Despite being lauded as one of the signings of the season and an example of transfer genius by Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp, the press have already begun to speculate about Rafael van van der Vaart’s long term future at White Hart Lane.

The Dutchman has proved a talismanic figure scoring 14 goals in 34 appearances and been instrumental in Tottenham’s run to the Quarter Finals of the Champions League. Whilst he has been quieter of late, he is still a crucial figure as Tottenham rebuild their squad next season and look to qualify for Champions League football once more.

Redknapp’s method of playing van der Vaart has only allowed the side to field one striker for much of the season. With Tottenham clearly on the hunt for a World Class forward capable of delivering 20-plus goals a season, certain journalists have begun to speculate that such a striker would be incompatible with the former Real Madrid man and that his days at Spurs could be numbered. But this is a player with vast experience who has galvanised an otherwise youthful side. Could this speculation simply be attributed to idle journalists looking for headlines?

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Admittedly English football is lacking in groundbreaking headlines at the time of writing. With the title all but won by Manchester United following their defeat of Chelsea, the only other shock on the pitch this weekend was Arsenal’s defeat by Stoke. With the Alejandro Faurlín saga at QPR seemingly settled and their promotion to the Premier League confirmed, it is only natural that the tabloids look for outlandish stories to fill their pages.

The speculation regarding van der Vaart might well have no substance to it at all, but in drawing a response and reaction from readers, whether positive or negative, the tabloids have succeeded in their writing. In today’s press environment heavily populated with tabloids and various forms of new media, it is those publications that go against the tide of public opinion and question the norm that draw more attention and, with it, more readers.

Unfortunately, however, speculation can have an adverse affect on players and clubs alike. Even the most professional individuals can have their heads turned by transfer speculation and become unsettled, whilst it can also be used as a bargaining tool by agents hoping to negotiate pay rises for their clients.

In this case, however, Tottenham fans will surely be hoping that it is a case of smoke without fire and that van der Vaart is merely another victim of headline generation. A class performer following his last-minute switch last summer, Spurs fans warmed quickly to the Dutchman. Whilst the side are not without other star players he would be a huge loss to Tottenham. Admittedly the side do need new star striker, but Redknapp would surely look to one that could play alongside the likes of van der Vaart, Gareth Bale and Luka Modric.

And what of the press speculators? With the summer transfer window fast approaching and many sides looking to overhaul their playing staff, expect to see the press take advantage of this fantastic opportunity to generate headlines as players across the country are repeatedly linked with new clubs. Whether there is any major news elsewhere in the World of football will surely define how active the speculators are and whether any of these rumours actually have any substance to them.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

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FootballFanCast.com WORLD Exclusive, Robbie Savage Face in a baby Scan

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Gary Butcher – 4 wickets in 4 balls Photo © AllSport

