da 888casino： Derby County will know that Pride Park needs to continue being a fortress this season if they want to safely secure their Championship status come the end of the gruelling 46-game campaign.

da jogodeouro： The Rams have picked up an impressive nine points so far from six matches, with three wins and three losses next to their name, as all the victories tallied up to date have come on their own patch.

Paul Warne will be hoping that his team don’t over-rely on their home form to get them out of trouble, however, but will be pleased with his side’s start all the same, with Kayden Jackson, in particular, standing out with his displays up top.

Jackson's form this season

Supporters that pack out Pride Park week in week out will already be heralding Jackson as a top buy, with the former Ipswich Town attacker costing the Rams nothing to get in through the door this summer, after his Tractor Boys contract had expired.

The experienced EFL forward, who has amassed 71 second tier appearances across his varied career to date, has netted three goals already this season in all competitions, which included this powerful strike against Bristol City finding the back of the net to send the Derby home masses into pandemonium.

He has fluffed his lines in Derby’s last two Championship encounters, with Jackson only managing a lacklustre 26 touches last time out versus Sheffield United in a 1-0 defeat, but plenty more will be expected of him as the season goes on and clashes become more meaningful.

Derby would love to have this former striker back on their books to aid Jackson up top, to alleviate some of the pressure on the former Ipswich man’s shoulders, with the ex-star in question now on the books at League One Wrexham who are taking the third tier by storm.

Marriott's form this season

That former hero is Jack Marriott, who is most widely known in Derby quarters to this day as the striker who bagged the Rams’ only strike in the 2019 Championship playoff final, when facing off against Dean Smith’s Aston Villa.

Where Are They Now

Your star player or biggest flop has left the club but what are they doing in the present day? This article is part of Football FanCast's Where Are They Now series.

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Villa would, unfortunately, get the better of Derby 2-1 come the end of the entertaining final, as Frank Lampard’s side had to take their Premier League near miss on the chin, with an energetic Marriott then struggling to ever recapture his best form donning a Rams strip after this moment in the Wembley spotlight.

Marriott’s record since leaving Derby

Club played for

Games

Goals

Assists

Sheffield Wednesday

13

0

0

Peterborough United

58

16

2

Fleetwood Town

48

13

2

Wrexham

25

5

0

Sourced by Transfermarkt

Marriott has become a well-travelled presence up and down the EFL since his exit from Pride Park, which saw him leave for nothing in 2021 to move to Peterborough, but it’s his impressive form for Wrexham this campaign so far that has really caught the eye.

The 30-year-old has actually outscored Jackson at the Racecourse Ground, with four goals managed for the Red Dragons from eight games in all competitions, as the experienced attacker even picked up the League One Goal of the Month accolade for this sublime effort versus Wycombe Wanderers last month.

The much-talked-about Welsh outfit will just pray that Marriott can keep up this early electric form as back-to-back promotions begin to be eyed up, with the ex-Derby man even a previous golden boot winner at the level – having been hailed as “top class” by former boss Lampard.

If Marriott does continue to fire in goal after goal, Wrexham and Derby might well even face off against each other next season, if Warne’s men also manage to stave off relegation.

It will be an intriguing race to keep tabs on to see who scores the most goals for their respective outfit, with Derby banking on the fact that their shrewd buy can remain consistent in front of goal away from any talk surrounding Wrexham, to ensure they don’t drop immediately back down to League One.

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Posts 1 ByKelan Sarson Sep 15, 2024

Diogo Jota hasn’t enjoyed a fantastic start to this new Premier League season, with only one goal and one assist coming his way from Liverpool’s opening four league fixtures.

The former Wolverhampton Wanderers forward would also frustrate those with a Reds persuasion in the Champions League recently, as the misfiring Portuguese attacker could only muster 23 touches of the ball against AC Milan, with his teammates all thankfully singing off the same hymn sheet otherwise in an exciting 3-1 away win.

The goal-shy nature of Jota’s early season performances means even one notable former Reds dud is currently outperforming him, despite the one-time Liverpool flop really struggling during his brief stint at Anfield to find the back of the net.

Diogo Jota vs AC Milan.

