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The Angels' hire of Kurt Suzuki as their manager was met with much fanfare, given his strong track record across 16 years of big-league service from 2007 to '22.

However, Suzuki's arrival has reportedly come with a catch.

Los Angeles has Suzuki on a one-year contract, according to a Wednesday afternoon report from Sam Blum of . That, Blum noted, is a highly unusual arrangement for a managerial contract.

Almost all managerial contracts are multiyear deals, such as (to cite a recent example) the Rangers' hire of Skip Schumaker on a four-year contract. As Blum mentioned, issues related to contract length reportedly scuttled the Angels' negotiations with former first baseman Albert Pujols.

Suzuki, 42, played the last two years of his career with Los Angeles. He also spent time with the Athletics, Nationals, Twins and Braves, slashing .255/.314/.388 with 143 home runs and 730 RBIs lifetime.

He takes over an Angels team that has not made the playoffs since 2014 and has not won a postseason game since the 2009 American League division series.

Rahane, Sarfaraz and Suryakumar’s efforts go in vain; Shami picks up 4 for 13 against Services

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Dec-2025

Samson, Sharafuddeen and Asif propel KeralaSanju Samson, Sharafuddeen and KM Asif were the stars as Kerala handed Mumbai their first loss of the season, beating them by 15 runs in Lucknow.Samson, who is back to opening the innings this season, laid the platform with 46 off 28 balls. Vishnu Vinod struggled in the middle and managed only 43 not out off 40 balls, but Sharafuddeen’s unbeaten 35 off 15 took the side to 178 for 5.Sharafuddeen then removed Ayush Mhatre in the first over of the chase but Ajinkya Rahane (32 off 18) and Sarfaraz Khan (52 off 40) kept Mumbai going. By the time Sarfaraz got out, Mumbai needed 80 from eight overs. Suryakumar Yadav brought it down to 31 required from three. But Asif’s three wickets – including Suryakumar’s for 32 off 25 – in the 18th over derailed Mumbai. They needed 18 from the final over with two wickets in hand. Asif took only four balls to wrap up the innings and complete his five-for.File photo: Ayush Badoni had a solid outing with both bat and ball•PTI

Badoni seals Delhi’s win over KarnatakaAyush Badoni’s 35-ball 53 and 4 for 12, backed up by Priyansh Arya and Tejasvi Dahiya’s fifties, helped Delhi get the better of Karnataka by 45 runs in a high-scoring Group D contest in Ahmedabad. Batting first, Delhi thumped 232 for 3 in their 20 overs. Devdutt Padikkal then hit a 38-ball 62 while R Smaran struck 72 off 38 balls, but with little support from the others, Karnataka were bowled out for 187 in 19.3 overs.Delhi lost opener Yash Dhull in the second over to Vidyadhar Patil but Arya and Badoni forged a 110-run stand in 9.2 overs for the second wicket. Arya struck six sixes and two fours in his 33-ball 62 while Badoni hit four fours and two sixes.When both batters fell within two overs of each other, Karnataka may have sniffed a chance of a comeback, but Dahiya and Nitish Rana gave them none. They added 105 runs for the fifth wicket in just 41 balls. Dahiya hit five sixes and three fours in an unbeaten 19-ball 53 while Rana remained 46 not out.Karnataka lost wickets regularly in the chase. BR Sharath fell in the opening over to Ishant Sharma, while Mayank Agarwal was removed by Digvesh Rathi inside the powerplay. Rathi also picked up Karun Nair as Karnataka slipped to 48 for 3 in seven overs. Smaran and Padikkal gave Karnataka hope with a 76-run stand for the fourth wicket, but once Padikkal fell to Ishant, the end was nigh.Badoni then wrecked the Karnataka middle order, picking up four wickets in two overs. Prince Yadav closed the innings with two wickets, giving Delhi crucial points after their loss against Tripura.File photo: Raj Limbani picked up 3 for 5 in 2.1 overs•ICC/Getty Images

