The Marlins beat the Cardinals 6-2 on Wednesday night in front of a sparse 9,300 fans at LoanDepot Park. Those who did attend got to see Miami's Sandy Alcantara have one of his best outings of the season.

Alcantara gave up five hits and one earned run in seven innings while he struck out a season-high nine batters and walked just one. In the process, he earned his seventh win of the season.

The Marlins' pitcher could have had an even better night, but Agustín Ramírez failed to catch strike three as St. Louis catcher Yohel Pozo swung and missed. Pozo reached on the passed ball as Ramírez framed a pitch he never caught.

Bally Sports Florida analyst Tommy Hutton was not impressed.

"What it does, we've seen a couple of instances tonight, it makes Sandy throw more pitches," said Hutton. "See, to me, DON'T TRY TO FRAME THAT PITCH! Catch it before you try to frame it!"

He also added, "It's all you gotta do."

Three batters later, after what would have been the third out was recorded, Pozo scored on a Lars Nootbaar double.

For some reason the Marlins catchers are having a very unique season.

كشفت تقارير إعلامية اليوم الخميس، عن وجود تطورات جديدة متعلقة بمستقبل موهبة نادي ريال مدريد وحقيقة انتقاله إلى الدوري الألماني الممتاز خلال الفترة المقبلة.

ويرتبط عدد من اللاعبين بالرحيل عن صفوف ريال مدريد خلال فترة الميركاتو الشتوي المقبل في يناير، في ظل عدم مشاركتهم بشكل منتظم مع النادي الإسباني.

ويأتي على رأس هؤلاء اللاعبين جونزالو جارسيا، موهبة ريال مدريد الشابة، والذي يعتبر من أهم اللاعبين الشباب في إسبانيا خلال الفترة الأخيرة.

ويلعب جارسيا في مركز المهاجم الصريح بجانب الجناحين الأيمن والأيسر، وقدم أوراق اعتماده مع ريال مدريد خلال مسابقة كأس العالم للأندية الأخيرة في الولايات المتحدة الأمريكية.

تقرأ أيضًا.. لاعب ريال مدريد المصاب يزف نبأً سعيدًا بعد الهزيمة أمام مانشستر سيتي

وذكر صحفي شبكة “سكاي سبورتس” فلوريان بليتينبيرج، أن جارسيا مطلوب بالفعل في الدوري الألماني، حيث يرغب شتوتجارت في ضم اللاعب البالغ من العمر 21 عامًا خلال فترة الميركاتو الشتوي المقبل.

وأضاف بليتينبيرج في حديثه، أن شتوتجارت يحلم بضم جارسيا، حيث يعتبر اللاعب الشاب حلمًا بالنسبة للنادي الألماني وقد جرت بالفعل مفاوضات لضمه، لكن الصفقة تبدو صعبة للغاية.

وأوضح بليتينبيرج، أن جارسيا على الأرجح مستمر مع ريال مدريد، ويرتبط بعقد مع الفريق الملكي إلى نهاية موسم 2030 المقبل.

وشارك جارسيا بشكل أساسي خلال لقاء ريال مدريد ومانشستر سيتي يوم أمس الأربعاء في دوري أبطال أوروبا بدلًا من كيليان مبابي المصاب، حيث انتهت هذه المباراة بخسارة الميرنجي 2-1.

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In his capacity as a Fox Sports analyst, Alex Rodriguez had a front-row seat to the magical World Series that the Los Angeles Dodgers and Toronto Blue Jays pushed to, and beyond, its limits. In the end it was the defending champions who were able to secure back-to-back titles by outlasting their Canadian hosts last Saturday night in a game that brought more eyeballs to baseball than any in the previous eight years. So he had plenty of time to take in the energy and atmosphere that only added to the drama fans at home were able to enjoy. And to compare it to all previous versions of the Fall Classic.

Asked by if we just watched the greatest World Series every played, Rodriguez explained why he believes so.

"Yes," he said. "Well, in my lifetime, I've never. You know, that's obviously very subjective, but in my lifetime, I've never seen a better one. It had all the elements of just the juiciest, most delicious, World Series."

Rodriguez is not alone in his assessment, as many have wondered if the sport just enjoyed a high-water mark that will be difficult, if not impossible to match. The way he processed the seven-game greatness, however, is unique. Seated next to David Ortiz, Derek Jeter and Kevin Burkhardt, the former player was able to witness all the ingredients that went into making things buzz.

"It had three S’s, right?" Rodriguez said. "It had, it had superstars, it had strategy and it had incredible storylines. And what's great about baseball."

Rodriguez also spoke about the episodic nature of a baseball playoff series as opposed to the immediacy and one-and-doneness of other sports.

"Super Bowl has one like Tom Cruise movie. Over 100 million people will watch. What's different and what I think more compelling about a seven-game World Series, which are very rare—we only had two prior to this one in the last eight years—is that is like a mini docuseries and there's seven episodes.

"And just like , if you watch all six now, you're invested. You're hooked. You're hooked in the characters, the storyline, the strategy. And then you must watch game seven. So it was just awesome. I'm so proud of the game."

Houston Astros pitcher Luis Garcia will make his long-awaited return to the starting rotation on Monday, according to multiple reports. Garcia is set to be activated from the 60-day IL for Monday's game against the Angels in what will be his first start since 2023.

Garcia underwent Tommy John surgery in May of 2023 and has since been enduring a lengthy recovery process. More than two years later, he's finally set to rejoin the rotation in Houston, and he'll hope to contribute to the team's playoff push as they look to fend off the Mariners and Rangers in the AL West.

Garcia, 28, last pitched a full season in 2022. That year, he made 28 starts and threw 157 1/3 innings, with a 3.72 ERA and 157 strikeouts. He had a 3.48 ERA in 30 appearances the year prior.

Garcia was hopeful of returning in 2024, but he experienced soreness in his elbow, which delayed his return. He had another setback in 2025, which prevented him from returning earlier in the season. After completing a rehab assignment, he has been given the green light to return to the mound in Houston.

He'll likely need some time to stretch out before pitching deep into games, but he could wind up being a valuable late-season addition for Houston as the calendar turns to September.

There's less than two weeks remaining in the 2025 MLB season, but the playoff race remains wide open as teams compete for one of each league's three wild-card spots.

Entering play Wednesday, the wild card winners would include the Yankees, Astros and Red Sox from the American League, and the Cubs, Padres and Mets in the National League.

But just because a team is currently in position to sneak into the postseason doesn't mean the job is done. There are a handful of teams still sitting within striking distance, and a strong end of the season could enable them to surpass one of the teams currently tracking to earn a wild-card berth.

Let's take a look at which teams are still in the mix yet currently on the outside looking in at the playoff race. We'll break down what each team must do to sneak into the postseason both in terms of their remaining schedule and a struggling star who needs to step up.

American League

Cleveland Guardians (80–71), 2.5 GB of final wild-card spot

Remaining schedule: @ DET (1), @ MIN (4), vs. DET (3), vs. TEX (3)
FanGraphs playoff odds: 16.8%

The Guardians have caught fire at the right time. Now just 2.5 games behind the Red Sox in the wild-card race, Cleveland has won 10 of its last 11 games, including six in a row. The Guardians have eight games against division rivals remaining, including four against the AL Central-leading Tigers, whom they trail by 4.5 games, and end the season with a pivotal matchup against the Rangers, who sit behind them in the AL playoff hunt.

That matchup against Texas could directly determine whether Cleveland's season will extend into October. Of course, beating the Rangers will be vital, and sweeping them would effectively eliminate Texas from playoff contention, but even that might not be enough for the Guardians if they don't take care of business against Detroit and Minnesota.

The Guardians will be looking to Steven Kwan to heat back up offensively. The usually reliable outfielder struggled throughout the summer, but appears to be rediscovering his usual form. After logging a .514 OPS in the month of August, he’s batting .308 with a .753 OPS in 16 games in September. As his play has improved, so has that of his team, and the fan base will certainly be hoping he can stay hot through the end of the year.

Texas Rangers (79–74), 4.5 GB

Remaining schedule: vs. MIA (3), vs. MIN (3), @ CLE (3)
FanGraphs playoff odds: 3.7%

The Rangers sit two games behind the Guardians in the wild-card race, but they've lost four straight and were just swept by the rival Astros. As mentioned above, the season-ending series between Texas and Cleveland could serve as an elimination round—though at this point even the winner isn’t guaranteed to qualify for the postseason.

The Rangers need to make sure they're still in position to potentially get into the playoffs by the time that series arrives on Sept. 26. Prior to that, they take on the Marlins and Twins, and not getting the most out of those series against teams in the bottom half of the standings would be a major failure on the part of the Rangers.

As a team, the Rangers rank 24th with a .664 OPS over the last 15 days. Adolis Garcia will need to do his part following his return from injury. Since re-entering the lineup Sunday, Garcia has just one hit in nine at-bats. He's had a disappointing year overall, logging a .677 OPS, but his team will need him to play up to his usual standards if they want to end the year on a high note.

