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There’s no guarantee that Celtic forward Kyogo Furuhashi will return to action before the end of the season, journalist Pete O’Rourke says. 

The lowdown

Furuhashi hasn’t played for The Hoops since Boxing Day, when he lasted only 15 minutes against St Johnstone before aggravating a hamstring injury.

Manager Ange Postecoglou said late last month that the Japanese attacker was ‘nowhere near’ resuming team training.

Celtic are in the midst of a closely-contested battle with Rangers for the Scottish Premiership crown. They currently lead the way on 73 points, but Rangers are just three points behind.

The latest

O’Rourke says the apparent uncertainty over the return to play timeline is deeply concerning.

He fears that Furuhashi’s injury could prove to be decisive in the title race.

“To be missing him, and not being sure when he might return, who knows, he might not even play again this season, is going to be a huge blow because you want your best players, especially this season when you are challenging for honours,” he told Give Me Sport.

“And to be missing Kyogo will be a big loss for Celtic.”

The verdict

He hasn’t played in 2022, and yet Furuhashi is still Celtic’s top scorer with 13 goals in all competitions.

For context, he’s played 22 games, while second-place man Liel Abada (11 goals) has now featured in 39.

Furuhashi has largely been used as a centre-forward this season, and so it’s falling to Giorgos Giakoumakis and Daizen Maeda to deputise.

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The former recently bagged a hat-trick against Dundee FC but has only found the net in two of his other 13 league appearances, while Maeda holds a steady record of five goals in 12 appearances.

Thankfully for Celtic, wingers Abada and Jota have shown they can be a source of goals too.

In other news, Kevin Campbell reacts to the latest update on Cameron Carter-Vickers.

	Singapore’s Chris Janik on his way to 5 for 9 off just 3.2 overs © Cricketeurope

The form book was well and truly thrown out of the window in the fourth round of the ICC World Cricket League Division Five as Singapore blew Group B wide open with a 69-run win over Afghanistan. With Jersey, USA and Nepal booking their semi-final places, it left Afghanistan and Singapore battling for the remaining spot.Afghanistan had been expected to maintain their unbeaten record against Singapore and, in a 30-over match, they appeared to be on course when they bowled Singapore out for 145. But in reply Afghanistan were skittled for 76, Chris Janik producing outstanding figures of 5 for 9 off just 3.2 overs.”It feels great, although it is all about the team. Afghanistan don’t lose every single game so it is a great win for us, especially since the game yesterday was rained off” Janik said adding “for a small country like Singapore with four million people it would be absolutely fantastic for us [to reach WCL Division Four]”.Taj Malik, coach of the Afghanistan team was extremely disappointed with the performance and believed the damp Jersey conditions were unfavourable to his side. “The weather has caused a lot of problems for us. We are never sure when we will start and whether the matches are reduced in overs,” said Malik. “The weather is the enemy of the Afghanistan cricket team.”But he still believes that his side is capable of qualifying for the semi-finals, although they will face a massive test against Jersey tomorrow knowing that even a win will not guarantee them a place in the top four. “I have told the guys they are still in the tournament and if we want to get a place in the semi-final then tomorrow is do or die.”The equation is further complicated by the washout of Singapore’s game against Japan on Sunday which might be replayed on Thursday, the official rest day.In other matches today, USA skipper Steve Massiah helped his side into the semi-finals of the competition with a solid all-round performance. Massiah was in excellent form with both bat and ball in a comprehensive six-wicket win over Germany to ensure that his side remains unbeaten at this event. Bowling first USA dismissed Germany for 104, with Massiah taking 2 for 11, before they reached their target with 4.5 overs to spare in a 33-over per side game.Nepal joined the USA in ensuring a top two place in Group A with a comfortable 137-run win over Vanuatu, although once again it may have been slightly disappointed with its batting performance. Mahesh Chhetri made 65 and Mahaboob Alam scored 34 as Nepal struggled to reach 220 for 9 in 46 overs in another game which had been reduced due to a delayed start. But once again Nepal’s bowling helped them recover and they never looked in any trouble as they bowled out Vanuatu for 83, with Paras Khadka the pick of the bowlers with 3 for 26. Nepal play the USA tomorrow to decide who finishes top of Group A.In Group B, Ryan Driver and Peter Gough were the heroes for Jersey as they coasted to a seven-wicket win over Botswana. “Four out of four … I couldn’t ask for anything more. We’ve got Afghanistan next so I hope we keep our winning run going and make it five from five,” said skipper Matt Hague. Another disciplined bowling performance, which saw Ryan Driver (3 for 10), Tony Carlyon (2 for 12) and Andy Dewhurst (2 for 19) share the wickets, dismissed Botswana for 66. And although Jersey didn’t look entirely comfortable, Peter Gough’s outstanding run with the bat continued as he made an unbeaten 39 not out.Hague admitted that he was looking forward to the challenge of taking on Afghanistan but believed his side had nothing to be afraid of. “We haven’t looked at them that much but looking at their scores they seem to quite go quite hard, but we fear nobody at the moment,” he said.There was a thrilling tie between Japan and Bahamas in another game which was reduced overs due to bad weather, with Japan narrowly failing to reach their target of 116 with a run out off the final ball of the match as they desperately tried to gain the second run that would have sealed the win.Mozambique registered an outstanding win over Norway by three wickets to gain their first victory of the tournament.

