|
|
So the greatest tennis player of his and any other generation, Roger Federer, gave mummy’s boy, Andy Murray, a lesson in how to win grand slam finals. The result never looked in doubt as King Roger was just too hot for the Scot to handle.
What a difference a year makes. Last year at the Australian Open, he was blubbing like one of his new born.
This year he’s giving Henri Leconte a run for his money with his witty remarks during post match interviews.
After that crushing final defeat by Nadal, many thought it was the start of the end for Fed. However, since then - and more importantly since Nadal got injured and returned as half the player he was before his injury - Roger seems like a new man.
He completed his tennis destiny by finally winning the French Open, cemented his place as the greatest of all time by winning Wimbledon, before losing to upstart Del Potro in the US Open final. Now he seems back on track, winning the Aus Open as comfortably as you can.
What next? Well Pete Sampras’s record for the mostweeks spent at Number one is on the horizon. He’d love to finally bury his Nadal hoodoo, at what better place than Roland Garros. There’s the calendar slam which is a distinct possibility and further afield, the Olympics in 2012!
For a man who has achieved virtually everything, there still appears to be a lot more left for him to do.
United got bundled out of the FA Cup by lowly third tier football giants, Leeds United. It was one of those barnstorming cup games of yesteryear, full of confrontational tackles, missed chances, end to end footy and the underdogs some managing to hang on to a fantastic win.
So how does mighty mouth Fergie react in the aftermath of defeat? He says this:
The ref gave five minutes of injury time. That was an insult to game and to the players out there. You need luck and Leeds got it.
Of course had United been winning 1-0 and the referee had allowed stoppage time of five minutes Fergie would have complained about that too.
Great manager but not one bit gracious in defeat!
He’s back. From the depths. He’s somehow seized his chance and promptly obliterated Australia’s top order on the morning of the Second Test at Sydney. Okay he only got a three-for but his devastating spell led to Austrlia collapsing for a paltry 127. A bowler, whose promise and potential was for ever going to remain unfulfilled, has catapulted himself back in the limelight.
His stats never really show the devastating pace bowler that he is or could ever be. His bowling average of 51 is frankly, embarassing. He’s only ever had two five wickets hauls in his international career and takes 86 balls before he gets a wicket.
If we compare those stats with Umar Gul, who has played roughly the same number of tests as him (and is not really a great fast bolwer) we see just what a complete no hoper Sami has been. Gul has a bowling average of 31, whilst he has in his 24 test matches taken four wickets or more on ten occasions compared to Sami’s feeble five. Gul also takes just 55 balls to get a wicket. You see the problem? Sami for all his posturing just doesn’t deliver.
Yet, at 28 this could just be the right time in his career to truly blossom, not just for himself but for Pakistan’s burgeoning bowling attack.
With Asif spearheading our pace attack, Mohammad Aamer playing beyond his years and Umar Gul providing the back up as second change, Sami could be the missing piece in our bowling jigsaw. Let’s not forget that Mohammad Talha and Sohail Khan are waiting in the wings and all of a sudden the larder does not seem so bare after all.
Serena Williams won a rather dour Women’s Wimbledon Final if you ask me, beating her sister, Venus, in straight sets.
That victory was her third slam in the last four, and everyone who knows their lobs from the forehands acknowledge that Serena is the head girl in the ladies game despite what the rankings say! However, no matter what the rankings say to belittle the achievements of the current number one player in the world, Dinara Safina, was perhaps a little less becoming of what we expect from a champion.
“Dinara did a great job to get to No. 1. She won Rome and Madrid,” Serena said before rolling her eyes and laughing loudly.
She may have only won Rome etc. but she still won them and it may not mean a great deal Serena’s world but to decry them publicly was a little mean spirited. PErhaps she should take her cue from her sister, who said this:
“I respect Dinara Safina immensely, and I think you should, too,”
The British and Irish Lions came close to squaring their series against the Saffers, but could not mange to hold on to a winning lead. Unfortunately, whilst the South Africans deserve enormous credit for the character they showed in coming back from a half-time deficit they will have won few fans with their conduct.
McGeechan bemoaned key decisions went against his team. Touch judge Bryce Lawrence was sure that Burger had made contact with Luke Fitzgerald’s eye, as replays appeared to show, however, French referee Christophe Berdos issued only a yellow card? Had it been red then South Africa, no matter how much of a formidable side they have been, would have struggled to play for 79 minutes with 14 men.
Check out the footage for yourself
We been here before haven’t we? We remember only too well that spear tackle on O’Driscoll.
So The Lions lose again.
This was a seventh straight Test defeat for the British and Irish Lions since 2001, and a third consecutive series defeat. There have been only four series wins wince 1950 - in 1971, 1974, 1989 and 1997.
