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Crystal Palace are now fully confident about signing a “sensational” player this month, with Oliver Glasner personally an admirer.

Palace eyeing new signings amid Glasner uncertainty

Glasner’s contract is set to expire at the end of the season, and Palace could have their work cut out trying to keep hold of their manager, with it recently being revealed he has been identified as Manchester United’s top target, following Ruben Amorim’s departure.

It is not certain the Austrian will move on, and he has now made it clear he expects negotiations over a new contract to ramp up soon, saying: “I think in the next weeks, we will intensify the talks.

“With Macclesfield, Friday again, we go up north, and then everyone gets three days off after Macclesfield and then we have to target four regular weeks and in those weeks we will intensify the talks and I expect to find a final decision.”

Backing the 51-year-old in the current transfer window could help convince him to extend his stay at Selhurst Park, and the Eagles’ business has been promising so far, securing the signing of Brennan Johnson from Tottenham Hotspur.

However, Crystal Palace aren’t done there, according to a report from Spain, which states they dream of signing Atletico Madrid’s Conor Gallagher, who could be available for just £26m this month, with the La Liga club open to a sale.

In fact, Palace are fully confident they will be able to get a deal done, as Gallagher will need to receive regular game time ahead of the World Cup in the summer, if he is to stand any chance of making Thomas Tuchel’s squad.

Man United and Tottenham Hotspur are also in the race for the Englishman, which could pose a problem, but Glasner will be hoping his side can win the race, as he believes the 25-year-old could be the ideal addition to the midfield.

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Posts ByDominic Lund "Sensational" Gallagher could excel at Selhurst Park

The central midfielder has, of course, already proven himself in the Premier League, and indeed at Crystal Palace, chipping in with eight goals and three assists as the Eagles recorded a 12th-place finish in the 2021-22 season.

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Hailed as “sensational” by reporter John Cross, the Epsom-born midfielder has continued to impress since moving to Spain, averaging 1.96 interceptions per 90 over the past year, which ranks him in the 96th percentile, compared to other midfielders.

With Gallagher already proven in the Premier League, and able to make an impact at both ends of the pitch, he could be a fantastic addition to Glasner’s squad, and £26m would be a very reasonable fee.

However, Palace fans will be hoping the former Chelsea man’s potential arrival doesn’t lead to the departure of Adam Wharton, with Chelsea, Tottenham and Liverpool now among the suitors for the central midfielder…

Everton have now reportedly set their sights on a late hijack to sign a Premier League star, who’s set to make a decision about his future in the next 48 hours.

Moyes issues Nottingham Forest warning after Burnley stalemate

So far, whilst Everton haven’t been spectacular, they have been improved under David Moyes. The Toffees have shown signs of their best and could move into the top eight with victory over Nottingham Forest this evening, albeit only if results go their way across the rest of the gameweek.

To do so, however, they’ll have to be far more clinical than they were in a frustrating 0-0 draw against Burnley last time out and Moyes is certainly well aware of the threat that Forest pose despite their recent struggles.

Everton will at least be hoping to welcome Jack Grealish back from the sidelines after he missed the Burnley game. Without their star loanee and Iliman Nidaye, who is at AFCON with Senegal, the Toffees struggled on the creative front last time out.

It’s been a consistent problem throughout their campaign when a select few stars haven’t taken responsibility for what is a blunt frontline. And it should be at the top of their priorities to solve that problem in the January transfer window.

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To that end, the rumours are already coming thick and fast. The likes of Hayden Hackney have already emerged as a reported target, as is the case for Brennan Johnson.

Everton eyeing late hijack to sign Johnson

According to Ben Jacobs, Everton are eyeing a late hijack to sign Johnson from Tottenham Hotspur, despite reports claiming that Crystal Palace have already agreed a £35m deal to sign the winger.

It’s now down to the Welshman where he plays his football from next month onwards and he’s reportedly set to make his decision in the next 48 hours whilst Everton wait in the wings.

Although £35m is certainly not cheap for a player who’s not been at his best this season, it’s worth remembering who Johnson is when in form.

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The 24-year-old scored 18 goals, whilst also creating a further seven in all competitions last season and would undoubtedly complete Everton’s frontline.

From Tottenham struggles, Johnson could thrive alongside the likes of Ndiaye, Grealish and Thierno Barry, who is beginning to show signs of his best in Merseyside.

