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A few hundred spectators present in the stands at the 50,000-capacity Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium cheered as Tithi Rani of Ansar-VDP hit two consecutive boundaries off Dhaka pacer Ayesha in an event on Saturday marking the beginning of women’s competitive cricket in Bangladesh.
   It was indeed a landmark event in the annuls of Bangladesh cricket as the first women’s cricket championship got under way with a bunch of female cricketers performing fairly well on the pitch.
   The field was too big for them as the curator of the stadium made a 60-yard boundary line for the 30-over a side event maintaining international standard.
   The Dhaka side, sent in to bat first, made 122 in the stipulated 30 overs hitting only two boundaries in the innings.
   ‘The girls still lack enough strength in the wrist to send the ball to the fence,’ commented a fan in the stands.
   But Tithi soon proved the spectator wrong hitting her second four. The girls were definitely in a high spirit as they were exploring a new horizon. ‘It is a dream come true for me, I waited long for this day, I feel like flying high,’ said Khaleda Parvin, who took a wicket with her spin bowling.
   Dhaka skipper Tajkia Akhter was adjudged the best batsman of the day. Her 38-run innings pulled her team out of danger.
   ‘I have been practising since 1998 and dreaming about this day; I have no word to express my happiness, we are determined to prove our ability,’ said the stocky skipper of Dhaka.
   Nu Baiching Marma, a fan of Indian captain Rahul Dravid, opened the Ansar-VDP innings. Playing with a straight bat like her idol she scored 14.
   ‘We are newcomers but we believe we can scale great heights with proper training,’ said Baiching.
   The overall atmosphere was truly competitive. The attitude and approach were positive. The girls were appealing for leg before decision in loud voice and their fielding was quite impressive.
   Before the start of the innings they formed a circle with their hands on each other’s shoulders. They celebrated the fall of every wicket with a high five.
   Most of the girls preferred to play sweep shots and late cuts. They found it hard to drive or pull a delivery. But Bangladesh Cricket Board officials were impressed.
   ‘They performed better than are our expectation. Some of the girls looked impressive. We will pick the talented players to form a national team and proper training will make them ready to face international challenges,’ said Shah Nurul Kabir Shaheen, the vice-president of the board.
   Dhaka recorded a 34-run win over Ansar and VDP riding on a four-wicket haul by Towhida.
   Dhaka scored 121 for six in 30 overs. Tajkiar Akter was top scorer with 38 and Papia Haq remained unbeaten on 17.
   In reply, Ansar and VDP were bowled out for 87 in 20.4 overs as Towhida and Sajia shared six wickets.

Serena Williams destroyed Russian top seed Maria Shara-pova 6-1, 6-2 in the Australian Open final on Saturday to clinch her eighth grand slam title.
   Williams, 2003 and 2005 Australian Open champion, posted her intent by sealing the opening service game with an ace and broke the Sharapova serve immediately when the Russian netted a loose forehand.
   The American then held to love and the warnings signs were there for a Sharapova collapse as she lost her own serve to love to trail 4-0.
   Sharapova at least carved out a break point in the next before Williams extended her lead to 5-0 and the 2004 Wimbledon champion finally stopped the rot when she held to love to make it 5-1.
   The first rally of that game saw Williams at her fired-up best, appearing to mouth “You’ll pay for that” after Sharapova blasted a smash into the world number 81’s body.
   Pay for it she did with another service break at the start of the second set as her hopes of becoming her country’s first women’s Australian Open champion disappeared in a blaze of stunning Williams strokes.
   Another unforced error gave Williams the double break at 3-0 and even though Sharapova held for 4-1 and 5-2, nothing could stop Williams becoming the second unseeded player in the professional era to lift the title following Chris O’Neill’s success in 1978.

Table-toppers Abahani Limited will take on arch-rivals Mohammedan in a crucial match of the Kai-Altech Premier Cricket League at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium today. Toss will be a vital factor as the number six pitch has plenty of grass and it looked to favour the new ball operators in the opening hour.
   Abahani skipper Khaled Mashud is all set to play the match after recovering from his thumb injury but he will not be standing behind the wickets. Mashud was in the Mohammedan tent last year but it has become a past episode for him. ‘We are determined to continue our winning spree, we admit Mohammedan are a strong opposition but we will put in our best in the important match,’ said the Abahani skipper.
   Mohammedan skipper Habibul Bashar is firmly focused on the match. ‘We don’t have any options but a victory, we believe we can achieve that, my boys are ready to face the challenge,’ said Bashar.
   Abahani dominate the league table with all-win record earning full 12 points from six matches while Mohammedan and Sonargaon Cricketers are second on 10 points each.
   Holders Old DOHS will play against Brothers Union at the BKSP while Biman will face City Club at Fatullah in the two other matches of the day.
   
   Points table
   Teams M W L Pts
   Abahani 6 6 0 12
   Sonargaon 6 5 1 10
   Mohammedan 6 5 1 10
   Old DOHS 6 4 2 8
   Victoria 6 4 2 8
   Biman 6 3 3 6
   City Club 6 2 4 4
   Kalabagan KC 6 2 4 4
   Partex SC 6 2 4 4
   Young Pegasus 6 2 4 4
   Indira Road KC 6 1 5 2
   Brothers Union 6 0 6 0

Pakistan (157 & 117/6) lead South Africa (183) by 91 runs at tea, day 2
   Pakistan were struggling to set a challenging target as wickets continued to fall on the second day of the decisive third and final Test against South Africa at Newlands Saturday.
   Pakistan were 117 for six in their second innings at tea, an overall lead of 91, in an extraordinary match in which 26 wickets had fallen for 457 runs.
   Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq carried his team’s hopes as the last remaining recognised batsman after Dale Steyn and Andrew Hall took two wickets each for South Africa. Inzamam was 19 not out.
   South African wicketkeeper Mark Boucher earlier batted aggressively as South Africa squeezed out a slender first innings lead.
   Boucher hit an unbeaten 40 as South Africa made 183 all out, a lead of 26, on a pitch which has helped pace and spin bowlers.
   South Africa, resuming on 131 for five, were soon in trouble when Ashwell Prince was given out in the third over with only two runs added.
   Prince was beaten by a Danish Kaneria googly and it seemed that wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal had missed his second stumping chance against the left-hander.
   The ball bounced off Akmal’s gloves and Yasir Hameed dived forward from silly point to catch it. Umpire Steve Bucknor gave Prince out caught to the batsman’s undisguised surprise. Replays suggested Prince had missed the ball.
   Two balls later nightwatchman Paul Harris edged Mohammad Asif to Younis Khan at second slip and South Africa had lost two wickets for two runs.
   Andrew Hall was quickly caught behind off Kaneria for four but Steyn stayed with Boucher long enough for 43 runs to be added for the ninth wicket.
   Boucher went on the attack after a quiet start in which only 18 runs were scored off the first 11 overs, hitting three fours, a two and a straight six in an over from Asif which cost 22 runs. The over included two no-balls.
   Boucher slammed Kaneria over midwicket for six in the next over but the partnership was ended when Boucher tried to steal a single off the fifth ball of an over from Mohammad Sami, who replaced Asif.

Irine Sultana of Khulna created history on the inaugural day of the first Women’s Cricket Championship as she became the first female player to score a century in competitive cricket. Irine scored 105 not out against Narayanganj at the Mohammadpur Nabin Sangha ground on Saturday.
   Khulna piled up a massive 288 for five in 30 overs riding on Irine’s ton, who hit 13 fours and four sixes in her 70-ball innings. Shuktara added 47 runs. Later Narayanganj were bundled out for 54 with Salma Khatun taking three wickets for five runs and Reshma finishing with two for two runs.
   Khulna won the match by 234 runs.
   At the Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla Stadium, Dhaka defeated Ansar-VDP by 34 runs. Batting first, Dhaka, inspired by skipper Tajkia Akhter’s 38 and Papia’s 17, scored 121 all out. Nu Baiching Marma and Khadiza grabbed two wickets each. In reply, Ansar-VDP were all out for 87 runs with Tithi Rani scoring highest 22. Towhida wrecked the Ansar innings with a haul of 4-12.
   At the Dhanmondi Women’s Sports Complex, Bhola routed Jahangirnagar University by eight wickets. Batting first, JU were bowled out for 97 runs with.Kajol and Fatema both scoring 19 each. Nadia and Sraboni grabbed three wickets each conceding 13 and 10 runs respectively. Chameli hit 28 and Panna added 12 as Bhola scored 98 for the loss of two wickets with 14.4 overs to spare.

