All posts by h79snht.top

They might not be partaking in pre-season at the moment, but it would be fair to say that the mood around Chelsea at the moment is a positive one.

While the fans are still basking in Enzo Maresca’s side’s Club World Cup triumph, the board continue to make moves in the transfer window.

The Blues have already welcomed in a host of talented attacking players like Jamie Gittens, Liam Delap and Joao Pedro.

Yet, there is still seemingly more work to do, with Jorrel Hato the next player to come through the doors at Stamford Bridge, although if reports are to be believed, the club could risk spoiling some of their good work by making a Jadon Sancho-esque signing.

Chelsea target Sancho repeat

As things stand, it’s looking almost certain that the next player to join Chelsea will be Hato.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

Expand Collapse

The young Ajax defender is one of the most highly-rated youngsters in world football, with 111 appearances to his name already.

His transfer has already been given the “here we go” treatment by Farbrizio Romano, who has also revealed that the final fee for him is around €40m, which is about £35m.

When it’s finally announced, it’ll be a massively exciting move, but there could be another transfer just on the horizon that doesn’t go down quite as well with fans.

At least that is according to journalist Alex Crook, who confirmed that Chelsea are still incredibly interested in Alejandro Garnacho.

In fact, he has revealed that the Blues are now “pushing for” the Manchester United ace this summer.

In terms of how much the Argentinian could end up costing the West Londoners, plenty of reports from earlier this summer have claimed that an offer of around £40m could be enough to get this deal done.

Garnacho might be a talented player, but this feels like a deal Chelsea do not need to do, especially as it could be another Sancho situation.

Why Garnacho could be another Sancho

Now then, it has to be said that Garnacho is clearly a talented prospect, as, even with United in their current state, a player doesn’t make 58 appearances in a season without having something about them.

However, before moving to Old Trafford, there was even more reason to think Sancho was going to be one of the future stars of English football, as in his final campaign with Borussia Dortmund, he racked up a sensational tally of 16 goals and 20 assists in just 38 games for the German giants.

Flash forward to today, and the former wonderkid has a pretty dire tally of 12 goals and six assists in 83 games for the Red Devils and a slightly better, but still poor, record of five goals and ten assists in 41 games for the Blues from last season.

Moreover, it’s not just that the 25-year-old underperformed on the pitch, but he also caused trouble off of it, getting into a public spat with former boss Erik ten Hag at the start of the 23/24 season, which ultimately saw him frozen out of the team for some time.

We’ve already seen that Garnacho has the same ability to cause trouble off the pitch as well, falling out in a rather spectacular way with Ruben Amorim at the end of last season, so much so that reports came out suggesting the manager told him he’d have to pray another side came in for him.

Now, on the rare occasion, a club might put up with someone who could disrupt the dressing room if they can have a massive impact on the pitch, but for all the talent the “electric” ace has, as dubbed by Statman Dave, he’s not got enough of it to be worth the trouble.

For example, in his 58 appearances last season, the Madrid-born dynamo only scored 11 goals and provided ten assists, which comes out to a rather underwhelming average of a goal involvement every 2.76 games.

Garnacho in 24/25

Appearances

58

Minutes

3568′

Goals

11

Assists

10

Goal Involvements per Match

0.36

Minutes per Goal Involvements

169.90′

All Stats via Transfermarkt

That’s certainly not a bad rate of return, but it’s not a game-changing one either, nor is it one that would make up for the potentially destabilising behaviour that might come with it.

Ultimately, Garnacho is a good player, but that is about as much as we can say at the moment, and therefore, Chelsea should avoid bringing him to Stamford Bridge this summer, as he wouldn’t be worth the fee that could end up being a Sancho repeat.

Related More exciting than Hato: Chelsea close to agreement for "phenomenal" CF

The talented gem could be a superstar for Chelsea.

Posts ByJack Salveson Holmes Jul 31, 2025

Bangladesh ended the second day of the Test 101 runs behind with seven wickets left in their second innings

Himanshu Agrawal22-Oct-2024

Stumps Seven balls after bringing the light meter out for the first time on day two, the umpires pulled the plug on the day’s play because of bad light. If that was somewhat abrupt, a third-umpire decision that took its time coming added drama to what turned out to be the last delivery of the day.Mahmudul Hasan Joy, on 38, decided to skip out of the crease to Dane Piedt, and missed the ball with his wild swing. The ball bounced a fair bit, and wicketkeeper Kyle Verreynne collected it in front of his right shoulder and whipped the bails off. The TV umpire saw multiple replays and concluded Mahmudul was not out – the bat was behind the line but in the air, but it seemed to have lifted after being grounded once. Verreynne’s expression showed how tight it was.Related

Verreynne on his 114: 'Definitely the best and most rewarding innings of my career'

Rabada – the most lethal bowler in the 300-wicket club

Taijul's light shines bright even as Shakib shadow looms large

The day belonged to Verreynne, who hit his second Test century in the afternoon session. That, combined with Wiaan Mulder’s maiden half-century and Piedt’s resistance from No. 10, took South Africa to 308 despite them being 108 for 6 at one stage. And with a cushion of a 202-run first-innings lead, Kagiso Rabada struck twice early in the second innings to have Bangladesh at 4 for 2, before a fightback from Mahmudul, Najmul Hossain Shanto and Mushfiqur Rahim.Shadman Islam and Mominul Haque fell for single-digit scores within the first four overs for the second time in as many days, as Rabada extracted plenty of pace and bounce with the new ball. His wickets came off back-of-a-length deliveries. In the third over, he got one to nip into Shadman, who inside-edged to short leg, where Tony de Zorzi took a sharp catch to his left. Three balls later, Mominul went defending but got an outside edge to third slip, where Mulder went low to grab a dipping ball.Mahmudul and Shanto added 55 to rebuild briefly, before Keshav Maharaj trapped Shanto in front. Maharaj got a full delivery to turn in from outside off, and Shanto, who had opened his stance up in looking to defend, was struck on his back leg, which was dragging towards off.Mushfiqur then hit an entertaining 31 off 26 deliveries in an unbroken stand of 42 with Mahmudul to ensure there was no further damage, although Bangladesh still ended the day 101 runs behind South Africa.Hasan Mahmud took two wickets in the first session•BCB

The advantage South Africa enjoyed was down to Verreynne. He swept every other ball that came his way, and when he finally missed one, he was stumped by Litton Das. That ended South Africa’s innings at 308 but by then, Verreynne had raced to his hundred. He took just 144 balls to score 114, becoming only the third wicketkeeper-batter from his country to get a Test hundred in Asia. Fittingly, the landmark came off a paddle sweep off Taijul Islam in the 86th over.Both Verreynne’s sixes were pumped once he was past the three-figure mark: one a slog-sweep off the wicketless Nayeem Hasan, and the other a pull off Mehidy Hasan Miraz. Just before that, Mehidy had broken a frustrating ninth-wicket stand of 66. Piedt, who batted solidly, nudged and pushed his way to 32 before he was trapped in front off the 87th delivery he had faced. It turned in and he was given out on field. Piedt reviewed, and it returned an umpire’s call. And immediately after Verreynne’s second six, Mehidy slowed the ball down to have him stumped.Earlier, the overnight pair of Verreynne and Mulder took their seventh-wicket to 119. The pitch seemed to have settled nicely for batting on the second morning, with no apparent turn available for Taijul. Verreynne particularly looked assured against Hasan Mahmud, who had started the day alongside Taijul, nudging the pacer past mid-on for three, and clipping and driving him for boundaries.Wiaan Mulder made 54, his highest Test score•AFP/Getty Images

