I still think it might be a draw

What a final day we have in prospect. Day four probably ended in the sort of position most people expected at the start of the day, but nobody could have predicted that England would collapse so spectacularly. Such was their first innings lead that a score of 62-5 was not a time for huge jitters, but it was certainly a time for some concern.

Cue a remarkable partnership between Matt Prior and Stuart Broad. What a cricketer Prior has become. It is still a mystery why he cannot crack the one-day stuff, but he has made himself into maybe the finest batsman/wicketkeeper in Test cricket at the moment. Indeed I heard Ian Botham on TV commentary saying that he was the best today. I don’t always agree with Botham, but this might just be one of those rare occasions.

It does tickle me that there are still those around the county cricket who blather on about the many other wicketkeepers that should be taking Prior’s place. His keeping is fine. I never thought it was as poor as many made out in his early days. He had some difficult conditions in which to keep- the rasping heat of Sri Lanka and a horribly low pitch in Trinidad are a couple of examples. And we can often be a little snobbish about wicketkeeping in England, with all that old-fashioned, romantic nonsense about specialists who cannot bat. Prior is a gem.

And so is Broad. A tip of the cap to the England management for their selection of him in this match. So many people called for Tim Bresnan, and it was probably a close call, but they stuck with Broad and he has rewarded them royally. He has looked like the champion cricketer we know he can be. And it was little surprise that he took the only wicket this evening. He is on a roll, as they say.

How many more can England take tomorrow, though? There are so many factors to take into account. Will Gautam Gambhir bat? Will the pitch deteriorate? Will the ball swing? And, of course, Sachin Tendulkar can only bat after five wickets have been taken.

I’m inclined to predict a draw, not because I think England are incapable of winning, but rather because I do not trust the pitch to offer enough assistance. We’ve seen it happen too many times before in the recent past. But we also saw a wonderful finish- and a win for England- in the 2009 Ashes match.

What will it be? Your thoughts please..

Joe Calzaghe enjoys banter with Bernard Hopkins but pours cold water on re-match in Cardiff

Joe Calzaghe has poured cold water on any prospect of a making a comeback in a re-match with American Bernard Hopkins at the Millennium Stadium, Cardiff.

Calzaghe told The Telegraph here in Las Vegas that it was out of the question. Calzaghe defeated Hopkins, now the oldest world champion in history at 46, on a split decision in Las Vegas in 2008. Hopkins had caused controversy in the build-up to the fight saying that he would ‘never lose to a white boy’.

The two men sat a few feet apart at ringside as Amir Khan’s flashing fists earned him great plaudits with victory over Zab Judah in Las Vegas on Saturday night. Between them sat Richard Schaefer, CEO of Golden Boy Promotions.

“Bernard and Joe were sitting right next to each other. I had an empty seat on one side of me, and Bernard on the other side,” explained Schaefer. “I called Joe down to come and sit there. They were talking venues, but I don’t know if the fight would happen, or whether it is just a pipe dream. We were having fun back and forth, talking about the Millennium Stadium. Bernard said he had beaten Jean Pascal in his home town in Canada, and he would come to Cardiff to do the same against Joe in a re-match. ‘I’ll come over there and beat you,’ Bernard said.” “I sensed that there was some interest from both sides, maybe a case of unfinished business,” added Schaefer.

Not so, according to Calzaghe, who pointed out that it was the first time the pair had met since they fought in 2008. It was at The Tropicana’s new glitzy boutique nightclub Nikki Beach that The Telegraph caught up with Calzaghe. Amir Khan’s post-fight after-party was going strong there, and Calzaghe, among a number of well-known celebrity guests, explained that it had merely been banter with Hopkins.

“If I took the fight, it would be going back on everything I have stood by. I’d only be coming back for the money, and I’ve always said I’d never do that,” explained Calzaghe, who will maintain his unbeaten 46-fight record. “I’ve been away from it for two years now, and my career in over. But when I joked that it would have to be a 60-40 split in my favour, the talking from Bernard stopped.”

This was a famous performance from England

A famous, famous victory for England. You can point to the early withdrawal from India’s attack of Zaheer Khan, the absence from injury of Virender Sehwag as well as inconveniences to Sachin Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir, but the visitors are still ranked the best team in the world. And they won a hugely important toss when bowling conditions were at their most favourable on what turned out to be a flat pitch at Lord’s.

Yes, it was not the sort of featherbed for which I have often criticised the Lord’s groundstaff, but it was still mighty hard work for England to finish the job off today. But that is the thing about this England team: hard graft does not scare them. They are the fittest side in world cricket. They stick to simple plans, because they know they will eventually bring rewards. International cricket is about creating pressure and England’s attack does that wonderfully well. I thought they bowled quite superbly today, all four of them. Some of the Indian dismissals looked like poor shots but often you should not judge a dismissal simply on that one ball. The others around it usually set up the error. That was the case regularly today.

You will know that I predicted a draw, but England’s bowlers were simply too good. It would have been a travesty had they not achieved victory. And how fitting it was that Stuart Broad took the final wicket. What a selection that was. He rose to the occasion magnificently as did the others today in front of a packed house. It did not quite happen for James Anderson in the first innings, but it sure did today. His was as defining a performance of those in the match of Kevin Pietersen, Matt Prior and Broad, heroes all. We should not forget Jonathan Trott’s batting on the first day either. It was always quite stirring stuff; proper Test cricket at its absorbing best.

But it could have been a day that was marred by the absence of the full Decision Review System. India don’t like it, and although that alone should be insufficient to stop its use, they are powerful enough within world cricket circles to persuade others to vote with them. So we have this ridiculous situation whereby lbws cannot be referred. And there were two plumb decisions today – against Tendulkar and Suresh Raina- that were not given. There had been some excellent decisions earlier, but those two were shockers and were exactly the types of decision for which the system was introduced. Just imagine the fuss had the game been drawn and either of those two players had still been there at the end! It cannot be allowed to continue. There is simply too much at stake these days for such howlers to remain unrectified. Television viewers could see the mistakes, and so the players and umpires should be able to too.

What now then? I said on Sunday that it would be a 2-1 series victory for England. But that was with a draw here. It will be fascinating to see how India respond. You never know, it might be the result that Duncan Fletcher needs. Maybe he can exert more influence. I’d never easily write off a side with him as coach, that is for certain. But it looks like 3-1 to me right now, especially if Zaheer is missing for more than one Test. I certainly can’t see a draw in the remaining Tests.

What do you think?

How British athletics has risen to the challenge of hosting London 2012 Olympics

Setting the standard: Mo Farah and UK Athletics have risen to the challenge of hosting the Olympics (Photo: AP)

By Jason Henderson, Athletics Weekly Editor

Six years ago, when London won the bid to stage the 2012 Games, British track and field athletes nervously gathered themselves to rise to the challenge.

Competing on home soil in the biggest Olympic sport would bring huge pressure. The team in 2005 was hardly brimming with potential podium contenders either.

Yet now, with one year to go, things could hardly be more promising.

Seven national records have fallen already this summer, with possibly more to come as the season nears its peak at the IAAF World Championships in Daegu.

Encouragingly, three of these performances have been set by 19-year-olds, while one of the record- breakers, Mo Farah, has earned the prestigious title of best distance runner in the world.

Not since the Eighties, when the sport enjoyed unprecedented popularity and success when athletes such as Daley Thompson, Seb Coe, Steve Ovett and Steve Cram dominated the world scene, has there been such a golden era.

In short, British athletics is great again and the host nation’s medal hopes in the showcase Olympic sport look better every week.

The UK records this summer have been set by Sophie Hitchon in the hammer, Holly Bleasdale in the pole vault, Tiffany Porter at 100m hurdles, Lawrence Okoye in the discus, Chris Tomlinson in the long jump and Farah over 5,000m and 10,000m.

Others look imminent, too, such as Dai Greene in the men’s 400m hurdles and Jessica Ennis in the heptathlon.

Success has not been limited to senior level either. Led by sprint prodigy Jody Williams, Britain won 15 medals at the European Junior Championships in Tallinn from July 21-24.

Earlier in July, at the European Under-23 Championships in Ostrava the GB team enjoyed its biggest-ever medal haul.

The IAAF World Youth Championships in Lille also saw superb performances by young Britons, with two gold medals from sprinter Desiree Henry and hammer thrower Louisa James. For them, London 2012 will come too soon, but Rio 2016 and beyond beckon.

All this compares with more modest achievements in recent years.

Victories by Kelly Holmes and the GB men’s 4×100m team at the 2004 Olympics, for example, covered up a generally poor team display by the GB athletics squad.

Beijing in 2008 was arguably worse, with Christine Ohuruogu in the 400m being Britain’s only athletics gold medallist.

“Three gold medals in Athens masked a very poor team performance,” says Ed Warner, chairman of UKA.

“Kelly’s two golds and the men’s 4×100m was fantastic but then you have Kelly Sotherton’s bronze and that was it, with lots of failures to reach finals.

“Then in Beijing we didn’t deliver as we would have liked, so that’s your nadir, probably, across those two Olympics. And I think there’s been a pretty sharp upswing since then.”

Sharp upswing is probably an understatement and credit should go to the coaches andofficials who were put in place during a bold reshuffle that occurred when the sport realised the system in place six years ago was not working as well as it could.

UKA chief executive Dave Moorcroft was replaced with two men – Warner and Niels de Vos – the latter becoming the governing body’s CEO.

Key figures in Moorcroft’s team, such as Zara Hyde Peters, Callum Orr and the deputy chief executive Adam Walker also left UKA, while major structural and personnel changes at England Athletics also took place.

Later, UKA performance director Dave Collins was replaced after the Beijing Games by head coach Charles van Commenee.

Along with the Dutchman, a number of international coaches were headhunted to work in Britain’s high performance centres, including Peter Eriksson – the leader of a disability athletics team that has also improved hugely and looks set to enjoy a terrific Paralympics.

Of course, there are still a few holes and for every world beater like triple jumper Phillips Idowu there is a weak event such as the men’s hammer or women’s triple jump.

Then again, during the Eighties – or any period for that matter – the GB team has always had some weak events.

Right now, though, British athletes can hardly put a foot wrong. The London Olympics are one year away and the timing could not be better.

Back in July 2005, when London was picked by the IOC to host the 2012 Olympics, Moorcroft issued a rallying cry to Athletics Weekly, saying: “We need athletes, coaches and volunteers to wake up every day telling themselves that the London Olympics in 2012 is their goal.”

The sport was clearly listening.

• Athletics Weekly’s ‘One Year To Go’ special edition is out now. Visit http://www.athleticsweekly.com/ for more information

London 2012 Olympics: 20 Team GB gold medal predictions

Simon Hart has predicted heptathlon gold for Jessica Ennis (Photo: GETTY IMAGES))

A year before she achieved her golden double at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Rebecca Adlington was struggling home in 10th place in her signature 800 metres freestyle event at the 2007 World Championships in Melbourne.

Three months before the Beijing Games, the relatively unknown Usain Bolt was breaking the 10-second barrier for the first time in only his third ever 100 metres race.

A month later, and with the Games almost upon her, heptathlon medal hopeful Jessica Ennis was being diagnosed with multiple stress fractures in her foot that signalled the end of her Olympic dream.

The lesson is clear. The build-up to the London Olympics may have entered its final year but there are numerous twists and turns ahead before the Olympic cauldron is lit on July 27, 2012.

New superstars are yet to emerge while others with medal ambitions recede into the background.

Twelve months ago, in an article in the Sunday Telegraph’s Sports Life magazine, I was tasked with identifying Britain’s 20 best gold medal hopes for London 2012 based on their performances at past Games and at other global-level championships.

A year on, many are still going strong but I would have to admit that six or seven of them have moved from ‘probables’ to ‘possibles’.

Cyclists Sir Chris Hoy and Victoria Pendleton no longer have their old aura of invincibility, swimmer Gemma Spofforth appears to have lost her motivation and canoeist Tim Brabants has lost his form.

Gymnast Daniel Keatings is still battling to get back to his best after a serious knee ligament injury, rower Zac Purchase has been held back by illness while Tom Daley has met more than his match in Chinese diver Qiu Bo, whose brilliance in last week’s World Diving Championships in Shanghai makes him the odds-on favourite to deprive

the teenager of gold in London.

Or, at least, that is how it looks with one year to go. And that is precisely my point.

One year out, the permanent venues may have been more or less completed, the majority of tickets sold and sponsorship targets reached, give or take a few million pounds, but out on the sporting field of play things remain very much in flux.

Of the 550 athletes expected to wear a Team GB vest next year, only one athlete, open-water swimmer Keri-Anne Payne, has guaranteed her place in the team and the next 12 months promise to be a fascinating journey as thousands of hopefuls battle it out for the remaining 549 spots in a selection process that will be mirrored the

world over.

For those who have not been lucky enough to obtain a ticket to London 2012, there is still the consolation of attending one of the selection events that will make or break an athlete’s dreams.

The drama of next year’s British swimming or athletics trials will be hard to beat.

My gold medal predictions for 2012? Well, having argued how imprecise the art of predicting Olympics can be, it would be a cop-out not to have another stab at my golden top 20.

So here it is, to be taken with a generous pinch of salt:

1. Rebecca Adlington (swimming, 800m freestyle)

2. Ben Ainslie (sailing, Finn class)

3. Laura Bechtolsheimer (equestrian, dressage)

4. Alistair Brownlee (triathlon)

5. Mark Cavendish (cycling, road race)

6. Rachel Cawthorn (canoe sprint, K1 500m)

7. Aaron Cook (taekwondo, -80kg)

8. Jessica Ennis (athletics, heptathlon)

9. Mo Farah (athletics, 5,000 & 10,000m)

10. GB eventing team (equestrian)

11. GB men’s coxless four (rowing)

12. GB men’s pursuit team (track cycling)

13. GB women’s pursuit team (track cycling)

14: Paul Goodison (sailing, Laser class)

15. Katherine Grainger & Anna Watkins (rowing, women’s double scull)

16. Fran Halsall (swimming, 100m freestyle)

17; Phillips Idowu (athletics, triple jump)

18. Ed McKeever (canoe sprint, K1 200m)

19. Keri-Anne Payne (swimming, 10km open-water)

20. Iain Percey & Andrew Simpson (sailing, Star class)

Coughlin to Have Meeting With Old Nemesis, Burress

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — The news at Giants camp Wednesday was a lot like the weather in London: if you did not like it, you could wait an hour for it to change. And when Plaxico Burress is involved, the winds are always shifting.

Amid the news that the Giants had signed center David Baas to fill a big void on their offensive line and had given a one-year contract extension to Coach Tom Coughlin, the possibility of Burress’s return loomed ever larger over the Giants’ practice center.

“Plaxico ain’t coming today, guys,” defensive end Justin Tuck told reporters Wednesday morning after rolling down the window of his black Mercedes at the security gate.

By the end of the day, ESPN was reporting that Burress and Coughlin, his former coach and occasional nemesis, were planning to dine together on Friday, the first day that teams can announce free-agent signings. Then Burress will travel to Pittsburgh for a meeting with Steelers Coach Mike Tomlin and the team that drafted him with a first-round pick in 2000.

Quarterback Eli Manning said at an afternoon news conference that he had spoken to Burress.

“I don’t have an opinion,” he said, calling it a decision for coaches and the front office. “I don’t know what’s going to happen with that.”

Burress caught the winning pass in Super Bowl XLII in 2008 and caught 244 passes in four seasons with the Giants. But he told ESPN in an interview in June that his time in New York was not always happy, and that his relationship with Coughlin was checkered.

He told The Star-Ledger on Tuesday, “If you can’t sit down and go talk to a man that you are busting your tail for, not even to have the respect for anything that you have to say, the only thing I knew then was to rebel.”

Burress acknowledged that any future conversation with Coughlin would be awkward. “It’s going to be crazy,” he said. “I really don’t know what I am going to say.”

Burress, who turns 34 in two weeks, has not played since shooting himself in the leg at a New York nightclub in November 2008, which resulted in a 22-month prison term. Burress was a controversial figure even before the incident. He held out of Giants minicamp in May 2008 and when he played for the Steelers he drew $45,000 in fines and a suspension for unsportsmanlike conduct after a 2004 game.

Tuck, a close friend of Burress’s, sounded more excited about the potential signing than Manning.

“We’re working on it,” said Tuck, who added he believed that Burress and Coughlin could work out their differences. “It’s gonna be a give and take between both of them,” Tuck said. “Hopefully, a little time apart has rekindled the love that they share for each other.”

If Burress does sign with the Giants, he will provide needed depth at wide receiver. The projected starters, Steve Smith and Hakeem Nicks, missed a total of 10 games with injuries last season, and Smith is a free agent trying to return from knee surgery in the off-season.

As for the deals that were made, the most important acquisition by the Giants on Wednesday was Baas, a former second-round pick by the 49ers from Michigan. Baas started at center and both guard positions in six seasons in San Francisco. Baas started 16 games at center last year and did not allow a sack, according to Football Outsiders.

He is expected to fill the void left by center Shaun O’Hara, who was released Tuesday along with guard Rich Seubert, and the top offensive line backup Shawn Andrews. Baas, right guard Chris Snee and right tackle Kareem McKenzie are expected to start, while David Diehl, Kevin Boothe and William Beatty will compete for two starting spots on the left side.

Manning said working with Baas would require an adjustment after having O’Hara at center most of his career.

Manning and Brandon Jacobs, who each arrived before 9:30 a.m., were among the notable players who made their first appearances Wednesday. Defensive end Osi Umenyiora, who has voiced his unhappiness over his contract, was a no-show. Players are not obligated to arrive until Friday, the first day of training camp.

As for Coughlin, his one-year extension commits the Giants to him through the 2012 season.

“As I was when I was hired in 2004, I am grateful for the opportunity,” Coughlin said in a statement released by the Giants. Coughlin, who turns 65 in August, led the team to a Super Bowl victory over the Patriots in 2008.

Among other comings and goings, the Giants released defensive tackle Rocky Bernard and announced the hiring of Larry Izzo as assistant special-teams coach.

Bernard’s release comes on the heels of fellow defensive tackle Barry Cofield’s reaching a six-year agreement with the Redskins. With Cofield and Bernard gone, two recent second-round picks, the rookie Marvin Austin and the second-year player Linval Joseph, are expected to play major roles. Joseph played sparingly in 2010.

Izzo made three Pro Bowl teams as a special-teams standout for the Dolphins and the Patriots, and earned three Super Bowl rings with the Patriots. The Izzo announcement was the least surprising move of the day: it was posted several weeks ago on Wikipedia.

Callahan and Rangers Agree to Terms on New Deal

3:46 p.m. | Updated Rangers President and General Manager Glen Sather announced Wednesday that the club has agreed to terms with forward Ryan Callahan on a new contract.

Ryan Callahan’s agent, Steve Bartlett, said Wednesday afternoon that he was “cautiously optimistic” that he and the Rangers can agree to a new contract for the Rangers’ alternate captain before a salary arbitration hearing scheduled for Toronto on Thursday.

“We’re making some progress,” Bartlett said from his office in suburban Rochester. “Hopefully we can get this done by the end of the day and won’t have to go to Toronto.”

On Tuesday evening, Bartlett said he was waiting to hear from the Rangers.

“They have our proposal,” he said then. “But it looks like it’s headed to arbitration.”

A Rangers spokesman, John Rosasco, said the team had no comment but that “talks are continuing.”

Callahan, a 26-year-old United States Olympian from Rochester who scored 48 points in 60 games last season, is slated to start his sixth season with the Rangers and has often said how much he loves playing for the club. General Manager Glen Sather and Coach John Tortorella have often praised Callahan.
 
Callahan is already an alternate captain and is seen as the Rangers captain in waiting, perhaps as soon as next season, after last month’s buyout of the previous captain, Chris Drury.
 
Callahan is looking to roughly double his 2010-11 salary of $2.4 million. He would be the fourth of the Rangers’ restricted free agents to re-sign with the club this off season. The others were Brandon Dubinsky, Artem Anisimov, Brian Boyle and Steve Eminger.