Qld derby is personal: Voss

AAP, May 6: Comments from "out of line" Gold Coast coach Guy McKenna may have been taken personally by Michael Voss ahead of the first Queensland AFL derby.

But the seething Brisbane Lions mentor warned his players not to make it personal when they ran out at the Gabba on Saturday night as simmering tensions between the clubs threatened to boil over.

Voss on Friday looked ropeable when reminded of McKenna's mid-week claim that the Suns were put on the Gold Coast to clean up the mess left by the Brisbane Bears - the Lions coach's former team.

He said instead of criticising the "bad news Bears", McKenna should be thanking them for paving the way for AFL on the tourist strip.

"You don't like people having a crack at your origins," said Voss, who began his glittering playing career at the Bears in 1992.

"I thought a thanks would be a more appropriate response."

Asked if McKenna was out of line, an unhappy Voss replied: "Yeah, probably."

Indeed McKenna may live to regret the comment after also copping scathing criticism from former Bears coach Robert Walls.

"That's such a stupid, ill-informed, ungrateful and disrespectful thing to say," Walls wrote in his Fairfax column on Friday.

Walls said McKenna should apologise after taking "pot-shots at those who did the hard yards before him" from the comfort of the cashed-up Suns.

"They (Bears) deserve respect for the blood, sweat and tears they shed at Carrara, not cheap put-downs," he wrote.

While riled by McKenna, Voss did not want his troops to fall into the same trap on Saturday night.

"It is personal when you have your home turf invaded," Voss said of the Gabba clash which will be a Suns "home" game.

"It might be personal but it is important that you don't treat it like that, (that) you don't do silly things.

"The aggression is going to be at the ball - you can't be distracted by everything else."

The Lions have been no shrinking violets this week, either.

Midfielder Simon Black called ex-teammates Jared Brennan and Michael Rischitelli "mercenaries" for taking up lucrative Suns contracts.

And injured Lions captain Jonathan Brown claimed in his News Limited column on Friday that Brennan held the club to ransom with a "trade me or I'll walk and you'll get no compensation" ultimatum last year.

But Voss said he could understand Black and Brown's comments.

"It highlights how hurt the players are by it (their Suns defection) - especially when we were doing it a bit tough last year," Voss said.

"I was never quite sure what it (defection) meant to the (Lions) players but I guess I do now."

However, Suns football manager - and Voss' former Lions teammate - Marcus Ashcroft thought Brown's comments were unfair.

"We'd like to think we're a destination of choice and Jared, for whatever reason, wanted to come down to the Gold Coast and to his credit has played some really good footy," he said on Friday.

Voss couldn't wait for the first Queensland derby - especially with his Lions (0-5) tipped to break their 2011 winning drought against the Suns (1-4).

"It (derby) is something I have admired from afar for a long period of time, like the (SA) showdowns and the (WA) derbies," he said.

Bate, Warnock get AFL call-ups for Demons

AAP, May 6: Melbourne have called up forward Matthew Bate and defender Matthew Warnock for their first games of the AFL season.

They are among four changes for Sunday's MCG meeting with Adelaide, with Ricky Petterd and Addam Maric to play their first games since round two.

Experienced defender Jared Rivers is out with an ankle injury, while Cale Morton, Stefan Martin and Jamie Bennell have all been dropped.

The Crows have made three changes, with livewire midfielder Rory Sloane to play his first match since breaking his jaw and thumb in the opening round.

Jared Petrenko and Chris Schmidt have also been recalled.

Phil Davis (shoulder) and Richard Tambling (suspension) are out and Brodie Martin has been dropped.

Essendon has regained veteran backman Dustin Fletcher from a knee injury for Sunday's Etihad Stadium match against West Coast.

The Eagles have lost Patrick McGinnity to illness and have dropped Andrew Gaff.

Forward Gerrick Weedon will make his AFL debut, with defender Will Schofield the other inclusion.

Bailey denies rift talk

ABC, May 6: Melbourne coach Dean Bailey has denied talk of a rift between himself, chief executive Cameron Schwab and the board at the under-pressure AFL club.

Demons president Jim Stynes is taking a more active role in the football department and it has been reported Bailey is having difficulties with Schwab.

Eighth-placed Melbourne was thrashed by West Coast in Perth last weekend, and meets Adelaide at the MCG on Sunday.

Bailey says any talk of problems between him and Schwab are well wide of the mark.

"Cameron and I, we have a very good working relationship, and have done since he's been appointed," he said.

