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Consistency is key. No doubt, maintaining a decent baseline across the campaign is something that Arne Slot will have demanded of his Liverpool side at the start of the season, but the squad have surpassed expectations.

Despite only adding Federico Chiesa to the squad last summer and opting against investment in January, the Reds won the Premier League after beating Tottenham Hotspur two weeks ago.

Levelling with Manchester United, given that it was Anfield’s 20th top-flight title, has been the icing on the cake.

Focus has now been turned toward making improvements this summer. With Trent Alexander-Arnold expected to sign for Real Madrid and left-back in need of attention, sporting director Richard Hughes has certainly got his work cut out.

However, his most important job is surely sourcing a replacement for Darwin Nunez.

Why Darwin Nunez needs to go

Nunez has been given ample opportunity to prove himself on Merseyside, but sadly, he’s now completed three seasons as a Liverpool player and each term has been a disappointment.

Liverpool’s club-record signing at £85m, the 25-year-old has scored 40 goals across 146 outings for the club, providing 26 assists for his teammates.

However, he’s regressed since Jurgen Klopp left at the end of last season, with his chequered exploits under the German’s wing now something more colourless, at odds with Slot’s meticulous, cool-headed system.

At the end of the day, he’s failed to score in 38 of his 44 matches across all competitions this season, which is terrible for a high-cost striker tasked with providing goals for a team competing at the very height of European football.

Mohamed Salah

49

33

23

Cody Gakpo

46

17

6

Luis Diaz

47

16

8

Diogo Jota

35

9

4

Darwin Nunez

44

7

7

Federico Chiesa

13

2

2

It’s hardly surprising that Liverpool want a new centre-forward to ease Mohamed Salah’s goalscoring load. Fabrizio Romano has actually said that the plan is for the Uruguayan to be offloaded.

Of course, Liverpool will need to bring in an able replacement.

Liverpool lining up new striker

While Alexander Isak is the dream, Newcastle are confident they will be playing Champions League football next year, thus meaning their £150m valuation will stand strong against the waves of suitors. Liverpool would be forgiven for ceding defeat in that one, along with the rest.

Transfer Focus

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

Well, according to Spanish reports, the champions have turned their attention to Julian Alvarez, with FSG hatching a plan to sign Atletico Madrid’s star forward this summer.

While Alvarez only joined the La Liga side from Manchester City for an £81m fee last year, Liverpool view the Argentine as the perfect profile to front Slot’s system and are lining up a move.

The report concludes by suggesting that the Reds have ‘not officially ruled out a move yet’ for the striker.

It goes without saying that facilitating a deal will be no easy task, although Atletico’s interest in Nunez could see Hughes and co play an interesting bargaining chip to sweeten a prospective deal for both parties.

Why Julian Alvarez is perfect for Slot

Off the bat, Alvarez would be a good signing for Liverpool given his experience in English football, accomplished as one of Pep Guardiola’s trophy-winning stars at Manchester City.

The 25-year-old has hit 55 goal contributions across 103 appearances for City, notably winning the treble in 2022/23. However, he’s gone up a gear since moving to Spain.

Indeed, Alvarez has scored 27 goals and added five more assists across 51 fixtures in his debut season for Atletico Madrid, with his exploits leading journalist Roy Nemer to pronounce him “the best centre-forward in the world” for the 2024/25 season.

That praise alone differentiates him far enough from Nunez’s toils to suggest that Liverpool would be wise to make their move, but there’s more to it than that.

His ever-improving prolific sense is great, but FSG’s technicians tend to look beneath the surface when profiling a potential target, and the dynamic attacker ticks a lot of boxes.

As per FBref, he ranks among the top 6% of positional peers across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for passes attempted, the top 12% for progressive passes, the top 9% for progressive carries and the top 16% for successful take-ons per 90.

He’s good with his feet, both in collecting and calmly distributing the ball in tight spaces or indeed navigating away from danger in such enclosed areas, nimbly darting past opponents before finding room to strike on goal.

Nunez does bear a likeness to the Atletico man; electric-paced and multi-faceted, it’s clear to see why Klopp thought he saw something special when plucking a young Nunez from his clinical career at Benfica, but his temperament and decision-making have ultimately let him down.

Conversely, Alvarez is always attentive to the situation he is in, making the right decisions and putting the right weight on his passes, hitting the ball sweetly when shooting himself. One Real Madrid reporter even conceded recently that the £116k-per-week talent is “such an intelligent football player.”

Nunez’s poor finishing and questionable decision in the build-up have ultimately alienated him from a position of pedigree in Slot’s squad. Since Boxing Day, the international has only started once in the Premier League, which makes a pretty damning indictment on how he is viewed by his head coach.

He will depart with Anfield’s gratitude and appreciation following the part he has played in recent years, stabilising the ship after an initial team-wide slump, winning the Carabao Cup last year and indeed contributing toward sealing the Premier League title this year.

But Slot is not prepared to watch his flourishing project stagnate, and will happily enforce Nunez’s sale if it means a player of Alvarez’s ilk could be brought in.

It might make all the difference.

Slot's new Trent: Liverpool make bid for "one of the greatest CMs ever"

Liverpool are going to be busy shoppers in the transfer market this summer.

ByAngus Sinclair May 8, 2025

With every passing game, Sunrisers’ opening pair seems to be pushing the envelope further and further

Shashank Kishore21-Apr-20241:56

What has given the Sunrisers batters so much freedom?

