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The calming influence of Alastair Cook will be one of the qualities England will miss most

Melinda Farrell09-Sep-20181:12

England happy to only face Jadeja once – Farbrace

England will miss the calming influence Alastair Cook has in the dressing room environment, particularly on their upcoming tour to Sri Lanka, according to assistant coach Paul Farbrace who spoke as Cook ended the third day at The Oval unbeaten on 46.Cook had walked out to a rapturous standing ovation from a full house at The Oval for his final international innings and by the close was within touching distance of making twin fifties in the match – with the fairytale finish of a century still on offer.”He’s been pretty calm,” said Farbrace. “I would imagine that the reception he got tonight when he went out to bat I think it probably moved him. It moved everybody else in our dressing room how fantastic the support he’s had.””I think he just showed everything he’s about so far in this game. He’s all about waiting for the right ball in the right place but he’s just looked pretty organised and got stuck in. It’s not easy out there, it’s been quite tough, but he’s looks as though he’s really enjoying the scrap doesn’t he?”He just seems to cope with everything that’s in front of him and I think, as much as we are going to miss his runs and his catches, I think the calming influence that he has amongst the team, amongst the staff, amongst everybody, his calm way about going about things, doing things, dealing with what comes from media and television. You know he copes with that or seems to cope with that very well and I think that’s something well all miss that when he’s not in that dressing room.”Farbrace also gave an insight into Cook’s role in making newcomers feel welcome in the England camp and suggested that aspect of his character would be immediately missed on the first tour without him in the side.”When I came into the group in 2014 he was captain of the side and made it so easy to be a member of staff for the English cricket team,” said Farbrace. “It’s quite a daunting thing to come into having never played international cricket.””He’s a very caring bloke and he’s someone you can talk to about anything and everything and I think the young players who have come into the team this year have found him to be exactly that.”What he manages to do is make everybody feel very welcome, very part of things. Young players, old players, he seems to have the respect of everybody and everybody’s very comfortable talking to him. He’s got a very down to earth way of being, he’s got a very cheeky sense of humour and people find themselves being drawn to him and I think that’s something, come Sri Lanka, that a lot of people will be looking around realising he’s not there and I think then people will start to realise what an impact he’s had on them and us as a team.”

Manchester City have been dealt a major injury blow with Ederson sidelined for up to a month after picking up an injury against Liverpool on Sunday.

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Ederson injured in Liverpool clashGoalkeeper now ruled out for four weeksWill miss PL title showdown with ArsenalGetty ImagesWHAT HAPPENED?

The Brazilian injured his leg in a late challenge on Darwin Nunez that gave away a penalty to the hosts, with Alexis Mac Allister stepping up to equalise from 12 yards. Ederson stayed on the pitch momentarily but was eventually forced off as Stefan Ortega replaced him 11 minutes into the second half. Now, according to , the Brazilian faces a spell of between three to four weeks on the sidelines, meaning he will likely miss the Premier League title showdown with Arsenal on March 31.

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While Ederson will be sorely missed for that fixture against Arsenal, City will be without their star goalkeeper for several other significant matches. Ortega will have to deputise, as was expected, in the quarter-final clash against Newcastle on Saturday, while league fixtures against Aston Villa (April 3) and Crystal Palace (April 6) may also come too soon for Ederson. The injury is also a hammer blow in City's quest to regain their European crown, as the Brazilian will likely miss their Champions League quarter-final first leg on April 9/10, too.

Getty ImagesWHAT WAS SAID

Despite Ederson being undoubtedly one of the best in his position, Ortega did well against Liverpool and made a vital stop to deny Nunez from close range shortly after coming on. As a result, City don't appear too fazed by the German goalkeeper having to come in, as John Stones showered praise on him post-match: "Incredible keeper. Not easy at all to come in at this stage and how he played, the saves that he pulled off, such intelligent saves. A big shout out to Stefan for coming off the bench at such a difficult place and being ready, which everyone always is."

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DID YOU KNOW?

Ederson is rarely injured and has been a stalwart in City's side since joining in 2017. The 30-year-old has only missed 12 games for the Cityzens – seven of which were due to illness – throughout his near-seven seasons with the club, per .

For the first time, Women’s World T20 will be a standalone event and DRS will be used in a World T20 tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Jun-2018

Defending Champions West Indies will take on the winner of the World T20 Qualifier under lights on a triple-header opening day on November 9 in the Women’s World T20 in the West Indies.