Iago Aspas' transfer to Liverpool

Iago Aspas would link up with the Liverpool ranks back in 2013 with a reputation for being a potent goal machine in his native Spain, netting 12 Celta Vigo goals from 34 La Liga appearances during his swansong season for his boyhood employers, to then make the gigantic leap to England.

That jump would prove to be too much for Aspas to take, with the attacker known to Liverpool fans now as a wasteful finisher from his brief but troubled time at the club, as opposed to the deadly and instinctive striker they thought they had obtained for a low £7.6m fee.

Aspas would see his Reds spell pass him by, with only one goal and one assist registered from 15 appearances before he was shipped out to Sevilla on loan, and then found his way back to Celta in 2015.

Much like other major transfer blunders in the striker department at the time, which included Mario Balotelli and Rickie Lambert failing to ever settle wearing Liverpool red, Aspas just couldn’t handle the immense pressure on his shoulders of playing for the Premier League giants, but has since consolidated his status as a top striker in more comfortable surroundings in Spain having left for £5m.

Aspas' numbers back in Spain

Amazingly, Aspas is in an exclusive club with Lionel Messi with the former Liverpool dud very much now a Celta icon.

Where Are They Now

Your star player or biggest flop has left the club but what are they doing in the present day? This article is part of Football FanCast's Where Are They Now series.

From 499 games to date for the La Liga outfit, Aspas has 207 goals and 81 assists next to his name, with his output during the infancy of this season to date bettering that of Jota’s back at Anfield.

Stat

Aspas

Jota

Games played

6

4

Goals scored

3

1

Assists

2

1

Shots per game

2.0

2.8

Scoring frequency

156 mins

287 mins

The 37-year-old isn’t showing any visible cobwebs for Celta this season so far, with five goal contributions registered from six games only one off matching Luis Diaz’s goals and assists tally for Arne Slot’s men too, whilst beating Jota’s amount by three.

That’s the case despite the veteran centre-forward attempting fewer shots per game compared to his Portuguese counterpart this campaign, as Jota continues to be wasteful for the Reds, and Aspas continues to be a difference maker so late into his playing days for his side.

Liverpool would love to turn back the clock and see if things could have turned out differently if the then nervous attacker was given more time to acclimatise, with his stint at the club only lasting a breakneck 15 games.

But, it could well just be that Aspas is a natural fit at Celta over playing in the hustle and bustle of England, as the 37-year-old strives to keep up his electric La Liga form, whilst Jota looks to spark into life over the games to come.

Liverpool star looked "like Coutinho" when he joined, then Slot sold him

Will the Reds come to rue this decision?

ByAngus Sinclair Sep 19, 2024

On Thursday morning, Yorkshire had wondered if they were at risk of bankruptcy. Twenty-four hours later, Headingley shone with positivity after the county’s members had given their restructuring plans thumping approval with more than 80 percent in favour. A lot remains to be done, but with Darren Gough and Ottis Gibson at the helm, there is positivity and affability in abundance and it could be a perfect antidote to any lingering resentment or self-pity after the upheavals of the winter.Gough, on loan from TalkSPORT as interim managing director of cricket, has exchanged the microphone for a calculator as he now finds himself overseeing player budgets. Gibson, his choice as coach, has called time on most of the past 15 years on the international circuit in the hope of a more settled lifestyle – even if he will now faces a 90-mile commute from Chester-le-Street into the eye of the stormiest county club in the land.Their challenge – to establish harmony and win cricket matches – is a daunting one, as Gough realised the first time he met up with the squad. Azeem Rafiq’s distressing evidence to the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sport last November was still fresh in the mind, and as arguments raged, the Yorkshire dressing-room was presented by some as a vision from hell.”When I took over in January, I saw almost fear and confusion in the players’ faces,” Gough said. “They have been through a lot, particularly in the past 18 months. But I am immensely proud of what they have done in the past three months.”The education process is underway. A shift in White Rose values, unity drawn from shared endeavour, and an attempt to bring more empathy to a county that has historically taken pride in being the most straight-talking and uncompromising in the land.”The one thing we have done as a squad is we have listened,” said Gibson, who counts a spell as England bowling coach among an impressive CV. “We have listened to what was being said about us and then we decided what we can do in that regard to help bring about that change.”We went to Dubai in pre-season and had a lot of conversations about how we can do things better and look out for each other better,” he added. “There was talk about inclusivity, how we can make sure that we’ve got each other’s backs, not just on the field but off the field, the language we use to each other and so on. Trying to address those things is an ongoing process.”Related

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Gough says he has not lost friends – he is not a Machiavellian sort, which helps – he is a deeper thinker about the game than many imagine and he has an open mind about the length of his stint as interim director. That future, in any case, will be determined by a largely independent board – and 600 applicants for that board have given Perrett Laver, the international head-hunting company, quite a task.That board must address a never-ending financial predicament – albeit there is optimistic talk of sponsors flooding back after the vote. But their prime task, an immense one, and not achievable overnight, will be not just to provide the development pathways for young, talented, minority-ethnic cricketers, but to find solutions to the cultural challenges that cause those pathways to be thick with brambles.”Last night’s EGM proved there’s 85 percent on all three resolutions who are with us,” Gough said. “They understood that not just Yorkshire, but I think cricket in general, needs to change. Sport, society, needs to change. All I can do is put things in place, along with Ottis and the players. We’ve been educated on a daily basis, by people that write articles, by reading, by watching, by communicating.”People are going to make mistakes; they’re going to continue to make mistakes. But it’s about forgiveness, it’s about education, it’s about moving forward together to make us great again. We want to be on the front and back pages for the right reasons, and we haven’t been. It’s sad what’s happened, we can never take it back, we can’t forget what’s happened, it’s about learning from it, moving forward and making sure that situation doesn’t happen again.”Talking of forgiveness, Yorkshire remain uncertain about the timeline of any further ECB investigations and potential points deductions and, this being English cricket, there is no certainty that any such deduction would be applied before their opening County Championship fixture at Bristol on April 14.”Discussions will probably go on all season,” said Gough, “but the way I look at it, we start the season on zero and if we get the most points we win the Championship.” Compared to a few months ago, when they were too low for zero, that sounds like a step forward.

كشفت تقارير صحفية بريطانية، عن رفض أرني سلوت المدير الفني لفريق كرة القدم الأول بنادي ليفربول، التعاقد مع لاعب مانشستر يونايتد خلال الصيف الماضي.

وكان يبحث أرني سلوت عن لاعب وسط ملعب دفاعي قبل موسمه الأول مع ليفربول، ولكنه رفض فرصة التعاقد مع أحد لاعبي مانشستر يونايتد حاليًا.

طالع أيضًا | بعد التتويج باللقب الـ20.. كاراجر: ليفربول عملاق الكرة الإنجليزية وحجة مانشستر يونايتد تُمحى الآن

صحيفة “ميرور” البريطانية، أكدت بأن ليفربول عُرض عليه فرصة التعاقد مع مانويل أوجارتي قبل انتقال لاعب أوروجواي إلى مانشستر يونايتد من باريس سان جيرمان في الصيف الماضي.

ليفربول رفض تلك الصفقة، ولم يُبد اهتمامًا بالتعاقد مع أوجارتي، لأن الهدف الأول كان مارتن زوبيمندي، ولم يتمكن الريدز من ضمه.

فترة الانتقالات الأولى لـ سلوت كانت هادئة للغاية، حيث تعاقد مع فيديريكو كييزا فقط من يوفنتوس، ووقع مع مامارداشفيلي حارس فالنسيا، على أن ينضم في الصيف المقبل.

ورفض سلوت التعاقد مع اللاعب بشكل مفاجئ، حيث كانت قيمة أوجارتي 42 مليون جنيه إسترليني، وهو ما جعل المدرب الهولندي يتجاهل العرض.

في حين أن أوجارتي انضم لـ مانشستر يونايتد في النهاية، وتمكن من المشاركة في 40 مباراة بمختلف المسابقات، وسجل هدفين وصنع مثلهما.

