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Will Chelsea make a success of this season?

On Thursday, the Blues demolished Djurgårdens in the first leg of their Conference League semi-final, with Jadon Sancho and Noni Madueke both on target in Stockholm, before Nicolas Jackson bagged a quick-fire brace.

Thus, supporters are now pretty certain that their team will be in Wrocław for the final later this month, facing either Real Betis or Fiorentina.

Meantime, in the Premier League, Enzo Maresca’s side are currently fourth, desperate to cling onto the final Champions League spot, ahead of Sunday’s heavyweight meeting with recently crowned champions Liverpool at Stamford Bridge.

Even with the Club World Cup on the horizon this summer, Chelsea are expected to be busy in the transfer market, as has very much been the case since Todd Boehly’s takeover, so could they sign a big-money new striker?

The latest on Chelsea's interest in Viktor Gyökeres

According to a report by Florian Plettenberg of Sky Sports Deutschland, Arsenal are “pushing” to sign Sporting CP striker Viktor Gyökeres, valued at around £60m by the Portuguese giants, with Manchester United, Real Madrid and Chelsea “all in the race”.

The 26-year-old Swede has scored 95 goals in 98 appearances for Sporting, pretty impressive statistics, with a report by David Ornstein and James McNicholas of The Athletic claiming that Gyökeres is expected to be on the move this summer.

Nevertheless, with a high amount of competition for his signature, should Chelsea focus on other targets?

Chelsea's potential new striker

According to a report from Steve Kay of Football Transfers earlier this week, Chelsea ‘have approached’ Aston Villa, enquiring about the possibility of signing Ollie Watkins this summer, adding that the Blues ‘are willing’ to match the Villans’ £60m valuation.

TEAMtalk notes that Watkins has emerged as Chelsea’s number one target, due to concerns about Victor Osimhen’s wage demands, as well as fears that Gyökeres would choose to go elsewhere.

If Villa miss out on Champions League qualification, they may be forced to sell key assets to comply with Profit and Sustainability Rules, hence why Pete O’Rourke of Football Insider believes they’d be looking to cash in on 29-year-old Watkins.

Transfer Focus

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

So, would Watkins be a good signing for Chelsea?

Chelsea's best recent attacking signings

Since Clearlake Capital’s takeover of Chelsea in 2022, they have signed over 40 first-team players, spending in excess of £1bn, many of whom made little impact at Stamford Bridge, some of whom have been swiftly moved on.

Pretty much indisputably, the Blues’ best signing of the Boehly era is Cole Palmer, who, since arriving from Manchester City for £42.5m, has scored 39 goals for the club, named Chelsea’s Player of the Season as well as the PFA Young Player of the Year for 2023/24.

However, let’s analyse the impact made by some of the other members of the forward line.

Pedro Neto

£54m

40

6

7

João Félix

£45m

20

7

2

Omari Kellyman

£19m

Zero

Zero

Zero

Marc Guiu

£5m

13

6

Zero

Jadon Sancho

£25m

36

4

10

Cole Palmer

£42.5m

86

39

25

Nicolas Jackson

£32m

75

29

11

Christopher Nkunku

£50m

56

17

5

Deivid Washington

£17m

3

Zero

Zero

Ângelo

£13m

Zero

Zero

Zero

Diego Moreira

Free

1

Zero

Zero

Mykhailo Mudryk

£89m

73

10

11

Raheem Sterling

£47.5m

81

19

15

Noni Madueke

£28.5

82

20

9

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang

£10.3m

21

3

1

David Datro Fofana

£11m

4

Zero

Zero

It would be a major understatement to say that Chelsea have signed a lot of attacking players in the last three seasons, and the table above certainly underlines that Cole Palmer has unquestionably had the biggest impact.

So, why would Watkins be any different?

Well, let’s assess his season statistics to find out.

Goals

15

7th

Goals per 90

0.6

6th

Assists

7

13th

Shots

76

11th

Shots on target

32

8th

Expected goals

14.5

6th

Goal-creating actions

11

31st

Touches in oppo penalty area

153

11

As the table outlines, Watkins is a very well-rounded striker, described by Statman Dave as “clinical”, both a potent goalscorer but also a chance creator too.

The concern about signing him would be the fact he is 29 years old, but the Englishman is showing no signs of slowing down, so could be the striker Chelsea require to go to the next level.

Better than Jackson: Chelsea want £25m "beast" who's outscoring Osimhen

Chelsea have wasted no time in targeting new forwards to strengthen Enzo Maresca’s side this summer.

ByEthan Lamb May 3, 2025

A “great” Sunderland player is believed to be wanted by rivals Newcastle United ahead of the summer transfer window, according to a worrying new update from The Athletic.

Sunderland preparing for Championship playoff drama

It has been an excellent season for the Black Cats under Regis Le Bris, with a place in the Championship playoffs now mathematically certain, which is a great achievement from this young squad.

That’s despite Saturday’s 1-0 defeat at home to Swansea City, which has to go down as one of the more disappointing results of the campaign, considering their opponents are in 12th place with little to play for.

