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A second-string West Indies, resuming the day on 17/1, were on 122 losing two wickets, in reply to a 238 first innings score made by visiting Bangladesh, on the third morning of the first Test match at the Arnos Vale Sports Complex in Kingstown, St Vincent on Saturday.
   When last reports came in at 10:45pm, Omar Phillips was not out on 65 and Travis Dowlin not out on 14.
   Bangladesh tail earlier on Friday put up a good fight. Skipper Mashrafee bin Murtaza top-scored with 39 runs while wicketkeeper Mushfiqur Rahim and pacer Shahadat Hossain contributed 36 and 33 runs respectively.

Sakib al Hasan claimed an early West Indies scalp, after solid batting from the tail-enders allowed Bangladesh to reach 238 in their first innings in the opening Test on Friday
   At the close, a depleted West Indies had reached 15 for one in reply, after the tourists were dismissed about half-hour before the scheduled close on the second day at the Arnos Vale Sports Complex.
   Sakib then gave Bangladesh a boost, when he had opener Dale Richards, playing his first Test innings, lbw for 15.
   This followed a fightback from the Bangladesh tail, after a meltdown of the visitors’ top-order batting.
   New Bangladesh captain Mashrafee bin Murtaza hit the top score of 39, Mushfiqur Rahim made 36, and Shahadat Hossain got a career-best 33 to add some beef to Bangladesh’s total.
   Kemar Roach was the most successful West Indies bowler with three wickets for 46 runs from 23 overs.
   Dave Bernard Jr captured two for 30 from 11 overs, and Tino Best took two for 58 from 17 overs.
   ‘I thought we bowled well, particularly Kemar and Tino, who hit their lines and lengths aggressively,’ said Floyd Reifer, captain of a makeshift West Indies team which was hastily assembled after a first-team boycott.
   ‘I don’t think we let them off the hook. The pitch is the kind that anyone who comes in and puts their head down, they can get runs. At 121 for six, you would still expect someone to put up a partnership, and it was just a matter of us sticking to the basics.
   ‘We are now looking to bat for the entire third day. I have asked the guys to bat in partnerships, and this is what we are looking for consistent batting down the order.’
   After Bangladesh slid to 149 for seven at tea, Mushfiqur added 23 for the eighth wicket with Murtaza before he was run out in a mix-up with his captain.
   Murtaza then added 35 for the ninth wicket with Shahadat before he was caught behind of Roach.
   More frustration came for West Indies, when Shahadat started to play his strokes and put on 31 for the last wicket with Rubel Hossain before off-spinner Ryan Austin had him caught behind to claim his first Test wicket.
   Before lunch, Bangladesh had crumbled to 121 for six, after they had continued from their overnight total of 42 without loss.
   Bangladesh play two Tests, three One-day Internationals, and a Twenty20 International on their five-week tour of the Caribbean.

Bangladesh Football Federation may give the green signal on Monday to three new clubs for the B League after a three-member BFF committee found the documents submitted by them with their applications ‘satisfactory’. Dhaka-based Fakirerpool Young Men’s Club may not be considered for the country’s lone professional football league as they did not provide any supporting papers.
   The three-member committee – comprised of vice-president Kazi Nabil Ahmed, Anwrul Huq Helal and Harunur Rashid – interviewed the officials of Biyanibazar FC of Sylhet, Shukatra Sangsad of Narayanganj and Feni Soccer Club of Feni. Among them, Biyanibazar disclosed that they have already prepared a budget of Tk 1 crore for the league. The two other clubs said they are ready to spend Tk. 70 to 75 lakh for the purpose.
   But Fakirerpool Young Men’s Club, the senior division football league champions of last season, appeared unready for the big occasion. They were tipped to get an automatic berth in the B League but their officials failed to provide the required documents.
   Biyanibazar FC presented Sylhet stadium as their home venue while Feni Soccer Club named both Feni and Senbagh stadiums as their home venues. They said they were ready to pick anyone of the two after BFF’s nod. The Narayanganj outfit said they will be picking the Khan Shaheb Osmani Stadium as their home venue.
   Kazi Nabil, however, said the final decision will be taken at the B league meeting on Monday. ‘We have found many positive aspects and there are some negatives also. We emphasised on strong organisational foundation as well as financial capabilities, the three teams we selected looked to be ready for the challenge, we will finalise the list on Monday,’ said Nabil.

Marcus North’s second hundred in three Tests left Australia in charge of their Ashes series opener against England here on Saturday.
   Australia, at lunch on the fourth day at Sophia Gardens, were 577 for five in reply to England’s first innings 435, a lead of 142.
   North was 101 not out and wicket-keeper Brad Haddin, also playing his first Test against England, 50 not out.
   North’s hundred meant he’d become the 15th Australia player to make a century on his Test debut against England and the first since Damien Martyn and Adam Gilchrist both achieved the feat at Edgbaston in 2001.
   North’s stand of 103 with Haddin had all but ended any hopes England had of winning this match as the home side endured a wicketless sesion.
   North’s two off James Anderson took the left-hander to a century in 206 balls with 12 fours.
   Significantly, it was also Australia’s third hundred of the innings – England hadn’t managed one – and there was still time before lunch for Haddin to complete a 90-ball fifty against a rarely threatening England attack.
   Australia resumed on 479 for five, a lead of 44 after centuries from captain Ricky Ponting (150) and opener Simon Katich (122).
   Michael Clarke had fallen short with 83 before being dismissed just before stumps on Friday.
   North, who has played for five English counties, was 54 not and Haddin four not out after bad light cut short Friday’s play.
   Haddin set the tone on Saturday by cover-driving Broad for four. Anderson too struggled to impose himself and North’s pulled four off the Lancashire seamer took Australia past 500.
   All the while Anderson and Broad were failing to break through, the clamour for Stephen Harmison to be recalled grew.
   Harmison, England’s fastest bowler, had been dropped in the Caribbean earlier this year but did take six wickets for the England Lions last week.
   And even when Andrew Flintoff came on, to the delight of the crowd, the all-rounder was elegantly driven down the ground for four by Haddin.
   England spinners Monty Panesar and Graeme Swann did cause a few problems but neither they nor the new-ball could separate Australia’s sixth-wicket duo.

Two members of the depleted West Indies squad taking part in the opening Test against Bangladesh have breached contracts with the West Indies Players Management Company.
   Dinanath Ramnarine, executive president of the West Indies Players Association, which has formed the WIPMC as a subsidiary to control the players intellectual and image rights, has disclosed that left-arm spinner Nikita Miller and uncapped fast bowler Nelon Pascal have breached their contracts with the company.
   But Ramnarine said WIPMC would take no action against the two players or the West Indies Cricket Board for this infraction.
   ‘They have signed over their IP and image rights to WIPMC and they cannot just accept an offer to play for the West Indies,’ said Ramnarine.
   ‘Obviously, they just cannot sell their rights by signing contracts with the West Indies Cricket Board.
   ‘The WICB must negotiate this with WIPMC. But we would leave this and just allow it to pass at this point, there are bigger issues to deal with.’
   The players’ chief also disclosed that no action would be taken against the players that have chosen to play in the match.
   The WICB was forced to assemble a new-look squad, after 13 players named last Monday to play in the Test – including regular captain Chris Gayle, vice captain Denesh Ramdin, senior batsmen Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan, as well as key fast bowler Jerome Taylor – chose to make themselves unavailable to protest pay and contract issues.
   ‘Those very players would be represented by WIPA if they have an issue with the WICB,’ said Ramnarine.
   ‘We are not going to do anything about the fact that they have decided to play for the West Indies at this point in time.’
   He added: ‘We are an association that represents the players and we are not about the business of making it harder for them.
   ‘Everyone has a choice as to what they do and those guys decided to play for the West Indies and we just have to respect this.’
   The new-look 15-member squad, captained by long-standing Barbadian batsman Floyd Reifer, includes 11 players without Test experience.
   Only Reifer, Tino Best, Darren Sammy and David Bernard Jr have previously played in Tests.
   But the return of the established players looks unlikely, after a meeting between the two sides on Thursday ended after just 23 minutes.
   Ramnarine feels that some progress has been made in the dispute, but the WICB seems to be sticking to their guns, and not budging on a number of issues.
   A news release from the WICB stated that its negotiators headed by vice-president Dave Cameron were not going to kowtow to the bullying tactics of WIPA.
   ‘WICB [has] impressed upon WIPA that it was not prepared, consistent with good industrial relations practices, to negotiate under duress, and insisted that before any good faith negotiations commenced, the players’ strike would first have to end,’ said the news release.
   ‘As an act of good faith, the WICB has determined that, in the best interest of West Indies cricket, it will pay to its former players the sums it had offered to pay during its previous negotiations with WIPA.’
   But Ramnarine felt the situation did not have to deteriorate to this point if the WICB had followed through on various agreements.
   ‘Players have been fulfilling their obligations and not being compensated for them, and that can’t be right,’ he said.
   Bangladesh play two Tests, three One-day Internationals, and a Twenty20 International on their five-week tour of the Caribbean.

A seaming wicket and steaming hot conditions have forced Pakistan and Sri Lanka to delay naming their teams for the crucial second Test starting today.
   The hard, even-paced track at the P Sara Oval, livened up by the ongoing monsoon rains, was described by curator Aniruddha Polonowita as similar to the one at Galle where the first Test ended inside four days.
   ‘Its a Galle-like wicket that will help the seamers at the start and then settle down in favour of the batsmen,’ Polonowita told reporters.
   ‘It will be best for batting on the second and third day, and there could be a bit of help for the spinners towards the end.’
   Sri Lanka won the first Test by 50 runs after a dramatic fourth morning when Pakistan, needing 97 runs to reach the target of 168, lost their last eight wickets for 46 runs to be bowled out for 117.
   Another win for a decisive 2-0 lead in the three-match series will hand Sri Lanka their first ever Test series success at home against Pakistan.
   Both Sri Lankan captain Kumar Sangakkara and Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam said a further inspection of the wicket and the prevailing weather — rain has been forecast during the match — was needed before the teams were finalised.
   ‘We have a couple of options, like playing an extra fast bowler or not, but we will have a look at the deck on Sunday morning and decide,’ said Sangakkara.
   ‘You always choose the team based on how the wicket will play. It looks a good one which should help both the batsmen and bowlers.’
   Alam said the oppressively hot and humid weather would force fast bowlers to bowl in short bursts, meaning the combination had to be carefully finalised for the must-win game for Pakistan.
   ‘It is premature to say what our line-up will be,’ said Alam. ‘All I will say is these are trying conditions. It is definitely hotter here than Galle.’
   Sangakkara said the victory in the first Test had given his team a psychological advantage going into the match, but warned team-mates against taking another win for granted.
   ‘When you win one, you always have that edge for the next game, but it’s a new Test and a new start,’ he said. ‘What happened a week ago will really not matter when the first ball is bowled.’
   Sangakkara wanted an improved batting performance by his team after totals of 292 and 217 in the Galle Test.
   ‘It is vital to have a big first innings score and very important that all 11 players contribute towards that.’
   Alam hoped Pakistan’s batsmen had learnt from the mistakes they made in Galle, but was confident the series would not be conceded easily.
   ‘It hurt to lose a game we dominated on the first three days and then gave it away in one session,’ the Pakistan coach said. ‘It was bad batting and we have to get it right this time.
   ‘I have enough confidence that this group has the ability to fight back. Pakistan is known to come back when the chips are down. It all boils down to how quickly the boys have learnt from their mistakes.’

Bangladesh Cricket Board on Saturday selected 19 young pace bowlers for the National Pace Foundation Camp Phase-1 which will commence from July 14. The selected pacers have been requested to report to Project Operation and Logistic Officer Shahidul Islam at the BKSP by 3:30pm on July 13.
   The selected players are: Abdullah Al Imran (BKSP), Belal Hossain (Chittagong), Golam Kabir Sohail (Barisal), Mirajul Haque (Chittagong), Niamul Hassan (Dhaka), Rizwanur Rahman (Sylhet), Taskin Ahmed (Dhaka), Tauhidul Islam (Barisal), Victor Barua (Chittagong), Zahidul Islam (Dhaka), Al Hamim (Dhaka), Nazmus Sakib (Rajshahi), Giasuddin (Khulna), Arman Badshah (BKSP), Kamrul Islam (Barisal), Masum Khan (Khulna), Shahadat Hossain (Chittagong), Shahjahan Tipu (Dhaka) and Mobassir Khan (Rajshahi).

