Ronnie O’Sullivan fined Richard Gasquet under fire Michael Schumacher sells Broc Parkes sets the pace Britain relegated.
Golf Padraig Harrington recorded a one-under-par 69 to maintain his lead after the second round of the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational in Akran, Ohio. The Irishman had his best round of the year, a 64, on Thursday to lead by two shots and played solidly to move to seven under yesterday.
Harrington takes a one-shot lead into the third round today, with Tim Clark, of South Africa, on six under after a round of 68, and Scott Verplank, the American, a further shot behind. Oliver Wilson is the leading British player, tied in thirteenth place on two under with Tiger Woods, the world No 1.
O'Sullivan in the red
Snooker Ronnie O’Sullivan has been fined £300 and ordered to pay £1,000 costs by the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association for prematurely conceding a frame last December. While 23-0 up in a frame during a last-16 match against Joe Perry at the UK Championship in Telford, O’Sullivan walked out of the arena, and into the mid-session interval, after missing a red.
Gasquet under fire
Tennis The ITF has appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport to increase the severity of the ban handed out to Richard Gasquet after the Frenchman, now ranked No 38 in the world, tested positive for cocaine. A tribunal gave Gasquet a ban of 2½ months after ruling that he inadvertently ingested the drug by kissing a woman in a Miami nightclub. The ITF had been seeking a two-year suspension.
Schumacher sells
Formula One The return of Michael Schumacher has led to an extra 10,000 ticket sales for the European Grand Prix in Valencia on August 23. Meanwhile, Valmor Sport, the race organiser, is confident that a one-race suspension of Fernando Alonso, the Renault driver and Spanish hero, for compromising safety rules will be overturned at an appeal hearing before the FIA, the sport’s governing body.
Parkes sets the pace
Motorcycling Broc Parkes and Sheridan Morais, the Kawasaki World Superbike team-mates, set the pace in free practice yesterday before the weekend’s triple-race eighth round of the British Superbike Championship at Brands Hatch. Parkes, of Australia, set a scorching pace in the afternoon session, with his best lap of 1min 26.910sec coming at an average speed of 95.30mph.
Britain relegated
Equestrianism The Great Britain showjumping team failed to save themselves from relegation last night, despite finishing equal second at the Meydan FEI Nations Cup event in Dublin. Britain were joint eighth with Belgium in the league and were relegated with Italy, who were bottom. Belgium survived because their record in the seven previous Nations Cup events was better than Britain’s.
Source:The times
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Tony Mowbray relishes chance to pit wits against Arsène Wenger in European play-off
Battle of Britain for Champions League berth .
Arsenal were drawn to face Celtic yesterday in the play-offs for the Champions League group stage, a tie that is already inducing feelings of excitement and anxiety on both sides of the Border.
Arsène Wenger’s side will travel north for the first leg in Glasgow on August 18 or 19, with the return match taking place a week later at the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal were already guaranteed their place in yesterday’s draw, while Celtic secured their play-off spot after their 2-0 win away to Dynamo Moscow on Wednesday night, having lost the first leg 1-0 in Glasgow.
In Scotland, some of the more cynical observers believe that Tony Mowbray’s side could face a hiding at the hands of their English opponents, given the vast gulf in spending power between the two clubs.
Arsenal, however, may feel nervous about the tie, especially the first leg in Scotland, where Celtic have an excellent home record in Europe.
Mowbray said that he relished the task facing him and his players. “It’s a tough draw for us, but everyone at the club is looking forward to two games against one of the top sides in European football,” the Celtic manager said. “It’s a glamour draw for both clubs and one that will certainly capture the imagination of both sets of supporters. We can all look forward to two fantastic European nights.
“I have huge respect for Arsène and the job he’s done at Arsenal. He’s had a lot of success at the club and has built a side that plays the game in the right way. Arsenal don’t spend the millions on players that other English clubs do, but they play with a real style and always try to entertain. That’s down to Arsène and his philosophy.
“It’s a hard draw for us but we will go into the game fully prepared and confident. The attitude and application of the players since I arrived at Celtic has been first class, and their ability was there for all to see against Dynamo on Wednesday.”
The tie poses crowd and security issues. Celtic Park will be filled to its 60,000 capacity for the first leg, but the Scottish club could easily take 25,000 supporters to London for the second leg. Celtic, of course, will receive only a fraction of that number of tickets.
While Wenger has been criticised for his lack of summer recruitment, Mowbray has so far spent £3.8 million — quite a sum for Celtic — on Marc-Antoine Fortuné, the Nancy striker, who featured under Mowbray during a loan deal at West Bromwich Albion last season, as well as £2.5 million on Danny Fox, the defender, from Coventry City. Landry N’Guemo, the Cameroon midfield player, has also been brought in on loan from Nancy.
