The Boston Red Sox are expected to place pitcher Dustin May on the 15-day injured list with an undisclosed injury, and No. 6 prospect Connelly Early is being called up from Triple A Worcester to make his major league debut on Tuesday against the Athletics, according to a report from Foul Territory.

The 23-year-old Early was selected by the Red Sox in the fifth-round of the 2023 MLB amateur draft out of the University of Virginia, and has flown through the minor league system.

Early began the 2025 season in Double A Portland, going 7-2 with a 2.51 ERA. He earned a promotion to Triple A Worcester and has continued his stellar season, posting a 3-1 record with a 2.83 ERA in 28.2 innings pitched.

The Red Sox enter Tuesday with an 80-65 record and sit in third-place in a hotly contested American League East. Boston is three games behind the first-place Toronto Blue Jays.

Nottingham Forest have now made contact to sign Everton’s James Garner, amid a new update on the midfielder’s future at the Hill Dickinson Stadium.

Forest are looking to bolster their options in the engine room, amid widespread interest in Elliot Anderson, with Chelsea recently joining the race for the Englishman, who has managed to impress once again this season, despite his side sitting 19th in the Premier League table.

Anderson has also emerged as a regular starter for England, most recently putting in a solid showing as the Three Lions cruised past Serbia 2-0, completing 77 passes, while also winning seven duels, the joint-highest number of any player.

The Tricky Trees played a blinder by signing the 23-year-old from Newcastle United back in 2024, and they have now made an approach for another English midfielder…

Nottingham Forest make contact to sign James Garner

According to a report from Football Insider, Nottingham Forest have made contact over a deal for Everton midfielder Garner, who is out of contract at the end of the season, meaning his future at the Hill Dickinson Stadium is in doubt.

Forest have registered their interest in signing the 24-year-old, but there could be competition for his signature from Aston Villa, who have also made a move, while former club Newcastle United remain in the race.

The Merseysiders retain the option to extend the Englishman’s contract by an additional year, so they do not need to panic just yet, but they will be eager to tie him down soon, given that interest from elsewhere is now growing.

Sean Dyche knows the central midfielder well from their time working together on Merseyside, with the former Everton manager saying: “Jimmy Garner was terrific, he’s learning and improving. He’s just a good kid. He’s got that nice little edge about him that he’s a bit of a nark now and again, I like it.

“I think you need that as a footballer. The demands he places upon himself is very pleasing as he works very hard in training and I think he’s getting the rewards with his improvement.”

The Birkenhead-born midfielder has also performed well from a defensive point of view over the past year, even outperforming Anderson on some key metrics.

Average per 90 (past year)	James Garner	Elliot Anderson
Interceptions	1.35	1.02
Blocks	1.39	1.37
Clearances	2.24	2.01

Garner has been a key player for Everton this season, starting every match in the Premier League, which suggests he would be able to hit the ground running at Forest, so Dyche’s side should undoubtedly try and get a deal done this January.

Elliot Anderson makes decision on joining Man Utd

Elliot Anderson makes Man Utd decision as INEOS ready £60m bid

Nottingham Forest midfielder Elliot Anderson could be set for a major move in January.

1

By
James O'Reilly

Nov 5, 2025

When Eddie Howe reflected on Newcastle United’s form at the start of the November international break, he would have felt the weight of back-to-back Premier League defeats against Brentford and West Ham United.

He also would have known the significance of a big performance against Manchester City at St. James’ Park when club football returned, and so it was momentous to have battled to victory against Manchester City on Saturday evening, recovering ground in the race for European football.

The season’s still young, and there is optimism regarding the Magpies’ hopes of finding success once again this year, but Howe and technical director Ross Wilson will already be looking toward the future, and they have earmarked Elliot Anderson as the perfect player to take this project to the next level.

