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- Pakistan scandal takes new twist - Police investigating alleged corruption involving three Pakistani cricketers believe that video evidence crucial to the case is authentic despite claims to the contrary, BBC Sport understands.
- Pakistan in England 2010 - Full fixtures for Pakistan's 2010 tour to England.
- Law scoops manager of month award - Alfreton Town boss Nicky Law is named Blue Square Bet North manager of the month for August.
- Banahan targets dual England role - Bath and England winger Matt Banahan says he is hoping to increase his chances of getting selected for his country by also playing at centre.
- Veterans set for Masters finals - The 2010 Football Masters final takes place this weekend with eight teams competing to be crowned champions
- Lancs scent win despite Adams ton - Hampshire opener Jimmy Adams hits a ton century but cannot stop Lancashire closing in on victory at Aigburth.
- Blues v Edinburgh (Sat) - Team news and preview ahead of Saturday's Magners League match at Cardiff City Stadium.
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Robbie Keane relishes leading Republic of Ireland against Armenia
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Republic of Ireland's Euro 2012 campaign gives Robbie Keane a sense of release after being pushed into shadows at Tottenham
The temperature is a stifling 36 degrees and the four-hour time difference remains disorientating. The pressure on the Republic of Ireland is just as intense. Giovanni Trapattoni's team cannot countenance anything other than victory here tomorrow evening when their Euro 2012 campaign gets underway against the Group B minnows Armenia.
Yet for the captain, Robbie Keane, there is only liberation. To say that the 30-year-old has endured a difficult start to the season is a little like suggesting there was mild disappointment when Ireland's World Cup qualifying hopes were pushed off course by Thierry Henry in Paris last November.
Keane has absorbed a series of body blows at club level with Tottenham Hotspur since that notorious play-off defeat to France, from losing his place in Harry Redknapp's starting line-up to feeling that, in his own words, he had lost his "hunger" for the game by the turn of the year.
A four-month loan move to Celtic on the final day of the winter transfer window rekindled that. "Going to Celtic was the best thing that could have happened to me," Keane said last month. "It got me back into the swing of things again, it got my hunger back for football."
But back at Tottenham, despite an encouraging pre-season, his stock has never seemed lower. Keane was offered to other clubs including West Ham United, Everton, Newcastle United and Aston Villa during the transfer window, often as the proposed makeweight in deals, and if he was not earning as much as £68,000 a week, he might have been off.
The past week or so has brought bitter frustration. Redknapp preferred Jermain Defoe to him last Wednesday, in the vital Champions League play-off second-leg against Young Boys, even though the manager had said that Defoe needed a groin operation, was not fully fit and could last no longer than an hour. On Saturday, Keane remained on the bench in the shock home defeat by Wigan Athletic. Redknapp introduced Giovani dos Santos ahead of him. Keane has made two substitutes' appearances so far for Tottenham, totalling 46 minutes.
The contrast to his international status is stark. Keane won his 100th cap last month against Argentina, becoming only the fourth Irishman to the landmark, while his 43 goals are a record by some distance. Niall Quinn is second on the all-time Ireland scoring chart with 21. Keane thrives on being the main man in Trapattoni's squad, the leader and creative inspiration. When he pulls on his country's jersey at the Republican Stadium, he will feel pride but also a sense of release.
"I think all the clubs are probably glad that the transfer window has closed and now everyone will concentrate on playing football," Keane says. "At least there won't be any more speculation for a few months. Obviously every player wants to play in every game and I am certainly looking forward to the Armenia match and next Tuesday's tie against Andorra in Dublin."
It is a curiosity that Keane lost his place in Redknapp's team immediately after the play-off against France. Having started in all 12 of Tottenham's Premier League fixtures, he was dropped for the home game against Wigan Athletic on 22 November. Tottenham won 9-1. Thereafter, he made only three Premier League starts before his loan move to Celtic – against Wolves at home and Fulham away in December, and against Hull City at home in January. Tottenham did not score in any of them.
It has been reported that Keane's role in organising the secret Christmas party for 16 members of the first-team squad, in defiance of Redknapp's orders, damaged the striker's prospects at the club. Keane led the players on a night out in Dublin on 8 December and, when the story emerged 10 days later, there was a backlash in the newspapers and a ticking off from Redknapp.
The bottom line, though, for Keane was that when Tottenham geared up after the halfway point of last season to push for a Champions League finish, which had for so long been their Holy Grail, and there was the implicit call for all hands to be turned on deck, Redknapp was quite content to sanction his loan switch to Glasgow.
Keane had only re-signed to Tottenham on the final day of the winter transfer window last year after a disastrous six months at Liverpool and Redknapp said that the force of his personality was needed to galvanise a quiet dressing room. Tottenham languished in 15th place when Keane arrived, two points off the bottom of the table. With him starting in all 14 of the club's remaining Premier League games, they took 30 points to finish in eighth.
Redknapp has often praised Keane for his "first-class" attitude. "If everyone had an attitude like him, the game would be a better game and your job would be much easier," Redknapp said. "When he's not playing, he's still in the dressing room, geeing everybody up and wishing everybody all the best. Robbie is important to me, an important player around the place."
Those comments came on 25 January of this year. One week later, Keane was at Celtic.
Keane has refrained from going public on his frustrations at Tottenham, which has scored him points, although his remark about "getting the hunger back" at Celtic was insightful. Pressed on it, he promptly brought the shutters down. Keane has maintained, meanwhile, that he was "not going anywhere" during this summer's transfer window.
The blows that he has taken would have floored a lesser character but Keane is determined to fight back at Tottenham and regain his starting place. He has never doubted his ability. More immediately, though, it is Ireland that offers him opportunity and possibility.
When the Armenia manager, Vardan Minasyan, was asked to assess the threats that Ireland would pose, he misinterpreted the question. "What, Keane is not playing?" he exclaimed.
"No, Robbie is playing but could you … "
"Well, if Keane does not play, Ireland have other strong players," Minasyan continued.
"Please listen. Robbie Keane is playing."
"Oh, OK," Minasyan said. "Very good for you."
Keane's worth on the international stage is not in doubt.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds - Pakistan back with tour match win - Pakistan return to cricketing matters and win their 50-over tour match with Somerset by eight runs at Taunton.
- Borthwick targets England recall - Steve Borthwick says he will prove he is worthy of an England recall with his performances for Saracens.
- Manassero leads European Masters - Italian teenager Matteo Manassero shoots a seven-under-par 64 to take a first-round lead in the European Masters.
- Tranmere v Peterborough - Preview followed by live coverage of Saturday's game between Tranmere and Peterborough in League One.
- Lallana ruled out for six weeks - Southampton winger Adam Lallana will be out for six weeks after surgery on his knee.
- Scots duo head into unknown - Edinburgh and Glasgow face a wide open Magners League
- Muchall ton sets Notts big target - Durham's Gordon Muchall hits a ton to ensure that Nottinghamshire face a big final day target at Chester-le-Street.
- Hatton fighting career is 'done' - Former light-welterweight world champion Ricky Hatton says he is unlikely to fight again.
- Gow explains move to Motherwell - Former Plymouth forward Alan Gow defends his decision to sign for Motherwell on a six-month contract.
- Night cycling back in Shropshire - Britain's only town-centre floodlit cycle race is resurrected in Shropshire after a three-year break.
- Steve Parrish's MotoGP column - "Ben Spies is the man of the moment - he just needs to win a race"
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Magners League's expansion threatens to 'burn out' players | Paul Rees
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Ospreys coach Sean Holley is warning that the Magners League, with two Italian sides joining in, will lengthen injury lists
The Magners League has an Italian flavour this season with Aironi and Treviso joining the 10 Celtic sides in the tournament but Sean Holley, the head coach of the champions, Ospreys, fears the increased fixtures will accelerate player burn-out.
Ospreys boast a glut of current Welsh internationals but with Wales facing a potential 20 Tests in the next 12 months and the region fighting on three fronts, Holley, who is already without two of his Lions, Mike Phillips and Ryan Jones, who were injured on Wales's summer tour to New Zealand, is concerned that too much is being asked of players.
"Alun Wyn Jones has not had a summer off since he started playing professional rugby: you have to ask at what point is he going to break down," says Holley. "There has to be an answer, but I think it is down to the powers-that-be, not coaches.
"It is a huge worry. I am constantly having 15 guys on the long-term injury list and that has a lot to do with the length of the season. I would guess that Mils Muliaina will play half the number of games in the build-up to the World Cup compared to Tommy Bowe.
"At one point in the season a particular player could play consecutive weeks in the Magners, the LV Cup, the Heineken Cup and on the international scene. Four different competitions in four weeks. Four different balls at four different venues. You have to ask yourself is that conducive [to their wellbeing]?"
Ospreys start the defence of their title tomorrow night against Ulster at Ravenhill, while the side they defeated in the play-off final in Dublin, Leinster, travel to Glasgow. The four Saturday matches are all evening kick-offs with Aironi, who include the former English Premiership players Ludovic Mercier and Julien Laharrague in their back division, have not been given the gentlest of welcomes. They have to travel to Munster for a 7.30pm kick-off at Musgrave Park. Treviso are at home to the Scarlets.
The Aironi No8, Nick Williams, spent two seasons with Munster. "You get to understand how the name of Munster strikes apprehension in the minds of opponents," he says. "During my time there I quickly appreciated that I was part of an historic club.
"One positive for us going into the game is our unpredictability. Munster have never seen us play. If we can disrupt their set-pieces and contest the breakdown, we can go a long way. Pre-season went well and the boys just have to get a feel of the competitiveness of the league."
Leinster lost their head coach, Michael Cheika, to Stade Français at the end of last season. His replacement, the New Zealander Josef Schmidt, has moved in the opposite direction having been backs coach at the French champions, Clermont Auvergne.
"As fantastic as Michael Cheika was, a change is probably good for the squad," says the Leinster and Ireland centre, Brian O'Driscoll. "A new man has come in, thrown new ideas at us and challenged us in different ways. No player knows it all, no matter how experienced he is: you need to keep learning until the day you retire and it has been nice to hear a different voice."
Five teams have won the league, three from Ireland, Munster, Leinster and Ulster, and two from Wales, the Scarlets and Ospreys. Cardiff Blues, the Amlin Challenge Cup holders, have made taking the title a priority.
"We have always placed an emphasis on the league because we quickly realised its potential," says Holley. "We have won it three times and it is nice to be able to say that. Dai Young [the Blues' head coach] can't. I think given his long tenure there he would be really desperate to win it."
Young is. "The league has always been important to us, but it will be a major focus this year," he says. "In the past, it has been a qualification tool for Europe rather than something we have set out to win, if I am honest. Now we are determined to be in the play-offs at the end of the season."
The Blues, armed with the Scotland fly-half, Dan Parks, start off at home to Edinburgh. Scotland has yet to provide a champion and Glasgow and Edinburgh both lost players in the summer, Ally Hogg, Kelly Brown and Jim Hamilton moved to the Premiership while Parks pitched up in Cardiff.
However, Sean Lineen, the Glasgow coach, says: "It is the most satisfying pre-season I have had as a coach. We have a new training centre and our warm-up games taught us a lot. We had 2,500 at Firhill for one game last month, a number we had not attracted in August before. They made a lot of noise and it is important we give them reason to do that against Leinster."
The introduction of the Italian sides means that, more than ever, the season will be a test of resources with most of the sides involved likely to lose large numbers of players during the international windows in November and February/March.
It is one reason why a strong start is imperative. Edinburgh, who have Chris Paterson back at full-back, may have one of the most demanding matches on the opening weekend, but they have won in Cardiff on their last three league visits and they at least know all about Parks.
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds - Toshack queries Euro ref choice - John Toshack questions the appointment of referee Anastassios Kakos in Wales' Euro 2012 opener in Montenegro.
- Bulls Connor suffers freak injury - Hereford United boss Simon Davey explains goalkeeper Dan Connor's freak hip injury suffered as he got out of his car.
- BBC to screen Victoria Park tie - The Co-operative Insurance Cup tie between Ross County and Dundee United will be shown live on BBC Two Scotland.
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Football Weekly Extra podcast: The transfer window closes and a look ahead to the weekend's internationals
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Land ahoy everyone! James Richardson is back for another stint at the helm of the good ship Football Weekly Extra, where he's joined by Sean Ingle, Paul Doyle and Paul MacInnes.
Topics up for discussion include the big last-minute transfers across Europe – including just how Milan were able to sign Robinho and Zlatan Ibrahimovic a week after relying on Genoa to help them bring in Kevin-Prince Boateng. Meanwhile Sid Lowe joins us from a metro station in Madrid to tell us how Rafael van der Vaart moving to Spurs has gone down in the Spanish capital.
We assess England's chances ahead of tomorrow's game against Bulgaria, look at Laurent Blanc's new-look France and give a nod to Non-League day.
Have a listen and post your feedback below. We're also on iTunes, Facebook and Twitter, and if you enjoy this type of thing, get your daily dose of football with our tea-time email, The Fiver.
One more thing: Football Weekly is coming to Liverpool for a live show in October. If you'd like to be part of the audience click here.
- Curbishley linked with Villa job - Alan Curbishley is among those to be interviewed for the vacant manager's post at Aston Villa, BBC Sport understands.
- Thomas out of World Championships - Geraint Thomas withdraws from the Great Britain team for the road cycling World Championships in Melbourne.
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London 2012 Olympic marathon set to start and finish at the Mall
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• Locog favours a break from tradition of a main stadium finish
• No final decision has been made as organisers ponder optionsThe route for the marathon at the London 2012 Olympic Games is likely to start and finish at the Mall in a departure from tradition, though a final decision has yet to be made.
Several different courses are under consideration and it is hoped the consultation process will be completed by the end of the month.
However, the London Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games (Locog) is understood to have a strong preference for the proposal that uses the Mall as its centrepiece.
Running from Buckingham Palace to Trafalgar Square and featuring Admiralty Arch, Locog believes the ceremonial route will provide the marathon with an iconic backdrop.
Traditionally, the event has finished at the Games' main stadium and the original plan plotted a path from Tower Bridge to the Olympic Stadium in Stratford, east London. But Locog is eager to incorporate as many London landmarks as possible and favour the Mall, which is also the finish line for the annual London Marathon.
The Locog director of venues and infrastructure, James Bulley, however, today stressed discussions over the course are still ongoing. "No final decision over the marathon has been made at this point," he said. "We're still working with the international federation and various technical bodies to understand exactly what will be best for London 2012.
"A number of different routes and scenarios are being examined at the moment. We have some preferred scenarios and we're working those through with the international federations.
"We have to strike a balance between factors such as the implications for traffic and road closures on the day and getting people around to other events. We also want to use as many iconic locations in the route as possible and, of course, it has to work well for all the athletes.
"The fact it traditionally finishes at the stadium is a consideration. The stadium has been designed to accommodate it and finishing there remains one of the options."
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds -
Benjani criticises money-motivated former Manchester City team-mates
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• Benjani Mwaruwari says there is 'no trust' at Manchester City
• Blackburn Rovers striker says: 'Money is not everything'The Blackburn Rovers striker Benjani Mwaruwari claims there is "no trust" at his old club Manchester City and that some of their players are motivated primarily by money.
The Zimbabwe international agreed a deal with Rovers last week having been released earlier this summer by City, where he had spent a largely unsuccessful two and a half year stint.
With a raft of expensive new players arriving at Eastlands after he was signed in 2008 by Sven-Goran Eriksson, Benjani, whose time with City was marred by injury, was deemed surplus to requirements by the club's current manager Roberto Mancini.
The 32-year-old forward has now proven his fitness sufficiently to win himself a contract at Ewood Park and while expressing his delight at earning another chance to play in the Premier League, Benjani has also taken the opportunity to fire a parting shot at his former employers.
Asked what it was like to be at City when they were spending so much money, Benjani said: "It sounds great, but in football money is not everything. What is needed is people who can hang around and love you to be there.
"Sometimes you are loved to be there because of money, which is not good. I would prefer to be here without having all those facilities, be happy and trust everyone around you."
Asked if he thought some players at City were interested in money more than anything else, Benjani said: "Yes, it seemed like that and behind the scenes, there is no trust. I would prefer to play for a club where you are being trusted and you trust everyone around you."
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds - Parkinson queries Pardew sacking - Charlton boss and ex-colleague of Alan Pardew, Phil Parkinson, describes the Southampton manager's sacking as 'strange'.
- Craigan set to captain N Ireland - Stephen Craigan is set to captain Northern Ireland in the Euro 2012 qualifying opener against Slovenia in Maribor.
- Radford signs new deal at Hull FC - Hull FC prop Lee Radford signs a new deal to end talk of a cross-city move to Craven Park.
- Tierney cool on Colchester talks - Marc Tierney says he is happy to wait for Colchester united to come to him with an offer of a new contract.
- No winner for Moore on comeback - Champion jockey Ryan Moore misses out on a winner on his return to the saddle after injury at Salisbury on Thursday.
- Surgery rules Onions out of Ashes - England and Durham pace bowler Graham Onions to miss the Ashes series against Australia this winter because of a back operation.
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Oh Fifa! | The Fiver | Paul Doyle
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WAYNE ROONEY, WORLD CUP SUPERSTAR
Less than two months after the last kick of the World Cup final, and just hours after the concluding slurp of their 687-course post-World Cup swankfest featuring stabbed bison au vin on a bed of shaved truffles and guacamole fritters followed by barracuda goulash and jalapeno chili hummus with a dash of pummelled unicorn, Fifa's tireless panel of technical experts have submitted their report on the 2010 edition of the world's most watched tournament. Watched, but not understood, it seems. Because while most earthlings thought they'd seen Fabio Capello's England trudge around South Africa like laid-off zombies, Fifa's 16-strong cast of elite boffins has revealed that, in fact, at least three English players produced "dynamic", "competitive" and "energetic" performances and that the team's defeat by Germany was a "major shock".
In an uncharacteristic lapse, Fifa missed the opportunity to hail David Beckham's photogenic posturing around the English bench, so the three players identified were Steven Gerrard, "a dynamic midfielder with good vision and technique", Ashley Cole, "a competitive left-back with good technique", and … oh go on, guess? Why, Wayne Rooney, of course! And there was you thinking Manchester's foremost product vendor had stunk the place out like the extra-large tray of vintage parmesan that was devoured rapidly during course 17 of Fifa's epic gorging! Turns out you're an idiot and Rooney proved himself to be "a hard-working, energetic striker, worked hard for team; good technique."
Now you have to question the reliability of the evidence of our own eyes. Or wonder what it says about the international game when Fifa's finest minds - or, as in this case, a panel whose members include Andy Roxbrough and Gerard Houllier - consider being "hard-working" and having "good technique" as sufficient to make a player worthy of praise. Of course, you may not want to think about the international game at all so soon after such a dismal World Cup. But some people have to.
Fabio Capello, for instance, has to open England's Euro 2012 qualifying campaign against Bulgaria at a (quarter? Half? Three-quarters?) full Wembley. And whereas you think Rooney has seemed sluggish and blunt during Manchester United's start to the season, Capello's glasses have obviously been issued by Fifa, for he declared today that the lost-looking striker has rediscovered his best form: "I monitored him during the last game that he played against West Ham," confided Capello. "He's good, he's back and I'm happy because he scored a goal. Rooney will play tomorrow in style." Will the media-savaged Italian be vindicated? Or is yet another England campaign beginning with a misleading promise?
QUOTE OF THE DAY
"I think my wife and daughters deserve to enjoy every day to the full and live their lives but they have to be at home all day. My wife doesn't speak a word of English, so she depends 100% on me. I live here with them. That's my world, that's my life" – Javier Mascherano, 17 May 2010.
"When they started to involve my family and to say things that didn't make sense, I obviously suffered. That [the transfer from Liverpool to Barcelona] didn't have anything to do with my family or anything else. When you read or hear lies, you obviously get angry" – Javier Mascherano, 2 September 2010.
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FIVER LETTERS
"Re: Uefa banning vuvuzelas on the grounds that they might drown supporter emotions. It's too late. The soul-destroying tripe blared out at full volume at most grounds after every goal, and at half-time and full time has already done this" - Dion Di Miceli.
"So John Caley (yesterday's Fiver letters) wants Uefa to 'start enforcing the existing ban on fireworks, flairs, etc?'." If he wants to see a ban on flair he's welcome to join me at Villa Park; the ban's been enforced there since the end of last season" - Phil Coxon.
"I don't think that Uefa have a ban on flairs, it's more that Internazionale are really good at making them ineffective" - Liam McGuigan.
"Re: Uefa's ban on flair. This would still appear to be a spectacular success for the Fiver's Stop Football campaign" - Richard Tallett.
"To my disbelief and delight you choose to slip in obscure Soviet political references into yesterday's Fiver just a day after I'd been putting serious hours into trying to shoehorn Wigan's third choice goalkeeper into my dissertation on the Politburo" - Francis Allen.
Send your letters to the.boss@guardian.co.uk. And if you've nothing better to do you can also tweet the Fiver now.
BITS AND BOBS
Birmingham City's acting chairman, Peter Pannu, has dismissed suggestions of a rift with Alex McLeish over a new contract. Pannu was quoted as saying that McLeish was asking for "a very large amount of money" and that he was "no José Mourinho". But Pannu today told the Birmingham Mail that "Our relationship is phenomenal ... I spoke to Alex about the Mourinho reference and we laughed about it."
Portugal's coach, Carlos Queiroz, faces a fight to keep his job after being suspended for six months after the country's sports institute ruled that he disrupted an anti-doping test ahead of the World Cup.
West Brom defender Joe Mattock has been given a suspended sentence for punching two men and two women in a trendy Leicester nightspot last year.
Sometime West Ham player Kieron Dyer has been banned from driving for six months after clocking 95mph on his way back to Suffolk last April.
STILL WANT MORE?
John Ashdown's head is so chock-full of Football League comment that he sneezed this morning and produced this blog on Torquay United's perfect start to League Two.
Proper journalist David Conn has taken a week off from rooting through the bins outside football grounds to write this blog on why Premier League clubs have been quick to see the financial benefits of the 'homegrown' rule.
Find out who's in and who's out in our comprehensive guide to every Premier League club's 25-player squad list for the first half of the season.
And have your intelligence insulted by an embarrassingly easy question and you could win three tickets to watch Arsenal v Braga in Big Cup.
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AND YOUR ALBUM OF 2010 IS?
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds - Crawley interest unsettled Brodie - Crawley Town's new signing Richard Brodie concedes that his form dipped after he became unsettled by speculation over his own future.
- Harlequins v Warrington - Team news ahead of Friday's Super League fixture at The Stoop (2000 BST).
- Bacup Borough eye FA Vase success - Bacup begin their FA Vase challenge with the visit of Nostell MW on Saturday.
- 2012's triathlon plans unveiled - Buckingham Palace and Constitution Hill are both incorporated into the triathlon route at the London Olympics.
- Lithuania look to Scottish links - Several members of the Lithuania squad have experience of playing in Scotland.
- Vipers import to face old friends - Newcastle Vipers forward Dale Mahovsky is keen to renew old acquaintances when he makes his Elite League bow on Tyneside this season.
- Live - Essex v Middlesex - Live commentary and scorecard from the Clydesdale Bank 40 Group B clash between Essex and Middlesex at Chelmsford.
- Premier League squads - Every Premier League club's 25-man squad until the January transfer window, as Owen Hargreaves makes the cut and Jonathan Woodgate misses out
- Kelly grateful for Oldham chance - Oldham Athletic striker Dean Kelly speaks about his transformation from builder to full-time professional.
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Pakistan betting scandal: Analysis of what the high commissioner said
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Wajid Shamsul Hasan's statement had to play well domestically while also satisfying ECB and ICC demands to omit the players
• Analysis: What Yawar Saeed said
• Analysis: What Giles Clarke saidThe Pakistani high commissioner, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, has said that the three players at the centre of the spot-fixing allegations – Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir and Salman Butt – are "extremely" disturbed by events in the last week and that they would not be in the right frame of mind to play again in England this summer. It was a carefully thought-out statement. During the last 24 hours Hasan has had to find a way of pleasing the people back in Pakistan while also responding to pressure from the England and Wales Cricket Board and the International Cricket Council to make sure that the three players did not play on.
Analysis
Following the late-night intervention of the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt, who appeared to upset the pathway to the carefully negotiated solution desired by the ECB and the ICC, talks continued well into the night. The high commissioner had to find a formulation of words that would play well domestically – backing the players in their claims of innocence – while also satisfying ECB and ICC demands to omit the players from the rest of the tour. It was always assumed that the escape route Pakistan would use would be to blame the pressure on the players for the decision to omit them. But Hasan went further by using emotive language to described the "mental torture" affecting the players.
The statement
"The three players have said they are extremely disturbed with what has happened in the past week specially with regard to their alleged involvement in the crime. They mention that they are entirely innocent in the whole episode and shall defend their innocence as such. They further maintain that on account of the mental torture which has deeply affected them all they are not in the right frame of mind to play the remaining matches. Therefore, they have requested the PCB not to consider them for the remaining matches till their names are cleared."
guardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds - Gloucs' Attwood wary of Exeter - Gloucester and England lock Dave Attwood says they cannot afford to underestimate Premiership new boys Exeter at Sandy Park on Saturday.
- Benjani targeting fitness boost - Blackburn Rovers striker Benjani Mwaruwari focuses on regaining the form and fitness he showed while at Portsmouth.
- Time to deliver Wales - Bellamy - Captain Craig Bellamy says it is time for Wales to deliver and qualify for a major tournament for the first time in 54 years.
- Turner challenges Dragons charges - Paul Turner warns his Dragons team against 'second season syndrome' as last year's surprise package bid to become a Magners League force.
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Video: Andy Roddick 'stupefied' by umpire after defeat at US Open 2010
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The American No9 seed has spoken about his tirade over a foot-fault as he crashed out at Flushing Meadows
- Live text - US Open day four - Top seed Caroline Wozniacki takes centre stage on day four at the US Open with Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova and Novak Djokovic in action later.
- Beaglehole applauds Boyce switch - Northern Ireland U21 manager Steve Beaglehole applauds the transfer of Liam Boyce to Werder Bremen ahead of the European Championship qualifier against San Marino.
- Montenegro v Wales (Fri) - Team news ahead of Wales' 2012 European Championship Group G opener in Montenegro on Friday.
- Druce is more upbeat about injury - Tom Druce is feeling more positive about his prospects for the Commonwealth Games following a hamstring injury.
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Graham Onions faces a further nine months out with back surgery
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• England bowler to have surgery next week
• 'I'm devastated but determined to overcome this setback'The England fast bowler, Graham Onions, faces a further nine-month lay-off after the England and Wales Cricket Board announced that he will undergo surgery next week in a bid to overcome the back injury that has ruled him out of this winter's Ashes series.
Attempts by England's medical staff to solve Onions's long-standing stress fracture without an operation have proved unsuccessful. Onions will undergo surgery next Monday and cannot realistically expect to return until midway through next summer. He first experienced discomfort in the nets on England's tour of Bangladesh and left the tour without playing a game.
The ECB's chief medical officer, Dr Nick Peirce, said: "Graham has been suffering from ongoing discomfort due to stress fractures on both sides of his back. We have thoroughly exhausted all avenues of conservative treatment and rehabilitation with surgery very much seen as a last resort. Unfortunately, Graham has not responded to these forms of treatment and as a result we have no option left but to undertake a course of treatment involving surgery.
"The surgery Graham faces is a relatively significant operation and his rehabilitation will see him ruled out of all cricket for approximately up to nine months. His rehabilitation will be overseen and carried out by the ECB medical team in conjunction with the medical staff at Durham."
England have long accepted that they will contest the Ashes without Onions. They discounted him from their plans three months ago, but the player himself remained committed to proving his fitness. Only now has realisation dawned as to the full extent of his injury.
"I'm shattered to have been ruled out of the Ashes with the prospect of a lengthy recovery period," he said. "After experiencing the euphoria of being part of an Ashes winning England team last year I was determined to get myself fit for selection ahead of this winter's tour of Australia. Unfortunately, that's not to be and even though we have tried every possible form of treatment, surgery is the only option left.
"While I'm devastated to be facing such a long lay-off from cricket I'm determined to overcome this setback and make sure I get back bowling again next year and work my way back into the England calculations."
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- Mason extends Worcestershire stay - Worcestershire seam bowler Matt Mason signs a new one-year playing contract with the New Road club.
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Video: Pakistan trio dropped from limited-overs fixtures at their own request after spot-fixing allegations
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The Pakistan high commissioner has stressed the innocence of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, and spoken of their 'mental torture'
- Irvine praises Owls midfielders - Sheffield Wednesday manager Alan Irvine has praised his midfielders for their goals this season.
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Pakistan cricketers innocent of spot-fixing, says high commissioner
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Top Pakistani diplomat claims Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, who have been dropped from tour, were set up
The Pakistani high commissioner said today he believed the three cricketers under investigation for spot-fixing were "set up", after talking to them in London about the allegations.
Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, who will take no further part in the tour of England, had been summoned to explain themselves to commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan, and the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Ijaz Butt.
After the meeting, Hasan read out a statement saying the men maintained their innocence but had requested their own removal from the remaining matches because of the "mental torture" they had faced. He said he believed in their innocence.
Later, he went further, questioning the veracity of the News of the World video that forms the basis for the accusations.
He said it was not clear "whether they [the videos] were taken before the match" and suggested they might have been recorded after the no-balls had been bowled.
Asked twice whether he believed the three players had been "set up" he replied "yes" both times. In a statement, the News of the World described the set-up allegations as "ludicrous".
In his statement this morning, Hasan said: "They [the three players] mentioned that they are entirely innocent in the whole episode and shall defend their innocence as such.
"They further maintain that, on account of the mental torture which has deeply affected them, they are not in the right frame of mind to play the remaining matches.
"Therefore they have requested the Pakistan Cricket Board not to consider them for the remaining matches."
While speaking, Hasan was persistently asked by Pakistani journalists, who believe the team is the victim of a conspiracy: "What about India?"
The three players were met by a media scrum as they arrived at the high commission this morning in four-wheel drives with blacked-out windows, and required a police escort to the building.
The Pakistani team manager, Yawar Saeed, said earlier that the players would miss all the remaining matches of the tour. Replacements will be called up for the five-match one-day series against England but not for the two Twenty20 matches.
The players' removal from the squad will come as a relief for the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), which will be hoping the move takes the pressure off the rest of the tour and stems any protests by fans.
Giles Clarke, the ECB chairman and chairman of the ICC's Pakistan taskforce, welcomed the announcement that the players would play no further part and said he hoped the remaining matches would be played in a competitive spirit.
"I look forward to working with Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, and Ijaz Butt, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, and everyone involved in Pakistani cricket in taking forward cricket in Pakistan so that a proper plan exists for the whole of Pakistani cricket," he said.
The focus will now return to the ICC investigation, although officials will not be interviewing the players until they get the go-ahead from the police. That is likely to be tomorrow at the earliest, which is when the police are next due to question the players.
Ever since the allegations broke, Pakistani officials have maintained that the players would not be removed from the team until wrongdoing had been proved. Hasan denied today that they had come under any pressure from either the ICC or the ECB to pull them out of the tour.
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Alex McLeish has full support of Birmingham City's acting chairman
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• Peter Pannu says 'Mourinho quote' was taken out of context
• Birmingham close to agreeing new contract with managerBirmingham City's acting chairman Peter Pannu has dispelled concerns about a rift with Alex McLeish over the manager's ongoing contract negotiations.
Pannu was quoted yesterday as saying that McLeish was asking for "a very large amount of money which I was not prepared to meet" and that he was "no José Mourinho".
But Pannu insisted today the comments had not been meant as a criticism and that McLeish could sign a new contract as early as next week. He told the Birmingham Mail: "This is all nonsense. We are just perhaps inches away from Alex signing a contract, possibly by next week.
"Our relationship is phenomenal, we are very strong and close, and I want to dispel this notion that there is anything wrong.
"In fact, I spoke to Alex about the Mourinho reference and we laughed about it. In the whole context of the interview I did, it would not have had a sting to it. But to take out the extract like that made it look worse than it was.
"Mourinho came up because I mentioned that the agent who made the initial approach to me about Alex and his contract represents Mourinho. Nothing was meant as a slight to Alex in the context of the conversation I had."
McLeish declined to comment on the situation at a press conference yesterday following the transfer deadline-day signings of Alexander Hleb, Martin Jiranek and Jean Beausejour.
The Scot, who still has a year left to run on his current deal, is being rewarded for Birmingham's first season back in the Premier League that saw them finish ninth.
Pannu is confident the saga will soon be brought to a successful conclusion, adding: "We have agreed figures, there is only one clause still be sorted out. It is not pay-related."
McLeish, meanwhile, has revealed letters from the Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and his Arsenal counterpart Arsène Wenger helped secure Hleb a work permit. The former Gunners winger was initially denied a permit to return to England from Barcelona because his national team, Belarus, are ranked outside the top 70 in Fifa's world rankings.
But the Blues were successful with an appeal, and McLeish said: "Both Sir Alex and Arsène Wenger gave us a headed notepaper endorsement of Hleb's quality to play in England. I think the panel were pretty positive about it anyway. But we had to make sure the panel were aware that Hleb was always a target and it helps when you have got two top managers endorsing a particular player."
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Fifa praises Wayne Rooney for his England performances at World Cup
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• Steven Gerrard and Ashley Cole also win Fifa plaudits
• One nominee apiece from underachieving France and ItalyWayne Rooney may have been viewed as one of the biggest disappointments of the World Cup but Fifa's technical experts have picked him out as one of England's best players in the tournament.
The Manchester United striker did not score in any of England's four games in South Africa and appeared to have been affected by an injury picked up towards the end of last season.
However, Fifa's technical report, which was published today, picks out Rooney, Ashley Cole and Steven Gerrard as England's best players.
Rooney is described as a "hard-working, energetic striker; worked hard for team; good technique".
The Liverpool and England captain Gerrard was picked out as the most influential player and praised as a "dynamic midfielder with good vision and technique, who linked defence and attack".
Cole, generally recognised as England's best player in the tournament, was described as a "competitive left-back with good technique, made forceful attacking runs".
The report was put together by Fifa's 16-man technical study group, including the former Liverpool manager Gérard Houllier and the former Scotland manager and now Uefa technical director Andy Roxburgh.
The report on England stresses "strong, hard-working players" with "aerial strength used effectively at set pieces in defence".
It also picks out:
• Rapid transition from defence to attack.
• Attacks using width.
• Effective use of full-backs.
The report does not pick out three or more "outstanding" players for every country. For France and Italy, who both went out in the group stage, only one player is mentioned: the French goalkeeper Hugo Lloris and the Italian midfielder Daniele de Rossi.
The report says England's 4-1 defeat in the first knockout phase at the hands of Germany, together with France and Italy's exits, were "the major shocks of the tournament" and said the three European countries and Brazil had to deal with high levels of expectation.
Jean-Paul Brigger, the technical study group's director, lauded Spain – who won the tournament scoring eight goals, only twice managing more than one in a game – as the complete team and arguably "team of the century".
Brigger said: "Spain won the Uefa Euro in 2008 and are now world champions too, which is a stunning success. The Spanish team has grown and developed together and is now capable of fantastic, highly attractive football.
"They're compact, and tackle and run hard too. Xavi, [Andrés] Iniesta and Xabi Alonso in midfield cover huge amounts of ground but play fabulous football too – it looks pretty and even playful, but it's actually very hard work indeed. They're a complete team, arguably contenders for team of the century. And up until the final, the Dutch also played some fine football."
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Carlos Queiroz suspended for six months for insulting anti-doping team
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• Portugal coach may struggle to keep his job
• Football federation had given him one-month suspensionPortugal's coach, Carlos Queiroz, has been suspended for six months after the country's sports institute ruled that he disrupted an anti-doping test ahead of the World Cup.
The institute, which governs the National Anti-Doping Agency, said an inquiry found that Queiroz insulted an anti-doping team sent to test the Portugal squad before the tournament in South Africa and that his aggressive behaviour disrupted their work.
The institute said it has sent the ruling to the Portuguese football federation, which employs Queiroz. Neither the federation nor Queiroz were immediately available for comment, though the coach has previously denied the charge.
The federation earlier this month suspended Queiroz for one month on a charge of misconduct related to the same incident in May. However, it said that though he had used foul language with the inspectors he had not disrupted the test itself.
An extended suspension will likely put Queiroz's job at risk as he would miss the first four of Portugal's Euro 2012 qualifying games.
The institute's 31-page report said that after hearing evidence from all those involved in the incident it concluded that Queiroz's intimidating behaviour had unsettled the anti-doping team and that, consequently, one of the inspectors failed to carry out a test correctly at the training camp.
None of the players tested positive. Queiroz has said he was angry that the unannounced early morning tests had disturbed the players and admitted that he used inappropriate language.
Last month, Sir Alex Ferguson testified on Queiroz's behalf as a character witness at the federation's own inquiry. Queiroz was previously Ferguson's assistant at Old Trafford.
Queiroz was widely criticised after Portugal produced a disappointing World Cup campaign in South Africa, where they went out in the second round against the eventual champions Spain, and he has suggested that the charges are an attempt to force him out of his job.
Portugal's first qualifying games for the 2012 European Championship are against Cyprus tomorrow and Norway four days later, when Queiroz's assistant Agostinho Oliveira will be in charge. Group H also includes Denmark and Iceland.
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Torquay raise ambitions after quickly completing tough turnaround | John Ashdown
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Three years after being relegated to the Conference, the club leads League Two with a perfect start to the new season
Back at the start of April things did not look good for Torquay United. A difficult season of readjustment to life back in the Football League left the Gulls perilously close to the relegation zone in League Two. A 2-0 defeat at Morecambe left them just six points clear of the dreaded dotted line. Only eight games remained for the club to preserve the league status that it had fought so hard to win back in 2008-09.
To say there has been a turnaround since is something of an understatement. The goal Paul Buckle's side conceded in their next game, a 2-1 win over play-off chasing Shrewsbury, was the last they allowed in the league until Anthony Griffith scored a consolation for Port Vale last weekend – a run of 10 successive league clean-sheets, and a combined club-record 998 impervious minutes in total. Since April Fools' Day United's record in League Two reads played 12, won 10, drawn two, lost zip. No team in the country have amassed more points in that time.
It is a turnaround that the manager puts down, in the short term at least, to some tough transfer decisions. Having delivered on his promise to give the players who had won promotion a chance to prove themselves in the league, Buckle opted in January to let players such as Tim Sills and Chris Hargreaves (both goalscorers in the previous season's play-off final) leave the club. "Letting those players go mystified a lot of people," Buckle says. "In my opinion that's what needed to happen. Since March, we've had a very young squad that have reaped the rewards. It was a turnaround of three or four players that we had to do, and those players had been terrific for us. But it had to be done."
Torquay now sit at the top of the division, the only side in the country to have won four out of four games. The success story, though, did not start five months ago. The real recovery began with the appointment of Buckle following the team's relegation to the Conference in 2007. Leaving the assistant manager's job at Exeter City the then 36-year-old arrived at Plainmoor with the club at its lowest ebb. "I took the job just after it lost its league status, having been in the Football League for 80 years," he says. "I walked into the manager's job with four players, with probably only three of them worth anything to us. There was literally nothing at the club, there was no groundsman, no training ground, absolutely nothing. Really and truthfully it's been a massive success story so far."
That first season in the Conference saw the club finish third, 15 points behind the runaway champions Aldershot. Painful defeat to Exeter in the play-offs followed, as did defeat at Wembley to Ebbsfleet in the FA Trophy final. The Gulls again bounced back, however, finishing fourth in 2008-09 and beating Cambridge United at Wembley to secure their return to the Football League. The club's five-year plan to return to the league was completed three years early.
That brought its own problems last year, but with United's form since April you could be forgiven for thinking that coping with rising expectations would be a problem this time around. "To be honest I don't feel one ounce of pressure," Buckle says, "because every week when we were playing in the Blue Square [Premier] you were expected to win. Even though I didn't inherit a league side, and it was a work in progress, there was pressure there because when you're an ex-league side everyone wants to beat you.
"We suffered disappointment in the first year, losing at Wembley in the Trophy final and obviously missing out in the play-offs. Then in the second year we went up and won at Wembley, and now I don't feel any pressure at all because we're not spending bundles of money, we're really not. I can't go into the details of what our budget is but I can assure you it's a lot, lot lower than the vast majority of sides in our division.
"We're not expected to do anything, we've seen that from the bookies and the pundits. If we finish higher than we did last year then it's a successful season because that was the remit."
That financial situation means Buckle and Torquay have to make use of free transfers, and it is not a job made easier by the location of the town. "I've tried to educate the football club, and the board have been great with it, of how important scouts are to us," Buckle says. "Geographically where we are in the country it's very difficult for me to get out and see players. It's not like you're round the M25 – you can't finish training and go and watch a reserve game. So I'm dependent on good people, and I've got good people around me.
"We do have to bring players in like Mark Ellis, Elliot Benyon, Danny Stevens, Eunan O'Kane, Billy Kee – they're all players who are 19, 20 years of age who haven't made it somewhere. We have them watched, we sort of know about them and bring them in. I bring them down with their families, show them around Devon, show them what they're coming in to and we take it from there. It's not easy to attract players down to the West Country."
The key for Buckle this week has been preventing players being attracted away from it. Ellis, a 21-year-old defender-come-midfielder, was the subject of a bid from an unnamed League One club last month, while several other squad members have been the subject of speculation. But deadline day passed without any departures and the Gulls can look forward to the rest of the season with strong cause for optimism.
"One of the directors said to me the other day as we came back from Port Vale: 'Well, Bucks, we're 10 points off the bottom now'," the manager says. "That was the remit at the start of the season, but I've got high standards and the players have too. We will try to push this as far as we can this year. I'm not going to be someone who says that we're happy to stay up. We're not, we want to try and win as many games as we can."
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A club-by-club guide to the Premiership season
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Shaun Edwards makes his predictions on the teams and players to watch in the Guinness Premiership
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Fabio Capello: Phil Jagielka fit to start for England against Bulgaria
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• 'Jagielka is fit, he trained well,' says Fabio Capello
• Italian says door is still open for David Beckham to returnFabio Capello has said he is not concerned about the injuries which have hit the England squad before tomorrow's Euro 2012 qualifier against Bulgaria. The Italian is facing a minor crisis in defence with Rio Ferdinand and John Terry injured and Phil Jagielka suffering from an ankle injury picked up against Aston Villa at the weekend.
However, Capello said today that the Everton defender looked on course to start the game, probably with Matthew Upson in central defence.
"The training was really good, the players are OK and some problems we had in the last two days are getting better," he said. "[Jagielka] is fit, he trained well, there is a little bit of pain but I think for tomorrow he will be 100%.
"I'm not concerned but I know that the central defenders will play for the first time together tomorrow. I hope they will be really focusing every moment of the game and I hope [Ashley] Cole and [Glen] Johnson will help these two players, and also the midfield."
Capello said he is close to finalising his starting XI: "The keeper, [Joe] Hart, [Wayne] Rooney, Steve [Gerrard], [Gareth] Barry, [Ashley] Cole, [Glen] Johnson, Jagielka, more or less. I know 10 or 11, with a little doubt about one."
The players are desperate to make amends for a poor World Cup and Capello is confident England will regain the form which saw them qualify for the tournament with nine wins from 10 games.
"It's part of a manager's job," Capello said of the pressures facing him. "When you win, you're the best. When you lose, you're the worst."
And the Italian admitted he had changed his approach since South Africa. "I learn something after a new experience," he said. "I changed something, but not a lot. We have to play without fear. I thought the players trained very well, with confidence, and I hope tomorrow we can see the same during the game.
"Bulgaria will not be an easy game to play, they are really good technically, they defend with nine players – one forward – and they play on the counter, really fast. Their quality is good but we have to win, we have to play well, and I hope also the fans will support us during the game."
Asked about his plans for the former England captain David Beckham, who missed the World Cup, Capello said: "The door is open for all the players, always. I prefer at this moment to choose young players."
Capello said he was also encouraged by Rooney's return to goalscoring form. The Manchester United forward ended a five-month wait for a goal when he converted a penalty against West Ham United last weekend, and the Italian was glad to see him on the scoresheet.
"I monitored him during the last game that he played against West Ham," said Capello. "He's good, he's back and I'm happy because he scored a goal. Rooney runs a lot around the pitch, he's free to move where he decides to go. Rooney will play tomorrow in style."
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Leicester's title-grip faces being loosened by hungry pack of pursuers | Robert Kitson
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The Premiership champions are in good shape ahead of the new season but the likes of Bath will push them to the wire
Crouch, touch, pause … you know the rest. On the eve of the new Aviva Premiership season the only sound is of rival tribes checking their body armour. No player feels quite as invincible as he does this morning, no coach as quietly optimistic. The smell of fresh hope and liniment is as traditional as the rush to install Leicester as favourites for yet another title. The latter saves time and history suggests it does not pay to kick the habit.
Not so fast, Nic O'Teen, as that old anti-smoking advert used to warn. Who won more matches in the regular season last year? Not Leicester but Northampton. Who scored the most tries? Not the Tigers but Bath. Who led the Twickenham final entering the final moments? Not Leicester but Saracens. The margins grow ever more fractional and the relentlessly old-school Richard Cockerill knows it.
This is not to say Leicester are a team in decline. The opposite may well be true. Their off-field profits and turnover are up and they have recruited ruthlessly again, with the former Crusaders No8 Thomas Waldrom likely to feature more often than Lewis Moody would have done. Last season was the time to catch them in rebuilding mode and still no one managed it. Championships tend to be won by the team with the meanest defence and the Tigers conceded just 18 in 22 games en route to the play-offs. They rode their luck in the final but since when has that been a crime?
No, it is less a case of Leicester tailing off and more about their pursuers upping the tempo. Sarries, Bath, Northampton, Wasps and Gloucester, not necessarily in that order, are all in better shape than a year ago. The same applies to Quins, while London Irish will not be as grievously affected by injuries this time. Only the three northern soulmates – Leeds, Sale and Newcastle – and newly-promoted Exeter Chiefs will be happy enough with a mid-table finish. It has all the makings of a classic season.
Take Bath, for example. Their new multi-millionaire owner, Bruce Craig, spends a fair amount of his time out of the country but his influence is already palpable. Everyone at the Rec looks infinitely happier than they did 12 months ago when off-field events were still exacting a heavy toll. No-one finished the season faster and, while the excellent Julian Salvi and Joe Maddock have gone, the likes of Moody, Simon Taylor and Tom Biggs will be quality new recruits if they stay fit and available. Steve Meehan says his team will employ a different style this season – "we are more dynamic in the back row than we have been" – but evolution is rarely bad news. Their pre-season form has been strong and their fixture schedule is nicely spread. They will also be stronger for last year's semi-final disappointment.
The same applies to Northampton. Everything was in place last season for a final push at Twickenham until Saracens crashed the party at Franklin's Gardens. Juandre Kruger's return to South Africa is a pain but, as Leicester will discover on Sunday, the Saints take increasingly few prisoners at home. An ounce more conviction on the big occasion – the European pool-game in Munster springs repeatedly to mind – and they will be serious contenders.
So, too, will Sarries if they stick to the formula which almost brought them the title last May. Kelly Brown could be the signing of the season and the South Africa prop Deon Carstens has been around the block a few times. By the time Matt Stevens's two-year drug suspension expires, it is hard to imagine his new club not being in the mix. Brendan Venter has never been one to settle for second best.
Dark horses? Gloucester are stronger up front, particularly with giant Jim Hamilton returning south to partner England's big white hope Dave Attwood. Harlequins, who conceded 10 more tries than relegated Worcester last season, fully expect their new captain Chris Robshaw to challenge strongly for an England back-row slot and are loving their new training base in Guildford. Wasps are simply glad to have their popular skipper Tom Rees back fit and are worth a bet to reach the European quarter-finals, particularly if the move up the M4 (as opposed to down the hard shoulder in a golf cart) brings out the best in Andy Powell.
Which leaves the bottom end. The received wisdom is that Exeter Chiefs will find the step up too much, but I'm not convinced. The Chiefs are fit, well-coached by Rob Baxter and Ali Hepher and a tightly-knit bunch. If I was Mike Brewer of Sale or Alan Tait of Newcastle, meanwhile, I would be anything but certain of a happy ending. There is still some back-biting at the Sharks and Tait's playing budget is probably tighter than Baxter's. The losers of tomorrow night's opening fixture at Edgeley Park are my tip for the drop.
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Pakistan betting scandal: An analysis of what Giles Clarke said
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The most intriguing part of Giles Clarke's statement was his call for a 'proper plan' to exist for Pakistan cricket
• Analysis: What Yawar Saeed said
• Analysis: What the high commissioner saidGiles Clarke, the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board, today responded to the news that Pakistan would not pick the three players at the centre of the spot-fixing allegations: Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir.
Analysis
The ECB was desperate not to appear triumphalist after its repeated demands for the withdrawal of the three Pakistan players from the one-day series. Clarke, however, does not do false modesty. He made his announcement with a certain hauteur. He received no questions because it was known that questions would not be tolerated.
The ECB had been disturbed by Ijaz Butt, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, repeating his assertion on BBC News on Wednesday night that the players would not be suspended unless they were found guilty. This seemed to clear the way for them to return to play the one-day series.
A series of late-night phone calls followed during which it was again made clear that the ECB expected the Pakistan board to find a way to exclude the players while the allegations against them were examined.
The most intriguing part of Clarke's brief statement concerns his call for a "proper plan" to exist for Pakistan cricket. Clarke is likely to press from within the ICC for support for Pakistan cricket, including the return of tours to the country, to come hand in hand with stronger safeguards against illegal betting scams.
His challenge will be to do this without stirring old anti-colonial sentiments. Shortly before Clarke appeared before the cameras, the Pakistan sports minister, Ijaz Jakhrani, was interviewed on the Indian news channel CNN-IBN and warned that the entire thing could be an anti-Pakistan plot.
Cricket does not have a deal at the moment. It has a truce.
The statement
"The England and Wales Cricket Board welcomes the announcement of the Pakistan Cricket Board's squad for the NatWest T20 and NatWest ODI series. We look forward to an extremely competitive series, full of excellent cricket and we can assure cricket fans across the country in the most competitive spirit long associated with contests between England and Pakistan.
"As chairman of the ICC's Pakistan task team, I look forward to working with Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, Ijaz Butt, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board and everybody involved in Pakistan cricket in taking forward cricket in Pakistan so that a proper plan exists for the whole of Pakistan cricket, given all the many and varied issues which have addressed it. We naturally have many challenges at ICC to face. Cricket fans across the world can be assured that we will be doing so."
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Pakistan betting scandal: An analysis of what the tour manager said
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Yawar Saeed chose his words carefully when he said Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Amir and Salman Butt were being 'replaced' rather than 'suspended'
• Analysis: What Giles Clarke said
• Analysis: What the high commissioner saidYawar Saeed, the Pakistan tour manager, was the first to reveal that the three players at the centre of the spot-fixing allegations – Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir – would not play in the remaining matches of the tour of England. Here is an analysis of what he said – and why he had to be careful about what he said – as well as the full transcript.
Analysis
Saeed was in a tricky situation. He had to announce the withdrawal of the three Pakistan cricketers from the squad and yet he was aware of legal advice that he should not use the word "suspended" under any circumstances.
He therefore chose to talk only of replacements. His evasion briefly invited a conspiracy theory that Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir might try to return for the one-day internationals. That theory was scotched when the Pakistan high commissioner, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, suggested they had requested to withdraw from the tour because of the "mental torture" they had suffered.
Saeed would also have been aware of the likely outcome to the cricketers' meeting with the Pakistan high commissioner – that they would proclaim their innocence.
The interview
Yawar Saeed For the two T20s the squad will remain what it is here this morning, ie 13 people. Once we have played those two T20 games, for the ODIs subsequently we will be asking for replacements to make up the squad of 16 again.
Question So the three of them won't be rejoining the party?
YS No comment
Q And the others will not take any part in the rest of this tour?
YS I have just spoken in English. We will ask replacement to make up the squad of 16.
Q Have they been suspended?
YS No, no, no.
Q Will they be staying in England?
YS They are still here. I cannot answer anything on their behalf because negotiations, ehm, investigations are being made by Scotland Yard, ICC and others. All I am talking about is the team I am managing and the team today is 13 and will become 16 with replacements.
Q Are you relieved?
YS There is nothing else – I have always been in relief.
Q Who made the decision that they will not be rejoining the squad?
YS I don't think I would like to give all on who is telling me what to do.
Q Have they withdrawn themselves?
YS No they have not.
Q Are they in a fit state to play cricket?
YS Please ask them. (Ijaz Butt, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, later suggested in London that they were not in the right state of mind).
Q So they will not rejoin the squad at all?
YS Shall I repeat it again? Today 13, we will get another three replacements to make 16. Very simple.
Q Are they out of the five one-dayers as well?
YS I will repeat it for the fourth time. As of now we are 13, after the T20s we will ask for three replacements for the five ODIs which will be 16 again.
Q From Pakistan?
YS Naturally, not from any other country, good God.
Q How difficult is it for the 13 left here without the other three?
YS One has to play without a lot of guys, a lot of great guys have come and gone, the game must go on. Cricket must be played at its best.
Q How much pressure have you been put under as tour manager?
YS Not at all, I do my job, the job is to ride the pressure not to be under the pressure. I am not in a position to discuss politics.
Q Has this been done for the integrity of world cricket?
YS Why can't we wait until the investigations are over? Why do we jump for everything? If they are innocent they will play. Let's wait till the decision is made.
Q Who will be the replacements? Is Younis Khan a contender?
YS We haven't decided yet. All Pakistani cricketers are contenders.
Q Can I ask you again who made the decision they would not play?
YS I'm not going to stand here and say who rings me and who tells me. All I'm saying as a manager is this is the 13, and we'll ask for another three.
Q You were told what to do?
YS Everyone is told what to do, yes? Why not keep it simple? This is the squad for T20s. We'll get another three replacements for 50-50. Any complex issue cannot be made easy within 10 minutes of press. Let's please wait for the decisions to come.
Q Who made the decision?
YS I have made the decision. Is that a good answer? Thank you very much.
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Somerset cricket fans unperturbed by Pakistan spot-fixing scandal
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The betting allegations involving Pakistan players has not put off fans attending today's tour match against Somerset
While the players at the centre of spot-fixing claims faced officials in London, fans in Somerset were simply hoping for a good – and straightforward – game of cricket.
Most spectators arriving at a sun-drenched County Ground in Taunton, where Pakistan are taking on Somerset, said the scandal had not dampened their enthusiasm for the sport.
Martyn White, 74, from Great Wishford, near Salisbury, who is a season-ticket holder at both Somerset and Hampshire, said: "The scandal has not put me off coming – I am just interested in the game itself.
"I don't believe corruption to be widespread, but strong punishments should be handed out to those caught out.
"Obviously we don't know what kind of pressure players are under, but if these three cricketers are found guilty then they should be banned for life. But even if there are future scandals it won't put me off going to matches – I have already booked to watch England in Australia this winter.
"And I don't think it will affect the atmosphere here in Taunton today – I think people just want to see a good game of cricket in the sunshine."
Pakistan fan Beenish Faridi, 27, said the allegations would be "very bad for cricket" if they proved to be true, but was still hopeful her heroes would be vindicated.
The stay-at-home mother, who is originally from Lahore but now lives in Taunton, said: "I'm still feeling very excited, and I'm still here to support Pakistan. We were really upset initially by the allegations, but it's not proven yet and we can't condemn the whole team if a few players have done something.
"We feel that there might be some conspiracy involved – there are lots of possibilities. Until they are proven guilty, they are still innocent to me.
"But if it's true that will tarnish the sport and will be very bad for cricket and for Pakistan. That should not be happening, and we are hoping so much that it is wrong. At first we felt really bad and ashamed, but there is no proof yet and we are here to support the full team.
"The other players are still playing and we should encourage them to keep their morale."
Angela Dawson, 53, said she was extremely saddened by the newspaper allegations – but felt 18-year-old Mohammad Amir should not be banned for life if found guilty because of his age. The training consultant from Churchinford, Somerset, said: "I have been looking forward to this game for ages. The match-fixing allegations do look pretty damning, but it definitely did not stop me turning up today.
"The worst thing about the scandal is that one young, talented cricketer in Mohammad Amir has been caught up in it. He's only 18 and I don't think he should be banned for life if found guilty – people should not judge him too harshly."
Ross Henley, 44, a civil servant from Taunton, added: "I think we need to wait until the results of that investigation before making any opinions about the game, and whether it has been tarnished or not.
"We've got a fantastic set-up here in Somerset and we'll give both teams a good welcome. The scandal doesn't put me off going at all. I think a lot of people in Taunton and Somerset were greatly looking forward to this fixture and a good day's cricket.
"I don't think it will affect the play – in fact I think it will make no difference at all. You only have to speak to people in the local area to know how excited everyone still is.
"All us supporters just want to concentrate on the cricket – we're expecting a bumper crowd. I'm still just looking forward to a great day's cricket."
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Pat Richards and Adrian Morley cross swords in battle for Man of Steel | Andy Wilson
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The competition for this season's Super League Man of Steel has become as tight as it has ever been since it began in 1977
Even out on the left wing, Pat Richards will be the centre of attention when Wigan complete an outstanding season that few would have predicted with a home game against the Bradford Bulls tomorrow evening. Richards, the tall Australian wing with strong Irish links and who is in his fifth year with the Warriors, needs 15 points to set a new record for the 15 seasons since the switch to a summer Super League in 1996.
The record is currently held by Andy Farrell, an all-time Wigan great, who scored 388 points from 164 goals and 15 tries in the 2001 season. Richards may have some way to go to match Farrell's place in the cherry-and-white pantheon, but he must already go down as one of their better overseas signings, joining a distinguished recent list including such luminaries as Dean Bell, John Ferguson, Gene Miles and Brett Kenny.
However as a wing, even a very good one, would he be a worthy successor to Farrell as the second Wigan player to be crowned Man of Steel in the Super League era? Or, to put it another way, is he the best wing since Martin Offiah, who made such an impact in his first season in league after joining Widnes from Rosslyn Park in 1987–8 that he became the first and so far only specialist to win the award since it was introduced in 1977? Joe Lydon played a fair amount on the wing when he became the eighth Man of Steel, in 1984, but Widnes also used him at full-back that season – as Wigan have Richards this – and he had switched inside to centre when he scored the two spectacular tries against Wigan at Wembley that probably sealed it for him.
Farrell won the award, given to the player who "makes the greatest impact on a Super League season" in 1996 and 2004, when it was determined by an anonymous panel drawn from the media with a bit of expert advice. Now it is the players who make the decision themselves, in a secret ballot that will be completed in the next few days, with one of the disadvantages of the new system being that no play-off performances can be taken into account.
Richards is widely seen as the frontrunner. Wigan's assistant coach, Shaun Wane, joked that he is in "a shortlist of one", but that was a throwaway comment, because it is hard to remember a season in which there have been so many strong contenders.
There are no guarantees that Richards will even be crowned Wigan's player of the year, as he recognised himself when replying to a recent tweet from Offiah suggesting he had the Man of Steel award wrapped up. "Thanks mate but I can't go past @sam_tomkins or @seanol15," said patrichards5, the latter a reference to the loose forward Sean O'Loughlin, who has epitomised the extra aggression that Wigan have shown this season while retaining his clever play-making abilities.
In the last month alone, Tomkins has scored the try of the season (against Warrington) and produced the most thrilling individual performance I've seen (at Hull KR), and if the Man of Steel award were determined by pure edge-of-the-seat excitement, then it would be a toss-up between his recent brilliance at full-back, and Kyle Eastmond's early-season exuberance at scrum-half for St Helens.
But I don't reckon the gnarled old Super League pros will be as easily wowed, either by England's brightest young talents, or the prolific Richards out wide. After making an Aussie full-back (Brett Hodgson) the Man of Steel last year, they might be a bit reluctant to vote for another former Wests Tigers glory boy (not an appropriate description for either Hodgson or Richards, but you get the point).
In addition to O'Loughlin, there are four more strong homegrown contenders who have been outstanding for the two teams who have pushed Wigan the hardest at the top of the table.
James Roby and James Graham are both previous winners, in 2007 and 2008 respectively, but they have arguably been even better this year than they were then in sustaining the challenge of a Saints team so badly affected by injuries.
Across the M62 at Warrington, while Lee Briers and Michael Monaghan have been consistently crafty and watchable, it is the forwards Ben Westwood and Adrian Morley who are the most likely Man of Steel contenders. Westwood, who joined the Wolves as a centre from Wakefield but has become a non-stop second-row, was the ultimate unsung hero until he took over the goalkicking duties from Briers in recent weeks, regularly earning plaudits from the coach Tony Smith when us ignorant journalists had hardly noticed him.
But Morley is a likelier candidate. He has been one of British rugby league's leading forwards for 14 years now, since he toured Papua New Guinea, Fiji and New Zealand as a teenager, and became one of a select band to make a big impression in Australia during four seasons with the Sydney Roosters.
He appeared in three consecutive Grand Finals for the Roosters, standing up to the New Zealand Warriors enforcers in their only win, and has played in two Super League Grand Finals – losing with Leeds in 1998 before joining Bradford in 2005 for a brief stint that ended in victory over the Rhinos. Last Saturday he enjoyed a third Challenge Cup-winning final at Wembley, but like his old friend Keiron Cunningham, he has never won a major individual award.
In previous years, when the media made the decision, cup performances were not permitted to be taken into account. But now the players are not instructed to make that distinction, and any of them who voted this week will have had the image of Morley lifting the Challenge Cup fresh in their mind.
It is arguable that Richards has made a more obvious impact on the Super League season with his 27 tries and 133 goals. But Morley would nevertheless be a popular and deserving Man of Steel.
That award won't be announced until Grand Final week at the end of the month, but the Engage Dream Team will be revealed next Monday, following the completion of the regular season. After taking on board your suggestions when I asked for a bit a of help a few weeks ago, here's the Guardian Dream Team – with a couple of late changes, as Thomas Leuluai nips in ahead of Michael Dobson at scrum-half, and Sam Tomkins has to be split between full-back and stand-off.
Your thoughts on any of the above, plus any nominations for coach or young player of the year (must have been 21 or under at the start of the season), and any Cup final reflections, are welcome as ever below.
1 Wellens (St Helens)/S Tomkins (Wigan); 2 Briscoe (Hull), 3 King (Warrington), 4 Senior (Leeds), 5 Richards (Wigan); 6 S Tomkins (Wigan)/Brown (Huddersfield), 7 Leuluai (Wigan); 8 Morley (Warrington), 9 Roby (St Helens), 10 Graham (St Helens), 11 Westwood (Warrington), 12 J Tomkins (Wigan), 13 O'Loughlin (Wigan).
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José Mourinho: Arsenal will not win the Champions League this season
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• Arsenal not on Mourinho's list of potential winners
• Real manager says he is no longer 'obsessed' by winning titlesJosé Mourinho does not believe Arsenal are capable of winning the Champions League this season. The Real Madrid coach, speaking to Gazzetta dello Sport, said he thought only seven clubs have a chance of winning European football's premier competition – and Arsène Wenger's team were not among them.
He listed his own side, Real Madrid, among the potential winners along with Barcelona, Internazionale, Milan, Chelsea, Manchester United and last season's runners-up Bayern Munich. "One of these will win," he said. "There could be a surprise like Lyon in the semi-finals last season, maybe Roma, Arsenal, Tottenham or Benfica but it's difficult."
The former Chelsea manager also said he is no longer "obsessed" with winning titles, which might be a good thing since his Real Madrid side could be hard-pressed to challenge Barcelona for the Liga title.
Real opened with a scoreless draw at Mallorca in Mourinho's Spanish league debut last weekend, while the title favourites Barcelona started with a 3-0 win at Racing Santander.
"Barça are a finished product. They could add a name or an idea but that's just perfecting things. At Real there's a feeling of uncertainty and doubts about continuity. In just a few years there have been [Fabio] Capello, [Bernd] Schuster, [Juande] Ramos, [Manuel] Pellegrini and me. You need stability," he said.
"Luckily I'm not obsessed by titles now," the Portuguese coach added. "If I did, I would have stayed at Inter with six competitions available. I would have won three and my career would have been gratified. In Spain I have three competitions and in two of them the Spanish league and the Copa del Rey Barça are the team to beat."
Mourinho added that he still speaks with the Inter president Massimo Moratti weekly, despite bidding the Italian club a teary goodbye after leading it to a treble last season, capped by Inter's first European Cup in 45 years. "We're friends," Mourinho said. "I'm part of his history and he's part of mine."
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Talking Horses: The latest news and best bets in our daily horse racing blog, plus our weekly tipping competition
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The latest news and best bets in our daily horse racing blog, plus our weekly tipping competition
3.20pm Moore is fourth on return to action
Chris Cook: Ryan Moore finished fourth in a Salisbury maiden on his return to the track after a wrist injury. Riding Caraboss in the Queen's colours, Moore found his mount getting outpaced in mid-race before running on well at the end.
There was a lot of support for Godolphin's Khawlah, sent off the even-money favourite, but she was in trouble after starting slowly and getting trapped on the rail at the rear. Naturally, she ran on strongly when it was too late to catch Brian Meehan's Shim Sham (33-1). Sympathy to you favourite-backers.
Win VIP tickets to the Ayr Gold Cup
For anyone who doesn't win this week's competition, you've got a second bite at the cherry. Enter our online competition to win VIP tickets to the Ayr Gold Cup here.
Tim Vaughan's thoughts on Am I Blue
Chris Cook: Here's a posting I put on the blog last night, which I'm sticking up here as well in case anyone missed it who may be interested. I called Tim Vaughan to ask for his thoughts on Am I Blue, who landed an amazing gamble at Hereford yesterday, and he was happy to discuss it.
Vaughan trained the filly from last autumn until the end of March, at which point Am I Blue was sold by her owner, David Lovell, to Delyth Thomas, who trains a few miles from Vaughan's yard.
Vaughan didn't manage to get Am I Blue to win from five attempts over hurdles but she ran respectably, producing form figures of 32553. She appeared to have completely lost her form in three runs for Thomas, in all of which she was tailed off, before hacking up yesterday when well backed.
Vaughan said he had always felt the filly had ability but that she was too high in the weights. "She was very consistent with me but she was running off a mark of 100," he said. "Since she left me, she's been dropped a considerable amount."
That last point is perfectly true. Having still been on a rating of 100 when running for Thomas in June, Am I Blue had been dropped 17lb to yesterday's mark of 83.
Vaughan also feels that the horse has improved for today's step up to two and a half miles. He thought, when she was in his yard, that this might be the case, but could find no suitable races over further than two miles for such a young horse.
"She had better form with me than she's shown today, but off higher marks," Vaughan said. "I saw her in the paper today and I thought, good God, running off 83 and over two and a half miles, she'll be thrown in.
"We always thought she was a decent enough little horse but she was exposed. At the time, she was handicapped to what she was. Today, she was running off a mark of 83 and I should think she'll probably go straight back up to 100 again and she'll struggle. Well, she might be competitive, but she certainly won't be thrown in.
"She was very consistent with me and, if she'd stayed here, she'd probably still be on 100. Well, regrettably, owners don't want to keep paying to be third.
Today's best bets, by Will Hayler
There's a bug going round, as my mum used to say. On Tuesday it was Richard Hughes and now it's Kieren Fallon who's too unwell to ride. Could it be that Ryan Moore, due to return from his own three-and-a-half-week spell on the sidelines might pick up a spare ride or two at Salisbury this afternoon?
I've had my say on yesterday's Hereford shenanigans elsewhere, but I wasn't feeling any happier last night when Carlton Scroop obliged at Kempton to complete the second half of what would have been a tasty double with Northern Lad, the horse who was unfortunate enough to run into Am I Blue. There's no point crying over spilt milk, though, and I'm sure that even now the British Horseracing Authority's team are setting to work to establish whether there is any evidence of anything untoward having taken place.
Up at Redcar today, Soviet Secret (3.40) looks a fair each-way price at 9-1 to cover the petrol money for Newmarket trainer Charlie McBride. Despite having a run of 2s next to his name in the formbook, he doesn't seem to be doing much wrong at the business end of his races and gave subsequent winner Wake Up Call a real fight at Yarmouth two runs ago.
If you forgive his first-ever below-par effort when favourite at Newmarket on his latest start, he looks sure to get involved today and the booking of 5lb-claimer Adam Beschizza (whose name I have heard pronounced a dozen different ways) helps offset the rather harsh hike in the weights he received for that penultimate run.
Margot Did is likely to be over-bet as she steps down in grade at Salisbury, after looking most unfortunate not to get her head in front in Group races on her last two starts. Punters who backed her at York last month will, understandably, want to get their money back in today's Dick Poole Stakes at 3.40pm and she is certainly the likeliest winner by far but, at around the even-money mark, I'd be too worried about the unexposed nature of her opposition to get involved.
Returning to Polytrack and seven furlongs should suit Medicean Man (8.20) at Wolverhampton tonight, Jeremy Gask's runner having caught the eye making late gains to finish just outside the frame at Ripon last time out. Still lightly raced enough to have further improvement left to offer, he was understandably unable to get on terms previously at Royal Ascot, but this evening's contest looks much more his cup of tea.
Earlier on the card, Figaro Flyer (5.45) takes the eye. He has come back down to a mark from which he can win and might well have done so at this track last time out, but for meeting trouble in running.
Tipping competition, day four
This week's prize is the one goofs wants, he said yesterday morning, and then tipped two winners out of three. Frosted Grape (4-1) and Phluke (9-2) have taken him a bit closer to Ayr, though the real mover yesterday was millreef, who had Phluke and Mrs Mogg (8-1).
Today, we'd like your tips, please, for these races: 3.50 Salisbury, 4.35 Epsom, 4.50 Redcar.
This week's prize is a pair of tickets to the top enclosure on Ayr Gold Cup day, Saturday 18 September, generously offered by William Hill, who sponsor the great sprint handicap.
In the event of a tie at the end of the week, the winner will be the tipster who, from among those tied on the highest score, posted their tips earliest on the final day.
As ever, our champion will be the tipster who returns the best profit to notional level stakes of £1 at starting price on our nominated races, of which there will be three each day up until Friday. Non-runners count as losers. If you have not joined in so far this week, you are welcome to do so today, but you will start on -9.
For terms and conditions click here.
Good luck!
Standings after day one
donlewis +12.50
londonpatrick +10.50
MauriceNL +8.50
JahLion +8.50
Woadboy +8
goofs +7
xwireman +6.50
TheVic +6.50
millreef +5.50
chrishol +3
chris1623 +3
DrSativa +3
tom1977 +2
Ellandback +1.50
BearRides +0
sangfroid +0
chiefhk -2.50
erifder -2.50
Copshaw -2.50
moidadembums -3.50
diegoisgod -3.50
coma88 -3.50
Rivercity -3.50
Mulldog -3.50
sandiuk -3.50
pops2 -3.50
WalthamstowLad -3.50
MrPositive -4
carl31 -4
melonk -4
titusisashambles -4.50
Ormrod76 -4.50
slackdad38 -4.50
JDK1 -9
23skidoo -9
Viejo -9
Cairo -9
leviticus67 -9
Onmeheadson -9
Shrewdette -9
15244 -9
snowy81 -9
suckzinclee -9
drupat -9
Rollneck -9
TL127 -9
peterpickum -9
MISTERCHESTER -9
Templegate -9
Click here for all the day's racecards, form, stats and results.
Click here for today's latest odds.
And post your tips and racing-related comments below.
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US Open 2010: Order of play, Thursday
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The fourth day of the 2010 US Open sees, among others, Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic in action
Order of play for Thursday 2 September, with play on all courts starting at 4pm BST
Arthur Ashe Stadium
Sabine Lisicki (Ger) v (7) Vera Zvonareva (Rus),
(1) Caroline Wozniacki (Den) v Chang Kai-chen (Tpe),
Andreas Beck (Ger) v (2) Roger Federer (Swi),
Iveta Benesova (Cze) v (14) Maria Sharapova (Rus),
Philipp Petzschner (Ger) v (3) Novak Djokovic (Ser)
Louis Armstrong Stadium
11.00: Pablo Cuevas (Uru) v (19) Mardy Fish (US),
(11) Svetlana Kuznetsova (Rus) v Anastasija Sevastova (Lat),
(4) Jelena Jankovic (Ser) v Mirjana Lucic (Cro),
Peter Polansky (Can) v James Blake (US)
Grandstand
11:00: (18) Aravane Rezai (Fr) v Beatrice Capra (US),
(6) Nikolay Davydenko (Rus) v Richard Gasquet (Fr),
(5) Robin Soderling (Swe) v Taylor Dent (US),
Bethanie Mattek-Sands (US) v Andrea Petkovic (Ger)
Court 4
11:00: Julia Goerges (Ger) v (15) Yanina Wickmayer (Bel),
Andreas Seppi (Ita) & Simone Vagnozzi (It) v Ryan Harrison (USA) & Robert Kendrick (US),
Paul-Henri Mathieu (Fr) v Guillaume Rufin (Fr),
Akgul Amanmuradova (Uzb) v (31) Kaia Kanepi (Est),
(1) Liezel Huber (US) & Bob Bryan (US) v Su-Wei Hsieh (Tpe) & Bruno Soares (Br)
Court 6
11.00: Dominika Cibulkova (Svk) v Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukr),
Thiemo de Bakker (Neth) v Ivan Dodig (Cro),
Lauren Herring (US) & Grace Min (US) v Dominika Cibulkova (Svk) & Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova (Rus),
(9) Cara Black (Zim) & Anastasia Rodionova (Rus) v Victoria Azarenka (Blr) & Dinara Safina (Rus)
Court 7
11.00: Chan Yung-jan (Tpe) v Tamira Paszek (Aut),
Lourdes Domínguez Lino (Sp) v Urszula Radwanska (Pol), (13)
Jürgen Melzer (Aut) v Ricardas Berankis (Ltu),
Patty Schnyder (Swi) & Agnes Szavay (Hun) v (8) Anabel Medina Garrigues (Sp) & Yan Zi (Chn),
(5) Lisa Raymond (US) & Rennae Stubbs (Aus) v Maria Kondratieva (Rus) & Vladimira Uhlirova (Cze)
Court 8
11:00: (21) Albert Montañés (Sp) v Carsten Ball (Aus),
Sara Errani (It) & Roberta Vinci (It) v Carly Gullickson (US) & Chelsey Gullickson (US),
Martin Damm (Cze) & Filip Polasek (Svk) v Sergiy Stakhovsky (Ukr) & Mikhail Youzhny (Rus),
(13) Robert Lindstedt (Swe) & Horia Tecau (Rom) v Robby Ginepri (US) & Ryan Sweeting (US)
Court 10
11:00: Eric Butorac (US) & Jean-Julien Rojer (Ant) v (2) Daniel Nestor (Can) & Nenad Zimonjic (Ser),
Jamie Hampton (US) & Melanie Oudin (US) v Jill Craybas (US) & Sloane Stephens (US),
Marc Gicquel (Fr) & Gaël Monfils (Fr) v Bradley Klahn (US) & Tim Smyczek (US),
Melanie Oudin (US) & Ryan Harrison (US) v Andrea Hlavackova (Cze) & Michal Mertinak (Svk),
Anne Keothavong (GB) & Anastasija Sevastova (Lat) v Timea Bacsinszky (Swi) & Tathiana Garbin (Ita)
Court 11
11:00: (22) María José Martínez Sánchez (Sp) v Patty Schnyder (Swi),
Arnaud Clement (Fr) v Eduardo Schwank (Arg),
Yvonne Meusburger (Aut) v (23) Maria Kirilenko (Rus),
Ricardo Mello (Br) v (22) Juan Carlos Ferrero (Sp)
Court 12
11:00: Anna-Lena Grönefeld (Ger) & Mark Knowles (Bah) v Nicole Gibbs (US) & Sam Querrey (US),
Florian Mayer (Ger) & Rogier Wassen (Neth) v Johan Brunstrom (Swe) & Travis Parrott (US),
Jelena Kostanic Tosic (Cro) & Romina Oprandi (It) v (6) Vania King (US) & Yaroslava Shvedova (Kaz),
Carsten Ball (Aus) & Chris Guccione (Aus) v (11) Julien Benneteau (Fr) & Michael Llodra (Fr)
Court 13
11:00: Kei Nishikori (Jpn) v (11) Marin Cilic (Cro),
(25) Alexandra Dulgheru (Rom) v Sofia Arvidsson (Swe),
Kevin Anderson (SA) v (26) Thomaz Bellucci (Br),
(9) Agnieszka Radwanska (Pol) v Shuai Peng (Chn)
Court 14
11:00: Alicia Molik (Aus) & Francesca Schiavone (Ita) v Polona Hercog (Slo) & Petra Martic (Cro),
Andrey Golubev (Kaz) & Denis Istomin (Uzb) v Daniele Bracciali (It) & Potito Starace (It),
Frederico Gil (Por) & Daniel Gimeno-Traver (Sp) v Xavier Malisse (Bel) & Olivier Rochus (Bel),
Aravane Rezai (Fr) & Yanina Wickmayer (Bel) v Alona Bondarenko (Ukr) & Kateryna Bondarenko (Ukr)
Court 15
11:00: Edina Gallovits (Rom) & Klaudia Jans (Pol) v Natalie Grandin (SA) & Abigail Spears (US),
Vera Dushevina (Rus) & Sania Mirza (Ind) v (11) Alisa Kleybanova (Rus) & Ekaterina Makarova (Rus),
Petra Kvitova (Cze) & Stefanie Voegele (Swi) v (4) Kveta Peschke (Cze) & Katarina Srebotnik (Slo),
Juan Ignacio Chela (Arg) & Pablo Cuevas (Uru) v Teymuraz Gabashvili (Rus) & Feliciano López (Sp)
Court 16
11:00: Philipp Marx (Ger) & Igor Zelenay (Svk) v Daniel Brands (Ger) & Simon Greul (Ger),
Jonathan Erlich (Isr) & Jordan Kerr (Aus) v (8) Julian Knowle (Aut) & Andy Ram (Isr),
Michaella Krajicek (Neth) & Marie-Eve Pelletier (Can) v (13) Monica Niculescu (Rom) & Shahar Peer (Isr),
(6) Elena Vesnina (Rus) & Andy Ram (Isr) v Raquel Kops-Jones (US) & Eric Butorac (US)
Court 17
11:00: Benjamin Becker (Ger) & Leonardo Mayer (Arg) v Leos Friedl (Cze) & Dusan Vemic (Ser),
(12) Marcel Granollers-Pujol (Sp) & Tommy Robredo (Sp) v Santiago González (Mex) & Travis Rettenmaier (US), (1) Gisela Dulko (Arg) & Flavia Pennetta (It) v Arantxa Parra Santonja (Sp) & Renata Voracova (Cze),
(7) Chan Yung-jan (Tpe) & Zheng Jie (Chn) v Eleni Daniilidou (Gre) & Tsvetana Pironkova (Bul)
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Pakistan cricket trio dropped from England tour
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Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, who are under investigation for spot-fixing, to miss rest of tour
The three Pakistan cricket players under investigation for spot-fixing will play no further part in the rest of the tour of England, the team manager said today.
Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir will miss the Twenty20 and one-day international series against England, Yawar Saeed said.
The players will not be replaced for the two Twenty20 matches but will be for the five-match one-day series.
Saeed made a statement in Taunton, where Pakistan are due to play Somerset today.
"The T20 squad will remain what it is here this morning, ie, 13 people," he said.
"When we play the one-day internationals we will be asking for replacements to make the squad up to 16. The [three] players have not been suspended."
Butt, Asif and Amir had already been ruled out of the Somerset match as they were summoned to appear today at the Pakistani High Commission in London, where they arrived shortly after Saeed made his statement. They were met by a throng of photographers who were pushed back by police officers to allow the players to enter the building.
They are to meet the Pakistani high commissioner, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, and the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Ijaz Butt, to answer the allegations that first ran in the News of the World on Sunday. As he arrived this morning, Hasan reiterated Saeed's comment that the players had not been suspended.
But their removal from the squad will come as a relief for the International Cricket Council (ICC) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), who will be hoping the move takes the heat off the rest of the tour and stems any protests by fans.
After the announcement, Giles Clarke, ECB chairman and chairman of the ICC's Pakistan taskforce, said he hoped the remaining matches would be played in a "competitive spirit".
"I look forward to working with Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, and Ijaz Butt, the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, and everyone involved in Pakistani cricket in taking forward cricket in Pakistan so that a proper plan exists for the whole of Pakistani cricket," he said.
The focus will now return to the ICC investigation, although officials will not be interviewing the players until they get the go-ahead from the police. That is likely to be tomorrow at the earliest, which is when the police are next due to question the players.
Saeed would not specify why the players had been omitted.
"I can't give you the reasons for that, all I can say is that we are asking for replacements," he said.
"I cannot answer anything on their behalf because investigations are being made by the ICC, [and] Scotland Yard among others."
He insisted that despite the controversy, the most important thing now was the rest of the tour and the integrity of cricket.
"A lot of good guys have come and gone, the game must go on, cricket will be played at its best."
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Shane Warne wants life bans for match-fixing in cricket
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• Former spinner calls on ICC to flex its muscles
• '[Pakistan players] should be thrown out if found guilty'Any players found guilty of being involved in match-fixing or any other form of illegality related to gambling in cricket should be banned for life, the former Australian spinner Shane Warne has said.
The News of the World last weekend made allegations that the Pakistan bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were asked to bowl no-balls during their Fourth Test against England at Lord's.
"If it is true and they have been found [guilty of] match-fixing and throwing games and spot-betting with the no-balls and stuff, if that's the case they should be thrown out," Warne said today. "If it's fixed by players, they should be banned for life. Anyone who's involved should be thrown out.
"The ICC have to flex their muscles and just go after Pakistan." Warne, who was fined for admitting he had taken money from an Indian bookmaker for providing pitch and weather information in 1994, said he had been shocked by the latest allegations, especially since the International Cricket Council had instituted an anti-corruption unit.
"I thought that the game was clean now with the anti-corruption people there," Warne added. "[But] if you look back over the incidents they've had in the past, you'd have to say no, they haven't really flexed their muscles. So you'd hope that at this stage they can flex their muscles and show that they do run the game."
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Scott Carson released from England squad to face Bulgaria
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• West Brom keeper released after family bereavement
• Watford's Scott Loach is called up to join Euro 2012 squadThe goalkeeper Scott Carson has been released from the England squad to play against Bulgaria in the Euro 2012 qualifiers following a family bereavement. Watford's Scott Loach has been called up from the Under-21s as his replacement.
Carson, the West Bromwich Albion keeper, was hoping to make his first England appearance since the victory over Germany in Berlin in November 2008, although the role has always been earmarked for Manchester City's Joe Hart. But instead he has withdrawn and once again Capello has had to look outside the top flight to find a replacement.
Loach ended up being the understudy to Hart for last month's friendly win over Hungary when the current No2 Ben Foster withdrew through injury and Paul Robinson announced his retirement from international football.
England play Bulgaria at Wembley tomorrow before taking on Switzerland away on Tuesday as they attempt to make amends for a disappointing World Cup
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Phillip Hughes returns but Brad Haddin still out for Australia
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• Phillip Hughes returns for two-Test series in India
• Brad Haddin making progress but should make AshesThe opening batsman Phillip Hughes has returned from a dislocated shoulder but the wicketkeeper Brad Haddin remains unavailable for Australia for the two-Test series in India next month.
Hughes dislocated his shoulder while boxing in a training session and had surgery in May while Haddin has had an elbow tendon injury and been out of action since the World Twenty20.
Tim Paine, who replaced Haddin for Australia's matches against Pakistan in England, has retained his place. "Brad Haddin is making good progress with rehabilitation of his elbow tendon injury," the Australian team physio Alex Kountouris said.
"He is due to commence restricted batting in the next few weeks but will not be available to play in the Test component. He is on track to be available for club cricket and for New South Wales with the possibility of being available for selection in the India or Sri Lanka one-day international series."
The fast bowlers Peter George and Josh Hazlewood were both included for the series, with the first Test in Mohali on 1-5 October and the second Test in Bangalore starting on 9 October.
"India is ranked No1 in Test cricket and there is no harder assignment in Test cricket at the moment than playing India on their home soil," the national selection panel chairman, Andrew Hilditch, said.
Hilditch said the 15-man squad reflected their satisfaction with the progress of the team over the past year. "The Australian team had a very successful home summer last year and an away series win against New Zealand," he added.
"While it was disappointing to draw the series in England against Pakistan, the squad reflects the good performances of the team over the last 12 months as we continue to prepare for the Ashes."
Australia squad to face India Ricky Ponting, Michael Clarke, Doug Bollinger, Peter George, Nathan Hauritz, Josh Hazlewood, Ben Hilfenhaus, Phillip Hughes, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Simon Katich, Marcus North, Tim Paine, Steven Smith, Shane Watson
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Pakistan betting scandal - live! | David Hopps and Andy Wilson
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• Breaking news: Pakistan trio dropped from England tour
• News, reaction and updates from Taunton and London
• Hit the auto-update button for the latest posts
• Updates also from Andy Wilson at Durham v Notts
• Watch the latest county cricket highlights here6.59pm: OK, that's it above the line. The comments will stay open below the line for more chat into the evening. Stay tuned to the site for a Taunton report from Mr Hopps. We're back again in the morning to see what happens at Chester-le-Street, which will bring Notts level with Somerset on games played and clarify the County Championship equation for next week. Cheers all.
6.37pm: Here's an update from Liverpool where Australia Test squad member Phil Hughes has been looking "uncomfortable at the crease":
Hampshire, led by Jimmy Adams' second successive century, are making Lancashire fight hard to wrap up victory at Liverpool. Adams, 29, battled for the whole of day three to back up his seven-hour 196 against Yorkshire at Scarborough last week with 109 not out off 283 balls as he wiped out a first-innings deficit of 238.
Left-handed Adams and Michael Carberry resumed this morning on 15 for none but partnerships of 73 inside 31 overs between Adams and Neil McKenzie for the third wicket and 78 inside 24 for the fifth with Sean Ervine held the hosts up. The visitors closed on 275 for five from 103 overs and lead by 37.
Carberry was first to go when he fell trying to pull Kyle Hogg. He could only get a top edge which looped to wicketkeeper Gareth Cross to leave his side at 45 for one in the 22nd over of the innings. Phil Hughes - called into the Australian squad for next month's tour of India this morning - looked uncomfortable at the crease for the second time in the match as he made only 12 before he was caught at first slip off the bowling of Gary Keedy.
Hughes made room outside leg stump to try to cut the left-arm spinner but was undone by a turning delivery which he could only edge into his pads. Paul Horton did the rest. Adams played solidly - as the situation dictated - but was strong against the short ball as he hit 12 boundaries. McKenzie was also patient but he was one of two wickets to fall in the afternoon session to Tom Smith (three for 56 from 23 overs). Having offered a half chance to Mark Chilton at point on 21, McKenzie edged Smith behind for 31 off 111 balls. And when James Vince saw his off stump travel five balls later, Hampshire were 140 for four in the 61st over.
Ervine, perhaps not surprisingly, played the most attacking innings of the day. He hit six boundaries in his 48 off 70 balls and survived a massive caught behind shout off the bowling off Smith just two balls before he was ousted. He hit a disdainful four through mid-wicket the ball after the appeal but then immediately edged Smith to Horton at first slip to leave the scoreboard reading 218 for five in the 85th over.
While Lancashire were a bowler light due to Glen Chapple's calf strain, there was also less in the pitch for the bowlers. Adams, who passed 1,000 four-day runs for the season in the first innings, reached three figures off 273 balls after he had taken his side into the lead. It took him 91 balls to get through the eighties and nineties. Wicketkeeper Michael Bates will join him at the crease in the morning on 27 not out.
6.20pm: Stumps at Chester-le-Street. Durham 279 for five, so they lead Notts by 308 runs with five wickets - and one day - remaining.
6.10pm: Apologies for dimished coverage of Somerset v Pakistanis - our at-ground team are knee-deep in writing news stories and all sorts. The Pakistanis won by eight runs, despite an unbeaten 122 from Zander de Bruyn. Kamran Akmal snared two stumpings and a catch. More to follow in a bit.
3.50pm: Tea at the Emirates ICG, where Durham are 170 for two, and now have a lead of 199, writes Andy Wilson. Gordon Muchall has batted as well as I've seen him, putting the boot into a Notts attack effectively reduced to three seamers by Darren Pattinson's injury with an unbeaten 87.
Dale Benkenstein reached a more restrained half century from 71 balls just before the interval, but the cricket has been overshadowed by the Graham Onions news Hoppsy has just written about. Only yesterday evening Durham's director of cricket Geoff Cook had been hoping that Onions may be able to play some lower level cricket before the end of this season. Now he is facing a major operation that will extend his period of inactivity to up to 18 months.
3.48pm: The Pakistan high commissioner has stressed the innocence of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, and spoken of their 'mental torture'
3.39pm: Mr Hopps has filed on that Graham Onions story. Here's a sneak preview of his news piece that will go live shortly:
The England fast bowler, Graham Onions, faces a further nine-month lay-off after the England and Wales Cricket Board announced that he will undergo surgery next week in a bid to overcome the back injury that has ruled him out of this winter's Ashes series.
Attempts by England's medical staff to solve Onions' long-standing stress fracture without an operation have proved unsuccessful. Onions will undergo surgery next Monday and cannot realistically expect to return until midway through next summer. He first experienced discomfort in the nets on England's tour of Bangladesh and left the tour without playing a game.
The ECB's chief medical officer, Dr Nick Peirce, said: "Graham has been suffering from ongoing discomfort due to stress fractures on both sides of his back. We have thoroughly exhausted all avenues of conservative treatment and rehabilitation with surgery very much seen as a last resort.
Unfortunately Graham has not responded to these forms of treatment and as a result we have no option left but to undertake a course of treatment involving surgery.
"The surgery Graham faces is a relatively significant operation and his rehabilitation will see him ruled out of all cricket for approximately up to nine months. His rehabilitation will be overseen and carried out by the ECB medical team in conjunction with the medical staff at Durham."
England have long accepted that they will contest the Ashes without Onions. They discounted him from their Ashes plans three months ago, but the player himself remained committed to proving his fitness. Only now has realisation dawned as to the full extent of his injury.
"I'm shattered to have been ruled out of the Ashes with the prospect of a lengthy recovery period," he said. "After experiencing the euphoria of being part of an Ashes winning England team last year I was determined to get myself fit for selection ahead of this winter's tour of Australia.
Unfortunately that's not to be and even though we have tried every possible form of treatment, surgery is the only option left.
"While I'm devastated to be facing such a long lay off from cricket I'm determined to overcome this setback and make sure I get back bowling again next year and work my way back into England calculations."
3.29pm: England bowler Graham Onions will have surgery on his back next week and is expected to be ruled out of all cricket for up to nine months, the England and Wales Cricket Board have announced.
2.33pm: For those who haven't seen it yet, Australia named this 15-man squad overnight for the two-Test series against India next month, their last Tests before the Ashes: Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Clarke, Doug Bollinger, Peter George, Nathan Hauritz, Josh Hazlewood, Ben Hilfenhaus, Phillip Hughes, Michael Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Simon Katich, Marcus North, Tim Paine, Steven Smith, Shane Watson
2.30pm: Meanwhile the Press Association has some details of a rare Warwickshire win today:
Chris Woakes completed the best all-round performance of his career as Warwickshire saw off relegation rivals against Kent inside three days in a vital County Championship Division One clash at Edgbaston.
The 21-year-old England Lions seamer took 11 wickets in a match for the first time and also contributed 81 with the bat to give his side victory by 95 runs after less than two hours' play on the third morning. Neil Carter reached 50 Championship wickets for the first time in 10 county cricket seasons and in all the new-ball partners shared 19 as Kent were dismissed for 111 and 228. In the two innings eight batsmen were out for ducks, although Martin van Jaarsveld redeemed himself with a century from 147 balls at the second attempt.
2.15pm: Pakistan all out for 264. I think we'll have a summary of events at Taunton for you shortly.
2.11pm: Away from the excitement surrounding KP's debut, an unhappy Surrey fan has spoken. Here's a taster:
"I accept that the policy of playing Schofield at 7 has reaped rewards in certain games this season but it has relied on massive starts from the openers by and large. On a wicket on which Schofield's bowling was never likely to keep the runs down he should've been dropped in favour of the extra batsman – Jason Roy – who gives us some firepower lower in the order. Spriegel and Hamilton-Brown, the sixth and seventh bowlers respectively, bowled 8 overs between them in any case."
2.06pm: This has been quite a flurry. Saeed Ajmal's gone, also for nought. Lunch anyone?
2.04pm: And another! Umar Gul's gone for nought.
2.00pm: And another! Abdul Razzaq for two. Five overs left.
1.56pm: David Hopps has been running a fine-tooth comb through what the key players (apart from, of course, the actual players) said this morning. Here's his analysis of the words of Giles Clarke. And here's a taster:
The most intriguing part of Clarke's brief statement concerns his call for a "proper plan" to exist for Pakistan cricket. Clarke is likely to press from within the ICC for support for Pakistan cricket, including the return of tours to the country, to come hand in hand with stronger safeguards against illegal betting scams1.53pm: And another! Fawad Alam's gone for 97. Another wicket for Mark Turner.
1.47pm: And another! Shahid Afridi's gone for two.
1.46pm: Back in Taunton, Somerset have finally taken the wicket of Shahzaib Hasan. The tourists are now scuttling past 238-4.
1.33pm: David Hopps has analysed the carefully chosen words of Yawar Saeed, the Pakistan tour manager.
1.31pm: It seems the waiting media scrum, including our man in Kensington Owen Gibson, have been duped by the Pakistan high commission security staff, as the players have apparently left the building and returned to their hotel after passing into an adjoining building while the media's attention was diverted by the high commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan leaving via the main exit, holding a cigar. It brings to mind this Sigmund Frued quote: "Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar."
1.20pm: Back in the serene world of county cricket, there is nevertheless some news to report, chips in Andy Wilson from Durham. Warwickshire have beaten Kent, but only after a last-wicket stand of 67 between Martin van Jaarsveld and Matthew Coles that may have had a few Bears buttocks clenching. The margin of victory was still a comfortable 95 runs, and the win lifts Warwicks well out of the relegation zone, while leaving Kent deeper in the mire. Neil Carter grabbed the last wicket of Coles to give the rejuvenated South African five for 60 in Kent's second innings, but Chris Woakes was the Bears' match-winner with match figures of 11 for 97 from 29 overs, in addition to two crucial contributions with the bat.
More whimsical stuff for county blog regulars here in the north-east, where Darren Pattinson has been the central figure of the morning session. He came into the match halfway through as the nominated replacement for Ryan Sidebottom, who has joined the England squad in Cardiff, and therefore resumed Sidebottom's innings at 11am. He batted rather well, too, scoring only 19 but playing a sensible supporting role to allow Paul Franks, Andre Adams and Luke Fletcher to throw the bat as Notts added 84 for their last three wickets after Steven Mullaney had gone in the first over to Liam Plunkett. But after being last out, Pattinson's opening spell lasted a single ball – he twisted his ankle on the crease, and had to hobble off to be replaced by an old-fashioned 12th man who isn't allowed to bat or bowl.
Durham are 12 without loss at lunch, extending their lead to 41, but Notts will be happy enough with six bonus points from the game so far that extend their lead at the top to a minimum of 22 over Somerset.
1.17pm: Police in yellow jackets, Sky Sports reporters in suits, journalists in shirts, photographers in T-shirts, the engine of a car with blacked-out windows revving outside the high commission but still no sign of the players at the centre of the allegations on a sunny day in Kensington. Meanwhile Steven Morris has been in Tauton this morning asking the watching fans for their reaction to the events of the past week. Unsurprisingly, they're more interested in the cricket. One said:
"I don't believe corruption to be widespread, but strong punishments should be handed out to those caught out. Obviously we don't know what kind of pressure players are under, but if these three cricketers are found guilty then they should be banned for life. But even if there are future scandals it won't put me off going to matches - I have already booked to watch England in Australia this winter. And I don't think it will affect the atmosphere here in Taunton today - I think people just want to see a good game of cricket in the sunshine."
You can read the full story here.
1.05pm: A summary of today's news so far from Haroon Siddique, David Hopps and Owen Gibson.
12.42pm: Here are Peter Trego's thoughts on the ommission of the three players:
"I suppose maybe taking those guys out of the equation for a while, until that's finalised, is probably the best thing for cricket. If there's a cloud hanging over [the series], it's probably going to detract from the actual competition."
Talking of clouds, here's the weather forecast for Sunday.
12.30pm: Pakistan have reached 114-3. Here's more from Owen Gibson tweeting from Kensington:
Back to staring at a door, waiting for the players to emerge. Some #PAK conspiracy theorists convinced the whole thing is an Indian plot.
12.21pm: Shahid Afridi, the player who has been plunged in to the media hornets nest as captain of the limited-overs side, said:
"Obviously, if they have done something bad, you need to give them a punishment. But I think we are still waiting for the results. It will be a really tough series and I think everyone is trying to focus on the cricket now. We are here to play some good cricket. We are trying to make our squad better."
12.16pm: Is this issue still a matter of sporting integrity or one of international politics, following the media scrum that met the players earlier? Here's Giles Clarke's response to the ommissions of the three players and the rest of the series:
"We can assure cricket fans across the country that the matches will be played in the most competitive spirit long associated with contests between England and Pakistan. I look forward to working with Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, Ijaz Butt, the chairman of the PCB, and everybody involved in Pakistan cricket in taking forward cricket in Pakistan so that a plan exists for the whole of Pakistan cricket, given all the many and varied issues which it's up against."
No specific mention of the plans announced last month for an ICC World XI to play a match in Pakistan.
12.12pm: The Pakistan team manager, Yawar Saeed, has clarified that the players have not been suspended from the series but have requested not to play in the remaining Twenty20 and one-day international matches. Saeed said 13 players will be available for the two Twenty20 matches before three replacements arrive to bolster the squad for the five-match one-day series. No word yet on who the replacements will be.
12.05pm: The Pakistan high commisioner, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, has told reporters that the players suspected of spot-fixing, Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, have been "extremely disturbed" by events during the last week. The players say they are "entirely innocent" and are "not in the right frame of mind to play cricket" having been "deeply affected" by the allegations. The commissioner added that the players are " innocent until proven guilty" and will "go to a court of law to defend themselves as such".
11.58am: These are the scenes outside the high commission, as tweeted by Owen Gibson.
11.44am: Owen Gibson in Kensington tweets:
Barriers belatedly erected outside high commission. People carrier in situ preparing to whisk players away. Scrum of snappers poised.
11.19am: Pakistan are batting first at Taunton after Somerset won the toss. England's Craig Kieswetter takes his place at the top of the hosts' order. Shahid Afridi is the Pakistanis' captain.
11.05am: More from our sports news correspondent:
Pakistan High Commission officials handing out copies of a Roy Greenslade piece about the Fake Sheikh's methods. Interesting.
11am: Giles Clarke, the chairman of the ECB, has just announced that he "welcomes the announcement" from the Pakistan Cricket Board. He added, with a straight face, that he is looking forward to the forthcoming ODI series being playing "in the spirit" that matches between England and Pakistan are always played in. We'll have the full statement shortly.
10.40am: So we're flitting from hard news to county cricket whimsy and back again today. It was a busy day on the county blog yesterday, and a triple century of comments below the line to boot. One poster's cameo encapsulated the frustration of following your county side from afar. With Kent's No7 Geraint Jones negotiating his way to the close against Warwickshire at Edgbaston, Veriditan wrote in successive comments:
6:42PM: Two balls to survive tonight. C'mon, Jonesy...
6:46PM: What? Another over? I smell doom!
6:49PM: G Jones lbw b Woakes 41 89 3 1. aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrrrrghh10.40am: Our sports news correspondent Owen Gibson tweets:
So, as expected, a slightly confusing compromise has been reached. Pak statement vague for obvious reasons.
10:34am: The three Pakistani players at the centre of cricket's betting scandal have been left out of the one-day series against England, writes David Hopps in Taunton. Yawar Saeed, the team manager, announced before Pakistan's one-day warm-up against Somerset at Taunton today, that Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir will play no further part in the tour.
Conspiracy theorists still suspect otherwise. Every sentence uttered by Saeed was examined for hints that they might rejoin the tour at some stage. Even in the volatile and shifting world of Pakistan cricket, it sounds like a conspiracy theory too far.
"For the two T20s the squad will remain what it is at Taunton this morning ie 13 people," said Saeed. "Once we have played those two T20 games, for the ODIs subsequently we will be asking for replacements to make up the squad of 16 again."
"I can make no statement on their behalf. Investigations are being made by Scotland Yard and ICC and others. All I am talking about is the team that I am managing. And the team is today 13 and will become 16 again with replacements."
10.33am: Andy Wilson at Chester-le-Street writes: After the dramatic Second Division game between Derbyshire and Gloucestershire demanded most attention during the last couple of days, the focus now switches back to the battles at the top and bottom of the Championship elite.
The leaders Nottinghamshire are locked in an intriguing game with Durham here at the Emirates ICG (where calling the Riverside by its correct new title secured free flapjacks for tea yesterday), but the first result will come from Edgbaston. Kent will resume their second innings on 131 for five, still needing another 163 to beat Warwickshire, who must therefore be strong favourites to secure a second consecutive victory that would strengthen their unlikely survival bid.
The Bears looked dead and buried when they folded against Notts at Trent Bridge a few weeks ago, but if they do win today they would pull 18 points clear of Kent, and also climb above Hampshire and Durham - although all three of those counties would retain a game in hand. Unless Hampshire can mount a strong fightback against Lancashire at Aigburth, where they have a first innings deficit of 238 to wipe out, their game against Kent at Canterbury next week is now looming as another relegation crunch.
Hampshire then end the season against Warwickshire at the Rose Bowl. It would be hard to come up with a stronger argument for the two-division structure, when it produces so many meaningful games at the business end of the summer. Fingers crossed that this glorious September weather can last for another couple of weeks.
10.28am: The Pakistan team manager, Yawar Saeed, has confirmed that the Test captain, Salman Butt, and fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir will play no further part on the current tour. Saeed, speaking from Taunton where Pakistan play Somerset today, said:
"The T20 squad will remain what it is here this morning, ie 13 people. When we play the one-day internationals we will be asking for replacements to make the squad up to 16. The (three) players have not been suspended."
10.21am: The latest from our sports news correspondent Owen Gibson:
The Pakistan team manager in Taunton says they will call up 3 replacements for Amir, Asif and Butt for the one day series - seems they won't play. Sighs of relief from ECB and ICC no doubt. Still no sign of Amir, Asif and Butt outside the Royal Garden Hotel in High St Ken ... At least one of the players has just emerged from the underground carpark in a people carrier with blacked windows and diplomatic plates.
10.17am: It's also day three of the week's Championship games today. Well, those that didn't experience a 40-wicket frenzy inside a day and a half that is. At Chester-le-Street Durham are making Notts work hard to take their County Championship title. Andy Wilson is there for the resumption.
And Kevin Pietersen's 38 in a CB40 Second Division match made waves yesterday. Here's Barney Ronay's report.
10.16am: Pakistan's Test captain Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer - the Pakistan players at the centre of spot-fixing allegations - will miss the Twenty20 and one-day international series against England, Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed has just said.
10.15am Morning. The most eagerly awaited 50-over warm-up game in yonks takes place today. Journalists have been bedding down at Taunton Holiday Inn for days in anticipation of seeing Pakistan play their first game since the Lord's Test fizzled out so awfully on Sunday. Mr Hopps will be in the maelstrom.
And, 162 miles away in London, Pakistan's captain Salman Butt and the bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir are meeting the Pakistan high commissioner, the Pakistan Cricket board and lawyers to discuss the spot-fixing allegations. Owen Gibson will have the latest from the Kensington hotel.
Meanwhile, Marina Hyde has penned her view on spot-fix-gate.
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