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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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• Young ones to watch: Kranti Goud, Georgia Voll and Lauren Bell prepare to light up World Cup

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.

Can England’s gamblers shelve their instincts to survive the cut and thrust of crucial pink-ball contest?

Vithushan Ehantharajah03-Dec-20250:54

Clarke: Australia going to a venue where they play well

On Wednesday, at around 4pm Brisbane time, the Gabba was emptied by a fire alarm.Australia had already left following their final training session, and England were yet to arrive for their last practice under lights. The only evacuees were journalists and stadium staff.It felt like a moment for all to take stock. Because, in 24 hours’ time, this ground will be filled to the brim. And by the end of the first day-night session of the second Ashes Test, the state of the series could have already changed immeasurably.Pink-ball Test cricket tends to move quickly and undulate wildly. And for an England team who do both themselves, this may be a heady mix. A cocktail, no doubt, but will it prove to be a Negroni or a Molotov?The occasion has not been lost on the players, or indeed the state of Queensland. Police have been out and about pulling over helmet-less e-Scooter riders after Ben Stokes and a handful of England teammates were papped whizzing through Brisbane’s CBD without them. Stokes was even asked to apologise to Queenslanders for the crime in his press conference. He decided against it. As trivial an offence as it was, now is not the time to be sorry. No time for regrets.The reception England will receive tomorrow will be unlike any this team have heard before. Nearby pubs have primed themselves for an influx of punters priming themselves for a 2pm start. Not that the Gabba needs more of a run-up to dive into an Ashes Test. This is the most febrile of venues at the best of times when the English are in town, and they have the receipts to prove it.Stokes has insisted history holds no fear for them. But nor does it instinctively contain breadcrumbs to success, even if Australia’s sole pink-ball defeat came at this venue last year, against West Indies. “You don’t try and read into too much around what happened in a result the last time a team played there,” Stokes said, very much in business mode.The scrum before the storm: Ben Stokes speaks to the media at the Gabba•David Gray/AFP/Getty Images”We have grounds in England where you know you turn up there and have that extra boost of confidence because of, not necessarily your record there, but how the crowds are. We’ve got Edgbaston and Headingley – I feel like the Gabba is sort of like their Edgbaston or Headingley to Australia.”In truth, Birmingham and Leeds – for all their merits as home-Test strongholds – do not come close to Brisbane. The signage is everywhere, the sentiment skewed towards taking British pounds on their way to breaking English hearts. The air is thick enough to chew, the heat harsh enough to, well, ride an e-scooter without a helmet. The locals … well, England will get the full brunt of that over the coming days. You can understand why no England side has won here since 1986. The odds are in favour of an Australia triumph again, and a 2-0 scoreline will more or less confirm a fourth Ashes victory on home soil.To keep this alive, to make this all worthwhile, Stokes’ England – for all their parking of history – will have to at least mimic aspects of the last time England left this venue with their tails up.It might only have been a draw in 2010-11’s series opener. But the manner in which it was achieved was as bombastic as English cricket used to get. Facing a first innings deficit of 221, Andrew Strauss’s England side – arguably the greatest to win in Australia – put on 517 for 1 to kill the game but keep alive their Ashes hopes.They arrived on that final day at 310 for 1, leading by 89. But the most telling statistic was the crowd; a 42,000-seater with only 7,088 taken. Most of them were English. No fire alarm this time. The message was clear – Australia did not believe. If England did not already know they were onto something going into that final day, they did when they turned up and saw that lack of home faith.That may end up being the most telling marker over the coming days – local disinterest. Since 2022, Stokes has implored his players to err on the side of entertainment. Now, they must be no things to no men or women with Southern Crosses in their hearts.Related

