David Raya has revealed that Arsenal have worked 'a lot' on penalties on the training ground this season.
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“I didn’t know what consistency was earlier. Now I understand it’s very important,” says Capitals opener after hitting her third fifty of this WPL
Shashank Kishore14-Mar-20241:49
Shafali Verma: ‘If Meg Lanning can still be so consistent, why can’t we?’
There are some shots that get a batter going. It’s like an assurance that bursts to life the moment they execute it. For Shafali Verma, that shot is a bottom-handed shovel down the ground. She clubs the ball with ferocity. It isn’t as much a shot but a switch that flicks her game on and moves it to the next level.It was first on display in the fifth over of the Delhi Capitals chase against Gujarat Giants. The target was a mere 127, and the team had lost two quick wickets. Shafali had a role to play in Meg Lanning’s run out and needed to bat through to see her team home. Here was an opportunity to rediscover her “hitting touch” ahead of the final, after four games of being unable to kick on.Shafali could have had a few sighters if she wished to. But she decided to go after Meghna Singh and walloped a six down the ground. It was hit hard, flat, and with plenty of bottom-hand, laced with an element of wrist. It was magic.Related
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If you have watched Shafali bat for a length of time now, you would have noticed the propensity to move around the crease. This movement isn’t as much to throw the bowler off, as it is to try and manufacture something. Bowlers the world over – especially Katherine Sciver-Brunt – have found workarounds by attacking her body and hitting hard lengths that cramp her.Over time, coaches have worked around limiting these premeditated movements with varying degrees of success. The focus hasn’t been to eliminate her attacking mindset. There have been chats to help her access different areas of the ground to the same ball.At the WPL, with games coming thick and fast, the onus is also on the player to learn on the job. And Shafali appears to have taken those suggestions on board and has based her power game not as much around her movements, but on picking lengths, her bat swing, and the follow through.The method brought her a 37-ball 71 on Wednesday. The movement wasn’t within the crease but outside it. Like when she stepped out to clobber Ash Gardner three balls after she had shovelled Meghna. This one went even further, 91 metres and deep into the stands.
“If you look at my batting closely, I’ve changed a few things. I feel more stable at the crease. You can see I’m more stable. I’m able to hit my shots clearly, I’m able to find gaps”Shafali Verma
In the same over, Shafali went even straighter and cleared the ropes comfortably when mid-on went back. A trigger movement towards off stump to get close to the pitch followed by a free swing of the arms made it possible for her to hit it down the ground.In a small chase, blows like these can quickly increase the pressure on the opponents. It certainly dissipated any relief Giants may have had after dismissing Lanning and Alice Capsey in the space of four deliveries in the fourth over.”If you look at my batting closely, I’ve changed a few things,” Shafali said afterwards. “I feel more stable at the crease. You can see I’m more stable. I’m able to hit my shots clearly, I’m able to find gaps.” Shafali didn’t elaborate on how she has been able to achieve that. But the proof’s right there.What Shafali was willing to give away, though, was the crux of her chats with Lanning. “We share a good bond. She wants to teach me. I used to struggle with consistency, get out in the 20s and 30s. I learnt from her, on days when you’re in good touch, it’s about how long you can play. The bad days teach you to score better [on good days when you’re in]. I’m able to score better, and build my innings better. I talk to her when I need to and she is always happy to help me.”Shafali Verma after her 71: ‘I feel more stable at the crease’•BCCIShafali’s discussions with Lanning have revolved largely around discovering methods that work, fine-tuning things like knowing when to temper down the hitting to try and bat long, and how to maximise your strengths.”I didn’t know what consistency was,” Shafali said. “Now I understand it’s very important. Not just now, even if you go back to 2020, from the time I played the T20 World Cup, I didn’t know what consistency was. As you play, you learn about your shortcomings and what you can do better. Training and playing with big players like Meg has shown [me]. She hit two fifties. She’s so experienced, even now she’s still doing it, so why can’t I achieve it?”There was brute force on display when Shafali became a teenage wonder girl, when she broke through at the Women’s T20 Challenge in 2019. That competition aimed to test the depth of women’s cricket in India. There’s little doubt that the tournament accelerated Shafali’s journey to the India cap.Now, five years on, Shafali is beginning to channel that brute force better and marry it with consistency. She’s still a work in progress, but one can say with certainty her career graph is back on track and on its way up.
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And that was all she wrote. Another transfer window done and dusted, and despite some late-stage drama, Liverpool must be rather pleased with their market activity over the past couple of months.
With the clock winding down on deadline day, Liverpool felt they were honing in on a statement signing for Crystal Palace centre-back Marc Guehi, but Oliver Glasner had other ideas, refusing to subscribe to the sale of his star defender without an adequate replacement welcomed to Selhurst Park.
Guehi, 25, had completed his medical in FSG’s London complex, and the submission of a dealsheet was all that stood in the way of his move to Merseyside.
It’s a blow, for Guehi is one of the finest centre-halves in the Premier League, but Arne Slot still has top-class options in the position, with sporting director Richard Hughes having warded off interest in Joe Gomez and signed Giovanni Leoni, 18, from Parma for £30m.
And though Liverpool missed out with that one, their lob certainly didn’t fall wide of the mark in regard to Alexander Isak, who is very much a member of the Premier League pace-setters.
Liverpool did it. After receiving the fondest of farewells at St. James’ Park, Liverpool welcomed Isak from Newcastle United for a British record £125m fee.
It’s certainly been one of the most unsavoury transfer sagas in recent memory, but Liverpool and FSG and the supporters won’t care a jot, not now that they have welcomed a player who pundit Jamie Carragher hailed as “the best striker in the Premier League” last season.
The 25-year-old scored 27 goals across all competitions and landed the winning strike as Newcastle beat Liverpool to lift the Carabao Cup in March, instrumental in guiding Eddie Howe’s side back into the Champions League.
Liverpool might have already signed Hugo Ekitike from Eintracht Frankfurt in a £79m deal this summer, but Isak gives Slot the complete set in the final third, a clinical striker and skilled in linking up with his teammates.
Exciting times ahead for the Anfield side, not least because Isak will find an almighty bunch of players to combine with, the likes of Mohamed Salah and co.
And, of course, German playmaker Florian Wirtz, whose record-breaking £116m transfer fee lasted all of two months.
In May, transfer rumours concerning Wirtz began to intensify. Manchester City and Bayern Munich joined Liverpool in a race for the 22-year-old, and it was Slot’s side who secured the prized signature, underscoring a shift in the European power rankings.
Wirtz hasn’t had the most electrifying start to life in England, playing a neat assist for Ekitike in the Community Shield but yet to register a goal contribution across three Premier League fixtures. Still, his world-class potential is undeniable, hailed by sports media professional Cristian Nyari as a “truly generational talent”.
Former Leverkusen striker Patrick Helmes has even called him “the best midfielder in the world” for his efforts in his homeland, winning the 2023/24 Bundesliga Player of the Season after playing a talismanic part in winning the top flight undefeated in Xabi Alonso’s system.
|
Wirtz at Leverkusen (all comps) |
||
|---|---|---|
|
Season |
Apps |
Goals (Assists) |
|
24/25 |
45 |
16 (15) |
|
23/24 |
49 |
18 (20) |
|
22/23 |
25 |
4 (8) |
|
21/22 |
31 |
10 (14) |
|
20/21 |
38 |
8 (8) |
|
19/20 |
9 |
1 (0) |
|
Stats via Transfermarkt |
||
Wirtz has much still to give, but there’s little question that he has what it takes to become the defining player of the era ahead at Liverpool, perhaps even more so than a superstar striker such as Isak.
FBref’s data delineates Wirtz’s wide range of quality, as he ranks among the top 9% of attacking midfielders and wingers across Europe’s top five leagues over the past year for assists and progressive passes, the top 4% for through ball and successful take-ons, and the top 11% for assists per 90.
Slot has proven himself over the past 12 months at Liverpool to be one of the most tactically astute coaches in the business, and there’s every faith that he will fashion Wirtz into one of the biggest hitters the Reds have seen.
His market value certainly attests to that.
Wirtz was Liverpool’s record signing until Isak came along, but CIES Football Observatory values actually demonstrate that the German is regarded as having a higher ceiling, boasting a market figure of as high as £152m.
