England women beat New Zealand to seal 3-0 series whitewash

Sarah Taylor scored an unbeaten hundred as England beat New Zealand by six wickets to seal a 3-0 series whitewash.

The wicketkeeper struck 109 off 113 balls in a stand of 201 with Lydia Greenway (84) as England passed their target of 221 with 44 balls to spare.

Earlier, Laura Marsh and Danni Wyatt took three wickets apiece as England bowled their hosts out for 220.

Arran Brindle claimed two wickets as the Kiwis collapsed from 202-5, with Amy Satterthwaite top-scoring with 58.

The tourists lost openers Tamsin Beaumont and captain Charlotte Edwards within the first six overs, both adjudged lbw to Rachel Candy
But Taylor and Lydia Greenway rebuilt the innings with the fifth-highest stand by an England pair in one-day internationals.

England also won the Twenty20 series 4-0, with the only match they did not win - a T20 in Invercargill - having been called off without a ball being bowled.

"It was a fantastic team performance today," said Taylor. "The bowlers bowled well to restrict New Zealand and I was delighted to contribute and get a big score.

"Lydia batted really well. It was great to share a partnership with her on such a fantastic wicket.

"Once we got in we just looked accumulate and build the runs. We knew that if we just batted the runs would come.

"The whole team have performed throughout the tour and to go unbeaten in both series is a fantastic achievement."

Runako Morton, former West Indies batsman, dies in car crash

Former West Indies batsman Runako Morton has died in a car accident.

Reports in the Caribbean said the 33-year-old crashed into a utility pole while driving alone in central Trinidad following a club match.

Morton played in 15 Tests and 56 one-day internationals, with his last West Indies appearance coming against Australia in a Twenty20 match in 2010.

Former West Indies captain Chris Gayle tweeted: "We lost a true warrior WI cricketer. May his soul rest in peace!"

The West Indies Cricket Board said: "Our deepest condolences to Runako Morton's family. Such devastating and tragic news."

England batsman Kevin Pietersen also paid tribute on Twitter: "My thoughts go out to Runako Morton's family this morning... Such sad news! What a lovely guy & fierce competitor! RIP bossman!"

Morton averaged 22.03 in Test matches with a top score of 70, but he had more success on the limited overs stage. He averaged 33.75, with the highlight an unbeaten 110 against New Zealand in 2006.

In an international career that lasted eight years, he also endured a chequered disciplinary record with the West Indies.

In 2002, he was banned from playing in any game that came under WICB jurisdiction for 12 months after he was found guilty of misbehaviour during an 'A' team tour to Ireland and lying about the death of a grandmother to gain an early release from the ICC Trophy squad in Sri Lanka.

Morton was one of the few West Indies cricketers to emerge from the small island of Nevis. His first-class career began with the Leeward Islands and he was latterly registered with Trinidad and Tobago.

Time waits for no man at Stamford Bridge

Roman Abramovich gathered his trusted advisors around him at Chelsea's Cobham training complex on Sunday to put the final touches to another brief managerial reign by sacking Andre Villas-Boas.

Director Eugene Tenenbaum and chief executive Ron Gourlay were in attendance while chairman Bruce Buck will have been kept in the loop as the end came for the 34-year-old Portuguese who has only been at Chelsea for nine months.

Abramovich answers to no-one at Stamford Bridge - certainly not the growing number of managers he has hired and fired during his time as Chelsea owner. If he has been taking advice, however, the growing body of evidence suggests some of it has been bad.

And yet it might be the greatest service the secretive, silent Abramovich's inner circle could do Chelsea if they plucked up the courage to point out the mistakes the Russian has made, the list of errors that mean he is now further away from his dream of winning the Champions League than at any point in his time in the club.


Abramovich made a mistake in allowing "The Special One" Jose Mourinho to slip from his and Chelsea's grasp in 2007. The pair's relationship had fractured but common sense decreed that his departure was never going to be good news for anyone at Stamford Bridge.

He made a mistake in sacking the experienced and worldly Carlo Ancelotti for having the audacity to fail to win a trophy in the 12 months following his historic feat of winning the Premier League and FA Cup double.




Andre Villas-Boas signed a three-year deal at Chelsea after leaving Porto on 20 June, 2011. Photo: Getty

And now, having personally overseen the appointment of Villas-Boas, Abramovich has effectively admitted to another error by sacking him in such short order, with Saturday's loss at West Bromwich Albion the final straw in a sequence of only three wins in 12 league games.

Abramovich's wealth and lavish investment in Chelsea's squad has always acted as an effective shield against criticism, but discontent with performances this season suggests a tipping point is being reached.

What Abramovich did get right was, after sacking Villas-Boas, turning his fire on Chelsea's players who have done little to assist their young former manager in his time of struggle - indeed at times seeming almost willing to add to his troubles.

Chelsea has leaked like a sieve with stories designed to paint an unflattering picture of Villas-Boas' man-management and technical skills, undermining his attempts to move an ageing and under-achieving squad on to the next stage of its development.

Time will tell if Abramovich's harsh words have any effect on the powerful characters inside the Chelsea dressing room as the real fear emerges that they may not even qualify for next season's Champions League.

