The New Nation - Internet Edition

Hayden's future rests in selectors' hands

Internet, Sydney

Australian opener Matthew Hayden's Ashes hope now rests on the selectors who will meet soon to pick 25 players for the central contract for the 2009-10 season.

Hayden has already expressed his desire to retire after the Ashes but at 37 his chances look bleak. If selectors give him a contract and he retires after one series, a rookie misses out because a contract cannot be replaced.

For the selectors when they hand out the 25 Cricket Australia (CA) contracts in April, their task will be to choose, firstly, players who can win matches, and secondly to encourage young prospects.

With a focus on the 2011 World Cup - as shown by the those chosen for the squad this summer - a number of young players are likely to be contracted.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported that if selectors felt Hayden was the best man for the tour, he would be given a contract and payment would cease on his retirement.

The selectors have also taken the extraordinary step of meeting every contracted and prospective player after a disappointing summer.

'Boom-Boom' Afridi accused of slapping fan

Internet, Lahore

Shahid Afridi may be in for more trouble, after media reports claimed that he slapped an autograph hunter after a match between Habib Bank Limited (HBL), and Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).

A television reporter and a cameraman of a private television channel claimed that they saw Afridi slapping a man who was asking for an autograph from him, the Daily Times reported.

However Afridi, has denied the allegations saying: "I didn't slap anyone. There was this guy who was chasing and pushing me for an autograph. I just pushed him away."

Meanwhile, the Pakistan Cricket Board has said that an enquiry would be carried out to probe the incident.

Afridi, known for his flamboyant and aggressive batting, has been involved in such incidents earlier too when he was seen on camera thrusting his bat at a spectator who swore at him on his way up the steps after being dismissed in a game. Replays seemed to show that the action was not meant to cause injury, though the spectator had to move out of the way to avoid contact.

He was found guilty and given a four-game ODI suspension. He missed Pakistan's first two 2007 World Cup matches due to the ban.

India, South Africa seek to topple Australia

Internet

The world of cricket looks very interestingly poised as India and South Africa look to overthrow Australia as Test cricket's undisputed leader. For now, Australia are still the number one team after their win against South Africa in Sydney but the shield of invincibility surrounding Ricky Ponting's men has been shattered beyond repair and South Africa and India are in hot pursuit now.

If South Africa (121 points) beat the Aussies (126 points) in the return series in February to be held in South Africa itself, then they take over as number one. India (118 points) are also coming hard for the top spot too.

Joining in the discussion is Murali Kartik; someone who has played against them and knows more than just a bit about both Australia and South Africa, Dave Whatmore; former player and now an accomplished coach who helped Sri Lanka become a superpower and now is with the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore and Nishant Arora; CNN-IBN's Associate Cricket Editor.

Australia no more invincible?

Kartik believes India are in a better position than South Africa to be the best team in the world.

"India are better and the reason is we are a well-rounded team. We have spinners which the South Africans don't have," said Kartik.

However, Kartik also stated that it was unfair to write off the Aussies after two series losses.

"What surprises me is that a team like Australia, which has dominated world cricket for the last 10-12 years and has bulldozed everyone into submission, loses a couple of series and suddenly people are talking about them not being good anymore. I don't know how the rankings work. They are as confusing as the Duckworth-Lewis system. Aussies are being talked about as if they are Zimbabweans. They are not invincible anymore but the fact is that they still are a top side.," Kartik opined.

Pietersen wrong to quit, says Aussie hero Waugh

AFP, London

Former Australian skipper Steve Waugh added his respected voice to the Ashes build-up on Friday by telling Kevin Pietersen he was wrong to relinquish the England captaincy.

Pietersen had overseen just three Tests before he spectacularly fell out with coach Peter Moores in a saga which plunged English cricket into crisis just six months before the team attempts to reclaim the Ashes.

Asked if the South African-born Pietersen had blundered in his high-profile resignation, Waugh said: "Yes, I think so.

"It didn't look like it was a terrible situation. It does take a while to work with someone. I mean you're not just going to come on board as a captain and work smoothly and fit in exactly the way he wants," said Waugh speaking to www.laureus.com.

"There are probably six to twelve months at least so there is that certain period of time where there's a bit of adjustment needed. You've got to get used to the way people operate.

"So I think they really didn't probably give each other enough of an opportunity to do that."

Pietersen, who wants to remain as part of the squad despite reports that his self-confidence and single-mindedness had left the dressing room split, has been succeeded as skipper by opener

Andrew Strauss.

Moores, sacked as coach, has been replaced on a temporary basis by former Zimbabwe batsman Andy Flower who will lead England on their forthcoming tour of the West Indies.

Waugh, the most successful international captain of all time having won 40 of his 53 Tests in charge between 1999 and 2004, insists that few people have emerged with much credit from the

crisis.

"In the end both people suffer. Kevin had to resign from the captaincy and Peter Moores has lost a coaching job, so no one's a winner, and it really puts England one step further back than they'd like to be."