Bangladesh Football Federation hopes to tie up the sponsor of the first professional league football within a few days. An executive committee meeting of the federation on Saturday decided to review the sponsorship proposals and finalise the matter.
   Though the sponsor of the league is yet to be decided, the preparations will be going on according to plan. A seminar on the event management conducted by the AFC officials will be held on February 7.
   The U-18 national tournament has been deferred again to March 1 and it was decided that the Dhaka league clubs will be allowed to register three overseas players but only two will be permitted to take field together.
   The BFF president himself took the responsibility to form the emergency committee that would tackle the emergency situations.

The International Cricket Council is set to take away the right to terminate matches from umpires and hand it instead to match referees.
   The move follows last year’s row at the Oval after Pakistan became the first-ever team to forfeit a test.
   ICC chief executives recommended an amendment to the rule covering umpires awarding a match during a two-day meeting which ended in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates on Friday.
   A final decision would be taken at an ICC meeting in South Africa in March, an ICC statement said.
   In one of cricket’s biggest controversies, Pakistan blamed Australia’s Darrell Hair after he and fellow umpire Billy Doctrove docked them five runs for alleged ball tampering during the fourth day of the fourth test against England at the Oval.
   The team refused to take the field after tea in protest and the umpires decided Pakistan had forfeited the game.
   An ICC inquiry cleared skipper Inzamam-ul Haq of ball tampering, although it banned him for four one-day games for bringing the game into disrepute.
   Hair was embroiled in further controversy when the ICC revealed he had offered to retire in exchange for $500,000.

India (268) against West Indies
   Young opener Robin Uthappa hit a robust 70 off 42 balls as India made 268 all out in the third one-day international against the West Indies here on Saturday.
   Captain Rahul Dravid scored 57 and senior pro Sachin Tendulkar returned to form with 60 after West Indian captain Brian Lara elected to field in the day-night game at the Chidambaram stadium.
   India, leading 2-0 in the four-match series, were cruising at 232-3 in the 35th over when the tourists bounced back with seven wickets for 36 runs.
   Seamer Dwayne Bravo, hammered for 19 runs by Uthappa in his first over, grabbed four wickets for 20 runs in his next eight to lead the West Indian fightback.
   Uthappa, a 21-year-old playing only his fourth one-dayer, enhanced his World Cup claims by smashing 11 boundaries and two sixes in his first appearance in the series.
   The right-hander reached his half-century off 32 balls by lofting rookie all-rounder Reyad Emrit for a six and celebrated the landmark with the run feast off Bravo.
   When Uthappa fell in the 11th over, holing out in the deep off Chris Gayle, he had contributed 70 runs in India’s total of 95-2.
   Tendulkar, one-day cricket’s most successful batsman with 14,568 runs and 40 hundreds before this match, finally hit form after making just 202 runs in his last 10 innings.
   Both Tendulkar and Dravid hit their 75th one-day half-centuries in a fourth-wicket stand of 106 before falling in the space of five runs to trigger the collapse.
   Bravo, who removed Tendulkar to a catch in the deep, dismissed Yuvraj Singh and Dinesh Karthick in three balls and then took the last wicket of Shanthakumaran Sreesanth.
   India’s selectors, not hesitating to change and chop in a bid to arrive at the perfect World Cup combination, rested Sourav Ganguly, Harbhajan Singh, Mahendra Dhoni and Zaheer Khan for the match.
   Yuvraj, fit again after suffering a knee ligament injury in November, returned to the team along with veteran spinner Anil Kumble.
   Lara was back for the West Indies after missing the previous match in Cuttack on Wednesday with a sore knee.
   The tourists rested in-form batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul and brought in Lendl Simmons and Emrit for the first time in the series.
   The final 15-man squads for the World Cup to be held in the Caribbean in March-April, have to be named by February 13.

England’s shambolic tour of Australia plunged to a new low on Saturday, with calls for the visitors to be sent home.
   Hundreds of England’s most loyal supporters, the so-called Barmy Army, flew home after the 5-0 test-series whitewash.
   The Australian media now believe the players should do likewise following the nine-wicket defeat by the hosts in the triangular one-day series on Friday.
   ‘Send them home. Refund all tickets. Give them a fresh batch of OBEs, for being Obscenely Bad Englishmen,’ Robert Craddock wrote in Sydney’s Daily Telegraph.
   ‘Andrew Flintoff is captaining one of the greatest British comedy outfits to visit our shores but people have stopped laughing.’
   Andrew Ramsey, writing in The Australian, said: ‘In the era of reality television, the time has surely come for England’s cricketers to be voted off this island.
   ‘To be bowled out for 110 in less than 2 ½ hours on one of the world’s best batting pitches (Adelaide) against an opposition team resting two of its best-credentialled bowlers was more than embarrassing. It stank of a team that has as little pride as it does character.’
   Peter Roebuck, the Sydney Morning Herald columnist who once captained England to a one-day defeat by Netherlands, said the visitors appeared to have given up.
   Under the headline ‘Bury this corpse, it’s starting to smell’, Roebuck said he could not remember seeing a worse performance by an international team in 25 years.
   ‘England were astonishingly awful. Flintoff’s side produced the most lamentable display of batting seen from an international team in the antipodes for a quarter of a century,’ he wrote.
   ‘Nothing springs to mind that can be compared with this awful performance from a precious, pampered and overpaid outfit that showed none of the fighting spirit so long associated with their country.’
   Chloe Saltau, writing in The Age, said England’s performance vindicated the fears of Australia coach John Buchanan that his team’s preparations for the World Cup in March were being harmed because they were not being put under enough pressure.
   ‘England’s most woeful display so far has confirmed the widening gap between committed Australia and a touring team that is broken beyond repair,’ she wrote.
   ‘Not even a pre-match grenade lobbed into the English camp by Australian coach John Buchanan, pleading for a contest, could provoke Andrew Flintoff’s team to provide the locals with anything more than the gentlest of training runs.’

New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming is confident recalled opener Lou Vincent can once again rise to the occasion against Australia when the two sides meet here today.
   Vincent, who has played 87 limited-overs internationals and spent his teenage years in Adelaide, has flown to Perth to join the New Zealand squad in the wake of Nathan Astle’s shock retirement.
   The right-hander, who was born in Australia, is expected to open the batting alongside Fleming in Sunday’s triangular series one-day international and should have fond memories of the WACA ground.
   It was at the WACA that Vincent made his Test debut in late 2001, scoring a century against Australia to launch a career that has not quite reached the heights that innings suggested.
   Fleming said although Astle’s retirement was a blow, Vincent was a capable replacement.
   ‘It changes the fabric,’ Fleming said of Astle’s departure.
   ‘But you get Lou in, who has got skills to offer, and he’s experienced.
   ‘Not the experience that Nathan has got, but he has played against these guys quite a bit. He has opened the batting for New Zealand a lot.
   ‘He has worked hard after getting a setback at home and he is coming into form, which is a positive sign.’
   Astle’s departure also increases the pressure on Fleming, who has himself been battling for form in the tri-series.
   However, Fleming believes he and Vincent can form a successful partnership at the top of the order.
   ‘My view is that I obviously need to get the majority of the runs, being the experienced player, and I haven’t done that so far,’ he said.
   ‘Lou can create a strike-rate with the way he plays and if he comes off then it makes my job easier.’
   The Kiwis are contemplating resting injury-plagued speedster Shane Bond for Sunday’s game, with oppressively hot conditions forecast.
   Seamer Kyle Mills’ comeback could also be delayed because of the heat.
   Fleming said the Kiwis wanted to beat Australia, but admitted their main focus was on finishing above England in the tri-series in order to reach the finals.
   He said this would be reflected in team selection, with New Zealand to play England again on Tuesday in a match that could decide which side made the finals.
   ‘You have got to prioritise a little bit,’ he said.
   ‘You want to win each game and I want to beat Australia, but we have to be smart about our resources and look towards the finals, if we can get there.’
   Fleming said the Black Caps remained confident Australia were within reach despite being unbeaten after five games.

Liverpool confirmed on Friday that American businessman George Gillett has made an approach ‘which may or may not lead to an offer’ for the club.
   However Dubai International Capital are still regarded as the overwhelming favourites to succeed in its 450-million-pound takeover bid for the Anfield giants.
   The announcement was made to the London Stock Exchange to comply with the Takeover Code and in response to growing speculation in the last week.
   The statement to shareholders read: ‘Following the recent press speculation, and to comply with our obligations under the Takeover Code, Liverpool Football Club today confirms that it has received an approach from George Gillett which may or may not lead to an offer.
   ‘Shareholders will be kept informed as appropriate.’
   Earlier this week, sources at the club insisted the takeover by DIC could be confirmed ‘within weeks’ despite reports of Gillett’s interest and that a successful deal with DIC would mean that work on the club’s new stadium in nearby Stanley Park could start in March, with a two-year completion date.
   Gillett, the owner of Montreal Canadiens ice hockey club who has already had a bid to buy the club rejected, has recently written to the Liverpool chairman offering an increased deal.
   It is expected that within a couple of weeks DIC will be in a position to announce through the Stock Exchange that they have had a bid accepted for chairman David Moores’ 51-percent holding.
   That would trigger the sale of the rest of the club’s shares to DIC and the agreement to start work on the 60,000-seat new stadium.

World number one Roger Federer says he will never be a fan of the HawkEye electronic line-calling technology that has become a hit with the spectators at the Australian Open.
   Federer, who defends his Australian title against Chile’s Fernando Gonzalez today, has called HawkEye a nonsense and fears it will intrude further into the game and remove the human element from tennis officiating.
   HawkEye is being used at this year’s Australian Open, but only on the Rod Laver Arena centre court, where players can challenge line calls.
   ‘I don’t like it. I’ll never like it. I don’t think it’s so necessary to have all this electronic stuff in tennis because it’s going to be never ending,’ the Swiss nine-time Grand Slam champion said Saturday.
   ‘You’re always going to add more and more. It’s going to be crazy in the end. Honestly, I don’t think it’s made that much of a difference in this tournament.’
   Federer says the fans may like the innovation, but he is not keen on HawkEye.
   ‘I always say if the fans like it, it’s fine. If most of the players like it, it’s okay, too,’ he said.
   ‘But not everybody will like it, and I’m one of them. Yeah, as it’s there to use, I’ll use it as well. (But) it’s not key to winning or losing.’
   Federer, the foremost player in contemporary tennis, said the statistics do not reveal the truth behind HawkEye’s outcomes.
   ‘I just don’t like the stats of the HawkEye. People think we players are so wrong,’ he said.
   ‘We challenge so often because we really want that point badly, but we probably know that the ball is out.
   ‘I don’t think the stats show the real truth behind the HawkEye.
   ‘Sometimes you have bad days from a linesperson, sometimes you don’t have one challenge. It’s not really necessary, I think.’
   Federer’s views on HawkEye come amid reports Saturday that the technology has led to what one newspaper said was the ‘most blatant abuse’ of tennis’s no-coaching rule during matches.
   The Australian newspaper said several players at the Australian Open have been looking to their entourage in the players’ box for advice as to whether they should challenge line calls.
   Tournament director Craig Tiley said he had no concerns about this becoming a trend.
   ‘It’s obviously a fine line because you’ve always got to be alert on a player taking some kind of unfair advantage,’ Tiley told the paper.
   ‘But the umpire is still in charge of things out there an has to ensure the player code rules are upheld.’
   While some players are opposed to HawkEye many others, including Maria Sharapova, James Blake and Andy Roddick, have voiced support for it during the tournament.

Fit-again all-rounder Abdul Razzaq and hard-hitting Shahid Afridi were recalled Saturday for Pakistan’s five-match one-day series against South Africa starting early next month. Also back in the 17-man squad is lanky fast bowler Shabbir Ahmed, whose one-year ban over an illegal bowling action ended last month.
   ‘We hope that these players will boost (the) Pakistan team for the one-day series and Razzaq and Ahmed have proved their fitness before our physiotherapist Grant Compton,’ chief selector Wasim Bari told AFP.
   Dashing opener Imran Nazir, 25, also earned a recall after two and a half years, mainly for strong performances in domestic competitions. ‘Nazir has shown he has overcome his poor form and we have rewarded him for his good showing in the local competitions,’ said Bari.
   Razzaq, 27, missed the Test series between the two nations because of a calf muscle injury.
   Pakistan have already been hit by injuries to key pacemen Shoaib Akhtar and Umar Gul, who have both returned home from South Africa. The 31-year-old Akhtar, sent as a replacement for the injured Gul, tore his hamstring in the second Test in Port Elizabeth. The 23-year-old Gul twisted his ankle during a warm-up match and played no part in the Test series.
   Both face a race against time to win a place in the team for the World Cup in the West Indies, starting in March.
   The 26-year-old Afridi was dropped because of poor form. He scored just 115 runs and took 14 wickets in 18 one-day matches last year. Afridi was, however, confident he would regain his touch in South Africa where he performed well for Griqualand West as an overseas player two years ago.
   ‘I know I have to lift my game before the World Cup and I am hopeful that I will be able to do that because I know the South African grounds well,’ Afridi said.
   Leg-spinner Danish Kaneria, paceman Shahid Nazir, batsmen Asim Kamal and Faisal Iqbal will return home after the Test series.
   Pakistan will play a Twenty20 international against South Africa in Johannesburg on February 2 before the one-day series starts at Centurion on February 4.
   The remaining matches will be played in Durban (Feb 7), Port Elizabeth (Feb 9), Cape Town (Feb 11) and Johannesburg (Feb 14).
   Squad: Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Younis Khan (vice-captain), Mohammad Hafeez, Yasir Hameed, Imran Farhat, Imran Nazir, Shoaib Malik, Mohammad Yousuf, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal, Abdul Razzaq, Zulqarnain Haider, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Shabbir Ahmed, Mohammad Asif, Abdul Rehman, and Mohammad Sami.

West Indies captain Brian Lara on Friday predicted that Sachin Tendulkar would display some ‘great cricket’ in the forthcoming World Cup. He said Sushmita Sen was his favourite Bollywood actress.
   Interacting with fans at a charity event in Chennai on Friday evening, Lara said that former Pakistan fast bowler Wasim Akram was the toughest bowler he has ever faced. ‘In the Indian side, Anil Kumble and Harbhajan Singh are very tough to play against,’ the West Indian cricketer said.
   Commenting on his contemporary batting rival Sachin Tendulkar, who is currently going through a lean form, Lara said: ‘I am in awe of Sachin. He has done so much for cricket in India...and you may see Sachin back to his best in the World Cup’. ‘I don’t think Sachin is going through any bad patch.’
   ‘I have had more ups and downs than Sachin. He is going to be ‘the’ batsman in the World Cup’.
   The March 13-April 28 World Cup will be played in the West Indies.
   The Caribbean also spoke briefly on popular Hindi film actress Sushmita Sen, terming her as his favourite.
   ‘I think she is the best...I have had the opportunity to interact with her a couple of years ago in the West Indies,’ Lara said.

England batsman Ian Bell says his side hit rock bottom in their embarrassing nine-wicket loss to Australia in the latest one-day international in Adelaide.
   They were routed Friday for just 110 by Australia in 34.3 overs and Bell, who top-scored with 35, said the loss was even more disappointing than their Ashes failures earlier in the tour. Bell said the defeat was his lowest point as an England player.
   ‘Probably for me it is (the lowest point). Yesterday wasn’t the highlight of my career playing for England so far,’ he said in Adelaide on Saturday.
   ‘When we get to Perth we’ll sit down and talk. I don’t think straight after the game was really the time to do that... and today we’ve got to reflect on it and make sure it doesn’t happen again,’ he added.
   As calls from England for coach Duncan Fletcher’s sacking mount with each embarrassing loss, Bell said every tourist was culpable.

