Fulham owner Al Fayed will not rush manager appointment

Fulham chairman Mohamed Al Fayed is refusing to panic over the club's failure to find a new manager.

The season begins in three weeks and the Cottagers' attempts to replace Roy Hodgson have so far drawn blanks.

A bid to install Ajax boss Martin Jol at Craven Cottage collapsed after the Dutch side refused to release him.

But a Fulham spokesman says the chairman will not be rushed into an appointment and will make a decision "as and when he sees necessary".

According to BBC Sports News Correspondent Dan Roan, Fulham are "hugely disappointed" with Ajax's refusal to allow Jol to return to the Premier League.
"Whoever Fulham decide to appoint will be immediately undermined by the fact they they are clearly the club's second choice," said Roan.

"A senior member of Fulham's board of directors told me the club's sense of grievance has only been intensified by their contrasting willingness to allow former boss Roy Hodgson leave for Liverpool, and not stand in his way.

"Fulham want to make an appointment before the start of the season but are not currently negotiating with any candidates."

Caretaker manager Ray Lewington is currently overseeing Fulham's pre-season tour in Sweden, which ends with a friendly against Malmo on Tuesday 27 July.

And while Fulham are still looking for a new manager, Al Fayed is understood to be content with Lewington's preparation for the Premier League season, which begins against Bolton on 14 August.

"The chairman is obviously confident that we will have someone in place but we won't be rushed into making a decision," the club spokesman added.

"We have our second friendly of the pre-season tour of Sweden [on Tuesday] and the chairman is very happy with the way that preparations are going under Ray Lewington so we are not panicking.

"It's business as usual. Ray Lewington is doing a great job with the pre-season campaign and the managerial situation will be resolved as and when we have the right man for the job."

Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson is thought to be on the club's wish list although the Swede's agent, Athole Still, has said that Fulham have yet to get in touch.

Bookmakers have also made Cardiff manager Dave Jones one of the favourites for the job after his success in guiding the cash-strapped Welsh outfit to the Championship play-off final last season.

Jones insists, however, that he is committed to the Bluebirds.
"I'm fully behind this football club," Jones said. "I can assure our fans that I am - as always - 100% working at this football club to try and get things right, as I have done every season and during the season."

Another manager to be linked with the post is United States boss Bob Bradley, and the 52-year-old received the backing of Manchester United boss Sir Alex Ferguson.
"I like Bob. I like his approach. I think he has got a steely determination about him. I think he has done a fantastic job," said Ferguson, whose side are in the US on a pre-season tour.

"I know he's been linked to the Fulham job and I don't think it's beyond his boundaries at all.

"He is a young man. And I do not think there is anything wrong with him seeking a challenge in Europe or England, for that matter."

Ferrari boss slams F1 'hypocrisy' after Alonso win

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo has slammed the "hypocrisy" of those who have criticised Fernando Alonso's victory in Sunday's German Grand Prix.

Ferrari have been fined $100,000 for appearing to give Felipe Massa a coded order to allow Alonso through to win and referred to F1's governing body.

But Montezemolo replied: "Enough of the hypocrisy. This has always happened."
"If one races for Ferrari, then the interests of the team come before those of the individual," he added.

The result at Hockenheim put Alonso firmly back in what looks a five-way fight for the drivers' championship, with McLaren pair Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button, and Red Bull duo Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber the others in with a realistic chance of battling for the title.

Alonso is now 34 points behind championship leader Hamilton with eight races remaining, while Massa, who had failed to score a single point in the previous three races, is 38 points adrift of his Spanish team-mate.

The controversial incident occurred when Massa, marking the first anniversary of his near-fatal crash in Hungary, was given a veiled radio message on lap 47 indicating that the Spaniard was the faster of the two drivers and, two laps later, the Brazilian slowed to let Alonso past.

It prompted heavy criticism from outside the Ferrari camp, though, with the likes of Button, Red Bull boss Christian Horner and BBC F1 pundit Eddie Jordan questioning the Italian team's race strategy
Montezemolo remained unrepentant, though, telling the Ferrari website : "The polemics are of no interest to me.

"These things have happened since the days of (Tazio) Nuvolari (a Ferrari driver in the 1930s) and I experienced it myself when I was sporting director, in the days of Niki Lauda.

"Therefore, enough of this hypocrisy, even if I can well believe that some people might well have liked to see our two drivers eliminate one another, but that is definitely not the case for me or indeed for our fans.

"I am very happy for all our fans who finally saw two Ferraris lead from start to finish as they dominated the race.

"The result is down to the efforts of all our people, who never give up.
"Now we have to continue working like this, to improve the car so that is competitive at all the circuits we will encounter.

"Alonso and Massa also did very well, giving their all throughout the weekend."
The next race is at Hungary this weekend.

GB women's volleyball team in bike-ride fund raiser

The Great Britain women's volleyball team have embarked on a 272-mile bike ride to raise the £250,000 necessary to keep their 2012 Olympic dream alive.

Following funding cuts, the team may have to cancel training programmes and thereby jeopardise their chances of being competitive at the London games.

