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Frustrated Lara lays down the law to Bravo
By Fazeer Mohammed
BRISBANE, Australia, (CMC) – He may be hailed as the first genuine all-rounder to emerge from the West Indies for almost 30 years, but Dwayne Bravo is paying the price for neglecting the strongest aspect of his game, at least in his captain’s eyes.
“I would like to state that he is a batting all-rounder, not a bowling
all-rounder,” said West Indies captain Brian Lara emphatically in the
wake of the Caribbean side’s six-wicket defeat to Pakistan in their second match of the VB Series on Wednesday at The Gabba.
Anticipating questions from the media over the omission of the talented 20-year-old, Lara elaborated: “He is not helping us with the bat at all He’s got to work in the nets as much as possible and he’s got to understand that he’s got to make a contribution with the bat. If you look back in the matches that we’ve played on this tour so far, he wasn’t able to get
among the runs.
“We need guys to understand that even though they’re coming in at seven or eight (in the batting order) they have to contribute with the bat,” a clearly peeved Lara added.
“Consideration (for the next match) will be given to him as well because he’s bowled well and also he’s a decent fielder, but we must get guys
understanding -- like Marlon Samuels and Bravo -- that when it gets down to them, we need to get runs as well.”
Having made his international debut in the one-day series against England in the Caribbean last year, Bravo enhanced his reputation as a quality all-round cricketer despite the West Indies being whitewashed in the subsequent return four-Test series in England.
His tally of 16 wickets included a six-wicket second innings haul in the Third Test in Manchester while he scored half-centuries in the last two mTests of the series.
These encouraging returns were complemented by sharp, aggressive
out-cricket, but clearly in the mind of his captain and fellow-Trinidadian, he is not working hard enough at his game.
Lara also found himself on the defensive facing the Australian media
After the loss to Pakistan, qualifying his criticism of the top-order batting by saying there was little he could do in his time at the crease.
“I got out with seven overs to go,” the West Indian captain said in responding to a question about the manner of his dismissal for a 30-ball 39.
“I was scoring in excess of a run-a-ball. I had to try to keep it up because I knew we were short of runs and had to try to get as many as
possible, knowing that we had batsmen and big-hitters still to come. With 42 balls left, you needed to get another 70-80 runs. I was only trying to
get on with it.”
Charging at medium-pacer Rana Naveed-ul-Hassan, Lara was cramped by a short-pitched delivery and lobbed a simple catch to backward-point.
Another 64 runs were added by Ramnaresh Sarwan and Shivnarine
Chanderpaul in the remaining deliveries, but a total of 273 for five on an excellent
Batting pitch was easily surpassed by Pakistan with three overs to spare.
The captain also hinted at yet another shuffling of what remains a less than menacing bowling attack.
“We need to look for the right combination,” he admitted, while adding that the loss of Gayle’s brisk off-spin because of a shoulder injury in
Melbourne last Friday was a significant blow.
“But today was not a bowler’s problem. We did not maximise the runs we should have gotten on such a surface in 50 overs.”
Yet amid the gloom, Lara promised a much-improved performance in the
day/night duel with Australia tomorrow (tonight Caribbean time) at The Gabba.
Without that improvement, any realistic hope of advancing to the
best-of-three finals could be gone within the next seven days.
Pakistan cruise to victory after Akmal’s 124
By Fazeer Mohammed
BRISBANE, Australia, (CMC) – Yet another aspect of the glaring inadequacies in West Indies cricket was cruelly exposed yesterday as
Pakistan made re1atively light work of a target of 274 runs at The Gabba,
cruising to a six-wicket victory with three overs to spare to leave the Caribbean side anchored at the bottom of the standings after two matches of the tri-nation VB Series.
Despite 82 from Chris Gayle and 76 by Ramnaresh Sarwan, skipper Brian Lara lamented the inability of his top order to make the most of an ideal batting pitch.
Their total of 273 for five, while a considerable improvement from being dismissed for 185 in their opening match against Australia in Melbourne
last Friday, was put in perspective by Kamran Akmal when Pakistan set about their target.
The little wicketkeeper-batsman registered his maiden One-Day
International century, a run-a-ball 124 that proved the foundation of his team’s
Pursuit of what could have been a challenging target, particularly as pacer Mervyn Dillon struck two early blows to give the West Indies the early advantage.
