Friday 10th April, 2009 13

British boxing tyro will step up a division to light-welter- weight to challenge WBA champion Andreas Kotelnik, promoter Frank Kallis, De Villiers steer Warren has announced. SA to 289/6 SCOREBOARD CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) - A.B. de Villiers and Jacques Kallis South Africa scored half-centuries and Albie H. Gibbs c Hopes b Bracken 26 Morkel and Mark Boucher hit out G. Smith c Haddin b Johnson 8 late in the innings Thursday to J. Kallis c Hopes b Geeves 70 guide South Africa to 289 for six AB de Villiers c Hauritz b Johnson 80 wickets in the third one-day interna- J. Duminy c Hussey b Johnson 32 tional against Australia. J. Morkel b Johnson 29 De Villiers scored 80 off 87 balls M. Boucher not out 28 Amir Khan and added 114 with Kallis, who had R. van der Merwe not out 6 70 off 86 balls. De Villiers hit seven Extras: (lb 4, w 2, nb 4) 10 Amir Khan to fours to Kallis’ five. Total: (for six wickets) 289 Overs: 50. Australia will have to break the Did not bat: J. Botha, D. Steyn, W. Parnell. record for a team batting second at challenge Fall of wickets:1-28, 2-50, 3-164, 4-198, 5- Newlands to win and take a 2-1 lead 230, 6-283. in the five-match series after the Bowling: Johnson 10-2-34-4, Bracken 10-0- Kotelnik Proteas recorded the fourth highest 58-1 (1w), Geeves 10-0-67-1 (4nb,1w), Hauritz total at the ground. 8-0-37-0, Hopes 8-0-64-0, Hussey 4-0-25-0. by Gareth A Davies Morkel, whose 29 came off 25 Toss: South Africa, who chose to bat first. Umpires: E. de Silva (SL), R. Koertzen (SA) balls, and Boucher, who collected 28 mir Khan, who defeated Mexican leg- not out off 15 deliveries, piled up a Third umpire: B. Jerling (SA) end Marco Antonio Barrera - the WBO combined 56 runs in the final five Match referee: R. Madugalle (SL) ANo 1 and WBA No 3 ranked fighter at overs of the innings. The sixth-wick- the time - in a fortnight ago, gets et partnership between the pair was Kallis chipped a ball to Hopes at his dream opportunity on June 27 with a worth 53 runs in five overs. midwicket off Brett Geeves, while venue likely to be confirmed in the next week. Openers Herschelle Gibbs and De Villiers, walking around to Warren said: “This is the moment that Graeme Smith went relatively unsettle Johnson, got a leading edge Amir has been waiting for and I’m delighted cheaply, with Smith caught behind to mid-off to be caught by Nathan to deliver him the opportunity. Amir put in a for 8 to give left-arm quick Mitchell Hauritz. sensational performance against a three Johnson the first of his four wickets Johnson also dismissed J.P. time world champion and future Hall of with 28 runs on the board in the sev- Duminy for 29, caught off a flat-bat- Famer in Barrera in only his 21st fight and enth over. ted shot in the covers by Michael now he has to produce the same form Gibbs hit 26 off 46 before going Hussey, and Morkel, bowled in the against Kotelnik who is a good hard fighter.” Khan, eager to get into a world title chal- for a slog-sweep off Nathan Bracken final over of the innings. Johnson South Africa’s AB de Villiers hits lenge as soon as possible, said: “This is the to be caught at deep midwicket by finished with 4-34, with the rest of best news that I could have received. To fight the ball during the one day inter- James Hopes 22 runs and eight the attack unable to stem the scor- for the world title in only my 22nd fight and overs later. national cricket match against ing. at the age of just 22 is fantastic. Frank has After De Villiers and Kallis had Australia in Cape Town, South Geeves came in for Ben done a great job getting the world title fight fought back well to lift the run rate Africa, Thursday, April 9, 2009. Laughlin in Australia’s only change for me in Britain and now I have to go out from 3.5 an over in the 15th, they (AP Photo/Schalk van Zuydam) to the team that lost by seven wick- win it.” “I’ve seen Kotelnik a few times and I’ve went within five overs of each other ets in Pretoria on Sunday. He was always been impressed by him but once my to leave South Africa on 198-4 in the expensive, though, going for 67 runs trainer Freddie Roach works out the game 41st over. for the wicket of Kallis. plan to beat him it’s my job to execute it on the night as I did effectively against Barrera.” Warren could also be moving Khan into a position to challenge Ricky Hatton, if the Mancunian loses to Filipino Manny English cricket by Paul Logothetis hasn’t been used much since returning from Pacquiao at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, on a long-term injury and even less since he showed his May 2. Khan, and even his trainer Freddie BARCELONA, Spain (AP) - Following its frustration after being substituted in a league match Roach, have said that they see themselves as all at sea Champions League demolition of Bayern , last month. opponents of Hatton down the line, though Barcelona needs to avoid getting swept up in praise “I get along OK with him. We have a cordial rela- Hatton may disagree. by Alex Parker of its exhilarating football when it returns to league tionship,” Guti said of Ramos, who is unbeaten since Kotelnik, who is from the and play on Saturday against Recreativo Huelva. taking over for the fired with 13 vic- based in Germany, is well known in Britain evin Pietersen should be captain, but scored twice as the Spanish leaders tories in 14 games. having fought here three times; in 2005 when he terrifies the ECB. overwhelmed Bayern in Lassana Diarra returns from injury while he lost the European title fight against K Wednesday’s 4-0 quarterfinals defender Sergio Ramos is sus- , then in 2007 when he held English cricket is in a pretty weird place win at the Camp Nou, a victo- pended for Sunday’s match. then WBA World Champion Souleymane right now, and it all stems from poor leader- ry that is nearly certain to put Barcelona Forwards Arjen Robben and M’Baye to a draw. ship at the England and Wales Cricket Barcelona through to the semi- Marcelo and center back Pepe Last year he beat , in , Board. finals. remain questionable to injury. to earn the WBA crown. Since defeating Rees, Kotelnik has made two successful title The latest news is that the English Test At least that’s how the With only nine games returns to earth defences against Norio Kimura and Marcos and one-day captain, Andrew Strauss, has local press felt, with Sport pro- remaining, both the chase for not been selected for the Twenty20 squad. Rene Maidana, winning both contests on claiming “We’re in the semis!” European places and the fight to Now it’s T20, so it doesn’t matter, but it is a points. across its front page on with league avoid relegation are tightening very peculiar decision. up. Like Khan, Kotelnik won an Olympic The problem is that England have too Thursday. silver medal but at the 2000 Xavi Hernandez Sevilla, which plays near-bot- many captains. Andrew Flintoff has done tom Getafe on Sunday, sits alone Sydney games, and in 34 fights Kotelnik has the job, so has Paul Collingwood. Strauss is called the rout “a perfect match never been stopped. After the Barrera win, game,” while Bayern president in third with a nine-point lead the incumbent, having also held the position over fourth-place Villarreal. Khan moved to 20-1, the only blemish his previously. Franz Beckenbauer labeled the defeat to Colombian Breidis Prescott last first half - when the hosts net- Midfielder Julien Escude is avail- The fourth big gun is Kevin Pietersen, able again, while striker Frederic September, when he was knocked out in 54 who was fired as captain after he couldn’t ted all four goals - “the worst Kanoute is one goal shy of seconds. get along with former coach Peter Moores. game in the history of becoming Sevilla’s all-time lead- (C) The Telegraph Group, The hunt for a T20 captain is like some Bayern,” according to the daily ing foreign scorer ahead of Davor kind of poor farce. Everybody knows who it paper. London, 2009 Sukur. should be. It’s like having Winston Churchill Messi, the Argentina Getafe is only one point bet- in your Cabinet and pretending he’s not winger who also set up Samuel ter than Recreativo, which cur- there. But we have this stupid pretence that Eto’o for a score, was nearly it’s not obvious. Pietersen is the only guy for rently holds 18th place and the Wisden: Marcus unstoppable as he took his sea- final relegation spot. the job, but he won’t get it because the ECB son tally to 32 goals in all com- are frightened of him. It’s just ridiculous. Deportivo La Coruna and petitions, including a Atletico Madrid meet in a Trescothick should be a Ever since the Moores/Pietersen affair, Champions League-high eight. England have played badly. They contrived matchup of Champions League “Messi had an outstanding to get beaten in a Test series by the West hopefuls in poor form. Atletico warning to cut cricket game, no doubt about it,” Indies and, I’m sorry, but the Windies just hasn’t allowed this many goals - aren’t that good. Bayern coach Juergen 47 - in over 50 years. Klinsmann said. “It’s wonder- Pietersen himself has been evidently “Playing