Archive October 29, 2025

Hamilton’s second one-day international

England 175 (36 overs): Overton 42 (28), Tickner 4-34

New Zealand 177-5 (33.1 overs): Mitchell 56* (59) Ravindra 54 (58), Archer 3-23

New Zealand won the series by five wickets to lead it with 2-0.

England’s top order suffered a setback in the second one-day international against New Zealand, which came against a five-wicket defeat to England.

With just one match left, New Zealand clinched the series with a score of 2-0 with a bowling out of the park after the tourists were bowled out for 175 with 14 of their innings remaining.

Jamie Overton’s 42 balls, which included 28 balls, were the top scorer for England.

After Jamie Smith, Joe Root, Jacob Bethell, and Brook had all started without being able to turn those starts into anything more significant, that innings came.

As the rest of England’s order struggled to contain a disciplined New Zealand attack, Blair Tickner claimed 4-34, while Nathan Smith, a fellow seamer, took 2-27.

With the fourth ball of the Black Caps’ innings, Jofra Archer pins opener Will Young with the ball to give England some early hope.

Before being fired by Overton, Kane Williamson showed his nous by soaking up the pressure with a grimy 21 before taking the mic.

When Archer put an end to Rachin Ravindra’s fluent innings of 54 before strangling Michael Bracewell down the leg side, England still had hope.

The tourists will hope for a better result in Saturday’s third ODI (01:00 GMT), but this game will be remembered for the following:

Seddon Park’s surface had a more commendable straw-colored hue, but the test team’s performance, which they were hoping would find some form before crossing the Tasman Sea, was comparable.

Although this capitulation was less dramatic than the one at Mount Maunganui, movement off the pitch and in the air was less prominent.

In contrast to Sunday, the swing was much lower (0. 69 degrees versus 1. 31) and the seam was much lower (0. 57 degrees versus 0. 89).

However, England’s wickets frequently fell as a result of a combination of bad luck, poor judgment, and good bowling.

As Duckett’s lean trot continued toward the end of the English summer, he nicked off a good ball from Jacob Duffy for just one.

Smith, a fellow opener, skied one as far as Zac Foulkes and fell on 13th.

When Root was frustrated that Tickner’s down leg side deliveries, neither of which were called wide, did not come in for a third and ended up tickling Tom Latham, he reached 25.

Although Bethell and Brook initially appeared confident only for things to get worse with a duff pull shot and backward point on 18, respectively, at a parlous 51-3, England were vulnerable.

Overton at least made the overall more competitive, despite the lack of contributions from the rest of the lower order as New Zealand ruthlessly ended the innings.

Are England’s first two international series of struggles a sign of a new winter in the southern hemisphere?

Cardiff City’s pursuit of the Welsh championship’s title title ended Wrexham’s EFL Cup dream, making it possible for them to reach the quarter-finals of the competition this year.

The League One side, who are now eagerly awaiting the outcome of Wednesday night’s final eight draw, scored from Yousef Salech and Will Fish’s header on either side of Kieffer Moore’s header.

Cardiff have been the League One team with the most possession possession this season.

And they made no mistake about sticking with that pattern because they knew Wrexham was firmly in the north of North Wales from the beginning.

The Bluebirds had only had 62% of the ball when the Bluebirds and Bolton Wanderers met only three days prior, but they still managed to score one shot against the Trotters.

However, they were a constant threat throughout the entire first half.

In reality, they should have been much more at ease heading into the break, but Barry-Murphy will find Cardiff’s dramatic improvement in attack at Wrexham to be very positive given how blunt they were against Bolton.

Will Fish’s winner, which came from Callum Burton, may have been better, but Joel Bagan’s superb delivery and contact with the ball made him smile.

Kieffer Moore once more demonstrated why he is so crucial to Phil Parkinson, despite the fact that he may have ended up on the losing side.

After coming off the bench to help Wrexham come back into the game seven minutes after heading against the crossbar from close range in Saturday’s 1-1 draw with Middlesbrough.

If Ryan Longman had been able to steer Ryan Longman’s cutback, the 33-year-old could have significantly increased his total.

After the full-time whistle was blown, the Cardiff faithful erupted in a mockery of the towering frontman, who had scored 25 goals in 66 appearances for the Bluebirds during his two-year tenure with the club.

However, his impact once more demonstrated why Parkinson was eager to sign the Sheffield United striker for the summer.

With a superb header from Kieffer, Parkinson expressed his satisfaction.

Before the kick-off, Brian Barry-Murphy and Ruben Colwill made a statement about how they wanted Cardiff to demonstrate their ability to defeat Championship rivals.

And they went far beyond just battling off against their Welsh foes.

The Bluebirds took control of the opening half for the majority of the game, adding an additional attacking threat.

The Bluebirds regrouped admirably and created more chances even after a brief slog when Moore equalized for the hosts, and Will Fish successfully took control of setting up his Cardiff account.

“Our players believe we can get to that level for sure, and that’s our intention this season,” Barry-Murphy told Wales’ BBC Sport.

“To put ourselves in a game like this against a team who has been so impressive recently was a real test for us because we never know how it will turn out,” said one player. “To perform in the manner that we did gives us great hope for the future.”

Before the contest, there was some discussion about who owned which two clubs.

After south trumped north, Vincent Tan will have a beaming smile on his face rather than Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney, the Hollywood duo.

And Barry-Murphy acknowledged that Tan, the owner of Bluebirds, will be incredibly happy after seeing his team triumph over Parkinson’s men.

The Irishman predicted that the owner will be very pleased tonight because we have a very demanding owner who insists that we have more shots.

Rubin Colwill was Cardiff’s best attacking play, as has been the case numerous times this season.

Colwill Sr, who had a crucial part in his team’s opener, had the absolute worst chance of not crashing into himself from a free kick.

However, the 23-year-old put on a stunning display, finishing the match with six crucial passes, more than any other player on the field.

He won the player of the match award for his efforts, and he will undoubtedly have attracted the attention of Wales boss Craig Bellamy.

“Our press was fantastic from the beginning.” We are aware of what we can do, Rubin Colwill told Sky Sports.

Wrexham’s week is getting worse when they play Championship rival Coventry City on Friday night at 8:00 GMT.

Haji Wright and Brandon Thomas-Asante, both of whom are known for their defensive concerns, will be happy to hear about them.

When Frank Lampard brings his table toppers to Stok Cae Ras, Callum Doyle will serve the final game of his three-game suspension.

Additionally, Parkinson will not be able to call on Lewis Brunt, who has been forced to miss around 12 weeks due to a thigh injury he underwent surgery on.

George Thomason was substituted at left-back against Cardiff due to the issues, and Conor Coady, a summer signing, made his first appearance in six weeks.

Hello and welcome to my brand-new Going Direct BBC Sport column.

Every week, I’ll be examining a different aspect of the modern game, from tactics to man-management, and comparing contemporary design concepts to contemporary trends.

The rise of set-pieces, which is probably the season’s main plot so far, is only one place to start.

When we were promoted to the Premier League in 2008, I was labeled as a dinosaur for my focus on long-throws and dead-ball situations with Stoke City, but I wouldn’t say that because I knew how significant they were then.

Who I was managing, I had the responsibility to get results. I was indeed pragmatic, but I also had a purpose. I focused on achieving my club’s fundamental tenets of effectiveness.

Both ends of the pitch are crucial, not the middle. You must either keep the ball out of the net at one end or into the net at the other.

This is not a new idea; attacking set-plays, as well as defensive ones, are becoming more common this year with Mikel Arteta’s Arsenal side leading the charge.

We knew one of the things we had to nail down when Stoke moved up the top flight, set plays in the top end of the pitch, because if we did them correctly, they would help the team achieve goals.

We worked really hard on them in difficult Premier League games, especially in the first couple of years we were there, because they were the difference between us picking up points and dropping them, as well as staying up or down, and keeping them.

Just at the top end of the table, Arteta and Arsenal are following the same rules.

Like me, he has acknowledged the value of keeping clean sheets and that many of his games were won. Therefore, he has searched for a way to convert those draws to victories.

Since more than 20% of the Premier League’s non-penalty goals were scored on corners or free kicks last year, Arteta has likely considered those figures and the likelihood of becoming a winning team if it can get some of it.

I think Arteta’s embrace of set pieces is fantastic, and like me, I don’t think he will care about those who criticize him for doing it.

Whatever club you play at and whatever style of play will always generate noise and criticism from the outside, but if you are winning games, your supporters will be enthralled by it.

When Eberechi Eze scored Declan Rice’s free kick in the opener against Crystal Palace on Sunday, the Arsenal fans were singing “set-piece again, ole ole ole ole.”

I find it amusing that Arsene Wenger and I were both taking criticism for our corner routines and long throws ten or twelve years ago, and that Arsene Wenger was saying that Stoke was a rugby team.

Because he has seen all of that at the time and simply thought, “you know what, doing that could help us,” that is another reason why I have nothing but respect for Arteta.

I’ve seen a mockup of him wearing my baseball cap and other accessories, and I adore how good-looking he makes me look!

Wenger tried his hardest to change that by criticizing people like Sam Allardyce and myself, but he never seemed to appreciate the value of set-pieces and he also found it challenging to play against teams who were direct like us.

Recently, I recently watched Pep Guardiola’s interview, and they tried to make him dislike set-plays and long throws when they returned to the game.

He is one of the most powerful coaches that has ever been in power, and he claimed that he might use the same tactic if he had someone with broad shoulders who could launch the ball in for throw-ins.

Of course, it matters that Arsenal is doing it right now, not Stoke. Everyone takes notice when Arteta performs it at one of the world’s biggest and most well-known clubs.

People become aware of and acknowledge it when it continues to happen. It’s similar to when Stoke were playing at the Britannia Stadium and Rory Delap threw the throw until the crowd cheered and cheered until it was over.

Arsenal is also starting to take corners and the crowd is up before the ball even gets played, which is starting to change. It is amazing what they expect and how much pressure they put on the opposition. Of course, there is still criticism, but Arteta deserves it for it.

So maybe Big Sam and I were trend-setters after all, but I’d argue that I didn’t care because I knew what they were worth to the club I was in.

Some people were snobbish and downplayed what we did, but inside the club no one was. We laughed because we knew it was rewarding and that we weren’t going to tell anyone.

The same Sean Dyche exists. He mentioned me and Stoke’s long throws on the manager’s podcast I do with Mick McCarthy last week, and he then said the same thing when he got the Nottingham Forest job a few days later.

What matters is winning, in my opinion, for Dyche.

Rhian Wilkinson predicts Wales’ chances of winning a repeat of their 11-game winning streak will be positive.

After her much-changed Wales side was defeated 5-2 by Poland in a harrowing friendly on Tuesday in Newport, the head coach said there were “no excuses.”

The Welsh team’s longest losing streak since the mid-1990s was a result of a Defeat in their first game without the retired Jess Fishlock, which was their seventh consecutive defeat.

Since winning the Euro 2025 play-off against the Republic of Ireland in December 2024, Wales have won 11 games.

Wales will host one or two friendlies in the following month, but no date has yet been given for the fixture.

Wilkinson already has an eye on the upcoming Nations League campaign, which begins in February 2026 and returns to League B after being relegated from the top earlier this year.

When asked if there were any positives to the Poland defeat, Wilkinson responded, “I think there is a huge positive that we are dropping down to Nations League B.”

After her team’s performance against Poland, which made their major tournament debut at Euro 2025, Wilkinson expressed disappointment.

The Poles brutally exposed an experimental home line-up at Rodney Parade despite being 26th in the world, six places higher than Wales.

I don’t believe that’s who we are as a nation or as a team, according to Wilkinson.

Every team has off days, according to the saying, “We have off days.” However, we cannot lose our identity on those days.

We were “committed to a transitional game,” and we are now better than that. It’s not even enjoyable to watch because it’s not our style of football.

“These women give a damn about Wales,” the woman said. “I’m not proud of that performance.

Mia Ross and Teagan Scarlett, both from Charlton, made debuts, while Tianna Teisar made her first start for Wales.

As Wales changed its starting lineup from last Saturday’s friendly defeat to Australia, making nine changes also gave a number of other players the chance to impress.

Wilkinson claimed that some senior players who were playing for Poland “didn’t” get it when the youngsters needed assistance.

In these welcoming windows, I believe that’s crucial. We don’t get many, so I believe we are deserving of using them to really push and stretch ourselves.

Wilkinson claims that Wales “haven’t got anything signed” in relation to friendly opponents in 2025’s final international window.

Wales will be desperate for a win, regardless of who they face, as they prepare for the Nations League, which doubles as World Cup 2027 qualifying.

There has been a period of not winning. That’s a habit we need to break, Williamson said.