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Counterattacking 77 suggests middle order is his natural berth – even if he doesn’t want to give up first-drop

Vithushan Ehantharajah29-Nov-2024Despite playing 19 Tests together, day two at Hagley Oval was just the eighth time Ollie Pope and Harry Brook have batted together.You’d think a pair who have been locked at No. 3 and No. 5 for the last two years would be finishing each other’s sentences by now, even if the bloke sandwiched between them has been hogging one end. A four-ball duck going into lunch meant partnership-blocker Joe Root was no longer a problem.It was only at the fall of the next wicket – Ben Duckett – that Brook and Pope found themselves together at 71 for 4, New Zealand still ahead by 277 on first innings runs. Over the next 31 overs, they made up for lost time, with an engaging 151-stand that probably made them think “we should do this more often”.Related

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There’s a reason they have not, and it’s because Pope has not been able to stick around for long enough. In fact, eight out of the 32 times Brook has walked to the middle, Pope has been walking the other way.With Pope shifted down to six as the designated wicketkeeper, a union had better odds. Nevertheless, success was not guaranteed.This was only the fourth time they have combined for more than 50 runs, and only the second for a hundred. The first of those was a remarkable 176 against Pakistan in Rawalpindi, the pair going at 7.08 an over as England blitzed 506 for 4 on the opening day.Pope was the far more convincing of the two here, more dominant (77 runs to 64) and much less streaky. Glenn Phillips pulled off a stunner of a one-handed catch at backward point, plucking a full-blooded cut out of the air while horizontal to see Pope off. The same Phillips who was responsible for the first of four drops off Brook, who had 18 at the time. Brook finished the day unbeaten with 132 and a pang of guilt.”Brooky, as I was walking off, came and apologised to me,” Pope revealed at stumps. “I was wondering why he made a beeline for me.”A three through the covers off his 62nd ball brought up the century stand with Brook, and also took Pope past 55 – the total number of runs he had managed in the previous series, against Pakistan.Upon returning home from averaging 11 across five innings, he put in the work and consulted England legend Alec Stewart, a long-time confidant at Surrey. It was an open discussion rather than an array of sessions in the nets – “I didn’t get him on the dog stick, he’s too high up for that, I think.” Pope wanted familiar eyes to establish what was going wrong.”It was more about ‘what does it look like when I’m at my best’ because that was a frustrating thing, I wasn’t getting to 20 or 30, to allow myself to go on to that big score.

“I want to be number three, I want to keep trying to make it mine. I’ve had too many low scores there but I’ve also managed to put together some good knocks this year batting at three. It’s a job I want to do going forward”

“We talked about having that calmness at the crease. When I’m playing well there’s that clarity in how I want to play, not trying to rush my way to 20 or 30.”There were cuts over the slips – most of them deliberate – including one from a front-foot square driving position that forced him to readjust after the ball bounced more than expected. He pounced on any width, a sound gameplay given how diligent New Zealand’s seamers had been with their straight lines. On a Friday littered with rogue pull shots, his were immaculate.Did he seem calmer? A bit. Though perhaps even that is all about perception. What might seem skittish and chaotic at No. 3 is brave and proactive at No. 6, especially given the situation that greeted him at the crease. Pope, however, declared he would have done little different had he walked out in the fourth over – when Zak Crawley was dismissed – instead of the 22nd.”If I was batting at three, I’d have tried to play exactly the same way as today. The biggest difference at three is you set the tone a lot more, if you play well you can put your team in a really strong position.”The fun thing at six, you might come in a 350 for 4 and it might be your job to push the game forward. [Or] you can get your team out a tricky situation. Both roles are good fun, just slightly different.”Different roles, different requirements. But it does seem Pope’s natural disposition is for either progressing a good situation or – as he did here – counterattacking out of a bad one. A thoroughbred greyhound has not won Best In Show at Crufts in 67 years, but let it loose into a final bend and watch it rinse a retriever.While that is a tad reductive, it is worth noting Pope was reared as a six. It was from that position he flourished for Surrey at the start of his career, with 885 runs, four centuries and an average of 68.07.Pope cuts the ball away behind square•Phil Walter/Getty ImagesA Test debut against India at Lord’s arrived in the 2018 summer – at No. 4. His maiden innings ended up being the first time he had batted in the opening 20 overs of a first-class match. He will empathise with Jacob Bethell walking out at No. 3 in Christchurch for the first time in his professional career.As tedious as it may be to repeat, an England side with Root batting at three makes the most sense. It would allow Pope to move to No. 5 when Jamie Smith returns to take the gloves back at seven.The one barrier to such a move? Well, Pope.”I want to be number three, I want to keep trying to make it mine. I’ve had too many low scores there but I’ve also managed to put together some good knocks this year batting at three.”It’s a job I want to do going forward and I think my skillset is still developing. It’s definitely a job I want to keep doing.”Given he began out of position and rarely settled thereafter, you can understand why he wants to continue at three. And on paper, he’s doing well enough; despite the Pakistan aberration, the average at first drop is 40.28 from 47 innings, since he pitched for the gig when Ben Stokes became Test captain. Half of the six centuries he has there have come this year, while this half-century took him past 3000 career runs.Ironically, Pope building on this opening knock may scupper his hopes of fully locking down that No. 3 as his own. Though Ollie Robinson arrives into the country on Saturday afternoon to replace the injured Jordan Cox, England may decide to leave Pope as their wicketkeeper to give them a longer look at Bethell.Stokes and Brendon McCullum have shown they are not afraid to get funky with their selections. And shifting Pope to a place where his natural energy flows unencumbered falls right in that bracket.

