All posts by h716a5.icu

After Knight set up the game for England with a century, Smith closed it out with her clever left-arm spin

Valkerie Baynes19-Oct-20253:32

Knight: ‘Managed to steal the win at the back-end’

Heather Knight oozed calm, understated satisfaction as she celebrated a century which put England on course for victory against India and a place in the World Cup semi-finals.Her demeanour couldn’t have contrasted more with the nauseous pallor and jittery knees of her squad-mates on the bench or the frantic chewing of lips and biting of fingernails going on in the India dugout as Linsey Smith defended 13 runs off the final over to deliver England a four-run win in Indore on Sunday.As one of only two recognised England batters not in the spotlight for a lack of runs, Knight stole the show early by sweeping and reverse sweeping, powering and running her way to a 91-ball 109, pushing England to a total of 288 for 8 and asking India to pull of their highest successful run chase in women’s ODIs.Related

England in semi-finals after India unravel in tense finish

India's cracks threaten to bring down their whole World Cup

'The emotions took over' – Mandhana takes blame for Sunday heartbreak

Road to the semis: Five teams in contention for one spot

That they couldn’t seemed inexplicable, even after Smith claimed the crucial wicket of Smriti Mandhana, who shared a third-wicket stand worth 125 off 122 balls with Harmanpreet Kaur and put on 67 off 66 with Deepti Sharma for the fourth.All three India batters reached fifty but when Deepti fell to Sophie Ecclestone with 27 needed off 19 balls, Nat Sciver-Brunt, the England captain, turned back to Smith.She conceded just four runs off the next over as Amanjot Kaur and Sneh Rana set about reeling in the target. Lauren Bell went for nine off the next over and then Smith, the most economical bowler for the match, took the ball for the last.Rana and Amanjot traded singles off the first three balls and then Knight threw her weary body in the way of a cracking shot to cover by Amanjot to leave India needing sixes off each of the last two to win. They could only manage two and four as Smith held her nerve.Sciver-Brunt said Smith was always going to bowl the last over, and Smith relished the chance.”I knew I had one left and I thought, ‘I’ve done alright,'” Smith said. “Earlier in the game she took me off and I was like, ‘can I just have one more? I think I can get Harman out.’Heather Knight’s century paved the way for England’s win•ICC/Getty Images”But my role’s been made pretty clear, a lot of powerplay, a lot of death and I’m just glad it came off today. For me it was not trying to over-complicate too much. I’m pretty happy with how I went tonight, especially coming over. I’ve been practising that death plan all week, just trying to really bowl a tight line into their heels and just try to block off that off side.”Sciver-Brunt was also delighted with Knight’s contribution. Given the year she has had, Knight was too.”I’ve had pretty rubbish year, I’m not going to lie, before this World Cup,” Knight said. “So I was really keen to try and make the most of it and try and enjoy just being here.”It was pretty tight to make it here so I’ve made a real conscious effort to try and enjoy the trip and try and enjoy what I do and try and get the best out of myself in my batting through that enjoyment and just being happy to be here.”Sometimes you take it for granted when you’re on the treadmill of international cricket and when you do get injured you have that bit of time to reflect and realise how fun it is and the opportunities that you do get. I’m really keen to try and make the most of the opportunities during this World Cup and contribute as much as I can.”Linsey Smith bowled a nerveless last over•ICC/Getty ImagesKnight’s 91-ball 109 was her third ODI century and came in her 300th international match across formats but her first since she lost the captaincy to Sciver-Brunt in the wake of a winless Ashes tour to Australia in January and was touch-and-go to make the World Cup squad after tearing her hamstring tendon from the bone while batting in the home series against West Indies in May.”That was a pretty awful day to be honest, I felt my hamstring rip off, that was not that fun,” Knight said. “So to be here now and to be over that injury and to be contributing to the team being successful and in the semi-finals now at the World Cup is a cool place to be.”Her 113-run stand for the third wicket with Sciver-Brunt, England’s other in-form batter, was pivotal, while Amy Jones arrested a lean run since scoring 40 not out in the meagre run chase against South Africa at the start of the tournament, with 56.That included an opening partnership worth 73 with Tammy Beaumont, who continued to struggle along with a misfiring middle order. Between them Sophia Dunkley, Emma Lamb and Alice Capsey have scored just 111 runs from four innings – none were required to bat against South Africa – and all have failed to pass 20 in a single knock.3:15

Review: How did India lose this game?