Ascent Group proved their prowess in the 4th Ascent Group 5-a-side Indoor Soccer Tournament when they registered two crucial victories at the STM Hall of Scholastica at Uttara on Saturday. Ascent Group swamped City Bank Ltd 8-0 in their first game and then beat another powerhouse IIDFC 2-1 in their second match of the day.
   In the day’s other matches, BRAC Bank outclassed BRAC Dairy 9-1, Beximco Pharma thumped Rahimafrooz 9-2, Radio Foorti rolled over Olympic Industries 9-2.
   The results of the 2nd day
   BRAC Bank – 9 : BRAC Dairy – 1
   Ascent Group – 8 : City Bank Ltd – 0
   Windmill – 2 : Nestle – 1
   IDLC – 9 : Pramanyo Com – 1
   Standard Chartered Bank – 2 : Abdul Monem Securities – 0
   Beximco Pharma – 9 : Rahimafrooz – 2
   Nokia – 2 : Dhaka Bank – 2
   Banglalink – 4 : Daily Star – 1
   Union Capital – 7 : Flora Telecom – 0
   BAT – 1 : Securex – 0
   Multimode – 1 : Aktel – 1
   Radisson – 2 : Citycell – 2
   HSBC – 4 : Novartis – 0
   Radio Foorti – 9 : Olympic Industries – 2
   Westin – 3 : Grey – 1
   Gemcon – 2 : Commercial Bank of Ceylon – 2
   Ispahani – 7 : BRAC Dairy – 0
   Ascent Group – 2 : IIDFC – 1
   Nestle – 1: HRC – 0

The residential camp of the Bangladesh national football team will start from Monday instead of Sunday as all the players requested the team management to give them rest for another day.
   The national footballers finished their three-week conditioning camp at Cox’s Bazar on Friday and after a one-day rest on Saturday they were supposed to join the camp at BKSP today.

Sri Lanka Cricket on Friday announced the dates and venues for New Zealand’s Test tour and a one-day tri-series also featuring India in August-September.
   New Zealand tour:
   Aug 4: New Zealand arrive in Colombo
   Aug 7-9: Three-day match, Colombo
   Aug 12-14: Three-day match, Colombo
   Aug 18-22: First Test, Galle
   Aug 26-30: Second Test, Sinhalese sports club, Colombo
   Sept 2: Twenty20 international, Colombo
   Sept 4: Twenty20 international, Colombo
   Tri-series (IND, NZL, SRI) at Premadasa stadium, Colombo:
   Sept 8: Sri Lanka v New Zealand
   Sept 10: India v Sri Lanka
   Sept 12: India v New Zealand
   Sept 14: Final

England’s negative attitude and flat bowling in the first Test are bad signs for the rest of the Ashes series, the Australian media said Saturday.
   The Australians regained the initiative in the Ashes opener and at stumps on the third day in Cardiff were 479 for five — a lead of 44 runs with two days to play.
   The Aussie press ripped into the England bowlers for their impotency as skipper Ricky Ponting (150) and opener Simon Katich (122) scored centuries and vice-captain Michael Clarke (83) came to close to three figures.
   ‘This (English bowling) quintet has been at it now for days and has hardly made an impression,’ The Australian’s Malcolm Conn said.
   ‘If modest Australian tweaker Nathan Hauritz can turn the ball past wicket-keeper Brad Haddin nine overs into the second day of a Test, and finish with three wickets, (spinners) Graeme Swann and Monty Panesar should feel humiliated by their lack of penetration.
   ‘Likewise (pacemen) Jimmy Anderson and Stuart Broad look like the bowlers the Australians always thought they were — lively, flaky, unreliable.’
   Former Australian Test spinner Greg Matthews said he feared for England over the remainder of the Ashes series.
   ‘They had a great opportunity to really put Australia under pressure on a wicket that was doing plenty,’ said Matthews, a panellist on the SBS TV match coverage.
   ‘That didn’t happen. The bowling was flat today (Friday).’
   Matthews also criticised the captaincy of Andrew Strauss and his field placings. ‘I don’t find Andrew Strauss a particularly motivating character. England’s field placings were wrong and they bowled poorly,’ he said.
   Former Test leg-spinner Stuart MacGill queried England’s attitude in the face of Australia’s steadily accumulating first innings.
   ‘I fear for the series, because it’s not about England’s playing stock or Australia having a good team. Australia have issues of their own. It’s about England’s attitude,’ 2005 tourist MacGill said on SBS TV.
   ‘The Australians are starting to realise that this is not the same as 2005 (series).
   ‘England look tired. They look as though if the momentum is going their way they will be okay, but if it turns they are in trouble.’
   England regained the Ashes 2-1 in the 2005 series in England, but Australia took back the urn after a 5-0 series whitewash at home in 2006-07.
   Veteran ABC cricket broadcaster Jim Maxwell said Australia have the opportunity go on and win the opening Test.
   ‘This has been a focused batting performance that underlines Australia’s intent, and if the rain stays away there’s an opportunity to press England in its second innings,’ Maxwell said on the ABC web-site.

Convinced that Sourav Ganguly was unfit for Twenty20 cricket, former Kolkata Knight Riders coach John Buchanan had asked the left-hander to quit after the first edition of the Indian Premier League.
   In his latest book ‘The Future of Cricket: The rise of Twenty20’, Buchanan revealed that he had advised Ganguly to quit Twenty20 even though the then Knight Riders captain refused to oblige.
   ‘At the end of the (inaugural IPL) tournament I told something he did not want to hear. ‘I really think your game was off the pace and the more you play T20, the more harm you will do yourself,’ I told him.
   ‘Sourav responded to my frank assessment by claiming he had at least one more year of 20-over cricket in him. He told me his main aim was to get into the Test side against Australia, an aim he did achieve before announcing his Test retirement,’ Buchanan observed.
   ‘He basically said to me: ‘Thank you for your concerns, but I don’t agree with what you are saying’.’
   Buchanan felt the advent of Twenty20 was a bit late for players like him and that it would have harmed the brand that Ganguly himself was.
   ‘...Ganguly had created an incredible brand for himself in India. It might seem strange, but this is why I question his suitability for and need to play T20. I am concerned that he will erode his brand, his stature, by playing in the IPL,’ Buchanan said.
   Overall, the Australian finds Ganguly ‘a man of contradictions’ but in the same breath he also says the left-hander is ‘a fascinating character’ and ‘psychologists would find him intriguing.’
   The 56-year-old former Australia coach confessed he could not understand Ganguly till the end of the inaugural IPL season.
   ‘Our captain Sourav Ganguly, the Prince of Kolkata, or Dada as he is affectionately nicknamed, is a fascinating character, a man of contradictions. I am sure psychologists would find him intriguing,’ he said.
   ‘I found him a gentleman to work with yet I finished the tournament still feeling I didn’t know him,’ he said.
   Buchanan also tried to explain Ganguly’s habit of turning up late for the toss in the 2004 series against Australia which infuriated rival captain Steve Waugh.
   ‘I went into the IPL with an open mind about Sourav, who had been an antagonist of Australian sides I coached. He is a lovely person but he lives in his own world.’
   ‘He used to drive Stephen Waugh crazy by being late for the toss. That might have been partly strategic, but also he was simply unaware of its importance.’
   ‘He would be in the rooms, in his own world, when he would be told it was time for the toss. He would not be ready and would have to get changed before meeting his by-now irritated opposing captain,’ he said.
   Buchanan insisted Ganguly’s trait of irritating the opposition was not always pre-meditated.
   ‘Ganguly has always had the ability to mentally unsettle his opponents. It was not always by design but Waugh saw it as lack of respect and common courtesy.
   ‘At times, I feel Sourav is guilty of that, but on the other occasions, I believe he is simply in his own world and loses track of time. He gives off impression that everything will happen in good time, but it will be in his good time. He is not too concerned about other people’s views about him,’ he said.
   Buchanan said Ganguly was ‘not arrogant’ but ‘mercurial’ as far as his habit of reaching late was concerned.
   ‘...that is not to say he is arrogant. I have always found him very humble, polite and respectful, but to have him somewhere arrive on time... Well, let’s just say he was mercurial,’ he added.

