Gannon took 5 for 47 but Macdonald made 79 and Short 62 to give Victoria a crucial lead

AAP05-Dec-2025

Cameron Gannon took 5 for 47•Getty Images

Victoria’s Sheffield Shield dominance is continuing, taking a stranglehold of their clash with Western Australia at the MCG.Holding a 61-run first-innings lead after making 255 in reply to WA’s 194, Victoria delivered another blow just before stumps on day two on Friday.Mitchell Perry trapped former Australia opener Cameron Bancroft on the final ball of the third over to leave WA reeling at 4 for 1. Instead of Australia’s white-ball star Mitch Marsh arriving at the crease, spinner Corey Rocchiccioli was sent in as a nightwatcher.Rocchiccioli survived five overs with captain Sam Whiteman to get WA to stumps at 5 for 1, still trailing Victoria by 56 runs. Whiteman made just two from 24 balls, but did his job by getting to the end of the day without falling to the charging Victorian attack.On a tricky wicket, opener Blake Macdonald thrived for Victoria with 79, while Matthew Short compiled 62.Victoria took their time building a lead, going at a run-rate of just 2.68 and batting for 96 overs. WA veteran Cameron Gannon bowled tirelessly, sending down 23 overs for figures of 5 for 47.Rocchiccioli ended Victoria’s innings with his second wicket, finishing with 2 for 61.Despite struggling in the One-Day Cup and suffering a heavy loss to WA on Tuesday, Victoria have been dominating the Shield this season. Another win here would take them into the Big Bash League break with five wins from six matches, putting them in the box seat to host this season’s final. WA are on the bottom of the Shield table, having secured just one win this campaign.

At home, India have not lost both the Test and ODI series of a tour since 1986-87

Sidharth Monga05-Dec-20253:38

ten Doeschate: A different start time could bring down dew effect

Big picture – Can India end rotten luck with the toss?The last time India lost both the Test and ODI series as part of the same bilateral tour was in South Africa in 2021-22. At home, though, India haven’t lost both the series of a tour since Pakistan beat them 1-0 in Tests and 5-1 in ODIs in 1986-87.South Africa go into Vishakapatnam with a chance of achieving that rare double. It is evident by now that it could well come down to the toss. The dew anyway plays a big part in ODIs in India, which is now getting accentuated by use of only one ball from overs 34 to 50. The side bowling in the afternoon gets the advantage of using an older, softer ball, which gets nullified in the dew in the night. South Africa won the last ODI despite being 35 behind India at the 34-over mark, which is when the fielding side gets to choose one of the two balls to bowl the rest of the innings with.Given such a premium on the toss, India will be desperate that they finally win one after 20 straight losses. The last time India won a toss in ODIs was in the semi-final of the last World Cup, and we are already talking about combinations for the next World Cup.The teams will have no option but to maximise the new ball in the afternoon and go for an above-par total for the conditions they are batting in. And then maximise the new ball in the evening before it stops moving. India managed to do both of those things in Ranchi, but only one in Raipur. It will be interesting to see if South Africa have capability to do both, but for that India will have to win the toss.Form guideIndia: LWWLL
South Africa: WLLWLMarco Jansen is staking claims to becoming a genuine allrounder•Associated PressIn the spotlight: Virat Kohli and Marco JansenVirat Kohli has gone back to back with centuries 11 times in his career. He has converted one of those into a hat-trick. Three centuries in one week. One of them came at his favourite venue, Vishakapatnam, where he comes back with four ODI hundreds and one Test ton to his name. He averages 97.83 there in ODIs at better than a run a ball. He has also scored 299 Test runs there for three dismissals. The form that he seems to have hit, you won’t want to bet against another hat-trick of ODI hundreds.Marco Jansen, who is staking claims to becoming a genuine allrounder, will still want to do more in his core discipline of bowling than four wickets at an average of 34.75 and an economy rate of 6.95. If Nandre Burger doesn’t recover in time, he could get the new ball and look to play a role in controlling Kohli and Rohit Sharma.Related

Shadowing the king: When Gaikwad matched Kohli shot for shot

When South Africa and India went off the scale

Gaikwad: 'I was pretty much confident' of batting at No. 4

Team news: Eyes on Burger, de ZorziIndia will have no reason to make any changes in the XI that has won one and narrowly lost the second despite losing both tosses. Especially after Ruturaj Gaikwad scored a hundred that almost matched Kohli shot for shot. Prasidh Krishna is going at 8.48 an over, but India don’t have a replacement bowler in the squad. And they won’t replace a specialist bowler with an allrounder.India (probable): 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Rohit Sharma, 3 Virat Kohli, 4 Ruturaj Gaikwad, 5 KL Rahul (capt. & wk), 6 Washington Sundar, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 Harshit Rana, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Arshdeep Singh, 11 Prasidh KrishnaSouth Africa had two players go down with hamstring injuries in the second ODI. Neither of them played any further role in the match. Hamstrings don’t heal this quickly so expect Burger and Tony de Zorzi to be replaced by Ottneil Baartman and Ryan Rickelton.South Africa (probable): 1 Aiden Markram, 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Temba Bavuma (capt.), 4 Matthew Breetzke, 5 Ryan Rickelton, 6 Dewald Brevis, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Corbin Bosch, 9 Keshav Maharaj, 10 Lungi Ngidi, 11 Ottneil BaartmanPitch and conditionsThe last two ODIs represent the extreme of the conditions in Vishakapatnam. India went from scoring 387 against West Indies in December 2019 to being bowled out for 117 against Australia in March 2023. With no weather challenges in the pitch preparation, expect more of the former. The temperature should be warmer than Ranchi and Raipur, but still pleasant for cricket.Stats and trivia Kumar Sangakkara holds the record for more centuries in consecutive ODI innings: four. A host of others, including Kohli, have managed three in a row. The last team to beat India in India despite losing the toss was South Africa in October 2022.

LOS ANGELES — The digital clock on the wall of the Dodgers’ clubhouse read 12:10 a.m., only 20 minutes after the most exhausting World Series game ever played, and Shohei Ohtani, hair tousled and uncombed from a quick towel dry, clad in shorts and a T-shirt, hurried out a back door. His first World Series start on the mound was approaching later the same day, just 17 hours away.

Maybe Ohtani was headed toward a phone booth to restore his superpowers. Or maybe he is the modern Chiron, the centaur whom the ancient Greeks believed when wounded by Hercules invented modern medicine to heal himself.

We know not how he does it. All we know is that those 17 hours, like the eye of a hurricane, define the sheer wonder of Ohtani as definitively as the whirlwind of what he does on the field. Somehow after reaching base nine times in the 18 innings of madness that was Game 3—three more times than anybody ever did in a postseason game—and refusing to leave the game as cramps wracked his legs, Ohtani planned to take the ball as the starting pitcher in Game 4.

The Dodgers outlasted the Blue Jays, 6-5, on a merciful home run by Freddie Freeman that put an immediate stop to 18 innings, 19 pitchers, 31 hits, 399 minutes, 595 pitches and innumerable thrills, many of which were the consequences of awful baserunning and shaky fielding interspersed with moments of grandeur. It was a night you needed the organist to sign off with Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus,” the way Fenway Park’s John Kiley did 50 years and six days previous when Carlton Fisk presaged Freeman. But nothing rose above the sublime and the ridiculous like the industriousness and unique greatness of Ohtani.

When I asked him on the field immediately after the game how he felt, he said quietly, “I need to go to bed.” The most active game anybody ever played in the World Series was played by the next day’s starting pitcher. Just the idea of that, like most everything Ohtani does, was unfathomable until he came along.

“I mean, I threw two innings, and I feel like I’m dead,” Dodgers reliever Emmet Sheehan said. “So, it’s really just a testament to everything he does behind the scenes, like taking care of his body. He’s one of a kind. And yeah, if anybody can do it, play a game like that and pitch the next day, it’s him.”

Shohei Ohtani’s Record-Setting Night

Running a depleted staff, Dodgers manager Dave Roberts has little choice but to stick with Ohtani on the mound for Game 4. Given how exhausted and hobbled Ohtani looked over the back half of Game 3, maybe Roberts would do well to allow him to pitch only—and give him some rest while somebody else takes his DH spot. But such an impact hitter is Ohtani that giving his four or five—or nine—plate appearances to anybody else is doing the Toronto Blue Jays a favor.

How is this for spending the day before your start on the mound:

• First player to reach base nine times in a postseason game.
• First player in 119 years to swat four extra-base hits in a World Series game.
• First player with a third multi-homer game in one postseason.
• First player with four intentional walks in one postseason game.

By the 11th inning, so worn out was Ohtani that Roberts, upon seeing him dead-legged hobble from first to second, offered to take him out of the game to rest for his Game 4 start on the mound. Ohtani told him he wasn’t going anywhere.

“It’s really crazy to put it in words what he did,” said Dodgers infielder Miguel Rojas, “but the biggest thing is he didn’t want to come out of the game. He got the opportunity to. When he was cramping and he was feeling discomfort on his legs, he got the opportunity to come out of the game knowing that he needs to pitch tomorrow.

