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Manchester United are eyeing up an audacious move to sign one of Europe’s best talents in 2025 as they look to continue their overhaul under Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS, according to one report.

Defensive issues continue at Manchester United

Despite heavy investment, Erik ten Hag’s Manchester United side continue to struggle defensively. Though they have only conceded eight goals in seven Premier League games thus far, six of those have come in heavy home defeats to both Tottenham and Liverpool, losing 3-0 on each occasion.

It comes after a season in which the club suffered an injury crisis at centre-back, one which saw Ten Hag forced into using 14 different centre-back partnerships which at times included defensive midfielder Casemiro.

They looked to remedy that over the summer, signing Leny Yoro from Lille and Matthijs de Ligt from Bayern Munich in deals worth close to £100m, but the former has been sidelined through injury and the latter is yet to impress, to the extent that for Manchester United’s most recent outing and with Ten Hag under pressure to save his job, the Dutchman reverted to veteran defender Jonny Evans in his place.

There have been ever bigger issues at fullback; 2022 signing Tyrell Malacia has been sidelined for much of his time at Old Trafford with an unspecified injury, while Luke Shaw has also failed to stay fit for any significant portion of time, leading to Diogo Dalot, Victor Lindelof and even loanee Sofyan Amrabat being asked to fill in at left back. Now, United are eyeing up a long-term fix to that problem, in the form of an audacious move.

Games played at left back 23/24

Tyrell Malacia

0

Luke Shaw

12

Diogo Dalot

15

Aaron Wan-Bissaka

7

Victor Lindelof

9

Sofyan Amrabat

5

Manchester United chase free agent

That comes as Sky Sports journalist Florian Plettenberg has revealed that the Red Devils are doing initial groundwork to try and pull off an audacious swoop to sign Alphonso Davies in 2025. The Canadian defender, who was the Bundesliga’s fastest player last season, is in the final months of his £181,000 a week deal at the Allianz Arena.

He has long been linked with a move to Real Madrid as a free agent, but Manchester United are also positioning themselves to try and bring him to Old Trafford.

Man Utd now consider eye-watering 2025 move for £612k-p/w title-winning duo

It would continue a theme at Old Trafford.

ByBen Browning Oct 15, 2024

It is claimed that United “have already gathered information” on the 23-year-old, as they look to address their long term problems at left-back. Davies would certainly be a massive upgrade at Old Trafford, having been labelled “unbelievable” by teammate Joshua Kimmich, while he missed just four games last season through injury.

Unfortunately though, the report adds that “don’t consider their chances to be very high”, something that will likely only be decided by whether or not Manchester United qualify for next season’s Champions League, and Real Madrid’s ultimate decision on whether or not to try and sign the Canadian,

Warning of bomb at Leicester hotel deemed to be ‘not credible’ as security is boosted

George Dobell20-Sep-2021

The third ODI of the series between England and New Zealand looks set to go ahead in Leicester after a security threat was deemed by NZC to be “not credible”.ESPNcricinfo understands that a member of the New Zealand team management was contacted and told that a bomb would be placed at the team hotel. It is understood they were also warned of an attempt to place a bomb on their plane when they return to New Zealand.As a result, the team went into lockdown on Monday, and the police and counter-terrorism agencies were called in. It looked for a few hours as if the match would be called off, given that the New Zealand team did not train at Grace Road, although an NZC spokesman subsequently stated that they had not been scheduled to do so in the first place.The spokesman added: “As has been reported, the ECB have received a threatening email relating to NZC. Although this did not specifically reference the White Ferns it was treated seriously, investigated, and deemed not credible.”The White Ferns have now arrived in Leicester and, as a precaution, security around them has been boosted. Reports their training has been cancelled are false. They were not scheduled to train today as it was a travelling day. NZC will not be commenting further on the matter.”Some players are still understood to be apprehensive, however.There may be some raised eyebrows at the news from Pakistan, in particular. England and New Zealand have both called off tours to Pakistan in recent days, with NZC citing a specific security threat, and the ECB conceding that “concerns about travelling to the region” were a factor in their withdrawal on player welfare grounds. The PCB will, no doubt, be asking why this threat in Leicester was not deemed credible but the one in Pakistan was.ESPNcricinfo understands that the British High Commission and the security consultants (ESI Risk) used by the ECB and NZC both considered the security protocols put in place ahead of the trip to Pakistan to be satisfactory.An ECB spokesman said that they would be offering no further comment on the matter.2150 BST – This article was updated to include details of NZC’s statement

The Yorkshire Evening Post have shared the stance of a midfield free agent possibly joining Leeds United amid injuries to Ethan Ampadu and Ilia Gruev.

