Celtic’s European campaign is on the cusp of coming to an end, but what an adventure it has been.

The Bhoys reached the Champions League knockout phase for the first time in 12 years, collecting 12 points and remaining unbeaten at home, most memorably beating RB Leipzig 3-1 at Parkhead in early November.

However, the first knockout round looks set to be a bridge too far, beaten 2-1 by Bayern Munich in Glasgow on Wednesday night, although Daizen Maeda’s late header does give them a slither of hope heading to Bavaria on Tuesday.

Domestically, Brendan Rodgers’ side sit 13 points clear at the top of the Scottish Premiership, on course for yet another treble, having already hoisted aloft the League Cup, but just imagine how good this team would be if they hadn’t lost their most highly-rated academy graduate.

Jota's return to Celtic

To much excitement, Jota returned to Celtic in the January transfer window, returning from Stade Rennais for a reported £8.5m, 18 months after departing for a Saudi Pro League for a joint-club-record fee of £25m.

The Portuguese winger marked his second debut in hoops with a goal against Motherwell at Fir Park, after which he actually burst into tears, so delighted to be back in Glasgow having endured, as he put it, countless “difficult moments” since departing.

Speaking on TNT Sports prior to Wednesday’s clash with Bayern, Rodgers admitted that Jota “is not quite at the physical level yet” to start as he looks to rebuild his fitness, hence why he’s largely been reduced to cameos off the bench so far.

As noted by Josh McCafferty of the Herald, Jota was “delighted” to be back at Celtic Park, starting as the Hoops smashed Dundee 6-0 last mid-week.

However, despite being widely known as a “superstar”, the returning hero faces some serious competition to get into this team on a regular basis.

Maeda, who currently occupies Jota’s preferred position on the left, has scored 11 goals since Boxing Day, with right-back Alistair Johnston describing him as “one of the most in-form players in Europe”.

The Japanese forward nodded home from close range on Wednesday, thereby becoming the first Celtic player since Joe Craig in 1977/78 to score four or more goals in a single European Cup campaign; Mo Johnston, Henrik Larsson, Chris Sutton, Kenny Miller, Georgios Samaras and Moussa Dembélé all reached three.

Having said all of that, as much as the Celtic support love both Maeda and Jota, as well as Nicolas Kühn too, they may have let the best winger of the lot slip through their fingers.

Celtic lost Scotland's next great superstar

Ben Doak did not spend much of his youth career at Celtic, but his introduction to senior football did come bedecked in hoops, debuting as a late substitute during a must-win match against Dundee United in January 2022, before also coming off the bench for Ange Postecoglou’s team during a famous Old Firm victory three days later.

However, this did not convince the teenager to sign professional terms with Celtic, departing for Liverpool for just £600k in compensation soon after.

During his first two seasons on Merseyside, Doak saw first-team opportunities limited, making only ten appearances, but has exploded onto the scene since joining Middlesbrough on loan last summer.

Still only 19 years old, he has scored three goals and provided seven assists in the EFL Championship for Boro, while Jota, meanwhile, boasts just two goals and two assists across his time at Rennes and Celtic in 2024/25. There’s a reason why journalist Henry Winter has lauded him as a “huge prospect”.

This may not sound amazing, but let’s have a deeper look at his season stats.

Ben Doak at Middlesbrough (2024/25)

Statistics

Doak’s tally

Championship rank

Goals

3

84th

Goals – xG

+0.45

30th

Assists

7

5th

Expected assists per 90

0.23

17th

Shot-creating action

82

18th

Goal-creating actions

11

13th

Progressive carries

134

3rd

Shots on target %

51.9%

10th

Passes into the penalty area

37

12th

All statistics courtesy of FBref.com

As the table shows, Doak is a high-level dribbler and excellent chance-creator, and his performances on Teesside have certainly caught wider attention, with Don Smith of the Evening Standard reporting that Liverpool rejected a £15m bid from Crystal Palace for his services in January.

Meantime, he’s also made his senior international debut in recent months, trusted by Steve Clark to start all four of Scotland’s UEFA Nations League matches in October and November, repaying the manager by setting up John McGinn’s last-gasp winner against Croatia at Hampden, that helped save the Tartan Army from relegation.

