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Sri Lanka’s Test hopefuls may have flopped, but future prospectMichael Vandort impressed with a fine century, as a Sri Lanka Board XImiddle order recovered from the loss of early wickets to score 326against India at the P Saravanamuttu Stadium today.India, fielding seven of the Test specialists who have just arrived inColombo, made an excellent start, as veteran fast bowlers JavagalSrinath and Venkatesh Prasad reduced the Board XI to 45 for three inthe first hour.Avishka Gunawardene (0), expected to be in the Test squad and tipped to make the final eleven, was caught behind in Srinath’s first over; Kumar Sangakkara (4), not guaranteed of a place despite good series against South Africa and England, was also mopped up by Srinath and Chamara Silva (11) followed in the tenth over.Vandort, however, fought back with a 152-ball century, the fifth inhis third year of first class cricket, adding 58 with HashanTillakaratne (26) in the morning, 31 with Tillakaratne Dilshan (6)after lunch and 61 with Board XI captain Thilan Samaraweera (76) forthe sixth wicket.The tall 21-year-old left-hander may have only played once for StJoseph College First XI in five years, but he is now on fringes of thenational selection after a productive first class season for ColomboCricket Club and a consistent series against Sri Lanka A.With Tillakaratne Dilshan having gone off the boil in recent times andAravinda de Silva not endearing himself to the selectors, Vandort’sinnings today could even have secured himself a place in the Testsquad to be selected on Thursday.He played positively today and was particularly strong off the frontfoot, especially with the cover drive. Against the left arm spin ofRahul Sanghvi he used his long reach to good effect, repeatedly andcleanly driving straight down the ground.He hit 19 boundaries and 116 runs, before a sharp catch by SadagoppanRamesh in the gully ended his innings and left the Sri Lankan’s on 195for five.The middle order continued to impress, however, as Suresh Perera (27)and Samaraweera added 59 entertaining runs after tea. Dinusha Fernando(24) also chipped in at the end before Rahul Sanghvi picked up thelast two wickets of the innings.Though the Board XI finished with a reasonable score the Indian campwill be happy with the form of opening bowlers Javagal Srinath andVenkatesh Prasad. Srinath extracted steep bounce from the wicket andbeat the bat regularly in the morning. He bowled three spells in alland picked the wickets of three out of the four Sri Lanka batsmen withTest experience, two of whom should be playing next week.Prasad was less spiteful, but still probing and economical. Indeed, onthe evidence of today, he could provide useful support to strikebowlers Javagal Srinath and Zaheer Khan if India play three fastbowlers in Galle.India’s concerns will be left arm spinner Rahul Sanghvi, who provedexpensive and only looked like taking a wicket when the tail-enderstried to flog him to the boundary. Another worry will be the fielding:four chances were missed, two catches by Ramesh, one by Badani in theslips and a stumping chance by Dighe when Vandort had made just 43.

