The nail-biting clash which saw Rafael Nadal snatch the Wimbledon crown of five-time champion Roger Federer after five sets was hailed as ‘the greatest final ever’ by the British press Monday.
   The battle – pictures of which dominated most front pages – eclipsed even the 1980 final between John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg and its result elevates Spaniard Nadal to a new and dazzling sphere of success, they added.
   ‘Move over Roger, Rafa is the new king of Wimbledon,’ blazed the headline of the Daily Mail newspaper, which said that the whole of Britain had ‘stood still to watch a titanic sporting encounter’.
   ‘They can put a roof on the Centre Court, but can they ever cap the brilliance of a rivalry that drives each man to greater heights and defies superlatives?,’ it added.
   The Daily Telegraph hailed ‘the greatest final ever’ and said that the match represented ‘the dawn of a new era’ with the world number one being defeated by his only serious rival.
   It hailed Federer’s fightback from two sets down as ‘amazing’, adding that the drama of the match had been increased by poor weather which meant that the stars kept playing until 9:16pm (2016 GMT).
   ‘Such was the pre-thunderstorm gloom during the third set that almost the only things that you could make out on Centre Court were the numbers glowing on the electronic scoreboard, (London Mayor) Boris Johnson’s blond hair...and a yellow ball flashing from side to side,’ the paper said.
   ‘It was a surprise that the umpire didn’t offer night-vision goggles or miners’ headlamps to the players.’
   The Guardian hailed Nadal’s transformation from ‘king of clay’ to ‘grass master’ and labelled the clash ‘the final of finals’. ‘The Greatest – Nadal ends the reign of King Roger’ was the headline in the tabloid Sun.
   Meanwhile, The Times had the strongest praise of all for the match, saying simply that many spectators would say it was the greatest game of tennis ever played.

Just one week after celebrating Spain’s Euro 2008 football win, Spanish media were full of praise Monday for new national champion Rafael Nadal who became the first Spaniard to win Wimbledon in over 40 years on Sunday.
   ‘Long live King Nadal!’ wrote sports daily AS on its front page below a photo of the 22-year-old ATP world number two being congratulated by Spain’s Crown Prince Felipe and his wife Princess Letizia after his win on Sunday.
   ‘Memorable victory in the best final in the history of Wimbledon,’ it added.
   Nadal ended Swiss rival Roger Federer’s five-year reign at Wimbledon with an epic 6-4, 6-4, 6-7, 6-7, 9-7 win in the longest final – four hours and 48 minutes – in the history of the tournament.
   ‘It doesn’t matter what the ATP say, Rafa you are the number one,’ rival sports daily Marca said on its front page beside a photo of Nadal biting his new trophy.
   ‘’Rocky’ Nadal beat Federer in the match of the century,’ it added.
   The last Spaniard to win Wimbledon was Manuel Santana in 1966 when Spain was still ruled by dictator General Francisco Franco.
   ‘Nadal will win Wimbledon many more times, especially when Federer is not taking part,’ Santana predicted in an interview published in daily newspaper ABC.
   Daily newspaper El Mundo said ‘Rafael Nadal has opened a new era in tennis’ with his win over Federer while top-selling daily El Pais said ‘Nadal has become a giant’.
   ‘Neither the rain neither Federer could stop Nadal,’ it added.

Roger Federer described his Wimbledon final defeat by Rafael Nadal as the most painful loss of his career, but vowed that he is not about to give up his world number one status to his great rival.
   ‘It is probably my hardest loss by far, there is not much harder than this right now,’ the despondent Swiss star admitted after losing one of the greatest Grand Slam finals 9-7 in the fifth set after four hours and 48 minutes of extraordinary drama on the All England Club’s centre court.
   Having being part of a final that will rank alongside the great Bjorn Borg/John McEnroe classic of 1980 provided little in the way of solace for Federer, who was denied the opportunity to surpass Borg’s run of five consecutive titles.
   ‘It is always nice to be part of great matches. Later on in life I will look back on it as a great match but right now there is not much of a feel good factor or anything positive about it,’ he said ruefully.
   Federer, 26, was gracious in his praise for the performance of Nadal, who had threatened to repeat his straight sets win in last month’s French Open final after claiming the first two sets here.
   But his bitterness at losing his Wimbledon crown was reflected in a gripe about the fact that the match, which was twice interrupted for rain, was finished in rapidly fading light.
   ‘I almost could not see who I was playing at the end, it was not funny,’ Federer said, revealing that he would have asked for play to be suspended for the night if he had broken back to level the match at 8-8 in the final set.
   ‘It would have been brutal for the fans, for the media and for us to come back tomorrow but it is also tough on me to lose the biggest tournament in the world because of a loss of light.’
   Federer could console himself with the fact that he played, in patches at least, as well as he had done in any of the five previous finals here.
   But the relentless quality of Nadal’s resistance was underlined by the fact that the world number one was able to convert just one of the 13 breakpoints he generated over the course of the five sets, and was hustled into a total of 52 unforced errors, almost twice his opponent’s tally.
   ‘I thought I played well overall but I missed too many chances in the first couple of sets,’ he confessed. ‘I was struggling with the wind a little bit.
   ‘On some of the break points Rafa played great, on others I played poorly. I should have decided much more what I really wanted to do but Rafa keeps you thinking and that is what great players do.
   ‘I was not able to break him in last three sets but I pushed him right to the end.’
   Despite Nadal’s triumphs here and at Roland Garros, Federer will remain world number one for now – and he did not take kindly to a suggestion that he should be preparing to hand that position over to his Spanish rival.
   ‘You write what you want,’ he snapped. ‘I’m going to try and win the Olympics and the US Open and then we can talk again.’
   Federer did not let his reign at Wimbledon end without an almighty scrap.
   After holding his nerve to win a third set tie-break, he then saved two match points at the end of the fourth and, for much of the fifth he looked the more likely winner.
   ‘It was a great feeling to turn it around in the fourth set tiebreak and to push it to the fifth set was awesome,’ he said. ‘I really thought that with the momentum and having won in five sets last year that I was going to do it again.
   ‘I saw he was getting very nervous in the fourth set tiebreak. He could not make the returns he usually does. I really felt he was feeling it and the momentum was with me.’

The tenth Standard Chartered Bank School Chess Tournament starts today at the Bangladesh Chess Federation hall room with 200 budding chess players from 55 schools of Bangladesh, India and Nepal competing in the nine-day meet.
   Two Nepalese chess players – Nikesh Duwal and Ruepsh K Jaiswal – are the first to participate in the tournament from the Himalayan country. Apart from them, Debadeep Sarkar, Swati Majumder, Sayan Majumder, Mohona Sengupta, Arna Sarkar, Mitrabha Guha, Aditya Chakrabarty, Aubhropratim Manna, Diotima Dutta and Rachir Rajgaria have come from Kolkata. Tripura players Shiny Das, Shweta Das, Swargajyoti Gon, Debotpaul Dey, Souvik Roy and Arunabha Chowdhury will be displaying their prowess in the tournament.
   Bangladesh sub-junior champion Abdulah al Saif, runner-up Mosabbir Khan Shiplu, Rezaul Islam Babu, Abir, Ekramul Huq, Md Fahim, Eyon Sarker, Esha and Tani are the local participants.
   At a press briefing at the NSC auditorium on Monday, Sarwat Ahmed, the senior manager of corporate affairs of Standard Chartered Bank, said they are happy to sponsor the event for the last ten years.
   ‘We are nurturing the young talents and hope that the future stars come out every year. We hope to spread chess throughout the country,’ said Sarwat.
   Bangladesh Chess Federation president Syed Shujauddin Ahmed and general secretary Jamilur Rahman thanked the sponsors for their continuous support. BCF joint secretary Harunur Rashid was also present on the occasion.
   The nine-round Swiss league basis tournament will be played in three sections – KG to Class-V, Class VI to Class X and the girls’ section. The champion of the first group will receive Tk 40,000 as the prize money, the second group’s prize money will be Tk 26,000 and the winner of the girls’ section will get Tk 34,000.
   The tournament will conclude on July 16.

Captain Mahela Jayawardene hailed new spinning sensation Ajantha Mendis after he demolished India to help Sri Lanka retain the Asia Cup.
   Jayawardene said he was not surprised by Mendis’ magical 6-13 in eight unplayable overs as India, chasing 274 to win Sunday’s final, were skittled out for 173.
   ‘I wasn’t really surprised with the way Mendis bowled,’ said Jayawardene, adding the 23-year-old thrived when given room to express himself.
   ‘We have given him the freedom to go out there and play his way. That’s the way he takes games away from the opposition,’ said Jayawardene.
   Sanath Jayasuriya earlier hit 125 to help Sri Lanka post 273 in 49.5 overs. Hosts Pakistan, Bangladesh, United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong also competed in the tournament.
   Jayawardene refused to compare Mendis with Sri Lanka’s world record holder Muttiah Muralitharan, the Asian Test bowler of the year.
   ‘It’s too early to say. Murali is a different act altogether,’ said Jayawardene of the off-spinner.
   ‘Murali will come back to the party soon enough. It’s good to have another quality spinner in the team and with Mendis coming some pressure will be taken off Murali,’ said Jayawardene.
   ‘Mendis has just come into international cricket, batsmen will get used to it. He will have to work harder,’ he added.
   Jayawardene also praised centurion Jayasuriya for his ‘brilliant’ innings.
   ‘He (Jayasuriya) is in terrific form and we didn’t try to stop him from what he was doing,’ the Sri Lankan skipper said.
   ‘It was a brilliant innings, and the turning point for us. I know Mendis created so much, but we needed runs in the first place, and that’s what Sanath did.’
   Jayawardene said he was happy Sri Lanka have overcome a slump since finishing runners-up to Australia in last year’s World Cup in the Caribbean.
   ‘We had a couple of injuries, and I am not making excuses, we didn’t play to our potential but in this tournament we have done what we wanted to and I am proud,’ said Jayawardene.
   Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni admitted his batsmen could not cope with the versatile and unorthodox Mendis, who took 17 wickets in the tournament.
   ‘It was one of those days when Mendis bowled well and it was the first time when we were playing against him. He is a difficult bowler,’ said Dhoni.
   ‘It was difficult to pick Mendis, most of our batsmen couldn’t pick him, we never played him before or
   watched him in videos and he was difficult and, frankly
   speaking, we never had any real reply against him,’ Dhoni added.
   Dhoni said India played seven batsmen to counter the Mendis factor. He hoped his team would get to grips with the spinner during their tour of Sri Lanka later this month.
   ‘The main reason to add one batsman was Mendis
   because his action is difficult and that’s why we picked one more batsman. In hindsight our bowlers did well to restrict them to 273 but it was their day,’ he said.
   ‘The good thing is that we have Tests first, so we will have time to get used to him and batsmen will have to adjust against him,’ Dhoni added.

Opener Imrul Kayes smashed a half-century to guide Bangladesh A team to 115-4 at launch on the second day of the first three-day match against England Under-19 side at the Hazelgrave Ground in Loughborough on Monday.
   Bangladesh A team won the toss and opted to bat first when play began after rain washed out the opening day’s play completely. In a hostile condition when the other batsmen found it tough to get runs, Kayes held one end to score 62 runs until he was trapped lbw by Saxelby.
   Rajin Saleh (16) and Nadif Chowdhury (12) were the other two top-order batsmen to have reached the double figure. Naeem Islam and Dhiman Ghosh were unbeaten on 7 and 4 respectively when this report was filed.
   Meanwhile, the Bangladesh Cricket Board decided to bring back seven players – Imrul Kayes Gazi Shahagir Hossain, Nadif Chowdhury, Sohrawardi Shuvo, Mahbubul Alam, Arafat Sunny and Farhad Hossain – after the end of the ongoing match
   They will be replaced by national cricketers Tamim Iqbal Khan, Mohammed Nazimuddin, Roqibul Hassan, Musharraf Hossain, Mushfiqur Rahim, Sajedul Islam and Dollar Mahmud in the squad.
   They will leave Dhaka for London on Wednesday night.

The Bangladesh Cricket Board on Monday picked 24 under-16 players for a week-long training starting on July 10 at the BKSP. The training programme will continue until July 17.
   The selected players have been asked to report to Taslimuddin Tuhin, the Age Group Programme Officer, at 5:00pm on July 10 at the BKSP.
   The selected players are: Ashiqul Alam, Soumya Sarker, Enamul Haque, Zakaria Masud, Asif Hassan, Dewan Sabbir Ahmed, Mohammad Sentu, Mohammad Habibullah, Mohammad Shakil, Sumit Chowdhury, Imamul Hossain, Jayanta Das, Kazi Nurul Hassan, SM Ahmadul Kabir, Arif Reza, Mohammad Mamun Hossain, Sayem Alam Rizvi, Shahnaz Ahmed, Abu Zayed, AM Rupu, Nuruzzaman, Faizan Khan, Mohammad Rokon and Didar Hossain.
   Standbys: Mehdi Hassan, Rakin Ahmed and Iktedar Nazeef Ahmed.

Bhola Lal Chowhan of Sonargaon Hotel retained his pole position in the premier division of Delta Life Open Squash by securing 18 points at the end of the sixth round after defeating Swapan Parvez of Bashundhara Group by straight 3-0 games at the Dhaka Club squash court on Monday.
   Swapan, who conceded his first defeat, slipped to second spot with 13 points, followed by Bishunath and Masud Rana who are joint third with 12 points.
   In the day’s other premier division matches, Raju Ram of Navy Club beat Zain Omar of Dhaka Club 3-0 and Masud Rana of Army Club defeated Bishunath of Gulshan Club by 2-1 games.
   In the C Division, Sadaf of Gulshan Club, Swapan of British Club confirmed the final berths with their semi-final victories over Dr Zebun Nasrin of BUET Club and Talha of Army Club respectively.

Bangladesh U-21 hockey team left for Hyderabad on Monday to take part in the 6th Men’s Junior Asia Cup Hockey Championship. The south Indian city is hosting the eight-team tournament from July 11 to 18.
   Bangladesh Hockey Federation president Air Marshal SM Ziaur Rahman met the players at the federation office on Sunday night to inspire them.
   Abahani forward Russell Mahmud Jimmy was selected as the captain of the team while Moshiur Rahman Biplob of Sonali Bank was named the vice-captain in a last-moment decision.
   The Bangladesh team, placed 6th in the last Junior Asia Cup in Pakistan in 2004, will be looking for the fifth place this time.
   Eight teams split into two groups will take part in the eight-day Asian Junior meet.
   Group A comprises hosts India, Japan, Malaysia and Singapore, while the Group B is made up of Pakistan, Oman, South Korea and Bangladesh.
   Bangladesh will play their first match against South Korea on July 11 follwed by tne second against Oman on July 13 and the third against a strong Pakistan side on July 14.

