A former Portsmouth goalkeeper has asked for his shirt back after Kanye West bizarrely wore a replica while launching his new product.

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Kanye West baffles fans with Portsmouth shirt photoRapper wore shirt while launching productPompey legend Alan Knight asks for shirt backWHAT HAPPENED?

On Thursday the controversial rapper launched his new Yeezy Pods socks with an Instagram post, in which he was wearing a 90s Pompey goalkeeper shirt. In response, the club's former number one Alan Knight took to Twitter to send a message to West.

AdvertisementWHAT ALAN KNIGHT SAID

Knight tweeted West's official X account and said: "Can I have my shirt back please buddy? PUP [Play up Pompey]."

THE BIGGER PICTURE

This isn't the first time West has publicly shown off his love of vintage football gear. In the past he has been spotted donning Manchester United shirts and jackets, while in October he appeared to wear a Tottenham 2001/02 third shirt at the Tyson Fury v Francis Ngannou fight.

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DID YOU KNOW?

Eagle-eyed Portsmouth fans noticed that the Asics logo – the manufacturer of the shirt – looked different on West's shirt to the one Knight wore in the 90s. One supporter suggested that West was wearing a training version of the shirt rather than the match version.

Wolverhampton Wanderers are in ongoing "negotiations" regarding a summer deal to bring Real Betis midfielder Guido Rodriguez to the Premier League, according to journalist Cesar Luis Merlo.

Who is Guido Rodriguez?

Rodriguez is naturally a defensive midfielder who has played his football at the Benito Villamarin Stadium for the past three years since joining from CF America back in January 2020, and during that time, he’s become a regular feature of Manuel Pellegrini’s side having started 33 out of 38 La Liga matches last season.

However, the 29-year-old’s contract is set to expire in less than a year meaning that there’s a strong chance he could be sold for a decent fee before the end of the current transfer window, and should he depart, he won’t be short of potential suitors waiting to snap him up.

The Argentina international firmly established himself as the Spanish outfit’s both defensive and overall top-performing player with a WhoScored match rating of 6.98 during the previous campaign, and it appears that his high standard of displays have caught the eye of Fosun and Julen Lopetegui at Molineux.

Are Wolves signing Guido Rodriguez?

Taking to Twitter, Merlo revealed that Wolves are currently in talks for Rodriguez, though at this stage, it doesn't sound as if a deal is anywhere close to completion between the two parties. He wrote:

"Wolves is interested in signing Guido Rodriguez, a Betis midfielder whose contract ends in June 2024. There are negotiations underway between the clubs, but for now nothing close to being finalised."

Wolves recently lost their talisman in Ruben Neves, who has completed a move to Saudi Pro League outfit Al-Hilal, so Lopetegui will need to enter the market for a suitable replacement in that defensive midfield position, and having been lauded a “creative” number six by journalist Josh Bunting, Rodriguez could be the perfect heir.

Last season he ranked in the 99th percentile for tackles and the 98th percentile for clearances versus other players in his position, form which saw him receive three man-of-the-match awards, highlighting his desire to get stuck in and clear the danger to protect his backline.

Real Betis’ £28k-per-week earner, however, is also capable of contributing to efforts in the final third having scored seven goals and provided three assists since joining, so the fact that he’s impactful at both ends of the pitch will be yet another attractive attribute to those at Molineux.

Furthermore, the Betis star has the flexibility to operate in four different positions across the pitch, including three roles in the midfield and even at centre-back, so he would be an excellent versatile option for the manager to have at his disposal.

Finally, Rodriguez already knows what it takes to compete and be successful at the highest level having secured eight pieces of silverware since the start of his career, the most notable being when he was crowned 2022 World Cup champion with Argentina, so he could instil a much-needed winning mentality into the rest of the squad in the Midlands.

AFC Bournemouth will host West Ham United on Saturday 12th August as the two teams kick off their Premier League campaigns. Here's everything you need to know about the history of this fixture.

Bournemouth vs West Ham: Who has the best head-to-head record?

These two clubs haven't typically been playing at the same level throughout their respective histories. There aren't too many fixtures to go on, then – only 17 competitive meetings, in fact.

The majority of those have come since the Cherries made it to the Premier League, of course. This will be their seventh season in the top flight.

The Hammers have been a better side and there were a couple of seasons in that span where they were much better. Overall, though, their records when going head-to-head are quite similar.

West Ham have won eight of the 17 games, with Bournemouth winning four. That leaves five as draws, for those keeping count.

Bournemouth vs West Ham: Who has the best record at the Vitality Stadium?

Eight of the 17 fixtures have come at Bournemouth – where the 12th August meeting will also take place. The record there is perfectly split, though, suggesting there's no great advantage for either side.

West Ham have won two, Bournemouth have won two, and the other four have all been draws. The latter feels like a relatively safe choice for anyone predicting a result on the opening weekend.

Bournemouth vs West Ham: Who has the best record at the London Stadium?

However, unlike at Bournemouth, there is a clear advantage to the Hammers when the fixture takes place in east London. Nine of the games have taken place there and the home side have won six of them.

Bournemouth have managed two wins, to their credit, but this one typically sees West Ham claim the victory. 2018 saw the single draw in that particular fixture, and the return game is currently stapled in for 30th January as the Cherries seek to improve their record.

Bournemouth vs West Ham: When did the sides first meet?

Despite recent fixtures dominating the history of this fixture, you do have to go back nearly a century for the first meeting between the two. It came in the FA Cup back in 1929.

It was the Round of 16 and the two sides were pitted against one another at Bournemouth. That game finished 1-1, however, meaning they returned to West Ham for a replay shortly afterwards. West Ham saw the Cherries off in that one, winning 4-1 at home to progress to the quarter-finals.

Portsmouth would then knock them out, if anyone was wondering, with the south coast outfit eventually losing to Bolton Wanderers in the final.

Bournemouth vs West Ham: How many competitions have they met in?

While there have only been 17 fixtures between the two, they've managed to spread them across several competitions, with the sides meeting in four tournaments.

The Premier League has seen 12 clashes, all coming since Bournemouth's 2015 promotion. But as mentioned earlier, West Ham and Bournemouth did first meet in the FA Cup nearly a century ago.

It would be 60 years before they'd come across one another again, though. They were both in the old Second Division for the 1989/90 season, playing each other twice in their first league meetings. They'd draw at Bournemouth before West Ham won 4-1 at home.

Another 10-year break followed, as the next fixture between the two didn't come until 1999 as they were drawn against one another in the League Cup 3rd round. Again, West Ham would win 2-0 at home to progress in that one.

Bournemouth vs West Ham: What is their Premier League record?

We've now had six seasons of Bournemouth vs West Ham and things have been very even so far. Of the 12 games, West Ham have won the most with five, while Bournemouth have picked up four wins, with only the three draws so far.

But breaking this down further, Bournemouth things are literally even – two wins each, two draws from the six games. That changes a little when the fixture is at West Ham as the Hammers have won three to their opponent's two (one draw).

This one has been pretty difficult to predict, then. The two clubs are about as even as you can expect over 12 games of football.

Bournemouth vs West Ham: Which team has the most goals?

17 fixtures doesn't exactly allow for a mountain of goals in this fixture, of course. We've seen 59 in total, spread in favour of West Ham.

And that's perhaps the biggest revelation here. Despite results being quite even, West Ham have managed 37 goals to Bournemouth's 22. When the Hammers win, they tend to win big.

In the Premier League alone, the 12 top-flight games have seen West Ham net 26 times to Bournemouth's 18. Funnily enough, they've scored fewer in east London than they have away from home – 12 to 14. Bournemouth, though, do tend to score more at home, with 11 to their 7 away strikes.

Bournemouth vs West Ham: What is Bournemouth's biggest win?

Bournemouth's biggest win in this fixture is fairly modest. It came in January 2019 as they beat West Ham 2-0 at home thanks to goals from Callum Wilson and Joshua King.

Other than that, the Cherries' wins have always been by the odd goal. Thus, their biggest away win is just a 2-1 victory, with Steve Cook scoring the winner after Wilson cancelled out Marko Arnautovic's opener.

Bournemouth vs West Ham: What is West Ham's biggest win?

West Ham's biggest win in this one is 4-0 – a feat they've achieved twice. The first came in January 2020 at home. This was a season that would eventually see Bournemouth suffer relegation and this result set them well on their way.

Mark Noble scored twice, Sebastien Hallér grabbed one and Felipe Anderson rounded off the scoring.