The latest on Anderson to Newcastle

As far as Newcastle are concerned, the Anderson situation is twofold: they will absolutely be in the thick of any upcoming battles to bring their academy graduate back home, and they will surely need to make concessions of some description, given the Tricky Trees are set to demand in excess of £100m for their prized player, who is also being chased by Manchester United

Anderson, 23, was sold to Forest in 2024 for a fee in the region of £35m. This was signed off by PIF officials bearing gritted teeth, having felt forced into cashing in for the homegrown talent in order to balance the books and placate PSR.

Ruefulness has since shifted to regret. Anderson has been described as “one of the best midfielders in the Premier League” by England manager Thomas Tuchel, who has designated the star as a regular starter alongside Declan Rice as the 2026 World Cup looms large.

While Newcastle’s vested interest could lead to an exciting and concerted bid – Howe said at the start of October that he “would love him to” come back home – but it’s not as if the Toon engine room is lacking without him.

That said, Joelinton appears to be winding down after years of tireless and robust service. Anderson would surely dovetail into a trio with Sandro Tonali and Bruno Guimaraes.

If Newcastle have to shuffle a few things, so be it, and there’s one rather brazen sale PIF could permit to ensure the club have the finances to pull a bid off next year.

The Newcastle superstar PIF could sell

It may well be a controversial move, but Newcastle have floated the possibility of selling Anthony Gordon about for some time, with Liverpool interest in their one-time academy talent in 2024, before United opted instead to cash in on Anderson.

Gordon joined Newcastle from Everton for around £45m in January 2023 and, after a testing start to life on Tyneside, made significant progress across the 2023/24 campaign, winning the club’s Player of the Year after recording 21 goal contributions in the Premier League and serving as a talisman as Howe’s side battled through an injury-hit year.

But last season, as Newcastle went from strength to strength, returning to the Champions League and winning the Carabao Cup, Gordon regressed, only scoring six Premier League goals all year.

Though his playing style has put him in a promising position to beat the likes of Marcus Rashford to a regular starting berth at next year’s World Cup, more is needed from a player of his calibre, whose once untouchable place on Howe’s left wing is looking far more apt for replacement at this stage, especially with injuries and suspensions contributing toward his poor form this year.

Then, of course, we have Harvey Barnes, whose brace against City underscored his worth in this system. That’s three goals in two Premier League matches for the former Leicester winger, whose incisiveness from the wing works well against Nick Woltemade’s unique striking game, willing to drop deep and influence play while also playing the part of a powerful target man.

Gordon’s blistering speed and ability to stick to the flank or weave inside to wreak chaos are two brilliant aspects of his game, but he needs to offer more, and his inability to do this could see Howe sell him to fund a move for Anderson, perhaps making a shrewd winger signing to complement Barnes besides.

Because frankly, Gordon’s form in front of goal hasn’t been good enough for a while. The Three Lions star was said to have entered “Gabriel Obertan territory” after the loss at West Ham, which, for one of the most prominent wingers in England, self-proclaimed as a “nightmare for anyone” he comes up against, is not good enough.

25/26

7

0 (0)

24/25

34

6 (6)

23/24

35

11 (10)

22/23

16

1 (0)

Should Gordon fail to establish prolific form before the end of the season, there will be more than just a few questions placed by his name. Given that Liverpool have expressed an interest over the past couple of years, not dissuaded by Newcastle’s £100m valuation, could there be regret that he was not sold sooner?

Barnes, after all, is beginning to find goalscoring form, and Gordon has failed with 60% of his dribbles in the top flight this term, also missing big chances while failing to break his duck.

Gordon at full speed and potency in the final third and up and down the touchline is a dangerous adversary for even the finest of defenders. But his declaration of a nightmarish playing style can only go so far if he is unable to produce clinical results at the end.

We need only look at the Alexander Isak saga and the potential that Woltemade offers in the box to understand that selling Gordon for the right price would not be detrimental for Howe’s longer-term plans.

And if those funds are used to bring Anderson back home, thus completing what may well become the best central midfield in the whole country, then it would surely be a worthwhile move.

