The most frustrating part is that Tottenham Hotspur are capable of flashes of brilliance. The commanding win over Manchester City, the powerful win on the road against Everton in the Premier League.

But Spurs can no longer calls themselves a team in transition, not with the New Year less than a fortnight away. It is time for Thomas Frank to get the tactics right, and for his players to wipe away the silly mistakes which are hindering progress.

The January transfer window is also drawing close, and while the London club have numerous vacancies that could be filled, there’s little question that improvements are needed in front of goal, with Richarlison leaving something to be desired.

Why Spurs need to upgrade on Richarlison

Dominic Solanke is into his second season at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, but he has been plagued by injuries and has only started one Premier League game under Frank’s wing.

Richarlison has been the leading man at number nine, but it’s clear that he’s not good enough to stand in Harry Kane’s old spot. Indeed, Richarlison might have scored six times in the Premier League this season, but his goals have come in bursts, toiling away at times and drifitng about at others.

In the words of Gabriel Agbonlahor, he is “one of the worst signings in Premier League history.” Injuries have not been kind to the 28-year-old, but he has also struggled to sustain a talismanic role in Tottenham’s starting line-up, ebbing and flowing in conjunction with the general form at the club in recent years.

Richarlison’s Tottenham Career (Prem)

Season

Apps

Goals + Assists

25/26

16

6 + 2

24/25

14

4 + 1

23/24

28

11 + 4

22/23

27

1 + 4

Stats via Transfermarkt

Perhaps a tad harsh, that, but there’s no denying that the Lilywhites have failed to receive bang for their buck after signing the Brazilian from Everton for a whopping £50m figure. Tottenham need to sign an upgrade, but the transfer purses aren’t bottomless, and funds need to be directed elsewhere.

Luckily, Solanke is returning to fitness, and ENIC Group have already signed a young striker who could become a sensation down N17.

Spurs already have the perfect Richarlison upgrade

It’s easier said than done, but Tottenham really need to replace Kane at centre-forward. They need an elite goalscorer, and a leader besides.

Well, ENIC have attempted to complete that big feat with the signing of Mason Melia, who completed his already finalised transfer from Republic of Ireland side St. Patrick’s Athletic at the start of January.

Melia, 18, has already racked up the appearances in his homeland, scoring 21 goals and assisting six more across 71 Premier Division fixtures. Hailed by analyst Ben Mattinson as a “relentless” striker whose under-the-radar emergence has made him a “hidden gem”, Tottenham will begin to see him on the senior stage before the term is out, if he catches the eye for the U21s from the outset.

An athletic and fleet-footed forward who likes to drive through the lines and into space, Melia has spoken of his isolisation of Kane, albeit playing a different brand of attacking football, more direct, less creative.

There is a lot of hype around this young man’s name, and it’s clear to see why. Melia might be a goalscorer first and foremost, but he’s not one-dimensional. Sofascore actually record that he created five big chances across only 29 starts in the league in 2025, complementing his impressive return of 13 goals.

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Richarlison is a pesky forward for defenders to deal with, but he is inconsistent and will not make drastic improvements to his game at this stage in his career.

While the step up to the senior stage in the Premier League is a big one, and has seen many hopeful prospects trip over when making the climb, Melia’s limber frame and powerful running suggests he has what it takes to succeed.

He wouldn’t be the main man from the off, but he has shown a clinical edge and natural athleticism that could see him be the perfect Richarlison replacement.

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Virgil van Dijk said that he wants Mohamed Salah to remain at Liverpool after he returns from the African Cup of Nations, but what about the Dutchman’s own future?

Months of speculation were ended in April when Salah and then the skipper penned contract extensions. Trent Alexander-Arnold did not, but the world-class veterans remain at the club until the end of the 2026/27 season.

Of the two, Van Dijk feels the more likely to remain on Merseyside for the duration of his £350k-per-week deal. Salah’s future is clouded over, a haze descending on the club’s talisman after his post-match vitriol against Red powers that be, kept on the bench by Arne Slot as Liverpool collapsed and drew.

But Van Dijk is 34 years old, and he has not been his usual imperious self this season. It would be a tough task to name one of Europe’s elite centre-halves as likely thriving in this dysfunctional Liverpool system this season, but there are a few who might have made a world of difference, had they been landed during the summer.

Marc Guehi is a case in point.

The latest on Liverpool's interest in Guehi

Guehi came within a whisker of joining Liverpool during the summer. Pursued all through the off-season, Liverpool left it too late, with a deal collapsing at the eleventh hour after the Eagles failed to land a replacement.

This is a player who can not only secure a starting role in Slot’s Liverpool side but replace Van Dijk too.

The England international has established himself as one of the Premier League’s best centre-backs over the past year, and given that he is out of contract at the end of the campaign, FSG are eyeing a shrewd free transfer come the summer.

But Liverpool’s defensive problems are dire. Ibrahima Konate has been woeful this season, Guehi has been immense by contrast. Liverpool perhaps cannot wait for the end of the term to redress their tattered backline.

However, Manchester City are ramping up their own interest in the 25-year-old, and Bayern Munich and Real Madrid are suitors too.

It would be negligible for sporting director Richard Hughes to venture into the winter market without an alternative mind, and luckily, he has such a player in his sights.

Liverpool "in the market" for Guehi alternative

According to transfer insider Dean Jones, Liverpool are “in the market” for Borussia Dortmund star Nico Schlotterbeck as a fallback to Guehi, should that one not work out.

The 26-year-old is one of the best centre-backs in the Bundesliga, and while he is about to enter the final 18 months of his contract at the Signal Iduna Park, Dortmund would seek £50m to part with him at the campaign’s midpoint.

Schlotterbeck is also coveted by Manchester United, Barcelona and Bayern, so Liverpool may not want to hang about if they are indeed serious about bringing him over to Anfield.

Why Schlotterbeck would be perfect for Liverpool

Schlotterbeck has been on Liverpool’s radar for a while, and given Van Dijk’s age and Konate’s form, it might be money well spent, bringing him over to the Premier League in January.

Described as an “absolute beast” of a defender by talent scout Jacek Kulig while playing for RB Leipzig, Schlotterbeck is tall and strong and purposeful on the ball. In fact, as per FBref, he ranks among the top 3% of centre-backs across Europe over the past year for passes attempted, the top 1% for progressive passes, the top 5% for assists and shot-creating actions, and the top 9% for successful take-ons per 90.

This is a modern defender whose skills align with those which Slot needs to make his team tick. Liverpool have had problems in the deep build-up this season, and they need to address this to help create balance and fluidity across the entire park.

We’ve already seen how favourably Guehi compares to Van Dijk, now look at how Schlotterbeck has performed in the Bundesliga, in comparison to the Palace skipper’s Premier League performance.

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German international Schlotterbeck is even more mobile and combative and active in defensive phases, all the while maintaining a crispness in possession that does not detract from retention.

Bundesliga 25/26 – Nico Schlotterbeck

Stats (* per game)

#

Matches (starts)

10 (10)

Goals

1

Assists

1

Touches*

82.0

Pass completion

57.6 (88%)

Key passes*

0.3

Ball recoveries*

4.9

Dribbles*

0.4

Tackles + interceptions*

3.4

Clearances*

4.5

Duels (won)*

5.6 (66%)

Errors made

0

Data via Sofascore

Perhaps most significantly, he hasn’t made a single mistake in the Bundesliga this season. Given the severity of Liverpool’s defensive errors throughout the campaign, such a serene ball-playing presence could go down a treat for a defence in disrepair.

Would FSG want to pay a sum of £50m this winter? Hardly likely. However, desperate times call for desperate measures, and Liverpool need to sign a centre-back for the second half of the season.

To opt against doing so would potentially have huge ramifications relating to Champions League qualification and challenging for silverware in Europe’s elite club competition and the FA Cup.

This new tactical paradigm in the Premier League has caught Liverpool unawares. Slot’s side have been susceptible to set-pieces and the directness of play that wasn’t so commonplace only a year or two ago. Equally, they are struggling to mete out their own attacking justice from corners and free-kicks.

The 6 foot 3 Schlotterbeck would prove instrumental in helping shape this next version of Slot’s team. Guehi would also be a terrific pick, but this is a defender at the top of his game, and who’s to say he won’t outshine the Three Lions star in the Premier League next season?

