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Head coach backs England to adjust to new, hectic normal

Valkerie Baynes27-Sep-2021England Women will have to get used to playing more cricket after their busiest summer in memory and with a high-stakes winter ahead, Lisa Keightley, their head coach, says.A season in which they won a multi-format series with India by 10 points to six, peeled away to play for their Hundred franchises and then returned to beat New Zealand 2-1 and 4-1 in T20I and ODI series respectively has left England with plenty to ponder ahead of next year’s Ashes and World Cup, but also exhausted.”The girls need a break,” Keightley said. “We’ve had two international series with the Hundred in the middle, where the players are probably used to going from an international series back into domestic cricket, and then we’ve got the back end [against New Zealand].”With the Hundred, they’re on telly all the time… you’ve got to perform and games come really quickly, and then you roll straight over and into an international series. That’s new for the players and they’re not used to it.”We got through it, but I think at times players struggled with a bit of mental fatigue. They’ve got to get used to it because it’s only going to be like that moving forward.”Related

• Lisa Keightley joins WBBL side Sydney Thunder as head coach

• England players' body did not play a part in Pakistan tour abandonment

• England withdraw from October tours to Pakistan

• Rotation could come into play for England's ODIs – Heather Knight

• Tammy Beaumont ton sets up 203-run win, 4-1 series triumph

The comments come a week after the ECB cited welfare issues for pulling out of their tours of Pakistan, scheduled for next month, even though captain Heather Knight said at the time that the decision was taken out of players’ hands.”We’ve loved having more cricket, even though the players at times get really tired,” Keightley said. “That will improve the more we get used to playing this much.”The Hundred is going to move cricket in England forward really quickly and players are going to stand out through that, put their hand up for selection in the England squad and teams.”Tammy Beaumont, who scored a century to set up England’s 203-run victory in the final ODI at Canterbury on Sunday, admitted she was looking forward to a few weeks off after spending the best part of four months living under strict Covid-prevention protocols.”You’re used to being quite structured and regimented with your cricket training and everything but then you’re normally used to going home and just walking down the road and going into a coffee shop or going out for dinner, seeing your friends,” Beaumont said. “It’s been four months of doing every single protocol.”We’ve not had one Covid case in two years, so we’ve obviously done it well. But I think a few of us are desperate to maybe go on holiday or have some time away and just not think about, ‘where’s my mask, where’s my hand sanitiser, how do I get petrol at the self-service pump?’ and all those things that you take for granted in normal life.”As much as I’m really looking forward to January, and I’m sure we’ll be raring to go in the Ashes, I’m also looking forward to a couple weeks of just being a normal person.”Tammy Beaumont’s century set England up for a thumping victory•Getty Images

Series wins aside, other positives emerged for England out of New Zealand’s tour. They were able to experiment with team balance – testing a seven-batter line-up with a view to putting pressure on Australia during the Ashes, as well as the likes of India, South Africa and New Zealand in the World Cup. They also rotated their seam bowlers and gave international debuts to three players, Charlotte Dean, Maia Bouchier and Emma Lamb.England were pushed in a number of games by New Zealand, however, while the failure of their middle order to fully fire – which was rectified in the final match when the pressure was off – is clearly something to work on.Keightley believes her players struggled to switch from a T20 style of play – they had three matches in the format to end India’s tour then went into the Hundred and opened New Zealand’s visit with three T20s – to the ODI format, which was key to preparations for their World Cup defence in March.”Our transition into 50-over cricket was too slow and we were playing high-risk shots too early in our innings and not hitting down the ground,” Keightley said. “In our middle order at times we lost clusters of wickets which we need to improve on and make sure we can stretch partnerships.”Dean was the pick of the debutants, her off-spin playing an important role in England winning the second and fourth ODIs and she demonstrated that her fielding is world class. All three will be aiming for Ashes selection, but the England A tour of Australia which runs parallel to that series offers further opportunity.”To have three debut, it’s really exciting and shows that we’re trying to grow and expand our squad,” Keightley said. “I’d hope those names are talked about moving forward for that Ashes series.”It will help us that there’s an England A tour as well so we probably don’t have to make a huge amount of decisions too early, we know there’s a number of players that will be going away, but Charlie Dean didn’t do herself any harm.”

