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Root won't get his nickers in a twist despite pre-Ashes jibes

by h79snht.top Uncategorized

England’s senior batter prepares to return to ODI action, but talk of his technique for Australia’s pitches dominates

Cameron Ponsonby25-Oct-2025

Joe Root begins a seminal winter with a strong run of form under his belt•Alex Davidson/Getty Images

Little known fact. Joe Root has never made a hundred in Australia.It will be the sub-genre of the summer. A much anticipated Ashes series, in which one of the greats of the game has the chance to complete a caveat-free career. An away win, and a full set of centuries in every Test-hosting nation he has played. Except for Bangladesh and the UAE. They don’t rate him in Dhaka.Matthew Hayden confidently made the claim that if Root didn’t end the Aussie summer with a Test ton, he’d strip nude to run around the MCG. But others aren’t so sure.”Wrists limper than a French handshake,” former Aussie legspinner and broadcaster Kerry O’Keeffe said on Fox Sports. “It doesn’t work in Australia.””The first two Tests are huge for Joe Root. They’re nickers’ Tests. Perth? They nick for fun there. And Brisbane day-night? Everyone nicks in Bris.”Joe Root is a nicker. When he was last here, in his first eight innings he nicked off. Australia knows this. What will be his defensive set-up? I’m very bearish about Joe Root.”O’Keeffe’s argument is that Root previously chose to stay inside the ball, as he was of the belief they wouldn’t target him with the offcutter, only for a different weakness to appear, that meant he was playing away from his body.It is a rare technical examination of a player who has averaged 58.00 since Brendon McCullum took over, but a prescient one given Australia’s recent tendency to produce pitches that favour their seam bowlers. Since the start of the 2021-22 Ashes, top-seven batters in Australia have averaged 30.22 per dismissal, compared to 38.14 in the four-year cycle before that. By contrast, England’s pitches have gone the other way. The average in the four years before McCullum’s appointment was 30.90; it has since been 38.94.”England play pretty well on the flatter wickets, the way they play,” Steve Smith said recently. “So, if there’s a bit in it like there has been the last three or four years, with our bowling attack, it certainly makes things a lot more difficult for their batters.”Nevertheless, Root sees no need to tamper with his technique. Arriving in New Zealand ahead of England’s three-match ODI series, it will be the final three hits he has before lining up against Australia in Perth.”A lot of that prep’s already started back home,” Root said, explaining how he’s balancing his preparation for an ODI series today with the carrot of the Ashes starting tomorrow.”I think how I’d prepare now is different to how I would have done 10 years ago. A lot more mental. I’ve clearly played against a lot of their guys now. Know how they operate, know what they’re likely to try to bring to the series.”I used to be very technical in how I prepared. I’d want to make sure that everything felt lined up and my feet were in the right place, my head was in the right place, whereas now I’m a little bit more concerned about how I’m looking at the game, how I’m going to approach different situations, whether that be the surface, whether that be different bowler types, different angles, and being able to manage those different angles when they come wide of the crease. Things like that.”Related

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This will be Root’s fourth Ashes tour. His individual record is respectable, averaging 35.68, but not befitting of a player of his own calibre. England’s record across that time, however, is diabolical: 15 matches, 13 defeats, two draws, zero wins.”They’re all different,” Root said of how the build-up to this series has compared to previous tours. “I look at it at this time and I’m in a completely different stage of my career. I’m no longer captain, I’m playing some really good cricket, and so are we. We’re playing in a really exciting way. We’ve got a great group of players that we can go there and hit them with different tools than we’ve had on previous tours, so when you look at it like that, it’s a really exciting prospect.”Clearly, Australia are really good in their own conditions, with a great record at home, especially against us, but that’s the exciting bit right? There’s an opportunity there to do something a bit different and hopefully achieve something really special.”Despite the ODI World Cup being two years away, these three matches against New Zealand are not without complete jeopardy. England are currently ranked eighth in the world after winning only eight of their last 23 fixtures. Failure to automatically qualify for the World Cup remains unlikely, but only if they nip in the bud a continued slide in the format.”I don’t think that’s necessarily anyone’s fault of what happened before,” Root said of the ODI group’s relative stability under Brook and McCullum, compared to previous leadership.”You look at the number of crossovers of Test series and one-dayers, it was physically impossible to get there. There was a one-day series against the Netherlands when we were playing a Test match at Old Trafford. You think how can that happen?”New Zealand themselves haven’t played an ODI since April, but remain ranked third in the world. The weighting of points in the ICC rankings is such that it presents a major opportunity for England to win some matches, and lift themselves away from any potential future problems.”I don’t think it’s arrogant to say you look at the quality that’s within our squad, and we’re not an eighth-in-the-world team,” Root said. “We should be competing and jostling for that top spot.”New Zealand are a very good team and if you try to sleepwalk into it or you’re preoccupied with what’s around the corner, then they’ll hurt us really badly. We want to keep making strides under Brooky after what was a difficult Champions Trophy. This is a great opportunity to build on what we started over the summer.”

Shane Bieber to Return From Elbow Injury, Make Blue Jays Debut Friday

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Two-time All-Star Shane Bieber is set to return to the mound this week.

Bieber, who has not played in over a year since undergoing Tommy John surgery for a torn UCL last April, will make his Blue Jays debut on Friday at Miami, manager John Schneider told reporters. Bieber has recently completed seven starts as part of his rehab assignment, posting a 1.89 ERA and 37 strikeouts across 29 innings.

Bieber was traded to Toronto in July at the deadline after previously spending his entire career with Cleveland, and will begin pitching for a Blue Jays' team that is second in wins and fourth in strikeouts, but just 23rd in ERA. He joins the rotation a little over a month before the end of the regular season, as the Blue Jays lead the American League East with a 73-52 record.

The 30-year-old pitcher has been one of the best starters in the league when healthy. In the COVID-19 shortened 2020 season, his best campaign, Bieber went 8-1 with a league-leading 1.63 ERA and 122 strikeouts and won the triple crown and Cy Young award. When he last saw significant playing time in 2023, he went 6-6 with a 3.80 ERA.

Record-breaking Root arms England with control of Manchester Test

by n8rngtd.top Uncategorized

Root’s 150, Pope and Stokes’ fifties leave India playing catch-up

Vithushan Ehantharajah25-Jul-20254:14

Manjrekar: ‘Serious chance’ for Root to break Tendulkar’s record

This is the way Joe Root would have wanted to ascend to No. 2 on the Test run-scoring charts. With an immaculate 150, his 38th century, which did not just certify England’s command of this fourth Test – and, thus, the series – but took it out of India’s reach. They closed day three on 544 for 7, leading by 186 on a deteriorating surface. An innings victory for an insurmountable 3-1 lead in the series is not out of the question.At Old Trafford, a sellout crowd hung on every tuck, flick, dab and drive as England’s greatest batter confirmed, statistically, he was the second greatest of all time. Illuminated by Manchester’s generous Friday sun, Root moved past the greats Rahul Dravid, Jacques Kallis and Ricky Ponting to sidle up next to Sachin Tendulkar. And though Tendulkar still commands an imposing lead at the summit, England’s own little master is coming for him.It will take time. Certainly longer than it took to knock off three legends in one go. Upon moving to 31, Root snuck past Dravid (13,288) and Jacques Kallis (13,289), bumping the latter off the podium to join Tendulkar and Ponting. And, four minutes before the end of the second session, he walked down to open the face for a single down to third to move to 120, knocking Ponting (13,378) down a peg. The legendary Australian sung Root’s praises on Sky Sports upon being usurped.

Root did little more than raise a thumb to his skipper, Ben Stokes, with whom he shared a 142-run stand before Stokes was forced to retire hurt for the first time in his Test career, on 66.It was here at Old Trafford that Stokes was carried off during the Hundred, suffering the first of two hamstring tears in six months. This, though, was just cramp in his left leg, shaken off 13.1 overs later to return to see out the day. Stokes wanted to embrace Root when he moved to 13,379 runs, as they had done for the century, after Root tickled his 178th delivery around the corner for his 12th boundary. Instead, turned down by the thumb, he applauded from his end.Root’s hundred, by the way, was also noteworthy on the all-time charts, going level-fourth with Kumar Sangakkara on 38. It was also Root’s 12th century against India, the most by any player, now ahead of Steven Smith. And as if that was not enough, he became the first player to reach a 1000 Test runs at this venue.Root would make it to 150, his 16th time to that score – another one over Ponting – before being stumped off Ravindra Jadeja. It was the third of four dismissals affected by Dhruv Jurel, the stand-in wicketkeeper in Rishabh Pant’s absence, and the only man on the field in Indian whites who could claim to have had a decent day.Joe Root and Ollie Pope looked immovable in the morning session•Getty Images

