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In the four Tests played at this stadium, the offspinner has outperformed his fast-bowling team-mates

Alex Malcolm20-Nov-20244:38

Australia SWOT analysis: Formidable attack, but top-order questions

Every overseas batter that plays in Perth prepares for the same threat. Fast bowlers steaming in at them. The extra pace. The steep bounce. The keeper standing a mile behind them. The ball flying past their chest and thudding into his gloves above his head. Three slips and a gully also halfway to the fence. A short leg breathing into their ribcage.They spend days in the equally quick nets out the back of Perth Stadium facing fast bowling. Getting used to fuller length balls flying past the shoulder of the bat. Getting bombarded with short-pitched throwdowns.It causes nightmares for some players. Even Travis Head admits this surface makes him uncomfortable at times. He was clocked on the helmet at training on Wednesday during a barrage of short-pitched throwdowns from Australia coach Andrew McDonald.Related

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But the leading threat in four Tests played at this venue is not Mitchell Starc, Pat Cummins or Josh Hazlewood.It is Nathan Lyon. Australia’s offspinner has more wickets here (27) at a better average (18.00) with more five-wicket hauls (2) than any of his fast-bowling colleagues.It seems counterintuitive, but Lyon’s record in Perth is remarkable. Opponents prepare fastidiously for the fast-bowling exam and end up flunking the spin-bowling questions.The reasons for Lyon’s success are obvious. His stock offspinner has more overspin and creates steeper bounce than anyone else’s in world cricket. That ball, combined with relentless accuracy, on this Perth pitch is a problem not many players have solved.”It’s a place I love bowling,” Lyon said last month. “There’s some nice bounce, nice pace and with the breeze there as well you are able to get the ball with a little bit of drift. All the usual stuff but I just thoroughly enjoy playing cricket there.”Lyon’s success in Australia overall compared to his spin-bowling contemporaries is also extraordinary. Australia has been a graveyard for spinners over the years, especially conventional finger spinners.Nathan Lyon ‘can’t wait for this summer to start’•Getty ImagesThe gap between Lyon and R Ashwin’s bowling averages in Australia is larger than the inverse gap between their respective records in India.But when you isolate the last two Border-Gavaskar series in Australia, the picture is very different. India’s spinners, including Ashwin, have out-performed Lyon. He has averaged 37.83 per wicket compared to 30.88 across his career at home.It has been a big part of India’s two series victories in Australia. India’s batters have played Lyon better than Australia’s batters have played Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Kuldeep Yadav. They have actually used his consistency against him and heaped more pressure on Australia’s quicks as a result.And while India’s batters might be fearful of the pace barrage they are about to receive down under, especially given their recent form, the way they plan for Lyon might be a pivotal part of the series once more. His battles with Virat Kohli have been riveting down the years.”I’ve got nothing but respect for Virat,” Lyon said on Monday. “I want to get him out. There’s no point in hiding behind that. But it’s challenging. Him and Smithy [Steven Smith] are the two guys, if you ask me, they’re probably the best two batters of this last decade. So it’s been pretty amazing competing against him so many times, and I’m looking forward to the challenge over the next five Test matches.”But the match-up with India’s two main left-handers’ looms as the most fascinating in this series. One is a known quantity in Rishabh Pant and Lyon knows what he’s in for.”He’s an incredible player, isn’t he,” Lyon said. “Am I expecting him to try and hit me for six every ball? Yeah. That’s what I love. That’s a big challenge but it’s what I thrive on.”The other is an unknown. Lyon has never bowled to Yashasvi Jaiswal. Australia’s Test quicks have at least seen him in the IPL.Nathan Lyon gained some intel on bowling to India from Tom Hartley during his County stint•Getty ImagesLyon has turned to an unlikely source for some reconnaissance. Lyon spent the first half of the winter playing county cricket with Lancashire. It was an eight-game stint that was unpopular with the England team and their coach Brendon McCullum because England left-arm spinner Tom Hartley, fresh off a promising tour of India, only played three games in the first half of Lancashire’s season and hardly bowled in two of them while playing alongside Australia’s offspinner.Lyon, though, found the experience incredibly fruitful, which will only add to McCullum’s frustrations. He mined Hartley for every piece of detail he could give on bowling to Jaiswal and India’s batters earlier this year in India.”I know that those guys are attacking and talking to Tommy Hartley was really brilliant insight,” Lyon said.”I wasn’t there. I didn’t watch every ball but talking to Tommy in the nets about not just Jaiswal but the whole team, just getting the understanding on how they played him even though he’s a different finger spinner, I feel like there’s so much for me to learn as well.”It’s going to be a massive challenge, but you want to play against best players in the world don’t you, and you want to go up against that challenge. So that’s what I’m pretty excited about and I can’t wait for this summer to start. I’m sick of talking about it.”

