Browsing: Jamie

Former England wicketkeeper Matt Prior says Jamie Smith needs to relish being the “heartbeat” of England’s team and be up for “the fight” of trying to help the tourists recover from 2-0 down in the Ashes series.

Smith has struggled in recent matches, failing to pass 33 in his past eight Test innings, while mistakes have crept in behind the stumps with the Surrey man dropping Australia’s Travis Head in the second Test in Brisbane.

“The keeper’s role has always been the heartbeat of that group on the field,” Prior, who won three Ashes series with England in a 79-Test career, told the BBC’s Stumped podcast.

“You’re the drummer of the band, you help the captain and bowlers with angles. You know how the bowlers are getting on, how they’re coming, are they still in rhythm, are they hitting the gloves well, are they not? Are the plans and tactics right for any given batsman, do they need changing?

“If you’re internalising everything and just focusing on your own game, you can’t concentrate on anything external which is hugely important to the captain, bowlers and the rest of the team.

“Jamie Smith, in that role as wicketkeeper, needs to want to be out there, want to be in the middle and want to be in the fight.”

England need to win the third Test in Adelaide to retain a chance of winning the Ashes and Prior said a re-focused Smith was vital to turning round England’s fortunes in the series after two opening defeats.

“The best thing Jamie Smith can do is prep, make sure that your game’s in good order,” said Prior.

“Once that’s done, you can’t do any more than that – if you make a mistake, it’s because you’re human. When you get into the game then it’s about everything external.

“Sometimes you have to force yourself massively, but just focus on ‘Is Jofra hitting the gloves well? Is he swinging it back, is it going across, is the ball swinging, is it not?’

“Grab the fielders, Ben Duckett, Ollie Pope, Zak Crawley – ‘Right we’re going to go pick a fight with Steve Smith’. That’s the stuff you have to do.”

Speaking on the Stick to Cricket podcast, former Australia wicketkeeper Ian Healy said Smith needed to contribute tactically, but could rely on his team-mates to put pressure on the opposition.

“If you care for your team and care for your role as a wicketkeeper, you’re going to give that bowler some advice, you’re going to hatch a plan together. And the plan might not work but you feel like you’re focused,” said Healy.

“Being boisterous or talkative, someone’s got to do it – when they’re batting, they need to hear a presence. If you hear silence behind you then you’re halfway through it.”

Meanwhile, Healy added that Smith would be thinking of the excellent form of opposite number Alex Carey: “It’s a niggle in the back of your head.

“I’ve got to lift or I’m gone here, or my confidence is low – this bloke’s making it look really easy. You have got an eye on the opposition keeper for sure.”

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Former Liverpool defender Jamie Carragher has branded Mohamed Salah‘s outburst as “disgraceful” and “choreographed” in a scathing attack on the Liverpool star.

Speaking to reporters on Saturday, Salah vented his frustrations at having been left on the bench for the duration of Liverpool’s clash at Elland Road. A match that Liverpool eventually drew 3-3 after a late Leeds equaliser. Salah singled out Carragher in the interview saying “tomorrow, [former player and now pundit Jamie] Carragher is going to criticize me but that’s fine.”

On Tuesday, Liverpool confirmed that Salah was left out of Liverpool’s squad for their Champions League match against Inter Milan on Tuesday.

– Mohamed Salah: How did Liverpool get here? How does he compare to last season?
– What we know so far about Mohamed Salah’s Liverpool future– Salah ‘destroying legacy, disrespectful’ to Liverpool – Rooney

Carragher, who made 737 appearances for Liverpool in a 17-year senior career, didn’t hold back when asked about the current situation on Sky Sports’ ‘Monday Night Football’.

“I thought it was a disgrace what he did after the game. Some people have painted it as an emotional outburst, I do not think it was,” Carragher said.

“I think whenever Salah stops in the mix zone, which he’s done four times in eight years at Liverpool, it’s choreographed between him and his agent to cause maximum damage and to strengthen his own position.”

Carragher, who made also defended his previous criticism of Salah, took particular issue over one remark.

“The one line that stands out for me is ‘thrown under the bus.’ He’s thrown the club under the bus twice in the last 12 months. With the manager right now, he should be doing as much as he can to help the club get out of the worst run they’ve had since the 1950s and he hasn’t done that.

“When we are talking about throwing people under the bus, he’s thrown every Liverpool right-back under the bus for the 8 years. Can you imagine playing behind him for eight years? But we accept it because he’s a superstar and he’s scored 250 goals and he’s given me as a Liverpool supporter some of the greatest nights of my life.”

In a further dig, Carragher also questioned Salah over his record with Egypt.

