Chelsea star Cole Palmer has been hailed as the "best player in the world" by fans after scoring four first-half goals against Brighton.
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Chelsea face BrightonPalmer scores four in first halfFans hail him as world's bestWHAT HAPPENED?
After falling behind to a Georginio Rutter header in the seventh minute, England international Palmer scored a hat-trick, only for Carlos Baleba to make it 3-2 after 34 minutes. Seven minutes later, former Manchester City ace Palmer added his fourth to complete a remarkable opening 45 at Stamford Bridge on Saturday – as football fans gushed about the 22-year-old on social media.
AdvertisementGetty Images SportWHAT THE FANS ARE SAYING
@CfcSheikh posted on X: "4 GOALS FOR COLE PALMER. THIS GUY IS THE BEST PLAYER IN THE WORLD."
@the_berneese_ tweeted: "If you ever compared Jude Bellingham to Cole Palmer you can apologize now."
@LyesBouzidi10 wrote: "Chelsea need to rip that 10 off Mudryk at halftime and give it to Palmer if they have anything about them."
@TheEuropeanLad added: "OH MY F****** WORD !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! COLE PALMER ARE YOU MAD ?!?!?!?!!?!!? THAT'S ALREADY THE GOAL OF THE SEASON !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! A HATTRICK WITHIN 31 MINUTES !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
@SportsarenatzTz also commented: "He deserves the ballon d’or."
THE BIGGER PICTURE
Palmer has become the first player in Premier League history to score four goals before half-time in a single match. He had just 16 touches and from his five shots and found the net on four occasions. He has proven to be an incredible signing from City.
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AFPWHAT NEXT?
After this enthralling encounter, Enzo Maresca's team return to Europa Conference League action on Thursday night when they host Gent. Brighton, on the other hand, entertain Tottenham in the Premier League on October 6.
Burnley have reportedly begun looking to life without Vincent Kompany by eyeing up one of his former teammates to take over at Turf Moor.
Kompany heads for Germany
After managing just five wins in the Premier League across the 2023-24 season and seeing his Burnley side relegated, Vincent Kompany was a shock appointment for German giants Bayern Munich.
The Belgian, who spent time at Anderlecht before being appointed as the Clarets boss, had guided Burnley out of the Championship but struggled to compromise on his playing style in the top flight, a fact which ultimately cost the Lancashire outfit their place in it.
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That did not stop Bayern from turning to him after a long list of failures in their attempts to hire a new coach, with the likes of Oliver Glasner, Unai Emery, Xabi Alonso and several more all touted for the role before turning it down.
Burnley revealed that "changing dynamics" made a move inevitable for the ex-Manchester City star, and have placed Craig Bellamy in interim charge while they hunt for a new boss.
"Whilst we were initially confident in retaining our manager, the changing dynamics of the situation made this impossible", they wrote on X.
"We understand the allure and prestige of a club like Bayern Munich and respect Vincent’s ambition to explore new opportunities. We wish only the best for Vincent and would like to put on record our appreciation for his dedication every single day he was a part of this football club."
After Steve Cooper turned down Burnley's advances, they remain in search of a new manager. Now, they may have identified their man.
Talks to be held with 45 year-old coach
That comes as The Boot Room report that the club are ready to hold "formal talks" with former teammate of Kompany and Chelsea icon Frank Lampard over a return to the dugout.
The pair spent a season together at Manchester City, sharing the pitch on 20 occasions during the 2014/15 campaign, and both have since gone into management.
Lampard, who has had two spells as Chelsea boss as well as stints at Everton and Derby County, has been out of work since the end of the 2022-23 season.
Frank Lampard's Managerial record
Games managed
196
Wins
83
Win %
42%
Points per game
1.47
Now, he has been offered a route back as the report claims that he had been "offered the head coach job" at Turf Moor, and that "talks are now underway" over a potential move to Lancashire.
Transfers will likely form a hot topic of conversation: Kompany spent liberally upon return to the Premier League, while Lampard can boast a transfer record that has seen him hire £290m worth of talent headed by the likes of Timo Werner and Kai Havertz.
Whether or not Burnley will be willing to match the ex-Chelsea man's ambition on and off the pitch remains to be seen, but he certainly fits the mould of wanting a younger coach eager to prove himself, something he could do by securing promotion back to the top flight.
Glamorgan 8 for 0 trail Somerset 296 (Davies 81, Brooks 72) by 198 runsSteven Davies and Jack Brooks transformed a modest Somerset total with a last-wicket stand of 107 on the opening day of the Bob Willis Trophy match against Glamorgan at the Cooper Associates County Ground, Taunton.The hosts had looked set to miss out on any batting points when crumbling to 149 for eight, Ruaidhri Smith claiming three of the wickets.But after Josh Davey had contributed 20 to help revive Somerset fortunes, last man Brooks came out to smash a 38-ball half century on his way to making 72, off 58 deliveries, with 9 fours and 2 sixes.Davies, who had been dropped twice, top-scored with 81 not out, off 108 balls, with 9 fours, as the menace went out of the Glamorgan seam attack. Somerset were finally bowled out for 296 before their opponents replied with 8 for no wicket.It was a day of mixed fortunes for Smith, who finished with three for 41, but was forced to hobble off injured in the closing session.Before play started there was a minute’s silence in recognition of those who have lost their lives to the coronavirus pandemic.The players also took the knee in support of improving diversity and inclusion in cricket and the community ahead of the opening ball being delivered.Somerset won the toss, but were soon being put under pressure in overcast conditions on a pitch offering pace and bounce.Young openers Tom Lammonby, making his first class debut, and Eddie Byrom did well to take the score to 38 against some testing pace bowling before being parted.Byrom was bowled off an inside edge by Graham Wagg (two for 59) for 22. Tom Abell, on three, had his stumps scattered by Marchant de Lange (two for 37), and James Hildreth was caught at point off Dan Douthwaite for 16.At lunch, the score was 92 for three and Glamorgan’s position would have been stronger had Charlie Hemphrey not dropped Lammonby on 14 at second slip off the impressive de Lange.The 20-year-old Devonian left-hander batted through the morning session to be unbeaten on 40 at the break. But in the fifth over off the afternoon Lammonby fell lbw to the accurate Michael Hogan for 41.Smith picked up three wickets in the session, sending back George Bartlett, who was worked over by the sharp de Lange before falling for a battling 23, Roelof van der Merwe and Jamie Overton.Douthwaite accounted for Craig Overton leg-before and Glamorgan were well on top as Davies survived a couple of chances to slip on his way to a 76-ball half-century.Davey began the recovery, helping Davies add 40 for the ninth wicket, but when he top-edged a steeply rising ball from de Lange to mid-on Somerset were still 11 runs short of a batting point.Brooks played positively from the start and had blazed his way to 45 with a succession of belligerent shots before being dropped off Wagg, a tough chance to Billy Root over his shoulder at mid-wicket.It was all the luck Brooks needed to register his first half-century for Somerset since joining them from Yorkshire. He bludgeoned a tiring attack and Davies lost little by comparison as the pair ensured a respectable total.When Brooks was eventually caught and bowled by Wagg, Glamorgan were left with seven overs to bat in the day. Nick Selman and Hemphrey found the new ball seaming around for Craig Overton and Davey.Overton conceded four byes with a bouncer that flew over wicketkeeper Davies’ head and the first six overs were completed without a run off the bat as the openers concentrated on survival.
