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Pakistan gained a morale-boosting victory over Australia in the Day/Night International at Trent Bridge ahead of Saturday’s NatWest Series Final.Having won the toss and elected to bat first Pakistan made 290-9 from their 50 overs and despite half-centuries from Adam Gilchrist and Steve Waugh Australia were restricted to 254 all out, losing by 36 runs. Once again Waqar Younis was the destroyer-in-chief, picking up 6-59.In pursuit of a huge victory target of 291 Australia needed to build a solid platform but they were rocked with the early departures of both Mark Waugh and Matthew Hayden. Waqar Younis, bowling the second over, began with a wide but then bowled a perfect away swinger which nicked the outside edge of Waugh’s bat and was neatly taken by the diving Latif.Left-hander Hayden fell in the same over, although there was some confusion over his dismissal. Replays seemed to indicate that the ball struck only the pad on it’s way through to the ‘keeper. Although the lbw shout looked very close the official scorers maintained that the batsman was caught behind.Adam Gilchrist provided a dynamic response, smashing four boundaries in Waqar’s second over but the Pakistan captain continued his purple streak at the start of his third. Michael Bevan being the next to go, bowled with a ball that nipped back into him and pole-axed his middle stump.An explosive seventh over produced 19 runs and Gilchrist’s assault continued in the next over as successive pulled boundaries rocketed him to a very special 50 (44 mins 29 balls 11×4).At 76-3 after nine overs Saqlain’s off-spin was introduced; Waqar’s first spell, ending with figures of 3-43 from four overs! The first six of the innings (Saqlain/Gilchrist) came in the 12th over and brought the Australian 100 up from just 78 balls.With the score on 111 Saqlain grabbed the prize wicket of the opener as Gilchrist misread the flight and was bowled for 70 (70 mins 44 balls 1×6 12×4). In the same over Damien Martyn edged the wrong’un to Azhar Mahmood at slip and despite the healthy run-rate Australian victory chances appeared remote.Andrew Symonds joined Steve Waugh and provided reassuring support as his skipper advanced to yet another accomplished 50 (89 mins 63 balls 8×4). After 25 overs the pair had lifted the total to 165-5, still on target, and the partnership was soon extended past the 70 mark.With the floodlighting in full force 102 were needed from the final 19 overs when Waqar returned to the attack. The golden arm of the Pakistani captain struck immediately as his opposite number skied him to Saqlain at mid off. Steve Waugh had made 56 from 89 balls.Three balls later Symonds, who’d shared a stand of 77 with his captain, then tried to lift Waqar over deep midwicket but watched as substitute fielder Imran Nazir juggled four times with the ball before holding onto the catch. Waqar’s remarkable figures after five overs now read 5-48.The Australian tail had been left with too much to do by their top order and although Brett Lee hit Waqar for a huge 6 into the Radcliffe Road Stand he lost his off stump the very next ball to give the paceman his sixth wicket.Shane Warne made 14 before hitting Azhar Mahmood to Wasim Akram at cover and despite some stoic hitting from Jason Gillespie and Damien Fleming, Australia had lost their chance of an unlikely win before Gillespie was bowled by Razzaq.Saleem Elahi had earlier top-scored for Pakistan with 79, made out of a total of 290-9. Worryingly though the innings had been disrupted due to crowd disturbances, which forced the players from the field for 19 minutes. The unsightly presence of a boundary heavily ringed with police and stewards allowed the game to finish without a premature pitch invasion, although firecrackers in stands have no place at English cricket grounds.Afterwards Waqar Younis looked forward to the final on Saturday. “One more game to go and hopefully we can do well in that,” he said. “Winning before the final is always a good thing.”It was a great game, we played really well. Especially Saleem Elahi with thebat. It was a very good pitch, winning the toss was a good thing.”Of his own, match-winning bowling he commented: “It’s swinging for me and I hope it will swing for me in the final.”Steve Waugh was unhappy with the Australian performance, however. “We weren’t too flash in the field,” he said. “We missed some early opportunities. We got what we deserved tonight and have got some work to do before the final. We were outplayed by Pakistan tonight.”But he had warm words for Gilchrist, commenting: “Adam Gilchrist did well early on. But some careless shots and the game was all over.”Waugh had harsh words for the spectators that caused him to leave his team off the field during the Pakistan innings, and invaded the pitch at the end of the match.”The stewards tried their best to contain things but you can’t control idiots, can you?” he commented.”You saw the way they behaved after the game and people shouldn’t be allowedto spend £15 to come to a cricket match and think they can do what they want.”But he admitted that the situation at Trent Bridge had been better than at other grounds.”Today there was an improvement in the way things were dealt with but it wasstill not an ideal situation. They put up fences but I don’t think I would have been too keen if I had been a steward stood behind them.”

