England bosses cite lack of trust for decision to release Pietersen February 9, 2014 ENGLAND’S cricket chiefs revealed last night that a lack of trust between Kevin Pietersen and senior figures such as captain Alastair Cook was behind the decision to axe the maverick batsman. With 8,181 Test runs, Pietersen is England’s fourth highest-scoring batsman of all time. Yet tensions flared last week after the 33-year-old was released from [...]
France too strong for Italy February 9, 2014 FRANCE maintained their perfect start to the Six Nations with a 30-10 defeat of Italy yesterday, though the performance was far from flawless. Louis Picamoles (above), Wesley Fofana and Hugo Bonneval ran in second-half tries but France finished the game with just 13 men as both teams had players red carded.
More gold for Johnson-Thompson February 9, 2014 ATHLETICS: Heptathlete Katarina Johnson-Thompson won her second gold medal of the British Indoor Championships in Sheffield yesterday. Having clinched gold in the high jump on Saturday with a new British record clearance of 1.96m, the 21-year-old followed up with a personal best leap of 6.75m to win the long jump. Olympic bronze medal winner Robbie [...]
Woods’ niece clinches first Major February 9, 2014 GOLF: The niece of world No1 Tiger Woods won the first Major of her career yesterday, triumphing at the Australian Ladies Masters. The 23-year-old shot a final round of four under par to win by two shots from 17-year-old amateur Minjee Lee at Royal Pines. Woods said: “It’s nice now to say to people I [...]
Hughes set for Rangers debut February 9, 2014 FOOTBALL: Defender Aaron Hughes could make his QPR debut at Derby tonight, as Harry Redknapp’s team bid to climb back into the Championship’s automatic promotion places. Hughes, 34, moved to Loftus Road on loan from Fulham last month. Matty Phillips and Charlie Austin are out through injury.
Review: Out of the Furnace February 7, 2014 One star Christian Bale may be the king of actorly metamorphoses, but his character in Out of the Furnace is just how I imagine he is in real life: dour, depressing and humourless. All of which are adjectives that apply to the film as a whole. Two hours of muscle-flexing, fighting and staring into the [...]
England put on red alert for must-win Scotland Test February 6, 2014 ENGLAND rugby coach Stuart Lancaster has warned his team to beware of a Scottish backlash as they attempt to salvage hopes of winning a first Six Nations title of his reign tomorrow at Murrayfield. Lancaster, who has kept faith with the same team that slipped to a narrow loss in France last week, expects the [...]
West Ham seek legal action over Carroll dismissal February 6, 2014 WEST Ham co-owner David Gold has vowed to pursue a legal challenge to a three-match ban striker Andy Carroll is due to serve, believing their Premier League status has been put in jeopardy. Carroll was shown a straight red card by referee Howard Webb in last weekend’s 2-0 victory over Swansea after appearing to swing [...]
Pietersen row descends into farce as selectors refuse to explain axe February 6, 2014 ENGLAND cricket chiefs suffered further embarrassment over the banishment of batsman Kevin Pietersen yesterday when national selector James Whitaker was left squirming in a television interview. Whitaker faced the cameras following 48 hours of mud-slinging over the England and Wales Cricket Board’s decision to end Pietersen’s international career. First, he refused to elaborate on the [...]
Neville follows Beckham lead as former Red eyes club purchase February 6, 2014 Former England captain David Beckham is not the only ex-Manchester United star to dip his toe into football club ownership, it seems, with Gary Neville, his colleague for club and country, also in negotiations. But while Beckham has located his bid for world domination in the suitably glamorous surrounds of Miami, Bury-born Neville, 38, is [...]