Kevin Pietersen has backed Stuart Broad to make England fans forget Andrew Flintoff as the all-rounder prepared to bring the curtain down on his Test career with an Ashes win.
Flintoff is playing his final Test for England as persistent knee injuries mean he is unable to continue to play the longer form of the game. But with Flintoff faltering England have already found a "world class" replacement, according to Pietersen, in the shape of 23-year-old Broad.
Pietersen told the News of the World: "Freddie (Flintoff) has struggled with too many injuries this summer and maybe hasn't made the impact he would have liked in this thrilling series. His retirement would leave a void in any side. But in England's case, it is one that Stuart Broad, can certainly fill."
Pietersen added: "Yes, I know it is a big call. And a big burden of expectation. The last thing Stuart would want or need is to be called the new Freddie. And he won't be. He's his own player.
"He has shown in this game - and others - that he can become a world-class all-rounder for England.
"His performance in this fifth Test has shown that he has accepted the responsibility of becoming England's number one all-rounder now that Freddie is leaving the Test match scene.
"Stuart's bowling and batting are improving all the time. He is only 23 years old don't forget, and there is a lot of development yet to come from him.
"But what impresses me most about Stuart is that he has a good cricketing brain. He is clearly an intelligent cricketer, as he showed with his superb bowling on Friday afternoon.
"With Freddie bowing out, Stuart is the future."
Novak Djokovic sees off Rafael Nadal to reach Cincinnati final
Sunday 23 August 2009: Novak Djokovic caused an upset when he beat Rafael Nadal in the semi-final of the Cincinnati Masters to set up a final with Roger Federer.
Djokovic, the fourth seed, has yet to take a Masters Series title this year but has four to his name in his career and looks in good shape to make it five after dismissing the second seed, Nadal, in straight sets.
Federer had earlier beaten Andy Murray in his own semi-final.
Djokovic did not yield a break against Nadal and made three of his own on his way to a comfortable 6-1, 6-4 win that took just over 90 minutes, denying Federer a chance to resume his rivalry with Nadal.
Dilshan made the difference - Vettori
Galle, 4th day, August 21, 2009: Daniel Vettori has singled out Tillakaratne Dilshan's ruthless performance with the bat as the key factor behind New Zealand's 202-run defeat in Galle.
Dilshan, promoted to open the innings for the first time in Tests, raced to 92 off 72 balls in the first innings and followed it up with a century in the second which helped his team set New Zealand an improbable target. The manner in which he dominated also mirrored the ineffectiveness of New Zealand's bowlers and Vettori admitted the uneven contest shut his team out of the match. "We won the toss we wanted to and probably didn't quite do the job," he said. "Look back and see how well Dilshan played and how poorly we bowled to him were the real defining moments throughout the game."
Sri Lanka's batting effort was a collective one with Mahela Jayawardene and Thilan Samaraweera scoring centuries in the first innings and the middle order stepping up to get some quick runs while setting the target in the second. Not that New Zealand were without opportunities. They made early inroads in both innings only to be thwarted by Dilshan's unrelenting strokeplay. "We had a couple of opportunities to put pressure on them but every time we did it he took it away from us and played exceptionally well," Vettori said. "When you have a player like that it makes it very tough to captain. He just took the momentum away from us."
New Zealand's worries were compounded when seven of their players were hit by a stomach bug; Brendon McCullum and Jesse Ryder, who returned to the team hotel at the start of yesterday's play, were the worst affected. Though the illness had a bearing on their fitness, Vettori said it was not an excuse for the way they batted today. Chasing an imposing 413, New Zealand's hopes of saving the game were dashed early this morning when they lost three wickets for 15 runs.
"We hoped that we could bat for longer periods of time but in some ways a few illnesses came against us and the application wasn't quite there," he said. "We tried to stay as long as we could and hoped for rain or to hang on but when you lose five of the top six for scores of under 50 it makes it very tough. Illness aside we could have fought harder in this Test match."
Vettori led by example, taking five wickets in the Test and contributing two defiant knocks down the order in each innings to resist Sri Lanka. He was in charge of a team that was highly inexperienced against the spin threat of Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis but the disappointing aspect of its batting performance was the lack of competitiveness against pace. Fast bowlers Thilan Thushara and Nuwan Kulasekara bagged eight of the 20 New Zealand wickets and their success, Vettori felt, had a significant impact on the outcome.
"One of the disappointing things was to lose as many wickets to the seamers as we did coming here with a focus thinking that the spin bowlers are going to play a major part," he said. "We put a lot of effort in there and I think we played them pretty well. Murali is quality bowler and a difficult customer to come up against. But I think the way Thushara bowled was probably where we let ourselves down. He took six wickets in the Test match and bowled very well."