Leeds transfer news

The Whites are still reeling from Illan Meslier’s dreadful late error away to Sunderland, with the goalkeeper gifting the hosts a 2-2 draw in stoppage time at the Stadium of Light.

It has still been a solid start to the season for Daniel Farke’s side, however, even though it hasn’t always been perfect, and Leeds will expect to be one of the clubs in the mix to seal automatic promotion from the Championship come next May.

The Whites will always be looking to complete more transfer business moving forward, in order to give them the best chance of going up to the Premier League, and while the transfer window is shut currently, free agents are available to come in at any point.

Jake Livermore is in that position and has been mooted with a move to Leeds, with the 34-year-old enjoying a loan spell at Elland Road way back in 2011. He was most recently at Watford but departed when his contract expired at the end of last season.

Now, a fresh update has emerged regarding another available midfield option being mentioned as a target for the Championship giants, as they look to tackle injuries to midfield pair Ampadu and Gruev.

Leeds stance on signing free agent revealed

According to The Yorkshire Evening Post, Christoph Kramer is unlikely to be interested in joining Leeds on a free, should an approach come, instead preferring to stay in Germany:

“The YEP understands any Leeds approach attempting to lure the 33-year-old on a short-term deal is likely to be rejected with the player’s intention to remain in Germany where he has appeared regularly as a television pundit, following a decade-long spell with Borussia Monchengladbach.”

While Farke has admitted that he is “not a big friend of signing players who are out of contract at the beginning of October”, he may have considered making a move for Kramer, considering both Ampadu and Gruev are unavailable currently, leaving a gaping void in the middle of the park.

The 33-year-old is not only considered a “legend” by former club Borussia Monchengladbach, spending eight years there, but there is also the small matter of him winning the 2014 World Cup with Germany, having only made his debut for his country earlier that year.

Related Not just Meslier: Farke must drop Leeds man who's bottom 3% for duels won

The Whites central defender continues to endure a frustrating season.

Posts 1 ByDan Emery Oct 5, 2024

That highlights the pedigree that Kramer has, and while his best days are arguably behind him given his age, he could still have been an asset for Leeds, putting his experience to good use and plugging the void left by Ampadu and Gruev until the New Year.

It looks as though a move is unlikely, though, and it will be interesting to see if Farke looks at another option instead, or risks getting by until the January transfer window opens with Joe Rothwell, Ao Tanaka and Charlie Crew.

Mitchell Starc is prepared to improvise to give himself the best chance of being ready for Test cricket amid a schedule crunch which is further complicated by the quarantine requirements in Australia, but Test captain Tim Paine is not confident of having all his players available to face Afghanistan.Starc is one of Australia’s multi-format names who could be impacted by the very tight turnaround between the T20 World Cup and start of the home Test season against Afghanistan in Hobart.If Australia and/or Afghanistan reach the final in the UAE on November 14 there would only be 12 days before the first ball of the Test on November 27 which is inside the mandatory 14-day period returning travelers have to quarantine for.Various solutions could be sought by Cricket Australia with one option to try and gain exemption for the Test to be played under the quarantine rules used against India in Brisbane last season following the Covid-19 outbreak in Sydney.For Australia’s Test players who are part of the T20 World Cup the Afghanistan match will be their only chance of red-ball preparation ahead of the Ashes starting on December 8.Related

• Australia's T20 shake-up – who has the most to gain?

