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Celtic have been meticulously assessing options to succeed Martin O’Neill in the dugout and may now have identified a new figure that could become a serious contender to take the Scottish Premiership champions forward.

At 73 years of age, O’Neill deserves plenty of plaudits for taking a step out of his comfortable stable of punditry work for another spell in charge of his old side, even if he may only be around for a brief period of time.

The victories over Falkirk and Rangers brought back some much-needed morale to the Celtic dressing room. However, the Bhoys’ defeat to FC Midtjylland in midweek prompted the former Republic of Ireland boss to make his stance clear on a longer stay in Glasgow.

He told TNT Sports: “I will be here as long as the football board wants me, it’s as simple as that. That could be at the end of the week, it could be after the Kilmarnock game. I just don’t know.”

Later, he added after being asked if he was in constant discussions with the hierarchy, fuelling speculation that he may not be in charge beyond the international break: “No I’m not and I don’t really want to be. I just want to be told when my time is up.”

Kjetil Knutsen continues to be in the Celtic running as his Bodo/Glimt contract comes to an end. Meanwhile, Ipswich Town boss Kieran McKenna is a Parkhead candidate due to his sterling work at Portman Road.

With speculation bound to continue over the coming days, a new name has entered the picture as a potential successor to interim coach O’Neill.

Celtic place Brian Barry-Murphy on manager shortlist

According to Alan Nixon on his Patreon, Celtic have shortlisted Cardiff City manager Brian Barry-Murphy as a managerial candidate to take over permanently at Parkhead.

Middlesbrough are also on the hunt for a new head coach as Rob Edwards completes a controversial move to Wolverhampton Wanderers, though the Scottish champions appear ready to throw a spanner in the works amid their links to the City Football Group.

Brian Barry-Murphy at Cardiff City – 2025/26

Wins

13

Draws

2

Losses

6

62% win ratio from 21 matches this season.

Previously, he was head coach at Rochdale before a spell in charge of Manchester City’s elite development squad, and he has also further coaching experience in a technical role at Leicester City.

Celtic could land an alternative manager with a secret release clause

Cardiff City find themselves fourth on 26 points and could go top of the table should they win their game in hand. Predominantly adopting a 4-2-3-1, the Bluebirds have been an attacking force this campaign, scoring the joint-third most goals in League One.

Nevertheless, managing Celtic is a whole different kettle of fish due to the pressures associated with the role. It remains to be seen who will be trusted to lead their bid to retain the Scottish Premiership title.

Former Manchester United star Mason Greenwood has been told he is 'becoming a complete player' after starring with a brace in Marseille's 5-1 demolition of Nice in Ligue 1 on Friday. Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang, Timothy Weah and Igor Paixao were also on target as Robert De Zerbi's side registered a thumping victory and climbed up to the top of the table, overtaking Paris Saint-Germain.

• Greenwood's purple patch continues

  Greenwood has been in prolific form for Marseille since joining the club from Manchester United. After ending his maiden campaign in France with 22 goals in 36 appearances across all competitions, the former Red Devils star picked up where he left off last season. The 24-year-old has already scored 10 goals in Ligue 1 this season and 11 in all competitions. He also recently won the Ligue 1 Player of the Month award for October, marking the second time he has received the accolade since his move to the French league. 

  On Friday, Greenwood hit the target twice as Marseille leapfrogged PSG in the Ligue 1 table to clinch the top position after a magnificent 5-1 win over Nice away from home. 

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  De Zerbi praises Greenwood after Marseille win

  Marseille boss Roberto De Zerbi was understandably elated after the brilliant result as he hailed Greenwood's performance by saying: "We played well against a tough team, Nice. For them, it's a derby. It was a very tense match; we needed to play better in the second half. Everything's fine, we scored 5 goals and we're provisionally top of Ligue 1. We need to get some injured players back (Aguerd, Medina). That shouldn't be an excuse. We have to see what we can do in these circumstances. Greenwood? He's doing a good job. He's scoring goals, providing assists. He's more involved in the game. He's becoming a complete player."

  The former Brighton manager added: "I was hoping for this result. It was a tough match, a derby. Both teams wanted to do well. We can still play better. I'm not satisfied with the quality of our play. Even though we won 5-1, we can do better. I'm certain this team can and must play better because it has more quality than it showed tonight. Despite the 5-1 scoreline, I expect even more. I'm thinking about the number of people we made happy. We have strong players; the only thing that worries me is the injury list. It's a real morale booster, we're top of the league tonight. We need to put that aside, there's Newcastle on Tuesday, Toulouse this weekend. We need to remember how we can improve. We need to maintain this momentum. We can't always play at the same level with the succession of matches. It's up to me and the physical staff to manage it. Weah? We missed him against Atalanta; he's a unique player, with a different profile than Murillo. We have a lot of respect for him; he needs to play with more courage and personality."

• Greenwood's goal sparked mass brawl

  Greenwood doubled his team's lead just past the half-hour mark after Aubameyang opened the scoring in derby. Following his first goal, the entire Marseille team celebrated in front of Nice Ultras, which triggered an extreme action. According to , Marseille defender Emerson Palmieri was struck with a lighter that was thrown by a Nice supporter.

  The violence at the stand soon entered the pitch as a melee broke out involving Marseille goalkeeper Geronimo Rulli and Nice defender Ali Al-Abdi. The two substitutes were then cautioned. 

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  Greenwood still dreams of playing for England

  Earlier this month, the reported that Greenwood still dreams of making a comeback for the England national team despite being blacklisted by the FA and head coach Thomas Tuchel from selection. The winger's last and only appearance for the Three Lions came in 2020 in a Nations League clash against Iceland.

  However, with only months left before the 2026 World Cup, Greenwood's comeback into the national team looks improbable currently, with Tuchel having said back in September he is not being considered for selection.

The Gunners have come agonisingly close to landing the Premier League in the last three years and Manchester United legend Patrice Evra has pointed the finger of blame at the fans for boasting about winning the title too early in the season. The Gunners have finished second three times on the bounce, but the fans have been starting to crow again with boss Mikel Arteta’s side at the top of the table, and Evra has a message for them.

Can Gunners ditch 'also-rans' smear?

It’s been a story of what might have been for Arsenal over the previous three seasons, mounting strong Premier League title challenges but ultimately finishing as runners-up on each occasion under Arteta. In the 2022-23 season, Arsenal held a substantial lead for much of the campaign, but a late dip in form allowed Man City to overtake them and lose the title by five points. The 2023-24 season saw an even closer title race, going down to the final day. Arsenal amassed 89 points, their second-highest ever Premier League tally, but still finished second, a mere two points behind champions City. And most recently, the 2024-25 season saw another second-place finish, this time behind Liverpool, who secured the title by a margin of ten points after Arsenal could only manage 74 points. This makes Arsenal the first team to finish as runners-up three seasons in a row in the Premier League era.  

And while the Gunners have sat at the top of the table for the vast majority of this season, their lead has been significantly reduced after dropping points in recent matches to Sunderland, Chelsea and Aston Villa and Evra has issued a word of warning for the fans. 

AdvertisementAFPEvra: 'They need to chill'

United legend Evra told Stake: "I don't know if Arsenal can handle the pressure. I always loved Arteta as a player and I know he’s a great manager. But at the end of the day, Arsenal fans are the problem. They are the ones every time saying, 'this year we're going to win'. They need to chill. It’s the same when England fans say 'it’s coming home'."  

He added: "They just have to chill, to not be too noisy because that's why they get that banter and this backlash because they’ll say they are the best team in the world and better than this team and so on. But we never know, if they bottle the league again this year, imagine them winning the Champions League? Anything can happen with Arsenal. But I just feel like the winning mindset is missing at Arsenal."

Scholes joins list of Arsenal doubters

Another Old Trafford hero, Paul Scholes, believes Arsenal’s title bid will falter once again unless Arteta finds a way to improve his team's record in the Premier League’s biggest fixtures. Speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football podcast, Scholes said: "Until they start winning big games they’ve got no chance of winning the league," he said. "They lost to Liverpool, they couldn’t beat Man City at home when they were struggling. Aston Villa are a good team, don’t get me wrong, but Arsenal just can’t win big games. They couldn’t beat Chelsea after they went down to ten men. If you’re going to win the league you’ve got to start winning some big games, you’ve got to beat your rivals, and they can’t do it. Historically Man City always get better after January. They were in the Club World Cup so they didn’t really have a pre-season."  

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Getty Images SportGunners face Wolves test 

Arsenal are in action in Europe on Wednesday evening, away in Belgium to face Club Brugge, but will be hoping to get back to winning ways at the weekend with a Premier League clash against bottom-of-the-table Wolverhampton Wanderers. And it’s a good time to be playing Wolves, who remain winless in all 15 Premier League games this season, with only QPR in 2012-13  with 16 games and Sheffield United in 2020-21 with an incredible 17 games having longer runs from the start of a campaign.   

UP Warriorz head coach was “very surprised” to bag Sophie Ecclestone for INR 85 lakh, as he expected her to go for 1.50 crore

Daya Sagar28-Nov-20253:39

Karim: ‘Getting Lanning a masterstroke by UPW’

Coming into the WPL 2026 auction with the leanest squad and hence the biggest purse, UP Warriorz (UPW) made some heads turn by buying Shikha Pandey for a whopping INR 2.40 crore, using the RTM (right to match) option for Deepti Sharma, whom they had released earlier, and getting England’s left-arm spinner Sophie Ecclestone for just INR 85 lakh. Their new head coach Abhishek Nayar, who takes over from Jon Lewis from the upcoming season, said they wanted Pandey for her experience and using the RTM for the Indian names was always their plan.”[Shikha] came for the trials. She is an experienced player and we wanted her experience of having played in high-pressure tournaments,” Nayar told ESPNcricinfo after the auction in Delhi on Thursday. “Her numbers in the WPL are the best among Indian pace bowlers in the last three years, be it in the powerplay or death overs.”We wanted experience in those aspects. Kranti Gaud is a young and exciting player, but like I said we wanted experience.”Pandey last played a T20I for India in February 2023 and has since been playing in T20 franchise leagues around the world such as the WPL, the Women’s CPL and the WBBL. Even though she currently doesn’t have a WBBL deal, she recently played all four games for Trinbago Knight Riders in the WCPL and finished as their top wicket-taker with five scalps and an economy rate of 6.73. Overall, she was joint-third on the wicket-taking charts.Related

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Deepti, Kerr, Shikha get biggest bids; Healy unsold

Like Nayar said, Pandey is the top wicket-taker among Indian pace bowlers in the three seasons of WPL, with a tally of 30 (and economy rate of 6.96), just behind Nat Sciver-Brunt’s 32. The next Indian fast bowler on the list is Arundhati Reddy with 14 wickets. Pandey, Gaud, Tara Norris of USA, and allrounder Deandra Dottin will be the pace-bowling options for UPW.Leading their spin attack will be Deepti and Ecclestone, along with Asha Sobhana, Georgia Wareham and allrounder Chloe Tryon among the other options. While UPW splurged INR 3.2 crore on Deepti, Mumbai Indians spent INR 3 crore on Amelia Kerr, Asha fetched INR 1.1 crore and Georgia Wareham INR 1 crore (from RCB) – all spinners – it came as a surprise to many that Ecclestone got a top bid of just INR 85 lakh, despite being the No. 1 ODI bowler and No. 4 T20I bowler in the ICC rankings.”I was very surprised, everyone was surprised,” Nayar said of Ecclestone’s price. “I thought she would go for something like 1.5 crore. But we got her for a great deal at just 85 lakh. But that’s how the auction works – sometimes you pay less, sometimes more. So I’ve very happy overall.”Even before using the RTM for Ecclestone, UPW used that option for Deepti, who led them earlier this season in the absence of Alyssa Healy. While their decision to release Deepti before the auction might have been surprising, using the RTM for her was not.

“We wanted a big purse in the auction, that’s it,” Nayar said. “The first retention price was 3.5 crore, we got her in 3.2 [at the auction]. So, there is still some money saved and we can get an extra player. Getting someone like Pratika Rawal, though she is injured, has become possible.”So the mindset was we are going to get her (Deepti), that is the advantage of having the RTM. If we didn’t have the RTM, I think things would be different but we were very confident with the RTM, we just wanted to try and use it in the auction.”UPW went into the auction with four RTM options and used them on Deepti, Ecclestone, Gaud and Kiran Navgire, but not on Healy, who was the first name to come up in the mega auction and she eventually went unsold. UPW filled the opening slot with former Australia captain Meg Lanning, the third-highest run-scorer in the WPL, behind Sciver-Brunt and Ellyse Perry. They also picked Phoebe Litchfield, whom Lanning has earmarked as a future captaincy candidate for Australia. Will Lanning and Litchfield open together for UPW?”Meg is a leader, we all know,” Nayar said. “Phoebe is also a kind of a leader, we think. She can add a lot of value to the team. She is a fearless cricketer and she can play 360 (degree cricket) or 180. So we were very excited to have someone like that potential and I feel really good to buy her with that money (INR 1.20 crore). But right now we can’t say that they both are going to open for us. If we reveal that here in this interview, teams will already be making strategies about it .”Another opening batter UPW bought was India’s ODI opener Rawal, who was prolific in the recent World Cup-winning campaign at the top with Smriti Mandhana, but is yet to make her T20I and WPL debut. She picked up an injury while fielding in India’s last league game in the World Cup and missed the knockouts after that, and may not be fit in time to play the WPL too.”When you buy a good player there’s no guarantee that she will be fit or not for the season,” Nayar said. “We know that she is not fit right now but we also know that if there’s a superstar rising through Indian cricket, it’s Pratika Rawal. Like I said earlier our attempt was to get those players who can play for India in the long run, are potential superstars, and who can become the face of this franchise. That was an important thing to do because that will be an advantage for the next retention cycle after two years.”

They used one of their three trump cards and had almost everything with their four experienced batters go right for them

Sidharth Monga24-Jun-20254:09

Gambhir: We had opportunities on all five days

India’s big guns have all fired. Rishabh Pant has scored two creative centuries, the openers have each hit a classy one in each innings, the captain has notched up a regal one, their gun bowler has exhausted one of the three Tests he is going to play and has delivered a five-for. And yet they are down 1-0. They have lost the unlosable Test.Let’s get the obvious out of the way. Their last four aggregated nine runs in both innings put together, becoming parts of collapses of 7 for 41 and 6 for 31 in pretty flat conditions. They dropped more catches than any team in a Test in England in the last 20 years. Their third and fourth fast bowlers provided them neither control nor penetration. They could have batted England out on the second day; they didn’t. They could have secured a huge lead had they held their catches; they didn’t. They could have batted England out again on the fourth day; they didn’t.It was a proper baptism by fire for captain Shubman Gill, having to lead a transitioning bowling unit on one of the more idiosyncratic grounds of the world against a side that might not have the quality of some of India’s recent opponents but are intimidating frontrunners. A new slips cordon had to come to terms with fielding about a foot or two below the pitch level, bowlers needed to quickly adjust to running in up and down the slope, and their mistakes with the bat forced them to defend more than they could attack on a notoriously difficult-to-defend ground with pitches running all the way to the boundary. He also has to deal with his lead bowler playing only three Tests.Related

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However, Gill will need to lay down the law here. It wasn’t long ago that the India tail used to dig in and fight for whatever runs they could claw out. On their last trip to England, India got the lead because of the runs the lower order scored. It’s not that Nos. 8 to 11 aggregated only nine runs in two innings. Dismissals can happen. Even to specialist batters. It was more the nature of the dismissals. They batted like millionaires without getting a feel for the conditions despite having a proper batter at the other end. They played Shardul Thakur precisely to provide them batting depth, but he was out playing expansive drives eighth ball and 12th balls.Gill just needs to imagine what would have happened if the tail had displayed such a casual attitude when Virat Kohli or Rohit Sharma was captain. Once, leave alone twice, in the same match. Gill will soon learn it is nice to have a great atmosphere and respect in the dressing room, but there needs to be some fear of the leaders as well.The lower-order flop is not the only reason why India lost the unlosable Test but it was a symptom of general drops in intensity that a captain needs to watch out against. Test cricket is more about playing good cricket for longer periods of time than flashes of brilliance. This is why an attack of four good fast bowlers is better than one world-beater, one good bowler and two bowling ordinarily. You need fitness, intensity, and ruthlessness to be up six hours a day, each day for five days, or however long it takes.3:26

Harmison: Not sure India believed they could get Duckett out

On the final day, when finally none of the big guns fired, India didn’t seem to have a plan on how to put together a consistent set of overs. Jasprit Bumrah should be allowed to have a day on which he is not bowling an unplayable delivery every over. The bowling choices need to be made based not just on numbers that day. Mohammed Siraj, the best bowler on display on the final day, wasn’t bowled from overs 42 to 80, a period of not just 39 overs but also two rain breaks. Ravindra Jadeja took a little too long to shift his line wider, into the rough, to challenge Ben Duckett’s reverse-sweeps. At one point Ben Duckett punched Jadeja towards mid-off, and he looked up to see there wasn’t one. Not short, not wide, not deep. Just no mid-off at all.In a Test that you make only one or two such mistakes, they can have only a trivial impact on the eventual outcome, but all these things add up.This was also collectively India’s worst fielding performance in a long time. Thakur misfielded because he slipped, but took forever to get back up and retrieve the ball. As Rishabh Pant could be heard saying on the stumps mic, “It is okay to misfield, but you need to recover.” It should have come from Gill. If you zoomed-out a little and looked at the whole field as events unfolded during the final day, it was hard to tell if Gill was in charge. At various times, Pant and KL Rahul set the fields and talked to the bowlers.1:59

Why were Indian seamers ineffective on day 5?

The most important job for Gill and Gautam Gambhir will be to lift the team after they have lost a Test in which they used one of the three trump cards given to them and had almost everything with their four experienced batters go right for them. As has been said in this space before, Gill’s real test will be if he plays Thakur as the bowling allrounder and it doesn’t work out. The ideal response will be to double down on the need to take 20 wickets and bring in a proper bowler – possibly Kuldeep Yadav – but their collapses have given them every reason to be conservative.A captaincy debut which started like a dream for Gill has ended up being a nightmare. This was only his sixth first-class match as captain. He needs to be cut some slack, but this is a job that comes with a lot of prestige and also responsibility. He has no option but to learn quickly on the job. There is no magic potion that can maintain the love and care but still instil fear and accountability.This is not to say the players are not hurting for this loss. They are hurting more than anyone on the outside can. They will all have to dust themselves off and do the good things again but also make sure their intensity doesn’t drop. The England bowling attack can be taken down. They just need their bowlers to be in the good areas more often than at Headingley, and then be switched on in the field.If there is any consolation, it has been done before. Kohli’s first Test as captain is remembered for his brilliant twin hundreds, but even that game featured ordinary selections and lower-order disasters. In his first series as the full-time captain, Kohli lost what seemed like the unlosable Test in Galle to start off with. You can quibble with other things, but it is hard to remember drops in intensity in the side after that.

Manchester United have been warned that a stunning return to Old Trafford for Scott McTominay is unlikely to happen. The Scotland international has been starring for Serie A champions Napoli, earning comparisons to Frank Lampard with his goal scoring exploits, but Wes Brown has told GOAL in an exclusive interview why another transfer agreement with the Red Devils is not in the pipeline.

Talisman: Serie A winner McTominay heading to the World Cup

Having parted with academy graduate McTominay in the summer of 2024, when sanctioning a £26 million ($34m) sale, United are being linked with a move to bring a familiar face back into their ranks.

Recruitment whispers have started after seeing the 28-year-old midfielder become a talismanic presence for club and country. He helped Napoli to a title triumph last season, being named MVP in the process, and has just steered Scotland to their first World Cup finals since 1998.

McTominay posted a career-best return of 13 goals in 2024-25, with full potential being unlocked in his game after being freed from the shackles that had been holding him back in Manchester. There is little suggestion that he wants to retrace professional steps, but interest in his services is expected to be stepped up in 2026.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesMan Utd return? McTominay deal considered to be unlikely

Quizzed on whether United should be looking into a deal, former Red Devils defender Brown – speaking in association with – told GOAL: “It would be a lot of money for Man United to get him back. I’m so happy that Scott has gone away and done so well – he has done better than so well! He’s been excellent.

“Would it happen? Probably not. The respect from that getting talked about is unbelievable. What an achievement by Scott, for one. Sometimes when you leave really big clubs, it can be difficult to keep a level going – normally it is a dip. But he’s got better and better. He’s a great lad and he’s determined to do the best he can. I can’t see it happening, but I can understand why there are whispers.

“Could he come back? He’s got the legs. He now plays in the right position, which isn’t holding midfielder. I’ve been trying to tell people that many, many times. Because he’s big, everyone thinks he’s a holding midfielder. He’s got the legs, can go up and down, and every fan will tell you that he gets in the right position to score goals.”

Transformation: Holding midfielder to free-scoring one

Brown added on McTominay’s transformation: “He used to do it for United, but not often because he wasn’t told to make them runs and get into positions. If he gets into positions, I’m not going to say he is Frank Lampard yet, but he is up there with making the right runs to get a midfielder into a scoring position. It’s hard to defend that type of player, who understands that role and gets into those areas where he can score – and has the mentality to think he can score.

“Scott is slowly becoming that player, where he knows where to be, the runs to make when defenders are out of position or have got their mind on the striker. It’s a shame he couldn’t have shown that a lot more at United because they weren’t in a good moment, weren’t winning every week and sometimes you can’t express yourself as much. Plus, he was a youth team player. I think it’s hard for them to do it straight away when you have got superstars in the team – you hold back a little bit.

“But Scott is doing his thing now. It will be very interesting. Napoli, after a year or two – even though they all love him – will probably want to sell to get good value for him. You just have to see how it goes.”

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Getty Images SportWhere next? McTominay contract & transfer talk

McTominay is under contract in Naples until the summer of 2028, which is helping to keep his valuation high. Said asking price could rise even further if he catches the eye on a global stage with Scotland in 2026, with La Liga giants Barcelona already among those to have been credited with interest.

Harry Brook will not read too much into “a bit of a shambles of a night” in Cardiff as England lost a truncated first T20I against South Africa.Just 12.5 overs were possible at Sophia Gardens as persistent showers delayed the start by more than two hours. Play eventually began at 8:50pm for a nine-over match. Having won the toss and elected to bowl, Brook watched on as a powerful South Africa batting card smashed 97 for 5 from 7.5 overs before rain curtailed their innings. That downpour subsequently gave England an adjusted chase of 69 in five overs, of which they fell 15 short.Related

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England opted to remove Jofra Archer from their XI announced on Tuesday on safety grounds, after ruling conditions were too risky for their prized fast bowler. Luke Wood was the late replacement, earning his eighth T20I cap, and was the pick of the home attack with 2 for 22.”It was a bit of a shambles really, wasn’t it?” said Brook, whose 0 from four deliveries was his first duck in T20Is. “You can’t take much from that. There was so much going on. They got nine overs, we got five overs. You can’t take much from it.”It was a long, long day. I don’t think we need to make any excuses up. We probably didn’t execute as well as we should have done with bat and ball. It’s bloody hard when you only bat for five overs.”Brook stopped short of saying the match should not have gone ahead: “That’s not for me to decide, that’s for the umpires or the match referee. We just try to do what we can on the field.”However, the decision to park Archer was an admission of the risk involved, particularly given the amount of time and money invested to get the 30-year-old back playing all international formats this summer ahead of the winter’s Ashes. Brook even cited Adam Hose’s horrific ankle injury sustained during The Hundred as a worse-case scenario had Archer played.”It would have been stupid to play him with the amount of cricket we’ve got coming up,” said Brook. “If he’d have gone out in the boundary and done what Adam Hose did in The Hundred and broken his leg or whatever, that would have been a shambles.”As soon as we knew that the game was shortened, we didn’t think it was quite necessary for Jof to play. Obviously, the outfield was sodden and he’s got a lot of cricket to play in the next few months with a big series coming up. So, yeah, we, we decided to not play him.”

They showed promise, but lacked execution in Lahore, leaving them with several lessons ahead of the second Test

Firdose Moonda15-Oct-2025″They lost the game but they did not lose the plot.”Hardly words of consolation for a team that is trying to earn wins, not compliments, but South Africa will take them from Ramiz Raja after losing in Lahore.In theory, only two big things went wrong for South Africa: the toss and South Africa conceding 114 runs in the final session of the first day. In practice, you only need those two things to go wrong to end up on the wrong side, especially in conditions that quickly become more difficult to bat on and against one of the craftiest attacks going.Aiden Markram was careful not to dwell too much on the former because, “you don’t come to win the toss, you come to win the game and you’ve got to find ways to do that,” which suggests South Africa didn’t have enough of the latter. “It felt like there were moments where if we got on top and ran with a bit of momentum, it could have been a different result.”Related

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The most obvious of those was when South Africa had Pakistan 199 for 5 shortly after tea on the first day. Mohammad Rizwan and Salman Agha counterattacked with an intensity South Africa could not control. “We thought we had good plans, but they played the sweep shot really well and made it quite tough to set fields that can limit scoring,” Markam said. “Through that, I suppose you leak a couple of runs or a couple too many runs per over instead of maybe going at twos and threes, you might be going at fours, and that does eventually add up at the end of the game.”Pakistan scored at 3.45 runs an over in the third session on the opening day, which is not an alarming run-rate by any means but if South Africa wanted to squeeze them, what could they have done? A solution may lie in their bowling selections and combinations. With the resources they had at their disposal, they used offspinner Simon Harmer, who looked dangerous earlier in the day, and left-arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy immediately post-tea, then Prenelan Subrayen and eventually Kagiso Rabada with the second new ball. Could a second specialist seamer, a left-armer perhaps, bowling with an older ball do something similar to what Shaheen Shah Afridi did on day four, when he took 3 for 16 in a three-over spell to end the match?South Africa didn’t have Marco Jansen in the XI, which meant that they did not have that option available to them, which is something for them to consider going forward. “We did still have (Wiaan) Mulder but we felt the ball only tails or reverses for a few overs and then naturally gets softer and that reverse goes away,” Markram said. “But we’ll look at it, we’ll reflect and see if there’s an opportunity to get another seamer in if we feel it can make a positive difference. But if we’re going to back our spin with Kesh(av Maharaj) being back now as well, we’ll have to weigh that up when we see conditions.”Keshav Maharaj should be back in the team for the second Test after sitting out the first as he recovered from a groin injury and he hasn’t just been putting his feet up in preparation for the series. Last week, Maharaj captained his domestic team, the Dolphins in a first-class match against the Lions, scored an unbeaten 43 and bowled 49 overs with a return of 3 for 105 so if anyone is ready for Test action, it’s him.Tristan Stubbs hasn’t had the best of times in red-ball cricket recently•ICC/Getty ImagesWhich brings us to another area South Africa need to address in their batting line-up:A misfiring Tristan Stubbs If enthusiasm and potential were the defining criteria for picking a player, Stubbs would be the one of the first names on the team-sheet but since form is more important, he has to be sent back to the domestic system. Stubbs has only got into double figures once in his last nine Test innings and South Africa cannot afford to have someone who is struggling that much in a position as important as No.5. For the immediate term, they have two other options on this tour – David Bedingham (who sat out this match), and Zubayr Hamza – and for the longer term, the return of regular captain Temba Bavuma means they are all covered for extra batters. But what of Stubbs?Even though he is not part of the South African white-ball squads for Pakistan, by the time he returns home after the second Test, there will be no domestic red-ball cricket until early December. At that point, South Africa will be in India, where they play two Tests. An option would be to leave Stubbs at home to play a round of first-class cricket but it would be just one round and whether that can make a material difference is questionable. The rest of the red-ball competition takes place in February, when Stubbs is likely to be at the T20 World Cup. Given the scheduling crunch, it’s difficult to find a proper window for Stubbs to get consistent red-ball game time unless he is given the harshest treatment: dropped and told to spend next summer with his domestic team.That hasn’t happened to a player for some time which makes it seem unlikely it will now. An example is Tony de Zorzi, who lost his place earlier this year but has stayed with the Test squad and scored his second Test century in this match. Markram said that behind the scenes de Zorzi, and left-arm spin bowling allrounder Senuran Muthusamy, had both been “working really hard at their games trying to come up with plans to succeed wherever they are in the world,” and that their performances in Lahore were “a big feather in their cap.” So maybe all Stubbs needs is some extended time in the nets with South Africa’s batting coach Ashwell Prince, which seems to have benefitted de Zorzi immensely.Simon Harmer celebrates a wicket•Getty ImagesAnd so back to the positives South Africa will take from a match they did not disgrace themselves in despite what a 93-run margin suggests. The early parts of de Zorzi’s first innings century involved a lot of luck and the man himself said he was “just trying to hang in there,” but then gave way too good application. Ryan Rickelton showed patience and determination across both innings and faced a total of 282 balls in the match, more than anyone else, and Dewald Brevis appeared to be batting on a different surface as he breezed his way to a run-a-ball 54. With that kind of combination, Markram believes South Africa had what it took to chase a record score at the Gaddafi Stadium.”A guy like Brevis always takes the game on. That’s what he’s known for and that’s when he’s at his best so it was actually great to see him bring out that side today,” Markram said. “But Rickleton and other batters in the group might pack their defence a lot more and feed off the scraps that come around that. So, there’s two different ways of approaching it and two ways I still think you can be successful in these conditions. It’s about committing to one way and living by that.”That kind of thinking shows that South Africa very much have the plot but not the result. They hope to be able to turn that around in the second Test. “I would expect the conditions to be similar,” Markram said. “We expected conditions to be like this and we expect it again for the second Test match. It’s on us now as a group to go back and find ways to be better and to give ourselves a chance to win.”