Sciver-Brunt, with her century against Sri Lanka, and Knight’s blushes-saving 79 not out against Bangladesh already put them ahead of their team-mates going into this match. With Australia looming next, it is incumbent on their team-mates to back them up.Knight’s running between the wickets at Holkar Stadium on Sunday belied her previous injury although it was coming back for a second run while chancing the dangerous arm of Amanjot that proved her downfall. Amanjot fired the ball in from deep midwicket and Richa Ghosh collected it on the bounce with plenty of time to remove the bails.The Indian team’s celebrations were far more animated than Knight had been moments earlier upon reaching her ton, illustrating the importance of the wicket and whipping the home crowd into a frenzy.It reached a crescendo when Dunkley holed out to Deepti at mid-off from the bowling of Shree Charani as Knight’s departure sparked a collapse of 5 for 39 in 5.1 overs and, not for the first time at this tournament, Charlie Dean added valuable runs from No. 8 with an unbeaten 19 of 13 balls.Deepti ended with her best World Cup figures of 4 for 51 but, even though she had only had 1 for 40 from 10 overs to show for it, Smith’s feats trumped Deepti’s when it mattered.

Aaron Judge keeps making history.

Not only has Judge belted 33 or more home runs before the All-Star break for the third time in his career—a feat no other player has achieved in MLB history, but he now also stands alone in the Yankees record books.

Entering Wednesday's game, Judge had been intentionally walked 23 times, which tied Hall of Famer Mickey Mantle for the most intentional walks in a single season in Yankees history. That record was toppled in the bottom of the second inning of New York's 9-6 win over the Seattle Mariners on Wednesday.

With a runner on second and two outs, the Mariners elected not to pitch to Judge, intentionally walking the 6'7" slugger. And with the intentional walk, Judge passed "The Commerce Comet" in Yankees history with 70 games to go in the regular season.

Judge tied Mantle during the Yankees four-game series against the Toronto Blue Jays this past week, in which he was intentionally walked a franchise-record five times.

Clearly, teams are approaching Judge with caution—and for good reason. He's in the midst of arguably his best season, as well as one of the greatest seasons ever for a power hitter.

Judge owns a .360/.468/.737 slash line with 34 homers, 77 RBIs, 83 runs scored and 67 walks. He leads MLB in hits with 122. If his 224 wrC+ stands by season's end, it would be the sixth-highest in the history of baseball, behind only marks set by Babe Ruth and Barry Bonds.

It's no wonder that teams would rather take their chances with others in the Yankees lineup.

They hadn’t conquered Asia since 2014, and following their series win in Bangladesh, South Africa are setting sights on higher honours

Firdose Moonda31-Oct-2024It still matters. Winning away from home matters. Winning in the subcontinent matters. Doing both those things as a country that is now seen as one of the Test nations matters most of all, as South Africa have just experienced.Don’t buy into the talk that it’s only Bangladesh, a place where South Africa have never lost a Test and look at the bigger picture. For the last ten years, the subcontinent has been all but insurmountable. Between September 2014 and September 2024, Australia, England, New Zealand, South Africa and West Indies collectively played 35 series in the subcontinent and won just six. Of those, England were responsible for three series (Sri Lanka 2018 and 2021 and Pakistan in 2022) while South Africa lost all four series they played.To be able to finally change that is something South Africa’s stand-in captain Aiden Markram described in an understated way as “very special,” while also recognising the significance it has in serving as a marker of progress.”For us as a group of players, we’ve never won a game or a series in the subcontinent so that makes it very special. It’s been a tough journey at times and to slowly be progressing is a really good thing for us,” he said.Related

South Africa's batting close to finding the 'sweet spot' again

Shanto laments top-order failures after Bangladesh slump to innings defeat

BCB chief: Shakib unlikely to play ODIs against Afghanistan

Jansen, Coetzee set to make T20I return against India

Spinners, Rabada's complete performances hand South Africa their biggest innings win

The last time South Africa conquered Asia was in 2014, at the latter end of a dream run that saw them go nine years unbeaten on the road. At the time, Markram was fresh off captaining the under-19 side to the age-group title in the UAE and the future looked bright. They didn’t know it then, but things were already changing.Big-name retirements started with Jacques Kallis in 2013 and every year since then someone else who was considered essential to success stepped away. As recently as last December, former captain and stalwart opener Dean Elgar called it a day which means South Africa have been in transition for almost ten years. The subcontinent became an impossible place to win as South Africa experienced in India in 2015 and 2019, in Sri Lanka in 2018 and in Pakistan in 2021. Of course, it’s not as though SENA countries hadn’t been making use of their own home advantage for decades so they had nothing to complain about, but it didn’t make the losses hurt any less.South Africa’s batting has paid the highest price for that. Since May 2018, they do have a single Test batter with an average over 40 which includes all of the current squad. Tony de Zorzi, thanks to his 177, and David Bedingham, with a hundred and three fifties, are close but both have only played eight Tests.What that means is that South Africa didn’t often have hundreds, which is something they had to play down and Markram is still singing from that hymn book.”As for numbers, it’s all quite relative. You look at different surfaces that you play on, wickets around the world are so different from each other and have so many different types of challenges that you face as a batter so it can be tough to pump that average up but we don’t speak about numbers,” Markram said. “We just speak about making an impact on the game and there can be a time where scoring 60 or 70 is match-winning and then there will be times where big hundreds runs are match-winning.”In this series, the latter was the case. From Kyle Verreynne in Mirpur to de Zorzi, Tristan Stubbs and Wiaan Mulder in Chittagong, South Africa’s wins were built on big runs which gave their attack a lot to work with. And while there is some sense in what Markram said in that an individual stacking up hundreds may not necessarily equate to a successful team, he also recognised the need for a collective progression in performance.”I’m certainly not too fazed about numbers and I don’t think the rest of the guys are either. It’s one of those things that will take care of itself if you put in good performances consistently. Naturally the numbers will lift. We’re all definitely striving towards that but trying to be more consistent and trying to have a good impact on the game.”With South Africa’s batters focused on the efficacy and not the amount of their runs, it was hardly surprising to hear the leader of their attack, Kagiso Rabada, also play down his own importance. Asked about being back at No.1 on the ICC rankings or taking 300 wickets in his post-match interview, Rabada glossed over that the game “moves on”.Aiden Markram believes South Africa have the players required to reach the WTC final•AFP/Getty Images”You have to keep working hard. don’t look at where I am on the rankings,” he said, acknowledging it is a “good motivator to keep going.” His highest praise was for his team-mates, who he said are all “willing to put their hands up,” to drive success.And they can see the rewards in front of them. Despite playing fewer Tests than almost anyone else in this cycle, they’re in with a chance of making the final. They see the potential to make that happen as brimming with possibility. “We don’t really know what the ceiling is because we haven’t managed to lift the trophy,” Markram said.That’s also one way of South Africa looking at their empty accolades cupboard and wondering whether it will ever fill up. They’ve taken the approach that the things they are capable of are still coming and this year has shown them that.They reached the final of the T20 World Cup in June and now their chance to reach the WTC final lies in their hands. It’s proof that something is working, that the talent pool is starting to play to their potential and that maybe, the impossible could become possible.”We believe that we have the players in the country to be able to do so but by no means will it be easy,” Markram said. “The journey itself has been incredibly difficult but worth the fight, worth the hours, worth the sacrifice. That’s pretty much how we see it.”

Tilak, the South Zone captain, is unavailable with the Asia Cup coming up and Sai Kishore hasn’t recovered from injury either

Ashish Pant31-Aug-2025South Zone have named Puducherry allrounder Ankit Sharma and Andhra top-order batter Shaik Rasheed as replacements for Tilak Varma and R Sai Kishore for the Duleep Trophy semi-final, which begins on September 4 at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru.Tilak, who was named South Zone captain, has been included in India’s Asia Cup squad and will miss the Duleep Trophy games. As a result, Kerala wicket-keeper batter Mohammed Azharuddeen, who was initially named vice-captain, will now lead the South Zone side. Tamil Nadu’s N Jagadeesan, who was also called up for the fifth Test of the Tendulkar-Anderson Trophy last month, has been named vice-captain.Related

Padikkal, Jagadeesan key as depleted South Zone face formidable North

'My goal is to wear the India whites' – Auqib Nabi shakes up the Duleep Trophy with four wickets in four balls

Deshpande is 'fit and fine' again and raring to give his dream another shot

'Cricket's just a game' – How Tanmay Agarwal's new mindset is fuelling his run spree

Sai Kishore, meanwhile, hasn’t recovered from the finger injury which forced him to miss the pre-season Buchi Babu tournament in Chennai. He hurt his finger while intercepting a M Shahrukh Khan drive in his follow-through during a first-division club match in Chennai.Ankit, 34, had the second-highest wickets for Puducherry in the 2024-25 Ranji season: 24 from seven matches at 28.95. He also scored 216 runs at 24.00. Rasheed, 20, who also turned out for Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in IPL 2025, was Andhra’s highest run-scorer in the last Ranji season, recording 627 runs in 12 innings at 52.25, which included a double-century against Hyderabad.Both Rasheed and Ankit had originally been named in South Zone’s stand-by list.South Zone will face North Zone in the semi-final, who qualified on the basis of a first-innings lead against East Zone in the quarter-final. In the other semi-final, Central Zone will face West Zone.South Zone squad
Mohammed Azharuddeen (capt & wk), Tanmay Agarwal, Shaik Rasheed, Devdutt Padikkal, Mohit Kale, Salman Nizar, N Jagadeesan (wk), T Vijay, Ankit Sharma, Tanay Thyagarajan, Vyshak Vijaykumar, MD Nidheesh, Ricky Bhui, Basil NP, Gurjapneet Singh, Snehal Kauthankar.

It’s been a turbulent six months for Ademola Lookman, who didn’t get his summer move and has now been told to never speak to Ivan Juric again after a touchline spat with the Atalanta manager.

