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James Pearce admits it is hard to see where starts will come Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain’s way for Liverpool between now and the end of the season.

The Lowdown: Ox visibly frustrated at Forest

The Reds edged their way past Nottingham Forest in the FA Cup quarter-finals on Sunday, with Diogo Jota’s goal earning them a 1-0 win and a place in the semi-finals.

One player who struggled to make an impact at the City Ground was Oxlade-Chamberlain, who wasted an opportunity to shine in the middle of the park, completing zero of his four cross attempts and winning just one duel in the entire match (Sofascore).

The 28-year-old was visibly frustrated when he was substituted by Jurgen Klopp in the second half, reportedly shouting about his lack of chances to get up to speed.

The Latest: Pearce unsure over playing time

Writing in a Q&A for The Athletic on Sunday, Pearce admitted it is hard to see where Oxlade-Chamberlain will play a key role for Liverpool in their quest for an unprecedented quadruple:

“Ox struggled and yeah it’s tough to see where his next start comes from given the players ahead of him.”

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The Verdict: Time to leave Liverpool

Oxlade-Chamberlain’s Liverpool career has been more good than bad, with the midfielder his side’s fourth-top goalscorer in the Premier League title-winning season, but he is an increasingly peripheral figure who has so often struggled with injuries, missing 63 total games with two separate major knee injuries.

For that reason, and with his current deal running out in 2023, it makes sense to move him on this summer, with the club running out of time to receive a respectable fee for his services.

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Oxlade-Chamberlain earns £125,000 per week currently and those wages can go towards a younger signing who is viewed as a long-term option at Anfield.

In other news, Liverpool are interested in signing one attacking player this summer. Read more here.

Pakistan Under-19s 256 for 3 (Umar Akmal 84) beat England Under-19s 252 for 5 (Godleman 118*) by seven wickets
ScorecardA fine unbeaten 118 from Billy Godleman was not enough to secure a consolation win for England’s youngsters, as they bowed out of their triangular tournament in Sri Lanka with a seven-wicket defeat against Pakistan.Despite the result, it was a much-improved display from England following a limp performance against Sri Lanka on Monday. They easily posted their highest score in their four matches in the tournament, with Godleman anchoring the innings with a superb 152-ball innings.He struck seven fours in the innings, and received sound support from James Taylor in a 42-run opening stand, as well as the captain Alex Wakely (39) and Tom Westley, who rounded off the innings with a brisk unbeaten 33 from 28 balls.But Pakistan’s openers, Umar Akmal and Ahmed Shehzad, proved unstoppable in response. They added 149 for the first wicket inside the first 20 overs to break the back of the run-chase, before Umar Amin eased them to victory with an unbeaten 68 from 76 balls.

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts
Pak U19s	4	3	1	0	0	15
SL U19s	4	2	2	0	0	10
Eng U19s	4	1	3	0	0	4

Kevin Pietersen: up for the Cup © Getty Images

Kevin Pietersen, who missed England’s CB Series triumph in Australia after flying home to nurse a broken rib, is impressed with the quiet resolve being shown by his team-mates since their arrival in the Caribbean, and believes they are ready to make a big impression on the World Cup.”There is a definite difference around the squad,” said Pietersen. “To win a trophy abroad, especially against Australia and come back after a few weeks off and get the batteries recharged is great. You can just tell the difference here at the hotel. The boys have smiles on their faces, there’s a different feel.”There is a lot more joking around and messing about and a lot more positives,” added Pietersen, who admitted how depressing the atmosphere had been for much of the Ashes tour. “There weren’t too many positives when I was out there nine or 10 weeks into the trip and we kept getting hammered all the time, so it was totally different.”Pietersen’s rib injury was sustained when he advanced down the track to a Glenn McGrath short ball and missed out on an attempted pull shot. But, he added, he didn’t mind one jot to have missed out on the glory, even though he felt he had been in just the sort of form to make a big impression on the competition.”I know how difficult the winter was, it was as hard as anything I’ve experienced,” he admitted. “I didn’t get a victory at all and I was out there for two-and-a-bit months and didn’t see a victory once. To see the boys win, it didn’t matter whether I was there or not, was brilliant. The break might have done me good, but I’d have preferred to have been in Australia.”England have an intriguing rematch lined up against Australia in St Vincent tomorrow, their final warm-up match before their first competitive fixture gets underway against New Zealand on March 16. And Pietersen believes that the absence of such key performers as Brett Lee and Matthew Hayden will undermine Australia’s preparations.”We had our vulnerable times when we didn’t have Vaughan, Trescothick, Flintoff last year and we don’t have Simon Jones,” said Pietersen. “That’s when we got a lot of stick and we weren’t as competitive as we were the previous year. I think a team does become vulnerable when they lose big players. They still have great players in their side, but hopefully they will be vulnerable when we play them.”

John Buchanan’s departure may coincide with Australia losing a collection of ageing players © Getty Images

John Buchanan, the Australia coach, says he will retire after next year’s World Cup in the West Indies.”That’s what Cricket Australia and I have agreed to at this point,” he told . “If Cricket Australia felt as though I was still needed, I’d consider that. But basically I’m contracted till the end of the World Cup. I think that will be a good time to quit.”Buchanan, 52, took over the coach’s role from Geoff Marsh after the 1999 World Cup and guided Australia to another title in 2003. He said that his decision to quit after the 2007 World Cup would provide Cricket Australia enough time to look for a replacement. “There will be a small break after the World Cup and that will be a reasonably appropriate time to hand over the mantle,” Buchanan said. “We should be in a reasonable shape. I’m sure we will be, whether we’ve won the World Cup or not.”Buchanan slammed the media’s negative image of coaches, saying that it was incorrect to see them as being of little use. “From certain sections of the media, past players and commentators, I think there’s a total lack of understanding of what the coach does,” he said. “A lot of their comments… I tend not to worry about them, because they are comments coming from ignorance.”Buchanan likened the coach’s role to that of the head of a family. “There’s guidance, there’s counselling, there’s discipline, there’s sitting down and being a best mate, there’s sitting down and giving a good kick in the pants. There’s planning about how the family is going to go forward. The family grows, the family changes, you have to deal with that. We work and play together so we do operate more like a family,” he said.

Until recently, history in these matches tilted towards Pakistan. India, to start with, had only two series victories to Pakistan’s four. Javed Mianded still tops the batting charts. Kapil Dev, though he leads Imran Khan by five in the wickets tally, played six more Tests and averages six more runs per wicket. In many ways, the encounter – the really tough fight – rarely ever happened. Purely in terms of victory and defeat, the closest margins of voctory have been by 12, 16 and 46 runs. And Pakistan won all three.

Victor	Margin	Venue	Series
Pakistan	12 runs	Madras	1998-99
Pakistan	16 runs	Bangalore	1986-87
Pakistan	46 runs	Calcutta	1998-99

Then things took an interesting turn. A more aggressive India visited Pakistan and won for the first time in 12 presidential terms. Walls had crumbled by then, an empire had fallen; 12 terms is a time in politics, as well as cricket. That brings us to this series, where Pakistan’s pace attack, a feature of India’s nightmares in past years, is scant but eager, and India’s batting is on the upswing after a bare season, except for a spurt of runs against Bangladesh.

Player	Matches	Wkts	Avge	S/R	5/10w
Shoaib Akhtar	4	19	26.78	38.30	5/0
Mohammad Sami	3	9	44.66	67.6	0/0
Danish Kaneria	5	30	30.66	57.3	3/1
Abdul Razzaq	4	8	46.87	90.5	1/0
Shoaib Malik	3	1	126	216	0/0
Naved-ul-Hasan	2	6	45	70.8	0/0

Player	Matches	Runs	Avge	Avge – Bang series	50/100
Virender Sehwag	8	584	48.66	51.73	2/2
Gautam Gambhir	5	307	43.85	26.60	1/1
Yuvraj Singh	2	47	15.66	N/A	0/0
Rahul Dravid	8	508	50.80	43.50	3/1
Sachin Tendulkar	6	409	58.42	20.83	1/1
Sourav Ganguly	6	315	45.00	31.20	3/0
VVS Laxman	8	211	19.18	18.88	1/0
Mohammad Kaif	3	153	30.60	N/A	2/0

Only one name from the present stands among the 20 best in these encounters. The ten most prolific batsmen still read like a list of recollections, but among the bowlers is Anil Kumble, whose ten wickets at the Feroz Shah Kotla in 1999 accelerated his rise to the league of prolific wicket-takers. This absence of modern names is due to the low frequency of series. Since Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly made their debut in 1996, they have played Pakistan only twice. Over a similar period, from 1978 to 1987, the teams met in six series.

