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The ruling party-backed councillors has almost finalised their panel for the BCB election after a successful negotiation with some of the rebellious councillors. Mahbubul Anam, the former cricket operations chairman, appears sure to be chosen as the general secretary candidate after an important meeting on Saturday night.
   Shah Nurul Kabir Shaheen, who earlier announced his candidature for the general secretary post, has been offered one of the three vice-president posts.
   However, Shaheen refused to accept the offer and he was adamant to contest for the general secretary post.
   ‘I did not change my mind and will vie to be the general secretary of the BCB.
   I heard they decided to include me on their panel but they did not take my opinion. I have a good support and I am confident to win the race,’ said Shaheen to New Age.
   Shafiqur Rahman and Khandoker Jamil Uddin are the other two candidates for the vice president posts.
   The panel also finalised the two joints secretary candidates.
   Riazuddin Al-Mamun, the former media committee chairman who was also expected to be a general secretary candidate, will be the number one joint secretary when Rafiqul Islam Babu, the vice chairman of grounds committee, is supposed to be nominated for the other joint secretary post.
   Rafiqul Islam was the hero of the BCB advisory committee as he challenged the legality of the BCB directors in 2001.
   The membership candidates of the panel are Afzalur Rahman Sinha, Aziz Al Kaiser, Mirza Salman Ispahani, Shamim Kabir, ASM Faruque, Mizanur Rahman, Mohammad Sailab Hossain, Mohammad Lutfur Rahman and Syed Farhad Ahmed.
   The powerful DSA forum has been given the other 13 posts. The forum leader Golam Rasul Mollah has been offered a vice president’s post to get full support of the forum to the panel.
   Meanwhile, some of the councillors have arranged a crucial meeting on Sunday night to decide whether they would compete in the BCB election.
   A group is eager to vie in the election with Mahmudul Haque Manu as their general secretary candidate. They are expecting some support from a portion of the councillors.
   However, the other faction is confused and do not want to take any risk to be defeated by the government-backed panel.
   A total of 54 nomination papers were sold on Sunday including 41 bought by the pro-establishment panel members.

The deteriorating standard of Bangladesh football was exposed again as the Premier Division Football League came to a standstill following some demands from four leading clubs. Probably these kinds of incidents can happen only in Bangladesh as the federation and the ruling body of the league seem to be helpless due to poor management.
   Mohammedans are leading the movement supported by Abahani, Muktijoddha and Sheikh Russell. Apart from Mohammedans the other three are not in a position to win the title. Brothers Union are leading the points table with 35 followed by Mohammedans, who have 32. The league was running smoothly but all the trouble started when Mohammedans lost some valuable points drawing against Wanderers, Arambagh and Sheikh Russell. Having slipped out of the pole position Mohammedans started accusing Brothers Union of match-fixing.
   The clubs accuse Brothers Union of playing fixed matches against Farashganj, Fakirerpool and Arambagh. The interesting thing is that there is no device or technology to determine fixed-matches in Bangladesh. Only assumptions are the key. It is an open secret that all the big clubs are involved in some sort of unfair means and are known to have played fixed matches.
   The four clubs, who are now highly vocal against Brothers Union, were also accused of match-fixing in the last season.
   In the last Federation Cup’s third place playoff match between Mohammedans and Abahani, the result was heard before the kick-off. It is hard to prove but the whisper was there that both the teams have agreed to go into the tie-breaker for a result and it happened exactly so.
   Now both the teams are highly vocal against the pre-arranged results.
   Bangladesh Football Federation and the Metropolis Football League Committee can determine whether Brothers Union have played a fixed match. It is for sure that in future Brothers Union will also protest against Mohammedans if the scenario is vice versa. Boycotting the competition at the club’s own will is almost impossible in the other parts of world football where the teams would have been suspended forever from the competition but not in Bangladesh.
   Now the BFF is facing a daunting task to resolve the issue. Bowing to Mohammedans’ demand would lead the BFF to another problem. Brothers Union will never agree to accept it. Moreover, though there are reasons to believe that Brothers Union have been involved in some sort of pre-arranged matches it is almost impossible to prove.
   The federation is now looking forward to introducing professionalism and it is more so essential to take appropriate measures to determine fixed matches and establish authority over the clubs. Discipline and convention are the most essential things for a game’s development and without it the BFF’s dream to upgrade football is nothing more than a joke.

England (444 & 128/2) lead Australia (302) by 270 runs at tea, day 4
   Andrew Strauss’s Test best-score against Australia of 57 not out helped England consolidate their advantage in the third Ashes Test at Old Trafford here Sunday.
   At tea, on the fourth day, England, in their second innings, were 128 for two, a lead of 170. Ian Bell was unbeaten on eight.
   No side had ever made more to win in the fourth innings of an Old Trafford Test than the 231 for three England achieved against West Indies last year.
   Strauss, who completed his fifty in the last over before tea when he swept Shane Warne for four, had faced 93 balls with one six and six fours.
   Earlier Sunday, England bowled out Australia for 302, a first innings lead of 142.
   Glamorgan quick Simon Jones took Test-best figures of six for 53 as Warne fell 10 runs short of a maiden Test hundred.
   England, looking to build on their two-run win at Edgbaston, the closest victory in Ashes history which levelled the five-match series at 1-1, started the second session on 26 without loss.
   Marcus Trescothick was 12 not out and fellow left-hander Strauss 10 not out.
   Boundaries then came quickly from both batsmen. Trescothick punched fast bowler Brett Lee through the offside for four and then pulled him through square leg.
   Strauss, batting with a bandaged left ear after being hit on the head for the second time in the match by Lee, before lunch, cut Australia’s quickest bowler for four while Trescothick clipped Glenn McGrath through mid-wicket.
   But Australia had a break when Trescothick played-on to McGrath for 41.
   England captain Michael Vaughan, who made 166 in his side’s first innings 444, came to the crease with his side 64 for one in the 16th over.
   Warne almost had him out for seven when Vaughan’s chipped drive just fell short of substitute Brad Hodge, on for Michael Clarke who was still receiving treatment for the back injury that had kept him off the field since the second over of the game, at mid-off.
   Australia, who’d dropped four catches in England’s first innings, saw the shoddy fielding that had been a feature of their performance this Test continue when out-of-form paceman Jason Gillespie gave away four off a Vaughan edge to third man when the ball went through his hands.
   But Hodge, running round at fine leg, took a well-judged catch following a scooped hook off Lee to get rid of Vaughan for 14.
   Strauss, who before lunch on one saw an edge off Lee go between motionless slips Warne and Australia captain Ricky Ponting, countered by pulling the paceman for six.
   Following a rain-marred third day, Warne resumed on 78 not out and Gillespie seven not out.
   But leg-spinner Warne, who on Thursday became the first bowler to take 600 Test wickets, had twice been given reprieves on 55 and 68 by wicket-keeper Geraint Jones, who missed a stumping and dropped a routine catch.
   Warne’s luck though ran out on 90 when, having cut Jones’s first ball Sunday for four, he hooked his second straight to Ashley Giles at deep square leg having faced 122 balls with one six and 11 fours.
   It was a desperate way for the 35-year-old, who’d made 99 against New Zealand at Perth in 2001-02, to exit after putting on 86 with Gillespie for the eighth wicket.
   New batsman Lee, whose 43 not out almost saw Australia home at Edgbaston, managed just one before he edged reverse-swing specialist Jones to first slip Trescothick, who took a fine two-handed catch diving to his left.
   Jones, the son of former England left-arm quick Jeff, ended the innings in Sunday’s 15th over when Gillespie was lbw for 26.

Extraordinary Ethiopian teenager Tirunesh Dibaba on Saturday became the first woman athlete in history to complete the 5,000m/10,000m double at the same world athletics championships.
   The 19-year-old led home an Ethiopian cleansweep, as they had done in the 10,000m, on a day that saw several other athletes celebrate double titles.
   Moroccan Jouad Gharib retained his marathon title while American Dwight Phillips held on to his long jump crown.
   Phillips's compatriot Lauryn Williams won her second gold of the championships in the women's 4x100m relay while French 110m hurdler Ladji Doucoure also won a second title as France won their first ever world title in the 4x100m relay.
   Yulia Pechonkina ascended into maiden title territory as Russia's world record holder finally translated that success into gold in the 400m hurdles while hosts Finland celebrated their first medal when Tommi Evila won long jump bronze.
   Tanzania celebrated their first ever world championships medal as Christopher Isegwe took silver behind Gharib and Great Britain won their first medal of the 2005 event as the 4x100m relay team, Olympic champions last year, took bronze behind France.
   Dibaba successfully defended her title and in the process rewrote the record books; for Kenenisa Bekele, and his predecessor Haile Gebrselassie, read Dibaba as the dominant force in women's distance running with the promise of more to come.
   Their success was rubberstamped by the manner in which they ran the race tactically and learning from the mistakes they made in the Olympic 10,000m final when they thought they had lapped the eventual winner Huina Xing.
   This time she was left for dead on the final lap.
   Marathon man Gharib too was impressive breaking clear just before the 30km mark and never to be challenged again.
   The race took its toll with both the Olympic champion Stefano Baldini and the bronze medallist from Athens, Vanderlei di Lima failing to finish.
   Gharib, 33, threatened to carry on and go for another gold in two years' time.
   For Williams, victory in the relay meant redemption after last year's Olympics where a mix-up with former golden girl Marion Jones left the baton on the ground.
   Williams said the victory was important not only to them but to the men's relay team, who had failed to make their final after they dropped the baton in the heats.
   While Pechonkina produced a truly champion performance to make up for two minor medal placings in previous world championships, and last place in the Olympic final, there was an equally impressive showing by American bronze medallist Sandra Glover.
   At 36, and the oldest member of the team, she ran a personal best to add bronze to the silver she won in 2003.

Impatient batting, sloppy fielding and Ricky Ponting’s inferior captaincy have Australia on the brink of coming home from England without cricket’s Ashes, Australian media said Sunday.
   As the Australians struggled to avoid defeat in the third Old Trafford Test and fall behind 2-1 in the series with two Tests to play, local media are focusing on what has gone wrong with the one-time dominators of world cricket. The Sunday Telegraph summed up the prevailing mood, when it said, ‘The cricket world officially turned upside down last night (Saturday) when Australia prayed for rain to save themselves from defeat against England.’
   All the cockiness and arrogance of a predicted 5-0 series drubbing has been replaced by anxiety that the Ashes are slipping away. Australia’s top-order batsmen have been targeted as the weak link with statistics revealing that no Australian batsman has batted for longer than 154 balls in an innings in the two-and-a-half Tests so far.
   ‘Most of blame for Australia’s Ashes crisis lies squarely at the feet of the batsmen. They have had the series from hell,’ The Sunday Telegraph’s Robert Craddock wrote.
   ‘England have four batsmen with 190 or more runs in the series. Australia have none. Enough said. Australia’s impatient batsmen have lost the knack of playing the long innings required.
   ‘The batsmen have become conditioned to playing feeble Test attacks and they have had trouble absorbing constant pressure from both ends by England’s high-class five-man attack.’
   Australia’s deteriorating fielding has also been highlighted as a glaring weakness with England doing their homework on the each individual Australian batsman’s favoured shots.
   ‘They have tried to plug Matt Hayden’s off-drive, Adam Gilchrist’s cut, Langer’s nudge off the hip and his square drive. They have tried to challenge Australia’s ego and so far it has worked,’ The Sunday Telegraph said.
   The Sun Herald praised England’s fielding while describing Australia’s outfielding as ‘leaden’.
   ‘The ageing Australians have been timid between the wickets and sluggish in the field, while England have been alert,’ The Sun Herald’s analyst Peter Roebuck said.
   ‘Australia have dropped umpteen catches, behind the wickets and close to the bat. The outfielding has been leaden.’
   While there has been praise for bowlers Shane Warne, Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath badly out-of-form paceman Jason Gillespie has been written off by the Australian press.
   And there has been strong criticism of Ponting’s leadership in comparison to England’s captain Michael Vaughan.
   ‘The series might well have been effectively over if captain Ricky Ponting had batted first in the second Test,’ The Sunday Telegraph said.

Captain Stephen Fleming could become the first New Zealander to reach 6,000 Test runs during the second and final Test against Zimbabwe starting today.
   Fleming goes into the match with 5,985 runs from his 95 tests and will fancy his chances of reaching the milestone against suffering Zimbabwe.
   He said on Sunday: ‘It would be good do it, but I’m more orientated towards team statistics than individual achievements.’
   In the first test in Harare, New Zealand achieved their biggest victory, by an innings and 294 runs, and inflicted Zimbabwe’s worst defeat.
   The match ended eight overs before the scheduled close on the second day after Zimbabwe were dismissed for 59 and 99, marking only the second time in test history that a team has been bowled out twice in one day.
   But Fleming said, ‘It will be tougher because perhaps we’re a bit more comfortable now. That’s dangerous, we’ve got to guard against complacency.’
   New Zealand have named an unchanged side for a pitch that is perennially slow and low and favours slow and medium pace bowlers.
   Zimbabwe spent the three unused days of the first test training hard and having a ‘huge chat’.
   ‘We can’t hide the fact that we didn’t bat well, we all need to take a look in the mirror,’ said captain Tatenda Taibu.
   Part of the problem, Taibu felt, was that Zimbabwe were last in international action against South Africa in March.
   ‘We’re just getting back and as much as I would like to give the guys stick, we have to take that into account,’ he said.
   Teams:
   Zimbabwe: Brendan Taylor, Neil Ferreira, Dion Ebrahim, Stuart Carlisle, Hamilton Masakadza, Craig Wishart, Tatenda Taibu (captain), Heath Streak,
   Blessing Mahwire, Graeme Cremer, Chris Mpofu, Andy Blignaut, Keith Dabengwa, Anthony Ireland.
   New Zealand: Lou Vincent, James Marshall, Hamish Marshall, Stephen Fleming, Nathan Astle, Scott Styris, Brendon McCullum, Daniel Vettori, James Franklin, Shane Bond, Chris Martin.

Michael Clarke is set to have to cope with a debilitating back injury for the rest of his career as the Australia camp continue to search for clues to the cause of his condition.
   While the middle-order batsman was battling to recover from disc irritation in his lower back in time for Australia's second innings at Old Trafford, team physiotherapist Errol Alcott revealed the problem could not be cured.
   Clarke, who has suffered from back problems for three years, aggravated the injury in the field during the second over on the first day of this third Ashes Test against England when he twisted his back while throwing the ball back to wicket-keeper Adam Gilchrist.
   Ordered to rest in bed, Clarke was rushed to the ground from the team hotel on Friday as Australia's top order collapsed.
   Batting with obvious pain and Matthew Hayden as a runner, Clarke managed just seven runs in 17 minutes at the crease before, clearly restricted, he holed out to mid-off against England quick Simon Jones.
   'We can't cure him, we can only treat him and make him functional again,' Alcott said after Saturday's rain-interrupted third day. 'I think it's a case of back care management with him.
   'Long term, I guess it's got to be of some concern to him. We're still trying to work out what's bringing on this problem.'
   Meanwhile latest report on Sunday suggests, Australia expect Michael Clarke to be fit to bat in the second innings of the third Ashes Test but he may be forced to bat down the order for the second time in the match.
   'Michael is coming along really well,' Australia physiotherapist Errol Alcott said. 'He's moving about more freely today.'
   The 24-year-old batsman, who comes in at number five, suffers from a long-term back condition. He was forced to miss most of the first two days of the match with back pains and retired to bed on Friday.
   When Australia's top-order collapsed, he was rushed to the ground but, batting at eight, looked restricted before being dismissed for seven.
   If Clarke is not fit to field in England's second innings-Australia have yet to make a decision on that-he would again have to move down the order, although Alcott was confident he would be able to bat without pain this time.
   'There are still a few signs he's not 100 per cent but hopefully tomorrow he should be nearly right,' Alcott added.
   'We are aiming him for to be unencumbered so he can play his shots.'
   Clarke has suffered from back disc problems for the past few years and also missed a one-day match earlier in the Ashes tour with the same problem.
   'I'm more concerned over the long term. We are still trying to find out what is causing his problem,' Alcott added. 'You can't cure him, only treat his condition and make him functional again, which always includes bed rest.'
   Alcott added that the problem could also have consequences for Clarke's occasional left-arm spin bowling. 'It's an area we need to look at,' he said.
   Clarke averages 42.04 in his previous 14 Tests. He took an extraordinary six for nine runs against India in Mumbai in November 2004.

Top seed Rafael Nadal will bid for a third consecutive title on Sunday when he faces 35-year-old Andre Agassi in a battle of tennis generations at the Montreal Masters after both players advanced with straight set victories.
   The Spanish teenager battled to a 6-4 7-5 victory over unseeded Frenchman Paul-Henri Mathieu, while fourth seeded American Agassi overcame Montreal-born Briton Greg Rusedski 6-4 6-4.
   'I am very happy because I'll play against one of the best players in history,' Nadal said. 'This is the opportunity to play against one of the legends of tennis before he retires.'
   With eight titles so far in 2005 including the French Open, the Spanish youngster improved his season record to 64-8, although he did lose a service game for the first time this week after 51 consecutive holds.
   A winner of this event three times, Agassi captured the first of his 60 career titles when Nadal was just a year old.
   'I'm looking forward to this match,' Agassi said. 'To watch him play over the last few years has been enjoyable... what he means to the game and how he carries himself.
   'I'll have the best seat in the house.'
   Victory over the 63rd-ranked Mathieu gave Nadal his 15th consecutive match win and the world number two has lifted clay court titles at Bastad and Stuttgart since losing in the second round at Wimbledon in June.
   The 19-year-old said that he felt the pressure during the second set game where he lost serve when serving for the match.
   'It was the first time I was a little bit nervous in the tournament,' he said.
   'I am playing to reach the final of a Masters Series and that's very important for me. It's normal to be nervous.'
   After both players were forced to complete their rain-delayed quarter-finals earlier in the day, Agassi eased past Rusedski with a single break in each set to record his eighth win in ten meetings with the Briton, sealing victory with a stylish volley.

Belgium's Kim Clijsters maintained her bid for a fourth US hard court title of the season with a comfortable 6-2 6-4 victory over Italy's Francesca Schiavone to ease into the Los Angles Open final on Saturday.
   On Sunday, the fifth-seeded Clijsters will line up against Slovakia's Daniela Hantuchova, who reached her first final in more than a year with a 6-3 6-4 upset of Russian third seed Elena Dementieva.
   Clijsters improved her 2005 record on American hard courts to 24-1 by frustrating the Italian with her dogged retrieving and hard, well placed groundstrokes.
   Despite delighting the crowd with her stylish play and loud yells, Schiavone was unable to offer enough variation to keep Clijsters at bay.
   'It was a lot of fun,' said Clijsters, who has already picked up titles at Indian Wells, Miami and Stanford this year.
   'She's a great athlete, moves well and entertains the crowd. But on her higher balls, I was able to attack with my forehand and made her go for more than she wanted to.'
   Dementieva, who held a 6-2 record against Hantuchova before their match, praised the ninth seeded Slovakian on her assured performance.
   'She moved me around very well and I was playing defensive all the time,' the Russian said.
   'She mixed up her serve and I couldn't break her.'
   The 22-year-old Hantuchova cracked 20 winners and won 85 percent of her first serve points.
   'I've played some tough matches against her in the past and have felt close to beating her,' she said.
   'I tried to step it up, go for my shots and be a little smarter. I'm really happy to get through to the final.'
   Hantuchova, who last reached a final in Birmingham in 2004, said her new fitness regime was paying off. 'I've really been working on my movement,' she said.
   'That makes a lot of difference.
   'When I was under pressure I managed to hang in the points and it gave me a lot of confidence because I didn't need to go for my shots so quickly.'

England star Andrew Flintoff said he hoped England's Ashes resurgence would lift cricket to greater prominence in the pages of national newspapers.
   He told BBC Radio Five Live: 'Hopefully we can get cricket on the back pages.
   'It's the first day of the Premiership today but there's a massive series going on here at Old Trafford.'
   Flintoff was speaking as England's strong position after two days at Old Trafford was undermined by heavy rain in Manchester on Saturday.
   Flintoff said: 'It's frustrating. We've got into a decent position.
   'We thought we bowled well yesterday to get Australia seven down.
   'I opened the curtain this morning hoping for bright sunshine but we expect rain every now and again in Manchester.'
   The pressure is now on Flintoff - a national hero since his man-of-the-match performance in the second Test to bring the series level at 1-1.
   Old Trafford is his home ground, and the fans regard him as one of their own.
   Flintoff said: 'I walked out there on the first day and there are life-size cut-outs of me all over the ground so there's a bit of pressure on me.'
   He is currently second favourite to win the BBC Sports Personality of the Year award, just behind yachtswoman Ellen MacArthur.

Phil Mickelson and Davis Love find themselves going head-to-head in the final round of the PGA Championship on Sunday after Mickelson’s three-shot lead melted in the searing afternoon sunshine.
   The 35-year-old left-hander carded a two-over 72 to finish on six-under 204 after 54 holes, tied for the lead with fellow American Love entering the final round of the 6.5 million-dollar tournament, the year’s final Major.
   One shot back was Denmark’s Thomas Bjorn, who shot a record-equalling seven-under 63 - the lowest one-round score in any major.
   Lurking at four-under were defending champion Vijay Singh of Fiji, former champion Steve Elkington of Australia, American Pat Perez and Aussie Stuart Appleby.
   Mickelson found himself struggling and reached the turn three-over par. It was not until the 12th that he managed to collect his first birdie of the day.
   With the two par-5 closing holes, Mickelson was hoping to pick up two more shots. But instead of a birdie-birdie finish, he had to settle for a par-par end to an exhausting afternoon as the temperature soared over 100 degrees.
   The 2004 Masters champion is hoping that being in the last group Sunday will aid him in winning his second major.
   Like Mickelson, Love has only a single major to his name - the 1997 PGA Championship - and he admits winning a second would mean everything to him.
   Love got off to a perfect start.
   Starting the day tied for third and four-under for the tournament, back-to-back birdies at one and two had him only two behind Mickelson.
   Love quickly gave them back and reached the turn exactly where he started the day.

Australia's chairman of selectors has acknowledged that members of the team are 'underperforming' in the current Ashes Test series.
   Trevor Hohns told BBC Five Live's Sportsweek they may consider changes for the fourth Test at Trent Bridge.
   'We've got to give credit to a very well-drilled England side and it certainly is a huge battle for us at the moment,' he commented. Hohns said they still had full confidence in skipper Ricky Ponting. And he deflected reports of a dressing room row between Ponting and leg-spinner Shane Warne after Ponting chose to field first in the second Test at Edgbaston.
   'I can't speculate on what may or may not have gone on because I wasn't there and haven't heard anything about it at this stage,' said Hohns.
   'It's easy to point the stick at the captain when the side isn't performing that well quite frankly but as far as we're concerned, as the Australian selection panel, he certainly has our vote of confidence at this stage.'
   Despite players like Ponting, Matthew Hayden, Damien Martyn, Adam Gilchrist and Jason Gillespie being out of form, Hohns insisted the selectors had got the make-up of the tour squad right.
   'For the last 12-18 months, even the last two years or more, this Australian side has decimated everyone they've played against, so I don't think we could do anything different.
   'At the moment, we're up against a very, very good England side and it's a great Test for them.'
   Former England skipper Bob Willis, meanwhile, believes Australia may have to grasp the nettle and drop Gillespie and Hayden if they want to win the series.
   'Jason Gillespie is a 30-year-old in a 36-year-old body and Matt Hayden hasn't scored a century for 15 Test matches. There should have been big question marks against both of those players being selected for the current tour.
   'But the Aussies are a resilient bunch. I wouldn't be writing them off yet.'

England’s strong comeback in the Ashes against Australia after losing the first Test by a big margin has won the admiration of Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq who is expecting a tough series later this year. He told Reuters on Saturday, ‘They are really playing well as a combined unit. We are closely watching each of their players’ performances and planning ahead for our series.’
   England are due to tour Pakistan from October 26 to play three Tests and five one-day internationals. It will be their first visit since 2000 when they won the Test series. Inzamam added, ‘Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen might be outstanding individual players but they are doing well as a team. Their bowling is their strongest point. ‘Compared to their bowling, unfortunately we have been unable to field our full-strength attack due to fitness problems in the last year.’

Former England bowler Bob Willis has called for Nottinghamshire's Chris Read to be picked ahead of Geraint Jones at wicketkeeper for the rest of the Ashes.
   Jones has been criticised for errors with the gloves in the three Tests.
   'Duncan Fletcher's a loyal coach but he's got this one badly wrong,' Willis told BBC Five Live's Sportsweek.
   'Read is the best wicketkeeper in the country by far. How many runs is Jones going to give away shelling chances and missing stumpings?'
   Jones has scored 88 runs in the series so far from five innings, increasing the pressure on his place in the side.
   The Kent player replaced Read as first-choice wicketkeeper last year, with the selectors opting for the Jones' ability to contribute runs lower down the order above Read's specialist keeping skills.
   'I think Duncan's made a mistake,' added Willis. He doesn't want to change a winning team and I think Jones will probably survive in the side - but that doesn't mean he's right.'
   Fletcher came to Jones' defence on Saturday after a missed stumping and dropped catch hindered England's hopes of wrapping up Australia's first innings. ‘Geraint would expect to take those chances so he will be disappointed.
   'But I have watched a lot of cricket when I am not with England and I have seen Gilchrist drop them, Boucher drop many, Sangakkara drop many for Sri Lanka and keepers for India do the same. 'Most of the sides around the world want to go for a batter that can keep wicket and if you go for that policy you have to expect a couple of chances to go begging,' said Fletcher.

Manchester United proved their title credentials with a 2-0 victory at Everton as the English Premiership kicked off on Saturday.
   With last season’s champions Chelsea and runners-up Arsenal starting their campaigns Sunday, United showcased their intent to run them a lot closer in the title race this time around.
   But it was straight back to domestic disappointment for Champions League winners Liverpool, held 0-0 at Middlesbrough.
   On their Premiership return, West Ham beat Blackburn 3-1 but Championship winners Sunderland were beaten 3-1 by Charlton and a rejuvenated Tottenham won 2-0 at Portsmouth.
   At Goodison Park, goals from Netherlands striker Ruud van Nistelrooy and former Everton striker Wayne Rooney asserted United’s superiority with a comprehensive victory that exposed a gulf in class.
   England starlet Rooney trashed claims Chelsea will once more cruise to the Premiership title.
   ‘There have been one or two comments about one team being in it but it’s rubbish really,’ he said.
   ‘This is a good start to the season but we have to keep it going. We knew it was going to be a tough game but it was a good performance by us.’
   Everton finished a surprising fourth last season behind United. However, the Toffees’ hopes of a permanent return to the upper echelons of English football took a knock back with the defeat.
   Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard earned praise from both managers after a dominant display at the Riverside stadium but there was no way through against a resolute 10-man Boro in a 0-0 draw.
   ‘He has scored seven goals in our pre-season and had two or three clear opportunities here, so we have to be happy that he is getting into the box so often,’ said Liverpool boss Rafa Benitez.
   ‘He’s an awesome player,’ added Boro counterpart Steve McClaren.
   Middlesbrough defender Ugo Ehiogu was dismissed with 15 minutes remaining before Gerrard’s 76th minute header looped onto the crossbar and another went agonisingly wide 11 minutes from time.
   West Ham celebrated their return to the top flight by coming from behind to beat Blackburn Rovers 3-1 at Upton Park.
   Andy Todd put the visitors ahead but 39-year-old former England and Manchester United striker Teddy Sheringham equalised.
   The veteran inspired the the Hammers to dominate and Nigel Reo-Coker lashed in from distance and Matthew Etherington sealed victory before Rovers’ Paul Dickov was dismissed.
   ‘It’s a fantastic start,’ said Reo-Coker.
   ‘I’ve been criticised for not shooting enough from my midfield role and I’ve made a personal plea to myself to say that I must have a few shots on goal,’ he said of his stunning strike.
   Tottenham fancy their chances of claiming a UEFA Cup spot this season and saw off Pompey in a 2-0 win.
   Spurs were without the injured Netherlands veteran Edgar Davids, Robbie Keane and Ledley King but still claimed victory.
   ‘Without playing really well, we were solid. We now have to live up to expectations,’ said Spurs boss Martin Jol.
   ‘There are four top teams in England and then a lot of other teams that fight for the other spots.’
   Their first goal at Fratton Park in 47 years - an own-goal by Portsmouth’s Andy Griffin - and one from England striker Jermain Defoe ensured victory.
   Ten-man visitors Charlton welcomed Championship winners Sunderland back to the top flight by beating them 3-1 at the Stadium of Light.
   New striker Darren Bent’s double and a Danny Murphy free kick did the damage for Charlton despite Darren Ambrose’s dismissal.
   Newboy Andy Gray scored for Sunderland.
   Addicks boss Alan Curbishley praised Bent’s impact.
   ‘He’s come in and, along with some other young players, has been a breath of fresh air at this club,’ he said.
   Aston Villa and Bolton got off to a flying start at Villa Park with all four goals in a 2-2 draw raining in inside nine minutes.
   Former Southampton striker Kevin Phillips took just four minutes to open his Villa account.
   But the joy lasted two minutes more before Kevin Davies and Ivan Campo turned things around for the UEFA Cup side.
   Steven Davis then equalised for the hosts.
   Manchester City, without the wing trickery of Chelsea capture Sean Wright-Phillips, were held at home to a goalless draw by last season’s relegation survivors West Bromwich.
   Mid-table fodder Fulham and Birmingham drew 0-0 at Craven Cottage.
   Premiership debutants Wigan take on Chelsea on Sunday and struggling giants Newcastle visit FA Cup holders Arsenal.

Dutch striker Roy Makaay scored a hat-trick to fire champions Bayern Munich to a 5-2 win at Bayer Leverkusen on Saturday.
   Bayern's victory sent them top of the table with six points and eight goals in their first two matches.
   Any hopes Bayer may have had of repeating their 4-1 humiliation of Bayern last season were soon extinguished.
   'You get days like this in football. We were shocked to go down by two goals-goals which could have been prevented,' said Bayer coach Klaus Augenthaler.
   'We cut their lead to 2-1 and had some good chances. But the third goal broke our necks,' he added.
   Michael Ballack opened the scoring against his former side, powering home a perfectly-placed shot into the corner of the net in the third minute.
   Makaay put Bayern 2-0 up eight minutes later but Bulgarian striker Dimitar Berbatov netted a penalty in the 32nd minute, briefly bringing Bayer into the game.
   Four minutes later Ali Karimi extended Bayern's lead to 3-1 and Makaay turned the screw, scoring twice within seven minutes in the second half. Bayer's Marko Babic got a late consolation eight minutes from time.
   Bayern coach Felix Magath said goals would not always come so quickly and Bayer had not put his team through their paces. 'Our next Bundesliga home game against Hertha will be much harder,' he said.
   Borussia Dortmund took the lead in the 17th minute against Schalke 04 through Ebi Smolarek, but Germany striker Kevin Kuranyi headed an equaliser and clinched a winner 13 minutes into the second half before a sell-out crowd of over 81,000.
   Schalke have the same number of points as Bayern and Hamburg SV, 2-0 winners at Arminia Bielefeld.
   Promoted MSV Duisburg troubled Kaiserslautern in an action-packed game before losing 5-3.
   'We made a determined push forward, but made lots of mistakes at the back. That shows we have a lot of work to do,' said coach Michael Henke.
   On Sunday, Mainz meet Werder Bremen and VFB Stuttgart play Cologne.

Goals by Ludovic Giuly and Samuel Eto'o in a five-minute spell early in the second half Saturday led FC Barcelona to a 3-0 victory over Real Betis in the first leg of the Spanish Supercup.
   Ronaldinho added a third goal in the 63rd minute to give Barcelona a comfortable advantage when it returns to Camp Nou stadium for next Saturday's second leg of the matchup between the league champion and the Copa del Rey winner.
   Barcelona's victory in its first competitive game since winning the league title in May was coach Frank Rijkaard' 100th in charge of the team. The Dutchman used Ronaldinho in an uncustomary center forward position and played Eto'o, last season's leading scorer, on the left wing.
   Neither player looked completely comfortable during the first half, leaving Ludovic Giuly to lead through a series of fast, low crosses. The French forward almost scored on halftime whistle with a pass to midfielder Xavi Hernandez, who hit goalkeeper Toni Doblas' left post with a low shot from just inside the area.
   Betis, which won its second Copa del Rey in June, came close to scoring only once before halftime when Spain right winger Joaquin Sanchez eluded four defenders in the 19th minute before shooting over the Barcelona crossbar. Barcelona started the second half in the form that earned last season's title, its first in six years.
   Ronaldinho created the first opportunity, piercing the static Betis back line with a ball that Giuly ran onto unchallenged and slid between Doblas' legs.
   Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes thwarted a near equalizer three minutes later, pushing away Brazilian striker Ricardo Oliveira's powerful header.
   The Catalans added to their lead in the 52nd, Xavi completing a series of passes with a ball to Eto'o, who walked around Doblas before slotting it into an empty net.
   Ronaldinho stretched the lead when he swept home a free kick from outside the penalty area to leave Doblas stranded on his goal line.

Real Madrid defender Jonathan Woodgate will have to start his comeback from a 16-month injury lay-off by playing
   alongside 14-year-old boys from the club's youth team set-up, says coach Wanderlei Luxemburgo.
   Woodgate took part in the club's pre-season training camp in Austria but although he is reported to be nearing
   full fitness Luxemburgo says the England centre-back is still a long way from making his full Real Madrid debut. 'Woody will have to begin by playing alongside boys of 14 and 15-years-old who are weaker and not as tough,' the Brazilian coach told reporters ahead of Real's testimonial match in honour of Hungarian striker Ferenc Puskas in Budapest.
   'Then he can go on to play alongside the 16 and 17-year-olds and then with the reserves in the second division.
   'He has to regain his confidence little by little and forget the injury he has suffered.
   ‘He's not played for 14 or 15 months and that's a long time to be out of action.
   'With only two weeks of full training with the first team behind him he can't play straight away.
   ‘He's worked hard with the rest of his team mates, but he still has to work on other facets of the game and playing kick-abouts will help him a lot.'
   Woodgate tore a thigh muscle while playing for Newcastle United against Chelsea in April 2004 and has not played a competitive game since.
   He joined Real last August for around 20 million euros ($24.95 million) but suffered a recurrence of the injury shortly before he was due to make his comeback in October.
   'It is impossible to calculate when Woodgate will be able to play at the top level again,' said Luxemburgo. 'I'm not an oracle.
   'I do have confidence that he will recover and we are going to give him the opportunity to play with us.
   ‘We will let him tell us when he's ready and we will give him time to compete for a place with the other centre-backs and prove that he has recovered.'
   But Luxemburgo hinted that if the 25-year-old former Leeds United player failed to make a comeback he would have to discuss the possibility of signing a new defender with club president Florentino Perez.
   Real Madrid vice-president Emilio Butragueno was more upbeat in his assessment of the player's prospects, saying earlier in the week that he expected Woodgate to become a key part of the squad this season.
   'Woodgate is going to surprise a lot of people because he is going to become one of our most important recruits of the season,' he said.
   'He has sacrificed a great deal and now is the time for him to get his reward.'

Bayern Munich goalkeeper Oliver Kahn admits he would not be overly surprised if German national coach Jurgen Klinsmann decided to rotate his goalkeepers during the 2006 World Cup finals.
   While most nations have an established number one custodian Germany rotate Kahn and Arsenal goalkeeper Jens Lehmann, with Klinsmann believing it is good for competition ahead of the World Cup.
   'I have to accept the way it is. I will play against the Netherlands and then another goalkeeper has two games,' explained Kahn. 'Perhaps we will still be using this policy for the World Cup finals. That would be a new concept.'
   The 36-year-old Kahn will be in goal for the friendly match against the Netherlands in Rotterdam on Wednesday and the subsequent warm-up matches against Turkey and China on October 8 and 12. Lehmann will then take centre stage for the Slovakia friendly on September 3 before facing South Africa nine days later and France on November 12.
   VfB Stuttgart glovesman Timo Hildebrand will be the back-up goalkeeper for all six friendly matches leaving Kahn and Lehmann free to concentrate on their club duties.
   'As it stands Kahn is the number one, Lehmann the number two and Hildebrand third choice,' confirmed Klinsmann.
   Former Bayern Munich striker Klinsmann wants the loser of the Kahn-Lehmann duel to provide back-up for the World Cup finals but former German goalkeeping great Toni Schumacher believes that is just a pipedream.
   'Neither of those two will sit on the bench,' Schumacher told Bild am Sonntag. 'For Kahn and Lehmann it is their last major tournament and it is only worth turning up if they are the number one.'

Sven-Goran Eriksson believes Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho has the credentials to be considered as a possible candidate to replace him as England coach when his contract runs out.
   The Swede's deal runs until 2008 with a break clause after next summer's World Cup finals.
   And although he has no intention of going early Eriksson believes the Portuguese manager would make a good England coach.
   'Jose Mourinho is a character, a good organiser and a great motivator from what I understand. He must be very good because of what he has done with Porto and Chelsea,' Eriksson told BBC Radio 5 Live's Sportsweek programme.
   Asked if the Chelsea boss would make a good England coach, Eriksson said: 'I am sure he would - but I'm not going to resign! I have a contract until 2008 and I want to stay in the job.'
   'I'm not opening or closing any doors for anyone. I said once that I suppose the Football Association (FA) will choose an English coach but I don't really know and it's absolutely not really my problem.
   'I think there are a lot of candidates for this job and there are a lot of managers in England,
   both English and foreign,
   who would like to have this job as it's maybe the most prestigious job that you can have in the world.'
   Several leading FA figures would prefer to replace Eriksson with an English coach, with Steve McClaren, Alan Curbishley and Sam Allardyce also rated as potential candidates.
   Eriksson, meanwhile, rates Chelsea as the favourites to retain their Premiership crown, but insisted: 'It will be more difficult this season as they are now the team to beat.'

FC Barcelona forward Ronaldinho will sign a lucrative new contract before the end of the month, his brother and agent Roberto de Assis said Sunday.
   'I'm here until Aug. 29 and before I go to Brazil we're going to sort everything out,' de Assis was quoted as saying by news agency Efe.
   De Assis said that recent delays were due to problems in scheduling and not, as has been recently reported, to disagreements.
   'We haven't been able to sign because the team was traveling and we were too. It was necessary to find a gap in the diary,' he said.
   Ronaldinho's new contract is reportedly for five years with an option for renewal in each of the next four years,
   running to 2014 - when he would be 34.
   The Brazilian's fixed annual salary would rise in increments US$8.1 million in 2008, when his current contract expires, and then increase in line with inflation.
   Ronaldinho would also be paid an additional variable salary, which depends on the number of matches he plays and the trophies he wins, which would start at an annual US$5 million.
   The current FIFA world player of the year would also receive 5 percent of the sum of his fixed and variable salaries as well as compensation for ceding Barcelona a third of the income from his image rights.
   Barcelona is trying to extend the contracts of key players who helped it win the Spanish
   league title for the first time in six years. It has also sought to improve the deals of its young prospects.
   Samuel Eto'o, Deco and Xavi Hernandez, together with rookies Lionel Messi and Damia Albelda, have all agreed to extensions until 2010, while coach Frank Rijkaard and captain Carles Puyol are expected to do so soon.
   Ronaldinho joined Barcelona from Paris Saint-Germain for US$37 million in 2003.

Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson was full of praise for new signing Park Ji-Sung after the South Korea winger enjoyed a dynamic debut.
   Park found himself making his league debut from the start of United's 2-0 victory at Everton after Cristiano Ronaldo was ruled out through injury.
   The former PSV Eindhoven man had already shown flashes of his potential in the UEFA Champions League qualifying round 3-0 victory over Hungary's Debreceni on Tuesday.
   But his direct running and boundless energy from the start of his first Premier League match - and in fact the first ever appearance by a Korean in the Premiership - had his new manager singing his praises.
   'Park's tenacity and running was excellent, he was always a threat in terms of penetration and will be pleased with his performance,' said Ferguson.
   Park was often involved in United's attacking moves and should have been on the scoresheet in the 62nd minute when put clean through by Gary Neville but he snatched at the chance and missed the ball completely.
   He was more effective in creating chances, putting a string of dangerous crosses into the box.
   Park arrived from Dutch champions PSV Eindhoven during the off-season for an undisclosed figure believed to be in the region of four million pounds (7.2 million dollars).
   He first caught the eye of United's scouts after
   scoring in the Champions League semi-final against AC Milan last season, during which his penetration from the flanks caused the Italians many problems.

asy sail for BDR
Defending champions Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) registered an easy 33-17 win over Rajshahi City Corporation in the inaugural match of the Orient Bread Federation Cup Handball Tournament at the handball court on Sunday. The winners led the first half 20-09.Sayeeduzzaman netted eight goals, followed by Sajal with seven, Rajshahi CC’s Zaman and Mizanur scored five each. Narinda Progoti Boys defeated Surjodoy Krira Chakra by 39-13 goals in the other match. Sultan of the winning team netted 12 goals. Lt. General (retd) Mohammd Mahbubur Rrahman, MP, former army chief and chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on ministry of Defence inaugurated the tournament. President of Bangladesh Handball federation Lt Col. (retd) MA Hamid, vice president Mahbubuzzaman and general secretary Asaduzzaman Kohinoor were present at the inaugural function.
— BD News

Espanyol break off relations with Barca
Espanyol have broken off relations with city rivals Barcelona because of the way they were treated by them during their attempts to sign Argentine striker Javier Saviola. Espanyol were the club that had shown the greatest public interest in signing Saviola, but the 23-year-old international ended up being loaned out to Sevilla instead. 'I have nothing against Barcelona or its fans, which I respect, but I do have something against its directors,' Espanyol president Daniel Sanchez Llibre told the club's webpage on Saturday. 'I have now broken off relations with them and I will not sit in the VIP box with them to watch any match while I am in charge of this institution.' Sanchez Llibre explained that Saviola and his agents had expressed their desire to sign for Espanyol after Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard said there was no place for the player in his team. But he said Barcelona had misled them over the signing and had pulled out of a deal not because of a dispute over the player's salary but because they did not want the player to join their city rivals. 'Last week the Barcelona president (Joan Laporta) told me that he was worried that the player would end up at Espanyol and score lots of goals and he feared the reaction of the fans,' said Sanchez Llibre. 'We said we would pay 100 per cent of his salary... I even made an offer of 10 million euros ($12.48 million) to buy the player on a four-year contract.'
— Reuters

South Korea beat North Korea in friendly
South Korea beat North Korea 3-0 in a men’s football friendly held here Sunday as part of joint festivities marking the end of Japan’s colonial rule over the Korean peninsula 60 years ago.The South’s opening goal came in the 33rd minute when midfielder Chung Kyung-Ho’s low header directed Kim Do-Heon’s free kick from the right center into the North’s net. Two minutes later, striker Kim Jin-Yong of the South lobbed a cross from midfielder Baek Ji-Hoon to shake the North’s net for the second time. In the 67th minute, striker Park Chu-Young dribbled a cross into the penalty area and gently directed it over the North’s diving goalie into the net.
— AFP