Age does not matter in cricket but talent does, thought the cricket thinkers as a 16-member Bangladesh team led by Habibul Bashar embarked on England tour spanning almost fifty days to play a two-Test series against the hosts and a triangular series also featuring Australia.
   The team left the country at 11:45pm by Biman Bangladesh on Friday and is to reach England in the morning today.
   ‘I have been serving as manger of Bangladesh team for almost two years and surely this time I am going abroad with the youngest team ever,’ said manager MA Latif to New Age before leaving for the airport.
   ‘However, that does not mean that the team will fail to perform as they are all talented cricketers and we will fight against the two experienced sides I can bet,’ added the confident manager.
   Apart from Mohammad Rafique, Habibul Bashar and Javed Omar, all the players of the Test team are around 20-23 years of age when five of them are barely 19 years old. Interestingly, Mushfiqur Rahim, the second wicket-keeper, is yet to celebrate his 17th birthday.
   Rahim, who successfully led the Under-19 team on Australia tour, is unlikely to play a match unless Khaled Mashud sustained an injury.
   However, coach Whatmore hinted at least two out of three fresh inclusions have chances to make their international debut. That means opener Shahriar Nafees and pacer Shahadat Hossain have a bright chance to have international exposure.
   ‘They are young but they proved themselves to make a room in the team. I have full confidence on them,’ assured captain Bashar.
   Meanwhile, England’s chairman of selectors, David Graveney, has formed a 25-member Development Squad comprising 12 contracted players to play against Bangladesh and Australia including the practice matches.
   As usual Australia included aged players in the national team and surely they have one of the most experienced sides in the world.
   Naturally it will be interesting to see how the teenagers cope with the pressure playing against the most experienced team in an alien condition.
   Bangladesh: Habibul Bashar, Khaled Mashud, Mushfiqur Rahim, Mohammad Ashraful, Javed Omar, Rajin Saleh, Nafees Iqbal, Aftab Ahmed, Shahriar Nafees, Mohammad Rafique, Enamul Hoque (jr), Mashrafee bin Mortaza, Taposh Baishya, Anwar Hossain, Talha Jubair and Shahadat Hossain.
   England: Michael Vaughan (Yorkshire, capt), Marcus Trescothick (Somerset), Andrew Strauss (Middlesex), Mark Butcher (Surrey), Graham Thorpe (Surrey), Andrew Flintoff (Lancashire), Gerient Jones (Kent, wk), Ashley Giles (Warwickshire), Simon Jones (Glamorgan), Matthew Hoggard (Yorkshire), Steve Harmison (Durham), James Anderson (Lancashire), Kabir Ali (Worcestershire), Gareth Batty (Worcestershire), Vikram Solanki (Worcestershire), Paul Collingwood (Durham), Robert Key (Kent), Ian Bell (Warwickshire), Kevin Pietersen (Hampshire), Alex Wharf (Glamorgan), Jon Lewis (Gloucestershire), Chris Tremlett (Hampshire), Darren Gough (Yorkshire), Chris Read (Nottinghamshire), Graham Swann (Nottinghamshire).

Shoaib Akhtar was left out of the Pakistan squad for the tour of West Indies on disciplinary grounds, Inzamam-ul-Haq has said.
   It was widely assumed that Shoaib had been left out because he was unfit. Akhtar, who had recovered from his hamstring injury, was asked to shed some weight to be fully fit.
   ‘Shoaib has disciplinary problems and I believe no player is bigger than the team,’ Inzamam was quoted as saying by The News.
   ‘We’ve had these problems with him in the past and my concern is that it has a negative impact on other players also.’
   Akhtar has been questioned several times in the past for his off-field activities and his approach towards the game.
   Inzamam also brushed off the suggestion that the team would miss its spearhead.
   ‘What I learnt in India was that when every player contributes and you play strictly as a team, the absence of even the best player is not felt. In the West Indies to be successful we’ve to again play as a team and with spirit to do well. The strength of our bowling attack is not such a big issue.’
   Pakistan have never won a series in the West Indies and are scheduled to play in three one-day international and two Tests. The first one-dayer is on May 18 in St.Vincent.
   Younis Khan will lead the side in the first Test, in the absence of Inzamam, who has to serve a one-match ban for showing dissent in the third Test against India in Bangalore.
   Inzamam remarked that Younis would find no difficulty in captaining the side. ‘Even if I’m not playing I’ll be there involved in everything and the planning.
   ‘As far as Younis Khan’s ability to lead the side is concerned, he is a good future prospect and will be an asset for the team in future.’

