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Inigo Perez, who currently manages La Liga side Rayo Vallecano, is the latest name “under consideration” by Wolverhampton Wanderers to fill their current vacancy in the dugout.

After picking up just two points from an available 30 in their opening 10 Premier League games, Vitor Pereira was dismissed from his post as manager. Wolves have determined who will take interim charge of the club against Chelsea on Saturday, but will no doubt hope for a swift appointment as James Collins took press conference duties on Friday.

Unsurprisingly, a number of managers have been linked with Wolves and it will take a gargantuan effort to lift the Old Gold out of their current slump. Middlesbrough manager Rob Edwards appears to be their preferred choice, although Boro are hesitant to let go of the head coach who, hired last summer, has made a strong start at the Riverside Stadium.

Reports from Spain, however, have indicated that Wolves were looking to options from abroad to replace Pereira.

Wolves keen on Perez of Rayo Vallecano

Radio Marca, as per Sport Witness, have stated that Inigo Perez has “received calls from Wolves” about becoming their next manager. A former midfielder, Perez spent a season as Rayo Vallecano’s assistant manager under Andoni Iraola, who is now doing brilliant things with Bournemouth.

Returning to the club in 2024 as manager, Perez guided Vallecano to Conference League football through their eighth-placed finish in La Liga last season. The club are unbeaten in Europe after three matches and with 11 league games played, are 10th in the table.

Perez has since acknowledged that he understands comparisons between Iraola, himself and the way their teams play, a brand of football that is clearly effective.

Interest in Perez is understandable, though Diario de Navarra, once again as per Sport Witness, have claimed that Perez “wants to stay at Rayo Vallecano until the end of this season.” As such, he has “rejected the offers” he has received from Wolves and other interested parties.

It feels imperative that Wolves, who are still without a league win this season, soon find a replacement for Pereira, given the predicament they find themselves in. Perez, however, will seemingly not be that man.

If Perez continues to impress as he has done during his reign so far, then he may soon follow Iraola to the Premier League. It would appear that, for now, Wolves will have to turn to an alternative target.

Ex Man Utd manager would be open to talks with Wolves

Liverpool aren’t doing so well this season. Last year’s indomitable air is a far cry from the tepid and toothless performances of the new campaign, with five defeats inflicted on Arne Slot’s side from six recent Premier League matches.

There is no way to sugarcoat it: that is so far below Anfield’s expectations that it beggars belief. Slot was so pained last season by that sole home defeat to Nottingham Forest, so frustrated by that stain on his copybook, even against the backdrop of a title-winning campaign.

But so many losses have become the norm for Liverpool this season, whose title defence is in tatters and whose focus is currently on establishing enough form and focus to recover a place in the Premier League’s top four.

Slot has got a lot to chew on before the November international break winds up and Liverpool host Forest in the top flight, a game they simply cannot afford to lose – again.

Aside from the lack of intensity and physicality in key areas and fragilities in defence, Liverpool’s widths have been well out of sorts this season, and this is something that needs fixing quickly.

Liverpool's struggles out wide

Mohamed Salah’s startling drop-off this season has been among the biggest concerns for Liverpool, but the Egyptian King has done it all before, and he will surely recover his potency in front of goal before his £400k-per-week contract expires in 2027.

More concerning, perhaps, is the form of Florian Wirtz, who joined from Bayer Leverkusen for £116m this summer but has yet to prove FSG have got bang for their buck.

The 22-year-old is clearly an incredible talent, but it hasn’t happened so far, with Liverpool’s wider tactical imbalances making it difficult for the playmaker to find a secure place in Slot’s line-up, flitting between the left flank and a creative berth from the centre.

Likewise, Cody Gakpo has struggled to impress. The left-sided forward has four goals and three assists across all competitions this term, but he’s lacked nuance in his expression.

It’s proving a tough ask for Slot to find a solution that will synergise this struggling frontline and restore Liverpool to their former level.

However, one Redman has enjoyed quite the impressive display for his nation in a World Cup qualifier this week, and in a position which could reshape his role at Liverpool over the coming months.

Slot may have his left wing solution

So much has gone wrong at Liverpool this season, but the form of Hugo Ekitike since joining from Eintracht Frankfurt for an initial £69m this summer cannot be counted among the negatives.

