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The Professional Cricketers Association (PCA) has relaunched its anti-racism campaign in the wake of recent controversies that have affected English football

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jan-2012The Professional Cricketers Association (PCA) has relaunched its anti-racism campaign in the wake of recent controversies that have affected English football. Although there have been no reported incidents comparable to those involving the Premier League footballers John Terry and Luis Suarez, the PCA’s assistant chief executive Jason Ratcliffe said it was a good opportunity to remind those involved in the game of their responsibilities.”There are no cases that we’re aware of but in light of some of the other incidents that are high profile at the moment, we thought it was a good time to make sure it was on people’s radars,” Ratcliffe said. “Over the last few weeks it’s come up in conversation. Thankfully we haven’t got any incidents but there’s nothing stopping us being proactive. We have had a campaign ourselves and we thought it would be timely just to remind everybody of those key messages.”The PCA’s announcement comes a week before Chelsea and England footballer Terry is due to appear in court on charges, which the player denies, of racially abusing a fellow professional. Last month, the English Football Association banned Liverpool striker Suarez for eight matches after the Uruguayan was found to have used racially insulting language towards Manchester United’s Patrice Evra.The campaign, which is supported by former England internationals Mark Ramprakash and Vikram Solanki, the PCA’s chairman, features an advert that will appear on posters in the dressing rooms at all county grounds. The text reads:When the ball hits the deck at 85mph
It doesn’t care what language you speak.
When it reverse swings into your leg stump
It doesn’t care where you grew up.
When it rips back through your gate
It doesn’t care what your religious beliefs are.
And when it traps you in front
It certainly doesn’t care what colour you are.
Neither should you.
“With other sports having high-profile, recent cases of racism, the PCA message is timely and clear,” Ramprakash said. “The game has a well-known reputation for strong on-field sportsmanship, but there are always lines that should not be crossed on or off the field. Racism is one of them, it’s just not acceptable.”The players’ association launched its anti-racism initiative in 2005, fronted by Gladstone Small, but decided the involvement of current players such as Solanki and Ramprakash would help to modernise the campaign. “We’re just making sure we bring it up to date, we get it back on people’s agenda and make sure we’re all aware of our responsibilities,” Ratcliffe said.Solanki added: “Cricket has a global multi-cultural society reflecting the general population and an ability to bridge social divides and prejudices. This acts as a reminder to all within cricket and the wider society that racism of any kind is unacceptable.”The PCA will continue to work with the ECB and the counties to promote the message and encourages players, spectators and officials to report incidents of racism.

A round-up of the action from the first match-day of the ICC Women’s World Cup Qualifiers in Bangladesh

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Nov-2011Centuries from Stafanie Taylor and Juliana Nero helped West Indies Women thrash Ireland Women by 213 runs at the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan Ground in Savar. West Indies scored 276 for 4 in their 50 overs and then bowled Ireland out for just 63 in a one-sided match. Ireland chose to field but had to wait till the 38th over to make a breakthrough. By then Taylor and Nero had put together a 204-run opening partnership. Nero was run out for 100 and Taylor went on to get 107 before she was dismissed in the 47th over. Ireland’s bowlers were wayward and gave away 23 runs in wides. Elena Tice, the 13-year-old legspinner who recently became the second-youngest player to play international cricket, found the going tough and went for 36 in her four overs.The chase was always going to be difficult but Ireland surrendered without a fight. Shakera Selman struck with the second ball of the innings and then Pearl Etienne picked up three wickets to leave Ireland 20 for 4. Wickets kept tumbling and Ireland were bowled out in 30.1 overs. The highest partnership in their innings was 16, while the top score was Kim Garth’s 24. Only one other batsman reached double figures.

Sunette Loubser’s five-wicket haul helped South Africa Women win a close, low-scoring game against Sri Lanka Women at the Narayanganj Osmani Stadium in Fatullah. South Africa were bowled out for just 114 in 37 overs and Sri Lanka looked on course to win at 52 for 2 but Loubser ran through the middle order and tail and Sri Lanka fell seven runs short of the target.Sri Lanka put South Africa in to bat and reduced them to 6 for 2. Shandre Fritz battled and strung together a few decent partnerships. Fritz scored 61 but the last five wickets fell for 16 runs and South Africa were left with a small total to defend. Suwini de Alwis and Sherina Ravikumar took four wickets each for Sri Lanka.Yasoda Mendis scored 20 and helped Sri Lanka start their chase steadily but wickets began to fell when Loubser came into the attack. Sandamali Dolawatte tried to hold the innings together and scored 28 not out, but Loubser’s strikes left Sri Lanka 83 for 9 in the 29th over. Sri Lanka did not give up though: Dolawatte and No. 11 Ravikumar were involved in a remarkable partnership that lasted 19.3 overs but yielded just 25 runs. It looked as if it might take Sri Lanka home, but with six needed off 10 balls to draw level, Ravikumar was dismissed by Chloe Tryon, who finished with figures of 8.2-3-6-1.

Pakistan Women were bowled out for 197 against Bangladesh Women but it was more than enough for a 73-run win at the Shere Bangla National Stadium in Mirpur. Bangladesh had struggled with the bat against Sri Lanka in the two games they played just before the start of the qualifiers, and the trend continued. All of their top four batsmen got starts but none went past 19. Offspinner Nida Dar rocked the chase with four wickets and Bangladesh were bowled out for 124 in 42.2 overs. Throughout the chase Bangladesh struggled to keep up with the required-rate of just under four runs an over.Pakistan had reached 197 thanks to Bismah Maroof’s 79 off 106 balls. After they had struggled early, Maroof put together a 78-run partnership with Javeria Khan. Maroof carried on after Javeria was dismissed and only fell off the fourth ball of the final over. Bangladesh got wickets of all three balls of the final over – there was a run-out of the last ball – but Pakistan had already reached a total big enough for a victory.Bangladesh’s coach Mamatha Maben said the hosts had been a bit sloppy in their first game of the tournament. “We let too many extras go today which helped Pakistan in creating their total and we missed out on some chances to have them on the back foot, whether it be missed catches or poor fielding,” she said. “There is no excuse for our poor batting, especially from the middle order who perhaps came in earlier than they had expected but did not bed in as they should have.”Pakistan’s captain Sana Mir said there was room for improvement from her team, particularly in the fielding and batting departments. “Some of our batters, including myself, made some poor shot-selections today which led to us getting out,” she said.Netherlands Women thumped Zimbabwe Women at the Bangladesh Krira Shikkha Protisthan Ground in Savar, chasing down a target of 146 in just 25.2 overs. Zimbabwe had chosen to bat but crawled in their innings. Early wickets pegged them back and they were never able to put together decent partnerships. Even though the innings lasted till the penultimate ball of the 50th over, they only managed 145. Netherlands’ bowlers shared the wickets around, with offspinner Esther Lanser bagging figures of 10-4-17-3.The chase got off to a rapid start, with Miranda Veringmeier scoring a run-a-ball 47 and captain Helmien Rambaldo smacking 30 off 24 balls. They were dismissed in quick succession but Kerry-Anne Tomlinson took Netherlands home with an unbeaten 46.

Opening batsman Jacques Rudolph, who played the last of his 35 Tests in August 2006, has been recalled for the two-match series against Australia

