seasons, he has also fronted up to bowl the tough overs for the St Lucia franchise. There was no room, though, for batter Sherfane Rutherford or allrounder Romario Shepherd.Nine of West Indies’ squad members will feature in the second leg of the IPL in the UAE before they begin their T20 World Cup defence with a rematch of the 2016 final, against England on October 23.Harper backed the side to successfully defend their world title. “The squad is one with good depth and strength in all departments,” he said. “There is tremendous T20 experience along with World Cup-winning experience which should stand the team in good stead. This squad is made up of many world-beating players who, once knitted into a world-beating team, will be extremely difficult to beat. I expect the team to do very well and with the rub of the green I think the team has a good chance of defending the title.”Squad: Kieron Pollard (capt), Nicholas Pooran (vice-capt & wk), Fabian Allen, Dwayne Bravo, Roston Chase, Andre Fletcher (wk), Chris Gayle, Shimron Hetmyer, Evin Lewis, Obed McCoy, Ravi Rampaul, Andre Russell, Lendl Simmons, Oshane Thomas, Hayden Walsh JrReserves: Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Sheldon Cottrell, Darren Bravo

And who are the only players to appear in all 23 seasons of the T20 Blast?

Steven Lynch16-Sep-2025Tsepo Ndwandwa took 7 for 206 in an A-team Test the other day. What’s the highest amount of runs conceded when taking seven – and eight or nine or ten – wickets in a first-class innings? asked Kieran Nash from England

The South Africa A slow left-armer Tsepo Ndwandwa took seven wickets against New Zealand A in Potchefstroom last week – but they cost him 206 runs, in a total of 607 for 7 declared. Eight bowlers have conceded more while taking seven in an innings: the most expensive was offspinner Pankaj Thakur’s 7 for 254 for Haryana against Bombay (718) in Faridabad in 1994. By coincidence, the Test record is also held by a Haryana player: Kapil Dev collected 7 for 220 for India against Pakistan (652) in Faisalabad in 1983.George Giffen holds the first-class record for the most expensive eight-for, conceding no fewer than 287 runs for South Australia in New South Wales’ total of 807 in Adelaide in 1899, when he was 40. Giffen shared the new ball with another Australian Test player, Ernie Jones, who finished with 1 for 210. Another Australian holds the Test record: offspinner Jason Krejza took 8 for 215 on debut against India in Nagpur in 2008.The South Australia legspinner Clarrie Grimmett took 9 for 180 – the most expensive nine-for in first-class cricket – against Queensland in Adelaide in 1934. The Test record is 9 for 129, by Keshav Maharaj for South Africa vs Sri Lanka in Colombo in 2018.The most runs conceded while taking all ten wickets in first-class cricket is 175, by the England offspinner Eddie Hemmings for an International XI against a West Indies XI in Kingston in 1982. Hemmings wasn’t sure this was a first-class game: “The ten-wicket haul had little significance at the time; after all we had only been playing a Festival game. It was only months later, back in England during the 1983 season, that I learned that the match had been granted first-class status and that my achievement would enter the record books.”Of the three bowlers who have taken all ten in a Test innings, New Zealand’s slow left-armer Ajaz Patel conceded the most runs – 119, against India in Mumbai in 2021.I was looking at the scores of England’s tour of South Africa in 1905-06, and noticed there was a big gap of slightly more than two months between the first and second Tests. Was this the longest gap between Tests in a series, and what was the reason for it? asked Richard Treacy from Australia

England’s 1905-06 tour of South Africa certainly had a strange itinerary. There were indeed more than two months between the first Test (at the old Wanderers ground in Johannesburg from January 2-4) and the second, also in Jo’burg (March 6-8). The reason was a crowded and lopsided itinerary: only the four first-class matches are shown on our series page (linked above), but there were also nine other games, many against odds (teams of more than 11), all around the country.Once the team returned to Johannesburg, the tour concluded with the last four Tests, broken up only by a non-first-class game in Bloemfontein against a 15-man side from Orange Free State. Those accustomed to today’s whistle-stop tours with few, if any, non-internationals will probably be shocked by the summary of Pelham Warner, England’s captain: “A very heavy programme was arranged. Between December 2 and April 2 we played 26 matches – which meant 66 days’ cricket – and travelled 5348 miles by railway, in addition to a sea journey between Durban and East London. No fewer than 22 nights were spent in the train… Exactly half the matches were against odds, varying from 22 to 15 men, who, however, fielded 13, and in one case 11.”Surprisingly, though, there have been two longer mid-series gaps between Test. The longest is ten months, between India’s fourth Test in England at The Oval in September 2021, and the fifth, which was postponed after Covid problems and rearranged for the following July at Edgbaston.The other longer gap came during England’s tour of the subcontinent in 1961-62. Ted Dexter’s side started with a Test against Pakistan in Lahore in October, but then played a full five-Test series in India before returning after nearly three months for two more Tests in Pakistan, in Dacca (January 19-24) and in Karachi (February 2-7).There was a gap of 50 days between the second and third Tests of the 1891-92 Ashes series, during which time the tourists had nine matches, only two of them first-class. During this gap an entirely different England team played a match against South Africa, now recognised as a Test, in Cape Town (March 19-22).I heard on the commentary that Ravi Bopara was one of two people who have played in every season of the English T20 competition. Who’s the other one? Is it James Anderson? asked Bill Lawson from England

You’re right that Ravi Bopara has played in all 23 seasons of the English T20 competition (now the Blast) since the first in 2003. Now 40, Bopara hit 105 not out from 46 balls for Northamptonshire in the quarter-final against Surrey at The Oval earlier this month.Mainly thanks to international duties, Jimmy Anderson has only appeared in nine domestic T20 seasons – his ten matches this year were his first since 2014. The other 23-season man is Samit Patel, also 40, who’s now playing for Derbyshire after many seasons with Nottinghamshire. Joe Denly has featured in 21 seasons, and Gareth Batty, Rikki Clarke, Steven Croft, James Hildreth and Luke Wright in 19.Samit Patel is the only other player to appear in all 23 seasons of the T20 Blast so far, alongside Ravi Bopara•Getty ImagesIs there anyone who’s played just one Test, one ODI and one T20 international? And how many have played Tests and T20s but not ODIs? asked Kaustubh from India

The only player who fits the bill here at the moment is the wonderfully named Nonkhululeko Peaceful Thabethe, whose three appearances for South Africa’s women all came in India in 2014.There are five men who have played just four international matches, including one in all three formats: the Indian pair of Naman Ojha (one Test, one ODI and two T20Is) and Karn Sharma (1-2-1), England’s Scott Borthwick (1-2-1), Charlton Tshuma of Zimbabwe (1-2-1) and Afghanistan’s Mohammad Saleem (1-2-1),There are currently 23 men and nine women who appeared in one Test and one ODI, about half of them dating from before the inaugural T20 international in Auckland in February 2005.And as I write there are 28 men and one woman (England’s Kirstie Gordon) who have played Tests and T20Is, but no ODIs. Some are current players who may yet break their 50-over duck, such as Lhuan-dre Pretorius (South Africa), Bangladesh’s Mahmudul Hasan and the Indians Dhruv Jurel, Devdutt Padikkal and Nitish Kumar Reddy.Who has scored the most successive half-centuries in ODIs? asked Muhammad Azfar from England

The record for consecutive 50-plus scores in one-day internationals is nine, by Pakistan’s Javed Miandad during 1987. This run included two hundreds. Another Pakistani is second: Imam-ul-Haq made seven 50-plus scores in a row in 2021 and 2022.There are ten more men who managed six consecutive ODI half-centuries.In women’s ODIs, Mithali Raj of India had seven consecutive 50-plus scores in 2017, while a distinguished trio in Lindsay Reeler (Australia), Charlotte Edwards (England) and Ellyse Perry (Australia) all had runs of six.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

Aston Villa will be required to make at least one sale during the summer transfer window, otherwise they could fall foul of the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR).

Douglas Luiz has been earmarked for a move away from Villa Park due to his wonderful displays in the top flight last season – registering 14 goal contributions – and it appears as though Arsenal are keen on luring him to London, although it will cost them around £50m to do so.

The Brazilian may be one of Unai Emery’s most prized assets, yet might the Spaniard move on someone else who has been attracting interest recently?

Aston Villa could now sell 15-cap international

Due to a stunning 2023/24 campaign which saw the Midlands side secure a spot in the Champions League next season, it is only natural that several first-team players have attracted some interest.

While clubs have shown obvious admiration for someone like Luiz, Matty Cash’s displays weren’t exactly at the same sort of level.

Yes, he may have scored five goals and grabbed three assists for the club last term, but his lack of consistency could give Emery the perfect opportunity to move him on without much of an afterthought.

According to reports in Italy (via Caught Offside), Emery is more than happy to let the English-born Poland international depart the club this summer, looking for a fee of around £17m from any prospective buyer.

AC Milan are the team that appear to be showing the most interest in the right-back, and it could be the perfect time for Villa to cash in – pardon the pun – on the player.

He does have three years left on his contract, but with a point deduction looking possible if Villa don’t raise funds via player sales, a deal to move him on may be welcomed in the coming weeks.

With tougher challenges awaiting the club in Europe’s premier club competition next season, it is clear that the manager must strengthen his team accordingly, which means an improvement on the right side of the defence.

As a result, Emery could target a swoop for a Dutchman who has made 30 appearances in the Champions League during his career.

