Andrew Strauss is relaxed about losing the England captaincy for the ICC World Twenty20 but hopes to lead the team to victory over West Indies and Australia this summer in both Test and one-day cricket.
Speaking at the launch of the county season at Lord’s, Strauss said that he has “no problem handing over the reins to someone else” for the 16-day tournament in June. “They asked my opinion on it and I felt that it was not my strongest form of the game by any means,” he said. “Whoever captains any team should be worth their place. I didn’t feel that I was one of the strongest 11 Twenty20 players in the country.”
There was expectation that Strauss, whose highest Twenty20 score since 2003 is 33, would be named in the 30-man provisional squad announced on Monday after he made 79 off 61 balls as England won the fourth one-day international against West Indies last month, but Strauss demurred.
“That innings proves there’s more to my game than being a stodgy Test opener,” he said. “I hope I can continue doing a job in 50-over cricket, but in Twenty20 you need the team to be scoring 170 to 180, and to do that you need power players, which is not necessarily a strength of mine.” While he was named as captain in all forms of the game for the tour to the Caribbean, the fact that he played the only Twenty20 match in a shirt borrowed from Matt Prior, with Prior’s name taped over, suggested that Strauss was not wholly part of England’s Twenty20 plans.
Strauss said that missing the World Twenty20 would give him time to prepare for the Ashes series. “If there is an opportunity to play some championship matches I’d jump at it,” he said. Middlesex play two four-day games during the tournament, away to Essex and Gloucestershire.
A stand-in captain will be named on May 1, when the squad is whittled down to 15 names. Strauss gave a boost to Rob Key’s hopes by praising the job he had done with Kent. “Key is a good operator and definitely one of the names on the list,” he said.
“The fact that some of the county players have played more Twenty20 helps them. It is a very different format and you need to plan for that. Whoever captains has to definitely be worth their place in the XI.” He questioned whether Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood, his regular team-mates, had the hunger for the role. “If someone is going to be good at the job, they have got to want the job,” he said.
Dwayne Bravo has been ruled out of West Indies’ two Tests against England next month after failing to recover from ankle surgery. Daren Powell, the fast bowler, and Ryan Hinds, the middle-order batsman, were left out of a 17-man tour party that includes three uncapped players in Nelon Pascal, a fast bowler, Andrew Richardson, a medium-pace bowler, and Dale Richards, a batsman.
Source:the times
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Andy Murray confines high living to his world ranking
As far as the eye could see - and from Andy Murray's vantage point on the 25th floor the vista was pretty stunning - the sky was a radiant shade of blue. One sentence from him summed it up. “I've got a good thing going,” he said. And so he has.
The eleventh title of his career - as many as Tim Henman collected and he did not get off the mark in ATP World Tour terms until he was 22, an age that Murray reaches next month - sparked yet more intrigue and debate about how far the Scot can go in a sport grateful that he chose to excel at it.
In this purple period for men's tennis, where heroic matches and high achievement are commonplace, Murray is excelling to the extent that his 6-2, 7-5 victory over Novak Djokovic in the Sony Ericsson Open final on Sunday was his 57th success in 64 singles matches since Wimbledon 2008. No one, not even Rafael Nadal, the world No1, can beat that across the same time frame.
When Murray said at the breakfast table yesterday that he was feeling a bit rough, it was nothing to do with partying the night away, for he lives a famously abstemious lifestyle. After 12 high-intensity matches (plus three doubles) in 26 days, reaching successive Masters finals and landing the crown here, it was natural for the body to take some picking up. There was no alcoholic intake - he has not had a drink for four years.
I just hate the taste of the stuff. I did have a sip of my girlfriend Kim's strawberry cocktail last night but it was horrible,” he said. He recalls his days at the Barcelona training camp as a teenager where, after five days of solid toil, he would have a bit of a shakedown at the weekend.
“Then I'd feel terrible on the Monday and into the Tuesday and that was a complete waste. I didn't enjoy going out, the music was too loud, you couldn't hear yourself speak and you'd wake up with a terrible sore throat.”
