The newspaper England captain Michael Vaughan accused of misquoting him placed an audio excerpt of its interview with Vaughan on the Internet yesterday, contradicting the cricketer's assertion that his remarks about a teammate were blown out of proportion.
Although Vaughan insisted that he, rather than all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, had played a major role in the team's failure to reach the World Cup semi-finals, the Guardian had quoted him as saying that an incident involving "Freddie" Flintoff's drinking exploits had damaged team morale.
He was quoted as saying: "You have to be honest: the `Fredalo' incident did affect the team. It did affect morale," referring to Flintoff being found on a pedalo, or paddleboat, at 4am in the morning after their opening group match defeat against New Zealand in St Lucia.
PHOTO: AFP
Vaughan insisted on Wednesday that he never used the word "Fredalo," as he wouldn't want to single out an individual for an incident which saw six players in all disciplined for late-night drinking, though an audio file on the Guardian's Web site seemed to prove otherwise.
In it, the England batsman is heard to say: "We had a great preparation week and then unfortunately incidents happened which did affect the team. You've got to be honest, it affected the morale, it affected the spirit."
The Guardian journalist said: "Was it ... ?" to which Vaughan replied: "`Fredalo.' It's bound to affect team spirit. From then on suddenly you've got players I'd like to see go out and enjoy themselves, but no one would dare go out after that and you don't feel you can create a spirit."
Vaughan had earlier denied that he had used the word "Fredalo" while speaking at Old Trafford where the third Test against West Indies started yesterday, adding that he still had a good relationship with Flintoff.
"We are good mates," added Vaughan, who shares an agent with Flintoff. "I have a huge amount of respect for Andrew Flintoff."
SSC Napoli’s Italian Serie A title hopes suffered a late setback on Sunday when they were held to a 2-2 draw at home against Genoa, setting up a thrilling season finale with closest rivals Inter just one point behind. The hosts remain top with 78 points, holding a slim lead over Inter, who won 2-0 at Torino earlier on Sunday, with two rounds remaining. To make matters worse for Napoli, midfielder Stanislav Lobotka, struggling with an ankle injury, was forced off just minutes after the match began. Scott McTominay delivered a perfect pass into the box where Romelu Lukaku got
A stunning Lamine Yamal strike on Thursday helped crown Barcelona La Liga champions with a 2-0 win over local rivals RCD Espanyol, with victory ensuring Real Madrid cannot catch them at the top of the table. Yamal’s effort and Fermin Lopez’s goal took Hansi Flick’s side seven points clear of Los Blancos with two matches remaining, to clinch Barcelona’s 28th title and complete a superb domestic treble. Only the UEFA Champions League title escaped an exciting young Barca side this season, as they won the league for the second time in six years, at Espanyol’s ground again just as in 2022-2023. Back then,
Jannik Sinner on Thursday marched into the semi-finals of the Italian Open after destroying Casper Ruud in straight sets 6-0, 6-1, while Coco Gauff won a marathon three-set battle with China’s Zheng Qinwen to advance to the women’s singles final. American Gauff is to face Italy’s Jasmine Paolini in today’s title match after pulling through 7-6 (7/3), 4-6, 7-6 (7/4) in a match that lasted over three-and-a-half hours. Ruud was supposed to be Sinner’s toughest test in Rome since he came back from his three-month doping ban, as the Norwegian came into the match in hot form on clay after winning in
Shohei Ohtani on Thursday delivered his first two-homer game of the season and had six RBIs as the Los Angeles Dodgers poured it on with five long balls in a 19-2 victory over the visiting Athletics. Max Muncy, Andy Pages and James Outman also hit home runs for the Dodgers, who left no doubt by taking a 13-2 lead following a seven-run third inning. Muncy and Kim Hye-seong each had three hits for Los Angeles. Dodgers right-hander Matt Sauer led off a bullpen game by allowing two runs in four innings. Left-hander Justin Wrobleski (1-1) finished with four scoreless innings after he
RSS