Rahul Dravid seems set for a return to ODIs with his name featuring in the list of 30 probables for the Champions Trophy beginning on September 22. Dravid, if picked to the Champions Trophy squad scheduled to be announced on or before August 24, will play his first one-day since October 2007. ‘It feels good to be in the mix of things,’ Dravid said on the sidelines of a promotional event here.
   Dravid also wished former India skipper Sunil Gavaskar on his 60th birthday that fell on Friday. ‘Gavaskar was an inspiration to many, including me and I wish him all the best on this special day,’ Dravid added.
   Talking about the state of sports other than cricket, Dravid said: ‘The magnitude of the popularity of cricket is such that it overshadows other sports. But there will definitely be more support and media coverage for other sports if stars emerge,’ he said.
   ‘Abhinav Bindra’s performance at the Olympics, Saina Nehwal in badminton and Sania Mirza in tennis have raisedthe profile of the sports they play,’ Dravid added.

Miffed at John Buchanan’s stinging criticism of great cricketers like Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar, former India captain Sourav Ganguly on Friday said the controversial Australian coach should have refrained from badmouthing the Indians.
   ‘It’s not only Gavaskar, there have been quite a few names...I think, we Indians are used to it now. It’s unfortunate and we just got to deal with it,’ the former captain told reporters during a promotional event here.In his recently-released book titled The Future of Cricket: The Rise of Twenty20, Buchanan has taken swipes at
   some of the big names of Indian cricket including Gavaskar, Tendulkar, Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh and Harbhajan Singh.
   ‘I have not read the book...I just have seen some bits on the internet and I feel all these things are not required. He should not have written such things,’ Ganguly said. He said people respectBuchanan for his World Cup success and he should have refrained from such exercise.
   ‘He has done well for Australia as a coach and people hold him in high esteem. He should not have done this. I don’t think this should have happened,’ Ganguly said. The left-hander also took the occasion to wish Gavaskar on his 60th birthday.
   Asked about his comments on ICC chief David Morgan’s suggestion of making Test cricket a four-day affair, the Bengal 37-year-old said, ‘I don’t know whether there will be four-day Tests. For me, Test cricket is still five days and that’s why it’s Test cricket.’

Pakistan has sought clarification over an invitation to attend a World Cup 2011 organising committee meeting as it continues a legal challenge to being stripped of matches.
   The Central Organising Committee of the World Cup 2011 meets in Mumbai on Tuesday to decide the fate of Pakistan’s share of 14 matches which were moved out of the troubled country over security fears.
   ‘The invitation has raised certain legal issues in our mind for which we have sought clarifications from the COC and once they are addressed a decision will be taken whether to attend the meeting or not,’ Pakistan Cricket Board legal adviser Taffazul Rizvi told AFP.
   The International Cricket Council stripped Pakistan of the fixtures in April following a terrorist attack on the Sri Lankan team bus in Lahore a month earlier, leaving India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh as the remaining co-hosts.
   The attacks, which left seven players and their assistant coach injured and eight people dead, ended any chance of Pakistan hosting international cricket with teams already refusing to tour over security fears.
   The PCB initiated legal proceedings against the move and the relocation of the World Cup secretariat from Lahore to Mumbai.
   A civil court in Lahore gave a stay order against the relocation of the secretariat and the PCB put its proceedings on hold in an effort to solve the issue through talks between the four host countries and the ICC.
   But a summit in England last month failed to resolve the issue and local media reported the PCB was reluctant to attend the COC meeting as it re-started its legal case.
   The ICC has ruled out the possibility of matches being staged in the United Arab Emirates, where Pakistan has previously played ‘home’ international matches.

Two-time defending champion Fabrice Santoro won back-to-back matches Friday to reach the semi-finals of the rain-hit 500,000 dollar ATP Hall of Fame Tennis Championships.
   Both the second and quarter-final rounds were completed Friday due to a number of weather delays.
   France’s Santoro defeated American Taylor Dent 7-6 (7/5), 6-4 in the second round before registering a 6-4, 6-4 win over countryman Nicolas Mahut later in the day on the grass courts.
   Mahut cruised past American journeyman Alex Bogomolov 6-2, 6-2 in the second round. Santoro’s next faces third-seeded American Sam Querrey in the semi-finals. Querrey rallied to beat Prakash Amritraj 6-7 (7/9), 6-3, 6-2, in the second round, then breezed past seventh-seeded American Kevin Kim, 6-3, 6-4. Kim stopped German Daniel Brands, 4-6, 7-6 (7/5), 6-4, in the second round.

Former Test bowler Darren Gough called on Saturday for Steve Harmison to be restored to England’s pace attack for the second Ashes Test at Lord’s.
   The 38-year-old said England desperately needed a genuine fast bowler - such as Harmison who was one of the heroes of the 2005 Ashes triumph - to prevent Australia taking a grip on the series.
   He told the Daily Mail newspaper: ‘Where is Steve Harmison? We keep saying ‘he doesn’t like touring, he doesn’t like this, he doesn’t like that’.
   ‘He should be playing. He’s a wicket taker. He bowls aggressively and, on this sort of pitch, you can’t have bowlers bowling little swingers to try to get Australia out.
   ‘You need someone with raw pace who might get wickets on this sort of pitch.’
   ‘I’m sorry, but no way. Andrew Flintoff was bowling at 93 mph and the keeper was about four yards back,’ he said.
   ‘When Broad was bowling, the speed cameras must have been turned up because there’s no way he was bowling at 94 mph. Flintoff was, Broad wasn’t.’

