Neville: I'll never retire from England

Gary Neville has asserted that he will never call it quits in his international career and will always be available for his country.

That is despite admitting his disappointment in missing out on England's World Cup squad, even though he has been in fine form for his club this season and was strongly tipped to make a return to the England setup.

The Manchester United defender, who is only one cap away from being England's most capped full-back, maintains he has no complains and will avail himself to his country as long as he is fit to play.

"If this is the end with England, I've no complaints," he told The Times.

"But, yes, I'll be available for selection as long as I'm playing football."

The 35-year-old also went on to rubbish the idea of international retirement, calling it an 'empty gesture', and believes that only the manager is allowed call it a day for a player's international career.

"I always said that I would never retire and I don't go along with international retirements, that's my stance. I respect the decisions of those who bow out because they feel they've given their all or for family reasons. That's what works for them.

"But I remember one player announcing his retirement about a year and a half after he'd last played. It's an empty gesture.

"As far as I'm concerned, it's the England manager who should retire players. They retire you. Maybe others haven't enjoyed it like me. Some don't want to be away and that's their agenda, their way of looking at it. But that's not me or what I believe in. I do think it's an honour."

Neville concluded by expressing his love for his country and sees no reason why he should not represent it.

"Playing for England is hard at times, you have to be very thick-skinned about it," he added.

"But that's life and you have to remind yourself you are following a great tradition and a great line of players. I live in this country, I love this country. Why would I not want to represent it?

Mourinho wants European 'Grand Slam'

Mourinho wants European 'Grand Slam'

Jose Mourinho has his sights firmly set on winning the "Grand Slam" of Spanish, Italian and English leagues.

Although there is nothing yet confirmed, with Mourinho still officially the coach of Inter Milan and Manuel Pellegrini remaining in the hotseat at Madrid, it now seems only a matter of time before the Portuguese is unveiled by the Spanish giants.

Madrid have long been linked with Mourinho and, having ended this season empty-handed after investing around 250million euros in the team last summer, they will be desperate for an improved showing next term.

Enter the `Special One`.

Mourinho has enjoyed tremendous success at Porto, Chelsea and most recently Inter, who while Madrid were going trophyless this season, he led to an unprecedented treble of Serie A, Coppa Italia and Champions League titles.

The 47-year-old admitted after Saturday`s Champions League final win over Bayern Munich at Madrid`s Bernabeu stadium that he was likely to leave the Nerazzurri, and now he seems certain to switch his attention to fulfilling his goal of conquering the Spanish league as well as Italy and England.

Speaking in an interview in today`s edition of Spanish daily Marca which was billed as Mourinho`s first as the new coach of Real Madrid, the Portuguese said: "No player or coach has won the three important leagues and I want to be the first to do it.

"Ancelotti, Capello, Van Nistelrooy, Beckham and others have won two, but not three. I would like to be the first to win the Grand Slam of the Spanish, Italian and English leagues."

Mourinho is also confident he can help Madrid fulfil their own burning ambition, which is to win a record 10th European Cup.

Madrid had placed great stock in going all the way in this season`s Champions League and winning the trophy on home soil, but for the sixth campaign running they were knocked out at the last 16 stage.

When asked if he felt he was able to make Madrid champions of Europe, Mourinho, who on Saturday became only the third coach to conquer Europe with two different clubs, said: "Yes, of course.

"At Chelsea I felt I was capable of winning the European Cup. I won a couple of leagues and several cups, but not the European Cup. At Inter I felt capable of winning the Scudetto and cups and we also won the Champions League. You can never say what you are going to do."

Mourinho preferred not to talk about what he felt was missing from the Madrid`s squad or prospective signings, saying only when asked about reported summer targets Daniele De Rossi (Roma) and Maicon (Inter): "I like all the good players, but now is not the moment to bring up the business of future signings."

However, Mourinho did comment on two of Madrid`s big summer signings from last year, Kaka and Karim Benzema.

Brazil star Kaka, 28, was brought in from AC Milan for a fee of £56million while 22-year-old Frenchman Benzema cost around £30million when he moved from Lyon, however neither player set the world alight in their first campaign in La Liga.

Mourinho is confident both will come good, though.

"They are two top players," he said.

"But to analyse this situation properly you need to be inside and I`m not. It`s difficult to analyse from outside, I`ve not seen enough games of Real Madrid to make an opinion.

"In the case of these two players, I don`t think one not-so-great season is a drama. It`s not an impossible situation to change. I don`t think for them it will be a problem returning to the top."

Regarding the plans of Florentino Perez, who returned to the Madrid presidency last summer promising a "spectacular project" to get the Spanish giants back to the top of the tree in Spain and Europe, Mourinho seems impressed.

However, he pointed out that it is the coach and the players who are the only ones who can win silverware.

"It`s an ambitious project. As president he has put in place the necessary means in the sporting structure; he has a fantastic training ground, has invested money to build a team and has given confidence to the professionals until the end.

"(But) the president isn`t the one who wins, he isn`t the one who plays, nor who decides what happens on the bench.

"From there the responsibility is with the professionals: the coach, the technical staff, and the players.

"Nowadays the coach doesn`t arrive at nine and leave at 11. I think that the coach is a very important person in the whole structure as he must lead all the other departments that surround the first team.

"I arrived at Appiano Gentile (Inter`s training ground) at 0730 and I left at 1700 or later. Some days I`ve even slept there when we`ve had little time to analyse our opponents in preparation for a game."

Sri Lanka stroll to seven-wicket win

Seamers set up comprehensive win for Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka 86 for 3 (Dilshan 33*, Perera 25) beat New Zealand 81 (N McCullum 36*, Vettori 27, Kulasekara 3-4, Malinga 3-12) by seven wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Nuwan Kulasekara found the perfect lines and lengths for the slow and low track that the USA has dished out, and ripped the heart out of New Zealand's batting with three wickets in his first over. Although Daniel Vettori and Nathan McCullum, the only New Zealanders to reach double figures, avoided the ignominy of the lowest total in Twenty20 internationals, 81 was never going to test Sri Lanka even on this pitch.

The win was set up by Kulasekara's first two overs, three wickets in the first and no runs in the second. He made the necessary adjustments from the first match: everything was stump to stump, slightly short of a length, and offcutters were bowled aplenty. That the innings started with Kumar Sangakkara standing up to the stumps, with no slip in sight, said a lot about the pitch. It didn't help New Zealand that their top-order batsmen were looking to play around their front pad, and the bowlers were hardly missing. There was no bounce in the pitch to take anything over the stumps either.

Aaron Redmond and Rob Nicol both fell to ones that Kulasekara got to jag in sharply. Brendon McCullum got a beauty in between those dismissals, this one holding its line. Ross Taylor, in the next over, played across the line to Angelo Mathews and paid the price. Gareth Hopkins, in to replace the injured Martin Guptill, went for an ill-advised single, and many dubious records were in sight.

Crisis man Vettori, though, found support from the older McCullum, and the two batted sensibly to add 45 for the sixth wicket. Neither of them looked to play across the line, both waited for the loose deliveries, which were rare. One of them was a full delivery from Mathews in the seventh over, which N McCullum punched down the ground for the first boundary of the innings. Vettori hit two more boundaries, both cleverly played reverse-sweeps against Sanath Jayasuriya.

The partnership came to an end when Vettori swept at Ajantha Mendis, and the fielding side and the umpire took the noise emanating for an edge. Vettori, though, demonstrated the exact spot on the pitch his bat had hit, which created the incriminating sound.

When N McCullum square-cut Thissara Perera through the fingers of Tillakaratne Dilshan in the 16th over, the only other boundary of the piece, the score moved to 76, two more than the lowest total by a major team. Even though N McCullum kept New Zealand fighting, the lower order found full and straight bowling from Lasith Malinga too much, securing New Zealand's total in the format.

In the chase, Sri Lanka were hardly under any pressure, especially after Mahela Jayawardene got them going with a 12-ball 17. During his stay in the middle, batting looked at its easiest on this pitch not conducive to attractive cricket. Thissara Perera was sent in at the first drop, and he did his job by hitting two fours and a six in his 25 even as Tillakaratne Dilshan struggled for timing. Those two cameos were enough, though, to set the chase up, and Dilshan saw them through.