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There will be periods with the pink ball when they must hold firm, whether batting against the new ball, or under lights, or when bowling with the old ball, with the sun still out. They must shield from the danger, not run towards it. Should their opponents attack, they would do well not to respond with equal and opposite force, even if Sir Isaac Newton would not improve.How ironic it is that Bazball comes down to this. As close to a crapshoot you get in Test cricket, against a side whose pink-ball record suggests the dice are loaded in their favour. And one that, by and large, they will have to play safe. Their head coach Brendon McCullum often refers to himself as a gambler, one always willing to twist. Sticking might be the order of this Test. It might be the order of the series.As night fell on Wednesday, the whole team were out in the middle of the Gabba fielding under lights, getting used to the pink ball and taking in the scale of colosseum which could be the site of their rebirth in their series.Spirits are high, belief remains broadly undimmed despite the humiliating defeat in the first Test. As they walked off the field on Wednesday, they embraced their coaches, who were passing the time bowling to one another if they weren’t hitting catches.One by one they filed down the tunnel, taking in the boombox that, for the last few days, has been scoring all their preparation, as has been the case for the last three years. Tomorrow, they will be greeted by much harsher tones, and forced to confront the reality that this could be the start of the end of it all. Or it could be the start of another chance to keep this merry ride going one more time around the block.

عاد الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي الزمالك إلى القاهرة بعد الانتهاء من مواجهته أمام كايزر تشيفز الجنوب إفريقي في إطار منافسات بطولة كأس الكونفدرالية الأفريقية.

وحسم التعادل الإيجابي بهدف لكل فريق نتيجة لقاء الزمالك وكايزر تشيفز، الذي أُقيم يوم السبت الماضي على ستاد بيتر موكابا ضمن الجولة الثانية من دور المجموعات.

ويقع الزمالك في مجموعة تضم كلًا من: كايزر تشيفز الجنوب إفريقي – المصري البورسعيدي – زيسكو يونايتد الزامبي.

طالع أيضًا | يانيك فيريرا يكشف كواليس مثيرة بشأن رحيله عن الزمالك: عرضت أموالًا على اللاعبين.. وتم طردي

وكانت البعثة قد مكثت في مطار جوهانسبرج ترانزيت لمدة 4 ساعات، بعد مغادرتها لمدينة بولوكواني، قبل أن تستقل طائرة العودة إلى مطار القاهرة الدولي.

ومن جانبه، قرر أحمد عبد الرؤوف، المدير الفني للفريق الأول بنادي الزمالك، منح اللاعبين راحة لمدة يومين بعد العودة إلى القاهرة، قبل استئناف برنامج الإعداد.

ومن المقرر أن يستأنف الفريق تدريباته يوم الخميس المُقبل على ملعب الكلية الحربية، استعدادًا لمواجهة كهرباء الإسماعيلية يوم 9 ديسمبر الجاري في بطولة كأس عاصمة مصر.

Favourites prove too strong despite spinners giving Warwickshire hope

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay27-Jul-2025

Grace Harris made an unbeaten 63 off 33 balls•ECB via Getty Images

Grace Harris’s sparkling 63 not out from 33 balls led Surrey to a five-wicket win over the Bears as they became the inaugural Vitality Blast Women’s champions in front of their home fans at the Kia Oval.The Australian all-rounder grabbed hold of a final which needed a heroine, striking two sixes and seven fours to steer the home side to victory. Fittingly, Southwark-born Kira Chathli, who watched her heroes here as a child, made the winning hit with 20 balls to spare. Amu Surenkumar and Em Arlott took two wickets apiece.Earlier, The Bears struggled to build partnerships with player of the match from the semi-final Issy Wong top scoring with 31 and Laura Harris Sister of Grace a typically ferocious 25 from 11. Phoebe Franklin was the pick of the Surrey attack with 2-16, while two superb runouts helped to further restrict the Bears.Meg Austin caressed the first ball of the innings for four only for Alexa Stonehouse to bowl her with an in-swinger.Davina Perrin’s miserable day with the bat was completed when Capsey castled her for nought and it was hero of the eliminator Issy Wong who gave the powerplay momentum with four boundaries and a five from an overthrow.Stonehouse ended her fun with another ball that hit the stumps and Sterre Kalis was run out by a magnificent throw from the deep by Ryana MacDonald-Gay.Natasha Wraith played nicely for 23 but she and Surenkumar fell in the space of four balls, the latter to a lightning quick stumping by Kira Chathli off Franklin.Laura Harris, was dropped early on and went on the offensive, twice clearing the ropes. Three other boundaries took the Australian to 25, but going for another big hit off Dani Gregory she found the hands of Franklin in the deep.Franklin removed the dangerous Emily Arlott too, but Millie Taylor (20 not out) marshalled the tail, leaving Surrey 154 for the title.Surrey’s chase suffered an early setback when Danni Wyatt-Hodge, prolific in the competition, lost the chance to be leading run-scorer as she holed out in the deep.Skipper Bryony Smith swept and pulled strongly, but fell to the last ball of the powerplay from Surenkumar and when Wraith whipped off the bails to stump Capsey off Hannah Baker, Surrey were floundering at 42-3.Three Sophia Dunkley boundaries from Millie Taylor’s opening over raised hopes for the side playing on their home ground and the England international hit Baker back over her head for six in the next.That was as good as it got for Dunkley who overbalanced trying to hit Surenkumar over the top, Wraith’s fast hands doing the rest.Grace Harris though took up the baton to play the match-defining innings, driving fours cleanly through cover and mid-off.Emily Arlott was dispatched to the sightscreen for six and swept for four, but Paige Scholfield perished in the deep trying to imitate the shot to give the bears renewed hope.Harris though remained to reach 50 at a strike rate of 200, before clubbing Taylor into the seats at midwicket as Surrey scampered home.

