MONDAY, FEBRUARY 9, 2015 SPORTS Chinese boat Dongfeng sets pace for Ocean Race SANYA: China’s Team Dongfeng led the fleet out of its Dongfeng and their French skipper Charles Caudrelier. Sanya Bay before setting out for the open seas in Higby was determined to make the most of his home port of Sanya yesterday for leg four of the Volvo The boat made history in the 41-year-old race, for- winds of up to 15 knots yesterday. unexpected opportunity. “I know Adil is devastated to Ocean Race, a 5,264-nautical mile trip to Auckland that merly the Whitbread Round the World Race, last It is likely to be a baptism of fire for Abu Dhabi’s have to miss the fourth leg and I have wished him a promises particularly treacherous conditions in the month when it became the first from China to win a trimmer, Alex Higby, a 29-year-old Briton who until speedy recovery,” he said. “I haven’t had much time to first two days. Once the six-strong fleet has emerged leg. It edged out Abu Dhabi Ocean Racing in the third Sunday had been working as a hand in the sail loft of think about the significance of getting the call-up from from the protection of Sanya Bay, it is likely to be hit by stage from Abu Dhabi to Sanya and took the overall the team’s shore crew. Ian, but I’m of course very excited to get the chance to strong winds of up to 30 knots and a strong current race lead from the Emirati boat by just one point. He was awakened at 7am local time by Abu Dhabi’s sail in my first Volvo Ocean Race leg.” The fleet is running in the opposite direction. The crew then followed up on Saturday (Feb. 7) by skipper Ian Walker and was told to get his sailing kit expected to arrive in Auckland in about three-and-a- That is likely to result in waves that in the last edi- winning the Sanya in-port race, again a first for China out of storage. The team’s first choice in his role, Adil half weeks. In all, it will sail 38,739 nautical miles over tion in 2011-12 measured up to 15 metres in height. in an event that is being staged for the 12th time. Khalid, had been struck down by a vomiting bug and the nine months of the race before the conclusion in Very little, however, appears to be bothering The fleet raced around the relatively protected pulled out of the stage to New Zealand. Gothenburg, Sweden, on June 27. —AP Aussies peaking at right time

SYDNEY: Australia are peaking at the right on February 28. time for a crack at their fifth World Cup tri- Much will depend on Australia’s ability to umph and will go into this month’s tourna- get quick runs at the top of the innings and ment at home on top of the rankings. they have the right ammunition with Under the attacking coaching of Darren adventurous opening pair of Aaron Finch Lehmann, the Australians have registered and Warner. Warner has three ODI centuries, some impressive results and have only lost including a recent 127 off 115 balls against one of their last 12 ODIs. England in the tri-series, while Finch has five Australia accounted for the third-ranked tons, four of them last year. South Africans 4-1 in a series at home last Throw in Smith, the experienced Shane November and comfortably beat England Watson, possibly George Bailey depending and India in a tri-series in the final weeks on Clarke’s availability, batting all-rounders before the World Cup. Glenn Maxwell, James Faulkner and Lehmann and fellow selectors have Mitchell Marsh and Australia have plenty of assembled a strong playing group around a runs in their ranks. core of key players-David Warner, Steve Mitchell Johnson, the ICC Cricketer of Smith, Mitchell Johnson and possibly skip- 2014, leads the attack with fellow left-armer per Michael Clarke, fitness issues depend- Mitchell Starc, Josh Hazlewood and Pat ing. Clarke has been troubled by hamstring Cummins offering pace and venom. and back problems throughout the south- While the Australians are well stocked ern summer and he is already a doubt for with fast bowlers, there is some concern the opening game against England on over the selection of Xavier Doherty as the February 14. Given stand-in skipper Smith’s specialist attacking spinner. phenomenal form with the bat this season- The Australians relish playing aggressive three ODI centuries since October-there are under Lehmann and Warner has those who say Australia may not even miss already been told by Cricket Australia to Clarke’s leadership and batting. “stop looking for trouble” after his recent Australia’s biggest challenge will be how clash with Indian batsman Rohit Sharma. the team handles the external pressures as The explosive opener was fined half his the host nation that will decide its winning one-day match fee by the ICC for con- chances. The Australians didn’t cope in 1992 fronting Sharma and demanding he “speak when they last hosted the sport’s show- English” during Australia’s four- win in piece and they missed out on the semi- Melbourne this month. finals. The home team have traditional New Zealand cricket great Martin Crowe PERTH: In this Sunday, Feb. 1, 2015, file photo, Englandís Stuart Broad(center) is congratulated by team mates. — AP rivals England first up on February 14 at the called Warner’s behavior “thuggish” and Melbourne Cricket Ground, the venue for slammed him as being the most juvenile the March 29 final. cricketer he had ever seen. But it’s like water England face tough start The Australians also have , New off a duck’s back for coach Lehmann, who Zealand Bangladesh and associate teams said: “David’s an aggressive character and Afghanistan and Scotland in their pool and we support that. It’s just making sure he LONDON: England will look to launch their bid ourselves. If we do that we’ll be a very danger- axed England batsman-playing in Australia’s will have home advantage for all but their does the right thing on the ground. We’ll to win a maiden World Cup title when they face ous side regardless of who we’re playing.” domestic Big Bash Twenty20 tournament-said pool game with the Black Caps in Auckland work with him with that.” — AFP co-hosts Australia on February 14, having been But his protestations that England were not Morgan would “love to have me in the England thrashed by their arch-rivals just last week. under pressure were met with a withering team”. But if Pietersen’s comments were pre- The recent tri-series saw England lose three response from Johnson. “I think they are dream- dictable, revelations that Morgan had been the times to Australia, with the final in Perth ending ing if they think they are not under pressure,” subject of a blackmail attempt by the current in a crushing 112-run defeat for Eoin Morgan’s Johnson said. “Every team is going to be under partner of his former girlfriend were bizarre. men. Significantly, Australia fast bowler Mitchell pressure.”It has not all been doom and gloom for The England and Wales Cricket Board follow- Johnson marked his first appearance of 2015 England, the last of whose three losing World ing talks with British police, contacted the with a decisive spell of three top-order Cup finals was in Australia in 1992, on this latest potential blackmailer, who they said had “apolo- in just 10 balls that included the left-armer bowl- trip ‘Down Under’. gised”, with ECB managing director Paul ing Morgan first ball. Experienced batsman Ian Bell made scores of Downton insisting the issue had been “brought The way in which the World Cup is structured 88 not out against defending champions India to a swift conclusion”. means England should still qualify for the quar- and 141 against the Aussies in Hobart earlier in On the field, it appears England are content ter-finals regardless of the outcome of their the tri-series. to keep the big-hitting Alex Hales in reserve for Valentine’s Day opener. And in ditching Test Alastair Cook, the time being. The way in which fast bowler However, the Australia match was sympto- who had scored just one fifty in his last 22 one- Steven Finn showed signs of a return to form matic of some longstanding England failings in day innings, from the World Cup squad before with five wickets in the recent win over India was one-day cricket with a promising performance they left England, the selectors lanced an espe- an encouraging sign. in the field falling away towards the end of the cially nasty boil, with an opening partnership But whether England have the match-win- innings before ‘extreme’ bowling, in this case between Bell and left-hander Moeen Ali offering ners-the batsmen and bowlers who can trans- sheer pace rather than sharp spin, proved their grounds for some optimism. form a one-day contest in a matter of overs- undoing. After the Perth fixture, a defiant Meanwhile the new skipper neatly evaded a when the pressure is really on remains to be Morgan said: “We strive to get the best out of verbal bouncer from Kevin Pietersen when the seen. — AFP Disaster plants seeds for Black Caps dream

WELLINGTON: When South Africa rolled New Zealand for 45 in a Test innings two years ago little did they know they had also sown the seeds for the Black Caps to become strong contenders for the 2015 World Cup. Notables such as South African skipper AB de Villiers and India’s Rahul Dravid head a worldwide chorus of predic- SYDNEY: In this Jan. 16, 2015 file photo, Australia’s James Faulkner drives the ball tions that New Zealand, playing on home wickets through to the against England during their one-day International cricket match. — AP semi-finals, will be in the final four at least. Such sound support reflects the depth of talent building within a squad producing consistent performances far removed from the innings in South Africa which ignited deep soul searching by the Scotland desperate New Zealanders. It may have been a Test match but it brought an across the board shake up of player attitudes with New Zealand’s to end losing streak one-day unit developing into a fiercely competitive unit. The pat- tern of a top-order failure leading to an innings collapse has been LONDON: Scotland arrive at what will be Yorkshire seamer Iain Wardlaw to be includ- replaced by a culture where they believe they can beat