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GUYANA CHRONICLE Tuesday, May 16, 2017
Australia risks missing top players Chelsea, Spurs dominate Premier League player nominations in Ashes over pay dispute - Warner (REUTERS) - The ongoing pay dispute might leave Australia without their top players in the home Ashes (series against England later this year), vice-captain David Warner has warned. Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) rejected Cricket Australia’s (CA) pay offer last month, dismissing the proposal as “a win for cricket administrators but a loss for cricket”. CA has threatened the players with unemployment, saying they would not get alternative contracts if they fail to agree to the new collective bargaining agreement. Warner said he and his colleague would not “buckle at all”. “If it gets to the extreme they might not have a team for the Ashes,” Warner, currently playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL), told the Age newspaper. “I really hope they can come to an agreement ... we don’t really want to see this panning out like that where
Australia vice-captain David Warner
we don’t have a team, we don’t have cricket in the Australian summer. “It is up to CA to deal with the ACA. It’s obviously in their hands,” said the 30-year-old. Fast-bowling teammate Mitchell Starc had earlier predicted “an interesting men’s and women’s ashes” in a cryptic tweet, triggering speculations of a possible players’ strike if they were not paid after the existing collective bargaining agreement expires on June 30. Warner said the players
were not really shocked by the CA stance. “We thought something along the lines of this might happen ... it’s not come as a shock, but more the fact it has come so early,” the opener said. “We won’t buckle at all, we are standing together and very strong, and as you can see from all the people that have spoken so far, we are all on the same wavelength. “We want a fair share and the revenue-sharing model is what we want, so we are going to stick together until we get that.” Warner also ruled out signing three-year contracts that would keep him and other elite Australian players out of the lucrative IPL. “It was quite laughable when I heard about it,” he said. “It is fantastic with the security but you can’t just try and stop people from playing other tournaments ...” The IPL gives us a great window to get the T20 format in.”
(REUTERS) - Chelsea and Tottenham Hotspur each have three players among the eight nominations for the Premier League Player-of-the-Season, while the coaches of both teams have also been shortlisted for the Manager-of-theYear award. Chelsea midfielder N’Golo Kante is the favourite for the players’ prize, having already been named the PFA (Professional Footballers Association) Playerof-the-Year and the FWA (Football Writers Association) Player-of-the-Year. Belgium international Eden Hazard and Spain full back Cesar Azpilicueta are the other Chelsea players on the list, while Tottenham are represented by striker Harry Kane, midfielder Dele Alli and defender Jan Vertonghen.Aarsenal striker Alexis Sanchez has also been included, along with
Warner’s stock continues to rise as IPL playoffs loom (REUTERS) - David Warner has enhanced his leadership qualities with some stellar captain’s displays to keep his Sunrisers Hyderabad side on course for a second successive Indian Premier League (IPL) triumph. The Australia vice-captain struggled in the four-Test series in India preceding the IPL but has been at his attacking best in the Twenty20 tournament, where he has registered back-to-back 600plus run seasons. The explosive opener was the league’s second-highest run-scorer during the franchise’s maiden triumph last year and Warner’s consistency helped Hyderabad finish third in the eight-team standings by the end of the regular season on Sunday. Hyderabad will be hoping Warner continues his rich vein of form when the side face Kolkata Knight Riders, who were fourth in the
standings and are one of the IPL’s most consistent teams, in an elimination showdown tomorrow. The victors of the contest will advance to meet the losers of today’s Qualifier 1 match between Mumbai Indians and Rising Pune Supergiant, who finished first and second respectively, for a place in the final. Australia captain Steve Smith has been Pune’s leading scorer and will be hoping he can lead the franchise to an IPL title in their second and last season in the tournament. Pune and the Gujarat Lions were drafted into the IPL as short-term replacements for the Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, who were banned for the 2016 and 2017 seasons for their involvement in a spot-fixing scandal. Smith’s side will, however, be without their talismanic all-rounder Ben Stokes, who
has to report for national duty with England ahead of next month’s Champions Trophy. “We have got a couple of options that we can talk about. It is going to be a big loss,” Smith told reporters on Sunday. “Stokes has been a big name. But hopefully, the other guys can step up.” MAXWELL FLOPS The Rohit Sharma-led Mumbai Indians will be playing at their home Wankhede Stadium and will be keen to avenge two regular season losses to state rivals Pune today, with the winner advancing to Sunday’s final in Hyderabad. The third Australian captain in the IPL, Kings XI Punjab’s Glenn Maxwell, did not have a great tournament, with his side finishing just outside the top four and coming under fire from former India opener Virender Sehwag.
“We always knew that when Maxwell fires, then he can win the match on his own,” Sehwag, the franchise’s director of cricket operations, said. “But he didn’t fire in eight or nine games. That is a big disappointment, especially since he’s experienced, having played for Australia’s Test and ODI teams. “He didn’t take the responsibility as a captain and didn’t perform for Kings XI Punjab.” Gujarat and the Delhi Daredevils also finished outside the playoff spots, while the star-studded Royal Challengers Bangalore finished last among the eight teams. Last year’s runner-up Bangalore, led by India skipper Virat Kohli and boasting the big bats of South Africa’s AB de Villiers and West Indian Chris Gayle, won just three of their 14 matches.
Chelsea manager Antonio Conte, Pedro, N’Golo Kante and David Luiz celebrate winning the Premier League title. (Action Images via Reuters/Carl Recine Livepic)
Everton’s Romelu Lukaku, who currently leads the league’s scoring charts with 24 goals. Chelsea secured the title on Friday and lead the table by seven points from Tottenham Hotspur going into the final games of the season. Antonio Conte, who guided Chelsea to the title in his first season in charge, faces competition from Paul
Clement, who took over with Swansea City four points adrift at the bottom in January but guided them to safety with a game to spare. Mauricio Pochettino, whose Spurs team are guaranteed a second-place finish, Burnley’s Sean Dyche, Bournemouth’s Eddie Howe and West Bromwich Albion’s Tony Pulis are the others on the Managerof-the-Year shortlist. 12:00 hrs Mountain Angel 12:35 hrs Amadeus Rox
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Central FC open Club Championships finals with emphatic win DEFENDING champions Central FC opened their campaign in the finals of the Caribbean Football Union Club Champion-
ships with an emphatic win on Sunday, drubbing Antigua and Barbuda’s Grenades FC 3-1 in the second Turn to Page 19