Nottinghamshire allrounder adds three-wicket haul after top-scoring on day one

ECB Reporters Network27-Jan-2025Spin duo Tazeem Ali and Farhan Ahmed claimed three wickets each to inspire a strong England Men Uunder-19s fightback late on day two of the first Youth Test against South Africa Men U19s in Stellenbosch.Jason Rowles and Muhammed Bulbulia shared a 139-run third wicket stand before the Young Lions took 6 for 57 to leave the hosts 269 for 8 at stumps – still 30 runs behind.Farhan had helped the Young Lions recover on day one with a composed 90 and the 16-year-old Nottinghamshire allrounder was at it again with the ball as he first bowled Adnaan Lagadien on way to figures of 3 for 74.Tazeem broke the Rowles and Bulbulia partnership, when the latter was bowled by the perfect legspinner’s delivery that pitched on leg and took the top of off stump.England captain Archie Vaughan removed Rowles, top-edging a slog-sweep that was easily held by wicketkeeper Thomas Rew, who then produced a sharp catch down leg to give Farhan his second wicket.Farhan then struck from the final ball of the day, with fielders crowding the bat, when Ben Dawkins held a low catch at first slip to remove Lethabo Phahlamohlaka.

Fresh off toppling England again, Afghanistan face Australia with a semi-final place at stake

Andrew McGlashan27-Feb-20251:44

Shahidi: We have planned for the entire Australia team

The last time Afghanistan faced Australia in an ODI, Glenn Maxwell produced arguably the greatest innings the format has ever seen with his unforgettable double century to secure a remarkable chase in Mumbai.It ripped away a game that appeared a certain Afghanistan victory when Australia were 91 for 7 chasing 292, but they have insisted there is no extra focus purely on Maxwell ahead of a winner-takes-all clash in Lahore with a semi-final spot on the line.Related

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A significant reason for that is Afghanistan know they beat Australia: last year at the T20 World Cup they prevailed by 21 runs despite Maxwell’s 59 off 41 balls. His dismissal to Gulbadin Naib was the defining moment of the game”You think we will come only to play with Maxwell?” Hashmatullah Shahidi said when asked about the 2023 World Cup meeting. “We have planning for all Australian team. I know that he played really well in 2023 World Cup, but that’s part of the history.”After that, we beat them in [the] T20 World Cup. We think about all [the] opposition team, we are not coming to the ground to plan on [an] individual player. We will try our best to come with the planning and we are not playing only Maxwell – we are playing Australia.”Afghanistan were the winners of this fixture at last year’s T20 World Cup in West Indies•ICC/Getty Images

A second consecutive ICC tournament semi-final beckons if Afghanistan prevail on Friday, but they insist their minds won’t wander that far. “We will try to play positive game – just like we defeated England today, we hope to beat Australia as well,” Shahidi said. “We won’t put that pressure on ourselves by thinking too much about the semi-final qualification.”Afghanistan will enter the match less than 48 hours after the eight-run victory over England highlighted by Ibrahim Zadran’s magnificent 177. He also has good memories of facing Australia having scored 129 in that Mumbai match then 51 off 48 balls in the T20 World Cup victory in St Vincent.”It’s never easy for a player to return from injury and make such a strong comeback in a high-stakes match,” Shahidi said. “I am extremely happy for him because he is a very talented and hardworking player. When players like him perform well, as a leader, it makes me very happy and hopeful for the future. Ibrahim played a brilliant innings, and I pray that he continues to perform like this always.”The two matches so far in Lahore have seen all four innings pass 300 with Australia chasing down 352 against England in their opening match. Pace bowler Azmatullah Omarzai was Afghanistan’s match-winner yesterday with 5 for 58, but there was enough assistance for the spinners to provide encouragement. Noor Ahmad conceded just 51 from his 10 overs.”There was support,” Shahidi said. “I think the spinners bowled also really well. In this kind of condition our spinners are very good, and if they have a little bit help, I know they will do it for the team.”

