All posts by h716a5.icu

Australia achieved the highest successful chase in women’s ODIs

Shashank Kishore12-Oct-20253:54

Review: Healy was Australia’s bedrock

Alyssa Healy’s epic 142 powered Australia to the highest successful chase in women’s ODI history, leaving a packed Visakhapatnam stadium thinning very quickly towards the close as World Cup hosts India suffered a second successive heartbreak.Two nights after failing to defend 252 against South Africa, India’s decision to play just the five specialist bowlers will be debated long and hard after they were unable to work with a total of 330. Australia won with six balls to spare, and three wickets in hand; Ellyse Perry hoisting her WPL team-mate Sneh Rana down the ground to seal victory.Perry, who remained unbeaten on 47, had suffered a bout of cramps that forced her to retire hurt with Australia cruising at 154 for 1. Then she returned at the fall of Ash Gardner’s wicket with Australia needing 32 off 36. When Amanjot Kaur had Sophie Molineux lbw at the start of the 46th over, Australia were seven down.This is when Kim Garth joined forces with Perry to put on 28 crucial runs off 23 balls to see Australia home. Garth finished unbeaten on 14, including a superbly executed reverse-paddle off Rana in the penultimate over with Australia needing 13 off 11. The win, Australia’s third in four games, puts them on top of the table halfway through the World Cup.Ellyse Perry and Kim Garth walk off after Australia sealed the highest chase in women’s ODI history•Getty ImagesIndia were eventually left to rue the seven balls they didn’t play after a late and sensational collapse – they lost 9 for 138 in the last 30 overs to finish with 330 when they looked set to scale 350. Unlike Australia, who had Healy go on to convert her start into a maiden century as captain, and third in a World Cup, India were left waiting for their big innings, with both Smriti Mandhana (80) and Pratika Rawal (75) falling short of three-figures.Except left-arm spinner N Shree Charani, who displayed terrific control to put the brakes on Australia with figures of 3 for 41, the others wilted against Healy’s assault in trying conditions. Shree Charani bowled out in the 39th over, by which time Australia’s required rate was a-run-a-ball.It didn’t help that Kranti Gaud, full of bristling promise, had a second off day, conceding 73 in nine wicketless overs, while Sneh Rana, one of India’s form bowlers, went for 85 from her full quota. The make-up of India’s attack meant Harmanpreet Kaur had few alternatives on what was among the best batting surfaces of the tournament.Australia began cautiously, scoring just 25 off the first five overs before switching gears to ransack 57 in the next five. Healy’s fast hands were on display as she took 18 off Gaud’s fourth over, while Phoebe Lichfield cracked three consecutive boundaries off Amanjot Kaur before a missed stumping chance briefly spared her. India didn’t have to wait long, though, as Litchfield fell reverse-sweeping Shree Charani to Rana at point to end an 85-run opening stand off just 11.2 overs.Smriti Mandhana made 80 off 66•Getty ImagesFrom overs 6.6 to 10 alone, Australia hammered eight fours and two sixes, most from Healy, who dismantled India’s spinners with sweeps to every part of the leg side. Perry, scratchy early on, found rhythm alongside her, even resorting to reverse sweeps to unsettle Rana. Their fifty stand came in 55 balls, but India sensed an opening when Perry retired hurt and Beth Mooney and Annabel Sutherland, who celebrated her birthday earlier in the day with a five-for, fell in quick succession.Healy briefly reined herself in before surging to a brilliant century off 84 balls, managing the chase almost single-handedly despite struggling with cramps. Her dismissal, caught off a sliced drive to point was adjudged clean after a tight review where stand-in third umpire Kim Cotton looked in two minds. When she finally felt Rana’s hands were underneath the ball, it ended a stunning innings that comprised 21 fours and three sixes. It gave India a fleeting lift, but Perry’s return and Garth’s composure soon quashed any hopes of a late twist.India would look back on their batting performance with mixed emotions. They displayed the kind of sustained aggression they’ve long spoken about but rarely executed, yet the recurring collapses would be worrisome for the team management. From 192 for 1 at the 30-over mark, they looked set for 350-plus but fell woefully short, as they failed to capitalise on a superb 155-run opening stand between Mandhana and Rawal.India have lost two matches in a row now at the 2025 World Cup•Getty ImagesAfter three ordinary outings, Mandhana returned to her fluent self, reaching fifty off 46 balls. Her six off Molineux made her the first woman to score 1000 or more ODI runs in a calendar year, and she later became the fastest to 5000 runs in the format. While Mandhana took on Molineux, Rawal targeted Gardner, though their partnership was interspersed with spells of caution – like the passage that produced just 15 in five overs after they finished the powerplay at 58 for 0.This was largely down to Rawal’s cautiousness. That forced Mandhana to take more risks, producing audacious shots like a ramp over Healy’s head. Rawal’s 69-ball half-century helped post the second-highest World Cup partnership by any side against Australia before Mandhana fell for 80.Harleen Deol (38), Harmanpreet (22) and Jemimah Rodrigues (33) injected urgency unseen so far in this tournament but couldn’t convert their starts. The burden of providing the late surge yet again fell on Richa Ghosh, whose 94 against South Africa had bailed India out earlier. Here, though, a Sutherland slower ball undid her, triggering a collapse from 309 for 6 to 330 all out.Sutherland’s clever changes of pace and length earned her a maiden ODI five-for and throttled India’s momentum, leaving them disappointed at not making the most of the platform they had built so well.The loss now leaves India without a win against South Africa, England, New Zealand and Australia at a World Cup (50 overs and T20 included) for five years now. And with England up next in a week in Indore, they’ll need to regroup quickly to keep pushing for the semi-finals.

