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All those present at De Soysa Park Stadium today were robbed of apotentially appetising contest on the final day of this practicematch. Robbed by a Sri Lankan team too concerned about losing andunprepared to take minimal risks in an effort to win the match. Deniedan opportunity to learn from a run chase the players had to settle fortedious and quite pointless last two sessions. Required to score 269in just 56 overs the Zimbawean’s unsurprisingly decided not to chasethe runs, finishing 81-4.Sri Lanka’s unwillingness to set a reasonable target, say something inthe region of 210-220 is really quite inexplicable on a pitch that wasgiving plenty of assistance to their spinners and against a team witha relatively inexperienced top order. One hopes that the approach ofboth sides will improve in the next match. So far we have no resultsfrom the first three matches.Starting the day with a lead of 117 the Sri Lankan openers extendedtheir fine opening partnership to 128. Ian Daniels (52) took over therole of the aggressor this morning and started well. Looking to beexpansive they soon started to struggle against the Zimbabweanspinner’s leg stump line. Neither Daniels nor Kalavitigoda (72) wereable to increase the scoring rate sufficiently and in the 90 minutesthey batted this morning they only scored 50 runs.When Daniels was eventually adjudged LBW off the bowling of RaymondPrice it precipitated a dramatic collapse as the Sri Lankan’s tried toincrease the tempo but only succeeded in losing wickets. Five wicketsfalling for just 16 runs in 28 minutes.However, spurred on by lunch the Sri lankan’s came out in the nextsession all guns blazing, scoring 70 runs from just nine overs. KumarSangakkara (48*) continued his good form of the first innings with asparking 48 from just 37 deliveries. Prepared to improvise and use hisfeet he countered the leg stump line of the Zimbabwean’s with avariety of entertaining shots, some of which were quite unique. Hispartner, Suresh Perera (38), was also in fine form. Returning tocompetitive cricket he showed why he is rated so highly as a promisingallrounder with some classy shots, two of which sailed over theboundary for six.Whilst the Sri Lankan’s continued to bat on the Zimbabwean’s slowedthe game down to a crawl. Gavin Rennie bowling some of the slowestovers of left arm spinners ever witnessed. Frustration started tocreep in to the visitors cricket though and at least four catches weredropped. Tiredness may well be starting to take its toll.Once the declaration did finally arrived it was clear that theyZimbabean’s would not try to win the game. A target of 210-230 wouldhave been chased but a run rate in excess of 5 runs per over was justtwo much on a pitch that was now turning sharply.Even though they lost Alester Maragwede (4) early on, when he wascaught by a juggling Sangakkara behind the stumps, they survivedwithout much trouble until tea and never looked like losingthereafter. Despite mass appealing from the Sri Lankan’s and some fineattacking spin bowling from Dinuk Hettiarachchi the visitors lost onlyfour wickets. They will now travel to Galle for the second testundefeated when they could have lost two.

Liverpool arguably have the best full-back pairing in the world in Andy Robertson and Trent Alexander-Arnold, who have both become an integral part of Jurgen Klopp’s team.

A pathway to the first team for Kostas Tsimikas and Neco Williams has thus far been difficult and limited to mere cup appearances and the odd game where one of the regular full-bacvs isn’t fit – so much so that the latter has gone out on loan to Championship leaders Fulham.

However, with the Reds still fighting on all fronts for the quadruple after winning the Carabao Cup a couple weeks ago, opportunities to impress Klopp could be available. Should that also prove to be the case in future seasons, the importance of having depth in the wing-back positions will soon be realised.

One player who has been tipped to become a Liverpool star in the future is left-back Callum Scanlon, who penned his first professional deal with the club this week after signing from Birmingham City as a 15-year-old in December 2020 for £500k.

An England youth international, the 17-year-old is described as ‘highly rated’ at the club, where he has nailed down a starting spot with the under-18s after making his debut last May. The youngster’s former academy coach James Atkins has hailed the starlet as “lightning quick” and “technically very good”.