The Celtic manager has had a hectic time since being appointed as Gordon Strachan’s successor on June 17 and has been critical of the club’s pre-season schedule, which he inherited on his arrival. As well as trying to qualify for Europe and sign new players, Celtic have played friendlies in Australia, Cardiff, London and Manchester.
“Sometimes it has seemed we’ve spent more time in the air than on the ground, so it has not been ideal,” Mowbray said. “But I make no excuses. It is the club’s business and we get on with it. And I’m only at the very start of a work in progress here at Celtic.”
Charlie Nicholas, the former Celtic and Arsenal striker, said that the tie will be closer than many might expect. “They would have wanted to avoid each other,” Nicholas said. “But the Celtic fans will be happy because after their last two games they would fancy playing anyone. It was a very good performance from them the other night in Russia.
“For Arsenal, the concern is the lack of players they have brought in, on top of their injuries. I think it will be very tight.”
Champions League draw
First leg Aug 18-19, second leg Aug 25-26
Lyons v Anderlecht Celtic v Arsenal Timisoara v Stuttgart Sporting Lisbon v Fiorentina Panathinaikos v Atlético Madrid Sheriff v Olympiacos Red Bull Salzburg v Maccabi Haifa Ventspils v FC Zurich Copenhagen v Apoel Nicosia Levski Sofia v Debreceni
Europa League draw
To be played on Aug 20 and 27, British clubs only
Dynamo Zagreb v Heart of Midlothian Everton v Sigma Olomouc Fulham v Amkar Perm Rapid Vienna v Aston Villa.
Source:The times
Arsenal were drawn to face Celtic yesterday in the play-offs for the Champions League group stage, a tie that is already inducing feelings of excitement and anxiety on both sides of the Border.
Arsène Wenger’s side will travel north for the first leg in Glasgow on August 18 or 19, with the return match taking place a week later at the Emirates Stadium. Arsenal were already guaranteed their place in yesterday’s draw, while Celtic secured their play-off spot after their 2-0 win away to Dynamo Moscow on Wednesday night, having lost the first leg 1-0 in Glasgow.
In Scotland, some of the more cynical observers believe that Tony Mowbray’s side could face a hiding at the hands of their English opponents, given the vast gulf in spending power between the two clubs.
Arsenal, however, may feel nervous about the tie, especially the first leg in Scotland, where Celtic have an excellent home record in Europe.
Mowbray said that he relished the task facing him and his players. “It’s a tough draw for us, but everyone at the club is looking forward to two games against one of the top sides in European football,” the Celtic manager said. “It’s a glamour draw for both clubs and one that will certainly capture the imagination of both sets of supporters. We can all look forward to two fantastic European nights.
“I have huge respect for Arsène and the job he’s done at Arsenal. He’s had a lot of success at the club and has built a side that plays the game in the right way. Arsenal don’t spend the millions on players that other English clubs do, but they play with a real style and always try to entertain. That’s down to Arsène and his philosophy.
“It’s a hard draw for us but we will go into the game fully prepared and confident. The attitude and application of the players since I arrived at Celtic has been first class, and their ability was there for all to see against Dynamo on Wednesday.”
The tie poses crowd and security issues. Celtic Park will be filled to its 60,000 capacity for the first leg, but the Scottish club could easily take 25,000 supporters to London for the second leg. Celtic, of course, will receive only a fraction of that number of tickets.
While Wenger has been criticised for his lack of summer recruitment, Mowbray has so far spent £3.8 million — quite a sum for Celtic — on Marc-Antoine Fortuné, the Nancy striker, who featured under Mowbray during a loan deal at West Bromwich Albion last season, as well as £2.5 million on Danny Fox, the defender, from Coventry City. Landry N’Guemo, the Cameroon midfield player, has also been brought in on loan from Nancy.
The Celtic manager has had a hectic time since being appointed as Gordon Strachan’s successor on June 17 and has been critical of the club’s pre-season schedule, which he inherited on his arrival. As well as trying to qualify for Europe and sign new players, Celtic have played friendlies in Australia, Cardiff, London and Manchester.
“Sometimes it has seemed we’ve spent more time in the air than on the ground, so it has not been ideal,” Mowbray said. “But I make no excuses. It is the club’s business and we get on with it. And I’m only at the very start of a work in progress here at Celtic.”
Charlie Nicholas, the former Celtic and Arsenal striker, said that the tie will be closer than many might expect. “They would have wanted to avoid each other,” Nicholas said. “But the Celtic fans will be happy because after their last two games they would fancy playing anyone. It was a very good performance from them the other night in Russia.
“For Arsenal, the concern is the lack of players they have brought in, on top of their injuries. I think it will be very tight.”
Champions League draw
First leg Aug 18-19, second leg Aug 25-26
Lyons v Anderlecht Celtic v Arsenal Timisoara v Stuttgart Sporting Lisbon v Fiorentina Panathinaikos v Atlético Madrid Sheriff v Olympiacos Red Bull Salzburg v Maccabi Haifa Ventspils v FC Zurich Copenhagen v Apoel Nicosia Levski Sofia v Debreceni
Europa League draw
To be played on Aug 20 and 27, British clubs only
Dynamo Zagreb v Heart of Midlothian Everton v Sigma Olomouc Fulham v Amkar Perm Rapid Vienna v Aston Villa.
Source:The times
Shadow of Cristiano Ronaldo looms large over Manchester United’s young pretenders
Sir Alex Ferguson warns his young forwards that they have some way to go before they can replace the departed Portuguese striker.
Even as his team prepare to raise the curtain on the new top-flight season tomorrow, Sir Alex Ferguson remains misty-eyed about the star performer who has left the building.
Other big-name players have departed the Old Trafford stage with barely a pat on the back from Ferguson down the years, but the Manchester United manager continues to shower bouquets on Cristiano Ronaldo.
The context yesterday, before the Community Shield match against Chelsea at Wembley tomorrow, was the size of the task facing Wayne Rooney, in particular, as he looks to lead United into the post-Ronaldo era. For all the varying qualities of Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Owen, Antonio Valencia and others, Rooney appears the most obvious talisman for the new-look United, but Ferguson appeared hesitant at best yesterday when asked whether the England forward was ready to emulate Ronaldo, now at Real Madrid, in making the jump towards the highest echelons.
It was put to Ferguson that three years ago Ronaldo and Rooney were synonymous, two young players, 21 and 20, with immense potential and that, whereas the Englishman has gradually attained or come close to world-class status, his Portuguese team-mate went stratospheric.
Greatness should not be measured in terms of goals alone, but, having scored as many Premier League goals (13) in his first two seasons at United as Ronaldo managed in his first three, Rooney, like everyone else in the English game, was left in Ronaldo’s wake from the start of the 2006-07 campaign, managing 38 goals in 83 league starts as opposed to his team-mate’s incredible haul of 66 in 93.
When Ferguson described Ronaldo recently as “without question the best player in this world of ours — streets ahead of Lionel Messi, streets ahead of Kaká”, it went without saying that he was saying that Real’s £80 million man was streets ahead of anyone he left behind at Old Trafford. That extends to Valencia, who was signed from Wigan Athletic as the closest thing to a direct replacement for the Portugal forward, but Ferguson is expecting big things from the Ecuadorean, a more orthodox threat on the right wing, as well as a great leap forward from Rooney and others.
Ferguson talked of having “bought potential” in the shape of Valencia, a player who, having turned 24 this week, is only six months younger than Ronaldo. He talked, too, of the rich potential of Rooney, Nani, Danny Welbeck and, in particular, Federico Macheda, the 17-year-old Italian forward who, he said, “is going to give me real problems. For his age, he’s exceptional. He’s going to be a top, top player.”
No one at Old Trafford, it seems, though, can yet bear comparison to Ronaldo. “Wayne is a totally different type of player to Ronaldo,” Ferguson said. “I don’t think you can compare them. Ronaldo is lightning quick, he has two good feet, he is magnificent in the air, and what is there left to say about his goalscoring record?
“For any player, whether it is Rooney, Macheda, Welbeck or Nani, all the forwards, they all have to say, ‘Well, this guy was exceptional.’ And the only way any player can achieve an improvement is through practice on the training field, having the desire to improve themselves in every training session. People in our game misread what a training session means. It’s not just to fill your morning or keep you out of the house. It is to improve yourselves as footballers.
“We are lucky that some of the players we have had here, and have at the moment, have that desire to improve all the time. It’s only through training sessions that players can improve.”
What is clear is Ferguson’s belief that Ronaldo rose to greatness through hard work and that nobody, whether it is Rooney, Macheda, Berbatov or Nani, can expect to emulate their former team-mate without total commitment on the training ground.
The other main factor in United’s success in the past three seasons has been a solid defence, but their resources will be stretched as the new campaign begins. Edwin van der Sar is out for ten weeks with a broken finger, while Nemanja Vidic will join Gary Neville and Rafael Da Silva in sitting out the Barclays Premier League opener against Birmingham City next weekend.
Ben Foster is expected to start in goal for United tomorrow, with Rio Ferdinand marshalling John O’Shea, Jonny Evans and Fabio Da Silva in a makeshift back four that Chelsea, under new management yet again, will be eager to exploit.
Source:The times
Even as his team prepare to raise the curtain on the new top-flight season tomorrow, Sir Alex Ferguson remains misty-eyed about the star performer who has left the building.
Other big-name players have departed the Old Trafford stage with barely a pat on the back from Ferguson down the years, but the Manchester United manager continues to shower bouquets on Cristiano Ronaldo.
The context yesterday, before the Community Shield match against Chelsea at Wembley tomorrow, was the size of the task facing Wayne Rooney, in particular, as he looks to lead United into the post-Ronaldo era. For all the varying qualities of Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Owen, Antonio Valencia and others, Rooney appears the most obvious talisman for the new-look United, but Ferguson appeared hesitant at best yesterday when asked whether the England forward was ready to emulate Ronaldo, now at Real Madrid, in making the jump towards the highest echelons.
It was put to Ferguson that three years ago Ronaldo and Rooney were synonymous, two young players, 21 and 20, with immense potential and that, whereas the Englishman has gradually attained or come close to world-class status, his Portuguese team-mate went stratospheric.
Greatness should not be measured in terms of goals alone, but, having scored as many Premier League goals (13) in his first two seasons at United as Ronaldo managed in his first three, Rooney, like everyone else in the English game, was left in Ronaldo’s wake from the start of the 2006-07 campaign, managing 38 goals in 83 league starts as opposed to his team-mate’s incredible haul of 66 in 93.
When Ferguson described Ronaldo recently as “without question the best player in this world of ours — streets ahead of Lionel Messi, streets ahead of Kaká”, it went without saying that he was saying that Real’s £80 million man was streets ahead of anyone he left behind at Old Trafford. That extends to Valencia, who was signed from Wigan Athletic as the closest thing to a direct replacement for the Portugal forward, but Ferguson is expecting big things from the Ecuadorean, a more orthodox threat on the right wing, as well as a great leap forward from Rooney and others.
Ferguson talked of having “bought potential” in the shape of Valencia, a player who, having turned 24 this week, is only six months younger than Ronaldo. He talked, too, of the rich potential of Rooney, Nani, Danny Welbeck and, in particular, Federico Macheda, the 17-year-old Italian forward who, he said, “is going to give me real problems. For his age, he’s exceptional. He’s going to be a top, top player.”
No one at Old Trafford, it seems, though, can yet bear comparison to Ronaldo. “Wayne is a totally different type of player to Ronaldo,” Ferguson said. “I don’t think you can compare them. Ronaldo is lightning quick, he has two good feet, he is magnificent in the air, and what is there left to say about his goalscoring record?
“For any player, whether it is Rooney, Macheda, Welbeck or Nani, all the forwards, they all have to say, ‘Well, this guy was exceptional.’ And the only way any player can achieve an improvement is through practice on the training field, having the desire to improve themselves in every training session. People in our game misread what a training session means. It’s not just to fill your morning or keep you out of the house. It is to improve yourselves as footballers.
“We are lucky that some of the players we have had here, and have at the moment, have that desire to improve all the time. It’s only through training sessions that players can improve.”
What is clear is Ferguson’s belief that Ronaldo rose to greatness through hard work and that nobody, whether it is Rooney, Macheda, Berbatov or Nani, can expect to emulate their former team-mate without total commitment on the training ground.
The other main factor in United’s success in the past three seasons has been a solid defence, but their resources will be stretched as the new campaign begins. Edwin van der Sar is out for ten weeks with a broken finger, while Nemanja Vidic will join Gary Neville and Rafael Da Silva in sitting out the Barclays Premier League opener against Birmingham City next weekend.
Ben Foster is expected to start in goal for United tomorrow, with Rio Ferdinand marshalling John O’Shea, Jonny Evans and Fabio Da Silva in a makeshift back four that Chelsea, under new management yet again, will be eager to exploit.
Source:The times
Shadow of Cristiano Ronaldo looms large over Manchester United’s young pretenders
Sir Alex Ferguson warns his young forwards that they have some way to go before they can replace the departed Portuguese striker.
Even as his team prepare to raise the curtain on the new top-flight season tomorrow, Sir Alex Ferguson remains misty-eyed about the star performer who has left the building.
Other big-name players have departed the Old Trafford stage with barely a pat on the back from Ferguson down the years, but the Manchester United manager continues to shower bouquets on Cristiano Ronaldo.
The context yesterday, before the Community Shield match against Chelsea at Wembley tomorrow, was the size of the task facing Wayne Rooney, in particular, as he looks to lead United into the post-Ronaldo era. For all the varying qualities of Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Owen, Antonio Valencia and others, Rooney appears the most obvious talisman for the new-look United, but Ferguson appeared hesitant at best yesterday when asked whether the England forward was ready to emulate Ronaldo, now at Real Madrid, in making the jump towards the highest echelons.
It was put to Ferguson that three years ago Ronaldo and Rooney were synonymous, two young players, 21 and 20, with immense potential and that, whereas the Englishman has gradually attained or come close to world-class status, his Portuguese team-mate went stratospheric.
Greatness should not be measured in terms of goals alone, but, having scored as many Premier League goals (13) in his first two seasons at United as Ronaldo managed in his first three, Rooney, like everyone else in the English game, was left in Ronaldo’s wake from the start of the 2006-07 campaign, managing 38 goals in 83 league starts as opposed to his team-mate’s incredible haul of 66 in 93.
When Ferguson described Ronaldo recently as “without question the best player in this world of ours — streets ahead of Lionel Messi, streets ahead of Kaká”, it went without saying that he was saying that Real’s £80 million man was streets ahead of anyone he left behind at Old Trafford. That extends to Valencia, who was signed from Wigan Athletic as the closest thing to a direct replacement for the Portugal forward, but Ferguson is expecting big things from the Ecuadorean, a more orthodox threat on the right wing, as well as a great leap forward from Rooney and others.
Ferguson talked of having “bought potential” in the shape of Valencia, a player who, having turned 24 this week, is only six months younger than Ronaldo. He talked, too, of the rich potential of Rooney, Nani, Danny Welbeck and, in particular, Federico Macheda, the 17-year-old Italian forward who, he said, “is going to give me real problems. For his age, he’s exceptional. He’s going to be a top, top player.”
No one at Old Trafford, it seems, though, can yet bear comparison to Ronaldo. “Wayne is a totally different type of player to Ronaldo,” Ferguson said. “I don’t think you can compare them. Ronaldo is lightning quick, he has two good feet, he is magnificent in the air, and what is there left to say about his goalscoring record?
“For any player, whether it is Rooney, Macheda, Welbeck or Nani, all the forwards, they all have to say, ‘Well, this guy was exceptional.’ And the only way any player can achieve an improvement is through practice on the training field, having the desire to improve themselves in every training session. People in our game misread what a training session means. It’s not just to fill your morning or keep you out of the house. It is to improve yourselves as footballers.
“We are lucky that some of the players we have had here, and have at the moment, have that desire to improve all the time. It’s only through training sessions that players can improve.”
What is clear is Ferguson’s belief that Ronaldo rose to greatness through hard work and that nobody, whether it is Rooney, Macheda, Berbatov or Nani, can expect to emulate their former team-mate without total commitment on the training ground.
The other main factor in United’s success in the past three seasons has been a solid defence, but their resources will be stretched as the new campaign begins. Edwin van der Sar is out for ten weeks with a broken finger, while Nemanja Vidic will join Gary Neville and Rafael Da Silva in sitting out the Barclays Premier League opener against Birmingham City next weekend.
Ben Foster is expected to start in goal for United tomorrow, with Rio Ferdinand marshalling John O’Shea, Jonny Evans and Fabio Da Silva in a makeshift back four that Chelsea, under new management yet again, will be eager to exploit.
Source:The times
Even as his team prepare to raise the curtain on the new top-flight season tomorrow, Sir Alex Ferguson remains misty-eyed about the star performer who has left the building.
Other big-name players have departed the Old Trafford stage with barely a pat on the back from Ferguson down the years, but the Manchester United manager continues to shower bouquets on Cristiano Ronaldo.
The context yesterday, before the Community Shield match against Chelsea at Wembley tomorrow, was the size of the task facing Wayne Rooney, in particular, as he looks to lead United into the post-Ronaldo era. For all the varying qualities of Dimitar Berbatov, Michael Owen, Antonio Valencia and others, Rooney appears the most obvious talisman for the new-look United, but Ferguson appeared hesitant at best yesterday when asked whether the England forward was ready to emulate Ronaldo, now at Real Madrid, in making the jump towards the highest echelons.
It was put to Ferguson that three years ago Ronaldo and Rooney were synonymous, two young players, 21 and 20, with immense potential and that, whereas the Englishman has gradually attained or come close to world-class status, his Portuguese team-mate went stratospheric.
Greatness should not be measured in terms of goals alone, but, having scored as many Premier League goals (13) in his first two seasons at United as Ronaldo managed in his first three, Rooney, like everyone else in the English game, was left in Ronaldo’s wake from the start of the 2006-07 campaign, managing 38 goals in 83 league starts as opposed to his team-mate’s incredible haul of 66 in 93.
When Ferguson described Ronaldo recently as “without question the best player in this world of ours — streets ahead of Lionel Messi, streets ahead of Kaká”, it went without saying that he was saying that Real’s £80 million man was streets ahead of anyone he left behind at Old Trafford. That extends to Valencia, who was signed from Wigan Athletic as the closest thing to a direct replacement for the Portugal forward, but Ferguson is expecting big things from the Ecuadorean, a more orthodox threat on the right wing, as well as a great leap forward from Rooney and others.
Ferguson talked of having “bought potential” in the shape of Valencia, a player who, having turned 24 this week, is only six months younger than Ronaldo. He talked, too, of the rich potential of Rooney, Nani, Danny Welbeck and, in particular, Federico Macheda, the 17-year-old Italian forward who, he said, “is going to give me real problems. For his age, he’s exceptional. He’s going to be a top, top player.”
No one at Old Trafford, it seems, though, can yet bear comparison to Ronaldo. “Wayne is a totally different type of player to Ronaldo,” Ferguson said. “I don’t think you can compare them. Ronaldo is lightning quick, he has two good feet, he is magnificent in the air, and what is there left to say about his goalscoring record?
“For any player, whether it is Rooney, Macheda, Welbeck or Nani, all the forwards, they all have to say, ‘Well, this guy was exceptional.’ And the only way any player can achieve an improvement is through practice on the training field, having the desire to improve themselves in every training session. People in our game misread what a training session means. It’s not just to fill your morning or keep you out of the house. It is to improve yourselves as footballers.
“We are lucky that some of the players we have had here, and have at the moment, have that desire to improve all the time. It’s only through training sessions that players can improve.”
What is clear is Ferguson’s belief that Ronaldo rose to greatness through hard work and that nobody, whether it is Rooney, Macheda, Berbatov or Nani, can expect to emulate their former team-mate without total commitment on the training ground.
The other main factor in United’s success in the past three seasons has been a solid defence, but their resources will be stretched as the new campaign begins. Edwin van der Sar is out for ten weeks with a broken finger, while Nemanja Vidic will join Gary Neville and Rafael Da Silva in sitting out the Barclays Premier League opener against Birmingham City next weekend.
Ben Foster is expected to start in goal for United tomorrow, with Rio Ferdinand marshalling John O’Shea, Jonny Evans and Fabio Da Silva in a makeshift back four that Chelsea, under new management yet again, will be eager to exploit.
Source:The times
Australia take stranglehold on first day of fourth Ashes Test
Headingley Carnegie (first day of five; England won toss): Australia, with six first-innings wickets in hand, are 94 runs ahead of England.
Throughout the summer, Andrew Strauss has been making bullish noises about his team’s ability to cope without their alpha males, Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen.
The hypothetical became a reality as England took to the field for the first time in nearly six years without either. The response was not so much a statement of independence as a cry for help, Australia bowling out England for their lowest Ashes total at Headingley in a hundred years and finishing the day in credit, if not quite yet in clover. Before the start, England were effectively five good days from regaining the Ashes. But so disastrously did things go for the first two sessions yesterday, from the early news of Flintoff’s withdrawal, to Matt Prior’s pre-match back spasm — which required a last-minute injection — to the thoroughly inept batting and bowling that, in its own way, was just as poor, that it will take a remarkable turnaround if England are to go to the Brit Oval on Thursday week with their lead intact.
This pantomime summer has seen Ricky Ponting cast as the ugly sister to Strauss’s Cinderella, booed every time he has appeared on stage. He was booed thunderously to the crease by a certain section of the crowd again, more a raspberry to interfering administrators than any hatred of Ponting, and was booed off the stage as well, but by the time he departed leg-before to Stuart Broad, his team were already 38 to the good.
Ponting played the innings of the day, even if he was helped by an England attack far more accommodating than the clowns on the Western Terrace. The bowling was short and often wide, as if to order, so that Ponting was able to showcase to his detractors the cutting and pulling at which he is just about the best in the business. He shared in a century partnership with Shane Watson, the fifty-and-out man, which consolidated his team’s earlier gains. A lead of 150 or more should prove enough.
In the wake of a first-innings batting performance so woeful that only two batsmen made double figures, questions will no doubt be asked about England’s team selection after Flintoff’s withdrawal. But those who argue for the extra batsman — selecting Jonathan Trott at the expense of Broad — will be aiming arrows at the wrong target. England were collectively awful yesterday, so much so that one player could hardly have made much difference, and Broad was the best bowler in the last session, snaring Mike Hussey leg-before as well as Ponting.
Once Prior had recovered, England made one change, Stephen Harmison replacing Flintoff. It was a show of faith in the five specialist batsmen, but they suffered a failure of nerve, technique and planning, all five caught in the arc between wicketkeeper and gully, four for single-figure scores, as Australia bowled the kind of full, probing length that was beyond England later.
Certainly this proved to be a decent toss to lose for Ponting, the ball swinging consistently in the morning and darting off a dry surface like a chased buck, but that is expected at this most capricious of grounds. Headingley demands craftsman-like disciplines — playing tightly around off stump, not driving anything other than halfvolleys, not chasing anything too wide — and these were ignored.
Credit, though, to Australia, who, by replacing Nathan Hauritz with Stuart Clark, got their selections spot on and set about consolidating the momentum they believed had come their way at Edgbaston with their best bowling performance of the summer.
Although Peter Siddle took five wickets, the first and the last four, Clark was central to Australia’s improvement. His absence until now has been a surprise because he has always seemed ideally suited to English conditions. There have been whispers that he has lost a little of his nip, but given the movement on offer, the premium was on accuracy, not pace. A ten-over spell of exquisite medium-pace swing and cut either side of lunch brought him four maidens, three wickets — Alastair Cook and Paul Collingwood pushing forward and Broad clipping to short square leg — and England just 18 runs. He applied the tourniquet that Australia have been missing throughout the summer.
Clark’s pressure from one end brought benefits at the other as England’s middle order was exposed again. Ravi Bopara, looking increasingly out of his depth at No 3, hung his bat out limply to Ben Hilfenhaus and was caught in the gully, while Ian Bell failed to get his glove out of the way of a ripsnorting bouncer from the improving Mitchell Johnson. Only Prior, stranded on 37, stood tall.
It was the most difficult day that Strauss has had as captain, with a fire alarm going off at the team hotel at an unsociable hour and the shenanigans surrounding Prior’s late fitness test. The key for captains who are opening batsmen is to be able to put the worries to one side when the first ball comes down. But there was so much going on before the start of play, so many decisions to make and such a short space of time once the toss had been put back by ten minutes, that it would have been near impossible.
So when Hilfenhaus bowled a perfect first ball — the kind that a left-hander dreads above all (full length and swinging back into the pads) — the surprise was not that Strauss missed it, but that Billy Bowden did not raise the crooked finger. It was plumb.
A mighty reprieve, then, but the captain’s mind was clearly elsewhere, and he wafted 16 balls later at a wide ball from Siddle, Marcus North pouching a stunner at slip. It was a bad start for Strauss on a day when his Ashes dreams may have turned to dust.
Scoreboard
England: First Innings*A J Strauss c North b Siddle 3A N Cook c Clarke b Clark 30R S Bopara c Hussey b Hilfenhaus 1I R Bell c Haddin b Johnson 8P D Collingwood c Ponting b Clark 0†M J Prior not out 37S C J Broad c Katich b Clark 3G P Swann c Clarke b Siddle 0S J Harmison c Haddin b Siddle 0J M Anderson c Haddin b Siddle 3G Onions c Katich b Siddle 0Extras (b 5, lb 8, w 1, nb 3) 17Total (33.5 overs) 102
Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-16, 3-39, 4-42, 5-63, 6-72, 7-92, 8-98, 9-102.
Bowling: Hilfenhaus 7-0-20-1; Siddle 9.5-0-21-5; Johnson 7-0-30-1; Clark 10-4-18-3.
Australia: First InningsS R Watson lbw b Onions 51S M Katich c Bopara b Harmison 0*R T Ponting lbw b Broad 78M E K Hussey lbw b Broad 10M J Clarke not out 34M J North not out 7Extras (b 9, lb 3, w 2, nb 2) 16Total (4 wkts, 47 overs) 196
†B J Haddin, M G Johnson, S R Clark, P M Siddle and B W Hilfenhaus to bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-133, 3-140, 4-151.
Bowling: Anderson 12-2-55-0; Harmison 13-3-55-1; Onions 11-2-45-1; Broad 11-4-29-2.
Umpires: Asad Rauf (Pakistan) and B F Bowden (New Zealand).
Source:The times
Throughout the summer, Andrew Strauss has been making bullish noises about his team’s ability to cope without their alpha males, Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen.
The hypothetical became a reality as England took to the field for the first time in nearly six years without either. The response was not so much a statement of independence as a cry for help, Australia bowling out England for their lowest Ashes total at Headingley in a hundred years and finishing the day in credit, if not quite yet in clover. Before the start, England were effectively five good days from regaining the Ashes. But so disastrously did things go for the first two sessions yesterday, from the early news of Flintoff’s withdrawal, to Matt Prior’s pre-match back spasm — which required a last-minute injection — to the thoroughly inept batting and bowling that, in its own way, was just as poor, that it will take a remarkable turnaround if England are to go to the Brit Oval on Thursday week with their lead intact.
This pantomime summer has seen Ricky Ponting cast as the ugly sister to Strauss’s Cinderella, booed every time he has appeared on stage. He was booed thunderously to the crease by a certain section of the crowd again, more a raspberry to interfering administrators than any hatred of Ponting, and was booed off the stage as well, but by the time he departed leg-before to Stuart Broad, his team were already 38 to the good.
Ponting played the innings of the day, even if he was helped by an England attack far more accommodating than the clowns on the Western Terrace. The bowling was short and often wide, as if to order, so that Ponting was able to showcase to his detractors the cutting and pulling at which he is just about the best in the business. He shared in a century partnership with Shane Watson, the fifty-and-out man, which consolidated his team’s earlier gains. A lead of 150 or more should prove enough.
In the wake of a first-innings batting performance so woeful that only two batsmen made double figures, questions will no doubt be asked about England’s team selection after Flintoff’s withdrawal. But those who argue for the extra batsman — selecting Jonathan Trott at the expense of Broad — will be aiming arrows at the wrong target. England were collectively awful yesterday, so much so that one player could hardly have made much difference, and Broad was the best bowler in the last session, snaring Mike Hussey leg-before as well as Ponting.
Once Prior had recovered, England made one change, Stephen Harmison replacing Flintoff. It was a show of faith in the five specialist batsmen, but they suffered a failure of nerve, technique and planning, all five caught in the arc between wicketkeeper and gully, four for single-figure scores, as Australia bowled the kind of full, probing length that was beyond England later.
Certainly this proved to be a decent toss to lose for Ponting, the ball swinging consistently in the morning and darting off a dry surface like a chased buck, but that is expected at this most capricious of grounds. Headingley demands craftsman-like disciplines — playing tightly around off stump, not driving anything other than halfvolleys, not chasing anything too wide — and these were ignored.
Credit, though, to Australia, who, by replacing Nathan Hauritz with Stuart Clark, got their selections spot on and set about consolidating the momentum they believed had come their way at Edgbaston with their best bowling performance of the summer.
Although Peter Siddle took five wickets, the first and the last four, Clark was central to Australia’s improvement. His absence until now has been a surprise because he has always seemed ideally suited to English conditions. There have been whispers that he has lost a little of his nip, but given the movement on offer, the premium was on accuracy, not pace. A ten-over spell of exquisite medium-pace swing and cut either side of lunch brought him four maidens, three wickets — Alastair Cook and Paul Collingwood pushing forward and Broad clipping to short square leg — and England just 18 runs. He applied the tourniquet that Australia have been missing throughout the summer.
Clark’s pressure from one end brought benefits at the other as England’s middle order was exposed again. Ravi Bopara, looking increasingly out of his depth at No 3, hung his bat out limply to Ben Hilfenhaus and was caught in the gully, while Ian Bell failed to get his glove out of the way of a ripsnorting bouncer from the improving Mitchell Johnson. Only Prior, stranded on 37, stood tall.
It was the most difficult day that Strauss has had as captain, with a fire alarm going off at the team hotel at an unsociable hour and the shenanigans surrounding Prior’s late fitness test. The key for captains who are opening batsmen is to be able to put the worries to one side when the first ball comes down. But there was so much going on before the start of play, so many decisions to make and such a short space of time once the toss had been put back by ten minutes, that it would have been near impossible.
So when Hilfenhaus bowled a perfect first ball — the kind that a left-hander dreads above all (full length and swinging back into the pads) — the surprise was not that Strauss missed it, but that Billy Bowden did not raise the crooked finger. It was plumb.
A mighty reprieve, then, but the captain’s mind was clearly elsewhere, and he wafted 16 balls later at a wide ball from Siddle, Marcus North pouching a stunner at slip. It was a bad start for Strauss on a day when his Ashes dreams may have turned to dust.
Scoreboard
England: First Innings*A J Strauss c North b Siddle 3A N Cook c Clarke b Clark 30R S Bopara c Hussey b Hilfenhaus 1I R Bell c Haddin b Johnson 8P D Collingwood c Ponting b Clark 0†M J Prior not out 37S C J Broad c Katich b Clark 3G P Swann c Clarke b Siddle 0S J Harmison c Haddin b Siddle 0J M Anderson c Haddin b Siddle 3G Onions c Katich b Siddle 0Extras (b 5, lb 8, w 1, nb 3) 17Total (33.5 overs) 102
Fall of wickets: 1-11, 2-16, 3-39, 4-42, 5-63, 6-72, 7-92, 8-98, 9-102.
Bowling: Hilfenhaus 7-0-20-1; Siddle 9.5-0-21-5; Johnson 7-0-30-1; Clark 10-4-18-3.
Australia: First InningsS R Watson lbw b Onions 51S M Katich c Bopara b Harmison 0*R T Ponting lbw b Broad 78M E K Hussey lbw b Broad 10M J Clarke not out 34M J North not out 7Extras (b 9, lb 3, w 2, nb 2) 16Total (4 wkts, 47 overs) 196
†B J Haddin, M G Johnson, S R Clark, P M Siddle and B W Hilfenhaus to bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-133, 3-140, 4-151.
Bowling: Anderson 12-2-55-0; Harmison 13-3-55-1; Onions 11-2-45-1; Broad 11-4-29-2.
Umpires: Asad Rauf (Pakistan) and B F Bowden (New Zealand).
Source:The times
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