Who could replace Matty Cash at Aston Villa

According to Inter Live last week, Villa are getting ready to make an offer for defender Denzel Dumfries in a bid to bolster their squad this summer.

With his contract expiring next year, the Serie A side could allow him to leave for a fee of around £25.5m, which could turn into a bargain should he replicate his form for Inter in the Premier League.

Dumfries would be a huge step up at right-back compared to Cash, and he is exactly the sort of signing Emery will be keen to make during the transfer window.

At 28 years old, the former PSV Eindhoven dynamo is in the peak years of his career. Having won several trophies with both Inter and PSV, Dumfries could bring an elite mentality to Villa which may just see them end their near 30-year wait for a major trophy during the 2024/25 campaign.

Denzel Dumfries’ season in numbers

Last season, Inter won their second Serie A title in three years, finishing 19 points ahead of their city rivals AC Milan.

It was a stunning campaign by the club and Dumfries certainly contributed well. In 31 league matches, not only did he score four goals, but the Netherlands international registered five assists, chipping in with vital goal contributions as the club romped to another league crown.

He has played all of his matches on the right side of the midfield, yet he has operated as a right-back over 200 times during his career to date, meaning Emery should have no problem playing him as part of a four-man defence should he join the club.

His main asset is his attacking abilities, which the Spaniard will be keen to utilise at every given opportunity.

When compared to his teammates, Dumfries ranked sixth for successful dribbles per game (0.5) along with ranking eighth for big chances created (six) and for key passes per game (0.8), solid enough stats for a midfielder.

It wasn’t just in his own squad that the player shone, however, also impressing when compared to positionally similar players in Europe’s top five leagues.

Indeed, the 28-year-old ranked in the top 3% for non-penalty goals (0.18) and touches in the attacking penalty area (3.85) per 90, while also ranking in the top 7% for total shots (1.37) per 90 and for progressive passes received (7.65) per 90, clearly evidence of his regular forays into the final third of the pitch.

According to WhoScored, Dumfries’ main strengths are key passes and aerial duels, which indicate that he can tear open the opposition's defence with a single pass while also being able to hold his own when faced with a one-on-one aerial battle. These strengths will allow him to shine in the physically imposing Premier League, no doubt about that.

Rio Ferdinand praised the defender during the 2022 World Cup, a tournament in which he shone for the Netherlands, saying:

“He’s not putting balls in willy-nilly, he’s picking people out, those cutbacks have been ever so dangerous. He doesn’t mind working at the other end of the pitch, as well. He’s been a breath of fresh air for them and a very important player.”

High praise indeed from a Premier League legend and if Emery could secure his signature for a fee around the £25m mark, then it could be a wonderful piece of transfer business.

With plenty of experience at winning trophies and playing in the Champions League, Dumfries is the ideal signing in order to take Villa to the next level.

First, Emery will need to move on a player or two. With Milan leading the chase for Cash, selling the former Nottingham Forest defender is the first step to making a more concrete effort at luring Dumfries to the Midlands in the next few weeks.

What Aston Villa’s starting XI could look like after £105m spending spree

Aston Villa will be looking to build on their momentous 23/24 campaign, having qualified for the Champions League.

By
Angus Sinclair

Jun 6, 2024

Chelsea star Wesley Fofana has defended France team-mate Kylian Mbappe after reports emerged of him partying at a Swedish nightclub.

Article continues below

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• Mbappe not in France squad
• Reportedly spotted in nightclub
• Fofana defends French team-mate

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The Real Madrid star was not included in France's squad for their Nations League matches against Israel and Belgium as manager Didier Deschamps wanted to allow him more time to get "100 per cent fit". The 25-year-old was reportedly spotted in a Stockholm nightclub while France beat Israel 4-1 on Thursday. While some have criticised the former Paris Saint Germain star, compatriot Fofana has come to his aid, saying "he does what he wants."

Advertisement

• AFP
  

  WHAT WESLEY FOFANA SAID

  He told reporters: "People can do what they want with their free time. It isn't something we [the France squad] have talked about today, I hadn't heard about this story. He does what he wants; he is a great guy and a great professional. Are we making too much of it? I don't know. He's the best French player, so it's normal that it is very publicised. I think that from time to time [the media] go a little too far. You should ask Kylian Mbappé for more information."

• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Mbappe finally made his blockbuster move to Madrid from PSG this summer but the 2018 World Cup winner hasn't been as impressive as many would have hoped. He has scored seven goals in 11 matches this season but three of those have been from penalties. And when things aren't quite going as well as expected, players of Mbappe's fame may get treated harsher than others – rightly or wrongly.

• Getty Images
  

  WHAT NEXT?

  While Mbappe will soon get ready for Madrid's next run of fixtures, his France side travel to Belgium in the Nations League on Monday night.

They used one of their three trump cards and had almost everything with their four experienced batters go right for them

Sidharth Monga24-Jun-20254:09

Gambhir: We had opportunities on all five days

India’s big guns have all fired. Rishabh Pant has scored two creative centuries, the openers have each hit a classy one in each innings, the captain has notched up a regal one, their gun bowler has exhausted one of the three Tests he is going to play and has delivered a five-for. And yet they are down 1-0. They have lost the unlosable Test.Let’s get the obvious out of the way. Their last four aggregated nine runs in both innings put together, becoming parts of collapses of 7 for 41 and 6 for 31 in pretty flat conditions. They dropped more catches than any team in a Test in England in the last 20 years. Their third and fourth fast bowlers provided them neither control nor penetration. They could have batted England out on the second day; they didn’t. They could have secured a huge lead had they held their catches; they didn’t. They could have batted England out again on the fourth day; they didn’t.It was a proper baptism by fire for captain Shubman Gill, having to lead a transitioning bowling unit on one of the more idiosyncratic grounds of the world against a side that might not have the quality of some of India’s recent opponents but are intimidating frontrunners. A new slips cordon had to come to terms with fielding about a foot or two below the pitch level, bowlers needed to quickly adjust to running in up and down the slope, and their mistakes with the bat forced them to defend more than they could attack on a notoriously difficult-to-defend ground with pitches running all the way to the boundary. He also has to deal with his lead bowler playing only three Tests.Related

• How creeping Crawley has become Bazball's straight man

• Ben Duckett on the road to joining the best

• Gambhir calls for patience as Bumrah's blunting leaves attack exposed

• Duckett lays the foundation as England hunt down 371

• Gill rues missed chances: 'We were looking at a target of around 435'

However, Gill will need to lay down the law here. It wasn’t long ago that the India tail used to dig in and fight for whatever runs they could claw out. On their last trip to England, India got the lead because of the runs the lower order scored. It’s not that Nos. 8 to 11 aggregated only nine runs in two innings. Dismissals can happen. Even to specialist batters. It was more the nature of the dismissals. They batted like millionaires without getting a feel for the conditions despite having a proper batter at the other end. They played Shardul Thakur precisely to provide them batting depth, but he was out playing expansive drives eighth ball and 12th balls.Gill just needs to imagine what would have happened if the tail had displayed such a casual attitude when Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma was captain. Once, leave alone twice, in the same match. Gill will soon learn it is nice to have a great atmosphere and respect in the dressing room, but there needs to be some fear of the leaders as well.The lower-order flop is not the only reason why India lost the unlosable Test but it was a symptom of general drops in intensity that a captain needs to watch out against. Test cricket is more about playing good cricket for longer periods of time than flashes of brilliance. This is why an attack of four good fast bowlers is better than one world-beater, one good bowler and two bowling ordinarily. You need fitness, intensity, and ruthlessness to be up six hours a day, each day for five days, or however long it takes.3:26

Harmison: Not sure India believed they could get Duckett out

On the final day, when finally none of the big guns fired, India didn’t seem to have a plan on how to put together a consistent set of overs. Jasprit Bumrah should be allowed to have a day on which he is not bowling an unplayable delivery every over. The bowling choices need to be made based not just on numbers that day. Mohammed Siraj, the best bowler on display on the final day, wasn’t bowled from overs 42 to 80, a period of not just 39 overs but also two rain breaks. Ravindra Jadeja took a little too long to shift his line wider, into the rough, to challenge Ben Duckett’s reverse-sweeps. At one point Ben Duckett punched Jadeja towards mid-off, and he looked up to see there wasn’t one. Not short, not wide, not deep. Just no mid-off at all.In a Test that you make only one or two such mistakes, they can have only a trivial impact on the eventual outcome, but all these things add up.This was also collectively India’s worst fielding performance in a long time. Thakur misfielded because he slipped, but took forever to get back up and retrieve the ball. As Rishabh Pant could be heard saying on the stumps mic, “It is okay to misfield, but you need to recover.” It should have come from Gill. If you zoomed-out a little and looked at the whole field as events unfolded during the final day, it was hard to tell if Gill was in charge. At various times, Pant and KL Rahul set the fields and talked to the bowlers.1:59

Why were Indian seamers ineffective on day 5?

The most important job for Gill and Gautam Gambhir will be to lift the team after they have lost a Test in which they used one of the three trump cards given to them and had almost everything with their four experienced batters go right for them. As has been said in this space before, Gill’s real test will be if he plays Thakur as the bowling allrounder and it doesn’t work out. The ideal response will be to double down on the need to take 20 wickets and bring in a proper bowler – possibly Kuldeep Yadav – but their collapses have given them every reason to be conservative.A captaincy debut which started like a dream for Gill has ended up being a nightmare. This was only his sixth first-class match as captain. He needs to be cut some slack, but this is a job that comes with a lot of prestige and also responsibility. He has no option but to learn quickly on the job. There is no magic potion that can maintain the love and care but still instil fear and accountability.This is not to say the players are not hurting for this loss. They are hurting more than anyone on the outside can. They will all have to dust themselves off and do the good things again but also make sure their intensity doesn’t drop. The England bowling attack can be taken down. They just need their bowlers to be in the good areas more often than at Headingley, and then be switched on in the field.If there is any consolation, it has been done before. Kohli’s first Test as captain is remembered for his brilliant twin hundreds, but even that game featured ordinary selections and lower-order disasters. In his first series as the full-time captain, Kohli lost what seemed like the unlosable Test in Galle to start off with. You can quibble with other things, but it is hard to remember drops in intensity in the side after that.

Mark Goldbridge has been left fuming at what Fabrizio Romano has reported out of Manchester United, describing the club's latest behaviour on their manager hunt as "embarrassing".

Man Utd manager latest

Erik ten Hag's future as Red Devils manager is still up in the air, with Sir Jim Ratcliffe having a huge decision to make in the coming weeks. The FA Cup final win over Manchester City last month has arguably made the situation trickier, making it harder for United to part company with the 54-year-old.

The Dutchman has been at Old Trafford for two seasons, during which time he has won two trophies but also flattered to deceive in the Premier League, suffering some humbling defeats along the way, not least a 7-0 loss at Liverpool in 2022/23 and a recent 4-0 thrashing away to Crystal Palace.

While Ten Hag is still in charge for the time being, constant reports have linked with others managers with the job, with England boss Gareth Southgate seen as a potential option. Ratcliffe is believed to be an admirer of his, and he also has a strong relationship with likely incoming director of football Dan Ashworth.

Brighton manager Roberto De Zerbi is another candidate, with the Italian departing the Amex at the end of the 2023/24 season, and Thomas Tuchel's name has been thrown into the mix, too.

Romano has recently reported that United have "made contact with the agents of other managers" in recent days, suggesting that the search is still ongoing to find a replacement.

Goldbridge fumes at Man Utd manager update

Writing on X on Tuesday, Goldbridge fumed at Manchester United speaking to the agents of other bosses, calling it "disrespectful" to Ten Hag:

"Really sickening how the club is being run. Embarrassing, unprofessional, indecisive, disrespectful and not representative of the vast majority of the fans how they're dealing with this. Shame."

In fairness to Goldbridge, these updates aren't a great look for United, at a time when Ten Hag has just led his side to FA Cup glory, not to mention seeing off arguably the world's best club side in City. If Ratcliffe believes that he isn't the man for the job, he should simply make the decision to part ways with him as soon as possible, rather than seemingly stalling over a decision and speaking to other managers.

In terms of whether Ten Hag is the right man for the United job or not, opinion appears to be split among the fanbase, with some seeing him as the right man and others feeling he won't ever be at the level required to take the Red Devils back to the very top of the English game.

Had United lost the final to City, there is every chance that Ten Hag would have been sacked after the game, and there is a strong argument to say that one result, admittedly an excellent one, shouldn't change Ratcliffe's stance. He is a ruthless billionaire businessman, so it is a surprise to see him not showing that same intent with the managerial situation.

Pakistan end day three with a lead of 124 after West Indies had nudged ahead by 36 in the first innings

Danyal Rasool14-Aug-2021Stumps The weather was as variable as the momentum swings, and as the last few chapters of this Test unfold, you sense there are still a few plot twists in it. Pakistan still have half their side left, including – crucially – captain Babar Azam on 54 as they try and stretch out a relatively vulnerable 124-run lead beyond the capacity of the hosts in what should be an engrossing fourth innings chase.On either side of a two-and-a-half-hour rain delay, West Indies bowlers’ were characteristically patient and as consistent as they’ve been all Test, but will need one final effort to ensure their batters have a target within their reach.

ICC reprimands Jayden Seales

Jayden Seals has copped one demerit point for using inappropriate language against Hasan Ali during the Sabina Park Test.

The incident occurred in the 70th over of the Pakistan innings, when Seales dismissed Hasan and celebrated in a manner that could have potentially provoked the batter.

ICC match referee Richie Richardson handed out the sanction and Seales, for whom this was a first offence in a 24-month period, accepted it.

