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Celtic have plenty of new arrivals in their sights and are said to be plotting a move for a Premier League midfielder to bolster their engine room, according to reports.

Celtic look to bring in new recruits after Hayato Inamura

Hayato Inamura has flown to the UK to join Celtic and will sign on the dotted line for £250,000 after Albirex Niigata confirmed his exit, making him the Bhoys’ fifth signing of the summer after Kieran Tierney, Benjamin Nygren, Callum Osmand and Ross Doohan.

Despite the Bhoys’ hunt for a central defender, pundit Roger Hannah believes Inamura could head out on loan to gain experience rather than sticking around to cut his teeth at Parkhead.

He stated: “I don’t think Inamura will see the first team next season. I think the plan might be to either loan him straight back to his club in Japan or loan him to a European league.”

“It would be a huge leap for the lad to go from the level he has been playing at and straight into the Celtic first team. I think it’s too big a leap.”

Either way, Celtic have set their sights on further signings after the 23-year-old, and the Hoops could bring in Cathal O’Sullivan from Cork City despite interest from Brentford and Preston North End in his services.

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Keita Kosugi has also been mooted as a potential Celtic signing amid interest from the Scottish Premiership champions in the Djurgardens full-back, though it remains to be seen if they can push a deal over the line.

Now, a new name has come to the fore in their search for talent, and he may pique the attention of supporters due to his recent accomplishments.

Celtic prepare bid for Tyler Morton

According to reports, Celtic are preparing an offer for Liverpool midfielder Tyler Morton, who is said to be valued at around £15 million by the reigning Premier League champions.

Rodgers is an admirer of the 22-year-old and has extensive knowledge of his talents due to his connections with the Anfield club, where Morton was a youngster in the academy when the Hoops boss was in charge.

It is said that he could leave Merseyside in search of regular first-team football following the arrival of Florian Wirtz.

Tyler Morton’s senior appearances at Liverpool

Appearances

14

Goals

0

Assists

1

West Ham United, Braga, Ajax and Club Brugge are also interested in the holding midfielder, and suitors are only likely to grow due to his role in England Under-21’s claiming European Championship glory under Lee Carsley.

Labelled a “quality” player by Reds boss Arne Slot, AXA Training Centre graduate Morton maintained an 87.6% pass success rate at the tournament and could provide an adequate alternative to Callum McGregor in the six position.

Celtic’s club captain isn’t getting any younger, so it makes sense for Rodgers to put a succession plan in place to provide strength in depth for the long-term.

Arsenal are busy restructuring Mikel Arteta’s squad behind-the-scenes, with a few noteworthy exits anticipated before deadline day on September 1.

Players who could leave Arsenal this summer

Marquinhos, Kieran Tierney, Jorginho and Salah-Eddine Oulad M’Hand have already left the club, as confirmed by Arsenal.

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Tierney and Oulad M’Hand were named as the departing players via Arsenal’s retained list earlier this month, joining a host of senior and academy players out the door, with Neto and Raheem Sterling also returning to their parent clubs.

Arsenal transfer spending under Arteta (via Sky Sports)

Money on new signings

19/20 – winter

£0

20/21 – summer

£81.5m

20/21 – winter

£900k

21/22 – summer

£156.8m

21/22 – winter

£1.8m

22/23 – summer

£121.5m

22/23 – winter

£59m

23/24 – summer

£208m

23/24 – winter

£0

24/25 – summer

£101.5m

24/25 – winter

£0

Marquinhos signed for Cruzeiro on a permanent deal following his initial loan spell in Brazil, while Jorginho’s contract was terminated before June 30, so he could join Flamengo early and in time for this summer’s Club World Cup.

Thomas Partey is still in talks to extend his Arsenal contract, which is why he wasn’t included in the Gunners’ retained list, but as yet, no agreement has been reached for the Ghanaian’s renewal.

“I think the first thing is where are you happy and where do you feel at home. At the end of the day you’ve been in football, you’ve been in different teams,” said Partey, speaking about his future in an interview with 3Sports this week.

“Then it’s about what is your next objective what do you want to achieve next. You still have to look at all this and at the end of the day we all have a family that needs money, this is our mind.

“We are not getting younger. There are a lot of things where you have to look now with a family, where you want them to be happy. When you are young you just play anywhere.

“I’m an Arsenal fan, I can’t decide anything and just have to leave it to my agent and the club. Me, I just want to enjoy football.”

Until the ink is dry on paper, Partey’s potential exit remains a possibility. According to Italian newspaper La Gazzetta dello Sport, the African could be joined by both Jakub Kiwior and Oleksandr Zinchenko.

Arsenal hold AC Milan meeting over Kiwior and Zinchenko sale

La Gazzetta reporter Marco Guidi says that an emissary from AC Milan travelled to London and held a summit with Arsenal on Tuesday, with both Kiwior and Zinchenko discussed and targeted by the Rossoneri.

