Phil Salt shrugged off an enforced change of bat to blaze 80 from 57 balls and power Lancashire Lightning to a win that lifted them above Northamptonshire Steelbacks in the Vitality Blast North Group table.The England white-ball international, playing his first game since winning the IPL with Royal Challengers Bangalore a month ago, had to call for a replacement bat after umpires Simon Widdup and Rob Bailey inspected his original blade early in the Lancashire run-chase.But it made little difference as Salt and Jos Buttler (54 from 42), making his first Blast appearance in two years, pummelled the Steelbacks bowling with a stand of 123 from 86 to set up victory.Earlier, paceman Saqib Mahmood became only the second Lancashire bowler to take a Blast hat-trick, capturing the last three wickets to finish with four for 49 as the Steelbacks – who have now lost three in a row – were bowled out for 177.Opting to bat first, the Steelbacks handed a Blast debut to New Zealander Tim Robinson, who slashed successive boundaries off James Anderson’s first over before the next delivery straightened to send his off stump flying.Anderson (two for 24) then had David Willey caught at short third man off a thick edge and the home side were three down when Ricardo Vasconcelos skied Mahmood’s first ball to mid-on.Having got away with two miscued hooks, Ravi Bopara (32 from 25) launched a rebuilding job alongside Justin Broad (30 from 18) and Northamptonshire’s innings appeared to be back on track until both fell in quick succession.Broad was bowled swinging at Jack Blatherwick before Bopara pumped Chris Green’s full toss to short cover, but Lewis McManus (30 from 24) regained momentum, bludgeoning successive fours as Mahmood’s third over went for 16.McManus shared a stand of 54 with Saif Zaib (32 from 19), whose run-out was the first of four consecutive wickets as Mahmood’s brace of yorkers removed Ben Sanderson and Lloyd Pope before George Scrimshaw was caught in the deep.Lancashire’s reply was held up after a single over while the umpires inspected Salt’s bat – and ordered its replacement – and they soon lost Keaton Jennings, caught paddling Willey to backward square leg.Buttler looked in good touch, smashing Willey and Broad for straight sixes and milking the spinners during the post-powerplay overs.There was a close call for Salt when he pulled Bopara to deep midwicket, but Zaib was slow to make ground and the opener responded by punching six over long-off and hooking Scrimshaw for another to bring up his half-century from 37 balls.Buttler was one ball faster to his 50, but Lightning faltered when he was bowled attempting to reverse sweep Pope and Sanderson’s crafty spell of one for 28 removed Salt, holing out off a low full toss.Scrimshaw took two wickets in the 19th over to leave Lancashire needing 11 from the last, but Luke Wells hammered Luke Procter for successive sixes to clinch victory with three balls to spare.

West Indies captain ponders where his batters go from here after being bowled out for 27

Alex Malcolm15-Jul-2025

West Indies captain Roston Chase has described his side’s capitulation against Australia in Jamaica as “heartbreaking” and “embarrassing”.West Indies were bowled out for the second-lowest total in Test history at Sabina Park to lose the third Test and concede the series 3-0 in the process.Chasing 204 to win on the third day, West Indies were bowled out for 27 in 14.3 overs to set a host of new and unwanted records. The total was just one run better than New Zealand’s Test-record low of 26 in 1955 but it was 20 runs short of West Indies’ previous worst total of 47. It was the first time in Test history a team recorded seven ducks in an innings and the six runs made collectively by West Indies top-six batters was the lowest in any innings in Test history.Related

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Starc six-for, Boland hat-trick consign West Indies to 27 all-out and 0-3 defeat

