Zimbabwe are looking forward to scoring 350 plus runs in the first innings to throw a challenge to Bangladesh on the typical Dhaka wicket. However, after the first day’s play the Zimbabwe vice-captain Dion Ebrahim felt guilty for not scoring more runs and losing six wickets saying they knew the nature of the wicket and wanted to accelerate the run rate.
   ‘I don’t think we were surprised to see the wicket. It comes (such a wicket) in a different form abroad. We saw the wicket yesterday and expected this type of behaviour from it. We set a target of scoring three-and-a-half runs per over which we could not because we lost wickets in crucial times. And the spinners did a good job with tight spells,’ said Ebrahim.
   ‘We just tried to bat by selecting the shots. However, we are disappointed with the way we played especially after lunch. We are not satisfied with our performances today. We landed far below than we hoped to land today.
   ‘The good thing is that we have our captain in the middle with Panyangara who can score runs. So we hope to bat well tomorrow and post at least 350 runs. We have also got two spinners and hope they will also do a good job,’ added the vice- captain.
   When asked about the bowling of Enamul Haque, who picked up four wickets on the day, Ebrahim said, ‘His bowling figures obviously showed that it was difficult to play him. He and the other left-handed spinner Rafique bowled very well.’
   Ebarhim earlier toured Bangladesh when he scored his only one-day century. He was one of the junior members of the team then and now he is a senior player. When asked to compare the two teams, Ebrahim admitted there was a gulf of difference between the sides.
   ‘The team that toured in 2001 was an experienced side playing 40-50 Test matches 70-80 one-dayers. But the current side is very young and not so experienced. On the other hand, Bangladesh have a good number of players, who have the experience of playing against the world’s Test heavyweights. Hence, it is very difficult to draw a comparison between the two teams,’ said the top-order batsman.
   ‘I toured here earlier and only could give advice to our young players what I picked up in the past. The whole group is very talented and they learnt quickly,’ ended the Zimbabwean, who wished to keep up his good luck in Bangladesh.

Australia (301/4) beat West Indies (185) by 116 runs
   Damien Martyn’s 95 not out and a five-wicket haul from spinner Brad Hogg helped Australia crush West Indies by 116 runs in the opening match of the triangular limited-overs series on Friday.
   World champions Australia smashed 301 for four including half-centuries from Michael Clarke and Ricky Ponting before West Indies were dismissed for 185 in 46.2 overs.
   Paceman Brett Lee (three for 36) put Australia firmly in control, removing Chris Gayle (0), Ramnaresh Sarwan (four) and Xavier Marshall (five) to peg back West Indies at 33 for four in the seventh over.
   Captain Brian Lara (58) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (46) rebuilt the innings with a 98-run partnership for the fifth wicket before the pair fell to left-arm spinner Hogg, who took a career-best five for 32 to win the man of the match award.
   The series continues on Sunday when Australia host Pakistan in Hobart.
   Martyn, who hit six fours and one six in his 93-ball innings, continued the stunning form he showed in 2004 when he hit six test centuries.
   The 33-year-old was on 93 with one over remaining but could manage only two singles to finish five runs short of his sixth century.
   Opener Clarke hit 66 and Ponting also cashed in on the touring side’s poor fielding, the Australian captain blasting 78 including five fours and one six.
   Dwayne Bravo took a sensational diving catch at mid-wicket in the third over to remove Adam Gilchrist for a duck off the bowling of Ian Bradshaw.
   Clarke, promoted to the top of the order after Matthew Hayden was rested, shared a 115-run stand with Ponting for the second wicket to put
   the home side on track for a big total.
   Left-hander Darren Lehmann (20 not out) brought the Melbourne Cricket Ground crowd of 51,453 to their feet with a boundary through point off the final ball to lift the total over 300.
   Third ball
   Unable to break into Australia’s Test XI for their last three series, Lee trapped Gayle lbw from the third ball of the West Indies innings.
   Wavell Hinds was run out for five before Lee had Sarwan and 18-year-old debutant Marshall caught behind fending off short balls.
   Hogg claimed the key wicket of Lara caught at cover and in his next over he caught and bowled Chanderpaul to kill off the West Indies challenge at 136 for six.
   The 33-year-old Hogg also removed Marlon Samuels (nine) and Bravo (three) in his first spell of four for 22 from seven overs.
   Hogg then had Bradshaw caught on the boundary for 12 to finish with his second five-wicket haul in his 53rd one-day international.