• Australia's World Cup conundrum: the search for a T20 finisher

• Wade taking latest selection audition in his stride with 'nothing to lose'

“It’s a very interesting one,” Starc said from St Lucia. “The way of the world at the moment throws up a lot hurdles and then you are throwing two weeks of quarantine, like we are going to have to do coming back from this tour as well, there’s a lot of question marks.”You look back to the summer and we played Sydney under restrictions, Brisbane was under full quarantine so there’s certainly precedence set there in how we approach different games especially in Australia.”In that respect I don’t think there’s any hurdles to get around in playing cricket under quarantine conditions, it’s just some of the finer details that government and cricket will have to work together [to sort out].”But for the few multi-format players we all want to play as much cricket as we can, Test cricket is certainly the pinnacle for a lot of us, certainly it is for me, as is a World Cup so it will be hard to pick and choose.”Limited-overs captain Aaron Finch has made clear he expects to have all first-choice players available for the World Cup. “The T20 World Cup is an international event, the one piece of [limited-overs] silverware that was eluded us. They’ll be no management for Test cricket, I can tell you that much,” he said last week.Mitchell Starc during the 2012 T20 World Cup•AFP

Speaking a few hours after Starc, Paine endorsed that the strongest T20 side should be selected and had faith in anyone who missed the Afghanistan Test being ready to face England.”It does look tight,” he said. “From our point of view we’re probably expecting not to [have the players]. We’d like our a T20 side to go as deep as they can. Our players have come into an Ashes series before without any red-ball cricket, if we have to do that in the professional era guys can cope with that.”Although for the next six weeks in West Indies and Bangladesh Starc’s attention will be on white-ball bowling, as the Test matches draw nearer towards the end of the year he will delve on past experiences to ensure he is ready.”There’s been some really tight turnarounds whether it be white-ball tournaments into Test series or away tours where we’ve had to improvise and make sure we get a little bit of red-ball bowling in so it wouldn’t be the first time,” he said. “Throws up another hurdle with quarantining after a World Cup and the tight turnaround we might be faced with, but the multi-format players have all played cricket for quite a while now and have experienced the same situation in slightly difference circumstances before.”For now, Starc is working on fine-tuning his T20 skills as he sets his sights on a first appearance at a T20 World Cup since 2012 having missed the 2016 edition in India due to injury. If the Bangladesh tour gets final approval there will be up to 10 T20s over the next month and while Starc will be unlikely to feature in them all it’s a rare chance for an extended focus on the format.Starc was a central figure in the successful run Australia’s T20 side put together in 2019-2020, featuring in eight of the nine matches against Sri Lanka, Pakistan and South Africa, and then played the three-match series against England last year. He only had one game against India last season due to withdrawing from the squad, did not play in the BBL and opted against the IPL with the hectic schedule in mind.”It’s a great opportunity for the group to start preparing with a bit more focus on that World Cup,” he said. “Don’t think I’ve played 10 T20s in the last four years let alone in the space of a few weeks so personally it would be nice to get a bit of a rhythm of T20 cricket.”The back end of the summer I was heavily focused on the red-ball so put the white-ball to the side. To prepare for this tour it’s all been white-ball focused with what’s coming up in the next few months. Preparing for shorter spells, more of a focus on staying unpredictable or [using] variations. I don’t change a whole lot in my preparation across the formats but certainly they’ll be a lot more planning and focus on tactically what we’ll take on this series.”This story was update with Tim Paine’s comments

MatériaMais Notícias

Pela terceira vez em um período de apenas um mês, a Gaviões da Fiel cobrou do Corinthians a demissão do técnico Sylvinho. Por meio de nota oficial divulgada nesta sexta-feira, a principal torcida organizada do clube disse que apoiará o time no clássico contra o Santos, no domingo, às 16h, naNeo Química Arena, pela 34ª rodada do Brasileirão, mas destacou que não abre mão da saída do treinador, que voltou a ser alvo de muitas críticas após a derrota por 1 a 0 para o Flamengo, sofrida na última quarta, no Maracanã.

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Em sua nota oficial, a Gaviões destacou que o treinador “não tem competência para tal função” e também voltou a pedir pelas saídas deRoberto de Andrade e Alessandro Nunes da diretoria de futebol, reivindicação que lembrou já ter sido negada anteriormente pelo presidente do Alvinegro, Duílio Monteiro Alves.

A nota oficial enfatiza que a organizada sempre irá apoiar o Corinthians em todas as partidas que disputar, independentemente do técnico que estiver no comando da equipe, mas destaca que “o planejamento de 2022 deve-se iniciar com outra comissão técnica” e que “essa, a Fiel Torcida não aceita”.

Anteriormente, a Gaviões pediu pela saída de Sylvinho após a derrota por 1 a 0 para o São Paulo, no Morumbi, e na sequência fez o mesmo depois do empate por 2 a 2 com o Inter, no Beira-Rio, em duas rodadas seguidas do Brasileirão.

Confira, na íntegra, a nota oficial divulgada pela Gaviões da Fiel:

Não é de hoje que exigimos a saída da atual diretoria de futebol do Corinthians,
sobretudo dos diretores Roberto de Andrade e Alessandro Nunes. Recentemente, exigimos e seguiremos exigindo a saída do técnico Sylvinho por entendermos que o treinador atual do Timão não tem competência para tal função. No mês de outubro, cobramos novamente o presidente do clube Duílio Monteiro Alves que naquela época rechaçava qualquer mudança no departamento de futebol.

GAVIÕES DA FIEL TORCIDA.

continua após a publicidade

The BCB are very close to appointing a spin bowling coach while a new batting coach is also expected to be appointed soon, according to cricket operations chairman Akram Khan. The front-runner for the spin bowling coach’s role is Rangana Herath, who is ahead of Saeed Ajmal and Sairaj Bahutule in the running. Jamie Siddons, the former Bangladesh coach, could also make a return as the team’s batting coach.Related

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Khan said the board was pressed for time to appoint the coaches because of Bangladesh’s stacked scheduling in the coming months. They are likely to depart for Zimbabwe on June 29 to play a Test, three ODIs and three T20Is, before facing Australia, New Zealand and England at home in at least 14 white-ball matches ahead of the T20 World Cup.”It is difficult to find a coach during the Covid period but we will try to sign a coach before touring Zimbabwe as Australia will arrive right after the Zimbabwe series,” Khan said. “Then England and New Zealand will also come. That’s why we are trying to finalise it now. Three spin bowling coaches (candidates) will come from Asia, one each from Sri Lanka, India and Pakistan. We are trying to communicate with them and maybe they will arrive in a few days. We will take the opinions of senior cricketers in the next two-three days, discuss it with the coaching staff, the head coach and we also need to think about it further.”If the terms are agreed on, this will be Herath’s first major coaching role since retiring from international cricket in 2018 as a record-breaking Test cricketer. He will replace Daniel Vettori, whose contract with the BCB ended in April this year. Since the pandemic restricted travel in and out of New Zealand, Vettori was only available as spin bowling coach during Bangladesh’s white-ball tour of New Zealand in March this year. BCB’s coach Sohel Islam has been deputising for him in some series.”In the current circumstance, it will be difficult to get him [Vettori]. Hence, we are not showing any interest for him… To be honest, some players want Sohel as the spin bowling coach. We will take everything into account before taking a decision,” Khan said.He also suggested that Bangladesh were in the market for a new batting coach, replacing Jon Lewis who has been appointed on a series-by-series basis since the start of the year. Siddons, who was Bangladesh’s head coach between 2007 and 2011, is being talked about as the possible batting coach.”We will first decide whether we will keep him [Lewis] or not. If we don’t keep him, we have two-three candidates shortlisted. One of them had worked with Bangladesh before. Hopefully, we will finalise it in three-four days.”