Davis Cup superpowers USA and Russia stood on the brink of elimination on Friday after Croatia and unheralded Israel swept to 2-0 leads in their respective quarter-finals.
   The 32-time champions USA, missing injured Wimbledon finalist Andy Roddick, lost both opening singles rubbers against 2005 winners Croatia in Porec after Ivo Karlovic had come from two-sets down to defeat James Blake 6-7 (5/7), 4-6, 6-3, 7-6 (7/3), 7-5.
   Marin Cilic then outlasted Mardy Fish in another five-setter winning 4-6, 6-3, 6-7 (3/7), 6-1, 8-6 in a match that lasted 4 hours and 23 minutes and finished at one o’clock in the morning local time.
   ‘It was a very long match and it was not easy for me. I was very nervous at the start since I was playing in front of the local crowd,’ said Karlovic, the world number 27.
   ‘I needed some time to relax and then I achieved one of the most important victories in my career.’
   The Americans are bidding to defeat Croatia for the first time, having lost to them in the first round in 2003 and 2005.
   Meanwhile, in Tel Aviv, Israel were on the verge of reaching the semi-finals for the first time when they opened up a 2-0 lead over two-time champions Russia.
   Harel Levy and Dudi Sela stunned the 2002 and 2006 winners as Israel celebrated their first quarter-final appearance since 1987 in style.
   Levy, world ranked at 210, gave the hosts the lead by beating world 24 Igor Andreev 6-4, 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 before Sela, ranked No. 33, saw off Mikhail Youzhny 3-6, 6-1, 6-0, 7-5.
   Israel can clinch their semi-final place on Saturday if doubles team Andy Ram and Jonathan Erlich can see off Marat Safin and Igor Kunitsyn.
   ‘This is a bit of a surprise. We knew that the Israeli guys can play well, but Harel was excellent and it was a bit of a sensational result in the first match. Dudi also looks good,’ said Youzhny.
   In Marbella, Germany fought back against defending champions Spain when Philipp Kohlschreiber beat Tommy Robredo 6-3, 6-4, 6-4 after world number nine Fernando Verdasco had struggled to defeat Andreas Beck 6-0, 3-6, 6-7 (4/7), 6-2, 6-1.
   Spain are without injured world number two Rafael Nadal while the Germans, also three-time champions, are without their number one Tommy Haas.
   Kohlschreiber, who hit 33 winners against Robredo, had lost his four previous meetings with the Spaniard.
   ‘I am not a stupid player; if I lose to a player I try to figure out what to do the next time - sometimes it takes more than four times to do that,’ he said.
   In Ostrava, the Czech Republic and 2008 runners-up Argentina were level at 1-1.
   Tomas Berdych gave the home side the lead by beating Juan Monaco 6-4, 2-6, 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 before world number five Juan Martin del Potro eased past Ivo Minar 6-1, 6-3, 6-3.

Tennis star Sania Mirza shed her single status on Friday evening. But while she got engaged to childhood friend Sohrab Mirza, scion of a Hyderabadi business family, wedding bells are unlikely to ring for at least the next two years.
   The engagement, held in Hyderabad, was a strictly private affair away from the prying eyes of the media. In fact, Sania’s father Imran Mirza politely asked the media not to cover the event.
   According to a source close to the Mirzas, the family had sent out about 300 invitations with ‘admit one’ written on them. Most of the invitations were sent to relatives and friends. Television actress Rakshanda Khan and tennis star Mahesh Bhupathi were said to be at the event apart from a few Telugu film stars and, of course, Sania’s sponsors, the GVK family. The engagement event, too, was held at a five-star hotel owned by the GVK group.
   The engagement programme lasted about an hour with ‘Ek Masad Ka Rasam’ as the main event. As part of this, the families of the bride and groom sit on a carpet and make the bride and groom exchange rings. ‘The groom brought about 11 pairs of clothes for the bride apart from several boxes of dry fruits and jewellery,’ the source said.
   With several youngsters creating a commotion at Sania’s residence in the posh Banjara Hills last week, the city police had made elaborate security arrangements at the engagement venue to thwart any further attempts by miscreants. ‘The Mirzas were never interested in making the engagement a big event,’ the source said. ‘Since they were keen on making it a religious event, there was no scope for TV cameras to capture the visuals.’
   Sohrab Mirza, the groom, aged 23, will be travelling to London shortly to pursue his MBA. He will formally marry Sania only after completing his education. His father owns a chain of popular bakeries in the city. The family migrated from Iran many years ago and lives in Anand Nagar in the heart of the city.

Italian Rinaldo Nocentini took over the Tour de France yellow jersey as Spaniard Alberto Contador dramatically replaced Astana teammate Lance Armstrong in second place overall on Friday.
   On the first of three consecutive days in the Pyrenees mountains Frenchman Brice Feillu upset the form book to claim an impressive victory after 224km of racing from Barcelona. However, it was Contador’s attack of a small group containing all the main favourites inside the final two kilometres of the 10.1km climb to Arcalis which provided the most drama.
   The Spaniard’s effort moved him up from third to second place overall at only six seconds behind Nocentini, and well within sight of the race lead.
   Astana team manager Johan Bruyneel said their principal strategy had been to allow an early breakaway to go all the way to the finish.
   But he played down suggestions that Contador’s attack was designed to rubber stamp his status as the team’s official leader.
   ‘No one had specific instructions to attack,’ said Bruyneel, who added that he would have been happier if Nocentini had more of an advantage on Contador.
   ‘Six seconds is not a lot. We’d hoped for a bit more.
   ‘Our second strategy was just to set the tempo and wait for the attacks. I thought a rider like (Carlos) Sastre, (Cadel) Evans or (Andy) Schleck might attack.
   ‘But I think the wind was a factor. In the end it was good for us because it allowed us to keep the team more or less together.’
   Feillu, racing at the Tour for the first time and the brother of Agritubel teammate Romain, attacked a small group of frontrunners 5.8km from the finish of the 10.1km climb to the race’s first summit finish.
   A second peloton including all the yellow jersey contenders at that point trailed the frontrunners by around five minutes.
   After a first attack from two-time Tour de France runner-up Cadel Evans, Armstrong and Contador’s Astana team took things in hand.
   Evans’ brief acceleration was easily countered by Armstrong, and after an attempt by the Australian’s teammate Jurgen Van den Broeck, Contador flew away from the group and went on to finish the race on his own.
   It was initially announced that the Spaniard, the 2007 champion, had done enough to take over the yellow jersey after he came over the finish 3:26 behind Feillu and ahead of Armstrong’s group.
   That honour, however, went to Nocentini, who rides for the French AG2R team.
   ‘I knew I had a chance of taking the yellow jersey today,’ said Nocentini, racing at his first Tour after years of asking his AG2R manager.
   Overnight leader Fabian Cancellara of the Saxo Bank team dropped down the overall standings after struggling to keep pace with the chasing peloton.
   Feillu showed his ambition by jumping into an early breakaway that worked together to build a lead of over 13 minutes on the peloton.
   Because it contained no real yellow jersey favourites - Nocentini started the day 3:13 behind Cancellara - they were allowed to race ahead.
   At the end, a well-timed acceleration allowed him to distance his breakaway rivals and soon he was racing on his own towards the biggest win of his career.
   ‘I can’t believe it! It’s my first Tour and now I’ve won a stage. In fact, it’s my first victory of the year,’ said the 24-year-old.

