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The selectors will have a big call to make after the early success of the Head-Weatherald combination

Alex Malcolm and Andrew McGlashan09-Dec-20251:00

Clarke: Not sure I’d go back to Khawaja

Australia coach Andrew McDonald has suggested that Usman Khawaja could be considered as a middle-order option in Adelaide after overcoming the back spasms that ruled him out of the Gabba contest as the selectors face a key decision over the batting line-upKhawaja’s return to fitness will create an intriguing conversation ahead of the third Test. He will turn 39 during the Adelaide Test and will be the first Australian Test player in 40 years to play at that age if selected.However, the success of Travis Head and Jake Weatherald at the top as created a conundrum. The new pair have shared two 70-plus stands in Perth and Brisbane in rapid time to take both games away from England. Australia had only had three half-century stands in their previous 14 Tests since David Warner retired, with Head involved in one of them with Khawaja in Sri Lanka.Related

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“It worked at this point in time,” McDonald said. “Pink-ball Test at the Gabba, we felt like that combination was right for those conditions and the opposition. We will always ask ourselves the question that the selection table as we move in. At our strategy meetings, we’ll continue to ask questions on what the best line-up is for that point in time. And we’re taking this Test by Test.”The assumption is that Uzzie can only open as well. So I think that he does have the flexibility. And we like to think that all our batters have the flexibility to be able to perform anywhere in that order. So we’ve got a collective sort of group of batters there that as a series wears on, the opposition may create some different challenges for us. We’re open to what it will look like for us moving forward.”Usman Khawaja didn’t recover in time for the second Test•Getty Images

Khawaja’s form was under scrutiny heading into the series – he is now averaging 31.84 since the end of the 2023 Ashes with one century in 45 innings – but he had been consistent for Queensland earlier in the season.When Khawaja was recalled to the Test side in early 2022 during the previous Ashes in Australia he came in at No. 5 when Head missed the SCG Test with Covid. Twin centuries made him undroppable and he moved up to open in place of Marcus Harris when Head returned.McDonald said that since that time there had not been consideration given to returning Khawaja to the middle order. Much of the focus after Warner’s retirement in early 2024 has been finding a partner for Khawaja, which was set to be Weatherald until Khawaja suffered back spasms in Perth.”He’s been a stable piece up there, so we haven’t discussed moving him previously,” McDonald said. “But we’re open to what the batting model would look like moving forward should there be any moving parts. Whether Trav opens, whether he goes back to the middle, that will all play out. We’re taking it Test by Test.”One of the themes of this season has been talk, led by McDonald and Pat Cummins, of potentially having flexible batting line-ups with both coach and captain believing set positions are over-rated.If Khawaja was to return it would be at the expense of Josh Inglis who batted at No. 7 at the Gabba where he made an uncertain 23. However, he pulled off a brilliant direct hit run out to remove Ben Stokes on the opening day.Australia’s squad is expected to be confirmed on Wednesday with Cummins set to be added to the 14 who were on duty in Brisbane ahead of a likely return for the captain.

Harry Kane has admitted he wants to win the Ballon d'Or and compared himself to Manchester City hitman Erling Haaland as the strikers battle for glory. Kane is one goal off matching Pele's international haul and will hope to match or better the Brazilian when England face Albania in their final World Cup qualifier on Sunday night as the Three Lions look to maintain their 100% record.

• Getty Images Sport
  

  Kane expected to start against Albania

  England have won all seven 2026 World Cup qualifiers following their 2-0 victory over Serbia on Thursday night. Arsenal pair Bukayo Saka and Eberechi Eze netted either side of half time to wrap up another three points at Wembley, as the Three Lions eased to next summer's showpiece.

  Thomas Tuchel's men have scored 20 goals in qualifying, of which Kane has netted six, and have the chance to make it eight wins from eight when they face off against Albania on Sunday evening. And with no other out-and-out striker in the squad, the 32-year-old has a great opportunity to add to that haul and go level with Pele for international goals.

  Pele scored 77 times for Brazil during a legendary career, while Kane sits on 76 for the Three Lions. The England skipper netted in the reverse fixture, a 2-0 win at Wembley back in March, and will feel confident about his chances of scoring against the Red and Blacks, who are guaranteed a play-off spot following their 1-0 victory at Andorra on Thursday.