Taijul then had Mulder poking, only for the outside edge to fall short of slip. That had as much to do with Mulder playing with soft hands as the slowness of the surface. Mulder and Verreynne adjusted to the pitch, and calmly did the job against the spin of Taijul and Nayeem.Both batters used the sweep and the reverse sweep to great effect despite Nayeem turning the ball in appreciably on occasion. That was down to them taking a good stride forward to get to the pitch of the deliveries, and playing their shots with confidence. They played 38 sweeps – or reverse sweeps – against spin on the second morning, and got 59 runs off them, including seven boundaries and a six.Bangladesh posted a man close in at square leg to prevent the batters from earning easy runs from the sweep, and yet Verreynne got to his half-century when he drilled one to the man there. Mulder then got to his half-century at the start of the 64th over, when he cut Nayeem for four behind point.Shanto had brought Mahmud back into the attack, and he struck back-to-back blows. First, he pitched on a back-of-a-length outside off, the ball holding its line. Mulder went for the punch, but edged to wide slip. Next ball, Mahmud went much fuller, reversing the ball into Maharaj and beating his defence to uproot off stump.But Piedt, who was in next, not only denied Mahmud a hat-trick, but also annoyed Bangladesh no end.

كشف هيثم حسن، لاعب ريال أوفيدو الإسباني، كواليس انضمامه المنتظر إلى صفوف منتخب مصر خلال الفترة المقبلة، في معسكر أكتوبر.

ويمتلك هيثم حسن، لاعب الفريق الإسباني، أصولًا مصرية وتونسية، لكنه يفضل الانضمام إلى صفوف الفراعنة.

ومن المنتظر أن يتواجد هيثم حسن في المعسكر المقبل، بعد التواصل معه من جانب مسؤولي اتحاد الكرة.

وقال هيثم حسن، في مداخلة لبرنامج “الكورة مع فايق”، على قناة “إم بي سي مصر”: “تم التواصل معي عن طريق وكلائي والجهاز الفني السابق، وفي النهاية استطعنا أن نتفق سويًا، كان هناك اتصال بشكل مباشر ومتواصل لكي أنضم للمنتخب وهذا هو اختياري منذ البداية”.

وبسؤاله لماذا اخترت تمثيل منتخب مصر؟، تابع: “أنا لم أتوصل لاتفاق نهائي للانضمام للمنتخب المصري، ما زلت في مرحلة الاتفاق، فخور أنني مصري، لكن ما زال وكلائي في محادثات مع المسؤولين، كما أن ما زال أمامي الكثير وعلي تقديم أداء أفضل، لكني لم أتخذ حتى الآن القرار الرسمي لانضمامي لمنتخب مصر، وسأتخذ القرار بعد التشاور مع وكلائي”.

طالع مهاجم ريال أوفييدو يوجه نصيحة إلى هيثم حسن بعد تصريحات ضعف إنهاء الهجمات

وبسؤاله، هل هناك طلبات معينة تسعى للاتفاق عليها مع وكلائك وهل أنت وضعت شرطًا بتمثيل منتخب مصر الأول وليس المنتخب الثاني بقيادة حلمي طولان؟، كشف: “لا لم يكن لدي أي شروط بالطبع، ليس لدي شروط نهائيًا، سأكون فخورًا بتمثيل منتخب مصر، كما قلت أنا على تواصل مستمر مع المسؤولين، وأنا أحترم حسام حسن كثيرًا، وأؤكد أنه ليس هناك شروطًا، ولن أقوم بالطبع باختيار المدير الفني للمنتخب، ليس لدي أي شروط”.

ورد على سؤال متى ستحسم موقفك من الانضمام لمنتخب مصر؟: “لا أعلم، ولكن أعتقد أنه في القريب العاجل بالطبع، أنا الآن في مسيرتي علي التركيز جيدًا، كما أن كأس الأمم وكأس العالم اقتربا وعلي اتخاذ القرار سريعًا، وبالطبع سأتخذ القرار قريبًا لكن لا أعلم متى بالتحديد”.

