If Hardik Pandya is one half of India’s white-ball cheat code, Axar is the other, and he proved this again with an all-round masterclass at Carrara Oval

Sidharth Monga06-Nov-2025

Axar Patel used angles to take his wickets and then to celebrate them•Getty Images

T20 unfolds so quickly it is sometimes difficult to figure out what is going on or what has caused the goings-on. One moment Australia are looking comfortable chasing 168, the next they are getting out hooking Shivam Dube. Before you know it, Washington Sundar is on a hat-trick, and India have won the Carrara Oval T20I by 48 runs.Australia had been dominating the game. An Arshdeep Singh over had gone for 15, Varun Chakravarthy had been pulled for a huge six, and India needed an intervention to stay alive in the contest.At this juncture, Axar Patel came on inside the powerplay and dragged Australia back, executing a simple plan to perfection. He said he was looking to bowl the 5-6m length to batters looking to hit down the ground, and full to those looking to sweep.Related

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Axar used his wide release to create an angle into the right-hand batters in the Australian line-up, cramping them for room. Only eight of the balls that Axar bowled in his night’s work of 4-0-20-2 ended up outside off at the plane of the stumps. Everything else was either hitting the stumps or following batters who were backing away to create room. Not one ball let them play an attacking shot off the back foot.Axar got Matt Short on the sweep, but the incredible part was that he landed the ball full enough to defy that angle, and both hit the batter in line and be projected to hit the stumps. He also convinced his captain to take the review when the umpire, understandably, didn’t quite believe both were possible. Against Josh Inglis, Axar saw the advance down the wicket and both slowed the ball down and pulled his length back.This was a crucial spell because Axar was the fourth bowler India tried, and their options for the fifth bowler were Dube, Washington, who hadn’t bowled in the third T20I because of the right-hander-heavy line-up, and Abhishek Sharma. India needed some asking-rate pressure for any of these bowlers to be effective. Axar created that with three overs for 17 runs out of the first nine, giving India a chance to be able to use the uneven bounce and the big square boundaries; Dube, for one, did this with smart use of off-pace bouncers.Axar Patel’s handy 21* carried India to 167•Getty ImagesFor all of Axar’s bowling smarts, limited-overs cricket is too unforgiving for specialist fingerspinners to thrive in, but his batting has also been a big part of India’s domination in T20 cricket. Here at Carrara Oval, he had scored an unbeaten 11-ball 21 that included a final-over push that took them to a fighting total.With increasing batting responsibilities both at Delhi Capitals and in ODIs, Axar has flourished as an allrounder in limited-overs cricket. He is one half of the cheat code – Hardik Pandya is the other – that gives India depth in both departments.You can easily imagine teams that will be happy to play just Axar the batter. Unlike Ravindra Jadeja, India’s T20 spin allrounder before Axar and for a while alongside him, it is not easy to shut Axar down. He can be a spin disruptor, he can play like a proper middle-order batter, and he can also bat at the death.This was Axar’s eighth Player-of-the-Match award in T20Is, which moved him past another left-arm spinner and batter, Yuvraj Singh. Only Virat Kohli, Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit Sharma have won more match awards for India. If this is not enough to prove his value, consider this. You can find substitutes for most players in Indias’ line-up, who may not be as good as the player they’ve replaced but can still do a job. It is nigh on impossible to find someone who does what Axar does.

Ashes tour represents culmination of English cricket’s Test reboot, amid reasons for optimism unmatched in 15 years

Andrew Miller18-Nov-20252:28

Why England could risk Wood for first Ashes Test in Perth

“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.”Inigo Montoya, the swashbuckling protagonist of “The Princess Bride”, might have had a thing or two to say about Bazball, and its mad, myriad, interpretations. Three-and-a-half years down the line, it’s about to be pitched into its most meaningful campaign yet, yet it seems no nearer to being granted an official, meaningful definition.Can Bazball work in Australia? It depends who you ask, and which end of the kaleidoscope you happen to be peering down, because this word, and its implications, mean different things to different observers. As last week’s unhinged headlines in the West Australian have already demonstrated, it arguably means more to the hosts who are offended by its existence than it does to the visitors who, to this day, barely acknowledge it to be a thing.Do such semantics even matter? Probably more than you think, given the inimitably immersive nature of an Ashes tour, and the likelihood that off-field narratives will end up fuelling the on-field action.Related