Marnus Labuschagne earlier scored a hundred with these two sides now all-but certain to meet again in the field

Daniel Brettig05-Apr-2021Mitchell Swepson’s fierce spin brought a turgid Sheffield Shield encounter to fresh life on the third evening in Wollongong, as Western Australia’s first innings slide against Tasmania in Perth all but assured the Blues and the Bulls of meeting once again in the competition final.Western Australia had needed to rattle near enough to 450 in 100 overs in order to claim the first innings points they needed to squeeze past New South Wales. But after they got nowhere near this tally, proceedings against Queensland took on something of a perfunctory air as the visitors climbed past the NSW total thanks to a century from Marnus Labuschagne and supporting hands from Usman Khawaja and Jimmy Peirson.Nathan Lyon, twirling his way through no fewer than 48.2 overs, was rewarded with six victims to extend his lead on the wicket-taking aggregates for the Shield this season with 39 wickets in eight games. Lyon’s steadiness and accuracy underlined why he has been a fixture in the Australian Test team for nearly a decade now, but the exciting alternative offered by a quality legspinner was to be showcased when NSW batted again in the final hour.Playing his first Shield game of 2021 after missing several months with a neck injury, Swepson had been somewhat short of his best in the first innings. But granted a generous helping of foot marks to use against the all left-handed NSW top three, he was rapidly into the fray for the eighth over.Based on the length and width of Swepson’s third ball, Daniel Hughes had a right to rock back and think about cutting. However the vicious fizz and turn snapped back at nearly right angles to slice through Hughes’ hurried attempt to defend and rattled the stumps in a manner reminiscent of Shane Warne’s classic to Shivnarine Chanderpaul at the SCG in 1996.A couple of subsequent deliveries to Kurtis Patterson and Matt Gilkes threatened to make a similar impact, missing the stumps by centimetres as they shouldered arms. Patterson needed medical attention at the other end as a Brendan Doggett bouncer struck him under the helmet grille, but was looking sturdy enough when he shaped up again to face Swepson.This time a top spinner or wrong’un from Swepson did not spin back as Patterson expected, going past his bat and prompting a frenzied celebration from Queensland and, eventually, the raising of the umpire’s finger. Patterson looked aghast, seeming to think his bat had brushed his pad, but the wicket was a further reminder of the kinds of scenes a leg spinner can create.Swepson, despite his injury, now has 27 Shield wickets in just four matches this season – only Lyon, Jackson Bird and Scott Boland are ahead of him.

INDIVISA breaks down the NWSL playoff semifinals, looking at matchups, key players to watch and bold predictions

After an exhilarating opening round, its on to the 2024 NWSL Playoff semifinals, with all top four seeds still alive. Reigning champions NJ/NY Gotham host the Washington Spirit, while 2024 regular season champions Orlando Pride host the Kansas City Current.

The and their star-studded roster featuring USWNT standouts such as Crystal Dunn, Rose Lavelle, Tierna Davidson and Lynn Williams, take on former Barcelona manager Jonatan Giraldez, USWNT's Trinity Rodman and the Spirit.

The Pride, meanwhile, are the No. 1 overall seed and are looking to hands Brazil legend Marta a proper send-off in her final professional season. Golden Boot winner Temwa Chawinga, ex-USWNT manager Vlatko Andonovski and the Current stand in their way.

Getty Images SportNo. 1 Orlando Pride vs. No. 4 Kansas City Current

The Breakdown: After winning the 2024 regular season title, Orlando went into the postseason to host Mallory Swanson and the Chicago Red Stars. They won with ease, besting them 4-1 in the quartefinals. The Current, meanwhile, defeated the North Carolina Courage 1-0 courtesy of an 8th-minute goal from Chawinga, who will bey key in their semifinal clash.

In two meetings during the regular season, the Pride won 2-1 and then the two sides drew 0-0. KC, meanwhile, are unbeaten in their last 10 matches across all competitions, while Orlando recorded two defeats towards the end of their campaign. In their meeting Sunday, it will be a matchup of two heavyweights, with the winning side likely being the favorite heading into NWSL Cup.

Orlando Player to watch: Barbra Banda – With 13 goals and six assists in 22 appearances during the regular season, Banda was one of NWSL's most exciting attackers. All eyes will be on her in the final-third of the pitch.

KC player to watch: Temwa Chawinga – 2024 NWSL Golden Boot winner, Chawinga is an ace in front of net. Give her any chance at all, and you're nearly guaranteed a goal.

