Diamond League back with a bang as Gatlin strikes first in the 100m battle for supremacy

Formerly disgraced USA sprinter Gatlin has been in sparkling form since his return last year from a doping ban. This win cements his place as Bolt’s number one rival for gold at the World Championships

The outdoor athletics season began with a sparkling curtain raiser in the diamond league in Doha. Justin Gatlin was in ominous form running an outstanding personal best 9.74! He has been extremely confident while hyping his pursuit of dethroning Usain Bolt in the world championships later this summer, and tonight certainly lived up to the hype becoming the fourth fastest man in history. On this form people will have to start believing he may well achieve the unthinkable regardless of their views on his doping past; while looking so strong and in the best shape of his life surely there is more to come. The rest of the field including Briton James Dasaulou were almost left in a different race as they managed only to chase Gatlin’s shadow with just fellow USA athlete Rodgers also managing to break 10 seconds.

In an incredible triple jump competition containing USA’s Olympic champion Taylor and the talented Frenchman Tamgho, two men broke the magic 18 meter barrier for the first time in history. It was unfancied Cuban Pichardo who took the victory by just two centimetres from Taylor jumping a fantastic 18.06. This is the 3rd longest jump in history and indicates that Jonathan Edwards’ 20 year old world record may finally come under threat by the end of the summer.

Jasmine Stowers looked to continue her astonishing early season form in the 100 m hurdles alongside Olympic champion Sally Pearson, who along with Dawn Harper-Nelson and Queen Harrison gave the field a major final feel . It was the USA prodigy Stowers who destroyed the field to achieve the fastest diamond league race ever in 12.35, she has burst onto the scene since graduating in 2014 improving at a rapid rate. Britain’s Tiffany Porter ran extremely well to take third place ahead of Olympic champion Pearson in her season’s opener.

Olympic champion Alyson Felix won the 200 m in a field containing in form Ahoure from Ivory Coast along with Anthonique Strachan from the Bahamas. Young British athlete Bianca Williams ran in a world-class Field from lane one hoping to make a mark but struggled in such strong company. Ahoure attacked the bend well but as they came into the home straight Felix managed to pull away from her dipping under the line in a strong time of 21.98 seconds.

Beshawn Jackson rolled back the years once again in the 400 m hurdles running the fastest time of the year by more than one whole second. Jackson who was last world champion as long as 10 years ago, has been in sparkling form this season and looks a real threat for gold at the world Championships later this year in Beijing. He dismantled a world-class field including Olympic champion Sanchez as well as second placed Javier Culson; fast finishing Briton Jack Green made a great comeback to world-class athletics by coming fourth from lane 1. This was a great performance after his recent absence from the sport with a stress related illness and signals his return to the world stage.

It was a night of shocks in Doha beginning in the 1500 m women’s race when youngster Seyaum ran a great race and won in a surprise result with a world leading 4.00.96. The men’s 800 m race followed suit as favourite and world champion Aman started much too slowly and was made to pay as he was beat by Souleiman. Aman left himself far much too much to do resulting in him finding himself boxed at the back of the field, ending up in eighth. It was a great race between Kenyan pair Cheruiyot and Kipketer for second with an impressive winning time of 1.43.78, just outside of the meeting record. The shocks continued in the women’s 400m as McCrory shocked the field winning in 50.21. The favourite Sanya Richards Ross ran a poorly constructed race after initially looking comfortable coming into the last hundred meters; Richards Ross obviously went off too fast as she tied up terribly and McCorory powered to a statement making victory.

In the final race of the night Mo Farah suffered a rare defeat running the 3000m in a stellar field. Gebrhiwet from Ethiopia took the surprise win when Farah’s tactics backfired  when a breakaway group managed to escape his grasp with a lap to go. Farah responded very well but it was too late and he came up two meters short finishing second.

Kevin Pietersen: Is IPL killing test cricket

Just over a year has passed since the fateful ashes tour in which England were embarrassed, with the team subsequently at war and Kevin Pietersen banished from international cricket. This led to the controversial autobiography that lifted the lid on the tour and gave an insight to the public on politics involved. The KP book has divided opinion of pundits and the general public, it has been at times honest, open, vindictive and outrageous. The book has served its purpose telling his story while also being near the knuckle promoting sales and discussion aplenty. While the main headlines to emerge from the book have surrounded KPs ego and the battle he faced with Flower’s ‘regime of fear’; one telling subplot to emerge from his ramblings is the place of the IPL and its effect on what was the worlds number one cricketing nation at the time of its emergence, both in test and shorter forms of cricket. With the new emergence of 20/20 cricket tournaments in the Caribbean and more recently with the big bash in Australia being a roaring success it would seem that this may be a more common occurrence moving forwards.

