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India. England. High-scoring venues. Dew. No batting record will be safe over the next fortnight

Sidharth Monga20-Jan-20253:12

Axar: Shami’s return a ‘big positive’

Cricket’s economy is weird. It is run on white-ball cricket. Most of this – outside the one ICC event every year and the non-international T20 leagues – is bilateral cricket. Considering the rights for ICC events and leagues are different entities, a vast majority of the money that cricket boards make comes from bilateral white-ball cricket. And yet, what was the last white-ball bilateral series that you remember building up to?We are always anticipating the next big Test series. So much so that bilateral white-ball series are the time big players are rested so they can be at their best for the Tests, ICC events and the major T20 leagues. And yet, white-ball bilaterals practically finance Test cricket. A three-match tour from India can bring enough money from the broadcasters to keep a small board afloat.White-ball bilaterals are watched. A lot. Much more than Test cricket is. But they are also taken for granted. No anticipation, no build-up, not often the best talent. Especially in this era of split tours. Sometimes, if played at the end of a full tour, momentum is carried into the shorter formats. Right now, they just exist. Quietly dropping in like a Netflix title, but doing better than the appointment viewing in the cinema that you built up to for months.Related

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Axar hints at flexible middle order as India gear up for England T20Is

Every once in a while, though, comes a series you can genuinely look forward to. These five upcoming T20Is between India and England are one such event. The new devil-may-care India who have thrown all caution to the wind after the T20 World Cup triumph. Against England, who are now being coached by Brendon McCullum in white-ball cricket too. No batting record will be safe over the next fortnight in high-scoring venues such as Kolkata, Mumbai and Rajkot.Those who believed conservative batting was keeping India from exploring their true hitting potential will feel vindicated at what has happened since the old guard retired with the T20 World Cup last June. India have batted first in 11 T20Is since then, and have gone past 200 seven times. They have made scores of 297 and 283. They also have registered successful chases of 132 in 11.5 overs and 156 in 15.2.Highest total in a match involving full members, most runs in the middle overs in any T20 game, most runs in boundaries. These are a few of the more impressive records India have broken in this small period.England’s ultra-aggressive top order features the likes of Phil Salt and Jacob Bethell•Getty ImagesSince the World Cup, India have hit a boundary every 4.27 balls in T20I cricket. More impressively they have tried to hit one every 2.18 balls. In the year and a half before that, they were attempting one every 2.63 balls. That’s a difference of nearly 10 boundary attempts across a completed innings. And thanks to Rohit Sharma’s renewed impetus at the top of the order, they weren’t exactly playing conservative cricket earlier.And if England have ever needed a reason to attempt boundaries, their new coach and this opposition are only going to push them to play more aggressive T20 cricket. Their boundary attempts have gone up from one every 2.51 balls in the 18 months leading up to the World Cup to one every 2.32 balls. They have batted first only once since the World Cup, scoring 218, and have overhauled three targets while scoring at better than 10 an over.Take these two batting sides. Add small Indian grounds. Throw in fresh, early-season pitches, provided India don’t go for slow turners for competitive advantage. They did, after all, beat England on one such pitch in the World Cup semi-final in Guyana. Then sprinkle some dew. This series could be a T20 purist’s dream.Slow turners, such as the one in last year’s World Cup semi-final in Guyana, are the one ingredient that could prevent a hitathon•ICC/Getty ImagesJos Buttler, Phil Salt, Liam Livingstone, Jacob Bethell, Harry Brook. Sanju Samson, Suryakumar Yadav, Abhishek Sharma, Tilak Varma, Rinku Singh. Then there are allrounders. Oh, and Jasprit Bumrah and Kuldeep Yadav are absent. If the tracks are fresh and not made slow, this series could test the limits of T20 cricket. The tactics will have to be spot-on because that one over that goes for below 10 could win or lose the match.In March 2023, West Indies and South Africa played an incredible three-T20I series over four days. South Africa lost after scoring 131 in an 11-over game. Then they chased down a record target of 259. In the finale, West Indies managed to only just defend 220. The two teams achieved a scoring rate of 12.08, the highest for any bilateral series of three matches or more. No other series comes close. The next-best to involve Full Members is 10.69, suggesting how much of an outlier that South Africa-West Indies hitathon was.This India-England series could conceivably hope to beat that record. Or, at the very least, to go past the 11-an-over mark. If a few things go right, who knows what other records will be broken and what new shackles will be broken in the way teams approach T20s.

Rashid, Nabi and Noor shared six wickets as Pakistan batters barely found any answers to spin

Danyal Rasool02-Sep-2025Afghanistan sealed an emotional victory over Pakistan with a sublime performance from their spinners, squeezing Salman Agha’s men out and triumphing by 18 runs. In the wake of the earthquake at home where the death toll has crossed 1400, a resilient performance from Afghanistan in Sharjah proved much too good for Pakistan with Ibrahim Zadran and Sediqullah Atal producing a 113-run second-wicket partnership that formed the backbone of their innings.It was an innings held up almost entirely by that single pillar; while Zadran and Atal scored 65 and 64 respectively, no other batter managed to get beyond single figures. Pakistan’s bowlers might have felt the had done enough as an economical showing from Saim Ayub and a sensational one from Faheem Ashraf kept Afghanistan on a leash, with Pakistan needing 170 to win in wet, dewy conditions.For the Afghan spinners, though, the dew proved an almost laughably negligible impediment. Fazalhaq Farooqi set them up by getting rid of Ayub for a golden duck and a misfiring Sahibzada Farhan shortly after. It was just the window Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad and Mohammad Nabi needed to run riot in the middle. No Pakistan batter was ever really able to work out which way Noor turned the ball or how to target Rashid without taking extreme risks.The trio took six wickets among them as Pakistan lost 7 for 49 to slump to 111 for 9. At the time they were looking at a chastening defeat, but Haris Rauf restored some balance to the scorecard with a breezy little cameo, an unbeaten 34 off 16 that took Pakistan past 150, and made the game look more competitive than Afghanistan’s dazzling spin attack had ensured it really was.Ibrahim Zadran scored a second fifty in two games•Emirates Cricket BoardZadran, Atal combine for a special standPakistan made a dream start after being put in to bowl with the early dismissal of Rahmanullah Gurbaz. By the end of the fourth over, Afghanistan had only shuffled along to 18. But Atal and Zadran have made a bit of a habit of partnerships that straddle multiple phases of an innings, and they produced their most impressive one yet.The first signs of a gear shift came when Rauf, who struggled all day with the ball, was smashed for a four and a six in the fifth over. Thereon, Atal and Zadran rendered the Pakistan bowlers strangely toothless, while gradually cranking up the scoring rate. The signal to launch had been building, but at the same time seemed to come out of nowhere as the pair plundered 20 off Sufiyan Muqeem in the 14th over. By the time the partnership was finally broken, the duo had added the second-highest second-wicket stand in Afghan T20I history.Faheem Ashraf returned his best T20I figures•AFP/Getty ImagesAshraf’s silver liningOn a forgettable day for Pakistan, Ashraf’s spell stood out, going some way to burnishing his short-form bowling credentials. It was a slow, spin-friendly wicket, but with Pakistan struggling to break that Atal-Zadran stand, they turned to Ashraf in the tenth over. He went through it without either inflicting or sustaining much damage, but it was his three-over stint at the back-end that demonstrated his value.It was he who broke that partnership off the second ball of the 16th, and was unfortunate not to snare Azmatullah Omarzai later on that over when Mohammad Nawaz shelled one. He would get his man with a beautifully disguised slower delivery next over, with another change of pace doing for Zadran two deliveries later. Taking pace of the ball continued to work when it proved too good for Nabi. At a time when Pakistan’s bowlers were travelling from the other end, Ashraf’s last three overs had seen just 18 scored and four wickets taken, ensuring the batting side were kept below 170.Noor Ahmad and Mohammad Nabi made life tough for the batters•Getty ImagesAfghan spinners rip through the middle orderThis is why Afghanistan feel so confident defending totals. There was plenty of dew by the midpoint of Pakistan’s pursuit, but Afghanistan’s spinners buzzed around the batters, relishing their defence of a total that was just about par. Pakistan had consolidated after two early wickets, and kept up with the rate; Fakhar Zaman took 15 off Omarzai’s first over to help Pakistan to 52 for 2 in the powerplay.In the eighth over, though, the spinners began to weave their web. Nabi threw in the change-up, darting the ball in as Fakhar sliced his smear to short third for Farooqi to grab. With the runs drying up, Pakistan threw in a signature unforced error, some lazy running combined with a clever bit of work from Rashid catching Salman short of his crease.Left-arm spinner Noor, curiously benched for the first two games, made up for lost time with a wicket off his first delivery to send Hasan Nawaz packing. Mohammad Haris failed to punish a long hop from Nabi the following over to allow Afghanistan to burrow deep into Pakistan’s tail. They had gone from 62 for 2 to 82 for 6, and no amount of deep batting can hedge against that kind of collapse against an attack of Afghanistan’s quality.

A broken bat, a crazy run out, and a multiple Grand Slam winner. What else makes the list?

Andrew McGlashan24-Oct-2024Meg Lanning (and Ash Barty) on opening dayIt all began at Junction Oval on December 5, 2015. Melbourne Stars faced Brisbane Heat in back-to-back games on the same day in front of a crowd of 1500. Some players watched on sat in camping chairs. A number of names that remain stars of Australian cricket were on show: Beth Mooney opened alongside Grace Harris for Heat, who had Jess Jonassen at No. 3, while Meg Lanning made 165 off 114 balls across the two matches as Stars came out winners in both. However, in the middle-order for Heat, there is another name which stood out: Ash Barty. Now a retired multiple Grand Slam winner, at the time Barty was also out of tennis, having stepped away in 2014 aged 18 to play cricket. On the opening day of WBBL, she impressed with 39 off 27 balls in the first match before falling to Nat Sciver-Brunt. “It truly was an amazing period of my life,” she said in 2019. “I met an amazing group of people who couldn’t care less whether I could hit a tennis ball or not. They accepted me, and they got to know Ash Barty.” That opening innings would prove to be the high point for Barty who made 68 runs in nine matches – her major sporting success was yet to come.The first centuryThis won’t be the only time Grace Harris is mentioned in this piece. In the eighth match of the inaugural season, a few months after her international debut, she struck the competition’s first century with 103 off 55 balls against Sydney Sixers at Aquinas College in Perth. She went from her fifty to her hundred in just 22 deliveries. “I was just after ice cream,” Harris joked after the innings. “When I hit the century, Mooney came down the wicket and it didn’t really click to begin with, and then she said that I had made it because everyone was standing up, and I just said, ‘Ice cream! Ice cream!'” To cap off her day, Harris claimed 4 for 15 from two overs. She remains the only player to have scored a century and taken four wickets in a WBBL match.Harmanpreet’s landmark signingIt is well-known that India’s premier male cricketers do not appear in T20 leagues outside of the IPL, but that’s not the case in the women’s game – the upcoming season will see a record number of India names in the WBBL. In mid-2016, Harmanpreet Kaur became the first India player to join the league when she signed for Sydney Thunder. “Being the first player from my country to sign a contract for a BBL club is one of my best moments,” she said at the time. During her first season, she made 310 runs in 13 innings which included a 26-ball 56 against Heat. In the 2021 season, she was Player of the Tournament.Harmanpreet Kaur was the first Indian player to join an overseas league•Getty ImagesPushing the boundariesHere comes Grace again. By 2018, Sophie Devine (48) and Ash Gardner (47) had both gone under the 50-ball mark with centuries. Against Stars at the Gabba, Harris raised the bar further with a blistering 42-ball display which included 13 fours and six sixes. Remarkably, this came in a chase of just 133 as she made 73% of the total herself with Mooney watching on from the other end. With one run needed, Harris was on 95 and set off for the winning run but was sent back by Mooney. Three balls later, she launched Alana King down the ground for six to become the first player with multiple WBBL tons. “I’d told her that we weren’t running again and she finally got there in the end,” Mooney said.Devine’s doubleAs mentioned above, Devine had already left a mark on the WBBL but against Stars at Adelaide Oval, she produced what remains a one-off all-round starrer in the competition’s history: the only time a player has scored a half-century and taken a five-wicket haul. She had been within touching distance of matching Harris with two WBBL hundreds when she fell for 95 with an over to go, but that was only half the job done. With ball in hand, she removed four of Stars’ top six and completed her