Competition: Pit your wits against our betting “expert” throughout South Africa 2010
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World Cup: The People v Barry Glendenning
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• Format review ‘still a work in progress’ • ‘We need to ensure that ideas are practical and acceptable’ Cricket Australia will not rush into finalising its proposed revamp of the domestic one-day game. CA last week announced it would trial a split innings format in the Ford Ranger Cup with the long-term view of introducing it to one-day internationals. But players, including Mike Hussey and Ricky Ponting, said they would rather have the 50-over format retained. The CA chief executive, James Sutherland, said Australian and state players would be given a chance to provide their feedback on split-innings one-day cricket. “We will show players, including those now on the tour of England, the public research,” he said. “Cricket-lovers say that ODI cricket captures the broadest interest of the three formats, and it is supported with strong passion, but it is a game that needs better positioning and a format review if it is to remain popular in the long-term. “There has been a lot of public discussion since the CA board last week approved we go ahead with a format review, but this is still a work in progress. “The idea of split innings was popular with fans and we are keen at this stage to look at a 10 wickets-a-side, split-innings concept to see if it is feasible from public, player, broadcaster and commercial partners’ points of view. “We accept that we need to listen to what the public wants but we also need to be sure that ideas are practical, and most important, are acceptable to world cricket and capable in the long-term of being considered for international cricket.” Ponting, the Australia one-day captain, said he was against moving away from the traditional 50-overs-each match. “Personally, I wouldn’t like to see it go that way. I would like to see it remain as a traditional game of cricket,” he said. Forty wickets in the game, it almost goes away from the game of cricket. “I know Cricket Australia will be talking to the players and all the stakeholders involved in Australian cricket to come up with what they think is going to be the best set of playing conditions for the revamped competition that is going to start in Australia. “That’s where it is at the moment. There’s been a little bit of discussion around our team about that and what are the best playing conditions for the new format, and all that will come out in the wash over the next couple of weeks. As long as the players are well informed and involved in that decision-making then I’m sure the best result will be achieved.” Australia Cricket Team Cricket guardian.co.uk
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No rush to commit to split innings, insists Cricket Australia
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Steve Haag – Getty Images 4 days ago: DURBAN, SOUTH AFRICA – JUNE 13: Lukas Podolski of Germany celebrates scoring the first goal during the 2010 FIFA World Cup South Africa Group D match between Germany and Australia at Durban Stadium on June 13, 2010 in Durban, South Africa. (Photo by Steve Haag/Getty Images) View full size photo
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World Cup 2010 Germany Vs. Serbia Preview: Germans Look To Cast-Off Dark Horses
• Robben recovers to play full part in training • Winger likely to start on the bench against Japan The Holland winger Arjen Robben has completed a full training session for the first time since recovering from a hamstring injury, but is unlikely to start his team’s World Cup match against Japan tomorrow. In training earlier today Robben appeared to be fully recovered from a left hamstring injury he sustained in a warm-up match against Hungary on 5 June. The injury kept him out of his country’s 2-0 defeat of Denmark in their first World Cup game. The Holland coach, Bert van Marwijk, says he is unlikely to play Robben against Japan in the Group E game in Durban, but has not completely ruled it out. Japan beat Cameroon 1-0 in their first match. “It’s quite something that he trained with us today,” said Van Marwijk. “But we have to wait and see how he responds tomorrow.” In a friendly last September the Dutch were frustrated by Japan for over an hour before winning 3-0. “This is going to be a tougher fight,” said Van Marwijk. “Both teams want to win and both sides won their first match. We cannot compare that game to this one. I expect a very aggressive Japan and we are prepared for everything and anything.” Van Marwijk believes Japan have improved since then and that was evident in their 1-0 triumph over Cameroon in their World Cup opener. “They have progressed a lot,” he said. “They have been together for a long time and have played lots of matches. They have been looking for some time to find a style of play which they didn’t have in qualifying. But they appear to have found that style. I have a lot of respect for the Japan coach and his team and we will not be underestimating them.” Van Marwijk believes the Oranje must focus on themselves and not on their rivals. “People who know me know that I concentrate on my team and I don’t make adjustments based on our rivals,” he said. “We have to play the way we know how and make the most of our chances.” The Oranje will have plenty of support tomorrow in Durban with thousands of fans having travelled to South Africa, while there is plenty of optimism back home regarding the team’s chances to go far in the tournament. “We hear a lot about the atmosphere back in Holland and this is great,” said Van Marwijk. “We also have lots of fans here and it’s wonderful that they have travelled such a long way to support us. But we have a long way to go and the most important thing is tomorrow’s match.” Holland World Cup 2010 World Cup 2010 Group E guardian.co.uk
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World Cup 2010: Arjen Robben returns for Holland after hamstring injury
The Italian French Open winner dismisses talk of being a late bloomer and says she has timed her peak perfectly Two weeks ago Francesca Schiavone walked off the Philippe Chatrier court at Roland Garros transformed from a 29-year-old tennis journeywoman into the French Open champion and Italy’s inaugural female winner of a tennis major. Schiavone’s record at grand slams had been modest, with only quarter-final appearances at Wimbledon and the US Open in her 12-year professional career. Ranked 17th in Paris she had not been favoured against Sam Stosur, the Australian who had beaten her the previous year in the opening round on the way to the semi-final. Yet Schiavone, who is from Milan, beat Stosur 6-4, 7-6. On Wednesday the Italian turns 30. Yet she is phlegmatic regarding her late flowering when asked the obvious question. “Everybody asks about my age, about arriving late,” she says. “Late? From where? Maybe late for you, maybe late for another person. But I think it was the time for me, 29 years old. When you are 29, or 32, why not? Everybody talks about when you’re 20, they say you want everything now, in this moment. But it’s not like this. Everybody is different. I’m different.” Pressed, Schiavone elaborates a little, saying ambition did not take hold until she was a teenager. “When I was seven I didn’t think of becoming a champion tennis player,” she says. “When I was 16 years old I was at high school and practised for two hours in the afternoon, so it’s bit different when maybe your friends, or your parents, or your school say: ‘Yes, you have quality, so you can work on it. Start early.’ Sometimes you start later, but not late for you – maybe late for the system, but everybody is different.” Schiavone, who is now ranked sixth in the world and faces the Russian No47 Vera Dushevina in the opening round of next week’s Wimbledon, is still adjusting to the demands of becoming a champion. “Something has changed,” she says. “I stayed in Italy for three or four days [after winning in Paris]. I did many press and TV interviews. That was tough. It was new, so I had to learn how to organise myself, to be sitting talking in front of 300 or 400 people. “I had a big party in Paris. The second was when I arrived home. I went to my parents’ house, which is in a really small town [Passerano]. I grew up in Milan, but during the summer I always went up into the hills, to my mother’s house. The town is small, just 1,000 people. And there were 1,000 people at the front of my house and in my garden. It was fantastic, really big emotions.” Her victory also touched prominent Italians, including Marcello Lippi, who watched her victory and subsequently declared that Schiavone embodied their nation’s spirit. “Marcello Lippi is very hard and very focused all the time,” she says of Italy’s 2006 World Cup-winning coach, who is back in charge of the national team. “If he enjoyed my tennis he must have really chosen to do so. Massimo Moratti, the Inter president [also sent a message], so that was an honour for me. But if I receive SMS messages from friends, people who don’t necessarily know me, that’s the same.” Last year Schiavone reached the quarter-finals in SW19 for the first time. This year she hopes to improve. “I’ll try to do better. It’s not easy. Nothing is free, nothing is easy. I always have to prepare well for every tournament, for every match. On grass you have to be really healthy and strong. I think in some days I will recover my energies and I’ll be good and ready to play a good Wimbledon. I can’t say more.” Wimbledon Tennis Jamie Jackson guardian.co.uk
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Francesca Schiavone settles into unfamiliar demands of a champion
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• Italy midfielder ponders possibility of losing to New Zealand • ‘We’ve got to aim at reaching the semi-finals,’ he says The holders Italy are still aiming high despite a stuttering display in their opening game, with their midfielder Daniele De Rossi insisting that failure to qualify from the group would be like the mighty New Zealand rugby union side flopping. The stuttering Azzurri, little-talked about among the favourites for glory in South Africa, face New Zealand in their second Group F game on Sunday after an uninspiring 1-1 draw with Paraguay in their opener. “Absolute failure would be not getting through, failure would be to go out in the second round,” De Rossi, complete with rugged beard and a snaking tattoo on his arm, told a news conference. “We’ve got to aim at reaching the semi-finals, it may sound limiting but it’s an important goal as then it’s anyone’s game.” New Zealand’s soccer team, ranked 78 in the world, are the polar opposite of the country’s great rugby side and De Rossi knows the humiliation the world champions would face should the result go against them in Nelspruit. “Losing to New Zealand would probably mean we would risk going out like France,” he said. “You can imagine what that would mean, it would be like New Zealand going out in the first round of the rugby World Cup.” The fact that Italy are even talking about the remote possibility of losing will not instil their fans with huge confidence but at least with De Rossi on the field they know they have a fighter, and one of the world’s top defensive midfielders. He scored the equaliser against Paraguay and has somewhat matured since the 2006 World Cup, when he was sent off for an elbow in the second game against the United States but returned to score a penalty in the shoot-out in the final. The 26-year-old joked he might not matured yet. “Last time something happened in the second game so let’s wait to say I can be a leader,” he smiled. He enjoys the rough and tumble in midfield but with Italy’s strikers only scoring once in six games, De Rossi could become an important attacking element given his penchant for long shots and charging forward. “I like a man’s game, sure, but I like to play football too, I don’t like needlessly aggressive matches,” he said, before pointing out that Italy triumphed last time without having a stand-out player in attack. “Results are the important thing. So far it has been a balanced World Cup. Italy World Cup 2010 World Cup 2010 Group F New Zealand guardian.co.uk
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Italy can still reach the World Cup semi-finals, says Daniele De Rossi
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