He is not a puritan, far from it, but the enormous amount of dedication to making himself the best player that he can be is shown in his present form and how much he is hopeful that it can be maintained and improved upon. At another time, he says, all of the present top three - Murray is No 4 but closing fast on Djokovic - would have accumulated enough ranking points to be the No 1 player. How about himself? “I don't know, but I suppose I wouldn't be far off,” he said.
The clay-court season is advancing and he flies to Monte Carlo on Friday to prepare for an unremitting seven weeks of tournament play and heavy-duty practice. There is much to work on, much to take in, much to achieve. Keeping one step ahead tactically is everyone's aim.
“It is about understanding how to use my game best,” he said. “My serve is improving, I'm more comfortable with many things but I still think I need to move forward more. It's getting to the stage where everyone is so good from the baseline that it is essential to be able to end the points more quickly. That needs to become a bigger part of my game.”
Source:the times
The eleventh title of his career - as many as Tim Henman collected and he did not get off the mark in ATP World Tour terms until he was 22, an age that Murray reaches next month - sparked yet more intrigue and debate about how far the Scot can go in a sport grateful that he chose to excel at it.
In this purple period for men's tennis, where heroic matches and high achievement are commonplace, Murray is excelling to the extent that his 6-2, 7-5 victory over Novak Djokovic in the Sony Ericsson Open final on Sunday was his 57th success in 64 singles matches since Wimbledon 2008. No one, not even Rafael Nadal, the world No1, can beat that across the same time frame.
When Murray said at the breakfast table yesterday that he was feeling a bit rough, it was nothing to do with partying the night away, for he lives a famously abstemious lifestyle. After 12 high-intensity matches (plus three doubles) in 26 days, reaching successive Masters finals and landing the crown here, it was natural for the body to take some picking up. There was no alcoholic intake - he has not had a drink for four years.
I just hate the taste of the stuff. I did have a sip of my girlfriend Kim's strawberry cocktail last night but it was horrible,” he said. He recalls his days at the Barcelona training camp as a teenager where, after five days of solid toil, he would have a bit of a shakedown at the weekend.
“Then I'd feel terrible on the Monday and into the Tuesday and that was a complete waste. I didn't enjoy going out, the music was too loud, you couldn't hear yourself speak and you'd wake up with a terrible sore throat.”
He is not a puritan, far from it, but the enormous amount of dedication to making himself the best player that he can be is shown in his present form and how much he is hopeful that it can be maintained and improved upon. At another time, he says, all of the present top three - Murray is No 4 but closing fast on Djokovic - would have accumulated enough ranking points to be the No 1 player. How about himself? “I don't know, but I suppose I wouldn't be far off,” he said.
The clay-court season is advancing and he flies to Monte Carlo on Friday to prepare for an unremitting seven weeks of tournament play and heavy-duty practice. There is much to work on, much to take in, much to achieve. Keeping one step ahead tactically is everyone's aim.
“It is about understanding how to use my game best,” he said. “My serve is improving, I'm more comfortable with many things but I still think I need to move forward more. It's getting to the stage where everyone is so good from the baseline that it is essential to be able to end the points more quickly. That needs to become a bigger part of my game.”
Source:the times
Godolphin team primed for early start to the Flat campaign
The royal blue procession is back in Newmarket this morning as Godolphin's expensively assembled stable resumes work on the gallops, charged with restoring lustre to the creation of Sheikh Mohammed. His brother, Sheikh Hamdan al-Maktoum, is meanwhile monitoring events in America and France, where two of his classic contenders are set for critical runs.
Questioning the policies and productivity of Godolphin is almost an annual rite of spring but those involved will expect no different this year. Saeed bin Suroor, who has trained the oscillating team since its inception 15 years ago, dipped to ninth in the championship last season, his lowest placing since 2003.
Once more, there were no classics to celebrate and only one group one victory in Europe. The defence, as ever, is that Godolphin races worldwide, and enjoyed greater successes elsewhere, but the home base for the northern hemisphere summer is Britain and that is where many will continue to judge them.