You couldn’t help but chuckle at the thought that Delhi Capitals decided to move away from their home ground for the first part of IPL 2024 because they wanted to give pitches time to recover from the WPL games in March.Sunday night must have felt like returning home to see their fortress broken into, the safe ransacked and their CCTV network expertly dismantled. Such was the carnage Sunrisers Hyderabad caused. And Capitals could do nothing about it, except wonder if embracing the “tired pitches” would have been the better option.Perhaps Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma might have adopted a different approach then. Or, maybe, they would have been just as effective – given the form they are in, they seem capable of taking the pitch out of the equation.Related

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125 in 6 overs: Head and Sunrisers shatter T20 powerplay records

There’s been so much written and spoken about Head’s reinvention over the past year. Still, it is sometimes astonishing how he has been able to push the boundaries of the batting powerplay with every passing game this IPL. There’s no slogging, but just proper trust in his methods that he believes will help him unfailingly deliver most times. There’s also the small matter of receiving that backing from the captain and coach.His opening partner, Abhishek, is much younger, but being around the senior circuit for six years now has given him a firm grip on what he needs to do. Sunrisers had raced to 83 without loss in four overs. Head had already brought up a barnstorming half-century and it would have seemed prudent enough to play Kuldeep Yadav out. Abhishek, though, is cut from a different cloth.He welcomed him with three sixes, the last of them bringing up Sunrisers’ 100 inside five overs. This may seem like a bit of daredevilry on the surface, but there’s been a proper mindset change that can only come with maturity because the approach comes with the inherent risk of more failure than success.Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma put on a blazing show in the powerplay•Associated PressThis approach by Abhishek, of going hard in the powerplay may have been stamped and sealed at the IPL, but has taken flight away from the arc lights when he had identified this was the method he had to master to be different. Abhishek spoke about it candidly during the domestic season, touching upon how amid the Gills and the Gaikwads he needed to reinvent himself to be different.At the Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s, Abhishek put all of it into practice. He was the second-highest run-scorer. His 485 runs came at a strike rate of 192.46. Abhishek’s runs, more importantly, helped Punjab win their first T20 crown. It’s rare enough to have a few impactful performances when your propensity for risk is that high, but Abhishek had proved he wasn’t just a risk-taker for the heck of it. The consistency since then is merely a by-product of clarity and putting it into practice.Head has been playing outrageous shots every ball, or so it seems, making jaws drop with the approach that has redefined his game across formats. To not just match that but strike better takes something special. Abhishek could’ve been forgiven for rotating strike and watching the best show from the other end, but here he was showcasing himself to the world.Not only did he strike them clean, but he did so with a calm head, superb balance and impeccable timing, bringing a certain insouciance to his stroke play that made it amply clear that this was the handiwork of a proper batter, not a powerplay slogger. And it’s this partnership that has helped the Sunrisers thrive.”I just feel like Abhi’s probably been the standout for me,” Head said at a media round-table a night before Sunday’s fixture. “I know he has come through a really good Under-19 program and that he’s really close with a couple of guys who have excelled and gone on and played [Shubman Gill and Prithvi Shaw]. The way he learns and adapts, he’s confident and trains all those things that I guess you see a lot of now.”Abhishek himself can’t believe he has been able to learn off Head the way he has over the past few weeks. His three sixes in his first over off Kuldeep was just a proper demonstration of not just picking angles but also lengths and the bowler, both in the air and off the pitch.1:58

Rapid Fire review – ‘Head, Abhishek bat as if 260-270 is par score’

In the very first over, Head had given him a blueprint against Khaleel Ahmed, who may have perhaps seen how RCB’s bowlers saw their length balls disappear down the ground at the Chinnaswamy last week. So he went short, but Head was equally effective in transferring the weight back in a jiffy to access the square boundaries with the pull.”We’ve been talking a lot off the field,” Abhishek said of his partnership with Head. “It’s joyful to watch him bat. Our chats are helping. He’s someone I’m looking forward to batting with for the rest of the season. All the Punjab boys know I admire Travis for the way he bats in all three formats. Luckily we got him here [at Sunrisers].”I’m very clear about my mindset and goal. I had a very clear plan in my mind before the IPL. I was clear about my batting style and performance and how I was going to do it. I’m executing well, all the hard work in Syed Mushtaq Ali T20s is really helping me a lot.”Remember that Kuldeep takedown?It was not just a result of a pre-game chat Head and Abhishek had about the endless possibilities against spin in the powerplay, especially on a fresh surface at a venue with short square boundaries as the Kotla offers. It was also down to their planning before the game that involved facing left-arm wrist spinners in the nets.”Personally, I try and plan really well for the spinners as they’re the main bowlers for teams,” Abhishek said. “This match also, I was very careful [in his planning] for Kuldeep. He’s their main bowler. I watched his videos, I try to play similar bowlers a day prior, it could be any net bowler or local bowler, but [the idea is to] try to make sure they’re similar to the bowlers we’re going to face. That helps me a lot.”It’s hard to imagine now that this opening partnership was discovered by accident. Mayank Agarwal’s illness ahead of their fourth game against Chennai Super Kings allowed them the option of pairing Abhishek with Head, who incidentally sat out of the tournament opener. Now it is impossible to imagine them being separated in the near future.

And when we’re not all agog for Trent Boult vs James Anderson, we’re waiting to see whether Jay-Z will bring Brooklyn’s finest PR skills to our game

Alan Gardner15-Jun-2022The conclusion of the IPL means we can finally turn our attention back to cricket for a little while – the apotheosis of which is, of course, the pursuit of glory in the Test match arena. Nothing beats the timeless verities of the five-day game, the crucible of white-hot competition between the greatest, most-skilled practitioners of our beloved sport.By which the Light Roller means the extremely important race to determine who is the best worst batter of all time.For those with a kink for tailender nonsense, England versus New Zealand has decent history – from Caddick, Mullally, Tufnell, Giddins and ignominy at The Oval to Monty Panesar swimming for his ground in Auckland. But the Trent Bridge Test, which, to be fair, had one or two things going for it, featured a slice of history to truly be cherished.Tallying up the most runs ever scored by a No. 11 is very much in keeping with the you-don’t-have-to-be-crazy-to-work-here-but-it-helps mood that sets cricket apart from most other sports. There don’t seem to be too many people keeping track of the most goals scored by a right-back in football, or most aces served in first-round defeats in tennis grand slams.But Trent Boult has, by his own admission, spent his ten and a half years as a Test cricketer slowly reeling in Muthiah Muralidaran’s record, finally getting there amid the familiar flurry of jabs, squawks and feints that makes his batting a piece of performance art. The whole spectacle could only have been bettered by the sight of James Anderson, who has spent almost twice as long on the trail of Murali, vengefully reverse-sweeping his way past Boult’s mark later in the match (and that could still happen in the final Test of the series).Frankly, it was a more innocent age when players could be so good at one aspect of their job that they were allowed to be laughably bad at another (while still allowing for the development of an appropriate hierarchy). The Light Roller was just about starting to feel better about the world when we heard that Nicholas Pooran had taken a four-for.

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Cricketers, as we all know, love to take the positives. Your team might have spent five sessions in the field, and dropped as many catches, but hey, lads, the bum pats were on point. Now Ben Stokes, in his role as England’s Test captain, has moved on to talking the positives, too. “The message from me to everyone is to look to be even more positive than we were last week. Let’s just always try to be better,” he said ahead of the aforementioned Trent Bridge Test. “I don’t know how you make positive more positive but I think you know what I mean.” Hmm, yeah. Not exactly Churchillian, eh? Although it seems Jonny Bairstow got the message.

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Well done to anyone who foresaw that Cricket South Africa’s next move on the “journey of rebuilding trust” with the fans would be to bring in Jay-Z as a consultant. South African cricket may have 99 problems but a PR link-up with a millionaire rapper’s entertainment agency ain’t one. “We are not bringing them in as cricket development partners. We understand that we are experts in developing talent and in cricket,” said CSA CEO Pholetsi Moseki, placing the definition of the word “expert” under all sorts of strain. But anyway, good luck to them. It’s a hard-knock life if you’re not a member of the Big Three. And while the self-proclaimed Eighth Wonder of the World might think lbw stands for Lil Bow Wow, cricket has always gone well with an empire state of mind. If they are not rolling out branded Hova covers next time it rains at the Bullring, then it’ll be an opportunity missed.

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In the latest failing-to-read-the-room ICC pronouncement, chair Greg Barclay has had his say on how to grow Test cricket in the women’s game. The answer? You don’t. Never mind the climate of optimism around women’s sport generally, from increased professionalism, prize money and prestige; or campaigns such as “This Girl Can”, “Close the Gap” and “We Know Our Place”. No, no, ladies. The ICC knows your place, actually. “I can’t really see women’s Test or long-form cricket evolving at any speed at all,” Barclay said. “Men’s Test cricket represents the history and legacy of the game – it is what makes the game unique.” Keep sidelining 50% of the population and pretty soon that’ll be another reason why cricket is unique.

Charlie Parker was a giant of county game who took 3278 first-class wickets – but only once played for England

