Newport midfielder Patten suffers broken leg
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The Guardian
10 minutes ago
- The Guardian
Ben Stokes and England count physical cost in fourth Test of exhausting series
Early on the fifth day here Ben Stokes ran in to bowl at Shubman Gill, letting out a short moan of effort and pain as the ball left his hand. It climbed off the pitch and smashed into Gill's right glove, sending the batter scuttling away in agony. It was the second time he had been hit on that hand; on Thursday Jofra Archer was the bowler, and when Gill ripped off the glove to assess the damage he revealed a thumb clad in skin-toned protective strapping. This time when the glove came off his thumb was fully bandaged, but it was the forefinger that had taken the hit. Stokes returned to his mark, right arm hanging limp by his side, left hand massaging gingerly a spot just beneath his shoulder which had been bothering him since, at the very latest, he performed his warmup exercises before play. This towards the end of a game in which he has struggled with a cramping calf and an apparent issue on the back of his right thigh. For eight increasingly agonised overs he protected his right arm from any use except that necessary to fling the ball at an opposition batter at the greatest possible speed. At the end of a spell that despite everything was outstanding, and during which KL Rahul was dismissed, several teammates approached and held their hands out for a congratulatory tap. Those who came to his right were met by his left hand, reaching awkwardly across his body. By this stage that right arm was good for nothing. For a while before the second new ball became available the close fielders taunted, in particular, Washington Sundar about the fact that he was about to have to deal with Jofra Archer, so successful in this series against left-handers, and a fresh, hard, shiny rock hurtling towards him at terrifying speeds. When the moment came Archer's first ball was clocked at just 80mph. He ended his first over feeling the left side of his torso, and he never approached the top speeds we saw on his return to the Test side at Lord's a fortnight ago. Midway through the second session, as the players took drinks, a team medic ran on to give him painkillers. England are expected to cancel their scheduled training session at the Oval on Tuesday. Since 18 June, by which time both teams gathered at Headingley before the opening game of the series, they have spent 28 of a possible 40 days playing or training: 28 days later, they are starting to resemble extras in 28 Days Later. Should the last game go the distance those numbers will have moved to as much as 35 out of 48, with 52% of those days spent playing long days of competitive cricket at the highest level, many of them in high temperatures. Some training sessions have been optional, with bowlers in particular able to control their workloads, and India's rule is that every player must report for just one of the two official warmup days before each Test – but the tourists have also done additional training during periods that England's players have spent at home. However much you love the game, live the game, are paid to play it, this is a lot. The impact, particularly on bowlers, is significant: after the second game of the series one England player reported struggling to so much as sit down. After the last one Stokes said he spent four days in bed; four days after the end of this match the teams will have relocated to London, trained, and played a full day of the next one. With a game still to play there have only been two series this century in which Indian bowlers have done more work, and only rain or a pair of England collapses at the Oval can keep it from the top spot. Even before he hauled himself to Old Trafford for the final day Stokes had bowled more overs than in any other series in his career. It is the 27th bilateral series in which Chris Woakes has played, and he has never been asked to bowl more. It is only Brydon Carse's third, but he reached unexplored territory on the second day at Lord's. It is entirely possible that none of those players will be considered able to bowl at the Oval, with the nature of Archer's gentle reintroduction to Test cricket likely also to rule him out. Sign up to The Spin Subscribe to our cricket newsletter for our writers' thoughts on the biggest stories and a review of the week's action after newsletter promotion Meanwhile it is not yet the most work-intensive series of Mohammed Siraj's career, but it will become so if he plays the last game – and given his competitive nature, and the fact that India will almost certainly swap out all of the other seamers involved here, he almost certainly will. Three of their players missed this game through injury and Rishabh Pant, their vice-captain, arrived on Sunday morning on crutches. With one Test to go we have had play in every session of every day of every game of the series. Five-day finishes were once unusual, many Tests reaching rapid conclusions on wickets that became increasingly unplayable as they dried and tired. But as we are seeing, if the surfaces never fall apart, the players start to do so.
