Thunder 'wet behind the ears'

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.

WHAT to do with the Sydney Thunder?

The Thunder remain the one dull spot in the shining light of the Big Bash, pushing its losing streak out to an embarrassing 19 with a 73-run loss to Hobart.

The team in lime green where restricted to 94 by the Hurricanes in Hobart, its lowest ever score and two runs less than Hobart Hurricanes batsman Ben Dunk scored by himself.

Even the Thunder's AFL neighbour the Greater Western Sydney Giants won one game last year, and that was with a bunch of pimply kids who only reached puberty a couple of pre-seasons ago.

Some of its performance against the Hurricanes was farcical _ a vital sitter grassed off man of the match Ben Dunk when he was on 68, some shoddy bowling on a tough wicket and a comical run out that saw two batsman mid-pitch looking confusingly at each other on way to its sixth loss straight loss this Big Bash.

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.

The Thunder won its opening two games of the new Big Bash back in 2011 _ and has not won a game since.

Fast bowler Dirk Nannes, who has played for Australia as well as a host of other T20 franchises, said morale remains high but you can't beat experience.

"A form thing means you've got ups and downs, well these guys are still wet behind the ears,'' Nannes said.

"You can't call it form because they haven't played much cricket.

"There is not much first-class cricket amongst them apart from Huss (captain Mike Hussey), maybe Ussie (Usman Khawaja), there is not a lot of people who have played a lot of games of cricket.''

Hussey, a legend of recent Australian cricket, was brought into help fix the situation.

While he has done his part of the bargain, being the second leading run-scorer before yesterday's game, even the weight of lifting the Thunder appears too much for the captain, charging Ben Hilfenhaus to be caught for two in the third over.

"Once he's out, there is not a lot behind him,'' Nannes said.

"He puts a lot of pressure on himself in that regard but what do you do?

"You can only deal with the squad list we've got and the guys who you are in the team with have to pull their weight and unfortunately not all of us are pulling our weight.''

16.42 | 0 komentar | Read More

Isner serve too much for Lu

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.

A MASTERCLASS in serving and tiebreakers from John Isner proved too much for Yen-Hsun Lu on Saturday as he won his second Heineken Open title in Auckland.

The 28-year-old third-seeded American served 23 aces and conceded just one break point in two sets, but he needed tiebreakers before he beat a brave Lu 7-6 (7-4) 7-6 (9-7).

John Isner celebrates after defeating Yen-Hsun Lu. Source: AP

The first set was even, with Isner serving strongly and Lu more than holding his own with his groundstrokes.

But once it came to the inevitable decider, Lu lost his first point on his serve and that was all Isner, the man with the second-best tiebreaker winning percentage in ATP tour history, needed to take the set.

Isner, ranked 14 in the world, dominated the first half of the second set, regularly winning service games to love and twice having the 62nd-ranked Lu at 0-40. But he failed to break both times, and the set again went to a decider.

Lu gave himself a chance by winning the first point in the second-set tiebreaker, but Isner pulled a point back and a Lu double-fault gave the American a match point on his serve.

Lu saved Isner's first match point with a backhand return winner from a second serve, and he saved a second on his serve, but a forehand volley into the net gave Isner a third chance and another unreturnable serve secured the match.

The victory reinforced Auckland as Isner's favourite tournament away from home: of his eight career titles, his only two away from the United States have been in Auckland.

Earlier, second seeds Julian Knowle of Austria and Marcelo Melo of Brazil upset the world's second best pair, Alexander Peya of Austria and Bruno Soares of Brazil, to win the doubles in a super tiebreak 4-6 6-3 10-5.

16.42 | 0 komentar | Read More

Stoppage-time winner stuns Roar

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.

JORDAN Elsey upstaged Brisbane's star striker Besart Berisha to snatch a dramatic 2-1 A-League win for Adelaide over the Roar on Saturday.

The youngster, making just his third appearance off the bench for the Reds, headed home an injury-time goal to stun the Suncorp Stadium crowd and give Adelaide their first win on the road this season.

Berisha, who himself came off the bench in the second half to return from a hip injury, appeared to have salvaged a point for the league leaders with his 80th minute strike.

Follow all the action through the 90 minutes with our A-League Match Centre, featuring live updates, stats and video highlights.

Besart Berisha reminded Mike Mulvey how much he hates the bench. Source: Getty Images

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.

The Albanian levelled with a smart first-time finish just over 20 minutes after coming on for his sixth goal in eight appearances this season.

It looked like his strike might get the Roar out of jail after they trailed 1-0 for most of the match following Jeronimo Neumann's first-half opener.