South Africa and Pakistan were both bemused by the pitch after 15 wickets fell on day one of their deciding third Test on Friday.
   South Africa reached 131 for five at the close after choosing to bowl first and skittling out Pakistan for 157.
   The pitch, grassy at one end and bare at the other, offered the fast bowlers bounce and movement off the seam and sharp turn to Pakistan leg-spinner Danish Kaneria at the barren end.
   ‘We looked at the wicket and no one knew what to expect,’ South Africa coach Mickey Arthur told reporters.
   ‘We decided to take the gamble with a view to bowling them out cheaply, getting a nice lead and bowling them out again.
   ‘There’s always something in the pitch, it’s difficult to bat on and you’re never in,’ he said. ‘There’s bounce and lateral movement, especially when the ball is quite hard.’
   Arthur predicted even a small lead could be crucial.
   ‘We set our goal at being 100 runs ahead and we are going to have to play well to achieve it,’ he said. But if you get 50 or 60 ahead on this pitch, it would be like being 100 ahead on a normal deck.’
   Pakistan batsman Mohammad Yousuf, who scored 83, more than half his team’s total, said, ‘I’ve never seen a pitch like this, it’s a two-coloured pitch. It’s not an easy pitch to bat on early in your innings but when you get in and play each ball on its merit it does become easier.’

Andorra, San Marino and Montenegro will for the first time next season be rubbing shoulders with Europe’s footballing superpowers in the Champions League. The three countries were granted a place for one team each in the Champions League preliminary round by UEFA here on Friday.
   This was the second slice of good fortune to fall Montenegro’s way at UEFA’s 31st congress Friday as earlier the newly independent state became the 53rd member of European football’s governing body.

Newly-crowned Australian Open champion Serena Williams is heading to India for her next tournament and says she can’t wait to visit the country for the first time. Williams, who won her eighth Grand Slam by beating world number one Maria Sharapova against the odds on Saturday, said she will play the Bangalore Open from February 12-18.
   ‘I’m supposed to go to India next, Bangalore, the Sony Ericsson there,’ she said.
   ‘I’m so excited. I’ve never been to India. I heard a lot about it. I’m really looking forward to going there. For some reason, I’m really happy to go there. I’m going to India, then Dubai, a couple tournaments after that.’ Williams came into the Australian Open ranked 81 in the world but her success in Melbourne has sent her rocketing to 14. Mara Santangelo of Italy is the defending Bangalore champion.
   Local hope Sania Mirza will also play in the hardcourt tournament.

Australian Open organisers say a $154 million renovation of Melbourne Park is needed if it is to maintain its reputation as the world’s best tennis centre.
   Tournament director Craig Tiley said bigger facilities were required to keep tennis players and spectators happy.
   ‘For us to continue to set the standard, to be a world-class tennis facility, we have to improve,’ he told the Melbourne newspaper The Age. ‘Others get better, we have to keep up.
   ‘We need to have a new gym, new restaurant, new locker rooms and player lounge.’
   More tennis courts were also needed and with crowds breaching the 500,000 mark each of the past three years, more spectator facilities were also essential, he added.

France coach Raymond Domenech said on Friday he was glad the issue of Gonzalo Higuain’s eligibility was settled this week when the teenage striker chose to play for Argentina.
   ‘I’m really relieved the problem with Higuain is sorted out,’ Domenech told a news conference.
   ‘The case is closed and we are now going to focus on qualifying for the European championship. There are many players as good as him in France and we won’t have to wait for him.’
   Domenech went to Spain earlier this week to meet the 19-year-old Real Madrid player and his father. Higuain, who is a French national but does not speak French, left Argentine side River Plate for Real last month.
   Domenech included him in his squad for a friendly against European champions Greece in November but the striker rejected the call up. ‘I went there (Madrid) to sort out the problem,’ said Domenech. ‘He told me he had decided to play for Argentina.
   ‘Argentina is the choice of his heart. He has his friends and family there. It would have been tough for him not to return and play there.’

Ashley Cole believes an FA Cup triumph over Nottingham Forest today will help banish talk of a crisis at Chelsea.
   The Premiership champions’ previously united front has crumbled in recent weeks, corroded by clashes between manager Jose Mourinho and owner Roman Abramovich.
   The pair have fallen out over the Portuguese’s use of striker Andriy Shevchenko, with Abramovich refusing to sanction more signings in the January transfer window.
   That has left Chelsea’s Premiership title defence in the balance and last week prompted striker Didier Drogba to claim that the bickering was damaging the club’s form.
   Cole admitted that Drogba’s concerns were shared with the rest of the squad, but maintained that a victory over Forest would help ease the club’s rifts and focus minds on the accumulation of silverware.
   ‘We try and keep it as positive as we can,’ he said.
   ‘Bad results don’t help, but it’s not down to the board or anyone else to help us stay strong.
   ‘The responsibility of keeping spirits up is ours and we have to prove to everyone that we are a strong unit.
   ‘It’s results and trophies which will ultimately help us draw a line under this all - there can’t be any more problems if we start winning again and we want that to start against Forest.’
   Relationships are breaking down all over Stamford Bridge, but the one bond which has remained tight is between Mourinho and his squad.
   With the possible exception of Shevchenko, dressing room support for the 44-year-old is absolute, and Cole has now lent his public backing to the under-pressure coach, who is widely expected to quit Chelsea in the summer.
   ‘Jose was the main reason I came to the club so of course I want him to stay,’ he said.
   ‘It’s down to him at the end of the day and we don’t know exactly what is happening behind the scenes. But the squad all want Jose to sort out whatever differences he has so we can get back to enjoying each other’s company.’
   The visit of League One opposition promises an ideal opportunity for redemption, although Forest are hardly archetypal minnows.
   The two-time European Cup winners harbour grand ambitions of their own, having occupied a place in the promotion places for most of the season, and they enhanced their giant killing credentials by comfortably disposing of Premiership strugglers Charlton Athletic in the third round.
   Key to their chances is Nathan Tyson, the young striker plucked from Wycombe Wanderers for 675,000 pounds last January.
   He has struck up a formidable partnership with Grant Holt and although it is five matches since he last scored, Forest manager Colin Calderwood believes a trip to Stamford Bridge will bring out the best in him.
   ‘He will be as quick as any of their defenders and it will be an even foot race with their back four at some stage,’ he said.
   ‘Nathan is unpredictable and I think at some point he is capable of threatening them with his pace because he has top-quality speed.’

Chelsea frontman Didier Drogba has said strike partner Andriy Shevchenko needs to be less selfish and become more of a team player. The Ivory Coast forward believes the 30-million-pound Ukraine international is so focused on trying to add to his own disappointing goal return that he has not forged the kind of partnership Drogba enjoyed with Hernan Crespo.
   Drogba has 21 goals in all competitions this year, while Shevchenko has eight.
   Drogba told The Sun, ‘On Shevchenko’s side I don’t really sense the desire to collaborate.
   ‘I think that as a big signing he believes he is obliged to justify his transfer fee with goals at any cost. I love to share but when I give, I appreciate it when I get something back.
   ‘That’s what happened with Hernan Crespo. But let’s say it is a little different this season.
   ‘That is a real pity because everyone would have something to gain if we really worked together. I have tried to understand his position and get an explanation.’
   Drogba insisted that pair could become a fierce double act because Jose Mourinho’s switch to 4-4-2 of late means there is one more place up front.
   ‘We know we are not rivals because, unlike in the past years, there is room for two in attack this season. I understand it is a really difficult situation for him to handle. But you have to think of the team first.’

The world famous Maracana stadium, initially ruled out as a venue for the 2014 World Cup that Brazil is bidding to host, is back in the running again.
   Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) president Ricardo Teixeira, who once suggested the historic but troubled stadium should be imploded, said on Friday he had changed his mind.
   His about-turn on using the stadium if Brazil are chosen to host the tournament followed a meeting with Sergio Cabral, governor of Rio de Janeiro state which owns the stadium.
   ‘We had tried several times before now to get some sort of confirmation from the state government that the necessary modifications would be made but that did not happen,’ Teixeira told reporters after a lunch with Cabral.
   ‘But for the first time, we’ve spoken to the government and the government is willing to implant...a German model,’ he added, referring to the reconstruction of Berlin’s historic Olympiastadion, used for the 2006 World Cup final.
   Brazil and Colombia are the only countries to have put forward bids to host the 2014 World Cup, which is due to take place in South America under FIFA’s rotation system.
   The hosts will be named in November, although FIFA has said the tournament could go elsewhere if neither bid is up to scratch.
   Cabral, who took over as Rio governor at the start of the year, pledged to bring the stadium up to FIFA standards.
   ‘The state government has the responsibility to meet FIFA’s demands and I don’t see that being a problem,’ he said.
   Teixeira added that the stadium, which last hosted a full international in 2000 when Bolivia arrived for a World
   Cup qualifier, would be used
    for Brazil’s first home game in the 2010 World Cup qualifiers, starting in September or October.
   The Maracana, which opened for the 1950 World Cup, is a monstrous bowl-shaped arena that for many years was the world’s largest soccer stadium.
   A crowd estimated at over 200,000 watched the decisive match in 1950, when Uruguay pulled off one of the great upsets in World Cup history by beating Brazil 2-1 to win the trophy.
   More recently, the stadium has fallen into decline despite a number of reforms.
   In 1992 three people were killed and dozens more were injured after a railing collapsed on the upper tier and at least 50 people plunged on to the seats below.
   Crowd riots and crushes have become common while spectators occupying seats in the lower tier have complained about being pelted with various liquids thrown from above.
   The Maracana’s capacity was reduced to 103,000 when it was converted to an all-seater stadium for the 2000 Club World championship which Brazil hosted.
   The stadium was closed for almost the whole of 2005 when the pitch was lowered by two metres and again at the end of 2006 for more refurbishment in time for this year’s Pan American Games which Rio will host from July 13-29.
   The current capacity is 54,000 but this will rise to 96,000 when work is complete.

Arsene Wenger will be motivated by a desire for revenge when Arsenal face the team that has infuriated him more than any other today.
   It is bad enough for Wenger that his side has won just one of their last seven meetings with Bolton, but what really bothers the French coach is the way Sam Allardyce’s outfit get the upper hand.
   Playing highly-aggressive and direct football, which Wenger considers an affront to his purist principles, Bolton have consistently managed to stifle and often defeat the Gunners.
   The Lancashire club dumped Arsenal out of the FA Cup last year and also claimed a convincing 3-1 win in the Premiership earlier this season.
   Arsenal get the chance to set the record straight on Sunday when Bolton arrive in London for an FA Cup fourth round tie.
   Wenger is convinced his side’s chances of getting the upper hand could rest on how much protection they are given by referee Mike Dean.
   He said, ‘It is down to the referee to get the law respected, it is not down to Bolton. You need it every game.
   ‘We have not had the best of games every time we go up there to Bolton, but we were a bit unlucky this season.
   ‘They scored two amazing goals but we had the best part of the game.
   ‘Maybe one or two years ago we were not ready to face this type of opponent, but the team has improved a lot on this side.’
   Despite his obvious dislike of Bolton’s style, Wenger concedes that Allardyce has assembled a talented group of players capable of troubling opponents with their talent as well as their tenacity.
   ‘They are always a good character test but they are a good side as well. People sometimes forget that,’ Wenger said.
   ‘Bolton can play. You cannot say that Gary Speed is not a football player. Nor Ivan Campo, or Kevin Nolan, or Nicolas Anelka, or El-Hadji Diouf. They are good football players.’
   This is the third season in a row that Bolton have been drawn against Arsenal in the FA Cup and Allardyce is convinced he can frustrate Wenger again.
   ‘It is not beyond us,’ Allardyce said. ‘We came within a few seconds of getting a victory at Highbury last season.
   ‘We always seem to be drawn with each other in the FA Cup. This time around we are away from home and Arsenal have not lost at the Emirates Stadium.
   ‘They are in superb form as they showed against Liverpool in the last round.
   ‘A draw would be a very satisfying result. Arsenal have a heavy schedule and would not relish a replay.’
   Wenger has to cope with an increasingly lengthy injury list after Emmanuel Eboue, ruled out with an ankle injury, joined Alexander Hleb, Robin van Persie, William Gallas, Freddie Ljungberg and Johan Djourou on the sidelines, while midfielder Gilberto Silva is suspended.
   Despite those absentees, Wenger has so far opted not to sign reinforcements in the transfer window and played down reports that he had made a bid for Southampton left-back Gareth Bale.
   ‘He (Bale) is a potentially great player, but I am not in the race because I have two left-backs,’ Wenger said. ‘We will not buy anybody.’

David Beckham plays a prince in a new Disney campaign – his first showpiece endorsement since announcing his move to Los Angeles.
   Beckham was among the celebrities photographed in roles of Disney movie characters last month during a ‘Year of a Million Dreams’ promotion for Walt Disney theme parks.
   The international soccer star, marketing giant and fashion icon was photographed as the prince from ‘Sleeping Beauty,’ astride a white horse and fighting a fire-breathing dragon.
   ‘There were many Disney characters I liked as a kid,’ Beckham said in a statement released by Disney on Friday. ‘Now my sons love the Disney characters and it’s a big part of their lives, a big part of
   many children’s lives around the world. So to be part of
   that is an honor and very exciting.’
   The photo, shot at a lake near Madrid by famed photographer Annie Leibovitz, will appear in magazines such as Vanity Fair and Vogue in March.
   The 31-year-old midfielder with Real Madrid signed a recent five-year deal with the Los Angeles Galaxy of the MLS and will join the club this summer. His wife, former Spice Girl Victoria, has been spotted house-hunting in Southern California.
   Other photos for the Disney campaign feature singer-actress Beyonce Knowles as Alice in Wonderland and actress Scarlett Johansson as Cinderella.
   Liebovitz wanted people who were ‘globally iconic’ and Beckham was ‘an instinctive choice,’ Disney spokesman Duncan Wardle said.
   The celebrities helped decide which characters they would portray, and Beckham liked the idea of ‘a hero role,’ Wardle said.
   ‘Each of the celebrities had fun dressing up,’ he said. ‘Disney allows you to become a child again.
   ‘These guys had permission for the day, and I think they thoroughly enjoyed it.’

Real Madrid coach Fabio Capello on Friday hinted he might have been wrong to have indicated David Beckham would not pull on the white shirt again after agreeing to join LA Galaxy this summer.
   ‘You can get things wrong but these are things which involve the technical staff. When I see a player in good form and with a good mentality he can be on the team.
   ‘We will try to see if there are players who can have a future with Real Madrid,’ said Capello, who has permanently frozen out Ronaldo, the Brazilian striker who earlier Friday had a medical in Italy prior to finalising his move to AC Milan.
   However, Beckham will not feature at Villarreal on Saturday, as he has an ankle injury, Capello added. ‘He didn’t train today – his ankle is hurting him,’ Capello said.
   The online edition of El Mundo newspaper, at least, was not convinced as it headlined an article: ‘a new suspicious injury for Becks,’ describing the problem as a ‘tendinitis.’
   Capello, meanwhile, batted away questions about Real’s interest in Manchester United’s Portuguese winger Cristiano Ronaldo, amid reports the Spaniards would pay up to 50 million euros (65 million dollars) for the 21-year-old.
   ‘He plays for Manchester,’ Capello said.
   A win at Villarreal could put Real top of the table. They currently trail Barcelona by a single point.

