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Trevor Bayliss, England’s head coach, says there will be no curfews imposed on his players in the wake of Ben Stokes’ arrest

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Nov-20171:45

Getting drunk is the best form of team bonding – KP

Trevor Bayliss, England’s head coach, has confirmed that there will be no curfews imposed on his players during the forthcoming Ashes, but added that “sensible” guidelines have been drawn up in the wake of Ben Stokes’ arrest outside a Bristol nightclub last month.Speaking in Perth during England’s first nets session since arriving in Australia, Bayliss reiterated his long-held belief that personal responsibility is a key aspect of being a professional cricketer, and added that England’s players themselves had decided when is and isn’t acceptable to have a drink and enjoy the experience of being on tour.”Not drinking between matches is just sensible,” Bayliss told the BBC. “There’s been no set curfews. I think they’re just sensible rulings.”To me, they’re what we should be sticking to anyway as a player or someone around a professional set-up. The players have sat down and had a chat and they’re the ones that’ve come up with it.”With Stokes withdrawn from the tour pending further investigation into the incident outside Mbargo nightclub on September 25, and following the disciplining of three other players who had been out that night – Jonny Bairstow, Jake Ball and Liam Plunkett -England’s captain, Joe Root, was forced to deny last week that the England team is beset by a drinking culture.But Bayliss believes that instilling a siege mentality in the wake of the Stokes incident would undermine England’s hopes of success in the Ashes.”We certainly don’t want to put too many curfews on them that keep them in their rooms,” he said. “It’s a long tour, you’ve got to get out and experience the country that you’re touring.”His comments echo the views of Kevin Pietersen, a three-times Ashes tourist, who last week told ESPNcricinfo that nights out on long tours were a vital factor in team bonding.”When we had the great tour Down Under in 2010-11, we had the most incredible couple of nights out at the start of that tour, which brought the team so close together,” Pietersen said. “I know that it sounds so stupid, but if you go and get hammered as a team on a night out – as senior and junior players – the bonds you can create there are better than any ridiculous sessions you can do in the forest in Germany.”Bayliss admitted that the aftermath of the Stokes arrest had been a “difficult time” for the team, but that their arrival in Australia had helped to focus their minds on the task at hand.”It’s a month ago now, and certainly the guys here in Australia have gone about their business and there hasn’t really been chat about it all,” he said. “Everyone’s been concentrating on what we need to do to win this series.”He conceded that Stokes’ absence was less than ideal but echoed Joe Root’s pre-departure statement that the team were preparing to be without the allrounder.”It’s something you’d much rather do without,” Bayliss said. “The Australian media will hammer away and try to put the pressure on in other areas as well. We have to try to deal with that and keep it separate from what we are doing on the practice field and in matches.”Root said the other day himself. They are concentrating on playing without him. If we worry too much about whether he is or he isn’t, that takes the focus off what we are doing. If we see that creeping in with the players, we will stop it as soon as we can. They are getting on with it well.”He also gave an indication of England’s thinking about how they would rebalance the side, with Jonny Bairstow, Moeen Ali and Chris Woakes set to move up the order in order to accommodate another bowler.”Having to replace Ben and the combination that we come up with requires doing a bit of both,” Bayliss said. “Personally I think we have to play a bowler in his place which makes our batting not quite as long but when you have Chris Woakes at No. 8, that’s probably the combination I’ve been after for a while.”Mooen Ali batting as low as No. 8 for the last couple of years I think that’s a waste. I think it’s something that as the team develops over the coming years, that’s a combination that we will get to. We have had problems at the top of the order so having Mo at eight and Woakes nine suited us. It’s been successful, so no problems there. Eventually Bairstow and Ali at six and seven and Woakes at eight is a combination England will end up with.”

Newcastle United are reportedly considering a move for Monaco centre-back Axel Disasi this summer as they prepare for a return to the Champions League.

After enjoying a remarkable 22/23 campaign, finishing fourth in the Premier League and reaching the Carabao Cup final, Eddie Howe's side are strengthening the various sections of the field to consolidate their return to European competition.