Cheteshwar Pujara also questioned India’s approach and shot selection on the turning Kolkata pitch

ESPNcricinfo staff17-Nov-2025

A dejected Ravindra Jadeja walks back for 18•AFP/Getty Images

India are going through a period of transition in Test cricket, but Cheteshwar Pujara will not accept it as an excuse for losing a Test at home.After India lost their first Test to South Africa, collapsing to 93 all out in the final innings, Pujara questioned the India batters’ approach on a pitch that had uneven bounce and turn from day one, but also said the batters were not the only ones to be blamed.”I don’t buy this that India are losing at home because of transition. I can’t digest that,” Pujara said on JioStar after India lost by 30 runs in Kolkata. “If you lose in England or Australia because of transition, it could be acceptable. But this team has the talent and potential. You look at the first-class record of all the players – Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Shubman Gill… Washy [Washington Sundar] batted at No. 3 in this game – all their records are so good. Still if you lose at home that means something is wrong.Related

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“If you had played the same match on a good wicket, there were much better chances of [India] winning. How do you define Test cricket? On what kind of a wicket are your chances better of winning? On such tracks, your chances decrease and the opposition is at par with you. There’s so much talent in India, even an India A side could beat South Africa. So if you say this loss is because of transition, it’s not acceptable.”After the match, where 189 was the best innings total and only one half-century was scored largely due to the sharp turn, up-and-down bounce and rough patches that made batting a challenge, India head coach Gautam Gambhir had clarified that it was “exactly the pitch we were looking for”.Even though India have often preferred rank turners to gain their home advantage, their choice of such a track in the wake of the 3-0 whitewash to New Zealand at home last year and now this loss – their fourth in the last six home Tests – has raised questions.4:55

Philander: ‘On that surface 123 was like 350-400’

“You can’t just blame the batters on this kind of a wicket because firstly if you want to play on such wickets, your preparation has to be different,” Pujara said. “Gauti said they asked for this kind of a wicket but it wasn’t easy to bat on. Look at the stats of both teams – only one batter scored a fifty so it shows it wasn’t a good wicket.”If you want to play on such tracks, your batters have to be prepared accordingly and it didn’t look like they were prepared. On such wickets, you have to play different kind of shots, like rely more on sweeps, play a little positive, try to move the scoreboard. But there was an expectation that this wicket would be a bit decent, it would have some turn, and you can bat well and score runs. But this wicket wasn’t like that. If the Indian team wants such turning wickets where the ball turns from ball one, then the batters’ approach will have to be different.”That 3-0 last year had cost India a place in the WTC final and this defeat to South Africa has seen them slip to fourth position on the current WTC table, behind Australia, South Africa and Sri Lanka.The second and final Test of the series begins on November 22 in Guwahati. After this series, India’s next WTC series will be two matches in Sri Lanka in August next year. India’s next home series is more than a year away from now, when they host Australia for five Tests in January-February 2027.

