Manchester United are now making a strong move to sign Valencia midfielder Javi Guerra in the January transfer window, with a £44m January bid planned.

Signing a new midfielder is of key significance to Man United, not least because speculation surrounding Kobbie Mainoo’s future at Old Trafford continues to build, with it recently being revealed the England international is in talks to leave this winter.

That is despite the fact Ruben Amorim has made it clear he wants to keep hold of the youngster, saying: “I want Kobbie to stay, and he needs to fight for his place. We need Kobbie. That is not going to change.”

However, Amorim has been extremely reluctant to give Mainoo a consistent run in the team, with the 20-year-old featuring for just 138 minutes across seven Premier League appearances this season, having failed to dislodge Casemiro and Bruno Fernandes in the starting XI.

With the academy graduate now in advanced talks over a move to Napoli, the Red Devils have now set out to bring in a new central midfielder in the January transfer window.

Man Utd making strong move to sign Javi Guerra

According to a report from Spain, Man United are now making a strong move to sign Valencia midfielder Javi Guerra in the January transfer window, and INEOS clearly mean business, with a €50m (£44m) offer being plotted.

Guerra, who has a €100m (£88m) release clause in his contract, could be available for a much lower fee this winter, given his inconsistent performances for Valencia this season, and United are now weighing up a winter approach.

However, there are several obstacles to overcome, with the Spanish club currently reluctant to sanction a departure, while Amorim would also have to offer the central midfielder regular game time in order to lure him to Old Trafford.

The Red Devils are determined to get a deal over the line, and it is clear to see why, with the Spaniard impressing for Valencia over a sustained period of time, having received high praise from scout Jacek Kulig during the 2023-24 campaign.

The 22-year-old has remained a key player for the Spanish side this season, making 12 La Liga appearances, during which time he’s amassed two assists, although some of the maestro’s most recent performances suggest it would be a gamble for United to pursue a deal.

Indeed, as pointed out in the report, Guerra hasn’t been at his best as of late, receiving a 6.2 SofaScore match rating in Valencia’s 2-0 home defeat against Villarreal last month, which led to him being dropped for the following match against Real Madrid.

As such, it may be a wise idea for Man United to target a midfielder who has already proven himself in the Premier League, and a club-record bid for Nottingham Forest’s Elliot Anderson is now being prepared…

How much Man Utd are willing to spend on Carlos Baleba

How much Man Utd are ready to spend on Carlos Baleba with new talks now open

What a signing he could be for the Red Devils.

By
Henry Jackson

Nov 4, 2025

Arsenal have now reportedly joined Liverpool in the race to sign Jean-Philippe Mateta from Crystal Palace, as contract talks continue to drag on between the striker and the South London club.

The Gunners return from the international break looking to get back to winning ways after entering it off the back of a dramatic 2-2 draw against Sunderland and it doesn’t get much bigger than the North London derby. Up against rivals Tottenham Hotspur, Mikel Arteta’s side will be aiming to prove their title credentials once again and at least maintain their four-point lead at the top.

Speaking to reporters ahead of the derby, Arteta reiterated just how big a rivalry it is, saying: “It’s just different. it’s a big city, but it’s a big rivalry; it’s a part of London that we want to conquer, and they want to do the same.

“There’s been a lot of shifts as well over the years, we’ve been more dominant and it’s just beautiful, especially when we play at home in front of our people, we know what it means to them.

“The energy that they’re going to bring, the energy that the team is going to bring in every single action, it’s just a privilege to play those kind of games. We cannot wait to get to Sunday.”

Arteta must axe Eze & unleash Arsenal star who's "very similar" to Bergkamp

With Eberechi Eze failing to catch fire at Arsenal, Mikel Arteta could seek a replacement against Spurs.

ByJack Salveson Holmes Nov 22, 2025

It marks the beginning of a crucial week for Arsenal, who have the small task of playing host to Bayern Munich just days after the Tottenham clash before then travelling to Stamford Bridge to face Chelsea. Three points from three in such a run would highlight just how serious the Gunners are about winning major honours.

In their current run, it would also be difficult for many players to turn Arsenal down and that may even be the case for Palace star Mateta.

Arsenal join race to sign Mateta

According to Caught Offside, Arsenal have now joined the race to sign Mateta from Crystal Palace in what could be their second major signing from the Eagles following their recent move for Eberechi Eze.

The Frenchman is set to become a free agent in 2027 and with contract talks yet to reach a resolution, the South London club may be forced to cash in sooner or later – allowing the Gunners to make their move.

A player who’s already been on the scoresheet at the Emirates in the past, Mateta could yet get the chance to wheel away in celebration every week in North London. Such a move would certainly be well-earned, too. From initial struggles, the 28-year-old has become one of the best strikers in the Premier League.

Minutes

959

800

Goals

6

4

Assists

0

0

Expected Goals

8.1

4.6

There’s a reason why Palace boss Oliver Glasner has dubbed his star striker “excellent” in the past and the comparison with Gyokeres shows the level that he’s operating at. If Arsenal want to ensure that their goalscoring problems are ended for good, then they should sign the Palace star.

Arsenal hold talks with £71m ex-Man Utd star after post-Old Trafford transformation

What’s better than betting on a few players to hit a long ball on Wednesday night?

There’s plenty of Major League Baseball action – 17 games to be exact – to bet on today, and there are two players that I think are in a prime spot to hit a home run. 

When deciding home run props, I love to fade pitchers that are struggling with the long ball as well as finding a hitter that has some success against them in his career. 

Unfortunately, Patrick Corbin and Marcus Stroman are finding themselves on the wrong side of these home run bets. 

Best MLB Home Run Picks for Wednesday, July 10Josh Lowe to Hit a Home Run (+550)Pete Alonso to Hit a Home Run (+330)

Josh Lowe to Hit a Home Run (+550)

Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Josh Lowe has never hit a home run off of New York Yankees starter Marcus Storman, but he’s seen the ball well off of him, hitting 2-for-6 with a triple and a double – good for a 1.167 OPS. 

Stroman has struggled mightily as of late, posting 5.74 ERA and 6.65 FIP in six starts since the beginning of June. 

On top of that, he’s allowed 15 home runs in 18 outings, including five over his last three starts. 

Lowe only has five homers on the season, but I think he’s worth a shot against a pitcher he’s hit well against in his career. 

Pete Alonso to Hit a Home Run (+330)

New York Mets slugger Pete Alonso has hit 18 home runs in the 2024 season, and he’s in a prime spot to go yard against the Washington Nationals on Wednesday.

Why?

Well, Corbin is on the mound for the Nationals, and Alonso has crushed him in his MLB career. In 46 at bats against Corbin, Alonso is hitting .326 with a .717 slugging percentage, five home runs and three doubles. 

Corbin has allowed 14 homers in 18 outings this season, so I wouldn’t be shocked to see Alonso smash his sixth bomb against the lefty tonight.

He beat them with wrong’uns, length, dip, pace, and more to finish with 4-0-15-0

Karthik Krishnaswamy25-May-20221:46

Hardik: I relax and let Rashid do his magic

He took no wickets, and conceded no fours or sixes, so the chances are that highlights packages of Tuesday night’s Qualifier at Eden Gardens will include no footage of Rashid Khan bowling.But if you were there, and you watched him bowl, you’ll remember it for a long, long time.You’ll remember this ball to Jos Buttler in the ninth over of Rajasthan Royals’ innings. A legbreak that pitched on middle stump – or thereabouts – and beat the outside edge as Buttler prodded hurriedly from deep in his crease.Related

• The Rashid Effect was always on show, the 'biggest achievement' just took its time coming

• Vikram Solanki: 'Hardik has a poise that is typical of winners'

• Miller and Hardik muscle Titans into the IPL final

• 'I feel extremely backed' – David Miller explains his success at Gujarat Titans

Watching from the media box, it briefly seemed as if Buttler was bowled, but what initially looked like the bails lighting up turned out to be the metallic finish of Wriddhiman Saha’s keeping gloves glittering under the floodlights.Illusions upon illusions.It’s possible that Buttler had failed to pick the legbreak out of the hand and played for the wrong’un – a common enough occurrence against Rashid. But before that, he had been done for length, his feet immobilised by Rashid’s vicious overspin. The ball had dipped and landed significantly shorter than expected, and Buttler’s front foot, having shaped to stride forward, had ended up going nowhere.Against other wristspinners, batters can occasionally adjust when they are beaten in the air, and shift onto the back foot. At Rashid’s pace, it’s next to impossible.This was the second time in a row that Rashid had beaten Buttler’s outside edge. Then, in his next over, he turned a quick, fizzing wrong’un past the outside edge of the left-hand batter Devdutt Padikkal, for symmetry’s sake. Again, the batter’s feet were hypnotised into immobility.Ten other bowlers bowled on Tuesday night and finished with a combined economy rate of 10.23. Rashid bowled four overs and conceded just 15 runs. That’s 3.75 per over. While doing this, he was also beating the bat for fun.At his post-match press conference, Hardik Pandya, Gujarat Titans’ captain, put it simply when asked about Rashid’s impact. “When I give him the ball, I just relax and let him do his magic.”Rashid Khan conceded just 15 runs in his four overs•BCCIMagic, yes, but there’s more to it.When Rashid finishes a match with an absurdly low economy rate, it can sometimes feel as if batters give him too much respect. That they play into his hands in the effort to deny him wickets. But respect, in cricket as everywhere else, must be earned.Through the first half of Tuesday night’s match, this Eden Gardens pitch was grippy and two-paced, and with Rashid turning the ball both ways at pace, it was always going to be difficult to go after him unless he erred in length. Rashid simply refused to do that. When he wasn’t beating the bat, he was landing the ball on that typical Rashid length – slightly short of a traditional spinners’ good length, which makes both the lofted hit down the ground and the sweep risky propositions – while targeting the stumps or following the batters’ premeditated movements to deny them room.He was willing to let them take singles to his deep fielders via punches down the ground or clips and jabs to the square sweepers. If they wanted any more than that, they were going to have to take risks.Royals’ batters refused to do this, and you could see why. They had only six genuine batters, notwithstanding the contributions R Ashwin has made this season. Buttler was struggling for fluency, and was perhaps setting himself up for a tame dismissal if he decided to go after Rashid on this surface. And on this day, the outcome of seeing out Rashid’s overs was having both Buttler and Shimron Hetmyer at the crease when the last four overs began.Hetmyer didn’t last too long, but Buttler shrugged off his scratchy start, capitalised on a couple of lucky breaks, and tore into the fast bowlers at the finish. Having been on 39 off 38 at the end of the 16th over, he ransacked 50 off his last 18 balls.Royals finished with 188, and their captain Sanju Samson maintained at the post-match presentation that it was an excellent effort given how the pitch behaved in the first half of the match. That dew made conditions easier to bat in during the chase was beyond Royals’ control.It still came down to Titans needing 16 off the last over. How many more might they have needed had Rashid Khan not done his thing?