Team-mates BJ Watling and Jimmy Neesham recall their roles in a moment of NZ history

Vithushan Ehantharajah04-Dec-2024The Basin Reserve has a claim to being one of the best grounds in international cricket. But its immediate surroundings might be the most treacherous.Wellington’s topography, exacerbated by its famous earthquake of 1855, means vehicles basically sling-shot around the ground out of Sussex Street into Buckle Street, which wraps around its highest quarter. It is devilish to navigate both on wheels and foot, and at its most nefarious when the ground is closed to the public, as it was on Wednesday when England and New Zealand trained ahead of the second Test, which begins on Friday.But when the cricket is on, and that same public is enticed in while road users are discouraged, it is at its safest. On February 18, 2014, it was a haven.Related

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The foyer of the Cricket Wellington building at the entrance to the ground houses a basic collage of that day: wooden frame, photos, cutouts, captions and headlines like “The game that stopped a nation”. Fitting for day when the traffic was non-existent, but low-key for New Zealand’s first Test triple century – one that had spectators queueing right around the ground, dominating the roads outright.This year marks a decade since England’s Test head coach Brendon McCullum became the first Black Cap to breach three hundred. All of his numbers are remarkable in their own right; 302 runs off 559 balls, and 775 minutes spent at the crease. He arrived when New Zealand were 52 for 3 in their second innings, after India had posted 438 to take a 246-run lead. They would emerge 242 ahead, eventually into a draw for a memorable series victory (McCullum had helped win the first Test with 224). As captain, no less.

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“Is it bad that I remember him getting dropped by Virat?” Jimmy Neesham recalls to ESPNcricinfo.On nine (from 32 deliveries), McCullum mis-timed a drive that was shelled by Virat Kohli at short mid-on. That would have made it 78 for 4, and an epic would have been terminated before conception. “And then I had the pads on for a day and a half.”Neesham, on debut, was carded at No. 8. And when Tom Latham and Corey Anderson fell either side of lunch, he was ready to go for his second innings. Then came an eight-and-a-half-hour wait as the next man in. For that, he has BJ Watling to thank.Watling, after a duck in the first innings, and 1 and 11 in the first Test, offered McCullum invaluable resistance. The pair shared 741 deliveries, eventually putting on 352. At the time it was a record for the sixth wicket.”The situation was really quite simple,” says Watling, with the matter-of-fact attitude that helps to explain how he was able to better it with a stand of 365 with Kane Williamson at the same ground a year later.”It was just a chance to dig in and ultimately see where that ends up. The fact that Baz kept going and going as well, you start to gain that confidence. You’re literally just going through each ball over time, each over, each session and seeing what unfolds.”When Watling arrived at the crease at 94 for 5 – India still 152 ahead – McCullum had already faced 72 deliveries for 19. He had also taken enough painkillers to down a rhino.McCullum greets fans at the Basin Reserve after his triple-century•AFPThe creaking back – it had been for some time – and a dodgy knee were now accompanied by a dicky left shoulder.”I think there might have been a hamstring strain, you know,” says Watling. “From Eden Park (first Test), chasing one of those balls to the boundary and flying over the rope, as Baz does. He certainly had a few niggles going on, but he certainly wasn’t one to make you terribly aware of it.”There was no tell of any impediment to McCullum. He ticked deliveries over, starting day three’s evening session on 44 from 138 deliveries. he was on 72 from 177 when the new ball arrived, and moved to his first hundred – sealed with a straight six off Ishant Sharma – just 20 deliveries later.The following day – New Zealand effectively resuming on 6 for 5 – McCullum and Watling kept at it, wearing maidens, striking the odd boundary, before somehow dealing in singles – and even the odd three. Watling eventually moved to his third Test century.”I made a slight adjustment for that Test match and bringing back a little pre-movement shuffle, to counter the bounce of Sharma,” he recalls. “I definitely wasn’t feeling comfortable.”But Baz’s nature is to play that attacking brand. He went up and down in tempo throughout. And the way he strikes it, the second new ball gets blunted, which allows us in 15 overs’ time to not having it swinging, bouncing or nipping as much. That makes my life easier.”If McCullum’s approach out in the middle belied the gravity and pressure of the situation, which he was slowly easing, so did the manner in which he carried himself at the intervals. In contrast to Watling.

“Coming in that day, everyone was there at 9am, lines out all around. I certainly haven’t seen that in my time. I’d hate to know the pressure Baz was under.”BJ Watling recalls the buzz around the Basin on the morning of the triple

“We’d come in at tea and lunch and, well, Baz ate a lot, but I certainly didn’t. I’d have a coffee and try and switch off before heading back out there. I’d have a little bit when keeping, but not much if I was going to be batting. Not great, I know – the nutritionist would have a heart attack.”One man who did not have that problem was Neesham: “I’ve never struggled eating. I think if you put me and BJ next to each other, you can probably guess which one doesn’t eat. I had a couple of ham-and-cheese toasties and whatnot up there.”Even though he hadn’t yet made it out to the middle, Neesham was still burning energy. “At the Basin, you have to go along underneath the stand and up through the staircase to the viewing area.”I’m trying to think how many times I must’ve made that walk, because you go downstairs to go to the toilet or whatever, and in sessions you go back down to the change-room and have tea or have lunch and go back up again. So I must’ve gone up and down those stairs about 15 times, with my pads on.”There was a fair bit of nervous energy as well. McCullum and Watling were easing Kiwi nerves with their stand, but Neesham remained on edge.”You don’t enjoy it when you’re next, and I don’t think there’s any batter in world cricket that would say that they enjoy being next in. I think it’s the worst situation in cricket. Imagine having that for a hundred (123) overs?!”Neesham’s anxiety has undimmed over time, it seems, especially when recalling the match situation when he arrived to the crease upon Watling’s dismissal for 124, after tea on day four.”We were about fifty or a hundred behind, so still a bit of work to do.” New Zealand were actually 200 in front. “Were we?” Yes. “Didn’t have any work to do then!”

