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Tottenham winger Lucas Moura is set to be available for Antonio Conte against Everton tomorrow night, Alasdair Gold has reported.

The Lowdown: Bentancur available

Conte has been without a number of first-team players in recent weeks, with the likes of Oliver Skipp and Japhet Tanganga still sidelined.

January signing Rodrigo Bentancur went off injured in the defeat to Burnley and hasn’t featured since, but he is set to make a return to the matchday squad against Frank Lampard’s side tomorrow.

Moura, who former Spurs boss Jose Mourinho hailed as a ‘team player’, missed the win at Leeds and defeat to Middlesbrough due to a dead leg, but he too looks set to be available for the visit of the Toffees.

The Latest: Moura also good to go…

Football.London’s Spurs correspondent Gold relayed comments from Conte in his pre-match press conference on Friday.

He confirmed that Bentancur and Moura are both available against the Toffees, simply stating: “Bentancur is available and the same for Lucas Moura. Skipp and Tanganga still not available.”

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The Verdict: Huge boost

Conte has relied on Harry Kane, Son Heung-min and Dejan Kulusevski up front while Moura has been out, with Steven Bergwijn the only senior attacking option on the bench with the Brazilian sidelined.

Therefore, having the 29-year-old back around the squad will come as a huge boost as Spurs look to get back to winning ways after their FA Cup exit. With him being the squad’s fourth-best performer this season as per WhoScored, the Italian will no doubt be pleased to have him back to face Everton.

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You’d expect that Moura will feature in some capacity on Monday, with Tottenham knowing that this month is crucial in regards to their hopes of a top-four finish.

In other news: Conte personally green-lights new ‘real star’ target who Spurs could sign for just £21m, find out more here.

Chris Harris won’t be in Canterbury colours this season © Getty Images

Chris Harris appears almost certain to sign with the Indian Cricket League after officially rejecting a new contract with Canterbury. Harris, who has spent the off-season playing one-day league cricket in England, told Canterbury of his decision on Monday.”It is a massive blow for us,” Dave Nosworthy, the Canterbury coach said in the . Harris, 37, had played for Canterbury for 18 years and was not only the team’s captain but also one of its most consistent performers last season.Richard Reid, the chief executive of Canterbury Cricket, said Harris had not discussed whether he would sign with the ICL. “We are sad to lose Chris,” Reid said. “He has been an outstanding player and leader for Canterbury and has had a distinguished career. Chris has not indicated whether he will be taking up other cricket playing opportunities.”New Zealand Cricket’s announcement last week that it would not release any contracted players to play in the Indian league – including those with provincial deals – could have forced Harris’ hand. Nathan Astle also declined a Canterbury contract for next season and has been linked with the Indian group.

Graeme Smith’s plan to take the pressure off his team-mates in Australia added a great weight to his shoulders © Getty Images

Graeme Smith, the South Africa captain, has given Andrew Flintoff instructions on how to deal with Australian crowds during the Ashes. Smith’s team was racially abused by spectators throughout their trip in 2005-06, which contributed to the ICC adopting an anti-racism code.”How England deal with the crowds could be the biggest factor in the Ashes series,” Smith said in . “It will be England’s main challenge – how they handle playing in Australia. The racism stuff was hard for us. Most of us enjoy banter – we had grown up in that environment – but I think the racism and some of the crowd behaviour in Australia was very wrong.”Smith was outspoken throughout the tour, a plan which included saying Shane Warne wanted to be captain, and he advised someone in the England setup to play a similar role in order to take pressure off the junior players. “As a leader in Australia, ‘Fred’ is going to have to carry a lot of heat,” Smith, who struggled with the bat during the trip, said. “England is obviously going to be targeted a lot by the [Australian] media and the public, so how they deal with that is going to be crucial to their success.”They’ve got to look at their team and decide who is going to handle the pressure best and that’s probably the skipper. It will allow the youngsters in the team to get on and play their cricket and not to deal with other issues as much.”

