Left field

Ashes analysis: England bowlers bounce back in style

When England’s bowlers awoke this morning they would have had the sound of stinging criticism ringing in their ears following their poor performance on day one, but how they responded.

They ripped out nine Australian wickets for the cost of 137 runs as the tourists collapsed from 126 for one overnight to 263 all out, with England closing on 116 for two as bad light cut the day’s play short.

The tone was set for the day by a ferocious opening spell by Graham Onions who took wickets with his first two deliveries, crucially that of Shane Watson, unbeaten overnight on 62 and looking in imperious form.

Onions also took the wicket of Ricky Ponting but not before the Australian captain became his country’s leading run scorer in test cricket. Onions also took the final wicket of Australia’s first innings to finish with figures of 4 for 58.

All credit to Andrew Strauss, who has bounced back remarkably from a shaky first test at Cardiff, for opening the bowling this morning with Onions after the Durham man had been splayed about Edgbaston, going at seven runs an over, the night before.

Onions repaid his captain’s faith by bowling full and straight and got his just rewards.

Ashes analysis: insipid England fail to keep pressure on Australia

Whatever momentum England had built up over Australia by scraping a draw in Cardiff and then winning convincingly at Lord’s, slowly ebbed away following an insipid display late on a truncated first day’s play of the third Ashes Test in Edgbaston, as Australia rattled along at almost four and a half runs an over to close the day at 126-1.

Ricky Ponting, beset by problems, will have been delighted with his sides response in the face of adversity.

A couple of brave decisions from the Australian captain saw embattled fast bowler Mitchell Johnson keep his place in the side, while Shane Watson replaced the enigmatic young opener Phillip Hughes.

Hughes may be feeling a bit of a Twit. His management company used his Twitter feed to announce he had been dropped from the team, a full 3 hours before the start of scheduled play at 11am. The move seemed even more ridiculous once play was delayed because of rain until 5pm.

Ponting then lost one of his most reliable players just before the start of play, with wicketkeeper Brad Hadden breaking a finger in the warm up, meaning a debut for Graham Manou.

It appears a good toss to win on what looks a flat pitch that will deteriorate over the next four days and, unlike in 2005, Ponting followed the rules of Edgbaston and opted to bat first. His openers didn’t disappoint him.

Shane Watson, opening for Australia for the first time in his ninth test match, and Simon Katich cruised at one-day batting pace as they were fed a series of long hops outside off stump and rank deliveries down the leg side, which they tucked into with relish.

The Lasting Hangover of Baseball’s Steroid Era

Today’s report by the New York Times revealed David Ortiz to be the latest in an ever-growing list of Major League Baseball players guilty of using illegal performance enhancing drugs (PEDs). Ortiz’s name is now included on what has become an overhyped and mysterious list of names that tested positive back in 2003, before mandatory testing was put into place.

It was confirmed that Ortiz’s 2003 Boston Red Sox teammate Manny Ramirez is also present on the list, confirming lingering suspicion surrounding him ever since Ramirez was suspended 50 games this season for using an estrogen-based drug that acts as a masking agent for PEDs.

The testing in 2003 was agreed to by the MLB Player’s Union in order to determine if mandatory testing (and thus punishments) would be incorporated the following year. Players were aware this testing would occur and were under the impression that the results would remain confidential. Years have passed, but some of the 100 names continue to leak to the media. Many have argued that each leak prevents the sport from healing and that all names on the list should be released once and for all, even despite the confidentiality given to the results.

I just swam the world championship pool

In the midst of a deluge of world records at the world swimming championships, I was close to breaking the mark for the slowest ever time.

Journalists at the Rome event were given the chance to swim in the outdoor 50 metre pool just hours after Michael Phelps and Federica Pellegrini had graced the same starting blocks and water.

We were treated like the real swimmers and had to sit in the ‘call room’ where the professionals wait before their race.

The announcer boomed out the competitors on the public address system and our names appeared on the electronic scoreboard. The stands were empty but you could easily imagine 10,000 screaming fans urging you on.

Despite not having swum properly for years, I looked the part with cap, goggles and tight trunks.

It was only when we got to the blocks that I realised I had no idea how to dive into the water. This contributed to my terrible 50 freestyle time of 52.48 seconds. Phelps and the like would have finished before I’d even got halfway.

Schumacher can finally show Hamilton and Vettel who’s boss

Just seeing Michael Schumacher back in an F1 car, especially a Ferrari, will be enough for most motor sport fans.

But the chance to watch him race against young guns Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel is something very special. 

The German retired before they appeared on the scene and there have been comparisons ever since the pair got on the grid –  with compatriot Vettel even having the nickname ‘Baby Schumi’.  

Will it be the case of the old master showing the young pretenders how it is done, or will 40-year-old Schumacher be taught a lesson of his own?

After a terrible start, this year’s Ferrari has been gradually improving and no one would put it past Schumacher winning one of the season’s remaining races.

Hamilton has also burst into form and if the world champion meets the sport’s greatest on the first corner, expect a bump or two.

from Reuters Soccer Blog:

Americans fall for soccer but can MLS cash in?

The US national team beat European champions Spain in the Confederations Cup and give Brazil a scare in the final. In the NFL heartland of Baltimore, 71,000 turn out to watch Chelsea v AC Milan.

In Pasadena, Chelsea v Inter Milan pulls in 81,000.

David Beckham gets booed and jeered on his return for L.A Galaxy and the American sporting public laps it up – top sports talk shows, which usually ignore soccer other than to mock the game occasionally, lead their bulletins on the issue.

Giants Stadium in New York sells out with 79,000 for USA v Mexico in the Gold Cup final – even though both teams field reserve sides.

There is more to come -- Real Madrid and Barcelona are about to start mini-tours of the U.S. that will bring in similar huge crowds.

In Major League Soccer, the Seattle Sounders average 30,000 for home games in their first season. Philadelphia and Vancouver sign up to became the next teams to join the league.

from Changing China:

China’s infertile ground for (some) Western sports

Soccer is in a tight spot in China -- literally. Huge crowds roar for Manchester United but the national team is a laughing stock at 108th in FIFA world rankings. Poor coaching, lack of grassroots development, even corruption and violence are variously cited as reasons for the sport's demise. But the real reason may be more basic: the fact of physical space, or the lack thereof, in China.

If geography is a determinant of economic development, then it is fair to extrapolate that urban geography underpins the development of sports. And here's the rub for soccer, not to mention American football and baseball. With few parks, small concrete schoolyards and a dearth of quiet streets, urban China offers little of the space needed for the sprawling play that defines those sports. Soccer has deep roots in China, but playing space has been squeezed as cities sprawl and swallow land in big gulps.

The NBA's huge popularity in China has left other sports leagues salivating. They, too, dream of their own Yao Ming bringing forth TV audiences in the tens of millions and merchandising opportunities galore. But basketball can thank China's spatial constraints more than its own marketing wizardry for such success. Dozens of nets crammed into schoolyards make the sport accessible to a huge number of young enthusiasts. The ease with which basketball has been woven into China's urban fabric has a precedent in the explosion of Chinese table tennis in the 1950s. Both are simple enough games that can be played in tight spaces.

Curiously, the physical limitations of the crowded country augur well for one sport that uses more space than almost any other: golf. Unlike baseball, football and soccer, golf does not need a critical mass of ardent supporters to take off. Golf, in fact, can thrive in conditions of scarcity, when a small number of high-priced courses consolidate its position as an elite pastime. The lack of space in China makes it an expensive sport, out of reach for the great unwashed and just the ticket for the country's nouveau riche.

Photo Credit: Local fans of Manchester United hold signs and posters as they look into the hotel where the players stayed in on July 25, 2009 ahead of a friendly match against Hangzhou Greentown. REUTERS/Nir Elias

Is Schumacher right to return to Formula One?

Incredible but true: Seven-times world champion Michael Schumacher is to return to Formula One as a short-term replacement for Felipe Massa — provided the German passes a medical.

As Ferrari have just confirmed, Schumacher is poised to make a comeback after Massa fractured his skull in an accident at last weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

It’s another twist to a Formula One season you could hardly describe as ordinary, what with the breakaway threat, the stunning start from Brawn GP and the news from BMW this morning.

Is Schumacher doing the right thing in returning to the sport? Having him back will be a great boon in PR terms both for F1 as a whole and for Ferrari but will it work out? He hasn’t been out that long but in a sport where fitness is becoming more and more important, can the 40-year-old possibly be in the necessary shape to step straight back into the car?

Here’s what Willi Weber, Schumacher’s manager, said yesterday: “What would we expect from Schumacher if he stepped into a Formula One car? To win. The expectations from both sides would be too high.”

Is Schumacher right to come back?

BMW follow Honda in quitting Formula One

BMW rocked Formula One on Wednesday by announcing their exit as a team and engine supplier at the end of 2009.

The Munich carmaker’s abrupt decision, after a dismal season on the track and with the industry in crisis, leaves the glamour sport with just four manufacturers – Fiat-owned Ferrari, McLaren’s partners Mercedes, Renault and Toyota.

However, three new teams are due to enter next year with others on standby.

“The BMW Group will not continue its Formula One campaign after the end of the 2009 season,” the Munich carmaker said in a statement issued before a news conference at their company headquarters.

Who can replace Felipe Massa?

With seven times champion Michael Schumacher seemingly in no rush to come out of retirement to stand in for his friend and former team mate Felipe Massa, Ferrari will have to resign themselves to looking elsewhere.

Massa appears to be on the mend, thankfully, but it has to be doubtful whether last year’s overall runner-up will race again this season after the serious head injuries sustained in Hungary.

The problem is that there are not that many obvious, and available, candidates of the necessary calibre to replace the Brazilian.

Drivers are not lightbulbs and, in any case, champions Ferrari are not the sort of team to just plug in an inexperienced teenager and hope for the best.

There is a question of prestige. Ferrari are the sport’s most glamorous team and, traditionally, employers of the world’s best drivers.

Very few ever get the privilege — only six in the last decade.