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Antonio Conte will be wanting to see his Tottenham Hotspur side build on their triumph at the weekend when they head north to face Middlesbrough in the FA Cup fifth round this evening.

It presents the final opportunity for the Italian stalwart to seal some instant silverware on his long-awaited return to England after he replaced Nuno Santo in the Spurs dugout back in November.

Indeed, the Lilywhites have suffered a trophy drought since 2008, whilst Conte picked up his last piece of glory only last season, where he led Inter Milan to their first Scudetto in over a decade.

Daniel Levy and co will be hoping he can make a similar sort of impact at Hotspur Way and a trip to the Riverside to face a Championship outfit presents the perfect opportunity to move one step closer with a place in the quarter-finals at stake.

As such, it will be interesting to see what sort of side Conte will name against Boro as several of Spurs’ key stars have been ever-presence since his arrival and some could ultimately do with a rest – a place in the top four is still a target and there are tricky games on the horizon, including one against a direct rival in Manchester United.

One player who has been handed a lifeline under the 52-year-old is Harry Winks, who was once one of Mauricio Pochettino’s most trusted lieutenants in the engine room.

Under former manager Jose Mourinho and then Nuno, the England international sunk down the pecking order and as such, his involvement with Gareth Southgate’s Three Lions also dwindled.

And whilst he has looked shades of his former self with Conte at the helm, the 26-year-old maestro isn’t the sort of player that will last long-term, so it could prove to be a pretty pointless experiment to continue to play him.

“Harry has the profile of the perfect midfield player,” once claimed Pochettino (via the Evening Standard). “His characteristics are perfect. When we talk about midfielders like Xavi and [Andres] Iniesta, he’s like this type of player.”

Well, since those comments in September 2018, that just hasn’t been the case. Take this season, for instance, only two players to have started eight or more league games have averaged a worse seasonal rating than him, as per WhoScored.

Evidently a good passer of the ball (89.7% career passing accuracy), the £15.3m-rated midfielder does little else in the engine room, averaging only 0.9 tackles and 0.8 key passes per game this term, so he’s rarely having an influence at either end of the pitch.

If Rodrigo Bentancur or Oliver Skipp are fit, then he’d have no place in the starting XI anyway.

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Meanwhile, this sort of encounter could be a good chance for Conte to take a look at alternatives and perhaps players who are likely to be here for the longer term, such as Alfie Devine or Harvey White, both of whom have impressed in the U23 ranks.

Therefore, the Spurs head coach must be ruthless and axe the £91k-per-week star, starting with tonight’s FA Cup clash against Boro.

AND in other news, Paratici can kickstart Spurs summer rebuild with £30m “machine”, Conte badly needs him…

In a jovial press conference in his hometown of Ranchi, MS Dhoni joked about retirement questions, the absence of the helicopter shot, and perceived lack of batting opportunities for Yuvraj Singh, but on a serious note promised more of batting experiments like the promotion of Hardik Pandya. India beat Sri Lanka comfortably by 69 runs to square the three-match series, and Pandya hit 27 off 12 balls when sent in to bat at the score of 127 for 3 in the 15th over.Dhoni was at his best when trying to explain the absence of the helicopter shot through analogies. First, he said a helicopter cannot fly in a submarine under water. The point was he was not getting the ball to hit that helicopter shot.”If they bowl me bouncers, the only way I can play the helicopter shot is if I stand on a stool,” Dhoni said.Dhoni was more serious with Pandya’s batting slot in this match. “It was an opportunity for him to see international cricket closely,” Dhoni said. “This is what he is known for. He can go in and play the big shots straightaway. So in the coming games whenever we give some opportunity, we would like to give every player some kind of batting so that going into the T20 World Cup, everyone has some kind of exposure when it comes to batting.”Bowling, everyone gets a chance to bowl. A lot of times you always experiment with bowling. What happens with batting is that you want to win games and you also want to give an individual a fair amount of time in the middle. It does not always go with the plan. Definitely in the coming games, if there is a chance of exposing someone to this kind of an exposure so that going into the T20 World Cup they know what their roles and responsibilities are.”Dhoni was back to joking momentarily when asked why Yuvraj was not getting a permanent slot. “Nobody thinks about me,” he said. “I also keep going up and down.”It is a sensitive topic with Indian fans so Dhoni immediately went back to being serious. “But yes you are right,” he said. “When a match starts, Yuvi is slotted in at No 5. It is difficult to get him to bat at a higher position than that. Because the top four – the openers, No. 3 is Virat Kohli, No. 4 is Suresh Raina. If you look at these four, their record in India and overseas is extraordinary. It becomes slightly difficult.”Yes Yuvraj Singh is back in the team. We wish to give him more batting. But at the same time, since I have played with Yuvi a lot, I know it is difficult for him to go and straightaway start hitting in the 17th or 18th over. He’s like a proper batsman who can hit.”Okay, he can start early. Whenever he bats in the slog, he has found it difficult. We’ll see how it goes. I will try to give him more opportunity in the upcoming games. But again we want to win games. That will also be our priority. We will see how it goes.”

Worcestershire are keen to sign up Umar Gul © Getty Images

Worcestershire have offered to sign up Umar Gul, the Pakistan fast bowler, as their overseas professional for the first part of the 2008 season.”We have talked to Umar’s representative in the United Kingdom and have made an offer. We will continue to talk to see what is possible,” Mark Newton, the club’s chief executive told the , a London-based newspaper. “We would like Umar to be our overseas player for the early part of next season and his likely availability would be from early May to early August.”We are just hoping it [the signing] will all come to fruition and it will be an exciting time if Umar, Simon Jones, Kabir Ali and Matt Mason are all fit and available for next season. Umar is one of the most exciting prospects around and in addition to Test cricket, he has also proved to be economical in Twenty20 cricket.”Gul, 23, was the highest wicket-taker in the ICC World Twenty20 with 13 wickets at a miserly 5.60 runs per over. He has also taken 67 wickets at 31.55 from 16 Tests and 44 wickets at 28.27 from 34 ODIs.But Gul needs clearance from the Pakistan board before joining Worcestershire. If the board gives him permission, it will be his maiden appearance on the county circuit. Gloucestershire had signed him on for the 2007 season but the Pakistan board had refused to release him owing to concerns about his fitness.Worcestershire’s bowling department has been bolstered by the signing of Simon Jones, the England fast bowler, who will be on a two-year contract. Kabir Ali, who has played 14 ODIs and a Test, and Matt Mason would provide support. Mason is undergoing rehabilitation work after missing most of the previous season due to a shoulder injury.

The selection committe meeting will be held at Rajkot because captain Rahul Dravid would be playing for Karnataka there © Getty Images

Thirty probables for the Cricket World Cup and a team for India’s first two one-dayers against the West Indies will be selected at Rajkot on January 12.The probables’ names will be sent to the International Cricket Council by January 13, the deadline to submit the list, and it would be further pruned to 14 members a month before the start of the mega event in the Carribean on March 11.The first of the four-match ODI home series against the West Indies will be played on January 21 at Nagpur and the second will be a day-night affair on January 24 at Cuttack.”The selection committe meeting will be held at Rajkot because captain Rahul Dravid would be playing for Karnataka in their Ranji Trophy four-day match against Saurashtra from January 10-13,” BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah told PTI.The Indian team will return after the three-Test series against South Africa, presently poised at 1-1, which ends with the Cape Town match from January 2 to 6.

A statement issued by Clive Field, chief executive of the Zimbabwe Professional Cricketers’ AssociationDespite a number of recent attempts to find a way forward with ZC regarding the various issues outstanding in the negotiations between ZPCA and ZC, I have not been able to provide ZPCA with any progress.ZPCA have thus instructed me to issue the following public statement on their behalf:1. ZPCA fail to comprehend how ZC can close its offices early and at short notice for its annual shutdown, when important operational issues still remain outstanding between ZPCA and ZC. To recap briefly on these:Contractual issues

Retainer Fee – payable at the official (Interbank) Rate

Match Fees for NZ and India series- late/non payment and purported unilateral variation by ZC of agreed contractual basis for payment of match fees from USD into local currency

