Category Uncategorized

Jaiswal’s innings, under blue skies and bright sunshine, was split between patience and aggression in the first and second hour of the session

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Jul-2025Lunch Yashasvi Jaiswal’s 62 took India to a solid position of 98 for 2 at lunch on day one of the second Test match in Edgbaston, after Ben Stokes once again opted to bowl first after winning the toss.Jaiswal’s innings, under blue skies and bright sunshine, was split between patience and aggression in the first and second hour of the session, respectively. Having played patiently with early movement on offer, he went from 16 off 34 to a 16th fifty-plus score in just 25 deliveries later. Having started the series with a century in Leeds, he looks in the mood to replicate that first innings feat here in Birmingham.Related

Bumrah rested; Washington, Reddy, Akash Deep in for India

Rishabh Pant rises to No. 6 among Test batters; Travis Head also gains in rankings

Gill wants top order to take 'more responsibility' after Leeds loss

It was a welcome start following the big news that Jasprit Bumrah was to sit out the Test. His resting was one of three changes for India, with Akash Deep, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Washington Sundar drafted into the XI.The changes give India a completely different feel from the defeat at Headingley, with Sai Sudharsan and Shadrul Thakur dropped. Karun Nair batted at No.3. Explaining the decision to rest Bumrah, Shubman Gill revealed the India management felt Lord’s will offer Bumrah more than this track.The catalyst for the left-hander’s acceleration was the introduction of Josh Tongue, who inadvertently alleiviated the pressure created by the opening bowlers, Chris Woakes and Brydon Carse. The former prised out KL Rahul for a torturous 2 from 26 deliveries in an impressive new ball spell which read 1 for 15 from seven overs, including four maidens on the bounce. And Woakes was unlucky not to make more inroads after standing umpire Sharfuddoula turned down two close LBW appeals – the first against Jaiswal on 12, the second against Nair on 5. Both were reviewed only to come back with fractional Umpire’s Call on the predicted path into the stumps.Carse had to wait six minutes before the lunch interval to get his reward, when hard length surprised Nair, on 31, powerless to prevent a splice towards Harry Brook at second slip. That ended a productive stand of 80 for the second wicket which Nair had driven initially before Jaiswal took the wheel.Yashasvi Jaiswal cuts for four to bring up his half-century•Getty Images

Even as England bossed the first half of the morning session, Jaiswal remained tight (a few slashes aside) driving crisply down the ground. Tongue’s waywardness then allowed him to free his arms to the square boundary. Three boundaries from the Nottinghamshire quick’s third over were followed by three-in-a-row from what turned out to be Tongue’s sixth and final one of his spell, as Stokes ordered his quicks to instigate their usual bumper ploy.A hook took Jaiswal to 49, before he leapt into a vicious cut high over point to pass fifty, followed by a celebratory four – his 11th – carved past third. He now has at least fifty in all seven of his Tests against England.

Vinicius Junior's petulant reaction to be taken off during Real Madrid's 2-1 win over fierce rivals Barcelona on Sunday reportedly didn't go unnoticed by his colleagues. The Brazilian winger made straight for the dressing room when Xabi Alonso wanted to swap him with Rodrygo, briefly refusing to watch the remaining minutes of the match because he was too angry to sit on the bench.

• Vini Jr angers team-mates

  According to Barcelona-based , Real Madrid players and executives were not impressed by what happened when Vinicius left the pitch. Venting his fury after being removed with 72 minutes played, Vinicius allegedly pointed out that he has often started and not finished games this season.

  "Always me," he is believed to have said, before adding that it would be better for everyone if he wasn't left to stew on his feelings. "I'm leaving the team, it's better if I leave, I'm leaving," the player said, before taking off back inside. Eventually, he returned and was involved in the furious post-match confrontations centred around Barcelona's Lamine Yamal.

  Although he eventually returned to the bench for the final stages, and was then involved in the post-match brawl that ensued when Dani Carvajal and Thibaut Courtois both angrily confronted Lamine Yamal, the fact that he left the area at all caused an issue.

  In the eyes of his colleagues it was "bad" and "wrong" for that to be his reaction to being substituted. Some club officials are claimed to believe Alonso made the wrong call withdrawing the 2024 Ballon d'Or runner-up when he did, but still cannot abide by what followed and are "very upset" over his reaction. That image is not what the club wants to project. Ultimately, the possibility is raised that Real Madrid are "seriously considering" sanctions.