Displaying exemplary grit and determination, Hamish Marshall and JamesFranklin rescued the New Zealand Cricket Academy from a tight spot onthe opening day of their three day MRF Buchi Babu all India invitationtournament semifinal against Oil and Natural Gas Commission at the MAChidambaram stadium on Monday.Shortly before lunch, the New Zealand team lost their fifth wicketwith the total on 92. But for the rest of the day, Marshall andFranklin batted in commendable fashion in a rescue act that won theadmiration of the sparse crowd present. Not until shortly before closewas the partnership broken with Marshall being held by wicketkeeperSandeep Dogra off Amit Bhandari. But by that time he had got a welldeserved hundred and the New Zealand Academy were able to end the daywith the cushion of having made 252 for six off 95 overs.And yet if the afternoon and the evening belonged to the New Zealandside and Marshall and Franklin in particular, the morning’s honourswere claimed by ONGC and Bhandari in particular. Winning the toss, theNew Zealand Academy soon ran into trouble. Off the last ball of thefifth over, JAH Marshall was caught at point by Mithun Minhas offBhandari for ten in a total of 16. In the eleventh over – his sixth -Bhandari struck again. The other opening batsman MHW Papps who hadstruggled for 52 minutes and 27 balls to score five was leg before.That made the Kiwi team 20 for two.L Vincent who came next tried to counter attack but at 37, he hitRahul Sanghvi to substitute Amit Sharma at mid on and departed for 11.AJ Redmond and skipper JDP Oram seemed to have steadied the boat a bitby adding 38 runs for the fourth wicket off 11.2 overs. But Oram whohad dominated the partnership was then bowled by Sanghvi for 20.Bhandari then came back and had the obdurate Redmond caught at slip byGagan Khoda for 25, compiled off 92 balls and inclusive of five hitsto the ropes.At 92 for five, the back of the New Zealand team’s innings seemed tobe well and truly broken. But then followed the partnership betweenMarshall and Franklin which came as a blood transfusion for a sidesinking fast. Battling both the accurate bowling and the intense heat,the right handed Marshall and the left handed Franklin batted withassurance. They nursed the innings through the afternoon sessionadding just 64 runs but more important coming through unbroken. In thepost tea session the pair applied the pressure on the now wiltingbowlers.In the first round game against Districts XI, the 21-year-old Marshallfrom Northern Districts had scored an unbeaten 155. He then missed histeam’s quarterfinal match against Hyderabad. Carrying on from where heleft off against the Districts XI, Marshall played a number ofpleasing strokes. His batting was a blend of power, elegance andtiming. He was very much the dominant partner in the partnership butthe role of Franklin was no less important.Taking three boundaries off one over from Sanghvi, Marshall made hisintentions clear. The 20-year-old Franklin from Wellington too pressedon the accelerator and under pressure, the bowling became wayward.Showing no signs of nerves even in the 90s, Marshall raced to his 100shortly before close. He did not add another run though, the new ball,taken after 90 overs, getting rid of him. Marshall batted almost fivehours, faced 195 balls and hit 12 of them to the ropes. The sixthwicket partnership, which added 158 runs off 57.2 overs, has broughtthe New Zealand side right back into the game.Franklin however could not be dislodged and came in unbeaten with 64invaluable runs when stumps were drawn for the day. He has so farplayed 174 balls and has hit eight fours. But the chief honours of theday were still with Marshall. So impressed was manager Richard Hadleeby his performance that he got the entire team out of the dressingroom to enthusiastically cheer Marshall when he got to his hundred.His gesture, besides symbolising teamwork, was also a handsome tributeto a batsman who had done the most to revive the New Zealand side’shopes in the match.It must have been galling for ONGC to come out second best in a daywhich they had dominated for the first half. Bhandari however put in afine performance, borne out by his figures – 15-8-23-4. Unfortunatelynot much can be said in favour of the other bowlers. Both Sanghvi andVirendra Shewag, in particular were expensive and wilted under therelentless pressure put on them by the Franklin-Marshall association.

Tendulkar returns
Sachin Tendulkar missed the first seven matches of the Mumbai Indians’ campaign due to a groin injury, but the side’s captain has confirmed he is fit and will lead the Mumbai Indians in their next game on Wednesday against the Chennai Super Kings. The news comes as a shot in the arm for Mumbai, who have won three straight games after losing their first four matches of the tournament.Time running out for Deccan?
Adam Gilchrist, the Deccan Chargers’ stand-in captain, has conceded that his team is out of contention for a semi-final spot after they slumped to a 23-run defeat to the Kolkata Knight Riders, their seventh loss in nine matches. “I guess we are pretty much out of semi-finals. It is disappointing but we can’t change anything,” Gilchrist told , as his team remained on the second-last place in the team standings.Purple cap
After announcing the orange cap for the leading run-scorer of the tournament, the IPL organisers have now introduced a purple one for the highest wicket-taker as well. Zaheer Khan is currently leading the list with 13 wickets from eight games.Kolkata fined for slow over-rate
Kolkata were fined US$1000 by match referee Talat Ali for bowling two overs behind schedule in their match against Deccan. According to the IPL’s regulations, a team will be fined $500 for each slow over. This is the second consecutive match where Kolkata were rapped for the offense, having previously been fined $500 in their home match against the Bangalore Royal Challengers.Mallya speaks out
Vijay Mallya, the owner of the Bangalore Royal Challengers, has regretted not being involved in the squad’s selection during the auction and that he went by the judgment of Charu Sharma, the franchise CEO, and Rahul Dravid, the captain. Mallya said he had other players in mind and was responsible for selecting Misbah-ul-Haq. He said, “Unfortunately in cricket, unlike in any other sport, the captain is the boss.”

