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| Gianfranco Zola losing grip on Matthew Upson as transfer window looms Gianfranco Zola could be losing his battle to prevent the sale of Matthew Upson in the transfer window next month. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
South Africa's disintegration poses salivating prospect for Cape Town | Vic Marks Graeme Smith admits his side have big problems, chiefly what to do about Makhaya Ntini and how to handle Graeme SwannThe monotone voice and glazed look of South Africa's captain were as eloquent as his words after the Durban Test. "It's massively disappointing," said Graeme Smith, the man who had managed to see off the best of England's recent captains (Nasser Hussain and Michael Vaughan) but could find no gloss for his side's performance."We must congratulate Andrew Strauss and his team. We have been outplayed and we have to be honest with ourselves. We represent a lot of people's hopes and we have to take a long hard look at ourselves. We just weren't good enough."This was a numbing defeat for South Africa and for Smith. The speed of their disintegration in this match surprised both sides and there will be some serious agonising by the home side between now and the start of the Cape Town Test on Sunday. "It's important to take our emotions out of this, to get to Cape Town and make the best decisions for a crucial Test," said Smith.One down with two to play, the South Africans are under the cosh. They have to contemplate playing "catch-up" cricket, which is not the way they like to play the game. Their preference is to eliminate as many risks as possible, to grind the opposition down with iron discipline. Bat long and bowl dry.It is not a bad system though it is almost the antithesis of the Australian way, which is to bat fast and go for the jugular. Take the recent Melbourne Test between Australia and Pakistan. It would have gone against the grain for a South African captain to declare as prematurely as Ricky Ponting did in both innings.Generally Ponting's first priority is to give his bowlers enough time to win the game (though this may change in a tight Ashes series), the South African way is to ensure that the opposition do not have a chance of winning and only then to press for victory. Now Smith's team may have to swerve.Such an emphatic defeat often prompts calls for sweeping changes. This rarely happens in modern, squad-orientated international cricket, where security of tenure is so treasured. But in the South African side there are several players suddenly under severe scrutiny in a country where the supporters routinely expect victory. Ashwell Prince, JP Duminy, Paul Harris and Makhaya Ntini are all under pressure.Of these, Ntini is the likeliest to go. If that is the case, old trundlers may grump that, as usual, a bowler is the man to be dropped after a batting collapse. However, there is logic here. A bowler out of sorts provides much more evidence of a decline than a batsman out first ball like Duminy.Smith did his best to avoid giving details of how South Africa might react. He was probably still unsure in his own mind and theoretically it is the selectors, not him, who decide the next squad. He acknowledged that his batsmen had been "tentative". "They didn't commit to their shots," he said. "But the top six have been pretty solid in recent times."The bowling was poor from ball one. We bowled badly. The pressure was off them right from the start." When asked specifically about Ntini, he said: "Makhaya would be the first one to put his hand up and say he's disappointed with the way he bowled. He is experienced and has performed well in the past. We have given him support in this match and he's been an important cog in our team. We will have to look at it."It would now be a surprise if Ntini was selected for Cape Town but what to do with their iconic black African cricketer is not the only issue for the South Africans even if it is the most politically sensitive of their problems.There is also the matter of Graeme Swann. "You have to give credit for the way Swann used the conditions," said Smith. "He has been a strength in their team. He has used the angles well and created pressure behind a good pace attack".England's off-spinner has now won two consecutive man-of-the-match awards against South Africa, who will surely reassess how best to play him. Their conclusion has to be one that is not entirely comfortable for a risk-averse team. They have to attack him with far more conviction than has been displayed so far in this series.Swann has bowled beautifully, extracting far more turn than anyone anticipated at Durban. And his control has hardly wavered. He is brimful of confidence, bowling lots of overs, thereby allowing his captain to play just four bowlers without ever feeling naked.The challenge for South Africa has to be to dent that confidence by taking the attack to Swann, to see if they can make the irrepressible off-spinner bowl badly. There are risks attached to such a policy. It might end in another clutch of wickets for Swann. But it is a risk the South Africans now surely have to take. Another reason why the Cape Town Test is now such a salivating prospect.England in South Africa 2009-2010Graeme SmithSouth Africa cricket teamEngland Cricket TeamGraeme SwannCricketVic Marksguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Sony Open in Hawaii means business for sponsors, charities Professional golf is as much a business as it is a sport. bizjournals.com |
Merckx expects fiercely fought Tour for Armstrong PARIS (AP) -- Cycling great Eddy Merckx says seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong should focus on more than just beating Alberto Contador in his bid to become the oldest winner of the race.... hosted.ap.org |
Rafael Nadal: Andy Murray is the Australian Open favourite • Nadal and coach believe Scot is a threat on his 'best surface'• British No1's steady progress has impressed several observersThe notion that Andy Murray can win the Australian Open grows less ludicrous by the hour – if, indeed, such pessimism was ever warranted. He has friends in unexpected quarters. Rafael Nadal's trainer and uncle, Toni (as well as the player himself, it transpires), regard Murray as favourite to advance to the semi-finals when Nadal meets Murray tomorrow. That is some endorsement."Rafa is in good form," Toni observed as the field thinned out today. "He's hitting his forehand well, which is important for him. But this is the most difficult match we could have faced at this stage. Rafa thought he was the favourite against [Ivo] Karlovic [whom he beat in four sets], but he regards Murray as the favourite here, especially as we're playing on Murray's best surface."Such candour will surprise only the bookmakers' more obvious choice to triumph in the final on Sunday, the undisputed world No1 Roger Federer – and those unfamiliar with Nadal's respect for the Scot. But there is a wider perception than those of the parties involved that Murray can become the first Briton since John Lloyd in 1977 to contest the final of this tournament.The Australian Darren "Killer" Cahill, whose coaching credentials with Lleyton Hewitt and Andre Agassi support his reputation as one of the most authoritative judges in the sport, said, "I think Murray is going to surprise a lot of people. I think he can win this."He tips Murray to beat Nadal and Federer – and bookmakers who have Murray at 9-2 behind Federer would, to some extent, seem to agree. There is a groundswell at work here. People at the heart and on the periphery of the sport are beginning to sense that Murray's quiet progress through the first week of the tournament – he was the only one of the favoured seeds not to drop a set – is a good indicator of his chances at the business end of the Open.As ever, most scepticism resides at home. A former British tennis player of repute confided before Murray made light of the giant John Isner, "I think he's nervous. He doesn't look totally at ease."It would be odd, though, if a player in a grand slam betrayed no nerves. Even Federer conceded after dismissing Hewitt in straight sets, "Sometimes I'm never intimidated. Not that that's good or bad. I'm just saying that sometimes you're nervous before a match and you don't know why that is."All speculation will be rendered redundant, however, when Murray and Nadal meet in the Rod Laver Arena, a strangely quiet theatre that has thus far not provided a defining performance in the season's first grand slam.Nadal himself acknowledged after his faltering win over Karlovic the previous day that Murray had the better serve – but that he could win by drawing on his greater energy and spirit. Sceptics were drawn to conclude that this was a statement of towering irony, especially when the momentum he referred to was only fleetingly evident against Karlovic."Rafa needs to play more aggressively than he did against Karlovic," his coach said. "He'll need to do more on his serve. He'll also need to be hitting the ball with more power in the rallies, though at the same time it's important that Rafa just plays his own game."Before the tournament I regarded Murray as the favourite to win the title, just like he was last year when he came here after winning in Doha. [Nikolay] Davydenko was another player I thought would do well here, but Murray was always my favourite to win. The only negative thing for Murray is that he hasn't won a grand slam title yet, though he certainly has the quality to do that."These are both encouraging and potentially confusing signals for Murray, whose progress has been quiet, steady and impressive, while all around him have to a degree been drawn into pacts of mutual destruction. Murray has developed such an armadillo-like shell, though, that whatever is said rarely penetrates his inner circle of advisers.The weight of expectation does not seem to weigh heavily on him; Mats Wilander remarked earlier in the week that Murray probably does not "give a shit" about winning his first grand slam. He might be right; Murray's priorities have been forged in the sort of self-interest that defines modern athletes. This is not a criticism, but a description of the facts as they exist.Andy MurrayRafael NadalAustralian OpenTennisKevin Mitchellguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |