New Zealand tend not to do especially well in Galle. Of their five Test defeats from as many games at the ground, one has been by an innings, another by ten wickets, and one more by 202 runs. Their latest Test at the venue, which ended in a 63-run defeat to Sri Lanka on Monday, when they went into the fifth morning with an outside shot of victory – 68 more runs to win, with two wickets remaining – represents their closest result here.But two players, in particular, stuck out. In his first outing in steaming conditions, and on a dry deck, seamer Will O’Rourke was frequently menacing – often touching 140kph – while sending down short deliveries on a pitch not especially conducive to short bowling. Vitally, for a bowler in his third Test, there were also no hugely loose spells. His takings were 8 for 104. Six of those dismissals were of top- or middle-order batters. Captain Tim Southee was suitably impressed by the 23-year-old.”Will’s had a very short Test career so far, and he’s certainly announced himself,” Southee said after the match. “We saw in New Zealand how dangerous he can be. He’s got the skills to have a very good Test career. For him to come to his first Test in the subcontinent and walk away with a very impressive eight wickets for the match is nothing short of special. He’s got a great head on his shoulders, and he’s a big guy. So there’s a lot to like about Will O’Rourke.”Related

• Will O'Rourke's Canterbury Tales, ft. Peter Fulton and Brendon Donkers

• Southee hopes New Zealand 'learn and move forward' from Sri Lanka loss

• SL, NZ seek to make most of Galle conditions and prevent another collapse

• Sri Lanka look to ride on hot streak to stay in the fray for WTC final

• Asia specialist Ajaz says limited opportunities have made him hungrier

On the batting front, 24-year-old Rachin Ravindra produced his second-highest Test score – a characterful 92 on a treacherous fourth-innings pitch – as New Zealand pursued a tall 275. Ravindra is not quite so new to internationals, of course, having lit up last year’s ODI World Cup in India. But he remains a batter still finding his feet at the top level, and the clear-headed approach he took on day four – pouncing almost unnerringly on errors of length, while endeavouring to keep the score ticking – was especially impressive in his third Test in Asia.”Rachin kept us in the hunt with that chase,” Southee said. “We knew it was [a] tough ask, and that it was going to take something special, with the wicket taking a lot of turn in these last couple of days. It was a great knock in those conditions.”It’s not easy to bat – the ball was spinning, and doing all sorts [of things]. For a young guy without a lot of experience in this part of the world to go out and get 90-odd was great signs for him as well. He’s another one that’s an exceptional talent, and he’s had a little taste of international cricket as well, and done exceptionally well. He’s a great young kid with a good head on his shoulders.”Tim Southee called Rachin Ravindra an “exceptional talent” after the Galle Test•AP

For Southee, it was New Zealand’s batting collapse on the third morning that was the definitive portion of the match. They had been 255 for 4 in their first innings overnight, only 50 runs adrift of Sri Lanka’s total. But they then lost six wickets for 71 runs, as the middle and lower orders succumbed to finger spinners Prabath Jayasuriya and Ramesh Mendis. In the end, their lead was only 35, when it had threatened to be much more.”I guess the position where we got ourselves in, in the first innings, was good. But the last four or five fell for not many, and there was an opportunity to get a bigger first-innings lead,” he said. “We knew that that second new ball was going to be tough given the nature of the wicket and the quality of the Sri Lankan spin bowlers.”If you look at those moments, if we were able to press on and get more of a lead, things could have been different. It was still a good Test match. There’s plenty of good things we can take into the next couple of days.”

MatériaMais Notícias

da bet nacional： A Data Fifa começou nesta segunda-feira (5) e vai até o dia 12 de setembro. Durante o período, há uma pausa nos campeonatos nacionais para a disputa das Eliminatórias para a Copa do Mundo de 2026. Dessa forma, jogadores de vários clubes do Brasil foram convocados para representarem seus respectivos países. Das 20 equipes da Série A do Brasileirão, apenas América-MG, Cruzeiro, Cuiabá e Cuiabá não terão representantes.

