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On what was a hugely disappointing day for Celtic, Hyun-jun Yang was one of the few players who came away with credit after Saturday’s loss at Parkhead, which resulted in Wilfried Nancy’s dismissal.

The South Korea international scored his second goal of the season in the Scottish Premiership with a brilliant run and thumping finish to put his side 1-0 up.

Unfortunately, the rest of the team were unable to get the game over the line, as they coughed up three cheap goals in the second half to lose 3-1 to their rivals.

Despite that stunning goal, there should still be a question mark over his place in the starting line-up because he has only produced two goals and no assists in the league this season, per Sofascore.

Celtic in talks to sign new winger

Yang’s spot in the side could come under increased pressure amid claims that the club are in the market to sign a player in his position this month.

Transfer Focus

Mega money deals, controversial moves and big-name flops. This is the home of transfer news and opinion across Football FanCast.

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According to Herald Scotland journalist Josh McCafferty, Celtic are interested in a deal to sign Red Bull Bragantino winger Ignacio Laquintana in the January transfer window.

The reporter claims that the Hoops have “held talks” with the Brazilian side over a potential deal for the right winger, as they look to bolster their options at the top end of the pitch.

McCafferty adds that they could agree an initial loan until the end of the 2025/26 campaign for the attacker, with an option to make it permanent in the summer transfer window.

He also reveals that Laquintana is “keen to join Celtic” before the end of the current window, which suggests that personal terms will not be much of an issue for the club.

Why Celtic should sign Laquintana in January

The Hoops should push to get this deal over the line in the days to come because he has the potential to arrive at Parkhead as an even better option than Yang, despite the South Korean star’s stunning goal on Saturday.

As aforementioned, the current Celtic winger has not offered enough in the final third on a consistent basis to say that he deserves to start week-in-week-out in the wing-back role, with only two goal contributions to his name heading into the second half of the league season.

Laquintana, however, has shown real promise in his time with Red Bull Bragantino and could be an exciting addition to the squad, as a winger who has the potential to offer more quality than Yang has so far this season.

Sebastian Tounekti, James Forrest, Michel-Ange Balikwisha, and Yang have all failed to deliver more than two goals or two assists in the Premiership this term, per WhoScored, whilst Laquintana managed more than two goals and more than two assists on his own in the Brasileiro in 2025.

The Uruguay international, who has scored one goal in two caps for his nation, produced four goals and three assists in 23 appearances in the league for Bragantino last year, per Sofascore.

Stats

Laquintana (2025 Brasileiro)

Yang (25/26 SPL)

Appearances

23

14

Goals

4

2

Big chances missed

1

6

Big chances created

4

1

Assists

3

0

Cross accuracy

16%

12%

Possession lost per game

6.7x

9.9x

Stats via Sofascore

As you can see in the table above, Laquintana’s form last year suggests that he has the quality to provide a greater threat than Yang at the top end of the pitch for the Hoops, if he can carry his form over to Scottish football.

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The 26-year-old forward is a more efficient finisher, given his superior goals to ‘big chances’ missed rate, and has more creativity to offer, with three times as many ‘big chances’ created in less than twice as many appearances.

Therefore, he could be an even better option than Yang on the right flank for the next boss, possibly with Bournemouth loanee Julian Araujo to support him down the right side at right-back.

Signing him on a loan-to-buy deal would also provide Celtic with an opportunity to properly assess him over the next few months before making a decision on whether or not to activate their buy option in the summer.

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This means that if he is unable to hit the ground running in Scotland and his form tails off, they can look elsewhere or continue with Yang as the first-choice in that role ahead of the 2026/27 campaign.

Fulham substitute Harrison Reed’s outrageous last-gasp goal to steal victory away from Liverpool summed up Arne Slot’s side’s season.

Though Cody Gakpo had scored what he thought was the winner moments earlier, bundling home following a crisp cross from substitute Jeremie Frimpong, Liverpool were unstuck by a wonder goal, marking successive draws in the Premier League.

Truthfully, the champions have been well below the expected standard this season, and though their unbeaten run stretched to nine in all competitions, there is so much work to do for a laboured and uninspiring side.

Liverpool had the lion’s share of the ball, and as Slot asserted, Fulham rarely tested Alisson’s goal. But this is a team shorn of confidence and initiative and creativity, and it showed at Craven Cottage.

What went wrong for Liverpool at Fulham

Slot spoke post-match of the gains made in recent weeks, but there’s no question that Liverpool fans are fed up, with their side lacking so much of their previous sparkle and coherence as an elite attacking force.

Liverpool are not only duller than before but blunter too. And that having spent something close to £450m in the summer transfer window, breaking the British transfer record not once but twice through deals for Florian Wirtz and Alexander Isak.

The boarding that props up this project is creaking, and soon it will splinter. In fairness, Liverpool did improve. The second half gave rise to more purpose and drive, but the Merseysiders still only created an xG total of 1.45 across the contest, with their makeshift frontline unable to produce and sustain fluent offensive football.

Reed’s stunning strike will have left the visitors feeling rather aggrieved, but this is the latest example of inefficient attacking play, and a creative unit that is unable to focus and direct itself.

Slot has sought to establish more control at Liverpool, but this has come at the expense of creative expression. However, there are a few who have been singled out as struggling to achieve the kind of balance and modulation in the starting line-up, with one even branded Liverpool’s new version of Darwin Nunez.

Liverpool have found their new Darwin Nunez

Jamie Carragher can be a contentious online presence at the best of times, and the Sky Sports pundit proved this once again by claiming before Liverpool’s contest in west London that Milos Kerkez is “like having Darwin Nunez at left-back”.

This was a harsh twist on previous effusions laid on Trent Alexander-Arnold, but there’s something to be said of the Hungarian’s erraticness and lack of poise down the left channel, yet to bring it all together after completing a £45m transfer from Bournemouth.

Pundit Jamie Redknapp also branded the 22-year-old a “nervous wreck” earlier in the campaign, after Manchester United scored a shock victory over Slot’s side at Anfield.

While he’s improved along with his team from a defensive standpoint in recent weeks, Kerkez remains a mixed bag, lacking purpose through his playmaking. This was clear after his performance at Fulham.

Liverpool World gave him a 6/10 match rating and acknowledged his capable defending, but Kerkez flattered to deceive from a more attacking slant, failing with each of his three attempted crosses and unable to create a single chance for a side crying out for more inspiration, as per Sofascore. Moreover, the 64-touch talent didn’t even attempt a dribble or have a shot. He did, at least, win all of his duels, including a solitary tackle.

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Looking at how he compares this season against his PFA Team of the Year-awarded 2024/25 campaign with Bournemouth, it’s clear to see that he’s struggling to produce the same level.

Milos Kerkez in the Premier League

Stats (* per game)

24/25

25/26

Matches (starts)

38 (38)

19 (16)

Goals

2

1

Assists

5

0

Touches*

59.6

53.7

Accurate passes*

28.6 (80%)

30.5 (87%)

Chances created*

1.0

0.7

Succ. dribbles*

0.6

0.3

Recoveries*

4.7

2.7

Tackles + interceptions*

2.6

2.0

Clearances*

2.6

2.6

Duels won*

4.0 (54%)

3.7 (61%)

Errors made

4x

2x

Data via Sofascore

Kerkez has to do more, but it’s undeniable that he has been hamstrung somewhat by Slot’s coaching, more conservative to be less porous in recent weeks. He’s aggressive, but that aggression must be controlled and moulded into something that can help Liverpool penetrate through tough defences.

It’s worked, but Kerkez remains a somewhat unconvincing prospect, and he needs to develop the completeness that evaded Nunez throughout the Uruguayan’s three terms on Merseyside.

All told, this is a young player who has stepped into a system that has failed to click together this season. Improvements are needed, but with time, there is hope that Kerkez will make the necessary gains and start drawing more positive comments.

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Jurgen Klopp’s Liverpool tenure was characterised by precision in the transfer market. That among other things.

Truly, though, the German manager was a terrific tactician, and he got the best out of so many players, snapped up so many prospects for sharp sums and fashioned them into superstars. Take Mohamed Salah or Sadio Mane. Andy Robertson. Gini Wijnaldum.

The list goes on. The German was brutal, though, and he cut out the deadwood quickly. The likes of Mario Balotelli and Christian Benteke.

Now, Arne Slot’s Anfield side are in a different stratosphere to that sorry squad that predated Klopp’s reign. But Slot’s Premier League champions are in a rut, and are looking to make a signing or two in the January transfer market.

But might they be about to repeat a botched Balotelli-esque bid from before?

Liverpool lining up January forward signing

With Alexander Isak out injured with a broken leg and Salah currently away at the African Cup of Nations, it’s so surprise that Liverpool are interested in adding to their attack, even after pulling back in the race for Manchester City-bound Antoine Semenyo.

Liverpool’s frontline is chock-full of talent, with sweeping and expensive changes made this summer. It’s for this reason that FSG and sporting director Richard Hughes may be on the lookout for an astute piece of business.

And according to Brazilian outlet Bolavip, Liverpool are considering a bargain buy for Corinthians striker Memphis Depay, with the Netherlands star available for just €10m (about £8m).

The 31-year-old is vastly experienced and would add depth and dynamism across the frontline for the business end of the season, with the Merseysiders said to be ‘very keen’ to strike a winter deal.

But, would this be the right move for the Reds?

Why Liverpool want Memphis Depay

Depay has led a storied career, and having joined Corinthians in Brazil in September 2024 after his contract with Atletico Madrid expired, he has scored 19 goals and supplied 14 assists across 65 matches.

But Liverpool are not in a position to offer an ageing forward playing away from Europe a shot in their struggling squad. Any activity this month must hit the jackpot.

Would Liverpool be making a front-footed move here? Is Depay, whose £31m transfer from PSV Eindhoven to Manchester United in 2015 turned out to be a disaster, the answer to Slot’s attacking troubles?

It doesn’t feel like the Dutchman would represent fantastic value for money, especially when considering he’s earning £173k per week in the Brasileiro Serie A.

Once hailed by pundit Rio Ferdinand as a “maverick” of a forward who moved to the Theatre of Dreams too young, Depay has since rebuilt himself and now sits at the autumn end of his career as an accomplished forward, one of the Netherlands’ finest.

Netherlands – All-time Top Scorers

Player

Apps

Goals

Memphis Depay

102

52

Robin van Persie

102

50

Klaas-Jan Huntelaar

76

42

Patrick Kluivert

79

40

Denis Bergkamp

79

37

Arjen Robben

96

37

Data via Transfermarkt

For Liverpool to move for this player now would reek of desperation, and it would even be comparable to a long-ago move for Balotelli, who was the ostensible replacement for Luis Suarez when the Uruguayan legend was sold to Barcelona in 2014.

Balotelli, now 35, had previously won the Premier League with Manchester City and enjoyed prolific campaigns in his Italian homeland, but he arrived at Anfield at the wrong time, with the Brendan Rodgers era falling apart.

Balotelli was something of a nomad himself, and when he joined Liverpool from AC Milan for £16m, playing only one season at the club and scoring only one Premier League goal all year.

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The notorious forward left with few fond memories, describing his time at the club as “the worst mistake” of his life.

As for Depay, he’s a skilful player who has accomplished much, using that flopped spell at Man United to kick on and establish himself as a key player across various grounds before settling with Corinthians at this later-career stage.

As with Balotelli way back when, however, Liverpool would be panic-buying here, patching over deep attacking issues with a stop-gap.

Ex-Man Utd man Paul Parker might have described Depay as being a versatile forward who was at a higher level than Cristiano Ronaldo when he was 21 years old, but development isn’t linear, and it’s fair to say that Portuguese man has outstripped him since.

It would not be the answer to Slot’s problems, especially given the pace and intensity of the Premier League, and how Depay fell by the wayside last time, all those years ago.