National League

Arizona Diamondbacks (77–76), 1.5 GB

Remaining schedule: vs. PHI (3), vs. LAD (3), @ SD (3)
FanGraphs playoff odds: 7.1%

Arizona is within striking distance of the Mets, who are clinging onto the final wild-card spot in the National League. The Diamondbacks had won four in a row before losing in extra innings to the fellow playoff-chasing Giants on Wednesday—wasting nine innings of one-hit ball by Brandon Pfaadt—dropping them to just one game above .500.

The D-Backs have an off day to recover before confronting a tall task this weekend against the Phillies, who have already clinched the NL East but are still trying to overtake the Brewers for home-field advantage in the NL playoffs. And the difficult schedule doesn't subside there, with the D-Backs slated to close out the year against the Dodgers and Padres, two teams fighting to improve their playoff seeding and win the NL West. If they can get some good results against teams they're plenty familiar with, they could find themselves playing in October. It will be anything but easy, though.

One player the Diamondbacks could use a bit more from of late is Ketel Marte. The standout second baseman has a 72 WRC+ over the last month and has a .185 batting average across 13 games in September. He's one of the best hitters in baseball when he's locked in at the plate, and fans in Arizona will be hoping he can return to form down the stretch with a playoff spot still up for grabs.

Cincinnati Reds (76–76), 2 GB

Remaining schedule: vs. CHC (4), vs. PIT (3), @ MIL (3)
FanGraphs playoff odds: 6.2%

If the Reds end up missing out on a playoff spot by a game or two, they’ll have no one to blame but themselves after being swept by the A’s last weekend. Cincinnati did recover to take two of three from the Cardinals this week, but the club must lock in entering the home stretch.

Luckily for the Reds, they end their season against the Cubs, Pirates and Brewers—three division rivals without as much to play for. Chicago just punched its ticket to the playoffs Wednesday and may take its foot off the gas pedal a bit, as Milwaukee might in the season’s final series since it should have the NL Central wrapped up by then. The Pirates have long stopped playing meaningful baseball.

But if the Reds are going to play in the postseason for the first time since 2020, they'll need more from their star players. Elly De La Cruz has slumped of late, and it'll be crucial for him to get back on track. The shortstop is slashing just .175/.266/.246 this month, with three extra-base hits in 57 at-bats. He hasn’t homered since July 31 and has just one home run since the All-Star break, compared to 18 in the first half.

If De La Cruz can't get right at the plate, the Reds will have a difficult time finding the run support they need to take down some of their tough opponents to close out the year, even if their division rivals aren’t faced with the same do-or-die situation.

San Francisco Giants (76–76), 2 GB

Remaining schedule: @ LAD (4), vs. STL (3), vs. COL (3)
FanGraphs playoff odds: 4%

After winning their first four games in September, the Giants have faltered a bit, and are now losers of five of their last seven games. They're a half-game behind the Diamondbacks after losing a midweek series to Arizona and now find themselves on level ground with the Reds. They end the season with matchups against the Dodgers, Cardinals and Rockies, all teams they've already played against this month.

When trading for Rafael Devers earlier this year, the expectation was that the team could contend for the playoffs. Despite that, the Giants struggled after the acquisition and ended up being sellers at the trade deadline. If they're to get over this final hurdle and make it to the postseason, they'll need Devers to step up and play like the superstar they acquired him to be.

The lefty slugger has a .661 OPS this month with a .190/.299/.362 slash line. He has just five hits in his last 40 at-bats, and is without a home run during that span. The Giants need Devers to find himself at the plate over the next two weeks, or else their chances of playing in October will quickly fade.

Our correspondent hangs out with the World Cup winner and his family (plus dogs) at his home in Barbados