haul by claiming Nicola Hancock. semi-final run outIt is one of the iconic moments in WBBL history. It had already been a dramatic day with the first semi-final decided by a stunning boundary catch from Haidee Birkett. But the extraordinary three-player run out to force a Super Over in the second match was at another level. With three needed off the last ball, Sophie Molineux, who had batted throughout Melbourne Renegades’ chase, sliced over point and the ball appeared destined for the rope. “She’s got a four,” screamed commentator Jason Richardson. Then came a desperate dive from Erin Burns that flicked the ball back to Sarah Aley, who in turn hurled the return to Alyssa Healy. But the run-out chance was at the bowler’s end. Healy collected and in one motion spun around with a gloveless right hand and threw down the stumps. “In terms of a team play, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more special one in the context of the match and what effect it had on the game,” Ellyse Perry said. Burns added: “It was one of those moments where everything just seemed to fit perfectly. To tap it back but then Sarah to come around and the perfect throw into Midge and then to spin around no look at the stumps and throw down the other end is pretty awesome.”Ellyse Perry celebrates Sophie Molineux’s extraordinary run-out•Getty ImagesMooney, the back-to-back finals heroMooney is the WBBL’s leading run-scorer heading into the tenth season. Before her move to Perth Scorchers, she was central in Heat’s consecutive titles in the 2018-19 and 2019-2020 seasons. In the first of those, a week after the epic semi-final mentioned above, in a season where runs had not flowed to her usual standards, she defied a sweltering Sydney day while overcome effects of the flu with 65 off 46 balls to put Heat on course against Sixers. “I plonked myself in the ice bath and was a bit nervous towards the end, I couldn’t really watch,” Mooney said. The following season she was at it again, anchoring a bigger chase against Adelaide Strikers with 56 off 45 balls.Thunder win in the bubbleSomehow, the 2020 WBBL season was completed despite Covid. Played entirely in Sydney, it was not an edition remembered too fondly by a number of players with all the squads housed in a hotel bubble at the Olympic Park amid tight restrictions. But, as with much in that Australian season, it was a remarkable show of adaptability and resilience. It also concluded with a memorable result in the final where Thunder, who had produced a stunning turnaround in the semi-final against Heat, toppled Stars – one of the standout teams of the competition – by seven wickets having restricted them to just 86. Shabnim Ismail, who claimed the key wicket of Lanning, and Sammy-Jo Johnson combined to take 4 for 23 from eight overs.Broken bat? No worries for Grace Harris•Getty ImagesGarth’s powerplay masterclassAgainst Thunder in 2021, pace bowler Kim Garth produced one of the more remarkable performances seen in T20s. In the powerplay, she produced figures of 3-3-0-3 to put Stars on course to defend a low total. Garth removed Tahlia Wilson and Phoebe Litchfield in her first over, and then produced another maiden over to Smriti Mandhana. At the start of her third, she had Corinne Hall taken at slip before closing the spell with five more dots. By the time she returned for the 20th over, Stars had breathing space with 25 to defend.Harris’ broken bat”Stuff it, I’ll still hit it.” It has gone down as an immortal phrase from Grace Harris. Preparing to face up to Piepa Clearly, Harris noticed her bat handle was broken. But instead of waiting for a new one, she just got on with it. Harris launched the ball over long-on for a 72-metre six, the handle snapping away from the blade in the process to produce an iconic image that went viral. It was part of another astonishing WBBL display from Harris, who piled up a tournament-high 136 off 59 deliveries with a record 11 sixes. “When you get in the zone, you just get in the zone,” she said modestly.

