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Eberechi Eze opens up on his journey to becoming an Arsenal and England star with former team-mate Adebayo Akinfenwa on the latest episode of GOAL’s Beast Mode On podcast.

GOAL’s Beast Mode On Podcast, hosted by Adebayo Akinfenwa, welcomes guest Eberechi Eze as he discusses a whole host of topics including making an emotional return to his boyhood club Arsenal in the summer.

After scoring the winner to help Crystal Palace win their first piece of silverware in last season’s FA Cup final, Eze joined the Gunners in a move which saw him head back to the club who released him from their academy 14 years ago, when he was just 13.

Keen to taste Champions League football by switching to Arsenal, the 27-year-old has revealed a hilarious anecdote from his debut in the competition, which you can read more about below. You can also watch the full episode of the Beast Mode On Podcast via YouTube and Spotify.

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  'Oh my days, it's playing!'

  Speaking exclusively to GOAL's Beast Mode On Podcast, Arsenal forward Eze has revealed he was so in the zone ahead of his tournament debut against Athletic Club that he was unable to take in the Champions League’s iconic pre-match anthem.

  Sitting down for a chat with host Akinfenwa – whom Eze played alongside during a loan spell with Wycombe Wanderers between 2017 and 2018 – the England international said: "First of all, I heard the music… I wasn't focused. So disappointed in myself. Halfway through the song, I said, ‘oh my days, it’s playing!’ So I was too locked in. I was too in the moment. Which is a good thing. But the first time around I didn’t really deep it."

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  'It's crazy because these are things that you dream of'

  However, Eze was able to tune into the music when he was named on the bench for Arsenal's second fixture against Olympiacos on 1 October, though not for too long.

  He continued: “Second game, I didn't start so I was able to actually take in the music, and I said, ‘Okay, this is it’. But I feel like now, it's crazy because these are things that you dream of, and then you get to a point where it's like ‘OK, but what does that mean?’ I'm [going] to work, to do business.

  “I'm not a fan of the happy to be here thing. I'm happy if you think that about me. And you have that perception of me. Good. Because then you think I'm sleeping. But for me, the idea of, like, celebrating things excessively, I'm not the biggest fan of it.

  “So for me, it's been fun to get to work in the Champions League, to get to do my stuff and to play at the highest level, because that's what it's about.”

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  'Sometimes it's a lot more chess being played'

  Relishing the opportunity to compete against the best players in the world via the Champions League, the former Queens Park Rangers attacker has lifted the lid on the differences between Europe's elite club competition and the Premier League.

  He said of the Champions League: “It's different to the Prem in the sense that you're facing teams with a different way of thinking about football, a different way of approaching a game.

  “Guys are a bit more technical and a bit more tactical. Not as much fighting and running around. Sometimes it’s a lot more chess being played. But it’s fun, it’s enjoyable, it’s still football, you’ve still got to find a way to beat your opponent.”

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Tottenham Hotspur may need to improve their performance levels if they want to come away with all three points in the North London derby against Arsenal on Sunday.

The Lilywhites are fifth in the Premier League table, after 11 matches, but the underlying numbers behind their performances suggest that Thomas Frank’s team are heading in the wrong direction.

As you can see in the table above, Spurs rank just above the relegation zone in a host of key performance-based metrics, but they have been able to grind out results in spite of their struggles.

Up against the league leaders this weekend, Tottenham may not be able to get away with giving up as many high-quality chances whilst failing to create many of their own opportunities.

If performances do not improve and results fall in line with the current data, questions may be asked of Frank, but also of the squad of players that has been assembled by the Europa League champions.

Some questions may be asked about how well the club have spent their money on both player transfer fees and player wages, as they may not be getting value for money.

Ranking Tottenham's top ten earners

Tottenham, as you would expect of a club that is regularly in European competitions and competing at the top end of the Premier League table, reportedly have a lot of high earners in the squad.

Per Capology, Spurs have nine players who earn between £100k and £195k-per-week in North London, and summer signing Xavi Simons is at the top of the pile alongside Cristian Romero.