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da brwin： + Eliminatórias: quantas vagas terá a América do Sul na Copa do Mundo de 2026?

O clube que mais cedeu jogadores nesta Data Fifa foi o Athletico-PR, com sete nomes ao todo, incluindo seleções principais e a pré-olímpica brasileira: Zapelli e Esquivel (Argentina), Fernando Nava (Bolívia), Arturo Vidal (Chile), Canobbio (Uruguai) e Mycael e Vitor Roque (Brasil sub-23). Confira a lista completa abaixo:

Jogos da Seleção Brasileira nesta Data Fifa:

8/9: Brasil x Bolívia – às 21h45 (de Brasília) – Estádio: Mangueirão
12/9: Peru x Brasil – às 23h (de Brasília) – Estádio: Monumental de Lima

The left hander was closing in on his career best after he and Jake Doran left the home side without ideas

AAP15-Nov-2024Tasmania opener Jake Weatherald was closing in on his highest first-class score after dominating the Queensland bowlers on day one of their Sheffield Shield clash.The 31-year-old sent another reminder of the quality top-order batters in the Australian domestic scene, although after making an unbeaten 185 he said he had probably left his run too late to be in the Test equation.Related

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Queensland captain Mitchell Swepson won the toss and sent Tasmania in under heavy cloud cover at Allan Border Field on Friday but Weatherald and fellow left-hander Jake Doran were in complete control when bad light stopped play an hour after tea with Tasmania 358 for 3 off 76 overs.Weatherald and Doran added 161 off 177 deliveries in an unbroken fourth-wicket stand after Tim Ward had played a fine hand at No. 3.Weatherald’s highest Shield score is the 198 he made while playing for South Australia against Tasmania in 2019. He had made a couple of 40s in the opening Shield rounds this season but had been unable to make the most of the starts.After the day’s play he spoke of the welcome focus opening batters have had domestically this season after David Warner’s retirement.”It has been a bit of a circus going on in Australia trying to find an opener but it has been awesome to watch,” Weatherald said. “I’m very happy for Nathan [McSweeney] getting a gig. I think he’s deserved that spot.”I definitely left my run too late but I think there are some good openers around. Sam Whiteman is playing very well and Caleb Jewel has been very good for a long time. Hopefully we can keep putting the pressure on the Australian boys.”Tasmania had been bowled out for 98 in the second innings of their previous Shield clash against Western Australia but none of that fragility was on show.Queensland had themselves to blame with poor line and length from the bowlers and occasional shoddy fielding not helping their cause. Swepson appeared to run out of ideas as none of the six bowlers used troubled the visitors. They were missing strike bowler Michael Neser with a hamstring injury and his absence was felt.Weatherald went after the bowling from the get-go as his strike-rate of 91.58 suggests.”It probably felt in the last game that I was hanging back a bit so in this game there was impetus to come out and meet the ball and I thought that worked well on that wicket,” he said. “It was nipping around a bit early but they gave us some opportunities to score which was good. It is a great venue to bat on and you get good reward.”

Managing director has quadrupled his bet on inspirational head coach, but England’s unremitting schedule remains biggest challenge

Matt Roller03-Sep-2024Success in English cricket is evaluated by Ashes series and World Cups. The extensions to both Brendon McCullum’s contract and his remit, announced on Tuesday, represent Rob Key quadrupling the size of his bet: McCullum will not only take charge of the 2025-26 Ashes, but now the 2026 T20 World Cup, 2027 Ashes and 2027 50-over World Cup, too.Key made clear when he was appointed England’s managing director two years ago that his decision to split the coaching roles owed to pragmatism, rather than principle. “You get a better list of candidates… nearly all of them are like, ‘I wouldn’t be going for this if it was one [role],'” Key said. “You want the best people, and you build the structure around them.”In effect, that is exactly what Key has tried to do with this gambit. There has been a complete transformation in England’s Test cricket under McCullum: he has overseen 19 wins, eight defeats and a single draw, and has given them a clear identity that they were sorely lacking. Key’s belief is that he can have the same effect on a stagnant white-ball set-up.Related

