| Glamorgan suffer the agony of just missing out on promotion • James Dalrymple's gamble fails to pay off• Bottom club Derbyshire survive in CardiffGlamorgan missed out on promotion to the First Division after failing to beat the bottom club Derbyshire in Cardiff while Worcestershire successfully chased a target of 301 to defeat champions Sussex.When Glamorgan beat Worcestershire at Colwyn Bay last month they were chasing the title, not just second place, but in a limp finish they drew three and lost one of their final four matches while Worcestershire enjoyed three victories. When Glamorgan heard that Sussex had set Worcestershire a target of 301 in 70 overs, they hurriedly contrived a finish to their game with Derbyshire, who agreed to chase 160 in what turned out to be 43 overs.Glamorgan took five wickets in the first 22 overs and had an hour to capture the final five, but Dan Redfern and Robin Peterson, who both offered sharp chances and survived loud leg before appeals, survived and the Welsh county's captain, Jamie Dalrymple, reluctantly called play to a halt with Derbyshire on 123 for five. "I feel terrible," said Dalrymple. "I felt that we deserved promotion. We defeated Worcestershire twice, once inside two days, but we can point to the game against Middlesex here a few weeks ago when we lost. They chased down a target of 250 but later at Lord's were bowled out for 66 by a couple of part-time spinners [against Worcestershire]. To be sat in our position is horrific."I cannot comment on the declaration in Worcester because I was not there and do not know the exact details of what went on. It is best that I do not say anything about that. People who know cricket can make their own judgments."We work on scant resources and we punched above our weight this year. We are devastated that we did not close the deal. We are no longer interested in moral victories: we want success."Glamorgan had started the day more likely to lose the match than win it after five sessions had been lost to rain. Derbyshire extended their first innings lead to 110 and felt confident of making early inroads into the Glamorgan top order.Mark Cosgrove and Gareth Rees thought differently and put on 92 before the two sides agreed on a run chase. Buffet bowling was then provided and Rees reached his century while watching three partners get out to a series of long hops and full tosses.James Harris reduced Derbyshire to eight for two and at 63 for five, the time Worcestershire reached their target, Derbyshire looked vulnerable. Glamorgan rotated their spinners but none could make the breakthrough."It was a great effort by the players today and they showed how this side has changed its character in the last three years," said the Glamorgan director of cricket, Matthew Maynard. "The fact Worcestershire reached their target easily suggests it was a generous declaration, but you do not know what Sussex wanted to do. It is up to them to justify it." County Championship Division TwoGlamorganDerbyshireWorcestershireSussexCricketPaul Reesguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Talking Horses: The latest news and best bets plus our weekly tipping competition The latest news and best bets in our daily horse racing blog, plus day two of our weekly tipping competition2.25pm Owners keen to go overseas with CanfordTony Paley: The owners of outstanding miler Canford Cliffs may ensure he races abroad before the season is finished it emerged today. The Richard Hannon-trained three-year-old has always looked the ideal sort for the Breeders' Cup but the handler has never been keen on shipping the colt to America.Winner of the Irish 2000 Guineas, St James's Palace and Sussex Stakes, Canford Cliffs was due to run in last Saturday's Queen Elizabeth II Stakes at Ascot. An unsatisfactory scope forced his withdrawal after which Hannon indicated that the son of Tagula would not run again this year. Now, the colt's owners want to look at the remaining foreign options this term. "The owners seem keen to have another run, though there is nothing left for him in Europe, so I suppose if he does go again they will be looking at the Breeders' Cup Mile in Kentucky as well as Japan and Hong Kong," said Hannon. "If they decide against travelling him this year, we'll pack him up until next season."Hannon also had news of another Breeders' possible in Paco Boy and Dick Turpin. "Paco Boy is on target to take on Goldikova again on Sunday in the Prix de la Foret at Longchamp and I would imagine that the owners will then sit down and decide whether to have one last roll of the dice at Churchill Downs," Hannon told http://www.richardhannonracing.tv."Dick Turpin, who like Canford Cliffs is coming back to us as a four-year-old, is not entered in the Challenge Stakes at Newmarket so he has just the one option if [owner] John Manley wants to run again, the Vittorio di Capua in Milan on Sunday week."1.20pm Lemaire banks on Behkabad in ArcChristophe Lemaire is banking on Behkabad to give him a first Qatar Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe success at Longchamp on Sunday. The French jockey has chosen the Grand Prix de Paris and Prix Niel winner over owner the Aga Khan's other runner, Sarafina. Gerald Mosse will team up with the Prix de Diane heroine, who was third to Midday in the Prix Vermeille last time. "Christophe Lemaire has made up his mind and will ride Behkabad, and Gerald Mosse will be riding Sarafina," said Georges Rimaud, racing manager to owner the Aga Khan. "I suppose Christophe feels Behkabad has a better chance, but I haven't spoken