Sunderland sit fourth in the Championship table and 12 points ahead of Bristol City below them, as well as four points adrift of third-place Sheffield United, who have lost their last three matches.

For that reason, it doesn’t look like the Black Cats’ position will change between now and the end of the season, meaning Le Bris’ side will face a playoff semi-final against whoever ends up finishing fifth.

Scouts love him: Sunderland plotting move to sign experienced 13-goal star

The Black Cats have turned their focus towards the summer transfer window.

ByTom Cunningham Apr 9, 2025

A place in the Premier League next season would improve their chances of keeping hold of key men, and a big update has emerged regarding one such player.

"Great" Sunderland ace being eyed up by Newcastle

According to a report from The Athletic, Newcastle are eyeing highly-rated Sunderland midfielder Chris Rigg this summer.

It is also stated that “West Ham scouts have monitored the development” of the £25m-rated teenage star, with the Magpies and Manchester United also “among his admirers”.

Seeing Rigg leave Sunderland for Newcastle doesn’t even bear thinking about for anyone of a Black Cats persuasion, given the rivalry between the two clubs.

Not only that, but the 17-year-old is also arguably the club’s most prized asset, with Jobe Bellingham waxing lyrical over him last month after he and his teammate won a Young Player of the Year award:

“Every day he trains like he wants to get better, with a great ambition and a great desire. So that’s the best thing for me really. The talent kind of comes secondary, which he definitely has, but him as a person, he’s always going to keep improving because of that hunger that he’s got, which for me is like, they’re the players you want to be playing with. So Riggy fully deserves the award, as I’ve said, and he’s just got to keep going because he’s on to big things.”

Realistically, Sunderland will be aware that they can’t keep hold of Rigg forever, with the midfielder likely to have lofty ambitions, potentially ending up at one of the biggest clubs in the country.

A switch to rivals Newcastle would be controversial, however, with Magpies supporters no doubt reminding Black Cats fans of it for many years to come, should a transfer materialise.

England’s No. 3 rides his luck throughout but still takes 121 off West Indies

Vithushan Ehantharajah18-Jul-20240:43

Pope on ‘lucky charm’ Ramsdale: He can come more often!

Is there such a thing as a ‘bad’ Test hundred? Ollie Pope’s sixth Test century fit snugly into this philosophical navel.His 167 balls at the crease were a neat microcosm of the first day of this second Test at Nottingham. Those 88.3 overs were as fast-food as Test cricket gets. Big chomps of low-grade, error-reared beef interspersed with the occasional mouthful of high-quality fries that will leave both teams feeling a little icky as they lie down on Thursday evening.West Indies will feel it worse. Kraigg Brathwaite’s decision to bowl first under clear blue skies and on a baize-like outfield allowed Ben Duckett to nail into the Trent Bridge pockets like peak Ronnie O’Sullivan, his breezy 71 more than covering for the loss of Zak Crawley three balls into the start. Four drops, a missed stumping and ragged ground fielding – despite the carpet surface – let England off the hook, allowing them to pass over any introspection into their own carelessness.Five batters made it to 30, but only three went beyond 60; among those only Pope reached three figures. Ben Stokes looked set to join his vice-captain to a milestone but instead gave Kavem Hodge a maiden Test wicket. Harry Brook fluffed a scoop to short leg, having already been given a life on 24. Joe Root’s awry hook undid a patient start. Is there such a thing as a “bad” 400-plus score? It might be this one, you know.Even Pope walked off unsatisfied with his 121. He was shelled on 46 before lunch, lashing one to Alick Athanaze at gully – and again on 54 soon after, a simple catch dropped by Jason Holder at second slip and almost redeemed by Hodge at first. Having got through that period, offering up a third chance when there were runs to plunder late in the day was an opportunity squandered.Related

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“A nice couple of drops, which always helps,” Pope ceded bashfully at stumps. It certainly does when you are emerging from a peculiar run of form emanating from the innings of a lifetime.Pope’s stunning 196 in the heist of Hyderabad prompted a dire run that spilled over into his domestic season for Surrey. In 18 first-class innings leading into this West Indies series from that first India Test, Pope averaged 19.05. His 57 at Lord’s last week was just his second half-century in the period, following a gritty 64 against Worcestershire at The Oval.Those struggles in the final four India Tests were not for a lack of effort. But it was the famine in the County Championship that had Pope scrabbling. Surrey might be top of Division One, but Pope’s average of 22.88 from seven games sticks out like a sore thumb considering he arrived into the season with a red-ball average of 70.31 for his county.He rejected any notion of doubts. But he admitted to a degree of pressure because of what he now represents, both to his peers, and to himself:
“You’re like ‘Why’s everyone else in the country scoring runs in county cricket but England’s No. 3 isn’t going out and averaging 50 this summer?'”Privately, he reflected that he should have taken more time off at the start of the season to fully shed the toil of three gruelling months overseas. But it was during a round off ahead of this series – when Surrey played Essex – that he set about some corrective work with England batting coach Marcus Trescothick.Were those improvements visible today? Sort of… ish?The drops scream at you, but there were plenty of sweet-sounding strikes in there, particularly the six off Shamar Joseph, picked up off the hip over deep square leg, among the scuff and strikes nailed at fielders. Pope’s restraint was evident by the fact this was comfortably the most leg-side of his centuries, split 47/74. The single that took him to 83 was his first run in front of square on the off side, followed by a crisp punch through the covers an over later.Pope brings up his sixth Test hundred•PA Images via Getty ImagesThough undoubtedly fortunate, this ranks third when you look at the false-shot percentage of his six hundreds: below Hyderabad (21%) and his double hundred against Ireland last summer (19%) on 15%.Maybe that says more about those two innings than this one. But while this England team moves towards refinement, the old ways – bringing up the team 50 from 4.2 overs; reaching 100 in 17.2; putting 281 on the board by the time Pope was the fifth man to fall at the start of the 58th over – kept them moving forward, unperturbed by the rakes that lay ahead.How else to explain their immediate recovery from 0 for 1 in the first over, and how Pope shed the drops when others would have dwelled on them? “It’s kind of like a play and miss,” he explained, delving into the mentality of parking what, to rest of us, appeared to be grievous mistakes.”Sometimes I slash at a wide one and miss, and think ‘lucky I didn’t nick that’. I use it as a lesson, think it’s not the option to take. With batting, you are never going to be completely perfect.”Cricket goes in [swings and] roundabouts. My luck wasn’t with me in my county stint, but every now and then, you get a bit of luck in international cricket and it’s just trying to make it count as much as you can.”1:12