Limbani, Sheth star as Baroda crush GujaratFast bowler Raj Limbani picked up 3 for 5 in 2.1 overs and allrounder Atit Sheth 2 for 14 in three as Baroda crushed Gujarat by eight wickets in Hyderabad. Hardik Pandya also had a decent outing a day after being named in India’s T20I squad to face South Africa, picking up 1 for 16 in four overs, which included a maiden, and scoring 10 off six from No. 3 in the small chase.The match, originally scheduled to take place at the Gymkhana Ground, was relocated to the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium. “Fan turnout, enquiries, and crowd movement exceeded our projections by a huge margin, “a senior organising official told PTI. “To ensure safety and smooth match operations, we decided to shift the match to the Rajiv Gandhi Stadium.”Sent in, Urvil Patel and Aarya Desai added 29 runs for the opening wicket, but it all went downhill thereafter for Gujarat. Hardik removed Urvil for 7 with Desai falling the very next ball to Limbani. Dhrushant Soni was run out, Rasikh Salam removed Saurav Chauhan, and Krunal Pandya too picked up a wicket. Sheth then picked up two lower-order wickets before Limbani had Hemang Patel caught and bowled as Gujarat were bowled out in 14.1 overs.Shashwat Rawat and Vishnu Solanki were quick in the chase, adding 55 runs in just five overs. Hardik struck two fours in his innings, while Rawat remained unbeaten on 30 off 19 to seal Baroda’s chase in 6.4 overs. Legspinner Ravi Bishnoi was the only Gujarat bowler to take a wicket, returning 2 for 26 in 1.4 overs.File photo: Mohammed Shami was named the Player of the Match•Garima Agarwal/CAB

Shami, Akash Deep headline Bengal’s winMohammed Shami picked up his second-best T20 haul of 4 for 13 in 3.2 overs, while Akash Deep returned 3 for 27 as Bengal defeated Services by seven wickets in Hyderabad. Sent in, Services were bowled out for 165 in 18.2 overs. Abishek Porel and Abhimanyu Easwaran then struck quick fifties as Bengal got over the line in 15.1 overs.Shami got Gaurav Kochar with the first ball of the game before dismissing Ravi Chauhan for a nine-ball 26 in the third. Akash Deep then got into the act, removing Nitin Tanwar inside the powerplay. Mohit Ahlawat and Vineet Dhankhar added 67 for the fourth wicket but both fell in back-to-back overs. Akash Deep then picked up Pulkit Narang and Sandeep Nishad before Shami ended the innings, adding two more wickets to his tally.Bengal lost opener Karan Lal in the second over, but Porel and Easwaran kept the chase going with a 93-run stand in 50 balls. Porel struck eight fours and two sixes in his 56 off 29 balls, while Easwaran scored 58 off 37. Yuvraj Keswani (36* off 19) and Akash Deep (14* off five) ensured Bengal got over the line with 29 balls to spare.R Sai Kishore steered TN’s innings with a half-century•TNPL/TNCA

Sai Kishore, Jagadeesan wipe Tripura outNarayan Jagadeesan and R Sai Kishore dug Tamil Nadu out of a deep hole to eventually help them beat Tripura comfortably by 61 runs in a Group D game in Ahmedabad.Sent in, TN slipped to 26 for 4 in the sixth over, which included B Sai Sudharsan falling for just 5. But Jagadeesan and Sai Kishore added a 119-run stand for the fifth wicket in 11.1 overs to take them to safety. Jagadeesan smashed six fours and four sixes in his 49-ball 83 while Sai Kishore hit an unbeaten 39-ball 87 with three fours and eight sixes. He also added 59 runs in 20 balls with R Rajkumar as TN zoomed to 204 for 5.In reply, Tripura were never really in the chase, losing wickets at regular intervals. Vijay Shankar, playing against his former side, top-scored with 39, while Manisankar Murasingh struck a 23-ball 33 as Tripura were bowled out for 143 in 18.5 overs.

Shamar Joseph and Gudakesh Motie are in both ODI and T20I squads after missing the Test tour of India

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Oct-2025

Ackeem Auguste has earned a first call-up to West Indies’ ODI squad for the white-ball tour of Bangladesh in the second half of October, as replacement for Evin Lewis who has been ruled out with an injured wrist.Khary Pierre, who made his Test debut in the first match against India earlier this month in Ahmedabad, has earned a recall to the ODI side as the third spinner alongside Gudakesh Motie and allrounder Roston Chase, while Alick Athanaze has also made a return to the squad after playing his 13th and last ODI in December last year.”The selection of Ackeem reflects the pathway Cricket West Indies is creating for our emerging players who have shown the qualities to perform at the international level,” head coach Daren Sammy said in a CWI statement. “He is a player for the future, one who has progressed from Under-15s to the senior level, and another Academy graduate to feature in an international squad this year.”West Indies tour of Bangladesh

1st ODI – October 18, Dhaka
2nd ODI – October 21, Dhaka
3rd ODI – October 23, Dhaka
1st T20I – October 27, Chattogram
2nd T20I – October 29, Chattogram
3rd T20I – October 31, Chattogram

Also included for both the ODIs and the T20Is is Shamar Joseph, who missed the Test tour of India, along with Alzarri Joseph, because of an injury, the nature of which CWI didn’t disclose at the time. Motie is another player who missed the Test tour of India as West Indies wanted to manage his workload in the lead-up to the T20 World Cup early next year.The Bangladesh series will be the penultimate one of the year for West Indies.”The squad assembled will strive to maintain a winning mentality and strong team cohesion, essential components for long-term success ahead of the World Cup,” Sammy said. “Facing Bangladesh provides another opportunity to earn crucial points in our push for automatic qualification to the showpiece event.”Ramon Simmonds has been on the rise in recent months•CPL T20 via Getty Images

For the T20Is, left-arm quick Ramon Simmonds and Amir Jangoo have been included in the squad. While Jangoo has been picked as the back-up wicketkeeper-batter to captain Shai Hope, it’s a continuation of a steady rise for Simmonds, who picked up 13 wickets for Barbados Royals in the recent CPL 2025 and then returned 4 for 15 in only his second T20I, against Nepal last month.Related

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In what CWI called “a concerted effort to provide players with valuable exposure to subcontinent conditions in advance of the series”, Motie, Keacy Carty, Sherfane Rutherford, Auguste and Jangoo will train at the Chennai Super Kings Academy prior to the Bangladesh series.”With the 2026 T20 World Cup around the corner, it is important for our players to get as much practice as possible in these conditions, with that tournament being held in India and Sri Lanka,” CWI director of cricket Miles Bascombe said. “In addition to the important aspect of acclimatisation, the camp will feature skill and tactical training and development specific to those conditions, which is critical to preparing the players ahead of this series as well as next year’s World Cup.”The tour of Bangladesh will start with the three ODIs, on October 18, 21 and 23, all in Dhaka, followed by the three T20Is in Chattogram on October 27, 29 and 31.West Indies ODI squad for tour of BangladeshShai Hope (capt), Alick Athanaze, Ackeem Auguste, Jediah Blades, Keacy Carty, Roston Chase, Justin Greaves, Amir Jangoo, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King, Gudakesh Motie, Khary Pierre, Sherfane Rutherford, Jayden Seales, Romario ShepherdWest Indies T20I squad for tour of BangladeshShai Hope (capt), Alick Athanaze, Ackeem Auguste, Roston Chase, Jason Holder, Akeal Hosein, Amir Jangoo, Shamar Joseph, Brandon King, Gudakesh Motie, Rovman Powell, Sherfane Rutherford, Jayden Seales, Romario Shepherd, Ramon Simmonds

Paul Scholes has shared details on how Manchester United have treated club legends at Old Trafford in what he described as a “very different” club under INEOS.

The Old Trafford legend retired in 2013 and has since watched on as both a pundit and fan as the Red Devils continue to struggle. Whilst his generation stole headline after headline by winning Premier League title after Premier League title, current stars are simply hoping to take United back into the top four.

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There’s no doubt that Ruben Amorim would love to have a player of Scholes’ calibre these days. Where there was a big occasion, there was so often a big moment from the legendary midfielder.

Legends don’t get much bigger than Scholes at Old Trafford, but as Nicky Butt revealed, the Red Devils haven’t always treated their former players well in recent years.

Speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football, Butt revealed: “I’ve had an email saying ‘you’re having your ticket taken off you’. So I rang them up and said can I speak to somebody about this please? And they go ‘who am I speaking to please?’, and I go Nicky Butt and they go, ‘OK, well who’s that?’”

It’s not the first time that Man United have cut former players off, either. Sir Jim Ratcliffe and INEOS reportedly cut an annual £40,000 charity donation to the Association of Former Manchester United Players last December in a controversial decision.

INEOS then went and spent over £120m on reinforcements in the summer transfer window to add insult to injury for those former players.

Now, Scholes has shared a problem that he’s had with the club to follow on from Butt’s admission and INEOS’ decision to end United’s charity donation.

Scholes shares disappointment at "very different" Man Utd

Also speaking on The Good, The Bad & The Football, Scholes admitted that he has to use ticket touts for some Man United games after running out of season tickets to use.

Some would argue that the midfielder’s goal against Barcelona should have been enough to ensure free entry for life, let alone his 11 Premier League titles and two Champions League wins, but his struggles beg a greater question.

If a club legend is struggling to attend games, then how much are the fans struggling? The last thing that INEOS need is to potentially shut their own fans out, and that includes the likes of Scholes and Butt.

Man Utd surge into race against Liverpool and Arsenal to sign £123m superstar

The USAC-ACE contract termination has created uncertainty around USA’s preparations for next year’s T20 World Cup as well as the future of the MLC

Nagraj Gollapudi05-Sep-2025

USA Cricket’s decision to terminate its contract with American Cricket Enterprises (ACE), its primary commercial partner, which is also the parent company of Major League Cricket (MLC) – has left USA’s players “extremely affected” while dealing with uncertainty about their future. According to USA allrounder Corey Anderson, who is the operational director of the US Cricketers’ Association (USCA), the players fear that cricket in the country could be derailed if ACE pulls out.Anderson, the former New Zealand allrounder who moved to the USA and became eligible to play for them in 2023, suggested that ACE had been integral to the development of cricket in the USA for the past several years having invested in both Minor League Cricket and the MLC, which is now three seasons old.Related

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“I guess the termination of this contract between USAC and ACE just leaves players in a limbo and in a scenario where they are now so uncertain of their futures,” Anderson told ESPNcricinfo on a call from his home in Dallas. “And this is something that they’re extremely affected by in the way that they earn a living. How long does this last for? What does future seasons of Major League or Minor League or anything like that – what does that start to look like from that regard?”Apart from the significant sums of money it spends to conduct cricket in the country, ACE is also the backbone of cricketing operations in the USA. ACE owns the ground that houses the High Performance Centre at Grand Prairie in Dallas, Texas, holds exclusive license to the ground in Morrisville, has agreements with Broward County in Florida, and owns two drop-in pitches at the Oakland Coliseum, which made its debut during the 2025 MLC.As part of a long-term deal inked in 2019, ACE is contracted to funnel a minimum of USD 1.2 million annually to the USAC to cover the contracts of the national team including support staff. A failure to pay out that money consistently, the USAC has claimed, was one of the breaches that led to the termination of the contract. ACE strongly disputes this, claiming it has actually paid more than the agreed amount.Another thing that bothers Anderson, in case the standoff continues, is its potential impact on several important events leading up to the 2026 T20 World Cup, which is set to be played in February-March in India and Sri Lanka with USA among the 20 participating teams. In consultation with USAC, ACE had planned a high-performance camp for 35 top men’s players with trial matches – three 50-over games and three T20s – in Morrisville against West Indies A.Anderson, the former New Zealand allrounder who now plays for USA, is the operational director of the US Cricketers’ Association•Major League Cricket

The objective of this camp was to identify the best players for the T20 World Cup as well as prepare the team for World Cricket League 2 in October, which is USA’s qualification pathway for the 2027 ODI World Cup. ACE is also meant to be hosting the USA Women’s team at the HPC in Grand Prairie along with five-match T20 series against West Indies in October-November.”Is that all still taking place or not? These camps have to take place for the players to get ready for those things,” Anderson said. “All of those things are very much in a big question mark at the moment, which again just creates more uncertainty around the players. And effectively anything that goes on regarding those contracts ends up ultimately just affecting the players.”It’s just throwing a question mark on what players don’t know and their uncertainty around even that, which is again so unfortunate, because we’re in a space now with USA [where cricket] is growing and it’s growing very fast, and there’s a lot of money getting put into it and a lot of investment. But again [as things now stand], for what? Because players are now disrupted, unsure of what they need to do, unsure of where they’re going, and what their future looks like.”Has USAC written to the players since the public termination of the ACE contract? Not yet, according to Anderson. He pointed out that while the World Cricketers’ Association (WCA) recognizes USACA, USAC doesn’t. “We haven’t heard anything from USAC,” he said. “Again, I do want to establish that we aren’t recognized by USA Cricket, so in terms of being bound by anything, they do not have to say anything to us. But again, it would be very neglectful of them not to inform the players’ association considering we do have majority of the members [players] of Major League Cricket and in fact we have the majority of the USA national team as our members. And so when we speak up and get into bargaining discussions and things like that, we are doing it for them. It’s a players’ union run by the players.”Anderson said he had personally not reached out to any USA players, although there had been several discussions between players during the ongoing Minor League, where he plays for Dallas Kings Eleven. “I have not been in touch with any of the players because at the moment we don’t have any information to provide those players. If they’ve been provided information, that hasn’t been given back to us or given to any other players. This is where things can get pretty messy, because it starts becoming a little bit of the whispers start going around, and the rumour mill starts up, and [nobody knows] what’s actually true and what’s correct. And everyone’s a little bit unsure of what that actually looks like. So again, it’ll be nice to hear from the governing body [USAC] itself and understand what it looks like.”We’re currently in the middle of Minor League at the moment, so there are a lot of players asking what’s happening. Text messages, phone calls, what does this look like for Major League and our World Cup preparation? Minor League is currently running, but what does the future of that look like? Is this going to continue? So again, messages that unfortunately don’t have any answers.”According to USAC chairman Venu Piske, ‘it’s too early to make any assumptions’ about the future of the MLC•Sportzpics for MLC

USAC open to ‘renegotiate’ and ‘sanction’ 2026 MLCVenu Piske, the USAC chairman, said he understood the concerns raised by Anderson, and added that players would always be the priority. “I certainly can understand the sensitivity and also the players may have some concerns,” Piske said. “It’s understandable, but players are our No. 1 priority without any doubt. We have made sure we take care of players in all situations even when we are getting our funding as per the contract from ACE, or not getting the funding.”Piske said while there remained outstanding issues to sort out with ACE, USAC would not overlook players’ welfare including the financial aspect. Piske said USAC had given out 15 national contracts, which he said were the highest number offered in the board’s history. Piske said he could understand players being concerned about the future of MLC, and whether it would happen next season, but remained optimistic, saying USAC were open to “renegotiate” with ACE and even “sanction” the next season.”I know there may be some concerns around what’s going to happen with MLC, that’s understandable, but it’s too early to make any assumptions. As per our communication to ACE at the time of termination, we are committed to renegotiate on different terms because the current terms they [ACE] have not met; we always had a friction environment for the last six years, but considering their [ACE’s] commitment and investment to MLC, we are open to even sanction MLC while this is going on or we are open to some agreeable terms to resolve this.”MLC CEO Johnny Grave said ACE was not in breach of any terms in the original agreement and said it was focused on continuing to support USA Cricket. “We are fully compliant with our agreement with USAC and we continue to work to build all aspects of cricket in America.”According to Anderson, the best solution ought to involve ACE, without whose support he felt USA Cricket cannot provide a “premium product”. A “resolution sooner rather than later”, Anderson said, would benefit not just the game in the USA, but also reassure players that they have a secure future. “It needs to be anything that’s going to benefit the players in terms of just answers that will give us some suggestion that the future of the game here in the States is going to continue to be invested in and continue to grow, and players understand that they have a way of earning a living and being able to play quality cricket here again,” he said. “With the runway of what the USA team specifically has in terms of a World Cup and then an Olympics in 2028, those are massive markers for USA cricket to be able to hit. And I don’t see a world in which they can provide a premium product or quality of product without funding from ACE.”

It wasn’t the perfect performance, but Chelsea are now through to the quarter-finals of the League Cup.

At one point in their clash away to Wolverhampton Wanderers, Enzo Maresca’s men looked like they were going to run away with it.

Unfortunately, some really sloppy play and defending in the second half let the Old Gold right back into it.

With that said, Chelsea managed to get out of there with the win, and one player in particular showed why he could be another Cole Palmer, and no, it wasn’t Estevao.

Chelsea's standout stars vs Wolves

One Chelsea starter who did his chances of playing more minutes well on Wednesday night was Andrey Santos.

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The Brazilian ace started in the middle of the park and made an instant impact, scoring the opening goal just five minutes in.

It was a well-taken shot from just outside the area, but that wasn’t all he did, as he ended the game with 100% of his tackles won, ten ball recoveries and seven of eight ground duels won.

In short, it was an excellent all-action display from the 21-year-old and just the sort of showing fans were hoping to see from him this season.

One of his teammates who wasn’t quite as impactful, but is still worthy of praise, is Estevao.

The Brazilian wonderkid didn’t make any key passes or complete more than two crosses, but he did score a sensational chip to make it 3-0 in the 41st minute.

Finally, while he didn’t get a goal involvement like his midfield partner, Romeo Lavia, helped to keep things ticking over in the middle of the park for the Blues.

In his 61 minutes of action, the young Belgian completed 54 of 59 passes, played one key pass, took 67 touches, made seven ball recoveries and won five of six duels.

Perhaps the best thing you can say about the former Southampton gem’s performance is that Wolves scored two of their three goals when he was off the pitch.

With all that said, there was another Chelsea player who stood out above all the others and showed just why he could be another Palmer-type star.

Chelsea's new Palmer-type star

When it comes down to the player who impressed most on Wednesday night, it’s impossible to look past Jamie Gittens, and it’s the summer signing who could be the club’s new Palmer-type star.

Now, it’s important to caveat that this doesn’t mean he will become as good a player as the Blues’ number ten – few players ever will be – but there are some similarities.

For example, both of them have come from Manchester City’s academies, both can play out wide, the former Borussia Dortmund gem is almost certainly going to be involved in the senior England setup at some point, and, crucially, Gittens is capable of the incredible.

Yes, the 21-year-old has indeed underwhelmed so far this season, but against Wolves, he showed that he has it in him to utterly dominate an opposition and drag his side to victory.

For example, he provided the assist for Santos to open the scoring, and then, just ten minutes later, he did even better, setting up Tyrique George with a tap-in he simply couldn’t miss.

Then, if that wasn’t enough, the Reading-born monster made sure his side didn’t throw the game away by scoring an absolute screamer to make it 4-2 in the 90th minute.

It was the sort of goal you’d expect a player of Palmer’s calibre to score, and perhaps an indication that the Blues might have another superstar on their hands.

Overall, it really was, as one content creator put it, a “masterclass” of a performance from Gittens, and one that should see him remain in the team for the next few games.

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