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Television ratings for Major League Baseball's postseason have been extremely good and could get even better if the New York Yankees-Los Angeles Dodgers World Series matchup becomes a reality. How much that matters depends on who you ask. Obviously, it's great for the presenting networks and MLB can put some public wins on the board when it comes to the somewhat opaque goal of "growing the game" and combating tired narratives about baseball dying.

Not to suck all the life and fun out of things but broadly, baseball will be just fine even if ratings aren't great and a huge bump probably doesn't mean all that much for coming years as so much of this is matchup-dependent.

We'll all be back here in the same spot trying to make sense of a 15 percent gain or drop next year.

What is much clearer is that Shohei Ohtani is an international draw. Major League Baseball anounced on Thursday that Game 5 of the NLDS between the San Diego Padres and Los Angeles Dodgers was the most-watched MLB postseason game ever in Japan as nearly 13 million viewers tuned in. Add this to the U.S. viewership and there's a global number north of 20 million.

For context, the population of Japan was 123 million in 2023. Some rudimentary math reveals that more than 10 percent of the country's population was watching a game that aired at 9 a.m. local time on a Saturday.

It will be super interesting to see what the numbers from Japan look like as Ohtani and the Dodgers get closer to winning a World Series. There has to be some cap on viewership but 10 percent of the population watching a game suggests the sky might be the limit.

England will play only one official practice match, against England Lions at Lilac Hill in Perth, in preparation for the first Ashes Test in late November.Cricket Australia announced on Thursday that the fixture would be part of a three-match England Lions tour that will run concurrently with the Ashes series in Australia.England will play a three-day red-ball game at Lilac Hill, the home of Midland Guildford Cricket Club in Perth’s eastern suburbs, from November 13-15 ahead of the first Ashes Test starting at Perth’s Optus Stadium on November 21. Lilac Hill was once the traditional first tour stop for all international teams when visiting Australia throughout the 1990s as the visiting Test team would play a 50-over festival game to kick off the tour.That tradition has long been shelved with touring teams not even playing matches against Australian state sides any more. England have opted to follow a similar pre-tour preparation that India had in Australia last year, except India’s only intra-squad match was played behind closed doors at the WACA ground with no media or outsiders allowed in.There is no ability to close off Lilac Hill to the public as it is open parkland alongside the Swan River. The WACA ground is unavailable on November 13-14 owing to a Sheffield Shield game being scheduled between Western Australia and Queensland on November 11-14, but both Australia and England will likely have access to the WACA ground for centre-wicket training and net sessions in the days leading up to the first Test.While England will play just one practice game before the first Test in Perth, it’s understood they may play another a two-day fixture in Canberra against the Prime Minister’s XI in between the first and second Test at the Gabba, which will be a pink-ball day-night Test. The Prime Minister’s XI match is yet to be confirmed but it could double as England’s pink-ball warm-up for the Gabba.Meanwhile, England Lions will play three fixtures in total on their concurrent tour of Australia. Following the England game, they will play a second four-day match at the same Lilac Hill venue against a Cricket Australia XI that will likely comprise of developing fringe Australian domestic and Under-19 players who will not be playing in the Shield round that starts on November 22.Shoaib Bashir played for England Lions on an Australia tour in January and February•Getty Images

The Lions will then travel to Brisbane with the England Test squad and play a four-day game against an Australia A team at Allan Border Field on December 5-8, while the second Ashes Test at the Gabba runs from December 4-8. The two Lions games running alongside the Test matches could allow England’s management to play some of their Test squad members if they are not selected in the XIs for the first two Tests.Australia’s selectors may field a stronger team for the Australia A fixture in Brisbane but again it will run up against the sixth round of the Shield.”The reciprocal A series against the England Lions is important for Australian cricket giving our players the chance to perform against high calibre opposition,” CA head of cricket operations and scheduling Peter Roach said. “We’re confident this series will complement what should be a fiercely contested Ashes series and have strong benefits for both countries.”It is a big year of Australia A cricket opportunities with the recently completed series against Sri Lanka A and tour of India in September before the Lions series.”It will be the second Lions tour to Australia this year after they played three red-ball matches against CA XI and Australia A in January and February in Brisbane and Sydney.Injured England Test offspinner Shoaib Bashir played all three matches on that tour while seamers Josh Tongue and Sam Cook, who have both played Tests for England recently, also played on that tour.

England Lions tour schedule

Nov 13-15: England v England Lions | Lilac Hill (Perth)
Nov 21-24: CA XI v England Lions | Lilac Hill (Perth)
Dec 5-8: Australia A v England Lions | Allan Border Field (Brisbane)

Former Liverpool striker Michael Owen has weighed-in on the debate around Mo Salah’s alarming poor form this season, pointing the finger of blame at two players, including one who is no longer at the club. Salah was benched for the recent win over Eintracht Frankfurt, but his behaviour after the final whistle has caused huge concern.

Early season struggles for champions

Salah has struggled to replicate his exceptional form from last season, with several factors to blame for the dip in performance, including the departure of key team-mates and the arrival of new players under Reds boss Arne Slot, which has disrupted Liverpool's settled right-side dynamic. Statistically, his output has dropped significantly this season compared to the same point last year, with fewer shots, shots on target, and touches in the opposition box. The tactical shift under Slot, which includes the arrivals of Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak, has also altered Salah's role. 

AdvertisementAFPIs Salah heading for the Anfield exit?

But it is Salah’s behaviour after the final whistle in Germany which has been a huge cause of concern for the Liverpool's Dutch boss. The Egypt international was seen to “storm down the tunnel” at the end of the 5-1 victory. And the morning after the match Salah removed all mention of Liverpool from his social media channel's bios, including Instagram and X, replacing the previous club-related photos for generic images of himself and others with his two daughters. 

Kop hero Owen makes stunning claim

Owen told Sky Bet: "Salah has been scoring goals for years and years. Nobody would be surprised if he scored in his next game and went on a run. If there's anyone in the Premier League you shouldn't doubt, it's him. That said, if there's something more going on, then age could be a factor – he's 33 now. I retired at that age myself, so you can't go on forever. That's one possible reason. Another is that there's no Trent Alexander-Arnold feeding him those balls anymore – the dynamic has changed."

He added: "Conor Bradley plays differently, he looks to run past Salah rather than serve him. I did some analysis on TV showing that Salah is picking up the ball about 10 per cent deeper on average than last season. The tactics haven't changed, but the personnel have. Or it could just be that the team isn't firing yet. Every attacking player goes through a spell like this. It's more likely just a blip, and he'll bounce back soon, but it could be a bit of all the above."

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Getty Images SportSlot’s Kop conundrum

Next steps lay firmly with the boss Slot, he could hand a starting place back to Salah away to Brentford this weekend and the storm will blow over. But if he’s left out again the chatter about Salah leaving will only grow louder. The Reds host Crystal Palace in the League Cup on October 29th and there’s the massive Champions League fixture against Real Madrid on the horizon next month, too. 

Ahead of the clash with Frankfurt, Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher said Salah must understand his starting place is no longer guaranteed. He said: "When Mo Salah isn't being the legendary Mo Salah, he gets treated like one of the other players, which is right. He's 33 years of age and Liverpool will have three games in six days. At the moment, if he isn't at his best, he shouldn't play three games in six days. There are other options there as well. We know Liverpool have spent a lot of money. Liverpool have got a big game at the weekend as well, so great decision, Arne."

Borussia Dortmund boss Niko Kovac has leapt to the defence of his summer signing Jobe Bellingham after a costly mistake from the Englishman allowed Bayern Munich to score the winner in Der Klassiker this weekend. Coming off the bench, Bellingham attempted to clear a cross from Luis Diaz, but the ball got caught under his feet, and Michael Olise capitalised on the mistake.

Bayern blunder from Bellingham

During this weekend’s hotly-anticipated Der Klassiker clash, Bellingham made a critical error that led to Bayern's winning goal in the 78th minute which sealed Bayern's 2-1 triumph. This blunder has drawn significant attention, particularly given Bellingham's high-profile transfer from Sunderland and the added pressure of following in his brother Jude's footsteps at the club. The incident has fuelled discussions about Jobe's adjustment to life in Germany and his progress at Dortmund, but Kovac has defended his young midfielder, stating he was in a difficult situation. 

AdvertisementGetty Images SportManager defends Jobe’s performance

Kovac said: "I can’t find any fault with Jobe. He was standing where he needed to be. The ball was played in so sharply. It was an artistic feat in its own right that he didn’t score an own-goal. When a ball is played in so sharply, his first task is to hold his centre of gravity. He had his head down and Olise took advantage of this split second and slid in. That’s not a simple (situation). There’s no fault. I think that everything is fine with that situation."

