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Newcastle United are thought to be preparing to open talks over the signing of an “underrated” Nottingham Forest player, with a summer move to St James’ Park mooted.

Newcastle suffer blow to Champions League hopes

The Magpies have been in impressive form in recent months, not least winning the EFL Cup after a memorable final victory over Liverpool, but they were humbled by Aston Villa on Saturday evening.

Newcastle lost 4-1 at Villa Park, despite equalising through Fabian Schar in the first half, with their Champions League qualification hopes dented in the process.

That’s not to say that Eddie Howe’s side don’t still find themselves in a great position, sitting third in the Premier League table, but they are now only one point ahead of Manchester City, following their 2-0 win at Everton, and two clear of Nottingham Forest and Villa, in fifth and sixth place respectively.

With five games to go in the league this season, it is all to play in the Champions League battle, with Newcastle knowing the importance of finishing in the top five, in terms of top-quality signings coming in this summer.

Newcastle to open talks to sign "underrated" Forest star Aina

According to Caught Offside, Newcastle are expected to open talks with Nottingham Forest right-back Ola Aina’s representatives over a summer move to the club.

The rumoured discussions are likely to take place in the “coming weeks”, with Tottenham also in the same position as the Magpies. The likes of Liverpool and Chelsea are mentioned as possible suitors, too.

Right-back is an area that Newcastle should be focusing on at the end of the season, with Tino Livramento still a young player and Kieran Trippier’s best days now behind him at the age of 34.

As bad as Schar & Burn: Newcastle must drop 4/10 star whose "legs gave up"

Newcastle’s winning run in the Premier League came to an end at Villa Park.

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By
Angus Sinclair

Apr 20, 2025

In Aina, the Magpies could have a great option to come in and be an immediate hit, having stood out as one of Forest’s most consistent players this season, being hailed as “underrated” by analyst Ben Mattinson.

The 28-year-old has been part of a solid Reds defence that has helped them get into the Champions League reckoning, starting 30 out of 33 Premier League games and averaging 2.9 clearances per match.

The fact that the £40,000-a-week Aina already has plenty of experience in the Premier League can only bode well for Newcastle, allowing him to be an instant hit, and his entertaining social media presence off the pitch could also make him a popular figure among the fanbase.

Sheffield United’s place in the Championship Play-Offs was confirmed on Easter Monday after their disappointing 2-1 defeat to Burnley at Turf Moor.

The Blades and Sunderland are the two teams confirmed to be in the four-team post-season tournament to compete for a place in the Premier League next season.

Chris Wilder’s side have lost four of their last five matches and have to find a way to rediscover their form ahead of the play-offs, to avoid their season ending in complete disappointment, which could include putting faith in Tom Cannon.

Why Sheffield United should keep starting Tom Cannon

The Ireland international, who joined from Leicester City in the January transfer window, scored his first goal for the club with a thumping finish in the 2-1 defeat to Burnley.

It was his first goal in 13 matches for the club in the Championship, after a return of nine goals during the first half of the campaign on loan at Stoke, and is hopefully a sign of things to come.

Cannon, who scored four goals in one game earlier this season, has scored 20 goals in 68 matches at Championship level, and should be given the nod over Tyrese Campbell.

The English striker has scored ten goals in 32 league games this term, but is currently on a run of zero goals and zero assists in his last five outings, whilst Cannon has hit form with a goal against Burnley.

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Instead of unleashing Campbell in an attempt to turn the form around to win the Play-Offs, Wilder should bring Jesurun Rak-Sakyi off the bench to be a difference-maker.

Why Jesurun Rak-Sakyi should start for Sheffield United

The Crystal Palace loanee came off the bench in the defeat to Burnley and should, now, be brought into the starting line-up to replace Ben Brereton Diaz.

Sheffield United will need to be ruthless and effective at the top end of the pitch in their Play-Off outings if they want to earn promotion to the Premier League, which is why Rak-Sayki should be given the nod.

The 22-year-old star, once dubbed “remarkable” by Roy Hodgson, could come in to provide more quality than Brereton Diaz in the final third, based on their form in the division this term.

As you can see in the table above, Rak-Sakyi has been more effective as a finisher and racked up more than three times as much xA, despite only starting nine more games.

Brereton Diaz, who completed 56% of his passes and lost 100% of his duels against Burnley, does not carry as much of a threat from a wide position, which is why he should be dropped from the side in favour of the English winger.

Sheffield Utd must rue losing star who's now worth more than Hamer

This former Sheffield United star is now worth even more than Gustavo Hamer.

By
Dan Emery

Apr 18, 2025

This change could, then, improve Sheffield United’s chances of winning the Play-Offs in the post-season, because they would have a more effective forward on the pitch by swapping Brereton Diaz for Rak-Sakyi.

In January, Manchester City made a handful of signings who could become the cornerstones of a team entering a new era under Pep Guardiola next season.

With only the FA Cup winnable this season, it has been one of transition for the Spaniard. He did sign a new deal last November, however, indicating that he is looking ahead to a new challenge starting this summer.

The likes of Vitor Reis, Omar Marmoush, Nico Gonzalez and Abdukodir Khusanov have all proven over the previous few months that they have the required tools to perform for a club like City.

One player who will be departing the Etihad this summer is Kevin De Bruyne, who will end his ten-year association with City when his contract expires.

Guardiola has taken the club to new levels since he arrived in Manchester in 2016 after spells with Barcelona and Bayern Munich.

It could also be argued that the main reason he led the team to such heights was having someone like De Bruyne in his squad to begin with.

The numbers behind De Bruyne's staggering Etihad career

Given what the Belgian has achieved with the club since moving to England from Wolfsburg ahead of the 2015/16 season, the playmaker might be one of the most important players in their history.

Think back to Paul Merson’s verdict on the midfielder in 2015, who said: “I like the signing of Fabian Delph, but I think Raheem Sterling and Kevin De Bruyne are pathetically overpriced. They have spent £54.5m on De Bruyne – and he’s a player they don’t really need.”

How wrong was he? At the time of writing, De Bruyne has played 415 matches for City, registering 284 goal contributions – 107 goals and 177 assists – in the process. This is a staggering number for the attacking midfielder, meaning he recorded a goal involvement once every 1.46 matches.

During that time, he helped City win six Premier League titles, two FA Cups and the Champions League in 2023. With City getting closer and closer to glory in the latter competition, De Bruyne took matters into his own hands that season, registering eight goal involvements, creating eight big chances and averaging 2.2 key passes per game as they eventually defeated Inter Milan in the final.

He may not have reached this sort of level over the previous two seasons, as injuries have begun to hamper his involvement. Indeed, the midfielder has missed 48 games since August 2023.

Regardless, the 33-year-old is up there among the pantheon of City greats for his contribution over the previous decade.

The question now for Guardiola is, who comes in to replace him next season? And will the club have to pay a fortune for the privilege? Considering the recent news, they might just have found a perfect heir to the Belgian maestro.

Manchester City's perfect De Bruyne replacement

According to the Mirror, officials from Bayer Leverkusen made a visit to the Etihad last week in order to enquire about the availability of duo James McAtee and Stefan Ortega.

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The German side are keen on landing both players during the summer transfer window. As a result, this may give Guardiola an advantage in their pursuit of Florian Wirtz with it being made known during those meetings that City would like to bring him to England.

He has been valued at around £100m by the club, who would prefer him to leave Germany if a deal was reached to sell him, rather than joining Bayern Munich, who are also keen.

City could use McAtee and Ortega as makeweights regarding any prospective deal and, given his success already on the continent, Wirtz could have the same sort of impact that De Bruyne made.

