TOP 100 SPORT SITES
| |||
|
| |||
| |||
|
| |||
| Freestyle trials: Engaging risk or waste of time? STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, Colo. (AP) -- The fact that one of America's best freestyle skiers, Ryan St. Onge, didn't earn an Olympic spot at Olympic trials didn't bother him at all.... hosted.ap.org |
Favre, Manning and their teams stock Pro Bowl rosters Brett Favre hasn't reached the Super Bowl in a dozen years. But Pro Bowl berths follow wherever he goes. Favre was one of a league-high eight ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
Pete Carroll confirms he's leaving USC to become Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll has confirmed that he is leaving USC to join the Seattle Seahawks as head coach. rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
England helped by weather but hindered by umpiring error The rain came an hour after lunch, curtains of it, obscuring the stand at the Golf Course end of the Wanderers. ÂFifteen minutes later, as the thunder crashed overhead, the ground was awash, and the PA was playing John Fogerty's old hit Have You Ever Seen the Rain.The draining qualities of the ground, together with miraculous work by the groundstaff, meant that rather than an abandonment for the day play was able to resume three hours and 20 minutes later, although to little avail as three and a half overs later the light closed in and off they all trooped again. Worth waiting for. It saved England from further embarrassment and may yet contribute to a draw and hence a win in this series that the tourists scarcely deserve.No wickets fell after the evening resumption and only two in the 49 overs possible before the storm, the second of them Graeme Smith, who edged Ryan Sidebottom's away swing into the midriff of Andrew Strauss at first slip even as the storm clouds gathered. By then, though, South Africa's captain had diligently Âcollected the 20th Test hundred of his career over the course of four and a Âquarter hours, an inevitability almost to those who Ârecognise a supreme competitor who saves his best for the toughest of times.• Flower to lodge complaint over Smith referral let-off• Vic Marks: Incident was more cock-up than conspiracy• England left fuming by hit-and-miss technology• Over-by-over report: day two – as it happenedSouth Africa will resume in the morning on 215 for two, a lead of 35, with Hashim Amla, his wristiness a contrast to Smith's bulldozing batting, on 73, his third Âsignificant contribution of the series, and Jacques Kallis, new to the crease, on seven.The conundrum for South Africa is how to dodge the rain and conjure a series-Âlevelling win out of what remains. ÂComing into the game their coach, Mickey Arthur, spoke about the need to gamble, by which he presumably meant that they must be prepared to risk losing in pursuit of a win. There are now two ways open to them. The first is to bat England totally out of the game and then hope they can dismiss them a second time. The other is to take a more slender lead, either by design or simply by England reviving their fortunes and bowling them out before the lead gets out of hand (which seems unlikely, although a new ball will be due in 17 overs time) and then hope that England do not get sufficient runs to put the home side under pressure.England looked short of a cutting edge. The morning was clearer than that on the first day but there was still a mugginess to it that hinted at Âmovement in the air and off the pitch for the Âpacemen. The new ball, played so watchfully by Smith and Ashwell Prince as the first day drew to a close, was a dozen overs old, which would give time yet for some Âdamage to the innings before it lost its lustre and hardness and batting became a more secure operation. Certainly the ball swung, sharply at times, especially for Sidebottom who managed to tighten his line to both left-handers, but was barely above medium-fast.James Anderson, styled the leader of the pack these days, was ignored first thing, and was not at his best when he did get the chance. Instead, Stuart Broad looked the most incisive of the seamers, and he did induce an edge from Prince that was comfortably taken by Graeme Swann at second slip.It was a long wait thereafter as Smith and Amla added 165 for the third wicket, with little discomfort aside from the odd play and miss – something that the best batsmen rationalise as a natural hazard of the job in these conditions, and dwell no further on a delivery that failed to take their wicket – and one Âincident that Âthreatened to spark a war.It centred, as it often seems to, on Daryl Harper, this time in his capacity as third umpire, a job he does with all the felicity of a Chuckle Brother. Smith had added three to his overnight 12 when he Âabandoned caution and flung the bat at a wide long hop from Sidebottom, in the Âprocess, so England will swear, edging it to Matt Prior. If there was a noise, as was detected by the stump mic available to Âtelevision Âcommentators, then the umpire, Tony Hill, did not hear it.Smith, as he is entitled to do, stood his ground and was given not out. ÂImmediately Strauss called for a review, although knowing there would need to be compelling evidence for the decision to be overturned, the chances of which are reduced considerably with the absence of the Hot Spot technology, the sole devices of which are currently in use in Australia.If Harper's decision was no surprise, the notion that he had not been able to hear a noise as detected by commentators, given that he is supposed to be Âsupplied with the same visual and audio feed, was Âbemusing. A blame game started, first with accusations thrown at a South African Broadcasting Corporation sound engineer who, it was suggested, had not turned the volume up (it is muted during the delivery to hide on-field chat), and then at Harper, who it was later admitted had not realised there was a volume control on his own equipment.Although there was always the chance that Hill had got his original decision correct, the likelihood was that Smith edged the ball and that the technology, through human error, had failed. Â"Thunder?" Harper is later believed to have said. "What thunder."England in South Africa 2009-2010England Cricket TeamSouth Africa cricket teamCricketMike Selveyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Michael Schumacher forced to defend reputation on F1 return Michael Schumacher stepped back into the full glare of the Formula One spotlight today and was immediately forced to defend his reputation. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |