Manchester United have now set their sights on a stunning four-man Premier League raid for Ruben Amorim in 2026, according to reports.

Man Utd eyeing quadruple Premier League move

Following on from the increasing success of Matheus Cunha from Wolverhampton Wanderers and Bryan Mbeumo from Brentford, Man United look set to continue their transfer shopping in the Premier League.

INEOS are seemingly intent on chasing stars who are already proven in the Premier League as they aim to transform Amorim’s side back into a team capable of Champions League qualification, at the very least.

As such, reports are now claiming that United have set their sights on a quadruple Premier League raid, which includes Antoine Semenyo. The Bournemouth forward scored in the Cherries’ dramatic 4-4 draw at Old Trafford on Monday and is now firmly on the Red Devils’ radar.

There’s plenty of interest in the Bournemouth forward, who has been one of the standout attacking players in England’s top flight so far this season. And with a release clause worth £65m inserted into his most recent Bournemouth contract, Semenyo will likely have the biggest decision of his career to make when 2026 arrives.

He’s not the only Premier League name on United’s shortlist, though. INEOS seem to be big fans of the Cherries and Man United have set their sights on Tyler Adams, Alex Scott and Adrien Truffert, according to TeamTalk.

All three have played a key role in Andoni Iraola’s side this season, but may not be at the Vitality Stadium for very long if United have got anything to do with it.

Truffert, in particular, is a new target at Old Trafford following his summer move to Bournemouth and subsequent form ever since in the Premier League.

Man Utd tracking Adrien Truffert

Replacing Milos Kerkez following the Hungarian’s move to Liverpool in the summer was never going to be an easy task, but Truffert has made it look exactly that whilst Bournemouth’s former star has struggled at Anfield.

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The 24-year-old arrived from Rennes for around £14m in the summer and has already done enough to earn the admiration of those at Man United, who are seeking an upgrade on Diogo Dalot at left wing-back.

PL stats 25/26

Truffert

Dalot

Minutes

1,412

957

Assists

1

2

Tackles Won

19

10

Ball Recoveries

84

42

Truffert’s work off the ball is particularly impressive and that’s exactly why Man United should chase his signature next year. When Amorim’s side have been up against possession dominators, that’s when they’ve been at their best and Truffert would only provide them with a boost on that front.

Subscribe for sharper Premier League transfer insight Get in-depth transfer context by subscribing to our newsletter — detailed scouting breakdowns and tactical analysis of United’s 2026 targets, showing how signings like Semenyo or Truffert could reshape squad balance for Premier League competition. Subscribe Subscribe for sharper Premier League transfer insight Get in-depth transfer context by subscribing to our newsletter — detailed scouting breakdowns and tactical analysis of United’s 2026 targets, showing how signings like Semenyo or Truffert could reshape squad balance for Premier League competition.

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Dubbed “brilliant” by Iraola earlier this season, the defender would be another excellent addition from INEOS.

Bayern Munich preparing £44m bid for Man Utd star Ratcliffe called "fabulous"

Football is back! I missed it. There’s only so much golf and cycling I can watch. And believe me I watched a lot.

But my hunger for football saw me playing more and more FIFA this summer. With no World Cup to hold my attention, I needed my fix – ITK transfer rumours and pre-season friendlies just won’t do it. It’s like being allowed only a single nicotine patch and a packet of chewing gum to kick a 50-a-day habit.

And during my PS4 sessions, I noticed something rather odd. I noticed that EA Sports had given Phillipe Coutinho a 68 rating for long shots. The scandal of my summer!

Now, EA do so very well with their player-scouting, and games in general have really kicked on in this pursuit, so much so that we’re starting to use them as real scouting tools, apparently. Well, not you and me per se, we’re the discerning kind of football connoisseur who prefers to keep a close eye out on all of the emerging talent from around the world, compiling reports and DVDs so we can tell our mates down the pub that that young full back at SM Caen is worth a punt. Right? No, not us, more the media behemoths that are Sky Sports, but still, you get the point. Video game scouting is becoming alarmingly accurate.