They began their journey from their Sheffield base to London on Saturday.
They are due to arrive in the capital on Tuesday, two years exactly until the London Olympics opening ceremony.

"It's no surprise to me the girls are doing this, knowing their determination and energy," coach Audrey Cooper told the official GB women's volleyball website.

"They are not willing to turn up at London 2012 under-prepared. They want to be as
good as they can be at our home Olympics to make the country proud.

"We started from nothing in 2007 and we've improved out of sight since then. We are simply not prepared to give up now."

The ride has also received the backing of Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg, who is the MP for Sheffield Hallam.

"It gives me great pride as a local MP to see that the ladies GB volleyball team are prepared to cycle to London to raise as much money as possible so that they can fund their training," he said.

"This really is an inspirational act and I am sure that the public will be backing the team and offering their encouragement to them on their journey."

The planned route will take the team through Nottingham, Loughborough, Leicester, Stratford, Oxford, Reading, Hampton Court, Richmond Park, Westminster and Trafalgar Square, before coming to an end at Earls Court on Tuesday night.

Along the way, they will take part in demonstration volleyball events, offer the public rides on a seven-seater-bike, provide an inflatable volleyball court and meet local people to spread the word of their venture.

Volleyball was one of eight sports to have had London 2012 funding slashed in January because of a £50m budget shortfall.

Murali: The man who reinvented spin bowling

Muttiah Muralitharan, who played his last Test on Thursday, may have been the greatest bowler to spin a cricket ball. Sports writer Suresh Menon reflects on the career of a remarkable cricketer.

Before the start of the Galle Test, Muttiah Muralitharan's last, India's ace spinner Anil Kumble paid him one of the warmest tributes from one great bowler to another.

"When you see that Murali has played exactly the same number of Tests as me and taken 173 wickets more," he said, "you begin to understand the magnitude of his achievement."

Spin bowling is about masks and disguises, sleights of hand and tempting arcs.
Batsmen reach for the ball that is not there, or adopt a superior air, ignoring the one that seems set to go past but then inexplicably changes course. They are rendered illiterate - unable to read the spinning ball.

Muralitharan's greatness lay in the fact that even when batsmen read him, there was little they could do to keep him out.

Test cricket's most successful bowler is 38, and even if the spirit is willing there is only so much a body can do.
Defining the delivery

Murali's record 800 wickets are likely to stand forever given the diminishing interest in Test cricket, but figures do not tell the full story.

Murali was responsible for cricket's first proper attempt to define the legal delivery.

Thanks to his action, umpires know there is a difference between what the eye sees and the computer calculates.

That he reinvented the art of spin bowling tends to be forgotten in the light of this fundamental contribution.

While studying Murali's action, it was noticed that some of the finest bowlers known for their smooth actions did, in fact, send down illegal deliveries.

By the earlier system - the naked eye - someone like Australian fast-bowler Glenn McGrath was seen as picture perfect. Then technology showed that he too fell outside the demands of the legal
That led to a new world order where a flexion (the act of bending) of 15 degrees of the bowler's arm was allowed.

Those who criticise him base their observations on the naked eye; those who absolve him go by the definition. Murali's action is legal, but he has suffered more than anyone needs to.

Few cricketers have had to shoulder his burdens - as a minority Tamil in a strife-laden country, as a bowler worshipped and reviled in equal measure, as a player in a team whose fortunes rose or fell according to his performance.

In nearly two decades at the top, he won over everybody - both sides of the ethnic divide and both sides of the bowling-action divide.

His work after the 2004 tsunami in Sri Lanka released him from the narrow confines of a sporting hero and anointed him a national icon. Through it all he has remained rooted, a charmer who finds it hard to believe that by merely doing what he loves the most, he has rewritten the rules of his craft.

Unlike most spinners, Murali didn't appear on the international scene a finished product, every trick in place, every nuance worked out.

It took him 27 Tests to claim 100 wickets; the hundreds thereafter came in 15, 16, 14, 15, 14 and 12 Tests respectively.

This wasn't a genius that was created behind closed doors, but one that evolved out in the open, in front of thousands of spectators.

Symbol

Every ball, every wicket, was tucked away in that remarkable mind; nothing was forgotten, nothing was useless. Muralitharan is the man who remembers everything.
He brought to the craft a new way of doing things, converting a finger-spinning exercise into a wrist-spinning one. He remains the symbol of a resurgent Sri Lanka, a talented side from its pre-Test days but one that needed a touch of iron to perform consistently.

Sri Lanka have won 61 Test matches in all. Muralitharan has played significant roles in 54 of these, claiming 438 wickets at 16.18, taking five-wicket hauls an incredible 41 times.

He might have finished with the best-ever figures for a single innings, but after he had claimed nine wickets against Zimbabwe at Kandy, Russel Arnold dropped a catch at short leg. Then, while bowlers at the other end tried desperately not to take a wicket, Chaminda Vaas accidentally had the last man caught behind amid stifled appeals.

Murali has taken 10 wickets in a match four games in a row. Twice.
That record alone would have ensured Murali a place in the pantheon.