England have defended their limited Ashes preparation ahead of the start of their warm-up game against the Lions at Lilac Hill in Perth on Thursday. The three-day match-up is England’s only match practice ahead of next Friday’s first Test at Optus Stadium, which assistant coach Marcus Trescothick described as “the way of the modern game”.Ashes tours have historically started with a series of warm-up fixtures between travelling squads and either domestic or invitational teams, but they have been greatly reduced in recent series as boards look to streamline schedules.England have largely eschewed warm-up fixtures since Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes took over as head coach and captain, preferring training camps and intra-squad matches, but have generally started series strongly. They have won all the first Test in each of their last five overseas tours, including in India, Pakistan and New Zealand last year.”It’s the way that the series are generally done – for us and for other opposition teams – around the world nowadays,” Trescothick told reporters in Perth on Tuesday. “With the volume of cricket that’s played [elsewhere], you don’t have the time for preparations like potentially playing two or three first-class games, which has happened in the past.”I think you generally roll with a prep game, or some facilities – whatever you have available – and you go from there. Of course, most of the guys have been playing in New Zealand for us. Some of the guys have come out from England, but it’s the way of the modern game nowadays.”Michael Vaughan, who opened the batting with Trescothick on England’s 2002-03 tour to Australia, has questioned the value in playing on a club ground which will “bounce really low” ahead of the first Test on an Optus Stadium which is expected to be fast with steep bounce.Related

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But Trescothick said England were “very happy” with their preparation: “We’ve had facilities here with the nets, and obviously then the nets out in the middle, and then we’ve got the preparation game here as well.”In my day, playing at the Waca was very unique and very different, but you prepare yourself for those sorts of changes in facilities and pitches as you go along. We’ll have three days of prep at Optus, just to get used to pitches and we go along with that, and we’ll go from there. We’re very happy at the moment.”Ben Duckett, who will open the batting in next week’s first Test, arrived in Perth last week and said that facing England’s fast bowlers in the nets has provided “pretty good” preparation following a white-ball tour to New Zealand.”I don’t know what the right answer is,” Duckett told the podcast. “We play a lot of cricket at the minute, and we’ve obviously just come off the back of our summer. We’re certainly not lacking any gametime.”I don’t make those plans, but I’m pretty happy getting ready in the nets. If we’re facing Jofra [Archer], Woody [Mark Wood] and those guys everyday, I think that will be pretty good prep.”England’s preparation has been heavily criticised by former players, with Ian Botham suggesting their slimline schedule “borders on arrogance”. It stands in clear contrast to Australia’s build-up, with 14 members of their 15-man squad for the first Test involved in the ongoing round of Sheffield Shield fixtures.

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.”

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.

The Guardians could only have made the 2025 postseason one way—the painful way.

Cleveland rookie first baseman C.J. Kayfus was hit by a pitch in a tie game with the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth Saturday, earning the Guardians a 3–2 win over the Rangers and locking up the team's seventh postseason berth in the last decade.

The ending was emblematic of Cleveland's stunning, skillful, lucky in-season resurrection after a 10-game losing streak in July that left the team 40-48.

As late as July 8, the Guardians trailed the Tigers by 15.5 games in the American League Central division race. Cleveland enters the final day of the season tied with Detroit, needing only a win or a Tigers loss to clinch the division by virtue of its head-to-head tiebreaker.

At 87-74, the Guardians are defying a .494 Pythagorean winning percentage roughly on par with the 75-85 Braves. Only three players on the team—superstar third baseman José Ramírez, left fielder Steven Kwan and pitcher Gavin Williams—have accumulated more than two bWAR.

Somehow, Cleveland has endured. It will meet Texas again Sunday in a bid to finish off baseball's greatest comeback.

Jake Weatherald believes maturing as a player and a cricketer has helped put him on the cusp of a Test debut he feared may never come.An aggressive left-hander, Weatherald has been picked in Australia’s 15-man squad for the first Ashes Test in Perth following a stunning career revival in Tasmania.Darwin-raised, Weatherald’s first-class career started brightly in South Australia, before a form slump and mental health challenges ended in him being dropped from the Sheffield Shield team.Related

