Formula One is digesting the most important technical changes in its history just as it faces serious financial challenges. The reality of the global economic meltdown hit F1 when Honda made a swift exit in December. That distant boardroom decision refocused the minds of the remaining teams, the governing body and the holders of the sport’s commercial rights.
That is the backdrop as we embark on a new season. The opening salvos were fired last week with a highly provocative plan for 2010 announced by FIA president Max Mosley, under which teams who agree to an audited budget cap — set at £30m, or 80% less than the current spend of the top teams — will be allowed significant technical advantages, such as higher engine revs and less restrictive aerodynamics.
Amid that dust storm, we look set for a fascinating season. Recent testing suggests that world champion Lewis Hamilton will struggle in the early races with a midfield car, while 29-year-old Jenson Button, who was potentially staring at the end of his career a few weeks ago, could be top Brit at the front of the field with Brawn GP, which has risen from the ashes of Honda.
Hamilton down the grid? Button at the front? Honda replaced by Brawn? That’s just for starters. This year sees radical regulation changes, with aerodynamic and tyre alterations, the incorporation of regenerative energy KERS devices, no in- season testing, and a limit on the use of engines. The FIA also declared that whoever won the most races, regardless of points, would be crowned the world champion. It’s a concept not far removed from Bernie Ecclestone’s idea of a gold, silver and bronze medal system, and it might have been Hamilton’s best hope of retaining his title, given that he could fall behind on points if his McLaren team struggle.
I was sanguine about this proposed change if it created more aggressive race action. However, after a challenge over its validity because of a lack of unanimous team support, this hot potato has been deferred until at least 2010.
Although McLaren appear to have made last-minute progress, further track time is now largely restricted to Grand Prix weekends, when tyre and engine availability issues come into play. This could be a long, hard season for Hamilton, who has not driven a midfield car in his career.
The general testing form has confounded most insiders. Designers, engineers and drivers were predicting that the regulation changes would spread the field, but the opposite appears to have happened. While Ferrari and BMW have looked consistently strong, Toyota, Renault, Williams and Red Bull have been very closely matched too. Joining the party just before the music stopped — with a hurriedly bolted-on Mercedes-Benz customer engine, and sticking to the track like a Scalextric car going round for hundreds of laps faster than anything else — has been the Brawn.
The drivers face fresh challenges too. The new “slick” dry tyres yield more grip to the front end than the rear — because removing the four grooves on the narrower front tyres has given them proportionately more rubber biting into the track — so the performance of the rear tyres is fading more quickly. Regulations dictate that drivers must use two different and more widely spaced rubber compounds during a race. The result is that a badly handled or aggressively driven car will destroy its rear tyres exponentially faster.
Furthermore, the drivers must manage the KERS energy recovery device from a button on the steering wheel, using either a trickle of extra power generated from the normally wasted braking energy for improved lap time, or as a burst of energy to defend or pass. These costly devices are not compulsory, and less than half the grid will have them fitted at the first race next weekend, which rather sends out the wrong message.
KERS brings associated problems of weight distribution, cooling and safety, but there is every incentive to get on top of such problems, given that an extra 80 horsepower is available, representing a 12% power boost for just under seven seconds each lap.
The new aerodynamic rules tax the drivers further because of a cockpit-adjustable front wing flap. The angle of the flap can be changed twice per lap over a six-degree range to fine-tune the car, especially when following others in close formation and turbulent air. Despite their intention to halve aerodynamic downforce, the skill and resources of the teams have limited this to 25%. With the extra grip of the slick tyres, the cars are only about a second per lap slower. But in the rain, with the same wet tyres as before, it’s a different matter. It could be chaos — although Stirling Moss would have loved a quarter as much grip in his day. The drivers will just have to manage.
Welcome to the year of the intelligent driver. Michael Schumacher, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost would have loved these cars. Of the current crop, you’d have to back Fernando Alonso’s ability to out-think his opponents.
The team bosses are on the offensive too, judging by the reaction of Ferrari chairman Luca di Montezemolo to the FIA’s announcement of second-tier budget-capped teams for 2010. This is explosive territory, in that “Fred Bloggs Racing” will be able to run a car with a significant and variable technical advantage over Ferrari, McLaren, BMW and Toyota for a fraction of their budgets. In reality, the minnows should still not be competitive, but a two-class field could be confusing.
The politics run deeper. There is now no binding Concorde agreement between the teams, the FIA and the commercial rights-holder, Ecclestone’s Formula One Management. The Memorandum of Understanding they operate under expires in 2012. With this plan, while also moving to protect F1 from the recession, Mosley and Ecclestone are trying to protect their control of the sport by having some alternative and more manageable teams filling the 12 available franchise slots.The teams’ association, FOTA, has been punchy in announcing its own blueprint of F1’s future, along with predicted 50% budget cuts. I suspect the new £30m budget limit is a negotiating stance, but I have never seen the teams so galvanised and cohesive. Mosley and Ecclestone will be assuming that when they start racing and protesting against each others’ cars, such accord will dissolve.
I doubt that it’s possible to audit and police the F1 spend of global organisations such as BMW and Toyota, with multiple facilities. The cost allocation of myriad research and development, parts, materials and overheads will be impossible to agree. It will be easy to create value for key personnel in other ways.
I dislike contrived equivalency formulas in motor sport. They are a necessary scourge of touring car and sports car racing, but not F1. This appears to be an invitation for the manufacturer to reduce its operations drastically and fall into line, or leave the sport.
