Cricket Australia (CA) today announced a partnership with Hampshire Cricket which will see six of Australia’s most talented young cricketers travel to the United Kingdom to attend the Ageas Bowl International Cricket Academy (ABICA).

As part of the program the players will compete for six different club teams in the Southern Electric Premier League for the duration of the English domestic cricket season.

The landmark partnership will provide the selected players with the opportunity to train and play in elite state-of-the-art facilities in England during Australia’s domestic off-season. The players will have access to world-class coaching and sports science and medical staff.

The program and partnership with Hampshire Cricket will form part of the 2013 AIS Men’s Cricket Program and the Kerry Packer Foundation will provide scholarships to the selected players, medicine in its continued endeavour to support young cricketers.

The ABICA is based at the Ageas Bowl which boasts first-class training facilities and is used by Hampshire Cricket to identify and nurture talented young players.

CA’s Executive General Manager Team Performance Pat Howard said the partnership would provide a unique development opportunity for some of Australia’s most talented cricketers.

“CA is very excited about this partnership and opportunity for our very best young players, check ” Howard said.

“The opportunity to experience cricket in a different country will grow them as players and as people. For those chosen it will be an important part of their development.”

Hampshire Cricket Chairman Rod Bransgrove said he was looking forward to Hampshire Cricket playing a key role in the development of the selected players.

“The Ageas Bowl International Cricket Academy commences operations in April of this year and we are delighted that Cricket Australia is sending six high-performing young players to the Academy in its inaugural year, viagra 60mg ” Bransgrove said.

“This shows a high level of confidence and faith in the ABICA facilities and staff and we look forward to working with CA in accelerating the development of these talented young cricketers.”

The National Selection Panel (NSP) are currently finalising the AIS squad and will select six of these players to take up the opportunity with Hampshire Cricket. A final announcement regarding the selected players will be made in due course.

With NFL replacement refereees job being scrutinised the league and representatives for its locked-out referees were negotiating in an effort to end their dispute, according to several people familiar with the talks.

The talks already had been scheduled before Monday night’s controversy, one person said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic.

That person said he didn’t believe the furor would have a significant impact on the negotiations. Talks have been ongoing.

NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and league attorney Jeff Pash were among the participants in Tuesday’s negotiations, another person said.

The league and NFL Referees Association have been at odds over salaries, pensions and non-economic issues. Several people familiar with the negotiations have said in recent days that pensions have emerged as the top issue separating the two sides. The referees have been asking for an annual contribution of $38,500 per official to their pension plan, which the NFL considers too generous for part-time employees, according to one person with knowledge of the talks.

One person familiar with the negotiations said Monday, before the controversy in Seattle, that a deal was unlikely this week but could be within reach next week. But even that was uncertain, the person said.

A former NFL front-office executive said Tuesday he remained skeptical that the public outcry over the missed call Monday night would lead the NFL to make major concessions in the negotiations with the locked-out referees to get them back on the field.

“They are a reactive group,” the former executive said, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the topic. “They do react to what’s on the (television) networks, what’s in the newspapers. But with money, they can dig in. They consider this group they’re dealing with (the referees) to be unreasonable. I don’t think they’ll cave in. They’ll compromise, but they won’t cave in.”

Former NFL offensive lineman Ross Tucker said an erroneous call by the replacements that decided a game was bound to happen sooner or later.

“I think the biggest shame of it is that anybody with half a brain could see this coming,” said Tucker, who played for Washington, Dallas, Buffalo and New England. “If you watched the preseason games, if you watched the first two weeks of regular season games, it was inevitable.”

Tucker said he thinks the controversy could spur a resolution between the league and the regular officials.

“I do think they’ll get something done in the next few days because of the pressure,” Tucker said. “But it’s so frustrating, because why did it have to come to this? This could have been done last week. Maybe the league was hoping this wouldn’t happen, or it wouldn’t be this bad if it did happen. But you could see it coming from a mile away. They could have avoided this train wreck and yet they chose not to.”

Even United States president, Barack Obama deemed the situation “terrible” and declaring it was time to get regular officiating crews back on the job.

“I’ve been saying for months we’ve got to get our refs back,” Obama said as he returned to the White House from an appearance before the United Nations. In a tweet that went out under his initials, Obama said: “NFL fans on both sides of the aisle hope the refs’ lockout is settled soon.”

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The ATP announced they will add a new tournament in Rio de Janeiro in 2014, with SAP Open in San Jose getting the boot.

The San Jose event, the second-oldest men’s professional tennis tournament in the United States, with roots stretching back to 1889, will be held for the final time next February in San Jose.