Player	Matches	Wkts	Avge	S/R	5/10w
Kapil Dev	29	99	30.12	60.04	7/1
Imran Khan	23	94	24.04	54.02	6/2
Wasim Akram	12	45	28.87	65.07	2/0
Fazal Mahmood	14	44	24.55	82.61	4/1
Mahmood Hussain	14	39	33.15	79.64	2/0
Anil Kumble	6	37	22.70	44.54	3/1

Who rises above themselves in these games packed with hopes and tensions? Who falls? Chandu Borde’s average rose by more than double. Zaheer Abbas’s rise signalled the end of India’s spin quartet, for his plunder reached its apogee in 1978-79, when he accumulated 583 runs at 194.33. His average jumped from 44.8 to 87. Sachin Tendulkar’s average, on the other hand, falls by 17.44 in India-Pakistan contests.

Player	Career avge	Avge in India-Pak games	Difference
Chandu Borde	35.59	82.50	46.91
Zaheer Abbas	44.80	87.00	42.20
Anshuman Gaekwad	30.08	64.43	34.35
Sachin Tendulkar	57.44	40.00	-17.44
VVS Laxman	43.13	26.20	-16.93
Inzamam-ul-Haq	48.97	34.67	-14.30

Both teams have their own favourite mode of dismissing the opponents. India’s has been to let the fast bowlers do a bit and throw the spinners at ’em, while Pakistan, gifted with as many legendary pacemen as India has spinners, chose to use spinners in between. For India, using spinners to the hilt was a good idea: compared to the first innings, they gave away 17 runs fewer for every wicket in the second innings. Pakistan, on the other hand, have tended to press on with fast bowlers regardless of the innings.

	Pace/spin (P/S) overs bowled	P/S wkts	P/S avg	P/S strike rate
1st innings	2709/3586	232/197	34.98/43.05	70.06/109.22
2nd innings	832/1418	73/113	35.26/27.22	68.38/75.29

	Pace/spin (P/S) overs bowled	P/S wkts	P/S avg	P/S strike rate
1st innings	3787/1910	328/120	30.70/42.68	69.27/95.50
2nd innings	1493/1042	117/69	34.63/36.96	76.56/90.61

So it is unsurprising then that Pakistan’s fast bowlers have dismissed top orders and tailenders more frequently than their spinners. But India’s main weapon, the ubiquitous spinner, has been less successful dismissing Pakistan’s top order than the fast men.

	India pace/spin	Pakistan pace/spin
Top order (1-6)	211/191	287/115
Lower order (7-11)	94/119	158/74

Rahul Dravid: an encore at Hyderabad would do just fine © Wisden Cricinfo

Saturday’s match will be the 14th one-day international at the Lal Bahadur Shastri Stadium in Hyderabad. Like at Bangalore, India have an enviable record here, winning five matches and losing just one (one match was washed out). New Zealand haven’t had as much to celebrate: just one win – against Zimbabwe in a 1987 World Cup match remembered more for Dave Houghton’s exploits than for anything New Zealand did – and two defeats, against Sri Lanka and India.

There’s been plenty of talk about conditions not being equal for both teams in many matches in the TVS Cup, but past record suggests that the team batting first will have as much chance as the team chasing: in 12 decisive matches here, the team batting first has won six and lost as many, while the win-loss record for the team winning the toss is 6-6 too. Playing under lights doesn’t seem to make a difference either: in six day-night games, the team batting first has won three and lost three. However, India have never lost a match here after calling correctly at the toss, winning three times, while one match was rained out.

If Saturday’s match is anything like the previous clash between India and New Zealand here, then the crowd at the Lal Bahadur Stadium will have plenty to cheer. In that match, Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid pulverised New Zealand, adding a world record 331 for the second wicket as India amassed 376, and won by a whopping 174 runs. Tendulkar made an undefeated 186 while Dravid got 153. Neither has bettered that performance in an ODI.