The Nigerian reportedly handed in a formal transfer request in the summer, but saw his exit blocked by Atalanta. Taking to social media to reveal the news, Lookman said: “I feel I have no choice but to speak out for what I believe is right and I feel that enough is enough. I can confirm I have now handed in a formal transfer request.”

That move never arrived, however, and the former Everton player was forced to stay put at Atalanta as the summer transfer window came to a close. Since then, Atalanta have struggled to get going in Serie A – falling to as low as 11th.

Lookman, himself, has also struggled to find form and has scored just once in nine appearances across the Champions League and Serie A. Compared to last season’s 20-goal total, it’s fair to say that his standards have dropped.

It’s worth noting, though, that his current form has not been enough to dissuade Tottenham Hotspur. The Lilywhites have reportedly made Lookman their top target in 2026 as they look to sign the 28-year-old who is desperate to leave Atalanta.

This time around, the Italians may have no choice but to let the Nigeria international leave after his public spat with manager Juric. The former Southampton manager took hold of Lookman after he decided to substitute the winger in a 1-0 win over Marseille in the Champions League, before the pair exchanged heated words.

Fans flocked to social media in the aftermath to request a transfer on the winger’s behalf.

Lookman told to never speak to Juric again after touchline spat

Several pundits have had their say on the incident since the full-time whistle was blown in Italy, including former Premier League forward Troy Deeney.

The former Watford star went as far as to suggest that Lookman should never speak to Juric again, saying: “When you physically put your hands on somebody, at that point me and you are not going to have a conversation again. There’s nothing you can say today, tomorrow, next week, that makes me forget you did that to me in front of everyone.”

The one benefactor to the argument may well be Spurs. If those in North London were watching, then they’ll be well aware that things have reached boiling point in Italy – allowing them to take full advantage.

Ever since being denied a move in the summer, both Lookman and Atalanta have struggled to find top form. It begs the question as to whether they made the right decision to block the exit of an unhappy player.

Playing just his fourth IPL game, he took on an attack boasting 732 international caps and tore it to shreds

Karthik Krishnaswamy08-Apr-20252:37

Jaffer: Hope to see Arya in India colours soon

Virender Sehwag was a cricketer of many extraordinary gifts, but the thing that made him so different from other players with similar gifts in his era was an ability to distil the complex art of batting into a pursuit of crystal-clear simplicity. His philosophy could be condensed into two maxims: “forget the previous ball” and “see ball, hit ball”. The philosophy existed even before anyone needed to put words to it. He didn’t need to repeat the words to himself as the bowler ran in. They were already part of his very being.When Priyansh Arya, another opening batter from Delhi, took strike Tuesday night, he could have been excused if his previous ball was playing on his mind. That ball was a jaffa from Jofra Archer that had snaked from leg to top of off at 144.6kph and bowled him for a golden duck.From all available evidence, that ball occupied no part of Arya’s mind when he faced up to his first ball on Tuesday. From all available evidence, his only thought was some verbal or non-verbal version of “see ball, hit ball”. Khaleel Ahmed’s length was okay, and he even got a bit of swing away from the left-hand batter, but he gave Arya width, and he wasn’t going to stand around and let width go unpunished. He took a short step forward, but not across, so he could extend his arms fully and carve the ball high over backward point for six.Related

IPL star Priyansh Arya sets sights on Ranji Trophy

'I don't think about failures' – Priyansh Arya will go where his instincts take him

Did CSK delay retiring Conway out? 'They missed that point,' says Chawla

Fleming: 'We were sloppy in the field, we lacked accuracy under pressure'

Priyansh Arya racks up the records; CSK stack up the drops

Minimal footwork, still head, stable base, and a gloriously unconstrained bat-swing. A flashback in a mirror.Over the next four balls Arya faced, the flip side of that lack of footwork began to make itself felt. He was nearly out caught-and-bowled off the leading edge, and another edge lobbed just wide of short third.All this, however, was out of Arya’s mind when he faced up to the fifth legal ball of Khaleel’s over. Here was width again, and another chance to free his arms. The first six had gone behind square; this one went just in front, more punch than carve.This IPL 2025 game between Punjab Kings (PBKS) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK) kept giving Arya the chance to worry about the previous ball, or balls of comparable recency. Each time, he paid no heed, and chose instead to simply see the ball in front of him and give it a whack.PBKS had just lost their first wicket when he took strike for the first time in the second over. Mukesh Choudhary went short and erred marginally down the leg side, and Arya, standing more or less still but having enough time to shift his weight from front foot to back, hooked him for six.When he faced up in the fourth over, PBKS had just lost their second wicket, that of their captain Shreyas Iyer. It didn’t inhibit Arya in any way – it didn’t even stop him driving at catchable height through the off-side ring as he crashed Choudhary for three successive fours.

Arya’s century, which came off 39 balls, was the joint fourth-quickest in IPL history, and the quickest by an uncapped batter. If those facts didn’t make his innings special enough, throw in the fact that the others in the PBKS top six scored 0, 9, 4, 9 and 1

PBKS kept losing wickets, Arya kept playing his shots, and he didn’t stop even after he had come close to getting out. Another aerial square drive brushed the fingers of the diving point fielder, when PBKS were 49 for 2. They were 114 for 5 when a miscued loft ended up in the hands of long-off, only for the fielder to step on a boundary cushion.Arya’s instincts were keeping PBKS going at ten an over or thereabouts even when they were losing so many wickets. At the time of that fluffed chance at long-off, Arya had scored over 64% of PBKS’s runs. By the time he was out for 103 off 42 balls, he had upped that percentage to nearly 67.The century, which came off 39 balls, was the joint-fourth-quickest in IPL history, and the quickest by an uncapped batter. If those facts didn’t make his innings special enough, throw in the fact that the others in the PBKS top six scored 0, 9, 4, 9 and 1.Interviewed during the break between innings, Arya seemed to suggest that the conditions in Mullanpur demanded that he had to keep batting this way even as his partners came and went. PBKS had just set CSK a target of 220, and this is what he said when asked about the conditions and what he thought of his team’s chances: “The ball is coming on nicely. It is not turning much. We have to bowl in good areas and take as many wickets as we can in the powerplay.”Arya didn’t seem to think PBKS were safe despite the magnitude of their total, and they eventually only won by 18 runs.2:44

Is Arya’s ton the greatest IPL knock by an uncapped player?

This, increasingly, is the way of T20 – or certainly the way of the IPL. Teams batting first are loath to let early wickets – PBKS lost five in the first eight overs here – curtail their ambitions. Better lose big in the pursuit of possible victory than lose by a respectable margin having given up the chance of winning.Embracing this thinking takes doubt away from players like Arya, and gives them the license to be themselves, no matter what. After the match, PBKS captain Iyer said he had reinforced this message to Arya after his first-baller against Archer.”When I had a chat with him in the last game, he was a bit timid in terms of his decision-making when he faced Jofra,” Iyer said. “Today, when he went out to bat, he was like, ‘I’m just backing my instincts – I saw the ball pitched in my area and I was just free-flowing’. And that’s the mindset I want each and every individual playing in the team to have. One odd day, you don’t have it your way, but today he kept on going, he was fearless, and it basically was one of the top knocks I’ve seen in the IPL so far.”In his post-match press conference, CSK head coach Stephen Fleming noted how Arya’s willingness to take on risk, in the circumstances PBKS were in, had shifted pressure back onto the bowlers.”It’s very brave, when you come off a first-ball dismissal, to look to play a shot like that,” Fleming said. “Our fault was we were too wide. The plan was to bowl straight, at the stumps, and create some pressure that way. The first ball we bowled straight, we created a caught-and-bowled chance, and that [had it been caught] changes the night quite drastically.Priyansh Arya made a 39-ball hundred•BCCI”So we were just a little sloppy. We were put under pressure, and the young man hit some amazing shots. We succumbed a little bit to that pressure by putting the ball in areas that he was stronger in, and we just didn’t adjust quick enough. He countered us, he played some beautiful shots.”When batsmen at the other end are faltering, it’s pretty special to go out and create the innings yourself, and that was what he was doing for a majority of the game.”As Fleming observed, Arya’s innings was special not just for his uncluttered, unfettered mindset but the quality of his shot-making too. PBKS wanted both these things when they fought off furious interest from Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) to sign Arya for INR 3.8 crore, more than ten times his base price, at the last auction.At times on Tuesday, Arya deceived you into thinking he was merely putting bad balls away, so simple did he make his stand-and-deliver method look. But every so often he played a shot that made you gasp.He went from 47 to 53, for instance, by exposing all his stumps against a ball that R Ashwin fired towards middle and leg, and flat-batting it over wide long-off.Priyansh Arya hit seven fours and nine sixes in his 42-ball 103•BCCIThen, on 80, Matheesha Pathirana slung a low full-toss across Arya from over the wicket. It was just inside the wide guideline when it reached the batter. It was close to being a well-executed wide yorker, and Arya opened his bat face and sliced underneath the ball to send it flying flat and effortless over the backward-point boundary.And he hit an even better shot next ball. This was a genuinely good ball from Pathirana, skidding towards Arya’s left hip from just short of a length, giving him barely any room to work with and barely any time. Or so you thought until his bat came scything across the ball and slightly underneath it to half-pull, half-shovel it over the midwicket boundary.A relatively regulation pull brought him another six off the next ball, and the century came up off the ball after that, via an edged four to third. He was batting on 102 off 39 balls, and the other six PBKS batters who had batted up to this point had, between them, scored 46 off 40 balls. This 24-year-old playing just his fourth IPL game, with no first-class experience and just 25 domestic white-ball games coming into this tournament, had taken on an attack boasting 732 international caps and torn it to shreds.

