TOP 100 SPORT SITES
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| Leicester extend unbeaten home run with bonus point against Sale Leicester 32-6 SaleLeicester extended their unbeaten home record to 24 matches but made hard work of subduing a depleted Sale at Welford Road.Sale made 11 changes to the side that started last week's Heineken Cup game against Harlequins but they ensured the home side had to graft for the victory. Leicester only claimed the bonus point in the final act of the game when the No8 Jordan Crane drove over after a succession of scrums close to Sale's line. That was the only score of the final quarter, even though Leicester scored their third try through Lewis Moody after 59 minutes.Sale – who included the rookie centre Jonny Kennedy, the son of the club owner, Brian – defended tenaciously but could not convert their own attacking opportunities into a try and had to rely on two Charlie Hodgson penalties for their points. Leicester led from the eighth minute when the England international Toby Flood kicked a penalty after Sale went in at the side of a ruck.The opening score might have been expected to settle the hosts, instead Johne Murphy put his team-mates under pressure by making an error when attempting to tidy up a loose ball, instead conceding a five-metre scrum. Leicester held off that attack but a weak clearance kick from Flood allowed Sale to press again only for Hodgson to squander a chance to level the scores when he pushed a penalty attempt wide.It proved a costly lapse as Murphy made up for his earlier mishap by getting on the end of a fluent passing move to score the first try which Flood, whose conversion struck an upright, narrowly failed to improve.With the flanker James Gaskell outstanding in the loose and lineout, Sale competed for longer than expected but it required some desperate defensive work to keep them in the game. Another well-worked move appeared to have created an overlap for Craig Newby but Sale scrambled back and the former All Blacks flanker was penalised for not releasing.Newby compounded his error when the referee, JP Doyle, caught him handling in a ruck which allowed Hodgson to open Sale's account with a long-range penalty, but it was quickly cancelled out by Flood's second.Sale silenced most of a 24,000 crowd when the former England winger Ben Cohen touched down after clever interplay with Oriol Ripol, but the try was disallowed after the touch judge Don Helme spotted a knock-on earlier in the move.Flood put a long-distance penalty attempt wide with the final kick of the first half and driving rain during the break made conditions difficult for the second period. But a greasy surface and slippery ball did not prevent the lock Ben Kay rumbling over for Leicester's second try, which Flood converted.Sale refused to lie down. Hodgson found gaps in Leicester's defence with a clever run from his own 22 deep into Leicester territory and the Fijian full-back Marika Vakacegu also ghosted through. But the visitors failed to finish off those attacks and Leicester made them pay when the England flanker Moody, captain for the day, was driven over from a lineout and Flood again converted.Sale looked like denying Leicester the bonus point but their scrum came under increasing pressure and when the replacement prop Rob O'Donnell was sent to the sin-bin in the last minute they were ill-equipped to deny Crane.The biggest cheers of the afternoon were reserved for Harry Ellis and Sam Vesty, two England backs returning from long-term injuries, when they came on as second-half replacements for Leicester.Guinness PremiershipLeicester TigersSale SharksRugby unionguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Duncan Fletcher: England bowlers use tactics well England now have four bowlers with a genuine aptitude for tactics as well as the ability to deliver on themThe entire England team deserves credit for their victory at Kingsmead. You could single out Ian Bell and Alastair Cook for the fine innings they played under huge pressure, but for me England's key advantage was in their bowling attack. The smartness they showed was the difference between the two teams.England have four bowlers who really understand the game. They play intelligent cricket, which is a difficult quality to describe. It comes down to a player being able to work out the demands of the match situation and bowl appropriately. Some bowlers just run up, let go of the ball and hope for the best. Others can talk a good game, but cannot produce it on the pitch. England have four bowlers with a genuine aptitude for tactics as well as the ability to deliver on them. They are becoming a formidable unit.Coming up with a plan is one thing, executing it is another. A big factor in Australia's success earlier in the decade was the ability of their bowlers to deliver four or five balls of every over to plan. They could identify the right area to bowl at and hit that target more often than not. That accuracy is essential.Take England's strategy to Ashwell Prince. It was a classic example of the correct execution of a good plan. They decided they wanted to bowl short at his ribs. Other players have tried this before but because they did not have the necessary accuracy their bowling would be short and wide of off stump. Prince is strong enough in that area to cut the ball for four. England bowled short but straight at Prince's leg stump and he struggled.He had no room to play in. Five balls out of six were on target. Lesser bowlers would err more often, and allow Prince to release the pressure with a single or a boundary.Of England's four bowlers, Graham Onions is the one that the batsmen find hardest to face. He bowls so close to the wicket that he forces the batsman to play at everything, which makes life uncomfortable early in the innings. James Anderson has more skill, but at the moment I think he has got his tactics slightly wrong when he is bowling to left-handers. A simple tweak could make him a more potent threat. He has been predominantly bowling away-swingers to the left-handed batsmen, whereas I think his stock delivery from over the wicket should be the ball that comes back in. If he bowls in-swingers from over the wicket he has three ways of getting the batsman out – lbw, bowled, and caught behind. The away-swinger can only get the batsman out in one way and that is caught behind since lbw is not possible because the ball pitches outside leg stump and bowled is ruled out because the batsman's legs get in the way. Using the in-swinger more would multiply his chances of a wicket.Then you have Stuart Broad, who can bowl very well in spells, but also has an uncanny ability to take wickets with mediocre deliveries, like the one which had Graeme Smith caught down the leg side in the first innings at Centurion. I have always thought that a player makes his own luck. Broad has a positive approach to everything he does, and those lucky wickets are the upshot. I think he will develop into the all-rounder that England need to balance their team.The trouble now is that Broad is too young to work hard on his batting, because there is no doubt that if a player concentrates on improving in one discipline, then his form in the other tends to dip. If he wants to bat at seven, he may have to resign himself to being a line-and-length bowler, though he does have the potential to learn to be able to switch between two modes of bowling, attack and defence, as the situation demands.Graeme Swann is a very smart cricketer. I have always told bowlers that to succeed they need to be able to think like a batsman. If you do not know what it is like to score a fifty, or to face out a crucial over, you are at a disadvantage. Because he can bat himself, Swann is able to put himself into the batsman's mind, which helps him appreciate what kind of delivery the batsman least wants to face. That's the kind of subtlety of thought I mean when I talk about an intelligent cricketer, which Swann certainly is.England have four different bowlers each posing different challenges to the batsman. The common thread is that they look and play as though they know what they are doing. They select a strategy, stick to it, and have the skill to carry it out. And that is exactly what you need to bowl teams out in Test matches.England in South Africa 2009-2010England Cricket TeamGraeme SwannStuart BroadSouth Africa cricket teamCricketDuncan Fletcherguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
MU could see $10 million windfall by joining Big Ten University of Missouri officials have about 10 million reasons to make the leap to the Big Ten Conference should they be invited. feeds.bizjournals.com |
Stade Francais 15-13 Bath Stade Francais 15-13 BathBath's European adventure ended in the driving wind and rain in south-west Paris as they succumbed to Stade Francais in what was an ugly battle of attrition. The visitors can have no objections. Brave but ultimately outfought, they barely posed a threat going forward, with their try – scored by Michael Claassens - coming from a comedy error by Lionel Beauxis, the Stade full-back.Julien Arias went over for Stade's two tries in the space of 11 first-half minutes and the Parisians were worthy winners, remaining top of Pool 4 to boot.Bath, who cannot even qualify for the Amlin Challenge Cup now, had somehow gone into half-time 15-10 down, despite Stade bossing a first half that was understandably scrappy given the playing conditions.Beauxis and Nicky Little had traded early penalties before Arias demonstrated his qualities as a finisher with two well-taken tries. The winger, collected a kick ahead by Mathieu Bastareaud before side-stepping Joe Maddock, the Bath full-back, to go over in the 23rd minute. He repeated the dose 11 minutes later, feeding off a lovely, deft pass by Dimitri Szarzewski to barge over from close range.The visitors had not been seen as an attacking force up to that point and it needed some sloppy play by Stade to get them back in it. Beauxis attempted to volley clear a pass back to him but he kicked thin air, allowing Claassens, the Bath captain and scrum-half, to plunge on the loose ball for a try Little converted.The Fijian fly-half then added a penalty early in the second half to leave Stade three points ahead and somewhat shell-shocked.The pitch cut up quite dramatically after the break, meaning free-flowing moves were at a premium. That suited Stade down to the ground, and they held on comfortably.Heineken CupStade FrancaisBathRugby unionguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Roddick exits Australian Open in quarterfinals MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) -- Andy Roddick ended a tumultuous run at the Australian Open after a week that included a tumble, verbal scuffles with on-court officials and playing with a shoulder injury Tuesday before losing in five sets.... hosted.ap.org |