Mike Brearley’s speech at the Bradman Oration in Melbourne, during which he spoke about the psychoanalytical factors involved in playing sport, particularly cricket

Mike Brearley24-Oct-2013Thank you very much for these remarks; and above all for the great honour you do me in inviting me to give the Bradman Oration as No. 11 in the distinguished line-up of speakers. There are those who’d say that this is the most appropriate position for me in the batting order, though I reckon I might get in ahead of Tim Rice.It is an honour: but an intimidating honour. Following Rahul Dravid, for one thing. And he himself said it made him more anxious than going in to bat at No. 3 for India at the MCG. For another thing, it’s not a talk you invite me for, or a mere lecture, or even a speech, but an Oration, no less. An imposing word and an imposing task. And not only an Oration, but what about the other word in the title: Bradman! The greatest batsman the game has known, a tireless administrator, and a man whose words are shrewd and moving.It is just possible that the names Bradman and Brearley are not indissolubly linked together in the minds of cricket lovers, except perhaps for those who study the alphabetical order of England-Australia Test players, in which list we are separated solely by Len Braund, who played in 23 Tests for England in the first decade of the 20th century. A heckler in Sydney did once link Bradman and me during the fourth Test of 1978-79: “Breely,” he shouted, “you make Denness look like Bradman.”However, I have one Test batting statistic that makes me superior to Don Bradman. I daresay many of you don’t know this fact, one that is hard to believe, but of his 80 Test innings no fewer than ten ended in ducks: once in eight times he went to the crease in Test cricket, Bradman was out for nought. A remarkable fact. Whereas in my Test career, of 66 innings only six were ducks, one in 11.I met Sir Donald a few times on my tours of Australia. Doug Insole, Ken Barrington, Bob Willis and I had lunch with him in Adelaide in 1978. I liked him – he was spry, quick, trenchant and modest. He had a twinkle in his eye. I remember best the discussion about fast bowlers. He reckoned that, for about 18 months, Frank Tyson was the fastest he’d seen; and that Harold Larwood was quicker than the bowlers of that day (who included Michael Holding, Andy Roberts, Dennis Lillee and Jeff Thomson – no slouches you’ll agree). He acknowledged that Rodney Hogg was, as he put it, “a bit slippery”. I thought he was too.I come to Australia at a good time for English cricket, and at a key moment, I suspect, for Australian cricket. We are between two Ashes series, unusually close together. As you may have noticed, England have won four of the last five series, though I hesitate, as you’d appreciate, to rub it in. Australians, I gather, are baffled and confused by this scenario, one matched by parallel declines in other sports. It must be a time of soul-searching. I look forward very much to the upcoming series.So – what to talk to you about, what to orate on? There are so many possible current topics – Test cricket and the threat of T20 domestic leagues, Umpire Review Systems, including the hot spot of Hot Spot, how to fight corruption in sport and in particular in cricket; and so on. But I imagine you might be a little tired of these issues (some of which will no doubt come up in the Panel), and I’m not sure I have anything original to say on them. So I’ve decided to talk to you now about something that borders on the work I’ve been doing as a psychoanalyst for the last 30-plus years since stopping playing cricket. I should like to consider the question: what is the point of sport, and in particular of cricket? And how does this link with the Ashes?So: what is the point of it? Here are two quotes:”Nothing in cricket has the slightest importance when set against a single death from violence in Northern Ireland.”And, second: ”Some people believe football is a matter of life and death. I am very disappointed with that attitude. I can assure you it is much, much more important than that.”The first quote was from John Arlott, the second, Bill Shankly, the charismatic manager of Liverpool Football Club. What are we to make of this apparent conflict?

“If human beings were not combative no one would have invented sport. But if human beings were not also cooperative neither team nor individual games would have come into existence”

The roots of sport
For those to whom sport doesn’t appeal, it seems futile, pointless. They remember hours of misery at compulsory school games on cold (or indeed hot) sporting fields. They were perhaps physically awkward, and picked last; one can understand what a torment all this must have been for many.Yet every small child, before self-doubt, and comparison with other children, gets a grip, takes pleasure in his or her bodily capacities and adroitness. Gradually the child achieves a measure of physical coordination and mastery. Walking, jumping, dancing, catching, kicking, climbing, splashing, using an implement as a bat or racquet – all these offer a sense of achievement and satisfaction. Sport grows out of the pleasure in such activities.Moreover, this development in coordination is part of the development of a more unified self. Instead of being subject, as babies, to more or less random, stimulus-response movements of our limbs, we learn to act in the world according to central intentions or trajectories. We begin to know what we are doing and what we are about. The small child gradually finds a degree of rhythm and control through and in its movements. And there is the pleasure of improving.So far, dance and sport are barely distinguishable. Sport proper starts to emerge when competition with others plays a more central role alongside the simpler delight in physicality. “I can run faster than you, climb higher, wrestle you to the floor.” Aggression enters in more obviously, to combine with the flamboyance that is already in place.Spontaneity and discipline
Sport is an area where aggression and the public demonstration of skills and of character are permitted, even encouraged. For many people otherwise inclined to be inhibited or self-conscious, sport offers a unique opportunity for self-expression and spontaneity. Within a framework of rules and acceptable behaviour, sportspeople can be whole-hearted. Such people – including me – owe sport a lot; here we begin to find ourselves, to become the selves that we have the potential to be.In this process, the child and the adult have to learn to cope with the emotional ups and downs of victory and defeat, success and failure. They – we – gradually manage to keep going against the odds, to struggle back to form, to recognise the risks of complacency. We have to learn to deal with inner voices telling us we are no good, and with voices telling us we’re wonderful. In sport the tendencies to triumph when we do well, and to become angry or depressed at doing badly, are often strong; we have to find our own ways of coping with them. Arrogance and humiliation have to be struggled against, whilst determination and proper pride and good sportsmanship are struggled towards.Spectators identify not only with the skills of sportsmen but also with their characters, their characteristic ways of facing those twin impostors success and failure. These scenarios are central dramas of sport.Sport calls too for a subtle balancing of planning and spontaneity, of calculation and letting go, of discipline and freedom. Greg Chappell wrote in an email to me: “premeditation is the graveyard of batting”. And though this is importantly true, it needs qualification or expansion; for two reasons. One is that we need to set ourselves in certain ways. A batsman playing in a T20 match has a totally different orientation to the task from a player in a Test match. In one context he or she is looking to score off every ball; he is aware of the pressure of time, and of the urgent need to evaluate quickly where his side should be in two overs, say, or five. And second the advice may be in some cases a counsel of perfection, aimed at a highly skilled player, and geared to a scenario in which there is infinite time. All batsmen have to do some premeditation, if only in ruling out certain options. Even that mercurial genius Denis Compton looked to be on the back foot when facing quick bowlers. Most players pre-decide whether to go for the hook or alternatively to defend or evade the short-pitched ball; they adopt a policy; they premeditate. In shorter games, all batsmen pre-determine, or at least have a range of possibilities in their minds.Also one has to train oneself in the sporting skills, form a reliable technique, and work at it. But – and this I think is Greg’s point – having disciplined ourselves, having set ourselves according to the situation of the game, we then have to let ourselves go, trusting to our craftsmanship, skill and intuitive responsiveness, without further interference from the conscious mind. Occasionally this leads to that sublime balance between elements that constitutes being in the zone, or being on form. At the peak of performance one is simultaneously alert to possible lines of attack by individual and collective opponents, and able to respond with more or less uncluttered minds to the next play or assault. Like parents with children, we have a complicated job to do in enabling our own selves to find the right balance between self-discipline and free rein. The moments when body and mind are at one, when we are completely concentrated and completely relaxed, aware of every relevant detail of the surroundings but not obsessed or hyper-sensitive to any set of them, confident without being over-confident, aware of dangers without being over-cautious – such rare states of mind are akin to being in love. They involve a marriage between the conscious control mentioned above with the allowing of a more unconscious creativity through the body’s knowledge. In such states the role of the conscious mind is, as Greg says, to stand back and quietly watch.Teams
Sport divides into team and individual sports. One of the aims of team sport is for a group of individuals to be transfigured from a collection into a team, from a group functioning either like a homogenous flock or as a bunch of disparate individualists into a team with a range of different roles, with room for individual expression that is to be kept subservient to the cohesion of the whole team. Team sport calls for the balancing of self-interest and group interest. The members of the team have at times to constrain themselves in the interests of the team; they also have the benefit of the team’s support especially when things are hard for them individually.Cricket is unusual. Like baseball, but unlike golf or football, it is a matter of individual contests and dramas within a team context. When Chris Rogers opens the batting against Jimmy Anderson at Brisbane in a month’s time, he will be well aware that what happens next is up to him (and Anderson). But their battle will also at some more subliminal level be influenced by the morale of the two sides.Greg Chappell once said “premeditation is the graveyard of batting”•Adrian Murrell/Getty ImagesAs Bradman said about the Invincibles (the 1948 side touring England): “Nothing can alter the figures which will appear in black and white in the record books, but they cannot record the spirit which permeated the side, the courage and fighting qualities of the players, for these things cannot be measured. They were on a very high plane.”Unlike baseball, cricket’s contests between bat and ball can last for very long time periods – days, even – and go through many ups and downs. A weather-vane in the shape of Father Time surveys Lord’s, the “home of cricket” – symbolising both the fact that time brings everything to an end and, perhaps, the timelessness of the experience of watching and playing cricket. Cricket is unique in its potential for drawn-out struggles between two people, each with his or her powerful narcissistic wishes for admiration and fears of humiliation, all within this team context. And for the cricket batsman failure means a symbolic death; he or she has to leave the arena, a king deposed.Team games give people a sense of belonging and a proper pride. And this can happen not on the small scale of a single team, but on a national scale. Sport may be the one place where a country can come together with good feelings about itself. This has happened through cricket in Afghanistan, whose national team have worked their way up from Division 5 in the World Cricket League in 2008, to winning through as qualifiers for the next World Cup in 2015. Imagine what this means to a country devastated by wars, corruption and poverty.Co-operation and competition
If human beings were not combative no one would have invented sport. But if human beings were not also cooperative neither team nor individual games would have come into existence. For reasons I will come to, rivalry can – and indeed should – be taken close to the limit. But alongside this, cricket also involves the recognition of the unspoken realities of the spirit, respect and generosity of the game. This is not merely a matter of obedience to the laws; it also involves ordinary civilities that oil the wheels of relationships and collegial activities, recognition of limits, consideration and respect, and give and take through a kind of dialogic interplay on the field.The Latin etymology of both “rival” and “compete” reflect this fact: meant “sharing the same stream or river bank”, meant “striving together with”, “agreeing together”, as in “competent.”Rivalry does not entail lack of respect for one’s opponent, whatever the outcome. Test cricket is, like many other forms of sport, rightly a tough business. But there is another side of these tough contests which can too easily be forgotten, and that is the fair-mindedness and sportsmanship between hard, high-powered competitors. One occurred in the last innings of the Centenary Test in 1977, when Derek Randall made his fantastic 174 and Dennis Lillee took 11 wickets in the match (the result of which was precisely the same as the result of the original match, 100 years before, a 45-runs win for Australia). Randall was well past a century at this point, England were something like 250 for 2, Lillee was tired, and there was a serious chance of us winning against all odds. Greg, the captain, was bowling, and a ball squeezed between Randall’s bat and pad. Rod Marsh dived forward to take the ball, and the batsman was given out. Picking himself up, Rod indicated to Greg that the ball hadn’t carried, and Randall was called back. (Rod says it was also a fact that Randall hadn’t even hit it, but that was another matter!)When at Edgbaston in 2005 England won by two runs, England’s hero Andrew Flintoff left the team huddle at the moment of victory and put his arm round his defeated opponent, Brett Lee. He was not only commiserating with the pain of defeat, a boot that could so easily have been on the other foot. He also I think was acknowledging the kinship between rivals. For at the same time as wanting to defeat our opponents, we depend on them and their skill, courage and hostility, in order to prove and improve our own skills, to earn and merit our pride. There is a unity of shared striving, as well as a duality of opposition. The 11 players on each team form bonds through their shared skills and teamwork that are sometimes hard to replicate in the less intense working relationships of everyday life. After wars, the closeness felt with fellow soldiers may make domestic ties for discharged survivors pallid by comparison. Somewhat similarly, the 22 players in a Test match go through it together, in a way that no spectator does.Envy and jealousy play a part in, and are not always easily accommodated within, ordinary rivalry. In one county match Dickie Dodds, the Essex opening batsman, was out without scoring on a pitch that was perfect for batting. Essex went on to dominate the morning session, and by lunch had reached 150 without further loss. Having had to watch his team’s success from the pavilion, Dodds camep to Doug Insole, one of the “not out” batsmen, and said, “Skipper, I hope you haven’t been troubled by any bad vibes this morning?” Insole replied, “Can’t say I have, Dickie, been too busy enjoying myself – why do you ask?” “Because I’ve been so full of bitterness I’ve not been wishing you well.” Here is an understandable and very human envy; Dodds’ frankness and regret meant there was no chance of it spoiling the relationship.

“Competitiveness can turn into bullying, uncouthness or superiority. But it can also be perverted in the opposite direction. Some people refrain from competing wholeheartedly because they are afraid of winning, and even avoid doing so”

In 1976-77, I played five Tests in India. One of India’s formidable quartet of spin bowlers was Erapalli Prasanna. He was a short, somewhat rotund offspinner, with large, expressive eyes, and a wonderful control of flight. For some reason, he and I would engage in a kind of eye-play. His look would say, “Okay, you played that one all right, but where will the next one land?” And mine would reply, “Yes, you fooled me a little, but notice I adjusted well enough.” He had that peculiarly Indian, minimal, sideways waggle of the head, which suggests that the vertebrae of the subcontinental neck are more loosely linked than in our stiffer Western ones. The waggle joined with the eyes in saying: “I acknowledge your qualities, and I know you acknowledge mine.”I found it easier to enter into such an engagement with a slow bowler, who might bamboozle me and get me out, but wasn’t trying to kill me. But I had something similar with some fast bowlers, especially when we were more or less equally likely to come out on top. With them I could actually enjoy their best ball, pitching on a perfect length in line with off stump and moving away. I also enjoyed the fact that it was too good to graze the edge of my bat. There was the same friendly rivalry. The spirit of cricket – or more broadly, of sport itself.Being tested
But how much do we really desire to be tested, in life or in sport? If the opposition’s best fast bowler treads on the ball before the start of a Test match (as Glenn McGrath did just before the Edgbaston match referred to above) and cannot play, is one relieved or disappointed? There is no escaping the relief. We all want an easier ride. And it would be easy to be hypocritical, falsely high-minded, and say insincerely that we regret that the opposition team is hampered. But at the same time there is also a wish – in the participants as well as among spectators – for the contest to be fought with each side at its best, not depleted, so that no one can cavil at victory or make excuses for defeat. Similarly, one might take more pleasure in scoring fifty against Lillee and Thomson than in making a big hundred against lesser bowling. Bradman made a parallel point: “There is not much personal satisfaction in making a hundred and being missed several times. Any artist must surely aim at perfection.” “Perfection” includes competing with the best, and this offers the opportunity to feel most fully alive, and to find the greatest satisfaction.Opponents challenge us. If we are up to it, they stretch us, call forth our courage, skill and resourcefulness; they force us to develop our techniques, or else to lag behind. They are co-creators of excellence and integrity. As the old Yorkshire and England batsman Maurice Leyland once said: “Fast bowling keeps you honest.” And mountaineer Heinrich Harrrer, in , “The glorious thing about mountains is that they will endure no lies.” And this is why corruption – fixing of any kind – goes against the essence of sport and is the greatest threat to its integrity.Visceral truthfulness is part of the process whereby we come to accept the urgency of our own subjectivity, whilst giving room to the subjectivity of the other. It takes courage to risk all in such competitiveness, and courage and generosity to accept the outcome without retreat or revenge. You will agree that this is pat of the appeal of the Ashes to us all.Avoiding the contest
Competitiveness can get out of hand, turning into cheating and a nasty vindictiveness. Over-valuation of competitiveness can crush and inhibit the growing child. It can spoil relationships, and reduce love to trophy-seeking. It can result in an attitude of “devil take the hindmost”.There is I think no need for “sledging”, and I encountered hardly any of it in my career as a professional cricketer, In my experience the great West Indian fast bowlers said nothing to the batsman on the field. One might say: they had no need to – first because of their superlative ability, but second because they were quite able to convey menace by eye contact and strut. It happened that, when I played my first Test match, against the West Indies, in 1976, both teams were staying at the same hotel in Nottingham and I ran into Andy Roberts at breakfast. He gave me a quizzical little look, not crudely unpleasant, but conveying, I felt, something along the lines of “Shall I be eating you for breakfast or for tea?” He gave these looks on the field too. Like the face of Helen of Troy, which launched a thousand ships, Andy’s conveyed a thousand words.Erapalli Prasanna, says Brearley, would engage the batsmen in eye-play•PA PhotosThere are differences that would be hard to define between appropriate shrewdness in undermining an opponent and sledging – a boorish expression of contempt. Cricket is after all not only a physical game; it includes bluff, menace, ploy and counter-ploy. Setting a field is not simply a matter of putting someone where the ball is most likely to go, (though that’s not a bad idea; have modern captains forgotten about third man?) but also of making the batsman wonder what is coming next, or making clear to him that we reckon he lacks certain strokes. The aim is that he will be undone by such a “statement” either into loss of nerve or into reckless attempts to prove us wrong. Words may enter into this; a captain might say within a batsman’s hearing “you don’t need anyone back there for him” – and I would be inclined to see this as a fair enough nibble at the batsman’s state of mind. Viv Richards’ swagger at the crease and Shane Warne’s slow, mesmerising nine-step walk which took up most of his so-called “run-up” were key elements in their unequivocal assertion that this was their stage, a stage their opponents had little right to share with them. Such attitudes, by captains as well as bowlers or batsmen, seem to me to be acceptable, even admirable, but they can tip over into arrogance and superiority – even into a sort of gang warfare. The line is thin.Superiority and arrogance may be endemic in a person or a culture. The British Empire was not exactly free of it (as you may have noticed). We British had many terms of abuse or disparagement for members of other cultures – racist stereotyping. Such automatic attitudes involved stereotyping. What was remarkable about the rise of West Indian cricket – a rise that culminated in their extraordinary period of world dominance during the 1970s and ’80s – is that people who had been enslaved and then released into a world of prejudice, arrogance and power, with many of these arrangements extending into cricket, should have been so open to values that they found in this colonial game.Self-disparagement is one consequence of racial and other kinds of trauma, yet cricketers like the Constantines (father Lebrun and son Learie), George Headley and Frank Worrell were able through their exploits and attitudes to build up the self-respect of their fellows, so that later generations could be stronger, more determined, more in touch with their proper pride. It seems to me that West Indians of earlier generations were able to be modest (in the sense of knowing they had a lot to learn) without being abject, and