It was a son et lumière worthy of the Sphinx or Grand Canyon. The opening ceremony of the Indian Premier League, on a shirtsleeve evening in mid-April in Bangalore, was the most spectacular that cricket has seen. I sensed the same ingredients of success at the first official day/night international, between Australia and West Indies, at Sydney in 1979: people hurrying to a ground to see the cricket they wanted, of the duration they wanted, at the time they wanted.
Brendon McCullum lit up the night sky as brilliantly as the fireworks by hitting 158 from 73 balls, and most of the major talents in world cricket joined in over the next six weeks. While there were initial doubts about whether Indian crowds and television audiences would identify with an Australian or South African, and a sizeable proportion of each crowd was admitted free, city-based cricket soon became as popular in India as soap operas. In spite of the poor television camerawork, and advertisements that shaved many overs to five balls, tens of millions - perhaps hundreds of millions - watched, for evening after evening, live cricket.
The IPL is a clever mixture of ingredients because its administrators have understood their market - their mass market. Although it is impossible to be sure from such a recent perspective, it looks as though the supranational IPL is the single biggest change in cricket not merely since the advent of the limited-overs game in the 1960s but of fixtures between countries in the 19th century: that is, since the invention of international or Test cricket.
Above all, until the time of writing, the IPL has had luck on its side. As the world went into economic crisis, the IPL gave every appearance of bucking the trend. The two auctions of players which it staged, the second on February 6 this year, must have appealed to anyone who has played Monopoly: they gave the franchise-owners the feeling they had power over the world's finest cricketers, and everyone else the illusion. At a time of the most serious recession since the 1930s, Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen were signed for two years at $1.55million per six-week tournament (or pro rata for the number of games they played). The IPL radiated wealth, wellbeing, exuberance, and prospects for future growth: in a word, hope.
It was during the third IPL match, in Delhi, that the principal defect of 20-over cricket became apparent. Shane Warne led the Rajasthan Royals against the Delhi Daredevils - and was anonymous. It was not simply that his bowling was ineffective on a flat pitch, or his innings brief, or his captaincy unable to avert a large defeat. The defect was that he had no time to manifest his personality.
Warne's strength of character soon made itself felt, as he turned what had seemed in Delhi to be a bunch of Indian club cricketers into the first IPL champions. But on the field, such is the bustling pace of the 20-over game, Warne had no time to transmit his personality to spectators or television viewers; and the interplay of personalities is the essence of drama.
A 50-over game can sometimes allow the necessary scope: remember how Warne, gradually but inexorably, bent the 1999 World Cup semi-final at Edgbaston to his will. But although a Twenty20 game offers plenty of action over three hours, and an exciting finish almost as often as not, it lacks the drama that a full day of intense cricket provides. As the novelty of 20-over cricket wears off, it will be seen that cricket's characters can only be formed in longer versions of the game.
Administrators could not cash in quickly enough. The ECB announced the English Premier League, with 20 teams, to start in 2010 (when the recession bit, the two overseas teams were quietly dropped, along with other modifications). An alternative business plan of a nine-franchise league, based at England's international venues, was proposed by Keith Bradshaw, chief executive of MCC, and David Stewart, Surrey's chairman; but it was seen as the thin end of a wedge which would have driven half of the 18 counties out of existence.
I am in favour of 18 first-class counties, provided - and it is a provision far from being fulfilled - they devote much more of their resources to promoting cricket within their own communities, instead of relying for recruitment on public schools and the southern hemisphere. These two breeding grounds each supplied about one third of England's county cricketers last season, while Britain's inner cities remained mostly untrawled waters.
The Pro-Active South London Schools Survey 2008 should ring like a fire alarm at the ECB's offices. More than 26,000 children at secondary schools were asked which three sports they would like more access to: football was first, badminton eighth, cricket 21st. Even among boys alone, it ranked no higher than twelfth. A major factor is the virtual disappearance of Afro-Caribbean cricketers. Such findings show that the hold on the public imagination which cricket had in 2005 has been lost completely.
As well as the midsummer English Premier League, which was a good idea, the ECB announced a late- summer 20-over competition, which was not. Filling up the domestic season with four competitions is the surest way to prevent an improvement in standards. It is only right that the counties should want to do more to stand on their own financial feet, to be less dependent on the £1.5million that the ECB distributes to each one, but two 20-over competitions cannot be right - especially as August is the time to stage 50-over cricket, not May when the ball seams around and powerplays are irrelevant.
The only point in favour of the second 20-over competition was that the 40-over league had to be abolished to make space. Launched in 1969 as a fun afternoon to follow the Sunday roast, it had long since outlasted its purpose and become the ball and chain around the legs of English cricket, choking the calendar, preventing the pursuit of excellence, draining intensity out of the system - and the single biggest reason why England, alone among the major Test-playing countries, have never won a global one-day tournament.
