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Bowlers gave Bangladesh ‘A’ team a commendable start against Gloucestershire in their first three-day match on England tour but could not keep up the pressure with the home side showing some resilience banking on the late order at Bristol on Wednesday.
   The Bangladesh ‘A’ team took first seven wickets of the county side before lunch for only 72 runs.
   But they found it very hard to get a wicket in the post-lunch session in the face of stiff resistance mainly coming from a first-class debutant, Stephen Snell.
   Snell, a wicketkeeper-batsman, was well on his way to a classic century on debut as he was unbeaten on 70 (103 balls, nine fours and three sixes) when this report was filed during the tea break.
   Gloucestershire were then 208 for eight, a much better performance than what they apprehended initially.
   Earlier, all three bowlers, Syed Russell, Shahadat Hossain and Talha Jubaer, used by the skipper Shariar Nafees in the morning session after he won the toss, enjoyed some kind of success with the new ball.
   Shahadat initiated the good work for the tourists removing opener Kadeer Ali in the very first delivery he faced before a double strike by his new
   ball partner Syed Russell reduced Gloucestershire to 49 for three.
   But first-change Talha Jubaer outdid both of them with a ferocious opening spell that saw him conceding only five runs from as many overs with two wickets beside his name.
   The hosts went to lunch with 72 for seven in 22.5 overs after Shahadat got rid of Stephen Adshead and Sri Lankan recruit Malinga Bandara in his second spell.
   When everyone was expecting the Bangladesh ‘A’ team to wrap up the opponents as soon as possible, Snell and James Averis stood on their way.
   The duo scored 88 runs in the eighth wicket partnership before 31-year-old Averis was out for 33 off 52 balls hitting seven boundaries.
   Experienced Mushfiqur Rahman gave the Bangladesh ‘A’ team the much needed breakthrough.
   But England international John Lewis continued the momentum having joined with the rookie stumper Snell.
   Lewis, who made his one-day debut against Bangladesh in the recently-concluded NetWest series, quickly hit eight boundaries helping the county side go past the 200-run mark. He was unbeaten on 36 off 37 deliveries at tea.

Michael Vaughan’s England will have to challenge Australia from the first ball of the five-match Ashes series today if they are to have any chance of unsettling the world champions.
   Vaughan will be determined for his young side to reverse England’s ingrained habit of beginning badly and winning ‘dead rubber’ matches when facing the Australians.
   Since Australia began their record-breaking run of eight Ashes series wins in 1989, England have not managed to take any of those contests to the wire.
   In the last series in 2002-3, the Ashes were wrapped up inside 11 days of cricket. England’s one victory in their 4-1 defeat came in the final match, by which time both the pressure and the prize had gone.
   Unlike his predecessor Nasser Hussain, Vaughan will take to the field at Lord’s with a string of potential match-winners in Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison and, if Shane Warne’s recommendations can be believed, the uncapped Kevin Pietersen.
   Hussain was often criticised for saying he wanted to try to compete with Australia while refusing to forecast victory but, in truth, he did not have the weapons to challenge the best side in the world. In that sense, Vaughan is the luckier man.
   Hussain, however, did not help his cause three years ago by opting to bowl in the first Test in Brisbane. The decision smacked of defensiveness and lack of belief. For many onlookers, with Australia on 364 for two by the end of the first day, the series was already as good as lost.
   There was a similar feeling of foreboding after the first ball of the 1994-5 series, when Phil DeFreitas sent down a long hop which Michael Slater cut disdainfully to the boundary. The tone had been set and England crashed 3-1.
   Pietersen, a South African-born batsman mixing awesome power with unconventional bottom-handed technique, believes the Lord’s crowd will have to play their part on Thursday in setting the right mood.
   ‘I don’t think Australia like it when the crowds are against them,’ he told The Times on Wednesday.
   ‘It will be good for crowds to get behind us and nail Australia right from ball one.’
   Should English shoulders drop early, the side, ranked second in the world behind the Australians, could be condemned to chasing consolation victories in another series defeat.
   Since 1989, they have won seven Tests to Australia’s 28 but only one of those seven came with England still having a chance of taking the series, when they won the opening game in 1997.
   In their last series on home soil, they won the fourth Test at Headingley, thanks to an innings of a lifetime from Mark Butcher (173 not out) but Australia were already 3-0 up and had offered England a generous target in an attempt to engineer a result.
   Both teams will field settled sides at Lord’s. Seamer Matthew Hoggard is likely to replace Darren Gough in an otherwise unchanged England line-up from the one that lost the one-day series 2-1.
   For the world champions, leg spinner Shane Warne, who no longer plays one-dayers, is back while strike bowler Brett Lee looking certain to start after his fine early-tour form. The one difficult decision will be over the third quick bowler, with Jason Gillespie and Michael Kasprowicz fighting over the spot.
   Australia almost consider Lord’s as a home venue, having lost just one Test there in the last century.

