England to play Panesar? Another batter more like
The fallout from England’s crushing first-test defeat by Pakistan has led many pundits to call for Monty Panesar to play as a second spinner in next week’s second test, despite the fact it was the batsmen and not the bowlers who failed to turn up for the world’s top-ranked test side.
Number 11 Panesar may have performed heroics with the bat in Cardiff to save the first Ashes test in 2009 but the Pakistan bowlers will hardly be quaking in their boots. Including Panesar would seemingly mean dropping seamer Chris Tremlett, who did not get a wicket in Dubai but still bowled decently. England getting Pakistan down to 289-8 having only scored 192 first up themselves was a good effort from the England attack.
There has been talk of Ravi Bopara coming in instead to bolster the batting and bowling but the all-rounder has always struggled to impose himself on tests when the pressure is on. Being one down in a three-test series in unfamiliar surroundings really is pressure. Yes the injured Tim Bresnan brought runs down the order but so do Stuart Broad and Graeme Swann. Dropping Tremlett for Bopara would be a risky move.
While rising to number one in the world, England have recovered from sudden setbacks well, such as the defeat in Perth on their way to winning the Ashes in Australia at the turn of 2010/11.
Coach Andy Flower said the side were “undercooked” for the Pakistan test series having not played the longer form of the game since the final India test in August. So much for there being too much cricket….
All the pointers from how Flower has run this England side suggests they will go in to the Abu Dhabi test with exactly the same 11.
The batters were bamboozled by Saeed Ajmal in Dubai, not the pitch. It was not doing too much and they don’t expect Abu Dhabi to either. So why bring in Panesar?
Tebow time makes way for Manning mania even outside U.S.
The Tim Tebow fairytale is over but NFL provided more drama with Super Bowl champions and previously imperious Green Bay being unceremoniously dumped out at home by New York Giants.
Over here in Europe, interest in NFL has grown markedly this year if Twitter trends are taken into account. Maybe the annual game in Wembley has boosted UK interest along with better live coverage on satellite TV but the players themselves deserve credit.
Undoubtedly the story of Denver Bronco’s quarterback Tebow has captured the imagination of fans around the globe. It’s not just his religious beliefs, it was his style of running and the fact he seemed to throw the ball all wrongly but still produced results.
The England Patriots, surely now the hot favourites for the title , ended his remarkable run in the divisional playoffs this weekend but Eli Manning’s nerveless performance for the Giants as Aaron Rodgers and the weak Packers defence fell apart means NFL’s new viewers may still be tuning in come next weekend’s Conference championships.
Manning looks a little unusual like Tebow. His helmet and shoulder pads seem way too big for his surprisingly small frame but his unerring passing accuracy and calmness under pressure at Lambeau Field, where teams are not meant to win, was remarkable.
The fact it’s the San Francisco 49ers aganst the Giants next week may also mean the worldwide NFL fanbase stays hooked. Along with the Cowboys and the Packers , the 49ers and the Giants are arguably the most well-known NFL teams outside the U.S. and the west/east coast fight adds to the allure.
The only shame? The game is being played in California. For European audiences that means a very late start. That will test the diehards.
Reuters Soccer blog merges with Left Field
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Independiente’s barrabravas bristle at “no cash” pledge
Argentina’s soccer hooligans appear to warm up for a new championship just like their teams with Independiente’s ‘barrabravas’ threatening trouble at an off-season friendly after being told by the club’s new administration “there is no cash”.
The impoverished giants from Avellaneda, record seven-times South American champions, voted in new president Javier Cantero last month who at once confronted the hardcore fans and told them they would get no funds.
It is common practice in Argentina for barrabravas to demand and get match tickets and funding to travel to away matches under threat of violence in a never-ending cycle of impunity.
Independiente played San Lorenzo in a friendly on Thursday in Mar del Plata where the barrabravas made their discontent felt with insulting chants at the board and threats against club members and peaceful fans in adjacent stands.
After a meeting with Cantero right after his election victory, barrabrava leader Pablo “Bebote” (babe) Alvarez announced his resignation as leader as if he held an official position, though he is likely to re-emerge during the Clausura championship that kicks off next month.
Cantero called the barrabravas mercenaries, which drew an angry response at Thursday’s game, and told Alvarez the club was destitute and “there is no cash for anyone”.
Sports review 2011 – A memorable year for the wrong reasons
The trouble with putting together a top 10 list of the year’s biggest sports stories is that one person”s number one is another person”s 10.
For those of us lucky enough to spend our time chronicling these events the period before New Year is generally one of reflection where we, like every other sports fan, take stock of what we have seen.
It is a search for the moments that generated a buzz, moments that lingered instead of simply appeared and vanish. Moments that inspired and others too grim and unsettling to be ignored or forgotten.
As 2011 prepares for its final bow, an astonishing number of disturbing events are the first that leap to mind in a year dominated by scandals, lockouts and legal wrangling that overshadowed what took place on the field of play.
There are no defining lists only subjective ones. Some lists are restricted by particular sports, others by geography bounded by country or city borders.
For us Canadians the return of the NHL Jets to Winnipeg is at or near the top of every list but would not crack the top 10 of any American or World yearend round up.
PSG take biggest gamble on Ancelotti
LONDON (Reuters) – Few sides have replaced their coach halfway through the season when top of the league and although Paris St Germain are no ordinary club, the risks they are taking in their very own French revolution could backfire spectacularly.
Antoine Kombouare, replaced by the more high-profile Carlo Ancelotti, may have been little known outside of Ligue 1 football but he had quickly gelled together a side after new Qatari owners splashed out millions in the close season.
Yes, they were narrowly eliminated in the Europa League group stages and lost 3-0 to arch Ligue 1 rivals Marseille, but the former Valenciennes coach still found top spot in a league PSG have only won twice.
He acted with dignity despite constant press reports that the new owners were so desperate for an immediate title and world domination that they were plotting to replace the man who had been in place before May’s takeover.
Even PSG’s own players have reservations about the speed and amount of changes underway at the Parc des Princes and if PSG end up finishing second under former AC Milan and Chelsea boss Ancelotti, ruthless ambition could turn into impatient folly.
Uruguayan defender Diego Lugano, who only joined in the last transfer window, told his own website: “It generates instability in the sense that everything is changing for the players who were there before. New players have arrived and others will follow and that creates a lot of changes.
“Of course this club in the coming years will be the biggest in Europe, I have no doubt. But it causes some anxiety within the club and we are also not sure what will happen on a personal level with some team mates. It is not easy, but you try to always be positive.”
Analysis – PSG take biggest gamble on Ancelotti
LONDON (Reuters) – Few sides have replaced their coach halfway through the season when top of the league and although Paris St Germain are no ordinary club, the risks they are taking in their very own French revolution could backfire spectacularly.
Antoine Kombouare, replaced by the more high-profile Carlo Ancelotti, may have been little known outside of Ligue 1 football but he had quickly gelled together a side after new Qatari owners splashed out millions in the close season.
Yes, they were narrowly eliminated in the Europa League group stages and lost 3-0 to arch Ligue 1 rivals Marseille, but the former Valenciennes coach still found top spot in a league PSG have only won twice.
He acted with dignity despite constant press reports that the new owners were so desperate for an immediate title and world domination that they were plotting to replace the man who had been in place before May’s takeover.
Even PSG’s own players have reservations about the speed and amount of changes underway at the Parc des Princes and if PSG end up finishing second under former AC Milan and Chelsea boss Ancelotti, ruthless ambition could turn into impatient folly.
Uruguayan defender Diego Lugano, who only joined in the last transfer window, told his own website: “It generates instability in the sense that everything is changing for the players who were there before. New players have arrived and others will follow and that creates a lot of changes.
“Of course this club in the coming years will be the biggest in Europe, I have no doubt. But it causes some anxiety within the club and we are also not sure what will happen on a personal level with some team mates. It is not easy, but you try to always be positive.”
Soccer-PSG take biggest gamble on Ancelotti
LONDON, Dec 30 (Reuters) – Few sides have replaced their coach halfway through the season when top of the league and although Paris St Germain are no ordinary club, the risks they are taking in their very own French revolution could backfire spectacularly.
Antoine Kombouare, replaced by the more high-profile Carlo Ancelotti, may have been little known outside of Ligue 1 football but he had quickly gelled together a side after new Qatari owners splashed out millions in the close season.
Yes, they were narrowly eliminated in the Europa League group stages and lost 3-0 to arch Ligue 1 rivals Marseille, but the former Valenciennes coach still found top spot in a league PSG have only won twice.
He acted with dignity despite constant press reports that the new owners were so desperate for an immediate title and world domination that they were plotting to replace the man who had been in place before May’s takeover.
Even PSG’s own players have reservations about the speed and amount of changes underway at the Parc des Princes and if PSG end up finishing second under former AC Milan and Chelsea boss Ancelotti, ruthless ambition could turn into impatient folly.
Uruguayan defender Diego Lugano, who only joined in the last transfer window, told his own website: “It generates instability in the sense that everything is changing for the players who were there before. New players have arrived and others will follow and that creates a lot of changes.
“Of course this club in the coming years will be the biggest in Europe, I have no doubt. But it causes some anxiety within the club and we are also not sure what will happen on a personal level with some team mates. It is not easy, but you try to always be positive.”
Soccer team of the year?…APOEL Nicosia
Alright, alright I know most of you will be screaming “what about Barcelona?” right now but they get so many plaudits that I thought I could argue a contrarion position.
Yes World, European and Spanish champions Barca have been brilliant and in time we may say they were the greatest ever club side to play the game.
But given they have Lionel Messi — who also in time may be viewed as the world’s greatest ever player — the biggest stadium in Europe, vast finances, the bedrock of the team of world champions Spain and an organisation which calls itself “more than a club”, Barca should be one of the world’s top teams.
They ought to have won more than their four European Cups, three of which have come in the last five years. Barca are also not actually top of La Liga at the mid-season break with Real Madrid three points ahead.
APOEL Nicosia meanwhile have no high expectations.
APOEL weren’t even Cypriot champions in 2010 and had to battle past three other Nicosia sides — that is a lot of derbies — to win the national championship in May.
They were then thrilled just to make the Champions League group stages after three rounds of qualifiers.
NFL Week 16 Christmas Lineman picks
Well, after two weeks of 4-2 the Lineman is still searching for that perfect Christmas gift and hopes he has found it with this six-pack of holiday picks.
Keeping in the spirit of the holiday season, the Lineman offers you all the best and may all your picks be winners HO HO HO.
Record: 47-43. Last week 4-2; Pick of the Week: 13-2
PICK OF THE WEEK
Denver Broncos (8-6) at Buffalo Bills (5-9) (Line Broncos minus-2.5)
You do not need to be one of the Three Wise Men to know this has the look of a Christmas Special.
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