Source: The times
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Liverpool left on the ropes after Branislav Ivanovic lands one-two combination
The resident disc jockey opted for a Beatles classic at the final whistle. We Can Work It Out sounded like wishful thinking on Liverpool’s part at the end of an evening when the fortress of Anfield was not just stormed but ransacked, but, to put it in another context, who can possibly work out the remarkable transformation that Guus Hiddink has managed in only two months in charge of Chelsea?
It cannot be rocket science, just a case of restoring some much-needed confidence and tactical discipline to a team who had lost their way under Luiz Felipe Scolari. Given the way that Chelsea capitulated at the same venue just before his arrival, though, the Hiddink effect is looking like something close to alchemy. Only not alchemy, since Chelsea, after crowning a superb performance with two goals from Branislav Ivanovic and one from Didier Drogba, are dreaming not of gold but of silver and, specifically, the European Cup that has proved elusive during the Roman Abramovich era.
Hiddink called Chelsea’s performance “perfect”, at least after they had recovered from the blow of conceding a sixth-minute goal to Fernando Torres. At that point it seemed as though Liverpool’s momentum was propelling them towards yet another Champions League semi-final, but as Michael Essien began to relish his man-marking assignment against Steven Gerrard and, as Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack, Drogba and the rest warmed to their task, it became a quite outstanding Chelsea display on an evening when they finally cast aside the caution of the José Mourinho era.
Chelsea’s performance contained certain parallels with Liverpool’s tactical masterclass in winning 4-1 away to Manchester United last month, a result that stripped the losers of their aura of invincibility. It remains to be seen whether this result will have such a demoralising effect on Liverpool in their bid for the Barclays Premier League title, but, as Drogba tormented Martin Skrtel and Jamie Carragher much as Torres had given the runaround to Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, it was easy to see why Sir Alex Ferguson had suggested that the winners of this tie would pose a far greater threat to United on the domestic front than the losers.
With three away goals to his team’s name, Hiddink was even asked afterwards whether John Terry’s suspension for the second leg, after he was booked for an overzealous challenge on José Manuel Reina, might now be regarded as a blessing in that it would free him up for a semi-final against, one presumes, Barcelona. Hiddink was not too keen to follow that particular line of inquiry, but, given the manner in which Terry exchanged barbs with Gerrard, his England team-mate, in the heat of the battle, the Chelsea captain might just be able to see the logic behind that argument.
It was a glorious night for Terry and his team-mates. They have suffered at Liverpool’s hands in the Champions League in recent years, as well as tasting two defeats in the Premier League this season, but they dealt with everything that Rafael Benítez’s team could throw at them. By the end, Gerrard and Torres looked frustrated and the fervour of the home crowd had been reduced to a whimper — a far cry from the opening minutes, when Torres seemed to have lit the fuse for another of those Anfield glory nights.
Hiddink had identified Gerrard as the main threat to Chelsea, but the Liverpool captain had only a fleeting involvement in the goal that gave his team the lead. It was his lung-busting run into the penalty area that forced Alex into a wild clearance, but then came a surprisingly deft piece of control from Dirk Kuyt and an even better reverse pass into the path of Álvaro Arbeloa on the overlap. Arbeloa surged into the penalty area and picked out Torres, who, neglected by Alex, had the time and the space to steer a cool shot past Petr Cech.
For Chelsea, it was the nightmare start, but their recovery was almost immediate. Within 60 seconds Salomon Kalou harried Fábio Aurélio into a mistake and set up Drogba, who should have scored but shot straight at the advancing Reina.
Drogba then squandered an even better chance on the half-hour, shooting high into the Kop after a perfect first touch, from Ballack’s cross, had taken him away from Jamie Carragher in the penalty area. Drogba’s moment would arrive, but first came not one but two goals from a player who could not get close to the Chelsea teamsheet 12 months ago, let alone the scoresheet.
For the first eight months of his Chelsea career, after his arrival from Lokomotiv Moscow in January 2008, Ivanovic looked destined to go down as the new Winston Bogarde, but his contribution last night will not be forgotten. Five minutes before half-time Florent Malouda swung in a corner from the right and the Serbia defender escaped the attentions of Xabi Alonso and then rose between Skrtel and Albert Riera to beat Reina with a firm header. In the 62nd minute he repeated the act, this time getting between Gerrard and Arbeloa to score again.
Questions will be asked about Liverpool’s zonal marking from set-pieces, as they are on every occasion that they concede from such situations, but Benítez will be more concerned by the way that Chelsea outmuscled and outplayed his team. The third goal was a classic, Ballack releasing Malouda, who hit a superb cross into the six-yard box, where Drogba, attacking the ball ahead of Carragher and Sktel, slammed the ball past Reina.