The Premiership is facing its biggest crisis since it was first introduced with glitz, glamour and dancing girls in 1992.
   Many Premiership stadiums are not full, clubs are becoming increasingly reckless with transfer fees and wages and not even the forthcoming TV deal will stop trouble from looming large on the horizon.
   Without the support of hardcore fans, football has nothing and if the interest in the game is on the wane the next TV deal will be smaller.
   If the game’s rulers, the chairmen and chief executives cannot see that, there will be major problems.
   What is most depressing is the fact teams like Blackburn, Wigan and Bolton are not selling out on a regular basis.
   Ticket prices are getting out of hand and because of that most of the mid-level clubs only fill their grounds if they are entertaining one of the big four.
   And if the game is live on Sky, sometimes they do not even manage that.
   Yet the problem is the clubs are making it impossible for fans.
   Tottenham’s Carling Cup tie with Arsenal should have been a sell-out way in advance but on the day tickets were being sold at £61. That is ridiculous, especially if you have to take a family.
   Fewer people can afford it. The likes of Arsenal and Chelsea are expensive places to go and forget the argument it is cheaper than a West End show.
   It isn’t and you are guaranteed a good performance on the West End stage. You can get a bore draw in the Premiership and the quality of our game is not helped by the fact fees and contracts are getting out of hand.
   The likes of Frank Lampard, Cristiano Ronaldo and John Terry are the cream and, even though it is hard to comprehend, it is right they should earn in excess of £100,000-a-week.
   But it is the players underneath that are the concern. That squad players are earning £30,000-a-week plus is ridiculous.
   The chief executives and accountants must look at the top earners and accept they put bums on seats and probably earn their money.
   But outside of that top bracket, outside of the top 15 players at a club, the next lot are also earning crazy amounts for being in reserve or on the bench.
   Just look at Lucas Neill, who, in fairness, is better than just average. But is he worth £70,000-a-week? How can West Ham justify that sort of money? They can’t and just in case they go down he has an escape clause.
   Go down? How on earth is a club with a 50-50 chance of staying up paying out £70,000- a-week to a full-back? This is madness.
   If West Ham go down will Eggert Magnusson lose interest? Look at what happened to the Hammers before when they were relegated in the past.
   The sales of Glen Johnson and Joe Cole saved them from going out of business. Not so long before that, Chelsea were just days away from going bust until Roman Abramovich stepped in.
   But clubs rarely seem to learn. Look at what has happened at Charlton. They were a steady Premiership club. Now they are on their third manager of the season, have paid out millions on bad players and are in serious danger of relegation.
   For every fan that used to moan about Alan Curbishley at Charlton, look at what has happened to Nottingham Forest. They went down, couldn’t sustain their overheads, sold their best players and are in League One. The only team who seem to have learned are Watford.
   Their manager Aidy Boothroyd has refused to pay big wages, has long-term plans and knew that going up to the Premiership could have derailed all of those.
   Watford went up to the Premiership in 1999, went straight down and ended up nearly going bust after Gianluca Vialli brought in veterans on big cash to try to get them back up. Boothroyd has learned from that.
   This time they have come up, not disgraced themselves and Ashley Young’s sale has put good money in the bank.
   Now for the next few years they can be a yo-yo club just like Bolton and Charlton were before establishing themselves.
   Well done to Watford who are seeing the bigger picture even if it is a depressing now. You only have to look at Italian football and the horrible mess it ended up in to realise the Premiership is standing on the precipice.
   Everyone talks about the new TV deal earning clubs a minimum £30 million a season in the Premiership.
   But do we want half-empty stadiums because fans cannot afford ticket prices?
   The day football takes fans for granted is the day it dies.
   Manchester United keep their prices down, sell out each week and top the Premiership. It is time others followed their pricing example or we will lose a generation of fans.
   Ticket prices according to club website:
   (Cheapest and most expensive seats)
   Arsenal: £32, £94 , Aston Villa: £20, £35 , Blackburn: £25, £36 ,Bolton: £21, £39, Charlton: £21, £35, Chelsea: £35, £60, Everton: £28, £38, Fulham: £25, £50, Liverpool: £30, £34, Boro: £24, £31, Man Utd: £23, £50, Man City: £22, £37, Newcastle: £23, £39,
   Portsmouth: £20, £35,Reading: £28, £35, Sheff Utd: £15, £34, Tottenham: £27, £71, Wigan: £15, £20, Watford: £20, £25, West Ham: £32, £57.

Arsenal boss Arsene Wenger has admitted he is considering giving Cesc Fabregas a rest.
   Fabregas has been an ever-present in the Premiership and UEFA Champions League this season and the Spaniard has played in the last two Carling Cup games.
   The 19-year-old insists he does not want a rest, as he is keen to continue playing.
   However, Wenger is keen to protect his star midfielder and is ready to take him out of the firing line against Bolton Wanderers on Sunday.
   ‘I do not know whether Cesc will play or not yet,’ said Wenger.
   ‘He will be on the bench or in the team.
   ‘But I am tempted to count one game out for him, either on Sunday or Wednesday.’
   Meanwhile, Wenger has admitted Julio Baptista is doing his chances of winning a permanent move to The Emirates Stadium no harm at all.
   The Brazilian has struggled to hold down a regular place in Wenger’s side in the Premiership, but he has impressed in Arsenal’s Carling Cup run.
   Baptista followed up his four-goal haul against Liverpool in the quarter-finals with both goals in the 2-2 draw with Tottenham Hotspur in midweek and Wenger believes he is now adapting to life in England.
   ‘What he is achieving will help to make my mind up,’ said Baptista.
   ‘He scored four at Liverpool, two at Tottenham - you could do worse.
   ‘It took him time to adapt, but it is amazing - suddenly ‘boom’ one goal is in.
   ‘That is him. He has a little bit of the qualities which [Robert] Pires had, to turn up in the box - and always you need these kinds of players.’

John Terry is taking the first steps to becoming Chelsea manager, reports The Sun.
   Blues owner Roman Abramovich has drawn up a deal containing an option for the Blues’ skipper to be given a two-year coaching contract when he stops playing.
   Abramovich hopes the record-busting five-year agreement will commit Terry, 26, to the club for the long-term.
   The England skipper is in the prime of his playing career and sees management as being some years away.
   But Abramovich believes Terry already displays the leadership qualities needed to take charge one day, prompting him to draw up the historic agreement.
   Terry and other senior Chelsea stars have grown close to Abramovich in his 3½ years in charge and are regularly asked for their views on future transfer deals.
   Talks between Terry and Chelsea over a pay deal worth around £130,000 a week have been under way since last May but the management option is a fresh move.
   It comes at a time when there is uncertainty over the future of current manager Jose Mourinho.
   Terry and a number of leading stars have given Mourinho their full support but there is no doubt the Blues’ bid to retain their Premiership crown has been affected by friction between owner and manager.

Michael Owen is visiting a specialist in a bid to cure his hamstring problems. The Newcastle striker is on the road to recovery from a serious knee injury suffered during last summer’s World Cup.
   While he continues his recuperation, Owen is hoping to heal a long-term problem with his right hamstring as well.
   Kieron Dyer, also plagued by hamstring troubles, has enjoyed a run in the side since working with a specialist in London.
   Owen is following in the midfielder’s footsteps and hopes to be stronger than ever when he returns to action. ‘Every step is a forward step,’ Magpies boss Glenn Roeder said.
   ‘Michael has been to see a specialist in Bristol this week and with this break for his knee injury we are trying to strengthen his hamstrings, too.
   ‘Michael can see the light at the end of the tunnel now and the light is growing every week.’

Roger Federer is wary of Fernando Gonzales continuing in his red-hot form as the world number one shoots for his 10th Grand Slam title in today’s Australian Open final.
   Chile’s 10th seed has been in unbelievable touch over his last four matches, blowing away 2005 finalist Lleyton Hewitt, fifth seed American James Blake, world number two Rafael Nadal and triple Australian semi-finalist Tommy Haas.
   Federer has breezed through to his 11th slam final without shedding a set and is widely expected to successfully defend his Australian title and carry off his third crown at Melbourne Park.
   But there is the chance that Gonzales, his game restructured by American coach Larry Stefanki, can defy the odds and win his first match against the incomparable Swiss in 10 meetings.
   Federer rates Gonzales, armed with one of the fiercest forehands in men’s tennis, as a bigger threat than Cypriot
   surprise package Marcos Baghdatis, who defied his 54th ranking to make last year’s Australian final.
   Gonzales is projected to climb to at least five on the next rankings by reaching his first Grand Slam final and has won so convincingly against four top-20 opponents that he has earned Federer’s respect.
   ‘I’m surprised to see Fernando in the final,’ Federer said Saturday.
   ‘Not anything against him, but I thought that (Nikolay) Davydenko or Nadal would have come through in the end. They ended up both losing at the same time.
   ‘I had it last year really. I thought Marcos (Baghdatis)
   was never going to make the finals. He beat all these great players. I ended up playing against a player that I’m a huge favorite.
   ‘This time around maybe I’m not that big of a favorite because Fernando has a very good ranking, whereas Marcos, he was quite low ranked back then.
   ‘I think it’s great to see a new face on a big stage for a change again.
   ‘This year it’s Fernando. The only thing is he doesn’t have all those great five-setters like Marcos had.
   ‘He just came through and put everybody away right away. I think it’s going to be a fun final for sure.’
   Federer is on the threshold of more tennis milestones should he overturn Gonzales.
   He will join American Bill Tilden as joint fifth all-time Grand Slam title leader with 10 behind Pete Sampras’s 14.
   The mercurial Swiss has already equalled Australian Jack Crawford’s all-time record for seven consecutive Grand Slam final appearances and could become the 14th player to successfully defend his Australian championship.
   Federer is also bidding to become only the fourth man to win a Grand Slam title without dropping a set, the last being Bjorn Borg at the 1980 French Open.
   Gonzales may never have beaten Federer but he sees Sunday’s final as a new opportunity.
   ‘Roger is the number one by far but on Sunday we only have to play one match, there’s only one match left in this tournament,’ he said.
   ‘I’ve lost many times to
   him but I am playing much
   better than the last time I played him. In tennis you always have a new opportunity and I have a really nice opportunity now.
   ‘I’m playing the most important match in my life and he’s the best player of the last many years. He’s winning all the time. He has to lose sometime.’
   Gonzalez makes no apologies for using his favoured forehand as much as he can, but he has developed more patience under Stefanki waiting for the right ball to attack.
   ‘It’s going to be tough, but I’m playing a great level. I haven’t played long matches in the last three matches. I’m almost 100 per cent.’
   Gonzalez is only the third South American to reach the Australian Open final in the Open Era (post- 1969) after Marcelo Rios in 1998 and Guillermo Vilas in 1977-79.