The Australia allrounder talks about her fitness and diet regimes, gearing up for the ODI World Cup and her captaincy stint in the ongoing Hundred

Valkerie Baynes20-Aug-20251:24

Gardner on using the Hundred to gauge the opposition

Every franchise tournament has its own unique flavour and quirks, none more so than the Hundred. But for all its overs turned “sets” and scoring graphics which confuse rusted-on cricket fans and newcomers alike, this year’s women’s competition offers a more conventional platform as an information-gathering exercise ahead of the 50-over World Cup.Ashleigh Gardner, the Australia allrounder and Trent Rockets captain, says it’s inevitable that players will be sizing each other up ahead of the global tournament in India and Sri Lanka in six weeks’ time.”From an opposition point of view, it’s probably trying to pick up things off your team-mates or people that you’re playing against, little cues that you can take back to your homeland and plan accordingly,” Gardner told ESPNcricinfo’s Powerplay podcast.Related

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Gardner: India a 'huge threat' in World Cup

“There’s no denying that and there’s probably other countries around the world, if you’re playing with another international, try and get some things from them or talk to them about, not necessarily their game plan, but just having those off-the-cuff conversations and trying to wrap your head around that because that’s so important.”We play a lot of cricket with these people and against them, so it’s, how can I try and get the upper hand where I can? Sometimes that’s going to be harder to do, but just looking at the game holistically.”While the formats differ and there are no India players involved in the Hundred this year, removing the chance to go up against players from a side Gardner believes will be a “huge threat” at the World Cup, there are several Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and England stars in action.Australia will play an ODI series in India immediately before the World Cup and Pakistan will host South Africa from mid-September but for other sides, warm-up games will be the only other chance to gauge the opposition ahead of the tournament.”I’ve got potentially a longer time to bat and more overs to bowl, but I don’t think it really changes for me, I’ve always got the same mindset,” Gardner said. “I want to take the game on and I want to expose the areas of the game that I can, so for me, it’s trying to do that for longer periods of time.”India looked a class above their hosts in a recent 2-1 ODI series win in England, only losing the rain-affected second match at Lord’s, and Australia smashed England across formats during the Women’s Ashes in January, where the Australians’ superior fitness and athleticism was at the fore once again.1:32

Gardner: ‘Body image is a big one around female athletes’

The fallout from that series for England, who had already had their fitness questioned after their early exit from the T20 World Cup last October, was significant with a change of captaincy and new head coach Charlotte Edwards revealing that players would be held to minimum fitness standards from next year.Gardner gave some insight into how the Australians prepared for the “rude shock” of 50-over matches after playing in the shortened format of the Hundred.”We’re going to be spending double the time on our feet, so I know for us Aussie players, we play a game of cricket, but then the next day or that day we need to then run again, we need to gym,” she said.”It might be mentally taxing at the time, knowing that you have to play a game of cricket, which you’re obviously trying to win and be successful in, but also having one eye on the World Cup and making sure that our bodies are getting in the right spot.

“Body image is a really big one around female athletes and making sure that we’re fuelling and we’re not under-eating and things like that because of what someone else perceives your body to be”

“It’s making sure that training days are really big and you’re getting a lot out of that and then you’re doing your cricket skills, of course. Then game days, you’re trying to tick those off as well, so they do become quite big days.”I love playing franchise cricket, but playing for Australia is always going to be that No. 1 option for me, so making sure that I’ve got my focus on that as well.”Gardner also acknowledged the sensitivities around talking about fitness in women’s sport because the discussion becomes inextricably linked to body image.”Speaking from a personal perspective, I view myself as an athlete, so it’s how do I best get my body into shape and to be the fittest that I can be,” she said. “Body image is a really big one around female athletes and making sure that we’re fuelling and we’re not under-eating and things like that because of what someone else perceives your body to be. It’s making sure that you’re fit enough and you’re strong enough to complete those activities and making sure that you’re in the right head space while doing that.”People naturally get caught up with eating and things like that, which is obviously the real negative side to it because people naturally are worried about what other people perceive them as. I’ve certainly gone through things where you count calories and you do all this stuff and it clouds your mind. It actually doesn’t make you any clearer.Ash Gardner is leading Trent Rockets this year in the Hundred•Warren Little/Getty Images”For me, it’s, what does my body need from me right now? And making sure that I’m fuelling properly, because that’s what’s not going to get me injured. It’s making sure that I push my body to the limits in terms of I want to get really fit and strong, but how do I do that in the most manageable way possible to then be a good cricketer as well.”Meg Lanning, the former Australia captain, revealed last year that she had retired from international cricket in 2023 amid a battle with over-exercising and under-eating. Now in the next phase of her cricket career, she is leading the Hundred run-scoring charts.The Hundred has also given Gardner the chance to develop her captaincy skills. Having led Gujarat Giants during this year’s WPL, she took over at Trent Rockets when Nat Sciver-Brunt, the new England captain, opted for a player-only role with the franchise as a way of managing her workload.Trent Rockets sit sixth on the eight-team table with just one win from five games. Gardner has scored 130 runs at 26 and a strike rate of 144.44 with a highest score of 61 and taken three wickets at an economy rate of 7.76 including 2 for 14 against London Spirit in her side’s only victory this year so far.And while her ambition to leave the competition with the trophy has taken a hit, Gardner can still take plenty away from her experience.”Being able to lead, working through how I react in different situations and figuring myself out a little bit, I feel like once I do that, it gives me a really good opportunity to keep improving in that space,” she said. “Hopefully bringing success individually on the field and then being able to have the biggest impact for my team.”

There are many good reasons for Joe Root to enter the IPL auction, but his inclusion begs several questions that cricket must answer

David Hopps13-Jan-2018As they apparently say at the poshest parties when asked who is coming: “Everybody who is anybody darling”. As many as 1122 players, including 282 from outside India, have put themselves up for the IPL auction. It is easier to ask who can’t be there.But for one player at least, the decision has not been an easy one. For two seasons, Joe Root has eschewed IPL, firstly because he wanted to establish the certainty of his Test match game, then because of the twin considerations of his first child and his appointment as England’s Test captain.Such considerations are now behind him. Root wants to swig headily from IPL’s champagne flute as much as anybody. Entering his peak years, at 27, he desires to assert himself as a multi-format player, part of a special breed of batsmen including Virat Kohli, Steven Smith and Kane Williamson who can turn their hand to anything cricket’s split personality can devise.The mood in England towards the IPL has also changed. Resistance to the tournament was abandoned within the ECB from the moment Andrew Strauss became director of England cricket. But resistance has also collapsed beyond the confines of the governing body. The new breed of cricket fan, weaned on Twenty20, actively wants to see Root play in the IPL and even many traditionalists who resent the format because it intrudes so overbearingly on the start of the English county season now shrug that his involvement is inevitable.England will always come first – Root

Joe Root emphasised that England will always take priority after he entered the IPL auction.
“I’ve always said I put playing for England first and if it means resting from things like the IPL, which I’ve done in the past, I’ll happily do that,” he said. “For however long my international career lasts it’s going to be focused about giving as much as I can for this team and playing for England.
“But as someone involved in the Test side I don’t want to be missing white-ball cricket and falling behind, trying to catch up. The IPL is a great opportunity. It may be that I don’t have a great IPL but the best thing would be the exposure to different players and different ways of looking at the game, being under pressure for long periods of time. I can’t see how that could hamper my game or be detrimental to my England career.”

Root is right to join the IPL long list. Not to challenge himself against the best, in the hullaballoo of IPL, would be to limit the extent of his ambitions. Not to learn from the best would be to suppress his potential. IPL is now a central part of cricket’s history. See and be seen: it would be a strikingly non-conformist cricketer who resisted that.There has been a lot of tosh, nevertheless, about how a sports career is short and cricketers “need” the money. Of course, they are entitled to seek their rewards while they can, but “need” is an inflammatory word when a top cricketer can earn in a single year from England alone what a worker on average wages can earn in 40. And, as for talk of a short career, the support mechanisms that exist for English professional cricketers as they approach retirement are better than ever. They are allowed to work after their careers are over.T20 data on Root is hardly extensive. He has regularly rested out T20 internationals and such is the all-consuming nature of England’s international summer that he has rarely appeared in the Blast – England’s own T20 tournament. But his strike rates in all three forms of the game are comparable to Smith and faster than Williamson. He is no plodder; indeed, it is his propensity to become over ambitious when set at Test level that has become one of the recurring features of his game.Dan Weston, a data analyst at Sports Analytics Advantage, calculates that Root will do better than many casual Indian observers expect, saying: “With an Expected IPL batting average of 46.35, and strike rate 134.44, Root would be an excellent acquisition for an IPL franchise looking for a player capable of playing a strong anchor innings at the top of the order.”As Weston points out, the comparison to last year’s IPL mean batting average of 25.29 and strike rate of 133.36, suggests that Root’s elite-level performance would be expected to be seen in his average rather than strike rate. There are other predictions, too: his boundary count can be expected to be lower with a heavy emphasis on reducing dot balls to a minimum, and potential suitors might fear that his innings may stagnate against spin.All this conjecture is the very stuff of sport and encapsulates why Root must put his skills to the test.

Compensation levels to the clubs that produce the players who keep the T20 gravy train rolling are wholly inadequate

But there are legitimate worries nonetheless. International cricket and the T20 leagues co-exist not by intelligent consideration of a sustainable international schedule, but by piling ever more demands on ambitious young sportsmen.Multi-format cricketers feel this burden more than many, none more so, of course, than Kohli, who played 86 days’ international cricket in 2017, plus IPL. Root played 78, plus two four-day Championship matches for Yorkshire, and the sight of him exercising one of the stiffer backs in international cricket have become commonplace. More than double that for practice and travel days. Root, too, has committed himself diligently to regular media opportunities on behalf of various sponsors and charities and surely now that must be curtailed.Already Trevor Bayliss, England’s coach, has intimated that, if Root wants rest, he might also now have to skip county matches ahead of the England Test summer (he only played two anyway and barely got a run). Just turn up to practice, flick a switch and put on the right coloured clothing. It is now quite possible Yorkshire – the county that nurtured him – will not see him again for the next five years.Root’s exhuastion summed up England’s repeated Ashes failings•Getty ImagesCompensation levels to the clubs that produce the players who keep the T20 gravy train rolling are wholly inadequate. The gathering talent drain from county cricket has emphasised the pressing need for England’s 18-team professional system to extend its developmental reach to ensure its standards are not compromised. Proper financial rewards would protect the supply lines – and not just in England.As far as the players are concerned, to cope with the workload, concessions are already made. International tours have been curtailed by slashing warm-up matches, and too many series have become one-sided as a consequence, but until crowds fall, or TV companies protest, that outcome is not about to change.In England, some young county professionals excited by a marquee signing for the NatWest Blast have been somewhat disillusioned when the recognition dawns that most of the sporting knowledge they hoped to glean from their overseas import would have to take place on the golf course. The second tier of T20 leagues might still manage to sign the player, but they no longer delude themselves that they necessarily command his full attention.Eventually, something will give. Just as it takes a tragic accident outside a school for a council to fast-track a new speeding sign, it will doubtless take an overburdened, world-renowned cricketer to suffer a serious health issue to make cricket give the issue serious thought. Unless cricket’s rulers negotiate a responsible outcome, where T20 and international cricket can co-exist in a sensible framework, that one day the whole shebang will explode in our faces is inevitable.