Former England batsman Geoff Boycott has advocated the end of Test status for Zimbabwe and Bangladesh. Delivering the annual Cowdrey Lecture, he criticised the International Cricket Council for admitting countries who ‘devalued’ the game.
   ‘The ICC should be ashamed of themselves for allowing the devaluation of Test cricket to continue,’ he said. ‘My mum would have scored runs and got wickets against Bangladesh. They are an embarrassment to Test cricket.’
   Bangladesh have won only one Test since being awarded full member status by the ICC in 2000, while Zimbabwe’s cricket team was decimated after a row between players and officials.
   Boycott added, ‘Nobody wants to see it (one-sided Test cricket) and the vast accumulation of runs against them does nothing for the game.’ Boycott also used the gathering at Lord’s to call for the introduction of four-day Tests and day-night Test cricket under floodlights in warmer countries in a bid to boost attendances. ‘With the exception of England, Test match crowds are falling everywhere,’ he said.
   ‘Administrators have to understand that we must reverse the trend. The Test match game is already on a slippery slope and unless we get more fans and supporters in the grounds, Tests will die out in the years to come.
   ‘They say that we can’t have day-night Test matches because of the white ball. They always bring this up and it’s nothing more than a red herring. We can get a man on the moon, yet we can’t find a white cricket ball that lasts 80 overs. It’s laughable, isn’t it?’
   Boycott also warned the ICC that they should pay more attention to player exhaustion when planning Test and one-day schedules. ‘Someone has to sit down and answer the question, ‘what is a reasonable number of Tests and one-day games for a player to perform in without burn-out?’
   ‘Nobody seems bothered about that, but the players are knackered,’ he said. He also criticised the amount of one-day cricket being played, but said he was fully supportive of a Twenty20 World Cup.
   He concluded, ‘What we need is some leadership, some dynamism, a desire to tackle the problems and promote the game.
   ‘Not just let it meander along expecting people to turn up at our convenience.’

India has been drawn with Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, and Bermuda in Pool 2 for the 2007 World Cup to be played in the West Indies.
   The teams will play their league matches at Queen’s Park Oval, Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobago. India have a fairly easy opener in the 2007 Cricket World Cup, against Bangladesh, with hosts West Indies and Pakistan featuring in the tournament opener on March 13 at Jamaica.
   Two days after the opening ceremony, Pakistan will take on West Indies in Group D while India, placed in Group B along with Bangladesh, Bermuda and Sri Lanka, will play their first match on March 17, according to the World Cup schedule announced by the International Cricket Council in Trinidad on Tuesday.
   India, who will play all their Group matches in Trinidad, will take on qualifiers Bermuda on March 19, four days before they face top notch team, Sri Lanka, in their last league match.
   The top two teams from each of the four groups will qualify for the second round, the Super Eight Series, which will be held between March 27 and April 22.
   The semifinals will be played at Jamaica and St Lucia on April 24 and April 25, respectively with the final at Barbados on April 28.
   There have been reserve days for all the matches throughout the tournament.
   Before the opening ceremony on March 11, all the teams will play warm-up matches between March 5 and 9 with India slated to play Holland (March 6) and West Indies (March 9).
   The round robin play will see six games over a period of 11 days in each of the four groups.
   The winners and runners-up from each group will earn the right to advance to the Super 8 stage of the tournament where teams will play each of the other teams advancing – except the team which advanced from their own group – for a total of six games each.
   The Super 8 stage, will be played in four countries: Antigua, Guyana, Grenada and Barbados. The last match of this segment of the tournament will take place on April 21. The event logo and mascot, a teenage character called `Mello’ who embodies the lifestyle of the region, were also unveiled.  The tiger cub is wearing an unbuttoned printed shirt, on top of a white T-shirt, and long shorts and is leaning against the bat.

The 7th Standard Chartered School Chess Tournament began at NSC conference-room and chess federation hall room on Wednesday.
   In the first day, a total of 48 players of the Class VI to X group, 24 players of the KG to V group and 15 girls players won their respective first round matches.
   A total of 207 students from 61 different districts’ schools and India are participating in the tournament splitting into three groups.
   Some 117 players from Class VI to X, 56 players from KG to V and 34 girls’ players are participating in the Swiss-League system meet.

Indian cricket captain Rahul Dravid sounded a warning to his rivals ahead of a triangular one-day series in Sri Lanka, saying his team was determined to win.
   ‘Sri Lanka is a place where we have not done particularly well in one-day cricket and this (tournament) gives us a chance to correct that,’ Dravid said.
   India, who lost the Asia Cup final in Sri Lanka last year and also lost a Test and one-day series there in 2001, clash with the hosts in their opening match at Dambulla on July 30 and meet the West Indies the following day.
   ‘The guys are keen and we are looking forward to starting the new season with a new coach and putting some new things in place,’ said Dravid.
   ‘The fact that India’s tour of Sri Lanka last year was a disappointment does not mean it would be similar this time also. We will put up a much better performance,’ he said.
   The tournament is former Australian Test captain Greg Chappell’s maiden assignment as India coach and Dravid’s first as captain for a full series.
   Dravid, 32, has led India in Tests and one-dayers but only in the absence of regular skipper Sourav Ganguly, who is now serving a six-match ban for his team’s slow over-rate in a home one-day series against Pakistan in April.
   ‘It is different this time as I get a bit more time to interact with the boys, gives me a chance to put some strategies in place,’ said Dravid. The stylish middle-order batsman said he did not believe the pressure of captaincy would affect his batting in the Sri Lankan series.
   ‘It is going to be a good challenge and I have done it before, so I don’t see it (captaincy) as an additional burden,’ said Dravid, who has amassed more than 8,000 runs in over 250 one-dayers and hit 10 centuries.
   ‘I have to give time for my captaincy and there will be a time when I have to bat and I will have to forget the captaincy and concentrate on my batting,’ he said.
   Dravid was not worried about being named captain for just one series, saying he was not ‘looking too far ahead’.
   ‘You are picked as a player and as a captain on a series-to-series basis and that’s the way you have to look at it,’ he said.
   ‘I have always played my cricket as a batsman, as a normal player, each match at a time. That’s how I am going to take my captaincy, one match at a time and not look too far ahead.
   ‘That is what has achieved success for me as a player and I hope that will achieve success for me as a captain too.’
   Dravid said that Ganguly, provisionally included in the squad as the 16th player, would be welcome in the side if cleared.
   A decision on Ganguly’s ban by International Cricket Council Disputes Resolution Commissioner Albie Sachs is not expcted to be announced before the team’s departure on July 23.
   ‘He (Ganguly) is a successful player and it will be fantastic to have him in the side when and if he comes back, depending on what decision is going to be taken,’ said Dravid.