Pope explains his attitude to being dropped after his 121

England were certainly not completely perfect on Thursday – not even a little bit. This was a day that loaded questions onto West Indies and did not provide England with any answers. But they did make it count.For Pope, the England batter under the most scrutiny heading into this summer, this was at the very least a score of note to bank for a player thriving at No. 3 – with an average of 44.45 – while still trying to figure the role out.If this century unlocks a more comfortable Pope, then it’s served its purpose. And so maybe there is no such thing as a bad Test century. It’s like what they say about pizza – even when it’s bad, it’s still pretty good.

Shakib is in charge of a team that isn’t performing well, and the scrutiny – and interference – from the BCB bigwigs won’t help

Mohammad Isam24-Aug-2022On Monday, speaking about Bangladesh at the upcoming Asia Cup, BCB president Nazmul Hassan said, “There’s not going to be a head coach. We have a batting coach, a spin coach, fast bowling coach and fielding coach. We have the captain. We also have a technical consultant for T20s. He will give the game plan. We will have the team director, Jalal [Yunus, the BCB’s cricket operations chairman] and myself. Who else do we need?”Related

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It might have sounded odd, but Hassan was just being honest. The BCB has called Sridharan Sriram the “technical consultant for T20s”, but he is the de facto T20 head coach, with Russell Domingo out of the picture in the format for the moment. Their back room does have Jamie Siddons, Rangana Herath, Allan Donald and Shane McDermott, as well as team director Khaled Mahmud. And, well, the Bangladesh team management, in reality, extends right up to the BCB president. If Hassan feels that line-up means having a designated head coach is unnecessary, it’s only the truth about how the Bangladesh team operates.But decisions being made by a group of Very Important People with Very Important Designations weigh heaviest on the captain. Right now, that’s Shakib Al Hasan. He will take the on-field decisions, and match result notwithstanding, will be answerable to not just the coach/es or the selectors, but the board chief and the directors. As if having an underperforming team to shepherd wasn’t tough enough.

****

The situation isn’t new to Shakib, but that won’t make it any easier.The fact is that everything goes back to – and has for a while – Hassan in Bangladesh cricket.The players know it. The coaches are aware. The selectors have had to get Hassan’s sign-off on squads since 2016. Hassan has, in the past, openly criticised the team management for not consulting him on playing XIs. Hassan has exercised his power to make “drastic changes” to the coaching staff less than two weeks before a major tournament. Hassan can instruct players to appear in certain series and he really doesn’t like it when they retire when he doesn’t want them to.He slams performances during and after series. It goes without saying that Hassan sits in on team meetings. He regularly calls players and coaches to his residence for discussions. And, of course, he likes to speak to the media about it all.If Shakib Al Hasan can lead the team well in these times of chaos, he might be rewarded with a bit of peace and quiet.•AFP/Getty ImagesThe BCB has had this reputation of being meddlesome when it comes to team matters for more than a decade, ever since AHM Mustafa Kamal became the board chief in 2009, actually. He liked to be in control of all matters to do with the national team. Unwittingly or otherwise, Hassan picked up the trait a couple of years into his reign. Over nine years as the board chief, he has established that whoever the coach or captain are, Hassan and the board directors will call all the shots.

****

So where does that leave Shakib, or Bangladesh cricket captains in general?On August 19, Hassan was asked about Shakib’s roles and responsibilities.”Remember one thing, there’s never an issue about who the coach is when Shakib is captain,” Hassan said. “He decides the best XI. You should know this. He decides it on his own. Of course he takes the advice of the coach. But the coach also prioritises the captain in regards to the best XI. He probably explains the game plan that he can do. Even if we don’t have a head coach, we will have Khaled Mahmud and Jalal Yunus.”When asked on Monday how difficult it is to captain a side in such unique circumstances, Shakib was diplomatic. “Challenges exist everywhere, whether it is our team, franchise cricket or another cricket board,” he said. “There are different degrees of this challenge, regardless of the size of the cricket board or the franchise.”Playing it safe? Of course. The way BCB has treated some captains in the recent past is enough of a warning, even for someone of the stature of Shakib.Mashrafe Mortaza, Bangladesh’s most successful captain, was pushed out of the T20I team in 2017, and the ODI team in 2020. Mahmudullah, handed the T20I captaincy when the ICC banned Shakib, was sacked last month. When the controversy over Shakib endorsing a betting company erupted, Hassan named Mahmudullah as one of the captaincy candidates. Shakib backtracked. Now he is the captain.A pep talk for the players? Nazmul Hassan does a bit of that too•BCBMominul Haque couldn’t handle the Test captaincy on and off the field. On the field, his form suffered. Off the field, he appeared a nervous wreck. Eventually, he resigned from the role just days before the team left for the West Indies in June.Among the current lot of captains, Tamim Iqbal is in the strongest position. He has led Bangladesh well in ODIs, keeping them in second position in the World Cup Super League table, winning five of their six series in the league. He has also been a prolific scorer during this run, but Tamim will be aware that things can go pear-shaped any moment. He has done well to continue the work of Mortaza with a side that loves to play ODIs. The 2-1 series loss against Zimbabwe recently was a blip, but since it didn’t involve Super League points, it has escaped scrutiny.

****

But the next few months are different. Bangladesh have at least two matches – and a maximum of six – to play before the T20 World Cup, and a poor lead-up wouldn’t just disappoint fans, it will put pressure on Shakib. With Hassan expected to travel to the UAE, the Bangladesh media contingent will expect a generous flow of news. He likes to host press conferences after every other game. If the team loses, like at the World Cup last year, there could well be hell to pay, especially for the captain. And the players learnt straightaway that they are not permitted to question, forget criticise, Hassan.Shakib will play it cool. He will hope to engage constructively with the board chief and the directors, and get the team to focus on matters on-field, rather than on Facebook Watch. Mashrafe turned around a tough campaign in the 2015 ODI World Cup. It can be chaotic, but Shakib will hope for a similar turn of fortunes, and prove to the team and the board that he can lead through this chaos. If he can, he might be rewarded with a bit of peace and quiet.

No other player comes to close to the impact he has on games in the league

Saurabh Somani14-Sep-2020

When the history of T20 cricket is written, Andre Russell will deserve a a tome to himself, with a few chapters devoted only to his batting. In T20 cricket, there isn’t another player like him. Kieron Pollard may come close, but in the IPL nobody can touch Russell.And data only corroborates what fans intuitively understand about Russell’s impact on matches. Has Russell got runs against the opposition’s best bowler? Has he bowled with an economy rate of less than nine in a match where both teams made 200? Has he had to chase down 50 in the last three overs more than once?ESPNcricinfo’s Smart Stats runs on an evolved algorithm capturing a T20 game’s every dynamic movement, ball by ball, and it tells us that out of the 64 games he has played in the IPL, Russell has had the top impact value in 17. He is the most impactful performer once every 3.8 matches, 25% better than the second-placed Chris Gayle, who achieves the same every 5.1 matches (among players who have played at least 60 IPL games). Among the elite of the elite T20 players, that is a massive margin.ESPNcricinfo LtdIn addition, Russell has the highest impact per match in absolute terms too – of any player, active or retired. He has often turned matches around with the bat, although he makes significant contributions with the ball too. And advanced as it is, even our algorithm can’t calculate the errors Russell forces bowlers to make, whether it be extras conceded while trying to perfect the wide yorker or trying to hustle an extra yard of pace.In terms of only batting impact per match, Russell is eighth on the all-time list. Ahead of him are Gayle, David Warner, Rishabh Pant, AB de Villiers, Jos Buttler, Virender Sehwag and Shaun Marsh, each of those a top-order batsman. The median value of when Russell has come in to bat in an IPL game is the 14th over. The next highest non-top-order batsman in this list is Glenn Maxwell, ranked 22.Is it any wonder that there is a clamour to see him bat higher up the order?He bowls less often now, but when his knees aren’t troubling him, Russell the bowler is quite a handful too.ESPNcricinfo LtdIn one of the highest-scoring matches of the IPL, against Kings XI Punjab in 2018, KKR made 245 for 6 and Kings XI put up a spirited chase, but only managed 214 for 8. Russell made 31 off 14 and took 3 for 41, but look at the scorecard and you’ll see some better numbers: Sunil Narine’s 75 off 36 and Dinesh Karthik’s 50 off 23 for KKR. For Punjab, KL Rahul made 66 off 29 and Andrew Tye took 4 for 41.Russell had a solid match, you would think, but measure his total impact on the match and he comes out on top. His bowling impact of 123.79 is only 20 points behind Tye’s and more than double that of the next best bowler in the match, Mohit Sharma (1 for 40) with 59.54. What Smart Stats accounts for is the timing of Russell’s strikes: a double breakthrough when Kings XI had raced to 57 without loss in 5.3 overs, and a further wicket at the end of the eighth over. His first wicket was that of Gayle, one of the few batsmen with the firepower to threaten a tall chase. Russell’s economy of 10.25 isn’t bad in a match where the run rate was 11.47, but when you look at it alongside his wickets, it’s a distinctly superior performance. And paired with the more-than-useful batting, it gave Russell the highest overall impact in the match, beating out Tye and Narine, who were great in one discipline but not so much in the other.ESPNcricinfo LtdThe impact of Russell’s batting shows up even more starkly on Smart Stats. While KKR lost this 2018 game to Chennai Super Kings, Russell was the dominant star. He came in at 89 for 5 after ten overs and blasted 88 off 36 balls to drag his team to 202 for 6. His batting impact of 173.04 was off the charts, way higher than that of Player of the Match Sam Billings’ 111.45 points. Russell had a positive impact with the ball too, giving away only 35 runs in four overs in a 200-plus game.There are a plethora of matches in which Russell’s impact can be seen via Smart Stats. Perhaps that book will in fact go into several volumes.

