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The trio, already well-respected on the women’s circuit, became the first female umpires to officiate in the tournament

PTI10-Jan-2023Vrinda Rathi, N Janani and V Gayathri made history on Tuesday by becoming the first women to officiate in the Ranji Trophy.Gayathri, a former cricketer whose career was cut short by injury, is currently officiating in the second round match between Jharkhand and Chhatisgarh in Jamshedpur. Janani, an ex-software engineer, is umpiring in Surat for the game between Railways and Tripura, while Rathi, a former scorer, is in charge for the Goa vs Pondicherry match in Porvorim.Hailing from various backgrounds, the trio, already well-respected on the women’s circuit, made history courtesy BCCI’s decision to draft women umpires on the men’s domestic circuit.A long-time cricket lover, the 36-year-old Janani had approached the Tamil Nadu Cricket Association (TNCA) a couple of times to become an umpire. A few years after the the state body changed its rule to allow women to officiate, she cleared the BCCI’s Level 2 umpiring exam in 2018 and had to think little before quitting her IT job to pursue umpiring. Narayan has since also officiated in the Tamil Nadu Premier League (TNPL), in 2021.Rathi, 32, is from Mumbai. She used to score local matches before clearing the BCCI scorers exam. She was the official BCCI scorer for the 2013 Women’s World Cup. Later on, she moved to umpiring.Janani and Rathi are seasoned umpires and were also included in the ICC panel of development umpires back in 2020.Veteran umpire coach Denis Burns, who has worked closely with Indian umpires and overseen their rise to the international level, had hailed the duo’s promotion to the ICC development panel.”I think Janani and Vrinda represent the ‘new wave’ of female umpires in India,” he had said.Delhi-based Gayathri, 43, dreamed of becoming a cricketer but a shoulder injury quashed her hopes. She started umpiring in 2019 after clearing the BCCI exam. Venugopalan has already served as a reserve (fourth) umpire in the Ranji Trophy.While there are already several female umpires officiating in men’s cricket in England and Australia, out of 150 registered umpires with the BCCI, only three are women.

Momentum has been lacking from Parthiv Patel’s T20 game, but in Mohali, he was able to find it in style against the pace of Mitchell Johnson

Sidharth Monga in Mohali03-May-20150:36

‘Simmons helps me play fearlessly’ – Parthiv

Parthiv Patel’s IPL strike rate before this match was 110. He had scored five fifties in 83 innings spread over eight seasons. He has been asked to open for Mumbai Indians as a belated plan this season. Coming into this match he had scored 96 off 75 balls in six innings. Although Mumbai had started winning, Parthiv and Unmukt Chand in the top three – struggling to score either quick or big runs – were a huge concern for Mumbai, leaving Rohit Sharma and Kieron Pollard with too much to do, especially given Lendl Simmons’ tendency to slow down after six overs. Even as Simmons raced away to 21 off 16 balls, Parthiv again seemed to be reprising the old problem with five runs off eight balls. Then bowled Mitchell Johnson.Johnson is still one of the best bowlers in Test cricket, the fifth-best according to ICC. He was excellent in the final stages of the World Cup. Back when he bowled in India in 2013 – just before the Ashes rout of England – he could take out Suresh Raina and Yuvraj Singh at will. In Twenty20 too, he was instrumental in Parthiv’s current team’s IPL title win earlier that year. Parthiv last played international cricket in 2012. Even though Johnson has not had a great IPL this year, this was supposed to be the time when Kings XI Punjab would put pressure on the Mumbai top three, especially Parthiv and Chand.Parthiv had other ideas. The first ball Johnson bowled to Parthiv was a bouncer, which he ramped, and given Johnson’s pace it sailed over third man for a six. Okay one bouncer. Maybe the pitch doesn’t have the sting. Johnson went full next ball, and strayed down leg. Parthiv unfurled his wrists to whip it over square leg. All of a sudden Parthiv was finding momentum, a quality that has deserted him as his stats suggest.Johnson has had a long testing season, physically and emotionally. Another long sojourn to the West Indies and England beckons. He has come here with a Cricket Australia plan. He is not to bowl any more deliveries on a given day than the plan prescribes. This is not the ultimate test for him this year, but he found himself in a contest that was slipping out of his hand. Parthiv had entered that zone where he was punishing every little error. The next ball was whipped away on the leg side for two. And then he went a step further: he drove on the up, through the covers, and got four off a delivery that didn’t have too much going against it.There was no movement on offer, the pitch was slow, keeping a little low, which would make it tough for the batsmen coming in. We hadn’t realised all that yet. We had just seen Johnson go for 18 in his first over, not one streaky shot played. Parthiv scored 17 of those, and the only time he had scored more in one over previously had been off Johnson.The decision now for George Bailey was between cutting his losses and letting Johnson having his own back. Any other time, any other format, you would back Johnson, but this was Twenty20, and he had given away runs at 9.37 an over this season. He was making a comeback into the side after being left out for conceding 39, 40, 33 in his last three matches. Momentarily Bailey cut his losses and went to his two spinners to bowl overs six and seven.Only 14 came off those overs, and Bailey rolled the dice again. He gave Johnson a change of ends and asked for his senior quick to produce a wicket. There wasn’t too much wrong with the first ball he bowled: it was short of a length – Parthiv prefers the drive, it was bowled at 140kph, and it was aimed at the body. Parthiv, though, was prepared. He rocked back early and played a pick-up pull over square leg for six. He was 36 off 22 now, and had gone well past Simmons. A yorker and a slower ball followed, which produced one run, but Johnson undid the good work with a leg-side full toss last ball of the over. The four took Parthiv to 41 off 25, and he had scored 28 off nine Johnson balls. Johnson to Parthiv overall in IPL: 26 balls, 57 runs, never got him out.It wasn’t breathtaking, it wasn’t long, it didn’t involve shots that you will remember next week, but in a brief concentrated attack, when everything came together for him, Parthiv had taken apart the big draw of the opposition. Mumbai were pulled back in the last 10 overs, and then returned Kings XI the favour, which made Parthiv’s attack on Johnson the decisive play of the match.

