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Michigan lands top international recruit Goodman
Top international basketball prospect Oscar Goodman has committed to the Michigan Wolverines, he told ESPN on Wednesday.
The 6-foot-8, 17-year-old power forward from Opunake, New Zealand, has been developing at the NBA Global Academy in Australia, where he has built a reputation as one of the most coveted international players committing to the college route in the class of 2025.
Goodman burst onto NBA radars at this past summer's FIBA U17 World Cup in Istanbul, where he led New Zealand to a historic fourth-place finish, losing to the USA in the semifinals. He was named to the All-Tournament First-Team after averaging 17.0 points, 6.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.4 steals per game. Goodman was also named MVP of the FIBA U16 Asian Championship in 2023.
Goodman's combination of skill, feel for the game, physicality, and versatility operating inside and out should allow him to play different roles for Michigan head coach Dusty May, who was hired from Florida Atlantic last March. Goodman marks Michigan's first major foray back into the international recruiting market since German wing Franz Wagner committed to Juwan Howard in 2019.
"I chose Michigan because of how Coach May saw me fitting into their play style," Goodman told ESPN. "I really liked the 'we do everything for each other' environment. I was big on having great team chemistry and could tell all the guys enjoyed being around each other."
Goodman says he plans on representing New Zealand again this summer at the FIBA U19 World Cup in Switzerland.
This is Michigan's second commitment in the class of 2025, after 6-foot-7 Prolific Prep wing Winters Grady, one of the best shooters in the class, announced he selected the Wolverines last week.
The NBA Academy program has become a hot spot for draft prospects in recent years, with the likes of Josh Giddey (No. 6 pick, 2021 NBA draft), Bennedict Mathurin (No. 6 pick, 2022), Dyson Daniels (No. 8 pick, 2022) and Olivier-Maxence Prosper going through the program, as well as projected top-10 pick Khaman Maluach, who is currently enrolled at Duke.
Sources: Browns to start QB Winston vs. Ravens
Jameis Winston will start under center Sunday for the injury-plagued Cleveland Browns, sources confirmed to ESPN's Kimberley Martin.
Winston has ascended to the starting role after Cleveland's top two quarterbacks -- Deshaun Watson and Dorian Thompson-Robinson -- both suffered injuries in last Sunday's loss to the Cincinnati Bengals.
Browns coach Kevin Stefanski told reporters earlier this week that he would not decide on a starting quarterback until he received a medical update on Thompson-Robinson, who injured a finger on his throwing hand after replacing Watson.
Winston, a 10-year veteran, provides Cleveland with a more experienced option than Thompson-Robinson for Sunday's game against the AFC North rival Baltimore Ravens. The former Heisman Trophy winner said Sunday that he was "prepared for whatever role" that the Browns set for him.
"That has been the story of my career the last few years," Winston said. "I'm ready and prepared for whatever role it is I am to play. I'm here to serve."
Fox Sports first reported Tuesday that Winston would start for the Browns, who once again face uncertainty at the quarterback position after Watson's season-ending Achilles injury.
Winston replaced Thompson-Robinson on Cleveland's final series Sunday and orchestrated a 12-play drive punctuated with his touchdown pass to David Njoku. He has started 80 NFL games since being selected No. 1 overall by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the 2015 draft.
The Browns (1-6) have failed to score 20 points in any of their seven games to start the season, their longest such scoring drought in 15 years.
ESPN's Daniel Oyefusi contributed to this report.
Sources: Rodrygo out for Clásico, Courtois a doubt
Real Madrid forward Rodrygo Goes is expected to miss Saturday's Clásico against Barcelona after suffering an injury during the team's win over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League on Tuesday, while goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois is in a race to be fit for the game, sources confirmed to ESPN.
Rodrygo was forced to leave the pitch in the 85th minute of Madrid's 5-2 comeback victory after sustaining a thigh injury, and a source told ESPN that the Brazil international will undergo further tests Thursday to determine the extent of the damage.
Courtois is a also major doubt for the clash between LaLiga's top two after sustaining a recurrence of the adductor injury that has already sidelined him this season, a source confirmed to ESPN.
The 32-year-old played the full game against Dortmund but was diagnosed with the injury by the club in a statement released Wednesday.
Madrid host Barcelona at the Bernabéu on Saturday (live on ESPN+ at 3 p.m. ET).
Real Madrid + Mbappé = Greatness? Not yet. Will it add up in El Clásico?