But with Shoaib Malik (60) joining Kamran in a 123-run third-wicket
partnership and captain Inzamam-ul-Haq ensuring there was to be no
catastrophic collapse with an unbeaten 62, the Pakistanis effectively
toyed with Lara’s array of ordinary back-up bowlers when the midweek crowd in excess of 10,000 was expecting a tense finish. With all three teams now having played two matches each, Australia sit
at the top of the table on 11 points, followed by Pakistan on six and the
West Indies on one, the point earned by virtue of at least preventing the
opposition from romping to an even swifter victory.
Coming less than 48 hours after this latest setback, the ICC Champions’ Trophy holders’ second encounter with Australia tomorrow (tonight Caribbean time) is now critical to the Caribbean side’s survival in the
tournament.With a greater appreciation now of the enormity of the task ahead of them, new head coach Bennett King and the rest of his technical staff face as much of a challenge in lifting the morale of the West Indian players as with attending to any technical details before this third fixture in front of a sold-out crowd of 34,000.
“A total of 273, with five wickets still in hand, was not the right sort of total on a track like that,” was Lara’s frank assessment of his team’s
batting performance.
“I think we were at least 30 to 40 runs short of where we should have been.There was a period in the middle overs where there were, consistently, Two to three dot balls every over against the bowling of (Shahid) Afridi
And (Mohammad) Hafeez.
“We talk about being a good chasing team, but the weakness we have is we don’t understand what is a winning total,” he added.
“The Pakistani batsmen showed what it was really like out there. Our
part-time bowlers went for a lot today.”
Hampered by the loss of fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar with a slight
Hamstring tear in just his third over, Inzamam was indebted to Afridi’s ten-over Spell of leg-spin which cost just 39 runs while the part-time off-spin of Hafeez cost 54 runs with the bonus of the wicket of Wavell Hinds (29) to end an opening partnership of 86 with Gayle.
In contrast, the trio of Marlon Samuels, Sarwan and Hinds were
plundered for a combined 128 runs in just 17 wicketless overs.
Like Dillon, Ian Bradshaw picked up two wickets but the pair, along with Pedro Collins, could not maintain a consistently disciplined line and length to build pressure on the batsmen.
After Hinds’ dismissal in the 19th over, Gayle and Sarwan added 63
runs in 15 overs – underlining Lara’s point about a critical failure to
accelerate – before the big opening batsman skied a catch to Malik at cover 18 runs short of a tenth ODI century.
Recognising the need to increase the scoring rate, Lara’s urgency
almost cost him his wicket via the run out route before he was undone by a short ball from medium-pacer Rana Naveed-ul-Hassan, lobbing a straightforward catch to backward point to depart for 39 off 30 deliveries.
In his first match since arriving in Australia just over a week earlier, Ricardo Powell was caught behind to the first legal delivery he faced, and although the ever-reliable Shivnarine Chanderpaul (25 not out) stayed
with Sarwan to add another 62 runs before Sarwan fell to the last ball of
the innings, the feeling even then in the West Indian camp was that they
had sold themselves short.
That discomfort was briefly eased when Dillon, making amends for poor
bowling in Melbourne where the West Indies lost badly last Friday,yorked Salman Butt and then had Hafeez caught by Gayle at first slip to reduce
Pakistan to 36 for two in the eighth over.But Malik’s aggressive strokeplay and Kamran’s fluent supporting role put Pakistan firmly in control.
An edge to wicketkeeper Courtney Browne off Bradshaw ended Malik’s
entertaining knock, but any lingering West Indian hopes of a Pakistani
capitulation faded with Inzamam’s nonchalant accumulation of runs while
at the other end, Kamran reached a deserved hundred off 107 balls with
nine fours.
Lara’s catch at cover to end the diminutive right-hander’s
match-winning innings failed to spark any celebrations among the West Indian players, for in strode vice-captain Yousuff Youhanna to formalise a victory with his captain that looked on the cards halfway through their innings.
“Nowadays no total is safe in one-day games, especially on such a good
batting pitch,” was Inzamam’s sympathetic assessment of Lara’s plight.
He also revealed that Akhtar will stay with the squad in the hope that
He could regain fitness and still be a factor if Pakistan advance to the best-of-three finals.
Should the West Indies slide to a third defeat in a row under the
lights of The Gabba against Australia, and Pakistan defeat the hosts on Sunday in Sydney, it is difficult to see how the Caribbean squad can avoid an early flight home.
