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Celtic centre-back Stephen Welsh was forced off for Scotland’s U21 side with what appeared to be a groin problem, The Daily Record report.

The Lowdown: Welsh under Postecoglou

Welsh began the campaign as a regular under Ange Postecoglou and has made 22 appearances in all competitions this season.

The 21-year-old, who Celtic youth coach Martin Miller hailed as a ‘fan favourite’ and ‘phenomenal’, made his last start in green and white back in February against Bodo/Glimt in the Europa Conference League.

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Cameron Carter-Vickers and Carl Starfelt have established themselves as Postecoglou’s first-choice pairing, with Welsh and Christopher Jullien on standby.

The Latest: Welsh’s injury

Welsh was one of a number of Celtic players who have been away on international duty and captained Scotland’s U21 side against Kazakhstan on Monday.

The Daily Record revealed that the centre-back had to be taken off shortly after half-time with what appeared to be a groin injury days before a crucial Glasgow Derby with Rangers.

The Verdict: Never ending

You’d expect that Welsh wouldn’t have started at Ibrox on Sunday, however, it would have been handy for Postecoglou to be able to call upon the defender from the bench if needed.

He may not get that luxury following this injury update, with Postecoglou already having concerns over Daizen Maeda and Tom Rogic during the current break.

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The Celtic boss hasn’t had the best of luck when it comes to injuries during his first season in charge, and unfortunately, they aren’t showing any signs of slowing up.

In other news: ‘As well…’ – Journalist drops claim on more exit news at Celtic Park; it’s a potential ‘bonus’. 

New Zealand’s captain, Daniel Vettori, was predictably despondent as he reflected on his side’s 126-run defeat against England at Wellington, a result that levelled the series and gave England the momentum going into next week’s decider in Napier. The match was played on the liveliest pitch that the teams are likely to encounter on this trip, and Vettori believed that New Zealand’s failure to capitalise on their first-day breakthroughs was the decisive moment of the match.On the first afternoon England’s middle-order, visibly lacking in confidence after their horrific display at Hamilton, had been on the ropes at 136 for 5 after being asked to bat first. But the carefree Tim Ambrose, playing in only his second Test, counterattacked gamely in a superb 149-ball 102. England never looked back after that, and though their catching went awry in the second innings, a brace of five-wicket hauls from James Anderson and Ryan Sidebottom cemented their dominance of the game.”Obviously it’s a very disappointed dressing-room,” said Vettori. “If we reflect back on the Test match it was a pretty even one expect for the third session on the first day. We let Tim Ambrose get away through some poor bowling and by feeding his strengths, and if you analyse the rest of it, it was a pretty even contest. But because of that [first day] we left ourselves too much to do on the last day.”It wasn’t immediately apparent just how significant Ambrose’s efforts would be to the end result. Vettori had no qualms about bowling first at the Basin, a pitch that traditionally plays at its best on the second and third days, but admitted that New Zealand soon came to rue their missed opportunity of that first day.”We didn’t reflect on it at the time but as the days went on I suppose we started to realise how important that lost session was for us,” he said. “We knew the wicket was pretty sporty, but for us to have made inroads and for them to post the score they did, we knew we had to bat very well and we didn’t. But it just all comes back to that session. We fed [Ambrose’s] strengths and he capitalised. He played very well too, and probably took the game away from us.”After the total team effort that New Zealand put together at Hamilton, the Wellington Test was something of a reality check for Vettori and his men. Although the selectors made no changes to the batsmen for Napier, definite shortcomings among their top-order were exposed on a pitch that aided England’s younger, faster, seam attack. Their senior seamer, Chris Martin, was also visibly off the pace after his exertions in the first Test, while Kyle Mills finished the match with pain behind his left knee, a development that earned a precautionary call-up for the 19-year-old paceman, Tim Southee.”I thought Jacob [Oram] and Kyle Mills were outstanding in the way they bowled on this wicket,” said Vettori. “Chris may be a bit disappointed but we will give the seamers a bit of a rest before the final Test. They’ve had a huge workload over the last two Tests and hopefully they can get a rest and come into the third Test on a wicket that we know will be extremely flat, and a tough ask for our bowlers.”Even so, the Napier pitch is likely to suit New Zealand’s adhesive style of play. Their success in Hamilton stemmed from the patience they were willing to show on a flat, lifeless deck. England contributed to their downfall by scoring at barely two runs an over, but they received an exclusive diet of wicket-to-wicket deliveries and were offered none of the width that Ambrose in particular was able to exploit in this Test.”The Napier pitch will be very flat, we know what to expect,” said Vettori. “It’ll be a good deck and tough work for the bowlers but it was like that in Hamilton and we expect the same thing from them in Napier. It always does [have more pace than Hamilton] but if you get a couple of days of sun then it will tend to slow down a little bit. It’s generally quite a good cricket wicket, because if you’re prepared to put something in then you’ll get something back.”

