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Manchester United have some talented youngsters thriving in their academy who could be ready to challenge for a first team spot sooner rather than later.

The likes of Manni Norkett, Marc Jurado, Joe Hugill and Alvaro Fernandez have either shone out on loan this term or impressed in the youth age groups and Erik ten Hag will be delighted that he has a range of talent to cherry-pick over the next few years.

One youngster who has been superb during a temporary move is Amad Diallo.

The winger has been impressive for Sunderland this term, helping them reach the playoffs, and he has scored 13 times for the club, showing much of the promise which convinced United to splash out £19m for him in 2021.

Does he have a long-term future at Old Trafford, however?

Ten Hag may have plans for him next year, although there is another starlet coming through at Carrington which could disrupt Diallo’s development in Mateo Mejia.

Who is Mateo Mejia?

The former Real Zaragoza winger joined United from the Spanish second-tier side in 2019 at the tender age of 16, and he has since progressed through the age groups with swift progress.

Although not as big a goal threat compared to Diallo, his positional dexterity – having played across the front three this season – will allow Ten Hag to have multiple uses for the 20-year-old should he graduate to the first team over the next 12 months.

Four assists from 15 appearances in the Premier League 2 prove he is always creating opportunities for his teammates and this selfless nature will stand him in good stead during his career.

Broadcaster Bolarinwa Olajide even described the 20-year-old as a “wonderkid” before he arrived in Manchester, and he is certainly living up to this praise, with even greater things to come, surely.

Mejia is among a group of youngsters who are ready to make that jump to the next level and gain some first team experience.

Ten Hag signed Antony in order to operate on the right wing, and he isn’t likely to be going anywhere anytime soon, however, if the Red Devils find themselves in a fixture predicament in playing twice a week for the majority of the campaign as they have done this term, then the Dutchman will require a far bigger squad.

Instead of splashing out millions on another winger who will fight with the Brazilian over a first team berth, it makes more sense to ease the Colombian in gently and seeing what he is made off, and he could surprise a lot of people with his ability.

Kent secured their second Royal London Cup win of the South Group campaign after easing aside Somerset by 95 runs during a squally afternoon in Canterbury.

ECB Reporters Network14-Jun-2016
ScorecardDaniel Bell-Drummond played another eye-catching innings•Getty Images

Kent secured their second Royal London Cup win of the South Group campaign after easing aside Somerset by 95 runs during a squally afternoon in Canterbury.Kent posted a creditable 231 for 6 from their reduced allocation of 30 overs after half-centuries from Daniel Bell-Drummond and skipper Sam Northeast, a total that proved way beyond the remit of an out-of-sorts Somerset side.Gloom, rain, thunderstorms and bad light dominated the morning, but umpires Jeff Evans and Steve Garrett finally deemed conditions playable at 2.30pm and Kent, having lost the toss, made the best of tricky conditions.In-form openers Joe Denly and Daniel Bell-Drummond posted 56 for the first wicket before Denly, on 12, top edged an attempted pull to mid-on.Bell-Drummond, whose stunning early season form must have caught the eye of the England selectors, marched on to a 39-ball 50 with seven fours, but the England Lions’ batsman holed out to long-on to make it 128 for 2.Kent skipper Northeast shouldered the batting responsibility thereafter, hitting an elegant 64, while those around him perished in the pursuit of rapid runs.While Northeast plundered five fours and a six, his colleagues struggled to provide fluent support on a pitch that had been dulled by the earlier showers, Billings, fresh from a stunning unbeaten ton against Glamorgan, succumbed for 29 but with a useful 36 from Darren Stevens Kent set a testing target of 232 to win.Run-rate pressure and a pitch enlivened by the rain soon took its toll on Somerset’s top order and the match was as good as sorted once Kent reduced their visitors to 44 for 4.Billings took a stunning catch low to his right to account for Johannes Myburgh off the bowling of Matt Coles, then Darren Stevens snared Adam Hose leg before to make it 35 for 2.Stevens clipped the top of Jim Allenby’s off pole to send him packing for a golden duck then, once Somerset danger man and former Kent all-rounder, Peter Trego, holed out to cow corner off the bowling of Fabian Cowdrey, the result was as good as assured.Matt Coles bagged two, and Ivan Thomas secured 3 for 31 as Somerset’s middle order subsided in the face of an overwhelming asking rate.