Isak, while still regarded as one of the most lucrative players in the game, amid his £125m move, comes in at a peak value of £100m. Given that the Sweden forward has already enjoyed three years on Premier League pitches, scoring at a clinical rate throughout, it wouldn’t be unfair to suggest that Wirtz might prove to be the cream of the crop after settling into life in a new sphere.
Even without lighting up the Premier League over these first few weeks, Wirtz has showcased an underlying tenacity and robustness, with Sofascore recording that he has won 55% of his ground duels and averaged 1.7 tackles per game.
The goals will come, and the assists too. Of course, when working behind a focal outlet such as Isak, there’s sure to be plenty of optimism around Wirtz’s capacity to dazzle, his creative skill feeding through to the world-class goalscorer.
Market Movers
In any case, what really matters is Liverpool have landed two of the finest footballers in the game, and Slot now has all that he needs to make it a season for the ages on Merseyside.
Now worth more than Isak: Liverpool wanted to sign "one of the best in the world"
With Alexander Isak joining Liverpool for £125m on deadline day, do the Reds rue missing out on “one of the best players in the world” worth more?
By
Ben Gray
Sep 2, 2025
At the same time, having given so much to England, it is understandable he has chosen to sacrifice himself in less painful ways
Vithushan Ehantharajah24-Aug-2022Ben Stokes isn’t one for soundbites. But on the eve of his sixth Test as the full-time men’s captain, one which England need to win to square the series with South Africa, he leant on what is becoming a familiar crutch.”I would never ask my team to do something I wouldn’t”.It is an admirable stance for a skipper to take, and perhaps Stokes is in the unique position as an allrounder where he can act it out. The short-ball tactic England employ – with mixed results – is basically all on him, as it was in the previous regime under Joe Root.With age, the effects of these bumper spells, the extra effort, and the multiplying force put through that front leg wear a little heavier, particularly on his left knee. However, such is his belligerence that even concern from good friend and former England cricketer Steve Harmison was dismissed as unnecessary. “It is something I can manage.”Related
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Interestingly, discussions on how he bowls himself and the associated risks did not elicit the familiar nugget. It was his batting: particularly the almost cavalier approach to the craft he has adopted under Brendon McCullum. There are shades of the Kiwi’s familiar two-step down the ground routine in among some outrageous shots that, so far, have reaped 259 runs at an average of 37 in this summer’s home Tests.It is not bad, but certainly short of his capabilities. There was a period from the start of 2019 to the end of 2020 when it seemed we were entering a new era of Stokes, the batter: he averaged 50 across 18 Tests, with four hundreds among them. At times, he looked the most technically accomplished in the line-up, which is saying something, given he sits next to Root.And yet at the same time, to focus on numbers and aesthetics is to miss the point. Stokes’ method, however madcap, is his way of embodying the extreme of how he wants the batting line-up to operate.Ben Stokes’ belligerence has had mixed results, but created a noteworthy turnaround and comeback wins•Stu Forster/Getty Images”I know when I play well it’s very good for the team,” he answered when asked if, perhaps, there is a regression to the norm. “Me being the leader, I would never ask my team to do something I wouldn’t, but there’s a bigger picture to that if that makes sense.”I’m sure there will come a time when it does have to mellow down a little bit but at this time right now, I feel I’ve got a big responsibility to be that person hitting the message home and almost people watching going like ‘he’s able to go out and do that in a difficult situation’.”If you will allow for some extrapolation with wildly different sample sizes, Stokes’ mantra is clear to see. Overall, he attacks deliveries twice as often as he did across the three home summers between 2019 and 2021. The biggest expansion is the approach to full deliveries, going after them 42.42% of the time compared to 11.54% in the above period.Similarly, he is striking length balls more than twice as often. It is no surprise his strike rate of 78.72 is comfortably his highest in an English season.After a trio of scores – 54, 46 and 75 not out – in his first four knocks of the summer, there have been plenty of starts that in the old days of a few months ago would have been filed under “thrown away”. Their purposes, however, were not for nothing, either shocking bowlers and the field for the benefit of the guy at the other end, or coming in next.Even the twin 20s in the