Bangladesh vice-captain Khaled Mashud believes the wicket is batting-friendly and losing the toss will not pose any problem for the home side.
   In the post-match briefing, Mashud, who faced trouble keeping the wickets due to low bounce, looked charming and confident. The vice-captain also refused to predict any result after the first day of the second Test against Zimbabwe at the BNS on Friday.
   ‘The wicket is very good. We could not get more than six wickets today but I will say that we bowled nicely throughout the day especially after the lunch break. I have to admit that the wicket offered a low bounce and to me it seemed to be a batting track. I hope the pitch will remain the same till the third day of the Test,’ said the former Bangladesh captain.
   ‘There was some movement in the morning but our pace bowlers did not perform well. However, the two spinners bowled outstandingly.
   ‘After the first day I am not disappointed to pick up six wickets because it was not an easy task to take wickets on the surface. I will not guess how much runs we will allow the Zimbabweans to amass but I want to get them all out before lunch on the second day,’ added Mashud.
   When asked whether losing the toss will cost Bangladesh the Test, the vice captain said he did not think so.
   ‘I don’t think losing the toss was crucial and we still have the chance to make a good use of the wicket condition and there are the third and fourth innings to come by.
   ‘If Zimbabwe score 350 runs in their first innings that does not mean we will be out of the match. We should not bother about what they are thinking, instead we should concentrate on our own game,’ said the confident wicketkeeper-batsman.
   Praising the two left-handed spinners, Mashud said, ‘The wicket was slow and Mohammad Rafique maintained a good line and length. I think that’s the reason why the Zimbabweans did not charge at him and did not make any mistake. Rafique may not have any wicket but he gave an able support with his accurate bowling.
   ‘Enamul was also very sharp and looked very confident. In the first innings of the first Test in Chittagong he seemed to be a bit dejected but in this Test he was aggressive from the very beginning,’ said Mashud.

A total of 93 players from 13 countries are participating in the ITF International Junior Tennis tournament Group-3, sponsored by GrameenPhone, that began at the Ramna Tennis Complex on Friday.
   Sixty-three boys and 30 girls from Azerbaijan, Chanese Taipei, Czech Republic, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Russia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, India, Thailand and hosts Bangladesh will be vying for laurels in the week-long tennis meet.
   The organisers prepared a budget of Tk 5.50 lakh for the tournament and the sponsor GrameenPhone will provide Tk 3 lakh. The federation is expecting to collect the rest of fund from the sale of souvenirs and entry fees.

England (293/7) against South Africa at tea, day 2
   England’s batsmen struggled on a rain-hit second day of the fourth Test against South Africa at the Wanderers Stadium Friday.
   England were 293 for seven at tea after only 87 minutes play was possible between interruptions for rain and bad light.
   England captain Michael Vaughan was unbeaten on 29, his highest score of the series, but he lost three partners while only 30 runs were added in bowler-friendly conditions.
   Fast bowler Makhaya Ntini took two wickets Friday and had figures of four for 67 at the tea break.
   No play was possible before lunch after overnight rain continued in the morning. When play did start the sky was heavily overcast and the floodlights were on.
   The pitch, which had been good for batting on a sunny first day, gave the bowlers considerable assistance, with the ball moving sharply off the seam at times.
   Nightwatchman Matthew Hoggard fended a catch to AB de Villiers at gully off Ntini in a 40-minute period of play before a 23-minute stoppage for bad light.
   When cricket resumed, England lost two more wickets. Andrew Flintoff edged a catch to South African captain Graeme Smith at first slip when he played a loose back-foot shot against Ntini.
   Smith held his third catch of the innings in the following over when Geraint Jones edged a ball from Shaun Pollock which seamed away from him.
   Ashley Giles stayed with his captain for 34 minutes before rain stopped play and tea was taken.

The local crowds were not happy on the first day of the second Test between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Friday when Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar lost the toss. Zimbabwe inevitably elected to bat first.
   The visiting batsmen could not bring supporters to the stadium to see their batting and the ticket touts also had a bad day for this reason.
   Approximately 7,000 spectators gathered in the field when the organisers expected at least 15,000 each day during the Test after the historic win in Chittagong and a full house in the one-dayers.
   Some black-marketers found it tough to sell the tickets and were ready to give the tickets to the buyers charging an additional Tk 3-5 each. Some even sold the ticket at actual price.

Pakistan will open their first full tour of India for six years with a Test starting on March 4, according to the match schedule released on Friday.
   India’s cricket board announced dates for the series comprising three Tests and five one-dayers but said the venues would be decided next week.
   The tourists will arrive in India on February 25.
   Match dates
   Warm-up game: Feb 27-March 1
   First Test: March 4-8
   Second Test: March 12-16
   Third Test: March 20-24
   Warm-up game: March 26
   First ODI: March 28
   Second ODI: March 31
   Third ODI: April 3
   Fourth ODI: April 6
   Fifth ODI: April 9

Despite its success in England, Australia’s vice-captain Adam Gilchrist says he is not sure if Twenty20 format of cricket could be awarded official status at the international level.
   ‘I’m not too sure on an international scale, one-off international maybe...,’ Gilchrist was quoted as saying in a local daily on Thursday.
   He, however, said that a round-robin tournament without an official international status, could be a considered in this format.
   ‘I certainly feel as a result of that, there’s scope for it to be incorporated somewhere into the programme,’ Gilchrist said.
   Western Australia and Victoria played the abridged form of one-day cricket in front of The concept, which began in England two years ago and has also been played in South Africa, involves a 20-over-a-side match with modified rules that encourage quick over rates and even quicker run rates.
   Among the unique rules is a 90-second deadline for incoming batsmen to arrive at the crease and strict run penalties for teams which fail to bowl 20 overs in 90 minutes.
   Batsmen are awarded a free hit for the delivery following a foot-fault no-ball.
   Australia and England are scheduled to play the first-ever Twenty20 international in Hampshire on June 13 this year.
   CA considering Twenty20 format at state level Full houses in the two Twenty20 matches played at Perth and Melbourne have inspired Cricket Australia to take the format seriously and consider introducing it at the state level from their next domestic season.
   ‘The signals we’re getting in these last two days is that it’s something the fans are interested in seeing more of and we need to look at the way in which we can introduce it on perhaps a more formal basis next season,’ CA chief James Sutherland was quoted as saying by the AAP.
   ‘For an unofficial match between two state teams to have a capacity crowd is just a phenomenal result,’ Sutherland added.
   Of late, the CA was a little bothered about the declining interest of people in cricket but an overwhelming turnout to watch the matches between Western Australia and Victoria followed by Australia ‘A’ and Pakistan on Thursday indicated a renewed interest in the game with still shorter version of 20-overs-a-side.
   ‘It’s a fantastic response. You can’t fail to be impressed or excited about the potential that this form of the game might have. We want to make sure that in a demographic sense, that cricket in whatever form can in some way appeal to all Australians and this is a great opportunity for us to capture part of the Australian demographic that we don’t ordinarily capture,’ Sutherland said.

Lleyton Hewitt dug deep to survive an early scare from his 2000 Olympics nemesis Max Mirnyi and stretch his unbeaten run at the Sydney International tennis to 19 matches here Friday.
   The three-time champion’s superior fitness was a telling factor as world No.48 Mirnyi of Belarus made a strong start only to wilt in searing on-court temperatures of 45 Celsius (115 Fahrenheit).
   Hewitt triumphed in the unforgiving conditions to win 6-7 (4/7), 6-3, 6-2 after two hours seven minutes and will face little-known 20-year-old Czech qualifier Ivo Minar in Saturday’s final.
   While others around him were keeling over in the blistering heat, the world No.3 clawed back from dropping the opening set to wear down the much-taller Mirnyi, known in tennis circles as ‘The Beast.’
   ‘I feel fine playing in these conditions. I feel physically as strong as anyone on the tour,’ Hewitt said. ‘I’ve put in the hard yards, I know what I’ve got left in the tank and I felt like I was lasting a lot better in the conditions than he (Mirnyi) was.
   ‘It’s good going out in a match and knowing that your body is going to hold up ... it gives you a lot more confidence in these conditions.’
   Hewitt’s intestinal fortitude was seen at its best Friday as he refused to use the heat as an excuse for defeat.
   ‘I’m sure Max knew after the first set that I wasn’t going away, even though I lost in the tiebreak, I think a lot of guys know that I’m not going to go away, it’s a matter of being mentally tough.
   ‘I know a lot of guys out on the tour today would have thrown in the second set knowing that there’s a grand slam to get ready for in a couple of days’ time, but that’s just not me.’
   Hewitt had been apprehensive before meeting his former doubles partner who defeated him on this court at the Sydney Olympics, the only player to have beaten him at Homebush Bay.
   His fears were borne out when he dropped a first set tie-break to Mirnyi but Hewitt raced around the sweltering court through to the last point, jogging on the spot with his trademark air punches and cries of ‘c’mon’.
   Hewitt now faces Minar, ranked 158, and the conqueror of the tournament’s fourth and sixth seeds, Romanian Andrei Pavel and Nikolay Davydenko of Russia, on his way to the final.
   ‘I don’t even really know what he looks like and I haven’t seen him play,’ the world No.3 said of Minar, adding his coach Roger Rasheed had scouted his matches at the Sydney tournament and would give him a report.
   ‘I’ve got to go out there and play my game and I’ll work out what to expect from him in the first couple of games.’
   Minar crushed compatriot Radek Stepanek 6-1, 6-2 in the other semi-final.
   The Czech adopted an aggressive baseline game he said was based on that of his idol Andre Agassi to account for Stepanek in 54 minutes.