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Ask the average Australian what Bazball means to them, and you’ll doubtless have to wade through a torrent of invective before you get to the nub of their distaste. It means hubris, it means “moral victories”, it means getting antsy about Spirit of Cricket debates. It means getting so high on your own supply that you can gather your troops around you, as Brendon McCullum did after an agonising, agenda-swiping defeat in the opening Test of the 2023 Ashes, and declare with a straight face that it “almost felt like a win”.It’s style over substance, essentially, from an England team that has won none and lost 13 of its last 15 Tests in Australia, and hasn’t beaten a “Big Three” opponent, home or away, since 2018. And it is clearly infuriating, not least to the Aussie old guard, who resent the implication that the sport they perfected 20 years ago is in need of reinvention, or even – as England’s evangelistic narrative has at times implied – rescuing. Adam Gilchrist, by reputation one of the sport’s good guys, has never looked more like an angry old man shouting at clouds than when, in an interview with the Grade Cricketer podcast last month, he was asked if the word wound him up. Reader, it truly does…And yet, the irony is that England themselves have never bought into the Bazbollocks, as it were. When the word was coined on this website, back in May 2022, it was as a prediction, not a reaction. McCullum was then still weeks away from naming his first Test squad, let alone imparting any of the lessons he had learned in his own remarkable playing career. Only one thing was clear: if England were willing to appoint a man of his reputation to take charge of a red-ball squad for the first time in his coaching career, then things were about to get radically different. “Buckle up and get ready for the ride”, as Rob Key even put it in his accompanying press release.And so, as the word gained traction in those heady early months of England’s Test revival, Bazball initially carried as much value as “X” might in an algebraic equation: it was an unknown quantity, awaiting whatever meaning Baz and his acolytes were willing to imbue it with, while at the same time, offering a handy shortcut to spare the media from having to describe “thestyleofTestcricketthat Englandadoptedinthesummerof2022…” in every subsequent mention. Why blurt out a 100-word paragraph when the era’s parameters were so clearly delineated?Bazball on tour: Ben Stokes and Brendon McCullum will oversee England’s Ashes tilt•Getty ImagesEngland, however, disowned it from the outset. McCullum declared it “silly”, but seeing as nature abhors a vacuum (and social media loves a Streisand effect) his reaction only encouraged any and every definition to be sucked into the resulting void – including the silliest of the lot, the Collins Dictionary’s induction of Bazball into its official lexicon. Marnus Labuschagne’s verdict was succinct – “garbage” – but the dictionary’s half-arsed definition wasn’t that much more considered: “a style of test [sic] cricket in which the batting side attempts to gain the initiative by playing in a highly aggressive manner.” (As if to demonstrate the depth of thought that had gone into this stunt, “Brendan” McCullum’s name was even misspelt in the accompanying citation.)Such is the back story that fuels the assumption that England’s approach to this Ashes campaign is flawed and frivolous. Several pundits, at home and away, have agreed with the narrative that prevailed during the squad’s build-up at Lilac Hill, that a week spent lolling by a bend in the Swan River, followed by a solitary intra-squad beano on a pudding of a pitch, was no way to prepare for the biggest series of their lifetimes. Further hours spent on the golf course, and on boat trips to Rottnest Island, haven’t exactly dissuaded the local media from their preconceptions.And yet, buried beneath all the froth and indignation, there remains a clear and hard-nosed edge to Bazball that surely sets this series up as England’s most compelling opportunity in Australia for 15 long and gruesome years.For if we rewind to that original premise back in 2022 – that things had got so bad for English cricket that there was no alternative but to do something radically different – then we have to acknowledge that this is it. This – right here, right now – is everything that England’s last Ashes campaign was not, and everything that the past four years has been building towards.The misery, the isolation, the defeatism. All of it can go hang. English cricket touched the void on that dreadful 2021-22 campaign, and for this tour’s five survivors – Ben Stokes, Joe Root, Ollie Pope, Mark Wood and Zak Crawley – simply to soak in the great outdoors this past week has been a step-up from their preparations last time out, given the fetid conditions that they were forced to endure in their Covid bio-bubbles.

“England’s ethos arguably has its roots in the lonely months of lockdown, when the onus fell on the dressing-room to be ceaselessly supportive. But there are also echoes of Eoin Morgan’s attitude during their white-ball revolution ahead of the 2019 World Cup, when errors were accepted, but a slackening of intent was not”

For the others, there’s the sense of a deeply intimate project coming to its culmination. England’s refusal to engage with the Bazball narrative has, in some quarters, been interpreted as aloof and indifferent but it chimes with the precise reasons why their antics have got so far under Australia’s skin. At every step of this journey (and leaving aside the weird performative elements that were echoed in the women’s squad’s dreadful “inspire and entertain” mantra), the gallery to which England has been playing has rarely veered from their own dressing-room balcony.We’ve seen it in the selectors’ unswerving support for its incumbents, most notably Crawley, but also in the senior players’ submission to the wider team ethic – perhaps best epitomised by Root’s use of the scoop shot, including in the first Test of that 2023 Ashes and, infamously, at the pivotal juncture of England’s series loss in India. Despite the criticisms that have accompanied these moments, Root’s stated desire was to muck in, thereby ensuring that the team did not arrive at this Ashes in the same predicament as the last. By the end of the Melbourne Test in December 2021, with England 3-0 down and midway through a run of one Test win in 17, Root’s calendar-year tally of 1708 runs at 61.00 was more than three times higher than any of his team-mates, all of whom seemed deferent to the point of paralysis.It’s helped to create a closed loop of confirmation bias, in which England have judged their own success not by matches won and lost (again, cue the outrage…) but by the enterprise and excellence showcased along the way. It’s an ethos that arguably has its roots in those lonely months of lockdown, when the onus fell on the dressing-room to be ceaselessly supportive, because if they were not, then no-one else was on hand to provide the applause. But there are also echoes of Eoin Morgan’s attitude during England’s white-ball revolution ahead of the 2019 World Cup, when errors were accepted, but a slackening of intent was not.And, just as that four-year revival stemmed from the nadir of the 2015 World Cup and came to fruition four years later, so the same is true of the challenge that awaits this England Test team. They’ve ripped up the methods that failed them on the last three tours – not least in their identification of a coterie of fast bowlers – and tested the limits of their enterprise in a succession of series that, dare one admit it, simply did not matter as much as this one.At the captains’ press conference on the eve of the 2019 World Cup, Virat Kohli tried to goad his opposite number by suggesting the first 500-run ODI total could be in England’s sights in the coming weeks. But, as it transpired, England’s campaign was coloured by a quieter resolve, not least when adversity struck in their mid-tournament wobble. On tougher surfaces than they might have expected from the outset, they channelled their experience and leant into an Alpha status that few England teams before them had ever dared to embrace.Much the same might be expected of Stokes’ men in the coming months. The mistakes and over-reach of the past few years, including (as they might one day admit) in those critical Tests at Edgbaston and Lord’s in 2023, will be forgiven if they can emerge victorious from this campaign. But whether or not England themselves call it Bazball is immaterial: the Barmy Army, 40,000-strong and travelling with an optimism unmatched for 15 years, will doubtless be on hand to sing it for them at the Optus, to the tune of The Cranberries’ “Zombie”.The mere existence of the word, and its implications, already feels a bigger deal for the hosts than their challengers.

