LARA DEDICATES AWARD TO DAD

West Indian cricket legend Brian Lara has been elected ICC’s Hall of Fame cricketer this year. He was awarded in Colombo last Saturday in ICC’s Annual Award Distribution ceremony. Becoming an ICC Hall of Fame cricketer is considered a great achievement, and Lara is also delighted to have achieved it. So he has dedicated this award to his late father Bunty Lara. Brian Lara is a legend not only to the Caribbean but also to the whole world of cricket. He is an inspiration to cricketers. But unfortunately his dad did not live to see his son’s achievement, because he passed away before Lara’s debut in international cricket. Lara attended the ICC gala program at a local hotel in Colombo accompanied by his brother Winston and sister Agones. There, he said that it was a great moment and a great achievement in his life. He further said that at this momentous moment he was missing his father a lot. He said that he had to work very hard to have come this far and lamented that it was painful for him to think that his father did not live to see his performance in international cricket. Lara was an indispensable part of West Indies’ cricket in his heyday. He played 131 test matches in his 17-year international career. He scored a record 11,953 runs in test cricket, at an average of 52.89 runs. He scored 34 centuries and 48 half-centuries in his test career. Lara’s performance was outstanding not only in test cricket but also in one-day cricket. He scored 10,405 runs in 299 one day matches at an average of 40.48. He scored 19 centuries and 63 half-centuries.  He holds 2 world records at present. One is the highest test score in an innings, (against England in 2004 where he was unbeaten for 400 runs). The other one is highest individual score in first class cricket (599 runs). At the ceremony he mentioned his sister and brother’s contribution in enabling him to become a world class cricketer. He said that his sister Agones was his first coach of cricket and that he learned a lot of things from his sister when he was only 6 years old. His brother Winston was a model of batting style to him. Therefore, these two are very special to him. Lara expressed his satisfaction at being able to have spent 17 years in the West Indies squad. He captained the West Indies team for a long period. We wish him well for the future.     

ARGENTINA'S DEPENDENCE ON MESSI

The Argentine soccer team is centering round Lionel Andres Messi, who is the captain of the Argentine national team. He is the lifeblood of the Argentine team. The whole team is dependent on mainly this player, something which is not beneficial to the national team. Soccer is a team game. A team has 11 players. But it appears to me that Argentina plays with only man, Messi. I believe Argentina should reduce this dependence on Messi. Football is not a one man show. It is a team work. Other players of the national team should help Messi in order to make their team victorious. But the team cannot afford to play only one man. To become a formidable opponent, other players have to click. Argentina beat Paraguay 3-1 last Friday in a world cup qualifying match. 25-year old Messi scored a goal in that match. Before that, Messi had scored thrice in a hard fought 4-3 win against Brazil in a friendly match. At first, there was a criticism of Messi that he was playing superb for Barcelona but he was equally unimpressive for the national team. But his recent performances for the national team have been excellent. This is a befitting reply to his critics, no doubt. Still, dependence on one man is not good. I think, this should change for the sake of the team.                         

INIESTA: THE BEST IN EUROPE

Andres Iniesta has been voted the best footballer of the year of Europe. He is a Spanish midfielder. The journalists voted him ahead of Messi & Ronaldo. This is an addition to Iniesta’s achievements as a professional footballer. He was also elected the best player in the recently concluded European Cup in which the Spaniards won. He played a key role in Spain’s triumph. He was elected the best player by newsmen on the sidelines of the European Champions’ League group stage draw. The 28 year old Spaniard earned the highest number of votes exceeding all others. He won 19 votes out of total of 53. Messi & Ronaldo got 17 each. While receiving the award from the President of the UEFA Iniesta said, “I am very happy to have won this award. I am dedicating this award to my teammates of Barcelona & the Spanish national team.”Iniesta made a huge contribution to the successes of Barcelona & Spain in the last 4 years. He scored the decisive goal in extra time in the final of the South Africa world cup in 2010 against Holland.

