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Tottenham Hotspur are lining up a summer swoop for Sven Botman…

What’s the word?

That’s according to the Daily Star, who claim that Spurs are desperate to land the Lille centre-back ahead of Premier League rivals Newcastle United in a bid to appease manager Antonio Conte.

The Magpies narrowly missed out on a chance to bring the 22-year-old colossus to St James’ Park last month and remain among the favourites to seal his signature ahead of next season.

A left-sided and left-footed centre-back is one of the Italian’s absolute priorities when the transfer window reopens and Botman fits that exact profile, with Conte giving the club’s hierarchy his seal of approval.

The Dutch international could cost in the region of £30m.

Conte needs him

This would be the sort of signing that could kickstart an encouraging summer of spending as Conte will need to bolster his playing squad in multiple areas if he’s to continue to improve the club on the pitch.

The January window was a little disappointing but only because there were only two incomings for their four outgoings. Sporting director Fabio Paratici called upon his former club Juventus to sign Dejan Kulusevski and Rodrigo Bentancur.

Out the other way went Dele Alli permanently, and Giovani Lo Celso, Tanguy Ndombele and Bryan Gil on loan, leaving the 52-year-old awfully light on options, particularly in midfield.

But defensively, Spurs have always struggled and that much has been evident in their four defeats in their last six fixtures. Full-back Ben Davies has been playing in a back three due to him being the only left-footed option in the squad capable of playing as a central defender.

That makes Botman not only an appealing prospect but one that Conte desperately needs.

The young centre-back appears to be an ideal fit for Spurs and an ideal fit for the Premier League, at least based on ex-Southampton star Jose Fonte’s glowing endorsement.

“Fonte has played with an array of top-class centre-backs in his career including Virgil van Dijk, Toby Alderweireld, Pepe in the Portuguese national team and Gabriel last season who is now at Arsenal.

“From what I understand of Fonte’s impression of Botman, he thinks he’s the best of all of them,” revealed The Times journalist Duncan Castles (via the Express).

“He describes him as a machine and a man who doesn’t make mistakes and also indicates that for a young player playing alongside an experienced professional, he’s very open to learning and taking instruction and improving his game.”

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Botman played a crucial role in Lille clinching the Ligue 1 title over Mauricio Pochettino’s Paris Saint-Germain side last season, where he featured in 37 games and averaged 3.2 aerial duels won, 3.2 clearances and 1.5 interceptions, via WhoScored.

Then-manager Christophe Galtier deemed him to be a “leader” and since, he’s continued to impress in the French top-flight. The £27m-rated defender remains among Les Dogues’ top-three performers this term, as per WhoScored.

On the above evidence, Paratici could certainly kickstart Spurs’ summer rebuild with a bang by signing the impressive left-sided centre-half, who Conte absolutely needs for next season.

AND in other news, Spurs’ “utterly thrilling” £10.8m-rated dynamo has just fired a big statement to Conte…

Brad Hodge hopes to be fit for the tour game against India © Getty Images

The back injury that prevented Brad Hodge from playing in the Twenty20 international has kept him out of Victoria’s FR Cup match against Tasmania on Saturday. Hodge hurt himself in the dressing room, an event which led to Luke Pomersbach’s hasty inclusion, and Trefor James, the Australia doctor, said he had a minor disc problem.James hoped it was a one to two-week injury and said Hodge’s fitness would be monitored in the lead-up to the tour game against India starting on December 20. “It has caused him considerable discomfort since Tuesday,” James said, “and there is a risk of him further aggravating the injury by playing.”Hodge said the situation was “frustrating”. “Missing a couple of big matches this week has been tough,” he said. “Hopefully this is just a minor setback and I can be back on the park for either the India match or the Twenty20s early in the new year.”Aaron Finch will replace Hodge for the game in Hobart and David Hussey regains the captaincy. A groin injury has ruled out Shane Harwood while Peter Siddle, who took five wickets in the Pura Cup win over Tasmania, and Matthew Wade have been added to the squad. Tasmania have made two changes with Dane Anderson and Mark Divin replacing Ricky Ponting and Nathan Wegman.Victoria squad Robert Quiney, Michael Klinger, Aiden Blizzard, David Hussey (capt), Andrew McDonald, Aaron Finch, Matthew Wade (wk), Adam Crosthwaite (wk), John Hastings, Bryce McGain, Dirk Nannes, Peter Siddle.Tasmania squad Travis Birt, Michael Dighton, George Bailey, Daniel Marsh (capt), Dane Anderson, Luke Butterworth, Mark Divin, Tim Paine (wk), Xavier Doherty, Brendan Drew, Brett Geeves, Ben Hilfenhaus.