“You weren’t a big star before you came to Liverpool, you haven’t really won much for Egypt, no matter how big you are, you need help from your teammates, your manager and fans, it’s important that he remembers that,” Carragher said. “When he talks after Leeds, it’s all about me, me, me.”

Salah, who has just four goals in 13 Premier League appearances this season, trained with the first team at the AXA Training Centre on Monday morning however the club made the decision to leave him out of the travelling party for Tuesday night’s match at the San Siro against Inter.

Sources told ESPN the decision was taken in consultation with Slot and with the manager’s full support.

Everything Jamie Carragher said in eight-minute Mohamed Salah rant

“I thought it was a disgrace what he did after the game. Some people have painted it as an emotional outburst, I don’t think it was.

“I think whenever Mo Salah stops in a mixed zone, which he’s done four times in eight years at Liverpool, it’s choreographed, with him and his agent to cause maximum damage and strengthen his own position. He did that 12 months ago — and I called him out about it — and he played on the heartstrings of Liverpool supporters.

“Liverpool were on top of the league; he’d scored the winning goal at Southampton. That was the time to come out and put pressure on the Liverpool ownership, so for the rest of the season you have banners in the crowd — ‘Give Mo his dough.’

“He’s chose this weekend to do this now and he’s waited, I think, for a bad result with Liverpool — concede a last-minute goal… Everyone involved with the club feels like they’re in the gutter at the moment, and he’s chose that time to go for the manager, and maybe try and get him sacked. That’s the way I felt about it.

“The one line that stands out for me is ‘thrown under the bus.’ He’s tried to throw the club under the bus twice in the last 12 months with the situations that I’ve just mentioned.

“Going after the owners — these are owners who have been paying him £100ks for six years — and complained a year ago that they hadn’t given him a contract at the age of 32. He is entitled to do that.

“With the manager right now, he should be doing as much as he can to help the club get out of the worst run they’ve had since the 1950s and he hasn’t done that.

“When I’ve thought about it over the weekend, and I’ve put myself in Salah’s position or how I was as a player — I’m not Mo Salah.

“Mo Salah is a world-renowned player, who is famous around the world, and should those players be treated differently? I think they should.

“When you think of players in that bracket over the last eight years, I would say [Lionel] Messi, [Cristiano] Ronaldo, [Kylian] Mbappe. I wouldn’t put Salah alongside them, but he is very close for what he’s done for Liverpool, so a legendary figure.

“All of those players get privilege, exactly the same one Mo Salah gets at Liverpool. He doesn’t have to defend, he doesn’t have to chase back, so that’s the privilege he has with Liverpool.

“But when you talk about throwing people under the bus, he’s thrown the Liverpool right-back under the bus the last eight years. Can you imagine playing behind him for eight years? But we accept it because he’s a superstar.

“He’s scored 250 goals, and he’s given me, a Liverpool supporter, some of the greatest nights of my life watching him and what he’s done.

“When you think of the ego of these types of players, Ronaldo, Messi, Mbappe, Salah, I think they have a feeling that the success of a football club is down to them.

“I have no problem with that, because I think that drives them on to get more goals and get more success, and it benefits Liverpool.

“It then becomes a problem when you’re in a situation like this. When Mo Salah’s talking about how many goals he’s scored, ‘I’ve got more than anyone else in the Premier League,’ he’s always speaking about himself.

“I’d remind Salah and maybe his agent that before he came to Liverpool he was known as the man who failed at Chelsea, that’s just a fact. He’d never won a major trophy before he came to Liverpool. He’s also the greatest player his country have ever had in Egypt. Egypt are the most successful country in the Africa Cup of Nations [AFCON] and he’s going there in a couple of weeks.

“Salah’s never won the AFCON. That’s not me trying to put Mo Salah down as a player. I’ve just said he’s one of the best players in the world over the last eight years, very few better. But, what it tells Salah and his agent is that it’s not about an individual.

“You weren’t a big star before you came to Liverpool. You haven’t really won anything with Egypt. All that tells you is that no matter how good a player you are, you need help from your teammates, your manager and fans. I think it’s really important that he remembers that. When he’s talking after the game, all it’s about is me, me, me.

“Have I ever criticised Mo Salah on the pitch? I don’t class that [legs gone comment as criticism], that’s something that happens for every player, I’ve never criticised him for not working back, I’ve never criticised him when he’s gone for games without scoring, I’ve never criticised him when he hasn’t passed to someone he should. He’s an absolute legend, because what you get from him you have to put up with certain things.

“Some of the criticism has been excessive, I’ve said that publicly, but I will go after Salah when he tries to throw my club under the bus off the pitch and just think about himself.