Surrey’s game against Derbyshire at the Oval starting today had all the makings of a grudge match. Derbyshire were the last side to defeat the Champions in a first class match, but were fined eight points for the condition of the pitch on which Tim Munton took career best figures in the first innings and Surrey collapsed to their second defeat of the season.Since then though Surrey have looked back in neither league competition winning all of their NL and CC games since, mostly by large margins, Derbyshire meanwhile have settled on the bottom of the national league and in the championship are desperate for points to escape the relegation zone, the game against Surrey at Derby was their only four day victory this season. Both teams have lost players to this week’s test squad, Surrey are, as usual, without the services of Stewart and Thorpe, but Derbyshire are once again hamstrung by the absence of Dominic Cork.Other than that Surrey were without Ben Hollioake who made way for Gary Butcher who has played some impressive innings in the second team this year. Ben’s form with the bat has disappointed terribly at times this season with trouble getting started against the spinners and a marked tendency to lift the ball – and do so with insufficient power to clear the picket. He has though, played some significant one day innings and in the last few four day matches there have been definite signs of improvement but during this time Gary, also younger brother of a Surrey stalwart had been pressing hard from elevation. Hopefully the chance to concentrate on his game – and perhaps open the bowling – in the seconds will have the same effect on him that it did on Ali Brown when he was demoted in 1996 – Ali has since built himself into the sides most prolific and one of the countries finest batsmen with an unbroken sequence of 1,000 run seasons at ever higher averages.Having noted at the end of the morning session that Adam Hollioake was having to do without a fifth bowling ace for this game I was comprehensively proved wrong this afternoon by Gary Butcher who took an amazing four in four to rip out Derbyshire’s fragile tail to leave the visitors all out for just 118.First to go was Paul Aldred edging, appropriately to Gary’s elder brother Mark at second slip from the last ball of his seventh over. Then Tim Munton snicked to the safe but improbably located hands of Martin Bicknell at third slip and Dean followed the same way but left handed from the second ball of the over to give him a Hat-Trick before Gary struck yet again having the Wharton LBW to wrap up the innings. It brought Butcher his best figures by far for Surrey although not the best of his career (he took 7-77 for Glamorgan against Gloucestershire in 1996). It also made him the fifth Surrey bowler to take five in an innings so far this season.Until Butcher’s second spell Bicknell looked the pick of the Surrey attack although, yet again, nobody bowled less than well, for Derbyshire only top scorer Dowman, Di Venuto and wicket keeper Sutton ever looked comfortable on a blameless wicket. Given the circumstances and the quality of the bowling Dowman is to be congratulated on his 36 – he was also the only Derbyshire batsman to pass his average for the season. Derbyshire’s management should be less proud of their team selection, visitors to the Oval who bring a long tail can expect to fare little better than this – in recent years the England side have given enough televised demonstrations of frail tail syndrome to teach anyone that.Surrey, who had succumbed for 138 in their first innings at Derby continued to exact their revenge when they batted – Mark Butcher led the way as the home side set off at nearly a run a ball before easing back to a rate around the three and a half mark as they raced towards and then past Derbyshire’s total without the loss of a wicket, but he would have had to build a colossal total in order to win bragging rights in the family tonight.The first wicket did not fall until the score was on 137 when Matt Cassar, bowling from the Vauxhall end won an LBW decision with a Yorker that pitched on Ian Ward’s foot. Ward had played well for his 57. Butcher, too, fell before the close of play, caught from a skied hook by Stubbings from Aldred’s bowling as he sought to hasten the scoring rate when two men were set back for the shot, it was a poor, but typically selfless, end to an excellent innings.In this match the new batting points system and with the close situation at the top of division one, with maximum points only arriving at 400 will force Surrey to bat with some caution to maximise their already high chances of reaching that high mark for the fourth time this season.Derbyshire will pray in vain for the rain forecast to fall on Saturday to come early save them from what seems an inevitable, huge defeat, Surrey will sleep easy on what should be a seventh consecutive comfortable win. However, spare a thought for Derbyshire, like Glamorgan last season they won the toss on a humid morning here and was faced by a choice that came close to a direct decision of whether to be beaten by the spinners or the quick bowlers of a side on a roll that clearly and thoroughly plans and expects to win the championship.That his victims were tail-enders does nothing to diminish the enormity of Gary Butcher’s achievement, four in four will never be the top order of the Aussie test side, it is a rare and superb feat of which Butcher can rightly be proud for a long time to come. With Mark’s 78 and two catches it is a day their father and Surrey veteran Alan will remember for a long time too.After the day’s play Gary Butcher and Adam Hollioake had these words to say.Gary Butcher:The ball was doing what I do, I swing the ball, mainly away from the bat and today it was swinging a lot, So I just had to put it in the right place. My best since the sevenfer, in 1996, a long time ago.I was feeling confident after making runs & wickets last week, I’m not a youngster anymore it’s not like I’m going to beoverawed playing for the first team, Luke Sutton was a bad drop thoughI’ve had frustrating year but you just do what you have to to get selected. I had a good winter in Perth [playing for Gosnells] and opened the bowling in grade cricket. Now I’m getting closer to the stumps with my bowling arm higher and getting more swing with the higher arm.Adam Hollioake:It wasn’t a difficult choice to leave Ben out, Gary made 120 & 70 and took 4 wickets last week and looked a good selection move I’d like to say I knew he’d take 4 in 4 but you just look at the players and try to judge the best selections. He was welcomed into the side like everyone is.We have 15-16 quality players, like Man United I suppose, its tough on the good players in the seconds but its a nice position to be in. We’re not looking ahead, we’ll just play each ball as it comes we’ll just do what we can do. If Lancs or Yorks are goodenough to win their last 4 and we can’t do it, good luck to them. If we win here maybe we can win the championship at Scarborough or our next home game, it depends on the others.No bad feeling from the Derby game, I spoke to their captain and chief executive at the National League game. They had no problem and it was not me that had anything to do with the pitch penalty, I was asked my opinion of the pitch and I gaveit. We just look on Derby as a good competitive side who beat us last time out. We were 2nd or 3rd from the bottom then a lothas happened since.I think we are already up (promoted in the National League) but Sunday’s game could win it for us. Being division 2 champions is not a cause for popping champagne corks just chance to compete with the best, not a “double” We will still collect the prize money though!

Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann has described England’s big victory in the first Test as a “minor hiccup”, and has effectively challenged the Lord’s ground staff to produce a quicker pitch for the second match from Thursday.While Lehmann was happy to acknowledge England played the better cricket across the first four days of the series, he denied that his side had been surprised by the enterprise with which the hosts played, attacking at every reasonable opportunity and using relentless pressure and inventive fields to goad the touring batsmen into error.”They were better. Full stop. Better in all three disciplines – they caught everything,” Lehmann said. “Yes they attacked, we knew that was going to be the case. I think that’s the way everyone is starting to play which is great to see for the fans out there, I reckon it’s a great spectacle. From our point of view, obviously a little bit disappointing with the way we played, but we knew they were going to be quite aggressive.”Our preparation has been excellent considering we came off the West Indies and the wickets were very similar, then the two tour games so they’re good to go. It’s a minor hiccup and now we’ve got to get back to it in four days time and play better than we have and show the discipline you require to make big runs on these type of wickets and bat a lot longer.”There was some good bowling from England there’s no doubt about that, full credit to them. But our batters could probably stay in a little bit longer with shot selection I’d say, but having said that they’re quality players and they’ll come back well. From our point of view it’s more of a case of a good, short turnaround for us. I think that’s an excellent opportunity for us to get back in to it and learn from our mistakes and play better next Test match around. Yes they’re one-up, but it’s a long series as we know.”On the subject of conditions for the series, Lehmann did little to hid his distaste for the pitch prepared in Cardiff, even if there seems little evidence that it was anything other than a typical pitch at Sophia Gardens, or that the England management had expressly requested the type of surface they played on.”We know the conditions really well. We didn’t play them really well this game,” he said. “But the bonus is we’re going to places we’ve been to a couple of years ago, most of our guys, and know what we’re going to get in terms of wickets. Everyone talks about loving more pace. Yes, that would be true but we’re not going to get it so there’s no point asking.”Lehmann – “We didn’t play them really well this game but the bonus is we’re going to places we’ve been to a couple of years ago, most of our guys, and know what we’re going to get in terms of wickets”•Getty Images

Pointedly, Lehmann suggested that he expected the “home of cricket” at Lord’s to provide a pitch more in tune with how he views the game, and with how Australia’s spearhead Mitchell Johnson most often succeeds. “You’d hope so at the Home of Cricket,” he said. “I’d just like to see you be able to bowl a bouncer on day one. That’d be nice, but that’s okay.”I think Mitch got better as the game went on. I thought he was better in the second innings. The way he got Ian Bell out was quite exciting for us. And I think Lord’s has more pace in it than this one. End of the day he’s a class bowler. If he gets it right he can certainly run through sides. We have got an aggressive attack – there’s no doubt about that. But you’ve got to get 20 wickets to win the game and we’ve got to find ways to do it.”As for team selections and the place of Shane Watson in particular after another pair of lbw dismissals, Lehmann said there would be much discussion with the selection chairman Rod Marsh between now and Thursday morning about how best to bring the series back to level terms after the result in Cardiff.”He’d be disappointed with that, so are we, end of the day you don’t want to get out lbw all the time and you want to make more runs,” Lehmann said. “He’s doing everything he possibly can to rectify that and first innings was a tight call … so it’s one of those things you’ve got to find a way and that’s probably what we didn’t do as a batting group, not just Shane.”It’s going to be a tight call heading into the second Test. We’ll wait until we get to London and have a look at how everyone pulls up over the next couple of days. It’s a short turnaround and work out what we think the best attack is to take 20 wickets. The pleasing thing again is we took 20 wickets in a Test match – they probably got too many runs but we can get 20 wickets.”You’re 1-0 down in a five Test match series and I’m pretty sure there’s going to be five results, depending on the weather. It’s the same as last time. There’s always results in the game. The game moves forward when Australia play and now when England play it moves very fast. That’s a good thing for the fans.”Lehmann said he would wait on the fitness of Mitchell Starc after the left-armer needed painkillers to bowl on an injured ankle, but insisted he would only play if 100 percent fit. Australia physio Alex Kountouris said Starc would be monitored over the next few days.”Mitchell experienced some pain in the back of his right ankle during the Test match which is common with fast-bowlers,” Kontouris said . “He was in discomfort while bowling but since then has improved significantly. We will monitor him over the next few days but the plan is for him to take part in some light training and we are hopeful he will be available for selection for the second Test beginning on Thursday.”Peter Siddle’s chances of a return to the side are firming.