The other 4-0 thrashing came at Bournemouth, meaning West Ham's biggest away win is the same as their biggest home win. This one happened in the most recent clash between the two teams, too.

Michail Antonio opened the scoring back in April, with Lucas Paquetá, Declan Rice and Pablo Fornals also finding the net – a dominant display that will carry West Ham into the season opener with confidence.

Bournemouth vs West Ham: What were the recent results?

Bournemouth's relegation in 2020 means the last few games between the two have seen a big gap between them. Only the last two feel particularly relevant, as a result.

And last season was West Ham's without a doubt. They won 2-0 at home before smashing the Cherries 4-0 away; 6-0 across two games, six points – you can't really ask for much more.

The last game before that relegation – the third-most recent fixture – was also a dominant 4-0 West Ham win.

But things were brighter for Bournemouth up to that game. In fact, the first of those 4-0 wins was West Ham's first victory in the fixture in seven attempts. They drew 2-2 in late 2019 after Bournemouth beat the Hammers 2-0 earlier that year.

Those results had followed two more draws and a Bournemouth win dating back to early 2017. The Cherries do have a period of success in this fixture, then.

Bournemouth vs West Ham: How did the Cherries do last season?

Bournemouth would eventually finish five points clear of the relegation zone but things were incredibly dicey for a while. A 9-0 defeat to Liverpool early in the season saw manager Scott Parker depart, reportedly over transfer plans.

Gary O'Neil stepped into his shoes and did very well, all things considered, even getting a Manager of the Month nod. It wasn't quite enough to keep him in the job this season, however, as he left the club in June to make way for Andoni Iraola.

Bournemouth vs West Ham: How did the Hammers do last season?

In the Premier League, West Ham were massively disappointing. Their previous seasons suggested they'd compete for European football. Instead, they finished 14th – six points above relegation and just a single point ahead of Bournemouth.

But that isn't the whole story, of course. David Moyes would guide West Ham to the second-ever Europa Conference League title, bringing home a European trophy for the first time since 1965 (not counting the Intertoto Cup, sorry).

Bournemouth vs West Ham: Who are the favourites?

History suggests this one could be close, given it's at Bournemouth. At the same time, West Ham won there 4-0 last season and they'll be entering the new season with plenty of confidence.

Though, at the same time, the influx of cash from selling Declan Rice means no one can be sure what West Ham's team will even look like come the opener. They'll surely make a few signings between then and now – who knows what effect that will have?

Bournemouth, on the other hand, will certainly be an unknown quantity. They've appointed Iraola as their new manager, on top of a few first-team signings that could change the squad quite significantly.

And so, as with most season openers, this one has a lot of questions around it. We likely won't really know what the two teams are like until the game is over.

When is Bournemouth vs West Ham?

Bournemouth will host West Ham United in the Premier League on Saturday 12th August at 3pm UK time. It'll be the 18th competitive meeting between the two sides.

This is the season opener for both sides, with each undergoing big changes over the summer transfer window.

Both will surely feel they have points to prove this coming term, with West Ham looking to return to prominence following their European glory and the Cherries hoping to consolidate themselves as a solid top-flight outfit once again under new management.

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The spin combination of Hayley Matthews, Afy Fletcher and Stafanie Taylor worked through Sri Lanka’s batting order to set up a six-wicket victory for West Indies in the first match between the two – which counts for points in the ICC Women’s Championship – in Tarouba. Sri Lanka’s batting floundered against the three, who picked three apiece, as they collapsed from 63 for 1 to 136 all out.Sri Lanka lost their first wicket in the 12th over after opener Nipuni Hansika was struck on the pads by legspinner Fletcher. Yasoda Mendis and Chamari Atapattu set up a 41-run second-wicket partnership, with the latter becoming the first Sri Lanka batswoman to score 2000 runs in ODI. Matthews’ charge, however, removed both the batsmen before they could build on their starts. She also dismissed the No. 5 Prasadani Weerakkody for 8.Taylor and Fletcher scythed through the rest of the order as Sri Lanka fell away quickly.West Indies were off to a shaky start as they lost Kycia Knight and Taylor inside the first five overs. With 49 for 2 on the scoreboard, Matthews retired hurt on 22 and had to be stretchered off after the third ball of the 20th over. Having pulled the ball to short square leg, she dropped on her knees, clutching her right thigh. Earlier, following the third ball of the 14th over, she had received medical assistance for what seemed to be slight unease with her left hamstring. However, later she confirmed to ESPNcricinfo: “It was just bad cramp, but I’m all good”.After Matthews departed, Chedean Nation and Deandra Dottin kept the chase ticking along before slow left-armer Inoka Ranaweera removed both of them and reached the 50th-wicket milestone in ODIs. However, Merissa Aguilleira (32 of 48 balls) and Kyshona Knight (21 off 36 balls) finished the job over the next ten overs.Matthews was named the Player of the Match for her spell of 10-2-18-3.