Ally McCoist took aim at a referee decision as Newcastle United and Chelsea battled out a frantic 2-2 draw in the Premier League.

Newcastle denied victory by Chelsea comeback

Nick Woltemade’s double had the Magpies 2-0 up inside 20 minutes, but Eddie Howe’s men wilted amid a second-half fightback, fuelled by the pace and trickery of Pedro Neto, Alejandro Garnacho and Pedro, after Reece James’ curling free-kick reduced the deficit.

However, it was Pedro who ensured his side left with a deserved point when he fired home a 66th-minute equaliser to end a run of three successive league defeats for the Blues on Tyneside.

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Newcastle needed just four minutes to get their noses in front when Sandro Tonali won possession in the middle of the field to allow Bruno Guimaraes to feed Jacob Murphy down the right, and although keeper Robert Sanchez did well to block Anthony Gordon’s attempt at the far post, Woltemade followed up to smash the rebound into the roof of the net.

They increased their lead with 20 minutes gone when Lewis Hall played a free-kick wide to Gordon, who cut inside Neto and crossed for Woltemade to toe-poke the ball past the stranded Sanchez, although the goal was only awarded after a lengthy VAR check for offside.

Although Enzo Maresca’s men rallied as the half-time whistle approached, they were unable to find a way back into the game and almost conceded once again when Woltemade steered another Gordon cross just wide.

However, the visitors reduced the deficit within four minutes of the restart when, after Ramsey had been penalised for a foul on Cole Palmer 25 yards out, James expertly curled the resulting free-kick wide of Aaron Ramsdale’s dive and in off the post.

The Blues were then level within nine minutes when Malick Thiaw slipped as Pedro controlled Sanchez’s clearance to allow the striker in behind him and he raced away to finish with aplomb.

Ally McCoist spots huge referee mistake

Amidst the drama of goals galore, it was referee Andy Madley who stole the headlines when he decided against awarding Newcastle a penalty. The moment of controversy came when Anthony Gordon ran across Trevoh Chalobah as the Chelsea defender eased him to one side.

The decision was subject to a VAR check, but still failed to result in a penalty. TNT pundit McCoist looked at the incident and claimed that the Magpies should have been awarded a spotkick.

Howe will be left ruing what could have been a comfortable afternoon for his side after watching Newcastle concede their 2-0 lead after the break and settle for a point.