Stats – WI post second-lowest Test total; Starc takes five in 15 balls

Mitchell Starc also took the fastest Test five-for ever, claiming the first five wickets of the innings in just 15 balls after picking up three wickets in the first over.Speaking after – at both the post-match presentation and the press conference – Chase was despondent.”It’s disappointing,” Chase said. “We’ve been putting ourselves in positions to win games, and then we just lay down and not put up a fight in the last batting innings. It’s quite heartbreaking, because I think we did it in all three Tests, and we’re not really learning from our mistakes. So that’s something we have to really look at.”Obviously being bowled out for less than 30 is quite embarrassing.”Chase thought the target of 204 was achievable and did not offer any excuses in regards to the surface, despite no batter in the match reaching 50. It was only the seventh time since 1900 and the third time since 1981 that no player had scored a half-century in a Test with at least two completed innings.”I thought it was realistic,” Chase said. “I mean, the wicket was a good wicket, still a good batting wicket. I didn’t think there was too many devils in the wicket, like the last two games where the ball was rolling or bouncing inconsistently. So yeah, we thought 204 was quite gettable. But then, obviously, with the start and stuff being [11 for 6] or something like that, it’s very difficult to really get those runs from there.”It capped off a horror series with the bat for West Indies’ new-look line-up. They posted scores of 190, 141, 253, 143, 143 and 27 across the series. Brandon King was the only West Indies batter to score a half-century, posting the highest individual score on either side with 75 in Grenada. He was also the only West Indies batter to average more than 20 for the series with 21.50, discounting Anderson Phillip making 10 and 11 not out in his only Test in the series in Grenada. Australia had four batters average more than 30, but Travis Head was the only one to score more than 200 runs and average more than 32 thanks to his twin half-centuries in Barbados. Head, Cameron Green and Usman Khawaja were the only players in the series to face more than 300 balls across six innings.Brandon King surveys the wreckage after becoming the third dismissal in Mitchell Starc’s opening over•AFP/Getty Images

Chase did note that the pitches were tough overall for the batters but he did not want to take away too much from the performance of his bowlers.”I think the pitches were very tough,” he said. “I don’t want to say they were too in favour of the bowlers, but they were very tough because, as you can see, this is probably the first series I’ve ever played [where] no batter got a hundred for each side. So that’s something that I’ve never really seen in a Test series. So that just goes to show how dominant the bowlers were.”Chase conceded that West Indies faced a huge challenge to rebuild from here. They do not play Test cricket again until October and face entirely different conditions in India when they do.”We need to really take a deep look at ourselves as batters,” Chase said. “The next series from here is quite a while. So we have time on our side. So I think that’s what we need to really do, really have a look at our batting this series and see where we can improve and how we can put 300 run totals on the board.”Obviously India is going to be different conditions, probably more spinner-friendly. So I think if you can have some batting camps around playing spin bowling and stuff like that, I think that will be ideal for us going into those conditions.”

History was made on Thursday, as Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani enjoyed a monster evening against the Miami Marlins, stealing two bases and launching two home runs in order to set himself apart in MLB lore.

Ohtani became the first player ever to record 50 home runs and 50 steals in a single season, and he reached the half-century mark in both categories during Thursday's beatdown of the Marlins.

It's a feat that fans have been waiting for as the season inched closer towards its end. Ohtani nipped the suspense in the bud by getting it done Thursday with nine games left in the regular season. Now, he'll have some time to pad those record-setting stats.

And what better way to make history than during a 6-for-6 day at the plate? Ohtani reached base every time he stepped into the batter's box, launching three home runs, lacing two doubles and driving in 10 RBIs while also swiping two bases. Have yourself a day!

Such a degree of dominance both at the plate and on the base paths has never before been achieved, and his accomplishment left baseball fans bewildered, as they saluted his greatness on social media.

The BCB has brought in Alex Marshall, Julian Wood and Tony Hemming as the three new appointments after its meeting in Dhaka on Saturday. Wood will come in as a specialist batting coach for three months. He is a power-hitting specialist who recently worked with Sri Lanka Cricket.Marshall has been appointed as a consultant for the board’s anti-corruption department, for one year. Marshall was the ICC’s anti-corruption unit general manager until September last year. BCB’s media committee chair Iftekhar Rahman said they want Marshall to “enhance” the board’s anti-corruption unit.Rahman also said that the BCB has appointed the ICC’s integrity unit to oversee the BPL’s anti-corruption operations.The BCB’s anti-corruption unit is currently investigating corruption allegations from the BPL and Dhaka Premier League of the 2024-25 season.The BCB has also brought back Hemming, who recently resigned as the PCB’s head curator. Hemming had taken up the Pakistan role after being BCB’s curator from July 2023 to July 2024. Hemming’s appointment brought the question of whether Gamini Silva, the Shere Bangla National Stadium curator, will continue in his role. Rahman said that Gamini was given a one-year extension.”Tony Hemming has been appointed head of turf management for two years,” Rahman said. “All our international venues and curators will be under him. He will also undertake the process of training Bangladeshi curators. All the board directors had a lot of interest in bringing him back.”Hemming is one of the best curators in the world. Maybe he had a good experience with the BCB in the previous occasion, that’s why he agreed to come back. The turf management will run as Hemming will want. Time will tell if Gamini will stay or not. He has been given a 12-month extension.”Meanwhile, the BCB introduced Mymensingh as the latest first-class team. It will replace Dhaka Metropolis, which was introduced in 2011 to make it an even number of teams in the first-class competition.”Mymensingh is one of the country’s newest divisions,” Rahman said. “They will play in the NCL first-class tournament from the coming season. They will replace Dhaka Metropolis. Mymensingh will play all divisional tournaments though we can’t accommodate them in the upcoming NCL T20s as the schedule has been made. Mymensingh will play in the T20 tournament from the next edition.”

