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Tottenham correspondent Alasdair Gold has made a claim regarding young forward Dane Scarlett.

The Lowdown: Conte a fan

Scarlett has progressed through the youth system in north London, scoring 27 goals for the U18s and U23s and has now established himself in the senior squad.

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He made his Premier League debut from the bench in last month’s 4-0 win over Leeds United and has missed just two Premier League matchday squads since New Year’s Day.

Conte was full of praise for the youngster following the win over West Ham prior to the international break, believing Scarlett has a ‘brilliant future’ in the game.

The Latest: Gold’s comments

Gold ran a Q&A on football.london on Thursday lunchtime and was asked by one Spurs supporter about the possibility of Scarlett getting a real shot under Conte next season.

He expects Scarlett to remain in north London next season and added that a full pre-season under the Italian would ‘be a big deal’.

“I think they’ll make a decision over Dane Scarlett’s next steps in the summer but, at this point, I’d expect them to keep him at the club next season to continue to learn and get more chances to play. That Conte spoke about him, unprompted, on Sunday was a great sign and suggests he’s making big strides behind the scenes.

“A pre-season with Conte would be a big deal for the teenager and could really help him continue to develop. Spurs will likely bring in another striker during the transfer window and that would see the three strikers used for all the competitions and perhaps the club look at a loan for Dane in January if post-Christmas he’s going to get less game time.

“Who knows, he might just have made a big splash by that point if he continues to move towards that “brilliant future” Conte says he has ahead.”

The Verdict: Good news

Scarlett has made the most of Spurs failing to sign an out and out centre-forward to rival Harry Kane, catching Conte’s eye in recent months.

As Gold mentions, a loan at the beginning of 2023 could be a smart idea for the 18-year-old, providing the club add to their attacking ranks in the summer.

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It appears as if Tottenham have high hopes for the teenager, so you’d expect a new contract could be in the pipeline as well, with his current deal set to expire in just over 12 months’ time.

In other news: Sky Sports man now reveals big Tottenham injury update before Newcastle. 

	Turuwar Kohli’s promotion up the order has worked wonders, and with 207 runs at 69 from four matches, he is now the top scorer in the World Cup © Getty Images

At the start of the Under-19 World Cup, not many people would have put money on New Zealand being among the final four contenders for the trophy. But they’ve made it and their penultimate challenge could prove to be their most gruelling as they aim for a spot in the finals.The challenges facing New Zealand ahead of their showdown against India are several because, apart from the clinical discipline with which India have brushed away their previous opponents, there are circumstantial factors that could pose a few hurdles: it will be the first time New Zealand are playing at the Kinrara Oval, giving them no time to get used to ground conditions in a match situation, and apart from Tim Southee, none of their boys have played under lights before at any level of cricket.India, on the other hand, have a ‘home advantage’, having played all of their matches at the Kinrara Oval. Undoubtedly their cricket skills have been vastly superior to those of their opponents in the tournament so far but they’ve also had several opportunities to master the conditions while their opponents – England in the quarter-final for instance – had none. Most of their players have also played under lights: Tanmay Srivastava, the No 3 batsman, says he’s played day-night matches during the Challenger Series, domestic Twenty20 games, Ranji Trophy one-dayers and on an Under-19 tour to England in 2006.New Zealand’s group, which included Pakistan, Zimbabwe and Malaysia, was based in Johor where the pitches, according to New Zealand coach Dipak Patel, “started off damp and assisted the seam bowlers. A lot of teams were three-four wickets down in the first ten overs. The winning of the toss was also very critical too. We were fortunate that we won two out of three tosses, which made a difference in terms of results.” He conceded that India had a head start because of their familiarity with the Kinrara Oval.”I suppose India have a huge advantage over most teams,” Patel said. “I’m not sure not how it [the schedule] was worked out but it’s almost like a home advantage. I wasn’t aware of it until a couple of days ago but we’re going into the game with an open mind.”New Zealand’s performance in this World Cup has been a tremendous improvement from 2006 when they were eliminated in the first round. The results, Patel said, were not accidental but an outcome of careful preparation. “The planning compared to the previous World Cup has been ten times better,” said Patel.”In 2006, we only had three days to prepare the guys. This time we started preparations eight months ago. Bearing in mind the tournament, we brought India out to New Zealand for three [youth] Tests and three one-dayers. We made a conscious effort and selected seven boys who were going to be eligible for this World Cup and, out of the seven, six – George Worker, Kane Williamson, Corey Anderson, Greg Morgan, Tim Southee and Trent Boult – have been selected.”New Zealand lost that one-day series 1-2 and drew the Tests but Patel said that series and the warm-up game before the World Cup had given New Zealand an insight into India’s playing style.That playing style – to sum it up succinctly – has been unbelievably consistent and the India coach Dav Whatmore acknowledged as much. “There are some sides that play unbelievable cricket one game and don’t play as well the next game,” he said. “India do their jobs consistently better than most teams and that’s why they’ve got a good result.”Their bowlers haven’t given the batsmen a tough target to chase yet, dismissing South Africa and England for below 200 and the batting, which has been the weakness of most sides including the other three semi-finalists, has been methodical and patient. A couple of punts – promoting Turuwar Kohli to open and giving Ajitesh Argal the new ball have worked superbly as well.A conversation with Srivastava, perhaps India’s best batsman, illustrated how organised India’s batsmen were. “Before the game we take a stock of the opposition’s bowling attacks,” he said. “At the under-19 level every team has about two good bowlers. So the plan is to bat cautiously against them and think of accelerating when the first change bowlers come. You get about one bad ball an over; I try to score off that ball and attempt to take a single the next ball to rotate strike”It sounds so simple when it’s on paper but India’s near-perfect execution of the basics is the reason why they have emerged as the toughest team in the tournament. New Zealand start the game as underdogs and will have to display remarkable adaptability to end India’s campaign tomorrow.