Pakistan have called up Sohail Khan and Khalid Latif, both of whom are uncapped, to their squad for the third ODI in Multan against Zimbabwe on January 27.Sohail, a right-arm fast-bowler, replaces an unimpressive Samiullah Khan, who failed to pick up any wickets in the two ODIs, and Latif has been called up in place of Sarfraz Ahmed, the reserve wicket keeper.Sohail was widely tipped to make his ODI debut in Karachi after grabbing 65 wickets in nine first-class matches this season, while also impressing in the four-day tour match against the Zimbabweans. He troubled batsmen with both pace and bounce in that match but was advised a week’s rest after feeling a slight niggle in his right shoulder while throwing the ball.Sarfraz has been sent to a specialist wicket-keeping camptaking place in Lahore as the selectors are keen to persist with KamranAkmal for the third ODI. They, however, have not ruled out Sarfraz’sreturn to the squad if Pakistan wrap up the series at Multan.The inclusion of opener Latif will put pressure on Salman Butt, who hasfailed to impress in the series so far. Run out for four in Karachi, Buttmade only 17 in Hyderabad.For the second match running, he was overshadowed by the 18-year-old Nasir Jamshed, who has marked his start in international cricket withconsecutive half-centuries. Latif scored 593 runs in therecently-concluded Quaid-e-Azam Trophy and was part of the Patron’s XIsquad that took on the Zimbabweans in the tour match.Squad – Shoaib Malik, Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan,Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, SohailTanvir, Iftikhar Anjum, Fawad Alam, Yasir Arafat, Kamran Hussain, KhalidLatif, Sohail Khan

Graeme Smith, South Africa’s captain, has hit back at Australia’sclaims that his side are perennial chokers, suggesting that – of late- it is his team, the new World No. 1s, who have shown the big-gamementality that is needed to win a World Cup.”In our last ten one-dayers we have been under pressure at times andwe have got out of it superbly well,” said Smith, whose side takes onthe Australians at Warner Park in St Kitts on March 24. “We’ve been four- orfive-down and still managed to get totals of close to 300. We’ve lostgames and gone on to win series 3-1 against some good one-day teams.Our ability to get ourselves out of pressure is something we have donequite well.”We’ve got a number of matchwinners in our side and that’s always ahuge asset,” added Smith. “Australia has struggled of late before thistournament, in some finals and in New Zealand, but both teams comeinto this tournament with the same pressure on their shoulders, thesame desire to perform well. Both teams are looking forward to March24, hopefully it’s going to be a cracking game.”Smith’s assertion came as a response to the latest volley from GlennMcGrath, a character who can always be relied upon to stir the pot.”I’ve always felt they’re a team that don’t handle pressure as well asthe Australian team,” said McGrath. “They fear losing more thanbacking themselves to win, and the fact they are ranked No.1 now meansa lot more pressure to hold that position.””We were surprised nothing came from Glenn slightly earlier,”countered Smith. “From our point of view it really means nothing.We’ve handled pressure better than Australia of late in the big games,so I guess it’s just another drop in the ocean.”We will take things as they come,” added Smith. “We have playedsuperb cricket over the last year-and-a-half in the one-day form ofthe game and I think our key focus has been getting all areas of ourgame right. We know if we perform we’ve got the players and the teamand the passion to perform well over here. That’s our focus at themoment. We haven’t really taken too much notice of what’s been goingon around us. We will see when we get to Australia. We’ve got twogames before that.Smith was speaking during Australia’s fielding stint in their openingmatch against Scotland, but he added that being in such closeproximity to such arch-rivals was not an issue for the players. “Wehave shared hotels in Montego Bay and we were on the same plane,” saidSmith. “Relationships off the field are pretty good and mature.Players chat and say hello. But when it gets onto the field I’m prettysure it will be competitive, the same way Australia and South Africaplay all the time.”

Pakistan’s preparations for their one-day series against Sri Lanka were disrupted after the ground they had planned to use for middle practice was booked for another game.The side nets at the Colombo Cricket Club had been reserved for the Pakistan squad, but they wanted to use the main pitch as they step up their training ahead of the series. The management tried to persuade Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) to stop the game, but were unsuccessful so the players returned to the hotel.”We went to the ground as scheduled in the morning but found out some others were using it and we had no other alternative but to return to the hotel,” the team manager, Zaheer Abbas, told AFP. “After we contacted SLC we were given a different venue to practice in the afternoon.”However, the mix-up did not appear to frustrate the players too much. While they hung around for about 40 minutes some of them, including the bowling coach Waqar Younis, sent down a few deliveries for the locals.SLC officials said the inconvenience was caused by miscommunication. “We had earlier allocated the side nets for the Pakistan team, but subsequently they requested for the centre wickets and we couldn’t arrange that at the last moment.”The first one-day international is on March 17 and the three-match series is then followed by two Tests.

It’s the first time India have made it to a World Cup final – must be a dream come true?
It really feels great that at last we have entered the final. All the girls are really excited.Captaincy seems to have made you more confident, something that can be seen in your batting?
When I go in to bat I don’t think that I am the captain, and I’ve got to get runs and the responsibility is on me. Today was a good example where others girls chipped in with vital contributions and helped the team cause. I had good partnerships with Anjum [Chopra] and Hemlata Kala and then short handy ones with the tail. The bowlers also did their job and that’s how we won by 40 runs. In the first few overs New Zealand were 30 for four with their top-order erased. So the credit goes to everyone.You had lost to New Zealand in the league game. That must have played on the minds?
Our first priority was: we to reach the semis. Once there we to make the final. We had lost in the league game to the Kiwis by 16 runs. So it was a pretty close contest, and didn’t hamper our confidence. If we had lost by a bigger margin our morale would have been down but that didn’t happen and we came back strongly.Where did India win the game today?
When we made 204, we knew that the pressure was on them as they were batting second.How did you go about shaping today’s innings?
I went in when couple of wicket were down – 38 for 2 – but I started in a confident fashion. I only had one thought in my mind when I walked in: “Today is the day I have to do it.” I told myself the team needed something big from me and I am glad I didn’t fail them. In that confident vein I went for my strokes. I should also give credit to the lower order who gave me good support.But at the beginning you were going very slow – at 30-over-mark India were 89 for 2?
Yes, I had this thought, at one stage, that we were going slow. But we also knew that if we are settled we cannot throw wickets to get the runs faster. And that’s what Anjum and I agreed in the beginning – that one of us had to stay to get the runs.

You have been playing with an injured right knee. Are you confident of playing the big one on Sunday?
I will definitely play the final – I cannot just leave my team now. I suffered the injury while playing the Nationals before the World Cup, and it had almost healed, but I don’t need to worry about that.Though India lost 4-3 to Australia in the home series, India won the last three games in a row. Does that give you the upper hand in the final?
We played at home and that was an advantage. Here the wickets are hard and the bounce is high, so we know they are going to attack us with short-pitch deliveries. But we’ve worked hard and practised with the boys at the preparation camp to get used to the conditions here.What will be the plan on Sunday? Australia are undefeated so far.
We just need to see off the new ball. And they just have one bowler who is very quick – Cathryn Fitzpatrick. In the first semis England lost the game when Fitzpatrick took three wickets in her first spell, thus exposing the English middle order. We need to keep that in mind and survive the first spell.

Close West Indies 178 for 1 (Gayle 112*) trail South Africa 532 (Boucher 122*) by 354 runs
Scorecard

