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Cleveland Guardians starting pitcher Luis Ortiz is under investigation by MLB, according to Jeff Passan of ESPN. While MLB did not initially specify details of the investigation, sources told Ken Rosenthal and Zack Meisel of that the league's probe is related to gambling.

The Guardians confirmed the news of the investigation in a statement on Thursday, adding that Ortiz, 26, was placed on paid leave.

"The Guardians have been notified by Major League Baseball that Luis Ortiz has been placed on leave per an agreement with the Players' Association due to an ongoing league investigation," the team said in the statement. "The Guardians are not permitted to comment further at this time, and will respect the league's confidential investigative process."

Ortiz was slated to make his 17th start of the season against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field on Thursday. Joey Cantillo will start in place of Ortiz for the Guardians.

Ortiz has recorded a 4.36 ERA and 96 strikeouts in 88 2/3 innings pitched in 2025. Last year, Ortiz racked up 3.1 WAR and pitched to a career-best 3.32 ERA as a starter and swingman out of Cleveland's bullpen.

Newcastle United’s December fixture list is looking extremely busy already.

By the time the action-packed month closes, Eddie Howe’s Toon will have played eight games in all competitions, with Bayer Leverkusen up next for the frantic Magpies in the Champions League.

So far for Howe and Co, it’s been one draw and one win in the hectic month, with the 2-1 win over Burnley secured last time out in the Premier League far more nervy than it needed to be, after the hosts had gifted the ten-man Clarets a penalty right at the death.

Thankfully, no late fightback was on the cards, but with fixture congestion obviously going to become a big issue the more the month goes on, some changes could be on the agenda for the trip to Germany on Wednesday night, whether it’s because of tired legs or an actual drop in performance.

Where Eddie Howe needs to rotate against Leverkusen

With 17 shots tallied up on the Burnley goal throughout, Newcastle, arguably, should have notched up a far more comprehensive win against Scott Parker’s valiant visitors.

Nick Woltemade didn’t cover himself in much glory up top, in this regard, with just 18 touches of the ball passing him by, leading to zero on-target shots being powered at Martin Dubravka’s busy goal.

With Yoane Wissa back and available for selection after a lengthy injury, too, it could well be the perfect time to test out the ex-Brentford striker from the start against Leverkusen, with the German dismissed as having a “sloppy” performance, as per the Daily Mail’s Craig Hope.

He wasn’t the only performer on the pitch that stood out for all the wrong reasons, though, with Jacob Ramsey struggling throughout, next to Bruno Guimaraes, who grabbed another memorable Toon strike.

Sandro Tonali and Joelinton will likely walk back into the midfield spots ahead of Ramsey, who would give up the handball that gifted Zian Flemming a 94th-minute lifeline.

Anthony Elanga also continues to look lost in Newcastle black and white, with just one of his seven dribbles coming off against Burnley, but other Newcastle faces managed to cement their first-team position even more on Saturday afternoon, as this often hit-and-miss attacker continues to turn around his initially underwhelming season.

Newcastle's "best player" is now undroppable again

Newcastle have been very hit and miss so far this season, but with three Premier League victories now from their last four clashes in the tough division, Howe will hope his wobbly team have turned a corner.

Anthony Gordon certainly has, with the ex-Everton winger’s days of drawing blanks in league action this season firmly over, as he has now converted two crucial penalties back-to-back at St. James’ Park.

Without the England international’s ice-cold precision from the spot, the Magpies might well have been staring at two completely different results.

It’s been a very sharp turnaround in fortunes for the 24-year-old, with one analyst claiming that Gordon had entered “Gabriel Obertan territory” earlier in the campaign when he was consistently drawing blanks in the Premier League.

Obertan would only go on to score three goals for the Toon across a difficult 77-game spell, having never lived up to his early hype in England, when on the books of Manchester United.

Thankfully, Gordon now looks to have recaptured his gung-ho best, away from looking passive down the channels, with Howe – come the full-time whistle of the Burnley win – even labelling the Liverpool-born forward as the “best player” on the pitch as his “direct running” ultimately helped Newcastle overcome a stern Clarets battle.

PL games played

10

PL goals scored

2

PL assists

0

Champions League games played

5

CL goals scored

4

CL assists

1

Looking at the table above, too, Gordon has the chance to firm up why he deserves to be one of Howe’s first names on the teamsheets by putting in another memorable showing in the Champions League at the BayArena, having mustered up a sublime four goals and one assist this season in Europe’s first-class competition.

With a whirlwind 37 goals and assists amassed over his previous two seasons on Tyneside, too, Gordon will hope he can enter into another purple patch of form after suffering from some shaky moments here and there this campaign, off the back of his manager’s glowing words.

There’s certainly plenty of action ahead for Gordon to sink his teeth into, as he prays more words of praise come his way soon from his manager and beyond, alongside Newcastle continuing to pick up more wins.

Fewer touches than Ramsdale & 1 duel won: Newcastle star could be dropped

This Newcastle star struggled in the 2-1 win vs. Burnley

ByJoe Nuttall Dec 7, 2025

By winning their last regular-season game Renegades also improved to fourth, while Sixers are third

AAP05-Dec-2025Melbourne Renegades duo Georgia Wareham and Courtney Webb have produced a match-winning partnership to sink Sydney Sixers and keep the defending WBBL champions in finals contention.The win had significant ramifications ahead of next week’s finals, ending Sixers’ three-game winning streak and meaning Hobart Hurricanes will finish top of the ladder.That means Hurricanes will host the final on Saturday week. Adelaide will host Hurricanes tonight at Karen Rolton Oval, with Strikers needing an upset win to stay in the top-four hunt.By winning their last regular-season game Renegades also improved to fourth, while Sixers are third. But Renegades must sweat on other results to find out whether they play in the finals.Chasing 131 for victory, Wareham (49 not out) and Webb (33 not out) took Renegades to 134 for 4 from 16.2 overs on Friday in Melbourne.The pair put on a whirlwind unbroken 85-run stand, rescuing Renegades from a wobbly 49 for 4 in the tenth over.Wareham, who earlier took three wickets, finished with a furious flourish, cracking five fours and two sixes from her 29 deliveries. And Webb also found the boundary four times as Renegades (five wins, five losses) climbed from sixth to fourth on the table.Sixers (five wins, three losses) remain third after failing to capitalise on an Ellyse Perryspecial with the bat.Perry top-scored with 65 from 47 balls but Sixers struggled to 130 for 9. The allrounder dominated Sixers’ innings, hitting nine fours and a six, despite frequently losing partners.Only one other team-mate – Ash Gardner (16) – reached double figures amid some excellent legspin bowling from Wareham (3 for 21 from four overs).Alyssa Healy made a six-ball duck and the middle order failed to fire around Perry, who was dismissed in the 18th over when caught at long-on from the bowling of Alice Capsey (2 for 27).Ellyse Perry put on a one-woman show with the bat for Sixers•Getty ImagesRenegades hit early trouble in their chase when Maitlan Brown snared two wickets in the second over.Opener Davina Perrin (28 from 27) and Capsey (10 from 15) briefly steadied before both fell in a three-over patch, leaving Renegades in serious strife four down.But Wareham and Webb launched a power-packed counter-punch with Brown (2 for 45) the only multiple wicket-taker for Sixers.All three games over the weekend will affect the top-four finishing order. The Melbourne Stars are second and on Saturday cannot afford a slip-up when they host the Sydney Thunder, who are out of finals contention.The late Saturday game will feature fifth-placed Perth Scorchers at home against bottom side Heat, while Sixers host Adelaide Strikers on Sunday in a massive end to the regular season.Only three points separates Stars from the sixth-placed Strikers.Tuesday’s knockout final will feature the third-placed team at home against fourth.The winner of that game travels to the second-placed team on Thursday for the challenger final and that will decide who faces Hurricanes for the title.

Kylian Mbappe is in danger of missing Real Madrid's massive Champions League clash with Manchester City due to an injury to his left leg. The French striker was absent from Los Blancos' open training session the day before the game against Pep Guardiola's side at the Santiago Bernabeu, handing yet another headache to under-pressure Real coach Xabi Alonso.

Mbappe a surprise absentee from training

Alonso made no mention of any injury to Mbappe in his press conference ahead of the City game, but in the training session that followed it, reporters noted that the striker was absent along with midfielder Eduardo Camavinga.

Spanish radio station Cadena Cope reported that Mbappe had suffered an injury in his left leg, making him a serious doubt for the game with City.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesInjury spells more pain for Alonso

Mbappe has been Madrid's standout player this season, with 25 goals across La Liga and the Champions League, plus four assists. He is also on course to break Cristiano Ronaldo's record for the most goals for Real in a calendar year. The Frenchman has been responsible for half of the team's goals in the Spanish top flight and a remarkable 75% of their goals in Europe's top competition, netting a stunning four strikes in his last continental outing against Olympiacos.

Alonso is under huge pressure following Madrid's dismal 2-0 defeat at home to Celta Vigo on Sunday, which also saw Alvaro Carreras and Fran Garcia sent off and key defender Eder Militao hobble off with a muscle injury that is set to keep him out for up to four months. The result left Real trailing Barcelona by four points in the title race, while they have won just two of their last seven games in all competitions.

Mbappe-Haaland showdown at risk

With Mbappe having scored 25 goals for Madrid and Erling Haaland on 20 strikes in 20 games for City, the game was expected to be a showdown between the two most ferocious strikers in Europe, who are also set to face off in the World Cup next year when France take on Norway.

Mbappe ran riot when Madrid met City in last season's competition, scoring a hat-trick in a 3-1 win at the Bernabeu in the second leg of the knockout play-off and also netting in the 3-2 victory in the first leg at the Etihad Stadium. Haaland struck twice in the first leg but missed the second leg due to injury and has failed to score in his previous two visits to the Spanish capital.

"At the end of the day, we must defend as a unit and show serious defensive commitment," said Madrid midfielder Aurelien Tchouameni. "We're up against a top side with Haaland, and his current form is unbelievable. If we play at our best level, we can win this game. We will talk about the game plan with the coach now. 

"We have a lot of injured players in defence, but we have a lot of players who can perform at a high level in that position. They're an excellent team, especially on the ball. They like to have the ball, and we'll have to be very compact both when we defend and when we have the ball to create chances."

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AFPGuardiola could seal Alonso's fate

Alonso faced several questions about his uncertain future at Madrid in the press conference and there is speculation that defeat to City and his former coach Guardiola – with whom he spent two years at Bayern Munich – could see him sacked just seven months into succeeding Carlo Ancelotti in the Bernabeu hotseat.

Alonso put on a brave face amid the questioning and insisted he maintains a good relationship with the squad and with the club's hierarchy. "We are all in the same boat," Alonso said. "We have to go through positive and negative times. We need to believe the next game is an opportunity and tomorrow we have a very exciting game for all of us, and we need to keep our eyes open to have that energy so the Bernabeu enjoys what it sees. Communication [with the board] is constant. We are united, we are all together in this and I have a good relationship with them."

Tchouameni also declared that the players backed the coach and said it was up to them to improve their recent run of poor results. He said: "If we don't win games, it's because we have to do things better with and without the ball, with commitment from everyone and play better in defence and attack. We hope to improve and win more games because what's happening now cannot go on."

"We're all together. If we want to win games, we all have to fight, coach and team in the same direction. It's us who are on the pitch, and we have to do things better out there. We have a good opportunity to change the dynamic and pick up more points in the Champions League."

