After a disappointingly quiet January transfer window, Arsenal are reportedly already looking ahead to the summer, when they could once again splash the cash. It's no secret that the Gunners have a striker on their wishlist and now it seems as though they could turn to the Bundesliga in an attempt to solve one of Mikel Arteta's biggest problems.
Arsenal transfer news
The biggest name linked with a move to Arsenal during the winter window was Ivan Toney, but Brentford's reported £100m price tag seemingly scared away any potential suitors for the time being. Toney recently returned from a lengthy ban for breaching betting rules and has already found the back of the net, scoring a free-kick in his first game back against Nottingham Forest, before scoring against Tottenham Hotspur in his second game. How he performs in the majority of the campaign could play a part in whether Arsenal return for his signature this summer.
If it is not Toney, however, then those at The Emirates could turn their attention to a rising Bundesliga star. According to Fussball News, Arsenal are eyeing a move to sign Omar Marmoush from Eintracht Frankfurt this summer, alongside Spurs and Newcastle United, in what could be a busy race for his signature this summer.
The Egyptian reportedly does not have a release clause in his current contract, which could make any deal a tougher one to negotiate. The Gunners may well be in the mood to spend, however, given that they failed to splash the cash a single time during the January transfer window. If they miss out on the Premier League title, it could especially be a busy summer in North London.
"Agile" Marmoush is more clinical than Gabriel Jesus
It's no surprise that Marmoush is now reportedly attracting interest from the Premier League after the season he's enjoyed in the Bundesliga so far. The 24-year-old has shown all the signs that he is a player finally reaching his best years and could yet get a major move as a result. Marmoush's stats also show that he's even gone stride for stride with Gabriel Jesus so far this season, particularly out performing the Brazilian when it comes to finishing.
Stats
Omar Marmoush
Gabriel Jesus
Goals
7
4
Assists
3
3
Expected Goals
5.3
5.3
Key Passes
22
23
Successful Take-ons
18
25
It was a rise that former St Pauli manager Timo Schultz will be incredibly proud of, having praised Marmoush during his time at the club, saying via the St Pauli website: "I don’t need to say much about Omar, he’s an extremely agile player who is superb in attacking one-on-ones and has a good finish. I’d have had no objections if he’d rewarded himself with a second goal."
Now, it is Arteta who will hope to benefit from the Egyptian's agility, as Arsenal eye a potential solution to their striker problem after it became clear that Jesus is not the out-and-out goalscorer that the Gunners have been crying out for this season.
Ashantha de Mel, the team manager, has written to the governing body, but says he hasn’t received a reply yet
ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jun-2019Sri Lanka team manager Ashantha de Mel has complained to the ICC about the “unfair” pitches he feels Sri Lanka have had to play their matches on, as well as the less-than-ideal training facilities and accommodation. The ICC has strongly denied the accusation that there has been favouritism.Although their two most-recent matches were washouts in Bristol, Sri Lanka had begun the tournament on two green decks in Cardiff, where they lost to New Zealand and narrowly beat Afghanistan. In the approach to their match against Australia at The Oval – a venue that has seen high-scoring games thus far – de Mel believes Sri Lanka have been saddled with another green track. As seaming conditions will ostensibly aid Australia, de Mel is unhappy.”What we have found out is that for the four matches we have played so far at Cardiff and Bristol, the ICC has prepared a green pitch,” he told . “At the same venues, the other countries have played on pitches are brown and favourable for high scoring.”The pitch being prepared for our match against Australia on Saturday here at The Oval is green. It is not sour grapes that we are complaining. But it is very unfair on the part of the ICC that they prepare one type of wicket for certain teams and another type for others.”There have been other inconveniences too, according to de Mel, which he said he has officially brought to the ICC’s notice.The Sri Lankans haven’t been too thrilled with their training facilities•Getty Images
“Even the practice facilities provided at Cardiff were unsatisfactory. Instead of three nets they gave us only two, and the hotel we were put up at Bristol did not have a swimming pool, which is very essential for every team – for the fast bowlers, especially, to relax their muscles after practice,” he said. “The hotels that Pakistan and Bangladesh were put up at Bristol had swimming pools.”We wrote to the ICC listing all these shortcomings four days ago but so far we have not had any response from them. We will continue to write to them until we get a reply.”The ICC has since provided an official response, pointing out that pitches are overseen by an independent advisor.”We employ an independent pitch advisor to work with the host curators at all ICC events and the ICC Men’s Cricket World Cup 2019 is no different,” an event spokesperson said. “We are happy with the wickets that have been produced across the event so far in English conditions.”As part of the four year planning process to deliver this event, we have liaised with all teams to ensure they are happy with their set up and are available to work with them should any issues arise that have not been previously anticipated. At the heart of our planning is the philosophy that all ten teams are treated equally to enable them to have the best possible preparation for the event.”Although Sri Lanka captain Dimuth Karunaratne would not be drawn into the matter of unsatisfactory hotels and training facilities, he did express disappointment with the green surfaces. Both he and coach Chandika Hathurusingha had already said they would prefer to play on batting-friendly surfaces, and Karunaratne reiterated that on the eve of the match at The Oval.”I have already said that people expect entertainment from ODIs,” Karunaratne said. “They want 100-over games. If you take today’s game – between England and West Indies – it is a flat wicket, it is white in colour. If you take this Oval wicket, it is green. These are the things we weren’t expecting. Every wicket should be white-top. We want fair wickets. That’s all we want.”
وقع البرازيلي روجيريو ميكالي، رسمياً اليوم الأحد عقود تدريب منتخب مصر للشباب مواليد 2005، في الفترة القادمة، استعدادا لأولمبياد لوس أنجلوس 2028.
كما عقد مجلس إدارة الاتحاد المصري لكرة القدم جلسة مع ميكالي، تم الاتفاق خلالها على تفاصيل العمل خلال المرحلة المقبلة.
وحقق ميكالي إنجازا تاريخيا مع منتخب مصر الأولمبي، للتأهل إلى نصف النهائي في أولمبياد باريس 2024.
طالع أيضاً.. مساعد ميكالي السابق: محمد بركات كان يحاربني ويحترمني.. وأشكر الجميع
كما سيتم عقد جلسة خلال أيام بين ميكالي واتحاد الكرة لحسم تشكيل جهازه المعاون.
وعلم بطولات في وقتً سابق، أن الاتحاد المصري لكرة القدم وقع عقدًا مع ميكالي لمدة أربع سنوات، وذلك بعد الحصول على الموافقات اللازمة من وزارة الشباب والرياضة.
Celtic manager Brendan Rodgers decided to allow a number of the fringe players in his squad to leave the club during the January transfer window.
Mikey Johnston and David Turnbull both moved to the English Championship as the former signed for West Bromwich Albion on loan and the latter joined Cardiff City on a permanent deal, whilst Hyeok-kyu Kwon signed for St Mirren on loan.
One of those outcasts has already made a big impact for his new club as Johnston had a full debut to remember for the Baggies in their 2-0 win over Cardiff City in the second tier on Tuesday night.
Mikey Johnston was the "best player on the park"
He had made two appearances for the English side off the bench, against Birmingham and Ipswich, but finally made his full debut against the Bluebirds and quickly got on the scoresheet.
The winger positioned himself perfectly from Tom Fellow's cutback to slot the ball into the back of the net to make it 1-0 inside the opening minute of the match.
It was not just his goal that made his performance impressive, though, as his all-round play led to Sky Sports pundit Courtney Sweetman-Kirk describing him as the "best player on the park" out of the two teams, in a game that included former teammate Turnbull.
Celtic winger Michael Johnston.
Impressively, Johnston completed a whopping 96% of his attempted passes throughout the match, with 25 of his 26 passes finding a teammate.
This shows that the Ireland international, who also made one tackle and one block to help his side out defensively, was extremely reliable in possession and rarely gave the ball away, to go along with his goal to set the tone for the game in their 2-0 win.
No West Brom player has completed more than 89.6% of their passes over the course of the Championship season, which speaks to how impressive Johnston's 96% completion rate was against the Welsh side.
Mikey Johnston's performances for Celtic
His emergence as the Baggies' best player on his full debut for the club, with a fantastic performance, may not be a huge shock to some Celtic supporters as he showed signs of quality during the first of the season in Scotland.
The 24-year-old whiz was a back-up option for Rodgers and, therefore, did not have regular opportunities to showcase his ability in the final third.
23/24 Premiership
Mikey Johnston
Appearances
Nine
Starts
Three
Goals
Two
Big chances created
Two
Sofascore rating
7.11
Stats via Sofascore
As you can see in the table above, the Irish dynamo did produce a fair amount of end product in limited minutes on the pitch for the Scottish giants.
Four goals and big chances created combined in nine appearances, with only three starts, is far from a poor return in the final third for Johnston.
Therefore, it should not be a surprise that he has caught the eye with plenty of minutes on the pitch as a starter for West Brom in England this week.
Hopefully, Johnston will play week-in-week-out for the Baggies and either increase his market value ahead of the summer or do enough to convince Rodgers that he deserves to be in the Hoops squad next season.
Fast bowler remains a doubt for Ashes opener after failing to recover from tear sustained in county match
ESPNcricinfo staff23-Jul-2019
James Anderson takes part in England training•Getty Images
James Anderson has been ruled out of the one-off Test against Ireland at Lord’s, starting tomorrow, and is a significant doubt for England’s Ashes opener at Edgbaston in just over a week’s time, after failing to recover from a torn calf muscle.Anderson has not bowled competitively for almost three weeks, after sustaining a minor tear to his right calf while playing for Lancashire against Durham at Sedburgh on July 2.Although England had been optimistic about his recovery – with the national selector, Ed Smith, even intimating that he might play with a limited workload during the Ireland match – he did not bowl during England’s training session on Monday, and was missing from the official team photo on Tuesday morning.His absence opens the way for Warwickshire’s Olly Stone to make his England debut, despite having played just two first-class matches this summer after sustaining a stress fracture of the back ahead of the tour of the Caribbean in February. Somerset’s Lewis Gregory is also in line for a first Test call-up, as part of a four-prong pace attack also featuring Stuart Broad and Chris Woakes.Longer term, however, the injury is a significant concern for England, with the Ashes looming on August 1. They are already set to start the series without Jofra Archer and Mark Wood, both of whom sustained side strains during England’s victorious World Cup campaign, and the absence of Anderson, their all-time leading Test wicket-taker, would be a major blow.Even though he will be turning 37 on the eve of the Ashes, Anderson remains England’s pre-eminent strike force in English conditions. He claimed 33 wickets in seven Tests in the 2018 home summer, including 24 at 18.12 in England’s 4-1 series win against India, and needs another 25 to become the first fast bowler in history to reach 600 in Tests.He was also England’s outstanding bowler in their most recent Ashes campaign in Australia, claiming 17 wickets at 27.82, including a five-wicket haul in the second Test in Adelaide.England’s captain, Joe Root, however, played down the significance of Anderson’s absence.”Jimmy probably would have been able to get through this Test match but we’re just making sure that he’s absolutely ready. We thought the last thing we want is him carrying a niggle going into a series so we tried to be sensible about it and give him as much time to be 100 percent going into that series – a five-match series. So we’re very confident that he’ll be fit [for Edgbaston].”
A maior tragédia envolvendo o Flamengo completa26 meses nesta quinta-feira (8). E, através das redes sociais,Rodrigo Dunshee, vice-presidente geral e jurídico do clube, trouxe o assunto à tona e externou que aErnst & Young, empresa de auditoria, atestou a avaliação positiva dos valores oferecidos às famílias das vítimas no incêndio no Ninho do Urubu – foram dez fatais.
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– Nota da E. Young no Balanço auditado do Fla: “O Flamengo ofereceu aos familiares um valor superior ao que a justiça brasileira costuma determinar em casos como este, e 24,5 famílias, dos 26 atingidos pela tragédia, já entraram em acordo, no que diz respeito a indenizações” – postou Dunshee no Twitter, completando:
– Nem eu sabia o que a gigante mundial da auditoria havia comentado sobre os acordos e fiquei feliz de ver que, tecnicamente, acabou fazendo um reconhecimento do trabalho feito mesmo com pandemia, perdas enormes de receita, basta ver a folha 53 do balanço. Seguiremos até o fim.
Nem eu sabia o que a gigante mundial da auditoria havia comentado sobre os acordos e fiquei feliz de ver que tecnicamente acabou fazendo um reconhecimento do trabalho feito, mesmo com pandemia, perdas enormes de receita, basta ver às fls 53 do balanço. Seguiremos até o fim.
— Rodrigo Dunshee de Abranches (@roddunshee) April 8, 2021
Em janeiro deste ano, o Ministério Público do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (MPRJ) denunciou Eduardo Bandeira de Mello, ex-presidente do Flamengo, e outras dez pessoas (incluindo dois funcionários atuais), que podem responder por crime de incêndio culposo (quando não há intenção), por conta dos dez jovens que morreram, e lesão corporal grave – pelos três que sobreviveram.
يخوض فريق آينتراخت فرانكفورت مباراة صعبة ضد نظيره بايرن ميونخ، مساء يوم الأحد، في بطولة الدوري الألماني.
ويستضيف ملعب “دوتش بانك بارك” مباراة الفريقين في إطار منافسات الجولة السادسة من الدوري الألماني، موسم 2024/25.
ويحتل بايرن ميونخ حاليًا صدارة الدوري الألماني برصيد 13 نقطة، بفارق نقطة عن آينتراخت فرانكفورت صاحب المركز الثاني.
ويعول آينتراخت فرانكفورت في تلك المباراة على المحترف المصري عمر مرموش، الذي يقدم أداءً مثاليًا في الموسم الحالي.
وتمكن مرموش من تسجيل 6 أهداف في أول 5 جولات في الدوري الألماني لهذا الموسم، ليتصدر قائمة الهدافين، متفوقًا على هاري كين. موعد مباراة آينتراخت فرانكفورت وبايرن ميونخ اليوم في الدوري الألماني
تنطلق المباراة في تمام الساعة 6:30 مساءً بتوقيت القاهرة والسعودية. القناة الناقلة لمباراة آينتراخت فرانكفورت وبايرن ميونخ اليوم في الدوري الألماني
تُذاع المباراة عبر قناة beIN Sports HD 4. معلق مباراة آينتراخت فرانكفورت وبايرن ميونخ اليوم في الدوري الألماني
سيعلق عصام الشوالي على أحداث تلك المباراة.
ويُمكنكم متابعة أحداث مباريات اليوم لحظة بلحظة من مركز المباريات من هنـــــا.
Whatever happens between now and the end of the season, Glasgow Rangers have been saved from a campaign of mediocrity by appointing Philippe Clement in mid-October.
Under Michael Beale, the Light Blues lost three of their opening seven Premiership matches and even trailed Celtic by eight points in September, as it looked as though the league was over just as it had begun.
Following a dismal 3-1 defeat to Aberdeen, the Englishman was sacked and just two weeks later, Clement stepped into the hot seat and the club have not looked back since.
Former Rangers boss Michael Beale.
His success has been made even more surprising considering he has had to essentially utilise the same group of players which Beale had at his disposal, yet the 49-year-old manager has added a steeliness about them which could give them the edge over Celtic.
His activity in the January transfer window is also another reason why he could lead the Gers to plenty more trophies, signing three players who have all made a significant impact thus far.