The second-string West Indies will retain Jermaine Lawson for the second Test against Sri Lanka here from Friday despite the fast bowler being reported for a suspect action.
   The 23-year-old Jamaican was reported by the umpires after the first Test in Colombo which Sri Lanka won by six wickets inside four days to take the lead in the short two-match series.
   International Cricket Council (ICC) rules allow a bowler to play on pending a written report from an independent analyst, but further scrutiny could see Lawson being suspended till he had rectified his action.
   ‘It has been decided by the West Indies Cricket Board that Lawson will remain with the team in Sri Lanka,’ team spokesman Imran Khan told AFP on Wednesday.
   It is no surprise that the West Indies, depleted by the absence of 10 leading players including master batsman Brian Lara due to a sponsorship dispute with their cricket board, will risk Lawson again.
   He was the lone bowler to trouble the Sri Lankans in the first Test, claiming four wickets in each innings by gaining considerable bounce even on the featherbed wicket at the Sinhalese sports club.
   It is learnt that first Test umpires, Simon Taufel of Australia and Nadeem Ghauri of Pakistan, were concerned by Lawson’s action while bowling the short-pitched delivery.
   ‘The umpires had concerns with potential elbow flexation when viewing the bowler’s action with the naked eye,’ ICC match referee Mike Procter of South Africa had said in an earlier statement.
   Taufel will stand again in the Kandy Test with Tony Hill of New Zealand.
   Lawson had been reported earlier after taking 7-78 against Australia in Antigua in 2003, but played in two Tests in England last year without any problems.
   The second-string West Indians, led by the seasoned Shivnarine Chanderpaul, put up unexpected resistance in the first Test but still lost in four days even though rain allowed only 25 overs to be bowled on the third day.
   The tourists will once again rely on Chanderpaul, who top-scored in both innings with 69 and an unbeaten 48, but they could find an ally in the weather gods in the Kandy Test.
   Locals forecast rain on all five days of the match, an usual feature in this hill resort in July and August.
   Only 45 minutes play was possible during a Test against India here in 1993 and almost three days were lost to bad weather when New Zealand played here two seasons ago.
   Sri Lanka, meanwhile, are hoping for clear weather and an improved display by the batsmen to sweep the series.
   The fancied home team was reduced to 47-4 and 113-7 in the first innings and 49-3 in the second chasing a modest target of 172.
   Sri Lankan chairman of selectors Lalith Kaluperuma was critical of his team’s performance in Colombo, but remained confident of a better showing from Friday.
   ‘We made a lot of mistakes in batting and bowling and played loose cricket throughout the Test,’ said Kaluperuma, a former Test off-spinner.
   ‘Being out of international cricket for almost three months, the team looked rusty on the field.
   ‘But they are competent enough to perform better than what they displayed in the first Test.’
   The old guard of Chaminda Vaas and Muttiah Muralitharan, who claimed seven wickets each in Colombo, are expected to revel again in conditions better suited for bowling.

Kevin Pietersen may be an England player but he’s not a typical English sportsman.
   The South African-born batsman, who unlike many of his team-mates is never shy about talking up his own chances, went a step further Tuesday when he urged the traditionally conservative Lord’s crowd to give Australia a hard time during the first Ashes Test.
   Pietersen, 25, who will be making his Test debut, said he wanted Lord’s to replicate the atmosphere of last month’s Twenty20 international at the Rose Bowl, where England beat Australia by 100 runs.
   ‘I don’t think they (Australia) like it. It will be good for the crowds to get right behind the England team and absolutely nail them from ball one,’ Pietersen, who plays at the Rose Bowl for Hampshire, told reporters on Tuesday.
   ‘I was playing grade cricket in Sydney when England were in Australia last time (2002-03) and jeez did they cop it. We cop it something ridiculous. The English get absolutely crucified.
   ‘The English media and press should do the same to them for the whole stint they are out there.
   ‘Can they take it? It depends how much you guys give it to them,’ said Pietersen ahead of England’s bid to end Australia’s run of eight straight Ashes series wins.
   But, rather like the bowler who ends an over containing several boundaries with a couple of good length balls, so too is Pietersen able to ‘pull back’ just when some might be losing patience with him.
   ‘I don’t think I’ll walk through Long Room like I own the place,’ he said in reponse to a comment from Darren Gough. ‘It’s Lord’s, it’s a special place, a place to be respected.’
   Pietersen, qualified for England on account of his mother’s birth, turned his back on South Africa because of what he said was a racial quota system.
   In 21 one-day matches since making his debut in November, he has scored nearly 800 runs at an average of over 87 with three hundreds, all against a backdrop of crowd hostility in South Africa.
   He secured his place in the Test side at the expense of 100-cap veteran Graham Thorpe thanks to innings of 91 not out and 74 during the recent one-dayers against world champions Australia.
   Australia leg-spin great Shane Warne, Pietersen’s captain at Hampshire, has repeatedly pressed the unorthodox right-hander’s Test case and this has led to cynical suggestions of an Australian plan to weaken England.
   But Pietersen, despite only joining Hampshire from Nottinghamshire at the start of the season, insisted his friendship with Warne was real.
   ‘I speak to him every day. Last night he said he’s sick and tired of blowing my tyres up. Many people have said he’s been my PR but he’s been asked questions and stated the obvious.
   ‘He’s just said ‘if you look at his stats, if you look at how he plays, look at his personality, if you look at how he’s stood up at the moment in international cricket then why not pick him.’
   And he added Warne, who served a 12-month drugs ban and recently announced he was separating from his wife following newspaper reports of various affairs, had seen it all.
   ‘From sex, drugs, cricketing things, expectations. You name it, Shane Warne has been through it.
   ‘I can ask him for advice, any time at day of night. The bloke is a world legend, he’s one of the biggest sporting faces in the world. For me to be able to talk him and him give me honest, helpful advice and guidance is fantastic.
   ‘If you were some bloke in a good law firm in England probably couldn’t ring up one of the biggest lawyers in the world and ask him for advice.
   ‘It’s just not heard of. In our sport it’s fantastic and to have Warney as a friend is definitely very helpful.’
   But asked about the best way to play Warne, he modestly replied: ‘You should probably ring (Sachin) Tendulkar or (Brian) Lara if you want to find that out.’
   Unlike some sporting imports, Pietersen has been well received by the British public. ‘I just hope I can reward everyone for the kind things that have been said about me.’
   The much-vaunted middle-order partnership between Pietersen and the equally big-hitting Andrew Flintoff has yet to produce a significant stand.
   ‘Unfortunately so far we haven’t hit our straps together but that’s not because we’ve tried to outhit each other,’ Pietersen insisted.
   In the meantime he said he’d no desire to look back on his rapid rise. ‘Maybe after the Ashes if we have done well, I can reflect. But then there’s a Pakistan job to do (where England tour before Christmas) and hopefully there’s a World team v Australia job to do if I get selected.
   ‘It just keeps coming. I’ll probably reflect in ten years’ time.

For eight years now English crowds have been taunting Jason Gillespie with shouts of ‘where’s your caravan?’
   But it wasn’t until Australia’s last tour of England in 2001 that the fast bowler, realised that home fans thought he looked like a gypsy with caravans a common sight among the travelling communities of Britain.
   Now aged 30, the bearded Gillepie’s ‘mullet’ hairstyle is as wild as ever.
   But his appearance has not been able to disguise a lack of wickets during the current tour that put a question mark over his place in the Test line-up ahead of today’s Ashes opener at Lord’s, long before soreness behind both knees forced him to miss training Tuesday.
   The caravan jibes were at their loudest during last week’s final one-day international at The Oval where he dropped a catch at long leg to give England captain Michael Vaughan a reprieve.
   ‘It’s never fun dropping a sitter like that,’ Gillespie said, ‘and I copped enough grief on the fence.
   ‘Yet it’s been no worse than any other year,’ he added ahead of Australia’s bid for a ninth straight Ashes series win.
   ‘I’ve been copping the calls for so long now, I felt like putting a sign down saying ‘the caravan’s in for repairs.’
   In an injury-hit career, Gillespie has still managed to take 248 Test wickets at 25.72. But the South Australia quick has found himself cast as a foil to new-ball partner Glenn McGrath, now just one wicket short of the 500-mark in Tests.
   The role of ‘straight man’ seems an odd-one for the laconic Gillespie. But like the jazz trumpeter ‘Dizzy’ after whom he is nicknamed, the paceman was not inclined to dance to his critics’ tune
   ‘I never thought my form was quite as bad as what I heard it was being described as in the press. I’ve got a couple of messages from home saying ‘hang in there’ so I must have copped a grilling in the media.
   ‘But I’m cool. There is no problem at all. I know during the one-dayers I probably didn’t bowl as well as I would have liked but those have finished now and the pace is still there.
   ‘My belief has not been shaken. You do go through phases when you are not bowling as well as you would have liked and other times you are bowling really well and not getting the rewards.’
   Having come through stress fractures in the back and a sickening collision in the outfield with then-captain Steve Waugh in Colombo four years ago, that left him with a broken leg, Gillespie’s mental resilience is not in doubt.
   ‘When you are lying in a Colombo hospital with your leg in a cast, you’re always asking yourself what’s going to happen in your career.
   ‘Perhaps it made me stronger. I feel young, better now with my mind and body than I did when I was 22 or 23.
   ‘I think the pressure is on England. We know if they don’t live up to their expectations, the media will jump on them.’
   And that’s far worse than being asked what you have done with a mobile home.

