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Joe Buck was back in the baseball booth for Thursday’s Opening Day game between the New York Yankees and Milwaukee Brewers, marking his first time calling a national baseball game in four years.

Buck, who joined the ESPN crew on a one-off assignment Thursday afternoon, didn’t have to wait long for a big moment as Yankees’ Austin Wells homered as the leadoff batter, becoming the first catcher with a leadoff home run on Opening Day.

Buck paid Yankees broadcasting stalwart Michael Kay a sweet nod on Wells’s homer, lending his voice to Kay’s signature call:

“Here’s a 2-0… That is ripped into right, back at the wall… See ya! Home run!” Buck said. “What a start. Yankees on top 1-0.”

Kay mentioned on the YES Network pregame that Buck was going to say that for him if the Yankees hit a homer, so it doesn’t come as a huge surprise. Still, it was nice to see Buck tip his hat to the longtime broadcaster.

The Yankees have gained an early lead over the Brewers and are currently up 2-1 in the third.

Chelsea got back to winning ways on the weekend.

Enzo Maresca’s side took on Tottenham Hotspur away from home, and as they tend to do in this fixture, left with all three points.

From front to back, the Blues looked back to their best, and more importantly, Joao Pedro got back on the scoresheet.

The Brazilian has the quality to be a hugely important player for Chelsea, and one of the club’s most exciting youngsters could help him one day reach Cole Palmer’s numbers, and no, it’s not Estevao.

Pedro's future at Chelsea

When Chelsea completed the £60m signing of Pedro from Brighton & Hove Albion, there was plenty of understandable excitement, as sections of the fan base assumed the club had their new long-term number nine.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

This idea was further reinforced during the pre-season, as Maresca started him up top for three consecutive games during the Club World Cup, during which he scored three goals.

However, things quickly changed once the season began, as following the first game against Crystal Palace, the manager played the 24-year-old as a second striker for two consecutive Premier League games, in which he scored two goals and provided two assists.

Unfortunately, following Liam Delap’s hamstring injury, the former Brighton star was once again forced to lead the line.

So far, in the seven league games he has started there, he has scored just once and provided one assist.

In short, it has become abundantly clear that while hugely talented, the former Watford star is at his very best either as a second striker or a slightly more aggressive ten.

Now, for those fans who watched him on the south coast, this shouldn’t have come as much of a surprise, as while he did make 16 appearances up top last season, he also made 12 between second striker, attacking midfield and left-wing.

Centre-Forward

16

Second Striker

8

Left Winger

2

Attacking Midfield

2

So, if Maresca wants to get the most out of Pedro, he’ll have to start him behind another striker, and fortunately, someone who might help him reach Palmer-levels is joining Chelsea for next season.

The player who could help Pedro reach Palmer-levels

Now, while someone like Estevao could help Pedro up his output in the coming seasons, the 18-year-old is undoubtedly at his best out wide.

Therefore, what the former Brighton ace needs is another prolific forward to come in and start ahead of him, someone who will help not only boost his assist numbers, but also his own goal tally.

Fortunately, Chelsea might have just the young talent to do just that, joining in the summer: Dastan Satpayev.

The Khazak phenom is set to join the Blues at the end of this season, and while he’s still young and therefore a long way from the finished product, he looks like a superstar in the making.

With that said, why could he help Pedro put up Palmer-level numbers, though?

Well, simply put, while he can play in several positions, he is primarily a centre-forward, and a seriously exciting one at that.

For example, despite still being just 17 years old, the “future Ballon d’Or winner,” as dubbed by one analyst, scored 16 goals and provided eight assists in 33 appearances, totalling 2409 minutes last season.

That works out to an incredible average of a goal involvement every 1.37 games, or every 100.37 minutes.

Just imagine a forward as dangerous as that competing for a place with Delap ahead of a Pedro who has had a year to get used to life at Stamford Bridge.

Ultimately, it’s still early in his career, but if Satpayev is even half the player many believe him to be, then he could certainly help the former Brighton man reach the creative and goalscoring levels of Palmer in the near future.

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Manchester United have finally found the solution to their goalkeeper issue. Over the last few years, dating back to the end of David de Gea’s final couple of seasons, there were too many errors made by the Red Devils’ shot stoppers.