That night, as noted by Gregg Evans of the Athletic, he gave the world’s most-expensive defender of all-time Joško Gvardiol nightmares, with Ewan Murray of the Guardian adding that the Man City man left Hampden ‘bamboozled’ by Doak’s ‘searing pace’.

Martin Watt of BBC Sport labels him a ‘wonderkid’, while Sam Blitz of Sky Sports hails him as Scotland’s ‘new superstar’, hence why Celtic supporters must be wondering what could’ve been had Doak chosen to stay.

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Former PM meets with PCB, UK High Commissioner to quell uncertainty over England tour plans

Osman Samiuddin22-Nov-2022The PCB and the UK high commissioner to Pakistan met with Imran Khan, the country’s former prime minister, in Lahore on Tuesday in a meeting that is believed to have given the Pakistan board assurances that a planned political rally will not disrupt the Rawalpindi Test between Pakistan and England.The venue of the series opener, due to get underway at Pindi Stadium on December 1, has been the subject of uncertainty ever since Imran’s political party, the Tehreek-e-Insaaf (PTI), made clear its intentions to organise a long protest march with its supporters onto Islamabad.The march is due to go through Rawalpindi, approximately 20km from Islamabad, later this week, having been postponed earlier this month following the attempted assassination of Imran in Wazirabad on November 3.Over the weekend, Imran announced he would join the march in Rawalpindi on Saturday, November 26, from where they will eventually move to the capital. England are scheduled to fly out from Abu Dhabi to Islamabad the same evening.The PCB do have a back-up itinerary in place, which would see the first Test taking place in Karachi. However, they did reaffirm their intentions to go ahead with Rawalpindi over the weekend.Ramiz Raja, the PCB chairman, and Christian Turner, the high commissioner, met Imran at his Lahore residence in Zaman Park, where the former PM is recovering from right leg injuries sustained in the assassination attempt.Although he is no longer in power, Imran remains one of the most influential figures on Pakistan’s current political scene – the meeting itself is an indication of that influence. He has been calling for fresh general elections ever since his ouster in April this year and has galvanised his support base behind him in a series of protest rallies. This long march is expected to attract large crowds and though security around Imran will be beefed up, he told the last week that he expects another assassination attempt on his life.As a former Pakistan captain – the country’s most successful – Imran was the PCB’s board patron until his removal from office, and he will be keenly aware of the timing of his rally and its potential implications on England’s series, their first Test tour of the country since 2005.It is believed that Imran assured Ramiz and Turner that the Rawalpindi Test, due to get underway in just over a week’s time, will not be affected by the long march. Fawad Chaudhry, a PTI leader and former information minister, tweeted a video of the meeting and said bilateral relations and issues of mutual interest were discussed.After Rawalpindi, the series moves to Multan (December 9-13) and then Karachi (December 17-21) for the final Test.

Such has been the amount of change in recent seasons that it feels like a lifetime ago that José Mourinho was in the hot seat at Tottenham Hotspur.

The Special One was appointed the club’s manager in November 2019, mere days after the sacking of Mauricio Pochettino, and to say English football was shocked would be an understatement.

However, less than two years later – just before the League Cup final – the legendary coach was sacked, with little to show for his time in N17.

That said, he did make several additions to the team, including one international just sold by the club who has won comparisons to Granit Xhaka and Rodri.

Mourinho's lacklustre Spurs signings

Before we get to the player in question, it’s worth looking at a couple of the other signings made by Mourinho during his time with Spurs, although the unfortunate reality is that most of them didn’t work out.

For example, he was in the dugout when the club spent around £27m on PSV Eindhoven star Steven Bergwijn.

The Dutch winger could, at times, be incredibly exciting to watch and was responsible for one of the best Premier League comebacks in recent seasons, but he ultimately failed to make any real impact in N17.

Fortunately, when he did leave for Ajax in 2022 with a paltry tally of eight goals and eight assists in 83 games for the club, he did so for around £26.4m, almost covering the fee the Lilywhites paid.

Another of the Portuguese manager’s failed additions was Irish right-back Matt Doherty, who joined the club from Wolverhampton Wanderers in the summer of 2020 for a fee of around £14.7m.

While the defender impressed for the Old Gold, he could never quite get to grips with life at Spurs.

Over the next two and a half seasons, he registered just eight assists and three goals in 71 games for the club before his contract was terminated by mutual consent in January 2023.

With all that said, not every signing made by Mourihno at Spurs was a disaster, with one player at least establishing himself in the team for seasons to come, a player who’s been compared to Xhaka and Rodri this year.

The ex-Spurs ace playing like Rodri and Xhaka

With so many of Mourinho’s additions failing to carve out a place for themselves in the Spurs lineup for any considerable period, it should come as no surprise that the player in question is Pierre-Emile Højbjerg.

The Danish international joined the North Londoners from Southampton for around £15m in August 2020, and while he certainly wasn’t the flashiest, or even most popular, of players at the club, he was a regular face in the starting lineup for four years or so.

Across those four campaigns, the “excellent” midfielder, as dubbed by Ange Postecoglou, made 184 appearances for the first team, in which he scored ten goals and provided 16 assists.

However, following Postecoglou’s first campaign as manager, it was decided that the former Saints ace would be sold to Marseille, moving on an initial loan move with an obligation to buy at £17m.

Given the specific way the Australian wants his teams to play, it would be fair to say that this was a move that suited all parties.

Non-Penalty Expected G+As

0.25

0.24

0.20

Progressive Passes Received

1.62

1.68

2.11

Goals per Shot

0.07

0.13

0.13

Expected Assists

0.16

0.19

0.16

Clearances

1.27

1.23

1.31

Blocks

1.14

0.99

1.01

Nevertheless, since joining the French giants, the 29-year-old has been immense and won comparisons to Bayer Leverkusen’s Bundesliga-winning star Xhaka and Ballon d’Or-winning Rodri.

The comparisons stem from FBref, which looks at players in similar positions in Europe’s top five leagues, the Champions League and the Europa League; then creates a list of the ten most comparable players for each one, and in this instance, has concluded that the Spaniard is the fourth most similar midfielder to the Dane, while the Swiss international comes in at seventh on the list.

The best way to see where this comparison has come from is to look at the underlying metrics in which the trio rank closely in both this season for Xhaka and Højbjerg while also including last season for Rodri due to his injury.

When doing this, we can see that all three have similar underlying numbers for important metrics, including but not limited to, non-penalty expected goals plus assists, goals per shot, expected assists, clearances, blocks and more, all per 90.

Ultimately, agreeing to sell Højbjerg in the summer was probably the right decision for everyone, but with the power of hindsight, we can’t help but think his presence in the middle would have helped Spurs pick up a few more points this season.

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اقتحم فريق ليفربول الإنجليزي سباق التعاقد مع أحد مدافعي الدوري البرتغالي، خلال فترة الانتقالات الصيفية الجارية.

ويسعى ليفربول إلى إجراء تعزيزات في صفوف فريقه استعدادًا للموسم المقبل، من أجل المنافسة على لقبي دوري أبطال أوروبا والدوري الإنجليزي الممتاز.

وكان ليفربول تمكن من التعاقد مع جيريمي فريمبونج هذا الصيف، قادماً من باير ليفركوزن الألماني بصفقة بلغت 35 مليون يورو، بالإضافة إلى ضم الحارس المجري الشاب، أرمين بيتشي.

اقرأ ايضاً.. أليسون يحدد وجهته بعد الرحيل عن ليفربول

وأشارت صحيفة “أبولا” البرتغالية أن ليفربول قد دخل سباق التعاقد مع مدافع سبورتنج لشبونة ومنتخب كوت ديفوار، عثمان ديوماندي، في الميركاتو الصيفي الجاري.

وتابعت أن ليفربول أصبح الفريق الخامس الذي يريد ضم ديوماندي، حيث يحظى المدافع الإيفواري باهتمام بايرن ميونخ، آرسنال بالإضافة إلى مانشستر يونايتد وكريستال بالاس.

وتواصل مسئولو كريستال بالاس مع إدارة النادي البرتغالي للاستفسار عن وضع ديوماندي، حيث طالب سبورتنج لشبونة بمبلغ يقارب 50 مليون جنية إسترليني للموافقة على رحيل اللاعب.

المدافع البالغ من العمر 21 عاماً، يمتلك عقداً مع سبورتنج لشبونة سينتهي في صيف 2027، وتبلغ قيمته التسويقية حوالي 32 مليون جنيه إسترليني.

ولعب ديوماندي دوراً محورياً في فوز سبورتنج لشبونة الموسم الماضي، بلقبي الدوري البرتغالي وكأس البرتغال.

وخاض المدافع الإيفواري 46 مباراة سبورتنج لشبونة بجميع المسابقات الموسم الماضي، وتمكن من تسجيل هدفين.

Southampton trolled Manchester City defender Ruben Dias after they avoided the record of becoming the worst-ever Premier League team with a draw.

Article continues below

Article continues below

Article continues below

• The Saints held Man City to a 0-0 draw
• Dias vented his frustration in his post-match comments
• Southampton hit back at the defender on X

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  The Saints managed to grab a hard-fought 0-0 draw against Manchester City at St. Mary's, a result that provided a morale boost for the relegated side. City's strikers, including Erling Haaland, failed to break the deadlock and missed an opportunity to catch up with second-placed Arsenal.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Dias made headlines after the final whistle, but not for his performance on the pitch. The Portuguese international, visibly frustrated with the outcome, voiced his discontent during his post-match interview with directing his anger squarely at Southampton's tactical setup and time-wasting tactics.

  He said: "It's frustrating to play against a team like them. They don’t even try to play, just wasting time the whole game. I don’t even feel like they want to play the game or win the game. They are just sitting around. We tried every way. We had chances, but we didn’t score. It is what it is."

• HOW DID SOUTHAMPTON RESPOND TO DIAS?

  Southampton wasted no time in turning Dias' words into a humorous jab of their own. In a cheeky post on their official social media account, the club wrote: "A point without even trying to play."

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• DID YOU KNOW?

  The point earned on home turf ensured Southampton would avoid matching Derby County’s notorious 11-point season tally from 2007-08, meaning the Saints will not go down as the worst team in the league's illustrious history.

As Aston Villa look to make it five games without defeat in all competitions, they may be forced to do so without both Tyrone Mings and another one of Unai Emery’s key men against Crystal Palace.

Aston Villa injury news

The Villans’ injury concerns have gone under the radar ever so slightly in recent weeks. At various points they’ve been without Ollie Watkins and Ezri Konsa and remain without Ross Barkley, Pau Torres and Amadou Onana. Emery has coped nonetheless, however, and watched on as his side came from behind to defeat Chelsea late on last time out.

With January arrivals Marcus Rashford and Marco Asensio combining for both goals, Aston Villa’s recruitment has seemingly come good at the perfect time once again as they look to push on towards Champions League qualification.

As things stand, those in the Midlands sit just two points adrift of fourth-place Manchester City, albeit having played a game extra than the Blues. It’s certainly a tight battle, and one which could take another twist when they travel to face an in-form Crystal Palace this evening potentially without two key men.

As revealed by Emery, Aston Villa could now be without Morgan Rogers against Crystal Palace as well as Mings in what would be two frustrating injury blows for the Villans.

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Emery told reporters when quizzed on Rodgers’ availability after he limped off against Chelsea: “His wish is always to play even when he was telling me on Saturday he was good. He was telling me he could continue.

“He is important. The idea is to have substitutes performing well. One of them is Rogers. In case he is not available, we can use other players.”

Also asked about his defensive options, the Spaniard provided an update on Axel Disasi, Torres and Mings – telling reporters: “Axel Disasi can play tomorrow. Mings, we will see how he feels. Konsa feels good and Pau is close to adding to us, maybe this week or next week.”

"Fantastic" Rogers is growing in importance

The jury was still out on Rogers when he first arrived from Middlesbrough in January of 2024, but the midfielder has proved any doubters wrong ever since to become one of Emery’s most important players. A driving force behind everything good that this Aston Villa side do, it’s no surprise that the former Manchester City academy man has earned such high praise.

After watching the 22-year-old score a hat-trick in the Champions League against Celtic, former Aston Villa star Stiliyan Petrov told TNT Sports: “He looked like he is going to be a star. He could have scored another two.

“In the second half, Brendan Rodgers changed the tactics a little bit, he put two players to man mark Rogers, and he has just managed to adapt, to move to a different position and find space so he can score goals. He was absolutely fantastic.”