Virat Kohli walked into the post-match media briefing and, clearly and emphatically, pinned the onus of India’s defeat at the hands of the batsmen. They were, he said, “tentative” and minus the fearlessness he believed that was required to chase down a total of 176 against Sri Lanka.India’s 63-run defeat after lunch on day four of the Galle Test, which they had controlled for the better part of two days and a session, came about after a horror morning session. India lost six wickets for 55 runs in the space of 28 overs and Kohli said that India were not able to “counter what was being thrown at us. We should have been more smart with how we should have gone about playing the spinners in the second innings.”India came in to bat one wicket down with 153 more to win, for only their fifth victory in a Test in Sri Lanka and Kohli said the team had been, “Let down by our batting. There are no excuses there. The need of the hour in the second innings was to take calculated risk when you are chasing a small total in the fourth innings. Our intent was lacking. We let the opposition in today,” Kohli said. He said in the dressing room, “everyone is disappointed” as, “throughout the game we dominated and it is disappointing to be on the losing side.”Kohli cited the example of the Sri Lankan second innings when five down and trailing by more than 100, saying their response was, “a classic case of people going out there and being fearless and our display was a classic case of people going out there and being tentative.” He said that approach was the “major difference is us losing the game because we only had, apart from the way we batted today, an hour and a half which was bad in the game for us yesterday. Throughout the game, we dominated and it feels strange to be on the losing side but that is, sadly or unfortunately, Test cricket. You play one bad session and then you could be lagging behind in the race.”He would accept neither the controversial umpiring decisions, the absence of the DRS nor the state of the wicket to couch his reasons for India’s defeat. “I don’t think the wicket had too many demons in it, cricket is a game of pressure, when the pressure is mounted on you, the wicket looks difficult. If it’s not, it looks easy. The wicket did not really change much in all the four innings, to be honest. The turn and the bounce was pretty consistent throughout.”It was a case of us not playing fearless cricket – we were tentative.” Kohli said. He would not talk about umpiring decisions just before lunch on day three. Nor did he agree that the three decisions, two against Man-of-the-Match Dinesh Chandimal and one against Lahiru Thirimane, that helped Sri Lanka set up a partnership to eat up the Indian lead had proved, “dispiriting.””Well, not at all,” Kohli said. “I don’t want to speak about things that we cannot control, we kept bowling in the right areas and their batsmen took calculated risks and some risks that had some chances came off. Credit to them, they were able to think clearly.”About the DRS he said, “We are not using DRS in this series. It is not an issue I want to debate on.” When the series was over, he said, “we will sit down and figure out how important is it or how much we want to use it. As I said, we only have ourselves to blame. I don’t want to get into the debate of DRS or any other issues in this particular game. We should keep the questions to how badly we played today rather than things that are completely out of debate as of now.”The team management was not about to regret their decision to go with five bowlers and Kohli said he did not, at any stage, think he was a batsman short either, as India went down in a heap in 49.5 overs. The intention of playing five bowlers was to keep each man fresh to bowl four or five overs full tilt at every stage of the match and that he had no complaints from his bowlers.”If I have said I am going to play with five bowlers, I cannot go down after a performance like this and say I wish I had an extra player, you cannot play with 12 players. If I have chosen to play with five bowlers to take 20 wickets then it is our responsibility to bat in a better way which we did not do today. So I am not bringing up any excuses or wishing that we had an extra batsman. We should have done this better with six batsmen.”The difference between the batting in the two innings, he said, had nothing to do with external conditions but just mindset. “Nothing changed in the wicket, the changes that happened [were] in our mindset. Today we were a bit nervous in our approach and that is the only other difference that happened in our approach between the second day and the fourth day.”The specialist batsmen, Kohli said, could have learnt from Amit Mishra, who, other than Rahane, appeared the “most confident batsman out there. He was reading the spinners well and backing himself to get runs while the other batsmen failed.” Mishra batted for over 45 minutes, holding his own against the Sri Lankan spinners, spending more time at the crease with greater reward than all but two of the batsmen before him.Kohli defended Rohit Sharma’s inclusion in the XI: “You have to back your best players”•Associated Press

The decision to send Harbhajan Singh ahead of R Ashwin was, Kohli said, meant to launch a counterattack, help pick 20-30 runs off and put some pressure back on the home team. India had been in trouble far earlier, though, and Kohli countered questions about the selection of Rohit Sharma in the XI by saying that he had been picked because “you have to back your best players. People that you think can be match-winners for you, you have to back them.”He said Rohit had been given more chances again because “Cheteshwar [Pujara] was going through a phase where he wasn’t getting too many runs. So it was a case of giving another batsman a chance. Right now, Rohit has got three-four chances at No. 3. The idea has to been to persist with him.” Rohit’s miserable record in Sri Lanka, where he averages 14.31 in 21 matches across formats, may not instill much confidence in the batsman.Kohli did say, though, that there needed to be a discussion as a “batting unit as a whole about what guys are thinking, what the mindset as a whole is like and are they on the same page as far as executing the plans that we want them to. I think it’s a case of getting to know every particular batsman’s mindset at present and where he stands mentally and how comfortable or how relaxed they are to go out there and play free cricket because that’s what eventually the team needs.”You need people to go out there and play fearless cricket… Today everyone was tentative. You will have a couple of good catches taken, couple of good balls bowled but as long as the intent is there, you are always in the game. But if you are playing in a defensive way as a batting unit throughout the game, then you are always putting yourself under pressure.”

ScorecardKumar Sangakkara fell only three short of a one-day best•Clint Hughes/Getty Images

A wonderful Royal London Cup semi-final which could have fallen either way bestowed its gifts upon Surrey by four runs when Tom Curran held his nerve and prevented Steven Mullaney hitting the last ball for what would have been a match-winning six for Nottinghamshire.So it is Surrey, a coming force again in the county game, who have the chance to follow promotion from Division Two of the LV= County Championship with a one-day trophy when they meet Gloucestershire at Lord’s on September 19. It is Nottinghamshire who despite their midsummer rally once again fail to prove their pedigree with a trophy. On such small margins are conclusions drawn.The stark contrast between the game’s two dominant batsmen – both of whom made hundreds – was just one facet of a match that showcased the county game at its finest and which questioned the sense of staging this semi-final as a Monday day game with the schools beginning a new term. One batsman is famous, even to those who don’t follow the game; one may not be known, even to those who do.For Surrey, there was Kumar Sangakkara, a legend of the game, extolled to the heavens during his several international retirements, a man who could become a Sri Lankan high commissioner, perhaps in London, if he wanted it badly enough. For Nottinghamshire, there was Greg Smith, loaned out to Leicestershire earlier this season, playing his first Royal London Cup game of the season, just another Smith to some, a jobbing county pro taking on the best, proving his worth, so close to glory.Sangakkara’s unbeaten 166 fell only three runs short of his record one-day score made against South Africa in Colombo two years ago. He has been chaired from outfields, chased by photographers, and has been the subject of endless appreciations. Smith’s response – 124 from 134 balls – was his only notable performance of a summer when appreciation has been in short supply. He only played because Alex Hales and James Taylor were away with England. But how pluckily and robustly he responded.”We were nervous,” said Surrey’s captain Gareth Batty. “Notts are a very good team. Kumar is the best player in the world still. What is a disappointment for world cricket is the best news possible for Surrey.”Sangakkara’s will to win remains as strong as ever. He carried Surrey to a Lord’s final with an indomitable innings of character and know-how, an innings which left him exhausted but ultimately triumphant. Michael Klinger saw off Yorkshire in the first semi with a hundred, now Sangakkara – just – did the same: two fine overseas stars earning their corn.Presented with a dry, benign pitch, he took the onus on himself to deliver. His first hundred including only six fours and a six as he worked deliveries towards a 90-yard long boundary and steeled himself for endless to-ing-and-froing. Then as responsibility also rested with him to lift the scoring rate, he stepped it up so successfully alongside Gary Wilson that 109 came off the final 10 overs, such acceleration harder now with five fielders allowed out in the deep, and he dropped to his knees with fatigue more than once, staring blankly into the distance and perhaps wondering what on earth he was putting his body through, at 37.Those thoughts were doubtless never stronger than as early as the fifth over when he took a jittery single off Harry Gurney to get off the mark and, diving to make his ground, demolished the stumps. They rarely looked in danger again as he chipped the ball into the gaps with precision, crucially taking 21 off the penultimate over, from Gurney, with a series of scoops, paddles and reverse paddles, before Jake Ball defeated a shot of similar intent in the last over.Surrey had other heroes. Watching the young Curran brothers for the first time is an intriguing sight. Sam is only 17, a wisp of a lad with a brisk, whippersnapper run-up, trendy haircut and an ability to swing his left-arm pace, as both Riki Wessels and Brendan Taylor discovered in the second and third balls of his first over.Greg Smith played the innings of his life•Clint Hughes/Getty Images