The Sun
10 minutes ago
- The Sun
Burnley in transfer tussle with Premier League rivals Sunderland to sign Wolves ace Johnstone
BURNLEY want Sam Johnstone to replace James Trafford - and plan to beat Sunderland to get him. Wolves would let the keeper, 32, go on loan or sell him for £8million. 2 Johnstone knows chances are limited at Molineux with Jose Sa their undisputed No 1. Burnley signed stopper Max Weiss, 21, from German second tier side Karlsruher last month. But should Johnstone sign for the Clarets, he can expect to be above him in the pecking order. Burnley need a new No.1 as Trafford is on his way back to Manchester City for £27m. He came through the ranks at the Etihad before moving to Turf Moor in 2023 in a £19m deal. Trafford, who is set to undergo a medical in the coming days, will reportedly battle Ederson to be first choice at City this season. Current back-up Stefan Ortega has been tipped to leave. Meanwhile, Sunderland are also chasing £12m-rated keeper Dmytro Riznyk from Shakhtar Donetsk as an alternative to Johnstone. 2 Johnstone made just seven Premier League appearances for Wolves last season. The experienced keeper was on the books of Manchester United as a teenager and has gone on to play for the likes of Aston Villa, West Brom and Crystal Palace.
Times
19 minutes ago
- Times
Lottie Woad wins Scottish Open on professional debut
Lottie Woad rounded off the month of her life with a consummate win on her professional debut at the Women's Scottish Open. The 21-year-old's cover as a fantastic prodigy has long been blown and so it was no surprise to see her shedding all challengers as she made her way to the title and the $300,000 (£220,000) prize on Dundonald Links. 'It's a pretty good outcome I guess,' she said in her understated way. 'I definitely wasn't expecting to win my first event. I was just hoping to contend. It was the first time playing links golf since the Open last year so I was not exactly sure how it would go — but it was fine.' Woad was utterly unflustered when her two-stroke overnight lead was whittled away by Kim Hyo-joo, and as the Korean faltered, the woman from Farnham whetted every appetite for this week's AIG Women's Open at Royal Porthcawl. Even when she lost a shot on the 16th, her solitary bogey, she managed the climax with a minimum of fuss. On the final hole, a par five, she played it safe with a lay-up but still made a birdie to give her a round of 68 and a three-stroke victory margin at 21 under par. It has been a remarkable July. She followed up her win at the Women's Irish Open with a third place at the Evian Championship, the fourth major of the year. Her amateur status meant she missed out on what would have been about £450,000 in prize money, and the Florida State star decided to turn professional a week ago. This was some start but she looks immune to the spiralling hype. A smile, handshake and then hug for her parents, Rachel and Nick, ensued. 'My dad has been here all week and mum got the train up last night, so I was hoping I would not mess it up,' she said. Kim, a major winner in 2014, drew level on the back nine and a quality field had been reduced to a duel. But the momentum shifted decisively within the space of a minute when Kim bogeyed the 15th and Woad made a birdie on the 14th. That two-shot swing put her back in charge and one of the most impressive things about what followed was the sense of inevitability rather than any understandable sign of nerves. When Kim made a second successive bogey on the 16th the writing was on the wall and the name was as good as on the trophy. The attention is not new and Woad had already been attracting plenty of plaudits by the time she won the Augusta National Women's Amateur last year. She rose to the top of the amateur rankings and her form this year meant the debate quickly turned to when she would join the LPGA. As has also been the case on the men's circuit, Woad is showing how the US collegiate system is producing players ready to compete and win on the pro tours without an acclimatization period. The publicity and expectation will now intensify ahead of Royal Porthcawl but so far Woad, tenth in last year's Open, has taken everything in her stride. Joining her in Wales will be Spain's Julia Lopez Ramirez, who had the round of the day with a 65 to finish third and book her place in the final major of the year. Nelly Korda, the world No1, had a miserable Sunday with four back-nine bogeys dropping her to fifth place, some eight shots adrift of Woad. Padraig Harrington won his second senior major of the year at Sunningdale when he held off Justin Leonard and Thomas Bjorn to win the Senior Open by three shots. The Irishman, 53, also won the Senior US Open in Colorado last month.
