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| England take control before light fades South Africa 175-5Early English elation gave way to a stoic British bulldog spirit, which was eventually rewarded in the last half-hour of a curtailed first day of the second Test.After 10 overs South Africa were 10 for two and the ball was jagging this way and that. After 55 overs they were 160 for two and Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis looked immovable. So when South Africa lost three wickets for 15 runs as the thunderclouds inevitably rolled in, there was relief in the England camp that all their toil had not been wasted.This game could easily be dictated by the overhead conditions. There will be rain, sometimes of biblical proportions; the ball will probably misbehave under lighter cloud cover; and when the scorching sun breaks through, bowlers will find themselves gasping for breath. It is not ever this hot and humid in Chester-le-Street, Burnley or Nottingham, the homes of England's pace attack.You could not actually see the steam coming up from the square at the start but as a burning sun came out there was moisture in the air and batting was a severe challenge. However, by the time the storm surrounded Durban the bowlers, ever-willing throughout a sapping day, were frazzled but they could allow themselves a wry smile. The two chunks of granite that inhabit the South Africa top order had eventually been removed after their three and a quarter-hour partnership.Their critical dismissals had little to do with the storms which actually threatened far more than they delivered and called into question the decision to abandon proceedings. Kallis, after another impeccable innings, was caught at slip off Graeme Swann. Then Smith was run out by one of England's least fleet-footed fieldsmen, Alastair Cook, after a misunderstanding with AB de Villiers. England clutched at their lifeline.Only JP Duminy, starting to look like a Test novice again, could point to the gathering gloom to explain his dismissal. He was now caught on the crease against a fine delivery from Graham Onions and was lbw (no review contemplated). Thus England remained in the hunt, when it had seemed as if the two towering presences in the South African line-up were locking them out of the game.Until his foul-up with De Villiers Smith had scratched away, defiantly, playing and missing frequently in the first session after opting to bat at the toss. He was hit on the hand; his timing was awry. He was stranded in survival mode. But he did not care about that. He would shuffle into line and wait for something to clip off his legs. There were no expansive shots until the tea interval approached. His was an innings born of self-denial, vast experience and bloody‑mindedness. Only the best players score runs when they are out of form. Smith is the best ugly batsman in the world.Another of England's problems was that Kallis is not out of form. While Smith scratched, Kallis cruised.Stuart Broad sensibly tried an early yorker or two, which were combated without too much difficulty. Soon despite the most sluggish of outfields (what a joy to see a contest in which the extended forward defensive with a clump of wood as thick as a railway sleeper does not send the ball skidding to the boundary), Kallis was clipping the ball off his hip with elan.Kallis never rushed but, unlike Smith, he was always ready to accept any scoring opportunity. The pace bowlers may have bowled a little short to both men in the first session when even the half-volley had a devilish quality. But they bowled better than at the start at Centurion, albeit in more receptive conditions.Certainly the ball that dismissed Ashwell Prince in the third over sprung off the turf with a little venom. Prince played the delivery from James Anderson like a converted opener (which he is). It clipped his glove before giving Swann a simple catch at third slip.Then in Broad's first over Hashim Amla missed a full-length swinger and was palpably lbw. If Amla had sought a review his captain Smith would have sent him on his way long before the consultation process swung into action.The first boundary off the bat (that of Kallis) was 80 minutes coming, followed immediately by another off Broad's bowling. As at Centurion, Anderson and Onions, rather than Broad, offered the greatest threat, which was expertly nullified in that first session.The same pattern applied in the afternoon. South African batsmen were prepared to grind the bowlers down, and wait for them to wilt a little in the second hour. Fortunately for England's captain, Andrew Strauss, Swann bowled excellently again despite yielding 13 from his first two overs.His duel with Kallis was of high quality. We know the pattern now. Early on Kallis comes down the wicket to Swann to hit him in the air over the leg-side field. His effort to do this was ungainly by Kallis's high standards, but it was enough. Back went two leg-side fielders, whereupon Kallis, constantly shuffling to the off-side, was happy to work everything to the on-side for singles. Here was almost a tacit truce between the two players.Just after tea, however, Swann had the wit to change his angle by bowling around the wicket. The change worked. The ball took the outside of edge of Kallis's bat and Paul Collingwood, who has fielded superbly at slip to the off-spinner so far in this series, accepted the catch an inch or two off the ground.The South Africans can be unnerved when Kallis is out. And that seemed to be the case when a sprawling Smith was run out after his communication breakdown with De Villiers, an incident that brought a little smile to the England fielders, Kevin Pietersen included.England in South Africa 2009-2010South Africa cricket teamEngland Cricket TeamCricketVic Marksguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Murray to miss Doha title defence • British No1 to team up with Laura Robson• Scot will miss Doha defenceAndy Murray believes skipping his title defence in Doha this week will better prepare him as he aims to claim his first grand-slam title at the Australian Open. Murray has opted to miss the event and fly to Australia early to acclimatise to the conditions.The Scot will instead compete at this week's Hopman Cup in Perth – a mixed team event that will see him play alongside Laura Robson."I am looking forward to getting to Australia early and making sure I'm over the jet lag and fully ready," said Murray. "What I did before, going to Doha in the first week of the year, you play every match at night and it is cold."In the past I was coming back from Miami and going to Scotland for a few days over Christmas, so I was spending three or four weeks training in the heat, coming back to Scotland where it's cold, going to Doha where it's cold and then go to Australia and have five days to get used to the heat again. I think this way will work much better."Australia's Lleyton Hewitt, who will partner Sam Stosur as the top-ranked team in Perth, echoed Murray's thoughts that a change of plan could help the Scot's chances breaking his grand slam duck."He always plays well in Doha, but I suppose this way he gets used to the conditions here a bit earlier," Hewitt said. "It could work for him, Doha's a great tournament to play, but I can understand his thoughts behind it."Andy MurrayLaura RobsonAustralian OpenTennisguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Tottenham poised to sign ÂŁ6m Sandro • Work permit may be an issue for once-capped midfielder• 20-year-old Brazilian also has third-party ownership issueTottenham have agreed personal terms in principle with Sandro, Internacional's 20-year-old Brazil midfielder, and they are attempting to push through a ÂŁ6m deal for him during this transfer window.Harry Redknapp, the Tottenham manager who says that his chairman, Daniel Levy, held further talks with Internacional last week, hopes to finance the move by selling Roman Pavlyuchenko to Zenit St Petersburg. The Russian club have made a ÂŁ10m offer for the striker.Tottenham first showed interest in the tough defensive midfielder last August when they also announced a sporting and strategic partnership with Internacional which, among other things, is intended to give them the first option on the Brazilian club's players. Levy visited Porto Alegre to meet Vittorio Piffero, the Internacional president, and also to discuss the possibility of signing Sandro. The player's lawyer, Luiz Paulo Chignall, has since travelled to London for talks."We have now agreed all of Sandro's personal terms – his salary, the length of his contract and so on, although nothing can yet be signed," said Luiz Paulo Chignall. "Sandro is happy and ready to join Tottenham. We liked the offer. All that remains is for Tottenham and Inter to finalise the small details, including the transfer fee. I know that Daniel Levy is speaking to Vittorio Piffero."Redknapp has said that, together with a back-up goalkeeper to replace the injured Carlo Cudicini, he would like to add strength in central midfield where, at present, he has only three specialists – Wilson Palacios, Tom Huddlestone and Jermaine Jenas. "Ideally, you would want four central midfielders," said Redknapp, who did acknowledge that Luka Modric could play there "at a pinch".Redknapp is leaving the negotiations to Levy. "Whether it happens or not, I'm not sure. He has been speaking to the people there [at Internacional] and I know that he spoke to them again last week."There are obstacles, most notably that Sandro has won only one cap for Brazil. He has a chance of being named in the squad for the World Cup finals in South Africa but is in competition with Gilberto Silva and Felipe Melo. At present he appears to fall short of the required number of international appearances to be granted a work permit in the United Kingdom.There is also the question of his ownership. Internacional own 70% of his economic rights, with the remaining 30% held by third parties. They would be prohibited from retaining those stakes were Sandro to move. Chignall, though, does not consider the issue as problematic. "Third-party ownership is very common in Brazil," he said. "Transfer fees are paid to the club and then they have to settle up with the third parties."The Brazilian league season is poised to start anew – it runs from January to November – and Internacional will kick off their Copa Libertadores campaign at the end of next month. The two-leg final of South America's equivalent of the Champions League is scheduled for 11 and 18 August. Sandro's price would surely jump were he to impress in the Copa Libertadores and/or be selected for the World Cup finals so it appears to be in Tottenham's interests that they finalise a deal before the European winter transfer window closes and not wait until the summer.Redknapp