His tendency to play most lengths from spinners off the back foot has brought him high control percentages but it can also get him into trouble

Karthik Krishnaswamy10-Oct-20251:35

Aakash Chopra: Sai Sudharsan would be ‘kicking himself’ for missing a hundred

It would come as no surprise to anyone that Shubman Gill and KL Rahul, who ended the recent tour of England with averages of 75.40 and 53.20, also had the best control percentages of all of India’s batters on the trip.Guess which India batter had the next-best control percentage? You’ve seen the headline of this piece, so no prizes for guessing, but would you, otherwise, have imagined it might have been B Sai Sudharsan, who scored all of 140 runs across six innings, at an average of 23.33? That too on a tour that brought so many other India batters so many runs?Depending on your philosophical leanings, you might conclude either that this fact shows us how unreliable averages are, or how unreliable control percentages are.If you followed that tour closely enough, you would have watched Sai Sudharsan play innings after innings of promising beginnings and puzzling endings. You would have watched him defend and leave good-length balls in the business area around the top of off stump with great assurance, playing close to his body at most times, and almost always having time for late adjustments. You would have watched him get out to the most unthreatening deliveries, with half-volleys angling down leg proving particularly hazardous.At the end of it all, you might have wondered what to make of it all.Selectors and coaches often place great emphasis on the eye test. Sai Sudharsan had clearly passed this when India called him up to their Test squad. He averaged less than 40 in first-class cricket, and the last frontline batter to make a Test debut for India without having passed that benchmark was another Tamil Nadu left-hander, WV Raman, all the way back in 1988. And Raman’s first-class average was partly a function of his having begun his career as a left-arm spinner who batted down the order.At the end of that England tour, the enigma of Sai Sudharsan confronted the world all over again: eye test passed, average of 23.33.He had, of course, only played three Tests, so you couldn’t read too much into that average. But then came Ahmedabad last week, and a score of 7 when the rest of India’s top six made 36, 100, 50, 125 and 104*. One of those scores came from a promising wicketkeeper-batter who was playing because India’s regular keeper-batter was injured; many viewers began having visions of both playing together, one of them as a specialist batter.And how would India possibly accommodate both in their XI? Well, there’s this guy at No. 3 with an average of 21.00 after four Test matches…It was against this backdrop that Sai Sudharsan batted against West Indies in Delhi. On the one hand: day one on a flat Indian pitch, a modest attack, and so much to gain. On the other: refer to last week’s scorecard for evidence of how little all those ingredients can still amount to.As Sai Sudharsan settled into his innings, he showed no sign of being in any way conscious of this backdrop. He had faced a certain degree of criticism in Ahmedabad for his tendency of playing most lengths from spinners off the back foot, and had been out doing so, lbw while looking to pull Roston Chase off a ball that didn’t seem short enough to merit that response. He continued, here in Delhi, to play most lengths off the back foot against West Indies’ spin trio, but showed he had ways of forcing them for runs without adopting the horizontal bat.By the time he had scored 26, he had hit four back-foot fours off the spinners with a straight or straight-ish bat, three of them down the ground. Two of them were contenders for shot of the day: both times, he rocked back to Jomel Warrican’s left-arm spin and punched him against the turn into the narrow gap between mid-off and short extra-cover.Both times, the ball was only marginally short of a good length, and turning into his stumps and theoretically cramping Sai Sudharsan for room. But he manufactured just enough room by using the full depth of his crease and opening up his hip, with his front leg skipping nimbly to the leg side, and manufactured a remarkable amount of power through his strong, whippy wrists.Sai Sudharsan showed complete faith in this back-foot-dominant game against spin right through a second-wicket stand of 193 with Yashasvi Jaiswal, whether while playing attacking shots or while defending good-length balls attacking his stumps.Every now and again, this technique contributed to moments that jolted viewers out of the reverie that big first-day partnerships on flat Indian pitches can induce. One ball would turn a little more, or skid through a little quicker, or keep ever so slightly low, and yank Sai Sudharsan out of his bubble of self-possession. On 52, he jammed his bat down just in time to save himself from what looked like a certain lbw against one such ball from Khary Pierre.B Sai Sudharsan is back-foot oriented against spin•AFP/Getty ImagesBut this was still a batter in full control. Almost literally. Until he was dropped on 58 – he closed his bat face too early against the medium-pace of Justin Greaves and popped a leading edge towards Warrican at short midwicket – off the 107th ball he faced, Sai Sudharsan hadn’t played a single false shot all innings.And his eventual dismissal on 87 came off the only false shot he played in 125 balls against spin.Inevitably, it was a good-length ball that Sai Sudharsan looked to defend off the back foot, except this ball from Warrican turned prodigiously and skidded onto his back pad before he could bring his bat down fully. Like the rest of his innings had done, like his dismissal in Ahmedabad had done, it fuelled debate over his method.Ball-by-ball data from Test matches in India since 2022 tells us that, on average, batters only negotiate around 14% of balls that spinners land in the 4-5m length band (the fuller side of the spinners’ good length) off the back foot. Sai Sudharsan, in this series, has gone back to just under 38% of balls pitching in that band.Is that… good or bad?Well, first of all, our reactions to technique tend to be informed by what we’re used to seeing. We’re used to watching batters defend balls off the front foot when spinners land on the fuller side of a good length. Any other response looks unusual, and to many viewers, suspect. And if you believe this, that belief is only strengthened when that unusual method contributes to a dismissal.Sai Sudharsan was out playing back to a ball most batters would have gone forward to. But he had employed the same technique until that point while achieving a 100% control rate over 124 balls against spin.B Sai Sudharsan seemingly misjudged the length and fell lbw to Roston Chase in Ahmedabad•Associated PressWhat do we conclude, then? We might want to listen to India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak, who provided a superbly nuanced take in his press conference at the end of the day’s play.”See, Sai, obviously, coming from Tamil Nadu, they play a lot on turning wickets. He’s pretty good against spin,” Kotak said. “I think his back-foot game, and some shots he plays on the back foot, not many players play, because a lot of balls which he negotiates on the back foot, most of the players would negotiate it on the front foot.”The only thing we talk about is, some of the very full balls also, sometimes he plays on the back foot, so we’re trying to cut [down] on that. He very much knows that, and he tries. And obviously the line [matters]; if the line is outside off stump, the same length he could easily go [onto the] front foot and play, then impact [on the pad] would be outside off stump.”So all that we discuss. But his overall game against spin is a lot more on the back foot than front foot. And with his bat-swing, the way he bats, the amount of power he generates on the back foot is also amazing. Some of the shots through mid-off, extra-cover, through midwicket and all, that is his strength.”To boil that down: Sai Sudharsan is unusually back-foot oriented against spin, and he plays shots off the back foot – like the two mentioned above against Warrican – that not too many others can play. This method can, however, get him in trouble against certain lines and lengths, and judicious use of front-foot play can help him round out his game.Kotak’s observation about going on the front foot when the ball pitches outside off stump, to take lbw out of the equation, illuminates one advantage of front-foot play: it can keep the percentages in batters’ favour even when they aren’t in control. Defending off the back foot, however, tends to be more binary: you are usually either able to adjust to vagaries of turn, pace and bounce and defend with the middle of your bat, or the ball behaves so unusually that you are left without any protection against dismissal.Kotak spoke about Sai’s mental strength too, and the self-belief that allowed him to bat the way he did on Friday, seemingly impervious to all the noise swirling around him.India batting coach Sitanshu Kotak rates B Sai Sudharsan highly•PTI “Sai, we all know how talented he is. [We don’t always just] look at the [batter’s] score; [we] look at the batsman, how he’s batting, how he’s pacing his innings, what kind of shots he plays,” Kotak said. “Sometimes, one or two innings, anybody can fail. But he batted brilliantly today.”He is someone who is mentally very tough, you’ll never see him change his style of playing. He always plays on the merit [of the ball]. So the same way he batted today. [You might have thought] he might be thinking, [what happens] if I get out early again? But if you see his innings, [did] you ever feel from ball one that he’s thinking that? Obviously not. So that’s why we know [what a] quality [player] he is.”Sai Sudharsan’s innings reflected all the strengths Kotak enumerated, but also the security he feels in a team that believes fully in his ability, ignoring his first-class record, his early Test numbers, and the knee-jerk reactions of the outside world to success and failure. It was the innings of a hugely talented player but also the innings of the system that produced him and nurtures him.It felt sobering that this innings came against the West Indies team of 2025. Is Sai Sudharsan, in raw-material terms, a better batter than Tagenarine Chanderpaul or Alick Athanaze? Who can say. Do they have the infrastructure, technical expertise and support system that gets the most out of Sai Sudharsan’s talent? Most definitely not, and for no fault of theirs. If you think cricket is at its healthiest if it offers its young talent the best possible opportunities to flourish, you can’t be happy with the way it currently works.