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Subramaniam Badrinath: off on the right note © Getty Images

Riding on a 113-ball 120 from Subramaniam Badrinath, the captain, Tamil Nadu began their Ranji One-Day Trophy campaign with a 104-run win over Andhra in Secunderabad. Defending 306, Tamil Nadu’s bowlers turned in a disciplined effort to run the hosts over for 202 inside 44 overs and grab five vital points.Badrinath won the toss and elected to bat, but was probably in earlier than he expected after Andhra had TN at 64 for 3 in the 17th over. What followed was a 160-run association with Kuthethurshri Vasudevadas (63 from 74 balls) at just shy of six an over. In all, Badrinath collected 14 boundaries in compiling his first limited-overs hundred. Ramadoss Naresh provided some end-over fireworks with 29 from 12 balls as TN reached 300 in the final over.Dakshinamoorthy Kumaran, the young right-arm medium-pacer, then removed both Andhra openers in his opening spell. His fellow opening bowler, C Ganapathy, chipped in with the big wicket of Venugopal Rao to leave Andhra with plenty to do. Only Satya Kumar Varma (50) and captain Syed Sahabuddin (40) offered any real resistance.
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VVS Laxman and Arjun Yadav each hit half-centuries to set up a 49-run win for hosts Hyderabad over Goa at Uppal’s Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. Sent in to bat, Hyderabad were resurrected from 18 for 3 to 236 thanks to a series of middle-order partnerships, starting with Laxman and Yadav’s 121 run fourth-wicket effort.Laxman’s cool presence at the crease proved crucial for Hyderabad – he stroked five fours in his 148-minute 61 – while Yadav hit six fours and a six in his 63. Ibrahim Khaleel, the wicketkeeper, and Alfred Absolem, the in-form medium-pacer, both swung their bats to get their side to 236, which proved to be more than enough, as Kaushik Reddy (3 for 56), Absolem (2 for 32) and Pragyan Ojha (2 for 39) combined to cause a dramatic collapse. Laxman even turned his arm over for eight overs and picked up Swapnil Asnodkar, Goa’s top-scorer with 57. The last four batsmen added 100 in 27.4 overs, but Goa finished on 187.
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Barrington Rowland slammed an unbeaten 101 and Gaurav Dhiman partnered him with 94 as Karnataka raced to an emphatic nine-wicket victory over Kerala in Secunderabad. Chasing 206 after Balachandra Akhil’s 4 for 41 dismissed Kerala inside 50 overs, Karnataka lost Bharat Chipli off the first ball, but Rowland and Dhiman put on a formidable stand to seal victory with 89 deliveries to spare.Dhiman was the aggressor, hitting ten fours and a pair of sixers in his 98-ball innings, while Rowland calmly worked the ones and twos. None of the seven other bowlers aside from Anil Kumar caused any damage, as the two batsmen scored at well above six per over.Kerala owed their total to rookie Preambhastn Prem’s 54 and a 79-ball 43 from opener VA Jagadeesh amid Akhil’s medium-pace strikes.
ScorecardRamesh Powar’s allround brilliance carried Mumbai to a three-wicket win over Baroda in the opening day-night match of the West Zone One-Day League at the Wankhede Stadium. Powar, 29, did his World Cup aspirations little harm, picking up 3 for 28 to keep the tourists down to 223 for 8 and then hitting a 40-ball 54 to take Mumbai close to victory.Wasim Jaffer (73) and Amol Muzumdar (52) paved the platform for the run chase, but it was Powar, promoted to No. 4, who made the biggest impact. Coming in with Mumbai on 29 for 2, Powar wasted little time in taking charge. Rajesh Pawar, his former Mumbai team-mate, was carted for two fours and a huge six over long-on; Ketan Panchal’s medium-pace was picked for three boundaries in the next over. With Jaffer, 68 runs were added in 72 balls. Powar finally fell, after adding six more boundaries, when he failed to launch captain Ajit Bhoite’s offspin over the infield and chipped one to mid-off. Rakesh Patel, the medium-pacer, turned in an impressive spell of 10-3-24-4, but despite a late-order hiccup – three wickets fell for seven runs – Mumbai crossed their target.
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Unlike Mumbai, Maharashtra had little trouble chasing down a small total as they completed a five-wicket win, bonus point et al, over Gujarat at the Brabourne Stadium. Sairaj Bahutule, the captain and former India legspinner, picked up 3 for 29 and Shrikant Munde 2 for 27 to bowl Gujarat out for 176 in 54.2 overs. Hrishikesh Kanitkar (69) and Sridharan Sriram (47), both former internationals, then helped Maharashtra across the finish line with 19 overs to spare.The rest of the opening day’s action was significantly hampered by inclement weather, with games between Delhi and Jammu & Kashmir in Chandigarh, Haryana and Punjab at the PCA Stadium and Himachal Pradesh and Services in Ludhiana being ruined by rain. In Kanpur two matches – Madhya Pradesh versus Rajasthan and Railways versus Vidarbha – were abandoned without a ball being bowled.

