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Hosts flounder in pursuit of 164 to finish 88 short – the largest margin of victory in the history of The Hundred

ECB Media17-Aug-2025London Spirit 164 for 6 (Chathli 69, Harris 34, Arlott 3-25) beat Birmingham Phoenix 76 (Lamb 23, Gray 2-13, Dean 2-16) by 88 runsA cracking partnership of 47 from just 21 balls between Spirit’s breakout opener Kira Chathli and the megastar Grace Harris took the game away from Phoenix, who floundered badly in pursuit of 164, losing three wickets inside the first 33 balls to eventually finish 88 short – the largest margin of victory in the history of The Hundred.The result propels Spirit to joint-top of the table with a slightly superior run rate to Southern Brave, and leaves the Phoenix down and virtually out, on just four points from five matches.The hosts will be disappointed with their campaign. Just a single tournament half-century, to Emma Lamb, and little to show for the efforts of their Australian pair, the great Ellyse Perry and the national team’s new star opener, Georgia Voll.Both made single-figure scores here as Phoenix stuttered up top against some disciplined new-ball bowling from Spirit’s left-arm spinner Bex Tyson and the rejuvenated Issy Wong, who yet again burnished her credentials as one of the best young seamers in the English game.Reigning champions Spirit, under Charlie Dean, who bowled beautifully to pick up two wickets including that of England team-mate Amy Jones, are again building at just the right time.Chathli in particular has been a revelation. Her 35-ball 69, containing 13 fours, is her most impressive knock to date in the tournament, while Harris is the heartbeat of their middle order, a woman in the form of her life who’s now plundered 199 tournament runs this term at a ferocious strike rate of 180. Her knock today may have occupied just 15 balls, but she still planted four of them over the rope.They needed it too, after losing Georgia Redmayne and Cordelia Griffith in the powerplay and then Charli Knott soon after, the impressive Phoenix seamer Em Arlott picking up three more wickets to draw level, on 10, with Lauren Bell as the most prolific wicket-taker of the tournament so far.Chathli, named the Meerkat Match Hero, said: “In The Hundred that’s definitely my best performance to date. They bowled really well up top – as did our bowlers as well – but the key is to give yourself a few balls, and after that it got a little easier.”We just focus on what do really well as a team, which is to play positive cricket and there’s no doubt in my mind that every member of our team backs each other to deliver their skill.”

The allrounder hammered the door down for selection with his performance in domestic cricket and the call came in Sydney

Andrew McGlashan02-Jan-2025The early daysBorn in the small Tasmania town of Snug, Webster made his first-class debut in February 2014 at the age of 20, playing three games in the latter part of the season. Two years later he made centuries in back-to-back Sheffield Shield matches batting at No. 3 which propelled him into the Australia A side to face India A in Brisbane where he made 11, 30 and 79 across two matches. But it was a brief stay on the fringes of the national set-up.Related