John Wright: “I believe we made progress during my time with the team, I thoroughly enjoyed it” © Getty Images

John Wright, the former Indian coach, has said that the row between Greg Chappell and Sourav Ganguly should have remained confidential and never have left the dressing-room.Wright said that the issue would have been handled differently had he been coach. “I was very fortunate from the point of view that we always believed what goes on in the changing-room stays in the changing-room,” he was quoted as saying by AFP. “Sometimes as soon as things come into the public area they can take on a momentum all of their own.”In his controversial email to the BCCI, Chappell had accused Wright of allowing Ganguly to practice “deceit”, “rumour-mongering” and “divide and rule”. “John Wright obviously allowed this [Ganguly’s behaviour] to go on to the detriment of the team,” wrote Chappell. “I am not prepared to sit back and allow this to continue.”Wright refused to take sides in the ongoing fracas but defended his approach during his five-year stint as the Indian coach. He said that his success at team building was one of Chappell’s alleged weaknesses. “I stand by my record,” said Wright. “I worked with the team I was given by the selectors. I worked as hard as I could with the whole team to try and get the performances that the Indian people wanted.”Greg [Chappell] has only been in the job five months and at the moment it doesn’t look like (he and Ganguly) would go on holiday together. It looks like they’re having some teething problems at the moment and it will be interesting to see how it goes,” Wright was quoted as saying by, the Melbourne-based, . “I always looked at it this way – the team was selected for me, whoever that was, with a captain, with a player. You didn’t get a vote on selection but my job was to ensure that as coach they were prepared and performed to the best of their ability. It was almost like performance coaching and I hope we made some progress over the four years I was there.””I had criticism from all quarters during, after and before my tenure, it’s part of the role of being coach,” said Wright. “The only thing that I tried to do was ensure that we played well as a team and we got results as a team, that was it. I’ve moved on, I’m no longer the coach, I believe we made progress during my time with the team, I thoroughly enjoyed it.”Wright added that he hoped that Chappell would succeed in his mission to take India to the next level. “In any team situation there are always issues – sometimes personal, sometimes performance. You want Greg to come on and hopefully he’ll take it that little bit further. He’ll obviously do it in his own style and that may be different from the methods I used. It’s a process. I’ve always tried to be very honest with the players. At times the players don’t appreciate that.”

Chris Cairns: ‘We don’t want to pat ourselves on the back at the moment’© Getty Images

One of the more interesting facts to brighten up tomorrow’s climax to what has been a weather-hit and largely uninspiring NatWest Series is it will be the first time New Zealand have played a one-day international at Lord’s. They’ve played virtually everywhere else in the country, from Chester-le-Street to Chelmsford, but tomorrow’s final against West Indies should be a historic day for them.While New Zealand have won all three of their completed matches which escaped the rain, West Indies have won two, but also lost two. One of those defeats was to New Zealand in a five-wicket defeat at Cardiff. Indeed, the last time they beat the Kiwis was in June 2002 in St Vincent, and, on current form, the odds are on another New Zealand victory tomorrow.Considering that every side who has won the toss in this tournament has bowled first, and gone on to win, the fall of the coin will probably again be a key factor. In keeping with the tournament so far, the forecast is for scattered showers throughout the day, but the good news is it shouldn’t be a repeat of yesterday’s dress rehearsal at the Rose Bowl, which was entirely washed out.Tomorrow will be New Zealand’s fourth one-day international final is as many years, after the 2000 Champions Trophy at Nairobi, the VB Series in 2002, and last year’s Bank Alfalah Cup in Sri Lanka. With two wins in those matches, they will start as favourites, something which Chris Cairns, New Zealand’s allrounder, said his side must come to terms with. “We’ve been in three out of four finals recently so it’s becoming a habit, which is a good thing,” Cairns said, before adding, “but if we are going to progress and become one of the best sides in the world, more often than not you will be in the tournament as a favourite. When you have that tag, for a lot of teams it can actually be detrimental – but with our side we need to make sure we are comfortable with dealing with that, and we have so far.”Cairns added that victory would be a welcome lasting memory of their tour of England, which didn’t quite start to plan after they were beaten 3-0 in the Tests: “It’ll be nice to leave these shores with a memory of the fact we can play,” he said, “but we don’t want to pat ourselves on the back at the moment just yet. There is the small matter of the final to come, and we know we will be judged on what we do then.”It’s been a while since West Indies last won a triangular tournament. That was back in 2001 when they took the Coca-Cola Cup against India in Zimbabwe, and they are likely to revert back to a more balanced line-up from the batsman-heavy team which that beat England at Lord’s. Jermaine Lawson has recovered from flu, and he may replace Devon Smith.Brian Lara, West Indies’ captain, said his side was upbeat after that victory over England, but didn’t make any predictions for the final. “If they [England] had scored 350, I would still have been confident that we would have got it with the batting line-up that we have.”He continued, “In the past couple of months we have shown how good chasers we are, so I had no doubt that we would win.” When asked about the final, he would only say: “I’ve always stressed that we have a game plan, and everyone has to fit into the game plan and see themselves playing a part.”Ian Bradshaw, West Indies’ fast bowler, suggested it would be how each side peformed in the field that would be the deciding factor: “I won’t read too much into the first game [against New Zealand] that was rained out, as it was a rained shortened game,” he said. “In our second game we should have posted a much better score than we eventually did. That is what cost us that game and once again we realise we cannot afford to make those mistakes in the future.” He added, “With the confidence and experience in the batting departments in both teams I believe that tomorrow’s game will be determined by the team that bowls and fields better on the day.”For New Zealand, Cairns is almost certain to return after a two-game rest with a minor ankle injury, but Andre Adams, who was a late call-up to the squad while playing in the Lancashire leagues, may have to wait a bit longer for his comeback if Jacob Oram recovers from a side strain. In any case, the New Zealanders are likely to make their Lord’s debut a winning one.New Zealand (probable) 1 Stephen Fleming (capt), 2 Nathan Astle, 3 Hamish Marshall, 4 Scott Styris, 5 Craig McMillan, 6 Jacob Oram, 7 Chris Cairns, 8 Gareth Hopkins (wk), 9 Daniel Vettorri, 10 James Franklin, 11 Ian Butler.West Indies (probable) 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Brian Lara (capt), 3 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 4 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 5 Dwayne Bravo, 6 Ricardo Powell, 7 Dwayne Smith, 8 Ridley Jacobs (wk), 9 Ian Bradshaw, 10 Tino Best, 11 Jermaine Lawson.

The former West Indian captain, Carl Hooper, has agreed to play for Lancashire for the remainder of the 2003 season. Hooper, 36, had originally been brought in as short-term cover for Harbhajan Singh, but when Singh failed to recover from a finger injury, Hooper was the obvious replacement."I’m delighted that Mike Watkinson asked me to stay," said Hooper. "I’ve really enjoyed my time here with Lancashire and it’s a bonus to be able to work with the team over what should be a very exciting season." Hooper has yet to hit top form with the bat this season, with a Championship best score of 74, but in Harbhajan’s absence, his offspinners have proved effective. He took 5 for 52 in Lancashire’s ten-wicket victory against Leicestershire at Liverpool.Mike Watkinson, Lancashire’s cricket manager welcomed Hooper’s continued presence at Old Trafford: "Carl’s been a valuable addition to the squad and even though we were looking forward to Harbhajan arriving, Carl has filled the position admirably and under the circumstances, I’m glad that he’s decided to stay with us."

It’s debatable if major implications can be extracted from the first game of a season that spans close to six months. But, if there are any clues to be gleaned from New South Wales’ crushing 123-run win over Victoria at the Bankstown Oval today, then they might point to the possibility of the onset of déjà vu.This was last season’s Australian domestic one-day champion against last season’s wooden spooner. And, it has to be said, it looked a reflection of those respective standings all over again.In fairness, Victoria’s head-to-head record against the Blues has not been at all shabby in recent times. Before today, four wins had come in the sides’ last five meetings.But, as they did many times last season, the Bushrangers simply did not look sufficiently equipped to make an imposing score in a one-day innings.After a disappointing start – when they conceded 44 runs inside the first six overs of the match – the visitors’ bowlers and fielders performed their job stoutly enough in limiting New South Wales to a total of 9/256 in the opening session.But, on a ground that offered a true pitch, a fast outfield and short boundaries, their top and middle order batsmen soon became the subjects of a dismal collapse. Moreover, it was a slide that left them embarking on another familiar custom from last season – namely, handing over a bonus point to their opposition.Undone by pace bowling trio Don Nash (3/31), Stuart Clark (2/30) and Glenn McGrath (1/22), the visitors subsided to scores of 3/38 and then 6/69 at different stages of a chase that never seemed to move beyond first gear.The state’s new one-day captain, Matthew Elliott (4), has signalled there will be a more proactive approach in Victoria’s limited-overs cricket this summer, but was instead forced to play reactively as he edged a ball of impeccable length from Nash low to wicketkeeper Brad Haddin’s left. The rot soon set in.Disconcerted by the early disappearance of their leader, Jason Arnberger (21) then flailed wildly at a Nash outswinger to balloon a catch to third man; Brad Hodge (8) was the victim of a brilliant low catch at first slip by Shane Lee off McGrath; and Michael Klinger (4) picked the wrong ball from Nash to seek to drive off the back foot.Clark’s accuracy ensured there remained little respite even after the new ball pairing had been parted.A breezy cameo from Ian Harvey (24) ended when he spooned a slower ball to cover and Ben Oliver (0) was defeated by a classical yorker just two deliveries later.Jon Moss (25), Shane Warne (25) and Darren Berry (17) prolonged the life of the match but there was no doubting the identity of its winner by then.Earlier, New South Wales adopted something of a wasteful approach after the blazing start to its own innings, frittering wickets away at regular intervals.The