"It's incorrect to suggest there's any rift at all between the both of us, it's almost comical to be honest.

"But that's the scrutiny we get under, we've had a full week of media press, and that's just not factual."

Investigator blames Nixon for report leak

AAP, May 6: The investigator whose report cost Ricky Nixon his job blames the disgraced AFL player manager or his associates for leaking it.

David Galbally QC's report for the AFL Players' Association (AFLPA) was given to Melbourne radio station 3AW, which aired it on Thursday.

Galbally said he felt terrible for St Kilda players Nick Riewoldt, Sam Gilbert and Nick Dal Santo, whose statements about Nixon - given in confidence - became public.

"They've got to concentrate on a football season. The last thing in the world they would have wanted to be involved in was yet another investigation into these matters," Galbally told MTR radio on Friday.

"But they cooperated and did it on the basis that these things would be treated confidentially. I feel very sorry for them."

Galbally said he had made just two copies, one for himself and another for the AFLPA, which he understood provided a copy for Nixon.

He said he had no doubt the leak did not come from the AFLPA or his own office, leading him to blame Nixon.

"It's come from somewhere from that party, from that angle," Galbally said.

"... Maybe it's come as a consequence of him showing other people, I don't know."

The report was unfavourable to Nixon, finding he had sex with teenage girl Kim Duthie and took illicit drugs with her in a Melbourne hotel room.

Duthie was at the centre of the St Kilda nude photo scandal.

Nixon continues to vehemently deny having sex with Duthie, only admitting to an "inappropriate relationship".

The findings resulted in Nixon being stripped of his AFL agent's accreditation for at least two years.

Galbally suggested Nixon might have released the report to try to discredit the QC or the AFLPA.

"That may well be right and it may well be to try to cause some more disharmony at St Kilda and try to unnerve the players by reporting what they had said to me," he said.

AFL chief executive Andrew Demetriou said he had not read the report and did not plan to.

"I've sort of chosen not to read it because I actually do take it very seriously, that what was in that report was confidential," Demetriou told 3AW.

"The people who were interviewed, as I understand it, were of the view that everything they spoke about was going to be confidential.

"I suspect some of them are feeling very aggrieved this morning.

"I will continue not to read it because I think it's inappropriate."

No higher stakes for Crows clash: Bailey

AAP, May 6: Melbourne coach Dean Bailey says he expected the flak which has come his way this week, but denies it has raised the stakes for Sunday's AFL clash with Adelaide.

The Demons' dreadful 54-point loss to West Coast last round has prompted queries over whether Bailey will last in the job beyond this season.

But the coach said while the Demons' response at the MCG on Sunday would be heavily scrutinised, that should not be what motivated the players.

"Every week we get tested on character. To put one game ahead of any other is wrong," Bailey said on Friday.

"Our attitude and approach, it has to be hungrier than the week before. We set a poor standard last week and it's got to be better.

"We expect the character to come through every week and it needs to come through on Sunday.

"Every week you get challenged and we didn't perform well last week and we expect the scrutiny to come.

"Our performance on Sunday will be scrutinised again and we just expect a better effort."

Bailey said he welcomed president Jim Stynes' appointment as the club's football director, which was made several weeks ago, but only became public this week amid speculation about Bailey's position.

He was unfazed by the public conjecture about his future.

"It comes with the job," he said.

"All of the coaches are getting examined every week. Every day they get examined on what they're doing and what they're saying."

Bailey said criticism was warranted, given the performance against the Eagles.

"You're only ever judged on your previous performance and our last game against West Coast was really poor. It was really poor in whatever angle you want to look at," he said.

Crows coach Neil Craig, whose 12th-placed team was below the eighth-ranked Demons and also struggling to meet expectations, said he welcomed the challenge of facing a fired-up Melbourne.

"It's a really perfect game for us, for where this group wants to go, the challenges that they need to meet, the AFL hardness that we talk about to keep coming up week after week," Craig said.

"Here is an opportunity for that consistency to continue at a very high level, and you would predict that you have got an opponent where you're going to need it.

"So it's great for our group, for them to face another big test and challenge in that area of the game.

"And it's important that we seek those situations out because they're the ones that you can get a lot of experience from."

Melbourne have made four changes, including recalling forwards Ricky Petterd and Matthew Bate, while the Crows have made three, most notably the return of Rory Sloane from a broken jaw and thumb in round one.

Hansen out, but Kangaroos eye AFL upset

AAP, May 6: Key forward Lachie Hansen has failed in an improbable mission, but North Melbourne still believe they can pull off something even more unlikely and beat Geelong at home.

