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England’s imposing batting pushes South Africa’s bowlers to the brink on day of toil

Firdose Moonda in Port Elizabeth17-Jan-2020It’s a thankless job. Keshav Maharaj’s sixth career five-for came as a result of him bowling more overs than a South African has delivered in a home Test in 55 years and was also the most expensive by a South African bowler, ever.It’s a thankless job. The second ban of Kagiso Rabada’s career came as a result of a reaction that embodied the passion South Africa needed more of on a lifeless Port Elizabeth pitch. Now they will have to do without him, and all that he brings, for the series decider next week.It’s a thankless job. Between them, Maharaj and Rabada, the saint and the sinner, did the hard work and showed the heart that should have set South Africa up for a strong second day at St George’s Park. But things fell apart as England posted the highest first-innings score by a visiting team at this venue since readmission, and laid down a challenge that South Africa’s batsmen have not shown themselves to be up to meeting in the last year.Maharaj, in particular, needs the batsmen to do well. That’s what Paul Harris told ESPNcricinfo in the lead-up to this Test, when he explained that big runs will give Maharaj permission to be more aggressive.Until then, he has to do the donkey work which, in this series, has meant holding an end almost all day. He sent down 30 overs on the trot from the Duck Pond End on day one, had two tough chances dropped, two reviews go against him and several close shaves for only one wicket. On day two, he served up a further 26 overs, but at least added four more scalps to his tally. The standout feature of Maharaj’s effort was his consistency. He bowled more deliveries on the stumps than in any other Test innings he has taken part in, which speaks to his discipline, even though that’s a trait that rarely makes headlines. Drama does, and that’s where Rabada comes in.Ollie Pope and Ben Stokes added 203 for the fifth wicket•Stu Forster/Getty Images

Rabada’s dismissal of Joe Root gave South Africa a short-lived advantage post-tea on the first day, and sent a loud and long-awaited message that his desire was still there. Too loud. Rabada’s scream, which spewed out within spitting distance of the departing Root, could have been directed at the England captain but might have been aimed at the pitch, which had given him nothing all day. Either way, it constituted a breach of the ICC’s code of conduct, and whether or not everyone agrees with the decision, Rabada should have known better.This was the fourth time in 24 months, and the sixth time in 36 months, that he has been found guilty of effectively the same offence. The four most recent transgressions (send-offs to Niroshan DIckwella, David Warner and Root, and a shoulder brush with Steve Smith) are why Rabada will miss the Johannesburg Test and there seems to be no explanation for why he would have risked that.He knows the rules. He even knows the consequences because he was banned in 2017 when he told Ben Stokes to “f*** off”, at the culmination of a previous series of demerit points. That Rabada was less than a month away from the expiration of the Dickwella demerit point only makes his actions more reckless. He even knows that. Rabada has previously acknowledged that his “outbursts of emotion” may “let the team down.” And how.ALSO READ: Rabada banned for Johannesburg Test after demerit pointSouth Africa do not have the luxury of losing players. They have already had two, Lungi Ngidi and Aiden Markram, ruled out of the series with injury; one, Temba Bavuma, dropped after recovering from a niggle and another, Vernon Philander, operating as a passenger in this attack. Philander only bowled 11 overs on day one and five on day two after it became obvious the slow pitch didn’t suit him, which only increased the burden on both Rabada and Maharaj.Rabada had to make something happen, and his frustration with that difficulty showed in the celebration. Maharaj almost made something happen for an entire day, and his frustrations manifested in a lack of rewards initially and then a leaking of runs at the end. Ben Stokes was merciless against them both, bringing up his fifty off Rabada and 4,000 Test runs off Maharaj. Mark Wood made a mockery of them both, earning a reprieve off a no-ball before smashing Maharaj for successive sixes to grind South Africa down.It’s thankless job. Maharaj who toiled for the best part of two days and conceded his runs at less than three an over, had his figures stretched out of shape by a late assault. Rabada, who knows he will not be able to have a say on the decider, denied himself the opportunity to make a final statement on this innings by completely unravelling, first when he was fielding at long-on and failed to see the chance Sam Curran offered and then with a four-over spell that cost 27 runs as England approached 500. That they didn’t quite get there doesn’t exactly constitute a job well done. It’s a thankless job.