This did not come as entirely surprising news, given the SAP Open’s struggle to attract top players and sizable crowds in recent years. But it still counted as a jolt in many ways, given the Bay Area’s rich tennis tradition.

“The history and longevity of pro tennis in the Bay Area is definitely something we didn’t take lightly,” said Mike Lehr, executive vice president of business development for Sharks Sports & Entertainment (which owns the tournament). “That’s one reason we’re going to continue to try to find ways to bring tennis to San Jose.”

Lehr was referring to potential exhibition matches, ideally involving some of the sport’s big names.

Sharks Sports & Entertainment will remain involved in the tennis business: It also owned the ATP and WTA (women’s) events in Memphis, Tenn., which it sold to a group taking those tournaments to Brazil. The ATP stop in San Jose, technically, will move to Memphis.

Lehr traced attendance woes in the Bay Area to the limitations of HP Pavilion.

“Part of it was the single court, and having to spread out the tournament a lot differently than in a facility with multiple courts,” Lehr said.

The SAP Open started as the Pacific Coast Championships in 1889, held at the old Del Monte Lodge in Monterey. The tournament has had several homes in the 123 years since then, from the storied Berkeley Tennis Club to San Francisco’s quirky Cow Palace, and ultimately San Jose beginning in 1994.

by Ismail Uddin

The date has been set for the ruling on British Olympic Association’s bylaw for lifetime bans for drugs cheats, scheduled to be heard at the Court of Arbitration (CAS).

CAS announced Monday that the hearing will be held on March 12, with a verdict expected to be issued in April.

Britain, the only country that enforces a life ban, could be forced to drop the rule ahead of the London Olympics if it loses its case before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The BOA filed an appeal to CAS last month, challenging a decision by the World Anti-Doping Agency to declare the British body “noncompliant” with the global anti-doping code.

WADA declared that the BOA’s 20-year-old rule amounted to a second sanction. The British body maintains its bylaw is an eligibility issue.

The BOA’s regulation came under scrutiny after CAS threw out the International Olympic Committee rule that bars athletes who have received drug bans of more than six months from competing in the next games. CAS said the rule amounted to double jeopardy and wasn’t part of the WADA code.

The CAS ruling cleared the way for American 400-meter runner LaShawn Merritt — who completed a 21-month doping ban in July — to defend his Olympic title in London next year.

Among British athletes currently covered by the BOA ban are sprinter Dwain Chambers, who served a two-year ban in the BALCO scandal, and cyclist David Millar, who was suspended for two years after testing positive for EPO.

England and Manchester United defender Rio Ferdinand is also awaiting the outcome of the CAS hearing. He is currently ineligible for the British Olympic team after serving an eight-month ban for failing to show up for a routine doping test in 2004.

“Like every athlete, Rio Ferdinand has the right to appeal,” the BOA said. “Until he has done so successfully, he is not eligible for selection for Team GB.”

The BOA will be represented at the CAS hearing by three lawyers: Tom Cassels, David Pannick and Adam Lewis.

Lewis led the English Football Association’s partially successful appeal last year against Wayne Rooney’s three-match 2012 European Championship ban after he was sent off for kicking an opponent in a qualifying match against Montenegro. UEFA reduced the ban to two games, clearing Rooney to play in England’s final group match.

The inaugural Indian F1 Grand Prix has sold over 20,000 tickets since online and counter sales after opening on 20 August according to Jaypee Sports International (JPSI) which hosts the event.

JPSI joint-president Bipul Pathak, speaking on the sidelines of a media briefing to announce a five year partnership with automobile major Mahindra & Mahindra Ltd, revealed that more than 20,000 tickets had been sold, mostly online.

All tickets priced at Rs 2,500 (about $54) have been sold out, he stated. 

Pathak said: “There is also very good response for the platinum and gold category tickets…a lot of corporates and celebrities are buying them, but we can’t disclose names.

JPSI has tied up with bookmyshow.com for online sales. The 3-day (28-30 October) admission ticket price ranges from Rs 2,500 ($54) to Rs 35,000 ($760) and have been bracketed into six different categories.

In all, 100,000 tickets have been made available for sale for the 120,000 spectator capacity circuit.

The company is targeting Rs 1.5 billion ($32.6 million) in revenues from ticket sales of the race to be held at the Buddh International Circuit (BIC) built with an investment of Rs 17 billion ($370 million).

The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) have announced a deal with China’s largest oil refiner, Sinopec to become a worldwide sponsor in a deal brokered by the IAAF’s worldwide marketing partner, Dentsu.

Sinopec will become the worldwide Official Partner of the IAAF and its World Athletic Series until 2015 in the category of ‘oil and natural gas’. The company is the 7th largest corporation in the Fortune 500 list in 2010.

Sinopec will also directly provide additional financial support to the IAAF for its Continental Programme along with Samsung and Adidas. This recent initiative has been introduced to support IAAF’s Area Associations and Member Federations with the sponsorship of IAAF Official Partners.

Sinopec has a recent history in the athletics world having been title sponsor of the IAAF/Sinopec World Half Marathon Championships and an official partner of the IAAF/VTB Bank Continental Cup, which were held in Nanning, China, and Split, Croatia respectively.

The IAAF now has seven confirmed Official Partners for the 2011 World Championships, Daegu, Korea (27 Aug to 4 Sep) with the deal providing further evidence of the internationalisation of the IAAF’s sponsorship portfolio.

President Lamine Diack said: “In our pursuit in growing the excellence of the sport of Athletics in all continents of the world, I am delighted to be associated with such a prestigious partner, especially with the staging of two out of our next three World Championships in the continent of Asia. I am sure that Sinopec will add a lot of value to the world athletics family and this partnership will go a long way to strengthen our presence in China and Asia.”

The International Rugby Board (IRB) has announced today that Portugal will be the host for the 2015 IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy, taking place across two venues in Lisbon.

The Federação Portuguesa de Rugby (FPR) put together an inviting bid for the event with this year’s event hosted in Hong Kong earlier this month.

With support of local government, along with the backing of the Portuguese Olympic Committee, the FPR’s mission is to grow Rugby participation and profile in a nation where Rugby is beginning to take off again.

Two venues 30 minutes apart will host matches. The National Sports Centre of Jamor and Lisbon University Stadium will be used for the pool stage with the final round of matches being held at the Jamor complex. The venue, which is currently undergoing a renovation of the main stand, will host 7,000 fans.

IRB Head of Competitions and Performance Mark Egan said: “Since its inception in 2008, the JWRT has established itself as an important development tournament for young players from emerging Unions. More than 170 of them have gone on to represent their country at senior level demonstrating the JWRT’s role as a finishing school for top players.”

“It’s great to see Portugal continuing to make positive progress at Fifteens and Sevens. The FPR put together a great bid with some exciting opportunities to promote the tournament and grow the Game in Portugal. I have no doubt they will host an excellent tournament next year.”

“We are particularly pleased that games will be hosted at the National Sports Centre of Jamor. That facility, which is used as the high-performance centre for Portugal’s national teams, has been renovated thanks in part to a significant contribution by the IRB under our strategic investment programme.”

President of the FPR Carlos Amado da Silva said: “The awarding of the hosting rights for the IRB Junior World Rugby Trophy 2015 is a huge encouragement for us and another great opportunity to emphasise our ability to organise such events. We are delighted to have earned the IRB’s trust and are excited at the possibility to stage such an important event.

“This tournament is probably the most important Rugby event to be organised in Portugal… The enthusiasm with which government and local officials have supported this initiative and the growing passion of our youth for this fantastic Game are also good indicators for the success of this tournament.”

“The FPR is grateful for the confidence shown by the IRB and we will do everything possible to justify the choice of Portugal as proud hosts of the Junior World Rugby Trophy 2015.”

Infront Sports & Media, professional ed the international sports marketing company, buy has been appointed as “Official Hospitality Agent for the 2015 Rugby World Cup” by Rugby Travel & Hospitality Ltd. 

Under the agreement, purchase Infront France will offer hospitality services that cover the best seats across 13 stadiums and all matches of the 2015 Rugby World Cup, which will take place in England from 18 September to 31 October 2015.

The appointment is part of an ongoing development strategy for Infront’s hospitality portfolio and services in France. The company is already “Official Hospitality Agency” of the Stade de France until 2015.

Andrew Burton, Chief Executive of Rugby Travel & Hospitality, said “We are delighted with the appointment of Infront Sports & Media as an Official Hospitality Agent for Rugby World Cup 2015. France is a key territory for us with thousands of companies expected to make the short trip to England to enjoy Official Hospitality in 2015. The appointment of hospitality agents in France is designed to ensure French companies can secure their place at what will be the biggest sporting event of the year.”

Jean-François Jeanne, Managing Director of Infront France: “We thank Rugby Travel & Hospitality Ltd. for their confidence in Infront to support the 2015 Rugby World Cup through its strong network and experience in premium hospitality sales. French companies will be offered great onsite opportunities, when the Rugby World Cup returns to English soil next year.”