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Inter Miami's final stance on potentially bringing in Neymar during the winter transfer window has been revealed. His return to Santos, which was intended as a short-term comeback in the comfort of his home city, has been overshadowed by familiar injury setbacks. After a difficult spell at Al-Hilal that included a torn ACL and a mutual contract termination, he now finds himself battling pain once more while Santos fight for survival in the Brazilian Serie A.

A reunion that will not happen

The talk around Inter Miami’s winter business intensified after Sergio Busquets and Jordi Alba both announced they will retire at the end of the 2025 season. This raised legitimate questions about how the club would navigate its future under MLS’s Designated Player rules, and whether a marquee signing such as Neymar would be part of their next phase. Supporters imagined a fairy tale scenario with former Barcelona team-mates Messi, Suarez and Neymar dazzling audiences together one last time, this time in pink. However, according to Miami’s leadership has made it unequivocally clear that sentiment will not drive their recruitment policy. While acknowledging the marketing whirlwind Neymar’s arrival would generate, sporting director Chris Henderson and manager Javier Mascherano have chosen to make a pragmatic sporting decision. Defensive reinforcements and a top-tier striker for 2026 have emerged as their primary targets, with interest in Neymar dropped.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportNeymar’s painful battle for fitness continues

Neymar’s second spell at Santos has unfolded very differently from the celebratory homecoming many expected. What began as a six-month plan, allowing him to rebuild confidence and reconnect with his roots, may yet stretch to 18 months if Santos manage to secure safety in the final rounds of the Brasileirao, but concerns over his physical condition remain. Manager Juan Pablo Vojvoda confirmed that Neymar had withdrawn from Santos' 1-1 draw with Internacional due to knee discomfort. Neymar summoned enough strength to play through pain in the following match, helping Santos secure a vital 3-0 win over Sport. That win lifted the club above the relegation line on goal difference, but the meniscus injury might sideline him again for a considerable time. Neymar’s current contract expires at the end of December, leaving him technically free to explore other options. However, according to , the forward appears prepared to remain in Brazil until the 2026 World Cup, provided his body allows him to contribute.

Neymar's World Cup dream is fading fast

For Neymar, everything now revolves around one goal, to ensure he is fit enough for Carlo Ancelotti’s Brazil squad next summer. But there are no guarantees for the Selecao's all-time record goalscorer. Asked specifically about Neymar’s fitness and the form of Real Madrid star Vinicius Junior, Ancelotti issued a blunt and demanding standard.

"He has to be 100%," Ancelotti told . "There are many players who are very good, I need to choose players that are 100%. It's not just Neymar, it could be [Real Madrid forward] Vinícius. If Vinícius is at 90%, I'll call up another player who is at 100%, because it's a team that has a very high level of competence, especially up front. Up front, we have really many good players."

The Italian coach went on to praise Neymar’s artistry but underlined the central issue holding him back.

"I think he's a great talent," Ancelotti said. "He's had the bad luck of having injuries. He couldn't be in good physical condition because of the injuries he's had."

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gettyLimited time and shrinking opportunities

With the domestic season in Brazil wrapping up in December, competitive fixtures will be scarce before the March international break. The uncertainty has prompted discussions about alternative pathways, including a short-term move back to Europe. Unlike Brazil, European leagues will be mid-season in early 2026, offering Neymar the rhythm and sharpness he desperately needs. However, the big question remains whether he will find any taker for his services. 

Having last played in India in 2015, he has returned with much more knowledge and skill, and it was on display on the second day of the Kolkata Test

Firdose Moonda15-Nov-20252:21

What did Simon Harmer do right?

Pretend you’re reading just this after both teams had batted once in the Eden Gardens Test. Pretend it’s the point at which South Africa have limited India’s lead to just 30 runs and the match is still evenly poised and bubbling with promise. Pretend that the most important talking point is how a South African attack did what South African attacks are known for and brought their side back into the game, this time without Kagiso Rabada, this time thanks to Simon Harmer.The offspinner made the most important incisions on the day when he removed Washington Sundar, Dhruv Jurel and Ravindra Jadeja, all of whom threatened to bat South Africa out of the game, and finished with 4 for 30. He extracted more turn than anyone else in the match so far – including the Indian spinners – with an average of 4.3 degrees, and quickly assessed the right lines, length and pace to bowl for maximum efficacy.Harmer’s game plan developed in the solitary over he bowled on the first evening when he started off bowling quite full to Washington, then pulled back the length a touch, drew Washington forward and nearly took the edge. The ball spun away sharply and didn’t find Washington’s bat but Harmer knew he could use that to his advantage on day two.Related