Group A: West Indies, England, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Qualifier 1
Group B: Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Qualifier 2

India women and New Zealand women kick off the tournament at Providence Stadium in Guyana before three-time champions Australia women face Pakistan women at the same venue later in the evening. The West Indies-Qualifier 1 clash, which will also be hosted by Providence Stadium, will round out the first day.Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in North Sound, meanwhile, will host the two semi-finals on November 22 as well as the final on November 24.Notably, the Decision Review System (DRS) will be used for the first time in a World T20 tournament and for the first time, the Women’s World T20 will be a standalone event, after the previous six editions were organised alongside the men’s World T20.Hosts West Indies are placed in Group A along with 50-over World Cup Champions England, South Africa, Sri Lanka and Qualifier 1. Australia, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and Qualifier 2 make up Group B.With two spots up for grabs, Bangladesh, Netherlands, Ireland, Papua New Guinea, Scotland, Thailand, Uganda and United Arab Emirates will fight it out in the Women’s World T20 qualifiers in the Netherlands from July 7 to 14.All 23 matches are set to be broadcast live and will be played across three venues – Sir Vivian Richards Stadium in Antigua, Darren Sammy Stadium in St Lucia and Providence Stadium in Guyana.In addition to hosting the triple-header on the opening day, Providence Stadium will also host two marquee clashes: India v Pakistan on November 11 and Australia v New Zealand two days later.Schedule:November 9, Providence
New Zealand v India
Australia v Pakistan
West Indies v TBCNovember 10, Gros Islet
England v Sri LankaNovember 11, Providence
India v Pakistan
Australia v TBCNovember 12, Gros Islet
England v TBC
Sri Lanka v South AfricaNovember 13, Providence
Pakistan v TBC
Australia v New ZealandNovember 14, Gros Islet
Sri Lanka v TBC
West Indies v South AfricaNovember 15, Providence
India v TBC
New Zealand v PakistanNovember 16, Gros Islet
England v South Africa
West Indies v Sri LankaNovember 17, Providence
India v Australia
New Zealand v TBCNovember 18 , Gros Islet
West Indies v England
South Africa v TBCNovember 22, North Sound
Semifinal 1
Semifinal 2November 24, North Sound
Final

Georgina Rodriguez paid a strange tribute to her partner, Cristiano Ronaldo, as she wore a 'Ronaldo 7' dress on the catwalk at Paris Fashion Week.

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• Georgina wears Ronaldo 7 dress
• Ronaldo signs shirt for Vetements
• Al-Nassr face Al-Ain

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The model walked down the catwalk at the Vetements show wearing the bizarre red dress that was seemingly styled on a Manchester United home kit, adorned with the Ronaldo's name and iconic shirt number. The dress was also signed by Ronaldo to Vetements, as though the Portuguese superstar was doing the brand a favour.

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  It's not yet clear whose idea it was for Georgina to take to the catwalk wearing a tribute to her partner Ronaldo, although it is likely it was a publicity stunt by luxury Swiss fashion house Vetements. It is sure to cause a mixed reaction in fashion circles.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR RONALDO?

  Perhaps with one eye on the fashion world as a post-career venture, Ronaldo will switch his focus back to football as Al-Nassr face Al Ain in the AFC Champions League on Monday. The Portuguese forward returns to the pitch after serving a one match ban for an obscene gesture in his side's victory over Al-Shabab.

That was all far more dramatic than it needed to be for Arsenal.

The Gunners came into this game top of the Premier League and top of the Champions League. They have been the best team in the country.

By contrast, Wolverhampton Wanderers have been one of the worst sides we’ve seen in top-flight history. They had and still have two points to their name.

The match didn’t play out like that, however. Some might say this was the worst performance of the Mikel Arteta era to date.

Arsenal found life difficult and did look as though they were heading towards a 1-0 victory. Rob Edwards’ side stood firm and scored a dramatic last-gasp equaliser. Off they went, celebrating like crazy in front of the travelling support.

Yet, the Gunners had other ideas. Bukayo Saka grabbed the bull by the horns, swung in a delicious cross that was headed into the back of his own net by Yerson Mosquera with a matter of minutes left. Arsenal had secured a 2-1 win.

How Arsenal beat Wolves

The north Londoners have swept teams aside with relative ease this term.

Yet, in recent weeks, they have found things trickier. They drew with ten-man Chelsea, lost in the last minute to Aston Villa and then very nearly tripped up against the bottom team in the division on Saturday night.

