Watson century beats England at the MCG‏

Sports - Cricket - 1st ODI - Australia v England - Melbourne

Shane Watson's record score of 161 not out from 150 balls lead Australia to a memorable win completing the highest successful run chase at the MCG and beating England's record total against the hosts Down Under.

England won the toss and chose to bat, skipper Andrew Strauss (63) not making a bad start with a 90 partnership from 12 overs together with Steven Davies (42).

David Hussey then got the breakthrough bowling Davies and seeing Jonathan Trott (6) caught behind by Brad Haddin soon after.

Kevin Pietersen then came to the crease seemingly back to his best scoring 78 from 75 deliveries whilst seeing Strauss, Ian Bell (23), Eoin Morgan (8) and Michael Yardy (9) all falling relatively cheeply, before he himself was run out by Mitchell Johnson, unlucky.

The collapse was completed with the last three wickets falling for only 23 runs with two deliveries remaining of the 50 overs.

Australia responded strong but patient. It was not a bang-boom-bang display, well under England's run rate at times, but disciplined and perfectly timed.

England meanwhile, looked more clumsy and chaotic in the field than usual, missing catches, stumpings, catches and fielding in general.

But no discredit to Watson's display and his superb partnerships of 110 with Brad Haddin (39) and 103 Michael Clarke (36).

Their contributions were just as crucial to Australia's win but Watson was the star of the day, finally getting a century after all his half-century-bit-starts.

England got three wickets during the batting powerplay and their hopes up late on in the match, Clarke and Steven Smith (5) caught on the off-side off Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad respectively before Mike Hussey was caught for 21 by Chris Tremlett off Bresnan.

But the man of the match Watson saw his side through with five balls and six wickets to spare, setting up the series with a win and on a good, competitive, juicy note for the ICC ODI world number one Australia against main rivals (number five) England.

For full summary of the day's action, check out the BBC website.

Ashes 2010/2011 Countdown

Sports - Cricket - Ashes 2010/2011

And here we go again! Only 15 months have passed since we retained the Ashes and now we want to defend them, in Australia! For the first time in over 20 years (24 years to be exact), we want to win it Down Under! And I think, with all the Australian top names that have retired and won it for them in the past, we have the best chance, more than ever!

Looking at the squads, comparing their experience, character, attitude and hunger - hopefully, this time, it won't end up in embarrasment on our side - but on theirs! Like last time, Ashes 2009, I hope I can report and blog my heart out with the results ending up all good and more than worth it - COME ON ENGLAND!

Australia Test squad:

Ricky Ponting (captain)
DOB: 19.12.1974, Batting style: Right-hand, Bowling style: Right arm medium

Doug Bollinger
DOB: 24.07.1981, Batting style: Left-hand, Bowling style: Left arm fast medium

Michael Clarke (vice-captain)
DOB: 02.04.1981, Batting style: Right-hand, Bowling style: Slow left arm

Xavier Doherty
DOB: 22.11.1982, Batting style: Left-hand, Bowling style: Slow left arm

Callum Ferguson
DOB: 21.11.1984, Batting style: Right-hand, Bowling style: Right arm medium

Peter George
DOB: 16.10.1986, Batting style: Right-hand, Bowling style: Right arm fast medium

Brad Haddin
DOB: 23.11.1977, Batting style: Right-hand

Ben Hilfenhaus
DOB: 15.03.1983, Batting style: Right-hand, Bowling style: Right arm fast medium

Mike Hussey
DOB: 27.05.1975, Batting style: Left-hand, Bowling style: Right arm medium

Mitchell Johnson
DOB: 02.11.1981, Batting style: Left-hand, Bowling style: Left arm fast medium

Simon Katich
DOB: 21.08.1975, Batting style: Left-hand, Bowling style: Left arm wrist spin

Marcus North
DOB: 28.07.1979, Batting style: Left-hand, Bowling style: Off break

Tim Paine
DOB: 08.12.1984, Batting style: Right-hand

Peter Siddle
DOB: 25.12.1984, Batting style: Right-hand, Bowling style: Right arm fast medium

Steven Smith
DOB: 17.06.1981, Batting style: Right-hand, Bowling style: Right arm fast medium

Shane Watson
DOB: 02.06.1989, Batting style: Right-hand, Bowling style: Right arm legbreak

Possible lineup for the 1st Test:
Australia team: Ricky Ponting (captain), Simon Katich, Shane Watson, Michael Clarke, Mike Hussey, Marcus North, Brad Haddin, Mitchell Johnson, Xavier Doherty, Peter Siddle, Ben Hilfenhaus.

England Test squad:

Andrew Strauss (captain)
DOB: 02.03.1977, Batting style: Left-hand, Bowling style: Left arm medium

James Anderson
DOB: 30.07.1982, Batting style: Left-hand, Bowling style: Right arm fast medium

Ian Bell
DOB: 11.04.1982, Batting style: Right-hand, Bowling style: Right arm medium

Tim Bresnan
DOB: 28.02.1985, Batting style: Right-hand, Bowling style: Right arm medium fast

Stuart Broad
DOB: 24.06.1986, Batting style: Left-hand, Bowling style: Right arm fast medium

Paul Collingwood (vice-captain)
DOB: 26.05.1976, Batting style: Right-hand, Bowling style: Right arm medium

Alastair Cook
DOB: 25.12.1984, Batting style: Left-hand, Bowling style: Off break

Steven Davies
DOB: 17.06.1986, Batting style: Left-hand

Steven Finn
DOB: 04.04.1989, Batting style: Right-hand, Bowling style: Right arm medium fast

Eoin Morgan
DOB: 10.09.1986, Batting style: Left-hand, Bowling style: Right arm medium

Monty Panesar
DOB: 25.04.1982, Batting style: Left-hand, Bowling style: Slow left arm

Kevin Pietersen
DOB: 27.06.1980, Batting style: Right-hand, Bowling style: Off break

Matthew Prior
DOB: 26.02.1982, Batting style: Right-hand

Graeme Swann
DOB: 24.03.1979, Batting style: Right-hand, Bowling style: Off break

Chris Tremlett
DOB: 02.09.1981, Batting style: Right-hand, Bowling style: Right arm medium fast

Jonathan Trott
DOB: 22.04.1981, Batting style: Right-hand, Bowling style: Right arm medium

Possible lineup for the 1st Test:
England team: Andrew Strauss (captain), Alastair Cook, Jonathan Trott, Kevin Pietersen, Paul Collingwood, Ian Bell, Matt Prior, Stuart Broad, Graeme Swann, Steven Finn, James Anderson.

Australia's last 5 (10): WLLLN (LNLLW)

England's last 5 (10): WDWWL (LWWWW)

Ashes 2010/2011 Fixtures:
1st Test: 25-29 November, Brisbane
2nd Test: 3-7 December, Adelaide
3rd Test: 16-20 December, Perth
4th Test: 26-30 December, Melbourne
5th Test: 3-7 January, Sydney

Followed by two Twenty20 internationals on 12 and 14 January and a series of seven ODI from 16 January-6 February.

Can we do it?
My prediction: Yes wen can!

Australia 1-2 England

(Even if it ends 2-2, we retain the holy Ashes!)

England, England, England... Sad but true!

Sports - Football - International Friendly

England 2-1 Hungary

And Steven Gerrard was there to save the day. Sad the effort came over a month too late.

Apart from the two goals, England looked woeful as always. No pace, no coordination, no communication. The whole game was just a charade, no one looking like they wanted to be there, just like in South Africa, no change there.

No wonder, with the new season just a couple of days away, where the players can continue their high lives, getting cheered, hailed and paid tens of thousands of pounds (per week) for only a fraction of the trouble.

Hungary took the lead just past the hour mark when Vladimir Koman's shot was deemed a goal although Phil Jagielka looked to have cleared it off line line.

Stevie G. scored two outstanding goals that turned the match around just minutes later. He celebrated and tried to lift the team and crowd, like a captain should... Sorry, but what's the point? The team's hopeless, the manager miserable all the way through, the whole match was just pointless!

Okay, let me just draw out a little scenario... What if...

...Gerrard would not have scored, Hungary would have won, the fans would have been outraged as always, booing and calling for Fabio Capello's head, once again...

...Capello would no longer be England manager (which I am surprised he still is to be honest after the miserable World Cup) and the hunt would be on for a better replacement; an Englishman if possible as many have been pointing out that that would make the difference because of national pride, a man leading his own country, and...

Bla bla bla bla bla! I'm honest, I was over-optimistic predicting England as finalists in the first place as were many others and I knew it!

For over 40 years now the so-called experts have been waffling on about who and what would be better and best for England to finally get back on top of their game. Since THE world cup win - the odd one out, that's for sure - 13 managers have tried their best. Of those 13, only TWO were not English (Sven Goran Eriksson from Sweden and Italian giovane Fabio).

So, how can you lay the blame on the nationality or the language of the manager as all the "experts" are now trying to do?! EVERY TIME the new manager goes from hero to zero within a couple of years - until the next tournament, Euro or World Cup. It's an impossible job!

In the end it is the 11 men on the pitch it comes down to. Of course, the manager represents the team and has to take responsibility, but looking at the above record, and at the International football record in general, Euro and World Cup, there are some things that are just facts and will never change:

I don't know and cannot imagine international football without the Brasilian temperament, French w(h)ine, Portuguese drama (queens), Spanish flair, Italian scandal, Dutch boom, Argentinean glare, German efficiency... And English tears! And I don't think that will change, not in my lifetime anyway!

Green howler costs England two points

Sports - Football - International - 2010 World Cup South Africa

England 1-1 USA

"Sometimes a forward misses, sometimes a keeper makes a mistake - that's football." - that's how manager Fabio Capello summarised a painful draw for England against the USA.

The match could not have started better when captain Steven Gerrard tapped in an Emile Heskey cross past US keeper Tim Howard with not even four minutes gone on the clock. England fans could not have wished for a better start.

But the Americans did not let that stop them, they kept up the pressure on England and enjoyed most of the possession. England keeper Robert Green did not have much to do as the England back four and their skipper stayed solid and kept tackling continuously and clean.

James Milner's England debut however, ended disappointingly early after half an hour. He was taken off minutes after he was booked and replaced by Shaun Wright-Phillips.

Things went from bad to worse for England when one of those full-dreaded disasters for every goalkeeper happened: Aussie Clint Dempsey twisted and turned through the back line and got a low shot through from about 25 yards. It looked like a comfortable take for the England keeper, but somehow the ball slipped off and past Green's gloves and rolled over the line.

He must have seen it happen in slower motion, looking on in horror whilst it passed over the line, just like every England fan. "At half time I walked in, apologised to the lads and moved on." Green recounted after the match.

The second half saw both teams share plenty of possession, chances and pressure between them, both Wayne Rooney and Heskey missing good chances for England and sending Capello into fury on the sideline.

Frank Lampard pulled a good save from Howard with a free kick from about 25 yards out with just under half an hour to go. Just minutes later, US star striker Jozy Altidore outpaced sub-defender Jamie Carragher and fired in a goal-bound shot, for Green to make a fine save to see the ball deflect off the post and go across goal.

For the final ten minutes Peter Crouch came on for Heskey, who showed a fine display as provider but his own shots lacked aim staying off target. But neither side looked like they were going to be able to grab the match by its horns* and take all three points late-on. (*a.k.a. vuvuzelas)

According to Opta statistics, Green made more errors leading to goals than any other player in the Premier League last season. But former skipper John Terry backed the England keeper after the match: "It's one of those things. Mistakes happen and we're in this together. We need to get behind Rob - he's got good friends here."

England can take encouragement from the fact that defending world champions Italy also drew their group match against the US 1-1 back in 2006 and went on to win it. Hopefully, England can gain confidence from that and make similar improvement and progress.

Quotes taken from the BBC website.

England Green; Johnson, A Cole, Terry, King (Carragher 46); Gerrard, Lennon, Lampard, Milner (Wright-Phillips 30); Rooney, Heskey (Crouch 79). Bookings Milner 26, Carragher 59, Gerrard 61. Subs not used James, Hart, Dawson, Warnock, Upson, J Cole, Barry, Carrick, Defoe.

USA Howard; Bocanegra, Onyewu, Cherundolo, DeMerit; Bradley, Depmsey, Clark, Donovan; Altidore (Holden 86), Findley (Buddle 77). Bookings Cherundolo 39, DeMerit 48, Findley 74. Subs not used Guzan, Hahnemann, Spector, Bornstein, Goodson, Beasley, Torres, Edu, Feilhaber, Hercules Gomez.

Match Stats: England-USA

Attempts: 16-12

On target: 9-5

Corners: 8-4

Free kicks: 8-10

Possession: 58%-42%

Man of the match: Tim Howard

Ground: Royal Bafokeng Stadium

Referee: Carlos Eugenio Simon

Attendance: 44,026

Details and stats taken from the BBC website.

2010 World Cup South Africa Countdown

Sports - Football - International - 2010 World Cup South Africa

With just a couple of days left until the World Cup kicks off in Johannesburg, expectations are high and the nerves in tatters - who will cry tears of joy and glory, whose sobs will be in grief and defeat? We will not know the answer until the final whistle is blown and the competition concludes on the final day on 11 July, but, here are my thoughts and predictions, the winners highlighted bold:

Group A: South Africa, Mexico, Uruguay, France: Despite their home advantage, I do not think South Africa will be able to contend successfully against the established likes of Mexico and France. Although "les bleus" were lucky to scrape through against the Republic of Ireland, the heartbreaking encounter should have been a good enough wake-up-call for them to make up for the blushes and make the best and most of the competition.

Group B: Argentina, Nigeria, South Korea, Greece: Argentina's strong lineup which includes Lionel Messi, Carlos Tevez and Javier Mascherano and with none other than Diego Maradona at the helm, there is no question about who will top this group. Who will follow them into the last 16 is a tougher one to answer with South Korea's and Greece's success-stories being long, distant memories. I think Otto Rehhagel's men will be able to make the push.