Celtic are currently ranked 27th out of 36 teams in the league phase of the Europa League after they lost 3-1 to Danish side FC Midtjylland on Thursday night.

The Hoops endured a dismal opening 45 minutes of football, in which they gave up 15 shots against their goal, and went into the break 3-0 down to their hosts.

It was the first loss suffered by Martin O’Neill during his time as the interim head coach of the Scottish giants, after he won his first two games against Falkirk in the Scottish Premiership and Rangers in the League Cup semi-finals.

On top of it being a disappointing performance and result, Celtic will also be frustrated to have lost Callum Osmand to a hamstring injury late on in the second half.

The teenage centre-forward, who won the penalty that Reo Hatate scored from, pulled up when chasing a ball over the top and is now facing a spell on the sidelines.

As well as being frustrated by Osmand’s injury, O’Neill will surely be frustrated by several of the performances that were on display from some of his players on Thursday night.

Celtic's worst performers against Midtjylland

Of the players who started the Europa League clash in Denmark, it is hard to argue against Anthony Ralston being the pick of the bunch when looking at the biggest underperformers.

The Scotland international was caught out for the first two goals as he was given the run-around by 19-year-old winger Mikel Gogorza, who beat him easily to cross for the opener and to score the second goal.

Ralston, as shown in the clip above, allowed the teenage forward to cut inside in the box to get his shot away with ease, as he was barely able to put any pressure on the shot.

The Scottish full-back was not the only player who struggled, though, as Football FanCast published an article explaining why Callum McGregor, who failed to win a single duel or tackle in midfield, was also among the worst performers.