innings defeat at Lord’s had a little more to them: the first innings a necessary counter, the second a hit-out as the last viable option for victory before being caught at midwicket trying to strike Kagiso Rabada for a six, thus becoming the ninth wicket to fall.”It’s about the language we speak as well in the group to set the tone of what we’re about,” Stokes on England’s approach•Getty ImagesMaybe because cricket is like this, but it is hard not to wince at the thought of Stokes wanting to be the canary down the mine, given he strikes gold so often. At the same time, having given so much of himself to England over the years and still only coming away with sub-par results – one win in 17, anyone? – perhaps it is understandable that he has chosen to sacrifice himself in other, slightly less painful ways.And it is certainly working to a point, with four wins and an overall run rate of 4.50 which is the highest of any team to play five or more games in a season.Ahead of the second Test against South Africa, nursing a 0-1 scoreline, Stokes took the opportunity to talk the talk once more, fully aware he will walk it from 11am on Thursday, and hopefully get others to follow as resolutely as they had before.”It’s about the language we speak as well in the group to set the tone of what we’re about, because when you are up against the wall – as we were in the first innings – it’s a lot easier to take a step back and go into your shell a bit more,” he said.”That’s something we don’t want to creep into this team at the moment. That game in particular we all hold our hands up and know we didn’t perform to where we wanted to, and there will be occasions when similar situations happen. But if they go out there with the confidence of having the backing of the dressing room is very powerful I feel.”Indeed, this match feels like more of an acid test than last week. Then it was about seeing how much of the ethos sustained after a long break. Now it will be about how much those players still believe after a first defeat.As for Stokes? Well, he might find himself in an interesting conundrum. Because as much as he still wants to lead the way, doing so here, with the series on the line, might require a more selfish approach.
Harry Kane has broken the record for the most goals scored in a debut Bundesliga season with his 31st strike of the campaign for Bayern Munich.
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Islamabad’s seamers did most of the damage under cloudy skies, limiting the Multan Sultans to 113, setting up their first win of the tournament
The Report by Nikhil Kalro25-Feb-2018PCB/PSL
Not often, in T20s, does a Powerplay decide the direction of a game. When it does, it’s almost always solely down to underfoot or overhead conditions. Under atypically overcast skies in Dubai, after a 25-minute delay due to light rain, Islamabad United’s seamers capitalised on swinging conditions to leave Multan Sultans at 24 for 3 after the first six overs.That period set the tone for the rest of the match. Multan weren’t able to recover, eventually slumping to 113 all out in the final over. At one point during the 54-run fifth-wicket partnership between Shoaib Malik and Kieron Pollard, it seemed like Multan could muster a score they could defend in bowling-friendly conditions.Imran Tahir gave them some hope with 3 for 19, but Hussain Talat snuffed that out with a sparkling innings, first steadying the chase before showing off his range with a 34-ball 48 that gave Islamabad their first win of the tournament.
Islamabad’s bowlers kept Multan to 24 for 3 in the Powerplay, but the next four overs damaged their hopes of a 120-plus score. Multan’s batsmen took too long looking to consolidate, adding just 18 runs in four overs for the loss of Ahmed Shehzad. With a score at 42 for 4, even a bright cameo wouldn’t have sufficed.
The conditions were skewed towards the fast bowlers so much that legspinner Shadab Khan was given only two overs. Islamabad’s quicks didn’t disappoint. Captain Rumman Raees and Mohammad Sami combined for figures of 7.5-0-33-5 to give their team a distinct edge. Steven Finn and Andre Russell also chipped in with three wickets between them.But the most significant contribution was from Talat. At 63 for 5, Multan were buoyant, but Talat soaked up that pressure initially, before expanding his strokeplay to find the gaps. He finished with four fours and three sixes in his match-winning knock.
In three innings in this season’s PSL, Sohaib Maqsood has scored 26 runs, at an average of 8.67. That lack of confidence may have manifested into hesitation in the field. In the 10th over of Islamabad’s chase, Talat clipped a delivery from Junaid Khan towards midwicket. He called his partner Asif Ali for a run before sending him back too late. Or so everyone thought. Maqsood picked up, ran towards the bowler’s stumps, glanced at the batsman and missed an under-arm throw from a metre away.
