An update has emerged on Newcastle United full-back Kieran Trippier and his current situation…

What’s the talk?

Magpies boss Eddie Howe has revealed that the defender has suffered a setback in his recovery from injury and will not be back in action on schedule.

The full-back has been out since he broke a bone in his foot in the 1-0 win over Aston Villa back in February and it remains to be seen how much longer he will be on the sidelines following this latest blow.

Howe told The Shields Gazette: “His injury is healing, (but) it’s not totally healed.

“Yeah, I think that’s where it is. I think we’ll be able to start pushing him not maybe as quickly as we initially wanted to, but I still think he’ll come back this season. Again, there’s no definite date on that, but he’s making good progress.”

Gutted

The St. James’ Park faithful will surely be left gutted by this body blow as it is a major setback for the full-back and will be mean that they will not be able to watch Trippier play for a while yet.

Howe needs the defender back as quickly as possible as his other right-back options are, quite simply, not up to the job.

Javier Manquillo put in a dreadful showing against Tottenham in the 5-1 defeat to the Premier League side on Sunday, as he lost all of his aerial duels and only made one tackle, interception and block combined. He also fell asleep at the back post for Matt Doherty’s goal, which opened the floodgates for Spurs and allowed them to go on and thrash the Toon.

The Spaniard and Emil Krafth, the two understudies to Trippier, have averaged WhoScored ratings of 6.48 and 6.45 respectively in the top-flight. Meanwhile, the England international has averaged a score of 7.87 across four outings for the club, scoring twice from full-back.

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He is light years ahead of the pair in terms of the quality he is able to provide on the pitch, which is why his absence is a major setback for him and the club. Fans will want to see him back in the right-back slot sooner rather than later because they are currently suffering with the lack of Premier League class in the two players who have been playing in his place.

This will be particularly frustrating for the supporters as it comes just days after Callum Wilson also suffered a setback in his recovery from injury. The attacker will not be back in action as soon as he was expected to be, with Trippier’s problems now compounding the misery.

AND in other news, Less touches than Dubravka: “Struggling” NUFC flop with 6 passes was useless yesterday…

Several failed to hide their disappointment as Manchester United, while rampant in attack, could not contain Bournemouth on Monday night, as they were held to a frantic 4-4 draw by Bournemouth.

Neville tells Amorim to "forget" system in "stunning" draw

If there was ever a way to make up for Man United’s lack of goals in their last two Old Trafford appearances, it was with four against Bournemouth. The only problem was that the Cherries also managed to find the back of the net four times to create one of the games of the season on Monday night.

There were several positive signs for the Red Devils even after dropping more points at home. This was not a game met with boos, it was one met with optimism at full-time.

Old Trafford legend and Sky Sports pundit Gary Neville shared that optimism, saying on Monday Night Football: “It was a stunning watch. I was really critical after the Everton and West Ham games because of just the nature of the performance. I thought it was really bland.

“This was the complete and utter opposite. I can live with that all day long in terms of a performance and a standard because they played with real intent, played the ball forward, always played at full pace.

“When United went 3-2 down, Ruben Amorim then went to 4-4-2 and did the right thing. Forget the system, he did the right thing. He got the right players on the pitch and were a massive threat.”

It was a particularly good night for Matheus Cunha, who scored just his second goal for the club since arriving for around £63m from Wolverhampton Wanderers in the summer. It was a deserved strike for another dogged display from the Brazilian in front of his new home fans.

The same can’t be said for Bryan Mbeumo, however, who faced criticism from several United media personalities on Monday night.

Mbeumo frustrates during Bournemouth draw

Whilst fellow attacker Cunha set Old Trafford alight, Mbeumo was hugely frustrating. He missed several wonderful opportunities, notably firing a volley over the bar from inside the area in the first half and then sending a wild effort over from just a matter of yards out in the second half. For those efforts, he was criticised by The Sun’s Samuel Luckhurst who bemoaned the player’s “wayward” finishing while United YouTuber Alice Talks Footy who simply said that he was “playing with [Alejandro] Garnacho’s finishing”.

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Furthermore, he took fewer touches than Ayden Heaven and recorded an XG of 0.48 despite taking four shots. For his recent standards, it was a disappointing display.