The day began in bright, cheery sunshine, and Shaheen Afridi certainly made hay. He allowed just two more runs to the West Indies batters before cleaning up the final two wickets, the lead a slender 36. The prodigious inswing he found was much better directed than anything he had managed the previous day. Jomel Warrican had his stumps knocked back first, before – on just the 16th ball of the day – Joshua Da Silva was trapped dead in front. Thus, part one of Pakistan’s plan had been executed to perfection.West Indies then struck early themselves after the changeover, getting rid of the struggling Imran Butt for nought as he pushed his pad out at one that was crashing into middle stump. Thereafter, though, Abid Ali and Azhar Ali settled down, seeing off the pace bowlers without much trouble. Abid looked to take the attack to Warrican early on, too, dancing down the pitch to deposit the left-arm spinner’s fourth ball for the first six of the match; it was the shot that erased Pakistan’s deficit.Azhar was more circumspect – and less convincing – through the early part of his innings. West Indies tested his footwork and his judgment, operating steadily on a fifth-stump line and beating the outside edge on a number of occasions. When Kemar Roach finally induced the edge, Jason Holder put him down at second slip. Azhar followed it up with two aggressive boundaries either side of the wicket off Warrican as the shackles began to come off.Jayden Seales struck twice after lunch•AFP/Getty Images

Roach, however, had the last laugh in the last over before lunch, bringing one back in sharply to breach Azhar’s defence and crash into his leg stump. It heralded West Indies’ best passage of the day, with Jayden Seales welcoming in the post-lunch session with a sumptuous double-strike. Abid, who was set up by slightly short deliveries in the first innings, was presented another short one with the first ball of Seales’ spell. The extra bounce which the teenager’s pace extracted from the surface saw the opener slash straight to second slip, and Holder made no mistake this time.Three balls later, Fawad Alam fell to an outside edge after lacklustre footwork, and West Indies threatened to blow the Test wide open. Pakistan were now in the perilous position of having lost four wickets with the lead at just 29, and it was left to Mohammad Rizwan and Azam, arguably Pakistan’s two best performers over the past year, to take the sting out of the hosts’ momentum.Over the next hour or so, they did just that under blackening skies, the runs trickling along gradually. With an increasing amount of sideways movement for the pacers, it was anything but easy, and the 56 runs they managed before the heavens opened may yet be the difference between success and failure.Two-and-a-half-hours later, though, and under clear blue skies, Holder drew Rizwan into a forward defensive push with seam movement producing the edge; West Indies once more appeared to be sniffing at the lower order.Faheem Ashraf, though has shown he isn’t a pushover with the bat, and while he possesses the flair he showcased on the first day, the steel was on full display this evening. Scoring just 12 runs in 79 deliveries, he happily played second fiddle to Azam, who brought up a high-quality half-century before the day was done.West Indies may yet rue a dropped slip catch early into Ashraf’s innings – Jermaine Blackwood was the culprit – but Pakistan will be reassured by the relative solidity of the pair at the crease. As the light deteriorated and the umpires brought out the light metre after every over, the duo shut up shop completely, and did not look especially susceptible doing so.West Indies took the last five Pakistan wickets for 31 runs on day one. The home side will need a similarly explosive performance tomorrow morning to give themselves the best chance of a manageable chase. The weather would be relatively clear, but the outcome of this tantalising Test remains anything but that.

With RR needing 18 from 12 balls, Hazlewood conceded only one in the penultimate over and also took two wickets

Ashish Pant25-Apr-20252:12

What makes Hazlewood a much-improved T20 bowler?

Being at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium is an experience. When things are going the home side Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s (RCB) way, one needs to strain his ear to listen to the person next to him inside a soundproof room. When it’s not, the silence can get disconcerting.On Thursday, at the end of the 18th over, the Chinnaswamy Stadium got really quiet. The 30,000-strong crowd had just witnessed their star bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar being thrashed for 22 runs by Rajasthan Royals’ (RR) Dhruv Jurel and Shubham Dubey. The RCB chants weren’t ringing around the ground anymore, there were no flags waving. With 18 needed off 12 balls, this was now RR’s game to lose. Were RCB about to go down at home for a fourth straight time? Surely nine an over at the Chinnaswamy is a cakewalk.Enter Josh Hazlewood. A solitary run off the 19th over, two wickets, and RR did not know what hit them. It was a classic case of sticking to the plan: hard lengths mixed with the occasional yorker and change of pace. And just like that, Hazlegod (that’s what the RCB faithful call him) had flipped the narrative again, and the crowd found its voice… big time.Related

