Australian scores a spectacular 24-point maximum in the British Grand Prix at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff.
BRISTOL-BORN Australian Jason Crump scored a spectacular 24-point maximum, the finest riding the Millennium stadium in Cardiff has seen, at the British Grand Prix last night. Of the British trio, Nicholls and wild card Edward Kennett missed the semi-final cut, but a swashbuckling fifth-heat victory sent Chris Harris through, only for him to be disqualified in the semi-final for impeding Hans Andersen.
British prospects for next month’s World Cup already look bleak, though that didn’t trouble a crowd of 41,991, which included a massive contingent of Poles. Crump, who became only the third rider to achieve a 100% record since 2005, said: ‘I’m very proud. I started well every time and held onto my leads.’ The Polish quartet had a poor night, as did Crump’s chief challenger, Emil Sayfutdinov, the baby-face Russian. The 19-year-old missed the semi-finals cut by a point but he was not easily intimidated, delighting the crowd by trading punches with one opponent after a fiercely fought second heat.
GOLF
RETIEF GOOSEN carded a third-round 67 for a two-stroke lead at the BMW International Open in Munich.
Bernhard Langer shot 65 to reach a total of 15-under-par 201 and second place behind the South African. England’s Nick Dougherty fell into a tie for third on 14 under with Scotland’s David Drysdale. Despite a hole in one, Colin Montgomerie fired a 72 to leave him three under and out of contention. Rory McIlroy, 10th in the US Open on Monday, is joint 15th on nine under after a 69.
KENNY PERRY had his overnight lead trimmed to one stroke when the weather-hit second round of the Travelers Championship was completed in Connecticut. Fellow American David Toms, three shots off the pace when play was suspended the previous day because of thunderstorms, birdied two of his last five holes for a five-under-par 65. Paul Goydos (68) and Ryan Moore (65) were tied for third at nine under.
CHEYENNE WOODS, the niece of Tiger, missed the cut on her professional golf debut, shooting a two-over 74 in the second round of the Wegmans LPGA in New York. Woods, 18, finished at five-over 149 — four strokes above the cut line.
SWIMMING
OLYMPIC champion Rebecca Adlington withdrew from the women's 400m freestyle at the Scottish Championships in Glasgow, blaming her asthma. In Friday's 800m, Adlington came within three seconds of the world record she set in Beijing in 2008. She was due to race in the final heat in the 400m but her absence is unlikely to cost her a place in the British team for next month's World Championships. Gemma Spofforth secured her third title at the championships ing the 100m backstroke.
GERMANY’S Britta Steffen set a world record in the 100m freestyle for the second time this week. Steffen, who won Olympic gold in the 50m and 100m freestyle in Beijing, set the record in the final of the German National Championships with a time of 52.56sec.
CRICKET
MIDDLESEX beat Surrey by seven wickets in the Twenty20 at the Brit Oval. Surrey batted first and with the help of Michael Brown, who scored 77 from 54 balls, reached 160 for five. But Owais Shah hit an unbeaten 61 from 41 balls to see Middlesex home.
MOTO GP
VALENTINO ROSSI won his 100th grand prix from pole position at the Dutch TT race at Assen. The Italian, who took the lead in the overall standings, finished in 42min 14.611sec, beating teammate Jorge Lorenzo by more than five seconds and Australian Ducati rider Casey Stoner by more than 23 seconds. Britain’s James Toseland finished sixth.
RALLYING
FINLAND’S Mikko Hirvonen maintained his lead on the second day of the Rally of Poland. The Ford driver was 12 seconds ahead of compatriot Jari-Matti Latvala. ‘I was going flat out all the time, the stages were very fast,’ said Hirvonen, who started the day with an 8.9sec advantage over the field. Spain’s Dani Sordo was third, while world champion Sebastien Loeb was down in 13th place.
SUPERBIKES
CAL CRUTCHLOW took pole position for the British round of the World Supersport Championship at Donington Park. Eugene Laverty and Joan Lascorz followed.
BEN SPIES secured the Superpole at Donington Park in the World Superbike Championship. Max Biaggi, Shane Byrne and Shinya Nakano completed the front row. Britain’s Leon Haslam finished in ninth place with Tom Sykes 10th and Jonathan Rea 12th.
ATHLETICS
SCOTLAND’S Mhairi Spence helped Great Britain win team gold at the European Championships in Leipzig. She finished 12th overall, with Heather Fell taking individual silver and Katy Livingston finishing 10th.
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Michael Vaughan decides to hang up his gloves
AFTER almost a year of agonising, Michael Vaughan has this weekend finally accepted that his career as an international cricketer is over. He will be bitterly disappointed that it has come to this — few England players backed themselves as positively as he did — but there was simply no more arguing with the situation. He had run out of time and his injured right knee made it impossible for him to field all day. England have moved on.