Chairman says he wants PCB to be first Asian board to launch a women’s T20 league

Danyal Rasool10-Nov-2021PCB chairman Ramiz Raja hinted at the possibility of organising a women’s Pakistan Super League in the near-future. While he is yet to provide any firm plans around the logistics or timing of the move, Ramiz did say he wanted Pakistan to be the first country in Asia to have a women’s T20 league. Alongside the proposed women’s PSL, Ramiz also spoke of launching an U19 PSL.Ramiz was speaking after ECB CEO Tom Harrison visited Pakistan earlier this week to try and repair relations following the recriminations of England pulling out of a two-match T20I series last month. The ECB agreed to tack those two games onto next year’s five-match T20I series, with Ramiz revealing further plans for deeper engagement were also in the offing.”We talked about [improving the] pathways to professional cricket. In October next year, we’ll launch an U19 PSL. This is very exciting because it’s never happened anywhere else. England will send their U19 players, who we’ll look after. I also have the women’s PSL in my mind. We’ll become the first cricket board in Asia to launch that.”Related

• Bismah Maroof returns as Pakistan captain for Women's ODI World Cup

• Pakistan to procure drop-in pitches to simulate Australian conditions

• Australia to tour Pakistan for full series in March 2022

• WI to tour Pakistan in December for three T20Is and ODIs

• England's withdrawal is a slap to Pakistan's face

This is the first time a PCB chairman has publicly discussed the possibility of a women’s T20 league at any level. England and Australia have had women’s T20 leagues, while The Hundred earlier this summer also had a women’s competition. The only women’s franchise-style competition in Asia right now is the Women’s T20 Challenge that the BCCI has held alongside the IPL play-offs, although it didn’t take place this year.Since taking over as PCB chairman in September, Ramiz was handed a baptism of fire when New Zealand and England withdrew from their tours, severely denting what was billed as the first complete home season Pakistan has had in over a decade. After initially raging at what he called the “Western bloc”, Ramiz has tried to engage boards around the world further to ensure Pakistan hasn’t been set back in terms of playing international cricket at home. The tour of the West Indies in December was officially announced last week, while Australia also confirmed their participation in their first full tour to Pakistan since 1998 next year.

With nine needed off the final over with six wickets in hand, RR seemed to have the edge, only for Mitchell Starc to turn the script around

Shashank Kishore16-Apr-20252:32

Are RR overdoing the left-right combinations?

DC won the Super OverNine runs needed, six wickets in hand – it should have been a routine finish for Rajasthan Royals (RR) against Delhi Capitals (DC) in IPL 2025. But Mitchell Starc flipped the script, delivering five pinpoint yorkers in a sensational final over. Dhruv Jurel couldn’t find two runs off the last ball, and Starc dragged the game into a Super Over.RR imploded in the Super Over, lasting just five balls and losing both Riyan Parag and Yashasvi Jaiswal to run outs. DC chased down the 12-run target in just four deliveries.

Munaf Patel penalised

Munaf Patel, the DC bowling coach, has been fined 25% of his match fee and one demerit point has been added to his record for breaching the IPL code of conduct during the game against RR. The statement by the IPL did not specify the nature of Munaf’s offence. He was, however, spotted arguing with a match official when he was not allowed to send a reserve player into the middle to pass on a message.

With DC needing 5 off 3, Tristan Stubbs pulled Sandeep Sharma for six to seal DC’s fifth win in six games that took them to the top of the points table. Stubbs had earlier contributed a vital unbeaten 18-ball 34 in regulation time to help DC score 42 off the last three overs.The Stubbs showThe 200-run mark had been breached on each of the last eight T20s by the side batting first at Arun Jaitley Stadium. DC didn’t look like getting anywhere close, until Stubbs joined hands with Axar Patel, who also injected momentum with his takedown of Wanindu Hasaranga to make 34 off 14.RR also didn’t finish well. Sandeep, who had figures of 3-0-14-0, bowled four wides and a no-ball in what proved to be a 11-ball over that ended with Maheesh Theekshana dropping a sitter, the over costing 19.There was also a reprieve for Stubbs on 12 when Parag put down a regulation chance at long-on. And he hurt them with some important runs at the death – all contributing to RR chasing a bigger total than they would have.While Stubbs’ runs were crucial, a gun throw running around from wide long-on to restrict the penultimate delivery to a single in regulation time – with RR needing 3 off 2 – was invaluable.1:42

Pujara: Rahul needs to go hard even after the powerplay

The drop that could have proved costlyIt could have so easily turned pear-shaped for Stubbs before that blockbuster finish. Nitish Rana was reprieved on 20 when Stubbs palmed the ball over the long-on boundary to deny Axar a wicket.Rana’s wicket would have been the perfect double-strike for DC, who only five balls earlier had dismissed Jaiswal when Kuldeep Yadav lulled him in flight and had him drag one to long-on.Rana kicked on to make 31 more off 12 deliveries to take pressure off RR going into the last three overs from a slightly precarious 73 off 36, with the ball gripping. It needed a gun inswinging yorker from Starc in his third over to dismiss Rana, with RR needing 28 off 14. Shimron Hetmyer and Jurel then needed 9 off the final over, but couldn’t manage a single boundary as Starc nailed his yorkers.Starc’s ragged start and Samson’s injuryBefore the finish, Starc had a nightmarish start when Jaiswal hit him for a sequence of 4, 6, 4 in his first over. Jaiswal chewed into Starc’s full-length deliveries, clearing the front leg and moving them with brute force over the infield towards the short leg-side fence. When he bowled short and into the body, Jaiswal got inside the line and pulled him imperiously over deep backward square.1:38

Bishop: We saw the best of Starc tonight

Jaiswal’s early impetus also seemed to have an effect on Sanju Samson, who found his hitting range until a suspected side issue forced him to retire hurt with RR 61 without loss in 5.3 overs. The two balls leading into him retiring out were picked for a four and a six. But it was only when he reached out to cut Vipraj Nigam, that he pulled up and went off straightaway.Porel, Rahul lead DC’s fightDC lost Jake Fraser-McGurk and Karun Nair early. Fraser-McGurk holed out to mid-off, and Nair, fresh off an IPL high score in his comeback game, was run out for a three-ball duck after being roughed up by two Jofra Archer short balls. Before that, Abishek Porel picked 23 off the second over, by Tushar Deshpande, to get going.Rahul was cautious to begin with, the slowness of the surface making it tough for stroke making. At one stage, he was on 17 off 18 but couldn’t quite push on – eventually falling for a 32-ball 38 when he pulled Archer to deep midwicket.Porel, too, struggled to bring out the big hits after his turbocharge, eventually falling for 49. Fortunately for DC, Axar injected momentum that Stubbs carried forward to give them a total to bowl at, which they defended in the end courtesy Starc’s mastery.

Najmul Hossain Shanto and Towhid Hridoy return for seven T20Is against UAE and Pakistan in May-June

Mohammad Isam04-May-2025Wicketkeeper-batter Litton Das has been formally announced as Bangladesh’s T20I captain, while offspinner Mahedi Hasan has been named his deputy for the seven away T20Is against UAE and Pakistan in May-June.Litton replaces Najmul Hossain Shanto in the role after the 26-year-old quit as Bangladesh’s T20I captain earlier this year. Litton had also led Bangladesh in a three-match T20I series in the West Indies last December, with Shanto unavailable due to a hamstring injury. Bangladesh had clean-swept the hosts 3-0.Litton has led Bangladesh in one Test, seven ODIs and four T20Is, but this is the first time that he has been named full-time captain in any format. The 30-year-old was recently ruled out of PSL 2025, where he was part of Karachi Kings, after he sustained a finger injury during training. He has since recovered.Related

• BCB to finalise Pakistan tour based on government directives

• Najmul Hossain Shanto steps down as Bangladesh T20I captain

• Faisalabad returns to calendar for Pakistan vs Bangladesh T20Is

Shanto, meanwhile, is one of five players who have returned to Bangladesh’s T20I squad. Apart from him, the national selectors have also included Towhid Hridoy, Tanvir Islam, Mustafizur Rahman and Shoriful Islam in the 16-member squad. Hridoy had also missed the West Indies series due to an injury, while Mustafizur was attending to a personal issue at the time.There was, however, no place for Afif Hossain, Mehidy Hasan Miraz, Ripon Mondol and Taskin Ahmed. Taskin is recovering from an ankle injury, while Mehidy’s exclusion is mildly surprising given he has been part of Bangladesh’s leadership group in recent months.Bangladesh will first play two T20Is against UAE in Sharjah on May 17 and 19. They will then leave for Pakistan to play a five-match T20I series, which begins on May 25. The series will conclude on June 3.