Harry Kane saw his own face made out of coffee beans as the Bayern Munich striker released his own Starbucks offer as part of a charity promotion.

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• Kane releases new coffee order
• Will raise funds for Bayern star's foundation
• Striker announced initiative on Instagram

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The England international and Starbucks have teamed up to deliver Harry's Flat White across the United Kingdom. The order is available for a limited period and will go to supporting the 31-year-old's own foundation.

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• THE BIGGER PICTURE

  For every Harry's Flat White sold in England, 25p will be paid to the Harry Kane Foundation, which was set up to "transform a generation’s thinking around mental health" by providing support to charities. As part of the promotion, a portrait of Kane's face was made out of coffee beans.

• WHAT KANE SAID

  An Instagram post from Kane read: "Never thought I’d see myself made out of coffee beans! I’ve teamed up with [Starbucks] to create my own coffee order – Harry’s Flat White – which will be available to order from today until 30 April!

  "For every Harry’s Flat White purchased, 25p will be donated to the Harry Kane Foundation, supporting incredible charity partners who provide vital mental wellbeing initiatives across England."

• Getty Images Sport
  

  WHAT NEXT FOR BAYERN?

  Kane, who has scored 32 goals in 36 matches in all competitions for Bayern this season, will be in action again when his side face Union Berlin in the Bundesliga at the weekend.

Plus, centuries on debut, most matches, closest games – all in World Cups

Steven Lynch17-Feb-2015Nuwan Kulasekara bowled the last ball of the 2011 World Cup and the first ball of the 2015 one. Has this happened before? asked Mark Long from England

Nuwan Kulasekara of Sri Lanka bowled the delivery which MS Dhoni smashed for six to clinch the 2011 World Cup in Mumbai, and started the 2015 tournament last Saturday with a dot ball to New Zealand’s Martin Guptill in Christchurch. My first inclination was that, with only ten previous tournaments, this couldn’t possibly have happened before… but it has. In 1987, Craig McDermott bowled the last over to clinch Australia’s victory over England in Kolkata; and in 1992 he sent down the first over of the opening match, against New Zealand in Auckland – and bowled John Wright with his first legitimate delivery, after two wides. Glenn McGrath bowled the last ball of the 1996 and 2003 World Cups. Imran Khan bowled the last ball of the 1992 World Cup, and in 1979 had also bowled the first ball of one of the four matches on the opening day. Darren Lehmann, now Australia’s coach, hit the winning boundary in the 1999 final at Lord’s, and took the catch that ended the 2003 one, in Johannesburg.Aaron Finch scored a hundred in his first innings in the World Cup. How many others have done this? asked Brad Linklater from Australia

