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Justin Langer issued the challenge.Steve Waugh – surprise, surprise – accepted.He hasn’t lost his sense of occasion.Langer, the Western Australia captain, made a freewheeling 163 not out against New South Wales at the Sydney Cricket Ground today, setting the Pura Cup match alight by chasing fast runs and making a bold declaration that triggered a thrilling limited overs-style run chase on the final afternoon.The Blues were set 303 from 52 overs for outright victory.Waugh clobbered 117 not out from 141 balls and the seriously in-form Simon Katich purred to an unbeaten 71 in 45 balls to get the defending Pura Cup champions over the line with 4.4 overs and five wickets to spare.”It was a pretty incredible day,” said the NSW and Australian skipper after the Blues finished on 5-303.”I played well, paced myself well and Simon helped me out at the end.”Full credit to both sides – for them setting a target and us going for it. A lot of sides wouldn’t have gone for it. It was a generous declaration and we probably didn’t deserve it but in the end it was a great game.”The revered Test skipper hustled to the crease at 3-70 in the 11th over after Michael Slater (17 off 21 balls) and pinch hitters Nathan Pilon (19 off 16) and Don Nash (13 off eight) had given the Blues a flying start.Waugh immediately found the boundary through cover in an ominous sign. Driving on the rise, hitting powerfully, clearly enjoying the thrill of the chase, he raced to a half century from 46 balls, almost decapitating a few fieldsmen along the way.And then a rarity – Waugh played a hook shot, believed to be his first since 1998.The departure of Phil Jaques for a 35-ball cameo of 43 brought Mark Waugh to the crease. After a typically brief discussion, the twins set about making the 134 runs still required from 25 overs. Langer was eyeing off six more wickets, not the least because Katich supposedly had a thumb injury.X-rays cleared Katich of any serious problem and he replaced Mark Waugh, who was bowled by Beau Casson for 13 not long after hitting an enormous six. Eighty-eight runs were needed from 16 overs and the mood was tense.Coming off his imperious 182 not out in the first innings, Katich batted out of this world. Waugh was 100 when they joined forces and added only 17 runs of an 88-run stand in 77 balls with the classy left-hander.”He couldn’t move his thumb,” said Waugh of Katich.”I said take a couple of Panadol Fortes and get out there … it was an amazing innings of his.”Langer deserved enormous credit for the aggressive team tactics and declaration which saved the game from fizzling into a tame draw.Asked about Waugh, he shook his head and rolled his eyes.”It ended up a great game,” he said.”We set them 300-odd in 52 overs – it was probably a pretty fair declaration.”Langer’s boundary-riddled ton, a record-breaking 22nd for WA, came from just 236 balls and included 18 fours and two sixes. With Ryan Campbell, he racked up a quick 92-run stand in 66 minutes before gambling on a second innings declaration at 8-362, setting the Blues’ their tempting target.Waugh – and Katich – were unable to resist.Five-hundred-and-eleven runs were scored on the day, about double the number of people lucky enough to be watching.

Scores after the latest round of games in the National Under-17 tournament at Nelson Park in Napier today were:Northern Districts 228 (K Read 86, P Carey 33; B Newton 4-29) beat Canterbury 219 (D Crosbie 42, M Ling 40; J Morgan 5-35, K Goble 2-31) by 9 runs.Otago 209/8 (T McLean 37, J Pyle 34 not out, W Henry 34, C Smith 32; A Corliss 2-26) beat Wellington 169 (S McLaughlan 32, M Martin 31, J Newdick 29; M McLean 4-29) by 40 runs.Central Districts 198 (T Shurr 59, T Gillespie 42, H Beaumont 32); C McDowell 5-34; S McKay 2-29) beat Auckland 61 (D Bolstan 3-13, D MacDonald 3-31, S Wheeler 3-16) by 137 runs.Points after Round three are: Central Districts 10, Wellington 8, Northern Districts 6, Auckland 4, Otago 2, Canterbury 0.

Tripura went into the last day of their Ranji Trophy East Zone Leaguematch played at Keenan Stadium, Jamshedpur on Wednesday at 92/2 still114 runs behind Bihar. And Tripura did themselves proud by batting allthrough the day and finishing at 333/7 in 135 overs. Bihar were helpedby some useful partnerships all along. But the star of the day forTripura was the right handed batsman Mridul Gupta who scored 99.Mridul was unlucky to have got out just one short of a hundred. Hefaced 167 balls and hit 15 sizzling fours. There were notable scoresby S Dasgupta (63) who added 78 in 24.1 overs for the fourth wicketwith Mridul Gupta. C Sachdev made 37 and added 92 in 26.4 overs withMridul for the fifth wicket. Bihar tried out nine different bowlersbut none were really sharp enough to make decisive breakthroughs.Tripura earned three points by the virtue of a draw. Bihar whodominated with the bat, had to be satisfied with five points thanks tothe first innings lead.

Durham 459 for 9 dec and 228 for 6 dec beat MCC 162 and 214 (Murtagh 55*, Borthwick 4-57) by 311 runs
ScorecardScott Borthwick’s four wickets capped an impressive game for the legspinner•PA Photos

Durham’s bowlers wasted no time in wrapping up a comprehensive 311-run victory over MCC in the first match of the county season.The champions resumed on day four needing three more wickets and mopped up the tail in 45 minutes. While the setting, a deserted Sheikh Zayed Stadium rather than a rainy Lord’s, was unfamiliar, Durham’s status as the side to beat in English cricket is fast becoming the norm.Nevertheless, the focus has been less about the build up to the summerprogramme and more about the innovations on show, chiefly the use of a pink ball under floodlights.Durham had looked likely to wrap up victory inside three days until Tim Murtagh and Jon Lewis put on an unbroken 59-run stand for the eighth wicket last night. But having delayed Durham’s inevitable triumph and ensured their bowlers would have to return for one final push in sapping heat, Lewis (32) promptly threw away his wicket off the first ball of the day.Ian Blackwell was the bowler, but he will take little satisfaction from thedelivery, a slow long hop that Lewis somehow contrived to nick to wicketkeeper Phil Mustard.Steve Harmison took only eight balls to add the wicket of Dean Cosker (14) at the other end. The out-of-favour England bowler has looked dangerous when motivated, which has been intermittently at best, and had no problems beating the Cosker’s defences to win a clear lbw verdict.Murtagh, now with only Steve Kirby for company, quickly added the 23 he needed to reach 50 and was dropped by Mustard off Harmison moments later. He finished 55 not out as Kirby fell for 16 to 19-year-old legspinner Scott Borthwick, who picked up his fourth wicket of the innings and eighth of the match with a googly.

Liverpool transfer target Gavi is almost certain to sign a new deal with current club Barcelona, according to journalist Fabrizio Romano.

The Lowdown: Liverpool talks

The 17-year-old, hailed as “terrific” by Italy boss Roberto Mancini, has emerged as one of the most exciting young players in world football, already making a total of 35 appearances for Barca, racking up five assists from midfield.

Liverpool made contact to sign the La Masia graudate in an audacious move recently, as Jurgen Klopp looks to build towards the long-term future, with reports even claiming he had been identified as a long-term successor for Thiago.

The young Spaniard’s current deal only runs until 2023, opening the door for interested parties like the Reds to being talks, but a key update has now emerged regarding the matter.

The Latest: New Barca deal expected

Taking to Twitter on Thursday, Romano claimed that a new contract is a given at Barca and it will be agreed later this year:

“Barcelona have Gavi’s new contract almost ready since December. It’s matter of time to complete the proposal and then enter into final details. Club still more than optimistic to get his contract extension signed this year.”

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The Verdict: No great surprise

While the idea of Gavi joining Liverpool was a mouthwatering one, it always felt highly unlikely, with his future always looking like being at Barca.

He is a special talent and the Catalan giants were simply never going to allow his contract to run down, having become the youngest-ever player to represent Spain last year.

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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Along with Pedri, it could be that Gavi is the poster boy for the next great era at the Camp Nou and it may be that Liverpool end up coming up against their former target in key Champions League matches.

In other news, a journalist has shared a big update on another Liverpool target. Read more here.

Mohammad Yousuf’s lawyer, Tafuzzal Rizvi, has moved an application against the Indian Cricket League (ICL), saying his client had returned the money paid to him before backing out of a contract and signing with the officially-sanctioned Indian Premier League (IPL).In the application, Rizvi, who represented Yousuf at an arbitration hearing in Mumbai on January 24, insisted that there was “no contract” with the ICL as the money was “received back by the ICL without any objection”.Based on the application, the arbitrator has issued notices to the ICL, asking their legal team to appear before him on February 20 to provide their response.Meanwhile, a PCB media release, while elaborating on the details of this case, says Yousuf’s name will be included in the IPL bidding process on February 8, which is open to its eight city-based franchises.

Tanmay Mishra is one of the young talents leading the revival of Kenyan cricket © Getty Images

Kenya, World Cup semi-finalists in 2003, believe they are ready to return to the world stage after their success in the World Cricket League tournament they hosted in January and February.Cricket standards in the country had fallen to the lowest level following three years of internal strife, forcing players to strike against the former cricket administration over dubious contracts and bonuses. The fallout resulted in Kenya being stripped of its official one-day status that granted the country automatic qualification to the World Cup.However, recent victory in the World Cricket League tournament featuring second-tier teams could provide the springboard to bounce back. Kenya’s coach Roger Harper, a member of the all-conquering West Indies team in the 70s and 80s, summarised his team’s achievements in claiming the associate members title.”Kenya is supposed to be the top associate country as far as cricket is concerned. But it doesn’t mean anything unless you show it on the field and we have demonstrated that,” said Harper after his team’s convincing eight-wicket win over fellow World Cup qualifiers Scotland. “I think it means a lot for the team, for Kenya as a whole.”This is a relatively younger team compared to the one that reached the World Cup semi-finals in 2003 with only two of the players being over 30 years of age. The Kenyan team will be without three great performers who formed the backbone of the side since the country qualified for their first World Cup in India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in 1996.They include former captain Maurice Odumbe, who was suspended from all cricket activities for five years in 2004, for his dalliance with Indian bookmakers and opener Kennedy Otieno. Medium fast bowler Martin Suji is also not in the team after failing to recover from a knee operation. Their places have been taken by a group of promising young players.Twenty-year-old Tanmay Mishra is not only proving to be a resourceful batsman but also one of the team’s best fielders. Having made his cricket debut as a member of the national under-15 team in 2001, the India-born Mishra has been heavily involved in the recent revival of the Kenyan cricket, culminating in the World Cricket League win.His one-handed catch of Bangladeshi middle-order batsman Ferhad Reza during the one-day international series in Nairobi and a similar dismissal of the Scottish opener David Watts during the World Cricket League final, illustrated his fielding prowess.Two other youngsters, 22-year-old Hiren Varaiya, a slow left-arm bowler, and seamer Nehemiah Odhaimbo have proved themselves capable to taking wickets. Odhiambo, a younger brother to medium pacer Lameck Onyando, broke through into the bowling ranks when he took five Canadian wickets in the two nations ICC Intercontinental Cup clash in Toronto last August.Tikolo, once known as the best batsman outside Test cricket has seen his batting form take a dip. But luckily for him his off-spin might come in very handy in the West Indies where the conditions are expected to favour spinners.The Kenyans got a test of those conditions when they toured the West Indies in February 2004 to play in the Carib Beer series where they played local club sides and several national teams in the Caribbean. But Harper said Kenya will have to play extra harder to improve on their performance in the 2003 World Cup. “Lack of international fixtures also affected the national team players who were not able to gain the exposure,” he added.Participation in the World Cup has an added incentive for Kenya and the other five associate members as they will earn a special grant of 500,000 dollars.

Roger Brathwaite’s departure: West Indies cricket’s problems appear to be unending © Getty Images

For the majority of his tenure at the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), Roger Brathwaite always appeared to be batting on a sticky wicket.During the four years he spent at the most visible sporting organisation in the region, the outgoing chief executive officer attracted a host of balls that jumped off a good length. In essence, the problems weren’t often of his doing. It was a turbulent environment and sooner or later, it was inevitable he would be a casualty. He leaves office at the end of the month with some measure of respect even if his resignation was clearly a case of jumping before he was pushed. It was no secret that he had been asked to step down, perhaps a surprise that he wasn’t requested to do so earlier.To his credit, Brathwaite brought to the very demanding job a sound knowledge of the business of cricket, and tireless commitment, qualities recognised by Ken Gordon, the WICB president. Brathwaite was professional, articulate, and astute, but let’s not make any bones about it; he had a difficult time at the WICB. He was still acting chief executive when there was the first ever players’ strike in regional cricket during the 2003 semi-finals of the Carib Beer International Challenge.At the very same time he was confirmed in the post, there was the embarrassment of the WICB announcing the appointment of Bennett King as coach subject to completion of contractual negotiations, only for the Australian to later indicate he wouldn’t be accepting the job. Over the latter half of his tenure, Brathwaite couldn’t escape the public microscope. As the WICB’s relationship with the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) deteriorated, fingers were often pointed in his direction.The circumstances that led to the Digicel contract was another issue in which his name surfaced, but the WICB was quick to come to his defence, strongly “deploring the imputations against the integrity of some of its officials, in particular its immediate past president, the chairman of the marketing committee and the chief executive officer”.In recent weeks, whispers emerged that the top brass of the WICB wasn’t fully satisfied that Brathwaite had done enough to cut down on high levels of expenditure. While Brathwaite batted on a sticky wicket for most of the tenure, he appeared to have the skills to cope with the surface when he first sat at his desk on May 17, 2002. He assumed the position of chief marketing officer with all the necessary credentials, bringing a wealth of experience in senior management and global marketing, having worked successfully with the multi-national oil company Shell for 20 years. His last 14 years were spent in the capacity as external affairs manager, a position in which he played a significant role in the development of the Shell Cricket Academy of St George’s University in Grenada. He held responsibility for Shell’s reputation management in 14 Caribbean territories and also had overseas postings with the company in Switzerland, St Maarten and South Africa.Against that background and together with his involvement in West Indies cricket at the time, it might not have come as a surprise that he was made head of marketing at the WICB. In less than five months, he had created such a favourable impression that when the WICB fired its then chief executive officer Gregory Shillingford, Brathwaite was asked to act in the position until a successor was appointed.In the six months that followed, Brathwaite so impressed the board that it appointed him to the post without even advertising the job. With the benefit of hindsight, it might appear it wasn’t the best decision. Chetram Singh, a long-standing WICB director, was one who believed Brathwaite’s strength was in marketing, a view many others might share based on his background. As the debate continues over Brathwaite’s resignation, it might be easy to miss a trend that is developing at the WICB.For whatever reasons, there have been a host of departures among senior management at the WICB’s secretariat in recent years. Throughout that period, presidents have come and gone and directors have changed. In all of it, it is difficult to identify a single denominator. Brathwaite’s departure perhaps just reflects the chaos and controversy that have highlighted the administration of West Indies cricket in the past decade.

Grant Flower: Chelmsford-bound© Getty Images

Grant Flower insists that he is not interested in returning to play for Zimbabwe, despite the imminent return of his fellow rebels Heath Streak and Andy Blignaut to the international arena.Flower, 34 – Zimbabwe’s most-capped player with 67 Test appearances – told Sky Sports that he is content to honour his two-year contract with Essex, where he will play as a Kolpak player alongside his elder brother Andy. Streak, meanwhile, is likely to be drafted into Zimbabwe’s current tour of South Africa in time for the Test series. It has been confirmed that Ray Price won’t return for Zimbabwe, either.”I won’t be playing for Zimbabwe in the next few years, then after that anything’s possible,” Flower said. “I’ve committed myself to Essex, and I won’tchange my mind. I’m on the Kolpak scheme: I will be with Essex.”Flower, who was a leading figure in the early stages of the Zimbabwean players’ dispute with their board, appeared to have been kept out of the loop as to the latest developments. When asked what light he could shed on the end of the dispute, he was vague: “When I left Zimbabwe two weeks ago nothing had been resolved. Nobody was going to play in South Africa, but things have changed.”When asked if Streak’s announcement had come as a shock, Flower replied: “Yes, to a certain extent, or at least to one or two of the guys. When I left the country nobody was making themselves available to play against South Africa.”

Two days before the start of the first Test between India and New Zealand at Ahmedabad, John Wright looks ahead to the challenges confronting the team. Despite the heat, Wright is pleased with preparations, conditions and just about everything else. He described the scorching heat as "very pleasant" and addressed a press conference.On the Ahmedabad Test
A lot of teams have come to India expecting to beat us. England came here after winning series in Pakistan and Sri Lanka. All I can say is that we are looking forward to the match here, to the entire series.On India’s preparation for the New Zealand series
We have also been preparing plans for the opposition. Every team has plans for each other. That actually hasn’t changed too much over the years. I suppose the equipment these days allows you to do it in quicker time, but planning for different teams and players has been going on for years and will continue to happen. We have our plans. The trick is to execute them. It’s all very well having plans, but it’s the execution that’s the key. We have done our home work and the thing about us is we want to play good cricket. We try and concentrate on our preparation and what we want to do. That’s always been my belief. You only achieve good results if you play good cricket and play well yourself. We tend to look inwards as much as we can, bearing in mind that we need to do our home work on the opposition as well.On the selection of Akash Chopra, L Balaji and Aavishkar Salvi
Particularly in Akash’s case, he is in good form and he has earned that opportunity with two good scores against the tourists. Balaji had a very good Irani Cup match. Salvi has been taking wickets in Sri Lanka. When young players come in, it is tough on the ones that have to go out, but in those particular cases, the players have earned their selections.On playing home Tests with only four specialist bowlers
It’s a formula that’s worked for us in India, and particularly in my tenure. I feel we have a tremendous opportunity to use people like Sourav, Sehwag and Sachin, perhaps bring them more into the game. I encourage them to bowl in the nets as much as possible. I think Tendulkar can be a match-winner with the ball. I have seen him play a big part in winning one of the Test matches against Australia in Kolkata. Sehwag is easily capable of bowling 12-15 overs in a Test match, he has got a lot of ability. And the captain is fitter and faster.On the Indian team’s fitness levels
Physically, we are fit. We are coming off a break, we were just used to playing cricket for long periods of time. It’s a little different in that regard, but certainly the boys are fresh, fit, keen and eager. I think they can play a bit! We are looking forward to playing attractive, entertaining cricket.