Monty Panesar, the left-arm spinner of Northamptonshire, will become the 29th if he impresses Duncan Fletcher and Michael Vaughan during the opening two weeks of England’s tour of India and gains selection for the first Test on 1 March. These are the lucky ones, the young cricketers who have been identified as potential England stars, and given the chance to develop their skills with many of the leading coaches in the game. There are 55 names on the imposing wooden structure that dominates the entrance to the England and Wales Cricket Board’s state-of-the-art indoor school. The honours board at the National Academy at Loughborough University is filling up. It will finish on the Mall, the ceremonial avenue leading to Buckingham Palace.
“When the Grand D?rt gets here next summer, it will receive the biggest welcome from the fastest-growing cycling city in Europe,” said the Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone.A day later, the riders will travel out of London through the city’s financial district to Kent and finish approximately 200km (125m) away in the historic cathedral city of Canterbury.* Roberto Heras plans to appeal against the Spanish Cycling Federation’s decision to ban him for two years and strip him of last year’s Vuelta title after he tested positive for a performance-enhancing drug.. The 8km (5m) prologue on 7 July – on the second anniversary of last year’s terrorist bombings – will also pass the Houses of Parliament and Hyde Park.
The opening stage of the 2007 Tour de France to be held in London will start on Whitehall, near Trafalgar Square and the Prime Minister’s Downing Street residence, before finishing on the Mall. The Disciplinary Panel has asked that additional enquiries be made by both parties to assist them further in considering this matter.”Chris McGrathNap: Ever Present(Ayr 2.40)NB: Garlogs(Wolverhampton 2.20). The Jockey Club later released a statement which said: “The enquiry has been adjourned to a date to be fixed. This is not a slow horse, even though he stayed well on the Flat He’d be too keen to get two and a half miles over hurdles. You need that kind of speed for the Triumph, but we know that he stays as well.”* Champion jockey Jamie Spencer’s disciplinary hearing under the ‘non-triers’ rule, concerning a race at Southwell in November, was adjourned yesterday morning. “I can’t say I thought this was his track, but he showed how much pace he hasout there.
His temperament is perfect, I’m not worried about that at all. But he is quite buzzy, and I’ll be very glad to back off him for a fortnight now.”Afsoun was blowing pretty hard, too, suggesting that Henderson – who has already won the Triumph Hurdle three times, with Alone Success, First Bout and Katarino – had indeed been concentrating primarily on the horse’s mental preparation “We have left a bit to work on,” he said. Horses don’t come with instructions, as a rule, but this is one that does. This flat, sharp circuit could hardly be more different from Cheltenham, but he won round there in November, too, and Coral now make him 11-2 favourite for the JCB Triumph Hurdle, from 7-1.”We did think long and hard about the ground,” Henderson said “But I didn’t dare wait another week.