Andre Onana was signed by Erik ten Hag as De Gea’s replacement, but he constantly struggled, and his long-term number two, Altay Bayndir, also has his frailties.

Onana made five errors leading to a goal in the Premier League and Europa League last term, as per Sofascore, while Bayindir has made two from just ten top-flight outings in total for United.

Thus, the Old Trafford side signed Senne Lammens this summer, who has since gone on to start two games. His debut against Sunderland showed great promise, and he performed well away to Liverpool.

There have been some real standout moments from Lammens so far in just two games.

Lammens’ key moments for United so far

It has been a superb start for Lammens since breaking into the first team at Old Trafford. He kept a clean sheet on debut and managed to keep the likes of Alexander Isak at bay in the hostile atmosphere that is Anfield.

On his debut, he made some big saves. He pushed a well-struck effort from Granit Xhaka wide and did well to narrow the angle on Chemsdine Talbi’s effort, which he promptly saved.

Teammate Mason Mount said he was “solid” on his first start.

His second appearance saw him pull off a few more great saves, but he did something else integral to help United secure a famous Anfield victory. His execution of Ruben Amorim’s game plan was spot on.

Against the Reds, Amorim asked his new goalkeeper to go long when he had the ball. United aimed to win second balls and get at Liverpool, which worked perfectly for Bryan Mbeumo’s opener.

Lammens was pinpoint with his long passing, pulling the Liverpool centre-backs apart and helping United nail a plan which won them the game.

The Belgian has made a huge impression at Old Trafford already. Competition for places could soon be great, with one on-loan United star a player who could really challenge him.

Man Utd loan star can rival Lammens

There are a fair few goalkeepers on United’s books at the moment. Lammens has cemented himself as the number one under Amorim, Bayndir is his backup, and Tom Heaton is the third choice. Onana will return next season, too, as he is only on loan at Trabzonspor.

However, someone who could really force his way into the reckoning is Radek Vitek. The 21-year-old Czech Republic star is currently on loan at Bristol City in the Championship, where he is shining.

He’s played 11 games so far for the Robins and has an impressive record already. He’s only conceded 11 goals in that time, keeping four clean sheets and winning their player of the month award for August.

The United academy star has pulled off some excellent saves, too. This one against Hull City was arguably his best, diving low to his right with cat-like reflexes and tipping it away from goal.

It was a superb piece of athleticism.

The numbers from Vitek’s time in the West Country further highly Vitek’s talent. He has a save percentage of 75% so far in the Championship, and averages 4.3 completed long passes each game, too.

Saves

3

33

Save percentage

75%

75%

Passes completed

14.1

155

Long passes completed

4.3

47

Clean sheets

4

0.4

It will be fascinating to see how Vitek fits in at United. Red Devils correspondent for the Daily Mail, Nathan Salt, said he is “about to rocket” in 2025/26, and it is easy to see why.

It has been an impressive start from the Czech shot-stopper.

Lammens has made a fantastic start to life in Red, but he will have good competition in the next 12 months if these sorts of performances continue. Indeed, with the consistency Vitek is showing this term, there is easily a case to be made that he is even better than the Belgian.

Amorim might one day be in the unenviable position of having to pick between the two. Certainly, Vitek’s form this term will do his United career no harm.

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Folarin Balogun scored his third goal of the season for Monaco as the U.S. men's national team star made his mark in a 5-3 win over Nantes on Wednesday. The goal continues Balogun's strong run of form for the striker, which was headlined by two goals in his last two starts for Mauricio Pochettino and the USMNT.

• AFP
  

  A wild Monaco win

  Balogun's goal was one of eight scored in Wednesday's Ligue 1 clash, including one of three scored in the first half. With the game tied 1-1 heading into halftime, the American, who had missed a chance earlier, broke in all alone and slid a shot under the arm of goalkeeper Anthony Lopes, who was unable to stop the ball with his slide.

  Nantes scored just before halftime, though, to ensure the two sides went into the half level. From there, Monaco scored twice, with via goals from Maghnes Akliouche and Alekander Golovin, only for Nantes to pull one back in the 80th minute. Golovin then put the game to bed in stoppage time, sealing the three points and the 5-3 win.

  In addition to the goal, Balogun also hit the post once in his 73 minutes on the field.