Alexis Nunes20-Apr-2020It’s always funny when you get to interview a close friend. You almost work extra-hard to highlight that special thing that makes them your friend.For months, Jofra Archer and I had tried to coordinate our schedules to give this video feature the time I felt it deserved.”How about this Saturday?” I would ask.”Nah, I have training and then I gotta pack for New Zealand. What about the Sunday?” he would ask.”Nah, I’ve gotta go to Liverpool for football,” I would reply.Then the cycle would repeat itself until it was time for him to head to South Africa, where, unfortunately, his tour was cut short when he picked up a stress fracture in his elbow. After that, I knew he was set to head back to see his family in the Caribbean.ALSO WATCH: Getting a Jofra Archer-designed tattoo blindfolded!”Why don’t you guys just come to Barbados?” Jof suggested.We landed in Barbados on a Thursday, four days before Jof was due to head back to England to continue rehab on his injury.I felt like I was visiting a close relative – and in a sense, I was.The only issue we faced was explaining to my English producer just how Caribbean time works. It was only the morning of the shoot that Jof messaged to give us the green light to pop by to his place. My producer had written up a perfectly detailed production plan, times included, prior to the trip. I was certain we wouldn’t stick to any of those times, but I wasn’t complaining. I was back in my natural habitat, having left behind London and its nine-degree weather with a side of fog and rain.Jofra Archer with his mum Joelle•ESPNcricinfo LtdWe set out to get the most important thing for the day, apart from the camera equipment – food. The idea was to have a chat, looking back at the last year with Jof, over a meal with his family. I took orders, which Jof’s sister relayed on text message.”Just waiting for Jofra’s order now,” she said.”I bet he’s gonna ask for the ribs,” I replied.”Yeah, he said get the ribs and chips, please.”Order almost complete, I realised we were missing one side. I texted Jof to see what he preferred between a side of steamed veggies or coleslaw.”Veg,” he said. “I only like my mom’s coleslaw.”Fair enough. After all, moms know everything, right? Well, almost everything, as I soon found out.We pulled up to Jofra’s family home where he paused his intense game of out of Jof to understand what it was like for him to be living through each situation.”But you know, he gives you nothing,” she said with a laugh.Don’t I know it? Even though I’m a few years older than Jof, I always joke that he’s like an older cousin or something. He has been a welcome peace after many storms, whether he’s trying to be or not.I can remember chatting with him during the 2018 IPL. He had a slight injury concern but looked set to take the field again. People wanted to know why the Rajasthan Royals had paid $1.125 million for a player who hadn’t played any international cricket. It felt like everyone was watching and Jof had to cope with the pressure of playing in the world’s top T20 league.Jof’s response? He asked for my prediction for an upcoming Manchester United match. Calm, cool and collected as ever.Fourteen ODIs old and already a World Cup winner•Getty ImagesAs excited as I was to see everyone in his family again, there was one face I was extra-happy to see – Blu, Jofra’s dog, who had made the trip from England to Barbados just a few weeks before our visit. If you haven’t noticed by now, Jof is a huge dog lover. That, along with the fact that we both support Manchester United, is how we got chatting in the first place, sending each other dog memes and videos on a daily basis.Last summer I was looking forward to watching the Ashes live now that I was living in England. That a friend was actually going to be a part of it felt surreal.Jof had missed the first Test while undergoing treatment for a side strain, but now he was raring to go for the second Test, at Lord’s. I made sure I was free to go to the ground on day one. The usual critics had been raising questions about him: sure, he can handle one-day cricket, but can he handle Test cricket?Day one came and we got rain, rain and more rain. Play was abandoned without a ball being bowled. I went to the mall with Jof’s sister. Later that day, we got a text.”When you guys finishing? I wanna go look about a puppy,” Jof said.Before I knew it, we had all jumped into his car and were headed to this mystery location to “view” this puppy. When we got there and he picked up this grey puppy with the most beautiful blue eyes.Jof turned to me and asked, “You have plenty work to do this week?” As we got into the car and headed back to London with the puppy in my lap, I wondered how I was going to explain to my dog, Zlatan, about our new house guest.Over the next couple of days, I managed to make it to Lord’s for the cricket, but only until lunch since I had to keep rushing back to take care of my new Godpup (yes, that’s a thing.) During those days, a lot happened on the pitch. Jofra made his Test debut, took five wickets in the match, and was involved in Steve Smith concussion.In his debut series, in four Ashes Tests, Archer took 22 wickets at 20.27•Getty ImagesJof was back in the headlines once again, but after becoming the Super-Over hero in the World Cup final, this was just a standard day in the office, right? As a fan and a reporter, I tried to pry for details, but he would answer every question in his chill manner, as if his Test debut were just another match, and then follow up with a request to call around to see little Blu.”We were supposed to actually just see him,” he said while we sat on a beach near his family home, with a now not so little Blu. “But when I got there and I saw him in the litter, it was really hard to not take him with me.”Fair enough, I thought. After all, I was there too and I knew at least one of us was leaving with a puppy, whether we planned to or not! I had learnt the day before that at one point Jof had considered becoming a veterinarian if the whole cricket thing didn’t work out. And his mum said he all but enrolled for a course in agriculture in Barbados before he left for the UK to pursue the cricket dream. That other back-up plan would probably have worked out well too.As we sat under the palm trees on the white sands of a perfect beach a stone’s throw away from where he grew up, I noticed a massive rock in the sea in the distance.”That rock wasn’t always in the sea, you know,” Jof explained while our camera crew framed the shot for our interview. “It was a part of that cliff, but fell off maybe four or five years ago.””That’s mental. It’s massive – it must have felt like an earthquake! I wonder what causes that,” I said.”Soil erosion,” Jofra answered.”Okay, Mr Agriculture!” I replied and we all broke out into laughter.That’s Jofra – multitalented, multidimensional and all wrapped up in the most chilled out exterior. So whether you want tips on playing Call of Duty, or on banking with Natwest or HSBC (I’m speaking from experience here), or maybe you want someone to bowl a crunch over on the way to winning a World Cup, Jofra is your guy. His ability to take even the most mind-blowing moments in stride might just be his best weapon yet.

