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| Surrey secure Hamilton-Brown as captain • Twenty-two-year-old now youngest captain in county game• Return from Sussex confirmed with three-year contractSurrey's ambitious rebuilding process continued today when they confirmed that they have won the battle to prise Rory Hamilton-Brown away from Sussex and appoint him as the youngest captain in the county game.Hamilton, 22, has spent the past month in South Africa with the England Performance Squad and he admitted to "a considerable amount of soul searching" before agreeing to return to Surrey in what must rank as the biggest transfer gamble of the close season.Chris Adams, Surrey's professional cricket manager, flew out to South Africa earlier this month to complete the deal with Hamilton-Brown, who remains a relative unknown, but who Adams is adamant can make light of his inexperience and be at the centre of the county's revival.Adams said: "To me, captains have to have certain attributes such as charisma, a galvanising spirit, intelligent and tactical brains and the ability to inspire people to follow them. Rory Hamilton-Brown has these in abundance. When I flew to South Africa to meet him I was sure that the addition of Rory to our squad will give us stability, unity and strong leadership for many years to come and enable us – for the first time in two years – to provide consistent leadership on the field of the play."Hamilton-Brown, who has signed a three-year contract, was a graduate of the Surrey Academy and has captained England at age group level. He departed for Sussex two years ago in search of greater first-team opportunities."It has taken a considerable amount of soul-searching to reach this decision," Hamilton-Brown said. "I'd like to place on record my sincere thanks to Sussex for the fantastic support they have given me and their understanding of my final decision. It's no exaggeration to say that returning to Surrey as captain is the dream of a lifetime for me personally as well as a massive honour and a huge responsibility. I will make sure I fulfil the confidence that Surrey and specifically Chris Adams have shown in me."Adams's own county career began under a captain who started young – Kim Barnett at Derbyshire – and he has been unstinting in his praise, depicting Hamilton-Brown's arrival as "a defining moment in the turnaround of the club".For Sussex, there is great disappointment. Mark Robinson, their cricket manager, who will soon leave for New Zealand as coach of England U19s in the World Cup, said: "Our aim since we signed Rory was to work on his undoubted potential to create an England cricketer and we believe that we have made good progress along that path."Our view remains that he would have been best served remaining with Sussex to achieve that ambition. However, Rory is adamant he would like to take this opportunity to captain Surrey and given the importance of our strong, united team spirit in the dressing room, myself and the captain believe it is best for Sussex to allow him to move. He has been a pleasure to work with."SurreySussexCricketDavid Hoppsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
FA Cup hero Jermaine Beckford asks to leave Leeds Jermaine Beckford, the Leeds United striker, has handed in a transfer request, his agent has told BBC Radio 5 live. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |
One dead at Commonwealth Games site • Blaze apparently broke out at proposed athletes' village• 'We're looking at security,' says England's chef de missionOne person has been killed and 12 hurt in a fire at an athletes' village being built for the 2010 Commonwealth Games in Delhi, according to reports.The fire apparently broke out in the residential quarters of on-site construction workers and comes two weeks after a rugby stadium being built also caught fire.The authorities are under pressure to finish work on venues amid criticism they are behind schedule with the Games scheduled to take place from 3-14 October.Reports claim the blaze, which was at the village near Akshardham temple, broke out when some workers lit a fire to make tea. It apparently then spread quickly because of the foam used to insulate the roofs of the workers' quarters.The incident comes less than a fortnight after Commonwealth Games England revealed it will make a final decision on the nation's participation at the 2010 Games, although at the time it insisted it had no major security concerns over the Delhi event.A report had quoted a senior Whitehall source saying there was "virtually no chance" an England team would be sent to India. But while admitting security was of paramount concern, England's chef de mission Craig Hunter was optimistic the event will be a success."Obviously we've been looking at security as one of the most important factors in determining whether the team will participate next October," he said.The fatal attack on the Togo football team bus on Friday has brought the subject of security to the fore. The armed attack led to three deaths and the Togo squad at the Africa Cup of Nations, captained by the Manchester City striker Emmanuel Adebayor, left Angola yesterday evening to return home.Concerns over security at the Commonwealth Games have already been aired in Australia although New Zealand today claimed they had been given assurances over safety and were planning to participate.Commonwealth Games 2010Athleticsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
PCB 'highly disappointed' over IPL snub • All Pakistani players unsold in Indian Premier League auction• PCB chairman: 'To be excluded without any reason is unfair'The Pakistan Cricket Board has reacted with fury and disappointment after all of its players were left unsold in the Indian Premier League auction.Pakistan's Twenty20 captain, Shahid Afridi, headed a well-decorated group of 11 Pakistan players who made the final list for the auction in Mumbai yesterday, but none of them were bought.Afridi's agent yesterday claimed that franchises had been advised not to bid for Pakistan players, while also criticising the Indian government's stance on working visas.Now PCB chairman Ijaz Butt has had his say. "We are highly disappointed because we were hoping they would play."The IPL had given us the mandate to get permission from our foreign office, to obtain other clearances and to finalise visas. We did all this, but it is a surprise that none of them have been taken at the auction."We have been trying to get in touch with the concerned authorities but to no avail. I have asked the sports minister [Ijaz Jakhrani] to speak to his counterpart in India about this."Butt said he was aggrieved by the manner in which his players were treated."I agree this is a private event, but to be excluded without giving any reason and without looking at the background is unfair," he said. "If they had told us we would have told the boys not to apply at all."Pakistan's players were not allowed to travel to India for the last edition of the IPL because of the Mumbai terror attacks and, although the tournament was moved to South Africa, they were still barred from participating. Before the start of the second edition of the tournament last year, franchises who had Pakistan players in their squads were advised to either terminate their contracts or suspend them.But contracts for all players were terminated in December last year when IPL chairman Lalit Modi revealed the players had failed to meet a deadline to submit clearances.Royal Challengers Bangalore owner Dr Vijay Mallya, who bought England's Eoin Morgan at the auction, indicated that Pakistan's players would not be missed."I don't think so at all, they were not there last year in South Africa," he said. "This auction was more to get in replacements, fill in for players who are unavailable or to get in players whose contracts were bought out."We had limited budgets, but more importantly limited slots in the team. I needed a particular skill set and we bid for a player for what we, as a team, determined would fill our need."IPLCricketguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
West Ham fans should brace themselves for sexy football THANK YOU, Santa. On Christmas Eve I hunkered down beside my bed and asked Father Christmas, please, could he fix it to ensure that West Ham United were bought out by a consortium consisting entirely of bankrupts, lunatics and half-wits. “And if you can’t manage that, Santa, then how about Sullivan, Gold and Brady?” You see, the power of prayer should not be underestimated; it worked a couple of years back too, when they signed Kieron Dyer for about a billion quid. feeds.timesonline.co.uk |