Captain immersed in challenge of firing county to rare heights, with England days long behind him

Vithushan Ehantharajah16-Mar-2025Does Rory Burns feel old? The laugh in response to the question suggests he probably does. Not because he turns 35 in August, but more the fact 2025 will be Burns’ benefit season.At Surrey, the decision to award benefit years to celebrate a player’s service is not taken lightly. Two members independent of the club management must write in to formally request one for a player, before that request is subsequently approved at board and general counsel level. That being said, commemorating an academy product who debuted in 2011 and is currently plotting a fifth County Championship as captain, feels like a no-brainer.”It’s something that I’m delighted to be awarded with,” Burns tells ESPNcricinfo. “I’d say it’s certainly making me level up my admin game, which, if you ask anyone that knows me, is fairly poor what with the dinners, golf days and matches.”Those that watch Burns operate will have a different take on his logistical skills. The batting, for instance, requires a great deal of organisation. The twitch of arms, canting of head and trigger-shift of feet are idiosyncrasies that require order to function effectively, which they did for 1,073 runs at 53.65 last term. It was the eighth time in the last 11 summers the left-handed opener’s first-class haul has breached four figures. And, really, how much of a scatterbrain can someone really be if they have marshalled a hat-trick of successive Division One titles?Indeed, as thoughts turn to going four in a row this summer, the computing wheels of Burns the cricketer are clearly in good order. Certainly, when it comes to history and ambition.”It is as cold now as it was when I lifted that trophy in September,” he recalls. “Big coats and beanies.Burns was a reassuring presence at the top of England’s order for much of his 32-cap tenure•Getty Images”In the immediate moment, with the trophy lift, you take stock of what you achieved and know you’ve done something pretty special,” referencing the fact Surrey became the first team since Yorkshire, 56 years ago, to win three back-to-back.”But then you look at Yorkshire; they won eight out of 10 (through the 1930s and after the Second World War). Or when we went seven in a row (1952-58). I think if you get the chance to go four in four, you want your next piece of history, I suppose.”Pursuit of another Championship – Surrey’s 34th – comes with change in the air at the Kia Oval. Alec Stewart is no longer director of cricket, but remains in a part-time high-performance cricket advisor role. New Zealand’s impressive bowling allrounder Nathan Smith will join the squad from May, while tall quick Matthew Fisher has moved down south from Yorkshire. Yet again, it is hard to look beyond the south London strutters as favourites.That Burns can be so open about chasing history speaks to what many at Surrey have known about him. He was always destined to lead, in part because of a level personality that seems to allow him the knack of compartmentalising his game and responsibilities.A diligent notetaker, he would constantly be scribbling in a pad during his early years, particularly when it came to details on opposition bowlers. When he was appointed Surrey captain at the end of 2017, it happened to coincide with a book he had on the go – “The Obstacle Is The Way” by Ryan Holiday, which Burns describes as “stoic philosophy”.During his time with England, he undertook a sports leadership and directorship course at the University of Liverpool, via a link-up between the Team England Player Partnership and football’s League Managers Association. He passed with distinction.”You have to write an essay on yourself at certain points – of how you see your leadership and what’s important to you. And realistically, the most important thing that comes across about leadership I think I’ve learned is you’ve got to be yourself.”I place an emphasis on the team and basically how I can do my bit – by leading from the front in my way. As an opening batter, I was focussing on that before captaincy, and I’ve tried to keep doing that. Because I suppose in leadership, when you’re looking for the first thing to do, it’s, the easiest thing to do is making sure you get your bit right. Being yourself.”Taking those learnings and applying them to what is to come in 2025 casts minds back to a time when Burns’ priorities were split between club and country. Surrey’s push for greatness runs parallel with a seismic year for England’s Test side, with an India series this summer followed by an Ashes tour. It is a carbon copy of the schedule from 2021 into the start of 2022. Those happened to be Burns’ last engagements as a Test cricketer.Out of context, Burns’ international record is modest; three centuries and 11 fifties across 59 innings, with a 30.32 average. But for most of his 32 caps, the first coming at the start of the 2018 winter in the immediate aftermath of Alastair Cook’s retirement, he was something of a banker. A rare point of a reliability in an inconsistent era.From Burns’ debut to the beginning of Brendon McCullum’s and Ben Stokes’ leadership at the start of the 2022 summer, England won just 17 of 44 Tests played, with 18 defeats. When opening batters were first on the block when things went wrong, Burns carried a degree of stoicism, to the point of being ear-marked as a future England captain.Burns endured a harrowing experience in Australia in 2021-22, and hasn’t featured for England since•Getty ImagesHe would eventually become part of that collateral. As ever, the final throes were the toughest. A dispiriting Ashes for all involved, a 4-0 loss exacerbated by Covid-19, began with Burns bowled leg stump by Mitchell Starc with the first delivery of the series. He was dropped after the first two Tests, then back for the last in Hobart, on hand to see Australia confirm a 4-0 shellacking, before missing out for the pre-Bazball tour of the Caribbean – Joe Root’s last as Test captain.Dropping straight back into the Kia Oval to plot the first of those hat-trick of titles helped ease the angst. Three years on, however, Burns has still not quite come to terms with his England career.”I don’t think I’ve actually fully taken stock of it,” he says. “I was so fortunate to keep jumping back in with Surrey and captaincy, I never had to overthink it. Where it had gone, where it had not gone.”It led me to some technical changes during that period. Thinking about it now, if I was exposed at a younger age to different conditions, some Lions stuff when I was growing up and scoring a lot of runs, would I have changed my technique rather than just churning out a load of runs in county cricket and got in that way? Would that have helped? I think I’m a better batter now than I was when I was playing Test cricket. But I’m going to think that because I’ve made some changes, and I’ve seen that they’ve worked.”The disappointing thing is it ended with just a 30-second phone call telling you that you’re back-up go on the tour to the West Indies instead of taking you. That was probably one thing that hurt the most. It wasn’t the last dropping (in Australia).”Related