A small town is infected by cricket fever and lives to tell the tale

Nikhil Jha13-May-2013Choice of game
In January 2013, Ranchi hosted its first international cricket match and praises were heaped from all over on the amazing new stadium and its state-of-the-art facilities. I watched on TV and felt extremely happy that finally Jharkhand, my state, could boast of a facility that could put it on the world map, and could complement MS Dhoni’s status as the sporting ambassador of the region.I had made a mental note to try to make a trip home whenever Ranchi hosted its next match. I was fortunate to get a few tickets for this game, courtesy my generous friends. The excitement level in the city for this game was huge.Taking into account the form of the two teams coming into this match, I backed Royal Challengers Bangalore to win easily. I was as wrong to predict the result as Virat Kohli was to judge the pitch!Team supported
A tough question. The IPL is still a long way away from forging dedicated, passionate fan bases a la its global cousins, say the NBA or EPL. It becomes increasingly difficult for people like me, who have confused regional identities (schooling in Jamshedpur, college in Mumbai, working in Delhi, in my case). To complicate matters further, cricket icons of a particular region play for franchises in other cities.My head starts to spin when I have to pick a team to support in the IPL. Over the years I have developed a couple of thumb rules. First, support teams of your favourite players – so Chennai Super Kings for Dhoni and Rajasthan Royals for Rahul Dravid become my choices (which seems like a good line-up to back this season). Considering Dhoni has won a lot of trophies over the years, I would love Dravid to lift one this season.Second, support the one team that matters, your fantasy team. After all, they are ones getting you points.Key performer
On a slow pitch, Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir read the conditions perfectly, getting in an extra spinner, Sachithra Senanayake, at the cost of in-form Eoin Morgan.You can trust one man to make the most of such conditions – Sunil Narine came to the party, taking four wickets for just 22 runs in his spell. Some credit must go to the other bowlers who choked the stellar Royal Challengers batting line-up for runs.One thing you’d have changed about the day
The occasional light drizzle had made the weather perfect to watch the match. Unfortunately the action in the middle didn’t live up to the expectations. We had hoped for a high-scoring encounter, a Chris Gayle blitz or an AB de Villiers special, followed by a tight chase by Gambhir & Co. All we got was three sixes in the entire match – two from a team that had earlier hit a record number of sixes. I would most definitely have wanted a high-scoring encounter, or a Super Over, to make up for the low-scoring game.Face-off I relished
I was eagerly waiting to see how Gayle would approach his Windies team-mate Narine. It was an anti-climax, to say the least, as Narine dismissed Gayle in his second over. Gayle’s innings was a letdown since he took 36 balls to score 33, which was 1/3rd of what he usually notches up in a stay that long.Shot of the day
On a day when the boundaries were hard to come by, there was hardly a shot that stuck in memory. One that did matter though, was the last boundary of the match – a dead straight four that Ryan ten Doeschate hit over bowler Vinay Kumar to finish a tricky chase.Crowd meter
The town was infected by an anticipatory buzz for a week. There was a mad scramble for tickets – local papers had pictures of people camping overnight to get tickets, which reminded me of Wimbledon queues. It was refreshing to see since cricket matches hardly registers a blip on a metro’s event radar.
So considering all this, I expected a jam-packed stadium, but even at its peak, the stands were no more than 80% full. The guilty parties were mainly the VIP stands, where, I assume, the ease of getting tickets fails to motivate people to turn up and watch the game. It’s a shame.Although technically this was a Knight Riders’ home game, you wouldn’t know it if you had watched it on TV. People, especially the younger lot, were on the Gayle bandwagon, some even painting their faces with his name. Royal Challengers’ flags could be seen aplenty in spite complimentary Knight Rider’s flags being handed out by the organisers. Chants of “RCB… RCB” echoed through the stadium even when they were up against it. Only towards the end of the match, and that too on the prompting by the stadium emcee, did the crowd start shouting “KKR… KKR”. I suspect that had something to do with people backing the team that was winning.The (non)-hardship factor
The experience was near-perfect. We walked in without any hassles or long lines. The stadium infrastructure, including the seating arrangement, was really good and we chose seats with a good view. It was heartening to see such spectator-friendly arrangements in my backyard. The ghosts of my horrifying experience in Jamshedpur in 2002, when the crowd threw bottles to express unhappiness at West Indies’ win, were finally exorcised.The only letdown was the food. Expensive food stalls at stadiums is understandable, but below-par quality is unpardonable, that too from a reputed coffee chain that ran that stall. We were not the only ones who had to throw away the visibly stale sandwiches.Entertainment
I know expecting the Allman Brothers Band to be played over the PA system is unlikely and wishful since it’s the modern pop numbers that get the crowd on its feet. Still, I was horrified to hear Yo Yo Honey Singh numbers being blared here in Ranchi, an experience I thought would not haunt me outside Delhi. That’s pop-culture for you.The early entertainment was provided by a light Cessna aircraft – which I suspect was the same one used in the match in January – that performed low fly-bys across the stadium to cheers from the crowd.Twenty20 v ODIs
The age for instant gratification make Twenty20s a perfect fit – exciting, entertaining and brief.TV v stadium
I love watching Test matches from the stands, and was there to savour the 4-0 whitewash against the Aussies at Kotla.T20s are a fifty-fifty case since I have had more indifferent experiences than good ones. That said, the experience of this excellent new facility in my own hometown really tilted the balance in favour of watching at the stadium.Overall
The cricket was a departure from the usual T20 matches. The bowlers looked in control throughout, keeping the run rate in check. The Knight Riders’ slow bowlers spun a web around the Royal Challengers’ batsmen and the Royal Challengers’ bowlers gave little away when they bowled, except in a couple of overs when Jacques Kallis and Irfan Pathan broke the shackles. Since we end up judging a T20 solely by its entertainment value, I would say this one wasn’t fun to watch, though the close finish did manage to keep the crowd on its feet till the last over.The atmosphere was great since this match was the highlight of the season for Ranchi. People were really excited to see and root for their heroes – most of them for their first time. That enthusiasm showed in the vocal support they extended throughout.Marks on 10
7. 5 for the facilities and 2 for the match.