That wasn’t quite the case at Wellington, and in the build-up to the Test, Vettori was openly critical of the surface that Brett Sipthorpe, the curator, had prepared for this Test. But he refused to use it as an excuse in the aftermath of defeat. “If you want to be a good side then you have to adapt to all conditions and have to win in all types of conditions,” he said. “You can’t turn up in Sri Lanka and ask for the type of deck you want, so you have to be adaptable.”Vettori added that he doubted whether England would have wanted such a sporting track either, although the way in which their bowlers fared would suggest otherwise. England were devoid of both their most experienced men, Matthew Hoggard and Steve Harmison, but Anderson thrived in the first innings, Sidebottom starred in the second, and Stuart Broad played a vital enforcing role in both innings, on a pitch far removed from the lifeless horrors of his Colombo debut.”You have to look at the way Anderson bowled,” said Vettori. “For us to be bowled out for 198 in the first innings was purely down to him. He hit the right lengths early on and did a really good job. I suggest Hoggard would have done a similar job but to have fresh legs to do some very good work can only lift a team. New players coming in bring in enthusiasm and it lifts a team.” They were sentiments that suggested that Southee could yet feature in the final match.The spotlight, however, will be on New Zealand’s batsmen when the third Test gets underway. Not only will it be Stephen Fleming’s swansong after a record-breaking 14-year international career, it will also be a chance for Mathew Sinclair and Matthew Bell to repay the selectors’ faith after sketchy starts to the series. Bell received a further boost after the game when he was awarded a Cricket New Zealand contract, but with a series top-score of 29, he’ll need to keep up his interest payments.”The top five didn’t get the runs we required but thought Mathew [Sinclair] batted well in the second innings,” said Vettori. “I enjoyed how positive he was in trying to get on with the job. That was exciting to see. In saying that, you still need to keep getting the runs to keep getting selected. The selectors have to ask some questions but hopefully those guys have a lot more runs in them, and more chances to score those runs.”

Division One

Sussex were facing the prospect of a heavy defeat after they were asked to follow on for the first time in almost three years by Warwickshire at Edgbaston. Dale Steyn and Darren Maddy took three wickets each as Sussex slumped to 151 after Steyn had earlier boosted the home side’s total with a quick-fire 31. Sussex quickly fell to 14 for 3 before a stand of 85 between Carl Hopkinson and Chris Adams steadied the innings. But Maddy’s skiddy medium-pace claimed both and when Matt Prior, named in England’s 25-man performance squad, was lbw for 3, Sussex were in real trouble. Unlike last week, when Heath Streak declined to make Lancashire bat again, Maddy quickly stuck Sussex back in. Richard Montgomerie failed for the second time in the day and Maddy again proved to be a golden arm to leave Warwickshire in controlShane Warne showed he had lost none of his ruthless streak as he declared Hampshire‘s innings with Nic Pothas 15 short of a century and was immediately rewarded with two quick Surrey wickets at The Oval. However, Hampshire were stopped in their tracks by a mixture of bad light, drizzle and Mark Ramprakash. Warne played his part with the bat during the morning session, striking a breezy 48 before falling to a well-judged catch by Ramprakash on the cover boundary. After the declaration, 20 minutes before lunch, Dimitri Mascarenhas struck with his fourth ball as the in-form Scott Newman feathered a catch to Pothas. Jon Batty fell in similar circumstances before the innings was steadied by the experienced hands of Ramprakash and Mark Butcher who added 119. The light caused problems during the afternoon, preventing the first sighting at the bowling crease of Warne until nearly 6.30pm. In the end he sent down just three overs as Ramprakash eased to another half-century and there was an enticing battle awaiting on the third day.A painstaking century from Joe Sayers pushed Yorkshire slowly into the lead against their North East rivals Durham at Headingley. It was turgid progress but served Yorkshire’s cause well after Younis Khan had been trapped lbw for 42. Sayers’ hundred came off 318 deliveries and he has so far batted for more than eight hours. How Durham will be regretting their drop when he had just 3 on the first evening. The main stand came with wicketkeeper Gerard Brophy, who was the most fluent batsmen of the day making 80 off 110 balls. The partnership ended when Brophy stepped on his stumps against Steve Harmison as Durham hit back with a flurry of wickets. Sayers, though, couldn’t be shifted and Darren Gough helped add another 50 runs for the eighth wicket.

