Defending champion Carlos Alcaraz made the Wimbledon semi-finals by beating Tommy Paul in four sets on Centre Court.
Paul produced a spirited display and the momentum was with him when he impressively took the opener, only for Alcaraz to fight back for a 5-7 6-4 6-2 6-2 victory on No.1 Court.
At 21 years and 65 days old, the victory made Alcaraz – who beat Novak Djokovic in an epic final last year – the youngest player to reach the last four of the Wimbledon men's draw in successive editions since fellow Spaniard Rafael Nadal in 2006 and 2007 (21 years, 33 days).
He was made to work for the win, though, with Paul taking a 73-minute opener that showcased some terrific rallies, hitting a wonderful passing shot on set point.
With the American starting the second set with a confident hold and an immediate break, Alcaraz was on the ropes.
However, he hit straight back and only dropped two more points on his own serve in the second, unforced errors creeping into Paul's game as Alcaraz levelled the contest.
The third set started with three straight breaks of serve, two of them going Alcaraz's way, and the momentum was with the three-time grand slam champion from there.
The world number three pummelled a forehand winner down the line on set point to go 2-1 up, and it was smooth sailing in the fourth as Paul finally wilted, only winning two points on Alcaraz's serve and giving up back-to-back breaks.
Alcaraz will face Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals after the Russian outlasted top seed Jannik Sinner to win a four-hour classic earlier on Tuesday.
Alcaraz hailed Paul's performance after his victory, saying of his opponent: "He has been playing great tennis on the grass, beating great players, and today was a really difficult match for me.
"It was like playing on clay, with big rallies – 10 or 15 shots every point. I had to stay strong mentally, and I'm really happy I could find the solutions."
Data Debrief: Alcaraz in fine company
Alcaraz's victory means he now has 16 wins from his first 18 matches at Wimbledon, putting him in good company.
During the Open Era, only Rod Laver and Boris Becker (both 17) have recorded more victories through their first 18 outings at the grass-court slam.
Jasmine Paolini moved into her first Wimbledon semi-final after breezing past Emma Navarro in straight sets on Tuesday.
The seventh seed had never won a WTA main-draw match on grass courts until late last month but progressed into the last four at SW19 after triumphing 6-2 6-1 on Centre Court.
French Open finalist Paolini will fancy her chances of reaching the final as well, with world number 37 Donna Vekic – who overcame Lulu Sun in the quarter-finals – standing in her way of the showpiece.
Having profited from Madison Keys' injury-enforced retirement in the last round, Paolini was slow to get going after Navarro, who stunned Coco Gauff earlier in the competition, broke to seize an early 2-1 lead.
Yet the Italian appeared fuelled by that concession, winning on her opponent's service for three straight games to turn that deficit into a routine first-set triumph in just 27 minutes.
The 23-year-old Navarro struggled to regain her composure in the following set, missing two break-point chances at 1-1 before Paolini followed up by breaking to snatch a 3-1 advantage.
World number seven Paolini hammered home that advantage soon after, cutting through Navarro with ease en route to victory in less than an hour.
Data Debrief: Italian history for Paolini
Paolini is the first Italian women's player to reach the semi-finals at this tournament, having not previously ever won at Wimbledon before this edition.
The 28-year-old is also the oldest player to reach their first semi-finals in two different grand slams during the same season, since Betty Stove in 1977.
The final three matches of Euro 2024 are upon us, and the action kicked off on Tuesday with Spain taking on France.
Les Bleus were one of the pre-tournament favourites, but it is Spain who were more impressive en route to the last four.
The other semi-final will see England face the Netherlands on Wednesday.
And here, we round up the best posts from social media across the past few days.
Ice-cool Ivan
Ivan Toney stayed cool from the spot as he slotted his penalty home for England in their 5-3 shoot-out win over Switzerland.
The Brentford man showed the kind of composure he has so often in the Premier League, being widely regarded as one of the best penalty takers in the European game.
Indeed, such is the 28-year-old's confidence from 12 yards, he didn't even need to look at the ball as he stroked it beyond Yann Sommer.
And England's social media team took the chance to show just what Toney can do without even having to look...
MVP
It was hardly a classic between France and Portugal last Friday.
But Les Bleus got the job done on penalties to advance from their quarter-final tie, and substitute Ousmane Dembele was particularly impressive.
He was the player who got all the plaudits from his team-mates at full-time.
Alexander's joy
Scenes of supporters celebrating wildly at fan zones up and down Germany are always popular, but one particular fan captured Spanish hearts last week.
Surrounded by Germany fans as he watched La Roja's extra-time win over the hosts, it is fair to say this man – later identified as Alexander – enjoyed himself.
Spain rewarded his passion by inviting him to meet members of the squad, posting heart-warming footage of the meet-and-greet on X.
Fussballliebe gets new look
The semi-final stage of a major tournament means one thing: a new look for the ball.
Euro 2024's star, the Fussballliebe, has been decked out in silver ahead of the matches.
It is gold, though, that the four remaining contenders will be targeting in the coming days.
The Oranje wall?
Clad all in orange while bouncing down the streets of host cities, the Netherlands' fans have been one of the highlights of the tournament.
They will descend upon Dortmund for Wednesday's second semi-final, looking to extend England's run of major tournament hurt.
The famous Yellow Wall at Signal Iduna Park could turn Oranje, and the stadium looked resplendent as the Netherlands' social media admin took in the views on Tuesday.
Saka's reward
Saturday was a good day for Bukayo Saka.
Having seen England fall behind to Switzerland in a tense quarter-final clash, the Arsenal winger rescued his country with a terrific 20-yard strike into the bottom-left corner.
He then held his nerve in the subsequent penalty shoot-out, beating Sommer to exorcise the demons of his costly kick in the Euro 2020 final against Italy.
On Tuesday, the tournament's official X account awarded Saka the goal of the round award for the last eight.
Is it too much ask for more of the same on Wednesday? England fans will be hoping not.
Manchester United boss Erik ten Hag believes there is a "new energy" around the club as they prepare for the first full campaign under the Jim Ratcliffe regime.
Ten Hag oversaw a miserable eighth-placed Premier League finish in 2023-24 and was believed to be on the brink of being sacked, only for United to stun neighbours Manchester City in May's FA Cup final at Wembley Stadium.
Having led the Red Devils to a second major trophy in as many years at the helm, Ten Hag was then handed a contract extension to run through the 2025-26 season.
That new deal for the Dutchman represents a real show of faith from INEOS chief Ratcliffe, who assumed full control of football operations when he bought a 25% stake in the club last December.
Speaking to the club's media channels in his first interview since penning his deal, Ten Hag said there is a renewed atmosphere around the club.
"We won an FA Cup, we won a Carabao Cup, but also we have high expectations from ourselves," he said.
"We know it doesn't come overnight, we have to work for it. We are highly ambitious, so we have to raise our standards day by day, and improve every day.
"Every time, we have to live with the line in our head: good is not good enough. We have to do better."
The Ratcliffe regime has wasted little time in making changes to the football structure at Old Trafford, bringing in Dan Ashworth from Newcastle United as sporting director and appointing Jason Wilcox, formerly of Southampton, as technical director.
While United's 2023-24 campaign was underwhelming, Ten Hag feels the right pieces are in place for a brighter future.
"United didn't win a trophy for six years. Now we've won two, but we are up for more, like the English title and even more, like going into Europe," he added.
"That's a process that takes time, and we'll work on it, but I know with the set-up at the club, with the changes to the structure, and the changes to infrastructure here around Carrington, we will be ready for the future.
"We will improve. You feel it here, it gives us a new energy, it gives a new dynamic and that will help us to achieve our targets.
"In the short-term, it stays the same: we want to win every game, and we have seen we are capable of beating everyone."
Daniil Medvedev prevailed 6-7 (7-9) 6-4 7-6 (7-4) 2-6 6-3 over world number one Jannik Sinner to reach the semi-finals at Wimbledon.
In a four-hour epic, the Russian outlasted top seed Sinner to reach the last four at the All England Club for a second straight year.
Since 2000, Medvedev is only the fourth player to defeat the men's number one on three or more occasions at grand slams, along with Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Stanislas Wawrinka.
Sinner, who was forced to take a medical timeout due to illness midway through the third set, rallied brilliantly from that issue in the fourth to force a decider.
However, the Italian ran out of steam in the fifth set, with Medvedev going on to clinch victory with three match points to spare, briskly sending Sinner around the court before drilling a winner down the line.
"I knew if I wanted to beat Jannik it was going to be a tough match, he's not a guy you can beat easily, even if he wasn't feeling that good," said Medvedev.
"I managed to stay at a high level, a great match and I'm really happy with my game looking forward."
Asked what it was like to face Sinner after the medical timeout, Medvedev added: "It's actually very tough. One moment, I could see he wasn't moving well.
"It's tricky because you want to play more points to make him suffer more, but then at the same time, you know he will come back and go full power. In a way, I would prefer not to have this situation."
Medvedev will face either Tommy Paul or reigning champion Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals.
Data Debrief: Dragging on...
There have now been 36 five-set matches in the men's singles at Wimbledon this year, surpassing the 1983 US Open and 2024 Australian Open (35 each) for the most at a single grand slam event in the Open Era.
Medvedev, meanwhile, has now reached nine semi-finals at majors, though the 28-year-old has only progressed from two of those previous eight ties.
Lord's will play host to the end of an era this week as James Anderson plays his final Test for England.
The 41-year-old has not precisely gone out on his own terms, with the Ben Stokes-Brendon McCullum setup opting to move on from an all-time bowling great.
Speaking ahead of his farewell appearance against West Indies on Monday, Anderson reiterated that he was bowling as well as he ever has, but said he had "made peace" with England's decision to revamp their attack.
Now, his focus will be going out on a high as he plays his 188th and final Test on the same ground where he made his debut 21 years ago.
Ahead of an emotional few days at an iconic venue, we run through the Opta data surrounding Anderson's remarkable career.
The records
Anderson will, without a doubt, be remembered as the finest paceman England have ever produced. In fact, he is the all-time leading Test wicket-taker among fast bowlers from any country, managing 700 dismissals in his 187 matches.
Stuart Broad, his close friend and team-mate for 138 of those contests, is a distant second with 604 in 167 outings, with Australia's Glenn McGrath (563), Windies' Courtney Walsh (519) and South Africa's Dale Steyn (439) rounding out the top five.
Among all bowlers in Test history, Anderson ranks third for wickets taken, behind Muthiah Muralidaran (800) and Australia icon Shane Wayne (708), some way clear of Anil Kumble (619) in fourth.
Anderson also edges out Broad in England's all-time appearance charts, though he will fall short of the global Test record held by Sachin Tendulkar, who represented India 200 times between 1989 and 2013.
While Anderson's legacy in the bowling stakes is set in stone, his contributions to the tail end of the batting order should also not be forgotten.
Anderson has 1,353 Test runs in total, with 687 coming at #11. No other batter in history can match that return at the position, with his highest score – a remarkable 81 versus India at Trent Bridge in 2014 – coming when he batted last.
The highs
That haul was certainly Anderson's best moment with the bat, but what about with the ball, doing what he does best?
Anderson started as he meant to go on when making his Test bow against Zimbabwe in 2003, going 5-73 in the second innings for the first of 32 career five-wicket hauls.
His best Test figures came in September 2017, as he finished 7-42 in the third innings of a win over West Indies at Lords. His only other seven-wicket haul came in 2008 at Trent Bridge as New Zealand were vanquished.
In fact, 2017 was the most efficient year of his Test career, as he conceded just 17.6 runs per wicket taken. In no year where he played at last 10 matches did Anderson record an average worse than 33.9 (2011).
But fans will likely remember a couple of special Ashes performances most fondly.
Having played a supporting role as England won a legendary home series in 2005, Anderson had to wait a while to experience a big moment against Australia, his first real taste of the rivalry coming as England were whitewashed 5-0 down under in 2006-07.
Twelve wickets in support of Broad (18) and Graeme Swann (14) helped England reclaim the urn on home soil in 2009, but it was in 2010-11 when he really made his mark.
England had not won an Ashes series in Australia for 24 years, while some had expressed doubts over Anderson's ability to take wickets on foreign soil, but he finished with a magnificent 24 dismissals as the tourists claimed a famous 3-1 series victory.
The urn was retained on home soil in 2013, the tone being set by a nail-biting 14-run victory in the opener, with Anderson claiming a five-for in each innings.
The opponents
Anderson took 117 wickets in his 39 matches against Australia, but India were his favourite opponents, with 149 in 39 appearances against the Men in Blue.
His historic 700th wicket came against India earlier this year, with Kuldeep Yadav his victim as he became the first paceman in history to reach that landmark.
He took 103 versus South Africa, including his 100th, which came versus Jacques Kallis back in 2008.
This week's match, meanwhile, will give him the chance to add to his 87 wickets in matches versus West Indies. He previously reached the 500 mark against them in 2017, bowling Kraigg Braithwaite to kick-start that remarkable spell of 7-42.
In terms of opposition players, India's Cheteshwar Pujara is the man to have fallen victim to Anderson most often, being dismissed by him on 12 occasions between 2014 and 2022.
Lord's: A fitting farewell
Anderson may be a Lancashire lad, but one might suggest Lord's has been his spiritual home since he made his red-ball bow on the ground 21 years ago.
He has taken 199 of his Test wickets on the ground in 28 matches there. Only Sri Lanka great Muralitharan has ever taken more at a particular venue, finishing his career with 166 in 24 matches at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo.
If Anderson adds to that haul on his farewell appearance this week, there won't be a dry eye in the house.
England's decision to move on from James Anderson was made with the aim of preparing a new generation of bowlers for the next Ashes series, says Ben Stokes.
Anderson – England's all-time leading wicket-taker with 700 in 187 red-ball matches – will play his final Test against West Indies at Lord's this week.
The 41-year-old is not going out on his own terms, insisting on Monday that he is bowling as well as he ever has but saying he has been forced to "make peace" with the decision.
Gus Atkinson will make his Test debut against the Windies, while Dillon Pennington and Matthew Potts are competing to replace Anderson when the three-match series moves to Nottingham.
England's revamp of their bowling attack comes after they failed to reclaim the Ashes on home soil last year, drawing a rain-affected series 2-2.
They head down under for the next edition in 2025-26, and Stokes says they will use the intervening time to blood a new generation of talent.
"You look at how long it's been since we've played a Test match, I think it's been five months," England's red-ball captain told reporters on Tuesday.
"When you have a lot of time off, you've got a lot of time to think about how you can take the team forward.
"I've been captain for two years, so it's about progressing this team. Especially for the first two years, we've been very focused on the here and now of what we need to do.
"But for me, I want to be able to implement stuff to push this team as far as they can go, not only as a collective but also as individuals.
"If you look at where we've got to go in 18 months' time, to Australia… we want to win that urn back.
"We've got an incredibly talented and exciting group of bowlers coming through at the moment, so giving them the experience of playing international cricket, getting Test matches under their belt, will put us in a much stronger position to win the Ashes."
Anderson's farewell comes at a venue where he has taken 119 Test wickets, the second-most of any player at a particular venue after Sri Lanka's Muttiah Muralitharan at the R. Premadasa Stadium in Colombo (166).
"He's an amazing bowler. There's no doubt that he could still go out there and play Test cricket, because he is good enough," Stokes said of Anderson.
"But when we spoke with Jimmy, we laid it out with him and gave him our reasons, and he totally understood it.
"This week will all be about Jimmy, and rightly so, but I can tell you his main focus is about going out there, taking wickets and trying to win this game for England."
Keegan Bradley's appointment as the USA captain for the 2025 Ryder Cup was "surprising", says Xander Schauffele, but he is confident he is up to the task.
The PGA of America confirmed the decision on Monday after Tiger Woods decided against leading the team in New York.
Bradley was left out of the team for last year's 16.5-11.5 defeat to Team Europe in Italy, and emerged as a late contender before the announcement.
The move took many by surprise, with two-time Ryder Cup player Xander Schauffele admitting he was also expecting Woods to be named Zach Johnson's successor.
"Yeah, it's surprising," he said during a press conference ahead of The Open Championship.
"You typically expect someone that's a little bit older to get selected as a captain. I think a lot of people were banking on Tiger to do it.
"He obviously has a lot on his plate. Keegan expressed his love for the Ryder Cup publicly, which we all saw.
"I haven't talked to him or seen him yet, but I'm sure he's over the moon and is going to do a great job.
"He's a very passionate individual. On the course, he's intense, that's just how he competes and how he is.
"As a captain, he's going to have a mixed bag, and he's not going to be afraid to hold a speech with the guys and get everyone going."
Mikyle Louis will open alongside Captain Kraigg Brathwaite for the West Indies in the first Test against England set to start on Wednesday at Lord’s.
Louis, the 23-year-old, comes into the team on the back of a brilliant season for the Leeward Islands in the 2024 West Indies Championship where he scored 682 runs in 14 innings at an average of 49.
He is coming off a first innings half-century in their warm-up game against the County Select XI last week.
Retaining their places in the order are Kirk McKenzie at three, Alick Athanaze at four and Kavem Hodge at five.
McKenzie and Athanaze scored three half-centuries between them in the warm-up fixture last week while Hodge scored a brilliant hundred so all three are coming into the first Test in some good form.
Also making their return to the West Indies test team after missing the Australia series in December are former Captain Jason Holder and young pacer Jayden Seales.
Both Holder and Seales recently enjoyed successful County Championship stints for Worcestershire and Sussex, respectively.
Gudakesh Motie will be the lone spinner in the XI while Holder and Seales will be joined in the pace attack by Alzarri and Shamar Joseph.
Josh a Da Silva also retains his place behind the stumps.
The full XI is as follows: Kraigg Brathwaite (C), Mikyle Louis, Kirk McKenzie, Alick Athanaze, Kavem Hodge, Jason Holder, Joshua Da Silva, Gudakesh Motie, Jayden Seales, Alzarri Joseph, Shamar Joseph
The Girls team representing Jamaica at the 30th edition of the Junior Caribbean Squash Championship held in Tortola, British Virgin Islands, experienced great success with the team bringing home 6 medals: 2 gold; 3 silver and 1 bronze.
Mehar Trehan was the sole gold medallist in the individual competition defending her title in the U17 Girls category defeating her compatriot, Elle Wilson 3-0. Trehan was strong from the outset and dominated her category and defeated all her opponents 3-0; without dropping a set. Wilson had a more difficult route to the final and had to overcome Sarrayah Yearwood of Trinidad & Tobago in 5 games.
The doubles partnership of Sanjana Nallapati (Captain) and Katherine Risden captured the gold defeating their Barbadian counterparts and number 1 seed of Eboni Atherley and Joanna Atkins 2-1. The Jamaican duo had to overcome a 1-set deficit to defeat the Bajans in a closely contested final; 9/11; 11/6, 11/9.
In the Girls U19 catergory, Jamaica had two competitors, Katherine Risden, the #1 seed, and Sanjana Nallapati (Captain and #3 seed) vying for the top spot but they were denied gold both at the racquet of the eventual champion, Eboni Atherley of Barbados. Atherley dispatched Nallapati in the semis and Risden in the finals both with 3-0 victories. Risden and Nallapati captured silver and bronze respectively in the U19 girls individual competition.
In her first Junior CASA tourney, Varenya Singh reached the semifinal of the U11 competition. Singh played with composure and grit for someone so young. She secured a 4th place finish in the U11 girls individual competition.
The Jamaican Girls continued their winning ways in the Team event by earning the silver medal losing out to Barbados after the matches were knotted at 3 games a-piece.
Jamaica started strong in the final with Risden overturning her individual loss to Atherley by winning 3-0. Captain Nallapati and U17 Girls Champion Mehar Trehan secured 3-0 victories. However, Barbados needed the final tie at U13 to equalize and force a count back in games.
Marley Price fought valiantly but lost to the #2 seed forcing a tiebreak. The tiebreak was broken on a countback of games won between the two teams. Throughout the team event, various team members played key roles to ensure Jamaica reached the final. In particular, Marley Price secured one game in the semifinal match which ensured Jamaica reached the final on game countback.
Coach Tahjia Lumley stated, “the team is one of the best in terms of their fighting spirit and camaraderie. From the youngest to the oldest we are not far off! Gold in doubles and the girls going all the way in the team event! This was an extremely young boys team with many playing up in age-group. This has been an amazing experience for them and they are looking forward to continue to improve for next year’s event.”
Jamaica finished 4th in the overall standings with the girls in 2nd place and boys team finishing in 8th place.
Jamaica’s medal haul was 2 gold; 3 silver; and 1 bronze.
The team was coached by Tahjia Lumley and managed by Nathlee Boreland.
Donna Vekic is through to the Wimbledon semi-finals for the first time in her career after coming from behind to beat Lulu Sun.
After losing her previous two grand slam quarter-finals in straight sets, Vekic rallied to beat the qualifier 5-7 6-4 6-1 on Court No.1 on Tuesday.
After a slightly shaky start, Sun held her nerve brilliantly in the fourth game of the opener, holding out through 10 deuces and successfully defending break point three times.
Sun took full advantage of that let-off, getting the all-important break in the 11th game before holding strong to take the first set.
It was a different story in the second, Vekic continuing to show aggression in her serve before finally gaining an edge with her first break and holding out to force a decider.
The Croatian picked up where she left off in the third set, scoring 10 points in a row as she raced to a 3-0 lead, before clinching a second straight break.
Sun, who has spent the most time on court so far in the women's draw, avoided a bagel with her final service game of the match before Vekic finished it off.
She will face Jasmine Paolini or Emma Navarro in the semi-finals.
Data Debrief: Vekic too strong
Vekic is into her first grand slam semi-final on her 43rd major main-draw appearance. In the Open Era, only four players have made their first semi-final after more major appearances.
It is the fourth time at this edition of Wimbledon that Vekic's matches have gone the distance, and the second time she has had to bounce back from losing the first set.
Sun was bidding to become the first qualifier to reach the semi-finals at the All England Club since Alexandra Stevenson in 1999, but she fell just short.
Harry Kane's England team-mates have backed their captain to regain his top form in their semi-final against the Netherlands on Wednesday.
Kane has scored twice at the tournament so far, with one of those a vital winner in the first minute of extra time against Slovakia, but has otherwise failed to show a clinical edge.
He managed just two shots against Switzerland in the quarter-finals before being forced off in extra time, managing an expected goals of just 0.12.
Kane's performances have drawn criticism, with some calling for him to be dropped for their game against the Netherlands.
However, Trent Alexander-Arnold brushed off the idea, claiming that would play into their opponents' hands.
"Anyone who is facing England would like to see Harry Kane not playing," the defender told reporters.
"You just know he is a threat. Anything in and around the box, you need to be on red alert.
"He can finish it from every angle. I always say he is the best finisher I've seen or played with. He can drop down and build play up and his hold-up play is incredible too."
England are playing in their third major tournament semi-final under Gareth Southgate, with Kane scoring the winning goal to take them to the final of the Euros three years ago.
The striker has also scored the joint-most knockout stage goals in the competition's history, five, along with Antoine Griezmann.
And after finishing as the top-scorer in the Bundesliga last season, Phil Foden has full confidence Kane will regain his goalscoring touch.
"You can't really doubt him," he told Standard Sport. "He's been unbelievable for us in so many tournaments, and he's already scored a crucial goal in this tournament.
"Hopefully, he can prove a lot of people wrong and do what he does best: put the ball into the back of the net. We're all behind him, we all believe in him.
"The way teams have been playing, there's been a low block and the spaces are tight, so it's difficult for him to find space.
"I've seen that with Erling [Haaland] at club level. Sometimes it's nearly impossible for him to score because they've got two players man-marking him.
"Kane's a leader, he does a lot of work off the ball that people don't see. He's a valuable player and if we're going to win it, we're definitely going to need him."
All-rounder Jason Holder and seamer Jayden Seales are both optimistic that West Indies can deliver an efficient performance to not only better England in their three-match Test series, but more importantly, to offer some semblance of upliftment to the Caribbean, which was recently brushed by Hurricane Beryl.
Grenada, Barbados, Trinidad and Tobago, St Vincent and the Grenadines, and Jamaica are just a few of the islands that faced the wrath of Beryl, and West Indies players are using the setback as motivation to demonstrate the resilience and determination of Caribbean people.
Holder, who reflected on West Indies’ previous tour of England during the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020, believes the first step to doing their part in assisting to overcome these tough times, is to put their best foot forward in the series, which bowls off at Lord’s on Wednesday.
“The buzz around the T20 World Cup and the success of the recent past has definitely revived the cricketing lives of the people in the Caribbean. I think any bit of spark and encouragement we can give them will be through our performances and that is what we pledged as a group to try and make them as proud as possible in these tough times,” Holder said.
“So coming back here in England four years later, we’re just looking to take it one step further. We won one Test match last time out of three. Yeah, two will be a lot better on this trip,” the Barbadian noted.
“I think it’s time someone breaks the shackles and there is no better time than now for us to come here and beat England, I think that will be an absolute great feat...I believe in every individual in this group,” he added.
Seales concurred.
“We are not doing it for ourselves. We are doing it for the people back home who support us. They have been hit by the hurricane so drastically. We will try our best to make them feel a sense of pride,” the Trinidadian seamer declared.
Though West Indies will enter the series determined to retain the Richards-Botham Trophy, which they secured via a hard-fought 1-0 victory over England in the Caribbean two years ago, the odds are firmly stocked against them, as the Caribbean side has not won a Test series in England since 1988.
But, Holder, who is returning to the Test team after almost a year, pointed to their recent performances in the longest format, particularly, their historic win against Australia earlier this year, as reason to believe.
That series which ended 1-1, gave rise to fast bowling sensation Shamar Joseph, who took seven wickets to secure an eight-run win for West Indies –their haul first Test win in Australia since 1997.
“I think the guys took a lot from that Test victory in Australia and for the group, we’ve been doing some positive things over the last couple of months and as a young side, the main thing is to keep learning,” Holder said.
“We’ll be faced with different challenges here in England and it is a matter of learning from them and being better the next day. What we have in the dressing room is some special talent and it is just a matter of playing some solid cricket and just believing,” he reasoned.
Having opted out of that Australia series to focus on T20 opportunities, Holder expressed his delight at being back in the fold.
“For me it gave me a renewed energy to come back to the group and try to be a part of something special again. I’m just happy that I’ve been able to still get the body up and going and being up for the challenge here. I missed Test cricket. This is my first Test match in a long time, so I’m looking forward to it,” Holder shared.
“We’re just here to play a good competitive series and we’re coming out to win this series. For me it’s not about Jimmy [Anderson] with all due respect. For me it’s about my contribution to the team and making sure each and every one is on point at the start of the first Test match and let’s play some solid cricket. Everything else around it is secondary in my mind,” he ended.
Fiorentina have announced the signing of Moise Kean from Juventus.
The Viola have paid a reported €13million for the forward, though that could rise to €18million with potential add-ons.
The forward scored 22 goals across two spells at Juve, though failed to find the net in 20 appearances last season.
He won the Scudetto three times and also lifted the Supercoppa Italiana and the Coppa Italia twice.
Kean came through Juventus' academy before making his senior debut in November 2016.
After disappointing spells at Everton and Paris Saint-Germain, he then resigned for the club on loan in 2021 before making the move permanent in 2023.
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