Excluding Randal Kolo Muani, who is on loan, it is hard to do anything other than rank Xavi Simons at the bottom of the club’s top earners, as he has no goals and two assists in 13 appearances in all competitions, per Sofascore, as an attacking midfielder.

Maddison has a claim to rank first on this list after an eye-catching haul of 12 goals and ten assists in all competitions last term, per Sofascore, but he is currently set to miss the majority of this season with an ACL injury.

Brennan Johnson should go in second, purely because of his winning goal in the Europa League, and Cristian Romero should rank third as a first-choice centre-back and current club captain, showing value for money on and off the pitch.

Kudus, with one goal and four assists in ten Premier League games for Spurs, has been a mainstay since his summer move from West Ham United and should rank fifth, whilst Dejan Kulusevski and Richarlison have been long-serving members of the squad, without being genuine stars, so could slot in sixth and seventh.

Dominic Solanke, who joined in the summer of 2024, underperformed his xG of 10.97 with a return of nine goals in the Premier League last season, per Sofascore, which is why he should be eighth, behind Simons, whilst Kolo Muani and Palhinha are hard to rank as it is unclear how much of their wages they are paying as part of the loan deals.

The last remaining name on the list is central defender Micky van de Ven, who we rank in fourth place, as Lilywhites expert John Wenham has urged sporting director Fabio Paratici to improve his wages.

First Impressions

What did pundits and fans alike think about their new star signing when they arrived? Football FanCast’s ‘First Impressions’ series has everything you need.

He told TottenhamNews: “Spurs should reward his rapid progress into one of the best defenders in the Premier League with a new deal and could even double his current salary.”

How Micky van de Ven has turned his Spurs career around

Rewind to April 2024 during his first season with the Lilywhites, after a move from Wolfsburg in 2023, and the Dutchman found himself on the receiving end of some harsh criticism for mistakes in a game against Newcastle United.

Speaking on Match of the Day, former Arsenal and England centre-back Martin Keown called his defending “embarrassing” in a 4-0 win for the Magpies at St. James’ Park, as Alexander Isak and Anthony Gordon took advantage of his slips.

Roughly 18 months on from that criticism he faced, Van de Ven is now in a position where there has been a call for the club to double his wages because of how impressive his performances have been.

It is understandable for Wenham to make the claim when you consider that Romero, on £195k-per-week, reportedly earns more than twice as much as the Netherlands international does, on £90k-per-week.

Van de Ven and Romero are Tottenham’s first-choice centre-back pairing in the Premier League this season and their respective statistics do not suggest that the Argentine defender is more than twice as valuable to the team.

As you can see in the table above, both players excel in different areas of the game, particularly defensively, but they both have their strengths, and Van de Ven more than holds his own.

The left-footed star is the club’s top goalscorer in all competitions this season, with six goals, and may have already locked in the Goal of the Season award with his effort against Copenhagen.

At the age of 24, Van de Ven also has plenty of time left ahead of him to develop and improve as a player, which is why it would be worth tying him down to an extended contract on better terms.

Overall, the Dutch defender has turned his Spurs career around by becoming a reliable figure at the heart of the defence for Frank this season, and appears to warrant a wage hike if Paratici can convince him to pen a new contract in North London.

Frank must sell £55k-per-week Spurs flop who was looking "like Dembele"

Tottenham Hotspur must now look to offload one player who has failed to deliver in North London.

