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Club unmoved by concern over empty stands against Sri Lanka, citing higher demand

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Sep-2024Ticket prices for next year’s Lord’s Test against India have risen once again, despite Marylebone Cricket Club coming in for severe criticism for the cost of entry to this summer’s Test against Sri Lanka.For the first three days of the India Test, which begins on July 10 next year, the cheapest adult tickets on offer are restricted-view seats for £90 each (£20 for under-16s). Those with a clear line of sight are priced between £120-£175 (£40-£50 for under-16s).These prices compare unfavourably with last month’s Test against Sri Lanka, for which the cost of unrestricted views ranged from £115-£140 for adults and £15-£40 for concessions.That Sri Lanka contest concluded on the fourth day, for which just 9,000 tickets (approx one-third capacity) were sold. This was, in part, a reflection of England’s current fast-paced approach to Test cricket, with several recent contests being wrapped up well in advance of the final day.MCC came under further criticism for failing to offer any reduced-entry options until after tea on that fourth day, when the price fell to £15 for adults and £5 for under-16s. By then, however, there were just three Sri Lanka wickets left to fall, and the lack of advance notice further prevented a significant take-up.Related

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Speaking in the aftermath of the Test, England’s stand-in captain Ollie Pope said that the subdued atmosphere had been noted by his team.”It was just like ‘jeez, it seems quiet today’,” he said. “I’m not sure if people expected the game to be done by day four or not. It’s a shame it wasn’t a full house because it was obviously a good day’s play.”Despite Guy Lavender, the chief executive and secretary of MCC, announcing that the club would be conducting a review into its fourth-day pricing policy, there is little concession for fans who hope to attend on that day for next year’s India Test. Under-16s will be admitted for £25, half the cost of the first three days, but tickets with a full view will still cost £90-£150.MCC’s rationale is that India are now the second-biggest draw in the English Test calendar, behind Australia, and the prices reflect the likely demand, which is in line with the policy adopted by other sports. The top-priced tickets for the 2023 Ashes Test were £170, which the club argues represents a below-inflation increase of £5.Lord’s is also due to host the World Test Championship final in June, which is currently on course to be contested between India and Australia, a rematch of the 2023 final at the Kia Oval. Tickets for that match are set between £70-130 for adults and £20-£50 for under-16s.England and India are also due to play a women’s ODI at Lord’s in 2025, for which adult tickets will be available for between £25 and £45. The men’s ODI against South Africa, on the other hand, will cost between £75 and £150.

Without Messi, the Herons recorded their first loss since July 16, when they fell to Cincinnati in MLS

Now ninth in the East with 42 pointsWill face LA Galaxy next SaturdayLuis Muriel scored a brace for Orlando CityFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Inter Miami’s 4-1 loss to Orlando City in the Florida Derby hit the Herons hard, as they were unable to count on Lionel Messi for a second consecutive match due to injury. Manager Javier Mascherano took the blame after Sunday’s setback at Exploria Stadium.

“The first person responsible is me, and I take full accountability,” he said after the match. “We have a long week ahead to reflect on what happened. As the leader of this group, it hurts to present the image we showed today. This has to be a turning-point match. When we take our foot off the gas, any team can beat us.”

The Argentine was disappointed after the result, as the team played its first MLS match following a strong group stage in the Leagues Cup.

“If we truly want to compete, this is not the way," he said. "There was only one team on the field today. We didn’t play with the intensity these games require. They outplayed us from the first minute to the last. Very hurt, very concerned.”

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Inter Miami missed Messi, as it was a painful defeat for the Herons in the Florida Clásico after being on a roll – they hadn’t lost a match since July 16, when they fell 3-0 to FC Cincinnati in MLS. It also marked their first defeat since Rodrigo de Paul’s arrival and their second straight loss to Orlando City.

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This was the 17th edition of the Florida Derby, and for the second straight time, the victory went to Orlando City, who now have seven wins, five draws, and five losses against Inter Miami.

Getty Images SportWHAT NEXT FOR INTER MIAMI?

The Herons face LA Galaxy next Saturday looking to return to winning ways.

It would be fair to say that, thus far, this hasn’t been a great transfer window for Tottenham Hotspur.

While their Premier League rivals have been making impressive signings left, right, and centre, Thomas Frank has been left waiting for the club to make another move after signing Mathys Tel on a permanent deal.

Worse yet, North London rivals Arsenal appear to have awoken from their slumber as well, and are starting to make waves in the market, most notably regarding the potential signing of Viktor Gyokeres.

However, things may soon be about to change, as reports have linked the Lilywhites to a Premier League star who could be Frank’s answer to the Sporting CP star.

Spurs target their own Viktor Gyokeres

Given their truly diabolical form in the competition last season, it makes sense that Spurs would be targeting some of the Premier League’s most exciting talents this summer.

Transfer Focus

However, thus far, the Europa League champions haven’t been able to secure any signatures, with Brentford star Bryan Mbeumo still looking more likely to join Manchester United over them, and Antoine Semenyo putting pen to paper on a new deal at Bournemouth.

Even Eberechi Eze, who was once again linked with the club this year, now looks like he could be joining Arsenal, alongside Gyokeres.

Yet, there is still reason to be optimistic, as the Lilywhites close in on a key target, a Premier League star who could be their answer to the Swede: Mohammed Kudus.

Yes, according to a recent report from transfers expert Fabrizio Romano, Spurs have maintained their intense interest in the West Ham United ace.

In fact, the Italian journalist claims the Ghanaian is now a “top target and a crucial target” for Frank and that even though their initial offer of £50m was rejected, they will bid again.

In terms of the final price, it has been reported elsewhere that the Hammers may be holding out for a fee in the region of £65m.

It appears that this would be a complicated and costly transfer to complete this summer, but one Spurs should fight to secure, especially as Kudus could be their Gyokeres.

Why Kudus could be Spurs' Gyokeres

The first thing to say is that, yes, Kudus and Gyokeres are fundamentally different players and occupy very different roles within their respective squads.

However, when we say the former could be Spurs’ answer to Arsenal signing the latter, we are not talking or even thinking about where they play.

Instead, the point is that, in a similar way to how the Swede is likely to transform the Gunners’ attack and potentially their fortunes next season, the Ghanaian star has the ability to do the same for the Lilywhites.

Appearances

48

35

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3781′

2721′

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18

5

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10

4

Goal Involvements per Match

0.58

0.25

Minutes per Goal Involvement

135.03′

302.33′

For example, while it’s certainly the case that his return of five goals and four assists in 35 appearances last season was underwhelming, his output the year before was nothing short of superb.

In 48 appearances, totalling 3781 minutes, the “generational talent,” as dubbed by journalist Gary Al-Smith, scored 18 goals and provided ten assists.

In other words, the Accra-born monster averaged a goal involvement every 1.71 games, or every 135.03 minutes, which is the sort of output that could fire Spurs up the table next season.

Furthermore, in addition to incredible ability in front of goal, the former Ajax gem can play anywhere from right wing to attacking midfield and even centre-forward, in turn giving Frank so many tactical options.

Finally, if you are still unconvinced over his game-changing potential, then you need only look at some of his underlying numbers.

Despite not having the best campaign in terms of output, FBref still ranked the international ace in the top 3% of attacking midfielders and wingers in Europe’s top five leagues for take-ons attempted and successful take-ons, as well as the top 6% for pass completion and goal-creating actions from long shots, among other metrics, all per 90.

Ultimately, Kudus may not have been at his very best last season, but the talent is there, and in the right environment, he could be utterly game-changing, and in a way, Spurs’ answer to Gyokeres moving to the red side of North London.

Shades of Haaland: Spurs submit bid for "one of the best STs in the PL"

Tottenham Hotspur have wasted no time in handing Thomas Frank the tools for success.

ByEthan Lamb Jul 6, 2025

Chelsea may be faced with a defensive headache for the new season after Trevoh Chalobah was withdrawn against AC Milan due to an injury concern.

Chalobah taken off against MilanAnkle injury concernColwill underwent ACL surgery this weekFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Chalobah was withdrawn in the 57th minute against the Italian giants after going down with what appeared to be an ankle injury. BBC Sport journalist Nizaar Kinsella reports on X that Chalobah limped off to be replaced by Josh Acheampong. The Blues will hope that the injury is not too serious.

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Chelsea centre-back Levi Colwill underwent surgery on an ACL injury just days ago, confirmed by the club on Thursday. The 22-year-old may be out for several months, meaning an injury lay-off for Chalobah could leave the Blues short at the back. The club will hope it was just precautionary to withdraw the 26-year-old against Milan.

DID YOU KNOW?

Chalobah came into his own and earnt a regular starting spot for the Blues in the second half of last season, following a strong loan spell with Crystal Palace before Christmas. It would be a major blow if Chelsea were without two of their first-choice central defensive options in Chalobah and Colwill, two full England internationals, for the beginning of the new season.

AFPWHAT NEXT FOR CHALOBAH AND CHELSEA?

Chelsea face Chalobah's former club Palace on the opening day of the Premier League season on August 17. The Cobham academy graduate will hope to return to training in time to feature at Stamford Bridge as the Conference League and Club World Cup winners begin their domestic campaign.

The visitors have Mitchell Swepson, Ashton Agar and Todd Murphy as spin-bowling options, even as they ponder replacements in their pace battery

Alex Malcolm06-Feb-20232:20

Ravi Shastri: ‘I want the ball to turn from day one’

Does Green play as a pure batter?Green broke his right index finger during the Boxing Day Test against South Africa last December, and thus required surgery. He did not pick up a bat for the next four weeks, with another seven days having passed since the injury. Australia coach Andrew McDonald has already confirmed that Green is currently unable to bowl, although he admitted that he was surprised at how well Green was batting given the short recovery time.Green is pushing to play as a pure batter in Nagpur, but the short turnaround from the injury and the obvious need to be protected in the field means it might be touch and go. If Green is not fit, Australia will almost certainly pick a specialist batter at No. 6, as they did against South Africa in the Sydney Test after Green’s injury. It was Matt Renshaw who had got the nod there, and he has been in tremendous form in all formats recently and has experience in India as an opener.Related

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But if Renshaw plays, Australia will have five left-handers in the top seven. Peter Handscomb is a realistic option if the selectors prefer a little more right-left balance to not give R Ashwin a chance to settle against a bevy of left-handers. Hanscomb is one of Australia’s better players of spin, and had the experience of playing all four Tests in 2017. He is also coming off two back-to-back big-run-scoring seasons in the Sheffield Shield, Australia’s premier first-class competition.Two spinners or three quicks?It seems highly likely that Australia will play two spinners as they have only three fit quicks to choose from following the injury to Hazlewood. Starc doesn’t arrive until after the first Test, as he continues to recover from his finger injury, while Green can’t bowl even if he does play. Australia did win at the old Vidarbha Cricket Association Ground in Nagpur in 2004 with three quicks and one spinner, but that was with Glenn McGrath, Jason Gillespie, Michael Kasprowicz and Shane Warne.Scott Boland has hardly bowled on a flat pitch in international cricket so far•Getty ImagesScott Boland looks set to play in place of Hazlewood, and has a good record on very flat, low pitches in Australia in the Shield, although he has hardly bowled on a flat pitch in international cricket so far. Australia have one other quick option in Lance Morris, who has made a name in Shield cricket as Australia’s fastest bowler, and has proven himself to be more than capable of reversing an old ball at high pace and troubling batters on slow surfaces.But Morris regularly plays in a five-man attack for Western Australia and is used in short impact spells. Thus, handing him a Test debut in a four-man attack – especially with Starc and Hazlewood missing, and Boland low on experience – would be a huge risk, especially on Indian pitches.Who partners Lyon?It was Ashton Agar in Australia’s previous Test in Sydney, as McDonald went on record stating that they wanted left-arm orthodox to complement Lyon, particularly with Travis Head’s improvement as a part-time offspinner heightening the need for a different skillset in the attack. Agar went wicketless and battled for control, which was understandable given he has worked tirelessly at becoming one of Australia’s best T20 bowlers in recent years at the expense of playing very few first-class games; before Sydney, his last Test had come back in 2017, while since 2021 he has played only four first-class games.Todd Murphy has emerged as arguably Australia’s second-best red-ball spinner but, like Lyon, he too is an offspinner, albeit a different one. The desire for a left-arm spinner is strong, though, given that in the previous game played at the venue of the first Test, Vidarbha bowled Gujarat out for 54 when defending only 73 in the Ranji Trophy, India’s premier first-class competition. Granted, that match was played on a side pitch while the Test between India and Australia will be held on one of the centre pitches, but it was left-arm spin that did most of the damage.Ashton Agar’s last Test in Asia had come in 2017•Getty ImagesNine of the ten wickets in Gujarat’s second innings – which happened to take place on the third day of the match itself – had fallen to left-arm orthodox spin, while 23 of the last 30 in the game also went to the same kind of bowling. The pitch for the first Test is expected to be very dry, and India are certain to have at least four right-hand batters in their top seven; that number could rise if they play one or both of Suryakumar Yadav and KS Bharat.But Murphy’s record against right-handers in seven first-class matches – with 14 wickets at 26.7, and a strike rate of 62.2 – far outweighs Agar’s in his last 12 matches (10 wickets at 75.9, while striking at 171.5).Legspinner Mitchell Swepson is also in the squad, having played four of Australia’s five Tests in Pakistan and Sri Lanka last year. But Australia’s selectors have flagged a clear preference for a fingerspinner offering more control in India, with even India not preferring Kuldeep Yadav at home in recent times; although the fact that all three of Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Axar Patel are better batters than Kuldeep might have also played a part.Eventually, Australia must decide between trying Agar for the first time in Asia in the last six years, or handing a debut to Murphy, which would leave them with two specialist offspinners, and a part-time offspinner in Head with very little rough to exploit outside the right-handers’ off stump given there will be no left-arm quicks playing in either team to create any footmarks to exploit.

“We can’t make mistakes against him tomorrow,” says Prabath Jayasuriya

Andrew Fidel Fernando22-Sep-2024If you’re a batter, your first Test at one of the most trying venues on the planet tends not to go well for you. Rachin Ravindra, though, is proving across formats, that he’s not your run-of-the-mill batter out of New Zealand.His fourth-innings vanguard, which by the end of day four has brought him 91 not out off 158, and pushed New Zealand into a spot where they still have an outside chance of victory, has been full of bravado.Sri Lanka’s offspinners attacked him outside off stump, figuring that as he likes to play shots out there, there will eventually be an edge that comes off his bat. The edge never materialised but plenty of runs did – 40 of his runs coming in the arc between backward point and cover, Ravindra’s shot-making frequent and consistent even when the pitch was spitting towards the end of the day.Related

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“I’ll be honest, the pitch isn’t easy – but there were periods there when Rachin made it look very easy,” said Ajaz Patel, who partnered Ravindra through the last few overs of the day.”He’s a phenomenal player. I think he’s world class. With his batting out there today, you saw him sticking to a solid plan for long periods, and trusting his skills. He’s got an amazing future in front of him. I’m grateful he’s on our team. He’s a headache to bowl to in first-class cricket.”When Sri Lanka switched to bowling straighter at him, Ravindra was no less proficient through the legside. He was ruthless when the bowlers erred even slightly on length, preferring the pull to the sweep as his main run-scoring option on the legside.In fact, four of his nine fours, and his one six all came through midwicket, with the six coming off a full toss.Opposition left-arm spinner Prabath Jayasuriya had serious praise for Ravindra too.”I mostly tried to bowl into the rough to him and turn it into him. Sometimes he was very good at latching on to the short balls.”There was some little chances that came off him. But he kept his patience and batted nicely. He hit the loose balls away and kept the good ones out. He played like someone who understood his game, and was sticking to a game plan. Sometimes we tried to take his wicket and bowled aggressively, but he turned those into scoring opportunities.”Sri Lanka now need two more wickets to win, while New Zealand need 68 for victory. Ravindra has to score those runs in the company of No. 10 Patel, and No. 11 Will O’Rourke. If he gets through that challenge, it may be the finest moment of his career to date – in Tests, at least.”We can’t make mistakes against him tomorrow,” Jayasuriya said. “We have to take those two wickets.”