Durham quick says he has been told to “be aggressive, use my pace, use my bouncer”

Matt Roller20-Jun-2022The French footballer Claude Makélélé was a player so influential that a position was named after him: the deepest member of a midfield three plays in “the Makélélé role”. English cricket has its own equivalent: a fast bowler hitting the pitch hard in the middle overs of an ODI operates in “the Plunkett role”.The hole left by Liam Plunkett’s unceremonious exit from the England set-up has been vast since the 2019 World Cup, when he was the unsung hero of England’s triumph with an all-star list of vital scalps in the middle overs – not least the wicket of Kane Williamson as he took 3 for 42 in the final. He was no longer a genuine quick bowler by that tournament but had developed a method to succeed, generally bowling cross-seam and looking to hit the top of the stumps or the splice of the bat.England’s decision to move on from Plunkett immediately after the final was brutal, but has ultimately proved justified: injuries limited him to 13 all-format appearances across the next two years and he is now in the United States, preparing to play his part in the launch of Major League Cricket.But with ODI series few and far between – England have played only 20 games in the format since that World Cup, and many of those with a weakened squad – they have struggled to find a replacement for Plunkett: no England fast bowler has taken more than five middle-overs wickets in the last three years. Various seamers including Saqib Mahmood and Mark Wood have been tried in his mould but with moderate success at best.Step forward, Brydon Carse, the South African-born fast bowler who is the latest man off the Durham production line. First capped during last year’s ODI series against Pakistan when a second-string squad came together at short notice after a Covid outbreak, Carse has been used exclusively as a second-change bowler and has impressed, regularly hitting 90mph/145kph and bowling aggressive, “hard” lengths to keep batters on the back foot.Related