The ICC said the judgement was “binding and non-appealable”

Nagraj Gollapudi20-Nov-2018The PCB’s attempts to claim damages worth USD 63 million from the BCCI have met with what is now a final failure: the ICC’s Dispute Resolution Committee (DRC) rejected the PCB’s claim that the BCCI’s failure to honour an agreement to play bilateral series in 2014 and 2015 was a legal breach.The three-person DRC said the claim “must fail” because the agreement signed between the boards carried a “moral obligation” but not a legal one.That will not be the PCB’s only defeat. As is the norm in arbitration cases such as this, the party that loses the case usually ends up paying the costs for the proceedings, and the BCCI confirmed that it would seek legal costs from the PCB. “After hearing the evidence and arguments of the parties over three days in Dubai, the Dispute Panel by its award published today has rejected all of the PCB’s contentions and accepted the BCCI’s case inter alia on the ground that the BCCI Letter was non-binding and merely expressed an intention to play,” the BCCI said in a statement. “The BCCI wholeheartedly welcomes the decision of the Dispute Panel. The BCCI will now move the Dispute Panel to recover its legal cost from the PCB.”In a brief initial response, the PCB said it noted the DRC decision with “regret” and “disappointment.” The PCB also said it would “determine its future course of action” after consultations with its members, but the ICC made it clear that the DRC’s judgement was “binding and non-appealable”.The panel, comprising Michael Beloff, Jan Paulsson and Dr Annabelle Bennett, conducted hearings between October 1-3 with several officials from both boards as well as senior ICC officials attending. The central question the DRC had to consider was whether the BCCI had indeed breached the agreement to play seven bilateral series between 2014 and 2023. Two of those “designated” tours were to be home series hosted by Pakistan scheduled for November 2014 and December 2015, both of which did not take place, and for which the PCB claimed damages.Ultimately, the case hinged on how the DRC viewed the agreement the two boards signed on April 9, 2014 – an agreement, incidentally, signed in the chaotic days of the Big Three governance reforms. The PCB’s contention was that it was legally binding, an argument which, at various points in its 26-page judgment, the DRC appeared to think was sustainable; the BCCI argued that it was not and that it was only one step in a process that would lead to bilateral tours.That letter was signed by Sanjay Patel, then BCCI secretary, and Najam Sethi, who was the PCB chairman in 2014. That draft agreement was a result of PCB’s conditional support of Big Three governance changes (the Big-Three model was eventually reversed by the ICC).The DRC quickly concluded that both boards were at “cross purposes”. The BCCI said the agreement was the first step which involved boards proposing dates, followed by a second step where member boards agreed to an FTP schedule for the commercial cycle 2015-23, and a final step involving member boards entering into bilateral FTP agreements in accordance with that schedule.The PCB, however, considered the April letter to be, “in itself”, legally binding, and “any subsequent FTP Agreement to be no more than a formality, ‘a routine matter’, as Mr Sethi for the PCB put it in his oral evidence.”However, it would not have helped the PCB’s case that they sent the BCCI a draft long-form FTP agreement in June 2014, which was never signed, but which could imply that the PCB itself recognised the need for further steps after the April letter. And in an internal PCB board meeting, members were told that an MoU had been agreed but that a “legally binding agreement will subsequently be signed” – the implication again that the April agreement was not so.The DRC rejected the PCB’s claim that the April letter was a “quid pro quo” for its support to the Big Three’s attempts to overhaul the ICC’s governance and financial structures. The DRC pointed out that it was not the BCCI, but in fact, Cricket Australia and the ECB that had told the PCB they would not sign FTP agreements if the PCB did not agree to the Big Three model.But the complexities of the matter were apparent in the judgment, with the DRC rejecting the BCCI argument that the April letter was “uncertain and incomplete” and “therefore could not be contractually binding.” It was “a difficult argument to sustain (and one which the Panel rejects) for various reasons including BCCI approving bilateral tours without FTP agreements.”Their conclusion, eventually, fell against the PCB’s claims on a line of argument raised by the current ICC chairman, Shashank Manohar. The April 9 agreement, according to the DRC, was at most a “letter of intent”. If seen through a “microscope” the DRC said the PCB argument that the letter was a binding agreement “burns bright.” But if a “telescope is deployed”, and a broader take is considered, the argument is “extinguished.””In the Panel’s view, the reasonable observer apprised of all the facts would conclude that the April Letter was no more than a declaration of intent, albeit an intent sincerely held by the BCCI (and of course by the PCB) at most, as Mr [Shashank] Manohar (President of the BCCI from October 2015 to May 2016) put it, creating a “moral obligation” but not a legal one. Context trumps text.”

Sri Lanka were bowled out for 187, falling to a 32-run loss in Abu Dhabi, as Pakistan recovered from 101 for 6 to take a 2-0 lead in the series

The Report by Danyal Rasool16-Oct-2017
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
0:52

Babar Azam’s stellar ODI run

Babar Azam’s seventh ODI hundred combined with a sublime all-round performance from Shadab Khan saw a listless Sri Lanka slump to their ninth consecutive ODI defeat. They lost by 32 runs, although the margin would have been much greater but for a fighting hundred by Sri Lankan captain Upul Tharanga; no one else scored more than 22. Sri Lanka were on top in the first quarter of the match, having reduced Pakistan to 101 for 6, before Azam and Shadab put together a gritty 109-run stand to propel Pakistan to 219.

Tillakaratne rues batting collapse

Batting coach Hashan Tillakaratne rued Sri Lanka’s collapse in their chase of 220 in the second ODI, but was hopeful the team could turn things around in the remaining three matches. “It has been very difficult and disappointing,” he said, after they crashed from 79 for 3 to 187 all out in the second ODI. “I thought we could have chased down that target and bounce back by winning the game. But still series is open and we need to rectify our mistakes and come back strongly.”
Sri Lanka’s middle-order collapse was triggered by legspinner Shadab Khan, who dismissed Dinesh Chandimal, Milinda Siriwardana and Akila Dananjaya for single-digit scores. In the Test series, it was 31-year old Yasir Shah who had troubled them, and Tillakaratne acknowledged the batsmen need to work on this area of their game. “We have been practising to face leg-spinners and hopefully we will put up a good show in the third game,” Tillakaratne added

It was a particularly grave indictment on Sri Lanka’s batting display that they were not in the chase for most of their innings, despite what was, by modern standards, a modest target. The batsmen didn’t find many answers to the relentlessly accurate spin trio of Shadab, Mohammad Hafeez, and Shoaib Malik, on a surface on which runs were especially hard to come by. Tharanga was handed at least four chances during the course of his hundred. The chasm between the sides appeared so wide that Pakistan could afford to be that generous and still bowl Sri Lanka out for 187.With Sri Lanka’s current ODI plight and Pakistan’s bowling prowess, Sri Lanka weren’t expected to make light work of the chase on a slow surface. Sri Lanka lost two early wickets – Niroshan Dickwella and Kusal Mendis – and consumed plenty of dot balls in attempting to absorb the pressure, as if surviving a tricky Test match session. Tharanga and Lahiru Thirimanne added a scratchy 40 runs off 72 balls, and when the latter was eventually dismissed, the asking rate had already climbed to close to 5.50.The rut set in straight after as the spinners knocked the wind out of the chase. Five wickets fell off the next 33 balls. Shadab took a wicket in each of his first three overs, getting prodigious turn with both his legbreak and googly.Jeffrey Vandersay was involved in a 76-run, eighth-wicket stand with Tharanga, who found his range towards the close of the game, looming as the last line of defence against Pakistan taking a 2-0 lead in the series. Shadab was also taken for boundaries and his immaculate length started to waver as Sri Lanka narrowed the gap between runs required and balls remaining.Pakistan could have established a near-impregnable position far earlier had they been less charitable in the field. Tharanga had lived a charmed life; he was dropped three times. That wasn’t the end of his fortune either, he was also given out caught before being overturned on review, and survived another review for lbw. He was trapped right in front later in his innings, but Pakistan ran out of reviews.As the asking rate came down and Sarfraz began to panic, berating his players almost every delivery, Pakistan broke through with 51 runs still to get, Vandersay holing out at deep square off a Rumman Raees slower ball. Lakmal was then run-out following a mix-up with Tharanga. It was fitting, in this frenetic contest, that the game ended via another run-out as Tharanga became the first Sri Lankan batsman to carry his bat through.The first innings had effectively boiled down to a contest between Sri Lanka and Azam after another top-order collapse. Ahmed Shehzad poked and scratched around while Fakhar Zaman also struggled for timing. Zaman was the first to go, Lahiru Gamage angling the ball across Zaman, whose outside edge flew to a wide slip. Shehzad joined him three overs later, driving a wide delivery from Suranga Lakmal straight to point.Lakmal and Gamage were once again terrific with the new ball, getting sufficient movement. Mohammad Hafeez broke the shackles with a glorious six back over Gamage’s head, but edged the next ball – gently seaming away – to the keeper.As Malik and Imad Wasim also fell cheaply, Azam continued to show signs of his quality and composure as a batsman. He held the innings together instead of letting the pressure of the situation get to him. Seemingly oblivious to the collapse around him, he guided the lower order, establishing a magnificent, match-changing partnership with Shadab.There were no slog overs, no pinch hitting. Just mature, calm batsmanship by a pair whose combined age is less than that of recently-retired skipper Misbah-ul-Haq. The singles came freely and easily, and twos were routinely pinched. If the opportunity presented itself, the occasional boundary was struck, too, but not if a risk had to be taken.Not until the first ball of the final over, anyway, when Azam tried to clear long-on with a tired heave. His job had been done, and he left the bowlers with enough room to do theirs. That, usually, is a winning strategy for Pakistan, and so it proved yet again.

Phil Mustard struck his first first-class century for five years as Gloucestershire took control against Derbyshire at Derby

ECB Reporters Network01-Sep-2016
ScorecardPhil Mustard returned to form of old [file picture]•Getty Images

Phil Mustard’s first century in first-class cricket for nearly five years put Gloucestershire on course for victory in the Division Two match against Derbyshire despite a five wicket haul from Tony Palladino.Mustard’s unbeaten 107 and 94 from Chris Dent lifted Gloucestershire to 331, a first innings lead of 89, and at the close of day two Derbyshire were in deep trouble at16 for 2.Palladino took his 350th first-class wicket and finished with 5 for 74, the 13th time he has taken five wickets in an innings, but it was Gloucestershire’s day.Derbyshire would have been the side looking to take control when Tom Milnes struck in the second over of the morning before Gloucestershire had added to the overnight total.Will Tavare was trying to take his bat away but edged to Harvey Hosein and with the inexperienced George Hankins in the middle against a ball only 14 overs old, Derbyshire had the chance to make significant inroads.But Hankins showed good judgement and sound temperament to stay with Dent for 15 overs until he was bowled by an arm ball from Callum Parkinson for 34.Gloucestershire were still a long way behind when Hamish Marshall was lbw to Palladino shuffling back and across six overs before lunch but Derbyshire had to wait another 24 overs for the next wicket.Billy Godleman switched his bowlers around but Dent and Mustard showed patience and selectivity to add 85 for the fifth wicket before Dent tossed away the chance of a century.He had dispatched Wayne Madsen way back over long on to move into the nineties but when he tried to reach three figures with another big shot off Parkinson, he top-edged to mid on.Dent knew he had let Derbyshire back in but Mustard and Jack Taylor tilted the advantage towards the visitors with a stand of 74 before the second new ball gave the game another twist.Taylor chipped to midwicket to give Palladino his milestone and the seamer found just enough away movement to bowl Craig Miles before David Payne edged a drive into his stumps.When Liam Norwell chased a wide one from Will Davis, Mustard was in danger of being stranded but he pulled Davis for his 13th four to reach an excellent hundred.Josh Shaw helped add a precious 31 runs before he became Palladino’s fifth victim, leaving Derbyshire seven overs to negotiate and they lost Ben Slater lbw to Payne in the first before Billy Godleman edged Norwell to Mustard in the penultimate over.

The Bravo brothers shined again and kept Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel’s chances of reaching the final alive with an 18-run win against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in a rain-reduced match in Port-of-Spain

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jul-2015
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDarren Bravo hammered five sixes in the 15 balls he faced•Caribbean Premier League

The Bravo brothers shone again and kept Trinidad & Tobago Red Steel’s chances of reaching the final alive with an 18-run win against St Kitts and Nevis Patriots in a rain-reduced match in Port-of-Spain. Darren Bravo unleashed another cameo and Dwayne finished with 3 for 15 to curb Patriots’ score to 123 for 7, after Red Steel had made 134 for 5 in 14 overs.Red Steel, after opting to bat, were given a solid start by Jacques Kallis and William Perkins, who put on 43 in 5.4 overs. But once the partnership was broken, Patriots fought back by taking another two wickets within 10 runs and a rain interruption in the ninth over cut six overs from the innings.Darren Bravo then struck two sixes and a four off Carlos Brathwaite in the 12th over, taking 20 runs off it, and hammered three sixes in the last over before being run-out for a 15-ball 40. Cameron Delport faced the last two balls of the final over and tonked those for sixes too. In all, 33 runs came off the final over – Brathwaite, who conceded a six off the first ball, followed it up with his second full-toss above waist height and had to be taken off the attack; Shahid Afridi completed the over, conceding four sixes in five balls.Chasing a revised target of 142, Patriots lost Martin Guptill for a duck in the second over before Evin Lewis and Marlon Samuels charged them past 50 in the sixth over. Lewis then holed out to long-on off Dwayne Bravo before Afridi and Samuels combined to bring the equation down to 64 from 36 balls.Patriots lost their way thereafter, though, with Samuels bowled for 25 by left-arm spinner Derone Davis and Dwayne Bravo dismissing Raymon Reifer and Afridi off consecutive deliveries in the 11th over. Davis then came back and struck twice to remove Brathwaite and Devon Thomas, leaving Patriots 114 for 7, with 27 required from the last two overs. Dwayne Bravo and Kallis didn’t concede a single boundary off the last 12 balls, giving away only eight runs in that span.

Medium-pacer Ashish Nehra has been declared fit to play in Delhi’s Ranji Trophy group match against Haryana, which begins in Lahli

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Nov-2012Medium-pacer Ashish Nehra has been declared fit to play in Delhi’s Ranji Trophy group match against Haryana, which begins in Lahli, a town outside Rohtak, on Saturday. Delhi coach Vijay Dahiya said Nehra had bowled for an hour and fielded during a training session, and was looking in good condition.Nehra played two of Delhi’s four Ranji games so far – the season opener against Uttar Pradesh in Ghaziabad and against Baroda, where he bowled only six overs before a hamstring injury sidelined him from that match and the next two. His presence in Lahli was meant to bolster Delhi’s pace attack on a pitch that helps seam bowling and in weather that can aid his abilities.Haryana lost their previous three matches in Lahli and according to Dahiya, the pitch was not the grassy heaven that bowlers dream of. The surface may be the same one used in the previous game against Baroda and, after a three-day gap, it was looking “bare and brown”. Dahiya said it was possible that Delhi would play two spinners, “with a call on the fast bowlers to be taken tomorrow.”Delhi’s choice of spinners is from offspinner Manoj Chauhan, left-arm spinner Pawan Negi and their frontline spinner Vikas Mishra. Negi is a bowling allrounder who gives Delhi the option of going in with five bowlers, if he is to replace Sumit Narwal. His selection would allow Delhi to field three seamers in Nehra, Parvinder Awana and Pawan Suyal. However, both Mishra and Negi in the eleven would mean Delhi playing two left-armers.Delhi have 11 points from four matches so far with one outright victory, while Haryana are yet to win a point after three matches.

Jayde Herrick and Glenn Maxwell combined to run through Tasmania’s top order and give Victoria the edge at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Nov-2011
ScorecardJayde Herrick and Glenn Maxwell combined to run through Tasmania’s top order and give Victoria the edge at the Bellerive Oval in Hobart. The pair picked up six wickets between them to reduce Tasmania to 67 for 6, before Alex Doolan stalled Victoria’s charge with an unbeaten 73. Doolan was kept company by Luke Butterworth, who ended the day on 42 not out. Their unbroken stand stood at 103 at stumps, with Tasmania still 192 behind.Earlier in the day, Victoria pushed on from 299 for 6 to 362, on the back of a century from Matthew Wade. Victoria lost Clint McKay off the third ball of the morning, but Wade and James Pattinson – who remained unbeaten on 27 – made sure the side got past 350. James Faulkner, Xavier Doherty and Evan Gulbis finished with three wickets each for Tasmania.

South Africa coach Corrie van Zyl has admitted bowling Pakistan out twice will be “hard work” but hopes the pitch will deteriorate over the next two days to give his team a good shot at a series win

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Nov-2010South Africa coach Corrie van Zyl has admitted bowling Pakistan out twice will be “hard work” but hopes the pitch will deteriorate over the next two days to give his team a good shot at a series win. In reply to South Africa’s 584, Pakistan’s middle order resisted well, reaching 317 for 6 at stumps at the end of the third day but still 68 adrift of the follow-on.”I would like to see this pitch deteriorate a little bit more,” van Zyl said. “It looks fairly placid at the moment and I haven’t really seen it break up.South Africa would have been hoping for some assistance off the pitch in the morning, but Pakistan’s batsmen managed to defy the seamers. Half-centuries from Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq and Misbah-ul-Haq steadied Pakistan but left-arm spinner Paul Harris struck with two wickets late in the day to give South Africa hope of wrapping the innings early on the fourth day. But van Zyl doubted if the track had enough in it.”I think it did move a lot on day one and a little bit less on day two and today it was less again,” he said. “But we have to give credit to the Pakistan batsmen, they really played well. They have been patient.”The quicker we can get the last four wickets, then we can have a second
go. The moisture is not there any more and it is going to be hard work.”South Africa, despite the conditions not entirely in their favour on the third day, did try to ruffle the Pakistan batsmen up with the short ball. When asked if they overdid it, van Zyl said: “At times we could have changed our tactics. I don’t want to sit here and criticise the tactics used in the field. Ma be they felt at times there wasn’t enough movement and at times I thought we were little short.”The third day was an important one for Shafiq, making his Test debut and he impressed, making 61 and adding 107 for the fifth wicket with Misbah. “I was a bit nervous at the start. But after three or four overs I felt comfortable,” he said.”That is how you have to play Tests. You have to play hard. The pitch was very good to bat on. A little difficult with the new ball, but later it is good for batting.”

Australia will be pushing for another innings victory in Adelaide

Cricinfo staff05-Dec-2009Australia will be pushing for another innings victory in Adelaide after Shane Watson and Simon Katich took them to 174 without loss on the second day. They remain 277 runs behind West Indies, but the coach Tim Nielsen hopes his men will keep the visitors in the field for as long as possible.”We need to make sure we set a platform and I suppose the best way to do that for us is to aim to win by an innings,” Nielsen said. “[We need to] make a big enough score that we put them under huge pressure in the second innings that they’ve got to survive to get past us rather than having a chance to put us under pressure on the fifth day.”The wicket’s still playing well, but we saw a couple bounce and spin from big Sulieman Benn. As the game goes on, as is traditional here in Adelaide, the wicket will start to go a little bit up and down and we expect it to spin. The big thing is that we don’t get too impatient early in the game. The game moves quickly in the last half because the wicket starts to change a bit.”Brendan Nash, who compiled a patient 92, remained hopeful that West Indies could provide a surprise victory and send the series to a decider in Perth. However, he said it would be a challenge for his bowling colleagues to take 20 wickets within the next three days on a surface that was playing so well.”It’s looking pretty good,” Nash said. “The Australian openers came out and batted quite well. I didn’t think we bowled that poorly to be honest. The last little bit maybe not so great but it’s going to be one of those wickets where we have to get their batsmen hitting to our fielders more so than to the gaps and try and restrict the boundaries. That’s going to be our game-plan looking forward.”

Declan Rice claimed that he does not feel any pressure of the "£105m" price tag and claimed he is not surprised by his current run of form.

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• Rice does not feel pressure of £105m price tag
• Has performed consistently for Arsenal
• Won Premier League Player of the Year in Football London Awards

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The England international has enjoyed a rich vein of form since completing a big-money move from West Ham to Arsenal in the summer. He was recently named the Premier League Player of the Year at the 2024 Football London Awards.

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• WHAT DECLAN RICE SAID

  In an interview with , the Gunners star claimed he is not surprised by his current run of form as he claimed that his performance level has been the same as it was while playing for the Hammers.

  Rice said, "I'll be honest, some people might stand here and say 'Yeah, I've surprised myself,' but I haven't. I was playing this well at West Ham, I feel like my levels at West Ham gave me so much confidence and belief in myself to have that belief I can be a top Premier League player.

  "But the main thing was to be myself. Not to change anything. Just because I have been signed for £105 million, don't do anything different, just be myself. Things can unlock and so far things have gone really well. I've signed for six years and there is still such a long way to go in my Arsenal career."

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  In the current season, the 25-year-old has appeared in 36 matches across all competitions where he scored four goals and provided six assists. The English midfielder has contributed massively to the team's performance who have won their last six matches in the league and are currently third on the table, two points behind leaders Liverpool and one behind second-placed Manchester City.

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  WHAT NEXT FOR ARSENAL?

  Mikel Arteta's side will aim to continue their Premier League winning streak when they face Sheffield United away from home on Monday.