Hansen, hospitalised after crashing head-first into an Etihad Stadium fence last weekend, had hoped to recover from a back injury for Saturday's Skilled Stadium AFL clash.

But after pulling out part-way through Friday's final training session, he was replaced by Cameron Pedersen for what would be the elevated rookie's second AFL game.

Coach Brad Scott said it was always going to be a challenge for Hansen.

"At the time, I thought he was very little chance to play, but we decided to give him right up until the final training session and, to be honest, I'm surprised he got to this point," Scott told AAP.

The challenge facing the Kangaroos is even greater.

The unbeaten Cats are on a 24-match winning streak in Geelong.

A victory over the Kangaroos would give them the outright league record for any venue, which they shared with Richmond at Punt Road Oval and South Melbourne at Lake Oval, both achieved in the 1930s.

The Kangaroos, whose first win of the season was against a disappointing Port Adelaide last round, also need to overcome a poor recent record against the AFL's best sides.

Last year, they lost their six matches against the season's top four sides by an average of 67 points.

An ambition to improve that this season started miserably in round two, when Collingwood trounced them by 87 points.

But midfielder Andrew Swallow said while results might not reflect it, the Kangaroos believed they were making ground.

"That was one of the things going into this season, to make the gap between the top teams and us a lot smaller," Swallow said.

"We did some things well against Collingwood, but we missed a lot of goals, which cost us and probably blew the margin out to a lot bigger than what we probably thought it should have been.

"But there's another opportunity and we've got to take these opportunities."

Scott said Pedersen's good VFL form had him close to selection, even before Hansen's injury.

"We have no concerns about the calibre of player coming in," he said.

"Lachie's going to be a good player for us for a long, long time, so any time you lose a player like that it's disappointing, but we're confident of the player coming in."

Rookie Jamieson leads by 1 in Spanish Open

AAP, May 6: Scotland's unheralded Scott Jamieson topped the Spanish Open first round leaderboard on Thursday and hoped his experience of playing at Augusta's fabled Masters course would help him to a debut title.

Playing in just his 11th European Tour event, the 27-year-old shot a six-under-par 66 to be one ahead of England's Steve Webster, Jeev Milkha Singh of India, France's Romain Wattel and Spaniard Pablo Larrazabal.

Jamieson studied in the US at Augusta State and was allowed to play on the Masters lay-out once a year.

"I didn't get a wink of sleep the night before the first time I played. In my first three rounds I shot 80 -- same as Rory McIlroy last month, of course -- and on my fourth I finally had a respectable 74," he said.

"Not to make excuses, we always played in the winter when it was cold and wet."

On Thursday, Jamieson grabbed eight birdies and would have been clear out in front but for bogeys at the 14th and fourth.

Jose Maria Olazabal had to settle for a level-par 72, while Colin Montgomerie, the Spaniard's successor as Ryder Cup captain, was three under with three to play, but had a double-bogey six on the 16th.

The 47-year-old came back with a birdie for a 70.

Sydney golfer Sarah Kemp 2nd in Turkey

AAP, May 6: Sarah Kemp is just one shot off the lead after the opening round of the Turkish Ladies Open being played at the National Golf Club in Belek Antalya.

The 25-year-old from Sydney carded 2-under par 71 on the demanding, narrow tree-lined fairways.

Kemp started on the back nine and got off to a relatively slow start when she dropped a shot at the par-five 15th, but picked up four birdies and another bogey on the front nine.

"I'm very happy. It's a tough course; you've really got to place the ball and there are a lot of three-woods, five-woods off the tee," Kemp said.

Italian Stefania Croce leads at 3-under par, with Kemp and Spaniard Tania Elosegui sharing second position.

"I trusted my game," said Croce, who turned professional in 1989.

"I think course management and being positive on every hole was the key."

Karen Lunn is the next best Australian, tied 27th at 2-over par in a group including England's defending champion Melissa Reid.

Nikki Garrett and Rebecca Flood are a further shot back and tied 44th.

Thunder rising star lines up for Bulldogs

ABC, May 6: Former Northern Territory Thunder forward Zephi Skinner is set to make his AFL debut for the Western Bulldogs in Canberra this weekend.

The 21-year-old won the QAFL rising star award last year and was picked by the Bulldogs at number 88 in the draft.

NT Thunder coach Murray Davis says Skinner has a long career ahead of him in the AFL.