Maria Sharapova said she would carry the memory of Saturday’s Australian Open thrashing from a ‘flawless’ Serena Williams for the rest of her career and use it to make her stronger.
   The Russian pin-up admitted she sought solace from her mother Yelena after being humiliated 6-1, 6-2, despite going in as top seed and world number one against an unseeded opponent ranked 81.
   Sharapova said she was disappointed at losing a Grand Slam decider for the first time after winning both her previous appearances in the final of a major, at Wimbledon in 2004 and last year’s US Open.
   The ultra-competitive 19-year-old said she always hated losing but Saturday’s drubbing was particularly galling since it was her mother Yelena’s birthday and she wanted to dedicate the win to her.
   ‘I’ll be honest with you, I don’t like losing. You all know that,’ she told reporters.
   ‘It’s not fun. You go back in the locker room (thinking) “darn it, I just lost, someone is celebrating over there, they’re going to be opening a bottle of champagne”.’
   Sharapova said her mother had told her to use the loss as a motivational spur in the future, rather than allowing it to haunt her.
   ‘These moments make you stronger, not necessarily now,’ she said.
   ‘When I win or lose, I always call my mom. She always tells me, “Look, you got a tournament next week, you’ve got to focus on that”.
   ‘You’re going to remember this day in your future, in your career when you’re going to look back and say this really taught me something, this only made me stronger, this has happened many times.
   ‘Unfortunately, it was my mom’s birthday today and I couldn’t win for her. But she still made me happy, made me realise this is just another loss.’
   Sharapova said Williams had made the most of her chances and ruthlessly punished her errors.
   ‘She came out today and she really played flawless tennis,’ she said. ‘Maybe you personally gave her those chances...but on the other side she still had to do it, had to go out and play well, and she did.’
   Sharapova said she knew she was in trouble when Williams broke her first service game.
   ‘From then on, when she’s serving pretty big and pretty consistent it was tough to break her,’ she said.
   The Russian added that she tried to get back into the match by getting Williams involved in rallies but the American kept coming up with winning shots.
   ‘I was just trying to find a little door opening that maybe I could get through, try to get in the rallies a little bit, which was difficult because we didn’t really have enough of long rallies for me to really like try to grind it out or fight it out,’ she said.
   ‘So it was just really a matter of serving well and returning well. And I didn’t think that I did either well.’

Chest-bumping American brothers Bob and Mike Bryan successfully defended their Australian Open men’s doubles title Saturday, beating Sweden’s Jonas Bjorkman and Max Mirnyi of Belarus 7-5, 7-5.
   The top seeded Americans, who lost in the final here in 2004 and 2005 before finally lifting the trophy last year, were on top throughout and never looked like losing.
   They served hard and at the body with one player tight on the net to zero in the volleys, allowing the second seeded Bjorkman-Mirnyi team little chance to get through their defences.
   They took the first set with a single break in 43 minutes but the second was a tougher affair.
   The Bryans, who have made a habit of bumping their chests together after winning crucial points, finally got the break they were chasing in the 12th game.
   They ground down Bjorkman’s serve to win the title on their sixth championship point in 1hr 33mins.
   The two teams are great rivals, playing in their seventh straight final against each other.
   Bjorkman and Mirnyi had the edge coming into the match, having won their last three meetings, including the French Open final last year.
   It was the Bryans’ 11th Grand Slam final having won four previously – the French Open (2003), US Open (2005), Australian Open (2006) and Wimbledon (2006) to make them the first doubles team to win all four majors in Open-Era history.
   Mirnyi paid them tribute.
   Bjorkman and Mirnyi are French Open doubles champions but had never got beyond the semi-finals at Melbourne Park before this year.
   Amazingly, it was the first time since 1976 that the top two seeds had met in men’s doubles final here.

Ronaldo has admitted he’s keen on joining Milan. ‘Madrid was hell and Fabio Capello a nightmare,’ he said.
   The Brazilian is on the verge of completing a January switch from Real and he’s delighted that the transfer saga is seemingly close to an end.
   ‘I’m happy to be here in Italy, although I am still a Real Madrid player,’ the striker told reporters in Milan on Friday. I hope I can do well with this outfit. Madrid is hell for me and working with Fabio Capello was a nightmare.’
   Ronaldo arrived in the peninsula Friday and Il Fenomeno was examined in an Appiano Gentile clinic by Milan Lab doctor Jean-Pierre Meersemann, before moving to Milanello with former Rossoneri star Leonardo.
   ‘How did the tests go? They were fine,’ said the player as he left the clinic.
   ‘It is exciting for me to be back. We haven’t finished all the tests yet, but I hope I will soon be a Milan player,’ added Ronaldo.
   Ronaldo also insisted he’s not ready for the scrapheap, but has been ignoring calls from Massimo Moratti.
   ‘To all those who say I’m a finished player with nothing left to give – I will prove you wrong,’ stated the determined Fenomeno after undergoing a medical at Milanello yesterday afternoon.
   The official results of the medical tests have not been announced, so some papers claim he currently weighs 89kg, others a more rotund 91kg.
   Either way, a strict diet and training regime is expected for the next month, although he is eager to get started. ‘I want to make my debut in the Coppa Italia against Roma on Wednesday,’ he insisted.
   It’s also rumoured that Ronaldo has accepted a considerable pay-cut to join Milan, picking up ‘just’ £4m for the next 18 months compared to the £5m he would’ve taken in Madrid.
   The Brazilian’s decision to return to San Siro for the Rossoneri rather than his old club shocked many – not least Inter president Moratti, who dubbed the transfer ‘absurd’ and ‘in poor taste.’
   ‘Moratti has been calling me on the phone for a month, but I never replied to his messages,’ explained Ronaldo in newspaper ‘Il Giornale.’
   ‘I spoke to him as soon as I set foot back in Milan on Thursday, but I don’t know why he said certain things. I’ll have time to clarify the situation.’
   Milan vice-president Adriano Galliani is expected to fly to Madrid on Monday to finalise the deal which should see Real net around £4m.
   Meanwhile, Milan captain Paolo Maldini has welcomed Ronaldo to Milan by stating he’s the greatest player since Diego Maradona.
   ‘I always hoped I would play alongside him. Among the champions I have faced in my career, Ronaldo is second only to Maradona. He always played fair.’
    ‘We said hello when he came to Milanello and hope to see each other again in the next few days. With his arrival, Milan will take that step up in quality and it’ll inspire everyone from the players to the fans.’
   Il Fenomeno has been criticised for his decision to join the arch-rivals of the team he played for until 2002, but Maldini insists it was better than the offers from Saudi Arabia and America.
   ‘He made the choice of a champion, not what was easiest or most comfortable. He’s still one of the greatest players in the world.’
   AC Milan playmaker and Ronaldo’s compatriot Kaka has also spoken of his excitement at the prospect of being joined at the club by Ronaldo.
   ‘When he was The Phenomenon, the number one in the world, I was just starting my career in Brazil,’ Kaka was quoted as saying on Milan’s website (www.acmilan.com) on Friday.
   ‘So for him to come to Milan now, for us to play for the same club, would be a dream come true.’
    ‘Ronaldo’s greatest strength, in my opinion, is his ability to decide a match with one moment of brilliance,’ said the 24-year-old, who played alongside the striker at last year’s World Cup in Germany.
   ‘He can be decisive even without the kinds of runs he used to make.’
   Ronaldo was applauded by Milan’s fans when he appeared in the stands at the San Siro to watch the team draw 2-2 with AS Roma in the Italian Cup on Thursday.
   ‘He came to see us after the match. He seemed very happy,’ revealed Kaka.
   ‘He has chosen Milan ahead of another, much richer offer. That means he still feels he has a lot to give in a league that really counts.’
   Elsewhere, Ronaldo is suing a Chinese company for using his image in a television commercial for throat lozenges without his permission, reports said on Friday.
   The advertisements showing Ronaldo, who is on the verge signing on with AC Milan, were broadcast on national television in China.
   Ronaldo has complained that the image, apparently gleaned from Real Madrid’s 2003 trip to China, was used without his permission and plans to sue, the state-run newspaper Beijing Youth Weekend and other reports said.
   The prime-time ads are also shown by local broadcasters. The ads show a grinning Ronaldo holding up a packet of Golden Throat Lozenges.

