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Newcastle United head of recruitment Steve Nickson admires Sassuolo’s Gianluca Scamacca, according to The Chronicle’s Lee Ryder. 

The lowdown

The 23-year-old Italian striker has finally established himself in the Sassuolo first-team after loan stints at Cremonese, PEC Zwolle, Ascoli and Genoa. He has scored 13 goals in 28 Serie A appearances this season, averaging one every 117 minutes.

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Nicknamed ‘Il Bomber’, Scamacca has been called ‘deadly’ by talent scout Jacek Kulig and dubbed ‘a bit Zlatan-ish’ by sports journalist Maxi Angelo.

Newcastle have also been strongly linked with another Serie A striker in the form of Atalanta’s Duvan Zapata. The Daily Record even claimed that the Magpies made a £25m bid for the Colombian in January.

The latest

Ryder reported for The Chronicle that Zapata remains on Newcastle’s ‘wish list’, but they may only make a move for the 30-year-old if they are unable to snap up Scamacca.

Nickson is said to be ‘well aware’ of the Sassuolo hitman ahead of the summer transfer window.

The verdict

How do Scamacca and Zapata compare?

First and foremost, the former scores more non-penalty goals per 90 minutes (0.65 against 0.52). In terms of their all-round game, though, Zapata boasts double the expected assists p90 (0.2 against 0.1) and has also completed more than twice as many dribbles (1.68 against 0.79) a the Sassuolo marksman.

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However, Scamacca’s defensive contribution is far stronger – he ranks in the 62nd percentile (among positional peers) for pressures and the 73rd for tackles, compared to just the sixth and the 19th for Zapata.

Also, whereas the Colombian may be more or less the finished article at the age of 30, Scamacca’s game can be expected to develop even further over the coming years. Valued at £27m by Transfermarkt, the 23-year-old could be a smart long-term addition for Newcastle.

In other news, Luke Edwards has revealed Newcastle’s summer budget

Australia’s tour of Pakistan may have hit another roadblock with word that Darren Lehmann, the Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) president, will not send a delegate on a pre-tour security inspection of Pakistan due to safety concerns.Australia’s scheduled tour has already been shortened and, if it goes ahead, will begin later this month, but further bombings in Pakistan over the weekend have heightened safety fears.ACA chief executive Paul Marsh had been scheduled to join Cricket Australia representatives in Pakistan this month to decide if its players can visit safely, but Lehmann has said that would not happen. “We’re not sending Paul Marsh on the pre-tour visit and that’s basically because we as a board don’t feel comfortable sending one of our employees there at the moment,” Lehmann said.”At the moment our advice is not to, and I don’t feel comfortable sending anybody to be perfectly honest, and the [players’] board doesn’t.”There’s been a lot of things going on in Pakistan. Hopefully it settles down, but only time will tell.”Lehmann believed CA would go ahead with plans for the tour unless it is made clear the trip cannot proceed, and said the players would require plenty of assurances to change their minds. “On Wednesday we’ll meet with the government departments and see what is really out there,” he said. “We’ll get our advice from them, security issues, any other problems we have with Pakistan. I think they’d need a lot of assurances along the way.”CA will meet with officials from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade in Canberra on Wednesday to receive advice on the current security situation in Pakistan.CA’s spokesman Peter Young said it was too early to tell if the latest bombings would affect the tour. “We will sit down with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and take a formal briefing from them on the situation in Pakistan and the likely situation in the coming weeks,” Young said. “We’ll continue to move through that formal process. We’re not going to pre-empt the outcome of that process until we have gone through the whole thing.”