Nathan Lyon will have to adopt some of his Indian counterpart’s methods if he is to set his record in Asia right; and he has been working on doing just that

Sidharth Monga in Pune21-Feb-20172:11

‘I have been studying Ashwin a lot’ – Lyon

You split the index finger and the middle finger along the seam, make sure you don’t let the ball touch the palm, and give it as much rip as you can. That’s fingerspin stripped to its essentials, but the variations within that purview make it fascinating, especially in an era when three of the top four Test bowlers are fingerspinners despite the doosra going out of favour. The traditional – correct, even – Australian way of bowling with the seam pointing to leg slip and the street-smart Asian way of mixing it up with various seam angles to facilitate natural variation provide a great contrast on the eve of a series that will pit Nathan Lyon, Australia’s most successful offspinner, against R Ashwin, the fastest man to 250 Test wickets.It is remarkable that the fingerspinners have found this resurgence after the doosra has practically been outlawed. The DRS-empowered (or awakened) umpires have made the straighter delivery lethal. No longer can a batsman afford to plonk the front foot forward and miss the ball. So they are trying to stay inside the line, which exposes the outside edge and the stumps. That makes for a role reversal.When India went to Australia in 2014-15, Ashwin tried to learn from Lyon, who won Australia the Adelaide Test with a 12-wicket haul. Now Lyon is watching Ashwin. Most important for him is to be able to threaten both edges as India’s fingerspinners do. You can’t bowl the straighter one on demand. It’s not like the legspinners’ wrong ‘un, which you actually aim to bowl. That’s what makes it lethal too: you can pick the wrong ‘un out of the hand, but there is no way you can tell from the hand that the next intended offbreak is not going to turn.Josh Hazlewood on…

The SG ball
“Haven’t bowled with the SG ball, this is my first time. Little bit different. Been training with it. The brand new ball swings a bit, and once it’s old, it reverses. Good signs there. We have three front-line quicks, that’s plenty of fast bowling for this tour.”
What has changed after nine straight defeats in Asia
“This is a really different group even from Sri Lanka. We have had a good preparation, two weeks in Dubai. Definitely we are well prepared this time. I think we have done everything we can leading in to the first Test. It is about putting those plans into action this week.”
Change in lines required in India
“In India you bowl a lot straighter. In Australia you bowl in that channel on and outside the off stump. In India you bowl a lot tighter on the middle and off. I think it’s about drying up the runs. It’s fast outfields here and runs can tick along pretty quickly. In that sense you build pressure and wickets come by bowling the dots and good maiden overs for a long period of time.”

You can’t bowl the straighter one, but you can facilitate it. It is perfectly reasonable if Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja and Rangana Herath – the leading spinners in the rankings – don’t share all their trade secrets, but conventionally they are understood to do it through different seam positions, through different release points, and through under-cutting the ball. The idea is to land the ball differently; if it lands on the seam, it turns and if it lands on the leather, it skids straight on. Under-cutting the ball is remarkable in particular because it extremely difficult to do it across 22 yards and not flex the elbow. Sometimes you just drift it away enough to land it wider than the batsman originally expects it to land.Lyon has played 11 Tests in Asia, and averages 42.57 in conditions that should help him. In less helpful conditions, he averages a respectable 32.15. This will be his fifth series in Asia, and over the years he has tried to adjust, especially in his trajectory and pace – bowling quicker to not give batsmen time to recover – but success has been elusive. Lyon can’t unlearn everything and start bowling fingerspin all over again, but he is now looking to Ashwin to help him out.Ever since his last Test, in the first week of January, Lyon has spent considerable time watching tapes of Ashwin. “I have been watching a lot of footage of Ashwin, the way he goes about it, his different release points,” Lyon said in Pune, the venue of the first Test. “He is a world-class spinner, the best at the moment in the world, there is a reason for it. Been studying him a lot, hopefully I can put it in play.”I am not going to tell you what that is, because the whole world will read it. There are a few things as spinners in the Australian team we have certainly spoken about. Hopefully we can put them in practice and hit a few pads. There are a few changes, but I am not going to change my whole action for this tour. I am aware you need to change a few things here and there. But it’s a game of cricket, if we go out there and control the process… We are playing on the same wickets as they are, so there are no excuses.”Lyon said he has “definitely changed” his approach to bowling in Asia since his last visit to India, but didn’t want to elaborate it so close to a Test series. He will need all the improvement he can manage because he doesn’t find himself in an enviable position. Outside Asia, he is mainly used as a steady bowler. Sometimes he can be just an afterthought. When he does come on, he is expected to be steady, bowl the Australian way and build pressure for the quicker bowlers.