It was half-time during Real Madrid's first LaLiga game of the season vs. Real Mallorca, and midfielder Jude Bellingham had some feedback for forwards Kylian Mbappé, Vinícius Júnior and Rodrygo Goes: "You three, finish the attacks!"
As the four players waited in the Mallorca tunnel to head back on the pitch, Bellingham's analysis -- picked up by a broadcaster's microphone -- couldn't have been more candid. Yes, Madrid were leading 1-0, but they needed to be more clinical. "Because the run back..." Bellingham continued, smiling ruefully at the thought of having to put in more of a shift after an already exhausting first half, before swearing loudly.
Just 45 minutes into the new season, Real Madrid's dilemma was perfectly summed up in a few words. How do you fit Mbappé into a side already packed with attacking threat? And can you do so without overworking the midfield and unbalancing the team?
That day, Bellingham's plea went unheeded. Vedat Muriqi levelled for Mallorca; Madrid didn't score again, and they dropped two points in their first game of their league title defence.
Madrid's plan this season was supposed to be foolproof. Add Mbappé -- a player who has averaged 39 club goals per season for Monaco and PSG since 2018 -- to a team that last term won LaLiga by 10 points and beat giants such as Manchester City and Bayern Munich to claim the Champions League (again), and then steamroll the opposition.
So far, more has turned out to be less. Madrid haven't been terrible -- they're second in LaLiga, three points behind Barcelona, and haven't lost a domestic game going into Saturday's El Clásico (stream LIVE at 3 p.m. ET on ESPN+) -- but they haven't regularly sparkled, either.
After the 1-1 draw at Mallorca, there was another at Las Palmas, and another at Atlético Madrid -- a total of six valuable points dropped. In the Champions League, Madrid lost 1-0 at Lille, in their worst performance of the campaign. On Saturday, they beat Celta Vigo 2-1, thanks to two outstanding goals from Mbappé and Vinícius, but were fortunate and frequently outplayed as Celta created four "big chances" for a total xG (expected goals) of 1.69, compared with Madrid's 0.74.
Tuesday's 5-2 comeback win over Borussia Dortmund in the Champions League after being 2-0 down showed this team's two, contrasting faces: a frustrating first half, followed by an irresistible second, led by Vinícius.
So, has the impact of Mbappé's long-awaited arrival been more positive or negative? What other factors have contributed to Madrid's uncertain start? And are they finally getting their act together in time to face Barcelona in their biggest game of the season?
Additional reporting from Rodrigo Faez, Gustavo Hofman and Julien Laurens
Defending from the front
Ask coach Carlo Ancelotti to identify the basis of Madrid's success last season, and he doesn't name Bellingham's clutch goals, Vinícius' improved finishing, or Toni Kroos' incisive passing. Instead, he cites the team's "collective commitment," the willingness of their superstars to work hard off the ball.
"It's been a good season because of our quality, and because of the commitment of the players behind that quality," Ancelotti said in May, before the Champions League final win over Borussia Dortmund at Wembley. "That's been the key. Quality without commitment? You don't get to the final."
That all-hands-on-deck approach has been sacrificed to incorporate a player of Mbappé's extraordinary talents following his free transfer from Paris Saint-Germain.
Ahead of Saturday's game at Celta, statistics from Mediacoach -- the video analysis tool used by LaLiga clubs -- showed that Mbappé and Vinícius were the two LaLiga forwards who had spent the most time walking during games. Vinícius had spent 47.36% of his time on the pitch at walking pace; Mbappé, 47.19%. The league average was 41%. There are 123 players who have featured in LaLiga this season who can be classified as forwards, and Mbappé ranked 60th in terms of distance covered.
After 10 rounds of LaLiga games -- Mbappé has featured in nine of them -- data from Stats Perform shows that he has made eight ball recoveries in the opposition half, a key metric for any team looking to press their opponents when out of possession. There are 24 forwards in LaLiga who have made more recoveries in the attacking half, including Barcelona's Lamine Yamal (20) and Raphinha (16). Even ageing centre-forwards such as Celta's Iago Aspas, aged 37, and Barça's 36-year-old Robert Lewandowski have made 12 recoveries, the same number as Vinícius.
When the total number of "defensive interventions" -- which include recoveries, tackles, interceptions, clearances, blocks and aerial challenges -- in LaLiga are tallied up, Mbappé has made 15, ranking 74th among forwards. The figure compares unfavorably with Lewandowski's 34, Vinícius' 37, Iñaki Williams' 45, or Antoine Griezmann's 46.