Minutes

45

69

Shots

0

1

Shots on target

0

0

Key passes

0

0

Dribbles completed

0

0

Pass accuracy

73%

83%

Duels won

1/5

2/7

Johnny Kenny and Benjamin Nygren, as shown in the statistics above, also produced underwhelming performances as the starting centre-forward and attacking midfielder on Thursday night.

They were tasked with providing a threat at the top end of the pitch from the start of the match, but neither of them were able to register a single shot on target or key pass.

However, Nygren produced one goal and one assist and Kenny scored three goals in O’Neill’s first two matches in the dugout at Parkhead, which shows that they can offer far more than they did against the Danish side earlier this week.

Meanwhile, a player who came off the bench in the 3-1 loss in the Europa League may be on borrowed time in Glasgow, as he was even worse than both Nygren and Kenny.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

Paulo Bernardo was brought onto the pitch for Arne Engels with 16 minutes left to play and his cameo against Midtjylland did little to suggest that he deserves more minutes on the pitch moving forward.

Why Paulo Bernardo may be on borrowed time at Celtic

The Portugal U21 international only played 74 minutes out of a possible 810 in the nine Scottish Premiership matches that Brendan Rodgers was in charge of at the start of the season, per Sofascore.

This shows that the former Benfica central midfielder did not get too many opportunities to shine under the Northern Irish head coach, which is why his resignation from the club appeared to be a fresh start for Bernardo.

Unfortunately, though, he was an unused substitute in the 4-0 win against Falkirk and was not selected to be part of the matchday squad for the clash with Rangers in the League Cup, before playing 16 minutes off the bench on Thursday night.

Midtjylland

16

Falkirk

0

Hearts

0

Sturm Graz

0

Motherwell

0

Braga

67

Hibernian

16

Red Star Belgrade

0

Partick Thistle

59

Kilmarnock

0

Bernardo has been a bit-part player for the Scottish giants this season, as shown by the statistics above, and has played fewer minutes in all competitions than McGregor, Engels, Hatate, Nygren, and Luke McCowan, who have all been preferred ahead of him in the middle of the park, per Transfermarkt.

The Portuguese whiz needed to make the most of his 16 minutes of action to impress on Thursday night, to prove that he deserves more game time, but his performance was even worse than Kenny and Nygren’s.

Minutes

16

Key passes

0

Passes completed

2/6 (33%)

Touches

7

Possession lost

5x

Ground duels won

0/2

Aerial duels won

0/3

As you can see in the table above, Bernardo lost the ball five times from seven touches of the ball in his time on the pitch, which is a dismal ratio that will not have pleased O’Neill watching on.

The ex-Benfica man also lost 100% of his five duels for the Hoops, whilst Nygren and Kenny at least won a duel each, as he failed to provide any physicality in midfield.

Bernardo, who was awarded a 4/10 player rating by 67HailHail, struggled in and out of possession in his 16 minutes off the bench, which could leave O’Neill wondering whether to reward him with any minutes against Kilmarnock at Parkhead on Sunday.

The 23-year-old flop, who played 28 matches in the Premiership in the 2024/25 campaign, may be on borrowed time in Glasgow unless he can turn things around and earn himself a regular place in the XI before January.

0 tackles, 0 duels won: Celtic man was just as bad as Ralston v Midtjylland

Celtic’s season reached a new nadir with defeat in Denmark on Thursday night.

ByRobbie Walls Nov 7, 2025

If it gets to the January transfer window and the midfielder is still a bit-part player who is rarely getting minutes on the pitch, a decision may have to be made on his future at the club.

“I just love the contest and love being able to be the one to put a good contribution out there”

Ashish Pant07-Mar-20250:53

Mooney: ‘Nice to see change in perspective of where the women’s game is at’

Player of the Match in the 2023 T20 World Cup final. Player of the Tournament at the 2020 T20 World Cup. An average of 110 at the 2022 ODI World Cup. Player of the Match in back-to-back WBBL finals, in 2018-19 and in 2019-20. The list can go on.There’s something about big games that brings out the best in Beth Mooney. The Australia teams she has been part of have given her ample opportunity to showcase her big-stage temperament. That they crossed the final hurdle was often down to Mooney stepping up when it mattered.What is it about Mooney and her going big in crunch games?Related

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“I really like winning,” Mooney told ESPNcricinfo. “I think winning is always nice in a team sport, and being able to contribute, but I’m quite competitive and gutsy as well. It doesn’t always look pretty when I’m out there, but when I’m in the contest, I don’t want to let the team down. I make sure I do everything I can to get the team over the line and contribute where I can.”Maybe it’s happened by chance, maybe it hasn’t. It’s hard to really put a finger on it, but it’s probably just worked out that way because the Australian team has played in a lot of finals, and I’ve had a lot of opportunities to bat high up the order in ODI cricket and T20 cricket. I just love the contest and love being able to be the one to put a good contribution out there.”Mooney has flown under the radar in the Australia teams that have been studded with superstars, such as Alyssa Healy, Ellyse Perry and Meg Lanning. But she has been a beacon of consistency, especially in T20Is. Since the start of 2020, only Smriti Mandhana has more runs than Mooney’s 2230 runs in 65 T20I innings, and she’s played 13 fewer innings. She has the highest average (46.45) among batters in the top 50 on this list and also the most fifties (22) in this period.Mooney is also the highest run-scorer in WBBL history with 5051 runs in 141 innings and is only second to Lanning for most T20I runs for Australia. For someone who does not have an intimidating presence like Grace Harris or Healy, Mooney’s understanding of the T20 game and knowing when exactly to increase the pace stands out.With Alyssa Healy injured, Beth Mooney has been keeping wicket for Australia•Getty Images”In T20, you are looking to take the game on as much as possible. And you know your limits within yourself. Who your best match-up is against what team. I just feel like if you can get yourself going against a certain bowler, then that opens the game right up for you against the other bowlers,” Mooney said. “Sometimes you’re going to – well, that’s not true, you’re going to get out every game – the method is that as long as I’m getting out in a way that is the style of play that I want to go about, then I’m okay with it.”If I’m getting out, just sort of throwing my wicket away a bit, then that’s when I get a little bit disappointed with myself and know I can be better. But I certainly think accepting your fate in T20 cricket goes a long way to making sure that you’re playing your natural game and really trying to get your team into winning positions.”Currently in India playing the WPL, Mooney wants to inculcate that winning mentality and run-scoring appetite in the Gujarat Giants set-up, a team she has been with since the first season. It hasn’t worked out great for Giants yet: they finished at the bottom of the five-team table both in 2023 and 2024. They are doing much better this time and are currently placed third. Mooney reckons that winning or losing, especially in T20 cricket, creates a habit, and Giants haven’t been able to do that.

