Tottenham Hotspur manager Antonio Conte is prioritising a move for Lautaro Martinez ahead of Paulo Dybala in the summer transfer window.

What’s the talk?

That’s according to a report by Italian publication Tuttosport (via Sport Witness), who claim that the Spurs manager has decided the Inter Milan centre-forward is his preferred target at the end of the current campaign, with the 52-year-old said to have shelved his interest in a move for the soon to be out of contract Juventus forward as a result.

Conte can forget Dybala with Martinez

While it is true that a move for Dybala would more than likely be the cheaper option of the two signings, it is not difficult to understand why Conte would prefer to land Martinez ahead of the Juventus playmaker.

Firstly, the £63m-rated striker and the Tottenham boss already have a relationship, with the 24-year-old having scored an extremely impressive 40 goals and registered 19 assists over his 97 appearances under Conte at Inter Milan.

Secondly, 17 of these goals and ten of these assists came in the Nerazzurri’s Scudetto-winning campaign last time out, with the €125k-per-week (£105k-per-week) forward proving to be a key player in the Italian’s first-team squad.

Indeed, over the Argentina international’s 38 league outings in 2020/21, the player who Roberto Rojas dubbed an “absolute goal machine” averaged an incredibly impressive SofaScore match rating of 7.17, ranking him as the Inter’s third-best player.

Furthermore, Tottenham’s need for a new centre-forward is much greater than their need for another attacking midfielder or winger, as, should the £220k-per-week Dybala indeed go on to join Spurs, he would be fighting with the likes of Son Heung-min, Dejan Kulusevski, Lucas Moura and Steven Bergwijn for a starting spot in Conte’s side.

Lastly, considering the fact that Martinez is four years Dybala’s junior, the former is certain to have a much greater resale value further down the line.

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As such, it would indeed appear wise for Tottenham to prioritise a move for the £70m Inter sensation ahead of the Juventus man who Antonio Cassano claimed is “not a champion” and “does not make the difference” this summer, as Martinez very much looks to be a much better fit for Conte’s side in almost every department.

AND in other news: Huge blow: Alasdair Gold reveals fresh Spurs development, Antonio Conte will be fuming

Arsenal can never make it easy for themselves.

Mikel Arteta’s side played host to Crystal Palace in the quarter-final of the League Cup on Tuesday night, with victory separating them from a two-legged semi-final with Chelsea.

However, while they looked likely to win by a wide margin in the first half, the North Londoners ended up needing penalties to get the job done.

It was a truly unusual game: while several Arsenal players put in commendable performances, a few let themselves down, including one who was even worse than the under-fire Eberechi Eze.

Arsenal's best performers vs Crystal Palace

Now, while it did almost end very badly for Arsenal, and there were a few players who let themselves down, it’s also true that the hosts were undoubtedly the better side.

One of the starters who played a massive role in the Gunners’ early dominance was Gabriel Martinelli.

The Brazilian winger rolled back the years in the first 45 minutes and looked like the dynamic game-changer who took the Premier League by storm in the 22/23 season.

Before coming off for Leandro Trossard, the 24-year-old completed three dribbles, created two big chances, played five key passes and had his opposite number on toast.

There is a strong argument to be made that he was as good as the man of the match, who happened to be William Saliba.

Martinelli vs Palace

Minutes

59′

Shots

1

Big Chances Created

2

Key Passes

5

Successful Dribbles

3

Ball Recoveries

2

Dribbled Past

0

All Stats via Sofascore

The Frenchman was brilliant on the night, constantly stepping into midfield to help with the build-up, and by the time the full whistle went, he had taken 97 touches and played 83 passes.

Moreover, while he didn’t score the goal, he played his role in it by moving one of the Palace players out of the way in the chaos preceding it.

The last two positives came in Christian Norgaard and Gabriel Jesus.

The former looked assured at the base of midfield, and while the latter was wasteful in the penalty area, he linked play brilliantly out of it.

However, while there were positives to take from Tuesday night for Arsenal, there were also a few negatives, including Eze and someone who was even more ineffective.