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So when I saw that Coutinho was given a paltry excuse of a long shot rating, I started to question my very view of the player. I had him down as something of a long shot specialist, actually. Information I had gleaned from my many filing cabinets of DVDs compiled on the brightest young talents on this continent, if you must know.

How many times, I asked myself, has Coutinho popped up with a lovely top-corner strike to send the Kop into raptures. Or pulled Liverpool’s chestnuts out of the fire with a spectacular strike only minutes from time. I started to wonder if indeed he is just a decent dribbler with little to no flair for a cracker from distance. Even worse, that I should really stop writing about football if I thought he was actually good at them.

Step up Mr Coutinho in the dying minutes of a game in Stoke this weekend. Like Michael Owen, Miroslav Klose and ‘fox-in-the-box’ Francis Jeffers, you should always trust your instincts. He belted in a wonderful goal from long range, right into the top corner. And my mind then wandered back to the goals he scored against Manchester City over the last two seasons – one last season when Jordan Henderson scored with an equally good strike from almost the same blade of grass, and one two seasons ago in an almost-title decider against Manchester City and Vincent Kompany’s clearance landed at his feet – and his goals against Bolton and Blackburn in the FA Cup.

There are more I couldn’t remember at the time, and probably even more that I still can’t remember. Three of his four goals this calendar year for Liverpool have come from outside the box. I knew those DVDs would come in handy! Coutinho really does have a penchant for a worldy 25-yarder.

So yet again a Coutinho long strike has saved Liverpool, and it has managed to exorcise some of the demons of last season’s humiliation at the same stadium. Nothing like getting a second bite of the cherry, a chance for revenge at the very earliest possible opportunity.

But there are things stats won’t tell you. Things you’ll have to rely on memory and feel to suss out for yourself. The familiar feel of a Coutinho wonder-strike, but also the familiar feel of Liverpool passing the ball around and sniffing out blind alleys, looking devoid of ideas. It’s the first game of the season, so I won’t criticise too much, especially with all the nervous debutants on show and the fact that the Britannia must trigger some awful memories for the survivors of last season. I can only surmise that Brendan Rodgers hired a therapist specialising in PTSD in order just to get his boys onto the pitch on Sunday.

But all I’ll say is that stats can be deceiving. Liverpool probably just shaded the stats in that game, not by much though. And if all you saw was the match stats you could certainly make a case for it being a draw. But the ones that count show a Liverpool win, and a Liverpool three-point haul. But the look and feel were all too familiar for Brendan Rodgers. He’ll be hoping he didn’t bring in all of those new players and still see his side play like they did last year.

FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast. Subscribe FootballFanCast General Stay ahead in the world of football analysis, commentary, and fan insights with FootballFancast.

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But that’s for another day. For now, Liverpool have three points, they’ve exorcised the demons and they have a home game against Bournemouth next week where they can bag some points before the really daunting away fixtures start to come thick and fast, and then thicker and faster still.

It’s job done for Liverpool. It may have had a familiar hue, but winning that game was very important given the away games they’ll face between now and the end of November or so.

For now, a win is enough, and we’re all just glad the football’s back – and I can stop trying to score screamers with Coutinho on FIFA now!

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A 142-run opening stand between Akil Mizra (54) and SPonnappa (95 not out) helped Karnataka stamp their supremacyover Goa as they ended the first day at 178 for 1 in theirfirst innings of their P Ramachandra Rao Trophy tournamentmatch at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday. Earlier Goawere bundled out for 80 in their first innings.Opting to bat, Goa were rocked by the Karnataka seamers SteveLazarus (4 for 43) and Chaitra (2 for 18) who ran through thetop order. Only two batsmen skipper A Jadhav (17) and S Jakati(17) were able to reach double figures. Then Karnataka’sspinner Dharmichand (4 for 10) brought the innings to a swiftend by cleaning up Goa’s lower order. The innings lasted just36.1 overs.In reply, Mizra and Ponnappa forged their splendid centurypartnership off 39.2 overs. Goa had a lone success in the formof the wicket of Mizra when he offered a return chance toJakati. During his 148-minute stay at the crease, Mizra faced120 balls and hit four boundaries. Then Amith Kumar (15 notout) and Ponnappa remained unbeaten when stumps were drawn.Ponnappa has so far faced 158 balls and found the boundaryropes nine times and cleared it once.

