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Transfer insider Dean Jones has told GiveMeSport that he expects Bukayo Saka to ‘sign a new contract’ at Arsenal. 

The lowdown

The 20-year-old’s current deal, which puts him towards the middle of Arsenal’s earning list at £70,000 per week, is due to expire in 2024.

Speaking to The Athletic, the club’s technical director Edu said that talks over a new deal are going well and that all parties are ‘happy’.

However, The Daily Mail reported earlier in the summer that Premier League champions Manchester City and last season’s runners-up Liverpool have both ‘earmarked the 20-year-old as a future target’.

The latest

Jones believes that Edu won’t countenance any bid for Saka and thinks that Arsenal could hold firm in the face of an offer from Liverpool, believing that the north London club should be able to tie him down to a long-term deal.

The transfer insider told GiveMeSport: “Edu particularly won’t entertain offers for Saka at the moment and doesn’t believe that even a Liverpool bid could force the club to sell at the moment, so I think he will sign a new contract.”

The verdict

If Arsenal can secure Saka’s agreement to a new deal, it would be cause for major celebration.

The 20-year-old not only won Arsenal’s Player of the Season award last term, he was also nominated for the Premier League Player of the Season.

The Englishman was the Gunners’ top scorer in 2021/22 with 12 goals, while only Alexandre Lacazette (eight) managed more assists (via BBC Sport).

City manager Pep Guardiola named him as one of the ‘incredible’ and ‘talented’ youngsters who should be able to build ‘a bright, bright future’ for Arsenal.

Arsenal need to be wary, though. If their form in the early part of the season suggests that they won’t qualify for the Champions League, then perhaps Saka will hesitate about signing a new deal, having yet to play in the competition in his three years as a Gunners first-team regular.

Wolverhampton Wanderers midfielder Morgan Gibbs-White is set to have “a big role” at the club next season according to journalist Paul Brown.

What’s the latest?

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, the reporter said:

“Gibbs-White seems to be doing really well for Wolves in pre-season.

“From what we hear, the noises coming from the club are that he’s going to have quite a big role to play for them this season.”

The update follows speculation about the player’s departure after he failed to agree on a new contract at Molineux despite being offered one.

Several clubs have been interested in signing the highly rated midfielder including Everton who had a £25m bid turned down, but he looks set to stay in the West Midlands.

Supporters will be buzzing

Supporters will be buzzing to hear that academy graduate Gibbs-White looks like he will stay at the club and be a key player for Bruno Lage’s side next season.

The 22-year-old impressed whilst on loan in the Championship at Sheffield United last season making 35 appearances and being directly involved in 20 goals.

He also created 16 big chances according to SofaScore which proves just how much of an all-rounder he is.

With his current contract due to expire next summer, many clubs have seen this transfer window as an opportunity to buy a talented youngster at a cheap price.

However, his form last season, coupled with how well he has performed for the Old Gold during pre-season, seem to have persuaded Lage that he still has a lot to offer at Molineux.

He was also named as team captain last week for Wolves’ friendly in Spain against Levante which is a further sign that the club have no plans to let him go anytime soon.

But there is still a danger that he decides not to renew and leaves on a free transfer.

The Wanderers seem willing to take that risk and will hope that because of Gibbs-White’s connection to the club where he’s been his whole career, it won’t take much to persuade him that it’s is the best place for his development in the longer term.

AND in other news: Imagine him & Neto: Lage can form “world-class” duo in Wolves bid for “fantastic” star…

Recent reports have seen Aston Villa linked with a move for Manchester City defender Nathan Ake, with the Dutchman set to be allowed to depart the Etihad this summer.

While the suggestion is that City boss Pep Guardiola is a ‘fan’ of the 27-year-old, the Premier League champions are said to be willing to cash in on the former Bournemouth defender if they receive a suitable offer in the current window.

The belief is that Villa are one of a number of top-flight clubs who are monitoring the situation, as the Midlands outfit are seemingly in the market for a new left-sided defender – with the 27-cap international offering that flexibility to feature at both centre-back and left-back.

Dubbed a “baller” by one source, the 5 foot 11 defensive rock only joined his current side on a £41m deal two years ago, although appears set for a hasty departure after two successive title triumphs.

With Sevilla’s Diego Carlos already in the door, it looks as if manager Steven Gerrard is keen to significantly bolster his backline this summer, amid doubts over the future of captain Tyrone Mings and teammate Ezri Konsa.

The hope for the Villa boss will be that Ake – who has been described as “special” by Marwan Ahmed – can have a similar impact to that of his compatriot Virgil van Dijk, with the 30-year-old having proven hugely influential since his £75m move to Liverpool back in January 2018 – a club, of course, close to Gerrard’s heart.

The younger man – who began his career at Chelsea – has previously admitted to trying to model his game around the Reds colossus, while he has also been the subject of praise from Van Dijk himself, who labelled him an “underrated” figure.

It will undoubtedly be near on impossible to replicate the success of a man who has been described as the “best centre-half of all time” by pundit Michael Owen and has swept a host of major honours during his time at Anfield in recent seasons, although the indications are that Ake can make just as strong an impact at Villa Park as his international colleague has done on Merseyside.

This is not simply wishful thinking, however, with the pair no doubt sharing a likeness in their playing style, with both men seemingly comfortable in possession and adept at playing the ball out from the back.

The statistics appear to corroborate that claim with Van Dijk ranking in the top 11% for pass completion and the top 3% for attempted passes among those in his position among Europe’s top five leagues, while the City man ranks in the top 7% and the top 2% for the same two metrics, albeit while having featured less frequently.

Both are also aerially dominant, with Ake winning 3.82 aerial duels per game compared to 4.02 per game for the former Southampton brute, while they both provide a threat in an attacking sense, having netted 15 and 17 goals, respectively, in their Premier League careers thus far.

As the case of Van Dijk has shown, it is never too late for a superstar to emerge, with the £49.5m-rated giant spending time at the likes of Groningen, Celtic and the Saints before truly being recognised as an elite force after joining Jurgen Klopp’s side.

While the Villans may not be considered a club of equal standing, that’s not to say that Ake can’t go on to help spark a dramatic improvement in the coming years and help push the ambitious club into European contention.

Who knows, Gerrard could have a Van Dijk of his own if he is to pluck the £100k-per-week star from Manchester this summer.

AND in other news, Lange eyeing Villa move for £30m “goalscoring machine”, he’d be their own Darwin Nunez

Rumoured West Brom transfer target Conor Hourihane will leave Aston Villa when his current deal ends this summer, coming as a boost for the Baggies.

The Lowdown: West Brom linked with Hourihane

Steve Bruce will be hoping for a productive summer transfer window as he looks to bounce back from a disappointing 2021/22 season for Albion overall.

A number of new faces are expected to come in, and one player who has been linked with a move to The Hawthorns in the recent past is Hourihane.

The Baggies have been given fresh hope of signing the 31-year-old, who has been hailed as ‘excellent’ by his former manager Steve Cooper in the past.

The Latest: Baggies given Hourihane boost

As per a report from Football League World, Hourihane will be released by Villa when his contract expires at the end of this month, meaning that the Irishman will be available on a free transfer.

That could alert Bruce as he potentially looks to snap up the midfielder from West Brom’s Midlands rivals.

The Verdict: Worth the gamble

At 31, Hourihane may not be at his peak these days, but he remains a formidable Championship player, with 31 goals and 35 assists in the second tier of English football.

For that reason, he would appear to be a shrewd prospective signing for the Baggies, providing valuable experience for what will hopefully be a promotion push, along with an ability to unpick opposition defences. His match average of 1.3 key passes from the most recent campaign was surpassed only by Alex Mowatt at The Hawthorns (with 1.4).

Hourihane registered four assists on loan at Sheffield United last season, helping them to reach the play-offs, and this level of creativity could help West Brom to become more prolific in the final third next time around, having scored just 52 league goals in 2021/22.

In other news, one pundit has dropped a significant West Brom transfer claim. Read more here.

Aston Villa are said to be close to signing Hearts’ Ewan Simpson as well as Rangers’ Rory Wilson. 

The lowdown

Gerrard is about to take an exciting prospect from the club he managed from May 2018 until last November, with a move for Wilson nearing completion.

Rangers are entitled to a £300,000 development fee for 16-year-old striker Wilson, who bagged a whopping 49 goals in the junior ranks last season.

Simpson is a year younger than his fellow Scotsman Wilson and plays in midfield.

Villa have already been extremely busy this summer, making four additions to their first-team.

The latest

Barry Anderson, a football journalist at The Scotsman/Edinburgh News, relayed the double update on Monday morning.

In addition to Wilson, he reported that ‘Villa [are] also close to signing’ Simpson in a transfer that will cost them £250,000.

The verdict

Based on his remarkable goal record, it wouldn’t be a surprise if the arrival of Wilson generated more excitement amongst the Villa fans.

But they should be very pleased with the capture of Simpson too, because he looks a superb talent.

According to The Daily Mail, he’s been delivering ‘outstanding performances’ despite the fact that he’s playing at Under-18 level as a 15-year-old.

Indeed, Villa have prevailed in a hotly-contested race, with Hearts allegedly fielding ‘a number of enquiries’ for Simpson.

It will of course be a while before he’s ready to compete for a first-team place at Villa Park, but it’s certainly a name worth remembering.

In other news, Aston Villa are eyeing a Champions League star Gerrard saw up close on a scouting trip. 

Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte is ready to sell Giovani Lo Celso this summer, according to a report from TNT Sports in Argentina. 

The lowdown: Struggle at Spurs

Signed from Real Betis for £27.2million in 2020 following an initial loan spell under Jose Mourinho (BBC), the attacking midfielder struggled to adapt to life in the Premier League before heading back to La Liga on loan.

Lo Celso made 84 appearances for the Lilywhites, directly contributing to just 14 goals before joining Villarreal on a loan deal until the end of the 2021/22 campaign in January.

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Due to return to N17 in the coming weeks, the Argentinian international may already be deemed surplus to requirements…

The latest: Conte cuts Lo Celso

As per TNT Sports, Tottenham boss Conte has informed the 26-year-old that he is not part of his plans for next season.

It’s claimed that Spurs ‘intend’ to let Lo Celso go on a permanent basis despite the man hailed as an ‘amazing player’ by Mourinho being under contract at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium until 2025.

This will be part of a big overhaul, with Steven Bergwijn and Tanguy Ndombele also likely to leave the club during the summer transfer window.

The verdict: The time has come

Clearly out of favour under Conte, selling Lo Celso appears to be the best option for all parties, particularly if there is a deal to be done with Villarreal that may involve sought after centre-back and reported Tottenham target Pau Torres.

Despite playing an integral part in Unai Emery’s plans with the unlikely Champions League semi-finalists, the 38-cap Argentina ace has still only managed two goals and three assists in 38 competitions this season, failing to complete 90 minutes in the Premier League prior to his loan switch.

Holding a market value of £19.8million – albeit down from £45m when he joined, a 56% decrease – and with three years remaining on his contract (Transfermarkt), Daniel Levy will be confident of cutting a lucrative deal for Lo Celso that could see Conte and transfer chief Fabio Paratici’s own transfer coffers boosted handsomely.

In other news: Conte admits one thing this season left him ‘very angry’, find out more here

The BCCI president’s tweet was the first time in three years the board had admitted the risks of scheduling matches in hazardous air conditions

Sidharth Monga in Delhi04-Nov-2019Moments after the end of the Delhi T20I between India and Bangladesh, Sourav Ganguly, the BCCI president, tweeted out his thanks to the two teams for playing “under tuff conditions”. It was a significant moment, Ganguly becoming the first person in Indian cricket administration over the last three years to openly acknowledge that the atmospheric conditions in Delhi in November are not ideal for cricket.

Thank u to both the teams to play this game @ImRo45 @BCBtigers under tuff conditions .. well done bangladesh ..