The duo, on a combined £208,000-per-week and further down Arteta’s pecking order, are prime candidates to leave north London this summer and Guidi writes that Arsenal could sell Zinchenko for less than £13 million.

Kiwior is also a popular name inside Milan, having impressed alongside William Saliba when Gabriel was out injured, not to mention performing well for Poland at international level.

The 25-year-old is a proven Serie A player from his time at Spezia as well, leaving little wonder Milan are considering Kiwior with Zinchenko as they look to strengthen after a disappointing 24/25 campaign.

There may well be two Premier League games left to play, but that hasn’t stopped what’s now a pretty consistent stream of transfer rumours regarding Arsenal.

Mikel Arteta’s side are set to end the campaign trophyless for the fifth year running, so it’s no surprise that the board are already seemingly hard at work looking for the player who can get them over the line next season.

The first player set to come through the door once the window opens next month looks set to be Martin Zubimendi, with transfers expert Fabrizio Romano giving the move the ‘here we go treatment’ late last week.

Adding the Spanish international will undoubtedly improve the North Londoner, but if recent reports are to be believed, the club are now targeting another international who’d be an even more exciting signing.

Arsenal looking to sign exciting winger

The last few weeks have seen Arsenal linked with several incredibly talented internationals, such as Ollie Watkins and Antoine Semenyo.

Transfer Focus

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

The former was a surprise target for the club in January, and while they failed with a £50m offer then, they are still fans of him ahead of the summer, and as he’s racked up a haul of 30 goal involvements in 52 games this season, it’s not hard to see why.

Likewise, with 11 goals and seven assists to his name in 40 games for Bournemouth this season, it’s not hard to understand why Arteta and Co might be keen to add Semenyo to the squad, who could be available for around £42m.

However, for a player to be an even more exciting addition to the team than Zubimendi, they’ve got to be one of the most sought-after in their position, such as Nico Williams.

Yes, according to a recent report from Spain, Arsenal have maintained their intense interest in the Athletic Bilbao monster going into the summer.

In fact, the report has revealed that Andrea Berta has made the Spaniard a ‘top priority’ and that with him believing it’s a time for a change of scenery, the Gunners are in a ‘fierce battle’ with Chelsea for his signature.

The report does not mention a transfer fee, but stories from earlier this week have reiterated claims that the 22-year-old has a release clause in his current deal worth around £48m.

It could be a complicated and costly transfer to get over the line, but given Williams’ immense ability, it’s one Arsenal should be fighting for, especially as he’d be an even more exciting acquisition than Zubimendi.

Why Williams would be such an exciting signing

Now, as we’ve already said, signing Zubimendi is undeniably exciting, as not only is he one of the most important players for a club the size of Real Sociedad, but he’s also a Spanish international and was reportedly on the radar of Real Madrid.

However, there are several reasons why Williams would be even more exciting, such as his attacking output.

For example, in just 37 appearances last season, the Pamplona-born “level-raiser,” as dubbed by data analyst Ben Mattinson, scored eight goals and provided 18 assists.

Williams’ recent form
Season	23/24	24/25
Appearances	37	44
Minutes	2729′	3050′
Goals	8	11
Asssists	18	7
Goal Involvements per Match	0.70	0.40
Minutes per Goal Involvement	104.96′	169.44′
All Stats via Transfermarkt

Then, so far this year, he’s scored 11 goals and provided seven assists in 44 appearances, coming out to an average of 1.42 and 2.44 goal involvements per game, respectively.

Moreover, he’s also an incredibly dynamic player to watch, with FBref placing him in the top 2% of attacking midfielders and wingers across Europe’s top five leagues, the Champions League and Europa League, for successful take-ons per 90.

Finally, not only has he won nine more caps for the senior Spanish side, but he also scored the opening goal in the final of the European Championships last summer, showing that the big occasions do not bother him.

Ultimately, Zubimendi will be an excellent signing for Arsenal, but there is no doubt that Williams would be even more exciting.

He's a dream for Saka: Arsenal doing lots of work to sign £67m "monster"

The sensational striker would be a game-changer for Arsenal.

By
Jack Salveson Holmes

May 13, 2025

Tottenham Hotspur could sign a “unique” and “exciting” forward at a bargain price this summer as his contract expires in December, with the player himself privately considering a move to north London.

Tottenham eye free agents with significant names available

The free agent market could still be a fruitful talent pool for Spurs and chairman Daniel Levy, even if they’re set for a significant financial windfall after their Champions League qualification.

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Some prestigious names, and players who are also proven at the top level, are up for grabs at zero transfer cost, with the Lilywhites said to be expressing an interest in some of them ahead of their contracts expiring.

