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Manchester United boss Marc Skinner has explained the thinking behind leaving the Lionesses duo of Ella Toone and Jess Park on the bench for Wednesday's Champions League defeat to eight-time winners Lyon. Although already assured of a play-off berth, the Red Devils needed a positive result to improve their seeding and to push for automatic qualification. Skinner's starting XI raised plenty of questions before his side were given a 3-0 thumping.

• Park, Toone & Skinner's eyebrow-raising team selection

  It wasn't just the absences of Park, in excellent form, and Toone, leading the Women's Super League for assists this season, that left many perplexed. Skinner also named Dominique Janssen, a strong performer at centre-back, to his bench and Julia Zigiotti Olme, who has been excellent since arriving from Bayern Munich in the summer. It was a gamble that didn't pay-off either, with United not really in the game until Skinner brought on all of Park, Toone and Zigiotti at half time. Even then, there wasn't enough time for the Red Devils to turn things around, with them dealt a 3-0 loss.

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  Explained: Why Man Utd benched Park, Toone & more for Lyon clash

  "You can lose a game against Lyon on set pieces, on physicality, so we had to have balance," Skinner said, explaining his team selection. "We needed to match them physically from the first half, and then always adapt it and change it second half. I felt that, first half, we physically were matching them, especially from set pieces, but we probably didn't get enough pressure on them in moments, so I adapted it half time, got a little bit more ball possession."

  Asked what the reactions of players like Toone, Park and Zigiotti was when they were told they weren't starting this big game, Skinner replied: "When they had the reasons and rationale explained, they understood. They don't want to not play but I always explain the reasons. I don't leave any players blind to what the decisions are. That's my job, to make tough decisions."

  When asked about Skinner's emphasis on Lyon's physicality, Jonatan Giraldez, head coach of the French giants, said: "For sure, we have top players, technical players, tactical players and also physical players but I don't think that only the physicality has been key. I think as a team, we have done a very good job today."

• Busy January coming? Man Utd in need of extra depth

  It wasn't just about what Skinner felt was necessary for this particular match-up, either. United don't have the biggest squad, with many of those on the bench on Wednesday having played a lot of minutes as a result. As such, there was also a touch of loading factored into his selection against Lyon.

  "We've got four games in 10 days, so we've got to be able to rotate," he added. "I won't have anyone go, 'Oh, well, you don't rotate', and then you do rotate, and it's not right. You've got to. There's got to be a plan ahead of all of the games."

  Skinner has been keen to point out that his squad needs reinforcements in January, after a summer transfer window in which fewer were brought in that he would've liked. "It's nothing to do with the quality in my squad right now. It needs support and it needs numbers of quality," he said on Wednesday, emphasising the need for more depth to compete on four fronts. "I don't want to diminish anything from my squad. I love [the players] and what they do. It's not about replacing them, but it's about trying to grow the team."

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  Who will Man Utd face in the Women's Champions League play-offs?

  While United have already secured a spot in the Champions League league phase play-offs, an automatic qualification spot remains up for grabs, though it is harder for the Red Devils to secure after this defeat. Skinner's side travel to Juventus next week hoping for a win that could sneak them into the top four, but they will need results to go their way elsewhere as well.

  United are currently ninth in the UWCL standings, which would leave them unseeded in the play-offs. As it stands, they could be playing Wolfsburg or Arsenal, though that is all likely to change after next week's final games. Creep into the top eight, however, and the Red Devils could get a much more favourable draw, with the likes of Paris FC, OH Leuven and an Atletico Madrid side they beat earlier in the league phase all in the mix.

  The positive is that this is just the club's first stage in the Women's Champions League proper and they will be getting out of the league phase. Who they will face in that next round will all be determined next week.

Nick Woltemade has hit back at the “absurd” criticism aimed at Germany teammate Florian Wirtz after the Liverpool star’s slow start in the Premier League, insisting the £116 million signing will prove his quality in England. With Wirtz yet to score for Liverpool and facing scrutiny over his adaptation, Woltemade’s public defence adds fresh weight to calls for patience.

• Wirtz struggling to find his feet at Liverpool

  Wirtz has come under mounting scrutiny after a difficult start to his Liverpool career following his record-breaking move from Bayer Leverkusen. Despite arriving as one of Europe’s most exciting midfielders, he has so far registered just four assists in all competitions, with only one coming in the Premier League. His frustrations peaked when his strike against Sunderland was ruled an own goal, denying him what would have been his long-awaited first Liverpool goal.   