Advertisement

• Imagn
  

  The man in form

  With the goal, Balogun has thre goals in his last six games for club and country, in addition to a September goal against Japan with the USMNT. During the October international window, Balogun scored in the USMNT's 1-1 draw with Ecuador, finishing off a Malik Tillman assist.

  He then came off the bench to score the equalizer against Angers in his first game after the international break. His other Ligue 1 goal came back in August, when he netted in a 3-2 win over Strasbourg in Monaco's second match of the season.

• Getty Images Sport
  

  Pursuing greatness

  Now two and a half years into his USMNT career, Balogun continues to provide evidence as to why he could be the starter at the World Cup. After dealing with injury issues for the first half of 2025, Balogun returned to the U.S. this fall as he pushes towards the big moment next summer.

  "If I keep doing my thing, I'll be fine," Balogun told GOAL during October camp. "The most important thing is getting to the World Cup the right way. It's not even necessarily about the World Cup, it's about entering the tournament with the right state of mind. You need to have confidence in your output over the months building up to the World Cup throughout your season. Because of that, I'm more focused on what I can do in the present. I control what I can control going into the World Cup. That's what will make me better.

  "When you score, you'll get another chance. I'm at a stage and in an industry where I know what I need to do and keep doing. If I play this season and score 30 goals, no surprise, good things will follow."

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• AFP
  

  What comes next?

  Monaco have three more matches left before Balogun, theoretically, joins the USMNT for friendlies against Paraguay and Uruguay in November. Up first is a Ligue 1 match against Paris FC on Saturday before a Champions League trip to face Bodo/Glimt.

  Monaco will then host Lens in their final match before the international break.

Manchester United head coach Ruben Amorim was certainly backed by the board with new recruits to improve the squad during the summer transfer window.

The Premier League giants swooped to add Bryan Mbeumo, Matheus Cunha, and Benjamin Sesko to their attacking ranks to completely transform their front three.

Mbeumo has produced one goal and one assist in seven appearances in the Premier League, per Sofascore, whilst Cunha is still looking for his first goal contribution for the club.

Meanwhile, Sesko has scored two goals in his last two appearances in the top-flight and has scored two goals in four starts in the division since his move from RB Leipzig in the summer.

The Slovenia international will be hoping to kick on from here and prove that he can be a consistent and lethal goalscorer for the Red Devils for many more years to come.

If he can do that, Sesko could be considered to be Amorim’s new Viktor Gyokeres, as the Arsenal striker was such an integral part of the manager’s success with Sporting.

Why Gyokeres was so important to Amorim at Sporting

Amorim won the Liga Portugal title in the 2023/24 campaign after signing the Swedish striker from Coventry City in the summer of 2023, after finishing fourth and second in the two previous seasons.

Gyokeres was so important to the Portuguese manager in that 2023/24 season because his immense performances at the top end of the pitch led Sporting to glory, winning the league title for the first time in three years.

The towering centre-forward was an absolute monster for Sporting. He scored and created goals at an exceptional rate as their number nine after his move from the second tier in England.

Shots on target

58

Top 1%

xG

22.71

Top 1%

xG on target

28.33

Top 1%

Goals

29

Top 1%

xA

6.08

Top 1%

Assists

10

Top 1%

Chances created

54

Top 1%

As you can see in the table above, Gyokeres was the best striker in the division. He ranked at the top of the pile in pretty much every key metric as both a scorer and a creator of goals.

These statistics show that the right-footed forward was incredibly consistent for Amorim, given his output, which is why he was such an important player for the manager.

The Manchester United coach has not had a consistent attacker in that vein at Old Trafford, though, as no player managed more than eight goals in the Premier League last season, per WhoScored.

Whilst Amorim will be hoping that Sesko can be his next Gyokeres, there is a central defender who is becoming the manager’s next version of the striker.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

Netherlands international Matthijs de Ligt may not be a lethal centre-forward who is going to score 30 or 40 goals in a season for the Red Devils, but his consistent performances at the back could make him the linchpin of Amorim’s team moving forward.

Why Matthijs de Ligt could be Ruben Amorim's new Viktor Gyokeres

The best teams in the world are built around top-quality players who deliver consistently impressive performances over the course of a season.