Ross Taylor has missed three games since making 85 against Kenya © Getty Images

Ross Taylor could be fit for New Zealand’s next Super Eights match, against Ireland in Guyana on Monday. Taylor strained his hamstring a fortnight ago when he attempted a quick single during his innings of 85 against Kenya.He has missed New Zealand’s three games since then, which along with Lou Vincent’s tournament-ending broken wrist, has forced a reshuffle in the top order. However, Taylor said he was not far off returning to the side.”For the last few days I have been gradually increasing my workload at practice, starting with a few gentle stretching exercises to the point where I am now starting to stretch out fully,” Taylor told . “I’m hopeful of being ready for Ireland in Guyana in a week’s time.”I had a similar injury a few years ago and then I tried to rush my recovery and tweaked it again, setting me back an extra week. I certainly don’t want to do it that again.”Stephen Fleming said he was confident Taylor would be ready against Ireland, which would mean one batsman making way to allow Taylor to slot back in at No. 3. Peter Fulton has struggled since being made a makeshift opener, scoring 0 and 15, but Fleming indicated Fulton might play.”I’m not overly concerned, Pete’s been in good form,” Fleming told . “We’ve asked him to do a role that’s a little bit foreign to him and it takes time to adjust. He just needs to find a tempo at the top of the innings. We’ve got a game against Ireland which will be another opportunity.”Michael Mason is also in doubt for Monday’s match after straining his calf during his second over against Bangladesh. Should Mason be unavailable, New Zealand might play Chris Martin, who was a replacement for the injured Daryl Tuffey, or Mark Gillespie, who has been out of action for a month with a viral infection in his right shoulder.Fleming said Gillespie had now recovered and was available to play. “He’s in contention now so the only challenge the selectors have is he hasn’t played for four weeks,” Fleming said. “We have to make sure the work he does in practice is as close to match simulation as possible and that’s often difficult to do.”

Mumbai was the setting for some memorable scenes on Wednesday and there was another notable occasion today. Hafti Gulabid, a fast bowler from Jalalabad, claimed the prize wicket of Mike Gatting for a duck as an Afghanistan side won their first ever match against MCC at Mumbai.Gulabid, 22, induced an edge from Gatting’s bat, and his brother Karim Khan Sadiq, 20, took the catch behind the stumps. “I am so happy, he’s a senior player.” said Gulabid. “I’m 22 – and he has probably been playing for longer than that.”Gatting was philosophical about his dismissal. “I got a decent ball,” he said. “This isn’t a game you just go out and play. If you don’t have practice you don’t do as well as you should.”The Afghanistan side posted a formidable 356-7 from their 40 overs against a team predominantly made up of minor counties cricketers from England. Mohammed Nabi top scored with 116. In reply, the MCC were all out for 185.The match was played at a club ground in Mumbai as part of MCC’s mission to popularise the game. Most of the Afghan team learned their cricket in Pakistan in refugee camps after fleeing the invasion by the then Soviet Union in the early 1980s before returning to organise tournaments at home.

Fidel Edwards’s return should boost West Indies© Getty Images

Ryan Hinds, who missed the second Test against South Africa with a viral infection, is likely to rejoin the squad for the third Test in Barbados, which starts on April 21. West Indies will also be boosted by the return of Fidel Edwards and Tino Best, who have regained full fitness.Jacqui King-Mowatt, a member of the medical panel of the West Indian board, was quoted in as saying: “There was mild swelling that has gone and he [Hinds] is feeling a lot better than he was. As with any viral infection, it left him feeling tired but he has got progressively stronger. There are still five days before the team assembles in Barbados and a week before the Test and he should be fit enough by then. I’d say we would know by Sunday.”Hinds was replaced by Donovan Pagon, the Jamaican batsman, who is likely to be dropped after he had a miserable second Test, scoring 0 and 2 and also spilling a catch.King-Mowatt said that Best and Edwards had resumed practice. Both have been out of the squad since the Test series in England last August with back injuries, and returned to first-class cricket only in the later stages of the regional Carib Beer tournament. Best also had to remodel his action because of a persistent back problem. “It was discomfort caused mainly by the kind of boots he was wearing,” Kind-Mowatt explained. “He has been practising diligently and looks sharp and keen.”Both have been included in the University of the West Indies Vice-Chancellor’s XI, which will play the South Africans in a practice match in Trinidad tomorrow.

Sri Lanka’s top and middle-order batsmen may have scored the required runs to beat England in the third and final Test at Colombo, but that has not stopped the national selectors from continuing their search for middle-order batsmen and spin bowlers.The on-going TenSports provincial tournament is giving the selectors some food for thought. “This is a good concept and the cricket so far produced indicates that the tournament is coming almost to the top level as other countries,” Lalith Kaluperuma, chairman of selectors, said. “The tournament was begun to bridge the gap that exists between club and national team cricketers. It is more or less serving the purpose.”One of the positives to come out of the tournament is that it is giving the batsmen the opportunity to play long innings. Mahela Jayawardene, Romesh Kaluwitharana and Sanath Jayasuriya have all made big scores,” added Kaluperuma. “The batsmen have shown they have the stamina and fitness to play long innings in the middle.”The pitches are also very good and the bowlers are learning to bowl to a proper line and length or they have to pay the penalty.”So far there have been two weekends of cricket, and all four matches have produced a winning result, including a world-record run chase by Central Province against Southern Province. The fact that all these games have gone the distance indicates that the players are getting used to the four-day game, which will hold them in good stead at Test level.Kaluperuma has been following the progress of the Southern Province team, while his three colleagues in the selection committee are doing the same with the other four teams in the competition.Aravinda de Silva is responsible for Western Province, Ashley de Silva for North Central Province and Roger Wijesuriya for Central Province. Kaluperuma said that Uva Province is handled by its coach Champaka Ramanayake, who is a member of the junior selection committee: “After every match we get a feedback from the management of each team which includes the captain, coach and the manager.”Kaluperuma said that the selection committee was awaiting the arrival of John Dyson, the national coach, before deciding to pick the pool and the captains for the Test and one-day series against Australia next month. “It has to be a collective decision and John must be present before we arrive at any decision,” said Kaluperuma. Dyson, who succeeded Dav Whatmore as head coach, returned to Sydney for a short holiday at the end of the England series, which was his first assignment as coach. Sri Lanka beat England in the one-day and Test series1-0.

Country venues across Victoria are eagerly anticipating next weekend’s Victorian Premier Cricket Round 11 fixtures. For the fifth successive season, the Country Round of one-day matches will re-commence the Premier season after the Christmas break.Five venues – Castlemaine, Eaglehawk, Lavington, Numurkah and Torquay – will host Premier Cricket for the first time, with the match between St.Kilda and South Melbourne at Lavington the first ever Premier Cricket match to be held outside Victoria.Chief Executive Officer of Cricket Victoria, Mr Ken Jacobs said the round was very important for cricket in regional Victoria. "We operate in an era of extremely busy scheduling and an unfortunate result is that country matches rarely feature on the tour itineraries of visiting international teams any more". He added "we believe the Country Round plays an increasingly important role in delivering high standard cricket to country regions, particularly given the availability of Victorian Bushrangers players".Northcote and Bushrangers fast-bowler Mick Lewis said the round was one players looked forward to every year. "It’s always an enjoyable round. I like the chance to play in different towns across Victoria and the facilities and hospitality given to us is first-class". Lewis said the matches created a unique atmosphere. "There’s generally very good crowds at the games and an atmosphere that only country people can create".BACKGROUNDERPREMIER CRICKET COUNTRY ROUNDRound 11 – Sunday 12th January, 2003NORTHCOTE v FRANKSTON PENINSULA at Numurkah Showgrounds, Numurkah
Player watch: Darren Berry, Mick Lewis, Ian Harvey, Rob Bartlett (N’cote) Matthew Mott, Shawn Flegler, Luke Walker (F/Pen)ST KILDA v SOUTH MELBOURNE at Lavington Sports Ground, Lavington NSW
Player watch: Michael Klinger, Nick Jewell, Graeme Rummans, Dan Horsley (St Kilda) Grant Gardiner, Roger Sillence (Sth Melb)ESSENDON v DANDENONG at Camp Reserve, Castlemaine
Player watch: Mathew Inness, Ben Fletcher, Vikram Solanki (Ess) Warren Ayres, Cameron White, Will Carr (Dand)CARLTON v CAMBERWELL MAGPIES at Deakin Reserve, Shepparton
Player watch: Matthew Elliott, Peter Harper (Camb Mag) David Harris (Carl)GEELONG v HAWTHORN-MONASH UNI at Spring Creek Reserve, Torquay
Player watch: Clinton Peake, Damien Koliba (Geel) Peter Roach, Simon Dart (Haw-MU)FITZROY DONCASTER v MELBOURNE at North Ballarat Oval, Ballarat
Player watch: David Plumpton, Brendan Joyce (F-D) Brad Hodge, Rob Cassell, Simon Cook, Shane Harwood, Andrew McDonald (Melb)RINGWOOD v RICHMOND at Wangaratta Showgrounds, Wangaratta
Player watch: Darren Dempsey, Craig Howard (Ring) Ian Hewett, Matt Albers (Rich)FOOTSCRAY-VIC UNI v MELBOURNE UNI at Canterbury Park, Eaglehawk
Player watch: Daniel Lowery, Ashley Robertson, Geoff Allardice (MU) Dale McDonald, Duncan Brede (F-VU)PRAHRAN v NORTH MELBOURNE at Princes Park, Maryborough
Player watch: Jason Arnberger, David Hussey, Jon Moss, Bryce McGain (Prah) Liam Pickering, Shannon Waters (NM)

Australia duly completed their expected CricInfo Women’s World Cup victory over Ireland at Hagley Oval today, the 10-wicket margin as comprehensive on the field as it was on paper.Ireland followed the pattern of their first match against New Zealand. They won the toss, chose bravely to bat first on a pitch with a definite tinge of green, produced one reasonable partnership but, as in their first match, failed to get out of the nervous nineties. Catherine O’Neill (28) and Caitriona Beggs (18) provided stubborn resistance in the middle of the innings but they were never able to get on top of the Australians.Sixteen runs from wides did give the Australian coach, John Harmer, a matter to address at the team review of the match. But he was happy with their fielding performance in trying conditions with a wintery southerly battering the ground for much of the match.The veteran Zoe Goss was the standout bowler, her four for 10 off 9.3 overs deservedly winning her the CricInfo Player of the Match award.Ireland were treated to the disconcerting experience of the hero of the Australian win over New Zealand, Theresa McGregor, completing her first five overs of pace before resuming later in the innings to put her leg-spin skills into practice. Both variations were effective, the women’s version of the Australian medium pacer/off spinner, Colin Miller, going for just 14 off her mixed 10 with her wicket coming off her longer run-up. That was courtesy of an exceptional Karen Rolton reflex catch at silly mid off to remove a driving Karen Young after the Ireland opening pair of Young and Anne Linehan had looked comfortable enough for the first seven overs.The target of 91 was never going to challenge the Australians. But Harmer was very pleased with the way his openers went about the task. Belinda Clark and Lisa Keightley “did the job they had to do,” passing the mark in the 21st over and just failing to manufacture a half century for Keightley, who was left 49 not out.Hames said Clark was keen to get runs and would be happy with her unbeaten 40 after going cheaply in their first two matches.Reflecting a willingness of all teams to battle to the end, coaches in this competition have not been slow in praising the losers, no matter how well beaten. Harmer was no exception. Noting that Ireland had worked hard, he said: “They’ll have a couple of good days before the tournament is out.”That is a warning for some of the second tier teams. The Ireland coach, John Wills, said that, with the learning experience of playing New Zealand and Australia behind them, Ireland were now entering what was for them the serious part of the tournament.He said they got what they expected from the Australians. “There are no second chances against the top teams.” He felt his side bowled and fielded well despite defending such a small target but that the batting had collectively been disappointing. However, he noted with satisfaction that O’Neill’s effort had been recognised with the awarding of a point in the overall performance competition.Ireland now go on to put what they have learned in their opening matches to the test against Sri Lanka on Tuesday while Australia have a couple of days off before what promises to be a most interesting contest against India on Wednesday.

While Leeds United’s dramatic 3-2 victory over Wolverhampton Wanderers last week has somewhat eased the Whites’ immediate relegation concerns, Jesse Marsch will still very much be aware his side are involved in a fight for survival over their final eight fixtures of the Premier League campaign.

Indeed, with Leeds currently sitting seven points above 18th placed Watford – who have a game in hand on the Whites – and eight points above 19th placed Burnley – who have three games in hand – statistics website FiveThirtyEight currently estimate that Marsch’s outfit have a 23% chance of going down this season – meaning there is just under a one in four chance Leeds will be playing Championship football in 2022/23.

And, while Leeds’ considerably poorer league performance than in 2020/21 can largely be attributed to a number of key players picking up long-term injuries – most notably Kalvin Phillips – Leeds Live journalist Beren Cross recently revealed that, despite a distinct lack of options in central midfield, Marcelo Bielsa turned down the opportunity to sign Tottenham Hotspur’s Harry Winks in the January transfer window – a decision which could end up costing the club very close to £100m in Premier League revenue.

Bielsa’s Winks call could cost Leeds £100m

While Winks is far from a guaranteed starter under Antonio Conte at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium – something that is presumably the reason the midfielder was offered to Leeds this winter – the argument that the 26-year-old would have made an impressive addition to the Whites’ current options in the middle of the park is an easy one to make.

Indeed, despite his bit-part role at Spurs this season, the £15.3m-rated England international has nevertheless turned in a decent level of performance over his 14 Premier League appearances, registering one assist and creating three big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of 0.9 key passes, 1.1 interceptions, 0.9 tackles, 37.1 passes and winning 51% duels per game.

These returns have seen the £91k-per-week dynamo who Mauricio Pochettino once backed to become England’s Andres Iniesta average a SofaScore match rating of 6.96, ranking him as Tottenham’s 11th-best performer in the top flight of English football.

However, aside from his impressive metrics, Winks’ style of play would also have appeared to suit Leeds perfectly, with Paul Robinson previously suggesting the 26-year-old would be a fantastic alternative to Phillips, stating:

“One player I would love to see at Leeds in the Kalvin Phillips role is Harry Winks. He’s not been given his opportunity at Spurs, I think he is a fantastic player. Not only can he do the Phillips role, but he can also play in midfield as well.

“Someone with Winks’ quality would really add something to that Leeds side. He is able to play more advanced but can do the Phillips role when he’s not available. I would love to see Winks at Elland Road.”

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As such, considering the fact that, at the time of being offered Winks in January, Phillips was very much in the early stages of his recovery from a serious hamstring injury, while Leeds were also in an extremely poor run of form, exactly why Bielsa chose not to sign the Tottenham midfielder on a short-term deal is rather baffling.

Indeed, if Leeds do happen to go down this season, fingers can very much be pointed at the Argentine passing up the opportunity to sign Winks – as the 66-year-old could very easily have cost his former side big-time.

AND in other news: Orta could unearth Leeds’ next £60m sensation in “dirty” 23 y/o with a “desire to win”

Norwich have signed Leeds United captain Jonny Howson for an undisclosed fee, the club have announced.

The midfielder moves to Carrow Road on a three-and-a-half year contract, and will wear the No.24 shirt for The Canaries.

Howson, an England under-21 international, was the Elland Road outfit’s youngest skipper since Billy Bremner, but his contract with The Championship club was expiring, forcing Simon Grayson to sell.

New boss Paul Lambert is delighted to have brought the prospect to his side, and feels Howson can add something to the Norwich midfield.

“I think he has been brilliant for Leeds – how he has played but also being their captain brings its own demands. It’s a fantastic club, Leeds,” the Scottish coach told the club’s official website.

“I think he can add goals to our midfield, which I think we need, and he can do that. He’ll get better as a player the higher the level he goes up. If he does that and everything goes well, he’ll be a great player for us.”

Howson is over the moon with his move, and is glad to be given the opportunity to play in the English top flight.

“It’s been no secret that my ambition is to play in the Premiership and that’s why we never got round to sorting the contract because we don’t know where Leeds United are going to be.

“I’m going to a great club, they are flying high, doing ever so well, and they have a great team that we’ve been close to here over the past couple of seasons, and they have a great manager as well,” he concluded.

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Howson is currently out of action with a knee injury, but is expected to be available for his new team in coming weeks.

By Gareth McKnight

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