proud without being arrogant. They were prepared to celebrate the glass as half-full rather than rage against its being half-empty. They were willing also to wait. It was thanks to their pride and forbearance that the next generation, Roberts and Richards included, could triumph so memorably in what was able to be, by then, healthy competition between true equals.So: competitiveness can turn into bullying, uncouthness or superiority. But it can also be perverted in the opposite direction. Some people refrain from competing wholeheartedly because they are afraid of winning, and even avoid doing so. One young boy desperately wanted to win the first board game with his father, but then equally desperately needed to lose the second, so that neither party would lose face, or have to bear too much disappointment, or have to deal with any tendency to gloat. One might think, loftily, that the mature attitude to winning in sport is not to mind. The opposite is true. Not minding often means avoiding really trying.I am aware, of course, that recreational sport played for fun may have other aims and values. Of one social-side captain it was said that “his captaincy had twin aims: to give every player a good game and to beat the opposition as narrowly as possible”. I can see the point in this. But something is also lost in such an attitude. In sport we have the opportunity, and the license, to assert ourselves as separate and authentic individuals against others who have the same license; this potential allows us to find our own unique identity, whilst respecting that of others. And this is part of a wider growth of the personality, of which one aspect would be the Quaker capacity to “tell Truth to Power”. One element in telling the truth is being able to stand firm against powerful and sometimes bullying forces, without becoming a bully oneself. The more strenuous and spirited aspects of competitiveness enhance self-development, courage and sheer exhilaration. They can also be the occasion and source of the discovery and growth of new methods and techniques. Whereas being less than wholehearted is liable to be, though it may not be, a kind of evasion or cowardice.I once was a guest player for an English professional side on a short tour involving a number of matches. During the first half of the tour, we had tried our best but lost more than we won. We had been facing talented players, in their conditions. The matches were played hard, even though they were not part of any ongoing competitive leagues or series. In the next game, against a very strong side, we were led by the newly arrived captain. This captain preferred to emphasise the entertainment element in the game, this being a supposedly “friendly” fixture; not wanting to be too serious, he took off his front-line bowlers, allowing the opposition batsmen to display their most powerful strokes. They scored an even bigger total than they would have without his (to my mind misguided) generosity, bowled flat-out against us, and we limped to a crushing defeat. This gesture of “giving” runs patronised the other team and robbed each party of the satisfaction of doing their best in striving properly to win. We did not properly lose (though we did lose face and respect). The gilt on our opponents’ win was tarnished.Such dilution of proper rivalry can also occur out of a wish to look good. One Test captain, whom I won’t name, decided during the afternoon of the last day that his batsmen should play for a draw rather than take further risks in going for a win – a perfectly respectable decision. He was, however, reluctant to be criticised for being a defensive captain. This match was the first Test for a young batsman in the middle order; he had been given out (incorrectly) for a duck in the first innings, and given a hard time by the crowd, who’d wanted their local hero selected instead of him. When he went in to bat that last afternoon the captain gave him the following orders: “Play for a draw, but don’t make it look as if we’re playing for a draw.” This was hypocritical and cowardly captaincy; the debutant was in a difficult enough place without having to act a false role. This captain was more interested in how he himself looked than in competing properly or in supporting a young player.

“It seems to me that West Indians of earlier generations were able to be modest (in the sense of knowing they had a lot to learn) without being abject, and proud without being arrogant”

I even have some doubts about what was from one viewpoint a notable example of nobility and generosity. The great Surrey and England batsman Jack Hobbs said once that as Surrey had a lot of good batsman, and the Oval pitch was usually easy, when he and Andy Sandham had put on 150 or so for the first wicket, he’d sometimes give his wicket to “the most deserving professional bowler”. (When the pitch was difficult, or Larwood and Voce were bowling, that was when he really earned his money, he went on). But in making a gift of his wicket, did Hobbs belittle the recipient of the gift, who had not by his own skill and persistence forced an error? Did he treat the bowler not man to man, but man to boy? Was there an element of the feudal in Hobbs’ largesse?When England were about to tour India in 1976, some of us took the opportunity to ask Len Hutton, a Yorkshireman noted for his dry, enigmatic comments, for advice. Len appeared characteristically guarded. He then uttered a single short sentence: “Don’t take pity on them Indian bowlers.”In the great battles of sport, no quarter is given and none expected. Some of you will remember the contest between South African fast bowler Alan Donald and Michael Atherton at Trent Bridge in 1998. A great fast bowler hurled all his aggression, power and skill at a defiant, gritty batsman, a battle given an extra tinge of menace by the umpiring mistake as a result of which Atherton had just been given not out, having gloved Donald to the keeper.These are occasions when observers tremble with awe. Highlights of Test matches in Australia were for the first time broadcast in the UK in 1974-75, after the ten o’clock news. England – this you will certainly remember – were blasted by Lillee and Thommo on bowler-friendly pitches. My Middlesex colleague, opening batsman Mike Smith, reported pouring himself a large gin and tonic and hiding behind the sofa to watch.In that series, Tony Greig used to provoke Lillee; he believed that Dennis bowled less well the more fired up he got; and Tony himself reacted at his best when the opponent was incensed. Some of the most memorable contests are those where the aggression is raw, but contained, perhaps only just, within the bounds of respect for the opposition and for the rules and traditions of the game. One of the great things about Ashes matches is the absolute commitment of both sides.Shankly and Arlott
So to return, briefly, to John Arlott and Bill Shankly. Arlott is clearly right about particular moments. Death or serious injury are real tragedies or disasters, compared with which a low score, even a Bradman duck, is nothing. On the other hand, the institution of sport, with its challenges and opportunities, its companionship with team-mates and opponents alike, offers a setting for activities that enrich life, that build character, and that help develop the complex balance between being an individual and being part of a group or team. Both are right.

Rodri’s absence was always going to knock Manchester City off-kilter, but Newcastle United knew that Saturday’s Premier League fixture was still going to be one of the toughest of the campaign.

But Newcastle played with assurance and gusto and claimed a hard-fought draw, rallying after falling behind in the first half to restore parity through Anthony Gordon’s penalty and cranking up late pressure that unfortunately came to nought.

Eddie Howe will be delighted with many of the performances on show at St. James’ Park, with the goalscorer doing extremely well in the absence of the injured Alexander Isak.

Anthony Gordon proves his worth vs Man City

Isak was ruled out with a toe injury to compound his frustrating start to the season, but Gordon is a dynamic forward and moonlit in a focal striking role on occasion, so he was tasked with the occasion against the indomitable champions today.

He certainly didn’t produce the greatest performance in the world, but Gordon did well against titanic opposition, winning and converting the second-half penalty to make it 11 points from six contests – only three behind Pep Guardiola’s side.

A real menace of a player, the England international has now won seven penalties in the Premier League since the start of last season, the most in the division – Raheem Sterling is second with three.

He also completed two key passes and won four duels, as per Sofascore, but his spot kick was the sole shot of his afternoon and you can’t help but think Isak, fit and available, might have offered that predatory sense that could have won the hosts the game.

Of course, with Rodri out of action, Bruno Guimaraes was able to showcase his quality and dominate from the centre of the park. He was Howe’s real hero.

Bruno Guimaraes was Howe's real hero

Guimaraes was at fault for Fulham’s third goal at Craven Cottage last weekend to condemn the Toon to their first defeat of the campaign, but he made amends today with a fine display against a City side that needed to bounce back after drawing with Arsenal one week ago.

The Shields Gazette were gushing in their review of the Brazilian’s performance, handing him an 8/10 match rating and writing: ‘Imposed himself well against a strong City midfield. Had some good moments on the ball and played Gordon through. A good response to a difficult match late time out at Fulham.’

City might have been missing Rodri but let’s not forget that they still boast some of the best midfielders in the world. Mateo Kovacic and Rico Lewis were strong and City actually won 55% of the game’s ground duels.

Minutes played

90′

Touches

64

Accurate passes

35/43

Key passes

1

Dribbles (completed)

4 (4)

Tackles

3

Interceptions

2

Clearances

1

Total duels (won)

17 (9)

Most of Newcastle’s success in combative situations seemed to have come from Guimaraes, who, as you can see, won a ridiculous amount of duels and stood like an iron wall against City’s attempted onslaughts that never really materialised. There was also silk to match the steel as he successfully completed all four of his attempted dribbles.

Newcastle will look at forthcoming Premier League fixtures against Everton and Brighton & Hove Albion with sights set on victory, but this was an excellent performance against the best team in the country, with signs aplenty that the Magpies are starting to click into gear.

Newcastle wanted ace for £12.5m in 2019, now he's outshining Isak & Gordon

This was a big missed opportunity for the Magpies…

1 ByAngus Sinclair Sep 27, 2024

Martin Odegaard has fired a warning to Arsenal's Premier League title rivals ahead of the final few months of the season.

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Arsenal chasing Premier League titleOdegaard hints rivals should be worriedSays what he needs to improve onFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Arsenal sit second in the Premier League, six points behind leaders Liverpool – who also have a game in hand. However, Gunners captain Odegaard believes his team still have "another gear" and that he can improve his goal-scoring stats in what remains of this season.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportWHAT MARTIN ODEGAARD SAID

He said, via : “For the team, we’re in a good position. But still I feel like we have another gear, another step that we can take and hopefully we can hit that top form now until the end of the season. It was the same last year. We really hit top form towards the end of the season. Hopefully we can do that again and finish with a good run.

“It’s (goals) been something that I haven’t been good enough with this season. I feel like I’ve been in enough situations and created a lot for others but I haven’t been clinical enough with the finishing. So that’s something that I really want to step up towards the end of the season.”

THE BIGGER PICTURE

Indeed, Odegaard scored 15 goals in 2022-23 and 11 last season, but has managed just two this term. If Arsenal are finally to end their long drought for a league title, everyone, including the Norwegian, need to raise their game.

Getty ImagesWHAT NEXT?

Arsenal host defending Premier League champions Manchester City on Sunday in a game that could end their title hopes if they lose.

West Indies name squad for first Test against Bangladesh; injured Kemar Roach’s participation dependent on fitness assessment

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jun-2022Jason Holder will miss Bangladesh’s tour of West Indies, having been granted his request for a period of rest and recovery. He was not part of the 12-man squad named by Cricket West Indies (CWI) for the first Test of that tour, which starts on June 16.Kemar Roach is also not part of this squad, as he recovers from a hamstring injury picked up during his stint with Surrey in England’s County Championship. CWI said Roach will undergo a fitness assessment closer to the game, and be added to the squad if passed fit.The squad, named on Tuesday night, includes three players uncapped in Test cricket in wicketkeeper batter Devon Thomas, left-arm spinner Gudakesh Motie and fast bowler Anderson Phillip.Former West Indies great Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s son Tagenarine, a batter, was named a reserve player, alongside fast bowler Shermon Lewis.Allrounder Raymon Reifer, who played his solitary Test till date in December 2017, gets a recall.Thomas, Motie and Phillip have all already debuted for West Indies, but in the white-ball formats. Motie was a reserve player at the T20 World Cup last year, while Phillip was also called up for West Indies’ previous Test assignment: a three-Test home series against England in March, which West Indies won 1-0.Holder and Roach aside, the others to miss out from the squad named for the England series are batter Shamarh Brooks and left-arm spinner Veerasammy Permaul. Brooks had scored 79 runs from five innings in that series at 15.80, while Permaul took five wickets from four innings at 50.80.Holder has been playing cricket relatively non-stop since January, with limited-overs series against Ireland, England and India followed by the England Tests and the IPL, where he turned out for Lucknow Super Giants.Roach was due to spend two months with Surrey, but did damage to his left hamstring in their game against Hampshire in mid-April and has been in recovery since.West Indies’ chief selector Desmond Haynes, explaining the new faces in the squad, said: “Devon Thomas has been knocking on the door for quite some time. He has done extremely well in our franchise cricket system and we view this as a good opportunity to give him a go.”You would notice that Raymon Reifer is also in the squad. He is another person that has done impressively well in the four-day competition and against England [in a tour game]. So again, we are giving opportunities to guys who are performing.”We think Gudakesh Motie is one of those guys who is also bowling well, and we think it will be a good opportunity for him to be involved.”In all Bangladesh play West Indies in two Tests (which count for World Test Championship points), three T20Is and three ODIs between June 16 and July 16.West Indies’ squad for the 1st Test vs Bangladesh: Kraigg Brathwaite (capt), Jermaine Blackwood (vice-capt), Nkrumah Bonner, John Campbell, Joshua Da Silva, Alzarri Joseph, Kyle Mayers, Gudakesh Motie, Anderson Phillip, Raymon Reifer, Jayden Seales, Devon Thomas
Reserves: Tagenarine Chanderpaul, Shermon Lewis
Out: Shamarh Brooks, Jason Holder (rested), Veerasammy Permaul, Kemar Roach (pending fitness assessment)
In: Gudakesh Motie, Raymon Reifer, Devon Thomas

A stats review of the third ODI between Australia and Pakistan in Abu Dhabi

Bishen Jeswant12-Oct-20143 Number of times Australia have whitewashed Pakistan in an ODI series of three or more matches. Australia have now won five such ODI series while Pakistan have only won two.1 Number of runs by which Australia won this game, their narrowest win against Pakistan. Australia have won six ODIs by this margin, India being the only team that they have beaten twice.6 The number of times, since the beginning of 2002, that no runs have been conceded in the 50th over of an ODI innings. Apart from Glenn Maxwell in this match, the others to have done it are Allan Donald against Bangladesh, Daryl Tuffey against Pakistan, Inzamam-ul-Haq against Bangladesh, Ryan ten Doeschate against Bermuda, and Narsingh Deonarine against Zimbabwe. Andrew Hall bowled a maiden too, but gave away a leg bye against Sri Lanka in 2006.20 In the last 20 years there have been only three instances of Australia scoring fewer than 231 runs after batting all 50 overs against Pakistan.5 Number of times Pakistan have bowled no wides or no-balls in an innings of 40-plus overs. They bowled one wide and one no-ball in this game. The five extras that they conceded are their fourth lowest for an innings of 40-plus overs.9 Number of runs Australia scored during the batting Powerplay, between the 36th and 40th overs. Since the latest Powerplay rule change in October 2012, this aggregate is the second lowest between the 36th and 40th overs of an innings (not necessarily the Powerplay). The fewest runs scored in this period is seven, by Kenya against Afghanistan in October 2013.3 Number of times in the last three years that Pakistan’s openers have posted back-to-back 50-plus stands against a top-eight team. All of these have been in the UAE.42 Number of innings Shahid Afridi needed to score his first 1000 runs in ODI cricket, at an average of 25.15. In his last 42 innings, Afridi has scored 666 runs at an average of 19.02.2 Number of times Pakistan have lost to Australia despite four of their top five batsmen making 25-plus scores. The last time they did this was in 2012, when also they lost.

The batter sustained the injury during Knight Riders’ last game against Sunrisers

ESPNcricinfo staff17-May-2022

Ajinkya Rahane will play no further part in IPL 2022, a hamstring injury he picked up during Kolkata Knight Riders’ previous match, against Sunrisers Hyderabad, putting him out of action for the time being.The injury also puts him in doubt for the Ranji Trophy knockouts, starting June 4 in Bengaluru.Rahane had one of his brighter starts in the game against Sunrisers, scoring 28 in 24 balls with three sixes, but looked in discomfort while taking singles. He was seen clutching his hamstring and the team physio also went out to tend to him at the end of the powerplay overs. He continued to hobble, though, before being dismissed in the eighth over by Umran Malik.Related

Scenarios: It will be tough for KKR to make the playoffs

On the whole, it hasn’t been a particularly happy IPL 2022 for Rahane, who finished with 133 runs from seven innings at an average of 19.00 and strike rate of 103.90.His best innings came in Knight Riders’ first game, the tournament-opener against Chennai Super Kings, when he scored 44 in 34 balls in a six-wicket win for his team. He played the next four matches, but returns of 9, 12, 7 and 8 meant a month-long layoff, as Knight Riders shuffled through their opening options, before returning to the Rahane-Venkatesh Iyer combination against Mumbai Indians on May 9.Venkatesh (43) and Rahane (25) put together a 60-run first-wicket partnership to help Knight Riders win by 52 runs. The win over Sunrisers in the next match, the last Knight Riders have played so far, have kept them in the race for the playoffs, but only just.In Rahane’s absence, Knight Riders have options in Aaron Finch, B Indrajith, Sam Billings and Sunil Narine, all of whom opened during the period Rahane was dropped, to partner Venkatesh at the top.Knight Riders had earlier lost the services of Pat Cummins, who flew back home to Australia before their last game because of a hip injury. Around the start of the tournament, Alex Hales had opted out citing bubble fatigue, which led to Knight Riders roping in Finch as a replacement.Knight Riders’ next game, their last in the IPL 2022 league stage, will be against Lucknow Super Giants on Wednesday at DY Patil Stadium.

After a brilliant start to their Premier League campaign that saw them pick up six points against Wolverhampton Wanderers and Aston Villa, Arsenal hit the first bump in the road on Saturday.

Mikel Arteta's side hosted the high-flying Brighton & Hove Albion, and while they took a one-goal lead in the first half, a red card for Declan Rice early in the second saw them put under immense pressure and ultimately forced to settle for a single point.

It wasn't the performance home fans were hoping to see, nor was it the sort of display new signing Raheem Sterling would have been expecting, who was watching from the stands after agreeing to join the team on a season-long loan from cross-city rivals Chelsea.

The Englishman was a surprise signing on deadline day, and while some are unconvinced about his arrival, his Premier League record speaks for itself. However, the Gunners did sell another winger in the past, who, if he had still been in the squad, would've made Sterling's move unnecessary.

Sterling's move to Arsenal

Yes, after months of speculation surrounding Arsenal's pursuit of an attacking signing this summer, it was officially confirmed the day after the window shut that the club had secured the services of Sterling on a season-long loan from Chelsea.

From a purely financial perspective, it appears to be an incredible piece of business from the North Londoners, as according to reports, they are set to pay just £100k-per-week of the Englishman's £325k-per-week wages, with the Blues stumping up the rest.

It would appear that the reason the Gunners have got such a good deal in this regard is that following the statement released by the player ahead of the West Londoners' opening game of the season a few weeks ago and the subsequent fallout, the Pensioners have been looking for a way to get him out of the club for the rest of the campaign, in turn, presenting Edu Gaspar and Co a brilliant market opportunity.

However, it's not just the finances that could make this an excellent deal for last season's Premier League runners-up because, at his best, the former Manchester City ace is a fantastic player.

For example, in his 339 appearances for City, he scored 131 goals and provided 73 assists, equating to a goal involvement once every 1.66 games, which is remarkable considering he did so over a seven-season period.

Moreover, even though he hasn't been at his very best at Stamford Bridge, he has still scored 19 goals and provided 12 assists in 81 matches, meaning he's averaged a goal involvement once every 2.61 games, which isn't too bad.

However, while Sterling looks to be a great addition to Arteta's squad for this season, it's a deal that probably wouldn't have been needed had the club not sold a former player in 2017 who has since gone on to play in a Champions League final, and no, it's not Serge Gnabry.

Donyell Malen's post-Arsenal career

Yes, the player in question is Donyell Malen, who, after joining Arsenal in 2015 and scoring 44 times in two seasons for the youth sides, was sold to Dutch giants PSV Eindhoven in 2017 for around £540k.

Over the next four years, the Wieringen-born dynamo would score 55 goals and provide 24 assists in just 116 first-team appearances for the Eredivisie side, which was enough to see him earn his first senior cap for the Dutch national team and earn a £26m move to Borussia Dortmund in July 2021.

His move to Germany was not an instant success, but since adapting to life in the Bundesliga and overcoming several injuries, the "sizzling" attacker, as dubbed by U23 scout Antonio Mango, has once again shown how talented he really is.

For example, in just 38 appearances last season, he scored 15 goals and provided five assists, equating to a goal involvement on average every 1.90 games. He even came off the bench to participate in the Champions League final against Real Madrid.

Like Sterling, the 25-year-old is comfortable playing off either the right or left of a front three, although he has also spent a significant amount of time playing down the middle.

Moreover, according to FOTmob, he is actually worth more than the Englishman, with a value of €41m – £35m – to his €37m – £31m valuation.

Ultimately, the Chelsea attacker looks like he'll be a brilliant addition to Arsenal's attack this season, but had the Gunners kept hold of Malen over the years and helped him reach his potential in North London, there is a chance the former City ace wouldn't be needed.

Why Arteta personally pulled plug on Arsenal signing £330k-per-week striker

The Spaniard intervened on his side doing a summer deal.

By
Emilio Galantini

Sep 3, 2024

The highly-regarded young left back appears to be on his way to Germany, with agreement over his transfer fee

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• Red Bulls, Holstein Kiel agree to $3M fee for Tolkin
• Tolkin helped lead New York to MLS Cup 2024
• Has four caps for USMNT

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  New York Red Bulls star and U.S. international John Tolkin appears to be close to finalizing a long-awaited move to Europe. The Red Bulls and German Bundesliga side Holstein Kiel have reportedly agreed to a $3 million transfer, which will include sell-on for the MLS club.

  Tolkin is one of MLS's brightest young stars, shining at left back for four seasons. His strongest statistical season might have come in 2023, where he had three goals and six assists in league action. Last year, he was part of the core that helped lead New York to the MLS Cup, narrowly losing to the LA Galaxy.

  Tolkin, who came through the Red Bulls academy, is also a U.S. international with four caps and is currently at Mauricio Pochettino's USMNT January camp.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  A Tolkin move to Europe has been long speculated, and Holstein Kiel reportedly went in for the player last summer but were rejected due to timing. There was a sense of finality after the Red Bulls' playoff run this past season. There were multiple reports of a move and even team star Emil Forsberg appeared resigned to losing the talented fullback.

  "Yeah, if he were to leave, we will see then, but he's been fantastic for us a long time," Forserg told GOAL at MLS Media Day. "So if he goes, he deserves the chance to go. If he stays, we're more than happy to have him, because he's a fantastic soccer player."