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The allrounder Andrew McDonald has been a strong performer for Victoria during the season © Getty Images

Andrew McDonald produced a career-best 6 for 34 to dismiss Queensland for 119 and give Victoria the perfect start in their quest to catapult into the Pura Cup final. To qualify Victoria need an outright win and New South Wales to lose against Tasmania, but they will be confident of fulfilling stage one of the plan after demolishing the Bulls at the Gabba.Despite a fine 4 for 48 from Andy Bichel, Victoria had earned a 21-run first-innings lead by stumps after David Hussey’s 57 from 55 balls drove them to 5 for 140. It was a stunning result for an inexperienced fast-bowling attack that was led by the allrounder McDonald, who moved the ball dangerously during 13.2 overs.Queensland’s horrible day started when Jimmy Maher won the toss and batted, but he was quickly punished for his poor judgment. Conditions suited the fast men, with cloudy skies and a green pitch, and they struck twice in the first two overs, Dirk Nannes removing Ryan Broad with his third ball and Maher nicking Clinton McKay from his second.Queensland were 2 for 0 and the situation got much worse as they tripped to 7 for 57 when Bichel’s dismissal put McDonald on a hat-trick. Ashley Noffke, who stayed 70 balls for 13, avoided becoming the third consecutive victim and started a 36-run stand with Chris Simpson, who top scored with 34.Greg Moller, the No. 3, had tried to hit the side out of trouble, but he fell in McDonald’s opening over and was soon followed by Craig Philipson (14) and Chris Hartley (1). McDonald, who has 27 victims for the season and 727 runs, grabbed the final five wickets after Nannes started his first game since last year’s Pura Cup final with 2 for 36. Bichel hit back strongly, but Queensland will have to continue the fightback if they are to avoid going through the season without a home outright win.

Marvan Atapattu just can’t catch a lucky break with these back injuries © AFP

Injury-hit Sri Lanka suffered a major setback on Saturday when Marvan Atapattu, the captain, was ruled out of the ongoing one-dayers as well as the upcoming Tests against Pakistan.”Marvan aggravated the injury while fielding in the first match on Friday and the medical staff have advised us to rest him for the one-dayers as well as the Tests,” Lalith Kaluperuma, Sri Lanka’s chief selector, told AFP. Atapattu’s back injury added to Sri Lanka’s woes as Sanath Jayasuriya (thigh), Chaminda Vaas (side strain) and Ruchira Perera (hamstring) are already nursing injuries.Atapattu, who sustained the injury during the tour of Australia in January, aggravated it on Friday. Recurring back problems have frequently kept him on the injured list of late.The selectors will not name a replacement for Atapattu and Mahela Jayawardene, the vice-captain, will lead the side.The remaining one-dayers will be played on Sunday and Wednesday with provisions for reserve days after the opening match was abandoned due to rain. Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka will be happy for the extra days as neither is an automatic qualifier for the Champions Trophy yet. Both teams desperately need wins under the belt, and rained-out matches will not help anyone’s cause. They will be followed by two Tests in Colombo and Kandy.

The Wellington Firebirds have been grounded by fog that has forced a one-day postponement to their State Championship match against Otago Volts at Queenstown. Wellington’s airport was closed today due to the conditions that forced the abandonment of the first day of the second Test at the Basin Reserve, and the side will instead travel from Palmerston North tomorrow for the round-eight four-day match, which was rescheduled for Sunday.Tim Murdoch, the New Zealand Cricket administration manager, said it was the best solution after a difficult day spent hoping for the weather to clear. “They have been waiting long enough at the airport so everybody has agreed that the best way forward is to delay the match for a day,” he said.

New Zealand 259 for 3 (Fleming 115*, Marshall 64) beat Pakistan 255 for 9 (Saleem Elahi 80, Abdul Razzaq 50*) by 7 wickets
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Stephen Fleming led the way with a magnificent century © AFP

Stephen Fleming unveiled a special innings as he steered New Zealand home by seven wickets in the third one-dayer at Christchurch. Fleming finished with 115 not out, and shared a vital 148-run partnership with Hamish Marshall, who made a fine 64, as New Zealand won with 22 balls to spare. They now lead the five-match series 2-1. Pakistan had earlier made 255, thanks mainly to contrasting half-centuries from Saleem Elahi and Abdul Razzaq.Fleming’s effort had shades of that magnificent century against South Africa in a thrilling encounter at last year’s World Cup. Though this was not such a big stage, the intensity was apparent. And this was in front of his home crowd, and his family. He served up some sumptuous dishes: the pendulum-smooth on-drive, the crisp square-drive, and the slapped pull. After losing Craig Cumming early on (10 for 1), he hogged the strike, for a considerable period, as Marshall was reduced to a mere spectator. The bowlers played into his hands by spraying it a bit wide. The flicks raced away, and Fleming’s fifty came up in 48 balls.Fearlessness gave way to maturity soon after. He milked the bowling and rotated the strike much more. Marshall found his feet, and more importantly his wrists, and he whipped a few boundaries to the leg side. Barring Shoaib Akhtar, the rest of the bowlers were unpenetrative, and the partnership blossomed to put New Zealand in a comfortable position.Marshall fell in the 30th over as he lap-swept Shoaib Malik round the corner and found Mohammad Sami gobbling up the chance (158 for 2). Scott Styris added 30 with Fleming before Akhtar got one to swing late and splayed his stumps (188 for 3). But today was not about one of those rapid collapses. It was about Fleming, and he suddenly erupted in the 42nd over when he pulled Razzaq to the midwicket fence. Craig McMillan lofted a few over the infield and New Zealand romped home with great ease.All three matches of this series so far have been won by the team batting second. But there has been a familiar pattern with regard to the team batting first. Get off to a good start, stumble, and then somehow manage a tremendous recovery. Yasir Hameed and Imran Farhat scripted the first part of the plan with some aplomb. Farhat brought out the on-drive with stinging ferocity. Hameed preferred the covers, and pierced the gaps with regularity. But the second part of the story followed the script, and Farhat lost his cool. He charged down the pitch to Kyle Mills and attempted a mighty hoick only to nick it to Brendon McCullum (50 for 1).New Zealand clawed back into the game with the introduction of Jacob Oram, who bowled a disciplined spell. In the 15th over he dug one in short and Hameed was done in by the extra bounce as Styris pouched the top edge (72 for 2). Yousuf Youhana joined Elahi, and their partnership was based on some quick running. They were helped by some ragged fielding, including two dropped catches by Marshall and McCullum. Youhana’s luck finally ran out as he was beaten by a direct hit from Cumming (144 for 3). Elahi carried on the good work and provided the middle-order stability that was needed. Amid nudging and pushing, he also landed some effective punches and found the square boundaries with ease.Daryl Tuffey then snapped up two quick wickets: Inzamam-ul-Haq edged to the wicketkeeper while Shoaib Malik glided the ball straight into Fleming’s handsat first slip for his 100th one-day catch (152 for 5). Moin Khan and Elahi fell soon after (190 for 7), and part three of the usual story was about to unfold.Unfold it did in the 46th over. The first ball was short and wide, and Razzaq deposited it in the point fence, as if dumping it into a garbage bin. He then swatted the next ball over midwicket for six, and finished off the over with a crisp straight four past the bowler.For the next few overs yorkers and short balls were attempted, but Razzaq was willing to wait. He didn’t even try to improvise. He just stood with an open stance, similar to a baseball slugger, and waited for the ball to land in the slot. And there were many which he found at hittable range. The last five overs cost 57, including a gigantic six over long-on and another walloped over backward square leg. Razzaq’s fifty came of just 26 balls. It was a clinical exhibition of late-over slogging. However, it could only complete the familiar script – and failed to be a matchwinning knock.

Key allrounder Chris Cairns and pace revelation Shane Bond will return to bolster New Zealand for the opening game of the tri series finals against South Africa at the MCG on Wednesday.The Kiwis went back to the drawing board today ahead of the best-of-three games series, seeking the answers to overcoming a team they’ve beaten only once intheir last 16 one day encounters.Cairns did not train as he rested the back problem which kept him out of Friday’s loss to South Africa in Perth but he had little doubt he would play – and would likely bowl.”I’m a 90 per cent chance of playing at this stage, just to cover off the 10 per cent tomorrow and have a bowl – I should be fine,” said Cairns, who had an injection in Perth to help his back.Having played earlier last week as a batsman only, Cairns said he would try to play as “the fifth or sixth bowler” in Wednesday’s day-nighter at the MCG.The Kiwis will also be lifted by the return of Bond, their main strike bowler, who skipped Friday’s match with a groin strain.”He (Bond) has been the find of the tour for us and the majority of our success can be attributed to him,” Cairns said.”What he’s given us throughout this series is firepower and the ability to take wickets.”New Zealand had their tactics working perfectly against Australia throughout the round robin series, winning three of four matches and only losing the other toMichael Bevan’s miraculous innings.But South Africa is another matter and the key area the Black Caps want to address is stemming the Proteas’ withering late innings onslaughts against them by the likes of Shaun Pollock and Jonty Rhodes.Team manager Jeff Crowe said the team was still trying to develop a bowler, apart from Cairns, who could be relied upon to perform well in the final overs.”It’s not something you can just achieve, you have to put into plan and execution,” former NZ captain Crowe said.”You can’t say we’re overly experienced at bowling in the death – we don’t have a natural person at this point.”It’s a matter of just working away and finding the accuracy you need.”New Zealand’s emergence as a major power in both the Test and one-day arena has been a highlight of the summer and Crowe believed captain Stephen Flemingdeserved much of the credit.”I sense when we really started to change and up the ante was last year in New Zealand, in between the series against Sri Lanka and Pakistan,” Crowe said.”Stephen Fleming has been the catalyst for all this, he took on a new role and went from phase one of his captaincy career to stage two.”He took on a stronger and more powerful position with his role – he really drives the ship, he’s the person who really tells the team what we need to do.”South Africa start the finals a strong favourite, but Cairns said the Black Caps gave themselves a real chance.”One out of 16 – that’s (how often) we’ve beaten them, if I was South Africa I’d want to play us in the finals as well,” Cairns said.”Saying that, finals situations bring out the most amazing results – anything can happen.”

With Marcal’s pending departure from Molineux, it’s unlikely Wolves manager Bruno Lage would be on the search for a potential replacement – given that Rayan Ait Nouri and Jonny Otto will be the club’s two left-back choices next season bar any changes in the summer.

However, with Ki-Jana Hoever falling out of favour with manager Bruno Lage, amid attitude concerns, and Nelson Semedo’s poor injury record, a chance could open up next season for Irish defender Lewis Richards, who is currently on-loan at Harrogate Town.

Despite being a natural centre-back, he was deployed as an attacking left-wing-back on Tuesday against Tranmere, and despite ending up on the losing team, the 20-year-old impressed, earning a 7.1 match rating from SofaScore for his solid performance.

Richards made an impressive six tackles for his team, as well as winning eight of his nine ground duels and half of his aerial duels too, in addition to making two clearances, one interception and 75% of his passes being completed as well. Evidently, he is busy and industrious, qualities that Jonny brings to Lage’s side in abundance.

After making his debut for Harrogate against Oldham at the end of January, assistant manager Paul Thirwell was full of praise for the on-loan Wolves youngster, who has since made a further five appearances for the club.

“I thought Lewis was fantastic,” said Thirlwell. “I think it helped us that it’s a position he is used to playing for Wolves. He dropped in there seamlessly. He was aggressive with his defending and composed on the ball.”

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Meanwhile, Wolves’ former Sporting Director Kevin Thelwall has also publicly praised the youngster, saying a few years ago: “Lewis [Richards] in my opinion is a guy who’s been improving game on game, week on week, to the point he’s now surpassing the under-18s and getting opportunities in the under-23s.

“He’s a very technical player who’s got the ability to pass the ball and start off play and help us to build out from the back, but also then very capable physically.”Similar to Max Kilman as well, Richards is well suited to playing on the left side of the back three, and should he impress in pre-season, he could well provide cover in that position, and the left-wing back spot which Marcal will be giving up this summer.In other news: Big worry: Lage heading for Wolves blunder over “undroppable” £27m-rated brute

	Mickey Arthur hasn’t taken well to his squad being questioned © Getty Images

South African cricket is on the edge of a crisis with coach Mickey Arthur facing the sack after a row erupted over transformation quotas for the Bangladesh tour.Arthur is part of a selection panel that picked a squad for the Bangladesh tour which included only four coloured players despite CSA guidelines saying there should be seven. The announcement was delayed as hurried discussions took place.After Norman Arendse, president of CSA, laid formal charges against Arthur and told the that he was being “disrespectful” and “abusive” while adding he was “cocking a snook at his employers’ policy of transformation”, Arthur hit back by filing a counter-complaint with the board.”This has reached ridiculous proportions,” Arthur told the news agency. “I’ve laid a counter charge against him, because he was just as abusive to me as I was to him.”Earlier, Arendse had urged the coach to fall in line with CSA transformation policy. “If a coach says, ‘There’s no transformation policy’ (among selectors), if he says, ‘Sorry, I’m not prepared to implement Cricket South Africa’s policies’, then his position is untenable.”After laying the charge against Arendse, Arthur said, “I have no problem with transformation and I am very willing to work for transformation. However, seven players of colour in a squad of 14 is a target and not a policy.”The situation has arisen after Arendse questioned the make-up of the squad for Bangladesh, with earlier reports saying he wanted Herschelle Gibbs and Monde Zondeki to be included. There have been suggestions that Graeme Smith has considered resigning a players strike is in prospect.Arthur rejected reports that he was threatening to resign and said: “There was nothing that drastic … but the selection panel were very disappointed that we were asked to alter the squad.”However, he did say Thursday was “a crucial day” and hinted at further action if the squad isn’t passed. “Anything could happen in terms of the composition of the squad. I haven’t thought about what course of action I would take if our squad isn’t ratified.Tony Irish, CEO of the South African Cricketers’ Association, said: “The players are not involved in selection, nor should they be. However they believe strongly in the need for integrity in the process.”In a team sport such as cricket selection is probably the most important factor. The team has yet to be finalised so it is not for us to comment further at this stage. For the sake of the integrity of the process however, this issue needs to be finalised quickly.”Arendse added that his role was to make sure the transformation policy was working when squads were selected but said Arthur hadn’t wanted to entertain the notion.”The more I was asking questions about transformation, the more he (Arthur) said they did not have a transformation policy,” Arendse said. “He questioned the fact that I was even asking questions and holding him to account.”