By
Ethan Lamb

Nov 16, 2025

Jack Carson claims three, but late loss of wickets leave hosts with work to do

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay08-Sep-2025Hampshire were bowled out for 226 in just 71.3 overs after being asked to bat first on a challenging Hove pitch on the opening day of their championship match against Sussex. That left Sussex to face 22 overs and by the close they had reached 42 for three as Hampshire fought their way back into the match.Not for the first time the Hampshire innings was held together by their captain Ben Brown, once a very popular player in Sussex colours. But even Brown needed some good fortune on his way to a 129-ball 71, and he was dropped behind by opposite number John Simpson off the bowling of Sean Hunt when he had scored just 18.At the start of the day just 15 points separated the teams between fifth and ninth places. And both Hampshire, in fifth position, and Sussex, just two points behind, started the match in search of reassuring, anti-relegation points.Hampshire, who made four changes, bringing in Ali Orr, Toby Albert, Bjorn Fortuin and Keith Barker, reached a diffident 81 for three at lunch against a rejigged Sussex seam attack which welcomed back Olli Robinson, Jaydev Unadkat and Sean Hunt.Sussex, who had lost their two most recent championship games by an innings, broke through in the sixth over when Fletcha Middleton, driving at a wide delivery from Unadkat, edged behind. It was 47 for two in the 14th over when former Sussex opener Orr clipped Hunt to short leg where Oli Carter took a very sharp catch, low down. And Robinson picked up his first wicket in his livelier second spell when, bowling over the wicket to the left-handed Nick Gubbins, he straightened one to have the batsman lbw.After the break the Hampshire batsmen found the going no easier on a rather sticky surface. The pitch – being used for the first time this season for a championship match – did not encourage strokeplay. Albert pulled left-armer Hunt through midwicket to bring up the hundred in the 35th over but when he attempted a similar stroke against Robinson he gloved the ball to slip.Tom Prest also perished as he attempted to be positive, clipping Fynn Hudson-Prentice to Daniel Hughes at midwicket. Fortuin played himself in but when he jumped down the wicket to drive Jack Carson through the on-side he was through the stroke too soon and chipped it back to the bowler.Hampshire put all their eggs in Brown’s basket, and the batsman gathered his runs with sweeps and nudges, mostly on the leg-side. But when he swept Carson for a single to reach his half-century it had taken him 105 deliveries. From 119 for five Brown led his side to partial recovery, but once he was eighth out at 215, sweeping Carson to square-leg, Hampshire’s resistance was broken.Conditions were no easier when Sussex batted. Tom Haines edged Kyle Abbott waist-high to second slip and Carter was bowled by a nip-backer from Keith Barker. Shortly before the close, James Coles, driving loosely, dragged a delivery from James Fuller onto his stumps.

Before the Red Sox traded Rafael Devers to the Giants in June, tension emerged between Boston and Devers over his position this season.

The conflict began when the team signed Alex Bregman and decided to play him at third base over Devers, who previously manned the position for the Red Sox. Devers eventually agreed to be the designated hitter by the start of the season, but tension re-emerged when they asked him to spend time at first base following a season-ending injury to Triston Casas. The Red Sox felt like Devers wasn't living up to the responsibilities of his massive contract with the team, and ultimately traded him to the Giants.

Mike Yastrzemski only played alongside Devers on the Giants for less than two months before he was traded to the Royals, but quickly learned the type of teammate and player Devers is for a team.

"He was the best," Yastrzemski said of Devers on . "Awesome teammate, willing to do whatever he had to. I think he just got thrown into a weird circumstance and sometimes as players you have to stick up for yourself. I think that's what he tried to do and the wording of it was delivered poorly because he's an awesome teammate, he works his tail off, he tries to help everybody.

Yastrzemski continued, "If you're facing a guy that he's faced and you haven't faced him, full scouting report, where you want to look for the ball, what pitch you want to hit, how he's gonna pitch you. He's really smart and he cares about winning so much. I don't understand where all the heat came from."

While Devers's approach appeared to quickly change when he arrived in San Francisco and said he was "here to play whatever [position] they want me to play," he said he wasn't trying to spite the Red Sox or be a bad teammate. He later explained that he felt he had earned respect in Boston and would have been willing to play first base for them had they asked in spring training. The Giants gave him time to train to play first base, and he is beginning to find his groove at the position.

Celtic captain Callum McGregor carried the team on his back against St Mirren in the Scottish Premiership on Saturday, securing the win with a stunning strike from distance.

The former Scotland international delivered a staggering finish from outside of the box in the 95th minute for the Hoops, when the game felt destined to end with a 0-0 draw.

Interim head coach Martin O’Neill needed his captain to step up with that goal because it was an underwhelming performance that will leave several players concerned about their place in the starting line-up.

For example, the Northern Irish manager should ruthlessly drop left-winger Sebastian Tounekti from the team ahead of the clash with Feyenoord on Thursday night in the Europa League.

Why Celtic should drop Sebastian Tounekti

The Tunisia international was a breath of fresh air after his move from Hammarby at the end of the summer transfer window, as he got fans off their seats with his exciting play on his debut against Kilmarnock.

Unfortunately, though, the 23-year-old forward has failed to add end product to his exciting play, with a return of two goals and no assists in 14 appearances in all competitions for the club, per Transfermarkt.

On top of his struggles in the final third throughout the season so far, Tounekti’s all-round performances in the last two Premiership games have left too much to be desired.

As you can see in the table above, the Hoops winger failed to deliver much in the way of quality against Kilmarnock or St Mirren, whilst struggling badly with the physical side of the game.

With this in mind, O’Neill could ruthlessly ditch Tounekti from the starting line-up on Thursday by unleashing Paulo Bernardo in a brand-new role on the left flank.

Why Paulo Bernardo should be played on the left wing

The Portuguese central midfielder has only played six matches in all competitions this season, per Transfermarkt, but unleashing him as a left winger could be a genius move by the interim manager.

Per Transfermarkt, Bernardo has never played as a left midfielder or left winger in his senior career, for Benfica or Celtic, but it is a position that could suit him against Feyenoord.

Against St Mirren, Tounekti and Kieran Tierney often seemed to want to do the same thing, which was to get to the byline to cross the ball, and they got in each other’s way at times.

Playing Bernardo on the left against Feyenoord would provide Tierney, who has delivered four assists in all competitions this season, the freedom of the left flank to deliver crosses, as the ex-Benfica man would drift inside into more central areas in possession, similarly to how Luke McCowan plays when he is deployed on the right wing.

On top of this move potentially unlocking Tierney as an attacking force, it could also provide Bernardo with more opportunities to showcase his talent at the top end of the pitch.

The central midfielder, who was hailed as “tenacious” by Brendan Rodgers, has produced seven goals and seven assists in 83 appearances for the Hoops to date, per Transfermarkt, whilst he has also scored 11 goals in 32 caps for Portugal’s U21s.

This suggests that he does have the potential to provide a threat in the final third if given a chance to play further up the pitch, which is another reason why this brand-new role could be a good move for him.

Therefore, O’Neill should finally ditch Tounekti from the starting XI to try out a pairing of Tierney and Bernardo down the left against Feyenoord on Thursday.

The new Luis Palma: O'Neill must ruthlessly drop "sloppy" Celtic flop

This Celtic flop who was saved by Callum McGregor’s screamer is looking like the new Luis Palma.

By
Dan Emery

Nov 23, 2025

The former England quick, who will be a pundit in Australia, has joined those making some feisty pre-series comments

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Why Miller is willing to bet on an England Ashes win

Stuart Broad has lit the fuse for a fiery summer, declaring Australia’s team is the worst they have rolled out for an Ashes series in 15 years.Almost six weeks out from the first Test in Perth, Broad joined the chorus of English voices talking up the tourists’ chances. In the past fortnight, Zak Crawley has claimed the term Bazball “winds” Australia up, while Joe Root has suggested this is his best chance to win Down Under.Former England captain Michael Atherton has suggested Australia are panicking with Pat Cummins’ injury, and Scott Boland no longer creates fear for the tourists.Related

• Boland: 'I've got my own internal motivations'

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• Boland's MCG heroics more relevant than 2023 Ashes blip