South Africa coach Mickey Arthur cannot wait for his side’s Test series against England to get underway at Lord’s and start what he hopes will be an historic campaign.
   Thursday, weather permitting, should see the start of a four-Test contest with South Africa bidding for their first series win in England since their return from apartheid-enforced isolation.
   Five years ago, on their last visit to England, South Africa were 2-1 up heading into the final match of the series only for England to win by nine wickets at The Oval.
   In 1994 the series in England between the two sides ended all square while in 1998 England, after a poor start, emerged as 2-1 winners.
   It all added to the impression, reinforced by their dramatic exit in the 1999 World Cup, on a tie against eventual winners Australia, that South Africa were ‘chokers’, one of the cruellest taunts that can be levelled against any group of sportsmen.
   Indeed, former South Africa fast bowler Allan Donald told the Observer newspaper here Sunday: ‘We have always been labelled as ‘chokers’ and it is a horrible word.
   ‘But we really messed it up when we had chances to put teams away. I suppose, being dead honest, we have choked.’
   But Lord’s, where in the corresponding Test in 2003 Graeme Smith, then as now their captain, scored a double century during a crushing innings win, has proved a happy hunting ground for South Africa on their recent visits.
   Now, boasting an impressive pace attack led by the in-form Dale Steyn, hopes are high amongst the tourists that they can become the first South Africa side since 1965 to win a series in England when batting great Graeme Pollock’s masterful hundred at Trent Bridge set up the decisive victory in a 1-0 triumph.
   Arthur, after seeing the final day of a three-day tour match against Middlesex at Uxbridge in the London suburbs washed out with a ball bowled Sunday after both sides made over 300 in a high-scoring draw, said: ‘There is a special buzz.
   ‘This is one of the tours we’ve been talking about as a group ever since the planning started two years ago.’
   The Middlesex match was Smith’s first since tearing his hamstring in the Indian Premier League and, ideally, he would have like more than the two hours of batting he got before being dismissed.
   However, an excited Arthur said all members of his team had had sufficient preparation. ‘I’m pretty sure we’ve done the work we need to have done - and I’m confident we’re right now.
   ‘You can feel in the dressing room the boys are ready for the Test and just want to get cracking in the series now.
   ‘We’re counting down the hours; I wish it was starting in two days’ time - that is how ready I feel we are as a group.
   ‘Each day is delaying it. We just want to start playing now and get our teeth into the series.’
   In April, South Africa drew a three-match series in India and this upcoming contest is the second leg of a tricky trio of overseas trips which culminates with a clash against world number ones Australia.
   ‘They don’t come much harder than that as three tours in a row,’ Arthur said. ‘We needed to get a team ready for that, and our process started about two years ago.
   ‘I’m really confident we’ve put together a really competitive side.’
   Arthur is particularly excited by the Proteas’ pace attack. ‘I think the sight of Steyn and Morne Morkel is going
   to be something special this summer.’
   He added: ‘South Africa have never won in England since unity, so it is something we’ve put pretty high on our agendas.’

World cricket chief Haroon Logart on Monday promised to pull the Champions Trophy out of Pakistan if there was any threat of violence, after a deadly suicide blast on the night of the Asia Cup final.
   The International Cricket Council chief executive vowed no compromise on safety after 19 were killed in the capital Islamabad.
   ‘The ICC will not compromise the safety and security of any individual at one of its tournaments and if it is not appropriate to play in any country then we will not do so,’ Logart said in a statement.
   Players from Australia, New Zealand and England have expressed concern over playing in Pakistan, which is due to hold the prestigious Champions Trophy from September 11-28.
   Rawalpindi, one of three venues for the tournament, adjoins Islamabad where 14 policemen and five civilians were killed and scores injured in Sunday’s attack.
   Sri Lanka is the designated alternative venue but is also facing renewed violence between Tamil Tiger rebels and government troops, with South Africa mentioned as a possible replacement.
   Lorgat said security was monitored during the Asia Cup while an ICC executive board meeting last week discussed an independent assessment. A security process had also been agreed ahead of the tournament, he said.
   ‘Our consultants on security have been working with the Pakistan authorities during the Asia Cup and will report back to us as soon as possible with their views,’ he said.
   A private security expert, hired by Australia, New Zealand and England has said there was work to be done ahead of the Champions Trophy.
   ‘Some fine-tuning needs to be done and everyone acknowledges that,’ Reg Dickason said last week.
   Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Nasim Ashraf, who attended the ICC meeting, said he was confident the biennial ‘mini-World Cup’ will be held in Pakistan.
   Sri Lanka won the Asia Cup final in Karachi, beating India by 100 runs.

The subcontinent has generally had the problem, almost impossible to prove but privately acknowledged, of over-aged players in age-group cricket. Conversely, it allows players to stay on beyond their sell-by date. On Sunday, at the National Stadium in Karachi, Sanath Jayasuriya - 39 years and six days old - turned both concepts on their head as he plundered 125 off 114 balls.
   How is it that Jayasuriya can play the young man’s game at 39? Especially since his game relies on instinct and hand-eye co-ordination? How is it that he is still, on his day, the most dangerous batsman in the word?
   A great knock is one that can be seen independent of the situation, irrespective of the result, yet is inextricably linked to the team cause. Sometimes the greatness of an innings lies in how effortless it looks alongside others in the same contest. Today, Jayasuriya satisfied all these criteria.
   Today he was cold-blooded rather than audacious, his innings built more on mental strength than the usual brute force. India, with Ishant Sharma in particular bowling superbly, had reason to congratulate themselves as they held Sri Lanka down to 67 for 4. They would have expected Sri Lanka to go through a quiet period of rebuilding, and hoped to get through the overs with their part-time bowlers. That is when Jayasuriya, then on 42, transcended the situation to launch a planned assault.
   Just before Ishant took two wickets in an over, Jayasuriya welcomed Irfan Pathan with three boundaries in four balls. In Irfan’s next, he showed some restraint, suggesting he may even take the conventional approach. In the following over, Ishant bowled him a short, rising delivery that had got him three wickets so far. This was an effort ball, quicker than he had bowled earlier, but Jayasuriya pulled it way over the square-leg boundary as if to say that’s how it’s done fashion.
   Ishant was replaced by RP Singh, who had managed a maiden over in his first spell, and his effort wasn’t a bad one. He was simply caught in the headlights and didn’t know what to do. Fielders were moved helter-skelter, conferences were held, RP tried different things, and yet the ball was repeatedly hit where the fielders weren’t present. Twenty-six breathtaking runs were taken, and the initiative had been wrested. At one point in the fifth-wicket partnership, Tillakaratne Dilshan had contributed only four out of the 50 runs added. In their 131-run partnership, Jayasuriya contributed 83.
   Flat wicket or not, to attack in that fashion, in that situation, in a big final, needs a lot of mental strength. To slow down then would have meant a below-par total on a batsman’s paradise, given especially the absence of big hitters in the Sri Lanka lower order. To get out trying to hit was not an option at all. The way he assessed the situation, decided to do what few others could, and went about executing it, stemmed from, and pointed to, his genius.
   ‘I wasn’t really surprised with the way he played,’ Mahela Jayawardene said. . ‘We have given him the freedom to go out there and play his way. That’s the way he takes games away from oppositions. And on his day it will come off, if it doesn’t it doesn’t.
   ‘He is in terrific form and we didn’t try to stop him from what he was doing. But I think he made a conscious effort of picking his bowlers, his areas; he didn’t go after everybody. That comes with experience. He was disappointed the way he got out; he wanted to bat till the end. It was a brilliant innings, and the turning point for us. I know Ajantha [Mendis] created so much, but we needed runs in the first place, and that’s what Sanath did.’
   The innings was quite reminiscent of the final in Sharjah in 2000-01, where he scored 189. With wickets falling around him, Jayasuriya kept attacking - by the time Sri Lanka were 98 for 3, the other batsmen had contributed 27. What was missing, today, though, was the brutal assault he had unleashed eight years ago. It was something he had been setting himself up for today as well. His last 89 runs, then, had come off 43 balls, and taken Sri Lanka from 116 for 4 to 299 for 5.
   India were humiliated then, bowled out for 54. Today they managed just a little better, because of the start Virender Sehwag gave them. When Sehwag went marauding the Sri Lankan opening attack, scoring 60 off 34, out of India’s 68 then, it seemed Jayasuriya’s effort would be overshadowed. When Mendis, the finger freak, was running through the Indian batsmen, who seemed to be groping in the dark, Jayasuriya’s innings took a comfortable backseat in the mind. But Mendis, who was four when Jayasuriya made his debut, might want to thank him for the target he set.

Lewsi Hamilton was basking in the Silverstone rain here Sunday after winning the British Grand Prix with his ‘best ever drive’.
   A masterful display in wet conditions thrilled a partisan crowd as the young Briton streaked to a 68.5 second win over BMW’s Nick Heidfeld.
   An emotional Hamilton heralded his third win of the season and the seventh of his Formula One career as ‘by far’ his best ever.
   ‘It was one of the toughest races I have ever done,’ said the Stevenage-born racer.
   ‘I was thinking as I was driving that if I won it would definitely go down as the best - not only because of all the history and because it is my home ground, but because it is one of the best actual drives I have put together.
   ‘Coming into the last lap I could see the crowds standing up and I was just praying I would finish. You could not imagine the emotions that were going on inside me.’
   Hamilton is the first Englishman to win at Silverstone since Johnny Herbert in 1995 and he was quick to pay tribute to the vocal Silverstone support.
   He added: ‘I must say a huge thank you to all the fans here. They have been incredible all weekend and without their support we couldn’t have done this.
   ‘This is the best weekend ever. The crowd deserves it, the country deserves it and the team does too.’
   Hamilton, 23, produced an excellent start and a superbly aggressive opening stint to take the lead early on, before going on to close the race out maturely.
   The victory brings Hamilton his first points since winning at Monaco back in May and moves him up into a three way tie at the top of the world championship. Hamilton now shares top
   spot with the Ferrari’s of
   Kimi Raikkonen, who finished fourth, and Felipe Massa, who took no points from a nightmare race.

For two weeks almost everyone in Karachi - the department store owner, the chemist, the hotel security guard, the hotel manager, the taxi driver - talked cricket. They discussed Pakistan cricket and the lack of stars and, once Pakistan were out of the tournament, they discussed the strengths of the Indian and Sri Lankan teams. But it’s probable that none of them, store owner to taxi driver, bothered to actually turn up at the National Stadium. Even an India-Pakistan match could not fill the stands.
   It seems, though, the administrators can’t see the problem - or, if they can, don’t appear too concerned. Nasim Ashraf, the PCB chairman, called a press-conference in the middle of the Pakistan-Bangladesh game, one of the many one-sided games, and suggested the crowds didn’t know what they were missing.
   The likely truth is, the crowds knew what they were missing. Because these matches were played in the heat of June and July, and with a fair sprinkling of mismatches - five out of six in the first round - there was hardly anything drawing the paying public to the grounds. One of the reasons why Ashraf thought this Asia Cup was the greatest thing since sliced bread was because more than 600 were being scored in every match. It is time administrators stopped disrespecting the audience’s intelligence: a flat wicket, predictably yielding 600 runs, with batsmen getting out due more to fatigue than the skills of their opponents, and bowlers present to make up the numbers, is not cricket, even for fans in the subcontinent. The new rule that has the ball changed after 34 overs hasn’t helped matters either; reverse-swing, the only potent weapon left with the bowlers, was conspicuously absent.
   Two of the matches - when Pakistan played India to stay alive in the tournament, and the final - did portray what the 50-over game still has going for it. Pakistan fought back having been taken for 88 runs in the first ten overs, India rebuilt after losing four quick wickets, but Pakistan again bowled smartly in the death overs to provide another twist in the game. The final oscillated even more; Ishant Sharma wrecked the Sri Lanka top order, Jayasuriya returned the favour with a blinding counterattack, Virender Sehwag threatened to run away with the match, but Ajantha Mendis came up with one of the sensational spells of our times.
   These two matches were good because there was time: for teams to come back, for teams to sustain the lead if they have managed to take it, for the batsmen to pace and build an innings, and for the bowlers to set batsmen up. But to have only two such matches out of 13 is not ideal.
   Pakistan, the hosts, fielded one of their most unexciting teams since the 1970s; the flair in their bowling was missed the most. Their leadership lacked direction, their captain and coach fought embarrassingly with the media, and they were one of the reasons the Asia Cup take didn’t take off at all. They confounded when they beat India, in true Pakistani fashion, but in a measure too little and at a time too late.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting returned home Monday from the West Indies tour and underwent immediate wrist surgery, Cricket Australia said.
   Ponting, who left the Caribbean with two one-day internationals to play against the West Indies to seek treatment, had an assessment with Cricket Australia medical officer Trefor James and wrist specialist Greg Hoy.
   He then had surgery to repair the tissues that hold a tendon in place in his right wrist, which he injured in the third one-day international against the West Indies in Grenada last week, CA said.
   Ponting had the surgery to give him extra recovery time ahead of Australia’s three one-dayers against Bangladesh in Darwin next month. The Bangladesh series will serve as a warm-up to the Champions Trophy tournament in Pakistan.
   ‘We’re not sure at this stage,’ a CA spokesman said of the skipper’s availability for the Darwin series. ‘We’ll have to assess him as we go along. But that’s why they got him in for assessment so quickly, so they could decide on a course of action rather than him leaving it for a week. This way it gives him more time to recover.’

FC Barcelona were facing two years of turbulance Monday after their president Joan Laporta survived a confidence vote even though less than half of all supporters who participated backed him.
   The 45-year-old got the backing of just 37.75 per cent of the 39,389 supporters who took part in Sunday’s vote while 60.60 per cent voted against him staying on until his current mandate at the Spanish club ends in June 2010.
   To be successful the motion against Laporta needed to have the support of over two-thirds of voters.
   Lawyer Oriol Giralt collected over 9,000 votes from fellow club members in May to force Barcelona to hold the vote after the Catalan side ended its second straight season without winning a major title.
   ‘The two years that remain of his mandate could be a real powder keg for a club that needs to face the future in a different way,’ said the director of Barcelona-based daily sports newspaper Mundo Deportivo, Santi Nolla.
   Catalan daily El Periodico said Laporta, who has headed Barcelona since 2003 and was re-elected in 2006, had been ‘spectacularly punished’ and will now manage ‘a divided and practically ungovernable’ Barcelona.
   Under Laporta the club won back-to-back league titles in 2005 and 2006, along with the Champions League in 2006 but he has grown increasingly unpopular with supporters due to the recent drought in silverware.
   Barcelona ended the season in third place, meaning it missed out on automatic qualification for the Champions League.
   ‘This is a vote of punishment for the past two years. We accept that and we will act accordingly,’ Laporta told reporters at the Camp Nou stadium where the vote was held after the results had been released.
   ‘Now we need to restore calm in the institution for the good of FC Barcelona and for the good of the team. We will see out our mandate,’ he added.
   Laporta responded to last season’s third place finish by replacing Frank Rijkaard as the club’s manager with its 37-year-old reserve team manager Josep Guardiola who has never held a senior coaching position before.
   Guardiola, a former Barcelona midfielder, quickly announced that he was not counting on the club’s stars Deco, Ronaldinho and Samuel Eto’o for next season.
   In an effort to breathe new life into the squad, Barcelona have signed Mali midfielder Seydou Keita and Brazilian international defender Daniel Alves from Sevilla, Uruguay centre back Martin Caceres from Recreativo Huelva and defender Gerard Pique from Manchester United.
   Giralt said Barcelona’s board should examine the result closely as it sent a clear message.
   ‘They should consider how it is possible to continue with so many people signing against them,’ he said.
   ‘If I had been president of Barça for some time and then a result like this came, I would resign.’
   Laporta’s former aide Sandro Rosell, who supported Giralt’s no-confidence motion, has already declared himself to be a candidate for president of the club in the 2010 elections.
   Rosell denied as ‘absolutely false’ Laporta’s allegations that he was linked to Giralt’s censure motion. ‘Laporta’s worst enemy is Laporta,’ said Rosell, who stepped down as Barcelona vice president in 2005 after falling out with Laporta.

