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Goalkeeper Sergio Rico made a miraculous return to action with Al-Gharafa since suffering a horror riding injury after leaving Paris Saint-Germain.

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Article continues below

Article continues below

• Rico suffered a grave horse-riding accident
• Spent 19 days in a coma
• Finally returned to action after 17 months

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  In May 2023, Rico’s life took a dramatic turn during a riding accident involving a mule cart and a horse. The incident caused severe head injuries, leading to him being placed in a medically induced coma for 19 days and spending 36 days in intensive care.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  After his contract with PSG expired, Rico signed with Qatari side Al-Gharafa in September 2024. On Tuesday, Rico made his debut for Al-Gharafa in the Asian Champions League in a thrilling 4-2 victory against Al Ain, a top team from the United Arab Emirates. It was the first time Rico had set foot on the pitch in a competitive match since his unfortunate accident in 2023.

• WHAT RICO SAID

  Following his long-awaited return, Rico expressed his gratitude and joy on social media, writing, "A return to the game and back to winning. Thank you very much to all the fans for all their support. The first victory in a long series."

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Before his move to Qatar, Rico built a solid reputation in European football after having played for clubs like Sevilla, Fulham, Mallorca, and most notably, PSG. During his time with the Parisians, he won several Ligue 1 titles and domestic cups and was part of the team that reached the UEFA Champions League final in 2020.

Tottenham Hotspur may need to improve their performance levels if they want to come away with all three points in the North London derby against Arsenal on Sunday.

The Lilywhites are fifth in the Premier League table, after 11 matches, but the underlying numbers behind their performances suggest that Thomas Frank’s team are heading in the wrong direction.

As you can see in the table above, Spurs rank just above the relegation zone in a host of key performance-based metrics, but they have been able to grind out results in spite of their struggles.

Up against the league leaders this weekend, Tottenham may not be able to get away with giving up as many high-quality chances whilst failing to create many of their own opportunities.

If performances do not improve and results fall in line with the current data, questions may be asked of Frank, but also of the squad of players that has been assembled by the Europa League champions.

Some questions may be asked about how well the club have spent their money on both player transfer fees and player wages, as they may not be getting value for money.

Ranking Tottenham's top ten earners

Tottenham, as you would expect of a club that is regularly in European competitions and competing at the top end of the Premier League table, reportedly have a lot of high earners in the squad.

Per Capology, Spurs have nine players who earn between £100k and £195k-per-week in North London, and summer signing Xavi Simons is at the top of the pile alongside Cristian Romero.

Excluding Randal Kolo Muani, who is on loan, it is hard to do anything other than rank Xavi Simons at the bottom of the club’s top earners, as he has no goals and two assists in 13 appearances in all competitions, per Sofascore, as an attacking midfielder.

Maddison has a claim to rank first on this list after an eye-catching haul of 12 goals and ten assists in all competitions last term, per Sofascore, but he is currently set to miss the majority of this season with an ACL injury.

Brennan Johnson should go in second, purely because of his winning goal in the Europa League, and Cristian Romero should rank third as a first-choice centre-back and current club captain, showing value for money on and off the pitch.

Kudus, with one goal and four assists in ten Premier League games for Spurs, has been a mainstay since his summer move from West Ham United and should rank fifth, whilst Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison have been long-serving members of the squad, without being genuine stars, so could slot in sixth and seventh.

Dominic Solanke, who joined in the summer of 2024, underperformed his xG of 10.97 with a return of nine goals in the Premier League last season, per Sofascore, which is why he should be eighth, behind Simons, whilst Kolo Muani and Palhinha are hard to rank as it is unclear how much of their wages they are paying as part of the loan deals.

The last remaining name on the list is central defender Micky van de Ven, who we rank in fourth place, as Lilywhites expert John Wenham has urged sporting director Fabio Paratici to improve his wages.

First Impressions

What did pundits and fans alike think about their new star signing when they arrived? Football FanCast’s ‘First Impressions’ series has everything you need.

He told TottenhamNews: “Spurs should reward his rapid progress into one of the best defenders in the Premier League with a new deal and could even double his current salary.”

How Micky van de Ven has turned his Spurs career around

Rewind to April 2024 during his first season with the Lilywhites, after a move from Wolfsburg in 2023, and the Dutchman found himself on the receiving end of some harsh criticism for mistakes in a game against Newcastle United.

Speaking on Match of the Day, former Arsenal and England centre-back Martin Keown called his defending “embarrassing” in a 4-0 win for the Magpies at St. James’ Park, as Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon took advantage of his slips.

Roughly 18 months on from that criticism he faced, Van de Ven is now in a position where there has been a call for the club to double his wages because of how impressive his performances have been.

It is understandable for Wenham to make the claim when you consider that Romero, on £195k-per-week, reportedly earns more than twice as much as the Netherlands international does, on £90k-per-week.

Van de Ven and Romero are Tottenham’s first-choice centre-back pairing in the Premier League this season and their respective statistics do not suggest that the Argentine defender is more than twice as valuable to the team.

As you can see in the table above, both players excel in different areas of the game, particularly defensively, but they both have their strengths, and Van de Ven more than holds his own.

The left-footed star is the club’s top goalscorer in all competitions this season, with six goals, and may have already locked in the Goal of the Season award with his effort against Copenhagen.

At the age of 24, Van de Ven also has plenty of time left ahead of him to develop and improve as a player, which is why it would be worth tying him down to an extended contract on better terms.

Overall, the Dutch defender has turned his Spurs career around by becoming a reliable figure at the heart of the defence for Frank this season, and appears to warrant a wage hike if Paratici can convince him to pen a new contract in North London.

Frank must sell £55k-per-week Spurs flop who was looking "like Dembele"

Tottenham Hotspur must now look to offload one player who has failed to deliver in North London.

By
Ethan Lamb

Nov 16, 2025

Because of the slower pace of the game, big, banana swing is far more common in the women’s game, almost defining its entire vocabulary

Sidharth Monga03-Oct-2024Cricket balls swing. Swing makes the game richer. It might be the least challenging of the movements bowlers access, but visually it is arguably the most spectacular. It occurs over a longer trajectory than seam and turn off the surface, and it is quicker and higher in degree than the subtle drift and dip of the spinner. Extra swing is among the first things that stand out in women’s cricket.Think Shikha Pandey’s inswinger going as wide as the wide guideline at one point before ducking back in to take the top of Alyssa Healy’s off and middle stump, or this hypnotic highlight reel of Megan Schutt hooping the ball in again and again.Cricket balls swing more in women’s cricket. This is not just a visual impression created by the many reels and Twitter videos we see of the banana swing in women’s cricket. Data backs what we see. We compared swing in all T20 cricket in the year 2023 in both men’s and women’s cricket. The median swing in men’s cricket was 0.54 degrees, but in women’s cricket it was 0.74 degrees. That is not a small difference.It is natural that the ball should swing more in women’s cricket. Rabindra Mehta, a NASA scientist who once shared the new ball with Imran Khan at school, has spent a significant amount of his time studying swing. A “side force” makes the ball swing, Mehta has written in his papers, which is generated because of a pressure difference between the two sides of the ball split by a seam that is not wobbling or wobbling very little.Mehta’s experiments have shown the maximum side force is generated when the ball is bowled at 112.65kph, the seam is tilted at 20 degrees, and the backspin on the ball is 11 revolutions per second. Some later papers suggest 108kph generates the maximum swing. About half the deliveries bowled in women’s T20 cricket in 2023 were between 100 and 110kmph, and 21% in the 110-120 band.There are other factors such as height and time in the air. Mehta once contended how in the 2007 men’s ODI World Cup final, Chaminda Vaas didn’t find swing but Nathan Bracken in the same match did because Vaas didn’t release the ball “in the optimum altitude”. Because of the slower pace in women’s cricket, the ball spends more time in the air.Related

• Swing in, speak out: the story of Megan Schutt

• South Africa head in new direction with calm Laura Wolvaardt at the helm

• 'It can be tough to do both skills full out' but Kapp will do it for South Africa

• After changes in lifestyle, Fatima Sana wants to be as quick as Shabnim Ismail

• Rabindra Mehta: The science of swing bowling (2018)

As a combination of more time in the air and the ideal side force, both because of the slower pace compared to the men’s game, women’s cricket is the ideal playground for swing. Or at least conventional swing. Old-ball swing is slightly complicated. For the sake of convenience, we call all old-ball swing reverse swing these days. The literal reverse swing needs a tilted seam and high pace that women, at least so far, don’t ever hit. Contrast swing, though, is achievable at their pace with an upright seam provided the ball is ready. There is hardly any time for this to happen in limited-overs cricket, and women play so few Tests that there is hardly any contrast swing of note.Now we need to make ourselves a little less comfortable about our trust in what we think we see. The casual, almost unanimous assertion is that women swing the ball predominantly into the right-hand batter. Pandey, whose inswinger to Healy got dubbed the ball of the century by many including Wasim Jaffer, is the first one to dispel the notion despite being an inswing bowler herself.”I don’t really agree that there are only inswing bowlers,” Pandey tells ESPNcricinfo. “There are a lot of outswing bowlers as well. Shabnim Ismail, for example, is a seam bowler, but she does get the ball to swing out. Marizanne Kapp is someone else who swings the ball both in and out. Katherine Brunt used to get nice shape out. Towards the later part of her career only, she learnt how to get the ball to come in, but that was very subtle, not banana swing. So probably what you’re trying to say is banana inswing.”As a kid growing up, my bowling action was such that my hand was very close to my knee. I didn’t use to get that big inswing when I started. But then I realised that in domestic circuit, the ball coming in was the one that was fetching me wickets. So subconsciously my action became more and more inswing-friendly because I was getting wickets. And at that age you were not really thinking about anything else, you’re just thinking about the results.”Shikha Pandey: “Subconsciously my action became more and more inswing-friendly because I was getting wickets”•Annesha GhoshWhen Pandey made it to international cricket, she realised within a year that just big booming inswing was not going to cut it. People began to take the off-stump guard and cover the stumps by getting outside of the line. Bowled and lbw were almost out of the picture. She started to work on the ball that straightens, and now has that variation, which basically uses angles on the crease and slight technical adjustments.The point is, there are enough outswing bowlers in women’s cricket too. “Look at the current scenario,” Pandey says. “In India there is Pooja Vastrakar, who bowls outswing and wobble-seam to bring the ball in. Renuka Thakur is mostly inswing. In England, Lauren Bell inswinger, Natalie Sciver mostly seam bowler. Kate Cross again, wobble seam to get the ball to come in, otherwise she gets the ball to shape out.”In Australia, Megan Schutt inswinger. Darcie Brown is a tearaway bowler, genuine outswinger, doesn’t swing the ball in at all. Tayla Vlaemink is fast, 125ks, doesn’t need swing. Kim Garth, again, genuine outswinger, but has worked on the wobble-seam delivery. South Africa, Shabnim is now retired, but as I said she bowled beautiful outswing. Marizanne gets the ball to move both ways in the air. Ayabonga Khaka is an inswinger.”Preliminary data – just counting the number of bowlers of each kind – seems to suggest there is a much more even split of inswing and outswing in women’s cricket than widely assumed. We dig deeper. The following bell curve suggests no partiality towards inswing. If anything, the peak of the graph tells us the likeliest ball we are to see in women’s cricket is a small outswinger. Minuses are outswing for the right-hand batter, pluses are inswing. It probably is indeed true that we have let highlight reels cloud our opinion here.ESPNcricinfo LtdIn India, though, inswing bowlers are easier to find. Krithika Venkatesan, talent scout at Royal Challengers Bengaluru, says young bowlers are mostly inswing bowlers, and they tend to run the risk of getting injured when trained to add outswing to their arsenal.Beyond the visual appeal, though, the extra swing and everything that comes with it has a significant impact on almost the whole vocabulary of women’s cricket. Almost everything in fast bowling is described in relation to good length. For men, we all tend to agree that a good length is a pitching point from where the ball can hit the top of the stumps.This hack doesn’t quite work for women. The height of the stumps is 0.71m. On average, in 2023, men hit that height when the ball bounced 6-7m from the stumps. It is consistent with what we have largely agreed upon in men’s cricket: 6-7m from the stumps is good length, 7-8m is the hard length, and 5-6m the aggressive good length. For women to hit the top of the stumps, they have to pitch in the 7-8m band, closer to 8 than 7. Now, at their pace, against batters of shorter stature, if they bowl that length, it gives batters enough time to play off the back foot.Women, thus, have to operate more on the literal definition of good length: one where a batter is not close to the pitch of the ball if they play forward, and hurried if they go back. So everything gets pushed a metre fuller in women’s cricket.Women’s cricket uses a smaller ball and shorter boundaries, but the pitch and the stumps remain the same. It becomes a completely different sport. Women fast bowlers have to bowl fuller. And because they swing it more, fast bowlers train to bowl a 4-5.5m length, and then adjust to the given conditions. Now this sounds a little too ambitious, but they believe the movement brings in jeopardy. A drive even slightly on the up comes with risk. Nor do women batters charge at the quicks as often as men do.Some coaches believe that batters’ hitting technique has far more room for improvement in women’s cricket than the bowling. It is evident in how bowling slow rollers is not good enough in women’s cricket anymore as batters have learnt to generate their own power into shots.In T20 cricket in 2023, women fast bowlers bowled 12.48% of their deliveries in the 4-5m zone. Men went into the aggressive 5-6m good length only 9.61% of the time. Women extracted better results from 5-8m lengths before the shorter balls started going for more runs. These are not great trends for their optimism. The batters will still keep unlocking their hitting prowess; how bowlers catch up is something to keep an eye on.

Opener’s 136 single-handedly holds Notts together for first win of Blast

David Hopps13-Jun-2021If you are England, then you habitually look away now. But perhaps the time has come when you shouldn’t. Joe Clarke, who has been easy to ignore since his career went off the rails, played one of the finest T20 innings ever produced in England, an innings so mellow in its destruction that birds might have fallen from the sky, or traffic outside the Northampton ground come to a halt in supplication.Clarke’s 136 from 65 balls, with 11 sixes and six fours, was the eighth-highest T20 score in England and the best by a Notts batter. His 11 sixes have only been surpassed by three players – Graham Napier and Cameron Delport, both for Essex, and Chris Gayle for Somerset. Gayle might have possessed more awe, but surely none of them played with Clarke’s sweetness of touch. In this sort of form, very few do: he is the best England-qualified batter without an international cap in the country.He single-handedly took hold of Notts’ stuttering start to the Blast and guided it into winning territory at the third time of asking. Northants’ innings was the undercard, but they can feel good about getting within 14 runs.They retained slight hopes of chasing down Notts’ 214 for 7 with 87 needed off the last seven overs, and Josh Cobb on 55 from 24 balls, and going long at every opportunity, but then Cobb yanked a hamstring, the offspinner Matt Carter, who was excellent throughout, reasserted control, and from then on it was just a matter of how close they could get.It is worth reminding ourselves after Clarke’s gentle demolition of Northants’ attack that there is not one England batter who is but two. Alex Hales, he of the Johnny Ringo moustache, is the sharpshooter who will probably never escape those “Wanted: Alive or Dead” posters, and appeals for clemency are regularly lodged on his behalf. But Clarke, too, was once England’s golden child, only for his magical adventure to turn into the Golden Child, Eddie Murphy style, a mess of a film which ranks at 22% on Rotten Tomatoes.He does not make light of his mistakes, as he made clear in a revealing interview in ESPNcricinfo last year, and he saw a psychologist last summer to help him further understand that phase of his life and how to respond to it. More pertinent for his batting career, though, might have been a discussion with Peter Moores, Notts’ coach, who told him he was sort of a messed-up version of Marnus Labuschagne.By his own admission, he has missed out on a couple of Championship hundreds that were in the offing this summer, but If the ego of a talented youngster has finally given way to the substance that is found in true quality, then the runs may be about to flow. And England are not exactly drowning in that commodity, not in Test cricket at least. Forgiveness is given most readily to those who are most needed – that’s just the desperate way of the world.Cold statistics illustrate how much Clarke dominated Notts’ innings. His 136 came off 65 balls at a strike rate of 209. The rest of Notts’ batting line-up managed 67 off 57 at a strike rate of 117. Clarke hit 11 sixes; the rest mustered only two more. It was a supreme one-man show.From the second ball, it felt as if he meant business as the left-arm spinner Graeme White was treated to the gentlest of inside-out blows over extra cover, a shot played as if he was carrying out an MOT on his timing. Dropped on 29, he exacted mean punishment. White and the swing (non-existent on this occasion) of Ben Sanderson were most harshly dealt with, with Sanderson conceding three sixes in succession in the 16th over.The first of these blows left Sanderson with hands on hips, as he exchanged a few words of despair with the non-striker, Steven Mullaney. A shimmy across his stumps, followed by the laziest six over midwicket, left Sanderson with hands on knees. The next ball, with the bowler by then disorientated, was a full toss which was deposited over long-on. By then Sanderson didn’t know where to put his hands – or put the ball.Only the South African Wayne Parnell, the one bowler of international quality, escaped punishment – or sixes – and, suitably, he almost pulled off a return catch, on 125, although he was probably just grateful he escaped with his hand intact. He was also caught off Brandon Glover’s waist-high no-ball on 127, a second blemish which saw Glover removed from the attack. He fell in the last over, a nine iron down the ground against Tom Taylor.The rest of Notts’ much-vaunted batting line-up failed to fire, although Peter Trego, promoted up to No. 3 in the absence of Ben Duckett, who did not travel to Northampton as a Covid precaution, did share in an 82-run stand before he became one of a succession of batsman to slog to deep midwicket.Clarke marked his hundred with a beating of his chest – although he did not appear to follow up with some appropriate verses from St Luke about requesting God to be merciful because he was a sinner. It is time for England to be merciful though and to contact him to state, in the clearest terms, that runs are now all that matter.

The international break has provided Tottenham Hotspur boss Thomas Frank with a two-week break to prepare for the North London derby clash with Arsenal next weekend in the Premier League.

Spurs were held to a 2-2 draw with Manchester United last time out in the top-flight, thanks to a last-gasp Matthijs de Ligt goal, and they have only won one of their last four matches in all competitions.

This means that the Lilywhites will need to improve their performance if they want to come away with a result against their bitter rivals, and the Premier League’s current leaders.

Whilst the international break has provided the coaching staff with more time to prepare for the match, it has also thrown up a potentially disruptive injury to one of Frank’s key players.

Pape Matar Sarr had to go off in the second half of Senegal’s clash with Brazil, ironically, at The Emirates with an injury, and it remains to be seen how serious a blow that is.

The latest Spurs injury news ahead of the North London derby

It is fair to say that the Lilywhites have had their fair share of injury issues in the 2025/26 campaign, as they currently have 11 players who are either out or about to return from injury, not including Sarr.

James Maddison is the one player who will certainly not be returning to action any time soon, as the England international suffered an ACL injury in pre-season that will keep him out until next year.

As you can see in the table above, Tottenham have a host of players who Transfermarkt suggests could return for the North London derby, but that is their prediction and has yet to be confirmed by Frank or the club.

It has been reported, for example, that Randal Kolo Muani could be out for up to eight weeks with his jaw injury, which means that it would be surprising to see him return next weekend.

Senegal boss Pape Thiaw claimed that the injury was not a “big deal”, suggesting that there will be no long-term lay-off, but Spurs must prepare for the possibility that they will not have Sarr available, or at least ready to start, against the Gunners.

The Senegal international has started six of his ten appearances in the Premier League so far this season, per Sofascore, and his absence would leave a hole to fill in the middle of the park.

Lucas Bergvall would have been in contention to take Sarr’s place in midfield after returning to the Sweden squad for the international break, but he was excused from international duty after suffering a setback in his return from a concussion.

Chalkboard

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

This suggests that the 19-year-old central midfielder will either be unavailable for selection or lacking in match fitness, having not played since the clash with Chelsea on the first day of the month.

With this in mind, Spurs could ease the blow dealt by this potential injury to Sarr by unleashing experienced campaigner Rodrigo Bentancur alongside Joao Palhinha against Arsenal.

Why Spurs must unleash Rodrigo Bentancur against Arsenal

Playing the Uruguay international alongside the summer signing from Bayern Munich may not be the most popular suggestion, as there have been complaints from some supporters that it is a bit of a negative pairing.

Bentancur ranks within the bottom 38% of midfielders in the top five leagues and European competitions for progressive passes per 90 (4.13) over the past 365 days, whilst Palhinha ranks in the bottom 7% with 2.92 progressive passes per 90, per FBref.

This suggests that the perception that this midfield pairing lacks progression in possession is a fair one, but it is defensive quality that Spurs will need against Arsenal, who are top of the Premier League and have scored 20 goals in 11 matches.

Therefore, playing the £75k-per-week star next to Palhinha could be the way to go next weekend, particularly if Sarr and Bergvall are not 100% ready to start after their respective issues.

The former Juventus midfielder, described as a “mentality monster” by one analyst, came off the bench against Manchester United last time out, but started eight of his first nine appearances in the Premier League this season, per Sofascore, which shows how much Frank has relied on him.

As you can see in the table above, Bentancur ranks very highly among his positional peers in a host of key defensive metrics in the top five leagues in Europe and European competitions over the past year.

These statistics illustrate the defensive quality that he can provide in front of the back four alongside Palhinha, which is further evidenced by the club’s return of seven clean sheets in the 16 games that they have been on the pitch at the same time this season, per FBref.

This suggests that Spurs may have their best chance of keeping Arsenal at bay by playing Bentancur and Palhinha at the base of the midfield to protect Cristian Romero and Micky van De Ven next weekend.

Whilst they may not provide the youthful energy that Bergvall and Sarr bring to the team, the experienced midfield pairing could be a solid option to go with if the aforementioned duo are not available or fit enough to start.

Frank must sell £55k-per-week Spurs flop who was looking "like Dembele"

Tottenham Hotspur must now look to offload one player who has failed to deliver in North London.

By
Ethan Lamb

Nov 16, 2025

Millie Bright had one of the best seasons of her career in 2024-25. Sporting the captain's armband, the Chelsea star guided the club to an incredible domestic treble in which they didn't lose a single game in the Women's Super League, FA Cup or League Cup, lifting all three trophies and breaking plenty of records along the way. In the last few weeks, though, as the Blues have endured a surprising run of just one win in five games, the former Lionesses defender has found herself on the outside looking in.

It didn't feel like a big deal when, for the first time since January, Bright was an unused substitute as the Blues' took on Champions League minnows St Polten last month. But after being hooked at half-time in the subsequent 1-1 draw with Liverpool, the side bottom of the WSL, the defender hasn't played a minute, sitting on the bench for last month's blockbuster showdown with Barcelona and Sunday's defeat to Everton – that Chelsea's first WSL loss under Sonia Bompastor, in her 35th game in charge in the competition.

With Bright's contract expiring at the end of the season, albeit with an option for an extra year included in the deal, her recent absences have raised questions about her Chelsea future. Can she battle back to retake her place in this team? Or are we watching a changing of the guard in the Blues' backline?

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  All for Chelsea

  When Bright called time on her England career back in October, it felt like a huge boost for Chelsea. One of the team's most important players, as both a footballer and the captain of the club, was going to be able to put all her energy into representing the Blues. It could be massive, especially as their quest for that elusive Champions League title ramped up another notch.

  "That's crucial, having a player like Millie who will be now 100 per cent focused on the club and all the trophies we are competing for," Bompastor said at the time. "It's really, really important. I know she is a player who is always, on the pitch, first thinking about the team. She will always give 100% and even more to the team.

  "I think she just leads by example and having this type of leader, this type of captain in the team, is the best thing you can have when you are a manager, so I'm grateful for that and I know she will bring all the good energy to her team-mates, to the players on the pitch, to make sure we achieve the best season possible."

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  Unfamiliar situation

  But the situation appears to have changed a little in the two months since, and especially in the last four weeks, during which Bright has found herself watching on from the sidelines for three of Chelsea's last four games.

  Prior to the first instance, that 6-0 thumping of St. Polten, Bright had been an unused substitute just three times in the last 53 games she had been available for, with one of those occasions only occurring because the defender had just returned from five months out due to a knee injury. She wasn't ready to take to the pitch at that point, but Chelsea were facing Barcelona in another Champions League semi-final and then-manager Emma Hayes wanted her captain in the squad for her leadership.

  Take that instance out, and only count games where Bright was fit enough to play minutes, and the 32-year-old hadn't been called upon on just three occasions in her last 72 Chelsea games prior to the St. Polten win, a run that stretched back to December 2022.

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  Concerning selections

  For the clash with Barcelona, a huge game that Bright would have been desperate to play in, Bompastor instead opted to pair Naomi Girma with Nathalie Bjorn, whose fantastic partnership with Bright was the bedrock of Chelsea's success last term. Girma became the most expensive player in the history of the women's game back in January when the Blues secured her services for a fee that, for the first time in the sport, surpassed the $1 million mark, though niggling injuries prevented her from making a serious impact on the team in the second half of last season.

  This term, it always felt like she would emerge as a key starter, because of her world-class quality and how highly Chelsea clearly rate her, as evidenced by the transfer fee, and the pecking order at centre-back would be different. As such, Bompastor's team selection for that Barca clash wasn't particularly shocking, even if it was one that "frustrated" Bright, the manager admitted. "That's normal," Bompastor added. "That's the reaction I expect from her."

  But Sunday felt different. With Bjorn missing from the squad, many might've expected Bright to return to the starting line-up as Chelsea hosted Everton. However, Bompastor went in a different direction entirely, choosing Lucy Bronze, a right-back, to partner Girma while Bright sat on the bench for the entire game.

  Bronze's main task was to keep tabs on Kelly Gago, Everton's imposing centre-forward. It was the kind of individual battle that Bright tends to relish. For her manager to choose Bronze for the challenge here, though, felt like the most worrying sign yet for Bright, her status in the team right now and, ultimately, her future at the club.

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  Competition aplenty

  Centre-back is one of Chelsea's deepest positions. As well as Bright, Bjorn and Girma, the Blues can count on the adaptability of players like Bronze and Ellie Carpenter, they have an extremely exciting young prospect in Veerle Buurman, the 19-year-old Netherlands international, and they will hope to have Kadeisha Buchanan, a five-time Champions League winner, back from injury soon. It's a position where players have to perform in order to earn minutes, and there have been some questions and criticisms of Bright's form this season, with the 32-year-old also lacking the pace of some of her fellow centre-backs.

  That said, from a statistical perspective, while Bright is down on some of her numbers from last year, with her tackle win percentage one of the most notable ones, she is also up on a lot of them, including her aerial duel win rate and the number of interceptions, tackles and blocks she is making per 90 minutes. Chelsea not being quite as secure at the back this year, and thus seeing their defenders called into action more often, could be a factor to consider, but it is interesting to note nonetheless.

England have “full FTP schedule” from June onwards, says Ashley Giles

George Dobell10-May-2021England’s centrally contracted players are unlikely to be available for the completion of the IPL wherever and whenever it is rescheduled.While the England management were happy to allow up to a dozen English players to miss the Test series against New Zealand at the start of June due to their involvement in the IPL, any rescheduling of the event is likely to clash with series in the Future Tours Programme (FTP). And that, according to England men’s director of cricket, Ashley Giles, means they will be viewed differently.The IPL was postponed last week due to the rising number of Covid-19 cases in India. With BCCI president Sourav Ganguly having accepted the competition cannot be completed in India this year, various dates and venues have been mooted. Those include the second half of September, before the T20 World Cup, and from mid-November, after it.Related

• BCCI mulls September-October window for remainder of IPL 2021

• England counties offer to host remainder of IPL in September

• Could Sri Lanka potentially host the remainder of IPL 2021?

• India to play three ODIs and five T20Is in Sri Lanka

• England considering 'new faces' for New Zealand Tests – Giles

But England’s top players will be in action at both times. And with very little space in the schedule until their Caribbean tour ends at the end of March 2022 – just ahead of the next season of the IPL – it is increasingly probable they will play no part in any rearranged tournament.Giles dismissed the suggestion that this signals any change of approach from the ECB. While the series against New Zealand was a late addition to the schedule – it was only finalised in the early part of this year and does not feature as part of the World Test Championship – most of England’s remaining obligations have been in the FTP for a long time.”We’re planning on the involvement of England players in England matches,” Giles said. “We’ve got a full FTP schedule. So if those tours to Pakistan and Bangladesh [in September and October] are going ahead, I’d expect the players to be there.”The New Zealand scenario was very different. Those Test matches were formalised at the end of January, by which time all those contracts and NOCs [no objection certificates] were signed for full involvement in the IPL.”None of us knows what a rearranged IPL looks like at the moment; where it’s going to be or when. But from when we start this summer against New Zealand, our programme is incredibly busy. We’ve got a lot of important, high-profile cricket including the T20 World Cup and the Ashes. And we’re going to have to look after our players.”England are currently scheduled to depart for a six-match limited-overs tour of Bangladesh on September 16. They are then due in Pakistan in mid-October and, while that tour is not strictly speaking part of the FTP, it’s an important one for various reasons and will mark England’s first to the country in 16 years.Even before the T20 World Cup finishes, some of England’s touring party for the Ashes are likely to have arrived in Australia ahead of a series that is likely to start on December 8. England then have a limited-overs tour to the Caribbean at the end of January 2022 – days after the completion of the Ashes – before a Test series to the same destination in March.Meanwhile Giles expressed a hope that players would be allowed “a bit more freedom” from bio-bubbles as the England summer progresses. The Test squad are likely to enter their latest bubble from around May 28. For those who play all formats of the game, it could seem the start of a daunting period.All of England’s home fixtures in 2020 were played in biosecure environments•Pool/Getty Images for ECB

“We think it’s probably unreasonable to expect that our players could be in bubbles all summer,” Giles said. “We want to keep them in safe environments, obviously. But we are really aware of the importance for these guys, their time with loved ones, families in particular. That’s the balance we are trying to strike.”We are hopeful this year that as we see society move a certain way, that we can move with it. It could be the case that we may start tighter, as society is right now, and look to release, as everything else does.”Despite the hectic schedule, Giles remains keen to see the England players appearing in the Hundred. The event starts on July 21 – the day after England’s men play a day-night T20I in Manchester – and runs until August 21. England’s Test series against India is scheduled to start in Nottingham on August 4.”We’d love them to be involved in the Hundred at some point and the launch of that competition,” he said. “It would be great to have our best players playing in it.”But we’ll have to look at workloads very carefully. We’ve got a lot of cricket coming up so it’s a difficult juggling act but I know the players are also looking forward to that tournament and would love to be involved at some stage if they can.”

And was India’s 52 overs in Kanpur the fewest a team has faced in a Test win?

Steven Lynch08-Oct-2024India batted for only 52 overs at Kanpur yet won the Test. Was this a record? asked Ahmed Narail from India

You’re right that India’s batters received only 52 overs during that impressive victory in the rain-affected second Test against Bangladesh in Kanpur last week. It’s actually the fourth-fewest balls faced by a side winning a Test – and India already have a higher entry on this list from earlier this year: they faced only 46.5 overs in clobbering South Africa in Cape Town in January.Top of the table is another rain-affected match, in Bridgetown in January 1935, when England faced only 46 overs – for totals of 81 for 7 declared and 75 for 6 – but beat West Indies by four wickets.India didn’t let Bangladesh bowl any maiden overs in Kanpur. How many times has a team bowled no maidens in a completed match? asked Sridhar from the United States

No Bangladesh bowler managed a maiden in the second Test against India in Kanpur last week. This is a good spot, as it turns out it has happened in only one other Test with a positive result: in Durban in January 1939 (the third match of the series, not the famous ten-day timeless fifth Test), England won by an innings after scoring 469 for 4 declared in 88.5 overs, none of which was a maiden. Eight-ball overs were used in that match, so it was harder to bowl a maiden. The recent Kanpur Test is thus the only one featuring six-ball overs in which the losing side failed to deliver at least one maiden.I know that Jim Laker and Tony Lock took all 20 Australian wickets at Old Trafford in 1956. But in how many other Tests did two bowlers dismiss all 20 opposition batsmen? asked Daniel Hayward from England

The Surrey spinners Jim Laker (who took 19 for 90) and Tony Lock (1 for 106) famously shared all 20 wickets in the Ashes Test at Old Trafford in 1956. It has happened in just five other Test matches, three of them also Ashes Tests. In Melbourne in January 1902, Monty Noble (13 for 77) and Hugh Trumble (7 for 87) took all 20 England wickets, while the boot was on the other foot at Edgbaston in May 1909, when Colin Blythe (11 for 102) and George Hirst (9 for 86) did the damage. And it happened again at Lord’s in 1972, when Bob Massie took 16 for 137 and Dennis Lillee 4 for 140 against England; rather surprisingly perhaps as there have been more than 1800 Tests since, this remains the most recent instance.The two non-Ashes occurrences were in Johannesburg in January 1910, when the South African spinners Ernie Vogler (12 for 181) and Aubrey Faulkner (8 for 160) accounted for all England’s batters, and in Karachi in October 1956, when Fazal Mahmood (13 for 114) and Khan Mohammad (7 for 112) set up Pakistan’s victory in their inaugural Test against Australia (this was only two Tests after the match at Old Trafford).Megan Schutt recently equalled the record held by Shabnim Ismail for the most wickets in Women’s T20 World Cups, with 43, and might yet add to her tally in the ongoing tournament•Getty ImagesWho has scored the most runs – and who has the most wickets – at women’s T20 World Cups? asked Natalie Grisham from England

The only woman with more than 1000 runs in T20 World Cups before this one got underway was New Zealand’s Suzie Bates, who had 1066. She played in all the first eight tournaments, and has already added to her tally in this one. Australia’s Meg Lanning, who has now retired, finished with 992 runs, but two players who are in the UAE this time started the tournament with more than 900: Alyssa Healy of Australia (941) and West Indies’ Stafanie Taylor (926).As for the bowlers, Shabnim Ismail of South Africa led the way with 43 wickets at T20 World Cups, before Australia’s Megan Schutt caught up with her during the ongoing one. England’s Anya Shrubsole has 41 and Australia’s Ellyse Perr has 40 wickets, but since Perry and Schutt are both playing in this tournament, they may yet add to their tally.South Africa’s top six all reached 35 in a recent ODI against Ireland. How often has this happened? asked Eddie McCann from South Africa

South Africa’s consistent display against Ireland in Abu Dhabi last week was the seventh instance of six batters all reaching 35 in an ODI innings. But only in two of the others did it involve the top six in the order: by Sri Lanka against Bangladesh during the Asia Cup in Dambulla in June 2010 – only six men batted, and the lowest individual contribution was 37 not out – and also by Pakistan against Sri Lanka in Colombo in July 2015 (again only six men batted; the lowest score among them was 35 not out).There are no fewer than 35 further instances of five batters reaching 35 in the same ODI innings.There’s a solitary case of five men reaching 35 in a men’s T20I innings, by Sri Lanka (215 for 3) against West Indies in Pallekele in November 2015. And there have been eight cases of five 35s in a women’s ODI innings (and none in T20Is).Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

Ruben Amorim’s tenure at Manchester United has finally shown glimpses of lift off over the last couple of weeks, with the first-team squad now adapting to the demands of his 3-4-2-1 system.

Ahead of the 2025/26 campaign, his future at Old Trafford was massively up in the air, especially after only being able to register a 15th-place finish in the Premier League last season.

However, he maintained the backing of the board, with such a decision now proving to be the right one, especially if their recent run of form is anything to go by.

The Red Devils remain unbeaten in each of their last five outings, winning three in a row in the process, leading to the 40-year-old claiming the division’s Manager of the Month award.

However, one player who joined the club during the off-season has somewhat struggled to make the desired impact in recent weeks, leading to question marks around his future.

What former Man Utd players have made of Sesko’s start at the club

Benjamin Sesko joined United in a £74m transfer from RB Leipzig, with the fanbase having real expectations on the centre-forward to change their fortunes in the final third.

The Slovenian has already featured in 11 league outings to date, but has only managed to find the net twice, failing to score in any of the last four matches in the Premier League.

Given his lack of goals, questions have been asked about the 22-year-old’s role at Old Trafford, with many former players voicing their concern over his struggles in England.

Former right-back and now pundit, Gary Neville, spoke about Sesko early this month and gave an honest review on the youngster’s start to life at the club.

The 50-year-old stated: “The jury is out. He’s well off it compared to the other summer signings Manchester United made up front, like Cunha and Mbeumo.

“He looks awkward. He had a couple of good opportunities against Forest, but his touch wasn’t quite right. For £80 million, you can say he’s young and settling in, but you still want to see a bit more.”

He wasn’t the only former Red Devils first-team member to speak out on the striker’s lack of form at present, with Peter Schmeichel also questioning the big-money transfer.

The former goalkeeper said: “You spend £70 million-plus on Sesko, when we don’t have the number six we should have, and there’s the goalkeeping position as well.

“Why did we bring someone in that we didn’t need? Because the head of recruitment [Christopher Vivell] comes from Leipzig and he’s got to make a mark.”

However, Wes Brown has jumped to Sesko’s defence in the last couple of weeks, with the Englishman offering a more open-minded view on his early months in Manchester.

He claimed that: “The quality in wide areas is very good now, so this season can be a positive one for Manchester United. I think Sesko has all the attributes to score plenty of goals for Manchester United. He is mobile, good in the air and with his feet, so it all bodes really well for the club.”

If he is to reach the heights many anticipated earlier this summer, he will definitely need time to adapt to the demands of the Premier League, with Amorim needing to show patience in the talisman.

The United star who’s becoming INEOS’ worst signing

Despite Sesko needing time to prove his worth at United, the same can’t be said about numerous other talents who were brought to the club by INEOS in recent years.

Manuel Ugarte was signed for a reported £50m from PSG last summer, but his move to Old Trafford has fallen way below the expectations many had upon his arrival.

The Uruguayan was seen as the perfect ball-winning option at the heart of the side, but he’s struggled to cement his place in the starting eleven under Amorim.

It’s evident that the manager currently doesn’t trust the 24-year-old at present, with the boss currently selecting 33-year-old Casemiro ahead of him in the pecking order.

Given his tally of just two starts in the league throughout 2025/26, it would be a surprise to no one if he was sold in January, with the club needing to recoup as much of their investment as possible.

However, he might not be alone in that aspect, with forward Joshua Zirkzee another player who has struggled with the expectations after his own move 18 months ago.

INEOS forked out a reported £36m for his signature last summer, but the Dutchman has massively struggled to adapt to life in the Premier League.

The 24-year-old featured in 49 matches across all competitions last season, but was only able to register a measly tally of seven goals – an average of one goal every seven games.

This season has been a new low for the Dutchman, with the attacker only making four appearances in the league under Amorim – none of which have been from a starting position.

During those outings, he’s only featured for a combined total of 82 minutes, with the likes of Bryan Mbeumo and Matheus Cunha ahead of him in the pecking order.

His struggles may be down to his own confusion, with Zirkzee even stating that he sees himself as a 9.5, often liking to drop deeper and affect the player – with the manager’s system just not suiting his playstyle.

His performances have unfortunately fallen way below what many expected last summer, leading to one analyst dubbing him as “terrible” after being hooked before half time against Newcastle United.

Given his lack of impact, there’s no denying that his move to Old Trafford has been a failure, with the board desperately needing to offload him in the upcoming window.

Whilst Sesko has had his own doubters in recent months, Zirkzee is on another level in terms of failures at the club – potentially going down as one of their worst dealings in the last couple of years.

Their own Anderson: Man Utd to make £53m bid to sign "world-class" CM

Manchester United are set to make a January move for another top-level central midfielder.

By
Ethan Lamb

Nov 13, 2025