Abramovich came within a John Terry slip of clasping his Holy Grail, the Champions League, against Manchester United in Moscow in 2008. He must know the opportunity may disappear forever if he gets his next big decision wrong, or is allowed to get it wrong by those around him at Stamford Bridge.

No-one other than those chosen few lieutenants can second guess Abramovich with any degree of accuracy, but if he does not make the right choices in the months ahead Manchester City will stretch further away, Manchester United will be the ever-present domestic benchmark and Barcelona and Real Madrid may not even believe Chelsea are worthy of consideration as serious European rivals.

Mourinho and Ancelotti gave Abramovich domestic supremacy while Avram Grant took the former's team and guided them to the Champions League final, although his record since suggests this was one occasion when player power was a force for good.

Abramovich handpicked Villas-Boas from Porto after he won the title and the Europa League, but it was always going to be a tough task for a rookie manager to make long-term plans at a club with such short-term vision.

If Chelsea's squad was to be overhauled and the elder statesmen edged towards the exit, this was surely a task better suited to someone with Ancelotti's background allied to his diplomatic and political know-how rather than a man in his managerial infancy, albeit one who had made impressive beginnings?

He leaves having got virtually nowhere with his task of reducing the average age of Chelsea's squad and providing a more attractive style of play. Abramovich is back to the drawing board and even he must know his next selection must be made with utmost care then left to lay the foundations for Chelsea's future, irrespective of complaints from within the dressing room and without breaking into a cold sweat at the first sign of a bad run.

So where does Abramovich go from here? The usual suspects are being assembled and lined up.

The name of Mourinho will surely be at the forefront of Abramovich's thoughts. The rub here will be that, after their split, the current Real Madrid coach would almost certainly demand total control over all football affairs, something the Russian may be reluctant to accept.

If he can force himself to take such a step, Abramovich will be swamped with goodwill and gratitude from Chelsea's supporters who have not forgotten Mourinho's brilliance and also by many of the players he has left behind.

The dilemma for Mourinho is that time has moved on at Chelsea in his absence and many of those he trusted and who trusted him, such as John Terry, Frank Lampard, Ashley Cole, Petr Cech and Didier Drogba, are closer to the end of their careers than the beginning.

Another name exercising Abramovich's mind will be Barcelona's Pep Guardiola, currently considering whether to agree an extension to his contract at the Nou Camp.

Is it a serious possibility, however, that he would leave the dreamland he has created in Catalonia with players such as Messi, Xavi and Iniesta - and the club that has stamped its philosophy through his veins - for the dysfunctional beast that is Chelsea?

It appears former Liverpool manager Rafael Benitez has been cast aside as a short-term option, although a run of poor results for caretaker Roberto Di Matteo may prompt yet further action.

So will Abramovich be tempted to make the 'revolutionary' move of exploring domestic managerial territory?

Former Chelsea winger Pat Nevin made his views clear when he said: "I would grab Everton's David Moyes in two minutes, get him in there and tell him to start the dynasty."
Is Moyes really global or glamorous enough for Abramovich, who wants Chelsea to play a part on the world stage?

Even his choice of Di Matteo as a temporary solution until the end of the season tilts against logic. The Italian was part of the Villas-Boas regime Abramovich deemed unworthy and yet he has effectively been charged with either moving Chelsea into the latter stages of the Champions League or, at the very least, qualifying for next season's competition.

The only other theory is that Abramovich has a narrow list of targets and wants Di Matteo to simply hold the fort until the summer. If this is the case it almost smacks of Chelsea's owner admitting defeat, with the accompanying danger that the likes of Mourinho or Guardiola are unlikely to be tempted to a club nestling in the Europa League.

So another day brings another change in Chelsea manager - but it may also take a change in Stamford Bridge's enigmatic owner if the next move is to be a success.

London 2012: Rhythmic gymnasts win appeal to compete at Olympics

Great Britain's rhythmic gymnasts have won an appeal against their governing body and are set to compete at this summer's London Olympics.

An independent arbitrator published the verdict on Monday after a hearing took place in London last Wednesday.

In January, the team missed a target score set by British Gymnastics to prove they could compete at the Games.

But the arbitrator was "not persuaded" British Gymnastics' criteria had been made clear to the team of teenagers.

British Gymnastics said in a statement it "will now nominate a rhythmic group to the British Olympic Association (BOA)". The BOA has in turn confirmed a British rhythmic gymnastics team will go to the Games.

There had always been a place available to Britain in the rhythmic gymnastics team event at London 2012, but British Gymnastics took the decision to impose a second, artificial standard for its team to hit.

Other sports have done the same in the run-up to the Olympics, in common with the BOA's policy of ensuring athletes are only sent to the Games if they prove themselves competitive at an international level.

The gymnasts' fate rested on their performance at January's Olympic test event inside London's O2 Arena.

However, while reporters at the event had been briefed that GB's performance during day two's qualification stage was their do-or-die moment, the team - who proceeded to miss their target of 45.223 by just 0.273 marks - insisted afterwards they could still achieve the standard on day three.