Pakistan interviewed Richard Done, the former New South Wales fast bowler and ICC high performance manager, for the position of coach, a post they hope to fill in before the team tours Scotland in July. Done, 51, is one of three Australians on Pakistan’s shortlist, along with Dav Whatmore and Geoff Lawson.”Done has been interviewed and in the final phase Whatmore and Lawson will be interviewed before making the final announcement shortly,” Nasim Ashraf, the PCB chairman, said.Done, who succeeded Bob Woolmer as the ICC’s high performance manager in 2004 after Woolmer was named Pakistan’s coach, previously visited Pakistan in 2001 on a coaching assignment with the National Academy in Lahore. His main focus on that visit was to give guidance on coach training and suggestions on Academy work.Apart from his stint with the ICC, Done also worked with the Australian Academy and the Queensland Academy of Sport. He played ten first-class matches from 1978-79 to 1985-86 and took 21 wickets at 41.76. “Done has worked with Rodney Marsh in the highly praised Australian Cricket Academy,” Ashraf said.

Craig McMillan bags a contract with Canterbury this season after missing out on the central contract © Getty Images

New Zealand Cricket’s six major associations have announced their list of 12 contracted players for the 2006-07 domestic season.Notable inclusions are Craig McMillan and Chris Harris from Canterbury, given that both were missing on the list of centrally contracted players last month. Similarly, Northern Districts handed out contracts to James Marshall and Daryll Tuffey. McMillan is currently leading New Zealand A in the Top End Series in Australia, while Marshall is the vice-captain of the New Zealand Emerging Players squad in Brisbane. Tuffey, who has been out of action since June 2005 due to a bicep injury, will head to Sydney in September to represent Sutherland Club, in an attempt to make a comeback.The 12 players were decided based on the interim player agreement between New Zealand Cricket, the Major Associations and the New Zealand Cricket Players Association. This marks a change from the previous instances where only 11 players were contracted from each association.Canterbury Todd Astle, Hamish Bennett, Leighton Burtt, Andrew Ellis, Chris Harris, Brandan Hiini, Craig McMillan, Iain Robertson, Richard Sherlock, Shanan Stewart, Kruger Van Wyk, Paul WisemanAuckland Carl Cachopa, Tama Canning, Derek de Boorder, Martin Guptill, Paul Hitchcock, Richard Jones, Tim Lythe, Tim McIntosh, Andy McKay, Rob Nicol, Lance Shaw , Reece YoungCentral Districts Geoff Barnett, Chris Cruikshank, Brendon Diamanti, Campbell Furlong, Bevan Griggs, Lance Hamilton, Greg Hay, Brent Hefford, Greg Hegglun, Dominic Rayner, Ewen Thompson, Tim Weston Northern Districts Graeme Aldridge, Ian Butler, Alun Evans, Daniel Flynn, Nick Horsley, Peter McGlashan, James Marshall, Bruce Martin, Mark Orchard, Daryl Tuffey, BJ Watling, Joseph YovichOtago Neil Broom, Craig Cumming, Gareth Hopkins, Nathan McCullum, James McMillan, Warren McSkimming, Aaron Redmond, Bradley Scott, Gareth Shaw, Jordan Sheed, Craig Smith, Greg ToddWellington Matthew Bell, Dewayne Bowden, Grant Elliot, Sam Fairley, Mark Gillespie, Stuart Mills, Chris Nevin, Iain O’Brien, Michael Parlane, Neal Parlane, Jesse Ryder, Luke Woodcock

Shane Warne’s bowling in Colombo during Australia’s 40-run victory over Pakistan has clearly presented him with the chance of relieving Courtney Walsh of his world record for wickets in Tests within the next 12 months, or possibly sooner.Warne, 32, after his 102nd Test, has taken 461 Test wickets, at an average of 26.29.Walsh, who played 132 Tests for the West Indies took 519 wickets at 24.44.The most important aspect of his race for the record, with Muttiah Muralitharan, 30, his only serious rival on 430 wickets, is the news that he has recovered his flipper.It was the ball he used to break through the Pakistan resistance when trapping Younis Khan leg before wicket for 51, and setting in train the Pakistan collapse which gave Australia victory.While age might normally be a problem for a faster bowler, although in the case of Walsh, Kapil Dev and Richard Hadlee, it wasn’t that much of a concern during their latter years, Warne could rightfully claim to be in the prime years of his life.Should he maintain the fitness that has seen him pick up his sixth 10-wicket bag in Tests and his 22nd five-wicket haul, Warne could even expect to be able to possibly claim the prize during next year’s series in the West Indies.There are two more Tests against Pakistan in this series. They will be played in Sharjah where he might normally expect some assistance, especially over five days.Then follows the Ashes series with five Tests at home and then four Tests in the West Indies.Are 11 Tests sufficient for Warne to take 58 wickets?Throughout his career the Victorian leggie has averaged 4.5 wickets a Test match and at that rate he could finish the 11 Tests with just on 50 wickets.But in his last 10 Tests he has taken 54 wickets which is 5.4 a Test which would net him 59.Should he not be able to get among the English and the West Indians, then there is the prospect of two matches to be played against Bangladesh in Darwin and Cairns in July.By comparison, Muralitharan has reached something of a stop in his Test match play. The Sri Lankans have two Tests against South Africa next month. They then host New Zealand for three Tests in May and have two Tests in the West Indies in June/July next year.That is likely to deny the crafty Sri Lankan the chance to put the pressure on Warne, although that statement is always presuming injury doesn’t become a factor for him.Of the other bowlers on the list of top performers, Glenn McGrath is closest to breaking through the 400 barrier.He ended the Colombo Test with 393 wickets from his 85 Tests, Pakistan’s Waqar Younis is on 357 while India’s Anil Kumble goes into the series against the West Indies on 333 wickets from 73 Tests.The next highest bowler on the list who is still playing is South Africa’s Shaun Pollock on 261 and with his average on 20.72, it is the best of all the bowlers in front of him. But it will be interesting to see how his figures look at the completion of the series against Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. On his home soil there is every prospect of a significant drop.Javagal Srinath has now returned to Test cricket, and he sits on 232 wickets. The next highest active players on the list are England’s pair of Darren Gough (228) and Andrew Caddick (214) and after them, is Chris Cairns on 197 looking to break through in the forthcoming series against India.Meanwhile, one interesting milestone looms in the batting stakes. Australian Test captain Steve Waugh, after 149 Tests, is 369 runs from becoming the third player, after Allan Border and Sunil Gavaskar, to break the 10,000 runs barrier.Closest to him is Sachin Tendulkar on 8405 runs with an average of 57.96 which is second only to Don Bradman (99.94) and Walter Hammond (58.45) among those to have scored more than Bradman’s 6996 runs.

