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Out-of-favour Manchester United midfielder Kobbie Mainoo has picked his favourite destination after as many as 12 clubs made transfer enquiries for the young English star. Mainoo is desperate for an escape route from Old Trafford after failing to accumulate enough game time under Ruben Amorim this season as the Portuguese coach prefers Bruno Fernandes in the central midfield role alongside Casemiro.

Mainoo picks favourite destination

According to the, a dozen top European clubs have shown interest in signing Mainoo on loan in the January transfer market, however, the midfielder has picked Serie A champions Napoli as his preferred next destination. The England international's move to Italy is now dependent on whether the Red Devils give the green light to the transfer in the upcoming winter window.

AdvertisementAFPNapoli a perfect destination for Mainoo to revive career

Napoli, who are currently fighting to retain their Serie A crown, have seen their midfield dismantled by a cruel run of injuries. The latest blow was the high-grade lesion to Frank Anguissa's thigh, sustained on international duty, which will keep him out for the foreseeable future. This fresh setback comes on top of the long-term absence of Manchester City legend De Bruyne, who suffered a serious muscle tear in October. 

With Stanislav Lobotka also working on his fitness issues, manager Antonio Conte is left with a skeleton crew in the middle of the park. The Italian coach is aware that relying solely on Scott McTominay and fringe players like Michael Folorunsho is not sustainable if the club are to compete on multiple fronts, making a January reinforcement an absolute necessity.

With the scarcity of quality midfielders, Mainoo will surely enjoy a lot of game time in Italy and will also benefit from playing under a seasoned head coach like Conte, which could prove to be a huge learning opportunity for the youngster.

Scholes feels Mainoo getting ruined at United

With Mainoo growing 'deeply frustrated' with his lack of game time, Amorim recently addressed the media to speaking about the 20-year-old's situation at Old Trafford as he said: "I see him as a starter like the other players. I just have to make a choice and then in the end, it's not been Kobbie. In the future, I don't know. Again, I always think the same thing with Casemiro. (He) was not playing and then he plays. I just want to win games. I don't care who is playing.

"I see it. I just want to win, I try to put the players, I don't look who it is, I don't care about that, I'm just trying to put the best players on the pitch. You have Manuel Ugarte that played two games. One of them, Casemiro, was out, Bruno Fernandes, he's always fit, he's the guy that is doing his position, so maybe it has to do with that."

In response, though, club legend Paul Scholes slammed the Portuguese as he came to Mainoo's defence and said: "Bullsh*t. The kid is being ruined, not being played in a team that can't control a game of football. Hate seeing homegrown players leave but it's probably best for him now, enough is enough."

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Getty Images SportWhat next for Mainoo?

The Africa Cup of Nations this winter will see several top African players leave to play for their respective national teams. This could be the perfect time for Mainoo to get as much game time as possible and win back Amorim's trust, but the coach has offered no guarantee of minutes.

"I don't know, I don't know," he said. "It's the same question, I don't know what is going to happen. It depends. I've seen the training. If it's the best thing for the team, I will put (him in), that is the only way I know how to respond to that. Of course, I understand, and my job is to answer, but I'm trying to answer always the same thing, and you ask me always the same thing. I understand what you are saying. You love Kobbie, he starts for England. But that doesn't mean that I need to put Kobbie in when I feel that I shouldn't put Kobbie in, so it's my decision."

Surrey and Reliance intend to finalise Oval Invincibles deal imminently after lengthy process

Matt Roller07-Oct-2025An influential administrator in Australian cricket has been appointed to the Trent Rockets board, with the Nottingham-based team becoming the seventh of eight deals to be finalised in the Hundred’s private investment process.John Knox, the chair of Cricket New South Wales, is also a partner and head of Australia/New Zealand at Ares Management, one of two private equity firms who agreed a £40 million deal to buy a 49% stake in Rockets earlier this year. Their deal to run the franchise as a joint venture with majority partners Nottinghamshire was formalised last week.It means that Surrey’s partnership with Reliance – the owners of Mumbai Indians – to run Oval Invincibles is the only deal that remains to be finalised. ESPNcricinfo understands that the involvement of over a dozen lawyers in the process has slowed progress, but that both parties hope to sign contracts later this week.Related

• End of the beginning as change looms for the Hundred

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• Flower replaces Langer as London Spirit men's coach

The ECB said in July that the remaining two deals were “set for formal completion at a later date” after investors were “offered the option of completing later” than initially planned. The process of finalising arrangements has dragged on far longer than first anticipated, when the board set an eight-week ‘exclusivity period’ at the end of the auction process in early February.ESPNcricinfo understands that Knox’s new role on the Rockets board is independent from his role at Cricket NSW, which he has held since 2018. Knox was considered influential in the removal of Earl Eddings as Cricket Australia chair in 2021, and successfully pushed for the Cricket NSW board to assume gender diversity targets last year.Knox’s involvement at the Rockets comes at a time when Cricket Australia are actively exploring private investment in the Big Bash League. He told the earlier this year that he considers cricket to be his “life’s passion” and that he views T20 cricket as a “tremendous… growth opportunity”.John Knox has served as Cricket New South Wales chairman since 2018•Cricket New South Wales

He will serve as one of three directors on the Rockets board from the new investors’ side. Knox will be joined by Jonathan Goldstein and Joe Stelzer, who are Cain’s chief executive and senior managing director respectively. Nottinghamshire’s four board seats will be filled by senior figures at the club including director of cricket Mick Newell, who doubles as Rockets’ general manager.Rockets suffered a blow last week when Andy Flower, who has coached their men’s team throughout the Hundred’s first five seasons, signed a multi-year deal to take over from Justin Langer at London Spirit. They have not yet lined up a successor, and identifying the right replacement will be an early priority for the new board.The sale of stakes in the eight Hundred franchises raised over £500 million which will be split across the English game and help to ensure the survival of all 18 first-class counties. Gloucestershire announced last week that they had cleared all debts after “more than 20 years” of borrowing, which treasurer Nick Bryan said was a “seminal moment” for the club.

The best teams in football have always been built on at least a few brilliant partnerships, and this Arsenal side are no different.

Mikel Arteta’s side is full of duos who complement and perfectly understand one another, with the most obvious example being the partnership of William Saliba and Gabriel Magalhães.

The two centre-backs have played a massive part in making the Gunners the best defensive side in the Premier League, if not Europe, and have appeared in 129 competitive matches together, averaging 2.16 points per game.

However, as exceptional a pairing as they are, Arsenal’s Champions League win over Bayern Munich on Wednesday night made it clear that Arteta might have already created an even better one.

Arsenal's standout performers vs Bayern

It wouldn’t be an overreaction to say that, given the opponent and competition, Wednesday night was one of Arsenal’s most impressive performances under Arteta’s reign.

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

In other words, there were sensational displays from practically everyone donning the red and white, but someone who really stood out was Jurrien Timber.

The former Ajax gem was the one who opened the scoring, heading home from a corner, but he did far more than that.

Minutes

81′

Expected Goals

0.52

Goals

1

Tackles (Won)

2 (2)

Interceptions

1

Recoveries

4

Ground Duels (Won)

5 (4)

Aerial Duels (Won)

3 (3)

Long Balls

1/1

Dribbles

1/1

For example, in addition to providing a constant threat down the right-hand side and linking up nicely with Bukayo Saka, the Dutch international was almost perfect from a defensive point of view.

In his 81 minutes of action, he won 100% of his tackles and aerial duels, made one interception, recovered the ball four times, and more than justified The Athletic’s Aaron Catterson-Reid claim that he’s “the best right-back in the world at the minute.”

Another starter who deserves praise is Eberechi Eze, as while he was quieter than on the weekend, he still provided the assist for Gabriel Martinelli.

Moreover, he had some real moments of quality in and around the Germans’ penalty area.

Finally, Riccardo Calafiori and Noni Madueke made quite the impact coming off the bench, with the former setting up the latter to score his first goal for the club.

With all that said, one of the reasons these players were able to shine is the efforts of a partnership within the side that might just be better than Gabriel and Saliba’s.

Arsenal's new best partnership

While Saliba and Cristhian Mosquera looked great on Wednesday, as did Eze and Mikel Merino, neither of those pairings is shaping up to be Arsenal’s best new duo.

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

Instead, that title goes to the brewing partnership between Martin Zubimendi and Declan Rice.

Yes, while the Englishman was already performing at a world-class level for the Gunners over the last two years, the arrival of the Spaniard has helped him to further improve.

The former West Ham United captain has even said as much after Wednesday’s game, telling TNT Sports that the side “all trust him with the ball.”

The addition of the former Real Sociedad star has allowed the 26-year-old to maraud forward more freely, which is precisely what he did on multiple occasions against the Baverians.