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“From that first over last night over against Washington, it was quite evident that the ball was going to turn and you want to be testing batters on the front foot,” Harmer said at the post-day press conference. “If you allow them time to go back, it allows them to adjust and play the turn off the wicket. So you try to test batters on the front foot and test their front foot defence, which allows the ball to spin past the bat and brings in both edges. Then you also try and get one not to turn to bring in lbw, but overall, it was pretty evident that you needed to be fuller rather than shorter on that wicket.”Fuller but not entirely full. Harmer bowled 47 of his 92 balls on that length and was especially effective against left-hand batters. He only conceded nine runs off the 38 length deliveries he bowled to left-handers. He was also accurate with his line – 39% of his deliveries were sent down in line with the stumps, leaving batters little room to do anything but defend.That’s ultimately how he got Washington, an hour into the second day’s play. Harmer first went very full and then more on a good length, Washington stepped forward to defend and the ball took the edge as it turned away. He similarly challenged Rishabh Pant. Jurel also went forward and popped a return catch to Harmer and with Jadeja, it was the arm ball that skidded on.”It’s also about having the subtle variations of balls that don’t turn,” he said. “Sometimes you get onto turning wickets, you’re just trying to turn it more and more and more and the skill lies in bowling a ball that doesn’t turn on a wicket that is turning. Obviously, I’ve got a lot more experience since the last time I was here.”Simon Harmer rattled India•Getty ImagesIf there is a secret to Harmer’s success, it’s that he has returned to India a decade after first playing in the country, armed with much more knowledge and skill, and his bowling demonstrates his full evolution.Harmer’s international career can be divided into three parts: his emergence in 2015, his needs-must recall in 2022 during the late Covid-19 pandemic period when several frontliners were at the IPL, and his proper comeback now.In 2015, Harmer was a spinner who had been highly successful on the South African domestic circuit, but because it was not a place known to produce great spinners, he did not come into the national set-up with the reputation of a match-winner. He played one Test at home before tours to the subcontinent and he felt the weight of expectation to perform. “I was quite new to Test cricket. Ravi Ashwin was bowling like a jet and it was the expectation that I needed to do the same, so I was dealing with that and putting myself under even more pressure,” Harmer said.South Africa lost that series 3-0 (and would have lost 4-0 if not for rain in Bengaluru) and Harmer was one of the casualties of the tour that went as badly as it could. Looking back, he can acknowledge his own shortcomings. “When I got dropped from the national side in 2015 was when I realised that I wasn’t good enough,” he said.So he worked on it. “I came back to India in 2016 to work with Umesh Patwal in Mumbai and I discovered a lot about spin bowling that I didn’t know. That was probably the point of my career that gave me the ammunition to get better and develop and become a decent spinner.”That was only the start. In 2017, Harmer signed a Kolpak deal, which began a nine-season-and-counting stint at Essex, where he took his game to the next level. In those nine years, he has not once been outside the country championship’s top ten wicket-takers (he was also the leading bowler in 2019, 2020, and 2022) and the consistency of his returns shows a commitment to continual upskilling. “In the UK, bowling on flat wickets or when there are footmarks and nothing outside of those footmarks, you need to find a way to get the ball to spin quickly,” he explained. “It’s a skill that I’ve developed there by being able to bowl it a little bit flatter, not always just relying on the loop. Sometimes on slow wickets, it’s too slow and batters can play off the back foot. So it’s about understanding my game more and finding ways to be better.”Harmer picked up the key wicket of Washington Sundar•BCCIWhen the Kolpak system ended after the UK’s exit from the European Union, Harmer was available for South Africa, but Keshav Mahraraj was established as their No. 1. Harmer has understood that he will likely only be called on when South Africa need additional spin resources. And then, he can bring the wealth of experience he has gained on the county circuit to the national side.”I’m a lot more confident in my ability. I don’t have as many doubts as I did back then and I was fighting for a place in the team,” he said. “Now I feel like I have the skill set to compete. Whether or not it goes my way is sometimes the luck of the draw, but as long as I can look back and say that I put a good amount of balls in the right area, then I can be happy with that.”If the day had ended there, Harmer could have left the ground entirely satisfied with his work and where he had put South Africa. From a first innings blowout, they were in a position where they could put themselves in the driving seat but to think they did that, we’d have to pretend.South Africa finished effectively 63 for 7, with Harmer next in to bat. He will have to do the same job he did with the ball, and drag South Africa into the contest to give them, and mostly himself, a chance to bowl India out cheaply. He knows it won’t be easy.”In an ideal situation, you’ve got 300 on the board, and you can set attacking fields but it becomes quite intricate when you’ve only got 150 on the board, and you need to take wickets but you also can’t leak runs,” he said. “It’s quite evident that the pitch is going to do enough. It’s just about not getting carried away and making sure that you’re putting as many balls in the right areas as you possibly can. We all know that we need to be at our best but we have the belief that we can still pull ourselves back into this game.”Or, at least, they can pretend to.