Paul Edwards28-Apr-2020 Odd Men In, “The Boxer” – Simon and GarfunkelThe number of first-class matches played in England has declined so markedly in the last half-century that some records stand like monuments from antiquity. Likewise a few giants of the past have become shadowy figures, their achievements mentioned by current historians but seldom properly investigated. What might be said, for example, about the third-most successful bowler in the game’s history, a slow-medium left-arm spinner who took 3278 first-class wickets in 635 matches but bowled in just one innings of Test cricket? Well, for a start do not be fooled by his three faintly distinguished first names: Charles Warrington Leonard; or by his fine reputation as a golfer; or by the fact that he was born in Prestbury, Gloucestershire, and died in Cranleigh, Surrey, both of them apparently affluent locations. Charlie Parker was the son of a general labourer, an admirer of the Russian Revolution and a gut radical who, in 1929, nearly stuck one on Pelham Warner, the former England captain and an epitome of his country’s cricketing establishment.Immediately there is a danger that our subject’s fondness for communism, if not pugilism, will overshadow an appreciation of his skills. (This is not a frequent hazard for students of English county cricket.) Let us therefore allow Grahame Parker, Gloucestershire’s historian and someone who played with his namesake for three seasons in the 1930s, to give us a picture of Charlie in his pomp:”Lithe and over six feet tall, he would glide through a day’s bowling with unbuttoned shirt sleeves flapping about his wrists, always with a cap pulled down at a rakish angle over his right eye and a smooth effortless rhythm that did not change as the overs passed. His was a classic action – left arm hidden behind the body as he approached the wicket, brought over fully extended at the moment of delivery in a lazy circular arc that defied analysis from the other end.”ALSO READ: Odd Men In: Ian FolleyBut our observant historian can have seen Parker only after he started bowling spin in 1919. He had joined Gloucestershire in 1903 as a left-arm seamer and for over a decade he left the twirling to George Dennett, a bowler who picked up a mere 2147 first-class wickets in his 19 English summers. Before that first post-war season, however, the 36-year-old Parker informed officials at Gloucestershire – negotiation was rarely his style – that he would be turning to spin. So began a decade or so in which Parker was became one of the finest cricketers in the world, an achievement which RC Robertson-Glasgow (“Crusoe”) assessed in his inimitable style: “On a sticky wicket…[Parker] was the greatest bowler I have seen; for, then, there was no man whom he could not make to look like a child batting with a pencil… Slim and angular, he was a sad-eyed executioner.”The statistics of Parker’s career after 1919 might initially strain the belief of the 21st century cricket lover. In every season from 1920 until his retirement in 1935 he took over a hundred wickets; in each of the three seasons plumb in the middle of the 1920s he picked up over two hundred. In 1925 he took five wickets in an innings and ten in a match more often than Simon Harmer, a very fine current bowler, has managed in his entire career. But such facts burst out from Parker’s career like clothes from an over-filled cupboard. He took five wickets in an innings 227 times and ten in a match on 91 occasions. “He wasted nothing,” wrote Crusoe, “to every ball some stroke had to be offered; and there was Walter Hammond roaming, predatory, at very short slip.”Parker was shrewd enough to choose the Yorkshire game for his benefit in 1922 and then skilful enough to take 9 for 36 in his opponents’ first innings. During the course of that 10.2-over spell he hit the stumps with five successive deliveries, one of which was a no-ball. That sequence included his first hat-trick; two years later he managed three in the same season, including two in the home game against Middlesex, a match Gloucestershire won after being bowled out for 31 in the first innings. (Hammond chipped in with 174 not out in the second dig.) Parker bowled a total of 7719 maidens; James Anderson, a great modern bowler, has so far delivered 8317.5 overs Having taken 467 wickets in nine seasons before 1914 Parker picked up another 2811 after the war until a modest return of 108 wickets at 26.04 in 1935 convinced him it was time to retire. He was 52.The consensus of Parker’s fellow professionals was that on a damp pitch he was the best bowler in the country and on a dry one he was merely among the top three or four. He was unfortunate that the first decade of his spin-bowling career overlapped with Wilfred Rhodes’ last and also unfortunate that his latter seasons coincided with Hedley Verity in his pomp. The very shrewd Bob Wyatt thought him a less dangerous bowler when attacked. “You had to know how to play him,” Wyatt said. “Move down the wicket…and hit the ball over his head. It could affect him. His next delivery might be short, then.”Parker’s great liking for damp English wickets and the availability of other slow bowlers offers an explanation as to why he was not selected for any MCC tours but it is scarcely a satisfactory one. Crusoe was certainly having none of it: “the silly saying went that Parker could not bowl on a plumb pitch; as if so great an artist were a sort of one-pitch man, like some elder who must occupy but one certain chair in the room, and if that be taken, cannot sit down at all.” What defied conventional comprehension, then as now, was that Parker was selected for only one home Test and that he was not picked when conditions suited him perfectly.

Parker’s hands were trembling, and for several seconds it seemed possible he was going to give one of the game’s most eminent men a punch up the bracket

He certainly believed playing for Gloucestershire didn’t help his cause. Even when naming him as one of ‘s Cricketers of the Year, Sydney Pardon confessed: “I have seen so little of Parker that I can say little about his bowling from personal observation.” Yet in 1922, the season for which he was honoured, Parker had taken 206 wickets. One can imagine Charlie bridling in resentment at the editor’s admission before ascribing such ignorance to the fact that he played at least half his games in Bristol, Gloucester and Cheltenham.Other occasions offered him perfect opportunities to publicise his deep grievance. At the county’s annual dinner in February 1926 he was presented with a trophy to mark his achievement in taking 17 for 56 in the match against Essex the previous season. Earlier the same evening Pelham Warner, the principal guest and an England selector, had spoken of his country’s chances against Australia in the forthcoming Ashes series. As recorded by David Foot in Parker concluded his acceptance speech by saying that “the selection committee would do well not to overlook some of the players in the less fashionable counties”.No one could argue the barb was out of character. Parker had a good mind and he frequently spoke it, particularly on his favourite topics: music, politics and cricket. Sometimes the last two subjects could be combined. Foot’s typically fine essay, which itself is based on a series of conversations with his subject’s team-mates and opponents, records several occasions when Parker had execrated the unearned privilege in which inter-war English cricket was soaked. Annual dinners like that held at Bristol’s Grand Hotel were a perfect example of an occasion when the dividing line between cricket’s officers and men was very clear. More often than not, the amateurs were placed with the guests of honour and the county’s officials. The professionals sat together and drank their beer.Five months after that dinner England’s players gathered at Leeds for the third Ashes Test. The first two matches had been drawn and all the signs were that the unprotected sections of the Headingley pitch would be wet, “marshy” the called them. They were classic Charlie Parker conditions and there was little surprise he was among the 12 players picked for the game. There was, though, astonishment when he was omitted from the team and disbelief when the England captain, Arthur Carr, then opted to bowl first. Australia made 492 and the game was eventually drawn. The England selectors for that series were Arthur Gilligan, Percy Perrin and Pelham Warner.Charlie Parker•Hulton Archive/Getty Images”Leaving out Parker at Headingley in 1926 was the most extraordinary mistake in all Test history,” concluded Wyatt, who was himself to omit Parker from his own England side at The Oval in 1930. “If it was thought proper to invite him to the ground, it was an act of lunacy not to play him when you had decided to put the opposition in because it was a wet wicket,” wrote Alan Gibson.Charlie Parker rarely forgot a batsman’s weakness and he never forgot a slight. In April 1929 Warner attended Gloucestershire’s annual dinner once again. Once the formal proceedings had ended Parker went to the lift with his team-mate and close friend, Reg Sinfield. The pair were hoping to take some fresh air on one of the balconies. Suddenly an obsequious lift attendant announced that room should be made for “Mr Pelham Warner”, who was approaching the lift and wished to go up to his room. Let us allow David Foot to take up the story:”Parker flung his arms out and grasped Warner by the lapels. ‘I’ll never once in my life make way for that bugger. He’s never had a good word to say for me. This so-and-so has blocked my Test match career. I played once in 1921 – and he made sure I’d never play for England again. He even got me up to Leeds in 1926 and then left me out. Make way for him…? Mr Bloody Warner will go to bed when I’ve finished with him.'”Foot admits that he has heard various versions of the story but none that contradicted its basic elements. (He even toned down some of the language.) Parker’s hands were trembling. For several seconds it seemed possible he was going to give one of the game’s most eminent men a punch up the bracket.”Come on, Charlie. Tisn’t worth it,” said Sinfield. Parker released his grip.Cricket’s historians might do well to pay more attention to Charlie Parker but it would be fatuous to turn him into either a paragon or a martyr. He was sharp-tempered, irascible and quick to criticise other fielders while being fairly inept himself. And for all that he might have argued about politics his career displays the conventional characteristics of the inter-war professional. He admired some of Gloucestershire’s amateur captains – Bev Lyon is a good example – and his benefit brought him £1075 (worth about £50,000 today). After retirement he served the game as a first-class umpire and then as a coach at Cranleigh School. Yet he remains one of the most intriguing characters from an age when the English professional cricketer was notable for his silent deference. And on a warm afternoon at Nevil Road it is wonderfully easy to imagine that rhythmic approach to the crease as Charlie wreaked quiet havoc in the only republic he ever knew. Odd Men In

Burger walked off the field in the first innings after bowling 6.1 overs and de Zorzi pulled up in the dying moments of the chase to retire hurt for 17

Firdose Moonda03-Dec-2025South Africa left-arm seamer Nandre Burger has suffered a hamstring injury that curtailed his participation in the second ODI against India in Raipur and could impact the rest of his season.South Africa suffered another injury scare when Tony de Zorzi pulled up towards the end of their chase and retired hurt for 17 after the 45th over.”It didn’t look too good, to be honest – Nandre not being able to finish his overs and Tony also walking off,” captain Temba Bavuma said at the presentation. “If need be, we do have other guys waiting in the wings come Saturday.”Related

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Burger had started his seventh over when he lost his run-up twice and appeared to struggle to land on his right leg. He held onto his right knee before walking off the field. Aiden Markram delivered the next five balls to complete the over.ESPNcricinfo understands that Burger was assessed and is still experiencing discomfort in his right hamstring. He will continue to be monitored by South Africa’s medical staff. In the immediate term, it affected South Africa in this match, where Markram bowled 5.5 overs in total, and will impact team selection for the third ODI on Saturday. Burger is not part of the T20I squad, where Anrich Nortje will make his return, and he may be called on earlier if South Africa feel they need extra pace. They are already without Kagiso Rabada, who has a rib niggle, and Gerald Coetzee, who was not picked for this tour.Later in the match, South Africa suffered a second injury blow when de Zorzi pulled up as he completed a second run. De Zorzi was on 17 off 11 balls when Corbin Bosch called him through and though he reached the non-striker’s end safely, de Zorzi hobbled the last third of the way. He received treatment on field and decided to continue. But after Bosch hit the next ball for four and de Zorzi had to hop on one leg, he left the field, with South Africa 27 away from victory after 45 overs. De Zorzi walked off unaided, but very gingerly, suggesting the injury is serious. He has an SA20 deal with Durban’s Super Giants.Burger has a long history of injuries, including a lower-back stress fracture which kept him out of the game from October 2024 until September this year. He missed last year’s SA20 but was re-signed by the same team, Joburg Super Kings for this year’s edition for R6.3 million, and they will be sweating on his availability. The tournament begins on Boxing Day, in just over three weeks’ time.

Mitchell, Bracewell half-centuries seal four-wicket win in series opener in Mount Maunganui

Andrew Miller26-Oct-2025

New Zealand 224 for 6 (Mitchell 78*, Bracewell 51, Carse 3-45) beat England 223 (Brook 135, Overton 46, Foulkes 4-41, Duffy 3-66) by four wickets There was a strong westerly wind blowing across the Bay Oval on Sunday afternoon. If you happened to cock your ear to the breeze during the first hour of play, you would have heard – clear as day – the sound of mocking laughter, floating across the Tasman Sea and down through the shires of Hobbiton.In a contest billed as the official start of the Ashes phoney war, England’s Australia-bound top-order produced a stunning false start. Jamie Smith, Ben Duckett, Joe Root and Jacob Bethell – Ashes bankers, bolters and, as the Aussies might now contend, bottlers – all found themselves caught up in a catastrophic collapse of 10 for 4 in 5.1 overs that was precisely as serious as the discourse that it will generate.Related

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135/223 – Harry Brook rewrites record books with one-man show

Jos Buttler soon joined the procession at 33 for 5, and it was a measure of the nonsensical scenario that – when Sam Curran nicked off at 56 for 6, to become the fourth wicket of Zak Foulkes’ remarkable maiden spell in ODI cricket – the time back home in the UK, thanks to the peculiarities of daylight-saving, was 1.59am: in other words, one minute prior to the contest’s original start-time.New Zealand duly wrapped up victory with time to spare as well, by four wickets and with 80 balls left unused, thanks to Michael Bracewell’s run-a-ball 51 and a 91-ball 78 from Daryl Mitchell that had to surmount its own dicey circumstances at 24 for 3, courtesy of Luke Wood and Brydon Carse’s new-ball breakthroughs – including a first-baller on his return to action for the great Kane Williamson, his first in 15 years of ODIs.Harry Brook carried England’s innings on his shoulders•Getty Images

And yet, the game would scarcely have outlasted one of last week’s rained-off T20Is had it not been for Harry Brook – England’s white-ball captain, Test vice-captain-elect, and a man in no mood to let circumstance dictate his game-plan. His response to his team’s extreme adversity was a startling lone-wolf innings of 135 from 101 balls that turned an impending humiliation into an almost serviceable total of 223 in 35.2 overs.It was Brook’s fourth century in the country, following his three hundreds across two previous Test tours, and – given the circumstances – it was more extraordinary even than his 186 at Wellington in 2023 which, for those who witnessed that onslaught, is saying something.Brook scored each of his first 36 runs in boundaries, en route to a total of nine fours and 11 sixes. The latter included three in a row off Jacob Duffy to reach his hundred from 82 balls, and four more thereafter, as he juiced 80 runs from England’s final two wickets in an innings in which just one other batter scored more than 6.That man was Jamie Overton, who contributed 46 from 54 balls in a seventh-wicket stand of 87 that wrested the momentum back from New Zealand, after Foulkes and Matt Henry had rumbled their way through 15 new-ball overs in a row. His performance had distinct echoes of a previous tussle with New Zealand – on Test debut in 2022, when he had arrived at a near-identical 55 for 6 and partnered Jonny Bairstow with a career-best 97.Once again, Overton fell short of a milestone in this innings, as he chipped a Duffy slower ball to cover, whereupon Carse joined the procession of Ashes-bound players by cutting his first ball straight to the returning Williamson at point. Brook, by then, had had one key let-off on 63, when Rachin Ravindra dropped a fast-travelling slog-sweep at square leg, but the power and clarity of his subsequent onslaught took the breath away.And to think Mitchell Santner hadn’t even been sure whether bowling first was the sensible option. Henry’s first ball of the match immediately laid any doubts to rest as he wrecked Smith’s first outing of the winter with a perfect stump-rattling inducker, one that deserved to rouse a few memories of Rory Burns’ catastrophic start to the 2021-22 Ashes proper.Brydon Carse removed Kane Williamson for his first golden duck in ODIs•Getty Images

Foulkes then ripped into the contest with the first-over wickets of Duckett, caught flinching outside off for 2, and Root, who stepped into a wild drive and was also bowled by lavish seam movement. Two Foulkes overs later, Bethell too had his off stump plucked out by a jaffa, and there seemed no earthly way for England’s innings to pull out of its death spiral.Brook, though, had other ideas. His 135 out of 223 comprised 60.53% of England’s innings, a new record that outdid Robin Smith’s legendary 167 not out against Australia in 1993 – which, coincidentally was another mighty knock that was unable to stave off ultimate defeat.England gave it a good crack, mind you. Carse, a star of last year’s Test-series win in New Zealand, matched Foulkes with two wickets in his opening over as Will Young was bowled by an inswinging yorker for 5 before Williamson snicked a first-ball snorter through to Buttler behind the stumps.Luke Wood then did for a free-flowing Ravindra, well caught by Overton at second slip as the bowler – remarkably – claimed his first List A wicket since 2019. And when Carse fired a wobble-seam delivery into Tom Latham’s shin for 24, New Zealand were 66 for 4 and in clear danger of frittering away their unbelievable start.Bracewell and Mitchell turned the tide in a fifth-wicket stand of 92, though they needed some luck along the way. Bracewell was dropped at slip on 2 by Root, in Overton’s opening over, while Mitchell had an even more glaring let-off on 33, when Wood at backward point dropped a sitter of a reverse-sweep off the legspin of Adil Rashid.With the requirement under control, however, New Zealand were able to play well within themselves – at least until Bracewell needlessly ran himself out with 66 still needed, whereupon Mitchell ramped New Zealand’s first six over fine leg to signal the final charge. Santner added two more in quick succession off Rashid before holing out to long-on for 27, but Mitchell launched the winning hit over backward square.The fireworks, and the talking points, however, had long since been and gone.

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Vasco e Nova Iguaçu batalham no Maracanã pela última vaga para a final do Campeonato Carioca. A Laranja da Baixada tem a vantagem do empate e o Cruz-Maltino precisa vencer se quiser voltar disputar uma decisão.

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➡️ Tudo sobre o Gigante agora no WhatsApp. Siga o nosso canal Lance! Vasco

Por falar em final, o Vasco não chega para uma disputa de título há quatro anos. A última vez, o Cruz-Maltino enfrentou o Flamengo, em 2019, e acabou sendo derrotado nos dois jogos.

Chegar a uma final de Campeonato Carioca não representa só uma quebra de tabu em São Januário. Isso porque seria a primeira decisão desde que a 777 Partners assumiu o futebol do Vasco.

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Em 2022, ano da compra de 70% da SAF pela 777 Partners, o Vasco já disputava a Série B do Campeonato Brasileiro. Já em 2023, o Cruz-Maltino foi eliminado na semifinal do Campeonato Carioca e na segunda fase da Copa do Brasil.

O confronto entre Vasco e Nova Iguaçu será às 16h deste domingo (17). A expectativa é de Maracanã lotado, com mais de 60 mil vascaínos, para apoiar o Cruz-Maltino.

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Alisha Lehmann has seen her house in Italy burgled, with the Como Women star sharing a video on social media of her ransacked bedroom. The Switzerland international was not in at the time of the incident, but is being forced to clean up the mess left behind. Lehmann had been embracing a new challenge with Como, but will now be asking questions of her living arrangements.

• Italian job: Lehmann won Serie A title with Juventus

  The 26-year-old forward took on an Italian job in the summer of 2024. At that point, she bid farewell to English football and the WSL following stints with West Ham, Everton and Aston Villa. A fresh start was made with Turin-based giants Juventus.

  Lehmann savoured Serie A title success during her debut campaign with the Bianconere, allowing wild celebrations to be taken in. She was, however, never a guaranteed starter for the most ambitious of outfits.

  With that in mind, an offer from Como Women was accepted in 2025. That transfer allowed Lehmann to take up residence in picturesque surroundings on the banks of an iconic lake. It did not take her long to get among the goals for new employers.

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• Lehmann shares video of ransacked apartment

  In October, having previously posted snaps of her soaking up the sun in Como, Lehmann shared how she gets to take in stunning views on a daily basis – with a huge expanse of water just outside her door. She stated online: “It's great to wake up every morning to a beautiful view. You wake up much happier.”

  Lehmann’s mood has now been soured. She has shared another video with her 16 million followers on Instagram. In that, she captures the state of her bedroom after seeing intruders rifle through her belongings – with the contents of wardrobes and cabinets being flung everywhere.

  Lehmann is trying to stay upbeat, as she accompanied said video with the message: “Next time people rob my house, can you please clean up after, cause I’ve got OCD.” As someone that likes organisation and cleanliness, the Swiss now faces confusion and mess.

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• Why Lehmann joined the project at Como Women

  Lehmann told when joining Como Women and forming part of a project that is about more than just results on the field: “It’s an independent club, fully focused on women’s football – and that really matters to me. From the start, I could see this wasn’t just another team; it’s a project with real purpose and vision. [So] signing with FC Como Women just felt right.

  “We’re in a moment where women’s football can define itself on its own terms, and independent clubs like Como Women have the opportunity in leading the movement. [It] isn’t just about winning matches. It’s about building something that lasts. This is the first time I’ve joined an independent club. That was a big part of my decision. It shows there is a different way of doing things.”

  She added: “I came here to play football and hope to earn my place by working hard. I came here to compete and to grow as an athlete. The rest will come if I stay true to that. For me, it’s simple: I want to play as much as possible, help the team, and enjoy football. What I love is that they [Como] take the game seriously, but also create space for players to be themselves.

  “There’s so much potential here. Italy’s performances have shown the quality and spirit in the game here, and now people are paying attention. I think the league is ready to take a big step forward. With more visibility, investment, and commitment to the players, Serie A Women can become a real force in Europe. Being part of that journey is something I’m really excited about.”

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  Away games & Baller League: Lehmann often on the road

  Lehmann is regularly away from home as she takes in games on the road with Como Women and the Switzerland national team. She has also been heading back to England after linking up with Love Island presenter and partner of Manchester City defender Ruben Dias, Maya Jama, to become coach of MVPs United in the UK version of Baller League.

Reigan Heskey, the son of former Liverpool and England legend Emile, has overtaken Phil Foden and Jadon Sancho with his goals at the Under-17 World Cup. England secured their spot in the last 32 in Qatar as they finished second to Venezuela in Group E. The Young Lions then eased into the last 16 of the tournament as they got the better of South Korea on Saturday.

England overcome early scare to reach last 16

England endured an early scare as Dante Headley was bundled off the ball by Kim Ji-sung, who rifled his effort into the roof of the net. However, referee Abdou Abdel Mefire spared the Young Lions' early blushes as he blew for a foul in Headley's favour.

Liam Bramley's side went ahead midway through the first half as Seth Ridgeon's pass was inadvertently turned into the South Korea net through Jung Hui-seop. The game as a contest was settled 10 minutes before the break as Heskey doubled the Young Lions' advantage after heading Bradley Burrowes' cross past Park Do-hun.

The Young Lions had a few chances to extend their lead but were comfortable as they progressed to the next round of the U17 World Cup, where they will face Austria on Tuesday.

AdvertisementGettyHeskey in the running for Golden Boot

Heskey's header against South Korea on Saturday was his fourth goal of the tournament. The 17-year-old scored an early penalty in a resounding 8-1 win over Haiti last week before bagging a brace in a 3-0 victory against Egypt as England followed up their opening Group E 3-0 defeat to Venezuela in fine fashion.