GOAL reviews the key takeaways from Americans playing in Europe, with Pulisic featuring for Milan after recovering from injury.

Pre-international break games always feel a little strange. There’s a sense that most players are operating at about 80 percent — trying to win, yes, but also doing just enough to avoid injury before joining their national teams.

And then there are those with a chip on their shoulder – maybe even a point to prove. For the U.S. men’s national team, the weekend was accordingly mixed, with those set for international duty going about their business with relative caution, and those left out making a real impact.

The headline moment belonged to Christian Pulisic, who had missed nearly a month through injury. The star attacking midfielder came off the bench for AC Milan and produced an exciting 30-minute cameo to remind manager Max Allegri exactly what he’s been missing. He didn’t score or assist, but he showed plenty of sharpness and intent.

But there were other strong showings, too. Patrick Agyemang may be out of the USMNT picture for now, but he’s finding form with Derby County. Then there was Folarin Balogun, who produced 45 baffling minutes for Monaco before his night ended early. And finally, there’s Tyler Adams, who was involved in a concerning collision with a Bournemouth teammate.

GOAL looks at the major takeaways from this weekend's Americans Abroad.

Getty ImagesPulisic returns

Mauricio Pochettino's decision to leave Pulisic off his November squad call-ups was probably the sensible move, all things considered. The American star was in a race against time to be fit for the USMNT’s friendlies with Paraguay and Uruguay next week. A return for those fixtures was unlikely – and would have drawn the ire of an already disgruntled Allegri. But after training this week, he was deemed fit enough to play a part for Milan over the weekend.

His impact on Saturday night was mixed. He entered the game at a crucial juncture, with the score level at 2-2 and Milan chasing a winner against a struggling Parma side. Pulisic delivered what was, in truth, a somewhat confusing performance. In some moments, he was excellent – stretching the defense with incisive runs and a few sharp dribbles. His constant activity also irritated the backline. But in critical moments, he fell short. He was handed a clear opportunity to win the game when Rafa Leão sent him through on goal – the kind of chance Pulisic usually buries. Yet, with a defender closing him down, he side-footed wide. It wasn’t Milan’s only chance, but it was their best. They were forced to settle for a 2-2 draw.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportAgyemang scores winner

It's been a mixed few months for Agyemang at Derby. After breaking out for the USMNT in January and enjoying a solid start to the MLS campaign, there was a case to be made for him to stay in Charlotte. But Championship football beckoned, and Agyemang, it seemed, was eager to test himself. The results, thus far, haven't quite lived up to expectations. He has shown quality in glimpses, and certainly competed physically for the Rams, but his goal return – one in nine games – left a lot to be desired.

That is, until Saturday. Agyemang whipped out the kind of finish that he showed he can provide in MLS, making a late run to the far post before powering a header into the back of the net. It was a proper No. 9's goal, Agyemang at his very best. Derby went on to win the game 2-1, with Agyemang's goal proving crucial in securing the result. And perhaps that's what he can be in England. His technical quality doesn't quite get enough credit – yet he can certainly be used as a pure finisher in the box, for when his side needs to grind out results. Here, he did exactly that. 

AFPA crazy afternoon for Balogun

For 30 minutes, Folarin Balogun was brilliant. Monaco were always going to be up against it facing off with a well-drilled Lens side. They needed some attacking prowess. And Balogun brought it from the first minute, a constant menace in the channels and a true nightmare for the Lens defense. This was not an unbelievably involved showing from the American – he completed just five passes. But he never stopped moving, and kept his side in it, even when they didn't see much of the ball. Balogun was rewarded for his hard work on 37 minutes, when he converted a penalty to level the scoreline at 1-1.

And then, he threw it away. It was the kind of red card that strikers give away all too often. He lunged a little too far to try to win the ball. He went in just a little too high. His studs made contact above the ankle. In real time, Balogun thought the decision was harsh. Monaco's bench was incensed. But, after a VAR review, he could have few complaints. Monaco conceded a third goal shortly after, and trailed 3-1 before half time. A good afternoon was ruined. 

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GettyConcern for Adams

The opening minutes of Bournemouth’s match against Aston Villa set the tone for a difficult afternoon for Andoni Iraola’s side. In the fourth minute, Tyler Adams and teammate Adam Smith collided head-to-head while contesting a loose ball from a corner. Smith sustained a cut above his eye and was ruled out by team medical staff, while Adams was cleared to continue. The decision drew attention on social media, with former U.S. international Taylor Twellman questioning Iraola’s call to keep the midfielder on the pitch.

After the collision, Bournemouth struggled to contain an in-form Villa side, conceding twice in each half in a 4-0 defeat. The loss marked Bournemouth’s second consecutive Premier League defeat, following last week’s setback against Manchester City, and saw them drop to seventh in the table.

Iraola later acknowledged that Adams may have sustained an injury.

“But [Adams] has finished the game. So I hope that in his case it’s nothing there,” Iraola said.

Adams is scheduled to join the U.S. men’s national team for upcoming friendlies, though his status may be reevaluated depending on his condition.

Maxwell expects to re-join a power-packed middle-order when Travis Head returns

Alex Malcolm28-Jul-2025Glenn Maxwell expects his move to open the batting in the T20I series against West Indies will be brief once Travis Head makes a likely return for the home series against South Africa in August as Australia look to settle their line-up as they build towards the 2026 World Cup.Maxwell batted at No. 5 in the first game of the series, one slot lower than his customary No. 4 position where he has batted 61 times in his career, to allow Cameron Green an opportunity at second drop.He was then shifted to open for just the fourth time in his career when Tim David returned from injury for game two in the absence of the resting Head and injured back-up opener Matthew Short.Related

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Maxwell, who has scored 145 not out and 66 in previous T20Is opening the batting, was promoted to the top in the main because Australia anticipated a lot of spin to be bowled in the powerplay. While that was the case in Jamaica, both sides have veered away from spin bowlers at the tiny Warner Park in St Kitts.Maxwell returned scores of 12 off 10, 20 off 7 and 47 off 18 and looked ominous in all three innings. But he insists he is unlikely to stay there beyond this series with Head likely to partner skipper Mitchell Marsh moving forward while Josh Inglis looks settled at No. 3.”It’s been great fun being at the top, but I’m sure I’m just warming Heady’s seat until he comes back,” Maxwell said. “I think the way we’re probably going to set up our T20 side heading forward is you’ve got Travis up the top, you’ve got Mitch Marsh who is captaining us brilliantly at the moment.”Ingo is doing a great job at No.3 and the rest of the order falls into place around that. We’ve got some unbelievable power hitting at the moment, we’ve seen some guys really put their hand up – Tim David, Mitch Owen and Cameron Green – throughout the middle.”They’re three pretty big blokes with big reach and they hit the ball an absolute mile so it’s great to have those guys with that extra bit of power in the middle-order.”It’s not something we’ve had an abundance of over the years and to have that at our disposal at the moment is pretty exciting.”Cameron Green has been in sparkling form at No. 4•Randy Brooks/AFP via Getty ImagesGreen’s growth at No. 4 and David’s century in his first opportunity batting inside the powerplay at No. 5 for Australia outside of rain-shortened matches, gives the selectors a multitude of options heading towards the World Cup in terms of how they shape the middle-order.Maxwell’s record at No. 4 is exceptional, having scored four T20I centuries in that position, but his best performances in franchise cricket over the last eight months have come at No. 6. He was BBL player of the tournament and won Melbourne Stars four games in a row with scores of 20* off 10, 58* off 32, and 90 off 52 at No. 6 plus 76* off 32 at No. 5. After a difficult IPL for Punjab Kings, he made an unbeaten 106 off 49 balls in MLC at No. 6 for Washington Freedom last month.Green’s consistency and his ability to handle pace in the powerplay, as well as spin post powerplay, could see Maxwell deployed later in the order in Australia’s first choice XI.”It’s been great to see the growth of some of the guys and Greeny in this series has been absolutely outstanding,” Maxwell said. “We’re seeing him turn into a really consistent and solid T20 player and it’s just so exciting for Australian cricket to see these guys with this sort of power and it’s going to be dangerous for a lot of teams heading forward.”A middle-order of Green, David, Maxwell and Owen in some kind of combination is as powerful as Australia have ever produced while Marcus Stoinis still remains in consideration despite not playing in the West Indies series or the upcoming South Africa series.Maxwell remains a key contributor with the ball and in the field. He took two key wickets in the second T20I in Kingston and remains a vital match-up for left-handers in particular while his ability to bowl in the powerplay in India and Sri Lanka will also be crucial for Australia’s plans.Meanwhile at nearing 37, three years on from a broken leg that effectively ended his ODI career, he still remains Australia’s best outfielder with three stunning pieces of work in the fourth T20I on Saturday having a significant outcome on the match.”I practice a hell of a lot,” Maxwell said. “It’s something I pride myself on, making sure that I can create opportunities on the boundary line, and feel like I’m spreading the boundary a little bit longer and making the batters hit it a little bit further.”

As if things were not bad enough at Celtic right now – amid Brendan Rodgers’ shock resignation on Monday night – they’re enduring a major injury crisis.

During last Thursday’s Europa League victory over Sturm Graz, both Kelechi Ịheanachọ and Alistair Johnston hobbled off in the first half, before Cameron Carter-Vickers departed the scene on a stretcher, with Rodgers later revealing that the United States international had suffered an achilles injury that’ll see him sidelined for five months.

Meantime, Jota remains in the treatment room due to a ruptured anterior cruciate ligament and Daizen Maeda is also a doubt for next Sunday’s Old Firm in the League Cup semi-finals.

On top of this, Sebastian Tounekti, one of the few attackers who has looked dangerous this season, will miss matches over Christmas, including the New Years’ Glasgow derby, due to the Africa Cup of Nations.

Thus, in summary, the Hoops are not in a good place right now, eight points adrift run-away Premiership leaders Hearts, after the Jambos’ 3-1 victory over the Celts at Tynecastle on Sunday.

So, with Falkirk visiting Parkhead on Wednesday, before that aforementioned massive clash with Rangers at Hampden on Sunday, should interim boss Martin O’Neill give one summer signing an opportunity to stake a claim?

Is Johnny Kenny good enough for Celtic?

Earlier this year, Celtic had both Kyōgo Furuhashi and Adam Idah as centre-forward options, but the pair have been sold without being replaced.

Chalkboard

Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

So, with Ịheanachọ and Maeda currently unavailable, Johnny Kenny was the man tasked with leading the line in Edinburgh for Sunday’s top of the table clash.

Well, the Irishman made little impression on proceedings, touching the ball only 17 times during an hour on the field, losing possession on nine occasions and failing to muster a single shot.

