It has been widely reported in the last couple of days that Kevin Pietersen is likely to 'bought' in the IPL auction for a record fee, eclipsing the $1.5 million paid for the services of Indian wicketkeeper MS Dhoni in last year's inaugural auction. The Indian Premier League, a competition of Twenty20 cricket between 8 franchised teams in India, runs for a six-week period in April/May every year. Players are auctioned off before the tournament to the highest bidding franchise.
The IPL is backed by a variety of multi-millionaire Indians and has seen unprecedented amounts of money pumped into it. For six weeks work, some of the players can earn more money than they would have previously earned in six years.
It is not difficult to understand, then, why every top cricketer in the world wants to play in this competition. Even those commentators of a purist view concede that the players cannot be blamed for wanting to play in the IPL. Twenty20 cricket is undoubtedly exciting and attracts bigger crowds and television audiences than Test cricket. It is also more attractive to advertisers, who will pay more money for adverts during the games.
Indeed, there are many winners in this new era of Twenty20 cricket. Obviously, all of the players involved are earning the kind of money never before seen in cricket. The organisers are very happy with their attractive product; the advertisers are delighted to be associated with it. And with high viewing figures, everyone seems to be a winner.
There is at least one high profile loser: English cricket. English cricket's soul will be sold off next week in the IPL auction.
And while it is being sold, the England cricket team will be half way through the First Test against the West Indies in Jamaica. Are the players minds going to be 100% on the game as the tough arena of Test cricket requires? Or are the top England players going to be desperate to get off the field to ring their agent and find out who they will be playing for in India, and more importantly, for how much?
The ECB gave in to the demands of both the IPL top brass and England players by releasing them to play for three weeks of the six-week IPL tournament, instead of the originally proposed two-week release. The result of this, is that the players who do play, certainly Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff, and possibly a few others, will arrive back from three weeks of Twenty20 crash-bang-wallop with only 5 days until the first Test match of the summer, again against the West Indies. It is not exactly good preparation for a summer which includes the highly-anticipated Ashes.
The IPL is changing the face of cricket and hence affecting every country in the Test arena. But the effects are far more acute in England because the IPL runs at the start of our cricket season. No other nation has this problem, indeed many others, including Australia and South Africa, are just winding down their seasons in April, so the IPL is in a perfect window. Not for us though.
Twenty20 cricket will march on in the coming years, especially in the form of the rival Premier League in England, which is to be bankrolled by Texan billionaire Sir Allen Stanford. But cricket tours of 4 or 5 Tests with ample preparation time for both teams is likely to be a thing of the past. In England's case, the future is likely to be a few Twenty20 slogs in preparation for five-day game. RIP English cricket.
Tuesday, 27 January 2009
Friday, 23 January 2009
FOOTBALL: The behaviour of Premier League players has to improve
Manchester United's 3-0 win over Chelsea on 11th January was, in the main, an excellent advert for the Premier League. There were lots of classy, expensive, world-renowned players competing in England's largest club stadium and they produced a good, competitive game with 3 goals.
Both teams passed the ball crisply and accurately. Chelsea dominated the first half hour's possession, but with Drogba relatively isolated, looked lacking going forward. With the introduction of Anelka for Deco at half-time, Chelsea began to lose the midfield battle and were ultimately outclassed. Luiz Felipe Scolari has been criticised for having no Plan B and this game was yet another piece to add to the mounting evidence that Anelka and Drogba struggle to play together, whether in Plan A, B or Z.
For United's part, everything went to plan. Ryan Giggs, a surprise choice in the starting XI, was superb and Darren Fletcher more than matched the muscle of Michael Ballack and John Mikel Obi. Both Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov got on the scoresheet and young Jonny Evans looks increasingly like a future United centre-back.
Overall, Richard Scudamore and friends can be happy with what was broadcast to hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide. Even referee Howard Webb had a good afternoon, even if he did have to dish out quite a number of yellow cards.