“I’m 31 years old now. I’ve got no desire to captain teams. I like being a leader, I like being a quiet leader. Someone who can change and have an impact on the group pretty quietly and do my job”

“It’s not really a secret that we haven’t won too many games at Gujarat,” Mooney said. “That’s not through any fault of our own in terms of effort or attitude. I think the attitude of the group has been excellent. The coaching staff are doing the best they can to provide us with lots of opportunities to train and learn about the game.”Sometimes I think T20 cricket can be a little bit about luck, and it can be a little bit about timing. Winning and losing become a bit of a habit, and unfortunately for us, we have probably just lost some pretty close games. I think if we had won, we probably would have got on a nice roll and learnt how to win those games. But certainly, I think we have got a group that I do think can really challenge for the finals.”Mooney was gutted to have been ruled out of the inaugural edition of the WPL owing to a calf strain after just one game, but she returned in the second season to captain the side. While Ash Gardner has taken over captaincy this season, Mooney is keen on imparting a little bit of wisdom to the Indian players at Giants and also learning from them. The other thing that gets her excited during the WPL is the crowd, especially in Bengaluru.”It’s certainly a different experience going from playing in front of a hundred people that were family and friends to, you know, 30, 50, 60,000 [people],” she said. “The International Women’s Day is coming up and that will mark five years since the T20 World Cup final in Australia where we played in front of 86,000 at the MCG. Never in my lifetime did I think that would happen.

“Winning and losing become a bit of a habit, and unfortunately for us, we have probably just lost some pretty close games”Beth Mooney on Giants’ performance

“It’s happened a lot sooner and probably hasn’t happened as often as we would have liked, especially in Australia. But I certainly think over here in India, we get a lot of decent crowds. We are at the Chinnaswamy Stadium at the moment and the RCB fans are loud as hell. It’s just been really nice to see the change in the perspective of where the women’s game is at, and people wanting to watch and do anything they can to get a ticket.”A wicketkeeper since her age-group days, Mooney has been doing keeping duties for the various franchises across the world but not as much for Australia. But with Healy down with injury, Mooney has become their go-to option behind the stumps. And it’s something she loves doing.”I’ve always been a wicketkeeper by trade since I was ten years old,” Mooney said. “It’s probably just worked out that in the Australian team, obviously Alyssa’s been the main wicketkeeper there and I had to find a way into the team somewhere else. It’s a skill set I’m pretty comfortable with and have done it for a long period of time, but I think I’m equally confident in the field.Beth Mooney: “It’s not really a secret that we haven’t won too many games at Gujarat”•BCCI”I’ve probably got the right balance throughout my career to be able to do it in franchise cricket and domestic cricket back home in Australia and then be able to offer a different option for the Australian selectors by taking a second wicketkeeper on tour. I’ve really enjoyed being able to offer that flexibility to the Australian selectors, and obviously now with Alyssa going down with injury, not too much has to change within their starting XI. They can add in an extra allrounder or an extra batter or bowler rather than having to add in two more players to cover the batting and keeping.”For a player of Mooney’s calibre, and cricketing smarts, it is a bit surprising that she has never captained Australia in any format despite being with the national team for nine years. Even her captaincy stints in franchise cricket have been sporadic. With Healy unsure about her future in international cricket beyond the 2025 ODI World Cup, does Mooney harbour any desire to become Australia captain?”No, absolutely not. I’m 31 years old now. I’ve got no desire to captain teams,” she said. “I like being a leader, I like being a quiet leader. Someone who can change and have an impact on the group pretty quietly and do my job. I’ve always said yes to people when they have needed someone to do it, and the right people have asked me to do it, if it’s going to have a positive impact on the group. But no, I certainly don’t harbour any desire to be a captain.”