India face the four-yearly dilemma of watching their favourite sport cricket or switching to the Olympics, and this time the Beijing extravaganza appears to be winning.
   The Olympics clash with India’s cricket tour of Sri Lanka with the iconic Sachin Tendulkar needing just 172 runs to overtake West Indian Brian Lara as the most prolific Test batsman.
   Indians can’t live without cricket but the younger generation, grown on a steady diet of live world-class sporting action on their television screens, regard the Olympics as a must-watch.
   A recent poll conducted by one of the Games sponsors found that almost 70 per cent of city-bred Indians will closely follow the action in Beijing even as the cricket goes on in Sri Lanka.
   ‘We may be a one-sport nation but it will be wrong to assume the new generation only follows cricket,’ said veteran sports writer Vijay Lokapally.
   ‘They understand what the Olympics is all about and won’t allow just cricket to dominate their mindset. You can’t fool this generation.’
   It does not matter that India’s returns from past Olympics have been minimal.
   The last time India won an Olympic gold medal was in hockey at the west-boycotted Moscow Games in 1980. This time, the eight-time champions have not even qualified for the Games.
   India have just four individual medals, the last three coming in each of the previous three editions.
   The country is pinning its hopes on shooters, archers, boxers and tennis veterans to deliver a medal, a prospect that excites viewers as much as Tendulkar’s impending record.
   ‘It will be great if Tendulkar goes past Lara but his record will be broken one day by someone else,’ said sports enthusiast Pritam Sinha. ‘But an Olympic medal is for keeps and carries immense value.’
   Sharda Ugra, sports editor of the respected India Today magazine, said an early medal will enliven Indian interest in the Games.
   ‘If we win an early medal, there will be a lot of interest,’ said Ugra.
   ‘Anyway, we have always been a nation of great sports watchers. There has been good viewership for quality sports in the country since past so many years.
   ‘Olympics is a visual treat and fans enjoy the atmosphere.’
   Boxing official Muralidharan Raja said the charm of the Olympics was unrivalled.
   ‘The Olympics is in a different league altogether, it’s the ultimate challenge,’ he said.
   ‘India may be crazy about cricket but the Olympics have their own fans and following. Olympics will never lose out to cricket.’
   Raja’s views were echoed by young tennis player Venayak Gupta, 16.
   ‘We get to watch so much cricket, it gets boring after some time,’ he said. ‘The Olympics come once in four years, why would anyone want to miss them.’
   Major events at the Olympics will be shown live by state-run broadcaster Dooordarshan, while a large media contingent will make the trip to Beijing despite India’s absence in hockey.

Atletico Madrid announced Sunday the signing of Brazilian midfielder Paulo Assuncao
   from Portuguese first division side Porto for an undisclosed fee.
   The 28-year-old will join his new teammates at Atletico on Monday, the Spanish club said in a statement posted on its website without specifying the length of his contract.
   Assuncao joined Porto in 2005 from AEK Athens but has been eager to leave the Portuguese club after falling out with its management.
   Atletico said meanwhile that is was in talks with several clubs which are interested in signing its Portugal international Maniche, 30, ended last season out on loan at Inter Milan after having fallen out with coach Javier Aguirre.
   ‘Returning to Atletico would be difficult, if not impossible. They sent me out on loan because of Aguirre, because we had great differences of opinion and being with him became impossible,’ he told sports daily Marca last month.
   It is the fifth signing for Atletico which finished fourth in La Liga last season and will therefore return to the Champions League stage after an 11-year absence.
   The club has signed defenders Johnny Heitinga from Dutch side Ajax and Tomas
   Ujfalusi from Italian side Fiorentina as well as French keeper Gregory Coupet from Lyon and French striker Florent Sinama Pongolle from Recreativo Huelva.

Projected a spoilt brat by the media, Shoaib Akhtar is actually a child in a man’s body, says senior Pakistan batsman Younis Khan who feels the maverick pacer is in desperate need of some privacy to get his career back on track.
   ‘Shoaib is a match winner and I have spent a lot of time with him ... he is like a kid who needs attention all the time ... he is in need of extra care,’ Younis said.
   Shoaib is battling to save his chequered career after being handed a five-year ban by the Pakistan Cricket Board for disciplinary violations, a punishment that was later reduced to 18 months after an appeal.
   He has got temporary reprieve from that as well after the Lahore High Court suspended his ban until further hearing in September.
   His every move is being tracked by a curious media and Younis feels this is exactly what Shoaib does not need. The veteran right-hander says Shoaib would be better off if his off-field life stops making national headlines.
   ‘Fast bowlers are ‘shouqeen’ (fun loving) and passionate people ... more passionate than the normal players. But it would be better if the media gave them some room and they should not be given the coverage they get ... they need to be supported and encouraged,’ he observed.
   Younis feels the same holds true for another embattled Pakistani pacer Mohd Asif, who was recently embroiled in a drug possession scandal in Dubai.
   Younis said both Shoaib and Asif need to work on their fitness to live upto their talent. ‘Both would need to concentrate on their fitness,’ he said. Pakistan’s ever-fluctuating form is also a cause of concern for Younis, who says coach Geoff Lawson needs to be more outspoken with his thoughts as players need his inputs.
   ‘He lets us apply the plan we had devised ahead of the match. Which is a good thing. The bad thing is that sometimes he gets lost in his thoughts and doesn’t interfere at all ... sometimes when we really need an input from him,’ Younis said.
   Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board is planning to hold a training camp in the hilltop army station of Kakul from August 1 for the current team and reserves to get them ready for the Champions Trophy at home.

Luis Aragones has revised his opinion that Spain are the best team in the world and has now conceded that four or five countries are ‘a level above’.
   Spain moved to the top of the FIFA world rankings following their stylish Euro 2008 triumph and Aragones hailed his players as the best on the planet.
   But he has now had a rethink, telling Perfil, ‘We had a brilliant competition, but there are still four or five countries that are a level above Spain. Brazil and Argentina have greater strength.
   ‘Spain was the best at the European Championship. There is a team with some very technical players that solved the small problems in defence and had the best attack of any team.’
   Aragones believes the constant talk about Spain always falling at the quarter-final stage made things hard for his squad, prior to the victory over Italy on penalties in the last eight.
   ‘There were harmful comments made, like the fact that we always went out in the quarter-finals. I know the players felt that and it was difficult,’ he continued.
   Aragones’ decision to leave fans’ favourite Raul out of his squad was not well received before the tournament but he maintained there were other options and he has now been proved right.
   ‘No player is untouchable,’ said Aragones, who has now taken charge of Fenerbahce.
   ‘There are media players, the ones that press and fans want, but one has to be mentally strong and carry on with what you believe.
   ‘Raul has possibly been one of the best Spanish players ever, but I thought about others players that could bring more.’

Last time Australia visited the Caribbean they went home undefeated and with a World Cup in their possession. The stakes were considerably lower on this trip but it was an important step in the development of a side that has lost several key members of the World Cup-winning squad.
   Of the team that triumphed in the dark in Barbados last April, Adam Gilchrist, Glenn McGrath and Brad Hogg have retired, Matthew Hayden missed this entire tour with an injury, Ricky Ponting flew home with a wrist problem and Shaun Tait is slowly coming back to cricket after a self-imposed break.
   It meant opportunities galore for a bunch of state players who over the past few seasons have been green with envy as the Australia team remained as impenetrable as Shivnarine Chanderpaul’s defences. A 5-0 series whitewash was proof that the fringe men have learned from watching their predecessors.
   A 169-run thrashing of West Indies in the final game ensured Australia will leave the Caribbean on a high, and none of the players will be as ecstatic as the Man of the Match Luke Ronchi. He destroyed West Indies with 64 from 28 deliveries when the acting captain Michael Clarke promoted him to No. 3 and he slammed six sixes over the tiny boundaries at Warner Park.
   ‘It’s a lot like the WACA - short straight,’ Ronchi said after the game. ‘It’s the easiest way to go. It’s the way I play cricket at home and that was the job I was given today, to go out and make the most of the Powerplays and luckily enough it came off.’
   Ronchi was largely responsible for West Indies’ third Powerplay costing 63 runs - even more amazing considering Dwayne Bravo kept one of the five overs to one run. If Australia thought Ronchi’s 22-ball half-century was impressive, the 19-ball effort from David Hussey in the dying overs was the icing on the cake and Clarke was full of praise for both men.
   ‘We took a little bit of a gamble [promoting Ronchi to No. 3] but Luke’s a fantastic cricketer, he’s scored a lot of runs back home and we were very confident he would do the job today,’ Clarke said. ‘It’s great for Australian cricket, we have a lot of depth back at home and as you’ve seen on this tour our one-day team is still very strong.’
   There were also promising performances from the new opener Shaun Marsh and his partner Shane Watson, who was not in the original squad but finished as Player of the Series after scoring 206 runs at 41.20 and collecting six wickets. Apart from a half-century from Shawn Findlay and some tight bowling from Nikita Miller, the signs were not as encouraging for West Indies.
   After a series in which their only strong effort resulted in a one-run loss, the captain Chris Gayle knows they have a long way to go to threaten the world’s top sides. ‘We still need to work on our cricket and take a leaf from [Australia’s] book as well,’ Gayle said. ‘We need to work on the mental aspect to our game as well and physically in the field and so on.’

Newly-crowned Wimbledon champion Rafael Nadal on Monday pulled out of his title defence in Stuttgart the day after his epic final at the All England club.
   ‘I haven’t stopped playing for the past four to five months,’ said the world number two, who toppled five-time champion Roger Federer 6-4, 6-4, 6-7 (5/7), 6-7 (8/10), 9-7 on Sunday night.
   ‘My plans for the immediate future are very simple - I just want to rest because I’m completely exhausted,’ added Nadal, who also won the French Open title by defeating the world number one.
   ‘I admire him (Federer) a lot... It was great to win against him in Wimbledon, we’ll see the significance of this victory once my career is over.
   ‘My aim is still to become a better player, maybe my
   aim in the future will be to become the new world number one.’
   Nadal added that during his break he would ‘only be spending time with (his) doctor and physiotherapists’.

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech believes Luiz Felipe Scolari is the right man to bring silverware back to Stamford Bridge.
   Scolari, who coached Brazil to World Cup glory in 2002, takes charge of his first training session as Chelsea boss on Monday after leaving his role as Portugal boss following Euro 2008.
   And Cech feels his new manager will install a winning mentality at Stamford Bridge after a trophyless season last year.
   The 2007/08 campaign was the first Chelsea have ended empty-handed in four years, but Cech is confident Scolari will bring back the glory days.
   ‘Mr Scolari is a World Cup winner and everywhere he goes he has success every time, so I hope he can bring this to Chelsea,’ Cech told Sky Sports News.
   ‘There is the quality in the squad and, seeing the quality of the manager and the team he is bringing in, I am really sure that we will challenge for all the titles again.’
   Cech is also eager for Chelsea to keep hold of Frank Lampard, who is a target of Inter Milan, and admits the midfielder would be a major loss.
   ‘It is always difficult to replace someone who scores more than 20 goals a season from midfield for four years in a row,’ added Cech.
   ‘He (Lampard) is still negotiating so hopefully that goes well because you always welcome players with that sort of quality. He has been a key player for Chelsea since he joined.’
   Meanwhile, Cech is keen for Manchester United winger Cristiano Ronaldo – who is at the centre of this summer’s biggest transfer saga as Real Madrid pursue his services – to stay in the Premier League.
   ‘He was the best player last season because everything he did was perfect,’ Cech continued.
   ‘Everyone is speaking about him leaving. I hope that everyone stays and the league remains the same.’

Plenty of the pre-Test series hype has focused on South Africa’s potent pace attack led by Dale Steyn, but Michael Vaughan doesn’t feel England’s lack of pace makes them any less threatening. Vaughan, England’s captain, has put faith in the trio of Ryan Sidebottom, James Anderson and Stuart Broad even as he shored up the possibility of his Ashes 2005 pace quartet bowling as a unit again.
   ‘We don’t have bowling of 90-95 mph,’ Vaughan said ahead of Thursday’s first Test at Lord’s. ‘But it’s not always about that. We have an attack that relies more on the control side. It has not got the pace it used to have but I think they’ve got a decent amount of skill.
   ‘Jimmy Anderson showed against New Zealand at Trent Bridge that if the ball is swinging he has a hell of an amount of skill. Stuart Broad is developing into a fine cricketer - he’s inexperienced but he bowls beyond his years - and Ryan Sidebottom has probably been the find of the last year in Test match cricket.
   ‘You add to that Monty Panesar, who can get five- and six-wicket hauls, and the attack looks quietly nice.’ England’s last series against South Africa, a 2-1 away win in 2004-05, featured the same attack that would bowl them to a historic Ashes victory the following summer. However, none of Steve Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Simon Jones or Andrew Flintoff are in the squad for Lord’s.

Rafael Nadal’s epic final victory over Roger Federer at Wimbledon has seen him close the gap on the world number one to 545 points in the ATP rankings released on Monday.
   The Spaniard could end the Swiss’ stay at the top of the rankings, a position he has held for a record number of weeks since February 2004, before the end of the season.
   Nadal, 22, only reached the fourth round of last year’s US Open and a better performance this year would give him a rankings boost. Federer must win the event to defend the points he earned at Flushing Meadows last year.
   Meanwhile, Britain’s Andy Murray has climbed back into the top 10.
   Murray moved up from 11th to ninth after reaching the quarter-finals at Wimbledon, his best performance in a Grand Slam.
   Murray had no ranking points to defend from this time last year, when he missed almost three months of the season with a wrist injury.
   The ATP world rankings:-
   1. Roger Federer (SUI) 6600
   2. Rafael Nadal (ESP) 6055
   3. Novak Djokovic (SRB) 4945
   4. David Ferrer (ESP) 3045 (+1)
   5. Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) 2970 (-1)
   6. Andy Roddick (USA) 2065
   7. David Nalbandian (ARG) 2030
   8. James Blake (USA) 1975
   9. Andy Murray (GBR) 1805 (+2)
   10. Stanislas Wawrinka (SUI) 1760 (-1)