Wirtz has the same sort of qualities as another City legend – David Silva – and if he manages to make a quick impact upon a move to the Premier League, he has the potential to replicate Silva’s success with the club.

Why Florian Wirtz could be City's next David Silva

If De Bruyne took City to new levels during his career with the club, Silva was arguably the catalyst for their golden era.

The diminutive Spaniard may have taken a few months to properly settle into life in Manchester, but he ended his first season with 19 goal contributions as the club won the FA Cup.

From there on, Silva went from strength to strength. Not only did he have an eye for goal, scoring 77 times for the club, but the midfielder was at his best creating chances for others, as evidenced by his 130 assists in 436 matches for City.

Aided by his small centre of gravity, Silva used this to his advantage, getting into dangerous positions with ease. Wirtz could offer something similar to City should he make the move to England this summer.

Hailed as a “mastermind” by talent scout Jacek Kulig during Leverkusen’s stunning 2023/24 campaign, Wirtz has plenty of qualities that are similar to Silva.

Best in an attacking midfield role, just like the Spaniard, Wirtz has the capability to both score and create in equal measure.

Indeed, since making his Leverkusen debut back during the 2019/20 season, the German international has scored 56 goals and grabbed 63 assists in that time.

His club might not win any silverware this season, but the 21-year-old has still managed to create 15 assists in the Bundesliga, along with averaging 1.9 key passes and succeeding with 2.8 dribbles per game.

The transition from an incredible prospect to a genuine world-class talent is now complete. Like Silva before him, Wirtz can take the next step in his career by moving from the continent to England this summer. Just who knows what he might have achieved at this stage next term.

Man City have a "quality" striker to replace Haaland & it's not Marmoush

With Erling Haaland sidelined for a while, Pep Guardiola must entrust Man City “quality” striker to deputise, and it is not Omar Marmoush.

By
Ben Gray

Apr 14, 2025

Brighton owner Tony Bloom says it is "entirely false" that he placed bets on his team's matches since he took over the club. Reports emerged that the British billionaire was the anonymous gambler behind winnings of £52 million ($70m), which allegedly included bets on the Seagulls. Now, in a statement on behalf of Bloom, the Premier League club has responded to these "misleading" claims.

• 'Secret £600m betting syndicate'

  Earlier this week, Bloom was accused of running a 'secret £600 million ($800m) betting syndicate' and that some of the accounts used allegedly belonged to a former chief of staff of Reform UK MP Nigel Farage. Moreover, claimed that Bloom is the professional gambler known as "John Doe", who is referred to in a legal case in the United States where investigators are trying to unmask an anonymous gambler on a lucrative hot streak. The Football Association prevents club owners from placing bets on matches or competitions involving their own team. Despite that, Bloom is one of several owners allowed to continue gambling on other tournaments and games as he was included in a 2014 policy permitting such an act. Now, the 55-year-old, who is a professional gambler and runs a £600m-valued ($800m) London-based sports betting consultancy called Starlizard, has tried to set the record straight.

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  'Inaccurate and misleading report'

  A statement issued by Brighton on Bloom's behalf states that he has never placed bets on the Seagulls since taking over the club in 2009. He described these allegations as "inaccurate and misleading" and said that lawyers have made contact with The Guardian about their story.

  A statement on the club's website reads: "Following an inaccurate and misleading report in The Guardian earlier this evening, I can categorically assure our supporters that I have not placed bets on any Brighton & Hove Albion matches since becoming the owner of the club in 2009. In 2014, in addition to new rules on betting, The FA introduced a policy with quite onerous provisions for owners of football clubs with interests in betting. These provisions allow certain football club owners, including me, to continue to bet on football under strict conditions. In particular, the policy prevents me from betting on any match or competition that Brighton & Hove Albion is involved in. Since 2014, I have always fully complied with these conditions, and all of my bets on football are audited by one of the world’s leading accounting firms on an annual basis to ensure full compliance with The FA’s policy. Lawyers acting on my behalf have this evening directly contacted The Guardian to make my position on this entirely false allegation very clear. Separately, our club is in direct contact with both The Football Association and The Premier League regarding this matter."