The Brazilian earned a penalty after pouncing on an error by veteran fullback Shane Stefanutto, tumbling over in the box after he was clipped by Roar goalkeeper Michael Theo, who was lucky to stay on the field when referee Alan Milliner showed him only a yellow card.

Thomas Broich couldn't quite create the same magic as the last fortnight. Source: Getty Images

Theo picked himself up to save Jeronimo's spot-kick but as the ball squirmed from his grasp the Adelaide forward slid in to score his first A-League goal away from home.

Brisbane, playing without Ivan Franjic after the Socceroo succumbed to a stomach strain before the match, nearly equalised straightaway but German midfielder Thomas Broich stabbed his shot wide with the net gaping.

Things went from bad to worse for the home side just before halftime when fullback Diogo Ferreira was sent off for a second bookable offence after a late challenge on former Roar star Michael Zullo.

But Berisha's equaliser turned the game, with the Roar pouring forward for a winner only to be caught out by Elsey's 91st minute winner.

"I'm loving it,'' the 19-year-old told Fox Sports.

``I'm happy to get three points.''

So much to celebrate for Adelaide and its travelling fans. Source: Getty Images

16.42 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tomic digs deep to make Sydney final

Bernard Tomic celebrates beating Sergiy Stakhovsky at the Sydney International. Picture: Rick Rycroft. Source: Rick Rycroft / AP

HIS Australian Open hopes may have suffered a hammer blow, but Bernard Tomic can still win back-to-back Sydney International titles after clawing his way into Saturday's final.

Tomic will take on top seed Juan Martin del Potro in the title match after fighting his way past giant-killing qualifier Sergiy Stakhovsky 6-7 (4-7) 7-5 6-3 in Friday's second semi-final.

Earlier, del Potro thumped Russian fourth seed Dmitry Tursunov 6-4 6-2 in his semi-final to continue his impressive unbeaten start to the summer.

Tomic mustn't have received the news he'd drawn world No.1 Rafael Nadal in the first round of the Australian Open until just before four o'clock on Friday.

Bernard Tomic celebrates his hard-fought victory over Sergiy Stakhovsky at the Sydney International. Picture: Brendon Thorne. Source: Getty Images

It was precisely then that the Australian wildcard was cruising at 3-0 and 40-love in the first set.

Then he suddenly lost his focus, allowing Stakhovsky to hold serve and break back in the seventh game to force the tiebreaker, which the Ukraine clinched with a delicate backhand drop volley.

His confidence up and producing the type of sublime attacking tennis he delivered to stun Roger Federer at Wimbledon last year, Stakhovsky controlled the second set and stood within two games of the final.

But Tomic dug deep to break the world No.101 in the 11th game and snatch the set on his fourth set point to send the match into a decider.

Looking fatigued, Tomic called for the trainer before the start of the third set but fired up again to claim the decisive break in the seventh game with a lunging forehand cross-court pass.

He broke the Ukrainian again in the ninth game to seal victory after two hours and 13 minutes.

He will be bidding to become the first Australian to successfully defending his crown in Sydney since Lleyton Hewitt in 2005.

Juan Martin Del Potro will tackle Bernard Tomic in the final. Picture: Mark Nolan. Source: Getty Images

Hewitt also claimed back-to-back titles in 2000-01.

Tursunov won the Sydney title in 2008, but Del Potro broke him three times to power past the world No.32 in just 64 minutes.

The former US Open champion sent down nine aces in nine service games en route to the 25th final of his career.

Del Potro launches his Australian Open campaign against a qualifier next week and, regardless of Saturday's result, will head to Melbourne Park with plenty of confidence.

16.42 | 0 komentar | Read More

England to rest Broad for two ODIs

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.

ENGLAND will follow Australia's lead and rest a key paceman for the start of the one-day series.

A day after Australian coach Darren Lehmann confirmed Mitchell Johnson would be rested from the opening match at the MCG, PA has revealed that Stuart Broad will skip the first two matches of the series in Melbourne and Brisbane.

That rest, which includes a tour game in Canberra in-between, will allow Broad time to recover from the gruelling Test series.

The 27-year-old was England's most dependable bowler, with a team-high 21 wickets at 27.52 making him the side's leading wicket-taker.

His absence means the turnover between the Test and one-day teams will be even more pronounced, with several newcomers joining the squad for their first team training session at the MCG on Friday.

Without the burden of the Ashes defeat around their neck, those players are choosing to focus not on last week's whitewash but instead 400 days ahead to the 2015 World Cup.

With Australia and New Zealand hosting the World Cup from next February, damaging middle-order batsman Eoin Morgan suggested it was perfect preparation for an England side looking for their first crown.

"If you look at the last one-day series, the opportunities that came about, it was the rise of Ben Stokes and Boyd Rankin and Chris Jordan," he said.

"They've grabbed opportunities with both hands with the bat and ball, which is great to see really in preparation building for a World Cup in 2015."

Morgan needed no reminding that the 2015 opener was 400 days away at the MCG.

"The stuff that we build, the platform we build while we're here is really important," he said.

"It's important that we learn from any mistakes and we build confidence down this side of the world."

Morgan has been in Australia playing for Big Bash League franchise Sydney Thunder who, like his Test teammates, are winless from five.

Those defeats - or linking up with a squad reportedly riddled with division - haven't dampened his positivity ahead of the five-game ODI series.

"The guys are good; we've had six, seven fresh faces come into the side and brought a lot of energy, including myself," he said.

"The guys are champing at the bit to get involved ... young guys coming through who are keen to score runs and take wickets.

"The (division) suggestions are it was all the Test (squad) but I've nothing to add."

Australia claimed the last ODI series against England 2-1 in England last year.

16.42 | 0 komentar | Read More

BBL LIVE: Sixers v Scorchers

Steve Smith returns for the Sydney Sixers. Picture: Mark Evans Source: Mark Evans / News Limited

KEEP up to date with all the action as the Sydney Sixers take on the Perth Scorchers in the Big Bash League at the SCG.

It's a crunch clash between a pair of in-form teams ranked second and third on the BBL ladder.

The Sixers are boosted by the inclusion of Australian Test stars Steve Smith and Nathan Lyon, fresh from the 5-0 Ashes series defeat of England.

Will the return of the key pair help the Sixers smash their way to victory, or can the Scorchers snare a crucial win on the road?

Follow all the action from the SCG with our live blog below.

CLICK HERE FOR A BETTER EXPERIENCE IF USING AN APPLE MOBILE DEVICE

16.42 | 0 komentar | Read More

Two MM horses fetch $450,00

Craig Rounsefell from Boomer Bloodstock with the colt worth $450,000. Source: Glenn Hampson / News Limited

FORMER top Queensland filly Ringa Ringa Rosie was responsible for the equal top seller at today's Magic Millions opener, where Queensland buyers were active at the top end of a hot market.

The Queensland charge was led by Craig Rounsefell's Gold Coast-based Boomer Bloodstock, which gave $450,000 for a More Than Ready colt from Group 1 placed Ringa Ringa Rosie.

The $450,000 price tag was matched by Lot 186, a Fastnet Rock filly which will go to Chris Waller's stable.

Rounsefell said the More Than Ready colt would be trained in Sydney and a trainer was yet to be chosen. The new partnership of Peter and Paul Snowden, which secured four yearlings yesterday, are believed to be the front-runners.

Danny Bougoure's recent acquisition of fillies from Group 1 winning mares for Steve and Louise Gillard continued when he bid $250,000 for a Casino Prince filly from the Thousand Guineas winner Serious Speed.

Eagle Farm trainer Kelly Schweida opened the shoulders on Day 1, paying $200,000 and $170,000 for fillies by Encosta De Lago and Commands, respectively.

Prominent Gold Coast owners David and Luke Henderson bid $180,000 for a Northern Meteor filly from the aptly-named Sherrin, with former AFL star Campbell Brown set to be among the ownership team.

Numerous top trainers - local and interstate - spoke of how strong competition was on their selections, with many lots dwarfing their reserves.

Magic Millions Managing Director Vin Cox said "not in my wildest dreams" did he think the market would be this strong, with sales surging towards the $20 million mark on Wednesday night.

"They are a beautiful set of numbers," Cox said, in reference to the average rising from $128,685 to $141,606 and a $25,000 rise in the median price.

"There seems to be a good, strong appetite for horses and the notable trend on Day 1 was the strength of the syndicators," Cox said.

Obviously they are happy with where things are at."

An example came late in the day when a filly by emerging young sire I Am Invincible sold for $440,000 off a service fee of $11,000.

Cox said he was hoping figures would match 2013, so he was overwhelmed by the opening day, especially when the general consensus has been that the sale will get stronger later in the week.

"It seems everyone wants a piece of Magic Millions," he said.

"We had unprecedented traffic online, we are nearly out of catalogues and tonight we had to ring 14 restaurants to get one of our top buyers a table."