Cricket Australia has celebrated its 100th anniversary by naming Don Bradman and Kerry Packer as the most influential figures in its history.
   The choices initially appear strange - a great player alongside a media mogul - but both men revolutionised the sport.
   Bradman's 20-year batting blitz will never be matched and while Packer's determination to fight the establishment over television rights split the game in the late 1970s, it also produced World Series Cricket, day-night matches and marketing and broadcasting innovation.
   During this period Bradman was nearing the end of his three-decade administrative career.
   Bob Merriman, the Cricket Australia chairman, said Bradman and Packer had made huge contributions locally and globally.
   'Kerry still has a deep passion for cricket,' Merriman told The Australian.
   'He still wants laws changed to make it more entertaining. He's proactive and his ideas are very sensible.'
   Merriman said Packer has a 'strong view' on television programming and the negotiating for rights between Cricket Australia and Nine, which Packer owns, could lead to every home Test and one-day match being broadcast live into the host cities.
   'Through 100 years we have wanted to make cricket Australia's favourite sport,' Merriman said. 'We can't do that if we keep locking a whole lot of people out of seeing it.'
   The paper reported television rights contributed 70% of the game's revenue with gate-takings making up 20 per cent.
   Today marks the 100th birthday of the organisation after its first meeting as the Australian Board of Control for International Cricket Matches.

Sheikh Russell KC and Muktijoddha Sangsad Krira Chakra deafeated Bangladesh Army and Rajshahi Mayor Eleven in the 2nd Independence Day Football Tournament
   at the Rajshahi stadium on Friday.
   Shiekh Russell beat Army by 5-2 goals, in a match which was abandoned on Thursday, while Muktijoddha edged Rajshahi Mayor Eleven 1-0.
   Moroccan forward Rashid Bishashi of Shiekh Russell scored a hat-trick finding the net on 47, 56 and 79 minutes while his compatriot Eighir Mohammad scored the other two. Mizan and Tofazzal scored for Bangladesh Army.
   Rony netted the all important goal for Muktijoddha in the 36th minute in the other match of the day.

Maria Sharapova moved to within three wins of becoming world number one for the first time at the age of 18 when she reached the quarter-finals of the German Open on Thursday.
   The top-seeded Wimbledon champion has dropped only seven games in two matches to get there, this time overcoming Peng Shuai, one of two Chinese players in the top 50, in straight sets 6-2, 6-1.
   Earlier former world number one Kim Clijsters’ injury problems took a new twist when she was forced to retire after damaging her knee performing her trademark splits during her third round tie against Switzerland’s Patty Schnyder.
   After battling bravely for more than 12-months against a career-threatening wrist injury the Belgian was forced to concede a 6-7 (4/7), 6-5 victory to Schnyder.
   Sharapova was uncompromising in the way in which she attacked her opponent’s serve, often being prepared to take risks to gain the initiative, and despite the occasional error it worked well.
   She also landed a very high percentage of first serves in
   and almost always won the point when she did, establishing a bedrock from which she felt relaxed and freely able to attack.
   ‘I started off well I was serving well and I put a lot of pressure on her service games. I think she felt like she needed to do a little bit more (on serve),’ said Sharapova.
   ‘I had the advantage of serving pretty well. It’s important when you get a chance to put the pressure on. When I got up say love-30 I felt like it was the right thing to do.’
   Despite the score-line there was one mini-crisis, which could have signaled a change of direction in the match.
   Peng worked hard to get a break back points at 1-2 in the second set, but after missing it with a forehand return of serve which hurtled a few inches too long, the match ran away from her.
   ‘That game was a tough one and if she had won that it might have been a different story,’ said Sharapova. ‘I don’t think she was at her best mentally after that.’
   The 19-year-old from Hunan did enough to suggest that, over the next year or two, she could become good enough to become the first Chinese player ever to reach the world’s top 20.
   How good Sharapova can become on the world’s slowest surfaces is also open to conjecture.
   ‘This is kind of the beginning for me on clay courts,’ she admitted. ‘I haven’t had that much of a challenge yet, but I should get that next time.’
   That is because she now plays Justine Henin-Hardenne, the former triple Grand Slam titleholder, who had to come from behind to win for the third day in succession.
   Henin-Hardenne also surprisingly failed to get a centre court scheduling for the third match in succession, before battling through 4-6, 6-4, 6-2 against Kveta Peschke, an improving Czech qualifier.
   Meanwhile, Clijsters had been a set and 5-1 up against Schnyder, the seventh seeded Swiss player and had four match points while serving for it at 5-3.
   That may have created a mood of frustration, because in the following game, when Schnyder was serving to level the second set at 5-5, Clijsters began chasing lost causes behind the baseline.
   Twice she ran the width of the court trying to make improbable retrieves and on one of them appeared to stretch the ligaments of her right knee as she performed the splits.
   She immediately called the trainer, and during a ten-minute injury time out had bandages applied above and below the knee.
   This supported Clijsters enough to play one more game, but after dropping her service, she decided to retire, putting a question mark over her competing in the Italian Open in Rome next week and the French Open in Paris.
   ‘It’s a question of waiting to have an MRI scan as soon as possible. It’s a pity it is a national holiday today (because this will delay it),’ said Clijsters. ‘Hopefully if the MRI shows that nothing is torn that will be a good thing and allow me to play the French Open.’

