Tottenham Hotspur are reportedly showing an interest in Bristol City starlet, Alex Scott, following the youngster's standout displays in the Championship in recent seasons.

What's the latest on Scott to Tottenham?

According to respected insider Alasdair Gold – writing for football.london – the Lilywhites are said to have asked to be kept informed regarding the playmaker's situation, with the 19-year-old potentially in line for a high-profile move with just two years left to run on his current deal.

The report suggests that the England U20 international could command a fee of around £20m if he is to leave the Robins this summer, albeit with other teams in the Premier League also said to be showing a strong interest in his services.

This follows reports back in January that also suggested that Spurs were tracking the Guernsey native, with the promising teen having also been linked with a move to Wolverhampton Wanderers during the winter window.

Who is Alex Scott?

Despite his relative youth, the young midfielder has already established himself as a leading figure at Ashton Gate, having racked up 91 first-team appearances to date – scoring six goals and registering seven assists in that time.

The highly-rated talent notably enjoyed a standout 2022/23 campaign having contributed two goals and five assists in 49 games in all competitions, while also catching the eye during the club's FA Cup run, having been described as "unbelievable" by Manchester City boss Pep Guardiola after featuring against the Etihad outfit earlier this year.

With the ability to operate on the flanks or in a central midfield berth, Scott could well represent a dream alternative to another reported Tottenham target in the form of Leicester City's James Maddison, with Ange Postecoglou and co currently tussling with Newcastle United for the 26-year-old's signature.

The notable likeness between the pair is showcased by their ability to glide their way past opponents and draw fouls for their side, with Maddison notably averaging 1.5 successful dribbles and winning 2.6 fouls per game last season in the top flight, while Scott enjoyed a similar record in the Championship after completing 1.1 successful dribbles and winning 2.3 fouls per game.

The two Englishman are also alike due to their ball-winning attributes, with the Leicester ace having averaged 1.7 tackles per game in 2022/23, while the Bristol sensation was only just ahead after averaging 1.8 tackles per game, proving his ability to put in the hard yards defensively for Postecoglou's side.

With Maddison – who scored ten goals and laid on nine assists in the most recent campaign – potentially set to cost in the region of £50m this summer, despite having just a year left to run on his current contract, the signing of Scott for less than half of that fee could then prove to be a bargain, dream alternative.

Although the midfield maestro is yet to ply his trade in the Premier League, his exciting potential and possible longevity could well make Scott an astute capture for Postecoglou this summer.

The Reds ran out 3-1 winners at Anfield to maintain their unbeaten start to the season as Mohamed Salah and Diogo Jota also found the net

Liverpool are up to second in the Premier League table after seeing off West Ham on Sunday in a game that was lit up by a sensational assist by Alexis Mac Allister. The Argentina midfielder chipped the ball over the visitors' defence, allowing Darwin Nunez to volley home and set the Reds on their way to three points midway through the second half.

Jurgen Klopp's side initially took the lead early on through a Mohamed Salah penalty, but were pegged back before the break by a Jarrod Bowen diving header. Nunez missed a huge chance to make it 2-1 early in the second half, but made amends by firing home from Mac Allister's pass just moments later.

Diogo Jota then secured the points with a close-range finish just minutes after coming off the bench, and with Arsenal and Tottenham sharing the spoils in the North London Derby, the Reds are now in second place on their own and just two points behind leaders Manchester City.

GOAL rates Liverpool's players from Anfield…

Getty ImagesGoalkeeper & Defence

Alisson Becker (7/10):

Superb save denied Soucek early on and was solid otherwise.

Joe Gomez (6/10):

Stepped into midfield and showed some nice touches. Sometimes overloaded at the back post but fared OK for the most part.

Joel Matip (5/10):

Still doesn't fully convince. Konate coming back into the line-up can't come soon enough.

Virgil van Dijk (5/10):

Looked a little off the pace. Beaten to the ball for Bowen's equaliser and wasted a good chance in the first half.

Andy Robertson (6/10):

A solid performance at left-back. Dangerous set-piece deliveries.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesMidfield

Dominik Szoboszlai (7/10):

Sprayed the ball around superbly from midfield. Continues to impress since his summer arrival.

Alexis Mac Allister (8/10):

A much improved performance capped by his exquisite assist for Nunez's goal.