Waugh also believes that despite the controversy, Pietersen will not be cold-shouldered when he returns to England duty to prepare for the squad's departure to the Caribbean on January 21.

"They're pretty hard-nosed and thick-skinned and they're used to a lot of these distractions around the team," he said.

"They'll get on with playing cricket and they'll embrace him as a great, great batsman, which he is and I think it will be pretty soon forgotten and they'll just get on with the job."

The Australian veteran also believes that Pietersen may even regain the captaincy in the future.

"We all move on and you know in time he may well get another opportunity because a lot of people thought he was very good at what he did," added Waugh.

"He certainly gave spark to the job and he got a lot of people talking about Test match cricket in England, so there were certainly more things in his favour than against him."

Dominik and Dominika, a match made in Hopman heaven

AFP, Australia

The seeds of Slovakia's latest Hopman Cup triumph were sown many years ago on a practice court in Bratislava.

Dominik Hrbaty and Dominika Cibulkova, who upset Russian siblings Dinara Safina and Marat Safin in the mixed teams final, first met each other at their local tennis club in the Slovak capital.

Cibulkova was not even a teenager at the time, but the genial and gifted Hrbaty was an idol of hers and they struck up a long friendship that ultimately led to their successful partnership here.

Hrbaty, 31, won the event in 2005 with Daniela Hantuchova, and in the emerging Cibulkova saw a perfect partner for the unique event.

The 19-year-old agreed and it was a fortuitous decision, the pair both winning thrilling three-set singles matches against the Russians on Friday to claim their country's third Hopman Cup.

It turned out to be a match made in Hopman Cup heaven, but Hrbaty admitted he initially needed to convince tournament director Paul McNamee that they deserved a berth in the event.

Hrbaty had dropped well down the rankings after surgery in late 2007 and Cibulkova, now ranked 19, was only just starting to make a name for herself on the tour.

"We have known each other for a long, long time," Hrbaty said. "I watched her growing up at home, at the courts, practising always next to me.

"Somewhere around Wimbledon (last year) I asked Dominika if she would be interested in playing Hopman Cup and she said yes, so I talked to Paul McNamee and tried to convince him.

"It was after my surgeries, Dominika was ranked about 40 or 50, but I told him she was going to be a great player, and he took us."

Hrbaty tipped Cibulkova to remain unbeaten during the tournament in singles and she duly did so, capping a fine week by upsetting the third-ranked Safina in the final to claim one of the biggest scalps of her career.

Cibulkova considered it an honour to play alongside the injury-hit Hrbaty, who has slipped to 250th in the rankings from a career high of 12 and led his country to its first Davis Cup final in 2005.

"I told him I would love to play," Cibulkova recalled.

"He was my idol, I was watching the Davis Cup when they made it to the final and I was there screaming, like today.

"I am so glad to be here with him and to win is an amazing feeling."

Hrbaty, perhaps inspired by the vocal support of his team-mate, wound back the clock with some of his singles form here including his win over the 29th-ranked Safin in the final.

He said it was the team spirit of the seventh-ranked Slovaks that enabled them to upset more fancied teams on the way to the title.

"We are very similar, not just with the names but with the fighting spirit also," he said.

"We showed our emotions for our country, for the people, when we played, and they know that we are fighting for them."

Narail, Gaibandha in school kabaddi championship final

bdnews24.com, Dhaka

Mirzapur High School of Narail and Asaduzzaman Girls' High School 0f Gaibandha moved into the girls' final of the Standard Charted National School Kabaddi Championship on Saturday.

Mirzapur High School beat Miar Uddin Girls' High School of Jamalpur 29-26 in the first semi-final at the Kabaddi court adjacent to outer stadium.

In the second match, Asaduzzaman Girls' High School defeated Rajshahi Bahumukhi High Girls' School 39-26.

Beckham-mania as fans panic over his sticker

AFP, Rome

Obsessed football fans are in a panic that the David Beckham sticker for the Panini albums will not be freely available, Ansa reported on Friday.

The sticker will only be sold on request rather than in the usual packets leading Panini commercial director Antonio Allegra to describe the response as a real "panic."

Allegra added: "It a real obsession. Since early this morning, we have been submerged by telephone calls and e-mails. I think we have had a 1,000 in a single day (t).

"I could never have imagined something like this. Even after 6p.m. when our offices closed, the telephone was still ringing.

But we'll do everything we can to satisfy those who have asked for one."

Former England captain Beckham is set to make his league debut for AC Milan, on-loan from LA Galaxy, in Sunday's match at AS Roma following a midweek friendly and weeks of anticipation.

New Zealand v West Indies washed out

Reuters, Wellington

Saturday's fourth one-day international between New Zealand and West Indies at Eden Park, Auckland was abandoned because of rain.

The visitors were 64 without loss in 10.3 overs with skipper Chris Gayle not out on 46 and Shivnarayan Chattergoon on 17 when they players had to leave the filed for the second and final time due to rain.

