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Patrick Vieira’s first season at Crystal Palace has been an encouraging one, which has seen the likes of loanee Conor Gallagher, homegrown star Tyrick Mitchell and summer-signing Marc Guehi develop into England senior squad members – having all received call-ups this international break.

With the likes of Jesurun Rak-Sakyi and Tayo Adaramola on the verge of a first-team breakthrough after showing impressive development at U23 level, the French manager could maintain his reputation for developing youth through next campaign too.

However, without European football, developing youth often comes with a cost – top teams with continental reputation circling around their talent – and this summer could spell disaster if Chelsea re-sign former prospect Guehi.

What’s the news?

According to The Daily Express, Chelsea have a ‘hidden clause’ to re-sign the Ivory Coast-born centre-back this summer, and will be allowed to match any bid that comes in which is accepted.

With Cesar Azpilicueta, Andreas Christensen and Antonio Rudiger all currently set to see their contracts expire with the current Champions League holders, it would make sense for them to go back in for their youth academy graduate, who has become a Premier League level defender across London with Palace.

A monumental loss for Vieira

Former England U21 teammate Joe Bursik and current teammate Gallagher heaped praise on the centre-back a year ago, describing him as “an absolute tank” who is “like having a brick wall in front of you, he’s massive.”

Guehi has certainly backed that up this season in the Premier League, averaging a 7.02 match rating according to SofaScore, The second highest out of the entire Palace team – with just Gallagher averaging higher with a match rating of 7.24.

James Tomkins and Joachim Andersen are the next best performing centre-backs at the South-London club, but neither of them have been able to replicate the England international’s form this campaign, and Vieira will be desperate to centre his backline around him for the foreseeable future.

Guehi, now rated at £27m by Transfermarkt, has become one of the world’s most exciting young talents, ranking among central defenders across Europe’s top five leagues and continental competitions in the top 2% for least times dribbled past per 90 (0.18), top 5% for least fouls committed per 90 (0.50), and top 16% for successful pressure percentage per 90 (40.1%).

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It wouldn’t come as a surprise to Palace fans to find out one of their club’s most prized possessions is already the subject of transfer gossip – but Vieira will surely pull out all the stops in order to convince their star defender to stay at the club for the foreseeable.

However, if he does walk away after just a year, it will no doubt represent a huge summer disaster; he is far too important to the Eagles.

In other news: “There is a feeling..” – CPFC dealt big injury setback that will leave Vieira worried

Saurashtra captain Jaydev Shah slammed a 80-ball 100 to lead his side to a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Karnataka in the quarter-finals of the Vijay Hazare Trophy. After being asked to bat, Karnataka could only muster 234 as Robin Uthappa top scored with a measured 50. Left-arm medium-pacer Balkrishna Jadeja, playing his second List A game, took three wickets for Saurashtra but was expensive, giving away 68 runs. The Saurashtra chase was given a solid platform with openers Chirag Pathak (64) and Sagar Jogiyani adding 87. Shah then propelled them to victory, crunching 10 fours and five sixes in his second List A hundred.The day’s other quarter-final also saw a captain’s century set up a win. Bengal cruised to a 48-run triumph over Delhi on the back of a commanding batting performance, led by captain Laxmi Ratan Shukla’s 95-ball 124 in Visakhapatnam. Bengal got off to a good start as their openers forged a 74-run stand but stumbled as three wickets fell for the addition of five runs. They got back on track thanks to an express 120-run partnership between Shukla and Anustup Majumdar, who contributed less than a third of the runs in the stand. Debabrata Das chipped in with a quick 40 as Bengal finished on 295. Delhi’s batsmen had to score briskly to chase down the big target and perished in the attempt. Though they reached 139 by the 25th over, they had lost five wickets and despite Under-19 World Cup-winning captain Virat Kohli’s efforts, they were bowled out for 247.

