English football’s Premier League bling-fest deferred to the more traditional charms of the FA Cup fifth round, but magic was little in evidence at Chelsea where Manchester City fielded six teenagers, five of whom were making their full debuts, and were duly thrashed 5-1. City manager Manuel Pellegrini blamed an injury crisis and a mounting fixture backlog: “Maybe it’s not the best thing to play all the youngsters together but I couldn’t have any other chances. If one team respects all the cups, it’s us,” he said. West Ham also won 5-1 at Blackburn, while hopelessly out-of-form Crystal Palace won 1-0 at in-form Tottenham. Comedy implosion of the week award went to Turkish side Trabzonspor, who had four players sent off against Galatasaray including one who was dismissed for grabbing the referee’s red card and waving it in his face.
South Africa on a T20 high
Several months of occasionally interminable but mostly joyful cricket ended when South Africa and England finally ran out of formats of the game to play one another at, the home side romping to a 2-0 T20 series win. In line with the modern-day convention that international cricket sides must never, ever stop playing unless it is for lunch, tea or sleep, both sides now head to the ICC World T20 tournament in India. England’s women fared better, winning their T20 series against South A. In Christchurch, New Zealand’s retiring captain Brendon McCullum showed what the game will miss by hitting the fastest-ever Test century, off just 54 balls, against Australia.
Aussie Cowboys floor Rhinos
Real men in tight shorts went clattering head to head in rugby league’s World Club Challenge, where the North Queensland Cowboys delivered a masterclass in dispatching Leeds Rhinos 38-4 at Headingley Carnegie. Johnathan Thurston was the Cowboys’ man of the moment, scoring a try and kicking five goals for the Australian champions. “It’s a great feeling to win it,” said the North Queensland coach, Paul Green. “In terms of the club and its history it’s a proud moment after winning our first NRL Premiership last year.”
F1 tunes up in Barcelona
Formula One donned diamante-encrusted wraparound shades and ended its brief winter hibernation as the teams rocked up for pre-season testing in Barcelona. New cars aplenty – including for McLaren-Honda and Williams – were on show, though it was not immediately clear how any of them would break Mercedes’ vice-like grip on the sport. The focus instead turned to some of the rookies new to the scene, including Manor driver Rio Haryanto who becomes Indonesia’s first F1 driver. The new season proper begins in Melbourne on 20 March.