Wang Liqin won the men’s singles title at the world table tennis championships Friday, giving China a clean sweep of all five gold medals to reaffirm its status as the sport’s most powerful force.
   Wang, the world No.1, beat teammate Ma Lin in six sets for his second singles crown, pumping his fist in the air before embracing his teammate after coming back from a set down at the Shanghai Sports Gymnasium.
   It was a welcome boost for China’s men whose dominance was under threat after they failed to take the singles title at the last world championships in Paris two years ago and then lost the Olympic crown in Athens.
   All that was history Friday, as Wang and Ma, the world’s top two players, ended the last hope Europe or Asia had of getting their hands on the trophy.
   Wang had earlier Friday torpedoed the dream of South Korea’s Oh Sang Eun in the semi-final, while Ma took care of giant-killing Dane Michael Maze in emphatic fashion, sending him packing in straight sets.
   Ahead of the men’s final Wang Nan and Zhang Yining gave China the women’s doubles title, toppling teammates Guo Yue and Niu Jiangeng in five sets.
   It was a successful defence by the top seeds and gave 27-year-old Wang her 18th major title, equaling the record set by the legendary Deng Yaping.
   China had already won the women’s singles (Zhang Yining), the men’s doubles (Kong Linghui and Wang Hao), and the mixed doubles (Wang Liqin and Guo Yue), with the clean sweep giving them a symbolic 100 world championship golds.
   Wang and Zhang never looked troubled in their final despite Zhang struggling with a shoulder injury. She was coming off her business-like win in the singles final Thursday, which she dedicated to her teammates.
   ‘I want to give the gold medal to my trainer and my teammates who are struggling together with me,’ she said.
   ‘Before this championship I considered myself a young player. Now my burden is heavier and heavier, the challenge is bigger and bigger. There is still a long way to go with many things to learn.’
   Wang hinted that this was her last major championships.
   ‘I guess it’s my last worlds and big competition,’ she said after fans bombarded her with red roses. Meanwhile, Sydney Olympic champion Kong Linghui, a former world No.1 who was widely expected to retire after Shanghai, said his doubles success here with Wang Hao had spurred him on to aim for the Beijing Olympics in 2008.
   ‘The cheering fans gave us huge support, I will see whether I can participate in the Beijing Olympics,’ he said.
   With the tournament ending Friday, International Table Tennis Federation president Adham Sharara described it as the best ever despite complaints about the standard of umpiring, the balls and the conditions in the arena.
   ‘It’s the biggest world championships in terms of the number of athletes and officials involved and that means huge input by the organisers,’ he said, and pointed to the massive crowds that flocked to watch the action daily as signalling success.
   He argued that organisers quickly responded to complaints, including turning the air conditioning off after players, led by Wang Liqin, said it was too windy and affecting their game.
   Other players, including deposed world champion Werner Schlager of Austria, said the ball was too soft and not fit for international competition.

Fifth seed Rafael Nadal remains on course for a fifth singles title this year after sweeping into the quarter-finals of the Rome Masters here Thursday.
   The red-hot 18-year-old Spaniard overpowered Argentine 11th seed Guillermo Canas 6-3, 6-1 to set up a last eight meeting with Czech Radek Stepanek, who beat Nicolas Almagro.
   Other seeds to fall in Thursday’s third round matches were Andy Roddick, French Open champion Gaston Gaudio and Tim Henman, leaving Nadal, who won in Barcelona and Monte Carlo last month, as the highest seed left in the clay court tournament.
   ‘I had to raise the level of my game for my toughest match so far and I am very satisfied with the result,’ said Nadal, who hit 26 winners.
   ‘I hit the ball well, my movement was good and I felt very confident out there.’
   A noble gesture by top seed Roddick backfired on him in his clash with Fernando Verdasco.
   Roddick was one set up and 5-3 ahead in the second with three match points on the Spaniard’s serve.
   Verdasco then double-faulted and the umpire awarded the match to Roddick, only for the American to say to the official that the second serve was good.
   The point was awarded to Verdasco who saved the other two match points to hold his serve, before wrapping up the set and then snatching the decider.
   Verdasco’s 6-7 (1/7), 7-6 (7/3), 6-4 victory secured a last eight meeting with ninth seed Guillermo Coria, who ended Italian interest by defeating veteran Davide Sanguinetti.
   Roddick played down his honesty, saying the umpire would have come to look at where the ball had landed and given the point to Verdasco.
   ‘He hit the serve and everybody went nuts, but I thought it was closer than that so I went up and checked it but I couldn’t really tell,’ said the 22-year-old.
   ‘Then I looked again and saw that it was in. I don’t think I did anything extraordinary. The umpire would have come down and said it was in too.
   ‘I don’t think it was anything spectacular on my part. I just saved the umpire the trip.’
   Argentine third seed Gaudio lost to Spain’s David Ferrer, while British fourth seed Henman fell to Slovakian Dominik Hrbaty.
   Ferrer will play Alberto Martin in the quarter-finals and Hrbaty will face sixth seed Andre Agassi, who defeated Ivan Ljubicic.
   Agassi won 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to exact revenge on the hard-serving 12th seed who beat him in Croatia’s shock 3-2 victory over the United States in the first round of the Davis Cup in March.
   The defeat in Los Angeles marked the first time the USA have lost a first round match at home in the history of the Davis Cup and forced them into a World Group play-off against Belgium to stay in the elite group of 16.
   Agassi, a winner here in 2003, admitted he would have prefered to have beaten Ljubicic in the Davis Cup.
   ‘Getting through the Davis Cup would have have been special for my country, so I would happily trade this win with him if he wanted to,’ joked the eight-time Grand Slam champion, who added he wasn’t sure whether he would play in the play-off.

Australian tennis star Lleyton Hewitt and his soap opera fiancee Bec Cartwright are expecting a baby.
   Hewitt, 23, proposed to 21-year-old Cartwright in January after his defeat to Russian Marat Safin in the final of the Australian Open.
   ‘Their respective families are delighted with the wonderful news,’ Cartwright’s publicist Amanda Fry said Friday in a statement.
   Hewitt’s manager Rob Aivatoglou also confirmed the pregnancy of the ‘Home and Away’ actress.

Shaun Pollock bounced back into form with an impressive spell of 4 for 18 as he led the South Africans to a 29-run victory over a Jamaica XI in a one-day practice match at Chedwin Park.
   After winning the toss, South Africa posted a competitive total of 245, after a major contribution from Boeta Dippenaar, who smashed 64 of 74 balls including nine fours and two sixes.
   Mark Boucher returned to form too, stroking 59 with seven boundaries, while Ashwell Prince, one of the centurions from the Antigua Test, chipped in with 32.
   Jermaine Lawson was the best bowler for Jamaica, taking 4 for 39, while Bevan Brown, the offspinner, scalped 4 for 41.
   Jamaica got off to a poor start, losing both openers early - Xavier Marshall for 11 and Marlon Samuels, their captain, for 6.
   Tyson Gordon was the only batsmen who provided some resistance, hitting 70.
   Brown also contributed with the bat, hitting a quickfire 37 of 26 balls, but failed to take Jamaica to a winning position as they were bundled out for 216.

West Indies opening batsman and medium pace bowler Wavell Hinds was fined 100 per cent of his match fee on Thursday for breaching the ICC Code of Conduct during the drawn fourth Test match against South Africa.
   Hinds was found guilty of ‘conduct contrary to the spirit of the game’ by ICC Match Referee Jeff Crowe in a hearing after the match concluded in Antigua on Tuesday.
   Hinds was found to have breached C.1, level 2 of the ICC Code which relates to indulging in sharp practices ie intentional throwing and overstepping of the popping crease.
   ‘It is a breach of consequence that undermines the games values and is unacceptable in any given situation. The player has apologised for his actions,’ said Crowe.