Advertisement

• AFP
  

  Alonso plays down Vini Jr's behaviour

  Publicly, Alonso has done his best to frame what happened as unproblematic, and born out of a professional desire to be on the pitch at all times.

  "The only thing Vinicius was missing was a goal," he told reporters. "It's true that he came off the pitch when he was feeling best and I could have waited a bit to replace him, but I understood that we needed fresh players to maintain control. Vinicius wanted to stay on because he was feeling good.

  "Franco [Mastantuono] wanted to carry on playing too. He said to me, 'Are you taking me off?' And I said, 'Yes'. Something similar happened with Vini. He wasn't very happy, but neither was Franco. It happens to everyone, but I'm very happy with Vinicius's performance. The schedule is demanding and we have to keep going."

• Incident could mark Vini Jr's Real Madrid future

  MD's report adds the possibility that it all points to something much more significant. Vinicius is thought to have verbally agreed a new contract in principle with Real Madrid beyond his current deal that is due to expire in 2027, but it crucially remains unsigned. During negotiations, the player is said to have been asking for more money than the club is willing to offer, standing firm on their overall salary structure.

  The plan for Vinicius is to wait and see, even to the point of not ruling out a free transfer in just under two years' time. That isn't something Real Madrid would not be willing to entertain – as it stands, he's valued at a monstrous €150 million (£131m/$175m), per . If it got to the summer of 2026 and still no signature is on the paperwork, Los Blancos would have to put him up for sale to ensure that a fee comes in. Whether being punished for his behaviour in El Clasico would make Vinicius less inclined to sign the proposed contract on the table remains to be seen.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

• Getty Images
  

  Vini Jr left needing to prove himself

  Even though he is undoubtedly one of the best players in the world, Vinicius has reached a point where he needs to prove himself over the next few months. If the Brazilian was a credible contender for the Ballon d'Or off the back of 2023-24, he failed to reach those same standards last season and is still falling short of his previous best in the early weeks of 2025-26. Through 10 La Liga appearances, he has nine combined goals and assists, but they were squeezed into only six games and therefore he is lacking consistency. In the Champions League, meanwhile, he's still waiting for a goal involvement this season.

  Alonso has shown his preference for rotation, trying to keep players fresher to win across multiple competitions. But if someone like Rodrygo has been more accepting of that, getting his head down and carrying on even if frustrated on the inside, Vinicius is having a harder time with it.

  The worrying thing for the player himself is that Luis Enrique has proven at Paris Saint-Germain that great success can be had by dispensing with big egos and building a squad more focused on the collective than individuals.

It’s not been a great start to the season for Chelsea.

In the Premier League, Enzo Maresca’s side sits in eighth place with two wins, two draws, and two losses from their opening six games.

In the Champions League, they lost to Bayern Munich before beating Benfica, and in the League Cup, they just about got over the line against League One side Lincoln City.

Unsurprisingly, plenty of the Blues’ exciting young stars, like Jamie Gittens, have struggled this year, which makes their decision to sell an upgrade on him in the summer all the more perplexing.

Gittens poor start to life at Chelsea

Chelsea opted to spend around £48m on Gittens in the summer, and while such a fee now seems a little excessive, it didn’t appear too high at the time.

After all, the 21-year-old ended last season having scored 12 goals and provided five assists from 48 games for Borussia Dortmund.

Moreover, Sky Sports’ Dougie Critchley even went as far as to claim he was “England’s best left winger in 2024/25”.

Unfortunately, it would seem utterly absurd to make such a claim today, as the Reading-born ace has so far failed to live up to expectations at Chelsea.

As things stand, the dynamic winger has made six appearances for the club, of which three have been starts, and yet he has not scored or provided an assist.

However, it’s worse than that, as, on top of having no end product, the summer signing hasn’t even had moments in which he’s looked promising, let alone good.

In almost all of his appearances, he ends up going missing, and when he does have the ball at his feet, he seemingly always makes the wrong decision.

For example, he failed to have a single shot on target in 70 minutes against Lincoln and gave away the ball with every other touch in his cameo against Benfica.

The performances have been so underwhelming that one content creator has labelled him as “shockingly bad.”

Gittens’ game vs Benfica

Minutes

29′

Expected Assists

0.01

Shots on Target

0

Dribbles (Successful)

3 (1)

Touches

16

Lost Possession

8

Accurate Passes

3/5

Key Passes

0

Duels (Won)

8 (4)

Crosses (Accurate)

1 (0)

All Stats via Sofascore

Gittens’ poor start to the season has left some wondering why the club sold someone who looks like a far better player, someone some have even compared to Bukayo Saka.

The Gittens upgrade sold by Chelsea

The nature of Chelsea’s transfer strategy means that they are going to sell some young talents too soon, or without securing adequate backup.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

Expand Collapse

That seems to be the case with Noni Madueke, as even though he had his own problems at Chelsea, it’s hard not to look at him as a clear upgrade on Gittens at the moment.

Now, there will be plenty of you happily pointing out that, like the former Dortmund star, the new Arsenal is yet to score a goal or provide an assist for his new club.

However, ask a fan of the Gunners, or a pundit for that matter, and they’ll happily explain that while the lack of end product isn’t ideal, it doesn’t take away from the fact that, before his injury, the Englishman was a breath of fresh air.

The “mentality monster,” as dubbed by former personal coach Saul Isaksson-Hurst, has brought a level of directness that has been missing from the North Londoners for some time, and was so good in the game against Nottingham Forest that he got a standing ovation.

In fact, he’s been so exciting to watch that some have even suggested he could truly rival Saka for a place in the starting lineup, with former Chelsea and England defender Paul Parker saying: “With the way he plays, I actually think he’s better than Bukayo Saka.”

While that is almost certainly overdoing it, comparing Madueke and Gitten’s underlying numbers from this season makes it clear that the former Blues star is doing far more for his new side than his younger compatriot.

Gittens vs Madueke

Statistics per 90

Gittens

Madueke

Non-Penalty Expected G+As

0.13

0.28

Progressive Passes

0.53

2.50

Progressive Carries

4.21

5.91

Shots on Target

0.37

0.92

Key Passes

1.58

1.82

Passes into the Penalty Area

0.53

1.82

Shot-Creating Actions

3.09

3.20

Goal-Creating Actions

0.00

0.46

Successful Take-Ons

1.58

1.82

All Stats via FBref for the 25/26 season

For example, even with the easier game against Lincoln, the former PSV Eindhoven star performs far better in key metrics, such as non-penalty expected goals plus assists, progressive passes and carries, passes into the penalty area, successful take-ons, and more, all per 90 minutes.

In other words, despite playing tougher opposition, the West Londoners’ former winger is putting up far better numbers than their new one this season.

Ultimately, things may well work out for Gittens, but as things stand, it looks like Chelsea made a mistake signing him and selling Madueke.

Related "We will be ready" – Pedro Neto reveals Chelsea "resilience" and sends Liverpool warning

The Portugal international has become a mainstay under Maresca.

Posts ByBen Goodwin Oct 1, 2025

Bumrah came away with figures of 4-0-29-0 on his return from injury

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Apr-20256:24

The Patidar hand in RCB’s aggressive approach

Fifties from Virat Kohli and Rajat Patidar, and a finishing kick from Jitesh Sharma took Royal Challenger Bengaluru (RCB) to 221 as they looked for their first win at Wankhede Stadium in 10 years. However, Mumbai Indians would be optimistic as the pitch was an absolute batting beauty with the small Wankhede boundaries to boot. Kohli, though, said that the pitch was not as straightforward as they made it look.Coming off 29 balls, this was Kohli’s fastest T20 fifty since 2019, and his first sub-30-ball fifty in the IPL since 2018. Kohli’s aggressive intent allowed Patidar to get a look at his first 10 balls but then he went from 8 off 10 to 64 off 32. Jitesh ended up with an unbeaten 40 off 19 to make sure RCB didn’t lose momentum in the end.Jasprit Bumrah made a successful return to competitive cricket with analysis of 4-0-29-0 even as others around him went for a plenty. Notable was Trent Boult’s most expensive analysis in the IPL: 4-0-57-2. He did get a first-over wicket for the 31st time, but that failed to dent RCB’s intent.Kohli and Devdutt Padikkal took 73 in the powerplay but left-arm wristspinner Vignesh Puthur took Padikkal out for 37 off 22. A crucial spell of play was Hardik Pandya’s wide lines that not only defended the leg-side boundary but also resulted in the wickets of Kohli and Liam Livingstone. However, Patidar got the better of his counterpart with ramps, shots across the line and straight hits. He scored 33 off 12 Hardik deliveries; his other 12 balls went for 12 and brought two wickets.While the batters took apart Boult at the death, but this is when Bumrah bowled the 18th and the 20th over for six and eight runs to keep RCB from getting completely out of MI’s reach.