Of course, Mbappé's on-field contribution extends far beyond winning the ball, and it would be unfair to ignore his impressive offensive output. "I prefer him to score goals rather than pressing," Ancelotti said on Monday. And sources told ESPN that Mbappé, too, is conscious that he needs to do more to help the team. He has scored six goals in nine LaLiga games, and created 10 chances for teammates. Only Lewandowski (14), Raphinha and Yamal (10) and Vinícius (nine) have contributed more goals and assists. But the "collective commitment" of last season is not quite so robust this term.
Injuries and exits
Madrid's failure to lift off this season isn't just about the work rate of their forward line. The absence of important players -- some are sidelined with injuries; others have moved on -- has played its part.
An injury kept Bellingham out for a month between Aug. 18-Sept. 17, a period in which, 12 months earlier, his four goals in five games helped Madrid deal with a tricky early-season run. Eduardo Camavinga, a player whose skillset is useful in a team that needs to blend midfield physicality with craft and invention, missed six weeks with a knee problem.
Brahim Díaz picked up a long-term groin problem in September, just when he had won Ancelotti's confidence as a player who could offer variety in attack. And the defence is understaffed with no return in sight for David Alaba after his ACL tear, Dani Carvajal now a season-long absentee with a knee injury, and no replacement for the departed Nacho Fernández.
Two more players who left Madrid in the summer have also been missed. By late October 2023, forward Joselu had scored five valuable goals in LaLiga in wins over Getafe, Real Sociedad, Las Palmas, Girona and Osasuna. His nominal replacement in the squad, the talented 72m Brazilian teenager Endrick, has just one league goal in 2024-25.
But it is the retirement of Kroos that has left a gaping void in midfield. It was obvious that Madrid would miss one of their all-time greats -- even in his farewell season, he was one of the league's most influential players -- but his importance in bringing order to the team is ever more apparent.
Without him, there is more responsibility on the shoulders of two midfielders, Aurélien Tchouaméni and Federico Valverde. In many ways, the pair have risen to the challenge: both have had more touches and completed more passes than any other midfielder in LaLiga. Valverde is Kroos' chosen successor, taking on his No. 8 jersey.
"I believe in [Valverde]," Kroos told Marca this week. "Now he has to take the responsibility, and take the risks, that I took on the pitch." But Valverde is not yet able to offer the same subtlety or tempo-setting consistency. Tchouaméni is working to improve on the ball, sources told ESPN, and has been discussing his role with Ancelotti, as well as using video analysis.
Tactical tweaks
Madrid are winning games, but -- for all of Ancelotti's tinkering with the formation, in an ongoing quest to find a workable system that includes Mbappé -- they aren't controlling them. Their 2-0 win over Villarreal on Oct. 5 was a case in point. Villarreal dominated the first half; two individual strikes from Valverde and Vinícius meant that ultimately didn't matter.
Alongside Tchouaméni and Valverde, there is a growing reliance on Kroos' old partner, Luka Modrić. The 39-year-old midfielder was phased out of the team last season; now, he has started five of Madrid's past eight league games. Against Celta, he became the club's oldest player, coming off the bench to set up the winner with a defence-splitting pass. Modrić being this important in the twilight of his career was not part of the plan.
As Madrid have struggled to impose themselves, the team's formation has evolved. The three-man forward line of Mbappé, Vinícius and Rodrygo had been ditched by the time Madrid hosted Villarreal. Mbappé and Vinícius started as a front two while Valverde, Camavinga, Modrić and Bellingham offered a more robust midfield. Against Celta on Saturday, there was another variation, with Bellingham and Vinícius on the flanks, either side of Mbappé.
Ancelotti's preferred XI is relatively clear -- only 12 Madrid players have 500-plus minutes in LaLiga, with the only doubt being whether Rodrygo or an extra midfielder starts -- but the team's shape has remained in flux.
Too many changes can lead to confusion. In the first half at Balaídos, Ancelotti was unusually animated on the touchline, desperately trying to correct Tchouaméni's positioning as the midfielder dropped ever deeper, between Éder Militão and Antonio Rüdiger, to form a back three.
"Aurélien played between the two centre-backs when we had the ball," Ancelotti said afterward. "But without the ball, he was supposed to push up. I didn't explain it well enough."
Adjustments through in-game management are one thing; a player's fundamental misunderstanding of their intended role is another. Such a mistake -- against a team with better finishers than Celta, who spurned three of their four "big chances" to score -- could have been costly.
"There's been a change," goalkeeper Thibaut Courtois said this week. "Some players have left; others have arrived. You have to adapt, and it isn't something [that takes] one or two months. It will get better."
Will patience pay off?
Ancelotti knew that Mbappé's arrival would require changes. Sources close to the veteran coach told ESPN that the team and player taking time to get used to each other had come as no surprise.
After all, this was a Madrid team that had already forged a clear identity last season, flourishing in a well-drilled 4-4-2. In particular, the position of Vinícius -- Madrid's best player in the second half of last season, following Bellingham's starring role in the first -- was always likely to demand fine-tuning, given he and Mbappé's shared propensity to favour the left-hand side.
That might lead you to believe that there is friction between the two stars, but that is not the case, sources close to the Brazilian told ESPN. The idea of playing with Mbappé always appealed to Vinícius. In fact, he anticipated more spaces opening up for him to exploit, with defenders' attention now divided between the two world-class forwards.
While Mbappé has formed a close-knit group with France international teammates Tchouaméni, Camavinga and Ferland Mendy, as well as a friendship with Bellingham, he and Vinícius get on well. They have even shared penalty-taking duties for Madrid this season, alternating as they see fit, without any drama. By contrast, teammate Rodrygo has been increasingly vocal about his unhappiness with his role as a makeweight.
"Often, I'm just filling spaces," he told ESPN while on international duty with Brazil last month, referring as much to the national team as his club. "Is someone missing there? Put Rodrygo in. Is someone missing on the right? Rodrygo. Is someone missing as No. 9? Rodrygo. That's it. It may get in my way a little, but I'm a team player."
That's as outspoken as Rodrygo is likely to get, but sources told ESPN that he is bothered by his situation at Madrid and unhappy about being the player asked to shift around to accommodate others.
In the high-pressure environment that surrounds Real Madrid, any minor slip can quickly become a catastrophe. Some perspective is helpful, and Madrid's record in LaLiga this season doesn't read like a crisis: 10 games, seven wins, three draws. Only Barcelona have scored more goals; only Atletico Madrid have conceded fewer. And Madrid have created as many chances as Barcelona (132).
A win over Barcelona at the Bernabéu would leave the two teams level on points at the top of LaLiga, setting up a gripping title race. Madrid are also on the brink of history; avoiding defeat on Saturday would make it 43 league games unbeaten, matching Barça's all-time LaLiga record set in 2017-18.
It begs the question: if this is how Madrid fare without playing well, what happens if the team finally gels?
"We aren't at 100%, obviously," Ancelotti admitted on Monday. "We've got good results. But we have to improve in terms of our play. And little by little, we will."
Jason Gillespie 'sits on the fence' as Pakistan go all-in on the short term
"The PCB came out and made some changes after that Test match," Gillespie said ahead of the third Test. "It was decided that a new selection panel would come in and they would be making decisions. I was not involved in the decision-making, I was just there. I'm now just the coach on match-day strategy. I just keep out of things now and just focus on the players and getting them ready for cricket."
It is a remarkably different brief from the one Gillespie was given when he was offered the role earlier this year. At the time, he told ESPNcricinfo he had some "really positive conversations" with the board and the chairman to make sure "we're moving in the right direction short term, in the medium and long term".
When asked about the composition of the team, Gillespie repeated the point. "It's not for me to talk about now. I'm no longer a selector, so I'm probably not the person to ask." Corralled into a role that is much narrower in focus than his initial job description suggested, he did indicate he understood how unusual his situation was. "I'm getting splinters in my arse from sitting on the fence here," he quipped.
But with a potential series win against England on the line, the importance of the final Test was not lost on Gillespie. In his short time as coach, he has built up positive relationships with several players in the side, paying as much tribute to their qualities as human beings as to their cricketing talent.
"The last few years, Pakistan's Test cricket hasn't been where we'd like it to be. Any win is great, and any series win's fantastic. Just coming into this environment, as a coach, I'm very protective of players. They're the ones going out and representing their country. I suppose there's a dad in me that comes out and I want to protect all the boys from all outside noise and whatever."