pattern was established when openers Haddin (21) and Mark Waugh (21) each fell to miscued attacking strokes in the space of three deliveries.Lee (83) later mistimed a swipe at a waist-high full toss from Harvey (3/38); Michael Slater (35) lost patience after a watchful innings and hammered a catch to mid on; Michael Clarke (11) fished at a ball that seamed away; and Nash (10) dragged his back foot out of his crease in attempting to drive. To compound the spendthrift trend, there were also three run outs.In Lee, though, they had a player capable of producing a sparkling and sustained innings. From early in his hand, the New South Wales captain was in command; a display peppered with shots into and over the boundaries on both sides of the wicket, his was the defining individual performance of the match. His effort was a study in concentration too, given that he was forced to devote himself to the task of holding the Blues’ innings together from an early point in his stay.Though he activated the possibility on two separate occasions by clubbing sixes early in an over, not even the lure of the competition’s new million dollar jackpot (on offer to a batsman capable of swinging an accompanying six into one of four signs on the ground’s square boundaries) swayed him from the job at hand.That was one area in which Victoria did assume dominance.The Bushrangers’ chances of winning the match had long gone, but Warne raised the prospect of a big finish nonetheless when he pummelled a Stuart MacGill (2/32) full toss only a few metres over a sign at square leg that would have delivered the million dollar bounty.ING’s directors might, at that moment, have felt their hearts collectively skip a beat as they considered the prospect of giving away the prize in the very first match of the season.Ultimately, though, they were spared a bad end to their day. The Bushrangers, by contrast, were not nearly so fortunate.

According to reports in Spain, Liverpool, and by extension owners Fenway Sports Group, have now seemingly set their sights on Villarreal sensation Yeremy Pino.

The Lowdown: Klopp eyeing fresh summer faces?

Despite the signing of £37 million star Luis Diaz from FC Porto in January, Liverpool boss Jurgen Klopp has still been tipped to bolster his options with major moves in the summer.

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Indeed, Lille star Jonathan David is apparently one player attracting interest from Klopp and the club as new attackers are reportedly eyed at Anfield.

Inter Milan striker Lautaro Martinez is another forward Liverpool are ‘ready to attack’ for, according to recent claims, with news emerging on another in Villarreal’s sensational young winger Pino.

The Latest: FSG ‘prepare’ offer…

As per Spanish source Fichajes, Liverpool and FSG now want the dazzling 19-year-old winger, but face a fight from Premier League title rivals Manchester City.

It is also believed that both the Merseyside giants and City already ‘prepare their respective offers’ to sign Pino with the talented teenager now ‘having the opportunity to head to England’.

The Verdict: Exciting claim…

Already capped twice by Spain, the La Liga starlet is one of the most exciting players in Europe right now.

It’s little wonder his club, who recently agreed a contract extension with Pino until June 2027, have now slapped a sky high €80 million release clause (£66.6m) on his head ahead of the summer window.

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As Liverpool ready a bid to sign him, it will certainly be interesting whether FSG pay the fee outright or attempt to whittle down that price in possible negotiations.

Scoring four goals in one game against Espanyol on Sunday, Pino has already been described as a ‘top level’ player by reporter Fabrizio Romano and one who could be worth the investment at Liverpool.