Arsenal have been accused of looking leggy across that run but the team selected by Arteta this weekend should have had enough.

Chalkboard

No disrespect to Wolves but Arsenal’s B team should have had enough to swat them aside. However, as the old saying goes, there is no easy game in the Premier League.

On this occasion, they had the mighty Saka to thank as he showcased why he is one of the best right wingers in the land.

Truth be told, Saka hasn’t been at his fluent best in 2025. His assist for Mikel Merino’s equaliser at Chelsea was his first league assist for a year.

That said, in recent weeks, he’s started to come alive and he delivered arguably his finest performance of 2025/26 to date.

It was Saka’s inswinging corner that led to the first goal. The ball came in, evaded everyone before it struck the post and came off Sam Johnstone before going in. It went down as an own goal.

Then, as Arsenal desperately craved a winner, Saka came up trumps again. He grabbed proceedings by the scruff of the neck and put his team back in the driver’s seat to win the title.

Saka’s cross was aimed at substitute Gabriel Jesus who got across Arokodare inside the area. Jesus didn’t get a touch but the Wolves defender did.

Arsenal had Saka and a brace of own goals to thank for their win. Plenty in red and white were way below par though.

Arsenal's biggest underperformer against Wolves

On paper, this looked like a very dangerous Arsenal side.

Saka, Gabriel Martinelli and Viktor Gyokeres all started as a three-prong attack but while the former dazzled, the latter two struggled significantly.

Gyokeres, in particular, has had a difficult week since returning from injury. The Swede came off the bench a week ago but did very little to inspire the Gunners at Villa Park.

In midweek, the big-money summer arrival struggled again, taken off just after the hour mark having made just four passes. He barely had a sniff of goal.

Sadly, the same could be said of his display against Wolves this weekend. On this occasion, he completed just three passes and had fewer touches (15) than goalkeeper David Raya (30). It was hardly a surprise to see one Arsenal podcaster suggest that it looked like Arsenal are “playing with ten men” when Gyokeres leads the line.

While his hold-up play has improved to a degree, the hulking striker simply isn’t doing enough to influence play in the final third. His runs aren’t strong enough and that was evident in the first half.

Saka should have had another assist as the winger flashed in a low cross across the face of the goal. Gyokeres didn’t react quickly enough and couldn’t get on the end of it.

The former Sporting forward only ended up taking one shot, an effort he did well to fashion himself but he ultimately dragged the ball wide.

His performance was summarised brilliantly by Arsenal reporter Charles Watts who handed the attacker a 5/10 match rating, writing that ‘he couldn’t get into the game’ and that ‘Arsenal need more from him’. Sadly, that would appear to be an ongoing theme of his time at the Emirates to date.

For a man who scored 54 goals last season, it’s staggering that he doesn’t look likely to score. Arteta needed a striker who can score with regularity more than anything in the summer but on the evidence we’ve seen thus far, he is not good enough.

When Arsenal face Everton next week, the manager must choose either Merino or Jesus ahead of him instead.

After winning the treble last season, it was always going to be difficult for Manchester City to match such high standards for a second consecutive campaign under Pep Guardiola. That said, the Spaniard may not have expected his side to endure the difficult run that they've recently found themselves, which has included a tricky period in the Premier League.

With Liverpool, Arsenal and surprise contenders Aston Villa all vying to steal England's crown and prevent the Citizens from becoming the first side in Premier League history to win four consecutive titles, Manchester City are reportedly eyeing one particular January addition that could change their fortunes.

Man City transfer news

City were active in the summer transfer window, welcoming reinforcements in the form of Matheus Nunes, Jeremy Doku, Josko Gvardiol and Mateo Kovacic, but have since paid the price for their departures rather than reap the rewards of spending big. Without Ilkay Gundogan, Riyad Mahrez and Aymeric Laporte, Guardiola's side have struggled to get back to their blistering best of the last campaign and could now look towards January to replace one specific departure.

According to The Daily Star, Manchester City want to sign Club Brugge winger Tajon Buchanan in the January transfer window and have identified the Canada international as a replacement for Mahrez, who left in the summer. The deal won't be cheap, however, with Buchanan reportedly valued at £50m by Club Brugge ahead of the winter window.

Man City close to losing "excellent" player with talks advanced

A move is progressing.

ByTom Cunningham Dec 8, 2023

Guardiola is reportedly desperate to reinforce his right-hand side, having played both Phil Foden and Bernardo Silva in the role this season instead of welcoming a direct Mahrez replacement in the summer. When January arrives, Buchanan could solve the manager's problem to boost City's title chances once again.

Buchanan can match Doku's Man City rise

Buchanan and Doku are easy to compare prior to the latter's move to Manchester City in the summer. Doku's stats before life at The Etihad didn't make for brilliant reading, with just 12 goals and 10 assists in 92 appearances for Stade Rennais highlighting his struggle for end product. Since making the move to City, however, Doku has already been involved in nine goals in all competitions. In similar fashion to the City winger's Rennes days, Buchanan's stats show that he hasn't been involved in an incredible number of goals at Club Brugge this season, with four involvements in the Belgium Pro League.

Buchanan has already earned plenty of praise throughout his career too, including from former coach Bruce Arena, who told The Athletic:

"Although theoretically he was positioned as a right back he wasn’t really playing right back in those games. He’s more I would say a midfielder because he was attacking up the field. Tajon has qualities to play in a variety of positions out wide. You saw the other night with Canada he played probably as a second forward, attacking midfielder. He’s a player with a lot of qualities, both attacking and defending, and it certainly spells for a great future for the player.”

Leeds United failed to make it four wins in succession as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Rotherham United away from home in the Championship on Friday night.

Crysencio Summerville opened the scoring as he latched onto a pass from Georginio Rutter before brilliantly curling the ball into the far corner to make it 1-0.

However, the Whites were unable to find a second goal during the first half and that opened the door for the hosts to equalise shortly before half time thanks to a strike from Hakeem Odofin, who pounced on a loose ball to fire past Illan Meslier.

Jaidon Anthony thought he had sealed all three points off the bench in the 90th minute only for the linesman to raise his flag for an offside on Patrick Bamford, who attempted to play the ball before it landed at the Bournemouth loanee's feet.

Summerville's performance against Rotherham in numbers

Summerville was a driving force in attack for the Whites throughout the match and caught the eye with both his goal and his chance creation from the left wing as the talented gem provided three key passes for his teammates.

He also completed four of his eight attempted dribbles as the Dutch wizard was constantly looking to make things happen by taking on opponents and trying to open up space for himself and others in the final third.

The 22-year-old forward was clearly an influential figure for Leeds on the night, due to his goal and other impressive attacking contributions, but he was not the only impressive performer for Daniel Farke.

Central defender Joe Rodon was the real hero for the German head coach with his outstanding performance at the heart of the defence for the Yorkshire outfit.

Joe Rodon's performance against Rotherham in numbers

The Wales international was posed plenty of questions by the hosts throughout the game as Rotherham looked to make things physical and direct, as they are fighting against relegation at the bottom of the table.

This meant that Rodon had to be at his best, technically and physically, to prevent them from creating opportunities from long balls, crosses, second balls, and set-pieces.

The Tottenham Hotspur loanee ended the match with an exceptional duel success rate of 90% as he came out on top in nine of his ten contests, including 100% of his four battles on the deck.

He also made five clearances, two interceptions, and three tackles throughout the 90 minutes as he consistently cut out opposition attacks at source to prevent Illan Meslier from being worked – as the hosts only managed 0.75 xG (Expected Goals) in total.

Rodon was also tasked with bringing the ball out from the back, which meant that he had to take risks in possession to break the lines. Despite that, the central defender achieved a pass success rate of 93% with 109 of his 117 attempted passes finding a teammate – including seven of his ten long pass attempts.

This shows that the titan was supremely reliable on the ball and rarely gave it away to Rotherham, which helped Leeds to dominate possession. It is not his fault that the attackers were then unable to make the most of that dominance to secure all three points.

Overall, he was the hero for Leeds on the night with his superb play on and off the ball and Farke should be pleased with his display.

