If anything highlights the thin line between success and failure then it is the fact that Goldie Sayers was 38 centimetres short of a seat in business class. The javelin thrower boarded the plane home from Beijing and turned right while her team-mates mixed medals and metal cutlery to the left.
It was a small thing that niggled away at a woman who was among the unluckiest on the Great Britain Olympic team. Her best throw of 65.75 metres would have given her a medal in the 2004 Games in Athens and at the World Championships in 2007. She also had to contend with having to rush her last throw after confusion over the countdown clock and watching as Mariya Abakumova, of Russia, won silver.
“To be beaten by someone who came from nowhere and threw over 70 metres means you just have to smile,” Sayers said in the aftermath, prompting a smattering of “cheated” headlines. Given the sting that ensnared seven Russian athletes on the eve of the Games, any rapid improvement inevitably raises suspicion. However, Abakumova has never failed a drugs test and Sayers knows she cannot allow any doubts to fester.
Instead, she believes she can soon break the British record she set at the Olympics. “I’m making big strides,” she said. “I will go to the World Championships in Berlin in August with confidence and I certainly don’t want to be fourth again. It was a horrible feeling, but I also knew I’d done well and that throwing that far would have brought me two or three medals in recent times.”
Sayers is also getting better under the stewardship of her coach, Mark Roberson, and is now well versed in dealing with flying doctors. “I was training in Italy last week and the field doubled as a landing pad for helicopters,” she said. “That was quite an experience. I threw really well, although the propellers blew my marker, a Coke can, away.” Paramedics helped her to look for the can under the helicopter while they waited for a patient.
It was an unusual training session but Sayers, 26, is one of the more interesting athletes. She has a first-class degree in sport and exercise science, was an under-11 national table tennis champion and is the daughter of Pete Sayers, the late bluegrass singer.
The multitasker from Cambridge is also taking a diploma in marketing and so will have pre-championship exams to contend with this year. The javelin, however, remains her main focus and she explained its attraction.
“It is a very technical thing but basically I am like the bow for an arrow,” she said. “I get into a rhythm and can tell from my run-up if it’s going to be a good one. There are only 4.3 seconds so once you start down the runway there’s not a lot you can do to change. I focus on a spot in the sky and just love the buzz of seeing the javelin fly.
“There’s a lot more to it than people think. It’s quite spectacular if you are down at ground level and far more complicated than running, which is basically putting one foot in front of the other. If my foot is an inch out, it can cost me three or four metres.”
Despite a modest start to the season at the Loughborough International on Sunday, where she threw 59.77 metres, she thinks she can throw 68 metres this summer, which should give her a medal in Berlin and form a timeline back to stars such as Steve Backley, Fatima Whitbread and Tessa Sanderson.
Barbora Spotakova, of the Czech Republic, the Olympic champion and world record-holder, appears to be out of sight on the back of a training regime that involves drinking a beer a day, but Sayers can threaten the rest. And despite the frustration of Beijing, she says that “every second of blood, sweat, tears, moods, heartbreak and emotion” was worth it.
Though disappointed, she said she felt proud as she sat by the toilets at the back of the plane from Beijing, but would have loved to have been part of the knees-up. However, she believes she will be peaking perfectly to claim a better seat at the 2012 party.
Source:The times
Saturday, May 23, 2009
Obstacles block hunt for next Nicole Cooke
They returned from Britain’s most successful Olympic Games in 100 years as heroes, garlanded with medals, to inspire thousands to get on their bikes. But now cycling is facing up to the home truths of a bureaucracy that seems determined to block the progress of a new generation of champions.
For the message that has gone out from government ministers encouraging families on to their bikes to take up a sport in which Britain leads the world has not yet reached the corridors of officialdom.
Amateurs should have been taking to the roads in droves this weekend, with many youngsters hoping to emulate the success of Nicole Cooke, the world and Olympic road race champion, and Mark Cavendish, rated as the world’s fastest man on the road racing circuit, who has lit up the Giro d’Italia this month with his raw speed.
But a lack of police co-operation and bureaucratic obstacles erected by the Highways Agency are taking their toll of the sort of events in which Cooke and Cavendish learnt their trade. Four of 12 scheduled amateur tour events this year have been cancelled, including the Tour of Wessex road race, which was to have taken place on Bank Holiday Monday.
Although a fun cycle event will go ahead, plans for the road race were scrapped after police wanted about £140,000 to provide and train motor-cycle outriders.
“Nicole Cooke and Mark Cavendish started their careers in these kind of events,” Nicholas Bourne, director of Pendragon Sports, the organiser of the Tour of Wessex, said. “But where will the new riders get their experience? Sport for the grass roots is organised by volunteers but there is no encouragement, just these blockages.
“We simply wanted to encourage cycling by bringing a national event to the West Country. Somerset County Council were right behind it, even sponsoring the event. But then the Highways Agency stepped in and the police wanted us to pay for training motorcycle outriders for almost a week before the event. The result is that we couldn’t go ahead.”
The timing of cycling’s problems could not be more frustrating. Membership of British Cycling has jumped by 10,000 in three years to more than 25,000, cycling for pleasure is enjoying an unprecedented boom and there are ambitious plans to launch a road race team next year, possibly with Cavendish leading a strong line-up of British racers to spearhead an assault on the Tour de France.
While praise is heaped on British Cycling, Peter King, the executive director, who established the organisation as a world leader in little more than a decade, fears that the messages from Government for Britain to get on its collective bike fall on deaf ears in the boardrooms of officials who are responsible for giving the green light to events around the country.
“These road races put on by volunteers all over the country are the lifeblood of the sport,” he said. “They are the feeder system for our Olympic champions. We listen to the encouraging words of ministers and agree with them, but it is difficult to square that with what is actually happening.
“The Olympic team have brought thousands of people into cycling but they need to be encouraged, not put off. It is time to think through what exactly we want to do about cycling.”
The Tour Series will begin tomorrow, although the events will be limited to city streets easily controlled and closed off and will be exclusive to professional riders. Milton Keynes hosts the first of the series, featuring Olympians such as Ed Clancy, Chris Newton and Rob Hayles, before the tour moves on to nine other venues, including Exeter, Woking and Blackpool.
Gerry Sutcliffe, the Sports Minister, has promised to get cycle racing back on the roads, while British Cycling is training dozens of volunteers who can help to marshal roads. But it is too late for the Tour of Wessex and other events that are the victims of the sort of bureaucratic roadblock that could cost Britain medals at the Olympics.
Source:The times
For the message that has gone out from government ministers encouraging families on to their bikes to take up a sport in which Britain leads the world has not yet reached the corridors of officialdom.
Amateurs should have been taking to the roads in droves this weekend, with many youngsters hoping to emulate the success of Nicole Cooke, the world and Olympic road race champion, and Mark Cavendish, rated as the world’s fastest man on the road racing circuit, who has lit up the Giro d’Italia this month with his raw speed.
But a lack of police co-operation and bureaucratic obstacles erected by the Highways Agency are taking their toll of the sort of events in which Cooke and Cavendish learnt their trade. Four of 12 scheduled amateur tour events this year have been cancelled, including the Tour of Wessex road race, which was to have taken place on Bank Holiday Monday.
Although a fun cycle event will go ahead, plans for the road race were scrapped after police wanted about £140,000 to provide and train motor-cycle outriders.
“Nicole Cooke and Mark Cavendish started their careers in these kind of events,” Nicholas Bourne, director of Pendragon Sports, the organiser of the Tour of Wessex, said. “But where will the new riders get their experience? Sport for the grass roots is organised by volunteers but there is no encouragement, just these blockages.
“We simply wanted to encourage cycling by bringing a national event to the West Country. Somerset County Council were right behind it, even sponsoring the event. But then the Highways Agency stepped in and the police wanted us to pay for training motorcycle outriders for almost a week before the event. The result is that we couldn’t go ahead.”
The timing of cycling’s problems could not be more frustrating. Membership of British Cycling has jumped by 10,000 in three years to more than 25,000, cycling for pleasure is enjoying an unprecedented boom and there are ambitious plans to launch a road race team next year, possibly with Cavendish leading a strong line-up of British racers to spearhead an assault on the Tour de France.
While praise is heaped on British Cycling, Peter King, the executive director, who established the organisation as a world leader in little more than a decade, fears that the messages from Government for Britain to get on its collective bike fall on deaf ears in the boardrooms of officials who are responsible for giving the green light to events around the country.
“These road races put on by volunteers all over the country are the lifeblood of the sport,” he said. “They are the feeder system for our Olympic champions. We listen to the encouraging words of ministers and agree with them, but it is difficult to square that with what is actually happening.
“The Olympic team have brought thousands of people into cycling but they need to be encouraged, not put off. It is time to think through what exactly we want to do about cycling.”
The Tour Series will begin tomorrow, although the events will be limited to city streets easily controlled and closed off and will be exclusive to professional riders. Milton Keynes hosts the first of the series, featuring Olympians such as Ed Clancy, Chris Newton and Rob Hayles, before the tour moves on to nine other venues, including Exeter, Woking and Blackpool.
Gerry Sutcliffe, the Sports Minister, has promised to get cycle racing back on the roads, while British Cycling is training dozens of volunteers who can help to marshal roads. But it is too late for the Tour of Wessex and other events that are the victims of the sort of bureaucratic roadblock that could cost Britain medals at the Olympics.
Source:The times
Floyd Mayweather Jr shows he is still a crowd-pleaser
When Floyd Mayweather Jr insisted that he wanted to allow the public to attend a workout in East London yesterday afternoon, he possibly expected a few dozen fans to turn up. Instead thousands came.
Fans are believed to have arrived at the Peacock gym in Canning Town as early as 6am - nine hours before the scheduled start time. By 11am, a large crowd was waiting, by 3pm, the doors had long been locked. The forecourt was jammed with hundreds of fans, the street outside was blocked, with traffic backed up, and some even stood on the flyover overlooking the gym to grab a glimpse of the former five-weight world champion. Eventually police arrived to ensure order.
Mayweather was on a two-day trip to London to promote his bout against Juan Manuel Márquez, the WBA and WBO lightweight champion, in Las Vegas on July 18. It is the 32-year-old Mayweather's first bout since retiring from the sport after beating Ricky Hatton in December 2007.“It is like Beatlemania,” Richard Schaefer, the chief executive of Golden Boy, the promoter, said. “Floyd's car could not get through the crowds. People were surrounding the car, taking pictures. This is why we wanted to come. The British fans are the best.”
Mayweather seemed shocked and slightly overwhelmed. “There are no fans like the London fans and the British fans,” he said. “I'm appreciative and I'll try to put on a show.”
In sauna-like temperatures inside the gym, the workout was further delayed when crash barriers were overrun. But Mayweather finally put on his show, dazzling on the pads with his uncle, Roger, his trainer. For those that got to see it, and Mayweather, who flies home today, it was something they would not forget.
- Tyson Fury, the 6ft 9in 20-year-old heavyweight hope from Manchester, faces the first real test of his fledgeling professional career against Scott Belshaw, a 6ft 7in Ulsterman who has lost once in 11 bouts, in Watford tonight. Darren Barker, from Barnet, tops the bill, making the third defence of his Commonwealth middleweight title against Darren McDermott.
Source:The times
Fans are believed to have arrived at the Peacock gym in Canning Town as early as 6am - nine hours before the scheduled start time. By 11am, a large crowd was waiting, by 3pm, the doors had long been locked. The forecourt was jammed with hundreds of fans, the street outside was blocked, with traffic backed up, and some even stood on the flyover overlooking the gym to grab a glimpse of the former five-weight world champion. Eventually police arrived to ensure order.
Mayweather was on a two-day trip to London to promote his bout against Juan Manuel Márquez, the WBA and WBO lightweight champion, in Las Vegas on July 18. It is the 32-year-old Mayweather's first bout since retiring from the sport after beating Ricky Hatton in December 2007.“It is like Beatlemania,” Richard Schaefer, the chief executive of Golden Boy, the promoter, said. “Floyd's car could not get through the crowds. People were surrounding the car, taking pictures. This is why we wanted to come. The British fans are the best.”
Mayweather seemed shocked and slightly overwhelmed. “There are no fans like the London fans and the British fans,” he said. “I'm appreciative and I'll try to put on a show.”
In sauna-like temperatures inside the gym, the workout was further delayed when crash barriers were overrun. But Mayweather finally put on his show, dazzling on the pads with his uncle, Roger, his trainer. For those that got to see it, and Mayweather, who flies home today, it was something they would not forget.
- Tyson Fury, the 6ft 9in 20-year-old heavyweight hope from Manchester, faces the first real test of his fledgeling professional career against Scott Belshaw, a 6ft 7in Ulsterman who has lost once in 11 bouts, in Watford tonight. Darren Barker, from Barnet, tops the bill, making the third defence of his Commonwealth middleweight title against Darren McDermott.
Source:The times
Andy Murray has designs on the French Open
He is next in line and has been since Novak Djokovic split the Roger Federer-Rafael Nadal hegemony at the Australian Open in 2008, after which the pair closed ranks again, extending their dominion to 15 of the past 16 grand-slam tournaments.
Andy Murray is now in the position of man most likely, heir apparent, expectant champion.
“I had played the final of the US Open and a couple of semi-finals at the French Open and Wimbledon and that obviously proved my quality,” Djokovic, the Serb, said yesterday, reminiscing about his Melbourne breakthrough. “I wasn't sure, firstly for myself and then for everybody else, that I was able to do that, to make that final step. It is a whole different world when you win one [a grand slam], with more appreciation from your colleagues, the people, tennis lovers everywhere.”
Nadal, who broke his grand-slam duck at the French Open in 2005, is seeking to win his fifth consecutive title and could also recall his days of doubt. “All your life you are working for that moment,” he said. “It was difficult to accept when everyone was saying I was the favourite [in 2005] but I won. It was really, really special.”
Murray is in the same half of the Roland Garros draw as Nadal and said that he would be shocked if the Spaniard did not reach the final, so perhaps we should not expect to see Scottish hands clasping the Coupe des Mousquetaires tomorrow fortnight. At Wimbledon? That's a discussion for another day.
In the first round, Murray plays Juan Ignacio Chela, one of the players Tim Henman defeated en route to the Paris semi-finals five years ago. Tall and angular, the Argentinian ought to be right at home in these surroundings, but he has reached the second week only once in eight attempts.
Murray is unlikely to be rushing the net as Henman did until he went a set up in the semi-final against Guillermo Coria, became aware of the immensity of what he was about to achieve and froze. The present British No 1 is more tortoise than hare, biding his time, injecting the venom and waiting for it to spread.
“What I've done better this year is not to treat clay as a different surface, to totally change my game pattern,” Murray said. “Against the clay-courters, you can try to make it a hard-court match by playing a little bit flatter, coming to the net more and shortening the points.
“I do feel much more comfortable. Physically, I feel better. I did not have the best run coming into the French Open last year so confidence is a big factor this time. But there are things I could do better, like returning.”
Nadal might have been expecting a few searching questions after his loss to Federer in the final of the Mutua Madrileña Masters in Madrid last Sunday, and was not disappointed. A clay-court defeat for the Spaniard equates to a 7.5 reading on the Richter Scale. Nadal said that he accepted it as a hazard of the job.
It was mentioned that conditions here are appreciably slower and heavier than in the Spanish capital. His eyes twinkled. “In Madrid, you touch the ball, the ball goes out of the racket very fast and very early,” he said. “Here, the feeling is that the ball stays here, you can feel it more. It may be heavier, but for me, it is easier to play.”
Nadal was asked to confirm that he had said that the French Open is the most beautiful tournament in the world. Nadal, mindful of his diplomatic status, interrupted. “No, I never said that, because I like a lot of tournaments,” he said. “But sure, it is one of the nicest.” And one that nobody in their right mind can see anyone else winning.
Source:The times
Andy Murray is now in the position of man most likely, heir apparent, expectant champion.
“I had played the final of the US Open and a couple of semi-finals at the French Open and Wimbledon and that obviously proved my quality,” Djokovic, the Serb, said yesterday, reminiscing about his Melbourne breakthrough. “I wasn't sure, firstly for myself and then for everybody else, that I was able to do that, to make that final step. It is a whole different world when you win one [a grand slam], with more appreciation from your colleagues, the people, tennis lovers everywhere.”
Nadal, who broke his grand-slam duck at the French Open in 2005, is seeking to win his fifth consecutive title and could also recall his days of doubt. “All your life you are working for that moment,” he said. “It was difficult to accept when everyone was saying I was the favourite [in 2005] but I won. It was really, really special.”
Murray is in the same half of the Roland Garros draw as Nadal and said that he would be shocked if the Spaniard did not reach the final, so perhaps we should not expect to see Scottish hands clasping the Coupe des Mousquetaires tomorrow fortnight. At Wimbledon? That's a discussion for another day.
In the first round, Murray plays Juan Ignacio Chela, one of the players Tim Henman defeated en route to the Paris semi-finals five years ago. Tall and angular, the Argentinian ought to be right at home in these surroundings, but he has reached the second week only once in eight attempts.
Murray is unlikely to be rushing the net as Henman did until he went a set up in the semi-final against Guillermo Coria, became aware of the immensity of what he was about to achieve and froze. The present British No 1 is more tortoise than hare, biding his time, injecting the venom and waiting for it to spread.
“What I've done better this year is not to treat clay as a different surface, to totally change my game pattern,” Murray said. “Against the clay-courters, you can try to make it a hard-court match by playing a little bit flatter, coming to the net more and shortening the points.
“I do feel much more comfortable. Physically, I feel better. I did not have the best run coming into the French Open last year so confidence is a big factor this time. But there are things I could do better, like returning.”
Nadal might have been expecting a few searching questions after his loss to Federer in the final of the Mutua Madrileña Masters in Madrid last Sunday, and was not disappointed. A clay-court defeat for the Spaniard equates to a 7.5 reading on the Richter Scale. Nadal said that he accepted it as a hazard of the job.
It was mentioned that conditions here are appreciably slower and heavier than in the Spanish capital. His eyes twinkled. “In Madrid, you touch the ball, the ball goes out of the racket very fast and very early,” he said. “Here, the feeling is that the ball stays here, you can feel it more. It may be heavier, but for me, it is easier to play.”
Nadal was asked to confirm that he had said that the French Open is the most beautiful tournament in the world. Nadal, mindful of his diplomatic status, interrupted. “No, I never said that, because I like a lot of tournaments,” he said. “But sure, it is one of the nicest.” And one that nobody in their right mind can see anyone else winning.
Source:The times
Sean Long enhances claim to new deal
Sean Long has been told by St Helens that he can speak to rival clubs, but the much-decorated former Great Britain scrum half underlined his value to the club he has served with distinction for 12 years with a typically inspirational display in maintaining Saints' one-point league leadership last night.
Long, 32, is holding out for a two-year contract, but will be offered only a 12-month extension and is attracting interest from Huddersfield Giants and Wakefield Wildcats. Having said that it would “kill” him to leave Knowsley Road, Long made his point with a hand in two of three tries and a crucial try-saving tackle on Rob Purdham, although his pass that was intercepted by Luke Dorn for a second Harlequins try made for a nervous finish.
Keiron Cunningham sealed the victory a minute from time with a trademark wrestle and lunge from dummy half, which Long improved with his 999th goal for St Helens. But if Long led the way, some of his team-mates did not always follow and the lack of first-choice wings in Ade Gardner and Francis Meli compromised Saints' attacking ambition.
As doggedly as Harlequins fought, it took them 56 minutes to produce their first try. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, their elite England squad prop, caught St Helens square with a quickly taken penalty. When Dorn read Long's pass 90 metres out and Purdham added a second conversion, Harlequins were within four points. It was as near as they got before succumbing to the strength of Cunningham and only their second away defeat.
Earlier Harlequins fell behind to Chris Flannery's try in the corner. They held firm for a further half-hour, but after being penalised for offside, Long got the ball wide and Paul Wellens squeezed over.
Hull Kingston Rovers kept up their pursuit with a 16-6 defeat of Castleford Tigers, Warrington Wolves beat Wigan Warriors 16-8 and Salford City Reds heaped more misery on Bradford Bulls in an 18-10 win.
Scorers: St Helens: Tries: Flannery, Wellens, Roby, Cunningham. Goals: Long 3. Harlequins: Tries: McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Dorn. Goals: Purdham 3.
St Helens: P Wellens; K Eastmond, M Gidley, LGilmour, G Wheeler; L Pryce, S Long; J Graham, K Cunningham, J Emmitt, C Flannery, J Wilkin, TPuletua. Interchange: J Roby, P Clough, MFa'asavalu, M Ashurst.
Harlequins: J Wells; J O'Callaghan, M Gafa, DHowell, W Sharp; L Dorn, D Orr; K Temata, CRandall, D Heckenberg, J Golden, L Williamson, RPurdham. Interchange: L McCarthy-Scarsbrook, TClubb, B Kaye, J Grayshon.
Referee: S Ganson.
Source:The times
Long, 32, is holding out for a two-year contract, but will be offered only a 12-month extension and is attracting interest from Huddersfield Giants and Wakefield Wildcats. Having said that it would “kill” him to leave Knowsley Road, Long made his point with a hand in two of three tries and a crucial try-saving tackle on Rob Purdham, although his pass that was intercepted by Luke Dorn for a second Harlequins try made for a nervous finish.
Keiron Cunningham sealed the victory a minute from time with a trademark wrestle and lunge from dummy half, which Long improved with his 999th goal for St Helens. But if Long led the way, some of his team-mates did not always follow and the lack of first-choice wings in Ade Gardner and Francis Meli compromised Saints' attacking ambition.
As doggedly as Harlequins fought, it took them 56 minutes to produce their first try. Louie McCarthy-Scarsbrook, their elite England squad prop, caught St Helens square with a quickly taken penalty. When Dorn read Long's pass 90 metres out and Purdham added a second conversion, Harlequins were within four points. It was as near as they got before succumbing to the strength of Cunningham and only their second away defeat.
Earlier Harlequins fell behind to Chris Flannery's try in the corner. They held firm for a further half-hour, but after being penalised for offside, Long got the ball wide and Paul Wellens squeezed over.
Hull Kingston Rovers kept up their pursuit with a 16-6 defeat of Castleford Tigers, Warrington Wolves beat Wigan Warriors 16-8 and Salford City Reds heaped more misery on Bradford Bulls in an 18-10 win.
Scorers: St Helens: Tries: Flannery, Wellens, Roby, Cunningham. Goals: Long 3. Harlequins: Tries: McCarthy-Scarsbrook, Dorn. Goals: Purdham 3.