England fast bowler Steve Harmison insists his ‘gentle giant’ image will not prevent him from bowling aggressively at Australia during the forthcoming Ashes series.
   There are many who wonder if the softly-spoken 26-year-old Durham quick, well-known for a love of his native north-east and battle with homesickness, has enough ‘devil’ in him to be a truly menacing quick.
   But Harmison told reporters ahead of today’s first Ashes Test at Lord’s he’d have no problem bowling bouncers at Australia and cited the treatment he’d handed out to England team-mate Andrew Flintoff, his closest friend in the game, earlier this season as proof of his on-field intent.
   Harmison struck Flintoff on the shoulder with a bouncer when the pair met in a match between Lancashire and Durham at Old Trafford earlier in the season.
   ‘People ask if I am nasty enough to be a genuine fast bowler but I’ve always felt it is a job you do and that’s it,’ Harmison said.
   ‘I’ve always felt I’ve been decent enough away from the game but, when you cross that line and you’ve got the ball in your hand, it’s a job that you have to do.
   ‘Freddie (Flintoff) is probably my best mate in the game and, with the second ball against Lancashire at Old Trafford this year, I hit him on the shoulder. I don’t think he saw it coming. But I had a job to do and it’s the way it is.
   ‘I feel I’ve got a nasty streak in me but it’s when I’m in my cricket gear and have got the ball in my hand.
   ‘I don’t believe you frighten batsman. You work them to your advantage. I don’t go out intentionally to hurt anyone or frighten anyone.
   ‘If someone gets hit on the head and they are out two or three balls later, I haven’t gone out to hurt them. But I’ve gone to get them out in a way via a plan that I’ve come up with.’
   But he stressed the bouncer had to be used intelligently.
   ‘Whether it is a major weapon depends on the wicket you are playing on and the situation the game is in. Australia are very good players of the short ball.’
   England haven’t won the Ashes since 1986-87 and veteran Australia quick Glenn McGrath has singled out Harmison as vital to home hopes of breaking a run of eight straight series defeats against their oldest opponents.
   However Harmison, who has taken 121 wickets at just under 28 in 30 Tests, said: ‘It’s not all about me. No one man is going to win this Ashes series. It’s going to be a collective effort and having as many players perform on a given day, and outperforming them, is the key.
   ‘Australia do that sort of thing to everyone. They don’t just do that to England. Wherever they go in the world, they tend to pick out two or three people and put players under pressure.
   ‘I’ve not taken much notice of it. I’m worrying about Steve Harmison first and foremost, getting my performance into tune, and doing well. The team is the most important thing, not any individual.’

The player of the series in the forthcoming Ashes Test contest will be the first recipient of the Compton-Miller medal, officials said after unveiling the new award at Lord’s here Wednesday.
   The medal is named after two, now late, stars of post World War II cricket, England batsman Denis Compton and Australia
   all-rounder Keith Miller and will be presented to each Ashes player of the series from now on, following a suggestion by Miller’s widow Marie.
   Despite many on-field battles, the pair, two of the most glamorous sportsmen of the 1950s, were firm friends off the field.
   The medal was launched in front of the Compton stand at Lord’s where Denis Compton starred for both Middlesex and England and where Miller was one of the most popular Australians ever to take the field.
   England and Wales Cricket Board chief executive David Collier, speaking a day before the start of today’s first Ashes Test at Lord’s, said of the duo: ‘Denis Compton had the post-War status of a matinee idol with a love of living life to the full.
   ‘It was an attitude he shared with Keith Miller and they became not only great rivals but also great friends.
   ‘And that is what is so special about sporting contests between England and Australia.’

Spaniard Oscar Pereiro avenged his bitter disappointment in the previous stage when he won the 180.5-km 16th stage of the Tour de France between Mourenx and Pau on Tuesday.
   Beaten on the line by American George Hincapie on Sunday, the Phonak rider belonged to a group of four riders who joined forces in the long descent from the last big climbs in the Pyrenees.
   This time, there was no denying a well-deserved victory for a Spanish climber who had been by far the most active rider all day, especially on the last two big climbs of this Tour, Marie Blanque and Aubisque.
   Pereiro, winner of the Classic of the Alps last year, outsprinted compatriot Xabier Zandio and Italian Eddy Mazzoleni at the finish to give his team their first win in this Tour after two second places.
   Race leader Lance Armstrong, bidding for an unprecedented seventh Tour victory, came home safely in the bunch.
   Australian Cadel Evans, in the lead since the first breakaway of the day, finished fourth and jumped to seventh in the provisional overall standings, 9:29 behind Armstrong.
   The Texan, taunted but not seriously worried all day, retained his yellow jersey with a 2:46 lead over Italian Ivan Basso, with Dane Michael Rasmussen, 3:09 behind.
   The last two serious mountain climbs of the Tour were also the last opportunities for some of the pre-Tour favourites to try and salvage some pride.
   Pereiro and fellow-Spaniard Roberto Heras, Kazakhs Alexander Vinokourov and Andrey Kashechkin, German Andreas Kloeden, second last year, and American Bobby Julich attacked in turn in the Marie Blanque and Aubisque passes.
   But none of the day’s moves hurt Armstrong, who stayed with his main rivals, Basso, Germany’s Jan Ullrich and Rasmussen, waiting for the long descent to the finish to tame most of the breakaways.
   The attacks did finish off some of the minor riders, who were scattered helplessly all along the slopes.
   In the Marie Blanque climb, Kashechkin’s hopes were ruined when he was nearly knocked off his bike by a spectator.
   The day was also an emotional one for Australian riders, who were mourning the death of one of their country’s women cyclists, Amy Gillett, in a traffic accident during training in Germany on Monday.