The closing stages were played out to near-silence until the home supporters responded to questions about the atmosphere by asking “where’s your European Cups?” — note the plural. The Chelsea fans had no answer, but more of this and their players may soon be able to provide the perfect riposte, Barcelona notwithstanding.
Liverpool (4-2-3-1): J M Reina — Á Arbeloa, M Skrtel, J Carragher, F Aurélio (sub: A Dossena, 75min) — X Alonso, Lucas Leiva (sub: R Babel, 80) — D Kuyt, S Gerrard, A Riera (sub: Y Benayoun, 68) — F Torres. Substitutes not used: D Cavalieri, S Hyypia, D Agger, D Ngog. Booked: Aurélio.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): P Cech — B Ivanovic, Alex, J Terry, A Cole — M Ballack, M Essien, — S Kalou, F Lampard, F Malouda — D Drogba (sub: N Anelka, 80). Substitutes not used: Hilário, R Carvalho, M Mancienne, J Belletti, J O Mikel, Deco. Booked: Kalou, Terry.
Referee: C B Larsen (Denmark)
Source: The times
It cannot be rocket science, just a case of restoring some much-needed confidence and tactical discipline to a team who had lost their way under Luiz Felipe Scolari. Given the way that Chelsea capitulated at the same venue just before his arrival, though, the Hiddink effect is looking like something close to alchemy. Only not alchemy, since Chelsea, after crowning a superb performance with two goals from Branislav Ivanovic and one from Didier Drogba, are dreaming not of gold but of silver and, specifically, the European Cup that has proved elusive during the Roman Abramovich era.
Hiddink called Chelsea’s performance “perfect”, at least after they had recovered from the blow of conceding a sixth-minute goal to Fernando Torres. At that point it seemed as though Liverpool’s momentum was propelling them towards yet another Champions League semi-final, but as Michael Essien began to relish his man-marking assignment against Steven Gerrard and, as Frank Lampard, Michael Ballack, Drogba and the rest warmed to their task, it became a quite outstanding Chelsea display on an evening when they finally cast aside the caution of the José Mourinho era.
Chelsea’s performance contained certain parallels with Liverpool’s tactical masterclass in winning 4-1 away to Manchester United last month, a result that stripped the losers of their aura of invincibility. It remains to be seen whether this result will have such a demoralising effect on Liverpool in their bid for the Barclays Premier League title, but, as Drogba tormented Martin Skrtel and Jamie Carragher much as Torres had given the runaround to Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic, it was easy to see why Sir Alex Ferguson had suggested that the winners of this tie would pose a far greater threat to United on the domestic front than the losers.
With three away goals to his team’s name, Hiddink was even asked afterwards whether John Terry’s suspension for the second leg, after he was booked for an overzealous challenge on José Manuel Reina, might now be regarded as a blessing in that it would free him up for a semi-final against, one presumes, Barcelona. Hiddink was not too keen to follow that particular line of inquiry, but, given the manner in which Terry exchanged barbs with Gerrard, his England team-mate, in the heat of the battle, the Chelsea captain might just be able to see the logic behind that argument.
It was a glorious night for Terry and his team-mates. They have suffered at Liverpool’s hands in the Champions League in recent years, as well as tasting two defeats in the Premier League this season, but they dealt with everything that Rafael Benítez’s team could throw at them. By the end, Gerrard and Torres looked frustrated and the fervour of the home crowd had been reduced to a whimper — a far cry from the opening minutes, when Torres seemed to have lit the fuse for another of those Anfield glory nights.
Hiddink had identified Gerrard as the main threat to Chelsea, but the Liverpool captain had only a fleeting involvement in the goal that gave his team the lead. It was his lung-busting run into the penalty area that forced Alex into a wild clearance, but then came a surprisingly deft piece of control from Dirk Kuyt and an even better reverse pass into the path of Álvaro Arbeloa on the overlap. Arbeloa surged into the penalty area and picked out Torres, who, neglected by Alex, had the time and the space to steer a cool shot past Petr Cech.
For Chelsea, it was the nightmare start, but their recovery was almost immediate. Within 60 seconds Salomon Kalou harried Fábio Aurélio into a mistake and set up Drogba, who should have scored but shot straight at the advancing Reina.
Drogba then squandered an even better chance on the half-hour, shooting high into the Kop after a perfect first touch, from Ballack’s cross, had taken him away from Jamie Carragher in the penalty area. Drogba’s moment would arrive, but first came not one but two goals from a player who could not get close to the Chelsea teamsheet 12 months ago, let alone the scoresheet.
For the first eight months of his Chelsea career, after his arrival from Lokomotiv Moscow in January 2008, Ivanovic looked destined to go down as the new Winston Bogarde, but his contribution last night will not be forgotten. Five minutes before half-time Florent Malouda swung in a corner from the right and the Serbia defender escaped the attentions of Xabi Alonso and then rose between Skrtel and Albert Riera to beat Reina with a firm header. In the 62nd minute he repeated the act, this time getting between Gerrard and Arbeloa to score again.
Questions will be asked about Liverpool’s zonal marking from set-pieces, as they are on every occasion that they concede from such situations, but Benítez will be more concerned by the way that Chelsea outmuscled and outplayed his team. The third goal was a classic, Ballack releasing Malouda, who hit a superb cross into the six-yard box, where Drogba, attacking the ball ahead of Carragher and Sktel, slammed the ball past Reina.
The closing stages were played out to near-silence until the home supporters responded to questions about the atmosphere by asking “where’s your European Cups?” — note the plural. The Chelsea fans had no answer, but more of this and their players may soon be able to provide the perfect riposte, Barcelona notwithstanding.
Liverpool (4-2-3-1): J M Reina — Á Arbeloa, M Skrtel, J Carragher, F Aurélio (sub: A Dossena, 75min) — X Alonso, Lucas Leiva (sub: R Babel, 80) — D Kuyt, S Gerrard, A Riera (sub: Y Benayoun, 68) — F Torres. Substitutes not used: D Cavalieri, S Hyypia, D Agger, D Ngog. Booked: Aurélio.
Chelsea (4-2-3-1): P Cech — B Ivanovic, Alex, J Terry, A Cole — M Ballack, M Essien, — S Kalou, F Lampard, F Malouda — D Drogba (sub: N Anelka, 80). Substitutes not used: Hilário, R Carvalho, M Mancienne, J Belletti, J O Mikel, Deco. Booked: Kalou, Terry.
Referee: C B Larsen (Denmark)
Source: The times
Wednesday, April 8, 2009
Andrew Strauss admits that power trip of Twenty20 is not for him
Andrew Strauss is relaxed about losing the England captaincy for the ICC World Twenty20 but hopes to lead the team to victory over West Indies and Australia this summer in both Test and one-day cricket.
Speaking at the launch of the county season at Lord’s, Strauss said that he has “no problem handing over the reins to someone else” for the 16-day tournament in June. “They asked my opinion on it and I felt that it was not my strongest form of the game by any means,” he said. “Whoever captains any team should be worth their place. I didn’t feel that I was one of the strongest 11 Twenty20 players in the country.”
There was expectation that Strauss, whose highest Twenty20 score since 2003 is 33, would be named in the 30-man provisional squad announced on Monday after he made 79 off 61 balls as England won the fourth one-day international against West Indies last month, but Strauss demurred.
“That innings proves there’s more to my game than being a stodgy Test opener,” he said. “I hope I can continue doing a job in 50-over cricket, but in Twenty20 you need the team to be scoring 170 to 180, and to do that you need power players, which is not necessarily a strength of mine.” While he was named as captain in all forms of the game for the tour to the Caribbean, the fact that he played the only Twenty20 match in a shirt borrowed from Matt Prior, with Prior’s name taped over, suggested that Strauss was not wholly part of England’s Twenty20 plans.
Strauss said that missing the World Twenty20 would give him time to prepare for the Ashes series. “If there is an opportunity to play some championship matches I’d jump at it,” he said. Middlesex play two four-day games during the tournament, away to Essex and Gloucestershire.
A stand-in captain will be named on May 1, when the squad is whittled down to 15 names. Strauss gave a boost to Rob Key’s hopes by praising the job he had done with Kent. “Key is a good operator and definitely one of the names on the list,” he said.
“The fact that some of the county players have played more Twenty20 helps them. It is a very different format and you need to plan for that. Whoever captains has to definitely be worth their place in the XI.” He questioned whether Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood, his regular team-mates, had the hunger for the role. “If someone is going to be good at the job, they have got to want the job,” he said.
Dwayne Bravo has been ruled out of West Indies’ two Tests against England next month after failing to recover from ankle surgery. Daren Powell, the fast bowler, and Ryan Hinds, the middle-order batsman, were left out of a 17-man tour party that includes three uncapped players in Nelon Pascal, a fast bowler, Andrew Richardson, a medium-pace bowler, and Dale Richards, a batsman.
Source:the times
Speaking at the launch of the county season at Lord’s, Strauss said that he has “no problem handing over the reins to someone else” for the 16-day tournament in June. “They asked my opinion on it and I felt that it was not my strongest form of the game by any means,” he said. “Whoever captains any team should be worth their place. I didn’t feel that I was one of the strongest 11 Twenty20 players in the country.”
There was expectation that Strauss, whose highest Twenty20 score since 2003 is 33, would be named in the 30-man provisional squad announced on Monday after he made 79 off 61 balls as England won the fourth one-day international against West Indies last month, but Strauss demurred.
“That innings proves there’s more to my game than being a stodgy Test opener,” he said. “I hope I can continue doing a job in 50-over cricket, but in Twenty20 you need the team to be scoring 170 to 180, and to do that you need power players, which is not necessarily a strength of mine.” While he was named as captain in all forms of the game for the tour to the Caribbean, the fact that he played the only Twenty20 match in a shirt borrowed from Matt Prior, with Prior’s name taped over, suggested that Strauss was not wholly part of England’s Twenty20 plans.
Strauss said that missing the World Twenty20 would give him time to prepare for the Ashes series. “If there is an opportunity to play some championship matches I’d jump at it,” he said. Middlesex play two four-day games during the tournament, away to Essex and Gloucestershire.
A stand-in captain will be named on May 1, when the squad is whittled down to 15 names. Strauss gave a boost to Rob Key’s hopes by praising the job he had done with Kent. “Key is a good operator and definitely one of the names on the list,” he said.
“The fact that some of the county players have played more Twenty20 helps them. It is a very different format and you need to plan for that. Whoever captains has to definitely be worth their place in the XI.” He questioned whether Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood, his regular team-mates, had the hunger for the role. “If someone is going to be good at the job, they have got to want the job,” he said.
Dwayne Bravo has been ruled out of West Indies’ two Tests against England next month after failing to recover from ankle surgery. Daren Powell, the fast bowler, and Ryan Hinds, the middle-order batsman, were left out of a 17-man tour party that includes three uncapped players in Nelon Pascal, a fast bowler, Andrew Richardson, a medium-pace bowler, and Dale Richards, a batsman.
Source:the times
Andy Murray confines high living to his world ranking
As far as the eye could see - and from Andy Murray's vantage point on the 25th floor the vista was pretty stunning - the sky was a radiant shade of blue. One sentence from him summed it up. “I've got a good thing going,” he said. And so he has.
The eleventh title of his career - as many as Tim Henman collected and he did not get off the mark in ATP World Tour terms until he was 22, an age that Murray reaches next month - sparked yet more intrigue and debate about how far the Scot can go in a sport grateful that he chose to excel at it.
In this purple period for men's tennis, where heroic matches and high achievement are commonplace, Murray is excelling to the extent that his 6-2, 7-5 victory over Novak Djokovic in the Sony Ericsson Open final on Sunday was his 57th success in 64 singles matches since Wimbledon 2008. No one, not even Rafael Nadal, the world No1, can beat that across the same time frame.
When Murray said at the breakfast table yesterday that he was feeling a bit rough, it was nothing to do with partying the night away, for he lives a famously abstemious lifestyle. After 12 high-intensity matches (plus three doubles) in 26 days, reaching successive Masters finals and landing the crown here, it was natural for the body to take some picking up. There was no alcoholic intake - he has not had a drink for four years.
I just hate the taste of the stuff. I did have a sip of my girlfriend Kim's strawberry cocktail last night but it was horrible,” he said. He recalls his days at the Barcelona training camp as a teenager where, after five days of solid toil, he would have a bit of a shakedown at the weekend.
“Then I'd feel terrible on the Monday and into the Tuesday and that was a complete waste. I didn't enjoy going out, the music was too loud, you couldn't hear yourself speak and you'd wake up with a terrible sore throat.”
He is not a puritan, far from it, but the enormous amount of dedication to making himself the best player that he can be is shown in his present form and how much he is hopeful that it can be maintained and improved upon. At another time, he says, all of the present top three - Murray is No 4 but closing fast on Djokovic - would have accumulated enough ranking points to be the No 1 player. How about himself? “I don't know, but I suppose I wouldn't be far off,” he said.
The clay-court season is advancing and he flies to Monte Carlo on Friday to prepare for an unremitting seven weeks of tournament play and heavy-duty practice. There is much to work on, much to take in, much to achieve. Keeping one step ahead tactically is everyone's aim.
“It is about understanding how to use my game best,” he said. “My serve is improving, I'm more comfortable with many things but I still think I need to move forward more. It's getting to the stage where everyone is so good from the baseline that it is essential to be able to end the points more quickly. That needs to become a bigger part of my game.”
Source:the times
The eleventh title of his career - as many as Tim Henman collected and he did not get off the mark in ATP World Tour terms until he was 22, an age that Murray reaches next month - sparked yet more intrigue and debate about how far the Scot can go in a sport grateful that he chose to excel at it.
In this purple period for men's tennis, where heroic matches and high achievement are commonplace, Murray is excelling to the extent that his 6-2, 7-5 victory over Novak Djokovic in the Sony Ericsson Open final on Sunday was his 57th success in 64 singles matches since Wimbledon 2008. No one, not even Rafael Nadal, the world No1, can beat that across the same time frame.
When Murray said at the breakfast table yesterday that he was feeling a bit rough, it was nothing to do with partying the night away, for he lives a famously abstemious lifestyle. After 12 high-intensity matches (plus three doubles) in 26 days, reaching successive Masters finals and landing the crown here, it was natural for the body to take some picking up. There was no alcoholic intake - he has not had a drink for four years.
I just hate the taste of the stuff. I did have a sip of my girlfriend Kim's strawberry cocktail last night but it was horrible,” he said. He recalls his days at the Barcelona training camp as a teenager where, after five days of solid toil, he would have a bit of a shakedown at the weekend.
“Then I'd feel terrible on the Monday and into the Tuesday and that was a complete waste. I didn't enjoy going out, the music was too loud, you couldn't hear yourself speak and you'd wake up with a terrible sore throat.”
He is not a puritan, far from it, but the enormous amount of dedication to making himself the best player that he can be is shown in his present form and how much he is hopeful that it can be maintained and improved upon. At another time, he says, all of the present top three - Murray is No 4 but closing fast on Djokovic - would have accumulated enough ranking points to be the No 1 player. How about himself? “I don't know, but I suppose I wouldn't be far off,” he said.
The clay-court season is advancing and he flies to Monte Carlo on Friday to prepare for an unremitting seven weeks of tournament play and heavy-duty practice. There is much to work on, much to take in, much to achieve. Keeping one step ahead tactically is everyone's aim.
“It is about understanding how to use my game best,” he said. “My serve is improving, I'm more comfortable with many things but I still think I need to move forward more. It's getting to the stage where everyone is so good from the baseline that it is essential to be able to end the points more quickly. That needs to become a bigger part of my game.”
Source:the times
Godolphin team primed for early start to the Flat campaign
The royal blue procession is back in Newmarket this morning as Godolphin's expensively assembled stable resumes work on the gallops, charged with restoring lustre to the creation of Sheikh Mohammed. His brother, Sheikh Hamdan al-Maktoum, is meanwhile monitoring events in America and France, where two of his classic contenders are set for critical runs.
Questioning the policies and productivity of Godolphin is almost an annual rite of spring but those involved will expect no different this year. Saeed bin Suroor, who has trained the oscillating team since its inception 15 years ago, dipped to ninth in the championship last season, his lowest placing since 2003.
Once more, there were no classics to celebrate and only one group one victory in Europe. The defence, as ever, is that Godolphin races worldwide, and enjoyed greater successes elsewhere, but the home base for the northern hemisphere summer is Britain and that is where many will continue to judge them.
Central to the ongoing debate is Godolphin's routine of taking many of their horses to Dubai for the winter, and the effect such changes of climate have upon them. An earlier return date has been forced upon them this year, the building of the new Meydan racecourse compromising their facilities, and they plan to have rare runners at the Craven meeting which opens Newmarket's season next week.
Simon Crisford, racing manager to Godolphin and himself just back from Dubai, said yesterday: “April has historically been the only month when we've had no runners, so this will be interesting. Our plan at this stage is to run Liberation, City Style and Hatta Fort at the meeting.”
Crisford rejects the argument that shipping horses back from Dubai has contributed to Godolphin's recent slow starts. “Coming back earlier might prove to be a good thing but I'd never considered the previous way was bad. We won nine Guineas within a month of coming off the plane, which must say something. Horses don't mind coming from hot climates to cold - it's the other way that can affect some of them.”
A second batch of 35 horses arrived from Dubai yesterday and Crisford expects the Newmarket strength to be around 175 this year. He pinpoints Shaweel as their likeliest candidate for the 2,000 Guineas and reports that Kite Wood, a heady purchase out of the Michael Jarvis yard, is on target to reappear in the Dante Stakes at York.
“He stayed behind through the winter,” he explained. “I saw him yesterday and he's certainly a fine, strong horse. He'll be trained for the Dante, and hopefully then the Derby, but he wasn't bought specifically for that project and we have longer-term ambitions for him.”
The short term is paramount for Mafaaz and Naaqoos, who will represent Sheikh Hamdan in Keeneland and Paris respectively this weekend. Naaqoos, trained by Freddie Head and 6-1 for the 2,000 Guineas after a fine juvenile season, returns in the Prix Djebel at Maisons-Laffitte on Friday, while Mafaaz is already in America to contest the grade one Blue Grass Stakes on Saturday.
This race was identified by John Gosden, his trainer, as preparation for the Kentucky Derby berth he earned at Kempton last month. Richard Hills will travel to Keeneland for the mount.
Source:the times
Questioning the policies and productivity of Godolphin is almost an annual rite of spring but those involved will expect no different this year. Saeed bin Suroor, who has trained the oscillating team since its inception 15 years ago, dipped to ninth in the championship last season, his lowest placing since 2003.
Once more, there were no classics to celebrate and only one group one victory in Europe. The defence, as ever, is that Godolphin races worldwide, and enjoyed greater successes elsewhere, but the home base for the northern hemisphere summer is Britain and that is where many will continue to judge them.