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But amidst all the bravado coming out of England, Broad’s comments will grab the most attention, given he spent 15 years as Australia’s arch-nemesis before retiring after the 2023 Ashes.In the last 20 years, in home series Australia have swept England 5-0 in 2006-07 and 2013-14, as well as claiming 4-0 victories in 2017-18 and 2021-22.The 2010-11 summer is the only blemish on that home record over the past two decades, beaten 3-1 at a time when the Australian team was in a state of transition.Broad claimed the current Australian squad appeared to be in a similar state, having played in the 2010-11 series as well as England’s three series defeats in Australia since then.”It’s probably the worst Australian team since 2010 when England last won, and it’s the best English team since 2010,” Broad, who is now working as a pundit, said on his BBC Podcast hosted with Jos Buttler.”It’s actually not an opinion, it’s fact. So those things match up to the fact it’s going to be a brilliant Ashes series.”Broad’s comments came in response to David Warner claiming Australia would win 4-0, because they were playing for the Ashes while England are “playing for a moral victory”.Broad pointed to questions over the make up of Australia’s batting line-up. He also pointed to perceived lack of bowling depth, with Cummins having conceded he is unlikely to play in the first Test.Stuart Broad had a legendary Ashes career•Getty Images

“When have we ever, since 2010, been discussing who is going to bat No.1, 2, 3, 6, 8 and who is going to be the spare bowler for Australia,” Broad said. “You’re always go in there going: ‘well,the Aussies, they’re really strong. They’ve just got the same bowlers, the same team’.”But in 2010, when they were trying to replace [Glenn] McGrath, [Shane] Warne, [Matthew] Hayden, [Justin] Langer, they didn’t have a spinner. They changed the seamers all the time, and they had a bit of a mixed match of batters.”So I don’t think anyone could argue that it’s their weakest team since 2010.”Australian players have said England’s team is the best they have sent out in some time, with the high-octane pace duo of Mark Wood and Jofra Archer both fit.Questions do remain over how England will manage that pair, who have spent long stints on the sideline with injuries.Root also arrives as the No.1-ranked batter in the world, but he is yet to score a century or win a Test in Australia across three visits.Harry Brook headlines a list of younger England talents, after scoring 10 hundreds in his first 50 Test innings at a strike-rate of 87.52.

The fallout from Liverpool's terrible performance in the 4-1 defeat by PSV Eindhoven in the Champions League has seen defender Ibrahima Konate singled out for additional criticism. The Frenchman has responded by issuing a heartfelt message to fans. Konate was at fault for PSV’s third goal, and the calls for manager Arne Slot to be sacked are growing louder by the day.

• Konate under-fire over high-profile mistakes

  Konate has endured a dreadful start to the season, consistently underperforming and to blame for a number of dreadful errors amid the Reds’ defensive struggles. Pundits and fans alike have slammed his form, with Kop hero Jamie Carragher describing his positional play as "all over the place". 

  The defender has been involved in several key errors, including a recent "dreadful" mistake that led directly to PSV’s third in the Champions League clash at Anfield, and he was substituted early in the recent 3-0 loss to Nottingham Forest. The growing consensus is that his individual performances are a major factor in Liverpool's poor results. In 12 Premier League games with Konate on the pitch the Reds have conceded 17 goals, contributing to an alarming rate of a goal conceded every 58 minutes. His struggles are compounded by ongoing contract uncertainty and a string of injuries that have hampered his rhythm this season.

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  Konate: 'We know we need to improve'

  The France international said on Instagram: "We have to take this moment on the chest. Criticism is part of football, and we’ll fight back every time and come through this storm. In these moments, the fans matter most. The ones who stand with us in the good times and the bad – the ones who sing for us even in the difficult moments! Your voice and your support mean everything to us. We know we need to improve and we’ll keep fighting for you. Always."

• Carragher makes 'sack' claim

  Anfield legend Carragher was caught bemoaning Slot’s decision to continue picking Konate during the heavy defeat by PSV, claiming the decision was a sackable offence. 

  Carragher said: "Honest to god, I've had enough of them. That Konate, I mean, that's a sackable offence for the manager for f******g keep picking him. He should be sacked for that."

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  Selection headache for boss Slot

  Konate’s place in Liverpool’s starting XI to face West Ham on Sunday is anything but secure and Joe Gomez is a fit and ready-made replacement on the bench, should Slot decide to ring the changes. Andy Robertson was also deployed at centre-back in the clash with Crystal Palace earlier this season. 

  But Slot has remained tight-lipped on whether he will make wholesale changes for the match, saying: "Everyone trains with us every single day, and they can prove themselves in that moment. It's always a balance. There was a period where I lost, and I made a few changes and people complained that I made too many changes. Of course, I consider but I can not tell you the end decision of what I've considered for Sunday." Anything other than a victory for Slot on Sunday will pile even more pressure on the beleaguered boss ahead of a midweek visit from Sunderland in the Premier League.

  And when pressed on what he can change to arrest the dreadful run of results, Slot added: "That's not so easy to say. It's normal to reflect on a game with decisions you have made. Maybe you do it a little bit more if you lose. In the end, it's about doing what this club is about. Keep fighting no matter how difficult it is. It would be nice if we rewarded ourselves in the moments we play well. People are focused on the parts we don't play well but there are large parts where we do play well."

Steven Smith hoping to use his first appearance for Welsh Fire as a platform to reclaim a T20I spot for Australia with the long-term aim of playing in the 2028 Olympics

Matt Roller05-Aug-2025The Hundred’s season of “transition” begins on Tuesday, days after the first wave of payments from new investors hit the counties’ accounts. The ink is still wet on the paperwork for six of the eight multimillion-pound deals and two more will follow on October 1, when host venues and investors assume operational control of their franchises from the ECB.Next season will bring at least three name changes, new kits and new sponsors, but the 2025 edition will be much the same as the previous four. The main difference is a sprinkling of additional star power in the men’s competition through salary increases, with the added intrigue of which investors are spotted in corporate hospitality boxes over the next four weeks.The introduction of direct signings marks the start of the Hundred’s next phase and a more commercial focus. Whatever their respective merits as T20 players, Test cricket’s predominance in England – underlined by the epic series against India – means that fans are far more likely to buy tickets to watch Steven Smith and Kane Williamson than Matt Short and Colin Munro.Related

• Hundred squads face 2026 'reset' in bid for competitive balance

• CA exploring BBL investment 'unashamedly' to be second behind IPL

• Titans land at Lord's as London Spirit sink to new low

• Yorkshire to start clearing debts as Hundred money lands

• BBL privatisation and later start among recommendations

It remains to be seen if, given the new IPL links, the ECB can convince the BCCI to release Indian men’s players in future years. The board’s chairman, Richard Thompson, said earlier this week that it would be “a matter of time”, barely two hours after Vikram Banerjee, the Hundred’s managing director, had attempted to play the prospect down.For now, it is Smith’s arrival at Welsh Fire that encapsulates the shift. They first signed him in 2019 only for Covid to kibosh the deal and he has never entered the draft since. But, with the top men’s salary up to £200,000 (from £125,000), Smith has been tempted over, signing soon after the tech entrepreneur Sanjay Govil emerged as the successful bidder for a stake at the Fire.Govil is already the owner of Washington Freedom in Major League Cricket and has a relationship with Smith from his time playing for them last year. He can already foresee a long-term arrangement: “With Sanjay getting involved at the Welsh Fire, potentially, there might be something moving forward,” Smith told ESPNcricinfo.There are similar arrangements elsewhere: Rashid Khan, who plays for Mumbai Indians’ global offshoots, has moved from Trent Rockets to Oval Invincibles, while the RPSG Group’s involvement has seen Noor Ahmad and Heinrich Klaasen join Manchester Originals and Jos Buttler sign for Durban’s Super Giants for the next SA20 season.

“It gives me some opportunities to be able to play in some different tournaments and keep trying to put my best foot forward to get back into the T20 team for Australia. My goal now is to try and play in the Olympics. That’s motivating me, and I want to try and keep getting better at the shorter format”Steven Smith

Smith’s involvement forms part of his master plan to win back his place in Australia’s T20 team – 18 months after his last appearance – with the long-term ambition of winning an Olympic medal at Los Angeles 2028. He retired from ODIs after the Champions Trophy, and said that freeing up his schedule was “certainly a huge part” of that decision.”It gives me some opportunities to be able to play in some different tournaments and keep trying to put my best foot forward to get back into the T20 team for Australia,” he said. “My goal now is to try and play in the Olympics. That’s motivating me, and I want to try and keep getting better at the shorter format.”It is four years since Smith last played an IPL match and his recent short-form opportunities have been scarce. He was a T20 World Cup winner in 2021 before losing his place to Tim David the following year, but with three centuries in his last eight BBL innings for Sydney Sixers, he is confident that he can force his way back in.”[Australia coach] Andrew McDonald actually joked with me the other day,” Smith said. “Every time I go back and play [T20], I always send him a text saying, ‘Did you see that?’ Hopefully, I can send him quite a few texts throughout this month of August. It’d be nice to smash a few around the park and send off a text and ask him whether he saw it.”Steven Smith poses in his Welsh Fire kit•Welsh Fire/The HundredHe will be united with a long-time Ashes rival in Jonny Bairstow, who is hoping to revive his own international career. Bairstow noted with interest Harry Brook’s wish list from players in his England white-ball teams earlier this year: “He’s got a point to prove,” Smith said. “He’s going to come out and play his shots. Hopefully, I can spend some time in the middle with him.”Smith has followed England’s 2-2 draw with India with interest and said recently that he expected this winter’s Ashes to be an “absolute belter”. He played down the relevance of the Hundred to that series, but was looking forward to testing himself against some of England’s bowlers: “It’s going to be great to be able to come up against some of those players.”By the time the Ashes starts on November 21, it will be Australia’s turn to have their own debate around the future of their T20 league. Cricket Australia is already considering the merits of following the ECB’s lead and opening BBL teams up to private investment, and weighing up the potential repercussions – positive and negative – for the wider game.But for now, the focus is squarely on England – and, in Smith’s case, Wales. As the cricketing public breathes a collective sigh of relief after the most intense Test series in recent memory, can the Hundred ride on the wave of interest, eyeballs and drama as it heads towards its brave new world?

The ability to bowl with both arms, along with his developing top-order batting, makes the Tasmania allrounder a fascinating cricketer to follow

Deivarayan Muthu14-Sep-2025When Chennai-born Nivethan Radhakrishnan returned to his roots in August as part of a select group of Australian emerging players who trained at the MRF academy, he sensed that the city had changed.Radhakrishnan had enjoyed stints in Chennai’s robust league structure before moving to Australia along with his family in 2013. The recent trip to Chennai was his first since the Covid-19 pandemic hit. During this period, Radhakrishnan, now 22, has changed as a person and professional cricketer as well.Just weeks after steering Australia to a third-place finish in the 2022 Under-19 World Cup in the Caribbean, Radhakrishnan made the step-up to the Sheffield Shield for Tasmania, batting at No. 7 and bowling spin. Not just your average spin – he can bowl both right-arm offspin and left-arm fingerspin. The only known male ambidextrous spinner in Australia’s system has been trying to push the envelope even further in recent times by trying his (right) hand at wristspin.Related

• Australia's next opener? Weatherald enjoying cricket 'like I did as a kid'

• Nivethan Radhakrishnan, from Tamil Nadu to Tasmania, creating opportunities with both hands