Mbeumo vs Bournemouth

Minutes played

89′

Goals

0

Assists

0

Touches

43

Possession lost

9x

Shots (on target)

4 (2)

Accurate passes

21/27 (78%)

Chances created

2

Dribbles

0/2

Recoveries

1

Tackles

0/1

Duels won

5/13

Data via Sofascore

What should be most alarming for Amorim is that it’s now one goal in five Premier League games for his £150,000-a-week forward, who is now heading to AFCON off the back of a frustrating display.

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Man United’s attack has been improved, there’s no doubting that, but there’s also no denying that they’re yet to see Mbeumo, Cunha and Benjamin Sesko click as a front three and that must change after AFCON.

Man Utd ready to move quickly to sign £280,000-a-week Real Madrid star

ScorecardLuke Wells battled more than two-and-a-half hours for 54•Getty Images

Somerset wrested back the initiative in dramatic style at the close of a rain-affected first day against Sussex. Resuming on 105 for 2 after the third of the day’s interruptions for rain, Sussex lost four more wickets as Somerset’s seam attack fully exploited the conditions, getting plenty of swing and finding movement off a wicket with grass left on it.Somerset had bowled tightly throughout the morning and afternoon but, despite two wickets in two balls from Lewis Gregory, saw countless deliveries beat the bat or drop just short of the slip cordon.The breakthrough came as Sussex were starting to edge in front after Luke Wells and Chris Nash had brought up a gritty 50 partnership in 23 overs. Craig Overton got a ball to cut back off the surface and trim Nash’s bails as the batsman was left in two minds whether to cut or leave.

New contracts for Gregory, Overtons and Bates

Somerset have acted to secure the services of three of their brightest talents on new three-year contracts. Lewis Gregory and twins Craig and Jamie Overton, who have all received England call-ups this year, have signed with the club until the end of 2018. Jamie has been invited to help England with their preparations ahead of this summer’s Ashes series and will meet up with the squad on Monday, where he will bowl in the nets ahead of the first Test in Cardiff.
Somerset have also extended the contract of wicketkeeper Michael Bates, who was released by Hampshire at the end of last season. Bates was originally signed by Somerset on a one-month deal and has already made an impact with the gloves. Matthew Maynard said that the challenge for Bates now was to score runs and the contract extension would give him the opportunity to do that.

Four overs later, Peter Trego struck in his opening over to end a two-and-a-half hour vigil from Wells, who hit an elegant 54 off 122 balls, frustrating the Somerset bowlers in between the showers.Wells lived dangerously early on. Almost run out without facing in the first over, he edged a number of boundaries through the slip cordon during the morning session before starting to score runs on both sides of the wicket as the afternoon went on. He admitted after close that it was a pitch he never felt comfortable on, with the rain delays meaning he had to play himself in each time.Trego struck again in his third over as Craig Cachopa played forward and got an edge through to Jim Allenby at first slip. Trego’s figures by this stage were 3-2-4-2. The momentum firmly shifted Somerset’s way as they claimed a fourth wicket towards the close of play when Ben Brown edged Alfonso Thomas to Trescothick at slip for 9.Somerset had won the toss and put Sussex in. After surviving a tight, but never penetrating, opening spell, Wells and opening partner Ed Joyce started to look increasingly comfortable and score runs on both sides of the wicket before the first of the day’s interruptions for rain at 47 for 0 from 15 overs.One over after the resumption, Gregory struck with consecutive deliveries. First, Joyce got an edge through to Michael Bates behind the stumps, attempting to pull, for 28. Matt Machan then prodded at a good-length ball and edged to Allenby.It was a much tighter spell from Somerset, which saw them concede 25 runs from 8.2 overs before the rain returned with some force to bring an early lunch and leave pools of water on the covers and puddles on the outfield.Somerset’s director of cricket, Matthew Maynard, was impressed with the way his charges had gone about their business. “The way that we bowled today was very reminiscent of the way we bowled against Hampshire,” he said. “We were very disciplined with good skills and the ball was swinging but they didn’t try to get too greedy and try too many things, we just kept on trying to hit our lines.”I don’t think that we got our rewards in the first session but just said to keep on hitting good areas and going past the bat and hopefully find the edge which is what happened and we are in a good position after day one.”Wells pointed to the quality of batting still to come in the Sussex line-up and said that if they could scrap out a total between 200 and 250, it would be very competitive on this surface.

ScorecardKyle Coetzer struck nine fours and a six for his 63•ICC/Donald MacLeod

Scotland have booked their place in the World T20 in India after beating Oman by 23 runs in their last Group B game in Edinburgh. With all matches having being played in Group B, Netherlands, Afghanistan and Oman, who are second, third and fourth respectively will play in the playoffs next week. Netherlands finished second, falling just short of the top spot in spite of beating Kenya by four wickets – they needed to score the target of 98 within eight overs but reached it in the ninth. Opening batsman Kyle Coetzer’s 38-ball 63 and pacer Safyaan Sharif’s 3 for 27 helped wrap up the win for Scotland. The win helped them finish at the top of the Group B table with four wins in six matches, while Afghanistan also finished on eight points with three wins in six games and two abandoned matches.Coetzer, who had initially been omitted from Scotland’s squad for the Qualifier, gave the team a brisk start, 60 in 6.1 overs with Calum MacLeod, before the latter was dismissed by seamer Mohammad Nadeem for 20. Scotland appeared to build on the aggressive start with a promising 35-run stand between Coetzer and Matthew Cross but left-arm spinner Zeeshan Maqsood brought Oman back by dismissing Cross and George Munsey in a space of 10 deliveries to leave Scotland on 101 for 3. By then, Coetzer had brought up his fifty and made his way to 63 – taking his tally for the tournament to 173, the highest for Scotland – before Maqsood had him edge one to the keeper off the final ball of the 14th over. Richie Berrington (26) and Preston Mommsen (32*) helped Scotland add 54 runs off the last six overs to finish on 173 for 5.Oman’s start was not ideal as Sharif claimed openers Zeeshan Maqsood and Zeeshan Ahmed within the first four overs of the innings. Jatinder Singh and Aamir Kaleem added 44 for the third wicket, but Alasdair Evans’ strikes off successive deliveries in the 11th over – to account for Jatinder and Mehran Khan – left Oman reeling at 68 for 4. Kaleem’s 40-run partnership for the fifth wicket with Amir Ali looked to revive the chase but after that stand was broken in the 15th over, Oman found it difficult to keep up with the required rate. Shareef was eventually dismissed for 59 off 47 deliveries in the 18th over and with 39 required off 12 deliveries, the match slipped away from Oman.

Match facts

September 11, 2015
Start time 10.30am local (0930 GMT)3:11

McGlashan: Both captains would like to bat first

Big Picture

England’s win at Old Trafford kept alive hopes of beating Australia in an ODI series for the first time since 2012, as well as eased fears that they will fall below Bangladesh in the ICC rankings. Even a 4-1 defeat will see England remain in sixth, for now, while two more victories would drag them up to within range of Sri Lanka in midtable.The last time England managed consecutive ODI wins over Australia was also three summers ago. That 4-0 win was among the peaks of Alastair Cook’s roundhead reign as captain but the ODI world has shifted dramatically since then – and England have at last shown signs of catching up. Only Eoin Morgan and Steven Finn remain from the 2012 NatWest Series (with Stuart Broad’s future undecided) and pulling back the No. 1-ranked side from a 2-0 lead would be worth a campaign medal for Trevor Bayliss, Paul Farbrace and their new model army.They will attempt to do so in front of a packed house at Headingley, home of the back-to-back County Champions, Yorkshire. The locals have sometimes struggled to work up enthusiasm for England visits – and a significant number will be at Lord’s hoping to see their team lift the Championship pennant on Friday – but, having paid their shilling, they will demand England maintain the standards on display across the Pennines.Australia, too, can claim a strong Yorkshire connection, from the coach, Darren Lehmann, through to Aaron Finch and Glenn Maxwell – both of whom have had to make do with representing Yorkshire’s 2nd XI this season. Coming towards the end of a long tour that has yielded rather less success than was promised, Australia would surely like to tap into the prevailing mood of celebration by sealing the series with a game to spare.Liam Plunkett, Adil Rashid and Jonny Bairstow are likely to play on their home ground•Getty Images

Form guide

(last five completed matches, most recent first)
England WLLWW
Australia LWWWW

In the spotlight

Alex Hales is hot-and-cold player. Having come into the one-day series on a blazing run of scores for Nottinghamshire – 85, 9, 81, 58, 189 and 62 – he has felt the chill of Autumn more than most: four innings against Australia, including the T20, have tallied 52 runs and a high score of 22. Hales has still only played 17 ODI innings and, with a couple of blistering half-centuries against New Zealand earlier this year, looked to be finding his feet. He has, however, lost form at the wrong time and has been outshone by his opening partner Jason Roy in the series so far.Pat Cummins, 22 years old and with 16 ODI caps to his name, could find himself the most experienced member of the Australia pace attack on Friday. If Mitchell Starc is rested, then Cummins – comfortably the quickest bowler on either side – will be required to step up and lead the way. He has impressed with his pace, steepling bouncer and impressive control; he is the leading wicket-taker in the series, with the best average and, among pace bowlers to have delivered more than eight overs, the lowest economy. Perhaps more importantly, he has avoided injury – this will be his fifth consecutive ODI and his longest run in the side.

Team news

Chris Woakes has been ruled out with a thigh injury, so England will be forced to change their attack – David Willey seems the most likely candidate, offering a left-arm angle as well as the potential for bludgeoning runs lower down the order. Mark Wood and Reece Topley are the other pace-bowling options in the squad.England (possible) 1 Jason Roy, 2 Alex Hales, 3 James Taylor, 4 Eoin Morgan (capt), 5 Ben Stokes, 6 Jonny Bairstow (wk), 7 Moeen Ali, 8 Adil Rashid, 9 David Willey, 10 Liam Plunkett, 11 Steven FinnAustralia have already had three players withdraw from their squad and look set to give Mitchell Starc a rest after playing in all 12 of Australia’s international fixtures in the West Indies, England and Ireland. John Hastings, called up as cover from Durham, could come in for his first ODI appearance since 2011.Australia (possible) 1 Aaron Finch, 2 Joe Burns, 3 Steven Smith (capt), 4 George Bailey, 5 Glenn Maxwell, 6 Mitchell Marsh, 7 Matthew Wade (wk), 8 Ashton Agar, 9 John Hastings, 10 James Pattinson, 11 Pat Cummins.

Pitch and conditions

England, in their stodgy former mould, still managed to knock up 294 under clear skies against India at Headingley last year and Lehmann said he expected the pitch the good for batting. The forecast is good, if a little cool, for Friday but an early start and any passing cloud cover could interest the seamers.

Stats and trivia

• England and Australia last contested an ODI at Headingley in 2005 (the scheduled fixture in 2013 was washed out)
• Australia have won 11 out of their last 13 ODIs against England
• Steven Finn needs two more wickets for 100 in ODIs
• If they play, Cummins, James Pattinson and John Hastings will form an Australia pace attack comprised of 41 caps between them

Quotes

“I was keeping tabs on the score on Twitter, looking every five minutes and there were texts flying around.”
Adil Rashid couldn’t join in with Yorkshire’s Championship celebrations but enjoyed from afar“We’re all tired, but that’s international cricket, that’s what you do when you’re representing your country.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details2:43

Agarkar: Rohit, Raina wickets put pressure on India

The Green Park ground in Kanpur saw its two highest ODI totals scored on the same day in a match that seemed to be a mirror image of itself until India cracked. Kagiso Rabada defended 11 off the last over, in which he dismissed India captain, MS Dhoni, and derailed an Indian chase that was on track until the start of the 47th over.Then, Rohit Sharma, who had racked up 150 – the third-highest score of his ODI career – was sapped of energy and handed a return catch to Imran Tahir. The South Africa legspinner had not had much of an impact on the innings until that point but went on to dismiss Suresh Raina in the same over to change India’s task from a relatively straightforward 35 runs off 24 balls with seven wickets in hand to a more challenging 31 runs from 18 balls with five wickets in hand.

Du Plessis twists knee

Faf du Plessis left the field for the majority of India’s innings after twisting his knee while fielding a ball. He felt some discomfort and was pulled off the field as a precaution.