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And so we come to February 18, 2014. McCullum resumed on 281, and a ground that had been predominantly Indian on day three was now far more skewed towards the Black Caps.”The Basin is a beautiful place to play on a good day,” says Watling. “Coming in that day, everyone was there at 9am, lines out all around. I certainly haven’t seen that in my time. I’d hate to know the pressure Baz was under.”New Zealand’s previous highest Test score was an agonising 299 by Martin Crowe, against Sri Lanka at the same ground 23 years earlier, and Neesham, on 67 not out at the start of that final day, had gauged the interest overnight. “It had become an event in New Zealand. Baz getting to 300 had sort of gone beyond cricket.” Fans of all ages wanted to be a part of it. A 14-year-old Rachin Ravindra was one of the lucky school kids to make it through the turnstiles.By that morning, McCullum was exhausted. Even his kit was starting to wear out.”He had this dumb superstition that he wouldn’t change his grip while he was batting,” says Neesham. “So there’s holes in his grip where it’s split where his fingers are. And he is just taping up these holes, so his bat grip is just cooked. God knows why he didn’t change it.”His old man (Stuart) was in Wellington, too, so they were having a couple of beers each night after the day’s play. And he probably wasn’t getting as much REM sleep as he should have been.”BJ Watling’s third Test hundred, against India in Wellington, was the longest innings by a New Zealand wicketkeeper•Getty ImagesBy the time play had resumed, there were still people lining up along the road to get in. Many were still trying when, midway through the eighth over, McCullum edged Ishant just short of MS Dhoni.”The hush,” starts Neesham, “I still remember that. That was when people realised that he’s not definitely going to get there. It was a celebration of him, that day, of him getting to 300… and then people realised like ‘oh, he actually has to score the runs’.”He did, an over after Neesham reached his maiden Test century: “I could sit back and watch …”Zaheer Khan offered width, McCullum opened the face with a flourish for a 36th and final boundary, and up to 302 he went.McCullum jogged to the other end, raising his arms before taking his helmet off and saluting all corners. There was no real emotion, no tear in the eye. Not even from father Stu, even as he beamed with pride and applauded. He was out two balls later.”It was pretty cool,” says Neesham, 137 not out in the end, and with a front row seat to history. “Pretty cool for your first Test experience.”New Zealand declared on 680 for 8, leaving a nominal target of 435. India ended up hanging on, with Kohli nabbing a consolation century after being given not out on 15, despite an edge to the keeper that would have made it 31 for 3.”The home changing-rooms are really big and you’ve got your own space, and so a great place to sit down after a Test match and reflect,” says Watling. “And there’s a lot of history at the ground, too, and Baz was now part of it. But he didn’t make too much of a fuss about it to be honest. The team had beaten India in a Test series, and that was the biggest celebration in the sheds that night.”Also, I don’t think he could really register what he had just done.”

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Perhaps one of the most telling quotes in the immediate aftermath of McCullum’s 302 came from the man himself: “I feel a little bit embarrassed because I’m not anywhere near the calibre of players that those two in particular are.”Crowe and Stephen Fleming were, in McCullum’s eyes, the top two of New Zealand cricket. They were the ones who were truly worthy of such an honour.There is an element of self-recognition at play there, and foresight. McCullum remains a outlier in New Zealand sport. One of their own, yet belonging to everyone else – to India in perpetuity for his impact on the IPL, and now to England.”You certainly cherish those times with Baz, as a player,” Watling says. “And it looks like England are benefitting from that right now.”He is a maverick who grabbed headlines, yet is still regarded by many as the establishment, particularly after the captaincy farrago involving Ross Taylor in 2012. A certified renegade who now occupies a quiet hinterland in the sporting conscience.”It’s interesting,” says Neesham, when asked about McCullum and validation with his 302. “Is Jayson Tatum a better basketballer than Luka Doncic because he’s won a championship?”There’s talk of it in the current era. But in New Zealand cricket, there’s only a few guys that’ll carry a legacy post-playing. And Baz is one of them.”With time, humility dilutes and perspective improves. And it is not about McCullum needing to be great to have a triple-century. Quite the opposite.Of all the batting accolades he possesses, including the fastest Test century in his final match, this is the one that grants greatness. Breaking new ground for his country, showing the world he could produce something that echoed throughout history, and setting himself apart from those he deems more worthy.And for one day, bringing a country still split on his legend together on a roundabout in Wellington.

Manchester United are now reportedly racing Arsenal to sign Serhou Guirassy from Borussia Dortmund amid rumours that he has a release clause worth just £45m for selected clubs.

The Reds Devils successfully overhauled their frontline last summer, but could now be aiming to add that extra bit of quality now that Ruben Amorim’s side have found form. Before the international break, they stretched their unbeaten run to five games and will be desperate to continue that run when they play host to David Moyes and Everton on Monday night.

Despite their cost-cutting measures elsewhere, INEOS have shown a willingness to spend big on improving Amorim’s side and 2026 is unlikely to be any different. Those at Old Trafford are already reportedly eyeing a move to sign Elliot Anderson from Nottingham Forest and after his recent rise, no one’s doubting that he’d be an excellent addition.

England manager Thomas Tuchel has also been full of praise for the Man United target during the November international break, telling reporters: “Anderson is a key player for us at the moment. He is one of the best midfielders in the Premier League – that’s why he is with us and starting for us.