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	Boyd Rankin will miss Ireland’s Intercontinental Cup tie against UAE © Getty Images

Holders Ireland will be eyeing maximum points when they take on United Arab Emirates in the ICC Intercontinental Cup tie at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi starting on Thursday.A win will see Ireland, currently on 29 points from two games, jump to second spot in the table. Kenya are leading with 66 points, but have already played two additional games, so have second-placed Namibia, who have 48 points from four matches.Although UAE are out of reckoning for a spot in the final, Trent Johnston, the Ireland captain, says his team won’t be taking their opponents lightly. “It will not be a walk in the park for us and we will have to play really well to collect maximum points which is our main objective,” he said. “UAE have been unlucky in the last few games and they have a pretty experienced side.”It will not be easy and we will have to grab every opportunity that comes our way. The best way of winning the game will be to dominate the proceedings from the very first session and that is what we plan to do.”Johnston was confident of the squad overcoming any obstacles. “Obviously, change of weather conditions is one while the other is that we are playing a first-class game as a unit for the first time in almost nine months though most of the boys have been playing competitive cricket in South Africa recently.”But we are experienced enough to cope with these challenges and as I said earlier, we know what it requires to win a tournament. Adaptability and adjustment to different conditions is part of that package.”Boyd Rankin, the tall pace bowler, is out of action after suffering a stress fracture in the foot last December. Rankin, who has signed for Warwickshire, is currently remodelling his action under the supervision of Allan Donald, the county’s bowling coach.”Rankin’s absence is a blow because he gets you key wickets,” Johnston said. “But on the other side of the coin, it is a good opportunity for a youngster to step up and try to avail the chance by putting up a good performance.”Greg Thompson, the Ireland Under-19 captain at the recently-concluded World Cup in Malaysia, and his team-mate Paul Stirling have been included in the squad.UAE, on the other hand, are looking to salvage some confidence after a disappointing campaign so far. “If we put up good performances and manage to pull a victory in one of our last two matches, we will be able to restore some of our battered pride and confidence,” Saqib Ali, the UAE captain, said. “Ireland are the reigning champion and it will not be easy for us but at this level, you can’t expect easy games.”We are in a developing and rebuilding phases and every match that we play has a lot of value in terms of players’ development.”Squads
UAE Saqib Ali (capt), Arshad Ali, Khurram Khan, Nizel Fernandes, Shadeep Silva, Fahad Alhashmi, Shoaib Sarwar, Sameer Zia, Zahid Shah, Naeemuddin Aslam, Ahmed Raza, Muhammed Aman Ali, Obaid Hameed, Amjad Ali, Amjad Javed, Rashid Khan, Qasim Zubair and Abdul Rehman.Ireland Trent Johnston (capt), William Porterfield, Andre Botha, Alex Cusack, Philip Eaglestone, Thinus Fourie, Gary Kidd, Dave Langford-Smith, Kyle McCallan, Eoin Morgon, Kevin O’Brien, Niall O’Brien, Paul Stirling, Reinhardt Strydom, Greg Thompson.

Bill Stelling celebrates a wicket against Scotland during the World Cup … but will that match be his international swansong? © Getty Images

Netherlands’ allrounder Billy Stelling has announced his retirement from first-class cricket, although it will not make much impact on the national side as he has only played one first-class match in the last seven seasons. He will remain available for one-day selection.The bulk of Stelling’s career was in South Africa where he played for Western Province and then Boland. He also had a spell with Leicestershire, making only one first-class outing when he took 5 for 49 against Kent in 2000. He turned out for Berkshire in the Minor Counties Championship and also had spells with East Lancashire and Rawtenstall in the Lancashire League.He first represented Netherlands in 1995 and has always been on the fringes of the one-day side, making 11 appearances. His best bowling came in his last outing when he took 3 for 12 against Scotland during the World Cup.Although he has expressed a desire to continue playing ODIs, he is 38 next month and it may well be that PJ Bakker, the new coach, decides it would be better to look to the future as he tries to rebuild after some high-profile retirements.