Midfielder Sandro Tonali has already been signed from AC Milan for £55m, but further work must be forged across the defensive and attacking thirds.

Could Newcastle sign Axel Disasi?

According to Caught Offside, Disasi's name remains on the list at St. James's Park after reports of the club's interest have surfaced over the past several weeks, with Manchester United also eyeing a deal.

The Ligue 1 giants would reportedly want around €40m (£34m), for the 25-year-old defender, which could be an affordable price for a talented ace – who is also out of contract in just two years' time.

Speaking to Caught Offside in a separate report, French football expert Jonathan Johnson has confirmed that the Frenchman is "strongly linked" to the Toon side, saying that he would "boost their Champions League aspirations."

How good is Axel Disasi?

While Newcastle did complete the 22/23 Premier League campaign with a joint-division strongest defence – alongside Manchester City (both 33 goals conceded) – Howe will know of the importance of bolstering the ranks to ensure the commendable progress made over the past several years does not stagnate.

And Disasi could be viewed as the perfect titan to enter the fray and cement a starting berth, having played an instrumental role for the Rouges et blancs over the past few seasons, forging 129 displays and being hailed as "complete & dominant" and a "hidden gem" by scout Jacek Kulig.

The four-cap France international – who made his debut at the 2022 World Cup – certainly seems to fit the mould of a top-class modern defender, with FBref ranking him among the top 7% of centre-backs for goals, the top 5% for assists, the top 4% for progressive passes and progressive carries, the top 7% for successful take-ons and the top 14% for interceptions per 90.

Effectively, what this suggests is that the £12k-per-week gem can contribute with a direct goal threat and can provide superlative support from deep with his ball-playing skills.

Intriguingly, Marseille's Chancel Mbemba is considered the 6 foot 3 mountain's most comparable player on FBref, which could tee Howe up to expunge the demons of the Magpies' failed signing of the Congolese star, who signed for £8m from Belgian team Anderlecht in 2015 and made 59 appearances on Tyneside before departing for Porto in 2018 for £7m.

The lion's share of Mbemba's outings in black and white came in the first of his three terms on English shores, where he played 33 league matches but failed to prevent United from suffering relegation from the top-flight – from that point on, a peripheral role was all the 28-year-old could muster.

The 69-cap international now ranks among the top 1% of positional peers for goals, the top 13% for shot-creating actions and the top 6% for both progressive passes and progressive carries per 90, indeed cut from the cloth as Disasi.

While Mbemba's Newcastle career concluded long before Howe's arrival as manager, he could finally avenge the wayward signing by signing a new and improved version of what once seemed an astute buy for a prodigious talent.

Man United and Liverpool will not compete at the revamped Club World Cup in 2025 after the FIFA Council made a huge decision on Sunday.

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• United and Liverpool absent from 2025 CWC
• Arsenal have slim hope
• City and Chelsea already qualified

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  At a meeting in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, the FIFA Council decided that no more than two clubs from the same nation can take part in the tournament. The revamped Club World Cup will take place in the United States, starting on June 15 and concluding on July 13.

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  THE EXPLANATION

  12 European clubs will qualify for the competition, including the winners of the UEFA Champions League from 2021 to 2024. Chelsea and Manchester City were crowned European champions in 2021 and 2023 respectively, meaning they have already secured the two English spots. The only way three English teams can take part is if Arsenal win this season's Champions League. Therefore, United and Liverpool are guaranteed to miss out.

• DID YOU KNOW?

  Along with City and Chelsea, Real Madrid will feature in the US thanks to winning the Champions League in 2022. Bayern Munich, Paris Saint-Germain, Inter Milan, Porto and Benfica are guaranteed to be five of the other eight European sides that qualify through UEFA rankings based on historic performances in the Champions League.

  The 2025 CWC will feature eight groups of four teams, with two sides from each group progressing to the last-16. United and Liverpool will now miss out on a potential prize fund of up to £50 million ($63m).

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  WHAT NEXT FOR UNITED AND LIVERPOOL?