Iraq won the first international football match in the country since the US-led invasion in 2003, beating the Palestinian national football team 3-0 in a friendly on Friday.
   The opening goal in the game at Francois Hariri stadium in the northern city of Arbil, in Iraq’s autonomous region of Kurdistan, was let in by Palestinian player Hussam Fadi in the 20th minute.
   Yunus Mahmud struck Iraq’s second in the 55th minute and Luay Falah completed Iraq’s evening with a 90th-minute goal.
   ‘This match is the first step towards ending the ban imposed by FIFA on international matches in Iraq because of the situation our country was going through,’ Najih Hmud, vice-president of the Iraqi football association, said when the Arbil fixture was announced.
   The Asian Football Confederation and FIFA, football’s world governing body, both gave their approval for the game.
   ‘The match is an expression of the Palestinian commitment to breaking the siege of Iraq and to celebrating with Iraqis the departure of American forces from Iraqi cities,’ Jibril Rajub, head of the Palestinian football association, told reporters.
   The two sides will meet again on Monday in Baghdad’s al-Shaab stadium.
   The Iraqi national team won the Asian Cup in 2007 but last month, under new Serbian coach Bora Milutinovic, they crashed out of the Confederations Cup in South Africa without scoring a single goal. After visiting Iraq the Palestinian team will head to China for a friendly on July 18.
   Rajub, who gained a reputation for toughness as chief of the Palestinian Authority’s feared preventive security agency, has been actively promoting football since becoming federation head in May 2008.
   Last year under his leadership the federation financed the construction of a stadium in the West Bank town of Al-Ram outside Jerusalem and the team played its first ever home match against Jordan in October.
   Palestine has been affiliated to FIFA since 1998, even though the Israeli-occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip do not have statehood. Games are broadcast to the Arab world by the Saudi-owned ART television network.

English Premier League club Manchester City have given up on a potential move for Barcelona’s Cameroon striker Samuel Eto’o,
   Barcelona had last week appeared to accept Eto’o was on his way to Eastlands, but a contractual hitch emerged between the club and the forward, who scored in the Champions League final win over Manchester United.
   City said they have now called off any move for the 28-year-old, who is set to see out the final year of his Barcelona contract.
   ‘Samuel Eto’o is undoubtedly a fine footballer but the circumstances surrounding him were such that the deal could not be completed,’ City chief executive Garry Cook told club website www.mcfc.co.uk.
   ‘We now feel the time is right to pursue other avenues. We have a clear strategic transfer plan, which we continue to follow.’
   Last month Barcelona said they had received a ‘stratospheric’ offer for Eto’o, believed to be from City, but the Catalan club’s chairman Joan Laporta said he wanted the star to stay put.
   Spanish media have indicated wage demands of some ten million euros a year were frightening off top clubs.

Defending world champion Lewis Hamilton topped the times again in Saturday morning’s third and final free practice session ahead of Sunday’s German Grand Prix.
   The 24-year-old Englishman, driving a Mercedes-Benz powered McLaren, clocked a best time of one minute and 31.121 seconds to outpace his nearest rival, two-times champion Spaniard Fernando Alonso of Renault, by two-tenths of a second.
   Brazilian Felipe Massa of Ferrari was third fastest ahead of local hero German Sebastian Vettel, 22, and his Red Bull team-mate Australian Mark Webber. Finn Kimi Raikkonen, in the second Ferrari, was sixth.
   The two Brawn GP cars of championship leading Briton Jenson Button and his team-mate Brazilian Rubens Barrichello were content to work on final settings ahead of Saturday afternoon’s qualifying session and clocked the 11th and 13th best times respectively.
   All this gave the time-sheets a slightly unrealistic order particularly as Hamilton’s McLaren team-mate Finn Heikki Kovalainen was a full 1.6 seconds slower than his partner and wound up 16th.
   That disparity confirmed that Hamilton was running with a light fuel load in order to clock fast laps and enthuse the German crowd packed into the circuit in the Eifel mountains to support Mercedes-Benz.
   And while Hamilton enjoyed his second session on top, it was bad news for BMW Sauber - also trying to impress their home crowd - as the Munich-badged team struggled badly.
   Pole Robert Kubica ended up as the slowest driver in 20th place and a team source admitted: ‘There are no excuses. We are just slow, far too slow.’
   The afternoon qualifying is likely to see a return to this season’s normal order with Button competing with Vettel for pole position.
   Button leads the title race with 64 points ahead of his team-mate Barrichello on 41. Vettel, winner of last month’s British Grand Prix and widely regarded as the rising star in F1 and a potential German successor to Michael Schumacher, is third on 39 points with Webber fourth on 35.5.
   In the constructors championship, Brawn have 105 points and Red Bull 74.5.

Real Madrid’s extravagant spending risks inflating transfer fees and pushing soccer clubs towards bankruptcy or into the hands of organised crime, Vatican newspaper Osservatore Romano warned Saturday.
   The return of Florentino Perez to the Real presidency sparked a spending spree of some 215 million euros (184.6 million pounds) on Portugal winger Cristiano Ronaldo, Brazil playmaker Kaka, French striker Karim Benzema and defender Raul Albiol so far in the close season.
   ‘It is good to ask oneself whether the figures paid by Real Madrid’s president in a period of economic and financial crisis are justifiable from a purely economic viewpoint or whether they are inexplicable even under market laws,’ read an editorial by Gaetano Vallini.
   ‘It is also necessary to see whether they are compatible with, or destabilising for, the soccer world.
   The editorial quoted an OECD report that warned the sport is in danger of being infiltrated by organised crime.
   ‘The risk is that of giving life to an upward (price) spiral in a global economic situation that calls for more sobriety despite the holes in the balance sheets of many clubs, with the increasingly realistic possibility of ending up bankrupt, or in the hands of criminal organisations ready to invest their earnings from illegal activity in football.’

Brazilian striker Jo on Friday agreed to join Everton on a season-long loan deal from Premier League rivals Manchester City.
   The 22-year-old, who signed for City for 18 million pounds from CSKA Moscow last summer, spent five months on loan at Goodison Park last term and scored five times in 12 appearances.
   He was expected to return to City but the
   arrival of Roque Santa
   Cruz from Blackburn has put his future at Eastlands in doubt.
   Everton, who will play in the Europa League this season, have also been given permission to hold talks with Sheffield United full-back Kyle Naughton after a 4.5-million-pound fee was agreed between the clubs.