  The criticism surrounding Wirtz has intensified as Liverpool struggle for consistent form under Arne Slot, leaving supporters and pundits questioning how quickly he can adapt to the Premier League. By contrast, his Germany teammate Woltemade has flourished since joining Newcastle, leading to comparisons between their respective transitions.

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  Woltemade launches defence against 'absurd' Wirtz criticism

  Reports in Germany highlighted increasing debate around whether Wirtz can meet the expectations attached to the £116m fee Liverpool paid in the summer. The spotlight on him has been relentless, particularly as Liverpool rely heavily on his creative role in Slot’s evolving system. It is within this context that Woltemade has stepped forward to defend him and call out what he views as unfair commentary. 

  Speaking to Stern, Woltemade rejected the mounting criticism of his international teammate. “This is a pseudo-discussion. Anyone who understands something about football sees what incredible skills he has. Flo will make his way, even in the Premier League.”

• Wirtz yet to kick off his Premier League tally

  Wirtz’s move to Liverpool was always expected to involve a challenging adaptation period due to the physical intensity and pace of the Premier League. His numbers reflect that difficulty, with zero goals and zero assists in 13 league appearances despite flashes of the playmaking quality that defined his success at Bayer Leverkusen. The tactical demands placed on him under Slot have also differed greatly from the highly structured system he thrived in under Xabi Alonso.   

  Woltemade’s defence follows similarly supportive comments from Liverpool captain Virgil van Dijk, who has urged Wirtz not to become distracted by discussion around his fee. The German midfielder continues to show strong involvement outside of goals and assists, contributing through link-up play, pressing and space creation, which his teammates believe will soon translate into end product.

  His early adaptation issues mirror those faced by many playmakers moving from the Bundesliga to England, where the rhythm of matches and defensive aggression can be a shock even for elite talents. Despite this, Wirtz has shown promising signs in the Champions League, where he has already provided decisive assists.

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  Wirtz remains a crucial part of Liverpool's plans

  Wirtz is expected to retain a key creative role in Liverpool’s upcoming fixtures against Leeds United and Inter Milan, as Slot continues to build an attacking structure that maximises his strengths. A first Premier League goal could significantly reduce the scrutiny he faces and serve as a turning point in his adaptation. As for Woltemade’s comments, they add a strong voice of support from within the German national team camp, reinforcing the belief that Wirtz’s long-term potential remains unquestioned. 

Very few players dig as deep as he does and over this India series and the Ashes coming up, he’ll need to

Sidharth Monga09-Jul-2025

Ben Stokes is an irrepressible presence•Getty Images

There are many compelling sights in our sport. Right up there is a batting team on the top, the conditions flat, the ball not doing anything at all for the other bowlers, and then Ben Stokes charging in and drawing life out of nowhere in a long spell.Stokes has the rare ability to take you along on the ride. You don’t need to be a cricket connoisseur to know something special is taking place in front of your eyes. You can almost feel the strain he puts himself through, the stretching of every sinew, the twisting away of the torso to create the unusual angle, the high pace eked out of a battered body, the unusualness he extracts from dead conditions, and the satisfaction of having achieved something when it hadn’t seemed possible.It is not magic. In this series, for example, Stokes has swung the ball more than any other fast bowler. His release is wider than most – only Jasprit Bumrah and Josh Tongue have gone wider in this series – and the swing creates problems coming from that angle.Related

