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Liverpool and high-class forwards have long stood in a productive affinity, even before Jurgen Klopp changed Anfield’s direction, previously spiralling out of control under Brendan Rodgers’ wing.

There have been many. Mohamed Salah is the cream of the Premier League’s attacking pool right now, indeed one of the greatest players in Liverpool’s history, but Arne Slot’s recognised strikers, Darwin Nunez and Diogo Jota, have been beset with problems this year.

Nunez, in particular, has been a massive let-down. No transfer figure spent in Liverpool’s long history stretches north of the Uruguayan, who joined from Benfica for £85m in 2022 but, now aged 25, is set to depart this summer having failed to ever reach his potential.

He certainly hasn’t succeeded in replacing Bobby Firmino, one of the greatest modern forwards to grace Merseyside.

Why Bobby Firmino was so special

Liverpool signed Firmino from German club Hoffenheim for £29m in 2015, months before Klopp’s appointment changed everything.

Silky and stylish, he was perfect for Klopp’s gegenpressing style of football, an industrious worker, an intelligent technician and a balletic dancer across the frontline.

Distinctive and the connecting axis from which Salah and Sadio Mane swooped and struck from either flank, the Brazilian left at the end of his contract in 2023 with a legacy that most players could only dream of.

His brilliance is all the more sorely missed due to Nunez’s failure to live up to the billing, and Liverpool appear to yearn for that presence at number nine, ramping up their interest in the next version of the South American star.

Liverpool lining up their next Firmino

As per Caught Offside, Liverpool are looking to repeat their Firmino trick in signing an up-and-comer from the Bundesliga this summer, with Eintracht Frankfurt’s Hugo Ekitike in FSG’s scope.

Ekitike has been one of the most talked-about forwards of the current campaign, with his performances catching the eyes of numerous high-profile suitors. Liverpool scouts, indeed, were in attendance when he scored against Tottenham in the Europa League one week ago.

And it’s thought that Liverpool are now moving the 22-year-old up to the top of their summer shopping list, though they would be required to fork out €85m (about £73m).

Why Hugo Ekitike would be perfect for Slot

Alexander Isak would be the dream. But dreams aren’t often bedded in reality, and Newcastle United’s £150m demands are sure to act as a strong repellent on FSG.

And that’s completely fair enough, especially when Ekitike – who data-driven site FBref record as one of Isak’s most statistically similar players – is ostensibly available for half the price.

One of the most attractive parts about Isak’s skill set is that he can marry varying parts of the striker’s game, unleashing himself as a truly dynamic and fearsome force.

Ekitike can be that focal point for Liverpool, indeed replicating Firmino in the process.

Ekitike, like Bobby Dazzler, would be signed from Germany as an up-and-coming attacking talent, albeit with a higher stock.

But the likeness doesn’t end there. Ekitike is not just “one of the best strikers out there,” according to analyst Ben Mattinson, but his protean approach mirrors that of Firmino’s, with Frankfurt correspondent Christopher Michel piling on the praise and claiming “his technique is one of the best in Europe and his foot is like glue for the ball.”

Having struggled to get going as a youngster at Paris Saint-Germain moved on loan to Frankfurt for the latter half of the 2023/24 season before signing permanently for a reported €35m (£30m) fee.

The first impression at his new home was one of promise. He struggled to acclimatise as winter turned to spring, though he finished the campaign off on firm footing, firing home in four of Frankfurt’s final five league matches of 2023/24, assisting in the other.

This season, the seeds of success have bloomed, with the France native having posted 21 goals and nine assists across all competitions, showcasing a balance of output that Firmino would be proud of.

Let’s look at how the players compare. Firmino didn’t play all that much during his final season at Liverpool but you can clearly see the similarities between the two silky forwards, with Ekitike actually proving he has a charged athleticism that could outstrip the Brazilian even in his heyday.

This energetic and clinical quality would give Liverpool exactly what they need next season, easing Salah’s burden while giving the likes of Cody Gakpo and Luis Diaz (should he stay put) greater license to strike on goal and raise their scoring numbers.

Ekitike is what Liverpool thought Nunez would be, and while he hasn’t yet step foot on Premier League grass, the talented Frenchman has the perfect skill set to front Slot’s system and the data to back it all up.

As per FBref, he ranks among the top 7% of forwards across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for pass completion, the top 9% for shot-creating actions and the top 5% for all of progressive carries, successful take-ons and touches in the attacking penalty area per 90.

To put that another, more digestible, way: Ekitike is technically gifted, an able runner who not only drives his way into dangerous positions but maximises his chances of making things happen once arriving at such crucial junctures.

Transfer Focus

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

He’s got Liverpool written all over him, and while £73m or thereabouts would put him among the Anfield side’s most expensive signings in history, the pointers suggest this would be a road worth heading down.

Imagine him & Van Dijk: Liverpool lead race for 'world's most in demand CB'

Liverpool are looking to sign one of football’s biggest talents this summer to partner Virgil van Dijk

By
Angus Sinclair

Apr 17, 2025

With his double-ton in the Duleep Trophy, the 21-year-old Vidarbha batter has nine fifty-plus scores in 16 innings

Himanshu Agrawal29-Aug-2025Danish Malewar is soft-spoken. So his bat does the talking for him. For a 21-year-old who is just ten first-class matches into his career, there is immense clarity and versatility. And runs too. Big runs. He hit a double-century in the Duleep Trophy quarter-final for Central Zone and the North EastMalewar loves hitting boundaries but knows the importance of the defensive game as well. He feels his strength is playing off the front foot, but one look at his batting would tell us how solid he is with the punch and the pull shots off the back foot as well.All of that and more were on display at the Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru. Malewar amassed 198 runs on the opening day of the domestic season, and duly went on to complete his maiden double-century in first-class cricket on Friday morning. The landmark came up with an assured cut shot for four through cover. Malewar’s words after the second day’s play, when he retired out on 203 after walking out to bat in the third over of the match, spoke of a young man who knows his stuff.”There was some moisture on the pitch when I started batting. I just saw the new ball through, and the wicket had started to settle after lunch [on day one],” he told ESPNcricinfo. “I was confident enough given the practice I had had.”Danish Malewar scored his maiden first class double-century on Friday•Himanshu Agrawal/ESPNcricinfo LtdMalewar made his first-class debut for Vidarbha in last season’s Ranji Trophy, and averages 61.62 after 16 innings. Nine times he has passed fifty, and three of those, he has converted into hundreds. Malewar thumped 150 runs in boundaries during his career-best knock, albeit against an inexperienced North East attack, and batted at a strike rate of 91.44.With 783 runs in nine matches, he was Vidarbha’s third-highest run-getter in their title-winning Ranji season. Malewar looks up to and admires the work ethic of Yash Rathod, one of the two team-mates who got more runs than him in 2024-25.Related

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“I’ve been watching and following Yash for a long time,” he said. “I’ve learnt from him how to defend a ball right at the stumps. I also practice with him at the nets, and watch how he leaves the deliveries outside off stump as well as how he drives at the ball. I think we have a similar batting style too.”Karun Nair, the other batter who scored more than Malewar, returned to Karnataka ahead of this domestic season. So there is a bit of slack that needs picking up at Vidarbha.”I did well last year,” Malewar said. “I think I fit well at No. 3. [Nair’s absence] does mean more responsibility, and as a top-order batter, I need to lay a solid base for those coming in to bat after me. It’s my job to see off the new ball, and to bat for as long as possible.”No wonder then that he has faced a hundred or more deliveries in eight of his 16 innings so far. Malewar wants to develop his own style of batting, and says he likes to play all the shots in the book – the drive, the flick, and the sweep. He has three idols, and, like his batting, is sorted about what to ask whom.”Sachin [Tendulkar] sir, Virat Kohli and KL Rahul are my favourites. I’ve seen Sachin sir from a distance, but have never got the chance to meet him. I know what I’m going to ask the three batters whenever I get to have a chat with them: I’m going to ask Sachin sir about how to play the drive well, KL Rahul about my overall batting, and Virat about mental toughness. I’m going to prepare well before going to meet them!”Talk about clarity, clear-headedness and goals. Talk about young Danish Malewar.

In a turn of events too improbable for Hollywood, a cricketer from Afghanistan became a feted hero deep in the heart of Texas

Peter Della Penna31-Jul-2023One of the burgeoning traditions that has quickly become a staple of the first season of Major League Cricket in Texas, as it is in the IPL, is the sea of flags in the stands. Almost all of the franchises involved in each night’s match made sure to have stacks of flags ready to hand out to fans as they walked in through the gates of Grand Prairie Stadium.There were hundreds of neon green Seattle Orcas flags waving in the grandstand at Sunday night’s final. These were engulfed by thousands of blue MI New York flags. Being a sporting event in the USA, a few fans brought in Old Glory to twirl around, and another American flag arrived into the stadium before the start of play courtesy of a parachute jump team.But the flags that arguably stood out most of all at Grand Prairie Stadium were the distinct tri-colour black, red and green of Afghanistan. Seemingly in every corner of the stadium, there was at least one, and usually two, Afghanistan tricolour banners parading around and being waved in tandem.Related

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Two decades ago, when the US military invaded Afghanistan, the latter’s national cricket team did not exist. A men’s side playing under the aegis of the Afghanistan Cricket Board did not appear in an Asian Cricket Council tournament – let alone an ICC one – until June 2004. On that day, Nawroz Mangal opened the batting with a century while an unknown 19-year-old spinner named Mohammad Nabi led the bowling attack taking 3 for 28 in a four-wicket loss to Oman at an empty Royal Selangor Club in Kuala Lumpur. Rashid Khan was just a five-year-old boy then.Fast forward 19 years to a scene in Grand Prairie, Texas that would have seemed infinitely more ludicrous than the moment in “Back to the Future Part II” where Marty McFly gets out of Doc Brown’s DeLorean time machine to walk into the centre of Hill Valley in October 2015. A very confused Marty, played by Michael J Fox, looks up at a flashing neon news ticker to see an update that the Chicago Cubs have just beaten a team from Miami – a baseball franchise that didn’t exist in the Back to the Future realm of 1985 – to win their first World Series since 1908.Nicholas Pooran scored an extraordinary hundred in the chase•SportzpicsIt’s highly improbable that even the brilliant mind of Robert Zemeckis could have concocted a Hollywood story where a boy from war-torn Afghanistan in 2004 becomes one of the biggest stars in international cricket and is feted by the masses in the Lone Star State in the summer of 2023. Texas is a place with as nascent a cricket heritage as the one Afghanistan had in 2004, which was a time when most Texans’ – like most other Americans of the time – only thoughts about Afghanistan revolved around hunting down Osama bin Laden.But when Rashid showed up for his first match in Texas for New York on the night of July 17 – fresh out of a business class seat on a flight from Bangladesh where he had just finished captaining the Afghanistan T20I side – the fans in Grand Prairie Stadium went delirious. It was sheer pandemonium in the front row of section 101 on the southwest grandstand of the venue near where Rashid was fielding on the boundary at wide long-off. Things got so rowdy from a crush of fans crowding the front five rows in search of selfies and autographs during the first innings when New York were fielding that extra security guards had to be re-assigned to the area to disperse the throngs of fans who did not have tickets in the section.It was no surprise, then, that when the starting line-ups for the final on Sunday night were shouted over the loudspeakers by stadium public address announcer Aaman Patel – who himself is another too-good-to-be-true character, a North Carolina native who was one year old when Afghanistan played their first match in 2004 – that Rashid got the most raucous ovation. And even on a night when New York stand-in captain Nicholas Pooran scored one of the most extraordinary centuries in a T20 franchise league final anywhere in the world, it was Rashid who continued to be the pied piper for fans all around the ground.Rashid Khan registered figures of 4-0-9-3•SportzpicsThough the match had been announced as a sellout for weeks, there was some mild curiosity as to what the atmosphere would be like without the presence of the Texas Super Kings in the final. Though the crowds at the 7200-capacity Grand Prairie Stadium had been consistently healthy throughout the tournament, only matches involving the hometown Super Kings had been sellouts prior to the final. But the long traffic lines coming off the South Belt Line Road Exit to the stadium entrance at Lone Star Parkway, which were snaking around the adjacent Lone Star Racetrack parking lot 90 minutes before play, quelled any doubts that the inaugural MLC final would be anything less than a grand occasion.As special as Pooran’s unbeaten and chanceless 137 not out off 55 balls was – studded with 13 sixes and a hundred which arrived after just 40 balls – the screams, shouts and cries for Rashid before, during and after his sensational spell of 3 for 9 (seriously?! A 2.25 economy and 19 dot balls on a night when every other bowler went for more than a run a ball) were relentless from start to finish, and continued well after Pooran jammed out a yorker through fine leg for the winning runs. During the victory celebrations on the field, there were regular calls in the stands from fans shouting for an autograph or a selfie with, “Nicky!”, “Polly!” “Trent!” and “David!”But outside of the appearance made by New York’s billionaire owner Nita Ambani, who showed up along the sidelines to take pictures with her team’s joyous fans, the only other person requiring a robust security presence to keep over-exuberant fans from losing control in their zesty fervour to get close to their hero was “Rashid! Rashid!” After spending a considerable amount of time taking selfies and signing autographs with fans, Rashid was finally yanked away by the New York team officials, who were waiting for him to come back to the team bus before commencing with further victory celebrations back at the team hotel.Over the course of the last three weeks, there were a series of far-fetched fantasies most people would never have believed possible a generation ago. A sold-out cricket stadium to watch a domestic franchise league in Texas, let alone anywhere else in the USA, would have seemed more miraculous than turning water into wine. But a globetrotting, multi-millionaire, best-T20-bowler-in-the-world legspinner from Afghanistan being showered with pure unadulterated love by American sports fans on US soil would have simply been far too good to be true. At Sunday night’s Major League Cricket final in Grand Prairie, Texas, seeing was believing.

It took courage to make the radical changes to his game that we saw him make in England

Aakash Chopra14-Sep-20210:57

How Rohit Sharma tightened his front-foot game

When the ball is in what is often referred to as the corridor of uncertainty, it is designed to sow seeds of doubt in the batter’s mind: Is it too close to leave? Or a little too wide to attempt putting bat on ball? Watching a batter leave alone a ball that’s almost shaving the off stump can be as enthralling as watching the ball hit the middle of the bat and sail into the stands.Both are a vindication of good judgement and perfect execution, with radically different outcomes. While one decision gives you six runs, the other allows you to stay put for longer so you can look to score plenty more. Similarly, stonewalling a perfect inswinger with a solid defence can give you an equal amount of pleasure.There’s a subtle difference in the joy one derives from hitting fours and sixes and from exercising defensive options in challenging conditions – the lifespan of the former is usually limited, and often adrenaline is the fuel that drives it; the latter can go on for much longer and demands mental fortitude from the batter.Related

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How one gets addicted to the rhythms of batting in Test cricket is not a topic that gets discussed all that often. But for a striking example of a display of the latter kind of innings and how it can cast an enchanting spell, look at how Rohit Sharma has batted since he set foot on English soil earlier this year.Rohit is a runaway match-winner in white-ball cricket, but in Test cricket, his promotion to open the innings was considered a final throw of the dice to revive his career in the format, and also an attempt to get him to do what Virender Sehwag, another stroke-maker of high quality, did in the same role.While Rohit batted the way he was expected to bat in India in Tests, he changed his game radically to meet the demands of English conditions. He decided to play everything close to his body, focusing a lot on leaving balls as well as on defending.He went against his natural instinct, which is to attack at the first opportune moment. In fact, he buried that instinct so deep, it frequently took longer than usual for him to access it again when needed. Rohit’s attempt to play a totally different brand of cricket to that with which he got all his international success reflected two things: nurture is as influential as nature, if not more; and he has a burning desire to succeed in Tests.When someone doesn’t have anything left to prove in the two most popular and rewarding formats of the game, you can understand it if he didn’t put the same amount of effort into succeeding in the third format – a significantly less materially rewarding one.5:31

Laxman: Rohit’s adjustments more in his mindset than technique

Rohit decided to put himself out there, challenge himself, play a different game with unflinching commitment and belief in his new repertoire. He knew that this English summer had the potential to define his legacy as a Test cricketer. And it is remarkable that standing at such a crucial juncture so far into his career, he had the conviction to remould his game so drastically that he looked like a different batter altogether. The risk you run in these situations is that if you fail, you can’t forgive yourself for not going with what came naturally to you. Rohit took the risk and succeeded.The first instinct against James Anderson and Ollie Robinson was to be defensive. Unless the ball was really full, he wouldn’t attempt driving it. He would trust his judgement of where the off stump was and would leave a lot of deliveries alone. The ones coming in, once again, would be dealt with defensively.He earmarked Sam Curran in the first couple of Tests, and Moeen Ali thereafter, as his go-to bowlers against whom to score runs. He was so committed to this plan that he must have missed multiple scoring opportunities against Anderson and Robinson, but the fact that that did not bother him spoke volumes about his mindset. Sometimes you drift away from your initial plans of self-denial once the feet start moving freely and you’re more confident about the pace and bounce of the surface but Rohit’s discipline was quite similar to Sachin Tendulkar’s discipline in not playing the cover drive at all in his famous knock of 241 not out in Sydney in 2004.Of course, once in a while, Rohit got out playing the pull or hook shots but part of the reason for those dismissals was also his predominant desire to defend. The shot that dismissed him in the first innings of the Headingley Test was an example.The beauty of Test match batting and long stays in the middle is that you start falling in love with small things – the joy of leaving the ball alone, or simply defending it. I’m not suggesting that there’s less joy in white-ball runs, but the cadences of Test cricket are different, and they leave a deeper imprint. The joys of Test cricket are almost spiritual; once you’ve tasted them, nothing else can satisfy that craving anymore.In England this summer Rohit seems to have taken a giant leap towards writing his legacy, an effort born of his love for the longer format.

The Tigers might be poised to do what was once unthinkable.

On Thursday, ESPN’s Jorge Castillo discussed the two-time reigning American League Cy Young winner, Tarik Skubal, in a piece recapping the winter meetings. He said the most interesting thing he heard this week was that a Skubal trade is now likely.

That is quite a bombshell, but not entirely unexpected.

Skubal will almost certainly garner the biggest contract ever given to a pitcher—not including two-way star Shohei Ohtani. Yoshinobu Yamamoto currently has the biggest contract of any MLB pitcher, clocking in at $325 million over 12 years. Skubal should blow that number away and is likely to have an average annual value in the $40 million range. It’s unlikely the Tigers would be able to shell out the $400-plus million it might take to lock him down, so the team is smart to consider moving him while it still can.

He has been MLB’s most dominant presence on the mound over the past two seasons, and all 30 teams would want him. Starting a bidding war for his services is a no-brainer at this point.

In 2025, Skubal turned in what was easily his best season. He went 13-6 with a 2.21 ERA, a 0.89 WHIP, and 241 strikeouts against 33 walks in 195 1/3 innings. His 6.6 fWAR led all MLB pitchers, while he was second in FIP (2.45) and xERA (2.72).

That improved on an equally remarkable 2024 campaign in which he went 18-4, with a 2.39 ERA, a 0.92 WHIP, and 228 strikeouts against 35 walks in 192 innings.

At 29 years old, Skubal has plenty of his prime years left and seems be getting better.

If Skubal was going to move, the Dodgers would, of course, be in the mix. L.A.’s farm system could easily provide the prospects to satisfy the return Detroit would be looking for, and the Dodgers could also move a piece from their deep MLB rotation to help the Tigers. Tyler Glasnow’s name was tossed around at the winter meetings, and he’d be a fit atop Detroit’s rotation.

Other teams that would make sense are the Mets, Astros, and Red Sox, and no one should ever count the Padres out as long as A.J. Preller is still manning the ship. The Orioles appear to be all-in and have a ton of young players, so they could also be a player.

Trading Skubal would be painful for the Tigers, but they are likely to lose him in free agency next offseason, and the haul he’d bring back could set the franchise up for success long term.

Delhi Capitals’ Australian allrounder opens up about her fielding, her success across formats and levels, and growing up in a cricketing family

Sruthi Ravindranath14-Mar-2025You had an excellent summer with Australia that ended with the Belinda Clark medal. How do you reflect on the season gone by?It feels like it’s been a long summer with lots of cricket, starting with that World Cup [in October 2024 in the UAEI’ve sort of moved series to series, tournament to tournament. There’s so much cricket on so it’s hard to look at it as a whole. Hopefully when WPL [is over] – and we’ve got a couple of games against New Zealand, and then the season’s officially done – I think when there’s a bit more of a break there, then I’ll be able to reflect a bit more. Proud I’ve been able to contribute to especially the Australian team and stand up in different moments, which has been nice.You got going with the ball in the very first match after coming from the Ashes in Australia. What did you have to do differently to adjust to Indian conditions?I don’t think there’s one specific thing. I think I’m quite versatile in terms of the change-ups I’ve got – I’ve got decent pace too – so I think it’s just about assessing the conditions every wicket you play on – even if it’s the same ground, it is a little bit different – and trying to work out what’s working as soon as possible. We’ve got a great bowling attack, very experienced with Kappy [Marizanne Kapp] and Shikha Pandey as well, who often start us off really well and [I] can get some good information from those guys before I come on, sort of more through the middle. But enjoying the challenge of often batter-friendly conditions and trying to navigate through a bowling innings when batters are going hard, and the boundaries are pretty short and the outfield’s fast too.You have an effective offcutter, which you’ve used quite a bit in these conditions.I think [I developed it] early on in WBBL when I was really young. I realised I had to work on a change-up to make it a little bit harder for batters. So I’ve got a couple of change-ups now. The offcutter is my go-to one early.Related

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Given my action, it was probably the easiest one to bank on. But I think I’ve definitely worked on it to make sure no matter what kind of conditions I’m playing in, it can work. I’ve got really good control over length, and I think it’s a big one for me to be able to use it in any condition and any format.Are there any other variations you have an eye on?Not that I’m willing to reveal . I’m always working on different things, but that’s for everyone to see on the field.Your fielding, specifically the catching, once again stood out in the WPL. Is there any specific training you do for catching under lights?It’s probably more about volume, trying to get comfortable under the lights and get used to the conditions. I think every stadium’s a bit different where the lights are at. The ball can get caught in the lights so it’s about just kind of picking up the depth. It can change or vary depending on the ground. So it is also about challenging yourself and not just practicing easy catches. You want to be dropping catches at training because that means they’re hard and you’re going to be ready for the game. That’s how I think about it.What makes Delhi Capitals such a good fielding side?We’re a really athletic team. Even someone like Niki Prasad – she’s young, but you can see how well she moves in the field. She’s taking some really high-quality catches and doesn’t look out of place at all. I think that’s no fluke. Everyone puts in a lot of time as they should, because it’s such a key part of the game, particularly in T20 cricket. It can turn a game and the momentum can shift. We know how important that is. It’s something we pride ourselves on at Delhi Capitals, that we want to be the best fielding team in the competition. I think we’re up there at the moment.How does WPL compare to the challenge of playing in the WBBL?Culturally, there’s a significant difference with the Indian local players. I’ve really enjoyed spending time and getting to know [them], that’s a pretty cool part of playing the WPL. The WBBL has gone for ten years now. I think domestic players [there] are probably a bit more experienced. I think they have a certain level of calmness about them – which I think the Indian players will keep improving on – given the amount of cricket the Aussie girls have played at that professional level. I think the more you play, the better you get in different pressure situations.Annabel Sutherland has taken eight wickets in as many games going into the WPL final•WPLObviously, the crowds are insane over here. It’s been lots of fun to play in front of some really good crowds with lots of noise at the Chinnaswamy [in Bengaluru]. The last game we played against RCB, it was super loud and we were able to quieten the crowd in our batting innings, which was nice. The crowds are certainly a highlight playing over here.You were part of Australia’s T20 World Cup win at the MCG in 2020. Coming to the Chinnaswamy, would you say the stadium atmosphere was on par? Did you feel intimidated by the crowd at any point?Not intimidated. I think you’re going to embrace it. It’s definitely part of the game, particularly in India. They’re probably louder than 86,000 at the G. They put up pretty good competition for that in terms of noise, but atmosphere-wise, it’s pretty hard to go past the MCG final.With the ODI World Cup coming up in India later this year, how important is it for you to play the WPL, especially in venues like Vadodara and Lucknow?The key part of a World Cup is you’re moving around changing venues. You want to get as much intel as you can before playing the game. I think it’d be at the back of everyone’s minds that [the World Cup] is coming up.As a youngster, what are the pressures of playing in a team like Australia where the standards are so high?I think that’s all external pressure, to be honest. We’ve got a really good environment in our Australian team. We know how hard everyone works, and we set our own standards probably higher than the external people do. That’s all the training and the work we do behind the scenes. I think cricket’s a tough game. We pride ourselves on our standards, so the pressure is kind of external noise.The Australian team’s depth is incredible. Would you say that perhaps puts you under pressure a little bit, that there’s always someone behind you?Yes, I think so. But I think if you’re doing the work, that’s all you can do at the end of the day. It’s a positive sign of where Australian cricket is at. There’s so much depth and our domestic cricket is really strong. We’ve seen with injuries and different things that happen that we’ve got great coverage across the country. Yet, at the same time, you got to be working on your game all the time trying to get better, because there’s people that are knocking on the door who are pretty hungry to play for Australia. That’s why you got to work hard and I know everyone’s doing that at the moment.Annabel Sutherland and Meg Lanning were part of Australia’s T20 World Cup win in 2023•Getty ImagesYou’ve played together with Meg Lanning for Victoria, Australia, Melbourne Stars in the WBBL and now at Capitals in the WPL. Is there anything as too much Meg Lanning? How big is it for you to play alongside her and pick her brains?There’s no such thing as too much Meg. She’s a superstar of the game. Just being able to play under her… she’s had a big impact on me. She’s super competitive. I love the way she plays the game. She would do anything to get the team over the line and get a win. I love that she trusts her instincts. She’s got a real good intuition of the game and more often than not she gets the right call.You grew up with a lot of cricket around you, with your father being involved in the sport and your brother playing professionally as well. How competitive were you with your siblings growing up when it came to cricket? Have you ever hit a saturation point with the game?Having two brothers sort of means everything’s going to be pretty competitive. We all loved sport growing up. In the backyard, there was a lot of competition, a few tantrums – that was all part of it. Cricket was one of the sports we played a lot, and we all love it. That [is why] we are still playing it now. It’s a nice thing to share with my siblings.I think it’s important given how much cricket’s on at the moment to have a healthy balance in terms of when you do get time off, whether it’s days or weeks between tours and tournaments, you need to make sure you have a really good balance of being away from games. I got real good people around me in terms of my friends and family who keep that balance, which is nice.

The last 10 days have been tense in Los Angeles, where an immigration crackdown spearheaded by President Donald Trump's administration has led to protests in the city and beyond. Those protests have been met with unusual force, including the deployment of 700 Marines.

On Saturday, the singer Nezza made a simple statement in support of the city's substantial Spanish-speaking immigrant community—singing the United States's little-known official Spanish-language version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" before the Los Angeles Dodgers' 11–5 win over the San Francisco Giants.

That statement, however, appears to have been met with pushback from the Dodgers. After the game, Nezza posted video in which a Los Angeles employee appears to instruct her to perform the song in English.

“I didn’t think I’d be met with any sort of no,” Nezza said in another video via Fabian Ardaya of . “Especially because we’re in L.A., and with everything happening. I’ve sang the national anthem many times in my life, but today, out of all days, I could not. I just felt like I needed to do it. Para mi gente."

The Dodgers, long an identity symbol for Spanish-speaking Angelenos, have taken substantial media criticism over the last week for declining to address the federal government's actions. Longtime Los Angeles infielder and outfielder Kike Hernandez personally expressed support for the immigrant community Saturday, writing on Instagram that he "cannot stand to see our community being violated, profiled, abused and ripped apart."

McGrath confident of Australia’s “settled squad” with “so much depth” to defend the ODI title despite the unfamiliar conditions

Andrew McGlashan12-Sep-2025For many overseas cricketers, India is becoming something of a second home these days but despite the increasing familiarity with the country, Australia are preparing to embrace the unknowns at the upcoming women’s ODI World Cup.It’s a situation that will confront all the teams in the competition – even to a degree joint-hosts India – given the mix of venues. The Holkar Stadium in Indore has never hosted women’s internationals, Guwahati’s Barsapara Stadium hasn’t staged women’s ODIs and its last women’s T20Is were in 2019, and Visakhapatnam’s previous ODIs were in 2014. Navi Mumbai, the late replacement for Bengaluru, while having staged Tests and T20Is, hasn’t yet been used for the 50-over format in women’s cricket.Then there’s the Premadasa Stadium in Colombo to throw in the mix. The venue has hosted seven women’s ODIs this year featuring Sri Lanka, India and South Africa but Australia, who will face Sri Lanka and Pakistan at the ground, last played there in 2016 when only five of the current squad were on the tour.Related

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Head coach Shelley Nitschke said last week that she had reached out to the men’s set-up for help gathering data, specifically referencing Colombo where Australia played two spin-dominated ODIs earlier this year, and the players are aware they will need to be adaptable throughout the tournament.”We have been quite lucky, we feel like we’re travelling to India every second month almost,” vice-captain Tahlia McGrath said ahead of Australia’s three-match ODI series against India which starts on Sunday in New Chandigarh. “Spent a lot of time over here, played in these conditions a lot, but we’re playing in some parts that we’re not very familiar with.”[We are] in New Chandigarh at the moment, never been here before, [and] lots of the World Cup venues never been to before. So it’s about learning the conditions, adapting to the conditions, being flexible and communicating really well as a group because it is a little bit foreign to us.”No matter where you are in India, you can get thrown up very different conditions from day to day, so excited about the challenge, [we have] a little bit of experience, but a little bit of unknowns.”

“It’s about learning the conditions, adapting to the conditions, being flexible and communicating really well as a group because it is a little bit foreign to us.”Tahlia McGrath

The series against India will be Australia’s first internationals since the Ashes finished in early February but McGrath was confident the stability of the squad will serve them well.”We’ve been pretty settled with our squad for quite a while now, so we’ve been pretty lucky with that,” she said. “The only thing is, though, we’re over here for a very long time and I think we’ve got 15 in the World Cup squad and 17 over here at the moment, so it’s a really good opportunity to play a few players, play some different roles.”Not sure what Shell’s got in mind, but we’ve got so much talent, so much depth over here that it doesn’t really matter what team we throw out or what batting order, all that sort of thing, we’re in pretty good hands.”Left-arm spinner Sophie Molineux is not expected to feature in the India series as she completes the final stages of recovery from knee surgery but is expected to be ready for the World Cup. The uncapped pair of wicketkeeper Nicole Faltum and allrounder Charli Knott have been included for the bilateral series although, barring injuries, may not feature in what is a chance to gain further experience around the squad.Once the World Cup begins, Australia will be aiming to become the first side since 1988 to defend the ODI title while the memories of their semi-final defeat in last year’s T20 World Cup still linger.”An ODI World Cup is special, they’re probably the pinnacle,” McGrath said. “For the players that were in Dubai it adds that bit of motivation, not a nice feeling the way we exited. And then the extra little bit of motivation as well that we want to be the first team in a while to go back-to-back [in the] ODI World Cup.”

Former Leeds United striker Jermaine Beckford has made a bold claim about the way Daniel Farke’s side have started the season, but insists he’s “not delusional”.

Leeds four clear of the drop after solid start

Leeds’ number one priority this year will be to avoid the drop, considering just how much the teams that have recently been promoted to the Premier League have struggled, with no newly-promoted sides avoiding the drop over the past two seasons.

Farke’s side have started relatively well, picking up eight points from their opening seven games, which leaves them four points clear of the bottom three, although the German may be frustrated his side aren’t further up the table.

The Whites had more shots on target and possession against Tottenham Hotspur last time out, but ultimately fell to a 2-1 defeat, while they will also be very disappointed to have dropped points after conceding late goals against AFC Bournemouth and Fulham.

In an interview with The Yorkshire Evening Post, Beckford has now made it clear he is happy with how his former side have started the season, and made the bold claim they should be near the Champions League places based on their performances.

The 41-year-old said: “I think every game we’ve been in – the Fulham game, I thought we were unfortunate not to come away with a point.

“I think the same with the Spurs game, we should have come away with a point in that one, and Bournemouth we should have walked away with all three.

“If we look at it from that perspective, that’s an extra five points on top of where we are currently in the league. And that puts us level on points with Man City and fifth place.

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“We’ve not been outplayed by many teams this season, we look like we belong so from that perspective I have been impressed, I have been happy.

The Leeds icon also went on to say: “I’m not delusional. The manager is not delusional. All it is, it’s just the fine margins.”

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Beckford is right to assess that Farke’s side have largely been competitive, with the 5-0 defeat against Arsenal the only game they have lost by more than one goal, but they cannot afford to continue throwing away points the way they have.

While it is understandable to be frustrated that Leeds aren’t further up the table, they only really have themselves to blame, with Gabriel Gudmundsson, who has otherwise been impressive, scoring a bizarre own-goal to cost them a point at Craven Cottage.

Beckford’s comments also don’t acknowledge that luck, or lack thereof, is something that affects every team, with the Whites’ 1-0 victory against Everton in their opening match coming as a result of a debatable penalty decision.

That said, Farke should take some confidence from the solid performances thus far, with the 3-1 victory at Wolverhampton Wanderers particularly impressive, and the manager will be hoping his side can put in a similar display at Burnley this weekend.

The mood around Arsenal at the moment is a brilliant one.

Mikel Arteta’s side closed the gap on Liverpool atop the Premier League to just two points with their win over Newcastle United last weekend.

Then during the week, they picked up another three points in the Champions League thanks to a steady 2-0 win against Olympiacos.

This weekend brings a fresh challenge as Nuno Espírito Santo’s West Ham United make their way to the Emirates for a game that Arteta can win by boldly dropping Gabriel Martinelli.

Arteta's record against Nuno

This afternoon’s game against West Ham will be the eighth time Arteta has faced off against Nuno since becoming a head coach, and as things stand, the Spaniard has a good record against him.

Chalkboard

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

Of the seven games they’ve already managed, the Gunners’ boss has won four, lost two and drawn one.

Interestingly, all seven games have been in the league, with three against Wolverhampton Wanderers, one against Tottenham Hotspur, and three against Nottingham Forest.

24/25

Forest

0-0

24/25

Forest

3-0 (Arsenal)

23/24

Forest

2-1 (Arsenal)

21/22

Spurs

3-1 (Arsenal)

20/21

Wolves

2-1 (Wolves)

20/21

Wolves

2-1 (Wolves)

19/20

Wolves

2-0 (Arsenal)

The most recent match between the two managers was a 0-0 draw at the City Ground back in February – a result emblematic of the North Londoners’ title challenge fizzling out.

Unsurprisingly, given the record, the Spaniard’s side has a healthy goal difference against the former Sao Tome-born boss, scoring 12 goals across the seven games and only conceding six.

However, while Arteta has generally gotten the better of Nuno, it would be fair to say that their most notable meeting was a 2-1 Wolves win in February 2021, as both Bernd Leno and David Luiz managed to get themselves sent off.

The Brazilian was handed his marching orders for a foul in the penalty area, and the German for handling the ball outside of it.

Arteta will be hoping for an altogether more straightforward win this afternoon, and one way he can do that is by dropping Martinelli for another attacking star.

The Arsenal star Arteta should start in place of Martinelli

Now, it might seem harsh to drop Martinelli after he scored against Olympiacos during the week, but there are a few reasons why Arteta should do it anyway and start Eberechi Eze in his place.

The first is that, under Nuno, there is a very good chance that West Ham will come to the Emirates and sit back for most of the game, looking to hit the Gunners on the counterattack.

So, to deal with what will likely be a low block, Arteta needs to get as many technicians on the pitch as possible, meaning Eze’s intricate dribbling and ability to play a pinpoint pass will be far more useful than Martinelli’s speed.

This then leads to the second argument, which is that, should the North Londoners find themselves a goal or two up by some point in the second half, the East Londoners will be forced to come out of their shape and stretch the game.

At this point, the speed and directness of the Brazilian will be far more helpful to the manager, and therefore, he could come on for the Englishman.

Now the club have a proper squad and a strong bench, it makes sense for the Spaniard to pick his starting line-ups based on how games are likely to play out, to maximise the team’s effectiveness and ensure players have the chance to play in situations most favourable to their skill set.

Finally, the reason the former Crystal Palace “magician,” as dubbed by Micah Richards, couldn’t just start in the middle of the park is that, over the last two games, Martin Odegaard has shown a level fans haven’t seen for well over a year.

He helped change the game at St James’ Park and was the Man of the Match on Wednesday, so dropping him now would be illogical and potentially damaging.

Ultimately, Martinelli deserves to play more, but given the sort of game it’s likely to be this afternoon and the need to keep Odegaard in midfield, Arteta should start Eze on the left.

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