Vettori, though, took encouragement from the way his batsmen handled spin. "We played spin quite well," he said. "There was all this talk leading to the Test match how we are going to cope with Murali and Mendis, the guys were pretty comfortable picking them and understanding what they were trying to do. They are still very good bowlers and still if you pick them you still got to play them. That's the one positive we can take into the next Test match."
World Athletics: Usain Bolt exhausted after clinching third gold in Berlin
23 Aug 2009:Bolt's three medals here have replicated his gold medal hat-trick from last August's Beijing Olympics and while he has repeated his individual world-record breaking haul he insists he is not in the same shape he was in China.
The 23-year-old shattered his own 100m world record here last Sunday when he picked up his first gold, then set another global mark when he was victorious in the 200m final on Thursday before running Saturday's third leg of the relay.
The Jamaican quartet clocked a championship record of 37.31 seconds while Trinidad and Tobago took silver in a national record of 37.62sec and Great Britain the bronze in 38.02sec.
With team-mate and world 100m bronze medallist Asafa Powell carrying a groin strain, Bolt ran the penultimate relay leg and despite his claims he is jaded still had enough gas to help his team clinch victory.
"I'm really tired, I didn't run the best leg I wanted to, but I am just happy I got the baton to Asafa (Powell) and we got it around the track," said Bolt, who sat on the track after the baton switch to rest his weary legs.
"My first aim was to get the gold medal, so I am definitely happy. Maybe I didn't look so happy, because I was tired. I had to take a break on the track because I was so tired.
"I was worried about Asafa going into the race, I kept asking him if he was ok, first priority is his health. But he said he felt good and would try his best, the aim was to make sure we won."
Having left Beijing with three world records for the 100m, 200m and 4x100m relay, Bolt missed out on repeating the feat in Berlin when the Jamaicans just failed to match the 37.10sec they ran in Beijing exactly a year ago.
But Bolt says he has no regrets about missing out on a third world record.
"It's been a great championships, I have got my two records it doesn't matter if I don't get one," he added.
Powell anchored the Jamaican team and Bolt explained why he ran the third leg to help his team to gold.
"Michael Frater is not a 200m runner, Asafa has a groin problem and we couldn't let him run the curve," said Bolt. "It's all about the team effort coming to the 4x100m and I run the corners well, so that is why."
Having run four rounds for both his 100m and 200m gold medals before Saturday's 4x100m relay final, Bolt, who celebrated his birthday on Friday, said he is now ready to rest.
"When I came here, I wasn't in the best shape, but I executed what I had to do, so I am happy," said Bolt whose training was hampered earlier in the season after he suffered minor injuries from a car crash in Jamaica last April.
"I think I was in better shape in Beijing - I am dying here now. I wasn't really fit enough to get through the rounds here. It takes a lot out of you to get through and I was in better shape in Beijing, but I am fast enough. I think I showed that here."
Nehru Cup: Bhaichung Bhutia Focused On Winning Against Kyrgyzstan
23-Aug-2009:The 'Sikkimese Sniper' made his international debut in the 1995 Nehru Cup against Thailand and on the eve of his 100th match, he revealed that it was actually Rustom Akramov, the then coach of India, who converted him into a striker.
“I still remember that in my first game Rustom Akramov asked me to play upfront even though I used to play in midfield and since that day I have been playing as a striker.”
The former JCT player said that he is honoured to have reached this landmark but insisted that winning the game is more important for him.
“It’s an honour to reach this milestone for my country. And it's even more special that like the first match, the hundredth one is also coming in the Nehru Cup.
“But having said, I just want us to win the game and stay in contention for a place in the final. It’s a very important match and I am sure that Kyrgyzstan will be tough to beat so we have to play well.”
The 33 year old also talked about how much he wants to play in the 2011 Asia Cup.
“If possible I would like to play 100 more games for India! In truth, Asia Cup is the biggest tournament I can play in before I end my career so I hope we go into that event well prepared and do well,” he concluded.
World No 2 Vijender plays to win!
India:He has 1700 pts and is placed behind Correa Bayeux Emilio of Cuba. Vijender lost to the Cuban in Olympics semi-final. An elated Vijender says, “I’m happy to be World No. 2; the title is a motivation for me to keep my focus on the No 1 slot.”
With the world ranking under his belt, Vijender is gung-ho about all his bouts in the upcoming World Championships in Milan. “I’m training hard, for 6-7 hours regularly, for the Championship. For me, every fight, every bout is like the final round. It doesn’t matter whom I fight,” says Vijender.
The only hitch here is that the team leaves for the World Championship at Milan on August 27 and Vijender is to receive the Khel Ratna Award at a high-profile function at the Rashtrapati Bhawan on August 29. Vijender, world champion woman boxer M C Mary Kom and Olympic bronze medallist wrestler Sushil Kumar were picked for the country’s highest sporting honour last month. "I would prefer to be in Milan, which will give me more time to acclimatise. My parents would collect the award on my behalf.” His parents stay in Kaluwas, along the Meham-Bhiwani road in Haryana.
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