Chelsea are mounting a serious push to sign a “mature” player who’s also a wanted man at Liverpool, with Enzo Maresca looking to shore up a key area of the squad which could be central to a major overhaul.

Maresca’s side are currently in the midst of an intriguing Club World Cup campaign after a long campaign, and they’ll face-off against Portuguese heavyweights Benfica in the last 16 after luckily avoiding Bayern Munich in the next round.

Player left "very surprised" by Chelsea decision with five-man sale possible

The west Londoners have U-turned over giving him a chance under Maresca.

1 ByEmilio Galantini Jun 25, 2025

The CWC is a controversial talking point given the clubs taking part will have precious little rest before the start of preparations for next season, but Chelsea are reportedly determined to win the tournament, especially with the significant prize money on offer for the victors.

Cole Palmer

7.33

Moises Caicedo

7.02

Enzo Fernández

6.95

Nicolas Jackson

6.88

Noni Madueke

6.82

via WhoScored

They’ve already pocketed £8.8 million in performance-related prize money after winning two of their opening three games, and if they get past Benfica, Chelsea will receive another £10.1 million (Standard Sport) – taking their total windfall from the CWC to nearly £20 million, plus their participation fee.

This kind of cash could do wonders to assist Chelsea’s recruitment drive whilst helping them comfortably avoid the PSR threshold, with Maresca reportedly keen to sign a new centre-back alongside wingers and a striker.

Their backline could look very different by the commencement of 2025/2026 in particular, as journalist Graeme Bailey recently reported. It is apparently very possible Trevoh Chalobah, Tosin Adarabioyo, Benoit Badiashile, Axel Disasi and Renato Veiga could all be sold before deadline day, with Chelsea having their eyes on firmly on Ajax defensive starlet Jorrel Hato, among others.

The versatile centre-back/left-back could upgrade the heart of Maresca’s defence whilst providing adept cover for Marc Cucurella, and he could be available for just £40 million.

Chelsea have held talks with Ajax over signing Hato, according to journalist Simon Phillips, and they’re still very much in pursuit of his signature.

Chelsea "pushing" to sign Jorrel Hato

As per Bailey, speaking to TBR Football in an update, both Arsenal and Liverpool are big fans of the Netherlands international, and Arteta’s side have been following him since his early teens.

However, Chelsea are “pushing hard” for Hato, so it could be the west Londoners who reign supreme in the race for his signature.

“We know that Chelsea are pushing hard to sign Hato and Liverpool still really like him. But I think Arsenal would be annoyed if they didn’t get Hato considering how much work they’ve been putting in,” said Bailey.

“Arsenal have been chasing Hato since he was around 14 or 15 years old, so I think there is a bit of confidence there. They want to sell Zinchenko to make room for Hato and then we still expect Kiwior to go as well.

“There will be plenty of room in that squad for Hato who is able to play a variety of roles.”

England international and ex-Liverpool midfielder Jordan Henderson knows his Ajax teammate very well, calling Hato “very mature” for his age and tipping him for a bright future.

“It’s crazy how young he is, but obviously how mature he looks when he’s on the pitch and also off the pitch,” he told Ajax’s official website, via the Liverpool Echo.

“He’s a very mature person. Works hard. Fantastic player. And yeah, he has a bright future ahead of him, I’m sure.”