The Dortmund boss also claimed that the first goal, scored by Harry Kane, should have been ruled out due to a push from the Bayern striker on Serhou Guirassy. Kovac said: "There was a brief contact (with Guirassy). But I have to say one thing, (referee) Bastian Dankert whistled today in such a way that he should have whistled that. He blew the whistle on everything, so he should have whistled that too. If he had let the play continue in other situations, then he can let that too. But for me, that was a clear mistake because of his decision to whistle everything. He should have disallowed it."

Rising star, with big shoes to fill

Even at a young age, Bellingham has already had an eventful career. After coming through Birmingham City's academy and making his debut at 16, he made 24 league appearances for the club. He then joined Sunderland in 2023, where he truly established himself, making 85 appearances and scoring 11 goals in the Championship over two seasons. He played a key role in Sunderland's promotion to the Premier League and was named the EFL Championship Young Player of the Season, but left in the summer for a club-record £27 million ($36.2m) fee to Borussia Dortmund. Bellingham has also represented England at various youth levels up to Under-21.

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Getty/GOALBrotherly love and link with Man United

Jobe is just starting out life in the Bundesliga and will be hoping to emulate his big brother, whom he remains close to, despite the distance between the two teams they represent. Jude is currently in exile from the England team, following a shoulder injury, and Three Lions boss Thomas Tuchel has hinted it won't be easy for him to regain his place. Bellingham has missed the last two international windows, and in a recent social media post, he shared a series of images and videos, the theme being legendary American musician Frank Sinatra, and wrote in the caption, "That's life". The post left his brother Jobe confused, as the Borussia Dortmund star wrote in the comments, "Ehhh?"

Meanwhile, recently reported that Premier League giants Manchester United are closely monitoring Jobe Bellingham with a view to potentially bringing the youngster back to his homeland. The report adds that Red Devils boss Amorim is an admirer of the midfielder, and he believes that Bellingham would nicely fit his complex 3-4-2-1 setup, as his physical strength will be of great use at the centre of the park.

Sophia Dunkley hundred in vain as Surrey lose for the third time in four games

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay04-May-2025

Warwickshire inflicted a third Metro Bank One-Day Cup defeat of the season on Surrey at a bracing and blustery Beckenham. Surrey’s 313 for 7, adorned by a century from Sophia Dunkley, never quite looked enough on a cracking batting surface and positive batting from Davina Perrin and Nat Wraith broke the back of the chase before Beth Ellis played an assured finishing role.Warwickshire’s chase was the second-highest ever in women’s List A cricket (Bengal hauled in Haryana’s 389 for 5 in Rajkot in December 2024) and the highest ever in England.Surrey were given a flying start by Bryony Smith and Danni Wyatt-Hodge, 59 coming off the first six overs as the bowlers, perhaps excited by a bit of pace and bounce in the wicket, didn’t get it right, bowling too short and too wide. Issy Wong finally saw Wyatt-Hodge toe-end tamely to Perrin at point but Surrey’s 71 for 1 was still the highest Powerplay score in the competition to date, and that with just 12 coming from overs 7-10.Alice Capsey burned brightly but briefly and Dunkley and Smith put on 76 to keep the innings moving. Smith then sliced Bethan Ellis to backward point for a fine 72-ball 78 and Alice Davidson-Richards and Paige Scholfield both hit 26, while Dunkley just kept batting.Her hundred, off 109 balls, with seven fours and one six, came off the penultimate ball of the innings, Surrey’s final total imposing but less than they would have been looking at after 40 overs when they were 241 for 4.Warwickshire’s openers looked to attack but the Surrey bowlers were disciplined, openers Meg Austin and Abigail Freeborn both perishing trying to hit over the top, caught at mid-on and mid-off respectively. Captain Katie George sparkled briefly but then went the same way, caught at mid-on to give Alice Monaghan her second wicket.Warwickshire scored 66 for 3 in their powerplay, up with the rate but seemingly having lost perhaps one wicket too many. But then Perrin and Wraith put on a century partnership, at one stage benefiting from an unusual five penalty runs for intimidatory fielding by Dani Gregory.Having made 69, Perrin chipped Capsey to long-on, where Scholfield took her third catch but with the run rate under control it was a surprise when Wraith ran herself out for a fine 54. A calm half-century partnership between Em Arlott and Ellis took the visitors within 80 but Capsey then took her second wicket when she bowled Arlott.Ellis carried on calmly picking up singles with the occasional boundary and Charis Pavely gave her good support, the two calmly combining in another half century partnership. Pavely went just before the end but Warwickshire sealed their record-breaking victory by three wickets with 3.3 overs to spare, Ellis finishing unbeaten on 63.