Being the only team with two wins in the tournament, Multan retained their position at the top of the table. Islamabad stayed at fifth spot with one win in two games.
Northants are bottom, without a win in four games, but Alex Wakely’s unbeaten half-century has given them a decent chance of improved fortunes
ECB Reporters Network10-Jun-2018
ScorecardAlex Wakely’s first half-century of the season in the Specsavers County Championship put bottom-of-the-table Northamptonshire on top against Leicestershire at Wantage Road, as they took a lead of 152.
by the close of the second day with seven second-innings wickets remaining.Winless after four games, unable to deliver what many predicted would be a promotion-chasing campaign, Northants are reasonably well placed to set up a victory platform on the third day.With batting not easy on a pitch that yielded 20 wickets in four-and-a-half sessions, Wakely settled well and struck seven fours and a six in reaching the first fifty of the game in 81 balls.He skipped down the wicket to swing Callum Parkinson’s left-arm spin into the Wilson Stand for six before slapping four more through midwicket and twice cutting the same bowler for boundaries.Wakely shared stands of 51 with Ricardo Vasconcelos for the third wicket and an unbroken alliance of 44 with Adam Rossington that took Northants to the close in a strong position.Until the evening session, the game had been a nip-and-tuck affair with Leicestershire nudging into a 13-run first-innings lead after making 217.They resumed 64 for 3 and lost four wickets in the morning session to slip to 146 for 7. Nightwatchman Gavin Griffiths went to the 11th ball of the morning, chipping Rory Kleinveldt to midwicket without adding to his overnight 1. Colin Ackermann and Neil Dexter then settled into a stand of 45 for the fifth wicket before Ben Cotton struck at midday with a ball that moved away from Ackermann’s drive to take out middle and off stumps.Lewis Hill only made 7 before being caught at short-leg pushing forward to Rob Keogh’s offspin and when Dexter feathered an edge behind off Ben Sanderson, Leicestershire were behind in the game.But a response was provided by Zak Chappell who followed up his first-innings 6 for 44 with 40 with the bat to raise a batting point for the visitors and bring Leicestershire on terms.A limping Rob Newton saw Northants make a solid start to their second-innings. Newton picked up what looked like an injury to his right knee taking a single. He needed a runner but battled through to 30 before being bowled by Mohammad Abbas after Ben Duckett had dragged Ben Raine into his leg stump for 17.When Vasconcelos fell for 37, hooking at Raine and getting a top-edge into his helmet that looped to short-square leg, Leicestershire hoped for a strong end to the day but Wakely and Rossington ensured Northants took the initiative into the third day.
Two long-hops, one legspinner, two pulls: how did Bairstow go against Todd Astle?
ESPNcricinfo staff26-Mar-201870.2 Astle to Bairstow, no run, Boult has put down a sitter. Oh that is terrible cricket. Just awful from everyone involved. Astle drops it halfway down the pitch, Bairstow looks to pull and lobs it straight to Boult at mid-on who grabs at it like he hasn’t seen it at all. It’s a straightforward take, waist height, no real pace on it. Something’s gone wrong with the sight there.Todd Astle is in disbelief after Trent Boult drops a sitter•Getty Images
72.4 Astle to Bairstow, OUT, can you believe it?! Bairstow has played another pull with no control, and this time he’s found Williamson at short midwicket. Another long-hop from Astle, draws a loose shot. This one is turning away a little more than the previous one and he drags it a long way. Williamson leaps high to his right and hangs on.Jonny Bairstow picked out midwicket with a pull•Getty Images
Can’t bat, can’t field – Pakistan, just accept that verdict
Nagraj Gollapudi at Edgbaston06-Aug-2010Shoaib Malik was shaking his hands in pain having failed to take a difficult, though manageable, catch at point. Imran Farhat was trying to invent a new form of asana yoga by trying to get his head between his legs after he dropped a dolly from Jonathan Trott. Umar Gul, at mid off, was surprised by Kevin Pietersen’s charge against Saeed Ajmal, and could only deflect the lofted drive he should have pouched. Debutant Zulqarnain Haider rightly followed Pietersen’s inside edge and dived full-stretch to his left, but the ball hit his wrist. When Ajmal surprised Pietersen with a quicker ball, the intended cut flew past a clueless Umar Akmal, standing too wide at slip. Can’t bat, can’t field – Pakistan, just accept that verdict.Let’s stick to the