The placid nature of the Multan surface made batting look easy at times in the first Test – well, if you came from Yorkshire that is!

Harry Brook, who became England’s first triple centurion for 34 years, shared a partnership of 454 with Joe Root, beating the previous best of 411 made by Colin Cowdrey and Peter May 57 years ago.

It came as England posted 823-7 declared – the fourth-highest total in Test history – in response to Pakistan’s 556, before bowling the hosts out for 220 on the final day.

Former England captain Michael Atherton pulled no punches with his assessment of the pitch used for the match.

“It’s a shocking Test-match pitch,” Atherton said on Sky Sports.

“If you don’t have that balance between bat and ball, you’re going to get a lot of poor cricket. So not a good pitch despite the fact there was a result.”

Ex-England skipper Nasser Hussain said the surface was typical of pitches in Pakistan and that the end result “does not justify everything that went before it”.

So exactly how much of a bowlers’ graveyard was the pitch for the first Test?

Well, since Test cricket returned to Pakistan in 2019 there have been 16 Tests where ball-tracking has been available to Cricviz.

Of those 16 Tests, this Multan pitch produced the second-lowest amount of average swing (0.63 degrees) but was the third-highest when it came to seam (0.53°).

It is perhaps the spinners who toiled the most – certainly Pakistan’s – with the amount of drift being the lowest of all 16 Tests (1.16°) and it was the fourth-lowest amount of turn (2.86°) seen in that time.

When England were victorious in Multan on their last tour of Pakistan in 2022, the highest score in the match was made by the hosts in the fourth innings – 328 – as England wrapped up a 26-run win.

MMA Fighting has BKFC Spain results for the Tenaglia vs. Soto fight card and more from Marbella Arena in Marbella, Spain.

In the main event, Franco Tenaglia squares off against Tony Soto for the vacant BKFC lightweight title.

Austin Trout defends his BKFC welterweight title against Ricardo Franco, and David Mundell puts his BKFC middleweight title up against Danny Christie on the main card as well.

MMA media personalities Oscar Stephens-Willis and Ben Davis also clash on the main card.

Check out the BKFC Spain results below.

Main Card (DAZN at 1 p.m. ET)

Franco Tenaglia vs. Tony Soto

Austin Trout vs. Ricardo Franco

David Mundell vs. Danny Christie

Dan Champman vs. Mike Jurik

Felipe da Silva Maia vs. James Lilley

Hannah Rankin vs. Deborah Mellhorn

Oscar Stephens-Willis vs. Ben Davis

Yunus Batan vs. Maxine Bellamy

Prelims

Nico Gaffie vs. Radek Stadler

Arbi Chakaev vs. Jose Daniel

Fran Suarez vs. David Mora

CHELSEA boss Enzo Maresca has been named the Premier League’s Manager of the Month for September.

The 44-year-old led his new team to successive wins over Bournemouth, West Ham and Brighton last month.

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He also took a point from Crystal Palace at Stamford Bridge.

Chelsea now sit fourth in the Premier League table with 14 points from seven games.

And the club’s impressive form has seen Maresca take home the coveted Premier League Manager of the Month trophy.

The Italian is the first Chelsea manager to win the award since Thomas Tuchel in 2021.

He told the Premier League: “We had a very good month.

“We all need people around us to make things better. I’m very grateful to have all of them.

“We are always looking at new things and how we can improve from different football and different countries.”

Chelsea midfielder Cole Palmer also won a Premier League award for September.

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He was named Player of the Month after scoring five goals and assisting two.

Palmer impressed fans after netting four against Brighton at the Amex Stadium.

His season hit another positive note earlier this week when he was named England’s Player of the Year.

Chelsea also enjoyed a successful start to the WSL season with new manager Sonia Bompastor.

The former Lyon boss won both of her opening two games in England.

She claimed the WSL Manager of the Month award this week as a result.

The draw in Iceland means Bellamy is the first Wales manager to remain unbeaten after his first three competitive matches.

His opening draw with Turkey and 2-1 win in Montenegro last month had rejuvenated Wales, with a progressive new approach exciting fans, players and pundits alike after the disappointment of missing out on Euro 2024.

Wales looked to be heading for a second successive victory and top spot in Group B4 after an impressive first half in Reykjavik, but collapsed after the break.

Iceland wasted several chances before scoring their two goals and had further opportunities to take all three points.

Wales, by contrast, were non-existent as an attacking force in the second half and will hope to rediscover their first-half verve when they face Montenegro in Cardiff on Monday.

“I’m a big fan of Iceland so I knew it was going to be a difficult game,” said Bellamy. “Of course we were 2-0 up by half-time but my words were ‘this is going to be a long half’.

“A very good manager [Iceland boss Age Hareide], we knew being 2-0 down they were going to throw more men at the press because they had to.

“How were we going to find the solutions? Because the solutions were there but it’s being able to find them at the time.

“There’s a lot to benefit us, especially the second half. It allows us to coach more, it builds a library in the players’ heads: ‘Remember this situation, remember when we found this period difficult’. They can memorise it. This is our third game together.