Sciver-Brunt’s second consecutive fifty made sure Mumbai kept a perfect 5-0 record against Giants

Ashish Pant18-Feb-2025There was an air of inevitability right from the time a beaming Harmanpreet Kaur won the toss and elected to bowl in Mumbai Indians’ second match of WPL 2025 against Gujarat Giants. Teams chasing had won every single game so far this season. Couple that with Mumbai’s 4-0 record against Giants coming into this match and odds were stacked heavily in Mumbai’s favour.And the game panned out accordingly.Hayley Matthews’ frugal three-wicket squeeze backed up by two-wicket hauls from Nat-Sciver Brunt and Amelia Kerr helped bowl out Giants for 120. Sciver-Brunt then continued her stellar run with the bat, scoring her second fifty on the bounce to shepherd Mumbai’s chase.She finished with 57 off 39 balls as Mumbai chased down the target by five wickets and 23 balls to spare. The win not only helped Mumbai open their account in WPL 2025, but also extended their lead over Giants to 5-0. Giants are now the only side in the tournament to not have a single win against a particular team.

Giants’ powerplay malfunction

Harmanpreet spoke at the toss about capitalising in the first few overs before the dew set in. She went pace from both ends up top and the move paid dividend with Sciver-Brunt accounting for Beth Mooney, who sliced a simple catch to Sanskriti Gupta at backward point in the second over.Shabnim Ismail then got rid of Laura Woolvardt, whose lofted drive could only go as far as S Sajana stationed perfectly at deep cover. That reduced Giants to 14 for 2, which four balls later became 16 for 3 when Matthews sent back D Hemalatha whose across-the-line heave was caught wonderfully by Kerr sprinting to her left from deep midwicket.Ashleigh Gardner, Giants’ wrecker-in-chief in the first two matches, started fluently again striking a four and six but was undone by a Sciver-Brunt slower delivery which she mistimed to Sajana at deep midwicket.At 28 for 4 after six overs, Giants couldn’t have asked for a worse start. This was their third-lowest powerplay score in the WPL and comfortably the lowest for any team this season. What also hurt Giants were the sheer number of dot balls at the start. Twenty-six of the 36 balls in the powerplay were dots, the joint-most in WPL history.Nat Sciver-Brunt used the scoop again•BCCI

Deol fights, no one else does

It might be a case of Giants worrying about the dew later on or just them not trusting their defence enough that despite the fall of wickets, the batters continued going for their shots. Deandra Dottin got going with a reverse sweep, but a wild mow across the line off Kerr brought about her downfall, with Yastika Bhatia executing a quick stumping.Kashvee Gautam, like many of her team-mates, started strong smashing debutant Parul Sisodia for two fours and then lifted Ismail for a six over long-on, but like the others, flattered to deceive edging Matthews behind.In all this, Harleen Deol stood tall. She played the waiting game, but did not let any scoring opportunities go. The sweep became her ally as she breached the gaps with consistency during her 31-ball 32.But the wickets continued to fall at the other end and when Deol departed with the score on 103 for 8 in the 17th over, the end was nigh. However, Sayali Satghare and Priya Mishra ensured that Giants played out their full quota of 20 overs.For Mumbai, Matthews was miserly in her four-over spell going for just 16. She bowled 16 dot balls in her spell, as did Sciver-Brunt while 19 of the 24 balls that Ismail bowled were dots.

Sciver-Brunt’s flawless fifty in MI’s first win

Coming into the tournament, there were questions raised on Sciver-Brunt’s form considering she had a relatively quiet Ashes. In a matter of two innings, she’s brushed aside the doubters.A 121-chase was never going to be daunting. Matthews started fluently, striking three fours but ended up smashing a rank long-hop from Tanuja Kanwar straight to Deol at square leg. If Giants were entertaining any thoughts of a collapse, Sciver-Brunt shut that down quickly.She got going with a fierce pull first ball and it was one-way traffic thereon. Dottin was crashed through point before Priya Mishra was pulled through square leg twice in three balls. While Bhatia fell mistiming Mishra to long-on and Harmanpreet was trapped in front by Kashvee, Sciver-Brunt stood like an immovable force.It was not just power but also precision and the ability to find gaps at will that kept Sciver-Brunt going. She added a 45-run stand with Kerr off 38 balls to take Mumbai closer. She took 34 balls to collect her fifty before falling just seven runs shy of the target. G Kamalini, on debut, struck her first ball for four while Sajana finished the game by depositing Dottin over mid-off to give Mumbai their first win of WPL 2025.The win has taken Mumbai to second place on the points table while Giants’ NRR has taken a hit, though they are in third place.

Bangladesh are under pressure, having lost seven ODIs in a row now

Mohammad Isam04-Jul-2025Bangladesh’s batters need to take on more responsibility, according to opener Tanzid Hasan. He was one of two batters to score a half-century against Sri Lanka two days ago, before a dramatic collapse led to a 77-run loss in the first ODI in Colombo.Tanzid said that Bangladesh could have chased 245 – their target on Wednesday – had he and Najmul Hossain Shanto managed to extend their 71-run second-wicket stand. It was Shanto’s run-out, followed by Tanzid’s dismissal later in the same over, that sparked Bangladesh’s implosion: 7 for 5 in just 26 balls.”We had a long discussion about the last match,” Tanzid said. “The coaches told us that on a wicket like this, those who get set need to finish things off since it’s hard for new batters to adjust. They have top quality spinners in their side, so those who are set need to bat as long as possible.Related

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• Bangladesh aim to put collapse behind them and challenge Sri Lanka

Those words carry extra weight on the eve of the second ODI which will be taking place at the same venue, the R Premadasa stadium. “The way the wicket is behaving, if someone gets set, he needs to play a long innings and take the team home,” Tanzid said. “Shanto and I, the way we were batting at that time, if we had stayed for another 10-15 overs, the match would have been much easier. Just one message for the next match: for those who are new to the wicket, it’s a bit difficult at first, but set batters need to bat long, bat deep, and take the game to the end.”Tanzid said Bangladesh need to be more mindful of individual match-ups. He explained that the left-handers should have taken more of the strike against the Wanindu Hasaranga, who ran riot during the collapse. The legspinner finished with figures of 4 for 10.”The left-hand batters need to take as much strike as possible since he [Hasaranga] is less effective against left-handers compared to right-handers. So, a few pieces of information like that were given to us, which might help us in the next match.”When Tanzid and Shanto – both left-handers – were batting together, Bangladesh looked comfortable. The pair struck 12 boundaries between them, forcing Sri Lanka captain Charith Asalanka to keep Hasaranga out of the attack. Tanzid, however, said he doesn’t rate his 62 too highly.”I don’t think I played well,” he said. “I didn’t fulfill the team’s requirements. If I had, then I would have said that I played well. But there is a chance to make a comeback. It’s a three-match series. One match is done. The next one is important. If we can make a comeback, then , we will still be in contention.”Bangladesh are also under pressure to break a eight-month-long winless streak in ODIs. They have lost seven matches in a row during this time (not counting one that was abandoned to rain in Rawalpindi in February). Additionally, they are missing two of their most experienced batters, Mushfiqur Rahim and Mahmudullah — a void that was clearly felt in the first game. Bangladesh’s middle order (positions 4 to 6) contributed just one run: Litton Das and captain Mehidy Hasan Miraz were dismissed for ducks, while Towhid Hridoy managed just one.This was Bangladesh’s lowest middle-order contribution in ODI history. The last time the middle-order produced a single-digit total was in 2006.

New Zealand remain on top after taking a 158-run lead

Hemant Brar31-Jul-2025The Zimbabwe bowlers put in a more disciplined performance on the second day of the first Test in Bulawayo, but Daryl Mitchell’s gritty 80 ensured New Zealand kept their advantage intact.New Zealand started the day on 92 for no loss and marched to 158 for 1 before losing five wickets for 42 runs. But Mitchell, with the help of the lower order, steered them to 307, ensuring a lead of 158. New Zealand then removed the Zimbabwe openers before stumps, still 127 ahead.In the morning, Blessing Muzarabani gave Zimbabwe a dream start, removing Will Young with the first ball of the day. It was a short delivery and Young fended it towards Nick Welch, who was slightly deeper than usual at short leg and completed the catch with a dive. Welch was not sure if he had taken it cleanly, but the TV umpire found no issues with it.Devon Conway was fluent at the other end. With Muzarabani and Tanaka Chivanga operating from around the wicket, he used the cover drive to good effect and picked up three boundaries with it in three successive overs. Muzarabani switched to over the wicket to deny Conway but by then he was into the last over of his spell.Henry Nicholls, playing his first Test since December 2023, came in at No. 3 and looked a little uncertain. The Zimbabwe seamers found his outside edge a couple of times but they did not carry to the slip cordon. Nicholls grew in confidence as he spent time in the middle. When Newman Nyamhuri missed his line or length, he pounced on it, taking 22 runs off just 24 balls from the left-arm seamer. During this, he also completed 3000 Test runs.Blessing Muzarabani celebrates Michael Bracewell’s dismissal•Zimbabwe Cricket

Conway and Nicholls took New Zealand into the lead before Muzarabani returned to end the 66-run stand for the second wicket. Seeing Nicholls back away, Muzarabani followed him. Two balls earlier, Nicholls had hit a boundary using the same ploy. But this time, he was cramped and ended up hitting the ball straight to Brian Bennett at gully.That triggered a collapse in which New Zealand lost five wickets for 42 runs.Rachin Ravindra was the next to fall, edging Sikandar Raza to slip, where Craig Ervine completed an otherwise regulation catch on the second attempt.After lunch, Chivanga got the reward for his hard work. His extra bounce had Conway, on 88, miscuing an uppercut to Bennett, who took his second catch at gully. In his next over, Chivanga used the short ball to get rid of Tom Blundell, who pulled one into the lap of deep square leg.Muzarabani, too, used the short ball to have Michael Bracewell top-edging a pull. For a moment, it looked like wicketkeeper Tafadzwa Tsiga had misjudged it but he put in a full-stretch dive in the end to complete the catch near fine leg. That left New Zealand at 200 for 6.Mitchell and Mitchell Santner added 33 for the seventh wicket to lend the innings some stability before Santner chipped one back to legspinner Vincent Masekesa. After that, Mitchell took the lead. In the company of Nathan Smith, he brought up his fifty and added 61 for the eighth wicket. Smith played his part by scoring 22 and resisting for 79 balls, of which he took two on the body. He had to eventually retire hurt.With Matt Henry falling soon after and Smith not coming back, Mitchell was forced to take risks. He moved across his stumps to scoop Nyamhuri but missed and lost his middle stump. By then, though, New Zealand had regained their advantage. They extended it when Henry had Ben Curran hooking one to fine leg and Will O’Rourke had Bennett edging one to the wicketkeeper before stumps.

Chamari Athapaththu has been named captain of the 15-member squad

Madushka Balasuriya10-Sep-2025Veteran left-arm seamer Udeshika Prabodhani has returned to the Sri Lanka squad for the upcoming Women’s World Cup after nearly a year-long injury layoff.Batter Imesha Dulani, who was dropped for the home tri-series against India and South Africa earlier this year, is also in the 15-member squad for the tournament in India and Sri Lanka beginning on September 30. Teenagers Rashmika Sewwandi and Manudi Nanayakkara, batter Hansima Karunaratne, and spinner Inoshi Fernando were not picked.Prabodhani, 39, last represented Sri Lanka during the Women’s T20 World Cup in October last year and hasn’t played an ODI since the tour of Ireland in August 2024. She was recovering from a persistent hamstring injury and her return will boost Sri Lanka’s seam attack, which includes 35-year-old Achini Kulasuriya and 24-year-old Malki Madara.ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Dulani, 23, replaced 17-year-old Nanayakkara in the squad and will likely serve as back-up batter. The captain Chamari Athapaththu heads a settled batting unit that includes Hasini Perera, Vishmi Gunaratne, Harshitha Samarawickrama, Kavisha Dilhari, Nilakshi de Silva, Piumi Wathsala and Anushka Sanjeewani.Even with the exclusion of Inoshi, Sri Lanka still have plenty of spin options in Dewmi Vihanga, Inoka Ranaweera and Sugandika Kumari, and also the allrounders Athapaththu and Dilhari.Sri Lanka begin their World Cup campaign against India in Guwahati on September 30 and then play their next four games in Colombo before travelling to Navi Mumbai to take on Bangladesh. They then return home for their final league game against Pakistan.

Sri Lanka squad for Women’s ODI World Cup 2025

Chamari Athapaththu (capt), Harshitha Samarawickrama, Vishmi Gunaratne, Nilakshika Silva, Kavisha Dilhari, Anushka Sanjeewani (wk), Imesha Dulani, Hasini Perera, Achini Kulasuriya, Piumi Wathsala, Dewmi Vihanga, Malki Madara, Udeshika Prabodhani, Sugandika Kumari, Inoka Ranaweera.

Both players were off the field for large portions of the second innings against Sri Lanka

Shashank Kishore26-Sep-20252:05

Is captaincy affecting SKY’s form?

Morne Morkel, India’s bowling coach, has allayed concerns around the fitness of Hardik Pandya and Abhishek Sharma leading into Sunday’s Asia Cup final against Pakistan in Dubai.Hardik held his left hamstring and walked off the field after bowling the first over of Sri Lanka’s innings on Friday, in which he dismissed Kusal Mendis for a first-ball duck. Hardik didn’t return to take the field for the remainder of the innings.”Hardik had cramps, he will be assessed tonight and tomorrow morning, we’ll then take a call on that,” Morkel said at the post-match press conference. India’s bowling coach was merely reiterating what India captain Suryakumar Yadav said at the post-match presentation.Meanwhile, Abhishek too spent the entire second half of Sri Lanka’s innings off the field. Abhishek showed signs of discomfort in the ninth over, when he clutched onto his right thigh while running. He eventually left the field in the 10th over, just before a Pathum Nissanka six was signalled dead ball because he hadn’t left the field before Varun Chakravarthy began to run in to bowl.Like Hardik, Abhishek too spent the rest of the innings being iced and treated with pickle juice to ease cramps. Rinku Singh, Shivam Dube and Jitesh Sharma came on as substitute fielders at different points. At one point, even Tilak Varma was briefly off the field, but he soon returned after a hydration break.With the Sri Lanka game stretching way beyond its scheduled close due to the Super Over finish, India are left with an even shorter turnaround time before they take the field on Sunday. Morkel stressed on the need for the players to recover, and stay away from training on Saturday.”The key for the boys is to rest,” he said. “They’re in an ice bath already. The recovery started straight after the match. The best way to recover is sleep and stay off your feet. Hopefully they can get a good night’s sleep.”There will be individual pool sessions for the guys organised. Then some massages before they get mentally ready for the big battle on Sunday. It’s a quick turnaround, and playing smart is going to be the key. There will certainly be no training.”

‘Arshdeep, Harshit are X-factors’

Morkel also touched upon the challenges players like Arshdeep Singh and Harshit Rana face when being called upon to deliver at a crucial stage in the competition. On Friday against Sri Lanka, the pair returned combined figures of 2 for 100 of eight overs in India’s defence of 202, before a nerveless Arshdeep delivered in the Super Over to seal victory.”In our environment we want to move away from an excuse culture,” he said. “The effort they put in at training, we expect them to go out there and deliver. Yes, sometimes lack of game time is a factor. You can bowl as many overs as you like in the nets, but nothing beats game time.”The quality of work we put in, we expect the guys to deliver. At the moment, things aren’t happening for them but the team is winning, they’re all X-factor players and real match winners.”

Former NZ quick suggests caution since another injury in the same spot where Bumrah has already had back surgery “could be a career-ender”

Nagraj Gollapudi11-Mar-20251:54

Bond: Transition from IPL to Tests a danger period for Bumrah

Another back injury for Jasprit Bumrah in the same spot where he had surgery “could be a career-ender” according to former New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond, whose career ended prematurely due to chronic back problems.Bumrah has not played since he walked off for scans on the second afternoon of the New Year’s Test in Sydney this year. What was reported as back spasms then turned to be a stress-related injury, which forced him to miss the Champions Trophy. Bumrah is currently at the BCCI’s Centre of Excellence in Bengaluru doing rehab and there is no clarity yet on when he will be fully fit or whether he will start for Mumbai Indians (MI) at IPL 2025.This is the first time Bumrah has suffered a back injury since he had surgery in March 2023. Bond, who has worked with Bumrah in the past – he was bowling coach with MI for several years – and is currently in India as bowling coach at Rajasthan Royals, said that Bumrah’s workloads need to be managed conservatively to avoid another relapse.Related

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• Shane Bond: 'If you ask any injured player if they're okay to play, they'll say yes'

“When he went off for scans, it was at Sydney, there was some messaging coming up around that he had sprains and stuff like that,” Bond told ESPNcricinfo in a wide-ranging chat* during the Champions Trophy, when he was one of the experts on the analysis show Match Day. “I worried that it wasn’t going to be a sprain, it might be a bony injury around that area [the back]. I thought he may struggle to make the Champions Trophy if it was.”Bond was probably the first fast bowler, at least this century, to undergo back surgery, which he had at 29, the same age at which Bumrah had his surgery. Despite persistent injuries Bond continued to play until he was 34 before deciding to retire, first from Tests and then from all formats in less than six months. In a chat with ESPNcricinfo in 2010, Bond said, “I broke if I played few games on the bounce” in first-class cricket and he was sick and tired of doing rehab.The “danger” zone where fast bowlers suffer injuries, according to Bond, is when they quickly transition from T20 to Test cricket. And that, Bond highlighted, would be his primary concern for Bumrah too, considering India will travel to England to play five-Test series in June barely a month after the IPL ends on May 25.”Look, I think Booms will be fine, but it’s just that [workload] management [matters],” Bond said. “Looking at the tours and the schedule going forward, where are the opportunities to give him a break, but really where are the danger periods? And often it is that the [transition from] IPL to the Test championship will be a risk.Jasprit Bumrah poses with his ICC Awards for 2024•ICC/Getty Images

“Anywhere you transition from particularly T20 to a Test match, it’s challenging. If you are playing a one-day series, it’s generally not too bad. You will play three games a week, you will have a practice, you are sort of in around that 40 overs [range], that’s pretty close to a Test match week anyway. But in T20, particularly in the IPL, when you might be playing three games in a week, there’s two days of travel, you might get one training [session], you are sort of bowling 20 overs maybe if you’re lucky. That’s sort of half of a Test match load or even under a half of, which then is a big jump and you are not bowling back-to-back days. That’s a big jump when you transition out of that.”India’s schedule for the England tour is a tight one with five Tests between June 28 and August 3. Bond said that India cannot give Bumrah the kind of workload he carried during the 2024-25 Australia tour, which also comprised five Tests. Overall, Bumrah bowled 151.2 overs in nine innings including 52 in the Boxing Day Test in Melbourne, his most in a Test match.Going forward, Bond said, he would not want Bumrah to play more than two consecutive Tests at one go.”He’s too valuable for the next World Cup and stuff. So you’d be looking at five Tests in England, I wouldn’t want to be playing him in any more than two in a row. Coming out of the back end of the IPL into a Test match is going to be a huge risk. And so how do they manage that is going to be key.”They may say, look, it’s four Test matches in total. Or three. If we can get him through the English summer and he’s fit, we can probably then go with some confidence that we can carry him across the rest of the formats. So that’s hard because he is your best bowler, but if he has another injury in the same spot, that could be a career-ender, potentially, because I’m not sure you can have surgery on that spot again.”With the Indian domestic season over, the IPL is the only competitive series Bumrah can feature in before the England tour. While Bond felt the IPL “maybe touch and go” for Bumrah, he said “there will be an element of risk depending on the intensity that he’s bowling at by the time he gets back”.Bond said that it was also Bumrah’s responsibility to work in tandem with the decision-makers in Indian cricket to chart out a safe path that would help him extend his career. “So it’s going to take some good management and just some open conversations with the player and say, look, we are doing this with your best interest in your career. Any player who’s gone through that, and having myself [gone through it], you are desperate to play, but you also understand there are some risks at certain times and you have to make some compromises.”* The full interview will be published on ESPNcricinfo later this month.

The focus will be on West Ham United’s Felipe Anderson and Liverpool’s Mohamed Salah on Monday night when the Hammers welcome the Reds to the London Stadium in an important league clash for both sides.

Manuel Pellegrini will be hoping his team can put in a more disciplined performance against the league leaders following a disappointing 3-0 defeat at Wolverhampton Wanderers last week.

This will require a better showing from Pellegrini’s main players, like Anderson, who has been a standout performer for the East London club this campaign.

Three defeats in as many games have seen West Ham struggling for consistency and despite the commitment from Marko Arnautovic to remain at the club for the remainder of the season, at least, a player like Anderson has failed to take responsibility when the team has had its back against the wall.

But, the quality of the 25-year-old will have any team in the competition a bit worried and Liverpool will need to be at their defensive best to keep him quiet come kick-off.

Anderson could particularly be dangerous to the Liverpool defence who are currently without Trent Alexander-Arnold and Joe Gomez and if Jurgen Klopp decides to play Jordan Henderson at right-back again, Anderson could really fancy himself on the left-wing to cause them trouble.

With Manchester City breathing down Liverpool’s neck, following their 3-1 win over Arsenal on Sunday,  Klopp will be ever reliant on the brilliance of Salah from now on to guide Liverpool through this challenging part of the season and maybe the Premier League crown.

Liverpool struggled to get going against Leicester City last week and will need the likes of Salah and Roberto Firmino to step-up and put West Ham to the sword.

However, it could be Anderson who has the last laugh.

There’s no doubt about it – throughout the course of the 2014/15 campaign, Chelsea’s John Terry ultimately proved one of the most reliable standout performers across the entire Premier League spectrum.

The 34-year-old Blues skipper not only maintain his own usually high standard of performance on a week-to-week basis last term, but he has proved willing and able to organise every defender in the Chelsea back-line, subsequently serving Jose Mourinho will the strongest defence operating in the English top flight in 2014/15.

However, even though much of Chelsea’s success last season depended on their resolute defending and determined organisation at the back, John Terry’s future in the first team plans at Stamford Bridge ultimately remains unconfirmed at this stage in the game…

Much has been made of Mourinho’s recent decision to substitute the long-term Blues captain midway through his side’s defeat to Manchester City last weekend.

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So then, does the former England skipper still deserve his seemingly guaranteed spot within Jose Mourinho’s starting XI this term, or is this now the beginning of the end for John Terry?

Despite previously helping his side lift numerous domestic titles throughout the years, managing to stay fit and healthy at the not so peak age of 34-years-old, and simply proving a vital asset for Chelsea since Roman Abramovich took the club to the next level with his masses of post-communist fall-out wealth – yes, John Terry should arguably be dropped in the near future at Stamford Bridge.

No stint within the ever competitive Premier League can last for ever after all. No matter how successful certain players have proved since first emerging amongst the English top-flight, their time ultimately comes and goes just like everybody else. The real question is, can the Premier League’s ageing stars bow out with a bit of dignity, or does every culmination of life at the top seemingly end in somewhat jaded circumstances?

Steven Gerrard’s final swansong at Anfield last season proves a perfect case in point. Although the recently established LA Galaxy midfielder simply won’t be forgotten by Reds fans any time soon for his achievements in a Liverpool shirt, Brendan Rodgers arguably would have been better served last term by dropping the former England international much earlier on in the league proceedings.

In failing to do so, though, the Reds ultimately witnessed a Steven Gerrard who looked well off the boil and far from his former self throughout the course of the 2014/15 season.

Chelsea must therefore learn from such a scenario in their dealings with John Terry this campaign. Yes, his well-documented substitution against Manchester City last weekend has been blown out of proportion somewhat recently – but it will nevertheless likely act as a firm reminder of things to come at Stamford Bridge.

However, whilst John Terry can arguably no longer be counted upon throughout the duration of the upcoming campaign, sourcing an adequate replacement for the Chelsea skipper may prove slightly trickier than most would have initially expected. The likes of Gary Cahill, Branislav Ivanovic and Kurt Zouma simply don’t offer enough strength in depth at the back without the presence of their reliable captain in place.

Dipping into the ever problematic summer transfer window for a promising centre-back may also test the club’s resolve this season. Whilst someone likes John Stones could potentially fill in at the back for Chelsea this term, his rumoured £40million price tag would surely put the Blues off with all things considered. Stones is a good player no doubt, but he’ll simply never be that good at the end of the day.

Ultimately then, whilst Chelsea’s back-line somewhat won the title for their team across the duration of last season, such a difficult task just won’t prove so easy this time around it seems. John Terry can certainly still do a positive job for Jose Mourinho this term of course – but at the grand old age of 34-years-old – the long-term Chelsea captain’s days at the top are rapidly becoming numbered in the modern era.

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