"It is great for him to get an opportunity so early on in the season," he said.

"There is certainly improvement left in him and the Western Bulldogs have seen that."

Skinner underlined his enormous AFL potential by posting a runaway win in the 2010 QAFL rising star award.

The mercurial half-forward polled 39 votes to beat Labrador's Todd Grayson on 19 votes.

Winning the award has been a springboard to the AFL big-time for a string of young players.

Beale looks to leave Waratahs with a bang

AAP, May 6: Melbourne-bound Wallabies ace Kurtley Beale is planning a massive farewell bash from the Waratahs and all NSW fans are invited.

Beale on Friday opened up about just how much it would mean to guide the Waratahs to an elusive Super Rugby title before joining the Rebels next season.

The Waratahs have lost two finals to the Crusaders, the most recent in 2008 after Beale was forced from the field injured with his side leading.

The 22-year-old said he was desperate to finally break the duck in 2011.

"It's a great club and we've been the most consistent club for the last five years and every year now I've loved it at the Tahs," he said on the eve of NSW's crunch match with the Western Force in Sydney.

"They're a good bunch of boys and one key thing about here is everyone plays for each other and we're all striving for one thing and that's the championship.

"I'm not thinking about next year at all. I've got a commitment here to the Tahs til the end of the year and I want to give everything I can.

"Wherever I can help out or whatever I can do, I'm going to back myself to do it for the Tahs.

"Obviously the main focus is trying to get to the final stages, but we can't be thinking about that too much because you just lose track of what's in front of you."

Beale only made the decision a fortnight ago to link with the Rebels on a lucrative two-year deal and admitted settling his future was a weight off his mind.

"It's good to get over that now. It's gone and dusted and I can now focus on ahead with the Tahs," he said.

With his side sitting just outside the top six with seven home-and-away rounds remaining, Beale said the Waratahs could afford no more slip-ups.

"Every game now is like a championship game, a grand final game. We have to win it," he said.

"But we don't want to put too much pressure on ourselves. We know we can do it. It's just a matter of turning up."

NSW trounced the Force 31-3 in Perth in their first meeting this season when Beale lined up at five-eighth.

With Berrick Barnes back in the chief playmaker's role, Beale was relishing the extra freedom he would enjoy on Saturday night at fullback.

"At five-eighth, I felt a little bit congested there," he said.

"There were three players on me at once. Whereas out wide, I can spot (weaker) players from counter (attack) or pop up on the blind or pop inside Barnesy wherever I can.

"With Barnesy back, that's going to help us a lot. He can direct the game and open the game up for us in the end."

Brumbies aim to be quick off the mark

AAP, May 6: Delivering a fast start after their last-up nightmare and regaining trust in defence are the big keys for the battling Brumbies in this weekend's Super Rugby clash with the Sharks.

The match in Durban on Sunday morning (AEST) pits the sixth-placed Sharks against a Brumbies team languishing in 10th spot with just two wins from nine games.

The Brumbies are coming off a 47-36 loss to the Cheetahs in Bloemfontein in which they conceded three tries in the first 12 minutes to be 25-0 down.

"We spoke last week about having a fast start and we let ourselves down," Brumbies lock Mark Chisholm told AAP from Durban.

"We've really got to aim up this week and the start is the major thing we're concentrating on."

The Cheetahs kicked five penalties in the Bloemfontein fixture, but Chisholm denied discipline had been a major issue for his team.

"I don't think discipline was an issue. I think it was more the honesty with ourselves and the trust within our defensive line let us down," Chisholm said.

"Anyone who watched that game would have seen it. There were so many defensive errors. That can't happen at the start of a game."

Chisholm recognised the high difficulty factor of beating the Sharks on their own ground.

"They are always tough down at the Shark Tank. They've got a big following here and they and always rise to the occasion," Chisholm said.

The Sharks will be without two injured forwards, captain and front rower John Smit and No.8 Ryan Kankowski.

Coach Tony Rea made a number of changes to the Brumbies team.

Playmakers Matt Giteau and Christian Lealiifano have swapped jerseys, with the former listed to line up at five-eighth and the latter at inside centre.

Tyrone Smith will make his first start of the year at outside centre, with Andrew Smith shifting to the wing to replace Francis Fainifo, who drops to the bench.

No.8 Ita Vaea returns from injury, with Colby Faingaa switching to openside flanker in place of Michael Hooper, who is relegated to the reserves.

Chisholm predicted a bright future for prop Jono Owen, who will make his run-on debut in place of the injured Dan Palmer.

"He's got a big future ahead, he's pretty excited about getting his first start and I'm pretty sure he'll prove that he should be in the squad fulltime," Chisholm said.

"It is the Canberra-based team's first match in Durban since the death there two years ago of Brumbies forward Shawn Mackay.

"That happened a long time ago and Shawn is definitely still with us, in our minds," Chisholm said.

Wales rugby coach issues warning to troubled players

AFP, CARDIFF, United Kingdom, May 6: Wales coach Warren Gatland delivered a thinly-veiled warning to Gavin Henson and Andy Powell after the pair's Test prospects suffered a setback as a result of off-field incidents.

Wales play the Barbarians in Cardiff on June 4 as part of their preparations for the World Cup in New Zealand later this year with many fans wondering if Henson and Powell have already blown their chances of squad selection.

Talented centre Henson, who last played for Wales two years ago, was reinstated by French side Toulon after he was suspended following a nightclub incident last month where he was reported to have launched an alcohol-fuelled diatribe against club colleague and England great Jonny Wilkinson.

Powell was not so fortunate, the back-row forward leaving English Premiership side Wasps "by mutual consent" this week having been suspended following his part in a brawl in a London pub.

"For us, it is just about working with the players and educating these young men that are filled with testosterone that it's about learning from situations," Gatland told BBC Radio Wales.

"We've all been to a bar before and walked through the door and gone, 'This is not great, let's finish our beer and get out of here'.

"There has been an altercation with Gavin with some team-mates in France, and Andy at Wasps," the New Zealander added.

"The last two campaigns, as a squad, after internationals the players haven't gone out at all. We are trying to reduce those potential situations," explained Gatland, a former coach of Ireland and Wasps.

"We have got 90-95 percent of the squad who are fantastic and never get themselves into situations and there are no issues at all.

"We have got one or two individuals we are working with closely. I know a couple of the players in the squad have identified there are a couple of problems they may have or a couple of issues, and they are trying to get some advice and some help.

"I think that is a responsible approach, and we have got to keep working with them.

"You have got to be careful. You can't rule with an iron fist because you are going to end up where you get groups sneaking off and going quietly behind everyone's back.

"We don't want that to happen. We want them to be working with us, training hard and performing well, but also being responsible and being able to go out quietly and enjoy themselves."

S Africa v Aust cricket cut to 2 Tests

AAP, May 6: Australia's 2011 cricket series in South Africa has been reduced to two Tests instead of three, but the teams will play two Twenty20 internationals.

The International Cricket Council's updated Future Tours program on the cricket body's website lists the tour in October and November as comprising of two Tests, two T20s and three one-day internationals.

South Africa and Australia have always played three-Test series since the Proteas' return to international cricket, post-apartheid, in 1991.

It's believed this year's change is to ease a crowded schedule for players because of the Indian Premier League and Champions League Twenty20 tournaments.

Cricket South Africa will announce the fixtures on Friday.

Pietersen misses out on England captaincy

AAP, May 6: Former skipper Kevin Pietersen was left among the ranks after England took the bold step of announcing separate Test, one-day and Twenty20 captains.

Test skipper Andrew Strauss's decision to quit one-day internationals created a vacancy but England gave the 50-over leadership to Alastair Cook, his opening partner in the five-day game and long identified as a future England captain, rather than revert to Pietersen.

Ashes star Cook's elevation comes despite him not being considered a good enough one-day batsman to be selected for the recent World Cup where a stuttering England suffered a 10-wicket quarter-final thrashing by eventual runners-up Sri Lanka.

But England sprung a surprise by announcing fast bowler Stuart Broad would succeed Paul Collingwood as captain of their world champion Twenty20 side.

Pietersen, briefly England captain across the board in succession to Michael Vaughan in 2008-09, told the Daily Mirror last month: "If the one-day job becomes available, I would definitely be up for it."

South Africa-born Pietersen was stripped of the England captaincy after a deterioration in his relationship with Peter Moores, now at Lancashire, saw the then coach sacked.

The pair's exits paved the way for the successful alliance between Strauss and coach Andy Flower that has yielded home and away Ashes triumphs.

Pietersen who has not played since returning home early from the World Cup with a hernia injury in March, hopes to return next week for Surrey in a three-day game against a Cambridge student side.

The 30-year-old put a brave face on being overlooked for a new leadership role with England by telling his Twitter followers on Thursday: "Congrats to Cookie & Broady on the captaincies.. New era for ENG. Young captains for the future.. Exciting times ahead!!"