But his influence is not restricted to his country's improved performance.
With better bats, shorter boundaries and tougher physiques, batsmen have threatened to eliminate the offspinner from the game.

Murali has kept the craft alive with a simple ploy - being successful at it. By developing the doosra - a ball which turns the opposite way to a traditional off-break - that was invented by Saqlain Mushtaq, he widened its scope.

He expanded the horizons of the game, bringing in elements that make it more complex, and therefore more interesting, and providing challenges in the meeting of which international batsmen made their reputations.

Nobody bowls like Murali; sadly, not even Murali towards the end, and the time had come. But he will be missed, as any one-of-a-kind performer will be.

There is no "Murali" school of bowling, no successor who bowls in his unique style. Murali stood alone, and now that he is gone, only memories - and video replays - remain.

New Pakistan captain Salman Butt savours winning start

Captain Salman Butt savoured victory in his first match at the helm as Pakistan drew the series with Australia 1-1 after a three-wicket win at Headingley.

"For young team to beat Australia, the best Test playing nation in the world, is going to do the world of good to Pakistan cricket," he told BBC Sport.
"We dedicate this win to the people of Pakistan who would have loved to have come and watched us playing at home.

"We remember them and hopefully we'll be back soon playing in Pakistan."
"It was really nerve-wracking towards the end and I think my young team did a great job," added 25-year-old Butt, who was grateful Australia captain Ricky Ponting chose to bat first in helpful bowling conditions on the opening day.

"He would bat on a river as well I think, he bats everywhere!
"It looked good to bat but Mikey [former West Indies fast bowler Michael Holding] told me you look up at Headingley not at the pitch and I think he was right."

Pakistan had gone five matches without a Test win, stretching back to New Zealand in December 2009, and had lost 13 successive Tests against Australia.

Butt took over in testing circumstances when Shahid Afridi quit Test cricket following the 150-run defeat in the first Test at Lord's.

"The whole team contributed and it has been a wonderful experience for me. It is difficult to take decisions but that is the time when you are tested and that is the time when you learn," he stated.

"It's a whole new outlook, all of the boys are very young, some of them making their debut, some playing under 10 Test matches."

Looking ahead to the four-match Test series with England beginning at Trent Bridge on Thursday he said: "This is going to be a huge boost for us but England is a different side we have to go to our plans again, see how they are playing and what their line-up is and plan accordingly."

Australia captain Ponting saw a run of seven successive Test victories come to an end and is still to lead his side to a series victory in England in three attempts.
His side could not come back from a disastrous 88 all out on the opening day and asked if he would still have batted first given the opportunity again he said: "Not if I knew the wicket was going to do that much.

"Anyone who saw that wicket would have been surprised by how much it did seam because it looked fairly dry. Pakistan used the conditions perfectly and had our batsmen under pressure all the time.

"We had a good chance to bowl on that first day and they were two for 130 odd which told a big story in the game. We haven't done much right and you can go right back to the toss and everything that happened on the first morning.

"We were always pushing uphill after that first day.
"I'm still pretty happy with where we're going as a group and as a bunch of players, the commitment and fightback we've shown in the last half of the game has been good but not good enough to win a Test."

The 35-year-old was uncertain whether he would return to England as Australia captain in 2013 but when asked if Pakistan would beat Andrew Strauss's team in the four-Test series beginning on 29 July he said: "Let's hope so."

Maria Sharapova – Sexy Tennis Star

Beautiful and sexy Maria Sharapova boasts the most ear-shattering grunt in women’s tennis: over 100 decibels. That drowns out Monica Seles (93.7 decibels), but falls short of a jet at take-off (125 decibels).

When asked about the equal pay at Wimbledon, Maria Sharapova states, “It’s incredible. I think all the girls have stood up as a team and have been fighting for such a long period of time. I remember last year it was one of the questions that was greatly asked in all the press conferences that most of us got.”

After her second Grand Slam title at the US Open, Maria Sharapova said “I just think there’s more of a rush outside me. I didn’t have any rush feeling within myself because I knew what I was capable of. I always told people, Look, I have won a Grand Slam, but I won it when I was 17. I really thought that I was physically and mentally ready to do it. It showed, especially beating Amélie in three sets and going the next day and beating Justine in two.”

On missing the innocent days, Maria Sharapova responded “I definitely felt like that’s the first time on an international level I was starting to get some recognition, when I actually realized that people are starting to look at me and to watch my tennis and all that, pay attention more closely than they did before.”

Former Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova, has struggled recently and never really achieved the star status that many had hoped. Many say her beauty supersedes her tennis playing ability.

The Open - Brilliant Oosthuizen seals shock Open win

Unfancied South African Louis Oosthuizen kept his cool to claim a first Major title with a crushing seven-stroke victory in the Open at St Andrews, the home of golf.

The 27-year-old brought the Old Course, and the rest of the field, to its knees with an assured display of ball-striking and control to become the sixth South African Major winner, and the first at the Open since Ernie Els in 2002.

"I would like to take this opportunity to say happy birthday to Mr Nelson Mandela back in South Africa," Oosthuizen said after being presented with the trophy on the 18th green.

