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Martin O’Neill’s time in charge of Celtic couldn’t have gone much better really.

The legendary manager saw his beat their Old Firm rivals, reach a cup final and draw level with Hearts at the top of the SPFL table.

It took the Hoops a while to find their new manager but they finally have their man in the form of Wilfried Nancy who arrives following a stint in MLS.

That said, for those at Parkhead, chiefly Liam Scales, he’s not had much time to think about what could be in store under the new boss.

Scales preparing for new era at Celtic

Republic of Ireland international Scales was asked after the 1-0 victory over Dundee on Wednesday evening whether he had been doing his research on the 48-year-old Nancy.

“No, I haven’t had time,” the defender said. “It’s been so busy. Obviously we know bits and pieces but we can’t get ahead of ourselves. We need to focus on the games that we have and now is the time where we’re going to have to really focus on the tactical changes and whatever he wants us to do.

“It’s hard to do homework on someone you’ve never met because you don’t want to create a false idea of them. It’s better just to wait and really learn from them in person.”

Nancy arrives ahead of a crucial run of games. Celtic will go top of the Premiership if they beat Hearts on Sunday before facing St Mirren in the League Cup final a week later.

“It doesn’t get much bigger than the week he has come in. It’s probably ideal. You want to come in and be part of massive games and he has a chance to win a trophy early on.

“If you come in and do well over the next three games, it’s the best way you can start a job. We’ll be doing our best to make that happen for him because we want to be successful as a team.”

Scales could be set for new role under Nancy

Scales was in excellent form under O’Neill, notably hailed as Celtic’s “player of the year” by some. Evidently, he thoroughly enjoyed his time with the interim manager in the dugout.

The defender said of O’Neill: “He’s been really good. It’s been a positive four weeks or five weeks. We’ve won a lot of games. We’ve obviously won a cup semi-final and won an away game in Europe as well. They were big wins. It’s just been really enjoyable and positive.

“In the game now, the defenders are on the ball a lot and you need to link play. But to go back to basics and just be told that you need to win your headers, you need to win your duels, I’ll keep that with me.”

Whether the centre-back continues his form remains to be seen. After all, Scales could be set for a modified role given Nancy’s preference for a back three. “I’ve played in back threes, I’ve played in back fives, I’ve played in back fours. I just want to be in the team. That’s all I care about.”

Better than Maeda: Celtic star is going to be undroppable under Nancy

This Celtic star who was even better than Daizen Maeda against Dundee should be Wilfried Nancy’s first undroppable star.

1 ByDan Emery Dec 4, 2025

And does Angelo Mathews hold the record for the most Tests played at a single venue?

Steven Lynch24-Jun-2025Tharindu Rathnayake picked up three wickets in the first innings of his Test debut – two with offspin, the other with his left arm. Is this the first time anyone has done this in a Test? asked Divy Tripathi from India

The versatile Sri Lankan spinner Tharindu Rathnayake marked the first innings of his debut, against Bangladesh in Galle last week, with three wickets. The first two – left-handers Shadman Islam and Mominul Haque – came with offbreaks, but Rathnayake often changes his bowling style when faced with right-handers so his fingerspin still turns away from them… and he disposed of Litton Das while bowling orthodox left-arm spin. In the second innings he again dismissed Mominul with an offbreak, then Liton and Jaker Ali with his left arm.It seems certain that this feat is unique in Test cricket: we don’t know how some bowlers delivered, but I’m sure that someone changing mid-stream and having any success would have been commented on and we’d have known about it! The only men I’m aware of who have even bowled with both right and left hand in Tests are Pakistan’s Hanif Mohammad (it seems he had switched to slow left-arm at the end of Garry Sobers’ then-record 365 not out in Kingston in 1958) and Graham Gooch of England, who enlivened the closing stages of a drawn Test in Calcutta in 1982 with some bowling impersonations, including at least one ball delivered with his left hand. Neither of them took a wicket with their “wrong” arm, though. Rathnayake’s Sri Lankan team-mate Kamindu Mendis has occasionally bowled left-arm in first-class cricket, but his three Test wickets to date all came with right-handed offbreaks.Karun Nair returned to India’s Test side at Headingley after missing 77 matches. Was this a record? asked Vinesh Maharajan from India

Karun Nair reappeared for India in the first Test against England at Headingley after missing his country’s previous 77 five-day matches. He’s quite high on the list, but not at the top: the Indian record-holder is the left-arm seamer Jaydev Unadkat, who missed 116 successive Tests between his debut, against South Africa in Centurion in December 2010, and the second of his four caps, against Bangladesh in Mirpur in December 2022. Two Indian wicketkeepers also missed more Tests than Nair: Dinesh Karthik 87 between January 2010 and June 2018, and Parthiv Patel 83 between August 2008 and November 2016.The only man from anywhere with a bigger gap than Unadkat is the England offspinner Gareth Batty, who missed no fewer than 142 Test matches between June 2005 and October 2016, when he was recalled at 39 to face Bangladesh in Chattogram.Angelo Mathews, who just retired, played his 34th Test match at Galle. Was this a record? asked Mohan de Silva from Sri Lanka

That’s a good spot, as I hadn’t seen it mentioned anywhere: Angelo Mathews played 34 Tests in Galle, which is indeed the record for a single venue. Next at the moment is Jimmy Anderson, who played 29 Tests at Lord’s, while his long-time new-ball partner Stuart Broad had 28 matches there.Mahela Jayawardene played 27 Tests at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo (his home ground), while Mushfiqur Rahim is likely to add to his current total of 27 at the Shere Bangla Stadium in Mirpur. Mushfiqur recently became only the 19th player to extend his Test career beyond 20 years.No other player has played as many Tests at a single venue than Angelo Mathew’s 34 in Galle•AFP/Getty ImagesWho holds the record for taking the most Test wickets at home before taking his first wicket abroad? asked SM Nazmus Shakib from Bangladesh

That’s an unusual question – and the answer is an unusual character: the South African medium-pacer Jimmy Blanckenberg, who took 56 wickets in 13 home Tests on the matting pitches used there at the time. He then toured England in 1924 with less success, taking just four wickets in the five-Test series. After this Blanckenberg had several seasons in the Lancashire League, although he also ran into controversy there, apparently refusing to shake the hand of the black West Indian allrounder Learie Constantine. After his stint in the leagues Blanckenberg rather disappeared from view, and his death details have never been discovered, although there’s a theory that he passed away in Berlin in 1955. If any historians out there have more details, do let me know!The Middlesex legspinner Walter Robins took 52 Test wickets in England before finally claiming one overseas, in Australia in 1936-37, while fast bowler Rodney Hogg picked up 51 in Australia – including 41 in his maiden Ashes series in 1978-79 – before touring India the following season, when his first scalp was that of Sunil Gavaskar.Turning the question around, Jasprit Bumrah collected 79 wickets overseas before finally taking one in India. That’s the record, unless you include the legspinner Yasir Shah: he took 207 wickets before finally taking one in Pakistan, but that included several in “home” Tests in the UAE and elsewhere while security concerns precluded matches in Pakistan.In the World Test Championship final, Aiden Markram scored the only century of the match in the fourth innings. How often has this happened in a Test? asked Dylan McKenzie from South Africa

That superb 136 from the South African opener Aiden Markram, which did much to decide the destiny of the World Test Championship mace, was indeed the only century of the final at Lord’s. It’s a relatively rare occurrence: this was the 39th Test match in which the only century was scored in the fourth innings. Markram had done it before – also against Australia, in Durban in 2018 (the Aussies still won that one, though).Markram is one of only three men to do this twice, the others being fellow openers David Warner and Dimuth Karunaratne. But Sri Lanka’s Mahela Jayawardene uniquely scored the only century of a Test in the fourth innings on three occasions: against South Africa in Colombo in 2000 and also at the Sinhalese Sports Club in 2006, and against Australia in Galle in 2011.The first such instance was by Australia’s Joe Darling, whose fourth-innings 160 was the only century of the match against England in Sydney in March 1898. There were only 17 further cases in the 20th century, but 21 since 2000.Shiva Jayaraman of ESPNcricinfo’s stats team helped with some of the above answers.Use our feedback form, or the Ask Steven Facebook page to ask your stats and trivia questions