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Against the Netherlands on Sunday, he replaced Sam Curran in the England side and bowled with hostility. He pinned Tom Cooper lbw with his second ball and cranked up the pace in his first spell, taking 1 for 14 from his first four overs without conceding a boundary and finding extra bounce to lift one short ball past Scott Edwards’ grille.He was less successful at the death, finishing with 1 for 36 from his seven overs, but is clearly learning on the job: Sunday was his fourth ODI appearance but only the 11th List A game of his career. England have picked him on potential. “It’s great to see him hit the series with plenty of energy, plenty of pace and offer something different,” Eoin Morgan said.”[Morgan] has been very clear with me,” Carse said. “He said I am going to come on first or second change and look to bowl through the middle, be aggressive, use my pace, use my bouncer and just make it difficult. I want to come on and be aggressive.”I want to make an impact in the game. That might not necessarily be taking wickets, but creating opportunities from the other end.” Plunkett, Carse added, is someone he is “striving to be like… he had a very good England career and if I can fulfil that role going forward, it’s a big positive.”Carse hit a top speed of 91mph/146kph on Sunday, and said that he hoped his pace could “add a different dimension”. “Obviously when things are clicking, it’s good to bowl quick,” he said. “If I can be bowling in and around that 90mph mark then I’m sure it will create opportunities for me in any side in which I am playing.”Sunday’s ODI was Carse’s first England game under Morgan, having made his debut when Ben Stokes stood in as captain last summer. Stokes has been a prominent advocate of Carse’s ability and with several fast bowlers injured, it seems like a matter of time before Carse is named in a Test squad.But for his own knee injury, which he suffered on the Lions tour to Australia last winter, Carse might well have pushed his case in time for the ongoing New Zealand series, but Jamie Overton moved ahead of him in the pecking order after impressing at the start of the County Championship season while Carse was sidelined.He has a close relationship with Matthew Potts, his county team-mate, who has impressed in his first Tests for England, and said that it had been inspiring to see him succeed at Test level. “Matthew really has come a long way in the last 18 months as a bowler,” Carse said. “He works hard on and off the field and he thoroughly deserves where he’s at the moment.”[A Test cap] is something definitely in the back of my mind,” he added. “I want to play red and white-ball cricket, and I want to play Test cricket for England.” But in the short term, Carse’s focus is on filling the Plunkett role: if he can do so on a regular basis, it would be invaluable for England.

The West Indians are in India but there has been absolutely no build-up to this series, such has been the glut of cricket since the IPL

Sidharth Monga07-Oct-2014A little over a month ago, England beat India in the final ODI of a series they had already lost. At the press conference, Alastair Cook thanked and said goodbye to the journalists, never mind they had been calling for his head all summer. He was not going to play the Twenty20 international two days later. There was time for humour when a journalist told him, “See you in the West Indies [England’s next Test assignment, in 2015].” Cook replied, “Oh, you are not covering Sri Lanka [England’s next ODI assignment, in December]?” Cook’s season was over and hostilities had been dropped momentarily.Around the same time India’s captain MS Dhoni was reading on his Blackberry an email briefing him about travel plans for the Champions League T20. There were to be five days between the end of the two-and-a-half-month tour of England and the start of the Champions League T20. Dhoni didn’t say goodbyes to anyone when the England tour ended. His season wasn’t over. When he won the Champions League T20, it is unlikely he would have said goodbyes. He will be back playing West Indies three days later. Nobody has had a chance to miss Dhoni or his other India cricketers.Indian cricket has no season or off-season anymore. It is like entertainment wrestling – two big shows, a reality show and two other smaller shows every week, and a big pay-per-view every month, all year round. England tour merges into Champions League merges into home season merges into Australia tour merges into World Cup merges into IPL. The consequence is that you will struggle to think of an international season in India that has begun amid such indifference. We are on the eve of possibly the least anticipated, looked forward to, and advertised season in India.Hardly anyone is talking about the series. It doesn’t help that the visiting team is West Indies, here for the third time in four seasons. Not many Indian fans are glancing at scorecards of their tour games to see which player could be a threat.It is difficult to get excited about a team that lost two Tests in just over five days on their last trip to India. A team whose batsmen keep swinging with high back-lifts even when the ball is reverse-swinging on pitches that generally keep low. A team whose best players until now were more interested in T20 leagues than international cricket. Only those with little heart will grudge a surprise from this West Indies unit, but their track record won’t make you hold your breath.This season could be a watershed in the consumption of cricket: the T20 leagues might not have become as popular as they are perceived to be, but this indifference to an international season in India is a signal that cricket all year round, combined with lack of quality opposition, could be difficult to sustain.Earlier this year, when the Big Three ushered in changes in the ICC, its new chairman N Srinivasan spoke of the importance of a well-defined home season for India. Right now, the BCCI AGM, an envelope and court cases, and the T20 leagues seem to have taken priority. Perhaps the BCCI takes for granted that the Indian public has no other form of entertainment and will flock to grounds and TV sets even if no attempt is made to build up to a season.The next contest most Indian fans are looking forward to is the tour of Australia, after yet another debacle in away Tests in England. It won’t be such a bad idea to take this West Indies series for granted from the team composition point of view too, in order to give India a chance to put up a better fight in Australia. In England, India’s key players were defeated by the conditions and the relentlessness of a five-Test series. India’s build-up to Australia will be thinner: a pair of two-day games and no other practice matches in between the Tests.A lacklustre opposition gives India room to prioritise the Tests in Australia. They should identify a few players who will be key in those conditions, and send them there for the whole of November. The BCCI could request CA to let them play in their domestic tournaments. If that isn’t possible, even club cricket would do. It is about getting attuned to how the ball behaves in Australia. And once again, it will be a side with little experience of the conditions that will enter the Gabbatoir in the first week of December. Acclimatisation has always been a big problem for India, one that has often been neglected. There is an opportunity this year to correct that.It will be a blow to the home Tests if key players are missing, but the home season doesn’t seem to be anybody’s priority this year anyway.