Having already booked their tickets to the United States, Canada and Mexico next summer, England will wrap up a very successful World Cup qualifying campaign with dead-rubber fixtures against Serbia and Albania in the coming days – but for certain members of Thomas Tuchel's squad the games will be far from meaningless, with everything on the line as the clock ticks down.

The Three Lions have just four more matches to play before Tuchel announces his provisional travelling party in May, so there is incredibly limited time to make an impression on the head coach up close and personal. After the final qualifiers, England will play two friendlies in March. Then, it's decision time for their German tactician.

His latest squad was once again difficult to predict; there is the potential for more senior debuts and recalls for both Jude Bellingham and Phil Foden, while other big names like Trent Alexander-Arnold and Jack Grealish continue to be overlooked as their hopes of making the final cut fade.

Even for certain players who have been included in the November camp, the pressure is on, with Tuchel admitting he has "a settled mind" when it comes to those who will be on the plane come June: "I will also be open because I know anything can happen. I need to make sure the door is always open and they are on their toes and they have a chance to be with us."

With that in mind, here are the eight England players most under pressure to deliver in the Three Lions' final World Cup qualifiers…

GettyJude Bellingham

Bellingham was made to sweat, but he is back for the November camp after returning to form and fitness at Real Madrid. In truth, omitting him would have been an astounding decision after he was overlooked in October, not long after his return from shoulder surgery, with Tuchel this time unable to point to the need for him to get back into his groove at club level and potentially generating some serious scrutiny over what has been going on behind the scenes.

As it is, the midfield dynamo has been recalled, but he will certainly feel he has a point to prove amid question marks over whether his fiery on-pitch demeanour is actually to the detriment of the team, and with Aston Villa's Morgan Rogers making a play for his starting place in recent matches. How that desire to stake his claim manifests itself will be highly intriguing, as Bellingham finds himself joining up with an otherwise-settled squad for the first time since Tuchel was forced to apologise to him for revealing that his own mother sometimes finds the midfielder's antics "repulsive" in the summer.

The manager has spoken about harnessing the "edge" the 22-year-old brings: "There is no problem with him, there is no problem with the character. Jude just has the edge, it is a very good thing because you need a certain edge to reach the heights that he reached and I think we all need to help him and encourage him and create an environment which he can live this edge towards the opponents and towards the goals we are building as a team."

AdvertisementGetty Images SportTrevoh Chalobah

A late call-up for England's final World Cup qualifiers after Marc Guehi was left unable to walk following a heavy blow in Crystal Palace's Conference League clash against AZ Alkmaar, Chalobah will be acutely aware that he already faces an uphill battle to guarantee a place in England's travelling party to North America, let alone a starting place.

Tuchel has handed him his senior debut at both club and international level, but the 26-year-old hadn't been included in a Three Lions squad since the June camp, when Chalobah collected his one and only cap to date in a dire 3-1 friendly defeat to Senegal at Nottingham Forest's City Ground – a game in which he didn't cover himself in glory as he started and played the full 90 minutes.

Chalobah, though, continues to be a regular starter for Chelsea this season under Enzo Maresca, and while his performances have been inconsistent, he will want to seize this second chance that has been provided to him by Guehi's injury. With the Palace man arguably the only nailed-on starter at the World Cup, there is plenty of scope for other centre-backs to assert themselves. This could well be Chalobah's last chance to do so.

GettyPhil Foden

Judging by Tuchel's recent selection calls, Foden is well and truly in the last chance saloon as the World Cup looms large on the horizon. This is the Manchester City man's first call-up since the head coach began work in earnest back in March, as he was overlooked in June and October, either side of an injury that kept him out in September.