While their performances last year and at the start of the season suggest otherwise, West Ham United do have a talented squad.

The likes of Freddie Potts, Jarrod Bowen, Mateus Fernandes, Aaron Wan-Bissaka, El Hadji Malick Diouf and Kyle Walker-Peters are all good to great players who will help move the East Londoners away from a Premier League relegation scrap as the season goes on.

However, one area of the team that the Hammers have consistently failed to address is up top, with neither Niclas Füllkrug nor Callum Wilson good enough to lead the line.

Fortunately, West Ham are now being linked with an inform number nine who could end their striker curse and was even linked to Harry Kane as a youngster.

West Ham target Füllkrug and Wilson upgrade

Before his injury, Füllkrug had made seven appearances for West Ham this season, in which he failed to score or assist a single goal, which makes news of his likely departure in January rather welcome to most fans.

Transfer Focus

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

Wilson, on the other hand, has been able to find the back of the net twice, in fact, but even so, he has hardly blown anyone away in his nine appearances so far this season, and with his injury record being what it is, he cannot be relied upon.

So, with all that in mind, it’s clear that the East Londoners are in desperate need of a new striker once the window opens, and fortunately, that might happen.

According to a recent report from Turkey, West Ham are among several sides interested in man of the moment, Troy Parrott.

Alongside the Hammers, the report claims that Everton, Leeds United and Stuttgart are keen on signing the Irish international from AZ Alkmaar, who want at least €30m for him, which is about £26m.

It could be a tough transfer to get over the line, but with how well Parrott has played in recent years, and how much of an upgrade on Füllkrug and Wilson he’d be, it’s one worth fighting for.

Why Parrott would be massive upgrade on Wilson & Füllkrug

It’s the obvious place to start, but it’s also the most important: Parrott would be a huge upgrade on Wilson and Füllkrug because he’s simply the better goalscorer.

For example, while the two West Ham strikers have just two goals between them this season, the Irishman has already racked up an astounding tally of 13 goals and two assists in 14 appearances, totalling 928 minutes.

That comes out to a sensational average of 1.07 goal involvements every game, or one every 61.86 minutes.

Appearances

14

Starts

11

Minutes

928′

Goals

13

Assists

2

Goal Involvements per Match

1.07

Minutes per Goal Involvement

61.86′

Points per Game

2.21

Such an incredible rate of return makes the claim of one analyst, made over five years ago, that he was “reminiscent of Harry Kane” as a youngster look rather reasonable today.

It’s not just this season that the former Tottenham Hotspur gem has been on fire, though, as he ended last season with an excellent haul of 20 goals and five assists in 47 games.

With that said, the second reason he’d be an excellent upgrade on the Hammers’ ageing forwards is that he’s still just 23 years old, and therefore has plenty left in the tank.

Moreover, while he did have some injury problems early on in his career, he has not missed more than nine games for club and country in any of the last three campaigns.

Finally, as was made quite clear over the last week or so, the Dublin-born game-changer is someone for the big occasions.

For example, he scored both goals in Ireland’s 2-0 win over Portugal, and then followed that up with what is already a legendary hat-trick against Hungary, securing the country’s place in the World Cup play-offs.

Moreover, his third goal was practically the final kick of the game, suggesting he isn’t someone to flap under the most immense of pressure.

Ultimately, while it might be difficult to get ahead of the other interested parties, West Ham should be doing all they can to sign Parrott in January, as he might be the man to end their striker curse.

£67m spent & no Wilson or Fullkrug: Nuno's dream West Ham XI after January

This is the dream West Ham starting line-up that Nuno could build in the January window.

ByJack Salveson Holmes Nov 15, 2025

Liverpool's nightmare defence of their Premier League title took a turn for the worse on Saturday as Nottingham Forest ripped the Reds apart at Anfield. In a game that saw more than one moment of VAR controversy, Forest struck three times, courtesy of efforts from Murillo, Nicolo Savona and Morgan Gibbs-White, to leave a shellshocked Arne Slot potentially fearing for his job.

After Alexis Mac Allister and Milos Kerkez probably both should've scored, disaster struck for the hosts as Murillo slotted home following Liverpool's failure to clear from a corner. It was a controversial moment in a first-half that was full of them, with VAR ruling that Dan Ndoye wasn't interfering with Alisson depsite being very close to the Brazilian goalkeeper's eyeline. Moments later it could've easily been two – Igor Jesus somewhat harshly being adjudged to have handled the ball after controlling Ibrahima Konate's hopeless attempt to clear, with referee Andy Madley blowing to penalise the Forest forward and chalk off his goal.

If Slot had given his side a rollicking at the half-time break it didn't seem to have an impact as Forest came racing out of the blocks and found a second – Savona getting on the scoresheet this time after some suspect defending allowed Neco Williams to escape in the box and find the Italian completely free to be able to pick his spot. It would get worse before the end, too, with Gibbs-White making it 3-0 after 78 minutes to stun Anfield into silence and leave Slot wondering what on earth he needs do to get the Reds back on track.

GOAL rates Liverpool's players from Anfield…

Getty Images SportGoalkeeper & Defence

Alisson Becker (5/10):

His first outing since September and could do nothing to stop any of the goals.

Dominik Szoboszlai (3/10):

Stationed at right-back but drifted inside and further forward to create the extra man. Should've got a lot tighter to Murillo for the first Forest goal.

Ibrahima Konate (3/10):

VAR saved him after he was caught out by Igor Jesus for the controversial handball incident. Sacrificed soon after half-time when Liverpool fell two behind.

Virgil van Dijk (3/10):

On his heels as the ball flew past him from Anderson's corner, leading to Murillo's opening goal. A visiting side shouldn't be scoring three at Anfield on his watch.

Milos Kerkez (3/10):

Should've done far better with a huge first-half chance perfectly set-up for him by Salah. Was a bit hit-and-hope with his crossing as Liverpool looked for a way back and was eventually hooked.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportMidfield

Ryan Gravenberch (3/10):

Heart-in-mouth moment when the studs in his right boot somewhat inadvertently made contact with Ibrahim Sangare's calf but VAR chose not to get involved. Nowhere near as dominant and majestic in midfield as he usually is.

Alexis Mac Allister (3/10):

Thought he'd scored in the first half only for Elliot Anderson's head to deny him a certain goal. Was weak in the challenge as Williams somehow escaped him to create Forest's second.

Curtis Jones (3/10):

Didn't contribute nearly enough. Caught in possession and at one point in the first half was turned all ends up by Anderson, an emblematic moment showing where both are in the England World Cup squad stakes.

Getty Images SportAttack

Mohamed Salah (5/10):

Flashes of brilliance at times, including the mazy run that set-up the Kerkez chance but had very few opportunities to cut in and shoot on that lethal left foot as Forest defenders gobbled him up.

Alexander Isak (2/10): 

Hardly had a kick. Still without a Premier League goal for Liverpool and he wasn't even close to breaking his duck here, with Slot deciding enough was enough after 68 minutes.

Cody Gakpo (5/10):

Looked a constant threat in the first-half with his driving runs but faded in the second. Fell asleep as Savona ran off him to score the visitors' second.

ENJOYED THIS STORY?

Add GOAL.com as a preferred source on Google to see more of our reporting

Getty Images SportSubs & Manager

Hugo Ekitike (5/10):

Brought on for Konate but had little impact.

Federico Chiesa (5/10):

Replaced Isak but couldn't turn the tide, smashing one presentable chance over the bar.

Andy Robertson (4/10):

On for Kerkez with a little over 20 minutes left and couldn't get anywhere near Omari Hutchinson as he cut inside and shot to force the third goal.

Rio Ngumoha (N/A):

On late on and it was game over by that point.

Arne Slot (3/10):

An absolute shocker of a result. He would've expected to beat Forest at home to try to get things moving back in the right direction but this was truly the stuff of nightmares. The heat's now really on and things will need to change, and quickly. Dropping Isak wouldn't be the worst place to start…

After a turbulent summer, the Yankees are officially returning to the postseason.

In a season filled with ups and downs, the Bronx Bombers officially punched their ticket back to the playoffs on Tuesday night with a 3–2 walk-off win against the White Sox. Pinch hitter José Caballero came through as he looped a Brandon Eisert breaking ball into center field, scoring star Aaron Judge from second base.

At 89–68, New York has officially clinched a wild-card berth. But the Yankees still have a shot to potentially win a hotly contested American League East. The Red Sox beat the first-place Blue Jays 4–1 on Tuesday night, and the second-place Yankees now reside just one game behind Toronto in the division. The Red Sox have yet to clinch a postseason berth officially, but are on the cusp at 86–71 on the season and four games back in the division race.

The Yankees would love to earn another opportunity to represent the American League in the World Series, and took another step towards that goal on Tuesday.

And what’s the highest ODI total without a century?