Seamer told to isolate after positive test, which came the day back stiffness ruled him out of playing for County Select XI

Matt Roller30-May-2022

Ollie Robinson has suffered a disrupted start to the summer•Getty Images

Ollie Robinson’s cascade of injury and misfortune has been compounded by the news that he tested positive for Covid-19 last week, on the day he was due to turn out for a County Select XI to prove his fitness against New Zealand at Chelmsford.Robinson was ruled out of the tour match after reporting stiffness in his back during the warm-ups on Thursday. “Ollie felt a bit of stiffness in his back while he was warming up this morning before the game,” Richard Dawson, the ECB’s elite performance pathway coach, had said. “We had a chat and felt as a precaution that it was sensible for him to sit out this match. We’ll assess him and move forward from there.”The ECB announced on Monday that he had then tested positive for Covid-19 later in the day. While there is no longer a government-mandated isolation period in the UK, the ECB has told players that they must withdraw from games if they test positive and Robinson has been isolating.”With respect to the lower back symptoms which prevented him playing in the four-day tour match for the FCC Select XI against the New Zealand tourists at Chelmsford last week, he will be assessed after his isolation period later this week,” an ECB statement said. “Further information will be confirmed in due course.”Related

New Zealand batters make most of valuable workout, as does Robinson

Robinson, Sibley named in County Select XI to face New Zealanders

Robinson withdraws from County Select XI after more stiffness in back

Robinson, 28, has taken 39 wickets at 21.28 in his nine Tests since making his debut against New Zealand at Lord’s last year but his career is at a crossroads, with off-field issues and fitness concerns a constant backdrop to his impressive on-field performances.He was suspended and fined after offensive historic tweets emerged during his debut last year and then publicly called out by Jon Lewis, England’s bowling coach, for his poor fitness levels after a back spasm limited his involvement in the final Ashes Test at Hobart in January – a Test which culminated in him backing away and being bowled swiping at a full toss to complete an innings defeat.He travelled to the Caribbean for England’s series against West Indies in March where he was due to lead the attack with Chris Woakes but did not play a game in the series after an recurrence of his back spasms and his involvement in the County Championship this season has been minimal for a number of reasons, including a tooth infection and a bout of food poisoning.Robinson was omitted from England’s squad for the first two Tests of their three-match series against New Zealand, which starts at Lord’s on Thursday, and his latest setback means he will have scant opportunity to prove his fitness before the third Test at Headingley on June 23: Sussex’s only Championship match before then is against Glamorgan on June 12 and he is not an automatic selection in their T20 side.

A national newspaper has lifted the lid on Chelsea’s multiple approaches to sign a £67 million star quite recently, with BlueCo not exactly afraid to splash the cash on major signings for new head coach Enzo Maresca.

Chelsea spent around £200m on 13 summer signings

Maresca was well and truly backed ahead of his first full season in charge at Stamford Bridge, with Todd Boehly and Behdad Eghbali giving their green light for Chelsea to invest around £200 million on 13 new additions to the squad.

Chelsea already planning January exit for "absolute dream" summer signing

Todd Boehly, BlueCo and Behdad Eghbali will have the final say.