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• 'To be around a name like Pele speaks for itself'

  Kane has confessed that he relishes reaching such milestones, stating: "To be around a name like Pele speaks for itself. Sometimes when you're in it, it's hard to process some of the names you're around or the things you're achieving. You just want to go onto the next one.

  "Hopefully to score tomorrow and go level with Pele, who had such an inspirational international career, just shows how far I've come through my career."

• Getty Images Sport
  

  Kane makes Ballon d'Or claim with '100 goals' warning

  Kane doesn't just have Pele's international goal record in his sights, but the Ballon d'Or, too. Ousmane Dembele won the 2025 accolade, pipping Barcelona star Lamine Yamal to the award after the Frenchman's role in PSG's Champions League triumph over Inter last season.

  The Bayern forward, who is England's leading marksman in history, insists he won't win the individual accolade, even if he scores '100 goals this season'. "I could score 100 goals this season but if I don't win the Champions League or the World Cup, you're probably not going to win the Ballon d'Or," Kane said.

  "It's the same with Erling Haaland, it's the same with any player. You have to be winning those major trophies. With the way the season is going as a team with Bayern Munich, it looks like we're in great shape.

  "It looks like we're one of the favourites for the Champions League, for sure. So that maybe makes the odds a little bit more in my favour. Same with England. I think we're going to go into the tournament as one of the favourites.

  "Whenever you are going into a year, like a World Cup year, there is a lot of excitement, a lot of talk, a lot of noise around everything. You have to try and stay focused on the now.

  "From my point of view, I've got six more weeks before I get a nice break. I am feeling good. And that break will help for us but hopefully if things go my way for club and country then I'm definitely going to be in the conversation for a trophy like the Ballon d'Or."

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• Haaland instrumental in Norway's qualifying campaign

  Haaland himself has been in sensational scoring form for both club and country this season. The 25-year-old has scored in all but two games for Manchester City and Norway in the 2025-26 campaign, failing to net in defeats to Tottenham and Aston Villa.

  The City star has been rampant for Stale Solbakken's side in qualifying having scored 14 goals with Norway on the cusp of reaching their first World Cup since 1998.

  Norway have won all seven matches so far and face Italy in their final round of qualifiers on Sunday night. The Azzurri have won six of their seven games, but would need to win 9-0 in Milan to pip Norway to top spot in Group I.

Ashley Giles, England’s director of cricket, said long-term fitness of the fast bowler was the priority as he also has further treatment on his elbow

Andrew Miller30-Mar-2021Jofra Archer’s participation in this year’s IPL will be decided later this week, following a bizarre incident prior to England’s tour of India, in which he dropped a tropical fish tank in his bath and suffered a cut middle finger on his right hand.The incident occurred at Archer’s flat in Hove in January, and although the finger healed sufficiently for him to take part in both the Test and T20I legs of the tour, the England management decided it would be prudent to investigate the wound properly after he flew home ahead of last week’s ODIs to undergo treatment on a long-term elbow injury.Ashley Giles, England’s director of cricket, told the BBC’s Tuffers and Vaughan show that Archer had undergone a successful operation on Monday, and confirmed that the reports about the nature of the injury were true.”This is going to sound like an awful conspiracy and I can see what’s going happen on Twitter as soon as I say this,” Giles said. “But, yeah, he was cleaning at home. He’s got a fish tank. He dropped the fish tank, cut his hand, and he’s been in surgery today.Related

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“He’s come out of it well. It was managed through India, he was treated when he arrived and it wasn’t an open wound on that finger. It didn’t stop him playing, but given he came home for an injection on his elbow, he went to a specialist because the finger was still a bit stiff.”They’ve operated and I think they found a small fragment of glass still in attendance. It obviously healed but there was part of the fish tank still in his finger. So, it was the right thing to do. We’ve got a clear window to do it as well. We wish him the best for his recovery but it’s true, it’s not a conspiracy.”Archer, who has a £800,000 contract with Rajasthan Royals, was named MVP at the most recent tournament in November, but was already due to miss the start of this year’s event, which gets underway on April 9, because of his elbow complaint.Jofra Archer managed both an elbow and finger injury in India•BCCI