“He deserves it because he has been nothing but impressive. He has to keep on going now though. He is a very complete and mobile midfielder, and that’s what he keeps showing me.”

It would be an incredibly positive sign if United managed to welcome such a promising player next year, before then potentially shifting their focus towards signing yet another attacker. Having already welcomed Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig and the Bundesliga last year, reports are claiming that INEOS could be heading back to Germany.

Man Utd racing to sign Guirassy

As reported by Caught Offside, Man United are now racing to sign Guirassy from Borussia Dortmund alongside PSG and Premier League rivals Arsenal. The forward has been a late bloomer, but is now one of Europe’s most clinical strikers. And with reports claiming that his release clause is worth just €50m (£45m) to a selection of clubs, the Red Devils should go all out.

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Although Sesko is very much the future of United’s attack, Guirassy could quickly ease the pressure on the forward’s shoulders in 2026. The 29-year-old could guarantee Amorim goals in the here and now, with five to his name already in the Bundesliga this season.

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Just how stubborn Dortmund will be amid interest in Guirassy is the question. Former German international went as far as to dub the forward one of the “most complete” he’s ever seen in incredibly high praise. For Dortmund to lose that would be a major blow, but as January approaches their star man could be one to watch.

Man Utd now considering January Antoine Semenyo move as release clause emerges

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 cleared of injury, Abbott out of first Test after hamstring scans

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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.”

Standing at 2.08m tall, the fast bowler delivered a stinging blow to India in the Guwahati Test

Firdose Moonda24-Nov-20255:17

Best Test allrounders: Jadeja, Stokes, and… Jansen?

We all know the image that best represents the long and the short of South African cricket because we see it every time Marco Jansen and Temba Bavuma get together on the field. Turns out it’s Jansen who carried all the height envy, not the other way around.Okay, not quite, but now that you’re interested, hear him out about why he wishes he could shave a bit off his 2.08 metres, especially when he is playing in India.”I’ve always struggled bowling in India, whether it was white ball or red ball,” Jansen said at the post-day press conference, “And I’m still jealous of people that get the ball to squat and nip back. Yesterday was a perfect example. (I bowled a ball) that went over off stump because I’m so tall. For a different bowler, like KG [Kagiso Rabada] that’s hitting top of off, so I’ve always been jealous of those people where they’re a bit shorter than me.”The delivery Jansen referred to came late on day two of the Guwahati Test, at the end of his second over. He pitched the ball on a length. It seamed back in to KL Rahul. He left it. And it sailed over the top of the sticks. Rahul judged it well but Jansen was frustrated, knowing he had come close to bowling the India opener.Related

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A tall fast bowler can often find it difficult to keep the stumps in play. But there is a flip side to it. A broadcast graphic showed that Jansen’s short ball pitched almost a metre closer to the batter than Mohammed Siraj’s and still generated disconcerting bounce.Going short wasn’t the plan when the day began. South Africa’s initial breakthrough came when the spinners operated in tandem for 17 overs in the morning session. Keshav Maharaj had Rahul caught at slip to break a 65-run opening stand while Simon Harmer was at the other end. Jansen then replaced Maharaj and the short-ball barrage started because South Africa thought they were “just going to try it.” He bowled six in a row in his first over as a sign of what was to come.In the next over, Jansen took the catch at backward point that dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal and gave Harmer his first wicket. Harmer also got the next one, when Sai Sudharsan was caught at midwicket. Jansen felt that was key. “The spinners did a great job and then I was lucky to capitalise,” he told the broadcasters.3:51

‘SA might set 470 target and keep 120 overs’

Jansen had Dhruv Jurel caught on the pull in the 36th over and that set the tone for how he was going to bowl for the rest of the innings. “When I got my first wicket with the bouncer, we said ‘okay cool, let’s see how long this is going to work.'”It worked for the rest of that spell as Rishabh Pant, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Ravindra Jadeja were all out to the short ball sending Jansen on his way to pick up 6 for 48. Still, he didn’t think this performance has exposed a particular weakness in India’s batting. “Nitish Kumar Reddy. I’ve played with him at Sunrisers and I’ve seen him hit the short ball 50 rows back in IPL so I don’t think it’s a vulnerability thing. I just think it’s the game situation,” Jansen said.He was similarly complimentary about both Jurel and Pant but explained that Test cricket is “just difficult,” because “you have to absorb pressure and then you have to find a way and then you have to put pressure back on.” That is something South Africa have become better at doing over the last two years and were best at on a day like today.