Curtis Jones (7/10):

Energetic in midfield and played some delightful passes to kickstart moves. Goal ruled out for a tight offside in the first half.

Getty ImagesAttack

Mohamed Salah (7/10):

Won the penalty that he then smashed home. Had some nice moments thereafter.

Darwin Nunez (7/10):

Runs in behind were a constant threat, and though he missed one gilt-edged chance, he made up for it with a fine finish to make it 2-1.

Luis Diaz (7/10):

Gave Coufal nightmares at times down the left. Has to start the majority of games this season.

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Getty ImagesSubs & Manager

Ryan Gravenberch (6/10):

Replaced Jones and kept things ticking on his home debut.

Cody Gakpo (6/10):

On for the final 10 minutes.

Diogo Jota (7/10):

Only on for 10 minutes but grabbed a goal and almost had a second.

Wataru Endo (N/A):

On for the final couple of minutes.

Jurgen Klopp (7/10):

Showed the benefits of changing his entire team in Europe in midweek, and those who sat out in Poland were well-rested here.

Newcastle United have joined Manchester United in their interest for Napoli defender Kim Min-jae, reports Fabrizio Romano.

The 26-year-old has been linked with a move away from the Serie A champions this summer, and the Red Devils are currently the front-runners.

Newcastle have also taken an interest, though, and could try to hijack a move for the defender if the opportunity presents itself.

With the Magpies securing Champions League football next season for the first time in two decades, the club have their work cut out for them this summer as they look to bolster the squad and build on last season's Premier League success and adding Kim would be a great start.

What's the latest Newcastle United transfer news?

After a strong transfer window last summer, it seems Newcastle are aiming to repeat the feat this year, with the club already linked to several major names and some figures heading out of St. James' Park as they prefer for European football.

Chris Wood is the first sale of the summer for Eddie Howe's men, as the forward recently completed his permanent transfer to Nottingham Forest after he spent the last year on loan at the midlands club.

Newcastle have also announced that Ciaran Clark and Matty Longstaff will be let go in the summer, but the club have been linked to some exciting incomings.

Former Manchester City academy graduate, Felix Nmecha is reportedly a target for the Magpies, with the Wolfsburg midfielder seen as a viable option to add to the club's midfield.

While their priority is building for the upcoming season, Newcastle have also had an eye on the future, recently signing 18-year-old winger Yankuba Minteh, before immediately loaning him out to Dutch champions Feyenoord, with the plan being to assess his first-team potential once he returns next summer.

As they continue to strengthen the side, stealing Kim's signature out from under United's nose would be a huge statement of intent.

What has Fabrizio Romano said about Kim Min-jae, Manchester United and Newcastle?

While United are currently the favourites to land the South Korean, reports that they've agreed a deal with Napoli aren't true, reports Romano.

Speaking on his Youtube channel, Romano said: "There are many reports of a done deal with Manchester United coming from Italy. Guys, at the moment, nothing is done. This is not a done deal yet."

Romano also went on to reveal that Newcastle, as well as several other clubs, were interested in Kim, saying: "There is also interest from Newcastle, but also other clubs are interested in Kim, so the race is absolutely open, trust me."

With a release clause of £42m being activated early in July, the Magpies will have to act quickly if they're to beat United to a potential deal.

John Hampshire, the former Yorkshire captain and England batsman who went on to become an international umpire, has died at the age of 76