Tottenham’s best-performing regulars in the Premier League – 2024/2025

Average match rating

Son Heung-min

7.00

James Maddison

6.98

Pedro Porro

6.95

Dominic Solanke

6.84

Dejan Kulusevski

6.83

via WhoScored

According to some reports in France, Tottenham have held talks with the representatives of Lille star Jonathan David, with the Canada international set to become one of the biggest bargain deals of this summer after nearly five years of free-scoring for the club.

“I wanted to tell you myself that after so many years at the club, it’s time to say goodbye,” said David in an emotional goodbye post on social media.

“I’ve had five wonderful seasons here. I know that it hasn’t always been easy but I hope that with my goals and celebrations, that I’ve managed to bring you some joy.”

Tottenham are also said to be one of the main contenders for Lille midfielder Angel Gomes, who will also depart Bruno Genesio’s side on a free transfer, so Levy and technical director Johan Lange could seemingly raid the Ligue 1 outfit for talent.

The England midfielder would provide Ange Postecoglou, or any new manager, with a solid technician and alternative to the likes of Yves Bissouma, Rodrigo Bentancur, Pape Sarr, Lucas Bergvall and Archie Gray.

Bayern Munich star Leroy Sane is also a reported option for Tottenham, following botched new deal talks with the Bavarians.

Roony Bardghji "prepared" to join Tottenham this summer

While not a free agent this summer, but out of contract at the end of the year, FC Copenhagen starlet Roony Bardghji could still be available for a very meagre fee of around £10 million.

That is according to GiveMeSport, who also state Bardghji is privately indicating that he’s prepared to join Tottenham this summer as a viable Premier League destination.

The 19-year-old burst into the spotlight with his heroics against Man United in the Champions League, scoring a stunning winner against the Red Devils in a 4-3 group stage victory back in November 2023.

The Swede has had injury problems since then, but his reputation as a rising star has never left Bardghji’s side.

Called one of the most “exciting” talents in Europe by talent scout Jacek Kulig, Danish journalist Nicklas Degn likened his playing style to that of Liverpool legend Mohamed Salah, all the while stating he’s destined for a big move to England.

“He will go to a great Premier League club,” said Degn.

“He would suit a team that dominates the ball, like Manchester City, or Liverpool because he has very similar characteristics to Mohamed Salah.

“When Copenhagen have to come up with something brilliant or unlock a team, it is Roony they look to. He has this unique talent.”

Given his cheap price tag, this seems like a very tempting, low-risk move for Levy.

While significant success is still yet to come, Arsenal have been blessed with some seriously talented players during the Emirates era.

The likes of Mesut Özil, Santi Carzorla, Robin van Persie and Cesc Fàbregas, while not all as popular as each other, were some of the most impressive players in the Premier League during their time.

Likewise, Bukayo Saka, Declan Rice, William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhaes are just some of Mikel Arteta’s current squad who are in the conversation for some of the best the stadium has seen.

However, when it comes down to the player who hit the highest individual heights at the Emirates, it’s hard to look past Alexis Sanchez, and now the club are looking at a player who shares some similarities with the Chilean superstar.

Arsenal transfer news

Before we get to the player in question, it’s worth looking at some of the other potential superstars Arsenal are said to be looking at ahead of the summer, such as Raphinha.

Transfer Focus

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

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The Brazilian goal machine has been in sensational form for Barcelona this season, and, as of writing, has amassed an outrageous tally of 30 goals and 23 assists in just 50 appearances, making his reported £86m price tag seem entirely reasonable.

A slightly cheaper, but nonetheless game-changing signing the Gunners could make this summer is that of Viktor Gyokeres.

The Swedish international has racked up an even more incredible haul of 52 goals and 12 assists in just 48 appearances for Sporting CP, making his reported £58m fee look like a bargain.

However, the player who could become the North Londoners’ new Sanchez is someone who’s not had such a good campaign: Christopher Nkunku.

Yes, according to a recent report from TEAMtalk, Arsenal are one of the teams ‘weighing up a bid’ for the Chelsea flop, who looks likely to leave Stamford Bridge this summer.

However, alongside the Gunners, the report has revealed that Barcelona and several Bundesliga sides are also keen on the Frenchman, who’d be available for just £40m.

It might not be a deal that goes down well with fans initially, but prior to his stint in West London, Nkunku was a highly-rated attacker, so if Arsenal can get the best back out of him, he may be a bargain, and then there are the similarities he shares with Sanchez.

Why Nkunku could be Arsenal's new Sanchez

Okay, so before the pitchforks come out, the first thing to say is that, at the moment anyway, there are no comparisons to be made between Nkunku’s output and Sanchez’s when he was at his peak in North London.

However, if Arsenal are going to splash the cash to sign the Frenchman, it won’t be off his time in West London – even though he has 21 goal involvements in 42 games – but due to his record in Germany, where he was undeniably brilliant.

For example, in his final campaign with RB Leipzig, the “amazing” attacker, as dubbed by Joao Felix, managed to score 23 goals and provide nine assists in just 36 appearances, totalling 2733 minutes.

That means the 14-capped international averaged a goal involvement every 1.12 games or every 85.40 minutes throughout the season.

With that said, it’s not just the fact he was a free-scoring player that makes him similar to a peak Sanchez, but also his playstyle and versatility.

Nkunku’s positional versatility

Position

Games

Goals

Assists

Attacking Midfield

66

30

23

Central Midfield

66

12

9

Second Striker

57

35

19

Left Winger

40

9

9

Centre-Forward

38

11

2

Right Winger

17

6

4

Right Midfield

9

2

0

Left Midfield

8

0

2

Right-Back

1

0

0

All Stats via Transfermarkt

For example, in his career to date, the Blues ace has played all across the frontline, in attacking midfield and also as a second striker, which is the same as the former Barcelona star during his time in North London.

Moreover, like the Chilean icon, his “movement and pace is an unstoppable combination” in the words of European football expert, Zach Lowy, and he can be just as effective at creating chances as scoring them.

Indeed, during his time in Germany, he managed to rack up 55 assists in 172 appearances to go along with his 70 goals.

Ultimately, while we think it’s unlikely that Nkunku would even hit the incredible heights that Sanchez did at Arsenal, there are some unmistakable similarities between the pair, such as their versatility and ability to create and score goals.

Therefore, if Arteta and Co believe they can get the best back out of him, and he’s available for a price that won’t impact their other summer plans too much, then this is a transfer that makes a lot of sense.

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Newcastle United are now closely monitoring a “monster” forward, who has been likened to Sergio Aguero, having watched him in action recently, according to a report.

Newcastle ramping up summer transfer plans

As we enter April, and thus the business end of the Premier League season, Newcastle still have a lot to play for, with Champions League qualification still very much in their sights, having already made the 2024-25 campaign a memorable one by lifting the EFL Cup.

The type of summer transfer window the Magpies have is likely to hinge upon whether they qualify for Europe’s elite competition, given that it will enable them to attract some top players, but they have already started to work on some potential signings.

PIF have reportedly made a £50m+ offer for Liverpool’s Harvey Elliott, which may be difficult for the Reds to turn down, while they also hold an interest in teammate Diogo Jota, with some suggestions the Portugal international could be used as a makeweight in a deal for Alexander Isak.

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Jota is not the only forward in Eddie Howe’s sights, however, with a report from The Boot Room revealing scouts have now been sent to watch Besiktas’ Semih Kilicsoy, who helped his side to a 2-1 victory over rivals Galatasaray at the weekend.

Scouts from West Ham United, Aston Villa and Nottingham Forest were also in attendance, with Galatasaray’s Baris Alper Yilmaz another player of interest to the English delegations.

The Magpies are said to be watching Kilicsoy closely, however, and with a busy transfer window planned on Tyneside, he could be in line for a move to St. James’ Park.

"Monster" Kilicsoy showing promising signs in Turkey

The report references the Besiktas winger’s nickname of the “Turkish Aguero”, and much like the Manchester City legend, his favoured position is striker, where he netted 11 goals in 23 Süper Lig appearances last term.

After showing signs of promise in a breakthrough campaign last season, however, the teenager hasn’t been quite as prolific this year, netting three league goals, although it must be noted he is still just 19.

As such, with Besiktas’ asking price allegedly dropping to just £12m, it could still be worth taking a risk on the Turkish youngster this summer, particularly considering he has received high praise from members of the media.

That said, Kilicsoy’s performances this season indicate he could take a little while to get to grips with the Premier League, so it could be worth Newcastle sending him out on loan, should they decide to pursue a deal this summer.

Unsatisfactory series demonstrates so much that is wrong with international game

Cameron Ponsonby23-Oct-2025I’m gonna be honest. You’ve read this one before.The hyperinflation of the modern game, where cricket is on all the time in a desperate attempt to stay relevant, while diluting its product with every caveated fixture.It has been a constant question to Black Caps players this series.”What’s it like playing cricket in October?”It is not cricket season here. The domestic season hasn’t started yet – it begins in full this weekend. The opening match of New Zealand’s series against Australia earlier this month was played on October 1, the earliest that the Kiwis had ever played a home international.Six matches and three washouts later, the result was entirely predictable. It rained. A lot. The weather here has, admittedly, been extreme. Warnings were announced for much of the country as high winds left 90,000 homes on the South Island without power. Kiwi head coach Rob Walter made the point that, across both the Australia and England series, they had been unlucky with sunny training days sandwiching rainy matchdays. That is true – and in his position it is a point he is almost contractually obliged to make – but some sunny days and some rainy days sounds an awful lot like the middle of spring to me.The result was an uncomfortable theme that ran throughout, of Kiwi players talking about the importance of taking the opportunity to play the likes of Australia or England whenever you can. A team that won the World Test Championship in 2021, and has reached numerous ICC finals in recent years, is still thankful for the chance to take the pitch against their equals.”You’ve got to take every chance to play them,” Kiwi wicketkeeper Tim Seifert said ahead of the match at Auckland. “You’d rather play them at this time of the year than not.”For the second year in a row, New Zealand have no home international cricket scheduled for January or February. The height of their summer. The rest of their season consists of West Indies arriving for a multi-format tour in November and South Africa arriving for a white-ball tour in March, which will clash directly with the IPL and be without several high-profile players for either side.England are a key drawcard for the nations that rely on the income they generate•AFP/Getty Images”There’s no point trying to compete against some of the top franchise leagues,” explained Walter after the Auckland washout. “But rather coexist with them.”And are they co-existing?”It depends on who you ask, I guess.”New Zealand have been up against this for years. Shane Bond missed 18 months of international cricket in 2007 after signing up for the Indian Cricket League. Trent Boult was the first Kiwi to move to a “casual” contract in 2022 and now there are five players – Finn Allen, Devon Conway, Lockie Ferguson, Tim Seifert and Kane Williamson – in the New Zealand squad who operate on such a deal. The cold hard cash facts are that top Black Caps players believe they can earn up to US$1 million more a year by pursuing a life solely on the franchise circuit.”We are really privileged that the guys really do enjoy playing for their country and want to come back and play for the Black Caps,” said Walter. “We want to maintain that but part of the job is understanding that you can’t have guys playing all formats and in every game.”The “casual” contracts symbolise a commitment from the player to be available for a certain number of matches a year. They operate on an annual basis and the number jumped from two to five this year due to the upcoming T20 World Cup, as the T20 specialists had to commit themselves to x number of games to be eligible for selection.Related

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But it is wishful thinking to consider that any “casual” relationship can end well. Just ask any 20-year-old across the globe.England, Australia and India are now committed to touring each other once a year. These arrangements take up space, meaning that other series end up being shortened, played with weakened sides, and pushed to the margins. And so the un-valuable series become even less valuable. And the invaluable tours become even more so. It is a vicious cycle. And one that administrators show no signs of breaking. South Africa, the current World Test Champions, are currently poised beautifully at one-all in their series against Pakistan – with zero games to play. An unsexy series, deprived of the chance to make itself more attractive to broadcasters next time round.It would be funny if it wasn’t so relentless. A year ago, England played a white-ball series in the West Indies with a second string squad because the matches had been sandwiched in between their Test tours of Pakistan and New Zealand. The games were scheduled, for broadcast reasons, at 4pm which had the double-jeopardy effect of meaning fewer fans could attend the game in person and dew had a decisive impact on each match as it arrived at the halfway stage in each fixture. Of the seven completed matches on that tour, all were won by the team who won the toss.”When we looked at the schedule we knew that would be a problem,” Windies captain at the time Rovman Powell said.Cricket relies on broadcast rights to keep it, barely, afloat. The problem is that with every series that is designed for TV at the cost of quality, the product becomes less valuable the next time around. Ultimately, broadcasters are creating a product that, eventually, it won’t want to buy itself.You know this. You’ve read it before. And one day, hopefully, it will change. England won this three match T20I series one-nil. 61.4 overs were bowled.

Head coach Jon Lewis talks about Sophie Ecclestone, Nat Sciver-Brunt, Charlie Dean, Sophia Dunkley and more

Sruthi Ravindranath16-Dec-2023Some of the best bowlers in the world – specifically spinners – not only stick to their strengths but are also constantly upgrading their skillsets to stay relevant. Left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone, the top-ranked bowler in ODIs and T20Is is no different. As someone who bowls a lot quicker than most spinners, she has been working on dropping her pace, England Women’s head coach Jon Lewis has revealed.Since her debut in 2016, Ecclestone has been on top of the wicket-takers list in T20Is and is the second-best spinner in the list in ODIs. She capped off an incredible year in T20Is as the top wicket-taker among players from Full Member teams in 2023.She’s also worked on bowling against left-handers, her much-improved average of 10.80 since 2022 as compared to 31.50 until 2021 in T20Is a testament to it. In the one-off Test against India, she got the opposition’s two left-handers out in back-to-back overs, first having Smriti Mandhana caught at short leg with a short ball turning in from outside off and then getting a length ball to turn in sharply to make Yastika Bhatia chip it to short leg again.Related

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“I know that over the last couple of years she’s worked incredibly hard at bowling at left-handers,” Lewis told ESPNcricinfo. “She can bowl faster than most girls and spin the ball at a higher pace than most girls. So that’s one of the unique things she does better than other people.”We’ve talked a lot to her about how to use her drop-down in pace rather than change up in pace. So those are probably the two things that we’ve worked on with Sophie. She’s worked out some really good stuff about bowling to left-handers. She understands what makes her a good bowler to left-handers and I thought during the summer in the [Women’s] Ashes series she bowled very well to Beth Mooney and also to Jess Jonassen.”While match figures of five wickets for 167 runs in a thumping 347-run defeat at the hands of India might suggest that the work is still in progress, her seven wickets at an average of 10.14 and economy rate of 6.26 made her the leading wicket-taker in the three-match T20I series preceding the Test and included 3 for 15 in her first match back after a three-month injury layoff.Her accuracy, pace, subtle changes of trajectory and seam positions have troubled batters for years, but she keeps working.Sophie Ecclestone picked up wickets of three Indian left-handed batters in the one-off Test•BCCI”Sophie doesn’t really enjoy training much – she loves playing games. She loves going out on the pitch and competing, so we have to try and find ways to stimulate her in training. She’s worked for a long time with Gareth Breese, her spin bowling coach. They have a really strong relationship.”England have also been boosted by the presence of offspinner Charlie Dean, who has risen quickly through the ranks since her debut in 2022 to become one of their go-to wicket-taking options.England captain Heather Knight also trusts her with the new ball. A consistent performer, Dean reaps the benefits of bowling classic offspin and also relies on drift and attacking lines. She was instrumental in bowling India out for 80 in the second T20I and provided a much-needed highlight for England during India’s second innings of the Test in Mumbai, claiming four crucial wickets as the hosts built a mammoth lead, her accuracy on display as she had Deepti Sharma lbw and Sneh Rana bowled off consecutive deliveries.Lewis praised Dean for her consistency, calling her the best “on the planet”, and wants her to continue sticking to her strengths.”We keep challenging her around the consistency of her best ball and bowling her best ball as often as possible,” Lewis said. “Her best ball is the best. There’s no offspinner that matches her on the planet. No one gets the drift she gets, no one gets the turn she gets. Her best ball is absolutely fantastic. She’s a young spinner and there are lots of young spinners that don’t bowl consistently.”One thing I would say is during the T20 series, in terms of her output and her numbers and where she was landing the ball, it’s gone through the roof in comparison to what she was through the summer and previously. We’ve got an excellent spin bowling coach in Gareth Breese, who works closely with those girls and helps them hone their skills. She’s going to be an excellent bowler.”Among one of the most prolific performers for England for a long period has been Nat Sciver-Brunt, who played an important role with the bat in helping England seal the T20I series in India and was their only batter to pass 21 in the Test with a first-innings 59.She’s England’s top run-getter in T20Is and ODIs this year, her best coming in the Ashes ODI series where she scored 271 runs at an average of 135.50 to go to No. 1 on the batting charts in the format.Jon Lewis on Charlie Dean: “No one gets the drift she gets, no one gets the turn she gets”•BCCIIn T20s this year, she has scored 1315 runs in 40 games at an average of 45.34, making the most runs for champions Mumbai Indians in the inaugural WPL. Lewis is “very fortunate” to have her in the England side, revealing how she plays a key role in the leadership group.”When she was playing for Mumbai [Indians, in WPL] I was a bit jealous,” said Lewis, who coaches UP Warriorz in the competition. “She’s a great cricketer. She’s incredibly calm and clear about what she wants to do and how she goes about her game.”She’s still learning and she still wants growth in her game. She wants to improve but the understanding she has of what she does when she plays well is the thing that stands out to me. And the other thing that she brings to our side is the way that she’s able to communicate with all our players on the field. She’s a real asset. She helps Heather [Knight, captain] a tremendous amount. She’s incredibly calm and communicates clearly, especially with our young players. They work as a team.”[Knight] and Nat and Amy Jones and Sophie Ecclestone work as a senior player group that takes responsibility to make sure the team is running well on the field and off the field. But Nat in particular is a good person who cares a lot about English cricket and playing cricket for England. She cares a lot about the team-mates around her and is a great support for all of them.”Team-mate Sophia Dunkley, however, has been going through a lean patch. She’s made just one half-century across formats since the beginning of the year for England, averaging just 17.00 in 11 T20Is. She took a break for the latter part of the home international summer and found some late form in the WBBL in November, but she couldn’t keep the momentum going in India. After scores of 1, 9 and 11 in the three T20Is respectively, she departed for 11 and 15 in the Test.But one of Lewis’s key takeaways from his time working in the England Men’s Test set-up early in the Brendon McCullum-Ben Stokes era was removing fear of failure and backing players.This was clear when England picked Dunkley to open alongside Tammy Beaumont in the Test after Emma Lamb, who opened in the Ashes Test in June, returned home from India with a back injury.Sophia Dunkley has had a tough run with the bat in 2023•BCCI”She is frustrated that she’s not getting the runs that she would like,” Lewis said of Dunkley. “She’s made some little technical changes to how she approaches her batting, which has given her access to different parts of the ground. If you saw her wagon wheel for a couple of games in the Big Bash, she accessed areas of the ground that she hasn’t previously been able to do.”The difficulty for these girls is they’re trying to bring all these changes into their games whilst playing international cricket and being the player that everyone looks to in their franchise to score the runs. It’s very different to men’s cricket where other people are brought in to give [regular] players a break.”I’ve got a real strong belief around Sophia’s talent, she’s got an amazing ability to strike a cricket ball. She’s talismanic in the way she approaches the start of the game. It wasn’t long ago that she had a pretty good World Cup and was really good against West Indies [in 2022].”You mustn’t get lost in the fact that she hasn’t scored runs for a short period of time. If you compared her to some of our older players at the same age, I think she’d be well ahead of the curve. We’re building a team for the future, and we’re building a team that has a style of play we’re confident can help us win games. Right now, Sophia is a big part of that.”England suffered a shock 2-1 loss to Sri Lanka at home which exposed their weaknesses against slower bowlers. With the T20 World Cup set to be played in Bangladesh next year and the ODI World Cup in 2025 in India to follow, Lewis organised a camp with select players in Mumbai following the series to help them improve their game against spin.”[It was] just to expose them to different conditions, what shots they can play and how they need to adapt their game in different conditions,” he said. “We’ve got two subcontinental World Cups coming up in the next two years. It’s important to understand the conditions and how to play them smartly.”What does aggression or high strike-rate look like in India compared to what it would look like in the UK? Or what would that look like in Bangladesh? We are a developing side and all we were try and develop some skills.”The girls took lots of takeaways from it. Do I expect those things to become straight into their game after a five-day camp? Absolutely not. But do I expect them to think about how to improve, one hundred percent I do.”