When England responded, they made light work of the spinners in the first 40 overs, and stood poised for a significant first-innings lead when they were placed at 211 for 2. But in the drying embers of Day 2, Sajid Khan slowed up the pace, found the rough, and triggered a collapse that helped Pakistan take a decisive 75-run lead.
"There's a lot of things in professional sport that you can't control," Gillespie said. "To be able to just park that and not focus on that is a skill within itself. Focusing on what we can control, the right things at the right times, and staying calm when things are all happening. The way England played, they looked to create things all the time and the way we want to go against them is to by staying calm and not getting flustered. I thought we did that really well in the last Test match. I was really proud of the boys.
"You communicate with your players regularly, talking about their games and how we can help them improve as cricketers and people. I'm very fortunate, I've got a wonderful support staff who have developed some really good relationships with our players and players will gravitate towards certain coaches over others at times. But if you all work as a team, that's the most important thing."
Danyal Rasool is ESPNcricinfo's Pakistan correspondent. @Danny61000
India's invincibility under threat as NZ look to complete the impossible
Big picture
India have been here before. It hasn't happened all that often in the recent past, but they've been 1-0 down in a home Test series. It happened against Australia in 2017, and then against England in 2021. Both times, they came back to win the series.
Both those series, however, were four Tests long. India's current generation have never really been in the situation they are in now against New Zealand: 1-0 down at home, with only two Tests to go.
It puts them under immense pressure. Beating India in India remains the toughest challenge in Test cricket today, but away teams over the last two years have been winning Tests here more frequently than they used to. It's a sign, perhaps, of one era transitioning into another, a reminder of the cricketing mortality of R Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma.
This doesn't change the fact, however, that India remain overwhelming favourites when the second Test begins on Thursday. New Zealand won in Bengaluru, yes, but they won via the perfect storm brewed up by the weather and a deceptive pitch that led India to make what turned out to be the wrong toss and selection calls for those conditions. New Zealand were themselves poised to make the same toss call had Tom Latham called correctly.
Pune will not be like Bengaluru. India have made every effort possible to restore to this series the one major ingredient it had lacked up to this point: home advantage. The specifics of how the Pune pitch will behave will only become clear when the match begins, but the broad outline is likely to be a lot less help for New Zealand's quicks, and a lot more room for India to maximise the superior skill and control of their spin attack. It won't guarantee the result they want, not against this superb New Zealand side, but whether they win, lose or draw, India will journey to their fate on something like their own terms.
Form guide
India LWWWW (last five Tests, most recent first)
New Zealand WLLLL
In the spotlight - Shubman Gill and Glenn Phillips
Shubman Gill has found a new level as a Test batter since his move to No. 3 last year, averaging 43.23 across 11 matches and scoring three hundreds (https://stats.espncricinfo.com/ci/engine/player/1070173.html?class=1;spanmin1=12+jul+2023;spanval1=span;template=results;type=batting;view=innings). He got through a regular workload in the nets in the lead-up to the second Test, suggesting he will return to India's line-up after missing the Bengaluru Test with a stiff neck. With Gill back at No. 3, India's batting order will wear a far more settled look, with the names below his back in their natural habitats.
Team news - Sarfaraz vs Rahul, Southee vs O'Rourke?
India have two major decisions to make with regards to their XI. With Gill set to return, they will have to leave out either KL Rahul, who has fairly good returns across a small sample size - a century and two fifties in six Tests - since his middle-order move late last year, and Sarfaraz Khan, who scored a rollicking second-innings hundred in Bengaluru. There's also the question of the second seamer: should Akash Deep, who has looked like a natural in Indian conditions in his brief Test career so far, come in for Mohammed Siraj, whose 13 home Tests have brought him just the 19 wickets at 36.15? A dry pitch is expected to provide ample assistance to the spinners, so India will most likely stick to playing three of them. They have no major reason yet to look beyond the trio of Ravindra Jadeja, R Ashwin and Kuldeep Yadav, even if Washington Sundar and Axar Patel make compelling cases as allrounders.
India: 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Rohit Sharma (capt), 3 Shubman Gill, 4 Virat Kohli, 5 Rishabh Pant (wk), 6 KL Rahul/Sarfaraz Khan, 7 Ravindra Jadeja, 8 R Ashwin, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Mohammed Siraj/Akash Deep.