Huge incentives for CAC Championship
NASSAU, Bahamas, (CMC) – Organisers of the Central American and Caribbean (CAC) senior track and field championship have announced huge incentives for the 2005 meet slated for late June.
Over 500 athletes from 37 countries are expected for the meet, and in
an effort to raise the profile of the championship to attract the region’s
elite competitors, organisers will offer US$50,000 to any athlete that
breaks a World Record, US$10,000 for an Area (NACAC) Record, and
US$5,000 for any CAC Record.
“We have had a lack of interest by our top athletes in the CAC... and
we decided the way to attract these athletes is to provide incentives,”
Vice-Chairman of the Organising Committee Alpheus Finlayson told CMC
Sport yesterday.
“We feel that that provides tremendous incentives for athletes to be here,”Finlayson added.
Prizes of US$5,000 for a Bahamas National Record and US$2,000 for a
CAC Meet Record will also be offered for the June 24-26 championship.
The meet is expected to be the largest ever staged in The Bahamas,
with the French-speaking Martinique and Guadeloupe joining the 35 countries that make up the CAC region.
Bahamian 2004 Olympic 400-metre gold medallist Tonique-Williams
Darling and 200-metre bronze medallist Debbie Ferguson are expected to lead the local charge at the three-day meet.
The competition list is also expected to include Jamaica’s 2004
Olympic 200-metre champion Veronica Campbell, 2003 World Champion over 100 metres Kim Collins, from St Kitts and Nevis, and Cuba’s reigning Olympic javelin champion Osleidys Menendez.
Pakistan still hopeful for Shoaib
SHOAIB Akhtar is expected to be out for up to two weeks after suffering a hamstring tear during Pakistan's VB Series victory over West Indies.
Shoaib lasted just 2.5 overs, bowling five wides, before limping off and failing to return.
"The doctor says he will hopefully be playing after one week," said captain Inzamam-ul-Haq.
A right hamstring problem saw Shoaib miss some sessions of Pakistan's three-Test series against Australia.
A two-week stint would all but rule him out of the one-day series until the best-of-three-match finals, should Pakistan get that far.
The West Indies were suffering their own problems on Wednesday, missing the off-spin of Chris Gayle due to a shoulder problem.
Gayle still managed to open the batting and made 82 but skipper Brian Lara was forced to rely on expensive part-time bowlers Marlon Samuels, Ramanesh Sarwan and Wavell Hinds.
However, Lara put the onus on his batsmen, saying: "Unfortunately 273 wasn't enough.
"We have got some lessons to learn but we will go forward from here.” (BBC Sport)
Crandon recovering well from elbow injury
By Vemen Walter
NATIONAL fast bowler Eusan Crandon is recovering well from an elbow injury sustained during the Guyana team’s encampment period in preparation for the current 2005 Carib Beer Cricket Series.
In a recent interview with Chronicle Sports, Crandon disclosed that he had already started doing some light bowling indoors because of the inclement weather and so far have not encountered any problem, which is very encouraging to him.
The Berbician tore a muscle in the elbow of his right hand during the first week of the encampment and was advised to rest for a six-week period by a Guyana Cricket Board (GCB)physiotherapist, which resulted in him not being considered for selection on the Guyana team for the first four away matches in the Carib Beer Tournament.
“I rested for over three weeks upon advise from my physio at the Port Mourant Hospital where I am having therapy, I have now started bowling. I am also doing some light Gym work at the moment, while still having therapy”.
Crandon who plays for Rose Hall Town Courts in local first division cricket is hoping to represent his club in the Berbice Banks Beer three- day final against Young Warriors, which is set for this weekend weather permitting. This he disclosed would be an ideal opportunity for him to see how the elbow withstand the pressure and at the same time will assist him in being match ready.
Born on December 17th 1981, the 23-year-old Crandon appeared in eight first class matches so far, taking 14 wickets at an average of 40.23 since making his debut in 2001 for Guyana against the West Indies B at the Queen’s Park Oval in Trinidad and Tobago.
The former Courtland Primary and Lower Corentyne Secondary student is very optimistic of getting back into the Guyana team when they return home early next month for the fifth round matches and backs himself in being fully fit by then.