The issue, which is not believed to be directly related to the elbow fracture he sustained on last year’s tour of South Africa, caused Archer to miss the second and fourth Tests of England’s 3-1 series defeat. Though he played in all five T20Is of their subsequent 3-2 loss, he required a cortisone injection to make it through the series, and underwent another round of treatment on his return to London.”At the front of our minds is making sure that Jofra’s fit and available to do what he does best, which is bowl quick and enjoy his bowling,” Giles said. “His elbow injury certainly stopped him from doing that, and through the T20 series, that condition worsened and he couldn’t play without some form of pain relief.”You have to manage these things carefully, because it’s a bit like his finger actually, it seems like a small thing, but his middle finger on his right hand is pretty important when you’re a fast bowler.”With a busy England schedule looming, the ECB and the Royals are expected to make a swift decision over Archer’s availability for the IPL. England’s itinerary includes five Tests against India and an Ashes tour of Australia next winter, as well as the T20 World Cup in India, for which Archer will be an integral part of their plans.”We need to manage the elbow carefully,” Giles said. “We’ve got a really good medical team. We don’t know what’s going to happen yet in this next couple of months. But our priority is to get both of these things right and get him back on the field.”Clearly, with what he does, there’s a lot of energy that goes through that area,” Giles added. “We need to try and manage it as conservatively as possible, because this is a really important area of the body for Jof.”We need to look after him first and foremost, but I’m pretty confident that he’ll be fine, he’ll be back as soon as he can.”

For every good India vs Pakistan cricket memory, there are many unpleasant ones. On Saturday, despite the world we live in, let’s all be heroes, for one day

Sidharth Monga13-Oct-2023Last night was the first in three that I went to sleep without fever. At around 4am, I woke up with fever, and a fever dream.I have had quite a few of these through the last three nights: repetitive, vivid, all-consuming, still extremely difficult to remember when I wake up with a parched throat. And yet I have been going back to the same dream when going back to sleep.I vaguely do remember meeting the ghost of a cricket match in my dream. I call it IP. Short for India vs Pakistan. IP has been extremely anxious, passing the anxiety on to me. Not that I am not anxious already. I don’t remember the conversations we have been having well enough to reproduce them verbatim, so please bear with my paraphrasing.Related

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One thing I clearly do remember saying to IP is that no recovery can begin until we accept that whatever has happened so far, wherever we are right now in life, was inevitable. That there is nothing anyone could have done to avoid that. That it is no one’s fault. Only then can we move on.Okay, it’s already working. Writing down things can help you remember. Now I remember why IP was anxious. They didn’t like what they had become. They just wanted to be a cricket match with great performances and memories.Memories of the time a whole country opened its arms and welcomed those from the other side, refusing to let them pay for food or clothes, showing them how well they had looked after the Nankana Sahib gurudwara left behind, opening their homes for their neighbours, comparing notes on dal makhni, butter chicken and mangoes, realising how little different they all were. Memories of the time one stand in one ground felt the best way to deal with the heartbreak they witnessed minutes ago was to applaud the opposition as the better side only for that emotion to catch on like wildfire and reverberate far beyond just the stands.Memories of even last year, when fans of both teams grooved together to outside the MCG, elevating the already popular song to a status very few pieces of art attain: a unifying force for nations at odds, which is quite befitting as the song at its heart is a lament of the writer of the song who couldn’t travel to India to collaborate on a project because of the world we live in.5:40

‘Once the first ball is bowled, everything is back to normal’

That night in Melbourne, India and Pakistan collaborated to play the most magical of T20Is that culminated in a last-ball finish and a roar that could be heard by my colleague Alex Malcolm’s partner at their home two suburbs away. You could see the afterglow of the match on the faces exiting the MCG. Now MCG has hosted massive footy games, but never yielded anything quite like it.All these memories almost made me feel better, but the , as IP duly went on to remind me, is that these memories have become aberrations with them. All the ugliness came back to mind. The burning stands just two Tests after Pakistan were given that standing ovation in Chennai in 1999. The stone-pelting at Indian fielders in Karachi 15 years before the two teams kickstarted that magical tour in 2004. For everything good that happens to them once in a while, said IP, there were tens of instances of ugliness, hate, jingoism, opportunistic politics and capitalism.Again, I asked, was it possible for things to have turned out any different? Or was it possible for the cricket rivalry to only have good memories? I mean, how many things would we have to wipe off for IP to remain a cricket match? The Partition of 1947. The war of 1965. Of 1971. Kargil 1999. The last is not a historical conflict even. Many survivors of it are still alive, they still think of the victims, of the horrors of a terrible time.I remember telling IP that for their own piece of mind, they have to accept things as they are. “You were never meant to be just a cricket match like other neighbours, say, Australia and New Zealand, play. You don’t get a choice in the matter. You were going to be the vehicle to legitimise – sometimes, just be able to express – our feelings that otherwise can’t even be acknowledged: hatred, anxiety, fears, revenge, pettiness, shame, guilt, love, joy, dreams, forgiveness, pain, reconciliation.”Along with the blue of India and green of Pakistan, these colours will be out in force come match time•Associated PressTo the best of my knowledge, till two days before the Pakistan match, only four Pakistanis outside the Pakistan team bubble were here for the match: commentators Waqar Younis and Ramiz Raja, statistician Mazher Arshad, and businessman-cum-super fan Bashir . On Thursday could come in journalist Shahid Hashmi and – on my flight from Delhi to Ahmedabad – PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf, his family and other delegates to a welcome befitting their status.Still it will hardly be India vs Pakistan in the stands. The of the world we live in!In my delirious state, I remembered a press conference of a BCCI official late in July where the official didn’t even want to talk about the protocols for fans to come.Even in a normal state, I wouldn’t know what to make of it. All I am thinking right now is what I think I told IP: it will be all right, have faith in Virat Kohli and Jasprit Bumrah, and Haris Rauf and Babar Azam. They will speak Punjabi to each other. They and their team-mates will play great cricket. They will rise above this again.It won’t quite be MCG but, as it has been on loop in my mind for the last three days, “Let everything happen to you: beauty and terror. Just keep going. No feeling is final.” That bit of poetry is written by Rainer Maria Rilke. In my head plays David Bowie’s . Let’s all be heroes. Just for one day.

With the pressure increasing on Chris Davies, Birmingham City chief Tom Wagner has flown in and will attend the Blues’ next game against Wrexham on Friday.

Davies admits "relief" after Sheffield Wednesday draw

After an impressive summer transfer window saw Birmingham welcome the likes of Kyogo Furuhashi and Demarai Gray, many expected them to be fighting for a place in the top six or perhaps even more in the Championship. So far, however, they’ve been sent plummeting back down to reality in ruthless fashion and sit routed to the middle of the pack.

On a run of one win in their last six games in all competitions, the pressure is increasing on Davies and he couldn’t help but admit the “relief” in his side’s dressing room after rescuing a late point against Sheffield Wednesday.

The manager is under unique pressure at a newly-promoted side after Birmingham’s summer spending and with Wagner set to attend the Wrexham game, a timeline for how long he might have left at the held has been reported.

When Birmingham could sack Chris Davies

As reported by Football Insider, Davies is under scrutiny at Birmingham, who will relieve him of his duties if they lose confidence that he can take them to the Premier League. Despite his achievements at St Andrew’s, Wagner and the rest of the Blues’ hierarchy would repeatedly not hesitate to make the decision if they deemed it necessary in the quest for promotion.

Three wins in eight games is hardly a record worthy of the Premier League but a lot could still change. Davies is still waiting for the likes of Kyogo to come good. The former Celtic star is certainly talented enough to be among the Championship’s best, yet has so far scored just once in 10 games in all competitions.

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It’s not good news…

By
Tom Cunningham

Oct 1, 2025

It must also be noted that Birmingham are asking Davies to do something that only Ipswich Town and four others have done in EFL history by achieving back-to-back promotions from League One to the Premier League. Whether Wagner and co. take that into account when watching this Friday’s Wrexham clash remains to be seen, however.

Keep up to date with all the movements around the counties ahead of the 2026 men’s county season

ESPNcricinfo staffKeep up to date with all the movements around the counties as preparations are made for the 2026 men’s county seasonDerbyshireIN: Matt Montgomery (Nottinghamshire)
OUT: David Lloyd (retired), Alex Thomson (released)
OVERSEAS: Caleb JewellDurhamIN: Kasey Aldridge (Somerset), Archie Bailey (Gloucestershire)
OUT: Mitchell Killeen (Essex), Paul Coughlin (Lancashire)
OVERSEAS:EssexIN: Mitchell Killeen (Durham), Zaman Akhter (Gloucestershire)
OUT: Nick Browne (retired), Adam Rossington, Jamal Richards (both released)
OVERSEAS: Simon HarmerGlamorganIN: Sean Dickson (Somerset)
OUT: Sam Northeast (Kent), Tom Bevan (released)
OVERSEAS: Colin IngramGloucestershireIN: Craig Miles (Warwickshire), Will Williams (Lancashire), Dawid Malan (Yorkshire)
OUT: Archie Bailey (Durham), Ajeet Singh Dale (Lancashire), Zaman Akhter (Essex), Dom Goodman (Sussex), Tom Price (Sussex), Josh Shaw (Somerset)
OVERSEAS: Cameron Bancroft, Gabe Bell (April-May), D’Arcy Short (T20)HampshireIN:
OUT: Keith Barker (Warwickshire), Benny Howell (Nottinghamshire), Joseph Eckland (released)
OVERSEAS: Kyle AbbottKentIN: Sam Northeast (Glamorgan), Matt Milnes (Yorkshire)
OUT: Jack Leaning (Sussex), Nathan Gilchrist (Warwickshire), George Garrett (retired), Marcus O’Riordan, Mohammed Rizvi (both released)
OVERSEAS: Keith DudgeonLancashireIN: Paul Coughlin (Durham), Ajeet Singh Dale (Gloucestershire)
OUT: Will Williams (Gloucestershire), Josh Boyden (released)
OVERSEAS: Marcus Harris, Chris Green (T20)LeicestershireIN: Stephen Eskinazi (Middlesex), Jonny Tattersall (Yorkshire), Josh Davey (Somerset), Ben Green (Somerset)
OUT: Louis Kimber (Northamptonshire), Chris Wright, Harry Swindells (both retired), Matt Salisbury, Roman Walker (both released)
OVERSEAS: Peter Handscomb, Keshav Maharaj (April-July)MiddlesexIN: Caleb Falconer (academy)
OUT: Stephen Eskinazi (Leicestershire)
OVERSEAS:NorthamptonshireIN: Louis Kimber (Leicestershire), Calvin Harrison (Nottinghamshire)
OUT: Freddie Heldreich (released)
OVERSEAS: Matthew Breetzke, Nathan McSweeney, Harry Conway (April-May), Yuzvendra Chahal (July-Sept)NottinghamshireIN: Benny Howell
OUT: Calvin Harrison (Northamptonshire), Matthew Montgomery (Derbyshire), Sammy King, Dane Schadendorf (both released)
OVERSEAS: Kyle Verreynne, Fergus O’Neil (April-June)SomersetIN: Josh Shaw (Gloucestershire)
OUT: Kasey Aldridge (Durham), Sean Dickson (Glamorgan), Josh Davey (Leicestershire), Ben Green (Leicestershire), Andrew Umeed (released)
OVERSEAS: Riley Meredith (T20), Migael PretoriusSurreyIN: Ralphie Albert (academy)
OUT:
OVERSEAS:SussexIN: Danny Briggs (Warwickshire), Jack Leaning (Kent), Dom Goodman (Gloucestershire), Tom Price (Gloucestershire)
OUT: Ari Karvelas, Bertie Foreman, Archie Lenham, Zach Lion-Cachet, Henry Rogers (all released)
OVERSEAS: Jaydev Unadkat (June-Sept)WarwickshireIN: Keith Barker (Hampshire), Nathan Gilchrist (Kent), Jordan Thompson (Yorkshire)
OUT: Danny Briggs (Sussex), Craig Miles (Gloucestershire), Moeen Ali (retired)
OVERSEAS: Beau Webster (April-July)WorcestershireIN:
OUT: Tom Hinley, Yadvinder Singh (both released)
OVERSEAS: Usama Mir (T20), Ben Dwarshuis (T20)YorkshireIN:
OUT: Matt Milnes (Kent), Jordan Thompson (Warwickshire), Jonny Tattersall (Leicestershire), Dawid Malan (Gloucestershire)
OVERSEAS:

Also: how did Suryakumar make it to the ODI World Cup squad?

Shashank Kishore05-Sep-20238:02

Jaffer: Would have preferred Tilak Varma in India’s squad

Kishan v Rahul: Who will win the race?

It’s a massive show of confidence from the selectors and team management to pick KL Rahul despite him having not played a competitive game since May. But this faith perhaps stems from knowing India have possibly four – if they make the final – Asia Cup games followed three ODIs against Australia to give him a decent run of games to test his readiness.As such, teams have a provision to change their squad without ICC’s clearance until September 28, by when the ODIs against Australia would’ve ended.Rahul’s utility as a wicketkeeper-batter in the middle order first took shape in January 2020 after Rishabh Pant was concussed. Rahul responded with a 52-ball 80 at No. 5 in India’s series-levelling win over Australia in Rajkot. After that series, Kohli was unequivocal in his support for Rahul and the need to give him more opportunities, both with the gloves and in the middle order before being judged.Related

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Kohli is no longer India’s captain, but Rahul continues to enjoy that support even from the current team management. Since January 2020, in 17 innings at No. 5, Rahul averages 56.53 and strikes at 99.45 with seven half-centuries and a hundred. However, the road back to No. 5 may not be straightforward.Chief selector Ajit Agarkar, too, didn’t quite reveal who the first-choice wicketkeeper will be. That’s because Ishan Kishan, the incumbent, has enhanced his credentials in recent times. Kishan not only brings in the left-handed element India’s top order currently lacks, especially with Tilak Varma out, but he has also shown versatility in batting anywhere as the team requires him to.2:21

‘There’s a possibility that both Rahul and Kishan can play together’

Opening the batting, he struck the fastest ODI double-ton in Bangladesh in December last year. More recently, he’s on a run of four consecutive half-centuries (three in the West Indies and one in the Asia Cup opener against Pakistan). The innings against Pakistan was particularly impressive as it was a rearguard effort under pressure at No. 5, a position he’d never batted in earlier. His 81-ball 82 in a century stand with Hardik Pandya lifted India from the depths of 66 for 4 against one of the world’s best limited-overs attacks currently.”It’s a good headache to have,” Agarkar said on Tuesday after announcing India’s World Cup squad. “Ishan played a lovely innings [against Pakistan]. He generally opens but you’d rather have that headache [over who the first-choice wicketkeeper will be] to deal with than not have it. When he comes [KL Rahul] there will be a conversation, but at least you have two options. The captain-coach will sit down and decide what’s best for the team on a given day. We’re happy to have two options who will fight for a place in the team than the other way round.”

Suryakumar pips Tilak

With Shreyas Iyer set to get enough game time at No. 4, India could’ve opted for one of Kishan or Rahul to also double up as the reserve batter too. This would’ve freed up a slot to pick a genuine offspinner, which Agarkar acknowledged can make a difference, or maybe even an extra seamer, like Prasidh Krishna.However, the selectors have opted for some batting insurance by picking Suryakumar Yadav – more on experience than recent form. As such, Suryakumar’s ODI numbers are middling. It’s something he himself touched upon as “not good enough” recently. Suryakumar has been part of India’s ODI set-up for over a year now, and averages in the mid-20s across 24 innings. In comparison, Tilak, who is part of the Asia Cup squad, is uncapped in the format and is only a handful of games old in international cricket.1:05

What’s the most gaping hole in India’s WC squad?

Can Axar and Jadeja feature in the same XI?

Axar Patel made his debut in 2014 and has played 52 ODIs till date. Out of these, only eight have featured both him and Ravindra Jadeja in the same XI. This is largely down to both being left-arm spinning allrounders who are seen as competitors for one spot in the XI.At this World Cup, there’s little doubt that Jadeja is an automatic shoo-in as the spin-bowling allrounder, potentially at No. 7. But because India want batting depth beyond No. 7 – a point Rohit seemed to stress on – there’s a realistic possibility of India having Jadeja atNo.7 and one of Axar or Shardul Thakur at No.8 based on conditions, in addition to Kuldeep Yadav as the frontline wristspinner.