Scanlon has also shown the ability to play in midfield, just like Alexander-Arnold, who himself graduated from the Reds’ academy.

What makes the 23-year-old such an important player in the Liverpool team, perhaps even more so than Robertson, is his ability to not just double up as a winger in attack, but also occasionally drift into the middle of the pitch to make things happen, much like Manchester City’s inverted full-back Joao Cancelo.

However, the West Derby native does this more because he has the technical ability to play in those areas, compared to Cancelo who also has that technical ability, but is a right-footed defender playing on the left, and cutting in is natural to him.

If Scanlon also has the technical ability to play in midfield, he could follow in the footsteps of Alexander-Arnold as opposed to Robertson. However, should he continue to develop at the same rate, but with his athleticism, aggression and strong delivery, he could perhaps play more like the Scottish defender, bombing up and down the left flank to good effect.

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Klopp may already have a long-term successor to Robertson at his disposal on Merseyside, potentially saving the club a few million quid in the transfer market as they would be spared the need to splash out on a new left-back.

In other news: Liverpool could sign their own Haaland in “atomic” £34m animal who’s “ice cold”

Adam Gilchrist says Australia’s new-look attack, which is spearheaded by Brett Lee, can rattle the experienced India batting line-up © Getty Images

Adam Gilchrist believes Australia’s attack is much better prepared to challenge India’s strong batting line-up than when the teams last met in Australia in 2003-04. During that visit India drew the series 1-1 and they posted strong first-innings totals of 409, 523, 366 and 705.Australia were without Shane Warne, who was sitting out because of his drugs ban, and Glenn McGrath, who had an ankle injury. Those two stars are now retired but Gilchrist is confident that any of Brett Lee, Stuart Clark, Shaun Tait, Mitchell Johnson and Brad Hogg can trouble India this time around.”They [India] have done well before without those two guys around, but I sense we’ve got a much more mature bowling group this year than what we did four years ago,” Gilchrist told the . “We have no doubt teams will feel a bit more confident without those guys in the line-up and that’s the challenge for us.”During the 2003-04 campaign Australia used five fast men – Lee, Jason Gillespie, Andy Bichel, Brad Williams and Nathan Bracken – and Stuart MacGill struggled to claim wickets. But Gilchrist was pleased with the way Australia’s new-look attack handled the recent Tests against Sri Lanka and he felt the bowling performances of four years ago would not be repeated.”The reality [of missing Warne and McGrath] kicked in during those first two Tests [against Sri Lanka],” he said. “I thought our bowling efforts didn’t wane at all. The guys stepped up in the absence of those two legends.”[India] certainly presents a bigger challenge because we’re playing against a more reputable batting line-up that will be confident against a team without those two players. There will be some hard slogs, but I think we’ve got the maturity there now to deal with it.”

Turning to Lara: Trinidad and Tobago wouldn’t want to take risks against a solid opposition like Barbados © Getty Images

West Indies captain Brian Lara is available for selection for defending champions Trinidad and Tobago against Barbados in the five-day Carib Beer Series Challenge Final, which starts on Thursday at Guaracara Park, Pointe-a-Pierre.T&T team manager Omar Khan did not give any details on the final composition of the national squad to face Barbados, but he did indicate the possibility that Lara could play, along with his West Indies team-mate Dwayne Bravo. “Barbados is no easy side to beat. We had some good battles in the past and this one will be no different,” Khan commented.”But we have the upper hand,” he continued. “We have had a good season going into this final. We only played one bad day of cricket this season and that was on the third day of the first game against Barbados, which cost us the match.”Speaking about T&T’s five-run victory in the KFC Cup final against the Windward Islands last Saturday in St Vincent, Khan said: “It was a tremendous team effort.”Trinidad and Tobago have been unbeaten throughout the tournament and to have won makes it even more special. No other team has managed to go through the season undefeated and the guys will feel very proud to hold that special honour.”Trinidad and Tobago had some nail-biting matches in the KFC Cup which had many fans on the edge of their seats. In the semi-final against Guyana and then the final, T&T found themselves in some perilous positions. According to Khan, complacency is something the team has to work on, but he also noted that close finishes are what finals are all about.”The team that keeps their head on until the end and proves their character, displays their determination, heart and passion will win the game,” Khan said.”All team members put up a fight. When one fails, the others know it is time to come to the party. Everyone plays a part in the team’s success, it is a total team effort.”Commenting on Kieron Pollard’s performance, Khan said: “He has been excellent for us this season but now he needs to work on his shot selection. He needs to choose which ball to go after and to understand that at this level you need to play sensible cricket.”Pollard is a good player and a talented all-rounder. He has a very effective slower delivery. He has broken some crucial partnerships this season and he will definitely be a good addition to the West Indies World Cup team.”Khan also commended T&T skipper Daren Ganga for his excellent leadership on and off the field. The T&T squad will have a training session tomorrow at Gilbert Park, California before their clash with Barbados.

Kyle Mills maintains that New Zealand will refrain from mentally testing Australia’s pros and debutants © Getty Images

Kyle Mills, the New Zealand fast bowler, says that there shall be no premeditated sledging against Australia in the forthcoming Chappell-Hadlee Trophy which starts on December 3.Mills, who was among the wickets during New Zealand’s recent one-day series loss to South Africa, also featured prominently in some visible exchanges with Graeme Smith. He has, however, dismissed any chance of such banter with Australia, a side whose reputation for mentally testing its opponent is well known.”It’s nothing really, it’s just verbal banter,” he told stuff.co.nz. “It’s what happens out there at the time. Emotions get into it and it goes from there. But you’ve got to control what you control best. Most guys have played enough first-class and international cricket and what goes on the field stays on the field.”Mills even went to the extent of saying that Australia’s newbees – Michael Lewis and Stuart Clark, both fast bowlers, and Cameron White, the spin bowling allrounder, will be spared the psychological gibes. “You don’t pinpoint a player at the start of the series or the start of the game, it’s what happens out there,” Mills said. “That’s the beauty of cricket, I guess.”Probed to comment on his claims of becoming an allrounder, Mills said that it was still an aspiration – he hopes to bat at No.7 some day – but that he had neglected his batting in recent times. “There’re a few allrounders I have to get past first. It’s something I’d like to work towards but I just want to keep my bowling as it was in South Africa.”The first of three one-day matches will be played at Eden Park on Saturday.

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Tim Welsford claimed his first wicket for Victoria after nailing Brian Lara at the MCG© Getty Images

Matthew Elliott and David Hussey led Victoria’s charge and helped them race to a comprehensive seven-wicket win in the warm-up game against the West Indians at the MCG. Chasing a modest 202 for victory, Elliott and Hussey added 129 in quick time as Victoria romped home with 18 overs to spare.After a hesitant start, Hussey’s excellent knock came from just 62 balls and included five sixes as the West Indian bowlers were taken apart. Elliott played the anchor role to near-perfection and though he was out late in the innings, the victory was all but ensured by then. Pedro Collins, the left-arm seamer, was the most impressive of the West Indian bowlers. He trapped Brad Hodge lbw for 3 and finished with figures of 2 for 26.Earlier in the day, the West Indian batsmen failed to capitalise on starts and no-one went on to post a big score. Chris Gayle gave them a blistering start with a 23-ball 33 but he fell in the fifth over and the rest didn’t cash in on the momentum. Apart from Gayle, six other batsmen – including Brian Lara – reached double figures but none was able to kick on to a sizeable score.The West Indians were reduced to 6 for 63 and only a fighting ninth-wicket partnership between Courtney Browne and Ian Bradshaw, the same pair who had starred in a historic triumph in the Champions Trophy final in September, enabled them to cross the 200-mark.For Victoria, Michael Lewis, Cameron White and Hodge, who bowls part-time offspin, snapped up two wickets apiece. Tim Welsford, the allrounder, claimed his first wicket for Victoria and it turned out to be the prized one of Lara – caught behind by Adam Crosthwaite for 24.”The players have played enough international cricket to do better than they did today,” the West Indies coach Bennett King told the AAP news agency.”Five of our top eight looked like they were in very good form and showed some very good signs but unforced outs can really cruel you in this game and that’s what what we had today.”We were playing a very good side but again I’d expect a lot better from our bowlers.”The players will only have two chances to practise ahead of the VB series which starts on January 14, when West Indies take on Australia at the MCG. They will play two more warm-up games – both against Australia A – in Hobart on Saturday and Sunday.”We’ve got a lot of work to do in the next week or so and with the week leading up to the VB Series we’ve got some good plans in place,” added King.

Nathan Astle’s 103 off 207 balls enabled New Zealand to save some face on the third day of the first Test between India and New Zealand, even if it didn’t quite take New Zealand to safety. Here is what he had to say:On his innings
Well, I was going to play my game, right from themorning, and I think I did that pretty well. I got outto a reckless shot. I had wanted to be more assertive,and I just picked the wrong ball to do it. Everybodyin the New Zealand middle order plays shots, and Ithink we did that today. Craig McMillan took thepressure off me and played well, and we were able tokeep the runs ticking along.On the wicket
It is a good wicket, although the heat is getting tous a little bit. We have to keep up our water intake,and it has become a mental game more than anythingelse. The wicket is getting a little turn, and it willturn more as the game goes on. Zaheer Khan’sfootmarks are also creating a rough for the Indianspinners, so if we do have to follow on, that willhelp them quite a bit.On being the first New Zealander since 1976-77 toscore a Test century in India
Yes, actually I was aware of that. Before playstarted, we had a few facts put before us, and thiswas one of them. So it was actually good motivation.On the Ahmedabad ground
It’s always nice to come back to a ground with goodmemories. [Astle scored a World Cup century againstEngland here in 1996.] It becomes easier to go outthere and bat, your mind is at ease a lot more.On New Zealand’s strategy for the remainder of thegame
Well, we’re going to try to get to 300 first, and thenmaybe get a few more past it. If we do that, we’ll bea lot happier. We’ll have a shot at drawing this game,and can then go on to Mohali. If we are made to followon, however, it will be tough to last two days.

New Zealand’s world champion women cricketers fly out of Christchurch tomorrow morning after a week’s build-up at the High Performance Centre to top off a programme designed to compensate for the loss of their tour to India.The cancellation of the tour, due to security reasons, was a body blow for the CLEAR White Ferns who need to start working towards rebuilding their side.But the hastily-arranged three-game tour to Queensland is some compensation.The game has been viewed by the side’s administration as a six-game tour, three games having been played at Lincoln University this week as part of the tour and also an assessment of some of the younger promising players in the country.Team coach Mike Shrimpton said that before the cancellation of the Indian tour the players had built up well through the winter with fitness training, regular visits to Lincoln and, latterly, matches and were in a very buoyant frame of mind.”The cancellation was a huge mental letdown and I suspected it would be hard for them to get up again,” Shrimpton said, “but we’ve had a good week out at Lincoln in very good conditions and we are looking forward to it now.”A lot of runs were scored and the players looked in good shape and form.”The exercise was also beneficial from a selectorial point of view as some of the younger players were looked at in conditions tougher than what they had been in before.Shrimpton said he had a lot of time around the country during the winter and saw many of the younger players in action.”They are young in experience but rich in talent,” he said. And some of those players would benefit from the A team tour to Australia in February.Some were capable of forcing their way into consideration for New Zealand’s tour to Europe in the winter when they will take part in a tri-series with England and India.”Initially the players were a little rusty and there were a few cobwebs but we got some game plans set and our routines re-set.”It will be very competitive in Australia, our players have not had a lot of cricket and they lack playing time,” he said pondering the bad weather to have plagued New Zealand so far this summer.All players would play at least four of the six games in the programme in New Zealand and Australia.CLEAR White Ferns captain Emily Drumm said the week had been good and a full on experience.”I am quite excited by what has been done. It has been a really good opportunity to enjoy a bat on quality wickets. They are very good wickets at Lincoln and it is easy to score runs quickly and it was enjoyable to have a long innings,” she said.The tour and the preparations for the new players to learn what it was to be part of the White Ferns and it was also a chance for the older players to get out of New Zealand, and the cycle of playing among themselves for some fresh competition.The tour games are: all against Queensland on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday next week.

In a pleasant match, played from Zimbabwe’s viewpoint against the backdropof the country’s crucial elections, the touring team beat Somerset atTaunton by 21 runs with eight balls to spare. The weather was pleasant,although the ground was never quite half full, and the match was competitiveuntil the last four overs.Some sub-standard fielding showed that Zimbabwe’s thoughts may havebeen centred elsewhere, but a century from Neil Johnson and successfulbowling by Gary Brent and acting captain Heath Streak were enough to seethem home against a Somerset team missing, like so many county teams againsttourists, several key players. These included Test bowler Andy Caddick andcaptain Jamie Cox, with Marcus Trescothick taking over the captaincy.On a bright, fresh morning the Zimbabweans won the toss and decided tobat on one of Taunton’s traditionally good batting pitches with a fastoutfield. Both teams turned out fully clad in their gaily-coloured pyjamas,but the ground at the start was less than a quarter full.Craig Wishart opened with Johnson, the latter surviving a good lbwappeal by Graham Rose off the first ball of the match but quickly producinga classic off-drive to the boundary off Jamie Grove, followed by anotherthat left cover standing in Grove’s next over. Opposing bowlers should knowby now about Johnson’s preferences, but so many still take a while to learnwhere to avoid putting the ball. Wishart had a narrow escape on 4 when afirm chance to short extra cover went down.Johnson held centre stage, hitting ten fours in his fifty, which cameoff 62 balls. The opening pair put on 81 together before Wishart (18),trying to swing Ian Blackwell away to leg, only succeeded in lobbing a catchto Keith Parsons deepish at square leg.As he often does around this stage of his innings, Johnson slowed downafter his fifty and was overshadowed by Stuart Carlisle, who playedsome good drives and pulls. He was out for 40 to an extraordinary catch byBlackwell at long-on. A powerful on-drive looked like a six all the way,but Blackwell reached up and caught it left-handed, saved by the boundaryboard from falling over backwards. Had there been a rope instead thebatsmen would have been credited with a six. Zimbabwe were 154 for two inthe 34th over.Alistair Campbell was dropped at the wicket before getting off the markwith a leg tickle for four off Blackwell, followed by a drive to theextra-cover boundary. Both batsmen kept the score moving well, althoughsweepers now hampered Johnson’s off-side driving. The 200 came up in the43rd over. Johnson reached his century with a degree of fortune, AdrianPierson missing a difficult return catch which went through to mid-off for asingle. It took him 134 balls, but his second fifty contained only threefours compared to the ten of his first. He fell on 101, though, a loftedoff-drive off Peter Trego that was well caught low down running in atlong-off by Mark Lathwell. Zimbabwe were 222 for three in the 47th over.Murray Goodwin scored 5 before being bowled by a fine leg-stump yorkerfrom Trescothick, with the score on 232 for four. Campbell, concentratingon hitting straight, began to look more convincing and finished unbeaten on45, with Guy Whittall on 6, at the end of the innings. The total was 248for five, not a bad score but again Zimbabwe did not show the ability toscore heavily off their last few overs.Greg Kennis and Trescothick opened the batting for Somerset, the firstcautiously watchful, the second occasionally explosive. Trescothick beganby driving Johnson powerfully through the covers for four, and two overslater took two further fours on the leg side. After a quiet period he moveddown the pitch to the medium-fast Mluleki Nkala and carved him over thecovers for four. The bowler quickly gained revenge, though, with awell-disguised slower ball that had the batsman moving across his stumps andtrapped lbw for 25; Somerset 44 for one.Kennis and Piran Holloway batted well together and Somerset were makinga good challenge when the total reached 78 for one in the 17th over. ThenStreak struck, moving a ball in to Kennis (27) and having him dismissed lbwplaying forward.Mark Lathwell (13) batted usefully without really getting into hisstride, and he was out to a smart high catch at short extra cover by PaulStrang off Gary Brent. Somerset were 104 for three in the 25th over.Parsons (1) followed only two runs later, hitting across the line to afull-pitched ball from Brent and becoming another lbw victim.Michael Burns was quickly in his stride, driving Paul Strang wide ofmid-on for a classy four, while Piran Holloway became obsessed with thesweep, sometimes bringing good runs but at others clearly flirting withdanger, as he was on several other occasions backing up eagerly at thebowler’s end. The pair settled into a good brisk partnership but thescoring rate was gradually rising all the time towards eight runs an over.Holloway (55) finally drove Dirk Viljoen straight into the hands ofNeil Johnson at long-on; Somerset 177 for five in the 42nd over. Momentslater Burns on 37 was dropped, a difficult chance, near the square-legboundary. He celebrated with a powerful straight six into the sightscreento bring up his fifty, reached off 59 balls. Ian Blackwell (8) played acouple of powerful hits and it was still just possible that a bigpartnership by these two might have clinched the match for Somerset, but heskied Paul Strang towards mid-off where the bowler took the catch; 203 forsix in the 45th over. Still, with Graham Rose coming in, all was not lost.Burns played three successive good reverse sweeps off Strang for atotal of eight runs, but his fine innings eventually came to an end at 68when, deceived by a good slower ball from Brent, he hit across the line andwas bowled. Somerset were 220 for seven at the end of the 46th over. 29runs were needed in four overs.The decisive ball was the next one, as Streak returned and immediatelyyorked Rose (1) with a fine delivery. The two new batsmen Pierson and Tregowere never capable of making a challenge. Trego (3) fell lbw to Brent,trying to slog him to leg; 224 for nine. Streak wrapped up the innings at227 with another fine yorker, uprooting Grove’s off stump before he hadscored, with Pierson not out on 3. Brent returned the best Zimbabweanbowling figures, with four wickets for 36 runs off his ten overs.

Wolves are in the midst of a poor run of form having lost their three previous Premier League games with a 2-0 defeat against Crystal Palace at Molineux over the weekend following on from away defeats against Arsenal and West Ham United.

As well as this poor run of form, another worrying aspect of the Old Gold’s season so far is their lack of goals scored compared to the other teams around them in the league table.

Bruno Lage’s side have only found the back of the net 24 times in 27 games, leaving relegation-battling teams such as Watford, Everton and Leeds United having scored more times.

With that in mind and the Midlands club’s chances of securing European football dwindling with every game lost, this could force Lage into making some drastic changes to his team at the top of the pitch.

One potential move that the 45-year-old could make would be to dip into the club’s academy to see if any of their young players has what it takes to step up to the senior side and add a much-needed spark.

In terms of who that player could be, 19-year-old centre-forward Conor Carty could potentially catch the eye of the Old Gold manager.

As a product of Wolves’ youth system, the Irishman has racked up a total of 64 appearances across their U18 and U23 sides, scoring 11 goals and providing four assists along the way, showing that he certainly has a lot of attacking and creative talent in him.

Labelled by James Collins as a player that is “growing all the time” that has delivered “threatening” performances for the U23s, Carty could be just what Lage needs to get his side firing.

Having had previous success with giving youth a chance earlier in the season with 19-year-old midfielder Luke Cundle, who delivered a “very assured” display in Wolves’ 2-0 win over Tottenham Hotspur last month in his first Premier League start, the former Benfica boss could replicate that same sort of move by giving the young striker a chance to show what he’s capable of in the Premier League.

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After all, it can’t get much worse than Fabio Silva who has not found the net all season long.

If Carty did get a chance and the teenager is able to make the most out of any opportunity he gets to play in the first team, this could well put him in the frame to become a regular in the senior squad for next season.

In other news: “I’m sure..:” Insider drops behind-the-scenes Wolves claim, supporters surely buzzing – opinion