• Mitchell Marsh dropped, Beau Webster to debut in Sydney

• SCG axe leaves Mitchell Marsh's Test career at crossroads

“I don’t think my defence is the best part of my game, so ultimately I was pretty inconsistent batting in the top order,” he told ESPNcricinfo in an interview in March last year.Opening the batting against New South Wales in 2018, he scored what was then a career-best 136, but at the end of the first part of the 2019-20 his first-class average stood at 26.78 with the bat and 46.19 with the ball.The Covid switchJust a few weeks before the world was shut down in early 2020, Webster had made a run-a-ball 187 against Western Australia. But it was a change of tack with his bowling during the Covid lockdowns that proved to be a major catalyst in his career. Having watch team-mate Jake Doran snag a wicket with his left-arm mediums in the aforementioned WA game, Webster decided to revive his pace bowling which had been shelved by back problems when he was younger.”If we’re going to do it, we’re going to do it properly and start from scratch and get your action sorted,” his coach Adam Griffith told him.It took a little while for pace bowling to bring dividends, but Webster has no doubt about the role it has played in his rise to the Australia side.Beau Webster’s seam bowling has been a key part of his rise•AFP via Getty Images”I don’t think I’d be standing here if I was still wheeling out the offspinners,” Webster said. “It’s a part of my game I’ve been really proud to develop in the last four years. It’s taken a lot of hard work early doors from being sore at the start and trying to get my body used to bowling a few overs here and there and then bowling lots and lots of Tasmania.”It also fitted well with what Tasmania were looking for at the time, as they moved different eras of allrounders. “There was a need for an allrounder after Luke Butterworth and James Faulkner,” Webster said. “We were crying out for an allrounder. I was floating around in the order, settled at No. 6. If I could wheel out some quality medium pace, it would have given the team the ability to play a full-time spinner. I felt like I could impact games with the ball.”Run-scoring explosionThe 2020-21 season was a mediocre one with the bat, but the following couple of summers brought glimpses of what was on offer and he signed off the 2022-23 season with an unbeaten 168 against Queensland. It was a sign of things to come.The 2023-24 Sheffield Shield campaign for Webster will go down as one of the greats: 938 runs at 58.62 and 30 wickets at 30.80. Only Garry Sobers has exceeded both those figures in the same season.He was back on the national radar and featured for the Prime Minister’s XI against Pakistan in Canberra.”If someone like [Mitchell] Marsh got injured, he would have to be the next player in,” team-mate Matthew Wade towards the end of 2023-24 season. “He’ll be pushing for that. He’s been huge.”Beau Webster has averaged over 50 with the bat in recent seasons•Getty ImagesA County Championship stint with Gloucestershire followed and while he wasn’t prolific with the bat, his bowling continued to develop with 16 wickets at 21.25 in four matches.Onto the fringeWebster began the 2024-25 season with a century against Victoria just around the time Cameron Green was being ruled out for the summer with a back injury. But with Mitchell Marsh secure of his spot and Steven Smith returning to the middle order, there was not yet an opening for Webster.He featured for Australia A against India A in the two four-day matches he impressed with a pair of unbeaten innings in the two chases and bagged six wickets at the MCG.Initially called into the Test squad as cover for Marsh in Adelaide and Brisbane, he was officially added to the group for the Boxing Day Test. When Marsh missed out twice in Melbourne, it was form rather than injury that created the opening. And Webster became Test cap 469 for Australia’s men.

Holder not only anchored Patriots’ innings with an unbeaten fifty but also delivered a match-winning final over

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Sep-2025St Kitts and Nevis Patriots kept their playoffs hopes alive by pulling off a narrow one-run victory over Barbados Royals, who have been knocked out of the race in CPL 2025. Captain Jason Holder played a starring role, not only anchoring Patriots’ innings with an unbeaten fifty but also delivering a match-winning final over with the ball, in which he defended 13 runs.Patriots sit fifth on the points table with eight points and all their matches done. Guyana Amazon Warriors are fourth with eight points and if they win either of their next two matches, they will secure the last playoffs spot, with St Lucia Kings, Trinbago Knight Riders and Antigua and Barbuda Falcons already through.While there were handy contributions from several players, Holder’s all-round performance was the key to Patriots’ success. His 53 not out guided them to 150 for 7, with Patriots recovering from 62 for 4 at the end of ten overs. This was after Mohammad Rizwan’s 39 off 36 helped Patriots get off to a modest start. Holder, along with Navin Bidaisee (30 off 23), accelerated in the latter stages as the pair added 74 runs off 46 balls for the sixth wicket, including 34 runs off the last three overs.Holder’s leadership was also evident in the bowling attack, where he claimed two crucial wickets in the death. His most dramatic contribution came in the final over, with Royals needing 14 runs to win. Rassie van der Dussen started the over with a six over long-on to bring the equation down to eight off five. Holder kept his composure and, with the equation down to two needed off the last ball, bowled a perfect yorker to trap Daniel Sams lbw, sealing a thrilling victory for Patriots.Earlier, Royals had made a strong start, with opener Brandon King (29 off 22) laying a good foundation for the chase. They raced to 44 for 1 by the end of powerplay. However, the middle overs proved costly as the top order struggled to accelerate. Patriots’ bowlers capitalised, with Waqar Salamkheil striking first with the wicket of King and Naseem Shah removing Kadeem Alleyne in the eighth over. Quinton de Kock was caught and bowled by Bidaisee in the following over and despite a dropped catch from Rizwan, Royals’ chase started to lose momentum.Van der Dussen fought valiantly, keeping Royals in the hunt with a quickfire 37 off 27 balls, but it wasn’t enough in the end. For Patriots, Salamkheil and Bidaisee also picked up two wickets apiece.