“Let’s understand Arne Slot, he’s conceded 10 goals in three games, one of them against PSV, Salah was embarrassing in terms of the challenge that he puts in.

“He then goes to West Ham away, Nuno [Espirito Santo] team, big on set-pieces. We need to keep a clean sheet, that’s all he cares about. What’s the one thing you’re going to do as a manager? You take the one player out in your team you have allowed not to defend.

“You play Sunderland at home, I’d have played him, but it’s understandable that he keeps the same team. He brings him on at half-time. West Ham away and Leeds away, why would you bring him on when you’re winning those games? You don’t need a goal, you need not to concede.

“So if you’re bringing Salah on, you’re bringing on a guy who can’t defend set pieces and doesn’t run back.

“The one time I wanted to be really critical, and I held back, this season about Salah on the pitch. As I’ve said before, I’ve never been critical of him on the pitch.

“He is a legend of the club, his legacy is there, if he doesn’t score another goal or make another assist for this club, I don’t care. He’s been amazing.

“Where he really let himself down, in my eyes, was this season in Frankfurt and in another game.

“Where there’s a guy who signed for Liverpool who needs a goal more than anyone, Florian Wirtz. Instead of being a great player for the club, be a great ambassador for the club and roll that ball to him for an easy tap-in and go over and give him a hug and say, ‘You’re the guy that’s going to take this Liverpool team forward. I don’t need anymore goals’.

“I’ve seen [John] Barnes at the end, Ian Rush, Steven Gerrard, do you think they’re the same players as they were in their pomp? Of course they weren’t.

“Do supporters think any differently of them now when they see them? They say no, you’re in the top five or six players to ever play for Liverpool, and the same will be said of Salah.

“So in terms of on the pitch, the one criticism I’ve got — help the other players. Help Florian Wirtz, help [Alexander] Isak, don’t be obsessed with your own numbers.

“I think the club have made the right decision in terms of him not going abroad. Whether he will play for Liverpool again, I don’t know. I hope he does, because he’s one of the greatest players we’ve ever had.

“But if you continue like that, and statements like that. If he doesn’t play, who knows.”

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Liverpool legend Jamie Carragher has replied to Mohamed Salah, following the Egyptian King name-checking the Sky Sports pundit.

Following Liverpool’s 3-3 draw at the weekend to Leeds United, Mohamed Salah made all the headlines following Arne Slot’s decision to drop the forward at the weekend.

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This is an important series for Smith, playing in an Ashes for the first time. He was promoted to the England team at the beginning of the 2024 summer at the expense of Ben Foakes and Jonny Bairstow with this tour in mind.

Smith has made an exceptional start to his Test career. Before the Test at the Gabba he averaged almost 47 with the bat. His glovework has often been tidy.

But there have also been signs that the 25-year-old has some challenges to overcome.

Since making a stunning 184 not out and 88 in the second Test against India in July, then following up with 51 in the first innings of the third Test at Lord’s, Smith’s highest score in seven knocks is 33.

He looked increasingly lethargic as the India series wore on, with both his batting and keeping suffering as a result.

The Surrey man was in uncharted territory in a series where each of the five Tests went to the final day.

Because he is not the first-choice keeper for his county – Foakes takes the gloves at The Oval – he was experiencing a workload like never before.

This Ashes will be similar – another five-Test series. Yes, the first Test in Perth was over in only two days, but there are other challenges to throw to a keeper in Australia.

The steep bounce and true carry should be an advantage, yet takes some getting used to, and the fearsome heat can be sapping.

The edge off Head appeared to take Smith by surprise. It was a superb delivery from Archer, nipping away from round the wicket. In a spell where Archer averaged 89.3mph, he got one to leap at Head, and the ball was still on the rise when it got to Smith.

Moving to his left, Smith got both hands to the ball, only to parry in the direction of the slips, who could not grab the rebound.

“That was a beauty from Archer, it went quickly to Jamie Smith but you’ve got to take those chances,” said former England captain Michael Vaughan on Test Match Special.

Former wicketkeeper Matt Prior, part of the England team when they won the Ashes in Australia in 2010-11, said on TNT: “It’s the worst place in the world to be, having just dropped that catch.

“He didn’t do a lot wrong. He got done for a bit of pace, a bit of extra bounce here at the Gabba. It hit him quite high on the gloves.

“That’s a chance you’d want to be taking more times than not.”

According to data analysts Cricviz, Smith’s glovework stands up to other keepers in Test cricket.

This was only the fourth drop of his career, having held 54 previous chances. Smith has a 93% catching efficiency in Tests and for all wicketkeepers in Tests since the start of 2024, the efficiency is around 89%.

Interestingly, of the four drops in his Test career, three of them have been against left-handers.

Smith is also playing in a pink-ball match of any kind for the first time.

The debate over whether England should have sent more players to a floodlit match between England Lions and a Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra in the weekend before this Test was tempered by the vastly different conditions in Brisbane when compared to the capital.

While Smith has had five training sessions with the pink ball in the run-up to this Test – two of them under lights – he was out for a second-ball duck in England’s first innings and dropped the first chance that came his way.

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Image: AEW

After getting injured during this month’s first-ever women’s Blood and Guts match, former AEW Women’s World Champion Jamie Hayter has her in-ring return date set — but not for AEW.

Hayter will be returning to familiar grounds with London’s Pro Wrestling EVE promotion as she will team with Session Moth Marina to take on EVE Champion RHIO and Alexxis Falcon. The date was announced earlier this week with the match itself official Sunday.

The show entitled Let’s Slam Santa is set for Friday, December 5 in Walthamstow, London.

AEW has two dates before the EVE event: this Wednesday’s dual Dynamite/Collision taping in Nashville, Tennessee, and the following Wednesday’s Dynamite in Fishers, Indiana. That leaves the possibility open she will compete in AEW prior to the EVE booking.

In the aforementioned Blood and Guts match, Hayter took a chair shot throw from Megan Bayne which was reported to have chipped some teeth and “messed” Hayter’s face up according to our Bryan Alvarez.

Hayter hasn’t been on TV since and wasn’t part of this past week’s push to Full Gear or the pay-per-view itself.

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Since 2011, Josh has been a contributing editor to Wrestling Observer/F4WOnline.com and also hosts the Punch-Out podcast. He has also written for Fight Magazine, Bloody Elbow, Bleacher Report, and other websites. He’s a 2000 graduate of the University of Maine, worked in pro sports, and once was an indie ring announcer.

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The Perth Stadium was filled with English boos as Smith left the field.

The relevant section of the International Cricket Council’s playing conditions, which implement the structures for Test cricket’s review system, is as follows:

“If despite the available technology, the third umpire is unable to decide with a high degree of confidence whether the original on-field decision should be changed, then he/she shall report that the replays are ‘inconclusive’, and that the on-field decision shall stand. The third umpire shall not give answers conveying likelihoods or probabilities.”

Sharfuddoula clearly deemed otherwise.

It has been explained to BBC Sport that the technology used in Australia has a two-frame gap between the pictures and the sound wave.

Speaking on 7 Cricket, former international umpire Simon Taufel said: “The conclusive evidence protocols with RTS [Real Time Snickometer] – if you get a spike up to one frame past the bat, that is conclusive. And in this particular case, that is exactly what was there.

“Unfortunately, he [Sharfuddoula] didn’t want to pull the trigger quite as quickly as perhaps he could have or should have.

“The guys in the truck were doing their utmost to show him and to slow it down and to try rocking and rolling that frame.

“For me, the correct decision was made. A spike RTS after one frame past the bat, the batter has got to go.”

Vaughan said: “When Jamie Smith saw it he was walking off.

“His reaction was not a reaction of someone disgusted with that decision.

“He is a quiet guy but there was not a lot of disgruntlement with that England pair.”

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It is no secret England are using this tour, including the stop-start rain-affected T20s that preceded these ODIs, to build towards the Ashes.

While others are yet to find form, the question for Brook, who scored 78 in the second T20 last week, is whether he can maintain his through the switch in conditions and formats. On the evidence so far, the answer is a resounding yes.

Batting was perilously difficult when he came in.

Brook was hit on the body three times as he failed to score from his first six deliveries. He advanced to his seventh to drive Matt Henry through the covers and it showed him the way.

The 26-year-old reached 50 in 36 deliveries before settling into a stand of 87 with Jamie Overton. When Overton fell to a leading edge for 46, Carse and Adil Rashid quickly followed and Brook cut loose while farming the strike to protect Wood.

He hit three consecutive sixes off Jacob Duffy to reach his hundred and struck another three in one over from Henry – targeting the leg side and dispatching anything short by either flicking it over fine leg or cracking it over mid-wicket.

The low-key nature of this series and the fact it came in a disappointing defeat should not prevent this knock from being rated among the best for England in ODIs.

He scored 60.5% of England’s runs – putting him 12th on the all-time list for that statistic in ODIs. It was also Brook’s highest score in the format.

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The treatment that Ange Postecoglou is getting from Nottingham Forest fans is just ridiculous.

It saddens me, actually, that they are calling for him to be sacked after just seven games – and I don’t think it’s fair at all.

I covered Forest’s defeat at Newcastle before the international break. That was the result I expected, and Newcastle thoroughly deserved to win too, but it still showed all this talk of how Ange can only play one way is wrong because Forest were not open at all at St James’ Park – they tried to contain Newcastle and played on the counter.

The problem they had was that they could not get up the pitch, but if you were a Forest fan watching that game then you would be thinking that Ange did try and play with a bit of balance.

Now they are at home, the onus will be on them to go forward more against Chelsea, whose manager Enzo Maresca has also come under pressure this season.

Chelsea’s late victory over Liverpool last time out was important for Maresca after back-to-back league defeats.

In many ways I hope Forest win, to take the heat off Postecoglou a little, but I don’t see it happening.

Sutton’s prediction: 1-2

Addison’s prediction: Forest will put up a good fight but Chelsea will edge it. 1-2

Aya’s prediction: The Forest manager is under pressure and that is going to take its toll on the players as well. 1-2

AI’s prediction: 1-2

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Jack Draper will work with Andy Murray’s former coach Jamie Delgado in a major change to his team.

The British number one has had a long-standing partnership with James Trotman and, while he will continue to be heavily involved, Delgado takes over as lead coach and will travel with Draper to the majority of tournaments.

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A former British Davis Cup player who holds the men’s record for consecutive Wimbledon appearances with 23, Delgado began working with Murray in 2016, initially alongside Ivan Lendl, when the Scot enjoyed the most successful period of his career.

Delgado remained in Murray’s team until the end of the 2021 season and has since coached Denis Shapovalov and Grigor Dimitrov.

Both players praised the impact of Delgado, 48, and, with Trotman keen to spend more time at home, Draper has moved to secure his services after his long-time partnership with Dimitrov ended last month.

Jamie Delgado formerly coached Andy Murray. Justin Setterfield/Getty Images

The arrangement will begin in preseason, with Draper currently battling to recover from the left arm problem that has restricted him to only one match since Wimbledon.

Following his second-round exit at the All England Club, Draper was diagnosed with bone bruising, and an attempt to return at the US Open ended with him pulling out ahead of the second round before calling an early end to his season.

That ended the 23-year-old’s hopes of appearing at the ATP Finals for the first time, with Draper slipping to eighth in the rankings during his absence.

He is set to make his return to the court in December’s Ultimate Tennis Showdown Grand Final in London.

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Jamie Carragher faced an online backlash for his comments after Chelsea’s last-gasp victory over Liverpool on Saturday – but not from fans of his former club.

The Anfield legend said on Sky Sports that he ‘loved’ the exuberant celebrations of Blues boss Enzo Maresca following Estevao’s stoppage-time winner, which saw the Italian race down the touchline to hug his players.

You might think Liverpool fans would have grumbled at one of their own appearing to enjoy a painful defeat for their team, but the ire instead came from Arsenal supporters.

As Carragher hailed the scenes which greeted a win that sent Chelsea seventh in the Premier League, Gunners fans pointed to the Sky pundit’s comments following their side’s 3-1 win over Liverpool in February 2024.

Gunners fans accused Carragher of showing an anti-Arsenal bias for praising the scenes at Chelsea after slamming their side’s celebrations in 2024, but the 47-year-old hit back in the latest episode of The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you by Sky Bet.

Carragher, ranked at No.14 in FourFourTwo’s list of the best Premier League defenders of all time, said: ‘Arsenal beat Liverpool 3-1. The game was over with around 15 minutes to go, no last-minute winner and there was a bit of a celebration after the game. You were still behind Liverpool.

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‘[Against Liverpool on Saturday] Enzo Maresca reacted to a goal going in that second, in the last kick of the game in a game Chelsea thought they had no chance.

‘That’s a natural reaction at the end of the game – we’d all be like a lunatic, last-minute winner against the champions.

‘Arsenal were at a stage where you had a brilliant result, and we’re talking a few minutes after the game has finished and all the cameras are out – I was thinking ‘Woah, slow down’. It’s not a media narrative against Arsenal; it’s a last-minute winner.

Arsenal fans will hope they are the ones celebrating come May (Image credit: Getty Images)

‘I think Arsenal supporters online are a little bit touchy, with Chelsea not far behind. Arsenal have a big presence online, which is fine, there’s a huge fanbase, but you think the world is against you.’

Carragher’s comments are unlikely to appease Arsenal fans, but after the Gunners went top of the league on Saturday they will be hoping they are the ones celebrating come May.

Jamie Carragher was speaking on The Overlap Fan Debate, brought to you bySky Bet

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