Division Two

Ronnie Irani hit a career-best 218 as Essex piled up a mammoth 584 for 7 against Glamorgan at Chelmsford. He reached his double century off 329 balls and passed his previous best of 207 with an on-driven six off Alex Wharf. He and Ryan ten Doeschate came within four runs of achieving a new sixth-wicket record for Essex, but ten Doeschate pulled a long-hop to Robert Croft at fine leg after reaching 148, his best score for Essex. Glamorgan’s bowlers were finally put out of their misery after 167 overs in the field, but the openers quickly realised there were still plenty of runs on offer. Matthew Elliott and Daniel Cherry opened with 139 and Elliott ended the day 15 short of his century after facing 127 balls.Wickets continued to tumble at Lord’s as Middlesex claimed a first-innings lead of 47 against Northamptonshire. Alan Richardson finished with four scalps as Middlesex claimed a lead of 47, which would have been more without Lance Klusener’s 44. Johann van der Wath took his seventh wicket of the match – Nick Compton playing no shot – before a long rain break during the afternoon. When the players returned for a brief session before the close Northamptonshire struck two vital blows to keep the match wide open.A 98-ball hundred from Craig Spearman was wasted by Gloucestershire as their batting collapsed to hand Nottinghamshire the ascendancy at Bristol. Spearman and Kadeer Ali added 146 in 35 overs for the first wicket, but once Andy Harris broke through the innings fell away. Spearman was removed by Ryan Sidebottom shortly after reaching his ton and Paul Franks took three middle-order wickets. Rain ended the day early but Gloucestershire were facing a sizeable deficit. Earlier, Nottinghamshire had fallen one run short of full batting points as Ashley Noffke claimed six wickets, including Samit Patel for 89.A captain’s innings from Darren Robinson helped pull Leicestershire ahead of Somerset at Grace Road. He added 154 with Australian Jim Allenby after nightwatchman David Masters fell early. Somerset fought back as Robinson and Allenby went in quick succession, but Tom New and Mansoor Amjad formed another solid stand of 117. New, who started the season with runs against Nottinghamshire, supported the more aggressive Amjad who hit 12 fours in his 67. Charl Willoughby eventually removed Amjad, who will soon leave for a Pakistan training camp, but not before Leicestershire gained a narrow lead.

Mathew Sinclair, the former New Zealand opener, revealed his plans of leaving the country and playing first-class cricket in South Africa, shortly after the New Zealand Cricket awards function at Auckland. Sinclair was the recipient of the Redpath Cup, the award given to the batsman whose performances in men’s First-Class cricket have been the most meritorious.Sinclair had been approached to join Eastern Province, a South African domestic side, for their final two games in April but had declined because of commitments to Central Districts and his wedding. He confirmed that talks are on with Eastern Province and is seriously considering the offer, keeping the financial benefits in mind.Sinclair was not awarded a central contract last year, much to his dismay, and stated that if he is ignored again this year, he would leave the country. New Zealand Cricket are due to announce their central contracts for a 12-month period starting June.”I don’t want this developing into a Dutch auction but I’ve got to look after my financial situation and it’s a very lucrative offer, especially when you compare it with what I’m getting at Central Districts,” Sinclair told stuff.co.nz. “It’s hard to see me getting a (NZC) contract after I missed out last year. I’ve scored a lot of runs this summer but, really, what are my chances? I’m not holding my breath.”Sinclair has enjoyed a good domestic season, piling up 848 runs at an average of 53 and won the award ahead of other strong contenders like Nathan Astle and Peter Fulton. He was left out of the national squad to tour South Africa due to his personal commitments but could be called up later should the team require any replacements.”I’ve given New Zealand cricket and Central cricket 10 years of my best service and if I go I’ll continue to live here for the other six months. I’m pretty serious about it. The opportunity has come from nowhere and they (Eastern Province) are very interested in getting a top-order batsman,” he said.Sinclair’s last match in New Zealand could come next week when Central Districts tackle Wellington in the State Championship final at the Basin Reserve in Wellington, the same ground in which he announced his arrival in Test cricket, smashing 214 on debut, against West Indies in 1999. However, his form deserted him almost instantly, with a string of inconsistent scores and was in and out of the side. He last played a Test in 2004, against Australia at Adelaide.

When Mahendra Singh Dhoni left the field today after having lashed 148 inonly his fifth innings in international cricket, he had imprinted such anarray of astounding strokes on the memory of those watching that a dozenknowledgeable observers could have each picked a personal favourite and notwo choices need have been the same.A purist might have gone for the off-drive for four with which Dhoni gotoff the mark, or the lofted extra-cover drive that took him to 99; loversof big hitting could have taken their pick from his four sixes, two overlong-off and two over midwicket; and those impressed by audaciousimprovisation might speak reverently of his little tip shot over thewicketkeeper’s head for two, or the lap sweep he brought off to a fulldelivery from Abdul Razzaq, skipping swiftly across his stumps and,bending low, sending the ball very fine for four with a cross-batted stroke.Others might choose to dwell upon general features of Dhoni’s batting asmarks of his special ability and self-belief: the manner in which hesmites short-of-length balls over point like Virender Sehwag, theconfidence with which he plays balls coming into him inside-out throughpoint and cover, his forays down the pitch or across his stumps tounsettle the quick bowlers, and his willingness to hit the ball in theair even with the field set back. It was fitting that when he came out,batting at No.3 for India for the first time, it was to join the rapaciousSehwag. Their partnership of 96 for the second wicket in a little more than tenovers was a glimpse into the future of Indian batting.Dhoni had been knocking on the doors of the national team for quite awhile – at least since the time he took two cracking hundreds off PakistanA in a tournament in Nairobi last August. But one of the curses afflictingwicketkeepers who show talent with the bat is that they neverthelesscontinue to compete only with the wicketkeeper who is the currentincumbent, and not the six batsmen in front of that keeper. On theevidence of this performance Dhoni should have been pipping one of VVSLaxman, Yuvraj Singh, and Mohammad Kaif much before this.Dhoni’s pent-up ambition – he hardly did anything of note with the bat onhis debut tour of Bangladesh last year – and desire to come good wasevident even from the more peripheral aspects of his game today. For allof the two-and-a-half hours he spent at the crease he sprinted between thewickets like a man possessed, his long mane of hair bobbing below hishelmet, and Rahul Dravid had to calm him down and tell him to take iteasy after one particularly frantic series of twos when he was in thenineties. And once he had got to his hundred his command over the bowlingwas total. It is not everyday that Shahid Afridi, who is devilishlydifficult to collar because of his variations and changes of pace, goesfor more than 80 in nine overs.In his few games Dhoni’s wicketkeeping has gone largely unremarked – andthis is one sign of how sound his glovework has been thus far. Of coursethere will be more said about his keeping as more is seen of him, but thequestion now before India is whether – despite the good form displayedrecently by Dinesh Karthik – there is any way in which Dhoni can be keptout of the Test team. Although there are still a couple of rough edges tohis batting, like a tendency to play uppishly through gully, few captainswould want to ignore the allure of a wicketkeeper-batsman who can turn aTest on its head in the space of an hour from No. 7.It seems hard to believe now that only last March Rahul Dravid was keepingwicket in Pakistan for want of a wicketkeeper who could bat adequately.Indeed, Dravid himself may have been thinking of the piquant reversal ofthis situation during the partnership of 149 he shared with Dhoni today,in which he played the supporting role while his younger partner tookcentrestage.When Dhoni finally skied a ball to midwicket and was caught, he departed toa standing ovation, with his everpresent swagger and with thered tints in his hair glinting in the sun. It felt as if something hadchanged violently within the long-settled and familiar order that is theIndian batting line-up, as if an explosion had gone off whose echo wouldring in the ears for very long.Chandrahas Choudhury is a staff writer with Wisden Asia Cricket magazine.