Liverpool skipper Steven Gerrard came on as a late substitute and scored twice in a minute as the European champions beat Total Network Solutions 3-0 to reach the second qualifying round of the Champions League on
   Tuesday.
    Liverpool wrapped up the tie 6-0 on aggregate but TNS, playing at Wrexham’s Racecourse Ground because their own tiny ground in the village of Llansantffraid did not reach UEFA standards, made Liverpool work for their win.
   The Welsh side hit a post and had a goal ruled out for a narrow offside decision after the Merseysiders missed a penalty.
   Liverpool, 3-0 up from the first leg following Gerrard’s hat-trick at Anfield last Wednesday, went ahead when Djibril Cisse took advantage of a slip by Chris King after 26 minutes to lash home a cross from John Arne Riise.
   Substitute Gerrard then scored twice in a minute late in the game to wrap up the win.
   TNS goalkeeper Gerard Doherty saved a weak 50th minute penalty from Dietmar Hamann as the Welsh minnows gave the five-time European champions a tougher workout than they did in the first leg last week.
   They also went close to a goal after 67 minutes when Steven Beck hit the post with a well-struck angled shot.
   Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez was full of praise for Doherty’s display over the two legs.
   ‘The (TNS) goalkeeper saved a lot of goals,’ the Spaniard told ITV Sport.
   ‘The score at the end of the tie was good. Sometimes you can score with a bit more luck and sometimes the goalkeeper makes some good saves.
   ‘For me the goalkeeper was the best player in the two games.’
   Liverpool, entering the competition at the earliest stage after finishing outside the four automatic qualifying places in the Premier League standings last season, will now face FBK Kaunas in the second qualifying round.
   The Lithuanians beat HB Torshavn, the Faroe Islands champions, 4-0 in the second leg of their opening round tie for an 8-2 aggregate win.
   Arturas Rimkevicius scored twice in the second half as Kaunas ran away with the tie after Andrius Velicka scored their opener a minute before halftime. Defender Irmantas Zelmikas added a late goal to seal the victory.
   In the other match played on Tuesday, Dinamo Tbilisi beat Levadia Tallinn of Estonia 2-0 for a 2-1 aggregate win.
   The Georgians wiped out Levadia’s first leg advantage when Levan Melkadze scored at the end of the first half and wrapped it up when Sergei Orbeladze made it 2-0 soon after the break.
   Dinamo, who will play Brondby of Denmark in the next round, finished the match with 10 men after David Odikadze was sent off 14 minutes from time.

Germany captain Michael Ballack wants to stay with Bayern Munich for the 2005/06 season and hinted on Wednesday he would like to extend his contract beyond next year.
   ‘We’re all assuming that I’m going to be playing here at least until 2006,’ Ballack told journalists after joining his team at the end of a three-week holiday. ‘That’s why I’m here.
   ‘Bayern have big aims: We want to defend the league championship as well as the German Cup and go far in the Champions League. And I want to be part of that.’
   Ballack is Bayern’s most influential outfield player and took a key role in last season’s league-Cup double.
   His current deal runs out at the end of the 2005-06 season, meaning he could leave at the end of the campaign on a free transfer, or before then for a cut-price fee.
   There have been reports that Bayern would be prepared to offer the 28-year-old midfielder a salary of 10 million euros ($12.07 million) to avoid such a situation but Bayern director of football Uli Hoeness rejected that sort of deal outright.
   ‘I’m in the good situation that I can choose,’ Ballack said, adding he would not let himself be pressured by Bayern managers.
   ‘It’s a very important decision for the club and for me and that’s why it should be carefully considered. It could take a few days, a few weeks or perhaps a few months. But the possibility that I’ll extend is high. I feel good here.’
   Earlier, Hoeness told German television that Bayern would be prepared to lose Ballack when his contract is up next year rather than pay the sort of huge salary on offer elsewhere in Europe.
   ‘We insist on sporting success being tied to financial prudence,’ Hoeness said. ‘The point may come when we have to say no.’
   ‘When people start talking about 10 million-plus I just don’t understand the world any more,’ Hoeness said.
   ‘Surely no-one believes Ballack earns more than four million or thereabouts? And we’re supposed to be considering more than doubling that?’
   Ballack was linked last year with a possible move to Spain, where the salaries paid by leading clubs Real Madrid and Barcelona dwarf the amounts available in Germany.
   Clubs in England and Italy could also offer far more than Bayern Munich would be prepared to pay.

Captain Raul says doubts about his future at Real Madrid have been dispelled and he is confident he can rediscover his best form next season.
   ‘The president (Florentino Perez) and the club have given me renewed confidence,’ the 28-year-old forward told Spanish sports daily Marca in an interview on Wednesday.
   ‘I’ve had two very difficult seasons. I demand a lot of myself and the team, and there have been periods when I have suffered a lot.
   ‘But we had a strong finish to last season and everyone is now keen to become part of a new project which will see us win a lot of trophies over the next few years.’
   Last season was Raul’s worst since breaking into the Real Madrid first team a decade ago. He scored just nine goals and was off the pace in all but a handful of games.
   He even said in March that he would be prepared to leave the club if they felt he was surplus to requirements. He now says his main priority is to stay and recapture his form.
   ‘The first thing I have to do is to earn my place in the team and prove to the fans and everyone else that there is a lot more left to come from Raul.’
   Raul hinted that disagreements between the players and the club hierarchy had, in part, been responsible for the team’s failure to live up to expectations in the last two seasons. Real finished second behind Barcelona in 2004/5.
   Perez’s policy of signing only big name attack-minded players exposed the team in defence and working under four different coaches during the last two seasons was disruptive.
   The appointment of former AC Milan boss Arrigo Sacchi as director of football and Wanderlei Luxemburgo as coach midway through last season led to the return of stability and the creation of a more balanced squad.
   ‘I think we are going to be more united this season, at least that is what we are all working towards. In the last two seasons there have been a lot of things that haven’t helped us.
   ‘From now on there is going to be more communication between the club and the players and that will help us a lot,’ he said.
   Real are preparing for the new season with a promotional tour of the United States and Asia. They have played two friendlies in the US and will play further matches in China, Japan and Thailand before returning to Spain.

European football clubs are heading to Asia in unprecedented numbers but experts are questioning how much success they are having in tapping the vast market.
   Teams like Manchester United and Real Madrid are veterans of long-haul flights to Hong Kong, Tokyo and Beijing but they are being joined in business class by a host of rivals for the Asian dollar.
   German champions Bayern Munich have two promotional friendlies in Japan next week and English clubs Everton and Manchester City, who both have Chinese players, are playing a tournament in Bangkok along with Bolton and the Thai national team.
   Meanwhile, Dutch and French champions PSV Eindhoven and Lyon are headlining the eight-team Peace Cup tournament in South Korea also featuring Real Sociedad of Spain and London club Tottenham Hotspur.
   Italy’s Fiorentina complete the exodus in a European summer free of World Cup or European Cup commitments.
   The clubs hope the tours will raise their profile in Asia, guessing that a bigger fan base will translate into extra revenues.
   However, experts say in return for a tiring trip for the players, clubs aren’t getting much more than their appearance fee and some extra shirt sales.
   Turning popularity into profit is the next challenge, they say.
   Harry Philp, managing director of London-based consultancy Inner Circle Sports, cited the example of Manchester United, who are seeing little return from their estimated 40 million Asian fans.
   ‘Historically, the number of shirts that you sell and other revenue streams that you can generate from the business have been reasonably successful but in terms of the potential market it’s been relatively small,’ he said.
   Philp said clubs needed to look at new sources of revenue such as paid Internet broadcasts of match footage.
   ‘They’ve got to look at ways to bring in club product, be it purely through merchandising sales or access to matches through new media,’ said Philp.
   ‘It’s a question of getting to your target audience and finding out how you retain interest. It’s a challenge for the clubs: how do you retain interest and generate revenue?’
   Promoter Terry Catton, who has brought Juventus, AC Milan and Newcastle United to Hong Kong, said clubs normally receive a big fee – perhaps a million dollars – for Asian exhibition games plus travel and accommodation costs.
   They may also take some of the ticket proceeds and will use the trip to sell merchandise such as shirts and club membership.
   Catton said he had never seen so many teams touring Asia, but warned that the smaller clubs would struggle to make an impression.
   ‘I think the big clubs will continue to dominate. It will be very difficult for the smaller clubs,’ he said.
   ‘It’s the star appeal. All the fans in Asia really want to see the biggest clubs so it will be difficult for the secondary clubs to make a big impact.’
   He said many Asian fans followed individual players rather than clubs, citing the example of David Beckham who attracted huge interest to Real Madrid’s 2003 Asian tour.
   Beckham made his debut for the Spanish giants in Beijing, and Manchester United are expected to unveil newly signed South Korean international midfielder Park Ji-sung during their Asian tour this month.
   Park, the English Premier League’s highest profile Asian signing so far, could prove a boost both for United’s team and bank balance.
   ‘It’s always an interesting question about signing Asian players whether they’ve been signed for their ability or marketing,’ said Philp.
   ‘I’m sure Park’s been signed purely on his football ability. The fact that he’s Korean and Korea is a major market they’re trying to develop certainly helps.
   ‘I think we’ll see more signings of Asian players as the standards continue to rise in Asian football.’
   Sun Jihai and Li Tie have raised Manchester City and Everton’s profile in China immeasurably.
   But for every Park, there’s a Dong Fangzhou. The young Chinese striker has been loaned out to Belgian side Royal Antwerp since signing for United two years ago, and will play his first game for the club on tour.
   Clubs are also reaching out to Asia through sponsorship deals.
   English champions Chelsea recently signed a shirt deal with South Korean electronics giant Samsung, Everton are sponsored by Beer Chang of Thailand and Portsmouth by Japanese firm Oki.
   However, Liverpool drew the line at a supposed takeover bid by Thai Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra last year.

Liverpool completed the signing of Southampton striker Peter Crouch on Wednesday on a four-year deal, the club announced.
   The 6ft 7in (2m) striker, who has signed for a fee reported to be seven million pounds (10.1 million euros), completed his medical to become Rafael Benitez's sixth summer signing.
   'I am thrilled to be joining a club as prestigious and successful as Liverpool,' said 24-year-old Crouch.
   Crouch scored 16 goals last season in a vain effort to save Southampton from relegation.
   But his efforts led to a first call-up to England's end-of-season tour to the United States, making his debut in the game against Colombia in New York.
   'Once I heard of their interest in me it was hard not to think about what it would be like to pull on the famous red shirt and play in front of the Kop, but I was also very aware of my responsibilities towards Southampton,' said Crouch.
   'After a lot of thought I requested the permission of the chairman and board of directors of the club to talk to Liverpool.
   'I am also very grateful to (Southampton manager) Harry Redknapp for everything he has done in my career to date, he made it clear he would not stand in my way over this transfer move,' said Crouch who has also played for QPR, Portsmouth and Aston Villa.
   Reds boss Rafael Benitez said: 'I know Crouch is very good in the air, he can keep the ball and always knows what to do with it.
   'For us, having lost 11 away games in the Premier League you have to change things. With Crouch we will have other options.
   'For a manager it means you can play a style to win more balls in the air, to score the sort of gals we didn't score last season.'

Wayne Rooney, Rio Ferdinand and Ronaldo are reportedly facing club fines after refusing to get on the United team bus.
   The Sun claims, that the trio hired a car to drive them back to Manchester after Saturday’s friendly against Clyde – earning themselves the hairdryer treatment from Sir Alex Ferguson.
   The trio were unhappy at the prospect of the long coach trip back from Scotland and so rented themselves a car and a driver to travel back in style.
   But they did not ask permission and could now face fines, as well as the cold shoulder treatment for teammates who feel that they have damaged unity.
   Ferdinand is already an unpopular figure among fans because he is refusing a new contract at United worth £100,000 a week, and he faced jeers once again on Tuesday night at Peterborough.

George Best has branded players’ wages ‘obscene’ and warned their salaries will kill the game.
   The former Manchester United hero, 59, said, ‘The money being paid these days is obscene.
   ‘When you look at this country where people are homeless and some guy earns £100,000 a week for an hour and a half’s work, that is obscene. It will kill the game.’
   And Best, who had a liver transplant in 2002, added, ‘In my days we had a team with three European Footballers of the Year in it, yet we still all used to jump in the same bath, drinking beer.
   ‘Nowadays of course, players have got their own baths,
   their own masseurs and I’m sure they are not drinking pale ale. That’s how things have changed.’

Real Madrid midfielder Guti is keen on a move to Arsenal if he leaves the Spanish giants.
   Everton and Tottenham are also hoping to recruit the 28-year-old who is unsettled at the Bernabeu.
   Real director of football Arrigo Sacchi has confirmed Madrid would let the player leave if they receive a suitable bid.
   And Guti’s agent has sent out a strong message that Arsene Wenger should make an offer, if he is interested in making him Patrick Vieira’s replacement in the Gunners’ midfield.
   ‘After Real Madrid he would like, if England was to be his destination, to play for Arsenal,’ the player’s agent, Zoran Vekic, told Skysports.
   ‘He likes their style, the team spirit they have and the fact that they have a great coach.’

AC Milan striker Andriy Shevchenko has pledged his future to the Italian club despite his recent spat with coach Carlo Ancelotti.
   The Ukraine international exchanged angry words with Ancelotti at Milan’s summer training camp on Monday.
   But Shevchenko, who upset Ancelotti by taking it upon himself to go ahead with minor surgery on the cheekbone he fractured last season which subsequently ruled him out of Milan’s tour of the United States, insists he is happy at the Serie A club.
   ‘I had a discussion with Carlo Ancelotti about the decision to have my face operated on again,’ the 28-year-old told SkySports.
   ‘I need to have metal pieces removed from my face and I have done nothing wrong.
   ‘I discussed with Milan’s surgeon if it was possible and we decided on surgery. There was obviously a lack of communication with the coach. I thought he had been told but he hadn’t.
   ‘Ancelotti was angry about it, and I understood it. I tried to explain everything to him and I think everything is clear now.’
   The heated exchange triggered speculation that big-spending English Premiership club Chelsea Shevchenko were ready to revive their interest in Shevchenko, but the reigning European Footballer of the Year says he is not interested in a move abroad.
   ‘I don’t want to go to Chelsea, I want to stay here. I love Milan and Milan loves me,’ he said.

Real Madrid striker Ronaldo says he isn’t fussed over speculation of a shock move to Inter Milan in a mooted swap for Adriano.
   Real have already issued an official statement denying the reports, but Ronaldo was circumspect when asked
   about the possibility on Tuesday, ‘I have nothing to say, I am at Real Madrid and I am very happy.
   ‘If the club thinks about selling me then so be it, I won’t be unsettled by it.
   ‘I am waiting for this season to start because I want it to be spectacular.
   ‘I am going away to prepare to my best, I have very many desires and I am super motivated.’
   Meanwhile, Real president Florentino Perez told close friends at a function yesterday: ‘To swap Ronaldo for Adriano and also pay £35 million? I wouldn’t swap Ronaldo for anything in the world.’

Win for Agrani Bank
Agrani Bank SC won 2-1 against Dhanmondi Club in the Premier Bank First Division Football League at the Birsreshtho Shaheed Sepoy Mohammad Mostafa Stadium on Wednesday. Swapon and Ohidul scored one goal each in the 67th and 72nd minutes for the Agrani Bank while Sanwar reduced the margin for Dhanmondi in the 81st minute.
— BD News

Uttar Baridhara, Karwan Bazar winners
Uttar Baridhara Club and Karwan Bazar Pragoti Sangha won their respective matches in the third division football league at the Bangladesh Army Stadium on Wednesday. Uttar Baridhara Club beat Dhaka Junior SC 2-1. Arif of Dhaka Junior took his team ahead in the sixth minute. Khokon of the winning team levelled the margin in the 17th minute while Ahsan netted the winning goal in the 66th minute. In the days other match, Karwan Bazar Pragoti Sangha defeated Zirabo Sc 3-2 at the same venue. Sanjid netted twice and Haroon once for the Pragoti while Zahid and Ranvir scored one goal each for the Zirabo.
— BD News

Tangail in Police
Cup semis
Tangail Sadar Upazilla moved into the semifinal of the Police Super Cup Football as they defeated Bhuapur Upazilla 4-0 in the quarterfinal at the Tangail Stadium on Wednesday. Naisr, Mamun, Ripon and Arif netted one goal each for the winners.
— BD News

An unbelievable
task by Kaiser!
Franz Beckenbauer will travel an estimated 120,000 kms, or three times around the world, to extend personal invitations to all 31 qualifying nations for next year’s World Cup. Germany are certain of their place as hosts and Beckenbauer, the president of the tournament’s organising committee, expects to spend 50 days visiting the other countries that qualify for the tournament. ‘The first duty of a good host is to offer a classy and personal invitation,’ explained organising committee vice-president Wolfgang Niersbach. ‘But we are not merely concerned with gestures. We also want to hear people’s individual wishes and requirements and our second objective therefore is to listen to people’s needs.’ Beckenbauer will begin his tour by visiting Iran on October 2 before taking in Saudi Arabia, South Korea and Japan. Argentina are the only other team to have secured qualification so far.
— Reuters

South American giants top world rankings
Confederations Cup winners Brazil and finalists Argentina lead the latest FIFA world rankings while the Czech Republic drop two places to fourth, behind Holland. Germany, third in the Confederations Cup, climb 10 places to 11th. FIFA Top 10: 1. Brazil 846 pts 2. Argentina 787 3. Holland 781 4. Czech Republic 778 5. Mexico 768 6. USA 765 7. France 749 8. England 744, Spain 744 10. Portugal 739.
— AFP