Central to the ongoing debate is Godolphin's routine of taking many of their horses to Dubai for the winter, and the effect such changes of climate have upon them. An earlier return date has been forced upon them this year, the building of the new Meydan racecourse compromising their facilities, and they plan to have rare runners at the Craven meeting which opens Newmarket's season next week.
Simon Crisford, racing manager to Godolphin and himself just back from Dubai, said yesterday: “April has historically been the only month when we've had no runners, so this will be interesting. Our plan at this stage is to run Liberation, City Style and Hatta Fort at the meeting.”
Crisford rejects the argument that shipping horses back from Dubai has contributed to Godolphin's recent slow starts. “Coming back earlier might prove to be a good thing but I'd never considered the previous way was bad. We won nine Guineas within a month of coming off the plane, which must say something. Horses don't mind coming from hot climates to cold - it's the other way that can affect some of them.”
A second batch of 35 horses arrived from Dubai yesterday and Crisford expects the Newmarket strength to be around 175 this year. He pinpoints Shaweel as their likeliest candidate for the 2,000 Guineas and reports that Kite Wood, a heady purchase out of the Michael Jarvis yard, is on target to reappear in the Dante Stakes at York.
“He stayed behind through the winter,” he explained. “I saw him yesterday and he's certainly a fine, strong horse. He'll be trained for the Dante, and hopefully then the Derby, but he wasn't bought specifically for that project and we have longer-term ambitions for him.”
The short term is paramount for Mafaaz and Naaqoos, who will represent Sheikh Hamdan in Keeneland and Paris respectively this weekend. Naaqoos, trained by Freddie Head and 6-1 for the 2,000 Guineas after a fine juvenile season, returns in the Prix Djebel at Maisons-Laffitte on Friday, while Mafaaz is already in America to contest the grade one Blue Grass Stakes on Saturday.
This race was identified by John Gosden, his trainer, as preparation for the Kentucky Derby berth he earned at Kempton last month. Richard Hills will travel to Keeneland for the mount.
Source:the times
Questioning the policies and productivity of Godolphin is almost an annual rite of spring but those involved will expect no different this year. Saeed bin Suroor, who has trained the oscillating team since its inception 15 years ago, dipped to ninth in the championship last season, his lowest placing since 2003.
Once more, there were no classics to celebrate and only one group one victory in Europe. The defence, as ever, is that Godolphin races worldwide, and enjoyed greater successes elsewhere, but the home base for the northern hemisphere summer is Britain and that is where many will continue to judge them.
Central to the ongoing debate is Godolphin's routine of taking many of their horses to Dubai for the winter, and the effect such changes of climate have upon them. An earlier return date has been forced upon them this year, the building of the new Meydan racecourse compromising their facilities, and they plan to have rare runners at the Craven meeting which opens Newmarket's season next week.
Simon Crisford, racing manager to Godolphin and himself just back from Dubai, said yesterday: “April has historically been the only month when we've had no runners, so this will be interesting. Our plan at this stage is to run Liberation, City Style and Hatta Fort at the meeting.”
Crisford rejects the argument that shipping horses back from Dubai has contributed to Godolphin's recent slow starts. “Coming back earlier might prove to be a good thing but I'd never considered the previous way was bad. We won nine Guineas within a month of coming off the plane, which must say something. Horses don't mind coming from hot climates to cold - it's the other way that can affect some of them.”
A second batch of 35 horses arrived from Dubai yesterday and Crisford expects the Newmarket strength to be around 175 this year. He pinpoints Shaweel as their likeliest candidate for the 2,000 Guineas and reports that Kite Wood, a heady purchase out of the Michael Jarvis yard, is on target to reappear in the Dante Stakes at York.
“He stayed behind through the winter,” he explained. “I saw him yesterday and he's certainly a fine, strong horse. He'll be trained for the Dante, and hopefully then the Derby, but he wasn't bought specifically for that project and we have longer-term ambitions for him.”