Australia batsman had been due back this year before Covid-19 interruption
ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jun-2020Glamorgan have extended the contract of Australia batsman Marnus Labuschagne until 2022. Labuschagne had been due to play for the county this summer, as part of a two-year deal, but his arrival was deferred due to the impact of Covid-19 on the season.Labuschagne’s remarkable 2019, which saw him named one of ‘s Cricketers of the Year, began with a spell at Glamorgan. He scored 1114 Championship runs at 65.52 before being called into Australia’s Ashes squad, where he made an instant impact after becoming Test cricket’s first concussion substitute at Lord’s.”It was an easy decision to extend my contract for another year and commit to Glamorgan and Wales long term,” Labuschagne said.”I was gutted not to be returning to Glamorgan for the 2020 season after I loved my first year here, so I’m delighted to be re-committing myself to the club for the next couple of years. Working with Matt Maynard helped take my game to the next level and I’m looking forward to working with him again and playing with a hugely talented group of team-mates.”Cardiff is a brilliant city to live in, the Welsh people and our supporters were fantastic to me – it’s not always easy to find places where you feel comfortable and at home so quickly. I loved my first year at the club and the dressing room environment and I’m looking forward to playing cricket with them again.”Labuschagne’s involvement saw Glamorgan involved in a promotion push for the first time in several years, eventually finishing fourth.Mark Wallace, the club’s director of cricket, said: “It’s a sign of Marnus’ character that he had no hesitation in extending his deal, and that he’s been keen to do so since we realised that he wouldn’t be able to come over and play for us in 2020.”He’s committed to what we are trying to achieve here at the club, and it’s a sign that we are heading in the right direction when one of the best players in world cricket is committed to returning to and staying with your club.”Marnus loves the game of cricket and his enthusiasm is infectious, and he brings an incredible energy to the team that lifts others around him. The coaching staff love him, and we are looking forward to having him around in 2021 and 2022 and beyond.”
It’s been a tale of twists and turns at Tottenham Hotspur this season but Ange Postecoglou’s side have the chance to finish with a bang over these final few weeks in the Premier League.
While it’s easy to look at the campaign through the prism of top four qualification being the measure of success for a team like Tottenham, Postecoglou recognises the long-term goals and how things are not quite so linear – the Australian has been vocal on this topic in recent weeks.
Tottenham need time, and they need to continue the promising run of recruitment that has seen Postecoglou followed by first-team stars such as James Maddison, Micky van de Ven, Brennan Johnson and Guglielmo Vicario.
Tottenham players celebrating
Still, though, the throne at the front of the ship sits vacant, with Harry Kane yet to be replaced as the club’s star centre-forward. Heung-min Son, now skipper, has done an excellent job in a more central role this season but he’s not the long-term solution.
Who Spurs sign remains to be seen, but the club certainly haven’t got it right in the transfer market in the years gone by, Kane’s emergence over one decade ago easing the issues risen from failures in signing Roberto Soldado, Clinton N’Jie and Vincent Janssen since.
He’s not the bottom of the barrel, but rangy striker Fernando Llorente certainly didn’t enjoy his finest football at Tottenham, incredible Champions League contribution aside…
Why Spurs signed Fernando Llorente
Tottenham announced the signing of Llorente from Swansea City in a £12m deal back in 2017, with Mauricio Pochettino’s side beating London rivals Chelsea to the 32-year-old’s signature.
Now 39, Llorente retired last summer but he’s enjoyed a long, nomadic career that has notably seen him win the 2010 World Cup and 2012 European Championship with Spain, the Europa League with Sevilla and three Serie A titles with Juventus.
He came tantalisingly close to playing a pivotal role in winning that elusive Champions League with Tottenham – but more on that later.
Spurs moved to sign the former Spain international following Kane’s injury struggles throughout the 2016/17 season, missing different portions with an ankle problem.
Fernando Llorente in Tottenham training
Moreover, N’Jie and Janssen had both been moved out and he offered something contrasting to the frontline, adding a target man figure for the likes of Christian Eriksen to whip balls in toward the danger area, having scored 15 Premier League goals with Swansea during his first campaign in England.