Non availability of vehicles and fuel for playersGovernance Issues

Continued tenure of the chairman of the board, Mr. Chingoka

Continued tenure of the MD of ZC, Mr. Bvute

Non-resolution of financial questions asked of ZC by provincial chairmen, which gives rise to continued question marks over the viability of ZC and, thus, the decision to play cricket as a professional career2. It is the opinion of ZPCA that ZC has been given a reasonable opportunity to address these issues and take steps to progress matters, and to meet its outstanding financial obligations to players. In the face of burgeoning costs and at a time when most employees in Zimbabwe are receiving their annual bonuses, the players have been overlooked by ZC and are still waiting for match fees, more than two months late.3. Nevertheless, the players selected for the Afro-Asia Cup and SA tours have out of decency been prepared to show faith by continuing to train and prepare for those tours, despite having immediate pressing financial needs and suffering operational difficulties in sourcing fuel and transport to attend training, as well as facing the threat of imprisonment on allegations of forex irregularities.4. In the light of the persistent and continued failure by both the Chairman and the MD of ZC to address the legitimate concerns of their players, effective immediately no player will train or avail himself for national duty. In light of the imminent tours of Bangladesh and South Africa, we suggest that the organizers need to be notified accordingly as soon as possible.5. ZPCA very much regret the need for this step, which has been forced upon us by our circumstances.

Welcome back to the commentary box, Richie

The voice of Australian cricket will be heard for at least three more seasons after Richie Benaud accepted a deal to stay in the commentary box. Speculation of Benaud’s retirement had grown to the extent that an apparent successor had been agreed in Mark Nicholas, the former England A captain.But Nine today ended the rumours that Benaud, 74, was hanging up the microphone and beige jackets. “Richie is an icon of Australian cricket and he has signed a contract to stay on for another three years,” the spokesman Jamie Campbell said. “He loves the game. Cricket is his passion and his life and he has no intention of stopping as a commentator any time soon.” Campbell said there was no point discussing potential replacements for Benaud, who started with the network in 1977.Campbell also said Ian Chappell was being rested from the Adelaide Test as part of the commentary team’s rotational policy, a method under consideration for Australia’s bowlers. “There are three different teams coming to Australia this summer and overseas commentators will be used,” Campbell said. “As a result we have Tests where the commentators have the chance to take a break.” Chappell was reportedly angry at the move.

Hampshire look set to announce the signing of Chaminda Vaas as their overseas replacement for veteran Pakistani Wasim Akram who quit the county earlier in the month.Vaas, 29, who has taken 216 wickets in 68 Tests for Sri Lanka, held talks with Hampshire after Heath Streak, Zimbabwe’s captain, turned down an offer of a second spell with the county. Paul Terry, Hampshire’s manager, said that an official announcement will be made later in the week.Streak turned down Hampshire’s approaches as he wanted to spend more time with his family after Zimbabwe’s recent tour of England.Wasim Akram left Hampshire halfway through a one-year contract because of his continuing battle with diabetes which had restricted him to just five of their eight first-class matches.

Canterbury assumed a surprising, but deserved, 178-run lead over Wellington in their State Championship match at Rangiora’s Dudley Park today.Wellington was dismissed for 126 in 51.3 overs when replying to Canterbury’s 242.By stumps on day two with a first innings lead of 116, Canterbury had reached 62/4, not as comfortable as it would have hoped as two quick wickets fell just before the end.The big task of pulling this match safely in Canterbury’s direction rests with the experience of captain Gary Stead and Chris Harris when they resume batting today. Harris with his first innings 70 is the big prospect for his side, especially with his history of high run scoring at the ground.The chances are however, that the improved batting conditions of late today could carry over into tomorrow meaning the more runs Canterbury can score the tougher it is going to be for Wellington.Star of the day was undoubtedly emerging pace bowler Wade Cornelius, who took career-best figures of seven for 53 for 17.3 overs in only his fifth first-class match.The temperature was up at Rangiora’s Dudley Park but that was no reason for the Wellington batting to melt the way it did.As if going to lunch at 14/3 was not bad enough, the Wellington players lost four more wickets while only 15 runs were scored as Warren Wisneski and Cornelius did their combine harvester impersonation, a not inappropriate comparison in this neck of the woods, by cutting down everything that moved in their path.They like their duck shooting in North Canterbury but they were in danger of being pulled up for out-of-season infringements as a result of the number of Wellington ducks being shot at Rangiora.That had to be of little comfort to captain Richard Jones, Selwyn Blackmore, Grant Donaldson, Chris Nevin and Matthew Walker who were all back in the pavilion with none of them having scored a run.Wisneski bowled with all his customary vigour and bustle while Cornelius found some early swing to go with his pace and in many ways looked like a younger Simon Doull. It was an impressive display from the both, and they have the makings of just the sort of formidable opening combination Canterbury has been seeking.Canterbury had earlier made the most of some enterprising batting from Paul Wiseman as the innings teetered towards its end, even if he did target CricInfo for some treatment when hitting a six into the scoring and media tent.While he lost Wisneski and Stephen Cunis, he found a good ally in Cornelius who had a good look at the conditions while helped Wiseman add 35 runs for the last wicket. Wiseman was last man out for 32.James Franklin ended with four wickets for 60 runs from 26 overs while Andrew Penn took three for 41 and Walker had two for 40.Wellington had plenty to be thankful for from Franklin and Penn, two unlikely saviours in the normal course of events. But Penn has always been handy with the bat while it was a timely chance for Franklin to demonstrate that he has the potential to develop into a top-flight all-rounder.Watch this space because he may have plenty of chances to bat this summer if Wellington keeps batting in this fashion.The pair added 84 runs for the eighth wicket, and most significantly for Wellington they ensured Canterbury would have no cause to invoke the follow-on by taking the score past 93.Penn was more prepared to belt anything loose and in the process scored 45 runs until the tea break proved his downfall when falling just after the return when trying to pull a ball from Cornelius only to sky it high in the direction of square leg where Brad Doody took the catch.Franklin batted on, sensibly accumulating runs to the point he scored 38 at which stage he ran out of partners as Cornelius’ pace proved too much for Jeetan Patel and Ash Turner.

Cricket Australia will make a decision on whether to proceed with the Test tour of Bangladesh after its security manager Sean Carroll meets with officials in Bangladesh over the coming days. Australia’s players were due to fly out for Bangladesh on Monday morning but that departure has been postponed due to new security advice from the Australian government.The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) issued updated travel advice on Friday, stating that “there is reliable information to suggest that militants may be planning to target Australian interests in Bangladesh”. The government contacted Cricket Australia directly on Friday afternoon to relay the latest advice, which has led to Carroll being dispatched to Bangladesh to assess the situation.Carroll is expected to meet with the Australian High Commissioner in Bangladesh on Sunday, ahead of further meetings with Bangladesh government, police and security officials from Monday. The Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said that while CA wanted the two-Test tour to proceed, it would not be possible to make any decisions until such meetings had taken place.”Our position is we want the tour to go ahead as planned,” Sutherland told reporters in Brisbane on Sunday. “This has obviously come very suddenly and we’ve needed to make this response. Our preferred position is to continue with the tour, but the safety and security of our players and staff is the absolute priority and the first priority for us is to secure that.”We’ll be endeavouring to get some undertakings and understandings of what the situation is in Bangladesh before making any further decisions in regard to the tour.”Sutherland said Cricket Australia had been advised by the Australian government on Friday that there would be an adjustment to the official recommendations for traveling in Bangladesh as a result of intelligence advice from DFAT and the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO).Although DFAT’s Smartraveller website often advises general caution when travelling in Asia, the wording of Friday’s updated advice – that “militants may be planning to target Australian interests” – is unusually specific. There is no such specific wording listed in the travel advice for neighbouring countries in the region.”The government came to us on Friday afternoon to advise us that they had some credible threats to western interests and on that basis, knowing that the team was not far away from leaving, that we should understand that there would probably be some alteration or adjustment to the travel advice for Australians going to Bangladesh,” Sutherland said.”What we’ve heard from our government and the Department of Foreign Affairs is that there are credible threats to Australian and western interests in Bangladesh. We obviously take that very seriously and we need to respond, and are responding in the manner that we have so far.”However, he also noted that the travel advice was for ordinary Australians travelling in Bangladesh, and the Australian squad would have extremely high levels of security if the tour went ahead.”The DFAT advice is for ordinary civilians who are travelling on holidays or on business in Bangladesh, which is very different to the Australian cricket team, which is afforded the highest level of security by Bangladesh police and armed forces while they’re there,” Sutherland said. “Those things need to be weighed up in the circumstances.”Cricket Australia has kept its players updated on the situation by email and the general manager of team performance, Pat Howard, has spoken directly to some players. Sutherland said he had also been in direct contact with Nizamuddin Chowdhury, the CEO of the Bangladesh Cricket Board, to keep the BCB updated on the situation.”I’ve spoken to my equivalent in Bangladesh and they understand our position,” Sutherland said. “They understand that we’ve taken advice from our government and they will go to every length to provide whatever support is necessary including arranging whatever meetings are necessary for our head of security and others to be able to get an understanding of the situation and what security response there may be from Bangladesh police, government and other security forces.”Australia’s former captain Michael Clarke said on Sunday that he hoped the tour would be able to go ahead, but that the decision should be made by the government and administrators rather than the players. Clarke said he was disappointed that during his international career of more than a decade he had never been able to tour Pakistan, due to security concerns.”A lot of the time as a player you leave decisions like this up to the experts,” Clarke said on Channel Nine’s . “This is one of the occasions you want, DFAT, CA, the Australian Cricketers’ Association to make the decision for you.”If they’re saying lets hold the guys’ travel off for a few extra days, that shouldn’t affect the tour at all. If they’re still saying don’t go in a week or two weeks’ time then we’re having a different conversation.”For the game we need to see teams be able to travel the world and play in all different conditions. I never got to play in Pakistan. I hope over time cricket is played all around the world and we don’t have these problems.”The short nature of the two-Test tour gives Cricket Australia little time to make a decision, and it would be unlikely that the matches could be rescheduled to another location at such short notice. The Australian Cricketers’ Association chief executive Alistair Nicholson said the ACA would work with Cricket Australia to keep the players informed.”We continue to be in close contact with the players, who fully understand that their safety is our foremost concern, that and any recommendations we make will be made with this in mind,” Nicholson said. “We’re also liaising with our security experts, CA and FICA – as the peak body for cricket player associations. We’re awaiting updated and more detailed assessments and will keep the players informed of any developments.”

West Ham United have suffered a blow in their pursuit of Leeds midfielder Kalvin Phillips after Newcastle swooped in to hijack the move.

The Lowdown: Failed January bid

Irons fans endured a disastrous January transfer window after failing to sign a single player in the mid-season market.

The Hammers boss claimed that this was not down to a lack of trying; the Daily Mail previously reported that West Ham had made a club-record £55m bid for the 26-year-old on deadline day.

Whilst it was reported that negotiations had started three weeks prior, the east London club made their move too late in the month and ultimately failed in their pursuit.

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The Latest: Newcastle hijack Phillips move

According to a fresh report by the Daily Mail, Leeds’ hopes of keeping Phillips are under threat, as Newcastle are prepared to hijack any move to east London by bumping the Yorkshireman’s salary from £25,000 per week to a staggering £120,000-a-week.

This follows Sportsmail’s claim that the Leeds player has told his club that he is willing to extend his stay with the Whites beyond his contract expiry date of 2024, despite growing interest from Newcastle, Aston Villa and West Ham.

Therefore, it appears that the Hammers may have slipped down Phillips’ pecking order, given the seemingly preferable choices of remaining at Elland Road or moving to the financially-welcoming Magpies.

The Verdict: Big blow for West Ham

This news represents a serious blunder from GSB and West Ham, who now seem set to miss out on the holding midfielder due to their lack of urgency in January.

Rising to prominence during Euro 2020 as he partnered Irons star Declan Rice in the middle of the park for England, Phillips received huge plaudits for a number of his performances during the tournament, with Arsenal legend Ian Wright hailing him as “phenomenal”.

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When compared with similar players in Europe’s top five leagues, the 26-year-old ranks in the 99th percentile for pressures and the 97th percentile for blocks made (via FBRef), so his quality as a midfueld destroyer is plain to be seen.

Therefore, with Newcastle hijacking the Irons’ move for the Leeds maestro, this will come as a huge blow to the east London club.

In other news: These were West Ham’s three worst performers against Everton