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• Nathan Smith ready to step up after taking scenic route to Tests

• Harry Brook nails the 'ridiculous' with innings that few could replicate

The Test team have since moved in an altogether different direction. The days of grinding your way into the XI off domestic performances, as Burns had done, are long gone, with McCullum and Stokes, governed by men’s managing director Rob Key, keener on raw talent rather than seasoned pros, and high ceilings over high domestic output.As far as Test cricket is concerned, the success rate of this policy has actually been pretty good, with Burns’ Surrey teammates Jamie Smith and Gus Atkinson among the players who have settled into the squad with instant results. But his measured take from his own experiences at the sharp end of the world game is that experience is a vital crutch to lean upon when the going gets tough.”I think when you’re just trying to cherry-pick or find another bolter, it might work and they might have good series. But in the long run, I think the churn of your players in your team will probably become more and more, and it’ll be less settled as it goes on. That’s just my opinion, and the guys in charge are making the decisions that they think are right.”Tom Banton’s a great example. I know it was white-ball, but how he got there (England) was, domestically, doing his thing, improving. Because he’s had that, he’s got more resilience about him and he understands his game that bit more. He also understands the ebbs or flows of when things don’t go right.”In terms of international cricket, it’s pretty tough up there. You need players who have somewhere to go when it doesn’t go right. And for that I think it helps massively to have those experiences first, before you can go and fly at international level.”Burns makes clear he would never say no to a recall, but acknowledges his nuggety, 50-strike-rate ways are not getting a look-in: “The profile of player they’re looking for probably isn’t, well… it isn’t my profile at the minute!”It is not time or distance that underpins Burns’ phlegmatic outlook, rather comfort given the situation he finds himself in at this stage of his career. Purpose and hunger undimmed, another legacy-enhancing summer awaits for Surrey and one of a storied county’s most revered leaders.

Philadelphia Phillies first baseman Bryce Harper was placed on the 10-day injured list on Saturday due to right wrist inflammation.

Harper told reporters he has been dealing with the injury for a while and getting hit in the elbow last week didn't help. Harper said he elected to take a stint on the injured list because he was getting to the point where he was feeling pain with every swing.

Harper missed five games last week after being hit with a 95 mile-per-hour fastball in his surgically repaired right elbow. He returned to the lineup on Tuesday and hit a home run in his first at-bat against the Toronto Blue Jays. It was his only hit in 11 at-bats in the series against Toronto.

Jesse Lingard delivered one of his finest performances in Asia as the former Manchester United star produced a stunning brace and an assist in FC Seoul’s 3-1 victory over Shanghai Port in the AFC Champions League Elite. The 32-year-old dazzled on the continental stage once again, driving his side closer to the knockout rounds as his remarkable late-career revival continues.

• FC Seoul win thanks to Lingard's brace and assist

  FC Seoul earned a crucial AFC Champions League Elite win as Jesse Lingard inspired a superb 3-1 victory away at Chinese champions Shanghai Port, delivering two goals and an assist in a dominant second-half display. Lingard opened the scoring shortly after the break with a precise right-footed strike. Although Shanghai equalised rather quickly through Mateus Vital, Seoul regained control when the former Manchester United star set up Lucas Silva with an excellent cross. The visitors sealed the result when Lingard struck again with a composed first-time finish, capping a commanding performance that lifted Seoul up the eastern standings and brought them a step closer to progression.

