West Indies board to blame for Antigua farce

The West Indies Cricket Board was responsible for the shambles of the abandoned Test at the Sir Viv Richards Stadium, according to the ICC chief executives' committee. The announcement came after the second day of their meeting in Johannesburg.
The executive committee reconfirmed that the responsibility for ensuring the delivery of a venue fit for the purpose of international cricket rested with the host member board. Until now, the WICB has been reluctant to accept that it and not the local board was at fault for not ensuring the venue was up to standard.
The committee recommended that from now on all boards would be required to notify the ICC in February of each year the identity of all venues they intended to use for international matches in the following 12 months. This would need to be accompanied by a declaration that the grounds were up to standards already agreed by the ICC.
With regards to the outfield in Antigua, this is currently the subject of an ICC investigation and the WICB has been asked to submit its own report. The ICC has the power to impose a sanction ranging from a warning or a fine up to a suspension of international status for the venue.

Champions League round-up

Liverpool secured a 1-0 victory over Real Madrid in Spain as Chelsea beat Juventus by the same scoreline in the first leg of their UEFA Champions League last-16 tie.

Yossi Benayoun was Liverpool's match-winner with a late goal, while Didier Drogba gave Chelsea a slender advantage to take to Italy in a fortnight's time.
Elsewhere in Europe, Sporting were crushed 5-0 at home by Bayern Munich, while Villarreal and Panathinaikos played out a 1-1 draw.
The build-up to Liverpool's match at the Santiago Bernabeu had been overshadowed by speculation surrounding the future of manager Rafa Benitez, with some reports suggesting his days in the club could be numbered.
If the players had been distracted by such stories it did not show in the early exchanges as they frustrated Real Madrid with a disciplined, defensive performance and restricted their more creative players to ambitious shots from distance.
With Steven Gerrard starting on the bench in his first game back following injury, Liverpool looked far from threatening themselves, although Iker Casillas pulled off a fine save to thwart Fernando Torres and then had to scramble back to push a Xabi Alonso effort from 50 yards over the crossbar.
Juande Ramos' side continued to enjoy plenty of possession after the break but they were unable to make the breakthrough as Jose Reina parried away a fierce drive from Arjen Robben.
A goalless draw appeared to be on the cards until an unmarked Benayoun headed home a crucial away goal from Fabio Aurelio's free-kick in the 82nd minute.
Chelsea's clash with Juventus, the third Anglo-Italian affair of the week, saw Claudio Ranieri make an emotional return to Stamford Bridge almost five years after he became the first manager to be sacked in the Roman Abramovich era.
Champions League glory has continued to elude the Blues since Ranieri's departure but Guus Hiddink was given the perfect start to his first European match in charge as Didier Drogba scored in the 12th minute after being found in the box by an exquisite Salomon Kalou pass that bisected Juve's much-vaunted defence.
Drogba was a constant menace throughout the evening with his power and pace, but the Ivory Coast international was unhappy when his claims for a penalty were ignored midway through the second half.
Juventus applied more pressure in the closing stages but Chelsea held firm to go into the second leg as slight favourites.
Bayern Munich were the big winners of the night as they took total control of their tie against Sporting by hitting five in Portugal.
Bayern, the last German side standing in the competition, withstood a 40-minute onslaught from Sporting and then took the lead against the run of play when Franck Ribery seized on a poor pass by Derlei to run from the halfway line, beat two defenders and fire a shot past Tiago.
Miroslav Klose then bundled the ball home from Massimo Oddo's cross on 57 minutes to make it 2-0 and Ribery added a third from the penalty spot after a wild challenge by former Middlesbrough midfielder Fabio Rochemback on Philipp Lahm.
Luca Toni's looping header put Bayern 4-0 in front and the Italian grabbed his second on 90 minutes to complete a miserable night for the hosts.
Sporting will need to stage a monumental fightback to progress to the quarter-finals but the final tie of the evening remains very much in the balance after Villarreal came from behind to hold Panathinaikos.
Panathinaikos, who finished above Inter Milan as they qualified from the group phase, were almost gifted a goal in the first half as Diego Lopez caught a Giorgos Karagounis free-kick and very nearly stepped behind the goal-line.
Karagounis was not to be denied though and he broke the deadlock in stunning fashion on 59 minutes as he sent a powerful, swerving volley into the top corner.
Villarreal had dominated the match for long periods and they shook off the disappointment to draw level thanks to a Giuseppe Rossi penalty in the 67th minute after Robert Pires had been brought down by Jakub Wawrzyniak.

Torres targeting Real success

Liverpool striker Fernando Torres has vowed to gun down Real Madrid in the UEFA Champions League so as to avoid suffering the pain of 'big game' defeat.

The Reds travel to the Bernabeu in the last 16 on Wednesday, live on Sky Sports, to take on an in-form Real side and Torres is desperate for victory in the tie.
Torres was part of the Spain side which lost late on to Italy in the knockout stages of the 2006 World Cup and he is eager to avoid a repeat of that misery.
"If you ever need any incentive on the pitch to give all you have it is to remember how bad it feels to lose the big games and the feeling of emptiness in the dressing room afterwards," the former Atletico Madrid star told the News of the World.

Important

"That's not something I want to be experiencing again and that is going to show on the pitch against Madrid.
"These are the games you look forward to as players. It is good to go back to Spain and, hopefully, one day I can face Atletico in the Champions League.
"Real Madrid's history in Europe is very clear but also Liverpool's history in Europe is very clear.
"The Premier League is still very important for us this season and is a competition we very much believe we are involved in but the European Cup is very important to the fans and players of this club and the manager has great success in it.
"We're not in the European Cup with a target of semis, the only reason Liverpool are in this competition is to win it."

Benitez blasts United claim

Rafa Benitez has laughed off claims from Arsene Wenger that Manchester United are 'untouchable'.

And the Liverpool tactician reckons his title contenders can prove that when they travel to Old Trafford on 14th March by humbling Sir Alex Ferguson's men in their own back yard.
Arsenal boss Wenger has been so impressed with United's nine consecutive league victories the Frenchman has conceded he cannot see anyone getting near the Red Devils.
But Benitez, whose side host Manchester City on Sunday, insisted: "When I speak of facts, one is that United are a very good team and I knew they could have a run of winning games in a row.

Refute

"They will win more than a lot of the other teams but to say we can't beat them? I don't think so.
"I can only talk of my team but I don't think they are untouchable. In football now every game is tough so anything can happen.
"We have reduced the gap very well and want to reduce it more. It will be difficult but if we're in the same position going to Old Trafford maybe that could be important."
Few men are better placed to talk of dispelling the status quo than Benitez, whose Valencia side broke Real Madrid and Barcelona's monopoly in Spain in 2002.
Liverpool trail United by five points - but seven years ago Los Che were even further behind Real and still won the title.
Benitez added: "In Spain we were eight or nine points behind in January and finished seven ahead.
"It's a big gap but we can reduce that by winning a few in a row.

Big Difference

"We can talk about it all but we still have to do it on the pitch, though. Since I arrived there has been a massive difference.
"You can't keep the gap too big because you wouldn't have time and would be under a lot of pressure. You can talk of easy games and then afterwards it turns out they are really difficult.
"I think they will all be hard until the end of the season now.
"We just have to think we can win the next game, then the next one, and go to Old Trafford and win too. We have to think this way."
Liverpool, bizarrely for a side in second place, have scored just seven first-half goals in their last 14 home games and only led at half-time twice.
Benitez admits it is more crucial than ever to start turning pressure into goals if they are to end their 19 year wait for domestic glory.
He added: "Clearly it's better if you score first because the other team have to play higher up the pitch and it's hard to explain why we haven't.
"We have to improve but if we scored the first goal obviously it would make it easier for the team's confidence, for the fans - and for my heart!"

Neville earns new United deal

Gary Neville has agreed a new contract with Manchester United that will keep him at Old Trafford until June 2010.

The veteran right-back has been part of the Red Devils' first-team for the past 17 years after making his debut against Torpedo Moscow in 1992.
Neville was forced to battle his way back to full fitness after missing almost the entire 2007/08 season following a serious ankle injury.
The 34-year-old club captain may not be able to play in every match for the Premier League and European champions but he remains an integral member of their record-breaking defence, which has now kept 14 successive top-flight clean sheets.

Neville told the club's official website: "Manchester United is the only club I have ever wanted to play for so I am delighted to have signed for another year."
The new contract for the England international comes just a week after Ryan Giggs agreed his own one-year extension, with Sir Alex Ferguson delighted to reward such committed members of his squad.
"Gary, Ryan and Paul (Scholes) are the spirit of Manchester United and so we are delighted that Gary has signed for another year," the Scot said.
"Gary is a true professional and I admire how he has overcome an injury which kept him out for over a year, returning as good as ever. He deserves this new contract and we are very happy to have him here."

Tevez hopes for United stay

A national newspaper quoted Tevez's advisor Kia Joorabchian as saying the player is effectively 'in the market' and that United no longer have an 'option' to secure the Argentine's services in the summer.
However, Joorabchian insists that Tevez is still very much committed to remaining in Manchester and that talks are ongoing between all parties.
United are thought to have an agreement in place to pay around £30million to an investment group that handles Tevez's affairs, but as yet they have failed to rubber-stamp this arrangement.
Speculation has intimated that the likes of Real Madrid and Inter Milan are continuing to monitor the situation but Joorabchian remains hopeful an agreement can be reached whereby Tevez stays at United long-term.
"Carlos Tevez remains very much a Manchester United player," Joorabchian told skysports.com.
"His position is unchanged. We are looking forward to talking to Manchester United in the coming months and hope to secure Carlos' future."
Meanwhile Tevez's former club Corinthians have moved to distance themselves from a possible approach for the player.
Corinthians boss Mario Gobbi told Jovem Pam Tevez that Tevez will definitely not return to the club.
"Tevez identified with the club and is an idol for the fans," he said.
"But it is only that, there is nothing else. We were surprised with the reports.
"Of course we would love to have him, but there is nothing in it at all."

Boss: Rooney will start

Sir Alex has confirmed he'll hand Wayne Rooney his first start for five weeks when Blackburn Rovers visit Old Trafford on Saturday.

Rooney, who scored in midweek after coming off the bench against Fulham, missed the previous seven matches after tearing a hamstring in the Reds' win over Wigan Athletic on 14 January.Now, however, the boss says the Englishman is fit and raring to go. "Wayne will play," Sir Alex told media at his pre-match press conference. "He has to start so we can see how far advanced he is, but we think he's fine."Elsewhere, John O'Shea's swollen heel, sustained on Wednesday night, means the Irishman is a "slight doubt"."Other than that, it's the same squad," Sir Alex confirmed.Victory against Blackburn will send United eight points clear of title rivals Liverpool, who play on Sunday.