وعن توقعاته لمباراة القمة بين الأهلي والزمالك وهل يتابع المباريات الكبيرة في الدوري المصري؟، اختتم: “لكي أكون صريحًا فأنا لا أعلم سوى الأهلي والزمالك وهما من كبار الأندية الإفريقية، والدي مُشجع قديم لـ الزمالك، وأنا سوف أتبع والدي وأقول أنني أشجع والدي، لكني أتمنى التوفيق لجميع الفرق، وأعلم أن الدوري المصري يضم عددًا كبيرًا من الأندية الكبيرة”.

MatériaMais Notícias

Tite balançou com a proposta para assumir o Corinthians, mesmo assim recusou. Além da promessa que fez à esposa Rosemari, de que não trabalharia no futebol brasileiro neste ano, o treinador tem uma oferta na mesa de um time europeu que o agrada bastante.

Durante a tentativa corintiana de fazer com Adenor retornasse, foi conversado até mesmo com a mulher do treinador, a fim de explicar o momento do Timão e a necessidade de ter Tite novamente para estabilizar a crise institucional do clube. Porém, o técnico entende que o momento atual é a grande chance dele fazer um trabalho consistente na Europa. Na visão do profissional, um retorno ao futebol Brasil o afastaria desse sonho.

continua após a publicidadeRelacionadasCorinthiansDanilo descarta assumir o Corinthians de forma definitiva: ‘Sou técnico do sub-20’Corinthians29/04/2023CorinthiansAlessandro diz que Corinthians ainda não negocia com treinador e que Danilo pode dirigir o time contra o Del ValleCorinthians29/04/2023CorinthiansApós ‘não’ de Mano, Corinthians faz proposta e recebe sinal positivo por Róger MachadoCorinthians29/04/2023

+Róger Guedes e Paulinho são os melhores na derrota do Corinthians no Dérbi

Ainda assim, ele usou a última quinta-feira (27) praticamente inteira para pensar na conversa que teve com a direção corintiana. Não houve discussão financeira ou algo do tipo, apenas a explicação da situação em que o Corinthians se encontra em meio às tentativas de sensibilizar o treinador. Na visão da diretoria corintiana, somente Tite é unanimidade no Timão, fazendo dele o único capaz de controlar o elenco e apaziguar a torcida, dividida após a frustrada contratação de Cuca, que durou menos de uma semana.

Por conta do apego sentimental, Tite chegou a cogitar assumir o Corinthians novamente, mas após conversar com o seu estafe, optou por manter o seu projeto europeu. Ele, no entanto, alegou às pessoas responsáveis pela sua carreira que se sentia muito mal em recusar tantas vezes um time que foi fundamental para que ele tivesse projeção internacional.

+ Assine o Star+ por apenas R$32,90 por mês e acompanhe o Timão na Libertadores quando e onde quiser!

Após a recusa de Tite, o Corinthians tentou a contratação de Mano Menezes, que atualmente dirige o Internacional, mas ouviu nova recusa. Neste momento, há conversas com o estafe de Róger Machado.

Just days after he struggled against Viktoria Plzen even as Rangers advanced in the Champions League qualifiers, one player has reportedly agreed a deal to depart Ibrox.

Martin "disappointed" by Plzen defeat

It’s been a frustrating start for Russell Martin, who has been as brutally honest as possible in his first set of games as Rangers manager. The former Southampton boss instantly hit out at his team following their opening day draw against Motherwell, but is yet to see his criticism have the desired effect.

Related Exciting Gassama repeat: Rangers submit bid to sign "dangerous" £3.5m star

Rangers are reportedly in talks to sign a star who would be an exciting Djeidi Gassama repeat.

Posts ByDan Emery Aug 13, 2025

Since Martin’s scathing review, Rangers have defeated Plzen in the first leg of their Champions League tie, stuttered to a second-consecutive 1-1 draw in the Scottish Premiership against Dundee and managed to edge past their European opponents in the second leg despite suffering a 2-1 loss on the night.