Too few West Indies batsmen showed the application required in their bid to salvage a draw

Nagraj Gollapudi20-Jul-2020With an hour left in the game, as the final drinks break of this Test was called, Ben Stokes walked alongside Shannon Gabriel. It was a matter of time for an England victory with Gabriel and his new-ball partner Kemar Roach doing their best to avoid the inevitable. But Stokes did not want West Indies to relax: he said a few words in the direction of Gabriel, who just kept his head down. First ball upon the resumption, England got the breakthrough.Stokes plucked out two stumps and why not – he had flattened West Indies’ bowlers with the bat first and then broken the resolve of their batsmen twice via crucial breakthroughs with the ball. One of those was that of Jermaine Blackwood, just a ball away from tea.Blackwood was in the middle of a flourishing partnership with Shamarh Brooks in the second session. Their alliance had cleaned up after the farce that was the Windies top-order, which showed no fight, resolve or technique and succumbed at the first punch from England.ALSO READ: Sky’s the limit for ‘Mr Incredible’ Stokes – RootBlackwood had picked up three early fours off Sam Curran and had dominated Dom Bess from the word go. Playing his naturally attacking game, Blackwood felt comfortable. So much so in that final over before tea, bowled by – who else? – Stokes, Blackwood felt he could afford to smile and chirp back to the England allrounder.Stokes was attempting to expose Blackwood’s weakness: facing the short-pitched delivery. Bowling from around the stumps, wide of the crease, Stokes banged in the perfect short ball, that climbed sharply into the ribs of the airborne Blackwood. Instead of ducking it, Blackwood responded awkwardly to fend it off, but lobbed a catch that Jos Buttler took running to his left. Stokes did not waste the opportunity to say a few words in the direction of Blackwood.It was the turning point and West Indies never recovered. West Indies lost this Test because of many reasons, but the most important was their batsmen never showed the relentlessness of Stokes. With the bat, Stokes had shown the grit and determination to succeed – however ugly he looked, however slow he played. What mattered to him was the big picture, building a big total, and then forcing West Indies to follow-on. Allied with the belief of Stuart Broad, Stokes nearly had West Indies facing embarrassment on Sunday.Although England ultimately had to bat again, they did so from a position of strength. Then, for the second day in succession, Broad made the new ball talk. John Campbell had already spilled an easy catch from Stokes, and then further embarrassed himself by once again becoming a walking wicket.Shai Hope, too, has been hopeless. A nip-backer from Broad reared off a length from the fourth-stump line to hit the top of his off stump. Hope meanwhile squatted in response as if it was a grubber. Hope’s Test career now hangs in balance. He has been totally out of sorts, unable to find a rhythm and settle down. Unlike Kraigg Brathwaite, who has at least proved that he can play late and play time despite his string of failures in the second innings, Hope has looked like man with a head full of questions instead.Shamarh Brooks fell to Sam Curran for 62•Getty ImagesFor once the vigilant defence of Roston Chase failed, leaving the responsibility of saving the Test match with Brooks and Blackwood. With Blackwood showing intent, Brooks played second fiddle initially, and after the Jamaican left, he showed character to withstand the renewed pressure from England. Could he do what Blackwood did in Southampton to take West Indies to the finish line and secure a draw? He only had one specialist batting partner in his captain Jason Holder, after Shane Dowrich once again showed his weakness against the short delivery.With the ball getting softer, but staying low, in the final session Curran went round the stumps, and lured Brooks with slow cutters. The ploy was to draw the batsman forward with silly mid-off and a short cover placed as a trap. Brooks was attentive initially and watched the ball, playing late with soft hands. The margin of error was zero – if he failed, it was end of story. And that is what happened when Curran burst through, despite the watchful gaze of Brooks, who did not even review having been rapped on the knee, in front of off stump.They might have eventually taken the game into the final hour, but West Indies were not close to batting out the 80-odd overs they needed to for a draw that would secure the Wisden Trophy. West Indies made a cumulative total of 485 runs in the match, which was nearly what Engalnd made in the first innnings (469). No West Indies batsman has scored a century in the series so far. Brathwaite, Blackwood and Brooks have shown some resolve, but they will admit they have lacked the hunger and belief of Stokes.Despite the slow nature of the pitches and dry conditions, the tourists have been vulnerable against balls arriving on the stumps: so far this series they have lost 22 wickets in that fashion, at 10.50 apiece.Holder admitted it was a concern. “Many of our batters got caught on the crease, on a surface like this you need to commit forward or back,” Holder told Sky Sports after the defeat. “We’ve got to understand scenarios better. We fought through decent periods in the game but maybe need a little bit more grit, determination to get through challenging spells. It’s just about getting through those tough spells.”In the afternoon session the TV cameras caught West Indies head coach Phil Simmons stealing a few winks in the dressing room. That image captures nicely the state of mind of most of his batsmen. We all have taken a nap at work but in a Test match is a different thing: West Indies were caught snoozing by a relentless England.

A remarkable innings hasn’t completely dispelled the doubts about his suitability for Test cricket

George Dobell09-Aug-2020Just when England were ready to change that stupid lock and make him leave his key, Jos Buttler goes and produces an innings like that.By the time Chris Woakes joined Buttler on Saturday, England’s position looked hopeless. Buttler’s too. After an untidy performance with the gloves, he knew he was under pressure to perform.Somehow, it appeared to focus his mind. Gone was the tentative, diffidence that has characterised Buttler’s batting over the last 18 months or so. In its place was the Buttler familiar from limited-overs cricket: positive; inventive; destructive and focused.That positivity was crucial. Having just seen Ollie Pope dismissed by an unplayable delivery that reared and took the glove, Buttler and Woakes knew that batting against a second new ball – due in 35 overs when they came together – was likely to prove deeply problematic. So they decided to take it out of the equation.ALSO READ: Stokes to miss rest of Pakistan series with family matterThat they did so in vastly different styles did England no harm at all. For while Woakes tended to give himself room to cut and drive through the off side, where he scored 63 of his 84 runs, Buttler upset Yasir Shah’s plans with his quick footwork and ability to sweep and reverse sweep even out of quite substantial foot marks. He scored 38 on the leg side and 37 on the off.There’s risk inherent in such shots, of course. And there were a couple of top-edges which, another day, might have ended up in the hands of fielders. But these are the calculated risks that Buttler was picked to play and his fast hands and utter commitment to the plan proved equal to the challenge.Besides, what was the alternative? Trust his defence and get them in singles? That’s not Buttler’s game. And it wasn’t that pitch. By the time Pakistan did have access to the new ball, it was all too late. But it was telling that the stroke that brought victory – less a stroke and more of an edge, really – came from the 13th delivery with the new ball. It moved alarmingly and the edge would have gone to third slip had Pakistan been able to afford to have one. England’s tactics were fully vindicated.Let nobody be in any doubt as to the state of the surface. We had already seen Ben Stokes dismissed by one that reared out of the foot marks. At one stage Buttler was struck in the chest by a top-spinner that reared alarmingly; at another he top-edged a pull when the delivery seemed to stick in the pitch. It was desperately tough.Jos Buttler pulls through midwicket•Getty ImagesThat there was not a single maiden bowled in the 33 overs the pair batted together isn’t an especially flattering reflection on Pakistan’s tactics. But it’s difficult to save the singles when batsmen keep smashing boundaries. And Buttler, in particular, could give a whippet a decent race. More experienced captains than Azhar Ali would have been left scratching their head by this stand.Equally, you can forgive Pakistan’s spinners looking a bit flustered. To bowl into a foot mark and be reverse-swept for four is perplexing. To then bowl almost the same ball and be swept or driven is bound to leave a bowler confused. Shadab Khan looked intimidated and dragged a couple down. Buttler, rocking on to the back foot, pulled him for six as reward.So, where does all this leave Buttler? James Vince, for example, was dropped after making 76 in his last Test innings. Will this 75 save Buttler?Almost certainly. There was very little evidence England were prepared to move on from him anyway. It was actually his third good innings in succession, too. And while he’s still short of runs in general as a Test batsman – this was his highest score since September 2018 – it was a reminder of the potential he possesses.The problem here, though, is that Buttler is at the stage of his career where England would have hoped “potential” had been turned into “performance”. Buttler is a dangerous batsman, for sure. In the way Jermaine Blackwood and Shahid Afridi might be described as dangerous. But he’s 30 in a month and has been playing for more than a decade. That first-class average of 32.36 doesn’t lie. If he’s going to bat in the top six, or even top seven, such innings have to come much more often.So, the fundamental issues remain. He doesn’t score quite enough runs to justify a role as a specialist batsman and he doesn’t keep quite well enough to provide the assurances England require there.