But with all the increases that there have been in the Premier Lague in the last few seasons- player's wages, number of foreign players, quality of football, ticket prices, pitch standards- it has seen no such increase in disciplinary standards. I am going to single out Wayne Rooney, but he is far from the only overpaid ego to conduct himself well below the level of acceptability, nevermind sportsmanship.
With 20 minutes on the clock in the United-Chelsea encounter, Rooney was ajudged by referee Howard Webb of committing a foul in Manchester United's right back area. Seeing that the decision had gone against him, Rooney gave Webb an aggressive torrent of bad language, including "f*&k off!" Webb strode over to the spot where the free-kick was to be taken and called Rooney over. The referee called Wayne by his first name, just as everyone could hear on the pitchside television microphone, but Rooney walked away, raising his arm in the air a couple of times to signal that he had heard the referee but did not care. When Rooney eventually turned around, he listened to a couple of words before turning around again and sulking like a 5 year old.
No more than 10 minutes later, Rooney was at it again. Whilst I can understand the England International's frustration at Ronaldo's headed 'goal' being disallowed, despite Rooney and Giggs' clever corner routine being within the rules, his response was a disgrace. He sprinted over to the assistant referee and shouted abuse at the official from half a metre away, using the widest range of his foul language. How referee Webb had the patience during these two incidents to put up with Rooney, without even cautioning him, is a testament to England's best referee.
I despair at how normal such behaviour has become. I don't want to see games reduced to nine-on-nine by half-time because the referees have punished every piece of dissent, but Webb's tolerance of Rooney does nothing to stop him from doing it next time and makes a mockery of the FA's already ridiculed 'Respect' campaign. The FA need to bring retrospective fines or even bans for persistent dissenters (as well as divers and other offenders) or simply start cautioning dissenters during games. I accept the short term effect would be numerous sendings-off, but something has to be done, otherwise the game is likely to continue in this rut of very poor discipline.
Both teams passed the ball crisply and accurately. Chelsea dominated the first half hour's possession, but with Drogba relatively isolated, looked lacking going forward. With the introduction of Anelka for Deco at half-time, Chelsea began to lose the midfield battle and were ultimately outclassed. Luiz Felipe Scolari has been criticised for having no Plan B and this game was yet another piece to add to the mounting evidence that Anelka and Drogba struggle to play together, whether in Plan A, B or Z.
For United's part, everything went to plan. Ryan Giggs, a surprise choice in the starting XI, was superb and Darren Fletcher more than matched the muscle of Michael Ballack and John Mikel Obi. Both Wayne Rooney and Dimitar Berbatov got on the scoresheet and young Jonny Evans looks increasingly like a future United centre-back.
Overall, Richard Scudamore and friends can be happy with what was broadcast to hundreds of millions of viewers worldwide. Even referee Howard Webb had a good afternoon, even if he did have to dish out quite a number of yellow cards.
But with all the increases that there have been in the Premier Lague in the last few seasons- player's wages, number of foreign players, quality of football, ticket prices, pitch standards- it has seen no such increase in disciplinary standards. I am going to single out Wayne Rooney, but he is far from the only overpaid ego to conduct himself well below the level of acceptability, nevermind sportsmanship.
With 20 minutes on the clock in the United-Chelsea encounter, Rooney was ajudged by referee Howard Webb of committing a foul in Manchester United's right back area. Seeing that the decision had gone against him, Rooney gave Webb an aggressive torrent of bad language, including "f*&k off!" Webb strode over to the spot where the free-kick was to be taken and called Rooney over. The referee called Wayne by his first name, just as everyone could hear on the pitchside television microphone, but Rooney walked away, raising his arm in the air a couple of times to signal that he had heard the referee but did not care. When Rooney eventually turned around, he listened to a couple of words before turning around again and sulking like a 5 year old.
