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Two West Brom players are "in contention to start" the Championship clash with high-flying Ipswich Town this weekend, according to an update from reliable journalist Lewis Cox.

West Brom injury news

The Baggies return to action after the international break with a huge game on Saturday evening, as Ipswich make the trip to the Hawthorns for an eye-catching meeting. Carlos Corberan's side find themselves sitting in seventh place and just outside the playoff positions going into the game, and they will be tested up against one of the most impressive teams in the division, with Ipswich currently second on goal difference behind leaders Leicester City.

It hasn't been plain sailing in the fitness department for West Brom of late, however, with Corberan having to make do without a number of key players. John Swift and Josh Maja are two individuals who have been unavailable – the latter has been absent for a number of months – while Jeremy Sarmiento is another who has been out injured.

With kickoff on Saturday now fast approaching, a key update has now emerged for the Baggies regarding the involvement of certain players in the weekend action.

West Brom's double injury boost

Taking to X, reporter Cox claimed that both Swift and Maja could start for West Brom' against Ipswich on Saturday, acting as a major boost for Corberan.

"John Swift and Josh Maja in contention to start, Carlos Corberan reveals. Certainly available to feature on Saturday. Diangana fine after DR Congo fear."

This is great news for West Brom, who will need as many key players as possible available this weekend, in what is one of the biggest tests of their season to date. Ipswich may only have been promoted from League One last season, with few expecting them to be near the top of the table, but they continue to excel under Kieran McKenna, who previously managed Manchester United's Under-18s and was an assistant at Old Trafford after that.

It remains to be seen if Corberan will put Swift and Maja straight back into the starting lineup, but it could be a surprise if that was the case, given their lack of football and the calibre of their opponents on Saturday.

The importance of Swift to this West Brom side cannot be downplayed, though, which could give the manager a reason to start him. The 28-year-old scored in both Baggies matches before his injury in October, against Sheffield Wednesday and Birmingham City.

John Swift

6

Brandon Thomas-Asante

5

Matt Phillips

3

Grady Diangana

2

Jed Wallace

2

Semi Ajayi

2

Kyle Bartley

2

Meanwhile, Maja is someone who is still waiting for his Hawthorns career to ignite, with the 24-year-old only managing five appearances for West Brom to date, seeing injuries stunting his progress. He is someone whose end product could end up being vital to his side's promotion hopes as the season goes on, whether that be from the start or the substitutes' bench. It will be fascinating to see how the Baggies fare against Ipswich, with a win suggesting that promotion to the Premier League could be very possible this season.

Top-order batsman Will Fraine has left Nottinghamshire to sign a three-year contract with his home county

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Oct-2018Yorkshire have signed Will Fraine on a three-year contract. Fraine, a top-order batsman, made 11 appearances for Nottinghamshire during 2018 after signing a summer contract.Fraine was previously involved with Yorkshire’s age-group teams, and captained Durham’s MCCU team. He has been described as “a medium to long-term signing” by Yorkshire’s director of cricket, Martyn Moxon, with the club looking to rebuild after a difficult season.Notts, who have signed established batsmen Ben Slater, Ben Duckett and Joe Clarke for 2019, had offered the 22-year-old a new contract but Fraine has chosen to return to his home county.”There’s always that pull of being a Yorkie lad,” Fraine said. “All my friends speak of one day playing for Yorkshire. I never thought it would happen because I made my own way elsewhere.”It was a difficult decision but the opportunities and the place where the club is going, was too much of a pull. Settling back in with the lads that I’ve known growing up makes me very happy with the decision I’ve made.”Yorkshire have a rich history and, despite the supporters and club being aware of transition, with the new talent they’ve brought in and the existing quality that is already there, it could be a really exciting place to be within the next two or three years.”After recovering to finish fifth in the Championship, Yorkshire face a transitional period with a number of players coming and going. Opener Alex Lees has departed for Durham, while Liam Plunkett and Jack Brooks left for Surrey and Somerset respectively – although the club were buoyed by Adil Rashid signing a new one-year deal.On Fraine’s signing, Moxon said: “He’s a talented young batsman. He’s very much someone with the future in mind and hopefully he’ll develop in to an outstanding cricketer for us. He’s Yorkshire born and bred and has been in our system as a junior, so it’s good to have him back. He’s looking forward to getting back here with us and we’re looking forward to having him back with us.”We’re trying to build a squad for now and for the future. He’s a medium to long-term signing for us. He’s going to be challenging for places for us but there’s no guarantees. We see him as someone for the future and we’re building up a group of really good young batsmen that we’ll see the best of in coming years.”