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When Stokes is nearing the top of his mark, it seems like he is dragging his feet and has no gas left. They hardly seem to leave the ground, and seem like they are being thrown forward by force. Then he picks up pace and leaves a piece of himself on the pitch. It is tempting to wonder how much better his numbers would have been had he just been a bowler.Every time you feel this must be it for him, he comes back for another over, against the wishes of the coaching staff as his workload needs to be managed. It just doesn’t seem possible for Stokes to have a measured go. Even at press conferences, he is not finishing a chore, but gives thoughtful answers. Despite all his injuries, only a small percentage of his spells is short. Among 27 fast bowlers who have bowled 100 or more spells since 2021, only James Anderson, Matt Henry, Kagiso Rabada and Ollie Robinson have bowled a lower percentage of spells of four overs or fewer.Ben Stokes has made 86 runs from four innings at an average of 21.50 in this series•Getty ImagesThis is also part of the reason why Stokes is rated highly as a captain. His tactics on the field can yo-yo between the astute and a random smokescreen, but he has the ability to drag his team-mates with him, much like Ian Botham and Andrew Flintoff before him. He doesn’t take the new ball, still bowls long spells, and batted against nature just to get a buy-in into the style of play he and Brendon McCullum wanted England to adopt.Stokes batted at 57.07 per 100 balls before Bazball, and has gone at 66.83 since. At the start, he batted frantically just to drive the message home despite being the one batter in the line-up who was more at home playing traditionally. It is the fall in the batting average from 36.05 to 33 during Bazball era that is starting to hurt England. In matches that Stokes has played in the Bazball era, top seven batters have averaged 38.25 overall. Of course he could ease his own batting load a little by getting in a better batter than Zak Crawley, who averages only 31.79 on some of the flattest tracks of the last decade, but Stokes the captain is not one for half measures.In opting for this way of playing the game in the first place, Stokes has shown courage of conviction to go against the grain. Captains are known to design pitches to suit their bowlers to win matches; Stokes and McCullum saw a weakness in their batting and asked for surfaces that played to their strengths instead, asking batters to make up for it with quick scoring. It hasn’t turned them into world-beaters, and the surfaces haven’t all been the same, but it has improved the results.Stokes will continue to rouse us with those bowling spells and will keep inspiring his team, but eventually the game is won by runs and wickets. He is one of the players who can get away with some leeway because of the way he plays, but the next eight Tests that Stokes plays have the ability to overshadow even that reputation. Especially because it is quite plausible that Stokes retires at the end of the Ashes.A lot – disproportionately so – rides on the next eight Tests. Stokes could perhaps drop down a slot if he feels mentally spent. Jamie Smith has shown signs he can bat in the top six. Alternatively Stokes could perhaps reinforce the batting and drop Shoaib Bashir. A home series against India on the line and the Ashes at the end of the year, runs not coming, rest of the bowling struggling, a body to manage, this is going to be some ride that Stokes will surely take us along on.

Prospects of a result are slim with one day remaining and a lead of 73

ECB Reporters Network supported by Rothesay31-Jul-2025

Nottinghamshire 511 for 6 (Haseeb 208, James 72, Haynes 70) lead Somerset 438 (Rew 166, Abell 156, Abbas 3-60) by 73 runs Haseeb Hameed made a superb double-hundred but his Nottinghamshire side’s chance of denying Surrey a fourth consecutive Division One title are receding with their Rothesay County Championship contest with Somerset almost certain to end in a draw.With half-centuries from Jack Haynes (70) and Lyndon James (72), Nottinghamshire finished day three at 511 for six in their first innings for a lead of 73. Yet the combination of a dead pitch and the Kookaburra ball seems to have left no realistic route to a positive result on the final day.They began this round – the 11th of the 14 – a point behind Surrey but the latter’s victory against Durham at Chester-le-Street puts clear daylight between them and the chasing pack, although Nottinghamshire still have to go to the Kia Oval in September. Somerset, in third place, arguably need nothing less than a win here to maintain their outside chance.Unless Nottinghamshire can rapidly extend their lead to a couple of hundred on the final morning, and then bowl out Somerset, which seems highly improbable, all four of Nottinghamshire’s matches using the Kookaburra ball will have ended in stalemate.Somerset’s verdict on the conditions was made evident by skipper Lewis Gregory’s decision not to bother with the second new ball, spinner Archie Vaughan bowling the final delivery of the day with a ball that was 151 overs old.Hameed’s 208 – which ended, to his misfortune, when he was run out responding to a team-mate’s call – takes his tally for the season to 1,108 as the leading runscorer in the Rothesay County Championship.A day that will not stay long in the memory began with Nottinghamshire cutting 82 runs from an overnight deficit of 249 and losing one wicket when Joe Clarke chipped Gregory to short midwicket for 42.The afternoon was a little more entertaining, mainly for Craig Overton assuming the role of pantomime villain in his efforts to unseat Hameed, largely by bowling a legside line, often banging the ball in short.Frustrated when the Nottinghamshire skipper was almost out on 137 immediately after lunch – edging wide enough for wicketkeeper James Rew to reach the ball with his fingertips but not catch it – Overton had metaphorical steam emerging from his ears when Hameed’s failed attempt to pull him on 152 ended with the opener desperately trying to kick the ball away from his stumps as it dropped over his shoulder.Hameed survived again. He had gone past 150 in an innings for the fourth time in his career and appeared as temperamentally unflappable as ever.Amid all this, his counterpart Gregory appeared to have decided that taking the second new ball would aid only the batting side in providing more pace on to the bat from a pitch that itself had none to offer.Nonetheless, the fourth wicket partnership of Hameed and Haynes were able to achieve enough acceleration to claim three batting bonus points within the 110-over specified time, giving them five from the match to Somerset’s four, Haynes then becoming the sole casualty of the afternoon, his dismissal to Gregory almost a duplicate of Clarke’s.They had added 123, and with James, a double centurion himself only last week, now at the other end, Hameed might have envisaged another profitable alliance as Nottinghamshire sought to end the day with the upper hand.In the event, after lifting Vaughan gloriously over long-off to complete his third career double-ton with a 23rd four to go with two earlier sixes, Hameed was soon gone, although through no fault of his own, run out brilliantly by the combination of Tom Lammonby and Rew after James had called him through for a single to extra cover.James played nicely again, adding 88 with Liam Patterson-White for the sixth wicket before he was caught on the midwicket boundary.

