Fit-again Australian paceman Doug Bollinger said yesterday he intends keeping quiet and letting key England batsman Kevin Pietersen’s ego get him out in next month’s Ashes series.
Left-armer Bollinger, who has recovered from a stomach muscle strain, has a reputation of sledging batsmen, but has his own plans to counter the dynamic hitting of Pietersen should he be selected to share the new ball.
He intends clamming up when bowling to Pietersen as he believes his sledging will only fire up the aggressive middle-order batsman.
“I don’t think I will say much to Kevin Pietersen because I think that’s what he likes,” Bollinger told reporters. “I think I might put him off his game by not saying anything and let his ego get him out.”
However, Bollinger admitted he would not be reticent in letting England’s other batsmen know his feelings in the heat of an Ashes battle.
“I tend to say a lot of things when I get angry and get a bit upset, and a bit hot and flustered, but we’re playing for the Ashes,” Bollinger said. “It’s a massive thing. It’s something I’ve always wanted to be part of my whole life and I’m sure it is for everyone else.”
Bollinger said he was over the stomach strain that forced him out of the second Test in India this month and was planning on a return to cricket in a fortnight.
HUGHES OUSTED
AFP, SYDNEY
Former Test fast bowler Merv Hughes has lost his place on Australia’s selection panel, Cricket Australia announced yesterday.
Hughes was squeezed out after the recent appointment of former Test skipper Greg Chappell as the country’s first full-time national talent manager and with it a role as a selector.
Cricket Australia’s board of directors yesterday unanimously confirmed the composition of the four-man panel, with David Boon, Chappell and Jamie Cox joining part-time chairman Andrew Hilditch. Following a meeting in Melbourne, the board said that four selectors was now the most appropriate size for the panel.
“After feedback from panel chairman Andrew Hilditch during today’s [Friday’s] meeting, the board unanimously decided that David Boon, Jamie Cox and Greg Chappell were the best people to join him on the four-member panel,” Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said.
A sumo star was born in Japan on Sunday when 24-year-old Takerufuji became the first wrestler in 110 years to win a top-division tournament on his debut, triumphing at the 15-day Spring Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka despite injuring his ankle on the penultimate day. Takerufuji, whose injury had left him in a wheelchair outside the ring, shoved out the higher-ranked Gonoyama at the Edion Arena Osaka to the delight of the crowd, giving him an unassailable record of 13 wins and two losses to claim the Emperor’s Cup. “I did it just through willpower. I didn’t really know what was going
The US’ Ilia Malinin on Saturday produced six scintillating quadruple jumps, including a quadruple Axel, in the men’s free skate to capture his first figure skating world title. The 19-year-old nicknamed the “Quad god,” who is the only skater to land a quadruple Axel in competition, dazzled with an array of breathtakingly executed jumps starting with his quad Axel and including a quadruple Lutz in combination with a triple flip and a quadruple toe loop in combination with a triple toe. He added an unexpected triple-triple combination at the end to earn a world-record 227.79 in the free program for a championship
Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter is being criminally investigated by the IRS, and the attorney for his alleged bookmaker said Thursday that the ex-Los Angeles Dodgers employee placed bets on international soccer — but not baseball. The IRS confirmed Thursday that interpreter Ippei Mizuhara and Mathew Bowyer, the alleged illegal bookmaker, are under criminal investigation through the agency’s Los Angeles Field Office. IRS Criminal Investigation spokesperson Scott Villiard said he could not provide additional details. Mizuhara, 39, was fired by the Dodgers on Wednesday following reports from the Los Angeles Times and ESPN about his alleged ties to an illegal bookmaker and debts well
MLB on Friday announced a formal investigation into the scandal swirling around Shohei Ohtani and his former interpreter amid charges that the Los Angeles Dodgers superstar was the victim of “massive theft.” The Dodgers on Wednesday fired Ippei Mizuhara, Ohtani’s long-time interpreter and close friend, after Ohtani’s representatives alleged that the Japanese two-way star had been the victim of theft, which was reported to involve millions of dollars and link Mizuhara to a suspected illegal bookmaker in California. “Major League Baseball has been gathering information since we learned about the allegations involving Shohei Ohtani and Ippei Mizuhara from the news media,” MLB