“If you are going to come out and try to take a wicket off every ball, you are going to get hit for boundaries. For us, coming over and competing here is about building pressure.”Nathan Lyon

All of a sudden, Lyon finds himself in conditions where the opposition spinners feel like demons to his side’s batsmen, and he has to go out and try to replicate it. Not many have been able to do so; only Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann come to mind after Saqlain Mushtaq did that to India in 1999. Lyon said he needed to stay away from that mindset.”That’s where you get into trouble,” Lyon said. “If you are going to come out and try to take a wicket off every ball, you are going to get hit for boundaries. For us, coming over and competing here is about building pressure, either with quickies or spinners at the other end. Try to give minimum runs and make the Indians play the big shots. That’s where we are going to build pressure. That’s how you build pressure and take wickets. If you go out thinking that I have got 10 overs and I am going to get them in 10 overs, you are on a slippery slope to nowhere really.”With the amount of cricket played today, Lyon has another opportunity to set his record in Asia right. He is already the most capped Australia fingerspinner in Asia. When he turns out in Bangalore later in the series, only Shane Warne will have played more Tests in Asia as a spinner. Whether he likes it or not, Lyon will be in the spotlight. The Australian way of bowling fingerspin will have to merge with the Asian way if Australia have to compete in the series.

Chelsea are looking rather light in the midfield department, with Roméo Lavia continuing to suffer from injuries, both Cesare Casadei and Renato Veiga leaving in the January window and multiple other midfielders out on loan.

This has seen Moises Caicedo and Enzo Fernández starting almost every game, with many beginning to question their workload, scared of the pair becoming jaded and picking up an injury.

Luckily, on deadline day, Enzo Maresca’s side did manage to make one midfield signing, with Mathis Amougou joining from St Etienne for a fee of around £12.5m.

But this late scramble could’ve been avoided had Chelsea recalled one of their two central midfielders out on loan, both of whom have shown signs of capability in a similar role.

Lesley Ugochukwu is one of them but he’s not the only one. Stay tuned…

How Lesley Ugochukwu is doing at Southampton

Ugochukwu is one of the Chelsea midfielders out on loan this season. Having joined Southampton on a temporary basis in the summer, the 20-year-old has made 18 appearances in all competitions, providing two assists, contributing to three clean sheets and totalling 1,029 minutes played.

Impressively, the French midfielder has been compared to Aurelien Tchouameni’s level of potential, by Liam Twomey from The Athletic, standing at 6 foot 3, covering ground in central areas really well, making high numbers of defensive actions – 3.86 tackles per 90 – and being technically astute on the ball to receive in tight spaces.

Despite having Ugochukwu as one option to bring back from loan, Southampton’s change in manager (Ivan Juric) saw the French midfielder given more minutes, meaning the Blues decided to keep him at Southampton for the remainder of the season in order to aid his development.

But there was another midfield option out on loan who could have returned to have a huge impact at Chelsea.

How Andrey Santos compares to Mathis Amougou

Perhaps the crown jewel of young talents acquired by Chelsea and sent out on loan for multiple seasons, is Brazilian midfielder, Andrey Santos. He’s not played a single minute for the Blues yet, consequently spending the past year at Strasbourg on loan.

Across all competitions, the 20-year-old star has been “immense” in the words of analyst Ben Mattinson. He has made 20 appearances so far this season for the French outfit, scoring eight goals, providing two assists, contributing to four clean sheets and featuring for a total of 1,764 minutes.

When comparing Santos’s underlying numbers with Chelsea’s new midfield signing – interestingly both playing in Ligue 1 this season – you can see how far ahead Santos currently is with his game, being more comfortable on the ball, making more passes, more progressive actions and completing more defensive actions per 90 too.

Goals + Assists

0.46

0.00

Progressive Carries

1.02

0.84

Progressive Passes

4.87

3.79

Passes Attempted

48.6

31.7

Pass Completion %

87.2%

77.1%

Key Passes

0.91

0.74

Passes into Pen Area

0.32

0.42

Tackles

3.74

2.21

Interceptions

0.92

1.26

Ball Recoveries

6.42

3.89

Santos has been described as a “one-man war machine” by Jacek Kulig in the past, being well known for being an all-action midfielder, who contributes in all phases, can drop deep to link play, protect the backline in defensive transition, get stuck in to win duels, but also arrive in the box and add goals for the team.

Whilst Ugochukwu and Santos would have been more ready to contribute now, Chelsea have clearly taken the route of allowing them to complete their loan cycles, continue their development with consistent minutes, before rejoining the squad next season, when Amougou will likely receive a loan to aid his development in a similar way.

After Amougou: Maresca must now give "pointless" Chelsea star the boot

Chelsea rounded off deadline day with the signing of Mathis Amougou

ByRobbie Walls Feb 4, 2025

The cricket world reacts to Rohit Sharma’s stunning T20I century in Indore

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Dec-2017

Hitman at it again. Clean and powerful hitting at it's best. Take a bow brother. Double it up now. @ImRo45 #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/k3z00KqYNP

— Suresh Raina (@ImRaina) December 22, 2017

So This is Christmas … the lights are on in the crowd… Fireworks from Rohit and Rahul … and SL showcasing the spirit of giving #INDvSL pic.twitter.com/1R03pfqh65

— Russel Arnold (@RusselArnold69) December 22, 2017

First t 20 200 by an individual and the highest team score, both records in danger of being broken tonight!. @ImRo45 is just painting the big hits like an artist. #INDvsSL

— Ashwin Ravichandran (@ashwinravi99) December 22, 2017

Wow again @ImRo45

— Mitchell McClenaghan (@Mitch_Savage) December 22, 2017

There are a few in the world, but none in India who can catch up with Rohit when he is in this mood. #Rohit

— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) December 22, 2017

What a stunning century it was from Rohit Sharma. 35 ball 100. May this purple patch continue. pic.twitter.com/1MsNKfJd0F

— VVS Laxman (@VVSLaxman281) December 22, 2017

Rohilicious….first individual T20 double hundred is a real possibility. #IndvSL #Indore #DilMangeMore

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) December 22, 2017

Everytime you think you have seen it all, you see something incredible. Today, Rohit Sharma has shown us that. I admit I am gasping.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) December 22, 2017

Former goalkeeper Ben Foster believes that Ruud van Nistelrooy would have done a better job at Manchester United than Ruben Amorim.

