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The young opener will face India A over the next couple of weeks having impressed his New South Wales coach, Greg Shipperd, in pre-season

Andrew McGlashan15-Sep-20251:03

Shipperd: ‘Konstas has a lot more clarity about his cricket now’

Sam Konstas has been encouraged to play at the tempo he feels is right in the upcoming four-day series against India A in Lucknow as he begins a run of first-class cricket that will determine his immediate Test future.After making 50 runs in six innings against West Indies, Konstas’ mission to save his Test place starts this week. While what happens in the Sheffield Shield during October will likely prove more relevant than the two games in India there will still be eyes on how he performs, especially in the second match when India A are expected to field Mohammed Siraj in their attack.Related

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Australia A are coached by former national captain Tim Paine and he hasn’t prescribed any particular way that Konstas should go about his work. Konstas has struggled to find a consistent batting rhythm early in his Test career which started with the barnstorming 60 off 65 balls against India at the MCG before he was confronted by tough conditions in West Indies.”I think at times you’ll see some of that [the more aggressive side], but I think people forget that Sam’s still only 19 years of age,” Paine told reporters in Lucknow. “So he’s a long way from being the finished product.”Clearly in Australia we know he’s got a lot of talent. We think he’s going to be a star at international cricket at some stage. He’s obviously in the team, or was in the team, at the moment. But he’s still finding his way [and] what’s the best way for him to play.”At times he’s going to be super aggressive. Other times he’ll trust his defence. He’s working that out and figuring out when and why he needs to do it both. We’ll encourage him this series to play it as he sees it.”There’s going to be times where it’s hard and he’ll have to soak up pressure, but when he’s feeling good and he’s on top we’ll back him in to go hard and put the opposition under pressure. He’s exciting. [You] don’t know what you’re going to get sometimes but that’s a great part of watching him.”Konstas scored a century in a recent New South Wales pre-season game and vastly experienced state coach Greg Shipperd, who has helped mentor him early in his professional career, has seen good signs in his response from a tough tour.Sam Konstas faces a crucial six weeks•AFP/Getty Images

“I have to concur with Usman Khawaja’s recent story about how difficult the wickets were over there,” Shipperd said. “You were able to see that as well, how difficult it was. I think he may have got stuck into a process of not moving his feet as much as we’d like him to in terms of responding to what’s delivered his way and which we’ve seen him concentrate and focus on in his time in preparation here.”The work ethic is fantastic. I think he’s got a lot more clarity about how he wants to go about his cricket and his preparation has been first class. A hundred out here the other day was a good signal to the adjustments that he’s made out of the West Indies, so I’m really confident that he’ll score some heavy runs for us in that first four or so games before that international series begins.”While as the incumbent Test opener Konstas will have most attention him, the Australia A squad also includes Nathan McSweeney who opened last season against India and the highly-rated Victoria left-hander Campbell Kellaway.”Certainly the guy sitting next to me [McSweeney] is right on the cusp,” Paine said. “If he does well here and scores runs at the start of the Shield year, which isn’t too far away, then there’s certainly some positions in that [Test] team come late November that are up for grabs. There’s a couple here and there’s a couple back in Australia that if they start well, they’re going to be right in the mix.”

Tottenham Hotspur are adjusting to a more pragmatic tactical style under Thomas Frank. This has caused several contentious talking points to spring up over the past several months.

Yes, Spurs are imperfect, and improvements are needed. But they are also fifth in the Premier League after 11 matches, and have lost only three times.

Goals are being scored, albeit with underlying attacking metrics emphasising the work is needed in creative departments. But then, even this comes with the caveat that Tottenham have been without Dejan Kulusevski and James Maddison, arguably the two most creative outlets at the club, since before the start of the season.

Yes, more is needed. And Frank will consider across the next two international-break-filled weeks his options across the park, and how he can water the roots of his philosophy while growing his Tottenham garden into something viewed as new and growing, rather than negative and Nuno-esque.

The changes Frank needs to make at Spurs

Tottenham showed spirit and resolve against Manchester United last weekend, and though Richarlison’s late strike was cancelled out at the death by Matthijs de Ligt’s header, the hosts did not crumble but responded after a wretched first half.

That’s a glass-half-full way of looking at it, sure, but Tottenham must take the positives – as Frank did.

However, the Danish tactician needs to iron out the many creases in this squad, and one sure-fire way to start that process is by forgoing the decision to field Djed Spence and Richarlison as a left-sided partnership. Width and dynamism are needed down the flanks, and the out-of-position Spence and technically limited Richarlison don’t work well together.

