Reece James' injury nightmare continues as the Chelsea star is expected to be out of action until at least February after a fresh hamstring blow.
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India marched to their third straight win in the Women’s World Cup by thrashing Pakistan by 95 runs in Derby
The Report by Vishal Dikshit02-Jul-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsEkta Bisht has two five-fors in ODIs and both against Pakistan•ICC
Just like she did less than five months ago in the World Cup Qualifier, Ekta Bisht bagged another five-for against Pakistan. This one outdid an impressive effort from the Pakistani bowlers and fielders in Derby. Bisht’s opening spell of 4-1-4-3 set up India’s 95-run win that helped maintain a clean slate – 10-0 – as far as head-to-head goes. This was also India’s third straight win in the World Cup over Pakistan.The day belonged to left-arm spinners. Nashra Sandhu gave Pakistan a golden chance of notching up their first win of the tournament by taking four wickets to restrict India to 169 for 9. However, Bisht struck with her fourth ball and added two more into her kitty within the space of four balls to bring Pakistan down to 14 for 4 in the eighth over.It was not the turn but her angle and drift from around the wicket that trapped three batsmen lbw early on. She deceived them with flight and beat their inside edge to pin Ayesha Zafar for 1, and soon Sidra Nawaz and Iram Javed for ducks. Meanwhile, Jhulan Goswami struck Javeria Khan’s front pad right in front in the fifth over, and without the injured Bismah Maroof, getting the chase back on track was very unlikely for Pakistan.Even when Bisht was taken off the attack, Deepti Sharma’s turn and Mansi Joshi’s lines did not offer Pakistan any respite. In the 14th over, Deepti turned a delivery a long way from outside off and it went through the gap to knock over Nain Abidi’s off stump to leave Pakistan on 24 for 5.Opener Nahida Khan, who was dropped by Deepti at gully on 0, was the only one to score in double digits before captain Sana Mir did the same later on. With the pressure of wickets and lack of scoring opportunities, Nahida also fell when she tried to cut Harmanpreet Kaur off the back foot and edged it to the keeper.Bisht came back for her second spell to dismiss Sandhu and Diana Baig off consecutive deliveries at the score of 51 before Mir resisted with the tail but could only reduce the margin of loss as she was the last wicket to fall for a valiant 29 off 73 balls.India could not capitalise initially on their decision to bat as opening bowlers Asmavia Iqbal and Baig swung the ball and bowled full lengths to curb the openers. An in-form Smriti Mandhana fell when Baig swung a full-length delivery into her to trap her lbw for 2. India’s scoring rate suffered in Mandhana’s absence as Punam Raut was watchful when Iqbal and Baig stuck to tight lines and bowled to their fields on the off side. The first four of the innings came in the ninth over when Deepti pulled Iqbal’s rare short ball before Raut also opened up with consecutive fours in the 12th over.Raut’s stay ended when she tossed a catch back to Sandhu by flicking early, before the left-arm spinner dented India’s middle order which had barely been exposed in the World Cup. Just when India were approaching 100, Sandhu, in her eighth straight over, struck with the help of two reviews within three deliveries. She first struck Mithali Raj in front and ball-tracking showed the ball would have hit leg stump. Two deliveries later, Deepti edged a delivery low to the keeper but the umpire Gregory Brathwaite failed to pick it, and a very confident Sidra Nawaz asked her captain to take the review again which put India in trouble at 94 for 4.India would have then looked to Harmanpreet to give them a strong finish but another left-arm spinner – Sadia Yousuf – strangled the middle order by bowling wide of the crease with a more round-arm action compared to Sandhu’s. Yousuf even induced an edge off Raj’s bat, when the India captain was on 6, but got a wicket in her second spell when Harmanpreet pulled a short ball to midwicket where Mir dived full length to her left to complete a stunning catch. India were 107 for 5 with just over 15 overs left.Once Mona Meshram missed a heave two overs later against Yousuf, India could have been wrapped up for under 150 but wicketkeeper Sushma Verma racked up her highest score with a quick 35-ball 33 in with the help of the tail and helped stretch the score to 169 which proved too much for Pakistan even though they batted when the sun had come out to make the conditions better.
India’s lower order propelled them to 600 before their bowlers left Sri Lanka five down and 247 short of the follow-on mark at stumps on day two
The Report by Karthik Krishnaswamy27-Jul-20171:38
Maharoof: Disappointed by Gunathilaka and Mendis dismissals
Swing, seam, pace and bounce. Dip, drift, turn and bounce. Ingredients that seemed largely absent when India piled on 600, their second-highest total in Sri Lanka, haunted the home side in their reply, as they ended the second day of the Galle Test five down with the follow-on mark still 247 runs away.Umesh Yadav and Mohammed Shami took the top order apart, even as Upul Tharanga hurtled along with a profusion of silken off-side boundaries. Then came R Ashwin, going around the wicket to left and right-handers alike, harnessing the sea breeze and testing both edges with drift, swinging arm balls, and the occasional instance of sharp turn. Over the course of an unbroken spell of 18 overs, he gradually discovered the ideal pace and angle of seam to extract the maximum possible help from the Galle pitch, and could have easily ended the day with more than one wicket.Umesh gave India their first breakthrough, in the second over of Sri Lanka’s innings. Swing did Dimuth Karunaratne in, a full ball curling back into the left-hander from over the wicket and forcing him to play around his front pad. He missed and reviewed Bruce Oxenford’s lbw decision, a wasted referral given there was no inside edge, and that the ball had pitched on middle stump and had straightened down that line.R Ashwin got drift and dip to be a constant threat•AFP
For a time, Danushka Gunathilaka, making his Test debut, matched Tharanga shot for shot, as the two left-handers drove repeatedly on the up during a second-wicket partnership of 61 at just under five an over. But he played one shot too many, feet rooted to the crease as he flashed at, and edged, a Shami delivery angled across him.Kusal Mendis, in at No. 4, had the misfortune of getting a Shami special when he was still to get off the mark. It hit the seam in the corridor, seamed away slightly with some extra bounce, and all he could do was nick it. Two times in five balls, Shikhar Dhawan was the catcher at first slip.The next two wickets fell during Ashwin’s long and endlessly tormenting spell. The first began with his drift and dip beating Tharanga in the air. Having jumped out of his crease and inside-edged into his pad, he turned and hurried back as the ball rolled towards Abhinav Mukund at silly point. Abhinav flicked the ball to the keeper, and when the bails came off, Tharanga’s bat, after a momentary grounding on the dive, had bounced up. A cruel end to an innings of 64 and a 57-run fourth-wicket stand with Mathews.Then came the wicket of another left-hander, Niroshan Dickwella, who pressed forward but found himself nowhere near the pitch of the ball, thanks to Ashwin’s dip. Extra bounce grabbed the shoulder of his jabbing defensive bat, and Mukund, diving right at silly point, took a superb, low one-hander.Mathews struggled initially against Ashwin, and on 32 survived an lbw decision reviewed by India when ball-tracking returned an umpire’s call verdict. He slowly grew in assurance, and ended the day batting on 54 with Dilruwan Perera for company. With Asela Gunaratne, who fractured his left thumb on the first day, unlikely to bat, Sri Lanka have quite a task ahead of them.An improved bowling display from Sri Lanka, led by Nuwan Pradeep, who finished with 6 for 132, threatened at various points to limit India’s total. But the lower order, led by Ashwin and the debutant Hardik Pandya, kept counter-punching.India lost both their overnight batsmen, Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane, inside 12 overs of the morning, both out to seam. Away-seam and extra bounce from Nuwan Pradeep found Pujara’s edge on 153, while Rahane, driving away from his body at a rare full ball from Lahiru Kumara, edged to slip.Despite the selection of Pandya, India stuck with Ashwin and Wriddhiman Saha at Nos. 6 and 7, trusting their experience and proven firefighting abilities ahead of the debutant’s promise. Ashwin and Saha had put on three fifty partnerships and one double-century stand, and averaged 47.50 as a pair since the start of 2016. They combined once again to stall Sri Lanka’s momentum, adding 59 for the sixth wicket.Not for the first time in his career, Ashwin began finding the gaps almost as soon as he walked in, and took three fours from successive Herath overs, twice driving him through the off side and once stepping out to clip him between midwicket and mid-on. In all, he would hit seven fours in a 60-ball 47.Both fell in the space of six balls, with lunch imminent, and when Pradeep took his sixth wicket after the break, cleaning up Ravindra Jadeja with the bouncer-yorker double, Sri Lanka may have hoped for a quick end to the innings.As it turned out, India’s last two wickets added 83 in 71 balls in a burst of six-hitting. The quicks leaked runs in an effort to pepper the lower order with the short ball, and Herath kept get hitting back over his head, notably by Mohammed Shami who hit him for three sixes. Pandya hit three sixes too, all off Pradeep, two hooked over backward square leg and one whipped over midwicket.The dismissal of Shami, caught on the square-leg boundary off Kumara, ended a ninth-wicket stand of 62, but Sri Lanka’s ordeal wasn’t yet over. Umesh Yadav, India’s No. 11, also joined in the hitting spree, taking Kumara for a big six down the ground and Herath for the lofted four that brought up India’s 600.Pandya, who had brought up his half-century, off 48 balls, in the same Herath over, fell soon after, finding deep square leg while going after another short ball from Kumara.
