Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta has now personally identified a £70 million forward as his signing preference over Brentford star Ivan Toney.

Will Arsenal sign anyone in January?

The Premier League title hopefuls, according to various reports in the last two months, have a few transfer targets in mind for the January transfer window and 2024 in general. Lesser-known names like Royal Antwerp sensation Arthur Vermeeren and Club Brugge star Andreas Skov Olsen have been linked in the past week, but Toney is a name absolutely dominating the headlines where Arsenal are concerned.

The Englishman, who scored 20 league goals prior to his gambling ban last season, looks set to be one of next year's hottest transfer commodities. Toney has been linked with moves to Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham in the past few weeks alone, with pundits like Arsenal legend Ray Parlour believing a new striker like Toney is desperately needed at the Emirates.

“I do believe that is the position that Arsenal needs to strengthen," said Parlour live on talkSPORT.

"But, it ultimately depends on player availability and financial negotiations to ensure it’s the right deal for Arsenal. Ivan Toney would be a great acquisition. Let’s wait and see how things develop.”

As well as Toney, Wolves forward Pedro Neto is another player attracting Arteta's interest, with Football Transfers now having some news on both of Arsenal's transfer targets.

Pedro Neto transfer update

Sharing a Neto transfer update, the outlet claims that Gary O'Neill's star man is actually now a preferred target of Arteta's. Indeed, it is believed that the Spaniard actually wants Arsenal to sign Neto more than Toney after being informed by club hierarchy of a limited budget. There is said to be confidence that their current crop of Kai Havertz, Gabriel Jesus and Eddie Nketiah can do the job up front, with Arteta being a long-time admirer of Neto as he looks to ease the burden on Bukayo Saka out-wide.

The 23-year-old won't come cheap, though, as the report goes on to state that Wolves will demand close to around £70 million for him. While Arsenal believe they can do it for £40 million, that doesn't appear likely. Neto has already grabbed five assists and a goal over his first eight league games this season, rediscovering his past form after coming back from a serious injury.

Journalist Charles Watts, commenting on the links to Neto recently, claimed he would be an excellent signing for Arteta – going on to call him "electric".

“Pedro Neto is a player we know Arsenal like," said Watts on Inside Arsenal.

"They’ve followed him before. Wolves have been very adamant when Arsenal have gone knocking for Neto, they were having none of it. These stories are emerging again. He looks electric, he’s scoring goals, his pace looks spot on. He really surprised me, he looks so sharp, so quick. He’s the perfect age for Arsenal, all the talent in the world. Would I take Neto? Absolutely, he also grew up watching Arsenal, maybe that will help."

Things are well and truly underway for Leeds United under Daniel Farke. The Whites have lost just once in their last five games, and are on a three-game winning run in the Championship, which includes their most recent comeback victory against potential play-off rivals Norwich City. They now sit as high as third, six points away from Ipswich Town in the automatic promotion spot.

The good news could keep coming Farke's way, too, with games coming thick and fast, and he could now hand one particular summer arrival a chance to finally shine at Elland Road after impressing in training. The decision could certainly add a new dynamic to Leeds' midfield.

Leeds United team news

With a trip to Stoke City up next, it would come as little shock if Farke opted for a similar, if not the same, starting line-up as the one that did well to eventually overcome the challenge of Norwich. The thought process may well be if it's not broken do not fix it. And, at Elland Road, things are far from broken at the moment, given Leeds' recent resurgent form.

That's not to say that the Whites haven't got some impressive options to introduce if needed, however, with Ilia Gruev among those to have impressed. Farke spoke about the former Werder Bremen midfielder in a recent press conference. The manager said, via The Yorkshire Evening Post: "I have to say I’m really happy with Ilia, he came pretty late, without having a pre-season, really humble guy but with a good record, he’s played two years on Bundesliga level, a good level last season, more than 30 games, he’s a regular starter for Bulgaria, always in the starting line-up.

"I was definitely tempted to unleash him before because he was training at top level, but really top performances by players in midfield, in his position. We have perhaps some areas where it would be perhaps even a bit easier [for him] to come into the game but as a coach in the heart of your game, you are not so tempted to change too much from game-to-game.

"Let’s be honest, players in his position, Ethan Ampadu has been outstanding, Archie [too] when he was in midfield was really good, Glen Kamara has had an impact in many games so it’s not the easiest area in our squad.

"My gut feeling is that he will also play an important role also in the upcoming games and we are happy that we have him because he's not just a good player but also a top, top teammate and good that we have him."

Ilia Gruev's stats

When given the chance for Leeds this season, Gruev has shown glimpses of what he's capable of, helping his new side to secure two victories in three appearances. At 23-years-old, the midfielder should be in no rush to cement his place in Farke's side, but he'll be frustrated with his current lack of starts, nonetheless, as would most players.

It's a positive sign that the manager is speaking so highly of him, though, and now Gruev could finally get the consistent chance that he has been working hard for at Leeds this season.

Even though Nazmul Hassan, the board chief, didn’t explain why exactly the players felt so, he said it was linked to the worldwide trend of declining interest in Test cricket shown by other boards, broadcasters and players

Mohammad Isam20-Jul-2018

Bangladesh’s senior players, including Shakib Al Hasan, have become reluctant to play Test cricket, according to BCB president Nazmul Hassan. Even though the board chief didn’t explain why exactly the players felt so, he said that it was linked to the worldwide trend of declining interest in Test cricket shown by other boards, broadcasters and players.In his now regular post-series briefing, Hassan said that the future of the Bangladesh Test team depended on blooding in new faces to fill the gap that will be created when the senior players near retirement. But he also mentioned the task will not be easy as all of the established players have been performing for a number of years.Hassan also named Mustafizur Rahman among those reluctant to play Tests, although he stated that the fast bowler never told him so.”Even in the ICC, I don’t see any other country other than England and Australia showing interest to play Tests,” Hassan said. “As a board, they are not interested in Tests. The broadcasters are also not interested. They say they don’t have any interest where there is no audience.”We are seeing in our country that some of our senior players don’t want to play Test cricket. Shakib doesn’t want to play Tests. Mustafiz also doesn’t want to play, but he hasn’t mentioned it. He wants it to a point. Maybe since he is injury-prone, he feels he will get injured playing Tests? Maybe they feel Test is quite tough, say for someone like Rubel [Hossain]. Bringing in younger players is our only option.”The BCB had granted Shakib’s request for a break during the Test series in South Africa last year. Shakib has been the only Bangladesh player to have put in such a request.Hassan declared that Mustafizur, who missed the Afghanistan T20s and the West Indies Tests due to an injury he picked up while playing for Mumbai Indians in the IPL, will not be given any NOCs to play foreign leagues. “The saddest part is that he gets hurt playing franchise leagues, and then can’t serve the country. It is not acceptable. I have already told him that he can’t play outside for the next two years,” Hassan said.He said that the BCB was focused on finding more specialist Test and T20 players, but admitted it was hard for practical reasons to drop their core senior players. “We have to form a new set-up for Tests. I have been saying it for the last four years. We must have three or four players in common; all the international teams are doing this. Everyone has specialist T20 and Test players. We only have Mominul [Haque] for Tests. We need to develop five or six of them.”We have Tamim [Iqbal] and another opener, plus three pace bowlers and a spinner. You can’t change Shakib, Mushfiqur [Rahim] and [Mahmudullah] Riyad. Mominul plays at three. You can’t drop him for doing poorly in one series. So, for this No. 7 position we have Mosaddek [Hossain], Sabbir [Rahman], [Mehidy Hasan] Miraz, etc.”There will be a lot of talk if we leave out any of the seniors. We need to find new players for a time when Tamim, Shakib, Mushfiqur and Riyad won’t be around. We need to prepare the new players.”

The ECB has confirmed to the MCC Cricket Committee that they are likely to ditch six-ball overs in The Hundred tournament with bowlers instead sending down 20 deliveries, probably in sets of five balls.The ECB’s chief commercial officer, Sanjay Patel, who is also the managing director of the new competition, made a presentation to the MCC Cricket Committee at Lord’s this week and, while the rules of the proposed tournament remain sketchy, the committee was reassured that the new competition would still be a recognisable form of cricket.”Basically, they’re still developing the concept,” said John Stephenson, the MCC Head of Cricket. “As custodians of the Laws of the game, what we’re concerned about is if you modify the game of cricket too much it ceases to look like cricket.

