Sports

By Tony Cozier At the ICC World Cup In DHAKASo much has changed in cricket’s World Cup that its initial tournaments now seem like museum pieces.

The 2010 National Sports Awards Ceremony will be held tonight at the National Cultural Centre at 19:00 hours.

MUMBAI, (Reuters) – A battle for supremacy between  bouncers and yorkers may eventually decide the outcome of  tomorrow’s World Cup Group A showdown between Australia and Sri  Lanka in Colombo.

ZURICH, (Reuters) – FIFA made a profit of $631  million over the last four years but was over-dependent on the  World Cup for its revenue, soccer’s world ruling body said yesterday.

(Jamaica Observer) Marlon Samuels has shrugged off suggestions he refused the offer to replace the injured Dwayne Bravo in the West Indies World Cup team out of fear of being charged by police authorities in India.

ZURICH, (Reuters) – FIFA is planning to take greater  control over international friendlies after a fake Togo team  played in one game in September and seven penalties were awarded  in two matches in Turkey last month.

COLOMBO, (Reuters) – Nitish Kumar has serious  business to attend to during the long rest periods at the  Cricket World Cup — armed with a stack of textbooks and notes,  the Canadian batsman has his high school homework to complete.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Trinidad & Tobago have shifted their fifth round match in the WICB Regional first-class championship against Leeward Islands to the Queen’s Park Oval.

BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, CMC – Officials in St. Kitts & Nevis have hailed the International Cricket Council’s decision to stage a High Performance camp in the island.

PORT-OF-SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Clubs taking part in the Caribbean Football Union’s Champions Cup tournament now know their path to next season’s CONCACAF Champions League.

COLOMBO, (Reuters) – Pakistan’s World Cup  aspirations lie firmly on the shoulders of skipper Shahid Afridi  and once again he came to the rescue as an unthinkable defeat to  Canada yesterday was averted in an eventual 46-run win.

MELBOURNE, (Reuters) – World record-holder David  Rudisha has set his sights on breaking the one minute 40 seconds  barrier in the 800 metres.

LONDON, (Reuters) – England’s shock defeat by  Ireland at the Cricket World Cup was described as the country’s  greatest humiliation by one newspaper on Thursday, as pundits  and headline writers laid into the team with gusto.

TAUNTON, England, CMC – Joel Garner has agreed to become a patron of the Glastonbury Club.

DHAKA, (Reuters) – Ireland’s shock three-wicket  World Cup win over England not only threw Group B wide open but  provided a timely warning that no team can take quarter-final  spots for granted.

(Reuters) – Facts and figures relating to the Group  B World Cup match between Bangladesh and West Indies (0900 GMT)  at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur on Friday.

BANGALORE, (Reuters) – Ireland’s Kevin O’Brien, who  plays his cricket for the Railway Union Club, yesterday stood  head and shoulders above some of the sport’s greatest names  after guiding his country to one of the biggest World Cup shocks  with victory over the old enemy England.

BANGALORE, (Reuters) – England must raise their game  by several notches if they are to stay alive in the World Cup  and Andrew Strauss admitted that unless they stopped “chasing  their tails”, their journey could come to a premature end.

NEW DELHI, (Reuters) – A resurgent West Indies will  have a stronger opposition to try their Plan B when they take on  an ambitious Bangladesh in tomorrow’s World Cup Group B match in  Dhaka.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Chelsea showed by beating  Manchester United that they will not give up the Premier League  title without a fight and Liverpool are likely to be just as  tenacious when they face United at Anfield on Sunday.