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Hazlewood has always been a frugal powerplay bowler, and it’s no different in the IPL. His high release points, because of which he generates the extra bounce, coupled with the subtle movement off the deck have often been a nightmare for batters. In IPL 2025, he has also been a death-bowling sensation.Entering the tournament, Hazlewood had bowled 141 balls in the death since the first time he played in the league in 2020. Off those, he picked up 13 wickets at an economy of 10.00. This season, he’s already bowled 59 balls in the death and picked up six wickets. Only Matheesha Pathirana (seven) has more wickets than him, while his economy of 8.23 is the third-best for any bowler with a minimum of five overs in the death.What’s crucial is that Hazlewood seems to have gotten a hang of the Chinnaswamy surface. He had a tough beginning here, going for a combined 83 runs in 6.5 overs in the first two games against Gujarat Titans and Delhi Capitals. But the rain-shortened game against Punjab Kings, where he almost broke open the game, helped him find a template.ESPNcricinfo LtdAgainst RR, 17 of the 24 deliveries that he bowled were short of a good length, which fetched him wickets of Yashasvi Jaiswal, Shimron Hetmyer and Jofra Archer. It wasn’t the easiest of starts for him here as well, with Jaiswal laying into him (26 off 11 balls), but Hazlewood stuck to that hard-length plan and hit the jackpot.”It’s just sticking to your strengths,” Hazlewood said after his four-wicket burst gave RCB their first win at home. “The bounce here has been quite steep throughout the whole tournament so far and that hard length was still hard to hit, so I was just about mixing it up with, you know, the odd yorker, the odd bouncer, change of pace, so the normal stuff, but it’s just the order in which you apply those balls.”I think for that six to eight metres [length], the strike rate was about 100. If you can hang around there more often than not, bring the batsman forward, without bowling the half-volley, I think that’s the way forward for us.”

“From 18 in the last two overs, it is very much in the batters’ favour and they should win the game from there. I think that almost relieves you a little bit”Josh Hazlewood

But what about the pressure when he is bowling to two set batters with the required rate only at nine an over? “I think it almost takes the pressure off to a degree,” Hazlewood said. “From 18 in the last two overs, it is very much in the batters’ favour and they should win the game from there. I think that almost relieves you a little bit.”[If] you have 25 or 27 to play with, then the pressure is on the bowling team. I felt that I could [be] nice and relaxed, stick to my strengths on this wicket. It was a hard ball to hit that back of a length and then mix it up with the odd yorker. So [I was] happy to execute that and sort of get monkey off the back of that first win at home.”While Hazlewood’s one-run 19th over will remain the talking point, his 17th over was equally important. With RR needing 46 off the last four overs, with six wickets in hand, he got the key wicket of Hetmyer and conceded just six. Those two overs, which went for just seven, softened the impact Bhuvneshwar’s 22-run over created.1:53

Are RCB looking good for the playoffs now?

“I think both those overs showed the class of the guy,” RCB head coach Andy Flower said after the game. “He’s a class operator and he’s a world-class bowler. He is great under pressure in any format of the game, he thinks clearly and he’s got great skill. I know he’s known for his heavy length bowling but he’s got some great all-round skills.”He mixes in those yorkers, wide yorkers, slower balls and he seems to know what type of ball to bowl at the right time. So it’s great having a guy like him in our side, in our squad and part of a very strong three-pronged attack.”Minutes after the dust had settled on the contest, and the players were congratulating each other, the cameras panned to Virat Kohli. There was a sheepish smile on his face as he jogged towards Hazlewood with childlike enthusiasm and then picked him up with the bowler breaking into a wide grin.Out of the 16 wickets Hazlewood has picked this season, 13 have come in the second innings with RCB defending a score. Not all these wickets have come in a winning cause, but in Hazlewood, RCB know they have a rare bowler who can be destructive in the powerplay and the death. Can he be the ticket to their maiden IPL trophy?

Liverpool head coach Arne Slot is expected to have retained the backing of FSG after a woeful start to the 2025/26 campaign, but the credit chequed into the bank is fast depleting as the champions flatter to deceive on the problem-solving front.

Soft, slow and stodgy, this is not the Liverpool we know. Slot’s Liverpool, last year, were a dangerous beast, so incisive and unforgiving as they secured toward the Premier League title.

But, nine losses from 14 matches in all competitions and just two wins from nine in the top flight have eradicated any hopes of challenging Arsenal for the trophy this season.

And it’s put Slot’s job on the line.

Why Liverpool could sack Arne Slot

Liverpool managed to avoid defeat at home against Sunderland on Wednesday evening, but the 1-1 draw, secured when Florian Wirtz’s fleet footwork forced an own goal from Nordi Mukiele late on, smacked of desperation.

You would be hard pressed to delineate Liverpool’s tactical identity under Slot’s wing this season. Their shape in the build-up. Their pressing patterns and attacking strategies.

It is damning that so much has been spent on strikers like Alexander Isak and Hugo Ekitike, and that number nine is a barren patch at Anfield, with the supply line proving ineffective.

Wirtz needs to do better, but there’s no question that he’s a world-class talent with so much potential yet untapped.

However, this breadth of quality at Slot’s disposal means he simply has to work out a formula for results and impressive performances, with both in short supply.

If the Dutch tactician fails to get a tune out of this squad of elite, big-money players, he will eventually be dismissed by FSG, who might already have their sights set on a replacement.

The perfect Slot replacement at Liverpool

Michael Edwards and sporting director Richard Hughes know they and Liverpool’s wider project will lose face if they have to dismiss Slot, but if push comes to shove, they might just do so if it means they can appoint Real Madrid manager Xabi Alonso.