And how many women have fifties from No. 10 in a World Cup match?

Steven Lynch14-Oct-2025Who’s scored the most runs at the women’s World Cup over the years? Is it Mithali Raj? asked Anjuli Desai from India

That’s a decent guess, as Mithali Raj is currently second on this list with 1321 runs in all editions of the women’s one-day World Cup. But she’s some way behind the leader, New Zealand’s Debbie Hockley, who made 1501 runs in 45 World Cup matches between 1982 and 2000.The leading current player is another New Zealander, Suzie Bates, who started this year’s competition with 1179 runs. Nat Sciver-Brunt’s 117 against Sri Lanka in Colombo last weekend – a record fifth World Cup century, passing the four of Bates and England’s Jan Brittin – put her in sight of four figures with 974 runs.How many women have scored a half-century from No. 10 in a World Cup match, as Alana King did against Pakistan? asked Melanie Crozier from Australia

Alana King’s staunch 51 not out against Pakistan in Colombo last week, which helped Beth Mooney rescue Australia from 115 for 8 and take them to a match-winning 221 for 9, was not only the highest by an No. 10 in the women’s World Cup – previously 42 not out by Yulandi van der Merwe for South Africa against India in Christchurch in 2000 – but also the highest in any women’s white-ball international (Kim Garth also made 42 not out for Australia vs South Africa in North Sydney in 2024).There have been three bigger scores from No. 10 in women’s Tests, the highest being Shelley Nitschke’s unbeaten 81 for Australia against England in Hove in 2005.I noticed that Ricky Ponting scored more than 1000 Test runs at four different grounds. Has anyone else done this? asked Michael Chesterton from Australia

Ricky Ponting scored 1743 Test runs in Adelaide, 1480 in Sydney, 1338 in Melbourne and 1335 in Brisbane. The only other man to reach 1000 on four different grounds is Jacques Kallis, with 2181 in Cape Town, 1267 in Centurion, 1266 in Durban and 1148 in Johannesburg.Seven men made more than 1000 Test runs on three different grounds: Hashim Amla, Allan Border, Greg Chappell, Javed Miandad, Brian Lara, Kumar Sangakkara and Steve Waugh. Sangakkara’s long-time Sri Lanka team-mate Mahela Jayawardene only did it at two grounds, but made it count with 2921 at the Sinhalese Sport Club in Colombo (his home club) and 2382 in Galle. Those are the two highest aggregates at any single venue: Jayawardene is the only player to make 2000 Test runs on two different Test grounds.Rather surprisingly perhaps, the England opener Jack Hobbs didn’t make 1000 Test runs on any home ground, but he did amass 1178 in Melbourne: he’s still the only man to pass 1000 at an away venue.Jacques Kallis has over 1000 runs at each of four grounds in South Africa, including 2181 at Newlands, Cape Town•Getty ImagesHarry Brook has a healthy Test average of 57 after 30 matches. Where does he rank among batters after their 30th Test? asked Vinod Nair from India