In all three games, simply put, the Gers have been far from convincing. And Martin once again aired his disappointment on Tuesday night.

It looks as though the manager’s ruthlessness is set to continue too, with one player now heading for the exit door just days after the Plzen defeat.

Jefte reaches agreement to leave Rangers

As reported by UOL and relayed by Sport Witness, Jefte has now reached a verbal agreement with Palmeiras, who are set for face-to-face talks with Rangers to get their deal finalised. The Brazilian left-back started on Tuesday night and was one of many players who struggled to put in their best work. Now, days later, he looks set to depart.

Winning none of his tackles and making just six defensive contributions in total, as per Fotmob, Jefte was once again found wanting defensively on Tuesday night and it was perhaps one below-par performance too many for Rangers. That said, there was a time when he found himself at the centre of praise.

Former Rangers manager Philippe Clement told reporters last season: “It was what I expected, he’s a very talented player that’s why we made a big fight during six months to get him here.

“But from January on we kept a lot of contact with him and he was really convinced to come to Rangers, although a lot of teams were interested in him. He’s a very talented player for the future who for sure needs to learn still a lot, but it’s normal as he’s only 20 and he has one year experience in Europe.”

Who are the big-ticket players to find no bidders at the two-day IPL auction?

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Nov-2024

David Warner, 38, was arguably the biggest name to go unsold at the IPL 2025 mega auction in Jeddah. Warner, who retired from international cricket in June, had entered the auction at a base price of INR 2 crore. After going unsold on Sunday, his name came up again in the accelerated round on Monday, but there were no takers for him.Over the years, Warner has been one of the star performers in the IPL. His 6565 runs from 184 matches are the most by an overseas batter, and the fourth-highest overall at the tournament behind the Indian trio of Virat Kohli (8004), Shikhar Dhawan (6769) and Rohit Sharma (6628). Warner crossed the 500-run mark in a season seven times – a record he holds jointly with Kohli. But he had a lukewarm IPL 2024 for Delhi Capitals (DC): 168 runs in eight outings at a strike rate of 134.40.Warner’s last competitive game was in August, at the MAX60 tournament in the Caribbean. He was the highest run-getter there, with a tally of 297 at a strike rate of 181.09. He will be in action for Dubai Capitals at the ILT20 early next year.Related

Prithvi Shaw dropped from Mumbai squad for Vijay Hazare Trophy

DC co-owner Jindal: 'The minute we didn't retain Pant, I knew he was gone'

IPL auction: Chahal the most expensive spinner ever, Starc joins the 50-crore club

Bhuvneshwar goes to RCB for INR 10.75 crore as fast bowlers cash in on day two

Bihar's Suryavanshi becomes youngest IPL player at just 13

Among Indians, Shardul Thakur was the most high-profile player – with a base price of INR 2 crore – to not attract a bid. A seam-bowling allrounder, Thakur was with CSK last season. He played nine games, picking up five wickets at an economy of 9.75. He got to bat only three times and scored 21 runs.Thakur, though, hasn’t played for India in any format since December 2023 and underwent foot surgery in June this year and returned to competitive cricket only in early October in the Irani Cup for Mumbai.Shardul Thakur has only just returned after a long injury layoff•AFP/Getty Images

Prithvi Shaw, who was retained by DC ahead of IPL 2022, also did not get a bid at his base price of INR 75 lakh.Shaw struggled with form in the last two seasons and was dropped for Abishek Porel during IPL 2024. More recently, he was dropped from Mumbai’s Ranji Trophy squad for poor fitness and “general conduct”.England’s Jonny Bairstow was another big name that went unsold. Bairstow was with Punjab Kings (PBKS) from 2022 to 2024, and scored 551 runs in 22 innings at a strike rate of 148.92 for them in that period. No bids for him – from a base price of INR 2 crore – at this auction, though.The same was the case for Daryl Mitchell, who was bought by Chennai Super Kings (CSK) for INR 14 crore at the IPL 2024 mini-auction and has been one of New Zealand’s best performers across formats in recent times. He also came in with a base price of INR 2 crore.