Norwegian Thor Hushovd of Credit Agricole claimed his sixth victory from the Tour de France after powering his way to the second stage over 164.5km from Auray to here Sunday.
   Spaniard Alejandro Valverde (Caisse d’Epargne) retained the overall lead ahead of Monday’s third stage, a 208km race from Saint Malo to Nantes.
   In the general classification there were virtually no changes to the times following Saturday’s race opener.
   Valverde now has a 01sec lead over Luxembourg’s Kim Kirchen, who finished second on the stage to pull on the green jersey, with main rival Cadel Evans of Australia also at 01 in sixth place.
   ‘It was a really fast and difficult stage,’ said Valverde, who, despite being warmed by the crowds shouting his name came close to catastophe when he nearly hit an over-enthusiastic spectator on the Mur de Bretagne climb.
   ‘There was wind, rain and then we had to go chasing the breakaway riders. We spent a fair amount of energy in this stage.’
   Hushovd had been among the big name sprinters to fail at the finish on Saturday when Valverde punched his way to victory on the uphill finish of the tricky Cadoudal climb in Brest.
   A day later, a combination of familiar weather – and the profile of the slightly uphill finish – gave him the early stage win he was after.
   ‘I like Brittany, it’s a bit like Norway – cold, windy and rainy – and since I’m not a pure sprinter like (Robbie) McEwen and (Mark) Cavendish I prefer the sprints with a little bit of a climb at the end,’ said Hushovd, who in 2004 claimed his second stage from the race in nearby Quimper.
   On the second of three days in Brittany the French riders in the peloton were at the front for most of the day, although in the end their biggest achievement was to show the sponsors’ jersey.
   A two-man breakaway involving Sylvain Chavanel of Cofidis and Thomas Voeckler of Bouygues Telecom turned into a four-man break when they were joined by compatriots Christophe Moreau and David Lelay at the 107km mark.
   At that point the peloton trailed by 2:48, but thanks to some collective pursuit work the deficit virtually evaporated to a minute with 25km to go.
   With seven kilometres to ride, the gap dropped to just 35sec, and with the last four kilometres over undulating terrain Chavanel split from his companions with 2.5km to race.
   His decision to attack earlier in the race soon took its toll, however, and he lasted only briefly before he was sucked in.
   In what turned into a thrilling finish, Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland went on a daring solo attack with 1.5km to go, but CSC’s big time trial specialist was followed by Italian Filippo Pozzatto, who claimed his first Tour stage here in 2004.
   But both riders were stunned by the green shirts of Credit Agricole.
   Australian Mark Renshaw, who had tried in vain to pull Hushovd to the finish line on his wheel on Saturday, this time made no mistake.
   He took the big Norwegian up the final 600 metres, past the yellow shirt of Valverde, before peeling off and allowing Hushovd to finish the job on his own.
   Kirchen – who had placed fourth on the opening stage – finished in second ahead of a handful of big name sprinters.
   Renshaw admitted that his good work would give perhaps get him a favourable nod from Hushovd when Credit Agricole begin negotiations with a new sponsor after what is their last season in the peloton.
   ‘I’m still a bit shocked,’ Renshaw told AFP.
   ‘Near the end I got caught with a bit of a wave and for a bit I thought Thor had crashed. Then I heard him behind me and he went with about 400 metres to go, pulling out of the outside of Valverde.
   ‘On an uphill finish like that nobody’s going to beat a sprinter like Thor.’
   He added, ‘Once we get a new sponsor maybe he can put in a good word for me!’
   Voeckler’s efforts at the front with Chavanel allowed him to keep the ‘King of the Mountains’ polka dot jersey, at least for the time being.

Cristiano Ronaldo underwent a successful operation on his right ankle on Monday, Manchester United have announced.
   The Portuguese winger had a procedure in Amsterdam carried out by a Dutch surgeon, but the club say they will not be able to state when he will be fit again until he is seen by the specialist in a month. It is likely he will be out for at least six weeks and miss the start of the new season.
   United said in a statement: ‘Cristiano Ronaldo underwent surgery today to his right ankle.
   ‘The operation was performed by Professor C Niek van Dijk at The Academic Medical Centre in Amsterdam and the initial indications are that the procedure was successful.
   ‘Cristiano will begin his convalescence under the direction of club medical staff and an estimation of his return to full fitness will be possible following review by the specialist in one month.’
   Meanwhile, Real Madrid president Ramon Calderon believes Manchester United should be ‘happy and proud’ to let Cristiano Ronaldo leave the club in what he believes would be ‘the transfer of the century’.
   Calderon was set to meet United chief executive David Gill on Monday, where it was expected the Red Devils would issue an official ‘hands off’ warning.
   On Sunday, the Real president seemingly conceded defeat in his attempts to capture the Portugal winger after admitting it would be difficult to convince United to sell.
   But 24 hours later he told Spanish newspaper AS that it was Ronaldo’s wish to join his club and the English champions should allow him.
   ‘I think that, first of all, it’s the desire of the player (to join us), but, of course, Manchester shouldn’t be angry and they should open up their stance,’ he said.
   ‘We can’t be blamed if nearly every player wants to come to Real Madrid. If I was Manchester United I’d be happy and proud to be able to negotiate such a transfer for one of my players.
   ‘Everything would be a lot easier if United realised that they could pull off the transfer of the century.’
   Calderon appeared confident a deal could still be reached, as he believes that if a player wants to leave then there is little a club can do to stop him. But he again insisted the Spanish champions would not act on their interest until United agreed to talks.
   ‘It depends on the player, on Ronaldo. Since I’ve known football it has been the case that the desires of the footballer are what decide matters,’ Calderon continued.
   ‘If Ronaldo wants to leave Manchester, he’ll leave. If he wants to stay, he’ll stay.
   ‘I don’t think you can keep anyone in a place where they don’t want to be, not even in a family. ‘But I insist that for a formal negotiation to start Manchester United will have to open their doors to us. Manchester have to want to talk.’
   On Ronaldo’s ankle injury Calderon added: ‘At the moment that is something which should only concern the player and United.’ The Real chief admitted there was no plan B should the club fail prise Ronaldo away, insisting there would be no ‘comings and goings’ this summer.
   That includes reported Chelsea target Robinho, who Calderon claims the club are not willing to sell. ‘We have no intention of making any little touches to the squad, no comings and goings,’ he said.
   ‘The squad is young and it’s fine as it is. There is no negotiation going on at the moment for Robinho to leave the club.’