With 11 goals to his name in all competitions so far this season, Rogers’ absence would certainly deal Aston Villa a major blow if he fails to win the race to be fit ahead of his side’s trip to Selhurst Park.

Ever since Ange Postecoglou arrived in north London, it’s been clear that his emphasis lies on attacking football that easy on the eye and overwhelming.

Tottenham Hotspur are an enigma – at their best, they are capable of giving top teams a hiding, but at their worst, are susceptible to the most ignominious of results or stuck on the wrong side of a basketball scoreline.

Scour through social media and you’ll find rival supporters peddling false claims of Spurs whinging about their injury issues, but there is substantial truth in Postecoglou’s indignation on that front.

Tottenham’s season has been decimated by fitness blow after fitness blow after fitness blow. Oh, he’ll die on his tactical hill to be sure, but the Australian gaffer’s electric start to life down in N17 last season bespeaks his and Tottenham’s potential.

In fairness, Spurs were drained of colour and inspiration as Liverpool picked them apart in the Carabao Cup semi-final on Thursday, but Arne Slot’s side are probably the best team in the world right now, steamrolling through the season.

Naturally, Tottenham didn’t reach the end of the match without another cruel injury blow.

Richarlison added to the injury list

Ever since Postecoglou arrived, Tottenham have wanted to attack. This has been both a blessing and a curse. Son Heung-min is one of the finest forwards of his generation, but aged 32, he has struggled to match the desired intensity this term and has floundered with the cogs crashing around him.

It doesn’t help that his teammates keep getting picked off, with Richarlison unable to complete the Merseyside clash after pulling up with an issue as he was withdrawn before the break.

Postecoglou resignedly said that it was “another one to add to the list” after the fixture, with Richarlison set to return to the medical room only a month after returning from a hamstring problem that had ruled him out for two months.

Mathys Tel arrived on loan last week to add relief, but Spurs need Dominic Solanke to return from the infirmary if their attacking fluency is to be restored.

Spurs have struck gold on Dominic Solanke

Last month, Tottenham’s injury crisis deepened when Solanke pulled up with a knee injury that will take six weeks to recover from. He’s unlikely to return before the end of February.

Solanke is Tottenham’s club-record signing, brought in from Bournemouth last summer in a deal rising to £65m. Richarlison was the previous number one.

The belated Harry Kane replacement, 27, has posted 11 goals and 6 assists across 29 matches in all competitions this season. This is a decent return, built on the excellent campaign that convinced Daniel Levy to pay the big bucks, with Solanke notching 19 top-flight goals for the Cherries last year.

Solanke isn’t the most relentless of goalscorers, only averaging 2.59 shots per Premier League match this season, as per FBref, which puts him in the bottom 45% of strikers in the division.

He suffered from similar defects in his early days at the Vitality Stadium, with former teammate Junior Stanislas highlighting the many other areas that make him a top forward: “His quality was evident in training. His hold-up play, skills and willingness to run in behind – he was someone you always wanted on your team. He brought so much more than goals.”

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Spurs held off from signing a direct Kane successor last season, but Solanke is now proven as a well-thought-out option, bringing his own take on the No 9 role and not expected to bring the obscene strike record of his predecessor.

Moreover, five of his seven Premier League goals this season have come against teams in the top half of the table, with the other two bagged against Brentford and Manchester United (he also put two past the Red Devils as Spurs advanced to the Carabao Cup semis).

He’s a big-game player and a facilitator for teammates such as Son to find more space in the danger areas and wreak the kind of havoc that Postecoglou’s system, at full throttle, provides.

Described as a “pressing monster”, the England international will be a major player over the coming years and will be one of the biggest driving forces as Spurs push to escape from the rut that they are currently bogged in.

Before long, Spurs’ new striker might be worth more than the legendary Kane, whose £54m release clause at Bayern Munich becomes active during the 2026 January transfer window.

Kane, who turns 32 this summer, has scored 72 goals from 73 matches since joining Bayern from Tottenham in 2023, adding 28 assists. The Three Lions captain’s teammate, Jamal Musiala, has described him as “an incredible player, one of the best in the world”.

Certain fans might be tempted to voice hopes of Kane re-joining next summer when his release clause becomes active, but in Solanke, Tottenham have a most industrious and energetic option.

Simply, £54m would be too heavy a price for a player whose 33rd year would be encroaching. Tottenham have endured plenty of misery in the transfer market over the past few years, but in Solanke, they have a striker capable of offering a multi-faceted approach over the coming years.

Re-signing Kane for such a sum would set Levy back, and the fact that Solanke will soon be worth more than his predecessor bears testament to his importance in Ange’s side

He's worth far more than Tel: Spurs hit the jackpot with "world-class" star

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1

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MatériaMais Notícias

Após dois anos sem poder realizar o tradicional jantar de aniversário uma vez que a pandemia de Covid-19 oferecia grandes riscos, o Juventude voltou a celebrar o dia da fundação do time por meio de um jantar realizado para mais de 600 torcedores e convidados no Salão Paroquial Santa Lúcia.

O evento, que contou com a presença de vários personagens importantes da trajetória Alviverde, também festejou os 20 anos da inauguração do Memorial da agremiação gaúcha.

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>CBF aguarda decisão do TAS sobre recurso; clássico já foi remarcado

Na cerimônia, o Juventude agradeceu aos torcedores pelo grande apoio e fidelidade durante as duas últimas temporadas. De acordo com a instituição, neste período de crise sanitária, os apoiadores foram fundamentais para o acesso e manutenção da equipe na Série A do Campeonato Brasileiro

– Nesses últimos anos, investimos muito em patrimônio. Em diversos aspectos estávamos deficitários. Quem vive o dia a dia do clube, sabe o quanto precisávamos desses aportes. Sabemos que o cobertor sempre foi curto para o Juventude, inclusive neste momento, porém, aos poucos, vamos nos adequando aos novos patamares e à exigência que nós mesmos elevamos de nível – enfatizou Fábio Pizzamiglio, Vice-presidente de Marketing e Comunicação do Ju.

Concluindo, Pizzamiglio pregou a união do time com a torcida do Papo:

– Precisamos estar juntos, com o Jaconi lotado e pulsando, impulsionando nossos guerreiros às vitórias. Desistir jamais. Não será na sorte, será na luta. Como disse nosso presidente: vamos curtir a Série A, mas vamos curtir lutando, seja debaixo de chuva, neve ou sol.

Na época de sua fundação, o Memorial contava com 470 itens relacionados à história do time gaúcho. Atualmente, o local possui mais de 700 troféus catalogados além de medalhas, flâmulas, camisas, documentos e diversos outros itens. Tânia Tonet, Paulo Zugno, Antônio Dall Pizzol, Dalja e Vitória estão entre as pessoas que contribuíram para a construção da coleção e receberam homenagens durante a celebração.

South Africa have caused him more trouble than any other of his regular Test opponents

Alex Malcolm11-Dec-2022Steven Smith and South Africa. Rightly or wrongly, that nation will forever be associated with Australia’s best batter since Sir Donald Bradman.But it’s not just Cape Town and Sandpapergate that link Smith and South Africa together. It is no secret that South Africa have caused Australia’s batting savant more trouble than any other of his regular Test opponents.Bangladesh aside, who Smith has only faced twice, he averages 49 or more against all other Test opponents bar South Africa. To be fair to Smith, his average of 41.53 against South Africa would be the envy of most Test batters. Mark Waugh is lionised in Australia as a modern great and his career average was 41.81.Related

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Explainer – Why David Warner withdrew the appeal against his lifetime captaincy ban

Warner gives up appeal against captaincy ban, says review panel wants 'public lynching'

But for Smith, against the backdrop of his astonishing current career mark of 60.98, his record of just one century and three half-centuries in 17 innings against South Africa is a thorn in his side. The prospect of facing them again in a three-Test series for the first time since the infamous 2018 saga has him eager to prove a point in more ways than one.”I’m really excited,” Smith said following Australia’s series victory over West Indies in Adelaide. “South Africa is probably the one team, they’ve bowled pretty well to me in the past, my record is probably not quite as good against them as some of the others.”Some of the bowlers I’ll come up against, I’ve come up against previously. I’m really looking forward to the series like everyone else. Hopefully, I can get into a nice groove.”He is already in a nice groove. Smith believes he is batting the best he has since 2014 having returned to a more side-on method that incidentally yielded his lone Test century against South Africa in Centurion in 2014.He is fresh off feasting on West Indies in Perth where he scored 220 runs without being dismissed. But he is not resting on his laurels. He was frustrated at missing out on the fun in Adelaide, registering a rare duck in the first innings which stood as a shocking outlier on Australia’s scorecard wedged between Marnus Labuschagne’s 163 and Travis Head’s 175.Such is Smith’s thirst for batting and his thirst for improvement, prior to the fourth and final day in Adelaide with Australia’s two batting innings already completed in the game, Smith was in the nets facing throwdowns with red balls from the coaching staff to prepare for the first Test in Brisbane in six days’ time.”I feel in a good place, batting nicely, feel in good rhythm and I’m looking forward to it,” Smith said. “Had a hit against the red ball this morning in preparation, just changing from the pink, so the focus can now completely go to South Africa and I can’t wait.”He knows too that South Africa are a step up from what he has just been facing. West Indies quick Alzarri Joseph bowled a couple of brisk and decent spells in the two-Test series, nudging 140kph, but Smith largely avoided them. Instead, he had gorged on the mostly sub-130kph offerings from Kemar Roach, Jayden Seales, Jason Holder and Kyle Mayers, as well as the less-than-threatening offspin of Roston Chase and Kraigg Brathwaite.Steven Smith reflects on events in Cape Town in 2018•Gallo Images/Getty ImagesKagiso Rabada and Keshav Maharaj will be waiting for Smith in Brisbane, having dismissed him in Tests three times each. Dean Elgar has oddly picked him up twice too. But Anrich Nortje, Marco Jansen and Lungi Ngidi won’t be shy to test Smith’s revamped method out in the way that New Zealand’s Neil Wagner and England’s Mark Wood had caused him to review his technique across recent summers.”You play what’s in front of you,” Smith said. “Sometimes when you are facing faster bowlers it can be easier to score and things like that than if you’re facing someone bowling 130kph and nibbling them around.”That’s the key to any attack, having that kind of variety so you’re never getting into a rhythm as a batter. I think South Africa provide that; they have Nortje bowling 150kph, Rabada 140-150, then a left-armer in Jansen, and a good spinner in Maharaj. It will be a good challenge for our batters and hopefully, we can continue the way we’ve started the summer.”Smith will relish the challenge on the field. As difficult a prospect as South Africa’s attack is, it will always be more welcome than the constant revisiting of the events of Cape Town in 2018. They are inescapable for him, particularly having just stood in as captain against West Indies in the week David Warner created headlines even while attempting to avoid reopening old wounds.”The cricket we’ve played over the last four-and-half years, we’ve played the right way, we’ve been hard and played in the right spirit,” Smith said. “For us nothing changes, we are just going to continue to go about our business and hopefully continue playing good, entertaining cricket.”Smith and South Africa aren’t a match made in heaven, but they remain a promoter’s dream.

Sinikiwe Mpofu, the Zimbabwe women’s assistant coach, has died aged 37. Her death comes less than a month after her husband, Shepherd Makunura, who was the men’s team fielding coach, died on December 15.According to the Zimbabwe Cricket website, Mpofu was pronounced dead on arrival at a medical facility after she collapsed at her home in Masvingo on Saturday, and a post-mortem to determine the cause of her death was due to be carried out.Mpofu, an allrounder, was part of Zimbabwe women’s first-ever international match in December 2006. She was also the head coach of the Mountaineers women’s team in domestic cricket. Under Mpofu, Mountaineers won the inaugural Fifty50 Challenge – Zimbabwe’s provincial one-day championship for women – in the 2020-21 season. Last season, she led them to another final, where they finished as runners-up in the Women’s T20 Cup.Givemore Makoni, ZC’s managing director, said: “Death has robbed us of a genuinely warm individual, more importantly a loving mother, and deprived so many others, including all of us, of one of the pioneers of women’s cricket in Zimbabwe who went on to excel as a coach at provincial and national levels.”With her sudden passing coming just a few weeks after the death of her loving husband, who was also a part of our national team coaching setup, this is particularly a difficult and painful time for their young children, families, friends and the entire cricket fraternity.”