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Van Nistelrooy oversees Leicester relegationAmorim's United in bottom half of Premier LeagueFoster makes bold claimFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Van Nistelrooy has overseen a truly terrible spell at Leicester since his appointment in November. The former United striker has seen the Foxes relegated, with the club taking just 18 points from 33 games across his reign and that of Steve Cooper. United have also had a torrid time under Amorim, who was similarly appointed in November, as the club lie in 14th in the Premier League table.

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Now, former United goalkeeper Foster has claimed that the Dutchman would have been a superior option for United than Amorim. Of course, van Nistelrooy did manage the Red Devils for four games as interim boss after the departure of Erik ten Hag, and he oversaw three wins and a draw. Ironically, two of those victories came over Leicester, winning 3-0 in the league and 5-2 in the Carabao Cup, and Foster believes he should have been allowed to stay in the Old Trafford dugout.

WHAT BEN FOSTER SAID

Speaking on the Fozcast, Foster said: "Would Ruud van Nistelrooy have done a better job than Ruben Amorim at Man United, if he'd have stayed on? I think it's 'probably' because he had that respect, and I just don't think that you could do much worse than Amorim has done."

Challenged on the take, with his co-host claiming that van Nistelrooy might not have worked long-term, he replied: "I don't think Amorim is [a long term fix] either, to be honest with you. Amorim set his stall out last week when they won that game against Lyon and then he said he was basically going to play the kids for the rest of the season.

"It just signals that the Premier League doesn't matter so subconsciously, all of those players will take their foot off the gas a little bit."

(C)Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT?

Leicester are reported to be looking elsewhere following van Nistelrooy's reign and have been linked with Lee Carsley. Amorim, meanwhile, will hope to guide United beyond Athletic Bilbao in the Europa League semi-finals.

The recent Harshal Patel example tells us why players need to train for these dismissals

Aditya Prakash12-Apr-2023It is not often that you see a run out at the non-striker’s end. It is even less often that you see a failed run out at the non-striker’s end. Perhaps it is yet more uncommon to be in a situation where five runs are needed off the last over and it is a challenging ask for the batting team in a match where only one other over has gone for fewer runs. We got two out of three of these unlikely possibilities in the last over of the game between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Lucknow Super Giants on Monday.At the core of it lies a trite sentiment expressed by understandably shocked spectators: how on earth could Harshal Patel have missed that run out? That surprise might obscure a more complex, embedded, question: given that Harshal had uncannily perfect execution in that over, how could the run out be the thing he messed up?Let us start by regarding this situation from a more empathetic perspective, borrowing from the study of task-switch costs in psychology.Related

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In day-to-day life we often perform more than one activity at a time, such as watching a cricket match and tweeting about it. One can easily see how there is an impairment in the performance of either task that results from attempting to multitask. You may miss a magnificent six because you were too caught up in looking at your phone. It may take you several more minutes than usual to compose a tweet because you were distracted by a series of pressure-building dot balls in the match. In cognitive psychology, these different modes of activities are called task sets – representations of associations between information in the world and relevant responses to this information. As one swaps from one task set to another, there are initial impairments to performance – task-switch costs – while the existing task set is inhibited and the new task set is activated.Look back at the final over of the India vs Pakistan T20I World Cup game in 2022. One can think of Mohammed Nawaz’s unprecedented switch to medium pace from his previous three overs of left-arm fingerspin and his subsequent execution failures as a task-switch cost.Pressure can add to these switch-cost effects. In a losing situation – despite a rich history of a tactic or plan working successfully – a player or team might shortsightedly underestimate the effectiveness of existing plans and adopt alternative tactics that might seem relatively appealing under pressure. Moreover, research shows that time pressure itself (caused by a nervous bowler hurrying their rhythm, for instance) amplifies the effect of a switch cost. So pressure impairs performance by making alternative plans more attractive, forcing switch costs and amplifying these costs by causing bowlers to rush.A more fine-grained example of a task switch is the use of bowling variations, which often demand drastic changes in motor coordination. With disciplined practice, good bowlers can disguise variations and switch between deliveries with few flaws in their execution. Bowlers can train themselves to minimise or eliminate the effect of these switch costs between variations by bowling different types of deliveries a lot in net sessions. But in high-pressure situations, switching between different balls, which was so effortless in the nets, can suddenly prove challenging to execute. This is seen in the death overs of just about any T20 game when an intended yorker or flighted, wicket-seeking delivery becomes a full-toss.