Bowlers like Tharindu could redefine their craft, while batters like Shanto could carve new Test legacies. But how many opportunities will they get?

Andrew Fidel Fernando17-Jun-2025It was just as the freshest cycle of the World Test Championship (WTC) 2025-27 was approaching its fourth hour that the freshest Test cricketer on the planet pivoted at the top of his mark, and did something a little bit special.In his first 95 deliveries in Test cricket, Tharindu Rathnayake had been a right-arm offspinner. But like a magician who plunges himself into the hat and pulls out a different version of his own self, Tharindu chose this moment to pretty much instantaneously yank out his slow left-arm avatar. The field barely had to move. Tharindu bowled a tidy enough first ball of left-arm spin. It got cut away behind square for a single.In that first fascinating moment of Tharindu’s ambidexterity, this team felt emphatically and inescapably Sri Lankan. It felt like Tharindu was the latest entry into a proud tradition of bowling rebellion. This is a tradition that brought cricket delights such as wrist-spin offbreaks (Muthiah Muralidaran), down-swinging round-arm yorkers (Lasith Malinga), and the carrom ball (Ajantha Mendis and Rangana Herath).Related

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In fact, so steeped is Sri Lanka in bowling weirdness that Tharindu is only the second ambidextrous spinner in this team, Kamindu Mendis also having bowled in Test cricket with both arms. Which means that the XI has as many dual-arm spinners as it does spinners that bowl with only the boring single arm.If Tharindu – for whom bowling is the primary suit – and Kamindu have long careers together, there is the chance that between them, they can open up entirely new sections of bowling analysis. We may suddenly find ourselves asking questions never seriously asked in cricket.Which arm does he get more wickets with? Which arm does he bowl quicker with, and does this correlate to him being more economical? If it’s established that he is a better offspinner, does he get more right-hander wickets with that style, or is the ball turning away always going to be more threatening to right-handers? If he bowls nine offbreak overs consecutively, does he tend to gain a competitive advantage in switching to his less-tired left arm? And on pitches that have footmarks to work with, this guy will probably be unstoppable, right? The lines of attack available… wow!Test cricket’s great strength is that it offers the broadest canvas of maybe any sport in existence. What shapes will come out of Tharindu’s unusually broad brush?And while Sri Lanka are still attempting to regenerate their spin-bowling, Bangladesh were attempting something similar, but on the batting front. There is an ongoing exodus. Tamim Iqbal, Shakib Al Hasan, and Mahmudullah are out already. Only Mushfiqur Rahim remains of the first generation of Bangladesh greats. Where are the consistent big runs going to come from?Mushfiqur Rahim and Najmul Hossain Shanto carved a stand to remember•Getty ImagesOn day one of the first Test in Galle, Bangladesh seemed to have done the better job of replacing their greats, with Najmul Hossain Shanto joining Mushfiqur on a trip to triple-figures, at the same venue Mushfiqur hit Bangladesh’s first ever double-hundred in 2013.But while Sri Lanka and Bangladesh’s Test cricketers are trying to expand the game in their little ways, the environment in which they operate is rapidly shrinking. After this series ends, Sri Lanka have no Test scheduled until May 2026, which is partly why both Angelo Mathews and Dimuth Karunaratne quit this year.Bangladesh also have only 12 Tests (the minimum amount) in their two-year WTC cycle, though they also have non-WTC Tests scheduled against Ireland and Zimbabwe. South Africa, the champion Test side as of Saturday,have only 14 Tests on the ledger, while West Indies have 14 too. It increasingly feels like a coup for these teams to average merely seven Tests per year.The argument is not that Test cricket is dying. In some places, it is in more spectacular health than it has ever been. In both Australia and England in this decade, the Ashes series have smashed viewership records. Just in the last week, the ECB CEO said that ” in terms of commercial importance”, Test series against India were worth as much as The Ashes.After winning the IPL with his beloved Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB), Virat Kohli insisted that although that victory was sweet, it ranked “five levels below Test cricket”. But then what qualifies as real Test cricket is also in contention. Kohli, for example, played 47% of his Tests against either Australia or England, but never faced Afghanistan, Zimbabwe, or Ireland.Sri Lanka have no Test scheduled until May 2026, which is partly why Angelo Mathews chose to retire•AFP/Getty ImagesEssentially, Test cricket has chosen to build high, rather than wide. There is sufficient money in cricket that it could choose to divert to Tests in nations outside the Big Three, but there is less will. The WTC could require every team to play 16 Tests in the cycle to qualify. The ICC could finally put that ‘Test cricket fund’ into place, whereby the Big Three pay to support Tests elsewhere in the Full Member world. Instead, cricket has arrived at a situation in which England play 60% more Tests than most other nations.While some suggest that playing more Tests is a WTC disadvantage, players from teams who play fewer Tests point out that their opportunities to develop Test skills are scarcer. Even if teams that played fewer Tests had an advantage – and there is no serious evidence they do – they gain so little from winning. South Africa’s men do not have a home Test scheduled for the next 15 months.Increasingly, it has begun to feel as if places such as Galle are Test cricket’s hinterlands. Does what happens here matter, especially when no Big Three team is on the field? If commercial value is to increasingly become cricket’s supreme good, where does that leave Tests like this one? And is the size of your home cricketing economy the greatest predictor of opportunities available to you?Bowlers such as Tharindu could potentially redefine their craft, while batters such as Shanto could carve new Bangladesh Test legacies. But they may never get the chance to. To what extent does cricket really care? As the sport continues to centralise power, these are the margins at risk of being trimmed.