Winning the European Championship and reigning victorious over the continent is something only a select group of nations can boast.

England are yet to do it and the Germans haven’t done it in nearly 30 years, showing just how difficult it can be.

The Three Lions have come close in the past two tournaments, being beaten in the final by Italy in 2021 and Spain in 2024.

But who are the best champions in the competition’s history? Football FanCast has decided to take a trip down memory lane and rank every team to win the tournament since the inaugural edition in 1960.

17 Italy – 1968

One of the very early European Championships back in 1968 saw the Italians pick up their first of two triumphs in this tournament.

Solely for the fact that Italy only made it through to the final thanks to the flip of a coin in the semi-finals after they played out a stalemate with the Soviet Union on the field, this team has to be rock bottom.

The final tournament only consisted of four teams, with England among the qualifiers after seeing Spain off over two legs. The Three Lions were beaten by Yugoslavia before securing third place in a play-off against the Soviet Union.

Meanwhile, Italy, who still had to qualify despite having hosting rights – this was chosen once the finalists had been confirmed – came from behind to beat Bulgaria in their quarter-final play-off to make the final four.

With penalty shootouts not existing until the 1970s, a coin toss gave Italy a shot at glory on home soil. A late equaliser set up a replay against Yugoslavia, and just two days later, the Italians prevailed 2-0 to claim their first European crown.

16 Portugal – 2016

Bringing it back to the modern era with a Portuguese team who weren’t expected to go all the way, in truth. Cristiano Ronaldo was of course their poster boy, but after suffering an injury during the final, he spent the remainder of the night doing Fernando Santos’ job for him on the touchline. Eder’s goal in the final was thrilling, though they never really blew anyone away.

This was best demonstrated by the fact that they only won one game within 90 minutes – their semi-final victory over Wales. Of course, this Portugal team is perhaps best known for winning the tournament despite drawing all three of their group games and scraping through as one of the best third-placed teams, having finished behind Hungary and Iceland in Group F.

A shootout victory over Poland and extra-time triumphs over Croatia and France in the final saw them write their way into footballing folklore in the most underwhelming of manners.

15 Soviet Union – 1960

The first European Championship – then known as the European Nations’ Cup – took place in France in 1960, where the Soviet Union prevailed as the inaugural winners.

Not that it is necessarily their fault, but with the tournament being much smaller and there being fewer teams in the finals (four), it is hard to put them in the same conversation as some of the more recent teams who have had to play up to seven times on their way to victory.

Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union went toe-to-toe in the final at the Parc des Princes in the French capital. It was the former who took the lead, before the Soviet Union hit back through Slava Metreveli and Viktor Ponedelnik’s winner in extra-time.

14 Denmark – 1992

Denmark’s triumph in 1992 as the ultimate dark horse has to go down as one of the greatest achievements in men’s international football.

Manchester United goalkeeper Peter Schmeichel played a major role in his country’s success whilst midfielder Henrik Larsen was joint top-scorer along with three others.

This victory is made all the more remarkable when one considers that the Danes didn’t originally qualify to take part. It was only after Yugoslavia were removed from the tournament due to the breakup of the country amid the outbreak of war that Denmark – second to Yugoslavia in their qualifying group – earned their spot, and they certainly grabbed this unlikely opportunity.

The tournament also saw the end of the backpass rule, which the Danes were all too keen to exploit – leaving them lower on this list than their victory perhaps merits.

13 Italy – 2020

Italy are the first team to feature on this list more than once and their success three years ago isn’t this low down solely because it was England that they beat in the final.

That may play a minor role, but it has more to do with the fact that whilst they were a good side that scored seven unanswered goals in the group stages, they didn’t really reach the heights of a great team, having sneaked their way to victory with just one win inside 90 minutes in the knockout stages – albeit an impressive one against Belgium.