Australia (341/8) beat West Indies (172) by 169 runs
   Mitchell Johnson starred with the ball, following a strong batting performance, as Australia completed a rare 5-0 ODI series sweep in the Caribbean, when they cruised to a 169-run victory in the fifth and final ODI against West Indies on Sunday.
   Johnson collected five wickets for 29 runs from 7.5 overs, as Australia successfully defended a formidable target total of 342, when they dismissed West Indies for 172 in 39.5 overs.
   Johnson formalised the result, when he had Fidel Edwards caught at fine leg fending away a short, rising ball to send another fair-sized, strongly partisan, weekend crowd home disappointed.
   The victory - Australia’s largest against West Indies - meant they became only the third team to sweep an ODI series in the Caribbean.
   Australia won the opening match by 84 runs in St. Vincent, the rain-affected second ODI by 63 runs under the Duckworth-Lewis Method, and the third ODI last Sunday by seven wickets in Grenada, as well as the fourth ODI last Friday by one run here.
   Previously, South Africa and Pakistan were the two sides that achieved ODI series sweeps in the Caribbean.
   They both accomplished the feat three years ago, when the Proteas won all five of their matches in a bilateral series, and the Pakistanis won all three in theirs.
   Australia, choosing to bat on a hard, easy-paced Warner Park pitch, had amassed 341 for eight from their allocation of 50 overs - a record total against West Indies in an ODI.
   Shawn Findlay, playing in only his second ODI, was the top scorer for West Indies with 00 and long-standing fellow left-hander Shivnarine Chanderpaul supported with 38.
   Andrew Symonds top-scored with 66 from 80 balls, Luke Ronchi made a rapid-fire 64 from 28 balls to earn the Man-of-the-Match award, David Hussey led the late flourish with 52 from 21 balls, and Mike Hussey gathered 51 from 52 balls.
   Ramnaresh Sarwan took three wickets for 57 runs from nine overs, and Fidel Edwards captured three for 86 from nine overs to be the most successful bowlers for West Indies.
   The runs Edwards conceded were the most by a West Indies bowler in an ODI, three more than the 83 Corey Collymore gave away from his 10 overs against South Africa four years ago at Johannesburg.
   Australia then struck early, when Johnson had West Indies captain Chris Gayle caught behind for five in the second over of the home’ team’s chase, and the left-arm fast bowler inflicted more agony, when Ramnaresh Sarwan was caught at mid-off for seven to leave the hosts on 21 for two.
   Australia never allowed West Indies to get back into the groove, although Shawn Findlay, playing his second ODI, got the top score of an unbeaten 59 from 74 balls and Shivnarine Chanderpaul made 38 from 49 balls. No other West Indies batsman passed 20.
   Symonds completed a fine all-round game, scalping two for 23 from seven overs, and stand-in Australia captain Michael Clarke snared two for 34 from six overs.
   Earlier, Symonds, Ronchi, and the two Husseys built on the platform provided by openers Shaun Marsh and Shane Watson.
   They put on 70 before Watson, later named Man-of-the-Series, was caught at third man for 29 off Dwayne Bravo in the 13th over, and Marsh was caught behind off Edwards for 49 in the 20th over to leave Australia 129 for two.
   Ronchi, promoted to No.3, showed his enterprise, when he equalled the record for the second fastest 50 in an ODI by an Australian. He drove his 22nd delivery from Edwards ‘inside-out’ through extra cover for his fourth four to reach the milestone in the 20th over.
   But he was caught behind, when he was caught behind off the first ball from left-arm spin bowler Nikita Miller in the 22nd over before Sarwan also had Clarke caught behind for five in the next over to leave the visitors on 152 for four.
   Symonds entered and batted with typical aplomb alongside Mike Hussey and they put Australia firmly on course for their massive total, when they added 113 for the fifth wicket. Symonds top-edged a pull to mid-wicket for a single to reach his 50 off Edwards in the 42nd over before he was caught behind off the same bowler in the 44th over.
   Hussey proceeded to reach his 50 in the next over, when he drove Bravo to long-off for a single, but Edwards got him off the last ball of the following over, when he was caught at long-on.
   In the closing overs, David Hussey, Mike’s younger brother, created a stir with his audacious batting, striking four fours and four sixes to reset the record for the second fastest 50 in an ODI by an Australia which Ronchi had earlier established.
   He reached his 50, when he lofted Sarwan for the last of his sixes over long-on, but two balls later, he was caught at deep mid-wicket off the same bowler before James Hopes was caught at mid-on off the same bowler off the last ball of the innings.
   Australia were unchanged, but West Indies made one change to their line-up. They dropped Darren Sammy, and brought in Andre Fletcher.

Still uncertain of where he will play next season, Ronaldinho will intensify his training routine this week and hope to regain his best form.
   Visibly overweight after several months sidelined because of injuries and lack of good performances, Ronaldinho is looking to be fit again before signing a deal for next season. He also is likely to be chosen to play for Brazil in the Beijing Olympics, which is just a month away.
   ‘He has been training already,’ Ronaldinho’s agent and brother, Roberto De Assis, was quoted by the O Dia newspaper on Sunday. ‘But on (July) 10 we will begin his preparation in Porto Alegre.’
   Ronaldinho will be supervised in the southern Brazilian city by former national team trainer Paulo Paixao, who currently is with Russia’s CSKA Moscow. Assis said it was ‘natural’ for Ronaldinho not to be at his best because he ‘hasn’t played in four months.’
   The Brazilian star, who last played on March 9, still has a contract with FC Barcelona, but he has been linked with transfers to Manchester City and AC Milan. Assis said earlier this week that Ronaldinho had a 90 per cent chance of signing with Milan, where he would join countryman Kaka.
   Brazilian football confederation president Ricardo Teixeira said last month that Ronaldinho was expected to be summoned by coach Dunga for the Olympics, the only competition Brazil is yet to win in football.
   ‘He is upbeat, but first we have to know if the club will release him,’ Assis said. ‘We will have to wait.’
   Barcelona sporting director Txiki Begiristain said last month that the club will do all it can to keep Ronaldinho from playing in Beijing.
   Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola earlier said that Ronaldinho – along with striker Samuel Eto’o and Portugal midfielder Deco – would play no part in his plans next season.
   Ronaldinho helped Brazil win the 2002 World Cup in South Korea and Japan.

Australia midfielder Harry Kewell issued an open letter to Leeds United supporters on Monday in defence of his decision to join Turkish club Galatasaray.
   The former Leeds player signed for Galatasaray on Friday after leaving Liverpool following an injury-plagued five-year stay at Anfield. Kewell’s move has attracted fierce critism from many Leeds supporters but the player said in a letter, released to Sky Sports, that he would always love the club he joined as a teenager in the mid-1990s.
   ‘I chose the number 19 shirt when I signed for Galatasaray as a sign of respect for Leeds because that was the number I got when I first became a regular member of the Leeds United FC starting XI,’ he wrote.
   ‘I felt that it might be a way to demonstrate that I had not forgotten where it all started and I was hoping that in a small way it would help the healing process of the tragedy that occurred on the 5th of April 2000.’

Russia forward Andrei Arshavin is only interested in playing for Spanish club Barcelona despite reported interest from the English Premier League, his club claimed on Monday.
   ‘Arshavin wants to move to Barcelona - he doesn’t want to play anywhere else,’ a spokesman for his club Zenit St Petersburg told BBC Sport.
   The 27-year-old played a starring role for his country at Euro 2008, helping them reach the semi-finals.
   But his club’s asking price for the 39-million-dollar ranked Arshavin could prove to be a major stumbling block in any potential deal.
   The Spanish club are the sole club to have bid for the player, despite reports suggesting he was set for talks with Arsenal and Chelsea.
   ‘Barcelona have made an offer but we are still negotiating with them. I don’t know when a decision will be made but I think Arshavin will leave the club,’ added the Zenit spokesman.

Chelsea midfielder Michael Ballack insists there is no rush to sign a new contract despite only having one year remaining on his current deal.
   The Blues are already back in training but Ballack is resting in Germany following his country’s Euro 2008 final defeat just over a week ago.
   The 31-year-old will not return to London for another couple of weeks but he believes there is still plenty of time to consider his future.
   ‘I have a contract until 2009 and there is an option to extend it, so there is no need to rush,’ he told Bild newspaper.
   ‘We will just wait and see what happens.’
   Although he narrowly missed out on silverware last season, conceding the Premier League and Champions League titles to Manchester United, Ballack believes being at Chelsea gives him the best chance of glory.
   ‘Even without new signings, Chelsea already had an exceptional squad which is capable of winning something always,’ he said.
   ‘That obviously means (we can win) the Champions League next season. That is the reason why I moved to Chelsea. I am playing in the best league in the world with one of the strongest teams.’
   Ballack added that despite his ‘nearly man’ tag becoming even more prominent this summer, he feels lucky to have won 10 titles in Germany and England.
   ‘I think that I have been successful,’ he said. ‘Some people win just one title and spend their lives revelling in that while others never win anything.
   ‘Of course I am missing a big international title, but who can show off a better record than me anyway?’

Manchester United assistant manager Carlos Queiroz has indicated he could soon leave the club to take charge of the Portugal national side.
   Queiroz is the leading contender to succeed Luiz Felipe Scolari, who stepped down after Euro 2008 to move to Chelsea.
   The former Real Madrid manager was in Lisbon yesterday for discussions with the Portuguese Football Federation.
   He said, ‘I can say little more than you know at this time.
   ‘Currently the matter is out of my hands. From my part, there is not much to say, it needs to be resolved between the federation and Manchester United.
   ‘We must wait calmly. I have spoken with the two parties and now I wait for movement.’
   Queiroz, who is on a one-year rolling contract, is in his second spell as Sir Alex Ferguson’s number two and has established a fine reputation.
   He rejoined the club in 2004 after a season at Real and United are reluctant to part with him again.
   They are reported to have offered improved terms but Queiroz is interested in a potential four-year deal to lead his country.