It was the former South African president's 92nd birthday on Sunday.

Oosthuizen, who had missed the cut in all his three previous Opens and was a 200-1 outsider before the tournament started, never looked like being headed after starting the day four clear and he finished with a 71 for a 16-under total of 272.
The 27-year-old sank a short par putt at the 18th, took off his cap to acknowledge the thunderous applause from the crowd that lined the revered fairways, hugged his caddie before embracing his wife Nel-Mare and young daughter Jana.

England's Lee Westwood emerged from the pack to finish second, a 70 putting him on 279.

Compatriot Paul Casey (75), who began the day as Oosthuizen's closest challenger, ended in a tie for third spot on eight under alongside Sweden's Henrik Stenson (71)
and Northern Ireland's Rory McIlroy (68).

From the moment Oosthuizen took the lead with a birdie at the seventh hole early on Friday morning, the cynics have been predicting his downfall, but the man nicknamed Shrek not only held on to it but methodically extended it despite all the brickbats the course and weather could hurl in his path.

Born Lodewicus Theodorus and named after his grandfather, to the Claret Jug engraver's eternal gratitude he is known simply as Louis.

The scene was set for a titanic battle between the final pairing when Casey missed a five-foot putt at the first for a birdie that would have put Oosthuizen under early pressure, and when the Englishman bogeyed the second the South African's lead was five shots.

Casey cut the deficit to four with a birdie at the sixth but as the chances went begging and no-one from the chasing pack threatened to take the Old Course apart, the title looked like Oosthuizen's with every passing hole.

The South African even escaped with a par at the fifth after his second found the deep gorse and his recovery scooped up an enormous tuft of undergrowth on his follow-through.

A bogey from Oosthuizen at the eighth cut the deficit to three for the only time in the day but a superb 40-foot putt for an eagle two at the ninth restored the four-shot cushion and the momentum moved inexorably in his favour.

Casey's chances of mounting a challenge vanished along with his ball in the fairway gorse when his drive at the 12th found an unplayable lie.

He took a penalty drop and went on to card a triple-bogey seven to Oosthuizen's birdie and all of a sudden the lead was eight and there was only going to be one winner.

"To win an Open championship is special but to win it here at St Andrews is something you dream about," he said after revealing compatriot and nine-times Major winner Gary Player had called with words of encouragement on Sunday morning.

The win, which moved Oosthuizen from 54th to 15th in the world rankings, earned him £850,000 and made a mockery of the form book. Not only had he never made an Open cut before but it was only his second professional win outside South Africa while his previous best finish in a Major was 73rd in the 2008 US PGA Championship.

World number one Tiger Woods endured another torrid day on the famed links and even his decision to restore the putter he ditched for Thursday's opening round failed to produce results.

His outward 37, scarred by two double bogeys, saw him sink down the field to finish on three-under in a tie for 23rd.

"You just can't play and expect to win golf tournaments if you have nine or 10 three-putts in a week," said Woods who won the last two Opens staged here. "No one can win doing that."

McIlroy's second-round 80 looked bad when he finished on Friday, it looked even more costly on Sunday after his closing 68 maintained the 21-year-old's run of never carding a round in the 70s here.

"I couldn't help but think about Friday going up the last hole there," he said. "If I had just sort of stuck in a little bit more on Friday and held it together more, it could have been a different story."

Westwood was delighted to emerge from a wretched week of putting, where nothing really dropped for him, by going one better than his tie for third at Turnberry last year.

"I keep putting myself into contention in these Major championships and keep finishing in the top three. It's not really to be sniffed at and complained about," he said.

South Korea's Jin Jeong made sure of the Silver Medal for leading amateur, signing off in style with an eagle two at the 72nd hole for a share of 14th place.
Oosthuizen labels Open win "special"

Pedrosa wins, Rossi fourth on return

Dani Pedrosa won the German MotoGP at the Sachsenring while Valentino Rossi just lost out on a podium finish on his return from injury.

Honda rider Pedrosa finished 3.355 seconds ahead of Jorge Lorenzo, cutting his fellow Spaniard's championship lead to 47 points following a 30-lap race that was effectively reduced to 21 laps after Randy de Puniet's crash brought out the red flag.

Reigning champion Rossi, making his return to action just six weeks and four races after breaking his leg in his home race at Mugello, started fifth on the grid - and maintained beforehand that he would be satisfied to finish in the same position.
However he almost ended his comeback race on the podium before losing his thrilling duel with Casey Stoner on the final corner.

Lorenzo got a good start and regained his lead from pole after being briefly overtaken by Pedrosa.

On lap nine De Puniet, who had his leg X-rayed following his nasty crash in qualifying on Saturday, came off and his bike was hit by Aleix Espargaro. Alvaro Bautista also failed to avoid the melee. De Puniet's bike had caught fire, causing the red flag to be waved and a 30-minute break in the race.

All three riders were ruled out of it as they failed to get their bikes back to the pits within the designated five-minute window after the red flag was shown. On-site medics reported that De Puniet had fractured his left tibia and fibula.