like this, it’s impos- by Simon Briggs miserable, with every day bringing some ful for Barcelona fans to watch sible to win,” striker Sergio fresh quote about how unhappy life is in the and for neutral ones, too.” Aguero said. “We can’t lose any England dressing room. But holding only a six- more. We’ve played two poor n his editor’s notes for the new edition of Now the West Indies are going to point lead over second-place games and now we need to the Wisden Almanack, Scyld Berry writes: Real Madrid means Barcelona England for a two-Test return series. In change that.” I“The word ‘suffer’ is used too often in crick- South Africa especially, this event will be cannot stop to bask in the glow. Villarreal has 48 points, et but in his autobiography Trescothick was drowned out by the noise and the glam of “We have to recuperate Valencia 46 and Atletico, Malaga the IPL, but it is England’s final chance to from the Champions League and Deportivo all have 43 with entitled to use it in describing much of what he get some focus before that greatest of crick- game quickly because only the top four qualifying for endured as an England player. eting contests — the Ashes — begins in July. Saturday’s match is very Europe’s top-tier competition. “Why do England cricketers spend so much This from a team that has no coach and important,” midfielder Yaya Villarreal will be hoping for time on the road and at airports? In every Test- four captains. Toure said on Thursday. victory on Saturday against playing country the domestic structure has to The ECB’s Geoff Miller has been trying Madrid welcomes Malaga with a Champions be subsidised by the international team, but it to distract attention from the chaos at Valladolid to the Santiago League return match at Arsenal FC Barcelona’s Lionel Messi of Argentina, cele- England by shouting at the counties. He’s Bernabeu stadium amid awaiting next week after the is a question of degree: the England team gen- pretending to be furious because they’re hir- brates his goal against Bayern Munich during reports of an uneasy relation- teams drew 1-1 in the first leg. erates about 80 per cent of the annual revenue ing Aussie players on short-term contracts ship between coach Juande their Champions League quarterfinal 1st leg soc- Real Betis hopes a coaching of English cricket, mostly through the broad- before the Ashes, which gives them a chance cer match at the Camp Nou Stadium in change will produce a spark with to get used to English conditions. But it was Ramos and Jose Maria “Guti” casting deal with Sky, and more than half of Barcelona, Spain, Wednesday, April 8, 2009. Jose Maria Nogues leading the ever thus, and Miller knows it. Gutierrez. that income goes to the 18 counties.” (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez) Andalucians on Sunday at If one of cricket’s showpiece contests is The Madrid press has been Wisden name England’s Kevin Pietersen in focused on a supposed rivalry Racing Santander. to be anything like a showpiece at all, the Test Dream XIBerry says the ceaseless tread- ECB needs to stop farting about. A coach between the new coach and the longtime Madrid mid- Betis fired Paco Chaparro on mill of international cricket is enough to drive needs to be hired. Like tomorrow. And then fielder after a TV station trained a camera on Guti on Monday after a draw against next-to-last Numancia, they need to swallow their pride and the bench for the entirety of last weekend’s 1-0 win at which left it in 16th and one point above Recreativo. anyone to distraction, especially as there are appoint Pietersen as captain of England in Malaga. Guti reportedly refused to warm up with five Betis will be without striker Sergio Garcia, who not enough games to keep players busy while all formats of the game, in perpetuity. minutes to play. sprained his knee while celebrating a goal against touring. The impact is felt all the most intense- Numancia. Then, at least, we might have a contest “Listening to everything that’s being said about ly by the team captains: Kevin Pietersen, for on our hands. If not, the Aussies will eat me these past few days, it’s like I killed somebody,” In Sunday’s other 30th round of games, it’s: instance, admitted that he was exhausted after England for breakfast, and one-sided cricket Guti said. “Not in any moment did I refuse to warm Sporting Gijon vs. Valencia; Mallorca vs. Almeria; is always rather dull. up.” Osasuna vs. ; and Numancia vs. last- just six weeks in the job. (The Times) place Espanyol. (C) The Telegraph Group, London, 2009