Katich: Clarke ruined my career
Simon Katich said he would never be able to wear a baggy green again as long as the team is led by Michael Clarke.
Katich, who had earlier denied that his and Clarke's infamous dressing-room spat had anything to do with him losing out on the central contract, on Friday did a U-turn and said that the incident actually played a significant part."I think you don't have to be Einstein to figure out that it's not just the selectors that had a part in sending me on my way," Katich told reporters.
"I mean to be brutally honest obviously what happened in the dressing room here a few years ago didn't help my cause. And obviously the captain and coach are selectors," he added.
Katich was embroiled in an altercation with Clarke after the Sydney Test against South Africa in January 2009, where he reportedly grabbed the latter by the throat in the dressing room after an argument had developed over when the team song would be sung.
And the former Test opener feels the unfortunate incident would continue to be a hindrance to his international comeback despite the fact that a new national selector John Inverarity has been appointed in place of former chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch.
"Just because he (Inverarity) is going to be chairman of selectors or whatever role it is I wouldn't have thought that'd make too much difference," said Katich, who made a century for New South Wales in a drawn Sheffield Shield match on Friday.
Asked if he could ever expect to play for Australia while Clarke is the captain, Katich said, "I wouldn't have thought so. That's probably why I'm in this position in the first place."
Katich also expressed his disappointment at not receiving any phone call from the CA's Melbourne headquarters to discuss his removal.
"No one from Cricket Australia has been in contact with me since. I just think that no-one's been in touch since that happened, it's pretty disrespectful I think from my personal point of view. Given I've been contracted for 11 years, to not have any contact whatsoever that's pretty disappointing," Katich insisted.
"As Chris Rogers said that's blatantly rude to be honest. It's just common courtesy to give someone a call back. I enjoy playing my cricket here, so that's why I'm still playing. A big part of that was I had a lot of support at the time when the axing happened so to have that support has spurred me on to keep playing.
"Hopefully some good will come out of my situation. I wasn't the only one to go through it, plenty of players have felt the same frustration," he added.
AVB: Terry won't miss Arsenal game
John Terry looked certain to lead out Chelsea in their London derby against Arsenal after Andre Villas-Boas insisted he had no concerns about his captain's state of mind.
Blues boss Villas-Boas reiterated his full backing for Terry amid the Football Association and police probes into whether the England skipper racially abused QPR defender Anton Ferdinand during Sunday's Barclays Premier League game at Loftus Road.Terry, who has categorically denied the allegations made against him, will make his first public appearance since the race row erupted and Villas-Boas was adamant the 30-year-old was ready to do so.
"I see no reason why not," Villas-Boas said, insisting he had no fears about Terry playing.
"Not in the sense of his state of mind - never."
Villas-Boas also denied the saga had been a distraction for his team as they look to close the six-point gap to Manchester City at the top of the Premier League.
"I don't think, for us, it's been a distraction," said Villas-Boas, whose side beat Everton in the Carling Cup on Wednesday night without Terry after losing to QPR on Sunday.
"We haven't lost too much focus on the situation because there is nothing to lose focus on."
Villas-Boas reiterated that the race row had all been "a big misunderstanding".
Asked if it had become a wider issue than Terry's word against Ferdinand's, he added: "I don't know what it's become.
"For me, it's the end of the matter and it's under FA investigation and hopefully we can put an end to it."
The Terry-Ferdinand controversy erupted just eight days after Manchester United defender Patrice Evra accused Liverpool's Luis Suarez of racially abusing him during a match. Suarez denies the accusation.
While maintaining Terry's innocence, Villas-Boas admitted more did need to be done to tackle racism in English football.
"We have done throughout the years the correct measures to try to ban it," he said.
"The governing bodies should continue to be aggressive in banning it.
"The correct progress has still to be made in some aspects and we hope we can evolve from that."
Massa leads the pack in India
Felipe Massa finished out in front, with Sebastian Vettel settling for second on practice day as F1 made an entertaining debut in India.
Massa, with his car sporting a new front wing as the team look to build for next year, set a lap of one minute 25.706secs, just 0.088secs ahead of Vettel.Team-mate Fernando Alonso, who managed only four laps in the first session due to an engine issue, was third and a quarter of a second down, with Hamilton 0.748secs adrift.
Red Bull's Mark Webber and Jenson Button in his McLaren were fifth and sixth, the latter a second off the pace.
On the other hand, Lewis Hamilton has admitted full responsibility for his latest error - one which cost him a three-place grid penalty at the Indian Grand Prix.
Hamilton, along with Sauber's Sergio Perez, faces a three-place drop for Sunday's race in Delhi.