Asked about his impression on the Guyana team’s performance after the first two rounds of the Carib Beer Series, Crandon, also a West Indies Shell Cricket Academy graduate said that he was disappointed with the batting of the Guyanese as apart from Narsingh Deoanrine, Sewnarine Chattergoon and Assad Fudadin, the rest of the batters need to apply themselves.
He further pointed out that the lack of turf practice ahead of the tournament may have also contributed towards the poor showing of the batsmen as because of the rainy weather, most of Guyana’s preparation was done on tarmac.
Crandon also expressed concern over the weather as both of Guyana matches so far in Trinidad and Tobago and Nevis were badly rain affected. However, he is confident that Guyana’s performance will improved as the tournament progresses.
Fifth and final Test at Centurion..
England aim to give S.Africa one final headache
By Tony Lawrence
LONDON, (Reuters) - South Africa coach Ray Jennings, like all straight-talkers, calls a spade a spade. Where he differs is that he then beats his players around the head with it.
The approach has not been a conspicuous success as his side, 2-1 down with a match to play, bid to salvage the five-Test series against England at Centurion Park this week.
In the fourth test Jennings went some way to shooting his own team in the foot, or the right temple to be exact. A catching session was cut short when the coach smashed a ball into Graeme Smith's cranium from a few yards.
Smith did manage to bat during South Africa's fateful second innings at The Wanderers but, concussed and still feeling groggy, he was forced to drop down from opener to number eight, making 67 not out. It was only one element in a 77-run defeat, but Smith's missing presence certainly did not help.
It will be interesting to see if Jennings rethinks his approach in an attempt to revive his men before the final Test starts tomorrow.
Perhaps he will leave catching practice to someone else while restricting himself to abrasive team talks, although his verbal volleys have also met with only mixed success to date.
Herschelle Gibbs came good with 161 and 98 at The Wanderers after Jennings criticised his attitude but an attempt to goad all rounder Jacques Kallis back into bowling at full pace -- "I'm gonna turn on the heat, make or break him.
No soft option" -- was only partially successful.
Four wickets at 73.50 each have been a meagre reward for a player who would prefer to concentrate on his batting (481 runs at 60.12 a visit).
A few Englishmen, and Matthew Hoggard in particular, probably had sore heads the morning after their dramatic fourth test as well.
The tireless Yorkshire seamer, the only fully fit bowler left, produced career-best figures of seven for 61 in the second innings and a match haul of 12 for 205, the best English performance for 25 years.
England have broken a string of personal and collective records over the past year, including eight wins in a row in a run which now extends to 12 victories out of 15, with only one defeat.
Their last series success in South Africa was in 1964-5, although this is only their third visit since. Only Australia -- twice -- have triumphed in South Africa since the end of the apartheid years.
MAJOR DISAPPOINTMENT
Michael Vaughan's men will not lack in confidence. His team, who could have been 3-1 up but for bad light curtailing the final day of the second Test, know they have only played in patches during the series.
But their growing ability to snatch victories from unlikely positions -- England, indeed, looked in danger of defeat on the final day at The Wanderers -- can only further build self-belief.
Their one major disappointment of the series has been Steve Harmison, who arrived as the world's top-ranked bowler but, his radar on the blink, has taken just seven wickets at 74.42.
Ironically, he looked as if he was returning to his best on the final day of the fourth Test when, struggling with a sore calf, he throttled back and suddenly began to find line and length.
Vaughan could have helped the rehabilitation but dropped a catch at leg gully during the death throes of the South African innings.
If England do win at Centurion, no one will cheer more loudly than former captain Nasser Hussain.
His side 'won' there in January 2000, only to discover that Hansie Cronje had sold the match for a fistful of dollars and a leather jacket.
Hussain had been immensely impressed at the time by Cronje's apparently selfless determination to keep the rain-affected game alive through both sides forfeiting an innings.
Today, though, Centurion Park is home to one of his worst cricketing memories. He remembers it, like many others, as the day his trust was abused. A win might help put that right.
Flintoff to play in fifth Test after ankle injection
CENTURION, (Reuters) - England all rounder Andrew Flintoff will play in the fifth and final test against South Africa after being given an injection to help alleviate a long-term ankle problem.
"Andrew Flintoff had an injection in the ankle following a scan today," an England media release said yesterday.
"He will play in the fifth Test, and the injury will be reviewed after the match."
Flintoff is suffering from a bone spur in his left ankle which stopped him bowling for part of last year, leading to England selecting him as a specialist batsman. He has been given cortisone injections before but the problem will eventually require surgery.
England play Bangladesh in two Tests in May and June followed by a home Ashes series starting in July.
Flintoff almost missed the fourth Test against South Africa with a ribcage muscle tear. England lead the series 2-1.
Tsunami benefit may be moved out of India in tax row
NEW DELHI, (Reuters) - A one-day game planned for next month to raise funds for victims of the south Asian tsunami disaster will be moved from India unless it is granted tax exempt status, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said yesterday.
Calcutta's Eden Gardens is likely to be the venue for the return match between a World team and an Asia XI in February. The first game held in Melbourne, Australia on January 10 helped raise over $11 million.
"The game is most likely to be in Calcutta, but a decision (on tax exemption) has to be made by tomorrow," ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said.
The game could be shifted to Lahore in Pakistan, Dhaka in Bangladesh or Colombo in Sri Lanka, he said.
India's finance ministry has yet to agree to a request for the proceeds of the match to be tax exempt made by the sports ministry and the Indian cricket board.
"The sports minister has spoken to the finance minister, but there has been no positive response so far," Meenaxi Chaudhary, a senior official in the sports ministry told Reuters.
The Indian government's refusal to provide tax exemption for last year's ICC Champions Trophy prompted the ICC to shift the tournament to England.
Mohammad Hafeez reported for suspect bowling action
MELBOURNE, (Reuters) - Pakistan all-rounder Mohammad Hafeez has been reported for a suspect bowling action, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said yesterday.
The ICC received a report from the umpires and match referee after Wednesday's limited-overs match between Pakistan and West Indies in Brisbane.
Under the ICC's regulations, Hafeez must spend the next six weeks with a biomechanist to identify and correct any flaws in his action but will be allowed to play during that time.
The ICC is considering changing its rules on suspect bowling actions by adjusting the degree at which bowlers can straighten their arm. A decision is expected when the council meets in Melbourne next month.
Confusion, ill-feeling result from unclear rules
By Ossian Shine
LONDON, (Reuters) - When is a positive drugs test not a positive drugs test? When it's out of competition.
The dark days of systematic doping seem to be over yet there appear to be too many loopholes, too many exceptions and too much confusion for a concerted attack on drug cheats to succeed.
The fine line between suspension and exoneration was the root of this week's confusion over U.S. Open champion Svetlana Kuznetsova's positive test for ephedrine.
The stimulant, commonly found in over-the-counter cold remedies, is illegal - but only when used in competition.
Kuznetsova's positive result resulted from a charity exhibition match in Belgium last month. It would seem Belgian sports minister Claude Eerdekens was not fully up to speed on the regulations when he announced her positive result.
His premature announcement broke anti-doping protocol and unnecessarily sullied the 19-year-old's name even though she was later exonerated by the ruling body of women's tennis.
While it is easy to point the finger of blame at a misguided bureaucrat, the reason for the confusion lies in the complex tangle of regulations governing doping in sport, supposedly brought together in a unified 'code' last year.
As the war against drug cheats intensifies, the victims of this inexact science are bound to rise.
Kuznetsova, fellow Russian Elena Dementieva and Frenchwoman Nathalie Dechy were all tainted by drug rumours at the Australian Open when Eerdekens implicated them in the positive test at the Charleroi tournament.
UNEQUIVOCALLY CLEARED
Eerdekens initially said one of the three had tested positive before finally naming Kuznetsova. The fact that she was unequivocally cleared by the Women's Tennis Association will be of little consolation to the Russian.
She is sure to suffer from the "no smoke without fire" syndrome and both Dementieva and Dechy have vented their anger at being implicated.
"How can you be happy when you see your face on the cover page and talking about doping?" Dechy said. For his part, Eerdekens has refused to offer an apology.
Sporting officials would argue the rules are clear and set out in the Anti-Doping Code, brought in for the 2004 Olympics, under which a doping offence attracts a mandatory two-year ban.
However, some drugs are banned under certain circumstances and permitted under others, and penalties still vary from sport to sport.
Take tennis. Last month Austrian Stefan Koubek was given a three-month ban for testing positive.
The player blamed an injection from a doctor aimed at treating a wrist injury for producing traces of a banned substance, triamcinolon acetonid, found in his urine during the French Open.
He plans to appeal. The world anti-doping code operates on a "strict liability" basis under which athletes are responsible for any substance found in their bodies.
Argentina's Guillermo Coria and former Australian Open champion Petr Korda have also fallen foul of the testers, returning positive results for the steroid nandrolone.
Coria was suspended for seven months in 2001 while Korda was found to have used nandrolone at the 1998 Wimbledon tournament and banned for a year after protracted appeals.
The low point for tennis came at the beginning of last year when, despite testing positive for nandrolone in 2003, Briton Greg Rusedski escaped punishment by successfully arguing that contaminated supplements supplied by the organisers of the men's tour, the ATP, were responsible for his failed test.
The fiasco prompted the ATP to usher in a range of "safe supplements" to help them avoid inadvertent doping.
The entire episode left the tennis world scratching its head and this confusion is mirrored in just about every sport.
The most recent to tackle the thorny doping issue was Major League Baseball.
The MLB this month adopted a stricter drug policy and said it will randomly drug-test players all year round, but still its sanctions are below the guidelines set by the World Anti-Doping Agency in its code.
Until every rule applies equally to everyone, whatever the sport, the confusion is bound to continue and more innocent athletes will share Kuznetsova's anger.
Australian Open tennis..
Federer, Williams and Kuznetsova reach third round
By Paul Tait
MELBOURNE, (Reuters) - Svetlana Kuznetsova shrugged off the doping row clouding her Australian Open campaign to reach the third round yesterday and was swiftly joined by men's champion Roger Federer and Serena Williams.
Reigning U.S. Open champion and fifth seed in Melbourne, Kuznetsova crushed Marion Bartoli of France 6-2 6-0 in a mere 40 minutes -- a performance that matched the scorching hot Melbourne Park temperatures.
Seventh seed Williams, the 2003 champion, needed just one game more and eight minutes longer to thrash Madagascar's Dally Randriantefy 6-3 6-0 while Federer, four-times Melbourne champion Andre Agassi and last year's runner-up Marat Safin showed they could keep pace with the top women with quickfire wins.
But Wimbledon champion and Kuznetsova's compatriot Maria Sharapova struggled harder before the fourth seed overcame unseeded American Lindsay Lee-Waters 4-6 6-0 6-3.
Temperatures at Melbourne Park edged towards 35 degrees Celsius (95 degrees Fahrenheit) and second seed Amelie Mauresmo took a welcome break at the end of the second set of her match against teenager Dinara Safina, Marat Safin's little sister.
Mauresmo had got off to a slow start but returned refreshed after the break -- allowed under the tournament's heat policy -- to beat a wilting Safina 2-6 6-1 6-0.
The temperature had cooled by the time Federer took to Rod Laver Arena and the world number one turned in a hugely entertaining match, peppering Japanese qualifier Takao Suzuki with audacious passing shots on his way to a 6-3 6-4 6-4 win.
"I had a lot of fun out here tonight. Just good enough is not enough any more these days, even for me," Federer said.
KUZNETSOVA UNFAZED
But most of the attention on day three was fixed firmly on Kuznetsova after a Belgian government minister this week said she had tested positive for ephedrine at a charity exhibition tournament in Charleroi last month.
Kuznetsova seemed unfazed by all the attention. She smiled and happily signed autographs after her resounding win.
"I feel like the star here," she said of all the attention.
"I don't feel like I did something wrong. I just try to take it out of my mind because I need to play my game, this is my first priority," Kuznetsova said.
Outraged tennis officials have lashed Belgian regional sports minister Claude Eerdekens for naming the Russian and vowed not to punish Kuznetsova, who pleaded her innocence after taking cold medicine during the Charleroi exhibition.
WTA Tour officials said ephedrine is not a banned substance during "out-of-competition" exhibition events and were upset that Eerdekens commented on the case before the testing process was complete.
Eerdekens has refused to apologise, while Russian Tennis Federation president Shamil Tarpishchev accused him of being biased and trying to diminish Russia's recent tennis success.
PHENOMENAL YEAR
Russian women had a phenomenal year in 2004, sweeping the last three grand slam singles titles and taking over the game from Belgians Justine Henin-Hardenne and Kim Clijsters, last year's Australian finalists who are absent this year with injuries.
That Russian success has been mirrored in Melbourne, where 14 women reached the second round.
Kuznetsova and Sharapova were soon joined in the third round by unseeded Vera Douchevina and Evgenia Linetskaya. Douchevina, 18, upset ninth seed and compatriot Vera Zvonareva 6-3 6-3, while Linetskaya hammered Slovak Martina Sucha 6-0 6-2.
Eleventh seed Nadia Petrova later made it five Russians through to the third round when she fought off Australian schoolgirl Sophie Ferguson 4-6 6-0 6-1.
Fourth seed Safin, beaten Melbourne finalist in 2004 and 2002, stood up for the Russian men with a no-nonsense 6-4 6-1 6-3 defeat of Czech Bohdan Ulihrach to reach the third round.
Williams's dazzling tennis matched her fluorescent lime green and white outfit and she hammered six aces past Randriantefy.
"It's definitely getting better and better with each match," said Williams, who was unable to defend her Australian title last year because of a knee injury.
British tennis also enjoyed a rare bright moment when unseeded Elena Baltacha became the first British woman to reach the third round of the Australian Open since Clare Wood in 1991.
Baltacha beat Stephanie Cohen-Aloro of France 2-6 6-3 6-1, her unexpected success forcing her to change her plane booking home for the fifth time.
At the other end of the tennis spectrum, Agassi thrashed Rainer Schuettler 6-3 6-1 6-0 -- allowing Schuettler one game fewer than when he beat the German for his fourth Australian title in 2003.
"It's a good feeling to be playing in an environment that you played so well in," Agassi said.
Nowitzki passes milestone as Mavericks tame Wizards
NEW YORK, (Reuters) - Jerry Stackhouse had 29 points and Dirk Nowitzki added 28 with 11 rebounds as the Dallas Mavericks won a 137-120 shootout with the Washington Wizards on Tuesday, the highest scoring game in the NBA this season.
It was a big night for Germany's Nowitzki as he passed 10,000 career points while Jason Terry chipped in with 26 points and Michael Finley 25 helping the Mavericks to their second straight win and seventh in nine games.
Gilbert Arenas, who was held to just three points in Monday's loss to San Antonio, rebounded with a career-high effort sinking 43 points but could not inspire the Wizards who trailed 40-20 after the opening quarter and 73-40 at the break.
Washington had been riding a seven-game winning streak but have now dropped two in row since losing Larry Hughes with a broken thumb.
In Seattle, Marcus Camby nailed his third career 20-20 and Earl Boykins came off the bench for an injured Carmelo Anthony to score 18 points, including 15 in overtime, to lead the Denver Nuggets to a 116-110 win over the SuperSonics.
Back in action after serving a one game suspension, Camby scored 25 points, including a jumper with 1.8 seconds remaining to send the game into overtime and added 24 rebounds as the Nuggets won for just the second time in nine games this year.
However, the win may have come at a cost as Anthony went down with another ankle injury during the third quarter after scoring 10 points.
Andre Miller had a game-high 30 for the Nuggets while Vladimir Radmanovic led the SuperSonics with 25.
In Houston, Jamaal Tinsley nailed 28 points to power the Indianapolis Pacers to an 87-74 victory over the Rockets, their third win in four games.
Tied 63-63 with just under 10 minutes to play, the Pacers poured in 10 straight points to take control of the contest never allowing the Rockets to get closer than five.
Jermaine O'Neal added 27 to Pacers cause while Tracy McGrady answered with 28 points for Houston.
Yao Ming had 21 points and nine rebounds for the Rockets who have now lost two straight following a four-game winning run.
In Sacramento, Chris Webber drained 32 points to lead the Kings to a 113-107 overtime decision over the slumping Portland Trail Blazers, to stretch their winning run to five games.
Webber also contributed 13 rebounds, six assists and four steals to help send the Trail Blazers to their fourth consecutive loss.
In Orlando, Steve Francis had 32 points and 12 rebound and Hedo Turkoglu added a season-high 29 as the Magic rallied in the fourth quarter to edge the Detroit Pistons 103-101, snapping the NBA champions six-game winning run.
Lara: McGrath is a quality bowler
BRISBANE, Australia, (CMC) – West Indies captain Brian Lara has rated
Australian Test nemesis Glenn McGrath as a high quality fast bowler but
has cast doubt on whether the Australian quick can remain a competitive
force by the 2007 World Cup in the Caribbean.
The 35-year old Lara, who has been dismissed by McGrath a staggering 13 times in Tests, says the ageing Australian strike bowler reminded him
of two great West Indies fast bowlers he had played with.
“He’s always a quality bowler,” Lara said. “He’s not someone who thrives on energy or who needs to get the ball up into the 80s or the 90s [mph].”
He added: “He thrives on consistency. The guys like (Curtly) Ambrose
and (Courtney) Walsh, he’s in a similar fashion.”For a decade, Lara and McGrath have staged a series of epic duels with the lanky, 34-year old Australian frustrating the freescoring left hander with bounce, accuracy and movement to claim his wicket more times than any other bowler in Test cricket.
Lara, who still averages 51.45 against Australia in Tests, has fallen
to McGrath caught-behind on seven occasions, caught in the field five
times and trapped leg before wicket once in Tests.
“He’s going to hit the seam and move the ball around,” Lara said. “It
doesn’t matter if he bowls in the 70s or the 80s. You’ve got to be a thinking batsman to keep him out. Someone like that is always going to do well.”
Lara, who has scored 10 094 in 112 Tests, at an average of 52.84, and 9
031 runs in 246 One Day Internationals at 42.39, says it is doubtful
whether McGrath would participate in the 2007 World Cup.
“That’s for Glenn to decide if he’s going to go to the Caribbean in m2007,but he’ll be an ageing fast bowler coming in to bowl on really nice batting tracks in the Caribbean,” Lara said yesterday.
He added: “He’s been a great servant to Australian cricket and he’s not
just there because of his past performances.” Lara and McGrath will resume their battle when West Indies and
Australia face each other on Thursday night in the VB Triangular Series
Exeter heads held high as they bow out of FA Cup
By Mark Meadows
EXETER, England, (Reuters) - Manchester United needed goals from international strikers Cristiano Ronaldo and Wayne Rooney to subdue minor league Exeter City 2-0 in a pulsating FA Cup third round replay yesterday.
Exeter, who earned a shock 0-0 draw with a second string United side at Old Trafford less than two weeks ago, wasted one great chance and had a goal disallowed as they made a star-studded United side sweat in front of more than 9,000 fans.
Ronaldo fired United into a ninth minute lead but it took an 87th minute strike from Rooney, who cost United 27 million pounds ($50.76 million) from Everton in August, to settle United's nerves in a rousing finale at St James's Park.
United boss Alex Ferguson apologised to the club's fans after the woeful draw at Old Trafford, and he took no chances by starting with Rooney and Ryan Giggs, plus Paul Scholes and Ronaldo, who were substitutes for the first meeting.
The decision paid off after only a few minutes when Scholes threaded a ball through Exeter's defence and Portugal's Ronaldo had time and space to rifle an angled shot past 18-year-old keeper Paul Jones.
United, enjoying all the possession and moving smoothly through the gears, nearly added a second soon afterwards.
Midfielder Liam Miller's chip over the top of Exeter's back four put Rooney clean through but the England teenager's shot was blocked by Jones.
There was a scare for United at the other end when keeper Tim Howard flapped at a high ball and Exeter's Steve Flack was allowed a header which the striker failed to get on target.
UNITED PRESSURE
Giggs, Rooney and Ronaldo continued to cause trouble for Exeter and Giggs, captain for the night, could have made it 2-0 with a low shot that flew just wide of the post.
Exeter almost equalised just before halftime when striker Sean Devine steered a glancing volley narrowly wide across a packed goalmouth.
The home side kept battling after the re-start but there was a let-off when a Scholes effort trickled past Jones but stuck in the mud of the goalmouth, allowing the keeper to smother at the second attempt.
Devine had Exeter's best chance of the game in the 61st minute when he skewed a volley wide from close range and midfielder Andrew Taylor forced a fine save from Howard with a booming free kick.
Exeter did manage to get the ball in the back of the United net but Devine was offside when he latched on to a volley into the area by Frenchman Alex Jeanin in the 75th minute.
With Exeter leaving spacce at the back Rooney and Ronaldo both scooped good chances over the bar as they broke clear while Taylor produced a diving save to deny Ronaldo.
But he was helpless as Rooney took a pass from Louis Saha in his stride and rounded him to slot the ball into an empty net and end the Devon side's rugged resistance.
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