Much of that was on Root, who had taken England to a 141-run lead by the time he had finished, more than flipping the deficit of 133 that existed on Friday morning. Both he and Ollie Pope ticked through a wicketless first session, with Pope registering his 25th 50-plus score before Root punched the card for his 104th from 99 deliveries.Their stand of 144 was their sixth century partnership, putting them ahead of any other pairing under Stokes’ tenure. They ran brilliantly throughout, toying with the outfield, with just one moment of real alarm when Root was on 22.With Root reeling from a Mohammed Siraj delivery that leapt off a length, Pope charged down while calling his partner through, forcing Root to head to the bowler’s end. Jadeja’s throw from point was off target, but both he and Siraj were furious that neither mid-off nor mid-on had taken the initiative to come up to the stumps. The single brought up the fifty-run stand for the third wicket.Pope might have also been dismissed before his final score of 71, though his edge on 48 off Anshul Kamboj was as tough a chance as they come for Jurel, standing up to the stumps to keep the batter in his crease. Just when it looked like he might register two hundreds in a series for the first time after bagging one at Headingley, he edged his first ball after lunch through to KL Rahul at first slip. A repeat of his error at Lord’s, when a patient first-innings 44 was given away with the first ball after tea.Washington Sundar picked up two quick wickets after being introduced late•Getty Images

Washington Sundar was the man with the breakthrough – the first of the day – and he followed it up four overs later with Harry Brook for 3. A hint of drift forced the right-hander into a defensive block that ended up on the wrong line. Jurel had the bails off in a flash and Brook was stumped for the first time in Test cricket.It was peculiar that India captain Shubman Gill had not turned to his offspinner earlier than the 69th over of the innings, which came 22 into the morning session. Washington’s 4 for 22 in the third Test had given them a short in the arm. The energy in the field upon his double strike here felt too little too late.Jolted but only trailing by nine, England did not look back. Stokes walked out to join Root and, five wickets already in his back pocket from India’s first innings, looked at ease before cramp set in.A relatively subdued half-century – just three boundaries, taking 97 deliveries, and his first since last November – took him to an exclusive club of his own. He is now one of three England captains to notch a five-for alongside at least a fifty in a Test.It was during the 108th over, reverse-sweeping Washington that Stokes started to feel discomfort in his left calf. Seven overs later, his running had become so laboured that England physiotherapist Ben Davies came out to investigate. Stokes would last just one more over before deciding to momentarily call it quits, limping off and up the stairs to the home dressing room, as Jamie Smith replaced him.Jasprit Bumrah took his first wicket of the Test in his 24th over•Getty Images

Naturally, there were fears of something serious, as Stokes’ previous issues of a dodgy left knee and two right hamstring tears came to the forefront of people’s minds. And the fact that his 129 overs so far are the most he has bowled in a single series.But shortly after 6pm, after Smith had become Jasprit Bumrah’s first wicket of the innings and 50th in England, and Chris Woakes had been bowled by one that kept low from Siraj, out walked Stokes. The ovation was akin to a hero’s return, joining Liam Dawson, who was batting in Tests for the first time since 2017. Stokes rests on 77, his highest score in ten innings.Both lasted through to stumps, even though Bumrah and Siraj tried to unsettle them late in the day with some short stuff. India’s premier quicks looked spent as they walked off, themselves struggling with injuries throughout the day.Bumrah only managed one over with the second new ball – taken in the 91st over – before leaving the field. Siraj then limped off before tea and showed his typical guts to return late in the day and take the last of the five wickets India managed in 89 overs. Bumrah had rolled his ankle going down the stairs while Siraj rolled his foot in one of the footholes, India’s bowling coach Morne Morkel would reveal later.Saturday is set to bring more toil, and not even the forecasted rain will be long enough to spare them in a meaningful way. While this day will go down as one when Root ascended the second step of Test cricket’s podium, it was also the day this series was taken out of India’s control.