  The two Premier League giants will hope to be involved in the following edition of the expanded Club World Cup in 2029. In the meantime, Liverpool will focus on trying to topple City's Premier League dynasty while United attempt to keep pace with European football's elite.

The BCCI has done a u-turn on the appointments of Zaheer Khan as bowling consultant and Rahul Dravid as overseas Test batting consultant

Sidharth Monga15-Jul-20171:39

‘It was a recommendation, not an appointment’ – Vinod Rai

The BCCI has done a u-turn on the appointments of Zaheer Khan as bowling consultant and Rahul Dravid as overseas Test batting consultant; the appointments were announced on July 11.Now, the chairman of the committee of administrators (CoA) has said those were mere recommendations that needed action from the CoA “in consultation with the head coach”. Ravi Shastri, India’s new head coach, meanwhile, is set to get his own support staff as that has been decided “in consultation with the head coach already”.As for Dravid and Zaheer, yet another committee has been formed to decide if they are needed at all, and terms of engagement if they are. The committee, comprising acting BCCI president CK Khanna, secretary Amitabh Choudhary and CoA member Diana Edulji, will have a meeting with Shastri. The meeting will be convened by BCCI CEO Rahul Johri.This is yet another process after a month-long farcical drama finally ended with a definitive BCCI release on July 11. It said, “The BCCI announces the appointment of Mr. Ravi Shastri as the Head Coach, Mr. Zaheer Khan as the Bowling Consultant and Mr. Rahul Dravid who will be the Overseas Batting Consultant (Test cricket) for the Indian Cricket Team.” It was followed by praise for the appointees and gratitude for the cricket advisory committee (CAC) comprising Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar and VVS Laxman, who had been tasked with identifying the new coach. The release was signed by Choudhary.

Other decisions made on Saturday

• Advertisement to be released inviting applications for the jobs of administrative managers of the India, India A and India Under-19. The deadline for applications for the senior team is July 21, and the manager’s term will be one year. The manager will be a college graduate, and will preferably be a first-class or international cricketer who has preferably “successfully” managed a state team in India or an international team. Alternatively the candidate could hold at least 10 years of work experience in public or private sector. “Sound knowledge of cricket and playing conditions” will be non-negotiable.

• The committee of Khanna, Choudhary, Edulji and Johri will decide on the India manager on July 22 in Delhi. Before that it will meet Shastri in July 18 and finalise coaching requirements and appointments, and also the financial terms of the coaches’ contracts.

• To ensure proper co-ordination and implementation, the CoA has now decided to invite the BCCI office bearers to its meetings.

On July 13, an unnamed source from the CoA – which was about to be reduced from three to two members – was quoted as saying that the CAC had exceeded its brief in appointing the two consultants. On the same day, the CAC wrote an email to the CoA expressing its displeasure, and saying it had appointed Dravid and Zaheer after discussions with Shastri.On July 15, the CoA met some BCCI officials in Delhi, and then its head Vinod Rai confirmed the u-turn. “There is no such thing as a contract yet,” Rai said, when asked if the appointments of Zaheer and Dravid had been put on hold. “It is not an appointment. The recommendation has been made. And the CoA has to act on the recommendation. That recommendation will be acted upon in consultation with the head coach.”When asked if Shastri had demanded his own support staff, Rai said: “The support staff has been decided in consultation with the head coach already. There is going to be a core support staff, which will be fielding, batting and bowling, which has been decided. Any other ancillary etc, he [Shastri] will be coming back tomorrow [from England] and we will decide.”It has been widely reported that Shastri wants B Arun back as the bowling coach. Arun, Shastri’s team-mate from Under-19 and India days, was India’s bowling coach during Shastri’s previous stint as team director too.Rai’s latest assertions, though, go against yet another BCCI release, titled “COA hails CAC coach recommendation”, sent on July 12. The email was not signed by any person, but it said, “The Cricket Advisory Committee has made its recommendation regarding the coach. It is a comprehensive recommendation covering all aspects of the coaching requirement of any team. They have applied themselves to the cause at hand with dedication and commitment. This is exactly what we had expected from a committee of such distinguished cricketers. On behalf of all interested in ‘Cricket India’, BCCI and the COA, I thank them for the service so willingly rendered by them. We accept their recommendation in totality.”The release went on to use the term “new combination”. “Now that they have made the choice, we sincerely feel that the new combination will steward the team to number 1 position in the World Cup,” the release said. “We need to put the immediate past events to rest and wish the team, the Captain, coach and support staff a very ‘happy Innings’ in the run up to the World Cup.”The BCCI’s tweets on July 11:

The CoA’s role in the coach-appointment saga has been curious to say the least. On July 10, the day the candidates were interviewed, the CAC had announced in a press conference that it needed more time and more consultation with captain Virat Kohli before it could decide on the coach. The following morning, though, various BCCI officials confirmed that they were asked by the CoA to announce the name of the new coach “as soon as possible”. The name of Shastri as new coach was then announced late on July 11.”I don’t know what exactly happened because I was not in the country at that time,” Rai said about the sudden change in timelines. “The CAC decided to decide the next day; they made the announcement.”When asked if the CoA had given any instructions, Rai said, “We need not go into the details of any of those things. There was a process, that process was followed, and the announcement was made well in time.”Explaining the CoA’s role in the whole matter following the announcement of the appointments, Rai insisted on calling them “recommendations”.”Recommendations have come to the CoA, it will be discussed with the office bearers, and it is only courtesy that we discuss with the head coach as to who the other coaches should be,” he said.When told of the CAC’s displeasure with the new turn of events, especially because, according to the CAC, it had consulted Shastri before making its choices, Rai confirmed Shastri had indeed been consulted, but only by the CAC.”It is a fact that he was consulted,” Rai said. “There was some conversation that took place. I can’t clarify on that because I was not a part of it. We didn’t know. We had left it entirely to the CAC to decide, we were told that he was consulted, but since we were not privy to it…”When asked about the CAC’s letter to the CoA, which expressed severe disappointment with the media reports attributed to the CoA, Rai neither denied nor confirmed receiving such correspondence. “CAC members have corresponded a lot with the CEO, and me also,” he said. “Some of the emails have come to me, some have been copied to me. We reacted to each one of those things.”Rai went on to add that they needed to check if Dravid and Zaheer were in conflict of interest if given these roles. “The fact of the matter is they have made a recommendation,” Rai said. “Before we put that recommendation into fact, we have to find out conflict-of-interest issues, their willingness issues, their availability issues. We have to do that.”When asked if the CAC hadn’t already spoken to the two, Rai said, “They may have spoken; we haven’t. Rahul, I am sure, is engaged elsewhere. Zaheer is also engaged elsewhere. So we have to ascertain their availability.”

Chelsea "really, really like" AC Milan goalkeeper Mike Maignan and are interested in bringing the player to the Premier League, but the deal itself is "really tough" to get done, claims journalist Ben Jacobs.

Chelsea transfer news – what's the latest on Mike Maignan?

The Blues have been having something of a fire sale in recent weeks, with players like N'Golo Kante and Kalidou Koulibaly joining the Saudi Pro League, whilst Mason Mount and Kai Havertz have moved to Manchester United and Arsenal, respectively.

Among the players bidding farewell to Stamford Bridge is Champions League-winning goalkeeper Edouard Mendy, who has also opted to join the Middle East's burgeoning super league, joining Al-Ahli.

That move has left Kepa Arrizablaga as the club's undisputed number one, but based on recent reports, it appears that the club does not have the most faith in the Spaniard.

According to the Telegraph, Chelsea are 'considering a move' for the French international, despite manager Mauricio Pochettino's 'willingness to start the season with Kepa.'

If the Blues are serious about securing the keeper's signature, they will have to stump up some serious cash, as transfers expert Fabrizio Romano revealed earlier this month that Milan have priced their player at over €55m.

What has journalist Ben Jacobs said about Mike Maignan to Chelsea?

Jacobs explained that the interest and admiration from the West London club is genuine.

Speaking to Football FanCast, he said: "Mike Maignan is someone that Chelsea really, really like, but it's a really tough deal to do with Milan."

Would Mike Maignan be a good signing for Chelsea?

While Kepa has certainly improved for Chelsea over the last 18 months, Maigan would be a brilliant signing for the Blues and a real step up in terms of quality.

According to WhoScored, Milan's shot-stopping extraordinaire had a brilliant season in Serie A last year, averaging a rating of 6.64 across his 22 games.

The Cayenne-born "monster" – as described by journalist Robin Bairner – looks even more impressive when you look at his underlying numbers.

According to FBref, who compare players in a similar position across Europe's top five leagues, the Frenchman is in the top 8% for saved penalty kicks, the top 11% for goals against, and the top 22% for clean.

If that wasn't enough FBref also considers both Alisson and Ederson to be within the five most similar goalkeepers to Maignan, hardly bad company to keep.

If Chelsea can, they certainly should get this deal done, even if AC Milan want a king's ransom.

Shahid Afridi has joined Karachi Kings as “president”, according to the franchise

Umar Farooq07-Apr-2017

Shahid Afridi has joined Karachi Kings as “president”, according to the franchise. He is likely to feature for the team as a player, too, in the third edition of Pakistan Super League in 2018, though this is yet to be confirmed; the PSL’s trading window ahead of the next edition is yet to open. Last month Afridi had announced on Twitter that he had left Peshawar Zalmi after two years with the franchise.ESPNcricinfo understands that Afridi is likely to be traded between Peshawar and Karachi as part of the formalities later this year. For now, Karachi Kings owner Salman Iqbal confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that Afridi had joined his franchise as president.Afridi had tweeted on March 25 that he was “announcing my end of service as president & player of Peshawar Zalmi Team due to my personal reasons”. He said it was “time for another” team. Following his tweets, Peshawar’s owner, Javed Afridi, told ESPNcricinfo that he was “clueless” in the matter. Later, it was learnt that Afridi had parted ways from the franchise over disagreements with the owner.”There are things that I don’t want to bring in media but Javed’s vision has changed with the time,” Afridi said on a TV show on Geo News. “I don’t want to become a hindrance to Javed’s goal and vision, because I have my own foundation and a lot of other things. So I can not fullfil his commitments and want to focus on my things as well. I wanted to announce it after the PSL final, but I had couple of commitments with Zalmi, so I waited for the right time.”Afridi, who is based in Karachi but was born in Khyber Agency, had talked about the importance of Peshawar Zalmi to his local region, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, a day before his Twitter announcment. “We have not created the Peshawar Zalmi team to play just a month’s cricket in the PSL and then sit at home,” Afridi had said. “Our work goes beyond the cricket field and we want to change the lives of the underprivileged in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.”Peshawar Zalmi won the PSL title in 2017, defeating Quetta Gladiators in the final held at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Afridi had missed the final with a finger injury that he picked up during the playoffs in the UAE. In all, in ten matches in PSL 2017, he had scored 177 runs at 25.28 with a strike rate of 173.52, and taken two wickets with an economy rate of 6.75. He had captained the franchise in the inaugural edition of the tournament, before handing over to Darren Sammy this year.

Manchester United remain interested in signing AS Monaco defender Axel Disasi this summer, according to Fabrizio Romano.

What’s the latest Man United transfer news?

The Red Devils and Erik ten Hag appear to be after a new defender this summer, with Harry Maguire’s future up in the air. The England international is attracting interest from Aston Villa, Newcastle and Tottenham, and should he depart, United would be left with just three senior centre-back options.

Napoli’s Kim min-jae appeared to be the top target at Old Trafford, and a deal looked like it was gathering real pace, however, it now seems as if the South Korea will make the move to Bayern Munich.

Should that be the case, a swoop for Disasi could be on the cards, according to Romano. The transfer expert took to Twitter in the last 48 hours to share a Red Devils transfer update. He stated that Man United remain interested in the Monaco defender, while Nice’s Jean Clair Todibo is another option.

“Axel Disasi remains concrete name in the list at Manchester United in case Kim Min-jae will end up joining Bayern as expected [next week will be crucial for Kim deal].

“Man Utd also sent their scouts to follow Jean Clair Todibo multiple times — no decision made yet.”

Who is Axel Disasi?

Disasi is primarily a centre-back but can also turn out as a right-back so would bring plenty of versatility to Ten Hag’s side, should a transfer materialise.

The 25-year-old appears to be at the peak of his powers with a career-high €25m Transfermarkt valuation and has been on the books with Monaco since 2020.

During that time, the 6ft 2 France international has made 129 appearances for the Ligue 1 side – 49 of which came during the 2022/23 campaign.

Football talent scout Jacek Kulig described Disasi back in 2020 as a “complete” and “dominant” centre-back, comparing him to Liverpool’s Virgil van Dijk. Kulig labelled his pace, tackling, heading, athleticism, tenacity, timing as his main strengths, saying he “would be an amazing signing for any top Premier League club”.

As per WhoScored, Disasi averaged a match rating of 6.83/10 last season, a better score than Man United’s Raphael Varane, Victor Lindelof and Maguire, and on the ball, he looks comfortable, ranking in the 96th percentile for progressive carries and passes into the final third, as per FBref.

Therefore, he could be a shrewd alternative target to someone like Kim, and by the looks of it, an Old Trafford transfer could be one to watch over the coming months.

Leeds United centre-back Diego Llorente could join Roma permanently during the summer transfer window, according to a new update.

How has Llorente fared this season?

The Spaniard moved to the Serie A giants back in January, having been allowed to leave the Whites on a temporary basis by then-manager Jesse Marsch. The £45,000-a-week defender hasn't necessarily been a key man there, however, featuring in only eight league matches, with just five of those appearances being starts.

In Wednesday's Europa League final defeat to Sevilla on penalties, Llorente was only used as a substitute in extra-time, with Jose Mourinho clearly not seeing him as a key starter throughout the campaign. Despite this, he has still done a solid enough job when called upon, averaging 2.1 clearances and 1.3 interceptions per game.

The Leeds man isn't out of contract at Elland Road until the summer of 2026, but with the Whites now relegated to the Championship, it looks almost impossible that he will stay put.

Could Llorente join Roma permanently?

According to Corriere dello Sport [via Sport Witness], Roma are actually keen on the idea of making Llorente's move a permanent one, having seen enough positives from his loan spell. There is an €18m (£15.5m) buy clause in his temporary deal that can ne triggering, and the Giallorossi are considering it.

They will only sign the 29-year-old "under certain conditions", though, meaning they will likely not be willing to pay the aforementioned amount in the clause.

In truth, it is hard for Leeds to expect Llorente to stay at the club next season, considering they will be plying their trade in the second tier. Ideally, he could continue as a Whites player, but he is a 10-time capped Spain international, and he surely won't be without offers, even if Roma end up choosing not to sign him.

He has been hailed as "heroic" for Roma by BT Sport commentator Dave Farrar, following one huge tackle against Lazio in the Rome derby earlier this season, and he could be an effective permanent signing for them, providing experience and quality for a number of years to come.

Should Llorente suddenly decide to commit himself to Leeds and help them make a swift return to the Premier League, it would certainly make him adored among the fanbase, but it is hard to begrudge him a move away for good, especially at this point in his career.