Research shows that time pressure itself (caused by a nervous bowler hurrying their rhythm, for instance) amplifies the effect of a switch cost. Pressure impairs performance by making alternative plans look more attractive, forcing switch costs and amplifying these costs by causing bowlers to rush

Harshal has built his name on his death bowling, as was borne out by the fact that the match was not already won in the four balls preceding the failed run-out attempt. Like Dwayne Bravo, his success in this phase of the game rests on his signature dipping, slower yorker. Both these bowlers’ resounding success in the IPL (three purple caps between them) can be attributed not just to the difficulty batters have in hitting their signature deliveries but to how even the failed execution of this delivery – the dipping full toss – is difficult to hit. These players are not necessarily beasts under pressure; their success rests on even their “mistakes” having utility. In other words, just because Harshal can be effective at the death, that does not necessarily say he is invulnerable under pressure and to pressure-mediated switch costs.So, after concentrating his attention on the tasks of clinically bowling yorkers and short balls, Harshal readies himself for the final delivery of the game. Ravi Bishnoi had not been a non-striker to that point in the game, and there was no strong reason for Harshal to proactively keep an eye open for the possibility of Bishnoi leaving his crease early. Of course, Harshal will have had a non-specific awareness that this could occur, given how crucial it was that Lucknow Super Giants took the single.At this point perhaps Harshal simply plots another yorker in light of the relatively tighter field and the conditioning imposed by the previous delivery, which was short. As he gets into position for his run-up, he may well have got into “dipping yorker mode”, a rehearsed, finely tuned choreography – saunter, sprint, leap, release – that he has performed countless times in the nets and in match situations like this one with success.At some point during this sequence of actions, he catches a glimpse of intent from Bishnoi to run early, or perhaps he doesn’t see Bishnoi but quickly decides that there is no risk at this point in attempting a run out. Either way, given that he has already begun his bowling action, there is difficulty inhibiting dipping-yorker mode and therefore difficulty in efficiently adopting “non-striker-run-out mode”. As a result, an execution error occurs and the ball is declared dead.What if the run-out attempt was premeditated? The underlying switch-cost logic still holds. In this case, Harshal is aware that Bishnoi may leave his crease early in light of the game situation. In order to sufficiently fool Bishnoi into believing the ball will be bowled, Harshal launches into a general “bowling mode”, replicating most of the choreography mentioned above. In trying to realistically bait the non-striker, he devotes his attention to bowling mode. This makes the eventual inhibition of this mode difficult and subsequently leads to a failure in executing the secondary non-striker-run-out mode. The magnitude of this cost is perhaps amplified further by the implicit time pressure caused by rushing when nervous. In a sense, the razor-sharp focus on execution that preceded the run-out attempt amplified its error rate.The run-out action is not similar to anything else a bowler does routinely on the field, which is why it needs practice to effect smoothly•Patrick Hamilton/AFP/Getty ImagesWhat distinguishes the run-out attempt is that it is likely not something Harshal has practised to the extent he has practised actually bowling. More specifically, it is unlikely that coaches ever have had players practise disengaging from their run-up for a purpose beyond just stopping. As a result, most players likely do not have the required training required to switch without cost between the task of bowling and the task of running out the non-striker.Effecting a run out at the non-striker’s end is mechanistically among the most anomalous actions in a bowler’s repertoire. It is the least similar to any other action he routinely performs. This further amplifies the difficulty in switching from bowling mode to non-striker-run-out mode, relative to, say, switching from yorker mode to bouncer mode. Most (but not all) recent prominent examples of run outs at the non-striker’s end were effected by spinners, who have relatively modular and slower run-ups compared to fast bowlers. This provides them more time and opportunity to disengage from bowling mode and engage non-striker-run-out mode. In the heat of a game – especially for fast bowlers with quick, highly linear, stereotyped run-ups – run outs at the non-striker’s end are hard and should be practised like any other skill within the game.Unfortunately, this need is hindered by prominent coaches, captains, and other authority figures in the game not recognising non-striker run outs as a legitimate form of dismissal, to the point that it is suggested that should a player effect such a dismissal, the captain can opt to void the appeal.This confusion within the cricket community – which exists despite how clear the laws of the game are on the issue – may discourage players from training for a legitimate form of dismissal, leading to errors in execution during the moment of truth. Harshal’s own hesitation reflects the hesitation many in cricket have towards non-striker run outs generally. An event like this botched non-striker run out can indirectly serve as a reminder that teams need a full commitment to the laws of cricket, not to some nebulous “spirit of cricket”. This sentiment should not just be reflected in words and thoughts but also in training regimes and strategies, just like with any other element of cricket play.

Chris Wilder welcomed ten new faces to his Sheffield United camp last transfer window as the Blades boss went about putting together a squad that could challenge for an instant promotion back up to the Premier League.

He looks to have assembled just that with the South Yorkshire outfit very much in the Championship automatic promotion reckoning heading into some crucial games to come, which is an admirable feat considering his side are still fresh off finishing rock bottom of the pile in the top-flight on a miserable 16 points.

Now, he will want his side to immediately jump back up a league and prove that they belong in the elite division, with a potential January signing showing they certainly mean business.

Sheffield United in for ex-Premier League winner

As per a recent report from Turkish outlet Fanatik – as has been relayed by Sport Witness – the promotion chasers have reignited their interest in former England international Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain with discussions now taking place between the ex-Liverpool midfielder’s agent and the Championship side.

Having been linked with the experienced 31-year-old in the summer window, it now looks as if a deal could be back on the table at some point this month, with his current employers Beskitas also wanting to get rid as his minutes have depleted this season playing in Turkey.

Previously lifting the Premier League title aloft with the Reds, this could be seen as a coup on the end of the second-tier side in winning Oxlade-Chamberlain, who also has alleged interest from French outfit Nantes away from Wilder’s men sniffing around.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

What Oxlade-Chamberlain could offer

Landing the former Champions League winner might mean United’s interest in picking up Southampton youngster Shea Charles is short-lived, with the Sheffield Star reporting recently that Charles was being looked at as a fresh midfield addition for the Blades despite playing for Sheffield Wednesday this season on loan.

