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Wolverhampton Wanderers boss, Bruno Lage, is set for crunch talks with the Old Gold hierarchy.

What’s the word?

That is according to a report from Birmingham Mail, who claims that the Wolves boss will meet with the Molineux hierarchy to discuss the future of Adama Traore and Francisco Trincao.

The former is set to return to Molineux after Xavi declined Barcelona’s £25m option to re-sign their youth product at the end of the season, whilst Lage’s stance on the latter is currently yet to be decided.

Wolves have a reported £25m option to buy within Trincao’s loan deal and with Traore set to return to his parent club to enter what will be the final year of his current deal, the Old Gold have a decision to make.

Time to go?

With Traore’s latest setback in being rejected by the Blaugrana once again, he requires a club that can work around his direct style and within a system that gets the best out of him.

Ironically, Wolves have missed the spark that the Spaniard of Malian descent offers on the wing, and as Trincao will have found out this season when looking at his numbers in comparison to the rest of the squad, no one comes close to Adama’s average of 7.0 dribbles per 90, with Trincao closest to that Premier League-leading tally, having managed an average of 3.0 dribbles per 90.

You get the impression that a player of Adama’s technical ability would see him shine at the likes of Liverpool, if he was afforded regular game time that is. But whilst that is very unlikely to be the case, a move to a side that commits more bodies forward in the attacking phase of the game could suit the La Masia youth graduate well – especially if Wolves are to decide on signing Trincao permanently.

At the age of 26, Adama needs regular game time, and having suffered a slight blip in his career, despite showing glimpses of his potential under Lage, Trincao needs regular minutes in a progressive system also.

With Trincao linked with a reunion with former Braga-boss-now-Sporting manager Ruben Amorim, a return back to his homeland in an exciting project with familiar faces will surely prove too much of a temptation to reject.

Wolves could find themselves without the £177k-per-week duo, amidst what looks to be a big rebuild at the Molineux this summer.

In other news: In talks: Lage can unearth Wolves’ new Neves & Moutinho in double swoop for £12.8m duo 

Rangers are back in action at Ibrox tonight as Giovanni van Bronckhorst turns his team’s attention away from the Premiership for a Europa League tie.

The Gers have a chance to reach the final of the competition in Seville but they will need to overcome a 1-0 deficit on aggregate to do so.

Van Bronckhorst’s men come into this match off the back of a 1-1 draw in the Old Firm on Sunday. The result leaves them six points behind their rivals with three matches left to go in the division, which means that the cup competitions are the club’s best opportunities to lift silverware this season.

How many changes will the head coach make to the team from that outing at Parkhead? Here is our predicted XI…

We are predicting that he will make three alterations to the side by bringing Leon Balogun, Kemar Roofe and Glen Kamara back in.

At the back, Borna Barisic may be axed by van Bronckhorst after a worrying display last time out. Former Gers man Derek Ferguson claimed that he was “spooked” against Celtic on Sunday as he let the atmosphere get the better of him.

The Croatian international was caught on his heels for Jota’s goal and must now be dropped from the team. This clash with Leipzig is a huge occasion and Rangers cannot afford to have a liability in their side, which is why the experienced Balogun should come in at centre-back and Calvin Bassey can slot in at left-back.

In midfield, we are predicting that Scott Arfield will be axed in favour of Kamara. FFC published an article explaining why the former does not warrant a starting place and van Bronkhorst may look to the Finland international to replace him.

Neil McCann, his former manager at Dundee United, previously dubbed him as “perfect” and the Gers boss seemingly rates him highly as Kamara has started nine Europa League matches this season. This indicates that he is trusted to perform in the competition, which is why he should start tonight.

Finally, Roofe may replace Fashion Sakala in the number nine role. He is an injury doubt for this match but a report from the Scottish Sun claimed that he will win the race to be fit and he could take the Zambian’s place in the team.

Sakala has failed to produce a single goal or assist in nine outings in Europe for the Gers. Roofe, meanwhile, has scored twice in four starts – including the winner against Braga in the last round – and this should give him the edge.