Modest in victory, generous to rivals and selfless even when under personal pressure, you can see why England want Buttler around

Maybe that’s unfair. The keeping mistakes in Manchester were out of character. And it was revealed after the game that his father has been unwell recently and spent Friday night in hospital.Generally he has been sound with the gloves and, standing back to the seamers, has taken some outstanding catches. The worry is his ability to stand up to spinners. And with England currently hoping to play seven Tests in Asia this winter, that’s a weakness that could be exposed. An innings of 75, however classy, doesn’t change that.One option would be to recall Ben Foakes. Buttler himself said Foakes had provided him with a “wake-up call” as to the standards required at Test level.That would leave Buttler fighting for a place as a specialist batsman. But we’ve been here before. The reason Buttler was given the gloves back in November was that he was struggling to retain his position on his batting alone. Woakes, for example, has the same number of Test centuries, more first-class centuries and actually saw England home on Saturday; nobody is suggesting he bats in the top six.So it probably won’t happen. Instead, England will hope Buttler’s hard work with the coaching staff, and keeping consultant, Bruce French, will reap rewards. He certainly won’t lack for effort or good intentions.Jos Buttler and Chris Woakes build their momentum-changing stand•Getty ImagesAnd that’s another factor here. For Buttler’s humility after his innings on Saturday was revealing. He knew he hasn’t been contributing as much as he would have liked; he knew he owed the team a performance. But instead of unleashing a Denesh Ramdin-style rebuke to his critics, he accepted he “didn’t keep well” and that he was playing for his place. Modest in victory, generous to rivals and selfless even when under personal pressure. You can see why they want such a character around.Joe Root deserves some credit, too. Root’s captaincy seems to attract quite a lot of criticism but it may depend on how you define the role. For while there may be reasonable quibbles with some of his tactics – that spell after lunch on day two, for example, when he bowled himself for a few overs instead of one of his four seamers – that is a tiny part of the job. More important, surely, is the ability to build a sense of shared purpose and unity within a squad; to instil an environment which is both hard working but relaxed; to get players playing for one another and the team more than themselves. The evidence suggests Root is rather good at that.In recent days, it has twice emerged that a well-timed word here and there has made all the difference. In Southampton, Stokes found a note telling him to captain his own way; in Manchester, Buttler was urged to “remember who you are” as he went out to bat. Root might not always have handled Jofra Archer perfectly, but he seems to have learned from the experience to become a wiser, more empathetic captain.Yes, Root isn’t scoring the runs he would like, but England have now won six Tests in a row under his leadership. More than that, they’ve evolved from a point where they were at each other’s throats a few years ago and were none too popular with opponents, either. Root is doing a lot right as captain. If he feels he needs Buttler as one of his trusted lieutenants, well, maybe he has a point.

The South Australia batsman had been told his performances weren’t consistent enough

Daniel Brettig05-Nov-2020In spite of a promising beginning that peaked with a polished early stint in Australia’s ODI team, Callum Ferguson’s career ultimately ended with a long, slow fade to retirement after the brief high of a Test debut in 2016.That Test, against South Africa in Hobart, saw Ferguson ignominiously run out on the way to the national team’s fifth consecutive long-form defeat. Ferguson and his fellow South Australian debutant Joe Mennie were summarily dropped after Rod Marsh resigned as chairman of selectors, signalling Cricket Australia’s intent to head into another, more youthful direction after choosing “Ferg” at the age of 31.As much as Ferguson would have liked to prove that selection decision wrong, and had even begun this season with fleeting thoughts of fighting his way back to the front rank of Test team aspirants, the panel’s judgment was born out by how he would slip in and out of the Redbacks’ XI in subsequent years, including his omission from the first game of this season.”It’s a really tough question that I asked myself, why not keep playing through the season,” Ferguson said in explaining his retirement. “I’ve been a bit frustrated at my own lack of consistency over the last few years, I feel like I haven’t been at a level I’ve been comfortable with. I feel like I’ve got punches to throw and I feel like I’m going to make runs every time I walk out to the crease. But more so I think at 35 my dream of playing for the country is probably gone, I was thinking that while I was making the decision. Now it is gone to wear the baggy green again.”I think I went into the season feeling like if I put a big 1000-run year on the board I’ll be a chance to get back there. The selectors have shown in the past they’re willing to go with guys who make big runs at an older age, but probably getting left out at the start of the summer took a bit of the wind out of my sails, and that was a tough one to take, but I’ve been around well and truly long enough to understand how the game works. There’s people put in roles to make tough decisions and tough decisions are what make great teams and great associations.”I would’ve loved to play in a couple of wins the last couple of games. That hasn’t eventuated and I think looking at the fact we’ve got one more game before the break, at the end of this game hopefully get a big win on the board, build some momentum, and I think it’s time for someone to get a crack at Nos. 5 or 3, make it their own and hopefully take us to a big second half of the season. Right now I don’t feel like I’m the right one to take us all the way through.”

I have gone into every innings thinking I’m going to make a 100 in the next one and unfortunately, I haven’t done that consistently enough to be able to say ‘no, that’s my spot’, particularly in the eyes of the selectorsCallum Ferguson

Quite simply, Ferguson was unable to make the spinal runs in the first innings of a Sheffield Shield game that generally define the arc of each contest. The brutal reality of life after that one Test was that Ferguson never made another first innings century in a first-class match, a sequence spanning 44 innings for just 694 runs at 15.77 with three 50s. This was no more frustrating for anyone than Ferguson himself, and it was not a pattern that could be allowed to continue if South Australia is to regenerate as a Shield force.”I was given the message that my performances in first innings over the last 12-18 months hadn’t been good enough, and they hadn’t been good enough in my eyes either, and I can’t argue that fact,” Ferguson said. “I was struggling with the idea that I wasn’t in our best top five, but I think when you get to the stage of my career I’m at, I’m always going to feel like I’m in the best five.”I have gone into every innings thinking I’m going to make a 100 in the next one and unfortunately, I haven’t done that consistently enough to be able to say ‘no, that’s my spot’, particularly in the eyes of the selectors. Obviously at the start of the season they didn’t think that was the case, and I’ve got to live with that.”It was a sad end, too, for one of cricket’s more likeable and at one time promising batting talents. Certainly, Ferguson showed enormous potential in his early years, never more than when he was called into Australia’s white-ball team in early 2009 and proceeded to look very much at home over 30 matches in which he compiled 663 runs at 41.43.How Ferguson might have fared if he had been able to spend more time surrounded by the best of Australian cricket at the top end of the game will never be known: a serious knee injury suffered while fielding during the final of the ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa in 2009 cost Ferguson a season, and he did not play a white-ball game for Australia after 2011.Callum Ferguson: ‘I’ve been a bit frustrated at my own lack of consistency over the last few years, I feel like I haven’t been at a level I’ve been comfortable with’•Getty ImagesThree of the key figures Ferguson was surrounded by in the earliest days of his career were there again at the end. The South Australia coach Jason Gillespie, the high performance chief Tim Nielsen were both on hand right at the beginning, as a starry-eyed junior watching them in a Shield game at Adelaide Oval, while the assistant coach Greg Blewett had also been there most steps of the way – as a younger man Ferguson had occasionally been referred to as “mini-Blewey”.”The SACA since I was 12 years old have given me every opportunity to make a success of a cricket career, turn it into a lifestyle and a way of life to an extent,” Ferguson said. “I couldn’t be more thankful, they’ve given me absolutely every opportunity all the way through to the point of making it to a baggy green, cap 445, which is the dream.”I was telling the guys just before I remember being up on the hill as a young lad drinking free coca cola on a Dollar Day, day three of a Shield game, I think it was a Sunday and Dizzy was charging in from one end and I think Vin [Nielsen] was taking the ball behind the stumps and that’s probably where the dream began, if not in the backyard pretending I was David Boon.”Retirement has arrived for Ferguson a few months in the wake of fatherhood, and he is now likely to juggle those duties with a continuing T20 career, most recently as a canny captain of the Sydney Thunder.