Hamilton: No pressure on McLaren

Having endured a nail-biting outing last year, McLaren are looking forward to racing in Brazil without any pressure.
Lewis Hamilton captured the driver's title at the season-ending Interlagos last year, and while there are still two races remaining in this year's season the McLaren star cannot defend his title.

With only pride on the line the Briton admits he's looking to have a bit more fun in Brazil than he has had in the past, with the energetic crowd something he's looking forward to.

"I'm really looking forward to this year's Brazilian Grand Prix - it will be the first time I've travelled to Sao Paulo without being in contention for the World Championship, and I'm actually looking forward to taking in a bit more of the city and relaxing and enjoying the experience of driving on one of the world's greatest racetracks," said Hamilton.

"One of the greatest things about racing at Interlagos is the crowd. There's such a great atmosphere; the fans have so much energy and life. It's a party while you're working, and it's great to see everyone happy."

Team principal Martin Whitmarsh echoed the thoughts of his driver but insisted the team would not be resting on their laurels despite being out of the title race.

"Travelling to Sao Paulo this year with our focus solely on achieving the very best result will allow us to attack the race weekend without any additional considerations, and we are very much looking forward to that challenge," explained Whitmarsh.

For his part Mercedes-Benz Motorsport vice-president Norbert Haug insisted the race for the Championship title was far from over with Jenson Button only 14 points ahead of his Brawn teammate Rubens Barrichello and 16 points ahead of Red Bull's Sebastian Vettel.

"The world championship fight is open and electrifying - I know from my own experience what I am talking about when I say that with a 16-point deficit of Sebastian to Jenson, nothing has been decided yet," said Haug.

Pennetta eases into the second round

Top seed Flavia Pennetta made light work of American Meghann Shaughnessy in the Generali Ladies with a 6-1 6-1 victory.
The Italian forced 12 break points on her way to victory.

Sixth seed Sorana Cirstea was sent home after losing 6-3 6-3 to qualifier Julia Goerges, but all the other seeds in action survived.

Number five Iveta Benesova saw off Stephanie Gehrlein 7-5 6-0, while seventh seed Lucie Safarova powered past Patricia Mayr 6-2 6-1 and number eight Sara Errani beat Arantxa Parra Santonja 6-2 6-3.

Also going through were Anna-Lena Groenefeld, a 7-5 6-1 winner over Roberta Vinci, Tatjana Malek, who beat Aravane Rezai 7-5 7-5, and Olga Govortsova, a 6-2 6-7(7/9) 6-2 winner over Petra Martic.

Several reasons behind resignation

The match fixing allegation was just one of the factors which prompted Younus Khan to quit the captaincy of the Pakistan team.
Sources said Younus is ready to take back his resignation but only on the condition that the Pakistan cricket Board makes a clear announcement about his captaincy term.

"It is true he was fed up with the remarks made by the NA committee Chairman in which he accused the Pakistan players of deliberately under-performing in the Champions Trophy but there are other elements involved behind his decision," one source told PTI

According to the source Younus apparently was also not happy with the behavior of the team management and few players for the last few months.

"He is not happy with manager Yawar Saeed and assistant manager Shafqat Rana and also coach Intikhab Alam and believes they have not supported him the way they should have in normal circumstances," the source claimed.

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He said a couple of incidents in South Africa and the way a concerted campaign was orchestrated against him had also left Younus disillusioned.

"He is aware who is behind this campaign and when he meets with the Board Chairman to discuss his resignation he will have a talk with him on these issues," the source said.

He said Younus was appalled by Rana's statement that he should not have played with his injured finger.

"Younus is upset because before the semi-final against New Zealand he told the team management and tour selection committee clearly that he didn't want to play.

"But they insisted he should play because of the important nature of the match. And now some people are giving the impression it was his sole decision to play with the injured finger," the source said.

He said Younus was also upset that no one had ever mentioned the fact that he had gone out of his way to back senior and junior players.

"Shafqat Rana has made an issue that Younis didn't want Muhammad Asif to play the semi-final although the team management felt he should play in place of Rana Naved.

"But Rana has not revealed the fact that it was Younus who insisted on playing Shoaib Malik and Mohammad Yousuf in the match against India although the manager, coach and vice captain wanted to drop them," the source said.

Malik scored a hundred and Yousuf a half-century in the victory over India vindicating the tough stand taken by Younis.

The source said it was Younis who had backed Muhammad Aamer although the coach and manager didn't have faith in the youngster.

"He is upset that no one talks about these positive contributions he has made despite resistance from the team management," the source said.

Vettori could fill Oram void

New Zealand captain Daniel Vettori is not averse to filling the batting role left vacant by Jacob Oram's retirement from Test cricket.
Oram has batted at number six for the Blacks Caps at Test level with Vettori usually coming in a couple of places further down the order.

But with the 31-year-old now focusing on the shorter forms of the game, the Black Caps skipper undoubtedly has the pedigree - 3484 runs at 29.77 and 302 wickets over 93 Tests - to move up to the middle order.

"I think it is something we'll have to have a look at. It's not something I'm averse to. I've stepped up in the one-dayers in terms of moving up the order and maybe now is the right time to do that (in Tests) as well," Vettori said.

One possible drawback, though, would be the increase in workload for Vettori who has had his fair share of back injuries in the past.