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho revealed Friday that he has targeted three new summer signings to boost the newly-crowned Premiership champions’ squad.
   ‘The priority is to keep the champions and make sure you don’t lose the important players,’ the Portuguese coach told the London Evening Standard.
   Mourinho said that he would be looking to sign a left-back, a midfielder and a striker.
   The Chelsea boss, who has already been linked with Arsenal defender Ashley Cole and Liverpool captain Steven Gerrard, refused to be drawn on his intended targets.
   ‘We will keep our group of champions and improve it. If we look at the left-back position for example, we have only Wayne Bridge. We can improve on that place before next season.
   ‘To win the championship after 50 years was a fantastic achievement. We must look forward now to win more silverware, not after another half a century but year after year.
   ‘When you look at the attacking players we can say we need another one. In midfield we can keep them all and maybe add another one. To win the Premiership and prove we are the best makes me very happy. We are a young group who have worked together just this season.’

David Beckham has been hailed as football’s greatest money-making machine.
   Marketing chief Jose Angel Sanchez is the mastermind behind Real Madrid’s exploitation of Becksmania ,which raked in £30m in one season for the Spanish giants.
   David Beckham will secure a bigger share of his image rights in any new Real Madrid deal.
   Beckham, who gets a £4.4m annual after-tax salary plus £12.5m from sponsorship deals, is halfway through a four-year contract.
   Both club and player want to extend his stay and his reward would be a bigger slice of his No 23 shirt sales from Real and makers adidas.

North Korean media has reacted angrily to FIFA’s decision to force its national team to play a World Cup qualifier against Japan behind closed doors at a neutral venue as punishment for previous crowd trouble.
   World soccer’s governing body ordered the venue switch after violence erupted following North Korea’s 2-0 defeat by Iran in their final qualifying stage match on March 30 in Pyongyang.
   Fans hurled bottles and chairs on to the pitch and stopped Iran’s players boarding the team bus before riot police intervened.
   ‘The (FIFA disciplinary) committee has left a blot on history by taking such an unjust action,’ the official KCNA news agency quoted the North’s Cheyuk Sinmun sports newspaper as saying.
   Japan had been scheduled to visit the North Korean capital on June 8 but has proposed playing the match in Malaysia.
   ‘The disciplinary measure taken by the FIFA disciplinary committee against the behaviour of spectators after painting them as a disturbance...is lashing the Korean people into great fury because they deem the national dignity as their life and soul,’ the newspaper said.
   The North also blasted Japan, accusing it of trying to move the match out of North Korea to gain an unfair advantage. ‘It is the ulterior motive of Japan to trounce the DPRK team by creating a favourable environment,’ it said.

Barcelona could either win the Spanish title this Sunday or find arch-rivals Real Madrid breathing down their necks depending on the results of the two teams’ respective matches against Valencia and Racing Santander.
   If Real suffer a shock home defeat against Racing today and Barcelona win their tough away match against last season’s champions, the Catalans would wrap up their first league title in six years with three games to spare.
   However, victory for Real and defeat for Barca would leave just three points separating the two sides at the top of the table and herald a nerve-racking run-in to the end of the season.
   Barca will be comforted by the knowledge that their better head-to-head record against Real would give them the title if the two sides finished level on points at the end of the season.
   No one at Real is entertaining the prospect that they might lose to lowly Racing, instead the players have spent much of the last week building up the prospects of a Valencia victory over Barca.
   ‘This weekend’s matches are very important and we can make up ground on Barcelona,’ said Real goalkeeper Iker Casillas.
   ‘Valencia are more than capable of beating Barcelona. They are playing at the Mestalla, they’ve got a good team and need the three points to fight for a place in the Champions League.
   ‘We are hoping Barca lose and if that happens they are going to start getting nervous and it will take its toll on them as they have to play two other away games before the end of the season.’
   Barcelona insist that it is Real who have no room for manoeuvre.
   ‘I’ve always said that the pressure is on them,’ Barca midfielder Xavi told a news conference earlier this week.
   ‘They depend on us slipping up and that is a big handicap. They appear to be more worried about what we do than what they are doing and that’s fine by me.’
   Both sides had to dig deep to win their respective matches last time out.
   Real were on the ropes for much of their game at Real Sociedad and only managed to emerge with the three points and their sixth consecutive win following a late double from Ronaldo.
   Barcelona also had their leading scorer Samuel Eto’o to thank for breaking the deadlock in their 2-0 victory at home to struggling Albacete.
   The Cameroon international scored a superbly worked goal midway through the second half as he finally breached the dogged Albacete defence.
   Real will have Zinedine Zidane, Michel Salgado and Walter Samuel back from suspension, while David Beckham appears to have recovered from an inflamed toe and will also play.
   Portuguese midfielder Luis Figo, who has been consigned to the bench in recent matches, has not trained because of a thigh injury and is unlikely to make the squad.
   Despite his performance last week Guti will have to settle for a place among the substitutes.
   Barcelona welcome back influential playmaker Xavi from suspension and versatile Brazilian international Edmilson could return to the squad after seven months out with a serious knee injury.