Heskey is now tied with four more players in the race for the competition's Golden Boot, with Samuele Inacio, Vit Skrkon, Rene Mitongo, and Kim Yu-jin also locked on four goals. However, the quintet are behind Portugal forward Anisio Cabral in the race for the individual award.

Cabral moved ahead of the chasing pack with a vital brace in Portugal's 2-1 win over Belgium, a result that set up a last-16 meeting with Mexico, who themselves progressed to the next round with a 5-4 penalty shootout triumph over Argentina.

Foden and Sancho were key in 2017 triumph

Heskey's goal against South Korea means he has overtaken the tallies of two former Manchester City graduates from eight years ago. Phil Foden and Jadon Sancho each struck three times in India as England ultimately came from behind to beat Spain 5-2 in the U17 World Cup final back in 2017.

However, Heskey has some way to at least match Rhian Brewster's eight-goal haul in 2017. Brewster came in clutch for England as he bagged a hat-trick in the quarter-final win over USA and again in the semi-finals as the Young Lions got the better of Brazil in the semi-finals.

The 25-year-old also bagged a decisive goal in the final win over Spain, halving the deficit shortly before half time after Sergi Gomez had netted a first half brace. Morgan Gibbs-White, Foden – twice – and Marc Guehi then completed a second half comeback in a resounding victory.

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Getty Images Sport'Where do we look now?'

Heskey's father, Emile, will hope his son can continue his upward trajectory as England look to the future to determine who their next main striker will be. Harry Kane is currently the leading light for the national team, but at 32 years of age, the Three Lions need to start future-proofing their frontline.

Reigan was promoted to the City U21s ahead of the season having struck 18 goals and provided seven assists in 19 Under-18 Premier League appearances last season. However, Emile is concerned about England's future striker options, particularly as head coach Thomas Tuchel overlooked a backup forward for Kane for the November internationals with Foden used as a false nine off the bench against Serbia on Thursday night.

"We've been lucky over the years we could see where the next strikers were coming," the elder Heskey said on recently. "We had a chain of players who could go from that next level, I came in after [Alan] Shearer and Rooney came after me, but where do we look now? We always had that chain but we are struggling to find [the next one] now."

England play their final World Cup qualifier on Sunday evening as they take on Albania. Tuchel's side have already booked their spot at the 2026 showpiece and will look to round off qualification with a 100% record, and without conceding a goal having kept seven successive clean sheets.

Najmul Hossain Shanto has stepped down as Bangladesh Test captain following the 1-0 series defeat to Sri Lanka on Saturday.Shanto said he had already informed the BCB of his decision, which he took to reduce the number of captains within the Bangladesh set-up (they had one for each format), before bringing it to the public during the post-match press conference in Colombo after the second Test.”I have an announcement to make,” Shanto told reporters after Bangladesh were beaten by an innings and 78 runs. “I am stepping down from the Bangladesh Test captaincy. I don’t want to continue as captain in this format, and I want to give a clear message to everyone: this is not a personal matter. It is entirely for the betterment of the team, and I believe this will help the team. If the cricket board feels they will continue with three captains in three formats, that will be their decision.”Related

• Shanto reinstated as Bangladesh Test captain until end of WTC cycle

• Salahuddin: 'I have no ego; if someone better comes along, it's for the team'

• Rebuild, resurrect, recalibrate – Mehidy has an unenviable task as ODI captain

• Freed from the burden of captaincy, Shanto could relaunch his career

• Shanto: Not batting well in first innings 'major reason we lost'

The BCB said that they were surprised by Shanto’s decision. “We have been discussing the matter for some time, but I had no idea that he would announce it today,” Nazmul Abedeen Fahim, BCB’s cricket operations chairman, said. “It would have been good if this hadn’t happened – not just because he was a successful captain, but because I have seen his leadership qualities from very close. He has done well as a captain and he is a good leader. If he had continued, it would have been very good for us. But since he has made this decision, I respect that.”Shanto had been Bangladesh’s all-format captain but, earlier this year, quit the T20I role. Then, at a press conference before the team departed for Sri Lanka, he highlighted the importance of having a long-term ODI captain. This press conference happened on the same day as a meeting between the BCB directors, the outcome of which was Shanto being replaced as ODI captain by Mehidy Hasan Miraz. It is reported that Shanto was slighted by this sequence of events, but he avoided commenting on the matter.”I just hope people don’t see this as a personal issue or think I did this because I felt bad about the ODI captaincy snub,” he said. “I want to make it clear again: this is for the betterment of the team. There is nothing personal here. I already informed the cricket operations department a few days back.”Under Shanto, Bangladesh won four out of 14 Tests. They started by beating New Zealand in Sylhet in November 2023 and peaked with a series win over Pakistan in August 2024. In Sri Lanka, Shanto became the first Bangladesh captain to hit two centuries in a Test match. He averaged 36.24 during his time leading the team which was a marked improvement from when he was just part of the ranks (29.83).Shanto was first made a stop-gap captain in November 2023 following an injury to Shakib Al Hasan. He took over full-time in early 2024, the BCB giving him the reins across all formats for 12 months.Bangladesh do not play Test cricket again until October, when they host Ireland, which gives the board some time to figure out who their new captain will be. Mehidy leads them in ODIs, Litton Das does so in T20Is. It is likely one of them will be tapped to perform the role in Tests too.