England v Sri Lanka 2nd Test
Second Test, Edgbaston:Sri Lanka 141 all out v England (day one, tea)
Plunkett had three wickets, and could even have had a fourthSri Lanka were all out for 141 on the stroke of tea on day one of the second Test against England at Edgbaston.
Liam Plunkett took 3-43, his best figures in Test cricket, after Sri Lanka had opted to bat first.
Chaminda Vaas was not out 30 when Muttiah Muralitharan skied to point after Monty Panesar had ended a 50-run stand for the ninth wicket.
Matthew Hoggard, Sajid Mahmood and Andrew Flintoff all collected two wickets in a fine team effort.
Things could have gone even better for England, though they will not be too disgruntled by their performance thus far.
Tillekeratne Dilshan, caught off a Plunkett no-ball having made just two, was the first man to fall after lunch when Flintoff had him smartly held by Marcus Trescothick at first slip.
Dilshan's 27 was the second best score by a Sri Lankan.
Trescothick smoothly accepted his second chance in the next over as Nuwan Kulasekara was outhought by Mahmood
But England had to wait more than an hour for their next wicket as Vaas and Lasith Malinga put on 50 for the ninth wicket, more than doubling the next best partnership in the innings.
Finally, Monty Panesar, who spilt a simple chance at mid-off before Malinga had scored - depriving Plunkett of a fourth wicket - became the third England bowler to strike in his first over.
Malinga was the man to go, lbw for 26, and just four runs short of his best score in first-class cricket.

Although the pitch was not devilishly hard to bat on, there was consistent swing and seam movement throughout the session.
After so much rain in the past week, the bright conditions at the toss perhaps seduced Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene into thinking it was better to bat first.


Batting at four, he was strapping his pads on earlier than he would have hoped after Upul Tharanga played around a ball from Hoggard that swung through his gate.
Plunkett was called on to bowl the seventh over of the morning and struck with his third ball when Michael Vandort, replacing Jehan Mubarak in the side, edged to Paul Collingwood at gully.
The prize wicket came just three balls later.
Jayawardene, Sri Lanka's centurion at Lord's, nibbled at a ball that left him a fraction and Geraint Jones accepted the catch.
Hoggard continued to bowl immaculately and was rewarded again when Collingwood took his second catch.
This time, the Durham man was standing in the unusual position of fourth slip, where he accepted an edge from Thilan Samaraweera.
Sangakkara had done much of the hard work and had struck three sweet boundaries off the back foot when, on 25, he was tempted to play at a wide delivery by Hoggard.
The result was Jones' second of three catches in the innings.
Farveez Maharoof was dropped twice, once by Collingwood (a brute of a chance) and once by Andrew Strauss (a basic slip catch).
But there was no major damage done, Mahmood having him caught behind by Jones as Sri Lanka stumbled into lunch on 65-6.
England were unchanged from the team that drew at Lord's while Sri Lanka, as well as adding Vandort, brought in paceman Malinga for batsman Chamara Kapugedera.

Barrichello blames crisis on team

Barrichello took three races before he even scored a point at HondaRubens Barrichello has blamed his new Honda team's lack of experience for his troubled transition from Ferrari.
The 34-year-old Brazilian struggled to get to grips with the RA106 in the early part of the season, taking three races before scoring his first point.
He said: "To be honest, it was a bit of a lack of experience within the team.
"I got used to the car but I told them if the car didn't come my way I was only going to be behind Jenson as I had to learn how he was driving the car."
Barrichello's biggest sticking point after his move down the grid were the brakes.
He explained: "It is not just jumping from one car to another. The car was completely different on the brake system. I attack the brakes harder than Jenson and I wasn't feeling the bite of the brakes.
"In testing I kept on saying 'the brakes, the brakes, the brakes' and they said 'OK, for the race we are going to have new items and everything is going to be good'.
"When the race came, everything was the same and that is why I took so long to adapt. After two or three races, when we tested new components, we actually found something and then I improved."
Despite his outburst, the nine-time Grand Prix winner believes Honda are now turning the corner and his input can help both him and team-mate Jenson Button to race wins.
"I am sure that, with the things I have been developing, it will help him eventually win a race," he said. "It is a mountain that we are both climbing."

Technorati Tags: Barrichello, Formular 1, Grand prix

Owen to lead England B.

Michael Owen will captain the England B team to face Belarus in Reading on Thursday.
Owen will partner Peter Crouch in attack while Arsenal pair Ashley Cole and Sol Campbell start in defence as they continue their return from injury.
Owen Hargreaves will play at right-back to allow coach Sven-Goran Eriksson to look closely at Michael Carrick and Jermaine Jenas in the centre of midfield.
Aaron Lennon and Stewart Downing start on the wings with David James getting the nod ahead of Robert Green in goal.
Jamie Carragher will partner Campbell in the centre of defence.
Eriksson has named nine subs, including 17-year-old Theo Walcott, but can only use six of them.
Stand-by keeper Scott Carson is fit to take his place on the bench after missing two days training this week with a stomach upset.
Eriksson trained with a full complement of 28 players at the England base in Hertfordshire today.
Only Wayne Rooney was missing from the training session.
Eriksson had 22 of his 23-man squad available to work with, plus all five of his stand-by players.
Seven players will be rested from tomorrow's game at the Madejski Stadium.
David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, Frank Lampard, Gary Neville, Paul Robinson, John Terry and Rio Ferdinand will take no part.
Rooney will undergo a scan on his broken foot on Thursday.
England B team to face Belarus at the Madejski Stadium:
James (Man City), Hargreaves (Bayern Munich), A Cole (Arsenal), Carrick (Tottenham), Carragher (Liverpool), Campbell (Arsenal), Lennon (Tottenham), Jenas (Tottenham), Crouch (Liverpool), Owen (Newcastle), Downing (Middlesbrough).
Substitutes: Bridge (Chelsea), Green (Norwich), P Neville (Everton), Dawson (Tottenham), J Cole (Chelsea), Defoe (Tottenham), Johnson (Crystal Palace), Walcott (Arsenal), Carson (Liverpool).

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Beckham wants to lead at Wembley
Beckham and the England squad toured the new WembleyDavid Beckham wants to stay on as England captain after the World Cup and wear the armband at the new Wembley.
Beckham, 31, toured the building site with the squad and said: "I'd love to lead the team out at this stadium."
Steve McClaren must decide whether to keep Beckham in the top job when he succeeds Sven Goran Eriksson as England coach after the World Cup.
"The manager will decide and when Steve takes over he will decide on that," Beckham continued.
"For now I'm the captain and I will lead the team into this World Cup and hopefully be successful. After that, we'll wait and see."
I believe there's at least another four or five years left in my legs and I hope that's as an England player
David Beckham
Former skipper Bryan Robson is just one of those tipping John Terry and Steve Gerrard have both as possible successors.
Tuesday's tour was Beckham's first trip back to Wembley since England's last game there, a 1-0 defeat to Germany in 2000.
"It was one of my worst moments in an England shirt. I don't want that to be my last experience of Wembley and hopefully it won't be," he said.
"It wasn't nice walking down the tunnel after that game. The memories are still there."
The new 90,000-seat Wembley will not stage an England match until next February at the earliest.
Whether captain or not, Beckham refused to rule out the idea of playing in the 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
"I'm feeling good. I'm going into this competition without any broken bones," he added.
"I feel great physically and mentally it's perfect.
"I believe there's at least another four or five years left in my legs and I hope that's as an England player as well as a Real Madrid player."
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El Guerrouj calls it quit
El Guerrouj has said he wants to spend more time with his familyDouble Olympic champion Hicham El Guerrouj has announced his retirement.
The Moroccan, the 1500m world record holder, claimed a brilliant 1500m and 5,000m double at the Athens Games to add to his four 1500m world titles.
But the man considered by many to be the greatest 1500m runner of all time missed last season with injury and has not raced since Athens.
A back injury forced the 31-year-old out of this year's World Indoor Championships in Moscow.
El Guerrouj also left it late before deciding to withdraw from the 2005 Worlds because of a virus. He then declared he would take the rest of the year off before racing a farewell season in 2006.
The "King of the Mile" felt he had nothing left to achieve after his historic double triumph in Athens.
El Guerrouj became the first man since Finnish legend Paavo Nurmi in 1924 to complete the 1500m-5,000m double.
EL GUERROUJ FACTS
Born: 14 September 1974
Personal best: 1500m - 3:26.00mins (WR)5,000m - 12:50.24mins
World Athletics medals: 2003 - 1500m gold, 5,000m silver2001 - 1500m gold1999 - 1500m gold1997 - 1500m gold1995 - 1500m silver
Olympic medals:2004 - 1500m gold, 5,000m gold2000 Olympics - 1500m silver
World Indoor medals:1995 - 1500m gold1997 - 1500m gold2001 - 3,000m gold
But it did not come easily as he was forced to out-sprint world record holder Kenenisa Bekele in the final few metres of the 5,000m just days after fending off Bernard Lagat to claim the 1500m title.
El Guerrouj's Greek triumphs made amends for his disastrous previous Olympic campaigns.
At the 1996 Games in Atlanta he tripped on the final lap of the 1500m final to finish last.
Four years later in Sydney, a poor tactical race saw him surrender the gold to Kenya's Noah Ngeny and break down in tears on the track.
El Guerrouj's dominance of the 1500m saw him notch up four consecutive world titles in 1997, 1999, 2001 and 2003.
His world record time of three minutes 26 seconds, which he set eight years ago in Rome, still stands.
The Moroccan also holds the mile record (3:43.13) as well as the 2,000m, indoor 1500m and mile marks.
Away from the track, El Guerrouj is a representative for the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF), Unicef and the International Olympic Committee.

Gerrard may play in forward role
Eriksson (left) has not decided on Gerrard's role yet
England coach Sven-Goran Eriksson says he has not ruled out the possibility of using Steven Gerrard as a striker at the World Cup finals.

With Wayne Rooney a doubt with a broken foot and Michael Owen only just back from a similar injury, Gerrard has been touted for a forward role.
Eriksson said: "Steven Gerrard can play in a lot of positions and one is as a second striker.
"I'm sure he could play as first striker but a lot depends on Rooney."
Manchester United star Rooney is almost certain to miss the group stages of the tournament and is thought to be a doubt for the knockout after suffering a broken metatarsal last month.

Feature: Gerrard gives Eriksson options
Gerrard has scored 23 goals for Liverpool this season and calls for him to be given a more forward position were increased after his two-goal performance in the FA Cup final win over West Ham.

Eriksson added: "I have known for many years that Gerrard can play in a lot of positions.
"We haven't decided yet but he's useful wherever he plays. After 25 May we will know much better what's happening with Wayne Rooney.
"I hope we play with Wayne Rooney and Michael Owen but once again Steven Gerrard is an option there."

Eriksson said he had no regrets about the gamble in picking Arsenal's teeange striker Theo Walcott as one of his four strikers.
The Swede added: "He looks to be very bright. It's not easy for him, of course, to settle in with a lot of good football players. It's a gamble and I'm happy I did it.

"He seems very stable and is just a young boy and of course he is happy to be here."
I'm very confident that he will be absolutely perfect for the World Cup
Sven-Goran Eriksson on Michael Owen
Owen said Walcott had been welcomed by the rest of the England squad.
He said: "It's inevitable that when you first join up you're going to be nervous. But that's the great thing with this England team.
"As soon as a new face comes in everyone is quick to welcome them.

"We have been together two or three days now you can see him starting to relax a bit.
"Hopefully by the time the World Cup comes round he will be relaxed enough to do well and have an impact on the tournament."

Eriksson was delighted to see Newcastle forward Owen looking sharp in training.
"He's very important and he looked 100% fit yesterday and today," he said.
"I'm very confident that he will be absolutely perfect for the World Cup and very, very hungry."

Technorati Tags: England, Gerrard, World Cup 2006

 

Rijkaard ignores 'favourites' tag
Uefa Champions League final
Arsenal v Barcelona
Stade de France, Paris
Wednesday 18 May, 1945BST
Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard says his players will not be affected by their favourites tag for the Champions League final against Arsenal.
"My players are very excited, motivated and very united," Rijkaard said. "But to think that we are favourites to win would be a grave error.

"Everything starts with being humble and we know we have to go for them from the first minute.
"All I want is that my players show how they can play, nothing more."
Rijkaard will give Lionel Messi as long as possible to prove his fitness after a thigh injury, but is upbeat about his side's chances even if the Argentina international cannot feature in Paris.
It says a lot that Arsenal have conceded only two goals in the whole competition
Barcelona coach Frank Rijkaard
"We have a lot of confidence in ourselves," Rijkaard said.

"This game is not only important for the club but for the players and for the Barca fans.
"We know we have to play a great game against a very good side in order to win."
Barca have the best scoring record in the Champions League this season - with 22 goals - but Rijkaard knows Arsenal's defence will not be easy to break down.
The Gunners have kept a clean sheet in their last 10 European games - setting a record in the process - and Rijkaard said: "It says a lot that they have conceded only two goals in the whole competition.
"Results have gone their way and this has given their players a lot of confidence.
"But this is a final and it's going to be very interesting."