Alastair Cook addressed a variety of issues, from mental strength to Kevin Pietersen to his future with Essex, in the wake of his announcement that he will retire from Test cricket at the end of the Oval TestWhat do you make of the reaction to your retirement news over the last couple of days?
It’s been a bit surreal. One of my friends rang me to check I was still alive because everyone was talking as if I’d died. It is nice when you hear so many nice words said about you. The last couple of days I’ve been back at home so I hadn’t seen what has been said or written until last night. I allowed myself a look last night. It means a lot. For example, someone stopped me when I was driving in and made me wind down the window and said ‘thank you very much’. That was a nice moment. Hopefully this week will go well, I can score some runs and then go home.When did you decide that this would be your last series?
It’s hard to put into words but there have been signs in my mind over the last six months that this was going to happen. I told Rooty before the game and then Trevor during the game.Why do it before the last Test?
In this day and age it’s very hard to keep anything quiet. If it were 2-2 I’d have had to keep my mouth shut. When you do media you get asked questions so it’s hard to constantly lie, though I’ve been pretty good at it! But there’s certain questions you’re asked and you know you’re not being true to yourself. If it were 2-2 I’d have kept my mouth shut but, once you’ve made a decision like that, it’s always in the back of your mind. As soon as I told Rooty I felt more of a release.What have your personal highlights been?
You can’t really look past those two away series where I was man of the series and we won, in Australia and India. That was the best I could play and probably, in my career as a whole, I can look back and say I probably became the best player I could become. That actually means quite a lot to me. Yes, I’ve never been the most talented cricketer, and I don’t pretend I was, but I definitely think I got everything out of my ability.Anything you’d do differently?
Of course there are decisions in hindsight that you question. Clearly the KP affair was a tough year, there’s no doubt about that. The fall-out of that wasn’t great for English cricket and wasn’t great for me. I was involved in that decision without being the bloke who actually made the final decision.What would it mean to you to finish on a high here?
That would be fantastic but it would be great for England to win, most importantly – 4-1 sounds better than 3-2. But if I could play a really good innings that would be fantastic.Can you tell us about the moment you told your team-mates?
I was a couple of beers in, which I needed to be otherwise I would have cried more than I actually did. I managed to hold it together. At the end of the game I just said ‘this might be good news for some and sad for others but it’s time. I’ve done my bit and if picked the next game it will be my last one.’ That’s kind of all I said. There was a bit of silence, then Mo said something, we all laughed and everyone got on with it. We had a nice evening in the changing room.You mentioned there had been signs in the last six months; what were those signs?
I’ve always had that mental edge. I’ve always been mentally incredibly tough and had that edge to everything I’ve done. But that edge had kind of gone. The stuff I’d found easy before wasn’t quite there. That to me that was the biggest thing.Alastair Cook brought up his fifth Test double century•Getty Images

Did you consider asking for six months off and then taking another look at this decision?
It did cross my mind briefly as the decision became clearer in my mind but, if you’re looking at the last two or three years, I haven’t played huge amounts of games. I’ve never struggled with getting on another plane or ever thought ‘here’s another game of cricket’. I’ve never struggled with that. When I’ve been talking about that little mental edge I’ve lost, if you have six months off and then come back, I don’t think it would have been there. Once the decision is in your mind, you ask people about it along the way and they say ‘when you know, you know’ and I honestly think that’s so true. For me, anyway.What do you think of the theory that, as an old-school batsman, you’re the last of a dying breed?
Naturally kids are going to be attracted by the razzmatazz of Twenty20 cricket. I’ve seen it when youngsters have come into the Essex team. Their attacking game is better than their defensive game. That’s fact, I believe. I’m not sure I’m the last of a dying breed, but there will certainly be less cricketers of my ilk who are naturally suited to red-ball cricket rather than white-ball cricket. The kids will have a diet of T20. We had it when I was younger but we still built any innings for the first five. We didn’t think ‘I’ll whack it over the keeper’s head third ball.’ I don’t think we should be scared of that. We have to embrace it and we are embracing it. If we play less Test cricket, which might happen, we might place more importance on it.Was the fall-out from KP situation your lowest point?
It could have been handled differently. The moment Andrew Strauss came on board and said he was making the decision, personally for me that was the best thing that could have happened. I have a regret over it, it wasn’t great for English cricket. The end of the Sri Lanka series and the second Test against India at Lord’s – that period – that was the lowest point.You’re happy you had the stubbornness to carry on?
Absolutely. That was when it was real tough and I didn’t throw the towel in. I still thought I was the best man for the job and the right man to be captain at that time. It wasn’t easy. I could have taken the easy option but I didn’t. And I got the – that sounds selfish – the team got the reward winning the 2015 Ashes, which was just brilliant.Who was the toughest opponent you faced?
I think I must regret getting Ishant Sharma out as my wicket, because he’s kind of got his revenge since getting me out constantly over the last couple of series. The ball going away from me from around the wicket I found the hardest to conquer. But in general, a bowler who maybe is not the quickest but constantly hits line and lengths – it goes back to when I played as an 11-year-old and a 60-year-old dropped it on a length. I never had the power or the shots to knock bowlers off their lengths. So a bowler who hangs it there and doesn’t give me the pace to work with, that I found the hardest.Have you had a chance to think about what comes next? Essex would like you to stay in the game.
It’s nice of them to say that. I’m still going to play for Essex and I am really looking forward to that. It would be a big step going from all I have ever lived for is playing cricket and chasing my dreams to suddenly not having that, that would be a big thing, so it’s great Essex still want me. I am determined after a break to score some runs for them and help them win some trophies. There’s some great people. If mentally I don’t have that buzz I won’t hang around. I have never done media or coaching, just focussed on scoring runs for Essex and England. Whenever this day came I will cross that bridge. I imagine I will be changing nappies after what happened with Isobel – there will be some payback for that – but we’ll see what happens in the new year. It’s exciting.Did you have to sacrifice a lot to pursue this career in cricket?
It wasn’t hard sacrificing. I was stubborn enough and knew what I wanted to do. Missing a stag trip or a lad’s party, it was because it was the right thing to do. It wasn’t a sacrifice. But you rely on other people, with the family, farming … that wouldn’t be there to come back to if it wasn’t for people like Alice’s mum and dad, their family, the friends who help Alice. So they have probably put more of a sacrifice in than I have to make sure that, when I do go home, things are still running smoothly. It’s not just my effort, yes I have put stuff in on my game but to have that to come back to is very special. They have sacrificed more than I have.What made you fall in love with the game in the first place?
The battle between bat and ball. It’s a one-on-one thing. I love that stuff, but you play it in a team. I love the individual sport stuff but the experiences I’ve had with some great people over 12 or 15 years … if you’re on your own in an individual sport I don’t think you get that. That individual thing: me versus the bowler, but you get that team as well, and that’s why it suits me so well.How have you changed as a person since your debut and do you think people might appreciate more now how tough opening the batting is?
I’m sure I’ve changed as a person. I’ve become more confident in certain situations. The one thing about captaincy is that it gives you a chance to grow. It throws you into so many different situations that you can only grow as a person. I hope I’m still the same person as when I started. I think those who know me best would say that. They’ll still same I’m stubborn; they’ll still say I’m single-minded and hopefully still okay to be around. And I think everyone knows opening is the toughest job in the team. I’m still going to say that now I’ve finished.What’s your assessment of where the team is now and where it’s going? Is this a chance for Joe to put his stamp on the team?
I think he is putting his stamp on the team. He’s growing every day into the role. As I found, I was a very different captain in the first couple of years to the second couple. I see that with Rooty. I think the team is in a really good space in home series. I think we’re an incredibly good side at home. So the challenge is, can we be more successful abroad? And be a bit more consistent. This team now is more talented than any I’ve played in. They can do special things on their day. It’s just a question of whether they can be more consistent and more adept away from home.

Wolverhampton Wanderers have had a testing time of late, having juggled financial, managerial and on-pitch woes while maintaining their status in the Premier League.

The Old Gold have put in some impressive performances so far under Gary O’Neil, who joined the side just four days before their campaign opener against Manchester United, however have not been able to determine which way the results have gone.

Only three points have been recorded from Wolves’ opening five fixtures, with a late 1-0 win at Everton the high point of the first few weeks which have seen the side miss out on points despite causing threat.

Much-needed sales were sanctioned in the summer to balance the books to adhere to Financial Fair Play (FFP) restrictions, leaving the club’s margin to replace such talents very small.

As a result, O’Neil’s squad options have been minimised, leaving room for talents outside the first team to hope to show their worth while the squad is in transition.

One star who could find a way into the senior side in the future is winger Fabian Reynolds, who joined Wolves’ academy in 2021 from AFC Kingston Youth.

Who is Fabian Reynolds?

Deployed primarily on the right wing, the 17-year-old has advanced tremendously well in the Midlands so far, seeing him excel through the ranks and earn minutes at U21 level as well as for the U18s.

Last season in the U18 Premier League, the forward had a hand in four goals, scoring two and assisting two in 21 appearances in the 2022/23 campaign for the Old Gold.

At the point of his signing for the Premier League side, his former club dubbed the forward as “formidable”, saying on their official site that he was “destined for greatness” after his performances prior to leaving.

At U13s level, the 2006-born whiz scored a remarkable 39 goals in the SYL Premier Division, demonstrating form that hinted just how much of a star he could one day become in the game.

What does Fabian Reynolds play like?

The winger has got his 2023/24 campaign off to a strong start, scoring a terrific solo goal most recently against Derby during the U18s thrilling 3-2 win.

If the tricky youngster can continue his rise through the ranks and have another impressive season for Wolves, there could be a gap in the squad for the youngster to thrive in senior surroundings, with him showing signs of having a skill set similar to a recently departed favourite.

Adama Traore bid farewell to Molineux this summer after a five-year association with the club, leaving behind a gap in the wide threat department in his absence.

In his last campaign, the Spaniard ranked in the top 5% of wingers in the Premier League for his one-on-one threat, averaging 2.95 successful take-ons per 90 to assert his dominance going forward, as per FBref.

As highlighted in the goal he scored against Derby just last week, Reynolds has strengths to his game similar to those of the dazzling dribbler that is Traore, giving O’Neil the potential to have the heir to the dangerous winger within the club’s ranks already.

Wolves' financial situations could see the club opt to promote more youth prospects as an alternative to being active in the transfer window, making this season one for O’Neil to harvest some unearthed gems in the academy.

With a new format in place, it is now possible for the team finishing bottom of the league stage to go on and win the tournament

Daniel Brettig21-Jun-2018

Finish last and you can still win the cup? Not since Fitzroy did so in a truncated 1916 VFL season has Australian sport been confronted by the sort of “everybody’s in it” scenario thrown up by Cricket Australia’s newly unveiled domestic limited-overs tournament.At a time when the flatlining performance of the ODI team is under major scrutiny, CA’s head of cricket operations Peter Roach has revealed that a reluctance to reduce the number of games played by competing teams in a World Cup year was behind the decision to allow all six states to take part in the knockout matches of the tournament in September and October, irrespective of where they finished after the qualifying matches.Sheffield Shield dispenses with pink ball

There will be no day/night Sheffield Shield matches in 2018-19 for the first time in some years after the BCCI’s refusal to allow for the scheduling of a pink ball Test between Australia and India at Adelaide Oval in December.
As a result of this decision, all rounds of the Shield will be played in daylight, though the second half of the season, following the Big Bash League, will again use Dukes balls by way of affording players the chance to use a similar ball to the one used in England, with an Ashes tour of England looming in 2019. The Shield final has been retained despite a tighter schedule due to extra BBL matches.
“We commend CA for retaining the Sheffield Shield final,” said the ACA’s operations manager Brendan Drew. “For the players, the Sheffield Shield final is a key element of the Australian cricket summer, given it provides a high-pressure environment that compares to Test matches. Coming into a World Cup and Ashes year, a competitive schedule with finals is vital to prepare players for the tough international fixtures we will face.”
Drew was more critical of the fact that the women’s domestic league remains a brief, carnival-style event, put very much in the shade of the WBBL. “Female players have indicated strongly in recent years they would like to play more domestic cricket,” he said. “Moving forward, our schedule must provide further opportunities to play 50-over and longer-form cricket, which is seen as the pinnacle in the women’s game.”

The governing body heeded requests from state associations to remove the developmental CA XI from the tournament after three seasons, but in an effort to ensure all teams played at least as many games (six) as in previous editions, the knockouts were opened up to a system of third playing sixth and fourth versus fifth for the right to meet teams one and two in the semi-finals. It is a judgment that has caused plenty of furrowed brows around the cricket community over the past 24 hours.Roach told ESPNcricinfo that once the call had been made to dispense with the CA XI because the states argued that they were now providing better opportunities for younger players, there was a conundrum around how to ensure teams were not playing fewer matches as a result. Given the parlous state of Australia’s ODI team currently touring England, a significant reduction in the number of domestic 50-over games was not a welcome prospect.”We get back to every game being really strong and experienced state teams, much like the mantra around the world to create a great first-class competition is that you want fewer teams, and we fortunately have got six and the states wanted to get back to every game being a real quality contest,” Roach said. “The trade-off with that of course is that then to keep the same number of games; you either have an uneven spread of opposition or you double it – if you keep it the same you drop a game [for every team]. So that was where we were at and the discussion came that we don’t necessarily do that in a World Cup year, so how can we rectify that.”Equally there’s the importance of playing knockout games when you get to the big tournaments like a World Cup. You do have knockout games and plenty of them towards the end of a tournament where Australia has been very successful historically at winning those, we believe that playing knockout games of some number is worthwhile to get to the right outcome. We looked at the model we ended up coming up with, and while it is true that you can still win it from sixth, I think it’s fair to say that won’t be the priority for teams to try to finish sixth knowing they can win it.”If you finish one and two you get straight through to the semi-finals, you’d like to think that three versus six there’s a team that’s been pretty successful in those five games and finished third and a team that’s been unsuccessful finished sixth. So we still think there’s an advantage to finishing top two, and the gap between third and sixth will be a good advantage to try to finish third as well. Having five knockout games at the end of the tournament was seen as a real positive.”Responding to questions about the format raised by numerous significant figures – players and coaches contacted by ESPNcricinfo termed the concept “strange” and said it would make the tournament “irrelevant”, among kinder assessments – Roach said that CA, the state associations and the Australian Cricketers’ Association understood there would be opposition when they made the call. Unfavourable comparisons have been made with junior competitions, where participation is emphasised over performance.”I don’t think any of us were naive enough to think there wasn’t going to be discussion about it, we see and hear it every year in other competitions around the country that half or more than half of the teams get in the finals,” Roach said. “What we have here is a very short competition in comparison to the Sheffield Shield as a much longer competition.”What we do want to do is give our players the best opportunity to perform and put their name forward for higher honours, but equally we want to see the best team triumph in that tournament and have six really strong teams going hell for leather every game. On balance, the view is that not having the CA XI in there creates a more vigorous home-and-away competition and then the knockout games going through to the final makes those games all count. The trade-off is that the sixth team has a chance to win, they do take the long road, but potentially if they’re good enough they’ll win it.”Fourteen of the games are set to be broadcast by Fox Sports, CA’s new television rights partner, with the remainder streamed on the governing body’s website. Roach said that after five years of holding the domestic limited-overs tournament as a standalone event at the start of the season, there remained strong opposition to splitting games up between Sheffield Shield games on the basis that switching formats at that stage of the season is seen as highly likely to result in injuries for fast bowlers.”The commentary on mixing one-dayers throughout the four-day season is always there and at times like this people revert back to asking ‘why can’t we do it’,” Roach said. “The body of evidence is very strong that putting fast bowlers through changing formats of the game is not in their best interests and the feedback from state coaches is that having windows for competitions is a real priority in terms of best coaching players to improve, which is very similar to how we set up our international season in blocks of games.”We don’t play the first Test match then an ODI and back to a Test match. We are trying to replicate wherever possible what they get at the next stage and that’s proven beneficial in keeping our best players on the park and playing more often. We are committed to keeping it in a window, the best time of year to do that at the moment is at the front of the season, but continually we’re assessing the best place to play this tournament and the best mechanics to develop players from it.”More broadly, Roach acknowledged that the health of the Test team was a higher strategic priority than performances in ODI series outside of World Cups, as demonstrated by the way the 50-over tournament is played at the outer fringe of the season on smaller grounds, with as many Sheffield Shield matches as possible staged closer to summer at major venues. This contrasts with the way England have pushed the county competition to the edges of the season, with 50-overs cricket in a more central place.”It is a real balancing act to balance up the needs of all parts of the business,” Roach said. “Test cricket being a priority, we’ve prioritised the Shield landscape and we’ve maintained having a strong six-team Shield competition of 10 rounds and a final is the best way to produce good quality players for Australia. We still aim to win the World Cup, that’s a high priority for us and having this competition where it is, we believe is the best way for this year.”Does everyone believe that around the country? Clearly not and we wouldn’t expect them to, but all of our discussions and strategies are in place to lead towards this being the best outcome for us. That includes international cricket, Big Bash League, Australia A tours, they all form part of the picture of best preparing players for Australia, and best promoting our sport to the people of Australia.”A constant battle with any sport around the country is getting access to your best and biggest venues with competing priorities now and we need to balance where best to play our games when those venues are available. We see a bigger gap in terms of playing Shield cricket on our major venues where the Test matches are played and you take those to some of our minor venues around the country and you see a big difference in the pitches and facilities at those venues. We see less of a difference in terms of one-day cricket – I’m not saying there’s not a difference – but less of a difference. We also acknowledge playing in different conditions for one-day cricket is not a great detriment to the rounding of a player.”