The short term is paramount for Mafaaz and Naaqoos, who will represent Sheikh Hamdan in Keeneland and Paris respectively this weekend. Naaqoos, trained by Freddie Head and 6-1 for the 2,000 Guineas after a fine juvenile season, returns in the Prix Djebel at Maisons-Laffitte on Friday, while Mafaaz is already in America to contest the grade one Blue Grass Stakes on Saturday.
This race was identified by John Gosden, his trainer, as preparation for the Kentucky Derby berth he earned at Kempton last month. Richard Hills will travel to Keeneland for the mount.
Source:the times
Tiger Woods in the mood for more heroics
The performances of Tiger Woods in the press conferences he gives on the eve of major championships rarely vary, whether he is in the United States or Britain. He always says that he believes he can win and that he has prepared well, and he acknowledges his rival golfers gracefully but without giving them a scintilla more respect than they deserve.
From time to time he flashes that wide smile of his, the one that looks as though it could light up a darkened room. He is quietly composed, assured in himself, seemingly incapable of a verbal stumble. From top to toe, he is the warrior prepared for battle.
And so it was at Augusta yesterday before the Masters, starting tomorrow, the first major championship in which he has competed since winning the US Open in June. In April last year, two months before he had surgery on his left knee to mend an anterior cruciate ligament, he had said that he thought it was “easily within reason” that he would win all four major championships in one year.
Asked yesterday if he thought it was on for this year, he replied: “I know I can do it. It’s hard for me to sit here and tell you that it can’t be done because I have done it.” [Woods won four consecutive major championships in 2000 and 2001, rather than in one calendar year.]
For all the talk of Padraig Harrington’s chances of winning a third major championship in a row, of the youthful promise of Rory McIlroy, Danny Lee and Ryo Ishikawa, three teenagers who are playing in this event for the first time, and of Greg Norman’s first appearance at this event since 2002, the fact is that Woods is the firm favourite to win a fifth Green Jacket and claim a fifteenth major championship.
He will launch his bid in the company of Stewart Cink, his fellow American, and Jeev Milkha Singh, of India, in the penultimate group. Immediately behind Woods, and his inevitable huge gallery, will be McIlroy and Ishikawa, alongside another talented youngster, Anthony Kim, of the US.
So compelling was Woods’s form and so remarkable was the way he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill ten days ago that he is 2-1 to win here. He sounded satisfied with his golf, even though he said he was “not in it at Doral”, his first strokeplay event back, the CA Championship, in early March. “I was on the periphery there,” he said. “I played my way into a back-door top ten. This past week it was different. That was great. To be able to control the flight of a seven-iron and to see how well my body reacted.”
His behaviour yesterday was that of a man whose mind is set on the next few days and not interested in the past few months. It was as if the knee injury had not occurred. There was no mention of the hours spent doing rehabilitation, only a few of the times when he felt depressed, and only one of the times when he was uncertain how well his injured knee would recover. “I was surprised at how quickly I got the feeling of being back,” Woods said. “It came back to me at the Match Play [in February, his first event since his operation]. Stevie [Williams, his caddie] said: ‘It’s just like we haven’t left. It feels the same.’ Coming here feels just like any other major.”
This week Woods has not been able to have his favoured early-morning practice rounds. On Monday, rainstorms prevented him from playing and yesterday a 25mph wind was blowing.
And this brought him to the single biggest doubt in his mind. It was not about the form of any of his rivals. Even Woods did not know whether the course would be as firm and unyielding as it had been in 2008 or whether it would be as cold and wet as it had been in 2007. This was the question he was thinking most about on the eve of his 47th major championship as a professional. Even Woods has no control over the weather.
Source:the times
From time to time he flashes that wide smile of his, the one that looks as though it could light up a darkened room. He is quietly composed, assured in himself, seemingly incapable of a verbal stumble. From top to toe, he is the warrior prepared for battle.
And so it was at Augusta yesterday before the Masters, starting tomorrow, the first major championship in which he has competed since winning the US Open in June. In April last year, two months before he had surgery on his left knee to mend an anterior cruciate ligament, he had said that he thought it was “easily within reason” that he would win all four major championships in one year.
Asked yesterday if he thought it was on for this year, he replied: “I know I can do it. It’s hard for me to sit here and tell you that it can’t be done because I have done it.” [Woods won four consecutive major championships in 2000 and 2001, rather than in one calendar year.]
For all the talk of Padraig Harrington’s chances of winning a third major championship in a row, of the youthful promise of Rory McIlroy, Danny Lee and Ryo Ishikawa, three teenagers who are playing in this event for the first time, and of Greg Norman’s first appearance at this event since 2002, the fact is that Woods is the firm favourite to win a fifth Green Jacket and claim a fifteenth major championship.
He will launch his bid in the company of Stewart Cink, his fellow American, and Jeev Milkha Singh, of India, in the penultimate group. Immediately behind Woods, and his inevitable huge gallery, will be McIlroy and Ishikawa, alongside another talented youngster, Anthony Kim, of the US.
So compelling was Woods’s form and so remarkable was the way he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill ten days ago that he is 2-1 to win here. He sounded satisfied with his golf, even though he said he was “not in it at Doral”, his first strokeplay event back, the CA Championship, in early March. “I was on the periphery there,” he said. “I played my way into a back-door top ten. This past week it was different. That was great. To be able to control the flight of a seven-iron and to see how well my body reacted.”
His behaviour yesterday was that of a man whose mind is set on the next few days and not interested in the past few months. It was as if the knee injury had not occurred. There was no mention of the hours spent doing rehabilitation, only a few of the times when he felt depressed, and only one of the times when he was uncertain how well his injured knee would recover. “I was surprised at how quickly I got the feeling of being back,” Woods said. “It came back to me at the Match Play [in February, his first event since his operation]. Stevie [Williams, his caddie] said: ‘It’s just like we haven’t left. It feels the same.’ Coming here feels just like any other major.”
This week Woods has not been able to have his favoured early-morning practice rounds. On Monday, rainstorms prevented him from playing and yesterday a 25mph wind was blowing.
And this brought him to the single biggest doubt in his mind. It was not about the form of any of his rivals. Even Woods did not know whether the course would be as firm and unyielding as it had been in 2008 or whether it would be as cold and wet as it had been in 2007. This was the question he was thinking most about on the eve of his 47th major championship as a professional. Even Woods has no control over the weather.
Source:the times
Amir Khan handed world title shot against Andreas Kotelnik
Amir Khan will fight for his first world title against WBA light-welterweight champion Andreas Kotelnik in Britain on June 27.
The 22-year-old from Bolton stopped three-time world champion Marco Antonio Barrera last month and Frank Warren, his promoter, has now agreed a deal that pits him against the German-based Ukrainian. Khan will move up a division for the fight.
"To fight for the world title in only my 22nd fight is fantastic," Khan said. "This is the best news that I could have received. Frank has done a great job getting the world title fight for me in Britain and now I have to go out and win it.
"I've seen Kotelnik a few times and I've always been impressed by him but once my trainer, Freddie Roach, works out the game plan to beat him it's my job to execute it on the night as I did effectively against Barrera."
Kotelnik gained a split decision against Marcos Rene Maidana to hold on to his title on February 7 for his 31st victory against two losses and a draw.
Khan has won 20 fights and has lost once.
Source:the times
The 22-year-old from Bolton stopped three-time world champion Marco Antonio Barrera last month and Frank Warren, his promoter, has now agreed a deal that pits him against the German-based Ukrainian. Khan will move up a division for the fight.
"To fight for the world title in only my 22nd fight is fantastic," Khan said. "This is the best news that I could have received. Frank has done a great job getting the world title fight for me in Britain and now I have to go out and win it.
"I've seen Kotelnik a few times and I've always been impressed by him but once my trainer, Freddie Roach, works out the game plan to beat him it's my job to execute it on the night as I did effectively against Barrera."
Kotelnik gained a split decision against Marcos Rene Maidana to hold on to his title on February 7 for his 31st victory against two losses and a draw.
Khan has won 20 fights and has lost once.
Source:the times
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