MatériaMais Notícias

O próximo confronto do Vasco pelo Brasileirão será nada menos que o Clássico dos Milhões, contra o Flamengo, neste domingo (2), no Maracanã. Como trunfo para esta partida, o Gigante da Colina tem uma coincidência interessante. Na última vez que venceu o rival pelo Campeonato Brasileiro, o Cruz-maltino teve um treinador estreante. Relembre!

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➡️ Tudo sobre o Gigante agora no WhatsApp. Siga o nosso canal Lance! Vasco

Celso Roth começou sua caminhada pelo Vasco contra o Flamengo

Em 2015, o Clássico dos Milhões aconteceu na 9ª rodada. Na Arena Pantanal, Vasco e Flamengo entraram desesperados em campo e precisavam de uma vitória para deixar o Z-4. Àquela altura, o Gigante da Colina ainda não havia conquistado vitória alguma no Brasileirão.

Logo na primeira etapa, Madson deixou Riascos na boa para abrir o placar e definir o jogo. 1 x 0. No mesmo ano, mas pela Copa do Brasil, Jorginho também estreou com vitória diante do Rubro-negro.

continua após a publicidadeÁlvaro Pacheco deu injeção de ânimo à equipe

Os primeiros contatos do elenco vascaíno com Álvaro Pacheco foram animadores. Com uma característica forte e paixão pelo trabalho, o português já começou a conquistar os jogadores do Vasco.

-Os primeiros contatos do elenco vascaíno com Álvaro Pacheco foram animadores. Com uma característica forte e paixão pelo trabalho, o português já começou a conquistar os jogadores do Vasco-, disse Lucas Piton, em Media Day do Grupo Globo.

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Bayern Munich's sporting director Christoph Freund confirmed that the club tried to sign Antony in the summer transfer window. The winger earlier revealed that Vincent Kompany personally called him late on deadline night before he chose Real Betis. Now Freund has confirmed that talks did indeed take place, offering clarity on Bayern’s approach, their evaluation of the player, and why the move ultimately remained only a possibility.

Antony’s revelation and Bayern’s confirmation

Antony recently opened up about the final hours of the summer 2025 transfer window, revealing that the Bavarians made a strong push to sign him and that Kompany personally called him to convince him. He described the call as emotional and destabilising but said he ultimately chose to honour his promise to Real Betis for family and personal reasons as he finally departed Manchester United.

Freund has now confirmed Antony’s version of events. Speaking to , the Bayern sporting director admitted that the period “wasn’t entirely calm,” acknowledged that Bayern had explored several players, including Antony, and agreed that discussions had indeed taken place.