Despite being 1-0 up, New Zealand may have the more difficult selection to make than India, because it may involve a change in the make-up of their Bengaluru attack. Conditions in Pune are set to be far less conducive to swing and seam bowling, which means New Zealand may have to think of leaving out one of their three quicks - potentially Tim Southee, their ex-captain, or Will O'Rourke, who took seven wickets in Bengaluru - and bring in an extra spinner. This could either be the left-arm spinner Mitchell Santner or the legspinner Ish Sodhi, who has come into the squad with Michael Bracewell released on paternity leave.
New Zealand 1 Tom Latham (capt), 2 Devon Conway, 3 Will Young, 4 Rachin Ravindra, 5 Daryl Mitchell, 6 Tom Blundell (wk), 7 Glenn Phillips, 8 Mitchell Santner, 9 Tim Southee/Will O'Rourke, 10 Matt Henry, 11 Ajaz Patel.
Pitch and conditions
After losing in entirely un-Indian conditions at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, India have gone to great lengths to prepare a track that theoretically minimises the damage New Zealand's quicks can cause. A slow, low turner is in the offing, and spinners can expect increasing help as the Test match progresses with sunny weather expected on all five days in Pune.
Stats and trivia
- After losing just two home Tests in the ten years from 2013 to 2022, India have lost three in the next two years.
- KL Rahul is 19 runs away from the 3000 mark in Test cricket. Of all batters to have scored at least 3000 runs since his debut, only Mominul Haque and Kraigg Brathwaite have lower averages than Rahul's current figure of 33.87.
- Before 2023, Matt Henry had 53 wickets in 17 Tests at an average of 40.24. Since the start of 2023, he has transformed his Test career, taking 50 wickets in just nine Tests at 21.26.
Quotes
"No, we are not even thinking of giving anyone game time. All we are concentrating on are these two Test matches [against New Zealand]. And these two Test matches are very, very important to us. As important as any other Test match, be it in India or in Australia."
India head coach Gautam Gambhir when asked if India would pick Akash Deep in order to give him game time ahead of the Australia tour
"It's important that we take the focus, the confidence from that [Bengaluru] game, and bring it into this game, but realise that we both start on zero, both teams start on zero tomorrow."
New Zealand captain Tom Latham
Karthik Krishnaswamy is an assistant editor at ESPNcricinfo
Harry Brook seeks emphatic response after rare fallow outing in Pakistan
"There was a small patch outside off stump," Sajid explained. "When he faced his first ball, I told Rizi bhai [Mohammad Rizwan] that if he plays like this again, I will get him out." Brook stayed back as Sajid predicted, looking to punch through cover, but was beaten on his inside edge by a ball that kept low and had his leg stump knocked back.
Brendon McCullum, England's coach, smirked after the second Test when he heard Sajid had been revealing his plans to Brook. "Did he? Well bowled," McCullum said. "He is such an exciting cricketer, and such a big player for us as well, and he's trying to put pressure on the opposition Sometimes, when you're doing that, you make mistakes and you get out."
One quiet Test immediately after a triple-hundred is not enough to prompt any long-term concerns, but Brook said on Tuesday that he has been discussing gameplans against Sajid and Noman ahead of this week's decider. "They're obviously both going to play a massive part in their team," he said. "Hopefully, it pays off and I play a big part in the game."
Brook agreed with Sajid's assessment about his preference to play spin off the back foot. "I do like to," he said. "It gives you a lot more time to play the spinning ball. It gives you different areas to play in. I'm not saying I'm not going to do that: I'm going to look to play off the back foot, and I'm going to look to put him under pressure."
It is hardly an issue that has plagued him across his Test career: to date, Brook averages more against spin (67.81) than seam (57.70). But the reason that his twin failures were notable was that, having missed England's tour to India on compassionate leave, this was the first time he had played on a pitch weighted firmly in the spinners' favour.
This has been a long season for Brook: since the start of April, he has played more or less non-stop, with 35 matches across formats including eight Tests, five ODIs as a stand-in captain, and a T20 World Cup. Thursday's Rawalpindi Test will finally bring it to a close, even if he will only have a short break before England travel to New Zealand.
As a three-format player, Brook is growing accustomed to the relentlessness of the international schedule and will soon become used to opponents targeting what they perceive to be potential weaknesses. If he can overcome both pitfalls and maintain his remarkable three-figure average in Pakistan, it will go a long way towards England clinching this series.