INDIVISA'S prediction: The Current will upset the No. 1 seed to host NWSL Cup in their home stadium in front of their own fans, winning by a narrow margin of 1-0 to advance to NWSL Championship.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportNo. 2 Washington Spirit vs. No. 3 NJ/NY Gotham

The Breakdown: In Round One of the postseason, Washington narrowly defeated Bay FC in a 2-1 victory in an extra-time thriller. Gotham, meanwhile, escaped Sophia Smith and the Portland Thorns in the quarterfinals, pulling out a 2-1 extra-time victory themselves.

During the regular season, the Spirit and the Bats met twice, with the Spirit winning 2-0 in both matches, meaning we're set for a highly-contested match in the semifinals this weekend. Can Gotham finally get their victory, or will the Spirit make it three for three?

Gotham player to watch: Rose Lavelle – the attacking midfielder bagged seven goals during the regular season, being their second leading-scorer during the campaign. In their Round One Playoff game, she scored a stoppage-time winner to see them advance

Washington player to watch: Trinity Rodman – the U.S. international is back from injury, and a menace on the counter-attack and in the box. If Washington can get her in open space or on the break, there's a good chance a scoring opportunity will arrive.

INDIVISA's prediction: The Bats will return to the championship game, upsetting the Spirit 2-0 on Saturday.

How to watch the semifinals

The first game will be carried live on CBS and will be available for streaming on Paramount+ – the Bats and the Spirits kickoff on Saturday at noon ET.

The second semifinal will be live on ABC and streamed on ESPN+, as Orlando hosts the Current Sunday at 3 p.m. ET.

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Getty Images EntertainmentWhen is NWSL Championship weekend?

The 2024 NWSL Championship will take place on Saturday, Nov. 23 at CPKC Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri. Coverage of the match will begin at 8 p.m. ET on CBS, with streaming available on Paramount+

Two-time Grammy Award winner Tori Kelly will perform at the NWSL Fan Fest before the match, with activities beginning at 4 p.m. ET outside the grounds.

Heather Knight hopes Wyatt can build on her breakthrough hundred on New Zealand tour

Matt Roller22-Feb-2021

But for Covid, England Women would be two weeks into the defence of their 50-over World Cup, with two out of seven group games to go and the semi-finals looming. Instead, the tournament has been postponed by 12 months, and they have not played an ODI in 436 days.That streak will finally come to an end this week, with their three-match series against New Zealand starting on Tuesday in Christchurch. After the vast majority of their home summer schedule was cancelled, England are starting from scratch: remarkably, this will be their first ODI under Lisa Keightley’s stewardship, nearly 16 months after her appointment as head coach.The wait has been particularly frustrating for those players who had hoped to nail down their places after their most recent series, against Pakistan in Malaysia in December 2019 with Ali Maiden taking temporary charge of the squad.Nobody embodies the frustration better than Danni Wyatt. Wyatt turns 30 in April, and the fact that her batting average is a shade below 20 in both ODI and T20I cricket prompts a double-take. Anyone who has seen either of Wyatt’s two T20I hundreds will know how talented a batter she is, but she has struggled to realise her potential in international cricket, perhaps hampered by regular shifts up and down the order.She is a player who relies on form and rhythm, which jars with the sporadic nature of the women’s international calendar. In that series in Malaysia she appeared to have finally cracked ODI cricket, making her first hundred in the format with an innings of 110 off 95 balls to set up a convincing win; since then, she has faced six balls in an ODI shirt.”It’s fair to say – and Danni will say this herself – that she hasn’t quite nailed ODI cricket yet,” Heather Knight, England’s captain, said on the eve of the New Zealand series. “She’s batted in a few different positions and it was obviously a real shame for her that she had that great hundred in Malaysia and then wasn’t able to back that up with the big break.”I really think it’s going to be a huge series for her – and a huge year – in terms of really nailing down her ODI cricket and what she could do for us at the top of the order. She naturally scores very quickly, and there are going to be times, probably, when she gets out early because we want her to be aggressive, play her natural game, and take the game on. But I’m really excited about what Danni could do.”Related