Newcastle United have now reignited their interest in James Trafford, who has reportedly made his feelings clear about a potential move away from Manchester City in January.

The Magpies could certainly do with a lift in the winter window amid their current struggles. Eddie Howe’s side have won just three of their opening 11 games in the Premier League so far this season and are paying the price for a chaotic summer.

After defeat against Brentford, the international break couldn’t have been better-timed. It’s allowed record signing Nick Woltemade to find the back of the net for Germany once again and has granted Howe the time he needs to find a solution for his side’s problems.

The towering 23-year-old has been one of the few bright sparks for Newcastle since arriving in the summer, but Alan Shearer still believes he can still go up a few levels.

Speaking after Newcastle’s loss against Brentford, the Premier League’s record goalscorer said: “I’ve said before that as good as Nick Woltemade is with the ball at his feet, he is a problem for Newcastle because he’s not the quickest, and he can’t press, and he doesn’t run in behind.

“Eddie’s teams have always done that. Look at what Alexander Isak did or look at what Callum Wilson did, they all pressed and ran behind. But this guy can’t do that, and that’s a problem for Newcastle.”

Howe's "Geordie striker" could be a bigger Newcastle talent than Anderson

Newcastle could have quite the special player on their hands in this academy star.

By
Angus Sinclair

Nov 14, 2025

That said, it would be harsh to suggest that Woltemade is the Magpies’ biggest problem. Before anything, they must address the form of their wingers and perhaps even return for some missed targets such as Trafford from the summer.

Newcastle reignite James Trafford move

According to TeamTalk, Newcastle have now re-opened talks with Trafford via his representatives, as they a January deal with Man City.

The goalkeeper rejected the chance to join the Magpies in the summer, but has since been made to regret his decision after City signed Gianluigi Donnarumma so soon after his return to the Etihad.

Despite interest from Tottenham and West Ham, it is believed Newcastle’s ‘advanced talks’ from the summer, their pull and Saudi-backed ambition hands them an ‘edge’ in the race for his signature — making Howe’s side favourites.

He’s reportedly desperate to leave the Manchester club in an attempt to keep hold of his place in Thomas Tuchel’s England squad. Newcastle, as a result, are moving ahead of the winter window.

If the 23-year-old could turn back time, then he could be a Newcastle player right now. He returned to Man City ready to take Ederson’s place, but was simply sold a dream by Pep Guardiola and others who quickly welcomed their true replacement for the Brazilian in Donnarumma.

Now, he arguably needs Newcastle more than they need him. With Aaron Ramsdale and Nick Pope providing them with solid options, Trafford’s arrival would be more of a luxury than a necessity at this stage.

Nonetheless, having been described as “world-class” by Burnley boss Scott Parker last season, the young shot-stopper is still undoubtedly a player full of potential in the Premier League.

Newcastle now ready to race Barcelona to sign De Bruyne-esque talent

In 2022, pitcher Alek Manoah was the toast of Toronto, having nearly won a Cy Young Award as a sophomore for a 92-win Blue Jays team. With the second-lowest seasonal ERA (2.24) in team history in his back pocket, the future seemed limitless.

Multiple injuries and demotions later, Manoah is simply trying to save his career. Perhaps sensing a potential low-risk flier, the Braves claimed the Homestead, Fla., native off waivers Friday with three games to go in the regular season.

Manoah has not pitched in the big leagues this year after undergoing UCL surgery in 2024. He did pitch for the Triple-A Buffalo Bisons, starting seven games and going 1–1 with a 2.97 ERA and 30 strikeouts.

In five big-league starts in 2024, he went 1–2 with a 3.70 ERA and 26 strikeouts in 24 1/3 innings. He struggled to a 5.87 ERA in 19 starts in '23, going 3–9.

Atlanta, which is finishing 2025 strong after months of poor play, hosts the Pirates in a three-game set beginning Friday to close out the franchise's 150th season.

Manchester United desperately needed attacking reinforcements during the summer window, after netting just 44 league goals in the Premier League during 2024/25.

Ruben Amorim wanted an overhaul in such a department, with incomings and outgoings needed to help change the club’s fortunes in England’s top-flight.

INEOS went into the transfer market and spent around £200m on an attacking trio of Benjamin Sesko, Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha, whilst allowing the likes of Rasmus Hojlund to depart.

Mbeumo has already wasted no time in hitting the ground running at Old Trafford, as seen by his tally of five goals in his first 12 league outings – the most of any player in the squad.

However, that hasn’t stopped the board from targeting added reinforcements, with numerous attacking talents still on the club’s radar ahead of the January window.

The latest on United’s hunt for reinforcements in January

Over the last couple of days, United have once again been touted with a move to land Bournemouth star Antoine Semenyo in the upcoming window.

The Red Devils are just one side who are currently in the race for the Cherries star, with the Ghanaian international currently having a £65m release clause in his deal at the Vitality.

However, Amorim’s men aren’t alone in their pursuit of the 25-year-old, with Arsenal, Liverpool and Tottenham Hotspur all keeping a close eye on his situation at present.

He’s not the only attacker currently on their radar, with Borussia Dortmund talisman Serhou Guirassy another option being targeted by INEOS and Amorim ahead of January.

According to Sky Sports in Germany, United have been offered a €50m (£44m) deal to land the Guinean international, after his release clause became active.

It also states that Real Madrid, Barcelona and Manchester City are just a handful of teams who can activate such a clause, but it’s unclear if the player himself would entertain a winter move.

Why United’s latest target would be Amorim’s own Haaland

Erling Haaland is a player who many United supporters have envied over recent years, with the Norwegian talisman constantly providing the goods for local rivals Manchester City.

It could have been so different, especially considering Ole Gunnar Solskjaer pleaded with the board to sign him during his tenure in charge at Old Trafford.

The 25-year-old has since moved to the Etihad, with such a transfer allowing the forward to take his career to the next level – as seen by his remarkable goalscoring record since his move in 2022.

Haaland has racked up a staggering 143 goals in just 163 appearances, including a mind-boggling 22 goals in just 21 outings across all competitions for Pep Guardiola’s men.

During his time in England, he’s played against the Red Devils on nine separate occasions, finding the net eight times – with such a record one of the best for teams he’s faced.

However, Amorim could be about to land his own version of Haaland with a winter deal to land Guirassy, with the pair possessing numerous similarities.

Both would have moved to the Premier League from Bundesliga side Dortmund, whilst both have showcased their phenomenal goalscoring feats in recent years.

When comparing their respective stats from the current campaign, the Guinean international has managed to outperform the City star in key areas despite his own record in front of goal.

Guirassy, who’s been dubbed “one of the best strikers in Europe” by Lothar Matthaus, may have been outscored to date, but has posted a higher shot-on-target accuracy rate.

Such a tally highlights his impressive ability in the final third, arguably taking advantage of more of the opportunities that have fallen his way in front of goal this season.

The Dortmund star has completed more passes this campaign, with more of his efforts being made into the final third – which could hand the United side an added creative threat in attacking areas.

His all-round dominance over Haaland is further reflected in his higher tally of carries into the final third and aerials won per 90 – both of which would improve the Red Devils’ attack tenfold.

£44m for a player of his quality in the current market would be an excellent deal for a striker who has consistently found the back of the net in the last few years.

Should he get anywhere near the levels produced by Haaland in the Premier League, it would be a sensational deal and one that could help Amorim in his quest for success.

Best January deal since Bruno: INEOS make PL "warrior" Man Utd's top target

Manchester United have a new top target ahead of the January transfer window.

By
Ethan Lamb

Nov 29, 2025

Despite earning a convincing victory in the Champions League, Napoli head coach Antonio Conte is concerned with the rising injury concerns inside his squad. As the Italian team prepare for their upcoming battle against Serie A leaders Roma, the coach wants his side to take extra caution as his squad is stretched thin.