Torcedores do Corinthians se revoltam com derrota para o Botafogo e criticam António Oliveira: 'time mal treinado'

by h79snht.top Uncategorized

MatériaMais Notícias

A derrota do Corinthians para o Botafogo na noite deste sábado (1º) por 1 a 0, na Neo Química Arena, pela sétima rodada do Brasileirão, jogou o Timão para a zona de rebaixamento. Torcedores se mostraram revoltados com o resultado da partida e também com o desempenho que o Timão tem no campeonato, e não pouparam críticas ao técnico António Oliveira. Confira algumas reações nas redes.

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Rahul rides his overdue luck to set India up with statement century

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Rahul has not been among the luckiest batters in recent years, but when he got a life on Monday at Headingley, he cashed in and made it count

Sidharth Monga23-Jun-20251:18

The curious case of KL Rahul

A total of 335 batters have had reprieves in Test cricket since 2020, which is when ESPNcricinfo started maintaining a log for such things. Ben Stokes has been missed 31 times, Marnus Labuschagne 26, and Rishabh Pant 24. This is catches and stumpings put together, of all kinds: regulation, tough, half-chances.When Harry Brook dropped KL Rahul on 59 in the second innings at Headingley – a return gift of sorts after having been missed twice himself, though not by Rahul – it was only the seventh time in 23 Tests since 2020 that Rahul had been given a life. Arguably, nobody deserved a chance more than Rahul.Bear with this repetition for a second. In terms of skill, Rahul has been the second-best India batter of the Virat Kohli era, but it is inexplicable that he had averaged 33.57 coming into this Test, his 59th. Even allowing for the notably bowler-friendly conditions that have prevailed in recent years, particularly since the WTC came into being in 2019, it is a bit underwhelming. The overall batting average for the top six in the Tests he had played was 33.88. A player of great innings, yes – seven of his eight hundreds came away from home – but a pretty average player overall.Related

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Rahul on the Headingley surface: 'Like a subcontinent wicket on day five'

Rahul has indeed failed to fill his boots at times – including in the first innings here – but he is not the luckiest batter going around either. And that is not insignificant. Forty-seven batters have offered 30 or more catches since 2020, and 24 of them have had a lower percentage of catches held than Rahul. The luckiest batters happen to be Pant, Labuschagne and Stokes. Rahul was being dismissed every 11.67 mistakes, leaving 22 luckier batters than him out of 57 that have been dismissed by a bowler 30 or more times.Of course, you’ll never hear players complaining about a lack of luck, even though they know the role that it plays, especially in Test batting. They won’t say it because they don’t want to stop improving, they don’t want to stop repeating their processes.Rahul, filthy with himself for throwing it away on 42 in the first innings, pulled himself up and repeated his processes all right. Actually, what Rahul did in the first innings also was part of a process. Through that breezy first-innings knock, he played more cover drives than he usually does outside Asia and the Caribbean. It seemed to be a plan: being slightly proactive denied England the freedom to keep bowling a good length. The ball that got him was full enough for the drive. What hurt him more was that he had done the hard work, then failed to convert the start into a big one.In the second innings, when the bounce became a bit more uneven, he went to stumps on day three unbeaten with 95% control and 47 off 75. He had put out all the best hits in that evening session. A back-foot punch off Chris Woakes in front of point, three gorgeous cover drives, one square drive on one knee, an on-drive and a pull off Shoaib Bashir.On the fourth morning, the uneven bounce and nip off the surface increased. India lost Shubman Gill in the first full over. Pant tried to counter the movement and the new ball in his own idiosyncratic manner. Rahul, at the other end, was a proper, classic Test batter. In the first hour he scored just 7 off 44 balls, with a control rate of 89%.3:12

Rahul: ‘I’ve forgotten what my batting position actually is’