Newcastle have already got a bigger talent than Barnes who's "like Mbappe"

Newcastle United have a bigger talent than Harvey Barnes in an 18-year-old who is similar to Kylian Mbappe.

ByKelan Sarson Nov 24, 2025

Australia hold nerve and find new plans on the fly as England’s campaign ends as it began

Vithushan Ehantharajah29-Sep-2024Well, that’s one way of coming back down to earth. Flawless at Lord’s, floored in Bristol.Just two days after England put together a near-perfect performance with bat and ball to bring them back into the contest, Australia flexed their muscle and nous to take it, eventually, with ease.What experience they used to crush a brilliant start in the first innings was channelled to launch a series-clinching one of their own in the second. If the rain saved anyone this time around, it was England. Australia were breezing this long before the winds picked up to give this summer an appropriately wet finish.There’s a reason Australia are world champions in this format. Adjustments were made on the fly and executed precisely after Phil Salt, then Ben Duckett and Harry Brook had blitzed their way to 202 for 2 with a ball to go in the 25th over.England picked up where they left off from Lord’s against Adam Zampa, targeting the legspinner – his first two overs went for 30 – with Brook nailing him for sixes at will. Nevertheless, pace off was clearly the way to go to starve England’s swing-happy batters of scoring opportunities. Aaron Hardie bowled the 21st over, Mitchell Starc the 45th – and everything in between was made up primarily of wily offies. Hazlewood and Starc ended up bowling just 12 overs between them. Not since Princes William and Harry played Stormtroopers in Star Wars: The Last Jedi has such royalty disappeared into the background.Travis Head’s removal of Duckett, who had assumed the responsibility of giving the innings a late kick, was not just the first of four wickets to the part-timer but also began a boundary drought that lasted 52 deliveries. All in all, “spinners” – and with all due respect, that definition does require inverted commas – sent down 194 deliveries, a new Australian record in ODIs. Some going on an overcast day at the end of September.Did England get ahead of themselves? Well, yes. Both Brook and Duckett fell attempting to land multiple blows – the former after striking Zampa for back-to-back sixes at the start of the over, the latter right after sending Head over the fence down the ground. No surprise that the two grooved on “Test Cricket According to Baz” decided to mark one attacking stroke with another.Jamie Smith was bowled by Glenn Maxwell•PA Photos/Getty ImagesGone are the days of knocking a single after a boundary. But Brook had half the innings to go, and Duckett was the only adult left for the hosts. Not to mention the two are England’s best players of spin, and the form batters, finishing as their team’s top scorers in the series.Responsibility was not shirked, , but it certainly wasn’t seized when the game was there to be taken well out of Australia’s reach. Brendon McCullum has promised to bring the joy back to England’s white-ball teams – and this has been a promising month on that front – but much as has been the case with his Test team, there will no doubt be conversations about adopting a more cut-throat attitude.”We’ve been bowled out again today as we didn’t adapt to the pitch quickly enough,” answered interim head coach Marcus Trescothick when asked about areas of improvement. It was in keeping with the opening two defeats; England were dismissed for 315 at Trent Bridge – having been well set on 213 for 2 – and 202 in Leeds, flunking a chase of 270.”If we look at all the games we’ve lost in the series, there were periods in all those games where we could have made an impact and won the game, and the story of the series could’ve been very different. I just mentioned to the boys in the dressing room about keeping the pressure on, like we’ve done in this game and across the whole series. We should be maintaining it and be smarter for longer… we can elongate that while playing over 50 overs.”This collapse of 8 for 107 in 24.3 overs was felt harshly by a bowling attack still finding its feet. They had had things their way in helpful seam conditions under lights in the fourth ODI, squaring the series by dismantling Australia for 126. But they were left exposed when Bristol’s shorter dimensions were flipped against them.Head and Matt Short were always going to race out of the blocks. But their powerplay carrot was thicker and juicier with England only just crawling beyond the 300 mark, having had 450 in their sights. The impending storm, wending its way up the Bristol Channel all through the afternoon, brought extra urgency.Olly Stone and Matthew Potts found themselves in the crosshairs of an opening stand of 78 from seven overs. Steve Smith and Josh Inglis then cracked on to ensure Australia were 45 ahead of the DLS par at the magic 20-over mark. England had tried to keep that figure at bay, with sub-fielder John Turner coming on at regular intervals to eat up whatever seconds he could. Brook said he was still trying to take wickets, hence Adil Rashid was used even though his two overs would have taken longer had they been bowled by a seamer.A touch of naivety from the stand-in skipper? Ultimately, Australia were just sharper. And perhaps most humbling was they bettered the best of what England produced in this finale. The 11 sixes they struck in the first 25 overs was England’s most since 2006. Australia had nine by the 20th over.Related