His statement, and the testimony of others at the social justice hearings, has shed light on historic systemic failures in South African cricket

Osman Samiuddin28-Aug-2021Personally it was never easy to warm to Mark Boucher, in some small part because he didn’t seem to care whether he was liked or not. To like, or not, was not the point. It became a little easier to look past his bristling presence as South Africa grew into the side they became in the late 2000s, a champion team under the maturing leadership of Graeme Smith, and also more likable because of men such as Hashim Amla and Dale Steyn; in their reflected light, Boucher also found reprieve. The sad and unfortunate end to his playing career brought a little more grace.But for a long time there was undeniably something of the bully about him, captured note perfect in this sledging of Tatenda Taibu in a hopelessly mismatched Test against Zimbabwe in March 2005.”That’s a big shot, Tatenda,” he chirped as Taibu gently drove one to a short cover.”You wanna get out now because I think you might be averaging single figures on this tour,” before a pause, and some mocking magnanimity: “I’ll walk you to the changing room as well.”He then asked Taibu whether his average was 9 or 10 before deciding “maybe 9.5 so we’ll give you 10”.The substance itself was not offensive, but the idea that sledging that Zimbabwe side served any useful purpose was very . Taibu was leading a desperately weakened Zimbabwe, about to slide to a second three-day innings defeat. Moreover, Boucher was part of a South Africa side that, at that point, was not nearly as good as it thought it was. It was no contest, was never going to be, and here was Boucher sticking it into men defeated long before they stepped on to the field. Say what you want about karma, but Taibu and Boucher retired from Tests on the same day and Taibu ended with a batting average 0.01 higher than Boucher’s (30.31 to 30.30).People change, some not as much as we’d like, others not as little as we’d assume, but it is this old Boucher – or at least the whiff of him – that has been felt through Cricket South Africa’s Social Justice and Nation-Building (SJN) hearings in recent weeks.How united were they really? South Africa after a Test win in March 2004.•William West/AFP/Getty ImagesThose hearings have primarily been a cleanse, a release of a lot that has felt pent up in South African cricket. Inadvertently and in some instances, they may become a kind of reckoning. It is entirely fitting not only that Dumisa Ntsebeza, the ombudsman presiding over it, began by quoting James Baldwin – “Not everything that is faced can be changed but nothing can be changed until it is faced” – but that he was one of those who presided over South Africa’s Truth and Reconciliation Commission after the fall of apartheid.Testimonies have been equal parts harrowing, compelling and revealing. First came Omar Henry, South Africa’s first player of colour, and as wise as his years. His treatment at the 1992 World Cup can be seen as a foreshadowing of South Africa’s pained grappling with the selection of non-white players since. And his testimony set the tone for those that have followed.Player after player, black or of colour, has told stories of exclusion, of racist behaviour (imagine, as a black player, having your face painted white by a coach because you had dirty boots), of feeling unwelcome in predominantly white sides, of entire careers ruined. Perhaps in some cases valid cricketing reasons meant players who happened to be black missed out. But the weight of these testimonies cannot be borne by these exceptions. These accounts, angry and heartbreaking and essential, speak of a systemic failure.They are also reminders of the vexed challenges of transformation, often forgotten because South Africa have been, for much of the modern age, a winning side. There’s bound to be debris from juggling to ensure selection be merit-based and ticks transformation boxes. The debris is Ashwell Prince being called “quota player” by team-mates. The debris is Khaya Zondo’s stalled career. The debris is the regret the former selector Hussein Manack will have to live with, for not standing his ground on Zondo’s selection. If CSA has stumbled in handling these and other cases, it’s worth remembering that there aren’t precedents it can easily replicate. South African rugby perhaps, but – at the risk of stating the obvious – it is not a like-for-like comparison.Boucher’s name has come up repeatedly, in relation to him being part of the infamous white clique that ran the side, but also in incidents and tales that speak of the