Left-arm spinner has had to wait for her chance but has seized it at first opportunity in Guwahati

Valkerie Baynes03-Oct-2025Four months into her ODI career, four overs into her maiden 50-over World Cup, Linsey Smith made quite the impact, wrecking South Africa beyond repair as her England side secured an emphatic 10-wicket win in their opening match.Smith, the 30-year-old left-arm spinner, walked off the Barsapara Stadium field at the innings break – which arrived after 20.4 overs – with the stunning figures of 3 for 7 from four overs. She dismissed the usually formidable top-order of Laura Wolvaardt, Tazmin Brits and Marizanne Kapp as the Proteas collapsed to 19 for 4, before being bowled out for just 69.Smith was the pick of the England bowlers, who capitalised on lacklustre batting from a South African line-up devoid of footwork and thoughtful shot selection where only Sinalo Jafta, promoted to No.6, reached double figures with 22.Almost as impressive was Nat Sciver-Brunt’s 2 for 5 from three overs as she joined Lauren Bell in a two-pronged seam attack, having bowled just 9.3 overs in warm-up games since the WPL final in mid-March owing to an Achilles tendon injury.Bell dismissed Sune Luus, South Africa’s other top-order batter, while spinners Sophie Ecclestone and Charlie Dean took two wickets apiece.Smith’s performance was made all the more impressive given what had gone before.Amy Jones and Tammy Beaumont mopped up England’s 10-wicket win over South Africa•ICC/Getty ImagesHaving made her T20I debut in 2018, Smith played her first ODI against West Indies in Derby in May and took a five-for. That was after she had been recalled to England’s T20I squad for last winter’s tour of New Zealand. Her absence of nearly five years told of her struggle to break into a squad boasting the world’s best left-arm spinner, Ecclestone.Smith earned a place at last year’s T20 World Cup, six years after her previous appearance at the tournament, and held her own in what was a disappointing campaign for England. Ahead of that event, she told ESPNcricinfo that she had feared her chance had passed her by.She played in only one T20I during the ill-fated Ashes tour of Australia in January then, during the 2025 home summer, she was the leading wicket-taker in three ODIs against West Indies with seven at 9.00 and an economy rate of 3.15. Against India, however, she played just two of the three ODIs, taking three wickets at 34.00 and 6.80, before just one more in three T20Is, which left her feeling on edge.”I definitely felt the pressure and the nerves coming into this,” Smith said. “But to start the competition how I have, and put in a performance for the team to get a big win, is something I’m really happy with.”England’s captain, Scvier-Brunt, opted to field first, hoping the pitch would improve for batting under lights, then called on Smith to open the bowling on a surface that ultimately didn’t offer huge assistance to spinners or seamers.That was proven when Amy Jones and Tammy Beaumont navigated the meagre run-chase with an unbeaten 40 off 50 balls and a 34-ball 17 not out respectively.No stranger to opening the bowling at domestic level or in T20Is, where she has done it six times in 22 appearances for England, the decision for Smith to share the new ball with Bell was premeditated, and paid off handsomely as the pair defied South Africa, Smith with drift and Bell with swing.Sune Luus loses her stumps to Lauren Bell•ICC/Getty Images”I found out yesterday, which was nice, a bit of a heads-up,” Smith said. “It’s nothing that I’m too surprised by, I think it suits my bowling well. I enjoy the competition and the toughness of it and I’m glad that it came off today.”The conversations I had with Nat and Lottie (head coach Charlotte Edwards) was just about backing what I’ve done well over the years in domestic cricket. That’s, more often than not, try and hit the stumps and put a lot of pressure on the batters that way.”Smith took centre stage with her second delivery, in the second over of the day – a straightforward caught-and-bowled, as Wolvaardt sent a leading edge straight back to her with a shot indicative of the South African batting to come.Wolvaardt’s fellow opener, Brits, had made back-to-back ODI centuries against Pakistan just over a fortnight ago, but Smith splattered her leg stump with the first ball of her next over, finding devastating drift to slip through the gate.Bell then bowled Luus with an inswinger before Smith brought that drift to the fore again to beat Kapp’s forward defence and smash middle stump.Sciver-Brunt entered the attack in the eighth over and struck with first ball in each of her first two, trapping Anneke Bosch – preferred to Annerie Dercksen at No. 5 – directly in front of middle and leg stumps and enticing a leading edge from Chloe Tryon which went to Alice Capsey at mid-on.With leg-spinner Sarah Glenn on the bench, Ecclestone and Dean played their part.Ecclestone drew an attempted drive from Nadine de Klerk with one that straightened, Heather Knight gratefully accepting the catch at slip, and removed a charging Jafta, who took a wild swing at a slower ball that crashed into off stump.Related