However, he also still drops deeper on occasion and continues to do plenty of the dirty work, which is one of the reasons they’re such an incredible pairing, and why content creator Jamie Kent has dubbed the Englishman “the best midfielder in Europe.”

The watching press were unsurprisingly impressed with the two midfielders on Wednesday, with the Express’ Tom Parsons awarding both 9/10 match ratings.

That might sound slightly over the top, but it’s really not, and their statistics prove as much.

For example, in his 94 minutes, the Spaniard took 50 touches, completed 40 passes, was accurate with 100% of his long balls, recovered the ball three times, blocked one shot, and didn’t get dribbled past once.

In his 94 minutes, the £105m man produced a combined expected goal and assists figure of 0.61, played three key passes, took one shot on target, won 100% of his tackles, made one interception, took 66 touches, completed 39 passes, blocked one shot and recovered the ball five times.

Ultimately, while it was just the 16th competitive game Rice and Zubimendi have played together, Arsenal’s win over Bayern Munich was just more evidence that they could well be the Gunners’ new most important duo.

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ByJack Salveson Holmes Nov 26, 2025

While Arsenal have signed their fair share of superstars, they’ve also got a proud history of producing them.

The likes of Tony Adams, David O’Leary, Ashley Cole, and Ray Parlour got their start at Hale End before going on to have careers that most players could only dream of.

Even today, the Gunners’ most important player and talisman, Bukayo Saka, is a product of the world-class academy, and Max Dowman looks like he could be the next one up.

However, not every highly rated prospect goes on to fulfil their potential, with Jack Wilshere perhaps being the most unfortunate example of that.

Fortunately, Mikel Arteta has another Hale Ender in his side who could go on to become the player Wilshere was supposed to be.

Wilshere's Arsenal career

Before the likes of Ethan Nwaneri and Dowman, Wilshere held the title of Arsenal’s youngest league debutant thanks to his appearance against Blackburn Rovers in September 2008.

The youngster would go on to make eight appearances that season and then seven in the first half of the next campaign before he was sent out on a short-term loan to Bolton Wanderers, where he scored and assisted a goal in 14 games.

With this vital experience, Arsène Wenger opted to give the teenage talent a significant role in the side the following season, which saw him make 49 appearances across all competitions, scoring two goals and providing nine assists.

It was this campaign that saw him deliver his famous performance against Pep Guardiola’s legendary Barcelona side, in which he practically single-handedly outplayed the Catalans’ midfield of Xavi, Andrés Iniesta, and Sergio Busquets.

It was around this time that the then-England manager compared the Hale Ender to a young Andrea Pirlo, so to say that there were sky-high expectations around him would be an understatement.

It’s easy to see why many thought the Englishman would be an absolute world-beater, though, as he had incredible close control, an eye for a pass, the ability to carry the ball through the middle of the park, and the perfect attitude.

However, not long after his iconic game against Barça, the Gunners’ great hope began to suffer injury after injury, and from the 11/12 season to 16/17, when he left North London, he missed a staggering 228 games for club and country.

Unfortunately, it was this inability to remain fit that utterly derailed Wilshere’s career, as he had all the ability someone would need to become one of the best midfielders in the world.

The only positive for Arsenal fans is that Arteta now has someone in his squad who could become the player Wilshere was supposed to be.

The Arsenal star who could fulfil Wilshere's promise

While fans might immediately think of Nwaneri or Dowman in this situation, the Hale Ender who could end up becoming the player Wilshere was supposed to be is actually Myles Lewis-Skelly.

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Yes, the youngster is currently seen as a left-back in Arteta’s squad, and the second-choice one at that, but that is unlikely to be his long-term position.

After all, the Islington-born gem spent most of his time in the academy playing as a central or defensive midfielder, and when he does come into the first team, he does not overlap; he inverts in the central area.

Lewis-Skelly’s U21 record

Position

Games

G+As

Defensive Midfield

11

1

Left-Back

5

1

Central Midfield

4

1

All Stats via Transfermarkt

Moreover, his best traits, which he shares with the former Gunners star, lend themselves to becoming a world-class central player.

For example, although he’s still relatively inexperienced, he has consistently demonstrated a brilliant eye for a pass and an exquisite left foot to match.

On top of that, in a similar fashion to Saka, the 19-year-old is far stronger than he appears and consistently wins physical duels against opposition players.

Finally, like Wilshere, the young dynamo is already an excellent carrier of the ball, and is unoutbaly among the best in the squad when it comes to doing it through a congested midfield.

This was on full display against Atlético Madrid last month, when he beat half the side to provide a perfect assist for Gabriel Martinelli to make 2-0.

In addition to all this, the Hale Ender also shares a similar approach and attitude towards games.

For example, his goal and celebration against Manchester City last term more than back up Declan Rice’s description of him as “fearless”, and when you combine that with everything else, it’s easy to see why club insider Hand of Arsenal has dubbed him a “future captain.”

Ultimately, there is still a long way to go, but thanks to his impressive ability, skill set and mentality, there is a strong chance Lewis-Skelly could become the player Wilshere was supposed to be.

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Posts ByJack Salveson Holmes Nov 11, 2025

It doesn’t often occur in the Premier League, but Manchester City – even with Erling Haaland leading the line – drew a blank away at Aston Villa on Sunday.

In the end, a fiercely hit effort by Matty Cash in the first half would be the difference between the two sides, as the Citizens fell to their first league defeat since coming unstuck away at Brighton and Hove Albion at the close of August.

Tijjani Reijnders, in particular, struggled at Villa Park, with the number four’s early fall from grace at City a concerning tale to keep tabs on.

Why Reijnders was disappointing against Aston Villa

When the Dutchman has been given the freedom to express himself further up the pitch, he has been a joy to watch; however, with a goal confidently put away on his debut against Wolverhampton Wanderers, even seeing statistician Statman Dave herald him as being “De Bruyne’s heir.”

However, the ex-AC Milan man wasn’t played in a De Bruyne-style position against Unai Emery’s hosts, with Reijnders not looking so comfortable as an anchor figure for Guardiola’s side on their travels, who are still presumably reeling that Rodri remains in and out of the Etihad treatment room.

Reijnder’s defensive numbers

Stat

Reijnders

Tackles won

0

Interceptions

0

Clearances

1

Blocked shots

0

Ball recoveries

2

Total duels

0/7

Stats by Sofascore

While Reijnders did trudge off at the end of the 1-0 loss with just two passes not reaching their intended target, the 27-year-old did noticeably find it tricky to battle away for his losing side, with an alarming zero duels won from seven attempted.

Moreover, the £46.5m summer purchase also failed to win a single tackle, with Amadou Onana for the hosts – in stark contrast – winning a combined tally of two tackles and six duels, as Reijnders routinely lost every 50/50 and scuffle that came his way.

With Nico Gonzalez also out injured, it remains to be seen what option Guardiola will go with in the games to come in the defensive midfield spot on the pitch, with Reijnders clearly not cut out for the demands of the position long-term.

He isn’t alone, though, in being worried about his first-team spot moving forward, with this “wasteful” attacker – as he was branded by journalist Amos Murphy – also in some bother about his immediate future in the Spaniard’s main XI.

The 5/10 City star who must be dropped

Watching back over the highlights from Villa Park, it’s clear that City could have nicked at least a point on another day if they had packed their shooting boots and weren’t so “toothless”, as they were branded by journalist David Mooney at the full-time whistle.

Indeed, Haaland uncharacteristically fluffed a one-on-one opportunity directly after Cash’s sweetly struck opener, with Savinho also falling victim to some poor finishing himself, when two chances in quick succession in the second 45 minutes passed him by.

Savinho’s performance in numbers

Stat

Savinho

Minutes played

84

Goals scored

0

Assists

0

Touches

50

Shots

2

Accurate passes

22/31 (71%)

Accurate passes in the opposition half

15/28 (54%)

Accurate crosses

0/5

Possession lost

18x

Successful dribbles

1/4

Total duels won

3/9

Stats by Sofascore

His overall play in attacking positions, away from spurning some big chances, also makes for some pretty grim reading, with Savinho only managing to make 15 accurate passes when in the opposition’s half of the pitch, leading to him giving away possession a mammoth 18 times.

On top of that, the lacklustre Brazilian could only muster up one successful dribble from his 84-minute stint in the West Midlands, alongside further failing to complete a single accurate cross to try and pick out the likes of Haaland, who can strike fear into any defenders he’s coming up against at a moment’s notice.

Savinho will surely now sense that his starting spot is on thin ice, with only one assist next to his name from his four Premier League starts this season, not exactly the most glowing track record.

Manchester Evening News journalist Simon Bajkowski would hand out a low 5/10 rating to the 21-year-old, subsequently, who stated that Savinho was ‘largely poor’ when attempting to unlock Villa, away from a promising effort here and there on Emiliano Martinez’s well-guarded net.

