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| Wigan Athletic 4-1 Hull City THE SIGHT OF Stripey the Laticat and Roary the Tiger sitting in an otherwise unoccupied South Stand, arms folded and engaged in conversation, said everything. There were ways of measuring the levels of apathy at the DW Stadium, from the derogatory chants about the lack of fans and the low volume to the number of first-team players each manager omitted. But the most abiding image was provided at one end of the ground, closed to the paying public and populated only by two disinterested mascots.Given the low attendance – just 5,335 paying spectators were in a ground that can accommodate five times as many fans – it is hard to describe Wigan's comeback as memorable, admirable though it was. Charles N'Zogbia's stellar second-half display may be seen as evidence of commitment to Athletic's cause, but too few witnessed it to bring about a sea change in opinion. Rather, the overriding sense was that the prioritisation of the Premier League is now shared by managers and supporters alike. Roberto MartÃnez made six changes, Phil Brown seven and followers of both clubs amended their weekly routine by ignoring their side's fixture when glorified reserve teams were fielded.The absenteeism disappointed the visiting manager. "Yeah, if truth be known," said Brown. "I know it is a cold, snowy, wintery day. A lot of people talk about the FA Cup still having its magic, but when you look at the crowd it was a poor turnout. It was a poor turnout from us in the second half.""In my opinion, it is the best cup competition in the world," said MartÃnez, though this was scarcely a day to justify that statement. "I am focusing on the fans we had; they were very good. But I'm not surprised [at the crowd] because of the weather. We have had such atrocious conditions that people did not want to take a risk to come."At least it provided a chance to impress. Two stand-ins, James McCarthy and Scott Sinclair, seized it, the midfielder opening his Wigan account and the winger doubling his tally for the Latics on their second and third starts for the club respectively. But the catalyst for the fightback was Wigan's costliest signing.N'Zogbia had been among those demoted to the bench. The feeling had been that his eventual destination was rather farther away. While reportedly touting himself to Birmingham City, the midfielder courted further controversy on Wednesday by heading straight for the Old Trafford tunnel and opting not to shake hands with his replacement, Sinclair, when substituted in Wigan's 5-0 defeat to Manchester United.On this occasion, neither his behaviour nor his contribution could be questioned. Martinez has appeared reluctant to summon reinforcements during his time at Wigan. Decisive action brought a response, however, when N'Zogbia, introduced at half-time, struck within two minutes. Trademark acceleration enabled the Frenchman to combine with Jason Scotland, accepting the latter's pass before producing a crisp finish. "Charlie is a world-class player," Martinez said. "He made a huge difference and his attitude was very good." His second followed a well-worked corner as he exchanged passes with Sinclair before cutting infield and curling a shot through a crowded penalty area.His brace bookended McCarthy's strike. The 19-year-old Scot was found by N'Zogbia before his shot took a decisive deflection to defeat Boaz Myhill.. The on-loan Chelsea winger Sinclair, who had begun the game in scintillating fashion, concluded it on the scoresheet, with a rasping, rising shot.Hull had led, Geovanni curling in a free kick to end a 12-game wait for a goal. Enter N'Zogbia. "The substitution at half-time looks like it has worked for Wigan," lamented Brown. "It didn't work for us, though." Nor did it work for Stripey and Roary. They were sitting in splendid isolation 100 yards away while each of the five goals was scored in front of the fans in the North Stand.FA CupWigan AthleticHull CityRichard Jollyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
IPL set to include nine English players • Players must be available for the entire season• ECB wanted to retain right of veto over playersNine English players are expected to be included in the Indian Premier League auction later this month after league officials predictably abandoned a tactical threat to blacklist them because of doubts about their availability.The final list of those up for auction – only a few of whom will win contracts alongside the star names already signed up – is scheduled to be announced tomorrow after the IPL chairman, Lalit Modi, had briefly threatened that England's players would be removed from the list.The IPL has been involved in a behind-the-scenes struggle with the England and Wales Cricket Board, insisting that the new players to be auctioned must be available for the entire season. It also wants players to be available for pre-tournament friendlies, making the demands of the franchises ever larger.Sundar Raman, the IPL chief executive, said: "That is a condition, a preliminary requirement." He says the ECB has been forced to give way.The ECB wanted to retain the agreement signed last February, which allowed them to block players' involvement for part of the tournament and which enables them to limit the involvement of players like Kevin Pietersen and Paul Collingwood — a power that persuaded Andrew Flintoff to turn freelance.The ECB remains wary that players contracted to IPL clubs could soon be demanded for far longer than the extent of the tournament, damaging international availability, development programmes and county cricket in the process.Eight England players were included on the preliminary auction list, including Jonathan Trott, who is still with England's Test squad in South Africa. The others were Usman Afzaal, Tim Bresnan, James Foster, Anthony McGrath, Eoin Morgan, Monty Panesar and Adil Rashid.IPLCricketDavid Hoppsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Tom Croft injury a blow for England TOM CROFT, England's first-choice blindside flanker, suffered an injury to his left knee 26 minutes into this lopsided Leicester bonus-point procession which puts his participation in the Six Nations in serious doubt. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
Lleyton Hewitt advances to 3rd round of Aust. Open MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- That epic match in 2008, Lleyton Hewitt remembers it well.... hosted.ap.org |
Bell says future is diring without reforms • Ladbrokes' chief executive urges swift action from sport• Racing For Change board promise more initiatives in offingOne of the betting industry's most senior figures has urged horse racing to speed up its efforts at connecting with a wider audience before it is too late. Chris Bell, chief executive of Ladbrokes, suggested the sport was in danger of "disappearing below the waves" if action was not taken to address its popularity."We do support the Racing For Change initiative," Bell said, in reference to the sport's current project aimed at Âimproving its appeal. "My plea has always been, could it just be a little bit faster, please? It's no good if it's pulled by a shire horse. We need Nijinsky out there and get the damned thing going."People used to start betting by betting on horse racing. They'd knock off their shift at 2pm and they'd go up to the Âbetting shop, or, if you were in the colliery, they used to have a bookie's runner at the top of the mine shaft."These days, nine out of 10 people who start betting do it on a machine or a virtual product. I don't say that with glee. That's why I say we have to move faster. Speed is of the essence, here. We can't afford too many more Âmeetings. We need something to get our hands around," said Bell, who was sceptical about the worth of recently announced initiatives, including the Âdecimalisation of odds."That might be part of it but where is the big idea that we can all start working on? We need some impetus."Rod Street, project manager of Racing For Change, said he sympathised with Bell's concern but argued that decisions affecting an entire sport could not be taken at anything like the kind of speed that would satisfy a powerful chief Âexecutive."It needed significant consultation among our stakeholders before we could take anything forward and that's why the early pace has been slow," he said. "But now we have general support for Âbroadening the appeal of racing and Âtaking measures to underpin the health of the sport, so the pace will pick up. Every few weeks over the course of this year, we're planning to bring to life another swath of ideas that have been developed over the last year to 18 months."The racing world will be getting used to regular announcements and we will have something more in a few weeks' time. The train is now moving."Rather than attempt to satisfy Bell's demand for a big idea, Street said the focus was on "doing a multitude of things differently". He claimed that, even if the decimalisation of odds achieves little, the sport gained useful exposure from the debate provoked by the idea.Bell made his comments as he released a report on the betting industry's contribution to the British economy, which has been assessed at £6bn in gross value added by Deloitte. Ladbrokes had commissioned the report, Bell said, to assist in negotiations with government over the taxation of their offshore operations and to "show what a large industry this is".Horse racingChris Cookguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |