THE England cricket team may have just received their first psychological boost ahead of the Ashes this summer – all courtesy of an initiative which has previously backfired on the country's football team.
Forget the fact Posh, Cheryl, Abby, Nancy, Ermintrude et al became a travelling circus whenever Sven-Göran Eriksson took his side to a major finals, the Australian cricket team are going to follow suit this year.
The wives and girlfriends of Austr
alia's elite cricketers have been invited to a pre-Ashes training camp at a beach resort in a programme designed to reduce the stresses on long-distance relationships during the prolonged tour to England.
"It is uncharted territory," Cricket Australia operations manager Michael Brown told The Age newspaper. "It is a great opportunity for us to take a more holistic approach to welfare, management, relationships and (to] work with some experts."
Wives and families have travelled with Australian players on past tours, but have never been so heavily involved in a training camp. But with Shane Warne now retired, perhaps a partner's beedy eye on their other halves will not be needed as much as before.
Keeping legend makes a returnA SMALL piece of footballing history returned to goalkeeping duties on Saturday at Hampden. Former Queen's Park goalkeeper Bill Pinkerton played in a five-a-side tournament at the national stadium for ex-Hampden players. Pinkerton, now in his 70s, was in goal for the Spiders when a certain Alex Ferguson made his debut for the club against Stranraer in November 1958. Pity the Manchester United manager couldn't have called on his former team-mate for the FA Cup semi-final penalty shoot-out against Everton 24 hours later…
Dons cricketers earn famous fanTHE Aberdeenshire cricket team have claimed Shunsuke Nakamura as their latest fan after beating the Spanish national side. The Japanese playmaker was among several training Celtic stars who looked on during the SNCL side's victory in La Manga on Tuesday. And Nakamura even stopped to cheer as the Dons carved out a four-wicket victory.
Player-coach Neil MacRae said: "The Celtic guys were training on the adjacent field during our match. Nakamura seemed to be paying particular attention and he celebrated when we took a wicket."
TALES FROM THE TABS
HUGHES' HAPPY RETURNSMOTHERWELL midfielder Stephen Hughes, below, may be poised for a return to Ibrox as he is "on a list" of players being considered by Rangers manager Walter Smith, according to the Daily Express.
The former Scotland Under-21 international – who left Rangers in 2005 to join Craig Levein at Leicester – will be out of contract in the summer and was quoted as saying he will wait until the end of the season before deciding on his future.
Elsewhere, the Daily Record reported that Reading player Graeme Murty is poised to cancel his proposed September testimonial match against Celtic as it will end up putting him out of pocket.
The former Scotland cap is facing a bill of £300,000 to cover policing, Celtic's appearance fee and hiring Reading's Madejski Stadium.
Also in the Record, Livingston manager Paul Hegarty confirmed striker Leigh Griffiths has travelled south to join Tony Mowbray's West Brom for a two-day trial.
Mowbray already has former Almondvale player Graham Dorrans on his books.