• Akshay Karnewar: Vidarbha's ambidextrous trump card

Radhakrishnan has also moved up the order since and having learnt from Australia’s next-in-line opener Jake Weatherald, he’s keen to establish himself as a Tasmania regular in the upcoming domestic season. Since making his debut in 2022, Radhakrishnan has played just seven Shield games, scoring 317 runs at an average of 22.64 and taking three wickets.While Radhakrishnan is an unorthodox bowler, he prides himself on being an orthodox opening batter. Some of the traits were on display during his 68, spanning 298 minutes and 243 balls against eventual Shield champions South Australia at the Adelaide Oval in February 2025. Radhakrishnan reckons that his old-school approach complements Weatherald’s more aggressive ways.”I’ve had the privilege of opening the batting with Jake Weatherald pretty much like every game I played last year and he was so ultra-aggressive with his feet,” Radhakrishnan recalls. “It’s not necessarily about just scoring [runs], but his movements are so sharp and precise. It’s a learning for me – I might not be able to score as fast as he can but that’s no excuse for me to not look to score like trying to be real aggressive with my footwork and still identify balls [to hit].”So that’s been a big focus for me in the pre-season. Just really nailing down traditional simple things like where’s my off stump like, when to play a few balls on top of the bounce, when to score off the pads. As long as my feet and head are in a nice position, I think I should be sweet.”With the more experienced Matthew Kuhnemann, who has played ten internationals for Australia, likely to be Tasmania’s frontline spinner in the Shield supported by former Under-19 World Cup-winning offspinner Raf MacMillan, Radhakrishnan is happy to play a support role with the ball.”I’m trying to really sort of hone in with my bowling with the way Shield cricket is played,” Radhakrishnan says. “Kuhnemann and Raf are more likely to be the first spinners, so my role might be a bit more defensive. Maybe a holding role to get us to the second new ball or just change it up to get a breakthrough.”While Radhakrishnan has played just one List A game so far, he believes that he has a lot more to offer with his ambidextrous bowling skills in white-ball cricket. On his List A debut against South Australia in Adelaide in February earlier this year, he knocked over right-handed batters Daniel Drew and Ben Manenti with left-arm fingerspin and bowled right-arm offspin to left-handed opener Mackenzie Harvey.Nivethan Radhakrishnan in his offspin delivery stride•Getty Images”From a white-ball perspective probably my biggest strength is being able to execute those two different skill sets,” Radhakrishnan says. “It is an asset to a captain considering if I do execute with a certain level of consistency that’s different match-ups that I can actually have a say in. I might be able to turn it the other way or bowl a particular ball to a particular batter and survive in that match-up.”Radhakrishnan has been keeping a close on eye on how other ambidextrous spinners such as Sri Lanka’s Kamindu Mendis, who had also bowled with both hands in IPL 2025, are adapting to top-flight cricket.”I think I was five or six years old when I started doing it [bowling with both hands],” Radhakrishnan says. “I see Kamindu doing it and a domestic spinner in India [Akshay Karnewar]. I’ve not seen Ben Kellaway do it but I see footage of Kamindu and Karnewar.”What I saw was their actions literally look like mirror images whereas for me I feel like I’m a little bit more like Ravi Ashwin in the way I do change my action up a lot like depending on like what I’m vibing at the time and speaking tactically and technically, I might let my action evolve a little bit.”Radhakrishnan, who was recently in action for the Hobart Hurricanes Academy in the Top End T20 tournament, which also involved Pakistan Shaheens and Bangladesh A, is aiming to expand his variations and win his maiden BBL contract in the near future.”I do bowl the odd leggie, especially with the right arm,” Radhakrishnan says. “It’s easy to bowl as a variation, but once you want to execute in a particular situation, it’s a lot of pressure and you need to work on it more. But I do try to execute a leggie or a wrong’un or trying to a copy a Sunil Narine [or] Sikandar Raza like hiding the ball behind my back and stuff like that.”Having ticked off a number of boxes like fine-tuning his bowling, scoring a half-century against former Ranji Trophy champions Saurashtra and reconnecting with old friends in Chennai, Radhakrishnan returned to Australia with a bagful of happy memories and takeaways.

Find out which player has moved to what team

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Nov-2025Sanju Samson: Traded to Chennai Super Kings from Rajasthan Royals in exchange of Ravindra Jadeja and Sam CurranShardul Thakur: Traded to Mumbai Indians from Lucknow Super Giants for INR 2 croreSherfane Rutherford: Traded to Mumbai Indians from Gujarat Titans for INR 2.6 croreArjun Tendulkar: Traded to Lucknow Super Giants from Mumbai Indians for INR 30 lakhMohammed Shami: Traded to Lucknow Super Giants from Sunrisers Hyderabad for INR 10 croreMayank Markande: Traded to Mumbai Indians from Kolkata Knight Riders for INR 30 lakhNitish Rana: Traded to Delhi Capitals from Rajasthan Royals for INR 4.2 croreDonovan Ferreira: Traded to Rajasthan Royals from Delhi Capitals for INR 1 crore