New Zealand hope turning Pune pitch will play into their hands
"I guess whatever we're presented with, it's about, for us, trying to adapt as quick as we can; that's something that we can't control with the wicket," Latham said. "So it's about trying to go out there and adapt as quick as we can, and if it's going to be a wicket that turns a little bit more, then we've obviously got four spinners in our line-up, so fingers crossed that will play into their hands, but yeah, as I said, it's about trying to adapt on the run, and try not to go into the game with too many preconceived ideas."
"If it's an extreme wicket, it almost brings us into the game more," Ravindra said. "If you win the toss, all of a sudden you take a couple of wickets and you're right into the game on a wicket that's pretty spicy and turns a lot. As a team, it's about accepting what's in front of us. We can't change that. We can't control what wicket they're going to roll out.
"But we can control our attitude, how we approach it, and each and every position we get into with the bat or consistency with the ball. We're excited for the challenge, whatever it may be."
New Zealand had picked three spinners for the first Test in Bengaluru, but didn't need any of them with the ball in the first innings in seaming conditions. Their workload, however, could be much heavier across both innings in Pune. New Zealand are also open to selecting an extra spinner in place of a seamer if the conditions dictate the need for it. Offspin-bowling allrounder Michael Bracewell has returned home for the birth of his second child, but they have other options in Mitchell Santner (left-arm fingerspinner) and Ish Sodhi (wristspinner).
"Yeah, I obviously had a little bit of a think around what that [the playing XI] may look like, but we'll make those final decisions after I speak to you guys, Latham said. "So yeah, as I said, it's just about trying to make sure we adapt as best we can, and try to get a little bit of information from previous games here, and also the practice wickets that we're on will hopefully be something around, or similar to what we're getting, so I think that's the beauty of our team, is trying not to go into the game with too many preconceived ideas, and trying to make sure we adapt as best we can."
"But our attention turned quickly to this game, and we're trying not to, I guess, rest on what happened last week, as trying to take the confidence from last week, and take that into this game, and hopefully hit the ground running."
Raducanu out of Hong Kong Open despite 'progress'
World number 55 Emma Raducanu says she is making "good progress" in her recovery from a foot injury, despite pulling out of another tournament.
The 21-year-old Briton announced on Wednesday that she would not feature at the Hong Kong Open, which is set to start on 28 October.
Raducanu has not played since spraining ligaments in her foot during a Korea Open quarter-final against Daria Kasatkina on 21 September.
The former US Open champion has now pulled out of five tournaments in a row and has played in only two events since July.
"Whilst my foot is making good progress, I need a little more time before I am match fit," Raducanu wrote on X. , external
"I hope to be able to come back and play this tournament in the future."
Raducanu is aiming to return to fitness for the Billie Jean King Cup finals which take place in Malaga from 13-20 November, with Britain's first game against Germany on 15 November.
World Table Tennis For Health Festival Launches Today with Record Participation in France
The ITTF Foundations World Table Tennis For Health Festival is set to begin today in Maizières-lès-Metz, France, marking a significant milestone with unprecedented participation numbers. The opening ceremony on October 23rd will launch what promises to be the most inclusive and extensive festival to date, with a record-breaking 156 players from 25 Member Associations ready to participate.
This years festival, hosted by the Maizières-lès-Metz Table Tennis Club in collaboration with the Moselle Departmental Committee and the Grand Est Table Tennis League, benefits from the valuable support of the French Table Tennis Federation (FFTT). The event will showcase the growing global recognition of table tennis as a powerful tool for health and wellness. The record-breaking participation numbers demonstrate the increasing awareness of table tenniss therapeutic benefits and its potential to improve quality of life across diverse communities.
For those unable to attend in person, the festival will extend its reach through the second edition of the World Table Tennis For Health Congress, scheduled for October 25th and 26th. The virtual congress offers an opportunity for healthcare professionals, coaches, and enthusiasts worldwide to engage with experts and share knowledge about table tenniss health benefits. Registration remains open for interested participants.
ITTF also encourages the global table tennis community to support the World Parkinsons Table Tennis Championships through the ITTF Foundations Global Giving campaign. This initiative aims to expand access to table tennis as a therapeutic tool for individuals living with Parkinsons disease.
Stay updated with the latest festival developments and outcomes through the ITTF Foundations social media channels and website. The foundation continues to demonstrate how table tennis can serve as a powerful vehicle for health promotion and community building.
For more information:
Register for the World Table Tennis For Health Congress: here
View the Congress Programme: here
Support the Global Giving campaign: here
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