St Helens: P Wellens; K Eastmond, M Gidley, LGilmour, G Wheeler; L Pryce, S Long; J Graham, K Cunningham, J Emmitt, C Flannery, J Wilkin, TPuletua. Interchange: J Roby, P Clough, MFa'asavalu, M Ashurst.
Harlequins: J Wells; J O'Callaghan, M Gafa, DHowell, W Sharp; L Dorn, D Orr; K Temata, CRandall, D Heckenberg, J Golden, L Williamson, RPurdham. Interchange: L McCarthy-Scarsbrook, TClubb, B Kaye, J Grayshon.
Referee: S Ganson.
Source:The times
Alwaary declines chance to run in Derby
Devoid, as it was, of Irish horses, the Cocked Hat Stakes at Goodwood yesterday promised to throw up a rare British runner in the Derby. Victory for the Queen's Free Agent would have been better still, yet neither aspiration came to pass. Alwaary's fluent score served only to fine-tune him for the King Edward VII Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Free Agent ran perfectly well to finish fourth after he fared worst in a three-way photo for second place. It was the colt's first run for 11 months, during which he was confined to his box for much of the winter after a bone flake was removed from a hind leg. In the circumstances it was always unrealistic to expect too much of him - much less to carry the nation's fortunes at Epsom.
Ironically, his task was summed up perfectly by John Gosden, who explained that Alwaary, too, had failed to thrive over the winter. In dismissing a Derby bid for Hamdan's al-Maktoum's homebred, Gosden said: “When they get behind, you can't catch up. You have to accept it, otherwise you'll soon be left with no horse.”
Richard Hannon, who trains Free Agent, effectively concurred. “There will be no Derby for him,” Hannon said. “I thought I had him fairly fit, but it turned out that he needed it. He's been off for a long time and he was probably a bit rusty.”
The sedate pace dictated by Frankie Dettori aboard Chock A Block was not what Hannon wanted to see. He had instructed Richard Hughes to settle the colt regardless of the pace. “On reflection, it might have been different if he'd gone off quickly from the front,” the trainer said.
Nevertheless, Free Agent held his corner when the pace quickened in the straight. He had no answer to the winner's surge from the rear, but Hughes was easy on him thereafter. “I know that he's a decent horse,” Hannon said. “He's done us one good turn so far and I'm sure he'll do us more.”
A return to Royal Ascot, where he won last season, now beckons Free Agent. Like Alwaary, he will have the King Edward VII entry in addition to one in the Queen's Vase over two miles. That the Queen will have up to six runners at the royal meeting attests to the recent revival in her bloodstock fortunes.
It has been kick-started by her commitment to deploying some of Europe's more expensive stallions on her broodmare band. The revival has certainly brought joy to long-standing followers of the turf, and if rather too much Derby expectation was invested in Free Agent, it was exacerbated by the paucity of British-trained candidates to repel the hordes from Ireland.
The first six in William Hill's betting all hail from across the Irish Sea. They are headed by Fame And Glory and Sea The Stars, from the stables of Aidan O'Brien and John Oxx respectively. The most advanced British-trained horse is the 16-1 chance, Crowded House, who must rate a doubtful starter after his Dante disappointment. Godolphin's Kite Wood stands at 20-1, with Debussy, a stablemate of Alwaary, at 25-1.
At least Debussy is a definite starter. “He has won at Epsom,” Gosden said of the colt who finished third in the Chester Vase last time. “He has come on for that, but he'll need to. Someone's got to turn up from our country, although it does look between Sea The Stars and Fame And Glory. They look like very good horses. That's why we can't match them.”
Hannon's Derby dreams evaporated with Free Agent but he did not leave Goodwood empty-handed after sending out La Pantera to win a two-year-old maiden that he has farmed down the years. He is also looking forward to running Soul City in the Irish 2,000 Guineas on Saturday, although heavy ground at the Curragh tempers his enthusiasm. “I spoke to Dessie Hughes and he told me the course was waterlogged in places,” Hannon said. “The horse has won on soft ground before, but soft is very different to heavy. Still, he is fit, and we'll take our chance.”
Source:The times
Free Agent ran perfectly well to finish fourth after he fared worst in a three-way photo for second place. It was the colt's first run for 11 months, during which he was confined to his box for much of the winter after a bone flake was removed from a hind leg. In the circumstances it was always unrealistic to expect too much of him - much less to carry the nation's fortunes at Epsom.
Ironically, his task was summed up perfectly by John Gosden, who explained that Alwaary, too, had failed to thrive over the winter. In dismissing a Derby bid for Hamdan's al-Maktoum's homebred, Gosden said: “When they get behind, you can't catch up. You have to accept it, otherwise you'll soon be left with no horse.”
Richard Hannon, who trains Free Agent, effectively concurred. “There will be no Derby for him,” Hannon said. “I thought I had him fairly fit, but it turned out that he needed it. He's been off for a long time and he was probably a bit rusty.”
The sedate pace dictated by Frankie Dettori aboard Chock A Block was not what Hannon wanted to see. He had instructed Richard Hughes to settle the colt regardless of the pace. “On reflection, it might have been different if he'd gone off quickly from the front,” the trainer said.
Nevertheless, Free Agent held his corner when the pace quickened in the straight. He had no answer to the winner's surge from the rear, but Hughes was easy on him thereafter. “I know that he's a decent horse,” Hannon said. “He's done us one good turn so far and I'm sure he'll do us more.”
A return to Royal Ascot, where he won last season, now beckons Free Agent. Like Alwaary, he will have the King Edward VII entry in addition to one in the Queen's Vase over two miles. That the Queen will have up to six runners at the royal meeting attests to the recent revival in her bloodstock fortunes.
It has been kick-started by her commitment to deploying some of Europe's more expensive stallions on her broodmare band. The revival has certainly brought joy to long-standing followers of the turf, and if rather too much Derby expectation was invested in Free Agent, it was exacerbated by the paucity of British-trained candidates to repel the hordes from Ireland.
The first six in William Hill's betting all hail from across the Irish Sea. They are headed by Fame And Glory and Sea The Stars, from the stables of Aidan O'Brien and John Oxx respectively. The most advanced British-trained horse is the 16-1 chance, Crowded House, who must rate a doubtful starter after his Dante disappointment. Godolphin's Kite Wood stands at 20-1, with Debussy, a stablemate of Alwaary, at 25-1.
At least Debussy is a definite starter. “He has won at Epsom,” Gosden said of the colt who finished third in the Chester Vase last time. “He has come on for that, but he'll need to. Someone's got to turn up from our country, although it does look between Sea The Stars and Fame And Glory. They look like very good horses. That's why we can't match them.”
Hannon's Derby dreams evaporated with Free Agent but he did not leave Goodwood empty-handed after sending out La Pantera to win a two-year-old maiden that he has farmed down the years. He is also looking forward to running Soul City in the Irish 2,000 Guineas on Saturday, although heavy ground at the Curragh tempers his enthusiasm. “I spoke to Dessie Hughes and he told me the course was waterlogged in places,” Hannon said. “The horse has won on soft ground before, but soft is very different to heavy. Still, he is fit, and we'll take our chance.”
Source:The times
Paul Casey profits from his local knowledge
Watching Paul Casey move to the front of the pack in the second round of the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth yesterday, it was hard to believe that there was a time when he sprayed the ball so far and wide over the famous West Course that he feared for the safety of the spectators.
Casey moved to eight under par after a round of 67 that was matched by only one other player, Thomas Aiken, of South Africa, and will go into the weekend with a two-shot lead over Miguel Ángel Jiménez, the defending champion, David Horsey, Anthony Wall, Marc Warren and Soren Kjeldsen.
While he admitted that he would have happily taken such a lead if offered it at the start of the day, Casey was right to feel slightly disappointed that he had not driven home the advantage after opening up a four-shot lead at the par-four 13th with his second eagle of the day — his nine-iron shot from 160 yards landing five feet short of the flag and going in on the bounce.
He made heavy weather of the closing stretch, however, giving back shots at the 14th and 17th, where he found trees off the tee, but he did well to get down in two from a greenside bunker at the last to save his par. He reached the turn in 32 and came home in 35.
This is a course that once intimidated the English Ryder Cup player, but he won the World Match Play Championship there in 2006 — and with it a princely sum of £1 million — and is now as at home as anyone.
He played the West Course many times as a junior, when he would occasionally “sneak in” with friends who were members, and has learnt to plot his way around what is a demanding layout.
At the start of the year, Casey sat down with his coach, Peter Kostis, and wrote down his goals for the year. “They were fairly lofty,” he said. “So I haven’t had to redo them.”
It would be true to say that at 31, and after nine years on tour, he has come of age. By his own admission he is a streaky player and Casey has sought to add consistency and a little more steel to his game.
He did not bag a title in 2008, but has won twice this year already. His first win came at the Abu Dhabi Championship in January, his second at the Shell Houston Open last month, which was his breakthrough victory in America. He also put in a fine performance at the Accenture Match Play Championship, a world championship event, in Tucson where he finished runner-up to Geoff Ogilvy.
It is no coincidence that Casey has moved to No 7 in the world and is lying second in the standings in the Race to Dubai. The first prize here of just under £670,000 would take him to the top of the standings and confirm his place among the game’s elite.
Jiménez is another player who seems to have learnt the secrets of a course that only a few can master. An ever-present on the European Tour since his rookie season in 1989, the Spaniard shows no sign of letting up. At 45, he is not as long off the tee as many of the game’s young bucks, but around Wentworth he knows that guile, as much as strength, is important.
“Here it is all about shaping the ball,” he said after a round of 70 that placed him nicely to challenge over the final two rounds.
Horsey and Wall, the joint first-round leaders, each had rounds of 71, while Ernie Els — responsible for much of the recent remodelling of the course and about to embark on a rebuild of all the greens — needed a birdie at the last to make the cut and duly got it.
Among those to miss out were Lee Westwood, who finished on ten over par, and Henrik Stenson, winner of The Players Championship this month.
Source: The times
Casey moved to eight under par after a round of 67 that was matched by only one other player, Thomas Aiken, of South Africa, and will go into the weekend with a two-shot lead over Miguel Ángel Jiménez, the defending champion, David Horsey, Anthony Wall, Marc Warren and Soren Kjeldsen.
While he admitted that he would have happily taken such a lead if offered it at the start of the day, Casey was right to feel slightly disappointed that he had not driven home the advantage after opening up a four-shot lead at the par-four 13th with his second eagle of the day — his nine-iron shot from 160 yards landing five feet short of the flag and going in on the bounce.
He made heavy weather of the closing stretch, however, giving back shots at the 14th and 17th, where he found trees off the tee, but he did well to get down in two from a greenside bunker at the last to save his par. He reached the turn in 32 and came home in 35.
This is a course that once intimidated the English Ryder Cup player, but he won the World Match Play Championship there in 2006 — and with it a princely sum of £1 million — and is now as at home as anyone.
He played the West Course many times as a junior, when he would occasionally “sneak in” with friends who were members, and has learnt to plot his way around what is a demanding layout.
At the start of the year, Casey sat down with his coach, Peter Kostis, and wrote down his goals for the year. “They were fairly lofty,” he said. “So I haven’t had to redo them.”
It would be true to say that at 31, and after nine years on tour, he has come of age. By his own admission he is a streaky player and Casey has sought to add consistency and a little more steel to his game.
He did not bag a title in 2008, but has won twice this year already. His first win came at the Abu Dhabi Championship in January, his second at the Shell Houston Open last month, which was his breakthrough victory in America. He also put in a fine performance at the Accenture Match Play Championship, a world championship event, in Tucson where he finished runner-up to Geoff Ogilvy.
It is no coincidence that Casey has moved to No 7 in the world and is lying second in the standings in the Race to Dubai. The first prize here of just under £670,000 would take him to the top of the standings and confirm his place among the game’s elite.
Jiménez is another player who seems to have learnt the secrets of a course that only a few can master. An ever-present on the European Tour since his rookie season in 1989, the Spaniard shows no sign of letting up. At 45, he is not as long off the tee as many of the game’s young bucks, but around Wentworth he knows that guile, as much as strength, is important.
“Here it is all about shaping the ball,” he said after a round of 70 that placed him nicely to challenge over the final two rounds.
Horsey and Wall, the joint first-round leaders, each had rounds of 71, while Ernie Els — responsible for much of the recent remodelling of the course and about to embark on a rebuild of all the greens — needed a birdie at the last to make the cut and duly got it.
Among those to miss out were Lee Westwood, who finished on ten over par, and Henrik Stenson, winner of The Players Championship this month.
Source: The times
Jenson Button: on top of the world after years of despair
They are the two words never exchanged between Jenson Button and John, his father, even as the prize gets within touching distance. They do not talk about winning races, never mind the two bogey words they fear might come to haunt them: world champion. They do not know why they have taken a family vow of silence - maybe it is because they worry that sometime soon the fairytale will come to an end.
It is a story better than a movie script, according to Button, with every ingredient for a feel-good thriller: the teenager whose career descends into the depths of despair, only to rise again. In Monaco on the eve of the most glamorous grand prix of all, everyone wants Button. His father was signing autographs through the catch-fencing around the paddock perimeter all day. A year ago you could not have given away free tickets to meet the Buttons. Jenson's press conferences before this race in 2008 were empty save for the tumbleweed blowing through the Honda motorhome.
Which makes this fable all the more heart-warming. There is no sign of the wicked witch yet, while Formula One pinches itself to make sure that this tale is true. Five grands prix into the Formula One season and Jenson Button - perennial loser, underachiever, the one they sniggered at and said should be a member of a boy band - has won four and is favourite to be that thing he cannot talk about: world champion.
Formula One may not be quite able to believe it, but Button and his father can, even after those long nights when Jenson would lie awake for hours, wondering where it had all gone wrong and why he was criticised with such glee by his detractors. He had to keep the faith in his ability, if no one else did. The lowest point came in 2007 as his career ebbed away and his stock was at its lowest since he burst into the sport as a 19-year-old prodigy.
“I know how good I am - I wouldn't have won four races if I wasn't good,” he said. “The important thing is that I didn't lose faith in myself. But I spent a lot of time thinking it just wasn't going to happen for me and I was never going to win this thing, that I was never going to have the chance to show the world what I could really do.
“It was getting to be more than frustration. The trouble was that the worse it got, I knew no other team would have me, so it was a vicious circle and I was starting to think it would just all fade away.”
Button would not say it, but watching Lewis Hamilton clamber into a super-fast McLaren Mercedes and win the world title within two years was rubbing salt into the wound. Button had also arrived in Formula One in a blaze of glory, spotted by Sir Frank Williams, who signed him to a long-term contract and plunged the teenager into the sport alongside the more experienced Ralf Schumacher.
Even though Button looked the part immediately and was hailed as Britain's new Formula One star, he was moved on by Williams to make way for Juan Pablo Montoya - one of the biggest mistakes of his career as a team owner, Williams has said.
After a forgettable experience with Flavio Briatore's Benetton-Renault team, Button's career was saved by David Richards, who took him to the young BAR Honda squad. Under Richards, he was brilliant, but Williams then wanted his protégé back and Button became embroiled in a contract dispute that cost an estimated £9million for Button to pay off Williams and pledge his loyalty to Honda.
By the end of last year, despite another dreadful season, all seemed set fair. Ross Brawn, the technical genius who turned Michael Schumacher into a seven-times world champion, was on board and the car for 2009 looked great. Then Honda pulled the plug.
“I had a great winter and I was really fit,” Button said. “I had been training in Lanzarote and arrived at Gatwick airport so I could visit the factory. I was standing at the carousel when Richard [Goddard, his manager] phoned to tell me Honda had pulled out. My friends knew something was wrong. I just couldn't take it in. I dropped the phone at one point.
“I went from being really positive to discovering there would be no 2009 in F1 for me. I just thought, 'What the hell are we going to do?' I had a couple of bad years in F1, so finding a really good drive after that was always going to be tough. The other option was to sit out for a year, but then you are forgotten.”
Button could easily have walked; he had signed a new three-year contract only weeks before Honda's announcement and they were obliged to pay him off if there was no team. That was £24 million on the table.
“I could have taken the money and run - because it was a lot of money,” Button said. “But what would be the point? What was I going to do with it? It was a no-brainer. Every day we were on to the team to help out as much as we could with ideas for sponsors. I tore up my contract and got on with it. I am completely happy with the decision because it has changed my life.”
Apart from taking a £5million-a-year pay cut, the new contract meant that Button has to pay all his expenses and, unlike Formula One's other 19 drivers, there are no bonuses for winning. But the deal paid off immediately where he wanted it to - on the track.
Cut to a dreary day at Silverstone and a handful of members of the new Brawn GP, underwritten with £100million for this season by Honda, are standing under a makeshift tent on a far corner of the famous circuit. A Mercedes engine, shoehorned at the last minute into the back of the plain white Brawn car with not a sign of a sponsor logo, is fired up.
“I didn't care about anything else - I just wanted to drive that car,” Button said. “There was no one around. The mechanics started it up and I just stood there watching it. We did 250 kilometres that first day and we knew. At the end of the day, Ross turned to me and just said, 'Wow. After what we have been through. What a start.'”
It was just the start. Victory at the first grand prix in Australia stunned the paddock and answered the critics who had had a field day at Button's expense over the years. Remarkably, though, Button is sanguine about the past. There is not a hint of bitterness or desire for revenge, even if Briatore recently called Button a concrete post.
“I never asked for people to feel sorry for me when times were tough and now times are good I am a very happy person and really grateful,” Button said. “When I win a race, I don't get out of the car to say, 'There you go. I have shown you.' Everybody likes to see people who have made a comeback. Because I have had to work for it so hard, because I have had to fight through it and people have said crap about me and I have stayed strong, I think people like that.
“I get out of the car when I have won and I am on top of the world because it is what I have dreamt about since I was eight years old. I used to dream I was Nigel Mansell or Ayrton Senna - I just wanted to be like them and now, when I am on the podium, I am like them. I am not trying to prove anything to anybody. It is for me and the team. I am where I want to be - at last.”
The road to riches
Jenson Button's market value has soared from zero to tens of millions of pounds in two months. From down and out of the sport to serial winner, there is a queue of sponsors wanting a piece of the hottest driver at the Monaco Grand Prix. This is how Button's numbers stack up.
£40m
Button's reputed worth after ten seasons in Formula One.
£24m
Value of the 29-year-old's three-year contract with Honda just weeks before the Japanese carmaker decided to pull out of Formula One.
£5m
The pay cut he took to stay with the new Brawn GP team, as well as agreeing to pay all his own expenses to grands prix that range from Australia to Brazil this season. He also pays for a publicist and physiotherapist, while John, his father, is at every grand prix. Button has no agent. He is looked after by Richard Goddard, a self-made millionaire.
£10m
Goddard is negotiating sponsor deals that some experts believe could be worth that much for this year alone.
£5m
Value of Little Missie, Button's luxury yacht, which is moored out of sight. Button prefers to use his 38-foot rigid inflatable boat. He uses it to go sea swimming, training for the Mazda London Triathlon in August.
£9,000
Value of the tiny SMART car that he uses when not driving at 200mph. His alternative is a scooter.
Source:The times
It is a story better than a movie script, according to Button, with every ingredient for a feel-good thriller: the teenager whose career descends into the depths of despair, only to rise again. In Monaco on the eve of the most glamorous grand prix of all, everyone wants Button. His father was signing autographs through the catch-fencing around the paddock perimeter all day. A year ago you could not have given away free tickets to meet the Buttons. Jenson's press conferences before this race in 2008 were empty save for the tumbleweed blowing through the Honda motorhome.
Which makes this fable all the more heart-warming. There is no sign of the wicked witch yet, while Formula One pinches itself to make sure that this tale is true. Five grands prix into the Formula One season and Jenson Button - perennial loser, underachiever, the one they sniggered at and said should be a member of a boy band - has won four and is favourite to be that thing he cannot talk about: world champion.
Formula One may not be quite able to believe it, but Button and his father can, even after those long nights when Jenson would lie awake for hours, wondering where it had all gone wrong and why he was criticised with such glee by his detractors. He had to keep the faith in his ability, if no one else did. The lowest point came in 2007 as his career ebbed away and his stock was at its lowest since he burst into the sport as a 19-year-old prodigy.
“I know how good I am - I wouldn't have won four races if I wasn't good,” he said. “The important thing is that I didn't lose faith in myself. But I spent a lot of time thinking it just wasn't going to happen for me and I was never going to win this thing, that I was never going to have the chance to show the world what I could really do.
“It was getting to be more than frustration. The trouble was that the worse it got, I knew no other team would have me, so it was a vicious circle and I was starting to think it would just all fade away.”
Button would not say it, but watching Lewis Hamilton clamber into a super-fast McLaren Mercedes and win the world title within two years was rubbing salt into the wound. Button had also arrived in Formula One in a blaze of glory, spotted by Sir Frank Williams, who signed him to a long-term contract and plunged the teenager into the sport alongside the more experienced Ralf Schumacher.
Even though Button looked the part immediately and was hailed as Britain's new Formula One star, he was moved on by Williams to make way for Juan Pablo Montoya - one of the biggest mistakes of his career as a team owner, Williams has said.
After a forgettable experience with Flavio Briatore's Benetton-Renault team, Button's career was saved by David Richards, who took him to the young BAR Honda squad. Under Richards, he was brilliant, but Williams then wanted his protégé back and Button became embroiled in a contract dispute that cost an estimated £9million for Button to pay off Williams and pledge his loyalty to Honda.
By the end of last year, despite another dreadful season, all seemed set fair. Ross Brawn, the technical genius who turned Michael Schumacher into a seven-times world champion, was on board and the car for 2009 looked great. Then Honda pulled the plug.
“I had a great winter and I was really fit,” Button said. “I had been training in Lanzarote and arrived at Gatwick airport so I could visit the factory. I was standing at the carousel when Richard [Goddard, his manager] phoned to tell me Honda had pulled out. My friends knew something was wrong. I just couldn't take it in. I dropped the phone at one point.
“I went from being really positive to discovering there would be no 2009 in F1 for me. I just thought, 'What the hell are we going to do?' I had a couple of bad years in F1, so finding a really good drive after that was always going to be tough. The other option was to sit out for a year, but then you are forgotten.”
Button could easily have walked; he had signed a new three-year contract only weeks before Honda's announcement and they were obliged to pay him off if there was no team. That was £24 million on the table.