Auckland had New Zealand batsmen Lou Vincent and Scott Styris back in the side but it made no difference as the home team continued its abysmal form this season. Dismissed for a paltry 170, Auckland was never going to trouble Wellington, who cruised to an eight-wicket victory in 29.5 overs. Stephen Fleming, the New Zealand captain, led the way with 66 not out, while young opener Jesse Ryder again impressed with 49. Michael Parlane continued his good season with 29 not out. In Auckland’s innings, again it was left to Rob Nicol, who has fought a lone hand this season, to salvage pride with 61. Mark Gillespie was the best of the Wellington bowlers with 3 for 21 off nine overs.Canterbury moved to the top of the State Shield table with their seven-wicket victory against strugglers Northern Districts. Northern posted a meagre 201 off 50 overs, with only Hamish Marshall (58) passing 50. Recently retired international Chris Cairns showed there was still life in the old dog with 3 for 45 off 10 overs. Canterbury were untroubled and cruised to victory in the 35th over. Craig McMillan experienced a welcome return to form with 88 not out while Shanan Stewart posted an unbeaten 44.

Kevin Pietersen’s good form in ODIs could earn him a Test spot© Getty Images

Kevin Pietersen’s explosive start in international cricket could earn him a spot in the Test side, according to Michael Vaughan, the England captain. Pietersen, who was in remarkable form throughout the one-day series against South Africa, struck his third century in a crisis situation to help his side to a respectable total in the seventh one-dayer at Centurion, even though it couldn’t prevent another England defeat.England were reeling at 68 for six, when Pietersen took charge, hitting 116 and taking his series tally to 454. “You have to be a very good player to do what he has just done,” said Vaughan, quoted on the website. “He has come in and set the world alight with innings of unbelievable tempo in pressure situations.”I am certainly happy he is in our team. Once you get him and Andrew Flintoff batting together in that middle period you will certainly see some fireworks. And I don’t see any reason why he should not continue this form into Test cricket.”Pietersen’s efforts may have been in vain as England went down 1-4 in the seven-match series, but he did manage to win the Man of the Match and Man of the Series awards.Duncan Fletcher, the England coach, has also not ruled him out for the forthcoming Ashes series. “When an individual bats like that, you can’t ignore him,” said Fletcher. “He has to come into the equation. It is nice to have these pleasant problems; we need to sit down and weigh it all up, Australia are coming over, they are a tough side and we will have to give it a lot of thought.”Pietersen smacked 15 sixes in all making himself a strong contender to team up with Andrew Flintof and form the explosive core of the middle order. “The way he took on everyone, the South African crowd included, was impressive, he just seems to thrive on that and it is a big plus in his favour. He is a boy who likes a contest and that is very pleasing with the Australians coming along.”Pietersen, who left his South African roots at the age of 20, was delighted with his prolific run, and rated his knock of 116 as one of the best, but refused to be drawn on his chances of a Test debut against Australia. “This knock was pretty special and it would rank up there as the best hundred I have ever scored. Everyone is asking me about my desire to play Test cricket now but I do not select myself. I can only put my hand up for a place in the team by scoring some runs for my new team Hampshire.”

It didn’t take long for the battle lines to be drawn after the United Cricket Board (UCB) today announced a dramatic restructuring plan for South African domestic cricket. From the 2004-05 season, only six teams – down from the current 11 – will contest the first-class SuperSport Series and the Standard Bank limited overs competition.The six will represent professional franchises rather than provinces. The UCB’s 11 affiliates, or groups of them, may tender for a franchise from Cricket SA (Pty) Ltd, which will control the as yet undecided franchising process. The 11 affiliates will be joined by teams representing Limpopo, Mpumalanga, South Western Districts, Border-Kei (formerly Transkei) and KwaZulu-Natal Inland to contest amateur competitions.Players from the 16 amateur teams will feed into the sides operated by the six franchises.The decisions were made by the UCB general council at a meeting in Pretoria on Sunday afternoon, and before the sun set, the first salvos were fired in what promises to be a time of noisy debate in South African cricket. “Financial concerns are an important element, and we also need to formulate a strength-versus-strength system to ensure that our domestic cricket is strong to help us reach our goal of becoming the top cricketing nation in the world,” Gerald Majola, the UCB chief executive, said.Ray Jennings, who coached the unfashionable and impoverished Easterns to the first-class championship last season, was passionately opposed to the move. “It’s mind-boggling to try and understand the logic of this decision,” Jennings told Wisden CricInfo. “How do you decide who the six franchises are? Do they do it on the basis of results on the field, or is it done in the boardroom? What entitles someone to become part of South African cricket? Simply being the highest bidder? We could end up with five franchises in Gauteng, or one in Kimberley, which would have to be the worst place for it.”Jennings thought the impending changes represented the top of a slippery slope for domestic cricket. “I think this could be the start of the erosion of South African cricket,” he said. “You could find 30 or 40 first-class players giving up the game.” Jennings supported the concept of strength-versus-strength, but felt the marked departure from the status quo was ill-considered. “We’ve shown at Easterns that you can take cricketers from the bottom to the top,” he said.Newly-elected UCB president Ray Mali said the planned restructure was the crucial to the future of the game. “This is one of the most difficult and critical decisions to have been taken in South African cricket since unity in 1991, and it is one we have debated at all levels for two years,” Mali said. “We needed to make a tough business decision to ensure the survival of the game we love and to ensure that we can develop that game and pursue excellence.”We rely largely on the professional level of cricket to bring in the income we use to develop the game for all. Without restructuring that level into a stronger option, which can attract more crowds, sponsors and revenue, and which also does not drain funds, we would not be able to develop the game at all. We would barely be able to survive.”

Nottinghamshire’s Trent Bridge ground will have a new stand to accommodate 2,500 people in time for the NatWest one-day international between England and Sri Lanka next June.Planning permission for the development, which will cost £1.9 million, was granted last night, and work will begin at once.Notts chief executive David Collier said: “We are delighted about the outcome. The new stand will increase the seating capacity 15,400.

The BCCI has decided to invite bids for two new IPL franchises to replace the suspended Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals in the next two seasons. The owners of Super Kings and Royals had been suspended for two seasons by the Lodha panel, which had looked into corruption in the IPL.The board’s decision to invite bids for the next two years only, while Super Kings and Royals remain suspended, means that it is not looking to increase the number of franchises from eight. IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla said as much when asked if the IPL will become a ten-team tournament in two years’ time, though he did not commit to it. “No, [it will be] just eight teams. That’s why the tenders will be given for only two years,” Shukla said. “Whichever bidder is interested in buying a team for two years will get it. Then we’ll see what to do, whether we should make it a 10-team tournament or what… [For now] the two bids will be invited for two years only for the two vacant slots.”The IPL title sponsorship, meanwhile, was given to Vivo Mobiles, a Chinese phone manufacturer. PepsiCo, the previous sponsor, had ended its deal with the league two years ahead of schedule. It is understood that PepsiCo held the right to transfer its five-year agreement, so the beverage giant brought in Vivo. The terms of the agreement remain the same, so the BCCI will earn Rs 78.2 crore (US$12 million approx) for each of the next two IPL editions from the new title sponsors.Among other decisions taken at Sunday’s working committee meeting in Mumbai, the BCCI also decided to hold its Annual General Meeting on November 9, and extend Nike’s deal as apparel sponsors of the Indian team. It also decided to appoint PricewaterhouseCoopers to look into how the funds distributed by the board to its member state associations were being utilised. Auditing giant M/S Deloitte was hired for “Project Transformation”, the board’s initiative aimed at improving governance, and operational and financial processes – according to a statement explaining the project on the BCCI’s website.This was the first meeting chaired by the new BCCI president Shashank Manohar.The working committee also rubber-stamped the board’s decision to move the treasury office from Chennai to Mumbai, and hire M/S Gokhale & Sathe, a Mumbai-based firm, as internal auditor.The board’s statement following the meeting said it had also decided to “look at the lands offered” by the Karnataka Industrial Areas Development Board for the further development of the National Cricket Academy, which is currently hosted within the Chinnaswamy Stadium premises in Bangalore. National Cricket Academy chairman MP Pandove, IPL chairman Shukla, BCCI treasurer Anirudh Chaudhry and BCCI joint-secretary Amitabh Choudhary will inspect the lands, and take a decision on the same “within one month”.

Declan Rice and Joe Hart were amongst the West Ham United players to be praised by the fans following Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Chelsea.

The Hammers followed their huge home victory over Southampton last weekend by picking up an extremely welcome point away to the Premier League champions on Sunday afternoon.

Rice and Hart were both excellent for the visitors, whilst Javier Hernandez was widely praised after coming off the bench to net the West Ham equaliser.

Not all of the club’s players have received kind words on social media, however, with Cheikhou Kouyate taking a lot of criticism for his performance.

The 28-year-old has scored twice and provided three assists in 27 Premier League appearances this season, which is not a bad record for a central midfielder, but his form over the last few months has been very inconsistent indeed.

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A selection of the Twitter reaction in relation to the midfielder, who is valued at £10.8m by transfermarkt.co.uk, can be seen below:

Lifting spirits: Stuart Broad was rewarded for his commitment by claiming Chaminda Vaas as his first Test wicket © Getty Images

Wicket of the day
Steve Harmison’s leaping delivery to dismiss Jehan Mubarak. It wasanother classic Harmison splice-trembler that confirmed his importance- when on form – to England’s cause. It came in the ninth over of themorning and confirmed that the good pace and rhythm that Harmison hadshowed in his first foray of the innings was no illusion. If Galleprovides any assistance for England’s quicks, he’s seems to be in themood to exploit it.Spirit-raiser of the day
Stuart Broad’s debut wicket. Before the match, Peter Moores had raisedjustifiable concerns about young Stuart’s stickability. He’s onlybowled more than 25 overs on four occasions in first-class cricket,and England are in no hurry to break their most exciting youngfast-bowling talent before he’s reached full maturity. But Broad ismade of stronger stuff than his willowy frame suggests, and in the29th over he finally got his man, as Chaminda Vaas fluffed anattempted hook and Ian Bell claimed a simple chance above his head.Shot of the day
Mahela Jayawardene had a slightly different mindset when he resumedhis innings today. He was less content to faff around and went afterthe bowling with some intent, most notably when he went down on oneknee to Monty Panesar and smeared him over midwicket for four. It wasthe most aggression he’d shown all game, but it came back to haunt himone over later – he tried the same shot, and Paul Collingwood at slippouched a steepling top-edge.Quote of the day
“C’mon Westlife, give us a ballad!” That was how Matt Prior set aboutenlivening the afternoon session, as England’s heads threatened todrop. His words were picked up on the stump microphone, although itisn’t entirely clear who was the target of his quip. A quick poll offemale teenage cricket fans, however, reveals that Broad is thelikeliest boy-bander in the current England set-up.Bowling change of the day
After bowling more than 47 overs for his five wickets in the firstinnings, Muttiah Muralitharan appealed for someone – anyone – to helpshare the spin-bowling load. And so, with scores of 0, 9 and 9 underhis belt, and a new string urgently needed for his bow, up steppedJehan Mubarak in the ninth over of England’s second innings. SanathJayasuriya he ain’t. A first-ball long-hop and three full-tosseslater, he was sent to graze in the outfield, as Murali was coaxed intothe attack in his place.Cheer of the day
Cricket is a perverse sport – you pay good money to go and watch yourteam, and as often as not – if you’re an England supporter – you’rejust as happy to see no cricket at all. “It’s so dark, it’sunbelievable,” chanted the Barmy Army, as the light began to fade, andsure enough, one over later, Aleem Dar whipped the bails off. Thenoise from the stands was louder than for any of England’s wickets,and as for Aleem, his efforts earned the ultimate accolade: “Aleem’sin the Army,” chanted the Barmies.