While he would be the first to admit that he still isn't back to his best, Foden seems to have overcome the physical and mental issues that took such a toll on him last season, revealing that he is 'playing with a smile on his face' again and producing a particularly impressive individual performance against Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League recently. However, an inability to deliver for England has long been his kryptonite, and the coach's decision to omit him previously suggests the 25-year-old is under serious pressure to prove himself in the colours of his national team.

Interestingly, Tuchel has now insisted that he won't use Foden as a winger like his predecessor Gareth Southgate did, meaning he faces some serious competition from the likes of Bellingham, Rogers, Eberechi Eze, Cole Palmer and Morgan Gibbs-White for the attacking midfield berth.

"It does not make sense to tell, for example, 'Phil…there's no space in your best position, can you play left wing for us? Can you play right wing for us?' I think that does not work," the manager said. "For this camp, Phil will be in the number 9-10ish position, in the middle of the pitch. Because I have this fantasy about him since a long time. I think it suits him the most."

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AFPNico O'Reilly

Nico O'Reilly certainly won't be fazed by the challenge of nailing down a place in Tuchel's squad, having made smooth progress to become a first-team regular at Man City aged just 20, under the revered Pep Guardiola, no less. However, that doesn't mean there isn't plenty at stake as he effectively looks to keep Arsenal's Myles Lewis-Skelly out of the squad.

The left-back, who is nominally a midfielder, was included in the squad for the games against Wales and Latvia in October but didn't make it off the bench. This time, though, O'Reilly will expect to get an opportunity with nothing riding on the final qualifiers against Serbia and Albania, especially with Lewis-Skelly being dropped as the teenager pays the price for a lack of minutes at club level.

Indeed, the battle to be one of the left-backs included in the World Cup squad will seemingly come down to club game time, with Tottenham's Djed Spence looking likely to be involved. O'Reilly is currently a regular starter for City and that seems unlikely to change as he keeps fit-again Rayan Ait-Nouri out of the team, while his chances are boosted because the Algerian will soon jet off for the Africa Cup of Nations.

Aston Villa have successfully tied down star attacker Morgan Rogers to a new contract as they ward off Chelsea's transfer interest. Rogers, who moved to Villa Park at the start of 2024 and won the PFA Young Player of the Season this August, has put pen to paper on a new long-term deal. Rogers had attracted interest from the Blues, while Spurs were also urged to sign the youngster at one point in the summer.

• Rogers signs new Aston Villa contract

  After a very successful time with the Villans last season, where he scored 14 goals and provided 16 assists across all competitions and also won the PFA Young Player of the Season, Rogers has endured a difficult start to the 2025-26 campaign, having scored just one goal and registering three assists. However, despite his dip in form, Villa decided to present the youngster with a new long-term deal, which will keep him at the club until 2031.

  The 23-year-old agreed to the Villans' terms and has finally put pen to paper on the new contract, thereby ruling out the imminent possibility of joining other top English sides like Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur.

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• Getty Images
  

  Aston Villa delighted to tie Rogers down to a new deal

  The official statement from Aston Villa read: "Aston Villa is delighted to announce that Morgan Rogers has signed a new contract with the club. The England international has agreed a deal that will keep him at Villa until 2031. Rogers signed for the club in February 2024 from Middlesbrough and has become a key member of Unai Emery's side, earning a debut for the Three Lions in November 2024. His stellar performances last term saw his peers vote him PFA Young Player of the Season."

• Chelsea and Spurs wanted Rogers

  In April this year, reports emerged that Chelsea were plotting a summer move for Rogers, who is known to be a close friend of their star player Cole Palmer, after the youngster's impressive performances throughout the 2024-25 season. It was further reported that the Villans might be forced to sell the forward to comply with the Premier League's Profit and Sustainability Rules (PSR). The Blues, however, never formally approached Aston Villa over a possible transfer.

  Spurs, too, had identified Rogers as a possible candidate they could sign in the summer after losing Eberechi Eze to arch-rivals Arsenal. However, the north London club eventually signed Xavi Simons from RB Leipzig.

  Rogers had even hinted in August that he could exit Villa Park as he had told : "I’m happy here [Aston Villa]. I love football. I love nothing more than just coming out on the pitch and playing football and that’s what I’m doing. I don’t think about anything else. I can’t predict the next 12 months or anything in the future. It’s just about playing football, enjoying my football and showing everyone what I can do."