Central to the ongoing debate is Godolphin's routine of taking many of their horses to Dubai for the winter, and the effect such changes of climate have upon them. An earlier return date has been forced upon them this year, the building of the new Meydan racecourse compromising their facilities, and they plan to have rare runners at the Craven meeting which opens Newmarket's season next week.
Simon Crisford, racing manager to Godolphin and himself just back from Dubai, said yesterday: “April has historically been the only month when we've had no runners, so this will be interesting. Our plan at this stage is to run Liberation, City Style and Hatta Fort at the meeting.”
Crisford rejects the argument that shipping horses back from Dubai has contributed to Godolphin's recent slow starts. “Coming back earlier might prove to be a good thing but I'd never considered the previous way was bad. We won nine Guineas within a month of coming off the plane, which must say something. Horses don't mind coming from hot climates to cold - it's the other way that can affect some of them.”
A second batch of 35 horses arrived from Dubai yesterday and Crisford expects the Newmarket strength to be around 175 this year. He pinpoints Shaweel as their likeliest candidate for the 2,000 Guineas and reports that Kite Wood, a heady purchase out of the Michael Jarvis yard, is on target to reappear in the Dante Stakes at York.
“He stayed behind through the winter,” he explained. “I saw him yesterday and he's certainly a fine, strong horse. He'll be trained for the Dante, and hopefully then the Derby, but he wasn't bought specifically for that project and we have longer-term ambitions for him.”
The short term is paramount for Mafaaz and Naaqoos, who will represent Sheikh Hamdan in Keeneland and Paris respectively this weekend. Naaqoos, trained by Freddie Head and 6-1 for the 2,000 Guineas after a fine juvenile season, returns in the Prix Djebel at Maisons-Laffitte on Friday, while Mafaaz is already in America to contest the grade one Blue Grass Stakes on Saturday.
This race was identified by John Gosden, his trainer, as preparation for the Kentucky Derby berth he earned at Kempton last month. Richard Hills will travel to Keeneland for the mount.
Source:the times
Tiger Woods in the mood for more heroics
The performances of Tiger Woods in the press conferences he gives on the eve of major championships rarely vary, whether he is in the United States or Britain. He always says that he believes he can win and that he has prepared well, and he acknowledges his rival golfers gracefully but without giving them a scintilla more respect than they deserve.
From time to time he flashes that wide smile of his, the one that looks as though it could light up a darkened room. He is quietly composed, assured in himself, seemingly incapable of a verbal stumble. From top to toe, he is the warrior prepared for battle.
And so it was at Augusta yesterday before the Masters, starting tomorrow, the first major championship in which he has competed since winning the US Open in June. In April last year, two months before he had surgery on his left knee to mend an anterior cruciate ligament, he had said that he thought it was “easily within reason” that he would win all four major championships in one year.
Asked yesterday if he thought it was on for this year, he replied: “I know I can do it. It’s hard for me to sit here and tell you that it can’t be done because I have done it.” [Woods won four consecutive major championships in 2000 and 2001, rather than in one calendar year.]
For all the talk of Padraig Harrington’s chances of winning a third major championship in a row, of the youthful promise of Rory McIlroy, Danny Lee and Ryo Ishikawa, three teenagers who are playing in this event for the first time, and of Greg Norman’s first appearance at this event since 2002, the fact is that Woods is the firm favourite to win a fifth Green Jacket and claim a fifteenth major championship.
He will launch his bid in the company of Stewart Cink, his fellow American, and Jeev Milkha Singh, of India, in the penultimate group. Immediately behind Woods, and his inevitable huge gallery, will be McIlroy and Ishikawa, alongside another talented youngster, Anthony Kim, of the US.
So compelling was Woods’s form and so remarkable was the way he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill ten days ago that he is 2-1 to win here. He sounded satisfied with his golf, even though he said he was “not in it at Doral”, his first strokeplay event back, the CA Championship, in early March. “I was on the periphery there,” he said. “I played my way into a back-door top ten. This past week it was different. That was great. To be able to control the flight of a seven-iron and to see how well my body reacted.”
His behaviour yesterday was that of a man whose mind is set on the next few days and not interested in the past few months. It was as if the knee injury had not occurred. There was no mention of the hours spent doing rehabilitation, only a few of the times when he felt depressed, and only one of the times when he was uncertain how well his injured knee would recover. “I was surprised at how quickly I got the feeling of being back,” Woods said. “It came back to me at the Match Play [in February, his first event since his operation]. Stevie [Williams, his caddie] said: ‘It’s just like we haven’t left. It feels the same.’ Coming here feels just like any other major.”
This week Woods has not been able to have his favoured early-morning practice rounds. On Monday, rainstorms prevented him from playing and yesterday a 25mph wind was blowing.