When it got difficult, Rahul trusted his method and processes to take him past the new ball. Or, in the event he didn’t succeed, at least his efforts would give the incoming batters an older, softer ball. He also just about managed to nudge Pant when he tried one slog too many. Not everyone has the tact to speak to Pant. He famously got upset with Cheteshwar Pujara for asking him to be watchful in Sydney 2020-21 in the last over before the new ball. He still tried to hit a six to get to his hundred before the new ball, but maintained that the doubt planted in his mind caused the mis-hit for him to be caught on 97.Rahul managed to get through to Pant. He spoke three languages: Tamil with B Sai Sudharsan, Hindi with Pant, Kannada with friend and fellow Bangalorean Karun Nair. The real language he spoke was that of proper Test batting, playing the ball on its merit because he has the ability to do so. He shifted gears seamlessly as the ball got older. When he was scoring the first 47 off 75 or the next 7 off 44 or the next 46 off 83 or 37 off the 44 after reaching his hundred, you couldn’t look and tell he was doing anything out of character. Every tempo seemed natural to him, in his own bubble, almost a meditative state.In the last five tours outside Asia and the Caribbean, Rahul now has had superb starts: 84 and 129 in the first two Tests in England in 2021, 123 in the first Test in South Africa later that year, 101 in Centurion in the same fixture in South Africa two years later, 26 and 77 late last year in Perth, and now this century in the most difficult conditions in this Test so far. However, incredibly, he doesn’t have a single blockbuster series. The highest he has ever aggregated in a series is 393.Rahul acknowledged how disappointed he was that, despite batting well in Australia on the last tour, he didn’t have that defining series. He also said he knows that effort, preparation, skill and application don’t always translate into results in this game. That, if you let the outcomes play on your mind, you will be paralysed playing this game. How sweet it will be, though, if he can use this rare stroke of luck and finally go on to chalk up that big 500-run series.

Presidente do Flamengo provoca Palmeiras antes de duelo: 'Com a gente querem jogar no sintético'

by h79snht.top Uncategorized

MatériaMais Notícias

Presidente do Flamengo, Rodolfo Landim provocou o Palmeiras antes do duelo de domingo (21), pela terceira rodada do Brasileirão. Durante evento das embaixadas rubro-negras no Museu da Gávea, o digirente defendeu declarações de Tite sobre priorizar campeonatos e citou derrota do Alviverde para o Internacional em Barueri, lembrando que contra o Rubro-Negro o mando será no Allianz Parque. A declaração foi divulgada em vídeo no canal “Paparazzo Rubro-Negro”.

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➡️ Jogo pegado! Com R$100 no Lance! Betting, você ganha R$322 se Palmeiras x Flamengo terminar empatado pelo Brasileirão!

– Vamos ter que subir para 4 mil metros de altitude para jogar na Bolívia três dias depois. Então, cara, você tem que fazer escolhas e tem que ir usando o teu plantel, ir administrando o plantel. No fundo, o que eu acho que o Tite quis dizer ali, e que para mim é óbvio, é que nós vamos ter que administrar, vamos dizer assim, a escalação dos jogadores de acordo com os campeonatos. E tentando priorizar alguma coisa – comentou o presidente do Flamengo.

– Então é o seguinte: vou ter um jogo aqui, esse jogo não é tão ruim, não é tão difícil, mas o próximo já é num gramado duro. Será que compensa eu botar ele para jogar aqui ou resguardar um pouco mais para botar contra o Palmeiras, na casa do Palmeiras, num gramado sintético? Porque o Palmeiras jogou ontem (quarta) e perdeu, mas perdeu em Barueri, não perdeu no gramado sintético. Com a gente eles vão querer jogar lá no gramado sintético, né? (Risos) A gente sabe que tem uma desvantagem – completou Landim.

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Para enfrentar o Flamengo no Allianz Parque, o Palmeiras irá abrir mão de um setor na arquibancada, que será utilizado para o show do grupo “Soweto”, na véspera da partida. Na quarta-feira (17), o Verdão foi derrotado pelo Internacional por 1 a 0, na Arena Barueri.

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Mets Fans Will Love Pete Alonso’s Reason for Turning Down Home Run Derby Invite

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

The New York Mets have not been playing their best baseball as of late, but they're in the heat of the NL East race as the All-Star break quickly approaches.

First baseman Pete Alonso has been a big part of New York's success this season. The Mets waited until late in the offseason to decide to bring Alonso back, and they're surely happy that they did.

Alonso is hitting .287 with 20 home runs and 73 RBI, and was named to his fifth All-Star team on Sunday. The slugger also was invited to participate in the Home Run Derby during All-Star week in Atlanta for a sixth time, but Alonso declined this year's invitation. He won Home run Derby back in 2019 and '21.