Tom, a comparative veteran at 20, sports a bob; his right-arm is delivered from a more loping run and he looks more of a workhorse. For Tom to cope with the pressure of such a run chase was admirable enough; for Sam to do likewise, as he delayed his return to A levels at Wellington College for a day, was utterly remarkable. Add Yorkshire’s Matthew Fisher and county cricket has witnessed the arrival of two 17-year-olds this season of great promise.Smith came in for Sam Curran’s hat-trick ball, soon to become 17 for 3 when Michael Lumb fended at a wide one. Smith’s response was admirable. Nottinghamshire said they had a dangerous one-day strokemaker when they signed him and he proved as much. If he had made a million, with Hales and Taylor to return at Lord’s, he would not have been sure of a spot in the finalAt first, he was accompanied by Samit Patel, the size of the task encapsulated by his characteristic haunted look. The wider his eyes, the tougher the run chase. There was no doubting the quality of his half-century – he remains one of the best players of spin in the country – but, as so often with Samit, he provided the odd comic moment.In the wake of Sangakarra’s guelling innings, he contrived to be treated for cramp himself, having made 6 from 12 balls. “I know how you feel,” one could imagine him saying to Sanga. His innings ended when he pulled a long hop from Zafar Ansari to deep square.Eighty-four off nine overs with Dan Christian in, and a clubbed half-century to his credit, was very much on for Nottinghamshire. After a chat with Sangakkara, Batty turned to Aneesh Kapil, his sixth bowler, three overs delivered for 23, a fixture in the 2nd XI. It seemed a left-field call, but Christian carved his third ball to one of three players around square on the offside.Notts’ fifth-wicket pair had luck on their side. Smith and Steven Mullaney found themselves together at the wicketkeeper’s end at one stage, but Surrey failed to take advantage. Lofted shots dropped repeatedly over despairing hands. Tom Curran showed a cooler head when he ran out Smith off his own bowling with 27 needed off 17 balls, a little run followed by a little throw.Then, to cap it all, Jade Dernbach bowled the bravest delivery of the season, a daringly slow back-of-the-hand yorker which struck the base of Chris Read’s middle stump. More than any other English cricketer, with the possible exception of Kevin Pietersen (an altogether different story), he is vilified on social media. He deserved recognition for that, especially as Batty revealed the pain he was under.”He epitomises Surrey – he bowled those late overs with a torn calf,” said Batty. Dernbach left Tom Curran to defend 14 off the last over – and with his last ball – full and wide outside off stump, guarding the short legside boundary – he accepted the offer with aplomb.

Bangladesh A captain Mominul Haque has said he will try to make the best use of his experienced line-up against India A. The 15-man squad, which includes 14 internationals, will depart Dhaka on Monday morning to play three one-day matches and two three-day games starting from September 16 in Bangalore and Mysore.The soft-spoken Mominul would only offer a smile every time he was asked about his captaincy; how he will balance it with his own batting, what aspects of his character he would like to bring to his leadership and his personal goal as a batsman. He said he will try to enjoy the captaincy stint like he enjoys batting, and attempt to bring his calm demeanour into his new job.”I haven’t really thought about these things in the last few days,” Mominul said. “I want to enjoy captaincy like I did with my batting. I have to learn a few things because I am a new captain. I will try to recover in areas I am lacking in. I think it will be good to have experienced players in the team. Most of them have played for Bangladesh, and it is a good team.”I never really thought what part of my character will help my captaincy. I have to give it a think. I think my calm personality might help me.”Coach Heath Streak backed Mominul, saying it could be the start of his captaincy career. “Mini [Mominul] has a very good cricket head,” Streak said. “He has a very good temperament. He has shown it in the Test arena.”His hunger for knowledge in cricket is good. Definitely, he would be a future leader. For him, this is a good reward. Hopefully this will be start as a leader.”Mominul, a Test regular but one who hasn’t played an ODI since February this year, brushed aside any talk of pressure. He said he would like to ensure that the form of the senior team is replicated by the A side in India.”The pressure doesn’t really work on me,” Mominul said. “There’ll be pressure at this level, and if one can’t handle this pressure, it is better to stay away from the game. We have to stay consistent with our winning habit. We will carry this thought to India and wouldn’t like to lose it.”If I do well in this format, it will help me later. I will enjoy the game, try to play well, perform, that’s all. We want to win every game. We won four bilateral series in a row, so people expect from us that we will play well and win the series in India.”Streak, meanwhile, was happy to have four fast bowlers in the line-up, saying he will be working closely with them. He was also looking forward to prepare Taskin Ahmed for the “long road” towards Test cricket. Chandika Hathurusingha, the Bangladesh senior team head coach, had said last week that Taskin was close to a Test place but Streak said it was still some way away.Taskin hasn’t played a first-class match since February 2013 due to a long fight with injuries and since making his international debut in 2014, has only been used in limited-overs cricket.”I think it is an opportunity for Shafiul (Islam) and Al-Amin (Hossain) to be looked at by the selectors. Taskin has been playing the shorter format,” Streak said. “We will now try to get him ready for longer-version cricket. But that’s still a long road.”It is hard to put a timeframe on it. We have to prepare him. It is difficult to play only one series of three-day games and then play five-day cricket. It is an optimistic jump. We will be sensible about it. We don’t want to risk him when we have the World T20 coming up next year.”