• In spite of injuries and illness, inevitably Australia find a way

• Harry Brook proves how much he cares by playing as though he doesn't

• Matthew Potts hits the road in bid to prove his all-format worth

• England channel the spirit of 2019 to give wings to their white-ball revival

• Jofra Archer back on England's fast track as cautious optimism abounds

Even their achievement in coming back from 2-0 down was ultimately trumped by a group of tourists who had been blighted by illness throughout the series and were desperate to get home, but still managed to turn on the style one last time in bleak conditions. “I’d be lying if I say I wouldn’t prefer it to be in July – with a bit of heat,” Mitchell Marsh, their captain, said, and he even had the benefit of wrapping up warm, away from the elements, as Smith took on the captaincy duties in Bristol.These are two teams at different ends of the spectrum on their journey. The theme of Australia’s tour, according to Marsh, was “flexibility”, as evidenced by the way they used their spinners on the field here, including 50-over debutant Cooper Connolly, as well as the fact Head has had two different opening partners in the last three days.Brook, meanwhile, spoke of the importance of players becomingwith the “tempo” of ODI cricket, particularly for a batting group reared on T20. After an impressive series as stand-in skipper, he used his last media appearance in the role – for now – to put these last five matches into context.”They’re the best team in the world,” Brook said of their vaunted opponents. “We’re playing against some of the best bowlers to ever play the game, and some of the best batters to have ever played the game as well. The fight and desire we’ve shown to bring that [series] back has been amazing.”Travis Head was all over England’s lower order•Getty ImagesThe next stage for this team is unknown. The next white-ball series in the Caribbean is sandwiched between the Test tours of Pakistan and New Zealand. As such, Brook, Duckett, Jamie Smith, Potts, Olly Stone and Brydon Carse – who leave for that first three-match series on Tuesday – are unlikely to feature despite occupying key roles this month.Factor in Jos Buttler slotting back in as captain after Brook’s impressive showing, and there is either a hint of awkwardness, or a solution, on the horizon. Similarly, the mooted returns of Joe Root and Ben Stokes ahead of February’s Champions Trophy bring bigger selection matters to decipher.And that is arguably where England wanted to be as night fell on the final day of the 2024 English summer. This month against Australia has not been about immediately righting wrongs, or knocking the world champions off their perch.It was all about discovery after a limited-overs summer that began, in June, with a T20 World Cup that showed England’s most successful limited-overs generation had reached the end of the line. The first batch of the next generation are here and have taken their first steps on a different path, but one they hope leads back to where English white-ball cricket once was.

Game 3 of the 2025 World Series needed 18 innings to reach its conclusion, as the Dodgers managed to pull off a 6–5 win over the Blue Jays to take a 2–1 series lead. There were plenty of heroes in the marathon affair, including relief pitcher Will Klein, and of course, walk-off hero Freddie Freeman.

Freeman's solo shot in the bottom of the 18th inning sent Dodger Stadium into a frenzy and finally shut the door on what was one of the longest games in World Series history. It was an instant classic, and Freeman cemented his place in the history of the Fall Classic by becoming the first player ever to hit multiple walk-off home runs in the World Series.

So, just where does Monday night's game rank among the longest World Series games of all time?

Game 3 was one of the longest games in World Series history

Matchup

Year

Game Length

Game

Boston Red Sox vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

2018

18 innings

Game 3

Toronto Blue Jays vs. Los Angeles Dodgers

2025

18 innings

Game 3

New York Mets vs. Kansas City Royals

2015

14 innings

Game 1

Chicago White Sox vs. Houston Astros

2005

14 innings

Game 3

Brooklyn Robins vs. Boston Red Sox

1916

14 innings

Game 2

New York Mets vs. New York Yankees

2000

12 innings

Game 1

Only one other game in World Series history has needed 18 or more innings to conclude. Coincidentally, it also occurred during a Game 3 at Dodger Stadium and featured a walk-off home run, that time from Max Muncy. That game, which was in the 2018 World Series against the Red Sox, was won by L.A., 3–2.

Let's see how it compares to the longest games in terms of duration:

Matchup

Year

Game Length

Total Innings

Winner/Score

Red Sox vs. Dodgers

2018

7 hours, 20 minutes

18

Dodgers win 3–2

Blue Jays vs. Dodgers

2025

6 hours, 39 minutes

18

Dodgers win 6–5

White Sox vs. Astros

2005

5 hours, 41 minutes

14

White Sox win 7–5

Astros vs. Dodgers

2017

5 hours, 17 minutes

10

Astros win 13–12

Royals vs. Mets

2015

5 hours, 9 minutes

14

Royals win 5–4

Mets vs. Yankees

2000

4 hours, 51 minutes

12

Yankees win 4–3

Strangely enough, the Dodgers have been involved in three of the longest World Series games in MLB history. Monday night's game was nothing short of a gauntlet. World Series and MLB records were smashed and each team's bullpen was running on fumes.

In the end, the Dodgers broke the heart of the Blue Jays and their fans thanks to Freeman's walk-off home run in the 18th inning. After two full games worth of baseball, the Dodgers took a 2–1 lead. And less than 24 hours after the end of that marathon of a ballgame, the teams will run another race in Tuesday's Game 4, with first pitch set for 8:00 p.m. ET.

Every spring, all across the country, kids pick up a baseball bat or a glove for the first time and begin to dream.

Facing off against a pitching machine, they imagine themselves playing in Game 7 of the World Series, with the chance to hit the home run that decides a championship. Shagging fly balls in the outfield, they envision the feeling of securing an out that saves their season.

On Saturday, those dreams became real for about 20 members of the Dodgers and Blue Jays.

Toronto entered the ninth inning holding a 4–3 lead and needing just three outs to secure their first championship since 1993. Closer Jeff Hoffman, who had come in to secure the last out of the eighth inning, was back on the mound to finish things out.

It was Miguel Rojas that first got to live the dream. With the Dodgers down to their final two outs, Rojas worked the count full before smacking a home run to left field to tie the game and suck every ounce of air out of the Rogers Centre.

Hoffman got out of the inning from there, bringing the Blue Jays to the plate with a chance to walk things off for a title.

Vladimir Guerrero Jr. led off the inning batting against Blake Snell, and for a moment it felt like he might just finish things on his own. Instead, he hit a fly out to center. But after a Bo Bichette single was followed by a walk and a HBP, the bases were loaded with one out.

Bichette was pulled for pinch runner Isiah Kiner-Falefa, as he’s still somewhat hobbled coming back from injury. The Dodgers pulled Snell and put Game 6 starter Yoshinobu Yamamoto back on the mound.

Yamamoto delivered to Daulton Varsho, who smacked a grounder to second base. The ball was fielded by Rojas, who briefly double-clutched before firing a bullet home to catcher Will Smith. Smith’s foot briefly came off of the bag, but he got it back down for the force out before Kiner-Falefa could slide in safe.

It was this close folks.

Two outs.

Next up it was Ernie Clement, who with his third hit of the day in his previous at-bat had set a record with 30 hits this postseason, more than any player in MLB history. Now he needed one more.