"I just decided not to do it this year," Alonso said Sunday. "I have never really fully enjoyed the three off days, so I just want to be in the best possible position to help this team win in the second half. I'm in a groove with certain things. I definitely will do it again. It doesn't mean no forever."

Alonso is the latest player to decline an invitation. Philadelphia Phillies slugger Kyle Schwarber, Los Angeles Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani, and New York Yankees MVP candidate Aaron Judge also turned down the opportunity to participate in the event.

So far, the only known participants for the July 14 Home Run Derby are Seattle Mariners catcher and MLB home run leader Cal Raleigh, Washington Nationals star James Wood and Atlanta Braves outfielder Ronald Acuna Jr.

Hot Stove Takes: Dodgers Flex Their Muscles by Signing Edwin Díaz

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

The rich got richer Tuesday morning when the Dodgers signed Edwin Díaz, the top reliever on the market, to a three-year, $69 million contract. Díaz had opted out of the final two years of his contract with the Mets last month, and though New York reportedly offered him a three-year, $66 million deal to retain his services, Díaz elected to join the two-time defending World Series champions.

Dodgers Swiping Edwin Díaz Fixes Their Biggest Issue

Tom Verducci: Money doesn’t buy championships, but it sure helps to get out from mistakes. After dropping $72 million on closer Tanner Scott in January, a move that has yet to pay dividends, the Dodgers pivoted to the best closer in baseball, Edwin Díaz, at $69 million. Scott, who signed for four years with deferred money, posted a 4.74 ERA and missed the final three postseason rounds on the IL.

Last offseason, the Dodgers dropped $107 million on free agents Scott, Blake Treinen and Kirby Yates, but wound up scrambling to convert Roki Sasaki to closer for the postseason. The Dodgers clinched the past two World Series with a starter coming out of the bullpen: Walker Buehler and Yoshinobu Yamamoto. The addition of Díaz ends those days of scrambling to figure out an endgame.

Díaz opted out of two years and $38 million remaining on his five-year, $102-million record contract with the Mets. The Dodgers added one year and $31 million to what he had left on the table, setting a new standard for closers at $23 million per year.

Díaz turns 32 in March and is building a Hall of Fame résumé: 253 saves, three All-Star teams, a strikeout rate of 14.5 per nine innings and remarkable consistency.

Edwin Díaz’s Refusal of Mets’ Offer Should Sting New York

Will Laws: The Mets offered Edwin Díaz a three-year, $66 million contract, according to the ’s Joel Sherman. That’s just $1 million less per year than what the accomplished closer signed for with the Dodgers on Tuesday.

That information certainly paints the picture that Díaz was happy to leave New York for Los Angeles. Considering how early it is in the offseason and Mets owner Steve Cohen’s deep pockets, it’s hard to believe the Mets wouldn’t have matched the Dodgers’ offer.

Three years ago, Díaz re-signed with the Mets on a five-year, $102 million deal—then the richest-ever deal for a reliever. Since then, the Mets have missed the playoffs twice and lost in the NLCS to the Dodgers, who have won the last two World Series.

It’s hard not to take Díaz’s decision as a referendum on how he perceives them as contenders.

Dodgers Once Again Sign the Market’s Top Reliever

Nick Selbe: If at first you don't succeed, spend, spend again. That's apparently the strategy Andrew Friedman & Co. are adopting in addressing their glaring need in the bullpen, signing Díaz to a $69 million deal one winter after giving $72 million to Tanner Scott. Scott was a disappointment in his first year with Los Angeles, leading the league with 10 blown saves and failing to make a single postseason appearance.

The Dodgers will hope Díaz can do what Scott couldn't: make ninth-inning leads a foregone conclusion. The former Met can be erratic year-to-year—he's alternated between ERAs in sub-2.00 range to mid-3.00 or worse over the past eight seasons—but possesses elite swing-and-miss stuff every contender craves in high-leverage situations.

Not many teams would green light spending $141 million for two relief pitchers in consecutive years, but the back-to-back champs aren't like any other organization.

Angels’ Bullpen Acts Fast After Outfielder Suffers Ugly Injury Running Into Wall

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

Taylor Ward is lucky he has attentive teammates.