Durham seamer Chris Rushworth has been named the Professional Cricketers’ Association Player of the Year, and hopes further success can push him towards England honours.Rushworth, 29, claimed 83 wickets at 20.61 in the County Championship, which set a new Durham record, and 100 across all formats. Significantly, 46 of his Championship wickets were taken away from the favourable home conditions of Chester-le-Street.His prolific season follows a 2014 campaign where he bagged 65 wickets in the Championship – during which he went teetotal for the year to raise money for charity – and he hopes that he still has the chance of forcing the selectors’ hand and earning an international call-up.”I am over the moon, it is a massive achievement,” Rushworth said. “To be voted for by fellow players and your peers is a very privileged moment and one I’m very proud of.”Personally this year couldn’t have gone any better, 83 wickets to go past a club record, it’s just a shame we didn’t win anything as a team. Personally, I couldn’t be more pleased and to finish off with this award wraps up a brilliant season.

PCA awards

Reg Hayter Cup for the PCA Player of the Year
Chris Rushworth (Durham)
Overall PCA County MVP
Chris Rushworth
John Arlott Cup for the PCA Young Player of the Year
Tom Curran (Surrey)
Investec Test Player of the Summer
Stuart Broad
Waitrose Women’s Player of the Summer
Anya Shrubsole
PCA Team of the Year
Alastair Cook (capt) (Essex and England)
Alex Hales (Nottinghamshire and England)
Joe Root (Yorkshire and England)
Sam Northeast (Kent)
Luke Wright (Sussex)
Ben Stokes (Durham and England)
Alex Davies (Lancashire)
Stuart Broad (Nottinghamshire and England)
Matt Coles (Kent)
Jeetan Patel (Warwickshire)
Chris Rushworth (Durham)

“For myself this award is massive and the biggest individual award in county cricket. You play against these guys quite a few times a year so to be voted to win this award is a huge achievement and I’m very grateful and proud.”Hopefully it’s the next step to progressing towards further honours. To receive this from guys who have also had fantastic seasons and to pip them to the post is fantastic moment.”The guys that have won it in recent years have gone on to play Test cricket like Adam Lyth, Moeen Ali and Nick Compton, so that is definitely in my sights. Hopefully I have another good season next year and I can put my name in the hat for Test selection.”The Young Player of the Year award went to Tom Curran who claimed 105 wickets across all formats, helping Surrey to promotion in the Championship and the to final of the Royal London Cup. Having been confirmed that his qualification period to become eligible for England is completed at the end of October, Curran has been added to the England Performance Programme Squad for the training camps in South Africa and Dubai.”We have had a great season as a side this year,” Curran said. “Losing in the Royal London Cup final was a huge disappointment but it was still a good achievement and we won the second division of the LV=County Championship which was a special day as well. I’m very pleased for our side and it’s great to be able to contribute to our success.”At the start of the season I was just trying to do the simple things well and then I started taking a few wickets and, as long as the summer is for us cricketers, it has actually gone really quickly and a little surreal if I’m honest.”He also paid tribute to his younger brother, Sam, after the 17-year-old made a considerable impact in his first season. He claimed 22 Championship wickets, 15 in the Royal London Cup and seven in the T20 Blast, while also showing his talent with the bat in almost carrying Surrey to victory in the final at Lord’s and then making an unbeaten 61 in the last Championship match against Northamptonshire.”It has been a very special summer for Sammy as well,” Tom said. “He came in half way through the season when we went down with a couple of injuries and he has shown everyone he has got what it takes. It’s great to be bowling with him and I am so pleased for him this year.”Playing for England would be the ultimate for any young cricketer and that is my goal but I am concentrating on Surrey first and hopefully the rest will take care of itself and I know that is how Sam feels too.”Stuart Broad won the Test Player award after his outstanding Ashes series including the iconic 8 for 15 at Trent Bridge, fellow opening bowler Anya Shrubsole won the Women’s Player of the Year award and Gloucestershire’s Michael Klinger took the double of NatWest T20 Blast and Royal London Player of the Year after his prolific white-ball season.Shrubsole said: “I am absolutely honoured to have won this award and it makes it more special that it is selected by your team-mates, so it is a nice end to what has been a difficult year. Despite not achieving what we wanted as a team, I am pleased with the way I bowled. A special mention must go to Katherine Brunt who was brilliant with bat and ball this summer, she received my vote. It’s nice to do well personally but it was just a shame we didn’t quite regain the Ashes.”Jim Cumbes, the former Lancashire, Surrey, Warwickshire and Worcestershire player and Lancashire chief executive, was given the Special Merit Award to mark his 50 years of service to the game. He was CEO at Old Trafford from 1998 and 2012 and oversaw the major redevelopment of the ground which involved extensive legal battles.

