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Stokes, Bashir, Crawley – your Wellington watchlist

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England were hugely impressive in winning the first Test in Christchurch. New Zealand were woeful.

Now they arrive in Wellington for Friday’s second Test (22:00 GMT Thursday). The last time these two sides were here, England declared, enforced the follow-on and lost one of the greatest Tests in history by one run.

If Ben Stokes’ side manage a win at the Basin Reserve this time around, they will become the first England team to take a Test series in this country since 2008.

Here’s your Wellington watchlist.

Fast start, slow finish
A remarkable statistic of England’s Bazball era is their record in the first Test of away series. They have won all five of them: two in Pakistan, one in India and now two in New Zealand. It is all the more eyebrow-raising given England don’t really bother with warm-up matches.

Following those four previous opening-Test wins, England have gone on to win one series, the first of them in Pakistan two years ago.

There is context around the three series they failed to win. They missed out here in early 2023 because of that all-timer in Wellington, then lost in India and Pakistan this year in unfamiliar Asian conditions.

The theory goes that England can be an easy side for opposition to adapt to. Stokes’ men can sometimes be a little one-note – ultra-aggressive with the bat, and impatient in their hunt for wickets with the ball. Stokes himself even admitted on Wednesday he is capable of setting six different fields in a single over.

If a team can frustrate England’s batters or, even better, challenge them with a moving ball, and then have the patience to ignore captain Stokes’ many traps, there is a route to victory.

New Zealand played into England’s hands in Christchurch. The home side dropped catches and gifted wickets away. If they do the basics better in Wellington, then maybe they can grind England down. If not, then England will turn a first-Test win into an away series triumph.

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Havertz online abuse has terrible consequences – Arteta

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Arsenal manager Mikel Arteta says the online abuse of striker Kai Havertz and his wife has “terrible consequences” and needs to be “eradicated from the game”.

Havertz was criticised for his performance in Sunday’s FA Cup defeat by Manchester United, after he missed a glorious chance to win the game in normal time and then had his penalty saved in the shootout as United won 5-3 on penalties following the 1-1 draw.

The German’s wife Sophia shared screenshots of the “shocking” abuse she received on social media amid the game, including threats to the couple’s unborn child.

Arsenal have reported the abuse to the police and are working with a specialist data firm to identify the culprits, but Arteta says more must be done as he spoke before Wednesday’s north London derby against Tottenham.

“It’s incredible, honestly,” he said. “We really have to do something about it, because accepting that and hiding this has terrible consequences.

“It’s something we have to eradicate from the game because it’s so cynical and dependent to a result of an action.

“There is no other industry like this. When we played Ipswich on December 27, we won 1-0 and Kai Havertz scored. The whole stadium after that is singing the ‘Waka, Waka’ (his chant). That was 20 days ago. Where is the perspective?

“We are all responsible. That’s a really serious matter. It affects me. It affects him and everybody that is in the industry.

“We can accept it and say ‘that’s our job’, but there are certain limits and the line has to be drawn. We put a lot of attention on technology and what is next in football.

“What is next in football is that this should be prohibited. It cannot happen. That’s it.”

Meta, who own Instagram, removed the content for violating its policies.

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I will not be the coach of a Red Bull team – Klopp

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Jurgen Klopp says he has made a “clear commitment” that he will not become manager at one of the Red Bull clubs after starting his role as the organisation’s head of global soccer.

The former Liverpool manager was named in the role last year before officially starting at the beginning of 2025.

He has not had a managerial role since leaving Anfield last summer following a highly-successful nine year spell.

Klopp’s new role sees him take more of an oversight role across a number of clubs including RB Leipzig, Red Bull Salzburg and New York Red Bulls.

But when asked at a media conference on Tuesday whether he might be tempted back into day-to-day management if a role at one of the clubs becomes available, Klopp said emphatically said “no”.

“I will not be the coach of a Red Bull team,” he said. “That is a clear commitment. As much as you can give a guarantee, I will not be a coach at all.

“I am probably the only person in this room who will be asked where are you in five years, I don’t have a clue.

“But I will not be a replacement of one of the Red Bull coaches.

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Rising star Fonseca knocks out ninth seed Rublev

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Joao Fonseca had a Grand Slam debut to remember as he knocked out ninth seed Andrey Rublev in the first round of the Australian Open.

The 18-year-old Brazilian thrilled the crowd as he caused the biggest upset of the tournament so far with a 7-6 (7-1) 6-3 7-6 (7-5) victory against Rublev.

Fonseca was playing in his first main-draw match at a major, having come through three rounds of qualifying without dropping a set in Melbourne last week.

The victory extends his winning streak to 14 matches – but who is tennis’ latest rising star?

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