The Los Angeles Angels outfielder ran headfirst into the left field wall while attempting to chase down a fly ball off the bat of Houston Astros second baseman Ramon Urias in the bottom of the eighth inning. Ward missed the ball, but got a face-ful of the wall and fell to the field in a heap.

He eventually got up and signaled to the Angels' bullpen that he needed help, and the team's relievers responded, rushing out to check on him and provided a towel to soak up the blood running down his face.

Video is below.

That is a scary scene.

The outfield at Daikin Park can be difficult to navigate due to its intricate angles.

Ward left the game and was replaced in left field by Luis Rengifo, who moved from second base, with Christian Moore taking over that spot.

Despite Ward's absence, the Angels won the game 3-0. Hopefully, he winds up being OK.

Max Holden: 'It's flattering but I've got to concentrate on what I'm doing'

by h716a5.icu Uncategorized

In-form Middlesex batter on being in the England selectors’ thoughts and adapting his game to thrive across formats

Vithushan Ehantharajah24-Apr-2025Max Holden is not a voracious consumer of podcasts. Experience has taught the Middlesex batter to ignore outside noise, so naturally those on cricket do not tend to pass his ears.Nevertheless, they would have been burning over the last fortnight after Holden was namechecked in two successive episodes of the Sky Sports Cricket podcast. On merit, of course.An impressive 184 against Lancashire in the opening round of the County Championship – Middlesex were 7 for 3 in their second innings and plenty behind – was highlighted by Rob Key when England men’s managing director was asked who had caught his eye early doors.Related

Max Holden century leads Middlesex fightback

Holden tightens Middlesex grip with latest hundred

Roland-Jones puts Middlesex on the brink of innings victory

Middlesex beat stubborn resistance and rain to land nine-wicket win

The following week, selector Luke Wright used Holden, a former England Under-19 captain, as an example of someone thriving having previously been in “our system”. Three days later, Holden shifted up and down the gears for an impressive 107 against Glamorgan in Middlesex’s first win of their Division Two campaign.”I was actually made aware by one of my friends,” Holden tells ESPNcricinfo of his twin shoutouts. He resisted the urge to seek out the clips.”It is flattering, but yeah…. equally, I’ve just got to concentrate on what I’m doing. I think I’d be foolish to start reading into things too much or spending time worrying about that, rather than the next thing I can influence.”You can understand Holden’s restraint. Barring a brief taste of Lions cricket in the 2018-19 winter, his last real association with international cricket ended at Under-19 level. Neither Key, Wright nor any one else that matters from England have been in touch.The ambition, however, has never been stronger, and the attachment to various iterations of England teams helped by familiar faces. Four of his cohort from the 2016 U19 World Cup – Dan Lawrence, Sam Curran, Saqib Mahmood and Mason Crane – now have Test caps to their names.”It does feel like a really exciting era, and I’ve been watching it as an England fan first and foremost. Having played with and against a lot of these guys, it’s been cool seeing them go in and do well. Having been close to some of them, you know how good they are, and it’s fun watching them transition those skills into the Test arena.

“The last couple of years, [my technique] all the same now. I’ve tried to keep it similar; my head position, bat path, my preparation in the nets. All my scoring areas are still strong, that rhythm is consistent across formats. Even in the winter, going from the ILT20 into pre-season training with Middlesex, I felt ready for the Championship season”