The determining factor in Vaughan’s decision to retire — which will soon become effective in all forms of cricket — was his omission last week from a 16-man training squad to prepare for the Ashes series that starts on Wednesday week, a squad that is this weekend on a bonding trip on the continent. This showed how far away he was from selection and all but ruled him out of the series. Unlike Steve Harmison and Ian Bell, like Vaughan centrally contracted to England, he did not even have the encouragement of being chosen for the England Lions team to face the Australians at Worcester this week. Had he been, he might have believed he was just one good performance away from a Test recall.
Ever since his tearful resignation as England captain last August, Vaughan has talked of returning to the Test side. He only turned 34 last October; there was time, in theory, for a couple of more years. But the runs he promised were just around the corner never came, despite his insistence that his appetite and ability remained undiminished.
The England Lions tour of India during the winter, which he was on, was ruined by the terrorist attacks on Mumbai and in truth his scores for Yorkshire this season were those of a run-of-the-mill county pro. But for the name, and the CV, he would never have got a name-check in a selection meeting.
Vaughan was far closer to an England recall in the minds of the media, who liked the idea of the Ashes -winning captain returning for another stab at the enemy. If his exclusion from the Ashes 16 was one reason behind Vaughan’s decision, another was the emergence of Ravi Bopara, now settled at number three, Vaughan’s favoured position.Three centuries in three Tests means Bopara is probably a fixture for the summer and with England seemingly set on picking only five specialist batsmen — during Vaughan’s dying days in the side there were usually six — the scope for a comeback are slim going on non-existent, even if Vaughan did start producing hundreds for Yorkshire.
This will be seen as a decision made for the good of the team as it goes into the biggest series of all. Now, even if England start losing and changes in personnel are contemplated, Vaughan has removed what was becoming an unhelpful and distracting debate: would it be time for England’s former captain to be recalled? Quite a few had already concluded the answer was always going to be no. Now Vaughan has agrees.
With this messy period at an end, tributes can be paid to Vaughan’s career. He must rank as one of this country’s finest captains, leading England to an unprecedented level of success in 2004-05, winning six series in a row including a first win in South Africa for 40 years and a first win over Australia in 19 years. He won 26 of his 51 Tests in charge, more than any other England captain. As a batsman he will go down as among the finest, and he was unfazed by any bowling.
In the end, Vaughan’s good timing returned with his decision to retire.
Source:The times
The determining factor in Vaughan’s decision to retire — which will soon become effective in all forms of cricket — was his omission last week from a 16-man training squad to prepare for the Ashes series that starts on Wednesday week, a squad that is this weekend on a bonding trip on the continent. This showed how far away he was from selection and all but ruled him out of the series. Unlike Steve Harmison and Ian Bell, like Vaughan centrally contracted to England, he did not even have the encouragement of being chosen for the England Lions team to face the Australians at Worcester this week. Had he been, he might have believed he was just one good performance away from a Test recall.
Ever since his tearful resignation as England captain last August, Vaughan has talked of returning to the Test side. He only turned 34 last October; there was time, in theory, for a couple of more years. But the runs he promised were just around the corner never came, despite his insistence that his appetite and ability remained undiminished.
The England Lions tour of India during the winter, which he was on, was ruined by the terrorist attacks on Mumbai and in truth his scores for Yorkshire this season were those of a run-of-the-mill county pro. But for the name, and the CV, he would never have got a name-check in a selection meeting.
Vaughan was far closer to an England recall in the minds of the media, who liked the idea of the Ashes -winning captain returning for another stab at the enemy. If his exclusion from the Ashes 16 was one reason behind Vaughan’s decision, another was the emergence of Ravi Bopara, now settled at number three, Vaughan’s favoured position.Three centuries in three Tests means Bopara is probably a fixture for the summer and with England seemingly set on picking only five specialist batsmen — during Vaughan’s dying days in the side there were usually six — the scope for a comeback are slim going on non-existent, even if Vaughan did start producing hundreds for Yorkshire.
This will be seen as a decision made for the good of the team as it goes into the biggest series of all. Now, even if England start losing and changes in personnel are contemplated, Vaughan has removed what was becoming an unhelpful and distracting debate: would it be time for England’s former captain to be recalled? Quite a few had already concluded the answer was always going to be no. Now Vaughan has agrees.
With this messy period at an end, tributes can be paid to Vaughan’s career. He must rank as one of this country’s finest captains, leading England to an unprecedented level of success in 2004-05, winning six series in a row including a first win in South Africa for 40 years and a first win over Australia in 19 years. He won 26 of his 51 Tests in charge, more than any other England captain. As a batsman he will go down as among the finest, and he was unfazed by any bowling.
In the end, Vaughan’s good timing returned with his decision to retire.
Source:The times
Arsene Wenger and Sir Alex Ferguson battle over Karim Benzema
ARSENE WENGER is ready to go head to head with Sir Alex Ferguson for the signaure of Karim Benzema in the knowledge that the 21-year-old France striker would rather join Arsenal this summer than Manchester United.
While Ferguson, the United manager, has already offered Lyons £25.5m, the French club believe they can do better. Keen to ensure his position in France’s 2010 World Cup team, Benzema was initially reluctant to leave this summer, but with Lyons keen to sell, he wants a club where he will be guaranteed first-team football. Though outgunned financially, Arsenal boss Wenger has an edge in that respect over United and Real Madrid.
Arsenal have also been made aware of Benzema’s desire to work with Wenger. A club record offer depends on the sale of Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor. Arsenal were ready to sell to AC Milan last year and remain keen to offload.
Arsenal are in a hurry as Wenger wants his reinforced squad in place for the start of pre-season training on July 6. In addition to a striker, he seeks a holding midfielder to play alongside Cesc Fabregas to help quell his captain’s concerns about Arsenal’s competitiveness.
Talks are ongoing with Fiorentina over Felipe Melo. The Italians want £21m for the 26-year-old Brazil player. Arsenal are some distance from meeting that valuation, but have offered Philippe Senderos in part-exchange. Melo has also attracted interest from Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool, who see him as a potential replacement for Javier Mascherano or Xabi Alonso.
Chelsea, in contrast, have been slow to conduct transfer business ahead of Carlo Ancelotti’s installation as manager on Wednesday. Internazionale have been frustrated in their attempts to conclude the joint purchase of Ricardo Carvalho and Deco, complaining that conversations with Peter Kenyon have been handicapped by doubts over the chief executive’s future. “We are talking with Peter,” said a source, “but nobody knows if he stays or leaves. It depends on [Roman] Abramovich.” Chelsea say Kenyon, sporting director Frank Arnesen and performance director Mike Forde are all involved in recruitment and that it would be wrong to conclude that the chief executive has been marginalised. Inter have offered to include Argentina defender Nicolas Burdisso in the Carvalho-Deco deal but are still short of Chelsea’s valuation of the pair. Jose Mourinho, the Inter coach, is also prepared to consider an alternative exchange that would see striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic sold to Chelsea for cash plus the two Portugal internationals. Inter value Ibrahimovic at around £52m.
Source:The times
While Ferguson, the United manager, has already offered Lyons £25.5m, the French club believe they can do better. Keen to ensure his position in France’s 2010 World Cup team, Benzema was initially reluctant to leave this summer, but with Lyons keen to sell, he wants a club where he will be guaranteed first-team football. Though outgunned financially, Arsenal boss Wenger has an edge in that respect over United and Real Madrid.
Arsenal have also been made aware of Benzema’s desire to work with Wenger. A club record offer depends on the sale of Togo striker Emmanuel Adebayor. Arsenal were ready to sell to AC Milan last year and remain keen to offload.
Arsenal are in a hurry as Wenger wants his reinforced squad in place for the start of pre-season training on July 6. In addition to a striker, he seeks a holding midfielder to play alongside Cesc Fabregas to help quell his captain’s concerns about Arsenal’s competitiveness.
Talks are ongoing with Fiorentina over Felipe Melo. The Italians want £21m for the 26-year-old Brazil player. Arsenal are some distance from meeting that valuation, but have offered Philippe Senderos in part-exchange. Melo has also attracted interest from Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool, who see him as a potential replacement for Javier Mascherano or Xabi Alonso.
Chelsea, in contrast, have been slow to conduct transfer business ahead of Carlo Ancelotti’s installation as manager on Wednesday. Internazionale have been frustrated in their attempts to conclude the joint purchase of Ricardo Carvalho and Deco, complaining that conversations with Peter Kenyon have been handicapped by doubts over the chief executive’s future. “We are talking with Peter,” said a source, “but nobody knows if he stays or leaves. It depends on [Roman] Abramovich.” Chelsea say Kenyon, sporting director Frank Arnesen and performance director Mike Forde are all involved in recruitment and that it would be wrong to conclude that the chief executive has been marginalised. Inter have offered to include Argentina defender Nicolas Burdisso in the Carvalho-Deco deal but are still short of Chelsea’s valuation of the pair. Jose Mourinho, the Inter coach, is also prepared to consider an alternative exchange that would see striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic sold to Chelsea for cash plus the two Portugal internationals. Inter value Ibrahimovic at around £52m.
Source:The times
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