Posts Tagged ‘London’
Written by admin on 16 May 2012
London, May 16 (IANS/CMC) The West Indies look set to have a fully fit seam attack for the opening Test against England starting at Lord’s here Thursday.
There were worries over the trio of Kemar Roach, Fidel Edwards and Ravi Rampaul coming out of the four-day tour match against England Lions last week but head coach Ottis Gibson said the players had acquitted themselves well in training.
“Everybody pulled up okay today. It all goes back to managing niggles with the Lord’s Test on Thursday being the big event in mind,” Gibson said Wednesday.
“Kemar twisted his ankle at Northants – he’s been treated twice a day for the last couple of days. He had a little bowl today, about six overs, pretty controlled … no complaints, so at this stage he’s doing okay.
“Ravi was just a stiff neck from sleeping badly or just staying up too late watching TV or playing Playstation,” Gibson joked. “He’s fine and Fidel is fine also. Everything looks all set for Thursday.”
All three bowlers were used sparingly on the final day of the Lions tour match, raising question marks over the players’ fitness.
Edwards, who sat out the tour opener against Sussex with injury, sent down just six overs while Rampaul bowled four and Roach, none.
In their absence, the Lions cantered to an easy 10-wicket win before tea at Wantage Road.
Captain Darren Sammy is yet to play a game on tour but Gibson said the medium pacer had been putting in plenty of work in the nets in order to be match ready for the series.
“The captain bowled a lot of balls in the last series as did Kemar. A decision was made to give him (Sammy) a break,” Gibson explained.
“We wanted to have a look at the three seamers bowling together in a game so the captain’s been doing his work off the field. He bowled a lot at Northants last week so we’re pretty clear what we’re going to get from him so he’s not a real concern.”
With the pacemen now all fit, West Indies could now field a four-prong seam attack at Lord’s but Gibson remained coy on that decision.
“We haven’t been able to see the pitch yet so we haven’t decided what the XI is going to be but based on conditions early season in England, it’s possible (to play four seamers),” the Barbadian said.
“That’s as much as I can give you without telling you the team.”
–IANS/CMC
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Tags: London, United Kingdom
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Written by admin on 16 May 2012
London, May 16 (IANS/CMC) England wicketkeeper Matt Prior has warned his team against complacency as they prepare to face the embattled West Indies in the opening Test at Lord’s starting Thursday.
England, the World number one-ranked side, are expected to easily roll over the luckless Windies who are ranked seventh, but Prior said it would be dangerous for the hosts to approach the three-Test series lackadaisically.
“This is a very tough series in its own right,” he said.
“I think if you get complacent or take things easy in Test cricket, or international sport in general, you get bitten pretty quickly. There’s no room for that in our dressing room.”
He added: “It’s fantastic to be back at Lord’s. It’s always a magical place to come. This first series of the summer will be a tough prospect.”
In the last 12 years, England have dominated the Caribbean side, winning 15 of their last 24 contests. The Windies, in contrast, have won just two.
On the last tour of England, West Indies were completely outplayed, losing both Tests by huge margins.
However, the tourists will be looking to capitalise on England’s recent lack of form. They were crushed 0-3 by Pakistan at the start of the year and then struggled to a 1-1 draw with Sri Lanka, in series on the Asian subcontinent.
Prior said England were expecting to perform much better in more familiar conditions.
“We had a tricky winter. But we came out on top in Colombo – which was a fantastic effort – and we’re back in our home conditions now. The challenges we faced in the winter – spin on the sub-continent – are less likely here,” he pointed out.
“It was obviously a tough winter. But that win (to level the series in Sri Lanka) was crucial. To come out with that win just set us off on the right road going into the summer, and gave us a lot of confidence.”
He continued: “We have learned lessons, and we are going forward. We are a good team, but we do still have some huge improvements to make.”
–IANS/CMC
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Tags: London, United Kingdom
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Written by admin on 16 May 2012
London, May 16 (IANS/CMC) West Indies coach Ottis Gibson has urged his pacemen to opt for patience over exuberance in the seamer-friendly English conditions starting with the first Test at Lord’s beginning Thursday.
Speaking ahead of the opening Test, Gibson said rather than trying to conjure up brilliant deliveries, his bowlers needed to be consistent in line and length and allow the conditions to assist them.
“It is about being patient and finding the length to bowl in England. The length you bowl in England is a lot different to the length you bowl at home in the Caribbean,” said Gibson, who spent much of his professional career on the County circuit.
“The one message I have given to them early season in England (is) the only skill you need to have is the skill of patience. If you put the ball in the right area often enough in England this time of year you will get some reward.
“It is just being very patient and letting the ball do the work for you. Rather than thinking you have to bowl magic balls, just put the ball in the right place and conditions will aid, whether it’s swinging or whether it’s seaming, the conditions will aid that.”
The West Indies could employ a four-pronged seam attack for the opening Test, with the chilly, wet conditions likely to support the faster bowlers.
There were initial fears the fast bowling department could have been depleted by injury but Gibson said Kemar Roach was getting over his ankle injury and Ravi Rampaul had overcome his stiff neck.
Fidel Edwards sat out the tour opening against Sussex with injury but is also back to full fitness.
Gibson said his seamers were competent bowlers and once they used the conditions wisely, they would prove a handful.
“These guys are very skilful guys. Kemar Roach in the last series was outstanding swinging the ball, whether it was the old ball or the new ball,” he noted.
“But when you come to England you just have to be very patient and not try to force the conditions. Let (them) work in your favour.”
–IANS/CMC
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Tags: London, United Kingdom
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Written by admin on 16 May 2012
London, May 16 (IANS) Looks more likely decide who we would trust with our money rather than their reputation, says a new study.
Researchers from Britain’s University of Warwick Business School and the University College London along with colleagues at the Dartmouth College, US, carried out a series of experiments to see if people made decisions to trust others based on their faces.
They found people are more likely to invest money in someone whose face is generally perceived as trustworthy, even when they are given negative information about that person’s reputation, the journal Public library of Science ONE reports.
The team used a computer algorithm to create a set of 20 pairs of faces at opposing ends of the trustworthiness scale. This computer software modifies the apparent trustworthiness of faces by altering their features, according to a Warwick statement.
Researchers were able to experimentally manipulate the unfakeable features (those related to shape of the face) that make a person look trustworthy or untrustworthy. These 40 faces were then used in a series of trust games with participants.
Each volunteer was given a sum of money and told they could invest any part of the amount in a trustee whose face appeared on the screen. Any amount they invested would be tripled and volunteers were told it was then up to the trustee to decide how much to send back to them.
Thus participants had an incentive to invest only in trustees who could be expected to return more than the invested amount. Researchers found that 13 out of 15 participants invested more, on average, in the trustworthy identities.
In a second experiment, researchers gave the volunteers information about whether the trustees had good or bad histories. Even with this inside information, the average amount invested in those who looked ‘trustworthy’ was six percent higher.
Chris Olivola from the University of Warwick’s Business School said: “Trustees with good and bad histories benefited equally from trustworthy-looking facial features. The temptation to judge strangers by their faces is hard to resist.”
Tags: London, United Kingdom
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Written by admin on 16 May 2012
London, May 16 (IANS) The number of men taking up part-time work due to being unable to find a full-time job in Britain has more than doubled in the last four years, says a new study.
Nearly 600,000 men were working part-time in December while looking for full-time positions, compared to 293,000 at the end of 2007, reported the Daily Mail citing the Trade Union Congress (TUC), a federation of trade unions in Britain.
Latest official figures tell that as many as 1.4 million workers and self-employed people work part-time because they cannot find full-time employment, the highest figure since records began in 1992.
According to TUC, people living in the east Britain have been hit by the biggest increase in under-employment over the past four years, with the number of men “trapped” in part-time jobs more than trebling to almost 60,000.
Its analysis of official figures showed that the North East, Northern Ireland and London also experienced sharp rises in involuntary part-time work.
The report, published ahead of the latest unemployment figures Monday, also revealed that the number of women working in involuntary part-time jobs has more than doubled in London and Northern Ireland over the past four years.
TUC general secretary Brendan Barber said: “Last month’s fall in unemployment was a welcome surprise. No-one should be under any illusion however that the jobs crisis is over.
“Virtually all employment growth is coming from part-time and temporary jobs but most of the people taking them want and need permanent, full-time work.
Areas in Britain with the most people doing part-time work for not being able to find full-time jobs include London (198,000), the North West (152,000), the South East (141,000) and the West Midlands (132,000), said the TUC.
Tags: London, United Kingdom
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Written by admin on 16 May 2012
London, May 16 (IANS) British singer Adele has reached another milestone. She has become the fourth Briton in five years to record the world’s biggest-selling album.
Adele has sold 18 million copies of her album “21″ that accounted for 1.6 percent of total album sales around the world, reports dailystar.co.uk.
Singer Amy Winehouse, band Coldplay and Susan Boyle previously topped the international album sales chart since 2007.
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