The Barcelona coach says he will not change his tactics to stifle Arsenal captain Thierry Henry, who is the Gunners' main attacking threat.
"Henry is a great player," Rijkaard added. "But we cannot change everything just for one player."

Technorati Tags: Fcbacelona, Champions league, UEFA

 

Gatlin sets new world 100m record
World and Olympic champion Justin Gatlin became the new 100m world record holder at the IAAF Super Tour meeting in Doha on Friday.
The 24-year-old American clocked 9.76 seconds to break Asafa Powell's mark by one-hundredth of a second.
"I feel like I'm the best of the best," He said "I'm double world champion, Olympic champion and now the world recorder holder.
"But the race was not one of my best and I know I can go faster."
Gatlin had already been in red hot form this season, clocking 9.95 in his first outing of the season in Osaka and 9.85 in the Doha semi-finals.
The American's new world mark knocked 0.09secs off his previous personal best of 9.85 - the time he ran to capture the Olympic crown in Athens

Tags:Gatlin, 100meters, world record, IAAF

Sharapova wants equal prize money
19 years old and World number three Sharapova believes prize money equality is inevitableEx-Wimbledon champion Maria Sharapova has called for women players to receive the same prize money as the men.

she's of the view that women deserve to be treated the same as men.
"There has been a long debate about equal prize money but these things take time. If we keep pushing we'll eventually get there."
Of the four Grand Slam tournaments only Wimbledon awards its women's champion less money than their male equivalent.
Sharapova was speaking at a news conference for the WTA Tour's end-of-season championship, which is moving from Los Angeles to Madrid.
"This will be the elite event in women's tennis with only the top eight players competing at the end of the season for total prize money of $3m (£1.6m)," said WTA Tour chief Larry Scott.
He said the winner will earn $1m (£0.53m), which the WTA claims equals the largest winner's purse in the history of women's sport.
The event will take place from 7-12 November, a month after the men's Madrid Masters tournament.
To help promote the end-of-season event organisers have modified one of the more controversial aspects of the Madrid Masters, which uses female models as ball-girls.
The women's event will have male models as ball-boys and Sharapova will be part of the panel picking them.

countdown to paris
venue: stade de france
team: Arssenal vs Barcelona
date : 17 may 2005
This is one fixture everybody is looking forward to can anyone deny that Barcelona v Arsenal in one of the world's most magnificent capitals represents anything other than a mouth-watering prospect?
Barcelona and Arsenal favour playing their football in a manner that attracts the uncommitted. That is of course, if you disregard Arsenal's woefully unadventurous semi-final second leg performance at the Madrigal!

It's difficult to imagine that Arsène Wenger himself believed his normally free-flowing, risk embracing team could reach the final on the back of a competition record 10 successive clean sheets: a grand total of 919 minutes without shipping a goal, and still counting. All this with a makeshift back four for whom Ivorians Kolo Touré and Emmanuel Eboué have excelled.
Still, defending superbly is one thing. Repelling Barcelona is another matter altogether. I'm in the privileged position of getting to see a lot of the blaugrana. I'll concede that they've lost a little bit of their dynamism in recent weeks, and one can justifiably put that down to the thigh injury young Leo Messi picked up on 7 March against Chelsea.
But with or without Messi, Barcelona are an absolute joy to watch. Only a philistine could fail to enjoy the verve and charisma of Ronaldinho, Eto'o and Deco.
sportxtreme has this to say where the who wins the trophy will be determined by either of this two players.
henry vs ronaldinho

Top golfers withdraw from Byron Nelson Championship.
Masters champion Phil Mickelson has withdrawn from this week's Byron Nelson Championship in Texas.
The world number two has pulled out for personal reasons but said he was tired at the Wachovia Championship last week.
"I think I might just need a little break and try to get refreshed before the US Open," said Mickelson.
The American plans to play the Memorial and Barclays Classic before the US Open from 15-18 June, when he will try to win his third consecutive major.
Also World number one Tiger Woods has also withdrawn following the death of his father last week.