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In a coaching market that is heavily skewed towards the franchise circuit, Key believes that McCullum’s new contract is a major coup for England: “We are incredibly fortunate that a coach of his quality is prepared to commit wholeheartedly to English cricket,” he said on Tuesday. “We’re confident this restructure will bring out the best in our players and coaching staff.”It is a call which highlights the importance of perception. England have played some brilliant Test cricket under McCullum but are yet to win a series against the world’s top two: they drew with Australia last summer, and were heavily beaten in India earlier this year. Still, the sense remains of a team on the up – not least after five clinical wins this summer.By contrast, Matthew Mott took England to three World Cups and won one of them, his team beating Pakistan at the MCG less than two years ago. And yet, he found himself sacked after reaching a semi-final in June: Jos Buttler’s hangdog expression told a story of a team whose progress had stalled, necessitating a change in leadership which fell on Mott.Brendon McCullum is now England’s man for all formats, under Rob Key•Getty ImagesThe pitfalls of McCullum’s new role are hidden in plain sight. Only India play more men’s international cricket than England, and England play more Tests than anyone. Their ludicrous fixture list is encapsulated by the 24-hour turnaround between the scheduled fifth-day finish of the upcoming third Test against Sri Lanka and the start of a T20I series against Australia.Key insisted that the “constant clashes” between formats “are easing, starting from January” but the volume of cricket scheduled is still substantial. Expect McCullum to have few qualms about handing the reins to one of his assistants for several bilateral series over the next three years – as Rahul Dravid did throughout his tenure with India.The trouble lies further ahead, with a dilemma that is familiar to England’s captains and coaches across the past two decades: how can you plan for both an Ashes series, and a World Cup straight after it? It is akin to a tennis player winning Wimbledon and jumping on a plane to Flushing Meadows, or an athlete being asked to compete in a World Championships immediately after an Olympic Games.In both the 2025-26 winter and the 2027 summer, McCullum will need his players to perform at their best throughout a four-month period – a scenario in which England have always struggled. Nasser Hussain (2003), Michael Vaughan (2007) and Andrew Strauss (2011) all led depleted squads to 50-over World Cups which were staged immediately after Ashes tours, with predictable results; Buttler faced a similar situation last year, with England’s multi-format players underperforming in India.Buttler was among the players who struggled five years ago when the turnaround was flipped. England’s 2019 World Cup triumph, the culmination of their white-ball revolution under Eoin Morgan’s captaincy, left players physically and emotionally drained yet was swiftly followed by a home Ashes series: England snuck a 2-2 series draw, but were outplayed.Previous England captains have felt the pain of an Ashes followed by a World Cup•Getty ImagesAs Australia’s fine record at World Cups can attest, scaling twin peaks in quick succession is by no means impossible: only three members of their side that beat India in Ahmedabad last year did not feature on the Ashes tour which preceded the World Cup. Andrew McDonald oversaw success on two fronts, something which has eluded England’s coaches.More immediately, McCullum’s task will be to inject some energy into a white-ball set-up which felt desperately low on it by the time they were knocked out of June’s T20 World Cup. He will watch from afar for their next 14 games, with Marcus Trescothick in interim charge, then will have a quick tour to India to make his mark before February’s Champions Trophy.The biggest unknown for McCullum will be his relationship with Buttler. Buttler idolised McCullum as a player but has never played or worked with him, and his captaincy is under scrutiny after the manner of England’s semi-final defeat to India in Guyana. Where Buttler had the balance of power over Mott, McCullum should be strong enough to take the lead.England believe they have a new core of young players who can become regulars across formats over the next decade: this includes Harry Brook, Jamie Smith and Gus Atkinson, who have all showcased their attacking style in McCullum’s Test team. This is simply the latest step in Key’s attempts to bridge the gap between the two codes – which had been in danger of becoming a chasm.It was barely two years ago that McCullum made clear to Key that he had no interest in taking on England’s white-ball teams, after Morgan had transformed them into not only regular semi-finalists but trendsetters in the global game. Now that they are lagging behind, he finds himself in charge of another revival.