Bangladesh squad for T20Is in UAE and Pakistan

Litton Das (capt), Tanzid Hasan, Parvez Hossain, Soumya Sarkar, Najmul Hossain Shanto, Towhid Hridoy, Shamim Hossain, Jaker Ali, Rishad Hossain, Mahedi Hasan (vice-capt), Tanvir Islam, Mustafizur Rahman, Hasan Mahmud, Tanzim Hasan Sakib, Nahid Rana and Shoriful Islam

Test retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli are ‘big holes to fill’, says chairman of selectors

Vishal Dikshit24-May-20252:18

Rohit, Kohli retirements ‘chance for others to step up’

A combined 190 matches together, over 13,500 runs, 42 hundreds in the format, and a collective captaincy experience of 92 Tests. The recent Test retirements of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are “big holes to fill” but when players make decisions to leave the game, even if before a high-profile five-Test tour of England, you have to “respect” them and move on, according to chair of India men’s selection panel, Ajit Agarkar.While announcing India’s 18-member squad that will be led by new captain Shubman Gill, Agarkar revealed that it was Kohli who had reached out to the selectors in the early stages of IPL 2025 to inform them about leaving Test cricket.Related

• Sai Sudharsan: Feels 'surreal' to be part of India's Test squad

• Shubman Gill unveiled as India's new Test captain, Pant his deputy

• Sai Sudharsan, Arshdeep and Karun Nair in India's Test squad for England tour

• Agarkar: 'Don't think Bumrah will be available for all five Tests'

“Virat reached out early April and said he wants to finish,” Agarkar said. “We’ve seen him give 200% to every ball that he plays, even when he is not batting or he’s in the field. He probably felt that he had given everything that he had and if he can’t keep up to the standards that he set for himself over the years, and how good he has been, and maybe it was time for him. It has come from him. You’ve got to respect that. They have earned that respect, both of them. As all great players are, the one thing there is, they are true to themselves, and he was in that conversation. So you’ve got to respect that. We’ll obviously miss [Kohli], when you’ve got a guy who’s played 123 Test matches, 30 Test hundreds, it’s going to be tough to fill.”The England tour will be India’s first after the Test retirements of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli•Associated Press

Agarkar did not explain how the conversation around Rohit’s retirement, which was announced five days before Kohli’s, had panned out but said that the Test side would undergo a “big transition” as they were also without R Ashwin, who had retired in the middle of the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in Australia in December. The five Tests starting June 20 in England will see India field a fairly inexperienced batting line-up, as Rishabh Pant and KL Rahul are the only batters in the squad who have played Tests in England before. Agarkar, however, stressed that since the retirement decisions had been taken, it was important to look ahead, groom younger players and build a side for the new World Test Championship (WTC) cycle as it will be “someone else’s chance now.””When guys like that retire it’s always going to be big holes to fill,” Agarkar said. “Ashwin retired a few months back as well, so those three guys are stalwarts of our cricket. It’s always difficult. One way of looking at it is an opportunity for someone else. They’ve left a legacy behind.”Needless to say, Rohit has been a leader over the last couple of years since he started leading in the Test matches. It is a new cycle, so it is an opportunity to build something for us as well. That’s why I think we’ve got to show them the respect that they want instead of speculating too many things. It is sometimes a personal call with players and you’ve got to respect that and their performances over the years have shown in the amount of games that they’ve won for India. It is someone else’s chance now but there’s no doubt we’ll miss them. I mean all three of them and [Mohammed] Shami. In Test cricket he’s been incredible. So four guys like that not being part of the squad is going to make it a little bit tougher but it’s an opportunity for other guys.”The 2025 WTC final starting June 11 at Lord’s between Australia and South Africa will be the first such final without India after they were blanked 3-0 at home by New Zealand and then lost 3-1 to Australia at the turn of the year. The tour of England will be India’s first series in the new WTC cycle (2025-27) in which India will host West Indies for two Tests (October) and South Africa for another two (November) this year. With the inclusion of 23-year-old uncapped batter B Sai Sudharsan and the recall of Karun Nair – both on the back of strong domestic performances – for England, India now have the chance to build for the future, although Agarkar said deciding the new No. 4 would be left to the head coach and the captain.”It’s a new WTC cycle so you are looking at all sorts of scenarios for the next two years – what is going to help build a team, leading up to that WTC final,” Agarkar said. “It’s an opportunity for somebody else and that’s our job eventually to pick someone else when someone finishes. These two guys were big players for us in Test cricket and those are going to be big holes to fill.”

RR got off to a strong start in chase thanks to Jaiswal and Suryavanshi but eventually fell to a 10-run loss

Alagappan Muthu18-May-20250:55

Chawla: The way Wadhera paced his innings was most impressive

The break in the IPL witnessed the departure of two huge pillars of Indian Test cricket. It resumed with a 23-year-old and a 14-year-old taking T20 batting to new heights. Yashasvi Jaiswal and Vaibhav Suryavanshi put on a 76-run opening partnership where 74 runs had come in boundaries. But even with that head start, it was heartbreak for Rajasthan Royals (RR) as they lost by 10 runs. Punjab Kings (PBKS) are now up to 17 points. They were assured of a playoffs spot after Gujarat Titans (GT) beat Delhi Capitals (DC) later on Sunday evening.

Wadhera, the unsung hero

PBKS equalled an IPL record for most 200-plus totals in a season (6). They made 219 for 5. That it happened after they lost three wickets in the first 19 balls just added even more sheen to their achievement. The top-scorer Nehal Wadhera (70 off 37) attended a mid-innings interview where he said his captain Shreyas Iyer had told him to keep hitting despite wickets falling and that mentality was the reason why they made the most of beautiful batting conditions in Jaipur.Most of PBKS’ firepower has come from their openers. But on Sunday, both Prabhsimran Singh and Priyansh Arya couldn’t get going. That though allowed Wadhera all the time he needed to come into his own. He is a lovely spin-hitter (strike-rate 156, average 84 this IPL). Two of his best shots came off Wanindu Hasaranga on either side of Iyer’s wicket – one where he picked the googly and hit down the ground for six and the next where he picked the leg break and slog swept it for six.Wadhera could’ve been out on 48 had Hasaranga been able to hold onto a tough caught and bowled chance.Shashank Singh scored quickly and creatively•Getty Images

Shashank Singh nails the finisher role

Tushar Deshpande went into death overs mode in the 15th itself, using yorkers and bouncers of varying pace to save himself. Akash Madhwal, who was having a rough evening, might have thought he’d bought his team some relief when he dismissed Wadhera with four overs still left. Shashank Singh, at the time, was looking scratchy. He could’ve been dismissed for 11 off 10 if Dhruv Jurel had not misjudged where the boundary line was at long-off while trying to take a catch.Shashank made the most of the life he got and became a menace for an RR attack that had plans to deal with him. The wide yorker was a big part of that, but the finisher one-upped them by moving around in his crease, twice scooping off the wide line to find the fine leg boundary and once taking guard almost two feet outside his crease in order to meet the yorkers on the full. Shashank made 59 off 30 balls.

Jaiswal, Suryavanshi, Carnage

Nobody was ready for how the RR innings began. Jaiswal went 4, dot, 4, 4, 6, 4 in the very first over bowled by Arshdeep Singh. Suryavanshi wasn’t lagging behind. From his place deep in his crease, and with the kind of power that doesn’t really tally with his age, he found leverage to hit bowlers looking for his nose and his toes out of the park. RR were 51 for 0 in three overs. Fifty of those runs in fours and sixes. One run off a wide. The first scoring shot that wasn’t a boundary took 26 balls to arrive. On the back of this unreal partnership, RR put up their highest powerplay total (89 for 1) in IPL history.Harpreet Brar picked off both Rajasthan Royals openers•BCCI

Harpreet Brar turns it around

With the ball flying to all parts – and regular captain Shreyas Iyer subbed out to manage a finger injury – PBKS turned to Harpreet Brar (4-0-22-3) to see if pace off the ball would work. It did. Brar bowled one in the powerplay, got the benefit of a spread-out field after that, he still had to deal with a left-handed batter for most of his spell, nothing fazed him. Because he was clear with what he wanted to do. If he went full, he was not going to give RR the chance to get under the ball. He offered no room either. If he went short, he bowled it quick and kept the stumps in play to deny the batter time to swing. Riyan Parag found that out when the speed of his hands was no match for the skid of Brar’s arm ball. RR hit 19 boundaries in the powerplay. Brar came on to control the middle overs and they hit only four boundaries between overs 7 and 14.

The end

RR’s finishers have been under the scanner all season. Shimron Hetmyer has the fifth-lowest strike rate of all batters who have at least 50 runs in the death overs. Jurel has been found out by spin. Here too, he made only 15 off 13 against Brar and Yuzvendra Chahal, but he was able to get on top of the PBKS quicks. He had a season strike rate of 179 against pace coming into this game. He upped it to 211 on Sunday.A tense finish was on the cards, but Arshdeep came back for the 19th over, and nailed his lengths, whether he went yorker, or knuckle-ball into the pitch, and gave away only nine runs. That left RR with 22 runs to get off the last six balls. They managed to do that once in this game. Twice was asking for too much.

The veteran manager has made some great signings over the years – here, Goal runs through the Frenchman's finest recruits

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  NICOLAS ANELKA | From PSG | £500,000 | 1997

  Anelka broke into the Arsenal first team as a teenager after an injury to Ian Wright and ended up being a key part of the Gunners' double win in 1997-98.

  He won the PFA Young Player of the Year Award in his second season as an Arsenal player but the supporters eventually turned on Anelka after his body language became more negative on the pitch amid transfer speculation.

  Anelka joined Real Madrid for £22.3 million in the summer of 1999, after making 90 appearances for Arsenal and scoring 28 goals.

  Wenger hinted that Anelka’s decision to leave north London for Madrid was predominantly a financial one with this great quote: "No matter how much money you earn, you can only eat three meals a day and sleep in one bed."

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  SOL CAMPBELL | Free transfer | 2001

  In one of the most surprising moves English football has ever seen, Sol Campbell’s decision to let his contract at Tottenham expire before joining Arsenal in the summer of 2001 was quite spectacular.

  "[Arsenal vice-chairman] David Dein made me feel protected. He was going to help and promised to be there for me. 'Come to us, he said, and you will be part of our family. We will protect you.'"

  Campbell wanted to play Champions League football and took the brave decision to join Wenger’s side – one which proved to be the right one. An unbeaten season was the highlight of Campbell’s Arsenal career in 2003-04 but his goal in the 2006 Champions League final won’t be forgotten either.

  He even returned to the club for a second stint in 2010 due to injuries to Thomas Vermaelen and William Gallas.

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  CESC FABREGAS | From Barcelona | €1m | 2003

  Fabregas became Arsenal’s youngest-ever first team player when he made his debut in a League Cup tie at home to Rotherham in October 2003.

  The Spaniard went on to become one of the best central midfielders in European football, winning a catalogue of trophies at international level with Spain – including two European Championships and a World Cup.

  "Cesc Fabregas typifies what Arsenal is today,” said Wenger. “It's a mixture of boys who grew up here, and boys who join at the age of 16 from abroad and we develop them as players"

  He was named as successor to William Gallas as Arsenal captain in the 2008-09 season where he led a team built up of mostly young players – Samir Nasri, Theo Walcott and Alex Song to name a few – but there was always the undercurrent of interest from his former club Barcelona which ended up unsettling him.

  After eight years at Arsenal, Fabregas took a salary cut to join his boyhood club Barcelona in 2011 with the transfer fee totalling almost £35m

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  THIERRY HENRY | From Juventus | £10.5m | 1999

  Arguably the best player to have worn the Arsenal shirt, Thierry Henry’s glut of 228 goals turned him into a legend at the club where his greatest moments are still talked about today.

  The Frenchman arrived at the club in 1999 as a skinny winger who couldn’t get a shot on target and left as an accomplished striker who scored every type of goal you could imagine.

  "Thierry Henry could take the ball in the middle of the park and score a goal that no one else in the world could score,” said Wenger.

  Henry’s eight years at Arsenal coincided with the famous unbeaten season and he left for Barcelona in 2007 with three league titles, three FA Cups, four Golden Boots and five Player of the Year awards to his name.

Trio of stars have been joined by the likes of Harry Kane, Eden Hazard and Kylian Mbappe

Ballon d'Or season is in full swing, and the nominations have been revealed!

It is 10 years since Juventus attacker Cristiano Ronaldo first won the award, marking the start of an unprecedented duopoly between the Portuguese and Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi.

The last winner outside of the superhuman pair is Kaka, the Brazilian playmaker who won the prize in 2007.

Defender Fabio Cannavaro was victorious in 2006, while Ronaldinho, Andriy Shevchenko and Pavel Nedved were successful in 2005, 2004 and 2003 respectively.

The last English winner was Michael Owen in 2001, but Ronaldo and Messi have established a stunning stranglehold, winning five each.

Only Michel Platini, Johann Cruyff and Marco van Basten have won three of the awards, while Germany duo Franz Beckenbauer and Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, Brazil's Ronaldo, Spain's Alfredo Di Stefano and England's Kevin Keegan have won two apiece.

It remains to be seen, however, if Ronaldo or Messi will be successful again this year, after Luka Modric won the FIFA Best Men's Player of the Year award. The winner of this year's Ballon d'Or will be announced in Paris on December 3 by France Football.

Take a look at all 30 of nominees in Goal 's slide list!

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  Sergio Aguero | Manchester City

  The striker enjoyed another strong season with Manchester City, finishing third in the Premier League in goals with 21 and helping to guide the club to a record-breaking title win. He was also part of an Argentina squad that made the round of 16 in the World Cup, scoring twice in Russia.

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  Gareth Bale | Real Madrid

  While perhaps a down season for his standards, Bale still scored 16 times in La Liga last season in just 26 appearances. And the Wales international played a crucial role in Real Madrid taking home their third straight Champions League crown, with his bicycle kick stunner in the final in Kiev that proved to be the winner over Liverpool. 

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  Alisson Becker | Liverpool

  Alisson entered last season as the No.1 for Roma for the first time and quickly proved worthy of the mantle. His strong play in goal helped lead the Serie A club to a surprise semi-final run in the Champions League, where they were knocked out by his future club, Liverpool. Starting for Brazil in a trip to the quarter-finals of the World Cup followed, with a then-record breaking transfer to Anfield his reward. 

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  Karim Benzema | Real Madrid

  Benzema's La Liga campaign with Real Madrid was forgettable – he scored just five goals – but the club may not have won their third straight Champions League title without him. He scored five goals in nine games, including the opener in the final when he blocked an ill-advised Loris Karius pass into the net for a 1-0 Madrid lead. 

The 21-year-old was discarded by the Serie A giants – but he has now completed a life-changing Premier League move

Standing at six foot three inches tall and sporting a striking top knot-goatee combination, it's hard to miss Radu Dragusin when he takes to the field. And Premier League attackers are about to get far better acquainted with the 21-year-old.

According to various outlets, including , Tottenham won the race to sign the centre-back from Genoa for a fee that could reach the €30 million (£25.8m/$32.8m) mark. The deal has seen outcast Djed Spence head in the other direction on loan, a sweetener that no doubt helped the club beat off Bayern Munich's late attempts to hijack the transfer. Spurs officially announced Dragusin's signing on Thursday.

It's another early sign of intent – after the arrival of Timo Werner – from the north London club, who despite losing key defenders Micky van de Ven and Cristian Romero to injury, have managed to stay in touch with the Premier League top four during the first half of the season.

Dragusin's imminent move also caps off an impressive personal recovery after being discarded by Juventus without ever receiving a proper chance in the first team. Here is what Spurs fans can expect from the Ange Postecoglou footballing revolution's newest convert…

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  Where it all began

  It's little surprise that Dragusin ended up being a professional sportsperson. Both of his parents represented Romania in their chosen field, with his father playing volleyball while his mother earned international honours in basketball.

  Dragusin was not tempted by either of these pursuits, though. After his cousin introduced him to football, he joined local side Sportul Studentesc before moving on to Regal Sport Bucharest, a talent centre with close links to Atletico Madrid.

  Los Rojiblancos failed to use this connection to their advantage, though. Instead it would be Juventus who snapped Dragusin up in 2018. Chelsea and Paris Saint-Germain were interested too, but the Bianconeri acted quickly after he impressed during the second of two trials in Turin, paying €250,000 for Romania's Under-16 captain.

  "My brother called me and told me there's a good young player [in Romania] and I sent him to see with his own eyes," Florin Manea, the agent who brokered Dragusin's move to Italy, told "He confirmed that initial impression by telling me he is a star, so I quickly reported to Juventus.