Beating Palace to the deal would be some achievement at this stage, but it seems as though it will all come down to Johnson’s decision.

Maharashtra picked up the four remaining wickets early on the fourth day to beat Assam by an innings and 52 runs in Chennai. Their second successive win brought them storming back into contention for a berth in the quarter-finals. Assam, resuming on 115 for 6, needed to wipe out a deficit of 171 more. KB Arun Karthik and Swarupam Purkayastha added 83, before left-arm spinner Satyajeet Bacchav sent back Purkayastha for 69. Two overs later, Mohsin Sayyad dismissed Abu Nechim Ahmed for a duck.Anupam Sanklecha, who took eight wickets in the first innings, fittingly picked up the last wicket – his 12th in the match and 26th in two games – as Assam were all out for 234, with Karthik stranded on 87. Earlier in the match, tons from Kedar Jadhav and Chirag Khurana took Maharashtra to 542 before Sanklecha ran through Assam’s batting. His eight wickets in Assam’s first innings, gave them a 286 run lead.Delhi survived a final day collapse before they reached 153 to beat Rajasthan by two wickets in Wayanad. They started the day on 51 for 3, needing 102 runs more to win. But overnight batsman Vikas Tokas was bowled by Pankaj Singh ten runs later, before Shikhar Dhawan, on a comeback trail after recovering from a broken finger, was out on 49.Delhi were at 76 for 5 at this stage, still needing another 77. But Nitish Rana (31), added 24 runs with Milind Kumar and another 37 with Sumit Narwal, before being run out. Narwal then batted with the tail to take Delhi to victory. He remained unbeaten on 27. Rajasthan’s Amitkumar Gautam, playing his second first-class match, was adjudged Player of the Match. He scored 106 in the first innings to notch up his maiden first-class ton.CM Gautam (95) and Shreyas Gopal (77) helped Karnataka stave off defeat and walk away with one point against Odisha in New Delhi. Karnataka were 81 ahead with four wickets in hand when play began. They drove ahead to 393, with he last four wickets contributing 162. K Gowtham, the offspinner, made 46 of those at No. 9. Set a target of 231 in 32 overs, Odisha’s openers batted cautiously to end on 63 without loss and walk away with the first-innings honours. This was the first time this season that Karnataka conceded a lead. However, they continued to top the group.Vidarbha recorded their first win of the season by beating Saurashtra by eight wickets at the Karnail Singh Stadium in New Delhi. Akshay Wakhare and Mohammad Shaikh picked up seven wickets between them as Saurashtra, who conceded a 46-run lead, were bowled out for 189, with opener Snell Patel top scoring with 63. Vidarbha lost Faiz Fazal early in chase of 144, but were driven by half-centuries from Sanjay Ramaswamy and Ganesh Satish as they completed the chase in 35 overs. The loss meant Saurashtra were rooted to the bottom of the group.

ScorecardRicky Ponting continued to enjoy his return to the Pura Cup, striking a century to drive Tasmania to a six-wicket victory against South Australia on the final day at Bellerive Oval. The home side chased down 349 inside 70 overs, with 4.1 overs to spare for the day after South Australia declared just before lunch on 7 for 229.Ponting was helped in his efforts – his purple patch continued following his first-innings 96 – by Michael Dighton, who made 77, and George Bailey’s unbeaten 69. Ponting finally fell in sight of the win, for 126, bowled by Darren Lehmann.South Australia’s pace pairing of Shaun Tait and Jason Gillespie remained wicketless, while no other bowler grabbed more than one wicket.Michael di Venuto was put down by Matthew Elliott at slip, but he fell finally on 33 to Nathan Adcock’s tidy slip catch off Mark Cosgrove, the first wicket for the visitors. By this stage Tasmania had a great platform, with 83 on the dial. Enter Ponting, who continued imperiously to help both his state and the mindest of his country leading up to the first Test next week.Dan Cullen struck next, bowling Dighton, but the momentum was firmly with the hosts and so it continued, as Ponting then combined with Travis Birt (28) and Bailey. His dismissal brought in Daniel Marsh to finish off the job.The Redbacks added 51 in the morning session, with Cosgrove moving to 76, while debutant Andy Delmont reached his maiden first-class fifty, after the top order had once again proved brittle on the third day.With a win and a draw, Tasmania are now in third place, while South Australia’s two defeats in two leave them at the bottom.

Dinesh Karthik comes good: ‘The team managementtold me what was expected of me, and Iprepared well’ © Getty Images

Virender Sehwag said that the Indian team would take tremendous confidencefrom their victory in the Pro20 game, and praised both his bowlers andbatsmen for the six-wicket victory at the Wanderers.”We clicked in both batting and bowling,” said Sehwag. “It’s a team game,doesn’t matter who performs. An Indian win is what matters.”It was India’s first experience of the Twenty20 format, with the inauguralWorld Cup less than a year away, and Sehwag was delighted with theexperience. “It’s an exciting form of the game and it’s very fast-paced,”he said. “You can learn with experience, and I’m sure that the Indianpublic will enjoy it when it’s held there.”Sehwag added that India’s first domestic Twenty20 tournament would help inpopularising the format. “It’s important to play it at the domestic levelbecause you can’t go into the World Cup next year without experience. Theselectors too can gauge which are the Twenty20 players.”Dinesh Karthik, whose unbeaten 31 fetched him the master blaster award,basked in the glow of the performance. A six off the first ball of thefinal over bowled by Robin Peterson set up the win, and Karthik suggestedthat it had been part of the plan, with nine needed from six balls. “I wasconfident that I could pull off a big shot,” he said. “I had it all workedout in my mind. I knew there were a couple of areas where to hit.”Karthik indicated that India had always been in control of the run chase.”It was important that someone put up their hand and did well,” he said.”Viru gave us a good start and Dinesh [Mongia] played very well andconsolidated. It was important to get off to a good start and from thereon, we did pretty well.”Karthik has played as a specialist batsman on the tour, with MahendraSingh Dhoni keeping his place behind the stumps, and he distinguishedhimself with some superb stops in the outfield today. “The team managementtold me that I would be required and what was expected of me, and Iprepared well,” he said. “It was fantastic of them to tell me what wasexpected of me.”I really worked hard on my fielding and the results were there. I don’twant to be a liability on the field. I want to make sure that I’m one ofthe top three fielders in India. Even if I play as a batsman, I can stopruns in the field.”If I was competing as a wicketkeeper, my mindset would be different, butnow as I’m competing as a batsman I have more opportunity to do well. Ihave six slots to push myself into the team.”Sehwag had to face the inevitable questions about being stripped of thevice-captaincy for the Test series. “I don’t feel any pressure,” he said,when asked how he had responded. “If I’m not vice-captain, it does notmatter. I’m happy with whatever the selectors have decided.”VVS Laxman, who will now be Rahul Dravid’s deputy in the Tests, arrived inJohannesburg on Friday morning, and Sehwag said that his arrival wouldgive the team a boost. When asked to comment on Sourav Ganguly’s selectionin the squad, he suggested that too much shouldn’t be made of it. “He’llcome in like any other member [of the team],” he said. “There will be nospecial treatment. His record is very good, and he’s played here before.He knows how to handle pressure at any time.”

Scorecard

Jason Gillespie took 7 for 35 to dismantle the Victorian batting order © Getty Images

Jason Gillespie, the Australian Test discard, rocked Victoria with stunning figures of 7 for 35 – his best bowling return in five years – as they were dismissed for only 149 on the first day of the Pura Cup match in Melbourne. South Australia were in control at 2 for 58 at stumps, but their bright position was disrupted by a serious hand injury to their captain Darren Lehmann.Gillespie started the rot by reducing Victoria to 4 for 11 in seven overs, dismissing Michael Klinger (1), Lloyd Mash (4) and David Hussey (1) – all caught behind – after Cameron White elected to bat in cool conditions. Paul Rofe chipped in with the wicket of Jason Arnberger for 2.Victoria fought back thanks to a 74-run partnership between White (41) and Nick Jewell (26), but Gillespie returned after lunch to have White caught at the wicket and he trapped Jewell leg before in consecutive overs. He added another scalp when Adam Crosthwaite nicked one behind, giving Graham Manou, the wicketkeeper, his sixth catch of the innings. A valuable 60 runs from Jon Moss (33) and Gerard Denton (22 not out) helped Victoria limp to 149.This was Gillespie’s first major haul since his 5 for 56 in the third Test against India in Nagpur almost a a year ago, and he obtained similar pace, bounce, and movement that had him ranked as one of the game’s best bowlers before a dismal Ashes series. Gillespie even found himself on a hat-trick after removing Moss and Mick Lewis in successive balls, before Dan Cullen struck to dismiss the last man Allan Wise.South Australia overcame the loss of two early wickets to Gerard Denton, who had Matthew Elliott and Greg Blewett leg before in successive deliveries, but their worries eased despite Lehmann’s injury when Shane Deitz and Mark Cosgrove put on an unbeaten 57. Lehmann has been ruled out for six weeks following an injury to his right thumb sustained while diving at short midwicket to stop a full-blooded White shot 90 minutes into the day’s play.Lehmann will have an operation for a ruptured ligament and will bat only if necessary. The injury is a severe blow for South Australia, who rely heavily on their leader’s batting, and he will see a specialist in Adelaide on Wednesday.

Sanwar Hossain: back in favour© Getty Images

Bangladesh’s middle-order batsman, Sanwar Hossain, has been recalled to the national squad after a 15-month absence, ahead of next month’s home Test and one-day series against India. Sanwar, 31, last played for Bangladesh in August 2003, during the first Test against Pakistan in Karachi, but he is back in the team to shore up a brittle batting line-up.”We had discussed the names of potential candidates,” Faruque Ahmed, the chief of selectors told Dhaka’s Daily Star newspaper. “These included Al-Sahariar [Rokon], Naimur Rahman and Tushar Imran, but we felt Sanwar was the best choice at the moment.” There is one stumbling block, however. Sanwar has recently become an employee of the national airline, Bangladesh Biman, and needs permission to take time off work. “At the moment,” he admitted, “my job is as important as my cricket career.”Other changes to the squad include a return for the left-arm spinner, Abdur Razzaq Raj, who has overcome the suspicions about his bowling action that kept him out of the ICC Champions Trophy and the home series against New Zealand. He replaces the paceman, Alamgir Kabir. “[Razzaq’s] action has been monitored and corrected under the guidance of BCB’s high performance [HP] unit manager Richard McInnes,” confirmed Faruque. “The Board has told us that there is nothing illegal in Razzaq’s bowling anymore.”Bangladesh’s pace-bowling department has been boosted by the welcome return of Mashrafee-bin-Mortuza and Talha Jubair, neither of whom has featured for over a year. That means that the team’s major fitness concerns surround their captain, Habibul Bashar, whose big toe was broken during the second one-day match against New Zealand.”I will get a proper picture of the injury after the plaster on the big toe is taken off on November 21,” said Bashar, who had only just returned to action after undergoing thumb surgery in Australia. “But I am still excited with our prospect as we will have a full team against India with Mashrafee, Talha and Razzaq all returning.”India are scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on December 7 to play two Tests and three one-day internationals. It will be their first return visit to Bangladesh since they took part in the country’s inaugural Test in November 2000.The probables Habibul Bashar (capt), Rajin Saleh, Khaled Mashud (wk), Khaled Mahmud, Javed Omar, Mushfiqur Rahman, Hannan Sarkar, Sanwar Hossain, Alok Kapali, Mohammad Ashraful, Mohammad Rafique, Manjarul Islam Rana, Tapash Baisya, Abdur Razzaq Raj, Mashrafee Bin Mortuza, Enamul Haque Jr, Nazmul Hossain, Tareq Aziz, Nafis Iqbal, Aftab Ahmed, Talha Jubair.