The PCB has banned South African allrounder Corbin Bosch from the Pakistan Super League (PSL) for one year as a penalty for withdrawing from this year’s competition despite being picked at the draft.Bosch, who was a diamond pick for Peshawar Zalmi at the PSL draft, was later signed as an injury replacement by Mumbai Indians (MI) at the ongoing IPL.As the PSL clashes with the IPL this year, Bosch withdrew from the PSL, prompting the PCB to serve him a legal notice while alleging breach of contract. A statement posted on the PCB’s website stated that Bosch had “expressed his regrets” for withdrawing from the PSL, and that he would be barred from participating in the 11th edition of the competition in 2026.Related

• Can Karachi end playoffs jinx, and will spin issues cost Lahore?

• PSL stats: Peshawar's unique feat, Shaheen's first-over strikes

• Can Islamabad United defend their title? Can Multan Sultans go one better?

“I deeply regret my decision to withdraw from the PSL, and offer my sincere apologies to the people of Pakistan, the fans of Peshawar Zalmi, and the wider cricket community,” Bosch, who is yet to play for MI in IPL 2025, said in a statement released by the PCB. “I fully understand the disappointment caused by my actions.”To the loyal fans of Peshawar Zalmi, I am truly sorry for letting you down. I take full responsibility for my actions, and accept the consequences, including the penalty fine and the one-year ban from the PSL. This has been a hard lesson, but I am committed to learning from this experience, and hope to return to the PSL in the future with renewed dedication and the trust of the fans.”The PCB was keen to set a precedent with Bosch’s case to deter players from switching to the IPL after signing up for the PSL should the two leagues continue to clash in the future, as is expected. One of the reasons the PSL moved into the IPL window was to achieve greater certainty on player availability; the PSL draft took place after the IPL auction for this year to ensure it was only drafting in players left unpicked by the IPL.As a result, the PSL draft attracted a large number of high-profile players, including David Warner, Daryl Mitchell, Jason Holder, Rassie van der Dussen and Kane Williamson, who all went unsold at the IPL auction.The tenth edition of the PSL starts on April 11, when defending champions Islamabad United take on Lahore Qalandars in Rawalpindi.

Alongside Shafali, she helped Capitals make easy work of the 128-run chase after the seamers shared seven wickets

Hemant Brar25-Feb-2025

Jess Jonassen came out all guns blazing at No. 3•BCCI

The Delhi Capitals (DC) seamers shared seven wickets between them before Jess Jonassen’s unbeaten 61 off 32 balls made short work of the chase to give her side a six-wicket win over Gujarat Giants (GG). The result lifted DC to the top of the WPL points table, at least for the time being. They now have three wins from five outings. GG remain rooted to the bottom with one victory from four matches.When Meg Lanning put GG in after winning the toss, she was hoping for early wickets. Marizanne Kapp and Shikha Pandey did not disappoint their captain. They picked up two each in the powerplay and reduced GG to 20 for 4. Soon it became 60 for 6, and it looked like GG might not even cross 100. But Bharti Fulmali’s 40 not out off 29 balls from No. 8 steered them to 127 for 9.DC lost Lanning early in the chase but Jonassen, promoted to No. 3, and Shafali Verma added 74 in just 6.1 overs to kill the contest. When Kapp hit the winning boundary, there were still 29 balls left in the match.Kapp, Pandey leave Giants gaspingAs she often does, Kapp got the ball to shape away from right-hand batters consistently. Harleen Deol, opening the innings, nicked one such delivery but the edge fell just short of Lanning at first slip.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Deol could not enjoy her luck for long, as Kapp induced another outside edge in her next over. This time the ball carried comfortably into the gloves of Sarah Bryce. Phoebe Litchfield, who had replaced Laura Wolvaardt in the XI, lasted just three balls; Kapp trapped her lbw for a duck.Kapp’s double-wicket maiden left GG on 16 for 2 after four overs. In the next over, Pandey made it worse for them with wickets off back-to-back deliveries. Beth Mooney had started the over by crunching Pandey through the covers for four. Pandey switched to around the wicket and found immediate success as Mooney’s pick-up shot landed in Niki Prasad’s hands at long leg.Pandey and Prasad combined once again on the next delivery to see the back of Kashvee Gautam, whose attempted pull from well outside off skied towards deep midwicket. Prasad ran in and dived forward to complete a low catch.For the hat-trick ball, Pandey went short again. She beat Deandra Dottin on the pull and hit her on the helmet. After a concussion check, Dottin flat-batted the next ball down the ground for four. In the next over, she repeated the shot against Kapp for the same result. Those boundaries lent the score some respectability as GG finished the powerplay on 31 for 4.Bharti Fulmali scored an unbeaten 40 off just 29 balls•BCCI

Fulmali leads the fightbackIn the ninth over, Titas Sadhu castled Ashleigh Gardner, GG’s captain and their in-form batter, for 3 off 9 balls. Two overs later, Annabel Sutherland put an end to Dottin’s counter-attack. But Fulmali, playing her first game of the season, led the fightback. In the 15th over, she pulled Minnu Mani over deep square-leg for the first six of the innings. Along with Tanuja Kanwar, she added 51 in 40 balls for the seventh wicket and steered the side past 120.Lanning’s diminishing returnsLanning is the second-highest run-getter in the WPL. But apart from her 69 against UP Warriorz, she has struggled this season. Tuesday was no different. After being beaten by Dottin in the opening over, she tried to pull Gautam. But the ball came back in sharply to flatten her off stump. She made 3 off 13 balls.It has been a case of diminishing returns for Lanning. In the 2023 season, she scored 345 runs at an average of 49.28 and a strike rate of 139.11. The following season, while her runs tally remained almost the same, her strike rate dropped to 123.04. This time, her numbers read: 109 runs from five innings at an average of 21.80 and a strike rate of 103.80.Shafali Verma struck a few boundaries in the powerplay•BCCI

Jonassen, Shafali kill the contestDC’s move to send Jonassen at No. 3 paid off handsomely, especially with one square boundary being significantly shorter than the other – 51 metres vs 63 metres. When the shorter boundary was on Jonassen’s leg side, she scored 23 runs off eight balls in that region, including both her sixes. She was aggressive against every bowler. Her lowest strike rate was against Gautam, off whom she scored 15 off nine at 166.66.Shafali preferred the leg side irrespective of which side the shorter boundary was on. Of her 44 runs off 27 balls, 32 came on the leg side. When Gardner trapped her lbw in the ninth over, DC had already reached 88.Jonassen brought up her maiden WPL fifty off 26 balls. Even though DC lost Jemimah Rodrigues and Sutherland cheaply, their win was never in doubt.

Positivity, excitement and optimism. Those are just three of the words associated with Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal reign.

However, arguably for the first time since this project really started to motor, a sense of negativity has crept in.

Arteta’s side have enjoyed an interesting summer. The likes of Martin Zubimendi and Viktor Gyokeres are standout purchases but something is missing, notably on the left.

With Manchester City and Liverpool strengthening again, spending mega bucks, it really does feel as though the title is far away again.

Still, Arsenal did go to Old Trafford on the Premier League’s opening weekend and win 1-0. It’s not always been a happy hunting ground so Arteta’s men will take the three points and swiftly move on.

Arsenal were resilient and staunch in their efforts to claim the victory but it certainly wasn’t all plain sailing, not least for debutant Gyokeres.

What went wrong for Gyokeres on Arsenal debut

After scoring his first goal for the club in their 3-0 pre-season win over Bilbao a week ago, there were high hopes for Gyokeres.

That’s not forgetting the fact he scored 54 goals in 52 games for Sporting last term either.

Yet, in Manchester on Sunday, Gyokeres cut a frustrated figure, someone who struggled to get into the game and was let down by his teammates.

The Swede regularly burst into the channels and on a frequent basis wasn’t played the ball.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

Those beside him, Bukayo Saka and Gabriel Martinelli, only produced two key passes as the club’s big summer signing was starved of any service.

So, after failing to have a single shot on goal within an hour of his debut, he was withdrawn from the action to loud jeers from the home crowd, with Kai Havertz brought on in his place.

As Football.London’s Tom Canton noted, the centre forward ‘struggled to get into the game in the first half and was limited in terms of service and touches.’

So room for improvement, but he wasn’t the worst player on the away side.

The Arsenal player who was worse than Gyokeres

Speaking of the forward line, it was a poor day at the office for Arsenal’s wingers.

This is significant because it’s an area of the squad that Andrea Berta and Co have been trying to improve this summer.

Noni Madueke has joined from Chelsea but there’s a cry from supporters to sign someone of the quality of Eberechi Eze or Rodrygo.

Well, those cries will only have grown louder after Martinelli’s ineffective showing on Sunday afternoon.