The Queen’s Park Oval, one of 11 venues in line to host matches during the 2007 World Cup, has been given the thumbs-up by the International Cricket Council’s Venue Assessment Team ,which is currently in the Caribbean. The 13-member team includes Chris Dehring, managing director of the 2007 World Cup. The group started their evaluation on Monday, and had already visited St Lucia, St Vincent and Grenada prior to landing in Trinidad.Willie Rodriguez, president of the Queen’s Park Oval Club, said that the team left the venue satisfied with what they had seen. “At this early stage, it is fair to say that the presentation was very commendable,” he said. “We had a clip from Tourism and Industrial Development Company that gave us a broad span of what Trinidad and Tobago is all about, and it was quite impressive. The walk around the Oval was also met with very positive responses. So at this early stage, I think it is fair to say that they are quite satisfied with what they have seen.”Rodriguez, a former Test legspinner who has also been a selector and manager of the West Indian team, added that he expected the stadium facilities to be further improved – the Geddes Grant Stand will be replaced by a new structure later this year, and the famous Trini Posse Stand would also be rebuilt. The pavilion is also set to be refurbished, and Rodriguez said that there would be a vote on whether to admit female members at the end of June.The ICC team also met Roger Boynes, the sports minister, and David O’Brien, chairman of the Technical Bid Committee. Boynes once again reiterated Trinidad and Tobago’s preparedness to host the event. “As they go about verifying our capabilities, I want to let them know that they will be exposed to the culture, food, beautiful people, that makes us unique in the world,” he said. “We are ready, we are opening our arms to the entire team, as we prepare to lay the foundation for World Cup 2007 in the region and in particular Trinidad and Tobago.”Dehring was also confident about West Indies’ ability to host the tournament. “The types of presentation and the level of preparedness the countries have demonstrated so far speak volumes for the kind of work that has gone in,” he said. “And I believe that we are the best prepared region to have hosted the World Cup.”The evaluation will span two months, and the ICC will announce on July 4 which countries have been given the right to host World Cup matches. The awarding of individual fixtures will be done in Montego Bay on July 13.

IT WAS like taking candy from a baby.For the second successive day, Trinidad and Tobago were a mere imitation of a first-class team in their top-of-the-table Carib Beer Series match at Kensington Oval yesterday.On a day when the most prestigious horse race in the southern Caribbean was run off, table leaders Barbados flogged what seemed to be a “dead horse”.The runs were flowing as rapidly as Thady Quill was romping to victory in the Sandy Lane Gold Cup at the Garrison Savannah.In the first session, Philo Wallace and Sherwin Campbell duly completed centuries and established a modern era record opening stand of 246.Between lunch and tea, it was the turn of Floyd Reifer and Ryan Hinds to inflict more punishment on the hapless Trinis.In the evening period, Dwayne Smith and Courtney Browne added more lashes.By the time Browne made the declaration at 4:35 p.m. after Barbados enjoyed the satisfaction of becoming the first team to post a total of more than 500 this season, 354 runs were reeled off in 66 overs at close to five-and-a-half runs an over.Trailing by 355 on first innings after Browne declared with Barbados on 502 for nine, Trinidad and Tobago suffered some uncomfortable moments in the 19 overs they faced before bad light halted play at 5:57 p.m. with three overs remaining.At 47 for one, a second successive defeat was staring the visitors in the face.It could come as early as today and it will allow them enough time to get back to their homeland to participate in Carnival celebrations.Trinidad and Tobago, second in the standings, were terribly flat in the field yesterday.Between the start and lunch, 132 runs were scored, and between lunch and tea, another 136 were added.Fast bowler Marlon Black and leg-spinner Dinanath Ramnarine, Test players in the recent past, came in for some stick against the rampaging Bajans.It was the same story for the youngsters, Ravi Rampaul and Dwayne Bravo.To his credit, teenager Bravo took his licks like a man and was eventually rewarded with four of the first five wickets. He finished with five for 95 off 16 overs, but his last scalp was taken in controversial circumstances.Wicket-keeper Navin Chan claimed a low catch to account for Ryan Hurley, but to those in the Peter Short Media Centre who had an excellent view, it appeared as if the ball had fallen out of the Chan’s gloves. Those in the Kensington Stand were even more certain.By then, Trinidad and Tobago had been fully deflated by Barbados’ enterprising batting.Campbell was the more aggressive in the first hour, his powerful driving through the off-side bringing him on even keel with Wallace after his partner started the day 16 runs ahead.Campbell arrived at his 24th first-class century at 11:10 a.m. and Wallace achieved the milestone for the 11th time in his career in the next over.Their stand broke the previous best by a Barbadian opening pair – 166 – since the sponsorship of regional first-class cricket in 1966.The previous record belonged to Gordon Greenidge and Desmond Haynes (who had two stands of 166) and to Robin Bynoe and Geoffrey Greenidge.Campbell fell soon after his hundred when his attempted cut off Bravo was caught on the cover-boundary.Wallace swung Ramnarine over backward square-leg for two of his three sixes before Bravo bowled him off the pads with a ball of fullish length.His 140 off 186 balls was made in four hours and was the highest of his eight regional first-class hundreds, while Campbell’s 103 included ten fours and a six from 150 balls in 217 minutes’ batting.Kurt Wilkinson’s wretched season continued when Ramnarine bowled him behind his back for six, but left-handers Hinds and Reifer enjoyed the syrup that was being served up by adding 82 for the third wicket.Hinds stroked seven fours in 43 off 72 balls, while Reifer’s 45 off 51 balls contained four boundaries and a towering six over long-off against off-spinner Mukesh Persad that cleared the Pickwick Pavilion.Reifer also had a thumping drive through extra-cover off Bravo that sounded like a gun shot. It was, without a doubt, the shot of the day.After Reifer skied a catch to mid-on and Hinds edged a catch to slip, the exciting Smith (46 from 41 balls) and Browne (35 from 23 balls) featured in a stand of 79 in next to no time before both fell to Black.Smith was prised out by a superb running catch by Daren Ganga at mid-on and Browne was lbw on the back foot two balls later.