any team; their third World Cup desperate for a maid- ed in the 15-man party. The backroom staff the image of a side filled with individual agendas has been turned en tournament victory after eight defeats is even more cosmopolitan with head into a “team effort” ethos. combined at the 1999 and 2007 editions. coach Grant Bradburn, a former New “You can’t have a team-first mentality if only a few people are For a non-Test nation, the Scots’ World Zealand Test cricketer, assisted by ex- buying into it. When you have players sacrificing their own personal Cup record may not seem that surprising England all-rounder Paul Collingwood. records for what the team needs, that’s what it’s all about,” says but the fact they bowed out of the 2007 Both Bradburn and Collingwood will be coach Mike Hesson. As a result captain Brendon McCullum takes his World Cup in the Caribbean with a crushing looking to defeat their native countries, side into the World Cup off the back of a series wins against Sri eight-wicket defeat by fellow associate with New Zealand, the tournament co- Lanka and Pakistan in the past month, and a reputation as team country the Netherlands tells its own story. hosts, and England the Scots’ opening two that fights to the end. In 2012, the year prior to the frank self-analy- For many years Scotland were regarded pool opponents. sis, New Zealand had a disappointing 4-10 ODI win-loss record. as one of the premier non-Test nations, sup- Collingwood, still playing county cricket After the South Africa debacle, it improved to 7-10 in 2013 and pro- plying an England captain in the late Mike for Durham, has forged a reputation as a gressed to the right side of the ledger at 9-5 last year. They have Denness during the 1970s and county stal- tough, competitive professional and has won four of their past five series and three times in the past two warts such as Essex’s Brian Hardie. However, been helping Scotland with the mental side years New Zealand have successfully chased down a target of more recently they’ve had to look on enviously as of their game in particular. “I always felt in than 250 beating India, Pakistan and England-as they worked on Ireland, the Netherlands and Afghanistan the past that if you got on top of Scotland, have all shone on the world stage, with then there was no fight,” said Collingwood. their World Cup strategy. Bangladesh making the transition from “I was just being honest and allowing them “It’s nice to win games when you’re under the pump and that’s associate to Test status. to come up with a brand of cricket that they something we pride ourselves on,” says Hesson. “Chasing under “We’ve underachieved over the last five wanted to play. Grasping that has been an pressure is important. We’re going to have a lot of chases in the next to ten years,” Scotland all-rounder Calum important step forward for them.” few months and we’re going to be in pressure situations.” New MacLeod told the CricInfo website. “We Collingwood, renowned for his fielding Zealand are opening their innings with McCullum, a renowned big- need to beat some Full Members (Test skills, added: “Scotland’s fielding is world- hitter, tasked with setting a commanding run-a-ball rate from the nations). If we manage to do that then the class and it’s an area where we should shine start. “If Brendon doesn’t come off it’s someone else’s opportunity,” exposure of the game will increase,” he in Australia and New Zealand.” But there is says Hesson, stressing his philosophy that the loss of key wickets added, conscious of how such victories only so much coaches can do and the way does not have to have a negative impact. have been a catalyst for the growth of Irish Scotland suffered an eight-wicket defeat by Recent performances show New Zealand are capable of pacing cricket. Scotland’s squad for the World Cup Afghanistan in the opening match of the themselves with proven run-scorers Kane Williamson and Ross features seasoned Northamptonshire bats- recent associate warm-up series in the UAE Taylor following McCullum to steer them deep into the innings. The man while a change in qualifi- would have been a concern. Scotland reliable Grant Elliott is there should the top order fail and destruc- cation regulations, which allows British though later beat their fellow minnows by tive big-hitters Corey Anderson and Luke Ronchi are capable of fin- passport holders with Scottish parentage to 150 runs in Abu Dhabi, a heartening result ishing off. Kyle Mills, Tim Southee, Trent Boult and Mitchell play for them, has paved the way for the for skipper ’s side ahead McClenaghan will vie for the strike bowler positions with the squad likes of Leicestershire all-rounder Rob of the countries’ World Cup pool clash in also including quality spinners Daniel Vettori and Nathan McCullum AUSTRALIA: In this Jan. 30, 2007, file photo, New Zealand’s Brendon McCullum cele- Taylor, Sussex batsman and Dunedin. — AFP with Elliott and Anderson proven all rounders. — AFP brates during their one-day international cricket match against England. — AP