Pakistan have confounded the critics, their own fans and even themselves in going from a team that looked anything but world beaters, to well, world beaters. Becoming the T20 World Champions is nothing short of stupendous given they couldn’t bat, bowl or field against England, key components you’d have to say in any World Cup winning side, especially at this format.
Comparisons will inevitably be drawn to the victorious 1992 side and how they lurched from being almost out of the tournament one minute and holding the trophy aloft the other. However, I’d hate to see a precedent set whereby professionalism is allowed to take a back seat in favour of the age old notion that talent will win you everything.
Indeed, I was taken aback somewhat by the sheer methodicalness of their victory on Sunday. In fact, I am trying to rack my brains in trying to find a game of a similar stature that Pakistan have performed so admirably well. They had sought to work out prior to the game on how to bowl to the Sri Lankan batsmen and in particular Tillakartne Dilshan, who had terrorized bowlers throughout the tournament. To see Dilshan worked out so comprehensively was deliciously satisfying.
Add to this that I cannot remember a catch being put down or many major misfields. As if this was not enough, having restricted Kumar Sangakkara’s men to a paltry 138 Pakistan undertook a run chase without any major mishaps and comfortably reached the target with eight balls to spare and more importantly with eight wickets still remaining.
The fact is that chasing in a World Cup final is hard, only two other teams have ever accomplished the feat (Sri Lanka in 1996 and Australian in 1999) and the only minor chink in such a fantastic performance would be that they excelled in their roles of slight underdogs in the final and so was spared the burden of being favourites.
Strangely, the highs of becoming World Champions have quickly become muted - perhaps the very nature of the format and its infancy will not lend itself to sustained celebrations as there was in 1992. The fact that we will only be World Champions for a matter of a few months have also kept the brevity of the celebrations in check.
It would be nice to think Pakistan’s victory was for the Pakistani fans and the nation in general, however the victory has only gone to highlight how patronizing and hypocritical some have been in their treatment towards Pakistan.
Many have come out to say how Pakistan’s achievements is one in the eye of the terrorists after that attack, yet shurely standing shoulder to shoulder and saying we will continue to play in Pakistan would give a greater statement of intent than any World Cup win on foreign soil. No one will tour and the 2011 World Cup will still not be played in Pakistan.
IPL have already said they would welcome back Pakistani players but they were quick to exclude them in the first place. Perhaps most heinous of all given what has happened in the last few months, President Zardari is quick to hop on the bandwagon, (Majed’s blog highlights the hypocrisy of this all)
So let’s savour the victory for now. We came, we saw and we conquered, but at what cost?
Fielding was once upon a time an oft ignored part of the game. However, nowadays teams are just as focussed on getting their fielding up to scratch as they are with their batting and bowling prowess. Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews acrobatic and scintillating piece of fielding in the recent Twenty 20 World Cup against West Indies would have been unheard of years ago:
The petulant, tantrum throwing, egotistical, sun burnt Portuguese geezer that we all love and hate is finally on his way to Real Madrid. I, for one, will miss him, but not too much. He has, after all, been the main reason why Manchester United have scaled the heights that they have in the last few years.
He’s scored 91 goals in the last three seasons and won every honour that there seems to be going in football at the moment. One look at his trophy cabinet shows the immense impact he has had at Old Trafford since he came over in 2003:
Premier League: 2006–07, 2007–08, 2008–09
FA Cup: 2003–04
League Cup: 2005–06, 2008–09
FA Community Shield: 2007
UEFA Champions League: 2007–08
FIFA Club World Cup: 2008
Replacing someone of Ronaldo’s calibre will not be easy, even if Sir Fergie had all the riches at his disposal. Fergie has been here befoe, trying to replace Cantona and Beckham. However, will Ronaldo’s shoes prove to be too big to fill?
When Keggy Keegan left Liverpool in 1977, he was considered irreplaceable. King Kenny was bought and the rest, as they say, is history! In six month’s time will we be saying Ron who? Somehow, I don’t think so.
It amazing but true, the Second Test between England and the West Indies ended in complete and utter farce lasting an incredible 10 balls. That’s right an incredible 10 balls - the shortest test match in history! Looking at the state of the pitch I’m amazed it lasted 10 balls!
They were going to play on this…?
They were going to play on this…?
There’s nothing like an English batting collapse; it is a thing of beauty; it is something to behold - unless that is you’re an fan of England. Even by their own standards the ineptitude they plummeted on Saturday evening was surpassing new depths. At one point they were 23-7!
 
It brought back memories of Port of Spain when Curtley ran amok and had them in the pavilion for 46, or when Australia skittled them out for a paltry 79, or when Sri Lanka ran riot and had them out for only 81.
The recriminations have already begun and the future doesn’t look bright if you happen to be Ian Bell. Nonetheless, after that capitulation in 1994, England came back to win the next test. Food for thought perhaps?
|
|