North Zone

An unbeaten 68 from Gautam Gambhir helped Delhi beat Punjab by six wickets in Gurgaon. Chasing a target of 161, Gambhir and Virender Sehwag got Delhi off to a good start. Sehwag, playing his first match after being dropped from the Indian side, scored 36, while Puneet Bisht, too, chipped in with 32. Earlier, Punjab, who chose to bat, put up a score of 160 for 7. Gurkeerat Singh top-scored with 57, while Chandan Madan and Mayank Sidhana also played useful knocks.Haryana held their nerve for a close, four-run win over Himachal Pradesh in a second successive low-scoring encounter in Rohtak. Haryana put up 110 for 8 in their 20 overs as the Himachal Pradesh bowlers, led by Vikramjeet Malik, stifled them. Malik conceded 15 runs for two wickets in his four overs. In reply, Himachal got off to a strong start but floundered after Amit Mishra picked up two consecutive wickets with the score at 59 for 4. Himachal struggled to recover and eventually finished at 106 for 6.Nakul Verma (39*) led Services to a five-wicket win against Jammu & Kashmir in Rohtak. Even though Shubham Khajuria scored 61 off 60 out of J&K’s total of 108 for 7, Abhishek Sakuja and Irfan Khan took two wickets each to not let anyone else settle down. Services lost five wickets in the chase but Verma, along with Rajat Paliwal and Soumya Swain, made sure they chased the target with four balls to spare.

South Zone

Half-centuries from Manish Pandey and KL Rahul set up Karnataka‘s 83-run win over Kerala. Pandey scored his second consecutive fifty, while Rahul scored a pacy 62 off 37 balls, as Karnataka piled up 185 for 5 in their 20 overs. The Karnataka bowlers then contributed their share to the win, restricting Kerala to 102 for 9 in their 20 overs.A collective batting effort helped Andhra chase a challenging total of 162 to beat Hyderabad by five wickets. Srikar Bharat, Prasanth Kumar and AG Pradeep hit useful 30s with support from KR Sreekanth and Gnaneswara Rao. Hyderabad looked good for a big total after a 108-run partnership between Akshath Reddy and T Suman took them to 120 for 2 in the 16th over. However, T Atchuta Rao struck with four wickets to restrict them to 161 for 5.Tamil Nadu handed Goa a decisive rout, beating them by eight wickets in Shimoga. Chasing a comfortable target of 123, Abhinav Mukund and S Badrinath shared an unbeaten stand of 78 runs for the third wicket to take Tamil Nadu to victory with three overs to spare. Earlier, Goa were restricted to 122 for 7. Medium-pacer Sunil Sam was the pick of the Tamil Nadu bowlers, taking 2 for 14 in his four overs. L Balaji and Suresh Kumar also picked up two wickets each.

East Zone

Arup Das’ hat-trick was the standout performance in Assam‘s seven-wicket win over Odisha in a rain-affected match. The medium-pacer took three wickets in the 17th over as Odisha scored 140 for 7 in their allotted 17 overs. In reply, Pritam Debnath scored 69 off 45 balls as Assam reached their target with four balls to spare.A poor batting performance from Tripura resulted in an eight-wicket loss to Jharkhand. Tripura folded for a paltry 103, losing four wickets to run-outs, even as Jharkhand bowlers Shabaaz Nadeem and Prakash Seet picked up five wickets between them. In reply, Jharkhand scored the required runs in the 16th over, with Ishank Jaggi scoring an unbeaten 50 off 38 balls.

West Zone

Gujarat kept Mumbai to 173 for 6 to register a 20-run win in Ahmedabad. Mumbai’s confident chase stuttered when they lost four wickets for 31 runs going from 103 for 2 to 134 for 6. Left-arm spinner Jesal Karia picked up three wickets for 21 runs. Earlier, an unbeaten 71 from Manprit Juneja and 51 from Niraj Patel helped Gujarat pile up 193 for 5 in their 20 overs. Juneja’s 71 came off 38 balls and included nine fours and two sixes.Saurashtra beat Maharashtra by 15 runs in Ahmedabad to register their first points in the tournament. None of the top and middle order were able to capitalize on their starts as they were at a precarious 76 for 5 near the halfway stage, largely due to the bowling of Ganesh Gaikwad, who picked up three wickets. Kuldeep Raval’s 33 off 29 balls helped push their total to 130 for 6 at the end of their allotted overs. Saurashtra’s seamers kept Maharashtra in check throughout their innings, with Jaidev Unadkat picking up 3 for 19. Contributions from Rohit Motwani (35), Nikhil Naik (25), and Prayag Bhati (25), were not enough as they fell 15 runs short of the target.

Central Zone

Ashok Menaria led Rajasthan to a seven-wicket win over Railways with an all-round performance. Bowling first, Menaria picked up two wickets as Railways were restricted to 127 for 6. He then guided Rajasthan’s reply, scoring an unbeaten 46 off 25 balls, with three fours and four sixes, to take Rajasthan home with 17 balls to spare.Vidarbha comprehensively beat Madhya Pradesh by 37 runs in Nagpur. Despite losing their openers for 11 on the board, Faiz Fazal’s 66 anchored the innings, and contributions from Amol Ubarhande (25), Shalabh Shrivastava (17), and Apoorv Wankhade (14*), gave them a fighting total of 136 for 6. Their bowlers restricted Madhya Pradesh in their chase, with only Jalaj Saxena and Anand Bias providing any resistance. Shrivastava picked up best figures of 3 for 13.

Ian Botham has warned that England will be “playing into Australia’s hands” if flat pitches are prepared for the Investec Ashes.Botham, the former England captain, is concerned that a desire to maximise ticket sales could convince the grounds hosting the Tests to prepare easy-paced, flat tracks with a view to trying to ensure that each match lasts the full five days. But he insisted such a tactic would be an error and feels that, if the series is played on surfaces offering bowlers some assistance, England have the team to surprise Australia.”We don’t want flat wickets,” Botham said. “That’s playing right into Australia’s hands. The pitch at Lord’s for the Test against New Zealand was a great pitch. Pitches like that serve up great cricket. Please don’t serve up five-day corporate pitches. If you do we might as well send the Ashes back now because that’ll play right into Australia’s hands.”I’m not sure they will dare to prepare flat wickets. We’ll be on their case and so will the written media and the public too because they’ve got used to seeing an expressive England. They don’t want boring cricket.”If we play on good sporting pitches England have got a good chance against Australia. They’re at home. Everybody is expecting Australia to come here and cruise to victory but I just don’t see that. I think it will be very close.”Ian Botham believes Ben Stokes is a “special” player•Getty Images