has been told that to make signings now he must generate the funds through sales and he hopes that Zenit's offer for Pavlyuchenko, who has been a disappointment since his ÂŁ13.7m move from Spartak Moscow the summer before last, will prove acceptable to Levy.Transfer windowTottenham HotspurHarry RedknappDavid Hytnerguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Return of Justine Henin and Kim Clijsters has field running scared • Standard of women's tennis better for return of Belgians• 'The competition's getting really tough,' says DementievaThere is a message board by one of the entrances to Melbourne Park on which the players are invited to write their own individual notes to the tournament. Five days before the Australian Open was due to begin, there were only a few scribblings, but one in particular stood out – "Great to be back: Justine Henin".Quite whether her rivals are altogether thrilled to have the former world No1 back in their ranks is another question altogether. While Henin's return – after 20 months of retirement – is clearly good for the women's game as a whole, the return of a player who dominated the sport until shortly before she quit will have sent shock waves through the rest of the elite.And that was before she had even played. In her first tournament back, Henin struggled a little early on but found her stride as the WTA event in ÂBrisbane progressed last week, culminating in a final against her fellow Belgian Kim ÂClijsters that is already being talked about as potentially the match of the year, and we are only halfway through January.Clijsters, the US Open champion, whose victory in Flushing Meadows came in her third tournament back after her own retirement, during which she gave birth to a daughter, just about edged her way to victory in the Brisbane final. But the standard of play was so good that if ÂSerena ÂWilliams, who defends her title here over the next fortnight, was watching, she Âcannot have been unimpressed. Darren Cahill, who coached Lleyton Hewitt and Andre Agassi to the world No1 spot and who is now a commentator with ESPN, said he expected Clijsters and Henin to challenge for the title in Melbourne. "I see no reason why they are not going to be dominant forces at the Australian Open," he said.Unfortunately for the tournament organisers the two Belgians were drawn in the same half and are scheduled to meet in the quarter-finals. Before that, Henin is likely to face a second-round match with the world No5, Russia's Elena ÂDementieva, who yesterday beat Serena Williams to win the Sydney International.Dementieva said she was not surprised to see Henin come back. "I know how much she loves her tennis and she's a champion," she said. "She was always one of the fittest players on the tour. I know she got some good wins. It's going to be a very interesting year. The competition's getting really tough."That Henin is back on the tour is no surprise, especially given the shock that Âeveryone in the game felt when she retired in 2008, three weeks before the French Open, her favourite event and one that she had won four times. Just a few weeks before her announcement she had been pounding balls back and forth at the Monte Carlo Country Club and looked in great form but all of a sudden she was gone.Filling her life with a host of other pursuits, including working on television, Henin seemed unlikely to return but as she watched Roger Federer win at Roland Garros last summer, something clicked and from that moment on her mind was set on a comeback. Like Clijsters, Henin made sure she put in months of work on her game and her fitness before her return and when she did come back in Brisbane, it was as if she had never been away.Serena Williams, the No1 seed, is sure to have a say in the destiny of the title, having won in Melbourne in three of the past five years and four times overall. "Serena is going to come out as fired up as she has ever been for the Australian Open," said Pam Shriver, the American former top-10 player turned commentator. "In 2007, the last full year Justine played all the slams, Serena kept meeting her in the quarters and she couldn't beat her. She will want her revenge."Serena and her sister Venus, the five-times Wimbledon champion, are in the top half of the draw, the opposite half to Henin and Clijsters. Also in the Belgians' half is Maria Sharapova, a former champion here, at Wimbledon and at the US Open, who has a seemingly clear route through to the last four.And let us not forget Dementieva, who will go into the tournament high on confidence after her win over Williams in Sydney. The Olympic champion has lost in two grand slam finals, but said she was relaxed about her prospects of breaking her duck in Melbourne. "I don't think I am unlucky," she said. "If I haven't won it's because I am not good enough. I think I can do it, but I do not feel any pressure."Australian OpenJustine HeninKim ClijstersTennisSimon Cambersguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
ERC to investigate Ospreys’ sixteenth player as Leicester lodge a formal complaint Alun Lewis, the international referee, described what happened in Swansea on Saturday as “an absolute nonsense”. Over the next few days, ERC, which runs the two European tournaments, will investigate how their premier competition came to be discredited by a team fielding 16 players. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |