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Australia’s dominance with the bat masked a surprisingly sloppy day in the field as they dropped six chances

Vishal Dikshit16-Oct-20253:44

Review – Watch out, Healy is back!

The edges were flying off Bangladesh left-hand opener Rubya Haider’s bat against the new ball, off both Megan Schutt’s swing as well as Darcie Brown’s pace. One landed short of first slip, one flew wide, another just managed to get out of a diving Phoebe Litchfield’s hands in the slips, and one leading edge fell safe not far from the pitch.At the start of the tenth over, Brown drew another edge off Haider’s bat and this time the ball was headed straight into Alyssa Healy’s mitts. Healy barely had to take a step to her left for the catch around waist height, her gloves right behind the ball, but when she clasped her hands around it, the ball just popped out. Healy wore a rueful look while stealing a glance at her team-mates. She couldn’t seem to believe she had put down a sitter.Healy wouldn’t have blamed herself as much when she sprinted to the stumps to try and get her gloves under a Shorna Akter leading edge in the 28th over – she couldn’t make it, but this was the toughest of the lot. The list, however, kept getting longer for Australia. Three overs later, the safe hands of Beth Mooney couldn’t hold on to one at first slip, and by the time the Bangladesh innings ended, Australia had put down six chances in all, four of them requiring diving efforts.Related

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Healy was the first to admit after Australia’s ten-wicket thrashing of Bangladesh that she “was a little bit poor behind the stumps” and their overall fielding effort was something to “reflect on” as they head to Indore for their last two league matches.Player-of-the-Match Alana King, who finished with 10-4-18-2, said, “I think they were all probably tough catches. I don’t think there was an easy catch. And no doubt we’ll definitely review that. We pride ourselves on our fielding and something that we want to be putting on display. So I think just with those high balls and us probably being a bit aggressive in the field, we wanted to get the players to hit over us. So to have an attacking option and players diving for the ball, we love to see that. I think that creates great energy amongst the group and a positive mindset as well. So no doubt we’d love every catch to stick, but unfortunately the nature of cricket, that doesn’t happen too often.”Just cricket – despite your best attempts, the laurels of the past, and all the trophies in the cabinet, some off-days slip in without a major reason.Healy had gone through her intensive keeping drills each time Australia have turned out for a nets session. Yet, the ball had been evading her in strange ways. When King was turning the ball viciously from outside leg to around off, one just went straight past the batter’s pads down leg and Healy was left watching with a sheepish grin. Against India too, one went right through her. Healy had more time to collect that ball off Annabel Sutherland. The ball went on to rattle the helmet behind her for five penalty runs.Alyssa Healy hit 20 fours in her century•ICC/Getty ImagesJust like her keeping sessions, Healy had been sweating it out in the batting nets too, calling it a “frustrating experience” earlier because she had “no rhythm whatsoever”. Since the last ODI World Cup, which Australia won under Meg Lanning in 2022 with Healy hitting back-to-back hundreds in the knockouts against West Indies and England, she hadn’t scored the kind of runs she was used to.Australia didn’t play any more ODIs in 2022 after that World Cup, and when they returned to action in early 2023, Healy picked up a calf injury. When she turned out in the 2023 Ashes, she lasted all of 28 deliveries in three ODIs for scores of 8, 13 and 7. It took her another six innings to score a half-century. Though she started 2024 on a slightly better note, a foot injury at the T20 World Cup, a knee issue, and a recurrence of the foot injury kept her out of action for much of 2025.After intense rehabilitation, she made it in time for this World Cup, but scored 30, 9 and 27 in the three bilateral ODIs against India in the lead-up. The big scores were still proving elusive when she fell for 19 and 20 in the opening two games, against New Zealand and Pakistan.Sobhana Mostary was dropped by Alyssa Healy•ICC/Getty ImagesBut like she did in the 2022 edition, it was only a matter of time before she brought out her best, in a high-profile game against India in front of a sold-out crowd in Visakhapatnam while chasing a record 331. She appeared a bit watchful for the first four overs, but took off with her trademark short-arm jab for four and soon dispatched Kranti Gaud, who had dismissed Healy three times in 35 balls in the bilaterals, for 6, 4, 4 and 4 for a 19-run over. Healy went on to knock the stuffing out of the India attack for her seventh ODI century that finally made her feel “it was my day today” after over three years.She had to wait three years for that century but the next one took just three days, this time while chasing a modest 199 against Bangladesh. That she was now at ease and back in her rhythm was evident in how she let out a beaming smile from under the helmet after her 43-ball half-century. She made room with ease, shuffled across the crease for sweeps, raced from 50 to 100 in just 30 balls, and there were signs of the fear she used to make her oppositions feel. And she’s back at the top of the run chart at this World Cup, like it was 2022.”[It’s] just incredible to see what she’s done,” King said of her captain after the game. “First of all, to do it against India, it was massive and she was pretty bloody determined to do so. But then to not let the foot off the throat and do it again tonight just shows where her mindset’s at. And she’s pinged the ball beautifully and to have Phoebe [Litchfield] down the other end in tandem, hitting the ball as clean as I’ve seen her, and to chase down a pretty big total, none down, I think that’s something that’s going to ooze confidence in our whole line-up.”Who knows how much Bangladesh would have scored had Healy taken that catch early on; who knows what would have happened if Fargana Hoque had held on to one at short fine-leg when she misjudged one completely with Healy on 67. For now, even though Australia are not at their best, they wouldn’t want to take the “foot off the throat” of opponents, but hope that the catches stick – it’s not really Australia till that happens.

ITV presenter Laura Woods was taken ill during ITV's broadcast of England Women's friendly against Ghana on Tuesday. While speaking with Ian Wright and Anita Asante, Woods fell forward, and the Arsenal legend appeared to try to catch her. The broadcaster then cut to an extended break, with Woods replaced by Katie Shanahan ahead of kick-off.

Woods falls ill on air

Woods is one of ITV's flagship presenters and was working alongside Asante and Wright while presenting the opening moments of the broadcast of England's friendly against Ghana. While introducing the game, she was speaking with Asante and Wright, and appeared to fall forward, before hitting the ground. Wright attempted to catch her, and a hot microphone revealed that he asked if she was okay, before ITV cut to a lengthy advertising break. 

Woods was replaced after the advertising break by Katie Shanahan, who said the popular host was "taken ill" and that "she's in really good hands and we're wishing her a speedy recovery." At half-time, she gave a further update, adding: "Laura Woods fell ill at the start of the programme but we want to reassure you that she's doing okay and we all send her our love."

AdvertisementGettyTsunami of love sent to Woods

Shanahan has stepped in at short notice to take Woods' place, having previously been expected to work as the pitch-side reporter for the fixture. The Lionesses will hope to put on a glittering performance to distract fans from the scary scenes, which saw Woods lurch forward and attempt to catch herself, before being held up by her presenting colleagues. 

Fans on social media have been quick to send their best wishes to Woods, who works primarily for TNT Sports, presenting the Champions League, but has frequently fronted ITV's coverage of the England Women's team.

Woods' impressive CV

Woods has blazed a trail in sports broadcasting, and has twice been voted the Sports Journalists' Association Presenter of the Year. She began her career as a runner on Sky Sports before working her way up to present some of the biggest fixtures in world football.

In 2022, she encouraged young women to be themselves, as they aspire to follow in her footsteps in an interview with The Guardian.

She said: “When you look at broadcasting from the outside in it can look quite daunting and as if it is a very difficult nut to crack, and it is. You have to be in the right place at the right time but you also have to be ready for it and be confident as well. And confidence comes from practice, it really does. You are never going to wake up one day and be very, very good at something straight away.

“The one thing I learned is that a listener or a reader or a viewer can all smell any inauthenticity and I figured that out really quickly. It wasn’t that I wasn’t trying to be me; it was more that I was struggling with the confidence a bit. But eventually I kept doing it over and over again and I got much more comfortable in my own skin. And that is the only thing you have got that no one else has – your own personality, your own way of doing things. It sounds like a cliche – just be yourself – but you really have to do that.”

On potential criticism, she added: “I used to read all my tweets, when I had much fewer followers, and I used that for instant feedback, whether it was good or bad, and I found it addictive. I went on it straight away after I had done something and it became a bit like a sounding board for whether or not I had made a mistake. But I once interviewed a football manager who said: ‘You can’t get too high with the highs and you can’t get too low with the lows’ and I now use social media in that way too.

“You know, let it be. If someone has something bad to say about you, you don’t actually have to let it in. I take time away from it, I don’t read all of it. I find myself typing a response and then I delete it and go: ‘Why get involved in this now?’ It is a bit like seeing a fight or an argument and you don’t need to get involved. You can just walk away and have a great day.”

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Getty Images SportWhat next?

Woods will hope to make a swift recovery to our screens. First, the Lionesses face Ghana in a friendly, fresh from a thumping 8-0 win over China in their most recent outing. Another result of that calibre would surely make Woods feel better.

Shakib said he wants to play a full series across formats in Bangladesh to say goodbye to the fans

Mohammad Isam07-Dec-2025Former Bangladesh captain Shakib Al Hasan has reversed his retirement from Tests and T20Is, and has said that he wishes to play all three formats. Shakib has not played international cricket in over a year and had announced his retirement from Tests and T20Is last year.”I am officially not retired from all formats,” Shakib said on the podcast, which features Moeen Ali, on Sunday. “This is the first time I’ll be revealing that. My plan is to go back to Bangladesh, play one full series of ODI, Test, and T20, and retire.”I mean, [I can] retire from all formats in a series. So it can start from T20I, ODI and Test, or Test, ODI, T20I. Either way, I’m fine, but I want to play a whole series and retire. That’s what I want.”Related

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Shakib hasn’t returned to Bangladesh since May 2024, once the Awami League government was dethroned on August 5. Shakib was an MP for that party. He was named in an FIR in an alleged murder case, although he was not in the country at the time. He then went on to play Tests in Pakistan and India. The second Test against India in Kanpur was his last international game.When asked whether he will return to Bangladesh, Shakib said, “I am hopeful. That’s why I’m playing [T20 leagues]. I think it will happen.”Shakib further said that he will not be burdened by results and he wants to “give something back to the fans” for years of support in a home series.”I think when a player says something, they try to stick to their words,” he said. “They normally don’t change it all of a sudden. It doesn’t matter if I play well or not. I might play a bad series after that, if I want to play. But I don’t need to do that.”I think this is enough. It’s just a nicer way to say bye to the fans that they supported me always, give something back to them, playing a home series.”Shakib Al Hasan last played a Test in late 2024•AFP/Getty ImagesAhead of the Kanpur Test in September last year, Shakib announced he wasn’t going to play T20Is anymore, while expressing his desire to play his last Test in the home South Africa series that was scheduled for October.There were some protests and clashes around the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Dhaka ahead of the Test series, after which Shakib issued an apology for his silence during the students-led protest which led to hundreds of deaths in July and August.The BCB then dropped Shakib for the Tests against South Africa, mainly because Bangladesh’s interim government couldn’t guarantee his safe exit from the country.Earlier this year, a BCB official said that Shakib was welcome to return to the Bangladesh team. In September, Bangladesh’s sports adviser Asif Mahmud declared that Shakib would not be allowed to play for the country after Shakib wished former prime minister Sheikh Hasina on her birthday.Shakib, who was elected as an MP from his hometown Magura in January 2024, also suggested that he wasn’t done with his political career when he was asked what legacy he wants to leave. “[I have] done my cricketing part. Maybe political side is left,” he said. “It’s something I want to do for the people of Bangladesh and people of Magura. That was my intention, and it is still my intention. Let’s see where Allah takes me.”

Daniel Farke will is set to be sacked by 49ers Enterprises if Leeds lose their next two Premier League matches against Chelsea and Liverpool.

Farke frustrated by Man City tactics at the Etihad

The Whites were left heartbroken by a late Phil Foden winner at Manchester City on Saturday, as a crucial point slipped through Farke’s fingers.

The German bemoaned City’s dark arts after the match, believing goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma went down with a “fake injury” that allowed Pep Guardiola to give his players a team talk.

“It is within the rules,” Farke said. “It is smart. If I like it, if it is in the sense of fair play, if it should be like this, I keep it to myself and I leave it to the authorities to find solutions for it. It is within the rules.

“I asked the fourth official at this point if you want to do something and he said: ‘No, our hands are tied, we can’t do anything’.

“If we don’t educate our players in football, what to do in terms of fair play, sportsmanship, if you just try to bend the rules to your advantage and you can do a fake injury in order to do an additional team talk, it is nothing I personally like but if it is within the rules I can’t complain about it.”

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Leeds fans can expect high-octane football with this manager

ByJoe Nuttall Nov 30, 2025 Leeds want new manager in before January transfer window

The Leeds manager is feeling the pressure with his side now sat in the bottom three heading into two huge fixtures, as they take on Chelsea at Elland Road on Wednesday before welcoming Liverpool to Yorkshire on Saturday evening.

And according to a report from The Guardian, ‘multiple sources at Leeds have privately conceded that Farke’s fate is in the balance’.

He is likely to be relieved of his duties if they lose both games, despite some within the club feeling the performances have deserved better results.

More intriguingly, the report states the 49ers want to a new boss in before the January transfer window if they do indeed make a change, as they would like to make signings in January to mould the team to the new manager’s needs.

And while just who that is remains to be seen, a report shared by Give Me Sport claims Gary O’Neil is now the frontrunner to take over.

The former Wolves manager has been out of work for nearly a year after he was sacked in December 2024, but was looked on favourably during his time at Molineux.

“It’s unbelievable and you think the summer they had as well,” Shay Given said on BBC Match of the Day last year.

“I’ve just wrote some names down Nunes, Neves, Collins, Coady, Jimenez, he had to sell all them to balance the books up.

“So the job he’s done under such restraints and Financial Fair Play is just phenomenal.”

Much was made about whether All-Star righty Bryan Woo would start Game 5 of the ALCS for the Mariners, and now we have our answer.

Woo, who has been dealing with a pectoral injury, was not available to pitch Game 1 of the ALCS. Bryce Miller got the ball instead and went six innings, allowing one earned run on two hits with three strikeouts in the win.

The Mariners will start Miller again on Friday in Game 5, but Woo will be available to pitch out of the bullpen.

But that's Friday. On Thursday night, the Mariners have business to attend to. After taking a 2–0 series lead, the Blue Jays bats came alive in Game 3 on Wednesday to the tune of a 13–4 win.

Seattle will look to bounce back on Thursday, looking to take a 3–1 series lead into Friday night, when Miller could play a key role in potentially sending the Mariners to the World Series.

First pitch in Thursday's Game 4 is set for 8:33 p.m. ET in Seattle.

Chelsea's summer signing Liam Delap looks set for more time on the sidelines after being forced out of Saturday's game against Bournemouth at the Amex Stadium with a shoulder injury. The forward landed heavily and looked to be in real pain in the first half of the game following a duel at a corner. Manager Enzo Maresca sent on Marc Guiu in his place and now faces an anxious wait to discover the severity of his injury.

Delap suffers suspected dislocated shoulder

Delap was back in the starting XI for Chelsea on the south coast on Saturday but lasted less than half an hour due to injury. The Chelsea striker appeared to dislocate his shoulder after a heavy fall and was replaced immediately. Delap had caught the eye in the opening exchanges against Bournemouth for his physical approach and was perhaps fortunate not to have been booked for catching Marcos Senesi with a stray arm twice before he had to be taken off.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportInjuries interrupting Delap's start to life at Chelsea

Delap will be frustrated if he is forced back onto the sidelines. The summer signing has already missed a significant chunk of the campaign for the Blues after sustaining a hamstring injury back in August that kept him out of action until November. The 22-year-old has therefore only managed six starts for Chelsea in all competitions so far in the 2025-26 season, with his only goal coming as a substitute in the Champions League win over Barcelona.

Maresca's praise for Delap

The injury to Delap will also be frustrating for manager Enzo Maresca who was full of praise for Delap ahead of the match. "It was a long time for him to be out," he told reporters. "I think he is getting better and the other day against Leeds, he had two or three chances where he could have done better. I know Liam from many years ago at Manchester City and I don’t have any doubts that he will score goals and be important for us.’

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(C)Getty ImagesWhat comes next for Chelsea?

Delap and Chelsea must wait to discover the severity of the striker's injury and how much time he will miss. The issue comes ahead of a busy festive period for the Blues. Maresca's side take on Atalanta next in the Champions League and then host Everton at Stamford Bridge in the Premier League.

He hasn’t done well in limited-overs cricket down under, but given his phenomenal Test numbers, it’s going to be fascinating to see how he goes in the Ashes

Matt Roller12-Nov-2025Long before the build-up to this Ashes series became a plume of hot air, Josh Hazlewood made a telling observation. Perhaps he was merely being diplomatic when describing England’s batting line-up as “unbelievable”, but his identification of a key threat was still notable: “A fresh face like Harry Brook might find it easier [than others],” he said. “He’ll be a tough challenge.”Brook arrives in Australia with a phenomenal record. After 30 Tests, he is averaging 57.55 while scoring at a strike rate of 87.52; he did not score a hundred in his only Ashes series, two years ago, but still left a mark with four rapid fifties. He also holds the unusual distinction of having a far stronger record away than at home: seven of his ten centuries have come overseas.That fact comes with a significant caveat: three years into his Test career, Brook has still only played in three countries. It is a quirk of circumstance: England toured Pakistan and New Zealand in 2022-23, and then again in 2024-25. Brook pulled out of their tour to India in 2023-24 on compassionate leave.But it means that he is yet to play a Test in either of the two countries generally seen as the most challenging for English batters. As a result, his performance this winter will be scrutinised even more closely than usual: a successful series would confirm his status among the world’s elite Test batters; anything less will be held against him.Related

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This is Brook’s first away Ashes series but his fourth trip to Australia. They have been a mixed bag: as a 19-year-old he scored 1001 runs in grade cricket for the University of New South Wales; three years later he had a “horrendous” (his word) Big Bash season; the following winter, he was an ever-present as England won the 2022 T20 World Cup, but his top score was 20.His time in the Big Bash was a rare setback in his career. He arrived late due to England Lions commitments, missed two games having had “close contact” under Covid regulations, and left early to make his international debut in the Caribbean, having joined a long list of Hobart Hurricanes overseas players to struggle in purple.”Brooky was fresh onto the scene: he definitely didn’t know his game as well as he does now,” recalls Ben McDermott, who played alongside him at Hurricanes. “It won’t have any bearing on the Ashes at all. He’s come a long way since, and has elevated his game to be one of the best in your country.”His quiet campaign at the T20 World Cup in late 2022 came immediately after his breakthrough white-ball tour to Pakistan, and left him with a grim T20 record in Australia: 113 runs at 8.07 in 14 innings. “I just kept finding the fielders out on the boundary,” he later reflected.” The grounds are so big out there. I’ve been to Australia twice now and have struggled.”