A sudden downpour in London forced India and England back into the changerooms early after 23 overs of play at The Oval. Shubman Gill, having lost the toss yet again, was in the middle dealing with challenging batting conditions but profiting thanks to a drop in the quality of bowling among the opposition. The visitors went to the break at 72 for 2.Gus Atkinson, one of four changes for England, acquitted himself very well, playing his first Test two months. He provided the first breakthrough, trapping Yashasvi Jaiswal lbw in the fourth over of the day. The on-field decision was not-out prompting stand-in captain Ollie Pope to review and finally get one right. He had not had any luck with his previous 14 calls but this one was perfect. Atkinson finished the session with figures of 6-1-7-1.KL Rahul was solid again but fell for 14 off 40. With 8mm of grass left on the pitch and most of the session taking place under overcast skies, the batters were very careful when the ball was pitched up in the 4-6m area but anything either side they knew they had to attack. Chris Woakes bowled short but not wide enough for the cut. Rahul went for the shot because of the pressure that had been built – England had given only five runs in the previous six overs – and was bowled off the inside edge.That brought Gill to the middle and he ticked past 732 runs, which means he has the most runs by an India captain over a Test series. Sai Sudharsan was at the other end, looking solid as well and exposing the drop offs between Archer and Stokes, who couldn’t play this game, and Josh Tongue (11 runs in wides in his first over) and Jamie Overton (3-0-16-0) who replaced them. A portion of the bowlers’ struggle was also because the landing area didn’t seem sturdy enough after the overnight rain.

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Os torcedores utilizaram o canal do Whatsapp do Corinthians para eleger o destaque da equipe nesta edição do Campeonato Paulista. Após um início conturbado de temporada, que resultou na demissão de Mano Menezes, o Timão tentou uma reação na competição, mas acabou eliminado na fase de grupos do torneio estadual.

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➡️ Tudo sobre o Timão agora no WhatsApp. Siga o nosso novo canal Lance! Corinthians

Empatado com Yuri Alberto na artilharia da equipe em 2024, com sete gols marcados, o atacante Romero foi escolhido como o grande destaque do time pela Fiel. O paraguaio, que alternou momentos como titular e reserva, disputa vaga com Pedro Raul entre os onze iniciais.

Nas últimas partidas, o técnico António Olivera tem optado por um sistema com dois centroavantes, com Raul atuando centralizado, e Yuri Alberto aberto pelo lado direito do campo. No entanto, sempre que está em campo, o paraguaio contribui com boas atuações.

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Inclusive, nasce dos pés de Romero a jogada do gol do Corinthians no empate em 1 a 1 com o Racing, do Uruguai, pela fase de grupos da Copa Sul-Americana.

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OS MELHORES JOGADORES DO CORINTHIANS NO PAULISTÃO

1º lugar: Romero – 3.2 mil votos2º lugar: Rodrigo Garro – 1,1 mil votos 3º lugar: Yuri Alberto – 1 mil votos4º lugar: Raniele – 714 votos5º lugar: Wesley – 515 votos

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Napoli's head of scouting Maurizio Micheli is reportedly in advanced talks to move to Arsenal to take up a new role with the Premier League side. New sporting director Andrea Berta is continuing to make changes behind the scenes in north London and is keen to bring in the man who signed Khvicha Kvaratskhelia for Napoli. The exciting winger has since been sold to Paris Saint-Germain in a deal worth £59 million.

Arsenal set to land key Napoli scout

Berta has identified Micheli as a "key appointment" for his team and talks are continuing over a move, as reported by BBC Sport. Micheli is in his second stint with Napoli and is credited with bringing players such as Kvaratskhelia, Marek Hamsik and Kim Min-jae to the club. He has also worked in Serie A with Hellas Verona and Udinese and is widely regarded as one of the best talent spotters in Italy, having also discovered Ghana internationals Sulley Muntari and Asamoah Gyan.