The Azzurri won’t care whether they were good or great given that they got their hands on the trophy, and on top of that, it has to be said that they had some excellent performers including the likes of Federico Chiesa, Nicolo Barella, Leonardo Spinazzola and Gianluigi Donnarumma.

12 Spain – 1964

Our journey through time takes another major leap as we arrive in 1964, the year of the competition’s second edition.

This was the first time that Spain were able to complete a whole campaign after they were booted from the previous tournament for their refusal to face the Soviet Union four years prior whilst under the rule of Francisco Franco.

Luis Suarez was the star player for the Spaniards in ’64 and so whilst again, there were limited matches in comparison to the modern game, the Euros still bore witness to some true excellence from one of the very best.

11 West Germany – 1980

When combining the exploits of West Germany and the unified nation of Germany as they are now, it is a tie between them and Spain for the most trophies.

The second of two as West Germany came in 1980 – they beat Belgium in the final in the ancient city of Rome thanks to a brace from Horst Hrubesch, who has recently managed Germany Women and the Hamburg men’s side.

Hrubesch was second in the scoring charts for his country and the overall tournament as Klaus Allofs was the only man to reach a tally of three.

This side have ended up in the middle of the pack due to the fact that they weren’t exactly blowing any teams away – they won three of their four matches by a single goal alongside a goalless draw with Greece. Nevertheless, they still seized a great opportunity and earned a coveted European Championship title after seeing off the likes of the Netherlands and then-reigning champions Czechoslovakia along the way.

10 Germany – 1996

Sticking with Die Mannschaft as they won their third title in 1996.

After beating England in the semi-finals following Gareth Southgate’s miss from the penalty spot, the Czech Republic awaited the Germans at Wembley.

Patrik Berger, formerly of Liverpool, opened the scoring in the final with a penalty of his own. Oliver Bierhoff scored his only two goals of the tournament on the biggest stage, the first levelling things up and then the second being a momentous golden-goal winner in extra-time.

Having seen off the likes of England, Italy, Croatia and the Czech Republic (twice), it is hard to begrudge them their place as one of the better championship-winning teams.

9 Czechoslovakia – 1976

Czechoslovakia weren’t the most spectacular of teams and certainly weren’t the favourites in 1976, but for one moment alone that was truly iconic, they deserve to be remembered fondly.

This moment in question is of course the chipped finish from the penalty spot that decided the final in their favour which has now come to bear a certain name.

Antonin Panenka did something so audacious and unexpected that he is now etched into the history books of the sport, with the Panenka name carrying such significance for this action from 12 yards out alone.

8 Spain – 2024

Spain won their third European Championship in 2024, winning all seven games on their way to the trophy.

Having been dumped out of the World Cup by Morocco in 2022, La Roja had something of a point to prove as they jetted off to Germany 18 months later – and they certainly did that.

They won all their group games without conceding a goal, but came alive during the knockout stages. They came from behind to smash tournament newcomers Georgia before a dramatic 119th-minute winner saw off hosts Germany in the last eight.

Their tournament truly came alight in the semi-final stage with arguably the moment of the competition, with 16-year-old Lamine Yamal scoring one of the greatest goals in European Championship history to equalise against France, before Dani Olmo’s goal set up a grand final against England.

Spain’s winning experience appeared to serve them well as they defeated the Three Lions in Berlin to secure a third European crown in five attempts, with this iteration of the team hugely impressive and looking like favourites to defend their title in 2028.

Like father like son.

The New York Yankees made a splash on the trade market Tuesday when they acquired Chicago Cubs outfielder and first baseman Cody Bellinger plus $5 million in cash in exchange for pitcher Cody Poteet.

Cody won't be the first Bellinger to don the Yankee pinstripes. His father, Clay Bellinger, played for the Yankees from 1999 to '01, appearing in 181 total games for New York.

Clay played four seasons in the MLB, which includes a brief stint with the Anahem Angels after his time in the Bronx.

After Cody was dealt to the Yankees on Tuesday, the MLB posted a clip of Clay's first home run in the big leagues.

Clay hit a shot to left field and proceeded to circle the bases to a standing ovation from fans at the old Yankee Stadium.