The main beneficiary of the halt in proceedings was Nicky Hayden, who began the race 15th on the grid but surged his way up to sixth at the time of De Puniet's crash - and restarted from there.

Once more Pedrosa surged ahead of Lorenzo at the green light, but this time he made his lead stick.

While the issue of first and second was settled long before the end, the battle for third place was an enthralling one. Rossi and Stoner traded places over a dozen times before the chequered flag, and the Australian picked his approach path and moment perfectly going into the final corner to overtake the six-times world champion and move up to fourth in the championship standings.

Andrea Dovizioso, Marco Simoncelli and Hayden finished their own battle in fifth, sixth and seventh respectively, with the former heading into next week's USA Grand Prix at Laguna Seca still third in the table.

Following victories for Marc Marquez in the 125s and Toni Elias in Moto2, Pedrosa's victory made it a clean sweep for Spain exactly a week after the nation's football team lifted the World Cu -, and he celebrated on the podium by wearing the jersey of the team.

Monfils concedes to Montanes in StuttgarBottom of Form

Gael Monfils retired injured in the final to hand the ATP Stuttgart title to Albert Montanes.

The third-seeded Frenchman Monfils, who was suffering with an injury to his right foot before the final, lasted 55 minutes before retiring while 2-1 up in the second set.

He appeared to aggravate the injury while 5-2 down in the first set, which he lost 6-2.
Spaniard Montanes, who was seeded fifth, now has five career titles to his name, with Stuttgart his second of 2010 after winning in Estoril.

Button wants Russian Grand Prix

Formula One world champion Jenson Button has endorsed the idea of having a Russian Grand Prix after getting a feel of driving round the Kremlin on Sunday.

"This is not a day of work, it's a day of enjoyment," the Englishman said after taking a few leisurely laps in his race car round the Kremlin walls on his first trip to Moscow. "I've always wanted to visit Moscow. I haven't seen much of the city as we only arrived two days ago.

"It would be a good idea (to have a Grand Prix here) as I definitely want to come back."

Moscow officials hoping to bring Formula One to the capital are negotiating with commercial supremo Bernie Ecclestone.

"We're aiming to have the race here as early as 2012," general director of Bavaria Moscow City Racing Derk Sauer told Reuters. "The race contract is not done yet but we're getting very close."

Ecclestone said last week that having a race in Russia was his priority.
Sauer said Moscow officials had enlisted the help of German circuit designer Hermann

Tilke to build a race track around the Kremlin.
"It would be just like Monaco, a race around the city centre with the Kremlin in the background," Sauer said.

For a third year in a row, BMCR has organised the motor racing show in the centre of Moscow, trying to introduce Russians to the sport.

On Sunday, despite the hottest day of the year when the temperature reached 37 degrees Celsius, thousands of people turned out to watch McLaren’s Button and Renault's Russian rookie Vitaly Petrov show off their driving skills.

Five-wicket Watson gives Aussies edge over Pakistan

LONDON: Shane Watson took five wickets in a Test innings for the first time as Australia edged ahead in their series opener with Pakistan at Lord's here on Wednesday.

Medium-pacer Watson's return of five wickets for 40 runs helped Australia dismiss a largely inexperienced Pakistan side for just 148 in reply to their first innings 253.

That gave Australia a lead of 105, and come stumps on the second day of this two-Test series, they were 100 for four - an overall advantage of 205.

Umar Gul took two wickets in two balls late on with Michael Clarke, not for the first time, bowled playing no stroke.

Then Michael Hussey, who made an unbeaten 56 in the first innings, was caught by Imran Farhat at first slip off the seamer, who took two for seven in five overs.

But left-handed opener Simon Katich, who made a painstaking 80 on Tuesday, was 49 not out and Mitchell Johnson, in as nightwatchman ahead of Marcus North, two not out.

And unless Pakistan bat significantly better in their second innings, Australia could already have enough runs on the board.

Opener Watson's batting didn't quite match his bowling when he was caught by Farhat off Mohammad Asif for 31.

And Australia captain Ricky Ponting -- who has never made a Test century at Lord's -- was lbw for nought padding up to Asif's inswinger in what could be the 35-year-old batting great's last innings at the ground.

Watson, in his 19th Test, surpassed his previous best figures of four for 42 against India in Nagpur in 2008, when he had Danish Kaneria caught in the slips by Steven Smith.

The 29-year-old Queenslander became the first bowler to win a place on the newly-created honours board for 'neutral' Tests at Lord's.

Australia's batsmen had struggled under overcast, swing bowler-friendly, skies on Tuesday.

But similar conditions proved even tougher for Pakistan to handle, with Watson taking two wickets for no runs in four balls.

Only left-handed opener Salman Butt resisted with a determined 63 before Pakistan's vice-captain was bowled by a Watson inswinger.

New-ball duo Ben Hilfenhaus took two for 38 and Doug Bollinger two for 37 as Australia chased a 13th straight Test win over Pakistan -- which would be a new record for successive Tests victories by one country over another.

Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi, playing his first Test for four years, took guard with his team in dire straits at 83 for five.

Afridi counter-attacked in typical fashion, flicking Watson off his pads for six and clearing the ropes again when he drove him over long-off.

But Watson had his revenge when Afrid mistimed a drive and was caught by Johnson at mid-off for 31 off 15-balls also including four fours.

The conditions would have been tough to counter for even experienced Pakistan batsmen Mohammad Yousuf and Younus Khan.

But they weren't in the squad following the fall-out from bans imposed after Pakistan's series loss in Australia earlier this year.

Their places went to debutants Azhar Ali and Umar Amin, in at numbers three and four respectively, who managed just 17 runs between them.

That was more than the combined efforts of the Akmal brothers, whose five runs included a duck for wicketkeeper Kamran, lbw when deceived utterly by Watson's inswinger.

Butt though went to a 78-ball fifty when he elegantly cover-drove left-arm quick Johnson for his 10th boundary.

This series was being played in England because of security concerns in Pakistan.

In pictures: Fifa World Cup final

A look back at all the action and festivities on the final day of the month-long sporting extravaganza that is World Cup 2010.

Mandela and Shakira delight fans at World Cup closing ceremony

JOHANNESBURG: Nelson Mandela waved to the crowd and Shakira had fans dancing in their seats as South Africa bade farewell to the 2010 World Cup in emotional and pulsating fashion.

The anti-apartheid icon had kept a low profile during the month-long tournament, having decided against attending the opening game following the death of his great-grand daughter.

He flashed his famous smile and waved to the more than 80,000 fans as he circled the pitch alongside his wife Graca Machel in an open-air vehicle, in a brief but proud moment the nation had long waited for.

He was greeted by cheers of “Madiba”, his clan name used affectionately by his compatriots, which rang louder than applause for any of the stars at the closing show that illuminated the stands in fireworks and lights.

Mandela shook hands with officials before leaving the field a few minutes later.

Shakira, backed by South African Afro-fusion band Freshlyground, did one last rendition of the World Cup’s theme tune, Waka Waka (This Time for Africa) after a lights show and fireworks.

Also performing yesterday was Grammy Award-winning cappella group Ladysmith Black Mambazo.

The ceremony was attended by heads of state from across Africa, including South Africa’s Jacob Zuma and Zimbabwe’s Robert Mugabe.

Dutch and Spanish royals were also present, as were Archbishop Desmond Tutu and former UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. They were rubbing shoulders with the likes of model Naomi Campbell, tennis star Rafael Nadal and Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman.

Dancers wearing the colours of the 32 competing nations performed before a backdrop of pictures of stars and fans beamed on to the pitch; others dressed in white elephant costumes made their way on to the field towards large image of a watering hole.

Themes included pantsula and gumboot dancing and local jazz – all touchstones of South African music.

Dutch and Spanish fans led a carnival atmosphere before the match, embracing police officers outside the stadium and posing for photographs while blowing vuvuzelas, the horn whose sound has become synonymous with the 2010 tournament.

Some had doubted South Africa’s ability to stage a successful tournament, but the matches were played before mostly capacity – and joyous – crowds. The competition, the first to be held in Africa, was free of any major incidents. — Agencies

Afridi wants Pak to be more consistent

Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi has demanded more consistency from his players as the team gears up for a Test series against Australia in England.

"The key is for us to develop a habit of winning matches more regularly and consistently like other top teams including Australia and South Africa," Afridi told 'Geo Super' channel from Birmingham.

Afridi, who will lead Pakistan in the Test series against Australia starting July 13, said he was delighted that the team was finally back to winning matches.

"I knew sooner or later we will win back to back matches because we have been performing well since the Twenty20 World Cup but missed out in close matches.

I think now that we have regained our winning habit we must work harder to maintain it and make winning a habit," he added.

The flamboyant all-rounder said he would keep reminding his players that there was a big difference between Twenty20 cricket and Test matches.

"There is a difference and we have to be aware of this. But the good thing is that a win is a win in any form of the game and this series win should serve a confidence booster for us ahead of the Tests," he said.

The Pakistan captain admitted that the tests would be a much tougher challenge as Australia had more experienced and proven Test performers.

"They are a very experienced and successful Test side so we have to be playing really well to beat them. We need to grab the opportunities that come our way to pressurise them," he added.

Afridi said the team would miss the services of senior players like Muhammad Yousuf and Younus Khan in England.

"Obviously we will miss their experience. I wanted them in the team for this tour and I tried my best to see they were in the team but for different reasons this couldn't happen and it is unfortunate."

"But one has to manage with the available resources so right now I am focusing completely on the team I have, on the new players because they are the ones who will fight for Pakistan in the Test matches and I retain confidence they can do this," he said.

Hussey, Ponting hit centuries to rescue Australia from warm-up embarrassment

London, July 9(ANI): Australian batsman Mike Hussey and skipper Ricky Pointing rescued the Aussies from a potentially embarrassing outing against Derbyshire in their only warm-up game before next week's first Test against Pakistan at Lord's.
The visitors lost three early wickets and were reeling at 3-47 before centuries from the pair laid the foundations for a score of 436 all out.