An Indian victory will not only take them into the final, it will also preserve their record in triangular tournaments at home: in six previous competitions, they have always made it to the final, and have gone to win lift the title four times.

Stephen Fleming’s abdominal strain means that Chris Cairns will lead New Zealand, and while that may seem a huge bonus for the Indians, Cairns has a 100 percent record as captain. In his only ODI in that role, New Zealand achieved a splendid victory against Australia in a VB Series match in 2001-02. Cairns made a vital 31 in New Zealand’s 235, and then took the crucial wicket of Michael Bevan, as Australia folded for 212.

North Otago’s Neil Rushton has been drafted into the Otago Volts team for the next two State Championship matches.The left-armer replaces Kerry Walmsley who is sidelined with a back strain, the injury suffered in the early stages of Central Districts’ second innings in Alexandra on Wednesday.Walmsley has been Otago’s most productive bowler this summer – in both the Championship and one-day series. He joins an ever-growing list of injured fast and seam bowlers with Shayne O’Connor, Warren McSkimming, Evan Marshall and Bradley Scott also all unavailable for selection.Rushton played three Shell Cup matches for Otago during the 1999/00 season, taking four wickets at an average of 30.75. His best effort was 2-36. If Rushton plays on Otago’s northern excursion it will represent his first-class debut.Otago plays Wellington and Auckland on its trip north, the players undoubtedly still reeling from their pitiful 425-run loss to Central Districts at Molyneux Park, the fourth largest defeat by a runs margin in New Zealand first-class cricket history.No other changes have been made.

After the loss of the second day, the warm-up match between Zimbabwe Aand the Indians petered out into the expected draw, although India didturn down a chance of an outright win when they decided againstenforcing the follow-on. In reply to their first innings of 336 fornine declared, they dismissed Zimbabwe A for 175 and then, battingagain, scored 150 for seven.In contrast to the aborted second day of the match, Day Three beganwarm and sunny. With the notable exception of Craig Wishart, theZimbabwe A Test hopefuls failed to make anything of their opportunity.Hamilton Masakadza (8) soon fell, caught at slip off Ashish Nehra, andZimbabwe A were 37 for two.Then followed the only notable partnership of the innings, betweenopener Dion Ebrahim and Wishart. Debashish Mohanty initially erred inlength and was punished by both batsmen. Wishart pulled shortdeliveries with particular relish, and also produced the odd powerfulstraight drive to the overpitched ball. He looked every inch a batsmanwith a point to prove. Had those responsible sought to boost hisfragile confidence instead of condemning him to live in constantinsecurity, he could be a successful Test regular.By contrast, current Test player Ebrahim found it difficult to timethe ball, but hung in there with determination. When Harbhajan Singhmade a belated arrival at the bowling crease, Wishart immediately hithim for six over long on, but then skied a ball safely between twofielders. Just before lunch, Zahir Khan began a collapse by havingEbrahim (47) caught at slip and then yorking Craig Evans first ball.Viljoen (5) was lbw to Harbhajan and Zimbabwe A were suddenly reelingat 139 for five.Then Wishart, his concentration apparently disturbed by the comingsand goings at the far end, hung a limp bat out feebly to Khan and wascaught at the wicket. He had hit 68 off 85 balls. Finally TatendaTaibu (1) was caught at short leg off Harbhajan on the stroke oflunch, and Zimbabwe A were 143 for seven, having lost five wickets forjust ten runs. India had struck back with a vengeance.The disasters continued for Zimbabwe A after the interval, as TravisFriend (4) had his middle stump uprooted by a quicker yorker fromHarbhajan Singh, and Bryan Strang (0) was caught at first slip offNehra. Brian Murphy (9 not out) hung on while David Mutendera (13)enjoyed some thick edges and one powerfully driven boundary beforebeing caught again by Sachin Tendulkar at first slip. Zimbabwe A wereall out, 161 runs behind, but India declined to enforce the follow-on,preferring batting practice.Shiv Sunder Das and Sadagopan Ramesh looked in need of it, as theyboth had some uncomfortable moments early on against Strang andFriend. Das was finally adjudged lbw playing forward to Strang for 12,and shortly afterwards Ramesh (6) was caught in the slips off Friend,reducing the tourists to 22 for two.Venkatsai Laxman and Tendulkar batted quietly until tea, playingoccasional attacking strokes but seeming content to wait for the looseball rather than plunder the bowling. Friend tried two short balls toTendulkar, only to have them both pulled effortlessly for four.Immediately after tea Mutendera had the same humiliating experience.However, Mutendera was to take the wicket of Tendulkar for the secondtime in the match, as the little maestro hit too early and was caughtat extra cover for 33. The same bowler had Laxman caught in the slips,also for 33. Sourav Ganguly (17) disputed his lbw dismissal in a waythat would have had serious consequences in a Test match, and two morequick wickets followed. Rahul Dravid did not bat again, and as thematch meandered to a close Harbhajan Singh (25*) entertained the crowdof several hundred, mainly schoolchildren, with a few big hits.