Now, in just a few short months, Clay will get to walk down memory lane as he watches his son play in the same uniform. He wore No. 35 for the Yankees, a number which isn't retired and is currently available. Cody wore No. 35 in his first six seasons with the Los Angeles Dodgers but wore No. 24 in his two seasons with the Cubs. We'll see if he picks up his dad's old jersey once he hits the Bronx.

The 's Sarah Langs posted that Clay and Cody Bellinger will be the fourth father-son duo to both wear the Yankee pinstripes.

The Yankees trade for Cody comes after the team missed out on the Juan Soto sweepstakes after he signed a 15-year, $765 million contract with the crosstown rival New York Mets.

According to  Bob Nightengale, Bellinger will play center field for the Yankees, sliding American League MVP Aaron Judge over to right.

In three months’ time begins the road to the ODI World Cup in India and Gill might already be on it

Sidharth Monga23-Aug-20223:01

Takeaways: Gill and Axar’s steady progress in ODIs

The last three runs felt like they would take forever to get. A heart-stopping lbw appeal where a faint inside edge saved him but his partner Ishan Kishan ran himself out. Then an inside edge that missed the stumps and brought him a single. Then Deepak Hooda got out to a beauty from Brad Evans. The hundred finally came up serenely with a single through the covers, in the third ODI.Sweet relief for Shubman Gill, but not as though he was getting desperate for it. In fact, he sent back his good bat when he reached 50 in order to ration it. The remaining 80 runs came with a bat that was a little less special although in the 90s Gill did get conscious that he had been there twice before in international cricket without actually getting to a hundred.Related

• Serene Gill strengthens his case as India's back-up opener in ODIs

• Gill's 130 trumps Raza's heroic 115 as rattled India make it 3-0

Hard as it is to believe but at the age of 22, a maiden international hundred for Gill has been a long time coming. It is a testament to Gill’s skill and potential that it has seemed to observers that it has been too long to get to three figures even though it has been just 11 Tests (where he is yet to get the role he is best suited for: middle order) and nine ODIs. He is after all a batter who left Virat Kohli in awe: “I was not even 10% as good as he is at this age.”Almost every time he has played an ODI, though, Gill has looked like he can get one. This one has brought him his second-consecutive Player-of-the-Series award. The quality of bowling he has faced is what it is but there are early unmistakable trends in how Gill has batted.Just like with Kohli, 50 overs is the format that comes the most naturally to Gill. So it is fitting that his first international century has come in an ODI. He is a traditionalist in that he seeks to eliminate risk from his batting. As he told the host broadcaster, “I was just trying to minimise the dot-ball percentage. If you look at my innings, I didn’t try to hit the ball. I just tried to time and tried to pick the gaps as much as possible.”This risk aversion sometimes keeps him from realising his potential in T20 cricket, but Gill is not your typical top-order batter who will score hundreds at an even pace in ODIs. Even in T20s, his least strong format, Gill doesn’t let spinners bowl. In ODIs, his strike rate in the middle overs is 112.22 as opposed to just 85.95 in the powerplay.Shubman Gill thoroughly enjoyed himself out in the middle•AFP/Getty ImagesIf Gill keeps this up against better attacks – there’s every indication he will albeit at a lesser frequency – he will just be the natural evolution of the India ODI run machine: similar efficiency with added dynamism. As Axar Patel said at the post-match press conference, Gill sweeps, reverse-sweeps and doesn’t mind the odd big hit in the middle overs.”The way he plays, ones and twos keep coming,” Axar said of Gill. “He doesn’t play many dot balls. That is his biggest positive. He keeps taking ones and twos and then converts the bad balls into boundaries. He plays spin very well. When there are five fielders in the circle in the middle overs, he uses sweep and reverse-sweep well to keep getting boundaries.”Zimbabwe’s attack might not be the toughest India will face but the conditions were not the easiest. Early-morning starts in this series have given the chasing teams a huge advantage. India won all three tosses and decided to challenge themselves by batting first in the dead rubber.Just take a look at what happened at the other end. Shikhar Dhawan, KL Rahul, and Ishan Kishan all struggled to time the ball because of the moisture-induced tackiness in the pitch. While Gill scored 130 off 97 balls, the other batters managed just 149 in 204 balls.In three months’ time begins the road to the ODI World Cup in India. Gill might already be on it.

If you were a schoolboy in Gloucestershire in the 1970s, there was no question who you wanted to be

John Inverdale16-Jul-2008

Procter comes “crashing down on the wrong foot” © The Cricketer International
There are probably a lot of men in their forties and fifties walking around the country these days with bad postural problems and inflamed tendons, all because of Mike Procter.If you were a schoolboy interested in cricket in Gloucestershire during the 1970s, and you were interested in cricket, you wanted to be Mike Procter. No disrespect to Zaheer Abbas or Sadiq Mohammad or any of the other local boys but Gloucestershire was called Proctershire with good reason. He was as talismanic a figure as you could get with bat and ball, and the best thing about him was he bowled in such a ridiculous way – front on, off the wrong foot, and fast, really fast.Which is probably why so many of us are permanently damaged; it was a lot more interesting going into the nets at school and trying to bowl like Proccy, even if it meant you fell over half the time and every other ball was a full toss. And how much fun was it trying to work out the run-up with one extra or one fewer pace, so that you came crashing down on the wrong foot?There must be orthopaedic surgeons the length and breadth of the land who have made money out of Procter impersonators. But one day above all stands out – never to be forgotten for two reasons. I was thoroughly mature by this time, and more interested in girls, music and drink at university in Southampton than perfecting my Procter run-up when Gloucestershire played Hampshire in the semi-finals of the 1977 Benson and Hedges Cup. The Sex Pistols were singing “God Save the Queen” but there were not too many punks with safety pins through their noses and chessboard hair of orange and green inside the county ground for the game.Barry Richards and Procter – the two great South Africans isolated by apartheid – were in direct opposition. Gordon Greenidge was there too. Is it a sign of age that just by mentioning their names you are transported back to another time and the hairs really do bristle on the back of your neck?If you are of that vintage, you will know what happened. Procter took four wickets in five balls, including a hat-trick. It was probably the most exciting thing I’ve ever seen on a cricket field – or at least partly saw, because the summer of ’77 was a proper summer and, while not as warm as the previous two, provided a pollen fiesta. Until that semi-final I had no idea I suffered from hay fever, but as the day progressed and the pollen did whatever pollen does, I started sneezing relentlessly and irritatingly for those surrounding me in the stand. There are only so many times you can apologise and mid-way through Procter’s demolition of the Hampshire line-up I was forced to bail out of my seat and position myself behind the stand, allowing the crowd to tell me what was going on. There must be orthopaedic surgeons the length and breadth of the land who have made money out of Procter impersonators Since that afternoon I have never been to a cricket match without the necessary medication but on that particular day the pollen did to me what Proccy did to Hampshire.Given the job that I have been lucky enough to do now for nearly 25 years, it is perhaps one of those strange quirks of fate that I have never met him, and in a funny way I do not want to. Mike Procter will always be to me the tousle-haired blond bombshell flying in to deliver unplayable deliveries – not an ICC official as he now is.I read a great deal about the criticism he received for imposing the three-match ban on Harbhajan Singh during the series against Australia and got progressively more cross. I mused about redressing the balance in my column in the . And then I wondered why I was getting so aggravated and I realised it was because one of my teenage heroes was being lampooned so unfairly.Perhaps those kind of irrational loyalties are best left in their own time and space. This was indeed the summer of John Lydon and the Silver Jubilee, and if the iPod had been invented, mine would have played Fleetwood Mac’s every hour of every day. But it was also the summer that Mike Procter did for me what Botham did for others in ’81 and Andrew Flintoff for the new power generation in 2005. For that he remains one of the figures that defines a period of my life. And so long as we never meet, he will be forever young.

Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta is reportedly planning to convince one "remarkable" player to join him in the north London.

Who have Arsenal signed 2023?

Arteta's side, in their bid to challenge for the Premier League title once again, put pen to paper on deals for club-record signing Declan Rice, versatile Netherlands defender Jurrien Timber, forward Kai Havertz and goalkeeper David Raya for a total of around £200 million or more.