Inzamam-ul-Haq will not go down without a fight © AFP

Inzamam-ul-Haq, the former Pakistan captain, struck out at the findings of an official board report that found him to be a “dictator” and blamed him almost entirely for the World Cup debacle.Responding to claims in a PCB committee report that his attitude was “haughty and that of a dictator,” Inzamam responded by arguing that this was the way of Pakistan cricket. Speaking to the Urdu daily , Inzamam said, “I was blamed for being very lenient during my whole captaincy career and now I am turned into a dictator. That could only be accepted if players had complained that I acted like one.”This is nothing new in Pakistan cricket. When the team loses, all the blame is put on others, and I was ready for that because it happened in the past,” he said, referring to Pakistan’s equally dismal 2003 World Cup.”Inzamam defended himself from charges that he took all selection matters into his own hands, marginalising on-tour selectors and calling up his own preferred players without consultation. “If I had power as captain it was simply because I was a successful captain and whenever I wanted certain player I convinced selectors to get that player and not through dictatorship.”The committee included two paid employees of the board, Salahuddin Ahmed, chief selector and Salim Altaf, director special projects, leading Inzamam to question the neutrality of their findings.”I know it will sound bitter to them but the presence of two paid members in the probe committee raises doubts over the impartiality of the report,” Inzamam told the BBC’s Urdu service.”How can a member, who was the director of operations, say this now and didn’t realise it before the World Cup?” asked Inzamam of Altaf.Inzamam, who resigned as captain and retired from ODIs after the tournament, maintained the report would have no bearing on his future. “It will be up to the selectors to select me. I will feature in domestic cricket and have been training to play Tests. This committee cannot decide my future,” he said. Given that the current chief selector was party to the committee’s findings, it seems improbable that Inzamam will be selected again for Pakistan.

Nottinghamshire won the County Championship in 2005, but face a tough task to defend it this summer © Getty Images

Ice delaying the start of play at Old Trafford and Derbyshire having to move their opening fixture because their ground is underwater – sure signs that the new domestic season is here. As England complete a tough winter in the 45-degree heat of Indore, county players the length and breadth of the country have been shivering their way through pre-season nets. The real action starts today as MCC take on Nottinghamshire in the traditional curtain-raiser at Lord’s.For all the hype that surrounds the never-ending cycle of international cricket there is something special about the anticipation of a new season. Everything is possible, places are up for grabs, names to be made and the thought of those long, warm summer days soaking up the action (but probably not until about August).County cricket always faces a tough fight with the summer now so packed with Tests and one-day internationals. Last year it had to battle for attention against the extraordinary Ashes and while the exploits of Andrew Flintoff and Co. will again, understandably, take centre stage for most of the summer the domestic game has much going for it. In many ways, the team fielded by England on their tour of India showed county cricket in its best light for a number of years.Shaun Udal was the most uplifting story; a player who has consistently tried his hardest for Hampshire year in, year out and suddenly he helped England pull off one of their greatest victories. Owais Shah was another who showed that county cricket can produce Test match batsmen, while if the game was as ‘soft’ as it is sometimes described then Alastair Cook and Monty Panesar would not have been as comfortable on the international stage.With Duncan Fletcher adding his voice to those fearing player burn-out the chances of England’s main players making county appearances once the internationals start is very slim – save a one-day final in the C&G Trophy or Twenty20. But that, in no way, means that there will be a shortage of talented players and exciting matches to enjoy.The main target, for those nine teams in the first Division, will be the Championship title, which currently resides with Nottinghamshire following their superb allround performances from 2005. They have a mature squad, but as the Australians have shown, if results continue to go your way age is only a number. However, they are far from sure of retaining their title and, if anything, don’t actually start the season as favourites.