Ekitike is a striker, and was signed as such, but he played out on the left wing for France on Thursday evening as Didier Deschamps’ side defeated Ukraine 4-0 in their penultimate World Cup qualifier, with reporter Bence Bocsak praising his “very impressive” effort, having earlier noted that the star’s slickness and skill on the ball “reminds me of Bobby Firmino”.

Could it be that Liverpool have their left wing solution right here? This is hardly revelatory, but the dynamic forward has proved he has what it takes to produce a show-stopping performance from out wide here, and there’s a case to be made that he offers more than Gakpo does when in the role.

Indeed, were Ekitike to play from the left with regularity, it would only impede Gakpo in his hopes of stringing many minutes together across the season and beyond, especially as he will be competing with Wirtz.

But the one-time PSG prospect’s display demonstrated his potential in the position, a menace throughout after coming off the bench in the first half due to an injury to Bradley Barcola.

It was a spectacular goal, the 23-year-old collecting and driving forward from inside his own half, skating past defenders and entering the danger area before playing a neat connection with Kylian Mbappe and then striking true.

Minutes played

67′

Goals

1

Touches

22

Shots (on target)

4 (2)

Accurate passes

6/9 (67%)

Unsuccessful touches

3

Dribbles

2/2

Recoveries

1

Ground duels

4/5

Ekitike might not have enjoyed much success by way of passing, but he demonstrated how effective he can be with limited opportunities in possession. Not only accurate when carrying the ball forward, but he was fierce in the duel and clinical besides.

This economical approach showed something that has been lacking on Merseyside this season: an ability to make chances count even when presented intermittently.

That is, of course, barring one Liverpool forward. Ekitike. The Les Bleus star has scored six goals and posted an assist since joining the club this summer.

Development is never linear for those entering the Premier League from overseas, but the way in which Ekitike has slipped into life in Liverpool is remarkable, given the circumstances around the club right now.

Should Slot take note of the striker’s performance against Ukraine and begin to hand him more chances out wide, it could help Isak settle in after his record-breaking summer move while easing the fears that Isak and Ekitke cannot cohabit in Liverpool’s starting line-up.

Slot has already followed this train of thought, suggesting several weeks ago that Ekitike’s technical and physical qualities make him apt for a prolific role on the flank, and now it can be put into practice, albeit at Gakpo’s expense.

Without question, Liverpool’s head coach will have been attentive to Ekitike’s performance on the world stage, perhaps more inclined forward to trial Ekitike in a wider role going forward, thus opening the door to a partnership with Isak and a new dimension that could help restore the side’s attacking strength.

If this proves an effective and long-term solution, it may well come at the expense of Gakpo’s stay at Liverpool for the long run, but, as the opening months of the campaign have told us, it is crucial that Slot identifies a way of playing that matches the incredible amount of quality teeming across Anfield.

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ByAngus Sinclair Nov 13, 2025

علق يزن النعيمات لاعب منتخب الأردن، وفريق العربي القطري، على الأنباء التي تتردد بشأن انتقاله إلى النادي الأهلي، في الفترة القادمة.

وفاز منتخب الأردن، على منتخب مصر، بثلاثية نظيفة، في الجولة الثالثة من دور المجموعات ببطولة كأس العرب 2025، أمس الثلاثاء.

وقال يزن النعيمات في لقاء مع قناة الكأس: “كنا متوقعين هذه البداية في البطولة العربية، متواعدون دائمًا وخصوصًا في أي بطولة تجمعية، على يد واحدة مع المدرب والإدارة والاتحاد الاردني”.

طالع|حارس الأردن: لقب كأس العرب سيكون في عمان.. وأبو زريق: القادم أصعب

وتابع: “من حق الجمهور الأردني أن يحلم ولكن خطوة بخطوة، فريقنا قوي ولكن كل مباراة لها ظروفها، حتى الآن لم نحقق شيء، انتهينا من الدور الأول”.

وأضاف: “كل تركيزنا على كأس العرب، ولكن قرعة كأس العالم مميزة وتتويج لنا كلاعبين أننا نلعب أمام بطل العالم 2022، سنقدم كل ما لدينا ونرفع اسم البلد”.

وعن مفاوضات الأهلي؟، اختتم: “حاليًا كل تركيزي مع المنتخب، وعندنا مباريات مهمة، هذا السؤال سأرد عليه بعد ذلك، وأي شيء يخص نادي العربي لا أتعدى عليه وأنا حاليًا في العربي”.

Leeds United travelled to the City Ground on Sunday with just one away win under their belt this season in the Premier League.

Thankfully, they were about to do battle with a Nottingham Forest side who had only won once on their patch all season long in league action.

But, come the end of the frantic affair, the Tricky Trees collected their first home victory since August, as Sean Dyche’s men comfortably got the better of Daniel Farke’s visitors in a 3-1 win, having notched up 14 efforts at Lucas Perri’s shaky goal.

Journalist Graham Smyth labelled Leeds’ overall performance at the final whistle as “desperately poor” as the West Yorkshire side now hang precariously above the dreaded relegation zone.

Jaka Bijol – in particular – had another afternoon to forget in the heart of the away team’s leaky defence.

Bijol's poor performance vs Forest

Bijol’s day wasn’t completely pitiful, with the Slovenian centre-back coming away from the 3-1 defeat with four of his six duels being successfully won.

Unfortunately for the £15m summer recruit, regardless of having some positives to latch on to, he was still caught out by a moment of ball-watching to hand the hosts the decisive 2-1 lead, as Morgan Gibbs-White evaded his marker to head home.

It was a nicely executed move by Forest, with Omari Hutchinson getting the better of Gabriel Gudmundsson’s lax marking, before putting it on a plate for Gibbs-White.

But, the former Wolverhampton Wanderers playmaker was given far too much room to head past Perri, off the back of Bijol being caught in no man’s land.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

Having also struggled against Brighton and Hove Albion on the road, before this slip-up in Nottinghamshire, when winning zero tackles and just one duel, it could well be time for Farke to move the former Udinese man back to the bench, for the more Premier League-ready Pascal Struijk to take over.

Bijol isn’t the only defensive option who could now be dropped by Farke, however.

Leeds dud had his worst game of the season

In all fairness, nobody donning Leeds’ changed strip of blue was trudging off at the end of the 3-1 loss, overjoyed with what they offered up.

Ethan Ampadu definitely won’t have been thrilled with what he conjured up as Farke’s supposed midfield anchor, with the Welshman both uncharacteristically sloppy with the ball at his feet and surprisingly weak when launching himself into duels.

Ampadu’s performance in numbers
Stat	Ampadu
Minutes played	90
Shots	2
Key passes	0
Dribbles	0
Touches	57
Accurate passes	31/41 (76%)
Possession lost	15x
Tackles won	1/2
Fouls	3
Total duels won	4/9
Stats by Sofascore

The promotion-winning captain fell way below the standards he had previously set when lining up for the West Yorkshire giants, with Ampadu coming away from the 3-1 loss with only 76% of his passes reaching their chosen target. On average, this season, so far, he typically completes 86% of his passes.

Moreover, the below-par number 4 would lack his usual bite and drive, with only one of his tackles being successfully won, which led to Ampadu barely laying a glove on the tricky Dan Ndoye early on, before his quick feet down the flank led to Ibrahim Sangare firing home the equaliser.

Ampadu also didn’t help Bijol out when Gibbs-White sent the City Ground into raptures, with the former Chelsea midfielder also guilty of idly watching the ball, before the match-winning effort was prodded home.

For a defensive option that usually prides himself on winning duels and being energetic – as seen in him averaging 4.3 duels won this season – it really did feel like a low point for him against the Tricky Trees on Sunday afternoon, as Farke now contemplates whether dropping one of his “indispensable” promotion heroes, as he was once labelled by scout Jacek Kulig, is the correct call.

Ampadu faced the media after, calling for togetherness as Leeds attempt to navigate the choppy seas of a relegation battle, with his concrete starting spot now up for grabs, as the likes of Ao Tanaka and Ilia Gruev eye up a spot in defensive midfield, instead.

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The India keeper-batter talks about the work she has put into her batting and what she has learned from the WPL

Hemant Brar28-Apr-2025When Richa Ghosh walked in to bat for Bengal in the rain-affected Senior Women’s T20 Trophy semi-final in November 2022, Himachal needed to bowl only five more balls to force a result. Bengal had to get 14 runs without losing a wicket. A washout would take them into the final.Through a steady drizzle, Ghosh slog-swept the fourth ball of the over into the vacant deep-midwicket stands. Her six did two things: in the time it took the fielder to retrieve the ball, the drizzle got heavier, and with Bengal now needing six off two, Himachal panicked into making some fielding changes. More time wasted.Just when the bowler was ready to deliver the final ball, with Bengal needing five, the umpires decided to call off the game, sealing Bengal’s qualification for the final.Until a few years ago, a six was a rare event in women’s cricket. But the game has undergone a revolution in recent times, and 21-year-old Ghosh is one of the young faces representing that change in India.Since making her T20I debut in 2020, she has hit a six every 20th ball. Among those who have hit at least 20 sixes in T20Is in this period, only Deandra Dottin of West Indies has cleared the boundary more frequently. It is this skill that has got Ghosh contracts in the WBBL and the Hundred.Related

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“It comes naturally to me,” Ghosh, who is currently part of the India side playing an ODI tri-series against Sri Lanka and South Africa in Colombo, says about her power-hitting skills. “Maybe I got it from Papa, because he too liked hitting sixes. And my idol is MS Dhoni, who is known for his sixes and finishing skills.”Her father, Manabendra, was a club-level cricketer and later a part-time umpire in Siliguri. He would take his daughter along to matches but had no inkling that she was interested in playing the game.”He pushed me into table tennis but I did not like it,” Ghosh says. “When I told him I wanted to play cricket, he got me into to the Baghajatin Athletic Club [in Siliguri]. From there, my cricketing journey started.”Ghosh often travelled to play matches in Kolkata, and to make sure he could accompany her and be available for her all the time, her father closed his business.”When I was first selected for the district tournament, I didn’t have the English willow bat. I had a Kashmir willow and a normal tennis bat. The English willow bat was quite expensive, and Papa had to borrow money to buy one for me.”People would taunt him about what he was doing, but he kept me insulated from all that. Had those things reached me, I don’t think I would have played for India.”At 13, she was playing for Bengal’s Under-19 team, and at 16, she became the second-youngest debutant for India in T20Is.Ghosh, playing for London Spirit, takes a catch to dismiss Northern Superchargers’ Alice Davidson-Richards in the 2023 Hundred•Alex Davidson/ECB/Getty ImagesIn her early days Ghosh dabbled in all three departments: batting, bowling and wicketkeeping. “In fact, I have bowled alongside Jhulu [Jhulan Goswami] when I was young,” she says. “I was a medium-fast bowler and would get lots of wickets lbw or bowled. At the state level, I was told many times to give up keeping and focus more on bowling. But Papa said, ‘Do whatever you want to, but never give up keeping.'”When Ghosh didn’t get to keep or bowl in her first few T20Is, she realised that her ground fielding was well below par.”Only when you play international cricket, you realise how much improvement you need and what’s best for you. When I played for India, I had to decide whether I wanted to bowl or keep. I was confused. So I talked to my coaches, who told me to pursue keeping.”That particular skill remains a work in progress for her. There have been glaring mistakes at times, but also moments of brilliance. While playing for Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the 2025 WPL, she reminded everyone of Dhoni’s quick glovework, dashing to the stumps to run-out Sophie Ecclestone when UP Warriorz needed one run to win off the final ball at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. Dhoni had run-out Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman off the last ball in the same manner at the ground in the 2016 T20 World Cup.At the WPL, Ghosh also had a chance to share the dressing room with another idol of hers: Ellyse Perry. When she made her T20I debut in Australia in 2020, one of the first things she did was take a photograph with Perry.”In Australia, I never spoke to her,” Ghosh says. “But now I can have a proper chat with her. When you see a legend from such close quarters, you also learn a lot. You see how professional she is about her game and her fitness.”The WPL has given Ghosh the opportunity to play alongside her idol Ellyse Perry•Pankaj Nangia/Getty ImagesFitness is an area where Ghosh has been under scrutiny. In 2022, when she was dropped from the ODI squad and for the T20Is in the Commonwealth Games, she actively trained to get fitter.”One thing I worked on was staying at the crease for longer periods. My natural instinct is to see the ball, hit the ball. But if I go in early, say the 12th over of a T20I, I should be able to bat till the end.”That focus also helped her develop her ODI game. Her highest score in the format – 96 against Australia at the Wankhede in 2023 – came from No. 3. After the match, India’s head coach, Amol Muzumdar, said, “No. 3 is the best spot for her.”But after only one more game in that position, Ghosh was back in the middle order – maybe because she can do down the order what no one else in the country has been able to so far. Since the start of 2021, she has the most sixes and the highest strike rate for any batter between Nos. 5 and 7 for India in ODIs.What makes Ghosh unique is her ability to clear the boundary from the get-go. She jointly holds the world record for the fastest T20I fifty (off 18 balls), and has made India’s fastest ODI fifty. Even Harmanpreet Kaur, destructive as she can be, likes to take her time before playing the big shots.Ghosh has won the U-19 Women’s World Cup with India and the WPL with RCB•Matthew Lewis/ICC/Getty ImagesLast year, when asked which player’s style resembled hers the most, Harmanpreet said: “I think the one who can be even better than me is Richa, because her game sense is very good. Even when she was new in the side, she had something special in her.”Like Harmanpreet, Ghosh is equally destructive against pace and spin. Against fast bowlers, she primarily targets straight boundaries, while against spinners, she relies on the slog sweep to clear deep midwicket. Of late she has expanded her range by adding the scoop, the reverse scoop and the reverse sweep to her game, making herself a 360-degree player.Perry was as effusive as Harmanpreet in her praise of Ghosh’s talent during the WPL. “She works so hard on her game, but she is such a natural striker of the ball as well. [It feels] so nice to stand at the other end and see how clean her swing is. The way she accesses different parts of the ground – the paddle shots as well as the brute force down the ground – is so impressive.”In all this, it is easy to forget how young Ghosh is. Last October, she missed the New Zealand ODI series to take her class 12 exams. In five months, she will have an even bigger test: the ODI World Cup at home. Unlike most players in the Indian team, Ghosh has tasted success in an ICC event. In 2023, she was part of the side, led by Shafali Verma, that won the U-19 World Cup in South Africa.”At the U-19 World Cup we got to know what winning a trophy feels like,” she says. “Now the goal is to win a World Cup with the senior team. We always prepare with that in mind, but somewhere we have been lacking a bit. Hopefully we can do it this time.”

Following India’s win at the Women’s World Cup 2025, the BCCI has announced a cash prize of INR 51 crore for the players, support staff and the selection committee. The team will also receive USD 4.48 million (approx. INR 40 crore) as prize money from the ICC.”On behalf of the board, I congratulate the Indian women’s cricket team on this historic world championship victory,” BCCI president Mithun Manhas said in a statement. “The team’s resilience, talent and togetherness have lifted our nation’s hopes. This triumph vindicates the investment and faith the BCCI placed in building a world-class women’s programme.”India defeated South Africa by 52 runs in front of a crowd of 39,555 at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Sunday. Asked to bat, the Harmanpreet Kaur-led unit posted 298 for 7 with Shafali Verma scoring 87 off 78. Led by Player-of-the-Tournament Deepti Sharma’s five-wicket haul, India then bowled South Africa out for 246 despite captain Laura Wolvaardt scoring a century.Related

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“This phenomenal achievement is the result of relentless preparation, flawless execution and the unshakable belief of our women cricketers,” BCCI secretary Devajit Saikia said. “The coaching staff, support personnel and every state association have played a role. Congratulations to each and every member of the team. This team has made the entire cricket fraternity proud.”India had won the Under-19 Women’s T20 World Cup in 2023 but this was their first senior world trophy. They had come close twice, finishing runners-up in 2005 and 2017. India beat Australia in the semi-final at the same venue to set up a title-clash with South Africa, who had overcome England in the other semi-final in Guwahati.From the squad that won the World Cup, Shafali Verma has been named North Zone captain for the Senior Women’s Inter-Zonal T20 Trophy starting November 4 in Nagaland. She will miss the opening match as the victorious Indian team is due to meet Prime Minister Narendra Modi in Delhi on November 5.