I called the family – my brother, sister, mum, dad, you name it – just to get all those feelings and everything out.Jansen needed a bit of help to recover from being dismissed for 93 in Guwahati

Now as for Jansen’s claim about not bowling well in India before. It’s worth noting that he had only played one red-ball game in the country before these Tests, in 2019 for a South African A side. He bowled 15 overs and took 2 for 59. In ODIs, he has done reasonably well (17 wickets in 10 matches at 29.00), though the blow-out from South Africa’s group stage World Cup match against India in 2023 when he took 1 for 94 in 9.4 overs is clearly still a sore point. In the IPL he has 36 wickets from 35 matches but concedes at 9.40 runs to the over. All told, Jansen has been on nine tours to India, including five IPLs, over the last six years and perhaps the value of experience is starting to show.On this, his 10th trip, he has taken his first five-for in any format in the subcontinent to follow a career-best 93 with the bat. Still, he livid that a first red-ball century had eluded him. “I’ve never been in the 90s before in first-class cricket, never mind flipping Test cricket,” Jansen said.2:19

Philander: ‘Jansen made great use of his height’

Was it nerves, with South Africa nine down at the time, that caused him to hang back in his crease to defend Kuldeep Yadav, whom he had attacked all day, and chop on? Maybe. Maybe not. “I was nervous when I had 20. Definitely nervous. And I was nervous in my 20s, 30s, 40s, 50s, 60s. I was nervous the whole way through,” Jansen said.South Africa’s centurion, Senuran Muthusamy, told him to “just breathe” and “that helped massively,” but the disappointment was writ large on Jansen’s face when he was dismissed. He dealt with it when the team left the ground. “Yesterday, when we went to the hotel, I tried to switch off and blow some steam off. I called the family – my brother, sister, mum, dad, you name it – just to get all those feelings and everything out.”And to make sure he was focused for a big bowling shift. South Africa lost Rabada to injury at the start of the tour and went into this game with only two seamers in the XI. Jansen conceded that losing Rabada was big but “whether KG plays or doesn’t play, I always try to think of myself as someone who can also break the game open for the team,” he said.”I just try to give my best every time I get the opportunity and try to put the team in a winning position. Not having KG there definitely adds a bit of responsibility and pressure on myself and Wessie [Wiaan Mulder]. Nonetheless, we know we have the bowlers, we know we have the players in the squad to help the team.”Those same bowlers will have the job of bowling India out again if South Africa are to win the Test. Jansen suspects it will fall to the three spinners, one of whom – Muthusamy – has not been required at all thus far as the surface deteriorates.”It is a good wicket. There is a bit of pace, there is a bit of bounce and now, the ball is starting to turn a little bit as well. Some of the balls are stopping as well from the spin, so I think the game is going to go more to the spinners side of things,” he said. “I think the pace and the bounce will stay there, but for seamers, in particular, I think we are going to have to make the new ball count. It is still a good wicket. If you bowl well, you will get wickets. If you bat well, you will score runs. You are just going to have to figure out your way of doing it.”South Africa only need a draw in Guwahati to win the series and if they do, it will be their first series win in India since the year 2000.

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Playing his first Border-Gavaskar Trophy, the 22-year old opener is emerging as one of India’s key players

Alagappan Muthu16-Nov-20243:31

Straight Talk: How can Jaiswal succeed in Australia?