Rabada’s penultimate over cost nine runs and Steyn’s final over 11, to leave the 20-year-old fast bowler with only 11 to defend at the end. Far from being overwhelmed by the occasion or the opposition, Rabada kept his cool, banged in the short ball and watched both Dhoni and Stuart Binny mistime their pull shots. Rabada completed the catch to dismiss Dhoni, and ensure South Africa found a bowling hero after AB de Villiers had headlined their effort with the bat.De Villiers played a perfectly paced innings to score his 21st ODI century and guide South Africa to the highest ever total, and the only one over 300, at the Green Park in Kanpur. De Villiers had a solid start to build on, thanks to Hashim Amla and Faf du Plessis, and worked his way through a quiet middle period before attacking with Farhaan Behardien at the end. South Africa plundered 109 runs off the last ten overs, which included 65 off the final five, capitalising on India’s weakened attack that lost R Ashwin to a side strain.On a slow surface, India’s bowling tactics were pulled out of shape by Ashwin’s niggle, which meant that he bowled less than half his quota of ten overs after Dhoni held him back. Ashwin bowled one over in the Powerplay and was kept for later in the innings while Dhoni rotated his other slower bowlers. After he was brought back into the attack, Ashwin bowled 3.4 overs before he picked up the niggle and could only deliver one more over later on. As a result, India’s fifth-bowler duties were shared between Suresh Raina and Stuart Binny, who conceded 100 runs. In comparison, South Africa’s fifth-bowler options – Farhaan Behardien and JP Duminy – gave away only 74. In a match where margins were tight, numbers like that made the difference.India were in the thick of things when they were asked to bowl in conditions that offered something for the seamers in the first hour. Bhuvneshwar Kumar found some early movement to test Quinton de Kock outside the off stump, a stern examination of the returning opening batsman’s confidence.De Kock was dropped during the Bangladesh series partly because of his lapses outside off stump and he showed greater awareness here, especially in his footwork. He may not have been happy with the eventual outcome of his innings though, after he was dismissed by Ashwin for 29 through a perfect off break that drew him forward and took the edge.Ashwin was taken out of the attack despite his early success as Dhoni turned to Amit Mishra, Stuart Binny and later Suresh Raina. The trio were largely disciplined but their occasional lapses allowed Amla and du Plessis to build slowly with a focus on strike-rotation and patience. Their partnership had reached 59, and Amla had already crossed the 1000-run mark in ODIs in this calendar year, when he was beaten by a faster ball from Mishra that deflected off his pad and onto the stumps.That brought de Villiers to the crease but the expected fireworks came from du Plessis at first. He was on 33 when Amla was dismissed and raced to his half-century off 11 balls after that, reaching it with the first six of the innings off Raina.With the milestone over, things quieted down and Dhoni brought Ashwin back. Two balls into the third over of his second spell, Ashwin fielded a ball off his own bowling and two balls later left the field with a side strain. Virat Kohli completed the over and Dhoni was left with a conundrum as he sought to make up Ashwin’s overs.Binny had to bowl more than expected, and de Villiers and Duminy targeted him. They took 21 runs off the 45th over to signal their intent to finish strongly. Behardien then provided the perfect foil for de Villiers, attacking and absorbing the pressure, which was transferred to the Indian seamers.Both Yadav and Bhuvneshwar lost their lengths, and missed the yorker and de Villiers sent the resultant full tosses into the stands. His strike rate of 60.00 off the first 30 balls jumped to 134.00 by the time he had faced 70 deliveries. De Villiers reached his century with a six off the last ball and that proved the difference in the end.That shot would have been fairly far from de Villiers’ mind when Rohit was controlling proceedings. His opening stand of 42 with Shikhar Dhawan set India up in the same way de Kock and Amla did for South Africa and what followed threatened to take the game India’s way.Rohit and Ajinkya Rahane put on 149 for the second wicket. They batted confidently, targeted Duminy and Behardien, and punished lapses in length from South Africa. Both batsmen were strong on the on-side and down the ground, and complemented each other. Rahane was watchful – his 50 came off 67 balls – while Rohit was more attacking, getting to his 50 off 48 deliveries. Rahane looked as likely as Rohit to bat through the innings but gave it away when he slapped Behardien’s medium pace to Miller at extra cover.Virat Kohli had the best seat in the house when Rohit reached his century, with a flick off Behardien over midwicket’s head, but India’s No. 4 batsman fell to a soft dismissal. Dale Steyn was brought back for a third spell and Kohli, batting on 11, nonchalantly tried to flick him away only to end up picking Morne Morkel at short fine leg.With Dhoni still at the crease, India did not appear to have much cause for concern. Once Rohit fell, however, and Dhoni began struggling, South Africa seized the initiative, leaving the hosts still winless in the limited-overs matches so far.

BCB president Nazmul Hassan has said that cricket cannot be held hostage to terrorist threats and has to devise a way to deal with the new climate. He said he wanted the ICC to get involved and would raise this point at its next meeting.”Bangladesh is at No. 23 in the terror index published recently,” Hassan said. “There are other countries on that list. But does it mean countries like India and Sri Lanka won’t be hosting cricket? Won’t there be any international cricket? My main point is that these terrorist threats cannot control our cricket. We have to decide and the ICC has to intervene to see what type of security plan will help everyone play cricket.”Hassan was speaking at his residence a few hours after Cricket Australia informed the BCB of their decision to postpone the tour on grounds of players’ safety. The decision came less than a week after they had delayed their arrival in Bangladesh – scheduled for September 28 – to play the two Tests.Hassan believed that the decision was influenced by the killing of an Italian national in Dhaka on Monday, just as CA’s security team was ending meetings with Bangladesh’s top security officials.”As far as I know CA has still kept the dialogue open,” he said. “They wrote in their press release that they didn’t get clearance from their government.”Hassan said that the people of Bangladesh would feel let down. “There is no doubt that we have been hurt. The country of 160 million people was eagerly awaiting the Tests against Australia. The fans have been deprived and everyone feels let down.”Hassan said that his main task now would be to bring back international cricket to Bangladesh.”Till now I don’t know why they postponed the tour. It is hard to understand through written correspondence what actually prompted them to ignore our security plans. I hope to discuss with them at the ICC meeting this month. Our main task now would be to bring back international cricket to Bangladesh,” he said.

ScorecardBabar Hayat hit 186 across both innings in Hong Kong’s victory•HKCA/Bridget Rive

Slow left-arm spinner Nadeem Ahmed and pacer Haseeb Amjad shared eight wickets between them to shoot UAE out for 105, securing Hong Kong’s vast win, their first in the Intercontinental Cup.Resuming from an overnight, 5 for 0, UAE were rocked by regular wickets, with nine of their batsmen bagging single-digit scores. Debutant Laxman Sreekumar (61) and Qais Farooq (26) added 65 together to offer the lone source of resistance before Amjad killed off UAE by dismissing Sreekumar with a bouncer.The win, though, was set up by Babar Hayat, who struck 186 across both innings, including 113 in the first dig. After choosing to bat, Hong Kong had a solid base with opener Kinchit Shah and Hayat putting on a 106-run stand but that was soon squandered as the middle order crumbled. However, Hayat combined well with captain Tanwir Afzal, who made a century of his own, to lift their side to 378.”It’s a great day for Hong Kong, beating the UAE in a first class game – it is a special day for Hong Kong and for the whole team. It’s a really special day for us,” Hayat said. “I am really happy with my batting performance. I used to bat No. 5 or 6, but I talked to Simon Cook and he said you are going to move up. I’m really happy batting at this position and am really looking forward to the next few games here on the same pitch, and hopefully get some more runs.”Afzal carried the momentum into his bowling and quickly reduced UAE to 23 for 3. Sandeep Patil and Usman Mushtaq then got together and assembled a 77-run partnership to mount a recovery but a lower-order collapse meant that UAE folded for 181.They did not fare any better in their second innings, chasing 382, after Hayat’s 73 guided Hong Kong to 184, despite slow left-arm spinner Ahmed Raza’s five-wicket haul.”The game has pretty much gone to script as far as we are concerned,” Simon Cook, the Hong Kong coach, said. “This was the icing on the cake, to do it so convincingly in the first session. We had discussed about how important the first hour was today, and that would really set up the day, and it proved so, with the UAE losing five wickets for one run in the space of about 15 balls. That really set us up.”

Alastair Cook has challenged his young England team to take their chance for a memorable overseas series win in South Africa this winter, but admits that he is travelling with an unsettled and inexperienced batting line-up following the decision to dispense with the veteran Ian Bell.Speaking at Heathrow Airport ahead of England’s departure for their four-Test series, Cook insisted he would not be reading too much into South Africa’s comprehensive 3-0 defeat against India, their first away series loss for nine years.However, he did concede that a victory over the No.1-ranked Test nation in the world, in their own conditions, would rank among his finest achievements of his career. And, he added, since the retirement of a raft of their all-time greatest players, the South Africa side that lines up at Durban on Boxing Day for the first Test will be much changed from the one that Cook himself has yet to beat in a Test series in three previous attempts since 2008.”When you lose the greats of the game, Graeme Smith, Jacques Kallis, Makhaya Ntini, Mark Boucher … there’s always going to be a bit of evolution in a side but trying to replace them is nigh on impossible, especially in one generation,” Cook said. “They are certainly a different side to what I have played in the past.”England will arrive in Johannesburg on Friday with plenty of optimism but a fair amount of uncertainty as well. Bell’s run drought means that the only guaranteed starter in England’s middle order is Joe Root at No. 4, and Cook called on the unfamiliar faces in the batting line-up to make a name for themselves in the coming weeks.”We haven’t quite got a settled top seven, there’s no doubt about that,” he said. “But with Gary [Ballance] coming back, and Nick [Compton] coming back, they’ve had a taste of it before, and it’s a real opportunity for people to stake their claim.”On the absence of Bell, Cook conceded that it had been a tough decision to drop a player with 118 caps and more than a decade of Test experience. However, he backed his team-mate to capitalise on a rare winter break and come back refreshed in the new year, just as Cook himself had done this time last year, following his sacking as England one-day captain ahead of the World Cup.”I sat in on that selection meeting, it was a fairly long one when you are talking about a player of Ian’s class and experience,” Cook said. “We will miss his experience but he would be the first to admit he hasn’t quite scored the runs over the last couple of years.”But certainly you might see him score them again,” he added. “It’s a weird thing, missing a tour might do him the world of good. He’s been on pretty much every tour since 2000, whether it’s with England Under-19s, the Lions or the full side. So a bit of time away from the game might do him the world of good.”I look back a year ago, when I was left out of the World Cup. It was disappointing at the time, gutting at the time, but those few months away from the firing line, as it was, away from cricket and a time to be at home, actually gave me a real good understanding and a new lease of life. Hopefully that can be the same for Ian.”At the opposite end of the experience spectrum is Cook’s probable opening partner for the Durban Test. The uncapped Alex Hales was last month identified by Trevor Bayliss, England’s head coach, as the likely man to replace Moeen Ali at the top of the order and if that is the case, he will become Cook’s eighth opening partner since the retirement of Andrew Strauss in 2012.Hales made his mark in the recent ODI series in the UAE, scoring his maiden 50-over hundred to help England seal an impressive 3-1 series win over Pakistan. That followed on from his hard-hitting hundred against Sri Lanka in the World Twenty20 in Bangladesh two years ago, and despite a quiet home ODI series against Australia in September, Cook believes that his potential new partner has learnt a lot in recent months.Alastair Cook speaks to the media ahead of England’s tour of South Africa•Getty Images

“You can’t guarantee anyone a first-Test place when you are sitting in a hotel,” said Cook. “But judging by the way the selection has gone he’s got a great opportunity. We’ve seen in county cricket that he can go on a run and be destructive. He will have experienced a lot, from not scoring too many runs in the Australia one-day series to really bouncing back and leading in the one-dayers [in the UAE].”As so often in South Africa, the quality of the fast bowling might prove to be the difference between the teams, and on that count, England begin the tour knowing that Vernon Philander will definitely miss the first two Tests, while Dale Steyn is also struggling with injury and is not yet a certain starter.With James Anderson and Stuart Broad heading to South Africa with their reputation as a partnership arguably at an all-time high following their heroics in adversity in the UAE, the news that Steven Finn is already battling back from the stress-related foot injury that ruled him out of the Pakistan tour is a major fillip for the squad.Last week, Finn bowled off his full run-up for the first time since his injury and has been cleared to take part in England Lions’ Twenty20 series against Pakistan A.”He won’t be ready to bowl in the first Test, but Steven has made big strides over the last couple of weeks,” Cook said. “He’s up and running a couple of weeks ahead of what we thought he’d be, and that’s really encouraging for him.””It would mean a huge amount [to beat South Africa],” he added. “That is the challenge we’ve got ahead of us. Reflecting back to Pakistan, something inside of me says that was an opportunity that we couldn’t quite take. I wonder if this is an opportunity we can take.”The 2-0 in Pakistan hurts me quite a lot as I don’t feel we were that far off. But now we’ve got another chance to win away from home.”

The match today between Nepal and Pakistan in Kandy was abandonedwithout a ball being bowled. It rained heavily all morning. Later,when the rain had stopped and the covers removed, water had seeped onto the pitch. The result meant that both sides will collect just onepoint each. Thus all four sides in Group ‘C’ now have a chance ofqualifying to the Super League stages.