MatériaMais Notícias

O jogo-treino entre Santos e Corinthians, marcado para sexta-feira (22), na Vila Belmiro, foi cancelado. A delegação do Timão ficou presa na Via Anchieta por conta de um grave acidente que bloqueou a passagem na rodovia e inviabilizou a descida da serra. A partida seria disputada em quatro tempos de 30 minutos.

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O ônibus com os jogadores e comissão técnica do Corinthians está voltando para o CT Joaquim Grava, e permanecerá concentrado para o treino de sábado, no período da manhã.

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O Santos segue a preparação para enfrentar o Red Bull Bragantino. O duelo, válido pela semifinal do Paulistão, será disputado na quarta-feira (27), às 20h30, na Neo Química Arena, casa do Timão. Caso avance, o Santos enfrenta o vencedor de Palmeiras e Novorizontino na final do estadual.

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Eliminado na fase de grupos do Paulistão, o Corinthians segue em busca de equipes para disputar amistosos durante a Data Fifa. A equipe de António Oliveira volta a campo no dia 2 de abril, contra o Racing (URU), pela primeira rodada da fase de grupos da Copa Sul-Americana.

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Haydos in the altogether at the MCG: you didn’t hear it here first

Alan Gardner16-Sep-2025The ECB has tried calling it “Super September”, which the Light Roller understands is short for “Super Sopper September” – and South Africa’s autumnal return to England, three months on from winning the World Test Championship, became a predictable shemozzle, with two rain-wrecked T20Is sandwiching a deluge of a different kind, as England pongo-ed their way to 300 in Manchester.South Africa managed to concede 400 during the ODI series too – having achieved the same in Australia last month (though it’s fair to note that they had already won the series on both occasions). At least you could say they are consistent. Such are the convolutions of the schedule that we would forgive the bowlers for not knowing which team jersey they should be wearing, never mind what format they’re playing or what lengths to hit.In England and Wales, getting back to bilateral internationals, as well as the culmination of a host of county competitions, was sort of comforting – dreary weather included – after a month of the Hundred, during which the game’s global T20 overlords descended en masse. Did the Teen Tech Titans have fun playing with their new toys at Lord’s? We can only hope they did, after buying up the prime chunk of summer.On the subject of the calendar, ECB chair, Richard Thompson, tried speaking truth to power (i.e. himself). “Cricket arguably does play too much,” Thompson told the BBC. “We’re the only sport to have a World Cup every year, which I personally think is too much.” Now, that might sound like far too sensible an opinion for a cricket administrator to espouse, but don’t get carried away.Asked about the fact the ECB had squeezed the Hundred into such a small window that it started the day after the conclusion of the Test series against India, and finished less than 48 hours before an ODI against South Africa, Thompson said change would have to wait until the end of the current broadcast deal in 2028. “So we’re only three years away from being able to ensure there is a gap at the beginning and end of that period.” Just three more years, lads, then you can have a proper rest! It’ll still be raining in September, though.

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The Ashes are coming (you may have noticed), and that means all sorts of nonsense leaking into the discourse. But – and we sincerely apologise for bringing this to your attention if you were otherwise unaware – new levels of WT-actual-F were reached by Matthew Hayden’s contribution on the subject of whether Joe Root, now the second-leading Test run-scorer of all time, would get into an Ashes XI. Regarding the absence of a century on Australia soil from his CV, Hayden declared: “I’ll walk nude around the MCG if he doesn’t get a hundred this summer.” And it doesn’t matter if Haydos does eventually do the walk of shame dressed only in his Stetson or not, you now have that image in your head regardless.

