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It’s not hard to find a rather outlandish transfer story. If it’s not been quoted from an anonymous source that any given transfer is an ‘already agreed’, ‘done deal’, it’s a media prediction that a player whose had half a season of good form will be moving to one of the Premier League’s top clubs, and along the way command a fee that surpasses the £20million mark.

Of course, almost every transfer rumour should be taken with a pinch of salt. More often than not, they are a smokescreen created by agents to hide a club or player’s real intentions, or simply to push the issue of a new contract.

Although books such as the Secret Footballer, and opinion articles from the vast array of former players who’ve turned their hand to writing upon their retirement, give a rare glimpse into what actually goes on behind the closed doors of training grounds up and down the country, the truth is that the English press only ever have a hyperbolic and misinformed view of our football clubs, and thus the broadsheets and tabloids are filled with second-guessing and exaggeration, which is how Gareth Bale has become a £100million player in the space of one season, as reported by the Metro.

But as well as portraying a misguided representation out of the media’s own desire to sell stories, part of the problem, regarding the rather overzealous estimations of what a certain player is worth, is due to rather outlandish, gung-ho, high-risk investments in the transfer market leading to a culture of over-spending that needs to come to an end.

The Premier League’s style is incredibly unique. Despite encompassing philosophies from all corners of the globe, there are an underlying set of characteristics that are required from an individual to achieve success -such as physicality, stamina and pace, but most importantly, speed of mind. This is why bringing in a player from a foreign league always presents an element of risk no matter what their former reputation may be, but furthermore, it is also the justification for the inflated price tags given to English stars as they are already well acquainted and specifically trained in the Premier League’s mould.

Despite the England national team failing to ever put in a performance that can be described as above par, which would suggest to me a rather intrinsic and systematic flaw in English players that starts with the manner they are trained as youth products, any footballer with an English passport can command an additional £10million to his transfer fee in comparison to a foreign counterpart.

Sitting at the tip of the iceberg is Andy Carroll’s £35million move to Liverpool in 2011. There is no real justification for a fee that outweighs that of Wayne Rooney, Robin van Persie, Yaya Toure and Didier Drogba to name a few, but the former Newcastle man would no doubt have been a considerably lesser purchase had he not been English.

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Carroll’s case may on the surface seem extreme, as it will surely go down as one of the biggest transfer faux pas of all time, but in fact it is just the worst example of ridiculous fees for home-grown players. Jordan Henderson cost the Reds £16million, despite not even being close to earning a place in the Three Lions set-up, while Manchester City were forced to pay nearly £22million for Joleon Lescott, who may be a good defender but will be long forgotten in the grand scheme of things in comparison to the likes of John Terry, Rio Ferdinand, Sol Campbell and Ledley King.

Even Englishmen who stand very little chance of a call-up, and unlike Henderson, do not have the illusion of potential due to his age on his side, such as Matt Jarvis, are now commanding fees of over £10million. His two goals and no assists in 29 Premier League appearances shows how the winger is yet to live up to his price tag.

The problem is that no transfer can happen in an absolute vacuum. One deal influences another, leading to a distortion of an actual valuation of a player’s abilities, which is why even the most rank and file of English players, such as Jarvis, are constantly discussed in terms of double figures.

Furthermore, it is now leaking into our judgement of players who are not even English, such as Gareth Bale. I have no doubt the Welshman will go on to become a world-class winger if he is not already, but is it right to even discuss future fees above the £30million mark for a player who has only had one season of exceptional form?

The comparisons with Cristiano Ronaldo have also been a factor, with the consensus being that Bale’s similarly in terms of age, style and goal return in regards to the Madrid man’s situation when he departed  from Old Trafford back in 2009, equates to a similarity in fee, with the La Liga giants coughing up £80million for the Portuguese winger.

But will it actually benefit Bale in any shape or form to label him with such an audacious price-tag? Whereas undervaluing a player in fiscal terms tends to have almost no bearing on his psyche, weighing down a new signing with a fee which far outweighs his actual ability has proved to be incredibly dangerous. Fernando Torres is a shining example of how business can get in the way of football, and similarly, Stewart Downing’s torrid first eighteen months at Anfield were in no small part due to his inflated £20million transfer to Merseyside.

The trend has to stop somewhere. While £30million was a fee restricted for the world’s elite less than ten years ago, it is now an acceptable price to pay for anyone who can hold down a place in the first team at a top four club in the Premier League, or has the potential to do so. Hopefully, the financial fair play laws, set to come into effect next season, will make it far more difficult and pose hefty penalties for clubs making excessive investments on average players.