AdvertisementGetty Images SportInside the deadline-day situation and Freund’s explanation

The summer saga became public only when Antony elaborated on how close he came to switching clubs. He said Bayern entered the race in the last 24 hours, Kompany personally called, and conversations were advanced enough to make him rethink what he had already agreed with Real Betis. But despite the prestige of Bayern and Kompany’s respectful approach, Antony insisted that breaking his word to Betis “was never an option.” Having thrived at the Spanish club during his loan period there earlier this year, his family felt settled in Seville, his son was thriving, and he viewed Betis as a place “of happiness and peace.”

Freund’s comments provide Bayern’s complete perspective. “This period wasn’t entirely calm. A lot happened. We looked into several players, Antony was among them. There was also a discussion, but that’s in the past. We’re very happy with how the squad is currently set up. In the end, we came out of it well and are satisfied,” Freund said.

Antony’s revival at Betis and rise as a key performer

Antony’s loan move to Betis from United in early 2025 marked a turning point in his career, laying the foundation for a revival built on consistency, influence and trust. He made an immediate impact-creating goals, dictating attacks and collecting several Man of the Match awards. By the end of that spell, he had produced 14 goal contributions across competitions, a decisive factor in Betis securing Europa League qualification.

His permanent return in September only accelerated his momentum. Across his first full season, Antony registered nine goals and three assists in 24 league games, underlining his evolution from a troubled talent to a reliable match-winner. This season, he has maintained that upward curve with four goals and an assist in eight matches.

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Getty Images SportAntony on adversity and rebuilding at Betis

Antony’s revival at Betis is rooted in everything he endured before arriving in Seville. Speaking about his turbulent spell at Old Trafford, he admitted how difficult those months were. 

“I felt like I was disrespected… more than 40 days in the hotel, training separately,” he said. “I learn from everything I go through and learn that everything is possible when you persist.”

What ultimately brought him back to Betis was happiness, his own and his family’s. Antony stressed that money could never outweigh peace of mind: “Money is important, but happiness is much more… my children and my wife are happy here.” 

He settled in well from the very first minute. In the spring, when he suddenly found himself in goal, he already did very well in important matches. When you see him with the team and the goalkeeping staff, you can tell that he's integrated really well. He wants to learn and improve. Jonas is already at a really good level."

He will be aiming to increase his tally even further when Betis face Girona on Sunday.

Australia have been crying out for an all-format allrounder who can bowl left-arm orthodox, and Connolly can be their man

Daya Sagar23-Sep-2025The past year has been like a dream for Cooper Connolly. The 22-year-old only made his first-class debut for Western Australia in March of 2024. Since then, he has toured the UK, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, the UAE and the Caribbean with Australia, making his international debuts in all three forms.Having made his Test debut in Sri Lanka in February, he is now getting a taste of first-class cricket in India, coming off 70 and a wicket for Australia A in the first unofficial Test against India A in Lucknow last week.”As a kid you dream of playing for Australia, you dream of playing one game but I guess to get the opportunity to play more, it has been nice,” Connolly told ESPNcricinfo. “Hopefully I can play a few more but I think it’s just about learning from the experience, being around those world-class players and then if I get my opportunity, just make the most of it.”Related