• The rise of Tony Bloom

  To many, Bloom is best known as Brighton's owner, along with being a minority shareholder in Belgian top-flight team Union SG. He is also a minority owner of the Australian team Melbourne Victory and Scottish Premiership side Hearts. For those less accustomed to the Brighton-born businessman, Bloom started out at an accountancy firm, before becoming an options trader, and then he got into gambling professionally. Nicknamed 'The Lizard' for his poker-playing prowess, Bloom launched Starlizard in 2006, with their modus operandi focusing on using data to analyse and predict the outcome of sporting events. The success of that enterprise has allowed him to venture into racehorse ownership and charitable foundations, as well as taking Brighton from League One to the Premier League. This comes a matter of decades after the club nearly went out of existence in the late 1990s. Since then, they have played in the Europa League as well for the first time in their history.

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  What comes next for Bloom's Brighton?

  Aside from off-field matters such as this, Bloom, who is a boyhood Brighton fan, will be keeping a watchful eye on his team's Premier League clash with West Ham on Sunday. The Seagulls sit tenth in the table whereas the Hammers are third from bottom. A win could see the Albion jump into the top five if results go their way.

England’s senior batter prepares to return to ODI action, but talk of his technique for Australia’s pitches dominates

Cameron Ponsonby25-Oct-2025Little known fact. Joe Root has never made a hundred in Australia.It will be the sub-genre of the summer. A much anticipated Ashes series, in which one of the greats of the game has the chance to complete a caveat-free career. An away win, and a full set of centuries in every Test-hosting nation he has played. Except for Bangladesh and the UAE. They don’t rate him in Dhaka.Matthew Hayden confidently made the claim that if Root didn’t end the Aussie summer with a Test ton, he’d strip nude to run around the MCG. But others aren’t so sure.”Wrists limper than a French handshake,” former Aussie legspinner and broadcaster Kerry O’Keeffe said on Fox Sports. “It doesn’t work in Australia.””The first two Tests are huge for Joe Root. They’re nickers’ Tests. Perth? They nick for fun there. And Brisbane day-night? Everyone nicks in Bris.”Joe Root is a nicker. When he was last here, in his first eight innings he nicked off. Australia knows this. What will be his defensive set-up? I’m very bearish about Joe Root.”O’Keeffe’s argument is that Root previously chose to stay inside the ball, as he was of the belief they wouldn’t target him with the offcutter, only for a different weakness to appear, that meant he was playing away from his body.It is a rare technical examination of a player who has averaged 58.00 since Brendon McCullum took over, but a prescient one given Australia’s recent tendency to produce pitches that favour their seam bowlers. Since the start of the 2021-22 Ashes, top-seven batters in Australia have averaged 30.22 per dismissal, compared to 38.14 in the four-year cycle before that. By contrast, England’s pitches have gone the other way. The average in the four years before McCullum’s appointment was 30.90; it has since been 38.94.”England play pretty well on the flatter wickets, the way they play,” Steve Smith said recently. “So, if there’s a bit in it like there has been the last three or four years, with our bowling attack, it certainly makes things a lot more difficult for their batters.”Nevertheless, Root sees no need to tamper with his technique. Arriving in New Zealand ahead of England’s three-match ODI series, it will be the final three hits he has before lining up against Australia in Perth.”A lot of that prep’s already started back home,” Root said, explaining how he’s balancing his preparation for an ODI series today with the carrot of the Ashes starting tomorrow.”I think how I’d prepare now is different to how I would have done 10 years ago. A lot more mental. I’ve clearly played against a lot of their guys now. Know how they operate, know what they’re likely to try to bring to the series.”I used to be very technical in how I prepared. I’d want to make sure that everything felt lined up and my feet were in the right place, my head was in the right place, whereas now I’m a little bit more concerned about how I’m looking at the game, how I’m going to approach different situations, whether that be the surface, whether that be different bowler types, different angles, and being able to manage those different angles when they come wide of the crease. Things like that.”Related

• Joe Root relishes chance to make history as latest Ashes shot looms

• England seek clarity for seam attack as ODI reboot gathers pace

• Switch Hit: Rainy, phoney, baloney

• Kyle Jamieson out of ODIs against England with side stiffness

• Williamson and England's Ashes players in focus as ODI series kicks off

This will be Root’s fourth Ashes tour. His individual record is respectable, averaging 35.68, but not befitting of a player of his own calibre. England’s record across that time, however, is diabolical: 15 matches, 13 defeats, two draws, zero wins.”They’re all different,” Root said of how the build-up to this series has compared to previous tours. “I look at it at this time and I’m in a completely different stage of my career. I’m no longer captain, I’m playing some really good cricket, and so are we. We’re playing in a really exciting way. We’ve got a great group of players that we can go there and hit them with different tools than we’ve had on previous tours, so when you look at it like that, it’s a really exciting prospect.”Clearly, Australia are really good in their own conditions, with a great record at home, especially against us, but that’s the exciting bit right? There’s an opportunity there to do something a bit different and hopefully achieve something really special.”Despite the ODI World Cup being two years away, these three matches against New Zealand are not without complete jeopardy. England are currently ranked eighth in the world after winning only eight of their last 23 fixtures. Failure to automatically qualify for the World Cup remains unlikely, but only if they nip in the bud a continued slide in the format.”I don’t think that’s necessarily anyone’s fault of what happened before,” Root said of the ODI group’s relative stability under Brook and McCullum, compared to previous leadership.”You look at the number of crossovers of Test series and one-dayers, it was physically impossible to get there. There was a one-day series against the Netherlands when we were playing a Test match at Old Trafford. You think how can that happen?”New Zealand themselves haven’t played an ODI since April, but remain ranked third in the world. The weighting of points in the ICC rankings is such that it presents a major opportunity for England to win some matches, and lift themselves away from any potential future problems.”I don’t think it’s arrogant to say you look at the quality that’s within our squad, and we’re not an eighth-in-the-world team,” Root said. “We should be competing and jostling for that top spot.”New Zealand are a very good team and if you try to sleepwalk into it or you’re preoccupied with what’s around the corner, then they’ll hurt us really badly. We want to keep making strides under Brooky after what was a difficult Champions Trophy. This is a great opportunity to build on what we started over the summer.”

Australia’s one, two and three smashed quick centuries, the last of them off just 47 balls

Namooh Shah24-Aug-2025276 – Australia’s margin of victory in the third ODI, the biggest defeat for South Africa in ODIs (by runs) going past the 243 runs they lost by in the 2023 World Cup to India. It is also the second-biggest margin of victory for Australia in ODIs, only behind the 309 runs against Netherlands in 2023.It is also the fourth-biggest margin of victory by runs in ODIs among Full Member teams, with the top two spots taken by India followed by New Zealand at three.431 for 2 – Australia’s second-highest total in an ODI, bettered only by the 434 for 4 also against South Africa in Johannesburg in 2006.Australia’s total is also the highest in an ODI in Australia and the second-highest against South Africa behind that 434 for 4.ESPNcricinfo Ltd2 – Australia’s top three of Head (142), Marsh (100) and Green (118*) scored centuries, making it only the second such instance in ODIs. The first was by South Africa against West Indies in Johannesburg in 2015.250 – Head and Marsh’s opening partnership, the fifth-highest in ODIs for Australia. The last Australia pair to stitch a double-century partnership for any wicket was by Maxwell and Pat Cummins for the eighth wicket in Mumbai in 2023.431 – The runs added by the first three Australian wickets is also the second-highest in an ODI, only behind South Africa’s 439 against West Indies in Johannesburg in 2015.47 – Green took 47 balls to complete his maiden ODI century, the second-fastest by an Australia batter behind Glenn Maxwell’s 40-ball effort against Netherlands in Delhi in the 2023 ODI world cup.Green’s 47-ball century is also the fastest against South Africa, bettering the 66-ball hundred by Matthew Hayden by some way.ESPNcricinfo Ltd12.14 – The scoring rate of the Green-Alex Carey partnership of 164 runs for the third wicket, the highest for Australia (min 150 runs), bettering the record of Maxwell and Shane Watson, who scored 160 at a rate of 11.70 against Sri Lanka in 2015.13.28 – Wiaan Mulder’s economy rate – the second-poorest in ODIs (six or more overs), behind Kevin O’Brien’s 13.57 against South Africa in 2015.22y 2d – Cooper Connolly’s age when he took his maiden five-wicket haul, becoming the youngest Australia bowler to do so, going past Craig McDermott, who took a five-for at 22 years and 204 days against Pakistan in 1987.5/22 – Connolly’s are the best bowling figures for an Australia spinner in an ODI, bettering the figures of Brad Hogg (5 for 32) against West Indies in 2005.

The Marlins beat the Cardinals 6-2 on Wednesday night in front of a sparse 9,300 fans at LoanDepot Park. Those who did attend got to see Miami's Sandy Alcantara have one of his best outings of the season.

Alcantara gave up five hits and one earned run in seven innings while he struck out a season-high nine batters and walked just one. In the process, he earned his seventh win of the season.

The Marlins' pitcher could have had an even better night, but Agustín Ramírez failed to catch strike three as St. Louis catcher Yohel Pozo swung and missed. Pozo reached on the passed ball as Ramírez framed a pitch he never caught.

Bally Sports Florida analyst Tommy Hutton was not impressed.

"What it does, we've seen a couple of instances tonight, it makes Sandy throw more pitches," said Hutton. "See, to me, DON'T TRY TO FRAME THAT PITCH! Catch it before you try to frame it!"

He also added, "It's all you gotta do."

Three batters later, after what would have been the third out was recorded, Pozo scored on a Lars Nootbaar double.

For some reason the Marlins catchers are having a very unique season.

Jamie Vardy’s new family home in a picturesque part of northern Italy was broken into by three burglars over the weekend, while the former Leicester City and England striker was playing for Cremonese in a home Serie A clash with Roma, with wife Rebekah in attendance at the game. Cremonese were soundly beaten 3-1, but that was the least of Vardy's problems.

• £80,000 worth of valuables stolen

  The has reported that three men gained entry to the Vardys' £2 million property by the shores of Lake Garda in the town of Salo – around an hour's drive from Cremona – via a window. The break-in happened on Sunday, when Cremonese were hosting Roma at the intimate Stadio Giovanni Zini.

  The report states that £80,000 worth of valuables, including jewellery and cash, were taken from the house. However, security cameras are believed to have picked up the thieves, who are likely to have scouted the house to learn when it would be empty, coming and going via their chosen entry point.

  Local police captain Giacomo Tessarolo told the: "We have CCTV which shows the individuals entering the house through a window that was left open. They were on the premises for several minutes before escaping with the [Patek Philippe] watch and several other high value items. There was a woman inside, not his wife but the baby sitter. The theft was discovered when some of Vardy's friends returned to the house and found items on the floor and it had evidently been broken into."

  Rebekah Vardy was at the Cremonese game when the incident took place.

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  Serie A raises awareness of domestic violence

  Over the weekend, Cremonese were among a handful of Serie A clubs given permission to promote the 'A Red to Violence' campaign, dedicated to fighting domestic abuse. Each player was able to change the name on the back of his shirt to that of an important woman in their life. Vardy opted to have 'Becky' printed above the number 10 on his jersey, in tribute to his wife. Players also took to the field with a streak of red face paint, again to raise awareness and put the issue of domestic violence in the spotlight.