Going the other way, Arsenal shipped out Folarin Balogun, Granit Xhaka, Matt Turner, Auston Trusty, Pablo Mari, Kieran Tierney, Rob Holding, Nuno Tavares, Marquinhos, Nicolas Pepe, Ainsley Maitland-Niles and Albert Sambi Lokonga on either loan or permanent deals.

These acquisitions have proved fruitful so far, even if Havertz has been subject to fierce criticism and Timber is out for most of the campaign with an ACL injury. Raya has gone on to usurp long-reigning number one goalkeeper Aaron Ramsdale between Arteta's sticks, while Rice is slowly but surely justifying his mammoth £105 million price tag.

The Gunners are unbeaten over their first six league games, winning four of them, and next take on Bournemouth today as they seek to keep chase with the division's heavy-hitters.

What's the latest Arsenal transfer news?

Regardless of their lavish spending over the summer, it has been reported that Arsenal have one eye on January, and one player they've been heavily, heavily linked with is Brentford star Ivan Toney. The England striker, who is currently serving a ban till mid-January for alleged gambling breaches, is subject to intense interest across the Premier League.

Chelsea and Tottenham have been named as other suitors for Toney after his brilliant 20-goal league haul last season, form which resulted in high praise from his manager Thomas Frank.

“Ivan is amazing in many, many aspects,” Frank said earlier this year.

“The way he copes with pressure and distractions is amazing. He’s been scoring goals, performing for the team and driving the team. He’s remarkable. I can only talk about the Ivan that I see every day around the place and he’s a fantastic person around the group. He’s got that unique emotional intelligence to be aware of all the players, and every staff member."

The 27-year-old is said to be a personal favourite of Arteta's, according to reporter John Cross of The Daily Mirror, who has an update on Toney's potential move to the Emirates Stadium. According to his information, Arsenal's manager is personally planning to "convince" Toney to join Arsenal by making him a priority target.

Arteta will apparently be hopeful this can sway him to their part of north London over fellow interested sides (Chelsea and Spurs named again), but Arsenal may have to sell players first. Brentford will demand a minimum of £60 million for Toney, a figure which the Gunners could be wary of given Financial Fair Play. Any proposed makeweights will be a struggle to find, according to Cross, as options like Eddie Nketiah and Emile Smith Rowe are both committed to making it at Arsenal.

Nevertheless, Arteta has a plan to tempt Toney, and it's by showing making the striker Arsenal's "outstanding choice" in the winter.

The wicketkeeper-batsman, who had recovered from a thumb injury he picked up earlier, has been advised to not even lift a bat for two months

Sidharth Monga19-Jul-2018

Wriddhiman Saha during a break in play•AFP

Wriddhiman Saha, India’s first-choice Test wicketkeeper, will be out of action for at least two months with a shoulder injury. His injured shoulder will soon be assessed to see if it requires a surgery. As of now he has been advised to not even lift a bat for two months. The India selectors and the BCCI, however, had never made it public that Saha had recovered from the thumb injury he picked up earlier this year, and that it was this serious shoulder injury that was keeping him sidelined.This injury – which could even put him in doubt for the Australia tour – caps what has been an extremely disappointing year for Saha, who will be 34 by the time India travel to Australia later this year. After he scored 0 and 8 in the first Test of the year, against South Africa in Cape Town, he suffered a hamstring injury and was sent home. During the IPL he had injured his thumb, which was believed to be the reason for his missing the Afghanistan Test.A BCCI press release in June had said: “Saha suffered an injury to his right thumb while playing for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the VIVO IPL Qualifier 2 against Kolkata Knight Riders on 25th May, 2018 at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata. He was under observation by the medical staff of the BCCI and the management has decided to give him adequate rest before the start of the England Test series. Saha’s recovery period is expected to be around five to six weeks.”What has followed raises more questions over the BCCI’s handling of injuries, its communication regarding injuries, and, more importantly, over the National Cricket Academy (NCA) in Bengaluru where Saha was undergoing the rehabilitation. It is learnt that the NCA medical team communicated to the BCCI that Saha will need five to six weeks of rehabalitation; it now looks like it might take five to six months.The BCCI didn’t help matters by withholding the information that a shoulder injury – much more serious than the thumb one – existed when Saha was not picked for the Afghanistan Test. India’s injury management has been under the scanner with Bhuvneshwar Kumar already ruled out of the first three Tests in England. Bhuvneshwar, whose workload was managed during the IPL because of a back condition, was cleared to play all three formats on the long tour of England. The injury resurfaced during the ODIs; he missed the first two matches but aggravated the injury when playing in the final ODI, a day before the Test selection.Curiously the chairman of the selection committee still believes Saha is out with a thumb injury. “Saha’s recovery from a fractured right thumb hasn’t been satisfactory. He hasn’t responded well enough to the rehab at the National Cricket Academy, in Bengaluru. At this moment, therefore, Saha is uncertain for all five Tests, not just the first three,” chief selector MSK Prasad was quoted as saying by the .

