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A major Newcastle United transfer claim has emerged over Lille centre-back Sven Botman…

What’s the talk?

Amanda Staveley has opened up on the club’s pursuit of the Dutch central defender during the January transfer window…

She told The Athletic: “We had to encourage players – ‘we’ll be a safe place for you, we’ll deliver and grow’. Some desperately wanted to come to us, like Sven (Botman), who still does very much and has talked very openly about that.

“Coming through all that showed us we can do it, that we can stick to our plan and if we get criticised on the last day for ‘oh, you’re going after Jesse (Lingard)’, well, Jesse wanted to come to us.

“We did everything. We never stopped. From the start to the finish, we did not stop working.”

Delight

Newcastle fans will surely be delighted with these comments for multiple reasons.

Firstly, it suggests that the club worked their socks off until the deadline closed to bolster the squad and any mishaps or failures were not from a lack of effort. Whilst they were unable to strike a deal for Botman last month, they were able to complete a number of signings to boost Eddie Howe’s squad.

Dan Burn, Matt Targett, Bruno Guimaraes, Kieran Trippier and Chris Wood all came in, with the Magpies now seven games unbeaten in the Premier League and four points clear of the relegation zone.

This shows that PIF’s work last month has had a huge impact on the team, so imagine what they could do with an entire summer and one window’s worth of experience to work with ahead of next season.

Supporters will also be pleased to read that Botman wanted the transfer and is now open to a move to the club at the end of the campaign. They will be buzzing about this as he could be a terrific addition to the team to improve the starting XI.

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In Ligue 1 this season, the former Ajax machine has averaged a SofaScore rating of 7.14. He has won 67% of his duels and made 4.7 clearances per game, showing that he has what it takes to perform consistently at the top level despite only turning 22 in January.

Meanwhile, Dan Burn’s score of 6.99 in the highest rating any Newcastle centre-back has managed in the Premier League. This suggests that Botman would come in and be an immediate improvement on what Howe has to work with at the moment, which is why fans will be delighted with Staveley’s comments.

AND in other news, Lost the ball every 2.7 touches: “Annoying” NUFC passenger blew his big chance vs Bees…

England 183 for 9 (Taylor 62) beat New Zealand A 86 (Guha 3-9) by 97 runs
ScorecardEngland’s women got the New Zealand-leg of their tour off to a winning start with a 97-run victory over New Zealand A in Lincoln.Acting captain Claire Taylor’s 62 was the basis of the side’s 183 for 9, with a third-wicket stand of 107 with Jenny Gunn (47) providing the bulk of the runs. But there were alarms as they slid from 122 for 2 to 131 for 7, and it took cameos from Caroline Atkins (23*) and Stephanie Davies (25) to give the score respectability.New Zealand A were never in the race as they were skittled for 86. Even that represented a recovery as at one stage they were 36 for 7. Isa Guha grabbed 3 for 9 while Gunn and Charlotte Russell picked up two wickets each.”I’m really happy with the professional performance from the team,” Taylor said. “There are still areas for improvement with both bat and ball … losing five wickets for nine runs in the middle order and bowling too many wides.”

Peter Ingram hit a 210-ball 159, his fourth State Championship hundred, to take Central Districts to 375 for 6 on the opening day’s play against Canterbury at Napier. With Geoff Barnett on duty for Canada at the World Cup, Ingram was promoted as opener and put on 175 with Mathew Sinclair (78) after 16-year-old debutant Corey Anderson removed Jamie How for 34. Tim Weston (34 not out) and Robbie Schaw (12 not out) were together at stumps. Brandon Hiini (2for 76) and Chris Harris (1 for 49) the pick of the Canterbury bowlers.Canterbury began the game in third place, and need an outright win for a place in the final.Otago’s opening bowlers James McMillan and Bradlet Scott shared eight wickets to bowl Auckland out for 226 on day one of their State Championship game at Dunedin’s University Oval. McMillan, a right-arm fast-medium bowler, picked up 4 for 74 while Scott, a left-arm pacer, took 4 for 42 after captain Craig Cumming decided to bowl. Auckland were reduced to 129 for 8 before Mayu Pasupati and Pieter Erasmus (15) added 82 for the ninth wicket. Pasupati, on debut, finished with an unbeaten 76.By stumps, Otago were 10 for no loss. Auckland require an outright victory to keep any hopes of reaching the final.Half-centuries from Neal Parlane, Stu Mills and Chris Nevin helped Wellington get their chances of a final berth off to a good start against Northern Districts at the Basin Reserve. Parlane fell three short of a hundred, Nevin, the former international wicketkeeper made 59, and Mills was unbeaten on 54 as the hosts closed the first day on 301 for 8.Graeme Aldridge was again in the wickets, with 3 for 56, while Te Ahu Davis had 3 for 96 from 23 overs.ND held a four-point lead in the table going into the final match of the regular season, with victory assuring them home field advantage in the final. Wellington need to better Canterbury’s final-round result to claim a final place. If they complete an outright win, it should guarantee them a second successive home final, and third in four years.

Ajit Wadekar has called for Sourav Ganguly to be ushered out of the frame © Getty Images

Ajit Wadekar, the former India captain, said it was time for Sourav Ganguly to step down. Kiran More, the selection committee chairman, had on Saturday refused to confirm whether Ganguly would be considered for the first Test against England starting in Nagpur on March 1. The squad for that match will be announced in Baroda on February 23.”There is no harm in Ganguly being included in the side but I suppose the time has come [for him to end his career]. The Aussies told Steve Waugh when it was time for him to step down,” Wadekar told PTI.Wadekar, also a former coach and chief selector, said even if Ganguly was picked for the Test series against England, it would only be a stop-gap arrangement. “Let us be frank. Let us face the fact. The team is winning without Sourav, the youngsters are doing well and it is time to tell Sourav ‘thank you very much. This is your last year’, it should be like that,” he said.Wadekar, who was chairman of selectors when both Ganguly and Rahul Dravid made their Test debut in England in 1996, claimed that the team management was “forced” to include Ganguly in the team for the Test series against Pakistan. He also criticised the move to open the batting with Dravid to enable Ganguly to be in the final XI. “I think that was wrong,” Wadekar said. “We had three specialist openers, and they were thinking of Sourav also as a opener, just to accommodate him. Wasim Jaffer could have gone to see Pakistan any time. I mean, you have three specialist openers, and you cannot make them passengers. The ideal number for Rahul is three in the batting and he should stick to that.”He was, however, all praise for Dravid. “He is a guy who leads from the front. Look at the difference between him and Inzamam,” he said. “He decided to open the batting himself, even against [Greg] Chappell’s wishes, because he wanted to shield Sourav, whereas Inzamam tried to shield himself by coming in at number six (in the one-dayers). Dravid is a thinker and a cool guy.”On the forthcoming series, Wadekar felt that England sides toured the subcontinent with the wrong attitude. “They come with a suspicious mind – ‘the wicket is going to be bad, climate is going to go against them’, as if it is in our hands,” he said. “They want all the facilities in the world, which we don’t get when we go there. We have a lot to talk about them but we don’t grumble, we just focus on our cricket. So by the time they get out of that mindset, the tour is over.”England have visited India 11 times in more than 70 years of Test rivalry between the two teams and they have won only four series in India. In 46 Tests on Indian soil, the hosts have a 12-10 head-to-head record.

Zimbabwe 265 (Streak 85, Blignaut 52) v South Africa 13 for 0 (Smith 3*, de Villers 9*)
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Tatenda Taibu gave his wicket away … again © Getty Images

The opening day at Centurion Park may not have rivalled Cape Town for record breaking but it was only when South Africa were left with two fit bowlers that Zimbabwe looked like competing. Their total of 265 – having been 115 for 7 mid-way through the afternoon session – has to be balanced against the bowling they were facing for large parts of the day.In the space of half an hour during the afternoon session, three of South Africa’s fast bowlers – Andre Nel, Charl Langeveldt and Jacques Kallis – left the field for treatment and Graeme Smith was forced to use himself and Nicky Boje in partnership. At one stage the fitness trainer, Adrian le Roux, was on the field – and, if he could have done, Smith would probably have turned to him. The situation got so desperate that AB de Villers bowled for the first time in his first-class career.If the attack had remained fit the innings would not have lasted to the tea interval but, faced with part-time bowlers, the Zimbabwean tail wagged. Heath Streak led the charge, making 85 before he inside-edged Jacques Kallis onto his stumps, as enough South African seamers were patched up in time for the second new ball (264 for 9). Streak shared a stand of 76 with Andy Blignaut – who scored his second consecutive fifty, from 48 balls – and 73 with Graeme Cremer.Blignaut played his usual attacking game, launching Boje into the stands and taking a liking to Smith’s gentle off-spin. He fell in the first over after tea when Monde Zondeki, the one fast bowler still standing, slanted one across him (191 for 8). Cremer held up his end for 80 balls, to allow Streak to open his shoulders before the new ball arrived. But he could only have dreamed of being able to face the likes of Jacques Rudolph and de Villers with his side in trouble. Cremer was the last man out, the ball after being struck a painful blow in the ribs from Andre Nel. Kallis was the pick of the attack, adding 4 for 33 to the five wickets he took at Cape Town.South Africa would have been disappointed to only take four wickets before lunch, but normal service was resumed when three wickets fell on 115. Before Kallis left to get treatment on his right hip, he continued a fine spell of swing bowling, dismissing Dion Ebrahim after a gutsy innings, with an almost identical delivery to the ball that was good enough for Brendan Taylor. Ebrahim had battled away, then he played no shot at a delivery that swung back, but not nearly in the exaggerated fashion of Taylor’s dismissal.Tatenda Taibu played a disappointing shot, cutting Monde Zondeki to backward point, where Herschelle Gibbs knocked the ball up and caught it on the rebound. It was typical of the Zimbabweans; Taibu worked hard but gave away his wicket away. A worse shot followed: Elton Chigumbura – not even off the mark – drove a catch to the sub fielder at mid-off, Northern Titans’ Aaron Phangiso, to give Zondeki his second wicket.Nel broke the opening partnership after moving to around the wicket and testing Barney Rogers with the short ball (15 for 1). Stuart Matsikenyeri fought hard and was roughed up by Zondeki, but was undone by a good piece of swing bowling from Langeveldt. The barrage of short-pitched deliveries forced him further and further back into his crease, and when the ball was fuller he was in no position to play it and edged to Smith, who clung on at the second attempt (22 for 2).Hamilton Masakadza played a breezy run-a-ball innings but his attacking instincts got the better of him. He tried to cut Zondeki and top-edged towards second slip where Kallis leapt and parried the ball for Smith to collect a simple chance, giving Zondeki his first Test wicket (71 for 3). He had gone wicketless on debut at Headingley against England in 2003.The public apathy towards this mis-match of a series was highlighted by another non-existent crowd, but at least the few who did bother to attend saw Zimbabwe launch a recovery even if it was against less than half an attack.How they were out ZimbabweGloved a lifter from round the wicketEdged outswinger to first slip, caught at second attemptCut shot, parried by second slip, caught by firstPlayed no shot at a huge inswingerAnother inswinger, another non-shotCut to backward point, knocked up and rebound caughtDriven straight to mid-offEdged to first slip, trying to play ball to leg-sideInside edge onto stumpsWild swing outside off-stump