AUSTRALIA VS BANGLADESH

Bangladesh is going to face the Aussies on Sunday in their ICC U19 Cricket World Cup quarter-final match at Endeavour Park 2 in Townsville, Australia. There is a huge difference between the two sides if their past records are reviewed. Australia won the event in 1988, 2002 and 2010 while Bangladesh's best performance has been in 2006 and 2008 reaching the Super League quarter-finals only. The two sides met once at this level which was in the Plate Championship final 2004 in Dhaka where the tigers were victorious by a margin of eight runs. Australia is the reigning champions of this tournament. Cameron Bancroft, Gurinder Sandhu and Ashton Turner are the main players for Australia while batsman and Captain Anamul Haque is Bangladesh’s main confidence. He is at his peak having scored 172 including an opening day century against Sri Lanka. The Bangladeshi skipper said that his players played some good cricket since they have been in Australia. He further said that the bowlers like the conditions and the batsmen are also looking forward to give it their best shot against the Australians. On the other hand the Kangaroos have won all of their round robin matches and are in fine form. They are not taking Bangladesh lightly but at the same time they do not fear Bangladesh and are very confident of overcoming the Bangladeshis but over-confidence could lead to an upset, the Aussies should not forget.

MARADONA WANTS TO BE CHINA'S COACH

Diego Armando Maradona, the Argentine soccer legend, is now in China on an eight-day charity trip. On the sidelines of his visit, the ex-Argentine coach faced the newsmen. While speaking to them, the 51 year old Maradona expressed his desire to be China’s coach. He was sacked from the post of head coach by UAE club Al-Wasal last month. In 2010, the Argentina national team played in the world cup football tournament under his coaching, but his side were hammered 4-0 by Germany in the quarter finals of that tournament. That defeat led to his dismissal from his post. At a press conference organized in Beijing, he informed of his will and said, “I want to take over as China’s coach. I want to contribute to the development of the local young players. Meanwhile, a number of star players of the world have registered their names in the Chinese Super League. Among them, there are- two ex-Chelsea strikers Nicholas Anelka and Didier Drogba. Both have signed for Shanghai club. Besides, Guwanxu Everegrade club have appointed former Italian world cup winning coach Marcelo Lippi as their coach.  

WHO IS THE BEST FOOTBALLER?-CASILLAS SPEAKS

The captain and goalkeeper of the Spanish national football team Iker Casillas considers Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo to be the two best players in the world at present. Casillas, who himself is widely regarded as the best goalie in the world, cleverly avoided

having to distinguish between the Argentine and the Portuguese though he did acknowledge that if he had to, it would be Ronaldo, only because he "knows him more."In an interview with Mexican television station, Univision, Casillas said: "We are talking about the two best players in the world now and this always leads to a great debate. Some think Messi, others think Ronado is better. I cannot choose any."Yet the Real Madrid star did eventually allude to who he rated more highly."If I had to choose one, it would be Cristiano, because I know him more for we play together at club level," he continued.Casillas went on to say he believed having two great players in the world is better than having one."We are talking about the two best players in the world right now, and I think that if there were only one, it wouldn't be as good for football," concluded the 31-year-old.

OLYMPIC WOMEN'S TENNIS : SERENA CHAMPION

Serena Williams has won the gold medal in the women's tennis final beating Maria Sharapova, the Russian blonde, by straight sets 6-0,6-1. It was a hammering for Maria. It took Serena just 63 minutes to overcome the Russian glamor-girl. Sharapova could not put up any resistance, she played like a novice. She managed to win only one game in the whole match.Serena's win has added another gold to America's medal tally. They are having a tight fight with China for the top place in medals. So now Serena is the Olympic women's tennis queen. People are now keenly waiting to watch the men's singles final to be played by Roger Federer, the current world number one, top seed and the winner of the highest number of grand slams in history(17) and Andy Murray, the local boy. Federer is undoubtedly the favorite and his defeat would be an upset. The home fans will definitely be supporting the local boy Murray but I think Federer, who has recently won the Wimbledon, will win the gold. In spite of having won 17 grand slams, Federer is yet to win the Olympic title. and most probably this is and would be his best as well as the last chance to achieve it. So, lets see who wins.