Michel Platini began his first full day in office as the new president of European football’s governing body UEFA on Saturday, pledging a manifesto based more on football than finance.
   The 51-year-old former French football legend, who beat incumbent president Lennart Johansson by 27 to 23 after the vote by UEFA’s 52 member nations at the UEFA Congress in Dusseldorf on Friday, said he would emphasise the development of the sport across the continent as a whole.
   This has ruffled the feathers of some of the larger footballing nations such as England, who have four Champions League berths, because Platini plans to make three the maximum allocation for the 2009/10 season.
   UEFA have already started helping the minnows and, hours after Platini was voted in, Andorra, San Marino and Montenegro were handed Champions league qualifying places for next season.
   It was a great day for Montenegro who had earlier in the day been handed full UEFA membership from July 1 this year following their split with Serbia in 2006.
   Platini said on proposed changes, ‘The new format of the Champions League is for 2009. I talked about finding a better equilibrium for the number of clubs and that’s for 2009/10.
   ‘The final decision will be (by UEFA’s executive committee) in April, so we have a few months still to see which way we will go, but I would like a better equilibrium, it is very close to my heart.’
   Meanwhile, the G14 group comprising 18 of Europe’s richest clubs, was in positive mood following the election of Platini to the post after 17 years of Johansson’s tenure.
   Since the 1992/93 season, the European Champions League has generated more than five billion euros with 635 million euros going into the coffers of national federations and leagues.
   It might have been thought the G14 would have been cautious at the prospect of Platini’s arrival but a statement read, ‘The G14 wishes Platini a lot of success. The G14 are going to continue working in a constructive way with UEFA and its new president as a contribution ensuring the sport is united and flourishing across the continent.’
   However, Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson said Platini should not tinker with the Champions League.
   Ferguson said, ‘The tournament really starts in February, but I think it is OK the way it is at the moment. The appeal of the Champions League is when the giants of Spain or Italy or England come up against each other.
   ‘If he wants to take a Champions League place away from us that is to the detriment of the Premiership. The Champions League has been good. If you go back a few years, there were maybe too many games with two qualifying groups because you had to play about 17 games to win it.
   ‘If you take away the fourth-place teams, the only way to address that is by reducing the competition or by giving other countries two places.’
   Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger implored new president Michel Platini to embrace video technology.
   ‘If you want the sport to remain popular you have to ensure right decisions are made as much as possible,’ Wenger told reporters. ‘You can never be 100 per cent but you cannot say because it’s not 100 per cent you are happy with 60 per cent.
   ‘You have to get closer to 100 per cent and it’s not right (Diego) Maradona scored in the (1986) World Cup with his hand when it’s clearly wrong.
   ‘Platini is against it and will win this race because the referees will support him but he will only win it in the short term, not long term. It’s inevitable video technology will come in.’
   Wenger said the elevation of former France captain Platini to the top job with European soccer’s governing body would be widely welcomed.
   ‘It is the first time a player will be in charge,’ said the French coach. ‘We in football always complain the players have no say, so at least we cannot complain any more.’
   Wenger said Platini made a good move during his presidential campaign against Swede Lennart Johansson when he said he wanted to see the likes of England, Spain and Italy have only three clubs in the Champions League, instead of four.
   ‘I am not surprised he did that,’ said Wenger. ‘The three big countries will vote against you, they will vote for Johansson. But you get Andorra, Serbia and the rest...that’s the best calculation he made.’
   Bolton manager Sam Allardyce said he felt his team could be one of the victims of Platini’s proposals.
   ‘In one way it is nice to see a football man in charge,’ he said. ‘But on the other hand if he wants to take a Champions League place away from us that is to the detriment of the Premiership.
   ‘If he can get away with that it is going to bring a lot of heartache to our league. It would be a big blow.’
   Meanwhile, French newspapers have hailed Michel Platini’s election as UEFA president as the start of a new era for football.
   ‘Mr President’, ran sports daily L’Equipe boldly on Saturday’s front page. Huge,’ wrote the paper’s columnist Michel Dalloni, adding, ‘Michel Platini showed it was possible to win without arrogance, to convince without corrupting and to be French without failing close to the goal.’
   ‘Platini opens a new era for European football,’ wrote daily Le Parisien.
   Platini said in his campaign he wanted to bring from four to three the number of clubs from the major leagues qualified for the Champions League in order to open the competition to small countries.
   ‘Platini will not launch a revolution but he will work for more sport and less business (in football)’, wrote Italy’s La Gazetta dello Sport.
   ‘For once, the winner is the one who talked to people’s hearts, not to their wallets,’ said daily La Stampa.

Fiery Sir Alex Ferguson has introduced a ‘hippy style’ mantra to the Man United dressing room – calling for peace, goodwill and politeness, reports The Sun.
   Incredibly, the mantra, called A Short Course in Human Relations, kicks off ‘The six most important words are, “I admit I made a mistake”.’
   The doctrine, which both he and his players are supposed to read everyday, continues: ‘The five most important words are – you did a good job.’ The mantra continues that the four most important words are: ‘What is your opinion?’
   The three: ‘If you please.’ And the two: ‘Thank You.’
   The most important word is ‘we’ – and the least important word is ‘I’. Sir Alex – famed for his hairdrier rants and for kicking a boot into David Beckham’s face – refused to comment.
   But pals say he has always been a man of his words.

Kashem no more
MA Kashem (Tara), a famous footballer of the 1950s and a former executive committee member of Azad Sporting Club, passed away at his daughter’s residence at Goran on Friday. He is survived by three sons and three daughters. Bangladesh Football Federation expressed deep sympathy to the bereaved family and prayed for the salvation of the departed soul.
— New Age

Fergie warns his defenders
Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson has warned he is ready to axe any of his faltering defence. Ferguson blamed his side’s defending for last weekend’s dramatic defeat to Arsenal, as The Gunners came from one goal down to win 2-1. United have failed to keep a clean sheet in their last six matches and Ferguson has called on his defence to cut out the mistakes, if they want to maintain their assault for honours on three fronts. ‘The Arsenal game was a final warning for us because we’re now getting to the tricky part of the season,’ said Ferguson. ‘It’s going to get more intense, and there will be mistakes made by everyone. ‘But if we’re winning 1-0 with seven minutes to go in the next few games, it won’t happen again. There has been a casualness at the back after we have gone in front in games. ‘But if you go back over 15 years at this club, that’s always been there. It drives us mad, because sometimes we become too comfortable.’
— New Age Desk

Davids agrees deal with Ajax
Tottenham Hotspur’s Dutch midfielder Edgar Davids has agreed an 18-month contract with Ajax Amsterdam, according to his lawyer Robert Geerlings. However, Geerlings also told the weekly Voetbal International magazine the clubs still had to work out the details of the transfer before the window closes on Wednesday. The 33-year-old Davids began his career at Ajax in 1991 and helped them win three league titles from 1994-96 plus the UEFA Cup in 1992 and the Champions League in 1995.A year later he joined AC Milan before switching to Juventus, where he won three titles in 1998, 2002 and 2003, Barcelona and Inter Milan before moving to Spurs in
2005.
—Reuters/Bdnews24.com

Silvinho blow
for Barca
Barcelona defender Silvinho will miss next month’s UEFA Champions League clash with Liverpool. The former Arsenal man faces a month on the sidelines with a calf problem. Silvinho picked up the injury in training on Friday and he is not expected back for up to four weeks. It means Silvinho will miss Liverpool’s trip to Camp Nou on February 21st and he is doubtful for the return leg at Anfield on March 6th.
— New Age Desk