The Dodgers are off to the World Series for the second year in a row after they completed a sweep of the Brewers in the National League Championship Series Friday thanks to Shohei Ohtani's historic performance.

Before the 2024 season, the two-way superstar signed a monster 10-year, $700 million contract to join the Dodgers, which was the biggest contract in Major League Baseball history until Juan Soto signed a 15-year, $765 million deal with the Mets last offseason. L.A.'s $350 million payroll for this season leads the MLB, highlighted by big deals for their star core of Mookie Betts, Blake Snell, Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Freddie Freeman.

They made another star acquisition over the offseason, winning the Roki Sasaki sweepstakes to land the Japanese pitcher who has had an incredible postseason out of the bullpen. Clearly, the Dodgers aren't afraid to spend to remain atop baseball's mountaintop. Even though their massive spending brings out plenty of critics, manager Dave Roberts couldn't seem to care less, as he perfectly noted while celebrating their NLCS victory Friday evening.

"I'll tell you before this season started, they said the Dodgers are ruining baseball," Roberts said into the microphone on the podium. "Let's get four more wins and really ruin baseball, let's go."

The defending champions now await the winner of the ALCS between the Mariners and Blue Jays in the World Series. We'll see if either smaller market team is able to take down the big spenders, which is undoubtedly a tall task with Ohtani putting up performances never seen before. The Dodgers have made it to the World Series in five of the past nine years, now in only their second year of Ohtani in Dodger blue.

A dynasty could be budding and the franchise will continue to do whatever it takes to remain as baseball's standard.

Major League Baseball’s winter meetings are underway, which means rumors are flying and deals are likely to be struck.

On Monday, plenty of reports made the rounds as teams attempted to get a jump on the offseason and best position themselves for 2026. Here are all the latest rumors we’re hearing as the winter meetings heat up.

Nationals listening on CJ Abrams, MacKenzie Gore

The Nationals have a new head of baseball operations, and he’s looking to reshape the franchise to his liking. Paul Tobobi is MLB’s youngest president of baseball ops, and the long-time Red Sox scouting director and assistant general manager is not wasting any time. Turning Washington around likely means moving on from two young All-Stars.

Shortstop CJ Abrams and lefty starter MacKenzie Gore are being targeted by multiple teams at the winter meetings. The 25-year-old Abrams is an athletic shortstop coming off his best season, while Gore is a 26-year-old with elite stuff who had a brilliant first half but struggled down the stretch. Both came to the Nationals as part of the trade that sent Juan Soto to the Padres. Gore is under team control through 2027, while Abrams won’t hit free agency until 2029.

In 2025, Abrams slashed .257/.315/.433 with 19 home runs, 60 RBIs, 92 runs scored, 31 stolen bases, and a career-best 3.1 fWAR. He’s not a good defender at short, but could easily move to second base or the outfield. Gore made 30 starts and went 5-15, with a 4.17 ERA, a 1.32 WHIP, and 185 strikeouts against 64 walks in 159 2/3 innings. But in his first 19 starts of the season, he went 4-8 with a 3.02 ERA, a 1.20 WHIP, and 138 strikeouts against 35 walks. He faded hard down the stretch, which is something a new team would need to figure out.

Given the weak free agent market for shortstops, Abrams could fetch a significant haul. Meanwhile, Gore, a young lefty with ace stuff, could also net a hefty return. Teams will need to meet Toboni’s high price, but both players can be had.

Royals looking for multiple outfielders

The Royals are canvassing the league for help in the outfield and may need to make a trade to fill out the roster. Kansas City missed the playoffs by five games in 2025, as the team surprised the rest of MLB by staying in the race as late as it did. But the team’s outfield is a bit of a mess.

While Kyle Tucker, Cody Bellinger, and another option like Harrison Bader would all be too expensive for the Royals, The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal insists the team is pursuing all options. That could include trading starter Kris Bubic, who is set to make a projected $6 million before hitting free agency after next season. The 28-year-old lefty went 8-7 with a 2.55 ERA, a 1.18 WHIP, and 116 strikeouts against 39 walks in 116 1/3 innings this season. He could fetch a solid return as a rental.

Rosenthal listed Mike Yastrzemski, Adolis Garcia, Max Kepler, and Mike Tauchman as options in Kansas City’s price range. Jac Caglianone is almost certain to have right field locked down, but the two other spots remain open.

Padres entertaining Nick Pivetta trade

Padres general manager A.J. Preller pulled off a coup last offseason, as he waited out the market before signing Nick Pivetta to a shockingly affordable four-year, $55 million deal. The 32-year-old rewarded the Padres, turning in a career-best season in which he went 13-5 with a 2.87 ERA, a 0.99 WHIP, and 190 strikeouts against 50 walks in 181 2/3 innings. That success, and a contract that is jumping to $19 million in 2026 has made Pivetta a trade candidate.

While The Athletic’s Dennis Lin points out that a Pivetta trade isn’t likely, the Padres need multiple starting pitchers and at least one bat. Moving the team’s ace would require a significant return that would improve San Diego at multiple spots, but no one should ever rule out Preller’s appetite for wheeling and dealing.

If Pivetta doesn’t move, San Diego could look to deal second baseman Jake Cronenworth. There aren’t a lot of middle-infield options on the market, and free agents won’t come cheap. The 31-year-old Cronenworth is a steady presence who is under contract for five more years at an affordable $60 million.

As the Padres face a salary crunch and a potential sale, cutting payroll to fill multiple spots makes a lot of sense.

Dodgers looking to get younger

Even the Dodgers have work to do this offseason. While the two-time defending World Series champions will enter 2026 as favorites to win again even if they don’t make a single move this winter, there are areas the team needs to shore up. Most pressing, is the desire to get younger.

Bill Punkett of the reports that L.A.’s president of baseball operations, Andrew Friedman, says there’s “not as much heavy lifting required” this offseason. But the team does have an aging core. Andy Pages, Dalton Rushing, and Hyeseong Kim were the only three position players under 30 on the Dodgers’ roster in 2025. While Yoshinobu Yamamoto and Roki Sasaki give the team younger starters to build around, much of the roster is leaving its prime.

Shohei Ohtani and Will Smith will both be 31 next season, while Freddie Freeman is 36, and Mookie Betts is 33. The team does have a fairly loaded farm system, but outfielders Josue De Paula and Zyhir Hope are both 20 and have some growing to do. Meanwhile, MLB-ready infielder Alex Freeland doesn’t currently have an open spot to fill with Betts, Tommy Edman, and Max Muncy on the roster.

L.A. is expected to be involved in the Kyle Tucker sweepstakes this winter, but they could also opt to use their farm depth to pursue an outfield upgrade. White Sox center fielder Luis Robert Jr. or Guardians left fielder Steven Kwan would fit the bill and make the team a bit younger.

How Kotak, Pujara and Unadkat have inspired players to dream big and stay honest to the game

Shashank Kishore in Rajkot09-Mar-2020″I’m always asked about the IPL auction, about how many crores I’ve gone for, am I happy or sad at my price tag, retained, not retained. Now, it’s pleasant to be giving interviews because of our Ranji Trophy exploits. This is about team Saurashtra, so it makes me that much more happy and I have been delighted to take time off to speak about our journey.”Jaydev Unadkat’s “take time off” reference is no joke. He may have picked up 65 wickets this season. Four more wickets and he will have the record for most wickets in a Ranji Trophy season ever, but his role at Saurashtra has gone far beyond just plotting dismissals. He’s Saurashtra’s captain, a bowling mentor, and also the team’s de-facto trainer.While not at the gym or in his room, on non-match days, Unadkat plans net sessions, monitors his bowlers’ workloads, analyses videos to devise plans for the opposition, talks to players he thinks may not fit the XI for the upcoming game. And, texting his best friend, even if he is across in New Zealand playing Test cricket, to discuss plans and strategies.”Chintu [Cheteshwar Pujara] has been like an elder brother of this team, (and) we’ve been best of best friends,” Unadkat says. “He cares about the team as much as I do. He feels it’s time he gives back to the team. He also knows that our players don’t get the guidance or other facilities to develop and become better cricketers. So he understands the lessons will have to come from someone who is playing at the highest level. Because his nature is such that he wants to help people, they feel free to talk to him whenever he’s around. There can’t be a better person to fit into the role. He knows the game in and out, knows the players very well, and he wants them to grow as players.”

One big performance is all we need, but even that, we aren’t stressing about like we did two or three years agoCheteshwar Pujara

Unadkat, 28 now, has witnessed Saurashtra’s evolution over the last 12 years as a player. He comes from the port town of Porbandar, known worldwide as Mahatma Gandhi’s birthplace. For all the development of facilities in Rajkot, the biggest city in Saurashtra, the other centres have remained ignored. The lack of cricketing infrastructure hampered players during the off-season, but Unadkat didn’t want that to become an excuse as they prepared for the 2019-20 season.Luckily, Unadkat has carried forward the traditions established by his seniors – former captain and domestic stalwart Sitanshu Kotak and Pujara – to guide the players. “We belong to a region where there isn’t a lot of cricketing infrastructure. There are people from Bhavnagar, Jamnagar, Porbandar. These guys don’t even get enough match practice,” Unadkat points out. “District cricket structure isn’t in place most of the time. When it happens, it happens during Vijay Hazare Trophy or Mushtaq Ali Trophy. So the guys don’t get any match practice outside our domestic set up. There are no big fitness training camps.ALSO READ: Unadkat savours captaincy masterstroke and unforgettable wicket”So from there, to handle the pressure and grind of a domestic system, you have to have a support system. That system is each other. Sitanshu Kotak did a great job in the last four-five years, he used to guide them during the off-season. Now, he’s with India A, so the players do take a lot of help from me. The bowlers will come and ask me about their fitness methods, training methods, etc. The batters will go to Cheteshwar and ask him about how they want to go about working on certain things, like trying to tune your mind to a specific shot or countering bowlers on certain type of pitches. Apart from that, the guys support each other. I sense that isn’t the case with many other teams.”In this day and age of professionalism, it’s hard to believe that Saurashtra don’t have a trainer in their support staff. Unadkat has had to bank on his experience of working with trainers with the Indian team and at the IPL to help make plans. Juggling several roles has been challenging for Unadkat, but he has thrived in that position.Jaydev Unadkat sends one down•Shailesh Bhatnagar”I’m enjoying it now, but it did get intense at some point,” he reflects. “During this season, I felt I lost a bit of balance, but I am enjoying the responsibility. Not everyone will be as fortunate as I am to have so many responsibilities.”Earlier this season, the association appointed former India bowler Karsan Ghavri as the head coach. However, Ghavri, a Mumbai resident, was more of an outsider, forcing Unadkat to become the pointsperson.”In our team, in the culture that we have, I do have a free hand at those things, about how to plan training sessions, fielding sessions. Kotak was there last season, and Karsan joined after four games. He’s also new to the circuit, so the responsibility I have, I’m used to it. I want things to be under my control types, I like it when people get the benefit of the good work that I put in, the energy I put in to plan a session. When those guys come and tell me that this helped them, I feel motivated. That helps bring the best out of me.”My personal schedules are set, I have been working on them in the off-season; I know a lot about my body and bowling, so I don’t need to devote much time, it’s set. I just need to fine tune, more energy goes into how well I can plan for the team so that everyone gets something out of it. Thinking of XI, talking to guys not playing, involved in training of guys not playing – those things I enjoy. I sleep well at night because of all this.”‘Not just a team that has Cheteshwar or Ravindra’
This will be Saurashtra’s fourth Ranji Trophy final in eight seasons. Jaydev Shah was the captain until midway through the previous season (2018-19), but retired and is now the president of SCA. He is the son of Niranjan Shah, a former Saurashtra player and one of the oldest cricket administrators in India.Jaydev Shah captained Saurashtra in 110 games•ESPNcricinfo LtdJaydev Shah has seen Unadkat go from being a wiry teenager in the trials in Porbandar in 2009 to the bowler he is today, and only has words of appreciation.”People used to say, ‘oh, he’s getting ten crore in the IPL, he’s not interested here’, or ‘he’s not taking wickets’. But if they’ve seen Unadkat this season, the effort he has taken to go out of his way to not just work on his game but also on the team has been incredible,” Shah says. “He has Pujara’s support. They are great friends and he asks for inputs from time to time. They feed off each other. Ravindra (Jadeja) is consulted when he is around too.”For all talks of the administration being run by one family, the SCA resonates vibes of a close-knit group. And the president’s closeness to the players by virtue of him having led many of them for half-a-decade or more – he captained in 110 games over 12 years overall – has helped bridge the gap somewhat.”Anyone can walk in anytime,” Shah says. “Now that I am away from the dressing room, I don’t disturb them too much. I don’t like to disturb cricketing intuitions. If Jaydev takes a call, it’s his call. If he makes a mistake, he will know, he will learn. We don’t judge or hold them to ransom, asking why you did this or that. That comes with trust.

I’ve never seen a Saurashtra team being this clinical in my ten years as a first-class cricketerSheldon Jackson

“If you see our selection also, we believe in giving players a long rope. Three games they fail, no problem. You will never see us make five-six changes. The seniors are as important as juniors. If you see over the years, if one senior goes away, one junior comes in. Sheldon Jackson spent four seasons on the bench before he got his chance. Today, he is a senior player. Kotak retired, Arpit Vasavada took his place. He handles the middle-order and gives Jackson the freedom to express himself.”We aren’t just known as a team that has Cheteshwar or Ravindra. No one has mentioned that this season. For that, credit goes entirely to the team. We’ve developed a good combination. It’s a homely atmosphere, with no rules. I believe the captain needs his space to plan. That is how it was when I led. I don’t see it changing now.”Jackson has seen Saurashtra struggling earlier to even compete. In Mumbai, where he played corporate cricket, he sensed there used to be a perception about Saurashtra, of being bullies at home but poor on the road. He’s seen them slowly shed that tag. Last season, they beat Uttar Pradesh and Karnataka away in the quarter-finals and semi-finals. This year, they beat Baroda in Vadodara for the first time in 15 years. They beat Himachal Pradesh on a green top in Dharamsala without a score of substance from Pujara. For this, Jackson credited a change in mindset.”With both Jaydevs [Shah and Unadkat], there is no pressure,” he says. “If we win, it’s the best thing. If we don’t, it’s totally okay. You can’t let one bad patch or one bad session undo the good work done through the season. That is the bottom line. In the semi-final, we were 15 for 5. Our No. 11 [Chetan Sakariya] was promoted up the order, he batted expertly. Our lead spinner – Dharmendra Jadeja – got two wickets on a dead track where the ball wasn’t turning at all.The Saurashtra players celebrate a win•Shailesh Bhatnagar”Our captain comes from nowhere and suddenly cracks open a game we all were slowly beginning to worry about. For this, you have to credit the management for their selection consistencies. Yes, there are changes, but they aren’t drastic. When players feel secure, they are confident. Their way of moving around and interacting with you is totally different.”Why do they stress on family? Because they know no matter what mistakes you make, your family won’t throw you out. That is the feeling we get with this group now. I’ve never seen a Saurashtra team being this clinical in my ten years as a first-class cricketer.”Such freedom and clarity in selection and thought process has lent a relaxed vibe to the dressing room. Players aren’t bound by rules too much, there are unwritten laws that everyone abides by. They aren’t big on team activities for the sake of it, but respect individual space. Which is why two days before a final, five players can enjoy a movie, a few others can step away to meet friends, and others can X-box away, when they could well be asked to attend compulsory team meetings or team dinners.”I was part of the team for five games, before I left for the New Zealand tour. Now also, I see that same excitement and enthusiasm,” Pujara says. “There is no tiredness, no nerves, no anxiety. Everyone is confident in their own space. One big performance is all we need, but even that we aren’t stressing about like we did two or three years ago.”‘This final won’t be only game that matters in our life’
For Unadkat, winning would be the best thing, but it isn’t the end goal. “Winning would be the icing on the cake, but icing on cake is a small metaphor for how big it would be for us,” he says philosophically. “This is a state that actually has produced greats like [KS] Ranjitsinghji.”The cricketing culture is great, the legacy is great. I keep telling them to not have this worry of ‘oh, what if we don’t win’. This is the group that will do it for a number of years to come, so I tell them, we are going to win, but that won’t be our ultimate goal. Even if we win, we want to sustain it next year, and continue it for five years to come. Saurashtra has never had a better team, but this final won’t be only game that matters in our life.”

Martin Donnelly’s brief Test career was interrupted by World War II but he shone nevertheless

Paul Edwards09-Jun-2020If you were to seek solace in these strange days by going for a walk in the Parks at Oxford you might notice that a few of the benches around the cricket ground have been placed there in memory of former Blues. One has been dedicated to Martin Donnelly but even were you reasonably well-versed in the game you might still not be able to name his achievements with much precision. And you would not be alone. Among the hundreds of lists compiled in these cricketless months, one table sought to rank the finest left-handed batsmen in history. It is a ticklish task given that the candidates include Lara, Sobers, Pollock and Clive Lloyd. Pardonably perhaps, no one mentioned Donnelly. Who would have thought that in those joyous post-war summers of abundance and shortage he was reckoned the finest leftie in the world?Please take your walk again. It is a May morning in 1946. Oxford are batting against Lancashire, who will become one of Donnelly’s favourite opponents. Suddenly the university lose their second wicket and he strides from the pavilion wearing the lucky multi-coloured cap he picked up in a Cairo bazaar during the war. Before long the ground will be ringed with spectators. A few tutorials have been hastily postponed but this, it turns out, has been to the perfect satisfaction of both parties, for undergraduates soon notice that dons are also watching the cricket. One of the latter may be JC Masterman, the Provost of Worcester; he helped arrange Donnelly’s two-year stay at Oxford, where he is reading Modern History at Masterman’s college. The Parks may not be thronged like this again until the mid-1970s when Imran Khan is in residence and the proximity of two all-women colleges helps to increase the number of spectators watching the cricket or something. Now, though, Dick Pollard drops a shade short and Donnelly square-cuts him for four. The undergraduates settle into their seats and some wonder if they can fit in a lunchtime pint at The Lamb and Flag.ALSO READ: Odd Men In – Alan Richardson“Bare figures can give no idea of the electric atmosphere in the Parks when that short, sturdy figure went out to bat,” wrote Geoffrey Bolton. “A lucky spectator might have half an hour to spare between lectures… In that half-hour he might well see Donnelly hit nine boundaries, each from a different stroke… If Oxford were fielding the spectator’s eyes would turn to cover point.”The students were watching Donnelly at close to the peak of his powers. Within four years he had all but retired from the first-class game and moved to Australia to become Cortaulds’ sales and marketing manager in that country. He joined the Coventry-based firm on going down from Oxford and they allowed him to play for Warwickshire in 1948 and to join the New Zealand tour the following summer. But by 1950 Donnelly was 32 and had decided to make a career in business. He played his last County Championship match at the Cortaulds Ground in early July. For something like five years he had flamed across the English game and now he was gone. “It was as if all his own cricket had been a student pastime, a youthful wheeze not worth mentioning any more,” wrote Frank Keating.The promise, however, had been clear since the early 1930s when Donnelly was a pupil at New Plymouth Boys High School in the North Island. At that stage it was unclear whether cricket or tennis would be his major summer sport but a letter he received from Australia in 1933 may have settled matters. “Dear Martin,” it read, “Having heard that you were a very keen little cricket enthusiast, I thought I would write and encourage you into even greater deeds. New Zealanders love the game as much as we do, and I am looking forward to seeing your name among their champions in the future.” The 15-year-old Donnelly kept that letter from Don Bradman under his pillow. Less than four years later he was selected for New Zealand’s tour of England, the decision to include him in the party being made on the strength of his innings of 22 and 38 and some brilliant fielding in a Plunket Shield game for Wellington against Auckland. It was his first-class debut.Donnelly was 19 when he arrived in the country where he would play all seven of his Test matches and make all but two of his 23 first-class centuries. His height had long earned him the nickname “Squib” but his maiden hundred against Surrey revealed a different type of stature and announced that he was “decidedly a ‘star’ in the making”. He managed 120 runs in the three matches against England and although New Zealand lost the series 1-0, Donnelly’s innings were already crafted as occasion required. He was beyond promising. All the same, he began his Test career with a duck at Lord’s, an indignity he shared with one of England’s debutants, Leonard Hutton. In view of the innings he played on the ground after the war, Donnelly probably viewed that nought with a wry smile. And on the way back to New Zealand he was able to thank Bradman for his earlier letter when the tourists played at Adelaide. It would be one of only two first-class games Donnelly would play in Australia.

He had certain similarities with Bradman: the build, the hawk-eye, the forcing stroke square of the wicket on the leg side, the determination to establish a psychological supremacy over the bowler. But Donnelly did not share Bradman’s passion to get outAlan Gibson on Martin Donnelly

He returned home having scored 1414 first-class runs in his first English summer yet it was by no means clear how his cricket career would develop. He read for a BA degree at Canterbury University and transferred his allegiance to the province for the 1938-39 season. But he played only six Plunket Shield games for his new team before being commissioned in 1941 and posted first to Cairo, where Major Donnelly commanded a squadron of tanks and was a star of the Gezira Club. Having later served in Italy he returned to England in 1945 to represent New Zealand Services during a four-month tour that would take them from village greens to the Test grounds. None of the players minded and all the spectators were grateful. Though the war against Japan continued until August, cricket seemed as good as way as any of celebrating peace in Europe, even if The Oval still looked more like the POW camp it had recently been. Austerity and even the Iron Curtain were problems for other years. Donnelly was 27 and had played just 41 first-class matches.In late August he represented the Dominions against England at Lord’s. It was a three-day match which featured two centuries by Wally Hammond, ten wickets for Doug Wright and an extraordinary innings of 185 in 168 minutes by Keith Miller. described it as “one of the finest games ever seen”. Donnelly made 133 in ten minutes over three hours and although overshadowed by Miller’s extraordinary hitting on the final morning, that century had been as clear a proclamation of talent as anyone could desire. Denzil Batchelor was clearly sold: “You sat and rejoiced, hugging the memories to your heart and gradually letting the dazzle fade out of your eyes.”Over the next four years there would be at least three more such occasions, all of them at Lord’s. At Oxford, strong county elevens found a mature batsman of international class waiting for them when they arrived to take on the undergraduates. Journalists returning late from the war hurried to the Parks to see what the fuss was about, only to find it was not a fuss at all, but the real thing. Given his fame, it would have been easy for Oxford’s best cricketer to trade on his status and become something of a star but after Donnelly’s death in 1999, Professor Douglas Johnson, a contemporary at Worcester, penned an addition to the obituary in the :”In college, Martin was universally liked. He was a quiet, modest man who was interested in the same things as the rest of us. At a college society meeting he talked about folk-music and folk-songs. He was not too grand for college games, and, if he was available, he would play in the college teams for cricket and rugby, at a time when they were far from strong. In one such match he hit five sixes in one over, against a visiting team that had not expected to encounter a Test batsman.”Donnelly made six centuries for his university in 1946, including 142 in front of 8000 spectators in the Varsity Match at Lord’s. The following season there were four more hundreds and a three-hour 162 not out for the Gentleman against the Players. Hubert Preston’s account of that innings in Wisden suggests why Donnelly was one of the Almanack’s cricketers of the year: “Apart from a chance to slip off [Doug] Wright when 39, he played practically faultless cricket and hit twenty-six 4’s, his punishment of any ball not a perfect length being severe and certain; he excelled with off-drives; hooked or cut anything short.”Yet however glittering his talent, cricket was always an amateur pursuit for Donnelly. Perhaps that was one reason why he struggled in 1948, his one full season for Warwickshire. He certainly found Bradman’s Australians no more vincible than anyone else had: his eight innings for four different teams produced an aggregate of only 116 runs with a best score of 36 at Scarborough. That letter of encouragement had become a fond memento of another time.Martin Donnelly batting in the nets on New Zealand’s 1949 tour•Hulton Archive/Getty ImagesBut one reason why Donnelly had played cricket during his first year with Cortaulds was in the hope he might be selected for the New Zealand tour in 1949. Despite a degree of opposition in a homeland where he had not played for nearly a decade, he achieved his aim and that trip would become his glorious farewell to the game’s great occasions. While his fellow tourists may have been met by a team-mate who spoke with an English accent when they arrived in April 1949, they also found a cricketer determined to prove that New Zealand should no longer be fobbed off with three-day Tests while Australians were granted five-day fixtures.Donnelly made 2287 first-class runs in his last full summer of cricket. The tally included four centuries and the first double-hundred made by a New Zealander in Test matches. That was scored at Lord’s, of course, and it took him five minutes short of six hours. The final stages of Donnelly’s last great innings, which was completed on a Monday morning of dry London heat, were described by Alan Mitchell, the correspondent who travelled with the team on their tour:”His pulling was bloodthirsty, coldly calculated, executed with both strength of wrist and perfect timing and balance, and a graceful swinging body. His off-driving was full of weight and his newly perfected late cutting a thing of joy and a suppleness of wrist that D’Artagnan could have admired. Bailey pounded up to the stumps, dragging a foot and spurting dust, only to be battered and in one over alone, hit for 12; Hollies lowered his trajectory and added speed to his spin, only to be cut or driven straight.; Gladwin glistened but with mere perspiration and the new ball lost its shine; Young was pulled and cut. The Don was alive in Donnelly.”Perhaps so but Mitchell also knew his comparison was momentary; Bradman’s statistics belonged in a category of their own. As Alan Gibson reflected in 1964: “He [Donnelly] had certain similarities with Bradman: the build, the hawk-eye, the forcing stroke square of the wicket on the leg side, the determination to establish a psychological supremacy over the bowler as soon as possible. But Donnelly did not share Bradman’s passion to get out.” Then again, it is difficult to imagine the Don singing folk-songs.New Zealand drew all four of the Tests in 1949 and Donnelly made 462 runs from No. 5 in their batting order. By now the best cricket writers of the day were searching carefully for appropriate references and ransacking their store of metaphors. As ever, RC Robertson-Glasgow found the words for the moment: “It is a position where the player must be equally able and ready to arrest a decline or to blaze an attack, to be Fabius or Jehu at need and in turn. In this exacting role Donnelly went from triumph to triumph. He was, as it were, both the gum and the glitter; and he carried his burden like a banner.”After his retirement Donnelly spoke about his own cricket only to those who made a point of asking about it. He made a new career in Australia and set about the serious business of raising three sons and a daughter. Occasionally, though, the past would be revived. There were reunion dinners and in 1990 he was elevated to the New Zealand Sports Hall of Fame “They said he had everything as a Test batsman,” read the citation, “Style and grace, confidence and determination, success and modesty.”Yet still you would be forgiven if you did not quite understand Donnelly’s place in the history of cricket in two countries. Perhaps you needed to live through those post-war years to understand their mixture of relief and guilt, exultation and grief, responsibility and abandon. Peace levies its own tariffs. Maybe the best we can do is find Donnelly’s bench in his beloved Parks and imagine his feelings as he strode out to bat in the few summers the gods had allowed him. Odd Men In

Nurtured like a tropical plant, Lawrence’s maiden innings may herald the start of a long career

Andrew Miller15-Jan-2021″The exciting thing for me is that this is the beginning of a very successful, long international career, where you’ll be winning many, many games for England.”Individual batsmen may still harbour their superstitions, but the England management clearly doesn’t believe in tempting fate these days. For these were the very words uttered by James Foster, the team’s wicketkeeping consultant, in the minutes before the start of the Galle Test, as he presented Dan Lawrence, his former Essex team-mate, with his maiden Test cap.No equivocation, no doubts, and only a fleeting nod to “luck” as Foster walked over to shake the youngster’s hand and confer on him cap No. 697*. And sure enough, it has taken just two days for Lawrence to live up to those eagerly-expressed expectations, with a thrillingly sure-footed maiden fifty that leaves few reasons to doubt there will be much more to follow.

From Chingford to Galle.

Special words. Special moment @DanLawrence288 pic.twitter.com/tvjjACfir4

— England Cricket (@englandcricket) January 14, 2021