Martin Guptill smashed a debut century to help New Zealand amass an imposing 275 for four in their fourth one-day international against West Indies at Eden Park in Auckland on Saturday.

Guptill batted through the entire New Zealand innings to finish unbeaten on 122, the second highest score by a debutant in a one-day international.

The 22-year-old right-hander faced 135 balls, striking eight fours and two sixes, and shared in three valuable partnerships after West Indies had won the toss and invited the home team to bat.

Guptill was one of four changes to the New Zealand team that won the third match in Wellington on Wednesday to level the series at 1-1.

Guptill became the first New Zealander, and only the fifth player from any country, to score a hundred in his first one-day international.

The record score for a debutant is 148, made by West Indian opener Desmond Haynes against Australia in 1978.

Paceman Lionel Baker, one of three changes to the West Indies team, was the best of the bowlers, capturing two wickets for 29 runs in his 10 overs.

The final match of the series is in Napier on Tuesday.

Scores:

New Zealand 275-4 from 50 overs (Martin Guptill 122 not out, Ross Taylor 75)

West Indies 64-0 from 10.3 overs (Chris Gayle 46 not out).

No result.

Verdasco blasts into Brisbane final

AFP, Brisbane

Spain's Fernando Verdasco played almost faultless tennis to blast his way past Paul- Henri Mathieu 6-2, 6-1 in the semi-finals of the Brisbane International here Saturday.

The second seeded Davis Cup winner dominated his French opponent in every department as he raced through the match in 75 minutes.

He broke Mathieu three times in the first set and twice in the second as he showed the form that took him to world number 16 at the end of 2008.

Mathieu had been in great form leading up the semi-finals, not dropping a set in the previous rounds.

Jankovic pulls out of Hong Kong event

AFP, Hong Kong

World number one Jelena Jankovic pulled out of the Hong Kong World Team Challenge with flu on Saturday, throwing her Australian Open preparations into disarray.

The Serbian, who came into the tournament looking for vital match practice ahead of the year's opening Grand Slam, said she had been struggling throughout the exhibition tournament. "I have a flu and have been feeling weak and sick for the last couple of days. I really have been trying my best to go on the court but I feel slow and (have had) no reactions," she said.

"I wanted to go out there for the crowd. It's an exhibition event and as well I think it was a great opportunity for me to play some matches and try to get in form before the Australian Open but sometimes you cannot control it.

"Nobody likes to be sick and now I'm on medication and I have to rest and try to recover as fast as possible and then we will see how everything will go."

Jankovic, 23, said she was flying to Melbourne later Saturday, ahead of the start of the Australian Open on January 19.

Her withdrawal from the Hong Kong event, which features teams from Russia, Europe, the Americas and Asia-Pacific, leaves her short of vital match practice at the start of the season.

Evra available to face Chelsea

Reuters, London

Brief news before this weekend's Premier League matches (all times GMT): * Manchester United defender Patrice Evra is available for Sunday's visit of second-placed Chelsea (1600) after serving a four-game ban for his part in a fracas at Stamford Bridge in April.

Winger Cristiano Ronaldo is fit for the third-placed champions after escaping unhurt from a car accident on Thursday.

* Chelsea captain John Terry and midfielder Michael Ballack return from suspension for the highlight of the weekend's fixtures.

* League leaders Liverpool are likely to welcome back striker Fernando Torres for Saturday's trip to struggling Stoke City (1730), which would be his first Premier League match since November after recovering from a hamstring injury. The Spaniard scored late in Saturday's FA Cup third-round victory over Preston North End after coming on as a substitute.

Liverpool say midfielder Xabi Alonso is doubtful for the game because of a foot injury.

* England striker Jermain Defoe is available for Tottenham Hotspur's trip to Wigan Athletic on Sunday (1330) after completing the transfer back to his old club from Portsmouth on Friday. The move was announced on Tuesday but was subject to a medical.

"I am pleased to have him here and I am sure the supporters are looking forward to seeing him back in a Spurs shirt," Tottenham manager Harry Redknapp told the club's website (www.tottenhamhotspur.com).

* Fifth-placed Arsenal are without defenders Mikael Silvestre (thigh) and William Gallas (hamstring) for Saturday's home match against Bolton Wanderers (1500) but have midfielder Denilson and defender Kolo Toure available after recovering from back and groin injuries.

* Bolton captain Kevin Nolan and defender Gretar Steinsson are suspended for the trip to north London and manager Gary Megson added that defender Gary Cahill was doubtful because he had still not recovered from rib and hip injuries.

* Aston Villa manager Martin O'Neill said midfielder Gareth Barry could recover from a groin injury in time for Saturday's derby against bottom club West Bromwich Albion at Villa Park (1245).

He told the fourth-placed club's website (avfc.premiumtv.co.uk) that defenders Martin Laursen (knee) and Carlos Cuellar (hamstring) remained doubtful.