Group A

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts
Nepal	4	4	0	0	0	8
U.S.A.	4	4	0	0	0	8
Germany	4	2	2	0	0	4
Norway	4	1	3	0	0	2
Mozambique	4	1	3	0	0	2
Vanuatu	4	0	4	0	0	0

Group B

Team	Mat	Won	Lost	Tied	N/R	Pts
Jersey	4	4	0	0	0	8
Afghanistan	4	3	1	0	0	6
Singapore	3	2	1	0	0	4
Botswana	4	1	3	0	0	2
Japan	3	0	2	1	0	1
Bahamas	4	0	3	1	0	1

Chris Dougherty struck a blistering hundred for Ireland, and Calum MacLeod took four wickets for Scotland, as the arch-rivals set up a must-win match in the European Under-19 World Cup qualifier in Belfast yesterday.Dougherty hit a fine 131 to help Ireland beat Denmark by 174 runs at Osborne Park while MacLeod picked up 4 for 36 at a crucial stage to bowl Scotland to a tense 26-run victory over Netherlands at Stormont.The results mean that Ireland and Scotland, with two wins each from as many games, will now meet on Thursday with the winner qualifying for the Under-19 World Cup next year.Dougherty stroked 16 fours in his 137-ball knock to steer Ireland to 301 for 8 after they had won the toss. Dougherty, who came into this tournament after scoring more than 600 runs in senior club cricket, featured in two big partnerships. Opening the innings with Paul Stirling (42 off 48 balls with five fours), he put on 94 runs, and 113 for the second wicket with Graham McDonnell.Ireland then reduced Denmark to 34 for 4, a position from which they couldn’t recover with James Hall picking up 4 for 22 as they were bowled out for 127.The tricky batting conditions at Osborne Park were matched at Stormont where Scotland held their nerve to beat Netherlands by 26 runs. Scotland’s 208 for 4 was compiled thanks to Ryan Flannigan’s dogged 56 and a late-order burst from MacLeod (21 off 12).Netherlands looked dead and buried when they slumped to 69 for 6 but Stijn Aleema and Tim Gruijters lifted the spirits with a seventh-wicket partnership of 69. MacLeod then returned for his second spell and took three quick wickets to end Netherlands’ innings for 182 in 48.4 overs. MacLeod finished as the pick of Scotland bowlers with 4 for 36 while Charles Legget took 2 for 39.

Sachin Tendulkar’s fifty was eclipsed by a typically violent knock from Shahid Afridi © Getty Images

Inzamam-ul-Haq and Shahid Afridi both struck powerful cameos as Pakistan beat an International XI side in a charity match at The Oval, despite 50 from Sachin Tendulkar. Rain and gloom reduced the Twenty20 clash to a ten-over-a-side encounter but a 20,000-plus crowd were entertained by the glittering array of stars on show and raised £250,000 for survivors of last October’s earthquake in Pakistan.On a wet and gloomy evening in south London, chasing 124, Afridi did what he does best and clobbered the bowling around the park. In the space of just 12 balls, he smashed 41 runs – 22 of which came from his first four balls. The unlucky victim was Zaheer Khan who, bowling in near darkness, was hit for three sixes and a four in typically violent manner.Inzamam then finished off Afridi’s work with a pugnacious 36 as Pakistan, needing 18 off the last over, sneaked home off the penultimate ball.Earlier, Tendulkar and Brian Lara put on 72 for the first wicket with Tendulkar bringing up his 50 from 26 balls with eight fours and a six. He might have been facing bowlers of international experience for the first time in close to four months but there was little to suggest any sort of discomfort. He fetched boundaries off three powerful pull shots – two fours against Shahid Nazir and a huge six off Waqar Younis – and appeared to have his shoulder worries under control.The free-flowing delight of Lara and Tendulkar was soon overshadowed by some brutal hitting from Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Not only did he crunch 35 from 13 balls, unleashing his characteristic hoicks, but also added to Pakistan’s woes in the bowling department. With Rana Naved-ul-Hasan ruled out of the series and Mohammad Asif doubtful for the first Test, starting in Lord’s on July 13, the last thing Pakistan would have wanted is a further denting of their bowlers’ confidence.Mohammad Sami was nowhere close to his best; Umar Gul, bowling with a high-arm action, got only one over; Shahid Nazir was carted to various corners and Abdul Razzaq , on today’s performance at least, won’t be sending too many shivers down too many batsmen’s spines.Of course, it was just a charity match; of course, the bowlers weren’t stretching themselves; and of course, it didn’t even matter to the eventual result. When you have a monster hitter like Afridi in your ranks, why sweat over minor trifles like your pace-bowling attack?

England women cricket’s leading batsman Claire Taylor is going to try her hand playing for Canterbury in the State League competition this summer.Taylor, one of the most consistent of England’s players over the last two years, and one of their best performers at the CricInfo Women’s World Cup at Lincoln University, has been named in a women’s trial to be played against Otago at Geraldine at Labour Weekend.Canterbury has lost more top players and coming on top of the loss of three of its stalwarts of recent history the year before, Debbie Hockley, Catherine Campbell and Katrina Keenan, it is facing another rebuilding year.Missing from the team, which will be led by new captain Haidee Tiffen, will be Paula Flannery, who has decided to stay overseas, Emily Travers who is taking a break, Delwyn Brownlee and Fiona Fraser, who has decided to stay in Wellington, her home town.Another English player, Mandie Godliman, a wicket-keeper, started the season in Christchurch but is going to try out for the Wellington team. She has played eight matches for England and along with Taylor, has been named in the side to play in the four-nations series in New Zealand in January, against Australia, New Zealand and India, and then to play in the Ashes series in Australia.England fast bowler Clare Taylor is to play for Otago again this season while Charlotte Edwards is to play here as well. She played for Northern Districts after the last Women’s World Cup.Tiffen, New Zealand’s leading all-rounder, had her position as Canterbury captain announced at tonight’s Canterbury season launch. Nicola Payne will be the vice-captain.Canterbury men’s coach Michael Sharpe outlined the work the State Wizards had been doing in the off-season and commented on the extensive back-up the side will have this year with input from New Zealand Cricket Academy personnel Warren Frost and Ashley Ross.Canterbury chief executive Richard Reid said he had received sign-off from clubs and districts in the province for a new form of competition next summer and said he hoped that people would embrace the system when it was put in place.He had been very pleased with the way a new points system had been accepted this season, along with new hours of play, and he was sure there would be a wide measure of satisfaction with the changes.All senior clubs were presented with an allocation of match balls at the opening function which was held at Canterbury Draught’s brewery, one of the Canterbury Association’s sponsors.

We stuck to the basics and were disciplined enough to do well in all three departments of the game. We are playing as a team and that is what we have been emphasising. It is working well at the moment and everyone’s focus is right.
He is making a habit of this [winning Man of the Match awards]. In the past he had enough critics, but he is facing them now and has come good for Sri Lanka and giving 100%. As captain, I have to say he is marvellous now.
This pitch has changed now. It used to be a 250 plus wicket, but now it has started to seam about more. With the grass having not been cut the ball retained its shine and it moved around under the lights.
We are looking at the composition of the side and we have to be fair by individuals. It was tough on Saman [Jayanatha] but there was no question about bringing Sanath [Jayasuriya] back. He is good enough to prove them [Sanath’s critics] wrong.

Steve Waugh has promised fans that Australia would “put on a good show” when his side takes on bottom-ranked Bangladesh in the first of two Tests at Darwin this week.”We haven’t played much cricket in the past four or five weeks, so it should be a good contest,” said Waugh, in a remark that can fairly be called an exaggeration of pre-match non-committal neutrality. “We expect it to be a Test match and we’re going to play as hard as we can. I don’t know what the result is going to be, but we play as if it’s going to be a tough Test match.”Odds of 17-1 are being offered on Australia winning the Test within one day, but Waugh dismissed such speculation, saying that it was “more a problem for the media. It’s exciting. It’s a new venue for us all. We’ve never played Bangladesh in a Test before, in a Test series, so we’re looking forward to the challenge of playing up here.””At this stage of Bangladesh’s experience, to play against the supposed top five in world cricket is important,” added Waugh.Bangladesh added a second tour win to their kitty when they beat the Northern Territories Chief Minister’s XI by two wickets yesterday, and Waugh said that was “good to see. Emerging sides … need a lot of match practice. They’ve played a couple of good games and I’m sure their form is okay.”Waugh refused to reveal the intended combination of the side at Darwin, stating merely that it would be as balanced a side as possible. “The West Indies was a bit different because the wickets were slow and low. We needed an extra bowler,” said Waugh. “If we think we need that, we’ll go with that mix again.If he scores a century in either of the two Tests, Waugh achieves the personal milestone of having notched up a hundred against every Test-playing nation. “I haven’t played a Test match against these guys and neither has any of the other players, so to score a hundred is something to look forward to, but there’s a lot of work to be done before that,” said Waugh.”It’s going to be a big crowd up here and we want to put on a good show,” he added. “Bangladesh may play well and you never know, that’s what sport is all about. It doesn’t matter if you beat them by a massive margin or a single run, that’s whats it’s about.”