MatériaMais Notícias

O Botafogo deve contar novamente com Marçal no clássico diante com o Fluminense. O atleta, que não atuou na derrota por 3 a 2 diante do Athletico-PR, na Copa do Brasil, devido a questões físicas, está confirmado para o Clássico Vovô marcado para este sábado, às 18h30, no Nilton Santos.

RelacionadasBotafogoPromessa de casa cheia: Botafogo divulga nova parcial de sua torcida clássico diante do FluminenseBotafogo19/05/2023BotafogoPrestes a oficializar sua chegada ao Botafogo, Diego Hernández divulga foto de seu embarque para o BrasilBotafogo19/05/2023BotafogoBotafogo x Fluminense: onde assistir, horário e escalações do jogo do BrasileirãoBotafogo19/05/2023

O técnico Luís Castro, porém, ainda tem dúvidas para montar a equipe que lutará pela manutenção da liderança da competição nacional.

+ Veja a tabela e os jogos da Série A do Brasileirão 2023

+ Todos os jogos do Brasileirão você encontra no Prime Video. Assine já e acompanhe o seu time do coração!

As dúvidas se voltam principalmente para o meio de campo alvinegro. A forte sequência física ainda deixa em aberto algumas vagas. Marlon Freitas e Tchê Tchê podem ter um descanso.

A provável escalação conta com: Lucas Perri; Di Plácido, Adryelson, Cuesta, Marçal; Marlon Freitas (Gabriel Pires), Tchê Tchê (Lucas Fernandes) e Eduardo; Júnior Santos, Tiquinho Soares e Victor Sá.

تحدث ألكسندر إيزاك مهاجم ليفربول لوسائل الإعلام السويدية بعد بدايته مع الريدز والتي صادفت سوء حظ على مستوى النتائج بالهزيمة في آخر ثلاث مباريات.

ولم يسجل إيزاك سوى هدف واحد مع ليفربول وكان ذلك ضد ساوثهامبتون أحد أندية الدرجة الثانية الإنجليزية، ويتزايد الضغط على اللاعب بعد إضرابه وإجباره نيوكاسل على الرحيل.

ورفض ألكسندر إيزاك التحدث لوسائل الإعلام في السويد عندما تم استدعاؤه لمباريات سبتمبر الدولية، وكان مهاجم ليفربول غير فعال تماماً عند دخوله بديلاً خلال الهزيمة ضد كوسوفو بهدفين نظيفين في تصفيات كأس العالم.

ويتعين على منتخب السويد غداً الجمعة الفوز ضد سويسرا حيث تتقدم سويسرا بخمس نقاط على السويد بعد جولتين من أصل ست جولات ويتأهل الفريق الذي يحصل على المركز الأول فقط لنهائيات كأس العالم 2026.

أقرأ أيضاً.. ليفربول إيكو تسلط الضوء على احتفالات صلاح بصعود مصر لكأس العالم

وقال إيزاك في تصريحات نشرتها “one football” من مؤتمره الصحفي لمباراة سويسرا مساء غد الجمعة: “غداً أنا جاهز للعب 90 دقيقة إذا لزم الأمر”.

وأضاف: “لقد مر شهر وحصلت على وقت لعب أطول بكثير، وهدأت الأمور، أشعر الآن بحال أفضل بكثير من المرة السابقة مع السويد”.

وواصل عن ليفربول: “أشعر شعور رائع، هم فريق رائع ومدينة تربطها علاقة جيدة بالجماهير”.

واختتم حول موقف السويد في مجموعته في تصفيات أوروبا المؤهلة لكأس العالم 2026: “هناك ضغط علينا بسبب تأخر السويد بخمس نقاط عن سويسرا وتوقعات عالية، لكن هذا أمر شائع في كرة القدم، لدينا نفس طموحات الشعب السويدي”.

A £20m Arsenal player who Mikel Arteta called “exceptional” now “wants to leave”, and a move across Europe is “very likely”.

Arteta praises his side after victory at Old Trafford

The fixture list handed the Gunners a tricky start to the 2025-26 campaign, as travelling to Old Trafford is always a daunting task, but Arteta’s side got the job done courtesy of a first-half header from Riccardo Calafiori, and the manager was pleased with the performance.

The Spaniard was particularly impressed with his side’s “phenomenal” display from a defensive standpoint, while he also praised the way in which they were able to handle the occasion, given the raucous atmosphere at Old Trafford.

William Saliba and Gabriel were, of course, at the heart of the defence, as the centre-back duo usually are if they are both fit, which means the north Londoners’ back-up options only receive limited game time.

That may not be too much of an issue for younger players, such as new signing Cristhian Mosquera, but defenders in the prime of their career are unlikely to want to play second fiddle.

As such, there is a feeling that Jakub Kiwior could now be heading for the exit door this summer, with Włodarczyk recently taking to X to reveal the Polish defender “wants to leave”, amid interest from FC Porto.

In fact, a move to the Liga Portugal club is deemed “very likely”, as they “haven’t given up”, after submitting an official offer back in July.

The 25-year-old, who joined the Gunners for £20m back in 2023, was left out of the squad that travelled to Old Trafford, and talks over an exit are currently “ongoing”.

Losing "exceptional" Kiwior could be blow for Arteta

Given that Saliba and Gabriel are almost nailed on to start in the Premier League if they are available, it is always going to be a difficult task for the Poland international to force his way into the side, but he has impressed when given the opportunity.

Indeed, with Gabriel sidelined due to injury, the former Spezia man was given the nod against Paris Saint-Germain the Champions League semi-final last season, and he certainly caught Arteta’s eye with his performance.

The Arsenal boss said: “He deserves a lot of credit because he hasn’t played too much throughout many months, and suddenly he’s been thrown into the most difficult context, at the highest level, playing against the best opponents, when you haven’t had the physical rhythm or the confidence to do it, and I think he’s been exceptional.”

Dependable back-up options are hard to come by, so it would be disappointing to lose Kiwior this summer, although not the end of the world, given Mosquera’s arrival.

With English cricket heading down a new path, it leaves Australia as the outlier in terms of private investment in their domestic league

Matt Roller31-Jan-2025

Australian cricket is watching the ECB’s introduction of private investment into the Hundred with interest as the Big Bash League looks to “stay ahead of the game” following a successful 2024/25 season.Hobart Hurricanes’ maiden title, on the back of Mitchell Owen’s 39-ball century, put the seal on a campaign that demonstrated the BBL’s “strong momentum and growth”, the league’s general manager Alistair Dobson told ESPNcricinfo. It has given both him and Cricket Australia the chance to think to the future after spending multiple seasons in “reset mode”.After four seasons of the Hundred, the ECB is selling 49% stakes in each of its eight teams to private investors in a process that got underway on Thursday, leaving the BBL – which is owned and run entirely by CA and its states – as an outlier. Dobson declined to comment on whether the BBL will follow suit imminently, but remains open-minded about the league’s future.Related