Adam Gilchrist and Ricky Ponting both scored centuries as Australia warmed up for next week’s Fourth Test with a comfortable eight-wicket win over Sussex in the final match of their tour against county opposition.Captain Gilchrist made 114 and Ponting scored an unbeaten 147 as Australia made a nonsense of their target of 337, winning with 4.1 overs to spare.Sussex made a breakthrough when Jason Lewry had the out-of-form Justin Langer caught at second slip, but Ponting joined his skipper in a third-wicket stand of 151 in 23 overs which effectively settled the contest.Gilchrist was dropped by Adams on 12 and then Lewry spilled a head-high chance when he was trying to reach his hundred with a boundary. Instead he took two to go to this third century of the tour.He was eventually stumped off off-spinner Mark Davis for 114, made off 102 balls with 19 fours and two sixes.Ponting and Simon Katich did much as they pleased after tea as Australia cruised to victory, the third-wicket pair putting on 131 in 22 overs.Ponting batted himself back into form ahead of the Test with his second century of the tour and he hit the winning runs with his 17th boundary. The Tasmanian also swatted three sixes while Katich, favourite to replace Steve Waugh at Headingley, was 40 not out.Earlier, Damian Fleming (3-20) and Brett Lee (2-27) had produced excellent new ball spells as Sussex slumped to 31-5 in their second innings before Murray Goodwin revived them with a run-a-ball 28 which included six boundaries and enabled his side to declare on 68-5 after 85 minutes batting in the morning.Gilchrist was happy with his side’s workout.”There was time in the middle for Ricky Ponting and others including myself,” he said.”Brett Lee and Damian Fleming bowled with a great deal of rhythm and that has given them a lot of confidence.”Chris Adams deserves credit for opening the game up by declaring and offering some entertaining cricket for the patrons. We have had a solid workout which is what we look for between the Tests.”

It may be a new Premier League season but some things never change; Sunday’s predominant instalment of déjà vu being yet another false dawn from ever-also-rans Arsenal.

Of course, how you finish the season is far more important than how you start and the 2-0 defeat to West Ham was just the first of 38 games in Arsenal’s pursuit of the English title. If there’s a silver lining to be taken from the Gunners’ tepid opening day display, rendering them rock bottom of the Premier League table, it’s that reigning champions Chelsea didn’t fare much better – drawing 2-2 with Swansea City at Stamford Bridge after going down to ten men.

Yet, following a pre-season in which the Gunners beat all of their opponents to produce an aggregate score line of 15-1 – seeing them claim such vastly coveted accolades as the Asia Trophy, the Community Shield and their self-invented Emirates Cup – amid a transfer window in which they’ve spent a paltry £10million on just one player, you can’t help but think Arsenal have entered the 2015/16 campaign naively; expecting the Premier League’s rank and file to simply bow down to the might of their midfield and the gap between themselves the other title contenders to be closed by the sheer presence of Petr Cech.

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If Arsene Wenger needed any proof, the Hammers provided it in abundance on Sunday. Petr Cech isn’t the answer to all of the north London’s problems – in fact, he created some of his own with the ill-fated decision to try and collect the looping Dimitri Payet free-kick that resulted in West Ham’s first goal. Clearly, Arsenal’s flaws stem a little deeper than simply the level of quality between their sticks.

He may not have committed an individual error like Arsenal’s debuted No.1 or a financially unjustifiable display like £42.2million signing Mesut Ozil, who is still trying to claw his way out of Reece Oxford’s pocket, but Francis Coquelin’s performance against the Irons really disappointed me – and created further doubts over whether he’s a realistic long-term option for Arsenal or was simply caught in a zeitgeist last season.

West Ham’s game plan wasn’t a particularly complicated one; three holding players to bog down the midfield with £12million signing Dimitri Payet playing just ahead and chipping into the defensive side of things whenever possible. The former Marseille man should have spent the afternoon struggling for room to breathe, yet he outmuscled, outpaced and outthought his countryman to run riot at the Emirates, completing 56 touches, 42 passes, four successful dribbles and two created chances.

Indeed, when Arsenal are pinning opponents back, Coquelin sweeps up loose balls with ease. Likewise, when the Gunners are compact in midfield – their 2-0 win over Manchester City last season being the predominant example – the ‘detective’ marshals his zone simply yet effectively. But against the Hammers, the north London outfit needed authoritative physicality to snub out counter-attacks before they encroached the halfway line, and in that regard the 24-year-old abundantly failed to deliver.

He actually finished the match, albeit substituted before the hour mark, without making a single tackle; the antithesis of the aggression required not just in the Premier League, but particularly against a West Ham outfit boasting brute force in every department. I don’t hold this against Coquelin – I certainly don’t think he’s a bad footballer or even a bad defensive midfielder. The fact is, in terms of midfield muscle, he’s currently the best Arsenal have.

Likewise, the Gunners lacked real venom in the final third. Much of the post-match analysis was devoted to how West Ham’s midfield funnel had forced the Gunners into attacking from less habitual wide positions. But even when the ball did find its way into good areas (as you can see from the heat map below, they spent a fair amount of time in the visitor’s penalty box) that cutting edge, that clinical streak you’d quickly associate with Chelsea’s Diego Costa or Manchester City’s Sergio Aguero, was lacking.

There’s been a big debate about whether Olivier Giroud or Theo Walcott should be Arsene Wenger’s first choice of centre-forward this season. Well, both featured against West Ham and managed just two shots on target between them. Neither have ever truly reached the realms of prolific throughout their careers and that really showed on Sunday; although both are relatively dependable when converting chances, they don’t possess the skill or ingenuity to create their own in the manner Chelsea, City or Man United’s striking options can.

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In my opinion, the underwhelming displays from Coquelin, Giroud and Walcott represent the problem areas requiring Wenger’s attention before September 1st. No doubt, the Gunners are stronger, in healthier shape and more competitive than last year, even if they didn’t show it against West Ham, but they’re still a few vital ingredients short of a title-winning side.

Signing Petr Cech, regardless of his world-class ability, simply doesn’t pave over all the cracks. If Arsenal are to avoid another also-ran campaign, Wenger needs to pull off some late masterstrokes in the transfer market.

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