The Brazilian was handed a 4/10 rating by the Standard, who wrote that there was a ‘familiar issue – no conviction in the final third.’

Last season, that was also very much the case for Martinelli and there has no improvement over pre-season and into the full season.

This is a big worry, particularly if Berta doesn’t sign another winger between now and the deadline.

The numbers paint a grim picture of just how poor the 24-year-old was. He managed just one shot – a tame effort right at the goalkeeper.

Furthermore, he only attempted one dribble that ended up being unsuccessful, had one key pass, didn’t make a cross and only completed three passes before he was hooked on the hour.

To make matters worse, Martinelli had just 14 touches, 33 fewer than David Raya. He also won just 50% of his duels.

Minutes played

60

Touches

14

Accurate passes

3/5 (60%)

Shots

1

Key passes

1

Successful dribbles

0/1

Crosses

0

Possession lost

7x

Times fouled

1

In all honesty, there wasn’t much that the wide player got right, with one moment summing up his last few years.

As Arsenal aimed to break through the centre of the pitch, the Brazil international looked to swing a ball out to the left-hand side of the field but dinked it right out of play.

If that’s a sign of things to come, then Arsenal need to sign a replacement instantly. Irrespective of their activity in the window, either Leandro Trossard or Madueke must replace him for the game with Leeds United next weekend.

Arteta has two players to blame for Gyokeres' nightmare Arsenal debut

Viktor Gyokeres struggled on his Arsenal debut at Old Trafford.

1 ByMatt Dawson Aug 17, 2025

Chair of selectors George Bailey confirmed that Smith had requested to move back down the order prior to Cameron Green’s injury

Alex Malcolm14-Oct-20241:36

What’s the logic of moving Smith back down the order?

Steven Smith won’t open the batting against India in the Border-Gavaskar series with Australia’s chair of selectors George Bailey confirming that Smith had indicated his desire to move back down the order, and that it was set to be accommodated even prior to Cameron Green’s injury.Speculation had swirled around Smith’s batting position dating back to Australia’s last Test series against New Zealand in March after his eight innings at the top of the order had yielded just 171 runs at 28.50.Despite Smith making the initial request to open the batting back in January, which allowed for Green to slot in at No. 4, Bailey confirmed that Smith, in conversations with captain Pat Cummins and coach Andrew McDonald, had requested a move back to the middle-order prior to Green’s summer-ending back injury.Related

David Warner's latest headline grab has underlined Australia's opener problem

The wolves of ball street: a Hundred saga

India's problem of plenty – three spinners or three seamers?

Sam Konstas vaults into Australia A squad after twin hundreds

Cummins to prepare for Test summer in Pakistan ODIs, Marsh and Head on paternity leave

“Pat, Andrew and Steven Smith had been having ongoing conversations separate to the untimely injury to Cameron anyway,” Bailey said on Monday after the announcement of the ODI squad for the Pakistan series and the Australia A squad for the India A tour.”And I think Steve had expressed a desire to move back down from that opening position. Pat and Andrew have confirmed that he will be dropping back down the order for the summer. So, yeah, clearly we’ve got a No. 4 spot to fill and an opening spot to fill.”Bailey did not rubberstamp that Smith would slot in at No. 4 for the first Test against India which starts on November 22 in Perth and was careful to reiterate that Cummins and McDonald were the ones who decided the batting order. He added that the order was still not set in stone given there is five weeks to go before the first ball is bowled.Bailey did hint that Smith would have moved regardless of Green’s injury but he would not divulge how they would have configured the top six had Green been fit to play.”Part of those discussions have been had and what it might look like,” he said. “But I guess once you do get moving parts, a lot of those conversations become null and void.”0:56

Steven Smith: ‘Bumrah is the complete bowler’

Time for a specialist opener?It seems very likely that Australia’s selectors will pick an opener to replace Green and return Smith to his preferred position. Bailey was asked whether the need for an extra bowling option in the top six was necessary, given Green’s absence and queries over Mitchell Marsh’s bowling capabilities. But he was quick to note that Australia’s attack had played without an allrounder before.”They’ve done it in the past,” Bailey said. “You don’t know how each Test is going to play out in terms of the workload for the quicks, or how much of an impact Nathan Lyon’s going to have across the summer. We certainly have been and will continue preparing for Mitch Marsh to be able to bowl some overs as well, and that’s been part of his management and build for the last couple of months. So there’s other ways. There’s teams that have played, and we’ve been a team that has played, without an allrounder in the past. There’s more than one way to structure up a team.”All eyes then turn to Australia’s domestic openers to see which one will emerge from the pack to win a place alongside Usman Khawaja. Marcus Harris, Cameron Bancroft and New South Wales’ teen sensation Sam Konstas were the three openers named in the 17-man Australia A squad that will face India A in two four-day games starting on October 31 and November 7.Matt Renshaw, who was the reserve batter in the Test squad for Australia’s last two series against West Indies and New Zealand following David Warner’s retirement, was not named in the A squad but Bailey said it shouldn’t be taken to mean they have moved on from him.”No, we still really like Matt’s ability to play,” Bailey said. “As far as Australia A selection goes, part of the process around that is trying to identify opportunities that may come around in the short term for any opportunities that that might pop up, but also making sure that we do keep an eye on developing opportunities for those players who may become important in different roles in the future as well.”So whilst there’s an Australia A squad there, I think Matt Renshaw, Pete Handscomb, Nic Maddinson as three examples are guys who we’ll continue to watch really closely in Shield cricket.”Bailey did suggest that the 19-year-old Konstas could put himself in the mix for the opening slot for India if he continues to perform following his twin centuries in the opening Shield round.”He’s in the mix as are plenty of others,” Bailey said. “I certainly don’t want to single him out. I think the consistency of Cam Bancroft over a number of years, the consistency of Marcus Harris over a number of years, they’ve both had a look at Test cricket as well. So I don’t think there’s any need at this stage to put undue pressure expectation on Sam.”He’s five games into his first-class career. He’s had a good start to that, and he certainly looks like he’s got a well organised game that we’re really excited and looking forward to seeing at the A level, and we’ll just continue to watch as that progresses.”Bailey also noted that Bancroft’s untimely pair against Queensland in the opening round of the Shield season would not count against him.”I spoke to Cam after that game, I sort of jokingly said to him, if he [wasn’t] in such good nick, he might have played and missed those as well,” Bailey said. “So that might be a really good sign for the rest of the summer. There’s plenty of batters that have managed to get a feather on an early Michael Neser ball. So no harm done. He’s certainly got credits in the bank. His consistency over a number of years has been phenomenal, as have a number of those other players I’ve mentioned. A one-off game like that wasn’t going to have any impact.”

Celtic have developed a strong reputation for buying players and then selling them on for a profit further down the line, and Nicolas Kuhn is the latest example of their expertise in player trading.

The German forward is closing in on a £16.5m transfer to Serie A outfit Como this summer, 18 months on from paying £3m to sign him from Rapid Vienna.

He is set to join that list above, between Odsonne Edouard and Moussa Dembele, and will be above some big names, including Liverpool star Virgil van Dijk.

The Netherlands captain joined the Hoops from Groningen and made 115 appearances before his £13m transfer to Southampton in the summer of 2015.

Celtic's interest in Dutch defender

The Scottish Premiership champions could repeat the blinder they played with van Dijk by swooping to sign another Dutch central defender with potential this summer.

Transfer Focus

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

Celtic are reportedly keen on a deal to sign £3m-rated Famalicao centre-back Justin De Haas to bolster their options at the back, and a Dutch expert has told them what kind of player they could be getting.

An unnamed Voetbalzone reporter recently told 67HailHail: “He had a good season at Famalicao in Portugal and was part of the Team of the Week seven times. He’s tall, 6′ 4”, strong in the air and a good tackler. He’s strong on the ball and reads the game very well.”

They added: “He has gone a bit under the radar in Holland and I don’t expect Ronald Koeman to put him in his squad soon. But a move to Celtic could change things of course, as that’s a huge club.”

Why De Haas could be Celtic's next van Dijk

At a fee of just £3m, there would be plenty of scope for Celtic to make a profit on the centre-back in the year to come if they manage to strike a deal for him this summer.

De Haas is 25 and heading towards the prime years of his career, which means that the Hoops could sign him at an optimal time right before his value potentially peaks, particularly if he earns a senior international call-up.

In terms of the quality that he could provide in the left centre-back role which is also where van Dijk played for the Hoops, you only have to

look at his performances in Portugal to see that he has the potential to be a solid addition for Brendan Rodgers.

In fact, De Haas faced Sporting superstar Viktor Gyokeres, who has scored 97 goals in 102 games for the club, and kept him quiet in April of last year.

Errors

0

Goals + assists

0

Pass accuracy

90%

Pass accuracy

77%

Blocks

2

Shots

2

Clearances

2

Shots on target

0

Interceptions

2

Key passes

1

Dribbled past

0x

xG

0.11

As you can see in the table above, the 25-year-old defender silenced the highly-rated striker, who did not score a goal, have a shot on target, create a ‘big chance’, or assist a goal.

This shows that the 6 foot 4 titan can step up to lock down elite strikers when he is at his best, which shows the kind of level that he can get to.

De Haas ended the 2024/25 Liga Portugal season with 3.0 tackles and interceptions per game, more than any Celtic centre-back managed in the Scottish Premiership, which speaks to his ability to step in and cut out attacks on a regular basis.

Better than Ambrosino: Celtic's interest in lethal £7m star is no secret

Celtic are interested in signing a striker who is even better than Giuseppe Ambrosino.

ByDan Emery Jul 9, 2025

If Celtic can provide him with a platform to showcase his qualities in the Champions League and the Premiership, De Haas could develop into yet another highly-valued star who could follow in his countryman’s footsteps at Parkhead.

The transfer window might be closed again for a few days, but it feels like Arsenal are starting to fall behind their rivals.

For example, Manchester City have already secured the services of Rayan Cherki, Tijjani Reijnders, and Rayan Ait-Nouri and look set for more.

However, perhaps the most worrying development, at least in terms of the Gunners’ chances in the Premier League next season, has been Liverpool’s £116m capture of Florian Wirtz.

The German is about as perfect an example of a statement signing as you’ll ever see, but in some more positive news, reports have recently linked Arsenal to someone who could be their own version of the international superstar.

Arsenal transfer news

While Arsenal are yet to make any official signings this summer, they have been linked with a host of potentially game-changing stars, such as Eberechi Eze and Rodrygo.

Transfer Focus

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

The former has a release clause reportedly worth around £68m in Crystal Palace contract, and while that is a sizeable sum of money, it would be a price more than worth paying for a Premier League-proven attacker who scored 14 goals and provided 11 assists in 43 games this season.

Likewise, while Rodrygo could cost a whopping £84m this summer, his tally of 24 goal involvements this season and record of winning the biggest trophies in the game means he’d be a superb addition to the Gunners’ squad.

However, regarding the North Londoners’ answer to Wirtz, it looks like it will be Benjamin Sesko.

According to a recent report from Football Transfers, Arsenal have maintained their intense interest in the RB Leipzig star.

In fact, the report goes a step further, revealing that the Gunners have now made a ‘breakthrough’ in negotiations and are expected to make an offer of €100m early next week, which comes out to around £85m.

It would represent an enormous vote of confidence in the young striker, but given his ability and potential, this is a transfer Arsenal should get done as soon as possible, as Sesko could be their own Wirtz.

Why Sesko would be Arsenal's Wirtz

Okay, so the first thing to say is that the two players are obviously not comparable in terms of position, as while Wirtz can play in a few other places, he is primarily an attacking midfielder, not a striker.

However, their positions have little to do with why Sesko could be Arsenal’s version of the German.

The first actual reason is that, like Liverpool’s new creator, the Slovenian international has the potential to be a truly game-changing addition to the Gunners.

Appearances

45

Minutes

3258′

Goals

21

Assists

6

Goal Involvements per Match

0.6

Minutes per Goal Involvement

120.66′

For example, even though he’s still just 22 years old, the former Salzburg gem was able to score 21 goals and provide six assists in 45 appearances, totalling 3258 minutes.

That means the Radeče-born “monster,” as dubbed by respected data analyst Ben Mattinson, averaged a goal involvement every 1.66 games, or every 120.66 minutes for a pretty poor Leipzig side.

So, just imagine what he could do under Arteta with Bukayo Saka to the right of him, hopefully, a new left-winger on the other side and a rejuvenated Martin Odegaard behind him.

Moreover, despite standing a mammoth 6 foot 5, the 41-capped behemoth is still incredibly rapid and capable of hitting speeds of 35.69 km/h and then, to top it off, you only need to watch his clips to see how technical he is with the ball at his feet.

Finally, aside from the ways in which Sesko could take Arteta’s side to the next level, he’d also be arriving for huge money and from the Bundesliga, just like Wirtz.

Ultimately, even though the money involved is more than most expected, Arsenal should be doing all they can to sign the Leipzig gem this summer.

He's just like Saka: £68m winger is Tognozzi's dream target for Arsenal

The exciting wonderkid would be a superb addition to the Arsenal squad.

ByJack Salveson Holmes Jun 13, 2025