Dipak Patel and his Central Districts selectors, Basil Netten and Barry Roberts, know they are in for a tough season.Not because they don’t have enough players, on the contrary, they have more than they know what to do with.Last season’s bowling woes which ripped through New Zealand cricket last year like blight through a 19th Century Irish potato patch, hit CD harder than most.Losing Michael Mason and Lance Hamilton, almost from the outset of the season, threatened to rob CD of two of its most potent bowlers.Instead, CD found its resources were deeper than imagined and produced Brent Hefford and Andrew Schwass to provide a superb back-up for Ewen Thompson.Now all five are lining up at the starting post and the cull is going to make for some disappointments. Mason is nearly back at full speed after recovering from his broken ankle while Hamilton is about a week away with his leg injury.Patel talked about that to CricInfo while watching Canterbury’s rain throw CD’s Cricket Academy camp at Lincoln University into turmoil.Instead of four days early season cricket, such as their Otago counterparts enjoyed last week, the CD players have been honing up on their card skills.”It is a very difficult situation for the bowlers. But we made it plain and clear at the end of last season that they had done very well.”But we told them that when they came back this year they should be under no illusions – they would all have to fight for their places,” Patel said.”It’s hard, but it is healthy. They are all playing for a spot.”Patel was delighted with the way the CD bowlers responded to the potential crisis last year and admitted that Hefford had made a big impression.”The great thing about it was that he took his Shell Cup form into the Shell Trophy. And at the end of the season he made an impression in Perth on very flat wickets when he was playing against quality players.”Jeff Thomson and Dean Jones had a lengthy chat with me at the end of the tournament and they couldn’t believe he wasn’t playing for New Zealand,” he said.The signs that have been seen so far, and the players did get some net time on Sunday before the bad weather set in, suggest that Hefford is set to go again and there should be none of the traditional second season blues for him.”I predict that he will be just as successful as he was last year,” Patel said.While CD looked to have strength in most areas, the real test would come when it was seen how hard hit the side was from the absence of players with the CLEAR Black Caps.The loss of Craig Spearman, through unavailability, as a quality player with experience and as a player who had captained the side would be tough.But, Patel said, Jamie How had taken the challenge on at the end of the season in Perth and has had the benefit of a year at the Cricket Academy.One acquisition the side has had is Richard Scragg, a young player to Lord’s three years ago. He has been playing grade cricket in Perth for two years under former Australian coach Geoff Marsh.”Geoff spoke very highly of him and the very creditable results he had achieved in Perth grade cricket. He’s a very solid, opening batsman,” he said.Greg Todd, another who impressed at the end of the season, especially in games for the New Zealand Under-19 team, has suffered a stress fracture of his shin and is out of action for six weeks. However, as another Academy graduate he has made bigger strides and will be pushing for selection.Patel said the pressure would be on the batsmen in the side, including the likes of David Kelly who, after the double century he scored last summer, was well capable of building on that with more consistency this year.Having achieved such good results in winning the Shell Cup last year the side would be in the new position of facing a different sort of pressure as defenders of the title and that would be a challenge.”We talked about that at our camp and the lads are keen to show that it was not just a one-off. We are an up and coming province and we want to prove that,” Patel said.However, Patel said the four-day State Championship was the title he would most like to have.”From a personal point of view it is the truest test of a cricketer and a cricket team. It is a true test of what type of player you are,” he said.While there is disappointment over the way the weather has treated them at Lincoln, the Central Districts players return to their respective regions knowing there are a lot of district games to be played and a couple of trial matches to be held in Wanganui before the season is underway.Central Districts will be away to Auckland when the State Championship starts on November 26.

