The Sports Matrix: Wednesday 8 June 2011
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Your support makes all the difference.Hiddink choice due to 2009 spell
The memory of Guus Hiddink’s three-month spell in charge of Chelsea in the spring of 2009 underpins the club’s decision to court him again. He revived the club after Luiz Felipe Scolari’s tenure, winning the FA Cup and taking 34 points from 39. MORE
Ukraine: hosting of Euro 2012 on track
Exactly a year before Euro 2012, hosts Poland and Ukraine are confident despite concerns over the unfinished state of stadiums. “A few years ago, nobody trusted Ukraine but the situation is changing,” said Metalist Kharkiv’s Alexander Yaroslavsky. MORE
Crouch: I won’t quit England matches
Peter Crouch has told i of his pain in not making the bench for Saturday’s England game against Switzerland. “I am obviously disappointed with what went on,” he said. “I’ll think about it all over the summer. But I would never retire from England.” MORE
Jol ‘very happy’ to take Fulham reins
Martin Jol said he was “very happy” to be back in the Premier League after his appointment as Fulham manager yesterday. Jol signed a two-year deal at Craven Cottage worth around £2m a year and will be given £15m for signings. Jol coached Spurs until 2007, and said he had been waiting to return to England. MORE
England run out of time but KP is back
Sri Lanka kept the Test series alive yesterday after batting to a draw in the second Test at Lord’s. England declared on 335 for 7, with Alastair Cook top-scoring with 106 and Kevin Pietersen returning to form with 72. Sri Lanka were set an unreachable target of 343 – they reached 127 for 3. The final Test starts next Thursday. MORE
Britain’s Ward defeats No 4 seed
James Ward recorded the finest victory of his career yesterday by beating Stanislas Wawrinka, the Swiss world No 14, 7-6, 6-3 in the second round at Queen’s. Ward, the world No 216, has a wild card for Wimbledon. MORE
Leather on willow? More bat on glass as tempers fray at Lord’s
The Lord’s pavilion is a hallowed sanctuary where members of the Marylebone Cricket Club can while away a Test match day with little to worry about – except whether they have their “bacon and egg” ties on. The peace is only shattered by the odd six hit down the ground. You can imagine their horror, then, when shards of glass showered down upon them yesterday after the England wicketkeeper Matt Prior was run out by Ian Bell in the Test against Sri Lanka. One female member was cut by the glass. Prior claimed that he had gone into the Pavilion and leant his bat against the window, and that a chain of events led to it slipping and fracturing the glass. The wicketkeeper, accompanied by captain Andrew Strauss, scurried down from the dressing room to apologise, but there was an angry remonstration with the England man. The only previous occasion on which the sanctity of Lord’s has been disturbed was in 2004, when one member threatened another with a knife after accusing him of using a mobile phone (forbidden!) during a Test match. MORE
Why Britain still rules the waves
Team GB’s sailors boast a string of gold medals but no superstar attitude. “We are chairman, manager and players – and groundsman, says Iain Percy.” MORE
Andrews helps Irish stun Italy
The Republic of Ireland beat Italy 2-0 last night in a friendly in Liège. Keith Andrews scored in the first half, shooting into the corner from distance after a free-kick was taken short. With Italy seeking a late equaliser, Simon Cox scored the second at the far post. MORE
Clamour grows for Bahrain U-turn
The decision to reinstate this season’s Bahrain Grand Prix is increasingly likely to be reversed. Former FIA president Max Mosley has criticised the report into Bahrain and F1 teams have written to the FIA stating they do not want to race. MORE
Leinster face Bath in Heineken Cup
The Heineken Cup pool stage draw yesterday threw up headline contests including Munster against defeated finalists Northampton and the holders Leinster versus Bath. Leicester face difficult trips to Clermont Auvergne and Ulster. Premiership winners Saracens will face Biarritz and Ospreys. MORE
Weather holding up Dream Ahead
Trainer David Simcock knows he has to be patient waiting for ground with enough yield for Dream Ahead to race, having not competed since October. “When we do it,” said Simock, “it will be under our conditions. We’ve been patient this far.”
Cook on track to set host of records
Alastair Cook scored his 18th Test hundred yesterday, aged 26 years and 164 days, and is on track to break batting records left, right and centre. With 5,465 runs, he is ahead of even Sachin Tendulkar at the same age. With six hundreds in 12 innings, he needs five more to pass the English record of 22, jointly held by Hammond, Cowdrey and Boycott. MORE
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