Celtic head coach Wilfried Nancy has already had to deal with an awful lot since he made the move from Columbus Crew to replace Brendan Rodgers in the dugout.

He lost his first four matches in charge of the Scottish Premiership giants, including the League Cup final to St Mirren, and finally picked up his first win against Aberdeen last weekend.

The French tactician has also had to deal with losing two of his wingers, Sebastian Tounekti and Michel-Ange Balikwisha, because of the African Cup of Nations, which has left him short-staffed in the wide areas.

Why Celtic need to sign a new winger in January

With the January transfer window around the corner, the Scottish giants should be looking to add another option in the wide areas to bolster the squad.

Whilst the system is now a 3-4-2-1 without any ‘natural’ wingers, the wing-backs play very high up the pitch, like wingers, and the two number tens behind the striker can also feel like wingers at times.

When Tounekti and Balikwisha return from international duty, Nancy will have plenty of options at his disposal, but it is the quality of those options that should come into question.

25/26 Premiership

Tounekti

Balikwisha

Appearances

11

7

Goals

1

0

Minutes per goal

667

N/A

Key passes per game

1.5

0.4

Big chances created

1

1

Assists

0

1

Stats via Sofascore

As you can see in the table above, the pair have combined for one goal and one assist in 18 appearances in the Premiership so far this season for the Hoops, which is a fairly dismal return in front of goal.

This is why the club should be looking to bolster their wide options in the January transfer window by bringing in another forward who can offer more quality at the top end of the pitch.

Whilst Celtic should look to sign a right-sided attacker to improve on Balikwisha, who has been utilised on the right and the left flank, they already have an upgrade on Tounekti in waiting at Parkhead.

The Celtic star who can be an upgrade on Sebastian Tounekti

In May earlier this year, Hoops forward Jota suffered an ACL injury that was expected to keep him out of action for around nine months, up to February 2026, which means that he has not played a single minute in the 2025/26 campaign yet.

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Speaking to supporters earlier this month, the Portuguese attacker said that he thinks his recovery is “going the right way”, which, hopefully, means that he is on track to return in February.

If Jota is back and available for selection in February, Nancy does not have too long to wait to have a brilliant wide option available for selection, and one that would be a big upgrade on Tounekti.

Celtic paid £8m to sign the wide man from Rennes in the January transfer window at the start of this year, bringing him back to Parkhead for a second spell, but he only got to play 11 Premiership games before his injury.

In those 11 appearances, though, the former Al-Ittihad attacker showed the kind of form that supporters loved him for during his first spell, when he produced 25 goals and 23 assists in two seasons, per Sofascore.

Jota scored four goals, created three ‘big chances’, and registered two assists in seven starts in the league last season, per Sofascore, which means that he scored three more goals and produced twice as many assists as Tounekti and Balikwisha have managed combined so far this term.

24/25 Premiership

Jota per 90

Rank vs wingers

xG

0.48

Top 8%

Goals

0.63

Top 6%

Shots on target

1.42

Top 6%

xA

0.37

Top 8%

Assists

0.32

Top 17%

Chances created

1.89

Top 25%

Stats via FotMob

As you can see in the table above, the Portuguese ace was one of the most productive wide players in the division in the 2024/25 campaign, ranking highly among his positional peers in a host of goalscoring and creative metrics.

Subscribe for in-depth Celtic winger and transfer analysis Curious how Celtic could upgrade the wings? Subscribing to the newsletter gives focused breakdowns of Jota’s potential impact, transfer targets and tactical fits — concise, expert coverage that keeps you informed about the club’s winger options. Subscribe Subscribe for in-depth Celtic winger and transfer analysis Curious how Celtic could upgrade the wings? Subscribing to the newsletter gives focused breakdowns of Jota’s potential impact, transfer targets and tactical fits — concise, expert coverage that keeps you informed about the club’s winger options.

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This season, Tounekti is averaging 0.14 goals and 0.30 xA per 90 for Celtic in the Premiership, per FotMob, which shows that he has not been anywhere near as productive in front of goal as the currently injured star was.

Jota, who pundit Michael Stewart described as a “game-changer” who “raises the bar”, is a proven performer who has been there and done it for Celtic across two spells, which means that he is more or less a safe option for Nancy, as long as his injury does not have a major impact on his performance level.

Therefore, the 26-year-old wing wizard, who has not played a single minute this season due to injury, can return as a big upgrade on Tounekti and, as the winger Nancy currently lacks, when he returns to action at the start of 2026.

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South Africa has tied the inaugural Super Challenge 2000 series at Melbourne’s Colonial Stadium at one match apiece with a eight run win in the third and final match of what has proved to be a very innovative and enjoyable series.There were several heroes for the visitors, in particular the underrated left arm spinner Nicky Boje, who took 2/29 from ten overs of very accurate left arm spin and was awarded the Man of Series award. He proved difficult to get away in the mid to latter stages of the match and along with skipper Shaun Pollock (2/36 off eight) did some valuable damage during the run chase. Pollock proved again his great ability with the new ball getting the first two wickets while Adam Gilchrist (63 off 67 balls) powered away in the opening stages of Australia’s innings.Curiously right at the death Andrew Hall, who kept very well in the absence of the finger knife slicing Mark Boucher, was called up to bowl the second last over, with 22 needed. He started with a nervous wide but held up well under the pressure to concede only eight off the over and this left the Aussies needing 14 off the last.Jacques Kallis took the ball and after a smiling conversation involving he and skipper Pollock, South Africa wrapped up the match with a bit to spare.Earlier, South Africa were in desperate trouble at 4/19 in the seventh over, after great opening spells by Glenn McGrath (3/26 off ten overs) and Brett Lee (3/56 off ten).McGrath was first to strike, finding the edge of Andrew Hall’s (1) bat and Mark Waugh accepted the hot head high chance at second slip.At the Latrobe Street end, Brett Lee, who started to find his rhythm after an early speight of no balls, struck twice in his third over, having Kallis edge a lifting ball through to Gilchrist for three and then Daryl Cullinan went, bowled between bat and pad by a very sharp in dipper for a fourth ball duck. The veteran right-hander will come away from his Colonial Stadium experience was little fondness for it after a pair of noughts in the last two matches. South Africa were now 3/19 as Neil McKenzie walked out to join the experienced Kirsten.McGrath knocked over Kirsten (9) thanks again to the safe hands of Mark Waugh at second slip and at 4/19 the 15,000 odd that had bothered to make it for the 10am start were facing a free afternoon.South Africa have come from the depths of these positions before to win matches and today the men who rose to the challenge with the bat were Neil McKenzie (45) and Lance Klusener (49) who added 98 for the fifth wicket in 26 overs. They were the initial heroes with the bat, with Shaun Pollack (34) and Nicky Boje (28 off 28 balls) ensuring South Africa got past 200 after falling to 7/150 in the 43rd over after the initial recovery. The pair added an unbeaten 56 in seven and a half overs and with the Australians slow in bowling their overs and subsequently having their innings reduced to 48 overs, the South African total reached a level of respectability.This reduction to 48 overs was a real surprise, given the fairly liberal interpretation of the rule in the previous two matches.In Game one, South Africa were 21 minutes over time and on Friday Australia were around a quarter of an hour but neither were penalised in any way. Admittedly though on Wednesday, South Africa’s bowlers were continually cleaning their sprigs giving the damp nature of the surface.In the Australian reply, Shaun Pollock picked up the first wicket, with a fairly straight ball which Mark Waugh played around as he came forward to drive. Waugh went for a single and Australia were 1/21 in the seventh over.Adam Gilchrist was making the job of batting look very easy as he opened his shoulders to eventually hit nine fours and a pulled six over square leg off Roger TelemachusRicky Ponting would have been disappointed with his dismissal as he played an impatient shot which brought about his downfall, attempting to loft Pollock over the on-side on the up. The result – a catch to Makhaya Ntini at mid on and Australia were now tottering a little at 2/31.Gilchrist continued to make batting look easy but his batting partner Michael Bevan was doing anything but, as he struggled to find a gap in the field with thirteen balls being needed before he could get off the mark.Gilchrist’s entertaining hand came to an end on 63 in the 20th over as he attempted a pull shot off Ntini and top edged it as high and as close as any ball had been near the roof, to be caught by Neil McKenzie at backward point.Ntini, who had been working up some pace during his first spell, struck the Aussie skipper Steve Waugh on the left arm with his next ball which was a sharp, rising delivery. Waugh rubbed his arm vigourously and Ntini returned to the top of his bowling mark, intent to try and put his side on top in the match.The eventual loss of the Australian captain, was a big blow for South Africa, as Waugh lofted Lance Klusener to mid off after making 17 and in the 29th over Australia were reduced to 4/114.Bevan had now started to find the gaps but when he reached 33 off 80 balls, he was brilliantly run out by Neil McKenzie from backward point in the 35th over and Australia now needed right on a run a ball if they were to win the match and clinch this series.Shane Warne was elevated up the order and lofted a few deliveries to various points of the arena without being able to pick up a boundary.Damien Martyn eased the tension somewhat as he found the first boundary for nine overs by charging and lofting South African skipper over mid wicket to the fence but in the 38th over Warne attempted to take on Nicky Boje and holed out to a great catch by Gary Kirsten at a widish long-on for seven.Shane Lee played rebustly as the run rate required found its way to over six and he and Damien Martyn added 28 in six overs before Lee hoisted a ball to deep mid wicket where a good catch was taken by Neil McKenzie, Australia were 7/171.What eventually broke the back of the chase was the demise of Damien Martyn, who after making 31 off 42 balls, was bowled by a Telemachus yorker in the 45th over at 8/176, this left Australia needing 31 off three and a half overs and this, unsurprisngly proved too much for the remaining batsmen.

ScorecardNazmul Hossain Shanto couldn’t carry forward his form from the fourth match•BCB

South Africa Under-19 kept the seven-match Youth ODI series against Bangladesh alive with a 34-run win in a rain-affected encounter in Pietermaritzburg. South Africa now trail 3-2 with two matches to go.South Africa got off to a solid start in the 38-over contest after being put in to bat, with the openers Liam Smith and Rivaldo Moonsammy putting on 34 in 40 balls. Moonsammy then added 39 with Matthew Breetzke before Bangladesh forced themselves back with three wickets in the space of 38 balls. From 85 for 4, South Africa got back on track via a 94-run fifth-wicket stand between Wiaan Mulder and Dayyaan Galiem. Mulder hit nine fours in his 56, while Galiem struck three fours and a six in his 39-ball 42 which helped South Africa to a total of 183 for 6.Bangladesh did not start well in their chase, losing three wickets within the first four overs. They lost another clump of wickets as they went from 44 for 3 to 48 for 6. Mehedi Hasan Miraz (67) and Mosabbek Hossain (40) offered resistance with a 80-run seventh-wicket partnership but Bangladesh couldn’t revive the chase and were eventually bowled out for 149 in 31 overs. Fast bowler Lutho Sipamla finished with figures of 3 for 32.”I think we started off better than in any of our other games in terms of batting,” South Africa U-19 captain Tony de Zorzi said. “The most important thing for us is to perfect our mental game and I believe in the last couple of days we have come very close to getting where we want to be with that. I think once we have that under our full control, they won’t be able to come close to us.”

Dilip Vengsarkar, vice-president of the Mumbai Cricket Association, has said that former India legspinner Sairaj Bahutule’s decision to coach the Bengal team is “unethical”. Vengsarkar criticised Bahutule for accepting the role with Bengal only a fortnight after he was appointed coach of the Mumbai Under-23 side and was also one of the coaches in MCA’s new spin-bowling academy.According to Vengsarkar, the abrupt move had shown the former legspinner in poor light.”To put it bluntly, Bahutule has been unethical in his approach, especially when we had appointed him for a salary that was agreed upon and he had been coaching the Under-23 squad for the last two weeks,” Vengsarkar told the .”At the MCA, we were happy when he showed a lot of interest in coming to Mumbai after his stint with Vidarbha and later Kerala as coach. We were keen to have as many former Mumbai players, captains under the same umbrella as we could, for they are very much aware of the work ethics of a Mumbai cricketer.”That he would do something like this behind our back is unimaginable. If he wanted to coach a Ranji team, why did he leave Vidarbha and then Kerala, or was he asked to leave? If he is getting a job to coach a Ranji side, then would he leave the same team halfway through if he is offered to coach say Bangladesh or Zimbabwe? The whole episode has shown him in extremely poor light.”Vengsarkar is not the only one peeved with the incident. Bahutule’s predecessor in the Bengal team, Ashok Malhotra, said the Cricket Association of Bengal could have been “more professional” and informed him directly of his ouster. Malhotra found out about the CAB’s decision through media reports after joint secretary Sourav Ganguly announced Bahutule’s appointment while speaking with reporters in New Delhi on Monday night. Malhotra had coached the side for the last two seasons.”I could have been told by the CAB of their decision personally,” Malhotra told the . “As a former player who has represented the state and also a coach, would that be too much to expect? I learnt about my fate from the media.”I must say that I expected CAB to be more professional. There are no hard feelings, but yes, these things could certainly have been done in a better way.”

Leicestershire have signed Middlesex batsman Neil Dexter on a three-year contract.Dexter has had a solid Championship season for Middlesex as they push for runners-up spot in Division One of the Championship, although his impact in one-day cricket has been less apparent. He joins Leicestershire in search of the security of a long-term deal that Middlesex could not offer..Angus Fraser, Middlesex’s managing director of cricket, said: “I am delighted that Neil has secured a long term contract with a club that will guarantee him regular first eleven cricket. Neil is at an age and stage in his career where he needs to play regular first eleven cricket and have a prominent role in that side. Unfortunately Middlesex could not guarantee this moving forward, so I fully understand and respect Neil’s decision to look for a fresh challenge elsewhere.”Neil has been a much liked and respected member of the Middlesex CCC playing staff since his arrival from Kent in late 2008, and has produced many valuable performances for the club on the field. He also led us to Second Division success in 2011, something he should be extremely proud of.”Dexter, 31, started his county career at Kent and has scored 5,977 first-class runs at an average of 35.79 with a career best score of 163 not out. He has 1,913 List A career runs at 31.88 and has 1,497 runs in T20 cricket at a strike rate of 109.91.Wasim Khan, Leicestershire’s chief executive, said: “With a number of sides interested in securing Neil, we are delighted that he has decided to join us. He will give us both quality and experience with his proven track record in county cricket. Neil is also a good bowler and fielder who can fit into our side in all three formats.”

It’s been more than three years since he started his spirited recovery from a rare germ-cell cancer. Eighteen months since he was last seen in India colours. Intensely involved in Punjab’s training session on the eve of their Ranji Trophy game against Mumbai, Yuvraj Singh appeared to be at peace.He was at the Wankhede Stadium, the venue where he was presented with the Player of the Tournament award after India’s victorious World Cup campaign in 2011. But it seems unlikely that he will be part of such scenes again, given that he is 33, and hasn’t played for India in any format since the World T20 final in April 2014.Yuvraj, however, hasn’t ruled out a return to the India dressing room as he leads Punjab into their second match of the Ranji Trophy season.”Just want to play and enjoy my cricket,” Yuvraj said, when asked about his targets for the season. “If I get opportunity to come back and play for India I look forward to that. These are the games which will give me opportunity to come back, so I am trying my best. I had six weeks of good off-season training and practicing so hopefully it comes through in the games.”For someone like Yuvraj, who is used to playing in front of packed crowds, returning to domestic cricket is not easy. The quality of cricket is not as high, conditions aren’t as they are at the international level, and there is hardly anyone in the stands to applaud a sparkling drive or a diving catch.It can become difficult for someone who has seen the highs of international cricket to go through the grind of domestic cricket all over again. To motivate himself, Yuvraj keeps recalling a conversation he had last year with Sachin Tendulkar.”I was speaking to Sachin last year and he said that obviously the most important thing is to play for India but don’t forget to enjoy the game,” Yuvraj said. “As young kids we always played the game to enjoy it, we never knew that we were going to play for India. I enjoy playing cricket and it was always my passion as a young kid, so as long as I am enjoying it, I want to play.”The enjoyment certainly brought rewards last season, when he ended the Ranji Trophy campaign with 671 runs from seven matches at an average of 55.91, including three centuries in the first three games.While he has one eye on making the cut for the next year’s World Twenty20, since “it’s always an honour to play another World Cup”, his immediate focus is on leading Punjab in the absence of Harbhajan Singh. Punjab started each of their last three seasons on a high note only to fizzle out later on. The new season has brought another bright start – an innings win over Railways – and Yuvraj hopes the team can go the distance this time.”Punjab started really well last year and last three games we didn’t do well so that’s why we didn’t qualify [for the knockouts]. I think we started well [this year also], and we need to be consistent,” he said. “We always get to quarter-finals, semi-finals, but we are not able to win the finals. In 50-over and T20 we went to the finals, so I think that [consistency] is one area that we need to improve, to win a major tournament.”If Punjab can overcome a dispirited Mumbai over the next four days, they will have taken a step towards that aim.

ScorecardFile photo – Cameron Bancroft scored his fifth first-class hundred•Getty Images

Cameron Bancroft and Shaun Marsh rebounded from their Test team omissions with a stand of 172 for Western Australia before South Australia wrapped up the rest of the Warriors’ innings to give themselves a feasible fourth-innings target of 316 in the Sheffield Shield match at Adelaide Oval.WA lost the nightwatchman Jason Behrendorff early on day three, but Bancroft and the stand-in captain Marsh then frustrated the Redbacks while composing the most substantial scores of the match. Bancroft’s 111 was further evidence of his ability to craft lengthy, sensible innings.At 2 for 217 the Warriors looked capable of batting SA right out of the match, but when Kane Richardson had Marsh caught behind with the second new ball, the day took on a different tone. All the Redbacks bowlers contributed to the fightback, which saw the visitors lose their last eight wickets for just 78.Mark Cosgrove and Kelvin Smith then negotiated the last five overs of the day for the addition of 17 runs, to leave the match finely poised entering the final day on a surface that has not shown signs of deterioration.

ScorecardFile photo – Akhil Herwadkar shared a 124-run alliance with Nikhil Patil for the seventh wicket•ACC

Akhil Herwadkar’s second first-class ton rescued Mumbai from a shaky position and helped them secure the first-innings lead against Railways at the Wankhede Stadium.Resuming on 4 for 2, Mumbai recovered well in the morning, and appeared comfortably placed to surpass Railways’ first innings total of 217, as Herwadkar and Shreyas Iyer (57 off 62 balls) added 127 runs in 27.5 overs.However, legspinner Karn Sharma had Iyer caught behind in the 32nd over and that triggered a collapse. From 131 for 2, the hosts slipped to 147 for 6 in the space of four overs, Karn picking up three of the four wickets to fall.Herwadkar and No.8 batsman Nikhil Patil then put on 124 runs to take Mumbai past Railways’ total. Despite Herwadkar’s dismissal, Patil helped enhance his team’s lead and remained unbeaten at stumps. Karn had six wickets to show for his efforts.
ScorecardTamil Nadu lost ground in their pursuit for first-innings points against Uttar Pradesh in Kanpur, falling to 174 for 6 by the end of day two. UP, who were 277 for 4 when the day began, were buoyed by handy knocks from the captain Suresh Raina (61), and Saurabh Kumar (41) and ended with 348. Ashwin Crist and Malolan Rangarajan picked up three wickets apiece for Tamil Nadu. The visitors began their reply poorly, falling to 6 for 3 after Praveen Kumar and Bhuvneshwar Kumar removed B Aparajith, Abhinav Mukund and Dinesh Karthik inside four overs. Vijay Shankar, though, led a recovery, putting up important stands with B Indrajith and R Prasanna. However, Tamil Nadu suffered another big blow towards the end of the day, when Shankar was dismissed for 92.
ScorecardBaroda’s lower order stuttered but their tail fought back against Punjab to put on a formidable total of 475 on the second day in Vadodara. Punjab were also reduced to 19 for 3 by Irfan Pathan before Uday Kaul (47*) and Yuvraj Singh (43*) steered them to 112 for 3 at stumps, still trailing by 363 runs.Baroda’s strong position of 344 for 3 was squandered when they lost Swapnil Singh, Hardik Pandya (59), Deepak Hooda and Yusuf Pathan in 7.3 overs for 24 runs, to be 387 for 7. However, Irfan chipped in with 18 runs and Pinal Shah counterattacked with an unbeaten 55 off 67, with eight fours and a six, to lead them past 400. Irfan was bowled by Deepak Bansal, who finished with 3 for 57, and Baroda were bowled out in 130.5 overs.Punjab were rocked early on as Munaf Patel struck in his first over and Irfan soon removed Jiwanjot Singh (7) and Mandeep Singh (0) in consecutive overs, leaving them three down in the seventh over. Uday and Yuvraj then combined for an unbroken stand of 93 runs to avoid further stutters.
ScorecardGujarat closed in on securing an innings lead in Surat after reducing Madhya Pradesh to 187 for 7. Starting the day at 252 for 6, Gujarat rode on a handy half-century from Axar Patel (55) as well as a 38 from Rush Kalaria. Jalaj Saxena picked up three scalps, while Puneet Datey and Ankit Kushwah chipped in with two each, but Gujarat still managed a healthy first-innings total of 311. Madhya Pradesh, in reply, lost wickets at regular intervals right from the off. A lot of batsmen made starts, but only Naman Ojha could muster a fifty, as the visitors were left with a massive task in hand to get back into the match.

The “disproportionate publicity” and the “soft imagery” that an association with the IPL brings is expected to negate any financial losses the two new franchise owners, New Rising and Intex Mobiles, may suffer in the short run. Despite New Rising and Intex Mobiles having to pay Rs 16 crore and Rs 10 crore per year respectively to the BCCI after bidding in negative, brand experts feel the franchises will have multiple advantages.”In this world of hard business you need a soft face as well. Sport gives that soft imagery to a hard company,” Harish Bijoor, a brand consultant, told ESPNcricinfo. “At the end of the day, sport is also a tool to manage HR internally pretty well. It softens the companies altogether, and to an extent it tells people that ‘we are not only about this, we are also sport.'”Former Kolkata Knight Riders team director Joy Bhattacharya said the visibility generated by the tournament opened up new markets for the companies. “One thing that sport does give you is a disproportionate publicity for your brand as compared to almost any other enterprise,” he said. “So, if Sanjeev Goenka is looking to be a global enterprise and Intex wants to make its mark in the world, getting involved in the IPL is a great starting move.”I can name 500 companies which are [Rs] 1000 crore companies, [and yet] nobody knows of them. But name an IPL team and everyone knows the person. I think that’s what is driving them.”According to Bijoor, there were fresh commercial possibilities for franchises following the penetration of the game in smaller centres. “A lot of people are saying that IPL is a reasonably matured game in India, because it has gone through so many seasons, so many losses,” he said.”There are numerous revenue streams [now]. It is not only what they get through the common streams, but in terms of merchandising, local activation, in terms of developing micro-cricket within the hinterland. These are all possibilities because cricket is becoming more and more micro rather than macro.”From being a country game, it became a city game, from a city game it became a town game, now from a town game can it become a smaller town game and eventually a village game. The moment you percolate deeper you provide for media vehicles which did not exist for others.” Bijoor, however, added that such gains were more pronounced in the longer run where brand involvement would be greater. “Even Mumbai Indians took more than three years to settle down, with the kind of proprietor attention that was given.”Bhattacharya said the teams would not absorb heavy losses given the absence of the franchise fee. Drawing a comparison with the Indian Super League, the professional football tournament, where every team, according to him, was making losses, he said it was worth taking a punt in the IPL. “The price is not a very big thing if you consider the price collection that happened in 2011 when Pune came in with Sahara for $332 [370] million,” he said. “[The increase in franchise fee] was a jump of about eight or nine times. They were talking about potentially losing about Rs 150 crore a year for 10 years.”Here you will have to tackle [your expenses] without any central revenue, with just sponsorship and gate [receipts]. They will be losing about [Rs] 40 crore a year; every team in the ISL is losing about the same number. Hell, I will take a chance [with the IPL].”

With the English women’s team suffering the embarrassment of losing to the NSW first XI and then the NSW second XI this week, the Australian team has also had its hiccups in the leadup to tomorrow’s one-day international at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Australia – whose commercially-correct title is The Commonwealth Bank Southern Stars – were beaten by their own second-eleven yesterday, the Australia “A” triumphant by 27 runs.The match, at Old King’s Oval, Parramatta, was intended to give the Southern Stars some valuable practice before entering into their four-game encounter with the English tourists. At first, it looked straightforward enough. Australia A scored 8/156 in their fifty overs. Melanie Jones, whose omission from the Australian squad was a surprise, top scored for the A-team with 47, while Victorian duo Cathryn Fitzpatrick and Charmaine Mason took three wickets each.The chase for 157, however, was too much for the Southern Stars, who were bundled out for 129 in 48.3 overs, the last seven wickets falling for 25 runs. Joanne Broadbent (48) was the only Australian batsman to put together a total of note, with ex-Australian seamers Bronwyn Calver (3/19) and Zoe Goss (3/20) doing the damage.News of the Australian loss at Parramatta would have belated solace for the English camp, beaten at the same time about 15 kilometres away by a New South Wales second eleven at Bankstown Oval. The English media, taking a breather from rubbishing the England men’s team in South Africa or the Under-19’s in Sri Lanka, today quoted team manager Paul Farbrace as saying “I can’t say I am approaching Saturday with apprehension… I am approaching the whole of the next month with apprehension.”Today’s Daily Telegraph (London) goes on to quote Farbrace as saying “At the moment I know what team I’d pick – none of them.”Australia has won its last six one-day internationals against England, including a 5-0 clean-sweep in England in 1998. England’s last victory over Australia was in the 1993 World Cup. In 27 meetings dating back to 1973, Australia has won 19 and England 6, with one tied and one abandoned.Play begins at the Sydney Cricket Ground in the first of the four-match series tomorrow Saturday at 10am local time (2300GMT Friday). CricInfo will provide live ball-by-ball coverage.