— Sourav Ganguly (@SGanguly99) November 3, 2019

The match went on without apparent incident, but ESPNcricinfo can confirm that Soumya Sarkar and one other player vomitted on the field during Bangladesh’s chase. For his part, Bangladesh wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim stayed true to what he had told BCB president Nazmul Hassan before the match: that it was difficult but the players were going to manage it.The match had been scheduled for the first weekend after Diwali, the festival of lights and firecrackers. Pollution in Delhi is at its worst in the week immediately following Diwali, thanks to the fireworks and crop-stubble burning in neighbouring states.With the new BCCI team taking over only ten days before the game – the scheduling for this game, as in recent years, had been handled by the Committee of Administrators and the board’s CEO – the match itself was never in serious doubt. Questions, though, persisted.There was no let-up in the pollution on Sunday. The air quality dipped to severe levels in the afternoon with the AQI index at Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, eight kilometres from the venue, reading 912. The general acceptable reading for these particulate matters is 200, beyond which athletic activity is discouraged for fear of damage to the lungs and the heart. Thirty-seven flights had been diverted from the national capital. Schools and construction activity had already been shut until November 5. The Delhi state government’s medical department had put out an advisory on Sunday afternoon, saying the “severe level” of pollution “may result in morbidity among exposed people”.All this raised the possibility that the ICC match referee might step in for the safety of the players, with concerns over low visibility as well as the poor air quality.Almost miraculously, the air quality improved over the next three hours to 563 at 4pm, 492 at 5pm and 262 at 6pm. After that, the air quality deteriorated progressively but didn’t reach the alarming levels of the early afternoon. The stadium itself was almost sold out with crowds showing little concern and queuing up as early as 3.30pm.”Personally, this air pollution is nothing for me,” Mushfiqur said after his match-winning innings. “I was much more interested in which bowler I was facing. Playing against India in front of a big crowd isn’t something Bangladesh team gets every day. I think we have come to play our biggest bilateral series, so these things don’t matter.”The Firoz Shah Kotla was covered in smog ahead of the India-Bangladesh T20I•Associated PressNazmul Hasan had expressed his concern before the game. “I had no idea about it [Delhi’s pollution] until very recently,” he told reporters. “But when I saw the situation on the internet, I honestly got scared. Then I heard the schools were closed.”I spoke to the coach, captain and Mushfiq, and they told me it is an issue but they can play. This morning it looked quite bad. I wondered how they can see the ball. But from the very beginning they [BCCI] were saying it cannot be shifted. Apparently it is better than before.”In November 2016, Ranji Trophy matches were moved out of the city only for a Test match to be scheduled in similar conditions the following year. Bharat Arun, who as Hyderabad coach in 2016 spoke of the impossibility of stepping out or running in Delhi, spoke a year later, as part of the India set-up, of “unnecessary stoppages” and questioned the fitness levels of Sri Lanka’s players, who had fallen ill while playing a Test in Delhi in 2017. Lessons were not learnt as Railways were allowed to host Mumbai in the first week of November 2018, when Siddhesh Lad batted in a mask.If Ganguly’s tweet suggested relief and some show of concern and duty of care, his words leading up to the match presented the promise that the BCCI might finally have learnt a lesson. “In future, when we schedule, especially in the northern part of India during the winter, we will have to be a little bit more practical,” Ganguly had said a couple of days before the match. “I know post-Diwali it’s a bit tough in the north. I hope everything goes fine.”For now the BCCI, as Ganguly’s tweet acknowledged, has dodged a bullet, getting away with no big incident in a match organised on a day when the Delhi government issued a health advisory asking people to stay indoors and reschedule outdoor activities.

Opener Shan Masood blames his inconsistent batting for the spells he has spent out of the Pakistan team

Interview by Umar Farooq03-Jul-2017You have played ten Tests so far. What’s your assessment of your career?
I don’t think I am satisfied with what I have achieved so far. My career has been stop-start, but I can make as many excuses as I like. A good player fights and gets out of adverse circumstances. Fine, I never got more than two Tests at a stretch, but it was up to me the way I got the start. I feel there were small mistakes I could have mended. That 40 I got against New Zealand could have been a fifty. The 75 against South Africa could have been converted into a century – a hundred on debut would have been a different story. At Old Trafford I was feeling my best and was unbeaten at 30. The next morning started well with two boundaries, but then I played a loose shot.Had all those 30s, 40s and 70s been converted, it would be a different record – two fifties and two hundreds. I could have been at ease. If you have two hundreds and six fifties in your first nine matches, it could have made a big difference.Even if I had scored 40s regularly, I might have been in a different position. I am working hard now and want to regain my place. It’s not just about scoring runs in domestic cricket but being a better and more reliable batsman for Pakistan.Your century in Pallekele in July 2015, after coming into the side for the third Test, had every ingredient that selectors look for in a batsman. But then you got dropped after playing the first two Tests against England in October that year.
I don’t want to make excuses. My performances are the true reflection of why I have had an inconsistent selection. That Pallekele Test I was playing after a gap of seven months, and it went well only because I had toured Sri Lanka with the A team before the national team went there. Even when I got only 13 in the first innings, I felt good. And then in the second innings, I got a chance to rectify my mistakes and it went well.But then there was a gap of three months before the next series against England. I didn’t really get any serious games to compete. I felt that even luck wasn’t with me during those freakish dismissals. Once, [in the first innings in Abu Dhabi] the ball went onto the stumps after hitting the helmet. Then [in the second innings] the bottom edge skidded onto the stumps.In the next game, I think I played a quality innings, scoring a fifty in the first session. It was a tough pitch to bat on, but I held on and scored 54 at a strike rate of 60 or so. If not for a lapse in concentration after lunch, I could have put pressure to play the third Test. But naturally Azhar Ali, the main opener, was set to return and I was not only dropped from the playing XI but also sent back home.I felt bad that I had played an extraordinary innings for Pakistan and now all of a sudden I was out. I pushed myself in domestic cricket to score runs. I think I was overthinking the whole thing and that’s why I wasn’t able to score in domestic cricket as well. If after Pallekele I had got an opportunity in a week or so, I could have scored more heavily because I had that momentum with me.James Anderson has dismissed Masood six times in three Tests, in the UAE and in England•Getty ImagesHow tough was it for you to adapt to Pakistan’s cricketing culture after spending six years living and playing in the UK?
It’s not like if you are educated then you are automatically intelligent. In my upbringing, I was taught to treat people on merit. My family achieved everything starting off as a middle-class family.See, it’s already not normal in our society for someone coming from a privileged background to take up cricket professionally. So it was my responsibility to adapt in every dressing room I go to, from junior level to national level. At the age of 13, I came from a very well protected environment to a different environment and interacted with a different set of players who came from different backgrounds. I was taking a break from school for the Under-15 trials, which was a completely different environment for me. But my education and upbringing helped me adapt.Your father is part of the PCB governing body and you come from an influential background. Did this help you in your cricket career?
People do say things like I am in the national team because of my influential background, but it’s not true. I never asked for shortcut and neither did my family. My path, if you follow it, started from youth cricket to now. I never got a head start through a jump. If I have strong backing, why have I been dropped and why has my career been so stop-start?Do you think it’s added pressure on you because you not only have to prove that you are a good batsman but you also have to prove that you have been selected without undue recommendation?
It discouraged me at the start of my career, but I have to shut these things out and focus on my cricket. When I look back, I see I worked hard to make it to the top. It’s painful to be called “sifarshi” [one who comes with a bureaucratic recommendation] because it’s not right. I should be judged on my cricket and as a cricketer.Where do you think it went wrong for you? Was it being dominated by James Anderson last summer in England?
I was playing Anderson just as a bowler who is the No. 1 bowler in the world. Like Dale Steyn troubled Mohammad Hafeez, Josh Hazlewood had Hashim Amla, Anderson had the world’s best batsmen in Virat Kohli and Sachin Tendulkar. You have to accept it and move on. If you look closely at the modes of dismissal, you can easily say that some of them actually went in favour of Anderson, especially in the UAE.”A good player fights and gets out of adverse circumstances. Fine, I never got more than two Tests at a stretch, but it was up to me the way I got the start”•AFPMisbah-ul-Haq said dropping you was to protect your career.
For me, Misbah was an exemplary role model. But I would say that the Anderson thing wouldn’t be fixed by dropping me. There was one solution: that I go back and score runs and do not get out against Anderson. I respect that Misbah bhai said that my career was to be protected because I was very young, but I had set my heart on playing the Birmingham Test because I was not defeated inside and I wanted to score.How did you adapt your game – you played school cricket in England and then went to first-class cricket in Pakistan.
If you look at the evolution of my career, I was very limited. I had two or three strokes, which actually helped because your discipline is good that way. That is what I learnt in England. But when I came to Pakistan, I had to increase my range to stay relevant in domestic cricket. I tried to score fast and went extreme with that. There were innings where I scored 97 off 99 balls in a four-day match. I pushed myself hard to remodel my game, but then I realised that it has to be a slow process and that I have to find a middle ground. So now I have not only enhanced my range of shots but have also become more productive. You have to be selective and mark your best scoring areas. I have finally found a mode where I feel comfortable. It might not be English anymore, but there are components I extracted from there, like discipline.I am working on learning to cut, trying to play with soft hands, rotating the strike. We in Pakistan either score in the first gear or sixth gear. The thing I learned from England is rotation. Sometimes it feels boring that they are scoring singles, but it’s a good symbol of a good batsman who knows how to drive a single. In Test cricket you have to learn it because the fielders are mainly at the back and there are a lot of scoring opportunities. In Pallekele, I remember I hit a boundary at 62 and then at 96 I hit a six. In between, I didn’t hit a boundary but kept rotating the strike.Why aren’t you playing other formats? You are being tagged as a long-form batsman.
I took a significant step last year and started scoring runs in the one-day format as well. To break a perception, I need to be doing something extraordinary. This tag will fade away when I have runs under my belt. I believe I can do it, otherwise I couldn’t be playing the format. What I am looking at is how I can be a better cricketer. Things will happen on their own when I start scoring runs. Do you believe you are talented or that it’s all about hard work?
I don’t think I am talented. In fact, I don’t believe in the word talent. All the sportsmen I have followed in my career, I see no substitute for hard work. I grew up watching players like Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq, who are the best examples of those who made themselves purely through hard work.I work on my fitness, my health, my mental strength and the time and work I put in the nets. Virat Kohli, yes, talent was there, but if you ask him, it all comes down to work ethic and the amount of hard work he put in to become the best batsman.

Saif Hassan has received some flak from the crowd for his defensive approach, but he is simply fulfilling a role he is excellently suited for to give Bangladesh Under-19s a chance to win a World Cup at home

Mohammad Isam04-Feb-2016Two years ago, Saif Hassan was worried about the future of Bangladesh playing in Test cricket. The Big Three proposal had just come out and one of the stipulations was to make teams ranked Nos. 9 and 10 play in the Intercontinental Cup from 2015, which would have left Bangladesh, ranked No. 10 at the time, with very little room to play any more Tests against the top eight countries.”Will Test cricket be safe ?” Saif had asked me on Facebook a few hours after Mushfiqur Rahim, Bangladesh’s Test captain, had blasted the proposal.”Yeah, don’t worry,” I replied quickly, still filing that Mushfiqur report.”Thank you for the info. I was quite fearful since the morning,” he wrote back.Saif was fearful of Test cricket going away from Bangladesh. His inquiry was remarkable given he was only 16 at the time and had been raised on a diet of one-day matches in age-group competitions and the Dhaka League system. None of his peers had asked about it.Saif had spent a few years training among the under-11s at the Dhanmondi Cricket Academy. He used to grip the bat quite low on the handle, but on the advice of his coaches, raised it higher to counter the bounce of the rubber balls. He liked to drive, but at that tender age he wasn’t able to handle the weight of a cricket bat. The helmets always seemed too big for him, but he had no trouble seeing the ball. He had a ready smile, but was mostly shy.A 12-year old Saif Hassan (centre, in the striped shirt) at the Dhanmondi Cricket Academy•Mohammad Isam/ESPNcricinfoSaif took a couple of years to transition from playing with a rubber ball to the cricket ball and when he was 12, the Dhanmondi club decided to give him two games in the Dhaka Third Division Qualifying tournament, the lowest rung in the league structure.His parents were consulted and at the Residential Model High School ground, Saif, all of 12, held his own against bowlers twice his age and size though he didn’t get many with the bat. He didn’t bowl his medium-pace because it was deemed too slow, but he took to fielding gleefully and was quite tanned by the end of the game.Saif now opens the batting for the Bangladesh Under-19 team. There are no vestiges of his old grip but he still raises the bat up quite high just before the bowler gets into his stride. His role is to play as much of the 50 overs as possible, while the others go after the bowling. Nazmul Hossain Shanto is the team’s highest scorer, Pinak Ghosh, Joyraz Sheik and Mehedi Hasan Miraz have made crucial contributions but Saif has only got flak for his defense-first mindset.He bats out maiden overs with forward presses and backfoot blocks, while his opening partner Pinak and No. 3 Joyraz hunt for fours and sixes. In between scores of six (off 31 balls) and eight against South Africa and Namibia, Saif made 49 off 108 against Scotland. The small crowd in Cox’s Bazar would not stop goading him and social media burst with comments that he batted too slowly.And yet Saif’s patience was necessary because Scotland had taken two early wickets and Mohammad Ghaffar was generating movement at high pace. Bangladesh needed someone to stand firm. Saif added 101 for the third wicket with Shanto to lead the recovery which eventually culminated in victory.When asked of Saif’s approach, Bangladesh coach Mizanur Rahman, captain Miraz and batsman Shanto have repeatedly said that it was what the team wanted from him. The other batsmen were given the license to hit out and Saif would essentially bat for time.It’s not like Saif cannot find the boundary. He is one of the hardest hitters of the ball, according to Miraz, and his performance for Cricket Coaching School in the Dhaka First Division Cricket League in the 2014-15 season can vouch for that. In a match against Surjo Tarun, Saif struck eight sixes and eight fours in a 130-ball 136. He likes the cover drive, the flick off the pads, which he keeps grounded, and targets the straight boundaries for his sixes.He was roped in by Barisal Division to play first-class cricket and began building a reputation as an accumulator of runs. He has become a regular in the Bangladesh Under-19 team over the past year, making two centuries in 31 matches. In the 2015-16 first-class season, he scored three fifties and averaged 44.85 in five matches for Dhaka Division.The Bangladesh Under-19 team management is quite happy to let Saif bat in his way and take advantage of his patience. But if he indulges in a few cover drives or some delightful flicks in the quarter-final against Nepal on Friday, don’t be too surprised.

New Zealand have had a long build-up to the World Cup and they signed off with a demolition of one of the tournament favourites, South Africa

Andrew McGlashan at Hagley Oval11-Feb-2015That’s it. The preparation is over. And thank goodness, could well be New Zealand’s overriding emotion. The next time they score runs, take wickets and hold catches they will really matter.But what a way to sign off before the main event. Dominating a South Africa team rated as likely finalists at least. There was no Dale Steyn or Hashim Amla and, of course, it was only a warm-up but it is certainly a nice final, big tick in the box (or, no doubt, Mike Hesson’s notebook).In truth the New Zealand players have felt ready to go for at least a week now. Ross Taylor made that pretty clear when he spoke a few days ago. The batting performance against Zimbabwe, when apart from Martin Guptill’s 100 no one made more than 11, suggested these were matches they would rather not be playing.That thought was banished, though, on a blustery but beautiful day at Hagley Oval – a ground that is looking every inch a World Cup opening-day venue. Melbourne will have the grandeur, the intimidation factor, the gladiatorial atmosphere, but Hagley offers the perfect antidote with white picket fences, grass banks and its tree-lined park.New Zealand’s total of 331 was set up by the domineering Brendon McCullum and sublime Kane Williamson, then everyone else who came to the crease contributed to some extent. New Zealand’s recent success has been built on hundreds – down as far as No. 7 – but in this match it was probably more worthwhile for a volume of players to spend a final time in the middle before Saturday.However, it was with the ball during the first half of South Africa’s reply that the home side really stood out. It was almost as though McCullum had drilled into them the need for a final show of intensity – reducing South Africa to 62 for 6 was ample reward. “They were here to play today, no doubt about it. They had all cylinders firing,” JP Duminy said.Trent Boult led the way, reinforcing his standing as Tim Southee’s new-ball partner with white as well as red ball, as he trimmed through the top order before finishing with 5 for 51. The biggest fear for a player at this stage so close to a World Cup starting is an injury, but there was nothing half-hearted or held back about his display.Boult did, however, admit to a hint of relief at the prospect of starting the tournament. “A little bit,” he said. “I think everyone is just excited to get into it. It has been a long time coming. We are really looking forward to Saturday and are eager to get stuck in.”There is probably just one spot in the final XI being debated over the next two days, the identity of the third seamer behind Southee and Boult. The suggestion is that it comes down to the experience of Kyle Mills, who bowled four overs here, and the pace of Adam Milne, who was rested, with Mitchell McClenaghan viewed as the outsider despite being joint second fastest to 50 ODI wickets.”Everyone knows there’s a good amount of competition among us bowlers,” Boult said. “I enjoyed today but everyone came together nicely.Whoever makes the final XI on Saturday morning will be playing in front of a full house, with supporters flush with expectation having watched their team grow over the last two years. This generation of New Zealand players and, perhaps, even any before them have never had quite this experience.”We take it as a positive, it’s great to be playing at home,” Boult said. “We take it in our stride. It’s all we can do. We aren’t getting too wound up about it.”Pressure, what pressure, they might be saying, but not having a few nerves before that first ball would not be human.