The red-hot Toronto Blue Jays surged into first place in the American League East by sweeping the New York Yankees in a four-game series last week. Their rivalry spilled over from the field and into the broadcast booths when Jamie Campbell, host of on SportsNet, took a shot at Yankees announcing legend Michael Kay.

"We have been asked about the broom relentlessly these last couple of days, so here it is because we just witnessed something that has not been done in the history of the Blue Jays," said Campbell. "Sweeping all four from the Yankees here in Toronto. First time. And I can think of a certain Yankee broadcaster in fact who is going to have to go on his show tomorrow and admit that the Blue Jays are a first-place team because the standings prove it."

This came on the heels of Kay saying the Blue Jays were "not a first-place team."

The conversation continued as Kay offered a response to Campbell's bit.

“Imagine if (YES Network studio analyst) Jack Curry was waving a broom on the Yankees postgame show,” Kay said. “He would probably be called into the office and shortly fired after that.

“Now, I love Toronto. It is a cosmopolitan city. It is one of the greatest cities in the world, for me. You’re waving a broom on a postgame show, you are turning it into Mayberry RFD. I just don’t get it. I don’t understand it. You should be proud of the fact you are in first place.

“And one final thing: You shouldn’t hang on the rim three minutes into the third quarter of a basketball game. Feel good about sweeping the Yankees. Feel good about winning all these games in a row. Feel good about being in first place. But to hang on the rim this early? Let’s hang on the rim in October. That’s when you hang on the rim.”

All good broadcasting beefs must come to an end, though. And it appears that détente has been reached as Campbell and Kay have now traded classy messages.

So things, finally, seem to be resolved for now. There's plenty of season left and it's looking like the Blue Jays and Yankees will be battling it out for the division. Might be worth keeping an eye on.

Federico Chiesa is now in talks to leave Liverpool, with his agent entering discussions with a new club, amid involvement from Italy manager Gennaro Gattuso.

Chiesa has been unable to force his way into the starting XI this season, despite a number of Arne Slot’s other forwards making slow starts, at least by their usual standards, including Mohamed Salah, with Gary Neville suggesting the technical side of his game has gone downhill.

Neville said: “I’m not seeing a physical decline – some of his sprints look quite sharp, he looks busy in the box. But crazy things like the ball comes to the back post… his technique on his kicking and his crossing, that’s the thing that looks well off.”

Florian Wirtz has also been unable to make an instant impact in the Premier League, with the German still yet to register a goal or an assist, although his Champions League performances have been far more encouraging.

Federico Chiesa now in talks to leave Liverpool

According to reports from Italy (via Sport Witness), Chiesa’s agent has now entered talks over a move to Napoli, with his client yet to start a single game for Liverpool in the Premier League this season, and Italy boss Gattuso has now gotten involved.

The 47-year-old has specifically requested the 28-year-old to return to Italy, which could play a role in his decision-making, with Napoli keen to ask the Reds about a loan deal, with an option to buy, in the January transfer window.

The Merseysiders would rather get the Italian off the books permanently, however, and are eager for an obligation to buy to be included in any loan agreement, with the reigning Serie A champions willing to fork out around €13m (£11m) to get a deal done.

The winger has become somewhat of a cult hero due to his chant, and has exhibited some promising signs this season, scoring against AFC Bournemouth and Crystal Palace, while also grabbing an assist against Manchester United.

However, it would not be the end of the world if Liverpool decide to cash-in this winter, given that the £150k-a-week forward clearly isn’t a major part of Slot’s plans, featuring for just 117 minutes across eight appearances in the Premier League this term.

A return to Italy may be best for all parties, with Gattuso seemingly eager for Chiesa to receive more game time ahead of the World Cup next summer, and the Reds should sanction a January move unless he manages to become a regular starter over the next month and a half.

Liverpool now preparing club-record bid for Mohamed Salah heir The new Diaz: Liverpool preparing club-record bid for "magical" Salah heir

Liverpool are facing the truth that they will need to start drawing plans to replace the great Mohamed Salah on the right wing.

1 ByAngus Sinclair Nov 15, 2025

A ongoing quad problem flared just as Hardie was putting together a string of promising performances

Tristan Lavalette25-Dec-2024Make no mistake, Aaron Hardie is a genuine allrounder. This can be gleaned by a first-class batting average of almost 40 – having cemented No. 5 for Western Australia in recent Sheffield Shield seasons after starting off at eight – and a bowling average of 28.78.His versatility has been on show to a wider audience during his fledgling international career. Hardie has impressed as a finisher in white-ball cricket, while he claimed a three-wicket haul with his sharp seam bowling in his most recent appearance on the field in last month’s T20I against Pakistan in Hobart.Hardie, 25, has moved up the ranks by dedicating himself to each skillset, practicing them equally, with the hard work paying off for an emerging player favourably compared to his WA team-mate and former junior rival Cameron Green.Related

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He uses his towering 6 foot 4 frame to devastating effect. His long levers make him able to routinely clear the boundary, while with the ball he can produce menacing bounce and probes at a dangerous back of a length. Hardie has sometimes been used as a new ball bowler in Shield cricket.But a nagging quad injury has relegated Hardie to just one Shield match this season and meant he’s had a delayed start to the BBL. He has been on the sidelines since pulling up sore after playing in all six white-ball matches against Pakistan.”I’ve been managing the quad issue for probably the past year or so, it’s had ups and downs,” Hardie told ESPNcricinfo. “Certainly spiked during the latest Pakistan series. Been spending the time off to get on top of it.”Hardie has missed Scorchers’ opening three games of the season, but is set to make his comeback on Boxing Day against defending champions Brisbane Heat at Optus Stadium. He will return as a specialist batter, most likely slotting back to his customary No. 3, with the hope of building up his bowling loads ahead of the finals.”You probably need an extra week or two of building up as a bowler before you can actually bowl,” Hardie said. “Realistically, there might be a few games where you play as a batsman and then the bowling can come a bit later.”With his body starting to show signs of strain, Hardie might be faced with a dilemma that has gnawed at many other allrounders over the years. In an effort to stay on the field, and to prolong his career, he might need to ease his bowling workload and prioritise batting.Aaron Hardie will be limited in his role with the ball•Getty ImagesGiven his relatively youthful age, that decision might not need to be made for a while although, right now, batting will be his focus as he tries to recapture the form of BBL12 where he was the tournament’s leading run-scorer with 460 runs at 41.81 and strike-rate of 141.”It’s difficult to keep going out there and play as an allrounder in all three formats,” Hardie said. “It’s just about using the breaks wisely and hopefully I can recover properly and have another crack at it [being an allrounder].”I try to use these times to my advantage. Just the nature of bowling often means that you can be too fatigued to really knuckle down on batting. I always really love the opportunities I get to have a big focus on batting.”Hardie has become a player of considerable interest for Australia’s hierarchy and he’s already demonstrated his batting flexibility across 24 white-ball games he’s played since debuting last year.He’s batted in every position from opener to No. 8, but has had the most success so far finishing an innings in a role that could be up for grabs amid Tim David’s struggles. He blasted 20 off nine balls in a T20I against England in Cardiff before hitting 28 off 23 against Pakistan in tricky conditions at the SCG. Hardie also made a 26-ball 44 from No. 8 against England in an ODI at Chester-le-Street.

I aspire to put a massive amount of runs and wickets on the board in Shield cricket to really demand selection. When I get a chance to play Shield cricket again, I’m certainly looking forward to being able to push my caseAaron Hardie on being discussed as a Test allrounder

Before stamping himself in the top-order with Scorchers, Hardie started off at No. 7 and often found himself batting with the nerveless Ashton Turner, who has seemingly mastered getting his side out of trouble and powering them over the line.”I think it’s such a specialised position, that lower-order batsman…[the] Tim David, Marcus Stoinis role,” Hardie said. “It’s something I did for the Scorchers in my first couple of years. Fortunate enough to get a bit of experience in that role and learn mentally how to deal with the failures because you’ve got to go out there and hit balls for six straight away.”That experience has put me in good stead for the international games. I love batting at the top of the order as well, but batting down the order is so important and if I’m good in that role then I can provide more options for any team I’m playing for.”With the help of recency bias, having performed well on the white-ball UK tour, Hardie was touted as a possible Test replacement for the injured Green, who was ruled out for the entire summer after suffering a stress fracture in his lower back.He was never seriously in the running, with his quad issues flaring, but Hardie for the first time had to deal with being in the Test selection spotlight. “There was a little bit of speculation, but we’re always pretty busy as cricketers so I didn’t spend too much time thinking about it,” he said.Aaron Hardie can hold his own at the top of the order•Getty Images”There are so many players around and I think Beau Webster has certainly deserved his spot in the squad after what he’s done the past couple of years.”I aspire to put a massive amount of runs and wickets on the board in Shield cricket to really demand selection. When I get a chance to play Shield cricket again, I’m certainly looking forward to being able to push my case.”While he’s started to gain more widespread prominence, Hardie has long been held in extremely high regard in WA and early last season he took over the leadership reins for Scorchers after Turner succumbed to a knee injury. Hardie got the nod over Josh Inglis, who in recent times has captained Australia in ODI and T20I cricket.”I loved it. The tactical side of things, you certainly feel like you’re pulling the strings and to also build those relationships with the other guys was something I enjoyed,” Hardie said. I certainly learned that it takes a lot of your time off-field, with the planning side of things. If I do it again, I’ll certainly wrap my head around that a bit better. I’m looking forward to doing it again, but pretty happy for AT [Turner] to be back in the role.”Hardie presided over a typically strong regular season for Scorchers, but their dreams of a historic hat-trick of titles ended in disappointment after being stunned by Adelaide Strikers in a home elimination final. It’s a defeat that has left the BBL’s most successful franchise with plenty of motivation.”We were pretty honest with ourselves that we didn’t play our best when it mattered the most,” Hardie said. “We’ve learned some lessons and really want to get back to the type of success we’ve had over the years. I’m itching to be part of it.”

Shanaka’s unbeaten 64 had taken Sri Lanka to 168 but it wasn’t enough

Andrew Fidel Fernando20-Sep-20251:49

Chopra: You look at Saif and go ‘there’s some serious talent there’

Three top order stands, one after the other, led by Saif Hassan, then Towhid Hridoy, propelled Bangladesh to overhaul Sri Lanka’s 168, on a dry Dubai track.Saif’s 59-run stand with Litton Das came off 34 balls. It saw Bangladesh set the platform. Then Saif joined Hridoy for a 54-run stand off 45 balls, that consolidated their innings through the middle overs. Hridoy then took charge in a 45-run partnership off 27 balls with Shamim Hossain that put Bangladesh on the cusp of victory. There were some wobbles very late in the game, but those batters had done enough. Bangladesh only needed five to win going into the final over, and they got there with a ball to spare, even if they’d lost two wickets and almost a third scoring the winning run.Sri Lanka struggled for wickets right through the innings, with Saif especially good at keeping the seamers at bay in the powerplay. By the end of the 15th over, Bangladesh had still only lost three wickets, and needed only 39 more to win. It seemed highly unlikely they would lose from there. In fact, they had looked good for the majority of this chase.In Sri Lanka’s innings, Dasun Shanaka’s promotion to No. 5 had yielded results, as he struck 64 not out off 37 balls, to give Sri Lanka a decent – if not spectacular – finish. But two Bangladesh bowlers had also shone: Mustafizur Rahman took 3 for 20, and Mahedi Hasan claimed 2 for 25.2:07

Maharoof: Shanaka showed up when the chips were down

Saif neutralises Nuwan ThusharaWhen Nuwan Thushara dismissed Tanzid Hasan in the first over, you wondered if this would be another match which his first spell goes some distance to winning. He has tended to have rich hauls against this opposition. But in Saif, Bangladesh had a beautiful counter to Thushara. Saif was outstanding down the ground as Thushara kept going full (as he often does in the powerplay). Saif hit a four over the bowler’s head first ball of the second over, before running at Thushara next ball and depositing him over the rope. Thushara’s second and third overs would cost 14 runs each, Saif doing the majority of that damage.Hridoy takes down Kamindu MendisSri Lanka’s general strategy is to have Shanaka and one of the spin-bowling allrounders share four overs between them. Usually Charith Asalanka bowls himself. But in this game he chose not to bowl, and gave the 15th over of the innings to Kamindu Mendis. It would be the one in which the match would swing definitively in Bangladesh’s direction.Hridoy crashed him over cover for four second ball, then when Kamindu fired a shortish ball at the stumps, Hridoy got inside the line and launched it high over the deep square leg boundary. Later in the over, he slashed one between cover point and backward point to fetch another four. At the start of that over Bangladesh had needed 55 off 36 balls. Hridoy’s 16 runs off that over made the equation much simpler.1:55

Chopra impressed with Hridoy’s cricketing smarts

Shanaka’s blitzUnlike Sri Lanka’s bowlers, Bangladesh kept striking regularly after Sri Lanka’s openers had put on 44 runs together. Shanaka was the only one to make a substantial score through the middle and later overs, crashing six sixes and three fours. He’d been dropped off the bowling of Mustafizur on 38, in a period in which Bangladesh gave at least three batters reprieves. Shanaka’s most productive over was against the spin of Nasum Ahmed, whom he clobbered for two sixes and a four in the 15th over.Mustafizur and Taskin close wellArguably the best over Bangladesh bowled was delivered by Mustafizur, who had both Kamindu and Asalanka caught in the 19th over, in which he conceded only five runs. Taskin Ahmed then bowled four dots to a mid-blitz Shanaka in the next over, delivering a clutch of good slower balls. He was hit for a six and a four too, but between them Bangladesh’s senior quicks had conceded only 15 in the last two overs, which Sri Lanka had been well-set to exploit.

With greats having made way, a new generation of cricketers will take centre stage in Dubai

Alagappan Muthu13-Sep-20253:30

Maharoof: I want to see next Virat, next Babar

Big picture: A new twist on an old tale

A new generation of India and Pakistan players comes together at a time the contest has taken on enormous consequence.The greats are gone. Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma have to settle for a place on the couch. Babar Azam and Mohammad Rizwan will need to produce tickets to get into the game. A page has inevitably turned – just as it did to bring those four into centre stage – and now it is the time of Abhishek Sharma and Saim Ayub and Salman Agha and Shubman Gill.In different circumstances, this might have been a salivating prospect. Intriguing at the very least. But Sunday will mark the first time India and Pakistan play against each other in this changed climate after Pahalgam. And maybe as the game goes on and there is a pretty shot or a perfect ball, we’ll feel that old flutter. Someone new to root for (or against, because that is fun too). There are plenty of contenders.

Form guide

India: WWWLW (last five T20Is, most recent first)
Pakistan: WWWLW2:02

Chopra: Shutting out the noise is not possible

In the spotlight: Suryakumar Yadav and Salman Agha

In five T20Is against Pakistan, Suryakumar Yadav has never been able to cross the score of 20. Batters who have such an intimate relationship with risk do go through lulls. The thing is, though, breaking out of them might be as easy as connecting one shot in exactly the way they want.Related

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Salman Agha set Pakistan on their path to catch up with the rest of the world, demanding his batters to err on the side of glorious abandon. He isn’t exactly a natural when it comes to that either, but over time, the allrounder learnt to tailor his strengths to keep up with the pace of T20 cricket. Four of his eight fifties in the format have come this year.

Team news: India likely to stick with Samson and Kuldeep

With pitches in the UAE tending to play slow, India seem comfortable playing just the one specialist fast bowler in Jasprit Bumrah, with Hardik Pandya and, if needed, Shivam Dube offering seam-bowling cover. That leaves ample room for a left-arm wristspinner (Kuldeep Yadav), a mystery spinner (Varun Chakravarthy) and a containment specialist (Axar Patel).India (probable): 1 Abhishek Sharma, 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Sanju Samson (wk), 4 Suryakumar Yadav (capt), 5 Tilak Varma, 6 Shivam Dube, 7 Hardik Pandya, 8 Axar Patel, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Jasprit Bumrah, 11 Varun Chakravarthy8:26

Wahab: Haris Rauf has to come back against India

Pakistan also have seam-bowling allrounders in their ranks capable of allowing the team to invest heavily in spin, which is what happened in their Asia Cup opener. They may however want to bring Haris Rauf back.Pakistan (probable): 1 Sahibzada Farhan, 2 Saim Ayub, 3 Fakhar Zaman, 4 Salman Agha (capt), 5 Hasan Nawaz, 6 Mohammad Haris (wk), 7 Mohammad Nawaz, 8 Faheem Ashraf, 9 Shaheen Shah Afridi, 10 Sufiyan Muqeem, 11 Abrar Ahmed

Pitch and conditions: Big match on a hot night

Dubai is not a high-scoring venue. The average run rate in the first innings over the last two years – that’s 36 T20s – is 7.7. Fast bowlers have picked up more wickets in this period (277 out of 441) but spinners have been more economical (7.03 vs 8.36). There is no rain expected, but the heat is likely to be stifling.

Stats and trivia

• The team chasing has won seven of the eight T20Is between India and Pakistan since the start of 2014, including the three that have taken place in Dubai
• Hardik Pandya is the leading wicket-taker in the men’s T20Is between India and Pakistan, with 13 strikes from six innings. He took three three-fors in those six innings and averages only 12 runs per wicket with the ball.
• Since their previous meeting in T20Is at the T20 World Cup, India have recorded a run rate of 9.66 (third best among Full Members) in men’s T20Is, while Pakistan are 8.12 (seventh best among Full Members).

Quotes

“We’re very lucky with Sanju, Axar and Hardik – guys who can bat anywhere from up the order to 7-8. So it’ll be part of our strategy to use our versatility when conditions are a little bit tough, like we expect them to be.”
“It’s a big game, and fans from both countries care deeply about it. But it’s important for us to follow our processes in the same way, and work on improving our execution.”