Cook is living the dream



Alastair Cook's response after his first day as a captain in Test cricket may seem a bit hackneyed, but if there is such thing as a perfect start, then this was it. "It's what dreams are made of," he said after a majestic, unbeaten knock that has probably already sealed the fate of the first Test between England and Bangladesh in Chittagong. "To bat all day, I'm really proud of that and obviously the team are in a really good position."

Cook (158) did not just stay at the crease all day, but he did it with style, moving into three-figures with a glorious sweep for a six off Mahmudullah and England closed the day on a healthy 374 for three. "I think that's the first time I've brought a hundred up with a six - something to write home about," added the 25-year-old, who became the fifth England captain to score a hundred in his first match in charge.

The last man to do that was Kevin Pietersen, who added to England's joy by climbing out of his recent lean spell with a typically forceful innings and a 170-run partnership with his captain. With just 69 runs from seven innings on the tour, Pietersen needed a riposte for his critics and he almost managed one - falling to a left-arm spinner once more, just one short of his first century in 14 Test innings.

Pietersen's last Test century came at Port of Spain last March and he has since struggled with injuries and form. But with a big three-figure score beckoning, he rocked back to nudge a single, and lost his off-stump to Abdur Razzak. Given his recent drought, Pietersen was not too worried about missing out on what would have been his 17th century in Test cricket. "The lads have just asked if I would have taken 99 this morning the way I've been playing the last couple of weeks and I certainly would have done," he said. "I'm disappointed, but the team are in a fantastic position and 99 is better than nought."

Pietersen's primary concern on the tour has been the spinners, the left-armers in particular. But not one to shy away from labouring in the nets, Pietersen sought advice from different quarters - Andy Flower, the England team director and one of the best players of spin in his days as a Zimbabwe international, Duncan Fletcher, the former England coach, and Rahul Dravid, India's Test batting maestro.

"I've had long chats to Andy Flower," he said. "Andy was obviously an amazing player of spin - and I spoke to Rahul as well earlier in the week. He gave me a few tips and I've just got a really nice message from him saying 'it worked'. "I've played with Rahul for Bangalore, I've played a lot of Test match cricket against him and in two weeks I'll be spending a month with him [at the IPL]. It's great to spend time speaking to people like that and he's helped a heck of a lot.

"The hard work has obviously paid off and to get 99 was special." arizvi@thenational.ae

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Tree of Hell

Starring: Raed Zeno, Hadi Awada, Dr Mohammad Abdalla

Director: Raed Zeno

Rating: 4/5

The specs

Engine: Dual 180kW and 300kW front and rear motors

Power: 480kW

Torque: 850Nm

Transmission: Single-speed automatic

Price: From Dh359,900 ($98,000)

On sale: Now

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Why your domicile status is important

Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.

Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born. 

UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.

A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.

Profile of Udrive

Date started: March 2016

Founder: Hasib Khan

Based: Dubai

Employees: 40

Amount raised (to date): $3.25m – $750,000 seed funding in 2017 and a Seed round of $2.5m last year. Raised $1.3m from Eureeca investors in January 2021 as part of a Series A round with a $5m target.

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THE SPECS

      

 

Engine: 1.5-litre

 

Transmission: 6-speed automatic

 

Power: 110 horsepower 

 

Torque: 147Nm 

 

Price: From Dh59,700 

 

On sale: now  

 
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
Napoleon
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Employment lawyer Meriel Schindler of Withers Worldwide shares her tips on achieving equal pay
 
Do your homework
Make sure that you are being offered a fair salary. There is lots of industry data available, and you can always talk to people who have come out of the organisation. Where I see people coming a cropper is where they haven’t done their homework.
 
Don’t be afraid to negotiate

It’s quite standard to negotiate if you think an offer is on the low side. The job is unlikely to be withdrawn if you ask for money, and if that did happen I’d question whether you want to work for an employer who is so hypersensitive.
 
Know your worth
Women tend to be a bit more reticent to talk about their achievements. In my experience they need to have more confidence in their own abilities – men will big up what they’ve done to get a pay rise, and to compete women need to turn up the volume.
 
Work together
If you suspect men in your organisation are being paid more, look your boss in the eye and say, “I want you to assure me that I’m paid equivalent to my peers”. If you’re not getting a straight answer, talk to your peer group and consider taking direct action to fix inequality.

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Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher:  Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5

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While you're here

Michael Young: Where is Lebanon headed?

Kareem Shaheen: I owe everything to Beirut

Raghida Dergham: We have to bounce back

COMPANY PROFILE

Company: Bidzi

● Started: 2024

● Founders: Akshay Dosaj and Asif Rashid

● Based: Dubai, UAE

● Industry: M&A

● Funding size: Bootstrapped

● No of employees: Nine

Joker: Folie a Deux

Starring: Joaquin Phoenix, Lady Gaga, Brendan Gleeson

Director: Todd Phillips 

Rating: 2/5

SNAPSHOT

While Huawei did launch the first smartphone with a 50MP image sensor in its P40 series in 2020, Oppo in 2014 introduced the Find 7, which was capable of taking 50MP images: this was done using a combination of a 13MP sensor and software that resulted in shots seemingly taken from a 50MP camera.

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