Both drivers were hit hard after ignoring double-waved yellow flags - that implore drivers to immediately slow down - at the end of the first practice session, as Pastor Maldonado's Williams was being recovered following a spin.
The incidents were deemed dangerous with marshals in close proximity to the track at the time Hamilton and Perez flashed past en route to setting their fastest laps.
Hamilton's initial reaction was a stern "same old, same old" comment - it was the umpteenth time he has seen the stewards this year, and his sixth penalty overall.
Asked as to what happened, Hamilton replied: "Not much really. I engaged the DRS (drag reduction system) when there were yellow flags and you are not allowed to."
Hamilton, confirming he did not lift off the throttle, simply said "sure" when questioned as to whether the penalty was justified.
It was not until later in the interview that Hamilton opened up as he added: "I went in there (to see the stewards) and I put my hands up.
"I said 'I accept whatever penalty I get'. That's what I said, and they gave me one.
"I don't really have any feelings towards the penalty. It is what it is.
"I'm a bit frustrated with myself. It's my fault - as usual. So I just have to do whatever I can from wherever I qualify tomorrow."
Hamilton, whose hot lap under the yellow flags was allowed to stand and put him on top of the timesheet after the first run, could only finish fourth in the afternoon session.
The day began with two mongrel dogs straying onto the circuit, the first 10 minutes prior to the start of the initial session, with marshals catching up with it down the pit straight.
The second was a more dangerous incident, coming five minutes after the session had started and as a handful of cars were completing their installation laps, bringing out the red flag.
Thankfully there was no repeat of an incident three years ago in a GP2 race in Turkey when Bruno Senna ran over a dog which had found its way onto the Istanbul track, killing it instantly.
As a dusty, slippery circuit at first gathered grip, and as drivers pushed, there were a number of incidents.
It proved to be a bitterly frustrating day for Maldonado, who spun twice - beaching his car in the gravel early in the second session.
Fortunately for the Venezuelan he was able to return to the track later on after his car was recovered and returned to the garage for an overhaul, at least managing to avoid a third off.
The biggest shunt of the day involved Virgin's Jerome D'Ambrosio, bringing out the red flags for the second time and with the Belgian hardly helping his cause of acquiring a new contract by slamming into a barrier which removed the rear wing and right-rear wheel.
Flying the flag for India, Paul di Resta was ninth for Force India, finishing half a second down on team-mate Adrian Sutil.
Tsonga through after Nieminen retirement
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga booked his place in the quarter-finals of the Erste Open in Vienna when Jarkko Nieminen retired injured midway through the final set.
Tsonga, still pushing for a place in the end-of-year Barclays ATP World Tour finals, dropped the first set 6-3 but recovered his game to lead 3-6 6-1 3-1 when the Finn, runner-up in Stockholm last week, was forced to call it a day.Double defending champion Jurgen Melzer also reached the last eight to the delight of his home city fans as he brushed aside Spaniard Guillermo Garcia-Lopez 7-5 6-1 in 83 minutes.
Two seeds bowed out, with Italian eighth seed Fabio Fognini falling 6-7 (3/7) 6-3 6-3 to Xavier Malisse, and fourth seed Radek Stepanek losing 6-4 7-6 (7/4) to Germany's Daniel Brands.
German veteran Tommy Haas reached his first ATP Tour quarter-final in over two years as he beat Russia's Alijaz Bedene 4-6 6-4 6-1, while Belgium's Steve Darcis was a 6-2 6-2 winner over Austria's Dominic Thiem.
Garcia chasing back-to-back victory
Sergio Garcia heads into the weekend with a chance of a second successive victory on the comeback trail.
After capturing his home Castello Masters by a remarkable 11 strokes on Sunday, the 31-year-old Spanish star had his second successive 70 at Valderrama to stand two under par at the halfway point of the Andalucia Masters.That did not compare to his 27 under aggregate last week, but on the much tougher 1997 Ryder Cup course he was the early clubhouse leader.
Scotland's Richie Ramsay still led, but had slipped back from six to five under with a front nine 36 containing bogeys at the third and sixth, but then a birdie at the 350-yard eighth.
The Aberdeen golfer, third behind Garcia in Castellon, was one in front of France's Gregory Havret and three ahead of Garcia and Stephen Gallacher.
Obvious highlight for Garcia was a chip-in for the second day running on the long 11th, although it was for birdie rather than eagle this time.
Justin Rose, paired with his former Ryder Cup team-mate, birdied the first two holes on each half, but after a hat-trick of bogeys from the 15th signed for a 71 and one over total.