At the heart of Botham’s confidence is his faith in England’s young players. He believes Joe Root is playing “magnificently” and rates Ben Stokes as England’s most promising allrounder since his own career ended.”Ben Stokes is the real thing,” Botham said. “He’s got the right attitude. He’s a tough competitor and is a good enough bowler and good enough batsman. He didn’t have much luck with the ball in the Tests v New Zealand – he had a few catches dropped off him – but that can suddenly change.”I’ve been impressed since I first saw him a couple of years ago. How anybody could possibly leave him out of the World Cup is totally beyond me. But that decision was made and Stokes reacted in the best way possible – he turned up, scored runs and took wickets. He’s also a very good fielder. He goes out there and plays with no fear and he’s very strong mentally. That’s the way he is going to play and that’s why he’ll win you games.”I’ve spoken to him, I get on well with him. Hopefully we’ll get a chance at some point during the Ashes to get a bite to eat and have a chat. It’s just general talk when we do, if he’s got something technical to ask he’ll ask. He’s got the coaching staff, I’m just there as a mate.”He’s learning about swinging the ball, about variation at the crease, variation of pace. He’s young but he’s got real talent. I think he is special.”But Botham also urged the senior bowlers – Stuart Broad and James Anderson – to lead from the front and demonstrate the positive cricket the younger players showed in their absence during the limited-overs games against New Zealand.”You’ve got a guy on more than 400 wickets and another guy approaching 300,” Botham said. “Those two are your senior bowlers. They need to turn up and they know that.”They’ve got to perform and they’ve got to be aggressive. I think teams have worked out England used to sit back with defensive fields and wait for sides to make mistakes. You can’t do that now. This Australian team will go at you hard so I think England have got to come back hard.”They have to try and hit the stumps. The best spells I’ve seen Broad bowl were The Oval in 2009, where he hit the top of off stump, and then at Durham in 2013, where he changed the game in a session. I think it’s essential he tries to hit the top of off. He must not sit back and try and bowl a length because you’re not going to win matches with that.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsThere have been times since Australia lost the Ashes series at Trent Bridge when Michael Clarke has not seemed all that concerned about his Test send-off, but on the first day of the final Investec Test at The Oval, Australia promised to give him a good one all the same.This was a vision of the Ashes series as many had envisaged it. Australia will delight, as they should, in the success for their upcoming leadership team of captain Steven Smith, who conquered scratchy beginnings to deliver an unbeaten, old-fashioned 78 (well, vinyl is in again, after all), and vice-captain David Warner, his pugnacious moustache removed as if he was determined to prove he can adhere to the responsibilities of middle management, and whose 85 set the tone with its controlled aggression and sound judgment.For Clarke, an incumbent captain trying to keep body and soul together before he retires – with some relief he says – there was less personally to celebrate. He was fortunate not to be out first ball and reached 15, a lofted on-drive against Moeen Ali has most assertive moment, before he feathered a ball from Ben Stokes to the wicketkeeper. Clarke reviewed, but Real-Time Snicko confirmed an edge sensed by umpire Kumar Dharmasena but too faint for Hot Spot.The upshot of Australia’s diligence – diligence it should be said on a surface that became less testing as the day progressed – was that they closed the first day handsomely placed on 287 for 3 and, having stabilised themselves for the first time since their victory at Lord’s, they will be questioning what exactly occurred in the feverish period at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge when a decent, but far from exceptional, England attack took on the status of world beaters.Win this Test, incidentally, though it was looking a tougher challenge, and England would leapfrog Australia on their way to No. 2 in the rankings. It would take a strong response with the second new ball, due imminently, for that ambition to be confidently voiced.There has been such an insanely addictive quality to this Investec Ashes series that a normal, hard-fought day of Test cricket at times had a depressive feel about it. The Oval pitch largely behaved itself, despite all predictions to the contrary, and more to the point Australia’s batsmen behaved themselves, too, punctiliously so. Everybody was behaving themselves. It was all thoroughly virtuous.Nothing wrong with that many will properly say. Test cricket must be allowed its occasional longueurs. There was much nous and skill on show. But there will have been England supporters at The Oval who will have found normality hard to bear, grousing, as Confucius did, that virtuous people often revenge themselves for the constraints to which they submit by the boredom which they inspire.David Warner and Chris Rogers gave Australia the stability they needed•Getty Images

London has treated Australia well; it is the rebellious outposts which have caused them such grief. They won at Lord’s and, south of the river, all the punditry about whether The Oval would unveil a pitch that was green, greener or greenest, was somewhat exaggerated.Summer has hardly happened in England this year, as a lush square and outfield testified, but this square rarely turns upon batsmen. Even though the weather was overcast, England’s pace bowlers found no swing and when they did occasionally find the edge, a sluggish surface ensured the ball often did not carry.Culture shock was at its most apparent before lunch as The Oval reacquainted cricket followers with that strange phenomenon: attritional cricket. Eighty-two runs at a touch over three an over is hardly pedestrian on the first morning of a Test match, but it felt like another world.Australia, whose batting has been characterised by impatience throughout the Ashes summer, survived the first morning without losing a wicket, Rogers and Warner, who showed serious intent from the outset, achieving something neither side had managed in the first four Tests.Warner has been the one Australia batsman in this series who has given the impression of gaining an education in English conditions, the ever-admirable Rogers having completed the course years ago, and Warner’s half-century – his fifth of the series – was bagged 10 minutes before the interval when he drove Steven Finn to the cover boundary. Even at his most watchful, he naturally scores at a decent lick. Rogers was a vigilant ally.Expectancy was high after England won the toss – how could it not be after Australia had been blown away for 60 at Trent Bridge? – and Stuart Broad, whose eight wickets did the damage on that occasion, was not too far away with an lbw appeal against Rogers in the first over. Cook resisted a review and the ball was slipping down leg.But Broad, not quite as straight or full as he had been when conditions were tilted in his favour at Trent Bridge, was not at his best and, after Australia’s vigilant first hour in the most challenging period of the day, it soon became clear that England would have to settle in for a long day. Once it became established that Stokes would not summon the pronounced swing he found in Nottingham, Warner and Rogers were eager to establish supremacy. His next four overs disappeared for 32.England took two wickets in the middle session. An opening stand of 110 came to grief when Rogers, on 43, lost his normal compact shape and edged a catch, taken at the second attempt, to Alastair Cook at first slip. Warner followed to a regulation slip catch by Adam Lyth as he pushed forward to an offspinner from Moeen that turned slightly. He might not be England’s favourite opponent, but he is averaging 46 for the series and even they could not have fairly begrudged him a first Ashes hundred in England.Clarke narrowly avoided a freakish first-ball dismissal seconds after walking through an England guard of honour with a capacity crowd at The Oval rising to applaud him as he came out to bat in his farewell Test.A scoreboard showing 161 for 2 represented uncommon luxury for Clarke during a troubled Ashes series, but his contentment was almost short-lived. Clarke set off for what he imagined was a single off the mark as he worked Moeen behind square, wrongly believing that the ball had passed Ian Bell at leg slip, but Bell could not quite rescue the ball from behind his body to throw down the stumps.Clarke can look proudly upon a Test record of 8643 runs at 49.10 but in this series he has been part of an Australia middle order, from Nos 4 to 6, that has averaged less than 17 as England’s pace bowlers have found scant resistance on helpful surfaces. He did nothing to change that statistic personally as Stokes removed him, but Voges and Smith began to smooth it over and had assembled an unbroken stand of 101 when bad light intervened with the second new ball only two deliveries away. All a little too late, obviously. Clarke, whose time is almost done, will feel that more than anyone.

Australia allrounder Moises Henriques has played his first match since breaking his jaw in three places following a collision with Surrey team-mate Rory Burns during a Natwest t20 Blast game in June. Henriques captained an NSW City side against NSW Country on Sunday and made 34.Henriques had to have three surgeries to fix his jaw, after Burns’ knee crashed into his head while they were attempting the same catch in Arundel. The match was abandoned after 18.4 overs because both players had been knocked unconscious and were attended to by medical staff and taken to hospital by ambulances.”I still have a little bit of vertigo but I don’t get it when I’m playing or training, I only get it when I’m trying to sleep or lying down,” Henriques told Fairfax before the game. “All is okay at training, I’m training at 100% and I’m not holding back and I am definitely not scarred mentally. I’m definitely raring to go and can’t wait until the start of the season.”Henriques, who plays for New South Wales and Sydney Sixers said he had not been hit that hard even while playing rugby league. “It was just one of those things, we both went for the ball and neither of us knew we were there – and that happens.”Getting through the first three surgeries and making sure it was healing properly and getting over the concussion was the priority.”Henriques, who has played three Tests, six ODIs and four T20Is for Australia, said he was looking forward to opportunities to represent the country again, following the retirement of several players after the Ashes defeat in England. His last game for Australia was a tri-series ODI against England in January.”A lot of the key performers were the younger players in Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Steve Smith and they’ll be around for a long time,” Henriques said. “However, with Michael Clarke, Chris Rogers, Brad Haddin, Shane Watson and Ryan Harris retiring there’s been a loss of a lot of experience at the same time.”

