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Sixth-wicket stand of 111 leads response to Derbyshire’s 377

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay30-Jul-2025 Northamptonshire 265 for 5 (Broad 64*, Bartlett 60*) trail Derbyshire 377 (Andersson 105, Procter 71*, Chahal 6-118) by 112 runsGeorge Bartlett and Justin Broad shared an unbroken sixth-wicket partnership of 111 to lead the Northamptonshire recovery in response to Derbyshire’s total of 377 at Wantage Road.Bartlett equalled his season’s best of 60 not out, made in the opening round of the Rothesay County Championship, while Broad struck an unbeaten 64 as the pair batted through the evening session, having joined forces at 154 for five.Northamptonshire captain Luke Procter anchored his side’s innings with a gritty 71 at the top of the order before becoming one of a trio of departures in quick succession prior to tea.Earlier, Indian leg-spinner Yuzvendra Chahal picked up the final two Derbyshire wickets to register figures of six for 118, his best in the County Championship.Derbyshire resumed on 348 for eight and Ben Aitchison wasted no time in securing their third batting bonus point, clubbing Liam Guthrie’s first delivery of the morning to the cover fence.Aitchison looked on course to reach a first-class half-century for only the second time in his career, but he departed five short of that landmark, chopping Chahal back onto leg stump.The spinner soon wrapped up Derbyshire’s innings as Blair Tickner – having blazed a couple of boundaries off George Scrimshaw – took an ambitious swing and was caught at slip off a thick edge.With ball in hand, Tickner then sent down a fiery opening spell, generating plenty of pace and bounce and earning his reward by removing Ricardo Vasconcelos with a delivery that swung in to hit the left-hander on the pads.Procter and Lewis McManus – who was awarded his county cap prior to the start of play – saw their side through to lunch, not without the odd scare as debutant Joe Hawkins’ first ball found the edge of the skipper’s bat but fell just short of slip.The visitors struck in the first over after the interval, when McManus misjudged the line from Zak Chappell and was caught behind, but James Sales started perkily as he dispatched Hawkins for two cover boundaries.Meanwhile, Procter withstood a barrage of short-pitched bowling from Tickner, emerging unscathed after he ducked into a bouncer and continued to accumulate, guiding Aitchison to the rope at third man to bring up his half-century.Northamptonshire’s third-wicket partnership yielded 74 before Luis Reece achieved the breakthrough, tempting Sales to drive outside off stump and Harry Came clasped the catch at cover.Reece prised out Procter, foxing the batter with a slower ball that trapped him in front and Derbyshire also removed the in-form Saif Zaib on the stroke of tea, caught behind to provide Hawkins with his first senior wicket.Bartlett made a scratchy start but began to open up in the wake of Procter’s exit, lifting Hawkins over the top for four and responding to another pounding by Tickner with a classy straight drive back over the bowler’s head.He was soon overtaken by Broad, whose tendency towards the pull shot almost proved his downfall when he miscued Tickner to leg slip, only for the ball to drop just in front of the stretching Caleb Jewell.However, it was Bartlett who won the race to 50, pummelling Reece for six and four in quick succession and Broad soon followed suit, capitalising on the left-armer’s full toss to find the boundary.

Sunderland boss Regis Le Bris admitted to making a sly tactical tweak to try and prevent Arsenal's long throws. It was one of those epic Premier League encounters that saw Arsenal’s title charge momentarily halted by the fearless Black Cats, who matched the intensity of their more illustrious rivals in every department and also employed some unusual help.

• A thrilling night at the Stadium of Light

  Dan Ballard gave Sunderland a surprise lead midway through the first half. He headed home from close range after Arsenal failed to clear a corner. It was absolutely deserving for the hosts to have their noses in front after a spell of intense pressure that rattled Mikel Arteta’s men. 

  Arsenal regrouped after the interval and eventually found their rhythm as they pinned Sunderland back. Bukayo Saka drew the visitors level with a poacher’s finish in the 54th minute, and 20 minutes later, Leandro Trossard produced a moment of brilliance by curling a stunning strike into the top corner to give Arsenal a 2-1 lead. At that point, it looked like the league leaders would grind out yet another comeback win. However, Sunderland had other ideas. In the fourth minute of stoppage time, Ballard flicked on a hopeful long throw into the Arsenal area. Fortunately, it fell for Brian Brobbey, who contorted his body mid-air to steer a bicycle kick past the onrushing David Raya. The excitement hit the roof as the Dutch striker had secured a point for Sunderland out of nowhere, as Arteta looked on in despair. 

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  Le Bris spills the beans

  After the game, Le Bris revealed that the Black Cats had moved the advertising boards closer to the touchline before kick-off. This drastically cut down the run-up space that Arsenal’s players use to hurl the ball deep into the penalty area from a throw-in. Hence, the Gunners were robbed of one of their growing set-piece weapons. And, as it turned out, the tactic actually worked. Arsenal had limited potency in their aerial assaults and failed to take advantage of their usual dominance from throw-ins. After the game, Le Bris could barely hide his satisfaction when asked about the subtle act of gamesmanship.

  He told BBC Sport when quizzed about the hoardings: "Yeah, we tried to find the details to win the game. They are really strong on set-pieces, and we were good as well. It was absolutely obvious this threat was really important for this game, and in the end, it was balanced."

  For Le Bris, the result was a validation of his team’s belief: "The lads worked hard to the end. They believed it was possible to change the dynamic. It was a tough game, as we expected. They are probably one of the best teams in Europe. We struggled, but we still believed it was possible to score one more goal. Our fans helped a lot. We showed before that it was possible [to score late goals], so now we have this faith, this belief that until the final whistle, anything is possible. We were on the edge sometimes, but we’re a new squad, we’re young. We felt their pressure, their intensity. We felt the quality. We were on the edge during the second half."

• Arteta was frustrated but proud

  Arteta was visibly frustrated after the final whistle. Arsenal had dominated large stretches of the match and appeared poised to claim another victory before Brobbey’s late strike.

  "Really tough test, we knew that. The way they set up, credit to them because they made it difficult for you," he said.

  "They take the game constantly to the areas that they want. You have to deal with that and very unfortunately, at the end, we conceded a goal. The time that was added tells you the story of the game. It's normal, each team tries to do their best and we do the same. Yeah, it is two direct balls and we lose the flicks – it is the same action. Credit to the opposition, it is not the first time they've done it. They committed a lot of players forward at the end with Ballard and created chaos – in any moment they can score a goal. That is the reason they are where they are."

  Yet, Arteta lavished praise on his players for their efforts and said, "So overall, we’re disappointed with the result, but so proud of the players because putting into perspective what they’ve done in the last 10 games, winning all of them with the amount of clean sheets that they had, with seven players injured."

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  A history of smart tactics

  Interestingly, this wasn’t the first time Sunderland have used this advertising-board trick, as they reportedly employed the same tactic during last season’s Championship play-off clash against Coventry City. It worked then, too. Sunderland went on to beat Coventry and later Sheffield United, sealing promotion to the Premier League. Next up, Sunderland face a tricky trip to Fulham, while Arsenal prepare for the north London showdown with Tottenham after the international break.

The Philadelphia Phillies know how to have a good time.

During Friday night's game against the Los Angeles Angels, the Phillies gave their home fans at Citizens Bank Park a show with a hilarious parody of the viral kiss cam moment that happened at a Coldplay concert earlier this week.

During the standard kiss cam segment of the game, and with Coldplay's "Clocks" playing in the background, the jumbotron showed none other than Phillie Phanatic cozying up to a female mascot in the stands. Phillie Phanatic looked startled as ever to be caught on camera and dove to the ground in the same panicked manner as the Astronomer CEO, eliciting lots of laughter from the crowd.

The stadium played an audio clip of Coldplay lead singer Chris Martin during the parody: "Uh-oh, what? Either they’re having an affair or they’re just very shy."

Just too good.

On top of that, the stadium's cameras panned to another couple right after and showed the man holding a sign that read, "This IS My Wife"—a very necessary clarification during these chaotic times.

Fast bowler deserves happy ending to mighty 16-year career, but form is a concern for NZ

Vithushan Ehantharajah07-Dec-2024The cheers were loud. Too loud considering the on-field celebrations were muted.Tim Southee’s four-over spell before tea had seen off Jacob Bethell and Ben Duckett as both rounded on centuries. Steady into the nineties, they found themselves on the wrong end of a veteran seamer who has made a healthy career out of ending dreams on a fourth-stump line. Shifty positions on the crease from around the wicket felt like a throwback. The only thing missing was joy from the man responsible.In the stands and on the grassbanks they hooted and hollered rather than roared: more for Southee, in his final appearance at the Basin Reserve, than the situation. England had taken care of New Zealand’s first innings quick enough to begin their second innings at 11:54am with a lead of 155. They were 366 in front when Duckett, on 92, lazily guided Southee onto his stumps when aiming down to third. Bethell’s earlier push-drive looked borne out of nerves on 96 – a new personal best – one shot away from his first century in professional cricket.Southee’s disposition throughout was distinctly Danny Glover. One match away from retirement, tired and, aged 35 with the creak of over 23,000 deliveries in his joints, finally too old for this for this s***.The ignominy of being the final skittle of Gus Atkinson’s hat-trick felt unbecoming, especially in only the second of 153 innings as a No.11. His own imperfect hat-trick duly followed; opening up England’s second innings and seeing the first two deliveries blazed through cover for successive boundaries by Zak Crawley. Crawley, a man averaging 9.44 in New Zealand, who just over 24 hours earlier had hit a six in the first over of the Test when he sent Southee back over his head.When Southee announced this series was to be his last, there was a romanticism about calling time against the same side he faced on debut back in March 2008. The reality has been far from idyllic. An awkward nightmarish mix of politeness and brutality.England have targeted Southee – as well as every other Kiwi bowler, to be fair – after he troubled them on day two of the first Test, in seam-friendly conditions. Since taking 2 for 85 in the first innings at Hagley Oval, Southee had gone 0 for 136 runs in the 22.5 overs up to Bethell’s dismissal. Should he not add to the two wickets he currently has – for 72 runs so far in 14 overs – it will be 24 innings since he last took three or more wickets (against Sri Lanka in February 2023).His bowling average has now crept the wrong side of 30. His pace, naturally, is down to 128kph in this Test. The conclusion of the farewell tour in Hamilton next week will be Southee’s 11th Test of 2024. It has been the busiest year of his Test career, one in which he also relinquished the Test captaincy. With just 15 wickets at 61.66, it is also comfortably his worst.There is no denying this has been a grizzly final stanza to a genuinely great career. But great things do not always have great endings.Related

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France’s legendary footballer Zinedine Zidane bowed out too literally, sent off after burying his head into the chest of Marco Materazzi in the 2006 World Cup Final, which Italy went on to win. See also: Don Bradman’s duck in his final knock. And the last season of Test careers, in particular, are tricky to end. It was only five months ago that James Anderson, now sitting on the England balcony as a bowling consultant, was bumped off, forced to call it a day after a one-Test finale at the start of the summer. The game’s most productive seamer, an artist, discarded then repurposed like scrap metal.At the end other end of the spectrum was Stuart Broad’s note-perfect walk into the sunset at the end of the 2023 summer. A rare combination of pageantry and high drama, Broad was celebrated for the last two days of the Oval Test, before finishing it off with the last Australian wicket with his final delivery, earning his side a 2-2 draw in the Ashes.Whisper it, but Southee’s retirement parade is feeling a lot like more like Anderson’s when the desire would have been Broad’s. Inevitable yet no less emotional, but with a nagging sense the time to move on might have already passed.Anderson has spoken since about wanting to cling on, largely because the decision came against his will. Southee at least has the comfort of personal closure. “I’ve really loved working with these exciting young bowlers and watching them perform at the highest level,” he said last month. “Now it’s their turn to take this team forward and they know I’ll always be there to support, from near or far.”Truth be told, it should have been “their turn” here in Wellington. The sentimentality of this series is weighted heavily on that final Test at Seddon Park, Southee’s home ground. Resting for this second Test would have been the smart play on a number of fronts, though Black Caps skipper Tom Latham said pre-match that the thought of parking Southee was never entertained.With three matches back-to-back, it was always going to be a stretch, physically, to make it through intact. Now the issue is seemingly on merit.Not that New Zealand will make that decision. That would be wildly out of sync with how the current set-up operates and the deserved last rites of a legend.But it is hard to shake the fact that Southee’s situation represents a wider stasis with the team. A chastening Saturday highlighted that, with New Zealand already out of this second Test with three days still to play. Likewise the continued absence of Will Young, player of the series in a 3-0 victory over India that looks more and more like an outlier each day.On the flip side, no amount of revisionism can dull what Southee has achieved, regardless of how the next three days here play out. But he would certainly wish his final weeks as a Test cricketer were more enjoyable than this.

Forty players listed at the maximum base price of INR 2 crore; Venkatesh Iyer and Ravi Bishnoi the only Indians among them

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Dec-20258:03

Will KKR go all-out to get Cameron Green in?

A total of 359 players are set to feature in the IPL 2026 mini-auction on December 16 in Abu Dhabi. Of these, 40 players have listed themselves for the maximum base price of INR 2 crore, with Venkatesh Iyer and Ravi Bishnoi the only Indians among them.Cameron Green, who is tipped to become the most expensive buy, has listed himself as a batter and will appear in the first set. Devon Conway, Jake Fraser-McGurk, Sarfaraz Khan, David Miller and Prithvi Shaw are the others in that set.Quinton de Kock, Dunith Wellalage, and George Linde, who were not part of the longlist, have been included in the final list.Related

• Classy de Kock shows shades of old at just the right time

• IPL 2026: How the squads stack up ahead of the auction

• IPL auction: Green could be biggest buy, but can't cross INR 18 crore mark

Of the 359 players shortlisted, 244 are Indian and 115 from overseas. The auction will commence with a full round of capped players. The order will be batters, allrounders, wicketkeepers, fast bowlers and spinners, followed by a full round of uncapped players. The accelerated process will begin after player No. 70 and will cover the rest of the players. The franchises will then be asked to submit the names of the unsold players from the overall list for further accelerated rounds.A total of 77 slots are available to be filled at the auction, including 31 for overseas players. Kolkata Knight Riders have the biggest purse of INR 64.30 crore and also have 13 slots left to fill, including six overseas slots. Chennai Super Kings are the next with INR 43.4 crores. They have nine slots vacant.