Full transcript of Ashish Nehra’s post-match interview with host broadcaster Star Sports following his final international appearance

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Nov-20172:13

‘Can’t wake up and train just for IPL’ – Nehra

Sanjay Manjrekar: It’s nice after retirement when you can take a lap of the ground, walking. You don’t have to run anymore and train for your next game.Ashish Nehra: I will miss all this. That’s what you train for. Like I have said earlier also, the one thing which will definitely be at peace and relaxed will be my body, because I really pushed myself. Earlier, I said I could have pushed myself for another couple of months or years, who knows? But I thought it’s the right time when you’re playing. You can’t get bigger than this or better than this when you’re retiring in blue clothes.Must also be a nice feeling to bowl the last over with 60 runs to win because that doesn’t happen very often in T20 cricket.I must be one bowler who bowled the last over most number of times for India. But maybe the pressure on those occasions was different, with 6, 8, 10 or 12 to defend. Today, there was no pressure. And it’s a good feeling. Virat was on my case from the last two-three overs to bowl one over; I said I’ll bowl the last one for sure.Your journey started in 1999. You almost went through two generations of Indian players. How did the game change from the time you started playing to now?It’s a big change. I have seen the last 18-19 years. I played my first game here in 1997, which was 20 years ago. And the game has changed drastically since then. The rules have changed and so many runs are being scored. But one thing’s for sure: this team is here to stay; doesn’t matter what the rules are, because this is an amazing team. Indian cricket is in good hands for the next six to eight years. I hate comparisons. It’s very difficult to compare that generation to this generation. Earlier also we had superb players; I can’t name one or two. I have played under Sourav Ganguly, MS [Dhoni], played with Sachin [Tendulkar]. All in all, it’s been a great journey.Your most memorable performances? What about against England in Durban where you took six wickets, because that is something that I remember especially.More than the performance, I would definitely say it’s a memory. In India, they remember your memories more. I was telling Viru earlier also; Viru scored so many runs, but when it comes to Virender Sehwag, people say , 300. Or you played so much cricket, but people will always remember that Pakistan double-hundred. So that is one memory with me. You could also say the Karachi last over [in 2004], or people will remember that Ashish Nehra bowled the last over when we lost against South Africa in the [2011] World Cup. So it’s difficult to pick one performance.Sometimes you bowl 10-20 overs and pick one wicket or you don’t pick even a single wicket. But when you go back to your room, you feel today I have bowled well and I’m comfortable. At times, you pick wickets even off a full-toss or because somebody takes a brilliant catch. Those things will always be there, but as a cricketer, ultimately it’s on you when you stand in front of the mirror to realise how well you’re doing or what else you can do.In my case, with my body – I had so many injuries and so many surgeries. So many people have asked me, ‘definitely you would have liked to play more Test cricket?’ And I always say, yeah, but it’s up to you how you see it: glass half-full or half-empty. I played my last Test match 13 years back when I was 24 or 25, but that’s a part of life. In the end, I don’t think there’s anyone more fortunate than me, standing here retiring after 18-19 years at your home ground in blue clothes. I have no regrets.And look at the crowd as well. They were so happy for you when you bowled the final over as well. They were right into it, so this is a great end. Not too many people have the kind of privilege you had today.I just want to thank the crowd. They have been great supporters of Indian cricket. I have been playing on this ground for the last 20 years, they have been great supporters throughout.Well done, Ashish, and have a happy retired life. Enjoy yourself.Thank you very much. I am always happy, retired or otherwise.