Mohamed Salah at Liverpool. Erling Haaland at Manchester City. Vitinha at PSG. Thibaut Courtois at Real Madrid. Gyokeres during his time at Sporting. The list could go on.

The best teams all have several players who deliver consistently every week, which is what Amorim had with Gyokeres in Portugal, and De Ligt may be starting to show that he can belong in that category of player.

The Netherlands international is a no-nonsense central defender who joined the club from Bayern Munich in the summer of 2024, but it has taken him a bit of time to adjust to the intensity of the Premier League.

Not every player hits the ground running at a new club. Some players need time to adapt to their environment, and it appears as though de Ligt has finally found his feet in England.

Appearances

29

7

Sofascore rating

6.91

7.04

Tackles + interceptions per game

2.1

3.2

Clearances per game

3.1

5.1

Ground duels won per game

1.5

2.6

Aerial duels won per game

2.0

3.6

Ground duel success rate

61%

69%

As you can see in the table above, the former Ajax and Juventus star has stepped up at the start of this season after a fairly average first year in the Premier League with the Red Devils.

His improved ground duel success rate, in particular, suggests that he has adapted to the intensity and physicality of the division, as he is anticipating situations and reacting to danger quicker, which means that the centre-back is winning a higher percentage of his duels on the deck.

Former United star and England international centre-back Rio Ferdinand has noticed the improvement in De Ligt this season, praising the defender last month: “Matthijs de Ligt has been magnificent this season, solid in all departments.

“I think he’s put himself in place to be the first name on the sheet if we go by [Leny] Yoro being a sub at the weekend. De Ligt now looks like the number one choice defender in the team form the manager’s point of view.”

De Ligt has started all seven of his appearances in the Premier League this season, per Sofascore, which backs up Ferdinand’s claim that the Dutchman is the first-choice defender for Amorim at this moment in time.

The 26-year-old star, who still has time left to improve even more, has improved throughout his time at Old Trafford, as evidenced by his aforementioned statistics, and he now looks like a consistent performer who can be relied upon by Amorim.

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That is why De Ligt is on his way to becoming the manager’s new Gyokeres, because he could fall into that bracket of players who deliver consistent performances in successful teams, if he can keep up his current level of performance in the Premier League.

تحدث سامي قمصان المدير الفني للمقاولون العرب، عن فوز فريقه على مودرن سبورت في الدوري المصري الممتاز.

وحقق المقاولون العرب فوزه الأول هذا الموسم على حساب مودرن سبورت بهدفين مقابل هدف، في المباراة التي جمعت بينهما في الجولة الثانية عشر من الدوري الممتاز.

طالع.. المقاولون العرب يُعلن تعيين سامي قمصان مديرًا فنيًا للفريق

وقال قمصان في تصريحات عبر قناة “أون سبورت”: “فوز اليوم جاء في توقيت جيد جدًا بالنسبة لنا، هذا أول فوز لنا منذ حوالي 11 مباراة”.

وأضاف: “فريق المقاولون كبير ويمتلك تاريخًا كبيرًا، وهو أكثر فريق بعد الأهلي والزمالك يمتلك بطولات”.

وتابع: “كان من المهم عودة الثقة للاعبين، والمباراة الماضية لم يحالفنا التوفيق، لكن الحمد لله ربنا أكرمنا اليوم”.

وواصل: “كانت لدينا فترات كبيرة طول المباراة كنا فيها الأفضل، وعندنا ثقة كبيرة في اللاعبين، وأضعنا أهدافًا كثيرة، وأعتقد أنها كانت ممكن تحسم المباراة مبكرًا، لكن في النهاية أشكرهم على الجهد”.

واختتم: “لاعبو الفريق كانوا يلعبون تحت ضغط عصبي كبير، من أجل عودة الثقة والانتصارات وعودة الفريق لمكانه الطبيعي”.

MatériaMais Notícias

O volante Léo Naldi voltou a participar de uma partida com a camisa da Ponte Preta após ficar quatro jogos longe dos gramados por conta de uma lesão dupla no músculo posterior da coxa. Na partida diante do Juventude, Naldi completou 29 jogos pela Macaca e superou a marca de jogos jogos realizados em sua primeira temporada com a camisa da equipe alvinegra, em 2021, quando realizou 27 partidas em toda a temporada.