Strauss has now followed in the footsteps of Ricky Ponting (Australia), Kumar Sangakkara (Sri Lanka), Graeme Smith (South Africa) and Daniel Vettori (New Zealand) who have all, at the very least, stood down as one-day captains of their respective countries since the World Cup.

"Ultimately the decision was made because the end of the World Cup is a watershed for all one-day teams and is a team to refresh and regenerate and to move forward," the 34-year-old Strauss explained.

"I didn't think in my own mind that for me to start that process knowing full well I wouldn't be able to see it through to the next World Cup (in Australia and New Zealand in 2015) was in the best interests of the team."

West Indies crush Pakistan in final ODI

Reuters, PROVIDENCE, Guyana, May 6: An unbeaten 77 from Lendl Simmons led West Indies to a 10-wicket victory with 26.3 overs to spare in the fifth and final one-day international against Pakistan on Thursday.

Pakistan had already wrapped up the series with victories in the first three encounters but wins in the last two games will boost West Indies' confidence ahead of the forthcoming two test matches.

Seamer Ravi Rampaul did the damage with the ball for the Caribbean side, who bowled out Pakistan for just 139 in 41.2 overs with the Trinidad and Tobago seamer taking 4-45. Captain Darren Sammy's medium pace claimed three victims.

Opener Mohammad Hafeez's 55 was the only real bright spot in a poor Pakistani batting display on a slow track.

Hafeez, who also made a century and another half-century in the series, was named man of the series.

Simmons took charge from the outset of the reply and showed again that he has been a worthy introduction to the team for this series.

The nephew of former West Indies opener Phil Simmons, has struck half centuries in each of the last four games and said he was benefiting from the input of new West Indies batting consultant and former test opener Desmond Haynes.

"I have been trying to focus more on my batting, working on fitness and working with Desmond Haynes. I have been out of the team for a while but I knew my chance would come again, so I had to capitalise," he said.

Simmons was ably supported by another new face, Barbadian Kirk Edwards, who after a largely disappointing series produced a disciplined 40 not out at the other end.

Skipper Sammy said he was encouraged by the result and the display.

"This is the type of performance we have been looking for and it was good to see a total team effort. Looking at the last game, it seems we might be more comfortable chasing. Looking back at the series, we created opportunities, but didn't take them. You will take confidence from any victory".

The first test starts in Guyana on May 12.

West Indies beat Pakistan in Guyana ODI

ANI, Guyana, May 6: The West Indies inflicted a defeat on Pakistan by 10 wickets in the fifth one day international held at Providence in Guyana on Thursday.

Replying to Pakistan's score of 139 all out, the West Indians scored 140 for no loss.

West Indies opener Lendl Simmons scored 77 with seven boundaries and three sixes, while K. Edwards scored an unbeaten 40 with three boundaries.

Earlier, Pakistan was bundled all out for 139 in 41.2 overs. The highlight of the Pakistaninnings was a solid 55 off 83 balls by opener Mohammad Hafeez. Middle order batsman Uman Akmal scored 24.

For the West Indies, fast bowler Ravi Rampaul took four wickets for 45,while skipper Darren Sammy snared three wickets for 30.

"We played as a team, and got the result that we wanted. This was the type of performance for which we have been searching for a very long time" said West Indies skipper Darren Sammy.

Pakistan captain Shahid Afridi blamed poor batting for loss.

Pakistan has already won the five match series by 3-2, with three consecutive victories.

RCB still has a good chance to make it to semis: Vettori

ANI, Bengaluru, May 6: Daniel Vettori, captain of Royal Challengers Bangalore, has said that they still have a good chance of making it to the semi-finals of the Indian Premier League tournament.

Vettori said this while talking to mediapersons after a practice session at Bangalore's Chinnaswamy stadium.

"No strategies as such. We're trying to win every game. If we look at the points table, then right now we have a good chance of making it to the semis but there are some apprehensions as nothing is guaranteed. So the best thing you can do is try and win every game you play," said Vettori.

He also lauded the bowling skill of Virat Kohli and said that Kohli has been an asset for the team throughout the tournament.

"He (Virat Kohli) might be having some experiences of his own. His bowling has been quite crucial in the last two ones against Delhi. He got some important wickets. And in the last couple of overs with Yuvraj Singh (of Kings XI Punjab) can really seal the game for us.

"He (Kohli) bowled in the hardest times in the last innings, and (batting wise) there is always a chance for us to go for more runs. But he is a guy I look to when I want a wicket. So I don't think that it will change throughout the competition," he said.