"We've been talking about the workload on Jacob and I suppose the workload on me will only increase but maybe it's the right thing to do and maybe it's the opportunity for me to step up and actually fulfil that role," he told Radio Sport.

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Oram's Test retirement has also cleared a path for all-rounders James Franklin and Grant Elliott to press for regular inclusion in the squad.

Franklin, a left-arm pace bowler and handy lower-order batsman, has twice replaced Oram in recent months - when the West Indies and India toured New Zealand in the southern hemisphere summer and at the recent Champions Trophy in South Africa.

The 28-year-old has just returned to New Zealand after a season with English county side Gloucestershire where he scored 904 runs, including three hundreds, at an average of 50.22 and took 31 wickets, and Franklin himself believes he is the man to replace Oram.

Vettori does not disagree but wants more consistency from him, saying: "We all understand he has all the talent in the world and we just want him to get back to his best and be able to be a consistent performer for New Zealand because he could become one of our very good players."

Elliott, who Vettori sees as primarily a batsman, will have to bide his time as he faces several weeks on the sidelines with a broken thumb suffered during the Champions Trophy.

New Zealand's next Test series is against Pakistan which begins late next month. Prior to that the Blacks Caps play a one-day and Twenty20 series against the same opponents in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

The squad for the limited-overs matches is expected to be named on Thursday.

The series, originally scheduled to be played in Pakistan earlier this year, was postponed following the terrorist attack on Sri Lankan cricketers in Lahore in March.

Jehan Mubarak: It was too late

Wayamba skipper Jehan Mubarak agrees that by the time his side got its act together, the time had slipped through their fingers.

By Chandraboli Mitra
No matter whether a tournament's duration is long or short, there is some team or the other, who feels cheated and this time also the story isn't too different.

Although, Wayamba won their match against Victoria Bushrangers on Tuesday, they have failed to qualify for the next round as they had lost their first match against Delhi Daredevils.

"It is mixed emotions as we started to get our act together but having lost the earlier game, there wasn't much we could have done about it," said Wayamba captain Jehan Mubarak.

Wayamba managed to post a modest 118 for nine in their allotted 20 overs. Replying to which, Victoria Bushrangers could reach only 103 for four, losing by 15 runs.

With all three teams - Delhi Daredevils, Victoria Bushrangers and Wayamba placed at 2 points each, having won one and losing another, but on the basis of the run-rate, Wayamba found themselves out of the tournament.

"It is a short and crisp tournament and getting adapted to the conditions was the main thing. But in Twenty20 you don't have much time and by the time we could get into the rhythm as a unit, it was too late," said Mubarak.

When asked about whether two matches are too little for a team to show its real potential, he explained, "This is a tough situation and you can't have extended tournaments as the international window is too cramped and you have to fit a domestic tournament in this window itself."

On the other hand, Victoria Bushrangers' skipper Shane Harwood chose not to complain as his team advanced.

However, he said, "We are disappointed but relieved to go through. It was very difficult to score runs and even more difficult to chase runs. But once a batsman gets in, it is easier to score runs but none of us could do that.

"We knew our target that was needed for us to advance into the next round but we still wanted to play aggressively and try and win the match," concluded Harwood.

“Victoria have a good chance”

Colac is country town in Victoria and Finch embodies the essence of the strong, sturdy country man in his game as well. Not just his game but his attitude too.

Finch is outright and honest about his cricket: “I think we have a very tough team and Victoria have a very good chance.

We can concentrate on our preparations as we go further on.”

Brett Lee Exclusive

The Bushrangers, clubbed with the Delhi Daredevils and Wayamba, went on to the next stage of the Airtel Champions League Twenty20 with a bit of a fuss they could have avoided.

Brushing aside the Daredevils did not take much doing but they stumbled against the Sri Lankans from Wayamba at the Feroz Shah Kotla last night but that did not hurt much apart from their pride.

Farvez Mahroof Exclusive

The loss notwithstanding, the Aussie outfit edged past Wayamba from the group stage by virtue of a better net run rate.

All the hype, the international class on show and the quality of cricket have been a pleasant surprise for cricket fans in the country, as it has been for the Bushrangers.

“This has been very exciting for the whole group and we are all very thrilled.”

Phillip Hughes Exclusive

How much research did the team do on the others in the fray before setting sail for Indian shores?

“Well, the research wouldn’t have been very different. Everyone team has seen the other closely before coming over and I am sure each would have had its own plans.

“I think we are a very tough team and that has shown in the way we have played so far.”

The battleground will become more menacing as the tournament draws to its business end. Now will be the time for the world to see what the Bushrangers can spread, fire or ire.

Xavi and Marquez doubts for Barca

Xavi and Rafeal Marquez are major injury doubts for Barcelona's next game against Valencia at the Mestalla.
Xavi was injured on interntional duty for Spain against Armenia and has returned to the club. Acording to Super Deporte, Xavi injured his right knee.

Marquez was also injured on international duty for Mexico and he was replaced in Mexico's 4-1 win over El Salvador at the weekend. He is not expected to be fit for the game against Los Che.

It's not all bad news for Barcelona. Andres Iniesta is expected to be fit despite picking up a knock against Armenia but he has been passed fit to return to train with Spain on Monday.

He is not expected to feature against Bosnia on Wednesday so should be fit for the game against Valencia.