culture of exclusion of black and coloured players. One of the most appalling stories was of Paul Adams, nicknamed “brown s**t”, who in team meetings after wins, would be the subject of the team song: “Brown s**t in the ring, tra la la la la la.”Times change. Conversations about racism now are of a different nature – and necessarily so – than as recently as a decade ago. More enlightened for one. More divisive for another, though in being staunchly, proactively anti-racist it’s always worth remembering racists are not here as part of some debating society. But for all the change, for all the retrospective reassessments of racist behaviour, there could never have been a time when it was okay for a team to sing that song. Least of all a team representing South Africa, in the post-apartheid era.Ashwell Prince revealed at the social justice hearings that he was called a quota player by his team-mates around the time of his debut. “A person knows when they are welcome, and you know when you are unwelcome,” he said•Getty ImagesThink of the skewed dynamic here: power as a function of a society with a racist past and racism as a function of power. Adams is in this team of predominantly white players and naturally he wants to fit in because it is a team and he so badly wants to feel a part of it that it wasn’t until his wife (then his girlfriend) pointed out to him that it was not right that he twigged it.Boucher admitted he sang along. He apologised for it and has offered to meet players who felt excluded to mend those relationships. There is something to Boucher’s claim that the players were naïve and ill-equipped to deal with the environment they were in post-apartheid; today, nearly two decades on, it seems a gross dereliction of duty that CSA didn’t, as Boucher claims, conduct any awareness training, or culture workshops for players coming into the environment. Post-apartheid wasn’t just going to by itself. But at the time, sensitivity training, diversity and inclusion were not part of widespread public conversations.The fatalist counter to this is that if players need training workshops to learn to sing those songs, or to not use offensive terminology about South Africans of Indian heritage in front of Prince (whose wife is of Indian origin) or Goolam Rajah, the team’s long-time, much respected manager, then no amount of training will ever really be enough.Boucher acknowledging his role in that era’s culture does not absolve him. It is the first step: of how many and towards what is not clear in specific detail, but in broad outline, towards a better, more equal and transparent space.Those songs weren’t sung alone, and neither was Boucher the only one because of whom players felt discriminated against. Other names have cropped up during the hearings, many of them integral contributors to that great South Africa side. The legacy of that team is undergoing a revision as we speak, although maybe the optimistic way to see it is as a necessary correction. These hearings are the alternative history of that side, the alternative history of South African cricket as a whole, post-apartheid.Or, in the far more eloquent words of Zondo, from his testimony: “Privilege often makes equality seem like oppression. For equality to come into place, people need to strip themselves of privilege so they can see other people’s experiences.”

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O RB Bragantino recebe a Inter de Lmiera, neste domingo (17), pelas quartas de final do Paulistão. A bola rola a partir das 16h (de Brasília), no estádio do Nabizão, com transmissão da Cazé TV (Youtube) e Paulistão Play (streaming).

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O Bragantino terminou a fase de grupos do Paulistão com 21 pontos, na liderança do Grupo C. Já a Inter de Limeira Leão encerrou a primeira fase do estadual com 17 pontos.

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✅FICHA TÉCNICA
RB Bragantino x Inter de Limeira
Quartas de final do Paulistão

Data e horário: domingo, 17 de março de 2024, às 16h (de Brasília)
Local: Nabizão, em Bragança Paulista (SP)
Onde assistir: Cazé TV (Youtube) e Paulistão Play (streaming)

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RB BRAGANTINO
Cleiton; Nathan Mendes, Lucas Cunha, Luan Cândido e Juninho Capixaba; Jadsom, Lincoln e Eric Ramires; Thiago Borbas, Helinho e Eduardo Sasha. Técnico: Pedro Caixinha

INTER DE LIMEIRA
Max Walef; Diego Jussani, Emerson Santos, Matheus Mancini e César Morais; JP Galvão, Albano e Gustavo Bochecha; Lima, João Felipe e Quirino. Técnico: Júnior Rocha

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