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• Getty
  

  Rogers eyeing spot in Tuchel's World Cup squad

  Despite a slow start for the club, Rogers has consistently made it into Thomas Tuchel's England squads in the last few international breaks and has also garnered praise from the German. After the Three Lions' 3-0 win over Wales last month, Tuchel said: "Morgan was excellent like the whole team, he's very humble, he's very physical. He has the ability to score and to assist. He had a fantastic season (in 2024-25) and was deservedly voted as the young player of the season in the Premier League. Morgan was one piece of the puzzle but it is a team effort. Morgan is what he is. He is a number 10 and he is competing for his place."

  Rogers will hope to maintain his consistency for the Three Lions and book a place in Tuchel's final World Cup squad that will travel to North America next summer.

Newcastle United defender Sven Botman was dubbed “utterly embarrassing” after the role he played in Brentford’s third goal on another afternoon to forget for the Magpies on their travels.

Tierney took centre-stage, the former denying Brentford what looked a clear penalty for a foul by Dan Burn – instead booking Dango Ouattara for a dive – and the latter surprisingly agreeing.

But, lo and behold, a few minutes later when Ouattara went down again under Burn’s challenge, Attwell this time pointed to the spot and showed the hapless Burn a second yellow card.

Igor Thiago rolled in the penalty and added a third in stoppage time to condemn Newcastle to more misery on their travels on the fourth anniversary of Eddie Howe’s appointment as manager.

The big controversy erupted when Ouattara tumbled, Burn protested his innocence and Attwell waved away Brentford claims for a spot-kick and flashed the yellow card instead.

Replays showed Burn had clearly made contact with Ouattara’s foot before he went down but Tierney upheld Attwell’s decision, “minimal contact” was the official explanation.

Then came the reprise; Ouattara brought down again by Burn. This one was maybe less convincing, but Attwell pointed to the spot.

Sven Botman dubbed "utterly embarrassing" in Newcastle defeat

A lot of the blame will be put on Burn for his second yellow card and the penalty that he conceded as a result, but the rest of the Newcastle squad didn’t exactly enjoy excellent outings, either. Nick Woltemade came away with an assist, but largely struggled to make the ball stick for the Magpies going forward and Sven Botman looked a shadow of his best self.

At the centre of criticism, Sky Sports’ commentary team took aim at Botman after Thiago scored his second of the afternoon, saying: “Sven Botman, I don’t think he knows that Thiago is behind him, he thinks Ramsdale is coming, he stops running, it’s going to end a sorry afternoon this for the Geordies.”

The criticism didn’t end there, either. Newcastle reporter Joel Bland dubbed Botman “utterly embarrassing” for Brentford’s third and final goal – a verdict that is hard to dispute.

The Dutchman was all too casual before Thiago took full advantage to leave Newcastle on just three Premier League wins in their opening 10 games. Alan Shearer accused the Newcastle squad of being “lazy” when they lost 3-1 against West Ham United last week. Now, a week later, Botman has been accused of not running.

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Whilst they continue to thrive in the Champions League, Newcastle remain in the bottom-half of England’s top tier following a disastrous start.

Newcastle have "one of the best teen prospects" & he can surpass Woltemade

In a frustrating blow, Arsenal have now discovered the extent of the injury that Viktor Gyokeres picked up in a 2-0 victory over Burnley last weekend.

It would’ve been the perfect afternoon for the Gunners if it wasn’t for the forward’s injury blow. The league leaders once again kept a clean sheet and extended an extraordinary defensive record which has seen them concede just three goals in 10 Premier League games.

With Liverpool only just getting back to winning ways after losing four-straight Premier League games and Manchester City still not at their absolute best in a new era under Pep Guardiola, those in North London have taken full advantage.

Mikel Arteta’s side sit as many as six points clear of closest challengers City and seven clear of champions Liverpool. Even this early, this looks like Arsenal’s title to lose.

That’s not to say they haven’t had to overcome their own obstacles, however. At times this season, they’ve already been without Martin Odegaard, Noni Madueke, Bukayo Saka and others. Alas, unlike in previous campaigns, they’ve had the squad depth to cope.

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Their latest concern is Gyokeres, who was forced off through injury against Burnley. Sharing his early worry, Arteta told reporters: “I am concerned. Because he hasn’t had many muscular issues, and he needed to leave the pitch and he was feeling something.