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A meta agora do volante é superar a marca de jogos realizado na temporada passada: 46 no total. Para que isso aconteça, o volante precisa participar de 19 jogos dos 21 restantes da Macaca na temporada e o foco é justamente esse, retomar a posição e voltar ajudar a Ponte Preta dentro de campo, assim como aconteceu na partida diante do Ju.

– Fico feliz em voltar atuar, principalmente, estou muito agradecido ao Deepartamento Médico, aos meus fisioterapeutas particulares e a todos que me ajudaram, agora quero pensar em bater essa marca e ajudar a Ponte – afirmou.

Naldi também estabeleceu uma meta ainda mais ousada, em sua primeira temporada, o volante marcou 5 gols, em 2022, apenas um e, até aqui, balançou a rede duas vezes, o volante planeja também atingir a meta de gols marcados e superar sua primeira temporada.

– Gols é uma coisa que eu me cobro bastante então espero poder novamente voltar a balançar as redes e quem sabe bater o número também para ajudar dentro de campo – explicou.

Se por um lado, em 2022, Naldi balançou as redes menos vezes, por outro lado, foi o ano em que mais deu assistências, foram cinco no totais, e o jogador que também melhorar no quesito. Neste ano, Naldi deu apenas uma assistência e quer melhorar no fundamento para ajudar a alvinegra.

– As assistências também tem saído, fico muito feliz de ajudar também nesse quesito e, se daqui pra frente, puder evoluir nisso também, vou conseguir evoluir meu desempenho e isso é bom – explicou.

INTERESSE
Com contrato com a Macaca até 2025, o volante despertou muito interesse de diversos clubes durante os últimos tempos. Vasco, Botafogo, Fortaleza e clubes do exterior consultaram a situação do jogador junto a Ponte Preta, entretanto a Macaca fez jogo duro para liberar o jogador e pediu o valor integral da multa para liberar o jogador.

De volta aos gramados e, com tudo para retomar o bom momento, a situação nesta janela deve se repetir e a Macaca deve sofrer outras investidas pelo volante que se destaca há pelo menos três temporadas defendendo as cores da equipedeCampinas.

MatériaMais Notícias

O futuro de Luís Castro ainda não está decidido. O treinador comandou um treinamento na manhã desta terça-feira (27) e depois se reuniu com John Textor para tratar sobre assuntos do clube. O técnico afirmou que está focado no jogo do Botafogo na Sul-Americana e só deve dar um posicionamento oficial depois da partida de quinta-feira (29). A informação foi publicada primeiramente pelo “O Globo”.

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O comandante tem demonstrado muita maturidade e tranquilidade com esta situação. O LANCE! conversou com fontes de dentro do clube, que relataram não ter existido nenhuma mudança de humor ou comportamento do treinador nos últimos dias. O interesse do Al-Nassr, pelo menos por enquanto, não tem interferido no trabalho do técnico no Glorioso.

+ Corinthians encaminha venda de joia, “novela” Luís Castro ganha novo capítulo… o Dia do Mercado!

+ Com proposta do Al-Nassr na mesa, Luís Castro comanda treino normalmente no Botafogo

A proposta do Al-Nassr existe e tem balançado Luís Castro. Além dos valores, os familiares do português também enxergam com bons olhos uma ida para Arábia. O Botafogo quer oferecer uma renovação de contrato e uma valorização salarial para tentar convencê-lo de ficar.

+ Até 50% OFF em produtos Alvinegros para os torcedores fanáticos!

Muitos torcedores alvinegros torcem pela continuidade do trabalho e têm realizado campanha nas redes sociais pedindo pela permanência de Luís Castro. O Botafogo é o líder do Brasileirão e vive um momento especial na temporada.

Sunderland now have two home games on the bounce to try and restore the confidence that saw the Black Cats hammer West Ham United 3-0 on the Premier League opening day.

While it likely isn’t a priority competition this season, winning in the EFL Cup against Huddersfield Town later today would come as a welcome treat after losing 2-0 away at Burnley, before a home clash with Jordan Henderson’s Brentford then awaits back in the hustle and bustle of league action.

After the Bees come to Wearside, the next main event on the agenda will be transfer deadline day, with Sunderland not yet done with all their busy activity heading into the chaotic affair.

Sunderland ready to bid for £30m defender

A mammoth £141.5m has already been splashed by Regis Le Bris and Co. this summer.

However, the Black Cats are not completely finished forking out excessive wads of money if new rumours are to be believed, with £30m potentially being spent to try and land RC Strasbourg star Dilane Bakwa, who was previously on Leeds United’s radar.

Moreover, a similar amount of cash could also leave the Sunderland bank account shortly in attempting to land Chelsea reserve defender Axel Disasi.

Indeed, journalist Fabrice Hawkins has taken to X to confirm that the Premier League newcomers are ready to place a bid for the 27-year-old’s services to shore up their options in the centre-back department, with AFC Bournemouth also in the race for the Frenchman.

He could well cost another £30m to get over the line, according to reports, but with Sunderland now waiting on the extent of Daniel Ballard’s injury, after he hobbled off versus the Clarets, snapping up Disasi might well gift Le Bris a dream alternative to the injury-prone centre-back.

How Disasi compares to Ballard

It’s hardly a new development for Sunderland fans regarding Ballard going down with a knock.

Therefore, the alarm bells must have been ringing when the Northern Ireland international had to come off the pitch at Turf Moor after just 10 minutes, considering he has missed 67 clashes in total – since joining Sunderland back in 2022 – due to regular visits to the Stadium of Light treatment room.

This is where the addition of the “dominant” Disasi could come in handy, as he’s been labelled previously by scout Jacek Kulig, with the lofty 6-foot-3 defender showing off an ability to fire home chances – much like Ballard with his seven Black Cats goals and counting – when being in the right place at the right time to slot home this effort on his Blues debut two years ago.

He is also similar to the much-loved Sunderland servant in many other aspects of his varied game, as evident in his promising 2023/24 season in West London.

Games played

31

Goals scored

2

Assists

0

Touches*

82.1

Accurate passes*

64.3 (91%)

Ball recoveries*

4.8

Clearances*

3.1

Total duels won*

4.3

Clean sheets

5

Before somewhat sliding down the pecking order at Chelsea under Enzo Maresca, Disasi was a regular in the heart of the Stamford Bridge defence, and for good reason, with a composed 64.3 accurate passes averaged in league action during his first season in the first-team fold. Ballard averaged an 88% pass accuracy himself last campaign in the Championship, when he wasn’t stricken by injury.

Moreover, the table shows why Disasi was referred to as a “monster” by journalist Rahman Osman during his Blues peak, with a high 4.3 duels won on average across his 31 league starts.

Ballard did just better this tally last season in the demanding second tier – with 4.6 won on average – but Le Bris will know he can depend on the 27-year-old to come in and fill in for the ex-Arsenal defender if needed.

After all, while he didn’t set the world alight out on loan at Aston Villa last campaign, he did at least prove himself to be a useful utility option for Unai Emery, with 100% of his duels being won against Nottingham Forest during his penultimate Premier League outing at Villa Park.

Ideally, Sunderland will want Ballard to be fit and starting week in, week out, having already been a star in the top-flight when scoring versus West Ham.

But, if Disasi is available at the last minute, he might well be a smart buy to pursue to lessen the Black Cats’ ongoing worries about their fragile number five.

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“There’s definitely not panic stations in our change rooms,” Boland says of the mood in the camp after the Perth reversal

Alagappan Muthu30-Nov-2024

Scott Boland gets his cap from Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese•Getty Images

Even as the Perth Test was coming to a close, some of Australia’s reserves had begun training for the day-night Test in Adelaide. That might come in handy now, especially for Scott Boland, as he contended with the first day of the practice game between the Prime Minister’s XI and the Indians struggling to get underway. Boland, who got the call about Josh Hazlewood’s side strain “a couple of days ago”, is favourite to make the XI in Adelaide next Friday and play his first Test since the early part of the Ashes in July 2023.”Obviously I haven’t played a heap of cricket in the start of this season, but I feel like I’ve played enough cricket to feel like I’m in a really good spot,” he said on Saturday afternoon. “My body’s feeling really good now. I had a couple of niggles that were a little bit sore, but knee and foot are feeling really good and I’m confident how the ball’s coming out.”Our last net session in Perth was for me and Josh Inglis, we went pink ball for quite a few overs. So getting it in the hand then and then obviously the overs we can get in probably tomorrow by the look of this weather will be valuable as well. Then Adelaide on Monday, then just a normal prep before a game. So have a good bowl two days before the game and then just prepare to play.”Related

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Australia’s defeat in Perth has set off alarms on the outside – their top-order batters folded pretty quickly in both innings and the bowling was unable to stop India from piling on the runs the second time around. While Boland admitted a need to go back to the drawing board, he said they wouldn’t be making wholesale changes.”There’s definitely not panic stations in our change rooms,” he said. “There’s obviously going to be some chats around individual performances and everyone wants to perform really well every game they play. But yeah, it’s like, we’ve lost one game. It’s not toys out of the cot, I don’t think.”We’ve spoken as a team about our plans for all the different Indian batters. I won’t tell you those, but we’ve got pretty set plans. They might have a little bit of a tweak after the guys have seen them again from Perth, because obviously [Yashasvi] Jaiswal batted really well there. KL Rahul batted well in the second dig as well and really digged in. So we’ll probably have a chat over the next week and our plans might slightly change, but I’m pretty confident what we did in the first games was good.”There was also a suggestion that the workload Australia’s bowlers had to get through made a difference in the outcome of the Perth Test. “I think our bowlers bowled really well as well,” Boland said. “Maybe the only difference was that the Indian bowlers got a really nice long break between their first innings and second innings where our break wasn’t as long.”‘Probably thought maybe the opportunity had passed’The last 15 months have been frustrating for Boland, kept on standby for Pat Cummins, Mitchell Starc and Hazlewood all through the summer, and then suffering an injury in the winter, which cut his county cricket stint at Durham down from four months to just one day.There aren’t many teams that are unable to fit in a fast bowler capable of holding a line and length all day long. Boland averages 20.34 from ten Test matches – but those ten Test matches are only a fraction of what Australia have played (31) in the time since his debut in December 2021.”Obviously those guys [the big three Australia quicks] have been so resilient, they don’t miss too many and no one must give up their spot at any stage,” Boland said. “And they’re so dominant, so last summer they weren’t bowling a heap of overs, but we’re still able to win most of those games.”So yeah, I probably thought maybe the opportunity had passed, but I’ve worked really hard in the off-season to get my body in a spot where I’m confident that if I get another chance I’ll be able to perform it for Australia again.”I just knew if I put the conversations I had with Ron [Andrew McDonald, the head coach] and George [Bailey, the chief selector] over the pre-season – when I was rehabbing a lot was to try and get my body in the right spot – that I didn’t want to rush anything and then re-injure something and then push my return to play back date a while. So we took it pretty slow with my rehab.”Boland’s run-in to the Border-Gavaskar Trophy included a Sheffield Shield game, where he took 3 for 104, and the Australia A vs India A game, where he took 1 for 87 across two innings.”Played the second game for Victoria and then I’ve missed a couple and then played the ‘A’ game. So I’ve had a pretty good prep and then now it’s just about building up, getting the intensity up in this game here and then in the night sessions as well before Adelaide.”Pink-ball rhythmsBoland’s primary skill – getting the ball to nip off the seam – lends itself to pink-ball cricket, especially when conditions start to turn really helpful as day goes to night. He averages 13.71 from two day-night Tests.”Usually there can be two different games in the one game,” he said. “You can bowl during the day when the sun’s out and it doesn’t do a whole lot, and then you get to the night session and the ball starts moving around a bit. So I think it’s just for the bowlers, we just communicate really well together about what the ball is doing and how the pitch is playing and then just sort of flicking between those modes as quick as you can.”Strategy can sometimes be shaped by the pink ball as well. “I feel like the teams that bat first can sort of time when they want to bowl, if they bat really well on their first day, because if you get a newish ball at night, it can be pretty lethal,” Boland said. “If batters are coming in, they’ve batted through the daytime, they get through to the night session. I think it’s been a couple of instances where the ball hasn’t dominated the bat. I think maybe last year at the Gabba [against West Indies] we took the new ball and didn’t get as many wickets as what we would have hoped in that night session.”But now back to Adelaide, I think they produce a really good cricket wicket that really suits the pink ball and helps it last a bit longer because it does get a little bit softer after 30, 40 overs compared to a red ball.”