No more than 10 minutes later, Rooney was at it again. Whilst I can understand the England International's frustration at Ronaldo's headed 'goal' being disallowed, despite Rooney and Giggs' clever corner routine being within the rules, his response was a disgrace. He sprinted over to the assistant referee and shouted abuse at the official from half a metre away, using the widest range of his foul language. How referee Webb had the patience during these two incidents to put up with Rooney, without even cautioning him, is a testament to England's best referee.
I despair at how normal such behaviour has become. I don't want to see games reduced to nine-on-nine by half-time because the referees have punished every piece of dissent, but Webb's tolerance of Rooney does nothing to stop him from doing it next time and makes a mockery of the FA's already ridiculed 'Respect' campaign. The FA need to bring retrospective fines or even bans for persistent dissenters (as well as divers and other offenders) or simply start cautioning dissenters during games. I accept the short term effect would be numerous sendings-off, but something has to be done, otherwise the game is likely to continue in this rut of very poor discipline.
Wednesday, 14 January 2009
CRICKET: Another retirement as Australia continue to go through transition
The retirement from international cricket of Matthew Hayden was not a complete surprise. His exclusion from the squad for the upcoming one-day series against South Africa, despite being the ICC one-day player of the year in 2007 and Australian one-day player of the year in 2008, indicated that the selectors were going pick by form and Hayden would not be allowed to play through to this summer's Ashes on reputation.
With this summer's big series in mind, the retirement of Australia's most succesful opening batsmen; a man who set a world record individual score of 380 against Zimbabwe during his career, can be placed in the context of a far greater sea change in Australian international cricket.
Since Australia's 5-0 whitewash of England 2 years ago, Hayden, who averaged 50.73 in test matches, is the second batsmen to retire after an illustrious record-breaking career. Wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist, who retired this time last year, reinvented what it meant to be a wicketkeeper-batsmen, scoring 100 sixes in his career, as well as the second fastest test hundred, off only 57 balls, and averaging 47.60.
Australia have also lost the attractive batting of Damien Martyn along with Justin Langer, who as opening partner with the retiring Hayden, struck up with the latter, the second best opening partnership of all time, scoring 5,655 runs together at an average of 51.88 for the first wicket.
In the batting department, however, Australia have coped quite well in the wake of these retirements, especially in the form of Michael Hussey. Hussey has been a revelation in world cricket, currently averaging just below 60 in 34 tests and a quite amazing 57.13 in ODIs (one-day internationals), the latter being an astonishing record, as many of the greatest batsmen have failed to break the 50 barrier for an average in one-day cricket.
Michael Clarke has moulded himself into a vice-captain and Andrew Symonds has proved that, when not causing on- and off-the-field headaches for the administrators, he is not just a one-day player, but a very useful Test all-rounder.
The Aussies recent 2-1 series defeat to South Africa was their first on home turf since they lost by the same margin to a Mike Gatting-led England in 1986-1987. 22 years unbeaten was a very impressive record. The series against the Proteas that led to the demise of the unbeaten record, was characterised not necessarily by lacklustre batting, although the batter's failed to show their usual dominance at home, but infact by the bowling.
Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, both of whom have very strong cases for being included in a Greatest Ever Australian XI, retired from Test cricket in the last Ashes series with their farwell test at the SCG in January 2007. They left an impossible void to fill and Australia's inability to even come close to replacing the pair was ruthlessly exposed by the South Africans.
Sure, Australia have some good bowlers. Left-armer Mitchell Johnson has really shown his worth in the last two series; against India in the sub-continent before Christmas and against Graeme Smith's South Africa over Christmas time. He has bowled with accuracy, swing and sometimes genuine pace.
However, Australia have really missed the injured Stuart Clark, another man who has come to the fore since the 2005 Ashes series. Brett Lee, who was left as the experienced leader of the attack with the retirement of McGrath and Warne, looked very ineffective in the last two series, taking 8 wickets at 61.62 runs each in India and only a solitary wicket for 249 runs in two tests against South Africa.
Stuart MacGill, the leg-spinner who spent his career in the permanent shadow of Warne, failed to perform after the latter's retirement, and has now retired himself despite an impressive record of 208 Test wickets in only 44 matches. Given the number of wickets taken by Warne during the Ashes in England in 2005, this must count as a massive void that South Africa have expolited, and England must look to target during the summer.
And so, the upheavals in Australian cricket should point to England having a good chance at taking back the Ashes on home turf, especially as Marcus Trescothick and Ahley Giles are the only two players from the 2005 side to have retired for England.
But the last two weeks have shown that when it comes to the England cricket team, if it is not one thing it is another, and the diverse range of characters within the dressing room seem to have fought a power struggle, the result being the sacking of Peter Moores as coach at Kevin Pietersen as captain. England seem determined to give the transitional Australia as good a chance as possible, by shooting themselves in the foot during the run-up to the Big One this summer.
With this summer's big series in mind, the retirement of Australia's most succesful opening batsmen; a man who set a world record individual score of 380 against Zimbabwe during his career, can be placed in the context of a far greater sea change in Australian international cricket.
Since Australia's 5-0 whitewash of England 2 years ago, Hayden, who averaged 50.73 in test matches, is the second batsmen to retire after an illustrious record-breaking career. Wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist, who retired this time last year, reinvented what it meant to be a wicketkeeper-batsmen, scoring 100 sixes in his career, as well as the second fastest test hundred, off only 57 balls, and averaging 47.60.
Australia have also lost the attractive batting of Damien Martyn along with Justin Langer, who as opening partner with the retiring Hayden, struck up with the latter, the second best opening partnership of all time, scoring 5,655 runs together at an average of 51.88 for the first wicket.
In the batting department, however, Australia have coped quite well in the wake of these retirements, especially in the form of Michael Hussey. Hussey has been a revelation in world cricket, currently averaging just below 60 in 34 tests and a quite amazing 57.13 in ODIs (one-day internationals), the latter being an astonishing record, as many of the greatest batsmen have failed to break the 50 barrier for an average in one-day cricket.
Michael Clarke has moulded himself into a vice-captain and Andrew Symonds has proved that, when not causing on- and off-the-field headaches for the administrators, he is not just a one-day player, but a very useful Test all-rounder.
The Aussies recent 2-1 series defeat to South Africa was their first on home turf since they lost by the same margin to a Mike Gatting-led England in 1986-1987. 22 years unbeaten was a very impressive record. The series against the Proteas that led to the demise of the unbeaten record, was characterised not necessarily by lacklustre batting, although the batter's failed to show their usual dominance at home, but infact by the bowling.
Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, both of whom have very strong cases for being included in a Greatest Ever Australian XI, retired from Test cricket in the last Ashes series with their farwell test at the SCG in January 2007. They left an impossible void to fill and Australia's inability to even come close to replacing the pair was ruthlessly exposed by the South Africans.
Sure, Australia have some good bowlers. Left-armer Mitchell Johnson has really shown his worth in the last two series; against India in the sub-continent before Christmas and against Graeme Smith's South Africa over Christmas time. He has bowled with accuracy, swing and sometimes genuine pace.
However, Australia have really missed the injured Stuart Clark, another man who has come to the fore since the 2005 Ashes series. Brett Lee, who was left as the experienced leader of the attack with the retirement of McGrath and Warne, looked very ineffective in the last two series, taking 8 wickets at 61.62 runs each in India and only a solitary wicket for 249 runs in two tests against South Africa.
Stuart MacGill, the leg-spinner who spent his career in the permanent shadow of Warne, failed to perform after the latter's retirement, and has now retired himself despite an impressive record of 208 Test wickets in only 44 matches. Given the number of wickets taken by Warne during the Ashes in England in 2005, this must count as a massive void that South Africa have expolited, and England must look to target during the summer.
And so, the upheavals in Australian cricket should point to England having a good chance at taking back the Ashes on home turf, especially as Marcus Trescothick and Ahley Giles are the only two players from the 2005 side to have retired for England.