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“Wait, eco-warrior means you’re fighting the ecosystem, right? Right?”•Matt Lewis/ECB via Getty ImagesAdam Zampa loves the environment. He loves animals (he’s a vegan), he loves sustainability. But he also loves the Hundred, as he said midway through a 34,000 km round trip to play in the men’s final for Oval Invincibles: “I absolutely love this comp, it’s my favourite one. I’ve loved playing for this team over the last couple of years of being involved.” Zampa duly bowled his 20 balls and helped Invincibles lift a third consecutive title, after which he hopped on the plane – presumably returning to his Byron Bay farmhouse, where the focus is on promoting native flora and fauna, growing their own food, and learning about “the ways in which we can help our impact on the eco-system”. Presumably one of those lessons being: if you can’t source your legspinners locally, it’s okay to fly them in from the other side of the world for one game.

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As anyone who has followed the sport for a period of time knows, cricket is more about talking than doing. There’s very little doing at any one time – often only two, maybe three or four, of the 13 people involved on the field – but usually lots of talking about it among those looking on. Or not talking about it, but rather discussing the weather, the food, the pigeons, or the regular appearances of the No. 32 bus over the shoulder of fine leg. So it’s fitting that attempts to refine and reduce the structure of the County Championship, after five months of discussion, look very much like boiling down to: it’s completely unworkable, but too hard to agree on change… so shall we just do the same again next year?

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It was bold, it was risky, it was trying to get ahead of the game… it was precisely none of the things that their opening partnership for Pakistan was famous for. And it probably needed an outsider of the calm, measured character of Mike Hesson to pull the T20I plug on Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan. It’s not about agendas or personal shortcomings, he said, just a simple question of strike rates. Data, guys. Look at the data. And then, y’know, obviously, he had to sit back and watch his bold, risky, ahead-of-the-game move result in Pakistan scoring at 0.35 above a run-a-ball after choosing to bat first in their defeat to India. Good try, Mike. But Pakistan’s gonna Pakistan.

New white-ball captain prepares to turn team’s results around in first assignment at the helm

Vithushan Ehantharajah28-May-2025During last year’s men’s Hundred, Harry Brook received a light-hearted but necessary reprimand from Sky Sports commentator Mel Jones.Brook, in his first season as captain of Northern Superchargers – his first leadership role in professional cricket – had made a habit of forgetting team news. On one occasion, Jones offered some polite advice: “Come on Harry, you need to get better at this – you’re going to do a lot more of them!”On Wednesday in Birmingham, in Brook’s first pre-match press conference as white-ball captain, he flexed his improvement, running through the XI for Thursday’s series opener against West Indies. Barring a momentary hesitation when moving from the middle order into the tail – “Bethell six… Jacks seven… ermmm… Overton eight” – a full team, in order, was read off the dome.Granted, this is the least you’d expect from an England captain in a sport so beholden to detail. But the bar is on the floor as far as English white-ball cricket goes. Every win, no matter how menial, should be savoured.Related