The UEFA Cup will have a first-time champion this year when Sporting Lisbon and CSKA Moscow play for the title May 18.
   CSKA, which beat two-time champion Parma 3-0 Thursday in the second leg of the semifinals to advance with a 3-0 aggregate win, will be making its first appearance in a European final.
   But it will be a tough task against Sporting, trying to win its first UEFA Cup title in a match to be played at its Jose Alvalade Stadium in Lisbon, Portugal.
   On Thursday, Sporting held on to edge AZ Alkmaar on away goals despite losing 3-2 in extra time. The two-leg series ended 4-4 on aggregate.
   Miguel Garcia scored the deciding goal two minutes into injury time in the second extra period.
   CSKA, which started its European campaign in the top-tier Champions League, hasn’t won an away match in this season’s UEFA Cup. The Russian team has outscored its opponents 11-0 in its last four home games, however.
   No Russian club has ever won a European soccer final. Dynamo Moscow had a chance, but lost to Rangers in the 1972 Cup Winners’ Cup final.
   FC Porto, which won this tournament in 2003, is the only Portuguese team to have lifted the UEFA Cup. Sporting, however, won the Cup Winners’ Cup in 1964.
   In Alkmaar, Netherlands, the hosts thought they had booked a place in the final when Kew Jaliens scored in the 109th minute.
   Kenneth Perez gave AZ the lead in the sixth minute, but Liedson equalised in first-half injury time to put Sporting ahead on aggregate.
   Stein Huysegems then tied the series 3-3 on aggregate in the 78th and sent the match to extra time.
   In Moscow, Daniel Carvalho scored two goals and set up another for Vasiliy Berezutsky.
   Carvalho scored the first goal in the ninth minute after Yuri Zhirkov broke down the left flank and sent a cross which the Brazilian volleyed past Parma goalkeeper Luca Bucci.
   A celebrating spectator threw a firecracker on the field, and it exploded near Bucci’s head. He was replaced nine minutes later by Sebastien Frey, Parma’s No. 1 goalkeeper.
   Bucci was later hospitalised and was expected to stay in Moscow for treatment while the team returns home to Italy, Italian news agency ANSA reported.
   Carvalho made it 2-0 off a pass from Wagner Love in the 53rd, and Berezutsky added the third in the 59th, heading in Carvalho’s free kick from the left.

He may already have a fiery temper, but Wayne Rooney could soon really start seeing red during Premiership matches.
   Nike, which sponsors Rooney, along with other players including Thierry Henry, Robbie Keane and Ronaldo, is testing coloured contact lenses for top players.
   The firm says red, yellow and amber lenses can help them see the ball better, particularly in bright sunlight.
   Brian Roberts, of US basketball team Baltimore Orioles, who has tested the lenses, said, ‘They’re like wearing sunglasses without wearing sunglasses. I could see such a huge difference right away.’
   The lenses, which have been under development for seven years, could be used in Britain this year by Premiership players. Nike is working with contact-lens company Bausch & Lomb to sell them through opticians.
   The colour of the lenses has been designed to ensure the wearer does not actually see a red tint and bright sunlight is filtered out. It is hoped that by wearing them during-sunny matches, wearers could prolong their playing careers.
   ‘It helps your eyes relax instead of squinting all the time,’ said Danny Graves of the Cincinnati Reds baseball team, who has also been testing the lenses. ‘And that helps relax the rest of your body.’
   Graves also discovered another benefit – they can intimidate opponents. ‘They make you look kind of evil,’ he said. ‘Other players look at you like you’re possessed.’
   However, leading optometrists on Friday warned that use of the lenses would need to be tightly controlled. ‘Hygiene would be a worry here,’ said Judith Morris, a contact lens expert at City University.
   ‘If you use these lenses for one match a week, then store them in a case, there could be problems. And obviously they would absolutely have to be fitted professionally.’
   Tony Chipote, a marketing field manager for Nike, said, ‘We want our athletes to continue to see their game better and better for longer and longer. As soon as you start to lose your eyesight, the rest of your body will start to suffer.’
   Nike has also signed up tennis star Roger Federer and golfer Justin Leonard to test the lenses. It claims that while the red lenses are ideal for fast-moving sports such as football, grey lenses are the key to golfers being able to discern the lie of the land on a putting green.