• McTominay powers Conte's side to victory

  After a devastating 6-2 loss to PSV and a goalless draw against Eintracht Frankfurt, Napoli returned to winning ways in the Champions League by defeating Azerbaijani heavyweights Qarabag 2-0 on Tuesday. A 65th-minute goal from last season's player of the year, Scott McTominay, and an own goal from Marko Jankovic seven minutes later, decided Napoli's fate, who rose to the 18th position on the continental table. However, fielding his best side was somewhat challenging for Conte, who had to keep two goalkeepers and two young players on the bench. 

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• Getty Images Sport
  

  Conte bemoans mounting injury crisis

  Napoli missed six important figures against Qarabag, including the likes of Kevin De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, and Leonardo Spinazzola. While Conte expressed delight after the victory, he seemed cautious of the team's injury concerns.  

  He told reporters: "Tomorrow we'll enjoy it, then we'll put the helmet back on because we have Roma on Sunday. Napoli were not dead, it's not a question of being alive or not alive, but of continuing to work always giving everything we have. Then games can be won or not, but we know that we always have to give everything. It is a moment of great difficulty for the availability of the players, we had seven players on the bench, two of whom were goalkeepers and two young players like Ambrosino and Vergara.

  "We have been facing a very difficult period since the beginning of the year, we must start from the assumption that the players go on the pitch. If you don't have any, you have to find different solutions, trying to exploit almost always the same ones because then the risks increase. We are moving forward, we have played two excellent games. Let's not forget the results of Qarabag, in the Champions League there are no easy opponents, I was convinced that by bringing this pace we would direct the challenge."

• Conte sheds light on Spinazzola's return

  While Miguel Gutierrez succumbed to an injury a day before the Qarabag game, Conte expects Spinazzola to return on Friday. Whether he'll be available for Sunday's clash against surprise Serie A leaders Roma still remains unclear, but one of the six key individuals returning to the side will be taken as a positive by the experienced mentor. 

  He said: "Many times we also judge on the basis of the results of the matches, I think since the beginning of the year we have been chasing having many unavailability. I can control some situations, but I can't manage the sprain that Gutierrez got yesterday during training. It's a shame, because then we immediately talk about a crisis without actually seeing what we are facing. The boys are exceptional, in terms of availability, everyone's responsibility has risen exponentially, because there will be many games that we have to face without being complete. We hope to have Spinazzola with us on Thursday, so we would have another option instead of the Spaniard."

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• Getty Images Sport
  

  Napoli's recent form over Roma a boost for squad

  Defeating Roma will offer Napoli a chance to reclaim top spot in Serie A, depending on AC Milan's result against Lazio on Saturday evening. However, despite many injury concerns, Napoli have one positive to inspire them against Roma. In the last five meetings against the capital club, Napoli have lost to Roma only once, drawing two games and winning three. Conte might want his team to escalate their confidence, keeping this head-to-head record in mind. 

He was coming back from injury, but Hazlewood simply blew Punjab Kings away by taking out two of their key players in the space of seven balls

Karthik Krishnaswamy29-May-20250:43

Moody: Hazlewood would have ‘welcomed the New Chandigarh surface’

They call him Hazlegod. Fans of Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) call him that, but so do Indian cricket fans of other stripes, for few can elude the grip of awe and terror that this 6’5″ metronome can induce when he does his thing. Seldom does a social-media nickname feel as apt as this one does when a ball delivered by Josh Hazlewood rears at an unsuspecting batter like an instrument of god’s wrath.This is a man who can turn any pitch into a trampoline. Give him one with a bit of bounce in it, and he turns into, well, Hazlegod. Think back to April 24, when he conceded just one run in a double-wicket 19th over that began with RCB’s opponents needing 18 off 12 balls. The Hazlegodliest ball of that over wasn’t even a wicket ball; it was too good to edge, leaping at Wanindu Hasaranga like a ball bowled by the Under-19s’ spearhead to the Under-12s’ wicketkeeper.When Thursday dawned, however, a bit of uncertainty surrounded Hazlewood’s powers. He hadn’t played in more than a month, had come back to India later than most overseas players when IPL 2025 resumed after its mid-tournament suspension, and had only just recovered from a shoulder injury. And there would be no easing in; he was about to be thrust straight into Qualifier 1.Related