Derbyshire fast bowler Atif Sheikh dismissed openers Shane Watson (five) and Simon Katich (22), while fellow pacer Mark Footitt bowled vice-captain Michael Clarke (one).

Hussey (132) and Ponting (112 retired) put on 210 for the fourth wicket.
Ponting looked in good nick during his stay, during which he cracked 14 fours and three sixes.

Steve Smith made a breezy 48 before his expected Test debut, while wicketkeeper-batsman Tim Paine (52 not out) played a measured hand ahead of his maiden appearance in the baggy green.

Meanwhile, Katich said that the Australians were keen to get another full day of action on Friday.

"Most of the guys had pretty good stints out there in the middle just getting used to facing red balls again. They have been facing white ones for the last month," Fox Sports quoted Katich, as saying.

"Hopefully tomorrow the weather will be good and we will be able to get a full day in the field and the bowlers will be able to be have a hit out as well," he added.
The match is Australia's only practice fixture before the Lord's Test starting on Tuesday. (ANI)

Will play 2011 World Cup if team wants: Muralidaran

Colombo: All set to bid adieu to his Test career, Sri Lankan spin wizard Muttiah Muralidaran on Thursday said if the team wants he will play the 2011 cricket World Cup in the sub-continent.

Muralidaran has announced that he will retire from the longer version of the game after playing the first Test against India starting July 18 at Galle.
"I will be happy to see the younger players shape up and win the World Cup for Sri Lanka. But if the authorities think I should also be a part of the team, then I will play," the world's highest wicket-taker said at a press conference here.

Hitting back at his detractors, who questioned his bowling action, Muralidaran said it was easy to criticise anybody with a naked eye but bio-mechanics proved that his action was legal.

He also thanked Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and World Cup winning captain Arjuna Ranatunga for their support when his action repeatedly came under the scanner.
The batsmen worldwide have often dreaded facing him but when asked which batsmen he would find difficult to bowl at, Muralidaran named modern day legends Brian Lara and Sachin Tendulkar.

"It is difficult (to pinpoint). Overall I think I played a lot of cricket against the West Indies during Lara's days. And also played a lot against Sachin Tendulkar.
Like that you can name so many. But these two players are very special players in the world. And I think they have played me the best," Muralidaran said.

Praising the technique of Sri Lankan batsmen against spinners, the veteran off-spinner said he himself was troubled by his compatriots in domestic matches.
"And I think if you ask me I won't like to bowl to a Sri Lankan because I could get hit. I think most difficult players are Sri Lankan players.

While playing club cricket (in Sri Lanka) I can't get through these guys," Muralidaran said. Muralidaran said his Test record of 792 wickets was not unbeatable.
"When Fred Trueman took 302 wickets, he said it will be very tiring for anyone to break his record," he said.

Germans who doubted Paul shown the true master being

Just as Paul the Oracle Octopus predicted with his arbitrary clam picking, Spain beat Germany 1-0 to advance to their first World Cup final. That makes Paul six for six in picking the outcome of Germany's matches and proves his superiority over Jogi Loew's unwashed sweater.

Before the match, betrayed Germans held up signs doubting Paul's unknowing genius, but the wrath of Paul was exacted with the Spain victory. "Also octopus can be wrong," they cried! No. No it cannot. And if you doubt his powers again, he will liquefy your intestines and blow bubbles while he does it. Because blowing bubbles is the closest thing to laughing maniacally an octopus can do.

So what now for Paul? Will he be asked to pick the final? Will he only pick Germany's third-place match? Will he be eaten? Or will he break free from his German captors and begin a reign of tentacled terror, enslaving all human kind, declaring ownership of all the world's decorative pillows and living the rest of his life in peace, free from intrusive cameras and silly flag-covered boxes containing his food? Only the oracle octopus can say.

Why soccer’s biggest stars failed to shine

CAPE TOWN, South Africa – Soccer’s superstar players never materialized here at the World Cup. The game’s best – Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Kaka, Wayne Rooney, etc. – often failed to lift their play and, in turn, their teams, to a level this grand stage demands.

The conventional wisdom on why: They were too selfish, unable to adapt to the team concept of a national squad.

Then there’s Diego Maradona’s take: Unlike the past, the stars weren’t selfish enough.
“Today the players are more collective, more team players,” the Argentina coach said after his own star-studded team was bounced from the World Cup. “They want to do everything with their teammates. It is a different type of game right now.”

This goes against so much of what we’ve come to believe, and expect, in sports. The reason that Uruguay and the Netherlands square off here Tuesday in a semifinal is because they embraced selfless, team-oriented play.

Such a mentality is celebrated.

What Maradona is suggesting is that this line of thinking has become so widespread it’s actually killed the star player, who no longer acts like a star player. Rather than demanding his place in the natural pecking order of pure talent and past performance, they sink back into the pack.

Such thinking would carry little weight except it is Maradona who said it. Who could know more about what’s needed for a talented player to morph into a larger-than-life superstar and dominate the World Cup? No one owned this event the way Maradona did in 1986 when he led Argentina to the title.

His implication is that the star needs to act like the star. That he is better than his teammates is a given. Rather than apologize for it, he must remind them of it, make them respect it. He must lead not by being one of the guys but by being above the guys. It’s the cult of personality, if you will.

