IT’S BACK!

CITYAM.COM THURSDAY 2 MARCH 2017 SPORT 21
CRICKET
Confident Curran won’t be fazed
one bit by first England call-up
CRICKET
COMMENT
Chris
Tremlett
MY FORMER Surrey teammate
Tom Curran is just
the sort of cricketer England
look for: young, good
skills in one-day cricket,
an all-rounder and, with his yorkers
and back-of-the-hand deliveries, a talented
death bowler.
The 21-year-old marched into the
Surrey side pretty much from school
but showed no fear. Tom is a confident
young lad who believes in himself
and felt he belonged there. He
won’t be fazed by walking into the
England dressing room.
I don’t think it will be long before
his brother Sam, 18, is handed a
maiden senior international call-up
either. They are both incredibly talented
and have cricket running deep
in their veins – their late father
Kevin played for Zimbabwe.
Whether Tom plays or not against
the West Indies during the threematch
one-day series, which starts tomorrow,
depends on the pitches in
Antigua and Barbados and how England
choose to balance their XI.
Some West Indian pitches can be
quite slow, which could actually suit
Tom and play into his hands. He’s not
as quick as some of the other bowlers
but has a good array of slower balls
and that could prove vital.
England, however, may opt for
someone like Liam Dawson as an
extra spinning all-rounder, so it
might just be a case of getting Tom
into the set-up and used to being
around the other players in that
sort of environment.
As for the series itself, I expect England
to win. West Indies are a bit disjointed
in terms of some of their
players featuring in other tournaments,
and others not representing
their country at all any more.
But when the West Indies turn up
and fire, they are a team to be reckoned
with. That said, England are
more than capable of a 3-0 whitewash.
CEMENT HIS PLACE
Looking through the prism of selection
for the Champions Trophy in
June, this is a big series for Kent’s
Sam Billings.
With him playing in the Indian Premier
League, he has got opportunities
over the next few months to
show exactly what he can do.
He’s been in and out of England’slimited-overs
sides and has only
played two 50-over international
matches since June 2015.
He’s a class player and has a real
CRICKET
KP, Mills and Wright pull out
of Pakistan amid safety fears
FRANK DALLERES
@frankdalleres
FORMER England batsman Kevin
Pietersen, fast bowler Tymal Mills
and all-rounder Luke Wright have
pulled out of the Pakistan Super
League final amid safety fears.
Pietersen, England Twenty20
specialist Mills and Wright had been
due to play for Quetta Gladiators on
Sunday in Lahore, which has been
hit by a series of bombings by
Islamist militants.
The rest of the month-long T20
competition has been held in the
United Arab Emirates because of
security concerns and Lahore’s
status as the venue for the final was
Tom Curran’s
skills may
prove useful in
the West Indies
only confirmed on Monday.
“It’s with a heavy heart I will not
be coming to Lahore,” Wright wrote
on social media. “I have a young
family and for me a game of cricket
is just not worth the risk. Hopefully
in the future the safety will not be in
doubt to come play there.”
Neither Pietersen nor Mills, who
attracted the second largest bid for
an English player in the auction for
next month’s Indian Premier
League, cited safety concerns but
confirmed their withdrawal from
the final.
Mills said: “Unfortunately I will
not be travelling to Lahore for the
final but will be watching from
home and cheering on the boys.”
IN BRIEF
FEDERER SUFFERS SHOCK
EXIT TO RUSSIAN QUALIFIER
£ TENNIS: Former world No1 Roger
Federer suffered a shock elimination at
the Dubai Championships after losing
to Russian qualifier Evgeny Donskoy in
the second round yesterday. Federer
was defeated 3-6, 7-6 (9-7), 7-6 (7-5).
Britain’s Sir Andy Murray, meanwhile,
progressed to round three by beating
Guillermo Garcia-Lopez, although Dan
Evans was knocked out by fourth seed
Gael Monfils.
NEW DEAL TO KEEP MOSES
AT CHELSEA UNTIL 2021
£ FOOTBALL: Chelsea wing-back
Victor Moses has signed a two-year
contract extension which is set to keep
the 26-year-old at Stamford Bridge until
2021. Moses has become a regular
under Blues boss Antonio Conte after
spending the past three seasons out on
loan. Moses said: “I’m enjoying my
football. We have a good manager that
has given every one of us confidence.”
chance with Alex Hales doubtful to
play due to a hand injury.
I imagine Billings will play tomorrow
and probably at the top of the
order. If the 25-year-old has a solid series
he could cement his place in the
team and make it difficult for Hales
to regain his place.
It’s also important for Yorkshire
quick Liam Plunkett. I always feel
there is a bit of pressure on Plunkett
as he too has been in and out of
squads and is a bit older than some
of the other bowlers on England’s
radar.
Someone like Chris Woakes is
penned in for the Champions Trophy,
as is Ben Stokes as the allrounder,
so there aren’t too many
seam places up for grabs. It’s a big
few games for Plunkett.
STRANGE PICK
The same applies to Steven Finn.
When he’s hitting his straps, has
rhythm and is bowling fast then he
would be pushing to be in that oneday
side on a regular basis. But, at
the moment, he is just way too inconsistent.
It was a slightly strange
pick, in any case, because he doesn’t
quite have the skills of some of the
other bowlers. Somebody like Chris
Jordan, who is a good death bowler
and a better batsman than Finn,
would have been my preference.
LIVERPOOL IN £20M LOSS
DESPITE RECORD REVENUES
£ FOOTBALL: Liverpool have reported
an annual loss of nearly £20m despite
posting record revenues. The Anfield
club recorded a £19.8m pre-tax loss for
the year to May 2016, which has been
attributed to signing high-profile
players as well as paying off former
manager Brendan Rodgers, who was
sacked in October 2015. Liverpool, who
are currently fifth in the league, saw
revenue rise £3m to £301m.
PROPOSALS PUT FORWARD
FOR MAJOR GOLF SHAKE UP
£ GOLF: The Royal and Ancient and
United States Golf Association have
announced proposals for a significant
shake up of the sport’s rules which are
designed to reduce penalties and speed
up the general pace of play. The
proposed changes also include relaxed
rules for putting, bunker play and
hazards. The ideas are scheduled to be
implemented from 1 January 2019.
RESULTS
FOOTBALL
THE EMIRATES FA CUP FIFTH ROUND
REPLAY
Man City ................ (3) 5 Huddersfld .................(1) 1
Sane 30 Bunn 7
Aguero 35 (pen), 73
Zabaleta 38
Iheanacho 90 Att: 42,425
CHECKATRADE TROPHY SEMI-FINAL
Luton......................(0) 2 Oxford Utd .................(1) 3
Vassell 72 Edwards 10
Hylton 82
Ruddock 69 (og)
Att: 6,901 Johnson 85
LADBROKES SCOTTISH PREMIERSHIP
Dundee ..................(0) 0 Partick ........................(1) 1
Att: 5,328
E Leanizbarrutia 30 (og)
Hearts ....................(0) 0 Ross County ..............(0) 1
Att: 15,470 Schalk 51
Inverness CT .........(0) 0 Celtic...........................(1) 4
Sinclair 43
Dembele 46, 73
Att: 5,948 Armstrong 66
Rangers ..................(1) 3 St Johnstne ...............(0) 2
McKay 22 Wotherspoon 74
Waghorn 48 Anderson 87
Hyndman 90 Att: 46,800
P W D L F A GD Pts
Celtic ................................27 26 1 0 73 16 57 79
Aberdeen .......................27 16 4 7 50 24 26 52
Rangers ..........................27 13 7 7 37 32 5 46
Hearts ..............................27 10 8 9 46 35 11 38
St Johnstone ...............27 10 7 10 35 36 -1 37
Partick .............................27 8 8 11 29 32 -3 32
Dundee ............................27 8 6 13 31 37 -6 30
Kilmarnock ....................26 6 10 10 24 41 -17 28
Ross Co ...........................27 6 9 12 29 45 -16 27
Hamilton .........................27 4 12 11 26 39 -13 24
Motherwell ...................26 6 6 14 30 53 -23 24
Inverness CT ................27 4 10 13 31 51 -20 22
LADBROKES SCOTTISH CHAMPIONSHIP
St Mirren ................(1) 2 Hibernian ...................(0) 0
Demetriou 35, 46 Att: 3,441
BASKETBALL
NBA: Chicago 107 Denver 125, Detroit 120 Portland 113
(OT), LA Lakers 104 Charlotte 109, Memphis 130 Phoenix
112, Oklahoma City 109 Utah 106, Washington 112 Golden
State 108.
CRICKET
FOURTH ONE DAY INTERNATIONAL—South Africa v
New Zealand (Hamilton): South Africa 279-8 (50.0 overs;
A B de Villiers 72no, F du Plessis 67). New Zealand 280-3
(45.0 overs; M J Guptill 180no, L R P L Taylor 66). New
Zealand beat South Africa by 7 wickets.
ICEHOCKEY
NHL: Boston 4 Arizona 1, Buffalo 4 Nashville 5 (OT),
Calgary 2 Los Angeles 1 (OT), Dallas 3 Pittsburgh 2, Florida
3 Carolina 2 (AP), Montreal 1 Columbus 0 (OT), New York
Rangers 1 Washington 4, Philadelphia 4 Colorado 0, San
Jose 3 Toronto 1, St Louis 1 Edmonton 2, Vancouver 2
Detroit 3 (OT), Winnipeg 5 Minnesota 6.
SQUASH
PSA WORLD SERIES TOUR (Chicago)—Men’s Semi-
Finals: (5) M El Shorbagy (Egy) bt (6) A Farag (Egy) 3-1
(11-8; 11-9; 8-11; 11-9) (3) G Gaultier (Fra) bt B Golan (Esp)
3-0 (11-6; 15-13; 11-8) Women’s Semi-Finals: (1) N El
Sherbini (Egy) bt (4) C Serme (Fra) 3-1 (8-11; 11-3; 11-6;
11-4) (3) R El Welily (Egy) bt (2) N Gohar (Egy) 3-2 (7-11;
11-6; 9-11; 11-5; 11-9).
TENNIS
ATP DUBAI DUTY FREE TENNIS CHAMPIONSHIPS
(Dubai, United Arab Emirates)—Men’s Singles 2nd rnd:
(1) A Murray (Gbr) bt G Garcia-Lopez (Spa) 6-2 6-0, P
Kohlschreiber (Ger) bt D Medvedev Caption (Rus) sits 6-4 on 6-4, aE
Donskoy (Rus) bt (3) baseline. R Federer (Swi) Picture 3-6 7-6 (9-7) end7-6
(7-5), (7) L Pouille (Fra) bt on M Copil baseline (Rom) 6-1 above 6-4, F
Verdasco (Spa) bt (6) R Bautista Agut (Spa) 6-4 3-6 7-5,
(4) G Monfils (Fra) bt D Evans (Gbr) 6-4 3-6 6-1, R Haase
(Ned) bt (5) T Berdych (Cze) 3-6 6-3 6-4, D Dzumhur (Bih)
bt M Granollers (Spa) 6-3 6-4.
ATP & WTA ABIERTO MEXICANO TELCEL (Acapulco,
Mexico)—Men’s Singles 1st rnd: (1) N Djokovic (Ser) bt M
Klizan (Svk) 6-3 7-6 (7-4), J Martin Del Potro (Arg) bt F
Tiafoe (USA) 6-4 3-6 7-6 (7-1), D Young (USA) bt B Tomic
(Aus) 7-6 (5-5) ret, (6) N Kyrgios (Aus) bt D Sela (Isr) 3-6
6-3 6-3, (4) D Thiem (Aut) bt G Simon (Fra) 7-6 (9-7) 6-3, S
Querrey (USA) bt K Edmund (Gbr) 6-2 4-6 6-3, (3) M Cilic
(Cro) bt A Dolgopolov (Ukr) 6-3 4-6 6-0, Y Nishioka (Jpn)
bt (7) J Sock (USA) 3-6 6-2 6-1, P Lorenzi (Ita) bt Y Lu
(Tpe) 4-6 6-3 6-4, (2) R Nadal (Spa) bt M Zverev (Ger) 6-4
6-3.
Women’s Singles 1st rnd: (1) M Lucic-Baroni (Cro) bt B
Bencic (Swi) 7-5 6-4, (3) J Ostapenko (Lat) bt D Kovinic
(Mne) 6-2 6-2, M Brengle (USA) bt A Beck (Ger) 4-6 6-3
6-2, J Goerges (Ger) bt K Bondarenko (Ukr) 2-6 6-4 6-3, (5)
C McHale (USA) bt F Ferro (Fra) 6-4 6-4, T Townsend
(USA) bt J Brady (USA) 7-5 7-6 (7-4), D Hantuchova (Svk)
bt Y Wickmayer (Bel) 4-6 6-3 6-2, (4) M Puig (Pur) bt F
Schiavone (Ita) 6-4 7-6 (7-4), A Tomljanovic (Cro) bt (6) E
Bouchard (Can) 7-6 (7-4) 6-1.
WTA BMW MALAYSIAN OPEN (Kuala Lumpur,
Malaysia)—Women’s Singles 2nd rnd: N Hibino (Jpn) bt
(1) E Svitolina (Ukr) w/o, L Kerkhove (Ned) bt S Sharipova
(Uzb) 6-4 6-4, K Zhang (Chn) bt R Ozaki (Jpn) 6-2 6-4.
TODAY’S DIARY
DARTS
Betway Premier League Darts (Exeter).
GOLF
World Golf Championships-Mexico Championship
(Club de Golf Chapultepec, Mexico City, Mexico).
European Tour Tshwane Open (Pretoria CC, Waterkloof,
South Africa).
LPGA Tour HSBC Women’s Champions (New Tanjong
Course, Sentosa Golf Club, Singapore).
RUGBY LEAGUE
Betfred Super League (8pm): Castleford v Leeds,
Huddersfield v Hull.