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But with money always comes greed, and as Manchester City and Chelsea have proved, it can also be one’s downfall. The over-reliance on finance has lead both clubs to becoming rather short-termist, in regards to managers and bringing in new players, and I believe the FFP legislation will encourage clubs desperate for trophies and titles to cut back on infrastructure and youth development as much as it will to reduce their activities in the transfer market.

It’s time the Premier League clubs gained some perspective. While for certain players that make the difference between success and failure, commanding large fees is understandable, it is the most average of players, the likes of Joleon Lescott, Stewart Downing and Matt Jarvis, being involved in rather overzealous transfer deals which turns the stomach.

It’s making it impossible to create any sort of consensus on how much a particular player of any particular ability is actually worth, and at the same time, it is slowing killing the English game and stunting the success of homegrown players.

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Stability is often what the majority of clubs in the top flight aim for before a season begins; very few think that they can’t compete for trophies, hoping for a decent cup run at best, knowing that getting sucked into a relegation battle is a realistic possibility.

However, while this may see quite a number of clubs dampen not only their expectations but ambitions, Swansea this term under new boss Michael Laudrup appear to be adding a new dimension to their play, something which Stoke have seriously struggled with since winning promotion to the top flight back in 2008.

Ever since crashing the top flight party, Tony Pulis has spent upwards of £70m on transfers, with over 30 new players coming into the club during those five summers. During that initial four-year same period, only Manchester City and Chelsea had a higher net spend figure than Stoke City since their promotion and they’ve made just £8.6million from selling players in five years – a truly shocking amount which shows their missteps in the transfer market.

To his credit, Pulis has clearly attempted to bring in players of a better quality, with the likes of Peter Crouch, Jonathan Woodgate and Jermaine Pennant coming into the Britannia during that time, but they’ve had to adapt to a seemingly ingrained style of play rather than the other way around – and what at first may have looked like ambition has given way to desperation and cynicism.

There’s only so far you can go with a long-ball style in the top flight, a glass ceiling as it were, and finishes of 12th (45 points), 11th (47 points), 13th (46 points) and 14th (45 points) clearly point to a club in danger of stagnation. Has Pulis taken them as far as he can?

While the style of football that the club persists with means that they will never win over everyone, it appears on the face of things that they may not be able to crack the top ten, particularly now that the budget has been tightened at the club. Of course, there’s no reason why they shouldn’t play with a style that suits them and enables them to get results, they are well within their rights to do so.

Having recorded just a 62 per cent pass completion record in their opening two games so far this season, plus the fact that they scored just 36 times last term, failing to find the back of the net in 13 separate fixtures, struggling all term to create anything from open play, they no longer look as if they think they can look up the table these days. Unless Pulis begins to compromise his principles, they will continue to not only standstill, but live in danger of going backwards and they’ve not really delivered on the significant investment in the side so far.

By that very same token, though, Swansea last term, with a far more aesthetically-pleasing style of play under Brendan Rodgers, only managed to score 44 times all term, failing to score in 15 games altogether across the entire league campaign. For all of their pretty possession, they lacked a cutting edge at times and any sort of penetration, yet instead of criticism, they were lauded by all and sundry from refusing to play long-ball football to survive, and they finished two points and three league places ahead of the more established Stoke in their first full season in the Premier League.

It seems that just so long as you play attractive football, that any critique is somewhat muted; it has been for Roberto Martinez at Wigan for quite some time. As Pulis would probably try to explain, there’s nothing noble in losing pretty and Stoke are certainly effective at what they do, but the question should be, after four seasons, now five in the league, should they be trying to do more?

Swansea took a risk in appointing legendary player Michael Laudrup this summer to replace Brendan Rodgers, who left the club to take over at Liverpool. It seemed a shrewd appointment by chairman Huw Jenkins, that he was able to attract such a big name, but it was entirely in keeping with the recent traditions at the club of passing football, going back to Paulo Sousa and Roberto Martinez before Rodgers.

Nonetheless, it’s worth remembering that despite doing a great job at Getafe, that Laudrup had failed in his previous two posts at Mallorca and Spartak Moscow, so there was an element of the appointment being something of a gamble for the club at a pivotal point in their history, as they attempted to retain their status as a top flight club this coming campaign.

As often happens when promoted clubs do well, not only did the manager move on but the side lost key midfielder Joe Allen, the metronome at the heart of their midfield to Liverpool also for a £15m fee, with the inevitable vultures at bigger clubs attempting to pick off what they want, with Scott Sinclair close to moving to Manchester City too, to replace Adam Johnson.

However, this has allowed Laudrup a budget to slowly but surely mould the club in his own image and the signings of Michu, Chico, Jonathan De Guzman, Pablo Hernandez and Ki Sung-Yeung mean that the club have a far more well-rounded squad than last term and they appear more prepared for the new season ahead as they bid to battle that most-dreaded of demons, second-season syndrome.

There’s also been a noticeable change in the club’s playing style and a shift away from what the side did so well under Rodgers. Keeping possession is of course at the heart of everything that they are trying to achieve, with Laudrup’s image as a player ensuring as such, but there’s been a willingness to get the ball forward earlier than before and they look a much more penetrative, direct outfit this term.

In their opening game of the season, they completely destroyed an expensively-assembled QPR side 5-0 – it took them well into October to score five league goals last season and whereas last term, Nathan Dyer and Wayne Routledge were told to hug the line and keep their shape, this term they can be found drifting inside and getting inside the full-back in an attempt to influence play – it’s a subtle but deliberate change and they’ve unquestionably evolved as a side.

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The ever-changing demands of the Premier League dictate that in order to compete, that change is needed and this comes not only in terms of fresh faces and new managers on occasion, but a willingness to adapt your style of play to ensure that you don’t become predictable, a trap which Stoke have certainly fallen into in recent times.

Stoke appear to be somewhat trapped within their own image as a long-ball side, entrenched in their own style, incapable of playing anything else; so far Swansea have shown this season that to maintain the initiative and keep an upwards trajectory, that sometimes change is not only good, but required and Tony Pulis could learn a thing or two as he bids to improve upon last season.

You can follow me on Twitter @JamesMcManus1

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After Alyssa Healy and Tahlia McGrath lifted Australia to 155 for 6, Bangladesh folded for 78

AAP and ESPNcricinfo staff04-Apr-2024Tayla Vlaeminck capped her comeback tour in impressive fashion as Australia wrapped up a successful visit to Bangladesh with a 77-run victory in the third T20I.Fast bowler Vlaeminck took a career-best 3 for 12 from her four overs as Bangladesh were dismissed for 78 after Australia had posted 155 for 6. The win ensured Australia completed a clean sweep of the three ODIs and three T20Is on their tour.It was Vlaeminck’s only second match back after two years out of the team due to a recurrent foot stress fracture and then shoulder surgery. She removed Ritu Moni in the fourth over and returned to claim Fahima Khatun and Shorifa Khatun in the space of three balls in the 11th.Australia’s bowlers shared the other success around with all seven used claiming at least one wicket.Captain Alyssa Healy put Australia on track for victory early in the tour finale with 45 from 29 balls while Tahlia McGrath scored an unbeaten 43 from 29 balls batting at No. 5.The visitors returned to their more conventional batting line-up for the final outing having experimented in the second match. But Healy and Beth Mooney could not race away in the powerplay and Bangladesh chipped away to leave them 98 for 5 in the 16th over with Mooney, Ellyse Perry and Ash Gardner all kept below a strike rate of 80.However, McGrath and Grace Harris ensured a powerful finish as they added 57 off 27 balls, which gave Australia more than enough to defend.Australia now have a lengthy break from international action before facing New Zealand in September ahead of the T20 World Cup, which will be staged in Bangladesh.

Captain keen to make up for lost time as tour to West Indies looms in December

Valkerie Baynes16-Nov-2022England Women are set to be bolstered by the return of Heather Knight for next month’s tour of West Indies, after England’s captain declared herself fit again following hip surgery.Knight was sidelined for a large chunk of the home summer after injuring her hip during the first of three T20Is against South Africa in July. She missed the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham – where England finished a disappointing fourth – after a flare-up ruined her bid to play some part in the event and left her on crutches in constant pain.It was at that time she decided to have an operation to repair torn tissue and damaged cartilage, and remove a piece of bone in her right hip joint which meant she missed India’s subsequent visit to England, the Hundred and the current WBBL. But Knight has come through a tough rehabilitation process to be ready to fly to the Caribbean for three ODIs, starting on December 4, followed by five T20Is.”It feels like it’s been a long old rehab but I’ve just come good the last couple of weeks and am getting back to pretty much full training now,” Knight told ESPNcricinfo. “Fielding has probably been the one thing that’s been a little bit niggly and a little bit of pain, but I’ve had a really good couple of days so I’m fit to go to the West Indies, which is great.”It’s just the last couple of weeks, certain positions that the hip didn’t really like, but the last few days it’s been good as gold so I’m ready to get back and play.”Related