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Even more so on the field. Three poor global outings, an ODI record of 13 lost out of the last 17 – seven of them in a row – and the loose threat of not qualifying for the 2027 ODI World Cup mean the issues of the last era hang over this group. The first job of any new leadership team is to fix previous mistakes.And yet, arguably the biggest part of the last regime remains integral to this revamp. Jos Buttler’s part in the solutions to the problems he failed to avoid has him back in his most comfortable position behind the stumps. He has not kept in ODIs since 2023’s tour of West Indies, though he did marshal from that position during last summer’s T20 World Cup.”I think Jos is the best white-ball batter in the world,” crowed Brook. Whether that remains true, the fact is his numbers bear out that he is a better player with the gloves and without the captaincy, in every metric. His work with Gujarat Titans – “he’s been banging it in the IPL,” – is further testament to this particular combination of keeping without wider responsibility.Buttler was not at Edgbaston on Wednesday, another perk of being unburden by captaincy meaning he can lean on the fact sessions are optional. Having trained on Tuesday, Buttler opted for an extra night at home having only just arrived back from India at the start of the week.Both Jacob Bethell and Will Jacks got back to the UK in the last 48 hours, which is far from ideal but with them comes the variation in the slow-bowling department which was absent during the Champions Trophy and high on the wish list when Brook had his initial conversations with managing director Rob Key. Bethell’s return comes after injury, and as such is as you were. But Jacks’ – high-class and under-utilised – is a nod to doing things differently.Jamie Smith as an opener that straddles both camps, as a newer take on an old thought. An inkling head coach Brendon McCullum had during the Champions Trophy – where Smith averaged 8 at No.3 – that moving further up the order might suit him better. Pushing Smith towards the danger which, in this case, seems to be the new ball.”He [McCullum] actually said it in Pakistan to me, and a few lads… he just had this burning desire (sic) that Smudge could be an amazing opening batter in one-day cricket. So, we’re giving it a crack and see how he goes, hopefully he does well.”The travails at first drop against the white ball highlight the punt being taken. Smith’s professional opening experience amounts to 22 T20 and three first-class innings. Set against his success down at No.7 in Test cricket, and the fact a swap with Jacks, who is actually an opener, puts players in more familiar roles – it seems a peculiar move. But, crucially, a positive one in the minds of a captain, coach and management set-up who cannot quite fathom why a bunch of undoubtedly talented players have been in such a funk.The group will be challenged early on under Brook, as is his wont, and the loose promise to England’s new skipper at this juncture he will be afforded his full wares for each series. And while that is clearly at odds with the lay of the land, notably limited overs tours of New Zealand and Sri Lanka that sandwich the Ashes, patient improvement is the name of the game. Returning to those glory days set in motion by Eoin Morgan will take time.Nevertheless, West Indies arrive respectfully wary of their hosts for that recent history. Shai Hope had no problem lauding England as trend-buckers while also reiterating they are not here simply to be a character in someone else’s story. Indeed, they have their own redemption having missed 2023s ODI World Cup altogether. Now ninth in the ICC rankings, three points behind England, automatic passage to 2027’s edition is far from guaranteed.”As a opposition coming in to play against them, you certainly want to showcase your best skills because they kind of set the benchmark of one-day cricket,” Hope said.”But again, I’m not going to focus too much on what they’ve done in the past. I know they’re going to be looking at us as trying to start their new winning streak. It’s within our power to make sure that we don’t let it happen.”

New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone is probably feeling pretty satisfied with his decision to start Cody Bellinger in left field during Sunday's Subway Series showdown against the New York Mets.

With Jasson Dominguez getting the day off, Bellinger took over in left field on Sunday and ended up making one of the most crucial plays of the game during the seventh inning.

With one man on and no outs in the inning, Juan Soto sent a blooper towards left field. Bellinger charged in on it and reached all the way down in order to pluck the ball out of the air just before it hit the ground. He then turned and fired it in to first base, where Paul Goldschmidt made a catch to double off Francisco Lindor.

That ball was centimeters away from dropping for a hit, and it could potentially have gotten past Bellinger and rolled all the way to the wall had he not made the extremely narrow catch.

Have a look at the web gem double play:

Failing to make that catch would've resulted in Lindor likely scoring and Soto getting on base with Pete Alonso due up. That's not a situation fans would be optimistic about given the recent struggles of the Yankees bullpen.

New York was able to get out of the inning unscathed and maintain their two-run lead heading into the eighth.

The visitors batted much better second time around but still faced defeat against Australia A

AAP07-Dec-2025

England’s Jacob Bethell staked his claim for an Ashes recall after fighting hard in the clash with Australia A in Brisbane.As his England team-mates slipped 2-0 down at the Gabba, Bethell crafted 71 in England Lions’ second innings at nearby Allan Border Field on Sunday.Related

England sink to another low as Lions thrashed by Australia A

Richardson stands out with four wickets as England Lions collapse

McSweeney pushes Test recall case with double century

Bethell last played a Test in August when England lost a thrilling match at The Oval against India. But with questions surrounding Ollie Pope’s future as England’s No.3, he will be pushing to be recalled for the third Test at the Adelaide Oval on December 17.Bethell is averaging 38.71 from his four Tests for England after debuting late last year against New Zealand.The Lions got to 274 for 6 in their second innings at stumps on day three, still trailing Australia A by 148.After slumping to 29 for 3, England’s second XI recovered through Bethell and fellow rising starAsa Tribe. The pair put on a 169-run stand for the fourth wicket, with Tribe reaching his third first-class century.Tribe, who has five ODI and 26 T20I caps for Jersey, was able to survive Australia A’s dangerous bowling attack featuring Jhye Richardson, Xavier Bartlett, Fergus O’Neill, Beau Webster and Todd Murphy.Victorian seamer O’Neill was the pick of the bowlers in the second innings, taking 4 for 53 from 17 overs.Australia A declared at 588 for 8 early on Sunday, after captain Nathan McSweeney’s career-best knock of 226 not out.

Mohammad Naim had posted a reaction after he and a few other Bangladesh players were abused by some fans at the Dhaka airport on Wednesday

Mohammad Isam17-Oct-2025Phil Simmons has urged the Bangladesh players to refrain from posting on their social media handles. This in the wake of Mohammad Naim posting a reaction after he and a few other team members were abused by some fans at the Dhaka airport on Wednesday upon their return from the UAE following the series against Afghanistan, where they won the T20Is 3-0 but lost the ODIs by the same margin.”I don’t agree with players having anything to do with social media,” Simmons said at a press conference a day out from the ODI series against West Indies. “It is your right as a person to be on social media, to say what you want on social media. But as an international player, as a national player for Bangladesh, my players should not be on there.”Naim was part of a group of players that came face to face with some individuals at the airport. Separate footage also showed Taskin Ahmed and his family facing similar abuse from fans.Related

• Patience running thin amid Bangladesh's batting gloom

Bangladesh’s cricketers quite regularly post on Facebook, which has been a topic of discussion in the BCB and among the team management for many years. It is, however, not clear if the board has spoken to the players on the matter or imposed any restrictions on their online presence.Simmons was also critical of fans racially abusing Jaker Ali, as has been reported at some cricket grounds and is regularly seen on social media.”I would say one thing, it is not nice to bring racial tones into anything to do with players,” Simmons said. “I don’t care where you’re from, the racial part of it against Jaker Ali I am disgusted with. That’s not nice. But I don’t want my players answering anything on social media.”Mohammad Salahuddin, the Comilla Victorians head coach, had in fact referred to the matter at a BPL press conference last year, pointing to that as the reason for Victorians player Jaker’s non-selection to the Bangladesh team.”The boy is black, which is why the board doesn’t see him,” Salahuddin had said in February 2024. “He is playing well in the last few years. His strike rate has helped us as he scores important runs. He is a sensible cricketer. I think he should get a chance.”Jaker had made his international debut in October 2023, but has become a regular in the team more recently.Although Salahuddin’s statement in support of Jaker, he faced backlash for his choice of words. When told about this after Friday’s press conference, Simmons admitted that he was aware of Salahuddin’s 2024 statement.

James Maddison dressed his eldest son, Leo, up in a Jude Bellingham Real Madrid kit. In a pair of wholesome snapshots taken at home, Maddison's boy throws his arms wide in pure, unfiltered delight while wearing a blue Real Madrid third strip, complete with the midfielder’s name and the iconic No.5 plastered across the back.

• A kit rooted in history

  The shirt Maddison’s son proudly wears is Real Madrid’s 2025-26 third strip. It arrives in a luxurious shade of blue, decorated with clean white accents that mirror the freshly installed seating at the renovated Bernabeu. The fabric itself carries subtle contours that mimic the stadium’s interior, a quiet tribute woven directly into the garment. Inside the collar rests a sentence etched into Madrid folklore: "90 minuti en el Bernabeu son molto longo." Those words, spoken by club legend Juanito to an Inter defender during the 1984–85 UEFA Cup semi-final, serve as a warning to opponents: "90 minutes in the Bernabeu feels like a lifetime."

  The colour calls back to the 2013–14 season, the year Real Madrid clinched La Decima, their historic 10th European crown. It is a kit steeped in heritage, and now, thanks to Maddison’s son Leo, it has already found one of its most enthusiastic ambassadors.

  Maddison added a mischievous caption to the images: "Wise choice, son." While Bellingham reposted the story in his account and wrote: "Leooo😍💙".

  @madders Instagram

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• Bellingham’s England story takes another twist

  While Maddison’s social-media moment was light-hearted, Bellingham’s recent weeks with the national team have felt more intense. The Madrid midfielder was left out of England’s October plans while recovering from shoulder surgery, a spell that allowed speculation around his temperament to bubble up again as Thomas Tuchel seeks to build a harmonious squad ahead of the 2026 World Cup. Tuchel eventually restored him to the team for November’s fixtures against Serbia and Albania. Bellingham started the second of those matches but left without the shirt he wore, having swapped it with Inter defender Kristjan Asllani as he walked off the pitch. The decision triggered debate as many questioned the need for a shirt swap mid-match rather than waiting for the final whistle.

• Midfielder defended from recent criticism

  Last month, England midfielder Danny Murphy was quick to dispel any notion that Bellingham’s character should be questioned.

  Speaking to GOAL, Murphy said: "I find the narrative around his character and any problems a little bit strange because when I have watched England – I have watched them a lot at tournaments and watched him closely, he is, by far, the best character on the football pitch when England play, in terms of producing big moments, grabbing the game by the scruff of the neck, leaving everything out there.

  "If you could have 11 Jude Bellinghams, you would win most tournaments. The element of not talking to the press or not doing interviews or the odd swear word or rant or a little bit of what some people would call arrogance, that is what creates the player on the pitch. They are just rumours because a lot of the feedback from the players – Jordan Henderson recently said how much he likes him and how great a character he is – I think some of it has been exaggerated.

  "From a footballing perspective, we have a much better chance of winning the World Cup if he is in the team. I don’t mean just in the squad, I mean in the team. He is a phenomenal talent. We should be – as pundits, fans, press – building him up, applauding him and being thankful that we have got him, not trying to pull him down because he is the best one we have got. He is the game-changer in our side. He is the one that can make things happen. He’s just a phenomenal player."

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  What comes next for Bellingham?

  Bellingham has been a key figure for England for several years. He has become a talisman at Real Madrid. And now, even Premier League stars like Maddison find their children choosing his name on the back of their shirts. With the 2026 World Cup looming, Bellingham will be central to England’s ambitions. Shirt swaps, debates and social-media storms won’t change that.

The allrounder fell just short of a century but added eight more overs to his match tally

AAP13-Nov-2025Queensland 390 and 187 for 8 (Clayton 54, Renshaw 51, Rocchiccioli 4-41) lead Western Australia 322 for 7 dec (Green 94, Bancroft 76, Hardie 55*) by 255 runsHe fell in the nervous 90s, but Cameron Green gave his Ashes hopes an almighty boost with a determined knock during Western Australia’s Sheffield Shield clash with Queensland at the WACA Ground.In reply to Queensland’s 390, WA started day three at a somewhat shaky 210 for 5 but with Green unbeaten on 49 and holding the key.Green drove spinner Mitch Swepson for four on the first ball on Thursday to bring up his half-century and looked set for a ton before being trapped leg before on 94 by Michael Neser just after lunch.Related