A whirlwind century from Chris Gayle, the ninth-fastest in Tests, led West Indies’ fight back against South Africa on the second day of the third Test at Cape Town. After Mark Boucher had guided his side to a dominating 532 with an unbeaten 122*, Gayle blitzed 112 not out from 105 balls as West Indies closed on 178 for 1, but still 354 behind.It wasn’t a day for the bowlers. In all, 402 runs were plundered on a beautiful batting track for the loss only five wickets. The first batsman to shine was Boucher, who scored his fourth Test century to give South Africa the early advantage. However, some of that supremacy was then taken away by Gayle, who’s dynamic innings took the polish off what was otherwise a good day for Graeme Smith and his team.Whatever plans the South African bowlers had of taking early wickets, Gayle blew them out the window with an astonishing assault. Still feeling the effects of his sore hamstring, Gayle simply decided to cut down the running and hit the boundaries – and he did just that in devastating style. He smashed 20 fours and a six in all, laying into anything slightly off line – he was a man on a mission.He gave a taster of what was to come with a flick for six over square leg in Makhaya Ntini’s first over. He then crunched Shaun Pollock off the back-foot through the covers, but he saved most of the treatment for Andre Nel. Gayle bludgeoned two consecutive pulls and the next ball he cut Nel to race to his half-century off only 37 balls. Nel then disappeared over mid-off twice in a row and before anyone had noticed, the West Indies hundred was up – and Gayle had scored 77 of them. It was a case of blink and you missed another booming boundary. It was pure carnage.Jacques Kallis couldn’t keep him quiet either. Gayle cut him to the boundary, and then drove him through the covers on one knee. He had already rocketed into the nineties, and, by his standards, he took a while to get to three figures – about ten minutes. He pushed Kallis into the leg side to record a memorable century off only 79 balls Oh, and he passed 2000 Test runs at the same time.It was easy to forget that Daren Ganga was at the other end. He was his usual studied self and while he wasn’t watching and admiring Gayle’s fireworks, he gave his partner good support until he lost his patience and edged Nel onto the stumps (126 for 1). While Gayle then calmed down, Ramnaresh Sarwan took over the wheel, belting eight boundaries in his 39 not out, as West Indies put their poor bowling performance earlier in the day behind them.After their late fightback yesterday evening, West Indies began the day in a competitive position, but Boucher, along with Kallis, quickly dampened their spirits with an excellent display of attacking, aggressive batting. Boucher added an authoritative and, at times, effortless stand of 146 with Kallis before putting his foot down after the lunch break. Boucher smashed 21 boundaries in all and gave the innings its impetus.Fidel Edwards started brightly, and he made an early breakthrough with the wicket of Pollock, who edged Edwards behind to Ridley Jacobs for 9 (315 for 7). After that, though, it was a horror show for the bowlers, who completely wasted the new ball.

Boucher was in his element. Initially letting Kallis take the majority of the strike, he rolled up his sleeves and kept up the run rate with ones and twos on both sides of the wicket, as well the odd boundary. He did, however, have two strokes of fortune. He was bowled off a no ball by Edwards on 15, and was dropped on 59 by Carlton Baugh, but Boucher deserved his luck as he continued to tuck in to the frequent loose balls.Adam Sanford gave the fielders some cheer when he rather fortunately trapped Kallis lbw for a classy 73 (461 for 8). Boucher, meanwhile, continued unfazed and he soon brought up a well-deserved century. The packed crowd at Newlands rose to applaud his first hundred in 47 Tests, his last was against England at Durban in 1999. And he wasn’t finished there. He carried on the fun, smacking anything wide or short, including three eye-catching pulls off Edwards.Ntini got in the act too when he twice walloped Dave Mohammed high down the ground for a four and a six. Mohammed got his revenge, though, when Ntini tickled him behind to Jacobs (513 for 9), and Nel gave Jacobs his fourth catch of the innings when he nicked Sanford behind. South Africa’s total represented an impressive effort from their overnight 308 for 6, and it was mainly thanks to Boucher. Even though his sparkling innings was later overshadowed by Gayle’s knock, South Africa are still in a strong position.

This is the last issue of ZCO for 2002. We plan our next issue for 3 January, and extend our best wishes for Christmas and the New Year to all our readers.CONTENTS

• Zimbabwe v Kenya, 3rd ODI – Scorecard | Report
• Club cricket:
  • P.G. Timbers Vigne Cup, Round 4
  • P.G. Timbers Vigne Cup, Rounds 6 and 7
  • Round 5 appeared in our last issue. We apologize for the continued absence of Round 3 and the fact that Rounds 6 and 7 are incomplete, but we are still waiting for the scoresheets from the Mashonaland Cricket Association.
• Interview: Kevan Barbour
• Zimbabwe’s World Cup 15 Preview
• 10 years on: Zimbabwe v New Zealand, Second Test, 1992/93
• Alistair Campbell first-class Career statistics
• Visit the CFX Academy website
• Letters

As I write the news has just come through that the ICC has confirmed Zimbabwe as the venue for their six first-round matches in the World Cup, thus confirming their claim that their judgement would be based on safety rather than political grounds. Their statement said that they found no good reason to change the venue in terms of security, but they will, of course, be monitoring the situation regularly.Kenya must have been disappointed with their tour of Zimbabwe, especially the last match at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo. Their strong batting line-up never really fulfilled its potential, although Zimbabwe’s bowling was not particularly demanding by international standards. In none of the three one-day internationals was Kenya able to exert any real pressure on Zimbabwe, although when Steve Tikolo and Maurice Odumbe were together in Bulawayo it looked for a while as if they might compile a really competitive total. But a run-out changed everything, and the batting collapsed to give Zimbabwe a relatively easy victory.In this issue we interview Kevan Barbour, who has been appointed to the ICC panel of umpires for the World Cup. He praises the Kenyan players and administrators for their attitude both on and off the field, an attitude that should be copied by players of more illustrious teams worldwide. The Kenyans have always been popular opponents for Zimbabwe, and not just because we can beat them. They have always been friendly, courteous and true to the traditions of the game.Unfortunately, this tour again showed the huge gap between Kenya and the Test-playing countries, apart from Bangladesh. If Zimbabwe, who are struggling against the eight senior Test-playing countries at the moment, can beat them so convincingly, how can anybody say Kenya is ready for Test status? What if they were to play Pakistan, who gave us such a hiding on our own soil and then lost four-one to South Africa?No doubt I will cop a lot of flak from certain people for saying so, but in my view Test cricket is degraded if it is not a true test, a true contest, between two teams in a competitive match. If the result is a foregone conclusion and the weaker team is unable to exert any pressure on the stronger, then Test cricket is devalued – and by this measure even Zimbabwe only just qualifies these days. We have played too many one-sided matches during the past year, and when South Africa hammered us for 600 runs for just three wickets last year it made Zimbabwe’s Test status seem a joke. Only the fighting spirit of the great Andy Flower saved us from one of the greatest humiliations of all time.Bangladesh occasionally have a brief flurry but in the end lose every Test match easily, except for the one against Zimbabwe where the last two days were lost to rain. The ICC should several years ago have started a major programme of home and away tours for both Bangladesh and Kenya with A teams from other countries to prepare them for Test cricket. Had they done so, right now Bangladesh would have been a lot more competitive than they are and would have been spared all their present humiliations.Some believe that after this World Cup Kenya will be awarded Test status, and I would have been all for it, had they been prepared properly. But valuable time has been lost, and it will at best be three or four years before Kenya can be competitive in Test cricket, whatever is done. If Kenya do earn Test status next year, I would be only too happy to be proven wrong, but with the sorry saga of Bangladesh before us, still unable to compete after 16 Test matches, I cannot see Kenya doing much better.Both teams deserve better than to be flung in at the deep end without first being taught how to swim. I am not saying keep Kenya out of Test cricket; I am saying that the ICC should pull out all the stops to prepare Kenya adequately for Test cricket so they will not embarrass themselves when they make the step upward.

Michael Powell played the perfect captain’s innings to boost Warwickshire Bears to a five-wicket win over Northamptonshire Steelbacks at Wantage Road.Powell hammered 78 from only 62 deliveries with a six and seven fours, and his stand of 128 in 20 overs with Dougie Brown (73) enabled the Bears to pass the hosts’ 216-4 with five balls to spare.The pair came together at 82-3 with the game in the balance, but a combination of skilful improvisation, urgent running between the wickets and the occasional meaty blow settled the issue and left Northants still without a Norwich Union League point this season in the wake of three defeats.Only Mal Loye, with an entertaining 90 from 123 balls, came to terms with some accurate Warwickshire bowling in the early stages of the innings. Vasbert Drakes sent down 25 dot balls at the beginning of his stint before conceding a run.Much-needed acceleration came from Alec Swann, with an unbeaten 37 off 21 balls including two big sixes, but it was still a below-par total on a good batting pitch.Kevin Innes then removed Neil Smith and David Hemp to bring the Steelbacks into contention again, and when Dominic Ostler was stumped off Jason Brown the home side sensed an opportunity to turn the match around.But it was to prove their last positive moment of the afternoon, at least until Powell and Brown went in successive overs at the end with the points all but in the bag.