“In the long run, I’m really happy. And this is not me trying to sugar-coat drawing after being 2-0 up, it really isn’t. What I’m telling you now I told the players. This was really good.”

Wales will be without Tottenham Hotspur forward Brennan Johnson and Rennes midfielder Jordan James against Montenegro due to suspension after they picked up their second bookings of the campaign against Iceland.

Johnson, who has scored seven goals in seven games for club and country, was taken off at half-time after taking a knock during the first half.

“It was a precaution. He took a kick,” said Bellamy. “He did feel something from impact so we’ll get him checked out.”

For most kids aged 14, their thoughts will be on getting their homework done, or playing video games with friends.

But for Sammy Harvey, that was the age he was making his international debut.

The teenage goalkeeper started for the Turks and Caicos Islands last month in their Concacaf Nations League match against Anguilla – whose starting goalkeeper in contrast was 41.

Unfortunately for Harvey that game ended in a 2-0 defeat, but he and his team-mates have the chance to gain revenge when the two sides meet again on Sunday (03:00 BST).

“After the first game, I did cry, knowing that my first game was a loss,” Harvey told BBC Sport.

“[My coach] called me that same night to help me get my head back in it and get my head back up, and I was ready.

“I let it sink in knowing that, yes, I did play international level at 14 with a great experience. Let’s get ready for the next one to go again and prove to them that I can play at this level.”

Harvey says his footballing hero is his national team coach, Aaron Lawrence, who played in goal for Jamaica at the 1998 World Cup.

“I’ve watched a lot of his highlights from the World Cup days,” adds Harvey, who says he also admires Liverpool goalkeeper Alisson and Manchester City’s Ederson.

The teenager says it was his sister who first got him into football at the age of five, but initially he did not play as a goalkeeper.

“I started off as a left and right-back,” he said. “But when coach Aaron joined the programme I was on, his first days there, he put me in a goal and worked on me, my first ever goalkeeper coach.”

ERIK TEN HAG has forked out £100MILLION trying to replace Harry Maguire – but the stats prove he is still Manchester United’s best centre-back.

Ten Hag ensured he was reunited with his ex-Ajax defenders as United chiefs paid £56.7m for Lisandro Martinez in 2022, before splashing £42.7m on Matthijs de Ligt this summer.

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But the data SunSport has gathered shows that Maguire is actually by far and away the most in-form centre-half at Old Trafford.

After a solid debut season in Manchester, Maguire soon faced the wrath of fans, becoming a figure of fun for rivals and a soft touch for the experts after some questionable performances.

The fact that the England ace – who arrived from Leicester for £80m – was automatically handed the club captaincy by Ole Gunnar Solkajaer didn’t help his case.

He was soon stripped of the armband by Ten Hag in June 2023 – being replaced by Bruno Fernandes, after falling behind the first-choice pairing of Martinez and Raphael Varane.

And United even agreed to sell Maguire to West Ham last summer – before the former Sheffield United defender vowed to fight for his place.

And he’s done just that, proving that he’s arguably still the best centre-back at Ten Hag’s disposal.

In fact, Maguire has beaten Martinez and De Ligt in nine out of 13 stat categories recorded in all competitions so far this term.

Maguire has won the most duels with 5.3 per 90 minutes, compared to Martinez’s 2.9 and De Ligt’s 4.8.

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The England star also came out on top in interceptions won, possession won, and successful completed passes (61.81) per 90.

And he’s level with De Ligt in terms of goals scored (one) and total shots, despite starting four matches in all competitions this term.

Martinez comes out on top only in tackles made and won – which is synonymous with his “Butcher” reputation.

The Argentine enjoyed an impressive debut season in 2022-23 but his form significantly dropped after recovering from surgery on his metatarsal bone last summer.

Both Maguire and Martinez were in-and-out of the matchday squad last term, as United suffered an unprecedented number of defensive injuries and recorded a negative goal difference for the first time in Prem history.

Maguire started the first two Prem games this season, but was dropped for a mistake during Danny Welbeck‘s opener in their 2-1 defeat at Brighton.

New signing De Ligt was brought in to start instead but has come under intense scrutiny for his own performances.

Particularly in United’s 3-0 home defeat to Spurs and the 3-3 Porto game where the Red Devils again lost a 2-0 lead.

Club legend Paul Scholes has frequently said: “I’m not convinced De Ligt is better than Maguire.”

Maguire was brought on in the final 10 minutes in the Europa League in Portugal when United trailed 3-2 – before his headed winner saved Ten Hag’s job at the death.

The 31-year-old and Jonny Evans were then trusted to start against Aston Villa, replacing De Ligt and Martinez – who many assumed would be the first-choice pairing going forward.

But Maguire faced yet another setback after suffering a fresh calf injury and left Villa Park in a protective boot, after he was replaced by De Ligt at half-time.

People scoffed at Maguire starting against Unai Emery’s side but Ten Hag will see his temporary loss as a big one.