EUROPE ROUNDUP (Winners and Losers)
As most top European leagues comes to an end, there’s not being much difference in the premiership, seriaA, laliga ,ligue1, As expected the big guns lived up to expectations by qualifying for Europe.
In the premiership Chelsea retained their title with 91 points from 38games, Man-utd came second with 83points from38games, Liverpool came third with 82 points from 38games and current champions league finalist Arsenal came distant fourth with 67 points and were lucky having being pushed all the way by London rivals Tothenham
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Chelsea, Man united, Liverpool, arsenal
UEFA CUP : Totenham, Blackburn, West-ham, Newcastle.
While the premiership ended last week the sireaA and laliga still have one fixture to go
However winners have emerged with Barcelona retaining their title and juventus looking set to retain their scudetto title. Valencia, Real- Madrid and osasuna made up the remaining champions league slot in the laliga.
CHAMPIONS LEAGUE: Juventus, Ac-Milan, Inter Milan and Florentina completed the champion’s league slots in the seriaA. While As-roma, chievo and Lazio claimed the uefacup spot
In the Bundisliga Championatl and Eredivisie Bayern, Psv and Lyon all retained their trophies.

McClaren handed England job
Middlesbrough boss Steve McClaren has been confirmed as the new England manager by the FA. The appointment comes 99 days after current boss Sven Goran Eriksson announced he will quit his post with England after the 2006 World Cup in Germany. McClaren has signed a four-year contract that will commence on August 1st after the fifa world cup.
The comeback victories against FC Basle and Steaua Bucharest earned a place in the final against Sevilla in Eindhoven - beyond the wildest dreams of all Boro fans.
It was probably the factor which swayed the FA in McClaren's favour ahead of Sam Allardyce
Mc Claren whose team Middlesbrough is currently in the final of the ongoing champions league will try to leave the team on a positive note.
He was
Born: May 3, 1961
Birthplace: York
Previous Clubs: None
Honours: League Cup: 2004

Gunners still in hunt for fourth spot
Substitute Jose Reyes kept alive Arsenal's hopes of finishing fourth in the Premiership with two late goals.
Arsenal took the lead after 30 minutes when Freddie Ljungberg slotted in but City drew level before half-time through David Sommeil's tap-in.
Arsenal poured forward after the break and were eventually rewarded when Reyes began and ended a devastating move.
Reyes wrapped up victory with a superb finish as Arsenal closed the gap on fourth-placed Tottenham to one point.
Arsenal now go into Sunday's last-ever game at Highbury against Wigan needing to better Tottenham's result against West Ham to avoid having to win the Champions League final to clinch their place in the competition next season.
For Gunners manager Arsene Wenger, there is the added bonus of having a fit Ashley Cole to call on.

All stressed out
While Wayne Rooney ruminates on football's curse of the metatarsal, James Anderson has the cricketing equivalent to contend with.
The Lancashire seamer has become the latest in a long line of fast bowlers to succumb to a stress fracture of the back.
While Lancashire hope he will be fit again in two months, recent precedents suggest England should not pencil him into their summer plans just yet.
The most serious case of recent years involved New Zealand spearhead Shane Bond, who only returned to action last summer after 28 months out.
He eventually required an operation that grafted hip bone into a vertebra, secured with bolts and wire.
It can take weeks or months and it can be as much a psychological as physiological process
Notts and former SA physio Craig SmithAfter surgery Bond was unable to walk for six weeks, took another four months to regain fitness and, even after adapting his bowling style, plays under the fear "it could go at any time".
Pakistan's Umar Gul spent a year on the sidelines with three stress fractures in his spine, while West Indian Fidel Edwards took eight months to recover from a back injury.
Closer to home, former England fast bowler Alex Tudor endured two injury-ruined seasons at Surrey before a visit to a Munich-based specialist diagnosed collagen damage within his spine.
And Andrew Flintoff recently revealed his fears that his career could be cut short if the persistent back injuries of his early career - caused by a slight curvature of the spine - return. "Every day I bowl I wonder how much longer (my back) is going to last," Flintoff said. "The fear of those old problems returning is always at the back of my mind."
So how certain can Anderson, already ruled out of England's forthcoming Test series with Sri Lanka, be about a prompt recovery?
Craig Smith, the former South Africa physiotherapist who now works with Nottinghamshire after a spell at Lancashire, warns the comeback trail may be fraught with difficulties.
"Stress fractures are not like metatarsal injuries, which you can be back from in six-to-eight weeks," he said"It varies from bowler to bowler, and where in the spine the injury is.
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