And this brought him to the single biggest doubt in his mind. It was not about the form of any of his rivals. Even Woods did not know whether the course would be as firm and unyielding as it had been in 2008 or whether it would be as cold and wet as it had been in 2007. This was the question he was thinking most about on the eve of his 47th major championship as a professional. Even Woods has no control over the weather.
Source:the times
From time to time he flashes that wide smile of his, the one that looks as though it could light up a darkened room. He is quietly composed, assured in himself, seemingly incapable of a verbal stumble. From top to toe, he is the warrior prepared for battle.
And so it was at Augusta yesterday before the Masters, starting tomorrow, the first major championship in which he has competed since winning the US Open in June. In April last year, two months before he had surgery on his left knee to mend an anterior cruciate ligament, he had said that he thought it was “easily within reason” that he would win all four major championships in one year.
Asked yesterday if he thought it was on for this year, he replied: “I know I can do it. It’s hard for me to sit here and tell you that it can’t be done because I have done it.” [Woods won four consecutive major championships in 2000 and 2001, rather than in one calendar year.]
For all the talk of Padraig Harrington’s chances of winning a third major championship in a row, of the youthful promise of Rory McIlroy, Danny Lee and Ryo Ishikawa, three teenagers who are playing in this event for the first time, and of Greg Norman’s first appearance at this event since 2002, the fact is that Woods is the firm favourite to win a fifth Green Jacket and claim a fifteenth major championship.
He will launch his bid in the company of Stewart Cink, his fellow American, and Jeev Milkha Singh, of India, in the penultimate group. Immediately behind Woods, and his inevitable huge gallery, will be McIlroy and Ishikawa, alongside another talented youngster, Anthony Kim, of the US.
So compelling was Woods’s form and so remarkable was the way he won the Arnold Palmer Invitational at Bay Hill ten days ago that he is 2-1 to win here. He sounded satisfied with his golf, even though he said he was “not in it at Doral”, his first strokeplay event back, the CA Championship, in early March. “I was on the periphery there,” he said. “I played my way into a back-door top ten. This past week it was different. That was great. To be able to control the flight of a seven-iron and to see how well my body reacted.”
His behaviour yesterday was that of a man whose mind is set on the next few days and not interested in the past few months. It was as if the knee injury had not occurred. There was no mention of the hours spent doing rehabilitation, only a few of the times when he felt depressed, and only one of the times when he was uncertain how well his injured knee would recover. “I was surprised at how quickly I got the feeling of being back,” Woods said. “It came back to me at the Match Play [in February, his first event since his operation]. Stevie [Williams, his caddie] said: ‘It’s just like we haven’t left. It feels the same.’ Coming here feels just like any other major.”
This week Woods has not been able to have his favoured early-morning practice rounds. On Monday, rainstorms prevented him from playing and yesterday a 25mph wind was blowing.
And this brought him to the single biggest doubt in his mind. It was not about the form of any of his rivals. Even Woods did not know whether the course would be as firm and unyielding as it had been in 2008 or whether it would be as cold and wet as it had been in 2007. This was the question he was thinking most about on the eve of his 47th major championship as a professional. Even Woods has no control over the weather.
Source:the times
Amir Khan handed world title shot against Andreas Kotelnik
Amir Khan will fight for his first world title against WBA light-welterweight champion Andreas Kotelnik in Britain on June 27.
The 22-year-old from Bolton stopped three-time world champion Marco Antonio Barrera last month and Frank Warren, his promoter, has now agreed a deal that pits him against the German-based Ukrainian. Khan will move up a division for the fight.
"To fight for the world title in only my 22nd fight is fantastic," Khan said. "This is the best news that I could have received. Frank has done a great job getting the world title fight for me in Britain and now I have to go out and win it.
"I've seen Kotelnik a few times and I've always been impressed by him but once my trainer, Freddie Roach, works out the game plan to beat him it's my job to execute it on the night as I did effectively against Barrera."
Kotelnik gained a split decision against Marcos Rene Maidana to hold on to his title on February 7 for his 31st victory against two losses and a draw.
Khan has won 20 fights and has lost once.
Source:the times
The 22-year-old from Bolton stopped three-time world champion Marco Antonio Barrera last month and Frank Warren, his promoter, has now agreed a deal that pits him against the German-based Ukrainian. Khan will move up a division for the fight.
"To fight for the world title in only my 22nd fight is fantastic," Khan said. "This is the best news that I could have received. Frank has done a great job getting the world title fight for me in Britain and now I have to go out and win it.
"I've seen Kotelnik a few times and I've always been impressed by him but once my trainer, Freddie Roach, works out the game plan to beat him it's my job to execute it on the night as I did effectively against Barrera."
Kotelnik gained a split decision against Marcos Rene Maidana to hold on to his title on February 7 for his 31st victory against two losses and a draw.
Khan has won 20 fights and has lost once.
Source:the times
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