Former Test and limited overs international batsman Michael Bevan will captain an Australian Prime Minister’s XI in a one-day match against Pakistan here this month, cricket officials announced Friday.
   It will be Bevan’s fifth appearance in a Prime Minister’s team. The batsman plays for Tasmania in the domestic Sheffield Shield competition. Also in the team are Australia A team members Dominic Thornely, Michael Lewis and James Hopes.

Real Madrid on Thursday night claimed victory in their £30 million battle to sign Steven Gerrard, reports the Daily Mirror.
   Real sporting director Emilio Butragueno has revealed he has struck a ‘verbal agreement’ with Liverpool to give them first option on signing the England midfielder as part of the deal that took Fernando Morientes to Anfield.
   Gerrard is the Spanish club’s No 1 transfer target this summer and Butragueno has assured the club’s hierarchy that a deal is in place to take him to the Bernabeu at the end of the season. Real believe they will get their man ahead of Chelsea, who are also keen to sign the England star.
   Liverpool chief executive Rick Parry has furiously denied any such deal was part of the £6.3m transfer of Morientes.

Roger Federer sounded a warning to his rivals at next week’s Australian Open after blasting into the final of the elite Kooyong Classic Friday with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Tim Henman.
   The smooth Swiss, unquestioned dominator of last season with 11 titles including three of the four Grand Slams, said he was looking forward to a trophy clash with hot rival Andy Roddick.
   With just hours to go before the start of Grand Slam hostilities at Melbourne Park, where the top seed will be defending his crown, Federer pronounced his form close to ideal.
   ‘Everything is pretty good,’ said a player who has won his last 14 finals dating to 2003. ‘I’m happy with the match today, it was much better than the first (against Roland Garros winner Gaston Gaudio, where he lost a set). That’s a good sign.’
   Federer dropped serve once in the first set but was never troubled by Henman, ranked seventh and now free from physical complaints after a back problem over the holidays.
   The Swiss brooked no opposition in the second set, taking a 5-2 lead and serving out out with an ace a game later.
   ‘Of course, you’d like to win these matches,’ said Henman, seeded seventh at the Open. ‘But I’m really happy with the way things have progressed here. I’m a better player I’ve ever been,’ said the 30-year-old.
   Roddick has been waiting for Federer since Thursday, when he advanced 6-5 as Andre Agassi had to quit with a hip worry which threatens his Open.
   One of Roddick’s most demoralising defeats in 2004 came in the Wimbledon final against Federer, and the Swiss stands ready to build upon a winning career record against every top ten opponent save Henman.
   ‘It’s always nice to play between the number one and number two—especially two days before a Slam,’ said the 23-year-old.
   ‘I’m happy with the match today. Kooyong gives you the option to try some things. But you want to play well in the final.’
   In consolation round matches, last year’s winner David Nalbandian won as Olympic champion Nicolas Massu quit as a precaution with foot pain, handing over a 6-4, 2-1 win to his Argentine opponent.
   ‘I had hernia surgery on November 30, and I just started to train two weeks ago.’ said Massu. ‘This was one of my first matches in three months and I felt some pain in my foot.
   ‘I had it taped but still had pain. I wanted to be sure to play in the Australian Open, so that’s why I retired.’
   Croatian Ivan Ljubicic dealt Gaudio a third match from three played, losing 6-4, 6-4.

The Australian Open celebrates its centenary this year, no longer the poor relation of the four tennis grand slams and arguably the one that Wimbledon, the US Open and Roland Garros seek to emulate, according to tournament director Paul McNamee.
   When McNamee arrived 10 years ago he was concerned that the event was struggling to cater for the huge number of spectators.
   ‘The thing I feared was that we didn’t have big enough show courts,’ he said this week.
   ‘Centre Court was pretty full and the second court only held 6,000 people. We were bursting at the seams and were really at risk of not being able to control the crowds and having to shut the gates and turn people away.
   ‘So I wrote to the (Victorian state) premier and said we had a problem and unless we got a bigger show court, like a Court One at Wimbledon that had just come on stream, we had a fundamental crisis and couldn’t grow the tournament any more.
   ‘Out of that a lot of people got involved and a new multi-purpose arena was built for 10,000 people. We went from probably having the weakest venue to having arguably the venue that others want to follow in some way, with its two covered show courts.’
   McNamee also said he was strengthening ties with Asia as he looks to further boost the standing of the event.
   ‘The biggest challenge has always been to move to being a global event when you’re from a country that only has less than 20 million people,’ said McNamee.
   ‘How do we get that, to be a player with the big guys, not just in tennis but in other sports? That has been our challenge, and engagement with Asia has always been the solution to that challenge and is absolutely central to our future.
   ‘It’s our backyard and we have to play there, and do it in a way that’s honourable and with good intention and to be a good neighbour and a good leader.
   ‘And that is exactly what our role should be as a grand slam. We have to step up to the plate too, and we’re determined to do that. You’re widening the base and getting the critical mass we lack, and it has to be a great event for the region and not just for this country.’
   Marketing executive Richard Gee spends 30 weeks a year in Asia, and incentives such as coaching clinics and using ball-kids from Asian countries has helped to integrate Asia into the event.
   A total of 36 full-time staff work on the tournament year-round, with operations taking the most important role. What makes their task especially difficult is that the Australian Open only rents the venue and they have to set up and pack away in a short space of time.
   Other departments include media, marketing, sponsorship and sponsor sales, ticketing and global communications which involves interfacing with television, radio and the Internet.
   Ten thousand accreditation passes are issued with security concerns presenting problems of their own.
   ‘There is such a focus on security now,’ McNamee said. ‘You have to try and leave no stone unturned and have a good system in place. The accreditation system is very important, because that’s your process of having the right traffic in the right places.
   ‘It’s a question of keeping the easy-going atmosphere intact with keeping it tight, and I think we’ve been able to achieve that.’
   McNamee has had a few worrying times since taking charge, and one potential disaster occurred during his first year.
   ‘You’d have to say the flood in 1995 which happened after the Andre Agassi-Aaron Krickstein semi was a tough moment,’ he said.
   There was heavy rain, and the drains couldn’t handle the surge and the arena was flooded. The media area was under water with some journalists putting their chairs on top of their desks to meet their deadlines.
   ‘That was a potential catastrophe, because no one really knew for sure whether we would be able to get Mary Pierce and Arantxa Sanchez on court the next day for the final.’
   McNamee looks back on the 2002 women’s final as one of the more dramatic moments of his time. In temperatures exceeding 40 Celsius, Jennifer Capriati saved four match points to beat Martina Hingis in such gruelling conditions that both players were close to collapse and stretchers were ready at courtside.
   ‘To see them with ice around their necks the whole time at the changeovers, that was brutal and you were worried that something might happen,’ said McNamee.
   ‘I was told Martina was completely covered with ice with nothing on in the locker room afterwards. It must have been quite a sight.’

The Kenyan government on Friday dissolved the country’s governing cricket body and set up an interim committee to run the sport, pending fresh elections in April.
   Sports Minister Ochilo Ayacko accused the Kenya Cricket Association (KCA) of financial mismanagement, failing to resolve a long-standing feud with national team players and being too slow in drawing up a new constitution.
   ‘The KCA purports to officially promote the sport of cricket in Kenya and receives a lot of financial support for this purpose,’ Ayacko said in a statement.
   Ayacko did not provide details of the amounts involved.
   The interim committee is led by a member of the Kenya National Sports Council, Isaac Kalua, who has been heading an Independent Review Commission of the KCA constitution that was launched last October.
   Other members include Samir Inamdar and Salim Dhanji, two officials of the Coast Cricket Association, who have been at loggerheads with the national body over the establishment of new cricket branches in the country.

Argentina coach Jose Pekerman gets straight to the bone when he analyses his team’s current standing in the world game and is quick to dispel the notion that they are a strong, stable side.
   Pekerman inherited a team admired worldwide for their brand of attacking football at the Copa America in July, when they lost the final to Brazil on penalties, and the Athens Olympic Games in August when the same predominantly under-23 version won the gold medal.
   He says, however, that Argentina are in transition from their 2002 World Cup debacle and, despite their current world ranking of three behind France and Brazil, need a major title to lift the burden of years without success.
   ‘Argentina didn’t take the senior selection to the Copa America, but rather the Olympic team, a sub-23 side, so there is a gap,’ Pekerman said in a recent interview.
   ‘That team, because of the calendar and their performances, were seen as the senior team because they immediately played a qualifier with Peru,’ he said referring to the 3-1 win in Lima on September 4 in their last match under his predecessor Marcelo Bielsa.
   ‘And that makes people forget the transition due to the euphoria of the results,’ he told La Nacion newspaper.
   ‘We need this whole generation of new players to understand that the senior selection has not won anything for very many years and that this is becoming a big burden,’ Pekerman said in another interview in the December issue of the sports monthly El Grafico.
   ‘Just as we do many things well and Argentine football is valued (in the world) and players of quality keep emerging, so we are lacking that success,’ he said.
   ‘We must ratify all that with results, because results are what count,’ he added as he spelt out his goal for the 2006 World Cup in Germany.
   Pekerman does not guarantee a place to any player, neither 2002 World Cup captain Juan Sebastian Veron, who is trying to rebuild his career at Inter Milan, nor even the in-form Juan Roman Riquelme at Villarreal.
   He said placing excessive hope in Copa America and Olympic Games successes such as Carlos Tevez, Javier Mascherano and Luis Gonzalez would also be a mistake.

Fernando Morientes will get an immediate introduction to what the Premier League is all about today when he is expected to make his Liverpool debut in their lunchtime game against Manchester United at Anfield.
   Morientes, who completed his 6.3 million pounds ($11.85 million) move from Real Madrid after passing a medical on Thursday, is well used to high-octane occasions, having faced Barcelona and Atletico Madrid for Real, not to mention appearing in four European Cup finals, the World Cup and European Championship for Spain.
   But the close confines of Anfield, where there will be a baying pack of Manchester United supporters anxious to spoil the welcome party, and the usually frenetic nature of the fixture will nonetheless be something of an eye opener for the experienced 28-year-old.
   Liverpool coach Rafael Benitez says Morientes ‘has the mentality’ to go into what is always one of the most keenly contested games in the Premier League programme.
   The arrival of Morientes will lift Liverpool, who have been over-reliant on their midfield for goals since Michael Owen moved in the opposite direction to Real at the start of the season.
   Particularly pleased about the deal is Milan Baros, the Czech front man who hopes to quickly build a profitable partnership with the Spaniard.
   ‘Fernando is terrific in the air, just like Jan Koller,’ Baros said, recalling the partnership with his Czech international team-mate.
   ‘Jan and I have been superb for the Czechs and I believe Fernando and I can prove just as successful in English football.’
   Liverpool are fifth on 37 points, seven behind third-placed United. Arsenal are second on 48 with Chelsea clear on 55.
   United began the season with a glut of strikers but injuries and suspensions have left them struggling for firepower at times and they have looked a little toothless as their last three games have ended goalless.
   Alan Smith is likely to join Wayne Rooney up front at Anfield with Ruud van Nistelrooy still out injured.
   Chelsea’s last goalless draw in the league came back in September against Tottenham Hotspur and the two London rivals meet again today, both in very different shape from those early days.
   Both clubs have found their way to goal since then, Chelsea romping clear with 43 goals scored and only eight conceded while Spurs are on a run of seven wins in 10 games with strikers Jermain Defoe, Frederic Kanoute and Robbie Keane all in hot form.
   Bolton host Arsenal and while Sam Allardyce’s side drew 2-2 at Highbury in September their confidence has been severely undermined since then and the champions will expect to win.

Fernando Morientes has admitted to the Sun that Michael Owen forced him to join Liverpool.
   The Spaniard, 28, makes his debut against Manchester United today but claims he would not even be in England had it not been for the former Anfield hero.
   He said, ‘Owen’s arrival at Real Madrid damaged me. It meant I became the fourth-choice striker.’
   Owen, 25, joined the Spanish giants in a shock £8 million deal on the eve of the season in August.

Martin Jol will never forget his contribution to the humiliating end of Johan Cruyff’s career.
   But the man the Spurs boss considers his country’s most natural talent since the lynchpin of the ‘Total Football’ side, is looming large in Jol’s thoughts as he bids to consign Tottenham’s worst head-to-head run to history today.
   If White Hart Lane is to witness the first home league win over Chelsea since 1987, Jol knows he will have to devise a way of keeping Arjen Robben quiet.
   And with bitter memories of failed attempts in the past, and a keen awareness of just how dangerous the Chelsea flier is, Jol admitted that it is a huge task.
   He said to the British media and Agecies, ‘When I say Johan Cruyff is the best player ever, everybody says ‘No’, so I don’t tell those stories any more. But in Holland we think that Robben now is the best left-winger since Cruyff.
   ‘Cruyff was the best dribbler ever. When I told somebody that on Thursday they said that I was wrong and it was George Best.
   ‘Best was unbelievable but he only played seven or eight years. Cruyff played 18 years and Robben was as good as him at 17 and he’s doing more now.
   ‘In Holland there is a Johan Cruyff Foundation that picks the best young players. I’m on the panel and we picked Robben two years ago.
   ‘I said three years ago that Robben was a small phenomenon in Holland – but that he would become a big phenomenon. There are maybe two or three players as good in the last 20 or 30 years.’
   Jol’s place on the selection panel proves Cruyff does not harbour a grudge.
   The Tottenham chief recalled, ‘I played against him, for Bayern Munich versus Ajax, in his farewell game in Amsterdam.
   ‘We beat them 8-0. I felt ashamed because it was him and I was playing for the Germans. It was awful. He ran off the pitch because he was so disappointed and I felt like crying for him, although I have his shirt from that game.
   ‘But we agreed about Robben, so I know what to expect. When I was manager of Waalwijk he played against us for Groningen and PSV.
   ‘On more than one occasion we were in a good position, a goal up or 1-1 – but he scored two and punished us, again and again.
   ‘Everybody said when he was in Holland, “Yeah, but he can’t beat five or six players in England.” But he’s doing that now and he and Damien Duff are the best attacking players of that type in the Premiership.
   ‘There are a few things you can take in consideration against them but you can’t stop them. Robben will play on the left and go to the right. And then you think Duff will go to the left but he stays on the right and you have both of them, so it’s very difficult.’
   But where Jacques Santini was accused by Jose Mourinho of ‘parking the bus’ in front of Paul Robinson in the goalless draw in west London earlier this season, Jol promised a different approach.
   He said, ‘They had eight chances then, so it wasn’t to do with the bus, or the tank, or whatever it was we parked.
   ‘If we did that again and gave away eight chances, they would score three or four. We have to score.’

Barcelona may still have a seven point lead on top of the Spanish first division but a loss last weekend showed that the title is far from won and they are out to get back on track against Real Sociedad on Sunday.
   The Catalan club crashed 3-0 at Villarreal, their worst defeat of the season in any competition, to give a big boost to the confidence of the chasing pack led by arch-rivals Real Madrid.
   ‘It wasn’t the best way to start the New Year,’ said Barca coach Frank Rijkaard, after spending nearly an hour with his players in the dressing room on Monday analysing what went wrong.
   ‘I’m calling on all the players to improve their concentration and raise their game.
   ‘After losing a game like we did last week, the thing is to win well in the following game. We can’t think anymore about Villarreal, the world hasn’t stopped turning.’
   Rijkaard will give a rare starting chance to Andres Iniesta, the Spanish under-21 international stepping into the breech left by the suspension to Deco.
   Ronaldinho missed training on Wednesday, complaining of lumbar problems, but the World Footballer of the Year was back, albeit tentatively, on Thursday and Rijkaard is monitoring his progress closely.
   For their part, Real Sociedad have lost Valery Karpin and Mikel Arteta for their visit to the Nou Camp, the pair going down with an injured right thigh and left knee ligament problems respectively.
   Barcelona have 42 points from their 18 games as the league reaches its halfway point over the weekend, and they are assured of taking the unofficial title of ‘winter champions’.
   Real Madrid and Valencia are back on 35 points, and lie second and third respectively separated by only the number of wins.
   After triumphing 3-0 at Atletico in the Madrid derby last Sunday, Real are optimistic that they can keep up the pressure on Barca by beating visitors Real Zaragoza on Sunday.
   ‘Seven points isn’t an insurmountable gap. I remember one year when we won the league, we had a lead like that but we ended up having to fight until the last game of the season,’ said Real goalkeeper Iker Casillas.
   However, Real’s new coach Wanderley Luxemburgo has worries over the fitness of two of his key players.
   Club captain Raul Gonzalez has a tender left hamstring while Ronaldo is suffering from a series of niggles in his left leg, a result of Spanish first division defenders paying constant attention to the Brazilian World Cup winner.
   Zaragoza’s task of restraining Real will not be helped by the suspension of the Argentine central defender Gabriel Milito, who last season had two outstanding games against the club that signed him and then refused to complete the deal on the pretext of a failed medical test.
   If the top two slip up, then Valencia could take advantage.
   After a shaky start, Valencia coach Claudio Ranieri has guided the reigning Spanish champions to eight straight unbeaten games and will be looking to extend the streak to nine at Osasuna.
   ‘But we are not going to get too cocky. Osasuna at home are one of the most difficult and aggressive opponents you would ever want to meet,’ warned Valencia’s Spanish international playmaker Ruben Baraja.

AC Milan captain Paolo Maldini will lead his team out against Udinese at the San Siro on Sunday almost 20 years to the day after he made his Serie A debut against the same opposition.
   The imperious defender has stayed loyal to the club ever since pulling on the famous red and black stripes for the first time in Udine on January 20, 1984 as a bright-eyed 16-year-old.
   Having learned his trade from his trusted mentor, the legendary Franco Baresi, Maldini is regarded as one of best defenders of his generation.
   He has won seven league championships, four European Cup/Champions League titles, four UEFA SuperCups, the Italian Cup and three Italian SuperCups.
   The level-headed number three, who has only recently moved into the centre of defence from left-back due to a slight slowing of his 36-year-old legs, is also Italy’s most-capped player, having represented the Azzurri 126 times.
   AC Milan hold a five point advantage over third-placed Udinese and need to win on Sunday, not only to distance themselves from Luciano Spalletti’s side but also to maintain the pressure on leaders Juventus, who face an equally tough task away to Cagliari.
   Juve extended their lead over their closest rivals to four points last week and AC Milan defender Giuseppe Pancaro knows that the margin for error is small against their bogey side, who have won two out of their last three league meetings at the San Siro.
   ‘The match will definitely be a tough challenge given our recent results against them and because Udinese are having a great run,’ said the 33-year-old Italy international, who joined AC Milan from Lazio in 2003.
   ‘In the last 12 games they have taken more points than anybody and in many ways it feels like a match between two great teams. But we are very confident and believe in our strengths and I’m sure it’s going to be a great game.’
   Pancaro insisted the return of several key players from injury, including giant Dutch centre-back Jaap Stam, was a massive boost for the defending champions.
   ‘The squad is in great shape and those who were injured are back competing for places, including Jaap,’ he said.
   ‘We have got nearly everybody back and this is good news for the coach. A full squad allows us to rotate and gives everyone ample time to recuperate from tough matches.’
   AC Milan coach Carlo Ancelotti must decide whether to retain nimble-footed Frenchman Vikash Dhorasoo, who has impressed in midfield in recent matches, or play the experienced Holland international.
   Stam, who played in the Italian Cup win over Palermo on Wednesday, could start the match, while Alessandro Nesta is available again after serving a one-match suspension.
   Spalletti’s hopes of upsetting the title-holders has been made all the more difficult by the suspensions of striker David Di Michele and Ghanaian midfielder Sulley Ali Muntari.
   Cagliari will fancy their chances of toppling Juve at their intimidating SantElia stadium where they have picked up 20 of their 25 points this season. The only team to win in Sardinia so far this season has been AC Milan.

Atalanta, currently anchored to the bottom of Serie A with just one win in 17 matches, sensationally dumped league leaders Juventus out of the Italian Cup Thursday to clinch a place in the quarter-finals.
   Juventus, who have won the cup nine times, more than any other team, were held at home to a 3-3 draw having led three times and lost 5-3 on aggregate to the Bergamo club.
   Andrea Lazzari, who netted both of Atalanta’s goals in their first leg win, was once again the architect of Juve’s downfall, scoring a hat-trick for the plucky visitors.
   The only positive thing Juve could take from a demoralising defeat was the return from injury of striker David Trezeguet, who grabbed Juve’s third goal 11 minutes from time and played the whole 90 minutes.
   Atalanta’s prize for beating the Turin giants is a last eight meeting with Inter Milan, who on Wednesday knocked out Bologna.
   Roma overwhelmed Siena 5-1 away from home to advance to the quarter-finals.
   Trailing 2-1 from the first leg, Roma stormed into a two-goal lead thanks to a header from Greek Euro 2004 winner Traianos Dellas and Francesco Totti’s angled shot before the game was suspended.
   A combination of fog and smoke from the supporters’ flares had made visibility so poor that referee Emidio Morganti had to bring the third round, second leg tie to a halt in the 35th minute.
   When the match resumed, Siena halved the deficit from the penalty spot on the stroke of half-time before second-half strikes from Antonio Cassano, Vincenzo Montella and Daniele Corvia completed an emphatic Roma victory and set up a last eight meeting with Fiorentina, who knocked out Parma on Wednesday.
   In Thursday’s early ties, Cagliari and Udinese booked their places in the next round after wins against Lazio and Lecce respectively.
   Cagliari lost 3-2 away to the cup holders Lazio after extra-time for a 4-4 aggregate score, but went through on the away goals rule.
   The Sardinians will face Sampdoria, who knocked out second division side Torino.
   Udinese lost 4-3 at home to the Puglians for an 8-8 aggregate score, but they too advanced on away goals thanks to their 5-4 first leg win. They will meet AC Milan, who ousted Palermo, in the two-legged quarter finals.

The earliest known footage of Manchester United – filmed in 1902 when they were little more than a cash-strapped local works side – will be broadcast on British television later this month.
   The scratchy, black-and-white footage is from a match against Burnley at their Turf Moor ground on December 6, 1902.
   It was made to be shown to workers at the Burnley Mechanics Institute that evening but the screening was cancelled because Burnley were defeated 2-0.
   The film was then lost for nearly a century before being discovered in a barrel in the basement of a shop in Lancashire which was due to be demolished.
   The demolition crew gave the film to a local historian who passed it to the British Film Institute (BFI). The BBC will broadcast the film on Friday, January 21.
   The match at Burnley took place just months after United had assumed their now world-famous name. Until that year, they were known as Newton Heath.
   The club, founded in 1878 by workers from the Lancashire and Yorkshire railway. They won the first of their 15 English league titles in 1908 and went on to become one of the most successful clubs in British soccer and the richest in the world.