There is a pretty cool bunch of people at the top of the list of Indians with the highest strike rates in Test cricket. Only four of the first ten are specialist batters. One of them is Yashasvi Jaiswal.Players at the top of the order in a game that can go on for five days are meant to try and avoid risk. The lists they would rather be on are most runs, or most hundreds, or best averages. And would you look at that, Jaiswal is there too. He is going to be important for India’s chances in Australia. But he has never faced a challenge like this.Five Tests. Away from home. Against a bowling attack that has quality, depth, variety and venom.Related

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In a career that is now little over a year old, Jaiswal has had occasion to taste bits of those separately. He played five Tests against England, but that was at home. He faced seam-friendly pitches and rip-snorting bowling in South Africa, but that was just two Tests. The Border-Gavaskar Trophy will combine the worst of those two events together.India’s training sessions since they landed in Perth earlier this week have been focused on getting their batters used to pace and bounce, to the extent that one of them, KL Rahul, suffered an injury scare, because they know what they are up against. In the last three years, only two countries, where at least two Tests have been played, have been less hospitable for run-scoring than Australia (27.08).And that is fine. Test-match batting is supposed to be difficult, particularly when the red ball still has its shine. It’s on you to stay out there until it gets soft, and then cash in. Except, over the same period, the batting average against the old ball in Australia – assuming it starts to get old after 30 overs of wear and tear – is almost identical to the batting average against the new ball: 27.81 vs 26.64.That may be testament to the discipline of Australia’s bowling attack, and how well they function together. Jaiswal hasn’t really had a chance to face any of them, barring a few balls here and there in the IPL. He is going to have to do a lot of learning on the job, which began in earnest on Tuesday when he joined India A’s net sessions at the WACA, and hit one so hard and so far that the ball ended up on the street outside the ground. It seems he is comfortable that the methods he has been using so far don’t need too much fiddling. There are others who share the same opinion.They stray, he flays: Yashasvi Jaiswal could be key in Australia•Associated Press”He has the ammunition. He has the game to do well in Australia,” former India batter Sanjay Manjrekar said on his ESPNcricinfo’s Straight Talk.Give Jaiswal half a chance to play an attacking shot and he will, whether it’s the first ball of the innings, or the second one in a chase. Put him in front of someone who is approaching 700 wickets or someone else who gets it up to 150kph, it’s all the same. They stray, he flays. That’s why a 22-year-old is shaping up as one of India’s most important players on a tour that is going to be long and tough, and lousy with consequence. Even the Australians know it.”He’s scored runs very quickly, but he hasn’t made a mistake. He hasn’t really given the opposition a chance to be able to get him out,” former allrounder Shane Watson said. This was pre-New Zealand though, when Watson was answering a question about whether India will miss someone who is capable of batting time and absorbing pressure, like Cheteshwar Pujara.”I think if those type of batters come out to Australia and play aggressively – just put the bad balls away and put pressure on the Aussie bowlers – then they can still have the same effect, and they keep the game moving as well.”Yashasvi Jaiswal perhaps has work to do in terms of shot selection when the ball is in an in-between length•AFP/Getty ImagesWith 10 of his 14 Tests have come at home, there has been a pattern to Jaiswal’s run-scoring – 902 have come against spin at an average of 75.16, and the remaining 505 have come against seam at an average of 38.84. He likes to take on short-pitched bowling, which he showed once again in a match simulation setting against India A in Perth. But there is perhaps some work to do in terms of shot selection when the ball is in an in-between length. It accounts for seven of Jaiswal’s 13 dismissals to pace so far, at an average of 18.42, and it happened again at the WACA when he was caught in the slips for 15. But he batted again and scored 58.”In Australia, you have to be to the pitch of the ball [to drive] unless the ball gets older, then you can drive on the up,” Manjrekar said. “But Yashasvi will play the new ball, so [he has to be] be careful when he wants to play that drive because that is one of his favourite shots.”Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat Cummins will be tempting him to make that mistake over and over, again and again. Nathan Lyon won’t let him rest easy either, because even if he bowls the kind of stuff Jaiswal likes, Jaiswal is the kind of batter Lyon likes – a left-hander, against whom he averages 24.20. At every turn, there is an obstacle. At no point can you feel safe. This series, with its relevance, profile and the baseline skill-level it demands from everyone involved, is fire, and Jaiswal will be stepping into it for the first time.He is the kind of batter whose success will breed success for the team because he can upset the opposition’s plans and take their rhythm away. But he is young, and he has never been here before. His success is far from guaranteed, though perhaps his growth is. Jaiswal has a high ceiling, and win, lose or draw, the experience of this Border-Gavaskar Trophy will help him reach it.