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Part of Connolly’s rise to prominence has been the rare skill set that he possesses. Australia have been crying out for an all-format allrounder who can bowl left-arm orthodox.After making his T20I and ODI debut on the UK tour in September 2024, where he spent time working on his spin craft with Australia’s bowling coach and former New Zealand left-arm orthodox Daniel Vettori, Connolly was called up for a surprise Test debut earlier this year in February against Sri Lanka, a tour that was invaluable for him.”I learned a lot with some world-class players around me,” Connolly said. “I sat next to Travis Head a little bit and tried to understand how he goes about it. I am trying to model my game a little bit on him and how he plays. He’s a pretty aggressive player. So I was just trying to learn as much from him as I could. And then with my bowling, I was just getting stuck into Nathan Lyon and even Murph [Todd Murphy], just trying to understand how they go about it.”Cooper Connolly and Todd Murphy in conversation•Tanuj/UPCAHis bowling is raw but the improvements have been evident. In his last ODI against South Africa last month, he claimed his first five-wicket haul in professional cricket. In Lucknow, he felt he bowled well on a surface that provided very little assistance for the spinners, picking up the wicket of India’s incumbent Test No. 3 in B Sai Sudharsan.”I felt like in the first game, my bowling was nice on a pretty flat wicket,” Connolly said. “I felt like I tried to get some wickets out of the rough and tried to be aggressive with my bowling.”And then with my batting, I was just trying to be free-flowing, take the game on, looking to score. I think that’s the best way to bat in Indian conditions.”Connolly has scored six half-centuries in just ten first-class innings at a brisk strike rate of 64.36. The likes of Head and former Australia left-hander Shaun Marsh have been clear influences on Connolly already in his short career, as well as Western Australia’s batting coach and former Australia Test spinner Beau Casson.”I’ve sort of been leaning on Travis Head but to be honest, you don’t really lean on players,” Connolly said. “You just ask for advice, you ask for information, how they go about it. You speak to them, you speak to the team, trying to get the best communication from everyone.”Back home my batting coach Beau Casson has been very good for me, just ticking the right boxes and communicating with me, which has always been nice. And then Shaun Marsh has always been my idol growing up. I was lucky enough to be a part of the Western Australian squad when he was still playing. I think it’s just about getting as much information as you can and trying to understand how much information you can take and be a good player.”Connolly’s skill with both bat and ball makes him an attractive prospect for Australia as they look ahead to a five-Test tour of India in 2027. He is aware that the Australia A tour is the perfect time to work on improving his game in the subcontinent, because he knows that as a spin-bowling allrounder, he will likely get more opportunities to play in this part of the world.”I am just trying to add to my game in the subcontinent,” Connolly said. “Trying to work out how I can play spin better. And then also with my bowling, how I can create opportunities, how I can spin the ball, how I can change the game with the ball. I feel like I am trying to be a game changer. So I am just trying to work out where I can chip in best for the team.”

Marsh fell for 4 as WA slumped to 98 for 4 on a day when only 30 overs were bowled due to rain

AAP06-Dec-2025Mitchell Marsh’s Test audition has failed, dismissed cheaply for the second time in Western Australia’s Sheffield Shield clash with Victoria at the MCG.In his first red-ball game since being dropped by Australia following last year’s Boxing Day Test, Marsh made just 4 in WA’s second innings on Saturday after managing 9 on day one.Related

• Gannon takes five but Macdonald, Short and Perry put Victoria on top

• Stobo's stunning spell helps NSW seize control at SCG

He lasted just six balls as he fell to Victorian seamer Sam Elliott, who is enjoying one of the best games of his first-class career.Marsh, who last played a Shield match in October 2024, had been touted as a potential shock factor at the top of Australia’s order in this summer’s Ashes.But another Test call-up seems unlikely with Travis Head and Jake Weatherald making a promising start to their opening combination for Australia.Marsh had to wait more than half a day on Saturday to get an opportunity to bat, with no play possible until midway through the second session due to rain in Melbourne.With WA starting day three on 5 for 1, Marsh was quickly in the game after nightwatchman Corey Rocchiccioli was trapped lbw by Elliott.The visitors crumbled to 17 for 3 when Marsh exited, before captain Sam Whitemanand fellow veteran Hilton Cartwright rallied.The pair got WA to 75 for 4, a lead of 14, when bad light stopped play midway through the final session. But play was able to resume again, with WA getting to 98 for 4 at stumps and Whiteman unbeaten on 56.With the weather likely to be fine on Sunday, Victoria will still fancy their chances of running through WA and securing an outright win.

Contrasting sides meet in spin-friendly conditions as Test cricket returns to Gaddafi Stadium

Danyal Rasool11-Oct-2025

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This is a series of opposites and inversions. South Africa, the side that won the World Test Championship this year, visit Pakistan, the team that finished bottom. Two sides historically known for their legendary fast bowling prowess will look to manufacture alternate means of taking 20 wickets, with the conditions set to favour each team’s less decorated spin bowlers. South Africa will look to complete a record-extending 11th straight Test win, while Pakistan have triumphed in just three of their previous 12.Even the venue is a bit incongruous for the occasion. Despite Test cricket returning to Pakistan after a decade-long hiatus in 2019, the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore hasn’t seen much of it, with just one five-day game played here, three years ago. All told, this will be just the second Test since 2009 to be played in Lahore, with the Gaddafi Stadium regaining its original position in Pakistan after the stadium was knocked down and rebuilt ahead of the Champions Trophy this year.South Africa are in a somewhat unprecedented position, beginning a world title defence. An ICC trophy was elusive enough for the side to put any notions of defending one into uncharted territory. But a credible defence will have to go through this awkward test in Pakistan. They will do so without the services of their talismanic captain Temba Bavuma, whom his stand-in Aiden Markram termed “irreplaceable”. As importantly, they will miss Keshav Maharaj for the first Test, needing the internationally less experienced Simon Harmer, Senuran Muthusamy and Prenelan Subrayen to step up.Related