When Destiny Udogie and Wilson Odobert connected in the second half, things changed.

Likewise, there must be a wider shift in regard to mentality and confidence. Over the past year, Tottenham have played 20 home games and they have won only three. Much-improved away results and a tougher framework from head to toe have scrubbed away the bitter lower-table position of last year, but there remains a need for more positivity, more fluency and enterprise on the ball.

The forwards need to much do more, yes, but the midfielders have flattered to deceive from this perspective this season, and it’s time for Frank to consider parting with one player who lacks the nuance in his role to thrive and make the system tick.

Frank must drop struggling Spurs star

When Tottenham signed Rodrigo Bentancur from Juventus in January 2022, initially on loan and then for a fee just shy of £22m, they knew they had landed a talented and multi-faceted midfielder.

And yet he’s falling by the wayside in Frank’s system. The 28-year-old hasn’t fallen, not yet, but his performances are becoming a concern, with analyst Raj Chohan even describing him as a “candidate for worst centre-midfielder at a big six club”.

The conundrum here is two-fold: Bentancur has just signed a new contract at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium, raising his salary considerably to around £120k per week.

But the other angle here is that the Uruguayan just doesn’t work alongside Joao Palhinha, a player who has been regarded by many as one of the best Lilywhites players so far this season, having arrived on a loan deal from Bayern Munich in the summer.

So, if Palhinha has to play, his tough-tackling, protective presence in the middle, Frank must start playing a deep-lying midfielder beside him who can drive play forward with surgical passes. Instead, two pragmatic midfielders have been yoked together in a midfield lacking creativity under a manager who is facing criticisms for a pragmatic style of play.

It is not that difficult to identify the potential problem here, especially when bringing Xavi Simons into the equation, the playmaker yet to adapt to the rigours of the English game, and then addressing again the duel absence of Kulusevski and Maddison.

As per data-led platform FBref, Bentancur actually ranks among the bottom 39% of Premier League midfielders this term for progressive passes per 90, underscoring the issues presented in the build-up. Palhinha, unsurprisingly, does not rank highly himself (bottom 11%).

The decision to start Bentancur from the bench against Man United – ending the South American’s run of six successive Premier League starts – tells of Frank’s awareness about all this, but then Pape Matar Sarr wasn’t at his best on that day in any case, albeit growing into the game after a shaky start, his energy and optimism a nice counterpoint to Palhinha’s ruggedness.

Much to chew on. Lucas Bergvall has the progressiveness to forge a protean partnership with Palhinha in the centre, but the teenager has not yet nailed down a prominent role under Frank.

Bentancur might have signed a new contract recently, but that does not mean he is unsellable. Conversely, this could provide an insight into a longer-term plan; this summer, Atletico Madrid were among those interested in an experienced midfielder whose stock has now risen from a financial vantage.

If Tottenham are to persist with the anchoring presence that is Palhinha, it might not be a bad thing to ship Bentancur and his limitations out. When the injured parties return, the picture will become a whole lot clearer, and Bentancur may well be absent from the view.

Spurs flop who's been "swallowed in the PL" must be dropped for Odobert

Thomas Frank can unleash Wilson Odobert by ruthlessly dropping this Spurs flop.

2

By
Dan Emery

Nov 10, 2025

When New Zealand and India met in an ICC final for the first time

Himanshu Agrawal07-Mar-2025It is something of a cliché now that New Zealand are typically always underrated but consistently manage to deliver big with low-profile players. And one of the first instances that earned them that reputation was when their men’s team won the ICC KnockOut, later rebranded as the Champions Trophy, in Nairobi 25 years ago.In that tournament New Zealand had their share of players who had been around for a bit. Chris Cairns had made his international debut in 1989, and their captain, Stephen Fleming, had been around for about six years. But true to form since, there were no superstars in the side.In the final, New Zealand beat an India team boasting legends like Sachin Tendulkar and Anil Kumble, and that also had in their ranks Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid, both about four years into what would become storied careers. In the semi-final, New Zealand beat Pakistan, who had greats like Saeed Anwar, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Wasim Akram and Saqlain Mushtaq in their side.Related

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That was New Zealand’s first semi-final win in a global tournament; they had lost the four ODI World Cup semi-finals they had made it to till then – the last of them, coincidentally, against Pakistan at Old Trafford. Playing a final was uncharted territory.”I think if we’re completely honest with ourselves, we were never really rated that highly,” Shayne O’Connor, who took 5 for 46 in that semi-final against Pakistan, said. “But we knew within our team that we were going well, and things were kind of building. We were just starting to get a bit of belief in ourselves. The shorter the game, the more chance a lesser team has of knocking over some big teams. And it just so happened that we knocked over a couple of big teams to get through.”Before facing Pakistan, New Zealand went up against Zimbabwe in the quarter-final. Zimbabwe had just beaten New Zealand 2-1 in an ODI series in Zimbabwe about a week before.”We certainly didn’t want to get knocked out early,” Roger Twose, New Zealand’s leading run-getter in the ICC KnockOut, said. “Over the years Zimbabwe have ebbed and flowed. But at that point in time they were a pretty good team, and [were] probably similar to us – no big names. So we certainly didn’t take them lightly. And, you know, you could easily lose to Zimbabwe.” But the quarter-final went New Zealand’s way – they won by 64 runs.India, whom New Zealand had beaten in the Super Six of the 1999 World Cup, awaited in the title match in Nairobi.Robin Singh made a brisk 13 before he was dismissed by Geoff Allott•Tom Shaw/Allsport/Getty Images”We had a number of young players that were just starting out international careers,” Craig McMillan, who got half-centuries against Zimbabwe and Pakistan in the tournament, said. “We had others that had been around a wee while. So it was a good blend, a good mixture, within that New Zealand team that was going to be pretty consistent for the next three or four years.”McMillan thought the pressure was actually on India in the final, but it didn’t seem that way from the way Tendulkar and Ganguly went about the things at the top of the innings after Fleming put India in. “If you were to ask me what’s the first thing you really remember about the tournament or about playing that final, it was Ganguly and Tendulkar absolutely teeing off against us,” O’Connor, who was taken off after his first two overs went for 16 runs, said. The second-most successful ODI batting pair at the time – and still No. 1, they crashed one boundary after another. New Zealand leaked 37 runs off the first four overs.”To be fair, we’d played Tendulkar and Ganguly previously. So we knew how they played and what they could do,” McMillan said. “Because generally, in one-day cricket, they were very destructive at the top. It happened to us before. We were on the back foot.”The partnership went beyond 100 in the 19th over, quick for that era, and New Zealand seemed lost. But they had a taste of luck when Tendulkar was run-out for 69 after a mix-up with Ganguly, and the opening stand ended at 141 in the 27th over. “That was perhaps exactly the thing we were waiting for,” O’Connor said.But Ganguly went on to get his second successive century – after one against South Africa in the semi-final. It would take something special from New Zealand to stop India’s flow, and they got it when Dravid too was run-out.India slid after that, just 62 runs coming off the final 11 overs, and finished on 264. “They should have got a lot more – [maybe] closer to 300,” McMillan said. “We were actually quite buoyant [at the halfway stage] because we fielded well with those two run-outs. So I felt that in the changing room, there was a feeling of resolve and determination, and a feeling that, yep, this game was up to be won.”New Zealand had successfully chased totals higher than 250 only three times before, but the latest of those had come against Pakistan in the match before.Two in two: Sourav Ganguly followed his semi-final hundred against South Africa with 117 in the final•AFP”I would be lying if I said that we hadn’t thought about or talked about winning the tournament at all,” O’Connor said. “But the only time I can remember talking about what would happen if we won the tournament was in the change room after we had beaten Pakistan, and it never really came up outside of that.”But New Zealand’s optimism was quickly checked. Venkatesh Prasad dismissed Craig Spearman and Fleming to reduce them to 37 for 2. In walked Twose, on the back of match-winning eighties against Zimbabwe and Pakistan.”We were just trying to absorb a little bit of pressure, and trying to play relatively low-risk cricket,” Twose said of his rebuilding stand with Nathan Astle. “We had some depth in our batting. So we steadied the ship, if you like, for that period of time.”Twose hit four boundaries off his first 17 balls. Astle, at the other end, was happy keeping it ticking over. But Kumble had him caught off the last ball of the 15th over. New Zealand were still 183 runs away.The next man in was managing a knee injury, which made him miss the semi-final. He was supposed to bowl only five overs in the final, as he wrote on this site about five years later, but ended up bowling all ten. After all, there was a trophy to play for. Despite his injury, Cairns played the definitive hand in the game.He too started aggressively, with four early boundaries, but when New Zealand were about 150 away, Kumble had Twose stumped for 31 off 35 balls and the pendulum swung once more. Twose still feels the frustration of the dismissal.”As a left-hander, I think [Kumble] was slightly easier to play,” Twose said. “He was able to turn his legspinner over time, but back then he was actually bowling quite fast. It was a just a good-length ball on or just outside off.”I’m pushing forward, trying to maybe nudge it into the off side for a single. And it either carries on with the angle or goes slightly away from me. It doesn’t take much to beat the outside edge, and unfortunately, I think it’s just a matter of millimetres.”Shayne O’Connor went wicketless in the final but he was Player of the Match for his five in the semi-final against Pakistan•Tom Shaw/Allsport/Getty ImagesNew batter McMillan joined Cairns and swept Kumble for back-to-back boundaries in the 21st over. “I always felt that the extra pace he gave you, I could use,” McMillan said. “And sweeping was one of my favourite shots. [But] if you missed it, you’re out lbw. So there was some danger in playing the sweep against him because he bowled so quick and flat. But I just felt that if I could get the ball fine enough, then I could actually use his pace, and it would beat the fielder. So on that small ground, I thought that was a good option too.”Ganguly had introduced Tendulkar into the attack in the 20th over, just after Kumble got Twose. That paid off when McMillan played what he described as an average shot in Tendulkar’s third over, slashing one straight to Ganguly at point. At 132 for 5, New Zealand were halfway to India’s total, but India were halfway through New Zealand too.Chris Harris, another of New Zealand’s allrounders, walked in at No. 7. India were operating with Kumble and Tendulkar for the sixth over in a row, and sensing the slow pitch was supporting spin, Ganguly brought Yuvraj Singh on. Bogged down by spin, Cairns and Harris went at about three runs an over for a nine-over stretch. By the time 15 overs were left to play, the required run rate had gone up to nearly seven runs per.O’Connor, though, reflected on feeling confident at that point. “When our backs were against the wall, we always knew on our day we could beat anyone,” he said. “Because you look at that batting line-up, and [there’s] Astle, Fleming, Twose, Cairns, McMillan, Harris, and even [Adam] Parore – it’s a pretty useful one. So if they were to fire, we were very capable of chasing or setting big totals.”Cairns was set, and past 50, and he had put on 63 with Harris. But the pressure was on. New Zealand needed 70 from the last ten overs.”The key was if we could bat the 50 overs, we were going to win,” McMillan said. “If we got bowled out, that was going to be the difference. I was confident we were going to win because of where we were.”India’s persistence with spin finally ended after 25 overs on the trot, when Ganguly brought Zaheer Khan back for the 44th over. Zaheer responded by conceding only four runs. New Zealand needed to score at close to nine an over in the last five. Only once before had they scored at a higher rate at that stage of an ODI, and that was against Pakistan in the World Cup eight years before.Grin when you’re winning: New Zealand after the final•Tom Shaw/AllsportThe 46th over. Zaheer to Harris, who had been accumulating patiently until then. On 33 off 59 deliveries at the start of the over, he crashed the first and final balls for four.New Zealand were in it. It was going deep. India’s nerve was being tested.India fans far outnumbered their New Zealand counterparts in Nairobi. But each time the ball went to the boundary, even that minority crowd made its presence felt, and the rare New Zealand flag on the ground stood out.With another 30 runs to get from 20 balls, Cairns launched Kumble for a massive six. The cameraman lost it in its flight as it went, and it had to retrieved by a local from a car park nearby. Now New Zealand needed 24 from 19. The telecast showed a supporter on the verge of tears, clenching his fist. Cairns punched gloves with Harris so hard that the latter’s fingers were nearly taken.Next ball, the paddle sweep got Cairns four. Ganguly looked clueless. Cairns could smell the trophy.”An informed, determined Chris Cairns is a pretty hard concept to break,” O’Connor said. “Thankfully, he was the one who’d come off on the day.”Second ball of the penultimate over, Cairns brought up his third ODI hundred. Harris was out immediately after. New Zealand still needed another 11 runs with nine balls left. They got four leg-byes at a crucial stage, and Fleming, sitting with his feet up until then, rose up, pumped.New Zealand needed just three from the final over. Victory was theirs when Ajit Agarkar bowled a high full toss fourth ball, and it was Cairns who, fittingly, swung to deep square leg.The ICC KnockOut was New Zealand’s – their first global trophy.