England’s new vice-captain Harry Brook goes into the Ashes with a batting average of 57.55 after 30 Tests. It turns out there are 40 men who averaged 50 or more after 30 matches, and Brook lies 18th among those, not far behind Jack Hobbs (57.77), Viv Richards (58.21) and Steve Smith (58.52).Way out at the top, as regular readers will probably already have guessed, is Don Bradman, who averaged 92.30 after 30 Tests. Next comes England’s Denis Compton with 64.10, just ahead of another Australian, Michael Hussey (64.05). Six other men averaged over 60 after 30 Tests: Javed Miandad (62.38), Herbert Sutcliffe (62.33), Everton Weekes (61.21), Neil Harvey (60.92), Marnus Labuschagne (60.82) and Adam Gilchrist (60.38).I noticed that David Warner scored exactly 100 in a T20 international on his 33rd birthday. Has anyone else made a birthday ton in a T20? asked Kyle Morton from Australia

Australia’s David Warner hit 100 not out against Sri Lanka in Adelaideon October 27, 2019, his 33rd birthday. He was the second (and last to date) to score a T20 international century on his birthday, after Afghanistan’s Mohammad Shahzad, who hit 118 not out against Zimbabwe in Sharjah on January 10, 2016, his 29th birthday.Seven men have scored a birthday century in a one-day international: Vinod Kambli, Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar of India, Tom Latham and Ross Taylor of New Zealand (against Pakistan in Pallekele during the 2011 World Cup), Sanath Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka (on his 39th birthday in 2008, against Bangladesh in Karachi) and Mitchell Marsh of Australia.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

Wolverhampton Wanderers have now registered their interest in signing Real Madrid forward Gonzalo Garcia on loan in the January transfer window, alongside a whole host of rival Premier League clubs.

Fosun would’ve been hoping Rob Edwards could breathe new life into a Wolves side that have massively disappointed so far this season, but the manager was on the receiving end of a defeat in his first match in charge, with Crystal Palace emerging as 2-0 winners at Molineux on Saturday.

Edwards’ side actually looked better from an attacking point of view, recording an xG of 1.79, compared to 1.27 from the Eagles, but they were unable to take their chances, with both Jhon Arias and Ladislav Krejci squandering big opportunities.

Things are looking bleak for the Old Gold, who are still searching for their first win of the Premier League season, and now sit nine points from safety, given that they have the worst attacking and defensive records in the top flight, scoring seven and conceding 27.

As such, if the Wanderers are to stand any chance of avoiding the drop, they may need to make major improvements at both ends of the pitch in the upcoming transfer window, and they have now made an approach for a new centre-forward.

Wolves make approach to sign Gonzalo Garcia on loan

According to journalist Pete O’Rourke, in a report for Football Insider, Wolves are one of a number of clubs in the race for Real Madrid forward Garcia this January, although it remains to be seen whether they will be willing to sanction a departure.

The Spanish side are concerned about a lack of attacking depth, which means they may not be willing to let the 21-year-old leave, despite several English sides queuing up to get a deal done, with O’Rourke saying: “If Real Madrid are willing to loan him out, I’m sure it’s more than just Leeds will be interested in him. I believe Brighton, Villa and Wolves have all registered interest.

“A lot will depend on Real Madrid. If there’s any injuries to their forwards then it might mean there’s no chance that Garcia goes out and loan.”

Hailed as a “goal machine” in the media, the youngster clearly has a lot of potential, having starred for Madrid at the Club World Cup in the summer, bagging four goals and an assist in six outings out in the USA.

Wolves are in dire need of a fresh injection of quality in attack, having failed to score in four out of their last five Premier League games, with Jorgen Strand Larsen failing to impress, finding the back of the net just once in 10 top-flight outings.

As such, a move for Garcia would make sense, but it will be strange if the Real Madrid ace is willing to move to a club in huge danger of relegation, given that there is likely to be plenty of other options on the table.

Wolves prioritising move for ex-Man City target as Edwards' first signing Wolves now prioritising move for ex-Man City target as Edwards' first signing

The Midlands side are ready to back their new manager.

ByTom Cunningham Nov 22, 2025