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Oct-2011Opening batsman Jacques Rudolph, who played the last of his 35 Tests in August 2006, has been recalled to the South Africa Test squad for the two-match series against Australia. Legspinner Imran Tahir and allrounder Vernon Philander also got their first call-ups to the Test squad.Rudolph came in for opener Alviro Petersen. Also missing were seaming allrounders Wayne Parnell and Ryan McLaren who were both in the squad for South Africa’s last Test, in January against India. Graeme Smith will lead the 14-member squad, and AB de Villiers, who missed the limited-overs leg of the series with a hand fracture sustained during the Champions League, will be his deputy if he clears a fitness examination ahead of the first Test from November 9.Rudolph went into a self-imposed exile in 2007 when he signed a Kolpak contract with Yorkshire with the aim of developing himself into a more complete cricketer. His recall was widely expected following an impressive return to South African domestic cricket. He scored four centuries and made more than 900 first-class runs last season, before leading a successful South Africa A tour to Zimbabwe. This year, he came into the South African season after scoring centuries for Yorkshire in the Clydesdale Bank 40 and the County Championship. He has since been prolific in the SuperSport Series, where he leads the run-charts with 568 runs from six innings, including a match tally of 297 against Lions in his most recent outing.”Jacques [Rudolph] will open the batting with Graeme Smith,” selection convener Andrew Hudson said. “His experience and current form make him an asset to South Africa and at the age of 30 he has plenty of good years of cricket ahead of him. Jacques has underlined once again the importance of good domestic form and the fact that it is the gateway to national selection.”Petersen might consider his axing harsh, as the Lions captain also started the season well. In four matches so far, he has scored 369 runs, including a knock of 186 against the Dolphins in the first match of the SuperSport Series campaign. He spent the winter at Glamorgam, where he passed the 2000 runs mark and felt he had done enough to keep his place in the Test side. He will get a chance to stake his claim for a recall when he leads the South Africa A side in a four-day tour game against the Australians from November 1. JP Duminy and Philander feature in both squads, while Parnell and McLaren were also included in the A team.”The A side must be seen as a mix of players challenging for places in the South Africa squad as well as others we have identified as having the potential for the future and whom we now need to test at a higher level than franchise cricket,” Hudson said. “We have to explore our options for the future.”Philander previously played for South Africa in seven ODIs and the same number of T20s between 2007 and 2008. He has performed consistently in the first-class competition for the last two seasons. In the 2010-11 season, he was the fourth highest wicket-taker with 35 wickets at an average of 16.11. He is unlikely to play, with Dale Steyn, Morne Morkel and Lonwabo Tsotsobe in the squad, but has been earmarked as a possibility for the future. While he is not an express paceman, he has become noted for his variations, much like Tsotsobe.Someone who is expected to play is Tahir. The Pakistani-born legspinner became eligible for South Africa in January and was immediately selected for their ODI squad to play India. He made his debut at the World Cup but was initially selected for South Africa’s Test squad to play England in the 2009-10 season, when he had not yet qualified. He has been talked up as the missing piece in South Africa’s attack, which has not had an attacking spinner since Paul Adams.Tahir’s anticipated inclusion was thought to be the final nail in Harris’ coffin, after the left-arm spinner was labelled nothing more than a holding bowler. However, Harris has fought back with impressive showings in his first two SuperSport Series games. His 13 wickets have come at an average of 15.38. On a spin-friendly Newlands pitch, South Africa could field two frontline spinners in a Test match – a rarity for the country that traditionally relies on pace.South Africa squad: Graeme Smith (capt), AB de Villiers (vice-capt), Hashim Amla, Mark Boucher (wk), JP Duminy, Paul Harris, Imran Tahir, Jacques Kallis, Morne Morkel, Vernon Philander, Ashwell Prince, Jacques Rudolph, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo TsotsobeSouth Africa A squad: Alviro Petersen (capt), Farhaan Behardien, Marchant de Lange, JP Duminy, Dean Elgar, Heino Kuhn, Pumelela Matshikwe, Ryan McLaren, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Vernon Philander, Stiaan van Zyl

Mike Hesson, the former Otago Volts and New Zealand A coach, has been appointed as the new coach of the Kenyan national team

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jul-2011Mike Hesson, the former Otago Volts and New Zealand A coach, has been appointed the new coach of the Kenyan team for a two-year term. Hesson, 36, will fill the position vacated by Eldine Baptiste, who had stepped down after Kenya’s poor 2011 World Cup campaign.Cricket Kenya had conducted a performance review after the World Cup and chief executive Tom Sears had said there would be an extensive recruitment process to find a new coach. The result of that search was Hesson, who has been involved with coaching in Otago since 1996.Kenya lost all six group matches during the World Cup and a complete shake-up of the team followed, with captain Jimmy Kamande being sacked and several senior players missing out on central contracts, in addition to Baptiste’s resignation. They then lost six out of nine matches in the ICC Africa Region Division One Twenty20, albeit with a very young side.Hesson joins Kenya after a six-year spell as coach of Otago Volts, during which the team won the State Shield, the domestic 50-over competition in 2007-08 and the State Twenty20 in 2008-09. Hesson also coached New Zealand A, the New Zealand Emerging Players squad and spent time with Gloucestershire as an assistant coach.His first assignment with Kenya will be to prepare the side for the upcoming Intercontinental Cup matches against United Arab Emirates that start on July 25 in Nairobi. Kenya will play UAE in two one-day matches and a four-day game.”Mike has an excellent record of developing players and successful teams, and throughout the selection process [he] demonstrated a real desire and clear vision to take our national team forward,” Sears said. “As well as being a highly-skilled technical coach, he is an excellent communicator, something crucial to the role.”Hesson said he was attracted to the job by the clear drive Cricket Kenya had to revive the national team after recent disappointments. “Having spoken with Cricket Kenya’s key stakeholders during the selection process I was stimulated by the passion shown to drive Kenyan cricket forward. I am very much looking forward to this exciting new opportunity and working with the undoubted talent there is within Kenya.”

Scott Newman top scored with 61 from 57 balls on his return to his old ground, but still finished on the losing side as Surrey beat Middlesex by 21 runs

23-Jun-2011
ScorecardScott Newman top scored with 61 from 57 balls on his return to his old ground, but still finished on the losing side as Surrey beat Middlesex by 21 runs in the Friends Life t20 London derby at The Oval.Having single-handedly kept the Panthers’ run-chase afloat, Newman was eventually dismissed in the final over as Surrey clinched their third win and inflicted a seventh defeat in eight starts on Middlesex.Middlesex made a solid if unspectacular start chasing the Surrey total of 163 for 5 through skipper Neil Dexter and Irish opener Paul Stirling, who added 29 before Dexter edged a Stuart Meaker leg-cutter to the wicketkeeper.Having conceded only a single from his opening over from the Vauxhall End, offspinner Gareth Batty switched to the Pavilion End to snare Stirling lbw for 34 after he missed a reverse sweep.Needing 95 from the last nine overs, Newman moved up a gear against his former side to flay 12 off Meaker’s next over, but Batty restricted Dawid Malan and Newman to six from the 13th over and Rory Hamilton-Brown did even better to keep them down to two from his next over of offspin.The asking rate had escalated to 12.4 with five overs remaining, but the Panthers’ pairing clubbed 17 off Yasir Arafat’s next over with Newman reaching a 46-ball 50. Hamilton-Brown conceded only two from the 18th over and Dirk Nannes leaked only five in the penultimate over to leave Middlesex with too much to do. Newman fell to a Yasir Arafat yorker with two balls remaining.After electing to bat first, Surrey lost opener Steve Davis after 13 balls when he was caught behind to a top-edged pull off Steven Crook, but otherwise it was a roaring start for the Lions.Captain Hamilton-Brown clattered six boundaries in his cameo 20-ball knock for 30, while Jason Roy clubbed the first six of the night off Crook on his way to 32 as Surrey raced to 50 for 1 after five overs.The introduction of Dexter’s military medium pacers and the left-arm spin of Tom Smith sparked the loss of four wickets in a shade more than eight overs. Hamilton-Brown chopped onto his stumps against Dexter, Jason Roy missed a slog sweep to have his stumps rearranged by the same bowler, and Zander de Bruyn nicked to the wicketkeeper to give Dexter 3 for 18.After a tenacious four-over spell that cost only 20, Smith gave way to Tim Murtagh who bowled Gary Wilson to bring together Tom Maynard and Yasir Arafat for an unbroken sixth-wicket stand worth 55 in 4.3 overs.Maynard cantered to a half-century from 37 balls and Arafat added 28 from 17 deliveries, plundering 20 from the last over of the innings from Crook.

Andrew Strauss has said there is “more to” corruption in cricket “than we know about”

ESPNcricinfo staff25-May-2011England Test captain Andrew Strauss has said while there is “more to” corruption in cricket “than we know about”, he had not seen “any resolve” in dealing with the problem and that people in charge of tackling the issue are “woefully under-resourced”. England’s last Test series at home, against Pakistan, was marred by the spot-fixing controversy and Strauss believed not enough was being done to eliminate corruption in the game.”Clearly most of the betting seems to go on in the sub-continent but I wouldn’t say it was just sub-continental players that are involved,” Strauss told the . “My gut feeling is there is more to it than we know about.”It is a very difficult thing to deal with but I don’t think that’s an excuse not to try to deal with it. I haven’t seen any resolve to deal with the issue. It is hard for me to comment because I don’t know what’s going on behind closed doors.”The only input I’ve had is with the anti-corruption people who came round during the World Cup. It seems to me that they are woefully under-resourced. I just don’t think they’ve got the resources to do it properly.”Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif were banned by the ICC after an independent tribunal found them guilty of orchestrating three pre-planned, deliberate no-balls during the Lord’s Test against England last August. Soon after the allegations against the trio surfaced, Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, claimed England’s players had taken “enormous amounts of money” to lose the third ODI at The Oval. Butt apologised for his comments later, but Strauss admitted England nearly pulled out of the next game.Even though England accepted Butt’s apology and withdrew the threat of legal action, Strauss said he had been “quite emotional” about the accusation. “My original view was our integrity had been brought into question. We got quite close to not playing the one-dayer at Lord’s. But over the course of the evening it became a lot clearer to me that actually the right thing to do was to play. We didn’t feel overjoyed to be playing the game or that series but we got through it.”Strauss said he hoped the spot-fixing controversy would trigger efforts to eliminate corruption in the game, but added, “they certainly don’t seem to be getting anywhere nearer to the bottom of the whole spot fixing/match-fixing saga.”

A first win at Hove in 28 years seemed a distant prospect for Nottinghamshire as they were forced to follow against Sussex

11-May-2011
Scorecard
James Anyon bowled superbly in Nottinghamshire’s first innings•Getty ImagesA first win at Hove in 28 years seemed a distant prospect for Nottinghamshireas they were forced to follow on in their County Championship match againstSussex after losing their last six first-innings wickets for 13 runs.The reigning champions slipped from 132 for 4 to 145 all out and had tofollow on 159 behind on day two, with James Anyon taking four wickets and MontyPanesar and Rana Naved-ul-Hasan claiming three apiece.A rare bright spot for Nottinghamshire was the form of Samit Patel, who markedhis return to the England set-up by scoring 63 in the first innings and anunbeaten 49 in the second as Nottinghamshire finished the day on 135 for 2,still 24 behind.The champions, who resumed on 5 for 1, lost three early wickets but werethinking of a first-innings lead when they were 132 for 4 in the 48th over,just 23 runs short of avoiding the follow-on. Samit Patel and Adam Voges were together at that point, having put on 87, but the Australian went down the wicket to Panesar, missed the ball and was stumped by Matt Prior for 41.Samit Patel, having played well for his 63 after being named in the EnglandLions squad earlier in the day, aimed a wild stroke to cow corner as he advanceddown the wicket and was also stumped by Prior off Panesar. It did not get any better as three wickets tumbled on 140.Chris Read threw his bat at one from the impressive Anyon and was caughtbehind, England’s Stuart Broad was bowled by the seamer for a duck by a goodball that came into him, and Steven Mullaney chipped one from Panesar to MurrayGoodwin at midwicket.Mullaney still looked dazed after being hit on the head by a short one fromAnyon just four balls earlier. Finally, Luke Fletcher was bowled by one that kept low from Anyon. Panesar took three wickets for four runs in 14 balls, finishing with figures of3 for 11 off 10 overs, while Anyon claimed three for five in nine deliveriesfor figures of four for 52, his best for Sussex.Following on, Nottinghamshire immediately lost Neil Edwards, who was hit on hisright wrist by Amjad Khan and had to retire hurt before he had scored. Akhil Patel was lbw to Naved-ul-Hasan soon after, before Mark Wagh settled in for a partnership with Samit Patel worth 92.Wagh fell for 48, caught at slip off Panesar. For the second time in the match Samit Patel held up Sussex but was dropped on 15 and 24 by Prior and Ed Joyce, could have been run out on 28 by Andrew Hodd and was missed again by Joyce – a half-chance – on 29. He finished the day a run short of his second half-century of the match, with Graeme Swann beside him on 11.

Canada’s captain Ashish Bagai has praised his side’s bowling and fielding effort against Pakistan, but said the bastmen could not execute the plans of playing their natural games and seeing off Shahid Afridi

Osman Samiuddin at the Premadasa Stadium 03-Mar-2011The status of Wayne Gretzky as the most famous Canadian sportsman of all time would not really have been threatened by Ashish Bagai and his men had they pulled off an Irish – to use the current slang – but dear Lord it would have made them famous. For 83 overs, they threatened a result that would have surpassed even Kevin O’Brien’s heroics on Wednesday night in Bangalore for shock value; one that would not have been dissimilar to Ireland’s other big World Cup win, three years and 50 weeks ago.The instant Shahid Afridi won the toss and chose to bat, under dirty grey skies on a dirty brown surface, Jamaica ’07 entered the room. It was a good toss to lose, Bagai said later, the groundsman having told him it was a bowl-first wicket. And Canada were tremendous, more so given they lost a frontline bowler in Khurram Chohan early. The spirit of Ireland and Bangalore was still floating around in the morning, Bagai said. “It gave us all a little belief in the morning.”At the centre was a quite outstanding spell of precisely the kind of right-arm medium dibbly-dobblers that so often trumps a top side in these conditions. Harvir Baidwan has a reputation for taking wickets and you can kind of see why; his pace is seductively friendly and the lengths are generally full so that batsmen will take chances. Ahmed Shehzad fell for it, and Younis Khan was duped by a lovely curving ball. Two overs to Umar Akmal and Misbah-ul-Haq deserved much more than just one maiden.Harvir Baidwan’s dibbly-dobblers posed serious problems for Pakistan’s batsmen in the conditions•AFPThere was support as well: a lovely hand from the podgy Balaji Rao, who put in a pleasing, unhurried spell of legspin; Rizwan Cheema and Jimmy Hansra more than chipped in as well, leaving their captain satisfied with the overall effort in the field. “Keeping them to 184 on that wicket was a tremendous effort especially after losing one of our key bowlers in the first couple of overs. The six bowlers did a fantastic job and it was a decent fielding effort.”Canada’s problems lie most squarely with their batting. They’ve now scored 122, 123 and 132 in three games. And it’s been fragile enough to sense that even when they were sneaking along at 104 for 3 in the 34th, one wicket could change the game. Until then Zubin Surkari and Jimmy Hansra had been just the men for the job, chancing it and milking it. When Ireland took off in pursuit of 133 in Jamaica, though, and even on Wednsesay night, despite losing wickets, there remained a robustness and calm about them that, to the disappointment of Bagai, was absent in Canada’s performance in Colombo.”The wicket was getting better and better which is very unusual for this wicket. The game plan was to just be positive and because the batting has been a worry, we said we would just play our natural games. A couple of youngsters opened the batting and we said play your natural games and the same for the rest of us. We had a decent partnership in the middle, a couple of good ones, but Shahid [Afridi] came on and he was the difference between the two teams. Our batting worries continue. It’s very disappointing because I thought we had a good chance of putting in a shock performance and getting back on track but that wasn’t to be.”Afridi, especially, looked as if he might pose fatal problems; his bowling is, these days, a handful against most sides but against the Associates he is an entire truckload of trouble. There was a plan in place, Bagai said; the kind sides put out against Muttiah Muralitharan, but plans look best on paper. “We’re very disappointed one guy ran through the batting order. We started off with the approach of trying to milk him for 30 to 35 runs, but once he gets wickets he gets right on top of you and he gets very confident. He gets his variations going and then it gets harder and harder and we were just not good enough today.”They weren’t, but only just. “That’s sport, that’s cricket, you’ve got to pick yourself up. At the end of the day it is sport,” Bagai said. It can be a cruel one.

Tottenham Hotspur are interested in a deal to bring Mattias Svanberg to the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in the summer transfer window.

What’s the word?

That’s according to a report by Italian media outlet 1000 Cuori Rossoblu (via Sport Witness), who claim that, with the 23-year-old’s current contract with Bologna set to expire in June of 2023 and the central midfielder having no interest in extending his stay at the Stadio Renato Dall’Ara, the Serie A side will look to cash in on the Sweden international this summer.

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The report goes on to state that the likes of Tottenham, Everton, West Ham United, Napoli and Fiorentina are all interested in a deal for the former Malmo FF starlet, who looks as if he will be available for a figure of around €20m (£17m) at the end of the current campaign.

Conte would love Svanberg

With it being reported that Antonio Conte is looking to bring in additions to bolster his current options in the middle of the park at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium this summer, it is unsurprising to learn that the 52-year-old is interested in a deal for Svanberg.

Indeed, the 23-year-old has highly impressed over his 35 Serie A appearances this season, scoring three goals, registering three assists and creating five big chances for his teammates, as well as making an average of 1.0 key passes, 0.8 interceptions, 1.1 tackles, taking 1.1 shots and winning 4.3 duels per game.

These returns have seen the £13.5m-rated talent average a SofaScore match rating of 6.87, ranking him as Sinisa Mihajlovic’s eighth-best performer in the Italian top-flight – an impressive feat considering the Rossoblu’s struggles in the league this term.

Furthermore, FBref also rank the £14k-per-week Swede in the top 16% of midfielders in Europe’s big five leagues for shots taken per 90, in addition to the top 28% for non-penalty goals, the top 30% for assists, the top 22% for xA, the top 34% for progressive passes received and the top 33% for blocks over the last 365 days.

These are all metrics that would appear to make the versatile midfielder a perfect fit for Conte’s Spurs, an opinion which an unnamed source in Italy also clearly believes, with the insider stating in comments cited by football.london:

“Svanberg is probably one of the top four or five No 8’s in Europe – that’s how good he is. He’s a very talented young man. He’s playing for a very defensive Bologna side but he can bring a spark to whichever team he plays in.

“Spurs already know him very, very well because of the Italians involved in the club now. Anyone who has seen him play for Bologna will tell you that he’s the sort of player that Conte would enjoy working with.”

As such, considering his particular skill-set, impressive versatility and potential for further growth – not to mention a very reasonable asking price – it would indeed appear a wise for Fabio Paratici to launch a £17m bid for Svanberg this summer, as the 23-year-old would undoubtedly be a player Conte would love to work with at Spurs.

AND in other news: “Consequences for his future”: Gold drops Spurs exit claim, supporters will be buzzing

Rangers defender Borna Barisic came under fire during his side’s 1-1 draw in the Old Firm derby on Sunday afternoon. 

The lowdown

The Gers fell behind after 21 minutes at Parkhead when Jota found the net for the home side, with the Portuguese forward able to steal a march on the Croatian full-back to convert Daizen Maeda’s low cross.

Fashion Sakala later equalised midway through the second half to earn a point which keeps the Light Blues six adrift of the Hoops with just three league matches remaining.

Giovanni van Bronckhorst had selected Barisic at left-back in his 4-2-3-1 formation for the third Premiership match in succession, and the 20th overall.

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The latest

Barisic’s lapse in concentration in the lead-up to Celtic’s goal drew plenty of scorn from the watching media.

Heart & Hand, one of Rangers’ official media partners, accused the 29-year-old of ‘sleeping at the back post’, while The 4th Official tweeted that it was a ‘really bad’ error from the Croatian.

On Sky Sports’ live coverage of the game (via Ibrox News), Andy Walker noted that Barisic had been ‘caught on his heels’. Fellow commentator Ally McCoist agreed with that assessment, with the club’s all-time record goalscorer fuming: “Once again, Barisic switches off”.

The verdict

Was Barisic able to redeem himself for his error?

On the one hand, he did win four out of his five ground duels and both aerial battles that he contested (via SofaScore). On the other, the statistics suggest that he offered little when on the ball.

The 29-year-old misplaced nine of the 10 crosses that he attempted and all three of his long passes. In all, he lost possession a whopping 26 times – second only to James Tavernier among all 29 players who were involved in the match.

Barisic certainly can’t afford any more lapses in concentration when Rangers take on RB Leipzig on Thursday, needing to overturn a 1-0 deficit to reach the Europa League final.

In other news, Jordan Campbell was critical of another Rangers player on Sunday