ScorecardFile photo – Niroshan Dickwella lifted Sri Lanka A with 128 at a strike rate of 88.88•AFP

The first unofficial Test between New Zealand A and Sri Lanka A in Christchurch saw four centuries, with the match ending in a draw. Chasing 342, Sri Lanka A lost their openers early as Neil Wagner produced a double-strike in the tenth over. Five overs later, No.3 Minod Bhanuka was dismissed by Colin Munro but a 137-run partnership between Kithuruwan Vithanage and Roshen Silva propped their team up. Roshen struck 14 fours and one six and remained unbeaten on 120 when stumps were called on the final day with the Sri Lanka A score reading 274 for 6.Having been inserted, New Zealand A began strongly and ran up 470 on the back of centuries from opener Jeet Raval (152) and Henry Nicholls (144). Legspinner Jeffrey Vandersay sparked a middle-order wobble and claimed figures of 5 for 107.In reply, opener Udara Jayasundera ensured that Sri Lanka A had a solid start of their own, though the opener opener Dhananjaya de Silva and Bhanuka were out off successive balls. Niroshan Dickwella then struck 128 off 144 balls to reduce the first-innings deficit to 112.Nicholls followed up his unbeaten century with 88 as the hosts declared at 229 to set Sri Lanka A a target of 342. Wagner, who took 1 for 80 in the first innings, had better returns in the second innings, taking four wickets including that of Vithanage and Nickwella.

Since January 2014, Pakistan’s batting average is 43 in Tests, the best among all teams. Pakistan’s batsmen have scored 30 Test hundreds, also more than any other team in this time span. In their last Test before this England series, against Sri Lanka in Pallekele, Pakistan had their highest successful run chase.These have been the features of Pakistan’s batting over the past two years. Pakistan’s defining feature might have been the batting collapse, and it returned with a vengeance in Abu Dhabi, but its frequency has reduced drastically. Their average score between 2012 and 2014 has risen by more than 50%.In Pakistan, coaching is never fully understood and often has been a victim of subjective criticism. The force behind a player is rarely appreciated. But Grant Flower, Pakistan’s batting coach who joined the set-up 18 months ago, has had an evident influence on the batsmen.”At the start I wasn’t sure what to expect and I was quite apprehensive,” Flower said. “But it has become exciting and I get to work with some great players with great records.””So far it’s been a good record. We have made big scores recently and we were lucky to get away with a draw the other day. If there is any rocket science that I have done with that I am not aware of it. So it’s the basics, they practice hard, hitting a lot of balls in the nets which gives them a lot of confidence, and the most important thing is fitness.”Pakistan have made a huge investment in fitness during this period with extensive summer camps, and performance and fitness-based contracts. “When you are fit you make better decision at times when you are under pressure, and that helps mental toughness for batting long periods of time.”It’s all about little sacrifices off the field. It’s not just me, it’s the fitness person Grant Luden, Brad Robinson the physio has done a good job, and then there is Waqar and Mushi [Mushtaq Ahmed]. The good thing is everyone offers something a bit different so it’s not just a boring voice in the dressing room.”Pakistan, during the time of isolation from playing international cricket at home, have seen a generation of batsman growing up without playing at home. They only get a chance for development when they are picked up at national level. Flower hoped the advent of domestic T20 can help bring useful experience for the longer format.”Cricket not being played in Pakistan is not really helping the country,” Flower said. “I hope things are going to be more stable in the coming years and perhaps PSL happening next year will get the players a lot more experience, which can be really a plus for not only players but for the country.”The national player playing for the country is almost technically ready. Most of the things are covered and in place. It’s really uncommon that they are fundamentally wrong but a lot of fine-tuning is required.”Everyone is always learning but a lot of cricket is played in the mind and the mental aspect can take precedence, not always technical. You have to encourage positive thoughts.”Flower said that senior players like Misbah-ul-Haq and Younis Khan being around eased the pressure, though there were some players such as Ahmed Shehzad and Umar Akmal whose potential can also bring challenges.”They have got flair and being a coach I want to enlarge it and explore it. As long as the basics are covered, you never want to take flair out of the players. They are exciting players, they think differently about the game and it would be boring if everyone in the world was the same.”Having Misbah and Younis around takes a lot of pressure away from me. Most importantly they are role models and I respect them a lot. They are not only great players but also great human beings. But everyone has got a different personality.”I think Ahmed and Umar are still finding out about their game but they are willing to learn and willing to listen and have a bright future for Pakistan. It can be challenging working with them, but after all they are very exciting at times and match-winners on a given day so you don’t want to discard them.”If players are scoring runs they know they will stay in the side, but no one has the divine right to play for their country.”

James Taylor said it was “massively frustrating” to see Mohammad Hafeez reprieved by a partial DRS system early in his innings on the third day in Sharjah with England convinced he had edged the ball.Hafeez, on 2, was given out on-field by Bruce Oxenford off James Anderson but successfully challenged the decision with the third umpire, Paul Reiffel, ruling there was conclusive evidence that he had not touched the ball. Hafeez went on to finish the day unbeaten on 97, helping Pakistan to a lead of 74 with seven wickets in hand.The DRS for this series does not include Hot Spot or Snicko due to cost reasons and the reduced version only gives the third umpire the basic pictures plus audio from which to adjudicate on edges. Jonny Bairstow, England’s wicketkeeper, did not appear fully convinced during the appeal, but Taylor said that he was in no doubt.”Yes, I did,” he said when asked if he thought there was a nick, “and I think all the guys behind the stumps did as well. Obviously the umpire did – that’s why he put his finger up. But the third umpire has a job to do, and he made his decision.”It was massively frustrating, obviously a massive wicket. You can see that in the context of the game now – he’s on 97 not out – so obviously a huge moment in the game.”There was another curious incident during the review process of Hafeez’s wicket. Mohammad Rizwan, Pakistan’s reserve wicketkeeper who was called up shortly before this Test, brought out drinks for the batsmen and on seeing that the decision would be reversed he gave the hands-across-the-chest signal, which umpires use to indicate a change in decision, in very close proximity to AndersonThis did not go down well with the England players – Joe Root appeared to share a few words – while Paul Farbrace, the assistant coach, in the dressing room did not seem overly impressed.When Taylor was asked if it was reasonably light-hearted, he said: “I’m not sure we were laughing at him, I think we were frustrated he was smiling a little bit too much for our liking. I think he had fun while he was out there briefly.”Mohammad Hafeez made brilliant use of his successful DRS appeal•Getty Images

On a personal level for Taylor the day was also frustrating as he added just two to his overnight score before edging Rahat Ali. However, he said he had savoured his return to Test cricket after the gap of three years.”I was excited to get out there to be fair, I loved every second of it yesterday – not so much today – but yesterday was really enjoyable to play in those conditions. It’s been a frustrating three years trying to get back in but I loved every second of it. I felt really good at the crease, just disappointing not to kick on today but that happens.”He is now set for a spot in the middle order against South Africa when that series starts on Boxing Day and he is relishing the prospect of the extra pace and bounce. “I back myself against the seamers and I probably prefer a bit more pace on the ball so hopefully the bounce in South Africa will help me.”