Chelsea are planning to accept any bids for Raheem Sterling in the summer transfer window, according to a new update regarding the Englishman's future.
Has Raheem Sterling flopped at Chelsea?
The 28-year-old joined the Blues from Manchester City last summer, having no longer necessarily been seen as a key figure at the Etihad.
Sterling was seen as an exciting signing for Chelsea, given his pedigree as an 82-cap England international and four-time Premier League champion. He would seemingly add another attacking dimension to the team, as well as a wealth of experience and end product, but it's fair to say that his first season at Stamford Bridge was an underwhelming one.
In fairness to the winger, he was part of a Blues team that struggled hugely throughout the campaign, eventually finishing 12th in the league, but his performances were too often lacking in both quality and all-round influence.
Sterling only scored six goals in 28 league appearances – a disappointing return, considering his reputation as a relentless provider of end product – and he failed to stand up while others around him also flattered to deceive.
While the former City and Liverpool attacker is contracted with Chelsea until the summer of 2027, it looks as though a quickfire exit from West London is now seemingly likely.
Are Chelsea selling Raheem Sterling?
According to Football Insider, the Blues plan to accept an offer for Sterling this summer if a sizeable bid arrives, suggesting that Mauricio Pochettino sees him as an expendable figure:
"Chelsea are very open to selling Raheem Sterling this summer, sources have told Football Insider. Sterling is attracting interest from clubs in Europe, the UK and Saudi Arabia. Back in January, Football Insider revealed that the Blues were willing to listen to offers for the 28-year-old in the winter window after hijacking Arsenal’s move for Mykhaylo Mudryk.
"Sources have told Football Insider that his future is now even more up in the air and the club are in favour of recouping his wages for new talent."
This would be a surprise decision by Chelsea, considering Sterling only arrived at the club 12 months ago, not to mention the fact that he has been hailed as "world-class" by Frank Lampard in the past, despite his somewhat limited impact both under the Blues legend and his predecessors.
The £325,000-a-week attacker has proven himself over such an extended period, scoring 20 times for England, but ultimately, if Pochettino doesn't see him as a key man, the Blues should try and move him on.
It remains to be seen if that is definitely the case, but if he does end up staying put beyond the end of the window, he must go up a gear next season. Sterling turns 29 later this year, so the clock is ticking in terms of selling him at his highest possible value, which could be a reason for this latest update, with Todd Boehly and the club's hierarchy perhaps keen to create an almost entirely new squad for the new boss to work with.