• 'Everybody has chipped in at different times' – Aaron, Moody laud RCB's team structure

• Swing and miss: PBKS 'lost the battle but not the war'

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• Suyash: 'Coaches have told me just one thing – I have to hit the stumps'

But Hazlewood is used to coming back from injury layoffs, and the world is used to seeing him come back, approach the bowling crease with that deceptively effortless run-up, and land his first ball on that exacting length like he has never been away.And so it was on Thursday against Punjab Kings (PBKS). The first ball Hazlewood bowled to Shreyas Iyer was his second ball, so he was sufficiently warmed up, and this ball was a reminder of every other ball he had bowled to the PBKS captain up to that point. Before this game, Hazlewood had bowled 19 balls to Iyer in all T20s, and dismissed him three times while conceding nine runs. It could have been four times in 20 balls; this one straightened from that trademark Hazlewood length and beat the outside edge as Iyer felt for it with an open-faced bat.Soon enough, it was four dismissals in 22 balls, with a stereotypically Hazlewood kind of strike. This is putting it a little crudely, because Hazlewood probably makes dozens of micro-adjustments in every spell, but on the whole, no matter what the format, conditions and opposition may be, all he probably tells himself at the top of his mark is: “I’ll hit a hard length, and we’ll see how it goes.”This was hard length, in the corridor, with a scrambled seam, and it nipped away ever so slightly from the batter. Iyer may have pushed at it with a vertical bat in a longer-format game; here he attempted a cross-bat swipe. Neither response was guaranteed to avoid an edge, and Jitesh Sharma’s gloves, as keepers’ gloves usually do when Hazlewood is bowling, pointed up when he caught this top edge above his left shoulder.2:10

Moody: Iyer totally misread the game situation

It was an ugly-looking dismissal, but you can’t divorce the batter’s shot from the context of the match as it stood. This was the fourth over, and PBKS were two down, but it wasn’t yet clear what a par total on this New Chandigarh pitch would look like. PBKS had come into this game with a line-up of extreme depth, but it had left them light on bowling – it seemed imperative, then, that they continued to back the aggressive style that had brought them this far in the tournament.And instinct, especially when it’s fine-tuned over two months of rigorous, T20-specific training, is hard to fight.The first ball of Hazlewood’s second over needed no putting in context. It was simply a brute. It was short and angled into Josh Inglis’ body, and it sprang off the surface with minimal loss of pace. It grabbed at Inglis’ throat, constricting him severely for room, and the miscued pull ballooned to long leg with the fielder barely needing to move. PBKS were 38 for 4.It was becoming increasingly clear that PBKS weren’t just facing the normal Hazlewood – a hard enough task – but Hazlewood bowling on a pitch with seam movement and inconsistent bounce. They were facing, in short, Hazlegod. There were balls climbing to the throat, and the odd one was going the other way too. Two balls after the Inglis dismissal, Marcus Stoinis bottom-edged an attempted pull off one that kept low, and was lucky not to play on.According to ball-tracking data, there were 0.6 degrees of seam movement during the two powerplays on Thursday, compared to 0.5 degrees on average in IPL 2025. That doesn’t sound like a lot, but couple that with the bounce, and the degree of difficulty becomes apparent: the average bounce during the PBKS innings was 3cm higher than the average bounce on previous New Chandigarh pitches this season. There was even more bounce (5cm more than the venue average) in the second innings, but RCB knew their target, and PBKS had been bowled out well short of setting them a challenging one.And PBKS didn’t know how the surface would play before they went out to bat. They were still finding out by the time Hazlewood came on. Where other bowlers may have given the batters a little more space and time to come to grips with the threat they were dealing with, Hazlewood simply blew them away, taking out two of their key players in the space of seven balls.3:05