Cutting a forlorn figure at the close of the slim 1-0 defeat, Guardiola will have many a selection issue to address ahead of City facing off against AFC Bournemouth at the beginning of November, with both Reijnders and Savinho potentially removed from his starting lineup for the test of the Cherries.

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Posts ByHenry Jackson Oct 25, 2025

Wrexham have received around £18 million ($24m) in funding for their stadium redevelopment project, despite the personal wealth boasted by the club’s Hollywood co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac. The iconic Racecourse Ground is undergoing a serious facelift, with it revealed that said project is being paid for by tax-paying members of the public.

• Wrexham stadium: What redevelopment project involves

  The Welsh outfit have, as reported by , been awarded considerable non-repayable grants as they work on restructuring a venue that had become a little tired. It is claimed that “the amount of money received by Wrexham in state aid vastly outstrips public spending on any other football club in England and Wales”.

  The Red Dragons were first awarded £3.8m ($5m) by Wrexham county borough council a year after Reynolds and Mac completed their stunning takeover of the club in 2021. A second payment of £14m ($18m) was made in September 2025.

  Said funds have been passed on as Wrexham work on the construction of a Kop Stand – with the original structure having been flattened some time ago – alongside new floodlights and a playing surface that will allow the stadium to host international football and rugby matches.

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• Getty Images
  

  Reynolds & Mac do not need to finance Wrexham rebuild

  The Welsh government has been working on a £25m ($33m) regeneration project that centres on Wrexham General station – which sits next to the Racecourse. The Times reports that “it was not known that the vast majority of the state aid would be provided directly to the club”.

  A previous bid for state help through the government’s levelling-up fund was rejected, with it suggested that the project in Wrexham would need to be equally split between public and private sectors – creating £3 of public benefit for every £1 invested.

  Documents supporting the latest award of £14m state that there is now “no incentive for the private sector to pursue the project”. It went on to say: “The subsidy is therefore necessary to overcome this market failure to allow the redevelopment and contribute towards the objective of developing the economy of Wrexham.”

• Why local government are funding Wrexham project

  The Welsh government bought the land in question back in 2020 to help facilitate the building of a new Kop stand – with the plan being to bring other events, such as concerts, to the area.

  Welsh councils have since been warned that they are “at risk of becoming financially unsustainable”. It is claimed that funding pressures will “squeeze services and inevitably lead to redundancies” across the working population.

  Wrexham are not, however, the first football club to receive public money. Swansea City part-funded their Liberty Stadium home through grants.

  The Red Dragons have said of their venture: “The impact of these improvements, and the ability to host international sporting events in North Wales, will create both a catalyst for local job creation and provide an overall economic uplift to the region due to the increased number of visitors attracted to the events and their economic activity while they are in the area.”

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  Welcome to Wrexham: Meteoric rise overseen by Reynolds & Mac

  Local councils maintain that they only got involved because a “self-financed redevelopment of the ground” would not have delivered a final outcome which was “appropriate for international matches”.

  The Welsh government said: “Public sector funding will make the crucial difference between the club satisfying league requirements and meeting the more demanding international fixture standards.

  “This investment helps create a venue that can host competitive international football at the world’s oldest international stadium, boosting the local economy and delivering a fitting landmark for Wrexham.”

  The Red Dragons are hoping that the Racecourse will soon play host to Premier League football, with a historic run of three successive promotions lifting the club out of the National League and into the Championship.

  Reynolds and Mac have helped to finance that meteoric rise – with another record-breaking transfer spend being overseen during the summer of 2025 – while the award-winning ‘Welcome to Wrexham’ documentary series has opened up a window to the world and allowed a global fan base to be built.

Newcastle United just cannot string together a consistent run of wins at the moment.

Indeed, Eddie Howe would have been hopeful that his side had turned over a new leaf when getting the better of Manchester City in Premier League action 2-1 last time out, but – again – home comforts clearly were in play, as the Toon have since succumbed to a 2-1 away defeat at Marseille in the Champions League.

On another night, however, Newcastle might well have walked away from the Orange Velodrome with another three points secured in Europe, with Harvey Barnes’ early opener suggesting that the Magpies would be successful on their travels.

Unfortunately for the away side, though, ex-Premier League goal machine Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang would have other ideas, as his quickfire second-half brace sealed the win for the Ligue 1 hosts.

While the former Arsenal striker was his instinctive self throughout, he was undoubtedly helped by Nick Pope dropping even more clangers in between the sticks.

Why Nick Pope has to finally be dropped

It’s now three away games on the spin where the ex-Burnley goalkeeper has looked ropey and unconvincing.

He gifted Marseille a route back into the even contest on Tuesday night when rushing out of his net, only for Aubameyang to utilise his pace to comfortably place an effort past Pope, who was stuck in no man’s land after the “inexplicable” error, as it was branded by the Athletic’s Chris Waugh.

The immediate inquest now centres on whether Howe should get rid of the 33-year-old or not, with Aaron Ramsdale certainly a capable replacement, having previously kept 32 clean sheets on the books of Arsenal.

Still, despite all the rampant criticism coming his ‘keeper’s way, Howe would publicly defend Pope at the full-time whistle, stating that he “certainly” backs him, having saved his side “many times” in the past.

Yet, even with this very public vote of confidence, Howe must be aware that his usually trusted number one is declining, with another well-established defensive presence for the Toon, who lined up against Marseille, now also fearful of his starting spot moving forward.

Howe must also bench another Newcastle hero

At this point in time, the 47-year-old could well find he’s on the chopping block sooner rather than later, if he doesn’t drop the likes of Pope, even if they have been regular fixtures of his reign so far.

Fabian Schar also falls into the category of a long-standing servant who likely isn’t the required standard of the first team anymore, even with 241 games under his belt at St James’ Park, and the label of being a “total one off” handed to him by his manager for what he provides for the club at his very best.

Schar’s performance in numbers

Stat

Schar

Minutes played

61

Goals scored

0

Assists

0

Touches

30

Accurate passes

13/16 (81%)

Possession lost

5x

Tackles won

0/0

Interceptions

1

Clearances

7

Blocked shots

0

Recoveries

1

Total duels won

0/3

Stats by Sofascore

Based on the table above, though, he is experiencing a swift decline akin to the Toon number one right now, with the Swiss international winning zero of his attempted duels, during his 61 minutes on the pitch.

On top of that, the ageing centre-back would only manage to complete 13 accurate passes all night long, with Aubameyang no doubt feeling even more confident in front of goal, knowing he had the shoddy duo of Schar and Pope to get the better of.

With only five Premier League starts next to his name this season, too, it’s clear that Schar is no longer a guaranteed first-teamer under his manager, with talk also centring on the ex-Deportivo defender being resigned to walking away from Tyneside when his contract expires next year.

As the new breed of Newcastle stars coming through in Malick Thiaw continue to shine, with the German completing 36 passes and winning four duels in France, it’s now very clear that the old guard at St James’ Park are rusty, and cannot be kept in the side long-term.

The obvious alteration to make is to drop Pope, after another “moment of madness” cost his side dear, as his rush out of the goal was branded by journalist Mark Douglas.

But, Schar isn’t above criticism, either, with both well-established Toon servants in very grave danger of dropping out of their manager’s XI for the upcoming away trip to Everton.

Related As bad as Pope: Howe must drop 4/10 Newcastle dud who made just 14 passes

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Posts ByAngus Sinclair Nov 26, 2025

India have selection dilemmas in all departments as they look to firm up their side for the ODI World Cup

Shashank Kishore15-Jul-2025With a home ODI World Cup looming in September, India have just six matches left to fine-tune their combinations. The upcoming three-match series in England, beginning Wednesday in Southampton, offers a glimpse into the team’s evolving plans.Captain Harmanpreet Kaur believes the growing competition for spots is a “healthy headache” to have, which she attributes to improved depth and balance. Here are some of the tricky decisions the team management may have to make.Rawal vs Deol?
Pratika Rawal may have racked up 638 runs in 11 ODIs at an average of 63.80, including five fifties and a century, but this series holds deeper significance for her with the World Cup looming. The reason? Shafali Verma.Related

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Harmanpreet embraces 'happy headache' with India's depth on the rise

Shafali’s ability to dismantle attacks in the powerplay makes her an irresistible asset, even if her high-risk approach can come with bouts of inconsistency. Rawal, by contrast, builds her innings, and accelerates as she settles in. She is also a handy spin option, while Shafali is strictly just part-time.As impressive as Rawal’s initiation has been, the runs have mostly come against Ireland, West Indies, Sri Lanka and a depleted South Africa. This, in a way, will be her first big test in international cricket.A good series for Rawal will make it harder for the selectors to displace her from the opening spot alongside Smriti Mandhana, but her style of play and method of run accumulation could also make her a useful proposition at No. 3 if Shafali’s resurgence in the England T20Is convinces the team management to back her to reclaim her opening spot in ODIs, a format she last played in October 2024.The only problem with that reshuffle could be that Harleen Deol, who has transformed her game and has been in excellent form across formats lately, may have to be benched. Since her comeback from injury in December 2024, Deol has hit 230 runs in six innings, including a maiden ODI century. She also played a sparkling knock in the T20I series opener in England.Deol’s form, Rawal’s run glut and Shafali’s X-factor leaves India with a tough choice to make. The next three games could indicate which way the team management will be inclined towards ahead of the Australia series, their final audition before the World Cup opener on September 30 against Sri Lanka.Who partners Amanjot in the seam department?
Pooja Vastrakar hasn’t played since the T20 World Cup last October. She missed the WPL as well, and there has been no official update from the BCCI or selectors, on her rehab or possible return. In her absence, Amanjot Kaur has emerged as a capable replacement, even if not like-for-like.Arundhati Reddy played in all five T20Is against England•SLCWhile Amanjot lacks Vastrakar’s pace and ability to hustle batters, she brings her own strengths to the table: gentle swing, accuracy, and an ability to stem the flow of runs, as seen in the recent T20I series. She picked up six wickets in two matches in the tri-series against Sri Lanka and South Africa this April.Her batting, too, has come into its own. A prime example was her unbeaten 63 under pressure, rescuing India from 31 for 3 in the second T20I against England in Bristol. This means the tussle for the one remaining seam-bowler’s slot is likely to be between Arundhati Reddy, Kranti Goud and Sayali Satghare. The selectors will also have an opportunity to look at Titas Sadhu, who will be on the A tour to Australia having recovered from injury. There is no update yet on Renuka Singh.Among the contenders, Reddy looks the frontrunner currently, having featured in three games in the tri-series and each of the five T20Is after being dropped for the home series against Ireland and West Indies earlier in the year. Goud brings with her pace, but is largely untested, while Satghare is a swing bowler.The make-up of the spin attack
Deepti Sharma appears to be a lock-in. So the tussle will be between Sneh Rana, N Shree Charani and Radha Yadav for two spots.Rana announced herself in the WPL for Royal Challengers Bengaluru, after initially going unsold at the auction. Then, after having not been in the scheme of things for nearly a year-and-a-half, she received a lifeline when she was picked for the ODI tri-series in Sri Lanka.N Shree Charani was the leading wicket-taker in the T20Is against England•Andy Kearns/Getty ImagesThere, she was named Player of the series for her 15 wickets in five games, including a career-best 5 for 43 in a match-winning spell against South Africa. The T20I series in England was her comeback to the shortest format after over two years.Charani, who was also on that tour in Sri Lanka, has been named Player of the series in the England T20Is for her chart-topping 10 wickets. The team management is impressed by her ability to bowl across phases. She also performed exceedingly well in the tri-series, picking up six wickets in five games at an economy of 5.39, and was the perfect spin twin to Rana.The allure of playing two genuine spinners and Deepti could make it tough for the team management to include Radha Yadav, arguably one of the best fielders in the women’s game today. Her improved left-arm spin and ability to wield the willow lower down the order makes her hard to ignore. But such is the competition that there’s only space for two, unless the toss-up boils down to one between Deepti and Rana.India’s likely ODI combination
1 Smriti Mandhana, 2 Pratika Rawal, 3 Harleen Deol, 4 Harmanpreet Kaur (capt), 5 Jemimah Rodrigues, 6 Richa Ghosh (wk), 7 Amanjot Kaur, 8 Deepti Sharma, 9 Arundhati Reddy, 10 Sneh Rana/Radha Yadav, 11 N Shree Charani

The story of how two men got together to make a 6’4″ fast bowler go from delivering magic balls to being ready for the grind of Test cricket

Deivarayan Muthu13-Oct-2024One session was all it took for Canterbury to realise they needed Will O’Rourke.At the time, he had just moved from Auckland to Christchurch for his tertiary studies, but he had informed Paul Wiseman, New Zealand cricket’s talent identification manager, that he was also seeking opportunities to bowl during the winter. So Wiseman called up Peter Fulton, the former New Zealand batter and current head coach at Canterbury. Fulton and Brendon Donkers, the high-performance development coach, were immediately impressed with what they saw. At 6’4″, O’Rourke had the potential to be their brand-new cutting edge.Fulton had first met O’Rourke when he was in charge of New Zealand at the 2020 Under-19 World Cup in South Africa. He was a moments bowler back then, capable of creating ooohs and aaahs, but that rarely wins cricket matches.Related

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“I think when he first started playing first-class cricket for Canterbury, he probably bowled too short and he beat the bat a lot, but didn’t necessarily take a lot of wickets because he wasn’t always threatening the stumps,” Fulton tells ESPNcricinfo.In a sign of things to come, O’Rourke’s first three Test wickets were lbw, bowled, and bowled. Everybody sees the height and the pace – including the batters – and maybe that’s why they aren’t expecting him to pitch it up.O’Rourke was perhaps the only positive to come out of New Zealand’s tour of Sri Lanka last month. He took eight wickets, including a five-for, at an average of 23.12 and a strike rate of 39.62, even though he is extremely new to international cricket and was playing on pitches designed to nullify his kind of bowling. That display confirmed what Fulton had thought all along. It also highlighted another strength of O’Rourke’s: he’s a quick learner.”For all the improvements he’s made over the last three-four years, I still feel he’s got a lot of improvement in him,” Fulton says. “He’s played some white-ball cricket – a little bit of 50-over cricket against Bangladesh – he’s probably just scratching the surface in terms of his white-ball game and T20 game as well. No reason to think that he won’t be able to adapt over the years as other teams scout him a bit better and he works out what he has to do to evolve his game.”O’Rourke has already had some practice in that regard. While working with Donkers, he realised there were some technical flaws in his bowling action and worked to remedy them.

“He may not take a whole lot of wickets on this tour, but if he doesn’t, he will again at some stage in the future. He will learn and will work out what he needs to do. So, really excited to see him go over there in India and see how he bowls against some high-class players”Peter Fulton on Will O’Rourke’s tour of India

“I won’t claim to be an expert in fast-bowling actions; Brendon Donkers made some good adjustments,” Fulton says. “Will probably fell away a little bit at the point of release in his action. They [Donkers and Co.] just worked on trying to maximise the attributes that he already had. He’s already tall, so he tried to get him nice and tall at the crease so that he’s delivering the ball as high as possible.”They also tinkered around some things with his wrist and, at times, he moves the ball back into the right-hander. But when he gets his wrist right, he also has the ability to swing the ball away from the right-hander. It didn’t take him very long to pick that up and understand that there’s a difference between being told something and actually understanding something.”When O’Rourke started his domestic career, he largely operated in the 130kph range, but he can now crank it up towards 140kph and also move the ball both ways at that pace. Prioritising fitness and working in a competitive environment like Canterbury, which has a number of other international fast bowlers like Kyle Jamieson, Matt Henry, Henry Shipley and Zak Foulkes, have accelerated O’Rourke’s growth.”That work ethic, and the attention O’Rourke has paid to the S&C [strength and conditioning] side of the game is what has taken him from bowling maybe 120ks-early 130ks to now touching towards 140,” Fulton says. “When he first started to come to our trainings, he wasn’t unfit, but he wasn’t that strong and hadn’t spent a lot of time in the gym. But now if you compare him to all our contracted players at Canterbury, he’s probably the one leading the running sessions and fitness.Brendon Donkers and Peter Fulton have played key roles in shaping Will O’Rourke’s career at Canterbury•Getty Images”Don’t think he’s played with Kyle yet. Kyle’s obviously injured now – so they haven’t crossed paths much on the field as yet. But definitely being around other guys like Matt Henry as well [helps]. O’Rourke has picked up a lot from some of those guys. Also, the competitive environment in Canterbury with other good players and other good bowlers around you, I guess it raises the standard of all the players and O’Rourke has certainly been a beneficiary of that.”O’Rourke isn’t getting “carried away” by the success in Sri Lanka, Fulton says, and he had hit the Canterbury nets along with the likes of Henry and newly appointed New Zealand captain Tom Latham before flying out to India. Facing India in India can be as unforgiving as it gets – more experienced fast bowlers have struggled against gun batters in this part of the world – but it could prove to be an important learning curve in his fledgling career.”He [O’Rourke] is pretty excited about the challenge of going to India, which probably along with playing Australia in Australia is the two toughest challenges in world cricket,” Fulton says. “You can’t guarantee results; you just have to try and stick to the process and hope the results come. I’ve got no doubt whether he takes a lot of wickets in the first Test or the second or third… I have no doubt that he will bowl well and learn.”He may not take a whole lot of wickets on this tour, but if he doesn’t, he will again at some stage in the future. He will learn and will work out what he needs to do. So, really excited to see him go over there in India and see how he bowls against some high-class players.”