Alonso, 44, acheived unprecedented success with Bayer Leverkusen, winning the Bundesliga as undefeated champions in 2023/24, claiming the DFB-Pokal title too.

This road led to the Santiago Bernabeu, the Spaniard joining the club he played so much football for during his playing career this summer.

However, Alonso also has quite the connection with Anfield, and given the troubles that are plaguing Los Blancos at the moment, FSG may well be primed to pounce if an opportunity to appoint this exciting Slot replacement materialises.

Liverpool did explore a move for Alonso after Jurgen Klopp announced he would be stepping down at the end of the 2023/24 campaign, but he was in the thick of his Leverkusen tenure and did not feel the time for a step-up was right.

His 3-4-2-1 formation is unconventional, but Crystal Palace manager Oliver Glasner has shown that such a set-up can work out in the Premier League, when in the right hands.

Given that Wirtz and Jeremie Frimpong worked under him in Germany, hitting such staggering heights, it could also prove the perfect appointment to get the best out of Liverpool’s immensely talented playmaker.

Wirtz, 22, has not hit the ground running at Liverpool, but the system has hardly opened its arms for such a player. In fact, most of Liverpool’s top players have foundered this season.

Even so, the German international ranks among the top 3% of attacking midfielders and wingers in the Premier League this season for shot-creating actions and the top 5% for passes attempted and progressive passes per 90, as per FBref.

Alonso will surely get a tune out of a player he described as “a genius” during their time with Die Werkself.

Wirtz once said that “working with Alonso is a dream”. He lived that dream, and he may do so again before long, with the Spanish manager sure to be at the top of FSG’s wishlist, if Slot is indeed sacked in the coming months.

Liverpool ace who's fallen off a cliff looks like "Fabinho in his final year"

Liverpool’s draw against Sunderland illustrated a litany of problems Slot is still dealing with.

By
Angus Sinclair

Dec 4, 2025

Left-arm seamer pulled out of County Championship fixture vs Middlesex on third morning

Matt Roller06-Jul-2021Amid the chaos of England’s first-choice ODI squad entering self-isolation on Tuesday morning, a handful of county stalwarts received news that they thought would never come. Danny Briggs was recalled after seven-and-a-half years since his last international appearance; John Simpson was given a first call-up as the back-up wicketkeeper at the age of 32; and David Payne struggled to hide his emotion after being named in an England squad for the first time.”This has been the dream for a long time,” Payne told Gloucestershire’s in-house channels at Cheltenham before leaving their County Championship game against Middlesex to link up with the new squad in Cardiff. “I’m not sure words can describe how I’m feeling – I’m ecstatic, and I can’t stop smiling. It’s everything everyone plays for, so to finally get that call is everything I ever wanted.”While a handful of players and support staff were reached last night, Payne was among those who only found out on Wednesday morning. “I had a missed call and a message on WhatsApp,” he explained. “I was down at breakfast and left my phone in the hotel room, so I came back and saw that.”The message said, ‘it’s Chris Silverwood, can you give me a call?’ Instantly, my heart was kind of racing and excited, thinking, ‘what’s this going to be?’ I tried to stay cool [and] thought I’d do my teeth and get ready to go to the ground and then give him a call. In the car he was ringing me again so I took the call again and he said can I join him down in Cardiff?Related

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“My initial reaction was a bit confused and I was thinking, ‘I’m in the middle of the game – what does this mean?’ [But] with replacements being allowed, it means that Dom [Goodman] could come in for me today so I could concentrate on going down and joining them.”I had absolutely no idea [about the outbreak]. Chris asked if I’d heard anything and honestly, I was completely oblivious to what was going on. [I’m] just thankful for the opportunity.”Payne is the only left-arm seamer in the squad, with Sam Curran, George Garton and David Willey all self-isolating and Reece Topley injured. While he is not guaranteed to start the series – several more regular squad members have been named in the group – the call-up is a reward for his consistency in both white-ball formats over a number of years: he has taken 110 wickets at 24.96 in his List A career, and 125 at 22.67 in T20.Payne was a regular for England at Under-19 level between 2009 and 2010 but has never been called up by the England Lions, and is one of four players in the new-look ODI squad – along with Jake Ball, Briggs and Simpson – who missed out on the 55-man training squad named at the start of the 2020 summer.”It’s amazing,” he said. “Probably the last thing I expected to happen this morning. I spent last night watching Jimmy Anderson’s spell with the red ball [for Lancashire against Kent] and was really excited turning up today to put a red ball in my hand and be out there for Glos.”To get the call from Chris Silverwood was the last thing I thought would happen this morning, but just the most amazing news for me. [I’m] completely ecstatic and can’t wait to get down there.”