But the last two weeks have shown that when it comes to the England cricket team, if it is not one thing it is another, and the diverse range of characters within the dressing room seem to have fought a power struggle, the result being the sacking of Peter Moores as coach at Kevin Pietersen as captain. England seem determined to give the transitional Australia as good a chance as possible, by shooting themselves in the foot during the run-up to the Big One this summer.
Sunday, 11 January 2009
FOOTBALL: Arsenal 1-0 Bolton Wanderers (10.01.09): Late Bendtner strike saves toothless Arsenal
When the idea of a 39th game in the Premier LEague was floated by Richard Scudamore and co., one of the numerous questions was: Which world city would want a game that doesn't involve the 'Big Four'?" This game at the Emirates involved one of the Big Four and may well have had the residents of Hong Kong or Cape Town trying to find out how to get their money back.
Bolton manager Gary Megson named only four of a possible seven substitutes and awarded Chris Basham only his second appearance of the season; the first of which was two minutes against Sunderland in November.
Megson's lack of options showed in Bolton's approach, which often involved at least ten men behind the ball, the kind of which his opposite number, Arsene Wenger, has complained about many times in the past.
By the half hour mark, Arsenal had a 70-30 possession advantage, but they struggled to convert their dominance into chances. Robin Van Persie twice volleyed over from similar positions on the edge of the area, but otherwise the Gunners offered little threat to Jussi Jaaskelainen's goal.
Bolton's lack of players was not helped just before half-time, when striker Johan Elmander limped off to be replaced by Riga Mustafa. When the substitute was then substituted in the second-half, his disgust was obvious. Not that it made a lot of difference; Bolton's attacking threat was negligible.
That is not to say Gary Megson's men were completely chanceless. Five minutes after the break, an excellent crossfield ball by Jason Gardner was noded goalward from 15 yards by Matthew Taylor, but the effort was comfortably saved by Manuel Almunia.
The game was beyond the hour mark before Arsenal created their first clear chance; Samir Nasri, who has fitted very well into Arsene Wenger's quick-passing midfield, played a diagonal ball into the unmarked Emmanuel Adebayor in the penalty area. The Togo international had plenty of time, but rather inexplicably took a fraction too long and allowed Andy O'Brien to block his shot.
An excellent Arsenal move a few minutes later saw Adebayor back-flick the ball into the path of the oncoming Van Persie who, in the presence of a couple of Bolton defenders, controlled well, continued into the box and stabbed the ball goalwards, only to see the ball rebound off the post.
Arsenal's continuing advances eventually paid-off five minutes from time, when Gael Clichy played Van Persie in down the left-hand side of the box and his dinked cross was met at the backpost by substitute Nicklas Bendtner, who poked the ball home.
Arsenal did face a scare late on, when Kevin Davies found space in the area, but his effort from 8 yards out went straight into the arms of Almunia. A draw, however, would have flattered Bolton.
As for Arsenal, this result was crucial, particularly after Aston Villa's lunchtime win over West Brom. However, Arsenal's inability to consistently take teams apart, as frequently say as Manchester United or Chelsea, is the reason that their grip on a Champions League place is under continued threat from Aston Villa.
Bolton manager Gary Megson named only four of a possible seven substitutes and awarded Chris Basham only his second appearance of the season; the first of which was two minutes against Sunderland in November.
Megson's lack of options showed in Bolton's approach, which often involved at least ten men behind the ball, the kind of which his opposite number, Arsene Wenger, has complained about many times in the past.
By the half hour mark, Arsenal had a 70-30 possession advantage, but they struggled to convert their dominance into chances. Robin Van Persie twice volleyed over from similar positions on the edge of the area, but otherwise the Gunners offered little threat to Jussi Jaaskelainen's goal.
