England v West Indies: Andrew Strauss not thinking of quitting

Andrew Strauss says he has not thought of giving up the England captaincy, ahead of the first Test against West Indies at Lord's on Thursday.
Strauss has made one century in his last 49 Test innings, while his side, though top of the world rankings, have won once in their last five matches.
Asked if he has ever felt fed-up of the job, he replied: "Not even close.
"There may be a situation where that has happened to England captains in the past but I'm not there at the moment."

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/18094940

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Availability concerns undermine West Indies' England tour plans

The West Indies' preparations for their Test series against England continue to be affected by problems with fitness, visas and travel.

Only 11 fit players would have been able to take the field in the washed-out opening day's play against Sussex.

Narsingh Deonarine and Assad Fudadin await visa clearance, with Marlon Samuels thought to be returning from a stint in the Indian Premier League.

Meanwhile, fast bowler Fidel Edwards is still a doubt with a back injury.

The knock ensured the 30-year-old missed the third and final Test against Australia last week.

"We have 12 guys here right now, and I think the other three are coming in later this evening," said captain Darren Sammy.

"It's a little bit to do with visas. They're going to be here, and they're not missing anything right now.

"We've not named our XI. They're batsmen, so they could come in and play straight away."

The first day's play at Hove was called off at 1340 BST after heavy overnight rain proved too much for the pitch.

After the Sussex match, the tourists will take on the England Lions in Northampton ahead of the three-Test series which begins at Lord's on 17 May.

West Indies Test schedule

    17 May: England v West Indies, Lord's
    25 May: England v West Indies, Trent Bridge
    7 June: England v West Indies, Edgbaston

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/cricket/17970730

 

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World Snooker 2012: Ronnie O'Sullivan beats Matthew Stevens

An inspired Ronnie O'Sullivan beat Matthew Stevens 17-10 to make the World Championship final for the fourth time.

The Englishman will be making his first appearance in the final since 2008, when he faced the same opponent Ali Carter and won his third title.

Resuming their semi-final 15-9 behind, Stevens knocked in a century break to keep his hopes alive, but O'Sullivan hit back with a superb 130 break.

He took the next in style to progress to the best-of-35 final. 

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/snooker/17944229

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Chelsea's FA Cup final

Chelsea's FA Cup final talisman Didier Drogba was the match-winner once more as they overcame Liverpool to lift the trophy at Wembley.

Drogba's goal early in the second half - his fourth in this Wembley showpiece - proved decisive as the remarkable turnaround in Chelsea's fortunes under interim manager Roberto di Matteo was rewarded with silverware.

Liverpool goalkeeper Pepe Reina was badly at fault as Ramires scored at the near post after 11 minutes and Chelsea looked in cruise control when Drogba continued his love affair with the FA Cup final and Wembley with an angled finish.

The introduction of substitute Andy Carroll sparked Liverpool into life and he pulled a goal back just after the hour - and thought he had equalised as Kenny Dalglish's side laid siege to Chelsea's goal in the closing stages.

Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17878435

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Family man Bubba Watson snubs $9.5M PGA Tour event

(CNN) -- Even by Bubba Watson's unpredictable standards, his decision to pull out of this month's Players Championship to spend more time with his family is an unusual one.

The Masters champion revealed he is skipping one of golf's biggest tournaments -- often referred to as the fifth major, with $9.5 million total prize money -- to spend quality time with wife Angie and their recently adopted two-month-old son.

"I've decided to pull out of the Players. I need to spend more time with Caleb and Angie, plan to take at least a month off. The Players is one of the best weeks of the year but bonding with my son and wife is what it is all about right now," he wrote on Twitter.

"Sorry to disappoint fans but the Players has one of the best fields all year, tourney is more than fine without me," Watson said in another tweet.
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It seems the prestigious PGA Tour event -- boasting a whopping $1.7 million prize for its winner -- wasn't enough to tear Bubba away from baby.

"I feel blessed and excited that I get to spend quality time with Caleb and Angie in the next few weeks. I am lucky to play golf for a living, it allows me to pick my own schedule," he tweeted.

Wells Fargo Championship leaderboard

The 33-year-old, who earned the nickname "Wacky Watson" for his oddball home videos on YouTube, will miss the Players for the first time since his debut in 2007.

The American has missed the cut in three out of five trips to TPC Sawgrass, and recorded his best finish back in 2009 when he tied for 37th.

Watson's decision has been backed by the U.S. circuit's governing body.

"We respect Bubba's decision in light of the unique and life-changing circumstances of the past month," said PGA Tour executive vice-president of communications Ty Votaw.

"His focus on his family is admirable, as was his decision to honor his commitment to the Zurich Classic of New Orleans as defending champion. We look forward to having him back on the tour soon."

Watson admitted ahead of last month's Zurich Classic that he'd rather be at home than defending his New Orleans title.
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It has been his only tournament since winning the Masters with a miraculous shot from the woods and onto the green in a playoff against South Africa's Louis Oosthuizen.

Fresh from the media whirlwind that surrounded him since winning his first major at Augusta, Bubba failed to live up to the hype, finishing 18th at TPC Louisiana.

He decided to miss this week's $6.5 million Wells Fargo Championship in North Carolina, where some of golf's biggest names returned to action on Thursday.

Former world No. 1 Tiger Woods was tied for 56th after the opening round, having shot one-under-par 71. The American, who won the tournament in 2001, was six shots off the lead shared by his playing partner Webb Simpson.

Ryan Moore and Stewart Cink also carded seven-under 65 to be a shot ahead of a group of five players.

World No. 2 Rory McIlroy's tactic of taking a long holiday before the tournament did not yield immediate results. The Northern Irishman, who will defend his U.S. Open title next month, finished the opening day at Quail Hollow equal 39th after a 70.

Four-time major champion Phil Mickelson recovered from an early triple bogey to join Woods on 71.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/04/business/golf-bubba-watson-players/index.html?hpt=igo_t1

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Bundesliga points record for Dortmund

(CNN) -- Borussia Dortmund capped a second successive title-winning season by setting a new Bundesliga points record in the final round of matches on Saturday.

Jurgen Klopp's team thrashed Freiburg 4-0 to finish on 81 points from 34 games, equaling second-placed Bayern Munich's record of 25 victories in a campaign.

Dortmund, having wrapped up a fifth title overall with two rounds remaining, extended the club's unbeaten league run to 28 matches as Jakub Blaszczykowski and Robert Lewandowski -- hoping to star for co-hosts Poland in the upcoming Euro 2012 finals -- both scored twice in the first half.

It gave the club six more points than last season, and maintained momentum ahead of the German Cup final against Bayern on May 12.

Striker Lewandowski ended with 22 league goals, putting him four behind Bayern's Mario Gomez and seven adrift of Schalke's leading Klaas-Jan Huntelaar.

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Bayern hold most Bundesliga milestones, including that of 21 titles, but the Bavarians lost their mantle of 79 points achieved twice in the 1970s -- an equivalent figure, as a win in those days earned only two points not the current three.

However, Jupp Heynckes' team ended the Bundesliga season on a high with a 4-1 away win that condemned second-bottom Cologne to the second division -- and Bayern still have the prospect of European success in the Champions League final against English club Chelsea in Munich on May 19.

Gomez could not add to his tally, but fellow Germany international Thomas Muller netted twice and Dutch winger Arjen Robben scored his 12th league goal this season as Bayern finished nine points clear of third-placed Schalke.

Cologne farewelled the top flight and 18-goal striker Lukas Podolski, who is moving to English club Arsenal after playing for Germany at Euro 2012.

Dutch striker Huntelaar consolidated his position as the league's top scorer with two more goals as Schalke won 3-2 at Werder Bremen.

Schalke had already clinched Germany's final automatic Champions League place last weekend, and will be joined in Europe's top club competition by Borussia Monchengladbach.

Gladbach will play in the qualifying rounds after finishing six points clear of fifth-placed Bayer Leverkusen, beating Mainz 3-0 as Dortmund-bound Marco Reus scored twice and set up another goal.

The 22-year-old, who will rejoin the club he played for as a youth after Euro 2012, finished the season with 18 league goals alongside Lewandowski and Bremen's Claudio Pizarro -- who also scored twice against Schalke.

Leverkusen will play in the second-tier Europa League after closing with a 4-1 win at Nuremberg -- in which striker Stefan Kiessling scored a hat-trick to finish on 16 goals, and former Germany captain Michael Ballack made his final appearance for the club.

Stuttgart consolidated sixth with a 3-2 win over Wolfsburg, who missed out on the final European place as Hanover took seventh with a 2-1 win over bottom team Kaiserslautern.

Hertha Berlin avoided automatic relegation by beating Hoffenheim 3-1 to move out of the bottom two, but must now take on a second division club -- either Fortuna Dusseldorf, SC Paderborn or St. Pauli -- in a two-leg playoff.

Source: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/05/05/sport/football/football-bundesliga-dortmund-bayern/index.html?hpt=isp_c1

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