Sports

-Arum to find another opponent for Pacquiao MIAMI (Reuters) – World champion Manny Pacquiao’s promoter  Bob Arum will choose another opponent for the Filipino fighter  after failing to reach a deal for the WBO welterweight title  bout with American Floyd Mayweather.

By Marlon Munroe As is the case with the brain drain which has led to a loss of our skilled workers and graduates, our cricketers are also looking for more lucrative deals abroad  and Guyana Cricket Board (GCB) president Chetram Singh says that the GCB has no control over the situation.

BRISBANE, Australia,  CMC – West Indies batsman Dwayne Bravo slammed a whirlwind 36 to help Victorian Bushrangers beat Queensland Bulls by three runs under the Duckworth/Lewis Method in the curtain-raising match of the Twenty20 Big Bash on yesterday.

(BBC) Makhaya Ntini is not being kept in the team solely for racial reasons, the head of Cricket South Africa has said.

DURBAN, South Africa, (Reuters) – Alastair Cook  struck a century and Paul Collingwood and Ian Bell weighed in  with hefty contributions to put England in control at stumps on  day three of the second test against South Africa yesterday.

The Guyana Lawn Tennis Association (GLTA) has presented a plaque to P&P Insurance Brokers and Consultants Limited in recognition of its support to the sport.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Twice Olympic 10,000 metres  champion Kenenisa Bekele has his sights set on setting a fourth  world indoor record in Birmingham, England next year.

ST JOHN’S, Antigua,  CMC – The West Indies Cricket Board yesterday paid tribute to one of its United Kingdom representatives Geoff Wilkins who passed away in England recently.

DURBAN, South Africa,  (Reuters) – Centurion Alastair  Cook paid tribute yesterday to the services of batting coach  Graham Gooch after his 118 put England in control of the second  test against South Africa at Kingsmead.

LONDON, (Reuters) – Chelsea scrambled a 2-1 home win  over west London rivals Fulham yesterday as two goals in two minutes saved them from what was looking like a first home defeat for more than a year.

MILAN,  (Reuters) – David Beckham attracted crowds to  AC Milan’s training complex  yesterday after landing in Italy for  the start of his second stint at the Serie A club and being  immediately put through his paces.

HAMILTON, Bermuda,  CMC —Trinidad and Tobago’s Under-23s opened their three-match tour in emphatic style, crushing their Bermuda counterparts 5-2 in an entertaining match at the National Sports Centre yesterday.

(BBC) Lancashire have signed Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara as their overseas player for the 2010 season.

(BBC) Shane Watson notched his second half century as Australia extended their lead to 307 on day three of the first Test against Pakistan in Melbourne yesterday.

PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad, CMC – Justin Guillen was among five batsmen stroking half-centuries on the opening day of the Gerry Gomez North/South Classic on Sunday.

CLEVELAND,  (Reuters) – LeBron James sparked a  game-deciding third quarter run as the Cleveland Cavaliers  crushed the Houston Rockets 108-83 for their fourth consecutive  win on Sunday.

– Kashif and Shanghai semi-final action tonight As the race for football’s `Holy Grail’ nears its climax the Guyana National Stadium at Providence will take centre stage with tonight’s semi-finals of the 20th Kashif and Shanghai Football tournament.

– Western Tigers eliminate Linden’s last hope Topp XX Alpha ‘The Hammer’ United and BK International Western Tigers booked the last two semi-final spots in the 20th Anniversary Kashif and Shanghai Tournament after defeating their opponents in the quarter-final round on Saturday night.

By Orin Davidson Christmas  brings  much goodwill, but the endless stream of plaudits being showered on the West Indies team after their losing Test tour of Australia is becoming  grossly overdone.

It is just over two months since the election of a new executive for the Guyana Lawn Tennis Association, with me almost thoughtlessly accepting responsibility for its leadership.