“In some ways, it’s been quite inspirational, to watch how they’ve gone in certain situations. That in certain moments in games, if you have the belief and confidence, you can go about putting across your different individual strengths to play your best cricket.”There’s no envy from Holden towards his peers, and that’s partly down to his own journey. Like most players of his generation, the 27-year old was reared on traditional red-ball fundamentals through the ranks at Middlesex. There were regular comparisons with Alastair Cook, which fit beyond the left-handedness and Gray-Nicolls gear.But it was not long before Holden was engaging in a familiar conflict of his craft as he looked to push on his limited-overs game. Honing watchfulness in one code and destructiveness in the other – despite the crossed streams promoted by Brendon McCullum and Ben Stokes at the top table – remains a quandary for all batters. Despite being one of only four men to register centuries in all three formats for his county, Holden struggled for balance.His 2023 was a microcosm of this: his best in T20 cricket (averaging 30.21 and striking at 177.16, with a 56-ball 121 not out against Kent in the Blast) came alongside one of his worst red-ball returns (19.00 across 23 innings).Things have worked out better since. From the start of the 2024 season, Holden is averaging 53.03 across 27 County Championship innings, with four centuries – more than the three he managed in his previous 141 first-class knocks – all from No. 3. In amongst that was a four-game stint at the business end of the ILT20 for Desert Vipers – head coach Tom Moody recruited him early on in the 2024 English summer – which reaped 230 runs at 76.66, including a top score of 76 in the final against eventual champions Dubai Capitals.So – what twigged?”When I first got into the Middlesex team, a lot of the narrative was around my red-ball stuff and batting for a long time and concentration. Obviously that’s really important to me, and I felt, growing up, that was my strength. But I didn’t want to pigeonhole myself as a red-ball player.”About seven years ago now, I had a long sit-down with coaches and dug into how I could be a good T20 player. I never had the power of guys who could just launch the out of the ground from ball one. So it became about manipulating the field, scoring options then, as I got more confident, which sort of bowlers to go after.Holden was a key component of Desert Vipers’ run to the ILT20 final•ILT20″But then I struggled adapting, switching between the two. I felt I had different techniques. I’d stay still against the white ball, and then move more, with my trigger, against the red ball.”The last couple of years, that’s all the same now. I’ve tried to keep my technique similar; my head position, bat path, my preparation in the nets. All my scoring areas are still strong, that rhythm is consistent across formats. Even in the winter, going from the ILT20 into pre-season training with Middlesex, I felt ready for the season without thinking ‘oh, I’ve got to go back to how I want to play in the Championship now’. It’s been a mixture of technical stuff and, I suppose, growing up and experiencing the ups and downs.Consistency, as ever, is key, especially for a top-order batter who has only just discovered it at No. 3, having occupied every slot from one to eight in his professional career. It remains a constant work in progress, but Holden has help.Middlesex assistant coach Rory Coutts remains a key confidant and eye, having worked with him since the age off 11 in his former role as head of youth cricket development. “He’s someone I’d always go back to if I had a problem or wanted advice. He’s good at spotting little bits in my game like ‘when you bat well, you do this and you’re not quite doing it at the moment’.”Former Australian Test batter Simon Katich, head coach at Manchester Originals, is another who Holden can turn to. A 10-day period with former South Africa lynchpin Neil McKenzie – batting coach at Vipers – was particularly eye-opening.None of the advice has been conflicting, largely down to Holden’s own dissemination. Close to a decade as a professional has grooved a phlegmatic disposition, one that Holden is keen to cultivate as the responsibilty he assumed grows.”I think back to when I was younger – I’d spend the week dwelling on a low score or a bad shot. But given all the experience I have now, you just realise, well, these things happen. It’s part of the game. Just learn from it for next time.Holden has blocked his ears to the noise after a strong start to the season•Getty Images”Don’t get me wrong, immediately after there’s 15 minutes of annoyance of getting out, trying to think if the bowler did me there, or my technique or concentration was off. I’ll digest it in that moment.”I guess a lot of young players are similar. They overthink things or spend evenings at home worrying about it. I don’t want do that. My girlfriend wouldn’t be very happy with me coming home every day worrying about what I’ve done wrong!”This summer, arguably the biggest test of Holden’s newly found clarity will come from within his own dressing-room. Middlesex’s acquisition of Kane Williamson – a tie-up with the MCC ahead of a London Spirit gig as captain – will see the Black Caps legend on deck for the majority of the Blast and at least five Championship matches for the second half of the season. And we all know where he bats.You can file this neatly into the “good problem to have” folder. The club’s promotion chase gets an undoubted boost, and whatever jolt for Holden comes at a time when he has never been more sure of himself as a first-class cricketer. Naturally, he sees no issue – only opportunity.”He can bat wherever he wants!” Holden laughs, when asked if he’ll budge for Williamson. “I’m well aware he’s probably one of the best number threes of all time. So if Middlesex want to slide him in there, he’s more than welcome to it.”If you’ve got someone of his calibre coming in and he wants to bat there, I’m more than happy to adapt and go wherever the guys need me. I’m going to try not to bombard him, but I’m going to learn as much as I can from him.”

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