Arsenal's biggest underperformer vs Crystal Palace

Now, while he certainly wasn’t terrible on Tuesday night, Eze was once again fairly underwhelming.

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Football FanCast’s Chalkboard series presents a tactical discussion from around the global game.

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With Martinelli out on the left, Arteta opted to start the former Palace star in attacking midfield against his former club, and while the intent to make something happen was there, the execution was not.

It was another performance that left fans with the feeling that the 27-year-old is not someone who can run games from midfield, which doesn’t bode well for his game time, considering Martin Odegaard is back fit.

Unsurprisingly, the watching press were somewhat indifferent in their appraisals, with londonworld’s Toby Bryant awarding him just a 6/10 match rating at full-time.

Subscribe to our newsletter for sharper Arsenal analysis Joining the newsletter gives you in-depth Arsenal match analysis: tactical breakdowns, player grades and selection debates that clarify what mattered in tight games — plus similar coverage across other matches to keep your football understanding sharp. Subscribe Subscribe to our newsletter for sharper Arsenal analysis Joining the newsletter gives you in-depth Arsenal match analysis: tactical breakdowns, player grades and selection debates that clarify what mattered in tight games — plus similar coverage across other matches to keep your football understanding sharp.

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However, there was another attacking player who left an even worse impression: Noni Madueke.

Bryant awarded the Englishman a 5/10 match rating, and while that might sound harsh, it really isn’t.

Sure, the former Chelsea man showed plenty of attacking intent and should be applauded for trying to make things happen, but time and time again against the Eagles, his moves led to nothing.

Madueke vs Palace

Minutes

67′

Shots

5

Goals

0

Big Chances Missed

2

Dribbles

1

Touches

41

Lost Possession

14

Crosses (Accurate)

6 (3)

Accurate Passes

14/21 (67%)

Duels (Won)

4 (1)

All Stats via Sofascore

For example, in his 67 minutes of action, he completed just one dribble, misplaced 50% of his crosses, completed just 14 passes, lost the ball 14 times, and the fact that he took five shots without scoring a goal is a problem in and of itself.

Worse yet, Bukayo Saka replaced him and then went on to deliver 100% of his crosses and play three key passes in no time at all.

Ultimately, all that matters is that Arsenal are now in the semi-finals of the League Cup, although based on Tuesday night, Arteta should probably drop Eze and Madueke.

Related Gyokeres would love him: Arsenal hold talks to sign "world-class superstar"

The incredible world-class attacker would be an excellent signing for Arsenal, especially for Gyokeres.

Posts ByJack Salveson Holmes

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Loads of Liverpool fans have been reacting to the latest transfer rumour, and they don’t seem all too happy about the links to Kerem Demirbay.

According to Bild, Liverpool have sent scouts to watch Demirbay, who has been in superb form for Hoffenheim this season.

The 25 year-old has been linked with a move to Liverpool in the past, and the report claims Jurgen Klopp is a still a big fan.

The Reds have scored four goals in each of their last two games, but were definitely struggling for creativity before that.

[brid autoplay=”true” video=”310054″ player=”12034″ title=”Rafa’s Pub Facts Fake Madrid & Ross Barkley Emulates… David Ngog”]

Philippe Coutinho was perfect for playing just off of the Reds’ ferocious front three, and the workhorse midfield of this season hasn’t quite given them the same service.

Demirbay could be the perfect fit for that advanced role on the left of Klopp’s midfield trio, but fans don’t seem too convinced.

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The German did miss most of last season through injury, and fans are split on moving for him to solve their midfield creativity issues.

You can find some of the best Twitter reactions down below…

Saket Bhatia and Sanjeev Sharma, with a sixth wicket partnership of112 runs, were instrumental in Rajasthan gaining a first innings leadof 26 runs on the third day of their Central Zone Ranji Trophy leaguematch at the KL Saini stadium in Jaipur on Wednesday. Replying to UP’s270, Rajasthan were all out for 296. In their second innings, UP were81 for three at stumps.Resuming at 183 for five, Rajasthan lost their sixth wicket only at253 when Bhatia was leg before to Salabh Srivastava for 79. Bhatiafaced 184 balls and hit ten fours. Sanjeev Sharma kept going till hewas ninth out at 296. For his 85, he faced 180 balls and hit 11 fours.The bowling honours were cornered by opening bowlers AW Zaidi (5 for84) and Srivastava (4 for 98).Openers Rohit Prash (26) and Jyoti Yadav (28) gave UP a good start byputting on 46 runs. But in the last hour, UP lost three wickets to bein a position of some anxiety at close.

Shoaib Malik is aware his team are short of match practice © AFP

It may be termed The Friendship Cup and it may be organised by a group ofcharities while celebrating two nations’ 60 years of independence but,when the likes of Tendulkar, Akhtar, Dravid and Afridi emerge from theirrespective dressing rooms on Tuesday, the word “friendship” will surely be forgotten.The teams last met in the scorching heat of Abu Dhabi, where honours wereshared. Fourteen months on, however, the teams assemble in unknownterritory (neither side have played an international matchin Glasgow), in conditions very different to Abu Dhabi (damp and below 20C)and with contrasting run-ups to the showdown.The Pakistan team is severely lacking in match practice. Their lastcompetitive outing was in May against Sri Lanka. Since then, they’ve had atwo-week conditioning camp in order to work on the players’ fitness levelsas well as a few practice matches. Their one-off ODI against Scotland waswashed out on Sunday, depriving them of yet another opportunity togear up for Tuesday’s game.Shoaib Malik, Pakistan’s captain, is nervous about facing India for thefirst time at the helm and is also worried about his team’s lack ofcompetitive opportunities. “India obviously have an advantage over us asthey have had the opportunity to play in the last month or so. However, wehave experienced players like Younis Khan and Shoaib Akhtar and theirreturn is a good sign for our young team.”While refusing to comment on the drugs ban issue, Malik welcomed theprospect of seeing Akhtar partner Mohammed Asif with the new ball onceagain. “Both Akhtar and Asif are our best bowlers and the conditions willbe ideal for fast bowling. Hopefully, these two will deliver what isrequired of them.”India, on the other hand, will have their confidence level rocketing aftercoming from behind to hand South Africa a series defeat in Belfast. WhileDravid shrugged off claims of a friendly encounter, the prospect ofplaying in front of a small crowd, as opposed to the cricket-mad ferventfollowing that both teams are used to in the subcontinent, could affect theperformance levels.”Games in Pakistan and India are tense,” said Dravid. “You have huge crowds in Kolkata or Karachi behind you and because there won’t be that big a gathering inGlasgow, things will be slightly different in that aspect.”He also pointed out that the series against Ireland and the matchagainst Pakistan was all about providing young cricketers achance to perform and stake their claim for the series against England.He also confirmed that the team had recovered from the illness thatseverely hampered them in Belfast. “Yuvraj [Singh] had a groin niggleafter our final game against South Africa but he has come through fine sowe have no injury concerns.”Both captains restrained from giving away final line-ups but going by theconditions witnessed in Glasgow over the last few days, swing bowling willbe the order of the day. There has been overnight rain in the city, whichmight cause a delayed start to the proceedings. However, according to theweather reports available, the teams, fans and even Prince Charles will belucky to see a start of any sort.India (from) Gautam Gambhir, Robin Uthappa, Sourav Ganguly, Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid (capt), Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik, Mahendra Singh Dhoni (vice-capt, wk), Rohit Sharma, Ramesh Powar, Ajit Agarkar, Piyush Chawla, Zaheer Khan, RP Singh, Sreesanth, Ishant Sharma, Ranadeb BosePakistan (from) Shoaib Malik (captain), Imran Nazir, Salman Butt, Younis Khan, Yasir Hameed, Mohammad Yousuf, Kamran Akmal, Fawad Alam, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Umar Gul, Shoaib Akhtar, Rao Iftikhar, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Sami.

Even if Mitchell Johnson’s fiery burst at England on day two at Lord’s drew comparisons with his series-defining spell on the corresponding day at Brisbane in 2013, the bowler himself felt it was just another day at the office.Lord’s was a place of unfinished business for Johnson, following his horrid display here in 2009, but it is his more robust mental approach and greater consistency that he was able to prosper this afternoon. While Johnson struggled for wickets in Cardiff, he did not think he was far away. At Lord’s that confidence was borne out by a spell that had him ripping through Gary Ballance and, most importantly, Joe Root.”I’ve felt like the 2013-2014 me since that day really,” he said of Brisbane a little under two years ago. “Nothing has changed for me. I feel like since then I’ve bowled really well throughout that period. There has been times where I’ve been a bit flat maybe and haven’t bowled 150 clicks but I’m still trying to hit the wicket hard and bowl a good rhythm.”The ball has been swinging over here which has been amazing. When the ball is swinging at good pace it makes it more difficult. I don’t feel like a lot has changed for me, to be honest. You come up in different conditions against different players. The thing that I enjoyed about my training here was I was able to get out there in the middle and bowl a fair bit. I did that the other day and that gave me a lot of confidence coming into this Test.”Knowing that I’ve done the work and I’ve bowled here – yeah it probably wasn’t my best performance but I’ve grown a lot since then and I’ve bowled on a lot of different wickets that haven’t suited my bowling. I felt like I bowled well in the first Test so I wasn’t thinking about anything else but going out there and doing the best job that I can for my country. It’s nice to have those runs on the board when you go out there as a bowler. It definitely helps with the confidence side of things.”Mitchell Johnson played a central role as England fell to 30 for 4•Getty Images

Bowling with plenty of runs to defend made a big difference to Australia’s attack but also to England’s batsmen, who had heavier legs from near enough to two days of chasing balls struck by Chris Rogers and Steven Smith. Johnson said that his team-mates had also worked in more effective partnerships in the 29 overs they had in the run up to stumps.”I don’t think we bowled well in partnerships throughout that first Test,” he said. “That’s what the difference probably was, here we were able to work together as a team and get the ball up there nice and full and straight. That’s probably the big difference as well. I guess when there’s a few runs on the board it gives the team a bit of confidence and we were able to go out there and play aggressive cricket, which is the way we normally play.”You’ve always got to be confident that you can get something out of the wicket. I wasn’t concerned about seeing all the runs that were scored. When you do see runs on the board it does give you confidence as a bowling group. We had a few overs at them so we were just out there to try and get a few quick wickets. We were able to do that.”I find that in these conditions here, the overcast conditions, the ball definitely swings. But also we were able to use the slope as well. I know when I went out there to bat today and Mark Wood was bowling, the ball wasn’t swinging but just going down that slope … it felt like it was a bit different to a normal wicket. Once that ball stops swinging for us, we’ve got to be smart and use the slope.”As for England, Johnson enjoyed the fact the batsmen felt compelled by their new spirit of aggression to go after the ball even as it was new and swinging. Root’s dismissal, trying to play a forcing shot before he had his bearings, showed how some days it will work for the young Yorkshireman and others it will not.”We were hoping they were going to come out and play their aggressive brand that they’ve been talking about,” Johnson said. “We hope they come out tomorrow and do the same thing. Stokes is a very aggressive player anyway. We’d like to see him play some shots tomorrow morning and hopefully we can get a couple of quick wickets in the morning.”It’s day two, there’s a lot of hard work in this Test for us. We’re one-nil down in the series but we’ve definitely got that confidence at the moment with the runs and a few early wickets but we just need to keep working hard at it.”

ScorecardJason Roy’s hundred enabled Surrey to survive Matt Coles’ never-say-die century in return•Getty Images

Surrey survived an extraordinary maiden hundred from Matt Coles and a last-wicket stand of 64 – to which Coles’ partner Matt Hunn contributed a single run – to progress to the semi-finals of the Royal London Cup. Seemingly bereft of hope, Coles had farmed the strike and swung for the fences to keep Kent alive only to fall for exactly 100 with a famous win almost in sight.When Kent lost their ninth wicket, Coles was on 42 and 82 were needed from the last ten overs. Hunn only faced five of the next 46 balls, however, as Coles dealt in boundaries, smashing a further six sixes and three fours to fray Surrey nerves. Turning down singles except to keep the strike, Coles faced six consecutive overs before taking a run to reach his century, from 71 deliveries, at the start of the 38th over.Three balls later, he was out, as a mishit finally went to hand. It was a stunning effort, worthy of the batsman whose hundred he overshadowed: Jason Roy finished on the winning side and he was among the Surrey players quick to offer Coles a consolatory handshake at the end.”I’m proud of the way I played, but so very disappointed to fall short at the end,” Coles said. “In a way, I’d prefer it if we had lost by 40-odd runs, or something, rather than getting that close. It was a full toss that I skied to get out, and I’d also missed out on a few in previous overs, but it is nice to show that I can bat and that, in one-day cricket, nothing is impossible.

Semi-final draw

Sunday, September 6: Yorkshire v Gloucestershire 1030
Monday, September 7: Surrey v Nottinghamshire 1130

“At the start of my innings I just tried to knock it around to get Darren Stevens on strike, and give myself a chance of getting in, and then when he got out I tried to take over that main role while Mitch Claydon and then Matt Hunn hung on with me. I thought the right approach was to keep as much of the strike as I could, and try to hit fours and sixes, and it almost paid off.”Surrey were relieved to have finally mopped up in the third of four Royal London quarter-finals to be affected by rain. A game that was tantalisingly poised at halfway, with Kent mustering an impressive fightback after Roy’s hundred, threatened to become one-way traffic as they slipped to 140 for 8 chasing a revised target of 251.Kent had squeezed into the last eight on net run rate, having been level on points with two other sides, thanks to a washout in the final round but this time the rain did them few favours. A surface that was used in the final Ashes Test had helped put the brakes on Surrey, whose average score in the group stage was a tick under 300. It also made Kent’s job in chasing under lights far from straightforward; the clatter of early wickets rendered it practically impossible, at least until Coles dared to dream.Surrey’s attack played their part, of course, with the Curran brothers again to the fore. Sam Curran, who turned 17 less than three months ago, has already made quite an impression for Surrey and the whippy left-armer fatally undermined the Kent innings with an early burst of 3.2-2-6-2 before a shower swept across The Oval, forcing a crowd of around 5000 to go scurrying for cover.A delay of an hour and 20 minutes ensued, during which a rainbow briefly appeared above the ground. It might be a stretch to liken the Royal London Cup to a pot of gold but, for Kent, a home semi-final would have been worth few shiny sovereigns. Instead, a young, largely homegrown side were handed their second limited-overs quarter-final defeat of the season.Sam Curran had removed Daniel Bell-Drummond with a terrific ball in his first over and the wicket of Joe Denly, caught at deep square leg hooking the diminutive quick, further stacked the calculations against Kent, as the rest of the players followed him off the field before another ball could be bowled. By the time they returned, the asking rate had been adjusted from less than six an over to more than seven and Surrey’s spinners had yet to come on.Not to be outdone by his little brother, Tom Curran bowled Fabian Cowdrey and Sam Northeast in consecutive overs before Sam Billings, scorer of an incendiary hundred in the group stage as Kent chased down 336 against Notts, was stumped off the bowling of Zafar Ansari. Kent were 49 for 5 after 13 overs and 101 for 7 when Coles, whose previous List A high score was 47, came to the crease.His pragmatic biffing initially only looked like taking Kent towards respectability and he was dropped on 54, as James Burke stepped close to the boundary rope. Reprieved, he took 13 off an over from Jade Dernbach and 17 off Gareth Batty to make the biggest splash on a watery evening.Surrey had batted first in every one of their Royal London Cup games this season – and only been beaten once – and duly chose to set the pace after Batty won the toss. Not for the first time, too, they were left to reflect on a scorecard that looked rather top heavy, like a weightlifter teetering on spindly legs. From 192 for 2, a score based around Roy’s second hundred in the competition, Surrey lost 8 for 81 from the final 15 overs as they threatened to drop the barbell.Roy was missed on 39, when Hunn could not hold a sharp return chance in his follow through. Steven Davies was also given a life at slip off the bowling of Coles but Kent’s fielders otherwise threw themselves around to good effect.Roy had driven and pulled crisply, though the only time he managed to clear the ropes was after reaching three figures when latching on to a Fabian Cowdrey full toss. Two overs later he found deep square leg off the returning James Tredwell – who had earlier had Kumar Sangakkara taken at slip off an excellent delivery – and Surrey began a slow spiral towards earth. Tredwell, bowling cannily on a worn surface, provided the tractor beam before Coles and Claydon finally grounded the innings by taking the last five wickets in 27 balls, leaving one unbowled.High in the OCS Stand, a group of teenagers were playing Cards Against Humanity, which describes itself as “the party game for horrible people”. The idea is to lay the funniest card to fill in the blank in an incomplete sentence, eg: “The reason that Surrey threw away such a good start was because ______” or “A preferable alternative to Duckworth-Lewis-Stern would be ______”. By the end, at least as far as Surrey were concerned, it felt more like Coles Against Humanity.

Scorecard
File photo: Ashok Menaria’s 84 led Rajasthan to their best batting effort of the season so far•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Jaipur crowds are known for their colourful heckling. RP Singh always draws a crowd here because there is an on-going feud with one particular fan who brings a group of people with him. Samad Fallah, the Maharashtra bowler who is known for his ability to bowl long, controlled spells, was cut to size when the crowd, all 10 of them, shouted, ” [Hey bowler, increase your pace].” They don’t spare their own either. Ashok Menaria, their captain who has plateaued over the last couple of years after a bright start as an Under-19 player, is called Malaria here. There were no such calls on the first day of Rajasthan’s match against Maharashtra as Menaria led the home team’s best effort with the bat of the season with 84.Rajasthan’s problem this season has been their batting, to counter which they have employed the experience and solidity of Rajat Bhatia. The pitch still was the usual green Sawai Mansingh Stadium one. And when Menaria lost the toss, Kedar Jadhav had no second thoughts asking them to bat first. There would have been concern around, but the pitch didn’t misbehave too much and the batsmen batted with the maturity that has been missing so far this season. All of the batsmen made starts, but Menaria and Bhatia – making a new start on his 36th birthday – went past 50 to take Rajasthan to 258 for 5.Suryaprakash Suwalka, playing in only his third first-class match, made an ideal opening pair with the resolute Vineet Saxena. The two added 46 for the first wicket before the pitch played its first decisive trick. There had been some movement earlier, but this time medium-pacer Shrikant Mundhe got one to seam in from outside off. Suwalka had shouldered arms, and had his off stump pegged back. Ten runs later, one of those things that happen in domestic cricket happened. Saxena went to pull Fallah, bowling round the wicket. There was an appeal for a catch at the wicket down the leg side. The umpire didn’t make a decision immediately, Saxena strolled towards square leg and when he was about to reach his stance, with the appeal still going on, the umpire raised his finger.Vaibhav Deshpande and Menaria then thwarted Maharashtra’s momentum. Deshpande was decisive at leaving outside off, and Menaria looked to keep using scoring opportunities. It was an innings of spurts. Just after lunch the Maharashtra bowlers began to bring pressure by drying up the runs. Finally Menaria got a leg-side half-volley, which heralded three boundaries in three balls to ease the pressure. One of them was a thick edge between slip and gully, but that was how the innings was: two-thirds punchy shots, one-third streakiness.Menaria enjoyed some luck when a diving Ankit Bawne dropped him at cover off Fallah. Deshpande didn’t enjoy such luck as an offbreak from Chirag Khurana – in his second over – didn’t turn and bowled him for 37. Bhatia came out at 136 for 3, and announced his arrival by dancing down seventh ball and hitting Khurana for a six over long-on. The field went back, and the two got down to accumulating runs, 86 of them for the fourth wicket.The pitch was slow, which showed in how Menaria cut three boundaries in front of square, and even pulled spinner Khurana through mid-on for four. His progress towards a hundred was brought to a stop through miscommunication with Bhatia. He steered behind square and set off for a run, which Bhatia thought called for waiting for the ball to pass backward point. Khurana made a diving stop there, Menaria was stranded, but he didn’t make any effort to go back, which gave Khurana time to aim. He hit direct, and set off on a celebratory run.Bhatia and Puneet Yadav then nearly saw Rajasthan through to stumps with a 36-run partnership, but with what turned out to be the last ball of the day, Fallah brought Maharashtra back into the contest by drawing an edge from Bhatia. And he didn’t need to his pace for that. His accuracy did it for him.Fallah reckoned that last wicket put Maharashtra slightly ahead in the contest. He said the pitch looked like it would healp seam bowlers, but it didn’t. It also turned out to be slow. Menaria was disappointed he and Bhatia couldn’t convert their half-centuries into a big century. He said that had been the story of the last two seasons where they narrowly missed making it to the knockouts.

Fast bowler Tim Southee will lead New Zealand against the Prime Minister’s XI in Canberra on Friday. Captain Brendon McCullum’s preparation for the three-Test tour was interrupted by his having to travel to England last week to give testimony in the Chris Cairns trial, and while he has rejoined his team he will be rested from the first match of the tour.New Zealand coach Mike Hesson on Wednesday confirmed that BJ Watling would also sit out of the match and Kane Williamson would likely be rested as well, leaving Southee to step up as captain. The 50-over pink-ball match against the Prime Minister’s XI on Friday will be followed by a two-day match with a red ball against a Cricket Australia XI on Saturday and Sunday.”It will be a good opportunity for him, part of his role in the leadership group is to take a little bit more responsibility,” Hesson said of Southee. “I think he’s looking forward to it.”McCullum is likely to take some part in the match against the CA XI, and Hesson said he was confident the captain would be well prepared for the first Test starting at the Gabba on November 5.”He’ll play a part, but Brendon has been away from training for a little while,” Hesson said. “He’s looking forward to getting back into that. We’ll ease him back in, make sure he’s ready to go by Brisbane … We’ve known the timelines for a long time, so we’ve put plans in place and Brendon will be ready by Brisbane. He’s very much on track.”The matches in Canberra will also provide New Zealand with a look at potential Test opponents including Cameron Bancroft, Joe Burns and Usman Khawaja. The changing nature of Australia’s Test team after the retirements of Michael Clarke, Shane Watson, Chris Rogers, Ryan Harris and Brad Haddin give New Zealand hope of their first series win in Australia for 30 years.”There’s been some good New Zealand sides come over here in the past and I think it’s shown how formidable Australia are in their own backyard,” Hesson said. “1985 is a long time ago. A lot of us still remember that quite fondly. We’ve had the odd Test win, in 2011, but to win a series over here you know you have to play very well. We won’t get too far ahead of ourselves.”It cannot have escaped the attention of the New Zealanders that Australia struggled against the swinging ball on this year’s Ashes tour, as they had against Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Doug Bracewell in Hobart in 2011. Since then, Boult and Southee especially have continued to trouble batsmen with their ability to move the ball.”Anyone in the world struggles against the swinging ball,” Hesson said. “That’s shown over the last few years, and Tim and Trent are pretty good exponents. I think if those two get it right and it does swing, they can put any side under pressure. Australia is no exception to that.”However, Australia’s own swing weapon could be Mitchell Starc, who was Player of the Tournament in their successful World Cup campaign earlier in the year and has dominated the Matador Cup one-day series so far, with a remarkable 23 wickets at 7.47 from five games. Although the white ball has been his specialty in recent times, Starc has got the New Zealanders thinking ahead of the Tests.”We’ve asked for some big, tall left-arm bowlers to bowl to us in the nets,” Hesson said. “He’s a high quality bowler, especially in white ball. In Test cricket he’s obviously very good as well, but probably doesn’t have quite the record that he has got with the white ball. The key thing with any bowler is to take them a bit deeper, and if the ball stops swinging it’s a little bit easier. Plenty of hard work to go into that beforehand.”However, the third Test of the series will be played with neither the red ball nor the white ball, with the inaugural day-night Test to be contested in Adelaide with a pink ball. New Zealand will have a hit-out against the pink ball in the PM’s XI game, having already worked with pink balls at a two-day training camp in Hamilton earlier this month.”That removed an element of the unknown,” Hesson said. “I think the guys enjoyed that. A one-day game with white clothing and pink ball will be a little bit of a novelty in itself, a nice way to start the tour.”

Peter Fulton made 155 off 144 balls in Canterbury’s second innings•Getty Images

Allrounder Logan van Beek, who played for Netherlands in the 2014 World T20, produced the best performance of a young career to spearhead Canterbury’s 304-run victory against Otago in Christchurch. Van Beek scored his maiden first-class hundred to rescue Canterbury’s first innings and then took career-best match figures of 8 for 70 – six in the final innings – to bowl out Otago on the fourth day.Having lost the toss, Canterbury were in deep trouble when 20-year old fast bowler Jack Hunter, playing his second first-class game, dismissed both openers for ducks in the first over of the match. Hunter, who finished with figures of 4 for 47, along with Michael Rae and Sam Wells, cut through the line-up and reduced the hosts to 130 for 8.Van Beek, the grandson of former West Indies and New Zealand Test cricketer Sammy Guillen, rallied the lower order during an aggressive hundred from No. 9. He made an unbeaten 111 off 125 balls, adding 59 for the ninth wicket and 104 for the tenth, before Canterbury were dismissed for 293.”It was one of those situations where the team was in trouble, I’ve been in that situation a lot of times before and I’d get 20, 30 or get [out] early and we’d just fall over,” van Beek told stuff.co.nz. “We went five runs at a time and next thing you know I was on 40. When Will came out it was five runs at a time. I threw a bit of caution to the wind and next thing I know I’m on 90.”I’ve had a few coaches and players ask why did I take the single the first ball. I thought Will was playing it so well. I was quite relaxed, I thought if it’s going to happen it’s going to happen,” van Beek said of his decision to not farm the strike. “He took this big flay at a short and wide one. My heart just went …. (gasps). He looked at me and kind of winked.”I’ve been in the gym preparing my body. I had a goal to be ready for the first game of the season, I ticked that off. All the hard work’s paid off.”Otago began the second day on 5 for 0 but the wickets column quickly filled up. Only three batsmen made it past single figures, with No. 8 Nick Beard top scoring with 22, as the visitors were routed for 91 in 36.3 overs. New-ball bowlers Ryan McCone and Will Williams took three wickets apiece, while van Beek had figures of 2 for 13, to give Canterbury a lead of 202.Their top order did not fail a second time. Openers Leo Carter and Ronnie Hira made half-centuries, and though they fell in quick succession to leave the score 134 for 2, Peter Fulton and Ken McClure built on that platform. At stumps on the second day, Fulton was 97, McClure 47, and Canterbury were 272 for 2. They declared on 350 for 2 on the third day with Fulton unbeaten on 155 off 144 balls, having hit five sixes, and McClure on 66 not out.Chasing a target of 553, Otago opener Brad Wilson held up one end, but wickets fell at the other. After two half-century stands for the first three wickets, and Sean Eathorne retiring hurt, Otago began to lose batsmen regularly. They slipped from 159 for 2 to 213 for 6 by stumps on the third day, with van Beek picking up three wickets. Losing Wilson for 100 just before stumps was a severe blow to Otago.Though there was rain on the fourth day, Canterbury needed only 12.4 overs to wrap up the victory. Van Beek took the last three wickets to finish with a career-best innings haul of 6 for 57. Otago were dismissed for 248 in 97.1 overs.