South Africa continue success with 66-run win

50 overs: South Africa 280 for 7 (Amla 102, de Villiers 102, Bravo 3-40) v West Indies 215 (Gayle 45, McLaren 2-37)

	Dwayne Bravo took the wickets of Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis early on, and returned to shatter Johan Botha's stumps, but West Indies fell well short in the first ODI© AFP

South Africa carried their Twenty20 success into the one-day series with a 66-run win over West Indies in the first game at the Sir Vivian Richards stadium in Antigua. The victory was set up by twin hundreds from Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers - de Villiers reaching his third consecutive ODI hundred and fourth in six innings - as they added 129 together for the third wicket and registered identical scores of 102 to take the visitors to 280 for 7 after being put in by Chris Gayle. It was a familiar story as West Indies set about their chase in fits and starts, dominating for short periods but losing wickets regularly as they were bowled out for 215 in the 45th over. South Africa put in a team effort in the field, with every bowler except Jacques Kallis picking up at least one wicket.

It had been feared that the wicket would once again play inconsistently to favour the bowlers, but Amla, back in the side and opening the batting with his captain, played with the class and wristy flair that has already become his signature to race to a fluent hundred. He got going with a flowing punch-drive through point in the first over, and he and Graeme Smith had taken South Africa smoothly to 43 when the rain that had delayed the start returned in the sixth over.

The break shortened South Africa's innings by two overs, but did Amla's concentration no harm, and he was straight back into the groove with a crisply-driven boundary off Rampaul. Smith had also looked more at ease at the crease than he has been for quite some time, until Dwayne Bravo found the perfect line with his fifth ball to find the edge of his bat. Bravo was at it again in his second over, as Kallis flashed hard at a short ball outside off stump that gripped and bounced more than he had expected, and the uppercut arced straight to third man.

South Africa were 57 for 2 at that stage, and in danger of squandering what had been a flowing start. But Amla and de Villiers weathered the West Indian fightback - with a little luck as the odd ball nipped past the edge or flew wide of a catching fielder - and steadily seized the momentum back for the visitors. West Indies were not helped by the inability of the bowlers to land six balls in a row on the mark, and whenever pressure began to build it was soon released with a loose delivery down the leg side, or width outside off.

Amla went to a composed century with his umpteenth dab to third man in the 33rd over, but soon after had his stumps splayed by a ball from Rampaul that landed on a length and kept a little low. Amla stayed back when he should have been forward, and was dismissed after his first real error of the day.

With his departure, de Villiers stepped up a gear, pulling Narsingh Deonarine to deep midwicket and swiping him high over square leg to take 13 from his solitary over and move into the 80s. After once again being targeted with a barrage of bouncers - including one that struck him on the grille to leave him lying dazed in the crease - JP Duminy was bowled giving himself too much room to Rampaul shortly after the batting Powerplay was called.

De Villiers went to the second century of the innings with a slug to long on and a large total loomed, but West Indies stepped up their game in the closing overs to peg South Africa back with regular wickets. David Miller biffed away merrily amid the wickets to finish unbeaten on 23 and ensure South Africa reached a competitive total.

West Indies came out facing a revised target of 282 in 48 overs, but Andre Fletcher failed once again, helplessly edging a searing Steyn outswinger to Kallis at second slip. Gayle and Bravo immediately launched a counterattack and for a brief time they found the boundary at will with a succession of authoritative strokes, adding 40 in under five overs to fluster the normally slick South African fielders. Gayle was dropped twice before an overly-optimistic swish outside off stump saw Bravo dismissed for 15, and the spell was broken.

Gayle, though, was determined to go down swinging, collecting five more boundaries - including three marvellous strikes in one over from Morne Morkel - before he fell for 45, Morkel getting his revenge as Gayle top-edged a massive swipe to leg to be well caught by Johan Botha at midwicket.

West Indies were 69 for 3 in the 13th over with that wicket, the required run-rate climbing steadily thereafter as Ramnaresh Sarwan and Narsingh Deonarine struggled to impose themselves on South Africa's bowlers. They added 61 - the highest partnership of the innings - at slightly more than four runs to the over, but, after playing themselves in, then fell within three overs of each other to place a great deal of pressure on the hosts' lower middle order.

Kieron Pollard kept hopes of a late fightback with his best international innings for some time as he reached 44 in quick time, his best shot a soaring straight six off Steyn. He also showed he is more than just a slogger with some intelligent batting to pick up boundaries all round the ground, but when he and Denesh Ramdin fell in consecutive overs with the required rate rocketing past 10-an-over, the result was as good as sealed.

ICC recommends UDRS for 2011 World Cup

	The UDRS has received mixed reviews since it was first used in July 2008 © Getty Images

The ICC Cricket Committee, after its annual meeting at Lord's, has recommended that the Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) be implemented in the 2011 Word Cup in the subcontinent and introduced "as soon as possible" in all Test series. The committee, chaired by former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd, also decided to revisit laws that were pitted against the fielding side: it said the practice of the non-striker backing up while the ball was being delivered should be discouraged, as should batsmen changing their grip before the bowler entered his delivery stride.

The most significant decision concerned the UDRS, whose implementation since its introduction in July 2008 has been inconsistent in terms of series where it has been used. Now, though, the ICC committee has called for it to be introduced "as soon as possible" in all Test series. It has also recommended that the system be used throughout next year's World Cup in India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka, with the same limit of two referrals per innings as in Tests.

That would, however, be subject to agreement with ICC's broadcaster partners ESPN Star Sports, who would have to bear the cost of implementing the system. The committee also recommended introduction of a minimum standard of technology, such as ball tracking technology, including in the third umpire room, and annual reviews of technology and equipment.

The system has received mixed reviews from players and umpires. It landed in controversy during the Johannesburg Test between England and South Africa in January 2010, when a caught behind appeal was turned down by the third umpire Daryl Harper. In a bid to eliminate any inconsistency, the ICC decided it had to meet with all broadcasting companies in a bid to standardise the use of technology, and hosted a workshop earlier in the year.

David Morgan, the outgoing ICC president, had said that day-night Test matches were a possibility in the near future with India and Australia as potential hosts. The ICC, while examining ways in which these games would be played out, stated the matter required further discussion.

The ICC also agreed to examine the law that permitted non-strikers to back up too far while the ball was being delivered, giving them an unfair advantage in an attempt to complete a run. "ICC Cricket Committee agreed that batsmen trying to steal ground when the bowler is running in to bowl should be discouraged. They will look at regulations that require a batsman to remain in his crease until the bowler's front foot lands."

With regards to the switch-hit, the ICC said that a bowler reserved the right not to bowl if he saw the batsman change his grip before entering his delivery stride. "Should the bowler see a batsman change his grip or stance prior to the delivery stride the bowler can decide not to bowl the ball." The switch-hit had been given an all clear by the MCC - the guardian of the laws of cricket- in 2008.

IPL 3 clean, uncertainty over previous editions - ICC

	The ACSU was "heavily involved" in the third edition of the IPL © Indian Premier League
Related Links Series/Tournaments: Indian Premier League Teams: India Sites: Cricinfo ICC Site

Paul Condon, the outgoing chief of the ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU), has said it worried about the first two IPL seasons not because it suspected match-fixing but because of the lack of infrastructure to prevent it. He said the third edition held this year was a clean event largely due to the heavy involvement of the ACSU.

"IPL 1 and 2 we were worried about, not because we think there were huge fixes, but because there was no infrastructure to prevent it," Condon said at Lord's on Thursday. "That doesn't mean to say that matches were fixed in IPL 1 and 2, but nor can I, hand on heart, give it a clean bill of health. I just don't know .

"Our advice was, and remains, that if you are going to have world-class players, international players, who are playing in IPLs and Twenty20s, and if they do anything daft there, sadly they will take that back into the international game. You can't be a part-time fixer, once the bad guys get into them, and a lot of them are organised criminals, then you are on the hook."

While Condon acknowledged he had heard rumours of spot-fixing in the third IPL season, he said there was no concrete evidence to suggest that was the case. "In IPL 3, the ACSU was heavily involved, there was an education programme, and we've got no current intelligence, or information, or ongoing enquiries, which suggest anything other than IPL3 was a clean event in terms of spot-fixing.

"IPL 3 from a clean cricket point of view seems to have been a very good event, but you are never more than a phonecall away from someone saying otherwise. There were rumours and vague allegations about IPL3, but no one has come forward either from the Indian board, or IPL, or franchises, or journalists, or players, or team managers, or anyone with specific allegations about match-fixing in IPL. All it's been is very generic rumour, and we're still waiting."

Condon said it was essential to prevent any possibility of match-fixing in leagues like the IPL to ensure the problem didn't spread to the international arena. "To keep the game clean, we've got to make sure that events like the IPL and other events like it, don't contaminate international cricket. So the same regime works for IPL: education, security managers in place."