Imran Javed, the National Bank of Pakistan (NBP) allrounder, celebrated his 31st birthday in style as he compiled an unbeaten century to take his side to victory against Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) on the final day of their fourth-round Pentangular Cup Cricket Championship match at the Multan Cricket Stadium.The win over PIA gave NBP only six points instead of the full nine, as they had surrendered the first-innings lead earlier, but it took their points tally after three matches to 24. PIA have now been eliminated from the race to the Pentangular Cup title.Yasir Hameed, the PIA captain, had declared his team’s second innings at 339 for 8, setting NBP a stiff target of 375 for victory. At stumps on the third day, PNB were 58 for 2 but yesterday their batsmen brought them an improbable win as they inched home by two wickets. The overnight pair of Nasir Jamshed and Faisal Athar then took the score to 91 for 2. After Nasir departed for 46, Faisal found an able partner in Shahid Yousuf and the fourth-wicket pair added 79. Faisal’s 61 came off 93 balls and included 12 hits to the ropes. Shahid made 32 off 64 deliveries with the help of five boundaries. But six NBP wickets went down with just 187 on the board and the objective still 188 away.Imran then changed the entire complexion of the match. With fellow all-rounder Yasir Arafat, he helped post 117 for the seventh-wicket partnership, bringing his team to within 71 of the target.Yasir missed his half-century by a solitary run, scoring 49 off 75 balls with five fours and a six. But Imran, who scored his third century after more than four years, remained unbeaten at 102, having batted for 10 minutes short of four hours and making his runs off 170 balls with 11 fours and two sixes. Playing in the 31st first-class match, Imran had earlier completed 50 wickets with the ball. Mohammad Sami, the rejected Pakistan fast bowler, chipped in with a useful 20 off 48 balls with two fours and added 61 for the eighth wicket with Imran.With only the fifth and final round matches remaining, starting from Sunday, NBP have a great opportunity to win the competition. While table leaders Faisalabad have ended their programme of four matches with a total of 27 points, NBP must not be defeated by Karachi Harbour in their last match. to be played at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. In case their match ends as a draw, NBP will take their points tally to 27, the same as Faisalabad if they take the first-innings lead. Even if they emerge triumphant after losing the first-innings advantage, six more points will give them the championship title.PIA, three-time winners of the Pentangular Cup in the past, will now play a rather inconsequential fifth-round match against Sialkot, here at the same venue from Sunday. Victory for neither side will make a difference to the final outcome on April 26, when the tournament comes to an end.

Fazal Mahmood: the Pakistan brylcreem boy © Cricinfo

The name Fazal Mahmood conjures up much; folklore, legend and awe. His legcutters are the stuff of legend, always extravagant, always moving from leg stump to take the off bail, his metronomic line and length of folklore. and his stamina – he bowled 677 overs on the 1954 tour of England – awe-inspiring.Many compared him to other names about whom there is as much folklore, legend and awe. Alec Bedser was a contemporary master of cutters, but Frederick “The Demon” Spofforth and Sydney Barnes, who cut with the best of them, were of a different time and eraentirely – when cricket was still prone to statistically freakish occurrences.Many will also say that Fazal was the first great fast bowler of many that Pakistan produced, maybe the constructor of a legacy which moved from Sarfraz Nawaz to Imran Khan to the two Ws and has now passed on to Shoaib and Sami. In truth, there was little connecting him and the rest.Modern Pakistani fast bowling, of pace and swing – reverse and conventional – has more to do with Sarfraz and Imran than it does with Fazal’s medium-pace cutters. Yes, the confidence, the steadfast belief that any situation could be salvaged, any match won, that coursed through Wasim and Waqar could be traced back to Fazal’s conviction (he said of the 1954 Oval game, “even though we were bowled out for 133, I did not think for a second we would lose”).For those who didn’t see him play, pictures of him show he was impossibly debonair, with a magnificently thick crop of wavy hair grown as if for the Brylcreem which he went on to model, the bluest of eyes to accompany his filmstar looks. He was Imran Khan before Imran Khan.There is a picture of him in his recent autobiography, , with cravat round neck and cigarette in hand, standing alongside the Indian screen legend Raj Kapoor. Even in a photograph, he managed to out-dash the most dapper of actors.Those who didn’t see him play might wonder if he was really accurate and wholeheartedly committed … Did his legcutter really, as Frank Tyson once wrote, jumpfrom leg stump towards the slips regularly? Did it really spin more than Richie Benaud’s legspinner, as the man himself claimed? (Ken Barrington, bowled by one such miraculous delivery, was prompted to call him, pint in hand and sorrow in tow, “the bloody greatest”).Well, cold numbers tell a big story: he took 13 five-wicket hauls in just 34 Tests, and he took ten in a match on no fewer than four occasions. A further six times, he ended with four in an innings. Add to that his impressive economy rate – just over two an over – and the picture looks even better.He played a key role in each of Pakistan’s first, and most celebrated, victories. Whatis set in stone – in cold, hard numerical fact – is his part in first ensuring Pakistan’s entry into Test cricket, and then making it among the most accomplished of any new nation.Towards the end of 1951, Fazal took 6 for 40 in the first innings for Pakistan against the MCC, leading to victory in an unofficial Test match which sealed Pakistan’s promotion to the international stage. Pakistan’s first-ever Test victory, at Lucknow, was built on his 12 wickets. Victory at The Oval in 1954 remains Pakistan’s greatest moment in Test cricket and, at the centre, with 12 wickets, was Fazal Mahmood. How Bangladesh, also scrapping to eke out an on-field identity and hammered on their first tour of England this week, would have wished for a figure like Fazal.Thirteen Australian batsmen succumbed to him on their first trip in 1956, at Karachi, on the matting wicket on which he was supposedly lethal. On the run-infested tour of the West Indies in 1957-58, he took eight wickets in Pakistan’s first win at Port-of-Spain. When West Indies toured the following year, he took 19 wickets in the first two Tests, including 12 in the second at Dhaka, to ensure Pakistan won the series.It is impossible to argue against the fact that, with Hanif Mohammad and Abdul Hafeez Kardar for company, he made Pakistan into a Test nation worthy of that status, only five years after the country itself had been traumatically created. At every moment in their early history, he shone among pioneers. More than just Pakistan’s first great fast bowler then,Fazal Mahmood was Pakistan’s first true great. And as he departs, he takes with him a significant portion of Pakistan cricket’s glorious, heady beginnings.

As befits a player whose formative years in the Australian side were spent under the caustic leadership of Ian Chappell, Rod Marsh earned a reputation for blunt talking. Age might have mellowed him a little, but he stills calls it as he sees it, and he has no doubts about the mountain he has to climb if he is to help England challenge Australia’s dominance of the game.”I would suggest they’re going to have to get a wriggle on,” Marsh, in India as coach of the England A side, admitted when asked about the chances of any success in the next Ashes series next summer.”They’ve had it too easy for too long, some of these guys,” he continued “There is a distinct lack of discipline. I can’t see what’s wrong with telling the truth. Maybe people don’t like hearing the truth.”A heavy defeat in England A’s first match prompted a characteristic broadside from Marsh . “To me, there was a team that looked like they knew how to play cricket and a team that had no idea. It was a very poor performance,” he fumed. “We needed to spend some time in the middle but these guys think they are millionaires and have to play a shot a ball. The sooner they learn they can’t, the better off everyone will be.” He immediately ordered a re-match the following day. England lost again.”Every time something goes wrong, they have a team meeting then think the problem is solved,” he explained. “But they are the only ones who can help themselves and until they realise that, there is no point them being here.”Marsh believes that if the youngsters are hungry and pushing for places in the side then it will have a knock-on effect of making the senior players more conscious of the need to perform. But he warned that “at this point in time, they’re not pushing hard enough. If they were, the England team would be performing 100% flat out all the time. They’ve got to say to the selectors, ‘pick me’, like Ed Smith did last year.”The games in India will be tough but, typically, Marsh would have it no other way. “If we came over here and there was no challenge then it would be quite boring for me,” he said. “The challenge is to help these blokes improve. They’re still babes really. They haven’t seen much of the world.”

A game that started in very warm and bright sunshine ended with abandonement at Carisbrook today with two State Shield points being awarded to both Otago and Central Districts.Otago won the toss and batted on a very good pitch but could only muster 161 – another very disappointing batting performance by them. Only Brendon McCullum with 50 – his maiden half-century at either international or domestic one-day level – made any impact on the Central bowlers who were certainly not unplayable. McCullum faced 59 balls and hit 30 of his runs from five sixes, amazingly with no fours in accompaniment.He was fifth batsman out as a middle and lower-order slump, which saw seven wickets fall for 40 runs, cost Otago dearly.Robbie Lawson faced 79 balls for his 21 runs but Otago struggled to make any other impact on the scoreboard.Brent Hefford with three for 44, Jacob Oram (two for 18), Lance Hamilton (two for 35) and Michael Mason (one for 21) from seven overs were the wicket-takers with two run outs completing the picture of Otago dismissals.Under these conditions this target was almost a certainity for Central and at 65 without loss this appeared to be so. The 65 runs were on the board in the 10th over, at which stage Jesse Ryder was caught for 21 from Nathan Morland’s bowling.Off the last ball of the 11th over, Craig Spearman’s innings of 45 off 31 balls was ended by James McMillan. The two wicket-takers only bowled an over each while Kerry Walmsley, with 31 taken from his four overs, and Shayne O’Connor (30 from his five) on the receiving end of the CD opening assault.But the rain had other ideas and, after two stops for 10 minutes apiece, a heavier shower sent all from the field at 4.51pm – they did not return and the umpires officially abandoned the game at 6.27pm as it was still raining.Central Districts looked by far the better team and were unlucky to be robbed by the weather. But with two quick wickets lost by them just before the rain came for the third time, a smidgeon of doubt existed as to the probable final outcome. However, such discussion is only academic of course – two points to each team.

Tuffers is off the Audi!Let me explain – when you bat, the worse scenario is being dismissed without scoring, for a duck as is it called. If you get two of these in the same match it’s obviously a pair or, as they say on the circuit, “you’ve bagged them up!”.Tuffers [Phil Tufnell] has had three disappointments in a row. Therefore, when he went out to bat yesterday he was sitting on an Audi which is four rings in a row, The same branding as this type of car.I’m pleased to say, as he confidently gave himself room and scythed the ball through point, there was a huge amount of relief around the Lord’s ground.If the ball had gone to hand at point, then Tuffers would have been on the ‘Olympic’ next time he took guard. After that I’m not sure but it was suggested a P45 which is hinting at finding a new job. If it happened to a batter we wouldn’t be laughing, but to ‘The Cat’ it’s a different story. His job is with the ball and he proved his class yesterday with his 47th five-wicket haul.At present we are in a bit of a fight with Nottinghamshire, former county of Sir Richard [Hadlee] and, more recently, Chris Cairns. We bowled poorly on the first day at Lord’s and have played catch up ever since.Angus [Fraser] is out for a couple of weeks with his injury so I’ve got the reins, although it was a pretty loose grip as we went around the park courtesy of a South African recruit playing for Notts.I’m interested to see an increase of these types of players. They are from another country but can play as a resident under the EU passport policy. If these guys have success, I’m sure other counties won’t want to miss out.Speaking of Cairnsy earlier, I caught up with him this week as he breezed through on his way to South Africa to begin some training outside. His knee is progressing well and while it’s only early days in his recovery we look forward to his return at some stage this year.The news is also pretty positive on our other injuries with the guys now settling into the winter training programmes and skill work at the Academy.I caught up with John Reid, New Zealand Cricket’s, cricket operations manager this week at Lord’s. He was over to discuss changes to the international game, in particular the limited over matches with other members of the ICC.The feeling was that the one-day game was becoming too predictable, especially during the middle stages of an innings. The new rules are attempting to liven up the action and speed up play, both important if as players we wish to entertain. One bouncer per over is an interesting one, it gives the bowler a little artillery especially in the first 15 overs, but it is how it is policed that may cause confusion. Lets wait and see!