Toon boss Howe has delivered a simple rebuke to rumours linking him with the Manchester United job, confirming his commitment to the Magpies. Amorim’s job is seemingly hanging in the balance with Man Utd languishing in 14th place after a woeful start to the season, one point and one place above Newcastle. But Howe has moved quickly to squash any potential link.

• Peter Crouch links Howe to Old Trafford

  The finger of blame for the rumours should be pointed firmly at former Liverpool, Tottenham and Portsmouth striker Peter Crouch, who said: "Someone mentioned Eddie Howe to me, right, to go to Manchester United. But why would he leave Newcastle?" 

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• Getty Images Sport
  

  Howe’s no nonsense response to Man Utd link

  Howe said: "I'm all in (at Newcastle). My commitment here is 100 per cent and always has been. My family is still here, and we are fighting every day to make a success of what we are doing. The season ahead could be a wonderful thing, and that is what we are trying to focus on, trying to make a success of the games we have coming up. It's never gone away, for me, the fragility of the profession that I'm in. Partly, I think that's healthy for me, though, because it drives me to work as hard as I do, because I want to stay in the job that I'm doing, and I want to be successful at it. You know I'm a believer – and I was the same in my playing career – you take your eye off the ball for a second, you get lazy, or you get used to the same habits, that's not going to work, that's not going to bring you results. You've got to continually think and push boundaries and get better, and to do that takes a lot of energy and a look of thought, which drives the people around me mad, I'm sure, but for me, that's part of what drives me and propels me forward."

• Why would Howe move?

  Amorim faces an uphill battle to improve Man United’s fortunes, including integrating new signings, goal scoring, and establishing consistent team performances. One of the main difficulties Amorim faces is adapting the squad to his preferred 3-4-3 formation, which is a significant change from the formations used by previous managers. While he has reportedly been given considerable backing in the transfer market to shape the squad, the team's performance has been inconsistent. United lost 3-1 to Brentford and suffered a Carabao Cup defeat by Grimsby Town earlier this season, increasing pressure on the Portuguese. The team hasn’t achieved consecutive wins under Amorim, and while he retains the backing of the United board, his long-term tenure remains uncertain without a significant upturn in results.

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• Getty Images Sport
  

  The future’s bright, it’s black and white

  An emphatic 4-0 away win against Union Saint-Gilloise was a major boost, with new club-record signing Nick Woltemade impressing and demonstrating his potential as a new attacking focal point. New winger Anthony Elanga is also finding his rhythm, suggesting the team is starting to gel. And off the pitch, the club's financial situation is positive, with a 28 per cent revenue increase for the year ending June 2024, fuelled by Champions League participation and a focus on commercial deals, provides a strong foundation for future investment.

“To have him back and to have him fit and excited about playing is a real win for English cricket,” Brendon McCullum says

Danyal Rasool02-Mar-20252:23

Knight: Livingstone missed a ‘great opportunity’ to score big

There are few positives from what has been, even by England’s recent ODI standards, a disastrous Champions Trophy campaign. But according to Brendon McCullum, there were glimmers amidst the darkness.The one that shone brightest was the performance, as well as the fitness, of fast bowler Jofra Archer. He bowled his allotted quota in each of the first two games, as well as nine of the 29.1 England needed to send down in Karachi. He did so with decent pace, picking up wickets in each game, and was the pick of the English bowlers by a distance despite South Africa’s romp to victory.”He’s been out of competitive cricket for a couple of years,” McCullum said. “I think it’s taken just a little bit of time to get that rhythm of gameplay back but I think he’s been really good. He’s bowled high pace, he’s played a lot of cricket, he’s been able to get significant workload under his belt throughout this time and we’ve seen moments of how great Jofra is, even tonight, a couple of wickets he took the other night against Afghanistan, three with the new ball.”We know how great a player Jofra is at the very top of his game and to have him back and to have him fit and excited about playing is a real win for English cricket.”Related

McCullum: Buttler's successor will need 'right support' to lead rennaissance

Buttler goes down with the ship as England journey comes full circle

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Klaasen scores fifth successive fifty, wants to be 'the best in the world'

Look past Maharaj at your own peril

Archer’s use of the wicket as well as the new ball was perhaps what stood out. He prised out Travis Head early with a sharp catch off his own bowling, but with little swing on offer, didn’t go searching, keeping things tight in his first spell. Against Afghanistan, each of his first 12 deliveries were banged in short before he changed it up in his third over, taking two wickets in five balls. And with Mark Wood out injured in a game with nothing on it and an impossibly low total against a rampant South Africa to defend, Archer was the quickest bowler from either side, cleaning up openers Ryan Rickelton and Tristan Stubbs in his first spell.With one English eye perpetually on the Ashes, his ability to tolerate increased workloads is bound to raise hopes he can feature prominently in the five-match series at the end of this year. McCullum looked to balance hope with guarded optimism.”We’ve got to make sure that we’re always doing the right thing by Jof as well and understand the risks involved,” McCullum said. “But I’m pretty sure he’s pretty keen to play Test cricket and you look at someone like Jof – and if you can add him to the battery of fast bowlers you’re trying to build, that can only strengthen this squad. We’ll wait and see, but overall, I’m really pleased with where Jof’s at and it’s great to see him back playing and injury free at the moment.”Jofra Archer made a mess of Ryan Rickelton’s stumps•ICC/Getty ImagesThat, however, is where the positives end. It has been little short of a horror start to his all white-ball stint for McCullum, winning three and losing eleven games, including the last seven on the bounce: England’s longest such streak in ODI cricket since 2001. While McCullum said on Thursday England may quite plausibly have won each of their first two games, the crushing loss at South Africa’s hands has left little doubt about the true state of their current ODI side.”We weren’t good enough across, obviously very disappointed,” McCullum said. “We had high hopes of being able to finish the tournament with a bit of a bang, but we were very poor and we’ve got a lot of work to do. We’ll put our thinking caps on over the next few weeks and start to try and navigate our way through what an improvement looks like across our white-ball cricket and make sure we try and be pretty thorough with that and work out a way that we can get ourselves back to where we should be.”While they do have just under three months until their next ODI, the scale of the rebuild has left McCullum with much to ponder. It begins with appointing a new captain after Jos Buttler quit on Thursday, citing the drop in results.His final innings as captain was a pale shadow of the player who will likely go down as the greatest white-ball batters in England’s history. It ended when he tentatively pushed a Lungi Ngidi delivery straight to mid-off; he had scored 21 in 43 deliveries without hitting a single boundary – his second-longest such innings without sending a ball to the fence.McCullum reiterated his plans to keep Buttler around England’s white-ball side. “We still see Jos as obviously a big player within that and he’s got a huge role to play. He cared so much about it and he admittedly said that he wasn’t able to get the best out of the guys at this stage. I thought it was a brave decision to make and it gives us now an opportunity to be able to start to plot and plan our way forward.”I’ll get home in the next couple of days and start having some conversations with Rob Key and the guys at the ECB about who the right person is for us to put in that position of white-ball captain. Then we assess how to learn some of the lessons that we’ve been dealt on this tour and in this tournament to ensure that we’re a lot more competitive than what we’ve been.”

If we just forget about yesterday afternoon’s rather underwhelming North London Derby – it was just a friendly after all – it would be fair to say this has been a largely positive summer for Arsenal.

Aside from yesterday’s minor blip, Mikel Arteta’s side have looked good on the pitch, and the board have been hard at work in the transfer market off of it.

The North Londoners have made six permanent first-team additions thus far, and while the likes of Martin Zubimendi and Noni Madueke are certainly exciting additions, the most significant is undoubtedly Viktor Gyokeres, who finally completed his £63.5m transfer from Sporting CP last week.

However, even then, the club continue to be linked with a host of talented players, including the superb Rodrygo, although they may be wise to opt for another, cheaper international they’ve been linked with, someone who could be described as another Gyokeres.

Arsenal's pursuit of Rodrygo

There is no doubt that one of the most exciting transfer links for Arsenal fans this summer has been to Rodrygo, as the Brazilian international has been at the heart of so much of Real Madrid’s domestic and continental success over the last six years or so.

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However, over the last two and a bit seasons, he has been playing out of his favoured left-wing position, and that, combined with an absurd amount of talent at the Bernabeu, has supposedly seen him become available this summer.

There have been a host of top clubs linked with the 24-year-old so far this summer, and according to reports from earlier in the window, the Gunners are very much interested.

It’s not hard to see why Arteta and Co would be keen to bring him to London, as even when not in his best position, the former Santos gem is still effective.

For example, in 54 appearances last season, totalling 3452 minutes, he was able to score 14 goals and provide 11 assists, which comes out to an average of a goal involvement every 2.16 games, or every 138.08 minutes.

However, with a price tag of up to £86m, according to some reports, Arsenal may want to look elsewhere for an attacker they’ve previously linked with, one who could be described as Gyokeres-esque: Ademola Lookman

Arsenal could sign Lookman instead

Now, it is undoubtedly the case that for much of the last couple of weeks it’s looked like Lookman would be heading to Inter Milan, but as things stand, that move appears to have stalled.

So, with Arsenal already being linked with him several times this window, there is no reason they couldn’t hijack the move.

With that said, three reasons make the Nigerian international a Gyokeres-esque signing, with the first reason being his senior journey.

Like the Swedish international, the former Everton ace spent some time in English football but was never really able to establish himself in the Premier League, as in total, he has a record of just 11 goals and six assists in 96 games across spells with the Toffees, Leicester City and Fulham.

Then, instead of accepting a bit-part role in England, the London-born dynamo decided to move to Europe, joined Atalanta in Serie A and has been a lean, mean goalscoring machine ever since.

In fact, in the three seasons he’s spent in Bergamo, the “world-class” star, as dubbed by the BBC’s John Bennett, has an incredible record of 52 goals and 25 assists in 118 appearances, totalling 7538 minutes.

In other words, the 29-capped international has averaged a goal involvement every 1.53 games or every 97.89 minutes since joining the Serie A side, which is probably reason enough for the Gunners to consider him over Rodrygo.

Finally, at 27 years old, the Europa League winner is the same age as Gyokeres and should be ready to have an instant impact at the Emirates in a season in which the North Londoners have to win something.

Ultimately, Rodrygo would be a great signing, but at potentially just £43m and with the incredible record he has, Lookman might just be the better option.

Ian Wright 2.0: Arsenal in talks for PL "magician" who's their "top target"

The international game-changer would be an unreal signing for Arsenal.

By
Jack Salveson Holmes

Jul 31, 2025

Harry Kane was pleased to get the "job done" against Andorra despite a sluggish performance from the Three Lions in World Cup qualifying. The 2-0 scoreline looked routine on paper, but the performance from Thomas Tuchel’s men was anything but inspiring. Still, the mission was accomplished, with the Three Lions now boasting four wins from four qualifiers in Group K.

England grind out dull win over AndorraKane pleased to get over the lineTuchel’s Lions march on to Serbia clashFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

It was a game crying out for flair, yet it took a stroke of luck to open the scoring. After 25 minutes, Andorran defender Christian García accidentally nodded Noni Madueke’s cross past his own goalkeeper, handing England the lead. 

AdvertisementGetty/GOALTHE BIGGER PICTURE

The home crowd had little to get excited about as the game ambled along at a pedestrian pace. It wasn’t until the 67th minute that the contest was finally killed off. Declan Rice, charging forward with purpose, met a pinpoint ball from Reece James and powered home a header to make it 2-0. From there, the outcome was never in doubt, but England’s play remained flat, with fans left wondering when Tuchel’s side will click into a higher gear.

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For Kane, the evening was significant for reasons beyond the scoreline. The striker won his 108th cap, moving level with England legend Bobby Moore. However, it was not a night where Kane could truly stamp his mark. Starved of service, the captain cut a frustrated figure for much of the contest. He did, however, produce one bright moment, a smart cut-back that deserved a finish from debutant Elliot Anderson, only for the midfielder’s shot to be denied.

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WHAT KANE SAID

After the match, Kane reflected positively, posting on X: “Good to be back out there in an England shirt. Job done at Villa Park, positive step forward in our World Cup qualifying campaign 🦁🦁🦁”.

Rashid Khan, Jos Buttler and Dinesh Karthik are among the high-profile players who have signed up for the 2024 Abu Dhabi T10. Bangla Tigers picked both Rashid and Karthik while Deccan Gladiators snapped up Buttler along with Marcus Stoinis.Buttler will join Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell and Maheesh Theekshana, who were all retained by Gladiators. Matheesha Pathirana, Theekshana’s Sri Lanka team-mate, meanwhile went to New York Strikers.Strikers, the defending champions, have retained their core of Kieron Pollard, Sunil Narine, Akeal Hosein, Mohammad Amir. The UAE pair of Muhammad Waseem and Muhammad Jawadullah, who has also played for Sharjah Warriors in the ILT20, were also retained by the T10 franchise.The Abu Dhabi T10 is the third franchise tournament Karthik has signed up for, after the Legends League 2024 and the SA20 2025, following his retirement from international and Indian cricket. The 39-year-old had also been appointed Royal Challengers Bengaluru’s batting coach and mentor for IPL 2025.Related

• Dinesh Karthik to play for Paarl Royals in the SA20

• Dinesh Karthik named RCB batting coach and mentor

Shakib Al Hasan, who had recently ended his T20I career, will join Karthik and Ireland left-arm quick Josh Little at Tigers in the Abu Dhabi T10.Trent Boult will reunite with Finn Allen at Northern Warriors while Lockie Ferguson went to Team Abu Dhabi who also signed Jonny Bairstow and Shimron Hetmyer.The Abu Dhabi T10 will expand to a ten-team league this season, with Bolts Ajman and UP Nawabs being the new entrants.”We’re excited to deliver yet another world-class lineup at the 2024 Abu Dhabi T10, which has thrived since we brought the competition to the UAE capital,” Matt Boucher, CEO of Abu Dhabi Cricket & Sports Hub,” said in a statement. “Abu Dhabi is now a global centre for sport, and the Abu Dhabi T10 – approaching its sixth edition in the emirate – has played a significant part in making that vision of the government a reality.”Rahmanullah Gurbaz and Adil Rashid were among the new signings for Nawabs while Jimmy Neesham and Mujeeb Ur Rahman were recruited by Bolts.The Abu Dhabi T10 2024 will run from November 21 to December 2, avoiding an overlap with the Big Bash League (BBL), SA20, ILT20 and New Zealand’s Super Smash tournament.

New York Strikers

New Signings: Matheesha Pathirana, Donovan Ferreira
Retentions: Kieron Pollard, Mohammad Amir, Sunil Narine, Akeal Hossain, Muhammad Waseem, Muhammad Jawadullah

Deccan Gladiators

New Signings: Jos Buttler, Anrich Nortje, Marcus Stoinis
Retentions: Maheesh Theekshana, Nicholas Pooran, Andre Russell, Tom Koher-Cadmore, Zahoor Khan

Delhi Bulls

New Signings: Wanindu Hasaranga, Tim David, Romario Shepherd, Matthew Wade
Retentions: Rovman Powell, Muhammad Rohid, Naveen-ul-Haq, Fazlahaq Farooqi, James Vince

Team Abu Dhabi

New Signings: Jonny Bairstow, Lockie Ferguson, Shimron Hetmyer, AM Ghazanfar
Retentions: Phil Salt, Noor Ahmad, and Kyle Mayers

Northern Warriors

New Signings: Trent Boult, Finn Allen, Johnson Charles, Sherfane Rutherford, Saqib Mahmood
Retentions: Colin Munro, Azmatullah Omarzai, Ankur Sangwan

Morrisville Samp Army

New Signings: David Willey, Imad Wasim
Retentions: Faf du Plessis, Qais Ahmad, Andries Gous

Bangla Tigers

New Signings: Shakib Al Hasan, Rashid Khan, Liam Livingstone, Iftikhar Ahmed, Dinesh Karthik
Retentions: Hazratullah Zazai, Dasun Shanaka, Josh Little

Chennai Brave Jaguars

New Signings: Chris Lynn, Nuwan Thushara, Thisara Perera, Dan Lawrence, Rassie van der Dussen
Retentions: Aayan Khan, George Munsey, Bhanuka Rajapaksa

UP Nawabs

New Signings: Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Dawid Malan, Tymal Mills, Adil Rashid, Andre Fletcher

Bolts Ajman

New Signings: James Neesham, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Lungi Ngidi, Gulbadin Naib, Haider Ali