Who Rangers signed during the winter
With the squad needing to be bolstered, Clement signed Fabio Silva (loan), Oscar Cortes (loan with option to buy) and Mohamed Diomande (loan with an obligation to buy) and they have been inspired signings, to say the least.
The trio have scored six goals for the club already and Diomande looks like he could be destined for greatness, likely landing the Light Blues a major profit in the coming years.
Mohammed Diomande
While incomings were required, Clement was also keen on trimming the squad and this involved moving a few players on who were deemed surplus to requirements.
Sam Lammers, who scored just twice since arriving from Atalanta last summer, was sent on loan to FC Utrecht, yet this was expected after a dismal six months for the club.
Sam Lammers
Moving on Jose Cifuentes, however, was perhaps a surprise, especially as he had not been given much time to really impress either Beale or Clement.
Why Jose Cifuentes moved out on loan
Having signed Diomande, plus seeing the likes of Nico Raskin, Ryan Jack, and Tom Lawrence all return from injury, it was inevitable that someone had to go to avoid such a cramped and competitive position.
The Ecuadorian midfielder ended up joining Brazilian side Cruzeiro earlier this month on a 12-month loan deal which has an option to buy and perhaps a return to South America may see the player return to his best form.
His move was expected to go through earlier than planned, but due to paperwork issues, it was delayed for a week.
Everything is now signed and sealed, and it looks as though that will be the last the Ibrox faithful see of the midfielder as he looks to kickstart his career in Brazil.
How Jose Cifuentes performed before Rangers
The 24-year-old had spent the previous three years at MLS side Los Angeles FC, playing over 100 matches for the club, eventually leading them to glory in the 2022 season as the club secured the title and Cifuentes was a key player throughout.
Across 36 MLS matches in 2022, the midfielder scored seven times while grabbing six assists and these proved crucial as the franchise won the title.
These numbers ranked him third in the whole squad in the league, while the player also ranked second for big chances created (11), fourth for key passes per game (1.3) and third for successful dribbles per game (1.5) as he clearly demonstrated plenty of attacking vigour throughout the season.
Colombia international Jose Cifuentes.
These performances obviously attracted Beale and signing a player with the quality that Cifuentes possessed should have significantly boosted the club’s midfield options.
Unfortunately, it hasn’t quite worked out like that, despite the South American shining in the USA, and it is another case of the Gers spending money on a player without receiving much back in return.
Jose Cifuentes’ Rangers statistics
As the summer transfer window edged towards the final few weeks, Cifuentes was on Beale’s radar, and he eventually secured his services for a cut price fee of just £1.2m, due to his LAFC contract expiring in December 2023.
Under Beale, however, the Ecuadorian made just nine starts as the club crashed out of the Champions League at the final hurdle while enduring a difficult start to their Premiership campaign.
Jose Cifuentes' statistics in the Premiership at Rangers
Goals
0
Assists
1
Accurate passes per game
37.3
Big chances created
2
Key passes per game
0.6
Via Sofascore
Considering the midfielder had left LAFC in the middle of their season, it was a surprise when he struggled to get up to speed during games, especially in Scotland, and he was often wasteful in possession.
Of course, it takes new signings time to settle into their new surroundings, especially when you swap Hollywood for Glasgow, but there was something amiss with the player.
By the time he left the club, the £16k-per-week earner had featured just 20 times, with only 14 of them being starts and a fresh beginning could do him the world of good.
The former LAFC maestro failed to demonstrate the attacking qualities that made him such a big hit in America, registering just two big chances created, averaging only 0.6 key passes per game and grabbing one assist across his nine Premiership matches for the Gers.
The midfielder also only ranked seventh among his teammates for accurate passes per game (37.3) in the top flight, along with ranking 14th for accurate long balls per game (1.1) and a lowly 25th for successful dribbles per game (0.1), with the final stat representing a massive drop-off from his dribbling success during the 2022 MLS season.
Some players thrive when they arrive from MLS, yet others often struggle with the physicality of Scottish football, especially as they are not offered the same length of time on the ball as they are elsewhere.
There is no doubt that Cifuentes is technically gifted as a player, but his game just did not suit Rangers and Clement has done the best thing possible by moving him on quickly so that he can fulfil his potential.
Who knows, maybe he might return a better player, but with Diomande looking like he could be a huge asset, Cifuentes may have played his last game for Rangers.
أعلن لاعب التنس الشهير، رفائيل نادال، اعتزاله النهائي للعبة اليوم، الخميس، والذي يعد أحد الذين تربعوا على عرش التصنيف العالمي على مدار سنوات.
حصل نادال على العديد من البطولات ولذلك لُقب بـ”ملك الملاعب الترابية” ويتمتع بروح عالية وقتالية منحته القدرة للفوز على العديد من المنافسين الأقوياء.
في جعبة نادال أكثر من 22 لقبًا خاصة في بطولات “جراند سلام” لفردي الرجال كذلك 14 لقبًا في بطولة أمريكا المفتوحة وبطولتين آخرتين في “ويمبلدون”.
اقرأ أيضًا.. منتخب مصر يتعادل مع المجر في كأس ديفيز لكرة التنس
Mil gracias a todos Many thanks to all Merci beaucoup à tous Grazie mille à tutti 谢谢大家 شكرا لكم جميعا תודה לכולכם Obrigado a todos Vielen Dank euch allen Tack alla Хвала свима Gràcies a tots pic.twitter.com/7yPRs7QrOi — Rafa Nadal (@RafaelNadal) October 10, 2024
وقال الإسباني في فيديو وداعي عبر حسابه الرسمي على منصة “إنستجرام”: “أعتزل كمحترف بعد العديد من السنوات الصعبة، وفي تلك الحياة كل شيء له بداية ونهاية”.
وتابع: “كانت نهاية طويلة وناجحة بالفعل أكثر مما كنت أتخيله، كنت متحمسًا للغاية وأنا أمثل بلدي في بطولة كأس ديفيز الأخيرة”.
واستمر: “أشكر جميع المسئولين عن لعبة التنس، لقد شهدت تطورًا كبيرًا على مدار السنوات الماضية، أشكر جميع المنافسين العظماء كذلك فريق عملي”.
وواصل: “أعتبرهم أصدقائي لقد عاشوا معي العديد من اللحظات الجيدة والتي من الصعب شرح مشاعري فيها”.
وأتم: “سأغادر الملاعب وأنا في راحة بال مطلقة، وسأبذل قصارى جهدي لتستمر، وأشكركم جميعًا على مساندتكم لي وأراكم قريبًا”.
Australia’s captain has conceded that he should have kept the field up to Ben Stokes during the England allrounder’s last-wicket stand with Jack Leach
Daniel Brettig at Old Trafford03-Sep-2019Australia’s captain Tim Paine has publicly conceded for the first time that he misjudged the thrilling conclusion of the Headingley Test, admitting he had not pressured Ben Stokes enough by keeping fielders up to the bat and at the same time allowing the England allrounder to farm the strike away from the last man Jack Leach.While explaining why Usman Khawaja had been dropped for the Old Trafford Test to make way for the return of Steven Smith from a concussion, Paine admitted that he had been forced to face some harsh truths in Australia’s post-Leeds discussions about the way he had led the team at the most critical moment, one wicket away from securing the Ashes in the space of three Test matches.”I would do something differently with my field placings,” Paine said. “There was times looking back at it where it was really obvious I should’ve had the field up and allowed Ben even to hit a couple of boundaries so we had more balls at the tailender. But I didn’t do that. The mistake’s been made, we’ve moved on, we’ve learned from it, but that would’ve been the main thing I would’ve done differently.”We made some mistakes, it happens, we’ve addressed it as a team, we’ve spoken about it honestly. I was certainly one of those people who made mistakes, it happens in cricket, we’ve moved on and we’re here ready for a great Test match.”Tim Paine offers a handshake to Ben Stokes•Getty Images
The decision to drop Khawaja, arrived at during discussions between Paine, coach Justin Langer selection chairman Trevor Hohns two days out from the match, was both an admission of English dominance against a top order stacked with left-handers and also a conclusion on the No. 3’s ability to handle the moving Dukes ball, which on average tends to deviate a significant amount more than the Kookaburra both in the air and off the pitch.”Usman’s obviously a key player in our side batting at No. 3 and he hasn’t scored the runs that he or we would like,” Paine said. “So with Steve Smith coming back it was a tough decision to make on Usman, but we think he’s still got a lot of cricket left in him, he’s had a very good Test record over his career, and we expect he will bounce back pretty strongly.”I give my opinion, it’s only been spoken about that I’ve been aware of this week, Us hasn’t scored the runs that he would like and we would like from him and it’s unfortunate for him that Steve Smith missed the last Test, and when a player that good is coming back someone’s got to make way. It’s a good thing for us that we’ve got a player of Usman’s quality on the sidelines, it means we’re getting our team to where we want to be and we want our selectors making hard decisions.”At the same time, Paine said it would have been a difficult call to drop Marcus Harris after one match, even though, having not made a century and averaging less than 30 after seven Tests, he has a much inferior record to Khawaja. “I think so, you’re not going to change your order too much,” Paine said. “Marcus came in, played one Test, I think it would have been hard to then leave him out straightaway. He played okay, he would’ve liked a few more runs as well, but we think Harry’s had a decent start to his Test-match career and we think he’s got a lot of talent and we think he’s going to convert that into a lot of Test runs.”Australia’s attitude to batting in this series has at times looked preoccupied by survival, and Paine said it was important for the tourists to get the right balance between diligent defence and natural attack over the next five days. “I don’t think it’s about buying time, it’s about scoring runs,” he said. “And whether you’re David Warner and you score a hundred off 80 balls, or if you’re Marcus Harris or Rory Burns and it takes time, it’s important that when you play in England you stick to what works for you.”I think at times that’s what’s brought people undone. They’ve come over here and tried to play in a completely different way rather than just try and adjust to what’s coming at you. Don’t go out there with any preconceived ideas about swing and the Dukes ball, and the wickets over here. It’s the same distance, with the stumps behind you, and it’s about watching the ball and playing the way you play. We’re just driving that home to our batters at the moment. Obviously we’d like some more runs out of our top order, and England are the same.”Mitchell Starc and Josh Hazlewood inspect the pitch•Getty Images
Mitchell Starc is closer than ever to taking part in the series, though once again he will have to be part of a four-man bowling attack due to the continued omission of the allrounder Mitchell Marsh. Paine said that one further look at the Manchester surface would be required before a final decision is made. “He’s in the 12 so he’s close. We’ll have another look at that wicket, it looks pretty dry,” Paine said. “Hopefully it’s got a bit of pace in it, but Starcy bowled superbly last week down at Derby.”He’s been working really hard at getting his length right and we were really impressed with what he did down there, he held his pace back a little bit, got the ball in the right area and swung it when he needed to, then we know what he can do to tail-end batters when he really cranks it up. the boys have been calling him ‘The Mop’ for a few years now, that’s a thing he does really well, and even when you’ve got a couple of set batters you’ve got a big, tall left-armer who can bowl 150kph and can shake things up a little bit.”He’s a great option for us, we think this wicket might suit him, and if we make that call we’re sure he’ll do a great job as he has over his whole career.”As for Australia’s overall Ashes blueprint, which had held up to within a single wicket of retaining the urn at Headingley, Paine remained adamant that his men would stay the course. “We are doing a lot of things right, we know that,” he said.”We know where we made some errors in the last Test match, but on the whole – when you look at the way we played our cricket and the numbers and things we look at and mark ourselves on – we’ve been doing them really well. that’s why we’ve been in positions to win Test matches, we’ve just got to be better at finishing the job. Like we didn’t do last week. We’ve learned from that and we’ll be better for it.”