The opening partnership, Babar Azam’s form, the middle-order positions and balance of the attack: Mickey Arthur has admitted he has a lengthy list of issues to resolve

Osman Samiuddin09-Oct-2017Before this series began, Pakistan were faced with a few questions. Some were familiar ones, like who should open. Others were new – who replaces Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan in the middle order, and how does that impact the order?Nine days into the series, 1-0 down to a side one place below in the Test rankings, and faced with the very real prospect of losing a long-standing unbeaten home record, coach Mickey Arthur admitted their answers to these questions were wrong.Arthur: It’s a bit of a worry. It is a worry. I’ve got a lot of faith in Babar because I think he is a very good player. But his white-ball form needs to start transforming into Test form. He’s had a very slow start to his Test career, for a player of his ability. I’m still confident that he will come through and that he will be a very good player for Pakistan going forward. We’ve just got to guide him through as best we can.”Arthur: It’s kept me awake at night to be honest. It’s tough. I thought we had it nailed I’ve got to be honest. I was comfortable that we had the right combinations. I was comfortable we had enough left-hand, right-hand combinations. I thought we had the next best batsmen available in Pakistan playing for us. I’ll be honest I’m not 100% sure now.And before we tour again, we’ve got a long break now before we go to England, we’re going to have to sit down and really apply our minds and have a look again as to what we think is our best top six going forward.Arthur: It’s still too early to say. I would’ve loved Asad to be playing the innings he is from No. 4 because that just solves the problem for us. With him going down to five, it throws up another conundrum for us because he’s playing so well at five, is that his right position? I’m not so sure. We’re going to have to really apply our minds going forward with what our right top six is.Arthur: In terms of rationale one of the things always pointed out about Pakistan cricket is that there hasn’t been any continuity. We’ve tried to get continuity with our players, albeit the right decision or the wrong decision. We’ve tried to create continuity – Pakistan cricket is synonymous with dropping players, bringing them back, dropping them again, bringing them back again. We want to give guys an opportunity and then we can make a proper decision on it.Has our opening partnership worked for us in this series? It probably hasn’t but that is something we’ll discuss going forward. The easy option would be Azhar going back up and that then opens another position at no. 3. At the moment we’ve got a lot of soul searching to do to figure out what our best top six is.Arthur: We just thought it was our best possible attack, whether that was right or wrong, it’s something I need to get my head around. I’ve come from and coached in places where pace dominates and wins games. I’ve got to get my thinking round these totally different conditions.Whether we like it or not though our attack has done a job. We should’ve chased down 136 in Abu Dhabi. Without a doubt. And then we would’ve said the attack has done its job.The other thing is, no disrespect to the spinners we’ve got because they’re young, but if it’s Yasir Shah and Saeed Ajmal, it’s a no-brainer. But we don’t have Saeed Ajmal as the second spinner. We’re working with a set of young spinners. Bilal Asif and Mohammad Asghar have worked the house down. Asghar will be good. When we give him that opportunity is something we need to look at. And perhaps the opportunity was here. Maybe tactically I messed up on that.Strategically when we set about looking at how we’d go about this, we asked for wickets that did a little bit more than they have done. We asked for a little bit more grass because that would nullify Sri Lanka’s spinners and give our quick bowlers an opportunity. Whether that can happen in the UAE, I’m not sure. Maybe that was a pipe dream as far as I was concerned. But that was our strategy going into the series.

Elsewhere, Keenan Vaz and Amogh Desai steadied Goa after Bengal’s Ashok Dinda struck to pick three wickets on the day

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Nov-2017

Anmolpreet Singh’s unbeaten 252 propeled Punjab to 645 for 6 dec in Amritsar. This is Anmolpreet’s second double-century this season, his previous being his career-best 267 against Chhattisgarh in Raipur earlier this month. In reply, Services were off to a shaky start as they finished the day on 130 for 4.After a 99-run partnership with Shubman Gill (129 off 142 balls), 19-year-old Anmolpreet struck two century partnerships on the day – 146 runs with Gurkeerat Singh Mann and 125 runs with Abhishek Gupta – to take Punjab past 500 before lunch. He also stitched an 87-run stand with No. 7 Taruwar Kohli to push Punjab’s total past 600.Services, however, endured a top-order wobble as they lost their top three batsmen within 12 overs for 33 runs. It was the 72-run stand between the captain Rahul Singh and Nakul Verma for the fourth wicket that saved them from further trouble.Amogh Desai (53*) and Keenan Vaz (40*) steadied Goa after Ashok Dinda’s three-for rattled their line-up as they finished on 191 for 5 against Bengal on the second day in Kolkata.Resuming from their first day score of 305 for 5, Bengal lost their overnight batsman Writtick Chatterjee in the day’s fourth over. In the 96th over, medium pacer Heramb Parab struck back-to-back to remove Boddupalli Amit and Kanishk Seth. In the subsequent over, Lakshay Garg dismissed the overnight centurion Anustup Majumdar (119 off 208 balls), to finish with a four-for. Within the next three overs, Bengal were bowled out for 379.In reply, Goa were off to a decent start and were 115 for 3 at tea, after which Dinda effected a couple of wickets, leaving them reeling at 130 for 5. It was Desai and Vaz who sparked the resistance to add a 61-run partnership for the sixth wicket.The captain Faiz Fazal (125*) and Sanjay Ramaswamy (104*) struck a 237-run opening partnership to give Vidarbha the upper hand against Himachal Pradesh on the second day in Nagpur. The pair had earlier made the highest opening stand in the team’s history, heaping 259 runs in the match against Bengal in the previous round.Starting the day from their overnight score of 287 for 6, Himachal Pradesh surrendered within the first 18 overs for 353 on the day as Rajneesh Gurbani picked three wickets to finish with a six-for. In reply, Vidarbha saw a strong start, with Fazal and Ramaswamy bringing up their 150-run partnership shortly before tea, as Himachal bowlers found no respite.

Josh Hazlewood felt a fifth bowler would allow him, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins to bowl at their best and fastest, while easing some of the load off Nathan Lyon

Daniel Brettig02-Nov-2017Josh Hazlewood’s return to fitness will mean New South Wales will field Australia’s Ashes bowling attack against Western Australia in the unassuming surrounds of Hurstville Oval from Saturday, though the tall fast man admits he would like to see some extra bowling cover in the Test squad when it is finally announced.The certainty around the shape of Steven Smith’s top four bowlers and top five batsmen is in sharp contrast to the vast speculation about who will fill the spots at Nos. 6 and 7, in recent times nominally the preserve of an allrounder and a wicketkeeper. Australia’s selectors will not be unveiling their Gabba squad until the day after the third round of Sheffield Shield matches on November 17, having gained precious little relevant information from the first, floodlit fixtures.Returning to the state team following a side strain in Bangladesh and a 10-over spell in Sydney club cricket on the weekend, Hazlewood said he would like to see a fifth bowling option present in the Australian Test side. That balance would aid him, Mitchell Starc and Pat Cummins in bowling at their best and fastest, notwithstanding the outstanding recent displays of the spin bowler Nathan Lyon. Moises Henriques is the allrounder for NSW, while Hilton Cartwright and Marcus Stoinis seem the most likely contenders to fulfill that role in the Test team.”It’s always nice having that allrounder to maybe bowl five or six overs throughout the day,” Hazlewood said. “I think the way Gaz has bowled over the last 12-18 months has been fantastic and he’s been shouldering the workload if it does get put upon the quicks. But for balance you want runs and wickets from that No. 6 batter … you could go either way.”It’s always great to have a full-strength NSW side, a lot of Test experience, the skipper and vice skipper there as well, so yeah really looking forward to getting out there. Western Australia are really strong at the moment in all formats, so looking forward to a good game.”It’s usually one or the other [of Starc or Cummins] at different stages, so it’s great to get them together. We’ve got a pretty good record when we’re all together bowling. We’re pretty used to bowling together these days, whether it’s for Australia or NSW, so we’ll just take it as another game and try to get those 20 wickets.”In making his recovery from the side strain, Hazlewood was several weeks behind Starc’s own rehabilitation from a foot problem, meaning he was unable to play in the first Shield round. This means he will play consecutive Shield games before the Gabba Test, creating a delicate balance between the demands of Smith, the selectors and medical staff trying to manage his workload.”The other guys played last week and this week and I think they’re having a rest for game three,” Hazlewood said. “I’m playing game three since I missed the first one. It’s a good build-up, two Shield games before the first Test, and hopefully get through the first Test as well. Ideally you’d want to play the same as Mitch and Pat, the first two, but I don’t see it as much of a big deal, we’ll just bowl a little bit less in the nets leading into it if we bowl a bit more in the game.”It feels really good, it’s got better every session from when I started bowling probably four or five weeks ago, it feels good now, nice and strong, so hopefully it stays that way. Very close to, if not, 100%.”Another contender for the Ashes, Nathan Coulter-Nile, has been bizarrely withdrawn from WA’s Shield team to face NSW at Hurstville and will instead bowl a limited number of overs for an invitational XI against the Englishmen in Perth on November 4 and 5. Hazlewood, who has himself had his bowling load closely managed over numerous years, took the view that it was a chance for a speedy compatriot to place some early doubts in the minds of the touring team’s batsmen.”I see it more as a positive I think, that he can maybe crack open a few of them early and create a few scars in their top order and middle order maybe,” he said. “Disappointing he’s not playing in the Shield game against us, but he’s had trouble with injuries in the past few years so that’s the reason he’s playing there.”Their top order, it’ll be their first hit on tour, and to have a guy there like Coults there to warm them up I guess to maybe create a few scars would be nice. That’s their plan too, to start with the bounciest, quickest wicket and get used to that straight away.”Elsewhere, the national selectors named the Cricket Australia XI squad to face Joe Root’s England tourists in a pair of Ashes warm-up matches, first in Adelaide (November 8-11) and then Townsville (November 15-18). The experienced Tim Paine and the NSW seamer Gurinder Sandhu add experience to the side, which also features the more youthful talents of Will Pucovski and Jason Sangha.Cricket Australia XI squad: Jake Carder, Jackson Coleman, Michael Cormack, Daniel Fallins, Ryan Gibson, Nick Larkin, Simon Milenko, Tim Paine, Will Pucovski, Gurinder Sandhu, Jason Sangha, Matthew Short.

South Africa’s new-look bowling attack have had a slightly gentle easing-in against Bangladesh and as their leader Kagiso Rabada is aware of both the potential they have and the challenges they will face in the future

Firdose Moonda in Bloemfontein07-Oct-2017Given the complete lack of a contest in this clash between South Africa and Bangladesh, there is very little that can be read into the result. It tells us only what we already know, that South Africa are a stronger team than Bangladesh, but maybe, it also tells us something more.This South African side has just about a full-strength batting line-up (AB de Villiers is the only notable absentee) but an almost entirely new-look attack. Kagiso Rabada, with 22 caps, is the most experienced member of the pack in the current XI and is now properly establishing himself as its leader. Wayne Parnell is making his umpteenth comeback, having never become a regular. Duanne Olivier and Andile Phehlukwayo are trying to make cases for more permanent places.Bavuma has a knack of never giving up – Rabada

Temba Bavuma was the only batsman in South Africa’s top five who did not cash in on a good surface against a toothless attack but he made up for it in a milli-second in the field.
Bavuma was at gully when Mushfiqur Rahim prodded at a back-of-a-length delivery from Duanne Olivier that flew off the face and forced Bavuma into immediate action. He dived one-handed to his right and pouched the ball when it was nearly past him to dismiss the Bangladesh captain and create another moment of fielding magic, which his team-mates more than appreciated.
“It wasn’t a nice situation for Temba – you get out at times. He is the only one who didn’t score a hundred. It happens to the best. But every time when he doesn’t score with the bat, he does something in the field,” Rabada said. “He’s got that knack of never giving up. He always contributes to the team. They depend on Mushfiqur so it was an important moment in the game

Without disrespecting Bangladesh, Rabada indicated that all of them have been given a gentle easing-in, and South Africa have been allowed a glimpse into what lies ahead without much to block their view. “We were sitting down and I was speaking to Quinny saying that all the guys we played with and against at school are all in the team now and are coming up. South Africa is in good hands in the future,” Rabada, who become Test cricket’s leading wicket-taker in 2017, said. “It gets much tougher than Bangladesh, of course. You can play them in their conditions and it’s a different story. It gets harder from here. This is not it.”That South African cricket is in safe hands is a bold statement to make, not least because there are many arguments against it. The most obvious is the domestic system, which has been ravaged by Kolpaks and has not thrown up any stand-out names to compete with the current crop.Aiden Markram was the most recent one and though he has made the step-up seamlessly, there are not too many candidates who look like they will be able to do the same. In seasons to come that may change, but for now, the pressure is on the incumbents to do the job, none more so than Rabada.When South Africans think of their next “it” cricketer, they think of him. Though he went through a quiet period in England, the signs from him this summer suggest he is in good rhythm. He didn’t go as far as to confirm that, but hinted he is maturing enough to have learnt to work through setbacks.”There is expectation and there will be pressure. No-one is a Rambo, we are all human beings. You have to find ways to cope with it,” Rabada said. “The best players and the guys who have been in the longest have found ways to cope with it. Sometimes it can get bigger and you have to find a new way to deal with it. You grow as a person when things are not going your way.”Having a new coach will help. Not because the previous one – Russell Domingo, who Rabada was a supporter of – did anything wrong but because his replacement, Ottis Gibson brings fresh ideas. “He is a very stern character but at the same time he is lenient. He doesn’t beat around the bush. He cracks jokes with the guys,” the also-stern Rabada said. “He brings in his own dynamic, something as South Africans we are not particularly used to, but the guys are enjoying what he brings to the table. When we do the warm-ups, we do things in a different style and the guys enjoy it.”Like the team, Gibson’s performance also cannot be properly assessed on this series but the early signs are good. Gibson has managed to impress on his men that this assignment should be taken seriously and apart from some dropped catches in Potchefstroom, South Africa have been clinical.They’ve even been hard on themselves when it hasn’t quite gone according to plan, like when Liton Das enjoyed a period of run-scoring in the afternoon. Rabada would not like to see that repeated.”Liton Das came in at a time where the ball got a bit soft and it wasn’t doing much. He is a good player and I thought he was nice and patient and aggressive. I thought we missed our mark with him at times, giving him freebies so that’s something we have to talk about and execute tomorrow so it doesn’t happen again,” he said.Ultimately, South Africa know that if “we just stuck to our plans and at the end of the day the batsmen got themselves out”. Bangladesh’s capitulation means interest in this series will sink even lower and discussions around the standard of Test cricket between top-tier and lower-tier countries may be sparked again.For Rabada, it’s not about the gap but how South Africa have filled it. “I don’t think you can compare a first-class game to an international game, but it feels like one because there isn’t a crowd. It’s very peaceful. We didn’t take them lightly. We prepared very well and we executed our plans well. They’ve got some good players so we made sure we didn’t give them any space.”

The 19-year-old centre-back, renowned for his speed and leadership qualities, is the fifth academy graduate to make his debut under Erik ten Hag

Manchester United have had to make a few unorthodox selections this season due to their injury crisis, but none of the surprises Erik ten Hag has pulled this season can rival fielding 19-year-old Willy Kambwala away to West Ham on December 23.

Kambwala was so obscure that his name could not be found on the matchday programme at the London Stadium. He had only once before been named in the matchday squad, the previous week at Anfield, and wasn't part of United's main group on their pre-season tour to the United States, while many other youngsters featured.

So who is the defender that Ten Hag has thrown into the deep end? GOAL has all you need to know…

Where it all began

Kambwala was born in the Democratic Republic of Congo on 25 August 2004 and moved to France with his family at the age of five. He was raised in the town of Les Ulis in the southwestern suburbs of Paris and got his footballing education with French side Sochaux.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesThe big break

Kambwala made a stir in French youth football and captained the France side at Under-16 level, which attracted the attention of United. Just a few months later, aged 16, he joined the Red Devils for a fee of £3.5 million on transfer deadline day in October 2020 amid reported competition from Liverpool as United moved to sign a host of young stars from abroad, including both Alejandro Garnacho and Alvaro Fernandez as well as Kambwala.

How it's going

After a decent first season in England, Kambwala was forced to sit out the majority of his second campaign after suffering a serious ankle injury in October 2021 that forced him to miss 11 months of action, including United's FA Youth Cup triumph in 2022.

He returned the following season and began to make his mark on the U21s side, with whom he travelled to the U.S. separately from Ten Hag's squad, and he featured for just 17 minutes against Wrexham during the trip.

Then, having trained alongside the first-team squad for a short period, he was included in the matchday squad against Liverpool on December 17. With Harry Maguire, Lisandro Martinez, Victor Lindelof and Raphael Varane all ruled out due to injury or illness, he was handed his debut six days later against West Ham as he partnered Jonny Evans at the heart of the United defence.

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Getty ImagesBiggest strengths

Despite his age, Kambwala is very strong physically and is remarkably tall, measuring 6'4. On his debut for the U18s team against Derby County, his speed and intelligence shone through. He is also known for his leadership qualities and has given motivational speeches to younger players, advising them on how to make it as a footballer.