Cardiff, July 9
Ricky Ponting continued his prolific Ashes record with his 38th Test century, passing 11,000 runs in the process, while Simon Katich continued his rebirth as an opener with his first ton against England to lead Australia to an impressive 249 for 1 in reply to the home side's 435 on the second day in Cardiff.

Earlier, Australia battled hard against some accurate England bowling on Thursday to reach 142 for one at tea in their first innings on the second day of the first Ashes test. After a bright opening session during which Graeme Swann propelled England to 435 all out, Australia consolidated after the loss of Hughes.

Hughes, making his Ashes debut, slashed four boundaries to reach 28 from 30 balls before the break. England captain Andrew Strauss responded by calling up Andrew Flintoff from the River end after lunch and his quickest bowler delivered six overs of high pace and relentles hostility.

Bowling from around the wicket at the two left-handers, Flintoff bowled four bouncers at Hughes in his first over. He regularly exceeded 145 kms an hour and dropped Katich on 10 when he failed to hold on to a difficult return catch low to his right hand.

Hughes had added only eight more runs in 24 balls when Flintoff was at last rewarded with wicketkeeper Matt Prior taking a smart catch tumbling to his right from an inside edge. Swann bowled five maidens in a row from the Cathedral End with his flighted off-spin and Strauss was able to maintain attacking fields throughout the session without making any further breakthroughs. — Reuters

Scoreboard

England 1st innings

Strauss c Clarke b Johnson 30

Cook c Hussey b Hilfenhaus 10

Bopara c Hughes b Johnson 35

Pietersen c Katich b Hauritz 69

Collingwood c Haddin 
b Hilfenhaus 64

Prior b Siddle 56

Flintoff b Siddle 37

Anderson c Hussey b Hauritz 26

Broad b Johnson 19

Swann not out 47

Panesar c Ponting b Hauritz 4

Extras (b 13, lb 11, w 2, nb 12) 38

Total: (all out; 106.5 overs) 435

Fall of wickets: 1-21, 2-67, 3-90, 4-228, 5-241, 6-327, 7-329, 8-355, 9-423,10-435.

Bowling: Johnson 22-2-87-3, Hilfenhaus 27-5-77-2, Siddle 27-3-121-2, Hauritz 23.5-1-95-3, Clarke 5-0-20-0, Katich 2-0-11-0.

Australia 1st innings

Hughes c Prior b Flintoff 36

Katich batting 104

Ponting batting 100

Extras (lb 6, w 1, nb 2) 9

Total:(1 wicket; 71 overs) 249

Fall of wickets: 1-60.

Bowling: Anderson 13-1-57-0, Broad 12-1-58-0, Swann 20-7-49-0, Flintoff 15-3-48-1, Panesar 11-2-31-0.

New Delhi, July 9
Sachin Tendulkar is not fit for Twenty20 cricket since he is neither inventive nor fearless, according to former Australia coach John Buchanan. Buchanan does not doubt the Mumbaikar’s greatness in Test and ODI formats but the former Kolkata Knight Riders coach insists Twenty20 is just not Tendulkar’s cup of tea.

“Tendulkar has been lauded, and rightly so, as one of the very top batsmen in the history of cricket...But is he an effective T20 player at this stage of his career?” questioned the former Australia coach in his latest book ‘The Future of Cricket: The Rise of Twenty20’.

“In the position he plays - as an opener or No. 3 - the T20 game requires not only the finesse and skills he has, but also the power and domination, an ability to take the bowlers on while being creative.”

“You have to be inventive and fearless. And I don’t see those qualities as part of Sachin’s make-up at this stage of his career. Sachin Tendulkar is still a great player but not in this arena of T20,” Buchanan said in the book.

Buchanan felt the performance of Tendulkar and a few other senior players in this format has been rather “subdued”. “...homegrown heroes such as Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Harbhajan Singh and VVS Laxman...were expected to influence, and on some occasions single-handedly win, IPL matches,” Buchanan said.

“Yet their subdued performances highlight that Test match temperament does not necessarily ensure prolonged success in the T20 game,” Buchanan said. He in fact went on to say that the likes of Sourav Ganguly, Dravid and Laxman were unfit for cricket’s shortest format.

“I was constantly battling with the fact that I believed he (Ganguly) - along with Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman - was not suited to T20 cricket,” he said. “The same could be said about Rahul Dravid. Dravid is a great representative of Indian cricket, a team-man, humble, a well-spoken gentleman. But unfortunately he could not score a single run in the early rounds of the IPL, and in my opinion, is not suited to this form of the game.”

“I am certain Dravid’s performances were also affected by the off-field drama created by his franchise owner Vijay Mallya,” he said.

About Laxman, Buchanan said “he is not up to pace”. Buchanan likened Ganguly to Australian great Ian Chappell and said, “Ganguly was the model for the new breed of confident and combative Indian cricketers. Ganguly showed that Indian cricket could stand up for itself. He is similar in that way to Ian Chappell who stood up for what he believed and was not afraid to take on the administration,” he said. — PTI 

Madrid, July 9
Barcelona president Joan Laporta has taken a swipe at arch-rivals Real Madrid for their multi-million euro spending spree that has dominated the headlines and the transfer market ahead of the treble-winners.

The return of Florentino Perez to the Real presidency has sparked a flurry of activity in Madrid with over 200 million euros spent on the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Kaka, while Barca’s summer strengthening plans appear stalled.

“We make Ballon d’Or winners and others have to buy them. It’s fine by me that Real have bought Cristiano Ronaldo but at present Barcelona are the point of reference for everyone,” Laporta told Spanish state television. “Real have erupted aggressively into the transfer market and distorted reality. We could go into debt like Madrid but it isn’t our way of operating. We already have a competitive team and all we want to do is to make some prudent investments.”

He said coach Pep Guardiola has asked for reinforcements at full back, centreback, in midfield and a striker, and admitted the club were no nearer to resolving the future of Samuel Eto’o.

The Cameroon striker has been offered a two-year contract extension but has yet to respond, while Manchester City have put in an offer for him. “I have called him a couple of times but he hasn't answered his mobile,” Laporta said. “I don’t know if he has changed the number or whether he’s lost it, but I would like to speak to him.”

Barca have also been trying to land Spain striker David Villa from debt-ridden Valencia, who are distracted by a boardroom battle for control of the club. “There have been negotiations to find out his availability but we haven't stated a time or money limit,” Laporta said.

“We have made an offer to (Valencia president) Manuel Llorente that is closer to 40 million euros than 50.” — Reuters 

Rome, July 9
Tyson Gay said he was unfazed by the threat Olympic champion Usain Bolt posed to his 100 and 200 metres titles at next month’s world athletics championships. Gay said he was “100 per cent” confident of defending his crowns in Berlin after recovering from the hamstring injury that hampered his preparations for last year's Olympics, in which Jamaican Bolt set world records to win both events.

“I look at him like another competitor,” American Gay told a news conference on Thursday on the eve of the Golden Gala in Rome, where he goes head to head with Bolt’s compatriot Asafa Powell, the former 100m world record holder.

Gay replied “Yes” when asked if he thought he could keep his 100m crown even if Bolt repeated the record time of 9.69 he produced to win the Beijing Olympics. The American has started the season well, running a wind-assisted 9.75 seconds in the 100m at the U.S. world championships trials and 19.58 in the 200m, the third fastest time ever.

But he conceded that Bolt looked impressive this week in running 19.59 for the 200 in Lausanne in torrential rain. “Considering the conditions - it was raining, wind in his face, cold - he looked pretty good,” Gay said. Powell did not betray any nerves about taking on Bolt. “It’s the same here. Usain is just another competitor,” said Powell, who was part of Jamaica’s Olympic winning relay team with Bolt.

“He ran 9.69, which showed we can go under 9.70. Once it was me when I ran 9.74. He set a mark for us. We know it’ll take faster than 9.69. We know what it takes to win.” — Reuters

St John’s (Antigua), July 9
The West Indies have picked a second-string squad, which include nine uncapped cricketers, for the first of the two-Test series against Bangladesh following a boycott by the country’s players’ association.

West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA) yesterday decided to boycott the home Test and ODI series against Bangladesh after a long-pending and bitter contractual row with the cricket board remained unresolved.

Left-hand batsman Floyd Reifer, who played last of his four Tests in 1999 and now plays for the Combined Colleges and Campus team in domestic tournaments, was named captain of the side. All-rounder Darren Sammy, who was in the West Indies’ Twenty20 World Cup squad, has been appointed Reifer’s deputy.

Fast bowler Tino Best, who played for a year in ‘rebel’ Indian Cricket League, has also been called up as was Kemar Roach, who played two ODIs and one Twenty20 international. The uncapped members of the squad include Dale Richards and Kraigg Brathwaite (both from Barbados), Combined Colleges and Campuses’ Ryan Austin, Chadwick Walton, Omar Phillips and Kevin McClean, Andre Creary of Jamaica, Guyana’s Travis Dowlin and Grenada’s Nelon Pascal.

Richards, who closely missed out on Test debut earlier this year, and Pascal were part of the squad that toured England for a series before the T20 World Cup. Following the Test series, the visitors will also play a three-match ODI series and a one-off T20 match.

Squad: Floyd Reifer (captain), Omar Phillips, Dale Richards, Travis Dowlin, Chadwick Walton (wk), Darren Sammy, Kemar Roach, Ryan Austin, Tino Best, Kevin McClean, Nelon Pascal, Andre Creary, Nikita Miller, Kraigg Brathwaite, David Bernard. — PTI 

Phagwara, July 9
These are testing times at North India’s only I-League club, JCT FC. The departure of Eduardo Da Silva, Anwar Ali and uncertainty over the future of some other key players means the club finds itself at a crossroads. So in times such as these where do they look at for reinforcements? Their own talent nursery, the JCT Football Academy, where else?

In comes Mizoram’s Lalchhuanmawia, a midfielder-turned-defender. The player, referred to as Chhuannma, has been with the academy for the past two years. There was much to take care of initially, and in the beginning his game was the last thing on his mind.

The academy coach and manager Jagir Singh and Seetal Singh, respectively, remember him as a shy unassuming guy who worked endlessly on his game.

“He was always among the first ones on the field for practice, and you could find him still practicing while others would pick there studs, gather the footballs and slowly tread back to their rooms. He always had the spark,” says Jagir, who has coached him and seen him grow as a player.

Seetal recalls his trip to Goa. “He wanted to play as a midfielder, but we figured out that he was suited for defence. And the results were there for everyone to see. He was in great demand and every club inquired about him. But coming from the academy, JCT had to be the first choice. And after a trial with them, he was lapped up.”

Even the boy himself wanted to play for the Phagwara-based club. “I have found my feet among these very players. I know many of the first team players in the club as they too have made their way through this academy. I want to play for JCT and prove myself. Hopefully it will all turn out to be a good outing. I am keeping my fingers crossed.”

Ask him about his favorite player and with a shy smile he says, England’s Steven Gerrard”. Any doubts the boy wanted to be a midfielder…? Not at all. 

BRIEFLY

Saina to be felicitated
MUMBAI: Saina Nehwal will be felicitated by a group of badminton lovers, under the banner “Badminton 45”, for her recent exploits at the international arena. The 19-year-old Hyderabadi ace won the Indonesian Open Super Series women’s title last month and has risen to world number six. Saina would be presented with a cheque of Rs 2.5 lakh on Saturday. — PTI

Agreement on the cards: FIA
NUERBURGRING: A new commercial agreement to end the threat of a breakaway Formula One series could be ready within days, the governing body suggested on Thursday. “At present it seems probable that a final draft of the 2009 Concorde Agreement will be agreed and ready for signature in the coming days,” the International Automobile Federation (FIA) said in a statement. — Reuters

Arsenal reject Usmanov proposal
LONDON: Arsenal’s board has rejected Alisher Usmanov’s prposals for a rights issue. “The focus continues to be on securing the services of talented young players we have on long-term contracts and making selective acquisitions where a new signing will add real value to our already strong squad,” chief executive officer Gazidis said. — Agencies

Stepanek pulls out of Davis Cup
PRAGUE: Czech number two Radek Stepanek has pulled out of Friday’s opening singles in the Davis Cup quarterfinal against Argentina due to a knee injury. “Radek (Stepanek) has been having knee problems the whole week,” captain Jaroslav Navratil said on Thursday. Stepanek was still nominated for Saturday’s doubles alongside doubles specialist Lukas Dlouhy. — Reuters

Yuki bows out
NEW DELHI: Divij Sharan avenged his last week’s defeat by shocking tournament favourite Yuki Bhambri in a three setter to advance to the singles semifinal of the ITF Futures tournament here on Thursday. Fifth seed Divij overcame a second set lapse to dump fourth seed Yuki 6-1, 4-6, 6-2 in a quarterfinal match. Last week, Yuki had beaten Divij at the same stage en route to his third ITF title. — PTI

Shooters strike six more gold
NEW DELHI: India secured six of the eight gold on the fourth day of the South Asian Shooting championships in Bangladesh to stay atop the medals tally with figures of 20-10-5. Pakistan stayed in second place. Bangladesh bagged two silver and three bronze to raise their medals tally to five silver and as many bronze while Sri Lanka earned two silver and four bronze medals to be in fourth position. — PTI

Boxers assured of 2 medals
NEW DELHI: Indians were assured of at least two bronze medals at Magomed-Salam Umakhanov Memorial Boxing Championship after Amandeep Singh (48kg) and Manpreet Singh (91kg) advanced to the semifinals of the event in Makhachkala, Russia. Amandeep defeated Ginnachmaev V 11:2 in the quarterfinals. Manpreet knocked out Abdullaev Rustam. — PTI

Prabhjot finishes fifth
NEW DELHI: Prabhjot Singh could not better the national record he holds and finished fifth in the discus throw in the World Youth Athletics Championships at Bressanone, Italy. Prabhjot cleared 59.59m, a tad below his national youth record of 59.62m, but that was not enough for him to finish in the medal bracket. The other Indian in the fray, Kirpal Singh, was ninth with an effort of 57.51m. — PTI