Returning quicks close out soggy win after Markram, Brevis and Ferreira cameos

Firdose Moonda10-Sep-2025Don’t read too much into it, but South Africa took the lead in the three-match T20I series against England after winning a game initially reduced to nine overs a side by batting for 7.5 and then defending an adjusted five-over target.Wet conditions in Cardiff stalked the match throughout as play began two hours and 20 minutes after the scheduled 6.30pm start, and was then interrupted with seven balls remaining in South Africa’s innings.South Africa were on track for a total over 100 thanks to a top-score of 28 from captain Aiden Markram, who sold for R14 million (US$800,000 approx.) at Tuesday’s SA20 auction and hit two fours and two sixes in the 14 balls he faced. Markam shared in a 32-run second-wicket stand with Lhuan-dre Pretorius before Dewald Brevis and Donovan Ferreira put on 36 off 15 balls to form the spine of a competitive total.A heavy burst of rain ended South Africa’s innings prematurely and England were set a reduced target of 69 of 30 balls. With a required run rate of 13.8 an over, their task was always going to be tough but losing Phil Salt and Harry Brook for ducks made it even more difficult. Jos Buttler returned to the top of the order and scored 25 off 11 but needed support against South Africa’s top seamers to challenge for the result to go England’s way.Wood proves his worthEngland made a late change to include left-arm seamer Luke Wood in their XI in place of Jofra Archer, who was wrapped in cotton wool in wet conditions. Wood seized his opportunity: his second ball, and first to the left-handed Ryan Rickelton, swung away, Rickelton drove with no footwork and edged to Buttler for a golden duck.Luke Wood claimed Ryan Rickelton for a first-ball duck•AFP/Getty ImagesMarkram hit Wood over mid-off for the innings’ first boundary later in that over, then back over his head for six and over mid-on for four at the start of his second over but Wood came back well. Pretorius tried to hit over the leg side but miscued towards mid-off where Brook dived forward to take a stunning catch and Wood ended with 2 for 22.Brevis justifies the big bucksAfter breaking the SA20 pay record and selling for R16.5 million (approx US$944,000) a little over 24 hours ago, Brevis is expected to produce big things and he delivered. When Liam Dawson was brought on in the fifth over, Brevis played the no-look six first up and then smashed a low full toss into the sightscreen for six more. He is a strong player of spin and dispatched Adil Rashid too, over midwicket for his third six.But when Sam Curran was brought on, to bowl his first international spell of the year, he foxed Brevis with an ultra-slow slower ball that Brevis played too early and edged to third. Still, his cameo in partnership with Ferreira showed off his quality – and the reason Pretoria Capitals were willing to splash the cash.Dewald Brevis drills a six down the ground•AFP/Getty ImagesWelcome back, South Africa’s strike bowlersThe wisdom of picking Kagiso Rabada, who sat out the ODIs in both England and Australia with ankle inflammation and will have a big role to play in upcoming tours to Pakistan and India, and Marco Jansen, who has not played for almost three months, could have been questioned but both seemed keen to be back.Rabada’s first ball back was full to Phil Salt, who picked out Kwena Maphaka at deep backward square with precision. Rabada barely had time to celebrate his early strike before Buttler hit his fourth and fifth balls, both pace-off, for four and then six to close out the over strongly.Jansen beat Jacob Bethell to start but was then dispatched over midwicket for six before he had him caught at cover. After Brook missed a coupe, Jansen then found extra bounce to beat his uppercut and ended with a slower ball. He bowled a second over, mixed up his pace well and ended with the wicket of Buttler, caught off the inside edge, to end the game as a contest.South Africa were without Lungi Ngidi, ruled out of the series with a hamstring strain sustained at training on Tuesday, and Keshav Maharaj, who tweaked his groin during the warm-ups. Nandre Burger will replace Ngidi – who is due to fly home on Thursday – and will join up with the squad ahead of Friday’s second T20I in Manchester.

Sunderland have now reportedly made contact in the race to sign a teenage sensation, who is on course to leave his current club as a free agent next summer.

Le Bris praises "demanding" Premier League ahead of Liverpool clash

Sunderland just do not know when they’re beaten in the Premier League. They are writing a blueprint that every newly-promoted side must follow to secure survival and their comeback victory against Bournemouth followed that plan to perfection.

The Black Cats came from two goals behind to secure a dramatic victory and keep hold of their place in the top six after 13 games. With Liverpool at Anfield up next, things don’t get any easier, but Sunderland have relished the challenge of upsetting the odds so far this season.

Regis Le Bris was full of praise for both his side and the Premier League itself following Sunderland’s victory over Bournemouth, telling reporters: “This league is really demanding. You make two mistakes and are punished.

“With the ball, we are good, so just keep pushing. We are able to hit their defence, and it was important to be clinical in the box. I think here we have a great energy in the stands. If we give a lot on the pitch, then they will react. We deserved to win in the end.

“It’s important to play game after game. We went to Fulham last week and we lost. We were dominated. We go again. It’s positive to start this week with three points. It’s an exciting league with tough challenges but we want those challenges.”

Survival, which almost looks guaranteed already, would be a major achievement on the pitch, but it would also make an impact away from the action. The Black Cats are already thinking about the future on that front, targeting Rangers teenager Bailey Rice.

Sunderland make contact to sign Bailey Rice

According to the Daily Mail’s Simon Jones, Sunderland have now made checks on Rice, who is on course to leave Rangers as a free agent next summer after rejecting the Gers’ contract offers.

The 19-year-old became the club’s youngest post-war player to make a Scottish Premiership appearance in 2023, but now looks destined to leave Ibrox with Sunderland, Aston Villa, West Bromwich Albion and Cardiff City all queueing for his signature.

Manchester City were also tracking the young midfielder when he decided to leave Kilmarnock, only for Rangers to jump in and secure his arrival.

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For Sunderland, it would therefore be a major coup to land a player of Rice’s potential. Man City’s initial interest highlights how highly he’s rated in England and praise from Rio Ferdinand echoed that earlier this year.

The Manchester United legend said on commentary when Rangers squared off against Manchester United last year: “I tell you what, I’m liking Rice by the way, he’s come on and looked composed, the kid’s got something about him, he’s got a lovely left foot on him.”