If Vernon Philander could do The Oval Test all over again, he would. And he would do it feeling the way he does now because that is infinitely better than the way he felt last week.Philander spent most of the third Test in the toilet, “losing quite a lot of fluids, top and bottom”. The same could be said of South Africa’s performance.The top order was guilty of not posting enough runs, especially in the first innings, and the bowling lacked the discipline required to contain England. Philander’s all-round ability was missed and he knew it. “In any bowling line-up, if there’s a link missing, you feel it and I’m quite an important part in that line-up,” Philander said. “I could feel my intensity was missed.”Don’t read that as a man talking himself up, read it as an international sportsperson speaking from a place of professionalism. Philander was picked to play – and the merits of including someone who was obviously ill have already been discussed on these pages – so that is what he wanted to do.He fronted up on the first morning and took the new ball even though South Africa’s initial hope was that they would bat first and he would have some extra time to recover. That day, Philander bowled 12 overs; in the innings, he bowled 17; and in the match, 32, which amounted to 17.4% of the total overs South Africa sent down. It cannot be a coincidence that at Lord’s, where Philander was coming back from an ankle injury sustained in a county stint and where South Africa also lost, he only bowled 13% of the total overs whereas at Trent Bridge, where Philander was Man of the Match, he delivered 23.9%, almost a quarter.Perhaps the more telling impact of Philander’s absence was that the most he could provide in a single spell at The Oval was five overs. While he could create pressure early on, he was unable to sustain it and neither was anyone else in the attack despite tailor-made conditions. Under thick cloud and in humidity, Morne Morkel turned in one of his best performances for little reward but Kagiso Rabada struggled for rhythm and Chris Morris with inconsistency. All Philander wanted to do was get better enough to get in on the action. “It was frustrating not to be out there or to bowl longer spells,” he said.It was even more frustrating watching the chance to win the series slip past South Africa, especially as Philander knows what victory in England tastes like. He is one of only three members of the current squad who played in the 2012 matches and took the Test mace off England at Lord’s. Philander had one of the most important hands in that victory after scoring fifty and taking a five-for. Then, a South Africa side that shone with superstars like Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, AB de Villiers and Dale Steyn may not have realised how much they relied on Philander. Now, they know exactly how much they do. It is more than they should be comfortable with because, as demonstrated last week, if Philander is unavailable, South Africa need to have other options.It may be something that comes up in their team talks, which Philander explained involved severe self-reflection. “We’ve had a few hard chats,” he said. “We have an honesty policy and we all admitted it wasn’t our best Test match. We let ourselves down with the bat in the first innings and that’s something we would like to correct.”Philander will have a role to play in that regard because he has been promoted to No. 7 and, now that he is healthier, he can show why he has long wanted to bat higher up. “I think No. 7 is ideal for me. I enjoy having to bat longer periods,” he said. But his main role will remain with the ball in hand.With heavy cloud hanging over Manchester, rain in the week prior to the team’s arrival in the city hampering pitch preparation and drizzle expected throughout the final Test, Philander may get the chance to do at Old Trafford what he would have done at The Oval. And this time, he thinks, “there’s everything to play for”.
West Ham United look likely to win a big race to sign Alex Scott this summer, with Football Insider reporting that the Hammers are in the best position to snap up the midfielder this summer.
How good is Alex Scott?
The Bristol City midfielder has lit up the Championship for the Robins over the last two seasons, having initially broken onto the scene as a young 16-year-old. Having appeared three times for them during that initial second tier campaign, he has since gone on to appear in 83 league games for the side in total.
The 2022/23 season really saw the Englishman's star shine though, as he was handed the Young Player of the Year award for the division.
He played on 42 occasions for the Robins over the course of the year, the most he has managed over his career yet, and even bagged one goal and five assists along the way. He also reached the top ten in the division for through balls (10), had the most blocks of any player in the Championship with 67 and drew more fouls than any other second tier talent with 96. Despite his youth then, he is already standing out as one of the best in the league.
Are West Ham signing Alex Scott?
It's no surprise then to see him linked with a potential move away this summer. West Ham are one of the clubs to have been most heavily linked to Scott, with the Hammers having already spoken over a potential bid to bring in the 19-year-old this transfer window.
Wolves are another Premier League side that have been mulling over an offer for Scott, with the Molineux outfit also being admirers of the youngster.
Now though, according to a report from Football Insider, it's the Hammers who are in the best position to try and add the midfielder to their ranks this summer. It states that the top flight club are "well placed" to land the talent, but he would cost the Premier League side a hefty £25m as that is the Robins' asking price – and they will not budge.
However, if the player himself wants to move and Bristol City are "keen to progress" at that price, as are West Ham, then it will likely happen.
It could be worth it though. He's already caught the eye of those who have seen him in action, with the 19-year-old being hailed for both his current ability and his future potential. Football talent scout Jacek Kulig stated that he has a "big future ahead," with the midfielder already demonstrating his ability to perform to the highest level.
The youth football writer also highlighted a comment from Man City boss Pep Guardiola who, after coming up against the England man in the FA Cup, added that he is an "unbelievable player". It's high praise from one of the best managers in the business – and if West Ham can seal a deal for him, they could therefore have one of the most promising English talents around right now.
USMNT defender Matt Miazga has accepted his actions were inappropriate, but believes MLS's punishment was harsh regarding his recent suspension.
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Miazga suspended by MLS for 3 gamesFCC eliminated from playoffs without himDefender responds over 'unfitting' punishmentWHAT HAPPENED?
Speaking to media on Tuesday, the FC Cincinnati central defender claimed he thought MLS's punishment was unjust, but understood that his actions were inappropriate and that he let his team down. On November 4, Miazga confronted a referee postgame in the tunnel – and reports have been scattered since, but as a result of his actions, he was suspended for three games ahead of the Eastern Conference semifinals last weekend. Cincy fell to the Columbus Crew in extra-time, 3-2.
AdvertisementGetty ImagesWHAT MIAZGA SAID
"I want to take responsibility for what happened. The intentions of what happened, my intentions didn't play out to what has actually happened. I take full responsibility… I felt the punishment didn't fit what had happened, but you know, I accept it and we got to move forward now."
"It was frustrating because you've been an in-form player all year and then all of a sudden, one of the most important games of the year you can't play. So that was frustrating, but I had confidence in my team that they can get the job done."
Despite crashing out of the playoffs in harsh fashion, the USMNT defender has optimism for 2024: "We're so close and it's a learning experience obviously for everyone involved, especially me as well. So, now there's that extra hunger for next year and extra motivation and, you know, we're a real team so we're excited for the challenges ahead."
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Initial reports claimed that Miazga was 'forcibly removed' from the official's room following their November 4 victory over the New York Red Bulls, but as more news surrounding the incident came out, the official's report was described as 'exaggerated' by The Athletic. Fast forward nearly three weeks and MLS's investigation into the incident resulted in suspension – 72 hours prior to kickoff in their most important playoff match of the year.
Following the announcement of his removal from their remaining matches on the calendar, the MLS Players Association released a statement claiming that the investigation contained 'falsehoods' and 'false narratives' to paint the MLS Defender of the Year in the wrong.
Now, following Cincy's removal from the playoffs, Miazga has taken responsibility for his actions, but admits his 'frustration' over the league's findings.
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USA Today Sports WHAT NEXT FOR MIAZGA?
He will be suspended for two matches to begin the 2024 MLS season, but the dates for those matches will not be announced until next year. Until then, it will be a massive 'what if' for the defender, knowing that his side conceded three goals in a conference final without him.
Seeing out Graeme Cremer and staying positive will reverse a little pressure and bring a mammoth 388 target within reach, according to Dimuth Karunaratne
Andrew Fidel Fernando17-Jul-2017Seeing out Graeme Cremer and staying positive will reverse a little pressure and bring a mammoth 388 target within reach, according to Dimuth Karunaratne. The opener made 49 to help set the tone for the innings.Zimbabwe claimed his wicket and two others with balls that took substantial turn. The delivery that dismissed Karunaratne spun more than any other in the match, hitting the fast bowlers’ footmarks and darting alarmingly into his offstump. Kusal Mendis, who had also been positive at the crease, and Angelo Mathews, are the overnight pair.”I do think we can make it,” Karunaratne said. “We have already scored 170 for three wickets and we need only 218 more. We’ve also batted out the period when he ball is hard and does a little bit more. All Zimbabwe have now is the support from that rough.”Angie and Kusal are set now. If those two guys keep on batting for an hour or more tomorrow morning, they can get set again. If that happens, I don’t think it’s easy to get them out unless we do something silly.”Mendis, whose 60 has come off 85 deliveries, was busy at the crease, and used his powerful flat sweep shot to good effect. Mathews has already used the reverse-sweep himself, during his 33-ball 17. Both those options may be key to manipulating the field.”They’re bowling on the leg side with more fielders. So we need to have a plan to change that field may be playing a reverse sweep,” he said. “If we do that, we will be able to put some runs on the board quickly.”If we just to survive, we’re losing the opportunity to win the match. We need to be positive. When another 60 to 70 runs are scored, I think they will spread out the field. Then we can get the single and have a chance. We have to put them under pressure.”Cremer, who had claimed a five-wicket haul in the first innings, appears the key figure in the opposition attack. He has already bowled 58.3 overs in the match, however, and Sri Lanka may have hopes of tiring him out, as they had once done with Yasir Shah, in Pallekele. Sean Williams was the other wicket-taker on Monday.”Cremer is bowling in good areas and turning it well. As a wrist spinner, he gets a lot out of the surface. What Sean doing is that he pegs the batsman down and forces him to commit a mistake against Cremer. Other than those two, I don’t think there will be a huge threat. The reality is that those two cannot keep bowling right throughout the day.”
Chris Read set a new wicket-keeping record for Nottinghamshire as they moved closer to promotion with an innings defeat of Derbyshire
Jon Culley at Derby09-Aug-2017It is every retiring cricketer’s wish to leave the game in a winning moment and the fulfillment of that aspiration is within touching distance for Chris Read now after Nottinghamshire escaped the ravages of the weather to complete a comprehensive win over their nearest neighbours.Brett Hutton delivered the key performance with the ball against Derbyshire, taking five wickets for the second time in the match.Read, Notts’ veteran wicketkeeper and captain, may not have a third Championship to celebrate when he plays his final first-class match next month but promotion as champions from Division Two would not be a bad consolation, particularly with the Royal London One-Day Cup already in the trophy cabinet.Not to forget a potential Nottinghamshire tilt at the NatWest Blast, even if Read himself has retired from that format.With a lead of 50 points over third-placed Northamptonshire and four matches remaining, it is hard to imagine any other outcome to Read’s valedictory year, from which he will also take the Nottinghamshire record for most wicketkeeping dismissals, which he claimed with the first of his two catches on the final afternoon.It took him to 968 victims, overtaking Thomas Oates, born not too far from here in the mining town of Eastwood, who numbered 967 in a career that ran from 1897 to 1925. The breakdown of those figures reflects how different the game is today. Of Oates’s total, 744 were catches and 223 stumpings, compared with 924 catches and just 44 stumpings by Read.Read, on the eve of his 39th birthday, looked no less mobile behind the stumps than he did when he made his Nottinghamshire debut in 1998, diving to his right to grasp the ball as Mark Footitt induced an edge from Gary Wilson.”I’ve been aware of the milestone and it is an honour of which I’m immensely proud because Thomas Oates clearly played a lot of cricket and was a great servant to the club,” Read said, admitting that his last season could hardly be progressing better.”I’m ecstatic with the way things are going. We set ourselves some aims and goals and so far we are going a long way to achieving those. Primarily that is getting promotion to Division One, and we are in a good position to do that, while winning the 50-over competition was brilliant.”To win this game after losing a day and a session was a tremendous effort. Alex Hales’ knock on day two was phenomenal but the headlines should belong to Brett Hutton, who got more out of the pitch than anyone else in both innings.”It was bitterly disappointing to get relegated last year but I’m looking forward to finishing off in style with promotion and get back to where we belong.”Read, who will leave the professional game to be director of cricket at Uppingham School, is not dwelling on how he might feel when the curtain does finally come down for good.”No I’m not thinking about it massively,” he said. “We know we have to keep putting in the performances and after the T20 group stages and quarter-finals are out of the way we have two massive home games against sides in the top four, so we can’t let any complacency come in.”Aside from Read, the man of the hour for Nottinghamshire was the seamer Hutton, who chose a good moment, given that his team are reaching the climax of the season without three of those bowlers – Stuart Broad, James Pattinson and Luke Fetcher – who were first-choice picks at the beginning, to find his best form.Hutton, who took five for 52 in the first innings, finished with 10 for 126 in the match in his fifth Championship appearance of the year, almost equalling his tally in the first four as Nottinghamshire made sure Hales’s brilliant 218 off 218 balls did not go to waste.In addition to Read, Hutton and Hales, Nottinghamshire ought to raise a glass too to the Derbyshire groundstaff, whose efforts to make the ground fit after 24 hours of almost continuous rainfall gave them 75 overs from one o’clock in which to take the nine wickets needed to complete a sixth win of the season, which they achieved with 12.1 to spare.For the first hour and 20 minutes, it seemed Derbyshire might deny them as Ben Slater and captain Billy Godleman extended their second-wicket partnership, which had reached 31 at the end of day two before rain the weather washed away day three, to 96 without encountering too many problems.But then Slater, drawn into playing at a full length ball