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South Africa’s series against Pakistan has given an indication that Test cricket’s recent tendency for drama, intensity and results won’t be abating any time soon

Liam Brickhill12-Jan-2019Five dropped catches, twelve clean ones, 13 wickets, 49 boundaries, an injury scare, a brass band, a seamer bowling in sunglasses, and even a stoppage for midges. The second day at the Wanderers had plenty to entertain a boisterous Saturday crowd, the match having progressed rapidly through two-and-a-half innings with no sign that the denouement of the third Test will be any less swift than in Centurion or at Newlands. South Africa needed just over six days to secure this series, and on current evidence they may need only nine to wrap it up entirely.Incidentally, that’s how many days South Africa and England took to play the famous timeless Test (plus one day rained off and a couple for rest) in Durban 79 years ago – and remarkably, a result wasn’t even possible on that occasion. Gone, truly gone, are those days, and 21st century Test cricket has evolved into a completely different creature in the interim, virtually unrecognisable from what it once was.If 2018 was the year when Tests became sexy again, then South Africa’s current series against Pakistan has given an indication that the tendency for drama, intensity and results won’t be abating any time soon. Test cricket has never moved this quick.ALSO READ – Test cricket is great again. Thank the bowlers for itDon’t blame the pitches, just thank the bowlers. Sure, Centurion was a little spicy, but it was the inconsistency of bounce rather than the movement that might be properly criticised, and even then it was hardly unplayable. Newlands, too, offered something for the bowlers and the game might have finished on the third evening were it not for Vernon Philander’s errant left heel – but don’t forget that no less than seven fifties and one doughty hundred were also scored in that game. The game just moves faster now.As forward-thinking and progressive a captain as you will find in international cricket, Faf du Plessis has, unsurprisingly, embraced the changes ringing through the game. In fact, he’s positively excited by them.”Test cricket has evolved, and I think it’s great,” du Plessis said after his team had closed out the series in Cape Town. “It’s great for the fans to come in and watch. They’re getting fours, they’re getting sixes, they’re getting lots of wickets, pace bowlers bowling. It’s great to come and watch cricket. I love the way Test cricket is at the moment. I think it’s a change that was necessary, and Test cricket for me in the last two years has been the most exciting format of all.”Faheem Ashraf pinned Zubayr Hamza lbw•Associated PressWhile du Plessis offered a few reasons as to why scores have gone down, 40 is the new 50 when it comes to batting averages, results have increased, and the speed of play has picked up, the crux, for him, is that “T20 has been the big change in Test cricket.”The game has a way of balancing itself out, and the attacking mindset that has been bred into the modern batsman is counter-balanced by the added skill and flexibility of bowlers. Add a juicy track into the mix, and you’ve got a recipe for thoroughly absorbing cricket. The flavour of juice doesn’t really matter: India turns, South Africa seams, England swings, and the very best players will be able to adapt to the specific demands of each scenario – as it should be.Pakistan haven’t achieved the results they set out to on this tour, but they have definitely delivered on the promise made by their coach Mickey Arthur ahead of the series to provide a style of cricket that is never predictable, but always watchable. Despite the feisty Centurion track, they scored their runs at 3.62, and at Newlands their run-rate over the Test went up to 3.8, though quick runs have come at a cost, and it’s largely been left up to the bowlers to keep Pakistan in the game.Pakistan have won sessions but not matches, and there’s a touch of grumpiness floating around the dressing room, but theirs has been an active voice in a twisting, turning narrative, and they have provided marvellous entertainment for the many thousands of spectators who have turned up to watch the three games in this series.ALSO READ: ‘Have seen happier dressing rooms than Pakistan’s currently’ – FlowerAnd in South Africa, that’s another thing that has changed, and continues to do so. You’re as likely to hear fans chanting in isiZulu as you are Afrikaans at the Wanderers these days, in fact more so, and on day two the aptly named Unity stand rang out with the stirring anthems of a truly diverse crowd. Cricket grounds in South Africa aren’t a white space anymore, and that’s as much a cause for celebration as any of the other changes mentioned above.Test cricket, as it used to be known, is dead. Long live Test cricket.

A look at games that turned the tide for the champion at every tournament

Anantha Narayanan16-Jun-2019Let me first clarify what this article is not: it is not about the most exciting or greatest matches in World Cups. The covered those very admirably a couple of months ago. It is also not a list of matches containing the greatest individual performances. My last article covered outstanding individual performances in ODIs in depth.This article looks at matches that turned the tide for the winners in each World Cup; the most important games for those teams in those specific tournaments. Not every impact was direct. It might have been that perhaps the champion’s most dangerous opponent was knocked out. Or maybe the match jolted the team into pulling up their collective socks. Some of these matches were early in the tournament and some in the knockout stages. I have spent a lot of time analysing the course of each World Cup to make these picks. I’m sure readers will find as much pleasure in reading about them as in finding out the reasons for their inclusion.1975
West Indies v Pakistan, Edgbaston
West Indies won by one wicket
This was a crucial match for both teams. With a win here, Pakistan would have been in the race to qualify for the semi-finals, because they went on to make 330 against Sri Lanka in their next game, which boosted scoring rate. If there had been a three-way tie for points, West Indies might have lost out. And even if they made it to the semis, West Indies might have faced the stronger England there instead of New Zealand. Since this match was right in the middle of the tournament, the whole inaugural World Cup might have taken a different turn.Three contrasting fifties helped Pakistan reach 266, a competitive total. Andy Roberts was the only star bowler in the West Indies attack. In the chase, Sarfraz Nawaz sent back the top three batsmen with 36 on the board, and despite Clive Lloyd’s quick-fire fifty, West Indies slipped to 203 for 9. Then Roberts and keeper Deryck Murray came together to build one of the greatest partnerships in World Cup history and, in the course of 15 momentous overs, steered them home.1979
England v Pakistan, Headingley

Both England and Pakistan had already qualified for the semis, so this match only had significance with regard to group placings – the winner would face New Zealand instead of West Indies in the semi-final.It was a difficult pitch and the game was played at Test-match pace, with Geoff Boycott scoring 18 runs in 54 balls and Graham Gooch 33 in 90. Somehow England lasted 60 overs to reach 165 for 9. In reply, Pakistan collapsed dramatically from 27 without loss to 34 for 6. Seamers Mike Hendrick and Ian Botham were unplayable. The target was low and Asif Iqbal, batting at No. 7, started a recovery, helped by Imran Khan and Wasim Raja, but they eventually were bowled out for 151, the last two wickets going to Boycott.1983
India v Zimbabwe, Tunbridge Wells

This is, arguably, the most significant ODI match ever played by India. They slumped to 9 for 4, 17 for 5 and 78 for 7 before recovering to 266 for 8 thanks to the second-greatest ODI innings of all time, a magnificent 175 not out by Kapil Dev. This win started India’s march towards their magnificent title triumph a week later. If India had lost to Zimbabwe, they might not have qualified for the knockouts, or they might have met West Indies in the semi-finals.Rain played a big role in Pakistan winning the 1992 World Cup•PA Photos1987
India v Australia, Chennai

The fact that Australia ultimately went on to win this World Cup makes their narrow victory over India in their opening game significant, especially since they lost the next encounter between the two teams in the tournament. Geoff Marsh’s pedestrian but invaluable hundred helped Australia post a very good total of 270. India were sitting comfortably at 207 for 2 around the 35th over and an easy win seemed likely when Craig McDermott induced a panic with his four wickets.1992
England v Pakistan, Adelaide

Pakistan arrived in Adelaide needing a win, having won a match and lost one. That looked unlikely when they were bowled out for 74, their lowest World Cup total to date, and they were lucky that rain washed out the game and gave them a valuable one point. It is difficult to conjecture what would have happened if Pakistan had lost in Adelaide. Since they lost their next two matches, they would have been sitting with one win out of five and might not have qualified for the knockouts.1996
Sri Lanka v India, semi-final, Calcutta

After India beat Pakistan in the quarter-final in Bangalore, they were favourites to win the title. In the semi-final at Eden Gardens, Sri Lanka batted first and fell to 35 for 3 – their top three batsmen collectively scoring only two runs in the innings. The No. 4, Aravinda de Silva, attacked Anil Kumble and Venkatesh Prasad and eventually Sri Lanka reached 251, which was hardly a demanding target for the star-studded Indian line-up. Sachin Tendulkar played magnificently and India were comfortable at 98 for 1 when Jayasuriya, who had failed with the bat, struck with the ball. He triggered a collapse by dismissing Tendulkar and Sanjay Manjrekar. India lost seven wickets for 22 runs and needed another 132 to win with two wickets in hand. At that point the Calcutta spectators decided to show their displeasure by throwing bottles on the field and setting fire to the seating in the stands. The match was called off amid mayhem and Sri Lanka were declared deserving winners. They went on to win the World Cup four days later.1999
Australia v South Africa, Headingley

If Australia hadn’t won this Super Six game against South Africa, then, following the tied semi-final at Edgbaston, it would have been South Africa going into the final. A beautifully paced hundred from Herschelle Gibbs and supporting acts by Daryll Cullinan, Jonty Rhodes and Lance Klusener took South Africa to a potentially match-winning 271. Australia lost three quick wickets after which Steve Waugh and Ricky Ponting added a match-winning 126 together. Waugh played one of the greatest World Cup innings, remaining unbeaten on 120 to take Australia into the semis with two balls to spare.2003
Australia v Sri Lanka, semi-final, Port Elizabeth

Australia were unbeaten in the 2003 World Cup, and in the group stage, except for a close match against England, they won each game quite comfortably. However, this was not a high-scoring World Cup and the bowlers had their days under the African sun. In the semi-final, despite a composed 91 from Andrew Symonds, Australia only managed a sub-par 212 for 7. But Sri Lanka struggled against Australia’s top-quality pace attack and were reduced to 76 for 7. Kumar Sangakkara and Chaminda Vaas’ 47-run stand only delayed the inevitable. Rain came down in torrents to end the one-sided contest and give Australia an easy D-L win.Would South Africa have made it to the 2007 World Cup final if they hadn’t lost to Bangladesh in the Super Eights?•Getty Images2007
Bangladesh v South Africa, Providence

After their heartbreaks in 1999 and 2003, South Africa came into the 2007 World Cup as strong contenders for the title. They had lost only one match – to Australia – when they met Bangladesh, still considered “minnows”, in the Super Eights. Mohammad Ashraful’s magnificent 87 off 83 balls took Bangladesh to 251 for 8, which should have been easy enough for South Africa’s strong batting line-up. However, the Bangladesh spinners restricted the free-scoring South African batsmen and earned a 67-run win. The result changed the dynamic of the tournament significantly – South Africa now had to meet a rampaging Australia in the semi-final instead of in the final as had been expected.2011
India v Pakistan, semi-final, Mohali
India won by 29 runs
I have selected this match as a tide-turning one for India because, in many ways, it was a more difficult match than the final for them. Tendulkar played, arguably, the worst innings of his career but also perhaps his most valuable one. He scratched around for nearly three hours and was dropped no fewer than four times during his 115-ball 85, which took India to a competitive 260 for 9. There was no big innings from Pakistan, and though nearly all the top-order batsmen got starts, their highest score was 56 (by Misbah-ul-Haq) and their biggest partnership was 44 (between openers Kamran Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez). They fell 29 runs short. The five Indian bowlers took two wickets each. It was a scrappy match but a big win for India.2015
New Zealand v Australia, Auckland

In a World Cup Australia dominated and won, I have picked a match they lost. The reason is simple: this defeat stung them hard. After this game, Australia did not put a foot wrong and won six successive matches in commanding fashion to seal their fifth title.This was a low-scoring match punctuated by two terrific fast-bowling performances – by Trent Boult and Mitchell Starc. Brad Haddin dragged Australia up from 106 for 9 to 151. In reply, Brendon McCullum kicked off the chase with a 24-ball 50 and New Zealand’s score was 78 for 1 in less than eight overs. Then Starc got into the act and reduced New Zealand to 99 for 4. From there, they slipped to 146 for 9 before Kane WIlliamson kept his cool and finished the game with a stunning straight six off Pat Cummins.A look at the current World CupI will now look at the strengths of the teams playing in the 2019 World Cup.It will be very difficult for a team to qualify for the semis with four wins but it will also take extraordinarily bad luck not to qualify with six wins. This is not a 9-8-7-6 wins type of tournament, where one team goes through unbeaten, the next team loses one match, and so on. Even the fancied teams are likely to lose matches. Therefore, five wins will be needed to have any chance of qualification. At five wins, it is almost certain that the net run rate will also come into play.With over 20% of the matches washed out and more rain to come, it is clear that the preliminary phase has become a lottery. For these “points shared” matches, whether the point was “gained” or “lost” will only be known later. Still, it’s difficult to see India, England and Australia, despite their initial hiccups, not qualifying for the knockout stages. Only a string of upsets could prevent one of these three teams from making it. The contenders for the fourth place in the semis are, in order of their chances, New Zealand, West Indies and Pakistan. With regret, I have to take South Africa off this list. They have left themselves too much to do, and not all of it in their own hands. From the semis onwards, it’s just a matter of the team having two great days winning the World Cup.I have created a table of team strengths based on the actual XIs fielded by teams in the World Cup so far. (This is updated till the England-West Indies match on June 14.)First, a brief note on the Team Strength indices for batting and bowling. The batting index is a composite of batting average and strike rates for the top seven batsmen. The bowling index is a composite of bowling strike rate and bowling accuracy for the top five bowlers. Both are calibrated in such a way that a value of 50.0 represents the pinnacle. The very few values above 50 are capped at 50.0. The table below lists the strongest XIs fielded by each team in the tournament so far, in terms of team index (overall strength), batting index and bowling index.

The best line-ups fielded by the teams in the 2019 World Cup Team Vs Team Index Vs Bat Index Vs Bowl Index

India AU93.6AU48.8AU44.8Australia PK89.1PK46.1PK43.0England PK86.1PK50.0PK36.1South Africa EN85.7EN43.1EN42.6New Zealand BD 84.5BD 44.9AFG39.7Pakistan WI 83.7WI 48.2WI 35.5Bangladesh SA 79.1NZ 40.6SA 38.6Afghanistan AU77.6AU36.4AU41.2West Indies EN75.2EN42.3EN32.9SL NZ 72.5AFG38.2NZ 34.6India fielded one of the strongest teams ever, in their first match, against South Africa, and their team against Australia was even stronger than that, because these are career-to-date values. They have no weakness and only the slight issue with the middle order pegs their batting down a little.Australia also have a very strong team and this is reflected in their comfortable second position.England’s batting is legendary by now. They are clocking more than 50 but are levelled off at that point for the purposes of this exercise. However, their bowling is nowhere near the level of the other teams. Jofra Archer is still an unknown entity.On paper, South Africa are quite strong With Dale Steyn and a full complement of bowlers, their bowling could have touched an all-time high mark. New Zealand have no weaknesses and are quite close to South Africa.Surprisingly Pakistan’s batting is very strong and they bat deep. However, their bowling is not that great.Now we come to the lower half. Bangladesh’s numbers support the assertion that their team is strong and balanced.Surprisingly, even after introducing a tweak to the ratings parameters for the quality of batting that their bowlers have bowled against, Afghanistan have a very good bowling line-up. Rashid Khan (bowling average of 15.63 – adjusted to around 20), Mujeeb Ur Rahman (20.50 – adjusted to around 25) and Hamid Hassan (21.09 – adjusted to around 26) lead the way. This top-drawer bowling line-up makes up for the weaknesses in their batting.It is a real surprise to see West Indies so far down the table. Their batting is above average – they clock in at well above 40, however, their bowling is ordinary – very high averages, barring Oshane Thomas, who has taken very few wickets. But these numbers do not tell the true story. West Indies could destroy any team on their day, which is the day their bowling works.Sri Lanka are below par in this tournament. The absence of attacking batsmen and quality spinners is hurting them. It is no surprise that they are at the bottom of the list.And finally, shall we all agree that Mohammad Nabi’s over against Sri Lanka was, arguably, the greatest over in the World Cup history?

The son of the legendary Abdul Qadir is all set to debut for Pakistan, and it’s been quite a ride

Danyal Rasool22-Oct-2019″Tell me which wristspinner we have in this country,” Misbah-ul-Haq demanded to a packed press conference room on October 9. “24 first-class teams have been playing for many years. Tell me one wristspinner who’s been playing whom we aren’t picking. Just give me one name. One name who has been playing in domestic cricket who we have not been ignoring in favour of Shadab [Khan].”When a journalist, perhaps facetiously – certainly timidly – whispered “Usman Qadir”, it caused a ripple of laughter to break out in the room. Even Misbah, uncharacteristically irascible on the day (who wouldn’t be having suffered a whitewash?) allowed himself a smile before returning to the point he had been making.”Where has Usman Qadir been playing? Has he been playing first-class cricket? We can only pick the players we have. We need to groom players right from the outset, and we have agreed to give any opportunities to any wristspinners who are available so we can groom a back-up. We don’t have a back-up for Yasir [Shah], nor for Shadab. We just don’t have anyone available.”Twelve days on, Misbah, looking somewhat closer to his usual, unflappable self, sat in the same room, in front of more or less the same journalists, reeling off the names of the men selected for the two series in Australia next month. It was a barnstormer of a squad announcement; there were so many surprise picks – Khushdil Shah and Kashif Bhatti for example – that journalists were sent scurrying to obscure domestic scorecards they had never previously taken an interest in. Others, like Mohammad Irfan and Imran Khan Jnr, tested their memories; when had they last played for Pakistan?Meanwhile, Misbah droned on with the enthusiasm of a geography teacher talking about the formation of sedimentary rock. “Musa Khan, Shadab Khan, Usman Qadir, Wahab Riaz.”Wait, what? Usman Qadir? That chap who had left Pakistan to try and qualify for Australia? The player who had, finally disillusioned by the lack of opportunities afforded to him in Pakistan, declared he didn’t “want to play for Pakistan”? The very mention of whose name had caused Misbah to literally LOL?What happened in those two weeks, then? Well, for starters, Usman came back to Pakistan and played in the T20 Cup in Faisalabad. While he didn’t set the world – or even Faisalabad for that matter – alight, the paucity of legspinners Misbah had correctly pointed out meant Pakistan couldn’t exactly be picky. He took four wickets in three games for Central Punjab, and, by all accounts, impressed the selectors, who felt his experience of playing in Australia might be useful in the T20Is.Still, Usman hadn’t enjoyed the best year with Western Australia since declaring he wanted to qualify for their international side. The Big Bash League, in particular, for which Perth Scorchers coach Adam Voges had so eagerly signed him, was a significant anti-climax for a bowler that had so impressed the league’s most successful side they had broken with normal convention to sign him. Just six wickets in seven games with an economy rate of 8.45 saw Usman lose his place in the team. A speeding fine that caused the WACA chief executive to express her disappointment just as he was losing form didn’t help, and he was let go by Western Australia at the end of the season.Not even an Australian citizen yet, international selection was nowhere near in sight. The return to Pakistan, eventually, came in circumstances far more important than how well he used his wrist to turn a cricket ball, and for more devastating than the trivial comings and goings of form.On September 6, Usman’s father Abdul Qadir – you know the one – died suddenly of a cardiac arrest in Lahore. The man who had kept stalling Usman’s desires to go and play for Australia – Abdul Qadir always wanted his son to give himself the best possible chance to play for Pakistan – had a tenuous relationship with the PCB in his final years, and while many felt it was nepotism that had gained Usman his chance in the first place, the 26-year old considered the connection had as much hindered his career in Pakistan as helped it.”Unfortunately, I have a big name with me,” Usman told ESPNcricinfo in December last year. “It’s quite difficult if I talk about my father. I don’t want to do that. In Pakistan I didn’t play lots of cricket. That’s why I did not get opportunities. So that’s why I moved to Australia.” Why he wanted to play for Australia then, he had said, would take two or three hours to answer.Since his father’s passing, however, Usman is believed to have become more sympathetic to playing for the land of his birth, more determined to follow in the footsteps of the man who inspired him to take up the game, and who wished, more than anything else, to see him play international cricket.”I was desperate to play international cricket for a long time,” Qadir told the . “That was my central goal. It was my dad’s dream to see me play for Pakistan one day. I can’t be as good as my father but I’ve worked on what he taught me. I didn’t know how to bowl the slider, and I still don’t know how to bowl the googly like he did, but I’m trying to master it. I have a bit of experience of bowling legspin to Australian batsmen, and should I get the chance, I’d love to prove my worth.”Should Usman earn his maiden international cap in Australia on this tour, there will be millions watching on the other side of the world, transfixed by the son of the man who taught them legspin was an art worth cherishing. The call-up comes a few weeks too late for the man himself to watch on with them, but wherever he is, you’d imagine he’d be feeling pretty vindicated right about now.

Thirty years ago, an Australian side with a questionable record in England won at the venue they feared most

Daniel Brettig at Edgbaston05-Aug-2019Thirty years ago, an Australian side with a questionable record in England won a resounding Test match victory at the venue they feared the most. Set 402 from a minimum of 83 overs, David Gower’s team were bowled out for 191 with 27 to spare, as Allan Border’s collective toasted the winning feeling at Headingley after a near decade of nightmares about Ian Botham and 1981.That result set the scene for 16 years of Australian Ashes dominance both home and away, creating such a surge of Australian confidence and belief that England held few fears so long as the tourists could play the better cricket. As Mark Taylor put it: “Looking at the 1990s when we won six Ashes in a row, things changed in 1989, with us coming over, considered an ordinary side, world’s worst side, and we won. England had rebel tours going on and all of a sudden they were in disarray. It’s changing the belief in their head as much as anything. I think [this Australian side] have got the talent to win this series and win it well. But they’ve got to believe it.”At 122 for 8 on the opening day at Edgbaston, Australia’s cricketers could have been reasonably expected to be suffering from pretty shaky belief, as the familiar batting woes of the past 14 years reared in the minds of players and spectators alike. But the unadulterated batting genius of Steven Smith, rendered fresh and hungry by a year’s forced absence, gave Tim Paine’s team a foothold, and from there the visitors grew steadily more powerful, culminating in an even swifter and vaster victory than Headingley ’89.”It was a great one, no doubt about that,” Paine said. “We didn’t bat as well as we would’ve liked early on day one. Having said that, one, Steve Smith was still in at 8 for 122 and we know how good he is and, two, we knew that day five was going to be harder to bat than day one so if we could drag it deep enough we thought we were still in the game. Having said that we probably fell behind the game for three days so I thought the way we stuck at it and kept grinding was a real credit to our boys and the last two days we’ve played superb cricket.”Tim Paine celebrates Australia’s win with Justin Langer•Getty ImagesThere were, as had been the case in 1989, some questions raised about a delayed declaration, leaving England with only 97 overs to survive on a pitch that, if spinning sharply, was still true and slow. When England reached the close of day four with 10 wickets still intact, those questions grew a little louder. What transpired on the final day, however, showed that like most things since Smith fashioned a thrilling rearguard with the help of Peter Siddle and Nathan Lyon, the Australians had got things just right.A bowling attack omitting Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood, both with their own form and conditioning issues, was tailored to English climes and the Birmingham pitch, critically being assembled to ensure that the hosts would never be able to pile up runs with regular boundaries. In that regard, the control of Pat Cummins, James Pattinson, Siddle and Lyon was a key factor in the victory, even when the tourists appeared to dawdle in chasing the wicket of Stuart Broad on the third day. As Pattinson said at the time, it was a tactic based around not conceding easy boundaries, and the way Australia were able to, through Smith, Travis Head and Matthew Wade, be more proactive on day four having taken the lead, was key.So controlled was the Australian approach that it was not until the game was just about over that Pattinson strayed enough to concede three boundaries in a single over to Chris Woakes as he strained for a wicket ball. As an exception, it proved the rule about how focused and directed the Australians had been throughout. Paine spoke afterwards of only letting Pattinson go like that in circumstances where the scoreboard was well and truly in Australia’s favour – a world away from the boom or bust methods tried during the Darren Lehmann era.”That’s certainly one of the key areas we want to improve on in England, and while we didn’t bowl at our best in the first innings I thought the way we controlled the scoreboard allowed us to be in the position we were in yesterday,” Paine said. “Had we gone at 3.5 or four an over then all of a sudden they’re 140-150 in front on the first innings. So we controlled the scoreboard beautifully, our bowlers did a great job.”James today, we were just in a position where we could throw him the ball and say run in and bowl as fast as you can and see if you can hit a few guys on the body, see if we can get some gloves and we managed to do it. But that’s going to happen with Patto, we’re going to use him at different times and in different ways because that’s the sort of bowler he is.”To that end, the garlands for Australia’s victory should not just go to Smith, Wade, Lyon and Cummins. Siddle’s determination to stay with Smith on day one was mimicked in how he clung to England’s batsmen throughout his numerous spells across the match, climaxing with a performance on the final day that was wicketless but arguably helped Lyon to claim each of his first three wickets – Jason Roy charging madly, then Joes Denly and Root squeezing catches to an ever alert Cameron Bancroft at short leg.