Steven Lynch03-Jun-2025Harshal Patel recently took his 150th wicket in the IPL. How many have reached this landmark? asked Mohan Arshad from India
The Sunrisers seamer Harshal Patel reached 150 IPL wickets when he dismissed the Super Giants opener Aiden Markram in Lucknow last week.Harshal was the 13th to reach 150 wickets in the IPL. Legspinner Yuzvendra Chahal leads the way with 220 as I write, with Bhuvneshwar Kumar (196) and Sunil Narine (192) lurking in the 190s. All Narine’s 192 came for Kolkata Knight Riders, the record for one franchise, while Chahal is currently the leading wicket-taker for two, with 139 for Royal Challengers Bangalore and 66 for Rajasthan Royals.The next to 150 will probably be the Rajasthan Royals seamer Sandeep Sharma, who currently sits on 146. Umesh Yadav, who did not appear in the 2025 IPL, has 144 wickets, while New Zealand’s Trent Boult has 143.Was England’s 400 the other day the highest ODI total without a century? asked Michael Robertson from England
England’s 400 for 8 against West Indies at Edgbaston last week was the 28th total of 400 or more in one-day internationals (but the first one of exactly 400).It was indeed the highest ODI total without a century, the highest individual contribution being Jacob Bethell’s 82. The previous highest was South Africa’s 392 for 6 against Pakistan in Centurion in 2007, when Jacques Kallis finished with 88 not out. It was also the highest ODI total without a hundred partnership – just: when England made 399 for 9 against South Africa in Bloemfontein in 2016, the biggest stand was one of 97.All of England’s top seven at Edgbaston reached 30, another first for ODIs. The nearest approach before was by South Africa against England in Bloemfontein in 2023, when Heinrich Klaasen was out for 27 and the rest all passed 30. That was one of 16 instances of six of the top seven all reaching 30. In four of those cases only six men batted and all of them made it to 30.Harry Brook took five catches in the field at Edgbaston. Was this an ODI record? asked Jamie Salisbury from England
Yorkshire’s Harry Brook marked his first match as England’s official white-ball captain (he also stood in for Jos Buttler last year) by hanging on to five catches as West Indies subsided to 162 all out at Edgbaston last week. He was only the second outfielder to take five catches in an ODI innings, after Jonty Rhodes for South Africa against West Indies at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai in 1993. Rhodes also scored 40, so Brook – who crunched a rapid 58 – is the first to combine five catches in an ODI with a half-century.Brook was the second outfielder to take five catches in an ODI innings, but the first to combine it with a fifty•PA Photos/Getty ImagesJayden Seales top-scored from No. 11 in the Edgbaston ODI. Has this happened before? asked Keeley White from England
Jayden Seales hit 29 not out after coming in at No. 11 for West Indies at Edgbaston last week, the highest score in their underwhelming innings of 162. Seales was the seventh No. 11 to top-score in a men’s ODI innings. The first to do it was New Zealand’s Chris Pringle, against West Indies in Guwahati in 1994, and he has been followed by Peter Ongondo for Kenya vs West Indies in Nairobi in 2001, Shane Bond for New Zealand vs Australia in the Champions Trophy in Colombo in 2002, Shoaib Akhtar for Pakistan vs England in Cape Town during the 2003 World Cup (his 43 was the highest score involved in this record), Rumman Raees for Pakistan vs New Zealand in Dunedin in 2018, and Craig Young for Ireland vs South Africa in Abu Dhabi in 2024.There have also been two instances of joint top scores from the No. 11: by Joel Garner with 37 for West Indies against India at Old Trafford during the 1983 World Cup, when No. 9 Andy Roberts scored 37 not out, and Mohammad Amir for Pakistan vs England at Trent Bridge in 2016, when Sharjeel Khan also made 58.It has also happened 12 times in men’s Tests.There’s even been an instance in a men’s T20I : when West Indies struggled to 125 for 9 against New Zealand in Kingston in 2022, the highest score came from Obed McCoy at No. 11. There are two other borderline cases: Rwanda’s 115 against Malawi in Kigali in 2021 included 20s from No. 9 Zappy Bimenyimana and Pankaj Vekaria at No. 11. And when Afghanistan were skittled for 116 by Pakistan in Sharjah in 2023, the highest score was 21 from Azmatullah Omarzai at No. 11 – but a batter had retired hurt earlier, and a concussion substitute came in after Omarzai at No. 12!I spotted that Len Hutton and Cyril Washbrook shared century opening partnerships in both innings of a Test twice, both against Australia. Have any other pair of openers done this twice? asked AK Srivastava from India
Len Hutton and Cyril Washbrook put on opening stands of 137 and 100 for England against Australia in Adelaide early in 1947, and the following August shared stands of 168 and 129 in the Ashes Test at Headingley – the match famously won by Australia, who chased down 404 on the final day.The feat of century opening stands in both innings has been achieved only 12 times in all Tests, and Hutton and Washbrook are the only pair to have done it twice. The only other name to appear twice is Pakistan’s Abdullah Shafique, who has been involved in the last two instances: against Bangladesh in Chattogram in 2021 he put on 146 and 151 with Abid Ali, while against Australia in Rawalpindi in 2022 he shared first-wicket stands of 105 and 252 (unbroken) with Imam-ul-Haq.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions