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ECB respond to latest government advice after update from health secretary

Andrew Miller23-Dec-2020England’s tour of Sri Lanka is still scheduled to proceed as planned on January 2, according to the ECB, in spite of the UK government requiring any person who has been in South Africa in the past fortnight to quarantine immediately, due to the discovery of a new mutation of the Covid-19 virus.England’s white-ball squad returned from South Africa on December 10, just under a fortnight ago, following the abandonment of the three-match ODI leg of the series, due to concerns about the bio-security of the team hotel in Cape Town.And those squad members were briefly made to fear that they would have to quarantine over Christmas and New Year, when the UK health secretary, Matt Hancock, announced during a Downing Street press conference on Wednesday afternoon that a new variation of Covid-19 had been identified in the country, linked to two recent arrivals from South Africa.”Both are contacts of cases who have travelled from South Africa over the past few weeks,” Hancock said. “We are incredibly grateful to the South African government for the rigour of their science and the openness and the transparency with which they have rightly acted as we did when we discovered a new variant here.”Related

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However, the ECB clarified in a statement that the measures taken to protect the players from infection, both during and since the South Africa tour, would exempt them from quarantine.”The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) can confirm that those team members and support staff who returned on 10 December from South Africa, as part of England men’s white-ball tour, have been following the Elite Sports International guidance concerning activity in the UK,” the ECB said. “During this period, they have undergone on-going symptom and testing checks and will not need to quarantine.”Question marks still remain about the viability of the Sri Lanka tour, which was rescheduled following the postponement of their original trip in March. Earlier this week, several countries, including Sri Lanka, suspended travel from the UK following the identification of a separate Covid mutation, which is thought to be up to 70% more transmissable.However, ESPNcricinfo understands that Sri Lanka Cricket, whose players are currently in South Africa preparing for a two-Test series beginning at Centurion on Boxing Day, are not unduly concerned at this stage about the implications of the new mutations. SLC medical staff have been in contact with their counterparts at the ECB, and are satisfied that the teams’ bio-secure bubble is robust.”I don’t think we should [look at the new strain as something that jeopardises the tour],” said Dr Daminda Attanayake, the Sri Lankan team’s physician, in response to the UK mutation of the virus. “Yes, anxiety is high at this stage from everybody. But when you look at the scientific evidence, I don’t think we should stop it. We might have to take extra precautions, but we don’t need to stop the tour.”England travelled to and from South Africa on a charter flight, and have similar arrangements in place for their flight to Hambantota on January 2 – where they will undergo 10 days of isolation before moving on to Galle for the first Test on January 14. As such, they are exempt from the arrangements outlined by the health secretary.”Regarding the England men’s Test squad and support staff, they will continue to prepare as normal ahead of the Sri Lanka Test tour. The touring party is due to leave on 2 January 2021. The ECB will continue to monitor the on-going situation in respect of international travel and working closely with Sri Lanka Cricket.”England players and staff bound for Sri Lanka next week have been made aware of their responsibilities during the Christmas break. However, it is understood that those in tier 1, 2 or 3 regions are not being instructed to avoid seeing family members.Earlier this week, it was announced that the former South Africa batsman Jacques Kallis would be joining England’s Test team in Sri Lanka as a batting coaching consultant.

Shohei Ohtani isn't human. His otherworldly superpowers were known heading into Game 4 of the National League Championship Series, but he entered another stratosphere Friday. Even for him.

On the mound, he pitched six scoreless innings and recorded 10 strikeouts along the way. At the dish, he went 3-for-3 with three home runs and a walk. Yes, you read that right. His second solo shot of the night traveled 469 feet over the right-field wall up and out of Dodger Stadium, too.

The two-way superstar started his night by striking out three batters in the first inning, then quickly headed to his second job at the plate and smacked a leadoff home run.

In the second, he needed just 10 pitches to retire the Brewers' batters who went three up, three down. He recorded three strikeouts before his next homer in the fourth, which went so far even his teammates couldn't believe it.

Ohtani's second homer of the night made him the first player in Major League Baseball history to hit two home runs in a postseason game as a pitcher, according to ESPN Insights. He had one more in him, though, hitting his third deep ball of the night in the seventh. This one went to center field and made the Dodgers superstar the first player with three homers and 10 strikeouts in a game counting both the regular season and playoffs, according to MLB's Sarah Langs.

Here's an awesome look at his wildly historic night, with each strikeout and home run in order:

The Dodgers defeated the Brewers 5-1 to complete the sweep and make their second World Series appearance in a row. But, this one will be remembered forever as the Shohei Ohtani game.

Enzo Maresca labelled Cole Palmer a "super humble guy" whose personality has remained unchanged following his blockbuster move to Chelsea.

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Palmer bagged four goals against BrightonHelped the Blues register a 4-2 winMaresca impressed with his humilityWHAT HAPPENED?

Palmer etched his name into the Premier League record books during Chelsea's recent 4-2 win over Brighton & Hove Albion by becoming the first player in the competition’s history to score four goals in the first half of a match. With this win, the Blues moved within just one point of Arsenal and Manchester City and two points adrift leaders Liverpool.

AdvertisementGOALTHE BIGGER PICTURE

Current Chelsea boss Maresca has known Palmer for a long time. The Italian worked closely with the England international while in charge of Manchester City’s Under-23 squad and later as an assistant to Pep Guardiola. The manager has witnessed Palmer's growth and his rise to superstardom at Stamford Bridge but emphasised that despite the spotlight shining on him, the forward has not allowed success to change him.

WHAT MARESCA SAID

“I said to Cole that he scored four goals, but he could have scored two or three more,” said Maresca after the match. “It’s good that he continues to be hungry, ambitious. I know Cole from many years ago, I had him for one entire season with the under-23s at Manchester City. The best thing he has is that in the way he is today as a boy, he was three or four years ago. So goals, assists, best player of the Premier League — this doesn’t change who he is. He is a simple guy, a humble guy, and this for me is the most important thing.”

"He is a top player," Marseca added. "Today in football, young players change very quickly. They score one goal and think they are already (a star). Cole scored many goals, many assists, he’s a top player but he never changes, and that is the most important thing."

“Already in his life, many good things happened as a professional to give him the chance to change, but he didn’t change. That means he is probably always going to be the way he is. He is a special player, a super guy, a humble guy. He doesn't need to tell people how good he is.”

DID YOU KNOW?

Palmer’s breakthrough came after he made the move from Manchester City to Chelsea last summer. His stellar 2023-24 season earned him the PFA’s Young Player of the Year award, a prestigious recognition for his standout performances. Palmer’s rise to prominence also led to his inclusion in England’s squad for Euro 2024, where he managed to score in the final – a losing effort to Spain.

After he emerged as an early candidate to take the job, sources have shared Scott Brown’s stance on replacing Brendan Rodgers in the Celtic dugout.

Chris Sutton names "obvious choice" for Celtic

Rodgers shock exit has sparked several rumours as to who could arrive to replace the veteran manager. Many expected the former Leicester City boss to leave at the end of his contract next summer, but the Bhoys have now been left with no choice but to replace him several months early following his resignation.

Already eight points behind unexpected leaders Hearts in the Scottish Premiership after suffering a 3-1 defeat against Derek McInnes’ side on Sunday, Celtic must get their next permanent appointment right.

On that front, one name that has already been mentioned is Ange Postecoglou. Having initially hired Rodgers to replace the Australian in 2023, Celtic could re-hire Postecoglou to come full-circle in a decision that Chris Sutton would certainly back.

The Celtic legend told Sky Sports: “I think Ange Postecoglou would be a really smart appointment. He was loved the first time round.

“His brand of football went down well in Glasgow. He’s out of work. I think that would be a pretty obvious choice, a good choice and bring a lot of positivity back to Celtic, which they need right now.”

The 60-year-old arguably needs the Bhoys just as much as they need him these days following a disastrous 39-day spell in charge of Nottingham Forest. After being sacked twice by two Premier League clubs in the last year though, it remains to be seen whether he’ll make such a swift return.

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The Bhoys were defeated in Edinburgh today to cap another dismal day at the office.

BySean Markus Clifford Oct 26, 2025

It may be too soon for Postecoglou and the same may be said for ex-player Scott Brown, who also knows Celtic incredibly well.

Celtic job would come too soon for Scott Brown

Among the early candidates for the job has also been Scott Brown. The legendary midfielder has been perfecting his craft as a manager since 2022 and is now in charge of Ayr United. According to PA Media sources, however, the Celtic job would reportedly be coming too soon for Brown.

“The former Celtic captain is seen as a long-term candidate, but is still learning his trade as a manager with Ayr following a spell at Fleetwood. The 40-year-old led Ayr to the William Hill Championship play-offs last season and has them third in the table. Given the instability around the club, squad and league position, the timing does not look ideal for the former Scotland midfielder.”

For any young manager, especially those more inexperienced, the Celtic job would represent an incredible risk. The Bhoys need the stability that O’Neill could first lay the foundations for and an option like Postecoglou could provide. As things stand, they cannot afford to take a gamble on Brown, who should continue to learn his trade at Ayr United.

Paris Saint-Germain manager Luis Enrique has expressed his frustration after seeing his side held to a stalemate by Athletic Club at San Mames. The Spaniard claimed the French champions "deserved the victory" but were denied by an "incredible" Man of the Match performance from goalkeeper Unai Simon.

PSG frustrated in Bilbao

The Parisians arrived in Bilbao knowing that three points were crucial to their ambitions of securing automatic qualification for the round of 16. In the hostile cauldron of San Mames, the Ligue 1 giants produced a dominant attacking display, carving out numerous clear-cut opportunities against the Basque outfit. However, they found an impenetrable object in their path in the form of Spanish international goalkeeper Simon.

The Athletic Club shot-stopper produced a string of world-class saves to keep the visitors at bay, frustrating the likes of Bradley Barcola and Senny Mayulu throughout a frantic 90 minutes as the French side made 18 attempts on goal though only five hit the target. The result leaves PSG still searching for the points required to cement their status in the top eight of the league phase standings, a reality that somewhat irked their manager during his post-match media duties.

AdvertisementAFPDenied by the Man of the Match

Speaking to the press after the whistle, Luis Enrique was quick to point out the statistical anomaly of the match. For the PSG boss, the fact that the opposing goalkeeper was named the standout performer was irrefutable proof that his tactical plan had worked, even if the scoreboard did not reflect it.

"It happened like that because goalkeeper Unai Simon was incredible, he was designated man of the match and that means we deserved the victory, I think," Luis Enrique stated. "Without a doubt, Athletic's game was of a very high level. They could have won because they had a few chances too. But on the balance, we deserved to win it.

"It's a shame because we have to win because Unai Simon was incredible, we need more points to finish in the top eight." 

Despite the irritation regarding the result, Luis Enrique remained complimentary about the spectacle. The intensity of the match, driven by the ferocious pressing of Ernesto Valverde's side and the raucous Basque crowd, provided a true Champions League test.

"No frustration, I think it was a very intense match, we did the job, they pressed a lot," Luis Enrique said. "We created a lot of chances but Unai Simon was on the pitch and the atmosphere was incredible."

He also refused to criticise his forward line, despite their inability to find the back of the net.

"All the forwards showed a good level, they created a lot of chances to score a goal."

Eyes on the January window

With the Champions League group phase reaching its climax and the domestic season intensifying, attention is also turning to the upcoming January transfer window. While the immediate focus was on the dropped points in Bilbao, Luis Enrique was asked about potential reinforcements to help convert these dominant displays into victories.

According to reports from RMC Sport, the manager remains open to strengthening his squad, provided the right opportunities arise. While he maintained that his current squad is of a very high standard—making it difficult to find players who can genuinely improve the starting XI—he did not rule out activity if the market presents a solution to their occasional lack of ruthlessness.

"We are always open to improving the team," he noted.

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AFPWhat comes next?

For now, PSG must regroup. The performance in Bilbao proved they can create chances against top-tier opposition in hostile environments, but as Luis Enrique bluntly noted, as long as goalkeepers like Unai Simon are in "incredible" form, playing well is not always enough to secure the points needed for European glory. The chase for the top eight goes down to the wire.

PSG have 13 points with two games left to play, which come against Sporting CP and Newcastle in January. They are already sure of a play-off spot, at least, but the Spanish coach will be determined to ensure his side avoid the extra two matches by picking up the required points next month.

Each year the Little League Classic gives those competing in Williamsport for youth sport's ultimate crown the opportunity to get up close and personal with Major League Baseball's superstars. It's a feel-good day on the calendar and Sunday night was no different as the New York Mets took down the Seattle Mariners in front of a youthful, particularly enthusiastic crowd.

Little Leaguers from Upper Uwchlan Township in Pennsylvania took advantage of their great seats to let members of the rival Mets know that this particular National League East rivalry takes zero days off even when the core value of sportsmanship is the center of all activities.

Here they are giving the business to Pete Alonso after the slugger struck out, as highlighted by the official MLB account with a crying laughing emoji.

Alonso, if interested in engaging with some tweens, could have the last laugh as the Mets enjoyed a victory and the Little Leaguers trolling him are 0-2 since stepping on the LLWS main stage as the Mid-Atlantic representatives.

After impressing in the IPL, he has now bagged over 30 wickets for the third Ranji Trophy season in a row

Vishal Dikshit22-Feb-2024Madhya Pradesh left-arm-everything spinner Kumar Kartikeya’s story of rising to where he has is so hard to believe, that if it were to be made into a movie, it could well be called a work of fiction. Kartikeya declined that offer, in case you didn’t know.The challenges Kartikeya has thrown at himself since his self-imposed exile ten years ago – including a year in Delhi when he couldn’t afford lunch – have shaped him into such a gritty character that the tasks he faces on the field must pale in comparison. The challenges he has conquered have rewarded him with an indomitable spirit and a near-insatiable hunger to succeed.It’s with that spirit that Kartikeya, who bowls both left-arm orthodox spin as well as wristspin, has bagged over 30 wickets for the third Ranji Trophy season in a row. And this one has been his best, with the knockouts still to come: a tally of 34 wickets, an average of 19.02, a strike rate of 46.64, and an innings five-for and a ten-wicket match haul to go with them.Related

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If it was his wristspin that fetched him wickets for Mumbai Indians in the last two IPLs, in first-class cricket, he bowled fingerspin. Until this year. In the second-last league game of this Ranji season, Madhya Pradesh racked up 454, bowled out Baroda for 132, and asked them to follow-on. On the third day, Baroda started to put up a fight with a second-wicket stand of 136. MP were desperate for a win because a draw may not have been enough for a knockouts berth. Kartikeya went off the field for an over and asked coach Chandrakant Pandit in the dressing room if he could try legspin.”He gave me the go-ahead and told me what kind of field to set,” Kartikeya told ESPNcricinfo of his chat with Pandit. “I went back and bowled legspin and picked up two wickets in three overs, one with a googly and one with legspin. Before that, I had never bowled legspin in red-ball games at this level.”Whether he wanted the ball to turn this way or that, Kartikeya aimed to pick up wickets the old-school way – by being prepared: meticulous planning, focus on line and length, send down a thousand deliveries in the nets every day when things weren’t going too well.”My idea is to focus on the line and length according to the type of the batsman, that’s all,” he said. “If my line and length are good and my plans are simple, the batsman will probably make mistakes. I feel batsmen must be thinking more than me about where to play and how to play. I just have to focus on line and length and set the field. My coach does that the best for me.”Now I’m among the main players of this team. I feel like I’ve earned the faith of the coach and the team. My job is to keep performing the way I have been and not think too much about what I did last year or what I’m doing differently this year. My focus is to make the team win with my bowling, whether it’s with one wicket or two or five.”This fearlessness to try different things on the big stage didn’t start in the Ranji Trophy for Kartikeya. He had started working on his legspin in the early months of 2022 on the advice of his coach Sanjay Bhardwaj in Delhi. He was not in any IPL squad then, and an injury to Arshad Khan in the middle of the IPL season meant Mumbai Indians brought in Kartikeya as a replacement, but based on his legbreaks and variations they had seen in the IPL trials, not the fingerspin he had been bowling in the Ranji Trophy. He was yet to try legspin in a professional match.[File pic] Kumar Kartikeya (L) chats with coach Sanjay Bhardwaj during training•Sanjay BhardwajA day before Kartikeya’s IPL debut, Mumbai Indians captain Rohit Sharma called him and encouraged him to continue bowling the kind of legspin that had brought him to that stage.”I told him I bowl only left-arm spin in Ranji,” Kartikeya said, recalling his tricky conversation with Rohit. “He said, ‘But you’re bowling [wristspin] here’. Then he only said, ‘ [you just bowl, I am with you]’. He supported me completely by saying even if I went for runs, they’d back me. I thought if the captain is backing me why do I need to be scared? His two lines drained out all my nervousness. I bowled with all my confidence after that. I felt so good after that pep talk, I had no tension.”Kartikeya dismissed Sanju Samson with his second ball in the IPL and finished with memorable figures of 4-0-19-1 to help Mumbai Indians end their eight-match losing streak.”Now whenever I bowl, he says only one thing to me: ‘ [you bowl what you want to, every bowler goes for runs in T20s, the format is such]’.”

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Kartikeya may have carried this fearlessness right from his teenage days when he left his home in Sitapur in Uttar Pradesh, with INR 40 (about half a dollar today) in his pocket, got on a random train and decided to pursue cricket in the city where the train would take him. He ended up in Delhi, chased down academies with the only promise of working hard on his game, and ended up with Bhardwaj.Even if it was the IPL that brought him fame, Kartikeya’s real calling was always the red ball. From his club days to the various leagues he featured in while in Delhi, Kartikeya was always training with the red ball. Except when he started getting picked for MP’s 20-over and 50-over squads in the 2018-19 season. His first-class debut also came in the same season but he got a proper run only once the Ranji season that resumed after the Covid-19 interval, in early 2022. In that truncated season of just three league games and three knockouts, MP stormed to their maiden Ranji title on the back of Kartikeya’s 32 wickets, second on the overall list, with eight wickets to his name in the semi-final and another five in the final against heavyweights Mumbai. Kartikeya took the new ball in all four innings of the semis and final, struck with the old ball too, and sent back some big names like Yashasvi Jaiswal, Abhimanyu Easwaran and Manoj Tiwary.Kartikeya attributed that success to his maiden first-class season, especially his debut match in which he leaked 94 runs in 23 overs in the second innings against Kerala.”My debut made me learn a lot,” he said. “It was a turning and slow track. I was conceding at six an over for a change in red-ball cricket. I had bowled eight-nine overs for 48 runs. At one point I felt like I wasn’t made for this level. It had put that doubt in me. Whenever I had bowled before that, I had dominated. And that was the first such match that didn’t go my way. There were a lot of doubts in my mind.”Kartikeya found his bearings two games later. He came on to bowl when the ball was still new and removed the top three of Himachal Pradesh to finish with 6 for 28 in the first innings before sending back two of their top three again to end the match with a haul of nine.”In the third game, I got some confidence when I bowled well,” Kartikeya said. “When I got the five-for, it felt like the first match was probably just a one-off. I started growing from there and it’s been fine.”Kumar Kartikeya (L) celebrates winning the Ranji Trophy with his MP team-mates•Shashank Kishore/ESPNcricinfo LtdNot just in the Ranji Trophy, this season has been the most successful for Kartikeya across formats. In the 50-over Vijay Hazare Trophy just before Ranji, he bagged wickets in double-digits (14) for the first time, and the T20 Syed Mushtaq Ali Trophy also saw him finish with his best tally of eight wickets from five games with an economy rate of 5.58. He had trained with the red ball initially for all those years in Delhi, and when he had to switch to the white ball for the shorter formats, it came out better from his hand.”There wasn’t much I had to do,” Kartikeya spoke of bowling with the white ball. “The white ball comes out of my hand better; I can grip it better. Its seam and grip are better from the red ball and it suits my hand better for both left-arm spin and legspin.”The common thread in his success and consistency, he said, has been Pandit, who took over the MP reins in 2020 and has taken them to unprecedented heights.”My recent performances – be it in our victorious Ranji campaign [in 2022] or T20s or Vijay Hazare – had one thing in common, Chandrakant Pandit sir,” Kartikeya said. “He had told me to not think much and just bowl as per plan. I’ve stuck to that and have found success too. Ever since he came to MP, I have picked up wickets and my bowling has reached another level. Before that, I didn’t have that many wickets. He has played the main role.”It’s only because of him – his fielding plans, how he explains things to me, he has 20 years of experience – that I’ve learnt so much and gained from his ideas. He teaches in different ways, sometimes he scolds me, sometimes it’s with love, and that’s probably because of the expectations he has from us. His anger has in fact helped me at times. The most important thing for me is his guidance.”Pandit wrote his own path as a successful coach with his achievements after his playing career had ended. The spotlight is now on where Kartikeya’s steps take him.

Bavuma, part of the series defeats in 2015 and 2019, hails South Africa after their 2-0 sweep of India

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Nov-20256:06

Karim: ‘Harmer’s variations upset India batters’

Temba Bavuma hailed South Africa’s “incredible achievement” as they completed a 2-0 clean sweep over India, winning their first series in the country in 25 years. Bavuma, who was part of the squad when South Africa lost 3-0 in India in 2019 – and 3-0 in 2015 – said the victory tasted even “sweeter” as he knows the feeling of being “on the other side of the result.””It’s not every day that you get to think that you can come to India and walk away with a 2-0 series win,” Bavuma said after South Africa trounced India in Guwahati by 408 runs, their second-highest margin of victory ever by runs. “I think what makes it sweeter as well for some of us within the group is the fact that we’ve been on the other side of the result.South Africa, the reigning World Test Champions, have been on an incredible run in Test cricket in the last year and a bit. Since August 2024, they have lost only one out of 15 Tests, with Bavuma winning all of his 12 Tests as captain. According to Bavuma, the positive change in mindset and “guys wanting to be the men for the team” have been the biggest reasons behind South Africa’s recent success.Related

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“There’s a big shift in our mindset in terms of what we want to do when we’re out there on the field of play,” Bavuma said. “We want to play what is in front of us and adapt accordingly. Guys go out there quite clear on their roles and what they’re trying to do. There’s a strong sense in each other that anyone on their day can do it for the team. As a captain, sometimes it’s very hard to take the ball out of the bowler’s hands. Everyone wants to continue bowling and you see it with the batting as well.”We don’t have the guys who go on and score big 150s and all, but we’ll have four or five different guys going on to score 60s and 70s. I can go on forever about the team, but I feel like the team is in a good space.”‘Struggled to take the ball out of Harmer and Maharaj’s hands’Bavuma also heaped praise on his two premier spinners, Simon Harmer and Keshav Maharaj, particularly pointing out the competitiveness between the two, which in turn has boded well for the team. That South Africa won the Test series with Kagiso Rabada out due to injury impressed Bavuma even more.”Simon, as a spinner, as a player, he’s got the wealth of experience,” Bavuma said. “He complements Keshav quite well. A little bit on the taller side, a bit more guile with the ball. What I appreciate is the competitiveness between the two. They are the two guys that I have struggled to take the ball out of their hands.Simon Harmer and Aiden Markram celebrate Rishabh Pant’s wicket•Associated Press”Simon was the man for us in this series. We’re so used to Kesh being that guy. We’re in a good space from a bowling point of view. A guy like Simon, Kesh as well on his days, them stepping up, having lost a guy like KG [Rabada] who was a big player for us, again speaks about the need for the guys to want to do it for the team.”For Harmer, this was a sweet comeback after ten years. Having toured India back in 2015, with limited returns, he finished the two-match series with 17 wickets in four innings at an incredible average of 8.94 and said he will now go back with “a lot more fond memories”.”It’s been a long road,” Harmer said after winning the Player-of-the-Series award. “Ten years later, back here, completely different feelings. I’m going to leave with a lot more fond memories than I did the last time but I think as a whole, as a team, for us to leave here 2-0, that was always the goal. And for us to get over the line against a very good Indian team, I think it was a hell of an effort.”Despite an incredible series, Harmer is not guaranteed a place in the starting XI, with Maharaj being South Africa’s preferred spinner, particularly at home.”Keshav’s record speaks for itself. He’s an incredible bowler and he deserves to be the number one spinner,” he said. “I’m very happy playing the supporting role and if the opportunity presents itself for me to play, I try and take it with both hands. At the end of the day, I just need to make sure that I’m getting better, keep trying to evolve, keep trying to get better.”

The New York Yankees acquired three relief pitchers at the MLB trade deadline, yet not even a week later and the team still has a glaring issue in the back end of its bullpen.

Devin Williams, who Aaron Boone said would remain New York's closer despite its recent influx of relievers, has been dreadful in his first season with the organization. The acquisition of Williams was expected to provide some stability to the bullpen following the departure of Clay Holmes. Instead, he's had the worst year of his career and has been a liability in high-leverage situations.

Williams owns a 5.10 ERA with 55 strikeouts, 17 walks and four home runs surrendered across 46 appearances. He has 17 saves in 20 save opportunities, but has surrendered at least one run in each of his last three outings.

One glaring stat from Williams's numbers this year pops out as particularly worrisome, however. During his time with the Brewers, Williams surrendered a total of 48 earned runs across six seasons and 235 2/3 innings. He let up just 26 runs over his last three years with the organization, as he emerged as one of baseball's best relievers. In his first 42 1/3 innings with the Yankees, however, Williams has already been tagged for 24 earned runs.

Per Codify Baseball, Williams surrendered 24 earned runs in his final 145 appearances for Milwaukee, and has now allowed 24 earned runs in his first 46 appearances for New York.

Despite his struggles, Aaron Boone has continued to deploy him as the Yankees' primary closer, and said he intends to continue to do so despite trading for David Bednar and Camilo Doval. Whether that stance changes if Williams' woes continue remains to be seen.

After another bumper summer in the busy transfer window, Birmingham City might well have expected to take the Championship immediately by storm.

Indeed, the Blues welcomed in a whopping 14 new faces during the off-season, as the likes of Demarai Gray dramatically returned back to St. Andrew’s after a lengthy Premier League career, among other notable signings.

Unfortunately for Chris Davies and Co., Gray hasn’t quite sparked into life just yet during his homecoming, with the ex-Everton winger not alone in being a disappointment so far, as the Blues loiter in an underwhelming 15th spot in the second-tier standings at this moment in time.

Birmingham's disappointing summer recruitment

It’s not just all on the shoulders of the new recruits, however, as many of Birmingham’s dependable performers during their League One title heroics have also floundered under the pressure of now competing in the division above.

Keshi Anderson definitely falls into his category, with the Luton-born attacker still goalless in Championship action this season so far, despite firing home nine strikes in all competitions last campaign for Davies’ emphatic title-winners.

Thankfully, Jay Stansfield has remembered his shooting boots, with six goals already fired home.

But, to further pile on the misery, Marvin Ducksch – who cost around the £1.75m mark to pick up from Werder Bremen in the window – is also routinely firing blanks as another option up top.

Moreover, the aforementioned Gray doesn’t quite look the same electric, fresh-faced presence he once was at St. Andrew’s when he was a youngster trying to cut his teeth, with Birmingham’s 1-0 defeat to Bristol City last time out only seeing him amass a lacklustre 18 touches of the ball.

It must feel like an awfully long time ago now for Davies when he looks back on Birmingham’s jaw-dropping 111-point season in League One, with one new signing under so much scrutiny already, that he could be on borrowed time in the West Midlands only a matter of months into his EFL stint.

Why Birmingham's expensive gamble hasn't paid off

Thankfully, in recent years, whenever a big price tag has been attached to a player since Tom Wagner’s millions were added into the mix, they have often lived up to their hype.

Stansfield was boldly purchased for a whopping £15m, even as Birmingham found themselves marooned in League One, but he immediately backed up his lavish price tag when scoring the crucial goals – 19 league strikes to be exact – to clinch the Blues’ straightforward passage back up to the Championship.

Therefore, when the newly promoted Blues announced they’d acquired the services of former Celtic star Kyogo Furuhashi for an equally hefty £10m in July, the expectation would have been that he would go on to be another superb Stansfield-like purchase.

After all, Kyogo had been branded as a “superstar” in Scotland by ex-Hoops teammate Callum McGregor, off the back of the Japanese gem firing home a stunning 85 goals in total for the Glasgow giants.

Moreover, Sky Sports pundit Don Goodman also boldly stated that he would be a “really exciting” signing in England, after the new number nine showed off some entertaining tricks and flicks during his early days at St. Andrew’s.

Games played

11

Games started

5

Minutes played per game

47

Goals scored

0

Assists

0

Big chances missed

7

Kyogo’s tale hasn’t played out to the expected script, though, with the once confident and assured striker who pulled on Celtic green and white week in week out now nowhere to be seen in the Championship.

The 30-year-old, instead, has become a wasteful option up top for Davies, with seven big chances missed across 11 league games to date, meaning he is still chasing his first league goal in the West Midlands.

Even Lyndon Dykes has two league goals next to his name, despite averaging just 25 minutes of action himself.

EFL pundit Adrian Clarke has even gone out of his way to state that Kyogo is “struggling”, with patience surely already running thin at St. Andrew’s surrounding the quiet number nine, considering his excessive transfer fee.

There is still time on Kyogo’s side to turn around his shocking Blues start, but if the goals don’t come soon, he might just have to be written off as an expensive flop.

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