Bolton's lack of players was not helped just before half-time, when striker Johan Elmander limped off to be replaced by Riga Mustafa. When the substitute was then substituted in the second-half, his disgust was obvious. Not that it made a lot of difference; Bolton's attacking threat was negligible.
That is not to say Gary Megson's men were completely chanceless. Five minutes after the break, an excellent crossfield ball by Jason Gardner was noded goalward from 15 yards by Matthew Taylor, but the effort was comfortably saved by Manuel Almunia.
The game was beyond the hour mark before Arsenal created their first clear chance; Samir Nasri, who has fitted very well into Arsene Wenger's quick-passing midfield, played a diagonal ball into the unmarked Emmanuel Adebayor in the penalty area. The Togo international had plenty of time, but rather inexplicably took a fraction too long and allowed Andy O'Brien to block his shot.
An excellent Arsenal move a few minutes later saw Adebayor back-flick the ball into the path of the oncoming Van Persie who, in the presence of a couple of Bolton defenders, controlled well, continued into the box and stabbed the ball goalwards, only to see the ball rebound off the post.
Arsenal's continuing advances eventually paid-off five minutes from time, when Gael Clichy played Van Persie in down the left-hand side of the box and his dinked cross was met at the backpost by substitute Nicklas Bendtner, who poked the ball home.
Arsenal did face a scare late on, when Kevin Davies found space in the area, but his effort from 8 yards out went straight into the arms of Almunia. A draw, however, would have flattered Bolton.
As for Arsenal, this result was crucial, particularly after Aston Villa's lunchtime win over West Brom. However, Arsenal's inability to consistently take teams apart, as frequently say as Manchester United or Chelsea, is the reason that their grip on a Champions League place is under continued threat from Aston Villa.
Friday, 9 January 2009
DARTS: Back to normality as Taylor makes it fourteen World Titles
In a very one-sided PDC World Darts Final at Alexandra Palace in London on Sunday, Phil Taylor won his fourteenth World Title, further cementing his place as the most succesful man in the sport.
This was one of the most eagerly awaited final in years, especially as the last time Raymond 'Barney' Van Barneveld met Phil 'The Power' Taylor in the final, in 2007, the match went to a sudden death leg at 6-6 in sets and is regarded by some as the greatest darts match ever.
Taylor started well in this match-up, breaking Van Barneveld's throw in the first set and then holding his own to take a 2-0 lead in the First to 7 match. It looked ominous for Barney; Taylor was scoring heavily and taking the doubles with ease.
But after the break, one of many awarded to the players between sets by the numerous advert breaks on Sky Sports, Van Barneveld came out and took the third set comfortably. At 2-2 in legs the fourth, and on Taylor's throw, Barney had the chance to break with two shots at double. He missed and The Power went 3-1 up.
Taylor offered mere scraps to van Barneveld thereafter, as he threw a new three-dart average record for a major final of 110.94, and closed out the match without van Barneveld taking another set.
What a difference a year makes. Taylor was knocked out in this very tournament 12 months ago by Wayne 'Hawaii 501' Mardle in the quarter finals and went on a few weeks later to lose his first Premier League darts match in three years. Since then, The Power won all but one of the televised tournaments in 2008 and must already be very strong favourite to make it 15 World Titles at the Ally Pally next year.
This was one of the most eagerly awaited final in years, especially as the last time Raymond 'Barney' Van Barneveld met Phil 'The Power' Taylor in the final, in 2007, the match went to a sudden death leg at 6-6 in sets and is regarded by some as the greatest darts match ever.
Taylor started well in this match-up, breaking Van Barneveld's throw in the first set and then holding his own to take a 2-0 lead in the First to 7 match. It looked ominous for Barney; Taylor was scoring heavily and taking the doubles with ease.
But after the break, one of many awarded to the players between sets by the numerous advert breaks on Sky Sports, Van Barneveld came out and took the third set comfortably. At 2-2 in legs the fourth, and on Taylor's throw, Barney had the chance to break with two shots at double. He missed and The Power went 3-1 up.