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  'Important' AFC Champions League Elite win for FC Seoul

  Lingard emphasised the significance of the win and praised the collective execution of FC Seoul’s tactical approach. "It’s important. Any Champions League game, we know it's going to be a big game on the big stage," he said after the match. "We had a different game plan and it worked, the manager stuck to the game plan, the players stuck to the game plan and we got the win in the end."

• Lingard enjoying life in South Korea

  Lingard’s latest display comes just days after he reached a major personal milestone in FC Seoul colours, scoring his 10th league goal of the K League season in the defeat to Gimcheon Sangmu – the first time in his entire career he has hit double digits in a regular league campaign. His revival in South Korea has been one of the most unexpected career renaissances in recent years, considering he arrived in the K League after nearly eight months without a club and endured a difficult start marked by fitness issues and heavy criticism.

  Lingard’s contributions against Shanghai only underline his evolution into Seoul’s heartbeat. Having already scored in the previous league match, he carried that momentum into Asia’s biggest club competition and controlled the game with maturity.

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  Lingard's journey from Man Utd to Asia

  Lingard's journey is the ultimate unexpected career pivot. He was a golden boy of Manchester United, scoring famous goals and dancing for England, but after leaving Old Trafford in 2022, he entered a brutal period of rejection and stalled ambition. After eight months adrift without a club, he took a leap of faith, signing for FC Seoul in early 2024.

  His start was disastrous as he was unfit and criticised publicly by his manager, while he was then sidelined by a meniscus problem. But that injury became his turning point. Lingard returned sharper and fully committed, earning the trust of his teammates and eventually being named temporary captain, which was a rare honour for a foreigner. His presence sparked a frenzy, with attendance and shirt sales skyrocketing.

Seamer’s three-wicket burst limits hosts’ progress and increases likelihood of draw in relegation battle

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay10-Sep-2025

Matthew Potts made three key breakthroughs to dent Essex’s progress•Getty Images

Matthew Potts made a serious claim for a place in England’s tour party for the Ashes this winter with a three-wicket haul for Durham at Chelmsford including the key scalps of Essex centurions Dean Elgar and Matt Critchley.The 26-year-old pace bowler had been pulled out of next week’s one-day internationals in Ireland by the England management for an up-to-date assessment of his red-ball form with an outing or two in the Rothesay County Championship ahead of the trip Down Under. However, it took him 22 overs of unrelenting toil, and occasional bad luck when his pace beat the bat without reward, before he finally struck to end the 191-run fourth-wicket partnership. Potts finished a day shorn of 57 overs by rain interruptions with figures of 3 for 95 from 30 overs.The obdurate Elgar was at the crease for 98 overs in clocking up 150, his first century of the season, while Critchley’s more flamboyant 129 took just 168 balls. In perfect symmetry, though in great contrast, both batsmen hit 17 fours and one six.Their stand encompassed 50 overs and underpinned Essex’s 457 for 8, which gave them a first-innings lead of 124 in the battle between two relegation-threatened teams. But a lull after the departure of both men within 10 balls from Potts meant Essex missed out on a fourth batting point which had looked a certainty at one point.It had taken Critchley just six balls to move from his overnight 97 into three-figures for the third time his summer. The milestone, from 137 balls, was achieved with a wristy shot to the third-man boundary off Ben Raine. That was followed two balls later with his 14th four, a cover-drive that was both imperious and effortless.Essex moved into the black 15 minutes into the day’s play when Critchley punished Raine with his fourth boundary in the seamer’s opening two overs, again angling the ball through the vacant third man.Elgar was content to watch from the other end as Critchley did the bulk of the early scoring but still crept to 150 from 281 balls. Two balls later, though, he got a thick edge to one in Potts’s fourth over of the day and was caught behind. In his next over, Potts had Critchley playing down the wrong line to one that would have hit middle and off.From a position where the requisite 400 in 110 overs was on the cards, Essex went into the doldrums as the cut-off point loomed. Michael Pepper took 14 balls to get off the mark but fell two balls later when he failed to read an inswinger from Sam Conners and was also lbw. In the end Essex were 29 runs short of the target.Noah Thain hung around for 60 balls in a 52-run stand with Simon Harmer before he became Potts’s third victim, caught brilliantly at full-stretch by Ben McKinney at slip. However, the arrival of Doug Bracewell belatedly increased the tempo as he twice creamed Potts through the covers for fours and then launched Callum Parkinson for a long, straight six.Harmer’s demise after a 70-ball 44, playing on to Raine, brought in the injured Shane Snater with runner Charlie Allison. However, the rain returned as they approached the wicket, though they were soon back for another 10-minute burst of action ahead of a serious bout of heavy rain in mid-afternoon sent the players scurrying for shelter for the final time.

Liverpool have got their explanation as to why Virgil van Dijk's goal against Manchester City was disallowed, with Professional Game Match Officials Limited (PGMOL) chief Howard Webb confirming the VAR decision was correct. The club had formally lodged a complaint to PGMOL after the Dutch defender's goal was chalked off during their 3-0 defeat to Pep Guardiola's men.

• Controversial offside call at Etihad Stadium

  With City leading 1-0, Van Dijk’s thumping header appeared to have levelled the score, but referee Chris Kavanagh disallowed the goal for offside after the assistant's flag went up. It was a ruling which was confirmed moments later by VAR Michael Oliver. The decision hinged on whether Andy Robertson, who was standing near the six-yard box, had obstructed Gianluigi Donnarumma’s ability to react. While Robertson never touched the ball, the officials deemed his movement to duck under Van Dijk’s header as an "obvious action" that interfered with play. According to Law 11, an offside player can only be punished if their action "prevents an opponent from playing or being able to play the ball" by either blocking vision or directly impacting the opponent’s ability to make a move. Liverpool believe neither of these conditions applied.

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  What did Webb say?

  While speaking on the show, Webb acknowledged the controversy but remained adamant that the decision was not unreasonable given the evidence.

  "Interfering with an opponent where the offside position player doesn't play the ball and the officials have to make a judgment whether the actions of that player impact an opponent, are some of the most subjective decisions that we have to make," said Webb.

  "Therefore, it's no surprise that some people believe this goal should have stood, so I think it's important that we look at the facts of what actually happened in this situation. We know the corner comes in and the ball reaches Van Dijk. As the ball's coming across the penalty area, the Manchester City players move out, they leave Robertson in that offside position in the heart of the six-yard box.

  "When Van Dijk heads the ball forward, that's the moment when we have to make an offside judgment about Robertson and about what he's doing there. We know he doesn't touch the ball but what does he do? Well, as the ball moves towards him, three yards out from goal, right in the middle of the six-yard box, he makes that clear action to duck below the ball. The ball goes just over his head, and the ball finds the goal in the half of the six-yard box where he is. Then, the officials have to make a judgment – did that clear action impact on Donnarumma, the goalkeeper, and his ability to save the ball? And that's where the subjectivity comes into play.

  "Obviously that's the conclusion they drew on that. They looked at that position, they looked at that action, so close to the goalkeeper, and they formed that opinion. I know that's not a view held by everybody, but I think it's not unreasonable to understand why they would form that conclusion. The player is so close to the goalkeeper, the ball's coming right towards him and he has to duck to get out of the way of the ball – and they form the conclusion that that impacts Donnarumma's ability just to dive towards the ball and make that save. And then, of course, once they've made that on-field decision, the job of the VAR is to look at that and decide, was the outcome of offside clearly and obviously wrong?

  "Only Donnarumma truly knows if he was impacted by this and, of course, we have to look at the factual evidence, and when we see that factual evidence of that position of the player ducking below the ball, so close to the goalkeeper, the VAR determines that the outcome of offside is not clearly and obviously wrong, and they stay out of it."

• Line of vision and beyond

  Webb claimed that VAR officials must weigh several other factors, other than the line of vision, before intervening. 

  He said: "You do hear the assistant [on the VAR audio], in this case, talk about line of vision. I agree with you, the line of vision normally would relate to the view being blocked of the ball. On that one, he does see the ball all the way, but the assistant also talks about other things, ducking below the ball, being close to the goalkeeper.

  "Those in themselves can be enough to penalise a player for offside, [by] interfering with an opponent. Even if the keeper can see the ball coming all the way along, he's still in front of the goalkeeper, he still makes that ducking action that could still cause hesitation from the goalkeeper. Goalkeepers work on reactions that make it possible to pull out some incredible saves and that's the judgment formed on the field. So, [apart from] the line of vision, there's other aspects that can also say that this is an offside offence, and that's why the VAR left it alone."

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  Slot draws comparison to City's own controversy

  Liverpool boss Arne Slot referenced a strikingly similar situation from last season, when Bernardo Silva appeared offside in the build-up to a Manchester City goal against Wolves; a strike that was ultimately allowed to stand after a VAR review. Webb, however, argued that the two incidents were "fundamentally different."

  "I think there's a clear difference here in that the ball goes directly over the goalkeeper Jose Sa's head," Webb explained. "It doesn't go over Bernardo Silva. Bernardo Silva is an offside position when John Stones heads the ball forward. Importantly, he moved to the left, away from the flight of the ball, and the ball goes straight over Sa, it doesn't go over the head of Bernardo Silva in the way that it went over the head of Robertson, who ducked below it.

  "So, I think it's difficult here to see this and think in any way that Jose Sa is impacted by an action of Bernardo Silva. If the ball had gone over Bernardo Silva's head, maybe causing Jose Sa to hesitate in case it hits Bernardo Silva, then we'd come out with the same outcome of check complete on the on-field decision of disallowed goal."

  While Liverpool’s frustration simmered, City made the most of their good fortune. With momentum on their side, Guardiola’s men tightened their grip after the interval, with Jeremy Doku scoring the third to see out the match and maintain their unbeaten record at the Etihad. They climbed to the second spot after the victory, cutting down the gap at the summit with Arsenal to just four points.