In a world setting, the IPL runs alongside that of the test game. Teams such as the West Indies have many players who are household names in the shorter formats headed by greats such as Chris Gayle. As a nation in test cricket they are not at the top level any longer and when the conflict between whether to play test cricket for the West Indies or IPL has arisen there has been only one winner creating meaningless test matches. This takes away from the test game as no longer are the nations fielding their strongest sides all year round. While the IPL lasts just a few months, this could be manageable with less important ‘development test series’ perhaps occurring around that time of the year. However with the Big Bash and the Caribbean 20/20 competitions emerging it is becoming more likely that there will soon be franchise 20/20 cricket all year round leading to players having to make the choice; this endangers the test game as barring the very top series among the top teams such as the Ashes and high profile tours in South Africa or India, players will likely chase the wealth and excitement of the franchise game.

Gayle has become a main attraction of 20/20 all over the world and rarely plays in test cricket

As the IPL emerged and began to ingrain itself at the top of the cricket calendar, England as a team were developing slowly into the best team in world cricket across all three forms of the game but specifically in the test arena, which at the time was still thought of as perhaps the most prestigious. Between 2009 and 2011 England battled their way up the rankings to number one by summer 2011. After regaining the ashes in summer 2009, they went unbeaten in a test series until early 2012 beating Australia home and away together with India, while drawing a series away in South Africa in the process. England were also crowned 20/20 world champions in 2010 during what was a golden era of English cricket. While a team is successful, cracks and personal differences can be papered over but as we’ve now found throughout this period, tension was growing in England’s world beating team developing from such issues as egos and the effect of participation in the IPL.

England were on top of the world after victory in the 2011 Ashes tour in Australia. Tension was bubbling among the camp but in a winning team differences can be put aside.

In wider terms the emergence of the IPL could influence people’s goals in cricket and could signal a shift in how young cricketers grow up. For generations young cricketers have practiced from a young age wanting to don the baggy green of Australia or to get themselves on the lords honours board; with the new found wealth of the IPL it could be the case that fame and fortune begins to overtake such pure dreams in the game. The pinnacle may no longer be ashes victory or World Cup winners and may merely be to play in the IPL and earn millions.

Together with wealth and goals in the game, the emergence of the IPL also brings with it a whole new breed of cricketer. Test cricket has long relied on its great sides containing a great variety of styles each contributing to its success. With the pendulum swinging very much in the direction of twenty twenty cricket, certain styles of cricketer are to become marginalised. In test cricket greats such as at Atherton and Gower were celebrated for their ability to stay at the crease all day, accumulating runs while frustrating the opposition, in the modern era Trott and Cook have filled these roles to incredible effect resulting in England becoming the best test side in world cricket. This role is not one that is compatible with the pace and excitement of twenty twenty cricket, leaving great players only suitable to one form of the game. The theater of the 6 hitting and fast bowling yorkers has begun to eclipse the traditional innings builders in the purist’s sense of the game. Far more one day and 20/20 styles of cricket are played now than those of the test game; In years gone by players such as Alistair Cook would’ve been celebrated as being at the very top of the game. Regardless of people’s opinions of his captaincy, Cook enjoys an amazing record at a young age and is on course to become the most successful test batsmen ever to play for England. With such media focus and column inches dedicated now on the shorter forms of the game, in which he is less successful, he is not a celebrated as maybe he should be.

Returning to England’s demise, one thing that has been identified by KP is that there was a sense of bullying in the camp. It has been suggested that one of the camps/cliques that was most intimidating was the bowlers. While from KP’s point of view the bowlers could be hostile and bully new England players, there have been murmurings of how KP s ego was evident around the camp and how he may have flashed his money around after receiving his riches gained after being drafted for £1.4m. Obviously this is opinion based and the players egos will lead to them all trying to shift any blame. It can be suggested that this may have been one of the major turning points to the break down in the England test cricket camp. The timing of the IPL is very interesting when assessing why problems and a battle of egos may have occurred. At the time that KP was drafted as a top draft in the IPL for £1.4million, England’s test team were set to encounter a home test series against the West Indies. This series boasted little relevance in the grand scheme of things and the West Indies were depleted themselves by the IPL; the results would tell us little about England’s progress as a result.

Pietersen captained his side in the IPL rubbing shoulders the global stars of the game such as Shane Warne, making £1.4m in doing so.

There were players in the England camp including Swann, Broad and Anderson who were keep to play in the IPL but went undrafted while players more familiar in the short forms game such as Morgan and Pietersen were drafted. During the 8 week period those taking part in the IPL would receive their draft fee as wages for the participation in the series whereas those undrafted would merely pick up their central England contractual wage and play more days of cricket in a throwaway test series while the crust of the world best players shone in the red hot spotlight of the IPL.

Anderson, Broad and Swann were at the time 3 of the world top ten test bowlers and had been blowing teams away and cementing their place at the very top of the games test bowling attacks. In addition they were part of a successful England 20/20 team that would go on to win the World Cup, with Swann arguably the best twenty twenty spin bowler in the world. For them to be playing in a throwaway series while KP, a player who himself was a world beater with the bat but seen as an equal In The England team, earned 1.4million for 8 weeks work, was always likely to create tension.

At the time of the IPL launch if there was one man who was perfect for the IPL it was Kevin Pietersen. His brash, creative and highly aggressive game was perfect to thrill the crowds and his larger than life personality only adds to the spectacle. While it is no fault of KP himself that he was such a hot commodity for IPL teams, it is almost human nature that those bowlers who feel at his level, even if less suitable for the IPL perhaps, would feel jealous not to be involved. This is something that is manageable when times are good and teams are winning, however as with any negative results or if KP began to fail, cracks start to emerge and this was a seed of conflict that could rip any dressing room apart.

With different forms of the game now meaning lots of a different cricketer styles needed for each nation, and as a result massive personnel  changes between each form, there are larger, and to a certain extend less bonded cricket teams than ever before. Conflict is more rife and with the new found wealth available in the game, ego and selfish play is at an all time high. While the IPL has created a great attraction to the viewers and sponsors, its impact on test cricket, the form in which international competition is most revered, has been disastrous. With a team as good as the England team mentioned being ripped apart from within together with the growing tendency of many cricketers to abandon their nations’ test tours in order to chase wealth in the shorter game franchises, test cricket is in quick decline. While not setting out to directly, the IPL and future franchise led competitions such as the Big Bash are destroying test cricket.

Fight of the century: Do the trainers hold the key extra few percent?

On Saturday night the fight that the people have been hoping to see for five years finally makes its way to the Las Vegas strip and into millions of homes across the globe. Dubbed The fight of the century, the two participants are two of the most decorated boxers of all time, dominating a plethora of weight classes over two decades. Mayweather is undefeated 47 and 0 and is regarded as a defensive genius. He has fought world-class boxers continuously, throughout his career and has always managed to adapt his fighting style in such a way that he has managed to eventually dominate nearly every opponent has ever faced.

With Mayweather’s career being one of such dominance, some may ask why this fight has so much hype and intrigue; what makes this fight different? The reason is that Pacquiao has been identified for years as the man who possesses the lightning in and out fighting style that has the ability to finally end Mayweather’s run.

Whereas Floyd is known more for his sublime efficiency, with the amount of times he’s been duly troubled in his career or even hit cleanly able to be counted on a mere single hand, Manny is an entertainer. He is slight in frame and stature but has outstanding hand speed and a ferocious power punch which has sent crowds into raptures all over the world. He takes far more risks than Mayweather and has been duly punished in the past indicated by the five losses in his career. He has avenged all of these defeats and there is not a contender on the planet he has not beaten, returning from each loss a stronger more rounded fighter.

With the two boxers being known pound for pound as two of the top boxers ever to grace the planet, a fight like this will be won with margins as fine as an extra one or two percent either way distinguishing the fights victor. There is no disputing that these two men have been pound for pound the best fighters on the planet for the last decade so this fight signals the end of an era; it determines once and for all who is the best fighter of their generation.

In addition to speed and punching power, one of the main reasons that Pacquiao is attributed to having the chance to beat Mayweather is due to him possessing one of the best trainers of all time in his corner, Freddie Roach. Roach and Pacquiao have a relationship that the depicts that of a father and son, they have been together since the beginning and have a bond like no other partnership around. This fight is the one that Roach has always wanted, it is the fight that will cement his place in the folklore of boxing as the legendary trainer who slayed Mayweather. Since this fight was first talked about five long years ago, Roach has always been gearing his fighter towards a style allowing him to one day be the one that ended Mayweather’s flawless journey. It has become an obsession and Roach is supremely confident that he has the plan to succeed.