Rahul Chahar, the India spinner, has joined Surrey for their season-ending fixture against Hampshire at the Utilita Bowl this week, as the club bids for their fourth County Championship title in a row.Chahar, 26, was registered to play for Surrey at the start of September, in line with ECB regulations, but was not required to play in the club’s home matches against Warwickshire and Nottinghamshire. That latter fixture ended in a thrilling 20-run loss that has handed Notts control of the title race going into the final week.Chahar has regularly featured for Rajasthan in the Ranji Trophy, and also made a one-off appearance in this season’s IPL, as an impact substitute for Sunrisers Hyderabad. Overall, he has taken 87 wickets in 24 first-class matches at 26.12, with best match figures of 9 for 148.He also played one ODI and six T20Is for India between 2019 and 2021, around the same time that he played a key role in Mumbai Indians’ twin IPL titles in 2019 and 2020.”I’m excited to join Surrey for this week’s match,” Chahar said. “I’m coming here to have an impact and help the team in their final match of the season.”His call-up comes after Surrey lost both of their current spinning options, Will Jacks and Cam Steel, to injury. Alec Stewart, the club’s high-performance advisor, said: “Adding Rahul to the squad gives us another spin option at the Utilita Bowl.”We always knew that we would be missing players for the final period of the season and try to plan accordingly given the potential surfaces and the opposition we’re playing.”We had originally earmarked for Sai Kishore to return for the latter stages of the season but he unfortunately has a finger injury resulting in an operation has meant he was unavailable.”Surrey trail Nottinghamshire by 14 points going into the final round of matches, meaning that they must win their fixture, and hope that Notts accrue fewer than 11 points in their own final match against Warwickshire at Trent Bridge.

However, international cricket gets a respite and sees a reduction in its GST rate from 28% to 18%

Sidharth Monga04-Sep-2025Watching the IPL from the ground has become costlier, after the government of India increased the goods and services tax (GST) on IPL tickets from 28% to 40%. The final price of a ticket whose base price is INR 1000 will now go up from INR 1280 to INR 1400. This increase puts the IPL in India’s highest GST bracket, alongside casinos, race clubs, or any place that has casinos or race clubs.However, there seems to be respite in store for those going to international cricket matches in the country. The GST levied for tickets to those matches was the same as IPL tickets, at 28%, but this slab has been abolished. The Press Information Bureau’s latest circular, informing of the changes in tax rate, only talks about “sporting events like the IPL”. Finance and business publications have interpreted this to mean that other cricket matches might now fall under other “recognised sporting events”.As of now, other recognised sporting events attract 18% GST for tickets priced over INR 500. Tickets priced under INR 500 are exempt from GST. So, tickets for international matches and other state-run leagues could become cheaper in the near future. Currently, if the base price of the ticket to an international cricket match is INR 1000, it costs INR 1280 after the inclusion of taxes. With this new change, the same price will come down to INR 1180.The changes will be effective from September 22, which is a week before the start of the Women’s World Cup, the next international cricket event to be played in India. The tickets for the event have yet to go on sale. On August 30, exactly a month before the tournament opener, the ICC asked fans to “register your interest” to “ensure you are the first to receive the latest news and ticketing information straight to your inbox”.

He’s 38 and was coming into this series without a fifty in his 13 previous Test innings, but he’s roared back with a 163 against one of his favourite oppositions

Andrew Fidel Fernando18-Jun-2025We didn’t, in truth, learn a lot about Mushfiqur Rahim across the first two days of the Galle Test. That is except to say that he’s still here. That he is not going away. That he can still do this. Which actually, when you’re 38 and by a distance the oldest member of the squad, this is more important than you might think.Mushfiqur is the last remaining Test combatant from Bangladesh’s first generation of greats, Tamim Iqbal, Mashrafe Mortaza, Shakib Al Hasan, and Mahmudullah no longer appearing. There is a level of respect and space afforded to players who have given as much as Mushfiqur has, but also the threat of the companion accusation of hanging on for too long, too selfishly. Against this, there is no better antidote for a batter than runs. “You think I’m past it? Oh yeah? Say that to this 163.”Related

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Sri Lanka claw back after Mushfiqur 163, Litton 90

Galle becomes Bangladesh's happy place again as top-order finds form

Still, there was little in this innings that was not Mushfiqur treading ground he had already trod. We already knew he could make runs on Sri Lankan tracks. Before this innings, he averaged 62.63 on the island (it’s up to 71 now). In fact several of his most memorable cricketing moments came here. In 2013, he hit Bangladesh’s first-ever double ton at this venue. In 2017, he was at the crease when Bangladesh claimed their first Test win against Sri Lanka at the P Sara Oval, having made a fifty in the first innings of that match. Next year, he’d bossed a Nidahas Trophy chase, his mocking celebration becoming a crucial staging post in the Naagin rivalry.Now that they have been made, these essentially seem like unsurprising runs from an unsurprising source. Mushfiqur has rocked it against better Lankan attacks, on much harder Lankan pitches. And he has always had the game to succeed in these conditions. He sweeps well and cuts even better, tends to read the direction of spin out of the hand, and has strong wrists, which, as several flicks through and over midwicket on day two proved, remained in good condition.And yet there was the big problem of his having arrived in Sri Lanka having not made a fifty in his 13 previous Test innings. Where in younger years this kind of lean stretch may have been viewed as a dip in form, when you are a couple of hops from 40, the accusation is that this is probably a terminal decline. At this stage of his career, Mushfiqur doesn’t need to show growth. Summoning a vintage performance? That’s the stuff.Mushfiqur Rahim and Litton Das added a century stand•Associated PressNajmul Hossain Shanto was the first to triple figures, and later Litton Das scored his runs more rapidly, but there was no more assured innings in this mammoth Bangladesh batting performance than Mushfiqur’s. There were no early jitters, no periods of the innings in which he appeared to get stuck, no bowler against whom he laboured, and even though he said he felt he got stuck on 99 a little, he only faced four scoreless balls before taking the single that took him to the hundred. It was no big deal, which was essentially the theme of Mushfiqur’s entire innings. A flat surface, an inexperienced opposition attack – why shouldn’t he be scoring runs here?”Mushfiqur has come back strongly and shown his character,” said Mohammad Salahuddin, Bangladesh’s assistant coach after Mushfiqur hit his 163. “He can inspire the team. He has great work ethic, and he is trying to improve all the time. It’s what you want from any senior player.”With the World Test Championship now introducing a “cycle” into the Test cricket consciousness, retirements now require a little more thinking about. “Can I last two more years?” is essentially the calculation Test cricketers in their mid-to-late 30s have to make now. On the Sri Lankan side, 37-year-old Dimuth Karunaratne had quit at the end of the last cycle, and 38-year-old Angelo Mathews is retiring at the very start of this one.Mushfiqur has shown no intention to bounce during this cycle, which is why, for him, at 38, and with 13 straight underwhelmings on his record, 163 is a pretty good number, it doesn’t matter that no new ground was broken.

Aston Villa defender Matty Cash has been hailed for his incredible defensive form after shutting down Bournemouth winger

Antoine Semenyo on Sunday.

Villa cruised to a fourth straight home Premier League victory, brushing Bournemouth aside 4-0 at Villa Park. Unai Emery’s side had only scored nine goals in the league coming into the match but put their goalscoring woes to bed to dispatch Andoni Iraola’s below-par Cherries with ease.

Emiliano Buendia’s sublime free-kick put them on track for a fifth win from six before Amadou Onana’s cracker from range doubled their lead. Villa had to withstand a spell of Bournemouth pressure but Emiliano Martinez produced a string of fine saves to keep their lead intact, including a one-handed stop to deny Semenyo from the penalty spot after Morgan Rogers handled the ball.

Villa then made the match safe as substitutes Ross Barkley and Donyell Malen struck to wrap up victory and deliver a first four-goal haul of the campaign. During the game, though he didn’t get onto the scoresheet, one Villa player had a stellar performance.

Cash shone in dominant win over Bournemouth

Writing on X, Jacob Tanswell of The Athletic was full of praise for Cash, touching on his contributions over the 2025/26 season which rank him amongst the best defenders in the English top flight.

Cash, along with his Villa teammates, endured a slow start to the current campaign, far from a norm under Emery’s tenure at Villa Park. Picking up their first win of the season only in late September against Bologna, Villa have since lost just two of their last 10 matches, a run to which Cash has been a major contributor.

Interceptions per Game

0.8

Tackles per Game

1.6

Clearances per Game

2.8

Blocked Shots per Game

0.7

Errors Leading to Goals

0

(All stats are from SofaScore)

In what has been a thunderous start to the season for Bournemouth, Semenyo has shone as one of the most exciting attacking talents in the Premier League. As Tanswell noted, Cherries head coach Andoni Iraola wanted the Ghanian international to be charging at Lucas Digne rather than Cash, given his form.

Semenyo was limited to a quiet game in a thrashing win, with Cash maintaining the exceptional standards he has had across the campaign as Villa look to, once again, qualify for European football under Emery.

Villa exploring deal for exciting striker