“But he talks a lot about like the commitment and the effort that everybody’s doing. Like he’s seeing his teammates out there and the pitchers going extra mileage, like a guy [pitcher Will Klein] who maybe never threw more than 25 pitches or 30 pitches in a game in his life. With Shohei, that’s kind of like his aura and who he is. He will never come out of the game because he wanted to win today. And regardless of what happened tomorrow, we got this one. And that’s the most important part.”

Right there in the gallantry department with Ohtani, Klein, Freeman and exhausted catcher Will Smith, who caught all 18 innings and blocked more pitches than a Hollywood show-runner, was Yoshinobu Yamamoto. Only two days earlier, the 5-foot-10 Yamamoto became the smallest pitcher to post a World Series complete game win since Billy Pierce of the 1962 Giants. Yet around the 16th inning, just after Roberts told me he would have to use a position player after Klein, Yamamoto, still with his sneakers on, approached pitching coach Mark Prior in the dugout with the interpreter Will Ireton. He volunteered to pitch in relief.

Indeed, Yamamoto put his spikes on and reported to the bullpen to warm. He was only one pitch away from entering the game in the 18th as a spent Klein went to a 3-and-1 count on Tyler Heineman with runners at second and third and two outs. Suddenly from the dugout, Kershaw, who had left the bases loaded in the 12th by getting a third-out grounder, yelled for time from home plate umpire Mark Wegner. Roberts heard Kershaw and doubled down on the request.

Klein, they claimed, needed to have the mud cleaned from his spikes. The timeout seemed to be designed to give Yamamoto more time to get ready and/or provide a breather to Klein after Smith already had visited the mound. Not so, Kershaw said.

“It wasn’t a gambit,” Kershaw said. “I saw he was slipping on the mound. I didn’t want him to slip while throwing a pitch.”

In any case, Klein, given his break, fanned Heineman. If Klein throws Ball 4 there, Yamamoto is in the game and channeling Orel Hershiser, vintage 1988. In the 1988 NLCS, Hershiser saved Game 4 the day after starting Game 3, in which he threw seven innings on three days of rest after throwing 8 1/3 innings in Game 1. (He would throw a shutout in Game 7 on three days of rest, pitching four times in nine days.)

Blue Jays’ Questionable Moves Cost Them

The Dodgers outlasted the Blue Jays as much as they beat them. Toronto hurt itself with unforgivable mistakes. There was Isiah Kiner-Falefa tryng to go from first to third with one out in the ninth on a ball that caromed off the glove of Freeman and into short right field. Kiner-Falefa, with the ball behind him, never picked up the third base coach and decided wrong-headedly to just keep booking toward third. Second baseman Tommy Edman threw him out.

There was manager John Schneider replacing Addison Barger and Alejandro Kirk for pinch-runners, which, after an injury to George Springer and the removal of Bo Bichette to save his sore left knee, left a lineup nearly half full of bench players. Sending Myles Straw to run for Barger in the eighth was particularly baffling. The upgrade was miniscule. Both are plus runners. The downgrade in offense in a one-run game was huge. The game seemed continually to wheel toward Straw, Heineman and Kiner-Falefa, who went a combined 0-for-11 off the bench.

Most egregiously of all was the one pitch that reliever Seranthony Domínguez threw to Ohtani in the seventh when the Blue Jays were up 5–4 with two outs to go before turning to Jeff Hoffman for a six-out save. Such a dangerous hitter is Ohtani that pitching coach Pete Walker ran to the mound to warn Domínguez to give Ohtani nothing to hit with the bases empty. No sooner had Walker returned to the dugout than Domínguez threw a fastball right down the middle. Ohtani clocked it for a game-tying home run.

Schneider walked him intentionally four times after that homer, five if you count a pitch-around walk. Ohtani has not been swinging the bat well as he tried mostly for pull-side fly balls. He had not had an opposite field hit in 37 days.

But in the sixth, Mason Fluharty did him the favor of throwing him six straight sweepers—10 straight since they met in Game 1. The left-handed break of the pitch forced Ohtani to let the ball travel and to keep his front shoulder tucked on the ball longer. He smashed the 10th straight sweeper into left-center for a ringing double. It was exactly the kind of swing Roberts had been waiting for all month. It was the swing that locked in Ohtani, who after that looked like transformed, confident hitter not to be messed with.

Freeman won the game but Ohtani, fully dangerous again, swung the series. Schneider can no longer have his pitchers challenge him in any meaningful spot.

It wasn’t just that no game like the one Ohtani forged had never happened before. Four extra-base hits and nine times on base by the next day’s starting pitcher? Come on, folks. It is also stunning that no one even would think such a thing were possible.

Ohtani kept ducking into the clubhouse between at-bats to make sure he was hydrated and to treat his fatigue. At one point so haggard was Ohtani that he returned to the dugout wearing an alternate cap, one with a script “D” rather than the interlocking “LA.” A coach whispered in his ear, “Dude, you’ve got the wrong hat.” Ohtani spun on his heels and returned to his locker to get the proper one.

However, so restored was Ohtani as a hitting force that the Blue Jays did not allow him to swing the bat for the next three hours, 56 minutes after his home run off Domínguez. They put him on base five straight times with walks.

Ohtani did not reach full exhaustion. That was evident in a touching coda to his night. After celebrating with teammates greeting Freeman at home plate after the home run, Ohtani turned and began sprinting toward left field. Where was he going? Who was out there that would make him leave the mosh pit at home plate?

Ohtani remembered the sacrifice of Yamamoto, who did not get into the game but was willing to risk his health to make sure the Dodgers won this game. Yamamoto was jogging in from the bullpen when Ohtani, racing at near full speed, met him in the outfield. The two Japanese stars, the richest player and richest pitcher in history, playing under contracts worth $1.025 billion dollars, embraced like brothers on the grass in what was now the cool of the approaching midnight.

“Yama, he has like four or five championships already and counting, including Japan,” Rojas said. “He knows how to do it and what to do to get it done. So. I feel like he knows that a week from now we're going to be home and we're going to be resting. And he actually was ready to go and Doc was ready to put him in the game. And, I mean, I'm glad that Klein finished that inning and we’re here celebrating.”

Rojas spoke at a locker near to the one of Ohtani, who left only his vapor trail. Ohtani somehow had to recover in time from playing 18 innings to pitch 17 hours later. Said one Dodgers source, “People talk about elbow injuries to pitchers. With Shohei, what you worry most about is the wear and tear from what he is doing. People don’t appreciate the physical strain. Pitching alone is hard enough—the strain of it, the recovery it demands. And while he’s doing that, he’s playing every day. It’s the coast-to-coast travel. It’s the game after game. It’s everything. It’s constant.”

Babe Ruth found two-way duty so demanding he dropped it after two partial seasons of it. This is Ohtani’s sixth season doing it. He is doing so with extraordinary power more so than finesse and guile. Nobody has hit more balls 100 mph or more (220, including three more in Game 3). Only three starters have thrown more pitches 100 mph or more (46). If he takes his usual DH leadoff spot in Game 4, he will become the first pitcher to bat higher than sixth in the World Series, where the Babe hit in 1918.

Ohtani has had his elbow surgically repaired twice. There is an enormous physical toll he pays to pursue his love and to honor the gifts that make him the best player who ever lived. Enjoy every day of this wonder, especially the stupefying resolve of these back-to-back World Series games.

George Springer's dramatic three-run home run in Game 7 of the American League Championship Series on Monday night will never be forgotten by Blue Jays fans, and rightfully so. It proved to be the difference in the game and pushed Toronto into the World Series for the first time since 1993.

The Blue Jays were trailing 3-1 in the bottom of the seventh when Springer came up to the plate with two runners on base. Tensions were off the charts at Rogers Centre, with the sold-out crowd knowing that they could be witnessing a pivotal moment in the team's season with one of their most clutch hitters at the plate.

Springer didn't disappoint as he crushed a 1-0 pitch well over the wall in left field that sent the place into hysterics.

This view of the dramatic home run with just the sound in the stadium is too good:

Here are some more awesome looks at Springer's home run

This is another great crowd-only angle of the blast:

Here is Springer's complete at-bat with just the crowd noise.

This view from right field is cinema, too:

Here's what it looked like on the Fox broadcast:

What's next for the Blue Jays

Springer's home run proved to be the difference in Toronto's 4-3 win. Now the Blue Jays will face a powerful Dodgers team in what should be a very fun World Series. Game 1 is Friday night in Toronto, which will give Blue Jays fans a few days to recover from what was an emotional Game 7 on Monday night.

The Blue Jays' last trip to the World Series ended in dramatic fashion with Joe Carter hitting a walk-off home run in Game 6 to beat the Phillies. That was their second straight title as they beat the Braves, 4-2, in 1992.

Get your popcorn ready, because it feels like this World Series should be a lot of fun.

أعلن حلمي طولان، المدير الفني لـ منتخب مصر، التشكيل الرسمي لمواجهة الإمارات، في المباراة التي تقام بينهما اليوم السبت، ضمن منافسات كأس العرب 2025.

ويلتقي منتخب مصر مع الإمارات، في إطار مواجهات الجولة الثانية من مباريات دور المجموعات لبطولة كأس العرب المقامة في قطر.