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But having scored 1391 runs at 53.5 from his past 15 first-class games since his move to Tasmania, the 31-year-old is a chance to open the batting for Australia this summer.”Playing for Australia’s the hardest thing to do in Australian sport,” Weatherald said in Hobart on Friday. “It was always a goal that felt maybe a little bit out of reach at times.”But at the same time, I probably got comfortable with myself to know that if I did the right things, at the right time, and I took my opportunities, then I’d be ready to go. It is a pinch-yourself moment.”As a kid in Australia, you grow up wanting to play professional sport; representing Australia in cricket is the highest honour, and something that I’ve aspired to my whole career.”If selectors decide to go with Weatherald, he will partner with Usman Khawaja at the top. Khawaja raised eyebrows last week when he firmly backed in his Queensland team-mate Matt Renshaw to earn an Australian recall.But Weatherald, who was getting coffee with mates when George Bailey rang with the good news, laughed off the comments, with Khawaja fully behind the newest member of the Australian squad. Khawaja joined in the fun with a “Who this?” reply to a clip of Weatherald’s interview with the .”He didn’t have me in four days ago,” Weatherald joked when asked about Khawaja now backing him to play. “You get the backing of someone like that who’s played so much first-class cricket, so much Test cricket.Jake Weatherald had been a stand out in domestic cricket•Getty Images

“He’s made so many hundreds for Australia and is such a respected cricketer within our community. I’d be really excited to partner up with him at some point.”Speaking to Fox Cricket on Thursday, Khawaja said: “He’s been knocking the door down. I’ve played a lot of cricket against him…he’s a terrific player. Conditions last year were pretty hard at Shield cricket, and he was a standout.”Weatherald’s hopes of getting into the XI could hinge on allrounder Cameron Green being able to bowl enough overs in the next Shield game for Western Australia. Labuschagne will almost certainly be back after finding form following his axing for the three Tests in the West Indies.Green batted at No.3 in the Caribbean, but could shuffle down to No.6 to accommodate Labuschagne, as well as Weatherald as an opener, if he is able to justify his position as a genuine allrounder.But Labuschagne opening, as he did unsuccessfully in the World Test Championship final, also remains an option for selectors.Green is the only member of Australia’s squad aged under 30, leading to ‘Dad’s Army’ jibes from the English. But Weatherald is confident he is only in contention for Australia because of how he has matured as a cricketer.”People laugh about it, talking about the old team that we have,” Weatherald said. “But the same time, I think that’s the biggest blessing is we’ve all matured as cricketers.Jake Weatherald’s career was transformed last season with over 900 Shield runs•Getty Images

“We’ve got to a point in our careers where we understand our games and how to handle the media, how to handle the pressures of playing first-class cricket. Hopefully that keeps me in good stead.”When the squad was announced, Bailey spoke about Weatherald’s positive approach with the bat, something the selectors have been looking for since David Warner’s retirement, but while Weatherald will bring his natural game to Test cricket he is also willing to adapt.”I think the way I operate is probably around that [being positive],” he said. “But at the same time, I’m not too preconceived about what I want to do. I feel adaptable. I don’t feel like a one-gear player. I feel like I can do different things.”If that means I have to lock in and bat a day and score 50 runs, that’s the best thing for the team and the conditions, that’s what I’ll do. But at the same time, if the opportunity is there, I’ll definitely take it.”Weatherald, who reflected on the 2005 Ashes as “his first fond memory of cricket”, is also confident of being able to deal with everything Ashes cricket will throw at him.”I think so, in terms of my mindset,” he said. “I think I’m pretty understanding of what I need to do to get ready as a cricketer but also how to deal with the pressure that comes out. I’ve never been a part of it. I’ve only been from the outside looking in. I’m sure the pressures and things that will come will be intense. But at the same time, I just see it as a great opportunity to be a part of it. And whatever happens, happens. It’s just going to be a cool thing to be a part of.”You know, the media, the Barmy Army, all that sort of stuff is going to be a pretty incredible experience.”

Chelsea’s title ambitions were always more realistically viewed through a wider lens than the current campaign, but this recent drop in form has been concerning for Enzo Maresca’s side nonetheless.

A creditable draw against table-toppers Arsenal last weekend, preceded a bitter defeat to promoted Leeds United at Elland Road in midweek, and this one marked the perfect chance to bounce back and keep a toe in the early Premier League title race.

Bournemouth stood strong against the Blues on Saturday afternoon, but they also pulled their weight in the final third, recording an xG total of 1.37 compared to the visitors’ 0.88.

There was an undeniable bluntness to Chelsea’s attack, with a number of stars flattering to deceive on the south coast.

Chelsea's worst performers at Bournemouth

Robert Sanchez certainly wasn’t among Chelsea’s worst performers at the Vitality, having made a string of important saves throughout the contest to keep parity intact.

Neither was Moises Caicedo to blame. The Ecuadorian served the second game of his three-match suspension after seeing red against Arsenal, and his absence was keenly felt in the middle of the park.