to him on that specific line. I think he feels the horse is right and is going to progress from his last race, even though he won it. "Sarafina has come on since her last race. She worked this morning without any great sparkle, as she normally does, but the trainer was pleased with her work and everything is on course with her as well." Lope De Vega, winner of the French 2,000 Guineas and Prix du Jockey Club, is likely to be added to the field at Thursday's supplementary stage. Since those Classic victories, the colt has suffered defeats in the Prix Jean Prat and Prix du Moulin, both over a mile, but his trainer Andre Fabre is a past master having won the Arc seven times. Crispin de Moubray, racing manager for owners Gestut Ammerland, said: "I've always said this horse was brilliant, but he's taken a rather unusual route to get here. He was a freak of a horse in the Jockey Club, in which he easily beat Planteur - I don't think anything could have lived with him that day. "I don't see any reason why the horse shouldn't stay, especially if there's a fast pace which should help him settle early. I also don't see why he should not mind it if it's testing ground. The forecast is for six millimetres of rain on Saturday and five on Sunday, and that should be fine for him." PA12.45pm Is bikini beach racing the answer to the sport's problems?Tony Paley: The news revealed on our site that bikini beach racing, already a hit at Hollywood Park in California, is going to be introduced in Australia has led some on Twitter to mischevously suggest that this is something Racing For Change could take a look at.There have been pioneers in this field in Britain. Sedgefield, where they race today, already have a wife-carrying contest which was first held in 2004. And Monty Python got there first back in the 1970s on BBC1 as far as women hurtling down the home straight is concerned when they ran the Queen Victoria Stakes. Perhaps the bikini beach racing could include leaping over fences too.Today's best bets, by Greg WoodIf Richard Hughes is to get anywhere near Paul Hanagan in the race for the jockeys' championship, this is a day when he needs to score heavily. Hanagan, currently 14 clear of his only credible rival, is not riding today, while Hughes has a full book of eight rides at Newbury, including three probable favourites and only one that is likely to start at double-figure odds.Richard Hannon, as usual, is Hughes's main ally this afternoon, and both Poppy (2.00) and Puttingonthestyle (2.35) bring solid debut form to their respective maidens at the top of the card. Autumn maidens at Newbury do have a habit of producing potential stars from the unraced contingent, though, so bets should be kept to a minimum.It will be a real surprise, though, if Regal Park (6.00) does not give Hughes a winner in the closing event, while Sohrab (nap 4.55) has a great deal more to recommend him in his recent form than most of his opponents today.Tipping competition - day twoThe early abandonment Bath's meeting yesterday owing to fog robbed the tipping competition of its third and final leg. Cairo was the only one to get both of the other winners and has an early lead.This week's prize is a copy of Frankincense and More, the biography of Barry Hills, written by Robin Oakley, who was once the BBC's political editor. It includes "an analysis of Barry's own betting habits and coups", the blurb says, and should make for fascinating reading.For today, we'd like your tips, please, for these races: 2.10 Brighton, 3.45 Newbury, 3.55 Brighton.As ever, our champion will be the tipster who returns the best profit to notional level stakes of £1 at starting price on our nominated races, of which there will be three each day up until Friday. Non-runners count as losers.For terms and conditions click here.Good luck!Standings after day oneCairo +10.5tom1977 +7Maurice1NL +1.5MrPositive +1.5Londonpatrick +1.5Shear39 +1.5Moidadembums +1.515244 +1.5melonk +1.5erifder +1.5Akcptgrey +1.5Diegoisgod +1.5johne5knuckle +1.5TL127 +1.5MillieJ +1.5Rivercity +1.5Chiefhk +1.5JahLion +1.5Donlewis +1.5DrSativa +1.5Ormrod76 -2Tampabay -2orso -2chrishol -2Walthamstowlad -2shrewdette -2robmct -2MISTERCHESTER -2sandiuk -2sangfroid -2JDK1 -2Viejo -2titusisashambles -2robsonvall -2zanno -2Harrytheactor -2The Vic -2Scandalous -2Peterpickum -2Snowy81 -2BearRides -2Millreef -2Factormax -2Mai11 -2Superscouser -2Elmatador1 -2Ellandback -2Rollneck -223skidoo -2goofs -2suckzinclee -2xwireman -2copshaw -2carl31 -2brochdoll -2pops2 -2teddyfrost -2byrnedjp -2xerox91 -2mulldog -2slackdad -2sportingchad -2twig28 -2Click here for all the day's racecards, form, stats and results.Click here for today's latest odds.And post your racing-related comments below.Horse racingHorse racing tipsGreg WoodTony Paleyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Laxman shines brightest as India prevail The batsman played through a bad back to inspire India to a dramatic first Test win over the men in baggy greenIn the Indian dressing room, VVS Laxman is Very, Very Special. In Australia's they probably think of him in very different terms – Very, Very Sickening. In crisis situations that paralyse others, Laxman manages to bat with a composure and elegance that must be soul-destroying for the opposition. Others cramp up with nervous excitement. He strokes the ball into the gaps. As Zaheer Khan, an odd choice as man of the match following India's single-wicket win over Australia, said afterwards Laxman brings calm to the dressing room.He and Australia have history. In January 2000, Laxman was a makeshift opener when he scored his first century, a galloping 167 in a losing cause at the SCG. None of his team-mates made more than 25. A year later, now batting in the middle order, his 281, which gets a mention each time you discuss the greatest innings ever played, thwarted Glenn McGrath, Shane Warne, Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz at Eden Gardens. In the next Test, with the series on the line, he eased the tension from a final-day run chase with a stroke-filled 66.He's seldom look back since when confronted by those in baggy green. Six of his 16 centuries have come against them and he averages nearly 60. "Even with a bad back, he showed what sort of class player he is," said a rueful Ricky Ponting after this game. "He played very well, got the tailenders to stick in there with him, and he had a knack of finding the boundary late in the innings. He has been a bit of a thorn in our side, there's no doubt about that."The chances are that this unbeaten 73 from 79 balls, having come in at No7 after back spasms kept him off the field for most of the match, will be cherished as much as any of those feted hundreds. Make no mistake, Australia had this game won. That they lost with India on the mat and gasping for breath will rankle for a long time. "I think I was a bit delirious by the end of the Kolkata game, so I can't remember too much about that," said Ponting when asked to compare this defeat to that of 2001. "This one probably hurts more. I'm captain of the side. I wasn't then. Eight down today with 80 to get, it was a game we should've won."India's overnight position (55 for four) was precarious enough, but when Sachin Tendulkar fell, trying to bunt the ball over gully a first defeat at Mohali since 1994 appeared a near certainty. MS Dhoni and Harbhajan Singh could do nothing to halt the slide and when the beanpole figure of Ishant Sharma marked his guard, the scoreboard showed a forlorn 124 for eight.Fate, though, had more twists in store. Doug Bollinger, who had dismissed both Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid, went off with an abdominal strain and Ponting's frustration was palpable. He had been unhappy about the fast bowler's late arrival from South Africa, where he had been part of the Chennai Super Kings' Champions League-winning side, and when he didn't emerge after lunch, the burden was squarely on the shoulders of Ben Hilfenhaus and Mitchell Johnson. Hilfenhaus got Australia back into the game on the fourth evening, but his strength is beautifully controlled outswing with the new ball. Johnson, despite a five-wicket haul in the first innings, has an action so erratic that he's prone to inconsistency. Nathan Hauritz, anointed as Australia's frontline spinner in the build-up to the Ashes, was so ineffectual that Ponting couldn't trust him, and it was left to Marcus North, after another wretched game with the bat, to give the ball a tweak.Sharma may have bowled poorly of late, and will miss the Bangalore Test, starting on Saturday, with a knee injury, but he showed diligence with the bat, making an important 31 runs from 92 balls. By the time he was out the ninth-wicket partnership was worth 81. His back may have been stiff and his footwork severely restricted, but Laxman kept giving the fielders the runaround.Inevitably in a series being played without the Umpiring Decision Review System, the pivotal moment came with a decision that would had been referred had the technology been made available.From where I sat, right behind the umpire, Pragyan Ojha appeared to be struck in front by Johnson. But Billy Bowden, who had earlier given Gautam Gambhir leg-before despite a thick inside edge, ruled that the batsman hit it. As Ojha and Suresh Raina, running for Laxman, scampered the single, Steven Smith picked up and had a shy at the stumps. He was close, but with no one backing up, the ball went for four overthrows. Two balls and two leg byes later, the game was over. The Indians embraced Laxman, Ojha and Raina, while the Australians looked shattered, like kids who had seen Father Christmas turn into the Wicked Witch.Ponting put on a brave face afterwards, stressing the positives, but admitted that the defeat was one of the most painful of his 147-Test career. At Edgbaston in 2005, it was Australia that nearly pulled off a stunning come-from-behind win. Here, with roles reversed, they again fell just short."This is a tough loss for us", said Ponting, who answered a slew of questions with great dignity. "It's no good hiding from it, this hurts all of us. I'm sure it's hurt a lot of people at home who've been watching as well."There's no doubt we're bitterly disappointed with the result going the way it did. The dressing room is very, very quiet at the moment, but we have to bounce back from this." How they do or don't could well decide Australian cricket's immediate future.India Cricket TeamAustralia cricket teamCricketDileep Premachandranguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Vikings call Favre questionable for Sunday's game By 2010-10-16T01:56:40ZEDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. (AP) -- With an NFL-record streak of 289 regular-season starts on the line, Brett Favre is listed as questionable for Minnesota's game Sunday against Dallas.... hosted.ap.org |
Celts beat Heat 88-80 despite 31 from James By HOWARD ULMAN 2010-10-27T04:38:39ZBOSTON (AP) -- LeBron James and the Miami Heat were showered with chants of "overrated!" They sure looked that way in their debut as a team formed to win a championship.... hosted.ap.org |