Doubts raised by Gatlin deal March 25, 2015 BRITISH Olympic gold medallist Jason Gardener has condemned the decision of US sportswear giant Nike to hand a new sponsorship deal to controversial United States sprinter Justin Gatlin. Gatlin dominated the 100m and 200m last year but remains a contentious figure having served two doping bans, including a four-year suspension between 2006 and 2010. The [...]
Cricket Comment: KP and Cook are grown men and may have to forget disagreements March 25, 2015 The Surrey squad were taking part in a pre-season inter-squad practice game at the Oval yesterday when the news of Kevin Pietersen’s return to the club was confirmed. What a great signing he is. Kevin is world class and hopefully he will score the volume of runs he needs to put pressure on the England [...]
Pietersen return motivated by his desire to avenge Ashes whitewash March 25, 2015 CONTROVERSIAL batsman Kevin Pietersen insists his motivation to return to England is fuelled by a desire to wrestle the Ashes from the grasp of Australia. Surrey yesterday re-signed Pietersen in a deal which will see the 34-year-old primarily focus on red-ball cricket in a bid to force his way back into the England reckoning ahead [...]
KP comeback triggers dash for Ashes spot March 24, 2015 MERCURIAL batsman Kevin Pietersen could have just three county championship matches to forge an outlandish return to the England fold ahead of this summer’s Ashes series. Pietersen is poised to rejoin Surrey imminently after yesterday negotiating his release from the majority of his commitments with Indian Premier League franchise Sunrisers Hyderabad. The 34-year-old was thrown [...]
F1 prize money distribution unfair, says Max Mosley March 24, 2015 Former motor racing chief Max Mosley says he believes that Formula One’s £500m prize fund is unfair as it favours the top teams. F1’s prize money grew 6.1 per cent to a record £484m in 2014, yet this year many of the teams still need to boost their budgets with tens of millions of pounds [...]
Carrick and Cahill add to clamour for Harry Kane England debut March 24, 2015 ENGLAND duo Michael Carrick and Gary Cahill have both hailed the prodigious quality of Harry Kane as the prolific Tottenham striker looks set to make his senior international debut in Friday’s Euro 2016 qualifier against Lithuania at Wembley. Three Lions boss Roy Hodgson could throw Kane, who has scored 29 goals in 43 appearances during [...]
Greg Dyke hints David Gill could reignite England’s World Cup bid March 24, 2015 ENGLAND chiefs may lift their ban on bidding for the World Cup while Sepp Blatter remains president of Fifa following former Manchester United chief executive David Gill’s election to the governing body yesterday. Football Association (FA) chairman Greg Dyke warned that scepticism remained following England’s failed bid for the 2018 tournament, which was awarded to [...]
Golf Comment: Stenson may have been innocent but officials entitled to hurry him March 24, 2015 IT WASN’T obvious that Henrik Stenson was being hurried along towards the end of his thwarted challenge at the Arnold Palmer Invitational on Sunday, but he made his displeasure about it clear soon afterwards. The Swede complained that he felt hurried into missing putts by officials keen to enforce speedier play over the final few [...]
Second place not good enough for England, Lancaster warned March 24, 2015 ENGLAND rugby chief Ian Ritchie has heaped pressure on head coach Stuart Lancaster ahead of this year’s home World Cup by insisting that his repeated runners-up finishes are not good enough. Lancaster’s team earned admiration and sympathy for falling just a converted try short of a first Six Nations title of his tenure in Saturday’s [...]
Vegas bout set to break record March 24, 2015 THE long-awaited clash between undefeated American Floyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquiao is set to be the most expensive boxing match in UK pay-per-view history. Sky Sports Box Office has been awarded the rights to show live coverage of the fight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas on Saturday 2 May. The channel will charge [...]