“There’s still four Tests to go and we aren’t here to win the first Test at Edgbaston – we’re here to win the Ashes”Tim Paine

For Paine, the match had started on something of a rough note when he was singled out for stating that he could name “about 15” more intimidating venues than Edgbaston, and admitted in the aftermath of victory that this had been a “bit of a bluff”. But the attention that these words gained did not detract from how the team grew in strength and confidence over five days, and a significant moment arrived when David Warner of all people was able to joke with the crowd to the extent that he turned out his pockets in response to a song about his possession of sandpaper. Australia had taken on the spectre of the Edgbaston crowd, and their own unhappy memories of Test matches here since Australia’s last win in 2001, and won.”You try to deflect as much as you can in heading into a game of this magnitude. We were fully aware of how the crowd is at Edgbaston and I think it was a little bit of a bluff,” Paine said. “But we know that when you come to England you know the crowds are going to be difficult. They are at us the moment we get off the bus out the front, but we’ve spoken about that and have a plan for that. I thought as a team the way they all handled it was excellent. It was fantastic to come here today and the loudest supporters were the Australians, which was awesome.”Two more parallels with 1989. The first was in where Paine felt the game was won. The stand between Smith and Siddle not only helped the former captain return in glory, but also helped fire the belief of the entire team. “I think Steve Smith was unbelievable – there’s no doubt about that,” Paine said when asked for a match turning point. “He’s the best player in the world in Test cricket at the moment. He’s probably the best ever statistically, and while he’s at the crease I think our team’s got real confidence. I thought Peter Siddle digging in with him was crucial. Then for the majority of the game I thought we bowled pretty well – and today I thought we were superb with the ball. Having someone like Steve in controlling the game certainly helps.”In the same way Border had looked to how himself and Taylor had seen off England’s seamers on the opening day 30 years ago, Leeds cloud cover and all, to set up a winning platform: “I think it came down to that first day,” he said at the time. “If you think about all the bogies that go through your mind and the problems we’ve had here in the past Test series that I’ve been involved with, that put to rest a lot of the dramas we might’ve been thinking about.”Lastly, the euphoria of an Australian victory in Birmingham for the first time in 18 years was visibly balanced by the desire of Australia’s leaders to ensure that this was seen merely as a stepping stone to the final series result. “There’s still four Tests to go and we aren’t here to win the first Test at Edgbaston – we’re here to win the Ashes,” Paine said. “We’ve been really clear on that for some time. We’re obviously happy to win the first Test.”It’s a huge step in the right direction, but we’re certainly not satisfied with that. Tonight will be quite a different feel to most Test wins we’ve had. We’re over here to do something that a lot of teams from Australia have struggled to do. And we realise that if we can do it, it will be spoken about for a hell of a long time, and that’s what is driving us. To come in in England in these conditions is difficult for us as it is for England to go to Australia. There’s a big five weeks ahead of us.”In 1989, Terry Alderman had won the match award for 10 wickets at Headingley, receiving a large magnum of champagne for his trouble. In a time of heavier drinking than the present day, his stern instruction had been: “Put it on ice until we win the Ashes.” Thirty years on, and the abiding sentiment from this Australian team was much the same.

Australia’s Big Bash League is into its ninth edition. Will it turn out to be among its most memorable?

Srinath Sripath16-Dec-2019Oh hello, it’s that time of the year again!Say what?
Australia’s Big Bash League, one of the world’s most prominent T20 competitions, starts this week. Into its ninth edition, #BBL09 will have 56 games featuring eight teams, followed by the finals.And how long does it go on for?
The main season goes on from December 17, 2019 till January 27, 2020. There will be five finals games after that, ending on February 8. finals games? How does that work?
One of the new aspects of this year’s Bash is five teams having a shot at the title after the league phase, as opposed to four previously.The top five teams in the BBL 2019-20 league phase will make it to the Finals•ESPNcricinfo LtdInteresting. Who are the favourites to make it?
Plenty of candidates as always, as you’d expect in a salary-capped league with lots of talent on offer. Last season’s champions Melbourne Renegades have a new coach and a star signing in Shaun Marsh. Their cross-town rivals and last year’s fellow finalists Melbourne Stars aren’t too bad either – they’ve brought in a bunch of proven names including Dale Steyn.Then there’s Brisbane Heat, who have signed up AB de Villiers (more on that soon) apart from a power-packed batting order and a quality spin attack.The likes of Perth Scorchers and Adelaide Strikers, dominant in the not-so-distant past, will be looking to make a comeback after forgettable seasons last time around.You seem to have named most of the teams alreadyHeh, that is true. And we haven’t even got to the two Sydney sides yet.Tell me this, why do Melbourne and Sydney have two sides each? Am I reading this right?Big cities, local rivalries. The lifeblood of any successful sporting league, isn’t it? The derbies are always worth a watch. Mark your calendar for the two Melbourne (Jan 4 and 10) and Sydney (Dec 28 and Jan 18) derbies.Twenty overseas players will take part in this season’s Big Bash•ESPNcricinfo LtdDid you mention AB de Villiers? Are we all supporting the Brisbane Heat, then?
ABD in any competitive cricket game is enough reason to root for them, but he’s only going to be available during the second half of the season. Here’s a bunch of marquee names to help you pick your team. There’s Steyn who will turn out for the Melbourne Stars, along with Nepal’s Sandeep Lamichhane. Joining them will be Glenn Maxwell
Sydney Thunder have England’s Alex Hales and South Africa allrounder Chris Morris
Rashid Khan will be back in the Adelaide Strikers’ blue once again
Josh Hazlewood will feature for the Sydney Sixers
and Steven Smith will join him towards the back end of the season Heat themselves have some exciting hitting talent: Chris Lynn of “Lynnsanity” fame, and Afghanistan mystery-spinner Mujeeb Ur Rahman among others
Here’s all you need to know on the eight squads in the tournament.Sounds good. Any new names I should learn?Quite a few. Two exciting English talents to start off with: Pat Brown (the Stars) and Tom Banton (the Heat), who are on the radar of T20 sides around the world for what they offer. The Hurricanes’ Riley Meredith, whose pace has been turning heads for over a year now. Tanveer Sangha is a teenage Australian wristspinner playing for the Thunder. There’s also the Renegades’ Jake Fraser-McGurk, who is an all-round talent still young enough to feature in next year’s Under-19 World Cup.Ooh, that’s plenty. Anything else before I go?Hold on…Just like a lot of American sports and the IPL, this year’s Big Bash will have strategic time-outs, which coaches can avail once during the innings, between overs 7 and 13. Whether it will have any “strategic” implications beyond a longer commercial break, we’ll have to wait and see
There will also be different-coloured hats for the tournament’s leading run-getter and wicket-taker, likely to be called the “golden bat” and the “golden arm”. Not too dissimilar, again, to the IPL’s Orange and Purple Caps

It’s HILLS. @SixersBBL will bat first #BBL08 pic.twitter.com/mkxYT9f90J

— KFC Big Bash League (@BBL) December 22, 2018

Oh and in case you missed it, the Big Bash experimented by doing away with the coin toss last year. There’s a “bat toss” for the second consecutive edition, with “hills” and “flats” being the two options. And in case you’re wondering what happens if a bat lands on its side, it has already happened

The brutal reality of the latter stages of the Champions League hit Aston Villa like a brick when they travelled to Paris to take on PSG on Wednesday night.

Villa, who did take the lead through Morgan Rogers, were beaten 3-1 by a dominant Paris Saint-Germain side, managed by Luis Enrique, who had some terrific individuals on display at the top end of the pitch.

The effervescent Khvicha Kvaratskhelia, Desire Doue, and Ousmane Dembele put on a masterclass in front of their home supporters, with all three of them involved in at least one of the three goals.

Because of the quality of the PSG attackers, several Aston Villa players endured a rough evening in France. One of those was Axel Disasi, after he was brought on at half-time.

Axel Disasi's awful performance against PSG

The versatile defender, who is a centre-back by trade, came on to replace Matty Cash at the break at right-back and was almost immediately sent to the shops for PSG’s second goal in the 49th minute.

Kvaratskhelia, who is a test for any full-back, showed unbelievable footwork to jink past the Frenchman before blasting a finish into the top corner of Emi Martinez’s near post.

In his 45 minutes on the pitch, Disasi managed two tackles, one interception, one block, and one key pass, whilst he also won half (2/4) of his ground duels, in what was a solid display outside of being brilliantly beaten by the Georgian magician.

Player ratings courtesy of Sofascore

The 27-year-old defender, who is on loan from Chelsea, was far from the worst player on the pitch for Unai Emery, though…

Aston Villa's worst player against PSG

While Disasi struggled, it was Matty Cash who was even worse than him in the first half.

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The Poland international was actually selected ahead of the Chelsea loanee to start at right-back against Kvaratskhelia and had to be withdrawn from the action at half-time after a dismal opening 45 minutes in Paris.

GOAL awarded him a player rating of just 4/10 and wrote that he was a ‘red card waiting to happen’, after his early yellow card for a foul on the former Napoli forward.

The English-born defender must be brutally binned from the starting XI by Emery after his poor showing in the opening 45 minutes, as Disasi outperformed him off the bench – despite his part in the second PSG goal.

Minutes

45

45

Pass accuracy

50%

69%

Key passes

0

1

Tackles + interceptions

3

3

Duels won

3/8

2/5

Possession lost

9x

5x

Fouls committed

4

0

As you can see in the table above, the 4/10 full-back was incredibly wasteful with the ball at his feet and offered nothing at the top end of the pitch, whilst Disasi – at least – created one chance for the team in the second half.

As mentioned by GOAL, Cash was also walking a disciplinary tightrope with four fouls committed and a yellow card to his name in the first 45 minutes, as he was forced to foul Kvaratskhelia, who got the better of him, on several occasions.

With their respective performances in mind, Emery must drop the former Nottingham Forest star from the starting line-up to bring Disasi in at right-back from the start next time out.

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Tottenham Hotspur are now ready to make a £75m bid for an “unbelievable” striker, but there is set to be fierce competition from their Premier League rivals, according to a report.

Spurs fall to disappointing defeat at Molineux

It was yet another afternoon to forget for Tottenham at Molineux this weekend, with Wolverhampton Wanderers prevailing 4-2 and exposing the defensive issues Ange Postecoglou’s side have been plagued by for much of the campaign.

With Spurs now languishing in 15th place, it is virtually impossible to take any positives from the match, but Postecoglou will be pleased Richarlison and Mathys Tel were amongst the goals, with the latter scoring his second in three games.

Richarlison and Dominic Solanke appear to have put their injury problems behind them, while Tel is set to make his loan move permanent in the summer, which leaves the Lilywhites well-stocked in the striker department, having been short on options at times this season.

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However, Solanke hasn’t exactly been prolific in his debut campaign in north London, netting seven Premier League goals, and there is a feeling a new striker could be brought in this summer.

According to a report from Spain, Tottenham are now vying to sign a forward who was on the scoresheet at Molineux yesterday afternoon, namely Wolves’ Matheus Cunha.

Such is Spurs’ level of interest, they are willing to make a £75m offer for Cunha, and they are now ready to make a move, but there is set to be fierce competition for his signature.

Newcastle United, Arsenal, Aston Villa, Nottingham Forest and Manchester United are also interested in signing the Brazilian, given how impressive he has been for Wolves this season, most recently bagging the fourth goal in his side’s 4-2 victory on Sunday.

Tottenham Hotspur’s upcoming fixtures

Date

Eintracht Frankfurt (a)

April 17th

Nottingham Forest (h)

April 21st

Liverpool (a)

April 27th

West Ham United (a)

May 3rd

Crystal Palace (h)

May 10th

"Unbelievable" Cunha impressing for club and country

At one stage this season, Wolves’ Premier League status was in serious doubt, but the 25-year-old’s goals have played a major role in propelling them to safety, netting 16 times in all competitions, with 14 of those coming in the league.

Teammate Mario Lemina was seriously impressed by the Brazil international’s performances earlier this season, lauding him as “unbelievable”, and having led Wolves to safety, he has now earned a move to a top club.

Not only that, but the Wolves star has also started to make an impact at international level, having been described as the best Brazil player on the field against Argentina, scoring his country’s only goal in a 4-1 defeat.

Having impressed for club and country, Cunha could be a fantastic signing for Tottenham, but it could be very difficult to win the race for his signature if they don’t have Champions League football on offer next season.

Jurgen Klopp’s decision to leave Anfield at the end of the 2023/24 season pulled cascades of tears from many of a Liverpool persuasion.

But, in a documentary chronicling the German’s last hurrah at the helm, he issued a sharp closing statement that proved to presage Arne Slot’s incredible Premier League triumph.

“They will be fine, or maybe even more.” Maybe Klopp knew that he was doing something drastic when stepping down, something that would create not ripples but waves across Merseyside and beyond. Rivals tittered, and why not?

After Sir Alex Ferguson and Arsene Wenger left their respective long-held posts, both Manchester United and Arsenal fell by the wayside. Surely the same would be true for Liverpool, whose resurgence was crafted almost single-handedly by Klopp’s brilliance?

It hasn’t proved to be true. Liverpool have equalled the Red Devils’ 20-time title-winning record as they consolidate their position as England’s most successful club.

Slot replaced Klopp and Liverpool went up a level. The fact that transfer investment has been so minimal over the past 20 months bears testament to FSG’s model, but fresh faces are now required to defend their crown and challenge down other lanes.

Liverpool's budding search for a striker

After Liverpool failed in their bid to sign Martin Zubimendi last summer, FSG made the bold decision to cease efforts to add a player to Slot’s midfield. This was met with dismay from some circles of the fanbase, but it paved the way for Ryan Gravenberch to make his name.

Instead of redoubling their efforts, Liverpool turned toward the frontline and signed Federico Chiesa for a cut-price £12.5m fee. The injury-prone Italian hasn’t started a Premier League game and he’s the only arrival of the Slot era so far.

Chiesa has been linked with a move back to Italy after his disappointing term, while the under-fire Diogo Jota could also leave.

Liverpool need forwards. Darwin Nunez is also expected to depart at the end of the season and Alexander Isak has been listed as the perfect signing to front Slot’s project.

He’s so far ahead of Nunez that it’s clear to see why Liverpool are keen. Salah, soon to be 33, will need some assistance next year, after all.

Matches (starts)

31 (31)

26 (8)

Goals

22

5

Assists

6

2

Shots (on target)*

2.9 (1.3)

1.2 (0.5)

Big chances missed

18

6

Pass completion

76%

71%

Big chances created

11

3

Dribbles*

1.4

0.3

Duels won*

3.0

2.2

While Nunez has featured infrequently from the starting whistle this season, it’s clear to see the disparity in quality between him and Isak, one of the best in the business.

If Liverpool can bag the Sweden striker, they could leap even higher next year, but with Chiesa’s future uncertain and Jota’s too, FSG look ready to invest in another attacking player who could prove perfect for the Anfield side.

Transfer Focus

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Liverpool ready to bid for new forward

Liverpool are interested in signing West Ham United captain Jarrod Bowen this summer, with Caught Offside revealing that the Merseysiders are considering submitting an offer in the coming months.

Though Bowen is the centrepiece of Graham Potter’s plans, West Ham have fallen by the wayside following David Moyes’ departure last summer, languishing in 17th place in the Premier League.

The 28-year-old, who can play off the right in a central striking berth, wouldn’t come cheap, with the east Londoners set to face bids of €60m (£51m) for the England international.

It won’t be a one-horse race either with Tottenham Hotspur also said to be keen.

Why Jarrod Bowen could be a fantastic signing

West Ham’s talisman over the past five years, Bowen has been synonymous with the club’s rise into European competition and, indeed, glory, scoring the winning goal to seal the Conference League title in 2022/23.

Regarded as a “club legend” by his former Irons teammate Declan Rice, Bowen has paid his dues at the London Stadium but is sure to be disgruntled by the club’s regression this season, and Liverpool present an attractive package for sure.

If he were to join an already deep and devastating frontline that may yet add a number nine of Isak’s ilk, it’s got to be a no-brainer for the £150k-per-week talent, whose leadership and experience would be exactly what the Reds need to compete across multiple fronts.

Bowen might be regarded as something of a natural goalscorer, but he’s far more dynamic than that, ranking among the top 8% of positional peers across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for shot-creating actions per 90, as per FBref.

This could see him serve well in Salah’s stead when rotation is needed, providing the clinical Isak with a flowing stream of creative support that has been proven in its consistency over the past years at West Ham.

24/25

30 (30)

9

9

23/24

34 (34)

16

6

22/23

38 (36)

6

6

21/22

36 (34)

12

12

20/21

38 (35)

8

5

19/20

13 (11)

1

4

Such a consistent and balanced attacking player would be perfect for Liverpool’s system. It’s not likely he would start all the time, with Salah nailed down on the right wing, but Bowen has ample experience at centre-forward too and could finally play in the Champions League with a move to Merseyside.

He’s certainly got the ability to do so. In fact, Bowen was remarked in the past to have joined the “Salah club” by talkSPORT’s Tony Cascarino, owing to his skill in swerving inwards and curling unstoppable strikes into the back of the net.

He’s cut from the same cloth as the Egyptian King. Of course, Bowen isn’t on Salah’s level, but he shares similar base properties that Slot could make excellent use of.

If a striker such as Isak is brought in, a dynamic partnership really could be forged over the coming years, with the Newcastle man not just a goalscorer either, actually hailed as “a better all-round centre-forward” than Erling Haaland by pundit Ally McCoist.

Fruits could grow from such a dynamic duo, completing Liverpool’s frontline and filling in the gaps which prevented Slot from winning multiple pieces of silverware this season.

Still, bagging the Premier League in your first year is nothing to be sniffed at.

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As Ruben Amorim has been at pains to stress, this is no vintage Manchester United side, with even Europa League glory unable to plaster over the damage of yet another miserable Premier League campaign.

A key crux of the issue has been the lack of attacking quality at Old Trafford, with Amorim left to rely on a misfiring forward line that could hardly lace the boots of the figures of years gone by.

In 1968, for instance, Sir Matt Busby’s side were blessed with Denis Law, George Best and Bobby Charlton. In 1999, Alex Ferguson had the likes of Dwight Yorke, Andy Cole, Teddy Sheringham and Ole Gunnar Solskjaer to call upon, alongside Ryan Giggs and David Beckham.

Fergie’s next great side – the 2008 Champions League winners – also boasted devastating brilliance in the form of Carlos Tevez, Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney. How the mighty have fallen.

At centre-forward, for instance, United’s sole senior option is that of Rasmus Hojlund, with the 22-year-old Dane having scored just nine times in all competitions in 2024/25 to date.

Perhaps, the presence of the former Atalanta man will still be enough to steer the Red Devils to their latest European triumph, but something needs to give this summer.

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Alongside the addition of a new number ten, in the form of Wolverhampton Wanderers man, Matheus Cunha, the signing of a new striker appears high on the agenda for Amorim and INEOS, despite bringing in Hojlund and Joshua Zirkzee in successive summers.

One name widely tipped to follow Cunha to the Theatre of Dreams is Ipswich Town starlet, Liam Delap, with the England U21 international available for just £30m following the Tractor Boys’ recent relegation.

The Manchester City man has scored 12 Premier League goals this season, although there could be a sense that he is simply just another Hojlund, a player of potential rather than proven quality.

Transfer Focus

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It is with that in mind that United are said to have set their sights on a more experienced, left-field option in the form of Bayer Leverkusen’s Patrik Schick, with both Arsenal and Chelsea also battling for his signature.

That’s according to Caught Offside, who have reported that the Bundesliga outfit would be willing to listen to offers in the region of €30m-€40m (£26m-£34m), ensuring that the Premier League trio could see a bid accepted if they step up their interest.

With all three sides set to be keeping close tabs on the 29-year-old’s situation – with just two years left on his current deal at the BayArena – the race is on to see just who will win the race for his signature.

How Schick compares to Rasmus Hojlund

The relief was palpable as Hojlund prodded home against Bournemouth in the dying embers late last month, with the £64m signing notching what was just his fourth league goal of the season.

While the struggling striker had ended last term as United’s top scorer across all fronts, it’s worth remembering that it took until Boxing Day for him to break his top-flight duck, with seven of his ten total league goals coming in a subsequent six-game run.

With only nine Serie A goals to his name in the previous campaign, the 6 foot 4 speedster has hardly showcased that he can be a reliable goalscoring presence during his senior career thus far. There is a player in there somewhere, but can Amorim afford to wait?

Those woes have heightened the need for a ready-made upgrade this summer and Schick certainly fits the bill. While Hojlund has toiled, the Czech international has been in lethal form for Xabi Alonso’s side, having scored 19 league goals this season – 15 more than his United counterpart.

Even during an injury-impacted campaign last term, Schick still managed to score on 13 occasions across all fronts, with his total tally for the German outfit standing at 79 goals in 166 games. Hojlund, meanwhile, has just 25 goals in 90 games at Old Trafford.

Games

29

29

Goals

4

19

Goal frequency

440min

83min

Big chances missed

4

7

Goal conversion

16%

29%

Shots on target*

0.3

1.1

Assists

0

0

Big chances created

3

1

Key passes*

0.5

0.4

Total duels won*

29%

40%

Described as an “incredible” talent in past by members of the media, the former RB Leipzig man has been head and shoulders above Hojlund in 2024/25, as indicated in the table above, thus representing just what a huge upgrade he would be. Indeed, the contrast in their goal frequency record says it all.

Yes, the signing of a player approaching 30 – in the mould of a Robin van Persie deal – may go against the INEOS model of targeting up-and-coming stars, although for a potential fee of just £34m, Shick could be too hard to ignore.

Of course, as United have seen with the case of Jadon Sancho, who now plies his trade away from Old Trafford, signing players from the Bundesliga is not without its risks, although for that relatively modest asking price, the Leverkusen monster looks like a gamble worth taking.

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Levi Colwill has been a regular fixture for Chelsea this season. The 22-year-old, who is a full England international, has featured 32 times in the Premier League and, more recently, twice in the UEFA Conference League, and will now be looking to guide the west Londoners to a trophy and a top-five finish.

That said, the Cobham graduate hasn’t been without his critics, having notably been “bullied” in the defeat to former club Brighton, in the words of Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville, while regularly drawing the ire of supporters.

In the league alone, the youngster has made three errors leading to a shot, one error leading to a goal and given away one penalty, as per Sofascore. He also ranks in just the bottom 46% for tackles, the bottom 13% for clearances and the bottom 31% for blocks per 90 among his centre-back peers in the top-flight, as per FBref, further exposing his defensive woes.

With that in mind, Chelsea have actually been linked with a new defensive signing this summer, perhaps to potentially dislodge Colwill – even amid Enzo Maresca’s faith in him.

Chelsea’s pursuit of Dean Huijsen

It seems like Chelsea, along with several other big clubs in the Premier League, are going to try and sign Bournemouth defender Dean Huijsen. The Spaniard has been incredibly impressive this season, and given he has a £50m release clause, a move seems inevitable.

Well, Chelsea will be one of the sides vying for his signature, according to TEAMTalk, with the Blues the team ‘who have offered Huijsen the more tempting financial package’, in order to convince him to switch the South coast for West London.

However, Liverpool are also in the race, and several other European heavyweights, including Real Madrid and Bayern Munich, have also been linked at various times during the race for Huijsen’s signature.

As for why Chelsea want to sign Huijsen, well, he has been excellent at the back for Bournemouth this term, and was described as a “gem” by Sky Sports commentator Bill Leslie earlier in the season.

He has featured 29 times in the top flight this term, scoring three goals in that time and recording seven clean sheets so far. The young Spain international has certainly made a big impression, hence every major club in Europe has been linked with him.

If Chelsea can’t get this deal over the line, then they might not have to worry too much. The Blues actually have a perfect in-house alternative to Huijsen.

Chelsea’s in-house Huijsen alternative

If Huijsen has impressed for the Cherries this season, then Josh Acheampong has certainly made waves for Chelsea, despite the fact he has had far less of an opportunity in the first team at Stamford Bridge.

Described as a player with “elite potential” by football analyst Ben Mattinson, the 19-year-old has featured 11 times across all competitions for the Blues this term. Six of those games have come in the Conference League, where he has played 495 minutes so far.

The underlying numbers via Sofascore from Acheampong’s performances in the Conference League this term show just how well he has played. For example, he makes an average of 2.5 tackles and interceptions and wins an average of 0.9 aerial duels per game.

Passes completed

453

82.4

Pass accuracy

95.6%

95.6%

Long balls completed

7

1.3

Tackles and interceptions

14

2.5

Aerial duels won

5

0.9

The other thing that really stands out about the youngster is his ability on the ball. The 19-year-old, who can play as a right centre-back or a right-back, is clearly tidy in possession, as his 95.6% pass accuracy in the above table shows.

Not only that, but the London-born defender reads the game superbly, and can use his physicality to his advantage in defensive situations. Just look at this piece of defending in the Conference League, where he is able to use his strength to shepherd the ball to safety.

There is no doubting Acheampong’s ability. He has all the tools to become a genuine superstar, capable of playing in multiple positions across the back four, which is ideal for Maresca as he plans his defensive options for next season.

He is a player Chelsea will surely look to integrate into the first team in 2025/26. At the very least, if they do miss out on Huijsen, they are in safe hands, even more so, perhaps, than with Colwill at the back.

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