Manchester City’s first-choice attacking options are amongst some of the best in the Premier League. Erling Haaland is the leading scorer in the Premier League and has been largely unstoppable. Rayan Cherki has been flourishing, and Phil Foden is looking back to his best.

Yet, Pep Guardiola does seem reluctant at times to use the full extent of his squad in those forward areas. Perhaps the best example of that is Omar Marmoush, who has only played 206 minutes in the Premier League this term. Oscar Bobb and Sabvnho have only played 467 minutes apiece.

Thus, City are looking to add another attacker to the squad this winter, with Antoine Semenyo a real option.

What Semenyo could add to City’s attack

It does seem like City will push to sign Bournemouth winger Semenyo this winter. The former Bristol City star is a key target for Guardiola’s side, and they will go up against rivals Manchester United to get his signature.

If this deal were to get over the line, there are certainly a lot of positives to Semenyo’s game. He has been sensational for the Cherries this term, with eight goals and three assists in 16 appearances so far.

However, he will bring so much more than goals to this City side. The Ghanaian winger is an “explosive” attacker, according to football scout Ben Mattinson. He thrives in transitional scenarios and could add a new dynamic to this City squad in that sense.

His versatility will be a huge benefit for City’s Spanish manager, too. Guardiola can depend on Semenyo to play on either wing, with Mattinson noting he has “both footed ball striking” ability. The forward can even operate up front, as he has done under Andoni Iraola for Bournemouth.

However, if City had decided against releasing a former academy star, they may have been able to save a fortune on Semenyo this summer.

Big-money star is better than Semenyo 8 years after leaving

Over the last few seasons, City’s academy has produced some excellent footballers. Perhaps the most notable two are surely Phil Foden and Cole Palmer, who are key players at international level for England.

However, it might be a little-known fact that Bayern Munich and France star Michael Olise was once in the Citizens’ academy. The ex-Crystal Palace man represented the club for one season at youth level before moving to Reading in 2017.

Of course, his career has gone from strength to strength since becoming a professional player. He shone in the Premier League for Palace before moving to Bayern, where he has established himself as a world beater.

The London-born attacker has played 80 times for the Bundesliga giants. In that time, Olise has scored 30 goals and amassed an impressive 37 assists. He’s also become a first-choice starter for France under Didier Deschamps, alongside the likes of Kylian Mbappe.

Bayern legend Karl-Heinz Rummenigge certainly knows a thing or two about making it to the top in Bavaria. He has been full of praise for Olise since his move, putting him on the same pedestal as legendary duo Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery.

His numbers compared to Semenyo are nothing short of sensational. For example, the French winger is averaging 2.92 key passes and 1.15 goal-creating actions per 90 minutes, compared to the Cherries winger’s 1.44 key passes and 0.44 goal-creating actions each game.

Olise & Semenyo key stats compared

Stat (per 90)

Olise

Semenyo

Goals and assists

1.15

0.69

Key passes

2.92

1.44

Goal-creating actions

1.15

0.44

Take-ons completed

2.31

1.56

Progressive carries

6.23

3.69

Stats from FBref

Signing Semenyo this winter would be quite the coup for City; there is no doubt about that. However, if they had kept hold of Olise all those years ago, they might not have needed to add the Cherries star to their attack.

Now, the French star is valued at a reported £100m, and there are no links at present, so it seems unlikely City will move for him. But their fans may well look back on that and wonder what could have been.

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