16.42 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tomic forced to fight for win

Bernard Tomic on his way to victory over Blaz Kavcic. (Photo by Joosep Martinson/Getty Images) Source: Joosep Martinson / Getty Images

BERNARD Tomic has kept his Sydney International title defence on track, advancing to the quarter-finals with a hard-fought victory over Slovenian qualifier Blaz Kavcic.

Having enjoyed a quickfire win over eighth-seeded Spaniard Marcel Granollers in his opening encounter, Tomic had a bigger fight on his hands on Wednesday with Kavcic pushing him to three sets before the Australian prevailed 6-3 4-6 6-4.

Tomic's father John, who was banned from gaining accreditation to ATP events for 12 months, was again spotted in the stands with tournament organisers allowing him to attend as a spectator.

Tomic came bursting out of the blocks to race to a 4-1 lead before wrapping up the first set.

But the Australian seemed to lose his momentum after a brief rain delay was called in the second set.

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.

And up 5-4 when they returned Kavcic took advantage, breaking Tomic's serve right away to level at a set each.

Ahead 5-4 in the final set, Tomic closed out the match on his second match-point with an overhead smash.

The world No.52 Australian will now take on either Ukrainian Alexandr Dolgopolov or second-seeded Pole Jerzy Janowicz for a spot in the semi-finals.

16.42 | 0 komentar | Read More

Ducks win yet again in NHL

Two-time scorer Mathieu Perreault is pursued by Torey Krug in the third period. Source: JEFF GROSS / AFP

MATHIEU Perreault scored two goals and Jonas Hiller made 30 saves in his 12th consecutive victory as the Anaheim Ducks beat the Boston Bruins 5-2 Tuesday for their 14th win in 15 games.

In other games across the NHL, the Pittsburgh Penguins rallied past the slumping Vancouver Canucks 5-4 in a shootout, the St. Louis Blues beat the Edmonton Oilers 5-2 for their season-high sixth straight win and the Minnesota Wild defeated the Los Angeles Kings 2-1, also in a shootout.

Perreault, Corey Perry and Nick Bonino scored power-play goals for the NHL-leading Ducks, who improved to 18-0-2 at home.

Andrew Cogliano scored during the Ducks' three-goal second period and Teemu Selanne added two assists in Anaheim's eighth straight win at home, matching its 8-0 streak to open the season.

Pittsburgh's Sidney Crosby tied the score with 55 seconds left in regulation and added the only goal in the shootout to lead the Penguins.

Crosby and Kris Letang scored 16 seconds apart late in the third period to tie it for Pittsburgh after the Canucks had grabbed a 4-2 lead.

Evgeni Malkin and Brian Gibbons also scored for the Penguins, and Marc-Andre Fleury made 22 saves for the win.

St. Louis got goals from Vladimir Tarasenko, Chris Stewart, Maxim Lapierre, David Backes and Patrick Berglund as it improved to 11-1-2 in its last 14 games. The Blues are now two points behind Central Division-leading Chicago.

Blues forward T.J. Oshie had to be helped off the ice late in the third period after a knee-on-knee collision with Edmonton's Taylor Hall.

In Los Angeles, Nino Niederreiter scored the tying goal early in the third period and netted the only goal in a four-round shootout to lead Minnesota past the Kings.

The Wild, playing their first game since leading scorer Mikko Koivu broke his ankle Saturday at Washington, have won three straight for the first time since Nov. 1-5. Koivu underwent surgery Monday and is expected to miss at least four weeks.

Darcy Kuemper made 39 saves during the first period in his third appearance this season and fifth NHL start.

Elsewhere, Philadelphia's Brayden Schenn scored at 1:50 of overtime as the Flyers beat the New Jersey Devils 3-2 after giving up a late short-handed goal that forced the extra session.

Claude Giroux and Scott Hartnell also scored for Philadelphia, which ended a six-game road trip with a 5-1 record.

Nashville's Mattias Ekholm scored his first NHL goal to lift the Predators past the San Jose Sharks 3-2 for their first victory in four games.

The New York Islanders kicked off a six-game road trip with their second win in as many nights, topping the Toronto Maple Leafs 5-3.

The Tampa Bay Lightning got the tiebreaking goal from Martin St. Louis in the third period to beat the slumping Winnipeg Jets 4-2. The Lightning won for the sixth time in seven road games.

Phoenix's Thomas Greiss stopped 27 shots and Lauri Korpikoski had a goal and two assists as the Coyotes rolled to a 6-0 win over the Calgary Flames.