The Royal Challengers will face the Kings XI Punjab at the Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bangalore on Friday (May 06).

I played one of my best T-20 innings: Sehwag

ANI, Hyderabad, May 6: Delhi Daredevils skipper Virender Sehwag, who played one of his best T-20 innings against Deccan Chargers, said that scoring his first hundred in this format of the game is very special to him.

Sehwag made a blistering 119 runs off just 59 balls. Delhi Daredevils won the match by four wickets at the Rajiv Gandhi stadium in Hyderabad on Thursday (May 05).

"It was one of the best innings I had played in T-20s because I had never got a hundred and people were talking that I should get a hundred in T-20 because the game belongs to me, the way I bat. For about six overs things didn't go our way.

"We lost three wickets and stood at 29 runs for the first six overs. I thought they don't have a fifth bowler. So if I could target the fourth and fifth bowler then the target could be achievable. When I hit 22 runs in Ishan Malhotra's over, I thought now I had got the momentum," said Sehwag.

Kumara Sangakkara, captain of the loosing Deccan Chargers team, said that they could not capitalize on the opportunities that came their way.

"We batted excellently today. Bowled the first six overs magnificently. And when the opportunities came our way to put pressure on Delhi, we couldn't. Veeru (Sehwag) was the only chance they had to try and win the game.

"We created the two opportunities by bowling really well. When you .. a batsman of his class on a wicket like this (he) will make you pay. And he batted excellently after that," he said.

Now, an automated umpire to keep cricket matches moving

ANI, London, May 6: An inexpensive computer vision system has been developed that can judge whether a batsman has been "run out" or not without the need for the time consuming video replay.

Tariq Mahmood of the National University of Computer and Emerging Sciences in Karachi has created a system called A-Eye to automate decisions in cricket such as a run out.

A-Eye combines a low-cost video camera sitting at ground level with open-source software called AForge.NET that scans a video feed for moving objects.

A-Eye automatically identifies the position of the crease and the wicket, and tracks the motion of the bat. If the system detects any movement of the wicket while the bat is outside the crease, it deems the batsman to be run out.

Mahmood tested the system on a series of video clips, two-thirds of which showed the batsman being run out.

A-Eye proved to be three per cent less accurate than a human umpire.

But whereas the video umpire took about a minute to decide, A-Eye produced its judgements in less than a second.

The system was due to be presented at the International Conference on Information Science and Applications on Jeju Island, South Korea, this week.

IPL schedule involves too much travelling: Hodge

IANS, Kochi, May 6: Kochi Tuskers' Australian batsman Brad Hodge has criticised the demanding schedule of the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL), saying that the tournament involves 'too much travelling'.

The cash-rich event is seven-weeks long and requires the players to travel all across India to feature in a minimum of 14 games. Hodge said the scheduling could have been better.

'We could have done better in the IPL this time. The schedule I think is hectic,' said Hodge. 'There are 10 teams and they have done their best to make a good schedule, but it involves too much travelling.

The nature of pitches have been another talking point of the IPL and Hodge feels that pitches used in Kochi in the earlier games in Kolkata and Jaipur were sub-standard.

'We could have won a few more matches but got struck on a few sticky wickets. Some of the pitches like the one in Calcutta (Kolkata) and Jaipur could have been better,' said the 29-year-old Australian.

Cook to lead England in ODIs, Broad Twenty20

IANS, London, May 6: Opening batsman Alastair Cook was appointed England's new One-day International captain following Andrew Strauss's retirement from the shorter version to focus on the Test captaincy.

England all-rounder Stuart Broad is England Twenty20 skipper, taking over from Paul Collingwood, who piloted England to a seven-wicket victory over Australia in the ICC World Twenty20 final last May.

Cook, 26, has played in just three ODIs since November 2008. He led England's victorious tour of Bangladesh in 2010 when Strauss was rested.

Strauss's decision was not surprising after England's disappointing performance in the World Cup.

'I have enjoyed my time as England One-day captain immensely and I am extremely proud of the strides we've made in limited-overs cricket over the past two years,' Strauss, 34, said.

'We still have a long way to go if we are to achieve our goal of winning ICC global events and I feel now is the right time for me to step aside and ensure someone else takes up that challenge.'

Strauss, who has been the ODI captain for the past two years, said England leadership is in right hands.