ByEmilio Galantini Sep 27, 2024

Joao Felix, Mike Penders, Kiernan Dewsbury-Hall, Marc Guiu, Renato Veiga, Estevao Willian, Filip Jorgensen, Tosin Adarabioyo, Aaron Anselmino, Caleb Wiley, Omari Kellyman, Pedro Neto and Jadon Sancho all agreed moves to Chelsea before deadline day on August 30, with a couple making serious impressions already.

Sancho is off the mark with two assists in the Premier League, while Neto bagged his first Chelsea goal against Barrow in the EFL Cup earlier this week. While Felix is yet to start a game for Chelsea, he did score off the bench in his second debut for the club – which came in a 6-2 demolition of Wolves at Molineux.

Jorgensen joined the backlog of Chelsea keepers with a glowing reputation as well. The 22-year-old Dane spent the whole of 2023/2024 as Villarreal’s number one shot-stopper, and his performances did enough to impress Chelsea so much that they splashed nearly £21 million on his signing from the La Liga side.

He put pen to paper on a long-term seven-year deal at Cobham, and Maresca suggested that Jorgensen could oust current number one Robert Sanchez if he performs better than the Spaniard in training.

“Even if you probably don’t believe me, I judge and I take the first XI depending on how they work every day,” said Maresca. “For all of them, if they are bad in training sessions and they don’t train with intensity, they are not going to play.

Brighton (home)

September 28

Nottingham Forest (home)

October 6

Liverpool (away)

October 20

Newcastle (home)

October 27

Man United (away)

November 3

“And if they don’t play Sunday in the Premier League, and think they are going to play Thursday, but if from Sunday to Thursday they don’t train well, they are not going to play in the Premier League and they are not going to play on Thursday – because Chelsea is a demanding club.

“You need to work hard, to fight until the end to get your place and give 100 per cent. If you think that I am going to give you a chance without working hard, forget about that.”

Newspaper shares multiple Chelsea approaches to sign Maignan

However, according to Corriere dello Sport, Chelsea could’ve brought in an alternative.

Indeed, £67 million AC Milan keeper Mike Maignan was on their radar in the summer, as well as Jorgensen. Chelsea actually made contact over Maignan in 2023 as well, with Corriere explaining that Chelsea wanted him this year too.

The Italian newspaper share that Chelsea made multiple enquiries over signing Maignan, before they presumably settled on Jorgensen. The 29-year-old would’ve been quite the competition for Sanchez considering his form in the last three years, but his hefty price tag was probably a bit much for yet another shot-stopper.

Manchester City could make Nico Gonzalez their a signing of an expensive January transfer window as their squad rebuild continues apace.

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Man City linked with Nico transfer Ex-Barcelona midfielder now at PortoTalks underway but premium cost involvedFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

has reported that the Premier League champions are in talks with Porto over Nico after making a "formal approach" for the 23-year-old midfielder. The problem for City is that Porto don't want to lose a key player and will ask for an "important" transfer fee, or it's no deal. Nico has a €60 million (£50.2m/$62.3m) release clause, although matters are complicated by Porto owing former club Barcelona a 40% sell-on clause if he moves on.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Seemingly in response to a dreadful November and December and the clear need for fresh energy in the squad, City have had an unusually busy mid-season transfer window. Omar Marmoush has been the highest profile arrival for the best part of £60m ($74m) from Eintracht Frankfurt, but young centre-back trio Abdukodir Khusanov, Vitor Reis and Juma Bah have also been recruited this month. The January spending is already at £127m ($157m).

DID YOU KNOW?

Nico is a product of Barcelona's La Masia conveyor belt, joining aged 11. After a sudden first-team breakthrough alongside Gavi in 2021-22, making 37 senior appearances across all competitions, it looked as though he might become a long-term part of the Barca squad. But a loan to Valencia followed the very next season, before a permanent Porto transfer for just €8.5m in 2023.

Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT?

If Manchester City do want to complete more transfer business before Monday night's 11 pm (GMT) deadline, they are going to have to move quickly in negotiations with Porto. Complicating things is the not-so-small matter of a Premier League clash with Arsenal on Sunday evening, while Porto have a game on Monday.