“I think we were more selfish,” Maradona said, which has to be the first time an old player said that about a bygone era. “Maybe before it was about being selfish players who [made the] rest of the team work for us.”

Today’s players receive remarkable hype – television commercials, video games and media attention. They are single-name personalities around the globe.

Yet you’d never hear one say that the rest of the team works for them. They’d be vilified. Instead today’s stars go out of their way to support their teammates and talk publicly about how no one player is more important than the other.

Only some players are more important, Maradona notes.

Consider the most competitive environments on earth – the military battlefield, the flight deck of a commercial airliner or a hospital operating table.

This is where failure is not an option. In those cultures, the delineation between the star (the general, the lead pilot) and the others (private, flight attendant) is clear. Often socialization between classes is prohibited – enlisted men do not dine with officers – and the word of the higher-ranked person must be respected.

When having open-heart surgery, no patient would care if the lead surgeon is friends with or helps empower the nurse. In fact, the idea that the nurse would fear disappointing the lead surgeon and would clearly defer to him at all times might be considered a positive. You’d want the most brilliant talent to be the leader.

In Maradona’s day, he says, that carried over to a soccer team. He was Diego Maradona and they were not.

“Time changes in life,” Maradona said.

In this time, the star player must be humble and supportive. And not just on the field, but in all parts of team life. Obviously all players know they need others to make them better in the game. Someone has to pass them the ball. Or receive a pass. But off the field, is one for all, all for one really the best concept?

It’s difficult to say. Maradona only knows the mentality that made him lead a country to World Cup glory. It certainly isn’t the only way.

Perhaps it is one of them, though. And with most of the world’s top individual players home watching the semifinals, with criticism of their selfish play ringing through their heads, maybe the opposite is true. Maybe they weren’t selfish enough.

Maybe Maradona’s correct. Maybe the soccer world has gone soft.

Cricket: Pakistan gear up for Australia T20 take two

After finally breaking their losing run against Australia, can Pakistan sweep the T20 series?
They are 13/10 with Bet 365 to do so and look great value after a brilliant bowling display to take the opener at Edgbaston by 23 runs.

They can also expect the atmosphere of a home match judging by the support they had in game one – and after first win over the Aussies in 13 attempts, how could they not feel lucky?

PAKISTAN v AUSTRALIA ODDS

Australia: 8/13
Pakistan: 13/10

PAKISTAN v AUSTRALIA MATCH ANALYSIS

Pakistan’s bowling attack were outstanding in their win over Australia in Game One. There were superb spells from the returning Umar Gul, from Shahid Afridi, and not least spinner Saeed Ajmal, who suffered that terrible mauling at the hands of Mike Hussey in the World T20 semi-finals where Pakistan looked in such a good position.

Pakistan’s batting can also improve from the opening game, where Umar Akmal’s 64 in 31 balls was the fastest half-century by a Pakistani in this form of the game. He’s an exciting find at international level. If you are looking for the top run scorer in each innings, then it may pay to look beyond the openers, who have to deal with the impressive opening pair of Shaun Tait & Dirk Nannes. The back ups may not quite be up to Pakistan’s level. Kamran Akmak, at 7/2 with Bet 365 comes in at three and should have time to build a good innings.

Australia’s batsman struggled to flow freely against Pakistan, and its difficult to imagine a change in venue can make that much difference, with even David Warner subdued. If the Pakistani upper order can just throw together a few more runs, they have the attack to defend it. For Australia, we still like David Hussey as top scorer – he’s Mr.Consistent in T20 cricket and is 5/1 to top score for the Aussies with Bet 365.

WHAT THEY SAID

Michael Clarke (Australia):“Pakistan bowled really well and we got done by the better team. Umar Gul was fantastic at the death.”
Shahid Afridi (Pakistan): “We played good and mature cricket. The way Umar Gul is bowling is always amazing. He knows how to bowl yorkers”

Link-ups forced Dhoni to advance his wedding

You may be wondering why Indian cricket captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni married all of a sudden, and that too in a hush hush manner. Well, the news is doing the rounds that his link-ups with Indian celebrities forced him to tie the knot sooner than he wanted.

It is said that Sakshi Singh Rawat's family was not happy with rumours doing around MS Dhoni's alleged love life. He was earlier linked to Bollywood actress Deepika Padukone (he publicly declared his admiration for her), South Indian actress Asin Thottumkal and a few others. Owing to this, the families of the bride and the groom decided to advance the wedding. Moreover, Dhoni's tight cricket calender next year meant that they should tie the knot this year or a year later.


MS Dhoni married 21-year-old Sakshi, a hotel management graduate, at a luxurious resort on July 4 following their engagement on the previous day. Only a few selected people close to the couple were invited to the wedding. Important personalities who attended the marriage ceremony included ICC chief Sharad Pawar, BCCI President Shashank Manohar, former Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje, actor John Abraham, Bollywood director Farah Khan and cricketers R. P. Singh, Harbhajan Singh, Ashish Nehra and Suresh Raina.