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Dean twice beat the bat to rattle off stump as Masabata Klaas played for some non-existent turn and Nonkululeko Mlaba swung through thin air to one that angled in, consigning South Africa to their lowest ODI total against England and their second-lowest total at a World Cup, after their 51 all out against New Zealand in 2009.The diminutive Smith chose not to question her elevation to opening bowler in this format, relishing the opportunity just as she has done with her ODI career.”I don’t know why Lottie made the decision to be honest, but that was what she went with, and I was happy be the one that they turned to,” she said. “I’m not your most traditional spinner. I’m not going to get the turn and bounce that necessarily Sophie gets, which is why I think we work well together in the team. But for me it was just about trying to hone in on the stumps as much as possible.”I’m not the tallest so I won’t get much bounce, which I think can help in these conditions. A few kept low today as well, which suited me. It’s early days in my ODI career, which is something I’ve really strived towards, so I’m just delighted I could help the team win today.”

Yankees slugger Aaron Judge is making his seventh All-Star Game appearance on Tuesday night in Atlanta, and he showed up rocking quite the dazzling accessory.

When the American League starters were announced at Truist Park on Tuesday, Judge was seen wearing a diamond chain of a gavel, paying homage to his last name. Turns out, this chain was a gift from his Yankees teammate Giancarlo Stanton. And, it cost a whopping $20,000, according to the .

The piece of jewelry isn't just of a plain gavel. The chain includes 14-karat white gold, 12 carats of diamonds and three bands of amethyst. Additionally, the chain has details of Judge's daughter's name Nora, and her birthday on it, his wife Sam's name and the names of his two dogs Gus and Penny. It also has "2x" written on it to honor Judge's two MVP awards. What an extremely generous gift.

When Judge first revealed the present Stanton gave to him in June, he shared that he's been wearing it every day. Showing off the chain at the All-Star Game was no different.

Let's see if the gavel brings Judge good luck during the All-Star Game.

Real Madrid cult hero Ivan Zamorano has taken aim at Barcelona prodigy Lamine Yamal over his behaviour before and after the recent El Clasico, claiming the youngster lacks the requisite character to represent Los Blancos and pointed at the behaviour of another Barca legend as a shining example of how he should behave.

La Liga rivalry spills over in El Clasico

There was a confrontation between Yamal and Los Blancos players during the recent El Clasico which came after controversial pre-match comments made by the Spanish wonderkid. During a Kings League Twitch stream, the Barcelona winger accused Madrid of "stealing and complaining" about officiating, which angered Madrid's squad. After Madrid won the match 2-1, several players confronted Yamal, who reportedly taunted them as they exited the field. On social media, Madrid star Jude Bellingham posted an image of himself celebrating and a message that read, "Talk is cheap. HALA MADRID SIEMPRE!!!". In a separate Instagram post that went viral, Yamal told Madrid players, "SEE YOU AT THE DOOR OF THE TUNNEL". Spain international Dani Carvajal also confronted Yamal during the incident, although La Roja's coach later downplayed the event.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportLos Blancos legend takes aim

As one of the most prolific strikers in his era, Zamorano cemented his legendary status at Real Madrid with his sheer determination and knack for scoring. "Ivan the Terrible" famously led the team to the 1994–95 La Liga title, finishing as the league's top scorer with 28 goals and landed the prestigious Pichichi Trophy – an award handed out by top sports journalists in Spain.

'He does not have the essence of what a Real Madrid player is'

Zamorano said: "I wouldn’t sign Lamine (for Real Madrid). He's a crack, but he does not have the essence of what a Real Madrid player is. I would sign Pedri, he is a phenomenon and he does it without talking. He is humble, he speaks just enough and that is the essence. Lamine Yamal has neither the soul nor essence of Madrid. Barcelona, good; not here. It’s another story, another completely different club. Real Madrid is a team of class and culture. The players must represent that."

He added: "I never heard Messi say that we stole, and he was the best in the world. A 17-year-old boy who is given these lights for what he talks about… I think what we have to do is show it on the pitch and the other later on. Barcelona have to try to get Lamine Yamal on track. He will only be a great player like that. Players who leave a legacy are made of another lineage."

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AFPAgent comes to Lamal's defence

Yamal's agent, Jorge Mendes waded into the argument, telling : "I don’t understand all the noise around Lamine Yamal. We’ve all been 18 and young once. What we must do is support him and help him as much as possible because he’s a great asset to the club. Lamine is the player everyone in the world is talking about – there’s a consensus that he’s the great footballer of both the present and the future. 

He added: "Having everyone watching you also comes with great responsibility and pressure. He's handling it very well, and the best way to keep helping him is to let him focus exclusively on his work. Lamine knows perfectly well what he has to do both on and off the pitch, and that’s exactly what he’s doing—staying calm, working hard, and not talking too much. He’s a very intelligent and disciplined boy. He’s dealing with a minor physical issue together with the club, trying to manage it in the best possible way while continuing to play. The key thing is that he recovers properly and keeps contributing to the team. He’s very smart and learns something new every day. Speaking little and focusing on work is essential."

Middlesex battle back from the brink to haul themselves into knock-outs in epic tussle

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay26-Aug-2025 Middlesex 292 for 9 (Fernandes 92, Morgan 61, de Caires 50, Singh 4-27) beat Lancashire 291 for 8 (Harris 64, Blatherwick 48*, Hollman 2-30, Brookes 2-57) by one wicket Nathan Fernandes’ brilliant 92 off 79 balls helped Middlesex conjure an extraordinary one-wicket over Lancashire in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup, a result that also ensures the visitors qualified for the quarter-finals of the competition.But the bland facts tell only half the story. Coming to the wicket with his side in the toils on 105 for five and needing another 186 runs, Fernandes put on 126 for the seventh wicket with Seb Morgan and despite being caught on the boundary in the final over, went on watch Noah Cornwell clinch the victory on an evening that recalled the great limited-overs matches on this ground.Part-time off-spinner Harry Singh had earlier taken a career-best four for 27 and it seemed the visitors’ chances were gone when they were 127 for six, despite Josh de Caires 50. But their hopes were raised in dramatic fashion late in the game by Fernandes and Morgan, whose fearless batting inspired a quite wonderful victory for their team.Having reached his maiden List A fifty, Morgan was eventually caught on the boundary off George Balderson for 61, but Fernandes went on to make his best List A score and the tailenders did the rest.Lancashire skipper Marcus Harris made 64 for the home side but the main acceleration towards a defendable total had come late in the innings from youngsters Arav Shetty and Joe Moores before Jack Blatherwick clubbed an alarmingly violent 48 in 20 balls.Lancashire’s innings had begun poorly when George Bell was caught behind by Joe Cracknell off Cornwell for a first-ball duck in the day’s opening over. Michael Jones and Harris then oversaw a recovery with a partnership of 61 in eleven overs before Jones, who had hit earlier hit two big leg-side sixes was caught by Jack Davies at deep square leg off Morgan for 42 when trying to repeat the trick.For the next 20 overs Lancashire’s batsmen struggled to score fluently on a stodgy pitch against an accurate Middlesex attack. Josh Bohannon made 24 off 33 balls but perished when he skied Luke Hollman to Morgan at mid-off. Hollman was clearly the pick of the visitors’ attack, bowling his ten overs for 30 runs, and in his penultimate over he took the prize wicket of Harris when the Lancashire skipper was lbw for 64 when trying to reverse sweep.It was left to the home side’s youngsters to supply some much-needed acceleration. Shetty made 30 off 23 balls and put on 50 with Singh, thereby hoisting the total to 192. And after Shetty and Balderson had fallen to successive balls from Henry Brookes, Moores clubbed two sixes in his 21-ball 35 before he top-edged de Caires to Noah Cornwell at deep square leg.Put under pressure, the Middlesex attack crumbled a little. Blatherwick maintained the tempo, whacking two sixes off a Cornwell over that cost 21 runs and a remarkable 99 runs were scored off the final nine overs, Blatherwick thrashing four sixes and four fours in an unbeaten innings that changed the shape of the game. Singh was dismissed in the penultimate over caught at mid-off by Ben Geddes off Gilchrist for a 116-ball 38. Apart from Hollman, Brookes was the most successful Middlesex bowler with two for 57.Middlesex’s pursuit began badly when Joe Cracknell was pinned on the back foot by Tom Bailey for ten and their intent to score quickly was constantly hampered by the regular fall of wickets.Sam Robson was bowled via bat, pad and foot by Singh for 31; Geddes lost his stumps in more conventional fashion to the same bowler for eight; Davies shovelled Balderson to Singh at midwicket when her had made only nine; and when Bailey ran across from deep mid-off to catch Hollman without scoring Middlesex were in deep trouble on 108 for five with almost half their overs gone.Seven overs later, de Caires holed out on the deep square leg boundary, Moores taking the catch to give Singh his fourth wicket but the rest of the day belonged to Fernandes and Morgan, whose partnership seems certain to become part of Middlesex folklore.

Tottenham Hotspur have some painful attacking teething problems under Thomas Frank. Everything is relative, and there are variables at play, but the struggle to impress on the playmaking front is becoming an unwelcome narrative for the club this season.

But that aside, there is also the sense that purses may need to be pulled out for a new centre-forward in 2026. It feels like Richarlison’s days are numbered at number nine, and Dominic Solanke hasn’t fared all that well since his £55m move from Bournemouth last year, too often injured and too often unconvincing.

Both strikers are 28 years old, and while service has proved thin in recent months, Tottenham will need to consider their options in January.

There is another solution, of course. Randal Kolo Muani appears to have replaced Richarlison as Frank’s first-choice frontman, having started two games in a row in the Premier League.

But, unless a formula is discovered to support him, the Frenchman’s season-long loan spell is going to be a forgettable one.

Randal Kolo Muani's opportunity to shine

Tottenham have more than their share of issues at the moment. It’s an interesting one. They are more stable with Frank at the helm, competitive at the upper end of the Premier League and unbeaten on their return to the Champions League, three games in.

But we cannot ignore the depletion of creativity that has left things feeling rather pedestrian, and even with James Maddison and Dejan Kulusevski sidelined since the start of the campaign and a distance away from returning, there is much to improve upon down N17.

Kolo Muani has not scored or assisted across his six outings in a Spurs shirt so far, and the 26-year-old may well feel somewhat aggrieved by the lack of service that came his way against Chelsea, taking only 16 touches across 76 minutes of action, creating a chance and getting stuck in but failing to unleash a single shot (as per Sofascore).

One content creator acknowledged the Les Bleus star for his exciting, progressive efforts when on the ball. However, such efforts were, as stated, few and far between, and he said it “must be absolutely horrible playing up front for this team”.

(1) Crystal Palace

13

18.2

(2) Man City

18

17.8

(3) Man United

15

17.5

(4) Chelsea

18

17.1

(5) Arsenal

18

16.9

(=5) Liverpool

18

16.9

(15) Tottenham

16

10.1

Tottenham don’t create enough chances, and this is impeding Kolo Muani in his desire to get going in white. However, given that he’s only here for the season, it’s unlikely a permanent deal would be explored if things continue as they are.

Especially when the Lilywhites have an exciting up-and-comer making his way toward the surface.

The Spurs talent who could end Kolo Muani's stay

Tottenham have long boasted one of the most efficient production lines in Europe, and Mason Melia is set to make his way as the latest in this long line of hopefuls.

However, while the pathway from youth to professional football is long and treacherous, Melia is regarded as a rising star with the potential to nail down a place under Frank’s wing, with The Athletic’s Connor O’Neill saying he’s “easily the best young talent I have seen in the League of Ireland”.

The 18-year-old striker has already played 98 senior matches for St. Patrick’s Athletic, scoring 25 goals and registering eight assists. Across the 2024/25 campaign, he posted 14 goals and four assists. As a Republic of Ireland U21 international, he has bagged three goals from just four caps so far.

Both confident in front of goal and athletic enough to drive into the danger area himself, not reliant on his creative teammates, Melia could provide a tonic to Spurs’ current tactical pecadillos, lacking as they are in attack.

He is very young, of course, and could hardly be expected to waltz in and prove an instant upgrade on an established European star like Kolo Muani, but Harry Kane proved in the past that a young striker stands a chance of succeeding where senior peers fail.

Tottenham signed the teenager earlier in 2025 for a record-breaking £3m fee, making him the most expensive footballer to leave Ireland’s top flight. However, he has yet to wear the Spurs shirt in a professional capacity, having agreed to leave his homeland in January 2026.

St. Pat’s’ Young Player of the Year last season, he is widely regarded as one of the most exciting talents in Irish football, with his touch and speed and awareness in the final third all suggesting he has the bearing of a Premier League-level striker.

Given the paucity of reliable options in the final third at Tottenham right now, and with Richarlison among those slated to leave next year, Melia could find himself fast-tracked under Frank’s wing, earning regular opportunities in the first team and potentially even outperforming someone like Kolo Muani, who must continue adapting to the English game himself.

Tottenham might need to play the waiting game for now, but with Melia set to arrive in just a few months, he may find himself earning a string of opportunities before the end of the campaign.

And should he impress as if talent suggests is within his capacity, then it’s hardly out of the question to imagine that Melia could be leading the line in the not-too-distant future.

Not just Simons: Spurs dud is becoming one of their worst-ever signings

Tottenham Hotspur appear to have got it all wrong with the addition of one first-team member.

ByEthan Lamb Nov 3, 2025

Australia’s captain suffers “acute right foot injury” after seeing Tayla Vlaeminck go down with dislocated shoulder

Valkerie Baynes11-Oct-20243:56

Takeaways: Australia win big, but at what cost?

Alyssa Healy looked shaken and an air of concern descended on her Australia side as Tayla Vlaeminck lay in a crumpled heap on the boundary’s edge, clutching her shoulder. Surely this wasn’t happening.Right-arm quick Vlaeminck had just come into the side to add “impact” to the bowling attack for their first outing in Dubai, Australia having begun their T20 World Cup campaign with two wins on a spin-friendly Sharjah pitch that swing bowler Megan Schutt had managed to master. Now, just four balls into the game, Vlaeminck was out with a right-shoulder dislocation to add to a long list of serious injuries.They clearly felt for her. Two ACL injuries, a twice-dislocated left shoulder and stress fractures to her foot had severely curtailed Vlaeminck’s career and still she’d kept fighting back. But as she received treatment, Australia entered a huddle, Ellyse Perry gave them a pep talk and they picked themselves up – then picked Pakistan apart.Bowled out for 82, the lowest total at this tournament, Pakistan – without captain Fatima Sana, who had flown home to Karachi following the death of her father on Thursday – could mount no resistance agaisnt a side whose depth is the envy of the world and would be tested further…

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Alyssa Healy grimaced and pulled up sharply as she came back for a second run and an air of concern descended on her Australian side. Surely this wasn’t happening.She and Perry were cruising through Australia’s pursuit of 83 after Beth Mooney fell for a run-a-ball 15 and now the captain was hobbling from the field.Healy had to hop up a set of stairs leading to the changeroom and Cricket Australia later confirmed that she had suffered “an acute right foot injury”. She was set to undergo scans on Saturday after which her availability for the rest of the tournament was expected to become clearer.What is clear is Australia’s ability to overcome such setbacks.Schutt, Australia’s standout performer with the ball so far, took 1 for 7 from three miserly overs to overtake Pakistan’s Nida Dar as the leading wicket-taker in women’s T20Is with 144.Then Ashleigh Gardner claimed 4 for 21 – including three in the penultimate over – with her offspin to record her best T20I figures since taking 5 for 12 at the previous edition of the tournament last year in Paarl.

“There were people that were obviously emotional. I think that just shows the care that we have for our team-mates. Tay has worked so hard to get back here and she’s earned it. To see her go down like that, we had to regroup really quickly”Ashleigh Gardner on Tayla Vlaeminck’s injury

Vlaeminck’s injury had hit the team particularly hard given that this was her first World Cup match since 2018 and just the second of her career.”It’s obviously horrible seeing one of your mates go down and knowing Tay’s road to get back to here,” Gardner said. “She’s someone that probably works harder than anyone else I know so to see someone like that go down with another injury, we all really felt for her.”There were people that were obviously emotional and things like that and I think that just shows the care that we have for our team-mates and especially Tay. She’s worked so hard to get back here and she’s earned it, so to see her go down like that, we had to regroup really quickly.”Pez [Perry] just brought us all in and she reverted back to the Mackay incident, where that kind of erupted pretty quickly and just to make sure that everyone was okay and to get on with it. That’s the nature of sport, unlucky things happen and then you’ve just got to get on with it and then wait until after the game to make sure that Tay was okay. She’s in good spirits which is nice to see.”The “Mackay incident” refers to when Gardner herself was withdrawn from Australia’s starting XI right before the toss in last month’s first T20I against New Zealand in Mackay when she collided with team-mate Georgia Wareham during the warm-up and suffered a knock to the jaw.Megan Schutt became the leading wicket-taker in T20Is•ICC/Getty ImagesOn Friday, Gardner conceded seven runs in the second over of the match but in the 19th, she had Tuba Hassan stumped by Healy, then took two wickets in as many deliveries when Syeda Aroob Shah spooned a catch straight to Mooney at midwicket and she pinned Nashra Sandhu lbw with one that spun back in and ripped past the outside edge.It was also Gardner who came in to bat when Healy retired hurt, scoring an unbeaten 7 off five balls while Perry remained not out 22. In mowing down their 83-run target in just 11 overs, Australia’s net run rate now sits at a healthy 2.786. But Gardner expects to face a sterner test in their final group game against India on Sunday.”I wasn’t overly happy with how I bowled that over in the powerplay,” she said. “But then to come back and change that, the bowlers that bowled before me laid a fantastic platform for me to take wickets at the back end and mop up the tail, as some would say, but it was nice to be able to get some wickets.”Certainly going to the next game I know I’m going to be challenged. I’m going to have to bowl two overs probably in the powerplay against someone like Smriti Mandana so the challenge is always there and I relish those environments. Hopefully I’m on the upper end against her.”

There has been plenty of speculation over who the next Celtic manager will be at Parkhead since Brendan Rodgers decided to resign from the role last month.

The Northern Irish head coach decided to move on from the Glasgow giants after a defeat to Hearts in the Scottish Premiership left his side eight points adrift of first place.

Rodgers won the league title in both of his seasons back at the club, as shown in the graphic above, and it will take some doing to find an upgrade on the former Liverpool manager.

The latest on Celtic's manager search

The Daily Record claims that interim boss Martin O’Neill held talks with Dermot Desmond on Friday to discuss his future, and that he is willing to stay on longer if required.

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However, the report adds that the experienced manager has told the club that the sooner they find a long-term replacement for Rodgers the better, because of how important the January transfer window will be.

The outlet reveals that Bodo/Glimt boss Kjetil Knutsen was in the running to land the job – he was even reported to be a frontrunner – but that the tactician is now ‘likely’ to sign a new contract with the Norwegian side.

Meanwhile, the Daily Record’s latest update claims that the club are in talks with Columbus Crew boss Wilfried Nancy as their number one target to take the role, with the Hoops hoping to snap him up before the end of the international break.

It was recently reported that Club Brugge head coach Nicky Hayen is on Celtic’s radar as a possible replacement for Rodgers, and he could be the club’s own version of Knutsen if they decide to go down that route instead of getting a deal done for Nancy.

Why Nicky Hayen would be Celtic's own Kjetil Knutsen

Stripping style of play and formations aside for a moment, the Bodo/Glimt boss would have been an exciting appointment because of his domestic and European success.

Knutsen has won 39 of his 79 games in Europe, per Transfermarkt, and reached the semi-finals of the Europa League and the quarter-finals of the Conference League. On top of that, the Norwegian boss has won the Eliteserien title in four of the last five seasons, which shows that he can win titles and progress a team in Europe.

Hayen, meanwhile, qualified for the league phase of the Champions League this season, something Celtic failed to do, and reached the semi-finals of the Conference League in the 2023/24 campaign.

Matches managed

30

79

Wins

15

39

Draws

4

15

Losses

11

25

Points per game

1.63

1.67

Best finish

Conference League semi-finals

Europa League semi-finals

As you can see in the table above, Knutsen and Hayen have a similar record and set of achievements at European level, which suggests that they would both help the Hoops to compete in Europe.

Like the Bodo/Glimt boss, the Belgian tactician has had domestic success with one Pro League title in two seasons, whilst his team currently sit second in the division after 14 matches, per Transfermarkt, in his third campaign in charge.

The 4-2-3-1 manager, who was described as “unbeatable” by one scout on X, also won the Belgian Cup last season and the Super Cup in the current term, per Transfermarkt, which shows that he knows how to win domestic trophies.

Therefore, Hayen could come in as Celtic’s own version of Knutsen because he would arrive with a similar pedigree, as they are both managers who have had similar levels of domestic and European success with their current clubs.

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ByBen Gray Nov 13, 2025

Whereas, Nancy has only ever managed in the MLS with Montreal and Columbus Crew, which means that he would not bring the same experience and proven track record in European football that Hayen would.

He is bowling fuller than he has before, the numbers in IPL 2025 so far aren’t great, but his smile says he knows what he is doing

Alagappan Muthu08-Apr-20251:55

Chopra: ‘Zip is missing for Rashid’

Rashid Khan loves a battle. Even now, when he’s not winning many of them, he comes to the bowling crease with an I’m-gonna-get-you grin.The Gujarat Titans (GT) legspinner is averaging 143.00 in IPL 2025. In each of the last three years, he has suffered a bowling spell where he conceded over 50 runs. Last week, he came within one run of equaling his worst figures in the tournament.Rashid has not appeared worried by any of this. It’s almost like he has other things on his mind. There might have been a glimpse of it when he bowled to Nitish Kumar Reddy on Sunday. The ball was reverse-swept for four, but he still had that smile on his face, polluted only slightly by wryness, as he re-enacted what had happened. A legbreak that had popped up in the air and then plummeted down to earth.He has been chasing that. There has been a 14% increase in the number of full deliveries he’s bowled over the last two years.