After all, a player of Oxlade-Chamberlain’s calibre joining would be seen as a major upgrade on snapping up the loan services of the former Owls number 44, regardless of Charles’ breakout moment in the spotlight at Hillsborough.

Charles will no doubt go on to have a successful career in the game, having notched up one goal and four assists centrally for Danny Rohl’s men this season in league action, before finding his loan stay was cut short.

But, Wilder might well want the finished article in the here and now over winning himself a promising youngster, with Oxlade-Chamberlain’s versatility to play in a whole plethora of different positions also boosting his injury-depleted team significantly.

CM

115

11

3

RM

82

9

11

RW

56

5

6

LM

40

6

6

LW

26

6

0

AM

25

4

4

RB

4

0

2

DM

3

0

0

CF

1

0

0

SS

1

0

0

Crazily, Oxlade-Chamberlain has lined up in ten different positions across the course of his varied playing days, with Wilder wanting to utilise him in his preferred central midfield role with Ollie Arblaster sidelined for the foreseeable.

But, away from adding depth in a position that has also seen Tom Davies struggle with fitness, Oxlade-Chamberlain could fill in wherever at a moment’s notice and put in a competent performance which will alleviate some selection headaches for the United boss.

One concern would be that Oxlade-Chamberlain’s “incredible” days at Liverpool – as he was once described by Jurgen Klopp – are far behind now, but he showed there was still life in his legs last season with Beskitas seen in the sublime solo strike above.

He would bow out from the 2023/24 season with four goals and one assist next to his name in league action, with his prowess in attack also a big draw as to why Wilder might try and snap him up shortly.

Whilst Charles might be the flavour of the month in the second tier, United would undoubtedly show to others in the Championship they’re serious about promotion if a deal for the four-time FA Cup winner materialised.

2025 winter transfer window: Every done deal from the Championship

Every winter transfer from the second tier can be found here.

ByStephan Georgiou Feb 3, 2025

It would be fair to say that this season has not gone even remotely to plan for Tottenham Hotspur.

The Lilywhites have endured a mountain of injuries, an abysmal Premier League campaign, and following their thrashing on Thursday night, they’ve only got the Europa League and FA Cup to save their season.

However, with all that said, there have been reasons to be positive in recent weeks, such as their late but nonetheless impressive business in the transfer market.

Ange Postecoglou now has three more players to choose from than he did before the window opened, with Mathys Tel undoubtedly the most exciting, although the Frenchman is still worth millions less than one of his new teammates.

Tottenham's January business

In somewhat unusual fashion, Tottenham kicked off their winter transfer business early this year, signing Czech goalkeeper Antonín Kinský from Slavia Prague for £12.5m on January 5th.

The 21-year-old shot-stopper was excellent on his debut, keeping a clean sheet against Liverpool, and while he has been a little shaky of late, there is every chance he could develop into the club’s future number one.

The next transfer wasn’t completed until early this month when Daniel Levy and Co finally addressed the team’s dire need for a centre-back by agreeing to a short-term loan with an obligation to buy at £20.9m for RC Lens star Kevin Danso.

The 24-capped Austrian international has been a key figure for the French side who made it into the Champions League last season by finishing runners-up in Ligue 1 the campaign prior.

Moreover, while the scoreline would perhaps suggest otherwise, his individual performance against Liverpool wasn’t too bad.

Last but certainly not least, Spurs finally secured a loan deal with an option to buy at £45m for the exceptionally gifted Tel, despite him initially turning them down last Friday.

The French teenager wasn’t getting much game time for Bayern Munich this season, but last year, under Thomas Tuchel, he was spectacular, racking up a tally of ten goals and six assists in just 1406 minutes of first-team football, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 87.87 minutes.

There can be no doubt that, in the Sarcelles-born dynamo, Spurs have one of the most exciting talents in world football, but even so, there is already a player in the squad, signed by Antonio Conte, who is currently worth millions more.

The Spurs star worth millions more than Tel

Conte’s tenure in North London might not have been particularly successful or positive, but he was responsible for bringing several talented first-teamers to the club, such as Desiny Udogie, Djed Spence and Pedro Porro.

However, the player we are talking about is none other than Dejan Kulusevski, who joined the Lilywhites on a loan deal under the Italian manager, which was then made permanent under Postecoglou for around £25m.

Just a year and a half later, and according to Football Transfers, the Swedish superstar is now worth up to a whopping €65.5m, which is about £55m, or £10m more than the fee Spurs could pay for Tel come the end of the season.

While that is undoubtedly a lofty valuation, we’d argue that, at least this season, the Stockholm-born dynamo has more than justified it.

For example, in 38 appearances for the Australian manager this season, which has seen him play in central midfield, attacking midfield and off the right of a front three, the “world-class” international, as dubbed by talent scout Jacek Kulig, has scored nine goals and provided nine assists.

Appearances

38

Minutes

2760′

Goals

9

Assists

9

Goal Involvements per Match

0.47

Minutes per Goal Involvement

153.33

That means the 24-year-old is currently averaging a goal involvement every 2.11 games, which is seriously impressive for a team languishing where they are in the league table.

Ultimately, Spurs have got themselves a truly sensational prospect in Tel, but if he is to join the club on a permanent deal in the summer, he’ll have to seriously impress to see his valuation reach Kulusevski’s.

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