“It’s never a good sign for a player who is explosive. We are digging in a little bit more to understand the extent and where we are in terms of the injury.”

Now, a fresh report has revealed just how long the Gunners will be without one of their most expensive ever players.

How long Arsenal will be without Gyokeres

As reported by The Athletic’s James McNicholas, Arsenal will be without Gyokeres until after the international break, but are hopeful that he’ll make a return in time to face Tottenham Hotspur in the north London derby on November 23.

If that is to be the case, then Arsenal will be without the Swede against Sunderland on Saturday before possibly welcoming him back to the side after the international break.

It’s then that their fixtures begin to heat up too, with Arteta’s side squaring off against Spurs, Bayern Munich and then Chelsea in a crucial seven-day period.

Although Gyokeres hasn’t made the most clinical start – scoring six goals in 16 appearances – there’s no doubt that Arsenal are a better side with his presence than without it and Arteta has already been full of praise for his forward.

Without him, Arsenal will have to fall back on their incredible defensive record as they look to at least maintain their lead at the top this weekend.

Premier League Power Rankings 2025/26

Everton are crying out for a striker in the here and now who can put away chances for fun, having been previously been blessed with the blistering goalscoring exploits of Romelu Lukaku.

It hasn’t just been this season in isolation where the Premier League titans have been cursing their options up top, though.

Former Toffee Dominic Calvert-Lewin often spurned chances galore when he was still on the books of the Merseyside outfit, before he was let go of this summer for Leeds United to snap up his hit-and-miss services on a free transfer.

David Moyes and Co must have thought getting rid of their former number 9 – who had been situated in Merseyside for a whopping 273 games – was going to be a re-energising experience.

Yet, Beto has now seemingly been handed over the baton from Calvert-Lewin as a wasteful centre-forward Everton fans can’t get on-board with, with the former Udinese man extremely lucky to still be in Moyes’ first-team plans.

Why Beto must be replaced

Everton fans, weirdly, have very little to complain about their team’s attacking department. That is until you hit the centre-forward spot on the pitch.

Indeed, Jack Grealish looks back to his devastating Aston Villa peak for the Toffees, with five goal contributions already collected this season from nine outings. At the same time, Iliman Ndiaye’s trickery and pace proved to be a real handful for Manchester City to contain last time out.

This sharp ability to unnerve defenders with his directness has even seen analyst Ben Mattinson label the Senegal international as a “creator of chaos”.

One of Ndiaye’s trademark bursts forward nearly gifted the Merseyside outfit a shock 1-0 lead at the Etihad, only for Beto to skew an effort wide after all of the 25-year-old’s hard work went to waste.

This has been the unfortunate tale of the Lisbon-born striker’s season, in truth, with Beto now going without goal since bagging at Molineux back at the tail-end of August.

Games since scoring

6

Starts since scoring

4

Minutes since scoring

354 mins

It’s now been a disastrous 354 minutes since the 6-foot-4 marksman last fired home an effort for Moyes’ men, and with Thierno Barry also failing to spark into life up top as a summer recruit, the Scotsman could now be prepared to think outside of the box in uncovering a clinical striker.

How Everton could fix their striker problem

The Glaswegian hasn’t looked uneasy this season when shoving Tyler Dibling into first-team action.

Amazingly, Dibling is still only 19 years of age, but if feels as if he’s been in and around the pinnacle of English football for a long while, with two goals and one assist next to his name from 37 appearances at the very top.

He is yet to get off the mark for Moyes’ men from his minimal first team chances, but if the ex-West Ham United boss is willing to gamble on the £40m starlet here and there, he could also be prepared to unleash U21 goal machine Braiden Graham into the first team picture shortly, as he tries to desperately find any viable solution to the frustrating Beto situation that’s continuing to unfold.

Graham might well even be Moyes’ next Rooney-style story, with the Northern Irish teenager only 17 years of age.

That is just one year older than Rooney was when first being handed a senior chance for the first time. The rest is, of course, history, on Rooney’s end, with Graham already being dubbed as a “deadly finisher” by his ex-Linfield boss in David Healy, despite still being a wide-eyed youngster.

Everton U21s

17

7 + 3

Linfield

14

2 + 0

Everton U18s

14

8 + 2

He has gone on to be potent for the Merseyside giants at both U21 and U18 level, as well, with 15 strikes now collected from 31 appearances on the youth pitches at Everton.

