Johnson ruled out of England series, Hazlewood replaces him

Published Thu, Jun 10 10 12:07 PM

Melbourne, June 10 (PTI) Australian paceman Mitchell Johnson was today ruled of the ODI series England due to an elbow infection and has been replaced by teen fast bowler Josh Hazlewood. "Mitchell had an infected right elbow during the ICC Twenty20 World Cup, which had resolved towards the end of the tournament. Since returning to Australia he has had a flareup of the condition and is currently being treated for it. "As part of the treatment he requires specialist medical management over the coming weeks and as such he''s been ruled out of the six ODIs against Ireland and England," Australia team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said. However, it is unclear if the tattoo Johnson got engraved on his elbow in the off season had anything to do with the infection. The Chairman of the National Selection Panel Andrew Hilditch said Hazlewood was a deserving candidate for the vacant place. "Josh Hazlewood has been identified as one of a crop of young fast bowlers who the NSP consider can impact for Australia at international level. Josh was recently part of the victorious Australia Under-19 ICC World Cup squad, has shown great promise in domestic cricket and is currently part of the AIS Scholarship Program at the Cricket Australia Centre Of Excellence in Brisbane," he said. If the 19-year-old Hazelwood makes his debut he will become youngest player ever to play for Australia in ODIs. Ray Bright and Craig McDermott also made their debuts at age of 19 for Ausralia but if Hazlewood gets an opportunity he will be the youngest of all. Australia are due to play one ODI against Ireland in Dublin on June 17 and five ODIs against England in England from June 22 until July 3. There are then two Twenty20 internationals and two Test matches against Pakistan in England to finish the tour. PTI Corr AT

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Factbox: World Cup by numbers

Published>Thu, Jun 10 10 11:51 AM

What did it cost the government of South Africa to host the FIFA World Cup?

Below are details of how much the government has spent preparing for the month-long tournament which starts on Friday and the impact this has had on the economy.

ECONOMIC GROWTH BOOST

The government has said the World Cup should add about 0.5 percent to GDP this year.

Analysts are not so optimistic. Forecasts in a Reuters poll in May ranged from 0.1 to 0.7 percent, with a median of 0.3.

The Treasury has said growth this year will likely be above the 2.3 percent it forecast in February and closer to 3 percent after last year's 1.8 percent contraction.

The tourism sector is expected to enjoy a boost from the tournament for years to come. During the rugby World Cup in 1995 tourism numbers shot up 60 percent, increasing by 13 and 7 percent respectively in the following two years.

GOVERNMENT SPENDING FOR EVENT

The government has spent about 40 billion rand ($5.17 billion) since 2006/07 on World Cup-related projects, with 11.7 billion going toward revamping of stadiums and 13.2 billion on transport infrastructure.

The funds came from the national budget and helped to push the fiscal deficit in 2009/10 to 6.7 percent of GDP.

General government borrowing increased to 184.3 billion rand in 2009/10 from 40.2 billion in 2008/09.

The Treasury's expenditure excluded money spent sprucing up airports. Airport Company South Africa has spent about 17 billion rand since 2006 upgrading airports in Cape Town and Johannesburg and building a new one in Durban.

The spending also does not include the 25 billion rand spent on building the country's Gautrain rapid rail network which will link the airport to Johannesburg and its financial hub Sandton and later Johannesburg and the capital Pretoria.

MARKET IMPACT

Increased foreign exchange flows are seen supporting the rand but only slightly.

The tournament comes as international markets are jittery due to European debt problems so any boost from increased foreign exchange earnings will be overshadowed by worries about the global economic recovery.

On the local bourse, wine, spirits and beer companies such as Distel and SABMiller outperformed the All-share index over the past year partly in anticipation of a World Cup boost.

Imperial, which has a car rental business, has seen its price go up by 60.5 percent in that period.

TOURIST NUMBERS, SPEND

South Africa expects about 370,000 foreign visitors during the event, lower than initial estimates of 450,000.

Visitors should spend about 8.8 billion rand during the tournament and -- together with spending by soccer's world governing body FIFA, other officials and teams -- the economy will receive a 13 billion rand cash injection, accounting firm Grant Thornton wrote in a study.

JOB CREATION

Construction ahead of the tournament created thousands of jobs, most of which disappeared as the preparations wound up. Employment in the sector fell 9.3 percent to 1.085 million in the first quarter of 2010, compared with the same period last year.

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Cashiered by PCB, Mohsin get job with Australia A team

Published Thu, Jun 10 10 11:21 AM

Karachi, June 10 (PTI) Mohsin Sheikh, a PCB discard, has been appointed as assistant coach of the Australia A team for their upcoming home series against Sri Lanka. Sheikh, who will assist former Australian captain Greg Chappell, was sacked by the previous PCB management as coach of the National Cricket Academy. Sheikh an Australian born coach was brought in by former PCB chief operating officer Salim Altaf to work at the academy with under-19 players. However, after having his salary reduced and his powers reduced, he preferred to leave and was subsequently also sacked by the board. "Sheikh ended up first working as an analyst for the Rajasthan Royals team in the IPL and is now working as assistant coach to Chappell," one source said. Sheikh told the ''Dawn'' newspaper that he was excited at the prospects of working with a great like Chappell. "It is also a great honor for Pakistan for me to be selected for this job because the world over teams are hiring coaches from Australia," he said.

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I can't follow everyone's advice, says Ishant

Published>Thu, Jun 10 10 11:17 AM

Mumbai, June 10 -- Ishant Sharma burst onto the scene and famously gave nightmares to the likes of Ricky Ponting with his brisk bowling. Those days have now passed but in his act of resurrection, he is not looking beyond himself. When the fast bowler lost his touch, the advice started pouring in from various corners. Every former fast bowler had something to tell the lanky Delhi bowler. But the 21-year-old seems to have figured out how to avoid getting confused with the overdose of advice. "I think I have worked under so many coaches, but I can't follow everyone's advice. I have to choose whatever I think is essential for my bowling," Ishant said at a promotional event here on Wednesday. Citing an instance, Ishant spelt out how Wasim Akram, who worked with Ishant's IPL franchise, Kolkata Knight Riders, as bowling consultant for IPL-III earlier this year. "He told me to how to bowl outswingers. I had never bowled an outswinger in my life till he told me how to bowl it. He never told me things that he never did in his life. He always wanted me to be a good thinking fast bowler."

But having lost out on his rhythm and place in India's side for the shorter versions, Ishant admitted this was one of "the most difficult phases" of his career thus far. "But it is important to rise from it," he said. "I have senior players like Virubhai (Sehwag) and Yuvi (Yuvraj) who keep on telling me that I have the potential but I have to push myself when it comes to training and self-motivation."

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Butt sidelines Bari, nominates Zakir Khan for ICC meet

Published Thu, Jun 10 10 10:51 AM

Karachi, June 10 (PTI) Suspecting his role in the recent leak of the probe Committee''s video recordings, PCB Chairman Izaj Butt has started sidelining Chief Operating Officer Wasim Bari and has nominated Zakir Khan to attend ICC Chief Executive Committee meeting. Bari has represented Pakistan in the committee meetings in the last one year. "Till recently Bari was Butt''s most trusted man and in a matter of days he has been stripped of powers. Butt has conveyed his mood to Bari by nominating Zakir Khan, head of international cricket affairs, to attend the ICC chief executive''s meeting due soon," one source said. "Recently Butt also stripped Bari of the powers to head the HR department which is a clear indication life ahead for Bari in the board is going to be tough," the source added. Also in the firing line is coach Waqar Younis, who has been conveyed that he should not question the Board''s decisions. Waqar recently made his displeasure at the appointment of Aaqib Javed as assistant coach and also questioned wisdom of announcing 35 probables for the Asia Cup and tour to England. On Wednesday during a media conference, when asked about his views on Aaqib''s appointment, Waqar was more diplomatic. "We are both professionals and we have been friends. He has his job to do and I have mine. There are always minor differences that happens but both of us are working in one direction," the former Pakistan captain said. The source said that Waqar had been told to focus on his job and not give unnecessary statements to the media. Recently Butt did try to downplay any problems with Waqar. "I hope Younis would serve for a long time. As long as the team gives the desired results under his supervision, he''ll remain the coach of Pakistan," Butt said. Sources said that Butt was virtually running the board like a king and listened to no one''s advise except his close friend Yawar Saeed, the manager of the national team. The majority of the board staff was unhappy and uneasy working under Butt but because of their jobs preferred to keep quiet and pray for a change of guard soon.

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Lakers spoil Celtics' party

Published>Thu, Jun 10 10 10:21 AM

Boston, June 10 -- A capacity crown of over 18,000 packed the impressive TD Garden arena for Game 3 of the 2010 NBA Finals, and local Boston crowd painted the stadium and the streets Celtics green. The crowd started to build up almost two hours before tip-off to take in the atmosphere, and it was nothing short of electric. Aided by audio-visuals on the jumbotron, the giant screen suspended from the roof of the arena, the Celtics dancers and mascot Lucky the Leprechaun drummed up a frenzy, and set the stage for a huge game for both teams. With the series tied at 1-1 Tuesday was always going to be big. The two big men, Kendrick Perkins for Boston and Andrew Bynum for the Lakers, faced each other in the centre circle, and when Perkins tipped the ball to Kevin Garnett, the crowd roared. The Celtics came off the blocks strong and went on a 6-0 run inside the first two minutes. Garnett nailed his first three field goals, and things looked ominous for the visitors. At 12-5 in the first quarter, Lakers coach Phil Jackson called a timeout that was to prove crucial in the larger scheme of things. At seven points up, the Celtics held the largest lead they would have through the game. and the last time they looked like they could even match a Lakers side that was playing with a lot more fire. Perkins' two turn-overs allowed the Lakers back into the game and with Kobe Bryant playing explosively, aided by Lamar Odom, who came off the bench to add 6 points and 3 rebounds, the Lakers clawed back the seven-point lead and ended the first period nine points up at 26-17. From there on, the away side held on to the lead for the rest of the game despite everything Doc Rivers threw at them.