JP Duminy will take no part in the South Africans’ two-day warm-up match at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai as he continues to recover from a cut to his right hand sustained during the third ODI against India in Rajkot on October 18.His stitches will be removed in the next few days and then he will be assessed for availability for the first Test, which starts on November 5 in Mohali. At the moment, team management have listed Duminy as a “50-50” chance. Duminy had to miss the fourth and fifth matches of the ODI series because of the injury, and was replaced in the squad by Dean Elgar, who is also part of the Test side.Morne Morkel’s news is more positive. He is receiving treatment for a quad strain and will increase his bowling intensity ahead of the first Test. There is no confirmation on whether he will play the warm-up game. Morkel had bowled in the nets ahead of the fifth and final ODI but failed to recover fully in time for that match.

Mustering up drive to play hard in a dead rubber is not always theeasiest thing to do. However, India had no such problems when theybeat Pakistan by 33 runs in their final league match at the AsianCricket Council (ACC) Under-15 tournament on Wednesday. BeatingPakistan before the final should give the Indians a psychological edgeover their arch rivals.India took on Pakistan at the Club Aman in Ampang, Malaysia. Comingoff a winning streak, India were under no pressure. It must also besaid that Pakistan were in a similar situation. While India had wonfour matches on the trot, Pakistan had won three without losing any.After playing India, they will take on hosts Malaysia on Thursday.There is very little doubt about the possible outcome of thatencounter. The two sides have been a cut above the rest in thetournament.Winning the toss, Pakistan skipper Kashif Mahmood put India in to bat.The Indians have enjoyed a good run of form with the bat in thetournament thus far. However they were up against by far theirtoughest opponents and could muster only 181.Although this did not seem like a winning target, it proved to beenough for India at the end of the day. The Indian innings revolvedaround wicketkeeper Abhinav Kumar who made a steady unbeaten 52. Bothcaptain Subhash Dixit (25) and Navin Chaudhary (28) chipped in asIndia ended on 181/6 off 40 overs.In response, Pakistan lost wickets at regular intervals and thisstifled their chances of mounting a serious assault on the target. Thewickets were shared all around in the Indian camp with MrigenTalkukdar (2/16) once again producing the best returns as Pakistanended on 148 for nine.India go into the final with an all win record. In the final, to beplayed on July 9 India will again play Pakistan.

Somerset gained a measure of revenge for their recent run of defeats at thehands of their local rivals with a tense eight-run victory. Recovering from20-4, the Sabres battled to record a morale-boosting eight-run victory infront of a Bank Holiday crowd approaching 3,000 at the County Ground.The intense rivalry between the two sides was never far from boiling point,with Jack Russell’s excellent contribution behind the stumps proving thecatalyst for much of the heightened tension. Two late order stumpingsrestricted the home side after the middle order rally led by Keith Parsons(66), Rob Turner and Ian Blackwell.Roundly booed to the wicket by the Somerset faithful, it was Russell’sdeparture to a miscued sweep that exposed the Gloucestershire tail to aninspired spell from Steffan Jones. The Welshman, benefiting from a winter spent in the Somerset gym, eclipsed all other bowlers on show in terms of pace, ensuring the visitors lost vital wickets as their required run-rate rose.The holiday crowd was slow to find its voice, only coming to life in the latter stages as an unlikely hero entered the fray. A greylag goose arrived to patrol the outfield with some aggression as the game was slipping away – but Somerset await his return with great anticipation – as soon as the bird appeared, the wickets began to fall. The bird even saved a couple of vital runs – being hit on the wing during its spell at short fine leg.Despite the odd four-ball, Somerset seem to have made a very canny acquisition in Ian Blackwell. In addition to his batting, the former Derbyshire all-rounder bowled around the wicket from the start of his spell, and gave Somerset a measure of control. He captured the vital wicket of Jack Russell, who, until that moment, in partnership with Alleyne seemed to be timing the run-chase to perfection.As wickets fell, Alleyne still looked capable of winning the game by himself, effortlessly clipping Steffan Jones’ last ball, an off stump half-volley, to the backward square leg boundary. But Caddick was still to bowl the final over with 11 needed for victory. The England fast bowler had earlier chipped in with the bat and pounced for the vital run-out of Matthew Windows, who batted fluently for his 38.Another run-out to the second ball of the final over left Alleyne stranded,as Holloway swooped to run out Mike Smith as he attempted to give his captain the strike with 8 still needed from 5 balls.Earlier, electing to bat first, Somerset recovered from an inspired spell byIan Harvey to post a 181, a total that was no more than adequate on a dryingpitch. Keith Parsons batted responsibly to edge the Sabres towards adefendable total. Gloucestershire bowled and fielded with great discipline -Mike Smith bowling unchanged for figures of 2-11 from his nine overs.The West Country – and the goose – awaits the next instalment of this ongoing battle with baited breath.