Moody: The occasion muddled PBKS’ thinking

“The bowling unit was obviously back to the unit that bowled for most of the tournament, and again, we knew our roles really well,” Hazlewood said in his post-match press conference. “But a little bit in the wicket to be honest, there was a little bit of seam movement, the bounce was probably a little bit inconsistent, so we sort of utilised that as best as we could.”It became clear when the chase began that PBKS could have made a match of it had they successfully revisited their total they were aiming for – Hazlewood felt 150-160 may have challenged RCB.”Yeah, I think the conditions were… it was great to bowl first, I think, although we saw swing and seam throughout the whole game. Whenever a new ball was bowled there was a bit happening, so you’ve just got to utilise that.”Probably from a Kings point [of view], they probably just had to pull back a little bit and try and get a score on the board, you know, 150-160 would have been a difficult chase potentially. But I think we only let them bat as well as they could have, through our bowling.”Hazlewood exemplified that with his lengths, and it was instructive – of the conditions as well as the self-effacing nature of the man – that he went back to talking about the pitch when he was asked how he handled his return from injury.”On the injury layoff, worked really hard the last few weeks on the shoulder to get back, and got some good overs into it in the last sort of 10 days, and yeah, it’s feeling not too bad. I was happy with tonight, the wicket helped obviously, didn’t have to bowl any fast yorkers or anything like that, so yeah, it’s feeling not too bad.”If this is how Hazlewood bowls when he is feeling not too bad, RCB’s opponents in Tuesday’s final will hope he isn’t feeling any better by then.

Head coach admits team remains a work in progress as attention turns to T20 World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Oct-2025

Charlotte Edwards speaks to the media after England’s semi-final exit•ICC via Getty Images

Charlotte Edwards, England’s head coach, says that her team’s flawed World Cup campaign has made her all the more hungry to instigate the necessary changes, after stating it is “time to look to the future” following a crushing semi-final defeat to South Africa in Guwahati.Speaking to Sky Sports, just moments after England’s 125-run defeat, Edwards acknowledged the brilliance of South Africa’s matchwinners – Laura Wolvaardt, who was Player of the Match for her 169 from 143 balls, and Marizanne Kapp, whose five-wicket haul included a first-over double-wicket maiden to wreck England’s hopes of achieving a 320 target.However, having stated before the tournament that a semi-final berth was the bare minimum that should be expected of her squad, Edwards did not shy away from the underlying fragility of England’s campaign. Despite qualifying in second place with five wins out of seven in the group stages, their performances against Bangladesh and Pakistan had already exposed the weaknesses in their batting, before the tournament favourites Australia maintained the stranglehold of last winter’s Ashes whitewash with an emphatic six-wicket win in Indore.Edwards took over from her predecessor Jon Lewis back in April, but held back from wholesale changes to her squad for this winter, instead focusing on improvements within the existing set-up. These were arguably on display at times during the campaign just gone, not least in a gritty performance to beat the tournament hosts, and fellow semi-finalists, India by four runs in their group-stage clash in Indore.However, with the World Cup marking the end of this four-year ODI cycle, and with a home T20 World Cup looming next summer, Edwards accepts that it’s time to step up the squad’s overhaul, starting with a series of training camps from December to March, at which the next generation will be given a chance to prove its readiness.”I’m a winner,” Edwards said. “I don’t like losing. When I came into this role, I knew it wasn’t going to change overnight. I’ve seen some really positive things to come out of this trip. I think we’ve performed a little bit better under pressure, but certain moments we haven’t seized, and that’s going to be an ongoing thing.”Overall, we are making progress, and that’s the most important thing. But ultimately, you’re defined on your results. And today we’re going out of a World Cup in the semi-final stage, where we were all hopeful we could really make that final.””I knew it wasn’t going to be a quick fix. We’ve got some areas we need to work on, but that probably makes me more hungry now to go back home and work with these players over over the winter period.”A number of England’s players are due to head to Australia for next month’s WBBL. Thereafter, however, Edwards has earmarked a series of training camps, in Oman and South Africa, at which the players will be pitted against one another in an arrangement similar to the North versus South fixtures that Andrew Strauss, England’s former men’s director of cricket, began in 2018.Nat Sciver-Brunt after the defeat in the semi-final•ICC via Getty Images

“We’ve got a new cycle now of ODI cricket, haven’t we, but first and foremost it’s the T20 World Cup,” Edwards said. “There’ll be a group of players that will be training from December through til March. We’re going to spend time with these players and hopefully upskill them, and hopefully they can deal with these occasions better.”That’s exciting for me. As an international coach, it’s rare to get time with players to actually advance their games. We’ve got an opportunity this winter to hopefully do that with some of our younger players. and I’m looking forward to getting that underway in December.”Edwards namechecked the likes of Freya Kemp and Dani Gibson, who missed this tournament through injury, while other names who will come into consideration for future campaigns include the likes of Tilly Corteen-Coleman and Davina Perrin, the breakout star of this year’s Women’s Hundred.”We’ve targeted 13 to 15 players who we’re going to work really, really hard with,” she said. “[This tournament] was too early. The players that had got this far, we wanted to stick with them, but it’s exciting now. We’ve got a new group of players coming through. We’ll go home and reassess. We won’t make too many rash decisions, but we’ve got to look at the future now. And we’ve got some unbelievable talent coming through.”England’s defeat to South Africa was especially painful given that they had beaten the same opponents at the same venue in their tournament opener, after bowling them out for 69. This time, however, the match was played on a bouncier red-soil surface that was more conducive to the seamers, most notably Kapp with her match-sealing figures of 5 for 20.Asked whether there had been any temptation to tinker with the spin-heavy line-up that had brought them this far, Edwards replied: “Hindsight is a wonderful thing. We’ve stuck with that combination. It’s done us really well throughout the [competition].”England had seemed competitive, having reduced South Africa to 202 for 6 going into the final ten overs of their innings. But then Wolvaardt cut loose, adding 119 runs in partnership with Chloe Tryon, before Nadine de Klerk helped add the finishing touches.”At times, we just didn’t hit our straps today, certainly that back 10 really cost us,” Edwards said. “If we’d have kept them to 280, which probably was a par score, we may have been able to chase that down, but, yeah, it wasn’t to be.”It’s going to be a sad dressing-room,” she added. “I don’t think I’ll say too much tonight. I don’t think there’s anything you can say tonight that’s going to make things better. As we all know, life moves on very quickly. These girls will be off to Australia soon. But yeah, I’m hurting too.”

SEATTLE – These are the moments we hold dearest. When everything seems to come together perfectly, as opportunity meets joy. For someone like Eugenio Suárez, a 34-year-old veteran of 12 major league seasons and four teams and a .186 hitter in his second go-round with the Mariners, everything he loves most was within his grasp.

It did not matter that it happened as he was squeezed between a box truck and a concrete wall in a hallway outside the Mariners’ clubhouse Friday night. On the greatest night of his peripatetic baseball life, he held tight to his wife, Genesis, and his daughters, Nicolle and Melanie.

“This part is the best part of everything,” Suárez said. “This is something that you dream of. To be honest, to see the happiness of my daughters and my wife—they’ve been incredible supporting me—is the best.”

Oh, and that home run? The one that will take its place next to The Double by Edgar Martínez 30 years ago among the biggest moments in 50 seasons of Seattle baseball? The one that came with the bases loaded in the eighth inning of a tie game and put the Mariners one win from the World Series for the first time? The home run that made yet another manager pay for getting too cute running these postseason games? The home run off a Seranthony Domínguez 3–2 fastball that gave Seattle a roof-shaking 6–2 victory?

Yeah, that was not bad, either.

Genesis and the girls had flown in from Miami only the previous night, getting here around midnight. They arrived just in time, just as their daddy did.

“It makes it even more special,” Suárez said. “They were coming from Miami, a long way. Just for them to come such a long way and for me to do it in front of them is … I don’t know, it’s something. It’s something else.”

Suárez is known to be one of the good guys of the game with such a professional reputation that when the Mariners acquired him for a second time, this time from the Diamondbacks in a trade deadline deal, there was more talk about how he fit into the clubhouse than his 36 home runs. He finished with 49 homers, tying a career high, but his bat otherwise was a bust in the final two months of the regular season. Those 53 games are moot now, subsumed by a gigantic home run that should never have happened this way but for the cooperation of the Toronto Blue Jays.