Don MacKinnon, who heads the NZ20 Establishment Committee, believes the game needs to look beyond the Super Smash

Nagraj Gollapudi27-Nov-2025New Zealand is finally set to enter the world of privately owned T20 leagues, with plans afoot to start NZ20, a tournament comprising six privately owned franchises in January 2027. The league’s operating model would be similar to that of the Caribbean Premier League (CPL) with the tournament receiving the license from New Zealand Cricket (NZC), but managed independently.Plans don’t currently have NZC approval, but if they do secure that, NZ20 will replace the Super Smash, the current six-team competition. That tournament is now two decades old and is played by the local cricket associations in New Zealand: Auckland, Northern Districts, Wellington, Central Districts, Canterbury and Otago. It is managed by NZC, whereas NZ20 will have teams with private owners.According to Don MacKinnon, who heads the NZ20 Establishment Committee, the concept for the league originated from former New Zeeland greats including Stephen Fleming who then engaged with the New Zealand Players Association (NZPA} to gauge whether the time had come for a franchise-based league. MacKinnon, a professional lawyer who heads the country’s Sports Integrity Commission, and has served as a director on the NZC Board, was approached about three months ago to see if the concept was feasible.In a conversation with ESPNcricinfo, MacKinnon said NZ20 was an “extremely viable” project and it was the “ideal” time to launch.”The concept is a pretty simple one really. It’s to see if New Zealand cricket could provide us with a clean window, which in our mind is absolutely essential for a very short privately owned competition, ideally in the peak of summer in New Zealand,” MacKinnon said. “So ideally for a men’s competition in the month of January at potentially a lot of our holiday venues, some of our beautiful grassbanks ground and a short fan-centric, fun type competition, but one played by the very best players in New Zealand and hopefully some internationals.”‘Super Smash not working’The absence of a New Zealand T20 league until now has been notable, especially as its players and coaches have been popular in leagues across the globe. But MacKinnon said collective belief among former players was that the time was ripe for New Zealand to create its own domestic brand.Back in 2014 the NZC Board had turned down the idea of such a league because it did not believe it could create a successful product and would “struggle” to compete with the likes of the IPL and BBL. MacKinnon agreed with that decision but pointed out the time now was right to “develop our own unique competition.” He said that NZ20 would not be aping the IPL or BBL.”We are looking at something very boutique, very New Zealand centric, a unique experience for players who come here, as I said, small grounds, a great lifestyle, something that we think players would love to be involved in.”Finn Allen is among the New Zealand players who play overseas in the January league period•Sarah Reed – CA / Getty ImagesMacKinnon said the Super Smash was “not really working with the fans” and has become more of a “development” competition for players. NZ20, MacKinnon believes, has the potential to “reenergise domestic cricket” in New Zealand. “What’s different about it? Well, it’s partly driven out of private investment and so you get the ability to be very innovative. You have the ability to have greater capital, to invest in better fan experience both at the ground but also whether you are watching on television or online. We also think that if we get this right, we will attract the very best New Zealand players back into our domestic competitions.”MacKinnon did not disclose whether IPL franchise owners were looking to invest, but said there was strong interest both from India as well as other investors globally. “We’ve also looked really closely at some of the models around the world and particularly the CPL where the league owners and the team seem to have done a great job in moving that competition not only into a point of profitability but also has really engaged fan interest. So that’s one of the models we’re looking at very closely. But by no means the only one.”NZ players ‘would desperately love’ to play NZ20The current plan involves starting the men’s tournament in January 2027 followed by the launch of the women’s league in December 2027. The biggest challenge remains finding a clear window with the BBL, SA20 and ILT20 running simultaneously in January. Those tournaments generally involve the participation of several New Zealand international.MacKinnon acknowledged that hurdle, but believed current New Zealand players were keen to participate. “We appreciate we won’t be able to attract everybody that we’d like to have, but the feedback from current New Zealand players is they would desperately love for this tournament to go ahead and would do everything to participate in it.There would be plans to launch a women’s edition later in 2027•Getty Images”So that’s the first goal. We are designing this competition very much along the lines that we want the Lockie Fergusons and the Finn Allens of this world and the Kane Williamsons playing in it. So that’s the most important goal because at the moment a lot of those players aren’t playing in our Super Smash.”MacKinnon is confident NZ20 can attract “marquee players” if they get the right owners. MacKinnon also highlighted one of its USPs would be to allow players to own a stake in the league. “We also are looking at a model where the players may well have an ownership share of the league,” he said. “And we are doing that because we want an extremely high level of access to player intellectual property. We want to be able to open our players up to the wealth. And to do that, that intellectual property needs to be very readily available.”NZC approval</h2.NZC approval will have to come swiftly if NZ20 is to take off by January 2027. MacKinnon emphasised that his committee wanted to work with NZC. In fact, the NZ20 committee comprises two members from NZC's board along with representatives from NZPA and members associations.MacKinnon said that NZC had told the NZ20 Committee they were looking at various options. "We have been in constant discussions with the New Zealand Cricket Board over the last two to three months. They have been excellent to deal with. They have been very clear to us that while they're excited by this project, they have other options they're looking at including quite clearly whether they wish to consider trying to get a team into the Big Bash."MacKinnon said he would obviously like NZC to pick NZ20 as the "preferred option" but admitted ideally he would want the final decision to be made as soon as possible. "At the same time we are proceeding on the basis that we believe we will get a license and we are continuing to talk to investors and making progress in that regard. We would love to be in a position by the end of January [2026] to have some real certainty about whether we can make the competition start in January 2027 and that's our timeframe."

Arsenal “could make a move” for a “world-class” forward, who Mikel Arteta is known to be a big fan of.

Gunners eyeing new forward after "painful" Aston Villa defeat

Arteta’s side suffered one of their first real setbacks of the season on Saturday, with Aston Villa emerging as 2-1 winners after Emiliano Buendia’s late winner, and the manager was left frustrated by the manner of the defeat.

The Spaniard said: “Last kick of the game we have the chance with the cross from Declan for Noni and Viktor. We don’t score. Goal kick long, second ball, clear the ball, individual action. The ball comes inside the box and you end up losing it. It is painful.”

On the brighter side, the Gunners remain two points clear of nearest rivals Manchester City at the top of the Premier League table, and a number of Arteta’s summer signings have hit the ground running at the Emirates Stadium.

Martin Zubimendi and Noni Madueke have received praise for their performances, with Eberechi Eze also catching the eye, most notably scoring a hat-trick in the emphatic 4-1 victory against Tottenham Hotspur last month.

Despite signing Eze and Madueke, however, Arsenal remain interested in signing another new forward, and journalist Pete O’Rourke has revealed they “could make a move” for AFC Bournemouth star Antoine Semenyo.

Speaking to Football Insider, O’Rourke confirmed that a number of top Premier League clubs are in the race for Semenyo’s signature, namely Liverpool, Manchester City, Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur.

The Ghanaian’s £65m release clause will become active in the January transfer window, but the interested clubs may also choose to wait until the summer, at which point he will be available for just £50m.

Arsenal make strong move to sign "special" £111k-p/w Paris Saint-Germain star

The Gunners are looking to sign a new forward, who has been in impressive form this season.

ByDominic Lund 5 days ago "World-class" Semenyo may be ready for Emirates move

Lauded as “world-class” by Bournemouth teammate Justin Kluivert, the 25-year-old got off to a very impressive start to the campaign, and ranks third in terms of total goal contributions in the Premier League.

Player

Club

Goal contributions

Erling Haaland

Manchester City

18

Igor Thiago

Brentford

11

Antoine Semenyo

AFC Bournemouth

9

Arteta is known to be a big fan of the London-born forward, who is also impressive in the air, averaging 2.14 aerials won per 90 over the past year, which places him in the 97th percentile, compared to other attacking midfielders and wingers.

The former Newport County man has been impressing in the Premier League for quite some time, scoring a remarkable solo goal against Burnley during the 2023-24 campaign.