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Mar-2017John Hampshire, the former Yorkshire captain and England batsman who went on to become an international umpire, has died at the age of 76 after a long illness.Hampshire, who scored a century on his Test debut, against West Indies at Lord’s in 1969, played eight Tests and three ODIs for England, but will be best remembered as an integral member of the great Yorkshire side that dominated the County Championship in the 1960s.In a 23-year career that included spells with Derbyshire, Tasmania and, briefly, Leicestershire, Hampshire scored a total of 28,059 first-class runs at 34.55, including 43 hundreds – the vast majority of those coming during his 456 appearances for Yorkshire.He debuted for the club as a 20-year-old in 1961 and won the County Championship on five separate occasions, holding his own in a team packed with club legends including Geoff Boycott, Ray Illingworth, Fred Trueman and his first captain, Brian Close. An upright front-foot driver with a strong leg-side game, he was one of the most handsome batsmen of his time.”Initially Yorkshire might have been a difficult dressing room to feel at home in, but Brian Close was a tremendous captain,” Hampshire told ESPNcricinfo in one of his final interviews earlier this year.”He integrated everyone. Most of the guys, they wanted to do well because they wanted the side to do well. And they wanted other players to do well. There were some terrific rows, but they were cricket rows. They weren’t personal vendettas or anything like that. Closey was the ringleader a lot of the time, but as soon as they were finished it was, “Right, come on, we’ll have a drink.”Hampshire, like many in that side, could be an intimidating figure on first meeting, but once respect was won, hidden behind a serious exterior was a warm and self-deprecating humour.Just a year after the end of his playing career in 1984, he became a first-class umpire, and stood for the first time in a Test match at Old Trafford during the 1989 Ashes.Later that year, he and John Holder were invited by Pakistan’s captain, Imran Khan, to stand as neutral umpires during Pakistan’s home series against India, a move that helped pave the way for that to become the standard across all international matches. In total, Hampshire stood in 21 matches up until 2002, and finally retired from the county circuit in 2005.Andy Flower, coach of England Lions, was a prominent figure in the Zimbabwe side that was coached by Hampshire upon their entry to Test cricket in the early 1990s and maintained the friendship from that point.”He was very passionate about Zimbabwe cricket,” Flower told ESPNcricinfo. “He grew to love the country, and its cricket, and he was a very important part of our early years. He gave us a really good grounding in the basics of the game, which served us very well.”I last saw him at Lord’s during the summer. He was there as a guest of the ECB, and we had a couple of great chats during the day. Even though he was unwell, he was always such a strong and generous guy, so he’d still be smiling and giggling at himself.”It was always the right balance with John, between playing hard on the field, and relaxing and chatting off it. When he was coach and I was captain, he would often sit me down with Scotch or a good wine – he fancied himself as a connoisseur – and we’d talk about the game for hours.”In March 2016, Hampshire stepped up to the role of Yorkshire president, an appointment he described as being “the icing on the cake” of his career. To some extent, it was a final show of brotherhood by Yorkshire because his county career at Headingley had ended in disillusionment. In 1978, Hampshire famously was instrumental in a batting go-slow at Northampton in protest at a six-hour century by Geoffrey Boycott. It cost his side a bonus point and Boycott the captaincy. Hampshire replaced him but only for two seasons, before he departed for a simpler life at Derbyshire.”From a very humble beginning, getting trains, trams and buses to Headingley to practice in the winter in hope of getting a game for Yorkshire Seconds, to being president. I think it’s quite an achievement,” he said.”John epitomised everything that’s good about Yorkshire County Cricket Club,” said Steve Denison, Yorkshire’s chairman. “Brave, talented and with a heart of gold, he captained Yorkshire, scored a century at Lord’s on his Test debut and became a highly respected umpire after hanging up his playing whites.”Loved by players and members alike, John capped his wonderful life in Yorkshire cricket as our club president last year. On behalf of everyone involved with and connected to the Club, I would like to extend our most sincere condolences to John’s wife Alison and two sons Ian and Paul. He will be sorely missed by all at Headingley.”

Men’s cricket could return to the Commonwealth Games in 2026 if Birmingham wins the bid to be the host city.While women’s cricket will feature in the 2022 Games in Durban, men’s cricket has appeared only once. On that occasion, in Malaysia in 1998, the format was 50 overs per side (South Africa defeated Australia in the final). This time it would be played in the T20 format.Cricket is not currently one of the mandatory events incorporated into the Commonwealth Games but is on the list of optional sports that host cities have the power to add to their staging of the event as they see fit and with the support of the relevant sport’s governing body.While that cannot be guaranteed at this stage, the ICC agreed to the inclusion of women’s cricket in 2022 and is already working with the Commonwealth Games Federation on the successful staging of the event. The ICC is understood to be open to dialogue over the 2026 Games.Neil Snowball, the Warwickshire chief executive, is part of Birmingham’s bid team and has confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that cricket would be of interest if they are successful. Snowball was previously head of sports operations at the 2012 Olympics and chief operating officer of Rugby 2015, the organising committee behind the 2015 World Cup.The plan would be to stage the biggest games at Warwickshire’s home ground of Edgbaston, which is only a mile or so from the centre of Birmingham. Other games could be played at Warwickshire’s Portland Road ground (three miles from Edgbaston) and, perhaps, in neighbouring counties; Worcestershire’s picturesque New Road ground is only 33 miles away.Birmingham would also require ECB approval. But Andrew Strauss, the director of the England team, suggested the idea had his backing, though he did offer a note of caution. “Yes, I would be very supportive of that,” he said. “But it would not just be the ECB involved in such a decision.”That signals a change of heart from the ECB. The Commonwealth Games Federation invited the ICC to participate in the 2018 Games (to be staged in Gold Coast, Australia), but were rebuffed largely on the basis of the reluctance of individual boards – not least the ECB – to compromise their own lucrative schedules.Sixteen teams entered the 1998 Commonwealth Games, but England did not send a team as the competition clashed with the end of the domestic season. Seven of the then nine Test teams did, however, with Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and New Zealand among them. Scotland, Northern Ireland, Barbados, Antigua & Barbuda, Jamaica, Canada, Malaysia, Kenya and Zimbabwe were the other participants.The current ECB management are more aware of the need to reengage the sport with a broader audience, however, and keen to spread the appeal of cricket both locally and globally.The example of Rugby Sevens is intriguing. After featuring in the 1998 Commonwealth Games, the sport eventually progressed until it debuted in the 2016 Olympics. While many obstacles remain before cricket could be realistically considered for the Olympics, the ECB’s change of heart would appear to have removed a substantial one and nudged the sport a little further in that direction. Rome had signalled a desire to host cricket at the 2024 Olympics, but has withdrawn from the bidding process.What stance India will take on the issue remains unclear. Anurag Thakur, the recently jettisoned president of the BCCI, had been seen as an impediment to cricket’s reintroduction into the Olympics (it was played in the 1900 Paris Olympics; Great Britain beat France in the only match) but is also a vice-president of the Indian Olympic Association and was recently elected as the Himachal Olympic Association president.Other cities expected to bid to host the 2026 Commonwealth Games include Liverpool, Edmonton in Canada and Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. A decision on whether Liverpool or Birmingham will be put forward as England’s candidate will be made later this year. A final decision on the host venue is unlikely to be made before November 2019.

The U.S. wants to be one of the world's top teams, and they got a close look at what that looks like on Saturday

The opportunity was there for the taking. The U.S. men's national team were up a goal and moving towards halftime, having largely gone toe-to-toe with a giant in Germany. It was a bright start headlined by a stunning Christian Pulisic finish. The USMNT were, deservedly, ahead.

But that's the thing about teams like Germany: all they need is one moment to turn games. It's what happened on Saturday as the U.S. conceded just before the half and, Germany, to their credit, never looked back.

That's what good teams do: they seize chances and don't look back. It's something the USMNT is still learning, and Saturday will be another harsh lesson in just how far there is to go.

For years, the USMNT have been talking about wanting to be an international power, about wanting to be a team that's respected on a bigger stage. Well, they got a close look at a powerhouse on Saturday, and they were given a reality check that showed them that they still have much to learn.

GOAL breaks down the winners & losers from Pratt & Whitney Stadium…

• WINNER: Christian Pulisic

  If Pulisic was brimming with confidence before this match, he'll be feeling even better after it.

  The 25-year-old's goal was a stunner, no doubt. A fantastic run and an even better finish from the USMNT star, who scored a superstar-worthy goal. At the time, the USMNT were going at Germany, and the strike felt like it could be the start of something.

  It wasn't. Germany turned it on from that moment and never really looked back, but that shouldn't diminish the fact that Pulisic, on his own, was pretty damn good in this match.

  For years, the U.S. has waited to see what Pulisic could look like when riding a bit of confidence from the club level. His goal on Saturday gave a glimpse into what that look like, and the U.S. will be hoping that continues for a long, long time.

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• Getty
  

  LOSER: Chris Richards

  Chris Richards may very well be the USMNT's centerback of the future, but he was unable to make the most of his opportunity to really solidify his place as the USMNT's centerback of the here and now.

  Richards has been fantastic for the USMNT this year and had earned this chance to prove himself against higher-tier competition. Against Germany, though, he looked like a player struggling to get minutes in the Premier League at the moment.

  Richards was somewhat exposed as he struggled to cope with a different level of attackers, but that's not a knock against him. Germany are, in fact, a very good team, but it was clear that their attackers were too much for the Crystal Palace defender.

  Richards will go back to the drawing board after this one as he still finds himself in a very competitive centerback race. There will be more opportunities for him to lock up a starting spot before the Copa America, but he didn't do anything of the sort on Saturday afternoon.

• Getty Images
  

  WINNER: Tyler Adams

  It's not often a player's stock rises when he isn't in camp, but this match showed exactly why the USMNT needs Tyler Adams.

  Without that dedicated No.6 in the XI, the USMNT was exposed by Germany, particularly on the first goal. Adams would never have allowed Germany to waltz around on top of the box like that, and he would have been instrumental in organizing the team around him as the game wore on and Germany's pressure continued.

  The USMNT's big issue is that, as things stand, Adams is irreplaceable. They have yet to truly find a Plan B, even if there are a few in this camp that could benefit from a chance to earn a spot as his understudy.

  Playing Gio Reyna as a No. 10 will work in some games, but Germany are too good of a team for that to work against. This match cried out for Adams, and, unfortunately for the USMNT, he wasn't there.

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  LOSER: Sergino Dest and Joe Scally

  It was not a good day for the USMNT fullbacks.

  We'll start with Dest, who had the most highs and lows out of the two in a somewhat typical performance as he started the match inverted at left-back.

  The attacking output was there. The defending? Not so much. Dest was burned by Leroy Sane on the first goal and held Niclas Fullkrug on for the second. For all the good he did getting forward, and there was plenty of good, Dest's defensive issues were once again exposed by a good team.

  "To me, it's not so much about Sergino," Berhalter said. "It's about just not pinning them in well enough and then opening up the field or losing the ball too quickly and now he has to go back. We want him getting forward, we want him being aggressive, but when you lose the ball quickly, there's a lot of distance now to travel backwards."

  Scally, meanwhile, struggled too much on the ball in his big chance at right-back. His passes were nowhere near good enough and he turned the ball way too much, which, ultimately, comes back to kill you against a team like Germany.

India have finished at the top of the ICC Test rankings for the second successive year after beating Australia 2-1 in the four-Test series

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Mar-2017

India have finished at the top of the ICC Test rankings for the second successive year after beating Australia 2-1 in the four-Test series. As a result of being No. 1 by the cut-off date of April 1, India will be presented with a cash award of $1 million by the ICC.India had gone into the home series against Australia needing to win one Test to guarantee their No. 1 ranking. The series victory also meant that India currently hold Test titles against all other teams, a feat previously matched only by Australia (twice) and South Africa.Virat Kohli received the Test mace and cheque at the post-match presentation ceremony in Dharamsala. “The longest format of the game really tests a team’s character and I’m proud that we have proved ourselves to be the best,” he said.The race to No. 2 is still on. It will be decided on the fifth day in Hamilton, where South Africa need to come away with at least a draw against New Zealand to hold on to the No. 2 ranking and claim the prize money of $500,000. If they lose, Australia will pip them to second place.The ICC also announced that India offspinner R Ashwin will be awarded the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy for being the ICC Cricketer of the Year for 2016. Ashwin, who was also named ICC Test Cricketer of the Year for 2016, took 48 wickets and scored 336 runs in the eight Tests he played during the period under consideration – September 14, 2015 to September 20, 2016.

Tom Helm’s 5 for 33, the second-best figures by an England Lions bowler, allowed the side to pip ahead in a rain-affected match and cut the margin of defeat in the series to 3-2

The Report by David Hopps in Colombo11-Mar-2017
ScorecardTom Helm’s 5 for 33 was the fifth five-for in Lions history•ECB

Tom Helm had expressed modest ambitions for his first England Lions tour. “One of my main aims was to leave the tour in one piece,” he said. A young fast bowler can soon become philosophical when his early career is strewn with stress fractures and injury mishaps in the field. But he has not merely survived, he has finished with his reputation enhanced.With Helm to the fore, England Lions again chose the colonial-style backdrop of Colombo Cricket Club to salvage respectability from their lost one-day series in Sri Lanka. A second win in 48 hours cut the margin of defeat to 3-2 and, after the batting exploits of Daniel Bell-Drummond and Tom Alsop on Thursday, came the fast-bowling promise of Helm, who returned the second-best figures in Lions history.Finally, records are available for nearly 30 years of Lions cricket in all its guises ­ – the ECB deserves credit for that ­ – and they reveal that Helm’s 5 for 33 was only the fifth five-wicket haul in Lions history, surpassed only by Tom Curran’s 5 for 16 against UAE in Dubai before Christmas. Curran was pulled out of the one-day leg of the Sri Lanka tour to join England’s senior squad in the West Indies; Helm did enough to encourage hopes that one day he may follow.Even before this display, Helm felt like one of the successes of the tours, only without the stand-out performance to amplify the thought. His director of cricket at Middlesex, Gus Fraser, was on hand when he was limited to two wickets in a four-day affair in Kandy, although they were good ones as he made both balls bounce to leave Fraser nodding with appreciation. He found ways to concern batsmen on Sri Lankan pitches, was unafraid to vary his approach and was forewarned of the challenges ahead by England age-group experience in India earlier in his career.A Lions tour had not been on his mind after a season in which he made only four appearances in all competitions. He was pleased enough to be called up to a fast bowling camp, but he quickly impressed and with England’s youthful pace resources not exactly limitless his promotion quickly followed.Strangely, he looks more powerful on the pitch than off it, which might say something about a strong, repeatable action as well as a mild disposition. England might still want him to bulk up a little, especially considering an injury record that he will hope is now behind him. His parents have watched him throughout the tour and have even been able to draw pleasure from the first six of his List A career.Helm will now go to Dubai for a Middlesex pre-season tour (Fraser having abandoned the practice tent at Radlett in deference to last year’s Championship win) and for the Champion County match against the MCC.”I couldn’t be happier with how the winter’s turned out,” Helm said. “It’s not really how I expected it to go. It’s a lovely place to come, but tough as a seamer. I bowled a lot of balls that should have been hit to the fence, and they ended up hitting them to fielders. I felt like other days I’ve bowled better but they’ve hit good balls to the fence.”As the Lions’ tour of Sri Lanka drew to a halt, the other match in Colombo 7 was still attracting more attention. Down the road at Sinhalese Sports Club, the 138th Battle of the Blues was heading for another inevitable draw, or at least deemed that way by a convivial Bar-Propper, with a grand beard and even grander feathered hat who marked the start of play at Colombo Cricket Club with his first hard liquor of the day.”I might go down there later,” he said, signalling down Maitland Place, where the unerring responsibility shown by the young players of Royal and St Thomas Colleges were being watched ­ – or half-watched – by a crowd of 10,000, “but I tend to get stuck here.” There are worst places to linger than the members’ bar at CCC, but when Sri Lanka A crumbled to 82 for 6 by the 21st over, he rose from his seat to find consolation in Sri Lanka’s most historic schools contest.Helm had begun that decline in his first over with two wickets in successive balls, grateful when Ron Chandraguptha slapped one to cover and bowling Sadeera Samarawickrama first ball. Two wicket-keeper catches accounted in later spells for Angelo Perera and Dasun Shanaka, before he returned for a final time to end a vexing last-wicket stand of 52 with a leg-stump yorker to remove the imposing Ramith Rambukwella.”I’m glad I got him out first ball because I was cramping,” Helm said. “It would have been a long over otherwise.”Helm’s incursions had been followed by another unyielding spell of off spin by Liam Livingstone, 2 for 27 this time as his reliability drew self-destructive moments from Charith Asalanka and Ashan Priyanjan, whose slog sweep down straight midwicket’s throat was a curious shot from a captain at that stage of the contest.Livingstone has not bowled offspin for long, but you would not credit it. He began the tour intending to bowl legspin (his more common style) at right-handers and offspin at left-handers, but the left-handers in Sri Lanka’s line-up have kept coming and because he has been in the groove, as series figures of 7 for 144 in 40 overs testify, the legspin has rarely appeared. His promise as an attacking England one-day batsman and sixth bowler is apparent.Name a third player to prosper and Ben Foakes, the neatest of wicketkeepers has obvious Test potential. As for the three Test top-order batsman, Haseeb Hameed (in the four-day series) and Ben Duckett and Keaton Jennings throughout the tour have had a largely frustrating time, although without any sense that the disappointment will be terminal.On the same surface used 48 hours ago, Sri Lanka A were not without hope in defending 192. When the captain, Jennings, holed out at mid-on, so completing his frustrating tour of twenties and thirties, a murder of crows landed malevolently by the England dressing room.At 90 for 4, chasing 193, the Lions were not dead, but they were certainly unwell. The air was dense with the threat of rain and Sri Lankan expectation. But then came the threat of lightning, the players never returned, and Messrs Duckworth and Lewis proved to be a couple of old colonials. Club sandwich anyone?

Pep Guardiola could be about to pull off another stroke of genius in the transfer market after winger Riyad Mahrez was linked with a move to Saudi Arabia.

Man City transfer news – Riyad Mahrez

According to transfer expert Fabrizio Romano, Mahrez has been subject to an approach from Saudi Pro League side Al-Ahli.

Romano stated that the Algerian winger had been the target of a bumper bid from Saudi Arabia as clubs from the country target top talent in Europe with the help of the nation’s Public Investment Fund.

Mahrez has two years left on his contract at the Etihad Stadium, so the European champions would look for a sizable fee from Al-Ahli to let the winger leave the club.

Speaking to GIVEMESPORT, Italian journalist Rudy Galetti confirmed the approach and expects a decision on the future of Mahrez to be made soon.

"We know for sure he received a big offer from Al-Ahli three weeks ago that he rejected. But a few days before the Champions League final, the Saudi Arabian club presented a new huge bid. The response of the player has not yet arrived and is expected soon," he said.

Could Guardiola repeat his Gabriel Jesus masterstroke?

One of the reasons Man City and Guardiola have been so successful in recent seasons is their ruthlessness in the transfer market.

Unlike rivals like Manchester United and Liverpool, City don’t fear letting club legends and fan favourites walk before their sell-by date, and Mahrez – who was previously hailed as a "genius" by both The Guardian's Barney Ronay and his former Leicester manager Claudio Ranieri – could be the next player to depart, despite still possessing much of the magician-like quality a treble-winning side needs.

The club continue to rebuild and reshape the team even while the team is performing on the pitch, as opposed to changing things once it is desperately needed.

Take the sale of Gabriel Jesus to Arsenal, for example.

City offloaded the Brazilian striker to their Premier League rivals for £45m last summer after signing him back in 2017 for an estimated £27m from Brazilian club Palmeiras.

The Spaniard let Jesus walk in his prime at the age of 25, and eyebrows were raised over the sale.

City wasted no time in replacing him, snapping up Julian Alvarez the same summer after agreeing a deal for the Argentinian in the January window.

Alvarez cost just £14m and has shown fantastic potential playing behind arguably the best striker in the world in Erling Haaland.

City legend Richard Dunne praised City for their remarkable work in the market.

Speaking to Virgin Media Sport, Dunne stated:

“The whole recruitment, they don’t make many mistakes.

“They did get it wrong at the start maybe with a couple of players here and there but now over the last three or four years every single player who has come in, you look at Alvarez, he was £15m, £16m so well affordable for the whole of the Premier League and most of Europe, but City were the ones who went out and got him."

The sale of Jesus not only made the club a significant profit but replacing him with the cheap option of Alvarez has worked wonders and created City more breathing room under the Financial Fair Play rules.

Mahrez, who cost £60m in 2018, could be another man who leaves the Etihad Stadium despite still having significant potential to help the side. It’s a smart business decision from Guardiola and City and allows more funds to be made available to City to spend this summer.

Match facts

March 4-8, 2017
Start time 0930 local (0400 GMT)4:26

Chappell: Matter of how long Australia can maintain confidence

Big Picture

It was no surprise that a spinner took 12 wickets and was Man of the Match in the first Test in Pune. Nor was it a surprise that the winning captain scored the only hundred of the match. It was not even particularly surprising that the Test was over in two and a half days. What was surprising – flabbergasting, even – was that the spinner was not R Ashwin or Ravindra Jadeja but Steve O’Keefe, the captain was not Virat Kohli but Steven Smith, and the team with a 1-0 lead after less than three days of play in this series was not India but Australia.”The pressure was off us, wasn’t it? Everyone wrote us off and expected India to win 4-0. That can’t happen anymore.” Never a truer word was spoken than those from Smith after the Pune Test. But if it was true that the pressure was off Australia in that match, it is no longer the case in Bengaluru, where the expectations on Australia will be high. Not only did they beat India in Pune, they dominated in all aspects of the game. They more than doubled India’s total in each innings, the spinners were more effective, their catching was sharper, even their use of the DRS was more assured.Pressure was on Kohli’s mind after the match, too. “How badly we batted in the first innings is the main reason why we couldn’t get back into the game,” he said. “We put ourselves under a lot of pressure.” The intensity will only increase in Bengaluru, where Australia are in the unexpected position of being able to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy by the halfway point of the series. Kohli’s men must find a way to turn around their fortunes quickly, or else an ignominious fate awaits them.So, was Pune an aberration? What surprises will Bengaluru have in store? It is the only venue in this series that has hosted Test cricket before, and it is a ground at which past Australia teams have enjoyed success. Much speculation has surrounded the nature of the pitch at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in the lead-up to the match, especially given Australia’s triumph on the dry, spinning surface in the first Test. What will be in it? Sharp spin? Reverse swing? Piles of runs? It should be fun finding out.

Form guide

India: LWWWW (last five completed matches, most recent first)
Australia: WWWWW
1:16

Will India bounce back?

In the spotlight

Last time India hosted Australia in a Bengaluru Test, back in 2010, Cheteshwar Pujara made his debut. On Australia’s next Test tour of India, Pujara destroyed the visitors in Hyderabad with 204 and a monstrous triple-century partnership with M Vijay. And he began this home season well, with three straight half-centuries against New Zealand and then hundreds in the next three Tests against New Zealand and England. But since then, Pujara’s season has quietened down a little, and India would desperately love for their No. 3 to return to his best in this match, at the venue where his Test career began against this same opposition.Steve O’Keefe was Man of the Match in Pune for his twin 6 for 35s, but on a very difficult batting pitch Steven Smith stood head and shoulders above any other batsman with his 109. Only two Australians had previously made second-innings hundreds in Tests in India: Mark Taylor and Damien Martyn. Not only that but Smith’s effort lifted him into truly elite company on the ICC’s all-time batting rankings; only five batsmen have ever achieved ratings points higher than Smith’s current level: Don Bradman, Len Hutton, Jack Hobbs, Ricky Ponting and Peter May. He will enter the Bengaluru Test with a batting average of 60.34 – not bad for a bloke who started as a legspinner batting at No.8.

Team news

Hardik Pandya has a shoulder niggle and is not in contention, but the remainder of India’s squad is available for this Test. It remains to be seen whether the selectors give the same XI another chance after their disappointing performance in Pune.India (possible) 1 KL Rahul, 2 M Vijay, 3 Cheteshwar Pujara, 4 Virat Kohli (capt), 5 Ajinkya Rahane, 6 Wriddiman Saha (wk), 7 R Ashwin, 8 Ravindra Jadeja, 9 Jayant Yadav, 10 Ishant Sharma, 11 Umesh Yadav.Australia announced an unchanged XI on the eve of the second Test, retaining Mitchell Marsh, whose bowling services were not exploited in Pune.Australia 1 David Warner, 2 Matt Renshaw, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 Shaun Marsh, 5 Peter Handscomb, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Mitchell Starc, 9 Steve O’Keefe, 10 Nathan Lyon, 11 Josh Hazlewood.

Pitch and conditions

There has been so much discussion and speculation about the pitch that India’s coach, Anil Kumble, got fed up during his press conference in the lead-up to the Test. “Can we move on? It’s only 22 yards, it won’t be different here,” he said. Both teams expect a better batting surface than in Pune, but it will still be dry and should take plenty of turn.

Stats and trivia

• Smith needs 112 more runs to reach 5000 in Tests. Should he do it in his first innings in Bengaluru, he will be the equal third-fastest to the milestone alongside Garry Sobers, Sunil Gavaskar, Viv Richards and Matthew Hayden, and behind only Don Bradman and Jack Hobbs.
• India have beaten Australia only once at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium, while Australia have won there twice and the teams have played out two draws. India’s win, though, did come in the most recent of those five Tests, in 2010.

Quotes

“The way we played last week was such a positive sign. It was a difficult wicket and we showed them we can compete in those conditions. And more importantly, we probably showed ourselves as well.”