16.42 | 0 komentar | Read More

Tomic does it easy in Sydney

Bernard Tomic celebrates the win against Marcel Granollers in straight sets at the Apia International Tennis Tournament , Homebush .Picture Gregg Porteous Source: Gregg Porteous / News Limited

BERNARD Tomic has enjoyed a breezy start to the Sydney International, taking just 59 minutes to cruise into the second round.

He may have been outranked by world No. 36 Spaniard Marcel Granollers, but he certainly wasn't outplayed, the defending champion easing to a 6-3 6-0 win.

World No. 52 Tomic lost the opening game but from there just another two of the next 14 to set up a second round meeting with qualifier Blaz Kavcic, a straight-sets winner on Tuesday over 2012 champion Jarkko Nieminen.

It was a solid afternoon for Australia as Marinko Matosevic also took full advantage of his wildcard into the tournament, moving into the second round with a three-set win over Florian Mayer.

The world No. 56 Matosevic belied his ranking with a 6-2 4-6 6-3 win over the German No. 38.

Matosevic enjoyed two breaks of serve in the first set before Mayer bounced back to level the match in second.

Marinko Matosevic on his way to victory over Florian Meyer. Picture: Gregg Porteous Source: News Limited

With the decider locked at three games apiece Matosevic reeled off ten straight points to all but seal the match.

Compatriot Sam Groth couldn't take advantage of his wildcard though, the journeyman eliminated by veteran Radek Stepanek.

Groth, fresh from a quarter-final appearance at the Brisbane International, had his chances against the Czech Davis Cup hero before succumbing 6-7 (8-6) 7-6 (7-5) 6-2.

The towering Victorian, ranked at a career-high No. 157, had chances to go up a crucial break in the second set and also led 4-2 in the ensuing tie-breaker before letting his advantage slip.

Stepanek, who won the decisive singles rubber to secure the Czechs a Davis Cup win against Serbia last year, kicked things up a notch in the final set to close out the match.

In other men's action Nicolas Mahut beat Ryan Harrison 7-6 (7-2) 7-5, Marin Cilic edged qualifier Jan-Lennard Struff 3-6 6-3 6-3 and Sergiy Stakhovsky downed Carlos Berlocq 6-3 6-4 while Albert Ramos also moved through to the second round.

16.42 | 0 komentar | Read More

Knights duty of care toward Packer

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.

KNIGHTS coach Wayne Bennett says the NRL club has a duty of care towards Russell Packer and his family after the new recruit was sentenced to two years in jail for assault on Monday.

The former Warriors prop moved to Newcastle ahead of the 2014 season after signing a three-year deal with the Knights but his future is now very much up in the air.

In a statement released yesterday, Bennett stressed Newcastle did not condone Packer's behaviour but that the club had an obligation to look after the 24-year-old and his family.

Hello, you either have JavaScript turned off or an old version of Adobe's Flash Player.

``Russell arrived in Newcastle prior to the official start of pre-season, didn't attend a formal training session or a function and hasn't played a game for our club,'' Bennett said.

``Russell acted independent of the club, our players, our staff, on the night of the incident.

``Russell has acted inappropriately, no one is arguing that fact, however we as a club still believe we have a duty of care to Russell and his family.

``Once the legal process is concluded, we will make a decision and discuss that with Russell before making it public.''

Packer's legal team have launched an appeal against his sentence after he pleaded guilty to assault occasioning actual bodily harm and failing to leave a venue.

The appeal will be heard on February 11.

16.42 | 0 komentar | Read More

Live BBL: Scorchers v Hurricanes

Simon Katich celebrates a half century in the Scorchers' last match. Pic: Paul Kane Source: Paul Kane / Getty Images

SIMON Katich will look to continue his hot runscoring form early in tonight's Big Bash clash in Perth, with the Scorchers opting to bat against Hobart.

CLICK HERE FOR A BETTER EXPERIENCE IF USING AN APPLE MOBILE DEVICE

Nathan Coulter-Nile returns for the home side, with Alfonso Thomas set to miss due to a back injury.

The Hurricanes will be desperate to add to their tally of just one victory from the BBL campaign so far in 2013-14.

Teams:

Scorchers: Katich (c), S Marsh, Simmons, Voges, M Marsh, Whiteman, Turner, Coulter-Nile, Arafat, Hogg, Behrendorff.

Hurricanes: Dunk, Malik, Birt, Wells, Shah, Blizzard, Paine (c), Laughlin, Hilfenhaus, Doherty, Bollinger.

Follow all the action below with our live blog, featuring social media updates and commentary on all the big moments!

16.42 | 0 komentar | Read More