Clearly, Semenyo could now be ready to make the step-up to a top club, but having signed the likes of Madueke, Eze and Viktor Gyokeres in the summer, there are question marks over whether Arsenal need to bring in another new attacker next month.

The draw for the 2026 World Cup is finally over! After what seemed like an eternity, the real business finally got underway in Friday's ceremony in Washington DC, with Rio Ferdinand leading the way and sporting icons such as Tom Brady, Shaquille O'Neal and Wayne Gretzky teaming up to throw up some intriguing groups for next summer's tournament in North America.

Reigning champions Argentina are in with Austria, Algeria and Jordan, while 2022 runners-up France have been placed in the closest thing to a 'Group of Death' alongside Senegal and Norway. As for England, they were paired with Croatia, Panama and Ghana, while things went reasonably well for all three of the co-hosts – United States, Mexico and Canada, although the Canucks may well be hoping that Italy don’t belatedly qualify via the European play-offs.  

So, who were the big winners of the draw? Whose hopes of winning the tournament have been boosted? And which nations will be fearing an humiliating first-round exit? And GOAL breaks it all down below…

AFPWINNER: The USMNT

Things are suddenly looking up for U.S. coach Mauricio Pochettino. The Argentine came in for plenty of stick during a trying start to his tenure that featured some desperately disappointing defeats and very worrying signs of a strained relationship with 'Captain America' Christian Pulisic. However, after a run of five games without defeat, including a 5-1 demolition of Uruguay achieved without some of his most talented players, Pochettino will now be very confident of avoiding an early exit at next summer's World Cup.

Truth be told, there's absolutely no reason why the co-hosts can't progress as winners of Group D because the draw couldn't have gone much better for them: Australia were among the weakest sides in Pot Two, Paraguay finished sixth in CONMEBOL and, like the Socceroos, struggle to score goals; while Turkey/Romania/Slovakia/Kosovo was the weakest of the UEFA play-off brackets.

All things considered, a first World Cup quarter-final appearance since 2002 is a distinct possibility for the Americans if Pochettino can maintain the momentum he's built up in recent months.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportLOSER: France

As one of the seeded sides in a 48-team World Cup, Dider Deschamps' France would have been forgiven for anticipating a rather straightforward group-stage assignment. What they've received, though, is a very early and very tricky test of their credentials.

In Norway, Les Bleus drew the team that absolutely nobody wanted from Pot Three, meaning the French are definitely going to have a fight on their hands for top spot in Group I – and not just because they'll have to figure out a way to stop Erling Haaland.

The 2022 runners-up have also been landed in the same pool as Senegal, who are ranked 19th in the world and showed just how dangerous they are by dismantling England in a friendly at the City Ground earlier this year. It's also worth noting that The Lions of Teranga upset France at in the opening round of games at the World Cup in South Korea and Japan 23 years ago. If history were to repeat itself in the U.S. next summer, France would actually be at risk of suffering another humiliatingly early exit.

AFPWINNER: The surviving members of Belgium's Golden Generation

A bit like Kevin De Bruyne all the way back in 2022, we'd pretty much given up on Belgium's 'Golden Generation' ever realising their potential. However, all hope is not yet lost. While several stars retired after the Red Devils' calamitous campaign in Qatar, De Bruyne, Romelu Lukaku, Axel Witsel and Thibaut Courtois are still knocking about and, fitness-permitting, all four will feature at next summer's tournament in North America.

Granted, the Belgians performed pretty poorly in qualifying. As winger Jeremy Doku admitted, the majority of their displays were sub-standard and we're not going to suddenly tout them as potential World Cup winners.

However, Rudi Garcia's squad does not lack quality or experience, and should (in theory, at least) cruise through a group containing Iran, Egypt and New Zealand, with only The Pharaohs looking remotely capable of challenging them for top spot.

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Getty Images SportLOSER: Scotland

When Scotland last appeared at the World Cup, in 1998, they were drawn in the same group as Brazil, Morocco and Norway. This time around, they've managed to avoid the Scandinavians, but having to once again tackle the Selecao and The Atlas Lions means the Scots could well struggle to reach the round of 32.

Brazil may not be the force they once were, but they're still the record five-time champions and results have certainly picked up since Carlo Ancelotti took over during the summer. It certainly wouldn't be a surprise if the former Real Madrid boss were to coax the best out of Vinicius Jr and Rodrygo next summer.

As for Morocco, they're once again Africa's best hope of finally winning the World Cup. They finished fourth in 2022 and are presently on a 19-match unbeaten run.

Bottom line: Scotland might need to produce the kind of heroics they pulled out of the bag in their dramatic and decisive qualifying win over Denmark just to make the knockout stage. And who knows, with the support of the travelling Tartan Army, maybe it's not beyond the realms of possibility?!

Smith disagrees with Head and Cummins on batting orders saying “it’s nice to have a single role”

Andrew McGlashan03-Dec-2025Steven Smith has confirmed he will use the anti-glare strips under his eyes when batting during the day-night Test at the Gabba after some advice from Shivnarine Chanderpaul ensured he was wearing them the correct way up.Smith trained with them under lights in the lead-up to the second Test against England and said he definitely felt a positive impact. However, initially he had not quite used them the way they were designed.”I actually messaged Shivnarine Chanderpaul and asked him what his thoughts were, whether he wore the chalk or the strips,” Smith said. “He said the strips, and he thinks it blocks out 65% of the glare. And he also said, ‘I’ve seen photos and you’re wearing them the wrong way’. So yesterday I put them on the right way.”I agree with him. I think it certainly stops the glare. Yeah, I’ll be wearing them.”Related

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The ‘eye blacks’ – small, black, adhesive strips worn on the cheekbone – that Smith wore in training are commonplace in several American sports, and are designed to reduce the glare from floodlights by absorbing the light that would otherwise reflect off the skin.Smith is known to not be a fan of batting against the pink ball. In day-night Tests he averages 37.04 with one century compared to 58.31 in day matches with 35 hundreds.”It’s hard to bat all the time,” he said of any difference between twilight and complete darkness. “It’s a tricky one. The ball reacts obviously differently to a red one. It can change quickly. It can start moving randomly.”You’ve got to try and play what’s in front of you at that time and when it does shift on you and the ball starts doing something different, you’ve got to try and come up with plans to counter that, whether it be more aggressive, whether it be going to your shell and trying to get through that period. Everyone’s different. It’s trying to be one step ahead when it does start to shift.”Steven Smith wears black tape under his eyes•Getty ImagesDuring the previous day-night Test at the Gabba, when West Indies famously won by eight runs in early 2024, Mitchell Starc commented about how the harder surface at the venue meant the pink ball went softer than it does in Adelaide where extra grass can act as a cushion.”I think Adelaide, the wicket they have down there, it’s quite furry, and the ball can kind of stay harder for longer,” Smith said. “Here it’s obviously renowned to be quite a hard, fast wicket, and it’s difficult to change your characteristics of the wicket. So at times [the ball] can get a little bit soft, and you can see guys batting comfortably at stages. So that’s one thing we have to weigh up going into this game, and see how it plays out.”Amid uncertainty over how Australia would line up for the Test, Smith said they would be open to in-match flexibility around the batting line-up, referencing the possibility of two nightwatchers. But he was not fully buying into the belief of Pat Cummins and Travis Head that batting orders were overrated despite having opened the batting in four Tests in 2024 at his own request, including the last pink-ball game at the Gabba where he carried his bat to finish 91 not out in Australia’s failed fourth innings chase.”I think [with the] pink ball, anything’s possible,” Smith said. “We’ve been pretty open in the past around maybe having two nightwatchmen and things like that, so it’s a completely different game.”You’ve got to play what’s in front of you at any given stage, but I’m not sure I completely agree with those two on the batting orders being overrated. I think it’s nice to be in a similar role and get used to that role over and over again.”So, it can change in games, and maybe that’s the way forward. But having certain spots for one innings and other spots for a second innings, I’m not sure about. I think it’s nice to have a single role and try to get used to that as much as possible.”

England have arrived in New Zealand for their white-ball tour, but all the noise is about the upcoming Ashes. Alan Gardner is joined by Andrew Miller and Matt Roller to catch you up on the latest

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Oct-2025England have started out on their winter touring commitments, arriving in New Zealand for T20I and ODI series ahead of the Ashes in Australia. On this week’s pod, Alan Gardner is joined by Andrew Miller and Matt Roller to talk through the latest – notably the increasingly urgent updates from Australia on Pat Cummins’ fitness. Also on the menu: T20 World Cup preparations, Jacob Bethell’s mission to impress, and the start of the Ashes phoney war.