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The early signs are positive. Wyatt endured a tough 2020, managing a top score of 29 in 12 innings across the tri-series in Australia, the T20 World Cup and the home series against West Indies, but started the New Zealand tour with two enterprising innings: 35 off 42 balls in the first warm-up game, and 54 off 42 in the second.As a result, Knight is optimistic about the prospect of her flourishing in this series in a likely opening partnership with Tammy Beaumont, hinting that she will be given licence to attack early on and make use of the initial fielding restrictions.”She’s had a little bit of a lean year, to be honest,” Knight said, “but the signs are really good. She’s worked really hard over the last couple of months to be in a really good place with her game. The way she played in that second warm-up game was exactly how we want her to play. I’m excited to watch her bat, because you always think that something is going to happen.”[Her role] is slightly different to T20 cricket where it’s pretty much to go from ball one. She can take a little bit more time in ODI cricket, but her natural mindset is to be aggressive and score. She certainly puts pressure on bowlers and pressure on captains, so that’s her role: to go out and be herself, and back her shots.”England are “really ready to play ODI cricket”, Heather Knight said•Getty Images

England’s touring party have a clean bill of health ahead of the series, meaning that Anya Shrubsole (knee) and Katie George (back) are the only absentees. Knight was unwilling to give much away in terms of selection, but it appears that the one remaining call revolves around whether Freya Davies or Tash Farrant is picked as the third seamer alongside Kate Cross and Katherine Brunt.”We’ve got some really strong depth in the seam-bowling department,” Knight said. “We’ll have to see what we go with later today and to see what the conditions are like as well. We haven’t played ODI cricket for a long time and New Zealand are a very strong side [so] it’s going to be a really good test for us.”Our preparation has been a little bit disjointed but I feel like as a team we’re really ready to play ODI cricket. Obviously, we’ve got a year before the World Cup in 2022, so that year is going to be key in terms of our preparation and showing us where we need to be and how we want to play our ODI cricket. I’m really excited to start that journey: it feels like a long time coming.”

The topic of Smith leading again came up when Aaron Finch was injured during the T20Is against India

Andrew McGlashan10-Dec-2020Steven Smith has indicated that the topic of him captaining Australia again came up when Aaron Finch was injured in the T20I series against India, but is not yet fully aware of the steps that would need to be taken for him to have the role again.When Finch was ruled out of the second T20I in Sydney, Matthew Wade stepped up to captain Australia for the first time, in the absence of vice-captain Pat Cummins, with coach Justin Langer saying there was “a process” that needed to be gone through before Smith could lead again following his loss of the captaincy after the ball-tampering scandal in 2018.The success Tim Paine has had with the Test side, and the indications he wants to take the team through to at least next year’s Ashes series, plus the improvements in Australia’s white-ball cricket under Finch mean there is no rush for the selectors and the Cricket Australia board to make a ruling.”There were discussions sort of taking place,” Smith said. “I think JL [Langer] answered the question when asked about me and captaincy and stuff. There’s obviously a process that needs to be done. For me I just said I’m happy to do whatever is best for the team and that’s the same going forward.”Right now Tim and Finchy are doing really good jobs in both the formats of the game. I’m comfortable where I’m at right now but as I’ve always said I’ll do what’s best for the team.”I think whenever there is a captain chosen, I think you go through a process where you go to the board and things like that, so I’m sure it won’t be too dissimilar. It’s probably more of a question for someone a bit higher up. That’s all that has been said to me and, yeah, we’ll let it rest for now.”One of the challenges Australia could face when replacements for Finch and Paine are eventually needed is the relative lack of captaincy experience among possible replacements other than Smith.Current vice-captain Cummins has not had any chance to captain at state level and would be unlikely to get it given the limited number of games he plays for New South Wales. Marnus Labuschagne, who has been touted as another option, also has yet to have any captaincy experience.Travis Head, who recently lost the joint vice-captaincy position, leads South Australia and captained Australia A in the recent tour match against the Indians. Alex Carey will lead the side in the second match at the SCG starting on Friday.