It’s not just Healy in isolation who has been complimentary, either, with his U21s boss in Paul Tait also going out of his way to laud the Ballygowan-born forward as a “cool” finisher under pressure.

While it could be deemed as a step way too soon for Graham to be chucked into the senior mix, it’s surely a decision worth exploring from Everton’s point of view, with Beto not anywhere near the levels expected of him at the moment.

Everton keeping tabs on "unbelievable" rising star who "fits the profile" for Moyes

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The fast bowler is keen to keep himself in action ahead of facing England and will likely combine white and red-ball cricket

Andrew McGlashan28-Aug-2025

Josh Hazlewood will likely have a mixture of white and red-ball cricket ahead of the Ashes•Getty Images

Josh Hazlewood is expecting to play a Sheffield Shield match in the lead-up to the Ashes in November as he prepares to counter an “unbelievable” England batting line-up, which he believes will be strongest they will have brought to Australia during his career.Hazlewood recently played five out of the six white-ball matches against South Africa having sat out the T20I series against West Indies following the Tests while Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc have not featured in the last few weeks. Hazlewood won’t be in action on the field in September but wants to keep getting miles in the legs ahead of the first Test in Perth rather than having extended downtime.”It felt like over the last 12 months, the best way for me to go about it is just keep on ticking over, keep playing, not having too long off bowling,” Hazlewood said at an event to promote Play Cricket week. “I find…getting back to that intensity and volume is quite tough for me. So if I can just keep staying up there, match intensity as long as I can, then that’s sort of the best way for me to go about it.”Related

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Hazlewood, who played four Tests during the 2023 Ashes, is expecting a tough challenge from the England batting line-up. At times in the recent India series they showed a more nuanced approach rather an all-out attack, before falling to six-run defeat at The Oval. A 7 for 66 collapse triggered by a stroke from Harry Brook promoted significant debate after a spectacular hundred.Brook, currently the No. 2-ranked Test batter behind Joe Root, will be on his first Test tour of Australia and in nine T20Is in the country in 2022 had a top score of 20. His first-class experience is limited to one England Lions outing in 2021 and how he adjusts to conditions will be key to the team’s prospects. So, too, the performance of Root who has yet to score a Test century in Australia where he averages 35.68 from 14 matches.Josh Hazlewood expects Harry Brook to play without any baggage in Australia•AFP/Getty Images”England has obviously been quite flat wickets recently, the last few years, and it’s been a really dry summer as well, so they are probably starting to get tired and spin now,” Hazlewood said. “I think [Brook] will adapt. He’s a good player. He’s at the top of the rankings for a reason, and he’ll be a tough challenge.”When [Root] first came out, it was a little bit of a different attack. It was probably [Mitchell] Johnson and [Ryan] Harris and [Peter] Siddle. Gaz [Nathan Lyon] has been around a long time now, so he was probably there, but we sort of just jumped on the back of that”I think a fresh face like Harry Brook might find it easier. There’s no baggage behind him and he can just come out and play with freedom as he does. Joe’s probably in the form of his life as well. So they’re an unbelievable batting line, to be honest. The top seven have done really well…so it’s a challenge.”Asked whether it will be strongest batting up England have sent to Australia in recent times, Hazlewood said: “Yeah, definitely.”Australia have a three-match T20I series against New Zealand in early October then India visit for ODIs and T20Is ahead of the Ashes. It remains to be seen how Hazlewood’s schedule will be juggled to allow him a red-ball outing – the fourth round of Sheffield Shield matches starting on November 10, when New South Wales play Victoria at the SCG, may be too close to the start of the series – but he is keen to have the opportunity to replicate long-form intensity.Last season Hazlewood played one game for New South Wales ahead of the India Test series, and though he went wicketless across 24 overs against Queensland he was Australia’s best bowler early in the opening Test in Perth before his series was disrupted by injury. This winter, however, he was able to play all four Tests against South Africa and West Indies, albeit the workload on bowler-friendly Caribbean surfaces was not extreme.”The Test [only] guys will play more than one [Shield game]. They’ll probably play two or three, but everyone’s on different programs,” he said. “I used it last year and I’ve sort of found that it’s very beneficial. Time on the field, multiple spells in a day, it’s sort of hard to replicate it at training. So, to get that before a Test series is pretty pivotal, I think.”