Paul Downton, a former wicket-keeper for England, has replaced Hugh Morris as Managing Director of English Cricket and will begin his role on 1 February 2014.

Downton represented England in 30 Test Matches between 1981 and 1988  and 28 One Day Internationals with more than half his Test Matches were against the powerful West Indies team of the 1980s . He played in both the 1981 and 1985 Ashes winning series, the 1984/5 series win in India and the Cricket World Cup Final in 1987 in Kolkata.

He is a qualified coach and since retiring from cricket he has been an active member of the Middlesex, ECB Cricket and MCC Committees and forged a successful career in the City with HSBC, Cazenove and JP Morgan.

ECB Chief Executive David Collier said : “Paul’s record of success both on and off the field made him the outstanding candidate to replace Hugh Morris. His experience of a World Cup Final, Ashes success, six County Championship wins and 58 international appearances for England provides a wealth of cricket experience. His background in law when coupled with his experience in the City provides the unique set of skills which is required to lead and manage the England Cricket Department’ s £100 million budget over the next 4 years.Paul will inherit a thriving Team England operation which has been exceptionally well led by Hugh Morris and the ECB wishes Hugh every success in his new role at Glamorgan CCC.”

Paul Downton added: “I am honoured to have been offered this position and the trust which the ECB has placed in me to lead our national teams. Since retiring from the game I have taken a close interest in both County and International cricket and I am excited by the challenge of building on the success which England teams have enjoyed at all levels in recent years.

“My discussions during the appointment process with the Chairman, Chief Executive, the England Team Director and One Day coach have provided me with a clear vision of the importance attached to this role and I look forward to forging close and successful working relationships with my new colleagues at ECB. Finally I would like to thank J P Morgan Cazenove who have been a terrific company to work for during the past 17 years and I wish the company and all my colleagues every success in the future.”

Rome is gearing up for another attempt to bid for the 2024 Olympics, viagra according to the Associated Press.

After a brutal last minute scrapping of the 2020 bid in February of this year, clinic Rome Mayor Gianni Alemanno spoke out in the press that they need to get ready for 2017 when the 2024 bids will be decided by the IOC. 

Rome’s bid, allergy led by IOC member and then IOC vice-president, Mario Pescante, fell out of the race the day before the deadline for submissions due to a lack of government support. 

Italian Prime Minister Mario Monti was not able to give the bid the government guarantees required by the IOC for the campaign.

Italy, like Spain, has been hit by an economic crisis and they bid was seen as a catalyst to jump start the economy if they could win. Spain is bidding Madrid and following the same plan, winning the Olympics would be a big boost to the lagging economy.

Kuwait told the International Olympic Committee (IOC) today it’s political interference in sport institutions will end.

Kuwait has been suspended from the IOC since 2010. The IOC said in May Kuwaiti athletes could participate at the games, but would compete and march in the opening ceremony under the Olympic flag.

IOC spokeswoman Sandrine Tonge said Monday the suspension was “conditionally lifted” after Kuwait ruler Sheik Sabah Al Ahmad Al Sabah pledged autonomy for the country’s Olympic committee and promised new legislation for institutions governing sports.

They will be allowed to hoist their national flag and have the Kuwaiti National Anthem playing alongside it.

Kuwait is sending 11 athletes to the London 2012 Olympics which start on July 27.

Andy Murray, Britain’s tennis number 1, has starred in a new short film created by racquet partner, Head Tennis, which has been launched on YouTube and Facebook. 

The viral is named ‘Get Closer’, and is the first part of Head’s unique Facebook campaign enabling fans to interact with the Scot Murray throughout the Wimbledon championships. 

The new viral depicts a fictional day in the life of Andy Murray – following the tennis star at home, on the court and even in the shower as he interacts with his fans who give him a giant Facebook ‘like’.

Head Tennis has invited fans to watch the Get Closer film online on its Facebook page, where they can ‘like’ the page in order to gain access to exclusive content, special prizes and Andy’s tweets throughout Queens and Wimbledon.

Murray will then select his favourite cheers and personalised messages to be emblazoned on the tennis racquet bag he takes out onto centre court during the tournament. 

Johan Eliasch, CEO of Head N.V. said: “Using digital and social media in HEAD’s brand communication, we want to bring our consumers and our athletes closer together in an emotional and fun way. 

“We are proud to be partnering with Andy on such a unique campaign during the most prestigious tournament in the tennis calendar.”

Andy Murray added: “The viral was great fun to make and there are plenty of random characters that crop up throughout, I definitely haven’t had too many days like that! In the lead-up to and during Wimbledon it really means a lot to me to have support and encouragement, it makes a big difference on the court.”

The British Olympic Association (BOA) and Brazil Olympic Committee (COB), whose cities are organising the next two summer Games, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) after agreeing to work more closely and identifying areas of mutual cooperation.

BOA chairman Colin Moynihan and COB President Carlos Nuzman signed the agreement after claiming that they were uniquely positioned to enter into a strategic partnership to mutually benefit sports and athletes from both nations.

Under the terms of the MoU, the Committees will share information and best practice in a range of areas, including sharing information about facilities, training conditions, venues and other key information about sport performance, working on preparation camps before London 2012 and Rio 2016 and assist each other and in particular certain member National Federations (NF) of sports in preparations for the next two Games.

Additionally, they will work together to facilitate the establishment of strategic partnerships and operational assistance between the countries NFs, sharing best practice and collaborating with each other in relevant performance and administration issues in relation to London 2012 and Rio 2016.

Moynihan stated: “I am delighted that we have signed a Memorandum to reflect the strong spirit of cooperation and collaboration we enjoy with our counterparts in Brazil.

“The next six years will undoubtedly be the most exciting and ambitious period in both our organisations’ histories and there will be many opportunities to share advice and best practice for the ultimate benefit of our athletes and sports.

“As the host National Olympic Committee for London 2012, the BOA’s primary focus is to ensure the success of Team GB at London 2012 whilst creating a legacy infrastructure for success in Rio 2016 and beyond.

“[This] agreement will help greatly towards achieving this objective.”

International Olympic Committee (IOC) have announced today that IOC Vice-President John Coates will be the Chairman of the Coordination Commission for the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Frank Fredericks was also elected as Chairman of the Coordination Commission for the 3rd Summer Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires for 2018.

Coates and Fredericks will lead two experienced teams of commission members, drug also named today, anabolics who will be responsible for assisting their respective local Organising Committees as they prepare for their editions of the Games. The members of the Coordination Commissions represent the stakeholders of the Olympic Movement, including the athletes, the National Olympic Committees, International Sports Federations, and the International Paralympic Committee, and act as a link between them, the Organising Committees and other Olympic Movement stakeholders, thereby ensuring the coordination necessary to help deliver successful editions of the Games.

IOC President Thomas Bach also decided that Arne Ljungqvist, Gerhard Heiberg and Hein Verbruggen will continue in their roles as chairmen of the Medical Commission, Marketing Commission and OBS, respectively, until after the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games to ensure continuity in the preparations. The terms of all three had been set to expire after the IOC Session in Buenos Aires. 

The members of the Coordination Commission for the Games of the XXXII Olympiad – Tokyo 2020 are as follows:

Chairman
John COATES

Vice-Chair
Alex GILADY

Members (in alphabetical order)
Sebastian COE (ANOC)
Mikaela COJUANGCO-JAWORSKI
Kirsty COVENTRY (Athletes’ Commission)
Anita DEFRANTZ
Guy DRUT
Habu GUMEL
Nicole HOEVERTSZ
Robin MITCHELL
Lydia NSEKERA
Andrew PARSONS (IPC)
Irena SZEWINSKA
Marius VIZER (ASOIF)
Zaiqing YU

The members of the Coordination Commission for the 3rd Summer Youth Olympic Games – Buenos Aires 2018 are as follows:

Chairman
Frank FREDERICKS

Members (in alphabetical order)
Danka BARTEKOVA (Athletes’ Commission)
Lingwei LI
Barry MAISTER
Henry NÚÑEZ (ANOC)
Adham SHARARA (ASOIF)

Gold Coast are set to host the 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships after the State Government and the city council reached an agreement to spilt the $41 million cost to redevelop the Gold Coast Aquatic Centre.

The last time Queensland hosted the world-renowned event was in 1987, in Brisbane.

The redevelopment will be completed in time for the Commonwealth Games, dousing speculation the swimming events might be held in Brisbane.

The Bulletin understands the Gold Coast City Council will hand over the first funding instalment before the State Government matches it.

It will see the pool more than double its capacity from 170,000 visits to 400,000 a year.

The project will include a new 10-lane, 50m competition pool, new learn-to-swim pool, elevated spectator concourse-viewing terrace, new change rooms, gym and toilet facilities, community meeting rooms, event facilities, permanent seating for 1000 people and refurbishment of the existing eight-lane, 50m pool and dive pool.

Commonwealth Games Minister Jann Stuckey, said: “This is a wonderful win for the Gold Coast and demonstrates how the Newman Government and Gold Coast City Council are working together to deliver this upgrade ahead of schedule.

“The 2014 Pan Pacific Swimming Championships will provide a great opportunity to showcase the Gold Coast, as well as bringing significant economic benefit to the city and the state.

“It has been more than 25 years since the Pan Pacs were held in Queensland and, thanks to this bipartisan collaboration, we will have the opportunity to highlight our expertise in hosting world-class sporting events ahead of the 2018 Commonwealth Games.”

Cr Tate said today’s announcement would bring confidence to Gold Coasters that the 2018 Commonwealth Games would deliver “significant legacy infrastructure” for the city. The project would deliver 350 jobs, he said.

“Moving the project forward for the Pan Pacs will also ensure we have world-class training facilities available for our elite swimming and diving squads for their preparations ahead of the 2016 Brazil Olympics and the 2018 Games,” he said.

“It also means the new facilities will be reopened to our community much sooner than originally scheduled.”

The State Government called for registrations of interest late last month from 26 contractors to undertake the redevelopment work.

A shortlist of builders will be invited to tender for the project and public consultation will take place in coming months.

Construction is likely to start in February 2013 and take around 16 months. The new Gold Coast Aquatic Centre will open to the community in Spring 2014 following the Pan Pacific Swimming Championships.

The Independent revealed that the government were informed of concerns regarding G4S’s capacity to provide security in a confidential report as early as September last year. However, the Home Secretary, Theresa May, told the House of Commons on Thursday that the problems had not become apparent until the previous day. She said: “We were receiving reassurances from G4S until very recently, and the absolute gap in numbers was crystallised finally only yesterday.”

Hunt told BBC1’s The Andrew Marr Show: “”We, of course, have been monitoring the situation at G4S. Their management told us right up until last week that everything was on track. The moment that they didn’t, we put in place a contingency plan.”

He added: “G4S have been quite honourable. They have put their hands up. Nick Buckles, the chief executive, has said they got it wrong, they have apologised, they are going to cover all the costs, he has apologised to the troops who are going to be drafted in at the last moment.” 

“I think it is completely normal that you are going to find some contractors on a project of this size who aren’t able to deliver what they have promised.”

The Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) has teamed up with its official statistics and information partner Thomson Reuters to bring all the action from the forthcoming grass court tournaments via an exclusive app suitable for iphone, blackberry and android devices.

The app is free of charge to download and will be launched today, providing live scores, results, breaking news, action and latest player shots, as well as videos from ahead of three major events this summer, kicking off with the AEGON Championships and the AEGON Classic on June 6.

Robert Schukai, Global Head, Mobile Technology at Thomson Reuters said: “We are the world’s leading source of intelligent information for businesses and professionals. Be it on a trading floor, in a law firm or in this case on a tennis court, our mission is to deliver the right information into the right hands at the right times. That’s why we’re proud of our partnership with the LTA in our role as official statistics and information partner.

“We want to help tennis fans stay well informed throughout the British Tennis Series with news, live scores, and video, so once again we’re pleased to have worked very closely with the LTA to develop this year’s British Tennis app for use on mobile devices. We think it will help tennis fans get even more enjoyment from this wonderful series of tournaments.”

Bruce Philipps, LTA Communications and Commercial Director added: “It’s really exciting to be able to offer this app once again so our fans can receive up to the minute information from all three of our AEGON grass court tournaments.

“It demonstrates the LTA’s commitment to technology in the digital age. It is a great opportunity for us to link with fans and players alike, and offers the public a free way to keep up to speed with all the action of our British players at the key pre-Wimbledon events this summer.”

A 14-year partnership between UK Athletics (UKA), the governing body for athletics, and commercial partner Fast Track is to end after the latter were informed that its existing contract will not be renewed at the end of the indoor season next March.

UKA is moving the organisation and commercial responsibility for the sport’s flagship televised events in-house during the build-up to the London 2012 Olympics and will take over the running of the country’s major events from the summer of 2012, including the Diamond League meeting at Crystal Palace, using its own in-house team which it plans to set-up over the course of the next year.

Fast Track, which is now part of the Chime Communication group, has previously organised the televised domestic meetings on behalf of the governing body as well as securing new commercial and television partners and servicing existing clients.

A UKA spokeswoman stated: “We have been towards this point for several years. We are very grateful for the work that Fast Track have done for the sport since 1998 and we will part on good and amicable terms.”

UKA also stated that the decision to bring the organisation of the top meetings in-house will save the governing body “a substantial amount.”

Jon Ridgeon, the managing director of Fast Track, added: “We’re disappointed but we understand the change in philosophy in UKA and we’re proud of what we’ve done for them.”