One-day cricket losing out to Twenty20: Hayden

Published>Sun, Jun 13 10 01:52 PM

Sydney, June 12(ANI): Former Australian batsman and Cricket Australia executive Matthew Hayden has said that Twenty20 cricket has emerged as one of the biggest threats to the legacy of one-day cricket.

Hayden also said that officials must work out proper schedules for the progression of the format with the 2011 World Cup.

"With one-day cricket, people say they still love it, but it doesn't have the excitement it used to, certainly not compared to T20. We have to work out when and how we play one-day cricket," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Hayden, as saying.

"It's a pathway to the World Cup, which is still a valuable property, but it has to be programmed in a way that makes sense," he added.

He further said cricket's "iconic brands" -the Ashes, 50-over World Cup and T20 World Cup- need to take precedence for boost in popularity of the game.

"Greater minds than mine will act on this, but these things must be considered when discussing the game's future," Hayden said.

"The way cricket is played and viewed has changed and now we need to streamline what's important and what's not. It brings great challenges. I think CA understands that. They know change is coming and needs to be embraced," he added. (ANI)

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Gabriel's gift to God

Published>Sun, Jun 13 10 01:48 PM

Johannesburg, June 13 -- Unlike Soccer City, Ellis Park wore blue and white with streaks of green and dabs of yellow. Argentina flags were strung all around the rectangular stadium with messages in Spanish, one of them thanking Dona and Tota for bringing Diego Maradona to this world. Nigeria had decibels behind them but sartorially speaking, this could have been the La Bombonera where Boca Juniors rule. And the way Argentina dazzled, it did look like they were playing at home. But for Vincent Enyema's hands and feet, it could have been a romp. The Nigeria goalkeeper, adjudged Man of the Match, put everything down to divine intervention. "He (god) is the secret of me staying calm," said the Hapoel Tel-Aviv shot stopper, who said this was his best show because it came against the "best player in the world now." And, boy, didn't he have a ball! At Friday's media conference in Pretoria, Maradona had said he was confident Lionel Messi would have a great World Cup. If this Saturday evening show is any indication, he surely will. Messi got involved early when skipper Javier Mascheranho found him, dinking and finding Carlos Tevez who lost control. Chinedu Obasi replied, going past Jonas Gutierrez before driving wide but for most of the match, it was Argentina all the way. Messi advanced into the box making the most of Nigeria's wariness in tackling him and conceding a free-kick or worse and squared to Gonzalo Higuain who missed from close. Another left-footer from Messi saw Enyema bringing off the first of his numerous saves. Like a bouncing ball, Messi was up on his feet, and through right, left and centre, he threatened all the time. Gabriel Heinze's powerful header, off a well-worked set-piece executed to perfection, put Argentina ahead. Juan Sebastian Veron put the corner-kick in the right place and the Manchester United defender headed into the top corner.

"We had seven opportunities today. We can't afford to miss so many. Everything happens at F1 speed in a World Cup and we must be careful. But I'm happy we won. The more we win, the hungrier players get. That's what happened in 1986," said coach Maradona.

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Azhar backs out of BAI election

Published>Sun, Jun 13 10 01:22 PM

Chennai, June 13 (ANI): Former Indian cricket skipper Mohammad Azharuddin has backed out from the election for the president of the Badminton Association of India (BAI).

V K Verma, the present badminton chief has been re-elected as its president.

The Sports Ministry had appointed an observer for the BAI elections in Chennai and asked its chief Verma to comply with the government guidelines if the national federation is to retain its recognition.

Earlier, the former cricketer's bid to unseat Verma received a setback after an Andhra Pradesh court refused to the elections. (ANI)

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Asian Cup prep for Indian squad via WC

Published>Sun, Jun 13 10 01:16 PM

Kolkata, June 13 -- While millions of Indians pamper themselves with top-quality football at the greatest show on earth, a motley bunch of gentlemen will be cooped up in their rooms, keeping track of the moves and grooves of two teams in particular - Australia and South Korea. The two powerhouses have been drawn in the same group as India in the forthcoming Asian Cup to be hosted by Qatar early next year. Bahrain makes up the quartet in Group C, throwing India into a potential 'Group of Death' in their first continental appearance in 27 years. "No doubt, we will be keeping an eye on how Australia and South Korea go about their game," said defender Mahesh Gawli. "Personally I would want to get familiar with their team formations and counter-attacking styles so that we can be on the guard." India's No. 3 goalkeeper, Arindam Bhattacharya, will follow the likes of Brazilian custodian Julio Cesar to improve his skills. "We know players like Tim Cahill (Australia) and the 'three-lunged' Park Ji-sung (South Korea) will come hard at us, so it's best to concentrate on myself," the 22-year-old said. Midfield mainstay NP Pradeep sounded concerned about the Australians' physical dominance. "Australians come with a mentality of winning and they will never give you an inch," he said. "I hope we get enough inputs about them from this World Cup. Ultimately it depends on our coach and technical staff on how they rehearse us for Australia and South Korea."

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Capello refuses to blame Green for gifting shock equalizer to US

Published>Sun, Jun 13 10 01:09 PM

Rustenburg (South Africa), June 12(ANI): England manager Fabio Capello has refused to blame goalkeeper Robert Green for the horrendous mistake which cost the Three Lions victory in their opening World Cup game against underdogs USA.

Green fumbled US striker Clint Dempsey's shot into England's goal, allowing the Americans to equalise and manage to tie the Group C match 1-1.

"Sometimes keepers make mistakes, but that is football," News of The World quoted Capello, as saying.

"Yes, he made a mistake, but the second half he played very well," he added.

Capello further said that despite a negative result, he was satisfied with the performance of his players.

"We created a lot of chances to score goals and we played a good game. They scored one goal, but I was happy with the performance of the team and the next game will be better," Capello said.

"Only the result was not positive. Steven Gerrard and Frank Lampard in the middle played well, we had chances to score goals," he added.

Capello now has six days to rally his troops before England's second Group C clash against Algeria in Cape Town next Friday. (ANI)

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Free kicks and soccer sluts

Published>Sun, Jun 13 10 12:52 PM

India, June 12 -- Calling up an ex- who plays football and roots for Italy to get dope on 'soccer sluts' or SS (remember, you first heard the term here) is probably not a great idea. But assuming you benefit from a transcript of the conversation, I think it's a noble, selfless idea to share it with you. 3 pm on a weekday. I dial. Me: Hey, hi, what's happening? Listen, do you know any soccer sluts? He: Who? Hi... Whaaat? Slut? Where? Me: Not slut-slut, fool! Soccer slut, you know, the kind you hang with. What you play, you know? Football! Football sluts! He: Good lord, woman! Stop trying to be Shobhaa De. This why you called?! Yes. And here, I launched into a description of candidates I was looking for. Me: Don't you remember? Last World Cup, Defence Colony parking lot, hot little clueless chicks, chugging beer, stumbling out of 4S, hooting for the winning team, trying to get guys to notice them. You know any? The bait is bit. He: Aah, the straight hair and skinny jeans. No, I don't know any, but if you find some, give them my number. Next person tapped for my Pulitzer-winnable story: an amateur footballer who plays on weekends. This one says "I'll find 'these types'", (not daring to say SS aloud lest mammi's closeby) at farmhouses interspersed with the embassy crowd. I'm invited this Saturday to come and see 'these types' - with their toned muscles, sitting on the edge of big square lawns (that double up as a football field) rooting for sweaty players in local 5-a-side teams. Beer flows. Whistles and cat calls are ambient noise. Once the local match is over, the big screen TV comes on and the real games begin. Supriya Bhakt, 26, is a lawyer with a throaty laugh that she lets me hear when I run by her the term I plan to trademark and grow rich on. She gives me the term 'soccer skank' in return. Fact in a pun: Bhakt is an Arsenal devotee. On Facebook, she has a photo of shirtless men standing in a locker room posing for a Dolce and Gabbana underwear campaign - the Italian football team a.k.a. Beautiful Men. Bhakt's been into football - playing it too - since school. When she lived in London, she'd go see a game a month, and only sometimes pick a fight in a pub over some match result. If today a match starts at midnight, she'll stay up for it and might call in sick at work tomorrow. When I talk about the SS, she insists that "they're everywhere". There are more of them in the last 3-4 years than they used to be. Girls who want to learn about football to impress the boys and, um, take it from there. Bhakt has been asked at parties, by 20-year-olds, questions about football. What's a penalty shoot-out? Who are the guys in green? Of course, not all women who love the game have a drool-agenda. Some are less inquisitive, just more adulatory. Like this young thing who told Supriya, "Dude, you're so hot, and you watch football." I tread thin ice and ask her, very very casually, so are you a soccer slut? Aah, there's that throaty laugh again. Till next season - when we talk about hockey hores.

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Chandhok out of money?

Published>Sun, Jun 13 10 12:46 PM

Mumbai, June 12 -- India's Karun Chandhok may not have an F1 drive for too long if the buzz on the motorsports grapevine is to be believed. The latest bit from the speculation-rife world of speed suggests that the Indian's funds are drying up from lack of sponsor support. It has been reliably learnt that HRT team principal Colin Kolles has been making enquiries to find a driver that can bring in the sponsorship required to keep the team going. Among the drivers that HRT is said to have contacted is also India's Narain Karthikeyan who, however, is tied down with NASCAR this season and is not free to drive in F1.

Chandhok has been quoted by the website autosport.com saying that he would love to drive for Vijay Mallya's Force India. He has also alluded to the absence of Indian corporate support by suggesting that companies are not sure as to whether to back the Indian driver or the so-called Indian team. The truth of that is open to debate but there does seem to be a bit of desperation creeping in. The Chandhok camp insists that there is no cause for worry and that a big public sector company is about to come on board as a sponsor. The driver is said to have a contract to bring onboard sponsorship in the vicinity of seven and a half million euros (approx Rs. 43 crore) in lieu of his drive.

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