'Natural leader' Collins nets Bees' winner
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South Wales Guardian
26 minutes ago
- South Wales Guardian
Intensity of India series will help England in Ashes battle
McCullum was honest enough to chalk up the 2-2 scoreline as a 'fair reflection' on seven weeks of hard-fought, demanding cricket, with India snatching a share of the new Anderson-Tendulkar Trophy with a thrilling six-run win in the decider. That meant England were one big hit away from claiming an outright victory that would have sent them to Australia this winter with the biggest scalp of the 'Bazball' era. India win by 6 runs 💔 The Anderson Tendulkar trophy is shared 🤝 A simply incredible finale to an epic series 👏 — England Cricket (@englandcricket) August 4, 2025 Instead, they will travel having last defeated one of their 'big three' rivals back in Sir Alastair Cook's farewell series in 2018. McCullum will soon begin the job of assessing how and where things could have gone better, with the aim of landing in Perth at the start of November with lessons learned. 'It's been a magnificent series, as good as I've been involved with or witnessed in my time. We played some excellent cricket and at times, with the pressure India put us under, we came up a little bit short,' he said. 'You're always learning any time you get to see guys having to dig deep and go to places they've maybe not been before. 'We'll let this one sit and we'll digest it. We'll be able to pick out what has gone well then start to work out how we can keep improving, so when we do arrive out in Australia we give ourselves a huge chance. 'We're in the middle now, halfway through what we knew was going to be an unbelievable 12 months of Test cricket. We know we've got some room to improve. 'But to be involved in a series of such pressure over a period like this teaches you to be tough and builds resilience within you. A lot of our guys will have learnt a lot and that can only be a good thing.' One thing England may reflect on is their decision to keep the emerging talent of Jacob Bethell in camp for the most of the summer, rather than releasing him to play first-class cricket. He has played just one County Championship match for Warwickshire this year, while travelling as a non-playing squad member with the Test team. When he was called on as Ben Stokes' injury replacement, he made 11 runs in two innings and was dismissed in a pressurised chase playing a wild slog. McCullum refused to chide him for that, though. 'Beth will be back and better for the experience, I'm sure he'll learn from it,' he said. 'The good thing was he took the positive option. The thing people want to be seen to be doing is getting out to a ball in an acceptable manner, but sometimes you've got to be brave enough to be able to try and put some pressure back on the opposition. He got out doing it, but no one ever regretted being positive, right?' Bethell's flat performance means Ollie Pope can breathe a little easier about hanging on to his number-three spot in Australia. After starting the international season with successive hundreds – against Zimbabwe at Trent Bridge and India at Headingley – his numbers tailed off. He finished the series averaging 34 and sat a disappointing 10th on the run-scoring charts. 'There were too many 20s and a 40 in there. You always want more as a batter so it's frustrating that I didn't end up scoring more hundreds on some good surfaces,' said Pope. 'That's probably the difference between a really good series and a so-so series. I feel like I'm a much better player now than I was on my first Ashes trip (in 2020/21). 'Mentally, I'm more equipped to deal with the challenges out there and I know how I want to go about building innings out there. 'Before I felt like I was kind of trying to tinker too much during games, in between games, and probably wasn't quite ready for the challenge four years ago.'
The Independent
26 minutes ago
- The Independent
Man United hold firm on Benjamin Sesko stance as Newcastle raise the stakes with new bid
Manchester United believe Benjamin Sesko prefers a move to Old Trafford over St James' Park, but the club are reluctant to get into a bidding war with Newcastle for the RB Leipzig striker. Newcastle submitted a second offer for Sesko on Monday worth €80m plus a further €10m in potential add-ons, in the hope of getting a deal over the line after seeing their first bid rejected. Newcastle want to secure a replacement striker for manager Eddie Howe as Liverpool pursue Alexander Isak, his top goalscorer last season. Manchester United manager Ruben Amorim also wants to bolster his attacking line, with Rasmus Hojlund 's future uncertain. But there has so far been no offer from Old Trafford as they resist the temptation to battle with Newcastle and potentially inflate Sesko's already hefty price. The Slovenia international, 22, has long been on the club's radar and is also a target of Newcastle, who missed out on Frankfurt's Hugo Ekitike to Liverpool and have an unsettled star in Isak. Amorim's side had looked at Liam Delap earlier in the summer, only for the Ipswich striker to favour a move to Chelsea. They are still considering Aston Villa striker Ollie Watkins as an alternative if Newcastle win the battle for Sesko. The Red Devils are returning from the United States after taking part in the Premier League Summer Series, having so far made two key summer acquisitions. Matheus Cunha joined from Wolves in a £62.5m deal last month, with Bryan Mbeumo last week following in a move that could cost up to £71m after protracted negotiations with Brentford. Marcus Rashford has joined Barcelona on a season-long loan with a view to a permanent switch. The club are still trying to shift Antony, Jadon Sancho, Alejandro Garnacho, Tyrell Malacia.
BBC News
27 minutes ago
- BBC News
'Early days and a long way to go' but positive signs for United
It's been a whirlwind start to the season and I'll take it!A win in Europe? Tick. Strikers scoring goals? Tick. An end-to-end season opener? Tick. A depleted squad grinding out results? Big still a lot to be ironed out. The draw at Falkirk was entertaining but two leads thrown away is a frustration but if that's what we can produce with a patched-up squad that got off a plane the day before, then there's reason to be Sapsford looks like a find (he'll be a pest), Pan Camara could run for days, and the back three are aggressive, composed and giants! What we're clearly missing is another striker, a proper number ten and a wee bit of luck on the injury Goodwin seems to be staying calm in the chaos despite how many men are fighting over that treatment table!Another busy week for United, for the players and fans. They fly out to Vienna on Wednesday ahead of Thursday's first leg vs Rapid before back to Tannadice on Sunday on league business. Then another night under the nights before Killie away in the days and a long way to go, but a decent start so Costello can be found at the Dode Fox Podcast, external