The trial began in an Abidjan court Friday of nine people held responsible for a stampede in an Ivory Coast football stadium that left 20 dead and more than 130 injured in March.
   Albert Kacou Anzouan, president of the Ivorian Football Federation’s match organising committee, appeared in the dock alongside the FIF’s director general and chief accountant, Ardjouma Kone and Andoh Beugre, with six other defendants.
   Anzouan is accused of manslaughter and involuntary injuries, swindling and complicity in forgery and using forged papers, according to the charge sheet presented in court.
   ‘I don’t acknowledge the counts of manslaughter and involuntary injuries,’ he said in the dock, explaining that some tasks had been outsourced by the FIF to other authorities. ‘I was not in charge of security.’
   Three members of the Defence and Security Forces who were in charge of crowd control were absent from the hearing, but state prosecutor Raymond Tchimou said late in May that it was for the Supreme Court to rule which jurisdiction they come under.
   The March 29 stampede took place at Abidjan’s Houphouet-Boigny stadium before a 2010 World Cup qualifying match between Ivory Coast and Mali. The government has set up a national commission of enquiry into the disaster.
   The state prosecutor has blamed the stampede on a ‘lack of coordination for safety measures’ and also accuses FIF leaders of having set up a parallel ticket agency for the match which swelled the crowd.
   President Laurent Gbagbo called the tragedy ‘an unprecedented drama in our history’ and declared three national days of mourning.
   Fans, desperate for a rare chance to see their idols who normally play for European clubs, forced their way through the gates of the 35,000 capacity stadium and tumbled down the steps of the terracing to be crushed by those behind.
   Many supporters had tickets and were angry at being refused entry, witnesses said, accusing the security forces of taking bribes to let loads of ticketless people into the match.

Lance Armstrong brushed off any concerns after Astana team-mate Alberto Contador usurped him to move into second place in the Tour de France’s general classification on Friday.
   Contador, the 2007 Tour winner, is now second overall, six seconds behind new yellow jersey holder Rinaldo Nocentini, while Armstrong is eight seconds off the pace in third after the stage from Barcelona to Andorra.
   Earlier in the week, Armstrong made strong hints he will aim for an eighth Tour de France crown, but Contador’s move on the 224km stage up to the tiny Principality puts the Spaniard’s ambitions back in the spotlight.
   ‘Things didn’t really go according to the plan we mapped out before,’ said Armstrong.
   ‘I was a little surprised, but it doesn’t matter. Like I said yesterday, I expected him to assert himself in the race and he did that.’
   While Contador finished the stage 3:26 behind Nocentini, Armstrong and his group came over the finish at 3:47, but there were no spectacular performances from the race’s main yellow jersey contenders.
   Contador looked strong when he launched an attack inside the stage’s last two kilometres, while Armstrong was content to stay in touch with yellow jersey rivals Cadel Evans of Australia, Andy Schleck of Luxembourg and Spain’s defending champion Carlos Sastre.
   ‘When you’ve got a guy away, like I’ve said all along, you just got to stay on one wheel,’ said Armstrong.
   ‘Schleck put in some good moves, Cadel put in some good moves, but you gotta just stay on the wheel - that’s bike racing.
   ‘It’s not a very steep climb, so the speed was quite high.’
   But the seven-times Tour de France winner said he was feeling good after the steep 10.1km climb up to Andorra’s Arcalis ski station.
   ‘I feel good, it was a fine day, I think overall we’re fine as a team,’ said cancer-survivor Armstrong.
   ‘It may be tough, it’s high and the elevation hurts, but I don’t feel as tired as I thought I’d be.’
   Team manager Johan Bruyneel said he had not given the team a specific plan to attack and said Contador had acted on his own initiative.
   ‘We didn’t have a specific plan to attack, our plan was to maintain our collective strength first and wait for attacks from the others,’ said Bruyneel.
   ‘Alberto counter-attacked after an attack, our plan had been for the riders to communicate and respond.
   ‘No one had specific instructions to go out and attack,’ he added.
   ‘I had no race radio at that time or TV, so it was something they decided themselves.’

Manchester City will complete the signing of Carlos Tevez before going on their pre-season tour of South Africa on Wednesday.
   The Argentinean hitman, 25, has finished his holidays and is now committed to the move across town from Old Trafford after becoming a free agent.
   City are just clearing up the red tape surrounding the third-party ownership of a player which, Premier League chiefs insist, must come to an end.
   The club will pay owner Kia Joorabchian 26.5 million pounds to sever ties so the player will become City’s property, The Sun reports.
   He had previously been on a two-year six million pound loan to Manchester United, but the Red Devils dragged their feet on making him a permanent signing.
   Tevez has since criticised boss Alex Ferguson for leaving him out of many big games.
   Tevez will join fellow new signings Roque Santa Cruz and Gareth Barry at Eastlands.

Manchester City defender Micah Richards is making a good recovery from swine flu after contracting the illness while on holiday in Cyprus.
   The 21-year-old has been confined to his hotel room but his publicist Max Clifford says he is making progress.
   ‘He is fine, he is virtually back to his old self now and he can’t wait to get back,’ Clifford told the BBC.
   ‘To my knowledge he’s the first professional footballer to get swine flu, so he’s made a bit of history.’
   The England international revealed to The Sun newspaper he caught the virus while on holiday in Ayia Napa, where he was relaxing after helping England reach the final of the Under-21 European Championships in Sweden – a match they lost 4-0 to Germany.
   ‘At first I thought it was a really bad chest infection, or maybe alcohol poisoning,’ he told The Sun.
   ‘I felt so weak that I couldn’t move or eat. My friends had to bring me drinks in bed.
   ‘When I was told I had swine flu all sorts of things started going through my mind. You see on the news people dying of it.’
   Richards, who was due to fly home on Wednesday, is taking Tamiflu medication while in isolation in a five-star hotel in the Cypriot party resort on the south east coast and hopes to be able to return to Britain on Sunday.
   ‘My club have been very understanding. I’ll get some stick from the lads when I do return – they will probably all turn up to training in surgical masks.
   ‘No-one out there is so fit and healthy they can’t catch swine flu. If I can get it, anyone can.’
   The British government said Wednesday that 9,718 cases of swine flu had been confirmed since the disease reached the country in late April, and so far 15 people have died from the illness in Britain.