'I look forward to working closely with both Alastair and Stuart as we work together to progress England's development across all forms of the game. Both Alastair and Stuart are proven world-class cricketers and both have outstanding leadership qualities which will ensure England's success for many years to come,' he said.

'Retiring from One-day cricket will also enable me to focus solely on the Test captaincy and our ongoing development in the Test arena as we strive to be the top-ranked team in world cricket.'

Cook was the outstanding batsman during their 2010 Ashes success in Australia when he scored 766 runs, but he was not included in the squad for the subsequent One-day series against Australia or the World Cup.

The Essex batsman, who made his Test debut in 2006, played in only 65 Tests, 26 ODIs and four Twenty20 internationals. His only ODI century came against India in 2007.

However, he impressed as stand-in skipper in Bangladesh last year, scoring 64, 60 and 32 during 3-0 ODI series win and hit centuries in both Tests to guide England to a 2-0 victory.

'Andrew Strauss has led the One-day team to continued success over the past two years and I'll be looking to continue that progress as captain. I'm excited by the challenge of taking our 50-over cricket to new heights and I believe I can play an integral role with the bat as well as captain,' Cook said.

'I've worked hard on my limited-overs cricket in recent times -- I've never seen myself as a Test batsman exclusively and I know I have a lot to offer strategically and as a top-order batsman in one-day cricket.'

Arthur dismayed at customary three Tests being cut to two against Proteas

ANI, Sydney, May 6: Former Proteas coach Mickey Arthur has said that Australiaand South Africa deserved better than the two-Test series.

Champions League Twenty20 tournament to be held in India in September and early October has relegated this Test rivalry to minor league status.

Arthur, who orchestrated Australia's first home series defeat in 16 years and is now coach of Western Australia, is dismayed that the customary three Tests have been cut back to two, not enough for the sort of epic battle fought between the two countries in recent series.

Test nations have been working for two years on a new Future Tours Program for 2012 to 2020, which is now being finalised with the structure of global Test and ODI championships, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

But there are fears the system will remain flawed while individual countries can negotiate their own tours.

Cricket Australia agreed to tour South Africa in November in exchange for the Proteas playing in the Boxing Day and New Year Tests in 2005 and 2008.

Because of the crowded calendar, including the rich Champions League Twenty20 in which CA and CSA have shares, one Test was shaved off the tour, and will be replaced duringAustralia's next visit.

Champions League forces Australia-South Africa Test series to two matches

ANI, Melbourne, May 6): Cricket 

South Africa is all set to announce the program forAustralia's October-November tour on Friday and for the first time there will be room for only two Tests, along with two Twenty20 matches and three one-day internationals.

Champions League Twenty20 tournament in India during September and early October is the main reason for relegating this Test rivalry to minor league status.

CA refused to comment on the detail of the tour until it was released by South Africa but chief executive James Sutherland has claimed that Test cricket remained Australia's priority, The Daily Telegraph reports.

Negotiations are taking place to add a fourth Test to Australia's 2014 tour. "It is our premium format of the game and we're committed to it," Sutherland said.

CA showed a strange way of enforcing that commitment last year when it demanded thatMike Hussey and Doug Bollinger stay with their IPL team Chennai in South Africa instead of joining the Australia team on tour in India for a two-Test series.

With India owning 50 per cent of the tournament, Australia 33 per cent and South Africa 17 per cent, that is an enormous amount of money. Leading domestic Twenty20 teams from around the world compete, with Australia's top two Big Bash teams playing off.

Shane Warne to call it quits after IPL season

Reuters, MUMBAI, May 6: Shane Warne will quit professional cricket after the Indian Premier League (IPL) season, the Australian spinner said on Friday.

The spin great, who took 708 test wickets before retiring from international cricket at the end of the 2006-07 Ashes series, has been Rajasthan Royals' captain-cum-coach in the four editions of the cash-rich tournament.

"Yes this is my last year playing IPL," Warne posted on his Twitter account. "I will miss the IPL but it's been fun for the last 4 seasons... I've had a great time - but it's time to say goodbye to IPL.

"Thanks for kind words re my bowling - but it's 100 percent my last four games of professional cricket unless we make finals," the 41-year old added.

The flamboyant leg-spinner, who led Rajasthan to victory in the inaugural IPL, did not rule out the role of a mentor or coach next season.

Warne, who also grabbed 293 wickets in ODIs, has still managed to spin a web around batsmen with his flight and turn and has taken 11 wickets in nine matches this season.

Rajasthan Royals are currently ranked fourth in the table with five wins from 10 matches.