In contrast to their opponents the Mayweather camp has always been a family run affair. Coached by both his uncle Roger and after a few years of absence now once again his father, Floyd Mayweather Snr is the man who heads Mayweather’s Corner. Both of these men were good boxers in their own respect, and the Mayweather’s are a family that knows boxing inside out. Mayweather has lived and breathed boxing since being just a young boy and has natural talent like not many ever to grace boxing.

It is often debated that despite having such a great coaching upbringing with his family, Floyd is a self taught phenomenon. He uses his brain in order to adapt to any fighting style within 4 to 5 rounds before picking off his opponents and winning in a dominant fashion. However, it has been many years since he has faced somebody of the class of  Pacquiao who may actually be the first fighter he believes could beat him in a long time.  In terms of tactics and how the fighters are being coached in the lead up to the fight, it is extremely possible that this is the area the vital one or two percent advantage is gained. With the fighters so well matched in terms of skill and success, the decisions made by the trainers could determine which fighter ends up on top.

While Floyd senior is a very respected coach and a hugely respected boxing man, there have always been some doubts over his training ability. In fact when when previously coming up against his adversary in this fight, Freddie Roach, he has a losing record. Floyd has actually been in the corner of Ricky Hatton when fighting against Pacquiao under the tutelage of Roach. In that fight it has always been thought that Hatton went in with a game plan which resembled suicide and played to the strengths of Pacquiao by rushing in with his chin exposed, resulting in a second round knockout.  Roach in contrast has been lauded for some great tactical decisions throughout his career when preparing fighters for unique challenges; in the build up to this fight if you directly compare the two coaches records in direct competition you would have to say that history indicates that has Pacquiao has the trainer with the better record. Some may argue that this is the extra one percent that could edge the fight in the favour of Pacquiao.

In direct contrast to this opinion you could instead argue that Roach has indeed lost already when training a fighter to fight against Mayweather in the past. He took a fighter who was on top of the world at the time Oscar De La Hoya, and came up short against the undefeated star. The effects of this could be analysed in two ways, firstly Mayweather will have gained confidence by the fact that Roach has tried before with a world-class fighter to stop his great rise to prominence, and failed! Though it could instead be argued that Roach has extra incentive and determination to write the wrong in his career that was losing Floyd Mayweather, giving his training methods extra bite in the build up to this contest.

Roach deserves credit for how he has managed to build Pacquiao back to his best performances, since being his  surprising brutal knock out by Marquez in recent years. This now may serve as a blessing in disguise for Pacquiao who as a result has less pressure and knows how it feels to lose such a big fight. He is as a result the underdog, a tag he enjoyed so much when stunning De La Hoya earlier in his career, and will feel less pressure in having less to lose and therefore more free to fight in a risky style. Mayweather is undefeated, has never been hurt and has never experienced how to come back from a set back. He has everything to lose and as a result will surely take less risks. If Pacquiao has Mayweather in trouble in this fight Floyd will have no experience from which to draw and it’s how he deals with this that may determine the winner. Floyd senior is seen as a great defensive coach but if Mayweather finds himself in trouble and needs to attack, his aggressive skill training will be under the microscope as it rarely has been before. Roach in contrast likes to pride his coaching on a fast paced artack from a variety of different angles and stances. Roach you would think holds the advantage in attacking tactics, with Floyd Senior the defensive. 

It’s important to consider when looking at the teams that Mayweather’s uncle Roger cannot be underestimated. While Floyd Senior will be named as the corner trainer a lot of Mayweather’s success of the past decade sits in the hands of his uncle Roger. Therefore to make clear conclusions over the fight based on any advantage that Roach may feel he holds over Floyd Snr may be misguided when he is preparing to beat Floyd junior.

The two trainers have been very hostile toward one another in the build up, more so that the fighters themselves, it will be interesting to find whether this has any effect over chosen tactics for the fight. Indications could be read that Floyd Snr is less than 100 percent confident going into the fight, he indicated that he believes ‘this should be Mayweather’s last fight’, in total contrast Roach is oozing confidence saying quite simply that ‘we’re gonna kick his ass’.
The trainers are just one of the subplots in what will be an incredible specatcle. When analysing their effect on this fight and confidence that is being shown, one would have to come to the conclusion that Roach holds an advantage over Floyd Snr. It would however be foolish to overlook that Mayweather has much more control over his training that any major fighter in the past and has done for a long time. While he may be seen to have the weaker trainer by some he more than makes up for it with his in fight intelligence and experience of having always got the job done in the past. We look forward to a fascinating fight.