India’s bowling coach also says they’re tracking the injured Gill’s progress on a “day-to-day” basis

Alagappan Muthu20-Nov-20243:38

Morkel: We’re probably under pressure based on recent results

Keep an eye on Nitish Kumar Reddy this series, says Morne Morkel. India’s bowling coach is hopeful that the bowling attack they have brought over to Australia can cause problems, especially with the conditions in Perth.Morkel has had his work cut out over the past few days, overseeing a set of bowlers who haven’t had a lot of experience playing Test cricket. India’s stand-in captain Jasprit Bumrah and his usual new-ball companion Mohammed Siraj had a good workout under the sun at the Optus Stadium nets but their support acts – the uncapped duo of Reddy and Harshit Rana along with two-Tests old Prasidh Krishna – have a stiff challenge, replicating the success they have had at the domestic and India-A levels on a full-fledged Test tour. Morkel has been helping bridge that gap by sharing his own experiences of playing in Australia.”It’s great to have them around in the squad,” Morkel said of Prasidh and the other specialist fast bowler in the squad, Harshit Rana. “I think they add a lot of variation to their attack, especially Harshit, who bowls at a good pace, finds a way to also extract some bounce out of the surface.Related

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“It’s their first tour, Prasidh had a bit of experience with India A tour where he had a bit of game time, but for Harshit it’s a bit of an unknown. My message to him was just, when I toured my first time here, playing in Australia, an intimidating place, to listen to the stories, take their advice. But for me it’s just staying in your own bubble and finding those experiences, work them out for yourself.”[Reddy] is one of the young guys that we’ve mentioned, he’s got that sort of batting, all-round ability. He’ll be a guy that can sort of hold that one end up first. He hits the bat a little bit harder than you think. So on these sort of conditions where there might be a little bit of seam movement up front, especially the first couple of days. He’ll be a very accurate wicket-to-wicket style of bowler. It’s a lovely opportunity for him to hold that allrounder spot.”Any team in the world always wanted the allrounder to take that load off your fast bowlers, just to give them an extra bit of breathing time. So how we use him, how Jasprit is going to use him, with maybe the spinner, to give himself, whoever’s going to be the other quicks, time to catch their breath a little bit is going to be important. He’s a guy that is a player you can keep your eye on in this series.”0:56

Perth Test: Who is Manjrekar’s pick for the third quick?

India’s batting may also be reliant on some of their newer players coming through, if Devdutt Padikkal makes it at No. 3 and Dhruv Jurel at No. 6.”It’s going to be great learning for these guys,” Morkel said. “It’s young guys that can come up and front up against a quality Test bowling pack. Australia’s not going to bowl you many bad balls, but in saying that, you know, there’s good leadership within the group that can help and settle the nerves for that. So I think as a group we’re all excited for the challenge, we know what’s sort of to come, we know the wicket’s going to be fast, it’s going to be bouncy, and it’s up to the individual now to formulate their game plans, and get themselves in a mental sort of battle state, that for the next 43 days it’s going to be a tough cricket.”India waiting on Gill’s fitnessMorkel also said that the fitness of batter Shubman Gill, who hurt his left thumb while fielding in the pre-series intra-squad match, is being tracked on a day-to-day basis.”Shubman is improving every day, obviously picked up a nasty blow in the mock game, in the squad game. I think with him it’s going to be a day-to-day sort of process, fingers crossed for that improvement, but I think they’ll wait, [and not] make a call with him up until the morning of the [match].”Gill was present at training on Wednesday but that was the extent of his participation even as the rest of the squad got in a full workout under the sun. He just hung out with Rishabh Pant for a while and then left. The chances of him playing in Perth in two days’ time are still slim. Padikkal, who has been added to the squad now after being asked to stay back in Australia following his work with the India A team, is shaping up as a stop-gap No. 3 batter.

Manchester United will have to pay €75 million (£65m/$85.5m) plus add-ons if they want to sign Benjamin Sesko from RB Leipzig this summer.