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“What we heard this morning from Sanjay was quite reassuring … they’re still developing how the final format will be.”The current thinking is 20 five-ball overs, but I think today was part of their consultation. So they wanted to know what we felt about that.”We threw a few questions back about that about whatever modifications there might be.”The idea of a final ten-ball over to possibly be bowled by two bowlers has been one of the more controversial ideas mooted by the ECB. And in recent weeks there have been reports that the ECB is considering having teams of twelve or fifteen players in The Hundred.”I think at the maximum, they’re looking at having a substitute fielder,” Stephenson said. “But I think what that’s about is performance – having the best fielders out there at the right time to field.”But at the moment, as far as I can make out, they’ll have 11 batsmen, they won’t have ‘overs’ per se but 100 balls, 20 balls per bowler.”Apart from that, it’ll look like a normal game of cricket.

Phil Parkinson admits it was “very frustrating” to see Wrexham only hit the target with four of the 25 shots that they fired in against Tranmere.

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Red Dragons dominated against TranmereUnable to hit the back of the netPrecious points dropped in promotion bidWHAT HAPPENED?

Despite dominating proceedings against local rivals at SToK Racecourse, the Red Dragons found themselves on the wrong end of a 1-0 scoreline. Struggles in the final third contributed to that disappointing defeat, with the likes of Paul Mullin, Steven Fletcher, Sam Dalby and Ollie Palmer unable to hit the back of the net.

AdvertisementGetty ImagesWHAT PARKINSON SAID

Parkinson said afterwards of seeing his side draw a blank in back-to-back games, with a 0-0 draw with Harrogate played out in midweek: “If you look around the country and the results, and to have 25 attempts on goal, I don't think many teams would have had that but only four on target is not enough for the quality we have got. We needed to work the goalkeeper more. We have had some great moments, as we know football is all about taking them and we weren't able to do that. It was very frustrating for us. The lads have given their all again, I don't think there is any doubt about that, but we just couldn't quite find the moment.”

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Luke Norris’ eighth-minute effort proved to be the difference against Tranmere, with Parkinson adding on a performance from his side that lacked any kind of cutting edge: “It is very frustrating. We dominated the first half in particular and one moment has cost us. It was a quick free-kick and we ended up one-v-one at the back and we got punished for that. But we still had so much play in the first-half to have got back in the game. The balance between playing at an intensity and speeding the game up, at times we were a bit frantic in our decision making and the clarity in those decisions in the final third wasn't where it needed to be to make the most of our dominance. We practically pinned them in for the whole 45 minutes but couldn't get the goal back. Second half, they changed their shape and we changed ours to a back-four and it became too open; the game became like they could score on the counter, and we still had some great moments where we needed to do better. We didn't have the control in the second half like we had in the first period, and we have got to look that.”

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Getty/GOALWHAT NEXT FOR WREXHAM?

Hollywood co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney will be as frustrated as anybody at seeing Wrexham drop more points at a crucial stage of the season, but they remain inside the League Two automatic promotion places and have eight games left in which to wrap up a top-three finish.

تمكن فريق مودرن سبورت من الفوز على نظيره المقاولون العرب بهدفين مقابل هدف، خلال المباراة التي جرت بينهما اليوم ببطولة الدوري المصري الممتاز.

وحل مودرن سبورت ضيفاً على المقاولون العرب على أرضية ملعب الأخير، بالمواجهة المؤجلة من الجولة 30 من عمر بطولة الدوري.

وتقدم عبد الكبير الوادي بالهدف الأول لمودرن سبورت في الدقيقة 21، بعد تنفيذ ركلة حرة مباشرة من وسط الملعب بتمريرة طولية بقدم طارق طه بتمريرة طولية لداخل منطقة الجزاء استقبلها عبد الكبير الوادي برأسية متقنة سكنت الشباك.

طالع أيضاً.. فيديو | الزمالك يفوز على طلائع الجيش بثنائية في الدوري المصري

وسجل أرنولد إيبا الهدف الثاني في الدقيقة 45 من عمر الشوط الأول، بعد عرضية من محمد شعبان لداخل منطقة الجزاء قابلها أرنولد إيبا بتسديدة مباشرة سكنت الزاوية اليمنى للمرمى.

وقلص فريق المقاولون العرب الفارق في الدقيقة 73 عن طريق أحمد عبد العزيز مودي، الذي سدد كرة قوية ببراعة سكنت الشباك.

وشهدت المباراة لقطة رياضية طيبة من جانب نادي المقاولون العرب، وذلك بوضع لافتة خاصة تحمل صورة اللاعب الراحل أحمد رفعت قبل انطلاق مباراة الفريق أمام مودرن سبورت.

وحمل الجهاز الفني واللاعبين صورة الراحل وحرصوا على ارتداء شارات سوداء حدادا على فقيد الكرة المصرية وبدأت المباراة بدقيقة حداد على روح الفقيد.

بتلك النتيجة يحتل مودرن سبورت المركز الرابع في جدول ترتيب الدوري المصري برصيد 47 نقطة، فيما يتواجد فريق المقاولون العرب بالمركز السابع عشر قبل الأخير، وفي جعبته 20 نقطة. أهداف مباراة مودرن سبورت والمقاولون العرب في الدوري المصري

India A took a commanding 165-run lead on day two, with Agarwal still batting on 220

The Report by Deivarayan Muthu in Bengaluru05-Aug-2018
Mayank Agarwal celebrates his double-hundred•PTI The questions over India’s top order remain unanswered even after the gripping Edgbaston Test. Shikhar Dhawan was one of the two batsmen that batting coach Sanjay Bangar, without naming, said had “thrown” their wickets away in the first Test. KL Rahul was the other one. And Cheteshwar Pujara’s overseas form continues to be a mystery. Eighteen-year-old Prithvi Shaw and Mayank Agarwal, who were more successful in England for the India A team, applied further pressure on the senior side’s top order and chief selector MSK Prasad, who was in attendance at the Chinnaswamy Stadium, by peeling off effortless centuries in a double-century opening stand against South Africa A on day two.While Shaw was dismissed for 136 off 196 balls, Agarwal progressed to his second 200-plus score in the past year. He had hit an unbeaten 304 against Maharashtra in the Ranji Trophy last November.More recently, Shaw had struck three hundreds in England, including one off 74 balls that headlined a remarkable comeback from India A against West Indies A at the Kent County Cricket Ground. Shaw marked his return to home comforts with an authoritative knock, studded with punchy drives in the arc between backward point and mid-off. That the sloppy South African attack kept feeding him width without generating much movement also helped Shaw. They bowled either too full or too short, before being battered into submission.In the morning, fast bowler Mohammed Siraj needed just three balls to nip out the remaining two South African wickets and bowl the side out for their overnight 246, giving him a second five-wicket haul in first-class cricket. South Africa, in contrast, needed 353 balls to find their first breakthrough on day two.It was Agarwal who had set the early pace: his first four scoring shots were all crisp fours. At the other end, Shaw was initially jittery, wafting and missing outside off, before tightening his footwork to regularly pierce the packed off-side infield. He raised the fifty partnership in the 11th over, when he nonchalantly flat-batted seamer Malusi Siboto through cover point. The next ball was punched through extra cover and mid-off with similar nonchalance. All told, Shaw took eight fours off Siboto in the morning session.Spin was introduced in the form of Shaun von Berg in the 15th over, but the openers continued to drill down the deficit. Von Berg’s third ball was a low full toss that was slog swept by Shaw for a one-bounce four. In the legspinner’s next over, Agarwal ran down the track and carted a six over mid-off. Left-arm spinner Senuran Muthusamy wasn’t spared either. At lunch, the deficit was down to 124.Agarwal was the first to bring up a century after the break when he jabbed one to mid-off off his 102nd ball. He leapt twice and punched his fist before Shaw wrapped him up in a hug. Soon after, Shaw brought up a hundred of his own, off 116 balls, with a full-blooded slap to the right of slip. They ticked off the milestones and wiped out the deficit 20 minutes before tea.The ball became softer, the field was spread out, and the bowlers were tiring. Shaw and Agarwal sat back and tipped the ball into the gaps, before offspinner Dane Piedt snuck an offbreak through the gate to bowl Shaw in the 59th over.There was no stopping Agarwal, though. He moved to 150 off 172 balls with a violent loft over mid-off. His Karnataka team-mate and school-mate R Samarth then kept him good company in a 118-run stand for the second wicket. While every boundary from the local boys elicited cheers from a small Sunday crowd, the South Africans dug deep into their reserves.They employed twin short midwickets and a leg gully against Agarwal and targetted the batsman’s body with a volley of short balls. Even as Duanne Olivier hit the pitch harder, Agarwal rode the bounce and countered him. He reached a double-hundred when he firmly whipped Siboto to the midwicket boundary in the 76th over.The second new ball then provided the visitors some respite as Olivier had Samarth reaching out for an outswinger with hard hands and edging behind for 37. Agarwal and captain Shreyas Iyer saw out the day and ratcheted the lead up to 165 at stumps.While South Africa’s senior team piled on the runs in an ODI in Kandy, the A team found itself at the wrong end of a seamless assault. All six bowlers used by them went at four or more runs an over.

Sri Lanka pulled the series scoreline to 3-2 with a 178-run win in the fifth and final ODI

The Report by Firdose Moonda12-Aug-2018Akila Dananjaya lets out a roar•Associated PressA dominant all-round performance from Sri Lanka took them to a second consolation win in the series against a South African side whose depth proved shallower than comfortable. Angelo Mathews’ run-a-ball 97 propelled Sri Lanka to 299 on a slow surface before Akila Dananjaya’s career-best figures of 6 for 29 had South Africa’s line-up in a spin, again. They were dismissed inside 25 overs for their lowest total in, and against, Sri Lanka.Sri Lanka’s innings had its foundation rooted in four fifty partnerships and its fireworks in the last ten overs. Mathews, with help from Thisara Perera and Dasun Shanaka, ensured Sri Lanka plundered 93 runs between overs 40 and 50 to ask South Africa to pull off the highest successful chase at the Premadasa Stadium and they did not even get close. Quinton de Kock’s second half-century of the series saved some blushes but no other batsman made more than 20.At the other end, South Africa’s bowling effort was an unusual mix of attack and leak with Keshav Maharaj their standout performer. Maharaj put in the most economical performance of his short ODI career as he found turn and proved difficult to get away. Kagiso Rabada, brought into the XI in place of the leading wicket-taker in the series Lungi Ngidi, was the best of the quicks while Junior Dala, Wiaan Mulder and Andile Phehlukwayo shared five wickets between them. Their inexperience, however, reflected in their inconsistency.Rabada and Dala started with five boundary-free overs to put early pressure on the hosts. As though to make up for lost opportunity, Niroshan Dickwella took three fours off Dala’s third over as he lost his lengths. Dala did have something to celebrate in his second ODI. He claimed his maiden wicket in the format when he held his length back and Upul Tharanga edged to de Kock. The short ball also brought Mulder a wicket, when Kusal Perera slashed at one and sent a catch to cover.Still, the wickets did not slow the runs and Sri Lanka’s 100 was scored in 99 balls. It was up to Maharaj to pull things back and he did. He was introduced in the 18th over and treated with respect from Mathews, who knew runs would come at the other end. Mathews drove a Phehlukwayo slower ball through mid-on, a Rabada length ball through mid-off and another in the ‘v,’ to establish his authority.Maharaj was rewarded for his persistence when he drew Kusal Mendis forward to play away from his body and found the edge. The fall of that wicket sent Mathews into a shell and another five boundary-free overs were bowled. Sri Lanka scored 48 runs in the 11 overs between 26 and 37 while Maharaj bowled out, conceding his only boundary when Dhananjaya de Silva pulled a long-hop over midwicket. But once Maharaj completed his quota, Sri Lanka could free their arms.De Silva was too hasty and tried to smack a Mulder slower ball down the ground, and gave Reeza Hendricks at mid-off a high catch but Mathews finished the over by flat-batting Mulder for four to make it clear who was controlling the proceedings.At the end of the 40th over, Mathews brought up his fifty with a single off 66 balls. His next 47 runs came in 31 balls and included delights such as a sweep for six off Duminy, a cut off Phehlukwayo, and an array of pull shots as the young quicks over-relied on the short ball. Thisara Perera didn’t really get going and sliced a cut to Hashim Amla at backward point but Dasun Shanaka’s 15-ball 21 came in handy. Shanaka was dismissed in the final over, when Mathews needed six runs for a century but only managed three singles, finishing three runs short of a first hundred in Sri Lanka and against South Africa. He won’t mind too much because his bowlers skittled out the opposition in half the time they had at their disposal.South Africa’s chase started on the back foot when Amla was bowled for a duck. A beauty from Suranga Lakmal pitched on middle and seamed away to remove the off-stump bail.Aiden Markram, who was included after missing the last two matches, looked determined to better his record on this tour. He took three successive boundaries off Lakmal before failing to read an Akila googly and popping up a simple return catch. Hendricks was bowled the next ball, by another googly. In the next over, Heinrich Klaasen, too, didn’t pick the Akila wrong’un and was struck below the knee roll in front of middle, leaving South Africa 39 for 4.De Kock and JP Duminy’s partnership was South Africa’s best chance of staying in the game, and they put on 46 together before Duminy danced down to a de Silva length ball and only got a leading edge to offer a return catch. De Kock brought up 50 off 53 balls in the same over but would have known it was only a matter of time.Mulder was out lbw to Lahiru Kumara and, in the next over, de Kock was bowled by an Akila ball that turned past his outside edge. Akila’s fifth came with a stroke of mastery. He pushed Phehlukwayo back with a quicker one and then drew him forward with a slower one and took the edge. His sixth was Maharaj, who threw his bat at a legbreak and was caught at mid-off which allowed Akila to leapfrog Lungi Ngidi as the leading wicket-taker in the series.The 3-2 series scoreline will suggest it was a tight contest. It wasn’t. The result of this match is a more accurate reflection of the tour as a whole. It was one-sided but for the fourth ODI and only showed both sides there is plenty to be done before the 2019 World Cup.

After missing out on the 23-man USMNT Nations League roster Wednesday, winger Alex Zendejas net a decisive goal for Club America.

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• Club America defeat Chivas in CCC
• Zendejas nets decisive effort
• USMNT winger responds to Nations League snub

• WHAT HAPPENED?

  Winning 5-3 aggregate across two legs, Zendejas scored the second for Club America in a 3-2 loss to Chivas, but he served a decisive blow to their thrilling comeback effort. The strike wasn't pretty, but he made a timely backpost run to slam the ball into the net off a previous effort that was saved and turned back into the box.

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  THE BIGGER PICTURE

  Zendejas responded to his exclusion from the USMNT's 23-man roster for the CONCACAF Nations League with the strike. It was his second goal of their CCC run in 2024 and marked an impressive fourth-straight game with a goal contribution. Across all competitions for Club America, he has five goals and four assists in 15 matches.

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• WHAT BERHALTER SAID

  When selecting his list for the March camp, Berhalter dubbed it the "most difficult roster" he has ever put together. When speaking on Zendejas, who was one of the final names cut, he added: “He is doing well, he is collaborating offensively and defensively. It was a difficult list to make, it was not easy at all and there is not much difference. In the end, it could well have been. I told him that he has done everything in a good way, to continue and an opportunity would soon come.”

Johann Myburgh, the Somerset batsman, has announced he will retire at the end of the season.He initially joined the club on a one-year deal in 2014 but was then retained. Last week he struck his maiden T20 century, off 42 balls, against Essex.He wrote an open letter to the Somerset team and the supporters thanking them for his time at the club.”What a special place this has been for me and I have felt so at home here in Taunton. My boy Joshua was born at Musgrove Park Hospital and I’m convinced that I now have Somerset blood pumping in my veins,” he said.

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“My team-mates have of course played a massive role in my enjoyable time here in the South West. I have made friendships that will last forever, seen young boys turn into men and enjoyed the inner child in the seasoned guys. I want to take this opportunity to thank you all for the great times both on and off the field and more importantly, for accepting me into your changing room and making it ours.”Myburgh had been highly rated as a youngster growing up in South Africa. In 1998, as a 17-year-old schoolboy, he broke Graeme Pollock’s record to become the youngest double-centurion in South African first-class cricket and played for South Africa U-19s alongside the likes of Graeme Smith and Jacques Rudolph.However, he then moved to New Zealand with the aim of going through the three-year qualification period to be eligible for them but as he came close to completing it he then opted for a Kolpak move to the county game where he joined Hampshire in 2010. In 2012 he had a T20 contract with Durham then after a year of club cricket joined Somerset.Andy Hurry, Somerset’s director of cricket, said: “During his time with the county, Johann has been a key member of the Somerset family. Not only is he an outstanding cricketer and athlete, he is a gentleman, a leader and a friend to all associated with the Club.”He is an outstanding role model and mentor, and our young players will have taken much from his experience over the years. He has taken the decision to retire whilst he is still enjoying the game, as well as positively influencing matches as he showed last week with his exceptional innings against Essex Eagles.”I feel privileged to have worked with Johann and I am certain that whatever he does next he will approach with the same passion and professionalism that he has demonstrated during his years here. Everyone associated with the Club wishes him and his family the very best for the future.”