During his loan spell at Shamrock Rovers, Kenny showed genuine promise, scoring 26 goals for the other green and white hoops, of which seven came in European competition, on target against Víkingur Reykjavík, Larne, The New Saints, Rapid Wien and Borac Banja Luka, an eclectic list of clubs.

Since returning to Celtic though, in limited minutes, he has so far scored just twice in 17 outings, on target during a 5-1 demolition of Aberdeen at Pittodrie in May, as well as in August’s 3-0 win over Livingston.

Following Sunday’s defeat to Heart of Midlothian, Mark Atkinson of the Scotsman asserts that he ‘lacks the proper gravitas of a Celtic number nine’, while Ben Banks of Glasgow World believes it is a ‘big ask for him to be the leading man with the team in its current guise’.

So, while Kenny may be the best centre-forward option at the minute, a damning indictment on Celtic’s summer squad build, should O’Neill give an alternative the opportunity to showcase what he can do against Falkirk?

Celtic's new Daizen Maeda

Celtic signed 11 new senior players this summer, including four during the final few hours of the deadline, so the arrival of Shin Yamada in mid-July for around £1.5m has rather been forgotten.

He has seen just 177 minutes of action in hoops so far, his sole start coming when Rodgers heavily rotated against Livingston in August, with the half an hour he saw off the bench at the weekend actually his second-longest appearance.

Nevertheless, at previous club Kawasaki Frontale, he was certainly a key figure, helping the Sky Blue and Blacks reach their first-ever AFC Champions League Final earlier this year, dumping out Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr in the semi-finals, before a 2-0 defeat to Al-Ahli in the final, a match in which Yamada was introduced off the bench at half time.

The striker was at his best during the 2024 J League season, as the table below documents.

Minutes

2,012

156th

Goals

19

3rd

Shots

80

12th

Shots on target

37

5th

Shots on target per 90

1.66

3rd

Goals per shot

0.21

5th

Big chances missed

14

8th

As the table notes, only two players, namely Brazilian duo Anderson Lopes and Léo Ceará, scored more J League goals than Yamada last season.

This is despite limited minutes, as well as the fact he attempted just 80 shots, leading to an impressive goals-per-shot ratio, the best of anyone to score 12 or more goals.

Upon his arrival in Glasgow, manager Rodgers labelled him a “strong player who can score goals and create goals for others”, impressed by his “power, athleticism and intensity”.

Meantime, a report by Target Scouting described him as a ‘pure goal poacher’ while, despite his small stature, he relishes a ‘physical battle’, concluding that his primary attribute is his ‘exciting… off-the-ball movement’.

These all sound similar characteristics to those of a certain Daizen Maeda, who hit the ground running when he arrived in January 2022 under Ange Postecoglou, scoring four minutes into his debut against Hibs, having bagged 23 goals during his final J League season with Yokohama F. Marinos, four more than Yamada last year, but in 800 more minutes.

Yamada has very much not had a similar instantaneous impact but, due to limited options, definitely deserves a chance to stake a claim.

When compared to Kenny, the Japanese forward has proven himself in the J League which, according to Global Football Rankings, is the 15th strongest league in the world, while the League of Ireland, where Kenny impressed, is outside the top 75.

For context, that places Ireland’s top division below the SPFL Championship, while the Scottish Premiership is 32nd, just above the Saudi Pro League.

Thus, with O’Neill back in the dugout on a temporary basis, he should give Yamada a chance when Falkirk travel to Glasgow this week and, who knows, if he impresses he could earn a starting spot against Rangers on Sunday.

Rodgers could unearth his new Daizen Maeda in Celtic's rarely-seen "animal"

With Daizen Maeda and Kelechi Ịheanachọ injured for Sunday’s top of the table clash with Hearts, Brendan Rodgers should unleash Celtic’s “animal”.

ByBen Gray Oct 25, 2025