AND in other news, Rangers are now set to repeat their awful Gilmour disaster, Gvb will be livid…

The 308-run partnership between Joe Burns and Travis Head, meanwhile, was Australia’s biggest against Sri Lanka for any wicket

Bharath Seervi01-Feb-2019308- The partnership between Joe Burns and Travis Head for the fourth wicket is Australia’s biggest for any wicket against Sri Lanka. The pair eclipsed a nearly 30-year-old record set by Dean Jones and Steve Waugh, who put on an unbroken 260 in Hobart in December 1989. The Burns-Head partnership is also the highest fourth-wicket stand by any pair against Sri Lanka.ESPNcricinfo Ltd13- Tests without a double-century partnership for Australia before this one. The last such stand came in the Perth Ashes Test in December 2017, between Mitchell Marsh and Steven Smith. In 13 Tests in 2015, Australia’s batsmen put on as many as eight 200-plus stands.1- Centuries by Australia batsmen in their last 11 Tests coming into this match. The lone century was by Usman Khawaja in Dubai.384- Australia’s score at stumps is already their highest total since the last Ashes, in 12 Tests. The previous highest was 362 for 8 in the fourth innings of the Dubai Test in October.1- Travis Head scored his maiden Test century, playing his eighth Test and 13th innings. He had made four fifties. It was Joe Burns’ fourth century and his current score is already the highest by a right-handed Australia opener since Michael Slater’s 219 versus Sri Lanka at the WACA in December 1995. Burns has been involved in three of Australia’s last four 250-plus partnerships.5- Tests played by Sri Lanka’s three fast bowlers before this one. Kasun Rajitha had played three, Vishwa Fernando two, and Chamika Karunaratne was making his debut. Fernando and Karunaratne reduced Australia to 28 for 3 in the ninth over, before Burns and Head dug in for most of the rest of the day.

Stats highlights from Day 1 of the Perth Test, where David Warner’s bruising half-century notched his average at WACA to over 100

Gaurav Sundararaman03-Nov-201619 Wickets in the first over of an innings across all formats for Mitchell Starc, the most for any bowler since 2015. Next on the list, with seven wickets each, are Lasith Malinga, Dawlat Zadran and David Willey.18 Number of batsmen Starc has dismissed for a duck in his career. Eight of them are openers.2006 The previous instance of South Africa losing three wickets inside the first 10 overs of a Test match in the first innings, against Sri Lanka at the P Sara Oval in Colombo. Today they were 27 for 3.0 Number of specialist spinners to debut at WACA before Keshav Maharaj. Before Maharaj, only nine overs of spin was bowled by a debutant in Perth. Dean Elgar was the last one to do it. He bowled one over during the previous Test between the teams here.78.40 Quinton de Kock’s batting average in 2016, which is the highest among all South Africa batsmen. He has scored three fifties and one hundred this year.50 Number of wickets taken by Starc at home. He is the fourth left-arm fast bowler to take 50 wickets at home. Since 2015, Starc has taken 22 wickets from five matches at 23.40. Before that, he had taken 28 wickets at 31.28. Mitchell Johnson leads the list with 171 wickets.106 David Warner’s average* at the WACA from eight innings. He has three hundreds with a highest score of 253. The only instance when he did not score a hundred was against South Africa in 2012.12 Number of times out of 38 fifty-plus scores Warner has made a fifty at under run-a-ball. Ten of those, including today’s 39-ball half-century, have come in Australia. Since Warner’s debut no other batsmen has made as many fifties under a run-a-ball. Brendon Mccullum is next with seven such instances. No other batsmen has had more than three such instances.76 Average opening partnership for Australia at home in the last one year. The next best is New Zealand with 43 runs. Warner and Marsh have added 105 so far.*At end of the first day’s play

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Oct-2015Masood and Mohammad Hafeez put on a half-century opening stand…•AFP…before Moeen Ali struck, having Hafeez taken at short leg•Getty ImagesJonny Bairstow is mobbed after his second catch – a brilliant piece of work under the helmet – removed Shoaib Malik•Getty ImagesJames Anderson picked up Masood after lunch to leave Pakistan on 85 for 3•Getty ImagesMisbah-ul-Haq helped steady the innings during a stand of 93 with Younis Khan•Getty ImagesYounis passed fifty and was heading towards another landmark…•Getty Images…only to be caught down the leg side off Mark Wood•Getty ImagesYounis departed for 56. He needs another 47 runs to reach 9000 in Tests•AFPMisbah anchored Pakistan’s post-tea effort during a solid stand with Asad Shafiq•AFPThe captain brought up his century with two sixes in the final over of the day•AFPAt the other end, Shafiq finished on 46 not out and Pakistan could be happy with their position of 282 for 4•AFP

Plays of the Day from the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings at Eden Gardens

Nikhil Kalro20-May-2014The dream ball
Pat Cummins made his debut memorable with a ball that is every fast bowler’s dream. The 21-year-old was up against the daunting combination of Dwayne Smith and Brendon McCullum in his first IPL match, and he swung his first ball away, to beat the bat of Smith. The next delivery was pitched on middle stump and on a perfect length, keeping Smith rooted to the crease. It swung away and beat the bat again, but this time the ball hit the top of off stump to dismiss one of the most destructive batsmen of the season.The first-ball anomaly
The days of using the first ball as a ‘sighter’ are long gone, as Smith exhibited. Shakib Al Hasan bowled the first over of the Chennai Super Kings innings and tossed the first one up, Smith responded by planting his foot forward and smashing the ball to long-off for four. One would have expected Sunil Narine to be treated with caution but no respect was shown to him either, as Suresh Raina dispatched the first ball of his spell over long-on for six.The direct-hit
Piyush Chawla was taken for 19 runs in his third over – 14th of the innings – which handed the momentum to Chennai Super Kings, but he redeemed himself with an excellent piece of fielding in the 17th over. Faf du Plessis struck a ball firmly to midwicket where Chawla was lurking. He picked up the ball cleanly and hit the stumps in one swift motion, to find du Plessis well short.The outside edge
Robin Uthappa has been in terrific form in the last few matches, but today he was reprieved twice within the first 15 balls, in the same position – first slip. Ben Hilfenhaus found the edge of Uthappa’s bat in the first over, but R Ashwin dropped the easy opportunity. Suresh Raina replaced Ashwin at a wide first slip, but he could not hold on either when Uthappa offered a touch chance. Ashwin had dropped AB de Villiers at cover in the previous match, and he went on to make a match-winning 28 off 14 balls. This time was no different; Uthappa went on to make a match-winning fifty.

ESPNcricinfo presents the plays of the day from the fifth day of the third Test at Lord’s

Firdose Moonda and George Dobell at Lord's20-Aug-2012Drop of the day
Most of the drops in the series have come with England in the field – nine to be exact – but South Africa have occasionally been guilty of the same. Jacques Rudolph was the culprit, when Jonathan Trott was drawn into the drive by Jacques Kallis. A slightly more difficult than regulation chance presented itself, Rudolph would have had to move to his left and stretch a touch but he was already heading in that direction when Trott got into position to play the cover drive. The ball squirted out of Rudolph’s grasp and ran away to third man for four. Trott was on 37 at the time and went on to almost double his score, a costly drop for Rudolph, if not ultimately significant.Celebration of the day
Imran Tahir was told to rein in his over-the-top celebrations as part of the new Gary Kirsten stable approach to success and failure but he could not hold back when he took the wicket that opened up England’s middle order. Jonny Bairstow should have gone forward to one that pitched on leg and turned across him but he stayed back and could not get his bat down in time to keep it out. Tahir charged away from his team-mates towards the pavilion, yanking his shirt at the point close to his heart. He stopped only when fairly close to pavilion and glared at it while his team-mates caught up with him. In the past, he would have run almost over the boundary so he showed some measure of restraint.Over-eagerness of the day
Vernon Philander had his best two days of the series and was so keen for it to continue that when he hit Trott above the knee roll he appealed vociferously and immediately thought it was out. His appeal was rejected but Philander did not even wait for Graeme Smith and made the T sign himself, asking for the review. Smith was so unimpressed with the bowler’s impulsiveness, he turned his back on him and went to consult with AB de Villiers, leaving Philander with his arms crossed. After a few seconds, Smith turned around again and shook his head, indicating he would not ask for the review and he was correct not to – the ball was bouncing over the top of leg stump.Key wicket of the day
If England were to have any realistic hope of chasing down a challenging target on the final day, they needed their most experienced batsmen to contribute a good chunk of the runs. Instead they lost Ian Bell early. Most galling was the manner of the wicket: Bell, ignoring the fact that the South African seamers were finding substantial movement, opted not to see his side through a testing first session, but flashed well away from his body and edged to slip. It was a loose shot of an experienced man of whom more was expected.Telling moment of the day
Graham Gooch sunk his head into his hands after the run out of James Taylor. Taylor was dismissed having been sent back by Jonathan Trott after attempting a fourth run. It was a moment that typified the way in which England, probably confronted by a superior foe, worsened their plight with a series of self-inflicted wounds.Revival of the day
Just when it seemed all hope had gone, England were revived through an outrageous stand of 74 in 66 balls for the eighth wicket between Graeme Swann and Matt Prior. Swann, counterattacking with bravado, smashed 41 in 34 balls but, responding to the sight of Prior bearing down on him, was forced into an unlikely single. JP Duminy’s throw was far from perfect but Imran Tahir, the bowler, collected neatly and hit the stumps with his own throw from close range to seal a tight run out that ended England’s last realistic hope of victory.Twist of the day
In the end it made no difference but Matt Prior won a remarkable reprieve that, for a time, provided another twist in a remarkable and absorbing game of cricket. It seemed Prior was out when, attempting to slash a delivery from Morkel through the off side, he scooped the ball to Duminy running in from the cover boundary. Prior was just feet away from crossing the boundary rope when a roar from the crowd alerted him to a shred of hope and he turned to find that Simon Taufel, the on-field umpire, had asked Rod Tucker, the third umpire, to check whether Morkel had overstepped and delivered a no-ball. Replays showed that he had and Prior, for a short while anyway, sustained England’s slim hopes.

The pitch look threatening at the start and Shaun Tait seemed set to capitalise, but Davy Jacobs had other ideas

Telford Vice in Centurion25-Sep-2010It looked a miserable brute of a pitch, an ugly stretch of sad, scorched, squashed earth scarred with strange skew stripes. Who knew what lurked beneath as the Warriors and the South Australia Redbacks prepared to play the second semi-final of the Champions League T20 Centurion on Saturday.When the second delivery of the match blipped off the edge of Ashwell Prince’s clumsily offered bat and into Daniel Harris’ hands at gully, worst fears worsened.Never mind that the man who bowled it, Shaun Tait, had no doubt been growling grimly in a dark corner somewhere since Tuesday, when he missed the game against Guyana with an elbow issue. Never mind that the ball had blitzed past Prince at an obscene 151.4kmph. The pitch was still the subject of malevolent mutterings in the second over, when Colin Ingram drove Aaron O’Brien for four, pulled him for six, and cut him for another boundary.In fact, it was only in the next over that the pitch’s bona fides were accepted. Tait swooped in to Davy Jacobs, unleashed a wickedly swinging delivery at 147kmph, and had his follow-through undone as the missile came screaming back past the non-striker’s stumps at boot height on its way to the sightscreen.Jacobs, all gangly and slight, does not look like a man physically equipped to inflict grievous bodily harm on a cricket ball. But, as was the case with the pitch, appearances can be deceiving. Back bounced Tait with his next delivery, this one hissing towards its target at 151kmph. From somewhere Jacobs found the time to steal a step to the off side and murder the ball over midwicket for six.Tait resorted to a slower ball before roaring once more unto the breach. Another boundary tore through the on-side as Jacobs again employed sleight-of-foot to play the stroke from outside his off-stump.By the time Jacobs sent a ball from Harris into the stratosphere and was caught and bowled at – yes, folks – square leg, he had scored 61 off 41 balls and reclaimed the mantle of the tournament’s top run-scorer.The emphatic cricket played on the pitch inevitably seeped into the outfield, where South Australia dropped three catches, but also clung to a clutch of spectacular grabs.Callum Ferguson carved his nugget-y niche in the face of a fearsome bowling and fielding performance by the Warriors, who have learnt in recent times what it takes to win trophies. Playing with a swagger that could knock the tattoos off a sailor at five paces, the South Africans refused to let their opponents into the game. Ferguson earned the respect of all who bowled to him. But he couldn’t do it all on his own; Daniel Christian’s 19 was South Australia’s next best effort. It was a long way behind Ferguson’s in every sense.For some, the most outrageous moment of the night came in the 11th over of the South Australia’s innings, when Nicky Boje did what only his best friends surely thought him capable of, and turned the ball damn near square. It spat past Ferguson’s outside edge, past the diving Mark Boucher, who didn’t try to hide his astonishment, and all the way over the boundary.The drama even spilled onto the grass banks, where a youngster wearing a Blue Bulls rugby jersey made rude acquaintance with a batted ball. He was carefully lifted onto his father’s lap and sat silently holding an ice pack to his head.After the match, South Australia put aside the disappointment of losing for the first time in the tournament – and when it mattered most – by presenting the bruised but otherwise unhurt boy with one of their playing shirts and a helmet.Like the well-mannered kid he was, he said thank you and duly donned his prizes. But as soon as the Aussies were out of sight he whipped off the new kit and reverted to his rugby gear.The Bulls, you see, tend to win big games.

Conway had fractured his thumb during a T20I against Australia at home in February

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Apr-2024New Zealand and Chennai Super Kings wicketkeeper-batter Devon Conway has been ruled out of the entire IPL 2024 with injury. CSK have added England fast bowler Richard Gleeson to their squad as his replacement.Conway had suffered a fracture in the joint of his left thumb during the second T20I against Australia in Auckland in February. He subsequently underwent surgery and CSK were originally hopeful of having Conway back in May for the second half of the IPL, but he has now been sidelined from the whole season.Conway was central to CSK winning the IPL title in 2023, scoring 672 runs in 15 innings at an average of 51.69 and strike rate of just under 140. Forty-seven of those runs came in a rain-hit three-day T20 final against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad, where Conway also won the Player-of-the-Match award.Conway’s injury-enforced absence leaves Aravelly Avanish, the India Under-19 wicketkeeper, as the only back-up to MS Dhoni at CSK.

.@ChennaiIPL fans.

This is Richard Gleeson.

#YouBears | #WhistlePodu | #Yellove pic.twitter.com/aIbAbr7GED

— Warwickshire CCC (@WarwickshireCCC) April 18, 2024