Shane Warne will be back to lead Hampshire © Getty Images

Some bookmakers have Lancashire, fresh from promotion, as odds-on to claim the title that has proved elusive since 1934. But they start without any overseas players – Brad Hodge will join in early May after his wife gives birth – and are so far settling for just the one, although don’t be surprised to see Andrew Symonds arrive for a late-season stint. Expect a strong charge from Sussex, who have the services of Mushtaq Ahmed and a strong top-order with Chris Adams, Murray Goodwin, Matt Prior and Michael Yardy, while Warwickshire are stronger this season with two established overseas names in Heath Streak and Daniel Vettori.Hampshire will again rest heavily on Shane Warne, so long as his shoulder stands up to even more bowling, but he has the ability to bring the best out in younger players and keep an eye out for Chris Tremlett who will want to remind the selectors he is still around. Kent have never suffered Championship relegation and shouldn’t be pulled down in 2006, even if they struggle to bowl sides out twice, while Middlesex are also likely to be more troubled by the search for wickets than runs. Durham and Yorkshire will have to fight hard to hold onto their hard-earned top division slots with squads that are set to be pushed to the limit.In the second division, Worcestershire and Surrey are best placed to secure the two promotion slots as their squads have reasonable depth and experience. Essex have an exciting bunch of young players balanced with the experience of Andy Bichel and Darren Gough. Northamptonshire and Gloucestershire will need to battle against limited squads and Glamorgan have been dealt a tough blow with the loss of Matthew Elliott and Michael Kasprowicz. Watch out for the Aussie spin-twins, Cameron White and Dan Cullen, who could spring a surprise at Somerset, but it is hard to see beyond another season of struggle for Derbyshire and Leicestershire.As always at this time of the season there is a wealth of possibilities. All teams feel that it will be their season while players are dreaming of runs, wickets, catches and greater honours. It is sometimes hard to see through the mass of Tests and ODIs and realise what is happening at the level below, but if you have a moment take a glance at the county scorecards. There are six fascinating months of cricket ahead and you may just catch a glimpse of the next Cook, Panesar or Udal.

Noel David, the former Indian offspinner, has announced his retirement from all forms of the game. David, 34, who played four one-dayers for India in 1997, planned to quit the game to concentrate more on his coaching career.David was picked as the offspinning allrounder to replace Javagal Srinath on India’s tour to West Indies in 1997. His selection was shrouded in controversy, allegedly prompting members of the team-management to react, Noel “Who?”, but David impressed on his debut game and finished with 3 for 21 and helped India record a comfortable ten-wicket win. However, his fastish offbreaks produced only one wicket in the next three games and he was eventually dropped after the Asia Cup in Sri Lanka.David managed only 9 runs in his four matches, but he started off as a promising allrounder for Hyderabad when he cracked an unbeaten 207 in his third first-class game. However, he managed only one more hundred in his 35 games and finished with an average just short of 30. He played his last first-class game in October 1998 and is currently involved in coaching youngsters at the St. John’s Cricket Coaching Foundation in Secunderabad.

The XXXX Queensland Bulls will field a near full-strength ING Cup team against the Southern Redbacks on Wednesday at the Gabba.Australia `A’ players Martin Love and Wade Seccombe will play in the day/nighter and travel to Hobart on Thursday morning to prepare for the three-day tour match against India starting on Friday.Redbacks pace duo Shaun Tait and Paul Rofe will do likewise, enabling both teams to field their first choice line-ups.Bulls captain Jimmy Maher, Australian One Day star Andrew Symonds and pace spearhead Michael Kasprowicz will play their first domestic one-day games this season for Queensland.Former Queensland allrounder Mick Miller will play his first match for his adopted State this season, joining a powerful line-up that includes former Test batsmen Greg Blewett and Zimbabwean Andy Flower.Wednesday’s game starts at 2.30pm with gates opening at 1.30pm. Tickets are available at the gate.Both teams will also meet in the Pura Cup match at the Gabba starting on Friday. Queensland will name its Pura Cup team on Wednesday.XXXX Queensland Bulls: Jimmy Maher (c), Stuart Law, Martin Love, Andrew Symonds, Clinton Perren, Lee Carseldine, Wade Seccombe, James Hopes, Nathan Hauritz, Ashley Noffke, Michael Kasprowicz, Damien MacKenzieSouthern Redbacks: Greg Blewett (captain), Mark Cleary, Mark Cosgrove, John Davison, Shane Deitz, Andy Flower, Mark Higgs, Ben Johnson, Graham Manou, Mick Miller, Paul Rofe, Shaun Tait

The tour match between New South Wales and South Africa appears headed for an exciting finish tomorrow after Michael Bevan and HerschelleGibbs again laid waste to the bowling for their respective teams on the third day of the contest here in Sydney.After Bevan (183*) had cut short a magnificent innings of his own to throw the game open, Gibbs dominated the day’s closing session to lead theProteas to a second innings score of 1/112 and an overall advantage of 225.Bevan had earlier been within 17 runs of scoring his second successive first-class double century on the SCG when he decided to effect a tea timedeclaration, ending the New South Wales first innings at a healthy 6/385.Though he was very slow to begin, even to the point that his score did not move for 50 minutes at one point, his innings was an outstanding one. Hiscapacity to transform a vigilant hand into an explosive one upon reaching three figures also appealed.”I hit them alright and was pretty happy,” said Bevan.Over the last two years, the experienced left hander has enjoyed a love affair with this ground, producing a remarkable average of 125.85 from hislast seven matches – and ten innings – here.His career record at the SCG is also quite remarkable; from 50 matches, he has scored 4850 runs at the mammoth average of 79.50.”It’s where I’ve played most of my career – at the SCG. You obviously get enough chance to see how it plays.”Early on I thought they bowled pretty well, pretty tight. And, at the end, we had to score a bit quicker in the hope of setting up a (good finish tothe) match,” Bevan acknowledged.”At tea I thought it was the right time [to declare]. It gave us a chance to get a few wickets in that session and gave them a chance to get a few runsso it was more to do with the match situation than anything else.”Young spinner Justin Ontong (0/47) endured especially spectacular punishment, battered for 18 runs in his fifth over before conceding another 17from his sixth as Bevan initiated an assault that delivered 97 runs from the last 71 balls of his innings.It was a tough day for all of the tourists’ bowlers, though. And the mindset of veteran paceman Allan Donald (0/64) – who bowled excellently attimes today – wasn’t helped by criticism that had appeared overnight from former rebel wicketkeeper Ray Jennings.Jennings argued that Donald shouldn’t have been included in the tour party in a statement that appeared in the Daily Telegraph newspaper here inSydney today.”Maybe we should ask Ray Jennings if it’s alright with him if I play,” said Donald after play.”It’s very uncalled for, the comments he made,” the quick said.Donald’s teammate, Gibbs (75), soothed the Proteas’ concerns as the day closed, with another sparkling innings that laid the platform for anotherlikely declaration at some stage early tomorrow.Though leg spinner Stuart MacGill (1/27) again found a way to remove Gibbs just as he was close to the height of his powers – receiving an lbwverdict in his favour after two such appeals had been turned down by umpire Bob Parry – the South African openers performed well. Left handerGary Kirsten (34*) played in sound fashion, and will be back to resume with Jacques Rudolph (2*) in the morning.

YOUNG gun Graeme Swann put the old Masters to the sword as cricket calypsostyle thrilled the crowd at the Grenada National Stadium.Loud speakers belted out reggae tunes as the County beat the Masters XI byseven wickets against the backdrop of thousands of dancing schoolchildren,who were given the day off by their teachers.Swann thrilled the sizeable crowd hitting 11 fours and three sixes in his73-ball 89, and brought up his 50 with an audacious six off Joel Garner.And the Towcester twirler even showed off his dancing skills, delighting thecrowd with his reggae jiving.The Swann brothers opened the batting for the County as they chased 156 forvictory, after Paul Taylor and Devon Malcolm had decimated a top order whichonce struck fear into every Englishman.Taylor accounted for Desmond Haynes and Gordon Greenidge, before Malcolmremoved Gus Logie and Irving Shillingford with consecutive deliveries.Former West Indies skipper Ritchie Richardson hit 50 and ex-County skipperAllan Lamb joined in the fun by batting at number 11. Sir Viv Richards hadpulled out at the last minute disappointing the Grenadian crowd.”I looked at the scoreboard and realised I was on 44 at the start ofGarner’s over, and I planned to hit him for six to get my 50. When I wasbatting with my brother he said to me it was a bit like batting against thecricket videos of our childhood. It was a great opportunity to play againstsome names from the past and it was a great experience,” Swann said.”The kids made it a great atmosphere and all the lads really enjoyed playingin this game. I was disappointed Viv Richards wasn’t playing but it wasstill a great opportunity to play against guys like Greenidge, Haynes andLogie .”Haynes set out his stall early by depositing Taylor for six over the squareleg boundary in the third over, but the former England man had the lastlaugh dismissing the openers.”We took the game fairly seriously and Desmond Haynes proved he can stillplay Test cricket with a couple shots off PT.”We bowled well and got a few early wickets which took the sting out of thegame a little bit. The crowd came to see some runs but our boys bowled welland deserved their success.”Haynes said: “Many of the people here including the opposition expect us tobe able to come out and play like we did 15 years ago. The thing is most ofus haven’t picked up a bat in years, and the fitness levels are not whatthey used to be.”The result of the match was never really in doubt but that mattered littlewith the Masters succeeding in their task of entertaining the youngsters andhopefully turning them into cricket fans. That is something which cricket inthe West Indies desperately needs.The day closed with a lovely touch from the PA announcer, “Now come onchildren it’s past 4pm and your parents will want you home.”It was a long way from Wantage Road in every respect.

Scorecard

Justin Langer raced to 51 not out but the Warriors’ season was being derailed by the weather © Getty Images

Western Australia conceded first-innings points and were hoping for a final-day chase as they desperately sought a victory in their rain-affected game against Queensland. At stumps on the third day the Warriors had made inroads into the Bulls’ top order and the score was 3 for 27 with Martin Love on 6 and Shane Watson on 7.The problem for Western Australia was they still trailed by 222 runs after a day on which further showers interrupted play following the complete wash-out on day two. The Warriors are third on the Pura Cup table but are well behind New South Wales and Victoria and need a win to stay in touch.Queensland declared in their first innings at 9 for 310, with Ben Edmondson adding one final victim to his opening-day tally to finish with a career-best 7 for 95. Justin Langer made Western Australia’s intentions clear, racing to 51 from 53 balls and the Warriors were 2 for 115 when the Brisbane weather again turned bad.As the showers persisted Marcus North decided the only way to manufacture a result was to declare behind. Mathew Inness and Steve Magoffin then rattled Queensland by removing both openers and Jimmy Maher, all in single-figures, but a forecast of further wet weather on Thursday was threatening to derail Western Australia’s Pura Cup season.

Manchester United have been taking the opportunity to step up their pursuit for their next manager during the international break, with Mauricio Pochettino and Erik Ten Hag the two standout favourites for the position, although another name has been thrown into the ring for the job.

What’s the word?

Speaking on talkSPORT yesterday afternoon, former England striker Darren Bent has given his opinion on who United should be targeting for the challenging job at Old Trafford, with Roberto Mancini named by the ex-Tottenham marksman.

Bent told listeners of the Italian: “He is a winner. He is someone who has won the Premier League, so he has the experience.”

“I think he is better than Ten Hag, and certainly Mauricio Pochettino. He has proved he can do it in this country; I think that is vital. He has got the Premier League experience – I know he ended up leaving, but then he won a massive trophy with Italy in the Euros, so you cannot question his pedigree in winning things.”

Ten Hag alternative

Despite his allegiances to Manchester City, and his infamous spoiling of a seemingly nailed-on Premier League title win for United as Sergio Aguero scored in the 94th minute on the final day against QPR to steal the crown in 2012, duly leaving Sir Alex Ferguson furious, there seems little doubt that Mancini would improve the current situation at Old Trafford.

The Italy coach took his nation to victory against England in the Euro 2020 final at Wembley but has since crashed out of the World Cup in the qualifiers and will not attend the finals in Qatar this winter after the shock defeat to North Macedonia on Thursday night. With that in mind, it could be the ideal time for the 57-year-old to move on and seek a new challenge back in club football.

Given Mancini’s spell at the Etihad Stadium, it could split United supporters and would likely be a controversial appointment. However, with his winning mentality and ability to inspire victory by winning 14 trophies in his managerial career so far – including a Premier League title, FA Cup and two Serie A titles – he is not an option at whom United should be turning up their noses.

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With a decision expected to be made soon, the powerbrokers at Old Trafford must make a decision which will take the club back to the heights of winning trophies and competing in the Champions League regularly amid the longest trophy drought at the club in 40 years, and there is no doubt that Mancini has the CV and experience to get United back on their perch.

In other news: Man Utd suffer major Ten Hag setback which will have supporters worried