  "After about an hour, Matteo Tognozzi, Juventus' chief scout, called me to say that Radu impressed everyone. Other teams were interested too, but the Bianconeri really wanted him. He asked me, 'Where can I become a great central defender?' Chelsea wanted him too, but that's why he chose Juventus."

  In Turin, Dragusin gradually moved through the age groups, starting with the Under-17s and eventually being called up to the first-team in November 2020 for a clash against Lazio. He did not make it off the bench on that occasion, but did not have to wait too much longer for his senior debut, coming on in the second half of a comfortable Champions League victory over Dynamo Kyiv the following month.

  As the 2020-21 season progressed, Dragusin continued to impress for the Under-23s and was rewarded with a maiden start in the Coppa Italia, eventually earning a new, four-year contract in the summer. GOAL understands that RB Leipzig tabled a lucrative offer too, but he instead opted to remain at Juventus and fight for his place.

  After this, his career stagnated somewhat. He failed to impress during loan spells at Sampdoria and Salernitana, finding himself at a bit of a crossroads ahead of the 2022-23 campaign.

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  The big break

  Dragusin would end up stepping down to Serie B with Genoa and the loan deal – which included an obligation to buy, with Andrea Cambiasso moving in the other direction – turned out to be exactly what he needed at that stage of his development.

  Impressively, he would miss just 45 minutes of his new side's promotion-winning season, helping them record the second-best defensive record in the division and also chipping in with four goals.

  His stunning club form also led to him nailing down a place in Romania's starting XI. Dragusin played each of his nation's 10 Euro 2024 qualifiers as they surprisingly topped Group I over top seeds Switzerland. Edward Iordanescu's team did so while conceding just five times – with Dragusin absolutely pivotal to this impressive record.

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  How it's going

  Since securing promotion back to the top-flight, Dragusin has helped his team settle back in Serie A. Heading into the winter break, Alberto Gilardino's charges sit 12th, albeit only six points clear of the relegation spots in what is a highly-congested bottom half of the table.

  Dragusin's star has continued to rise in Genoa this season, with the Romanian one of just six Serie A outfield players to not miss a single second of action thus far. He's continued to offer a goal threat too, scoring twice. This included an important equaliser against leaders Inter in his side's final match of 2023.

  Key to his improvement has been his strong relationship with manager Gilardino, who enjoyed a prolific scoring career at the likes of Parma, AC Milan and Fiorentina during his playing days. Speaking before Genoa's narrow Coppa Italia defeat to Roma in 2023, Dragusin said: "Gilardino has given us a lot confidence in our abilities, he told us to play with heart and give everything on the pitch."

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  Biggest strengths

  Dragusin's best attribute is his ability in the air. At the time of writing, only one player has won more aerial duels than him in Serie A this season, and considering that man is six foot, six inch Hellas Verona striker Milan Duric, it's understandable why the 21-year-old doesn't have the top spot.

  Dragusin's heading ability makes him a potent weapon from set-pieces, while his strength would seem to suit him well to the highly-physical Premier League. His love for nitty-gritty defending is also reflected in his clearance numbers, with only two Serie A players completing more thus far during the current campaign.

  Dragusin is a highly adept tackler too. Although he is not a particularly active defender – the fact that he plays in the middle of Genoa's back three means he sits deeper than his two flanking team-mates – when he does have to make a challenge, he almost invariably comes out on top. Of the 232 Serie A players who attempted 15-plus tackles in the first half of the season, none had a better success rate (93.8 percent) than him.

The hosts have preferred to deploy players who were not regularly involved from the group stage to the knockout rounds

Cameroon coach Toni Conceicao has dropped Golden Boot prime candidates Karl Toko Ekambi and Vincent Aboubakar for the Africa Cup of Nations third-place game against Burkina Faso at Ahmadou Ahidjo Stadium in Yaounde on Saturday.

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  Goalkeeper: Andre Onana

  Onana has been handed a chance to book another clean sheet in the tournament for the hosts.

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• Right-back – Olivier Mbaizo

  The Philadelphia Union defender features in the starting XI replacing fan favourite Collins Fai.

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  Centre-back – Jerome Onguene

  Onguene has benefited from the changes made as he replaces Jean-Charles Castelletto.

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  Centre-back – Harold Moukoudi

  Moukoudi will feature in place of Michael Ngadeu-Ngadjui who played from the group stages all through to the semis.