All of the build-up to Sky Sports’ coverage of this summer’s Ashes has centred on the fact that they have landed the big one - Shane Warne is the face of their ‘Australian summer’, with a string of high-profile adverts promoting the fact that he will be offering up his pearls of wisdom as one of the lead commentators for the series, alongside the likes of Ian Botham and Nasser Hussain.
   However, the series is already into its third day, and while Warne’s parents, Keith and Bridget, have made it to Cardiff to witness the first ever Test at the venue (a prospect that Warne himself denounced as ‘a disgrace’ back in May), their errant son is nowhere to be seen.
   Instead, he has spent the week blazing a trail at the prestigious World Series of Poker tournament in Las Vegas, where his renowned attributes of spin, showmanship, bluffing and opponent-reading have been standing him in impressive, and lucrative, stead.
   On July 8, just as Cardiff was becoming the 100th Test venue in the world, Warne was celebrating his progression to Friday’s day three of the WSOP, as one of 607 survivors from his half of the second-day draw, and one of 2044 overall.
   As many as 6,494 players stumped up the initial US$10,000 buy-in for the first round of the World Championship no-limit hold’em event, which was established back in 1970 and has gone on to become, much like the Ashes, the game’s indisputed blue-riband contest.
   Past winners have included Phil ‘The Poker Brat’ Hellmuth and Chris ‘Jesus’ Ferguson, and the accompanying WSOP Bracelet is the game’s most coveted badge of honour.
   The final table of this year’s tournament takes place on July 15 - which, coincidentally, is the eve of the second Test at Lord’s. Sky officials remain adamant that Warne will eventually arrive to fulfil his contractual obligations, but he is reported to have a sizeable stack of 173,700 chips to carry him into the sharp end of the competition, having just missed out on the prizemoney in the 2008 event.
   Given that the 2009 winner is expected to take home more than US$10 million, by the end of the week, there may be no easy way to persuade him to return to England.
   In between hands, Warne’s schedule has involved hanging out with the likes of the rap star Nelly and the Hollywood actor Matt Damon, and he has caused further ‘tittle-tattle’ - in the words of one Sky insider - with rumours of his off-table reconciliation with his ex-wife Simone Callahan and their three children.
   On Sunday, ahead of the second round of the WSOP, Warne and Callahan were spotted at the Wimbledon Men’s Final in London, after the couple flew back to Britain for a Twenty20 fixture between Warne’s IPL side, Rajasthan Royals, and Middlesex. The match was billed as his final competitive fixture at Lord’s, and Warne claimed four-over figures of 1 for 24 in a 46-run victory, but the idea of getting back involved in cricket could hardly have been further from his mind, as he revealed in his blog last week.
   ‘On Wednesday night we had our 888 launch party at the Kingpin suite at The Palms,’ he wrote. ‘The room had a two-lane bowling alley and pool table which was awesome. I’ll have to fly to London tomorrow for an exhibition cricket match and then will return on Tuesday morning for Day 2 - any offers of a private plane are welcome!’

Danish teenager Caroline Wozniacki will play her sixth final of the year on Saturday when she tackles Spain’s Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez in the Swedish Open final.
   The top-seeded Wozniacki, who is ranked number nine in the world, saw off third-seeded Italian Flavia Pennetta 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 in her semi-final on Friday.
   ‘I am very pleased because Flavia is a very good player. I played a real aggressive game and made her run a lot,’ said Wozniacki, who clinched the Eastbourne title on the eve of Wimbledon.
   The Dane, who turns 19 on Saturday, said victory in the final would be a ‘fantastic birthday present.’
   In Friday’s other semi-final, Martinez Sanchez knocked out unseeded Argentinian Gisela Dulko, winning 7-5, 6-4.
   Dulko was unable to repeat her quarter-final heroics, when she dumped out second-seeded Dominika Cibulkova, as she squandered a number of break points.

English Premier League side Fulham made up for their upset midweek defeat to claim a comfortable 3-0 win over Australian A-League champions Melbourne Victory here on Saturday.
   A first-half penalty to Andy Johnson and second half strikes from substitute Eddie Johnson and Norwegian Erik Nevland helped the Cottagers make amends for their surprise 2-1 loss to A-League newcomers Gold Coast United in Queensland last Wednesday.
   Melbourne skipper and former Rangers and Millwall defender Kevin Muscat’s rash challenge on Andy Johnson in the box earned Fulham a penalty against the run of play in the 32nd minute. Johnson made no mistake from the spot to give the Londoners the edge at half-time.
   Fulham, who have qualified for the inaugural Europa League this season after finishing seventh in the English Premier League last season, were far more enterprising in the second half.
   They made the match safe in the 67th minute when Eddie Johnson found himself one-on-one with goalkeeper Glen Moss to slot home.
   Then a mistake in the middle of the pitch by Victory midfielder Billy Celeski led to a sweeping downfield Fulham move, finished efficiently by Nevland on 73 minutes.
   Fulham’s Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer was substituted with 25 minutes remaining to generous applause from the crowd of 20,000.

Moroccan international winger Nabil El Zhar has signed an extension to his Liverpool contract that will keep him at Anfield until 2012, the English club confirmed on Saturday.
   Liverpool have also completed the signing of French left-back Chris Mavinga from Paris St Germain.
   The 22-year-old El Zhar, who made 19 appearances for the Reds’ first-team last season, follows Steven Gerrard, Fernando Torres, Dirk Kuyt, Yossi Benayoun and Daniel Agger in committing his long-term future to the club.
   The French-born player joined Liverpool from
   Saint Etienne in October 2006.
   Last season manager Rafa Benitez described the winger as a ‘lucky charm’ after he played a prominent role in some of the team’s dramatic early season comebacks.
   Meanwhile, 18-year-old Mavinga, who can also play at centre-back and represented his country at under-18 level, follows in the footsteps of striker David Ngog, who joined Liverpool from PSG last summer

Deposed French league champions Lyon could benefit from having ex-France skipper, and former Arsenal ace, Patrick Vieira in their line-up, defender Jean-Alain Boumsong said on Friday.
   ‘He could contribute a great deal to the club and fill the gap left by the departure of Juninho,’ Boumsong told reporters at Lyon’s training camp in this French Alpine resort.
   ‘He has been captain of France and the experience and the aura he radiates could only add value to our team,’ he added.
   Although 33-year-old Vieira was an irregular performer last season at Inter Milan due to a thigh injury, has been linked with a move to Lyon.
   However, manager Claude Puel, making it clear the priority now is for more attacking power rather than another defender, has approached Toulouse about striker Andre-Pierre Gignac, the league’s top goal scorer last season.
   ‘The player is interested and is aware that we have made an offer to Toulouse, so the ball is his court,’ Puel said.
   The 23-year-old, who scored 24 times for Toulouse, ‘has the right profile and is a very good footballer,’ added the coach.