BAT Sports all-rounder Damian Shirazi flexed his muscles for tomorrow’s (SAT) ECB Southern Electric Premier League derby against Calmore Sports at Southern Gardens (11.30am) with another impressive century for the MCC Young Cricketers this week.Fresh from scoring 104 and taking a career-best 6-10 against Essex II last week, Shirazi hammered the Yorkshire 2nd XI attack for a thumping 141 on the opening day of the YC’s three-day match at New Rover.Shirazi, who Hampshire don’t appear to want, is determined to get a First Class contract next season and believes that only through sheer weight of runs will he achieve his ambition."We are playing a lot of county 2nd XI’s and I only hope someone, somewhere will take notice," he says.Shirazi lines up in a near full-strength BAT side for the Totton derby, which sees the return of left-arm pace bowler Dan Goldstraw after a two-week absence.Weakened by Mark Boston’s unavailability, Calmore give a debut to teenager Martin Bushell, who seems to have lost his place in the Hampshire Academy team.BAT lead the table after taking 41 points from 50-over wins against Bashley (Rydal) and the Academy, whereas Calmore are languishing in third-from-bottom spot after losing to Liphook & Ripsley last week.South African opening bowler Christof Botha may have played his last Calmore game due to work commitments.BAT skipper Richard Dibden knows that the Totton derby won’t be any pushover, but says: "It’s imperrative we start off with a good performance in the first of the all-day games."We’ve done wonderfully well in the `time’ games in the past, stringing together 15 successive wins over two seasons,"But we need a big performance against Calmore, as there’s a game at Havant next week we’d rather like to do well in."Second placed Bournemouth are unchanged for the visit of the Hampshire Academy to Chapel Gate. They have won all three 50-over games and trail BAT by a solitary point.But skipper Matt Swarbrick warns that, whilst the Academy youngsters might be struggling after two defeats, they have a lot of experience in all-day cricket."All their Under-17 and Under-19 games are two-day affairs, so batting a session should come relatively easy to them," he said."But we’ve got a strong, multi-purpose bowling attack and they are going to have to fight for every run tomorrow."Former Hampshire opener Giles White will captain the Academy side, while Bournemouth expect to name the side which beat Bashley (Rydal) by 50 runs last week.Russell Rowe is hoping to carry his Minor Counties Championship form for Wiltshire into South Wilts’ tricky visit to Andover.Out of touch in the early SPL games, Rowe cracked an imperious 128 for Wiltshire, which set up an innings victory over Wales in Pontypridd this week.Rowe will open with Paul Draper for South Wilts tomorrow, with former Hampshire batsman Jason Laney returning to the side at three.Andover, who have won two of their four matches, bring in young Steve Williams to replace Aurijit Basu, who has returned to his native India for a month.Beleaguered Bashley (Rydal) skipper Matt King must be wondering what can go wrong next after losing his veteran wicketkeeper Shaun Lilley for the remainder of the season.Lilley tore his Achilles tendon during Monday’s narrow New Forest CA President’s Cup win at East Tytherley and won’t play again this year.Andy Sexton has been earmarked to take the gloves in tomorrow’s visit to Portsmouth, who tipped Bashley out of the ECB Club Championship last weekend."Andy did quite a lot of keeping in his younger days and has offered to take on the mantle, starting at St Helen’s tomorrow," said captain King.The Bashley boss, who brings in Andy’s brother Neil, is demanding that his team shows a lot more application tomorrow, especially in the batting department."Individuals need to look at the way they are getting out and adjust their games accordingly."But I do back the talent we’ve got in the team and fully expect to get our season back on track pretty soon," he added.Hampshire’s Lawrie Prittipaul is expected to play for Portsmouth, provided he is now required for 12th man duties at the Rose Bowl.Beaten off the penultimate ball at South Wilts last week, champions Havant continue their title defence against Liphook & Ripsley.Hampshire Under-19 all-rounder Chris Wright will line up against his former Liphook tea-mates at Ripsley Park.

New Zealand’s scheduled visit to Pakistan has been postponed for security reasons at least for the time being. Their tours have always been very popular in Pakistan and this suspension is a great disappointment for their fans. One can only hope a rescheduled tour soon takes place.Summary of previous tours:
New Zealand’s previous tours were in 1955-56, 1964-65, 1969-70, 1976-77, 1984-85, 1990-91 and 1996-97. A study of past records shows that Pakistan has not been a happy hunting ground for the Black Caps. In fact, they have not won a test series in Pakistan since 1969, 32 years ago. In terms of overall results of previous matches, Pakistan’s performance is also dominant. 19 of the 42 Test matches and 35 of the 57 ODIs were decided in favour of Pakistan while only 6 victories in tests and 21 in ODIs were earned by New Zealand.Prospects in a coming series:
Pakistan should be the favourites in a forthcoming series, possibly rescheduled in 2002, not only because of their excellent past record but more on account of their current tremendous all-round capability. Nevertheless, New Zealand has developed into a very competitive and fighting team in recent years. In fact, they gave the visiting Pakistan team a very tough time in the home series early this year. New Zealand won the One-Day series 3-2 and the test series was drawn 1-1. It may be noted that Pakistan has often suffered due to over confidence and complacency in the past but this time round they need a strong resolve for a first series win after four successive defeats at home.Presented below is a brief account of New Zealand previous tours to Pakistan.The Previous Tours:
1955-56:
New Zealand was still in search of first test victory when they first visited Pakistan in 1955-56. But they found the hosts too strong. Pakistan, then the babes of international cricket had already made a creditable start. They had closely fought their inaugural test series against India and leveled the next against England – the first team to do so on its first tour. Eventually New Zealand lost to Pakistan 0-2 but not before they were highly admired for their memorable sportsman spirit in the second test match at Lahore, exhibited when Pakistan were set to chase 116 runs within two hours. New Zealand never resorted to any negative tactics to slow down the game to possibly deprive the home team from victory. Earlier, Pakistan won the Karachi test by an innings and one run, their first test victory on home soil. Zulfiqar Ahmed claimed 11 wickets for 79 runs.At Lahore Imtiaz Ahmed (209) associated with Waqar Hassan (189) to establish a 308 run partnership for the seventh wicket, which was only 39 runs short of the World record. New Zealand’s Spencer McGregor also scored a century (111) and Noel Harford (93), John Reid (86) and Anthony MacGibbon (61) were the other notable scorers.At Dacca, incessant drizzle prevented play in most of the third test but New Zealand still barely escaped defeat being 56 runs behind and only four wickets left when the play ended. Khan Mohammad routed the visitors for 70 with figures of 6 for 21 in the first innings and Hanif Mohammad chiefly contributed in home teams total of 195 for 6 declared with a knock of 103.1964-65:
After a dull unadventurous series in New Zealand ending only a month earlier, John Reid brought his team to resume hostilities in Pakistan. But this time Hanif Mohammad’s men pulled up their socks to defeat New Zealand in the first test at Rawalpindi by an innings and 64 runs (the match lasted only for 12 hours and 40 minutes) and the third test at Karachi by 8 wickets. At Rawalpindi, Pervez Sajjad took four cheap wickets in each innings and New Zealand crashed to 79 runs in the second innings. In the 2nd Test at Lahore, Hanif Mohammad scored unbeaten 203 and Barry Sinclair made 130 in a high scoring drawn test. At Karachi, skipper John Reid played two gallant knocks of 128 and 76 but a polished 172 by the Pakistan’s Saeed Ahmed in the first innings and a dashing 126 by Mohammad Ilyas in the second, made all the difference. Intikhab Alam claimed seven wickets for 92 runs.1969-70:
Graham Dowling led a stronger New Zealand team than in the past. Pakistan suffered both on and off the field during this series. First, Saeed Ahmed was ousted from captaincy and missed the series and later `Little Master’ Hanif Mohammad was forced to retire after the first test at Karachi. Not only did New Zealand fully exploit these Pakistan weaknesses but also with some fine performances notched up their first victory against Pakistan by 5 wickets at Lahore. Pakistan was bowled out for 114 in the first innings in this match. Shafqat Rana’s 95 in the second and Pervez Sajjad’s nine wicket haul was not good enough to avert defeat. Earlier, the first test at Karachi was drawn after debutant Mohammad Nazir claimed 7 for 99 in the first innings. The other notable event was Hanif Mohammad’s last appearance in Test Cricket. The third test match at Dacca was Pakistan’s last match there as a home ground. Here Pakistan could well have squared the series but stout last two wicket partnerships stretched the New Zealand second innings score from 101 for 8 to 200. Intikhab Alam’s excellent bowling effort to claim ten wickets went in vain. Glenn Turner played a long innings of 110 and Mark Burgess scored 59 and 119 not out to ensure a series victory 1-0.1976-77:
Glenn Turner led the fourth New Zealand team to visit Pakistan. The Pakistan team fielded in the first test match at Lahore is considered as strongest ever to represent the country. The team was: Majid Khan, Sadiq Mohammad, Zaheer Abbas, Mushtaq Mohammad (Captain), Javed Miandad, Asif Iqbal, Wasim Raja, Intikhab Alam, Imran Khan, Sarfiaz Nawaz, and Wasim Bari. At Lahore a fifth wicket partnership of 281 between debutant Javed Miandad (163) and Asif Iqbal (166) set the tone of the series. Pakistan won the series convincingly won by 2-0. Another debutant P.J. Petherick claimed a hat-trick. In the third test at Karachi on the first day, Majid Khan scored a century before lunch in 113 minutes to join the elite of Sir Donald Bradman, Victor Trumper and Charles Macartney. Javed Miandad scored (206) the first of his six double centuries. For New Zealand wicket-keeper Warren Lees made 152. Earlier, Pakistan had won second test at Hyderabad by ten wickets.During this tour Pakistan played their first One-Day International at home against the tourists at Sialkot. Man of the match Glenn Turner scored 67 in New Zealand’s total of 198 for 8 in 35 overs that Pakistan failed to reach and lost the match by one run.1984 -85:
Jeremy Coney led New Zealand and Zaheer Abbas skippered Pakistan to a 2-0 series win. Notable absentees in the series were leading all-rounders Richard Hadlee and Imran Khan. Iqbal Qasim who was drafted into the team at the eleventh hour returned with a match winning performance of 8 wickets for 106 runs. John Wright’s 65 was the highest individual score at Lahore. John Reid scored 106 and New Zealand gained a first innings lead but Javed Miandad’s century in each innings eventually brought Pakistan victory by 7 wickets in the second test at Hyderabad. In the third drawn test at Karachi John Reid scored 97.The home team also won the One-Day series by a 3-1 margin. Pakistan won by 46 runs at Peshawar, by 5 runs at Faisalabad and by one wicket at Multan. New Zealand won by 34 runs at Sialkot.1990-91:
Pakistan clean swept both the test and One-Day series. Waqar Younis, Pakistan’s current Captain had emerged as a new star in the cricket world. The home team comprehensively beat the tourists by an innings and 43 runs at Karachi where Shoaib Mohammad scored an unbeaten 203 and Waqar Younis claimed 7 wickets. New Zealand were again out played at Lahore when Waqar Younis took ten wickets and Shoaib Mohammad scored another hundred (105). New Zealand Captain, Martin Crowe also scored a century (108). The third test at Faisalabad was more exciting. After being dismissed for a paltry 102 in the first innings Pakistan came from behind to win by 65 runs through a heroic knock of 142 by Shoaib Mohammad in the 2nd innings and Waqar Younis’s twelve wicket haul in the match. Pringle also claimed 11 for 152.In the One-Day series Pakistan won by 19 runs at Lahore, by 8 wickets at Peshawar and by 105 runs at Sialkot. Saeed Anwar (101) and Rameez Raja (114) won man of the match awards at Lahore and Sialkot respectively and Waqar Younis with 5 for 11 took the award at Peshawar.1996 – 97:
New Zealand won a test match in Pakistan after 27 years when they dramatically beat Pakistan in the first test of the two test series at Lahore by 44 runs. After conceding a lead in the first innings, Stephen Fleming (92 not out) and Chris Cairns (93) restored New Zealand’s position that Wasim’s superb knock of 109 failed to stop New Zealand from winning. Rookie fast bowler Mohammad Zahid’s 11 wickets for 130 and centuries by Saeed Anwar (149) and Ijaz Ahmed (125) forced a magnificent innings victory for Pakistan to square the series 1-1 in the second test at Rawalpindi.Pakistan won the One-Day International series 2-1 by winning at Gujranwala by 11 runs, at Sialkot by 46 runs while New Zealand clinched the third encounter at Karachi by 7 wickets.Expected Series:
The strong New Zealand squad which was on the way to Pakistan prior to suspension of the tour included: Stephen Fleming (Captain), Nathan Astle, Mathew Bell, James Franklin, Chris Martin, Craig McMillan, Shayne O’Connor, Jacob Oram, Adam Prore, Mark Richardson, Mathew Sinclair, Glen Sulzberger, Daryl Tuffey, Daniel Vettori, Lou Vincent and Dion Nash. However, on paper Pakistan certainly looks a stronger outfit and would stand a good chance of winning the forthcoming series. Yet the Black Caps under the astute leadership of Stephen Fleming are likely, once again, to give the home team a tough fight.

Previous New Zealand tours to Pakistan1955-56 To date

Year	TEST MATCHES
	Won (NZ)	Lost (NZ)	Drawn
1955 – 56	0	2	1
1964 – 65	0	2	1
1969 – 70	1	0	2
1976 – 77	0	2	1
1984 – 85	0	2	1
1990 – 91	0	3	0
1996 – 97	1	1	0
TOTAL	2	12	6

Year	ONE-DAY MATCHES
	Won (NZ)	Lost (NZ)	Tied	No Result
1976 – 77	1	0	0	0
1984 – 85	1	3	0	0
1990 – 91	0	3	0	0
1996 – 97	1	2	0	0

There are 8678 kilometres between Bangladesh and Benoni and for Dane Vilas, it may feel even longer. Little more than a month ago, Vilas made his Test debut for South Africa in Dhaka. This weekend, he will play as the only international in Western Province’s Africa Cup T20 squad, after Wayne Parnell was forced to withdraw with a hamstring injury. And next month, Vilas does not know where he will be.Either he will be back with the South African squad as they embark on their longest-ever tour of India, or he will still be with his domestic team, who may either be playing in the Africa Cup knockouts or preparing for the franchise season ahead. In between, there’s not too much he can do to force his fate in either direction.”I am not sure,” Vilas told ESPNcricinfo when asked whether he knows what he needs to do to make sure he goes to India. “I am just going to plan and train as though I am going and then if happens, that’s great. There’s not a lot of cricket between now and then.”The only cricket in September is the Africa Cup, where Vilas and his rival, Quinton de Kock are both playing but their performances in the tournament will do little to sway selection. The Africa Cup is a semi-professional competition where Vilas and de Kock will be men among boys and not the right platform to decide whether either should earn the right to be a boy among the men of international cricket.South Africa A’s recently completed tour of India is a better measure for that purpose and those statistics suggest stiff competition between the two glovemen. De Kock found his form with three successive centuries but Vilas, who bats in the middle order, was also in good nick. He scored 50 in one of the List A matches and 75 in an unofficial Test. “We both did well on the tour so it’s difficult to speculate,” Vilas said.The selectors may have to make a decision based more on nuances than numbers and if that is the case, Vilas may have the edge over de Kock for now. Vilas is eight years older than de Kock and knows the rigour of establishing himself in an unfamiliar team.Five years ago, he left Johannesburg’s Lions franchise to join Cape Town’s Cobras. At the time, he was competing with Thami Tsolekile for a place in the Lions’ team and the Cobras were swapping between keepers in different formats and wanted some consistency. Vilas still had to prove himself, to take the gloves off Ryan Canning and Andrew Puttick and become a regular in the starting XI, but it was a task he stuck to with tenacity.”When I moved, I put more responsibility on myself to get into the team and to hold a regular place. It’s more difficult when you are out of your comfort zone, away from your family and friends and I guess it was a bit of a fast-track to growing up,” Vilas said.Once he had done that, it seemed Vilas had hit a ceiling. “My career has fallen in the time between Mark Boucher at the national side, Thami Tsolekile with the A side and then Quinton with the national side,” he said. “So you have to get a bit lucky and then if you get a chance, you’ve got to be able to take it.”When it became clear Tsolekile was no longer in contention for South Africa, because of the rise of de Kock, Vilas got a chance in the A side. His big break only came when AB de Villiers went on paternity leave, and then de Kock was dropped because of poor batting form. Vilas was the reserve gloveman in the Test squad that went to Bangladesh and was capped in Dhaka as a result.Despite a forgettable debut, since play was only possible for one day of the match, Vilas treasures the memory. “It was amazing – to get the call-up to be part of the squad and then to make my debut; it was everything I had worked for,” he said. “But it was also bittersweet because of the washout.”The rain robbed Vilas of the chance to show what he could do with the bat and only allowed for a brief glimpse of his skills behind the stumps, but he hopes it was enough to demonstrate his ability to adapt. “At least, I know what to expect from a conditions perspective – the ball stays lower and what I found different was that we were using the SG ball, which gets softer a lot quicker. You have to get used to the way it reacts off the pitch.”Vilas had time to get used to that in Bangladesh and on the A side’s tour of India, and he believes he can do the job if picked for the senior tour there. He also believes he can come good for South Africa for a sustained period, even though he is older than de Kock. “It’s probably better that I got selected now that I am older and know my game. It’s better for me in the long-term,” he said. “I am fit and strong and I am only 30, so I hope I’ve still got six or seven good years to give.” Whether they are in Bangladesh or Benoni.