Sunderland star who Speakman was "excited" to sign is the new Jermain Lens

Tea Liam Dawson marked his comeback to Test cricket by dismissing Yashasvi Jaiswal with his seventh ball to help prise the opening day back open in Manchester.India’s openers batted through the morning session after being inserted but England struck three blows and kept the scoring rate below three an over in the afternoon to leave the fourth Test in the balance.KL Rahul became the fifth Indian player to reach 1,000 runs in England during the first session and played late throughout his innings. But he edged Chris Woakes to third slip for 46 while looking to punch down the ground, bringing an opening partnership of 94 in exactly 30 overs to an end.Jaiswal continued to frustrate England and reached his eighth 50-plus score in 16 innings against them after lunch, but fell soon before drinks. He battled his instincts for much of the morning session to soak up pressure in gloomy conditions, but then became the returning Dawson’s first victim since July 2017, edging to Harry Brook at slip for 58.It was the highlight of a superb spell from Dawson, who had 1 for 21 in seven overs at the tea interval and exerted the sort of control that the injured Shoaib Bashir, whom he replaced in England’s only change, struggled to in the first three Tests. He kept the recalled B Sai Sudharsan quiet, who was then dropped on 20 down the leg side by Jamie Smith off Ben Stokes.Stokes himself struck soon before the interval, pleading with Rod Tucker for an lbw decision – which eventually came – after striking Shubman Gill on the pad as he shouldered arms. Gill’s unsuccessful appeal meant that he has scored 16, 6 and 12 since his epic Edgbaston Test, and left England slightly ahead on day one.

Leeds United’s stance on recalling Joe Gelhardt from Hull City in January has now been revealed.

Gelhardt starring at Hull on loan from Leeds

The Whites have been struggling in front of goal in the Premier League this season, with only bottom of the table Wolves scoring fewer than Daniel Farke’s side.

The 49ers Enterprises arguably failed to bolster the final third as well as they should’ve, with free transfers Lukas Nmecha and Dominic Calvert-Lewin joined by Noah Okafor as Leeds’ only attacking additions.

They did decide to loan out Gelhardt to Hull once again, and the 23-year-old has been in fine form for the Tigers in the second tier.

In 15 Championship games, Gelhardt has already scored seven goals and provided two assists, coming in for praise from manager Sergej Jakirovic.

“When I watched him in last season’s games, I begged Mr Chairman (Acun Ilicali) to bring him back here.

“He likes playing here and he wanted to come back here. He has a completely different profile to the players we have. He has the quality to play in a number of positions and is able to pass, shoot and has speed, which is special.

“He’s 23 years old and maybe he can reach the Premier League. But, right now, he’s made the difference.”

As a result of Gelhardt’s form, there has been speculation over a potential recall in the New Year to help Leeds in their Premier League survival push.

The forward played his part in the 2021/22 season as a teenager to help the Whites remain in the top flight, scoring a memorable winner against Norwich City and providing a late equaliser for Pascal Struijk against Brighton in the penultimate league fixture.

Hull want Harry Gray

However, according to TEAMtalk, ‘Leeds have no plans to bring Gelhardt back to Elland Road’ in the New Year.

The Whites are happy for the forward to remain with Hull until the end of the season and Gelhardt’s form could help the 49ers sell him for £4m, which would result in a 300% profit following his move from Wigan in 2020.

As well as keeping hold of Gelhardt, Hull also have their eyes on a potential loan move for Harry Gray after the Leeds teenager penned his first professional contract in Yorkshire.

Gray, 17, is yet to feature under Farke in 25/26 after being handed his debut on the same day Leeds won promotion to the Premier League. He’s also being eyed by Charlton Athletic, Derby County and Swansea City.

Leeds are considering allowing Gray to leave for the second half of the season so he can get regular senior game time, but when it comes to Gelhardt, don’t expect to see him in a Leeds shirt in the New Year.

Academy star who's never played a senior minute for Leeds could replace Bijol

After another difficult evening for Celtic in the Europa League, they’ve now discovered the extent of the injury that Callum Osmand picked up in another frustrating blow.

The Bhoys fell to a 3-1 defeat against Midtjylland and remain with just the one win to their name on the European stage this season – making qualification into the next round a mere fantasy at this stage.

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For all the good work that Martin O’Neill has done so far this season, not even the Northern Irishman could turn his side’s fortunes around outside of domestic action and he once again distanced himself from the permanent job.

What the defeat has certainly done is pile the pressure on Dermot Desmond and the rest of the Celtic board to get their next decision right and get it done sooner rather than later.

Ange Postecoglou pulled out of the race for the job in the early stages and that dealt the Bhoys an undeniable blow. Since then, however, other impressive candidates have emerged such as Club Brugge’s Nicky Hayen and Kieran McKenna.

Reports have even gone as far as to suggest that McKenna is open to the job in what could hand Celtic quite the boost. The Ipswich Town boss has struggled to get the best out of his side in the Championship so far this season, but no one will be forgetting the history that he made at Portman Road anytime soon.

Alas, before any manager can arrive, it’s up to O’Neill to get the Hoops back to winning ways and do so without recent Old Firm hero Osmand.

Celtic discover extent of Callum Osmand injury

As revealed by O’Neill at full-time, Osmand suffered a pulled hamstring against Midtjylland and will now be missing for at least a few weeks. It’s a major blow for the 19-year-old, who just took his place in Celtic’s Europa League squad off the back of putting Celtic out of sight with his effort in the Scottish League Cup semi-final against Rangers.

With Celtic’s attack already coming under fire this season, they now have the task of squaring off against Kilmarnock and others without one of their most promising talents.

Celtic frontrunner McKenna now wants Hoops job