A major update has emerged on Newcastle United and their plans for left-back Jamal Lewis…

What’s the talk?

According to Football Insider, the Magpies are willing to part ways with the Northern Ireland international for a fee in the region of £8m.

The club signed him from Norwich City for £13.5m in the summer of 2020 and he was omitted from their Premier League squad for the second half of this season, with Eddie Howe now seemingly sanctioning his permanent exit.

Disaster

PIF are heading for a huge transfer disaster over Lewis as they will make a loss of £5.5m if they opt to sell him for the £8m touted in this report.

This potential deal will evoke bad memories of Mike Ashley for Newcastle supporters as the former Magpies owner sanctioned the transfer in 2020.

The move has been a failure from start to finish for the young defender as he has struggled throughout his time at the club, as he averaged a dismal SofaScore rating of 6.48 in his first campaign and a score of 6.46 this term.

It seems unlikely, at this point, that he will be able to force himself into the first-team fold again given his current situation. Matt Ritchie, Javier Manquillo, Emil Krafth, Paul Dummett and Matt Targett were all selected ahead of him as full-back options in January, which shows how far down the pecking order he is under Howe.

Newcastle have an option to sign Targett on a permanent basis from Aston Villa in the summer and that could put to bed any chance Lewis has of resurrecting his St. James’ Park career. This means that PIF are right to decide to cash in on the left-back, but that does not make it any less of a disaster for the club overall.

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They are set to make a huge loss on him within the space of two years and it is a timely reminder of what life was like under Ashley in regards to transfers.

It will also give PIF an idea of what not to do as they will want to avoid making the same mistakes as the Sports Direct supremo, as Lewis was brought in despite his attacking style of play not suiting Steve Bruce’s defensive set-up at St. James’ Park. They must ensure that they are signing players who suit the way Howe wants to play to avoid a repeat of this transfer failure in the future.

AND in other news, NUFC plot audacious bid to sign £81m-rated “genius”, he “makes football a pleasure”…

ScorecardUAE made an excellent start to their Intercontinental Cup clash against Namibia, dismissing them for a mediocre 164 on the opening day in Sharjah. At stumps, UAE had almost closed the gap on Namibia’s poor total and trailed by 17.Namibia chose to bat and began solidly enough, with Jan-Berrie Burger and Dawid Botha putting on 29 for the opening wicket. But Botha’s demise – he was caught by Amjad Ali off Fahad Alhashmi for 9 – prompted a dramatic mid-order collapse in which Namibia lost 5 for 52. Burger eventually found much-needed support from Tobias Verwey, the wicketkeeper, with whom he put on 69 for the sixth wicket.After bringing up his fifty, Burger was bowled by Arshad Ali and Ahmed Raza cleaned up the tail with 3 for 20. Namibia were all out for 164 – but not down and out by any means. UAE got off to a dreadful start when they lost both their openers and Gayan Silva, the No. 3, with 16 on the board. Louis Klazinga then gave Namibia genuine hope of dismissing UAE for a paltry total by taking two further quick wickets, but UAE recovered well with Saqib Ali smacking 10 fours and a six in his combative 72.With Saqib unbeaten at stumps and four wickets remaining, UAE are still well placed to take a significant first-innings lead going into the second day.