Aaron Finch, during his bruising 135 against England in Melbourne on Saturday, became the 14th batsman to begin his World Cup career with a century. The list starts with Dennis Amiss (137 for England v India at Lord’s) and Glenn Turner (171 not out for New Zealand v East Africa at Edgbaston) on the first day of the inaugural tournament in 1975. They were followed by Trevor Chappell and Allan Lamb in 1983, Geoff Marsh in 1987, Andy Flower in 1992, Nathan Astle and Gary Kirsten in 1996, Scott Styris, Andrew Symonds and Craig Wishart in 2003, the Irishman Jeremy Bray in 2007, and Virat Kohli in 2011. With an unbeaten 115 for Zimbabwe against Sri Lanka in New Plymouth in 1992, Flower is the only person to score a century on overall ODI debut during a World Cup.Steven Finn’s five wickets cost him 71 runs. Was this the most expensive in the World Cup? asked Michael Fancutt from Australia

Steven Finn’s 5 for 71 in England’s World Cup opener in Melbourne was easily the most expensive five-for in World Cup history. The previous-best (or perhaps previous-worst) was shared by two West Indians: Winston Davis took 7 for 51 against Australia at Headingley in 1983, while Ravi Rampaul took 5 for 51 against India in Chennai in 2011. A day after Finn’s record, Pakistan’s Sohail Khan, now in second place, took 5 for 55 against India in Adelaide. Indeed, there’s only been one more expensive five-wicket haul than Finn’s in all one-day internationals: the Scotland seamer Gordon Goudie took 5 for 73 against Australia at The Grange in Edinburgh in 2009. Ben Stokes took 5 for 61 for England against Australia in Southampton in 2013. Finn was only the third England bowler to take a World Cup five-for, following Vic Marks (5 for 39 against Sri Lanka at Taunton in 1983) and Tim Bresnan (5 for 48 against India in Bangalore in 2010-11).Has anyone got closer to a World Cup century than James Taylor? asked Terry McKinley from England

The unfortunate James Taylor became the second player to be marooned on 98 not out in a World Cup match. The first one was also against Australia: Collins Obuya had reached 98 when Kenya’s overs ran out in Bangalore in 2011. Sachin Tendulkar (India v Pakistan in Centurion in 2003) and Tatenda Taibu (Zimbabwe v Canada in Nagpur in 2011) were both dismissed for 98 in the World Cup. But there have been two World Cup 99s: Australia’s Adam Gilchrist was run out for 99 (from 88 balls) against Sri Lanka in Centurion in 2003, while JP Duminy holed out one short for South Africa against Ireland in Kolkata in 2011. Before the current tournament there had been 47 scores in the nineties during the World Cup, nine of them not out. Tendulkar and Michael Clarke both made three of them; Clarke had still not managed a World Cup century before this tournament started.Andy Flower scored a century on his one-day debut, which was a World Cup match against Sri Lanka in New Plymouth in 1992•Getty ImagesWho has played the most World Cup matches? asked Mohammad Qalil from Pakistan

Ricky Ponting leads the way here with 46, including four finals (1996/1999/2003/2007). He’s one ahead of Sachin Tendulkar, who played in six different tournaments (a record he shares with Javed Miandad). Muttiah Muralitharan played in 40 matches, Glenn McGrath 39, and Sanath Jayasuriya and Wasim Akram 38. The overall appearances record isn’t going to be broken this time: the most by any current player before the 2015 tournament started was Mahela Jayawardene’s 33.Have there been any one-run victories in the World Cup? Or one-wicket ones? asked Mahendra Jain from India

Before the 2015 tournament, there had been only two one-run victories in World Cup history, both of them by Australia over India – in Chennai in 1987, and in Brisbane in 1992. There had been one victory by two runs (by Sri Lanka over England in North Sound in 2006-07), and four by three runs. There had been four wins by one wicket: by West Indies over Pakistan at Edgbaston in 1975; Pakistan over West Indies in Lahore in 1987; South Africa over Sri Lanka in Providence in 2007; and England over West Indies in Bridgetown, also in 2007. Pakistan’s win in 1987 was clinched off the final delivery of the 50th over, the only time the side batting second has won a World Cup match off the last possible ball. There have also been four tied World Cup matches: the Australia v South Africa semi-final at Edgbaston in 1999; South Africa v Sri Lanka in Durban in 2003; Ireland v Zimbabwe in Kingston in 2007; and India v England in Bangalore in 2011.

The German Football association (DFB) has launched a bid to host the 2029 Women's European Championships.

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• Poland competing; Denmark and Sweden launch joint bid
• Italy and Portugal declare intention
• UEFA Executive Committee vote in December 2025

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Eight time winners Germany have officially launched their campaign, outlining a plan that would see it become the first tournament to turn a profit and increase participation in women's football across the continent. It would be the third Women's Euros tournament hosted in the country, which also held the Women's World Cup in 2011.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  There's fierce competition across Europe, however. Poland are bidding to host after missing out on the 2025 tournament. Denmark and Sweden have joined forces on a joint bid, while Portugal and Italy's associations have declared their intent to host.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Germany have dominated the opposition in the Women's European Championships over the years. Die Nationalelf won six consecutive titles between 1995 and 2013, and have reached the semi finals in ten of their 12 appearances at the tournament.

• Getty Images
  

  WHAT NEXT?

  The preliminary bids will be heard on March 12. UEFA's Executive Committee will vote to determine a host in December 2025. The 2025 Women's European Championships will be played in Switzerland from 2 to 27 July 2025.

“There’s only one explanation: we batted poorly. After batting well in the first innings in Durban, we couldn’t repeat it”

Mohammad Isam11-Apr-2022Bangladesh’s captain Mominul Haque has admitted that his team has been out of sorts ever since the first innings of the Durban Test, which the visitors lost by 220 runs. Bangladesh’s poor form with the bat continued into the second Test as well, as they were bowled out for 80 in the fourth innings in Gqeberha, their second sub-100 score in the series. For the second straight game, Bangladesh capitulated against spin, losing all 10 of their wickets to Keshav Maharaj and Simon Harmer.”There’s only one explanation: we batted poorly,” Mominul said. “We couldn’t play team-wise. After batting well in the first innings in Durban, we couldn’t repeat it again in the Test series. Batting by session, batting for time, these things went missing. You have to play well in every session. We have to improve a lot. We are not the No. 1 team in the world. But we are still at the same place before the (Mt Maunganui) win.”Related

• Stats – Maharaj lords over Bangladesh

• South Africa's Test team in 'special place' after acing challenging 2021-22 season

• Maharaj seven-for demolishes Bangladesh

Mominul claimed that Bangladesh don’t play spin well, even though it is quite well known that the players are born and bred in spinning tracks. The only difference between the pitches in Bangladesh and those in South Africa during this series was the bounce.”Everyone knows we don’t play spin well, except one or two of us. We have to improve our square-of-the-wicket shots. (Yasir Ali) Rabbi and I shouldn’t have tried to play those shots over the top. It would have been better had we tried to play it square of the wicket. The better option was to play it along the ground.”There is a fundamental difference between wickets here and the sub-continent. In our conditions, one can use sidespin. Here, it doesn’t really work. Here, overspin is useful. Our bowlers are more used to sidespin. One has to go through a lot of technical changes for overspin. There’s also the difference between domestic and international level.”Mominul said that Bangladesh couldn’t afford to play with five bowlers, mainly because they usually want to have seven batters in their line-up at all times.”Do we ever play with five bowlers? It is tough for us to play five bowlers. Our batting gets weakened. We are a lower-ranked team. We are not the No. 1 team in the world. When we can be a No. 4 or 5 ranked team, we can play with five bowlers. I think this is logical.”

Ipswich Town have reportedly agreed a deal to sign a former Liverpool player ahead of their Premier League opener next weekend.

Ipswich Town’s summer business

The Tractor Boys managed to keep hold of manager Kieran McKenna earlier in the summer and have made a number of new signings during the transfer market. The club have spent more than £60m and have also moved on a number of players from last season with weeks remaining of the window.

McKenna is currently preparing his side for the first game of the season at home to Liverpool, however, behind the scenes, work is still ongoing in regards to further additions.

Recently, the club have been linked with a move for Tottenham Hotspur midfielder Oliver Skipp, however, fellow promoted sides Leicester City and Southampton are also showing an interest.

Imagine him & Morsy: Ipswich targeting £13m PL ace in Hutchinson repeat

Ipswich Town could repeat the success story of their Omari Hutchinson deal with this summer purchase.

By
Kelan Sarson

Aug 9, 2024

Elsewhere, Ipswich have made contact over the potential signing of Napoli midfielder Jean Cajuste, although reports do not state whether the approach has been made with the player, the Serie A club or both parties.

However, Ipswich appear to be making progress over another deal with a club abroad, with a fee now agreed.

Ipswich Town agree fee to sign Ryan Kent

According to reports in Turkey, Ipswich have had an offer worth €3m (£2.5m) accepted to sign Fenerbahce winger Ryan Kent. Jose Mourinho has given the green light for Kent to leave, and it is claimed that the club have handed Kent permission to speak with Ipswich.

Should personal terms be agreed, the winger will head to England in the coming days, with Ipswich on course to beat Leeds United to a deal after the Whites were linked with a move of their own in recent weeks.

Kent, previously of Liverpool and Rangers, has been with Fenerbahce for just over 12 months but during his first season in Turkey, only made 19 appearances, scoring once and providing two assists.

Speaking back in 2022, former Tottenham midfielder Jamie O'Hara wanted Kent plying his trade in north London. "I don't want to pull him away from Rangers but I really like him, what a player he is. I would have him at Spurs. He should be in the Premier League, he is a top player."

Kent was also praised by former boss Steven Gerrard during their time in Glasgow, who said back in 2020: "He is so sharp and he has added a different dimension to his game. He is a pleasure to watch and coach and we just need to enjoy him. He has got the hunger and the desire and he is putting in the application to improve his numbers.”

Now, a return to England could be on the cards at Portman Road, making this one to watch.

San Diego makes first draft selection in its history, picking up UC Santa Barbara standout Duah

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• Duah goes No. 1 in 2025 MLS SuperDraft
• Floriani and Boltz round out top three
• Rapids select five players in Round 1

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• WHAT HAPPENED?

  San Diego FC made the first draft pick in team history by selecting UCSB defensive midfielder Manu Duah as the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 MLS SuperDraft.

  Standing 6-4, Duah is viewed as a high-potential talent who could contribute immediately, according to San Diego manager Mikey Varas.

  "First and foremost, Manu fits the club's key profile," Varas said. "He's a highly talented young player with exceptional character and values."

  The top five picks were rounded out by Max Floriani (St. Louis), selected at No. 2 by the San Jose Earthquakes; Dean Boltz (Wisconsin) at No. 3 to the Chicago Fire; Alex Harris (Cornell) at No. 4 to the Colorado Rapids; and Reid Roberts (San Francisco), who stayed in the Bay Area, going to San Jose at No. 5.

  The biggest surprise of the draft came when highly touted striker Emil Jaaskelainen, son of former Bolton Wanderers goalkeeper Jussi Jaaskelainen, fell to No. 7 with St. Louis CITY SC. Jaaskelainen led NCAA Division I scoring with 23 goals this season.

  There were a flurry of trades throughout the draft proceedings, with 13 in total – including five in the first nine picks.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  San Diego FC are excited by Duah's potential and expect him to develop into one of the top players in the league.

  "With Manu, it was very, very obvious that this is a player with tremendous potential – a player who's already good but can improve a lot," Varas told reporters. "He can be a player who dominates MLS in a few years."

  But San Diego wasn't the only focus in the draft, as the Rapids and Real Salt Lake raised eyebrows with the sheer amount of selections made Friday. Colorado picked nine players, including five in the first round: Alex Harris (No. 4, Cornell and Generation adidas), Matthew Senanou (No. 6, Xavier), Efetobo Aror (No. 12, Portland), Sydney Wathuta (No. 16, Vermont), and Joshua Copeland (No. 26, Detroit Mercy).

  It continues a recent trend of the Rocky Mountain club emphasizing the draft, where most teams aren't. RSL weren't far behind their rivals, selecting eight players, with four in the first round: Jesus Barea of Missouri State (No. 19), Max Kerkvliet of UConn (No. 21), Lineker Rodrigues Dos Santos of Marshall (No. 29), and Sergi Solans of Oregon State (No. 30).

  One other strong note for the league is the increased involvement of MLS Next players being selected in the SuperDraft. Nine of the first 15 selections played in MLS's development league: Duah (No. 1, Santa Barbara Soccer Club), Boltz (No. 3, Sockers FC Chicago), and Roberts (No. 5, Real Colorado) were all selected in the top five.

• Getty
  

  WHAT DUAH SAID

  Duah is a big fan of two soccer stars who currently ply their trade in MLS: Sergio Busquets and his now-teammate Hirving Lozano.

  "I want to get to the place that he is, that's the dream. Play just like he did, get to the high level that he did. I'm ready to learn from him, just to know everything, how he got there," Duah said of Lozano. "Everything that he did to get there, I want to be able to do that."

• WHAT NEXT FOR MLS?

  With the SuperDraft now done, the league turns its focus to the 2025 season. Free agency is ongoing and teams will start kicking off preseason at the start of February.

In which, the Achilles heel of Bangladesh cricket is ruthlessly exposed

Andy Zaltzman25-Feb-2013

England has reaffirmed its status as the greatest nation in the history of the world with its third consecutive intermittently-unconvincing-but-ultimately-comfortable victory over Bangladesh. It was a good, competitive Test match. Whilst Bangladesh were batting. When they were bowling, it was another pointless exercise in zero-intensity average-inflating net practice for England’s batsmen, although only Jonathan Trott and Andrew Strauss took full advantage.Trott took the opportunity to bump his Test average up from 37 to 53, mutating from a Neil McKenzie to a Virender Sehwag over five days of ruthless accumulation. It would take six consecutive ducks for Trott to re-McKenzify his average. Ian Bell’s average remains 2.5 runs better off five years after helping himself to 227 unbeaten runs in the two-Test series of 2005. Word is he still sends Tapash Baisya and Anwar Hossain Monir a box of chocolates every Christmas.Bangladesh’s bowling “attack” currently poses the offensive threat of a broken toy zebra in a lion enclosure. They average over 60 runs per wicket this year, and it is traditionally difficult to win Tests when you are conceding 600-plus per innings. Not impossible, admittedly, but reliant on the presence in your dressing room of a high-quality hypnotist to hoodwink the opposition captain into two rogue declarations.The Tigers, for all their recent improvement, continue to lack both penetrative bowlers and, more importantly, top-notch hypnotists. Until one or both of these understandable problems is resolved, they will continue to strive for draws rather than victories.Nevertheless, their excellent top-order batting confirmed that they have now improved sufficiently to officially become a team that is not ritually humiliated in every Test it plays. Progress towards becoming a team that has an ice-lolly’s chance in a volcano-surfing competition of actually winning a Test remains negligible, however: Bangladesh’s bowlers remained as incisive as baguette. And, just as you can’t perform an appendectomy with a stick of French bread, so you cannot win a Test without taking wickets.Their batsmen, however, provided another good examination for England’s bowlers, which only Steven Finn passed. Bangladesh extended their record run without an innings defeat to 10 Tests, and have now scored over 200 in 16 consecutive Test innings since January 2009. They had been skittled for less than 200 in 15 of their previous 25 innings, and 61 of their first 116 since an elevation to Test status that was not so much premature as before conception.To maintain these sequences at Old Trafford on a potentially bouncy pitch, they will need more from their middle order, which failed to support Tamim, Imrul and Junaid’s respectively dazzling, determined, and also determined efforts.Tamim Iqbal again showed himself to be a rampant entertainer of rare brilliance, whose willingness to intersperse his vibrant strokeplay with failed attempted smears over midwicket gladdens the heart of all village players, who can aspire to match at least the latter part of his repertoire. How appropriate that Tamim should have illuminated the old ground so close to the 20th anniversary of another immortal Lord’s innings by a visiting player, back in 1990 – I refer of course to New Zealand opener Trevor Franklin’s almost-equally iridescent 101, which Tamim eclipsed by two runs from 210 fewer balls over four and a half fewer hours.The MCC announced yesterday that, as part of their planned expansion of Lord’s, a 30-metre high bronze statue of Franklin will be erected at the Nursery End, its base adorned with sculptured reliefs of the Auckland Awkwardian playing a series of obdurate forward-defensives, whilst spectators are resuscitated in the background.Lord’s has long inspired foreign batsmen. Tamim joins Franklin on an illustrious list that now includes, amongst others, Don Bradman, Martin Donnelly, Mohsin Khan, Gordon Greenidge and Jonathan Trott.Sadly, the great old ground failed to exert a similarly motivational effect on Mohammad Ashraful, who clocked up his 48th single-figure dismissal in just 54 Tests. He remains some way behind the record for most single-figure scores by a top-order batsman, held by Alec Stewart – the top six in this list make a useful batting order:Stewart (66 scores below 10), Atherton (65), Border (64), Tendulkar (64), Lara (62) and Steve Waugh (61). Serial failers to a man.One suspects Tendulkar will extend his career until he has claimed top spot from Stewart. A record is a record. Expect the little master to deal only in centuries and singe-figure failures from now until retirement – he will want to leave a legacy of records that no one will ever match.Ashraful, aged just 25, has plenty of time to break into this elusive club and claim his place amongst the all-time elite, and to do so he will be hoping Bangladesh play all their Test matches away from Asia – his average in his 18 Tests elsewhere in the world is 12.7, which puts him on a par for non-Asian Tests with batting legends such as Curtly Ambrose, Joel Garner, Colin Croft and Ian Bishop.The statistics suggest unarguably that Ashraful is a 6’6”-plus West Indian paceman trapped in the body of an underachieving 5’6”-minus Bangladeshi batsman. Perhaps he could be the answer to the Tigers’ new-ball troubles. If only the aforementioned hypnotist was on hand to swing his pocket watch to and fro, and bring out the lethal Caribbean quickie that is the real Mohammad Ashraful. “You are getting sleepy. You are getting sleeeeepy. And… gone. Right. When I click my fingers, you will charge in from a 30-yard run, bang it in short of a length at over 90mph, follow through to within an inch of the batsman’s still-twitching nose, and glare at him like he’s just stolen your mother. And… click.”Despite the promise of Finn, England should be concerned by their failure to take wickets when the sun, unpatriotically, shone. Four late-summer Tests against Pakistan and an Ashes tour in Australia are looming, and if the solar system’s number-one-ranked heat-and-light source betrays England consistently, their four-prong bowling attack may regret its lack of fifth prong, especially if the key prong, Swann, remains as uncharacteristically unprongy as he was at Lord’s.Tamim became the 150th batsman to score a Test century at Lord’s, and celebrated with a joyful if bizarre piece of physical theatre and/or modern ballet, which experts interpreted as a demand to have his name rapidly inked onto the pavilion honours board. Many greats of the game are absent from the board at the Home Of Cricket. And some certifiable non-greats of the game have carved their names indelibly into Lord’s eternity.I have compiled a couple of similarly structured XIs for you. Tell me who you think would win. Bearing in mind that the match will be played at Lord’s.Not on the Lord’s Honours Board XI
MA Atherton, SM Gavaskar, SR Tendulkar, ER Dexter, CH Lloyd, Imran Khan, APE Knott (wk), Wasim Akram, SK Warne, DK Lillee, CEL Ambrose.On the Lord’s Honours Board XI
CWJ Athey, TJ Franklin, MJ Horne, MH Richardson, AB Agarkar, Nasim-ul-Ghani, SAR Silva (wk), DR Pringle, RG Holland, ESH Giddins, Mudassar Nazar.(Note that I have selected Ajit Agarkar as a specialist batsman for his mind-bending 2002 century, and Mudassar as a specialist bowler for his low-pace 1982 blitztrundle, arguably the most devastating display of dibbly-dobbling in cricket history. His tail-end runs could prove crucial – you would back him to chip in with a few more than Ambrose. And this contest could prove once and for all who is the greatest Australian legspinner of all-time – Shane Warne, or Bob Holland.)

Tottenham Hotspur concluded their pre-season tour in Japan with a 2-1 defeat against Bayern Munich, with 20-year-old midfielder Gabriel Vidovic opening the scoring before Ange Postecoglou's side ran out of steam and succumbed to pressure.

The general theme emanating from the game circles around the lack of a centre-forward, with Postecoglou admitting before the contest that bolstering the striking position will be his outfit's "focus" across the final month of the transfer window.

Having finished fifth in the Premier League last season, suffering a nosedive after an incredible early run of form, issues were presented down at N17, and while there's an underlying sense that things are moving in the right direction, leaving the No. 9 spot short next season might hinder the Australian manager's ambitious vision.

Indeed, having yet to sign a direct replacement for Harry Kane, who joined Bayern one year ago, the Lilywhites are pushing to sign Dominic Solanke from Bournemouth – with a dynamic partner already lined up.

Spurs transfer news

Solanke could be the perfect focal point up front to charge Postecoglou's attack, but perhaps more excitingly, Spurs are looking to add winger Pedro Neto to the ranks.

According to Caught Offside, Postecoglou is eager to sign the Wolverhampton Wanderers winger and has even sent club representatives to discuss a deal with Neto's inner circle.

Neto is valued at about £60m despite his injury troubles, but he's an immense talent and is also attracting interest from Arsenal, so Tottenham must move quickly to prevent their London rivals from scoring a damaging blow before the campaign has even started.

What Pedro Neto would bring to Spurs

Neto would be a significant addition, offering completely the kind of multi-skilled qualities to add a new dimension to the Tottenham attack, not just improving it but opening up new ways to implement Postecoglou's attacking approach.

The Portugal international's fitness record does leave plenty to be desired but there's no denying his high-level ability, ranking among the top 1% of attacking midfielders across Europe's top five leagues over the past year for assists and the top 6% for progressive carries per 90, as per FBref.

The £50k-per-week ace only completed 1,519 minutes in the English top flight last season but he certainly made good use of his time, scoring two goals and supplying nine assists.

Manchester City's playmaking monster, Kevin De Bruyne, was the only player to record more assists per 90 (0.73) than Neto last term (0.53), pointing toward an impact that could markedly improve the glaring issue in Postecoglou's squad.

His 1.9 key passes and dribbles per game, as per Sofascore, only expand that argument, capable of driving down the wings and supplying the centre-forward with constant support.

That centre-forward may well be Solanke, with the respective styles exactly what Tottenham need.

Perfect for Dominic Solanke

Before his efforts across the 2023/24 campaign, few would have considered Solanke to be anything more than a decent striker situated below the upper echelon of the Premier League.

He'd joined the South Coast club from Liverpool in a £19m deal in January 2019 after failing to make the grade at Anfield, bagging just one goal across 27 outings under Jurgen Klopp, and despite flashes of excellence, never really sustained a degree of prolificness to match those at the forefront of the Premier League striking order.

However, the 6 foot 2 sharpshooter has now grown into his skin and realised his athletic qualities, with The Athletic's Jacob Tanswell praising him as a "top, multi-faceted forward" after sharpening his skills across 2021 to 2023 (in the Championship with The Cherries).

He might have only posted six goals across 33 top-flight matches during the 2022/23 season, principally under Gary O'Neil's management, but his brutish presence and effectiveness in the box saw him succeed, also notching seven assists.

Last year, though, he went from strength to strength under the fluid football of Andoni Iraola, seemingly tailor-made for the style of football that mirrors the attack-focused brand of Postecoglou in a sense, making a telling comment on his chances of success in north London.

It's exciting to think about the next step in the one-cap England international's development, where he could raise his ceiling considerably with Spurs, bolstered by the likes of Heung-min Son and James Maddison and, perhaps, Neto.

Harking back to that earlier point, Neto was one of the Premier League's most impressive playmakers last season and given that he plied his trade primarily from the right flank, this could be a winning combination to allow the aforementioned Tottenham stalwarts to forge a deadly and rounded attacking line.

Tottenham, at their best last year, were fluent in possession and ferocious out of it, seeking to overpower and outwork opponents and feed the ball toward the final third.

Hailed as a "pace monster" by analyst Ben Mattinson, Neto might just be the final piece of the puzzle in enhancing the flow, but he will of course reach his apex down N17 with a worthy focal frontman to leather the slick moves into the back of the net. Step forward, Solanke – a world of opportunity awaits.

Strong interest: Spurs move for £40m "monster" Gallagher alternative

The talented midfielder would be an interesting addition to Postecoglou’s system.

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By
Jack Salveson Holmes

Aug 2, 2024