Michael Vaughan, the England captain, might resort to using an oxygen chamber in a bid to hasten his recovery from a broken finger.Vaughan fractured his right middle finger when he was struck by a lifter from Stuart Clark in Yorkshire’s Championship match against Hampshire at The Rose Bowl last Thursday, almost certainly ruling him out of the first Test against the West Indies in two weeks. Early reports from the England management also suggested that he might miss the second Test at Headingley, too.But Scott McAllister, the Yorkshire physio, isn’t ruling out using the oxygen chamber. “It is just one of the options being considered,” he told the , “but it may or may not be beneficial in Michael’s case. “We’re icing the finger to keep swelling to a minimum and concentrating on making sure it is immobile at all times.”Hyperbaric oxygen therapy is a technique in which patients are exposed to 100% pure oxygen, promoting the formation of new capillaries surrounding the wounds and thus helping to hasten the recovery. It has been used by Wayne Rooney, the England footballer, and Simon Jones, the England fast bowler.”That combination of regular icing and immobility could well be the best route to follow but we’re keeping an open mind right now,” McAllister added. Should Vaughan not be fit in time for the first Test, which gets underway at Lord’s on May 17, it seems likely Andrew Strauss will replace him at the helm. And Strauss, who led England to a 3-0 win over Pakistan last summer, has received support from Darren Gough.”Without a doubt Strauss [should be captain], as he’s done it before and knows what it’s all about,” Gough told BBC Radio Five Live. “Unfortunately Flintoff got done for going out and having a drink but that should not stop him being captain of England. But I think they will go for Strauss.”
India lately has been hoping for Virender Sehwag to come good. There have been endless public assurances and even bouts of captaincy for good measure. It hasn’t worked. Jamshedpur only added to the unease.India might not fret a great deal about the loss in the sixth one-dayer. Heat was terrible and there were far too many replacements, including a new set of medium-pacers. But it needs a reassurance on its top order. India is not willing to let go on Sehwag or Mohammad Kaif, or for that matter Sachin Tendulkar. But time is running out.Ideally, all of India would love to have these men in the 2007 World Cup. But it also needs time to think of alternatives. Between now and the Caribbean Carnival, a new player could at the most have 15 one-day internationals. If India must change horses in the midstream, the time to do it is now. That Sehwag has been affected is there for all to see. His initial bravado has given way to skepticism. Sehwag in repose at the crease has resembled a cat ready to pounce on anything which comes his way. A cobra in coil, a panther on haunches, a falcon in that strategic patrolling of the sky. He is a quintessential four-man; always visualizing the shortest and swiftest passage of the ball to the boundary. Not at the moment though. Bowlers now are teasing him outside the off-stump and he is curbing himself. He has put his instincts on hold which is a dangerous ploy for those who are nature’s product. He has even begun to weigh the virtue of pull shot these days. Sehwag is not the kind of batsman who can get away by restructuring his batting.Mohammad Kaif’s case is equally a study in regret. He has been dealt harshly by fate: his 90s and 50s have usually resulted in his omission in the next game while for others it generally is a license for the next dozen games. Now when a string of failures have come, Kaif is leaning not so much on his reputation as on goodwill. Not long ago, he was one safe pair of legs in a bunch of no-gooders. Now even he doesn’t stand out among Generation Next of Indian cricket. Kaif of today will increasingly have to lean on his batting to firm up his base. Mere fielding will not do.One guesses there are still three games for these men to sort themselves out. It isn’t the case of loss of ability; but a snapping up of confidence. They are lucky that India is winning otherwise they would have been still more untenable. One senses that India would still have decided on the two by the end of Abu Dhabi gamesAmong the youngsters, Ramesh Pawar has steadily gained in impression. In Jamshedpur, he stuck it out with bat. He has the sort of frame which would be ridiculed in modern era. One is now used to seeing a lot of fitter, stronger and mobile cricketers on the field. He is a complete antithesis of it and sooner or later the cry on his frame would only get shrill. For the moment though, he is allowing India to play with five bowlers. Pawar’s presence has also galvanized Harbhajan Singh, who has by far been the best bowler on either side in the one-day series. Against better players of spin than England, it would be tricky for India to choose between the two of them.England, on their part, would be happy for the form of James Anderson who has been one spirited presence since the Mumbai Test. Andrew Flintoff now probably can choose to stay in the hut in Indore as well. Andrew Strauss too could smile as there wasn’t an Irfan Pathan to keep him in torment. Ian Bell didn’t have to bat out of his skin because of the low target and it suited England fine. By the evidence of this game, it seems okay that these three Indian medium-pacers are not the first choice of the team management.Finally, it is nigh difficult to believe that any cricketer would be keen for competitive cricket in weather as severe as the one in Jamshedpur. Mercury is rising in India and it’s time to lay down the arms.
Surrey’s ignominious performance in the field against Nottinghamshire has been exacerbated by the news that they have been given a five-run penalty for ball-tampering, after an incident that came to light after the first day’s play at The Oval.The match umpires, Mervyn Kitchen and Nigel Llong, revealed that they had taken the overnight decision because of alterations to the condition of the ball. No single player could be singled out, they stressed to reporters at the match, although the pair added that Mark Ramprakash, Surrey’s captain, had been warned after 35 overs after it was spotted that the quarter-seam had been lifted.Llong checked the ball again with five overs of the day remaining and found no further evidence, but when he discovered at the close of play that the condition had altered once again, he reported the matter to the England & Wales Cricket Board. The old ball is now in the possession of the ECB, and Nottinghamshire’s batsmen were permitted to chose a new one for the resumption of play. They chose wisely as well, as Stephen Fleming hurtled to a magnificent double-century against a demoralised attack.Alan Butcher, Surrey’s stand-in coach, told the Press Association: “Further to the umpires’ ruling and the alteration of the condition of the ball we will co-operate with any inquiry by the ECB. We are conscious of the need to uphold both the spirit and the letter of the laws of cricket.” Nottinghamshire’s coach, Mick Newell, added: “I thought the umpires got it about right.”
Ngconde Balfour, South Africa’s sports minister, will meet the leaders of the country’s major sports federations at Johannesburg this week to discuss restructuring the way they operate.Talking to the media today, Balfour said the meeting would also focus on weakness in the administration and management of sport, and the value of a code of ethics. “We will look at the weaknesses in the federations, especially in the administration and in the structure of sport.”He picked out cricket and rugby as having particular problems. “There are problems … that are structural. I have met the administrators of both sports, and we are mapping the way forward.”Balfour also criticised the managements for not focusing on the performances on the field: “Some of them seem to have abandoned performances on the field of play in favour of boardroom squabbles, leaving the perception of structural weaknesses that impact specifically on team sport.”However, Balfour stressed that despite these problems, the country wasn’t on the brink of collapse. He decreed, “We have what it takes to be a winning sports nation, but a few things need to be fixed.”On a better note, he also announced that by the end of this financial year, the government would have spent R500-million on basic sports facilities in disadvantaged communities.
The pick of Somerset’s young cricketer’s have just resumed their regular Friday evening squad sessions at the Centre of Excellence at the County Ground in Taunton.Somerset Youth Development Officer Pete Sanderson told me: "Over the next few months all of the age group squads will be coming to Taunton every third week, between 6.30 and 9.30 pm."He continued: "During the time that they are here the young players will be carrying out various activities across the five core areas of their training -technical, tactical, mental, physical and lifestyle."In all well over 120 players will be involved in the Friday night sessions which will also include specific sessions, including playing spin bowling which will be taken by the Cidermen’s 2003 skipper Mike Burns, a regular physical session taken by the club’sfintess intsructor Andy Hurry, and a session on nutrition that will be taken by the Head of Injury Prevention Darren Veness.The Youth Development Officer continued: "Below the squad sessions we are also resuming the district sessions across the county and these will be taking place at five different venuesat Wraxall, Wells, Langport, Writhlington and also here in Taunton, and any lads who do well at district level will be added to the county squads."He concluded: "There is a lot of junior cricket going on across the county and hopefully we will identify all of the promising young talent that there is in Somerset through these activities."
Mahanayake of the Asgiri Chapter, the Most Ven. Udugama Sri Ratnapala Buddharakkitha Thera, has criticised the commissioner of Buddhist affairs for creating a storm over the lease of the land which is home to the Dambulla International cricket stadium.At a media briefing yesterday in Kandy, the Chief Priest said the right protocols were followed in the lease of the land to build the stadium.It was upon the recommendations of the commissioner of Buddhist affairs, who declared the leasing could not be approved, that the interim committee of the board of control for cricket in Sri Lanka decided to shift the matches in the triangular series involving New Zealand and India away from Dambulla.The Ven. Inamaluwe Sri Sumangala Thero, with whom the ousted executivecommittee negotiated the leasing of the stadium also blamed theauthorities. Sumangala Thero, speaking at the briefing, said that all the higher authorities in the country, including the president, Her Excellency Chandrika Kuamarathunaga, then minister of Sports S.B. Dissanayake, and Buddhist affairs minister Lakshman Jayakody were made aware of the matters pertaining to the lease of the land and the construction of the stadium.The confusion has arisen because the Buddhist commissioner, who has createdthe controversy by saying the leasing couldn’t be approved, had written tothe then president of the BCCSL asking to finalise the matters pertaining tothe leasing of the land with the Mahanayake of the Asgiri Chapter.At the moment Sri Lanka is hosting a four-day game against Pakistan A atDambulla which was built at an estimated cost of close to 400 million rupeesin 175 days. But the three matches of the one-day triangular tournament have been taken away from the ground because of legal matters pertaining to the lease of the stadium.What the Buddhist monks argue is that everything was carried out with the blessing of the higher officials. They say the agreement was signed in front of a large number of people and published in the media the very next day. They say there was nothing secret about it and that it is ridiculous to question matters pertaining to the leasing after everything is over.The move to shift the games from Dambulla could have its consequences;the matches are being played during a season when it usually rains in mostpart of the country and Dambulla being a dry zone can host the games withoutmuch trouble. Removing the games from Dambulla could lead to more games being washed out.Close to 70% of Sri Lankans are Buddhists and the Asgiriya chapter earns the utmost respect of the Buddhists in Sri Lanka. When the Mahanayake has declared right measures were followed in leasing the land, if the authorities are going to stick to the recent decisions they have taken after being quiet for so long, that is not going to stand in their favour.
England are “very likely” to take up an offer from Allen Stanford to play a multi-million dollar Twenty20 match during the tour of West Indies next year according to Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman.Clarke met with Stanford at Lord’s on Tuesday to discuss possible joint ventures which could include Stanford having a role in any future English Premier League plus the match next year, which could be worth as much as $20million, against an All-stars West Indies XI.”We did see Sir Allen – a date has not been fixed for when anything will be played, or what format it will take this year or going forward into the future,” Clarke told BBC Radio Four’s Today programme. “I think that match is very likely to take place. Sir Allen is doing a huge amount for cricket in the West Indies and we are keen to help things develop there.”With no window in the current international schedule to allow England’s centrally contracted players to compete in the Indian Premier League (IPL) the ECB is eager to appease players who are keen to cash in on lucrative Twenty20 tournaments.Clarke added: “Of course we are also keen to give our players the chance to make a significant amount of money and these types of games can be tremendously dramatic. We are extremely interested in his ideas but there is a long way to go.”We need to confirm a lot of things with our friends in the West Indies. There is not a specific date at this moment of time and no specific structure at this time.”Clarke also admitted that the ECB are still formulating plans for an English Premier League. “I think what the IPL will achieve is remarkable given the time and speed with which it has been put together. We are spending a lot of time looking at creating a robust, sustainable and economically viable league that still protects our core revenues of Test cricket.”Stanford has previously tried to invite South Africa for a winner-takes-all match but it fell through after a clash with the West Indies board. Last year Stanford also offered to bring the World Twenty20 winners, India, to the Caribbean but the BCCI wasn’t keen on taking part in an unofficial event.
The John Terry race row shows no sign of ending anytime soon as the FA have demanded that SKY hand over unseen footage of the incident in last Sunday’s game. The FA has also called on both Anton Ferdinand and John Terry to reveal their version of events before delivering their verdict.
Elsewhere in the news Kenny Dalglish calls Luis Suarez a real ambassador for Liverpool; Emmanuel Adebayor reveals he has no regrets, while Mancini welcomes criticism from Mark Hughes.
Villas-Boas an unmovable rock for Terry –Guardian
Suárez an ambassador for club, says Dalglish – Guardian
Sky hand unseen footage of Terry and Ferdinand clash to FA – Daily Mail
Chelsea ‘want Cavani as their new Drogba’ (with video) – Mirror
Heurelho tells ’Arry: Let me Go home! – Sun
Dzudovic urges Rooney leniency – Guardian
Bramble charged with sex assault – Daily Telegraph
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Warnock has talent to take on England job, says Redknapp – Independent
Arsenal ramp up interest in Fiorentina’s £20m Jovetic – Daily Mail
Everton manager David Moyes has urged his side to remain focused ahead of their FA Cup fifth-round clash with Reading on Tuesday.After a thrilling penalty shoot-out win over Chelsea at Stamford Bridge in a fourth-round replay, there is a danger Moyes’ men may feel a bit of a letdown coming up against Championship opposition.But with Brian McDermott’s side having already accounted for English Premier League opponents West Brom in the third round and knocking out Liverpool in last season’s competition, Moyes has urged his troops to be on their game on Tuesday.”It’s the FA Cup, you never know what is going to happen. Throughout the years, there’s always been results that you didn’t expect,” the Scot said. “We’ve got to make sure that this is one that we do expect in trying to get Everton through.” “I think Brian McDermott has done a great job down there with his team. He’s steadied Reading and it wasn’t too long ago that they were a Premier League team so we’ve got to be wary of that and mindful. They’ve had some good results themselves.” Everton have endured a difficult league campaign and are in 10th place in the table – just five points clear of the relegation zone – and Moyes feels they have played without luck for much of the season.”I think we’ve played well all season without getting the results,” he said.”It’s beginning to look as if we can score a few goals which early on wasn’t the case.””We beat Blackpool and scored a few against Blackpool. We had a bad day at Bolton, but we’ve been to Chelsea and sorted it out. And we’ve won against Sunderland, so I’m hoping that we’re beginning to find a bit more consistency.”
Tottenham are still interested in signing Brazilian striker Leandro Damiao after failing to prise him away from Internacional in the summer, the Metro understands.
Boss Harry Redknapp was keen to bring the 22-year-old to White Hart Lane during the transfer window as he sought to strengthen his attacking options.
He has since signed Emmanuel Adebayor on loan from Manchester City but still has a spot open in his squad for a striker after letting Peter Crouch move to Stoke and Robbie Keane leave for LA Galaxy of the MLS.
Damiao was the subject of a £15 million move by Spurs during the summer, but the North London side aren’t prepared to pay anywhere near that amount when the window re-opens at the start of 2012.
They hope that a package made up of a significantly lower fee and a number of incentive-based payments will be enough to tempt Internacional into selling the striker.
However, their has also been protracted interest from Barcelona and Spurs could have a huge battle on their hands if the La Liga giants decide to enter the race for Damiao’s signature.
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Bids from both clubs will hinge on whether the South American club lower their demands for Damiao, with their current price tag considered too steep by both Redknapp and Nou Camp boss Pep Guardiola.