MLB's two biggest stars and reigning MVPs, Aaron Judge and Shohei Ohtani, notably did not compete in the Home Run Derby on Monday night. Though Judge and Ohtani finished as MLB's leaders in home runs last season, and rank top-three in long balls so far this season, neither have competed in the Derby in the last few years.

Ohtani, who did compete in the Home Run Derby in 2021, said recently that it would be "pretty difficult" for him to participate because of the current rules, which can be physically demanding due to the amount of swings.

Judge, who won the Derby as a rookie in 2017, was asked why he and several top stars don't compete in the Home Run Derby. Judge initially joked in response, "I already did it, I don't know what else you want from me. I already did it, so I think it's time for somebody else to do their thing and have fun with it."

Judge did go on to say he likes that the current trend allows lesser-known players to have an opportunity to shine on the national stage.

"It's tough to say. I love seeing new faces in the game go out there and do their thing, especially getting to see Oneil Cruz go out there and hit one out of the stadium, I thought that was pretty special for baseball and special for fans," Judge said. "I'm looking forward to stuff like that every year, having someone new go out there and put a show on for the league."

Pirates star Oneil Cruz was the standout example on Monday. Though not an All-Star, he got the chance to compete in the Derby and made a strong impression as he hit a 513-foot home run out of the stadium. Though breakout star and Mariners catcher Cal Raleigh won the Home Run Derby, the competition allows players like Cruz to make greater names for themselves.

The National League playoff race is far from decided, as several teams are still battling for the final wild-card spot, and while the Cubs, Padres, and Dodgers have already clinched, they’re still jockeying for position.

As of Thursday afternoon, only five teams have been mathematically eliminated, while five have secured playoff spots. The final weekend of the season could get wild.

The top of the NL has felt settled for months, with the Phillies and Brewers leading the way and the Dodgers limping behind, but still owning the sport’s best roster. All eight teams still in contention are capable of winning the World Series, but each has at least one serious weakness that could end its run prematurely. It’s worth noting, the NL race has changed considerably since the trade deadline, with some teams charging while others have fallen off.

What follows is a look at every National League contender’s biggest weakness—and how it could sink them once the playoffs get underway.

Milwaukee Brewers: Injuries

Suddenly, baseball’s best team looks mighty vulnerable. Milwaukee breezed through this season as an unlikely juggernaut. After a blistering August in which they went 21–9, the Brewers have fallen off significantly in September, going 11–10. The injury bug has struck.

Starting pitchers Brandon Woodruff and José Quintana are both on the IL, taking out two of the team’s top starting pitchers. Closer Trevor Megill is also out with an elbow injury, though he may be close to returning. Meanwhile, deadline acquisition Shelby Miller is out for the year, and reliever DL Hall remains out.

Milwaukee has used a complete team approach to winning this season, getting contributions from up and down the roster. The team’s pitching is beginning to look a bit thin entering the season’s final weekend, but if a few guys can get healthy, those fears would be allayed.

The Blue Jays suffered a tough out in Game 3 of the World Series against the Dodgers Monday. With center fielder Daulton Varsho at the plate and ahead in the count 3-1, home plate umpire Mark Wegner called a delayed strike on a high pitch that Toronto initially believed was ball four and a walk.

Dodgers catcher Will Smith threw the ball back to starting pitcher Tyler Glasnow and motioned over to first base after Wegner made his late call. Blue Jays second baseman Bo Bichette thought he was off to second, but Glasnow fired the ball over to first with Bichette stranded for a bizarre first out of the second inning.

Blue Jays skipper John Schneider was understandably upset about the strange sequence, which he explained in a mid-game interview with Fox's Ken Rosenthal. Schneider had a heated conversation with Wagner after the moment. and said he wants the umpire to change course moving forward as he hopes his squad doesn't fall victim to another phantom out.

"I think just to be a little bit quicker with his call," Schneider said to Rosenthal on the Fox broadcast about his discussion with Wegner. "Mark's a great umpire, been doing it a long time. Very delayed call, pretty deliberate. Just didn't say anything, so Varsh assumed it was a ball and Bo assumed. I just asked him in this environment, can he be a little bit quicker or give a little bit more clarity so everyone knows what's going on."

Bichette clearly thought it was a ball due to Varsho's reaction, tossing his bat and beginning to take off his elbow guard in preparation to head to first. Toronto hopes to regain the lead in the series after they took Game 1 before L.A. stole Game 2 on the road ahead of the World Series' trip to Dodger Stadium. The Jays weren't able to score after the odd play, which they possibly could have as Varsho did end up getting a walk in the at-bat and Alejandro Kirk singled as the next hitter.

It was early in the game, but every out matters, especially in the Fall Classic.

Once excited to play in a game that was being telecast live, the left-arm seamer put up a great show with his five-for against Saurashtra

Hemant Brar in Rajkot01-Mar-2020Arzan Nagwaswalla is excited. The 22-year-old will be opening the bowling for Gujarat for the first time, but that’s not the reason for his excitement. If anything, there’s extra pressure on him with Roosh Kalaria absent and his side all-out for 281, against Punjab during the league match in Ranji Trophy 2019-20.His family is watching him from the stands, but he is used to that also by now. After all, they are in attendance whenever he plays in Valsad.The reason for Nagwaswalla’s excitement is that the match is being telecast live. And he did make sure to look good on TV: the left-arm seamer ended up taking five wickets in each innings.”It’s a great feeling playing at home and taking five wickets in a live match. Everyone has a dream of playing in a live match and taking wickets,” he would tell after Punjab’s first innings. ” [It’s fun playing a live match].”That tells a lot about Nagwaswalla the person: simple, humble and real. A soft-spoken guy who lets his bowling do all the talk, and that was on display during the semi-final too as he picked up 5 for 81 to bowl Saurashtra out for 304 on the second afternoon. That Gujarat handed back the advantage by being 119 for 6 at stumps was on their batsmen.On Saturday, Gujarat captain Parthiv Patel had put Saurashtra in on a pitch where the hosts anyway wanted to bat first. After seeing off a tricky first session, Saurashtra moved to 102 for 1. The early moisture in the surface had dried off. The ball was 46 overs old, means there was neither the conventional swing nor the reverse. And the first-day pitch was too young to help spinners. With all this, Saurashtra were set for a big total, threatening to reduce the match to a one-innings contest.But Nagwaswalla, the leading wicket-taker for Gujarat this season, wasn’t ready to give up yet. Third over into his second spell, he was running in hard, bowling the fifth-stump line and trying to force an outside edge. He wasn’t to be denied for long even though the dismissal didn’t happen the way he would have envisaged.Harvik Desai, who was batting on 35, sliced a wide, low full-toss to short cover where Bhargav Merai flung himself to his left to take a brilliant catch. In the next over, Avi Barot played a rash shot to gift Axar Patel his second wicket.After that, Sheldon Jackson and Vishvaraj Jadeja batted patiently, adding 60 for the fourth wicket to take Saurashtra to 162 for 3. With the partnership budding, it was once again Nagwaswalla bringing his side into the game. This time with a double strike, as Vishvaraj and Arpit Vasavada fell on successive balls. Both chased the fifth-stump deliveries, Vishvaraj trying to steer one to third man only to edge it to the wicketkeeper and Vasavada offering a nervous poke to first slip. Now those were as per the plan.On the second morning, he almost had Jackson too when the batsman tried to chase a wide one but Parthiv couldn’t hold on to a regulation chance. Jackson was on 84 at that point and Saurashtra 237 for 5. Jackson went on to bring up his 19th first-class hundred before falling to Kalaria for 103.Jackson’s was the seventh to fall, but there is no tail in this Saurashtra line-up: their No. 11 Chetan Sakariya averaged 20.33 before this game. When Prerak Mankad and Dharmendrasinh Jadeja had added 31 for the eighth wicket, there were murmurs of Saurashtra posting a total in the vicinity of 350.That, however, wasn’t to be the case. Nagwaswalla came around the wicket and start peppering Dharmendrasinh with short balls, who eventually fended one to short leg. In the seamer’s next over, Mankad tried for a single to third man but the ball kept coming in and uprooted the off stump via the inside edge.It’s still early days but Nagwaswalla has put up some impressive numbers: 60 wickets from 16 first-class games at an average of 22.03 and a strike rate of 44.2. What makes them even more special is that he is generally the first change, and therefore, doesn’t get to use the new ball often.Despite being only into his second season, Nagwaswalla doesn’t consider himself a newcomer anymore. According to him, he has grown a lot since the last season, and that’s reflecting in his bowling as well.”This season, I am more disciplined,” he said at the close of play on Saturday. “There was a time today when we required a breakthrough. Had it been the last season, I would have perhaps pitched a couple of deliveries here and there, straying from my line. That’s something I have learnt this season, that you have to stick to the plan. So mentally you need to be prepared and bowl with discipline. That’s something I have been able to do this season.”And what else has changed from the last season? “Last year I was just thinking about my own performance. But now I have played 15-16 matches, I am no more a newcomer. So I want to take more responsibility and live up to the expectations. Also, there were some minor issues with my run-up and the release point last time. In the off-season, I analysed my mistakes and worked on those areas. That’s why I am more consistent this year.”Nagwaswalla may not realise but one more thing has also changed. Till the last season, people knew him as the only active Parsi cricketer in India. Now they are aware of his bowling credentials as well.

Dissecting the key moments from the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians

Sreshth Shah23-Sep-20201:23

Moody: ‘Cummins should’ve opened the bowling’

What went wrong for Pat Cummins?Cummins conceded 49 runs in three overs and wasn’t given his full quota of four by his captain Dinesh Karthik. He never quite got into his rhythm, and that is likely because when he came on to bowl after four overs, Suryakumar Yadav and Rohit Sharma were settled already. He started off bowling a wide and followed it up with a short ball to Sharma, a man who has a playlist of pulls to punish you with, to concede seven off one legal delivery. Cummins repeated the delivery later in the over, and Rohit repeated the shot to the same effect.In his second over, the game’s 15th, Cummins was up against the tall Saurabh Tiwary, who comfortably reached out to his length balls to straightaway hit them for a six and a four. His next four balls were slower ones and he conceded just five runs but the damage was already done in the over.ALSO SEE: Kolkata Knight Riders v Mumbai Indians live score 23th September 2020 Cummins started this third over in a significantly better manner than his first two, rolling his fingers over the ball to Hardik Pandya to deceive him and even force a top edge, but when he overdid the cutters, Hardik was prepared.Predicting Cummins’ lengths, Hardik pulled him to the leg side, twice for fours and once for six because the slower, short ball simply did not bounce enough. The one time he bowled a 146kph short ball, Hardik was nearly floored, a tactic Cummins could have employed more.Whether it was the pressure of his price tag of INR 15.5 crore (USD 2.2 million approx) or just strategic miscalculation on the pace-length combination, it is hard to say. Also, as Karthik pointed out later to the broadcasters, Cummins had only just ended his mandatory quarantine period after arriving from the England-Australia series, so he probably had little time to ease into his role with his new team-mates.And that brings us to the KKR captain himself. Why didn’t Karthik give Cummins the new ball? Wouldn’t you give your seemingly best bowler a go at two unsettled openers?Why is Saurabh Tiwary getting a consistent run at No. 4?In a star-studded Mumbai line-up, Tiwary appears to be an anomaly. Before this season, he last played an IPL game in 2017. But this time, in the UAE, especially in Abu Dhabi and Dubai, the square boundaries are much longer than in India, making the straight boundaries your best bet for sixes. And that’s what Tiwary’s strength is.ESPNcricinfo LtdOff his 58 IPL sixes, 32 have been in the “V” between long-off and long-on while a further 23 have been between long-on and deep midwicket So, attacking and putting away balls that are in the slot comes naturally to him. His long stride also helps him negate the turn of spinners if he attempts the big shot. Kishan, the person Tiwary has replaced in the playing XI, prefers playing squarer, relying on his wristwork to accumulate his runs.Perhaps, also, batting him up the order offers something of a safety blanket for Mumbai – they know that Hardik Pandya and Kieron Pollard are still in the shed and, in an ideal situation, available for the death overs after most of the spin is done.Should teams move away from blindly following the “win toss, bowl first” template?In five games so far, only the tournament opener has been won by the chasing side. That night in Abu Dhabi, the dew factor – which often plays a big role in IPL games in India – was significant but, since then, it hasn’t been a standout talking point.And when dew isn’t as big a factor, the advantage of setting a total and putting pressure on the chasing side perhaps outweighs the risk of your bowlers getting derailed by a wet ball. More so in large grounds, and where pitches aren’t tailor-made for batsmen alone.Take Delhi’s Arun Jaitley Stadium, for example. Although it’s not a particularly large ground, the pitches make for a much more even bat-ball contest. Since IPL 2017, 45% of the matches have been won outright by the team batting first. In Hyderabad’s Rajiv Gandhi Stadium, a larger ground but with a moderately better batting surface, 60.87% of the last 23 completed IPL games have been won by the team batting first.Given the pitches on offer so far and the ground dimensions, games in the UAE – barring Sharjah, a smaller ground where only 11 of the 56 league games will be held – are likely to follow the Delhi and Hyderabad pattern, where batting second is likely to get complicated. It is still early days in the tournament, but perhaps captains should be more wary of letting the potential dew factor play a key role at the toss.

The team’s bench-strength is yet to assume the proportions of 20 or so years ago when they dominated the cricket world

Daniel Brettig02-Dec-2020When Australia were at their absolute peak as a cricketing power, certainly in the mind of Justin Langer, a number of their finest achievements took place with at least one stellar name missing from their team, if not more.In 1998, Australia won a Test series in Pakistan for the first time since 1959-60, and they did it without Shane Warne as he recovered from shoulder surgery. In 2003, Ricky Ponting’s men lifted the World Cup at the Wanderers in Johannesburg, again without Warne due to a drugs ban and also minus Jason Gillespie. And the twin Test series triumphs in Sri Lanka and India in 2004 took place without Glenn McGrath and Ponting respectively.Those triumphs were instead populated by critical contributions from players who, in some cases, appeared only briefly on the national stage, and in others were longtime support acts, ready and willing to step up as required. The likes of Colin Miller, Andy Bichel, Michael Kasprowicz and Simon Katich were never box office stars, but their ability to step in when required was as sure a sign of Australian cricket’s health as the displays of the legends they occasionally filled in for. Equally, Adam Gilchrist proved himself a highly capable leader in Ponting’s stead.So for Langer, the multiple changes to Australia’s lineup for the third ODI against India in Canberra was more than a chance to see how Cameron Green would fare on debut, how Sean Abbott would perform in a senior role with the ball and how Marnus Labuschagne and Moises Henriques did up the batting order. It was a timely test of Australian cricket’s depth, and whether or not the team was still extremely reliant on the absent David Warner, Pat Cummins and Mitchell Starc.The day’s first significant event was Virat Kohli’s victory at the toss, for it meant that both hosts and visitors were cast in different roles from the ones both performed in unerringly similar fashion at the SCG on Friday and Sunday. Aaron Finch got the chance to marshal his bowlers against an opponent not facing a stratospheric score to chase, and likewise the Australian batting order was handed the chance to chase: the most contentious element of their displays in England earlier in the year.Virat Kohli celebrates after Alex Carey is run out•Getty ImagesFor the majority of India’s innings, the off-peak combination worked exceptionally well. Glenn Maxwell’s use with the new ball was a success, Abbott delivered his slingy fast medium with skill and subtle variation, Ashton Agar paired artfully with Adam Zampa to tie up the middle order and Green offered a tantalising glimpse of his natural gifts by generating disconcerting bounce and not inconsiderable pace while clearly operating within himself.At the same time, Josh Hazlewood’s first couple of spells were those of a senior bowler and a leader of the attack, culminating in the beautiful away seamer that found the thinnest of edges from Kohli to mean he had fallen to the “Bendemeer Bullet” three times in as many games. All the while, Finch looked very much a captain in control, aware not just of the strengths and weaknesses of his senior men but also the support cast he was handed for game three.It will be to Finch and Langer’s annoyance that this did not last. Hardik Pandya and Ravindra Jadeja got themselves established after Kohli’s dismissal, and once set, they inflicted fearful damage on Abbott and Hazlewood in particular in the closing overs. Eighty-six runs piled up from the final six overs of the innings. For Abbott, this was clearly frustrating but not a first – in the Big Bash League he is known as a high-quality operator with the occasional tendency to have a bad over or two. There are lapses he cannot afford quite so much at the top level.

Australia’s triumphs were always populated by critical contributions from players who, in some cases, appeared only briefly on the national stage, and in others were longtime support acts, ready and willing to step up as required

When the Australians opened up their reply, Finch elected to grant the wish of Labuschagne and promote him to open, after the fashion of Michael Clarke and occasionally Ponting in the late 2000s. This meant that not only was there another opener in place of Warner, but a less than seasoned middle order linking Steven Smith and the six-seven duo of Alex Carey and Maxwell.In his imperial role as the face, voice and most outspoken opinion maker for Fox Cricket, Warne offers all manner of opinions, but perhaps his most enduring this day was a preference to replace Warner with another role-player, perhaps Matthew Wade, at the top and leave the middle order alone. Certainly this seemed a sound judgment when Labuschagne found himself dragging a pull shot onto the stumps, and Smith made it only as far as 7 before glancing into the gloves of KL Rahul.This left Finch in the company of Henriques and Green, who both showed signs of promise but also evidence they will need time to get truly comfortable. Henriques could not have made a better start – two boundaries from as many balls – but thereafter was able to be tied down just enough by India to have him pulling to midwicket having made only another 14 runs from his final 29 deliveries faced.Ashton Agar successfully appeals for the wicket of Shubman Gill•Getty ImagesGreen, similarly, showed that as might be expected from a player who has played more Sheffield Shield than anything else, the nudges, deflections and singles required of all limited-overs players are yet to be found in between stern defence and powerful attack. In the course of the dots Green accumulated, Finch fell while trying to clear the boundary. These innings were not all Langer might have hoped for, but they did at least allow Maxwell to get to the middle in a scenario he knew well from England.For a while it looked as though Maxwell and Carey, then Maxwell and Agar, would pay appropriate homage to another extremely valuable attribute from Australia’s dominant era: that of expert white-ball batsmen finishing the job even on days when the top order did not fire. Michael Bevan, Michael Hussey, Andrew Symonds – all would have seen much to admire in how Maxwell looked to be shepherding the Australians to 3-0, even if they might’ve gone a bit lighter on the 100 metre switch-hits.Ultimately, however, Maxwell’s hyper-aggression had him playing too presumptuously at a Jasprit Bumrah yorker, and the remainder of the order could not rally sufficiently. Langer, then, was left to make the inevitable conclusion that just as his first-choice team is yet to achieve all he wants it to, the Australians’ bench-strength is also yet to assume the proportions of 20 or so years ago.