No Aussie would get in England side January 3, 2011 OUR cricket columnist, former England batsman and Warwickshire chairman Andy Lloyd, has been poring over all the Ashes action. Here he dissects what he’s learned from the play so far. RISKS The most fearsome obstacle standing between England and a victory in the final Ashes Test that would earn them a 3-1 series victory is [...]
Murray and Robson fail to revive Hopman heroics January 3, 2011 BRITISH pair Andy Murray and Laura Robson face an uphill battle to emulate last year’s Hopman Cup run after losing their opening group clash against Italy. Murray and Robson reached the final in Perth 12 months ago but went down 2-1 yesterday after losing the deciding mixed doubles to Potito Starace and French Open champion [...]
Bruma: It’s the players not Carlo who should take all of the blame January 3, 2011 CHELSEA defender Jeffrey Bruma insists he and his fellow teammates must take responsibility for their failure to kill off Aston Villa on Sunday. The 19-year-old made his full Premier League debut in the eventful 3-3 draw at Stamford Bridge. The Blues, who travel to Wolves tomorrow, trail Manchester United by six points having played a [...]
SPORT | IN BRIEF January 3, 2011 Isner survives Mahut rematch TENNIS: American John Isner secured victory in two sets against Frenchman Nicolas Mahut in the Hopman Cup, as the pair met for the first time since last year’s epic first-round Wimbledon clash. It took over 11 hours for the pair to be separated on that occasion, but here the giant American [...]
NINE GAMES Beckham’s Spurs switch set to be a short one January 3, 2011 FORMER England captain David Beckham has edged closer to a sensational loan move to Spurs – but his return to English football looks likely to be limited to just nine games. Beckham’s camp insist any short-term deal would have to fall in line with the start of the Major League Soccer season, which begins on [...]
Window of opportunity December 22, 2010 ARSENAL Budget: £25-30m, hypothetically, but not expected to be stretched Areas of weakness: A leaky defence is sorely missing Thomas Vermaelen, and with his return date still unknown the clamour is growing for Arsene Wenger to sign another centre-back Targets: Everton defender Phil Jagielka, the subject of a failed bid in the summer, and highly-rated [...]
Pietersen advocates seasonal sledging December 22, 2010 ENGLAND batsman Kevin Pietersen claims he won’t be holding back on the verbals, despite his attempts at sledging backfiring in the third Ashes Test. Pietersen and James Anderson attempted to get under the skin of the previously wayward Mitchell Johnson in Perth, but the Aussie paceman responded with a devastating spell of hostile swing bowling [...]
London’s festive sporting highlights December 22, 2010 WITH the weather having potentially put paid to any pre-planned foreign-based festive frolics, City A.M. has heroically rescued Christmas by pointing you in the direction of some of the sporting highlights the capital will be hosting. FOOTBALL Pivotal games at the top and bottom of the Premier League will be staged in London this weekend. [...]
Weather woes likely to deplete Barmy Army at MCG December 22, 2010 ENGLAND supporters fear their numbers will be depleted for the potentially decisive fourth Ashes Test as snow chaos prevents fans from flying out to Australia. A record crowd of more than 90,000 is anticipated for the match in Melbourne, which begins on Boxing Day and could see England retain the urn with victory. But the [...]
FA chief wants English boss December 22, 2010 FOOTBALL: New Football Association chairman David Bernstein has declared his intention to hire an Englishman as Fabio Capello’s successor. Bernstein beat ex-Arsenal director David Dein to the role yesterday and used his first interview to discuss the national team. “If he was English that would be preferable for obvious reasons and I think there is [...]