Clement gave the first pitch he saw a ride to left center. With the outfield in, left fielder Kiké Hernández was sprinting backwards to get under the ball, but center fielder Andy Pages, who had just been put into the game as a defensive sub for the Dodgers, would meet him in the space and ultimately came down with the catch after a heart-stopping collision to get out of the inning.

It was the first live ball he had touched all night.

And with that, Game 7 of the World Series was on to extras.

Both teams failed to get a run across in the 10th. Last time these sides went to extras, we played into the 18th inning. Now it’s happening with a championship on the line.

How can you not be romantic about baseball?

Where will the batting solidity come from? Are two offspinners a viable option?

Nagraj Gollapudi06-Jul-2020Even before they departed the Caribbean, West Indies’ players and management have maintained a confident outlook about the three-match Test series against England which begins on Wednesday in Southampton. They currently hold the Wisden Trophy after their 2-1 win in 2019 at home, and West Indies believe they can repeat the feat of Viv Richards’ team in 1988 – the last West Indies team to win a series in England. England have rarely lost at home in the recent past – the last team to get the better of them over a full series were Sri Lanka in 2014.Before they take the field, West Indies need to sort out some key questions about their XI.The case for ChaseThe bowling workload, especially for fast bowlers will be a key factor for both teams throughout the Test series, considering the players have been forced to gather full intensity in a matter of few weeks. The fast tracking of Shannon Gabriel from the reserves to first squad is a clear indication that West Indies are more than likely to field a four-man pace attack with Kemar Roach, Alzarri Joseph and Holder completing the quartet.West Indies would have noticed the slow nature of the Southampton pitch during England’s warm-up match last week, with spin playing a significant role. Rahkeem Cornwall should fancy playing his first Test in England considering bounce is his main weapon and that could prove to be decisive towards the latter part of the Test.The last Test West Indies played was last November, in India, against Afghanistan. There are two missing names from that match: Shimron Hetmyer and Jomel Warrican. Their places have been taken by Gabriel and Joseph. Roston Chase, too, played against Afghanistan. Although Chase failed to impress during his last trip of England in 2017, he has the most Test centuries in this West Indies squad. The last of those came against England, in 2019. Chase now wants to return home with at least one Test century. Chase bowls handy offspin, as England realised in Barbados last year when he picked an eight-for.Do West Indies then play both Chase and Cornwall?Or should they include a specialist batsmen in Jermaine Blackwood, who was the top scorer in the West Indies Championships (domestic four-day competition)? Roger Harper, the West Indies chairman of selectors had praised Blackwood, saying the Jamaican had made his case by the “sheer weight of performance”.Blackwood, whose solitary Test century came against England in 2015, said he is “more focused, more determined”. But can Blackwood, an aggressive batsman naturally, curb his penchant for strokes? In the four innings in the two warm-up matches in the last month, Blackwood’s top score was 43. With Kraigg Brathwaite and Shai Hope searching for form and Darren Bravo and Shimron Hetmyer unavailable, West Indies are desperately looking for solidity in their batting. Does Blackwood inspire confidence in the team management to give him another opportunity?What about Joshua da Silva?Da Silva, only 22, announced his readiness for a debut Test cap with century as an opener followed by a half-century in the middle-order during the intra-squad warm-up match at Old Trafford last week. With Shane Dowrich the regular keeper sitting out of the match due to a side strain, da Silva staked a claim for the keeper-basman slot if it was up for grabs. The management has indicated that Dowrich is fit to play, which could reduce da Silva’s chances. Unless, of course, he is thought of as a specialist batsman and as an option over Blackwood.And Raymond Reifer?Reifer, the medium-pace allrounder bagged a five-for in the first warm-up in Old Trafford in June and showed patience as a batsman in the lower order. With Holder bowling just five overs so far on the tour, due an ankle niggle, can West Indies afford to field a fifth fast bowler? The slow nature of the pitch in Southampton could stand against Reifer unless the conditions favour seam bowling. Also, playing five fast bowlers increases the burden on the batting, which both Holder and head coach Phil Simmons agree is the weakness for the visitors.