Group C: England, USA, Algeria, Slovenia: England have had their fair share of scandals and injuries as always before major competitions, but were let-off by a comparatively easy draw for a change and could not have been given a much easier pass into the last 16. The US look stronger than ever though under manager Bob Bradley and captain Landon Donovan. I would not be surprised to see them make this their best competition display and progess yet.

Group D: Germany, Australia, Serbia, Ghana: This one's my dark horse/shocker-prediction: Having followed Germany's friendlies, dire displays, injury setbacks and crises talks, I think it gives the rest of the group the best chance to capitalise on. Australia have Mark Schwarzer and Lucas Neill to keep them out and Tim Cahill and Harry Kewell to knock them down and in; whilst Serbia can count on Nemanja Vidic and Milan Jovanovic along the same lines.

Group E: Netherlands, Denmark, Japan, Cameron: The European sides take pole position again with experienced players and strong lineups. World number three Netherlands thrashed their way through the warm-up games in preparation to the competition and I see them continue in that fashion with Arjen Robben, Robin van Persie, Wesley Sneijder, Klaas-Jan Huntelaar et al over-filling the scoreboards.

Group F: Italy, Paraguay, New Zealand, Slovakia: The defending world champions are a shadow of the side that won the cup in 2006, but should be able to top the group with their star keeper Gianluigi Buffon, world cup winning skipper Fabio Cannavaro and energy source and runner Daniele de Rossi. Paraguay should follow them into the last 16 with their focal men in attack Roque Santa Cruz and Nelson Haedo Valdez.

Group G: Ivory Coast, Portugal, Brazil, North Korea: With Ivory Coast's top striker Didier Drogba out with a fractured arm, the 2006 semi-finalists Portugal and record world champions Brazil should cruise through the group stage. Both sides are star-struck with their lineups including Ronaldo, Simao and Nani; Kaka, Lucio and Robinho, respectively. Finals without those well-established names is unimaginable.

Group H: Honduras, Chile, Spain, Switzerland: Ottmar Hitzfeld had tears in his eyes to see his home country qualify for the world cup and I see this as his best chance to make the dream-come-true get even better. World number one and world cup favourites Spain should be able to yawn and sleepwalk their way through this stage with star men like Fernando Torres, Xabi Alonso, David Villa and Cesc Fabregas.

So, my European bias sees ten European countries progress into the last 16, joined by four South American countries, USA and Australia. My German bias normally gives Germany the advantage as they have always proven to be successful no matter how miserable their form or display has been. But this time round, under Joachim Löw, I see their luck has run out and I forecast their demise against more competitive and hungry opponents. I am optimistic for England, more than ever, and hope they can enjoy some sweet revenge and success, but am prepared for heartbreaking scenes as always...

Last 16: France v Greece, Mexico v Argentina, England v Serbia, USA v Australia, Netherlands v Paraguay, Denmark v Italy, Portugal v Switzerland, Brazil v Spain

Quarter Finals: Netherlands v Portugal, France v England, Argentina v Australia, Italy v Spain

Semi Finals: England v Portugal, Argentina v Spain

Third Place: Portugal v Argentina

Final: England v Spain

Shame on Henry

Sports - Football - Internationals - World Cup Qualifier

The more I watch it, the clearer it gets to me: If Fifa want to set a stance against cheats, they should take action to warn all the other offenders-to-be, in this case disqualify France and fine and suspend Thierry Henry.



But, I know that will never happen. Football is the only sport where cheats get away and on a regular basis, too, especially of the big teams. So, it is no surprise we have seen and will see it again and again. But at some point it has to stop and something has to change!

It is rhetorical question whether a video referee would have made a difference. The clear answer is, YES! France would not have been awarded the goal, Henry would have been booked, a free kick would have been awarded to the Republic of Ireland and play would have continued with Ireland still in the qualifier, with more than a shout as they were the better side throughout the match.

We obviously do not know how the match would have developed from there, if it would have gone to penalties, or one of the sides would have caught a late (but fair) winner - but we surely know how it would not have ended: An unfair shame and scandalous cheat!

One can only speculate how Fifa would have reacted if it would have happened the other way round, Robbie Keane the offender and France the losers. I suspect we would have read a clear statement the next morning about what actions will be taken.

When I reflect back at how many times they threatened and had a dig against England and their fans, with fines and suspensions, up to disqualification, it would be more than hypocritical if, as I suspect and expect, nothing will follow on this offence.

But presidents Sepp Blatter (FIFA) and Michel Platini (UEFA) were never the ones to jump in for the underdogs or ring in big changes. Instead, they just waffle on and ignore the problem-maker(s) when it matters most (and it is especially amusing regarding that the latter is a Frenchman).

My question to them and all football associations' presidents, executives and directors (managers and players, too) is: When will they learn from the other sports to make football a true sport again???