Simon Evans

Clarets head to Ipswich

Simon — Sat, 14 Aug 2010 04:23:00 +0000

Latest reports

Simon — Tue, 22 Jun 2010 21:38:47 +0000

All my latest reports from South Africa on the US team at the World Cup are now collected at my page on the Reuters site.

Also follow me on twitter @sgevans

Super Bowl heads to New York region for first time

Simon — Tue, 25 May 2010 23:16:47 +0000

The NFL fulfilled a marketing dream on Tuesday by bringing their most prestigious game to the Big Apple, awarding the New York area the 2014 Super Bowl despite fears of cold weather.

The league’s championship game, held annually since 1967, has never been played in the New York area, nor played outdoors in a cold climate.

A vote by the league’s 32 owners supported a bid to have the Super Bowl held in the New Meadowlands Stadium where the New York Giants and New York Jets play their home games across the state line in New Jersey.

The $1.6 billion, 82,566 capacity stadium will host the two teams for the first time in the upcoming NFL season, replacing the old Giants stadium.

Full story

Sentiment, success, adventure make Saints “America’s” team

Simon — Tue, 25 May 2010 15:42:50 +0000

The Dallas Cowboys have long been known as ‘America’s team’ but the New Orleans Saints, who triumphed as underdogs in Sunday’s Super Bowl, can now make a good claim to that title.

From President Barack Obama, to the estimated 100 million fans at home in front of televisions, to the crowd in Dolphins stadium, most Americans seemed to be celebrating the Saints’ 31-17 win over the Indianapolis Colts.

“The Saints had the emotion and the sentiment and the heartstrings of most of America on their side,” wrote Miami Herald columnist Greg Cote.

From a sporting point of view New Orleans was the club without a trophy from its previous 42 seasons — you could not get much more of an underdog than that.

However the reason so many Americans found themselves cheering for the black and gold was sympathy for the city of New Orleans and the wider region which was wrecked by the devastation of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

Full story

Twenty20 comes of age in Caribbean feast

Simon — Tue, 25 May 2010 15:29:22 +0000

Twenty20 cricket came home with England’s impressive World Cup win on Sunday and the game which began as a crowd-pleasing thrash really came of age over the past three weeks in the Caribbean.

Players continue to push themselves technically and physically to gain every advantage in the compressed format of the game and wild slogging, which many feared was all Twenty20 was, just does not deliver against top quality bowling.

Instead, in a superb breakneck tournament where large crowds of travelling fans and local West Indians were treated to two games a day, there was some outstanding cricket.

“I think if you ask the people watching on television or at the games, they will say it has been a wonderful spectacle and I think it is here to stay now,” Australia captain Michael Clarke said.

Midfielder Holden becomes vital cog for U.S.

Simon — Tue, 25 May 2010 15:26:48 +0000

Stuart Holden is a key figure in Bob Bradley’s squad after transforming himself into one of the most exciting players in the United States over the past year.

Holden, born in Scotland but raised in Texas from the age of 10, began his professional career in the youth ranks at Sunderland in England.

His spell with the club was cut short when he was attacked outside a bar in Newcastle and suffered a fractured eye socket.

Holden returned to the States without having played a full league game for Sunderland and eventually got a contract with his local team in Major League Soccer (MLS), Houston Dynamo.

Bradley proves safe and successful pair of hands

Simon — Tue, 25 May 2010 15:25:03 +0000

When Bruce Arena quit after a disappointing United States campaign at the 2006 World Cup, Fabio Capello and Juergen Klinsmann were mentioned as possible replacements.

In the end, the U.S. went for the familiar — the tried and tested Bob Bradley.

Bradley, a studious man with a background in college soccer, was never going to generate the buzz of a big-name foreign coach but he knew the player pool well, knew the U.S. system and has now proved he knows how to get the best out of both.

Qualifying for the World Cup is expected these days for the U.S. but beating European champions Spain on the way to the final of the Confederations Cup in South Africa last year was a pleasant surprise to even the country’s most optimistic fans.

Bradley, 52, already has 30 years of coaching experience, having started at Ohio University at the age of 22.

Twenty20 format may help crack U.S. market

Simon — Tue, 25 May 2010 15:23:04 +0000

From the country that gave the world the slider and the forkball, cricket’s administrators are asking are Americans ready for the doosra and the googly?

Story

INTERVIEW-Sangakkara demands fair chance for Sri Lanka

Simon — Tue, 25 May 2010 15:21:19 +0000

By Simon Evans

LAUDERHILL, Florida (Reuters) – Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has demanded ‘equal opportunities’ in the playing of test cricket, saying chances for his country to play the five-day game were being reduced.

Sangakkara said he would welcome a World Test Championship, an idea being discussed within official bodies to give greater context to series, but said any new structure needed to give each team the same chances to play internationally.

“It’s great to have a test championship but I believe that all sides should have an equal opportunity to play test matches,” Sangakkara told Reuters, ahead of this weekend’s Twenty20 internationals against New Zealand in Florida.

Full story

INTERVIEW – Samuels returns from ban and targets recall

Simon — Tue, 25 May 2010 15:19:41 +0000

By Simon Evans

LAUDERHILL, Florida (Reuters) – West Indies batsman Marlon Samuels marked his return from a two-year suspension with a half-century for Jamaica against the United States on Saturday and said he was targeting a return to the international scene.

Samuels, 29, was banned in 2008 for passing on team information to a bookmaker during a one-day series in India in January 2007.

“After 735 days to be back playing the game that I love to get fifty today was wonderful. I have had a wonderful welcome from the Jamaican team and it is so good to be back,” he told Reuters at the Lauderhill cricket ground in Florida.