Bangladesh’s interim head coach hopes for a big performance from Mustafizur Rahman and his spinners; says Shakib’s inclusion subject to a fitness test

Andrew Fidel Fernando in Colombo15-Mar-2018Bangladesh’s batsmen, led by Mushfiqur Rahim, have had their moments, but the bowlers have underwhelmed. So said stand-in coach Courtney Walsh on the eve of his side’s must-win encounter against Sri Lanka. In their previous match, Bangladesh had conceded 79 runs in a definitive six-over period against India. Even in the game they won, they conceded 214.There has been one bright spark in their attack, however, and this time it is not the young left-armer with the magic wrists. It is Rubel Hossain who has been Bangladesh’s best, maintaining an economy of 8.22 in three matches. Along the way, he has picked up four wickets. One of those was the wicket of Shikhar Dhawan, who was bowled by perhaps the ball of the tournament so far: a late-swinging, yorker that zipped past Dhawan’s outside edge and flattened middle stump.”Rubel has been very consistent,” Walsh said. “If the other guys stepped up, it would give us a little more cushion. I would be lying if I said I thought we bowled well. We have bowled okay, but not as well as we can. The improvement is coming, but not as quickly as we would like. If we can put it all together, it will be a big plus for us in Friday’s game.””Spinners also have not been as spot-on as we like them to be. They have had good patches. But if everyone did their bit, it will give us a very good chance.”Among those who have under-performed at the Nidahas Trophy has been Mustafizur Rahman, whose 12 overs have gone at 9.75 runs apiece, though he has also taken four wickets in the competition. His cutters have been only sporadically effective on Khettarama decks that have atypically failed to reward revolutions on the ball.Friday’s virtual semi-final will be played on a fresh pitch, which means that seam and swing may be more reliable fast-bowling weapons than cutters. “Someone like Mustafizur Rahman having a good game will help us tremendously,” Walsh said. “I am hoping he can step up to the plate in this crucial game. I know he can. He had some fantastic games in PSL so it is a case of turning it around here. One game can make a difference. It could be his game, or another bowler’s game, but we’re hoping that he comes good.”The attack would appear to have been bolstered with news that Shakib Al Hasan is joining the team ahead of this game, but Walsh was reluctant to suggest Shakib is a certainty for the playing XI. Though he will be with the team in the approach to the game, Shakib is expected to take a fitness test for his injured finger that has kept him out since mid-January.”He is on his way. Like any other player he will be assessed. If he is fit, someone of his class and calibre will be considered to play.”

Bob Costas is on the call for the American League Division Series between the New York Yankees and Kansas City Royals along with Ron Darling. During Game 2, which was broadcast on TBS, truTV and MAX, the legendary announcer's microphone was hot while Angel Zerpa stood on the mound waiting to deliver a pitch.

That's when Costas learned he had to read a promo for CNN and judging from his reaction, there was something wrong with that for some unknown reason?

"A CNN promo," Costas wondered aloud. Then, after about 10 seconds of silence he added, "That puts me in a difficult spot."

Why a CNN promo might put Costas in a difficult spot is a mystery. CNN is owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, the same company that owns Turner Sports. Plus, Costas joined CNN as a contributor in 2020.

Based on all that it seems like some weird misunderstanding, but who knows. Let's just hope we find out what's going on at CNN before the series ends.