“I could have taken the money and run - because it was a lot of money,” Button said. “But what would be the point? What was I going to do with it? It was a no-brainer. Every day we were on to the team to help out as much as we could with ideas for sponsors. I tore up my contract and got on with it. I am completely happy with the decision because it has changed my life.”
Apart from taking a £5million-a-year pay cut, the new contract meant that Button has to pay all his expenses and, unlike Formula One's other 19 drivers, there are no bonuses for winning. But the deal paid off immediately where he wanted it to - on the track.
Cut to a dreary day at Silverstone and a handful of members of the new Brawn GP, underwritten with £100million for this season by Honda, are standing under a makeshift tent on a far corner of the famous circuit. A Mercedes engine, shoehorned at the last minute into the back of the plain white Brawn car with not a sign of a sponsor logo, is fired up.
“I didn't care about anything else - I just wanted to drive that car,” Button said. “There was no one around. The mechanics started it up and I just stood there watching it. We did 250 kilometres that first day and we knew. At the end of the day, Ross turned to me and just said, 'Wow. After what we have been through. What a start.'”
It was just the start. Victory at the first grand prix in Australia stunned the paddock and answered the critics who had had a field day at Button's expense over the years. Remarkably, though, Button is sanguine about the past. There is not a hint of bitterness or desire for revenge, even if Briatore recently called Button a concrete post.
“I never asked for people to feel sorry for me when times were tough and now times are good I am a very happy person and really grateful,” Button said. “When I win a race, I don't get out of the car to say, 'There you go. I have shown you.' Everybody likes to see people who have made a comeback. Because I have had to work for it so hard, because I have had to fight through it and people have said crap about me and I have stayed strong, I think people like that.
“I get out of the car when I have won and I am on top of the world because it is what I have dreamt about since I was eight years old. I used to dream I was Nigel Mansell or Ayrton Senna - I just wanted to be like them and now, when I am on the podium, I am like them. I am not trying to prove anything to anybody. It is for me and the team. I am where I want to be - at last.”
The road to riches
Jenson Button's market value has soared from zero to tens of millions of pounds in two months. From down and out of the sport to serial winner, there is a queue of sponsors wanting a piece of the hottest driver at the Monaco Grand Prix. This is how Button's numbers stack up.
£40m
Button's reputed worth after ten seasons in Formula One.
£24m
Value of the 29-year-old's three-year contract with Honda just weeks before the Japanese carmaker decided to pull out of Formula One.
£5m
The pay cut he took to stay with the new Brawn GP team, as well as agreeing to pay all his own expenses to grands prix that range from Australia to Brazil this season. He also pays for a publicist and physiotherapist, while John, his father, is at every grand prix. Button has no agent. He is looked after by Richard Goddard, a self-made millionaire.
£10m
Goddard is negotiating sponsor deals that some experts believe could be worth that much for this year alone.
£5m
Value of Little Missie, Button's luxury yacht, which is moored out of sight. Button prefers to use his 38-foot rigid inflatable boat. He uses it to go sea swimming, training for the Mazda London Triathlon in August.
£9,000
Value of the tiny SMART car that he uses when not driving at 200mph. His alternative is a scooter.
Source:The times
Kevin Pietersen blow raises fresh questions
Kevin Pietersen told England about the Achilles tendon injury that has forced him to miss the NatWest Series against West Indies before heading to the Indian Premier League (IPL) last month.
The acknowledgement by Andrew Strauss, the captain, raises fresh questions over policy in an Ashes year after Andrew Flintoff injured his knee in the IPL.
On the day that Stuart Clark, Australia's leading wicket-taker in the 2006-07 series, said that he was close to completing a two-match contract to play for Gloucestershire before the forthcoming contest, the ECB's self-styled Great Exhibition of cricket in 2009 was in danger of looking more like the Millennium Dome than Crystal Palace.
The fiasco at Headingley Carnegie on Thursday left the one-day international against West Indies abandoned without a ball bowled after winter drainage work was not completed in time, while a similar £600,000 operation at Bristol, venue for the second game tomorrow, also remains unfinished in the wake of setbacks over the winter.
An ECB statement released on Wednesday said that Pietersen's injury had flared up during the second npower Test at Chester-le-Street and Strauss, while confirming that assessment by Nick Peirce, the board's chief medical officer, also revealed that the problem had arisen initially more than six weeks earlier.
“The first time 'KP' mentioned it was in the West Indies,” Strauss said. “It was something that was very manageable. I do not think the IPL affected this injury in any shape or form. Players can pick up injuries wherever they go. In Flintoff's case it is just a shame that the injury was picked up in the IPL.”
Pietersen, who also suffered a back spasm in the final week of the West Indies tour, captained Royal Challengers Bangalore in six games over 12 days, earning close to £500,000 for his efforts. The cartilage torn by Flintoff playing for Chennai Super Kings is taking longer to heal than initial estimates of three to five weeks.
Strauss said: “It is so hard to second-guess whether 'Fred' would have got injured anyway. Thankfully, there is still quite a lot of time before the Ashes. We fully expect 'KP' to be ready in ten days or so, there is no need to panic. It is something we have to deal with, with the schedules we have.”
However, the IPL is an additional commitment and Cricket Australia declined to release a number of contracted players, including Shane Watson, rather than “manage” injuries. On the same broad theme, it is unthinkable that a state side would sign an England bowler seeking to gain match fitness a month before the Ashes. That is what Gloucestershire are doing with Clark and the fast-medium bowler, whose move to Kent in April after elbow surgery was cancelled when Australia called him up for one-day games in South Africa, expects a backlash. “I am, actually, but I couldn't care less,” he said.
Critics of short-term signings, including Geoff Miller, the national selector, and Strauss, will note that Phillip Hughes spoke gratefully yesterday about his recent six weeks at Middlesex. “The big thing was getting to experience three of the Test grounds I will be playing on before the big series,” Hughes said.
The immediate concern for Gloucestershire is to host tomorrow's game successfully and a sunny weather forecast means that the outfield is unlikely to be tested. Some 1,700 of the 14,400 tickets remain and England will hope to repeat their success there in 2005, when a brilliant counter-attack by Pietersen helped to beat Australia.
England (from): A J Strauss (Middlesex, captain), R S Bopara (Essex), I R Bell (Warwickshire), O A Shah (Middlesex), E J G Morgan (Middlesex), P D Collingwood (Durham), A D Mascarenhas (Hampshire), M J Prior (Sussex), S C Broad (Nottinghamshire), G P Swann (Nottinghamshire), T T Bresnan (Yorkshire), R J Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire), J M Anderson (Lancashire).
West Indies (from): C H Gayle (captain), L M P Simmons, R R Sarwan, S Chanderpaul, K A Pollard, D J Bravo, D Ramdin, D J G Sammy, R Rampaul, S J Benn, F H Edwards, L S Baker, R S Morton.
Source:The times
The acknowledgement by Andrew Strauss, the captain, raises fresh questions over policy in an Ashes year after Andrew Flintoff injured his knee in the IPL.
On the day that Stuart Clark, Australia's leading wicket-taker in the 2006-07 series, said that he was close to completing a two-match contract to play for Gloucestershire before the forthcoming contest, the ECB's self-styled Great Exhibition of cricket in 2009 was in danger of looking more like the Millennium Dome than Crystal Palace.
The fiasco at Headingley Carnegie on Thursday left the one-day international against West Indies abandoned without a ball bowled after winter drainage work was not completed in time, while a similar £600,000 operation at Bristol, venue for the second game tomorrow, also remains unfinished in the wake of setbacks over the winter.
An ECB statement released on Wednesday said that Pietersen's injury had flared up during the second npower Test at Chester-le-Street and Strauss, while confirming that assessment by Nick Peirce, the board's chief medical officer, also revealed that the problem had arisen initially more than six weeks earlier.