• Heather Knight hopes hip surgery will 'extend career' as she targets winter return

• Sciver pulls out of India series to 'focus on mental health and wellbeing'

• Captaincy takes Amy Jones right out of her comfort zone

• Ashley Noffke in contention to be named England Women head coach

Not only was the operation a success, Knight explained that it had slightly changed the shape of her hip joint to give her more freedom of movement.”It’s actually a much healthier, better hip joint than it was,” she said. “It hadn’t been an issue that was on the radar, but I played in one of those T20s against South Africa and it flared up really badly and I knew it was something new that was not good.”As the Commonwealths got closer I had a bit of a flare-up. Basically that got worse and worse and I was in pretty much constant pain which obviously wasn’t very pleasant and was quite wearing. I was still hopeful that I was going to play because these things can clear up pretty quickly but, as I got worse and worse and ended up on crutches, I pretty much knew that Commonwealths were a no-go.”Knight is thrilled that she can return to action against West Indies, with the ODIs forming part of the ICC Women’s Championship, in which England are yet to get off the mark following their 3-0 defeat by India in September. The five T20Is to follow will play a key part in England’s preparation for the T20 World Cup in South Africa in February.Despite being “gutted” at spending so much time out of the game, Knight made good on her aim to make the most of it, enjoying seeing family and loved ones, travelling and moving house.”Sometimes when you’re a cricketer you forget the other side of your life and here you are, outside of cricket,” she said. “It was slightly strange watching but I just tried to make the most of it and knuckle down with the rehab and work on a few other things that could hopefully prolong my career a little bit more. “It’s certainly been a tough grind, particularly the last month trying to get back into it and all the rehab you have to do. I don’t think you realise until you’ve gone through a serious injury the sort of hard work you have to do on a day-to-day basis to try and get back.”I’m really grateful for the support I’ve had from the medical team. They’ve been outstanding and got me in a position that, obviously, I had to work very hard to get to, but a position where I could get back playing for England. I feel like I’ve lost a bit of time and I’m ready to get out there and get back playing cricket.”For Knight, the hardest part was not being able to contribute for her team, particularly at a home Commonwealth Games.”I felt like I could have played a really big role and helped us be successful,” she said. “It’s always tough missing out but those were the unfortunate cards that I was dealt.”During Knight’s absence, England gave opportunities to a clutch of emerging players, including teenagers Alice Capsey and Freya Kemp, who thrived alongside fellow youngsters Issy Wong and Lauren Bell, debutantes earlier in the summer.The youth policy is the legacy of Lisa Keightley, England Women’s head coach who left the post at the end of her tenure in September with the naming of her successor imminent. It also has Knight facing the prospect of returning to a side containing a number of players that she has yet to captain.Nat Sciver skippered England through the Commonwealth Games before spending time out of cricket herself for mental-health reasons. Amy Jones led the side through the three ODIs and a 2-1 T20I series victory against India, a role Jones freely admitted took her out of her comfort zone.Sciver is back training with England and “going good”, according to Knight, who acknowledged that Sciver stepping back from the game had been a courageous move, even though players are increasingly doing so to look after their mental wellbeing.”It’s a really good decision and brave decision by her,” Knight said. “I still think it’s a tough decision but people like Nat taking time out and being very open with reasons, it’s only a good thing.”It’s also a bit of an eye-opener to try and not let it get to that stage for a lot of players and making sure that we’re doing everything we can and managing ourselves better to try and not get to that stage. We have a lot of support medically to try and do that as well, but certainly it’s a topic that people are more comfortable talking about, in my experience, and being a bit more willing to be vulnerable when things are tough and you need to take that time.”As franchise cricket increases and the amount of international cricket that we have increases, as players we have to find a way to find little pockets to get fresh and I think we’re all learning that. I think the place Nat got to, where she felt she had to take a break, it’s trying to learn and find ways to manage players and support them as best I can as captain, but also decisions above me in terms of workload management and trying to get players that are at their best for England at the right time.”As draining as a failed Commonwealth Games campaign clearly was on many players who had hoped – and expected – to be among the medals, Knight is backing her side to enter the T20 World Cup without any scars.”The Commonwealths certainly were a disappointment but you’ve got to remember you lost a T20 semi-final by four runs, one that could have easily gone our way, and then you’re in a gold-medal match,” Knight said. “There’s a lot of things we could have done better, but it’s also remembering the good things we’ve done and it’s not the end of the world. We’ve had a lot of success in T20s.”We lost to India by four runs and T20 can sometimes swing like that. But I think we’ll take a lot of learnings from it, particularly the young girls playing in their first global competition. That experience will be great for them, they know what it’s about, they know the different pressures of tournament cricket and how it can affect you and how you can deal with that and hopefully take it forward into the World Cup.”The girls winning that T20 series against India was brilliant, with the side we had. I think we had an average age of maybe 23 or 24, so a really good achievement to beat India 2-1 in that series after the Commonwealths.”

Sussex seamer played more than 350 games in 17-year professional career

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jul-2021Mitchell Claydon, Sussex’s Australia-born seamer, has announced his retirement from professional cricket at the end of this season.Claydon, 38, was born in New South Wales but used his British passport to play county cricket, with spells at Yorkshire, Durham, Kent and Sussex, and also played domestic cricket in New Zealand. He was part of the Durham squad that won three County Championships and a Friends Provident Trophy, and won promotion with Kent in 2018.Claydon was an excellent death bowler with a good yorker in one-day and T20 cricket, and has taken 310 first-class wickets at 31.90 with the red ball. He is expected to stay in the game as a coach, and already has experience working with Sydney Sixers as an assistant coach.”After 17 years as a professional cricketer, I have decided that 2021 will be my last,” Claydon said in a statement. “I’m so proud that my shocking rig has got me through 371 games – over a hundred in each format – but all the overs are taking their toll, and everything is starting to hurt. I’m committed to finishing the 2021 season and ending on a high.”Big thanks to Canterbury, Central Districts, Durham, Yorkshire, Kent and Sussex for giving me the opportunity to play the game for a living all these years and all the coaches and support staff at those clubs for their help.”I’d like to give a special thanks to my family both in the UK and back home in Australia. I’ll miss life in the changing rooms more than anything. The fun I’ve had with so many people over the years will provide me with fantastic memories for the rest of my life.”Claydon has only played sporadically for Sussex since signing for them in 2019, appearing in four first-class matches and two T20s. He is yet to make a first-team appearance in 2021. He was banned for nine games following a ball-tampering controversy last year in which he applied hand sanitiser to the ball, which also saw the club docked points.

ECB confirm allrounder has been tested for Covid-19

Matt Roller02-Jul-2020Sam Curran is self-isolating in his room at the Ageas Bowl after feeling sick on Wednesday night.Curran made an unbeaten 15 on the first evening of England’s intra-squad warm-up match, but took no part in the game after suffering from “sickness and diarrhoea overnight”, according to an ECB statement.The statement added that Curran was feeling better on Thursday afternoon, but confirmed that he would play no further part in the ongoing warm-up match. He has been monitored by the team doctor, Mark Wotherspoon, who was wearing full PPE during the assessment, and was tested for Covid-19 during the lunch interval.The news will come as a concern for England so close to the first Test. There is no suggestion, at this stage, that Curran has come into contact with the virus, especially within the bio-secure arrangements at the Ageas Bowl, which make it one of the most low-risk environments in the country.However, his illness will undoubtedly be a source of frustration given that he has been unable to bowl in this warm-up match after going so long without competitive cricket. Indeed, it is now difficult to see how will play next week, not least with so many other seamers in contention.The results of Curran’s Covid-19 test are expected back on Friday, although the protocols in the event of a positive result are not at this stage being divulged by the ECB. However, he would be likely to go into a seven-day self-isolation – it is unclear whether that would take place within the team bubble or at home – and Public Health England would also be notified.The remainder of the England players and management are due to be tested again for Covid on Sunday. At this stage, that testing date is unlikely to be brought forward. An ECB spokesperson confirmed that the West Indies camp and other stakeholders within the team environment had been notified.Amar Virdi, the offspinner, was a late addition to Team Buttler – although he was officially replacing Jofra Archer, who experienced soreness from new bowling boots – having initially missed out on the squad. He came on to bowl shortly before the close on the second day and took the final wicket to fall.The ECB is expected to issue a formal update on Olly Stone’s availability on Friday. Stone has played no part in the warm-up match due to a niggle in his left hamstring.

The pair added 109 off 45 balls for the fourth wicket as Sylhet completed a chase of 190 with two overs to spare

The Report by Peter Della Penna30-Jan-2019How the game played outBuoyed by the return of Ryan ten Doeschate from injury, Rajshahi Kings hauled down a target of 190 in impressive fashion to knock out Sylhet Sixers from playoff contention. Ten Doeschate and Laurie Evans combined for a 109-run fourth-wicket stand to steer a brisk chase, completed with two overs to spare.Sixers were given several opportunities to remain in the match, beginning when Johnson Charles missed a straightforward stumping on Afif Hossain’s first ball off Mehidy Hasan in the second over. Hossain went on to make 29, while Sabbir Rahman made the most of being given not out on 0 after feathering an edge behind – Kings had already burned their review in the field – before going on to make 45.Yet, in spite of all the bonus runs, not to mention Nicholas Pooran’s imperious 76 not out off 31 balls, Sixers bowling unit produced a limp effort. Evans continued his superb form with a solid 76 off 36 balls in the Kings chase. Both he and ten Doeschate fell in the 17th over to Sohail Tanvir, but by that stage the required run rate was well under a run-a-ball. The match was sealed when Tanvir bowled consecutive wides to start what should have been the 19th over, though no legal delivery was registered; a microcosm of Sixers’ day in the field.Turning points

• Pooran hit 21 off Arafat Sunny’s final over in the 14th over to begin a surge of 83 runs off the last seven for Sixers en route to a 21-ball fifty
• Kings were having a sedate Powerplay before Charles ended the sixth over with a trio of fours off Tanvir, taking the score to 51 for 1 at the end of six overs
• Evans began his acceleration in the 14th off Ebadot Hossain with three fours to bring the required run rate back under 10 for the first time since the end of the Powerplay
• Kings needed 41 off 30 balls at the last strategic timeout. Evans began the 16th with a four over extra cover to bring up a 28-ball 50, then continued the over with three fours through the off side, a two, and a six over midwicket, to bring equation under a run-a-ball

Star of the dayEvans, who seemed more relaxed with ten Doeschate back by his side in the chase, one match after the Dutch national sat out with a side strain. After a stretch of three runs in four innings to start off, Evans has now compiled 391 in his last six knocks at an average of 65.20 at BPL 2019, and is currently fourth on runs aggregate behind Pooran, Mushfiqur Rahim and Rilee Rossouw.The big missAny number of them from Charles. The missed stumping was bad but he also seemed uninterested in appealing for caught-behind on the ball that Jason Roy edged. His non-appeal on the Sabbir decision also went against the Kings in the field.Where the teams standKings kept their slim playoff hopes alive by moving to 12 points to break a tie with Dhaka Dynamites for sole possession of fourth place, though Dynamites still have two games remaining while Kings have completed their league phase of matches. Sixers remain on eight points and are eliminated from playoff contention with one match remaining.

South Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey scored his maiden first-class hundred as the Redbacks built a hefty total of 485 before reducing Queensland to 4 for 123 by stumps

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Dec-2017
ScorecardGetty Images

South Australia wicketkeeper Alex Carey scored his maiden first-class hundred as the Redbacks built a hefty total of 485 on the second day against Queensland in Cairns. In reply, Queensland had wobbled to 4 for 123 by stumps, with only former Test opener Joe Burns showing significant resistance, finishing the day unbeaten on 67 alongside Jack Wildermuth on 10.Swing bowler Chadd Sayers, released from the Test squad after being overlooked for a home-ground debut at Adelaide Oval, struck in the third over of the innings when he trapped discarded Test opener Matt Renshaw lbw for 4. David Grant, Adam Zampa and Joe Mennie each picked up a wicket as the Queensland batsmen struggled to establish their innings, with the exception of Burns, who struck five fours and two sixes.But there was a long way to go for the Bulls after the strong batting display from Carey and the South Australia lower order. The Redbacks had resumed on 8 for 328, but any hopes the home team had of quickly running through the tail were dashed by the 117-run stand compiled by Carey and Sayers, who made a career-best 46.Carey had enjoyed a remarkable debut Shield season last summer with a tournament record number of wicketkeeping dismissals as well as 594 runs, but a century was the one thing missing. He ticked that box and was the last man out, caught off the spin of Marnus Labuschagne for 139 after building a 45-run tenth-wicket stand with Grant.