Afridi banned for biting ball January 31, 2010 CRICKET: Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi is set to miss the first Twenty20 clash with England after being found guilty of biting the ball. Afridi was caught trying to alter the state of the ball during yesterday’s one-day defeat to Australia, which sealed a 5-0 whitewash for the hosts. He will miss Friday’s fixture against the [...]
‘Michael who?’ says Russian rookie January 31, 2010 FORMULA ONE: Rookie Vitaly Petrov is set to become F1’s first Russian driver after Renault confirmed his signing for the coming season. Petrov, 25, has never driven an F1 car before but is thought to be bringing £9m in sponsorship money, and said he had rejected an offer from the Campos Meta team. “I only [...]
Calgary and Nozic look good at Donny January 28, 2010 THE SKYBET Chase, formerly the Great Yorkshire Chase, is always one of the trickiest punting puzzles to solve in the National Hunt calendar and tomorrow’s renewal looks as impossible as ever. David Pipe saddles SEVEN IS MY NUMBER who currently heads the betting at 7/1 with Boylesports after his bloodless victory in the Grade Two [...]
the INSIDER January 28, 2010 Legs eleven, black eleven, left wing (eleven), one less than a dozen (eleven) has always been my number but I’m going to have to swap it for seven. SEVEN IS MY NUMBER might be an obvious choice seeing as he has won five out of his last six racecourse visits but looking at Oddschecker the [...]
Arsenal should have the edge in Emirates thriller January 28, 2010 ARSENAL VS MANCHESTER UNITED SUNDAY – 4.00PM, SKY SPORTS 1 THE next few weeks are absolutely crucial for Arsenal in their battle to win the Premier League title for the first time since 2004/05. They were disappointing at Stoke last weekend and although they hit the woodwork twice at Villa Park on Wednesday night, they [...]
Extended ban for Ferdinand January 28, 2010 MANCHESTER United defender Rio Ferdinand has been banned for four matches for violent conduct, meaning he will miss Sunday’s trip to Premier League title rivals Arsenal. Ferdinand received an extra one-game suspension on top of the standard three because the Football Association considered his appeal against the charge frivolous. That appeal allowed the England centre-back [...]
Three red cards mar Egypt win January 28, 2010 EGYPT will meet Ghana on Sunday for the title of African champions after beating eight-man Algeria 4-0 in an explosive semi-final in Angola. A Hosni Abd Rabou penalty and further strikes from Mohamed Zidan, Mohamed Abdelshafy and Mohamed Gedo sent Egypt through while Algeria exited in shame. Ghana beat Nigeria 1-0, Rennes striker Asamoah Gyan [...]
British lion roars on as imperious Murray eyes his place in history January 28, 2010 AUSTRALIAN OPEN ANDY MURRAY believes he can etch his name into British tennis history by landing a maiden Grand Slam victory at the Australian Open. The British No1 recovered from a set down to beat Croatian giant Marin Cilic 3-6, 6-4, 6-4, 6-2 and set up a Melbourne showdown with either world No1 Roger Federer [...]
Henin stands between Serena and 12th Slam title January 28, 2010 DEFENDING champion Serena Williams admitted she was “shocked” to earn an Australian Open showdown with Justine Henin following a hard-fought semi-final against Li Na. The world No1 was made to fight all the way by the Chinese 16th seed before eventually reaching a fifth Melbourne final with a 7-6 (7-4), 7-6 (7-1) win. But while [...]
Verminator could be back to face United January 28, 2010 ARSENAL have received a huge fillip ahead of Sunday’s crunch visit from Manchester United after it emerged defender Thomas Vermaelen has not broken his leg, as first feared. Belgium centre-back Vermaelen – known as the Verminator to the Emirates faithful – looked in grave danger of missing the rest of the season when he left [...]