United interested in SeskoHave approached Leipzig over a dealBundesliga club set price for strikerFollow GOAL on WhatsApp! 🟢📱WHAT HAPPENED?

Per , Leipzig have set an asking price of €75m for Sesko's signature. They are also keen to receive add-ons, and a sell-on clause, with Newcastle and the Red Devils involved in a tug-of-war over the Slovenia international, who scored 21 goals in 45 games in all competitions last season.

AdvertisementGettyTHE BIGGER PICTURE

United are reported to have made contact with Leipzig over a deal to sign Sesko and Newcastle have also made him a priority. In addition to a pursuit of the 22-year-old, Ruben Amorim's side are also said to hold an interest in Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins. Sesko's current deal runs until 2029.

DID YOU KNOW?

While Sesko enjoyed a prolific season overall, he has only played two full seasons in the Bundesliga, scoring a total of 27 goals in 64 games. Nevertheless, United have placed him at the top of their shortlist of attackers as the club aim to revamp their frontline.

AFPWHAT NEXT?

United face Bournemouth in their next pre-season friendly on Thursday. They will hope to have a deal wrapped up in time for their Premier League opener against Arsenal on August 17.

Tottenham Hotspur have commenced their fifth new managerial era since 2019 with the appointment of Thomas Frank, and he could be about to wave goodbye to one player already.

Tottenham now in talks to sign "extraordinary" teen star likened to Messi

Spurs are keen on a bargain deal.

BySean Markus Clifford Jun 17, 2025

On Sunday morning, Spurs confirmed that Mathys Tel wouldn’t be going anywhere, announcing a permanent deal for the Frenchman who joins them indefinitely for a reported fee of around £30 million.

Son Heung-min

7.00

James Maddison

6.98

Pedro Porro

6.95

Dominic Solanke

6.84

Dejan Kulusevski

6.83

via WhoScored

Bayern sporting director Max Eberl stated in an interview with Abendzeitung München last week that talks were ongoing with Spurs over Tel’s future, and those negotiations reached a swift resolution over the weekend as Frank secures his first ever Tottenham signing.

While Tel is set to be a Spurs player for the foreseeable, the same cannot be said for star defender Cristian Romero, who’s a top target for Diego Simeone and Atlético Madrid this summer.

Romero has reportedly informed chairman Daniel Levy that he’d like to leave the club before September 1 (Marca), regardless of their place in the Champions League next season, and Son Heung-min could even draw the curtain on his 10-year-long stay in N17 amid interest from Saudi Arabia.

Alejo Veliz spotted at Rosario Central amid talks to leave Tottenham

According to Argentine news outlet Via Pais, young striker Alejo Veliz is yet another player who could soon leave Tottenham.

His former club, Rosario Central, recently had a loan bid rejected by the Lilywhites, but talks remain ongoing over his potential departure. Frank’s side are clear – they want to sell the 21-year-old permanently and won’t accept a temporary deal.

Interestingly, Veliz has been pictured at Rosario’s training ground in the last few days, with the club’s official account sharing images of the forward’s reunion on X.

His presence there is apparently due to an emotional connection with his former side, but it is surely no coincidence that Rosario are currently trying to negotiate Veliz’s return.

The towering forward, standing at 6 foot 2, caught Tottenham’s attention with his impressive performances in Argentina’s Primera Division. He then joined Spurs on a six-year contract in August 2023 for a fee believed to be around £13 million, but Veliz has found an opportunity to fully break into the first team.

A succession of loan spells at Sevilla and Espanyol followed, but the Argentine managed just one La Liga goal over both spells combined.

The end appears to be nigh for Veliz and his time in north London, despite some bold predictions from Spanish football experts when Spurs first signed him.

“He has a certain something that means that occasionally he’ll try things, and you’re like ‘no’, I think he could be a 16 or 17-goal [striker] this season,” said Graham Hunter to Premier Sports TV.

“Which is a big ask, I know I might be wrong, but what I see in him are the special elements about judgement, about movement, about being able to hold players off.

“Raw, raw as a farm boy – partially because he is a country boy, but they have an exciting footballer.”