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Alex Tudor is congratulated after claiming the wicket of Sourav Ganguly which won Surrey the PPP Healthcare County Championship Photo © AllSport

Surrey were celebrating at Old Trafford today after retaining the countychampionship. But they did not play like champs on the opening day of thefinal match, allowing Lancashire to fight back from 154-7 to reach a total of323.Even coach Keith Medlycott admitted: “It wasn’t one of our bestperformances. There was a lack of basics – and we have excelled in doing thebasics all season.”But it was a mere blemish on another triumphant season for AdamHollioake’s side and, appropriately, it was the Surrey captain who clinchedit, with a brilliant slip catch to dismiss Sourav Ganguly. That earned Surreytheir first bonus point, the only one they needed to retain the title.

Surrey team with the PPP Healthcare Trophy Photo © John Dawson

As the champagne flowed in the Surrey dressing-room, Medlycott touched onthe factors behind Surrey’s success, saying: “I’ve heard a lot of talk aboutSurrey’s showboats and you tend to get that when you are becoming asuccessful side. It means you are doing something right and people areprobably fearful of you.”We are a quality squad. We can pick from 18 or 20 players and they canall come into first-class cricket and produce match-winning performances.The majority of the side are in their prime and that usually lasts three orfour years.”On the influence of Hollioake, he said: “I can use a boxing term for him.If we get a side down he knows how to knock them out – that makes him afantastic leader.”Saqlain Mushtaq claimed 4-81 from 34 overs on a hard, shiny pitch – thesort on which England might have to face him in Pakistan – but Warren Heggfollowed up his century against Leicester last weekend with another actingcaptain’s innings for Lancashire, hammering an unbeaten 93.Surrey lost a couple of early wickets and Hollioake was hurt by a ballfrom Glen Chapple but he recovered to lead his side to 28-2 before acceptingthe championship pennant and going to the other Old Trafford with histeam-mates to watch Manchester United’s European tie.

Group AAfghanistan maintained their unbeaten run in the tournament with a 34-run defeat of Nepal at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in the UAE. Afghanistan lost opener Shabir Noori in the first over but Karim Sadiq and Mohammad Shahzad both made 52 and captain Nawroz Mangal chipped in with 27 to take them 157 for 6. Pradeep Airee was caught behind of the first ball of Nepal’s innings before Anil Mandal and Sharad Vesawkar steadied the ship. However, in doing so Nepal fell too far behind the the asking rate, and could only manage 123 for 6.Netherlands secured an important seven-wicket victory against Denmark at the ICC Global Cricket Academy to keep themselves in touch with the top of Group A. Their disciplined bowling display restricted Denmark to 117 for 9 with captain Peter Borren taking 3 for 14. At the start of the chase Michael Swart was run out without facing a ball, but Stephen Myburgh led the reply. Myburgh and Wesley Barresi completed the victory with an unbeaten stand of 58 which was dominated by Barresi who hit 45 off 30 balls while Myburgh eased to 55.Canada overwhelmed Bermuda by 72 runs to move second in the group. Twenty-year-old Ruvindu Gunasekera hit 83 off 48 balls – his first Twenty20 half-century – to launch Canada towards their total of 175 for 6. Tyson Gorden ensured the innings finished with a flourish with a brisk 39. Two Bermuda bowlers, Dion Stovell and Rodney Trott, bowled their combined eight overs for figures of 4 for 29 but the others couldn’t offer support. Lionel Cann offered Bermuda some early hope in the chase, however when he fell for 33 things fell away as Rizwan Cheema took 3 for 16.Late cameos from Geraint Jones and VV Morea lifted Papua New Guinea to a four-wicket victory over Hong Kong with one ball to spare at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Hong Kong’s total of 131 for 9 was built around Jamie Atkinson’s 52, but there was little support from anyone else as Babar Hayat led the rest with 21. Chris Amini was by far the best of PNG’s bowlers, taking 2 for 15 from his four overs. PNG got off to a steady start, led by Tony Ura, who made 46, but a middle order collapse appeared to have swung the game in Hong Kong’s favour. With 28 needed from two overs, Morea smashed Irfan Ahmad for three fours in the 19th over and Jones smashed Aizaz Khan for six off the first ball of the final over. Jones fell one ball later, but Khan crucially overstepped two balls later and Morea capitalised with another four to leave PNG needed one run from three deliveries. Morea took a single of the penultimate ball too give his team what had looked like an unlikely win a few minutes earlier.Group BCalum MacLeod made the second hundred of the World Twenty20 Qualifiers to lead Scotland to a thumping 52-run victory over Oman at the Sharjah Cricket Stadium in Dubai. MacLeod and Richie Berrington justified Scotland’s decision to bat first by adding 104 for the first wicket. Berrington eventually fell for 30 and three quicxk wickets followed as Scotland stuttured from 104 for no loss to 119 for 4, but MacLeod was undaunted, bringing up his hundred in the 20th over with a six over wide long on. His unbeaten 104 took 76 deliveries and contained six fours and four sixes as Scotland finished with 158 for 5. Oman lost three wickets in the first four overs and were unable to recover, and it took No.8 Amar Ali’s 25 to get them to three figures. Majid Haq was the pick of the bowlers for Scotland, taking 3 for 12 in 3.4 overs.Namibia kept their winning streak alive by pipping Uganda by four runs at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, in Abu Dhabi. Having beaten both Ireland and Scotland, Namibia have established themselves as the surprise leaders of Group B but they were almost undone by a determined Ugandan side. With three overs to go, Uganda needed just 23 runs to win and had four wickets in hand. But Christi Vijoen and Louis van der Westhuizen allowed just nine runs between them in the 18th and 19th overs and the batsmen were unable to get Viljoen away in the final over, managing just one four amidst five singles to give Namibia their fourth straight win. It was Raymond van Schoor who set the table for Netherlands total of 140. He made 60 from 62 balls, before falling victim to Charles Waiswa(3-29) with four balls to go in the innings. Opener Arthur Kyobe led Uganda’s reply with 38.Alex Obanda powered Kenya to a seven-wicket win against Italy although they are still struggling to stay in touch in the tournament. Obanda cracked 79 from 47 balls with 60 of his runs coming in the boundaries to ensure Kenya eased across the line with 13 deliveries to spare. He shared an opening stand of 123 with Duncan Allan who remained unbeaten on 41. Italy had earlier posted a competitive total thanks to Gareth Berg, the Middlesex allrounder, who batted through the innings for his 60.Boyd Rankin’s outstanding figures of 4 for 9 propelled Ireland to victory against USA. Read the full report here.

Rohit Sharma has some unfinished business with Sri Lanka. Not the team but the country. He might have broken all records while scoring that 264 in an ODI against them, but the country itself has not been a happy hunting ground for him. The last time he went there for a bilateral series, in 2012, he returned ODI scores of 5, 0, 0, 4, 4. By some warped logic, Rohit, the next in line for Test debut until then, actually lost those rights to Suresh Raina for the upcoming home season. When he later went to Sri Lanka for the World Twenty20, he managed to face just 63 balls in four innings as India failed to make the semi-finals.Now Rohit goes across the Palk Strait with his Test spot precariously placed. Ever since the two centuries he scored in his debut series, at home against West Indies, he has passed 50 only twice in 17 innings, with a best of 72. Also, whenever India played five bowlers, Rohit was the batsman who sat out: and the numbers suggest he didn’t have much to complain about. Then, during the last two Tests that India have played, under new captain Virat Kohli, Rohit has been preferred to Cheteshwar Pujara, and has batted at No. 3, for scores of 53, 39 and 6. That’s neither here nor there, and it might well mean he might start in a five-batsmen set-up come August 12 in Galle, but he knows he needs big runs if he is to maintain that spot.”It is very priceless,” Rohit told bcci.tv about his spot in the Test side. “It is very close to me. I don’t want to let go of it so easily. It’s not just me. Any cricketer you ask nobody wants to lose that spot. You know how hard you had to work for that spot. For me it was never easy. Let’s make it very clear. I had to wait for five-six years before making my debut. I was scoring pretty heavily in Ranji Trophy. Because we had such a strong middle order at that time, it wasn’t easy. We knew we had to wait.”Now, you know, I stand in a position where it’s in a very tricky position. I definitely want to do well every Test match I play. But knowing how Test matches are played these days, it’s not easy. In fact it was never easy. Test cricket. It is a challenge, and I love challenges.”Rohit knows the frustration of being left out of the Test set-up only too well. Before he lost that chance in 2012, he had been set to make his debut, against South Africa in Nagpur in February 2010, but injured himself doing warm-ups minutes before the toss. “Honestly, during that period when I didn’t play any Test cricket it was quite frustrating,” Rohit said. “Knowing that I was going to make Test debut in 2010, and I got injured, and had to wait three years for it. It’s not easy.”To work hard for that Test cap… I was quite happy with whatever I was doing. I was working hard, I was happy, I was still playing ODIs, but Test cricket is something I wanted to play. Certain things are not in your hands. You can’t do much about it. I had to only wait. But it was worth waiting for those four years. It was good to get a century on your debut, but after my debut it has not been such a great time. I am still working hard, I am still learning, and it was a good experience to play Test cricket outside India.”Had Rohit made his debut back when he was first supposed to, he would have had the privilege of being part of a No. 1 Test side, albeit not for too long. He wants to experience it for himself. “I wasn’t a part of the Test team when we became No. 1,” Rohit said. “So that’s a goal, to be part of the Test team where we become No. 1 in Test rankings. That’s my aim, to bring India back to No. 1. I know it’s not going to be easy, but we have the squad, we have got the guys to do it so I don’t see any reason why we can’t do it.”Rohit knows there is going to be competition for that privilege even if India do rise dramatically in the rankings. India are scheduled to play a lot of Test cricket in Asia over the next two seasons, and that means a five-bowler combination, which leaves little breathing spot for Rohit as a batsman. “When it comes to competition, it is always good to be in that zone,” he said. “You always want to be competing for whatever you do. Just not for the spot, but even when you cement your place, you want to keep competing against the best in the world. I don’t take it as pressure. I always enjoy competition, I have always loved it.”At the end of the day what you do on the field is what matters. When you get an opportunity you have to make the most of it. You are the person in charge, you are the person responsible for what you make of it. It is in your hand what you do. You have all the opportunity. You just have to grab it. How you do it is up to you.”

ScorecardChris Jordan impressed in front of the England national selector James Whitaker•Getty Images

According to England’s cricketing professionals, there are few things more exhausting than a county cricket season – although the pursuit of perfection deserves to be in there somewhere. Approaching the end of a season which a PCA survey has condemned as excessive, it is a fortunate county who can point to a fast bowler awash with vigour.Perhaps Sussex are that county. Chris Jordan’s return from a prolonged absence with a side injury could not take them to Finals Day in the NatWest Blast – a century from David Willey saw to that – but it could work wonders in their attempts to sidestep relegation from Division One of the Championship.Jordan returned 5 for 57 in three spells, the last of them – Ben Cox shouldering arms to a delivery which came back to bowl him – greeted with a swivel and punch of the air in triumph. Steve Magoffin carried over a tray of drinks and handed him one. When Magoffin, who labours as long and hard as any seamer in the country, carries your drinks, you are having a good day.James Whitaker, the national selector, was in situ to watch it, although the dry, moribund pitches of the UAE do not make Jordan a natural pick for the forthcoming Test series against Pakistan: Chris Woakes, if he removes his own fitness concerns, is one fast-bowling allrounder who is probably ahead of him.That Sussex are concerned by relegation at all owes much to injuries that have bedevilled their pace attack all season, but the table insists they are. Hampshire, bottom, are stirring and have a game in hand over Worcestershire, who began four points behind Sussex and a further nine behind Somerset. This match could have a major bearing – and when Sussex’s captain Ed Joyce pulled out an hour before the start with a back injury it would have been easy to become distracted.Instead, Sussex pushed all that aside. “We are not looking at external factors, just how we can study the opposition and impose ourselves on the opposition,” Jordan said. “That was a focus from ball one. I thought we start the tone from the start.”It would not do for Sussex to be too optimistic just yet. They have to bat last on a New Road pitch which has been used twice before and was described by one player as resembling carpet tiles. Worcestershire batted on it in the belief that it can only get worse, although if we keep getting sudden downpours of the one that ended play soon after tea it might bind the surface together and ensure it remains a slow, low seamer.Jordan’s languid approach does not immediately communicate menace, but he was on the money from the start. Daryl Mitchell perished in the slips – a knock-up from Mike Yardy to Chris Nash. When Tom Fell bisected Yardy and Luke Wright at slip Jordan was aggravated enough to rasp his next delivery through Fell’s defences.Worcestershire’s only main resistance came in a third-wicket stand of 80 in 32 overs between Joe Clarke, already tipped by the former England captain Michael Vaughan as a future England player, and Brett D’Oliveira, installed as opener for the closing stages of the season in preference to Richard Oliver. Their departure – Clarke bowled by Jordan on the drive, D’Oliveira gloving a pull against Magoffin – began to a sequence of five wickets for 24 in 43 balls.Remove Jordan from the attack and it became a different game. Worcestershire recovered somewhat against the support bowlers, but lost Jack Shantry at slip and Saeed Ajmal to a lavish slog sweep to leave the majority of a decent crowd nervous about their team’s safety.

ScorecardFile photo – Ish Sodhi’s late wickets meant he finished with the best figures for New Zealand•AFP

New Zealand A claimed the unofficial ODI series against Sri Lanka A with a dominant 117-run victory in Lincoln. No. 3 batsman Will Young’s 85 from 98 deliveries anchored the hosts’ total of 302 for 9, while George Worker, Mitchell Santner and Adam Milne provided supporting innings. Sri Lanka A managed only 185 in response, and were all out in the 41st over. The hosts now lead the four-match series 3-0.Spinners Shehan Jayasuriya and Dhananjaya de Silva had made regular breakthroughs in the first half of New Zealand A’s innings, taking two wickets apiece to have the opposition 111 for four in the 25th over. But Young struck up two fifty-run stands with Santner and Milne, to steady his team’s innings. The tail provided the death-over aggression after Young departed in the 44th over. Jayasuriya finished with figures of 3 for 52.Milne dismissed both Sri Lanka A openers for single-digit scores, and the visitors continued to bleed wickets to both seam and spin. Wicketkeeper-batsman Niroshan Dickwella was the only batsman to register a fifty. None of his team-mates crossed 30, as the chase continued to falter. Ish Sodhi took two late wickets to finish with the game’s best figures of 3 for 39.

Shashank Manohar has in his first act as the BCCI president shifted the treasury office from Chennai to Mumbai, and made the BCCI constitution available online on the board’s official website, fulfilling one of the promises he made after taking charge.Following the decision to move the treasury office to Mumbai, the BCCI has hired M/S Gokhale & Sathe, a Mumbai-based firm, as internal auditor, replacing PB Vijayaraghavan & Co. from Chennai, whose services have for long been engaged by the TNCA. The move, according to a BCCI press release, was “keeping in mind that all tax matters of the BCCI are with the Income Tax Office in Mumbai.”.”Basically, the president wants all the offices, all the documents of the BCCI to be available at one place,” a BCCI official told ESPNcricinfo. Manohar had said soon after his election that the records would be made available at the board headquarters, “so that any member association or a representative of an association can inspect the records at any time”.The BCCI official said there would now be greater logistical convenience. “For example, our IT offices are in Mumbai, but every time there was something, the accounts, we had to get it from Chennai. He wants it [Mumbai] to be a proper headquarters where all sections of the board are working from the BCCI office,” the official said.The official, however, denied that the move was necessitated by the board’s reported dissatisfaction at treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry conducting business from more than one office. “I don’t think there is any point in debating on the fact. It’s a non issue now,” the official said. “In Delhi, he [Chaudhry] had opted for a room in a hotel for an office. That’s all. Nothing more than that. Every office bearer has an office of his own. The secretary is operating from Delhi, the joint-secretary has a small office, the president will have a small office here. That’s always the structure which was in the board.”One of Manohar’s assurances after assuming office was to ensure transparency, and he had said that the problem could be resolved by “putting on the website of the board the constitution of the board, all the rules of the board, any expenditure made by the board over and above an amount of [Rs] 25 lakhs (approx. US$ 38,000), so that people are aware on what activities the board spends their money”.Manohar had sought to address the perception that something was “wrong in the board”. “At the end of the year we can put the balance sheet of the board on the website, with the result it is available to the entire public at large so that there is transparency in the activities of the board,” he had said at the press conference after his election as president.The BCCI has subsequently uploaded a the 52-page constitution, titled Memorandum and Rules and Regulations, that was last revised on September 15, 2012.

Inside two weeks, the UAE has hosted two dramatic Test matches showing the full flavour of longest format of the game. In Abu Dhabi, England almost pulled off victory on the final day but fading light meant the Test ended as a thrilling draw. In Dubai, it was Pakistan chasing a win into the dying moments, as they overcame England’s extraordinary resilience with just 6.3 overs remaining in the day.The venues in the UAE, the second home of Pakistan cricket, have previously been criticised as unhelpful for Tests, due to pitches being unresponsive – a charge that was laid at Abu Dhabi despite the exciting finish. However, Pakistan’s head coach, Waqar Younis, said that the fascinating day five in Dubai was a great advert for Test cricket and the format is very much alive and well.”The last day of the Test match was a good advert for the game, [although] maybe not for us,” Younis said. “I think a Test match going the full distance is an outstanding thing for the game. I think the game of Test cricket won on Monday. I don’t think Test cricket’s future is bleak in any way. Test cricket is the actual cricket and the way Test cricket is going, I think we should appreciate it and there are no dangers to it.”England’s Adil Rashid and Mark Wood shared a 55-run stand for the ninth wicket to frustrate Pakistan in Dubai on Monday, batting for 29.2 overs to stretch the game out towards dusk. Younis applauded both Pakistan and England for their part in the spectacle. “Credit to the boys the way they played the Test, bowlers gave their best and credit must also be given to England, the way they showed resistance,” he said.”Overall the cricket was very good and being 1-0 up is always very handy and we will go [to Sharjah] with same morale and resolve to make it 2-0. I think the way England put up the fight in Dubai on the last day confirmed that they are capable in any conditions, spin or pace, they have got this knack that they are a good team so we don’t have to down our cards in any way.”Pakistan will play their eighth Test match of the year when concluding the series with England, which will be followed by eight months without a Test. The average number of Tests Pakistan play a year is 7-8, comparatively less than India, Australia and England. The situation is compounded by the country being isolated from hosting international cricket at home over security and safety concerns.”That’s an issue, that we play less Test cricket, it has been discussed with the officials as well,” Waqar said. “If you look worldwide, all top teams play 15-18 Tests every year and we play six to eight and maximum we play ten and I think that needs to be improved.”Pakistan have been playing in UAE for five years now and the PCB is involved in the pitch preparation process. However, it is understood that the pitch in Abu Dhabi didn’t meet Pakistan’s requirements. Team management had given instructions for a turning track but there was barely any assistance for any of the bowlers; in Dubai, the strip was shaved of grass to make it a turning track.In Sharjah, the pitch is traditionally known as a flat one with but recently the soil has been changed and Waqar remained unsure what to expect from the pitch. Pakistan has no formal training on Wednesday but the team management are likely to visit the venue in the morning to assess the pitch and the condition.”Our effort is that, since this is our home series, we have to have our strength,” said Waqar. “In Sharjah there is some spin and reverse swing but traditionally it’s a flat pitch. What I have heard is that they have changed the soil so let’s see, but we have to keep our strategy intact.”

Delhi Daredevils have removed Gary Kirsten as their head coach. Kirsten was appointed in September 2013 on a three-year contract, but the former South Africa batsman has been dropped after serving as Daredevils’ coach for just two seasons. Under Kirsten’s watch, Daredevils won only seven out of 28 matches, with 20 defeats across the two seasons. In both seasons, Daredevils occupied the bottom rungs: they finished last in 2014 and second from last in 2015.According to Hemant Dua, the Daredevils chief executive, the GMR Group, the owners of the franchise, were not impressed by the team’s lack of progress in the last two seasons. “We have grown, but the [GMR Group] board took a decision that it was not working and then we decided to let him go,” Dua told ESPNcricinfo. “It was a mutual decision. At the end of the day everything is performance related. The pressure is always there.”Dua pointed out that though Daredevils were involved in “close matches” in the 2015 IPL, it was not helping the franchise. Dua said that the franchise had not yet decided on a replacement.