  If the move to the Bundesliga goes through, it will likely help his chances of becoming a regular call-up for the USMNT. Fulham's star left back Antonee Robinson is locked in the starter role, but he has no clear understudy. Tolkin showed strong potential during his time with the U.S. Olympic Team last summer.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Tolkin made his first MLS appearance in 2021, coming on as a substitute in the Red Bulls 2-0 win against Toronto FC on May 8.

• WHAT NEXT FOR TOLKIN?

  Tolkin and his representatives are continuing to iron out the deal. If it goes through, he will join a side that is battling relegation as Holstein sit 17th out of 18 teams in the Bundesliga. Still, he will be encouraged by the team's stunning upset over fellow American Gio Reyna's Dortmund on Tuesday.

Sunderland are working to re-sign Jordan Henderson and have now made contact over a sensational deal at the Stadium of Light.

Sunderland flying high under Le Bris

The Black Cats have made a hugely exciting start to life under Regis Le Bris, with their new manager coming in and hitting the ground running, suggesting that a fantastic season could lie ahead.

With nine games played in the Championship in 2024/25 to date, Sunderland sit top of the table, by virtue of narrowly having a superior goal difference to Sheffield United. It is still early days, and losing Jack Clarke to Ipswich Town was a big blow, but there is every reason to believe that this could be a campaign to treasure.

Sunderland also appear to be making shrewd decisions behind the scenes, with Pedro Ribeiro coming in as Le Bris’ assistant head coach, with the 38-year-old an experienced figure, despite still being a young man in his profession. Kristjaan Speakman has said the Portuguese is “aligned to our values and playing identity”, suggesting he could be ideal for the manager to work alongside.

Meanwhile, former England international Carlton Palmer has urged the Black Cats to seal a sensational reunion with Henderson, with the midfielder starting out at the club before embarking on great things at Liverpool.

Sunderland make contact over Henderson deal

According to an intriguing update from Football Insider, Sunderland now want to seal a “stunning” move for Henderson, bringing him back to the club where he first made a name for himself.

The Black Cats “have made contact over a potential deal” for the 34-year-old, who is now at Ajax, as Le Bris’ side “plan a new-year promotion assault” in the Championship.

This is a massive update for Sunderland, with Henderson such a decorated player since leaving the club in 2011, going on to become a legendary figure at Liverpool.

After a tough start to life at Anfield, the midfielder eventually replaced Steven Gerrard as captain, going on to lift the Champions League and Premier League trophies as skipper, among multiple other pieces of silverware. Back in 2019, Flamengo manager Jorge Jesus even had this to say about him:

“Henderson is the best midfielder in the world in his position. Jurgen Klopp never removes him, but the other two midfielders, Naby Keita and Georginio Wijnaldum, are sometimes replaced.”

While some may feel that that is hyperbole, it still shows the level that Henderson was playing at during his peak, and while his very best days are arguably now behind him, his experience and quality in the middle of the park would be an invaluable addition to Sunderland’s squad.

Sunderland wasted a fortune on Mowbray flop who earned more than Bellingham

Sunderland fans won’t fondly recall this flop’s time at the Stadium of Light.

ByKelan Sarson Oct 11, 2024

It could make all the difference in the spring months, with pressure going up a gear and this young Black Cats squad being tested, with the Englishman playing in the biggest games in the world throughout his illustrious career. The fact that he knows the club so well is an added bonus, meaning he will give his absolute all.

كشف إيمان شاكر مديرة مركز الاستشعار عن بعد بالهيئة العامة للأرصاد الجوية، موقف مباراتي الأهلي وبتروجيت وبيراميدز أمام حرس الحدود، في ظل التحذيرات الجوية بسبب هبوب عاصفة ترابية اليوم الأربعاء.

ومن المقرر أن تقام اليوم الأربعاء مواجهات الجولة الثالثة من مجموعة حسم اللقب بالدوري المصري هذا الموسم.

ويواجه حرس الحدود نظيره بيراميدز على ملعب استاد المكس في تمام الساعة الخامسة مساءً، فيما يلاقي الأهلي منافسه بتروجيت في تمام الساعة الثامنة.

وقالت إيمان شاكر في تصريحات تلفزيونية عبر قناة ام بي سي مصر2: “لا نستطيع اتخاذ القرار، لأن هذا ليس من صلاحياتنا، نحن نصدر التحذيرات ونرسلها إلى جميع الجهات الرسمية، وكل جهة تبدأ باتخاذ قرارها بناءً على معطياتها، على سبيل المثال، وزارة التربية والتعليم اتخذت قرارًا بتعطيل الدراسة، وكان هناك تنسيق معنا وتواصل، وقد استشارونا في الأمر”.

وأكملت: “أما بالنسبة للمباريات، فقد تم التواصل مع هيئة الأرصاد الجوية، وهناك دراسة جارية للوضع حتى الآن، وأنا لا يمكنني اتخاذ القرار، بل نوضح لهم الصورة ونزودهم بجميع المعلومات، وسيكون هناك تواصل غدًا على مدار اليوم، ومتابعة مع كل الجهات المعنية”.

طالع.. تشكيل الأهلي المتوقع أمام بتروجيت في الدوري المصري

وأردفت: “من المقرر إقامة مباراتين غدًا، واحدة في الإسكندرية، والأخرى في القاهرة، الإسكندرية ستكون أقل تأثرًا بالعاصفة مقارنة بالقاهرة، وقد لا تتأثر المباراة هناك، وهذا ما سنؤكده غدًا”.

واستطردت: “أما القاهرة، فستكون أكثر تأثرًا بالرياح المحملة بالأتربة، وخاصة في شرق القاهرة، والمباراة مقررة في الساعة الثامنة مساءً، ومن الممكن أن تكون العاصفة قد انتهت بحلول ذلك الوقت، وبناءً عليه سنتخذ القرار، ومن الوارد أيضًا أن تتأخر العاصفة قليلًا وتستمر حتى الساعة الثامنة”.

واختتمت: “سنتابع على مدار اوضاع الطقس بحد أقصى الساعة الرابعة عصرًا قبل مباريات الغد”.