In other news: Liverpool now also prepared to move for £177,000-per-week ‘beast’ in boost for Klopp, find out more here.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsFile photo: Rayad Emrit picked up two wickets and slammed a 28-ball 54 to stun Dhaka Dynamites•BCCI

Comilla’s win earlier in the day against Sylhet made this game inconsequential in the race for the last four, but No. 9 Rayad Emrit’s unbeaten 54 gave Barisal Bulls a two-wicket win over Dhaka Dynamites, as well as much-needed confidence before Saturday’s Eliminator between the same two teams.Dhaka seemed well on course for victory when Suhrawadi Shuvo became Mosharraf Hossain’s third wicket in the 17th over, with Barisal slumping to 94 for 8. Emrit, though, struck two sixes in the same over to reduce the equation to 29 needed off three overs.Nine runs were taken in the next over, leaving Emrit and Nikhil Dutta needing 20 off the last two. After taking three singles and a double, Emrit swung Farhad Reza for a four past short fine-leg, but crucially took a single off the last ball.Irfan’s first ball of the last over went for four and when Emrit took a single off the next ball, he reached 50 off 27 balls. Dutta ran a bye next ball before Emrit carved the fourth ball past the point fielder for a four, sealing the win. Emrit took off in ecstasy while Dhaka were left scratching their heads, especially as they had dominated most of the game.Both teams had rested four players each, including Kumar Sangakkara for Dhaka and Chris Gayle for Barisal. It gave opportunities to younger players and Mosaddek Hossain, playing on his 20th birthday, made Dhaka’s top score with 30 off 31 balls while Dutta, playing his first match in the BPL, took 3 for 18.Mohammad Irfan struck in the third over of Barisal’s chase when he had Rony Talukdar caught behind for four, after striking him with a bouncer. Nabil Samad then had Brendan Taylor leg-before for 3 and Mahmudullah bowled for 1, before Mosaddek Hossain took the big wicket of Evin Lewis, caught at long-off for 9.Sabbir Rahman was then trapped lbw by Mosharraf, although the ball appeared to be heading down the leg side. Soon after, Mohammad Hafeez took an excellent running catch, coming forward from long-off, from a Sohag Gazi miscue in the 12th over, as Barisal slipped to 59 for 6. Mehedi Maruf was batting well, attacking and picking singles at will, but he ran past a Mosharraf delivery in the 14th over to be stumped, seemingly ending any hopes of a Barisal win. His 41-ball 37 had three fours and two big sixes over midwicket.Earlier, Dutta foxed an advancing Hafeez with a wide delivery that was only toe-ended to cover for a simple catch. Hafeez had made 25 off 27 balls, helped by four fours. In his next over, Dutta bowled Malcolm Waller with a delivery that dipped late on the batsman who was trying to slog him. Nasir Hossain finally connected a slog off Dutta, but was caught at deep midwicket in the bowler’s third over. Dutta finished with figures of 3 for 18 from four overs.Mosaddek, who struck a four and a six in his 31-ball innings, came to the crease at this point and added 33 runs for the fifth wicket with Ryan ten Doeschate, who made 22 and was caught at cover off Emrit. There was a second wicket in store for Emrit in the final over of the innings, when he clean bowled Shykat Ali. Emrit would also have the last word with the bat.

Ottis Gibson: “Unbelievable.But we’ve got four games left and if I’m going to get through them I’m going to have to cut down on the celebrations a little bit.” © Getty Images

Ottis Gibson was named man-of-the-match as Durham wrapped up victory over Hampshire in the Friends Provident Trophy final on Sunday leaving Shane Warne’s dreams of a domestic title shattered.Durham needed just 38 minutes to clinch a 125-run victory at an almost-empty Lord’s after the conclusion of the final had been held over from Saturday because of rain. Hampshire were already facing an uphill task when they resumed on 158 for five in reply to 312 for five and were eventually all out for 187 at the end of the 41st over.Former West Indies seamer Gibson, 38, who began the Hampshire reply with wickets off the first two balls and then dismissed dangerman Kevin Pietersen as well, was the star performer.”Unbelievable,” said Gibson who took 10 wickets in an innings against Hampshire in a county championship match earlier in the summer. “But we’ve got four games left and if I’m going to get through them I’m going to have to cut down on the celebrations a little bit.”Durham’s Paul Collingwood, England’s one-day skipper, was delighted to finally see his county clinch a first major domestic title. “We’ve had lots of ups and downs at the club – just after I joined in 1996 I think we won one game all season – but we learned a lot and it pulled us together as a team.”Warne, Hampshire’s captain had been greeted with a no-ball bouncer by old foe Collingwood, but it was Liam Plunkett who bowled the Australian for five to end the innings. Shivnarine Chanderpaul had top-scored for Durham with 78 on his 33rd birthday.”I hate losing and this is right up there,” said Warne. “But Durham just played better and I think this could inspire us to achieve some special things.”