وتنطلق المباراة، في تمام الساعة 8:30 مساءً بتوقيت مصر، وتنقل عبر قنوات “إم بي سي مصر 2 وقناة الكأس وقناة بي إن سبورت المفتوحة بالإضافة إلي قناة أبو ظبي الرياضية”.

ويلعب منتخب مصر المباراة، وهدفه تحقيق الفوز من أجل الاقتراب من التأهل إلى الدور القادم لمنافسات كأس العرب، بعدما كان قد تعادل في لقاء الجولة الأولى أمام الكويت.

ويتواجد منتخب مصر، حاليًا في المركز الثاني من المجموعة الثالثة برصيد نقطة، بينما يتصدر الترتيب منتخب الأردن برصيد 6 نقاط حاسمًا التأهل من المجموعة قبل لقاء الجولة الختامية.

ويقود هجوم الفراعنة ثلاثي هجومي، بقيادة مصطفي سعد ميسي ومعه ومروان حمدي وإسلام عيسي.

طالع | بدلاء منتخب مصر أمام الإمارات في كأس العرب 2025 تشكيل منتخب مصر اليوم أمام الإمارات

حراسة المرمي: محمد بسام.

خط الدفاع: أكرم توفيق – رجب نبيل – ياسين مرعي – يحيى زكريا.

خط الوسط: محمد النني – غنام محمد – عمرو السولية.

خط الهجوم: مصطفى سعد “ميسي” – مروان حمدي – إسلام عيسى.

MatériaMais Notícias

O Santos entra em campo na noite desta segunda-feira (3), às 20h, no Estádio do Café, em Londrina, para enfrentar o Botafogo-SP, pela oitava rodada da Série B do Brasileirão. Para esta partida, o volante João Schmidt está com o elenco, mas segue como dúvida.

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➡️ Siga o Lance! Santos no WhatsApp e acompanhe todas as notícias do Peixe

As melhores e mais variadas ofertas para o Brasileirão estão no Lance! Betting! Abra já a sua conta!

O jogador realizou um tratamento intensivo no CT Rei Pelé na tentativa de retornar a campo o mais rápido possível e, apesar de ter trabalhado até durante a folga, não treinou com o restante do elenco e, portanto, sua presença entre os titulares é incerta.

A provável escalação do Peixe tem: Gabriel Brazão; JP Chermont, Gil, Joaquim e Escobar; Tomás Rincón, Diego Pituca e Giuliano; Weslley Patati, Otero e Willian Bigode.

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O Peixe tem 15 pontos e busca a vitória para reassumir a liderança da competição, assumida pelo Goiás que já entrou em campo nesta rodada e tem 17 pontos. O time de Carille tem cinco vitórias e duas derrotas até aqui. Além disso, marcou 15 gols e sofreu cinco.

Tudo sobre

BrasileirãoFutebol NacionalSantosSérie B

Liverpool have been plugging away under Arne Slot’s management in recent weeks, looking to recover their title-winning form from last season.

And while the Reds have made a measure of progress after that abject Anfield defeat against PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League, winning at West Ham before recovering to seal a draw against Sunderland, much more is needed.

Despite a summer of heavy spending, it’s clear that there are gaping holes in Slot’s squad, with the backline beyond fragile and the motley group of elite forwards lacking synergy and understanding.

Sporting director Richard Hughes will be rolling up his sleeves as the January transfer window inches closer.

Liverpool's winter transfer plans

Without a doubt, Marc Guehi and Antoine Semenyo’s names have been touted at the highest frequency this season, and it’s understood that Semenyo could be at the very top of the list after FSG decided against directly replacing Luis Diaz in August.

However, Semenyo’s £65m price tag and the growing interest from Premier League rivals such as Manchester City and Tottenham Hotspur suggests FSG would be wise to keep their book of options open.

And they have. According to Spanish sources, Barcelona have been left disgruntled in their bid to sign Yan Diomande from RB Leipzig following rising interest from Liverpool and Spurs.

Leipzig value the 19-year-old winger at €90m (about £78m), and after holding talks with the Bundesliga outfit, Liverpool and Tottenham are primed to make official offers this winter.

Why Liverpool should sign Yan Diomande

Though Cody Gakpo has come under flak for his performances this season, he has still scored four goals and provided three assists across 12 Premier League starts.

Semenyo would jockey with the Dutchman for a place on the left flank, but signing Diomande might actually be the more providential move for Liverpool as a whole, bringing back Diaz’s electric pace and energy while establishing a duality of option that could see both players thrive.

And anyway, Diomande might be a work in progress at the moment, but the teenager has the potential to become a superstar, with coach Harry Brook calling him an “explosive and well-rounded athlete” who will soon be “worth £100m plus”.

Antoine Semenyo vs Yan Diomande (past 12 months)

Stats (per 90)

Semenyo

Diomande

Goals scored

0.36

0.36

Assists

0.20

0.21

Shots taken

2.73

2.08

Shot-creating actions

3.57

5.23

Touches (att pen)

4.87

7.16

Pass completion (%)

72.9

81.2

Progressive passes

3.48

3.44

Progressive carries

3.79

6.66

Successful take-ons

1.78

4.01

Ball recoveries

4.46

6.01

Tackles + interceptions

1.87

2.72

Data via FBref

Semenyo might be one of the Premier League’s most dangerous wide forwards, but the data certainly suggests that Diomande has what it takes to supersede him in the power rankings, should he move to Liverpool in 2026.

Already, he is more active and incisive across ball-carrying and -playing metrics, and in the Bundesliga this term, the two-sided winger has notched three goals and two assists from only eight starts, averaging 2.8 dribbles and winning 4.2 duels per fixture (as per Sofascore).

The Ghana international has been in red-hot form in the Premier League this season and he’s a big-game player besides, but he has gone more than two months without a goal contribution and there’s a compelling case to be made that Diomande could grow into a greater player.

Slot needs to consider the balance and fluency of his outfit as a whole, and this could be a deal to enhance that and then some, allowing the likes of Gakpo to continue to earn opportunities while adding depth and, more importantly, elite quality.

That is not to discredit Semenyo’s talent. The Cherries star is a fantastic, Prem-proven forward. It merely underlines the calibre of player Diomande may well become.

Related The new Trent: Liverpool shortlist "one of the best players in the world"

Liverpool have not replaced their iconic full-back’s presence down the right channel.

Posts ByAngus Sinclair 6 days ago

Tottenham Hotspur centre-forward Richarlison added to his impressive Premier League season so far with a goal against Brentford on Saturday.

The Brazilian marksman scored his sixth league goal of the campaign, in his ninth start, by tapping the ball into an empty net from Xavi Simons’ ball to the back post.

Richarlison, signed from Everton for £60m in 2022, is starting to show that he can be relied upon in the final third, but the same cannot be said of Randal Kolo Muani.

Spurs eyeing new move for striker target

Now, the club are reportedly looking at a deal for another number nine who could come in as an instant upgrade on the PSG loanee next month.

Transfer Focus

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

According to Football Insider, Tottenham Hotspur are readying a new move to sign Crystal Palace centre-forward Jean-Philippe Mateta in the January transfer window.

The report claims that the Lilywhites are looking to take advantage of his stalling contract talks with the Eagles to swoop for him ahead of the second half of the season.

It adds that Spurs made a “cheeky” offer to sign the France international to bolster their squad in the summer, and now they are lining up another attempt to bring him to North London.

Football Insider reveals that his contract discussions with Palace have reached a deadlock, which has opened the door for Thomas Frank and Fabio Paratici to swoop.

Why Spurs should sign Mateta

Spurs should push to sign Mateta from the Eagles because he would come in as an upgrade on Kolo Muani, who has been disappointing this season.

The Lilywhites signed the France international on a season-long loan from Paris Saint-Germain in the summer transfer window, with no option or obligation to buy included.

Tottenham may be glad that they did not include an obligation to make the deal permanent because his form in the Premier League so far this season has not been good enough.

Kolo Muani has scored no goals, missed three ‘big chances’, and failed to assist any goals in eight appearances and six starts in the top-flight, per Sofascore, for Spurs, which shows that he has not offered enough in the final third.

Meanwhile, Mateta has scored nine goals in all competitions for Crystal Palace, per Sofascore, including a return of seven goals in 14 outings in the Premier League.

As well as offering more of a threat in front of goal than Kolo Muani, his international teammate also offers more to the team as a physical presence in the centre-forward position.

Appearances

15

8

Shots on target per game

1.5

0.1

Goals

7

0

Assists

0

0

Ground duel success rate

41%

34%

Aerial duel success rate

40%

37%

Duels won per game

4.1

3.2

As you can see in the table above, Mateta is better in his physical duels, holding the ball up for the team and scrapping to keep possession, whilst also being a superior goalscorer.

Journalist Rory Smith said the striker is “like original Ronaldo” last year, as he started tucking in his shirt to give himself the classic centre-forward look, which is still the case in the present day, and his goalscoring record backs up such a comparison.

The 28-year-old marksman scored 17 goals in all competitions in the 2024/25 campaign and 19 goals in the 2023/24 season, per Sofascore, proving why, in the words of Como scout Ben Mattinson, he is “one of the best strikers in the Premier League.”

He is a prolific scorer, like the legendary Brazilian who scored 318 club career goals (Transfermarkt), who rocks the classic tucked-in shirt with style and substance, which could make him a real fan favourite in North London.

With Kolo Muani struggling for form in the Premier League and due to return to PSG at the end of the season, signing a proven Premier League star in the prime of his career could be a brilliant move by Paratici to provide Richarlison with competition in the number nine position.

So, if a January deal is viable, Spurs should push to get a deal done for the French powerhouse, who has the quality to be a difference-maker with the goal threat that he can offer in the second half of the season and beyond.

Spurs star now a doubt for Prague after limping out of the stadium on Saturday

Spurs have been handed an injury blow.

ByMatt Dawson 5 days ago

Steven Smith will enter the Ashes averaging more than 100 for the summer, after his half-century couldn’t save New South Wales from a 300-run Sheffield Shield defeat to Victoria who made it four wins from four.On a dramatic third day at the SCG where both Josh Hazlewood and Sean Abbott left the ground for hamstring scans, NSW were all out for 125 chasing 425 for victory.Related

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Hazlewood has since been cleared for the first Test but Abbott is out of contention, with their issues just nine days out from Ashes opener in Perth overshadowing NSW’s woes.But by the end of Wednesday, NSW had still been convincingly beaten inside three days, after being bowled out twice in a combined 89.3 overs for the match.Sam Elliott picked up three wickets for Victoria to go with his maiden five-wicket haul in the first innings, while Fergus O’Neill bowled well for his 2 for 22.But what can’t be denied is the form Smith will enter next week’s first Test in, as he prepares to captain Australia in the absence of the injured Pat Cummins.Smith’s unbeaten 56 on Wednesday means he now has scores of 118, 57 and 56 not out to start the summer for NSW after returning from an extended holiday in America.While he flourished with the drive in the first innings on Tuesday, the bulk of his runs came square of the wicket and behind it as he played a lone hand on Wednesday.There was still one big six down the ground off Todd Murphy, when he lifted the fingerspinner over long off.But while Smith again looked in good shape, Sam Konstas’s 27 in the fourth innings made him the only other NSW batter to pass 20 in the match. On a pitch with plenty of variable bounce, six batters were either bowled or trapped lbwEarlier, Abbott took three wickets in six balls before suffering his injury at the end of a five-over spell. The seamer bowled Todd Murphy and Peter Handscomb in the same over, before Oliver Peake edged a ball back onto his own stumps in Abbott’s next over.Hazlewood also had Sam Harper caught on the pull shot, before reporting some tightness to Smith and leaving the field for scans.”Coming into this game, we knew it was going to be a big challenge,” Victoria coach Chris Rogers said.  “It’s almost one of those games where you’re playing against a bit of a superstar team. If you lose, that’s okay. It could be a good health check to see where you are.”But to come out and play with such a dominant performance, I think it gives our changing room such a lift.”

Playing for England wasn’t always a goal but she soon realised “pace, swing and bounce” were her true calling

S Sudarshanan09-Oct-2025For Lauren Bell, cricket just happened. Naturally athletic and competitive, she dabbled in multiple sports for the fun of it while growing up. A lot of football and a little bit of cricket. Playing for England wasn’t always a goal. It just happened.”If you asked probably like 7-8-year-old Lauren, she would be in a full football kit running around with the shin pads on,” Bell tells ESPNcricinfo in Guwahati. “My grandad always brought us Manchester United kits and I was always in the garden doing football. Like kids spend their time doing different things, what I found fun was playing sports.”Bell played for Reading FC from when she was eight. She also played cricket at the time, and her parents took her to training for both sports. It was in 2017, after the second edition of the Kia Super League (KSL), that Southern Vipers offered 16-year-old Bell a contract for their winter training programme and to then play for them in the summer. Training was on Saturday mornings, the same time as her football games.”My parents were like, you need to choose because we can’t physically get to these two places,” Bell says. “That was when I made the decision that I’ll follow cricket. I haven’t played football since, which is a bit sad, but I’ve not really looked back since then.”Related

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Bell is about six feet tall, nicknamed ‘The Shard’. She bowls at good pace and has a mean inswinger. However, she used to lose her footing and fall to her left during her bowling action, which gave her a bit of back pain. Last year, she worked hard to remodel her action, and she can now swing the ball both ways.”I don’t think I was really aware that being this tall is a massive advantage for me,” Bell says. “When I was a kid, I was so much taller than everyone. So obviously as a fast bowler, that’s going to bring its advantages. But I never thought, ‘oh, I’m tall, I’m going to do this’. It just all fell into place.”As I became a professional, I actually started to learn my craft. Before then, you worked on your talent and you’ve already been coached, but you don’t learn about the intricacies of fast bowling and bowling action. Only since I’ve started learning about my skill set and I guess the intricacies of my action, have I learned that obviously my height and the balance I can get in the extra bounce and how I play differently to other seamers. It’s obviously a big advantage for me or it makes me different to other girls and fast bowlers in the game.”Once she understood the advantage her height gave her, she worked hard on improving her speed and controlling swing.”I take the new ball and swinging the ball is a big skill of mine and one of my biggest advantages,” Bell says. “My coaches and I always talk about the three massive things – pace, bounce and movement. If you’ve got them, then you’re going to be a really hard bowler to face. With my height, I can get bounce and if I keep working on my strength, I can increase my pace. I’ve got the ability to swing the ball and hopefully I’ll keep progressing to moving the ball both ways. Swing, pace and bounce is probably where I’m most threatening.”Lauren Bell: ‘Swing, pace and bounce is probably where I’m most threatening’•Getty ImagesIt is not just her bowling that differentiates Bell from most other cricketers. She likes to make a statement with her hairstyle, which has inspired many young players to wear their hair in plaits like she does, and wants to see women cricketers embrace their “girly” side.”I’ve always liked doing my hair,” Bell says. “I remember vividly when I first played with plaits in my hair. I played in a [T20] World Cup with plaits and then played in the Hundred in England and I was meeting these girls and they were obviously there for the cricket. But so many of them had matching hair, like they had their hair in plaits. I was meeting the mums, who were like, ‘I have to do this hairstyle for my daughter every day now’. Stuff like that is part of the reason that I love playing and having the platform to inspire these young girls.”I want cricket to be seen as cool and mainstream, and you can be girly and do your hair and wear whatever you like and play cricket. You don’t have to be like a certain type of personnel. When I was growing up, it was like a boy sport, which has changed over time. This is one thing that I’m passionate about and I care about, and doesn’t affect my cricket in any way. If anything, it reaches an audience that someone else might not reach.”Bell is a graduate in sociology and criminology. She completed her degree before her England debut but worked on her dissertation while being involved in the Women’s Ashes and the 2022 ODI World Cup as a standby.”When I was at school, my parents were really keen for me to go to Bradfield College and do really well at my A levels and study really hard,” she says. “I always wanted to do whatever my sister did and she went to uni, so that was always going to happen. My A levels were good and then I went to Loughborough.”I chose Loughborough with the cricket in mind as well because it made training easier. But when I started at Loughborough, I wasn’t a professional cricketer. I wanted to just study something I enjoyed. I didn’t know what I wanted to do, but after uni, if I wasn’t a cricketer, I just wanted to study something that I thought I enjoyed.”

“I want cricket to be seen as cool and mainstream, and you can be girly and do your hair and wear whatever you like and play cricket.”Lauren Bell

With Covid-19 impacting cricket in 2020 and 2021, her first two years at university were relatively easier, in that she did not have to juggle cricket and course work. But her third year was a challenge, when she was picked for England A’s tour of Australia just before the Women’s Ashes.”It was hard, especially on tour when you’re touring such amazing countries like New Zealand and you have a dissertation to write. It’s tricky to turn down the social part and the exploring. It was the first time I’d been to Australia and New Zealand. So you want to obviously see it, but I also knew that I needed to get this dissertation written and I needed to study and keep up with my lectures. Because of Covid, everything was online and I managed to get through. I had a lot of support and few extensions on deadlines. I’m glad I did it and graduated, but it was tricky.”Since her debut in July 2022, no England fast bowler has taken more wickets in women’s ODIs than Bell’s 40. Kate Cross was close with 39 but she was left out of the World Cup squad, elevating Bell as the leader of the pace attack. In England’s first two games at the 2025 World Cup, Bell took 1 for 24 in four overs against South Africa and 1 for 28 in seven overs against Bangladesh, on slightly sticky surfaces in Guwahati.”It is responsibility; it’s how I really thrive,” she says. “When Heather [Knight] was captain and now Nat [Sciver-Brunt] is the captain, I think the more responsibility I’m given and the more clarity I have on the importance of my role, the more I thrive. I really enjoy taking those opportunities, being the bowler to make an impact or leading the seam attack. It gets the best out of me. I really enjoy it and every time I get a chance to do it, it’s great.”As England travel to Colombo to play Sri Lanka on what could be a slow surface, the once-football-crazy Bell will have another opportunity to show off her new-ball skills. England will hope that just happens.