Swepson moves to Melbourne Stars on deadline day

Melbourne Renegades sign Doggett, Jewell set to follow

Higher honours, big pay day on the cards for Hurricanes hero

London derby to launch fifth season of Hundred in August

“The BBL has been successful almost from the very beginning,” Dobson said. “It has been able to deliver a really strong product and return to Australian cricket, which has meant that the model we have has been really successful – hence why there has been limited momentum in changing that model historically, because it’s been so strong.”The world’s shifting, and we’re always looking at other leagues and other models around the world to make sure we still have the right one for us… Every part of the global game is evolving really quickly and we learn bits from everyone. The process that the ECB is going through with the Hundred looks like an interesting one – it’ll be fascinating to see how that unfolds.”Dobson travelled to the UK to watch several games of the Hundred’s 2023 season and has kept close tabs on the competition’s first four seasons. “We can and do learn from the Hundred around continuing to innovate, in the way that the Hundred was prepared to try something different,” he said. “We have plenty to learn from each other.”Both leagues have that philosophy of continuing to be fan-first. From the outside looking in, it appears that they’ve taken a lot of the BBL’s DNA – the colour, fun, new audiences, new brands – and have created a product that seems to have connected quite strongly with the fanbase, and is bringing new fans into the game.”The Hundred has changed the landscape of English cricket•ECB via Getty Images

CA’s decision to expand the BBL from 43 games to 59 (and later 61) from 2018/19 until 2022/23 brought several challenges, with attendances and TV viewership suffering. But since returning to a shorter window last season – squeezing into the school holidays – it has managed to hold its own through a “quality over quantity” approach, despite clashes with the ILT20 and SA20.”For the past three or four years, we’ve been building the competition back after some challenging years through Covid and otherwise,” Dobson said. “It’s not until the last 12 months where we’ve had the momentum to be able to look at the future… I wouldn’t comment on any specific opportunities, but the world’s moving pretty fast and it’s important that we stay ahead of the game.”The availability of the world’s best players – both from Australia and elsewhere – remains a sticking point for the BBL, with only three out of six overseas spots filled in Monday’s final and Test series against India and Sri Lanka at either end of the season. But Dobson believes that the player pool remains healthy, with competitive top-end salaries of AUD$420,000.”The global landscape is moving really fast,” he said. “We hear a lot from players that playing in front of big crowds in iconic stadiums with great wickets and facilities is still really important, so we feel like we’re in a good position on that front… The other leagues around our window have created some interesting challenges, we feel like we are in pretty good shape.”Guys like Chris Jordan for the Hurricanes and Sam Billings for the [Sydney] Thunder have become really engaged in their clubs. Combining that with the iconic players in our competition – whether that’s Glenn Maxwell, or increasingly Mitch Owen – and then when we get a glimpse of Steve Smith, or David Warner… our strength is the mix of all those player groups.”Owen earned worldwide attention in his breakthrough season – not only for his brutal hitting, but for his obvious affinity for the Hurricanes. He grew up supporting the club from the grass bank at Bellerive Oval in Hobart and described his starring role in their first trophy win, aged 23, as a “childhood dream”, underlining the BBL’s longevity compared to many T20 leagues.’You start to get kids coming through who grew up barracking for and supporting their BBL team, evolving from young fans into opening batters’•Getty Images

“It’s a great story for us,” Dobson said. “I mean that not just individually for Mitch and the Hurricanes, but also, it’s a really strong signpost for us on the maturity and evolution of our competition, where we now have kids that have grown up supporting their BBL team, and we’re old enough for those kids to see their way through to play – and win – for that team.”We see it in other codes around the world – whether that’s football or other sports – where you want to play for the team you grew up supporting… Once you get through 14 seasons, you start to get kids coming through who grew up barracking for and supporting their BBL team, evolving from young fans into opening batters. That’s a really cool place for us to be.”The BBL will again overlap with a major series next summer, with Australia’s Test players unlikely to be available until the second half of the season following the Ashes. And while the majority of boards now reserve a space for their short-form leagues in their international calendar, Dobson insisted that the BBL works best when it operates “in harmony” with headline Test series, allowing cricket to capitalise on its window in the Australian sporting calendar.”Test cricket is still the pinnacle for our fans and our players,” he said. “For the BBL to run alongside that with its own offering and its own strengths is still the right model for us… There’s always talk about whether the BBL and the Test season should be separated to allow more player availability, but there’s also an element where those two things can work in harmony to create a really strong offering.”