The fast bowler talks about his journey as he swaps his red Knight Riders jersey for a purple one

Peter Della Penna21-Sep-2020Five days after his 28th birthday in December 2018, Ali Khan was sitting on the front steps of a Florida mansion known as the Cricketplex Resort, sobbing. Minutes earlier, Khan and three friends – Maq Qureshi, Shawn Qureshi, and former Pakistan Test batsman Faisal Iqbal – had been watching the IPL auction on a giant plasma screen with climactic excitement.After waking up at 5am for the auction coverage from Jaipur, Khan and his pals had waited more than four hours for the moment his name would be put up. It only took another 29 seconds for the auctioneer to turn Khan’s dream into a nightmare, slamming down his gavel to shout, “Unsold!”An IPL roster spot that moments before had felt so close suddenly turned as distant as the 8420 miles separating Boca Raton and Rajasthan.”That day I was very upset and I just couldn’t watch it anymore,” Khan says. “That’s why I just stepped out. I thought that was the closest I could ever get to the IPL.”Maq Qureshi, a close confidant of Khan, tried to find a silver lining. “This isn’t the end,” he told Khan as the latter left to head back home, to Ohio. “It’s just the beginning. You have to stay positive.”Qureshi is the proprietor of the Cricketplex Resort but is better known in US cricket circles for being the founder of the US Open T20 cricket tournament, held in Florida every December, as well as the US All-Stars team that plays in the event.Dwayne Bravo spotted Khan in the US Open T20 tournament and signed him on for the Winnipeg Hawks in the Global T20 Canada, before recommending him to TKR•Peter Della PennaKhan had been playing in the team since 2013, but it was at the 2017 event that Qureshi roped Dwayne Bravo in to play for the US All-Stars. The sight of Khan slinging down yorker after yorker convinced Bravo to draft him in at the Winnipeg Hawks in the 2018 Global T20 Canada, and then to recommend him to the Trinbago Knight Riders (TKR) management as a replacement for Ronsford Beaton in the Caribbean Premier League (CPL).Khan became an indispensable part of TKR, taking 16 wickets in a title-winning campaign. He had initially arrived in the CPL in 2016 with the Guyana Amazon Warriors, but only played once during a two-year stint. He had nearly given up on his professional cricket aspirations when Bravo’s intervention came about.This past week, Khan lifted his second CPL title in three years with TKR. After missing the previous four matches with a right hamstring strain, Khan had returned to the starting XI and taken 1 for 10 in two overs including a maiden as the Knight Riders stormed into the CPL playoffs. On the eve of their semi-final showdown with the Jamaica Tallawahs, everyone in the Knight Riders squad gathered for a team dinner in Port-of-Spain.”As soon as everyone sat in their seats, [Knight Riders coach] Brendon McCullum welcomed everyone to dinner and then he said, ‘A man from USA will be joining us in Kolkata Knight Riders. I want to take this opportunity to announce that…'”As soon as he said that, I was just like, ‘Is this real?’ DJ Bravo was sitting next to me and then he hugged me. I started crying because it was so emotional. It’s something you dream about and then all of a sudden you hear it in your ears that this actually happened. I was very emotional and I was very happy. Everyone came and congratulated me. We had dinner and Baz gave me a big hug and said, ‘You deserve it.’ I said, ‘Thank you, Baz. I will not let you down.'”From tears of sadness to tears of joy, Khan is living the American Dream. It was five years ago this month that he arrived in Indianapolis, Indiana from Dayton, Ohio as an uncapped, unheralded, unknown prospect – literally referred to simply as “#19” and “#64″, the numbers of the generic jerseys he was given to wear by coaches who had never seen him – at a trial organised by the ICC Americas development office. They were looking to come up with a squad of 15 Associate players to represent the region in the West Indies Regional Super50 tournament. That would in turn become a further audition for six players to become rookie-slot draft picks in the 2016 CPL.Ali Khan picked up eight wickets in eight matches in the 2020 CPL•Getty ImagesThe odds were stacked heavily against Khan, with dozens of players who had already represented USA, Canada and Bermuda in the fray. He had never played organised hard-ball cricket before moving to the USA with his family as a teenager from Fateh Jang, near Attock in Pakistan’s Punjab province. But from early on in the 2015 trial, Khan stood out for his ability to consistently bowl accurate yorkers – from a slingy action honed through formative years spent playing tape-ball cricket in Fateh Jang – ones that were clocked as high as 146kph in the 2020 CPL final.Though others were taking more wickets, this particular skill caught the eye of former West Indies fast bowler Courtney Walsh and Australia’s former fielding coach Mike Young, two independent selectors at the trial.”How could you not want him on your club?” Young asked the other talent evaluators. “And he can bowl. Now, you know, he tries. But he’s got some skill.”Besides TKR staff, one of the first people Khan went to have a chat with in his CPL bio-bubble after he heard he would be in the KKR side was Walsh, who served as the bowling coach for the St Kitts and Nevis Patriots.”He was on the same floor as me, just a couple rooms down,” Khan said of Walsh. “I was like, ‘Coach, if you wouldn’t have picked us at that time in Indianapolis, we wouldn’t be here today.’ He was like, ‘I just see the talent. That’s my job, to pass it on.’ When I got injured [before the knockouts], he asked about my leg. When I played again, he said, ‘It’s good to see you back playing. Keep working hard.'”There are others in the Associate sphere, USA in particular, who might be more naturally talented than Khan. But his work ethic and desire to improve stand out. He hopes he can be an inspiration to future generations of USA players in the same way that Rashid Khan has been for young cricketers in Afghanistan looking not just to play for the national team but to make it big in franchise cricket. Khan has not only played, and won, the CPL but also in the Pakistan Super League, the Afghanistan Premier League and the Bangladesh Premier League.”Maybe I can be the same guy from USA who can throw a rope back and bring more players to other leagues and hopefully we can have a few more players in the coming years,” Khan said.Less than 24 hours after winning the CPL with one Knight Riders team, Khan was boarding a nine-seater private jet to take him and his KKR team-mates – and TKR team-mate Bravo – to the UAE. But this is not the fairy-tale ending: Khan’s IPL Cinderella story is just beginning.