Newcastle United return to Premier League action this weekend as they take on Brighton at St James’ Park on Saturday.

The Magpies are currently on a seven-game unbeaten run in the division and will be hoping to extend their impressive string of results as they face off against Graham Potter’s side.

Eddie Howe’s men beat Brentford 2-0 last time out as a powerful header from Joelinton and a composed finish from Joe Willock secured all three points for the Toon in west London.

Unleash Manquillo

Despite that result, one change that the ex-Bournemouth boss must make from the win over the Bees is to bring Javier Manquillo into the starting XI in place of Emil Krafth.

The Spaniard suffered a knock in the win over Aston Villa and was only fit enough for the bench against Brentford last week, but he has now had seven days to train and get himself ready to play 90 minutes.

Krafth has simply not been good enough for the Magpies this season. He has averaged a dismal WhoScored rating of 6.38 across 10 Premier League appearances (eight starts) and made two tackles and interceptions per game for the Toon.

This shows that his performances have been below-par over the course of the campaign, which is why he must be axed from the line-up for this clash, as the £37k-per-week dud has been a liability to the team with his worrying displays.

Meanwhile, Manquillo has averaged a score of 6.61 in the top flight across 15 outings. Whilst this is not a mind-blowing rating for the Spaniard, it is still far better than his Swedish team-mate’s score, and that makes him less of a risk to the team on the pitch. It shows that he is a solid, albeit unspectacular, performer at the back for Newcastle.

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He has also shown that he can put in excellent displays from time to time, with Steve Bruce once describing him as “terrific” and Chris Waddle stating that he has a “good engine”. Therefore, the 27-year-old is the better option out of Howe’s two available right-backs and should be selected in the starting XI.

Howe must unleash him from the start against Brighton and axe Krafth in the process, as the evidence suggests that the former will be less of a liability throughout the match, giving Newcastle a greater chance of picking up all three points.

AND in other news, Newcastle facing potential setback before Brighton, Howe will be worried…

	The owners of the Rajasthan Royals have spoken to Shane Warne after receiving the IPL’s letter © Rajasthan Royals

The Indian Premier League’s (IPL) governing council has reacted to the series of recent controversies that has dented their inaugural season by sending a letter to all the team owners, asking them to rein in their players, particularly the captains.The letter was sent last week by Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, and asks the owners, including Bollywood actors and top Indian industrialists, to ensure that their skippers use official channels to lodge their protests during the 44-day tournament, rather than go public about them. Modi’s letter also reminds them to ensure that the IPL code of conduct, which is an adaptation of the ICC’s norms, is strictly adhered to, said sources.Fraser Castellino, the CEO of the Jaipur franchise that owns the Rajasthan Royals, confirmed to Cricinfo that they have received the IPL’s letter. “We understand the IPL’s concerns and I have already had a chat with Shane Warne, our captain and coach, about the letter,” Castellino said.The IPL’s umpires have been separately warned, too, after it emerged that Amiesh Saheba, the on-field official for the tournament’s most controversial game so far, in Mohali on April 25, gave both teams 10/10 in his confidential report to the match referee, the sources said. Saheba later told a Mumbai tabloid that he had repeatedly warned Sreesanth during the heated game after which the Kings XI Punjab fast bowler was slapped by Harbhajan Singh, the rival Mumbai Indians’ skipper.Harbhajan was banned from the rest of this IPL edition, but it was yet another incident seven days later, involving Shane Warne and Sourav Ganguly, rival skippers for a match in Jaipur, which finally prompted the governing council to sound out the team owners officially, said sources.After that encounter between the Rajasthan Royals and the Kolkata Knight Riders, Warne created a stir during the post-match press conference when he accused Ganguly of flouting the spirit of the game by forcing an on-field umpire to refer a disputed catch to the third umpire. Minutes later, Warne also criticised Ganguly of turning up late for the start.Later, GA Pratap Kumar, the on-field umpire for that Jaipur match, was suspended for succumbing to pressure from Ganguly. Two days later, Ishant Sharma, Kolkata’s fast bowler, was fined for kicking down the stumps in a fit of anger during another match against Kings XI Punjab.However, IS Bindra, a member of the IPL council, has dismissed the series of controversial incidents as “aberrations”. He said that they merely reflected the “passion and intensity” with which players have approached the tournament.”Such incidents show the passion and intensity with which players play in the tournament,” Bindra told Cricinfo. “Players have developed intense loyalties to their teams and we are surprised. We thought this would take two years, but it has happened in just two weeks. Of course, we can’t let players cross the line of acceptable behaviour. But we also have to understand the passion to win that leads to such incidents.”