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza has said the quick fall of Soumya Sarkar and Sabbir Rahman – the set batsmen – cost the side in a chase of 196 in Mount Maunganui

Mohammad Isam06-Jan-2017

Bangladesh captain Mashrafe Mortaza has said the quick fall of Soumya Sarkar and Sabbir Rahman – the set batsmen – cost the side in a chase of 196 in Mount Maunganui. Sarkar and Sabbir added 68 off 40 balls for the fourth wicket before both batsmen exited in a space of 10 balls. The double-strike triggered another Bangladesh collapse, this time they lost their last seven wickets for 44 runs and lurched to a 47-run defeat.”We were hopeful after they made 195,” Mashrafe said. “We were batting positively after losing three early wickets. We were on course to the target but lost the last seven wickets far too quickly.”They [New Zealand] made 15 extra runs at this ground where 180 is a par score. We had two set batsmen chasing well. So when they got out, the match got out of our reach. We did create chances with the ball by taking three early wickets but we didn’t attack with the wind and then defend when the batsmen were hitting down wind.”Although Sarkar’s wicket contributed to the slide, he briefly found form with 39 off 26 balls, including three fours and two sixes, after scores of 0 and 1 in his last two innings. In fact, it was Sarkar’s first 30-plus score in international cricket since March last year. Mashrafe termed Sarkar’s effort as a “positive sign” but rued the lost opportunity.”He [Sarkar] is back in runs after some time, so he must also be feeling better,” Mashrafe said. “But he lost an opportunity to make a big score. It would have helped us because he was playing their pace well.”While Bangladesh struggled to come to come to terms with the wind, Colin Munro used it an ally to hammer seven sixes during his 52-ball century.”Munro didn’t start off with his shots early because they had lost three early wickets,” Mashrafe said. “Munro was constantly targeting to hit down wind. We couldn’t stop him from doing that. We knew his style of batting. He got out off the first ball in the last game. We failed to take advantage of the opportunity we created ourselves. I don’t think it has anything to do with Munro or anyone. We have the ability to keep creating opportunities but we should capitalise on it.”

Newcastle United cannot be discounted in the potential race to sign Tottenham Hotspur striker Harry Kane ahead of the summer window.

How much would Harry Kane cost?

Eddie Howe's side face a big clash on the weekend against the England captain and his north London side with the Lilywhites attempting to close the gap on the top four.

And the future of the 29-year-old remains up for debate ahead of the summer transfer window with a number of clubs believed to be showing an interest.

Spurs are also still keen to tie their all-time record goalscorer down to a new deal with the upcoming summer marking the final year on his current deal.

However, the issues in north London could potentially see the striker seek a move as he did back in 2021 when Manchester City came calling.

With Manchester United believed to be interested in the striker, insider Graeme Bailey has mooted the Toon as a potential landing spot in the summer.

Indeed, speaking on the Talking Transfers podcast, Bailey noted the owners' long-standing interest in potentially making a huge statement with the possible signing of England's captain:

(31:45) "This is the one player, guys, if you remember going back 18 months to when Eddie Howe was appointed, Harry Kane was the one who Newcastle always highlighted as being their marquee number nine signing.

"He hasn't been linked again but I wouldn't rule [them out]. You see Newcastle starting to have little conversations – we're going to talk about another player coming up – I wouldn't discount them making a little sneaky offer for Harry Kane. I wouldn't discount them"

Would Kane be a good fit for Newcastle?

The £200k-per-week Spurs striker is perhaps the only reason the north London side are going into this weekend's clash on Tyneside with even a glimmer of hope of playing Champions League football next season.

Only Erling Haaland has outscored Kane this season with the 29-year-old having provided an impressive return of 23 goals in the league and has more than doubled the tally of the next-highest scorer at Spurs.

Journalist Alasdair Gold has hailed Kane as a "machine" in the past and that is certainly the case as he chases down Alan Shearer's all-time Premier League goals record.

However, would he fit the current set-up at Newcastle?

Alexander Isak has begun to establish himself as the main man in Howe's attack having netted eight Premier League goals in just 906 minutes (via Transfermarkt).

In that sense, a potential arrival for Kane could cause a huge disruption in Howe's squad with their current record signing likely to be shifted out wide where he has played sporadically in the past.

Goals aside, Kane has provided Tottenham with a real creative outlet over recent years and that can be seen through his return of 3.57 shot-creating actions per 90 minutes – significantly higher than Isak's 2.13 (via FBref).

But with the north London side expected to be looking for in excess of £100m for Kane, could this be money spent better elsewhere when they seemingly already have a promising long-term option up top?