AdvertisementAFPBerta getting busy at Arsenal

Berta arrived at Arsenal after over a decade in La Liga with Atletico Madrid, taking over from Edu at Emirates Stadium. The Italian helped bring the likes of Antoine Griezmann, Jan Oblak, Rodri and Joao Felix to the club and was part of an Atletico set-up that won two La Liga titles, the Copa del Rey and the Europa League.

Arsenal's new man has just overseen his first transfer window at Arsenal which saw the Gunners spend over £255 million ($345.7m) to refresh the squad. Viktor Gyokeres, Martin Zubimendi, Eberechi Eze, Noni Madueke, Cristhian Mosquera, Piero Hincapie, Kepa Arrizabalaga and Christian Norgaard all arrived as the north London side splashed the cash.

Mikel Arteta's side have gone on to enjoy a strong start to the Premier League season. The Gunners currently sit top of the Premier League table, four points clear of nearest challengers Manchester City, and are also in top spot in the Champions League standings.

Arsenal told Micheli is a 'human algorithm'

Micheli has been praised for his work in Serie A by former Stefano Caira. He has told fans what to expect from the scout: "I bow to the analysis of Maurizio Micheli, who, for me, is a guru in selecting and knowing players. There isn’t a single player Maurizio signs whose parents, boyfriends, and so on he doesn’t know. He’s a human algorithm, capable of implementing this strategy for years now."

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Getty Images SportCrunch fixtures up next for Arsenal

Arsenal face a real test of their title credentials when domestic action resume after the international break. Arteta's team return against north London rivals Tottenham and then face Bayern Munich in the Champions League. The game pits the only two teams in the competition still with a 100 per cent record up against each other at the Emirates.

Arteta's side then face Enzo Maresca's Chelsea at Stamford Bridge on November 30th, and the results of those games may well offer an indicator of just how far the Gunners can go this season at home and abroad.

The Arsenal boss is expected to welcome several injured players back for those games, and he admits the break comes at a good time for his team.

“Now we reset with the international break, get the [international] players back nice and healthy, the ones that are not healthy make sure that they get healthy, and we go again,” he told reporters after seeing his team held to a draw by Sunderland last time out.

“We’ll look back at what we’ve done, take all of the positive things that we do, the things that we have the opportunity to improve as well and start to plan what is coming because it’s going to be very demanding.”

The Athletics lost at home to the Arizona Diamondbacks, 7-2, on Saturday night in a forgettable game between two teams with losing records.

Athletics manager Mark Kotsay had the team's biggest highlight of the night when he was tossed in the seventh inning after he lit up home plate umpire John Bacon with a profane message over what sure looked like a bad call on a pitch that was ruled a ball.

"Inside!?," Kotsay yelled from the dugout after Bacon missed what looked like should have been strike one. He then didn't hold back:: "It’s not f—— down! You missed the ball all night. All night you f—– us!"

 Here's that moment:

Safe to say Kotsay didn't like that call.

He then had to take a long, awkward walk back to the Athletics' clubhouse, which is behind the left field wall:

Kotsay and the Athletics will look to bounce back Sunday when they finish off their series with the Diamondbacks at 4:05 p.m. ET.

The team's first season playing in Sacramento has been a mess, as they're now 49-64 and in last place in the AL West.

Marcus Stoinis takes 2 for 0 to break crucial Superchargers stand between Harry Brook and Graham Clarke

ECB Media10-Aug-2025

Tom Banton set Rockets’ run chase off to a promising start•Nathan Stirk/ECB via Getty Images

Trent Rockets beat Northern Superchargers by five wickets at Trent Bridge to continue their 100 percent start to The Hundred this season.In front of their home fans for the first time this campaign, Rockets – who beat Birmingham Phoenix at Edgbaston on Friday – restricted Andrew Flintoff’s Superchargers to 128 for 9 from their 100 balls and won with relative lack of alarm, though Superchargers did well to take the game deep.Runs were perhaps expected given the weather and the manner in which Superchargers women’s team batted in the day’s first game, but on a dry surface the ball gripped and few batters seemed able to bat with much freedom. That meant the Rockets never ran away with the chase but they had enough to see it home with four balls to spare.With the ball, spinners Akeal Hosein and Rehan Ahmed took two wickets apiece for the hosts and never allowed the Superchargers to get going, though it was Australian allrounder Marcus Stoinis who broke the most crucial partnership, that of top-scorer Harry Brook and Graham Clarke, who put on 56. Stoinis would go on to take two wickets in two balls, and conceded no runs from his five balls.It was a similar tale when it was time for Superchargers to defend, with Imad Wasim taking two wickets in two balls, and three overall, and Adil Rashid giving next to nothing away alongside two wickets, but Stoinis and Adam Hose scrambled Trent Rockets home with four balls remaining in front of 13,497 happy home fans.Meerkat Match Hero Akeal Hosein said: “I was grateful for that start [two early wickets] and thankful to be able to put my team in a winning position early on.”I think both ends of the wicket played differently. The top end here where I started off, it was a bit sticky, it gripped a bit, and then when I went on the other end it was a bit low and skiddy, so it’s about just working out what works well at each end and sticking to that plan for as long as possible.”It’s a happy bunch. It’s a talented bunch as well, and we have one goal in mind. Whenever the ball is thrown to us, it’s our opportunity to make it happen for the team. It’s very good to have a good group of bowlers. So even if it doesn’t go your way on that day, you know you’ve got your brothers to cover you.”On the close finish, he added: “I walked across from the dressing room with all confidence. I had no pads on, you know? So that’s the confidence I had in the boys to get over the line. But with that being said, it was closer than we would have liked, but we were glad to get over the line.”

Thomas Frank enjoyed a rip-roaring start to life as manager of Tottenham Hotspur.

Spurs looked a great deal more organised, shipping just four goals in their first six Premier League games and keeping five clean sheets in their first seven fixtures across all competitions.

Yet, despite maintaining their clean sheet against Everton a week ago, there is a sense that Frank still hasn’t got the fans on side.

They have kept a clean sheet in only two of their last eight games and have won just two of those encounters too.

While a more trigger-happy Daniel Levy may no longer be chairman, the pressure is still on Frank to improve.

The way in which the Lilywhites lost to Chelsea on Saturday, tasting a 1-0 defeat, was alarming.

The hosts only managed an expected goals tally (xG) of just 0.10, they gave the ball away on countless occasions and were subsequently booed off the pitch at the full-time whistle after making a mess of a late free-kick.

Guglielmo Vicario decided to take it short, much to the dismay of the home support and indeed Jamie Carragher who simply said: “You have been awful today Spurs”.

So, why are things going wrong?

Spurs' biggest underperformers against Chelsea

Despite his bizarre set-piece late in the fray, the only player in white to come away with any credit was that man Vicario.

Without him, the scoreline would have been far worse as he made a whopping eight saves, denying a combined xG of 2.17.

He was made to work hard due to the efforts of the players in front of him, notably the defence.

Both Xavi Simons and Micky van de Ven combined in dismal fashion to give the ball away in the build-up to Joao Pedro’s goal.

The likes of Pedro Porro and Kevin Danso did not cover themselves in glory either. Porro notably gave the ball away in the first half which led to a Pedro chance, while Danso was also given a rough time by the Brazilian. It was no surprise to see Cristian Romero come on for him in the 60th minute as the centre-back made his return from injury.

Danso has had a few encouraging displays of late but this was not one of them, notably allowing Chelsea’s main man in attack to get past him easily towards the end of the opening 45 minutes.

In attack Spurs were dry. The defence didn’t do their bit but those in front of them failed to ever relieve the pressure.

They did not create a single big chance and had just 15 touches in the opposition’s box. For context, Enzo Maresca’s men managed 36.

Chalkboard

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

It was a tale of woe for many of the club’s summer signings. Randal Kolo Muani cut an isolated figure up top but not much of the blame can be handed to the French loanee who was starved of service.

That fell at the door of Mohammed Kudus, who despite completing 96% of his passes, failed to create a goalscoring opportunity and failed with all six of his crosses.

Perhaps the biggest concern, however, was the display of marquee arrival Simons.

Spurs' biggest concern after Chelsea

Frank will have been hoping for a straightforward first transfer window at Spurs but it’s safe to say he did not get that.

With Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison out long-term with injuries, the club’s hierarchy knew they needed to bring in more creativity. They tried extremely hard to do so.

For all the world it looked as though they were going to sign Morgan Gibbs-White from Nottingham Forest.

A secret release clause was allegedly activated only for Forest owner, Evangelos Marinakis, to threaten legal action against the north Londoners. Gibbs-White ultimately stayed at the City Ground and signed a new contract in the process.

Spurs moved on to Eberechi Eze but were again fruitless in their efforts. The England playmaker looked set to sign, a deal had been agreed with Crystal Palace only for Arsenal to gazump their rivals at the 11th hour.

An injury to Kai Havertz meant that the Gunners needed more cover in their attack and there was only going to be one ending once Eze’s boyhood club came to the table.

As a consequence, Frank and Co turned their attentions to Simons. Before arriving in England, the 22-year-old was seen as one of the most sparkling jewels on the continent.

Once of La Masia, Barcelona’s famed academy, Simons has long been highly thought of and had made a living off scoring and assisting goals regularly.

In his two seasons with RB Leipzig in Germany, the creative midfielder scored 22 goals and supplied 24 assists in 78 matches. At Spurs, however, that ability to influence games has waned.

Like another Bundesliga import in the shape of Florian Wirtz, he looks lightweight in the Premier League and has really struggled to get going. The Dutchman has a solitary assist and no goals to show for his efforts from 12 contests to date.

Simons’ worst performance to date arguably came in that 1-0 loss to Chelsea, so much so that he was substituted on and back off.

Minutes played

66

Touches

55

Unsuccessful touches

4

Possession lost

14x

Accurate passes

25/29 (86%)

Key passes

0

Accurate crosses

0/2

Shots

0

Successful dribbles

2/3

Tackles

2

Interceptions

0

Duels won

9/17

Dribbled past

3x

The Netherlands international initially wasn’t pencilled in to start but after young Lucas Bergvall suffered a first-half injury on just seven minutes, Spurs’ big-money summer signing was introduced to the action.

His influence on proceedings was near non-existent. Football.London reporter Alasdair Gold handed the midfielder a dismal 3/10 rating post-game, aptly summing up his performance by writing: ‘Other than a couple of nice touches the Dutchman was a passenger against the team he was linked with all summer.’

Simons gave the ball away on several occasions, 14 in total, and never really looked like providing a much-needed spark. He didn’t have a single shot and didn’t provide a key pass either.

His display was summed up abysmally when he was asked to defend. The former Leipzig man sold Van de Ven short in the build-up to the goal and was shown a late yellow for a desperate lunge on Alejandro Garnacho in the second period.

For a player who cost £51.8m in the summer, more is expected. At the moment, he’s heading into the Richarlison and Tanguy Ndombele categories.

Ndombele was another talented midfielder when he joined. The Frenchman had bags of talent but failed to ever extract it.

As the Daily Mail’s Dan Ripley put it in September 2020, he was a signing that should have ‘at the very least cemented Tottenham Hotspur’s place inside the top four for another season.’

It was a signing that, after reaching the Champions League final, really excited Spurs fans.

The parallels with Simons are strikingly scary. Spurs’ big addition after getting to a European final and indeed winning the competition, the Dutchman is here to take Frank’s side up a level, just as Ndombele was supposed to do six years ago.

However, for whatever reason, he’s simply failed to do that. Like Ndombele, he’s enduring a nightmare first campaign in English football and it’s difficult to see him extracting his full potential anytime soon.

He is yet to play a full 90 minutes for his new club and hasn’t lasted past the 78th-minute mark in any game he’s played in.

Frank may well be struggling to get a tune out of the Netherlands star but he’s going to have to if Spurs are to cement themselves as genuine top four contenders.

Sadly at the moment, Simons is becoming another Ndombele. He’s a talented midfield player and was deserving of his price tag at the time. Unfortunately, he is not deserving of it right now.

It would be fair to say that the atmosphere around Tottenham Hotspur is not a positive one at the moment.

Thomas Frank’s side might be sixth in the Premier League, but the performances so far this season have been hard to stomach, none more so than the one against Chelsea on Saturday.

Despite being at home, the North Londoners were utterly toothless, bereft of ideas, and the player who best encapsulated their dire display was summer signing Xavi Simons.

It’s still early in his Spurs career, but so far, the Dutch international has been a massive disappointment and should therefore be dropped for another young talent who could perhaps offer a little more urgency.

Simons' start to life at Spurs

Perhaps in part due to missing out on Eberechi Eze, there was a tremendous amount of excitement in the Spurs fan base when Simons was announced.

After all, he’s long been considered one of the most exciting young attackers in European football and, at one point, looked destined to join Chelsea.

Unfortunately, it would be fair to say that the 22-year-old has come nowhere close to justifying the hype so far this season.

In 12 appearances for the club, he has failed to score a single goal and has provided just one assist, which came in his first appearance, away to West Ham in gameweek four.

With that said, while that is a poor return, could it be that the former PSV Eindhoven gem is simply someone who starts seasons a little slower than most?

Unfortunately, that doesn’t seem to be the case.

For example, in his first 11 games for RB Leipzig last year, before he got injured, the Amsterdam-born gem managed to score three goals and provide two assists.

Likewise, the campaign preceding that saw the youngster rack up an even better tally of four goals and five assists in his first 12 matches, excluding the curtain-raising DFL-Super Cup.

Therefore, while it would be nice to say that Simons is doing what he does every season and will therefore eventually come good, that is not the case.

Therefore, Frank should keep him on the bench for now and look towards the academy for a temporary solution.

Spurs' Simons solution

With Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison still out, Frank could and probably should look to the likes of Lucas Bergvall and Pape Matar-Sarr to start ahead of Simons.

Chalkboard

However, there is another, far bolder option, one he could go with for the ‘easier’ games, or as a first option from the bench ahead of the Dutchman.

That option is Hotspur Way’s most exciting prospect since Mikey Moore: Luca Williams-Barnett.

Now, the first argument one might put forward here is that the Englishman is too young.

However, that would carry a lot more weight if the suggestion was to start the youngster in game after game, but that is not the case.

Instead, it might be worthwhile for Frank and the club to use the youngster as a substitute more often, and then potentially against the weaker teams, hand him a start.

After all, at 17 years old, he is two years older than Arsenal’s Max Dowman, and according to respected analyst Ben Mattinson, is “one of England’s best talents”.

Moreover, when you take a look at his form for the youth sides, it’s clear that he’s way beyond that level now and more than deserving of more senior football.

Williams-Barnett’s youth record
Team	U18	U21
Appearances	30	8
Goals	22	7
Assists	13	5
Goal Involvements per Match	1.16	1.5
All Stats via Transfermarkt

For example, in 11 games for the junior side this season, he has scored eight goals and provided seven assists, which is an average of 1.36 goal involvements every game.

Last season, he was even more effective, scoring 20 goals and providing 12 assists in just 23 appearances, which works out to an average of 1.39 goal involvements per game.

Ultimately, even if it is not from the start, Williams-Barnett has earned the right to play some meaningful minutes for Spurs this season.

Moreover, picking him over Simons could be the wake-up call the Dutchman needs to start playing to people’s expectations.

Spurs have signed a frightening young talent who can end Kolo Muani's stay

Tottenham have some painful attacking teething problems under Thomas Frank.

3

By
Angus Sinclair

Nov 3, 2025

Kent appeared to be cruising but Sussex’s lower order had other ideas

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay 07-Aug-2025Sussex 288 for 7 (Carter 68, Carson 50*, Cohen 4-65) beat Kent 287 for 9 (52 Evison, Hudson-Prentice 3-65) by 3 wickets A remarkable and unbroken eighth wicket stand of 88 in 11 overs between Jack Carson and Archie Lenham saw Sussex to an unlikely three-wicket win over Kent with ten balls to spare in the Metro Bank One-Day Cup at Arundel.Kent looked home and dry in their opening game when they had Sussex 200 for 7 in the 38th over. They had weathered a fifth wicket stand of 90 between Oli Carter (68) and John Simpson (50) and then dismissed the dangerous Danny Lamb for 16.But Carson struck his maiden List A fifty off 43 balls, with five fours and a six. And Lenham made 45 off 38 with six fours and a six. The match was still in doubt with 22 needed off the last three overs. And it was leg-spinner Lenham who settled the argument when he hit Michael Cohen for 14 off three balls, an on-drive for six, a square slash for four and an off-drive for another boundary.That left Sussex needing five from the last two overs and Carson hit the first two deliveries from Fred Klassen for four.Earlier, Cohen, a South African-born left-arm seamer who is qualified to play for France, looked set to be the hero of the day. He had made a memorable first appearance for Kent when he took three wickets in his opening spell before returning to dismiss danger man Carter.Cohen, whose debut had been delayed by injury, struck with his second ball when he had Danial Ibrahim lbw and broke through again with the first ball of his second over when he bowled one across the left-handed Tom Haines to have the batsman caught behind.Fynn Hudson-Prentice looked anxious to dispel local concerns that he was batting too high in the order at No 4 when he flicked Cohen for two leg-side fours before driving him for two more. But Sussex kept losing wickets. Tom Clark had his middle stump knocked back by Klaassen as he went for an extravagant off-side stroke to make it 50 for three and in the next over the dangerous Hudson-Prentice was caught at backward square-leg.Sussex, who had lost their opening game against Durham, decided to bowl first on a slow pitch and made a good start. Jaydn Denly, driving, was well caught by Henry Crocombe at backward point off the last delivery of the first over and opening partner Ben Compton was caught behind off Ari Karvelas to make it 27 for 2 in the sixth over.Kent rebuilt through Joey Evison and and Chris Benjamin, who added 81 in 14 overs before both were dismissed by exceptional pieces of fielding. Lamb came on to bowl the 20th over and off his first delivery he produced an outstanding one-handed catch, flinging himself to his left, to dismiss the bewildered Benjamin. And in the next over Carter held on to a stinging catch at short midwicket to end Evison’s innings, a 54-ball 52 which included ten fours.For the second time Kent, winners of the competition in 2022, regrouped again, first through captain Harry Finch – a former Sussex player – and the Orpington-born Ekansh Singh, a recent century maker for the England Under-19 side, who put on 89 in 17 overs, and then again through Jack Leaning and Mo Rizvi, making his debut in the competition. They put on 75 before the innings ended as it had started, with a flurry of wickets.

England went down 2-1 in their ODI series against West Indies, extending a dismal record in the format. Alan was joined by Miller and Vish to pick through the pieces

ESPNcricinfo staff07-Nov-2024England lost the series decider in Bridgetown on Thursday to extend their lean run in ODIs. With Jos Buttler set to make his comeback from injury in the T20Is, there are plenty of issues to work through. On this week’s pod, Alan Gardner, Andrew Miller and Vithushan Ehantharajah discuss where things have got to with the ODI side. Has ECB neglect undermined England’s 50-over cricket? Can they fix things in time for the Champions Trophy? And which of the youngsters have impressed under duress?