• Pakistan prepare for South Africa with precious little first-class cricket

The hosts are in the early stages of an experiment with the surfaces they prepare, one that has brought them results, but also left games heavily dependent on the toss. Pakistan have won three of the four home Test matches played under this system, but three of four have also been won by the side batting first. Pakistan have three finger spinners in their line-up which make their intentions plain, while Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan return to the side after white-ball absences. In theory, Pakistan have a soft enough draw to make qualification for this edition’s final in two years a realistic prospect. But two Test matches, such as the ones coming up, are a long enough time in Pakistan cricket, let alone two years.

Form guide

Pakistan: LWLLW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
South Africa: WWWWW

In the spotlight

Perhaps it says more about Pakistan than it does about Noman Ali, but the man who celebrated his 39th birthday last week is the most important player for the home side this week. With Sajid Khan struggling to overcome a bout of flu, the left-arm spinner needs to take on even more responsibility on the kind of surface Pakistan will prepare almost exclusively suited to his strengths. Noman last played red-ball cricket in February, but he has taken 36 wickets in his last four Tests, making full use of conditions. Sajid just about picked up the other half, but in his absence, Pakistan will ask even more of the man who has entered his 40th year.Ryan Rickelton is still finding his way as an opener in the longest format•Associated Press

Ryan Rickelton has 638 runs in 19 Test innings, and is still finding his way as an opener in the longest format. Nearly half of those runs, though, came in one mammoth innings earlier this year against Pakistan, when he amassed 259 as South Africa ground Pakistan into the Newlands dirt. There is an unbeaten hundred against Sri Lanka, but aside from that, he has yet to cross 42 in 17 other innings. As South Africa begin their defence and Rickelton takes guard in conditions he has not faced before, it remains to be seen whether his happy memories against Pakistan can overcome his otherwise modest Test record.

Team news

Pakistan’s biggest headache is the potential unavailability of Sajid Khan as he battles flu. The offspinner did rejoin the Pakistan camp, but Shan Masood said a decision on whether he plays will be taken last minute.Pakistan (possible): 1 Abdullah Shafique/Imam ul Haq, 2 Shan Masood (capt) 3 Kamran Ghulam 4 Babar Azam 5 Saud Shakeel 6 Mohammad Rizwan (wk) 7 Salman Ali Agha 8 Noman Ali 9 Khurram Shahzad 10 Sajid Khan/Abrar Ahmed 11 Asif AfridiSouth Africa captain Aiden Markram kept his cards close to his chest regarding the eleven, though it is inevitable the visitors will also go spin-heavy.South Africa (possible): 1 Aiden Markram (capt), 2 Ryan Rickelton, 3 Wiaan Mulder, 4 Dewald Brevis, 5 David Bedingham (wk), 6 Kyle Verreynne, 7 Marco Jansen, 8 Prenelan Subrayen, 9 Senuran Muthusamy, 10 Simon Harmer, 11 Kagiso Rabada

Pitch and conditions

The previous week saw unseasonal rains and cool temperatures in Lahore, but that weather system has been washed away. The Test will be played under hot October sunshine. That should help break the surface, almost certainly spin-friendly, up even quicker. It was kept under cover today. The winner of the toss will almost certainly bat first.

Stats and trivia

• South Africa have won 10 Test matches on the trot, their longest streak in history
• Babar Azam is 251 runs away from becoming the 5th Pakistan batter to 15,000 international runs. Inzamam-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf and Javed Miandad are the only players to have achieved that feat.

Quotes“It’s a good opportunity for us to start against the defending champions. It will be a good yardstick for us to play against them, especially if we can get a good result against them.” “Preparation has been good. We had a camp back in South Africa where we tried to simulate conditions as best as we could. There was a lot of focus on spin play and our spinners getting used to the ball spinning a lot compared to South Africa.” South African captain Aiden Markram reveals what the visitors tried to do to replicate the conditions they are likely to encounter