Enzo Fernandez toiled without his dance partner in the engine room, but he was sloppy on the ball. Likewise, Cole Palmer looked rusty on his return from injury, only creating one chance and wasting a few decent opportunities before being replaced by Joao Pedro before the hour mark.

There was another attacking instrument under Maresca’s command who struggled to impose himself despite some hustle and bustle, looking like a teammate of his who has been absent for some time.

Maresca must bench Mudryk-esque Chelsea forward

Since leaving Manchester United and joining Chelsea this summer in a deal worth £40m, Alejandro Garnacho has blown hot and cold, scoring two goals and supplying two assists across 14 matches in all competitions. In the Premier League, Maresca has handed the 21-year-old six starts.

Against Bournemouth, though, he was part of a Chelsea side who succumbed to an absence of end product, hitting the woodwork and failing to build on his positive form of recent weeks.

Football.london did hand Garnacho a 6/10 match rating, acknowledging his optimism and energy on the ball, but he left much to be desired all the same, with his end product leading to a sense that he is shaping into the club’s next version of Mykhaylo Mudryk.

Mudryk is suspended at the moment, but from a footballing standpoint, his £89m transfer from Shakhtar Donetsk to Stamford Bridge in January 2023 ended up a major misfire from Todd Boehly and co, with the Ukrainian’s pace and technical skill unable to be applied with efficiency on English shores.

Having failed with all three of his attempted dribbles and proved unable to even attempt a tackle, the South American left something to be desired, and though he created a chance, he also lost the ball 11 times, and that having only completed 17 passes on the evening.

Alejandro Garnacho vs Bournemouth

Match Stats

#

Minutes played

77′

Goals

0

Assists

0

Touches

35

Shots (on target)

2 (0)

Accurate passes

17/20 (85%)

Chances created

1

Crosses

2/3

Dribbles

0/3

Ball recoveries

3

Tackles won

0/0

Duels won

3/7

Data via Sofascore

We already know that Garnacho has a penchant for the spectacular, but he needs to channel his craft and grow into the player he has been touted to be.

In this, he is not too dissimilar to Mudryk, though hopefully he has more opportunities to showcase his skills.

Mudryk and Garnacho share a likeness in that they are both athletic and dynamic wingers, but the latter needs to prove now that Chelsea are going to get bang for their buck, and perhaps a return to the bench might fuel him with the requisite aggression and focus going forward.

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The highly-rated attacker has not impressed so far this season.

Posts ByJack Salveson Holmes 6 days ago

Stats highlights from the first day’s play at Headingley, where Shubman Gill and Yashasvi Jaiswal scored hundreds

Sampath Bandarupalli20-Jun-2025359 for 3 – India’s highest total on the opening day of a Test in England. Their previous best was 338 for 7 at Edgbaston in 2022.India’s 359 is also the highest opening-day total for a visiting team in England since South Africa made 362 for 4 at The Oval in 2003.5 – Indians with a century on captaincy debut in men’s Tests, including Shubman Gill. His unbeaten 127 at Headingley is the third-highest score on captaincy debut by an India batter, behind Vijay Hazare’s 164* against England in 1951 and Virat Kohli’s 141 against Australia in 2014.ESPNcricinfo Ltd3 – Test hundreds for Yashasvi Jaiswal away from home – 171 in Roseau in 2023, 161 in Perth in 2024, and now 101 in Leeds. All three centuries have come in his first Test in these countries. No other player has hundreds in their maiden Tests in the West Indies, Australia and England.23 years 174 days – Jaiswal’s age when he scored his hundred at Headingley. Syed Mushtaq Ali is the only younger India opener to score a Test hundred in England; he was 21 years and 221 days old when he scored 112 at Old Trafford in 1936.ESPNcricinfo Ltd402 – Number of international matches India have played between Karun Nair’s previous Test appearance in 2017 and this one – the most games a player has missed between two appearances for his country. Nair missed 77 Test matches in these eight years. Only Jaydev Unadkat (118), Dinesh Karthik (87) and Parthiv Patel (83) missed more Tests between two appearances for India.1 – B Sai Sudharsan became the first India player to bag a duck on debut while batting at No. 3 in men’s Tests. Only six Indians, including Sai Sudharsan, have bagged a duck in the top three on their Test debut.Sai Sudharsan’s first-class average coming into this match was 39.93, the lowest for a specialist batter on Test debut for India since 1990. Wriddhiman Saha made his Test debut as a batter with a first-class average of 35.59, but was predominantly a wicketkeeper.

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

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“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.