It was a bad time for Allen to put in a career-worst effort, and that, coupled with Paul Pierce and Kedrick Perkins being largely ineffective, meant the Celtics will have to travel back to LA if they want to win this Championship. The Celtics started the last period 6 points off, and Glen Davis came on all fired up to put them within one point. And then there was Derek Fisher. Four-time champion Fisher put in 11 points in the fourth quarter, including the nail in the Celtics' coffin. Game 4 is in Boston on Thursday, and the home side need to win to have any chance of taking the Championship.

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Injuries shouldn't worry the Germans

Published>Thu, Jun 10 10 10:17 AM

India, June 10 -- I think this World Cup will be one of the most exciting ever. For the first time it is being staged in Africa, and I feel that although South Africa may be the weakest team there is enough quality in the other five African sides to see one reach the semis. South Africa will add colour, excitement and passion. The loss of captain Michael Ballack was a blow for Germany because he is a huge personality in the team. In Philipp Lahm we have another leader who has excellent communication skills that will be important, and he is also highly respected by the other players. It is often the case that when an important player is missing others step up and fill the space, and I expect this to happen in South Africa. Michael will be missed but the team will come closer and remain strong. The loss of other players is less important to the team with Neuer, for example, an adequate replacement for goalkeeper Adler.

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Benitez poised to become Inter Milan coach

Published Thu, Jun 10 10 10:07 AM

European champions Inter Milan are poised to appoint former Liverpool boss Rafael Benitez as coach after the departure of Jose Mourinho for Real Madrid, Inter president Massimo Moratti said on Tuesday.

"We have found an agreement, we have defined the last details which were not important. Tomorrow we will say when Rafael Benitez will be presented," Moratti told reporters on Tuesday.

"We just need a second signature and it is done," he said, without giving further details.

The Spaniard, who left Liverpool after six years on Thursday following a disappointing campaign, will have the difficult task of matching last season's stunning treble of Champions League, Serie A and Italian Cup success under Mourinho.

Real appointed Mourinho as their new coach last month after agreeing a compensation deal with Inter.

Inter have acted quickly to tie up Benitez, who won the Champions League with Liverpool in 2005 and reached the final two years later having previously also had success with Valencia.

Moratti first targeted England boss Fabio Capello but when the Italian decided to stay until Euro 2012, attention turned to Benitez when he left Liverpool.

Benitez's departure from Anfield came as little surprise after they finished seventh in the Premier League in the season just ended, their lowest position since 1999.

Their failure to advance from the group stages of the Champions League last season and their failure to even qualify for the Champions League next season were ultimately two failures too many for the Liverpool board to accept.

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French fear first-round failure but dream of final

Published>Thu, Jun 10 10 08:45 AM

World beaters or first-round flops? France have been at both ends of the tournament spectrum in recent years and go into Friday's Group A opener against Uruguay with fans still unsure which is this year's likely path.

Followers of the French national team have long given up trying to predict how they will fare having seen them gravitate wildly and though the players are sounding upbeat, there is an underlying nervousness about their Cape Town opener.

After lifting the trophy in 1998 and following up with the European Championship two years later, they suffered ignominious defeat by Senegal in their first match of the 2002 World Cup and went out in the group stage.

They bounced back to reach the World Cup final in 2006 but were abject in Euro 2008 where they managed just one point.

Having struggled to qualify for South Africa via a fortunate playoff win over Ireland France were then presented with what looked a favourable draw alongside Uruguay, South Africa and Mexico.

However, an unimpressive warm-up campaign culminating in a 1-0 defeat by China, combined with signs of upward development from their three rivals, has left the country torn about the team's prospects.

"The good thing in a way is that we are used to doing it the hard way because that's what we did in qualifying," said midfielder Jeremy Toulalan. "We know it will not be easy but we're used to that and ready for it."

Coach Raymond Domenech, who has long laboured under a cloud of fan and media doubt, has sprung something of a surprise for his farewell party by introducing an attacking 4-3-3 system in recent games.

While the new approach has succeeded in shaking off some of his side's reputation for dull play it has also exposed them defensively.

It hardly seems the ideal time to start experimenting and Domenech, with little time to hone the new tactics, picked the same outfield starters in all three friendlies in an effort to speed up the process.

The three front runners are effectively two wingers and a striker - with Nicolas Anelka being preferred to Thierry Henry - but even the players seem unconvinced.

"We can't really say we have improved during the warm-up games," said midfielder Alou Diarra. "We still need time to adapt and don't have much left."

While France can afford to leave captain and former talisman Henry on the bench, Uruguay's hopes sit squarely on the shoulders of their key front man Diego Forlan.

Fresh from another free-scoring season in Spain, where his goals won the Europa League for Atletico Madrid, Forlan has developed into a world-class striker and declared himself fully fit after bruising his thigh earlier in the week in a training collision.

Team confidence has lifted on the back of impressive warm-up wins over Switzerland and Israel and team spokesman Matias Faral said on Wednesday that their training in Kimberly had gone well.

"Everything is good, no injuries, and everything is ok with Forlan," he said.

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