Llorente might have attained something of a cult status down N17 for that contribution, but there’s little question that, frankly, he didn’t produce the goods during his time at the club, especially when considering his success in the Premier League, or lack thereof.
Fernando Llorente's stats at Spurs
Across two campaigns for Tottenham, in all competitions, Llorente scored 13 goals and provided six assists across 66 matches, with just two of those strikes arriving in the Premier League.
Indeed, the 6 foot 4 titan only bagged one goal apiece across his two campaigns in the Premier League for Spurs and while he served his part with diligence, acting as a pillar from which forward play would often gravitate around, and towards, his goal record was disappointing given his success with Swansea.
He did, of course, score the all-important final goal against Manchester City as the Lilywhites advanced to the Champions League semi-finals in one of the most extraordinary ties in the competition history, bundling in late at the Etihad Stadium to seal the deal.
It was a momentous occasion, and while Llorente’s goal will stand the test of time as one of the most iconic and talked about modern Champions League moments, it’s not enough to allay his dismal scoring record domestically.
Especially when he was earning such a pretty pack packet….
Fernando Llorente's earnings at Spurs
Llorente is understood to have earned around £100k-per-week during his two-year stay at Tottenham, which works out to total earnings of just under £10m, £5m a season.
When combining this with the Spaniard’s salary, it can be deduced that he cost Tottenham a ballpark £21.5m across his duo of terms, working out to a contribution of roughly £1.6m per goal.
1.
Harry Kane
£100k-per-week
2.
Hugo Lloris
£100k-per-week
3.
Fernando Llorente
£100k-per-week
4.
Jan Vertonghen
£89k-per-week
5.
Heung-min Son
£80k-per-week
Llorente was on par with the squad’s highest earners, Kane and captain Hugo Lloris while surpassing Son in weekly earnings. During the same two-season period, the South Korean clinched 29 goals. Kane? He scored 65 goals across all competitions.
While Llorente did a job and was actually considered for re-signing, after his contract had expired, the monetary breakdown above illustrates why this would have been a bad idea.
Having aged further, after seeing his success in London limited to select moments, rather than fluid prosperity on an individual basis, it’s a good thing that such interest was shelved and forgotten about.
Spurs chairman Daniel Levy has been one to err on the side of caution but Tottenham simply have to throw the kitchen sink at signing the perfect centre-forward this summer, replacing Kane and adding a dimension to their attack that could propel them to a place on equal footing with the likes of Arsenal and Manchester City.
With Kane graduating from the academy, it’s about time Tottenham got it right when obtaining a new focal frontman.
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Harry Kane came back to haunt Arsenal in the Champions League.
أعلن نادي الزمالك عن إجراء تعديل على موعد مباراته الودية أمام النصر الليبي في مهرجان اعتزال خالد حسين.
الزمالك يعلن عن برنامج مباراة النصر الليبي الودية في اعتزال خالد حسين
وكان من المقرر أن يواجه الزمالك نظيره النصر الليبي مساء غدٍ الجمعة في اعتزال نجم الكرة الليبية.
وتقرر إقامة مباراة الزمالك والنصر في الثامنة والنصف مساء غد الجمعة، بعدما كان مقرراً لها في الثامنة مساءً.
وجاء تأخير موعد انطلاق المباراة لمدة 30 دقيقة بسبب بعض الأمور التنظيمية الخاصة بالمباراة.
مران الزمالك | تدريبات فنية للاعبين.. وجلسة خاصة مع شيكابالا قبل مواجهة النصر الليبي
وكانت بعثة الفريق الأول لكرة القدم بنادي الزمالك وصلت مساء أمس الأربعاء إلى ليبيا للمشاركة في مهرجان الاعتزال، ويترأس البعثة أحمد سليمان عضو مجلس الإدارة والمشرف على الكرة.
Believe it or not, the Melbourne Renegades are still a mathematical chance of making the Big Bash League finals after breaking their nightmare sequence of nine consecutive losses with a rain-interrupted victory over the Sydney Thunder at Manuka Oval in Canberra.Their captain Dan Christian was instrumental in the result, clumping some desperately needed late innings runs then claiming three wickets in a typically thoughtful spell. The last two were most vital as the Renegades momentarily wobbled in their defence, after Alex Ross had slammed 26 from a Mohammad Nabi over to leave the Thunder with a gettable 31 to win from the final two overs.Dan Christian is a specialist in rapid T20 cameos•Getty Images and Cricket Australia
Renegades bide their time at the start…Over nine losses in a row, the Melbourne Renegades have found more than a few ways to start games badly, and on this occasion, Shaun Marsh and Marcus Harris seemed determined not to throw things away too early. So on a fine evening in Canberra they elected to play themselves in carefully, eschewing big shots against the new ball and trying to rotate the strike while denying the Thunder an early wicket or two.This approach at least had the effect of not blowing up the Renegades innings early, as has happened on numerous occasions. However it was obvious that neither Harris, who would depart after seven overs, or Marsh who followed in the 13th, had quite the confidence or fluency to go on from their platforms in the fashion of a Glenn Maxwell or, more mortally, Jon Wells for the Adelaide Strikers. This meant that the Renegades still found themselves in a somewhat iffy position when Beau Webster became Liam Bowe’s second victim with 31 balls remaining.…And find some much-needed punch at the finishFortunately for the Renegades, Sam Harper did not lose his head as these wickets fell, and built an innings at his own pace with steady acceleration. It was a different knock to many of his others, going far deeper into the innings than Harper commonly has managed, and allowed Christian the certainty at the other end to take a few more risks in the closing overs. This combination meant that the Renegades could capitalise on the Thunder’s parallel propensity to leak runs in their closing overs.In fact the final three of the innings grew in productivity for the Renegades in the kind of trend line loved by investment property owners, reaping 13, 16 and then finally 18 runs. No fewer than 11 of those flowed from the bat of Mohammad Nabi, who pummelled his first ball for four down the ground and then hoisted the last of the innings over the midwicket boundary, with timing and power redolent of a far more set batsman. The choice of Chris Morris to bowl the final over meant that Daniel Sams, the BBL’s leading wicket-taker, was left an over short of his allocation.Thunder stumble before the rainAs rain clouds hovered over Manuka, the Thunder swiftly lost Usman Khawaja to a superb catch behind the wicket by Harper, who dived across in front of slip for a dismissal that was unclear to the umpires as the former Australian top order batsman had hit the ground around the same time as he edged his drive at Andrew Fekete. Worse was to follow when Callum Ferguson was most unluckily run out by a deflection when Fekete parried a caught and bowled chance from Alex Hales onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end.The loss of a promoted Sams, lbw on the sweep shot, left the Thunder in a rickety position, but the arrival of showers created a new dimension. The required rate asked of the Thunder would go up, but the number of balls in which they could lose wickets was bound to go down.Ross fireworks can’t keep Renegades winlessNeeding 104 runs off 49 balls when the rain cleared, the Thunder needed at least a couple of big overs. Hales was unable to provide any, and Morris also fell cheaply as the equation stretched to 57 required from the final 18 balls. Enter Ross, who sized up Nabi’s usually parsimonious off-breaks and found some deliveries lobbed down onto an obliging length for him to get under. Four, six, six, six, four followed, Narrowing things to 31 off 13, fewer runs than the Renegades themselves managed from the final two overs of their innings.Captain Christian, though, was in no mood to give this one up, and he was to follow up with a superb penultimate over in which he mixed up his pace while hitting the blockhole with commendable regularity. This was too much for Jay Lenton, yorked first ball of the over, and Ross was far less successful in targeting the boundary, as his skier was well held by Jack Wildermuth and left him with more than enough runs to defend in the final over.
Over the last couple of years, Arsenal have done a brilliant job of offloading fringe players, allowing the club to invest in the squad to try and end the 20-year wait for a Premier League title.
Players such as Joe Willock and Folarin Balogun have both departed the Emirates with the club for fees over £20m, with the pair only making a handful of appearances for the Gunners.
Subsequent fees have allowed boss Mikel Arteta to invest in players such as Declan Rice and David Raya, with the duo transforming the side and turning the side into genuine title challengers.
The club allowed one player to leave the club last summer, with the club conducting sensational business in offloading him given his dreadful record at his new club this season.
Matt Turner's stats at Arsenal
After joining the club for £7.5m from MLS side New England Revolution back in 2022, goalkeeper Matt Turner immediately took his place as a backup for Aaron Ramsdale, with the American only utilised in cup competitions.
During his solitary campaign at the Emirates, the 29-year-old failed to make a single Premier League appearance, with Turner only featuring seven times for the Gunners across all fronts.
He made five Europa League appearances and two starts in the FA Cup, with the 'keeper keeping four clean sheets in the process – a record that tempted Nottingham Forest into a move for the shot-stopper.
After agreeing a deal for current number one Raya, the club allowed Turner to depart the Emirates, swapping London for the East Midlands, with the two clubs reaching a deal of up to £10m for the USA international – with Arteta's side making a £2.5m profit despite his lack of game time for the club.
Matt Turner's stats at Nottingham Forest
His move to Forest has been an unsuccessful one, to say the least, with the 29-year-old already suffering the same fate as he did during his time in north London.
Turner arrived at the City Ground, becoming the number one choice between the sticks, but a catalogue of unforgivable errors has seen him drop to back up behind Belgian 'keeper Matz Sels.
The American notably gave the ball away in the 2-1 win over Manchester United, with Marcus Rashford punishing his mistake to leave Sky Sports commentator Gary Neville to claim that Turner is "useless" with his feet.
His mistake was one of a few that the struggling goalkeeper has made during the course of the season – having made three errors leading to a goal in the league – with the 29-year-old's market value dropping as a result.
Despite joining for £10m only seven months ago, Turner's value has dropped to £4.6m, as per Football Transfers with the shot-stopper now worth less than current Arsenal squad player Reiss Nelson, who has a value of £6.7m – after only managing 14 Premier League appearances this season at the Emirates.
Now worth less than one of Arteta's fringe assets, the Gunners made a great decision offloading the 'keeper, with it clear the American isn't up to the standard of what's required of a number-one goalkeeper in the Premier League.
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As this summer represents the first full window with Sir Jim Ratcliffe at the helm at Manchester United, it is expected that the new part owner will oversee large-scale changes at Old Trafford.
Man Utd target attacking reinforcements
With the arrival of Ratcliffe suggesting that the chequebook may be open this summer, it is safe to assume that Old Trafford could see its fair share of action during the transfer window.
Man United and Sir Jim Ratcliffe planning to move for “important player”
The update comes courtesy of journalist Fabrizio Romano.
ByHenry Jackson Mar 10, 2024
The most immediate area of concern for United is in attack with the Red Devils struggling for consistency in this part of the pitch. No player has scored more than seven goals this season whilst last summer's marquee signing Antony is yet to provide a league goal this campaign.
Rasmus Hojlund
20
7
Marcus Rashford
27
7
Antony
22
0
Anthony Martial
13
1
Alejandro Garnacho
26
5
If United are to get back on track and return to the top four of the Premier League, this summer may have to see vast improvements made to their forward line.
Man Utd interested in swap deal for star
As reported on X by German journalist Christian Falk, Man Utd could be interested in arranging a swap deal with Borussia Dortmund. The deal touted could see Jadon Sancho make his deal in Germany permanent whilst Donyell Malen would move to Old Trafford.
The Red Devils have previously expressed an interest in the Dutchman however, this latest development could see the deal completed without United needing to spend a penny.
Since arriving at Dortmund in 2021, the 25-year-old has yielded 50 goal contributions in 105 games. Malen's stats for this season have seen him score on 11 occasions, including an overhead kick against Weder Bremen this month.
Malen's previous spell with PSV saw him arrive at Dortmund full of acclaim. The former Dortmund star and teammate in Holland, Mario Gotze spoke highly of Malen saying of the forward:
"Donyell is extremely fast and very dangerous. If he has a chance, it's usually a goal, too. He's still young, but has really good abilities."
Dortmund may be open to getting the deal done with Sancho enjoying a slight resurgence upon his return to Germany. Providing two goals and two assists already, the winger could want to make the deal permanent and bring an end to his torrid time at Old Trafford.
If Malen, on around £100,000-a-week, is to bring his form in Germany to Old Trafford, the swap deal could be a major coup for United. With Sancho taking home £250,000 a week, shifting the winger off the books whilst bringing in an arguably superior replacement may well be a clever bit of business from Ratcliffe and co.
Durham, 2013. Ryan Harris, newish ball in hand, fizzes it down towards the top of Joe Root’s off stump. It takes a little wobble through the air, hits one side of the seam, and darts perfectly away to beat a flummoxed Root and hit the outside of the off stump. It’s a cracker, but almost completely accidental, as Harris admits later to Ian Ward.”Probably not, but I don’t try to do it, I just try to put it in the right spots and let the ball and the wicket do the rest. I’m aiming for the top of off, it doesn’t always go there but it’s great to get one in the right area now and then.””No, not really. When I went off after our spell I said to our analyst ‘how’s my seam’ and he said it was a bit wobbly and I wasn’t very happy with it. So I’m trying to get it nice and straight, but if it comes out like that it’s natural variation.”Later that same year, Harris would bowl a far more famous delivery to Alastair Cook, albeit with the seam so straight that it swings after pitching to hit the top of off. England, victorious at home, are beaten out of sight Down Under. But they still possessed a weapon, particularly at home, that Australia’s bowlers had not yet truly grasped: Harris’s wobbly seam at Durham could be done deliberately, and cause mayhem.James Anderson and Stuart Broad had, in fact, been bowling this type of delivery for years – Anderson’s series-winning haul of 24 wickets on the 2010-11 featured the wobble-seam prominently. Ironically, he’d learned of it from watching Stuart Clark in the Ashes whitewash four years previously, but after watching Mohammad Asif’s impact in England in 2010, he went off to the nets with David Saker, then England’s bowling coach, and set about mastering a skill that wasn’t actually all that complicated.For Australia, there seemed an initial reluctance to divert from trying to land the seam as straight as possible. The chief advocate for the method has been Peter Siddle, helped by the advice of Saker, Broad and Alastair Cook, via their time together in Victoria, Nottinghamshire and Essex respectively. Siddle, though, was on the outer in 2015, not playing until the Ashes had already gone to England.”David Saker who I’ve spent a lot of time with and he’s mentored me for a long time, talking to him even when he was still England coach around how they went about it,” Siddle told ESPNcricinfo. “You mix that in a little bit with having that time with Broady and chatting to him first-hand, rather than just watching him bowl it, how he holds it, how it feels, how to release it. From then it’s just about finding your way, what feels good for you and it’s just something that grew and adapted over time.”Even in the last couple of years playing with Alastair Cook, and this is my fourth series over here, so in that time you do watch the opposition and see how they go about things and what they do with the ball. It is something that in the last couple of years I’ve got better at, and had a lot more success with it.”Repeatedly, Siddle was the most challenging opponent for Australia’s batsmen in the nets in 2015, but there was an element missing: collective unity about which plans to follow, how and when. There was, to some extent, variation, until this January, when there was a very public disagreement between the pacemen and Tim Paine about how to bowl on day one at the SCG against India. A unified plan to strangle England, and a unified method of how to use the Dukes ball, was required.I thought Peter Siddle was almost the bowler of the first Ashes Test – Justin Langer•Getty Images
The penny dropped in Southampton, with 25 Australian cricketers plus just as many support staff squeezed into the Hilton at the Rose Bowl. Among many meetings the use of a scrambled seam stock ball, with straight seam swingers for variation on a rigorous top-of-the-off stump length – plus the occasional bouncer – crystallised as the only way forward.For Siddle, this meant being as much a coach and mentor to the other bowlers as a competitor for one of bowling spots in each Test team.”It’s a pretty simple game-plan, but it takes everyone to buy into it,” he said. “It’s good to see the boys having a crack at it and getting some success, because on wickets over here even when they flatten out, they have still got that little tinge of grass scattered around so they still tend to offer a little bit.”I think it’s showed for both teams that the team that have stuck in there and been patient enough, you’ve been able to get the rewards.”Cummins, Siddle and James Pattinson used the method to good effect at Edgbaston, before Hazlewood subbed in at Lord’s and raised the level a notch further. At Headingley, Pattinson returned, and Australia razed the hosts for 67. And even when Ben Stokes conjured a second-innings miracle on a pitch that flattened out into the easiest batting surface of the series, there was plenty of reason to stay the course.The last piece of the puzzle was Mitchell Starc, who was perhaps the hardest sell. For nine years, he had been a Test cricketer committed to seeking swing, and often benefiting enormously from doing so at his great pace. But through many net sessions, plus tour games at Worcester and Derby, he too learned to get the seam wobbling, and at Old Trafford the variation was critically important: Jonny Bairstow was bowled by the inswing variation in the first innings, then Stokes nicked off to a wobble seamer. Starc had adapted.”It’s been a series where there hasn’t been as much swing, even though this ball they went back to the old Dukes ball because the new one doesn’t quite seam as much,” Siddle said.”That brings the wobble back into it, but that is exciting to see for Starcy. I bowled loads with him early on in the series in the nets and he was just asking questions, having a go at it, and then trying to see what would work for him.”At times it didn’t feel right, and for a bloke that naturally keeps the seam up to swing it, it’s going to feel very awkward because it’s just not natural. But to see him bowl some of those balls and have the success that he did I think it showed that actually listening to what is needed in the conditions sometimes going away from what you normally do, having that success has given the guys a lot of confidence.”Compared to 2013 and 2015, Australia have swung the ball far less, and seamed it far more. They have moved the ball off the pitch even more than England.Amid the adaptation, a revelation too. Australia’s faster bowlers, Starc and Cummins in particular, are able to get additional variations from wobble seam that Anderson, Broad and Siddle cannot.”I think like the scattered grass, sometimes it’s there, sometimes it’s not,” Siddle said. “If the quicker bowlers are getting it off the little bit of grass patches that are there, it does sometimes look to shoot on. Sometimes they do and it doesn’t bounce as much.”Jimmy and Broady and I, they’ll seam and stand up even though I’m a lot shorter and Jimmy’s a bit shorter, but that extra pace it skids on and probably keeps a bit lower. That’s all a part of England, the natural variation. The big thing too is bowling the right length with it. You can see over here you get a lot of plays and misses, which is pretty natural, but the fuller you are, making them have to 100% commit to the ball, you get the breakthroughs. LBWs and bowleds, there’s probably been a higher number of that than just caught behind the wicket.”So a method first glimpsed in use by an Australian, perfected by a Pakistani, then co-opted by England, found its way back where it started, in the nick of time for the 2019 Ashes. “The teams that have had the most success are the teams where everyone buys in, you bowl in the partnerships at both ends, you build pressure, and you get the rewards,” Siddle said.”I think that’s what’s been so strong about this group, not just the fact there’s six strong, quality fast bowlers in the group, but i think when blokes have come in and out of the team, they’ve been able to fit straight in, stick to the plan and have the success.”