from Hutton that swung late, edging to Riki Wessels at second slip, and after Godleman, seven overs later, was superbly caught by a running and diving Hutton at extra cover, pushing at one from left-arm spinner Samit Patel, the innings never recovered.After breaking the Oates record – to give Footitt his fourth wicket of the match against the county that enjoyed his best years so far – Read added another to the collection with a more routine take as a terrific ball from Jake Ball proved too good for Harvey Hosein.Wayne Madsen, coming in at five down after suffering with an upset stomach, was bowled by Hutton off an inside edge and, after Hardus Viljoen had played over one from Ball, Hutton wrapped things up after a small measure of late defiance from the tail, pinning Tom Taylor in front as he played around one and taking out Tony Palladino’s off stump.Godleman, whose side had been denied an almost certain victory over Nottinghamshire by the weather when they went to Trent Bridge earlier in the season, felt his side had played poorly this time.”There was still a small bit in the wicket for the seamers but we felt we were capable of batting it out and saving the game and we should have found a way to not lose the game,” he said.
Rangers have been given a fresh update over Auston Trusty's future, with the youngster stating via the Daily Record that he is only focused on the present and his current pre-season tour with Arsenal.
Who is Auston Trusty?
The 24-year-old currently plays for Arsenal, having been poached by the Gunners only last year. Despite the Premier League side snapping him up, he has yet to make his top flight debut for the side and has instead been shipped out on loan in order to get minutes. That meant spending the 2022/23 season on loan with Birmingham in the Championship.
The youngster ended up being an integral part of the Blues' first-team squad and missed only two second tier outings all campaign. He featured on 44 occasions in total and fired in four goals with two assists along the way, despite his position on the field.
Prior to joining Birmingham though, Trusty had no experience of English or Scottish football. His entire playing time came in his native USA, having been given his league debut by Bethlehem in the USL at the age of 17. He then joined up with Philadelphia in the MLS, before switching to Colorado Rapids, which resulted in his most outstanding time as a player to date.
He managed 57 league appearances during his time there, with two goal contributions, and also helped drag them up to second in the standings in one campaign.
Are Rangers signing Auston Trusty?
It was these showings that led to Trusty heading to England for Arsenal. Now, it looks as though he could be cast aside by the club this summer, with talks of a permanent switch away on the cards. Rangers are one of the sides mentioned in terms of the interest in the American, with a price tag of £2m mentioned as potentially enough to seal a deal to send him to the Scottish Premiership outfit.
However, they do face competition from England, with Ipswich also linked with the player – his experience in the second tier could prove invaluable to the newly-promoted Tractor Boys.
Now, according to the 24-year-old himself via the Daily Record, he has spoken out about his current situation and future. He hasn't spoken of any interest in his signature and has instead insisted he is only thinking about things on a "day-to-day" basis. He has, of course, been taken on Arsenal's pre-season tour in his homeland. That means he is currently "focused" on that – so any potential deal for the ace may have to wait until he is home and able to think about a potential deal.
"My mindset has been here since the beginning. So I'm not focused on anything else. I'm focused on day by day. You can ask anybody how I approach things. my mindset has always been focused on day by day. You never can control the future but I'm focusing on myself."
Rangers then could have to play the waiting game over Trusty. The central defender will likely showcase his stuff for the Gunners over the summer, and then his future could be decided upon his return to England.
If the Gers did manage to sign the 24-year-old though, it could be a shrewd move. He's proven to be a reliable option at a decent level in the Championship and was a regular in the MLS to boot. His age and his current skillset means he has all the capabilities of being a very solid part of the Scottish side's backline if they sign him this transfer window.