Kings XI Punjab have named South Africa batsman David Miller captain for IPL 2016. Last year the team was captained by Australia’s George Bailey, but the franchise had not retained Bailey this season

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Feb-20162:11

Miller blitzes his way to KXIP captaincy

Kings XI Punjab have named South Africa batsman David Miller captain for IPL 2016. Last year the team was captained by Australia’s George Bailey, but the franchise had not retained Bailey this season.Sanjay Bangar, Kings XI’s coach, said Miller had the right temperament to lead. “I have watched David grow as a player. He has displayed outstanding batting abilities and a cool temperament in many high-pressure situations,” Bangar said. “I am confident in his potential to lead the boys this season.”While he has little captaincy experience on the South African domestic circuit, Miller, 26, is a key batting cog in Kings XI’s line-up. He has been with them since the 2011 season, signed in April 2011 as a replacement player for England allrounder Dimitri Mascarenhas.In 2015, he was the only batsman to score more than 300 runs for them, hitting 357 at 32.45, with a strike rate of 134.21. It was a poor year overall for the team, which finished last in the league stage of the tournament. Ahead of the IPL auction this year, Miller was one of four overseas players retained – the others being Shaun Marsh, Glenn Maxwell and Mitchell Johnson.Miller’s appointment comes a few days after Kings XI appointed retired India batsman Virender Sehwag team mentor.Squad: David Miller, Swapnil Singh, M Vijay, Wriddhiman Saha, Rishi Dhawan, Kyle Abbott, Glenn Maxwell, Marcus Stoinis, Pardeep Sahu, Anureet Singh, Sandeep Sharma, Farhaan Behardien, Shardul Thakur, Mohit Sharma, Manan Vohra, Gurkeerat Singh, Axar Patel, Nikhil Naik, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Marsh, KC Cariappa, Armaan Jaffer

Tottenham Hotspur’s transfer business has been slammed after their shock exit from the FA Cup on Wednesday evening.

For the second season running, the Premier League outfit were knocked out at the fifth-round stage to a Championship team, this time Sheffield United providing the scalp on their own turf, Bramall Lane.

A 79th-minute solo effort from Iliman Ndiaye sealed the victory for the Blades as he weaved his way past Spurs’ lacklustre backline before slotting a tidy finish past backup goalkeeper Fraser Forster.

After the full-time whistle, journalist Delme Parfitt was quick to lambast the likes of Richarlison and Ivan Perisic, two summer signings that have failed to make a desired impact for the Lilywhites.

“Dreadful night for Spurs. Outfought and outplayed. Richarlison and Perisic both desperately disappointing signings,” he said.

How did Ivan Perisic perform vs Sheffield United?

The 34-year-old, signed by Antonio Conte, was certainly one of a multitude of poor performers up in Sheffield, with the Croatian veteran proving wasteful in the final third as he squandered numerous chances.

Indeed, Perisic managed only 19 passes at an accuracy rate of 58%, which was the worst of any Spurs player on the pitch by quite some margin, whilst he also lost possession an eye-watering 34 times, meaning he lost the ball every other touch, via Sofascore.

This included just one accurate cross from 11 attempts (9%), so it’s no wonder his teammates struggled to impose authority on the second-tier opposition in and around the penalty box, with Richarlison being hooked by the 65th minute.

As a winner of three league titles and one Champions League, Perisic is one of the more experienced and successful members of this Spurs squad, so his quality is needed in a game like this, yet to see him fail to deliver is ultimately a huge disappointment, just as Partiff stated.

The versatile left wing-back was also slammed as being “so, so bad” and “one of the worst” by writer Andrew Gaffney, as well as being “a massive waste of money” by The Athletic’s James Maw.

He may well have been a free transfer but for wages reported to be in the region of £180k-per-week, you’d want to see a lot better, especially as the former Inter Milan star has made just one Premier League goal contribution since the end of October.

A lot of the fanbase may turn to Davinson Sanchez – a usual scapegoat in a moment like this – for their frustrations or fellow defender Ben Davies, who both registered considerably lower Sofascore ratings on the night, but players of Perisic’s calibre failed to step up and that has to be a major cause for concern.

AND in other news, Alasdair Gold shares eight goalkeepers looked at by Paratici…

A constitution provides cricket with stability and protection; in selection processes, in development of domestic cricket, in nurturing of regional associations

Osman Samiuddin26-Mar-2006

Will Shaharyar Khan’s plan of implementing a new constitution finally come through? © Getty Images
Constitutions are not big in Pakistan. The country didn’t have one until 1956 and the one that governs the nation now only arrived in 1973. And this one can argue that toilet paper is accorded greater respect in some countries around the world, such is the fiddling, chopping, changing, misinterpretation and disregard it has faced by various leaders over the years. Cricket is not much better; it has been waiting on a new constitution now since 1999, when, within the second six months of the year, in turn four different men were heads of Pakistan cricket. To this day, the board is run by an ad-hoc committee in constitutional ambiguity.One of the many tasks in current chairman Shaharyar Khan’s in-tray when he took over on 9 December, 2003 was to devise and implement a new constitution. For two years, deadlines were repeatedly set for the constitution to be put into place. In November 2004, in an interview to this website the chairman said it would take three to four months. A few months earlier, in May, he had told , a national daily, the constitution would definitely be in place in three to four months.A draft, created by a body headed by Justice Karamat Bhandari was finally completed in mid-2005 and handed to President Pervez Musharraf (the head of state in Pakistan is Patron of the PCB and has to approve the constitution) in June. Given that he is president and may have more pressing matters at hand, nothing has happened since, no approval, rejection, only more limbo.”I cannot add much to that I am afraid,” Shaharyar told Cricinfo. “Occasionally, I get the impression that the President’s House has sent the constitution out to legal experts to have it vetted. Beyond that I cannot say anything with any certainty.”Is it likely to emerge any time soon, say before the end of the year? “I am fairly confident that something will emerge in the next two to four months. They are moving on this, it’s not lying around gathering dust.” It’s been said before though and only the foolish would rule out it being said again.Is it disappointing then that over two years after having taken over, one of the primary objectives still hasn’t been achieved? “Frankly I won’t say disappointed but I really would prefer that we had one as soon as possible. In the areas where the old constitution is alive, like district level governance, we have held elections. It is only with the executive committee and electing a general body that we haven’t had elections. But our democratic credentials are still better than many boards in that we have had elections in many districts across the country.”It is a rationalisation Pakistan is familiar with; in 2005, local level elections, although widespread, were widely-disputed and there has only been a referendum for the ultimate head of state – the President – in 2002, the results of which were also disputed. Democracy, it is argued by the government, is not so black and white a concept, or indeed one that, one-size-fits-all, can be applied to every nation. Strands of similar reasoning persist in Pakistan cricket, where it is often argued that the centralised and autocratic functioning of the board allows a smoother administration of affairs nationwide, shred of pesky, dissenting regional voices.”We have spread out the decision-making process with the ad-hoc committee which is a good body with sensible people on it. Look around in India and Sri Lanka and the problems they face in running cricket, particularly in India where it is difficult to make decisions because so many voices are there,” says Shaharyar. But there is of course good reason for its speedy implementation, as Shaharyar reiterates, “I would rather we have a constitution, particularly as the new one has improvements in it and covers loopholes, anomalies and contradictions that the older one didn’t.”The safeguards of accountability and transparency a constitution guarantees is vital, as the current administration, dogged by financial scandals after every big home series may appreciate. And as Imran Khan has pointed out more than once, a constitution provides cricket with stability and protection; in selection processes, in development of domestic cricket, in nurturing of regional associations (which this administration has failed to do) all of which have traditionally been problematic areas for Pakistan. Above all, it makes the chances of something like the administrative shambles of 1999 unlikely to happen so easily.The chairman’s own position is likely to come under review if and when the new constitution is approved. Not only is his three-year term coming to an end in December, the draft constitution has also left the process of finding a chairman in the President’s hands. Traditionally they have been appointed directly by the President. “We have left that to the Patron to decide. He can nominate and have all other positions elected, or he can ask candidates to come in and stand for election. Or a mixture as in he nominates a person and the general body approves or disapproves.”My tenure ends in December. We’ll see after that: if the constitution is there and calls for an elected head I don’t want to run for that. If it is a nomination then I might consider it. Logically if I have been there three years then I should stay another three months for the World Cup. It makes sense to see it through till then. I’m not hankering for it though – I have done a few things and a few still need to be done. The constitution is one of them.” As it has been, unfortunately, since the day he took over.

تقدم فريق ريال مدريد بهدف أول أمام خصمه ديبورتيفو ألافيس، خلال مباراة الفريقين ببطولة الدوري الإسباني مساء اليوم السبت.

ويحل ريال مدريد ضيفًا على ديبورتيفو ألافيس، في إطار مباريات الجولة السادسة عشر لبطولة الدوري الإسباني “الليجا” لموسم 2025-2026.

وأحرز الفرنسي كيليان مبابي هدف ريال مدريد الأول في شباك ألافيس وذلك بالدقيقة 24 من عمر المباراة.

الهدف جاء بعد تمريرة متقنة من جود بيلينجهام وصلت إلى مبابي ليستلم الكرة وينطلق ويمر من مدافعي ألافيس ومن ثم يسدد ببراعة في شباك الخصم. 

ورفع مبابي رصيده في جدول ترتيب هدافي الدوري الإسباني للموسم الجاري، إلى 17 هدفًا في الصدارة ويمكنك مطالعة ترتيب الهدافين من هنا. هدف مبابي في مباراة ريال مدريد وألافيس

ريال مدريد يتقدم عن طريق مبابي#الدوري_الإسباني#LaLiga pic.twitter.com/vArMkf1KMK — beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) December 14, 2025

Former Newcastle midfielder Lee Clark has admitted watching son Bobby lift the Carabao Cup with Liverpool was an emotional experience.

• Liverpool beat Chelsea to win Carabao Cup final
• Bobby Clark features as second-half substitute
• Proud dad says watching was a tearful experience

• Getty
  

  WHAT HAPPENED?

  Clark was one of several youngsters to feature for Liverpool in Sunday's 1-0 Carabao Cup win over Chelsea at Wembley. The 19-year-old came off the bench in the 72nd minute, for just his ninth senior outing, and helped the Reds secure their first silverware of the campaign with a victory over Mauricio Pochettino's men. His father Lee, who played for Newcastle, Sunderland and Fulham during his career, has spoken of his pride at seeing his son winning a trophy with the Reds.

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• WHAT LEE CLARK SAID

  Clark told talkSPORT: "I'm still in the clouds mate, still in the clouds. Found out Saturday [Bobby was on the bench] after the final session and Jurgen had confirmed everything with the starting XI and the substitutes before they travelled to London. When I was at the game yesterday, seeing him get the shout to get ready and stripped and play an important part in what the team achieved. It was just surreal, tears of joy at the end mate, tears of joy."

• Getty
  

  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has described the Carabao Cup victory as his "most special trophy" due to the fact it's his last season as manager and the role of the team's youngsters in the victory. Injuries saw Klopp field a host of youth players in the match with Clark, Jayden Danns, James McConnell, Conor Bradley and Jarell Quansah all featuring against Chelsea.

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  DID YOU KNOW?

  Liverpool won the League Cup for the 10th time on Sunday – the most by any team in the history of the competition. Two of those have come under Klopp, with only Bob Paisley (3) winning it more often in charge of the Reds.

Glasgow Rangers head into the international break off the back of a disappointing week as they lost the Old Firm clash 1-0 on Sunday after their 5-1 defeat to PSV their Champions League qualifier in midweek.

How did Rangers lose to Celtic?

The Light Blues were on the back foot for the majority of the first half as Michael Beale's tactic appeared to be to sit back and soak up the pressure at Ibrox.

Kyogo Furuhashi had a glorious chance to open the scoring as Matt O’Riley sent him one-on-one against Jack Butland down the right channel but the Japan international saw his effort blocked by Connor Goldson.

The home side then thought they had the lead as Cyriel Dessers squared for Kemar Roofe to slam the ball in, only for the referee to rule it out for a foul in the build-up by the Gers number nine after a VAR check.

Kyogo then found his shooting boots just before halftime as a mistake from Goldson at the back allowed him to rifle a terrific half-volley into the bottom corner.

That said, the Gers centre-back wasn't the only underperformer as £4m signing Cyriel Dessers was also below par.

How did Cyriel Dessers perform against Celtic?

There were a number of disappointing performances on the pitch for the Gers and Dessers was arguably the worst of the lot as he struggled badly at the top end of the pitch.

Whilst Goldson was caught out with a poor header that led to Kyogo's goal, the English central defender also made a number of vital interventions, including his heroic block to deny the Japanese forward earlier in the match, and recorded a Sofascore rating of 7.5 – the highest of any Rangers player.

The Nigeria international, however, did very little to redeem himself in a lacklustre display in his first experience of the Old Firm clash due to a lack of physicality and quality on the ball.

Chris Sutton bemoaned the lack of bravery in possession by Rangers during the Sky Sports commentary of the game but the midfield and full-backs were not helped by a lack of movement ahead of them at times.

Dessers did make a few interesting runs in behind to stretch the Celtic defence but did not do it often enough to forge any real chances and looked far too isolated at times due to his failure to pick up intelligent positions to receive the ball and link up the play.

This was reflected in his passing numbers as he ended the match with a meagre six completed passes out of 13 attempted, which is a success rate of just 46%, as per Sofascore.

With those touches, the 6 foot 1 flop managed to complete one of his two attempted dribbles and missed one 'big chance' as he failed to make the most of a creative pass from Todd Cantwell into the box.

He also lost six of his eight ground duels as the Nigerian frontman allowed Gustaf Lagerbielke and Liam Scales to dominate him on the deck with ease, which meant that the ball continually came back towards Rangers' goal as he was unable to retain possession or hold it up to help out his teammates.

Evidently, Dessers was the Old Firm villain for Beale as his poor performance, on and off the ball, played a significant role in their struggles going forward, whereas Goldson had one dreadful moment but fortunately regained composure to put in a solid display.

From the highest of highs almost a year ago, when he made his T20I debut before his 21st birthday to the lowest of lows, when a stress fracture forced him to be withdrawn from the South Africa A tour of England during the English summer, Lungi Ngidi has finally been able to have his happily ever after at his home ground this weekend.”That [the injury] was one of the biggest challenges I have had in my career, going from such a high to such a low in such a short space of time,” Ngidi said. “It was tough for me because I thought I was doing all the right things but the results just weren’t going my way. I got a lot of time to reflect and get to know myself as a person, and I got through it. I am a lot stronger than I thought I was. It helped me with a lot of confidence going forward.”Instead of spending the months between July and September auditioning for a place alongside Kagiso Rabada, Ngidi was on the physiotherapist’s bed, in conversation with Titans’ coach Mark Boucher and at university picking up extra modules in his Labour Law degree. He committed to his fitness and to getting stronger so he could be faster, when he would eventually make his return.”The whole off-season I was in the gym. I had to lose a lot of weight. That was tough,” Ngidi said. “One of the main things was diet and changing my lifestyle. That was also pretty difficult, but it’s helped me in the long run. And our coach [Boucher] as well – we had to have a few hard chats behind closed doors. Some honest chats as well. But they have helped me in the long run.”The end result is that Ngidi is eight kilograms lighter, more muscular, and trusts his action. He has picked up a few yards of pace and was considered ready to make his Test debut after playing only one first-class game this season. Ngidi took nine wickets at the Wanderers earlier in the summer. He had never been seen by captain Faf du Plessis before Friday but was picked on the evidence of one practice session in which Ngidi impressed Ottis Gibson and du Plessis.It’s easy to see why Ngidi caught their eye. He is quick – and bowled upwards of 150kph – while asking constant questions of world-class line-up. Ngidi’s basic principle was to “stick to my lengths,” and “keep it as basic as possible.” Even though the wicket was not a “typical Centurion pitch,” which usually has a “lot more bounce,” Ngidi hit the wicket hard and challenged Virat Kohli to the max.Ngidi revealed his plan was similar to Vernon Philander’s at Newlands, and he was aiming for the pads. He had an lbw decision reviewed against Kohli and a faint edge denied him his first Test wicket. “In my first spell I hit the pad a few times, so I thought that was a vulnerable area for him,” Ngidi said. “He kept shifting across and getting more into my bowling line, so I thought maybe shoot one into the stumps. I nearly got him. I thought I had him. I thought he had hit the ground. When I saw that edge, I kind of dropped a bit, but I knew I had to get back on the ball.”The maiden Test wicket eventually came when he had Parthiv Patel caught behind. Ngidi put that down to Philander’s advice of bringing the ball into the batsman. “I actually had goosebumps. I was talking to Vernon in terms of gameplans on how to get that wicket. Listening to someone with so much knowledge, and it planning out exactly the way he was telling me, it made me really happy and believe that I can perform at this level.”And that is a height Ngidi has now scaled.

Steven Smith gave praise for his partner on the fifth day at the MCG, as Mitchell Marsh slipped into a supporting role with a mature, unbeaten innings

Daniel Brettig in Melbourne30-Dec-2017As Australia ground their way to an MCG stalemate with England on a pitch that possessed qualities of indestructibility on par with a cockroach, the two men at the crease were suspects usual and unusual. Taking the hosts to lunch effectively 4 for 14, there was still a glimmer for Joe Root’s team, and they did not technically need to dismiss the currently “unbowlable” Steven Smith to get there – six other wickets would do just as nicely.Instead, the tourists found themselves frustrated by the No. 6, Mitchell Marsh, who negotiated a few awkward early moments against the reverse-swinging ball before slipping into a supporting role that would have made his father Geoff Marsh, a stodgy opener who once batted all of 628 minutes for 355 in a Sheffield Shield match, doubly proud. Where Marsh had joined Smith in a domineering partnership on a faster pitch in Perth, here he provided a two-footed defensive wall that England could not surmount.In the aftermath of a match that averted the prospect of a whitewash for England and will surely bring about plenty of introspection at the Melbourne Cricket Club about the moribund state of its drop-in Test pitch, Smith was most proud of how Marsh had adapted. He revealed, too, that Marsh felt he had broken new ground, playing the sort of innings he had been neither technically nor temperamentally capable of the previous summer.”Really pleased with him, the way he played,” Smith said of Marsh. “Walking off today he actually said ‘I’m proud of myself, 12 months ago I wouldn’t have been able to do that’. He’s come a long way. Obviously, he had to change the way he normally plays, he’s normally very aggressive and very positive. To face 160 balls for his 30-odd was a really good effort.”Given how thoroughly he has dominated England with the bat, Smith needs only to find someone capable of batting with him for extended periods to ensure Australia’s safety from defeat or launchpad for victory. At various points in this series, he has had help from Mitchell and Shaun Marsh, Pat Cummins, Usman Khawaja and David Warner. While the likes of Khawaja and Cameron Bancroft have endured disappointing series, “Smith and [insert team-mate’s name here]” has generally been good enough.”I’ve spent a lot of time out there throughout this series and this hundred and obviously the hundred in Brisbane were two of my slowest,” Smith said. “I’ve had to work really hard but I feel like my game is in really good order. I’m adapting to each of the bowlers, changing my plans to them and how they’re trying to get me out. I’m making sure that I’m in front of the game as much as possible and hopefully I can just keep working and keep getting better as well.”I just want to be out there batting. I don’t actually like watching cricket that much and would prefer to be out there batting and just getting the job done. That’s part of it but you’ve just got to try and stay as focused as you can each ball and treat every ball like a different challenge and get through as many as you can and that’s what I’m doing at the moment.”There has been mounting praise for Smith throughout this summer, coinciding with how he has carried on adding relentlessly to his series aggregate while steadily climbing the list of Test run-makers at an average that currently leaves him second only to Don Bradman. In Melbourne he shrugged off a sore right hand in the first innings by utilising a noticeably lighter bottom-hand grip on the blade, and by day five was back scoring in more typical fashion.”Shame we had to call it off in the last hour, could have had another hour out there,” Smith quipped. “It’s good fun. I’m enjoying it at the moment. I feel like I’m hitting the ball really well and hopefully I can end the series really well in Sydney.Mitchell Marsh and Steven Smith walk back after an exhausting day•Ryan Pierse/Getty Images

“I read different things that people write but in the end I don’t think about it, I just go out and play and try and get better each and every day. Playing this game you can never be satisfied and never think you’re too good for the game, the game can come back to bite you pretty quickly. Got to work hard and each time I go to middle make sure I’ve got my routines and try and get myself in the zone each and every single time and want to bat and make runs and get Australia in good positions.”Hopefully I’ve got a few more left in me. I feel like I’ve certainly got a lot more cricket left in front of me. I love to make more big runs and help Australia win games and series. I don’t play for the personal accolades, I play to do everything I can for Australia and as a captain leading from the front and trying to do my job as a batsman. Hopefully I can get a few more big runs and help Australia win a few more games.”Assessing the way the Australians had fallen behind in this match, Smith said that a lack of concentration with the bat on the second morning had been damaging, but denied there was any sense of “dead-rubber syndrome” about the lapse. “We let ourselves down a bit in the first innings,” he said.”We were in a pretty good position after the first day, three down and then we lost 7 for 60, and from there were a little bit behind the game – 350 just not enough in the first innings. Credit to England, thought they bowled really well in that morning and throughout the day and then obviously I dropped a couple of chances as well and that probably cost us quite a bit. Just hard to get in front of the game and try to get a result on that wicket.”You’ve still got to put it out of your mind and just continue to try and play good cricket and win the game for your team, dead rubber or not, it’s still a Test match and each Test means something to each and every one in both change rooms. No one ever thinks of anything as a dead rubber as a player, you just do everything you can do to win.”Australia’s priorities will be given further clarity once the team travels to Sydney for the final Test of the series. Ashton Agar has returned to the squad as the second spin bowler, having worked nicely opposite Nathan Lyon in Bangladesh earlier in the year, while Smith and the selectors will wait to decide whether or not Mitchell Starc’s heel has recovered sufficiently for consideration. One thing is for sure, all are relieved that Starc was not subjected to five days of toil on the MCG pitch.