British Gymnastics and the BOA repeatedly confirmed that, contrary to the gymnasts' belief, day three's results would not count towards their 2012 qualification. But the team's confusion had been readily apparent and independent arbitrator Graeme Mews agreed in his verdict.

"I am not persuaded," he wrote, "that [the team knew] selection would be based only on the qualification stage."

British Gymnastics argued that this had been the case as focusing the team on one day would replicate the pressure of competing at the Games, particularly as other teams at the test event were fighting to reach the Olympics based only on their qualification score, not day three's final - which was largely seen as an afterthought.

But Mews added: "The GB group, however, was in a different position. They were not competing with the other teams for a place. Rather, they were competing against the benchmark."

British Gymnastics' chief executive, Jane Allen, has issued a statement in response to Monday's verdict in which she stands by the governing body's initial selection policy

Can Lionel Messi become an Argentina hero?

Argentina will be hoping Lionel Messi is finally starting to transform his stunning club form with Barcelona to the international arena following his magnificent hat-trick in the 3-1 win against Switzerland.

The hints were there late last year, in the second half of the World Cup qualifier away to Colombia, and now the Switzerland game has surely consolidated the Messi-Sergio Aguero link-up at the heart of the Argentine attack.

The pair have had a natural rapport for years, built up when they roomed together during the 2005 World Youth Cup, and now that understanding is clearly visible on the pitch through their pacy, dazzling exchanges.

Away to an adventurous Swiss side, there was space for the pair of them to explode on the counter-attack. Against more cautious opponents there could well be the need for the greater penalty area presence of Gonzalo Higuain.


In that case, Messi and Aguero can form an attacking trident with the Real Madrid man.
Indeed, that was the way they were set up in the second half against Colombia, when the introduction of Aguero at the break changed the game, giving Messi someone to combine with when he dropped deep in search of possession.

More than any tactical innovations, Argentina will hope the Switzerland match proves important in psychological terms. Messi has enjoyed some excellent games for Argentina in the past, but this was the first time that the headlines in the local press proclaimed that he had produced his Barcelona form for the national team.



Messi has made over 67 appearances for Argentina, scoring 22 goals. Photo: Getty
This is significant because almost the only place in the world where the presence of Messi is not guaranteed to fill a stadium is in the land of his birth. He tries hard to identify himself with Argentina, with the city of Rosario and the Newells Old Boys club.

However, when performances are disappointing, he meets with resistance from his own people, who are quick to seize on the fact that he has been based in Barcelona from the age of 13.

"You're not really one of us," they seem to be saying. "You are more Catalan than Argentine. You don't sing the national anthem or feel with passion the colours of the flag."

And it does not matter what he says. Words do not count - deeds do.

The public want to see the Messi of Barcelona, often forgetting that for the national team he does not have a Daniel Alves to burst outside him, or a Xavi and Iniesta to supply him with the ball. But he does have Aguero.

The resistance towards Messi in an extreme case, but in the proud footballing cultures of Brazil and Argentina it does not take much for the European-based players to be viewed with suspicion.

If the national team are winning in style, little attention is paid to where they play their club football. Anything less, and those who play in Europe are sometimes branded uncaring mercenaries.

In any case, the call will always come for the selection of more home-based players.
This is a political reality the coach has to deal with - especially in contemporary Brazil, where with the clubs paying top wages there are more viable candidates for the national team playing their football for domestic clubs.

Last year, for example, Brazil boss Mano Menezes could hardly afford not to recall Ronaldinho to the national team. The former world player of the year had moved back home to join Flamengo, the country's most popular club.

Around the middle of the year he found flickers of form. Brazil, meanwhile, had done badly in the Copa America and were not looking good in friendlies- giving Ronaldinho another chance became a political necessity.

Against Ghana at Craven Cottage last September it was soon apparent that he was off the pace. The rhythm of international football, as Menezes commented after the match, is more intense than that of the domestic Brazilian game.

He gave an interesting performance against Mexico late last year, organising from a deeper position, but his reign as first-choice number 10 may well have come to an end with an unimpressive display in last Tuesday's 2-1 win over Bosnia.

By now Ronaldinho has ceased to be the public's sweetheart, his credibility undermined by a dip in club form and his night time escapades. Mano Menezes gave him enough rope, and can now cut him loose if he chooses because he has Paulo Henrique Ganso of Santos ready to step up.

Brazil's game against Bosnia flowed much better after Ganso replaced Ronaldinho for the last half hour. The elegant left footer is a wonderful prospect - so much so that he too has also been at the centre of the nationalist debate.

When Ganso came through strongly two years ago, the Sao Paulo press were falling over themselves to praise him. He was, they said, already the best in the world in his position, a left-footed reincarnation of Zinedine Zidane.

It was conveniently forgotten that he was only shining in a desperately poor version of the Sao Paulo State Championship, and against poor opponents in the Brazilian Cup.
The problem was that the player appeared to believe his own publicity. Then came the reality check.

The subsequent two years have been filled with injuries and excellent learning opportunities - such as a disappointing Copa America and the experience of playing against Barcelona last December.