Chelsea may have wrapped up the Premiership title but there is still plenty to play for at the top, as well as the bottom of the division - and Arsenal's Dennis Bergkamp knows that better than most.
   The Gunners are currently second, four points ahead of Manchester United, with the league runners-up guaranteed direct entry into next season's Champions League.
   Finishing third means having to play a pre-season qualifying match, which could scupper the north London club's hopes of landing European club football's biggest prize before the tournament proper has got under way.
   'If you finish third, you have to play such an important game so early in the season, Bergkamp said.
   'So it can really hurt you and frustrate you. If you can get automatically qualified, it's better for the whole club,' the Dutch striker told Arsenal's official website www.arsenal.com, ahead of Sunday's match at home to Champions League finalists Liverpool.
   Arsenal will again be without injured duo Thierry Henry and Freddie Ljungberg through injury, while Sol Campbell still faces a battle to regain his first-team place.
   Bergkamp, meanwhile, will be hoping for a recall to the side, in what is Sunday's lone Premiership match, although compatriot Robin van Persie impressed in Monday's win at West Brom.
   Liverpool, meanwhile, must raise their game after their midweek Champions League heroics against Chelsea took them into the May 25 final in Istanbul against Italy's AC Milan.
   Throughout the season Liverpool, fifth and three points behind local rivals Everton, have struggled to maintain their form in the Premiership immediately after a Champions League game.
   Everton, who have a game in hand, can pile the pressure on Liverpool and fellow fourth-place rivals Bolton, by beating Newcastle at Goodison Park 24 hours earlier.
   Chelsea meanwhile will be presented with the Premiership trophy at their Stamford Bridge home before today's match with London rivals Charlton.
   West Brom face a tough trip to Manchester United, the former club of Baggies boss Bryan Robson and midfielder Jonathan Greening.
   But Kieran Richardson, on loan from Old Trafford, will not be allowed to play against United and Greening said, 'Kieran has done really well for us since he came in January. He has really made an impression in midfield and we'll definitely miss him against United.'
   In other matches, UEFA Cup rivals Middlesbrough and Tottenham go head-to-head at the Riverside, Aston Villa are at home to Manchester City in a mid-table clash.

The PFA Player of the Year is often hailed as the award that means most, voted for as it is by the victor’s peers.
   But history tells us that the Football Writers Association (FWA) Footballer of the year - the oldest award of its kind - is the slightly more reliable and credible prize.
   Chelsea’s Frank Lampard joined a long list of fantastic players to pick up the FWA award on Friday, following in the footsteps of the likes of Thierry Henry, Eric Cantona, Kenny Dalglish and the first winner Sir Stanley Matthews.
   But who voted for him? And how?
   The FWA comprises around 400 journalists (the number varies slightly from year to year), all of whom must spend at least 75 per cent of their job writing about football.
   It was set up on 22 September 1947 by four journalists returning by ship from Brussels, where they had seen England beat Belgium 5-2 in a friendly international.
   They included England international Charlie Buchan and set membership at five guineas for the first year and two guineas annually thereafter, with an FWA tie included.
   Today, that fee has gone up to £25 for the first year and £20 for subsequent years and members hail from the national and evening newspapers, news agencies and television and radio.
   They all have the opportunity to cast one email vote for Footballer of the Year and take pride in picking the right man.
   ‘It is voted for by people who go to more than 100 games a year - it is respected and topical,’ said Henry Winter, of the Daily Telegraph.
   Although his vote went to Lampard’s team-mate John Terry - the PFA Player of the Year - he believes that Lampard has all the qualities befitting a Footballer of the Year.
   ‘It is about behaviour as well as ability and Lampard is a fantastic advertisement for the Premiership. He is a role model and plays with a smile and the FWA likes that.
   ‘People think that us journalists get together and say ‘let’s vote for X or Y’.
   ‘But that’s not how it works. You can vote for any player and our press is diverse. And it has nothing to do with a player being accommodating with us.
   ‘If it was about that, then Gareth Southgate would win every year.’
   In 2005, 14 players received votes, according to FWA executive secretary Ken Montgomery, a retired Sunday Mirror journalist.
   Lampard and Terry polled by far the most followed by Liverpool’s Jamie Carragher.
   Winter believes the big strength of the FWA award is its ‘topical’ winners and runners-up.
   Whereas PFA votes are cast months before the end of the season, FWA’s deadline only passed at midnight on Thursday. And this allowed Carragher to gain FWA recognition for his superb late-season form, despite him being overlooked entirely by the PFA.
   There have been more extreme examples of this in the past.
   In 1996, Manchester United won the double, but Les Ferdinand scooped the PFA award.
   Ferdinand’s Newcastle had looked to be storming to the title when those votes were cast, but the Red Devils made a late charge led by Eric Cantona, who took FWA honours and then showed why by scoring the winner in the FA Cup Final.
   This year’s gala ceremony takes place - as usual - on the Thursday before the Cup
   Final.
   England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson will be at the top table and Chelsea boss Jose Mourinho is being coerced into making a short speech to the assembled writers, guests and former award winners.
   After a series of near-misses at major awards, it is unlikely any of them will begrudge Lampard his moment of recognition.

Only the top four teams in the English Premiership will qualify for next season’s Champions League, the Football Association announced Thursday dealing a fresh blow to Liverpool’s hopes of playing in the competition next season.
   Liverpool, who have already reached this season’s final, are three points behind fourth placed local rivals Everton in the race for qualification.
   Liverpool face AC Milan in the final in Istanbul on May 25 and there has been speculation over whether they would be allowed to defend the trophy even if they finished fifth or worse in the league.
   The FA, while saying they would stick to their original ruling, also stressed they would be pressing European soccer governing body UEFA for an extra place were Liverpool to win the title but finish outside the Premiership’s top four this season.
   ‘The FA confirmed on Thursday that the top four teams in the Premiership at the end of the season will enter next season’s UEFA Champions League,’ said a statement by the FA.
   ‘The decision follows a recommendation from this afternoon’s Professional Game Board meeting, which has been endorsed by The FA Main Board.
   ‘This will not be changed whatever the outcome of Liverpool’s Champions League Final in Istanbul on May 25.
   ‘However, The FA also believes that if Liverpool win in Istanbul and do not finish in the top four in the Premiership, an extra place should be allocated to them in the Champions League next season.
   ‘This is ultimately a matter for UEFA, but The FA will continue to make representations on this issue at the highest level.’

Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho has been slammed by European soccer's governing body UEFA for claiming the linesman 'scored' Liverpool's winner in their Champions League semi-final.
   A controversial winner by Luis Garcia sent Chelsea crashing out of the competition on Tuesday, leading Mourinho to claim: 'They scored, if you can say that they scored, because maybe you should say the linesman scored.'
   Lars-Ake Bjorck, vice-chairman of UEFA's referee committee, believes that Mourinho's remark, directed at linesman Roman Slysko, 'damages football'.
   And he hinted that Mourinho, who led Chelsea to their first top-flight title in 50 years and Cup success this season, could face further action.
   'It's unbelievable he hasn't got the brain to learn from his mistake last time,' said Bjorck, referring to Mourinho's recent two-match UEFA ban for bringing the game into disrepute by falsely claiming that Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard was seen leaving referee Anders Frisk's dressing room during the interval of their Champions League clash at the Nou Camp in February.
   As well as his two-match ban, the Portuguese boss was fined around 9,000 pounds for his comments. 'It's incredible, especially when you put in mind he recently was punished hard with both suspension and payment charges,' said Bjorck.
   'If UEFA get a report we will treat it rapidly. This kind of statement damages football and everything around football.'
   Frisk received death threats and retired, and Swedish head of referees Bo Karlsson hopes Slysko does not suffer a similar fate. 'I hope with all my heart this linesman will not get the same terrible threats Anders got,' said Karlsson.

Chelsea owner Roman Abramovich will make a new bid for AC Milan striker Andrei Shevchenko at the end of the season.
   The Evening Standard says the Russian billionaire has resolved that the club need a top class striker if they are to improve on their record of two European Cup semi-finals and the Ukrainian is top of his wish list.
   Abramovich has failed in two previous attempts to prize Shevchenko away from AC Milan, tabling a £30million bid during the January transfer window 14 months ago. He also visited him in Italy last June.
   A source close to Abramovich said, 'Shevchenko is still Roman's favourite player and he would do anything to sign him. There's only a very small chance but he has not given up hope.'
   Chelsea will offer Milan £25 million cash, plus striker Hernan Crespo, in exchange for Shevchenko.

Chelsea captain John Terry has booked his players with the local hairdresser on Friday so they can all have their hair dyed blue!
   The Sun says a hairdresser has been booked to give the Stamford Bridge stars a Blue rinse before they pick up the Premiership trophy after the final whistle against Charlton today.
   It is the first time Chelsea have lifted the title for 50 years and Terry wants to make it a blue-ly memorable occasion.
   A Chelsea source revealed, 'John is passionate about Chelsea and its fans and wants to give them a real treat.
   'A hairdresser has been booked, most of the players and all the backroom staff including assistant coach Steve Clarke, have said they will join in.
   'But no one is sure if Jose Mourinho will want to spoil his hair by getting involved as well.'