Taylor offered mere scraps to van Barneveld thereafter, as he threw a new three-dart average record for a major final of 110.94, and closed out the match without van Barneveld taking another set.
What a difference a year makes. Taylor was knocked out in this very tournament 12 months ago by Wayne 'Hawaii 501' Mardle in the quarter finals and went on a few weeks later to lose his first Premier League darts match in three years. Since then, The Power won all but one of the televised tournaments in 2008 and must already be very strong favourite to make it 15 World Titles at the Ally Pally next year.
Sunday, 4 January 2009
FOOTBALL: Gillingham 1-2 Aston Villa (04.01.09): Milner brace masks poor Villa performance
Two goals from James Milner, the second a contentious penalty, saved Aston Villa's blushes in an exciting third round FA Cup tie at the Priestfield Stadium.
Gillingham started the game brightly, but a poor clearance from Adam Miller allowed Milner in for a 14th minute opener. Villa's £12 million summer signing from Newcastle played a one-two with Stiliyan Petrov before side-footing coolly past the Gills' Simon Royce.
After the goal, Gillingham had much of the ball and pressed into the Villa half, but created few clear chances. Striker Simeon Jackson should have done better with a header at the back-post from a free-kick.
Nevertheless, it was Villa that should have gone in 2-0 up at half-time. Just before the break, an excellent James Milner cross was volleyed over by Nathan Delfouneso, to the visible disgust of manager Martin O'Neill. The 17 year old Delfouneso, who started due to Gabriel Agbonlahor's illness, was preferred to Marlon Harewood, suggesting that the latter may be surplus to requirements at Villa Park and on his way out in the January transfer window.
The second half began much as the first ended, and Gillingham scored a deserved goal just before the hour mark. Zat Knight, who was lucky to get away with a big mistake in the first half, was turned far too easily by Simeon Jackson who drilled his shot into the top-right corner. It was nothing more than the League Two side deserved.
Knight's mistake was symptomatic of Villa's defensive frailty. Both Curtis Davies and makeshift right-back Nigel Reo-Coker were booked in the first half and Nicky Shorey did nothing to suggest he would regain his place in the first eleven, which he has lost in recent weeks.
With only 13 minutes left on the clock, Ashley Young burst into the area and tumbled over Gillingham defender Adam Miller. Referee Stroud pointed to the spot, despite Young appearing to go down very easily, and James Milner, on his 23rd birthday, slotted home the penalty.
Villa go through to the fouth round to play Cheltenham or Doncaster, but speculation over certain players' futures will only be stoked by this performance.
Gillingham started the game brightly, but a poor clearance from Adam Miller allowed Milner in for a 14th minute opener. Villa's £12 million summer signing from Newcastle played a one-two with Stiliyan Petrov before side-footing coolly past the Gills' Simon Royce.
After the goal, Gillingham had much of the ball and pressed into the Villa half, but created few clear chances. Striker Simeon Jackson should have done better with a header at the back-post from a free-kick.
Nevertheless, it was Villa that should have gone in 2-0 up at half-time. Just before the break, an excellent James Milner cross was volleyed over by Nathan Delfouneso, to the visible disgust of manager Martin O'Neill. The 17 year old Delfouneso, who started due to Gabriel Agbonlahor's illness, was preferred to Marlon Harewood, suggesting that the latter may be surplus to requirements at Villa Park and on his way out in the January transfer window.
The second half began much as the first ended, and Gillingham scored a deserved goal just before the hour mark. Zat Knight, who was lucky to get away with a big mistake in the first half, was turned far too easily by Simeon Jackson who drilled his shot into the top-right corner. It was nothing more than the League Two side deserved.
Knight's mistake was symptomatic of Villa's defensive frailty. Both Curtis Davies and makeshift right-back Nigel Reo-Coker were booked in the first half and Nicky Shorey did nothing to suggest he would regain his place in the first eleven, which he has lost in recent weeks.
With only 13 minutes left on the clock, Ashley Young burst into the area and tumbled over Gillingham defender Adam Miller. Referee Stroud pointed to the spot, despite Young appearing to go down very easily, and James Milner, on his 23rd birthday, slotted home the penalty.
Villa go through to the fouth round to play Cheltenham or Doncaster, but speculation over certain players' futures will only be stoked by this performance.
Saturday, 3 January 2009
DARTS: Taylor safely through while van Barneveld creates history
Raymond van Barneveld made darts history on Friday by becoming the first man to throw a nine-dart finish in a PDC World Championship. The extraordniary feat was part of a 5-1 demolition of fellow Dutchman Jelle Klaasen in the quarter final at the Alexandra Palace, London.
Van Barneveld, who has won the BDO World Title four times, and the PDC version once, came into the match with a couple of shaky performances in the earlier rounds, particularly against Ronnie Baxter in the third round, where the match required a sudden death leg, reminiscent of van Barneveld's famous win over Phil Taylor in the 2007 final.
But van Barnevld was back to his best, throwing a perfect nine-dart leg in the sixth set, which drew little more than a smile from the determined 'Barney,' but sent the crowd into raptures. Like a 147 break in a snooker final, the audience were aware quite how special a moment this was. History had been made.
Earlier on Friday, the other quarter final that night, between James Wade and Paul Nicholson, had no such quality. Wade, world no. 3, struggled against the world no. 126, eventually outclassing his opponent 5-3, but averaging only 81.75 with three darts. It was not much of a support act for what was to come.
In Thursday's quarter finals, 13 times World Champion, Phil 'The Power' Taylor, ended Co Stompe's good run in the tournament. Dutchman Stompe, switched from the BDO to the PDC, the two rival Darts organisations, in July 2007. In his first PDC finals, Stompe caused a couple of upsets, beating both Alan Tabern in the second round, and last year's semi-finalist Wayne 'Hawaii 501' Mardle in the third. But he was thoroughly outclassed here by 'The Power,' 5-0.
Taylor will play Mervyn King, another who switched from the BDO to the PDC in the last couple of years. He was not thoroughly convincing against Welshman Barry Bates, but King, who has already qualified for the lucrative 2009 Premier League of Darts, will be a stern test for Taylor in the second semi final.
Semi finals are to be played on Saturday 3rd January.
Van Barneveld, who has won the BDO World Title four times, and the PDC version once, came into the match with a couple of shaky performances in the earlier rounds, particularly against Ronnie Baxter in the third round, where the match required a sudden death leg, reminiscent of van Barneveld's famous win over Phil Taylor in the 2007 final.
But van Barnevld was back to his best, throwing a perfect nine-dart leg in the sixth set, which drew little more than a smile from the determined 'Barney,' but sent the crowd into raptures. Like a 147 break in a snooker final, the audience were aware quite how special a moment this was. History had been made.
Earlier on Friday, the other quarter final that night, between James Wade and Paul Nicholson, had no such quality. Wade, world no. 3, struggled against the world no. 126, eventually outclassing his opponent 5-3, but averaging only 81.75 with three darts. It was not much of a support act for what was to come.
In Thursday's quarter finals, 13 times World Champion, Phil 'The Power' Taylor, ended Co Stompe's good run in the tournament. Dutchman Stompe, switched from the BDO to the PDC, the two rival Darts organisations, in July 2007. In his first PDC finals, Stompe caused a couple of upsets, beating both Alan Tabern in the second round, and last year's semi-finalist Wayne 'Hawaii 501' Mardle in the third. But he was thoroughly outclassed here by 'The Power,' 5-0.
Taylor will play Mervyn King, another who switched from the BDO to the PDC in the last couple of years. He was not thoroughly convincing against Welshman Barry Bates, but King, who has already qualified for the lucrative 2009 Premier League of Darts, will be a stern test for Taylor in the second semi final.
Semi finals are to be played on Saturday 3rd January.
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