We know from the PSL that scoring is slower, big totals are harder to come by, and running between wickets matters more

Sidharth Monga and Gaurav Sundararaman17-Sep-2020Back in February, when India had only a handful of Covid-19 cases but knew of the menace approaching, one of the possible contingency plans on offer was to hold the entire IPL in one city that has two or three grounds. It seemed improbable the IPL franchises would agree to such a move: they had assembled their squads with home conditions in mind and with the aim of getting as many points as possible from their seven home games.Here we are now, ready to play the IPL in a whole new country, with a whole new set of conditions. As with everything, some teams will have to adjust more than others, and some teams will benefit from the shift more than others.Home or away?
The concept of home games, where you play seven games at a familiar venue and any of your opponents only one there, ceases to exist. Some teams will have a home base. The Royal Challengers, the Delhi Capitals, the Chennai Super Kings, the Sunrisers Hyderabad, Kings XI, and the Rajasthan Royals will play around half of their group matches in Dubai; for the other two teams, that venue is Abu Dhabi. But even their opponents will know the conditions just as well.Going by ground records, Abu Dhabi and Dubai are not that different. The one ground that is significantly different, Sharjah, will host each of the eight teams for three matches apiece.ESPNcricinfo LtdSlow it down
Let’s start with a few riders. The data we have draws mainly from the months of February and March, the usual cricket season in the UAE. The pitches could behave differently in October and November. The timings of these matches will be different to those that make up the historical data. Also, we don’t know what the strain of hosting 24 matches in about 40 days will do to the Dubai pitch towards the end of the tournament. If that in itself doesn’t point to a lower-scoring tournament, here is data from the last three years.