  The Vardy family are said to have immersed themselves in their new Italian adventure, making themselves a visible presence in the town of Salo, population: 10,500, by going out for walks and eating dinner in local restaurants, as well as trying to learn the language. It makes it doubly cruel that they have now been the victims of an unsettling burglary.

• Vardy's Serie A inspiration

  Vardy was linked with other clubs after leaving Leicester in the summer, including Wrexham, but eventually settled on a new challenge in Italy and has adapted quickly to life abroad. "Once I made my decision, that was it. I was coming here," Vardy explained in a September interview. "I'm settling in really well and just can't wait to get going now. It's all about match days and wanting to pick the results up, so now it's about just knuckling down when I get given the opportunity, helping my teammates out as much as I can and hopefully chipping in with some goals."

  He also noted that his favourite Serie A player to watch growing up was Juventus legend Alessandro Del Piero: "You watch him play – he was unbelievable. Watching him score most weeks was really encouraging for me. Having watched that, me coming here and trying to do exactly the same – it’s really exciting."

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  Vardy contract extension looks likely

  Having left Leicester at the end of last season when his contract expired, 38-year-old Vardy signed an initial 12-month deal with Cremonese to cover the 2025-26 campaign. However, the terms of that contract also include a 12-month extension to the summer of 2027 if the club avoids relegation. So far, at least, that looks a plausible eventuality, given their mid-table safety after 12 games.

  The defeat to Roma was a third on the bounce in Serie A, but Cremonese still sit 11th, with a healthy six-point cushion between them and the relegation zone. The team has lost the same number of games as European powerhouse Inter (4), but needs to be able to turn draws into wins, having taken maximum points from only three league matches. Still, for a newly-promoted provincial club navigating just a second season in the top flight in the last 30 years, it has been a strong start.

Double World Cup-winning allrounder signs off from 15-year international career

Alan Gardner29-Sep-2025Chris Woakes, the England allrounder, has announced his retirement from international cricket, bringing down the curtain on a 14-year career representing his country across all three formats.Woakes, 36, was omitted from England’s Ashes squad last week after a battle to regain fitness following a shoulder dislocation suffered in the fifth Test against India at the end of July. Rob Key, England Men’s managing director, said afterwards that Woakes “isn’t in our plans… at all” and he has now decided to call time, posting a statement on Instagram.It means his final act in an England shirt – after 62 Tests, 122 ODIs and 33 T20Is – was walking out to bat at No. 11 in the Oval Test against India with his arm in a sling, in a vain attempt to help secure a series-sealing victory on the fifth day.Related

• The Wizard that Was: Chris Woakes bows out as ultimate team man

• Chris Woakes knew Oval rearguard 'could be last act in England shirt'

• 'He's all in' – Root says shoulder dislocation won't prevent Woakes from batting

• How Woakes defied injury to front up in England's hour of need

• The agony, the ecstasy: 56 minutes of Test cricket at its most glorious

“The moment has come, and I’ve decided that the time is right for me to retire from international cricket,” he said.”Playing for England was something I aspired to do since I was a kid dreaming in the back garden, and I feel incredibly fortunate to have lived out those dreams. Representing England, wearing the Three Lions and sharing the field with team-mates over the last 15 years, many of whom have become lifelong friends, are things I’ll look back on with the greatest pride.”Making my debut in 2011 in Australia seems like yesterday, but time flies when you’re having fun. Lifting two World Cups and being part of some amazing Ashes series is something I never thought was possible, and those memories and celebrations with my team-mates will stay with me forever.”To my Mum and Dad, my wife Amie and our girls Laila and Evie, thank you for your unwavering love, support and sacrifices over the years. None of this would have been possible without you.”To the fans, especially the Barmy Army, thank you for the passion, the cheers and the belief. To my coaches, team-mates and everyone behind the scenes both with England and Warwickshire, who helped me play for my country – your guidance and friendship has meant the world.”I look forward to continuing to play county cricket and exploring more franchise opportunities in the near future.”Chris Woakes was part of England’s World Cup wins in 2019 and 2022•IDI via Getty Images

A double World Cup-winner, Woakes was England’s Player of the Series during the 2023 Ashes, returning to the side midway through the series to help orchestrate a draw from 2-0 down. However, his involvement on the 2025-26 tour was put into doubt the moment he walked off clutching his shoulder on day one at The Oval.In all, he took 396 wickets across formats for England, putting him eighth on the list. His most enduring contribution was in ODIs, where he led the attack that won the 2019 World Cup, and eventually finished with 173 wickets at 30.01, the fifth-most by an Englishman.Woakes made his debut as far back as the 2010-11 tour of Australia, playing in two T20Is and three ODIs. In his second ODI appearance, at Brisbane, he picked up the Player of the Match award after taking 6 for 45 – at the time the second-best figures for England Men in the format.His Test debut came at the scene of his final appearance, at The Oval in the 2013 Ashes, but he spent much of his career waiting for opportunities in the pecking order behind James Anderson and Stuart Broad (though Woakes would end with a better average than both in English conditions).A breakthrough came in the summer of 2016, when he claimed 34 wickets at 17.20 in six Tests against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. He scored his only Test hundred two years later, against India at Lord’s, by which time he was the senior new-ball bowler in the ODI side.Woakes was often behind James Anderson and Stuart Broad in England’s pecking order•Getty Images

With 16 wickets at 27.87 – including a brilliant analysis of 3 for 20 against Australia in the semi-final – he was one of the key cogs in England’s 2019 World Cup win. Two years later, his skills with the white ball won him a return to the T20I side, and he went on to help England lift another World Cup in Australia in 2022.Latterly, following the retirements of Broad and Anderson, Woakes led the line in the Test side, with 2024 (32 wickets at 24.09) proving his second-most prolific calendar year with the ball. However, he struggled for penetration against India this summer, with 11 wickets in five Tests before slipping while attempting to field the ball on the boundary and being ruled out of the rest of the decider – at least until his dramatic reappearance, arm strapped up under his jumper, ready to bat left-handed if required.ECB chair, Richard Thompson, said: “The images of Chris walking out to bat with his arm in a sling to try and win a Test match this summer reflected how much he cared about playing for his country and being the best team-mate he could be.”He has been a gentleman off the field, with the skills and fierce determination to win on it, regularly rising to the occasion on the biggest stage with bat as well as ball. There are so many special memories, from brilliance with the new ball in the 2019 World Cup and winning the T20 World Cup in 2022 to his series-changing impact in the 2023 Men’s Ashes which earned him the player of the series honour.”We are indebted to have players like Chris represent England and I want to thank and congratulate him for everything he has done in an England shirt for the past 14 years.”Key added: “Chris Woakes is one of the finest people to have played the game. An extraordinary career carved out alongside two of England’s greatest ever bowlers. A man who helped every team he played in, even before he walked onto the field.”

Cal Raleigh's incredible season continued Wednesday with the catcher making more MLB history by hitting his 60th home run of the year in the Mariners' AL West-clinching win over the Rockies. He now needs just two more to tie Aaron Judge's AL record and he has four more games to get it done.

Raleigh, who is just the seventh player in MLB history to hit 60 or more home runs in a season, blasted the first pitch he saw in the bottom of the eighth inning into the stands in right field, which sent the home crowd at T-Mobile Park into hysterics. It was his second home run of the game.

What made it even cooler is that the Mariners fan who caught the historic home run ball was seen immediately giving it to a kid, who was then taken away by security to likely get the ball to Raleigh.

Here's that scene from the stands:

What an incredibly selfless move by that fan to just give the ball away to that kid.

Here's the home run:

What a night in Seattle.