It must be said that Mosley is fundamentally right, in that the current costs are unsustainable and the teams have been too slow to react.
Ecclestone’s view is that the capped budget teams are not going to be running at the front because they will not have comparable know-how. He is probably right, but F1 is all about excellence, not the lowest common denominator. He says he is more concerned about not having a grid full of cars, which is valid.
Amusingly, the only costs allowed outside of the proposed budget cap are motorhomes to keep the paddock looking smart, and FIA fines. Until now the teams have attempted to bring Mosley and Ecclestone along with them in their vision of the future, almost naively expecting agreement. Historically the teams have lacked the resolve, continuity and balls to win, but they seem more organised now. Everything depends on what Di Montezemolo at Ferrari wants to do. The climbdown on Friday on the “winner takes all” regulation was a big U-turn for the FIA.
Let battle commence, on and off the track.
GRAND PRIX CALENDAR
Mar 29 Melbourne Apr 5 Kuala Lumpur Apr 19 Shanghai Apr 26 Bahrain May 10 Barcelona May 24 Monte Carlo Jun 7 Istanbul Jun 21 Silverstone Jul 12 Nurburgring Jul 26 Budapest Aug 23 Valencia Aug 30 Spa Sep 13 Monza Sep 27 Singapore Oct 4 Suzuka Oct 18 Sao Paulo Nov 1 Abu Dhabi
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Beaten Manchester United see red
YOU wait an age for one shocking disintegration of poise and invulnerability and suddenly two come along at once. Eight days ago Manchester United were skipping through the forest with seemingly nothing to stop them popping trophies in their basket.
Now they are as edgy as Little Red Riding Hoods who have just seen the Big Bad Wolf. Sir Alex Ferguson scoffed that he’d need to “read more Freud” in order to fathom Rafael Benitez, but if his nemesis can fashion a win over Aston Villa this afternoon, the joke will be on Ferguson. Liverpool would move to within a point of United with a chance, thanks to the fixture list, to regain leadership of the Premier League before United play again. It is Ferguson and his players who seem in need of psychoanalysis, if only to understand what inner collapse has caused such a sudden loss of authority.
Ferguson did his best to preserve any remaining veneer of calm as the teams left the pitch. He ordered Carlos Tevez, then Edwin Van der Sar to stop harranguing Phil Dowd, the referee, but nobody was fooled.
Apoplexy overcame Ferguson in his post-match interview. After complaining about the sending-offs of both Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes (questioning the latter, for blatant handball on the goalline seemed even more one-eyed than claiming United were “the better team” in their 4-1 defeat by Liverpool last week) exasperation caused Ferguson to tail off. “Ach . . . I mean . . . oh,” he said, “what can you say about that?”Fulham were magnificent, feisty, resolute, intelligent, controlled by United’s old bugbear Danny Murphy in the first period and kept intact by Mark Schwarzer’s heroic goalkeeping in the second. They were rocking only briefly, when United shelled Schwarzer’s goal for 10 minutes either side of the hour mark but that was it.
Ferguson’s assertion following the Liverpool defeat that “we will respond” was not borne out and for once the manager is grateful for an international break. He should have been thanking Dowd.
Cristiano Ronaldo could easily have earned the same penalty as Rooney and Scholes, who will miss United’s next fixture, versus Aston Villa, for a foot-off-the-ground lunge on Murphy for which he was yellow carded but might have seen red, and a prissy show of dissent minutes later, for which the referee merely warned him.
Dowd was more punitive towards Rooney. With a minute left the forward hurled the ball away when Dowd ordered a free kick to be retaken. He had already been cautioned for a cynical shirt-pull on Olivier Dacourt and was ordered to leave the field after being booked again. On his way off, Rooney landed a meaty punch upon the corner flag but it was United who had received the knockout blow.
Moments earlier Zoltan Gera had settled matters by scoring with a bicycle kick, teeing himself up cleverly after interplay with Andy Johnson.
Fulham’s early lead arrived when Brede Hangeland flicked on at a corner, Van der Sar saved Bobby Zamora’s header and Scholes palmed the ball away when Zamora followed up with another headed effort. Murphy stroked the penalty past Van der Sar and Ferguson’s gamble of recalling Scholes at Michael Carrick’s expense had failed. Dimitar Berbatov and Ronaldo, chosen as the front-line ahead of Rooney and Carlos Tevez, were indolent and indulgent respectively. Rooney, on at striker after replacing Berbatov at half-time, was the inspiration behind United’s comeback and it stalled the moment Ferguson brought on Tevez and moved Rooney to the right.
Fulham should have added to their first goal earlier but Clint Dempsey and Zamora missed chances and there were too many long-range shots.
Giggs released Ronaldo with a gorgeous pass and Schwarzer saved with his body when Park Ji-Sung attempted to convert the cross. Rooney went for goal with the rebound and Schwarzer saved again.
When Murphy made it 1-0 the cameras panned to the bench and you could see the gum turning round in Ferguson’s mouth at the speed of clothes in a spin cycle. At 2-0 he leaned back open mouthed. The chewing, and United’s world, had stopped.
FULHAM: Schwarzer 9, Pantsil 7, Hughes 7, Hangeland 8, Konchesky 7, Dempsey 7 (Gera 81min), Murphy 9 (Dacourt 67min), Etuhu 7, Davies 7, Johnson 6, Zamora 6 (Kamara 77min)
MAN UTD: Van der Sar 8, O’Shea 5 (Tevez 70min), Evans 5, Ferdinand 6, Evra 5, Ronaldo 5, Fletcher 5, Scholes 3, Park 5, Giggs 6, Berbatov 6 (Rooney ht, 5)
Star man: Danny Murphy (Fulham)
Yellow cards: Fulham: Pantsil, Dempsey Man Utd: Evans, Evra, Ronaldo, Rooney
Red cards: Man Utd: Scholes, Rooney
Referee: P Dowd
Attendance: 25,652
Source:the times
Now they are as edgy as Little Red Riding Hoods who have just seen the Big Bad Wolf. Sir Alex Ferguson scoffed that he’d need to “read more Freud” in order to fathom Rafael Benitez, but if his nemesis can fashion a win over Aston Villa this afternoon, the joke will be on Ferguson. Liverpool would move to within a point of United with a chance, thanks to the fixture list, to regain leadership of the Premier League before United play again. It is Ferguson and his players who seem in need of psychoanalysis, if only to understand what inner collapse has caused such a sudden loss of authority.
Ferguson did his best to preserve any remaining veneer of calm as the teams left the pitch. He ordered Carlos Tevez, then Edwin Van der Sar to stop harranguing Phil Dowd, the referee, but nobody was fooled.
Apoplexy overcame Ferguson in his post-match interview. After complaining about the sending-offs of both Wayne Rooney and Paul Scholes (questioning the latter, for blatant handball on the goalline seemed even more one-eyed than claiming United were “the better team” in their 4-1 defeat by Liverpool last week) exasperation caused Ferguson to tail off. “Ach . . . I mean . . . oh,” he said, “what can you say about that?”Fulham were magnificent, feisty, resolute, intelligent, controlled by United’s old bugbear Danny Murphy in the first period and kept intact by Mark Schwarzer’s heroic goalkeeping in the second. They were rocking only briefly, when United shelled Schwarzer’s goal for 10 minutes either side of the hour mark but that was it.
Ferguson’s assertion following the Liverpool defeat that “we will respond” was not borne out and for once the manager is grateful for an international break. He should have been thanking Dowd.
Cristiano Ronaldo could easily have earned the same penalty as Rooney and Scholes, who will miss United’s next fixture, versus Aston Villa, for a foot-off-the-ground lunge on Murphy for which he was yellow carded but might have seen red, and a prissy show of dissent minutes later, for which the referee merely warned him.
Dowd was more punitive towards Rooney. With a minute left the forward hurled the ball away when Dowd ordered a free kick to be retaken. He had already been cautioned for a cynical shirt-pull on Olivier Dacourt and was ordered to leave the field after being booked again. On his way off, Rooney landed a meaty punch upon the corner flag but it was United who had received the knockout blow.
Moments earlier Zoltan Gera had settled matters by scoring with a bicycle kick, teeing himself up cleverly after interplay with Andy Johnson.
Fulham’s early lead arrived when Brede Hangeland flicked on at a corner, Van der Sar saved Bobby Zamora’s header and Scholes palmed the ball away when Zamora followed up with another headed effort. Murphy stroked the penalty past Van der Sar and Ferguson’s gamble of recalling Scholes at Michael Carrick’s expense had failed. Dimitar Berbatov and Ronaldo, chosen as the front-line ahead of Rooney and Carlos Tevez, were indolent and indulgent respectively. Rooney, on at striker after replacing Berbatov at half-time, was the inspiration behind United’s comeback and it stalled the moment Ferguson brought on Tevez and moved Rooney to the right.
Fulham should have added to their first goal earlier but Clint Dempsey and Zamora missed chances and there were too many long-range shots.
Giggs released Ronaldo with a gorgeous pass and Schwarzer saved with his body when Park Ji-Sung attempted to convert the cross. Rooney went for goal with the rebound and Schwarzer saved again.
When Murphy made it 1-0 the cameras panned to the bench and you could see the gum turning round in Ferguson’s mouth at the speed of clothes in a spin cycle. At 2-0 he leaned back open mouthed. The chewing, and United’s world, had stopped.
FULHAM: Schwarzer 9, Pantsil 7, Hughes 7, Hangeland 8, Konchesky 7, Dempsey 7 (Gera 81min), Murphy 9 (Dacourt 67min), Etuhu 7, Davies 7, Johnson 6, Zamora 6 (Kamara 77min)
MAN UTD: Van der Sar 8, O’Shea 5 (Tevez 70min), Evans 5, Ferdinand 6, Evra 5, Ronaldo 5, Fletcher 5, Scholes 3, Park 5, Giggs 6, Berbatov 6 (Rooney ht, 5)
Star man: Danny Murphy (Fulham)
Yellow cards: Fulham: Pantsil, Dempsey Man Utd: Evans, Evra, Ronaldo, Rooney
Red cards: Man Utd: Scholes, Rooney
Referee: P Dowd
Attendance: 25,652
Source:the times
Saturday, March 21, 2009
England celebrate after West Indies blunder
This, presumably, was not what Darren Sammy had in mind when he urged West Indies to keep their feet on opposition throats and grind them into the dust. After 13 unsuccessful international matches in five months, England put the “win” back into “winter” thanks to a bizarre and costly miscalculation from the annals of fiction.
Perhaps John Dyson, the West Indies coach, was humming a Christmas carol to himself while he scanned the Duckworth/Lewis sheet and decided to call in his batsmen after an offer of bad light, believing his side to be one run ahead. Amid gloom, confusion and ultimately embarrassment, the loss of Denesh Ramdin had nudged the advantage to England.
Generosity is rare in cricket and the crestfallen Dyson was a picture of disbelief as Javagal Srinath, the match referee, confirmed what Andrew Strauss already knew. The England captain recognised Dyson’s monumental blunder immediately, but continued to peer at the figures as though he could not believe his luck.
West Indies, stimulated by a blistering innings by Shivnarine Chanderpaul in which he cracked 26 runs from a single Stephen Harmison over, needed 27 runs to win from 22 balls at the end. The crowd of 19,000 were told by the public address announcer that their side had won; it was probably as well there was no correction.
England had done quite a few things well through the game. Owais Shah continued his form from the one-day series in India, Stuart Broad led the bowling attack maturely and Paul Collingwood battled through a migraine to top score and make an impact with the ball.
Strauss won an important toss, but walked off ruefully after following the first boundary of the match — in the seventh over — by slicing what would have been a comfortable wide from Daren Powell to backward point. The sight of Kevin Pietersen then struggling for timing no doubt influenced England’s estimation of a par score.
Ravi Bopara played nicely alongside Shah, especially in the early overs of Nikita Miller’s spin, and Collingwood gave the innings impetus straight away. But showers could not have halted play at a worse time for England with the fourth-wicket pair gathering momentum and preparing to call for the batting powerplay.
A total of about 300 was not unrealistic, but with Shah top-edging a pull having struck 62 from 86 balls and Dimitri Mascarenhas succumbing to slightly low bounce second ball, the five overs of fielding restrictions yielded only 19 runs.
Chasing 271, Ramnaresh Sarwan, as befitting a batsman in the form of his life, looked at ease without ever threatening to tear apart the attack and Lendl Simmons appeared jittery whenever he went a few balls without a run. The loss of both men inside three overs handed England the advantage.
That was to reckon without Chanderpaul. He lofted his first ball, from Collingwood, over mid-on to the boundary to bring his local crowd, now filling the National Stadium, to its feet in a frenzy. The assault on Harmison could be described as bullying but for the fact that Harmison is the giant, Chanderpaul the titch.
The first ball of the 40th over, short and wide, was drilled past cover point, the next flipped over fine leg for six. Two forcing strokes pierced the offside ring before a straight drive and a slash over cover completed the over. Regret when he fell almost immediately afterwards was palpable.
But the impact of that over on Harmison became clear as he allowed a straightforward catch at long-on from Pollard, off Gareth Batty, to slip through his hands and creep over the rope. His place for the second game here tomorrow is far from assured.
England*A J Strauss c Bravo b Powell 15R S Bopara lbw b Miller 43K P Pietersen c Powell b Bravo 17O A Shah c Ramdin b Bravo 62P D Collingwood c Bravo b Pollard 69A D Mascarenhas lbw b Pollard 0†M J Prior not out 26S C J Broad run out 8G J Batty not out 2Extras (lb 4, w 23, nb 1) 28Total (7 wkts, 50 overs) 270
S J Harmison and J M Anderson did not bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-28, 2-64, 3-117, 4-215, 5-216, 6-243, 7-263.
Bowling: Powell 5-0-27-1; Edwards 5-0-23-0; Bravo 10-0-65-2; Sammy 10-0-43-0; Miller 9-0-48-1; Pollard 8-0-46-2; Gayle 3-0-14-0.
West Indies*C H Gayle lbw b Broad 2L M P Simmons c Anderson b Batty 62R R Sarwan c Strauss b Collingwood 57S Chanderpaul c Strauss b Broad 46K A Pollard c Harmison b Anderson 42D J Bravo c Bopara b Anderson 1†D Ramdin lbw b Broad 11D J G Sammy not out 0Extras (b 5, lb 4, w 14) 23Total (7 wkts, 46.2 overs) 244
N O Miller, F H Edwards, D B L Powell did not bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-131, 3-152, 4-212, 5-213, 6-242, 7-244.
Bowling: Broad 9.2-2-41-3; Anderson 8-0-39-2; Harmison 7-0-51-0; Mascarenhas 8-0-33-0; Batty 7-0-34-1; Collingwood 7-0-37-1.
Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and C R Duncan.
One-day schedule: Guyana: Tomorrow: Second one-day international. Bridgetown: Friday: Third one-day international. Bridgetown: Sunday, March 29: Fourth one-day international. Gros Islet, St Lucia: Friday, March 3: Fifth one-day international.
Source:the times
Perhaps John Dyson, the West Indies coach, was humming a Christmas carol to himself while he scanned the Duckworth/Lewis sheet and decided to call in his batsmen after an offer of bad light, believing his side to be one run ahead. Amid gloom, confusion and ultimately embarrassment, the loss of Denesh Ramdin had nudged the advantage to England.
Generosity is rare in cricket and the crestfallen Dyson was a picture of disbelief as Javagal Srinath, the match referee, confirmed what Andrew Strauss already knew. The England captain recognised Dyson’s monumental blunder immediately, but continued to peer at the figures as though he could not believe his luck.
West Indies, stimulated by a blistering innings by Shivnarine Chanderpaul in which he cracked 26 runs from a single Stephen Harmison over, needed 27 runs to win from 22 balls at the end. The crowd of 19,000 were told by the public address announcer that their side had won; it was probably as well there was no correction.
England had done quite a few things well through the game. Owais Shah continued his form from the one-day series in India, Stuart Broad led the bowling attack maturely and Paul Collingwood battled through a migraine to top score and make an impact with the ball.
Strauss won an important toss, but walked off ruefully after following the first boundary of the match — in the seventh over — by slicing what would have been a comfortable wide from Daren Powell to backward point. The sight of Kevin Pietersen then struggling for timing no doubt influenced England’s estimation of a par score.
Ravi Bopara played nicely alongside Shah, especially in the early overs of Nikita Miller’s spin, and Collingwood gave the innings impetus straight away. But showers could not have halted play at a worse time for England with the fourth-wicket pair gathering momentum and preparing to call for the batting powerplay.
A total of about 300 was not unrealistic, but with Shah top-edging a pull having struck 62 from 86 balls and Dimitri Mascarenhas succumbing to slightly low bounce second ball, the five overs of fielding restrictions yielded only 19 runs.
Chasing 271, Ramnaresh Sarwan, as befitting a batsman in the form of his life, looked at ease without ever threatening to tear apart the attack and Lendl Simmons appeared jittery whenever he went a few balls without a run. The loss of both men inside three overs handed England the advantage.
That was to reckon without Chanderpaul. He lofted his first ball, from Collingwood, over mid-on to the boundary to bring his local crowd, now filling the National Stadium, to its feet in a frenzy. The assault on Harmison could be described as bullying but for the fact that Harmison is the giant, Chanderpaul the titch.
The first ball of the 40th over, short and wide, was drilled past cover point, the next flipped over fine leg for six. Two forcing strokes pierced the offside ring before a straight drive and a slash over cover completed the over. Regret when he fell almost immediately afterwards was palpable.
But the impact of that over on Harmison became clear as he allowed a straightforward catch at long-on from Pollard, off Gareth Batty, to slip through his hands and creep over the rope. His place for the second game here tomorrow is far from assured.
England*A J Strauss c Bravo b Powell 15R S Bopara lbw b Miller 43K P Pietersen c Powell b Bravo 17O A Shah c Ramdin b Bravo 62P D Collingwood c Bravo b Pollard 69A D Mascarenhas lbw b Pollard 0†M J Prior not out 26S C J Broad run out 8G J Batty not out 2Extras (lb 4, w 23, nb 1) 28Total (7 wkts, 50 overs) 270
S J Harmison and J M Anderson did not bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-28, 2-64, 3-117, 4-215, 5-216, 6-243, 7-263.
Bowling: Powell 5-0-27-1; Edwards 5-0-23-0; Bravo 10-0-65-2; Sammy 10-0-43-0; Miller 9-0-48-1; Pollard 8-0-46-2; Gayle 3-0-14-0.
West Indies*C H Gayle lbw b Broad 2L M P Simmons c Anderson b Batty 62R R Sarwan c Strauss b Collingwood 57S Chanderpaul c Strauss b Broad 46K A Pollard c Harmison b Anderson 42D J Bravo c Bopara b Anderson 1†D Ramdin lbw b Broad 11D J G Sammy not out 0Extras (b 5, lb 4, w 14) 23Total (7 wkts, 46.2 overs) 244
N O Miller, F H Edwards, D B L Powell did not bat.
Fall of wickets: 1-6, 2-131, 3-152, 4-212, 5-213, 6-242, 7-244.
Bowling: Broad 9.2-2-41-3; Anderson 8-0-39-2; Harmison 7-0-51-0; Mascarenhas 8-0-33-0; Batty 7-0-34-1; Collingwood 7-0-37-1.
Umpires: Aleem Dar (Pakistan) and C R Duncan.
One-day schedule: Guyana: Tomorrow: Second one-day international. Bridgetown: Friday: Third one-day international. Bridgetown: Sunday, March 29: Fourth one-day international. Gros Islet, St Lucia: Friday, March 3: Fifth one-day international.
Source:the times
Andy Murray gets used to taking his place at the top table
Andy Murray’s elevated status in the tennis world meant that he was one of those singled out for special attention here by Adam Helfant, the new chief executive and chairman of the ATP World Tour. Murray brought Ross Hutchins, his doubles partner, along to the dinner table for company and Helfant walked away highly impressed with what the British No 1 had to say on all manner of strategic and political issues.
It is symptomatic of the Scot’s position both as a defining player for his nation and right up there among the world’s best that, when he speaks, influential ears are cocked and, when he plays, everyone stops to have a look.
That has been Roger Federer’s position for years, one enhanced by his recent elevation to president of the ATP Player Council, which gives the view from the coalface.
Today, in the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Federer and Murray meet for the sixth time in just over a year in official competition — seven if you count January’s exhibition in Abu Dhabi — and the British No 1 has triumphed in the past four. Both men are feeling their way back into the bear pit of competition, both have been a bit edgy, though Murray has not dropped a single set here and Federer just one.
“Great players are tough to play against,” Federer said.” “I’m still figuring Andy out a little bit. He is very consistent for someone so young and that’s impressive.”
Where Murray has been ultra-consistent is his in dislike of the “whereabouts” rule, imposed by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) as a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) programme, which means that a player has to let the authorities know where he is going to be for one hour of every day.
It got to the ludicrous situation on the way here that, as Murray decided to leave his hotel early to beat the notorious Los Angeles freeway snarls, he realised that he needed to update his position to the doping controllers or risk a strike against his unblemished record. Hasty calls were made back to Britain, plans updated and the risk averted.
Murray says the ATP’s doping guidelines could be amended. “It would make sense for the ATP to have a company that is used where we know that everything is going to be fine. If not, I am scared to take anything – I literally felt like I was dying in bed a couple of weeks ago and all I could take is paracetamol, three times a day.
“At least the women’s tour has a company they turn to which basically guarantees they are going to be safe. We don’t have anything like that.”
Which is something he will definitely be taking up with Helfant and his political top brass, the next time he is invited to dinner.
Source:the times
It is symptomatic of the Scot’s position both as a defining player for his nation and right up there among the world’s best that, when he speaks, influential ears are cocked and, when he plays, everyone stops to have a look.
That has been Roger Federer’s position for years, one enhanced by his recent elevation to president of the ATP Player Council, which gives the view from the coalface.
Today, in the BNP Paribas Open at Indian Wells, Federer and Murray meet for the sixth time in just over a year in official competition — seven if you count January’s exhibition in Abu Dhabi — and the British No 1 has triumphed in the past four. Both men are feeling their way back into the bear pit of competition, both have been a bit edgy, though Murray has not dropped a single set here and Federer just one.
“Great players are tough to play against,” Federer said.” “I’m still figuring Andy out a little bit. He is very consistent for someone so young and that’s impressive.”
Where Murray has been ultra-consistent is his in dislike of the “whereabouts” rule, imposed by the International Tennis Federation (ITF) as a member of the World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) programme, which means that a player has to let the authorities know where he is going to be for one hour of every day.
It got to the ludicrous situation on the way here that, as Murray decided to leave his hotel early to beat the notorious Los Angeles freeway snarls, he realised that he needed to update his position to the doping controllers or risk a strike against his unblemished record. Hasty calls were made back to Britain, plans updated and the risk averted.
Murray says the ATP’s doping guidelines could be amended. “It would make sense for the ATP to have a company that is used where we know that everything is going to be fine. If not, I am scared to take anything – I literally felt like I was dying in bed a couple of weeks ago and all I could take is paracetamol, three times a day.
“At least the women’s tour has a company they turn to which basically guarantees they are going to be safe. We don’t have anything like that.”
Which is something he will definitely be taking up with Helfant and his political top brass, the next time he is invited to dinner.
Source:the times
Colin Montgomerie welcomes additional help
Colin Montgomerie will be contractually obliged to have at least two vice-captains when he leads Europe in the Ryder Cup against the United States at Celtic Manor in September next year. For the first time, this requirement will be part of the agreement made between the captain and the European Tour.
Such a move could be interpreted as being a direct result of Nick Faldo, captain of the losing Europe team in Louisville last September, choosing to have only one vicecaptain, José María Olazábal. Though that was Faldo's decision, others looking at the Europe team during their comprehensive defeat came to the conclusion that Faldo had left himself too much to do.
In fact, Montgomerie may even have four vice-captains. “I have got to have two,” Montgomerie, 45, said. “You can envisage that number being doubled by the time the Ryder Cup comes round.
“One of them will be Olly [Olazábal], unless he is playing. His first request to me is to try and compete as a player, but if that does not happen, we have a pact that he will come and help me as the No1 vice-captain.”Watching the previous Ryder Cup from afar, Montgomerie was most impressed with the job that the American vice-captains, Ray Floyd, Dave Stockton and Olin Browne, did for Paul Azinger, their captain. Each vice-captain was put in charge of one four-man unit from the start of the week to the end, leaving Azinger free to roam. “That is exactly what Nick unfortunately couldn't do because he was more on his own,” Montgomerie said.
“You can't watch three or four groups. You just can't do it. You can't give that time. The way that Paul delegated to Ray Floyd and Dave Stockton, two very hard and competitive men, was possibly the winning of the Ryder Cup for the US and why we lost it. We didn't have the depth of backroom staff.”
Annika Sorenstam, 38, who retired from the LPGA Tour last year after 72 victories and 10 major tournament wins saying that she wanted to start a business and a family, announced last night that she and Mike McGee, her husband, are expecting their first child in the autumn.
Source:the times
Such a move could be interpreted as being a direct result of Nick Faldo, captain of the losing Europe team in Louisville last September, choosing to have only one vicecaptain, José María Olazábal. Though that was Faldo's decision, others looking at the Europe team during their comprehensive defeat came to the conclusion that Faldo had left himself too much to do.
In fact, Montgomerie may even have four vice-captains. “I have got to have two,” Montgomerie, 45, said. “You can envisage that number being doubled by the time the Ryder Cup comes round.
“One of them will be Olly [Olazábal], unless he is playing. His first request to me is to try and compete as a player, but if that does not happen, we have a pact that he will come and help me as the No1 vice-captain.”Watching the previous Ryder Cup from afar, Montgomerie was most impressed with the job that the American vice-captains, Ray Floyd, Dave Stockton and Olin Browne, did for Paul Azinger, their captain. Each vice-captain was put in charge of one four-man unit from the start of the week to the end, leaving Azinger free to roam. “That is exactly what Nick unfortunately couldn't do because he was more on his own,” Montgomerie said.
“You can't watch three or four groups. You just can't do it. You can't give that time. The way that Paul delegated to Ray Floyd and Dave Stockton, two very hard and competitive men, was possibly the winning of the Ryder Cup for the US and why we lost it. We didn't have the depth of backroom staff.”
Annika Sorenstam, 38, who retired from the LPGA Tour last year after 72 victories and 10 major tournament wins saying that she wanted to start a business and a family, announced last night that she and Mike McGee, her husband, are expecting their first child in the autumn.
Source:the times
Bronze Cannon can hit the target at Lingfield Park
Flat racing returns to turf at Doncaster in a week's time, but the climax of the all-weather season takes centre stage today with the sportingbet.com Winter Derby (3.05) at Lingfield Park. John Gosden has his horses in excellent form already - he saddled Mafaaz to win the Kentucky Derby Trial at Kempton Park on Wednesday - and the classy Bronze Cannon can give him another valuable prize.
Touted as a possible for the real thing at Epsom after showing smart form in winning two handicaps at Newmarket early last year, Bronze Cannon instead went to Royal Ascot for the King Edward VII Stakes, finishing a disappointing seventh having been sent off second favourite.
He returned to form after a four-month break when a good third in this grade back at Newmarket and was then unsuited by a slow early pace when only fifth to Yahrab over this course and distance in November.
Twice a winner over a mile on this surface at Kempton Park, he has a good record when fresh and still has the potential to be a cut above these rivals. The booking of champion jockey Ryan Moore, who returned to Britain this week, adds to confidence and Bronze Cannon looks too big at a general 6-1 this morning.
The main threat comes from Premio Loco. Brought along with typical patience by Chris Wall, Premio Loco has been beaten just once in six starts on the all-weather and has looked a class act on his past two starts over a mile here and at Kempton Park. The doubt is whether he will be as effective over this longer trip as, while he is bred to stay, he races keenly and appeared not to last home over a furlong shorter when sixth in the Cambridgeshire at Newmarket.
The sportingbet.com Spring Cup (2.35) has also attracted a good-class field, with Damien taken to come out on top. He showed smart form in going close in valuable sales races at Newmarket and Doncaster before an excellent fourth to Lord Shanakill in the Mill Reef Stakes at Newbury in September. Sure to have been freshened up by a five-month break since disappointing at Chantilly, he can bounce back to form.
Matsunosuke will appreciate a return to the minimum trip and can add to his excellent course record in the sportingbet.com Hever Sprint Stakes (2.05). He has racked up four wins, a second (in this race 12 months ago) and two thirds in seven starts here and is fancied to prove too strong for the front-running Arganil in the closing stages.
Over jumps at Newbury, Dancingwithbubbles, trained by Alan King, is sure to go close in the EBF Byrne Bros Mares Novices' Handicap Hurdle Final (3.30). She showed smart form in bumpers and has progressed well in three starts since switching to hurdles.
Unsuited by heavy ground on her reappearance, she then found Carole's Legacy just too strong at Ludlow in December before winning in tidy fashion at the same track last time. Weighted to turn the tables on Carole's Legacy, she should be more effective back on better ground and can continue her rise through the ranks.
Source:the times
Touted as a possible for the real thing at Epsom after showing smart form in winning two handicaps at Newmarket early last year, Bronze Cannon instead went to Royal Ascot for the King Edward VII Stakes, finishing a disappointing seventh having been sent off second favourite.
He returned to form after a four-month break when a good third in this grade back at Newmarket and was then unsuited by a slow early pace when only fifth to Yahrab over this course and distance in November.
Twice a winner over a mile on this surface at Kempton Park, he has a good record when fresh and still has the potential to be a cut above these rivals. The booking of champion jockey Ryan Moore, who returned to Britain this week, adds to confidence and Bronze Cannon looks too big at a general 6-1 this morning.
The main threat comes from Premio Loco. Brought along with typical patience by Chris Wall, Premio Loco has been beaten just once in six starts on the all-weather and has looked a class act on his past two starts over a mile here and at Kempton Park. The doubt is whether he will be as effective over this longer trip as, while he is bred to stay, he races keenly and appeared not to last home over a furlong shorter when sixth in the Cambridgeshire at Newmarket.
The sportingbet.com Spring Cup (2.35) has also attracted a good-class field, with Damien taken to come out on top. He showed smart form in going close in valuable sales races at Newmarket and Doncaster before an excellent fourth to Lord Shanakill in the Mill Reef Stakes at Newbury in September. Sure to have been freshened up by a five-month break since disappointing at Chantilly, he can bounce back to form.
Matsunosuke will appreciate a return to the minimum trip and can add to his excellent course record in the sportingbet.com Hever Sprint Stakes (2.05). He has racked up four wins, a second (in this race 12 months ago) and two thirds in seven starts here and is fancied to prove too strong for the front-running Arganil in the closing stages.
Over jumps at Newbury, Dancingwithbubbles, trained by Alan King, is sure to go close in the EBF Byrne Bros Mares Novices' Handicap Hurdle Final (3.30). She showed smart form in bumpers and has progressed well in three starts since switching to hurdles.
Unsuited by heavy ground on her reappearance, she then found Carole's Legacy just too strong at Ludlow in December before winning in tidy fashion at the same track last time. Weighted to turn the tables on Carole's Legacy, she should be more effective back on better ground and can continue her rise through the ranks.
Source:the times
Alex Ferguson and Rafael Benitez at loggerheads over spending
Rafael Benítez has hit back at Sir Alex Ferguson and told him to “check his figures” after the Manchester United manager dismissed his Liverpool counterpart’s claims that the Merseyside club have spent less money than the Barclays Premier League champions over the past five years.
Ferguson claimed yesterday that Liverpool were “well ahead of us in spending in the last five years”, but the statistics appear to support Benítez. United’s gross spending since June 2004, when the Spaniard arrived at Anfield, totals £221.95 million compared with £212.6 million by Liverpool. Ferguson’s net spending over that period is £147.90 million compared with Benítez’s £111.39 million.
The row marks the latest chapter in the escalating tension between the pair, whose rivalry is fast becoming the fiercest in English football. Ferguson branded Benítez “disturbed” after the Liverpool manager accused him in January of wielding an unfair influence over referees during a calculated attack, and on the eve of United’s 4-1 defeat by Liverpool at Old Trafford a week ago Ferguson resumed the spat by claiming that he would need to “read up on Freud” to make sense of the Spaniard’s remarks.
“Check the figures,” Benítez said. “It doesn’t matter what Ferguson says about money. They [Liverpool] have more money and can spend more than us, so we have to manage and do our best in every single deal.” Ferguson had sparked the debate when he claimed that he had instructed United’s staff to survey the statistics after growing tired of listening to Benítez reiterating that Liverpool had spent less. “I was amazed when I saw that [],” Ferguson said. “I talked to some of the people in the sports technology department and said, ‘Check that out.’
“I am sure I have not spent that much money. I worked out in the last five years that Liverpool have spent £24 million more than Manchester United. The most amazing fact about them is that they have used 60 players in the reserves this season.”
Ferguson is under no illusions, though, that Benítez will spend big in the summer after signing a new five-year contract. As revealed by The Times yesterday, he is expected to have at least £30 million plus whatever he can recoup in sales to spend.
“You will see Rafa produce an incredible spending spree — that is an absolute certainty now he has signed a new contract,” the United manager said. “They talk of a recession, but there will not be one at Liverpool.”
Ferguson is more concerned about returning to winning ways away to Fulham in the league this afternoon, however, and believes that the embarrassing defeat by Liverpool last weekend could serve as a wake-up call to his players, whom he fears were becoming distracted by all the talk of an unprecedented quintuple.
Jonny Evans, the defender, will replace Nemanja Vidic, who is suspended after being sent off against Liverpool, and Gary Neville, the captain, is available after injury.
“The club has to recover from a defeat and travelling away to Fulham represents a good challenge,” Ferguson said. “It is hard to defend a 4-1 defeat. We suffered from self-inflicted wounds and mistakes you don’t expect. For weeks we had to listen to eulogies and compliments about how good this side of ours was. I kept deflecting that and saying how tough this league was and this \ was just a reminder to us. In a way, it will help us because we realise there is a lot of work to be done. You have to answer tough questions every time Manchester United lose a game. There were no lives lost last week.”
Facts in figures
£221.95m: Manchester United’s gross spend on transfers (£147.90 million net) since June 2004, when Rafael Benítez was appointed Liverpool manager, up to and including January 2009 transfer window
£212.60m: Liverpool’s spending (£111.39 million net) during same period
Source:the times
Ferguson claimed yesterday that Liverpool were “well ahead of us in spending in the last five years”, but the statistics appear to support Benítez. United’s gross spending since June 2004, when the Spaniard arrived at Anfield, totals £221.95 million compared with £212.6 million by Liverpool. Ferguson’s net spending over that period is £147.90 million compared with Benítez’s £111.39 million.
The row marks the latest chapter in the escalating tension between the pair, whose rivalry is fast becoming the fiercest in English football. Ferguson branded Benítez “disturbed” after the Liverpool manager accused him in January of wielding an unfair influence over referees during a calculated attack, and on the eve of United’s 4-1 defeat by Liverpool at Old Trafford a week ago Ferguson resumed the spat by claiming that he would need to “read up on Freud” to make sense of the Spaniard’s remarks.
“Check the figures,” Benítez said. “It doesn’t matter what Ferguson says about money. They [Liverpool] have more money and can spend more than us, so we have to manage and do our best in every single deal.” Ferguson had sparked the debate when he claimed that he had instructed United’s staff to survey the statistics after growing tired of listening to Benítez reiterating that Liverpool had spent less. “I was amazed when I saw that [],” Ferguson said. “I talked to some of the people in the sports technology department and said, ‘Check that out.’
“I am sure I have not spent that much money. I worked out in the last five years that Liverpool have spent £24 million more than Manchester United. The most amazing fact about them is that they have used 60 players in the reserves this season.”
Ferguson is under no illusions, though, that Benítez will spend big in the summer after signing a new five-year contract. As revealed by The Times yesterday, he is expected to have at least £30 million plus whatever he can recoup in sales to spend.
“You will see Rafa produce an incredible spending spree — that is an absolute certainty now he has signed a new contract,” the United manager said. “They talk of a recession, but there will not be one at Liverpool.”
Ferguson is more concerned about returning to winning ways away to Fulham in the league this afternoon, however, and believes that the embarrassing defeat by Liverpool last weekend could serve as a wake-up call to his players, whom he fears were becoming distracted by all the talk of an unprecedented quintuple.
Jonny Evans, the defender, will replace Nemanja Vidic, who is suspended after being sent off against Liverpool, and Gary Neville, the captain, is available after injury.
“The club has to recover from a defeat and travelling away to Fulham represents a good challenge,” Ferguson said. “It is hard to defend a 4-1 defeat. We suffered from self-inflicted wounds and mistakes you don’t expect. For weeks we had to listen to eulogies and compliments about how good this side of ours was. I kept deflecting that and saying how tough this league was and this \ was just a reminder to us. In a way, it will help us because we realise there is a lot of work to be done. You have to answer tough questions every time Manchester United lose a game. There were no lives lost last week.”
Facts in figures
£221.95m: Manchester United’s gross spend on transfers (£147.90 million net) since June 2004, when Rafael Benítez was appointed Liverpool manager, up to and including January 2009 transfer window
£212.60m: Liverpool’s spending (£111.39 million net) during same period
Source:the times
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