“The first time 'KP' mentioned it was in the West Indies,” Strauss said. “It was something that was very manageable. I do not think the IPL affected this injury in any shape or form. Players can pick up injuries wherever they go. In Flintoff's case it is just a shame that the injury was picked up in the IPL.”
Pietersen, who also suffered a back spasm in the final week of the West Indies tour, captained Royal Challengers Bangalore in six games over 12 days, earning close to £500,000 for his efforts. The cartilage torn by Flintoff playing for Chennai Super Kings is taking longer to heal than initial estimates of three to five weeks.
Strauss said: “It is so hard to second-guess whether 'Fred' would have got injured anyway. Thankfully, there is still quite a lot of time before the Ashes. We fully expect 'KP' to be ready in ten days or so, there is no need to panic. It is something we have to deal with, with the schedules we have.”
However, the IPL is an additional commitment and Cricket Australia declined to release a number of contracted players, including Shane Watson, rather than “manage” injuries. On the same broad theme, it is unthinkable that a state side would sign an England bowler seeking to gain match fitness a month before the Ashes. That is what Gloucestershire are doing with Clark and the fast-medium bowler, whose move to Kent in April after elbow surgery was cancelled when Australia called him up for one-day games in South Africa, expects a backlash. “I am, actually, but I couldn't care less,” he said.
Critics of short-term signings, including Geoff Miller, the national selector, and Strauss, will note that Phillip Hughes spoke gratefully yesterday about his recent six weeks at Middlesex. “The big thing was getting to experience three of the Test grounds I will be playing on before the big series,” Hughes said.
The immediate concern for Gloucestershire is to host tomorrow's game successfully and a sunny weather forecast means that the outfield is unlikely to be tested. Some 1,700 of the 14,400 tickets remain and England will hope to repeat their success there in 2005, when a brilliant counter-attack by Pietersen helped to beat Australia.
England (from): A J Strauss (Middlesex, captain), R S Bopara (Essex), I R Bell (Warwickshire), O A Shah (Middlesex), E J G Morgan (Middlesex), P D Collingwood (Durham), A D Mascarenhas (Hampshire), M J Prior (Sussex), S C Broad (Nottinghamshire), G P Swann (Nottinghamshire), T T Bresnan (Yorkshire), R J Sidebottom (Nottinghamshire), J M Anderson (Lancashire).
West Indies (from): C H Gayle (captain), L M P Simmons, R R Sarwan, S Chanderpaul, K A Pollard, D J Bravo, D Ramdin, D J G Sammy, R Rampaul, S J Benn, F H Edwards, L S Baker, R S Morton.
Source:The times
Uefa puts Chelsea and Didier Drogba in dock
Carlo Ancelotti is expected to become the new manager of Chelsea next month and one of the first headaches that the Italian will have to deal with is the fallout from the club’s Champions League semi-final, second leg against Barcelona at Stamford Bridge.
Didier Drogba and José Bosingwa were charged by Uefa yesterday for hounding and insulting Tom Henning Ovrebo, the Norwegian referee, and the governing body also started disciplinary proceedings against Chelsea for the behaviour of their players and their supporters who threw missiles from the stands. Michael Ballack has escaped punishment because his over-the-top reaction to Ovrebo’s refusal to award a late penalty took place during the 1-1 draw.
Chelsea have been asked to respond to the charges by May 29 and Uefa will deal with the case on June 17, by which time Guus Hiddink, the interim manager, will be back in Russia. He still bears the scars of his side’s Champions League exit though.
“I am human as well and I think Uefa, they will not say it, were very happy there was not an all-English final for the second consecutive time,” he said. “We should have scored more goals in the home game but, besides that, I feel the anger and injustice.”
When asked about the qualities that his successor would need, Hiddink said: “The board and the owner will make a good choice. Ancelotti is mentioned a lot. I know him personally. He’s very good and he’s a big, great personality. That’s not to say that he will be the new manager — that’s up to other people to say.”
Hiddink’s successor will inherit a team who are playing with confidence and desire, although the Dutchman said yesterday that his players were confused and distracted when he replaced Luiz Felipe Scolari in February. Speaking before his last Barclays Premier League game, away to Sunderland tomorrow, Hiddink said that his only regret was that he had not pitted his wits against Sir Alex Ferguson — the greatest British manager of modern times, Hiddink claimed. “That’s the regret — that we didn’t have the chance to play against them,” he said. “It would have been perfect.”
A shambolic performance and 3-0 defeat against United in January convinced many influential voices at the club that Scolari was out of his depth and the Chelsea team to face Sunderland tomorrow will bear no relation to the disaffected squad that went through the motions at Old Trafford.That Sunderland are desperate for points and Chelsea have nothing to play for, especially with the FA Cup Final six days later, has not entered Hiddink’s mind. “We take every game seriously,” Hiddink said.
Chelsea supporters tried their best to convince Hiddink to stay by singing his praises during and after last Sunday’s 2-0 home victory over Blackburn Rovers and Hiddink has revealed that Elizabeth, his long-term partner, has also been bending his ear.
“My partner, when we came here, said, ‘Be careful with the stress. Lots of things can happen in England’,” Hiddink said. “But now she says, ‘I don’t want to go.’ Men think we are dominating the world but, in principle, women do.”
Source:The times
Didier Drogba and José Bosingwa were charged by Uefa yesterday for hounding and insulting Tom Henning Ovrebo, the Norwegian referee, and the governing body also started disciplinary proceedings against Chelsea for the behaviour of their players and their supporters who threw missiles from the stands. Michael Ballack has escaped punishment because his over-the-top reaction to Ovrebo’s refusal to award a late penalty took place during the 1-1 draw.
Chelsea have been asked to respond to the charges by May 29 and Uefa will deal with the case on June 17, by which time Guus Hiddink, the interim manager, will be back in Russia. He still bears the scars of his side’s Champions League exit though.
“I am human as well and I think Uefa, they will not say it, were very happy there was not an all-English final for the second consecutive time,” he said. “We should have scored more goals in the home game but, besides that, I feel the anger and injustice.”
When asked about the qualities that his successor would need, Hiddink said: “The board and the owner will make a good choice. Ancelotti is mentioned a lot. I know him personally. He’s very good and he’s a big, great personality. That’s not to say that he will be the new manager — that’s up to other people to say.”
Hiddink’s successor will inherit a team who are playing with confidence and desire, although the Dutchman said yesterday that his players were confused and distracted when he replaced Luiz Felipe Scolari in February. Speaking before his last Barclays Premier League game, away to Sunderland tomorrow, Hiddink said that his only regret was that he had not pitted his wits against Sir Alex Ferguson — the greatest British manager of modern times, Hiddink claimed. “That’s the regret — that we didn’t have the chance to play against them,” he said. “It would have been perfect.”
A shambolic performance and 3-0 defeat against United in January convinced many influential voices at the club that Scolari was out of his depth and the Chelsea team to face Sunderland tomorrow will bear no relation to the disaffected squad that went through the motions at Old Trafford.That Sunderland are desperate for points and Chelsea have nothing to play for, especially with the FA Cup Final six days later, has not entered Hiddink’s mind. “We take every game seriously,” Hiddink said.
Chelsea supporters tried their best to convince Hiddink to stay by singing his praises during and after last Sunday’s 2-0 home victory over Blackburn Rovers and Hiddink has revealed that Elizabeth, his long-term partner, has also been bending his ear.
“My partner, when we came here, said, ‘Be careful with the stress. Lots of things can happen in England’,” Hiddink said. “But now she says, ‘I don’t want to go.’ Men think we are dominating the world but, in principle, women do.”
Source:The times
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