Question marks remain over tour, admits Strauss May 26, 2010 ANDREW STRAUSS admits it will take some time yet for him to prove whether his decision to sit out the recent Bangladesh tour was vindicated. The England captain returns to duty this morning when he leads out his side for the first Test against Bangladesh at Lord’s, taking over the reins from Alastair Cook, and [...]
Time for Morgan to stake his claim in the Test arena May 26, 2010 HE’S taken Twenty20 by storm – now Eoin Morgan has the chance to prove he can do it at Test level, and I’ll be intrigued to see how he gets on. Morgan has concentrated on making an impact in the shorter forms of the game, but he is likely to need a period of adjustment [...]
Bolt eyes 300m mark May 26, 2010 ATHLETICS: Usain Bolt has his sights set on a third sprint world record – this time in the 300m. The 100m and 200m record holder will race the distance for the first time in the IAAF World Challenge in Ostrava later today with Michael Johnson’s time of 30.85secs the mark to beat. “I’m looking forward [...]
Kartik puts Warwicks in a spin May 26, 2010 CRICKET: Spinner Murali Kartik helped Somerset cruise to a nine-wicket victory over Warwickshire in the County Championship at Taunton. The Indian claimed figures of 6-61 to dismiss the visitors for 207, leaving Somerset with the easy task of knocking off the remaining 45 runs. In division two, Glamorgan thrashed Leicestershire by 10 wickets after skittling [...]
Exeter Chiefs seal promotion May 26, 2010 RUGBY UNION: The Exeter Chiefs clinched promotion to the Guinness Premiership for the first time in their history last night after sealing a 29-10 victory over Bristol in the Championship play-off. Stand-off Gareth Steenson kicked six penalties and two drop goals before Luke Arscott added a late try as the Chiefs clinched a 38-16 aggregate [...]
Barry’s hopes still hang in the balance May 25, 2010 GARETH BARRY has been given until the last possible minute to prove his World Cup fitness after undergoing scans on his injured ankle. The Manchester City midfielder saw a specialist last night to determine the severity of the ligament damage suffered in the penultimate league game against Tottenham earlier this month. City initially set Barry’s [...]
CAPELLO’S DILEMMAS May 25, 2010 IT IS hard to know what Fabio Capello is thinking at the best of times; that lived-in face betrays few emotions aside from rage. But if the inscrutable Italian already knows his 23 for the World Cup, and his favoured starting XI, he is doing a good job of hiding it. Monday’s lacklustre win over [...]
King confident body will cope with England duty May 25, 2010 ENGLAND defender Ledley King insists his injury-ravaged knees can cope with the demands of playing a key role at the World Cup. King capped a fine season with Tottenham by making his first international appearance for three years in Monday’s friendly defeat of Mexico. The 29-year-old is now widely tipped to be part of Fabio [...]
Hleb warns Cesc: Don’t make same mistake as me May 25, 2010 FORMER Arsenal star Alexander Hleb last night urged Cesc Fabregas not to make the same mistake as him and leave the Gunners for Barcelona. Hleb joined the Catalan giants in a £13m deal in 2008 but found first-team opportunities limited at Camp Nou and was eventually packed off to former club Stuttgart on loan. Like [...]
Co-owners Gold and Sullivan raise the stakes for Hammers May 25, 2010 WEST HAM co-owners David Sullivan and David Gold splashed out £8m yesterday – to increase their stake in the club. The pair, who brought 50 per cent of the Upton Park club from Icelandic group CB Holdings in January, have now increased their shares from 25 per cent each to 30 per cent. Sullivan and [...]