fielding for now. A basic tenet to succeed at any job is to enjoy it. Look at the example of the two Mohammads – Asif and Amir. You can sense, feel and celebrate the joy with this pair of Pakistan quicks as they unravel the art of fast bowling in front of your eyes without the sleight of hand. When they smile, you understand exactly how they are working out the batsman.Even in the nets the pair is rehearsing the murder of their opponent. Every ball has a meaning, a sweet-something tipped with poison, an improvement over the previous effort. And even if it always does not work out the way they intended, their minds are always busy scripting the obituary of the batsman. There is a genuine enthusiasm to excel.If only the Pakistan players could adopt the duo’s zeal and apply it to the fielding. At each and every training session whenever Waqar Younis, Pakistan’s coach, has screamed “let’s go fielding boys” the players have responded like a kid who has been ordered to do homework on a holiday. At times a peeved Waqar has had to force players to go for the fielding drills, usually imparted by his two deputies – Ijaz Ahmed and Aaqib Javed.”Oye, Azhar, kya kal pahunche ga fielding karne (Azhar, will you reach tomorrow for the fielding practice!?),” Waqar shouted at Azhar Ali on Thursday afternoon when the player was busy doing nothing after his batting session. It is not to single out one player, but most of the Pakistanis have failed to show the same enthusiasm to fielding as they have shown lining up to bat or bowl.Probably the mistake lies in the method of the coaches. If there is a method in the first place that is: just lining up players and hitting some hard catches as if you are on a conveyor belt cannot exactly be called the right way forward. It is an archaic method.The best fielders have always maintained that fielding cannot be taught. It needs to come from within. Awareness, anticipation, agility are the three As missing form Pakistan’s fielding cabinet. If you watch Ijaz hitting catches towards the close-in fielders – slips, gully and point – one thing that stands out is the discomfort a fielder has about where he is standing. Constantly the player is seen shuffling around, trying to measure the distance from his partner by stretching his arm and still he is never sure.This weakness revealed itself recently at Trent Bridge last week when both Kamran Akmal, the wicketkeeper, and the slips were reluctant to stand up a few yards against the quick bowlers despite having grasped the nature of the pitch was slow and dry. Some catches were dropped, some were missed altogether. Bowlers were left furiously kicking dust.It was an encore in Birmingham and Pakistan’s comedy of errors will continue for the rest of the tour if they fail to act now. The visitors cannot keep ignoring the fielding issue with a shrug and say it has always existed. Thankfully Salman Butt, their captain was in no mood to find excuses. “It is something hard to contend with,” he summed his fury in short.On the day when Pakistan’s fielders were biting lips, nails and sweaters as the cold Birmingham breeze persisted, England showed the anticipation and skills to turn the advantage in their favour. “The fielding has been sublime as well, which always helps,” said Stuart Broad, who took four wickets. “We’ve got slip catchers who are practising no end to improve themselves, because they know how important it is,”Broad, tellingly, had no sympathy for the opposition – not even his fellow fast bowler Asif, with whom he used to play at Leicester. Pakistan’s problems, he said, had nothing to do with the side being down on its luck, and were instead due to a lack of willingness to put in the necessary hard work. “As an England player, I don’t mind,” he said. “As a bowler you are always going to have human error, with catches put down, but that’s okay, as long as you know the boys are practising as hard as they possibly can.”I think confidence is built from practice, to be honest,” he added. “Our lads have been practising hard, getting in close, and we’ve got some world-class fielders in there – Colly, for instance, would get into any slip cordon in the world. It’s really nice as a bowler knowing that your slippers are practising day in day out to take that one chance. You’re not just practising for that day’s play, you’re practising for the final Ashes Test, to take that one-hander that wins you the game. It’s all about those key moments in series and games that, with the more practice you put in, you can try and claim.”All summer Pakistan’s fielders have been trying to hold on to their catches as kids try to hold on to snow flakes – in vain. It is time they grew up.