Redskins hire Gruden as coach

Cincinnati Bengals offensive co-ordinator Jay Gruden walks on the field prior to an NFL football game against the Baltimore Ravens, in Cincinnati. Jay Gruden has agreed to become the head coach of the Washington Redskins. Source: Al Behrman / AP

JAY Gruden has been hired as the Washington Redskins' coach, succeeding Mike Shanahan and joining a 3-13 team after working the last three seasons as the Cincinnati Bengals' offensive co-ordinator.

In ending their 10-day coaching search, the Redskins said Gruden would be introduced at an afternoon news conference.

With the Bengals, the 46-year-old Gruden helped develop Andy Dalton. Now he'll have the task of grooming another young franchise quarterback, Robert Griffin III.

Gruden, the brother of former NFL coach and Monday Night Football analyst Jon Gruden, had drawn interest from at least three other teams seeking head coaches. He interviewed with the Tennessee Titans on Tuesday.

Shanahan was fired last week after a season that ended with eight consecutive losses. The Redskins finished last in the NFC East during three of Shanahan's four seasons in Washington, a time marked by discord among ownership, quarterback and coach.

Gruden will become owner Dan Snyder's eighth coach in 16 seasons as an NFL owner. The span includes just four winning seasons and seven last-place finishes.

Gruden interviewed with the Redskins on Wednesday, becoming the last of six candidates to meet with general manager Bruce Allen. Gruden had an inside track on the job because of his ties with Allen and others in the Washington organisation.

Gruden worked with Allen, Redskins defensive backs coach Raheem Morris and tight ends coach Sean McVay while with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Gruden was an assistant with Tampa Bay from 2002-08, then coached under Redskins defensive co-ordinator Jim Haslett with the United Football League's Florida Tuskers in 2009.

Morris, McVay and Haslett were retained when Shanahan was fired, leaving it up to Gruden as to whether he will keep them on his new staff.

Gruden is a member of the Arena Football League Hall of Fame, elected in 1999 after a career as a successful player and coach in the indoor league. His previous head coaching stints have come in Arena Football with the Orlando Predators and in the UFL with the Tuskers, whom he led to the UFL championship game the year after Haslett left to join the Redskins.

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Sri Lanka grabs upper hand

Stitches...Sri Lanka's Mahela Jayawardene bats during the second cricket test match between Pakistan and Sri Lanka, at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium. Picture: AP Source: Ineke Zondag / AP

Mahela Jayawardene defied a left-hand webbing injury to notch his 32nd century and Kaushal Silva missed his by five runs as Sri Lanka gained an upper hand over Pakistan in the second Test in Dubai on Thursday.

Jayawardene, who received three stitches after he dropped a catch on Wednesday, scored 106 not out and shared an invaluable 139-run partnership with Silva (95) to guide Sri Lanka to 4-318 at stumps on the second day.

Sri Lanka gained an important 153-run lead over Pakistan's first innings score of 165 and a chance to take a lead in the three-Test series after the first match ended in a draw in Abu Dhabi last week.

Jayawardene, grimacing while playing strokes, hit paceman Bilawal Bhatti for his 12th boundary to reach three figure mark off 215 balls.

Skipper Angelo Mathews was 42 not out.

Jayawardene, the 36-year-old former captain, had batted for 330 minutes for only his second century against Pakistan and his first in 21 months since his hundred against England in Colombo in April 2012.

"Obviously there were limitations in my batting but I concentrated hard and the target was to time the shots and its pleasing to score a hundred," said Jayawardene, who received injections and pain-killer before the innings.

He and Silva made up for a disappointing start to the day after the visitors, resuming on 1-57, lost Kumar Sangakkara (26) and Dinesh Chandimal (12) in the space of 13 runs.

Silva, who survived a confident caught behind appeal off paceman Rahat Ali when on 26, helped Jayawardene to score 83 runs in the second session, taking the score to 3-132 at tea.

Silva was finally dismissed leg-before by Mohammad Hafeez soon after tea. He hit ten boundaries during his defiant 330-minute stay at the crease.

Jayawardene, who failed in both the innings of the first Test with five and nought, successfully overturned a leg-before decision against him by Australian umpire Bruce Oxenford when on 26.

Pakistan took the second new ball in the 81st over and could have been rewarded in the next over had wicket-keeper Sarfraz Ahmed not spilled a simple chance from Mathews off Ali when the batsman had just six.

Left-arm paceman Junaid Khan was the pick of the bowlers with 2-75.

Bowling coach Mohammad Akram said they tried everything but couldn't get Jayawardene out.

"The pitch was different from the first day and our bowlers tried every thing but we couldn't get Mahela who played a very good knock," said Akram.

The third and final Test will be played in Sharjah from January 16.

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Top form months away: Federer

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ROGER Federer feels a return to top form could be months away, although he's not ruling out something special at the Australian Open.

By the 17-time grand slam title winner's freakishly high standards, last year was poor.

For the first time in 11 years he did not reach the final of any of the four majors and he fell out of the top five in the world rankings for the first time in more than a decade.

But rather than contemplate retirement, the 32-year-old's response has been to train harder in the off-season, hire boyhood idol Stefan Edberg as his new coach and experiment with a new, larger racquet.

He's confident he can revive his career fortunes, even if it doesn't happen immediately.

"I trained probably harder than all the guys ranked ahead of me in the off-season, because they went off to play exhibitions, like I did last year," Federer said on Wednesday, after a charity event at Melbourne Park for his foundation which supports education for educating underprivileged children in southern Africa.

"So that goes with me. I did full-on months, which I haven't done in a long time and my body held up for that.

"Then I played singles and doubles in Brisbane (last week) ... I really feel I'm on my way back.

"Who knows? Maybe I'm playing my very best in March or April is my feeling. But I still feel there's a lot possible right now."

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Stars shine to shoot down Strikers

James Faulkner celebrates a wicket with his Melbourne Stars teammates. Picture: Wayne Ludbey Source: Wayne Ludbey / News Limited

IF the Adelaide Strikers were a UFC fighter, they'd have tapped out.

So fierce was the stranglehold the Melbourne Stars applied that Adelaide coach Darren Berry joked while interviewed on TV that he wanted commentators Ricky Ponting and Darren Lehmann to "put the pads on".

The Strikers, mooted by some as the team most likely to challenge the rampant Stars, were restricted to just 9-90 - the lowest completed first-innings Big Bash League score on the MCG.

The Stars duly ran down the fifth lowest BBL score ever in just 7.3 overs with eight wickets to spare to extend their winning streak to five, booking a finals berth.

"It's been a nightmare - they've bowled beautifully," lamented Berry who'd earlier opted to take an extra bowler into the match when ultimately he could have used another three batsmen.

In reply, Luke Wright survived a ferocious blow to the head by a Shaun Tait thunderbolt to post 49 off just 20 deliveries before holing out to mid-off on the first ball of the sixth over.

The only hiccup came next ball when captain Cameron White put Michael Neser on a hat-trick when he somehow reached a wide ball only to scoop it to third man the next delivery.

Luke Wright hits out for the Stars against the Strikers at the MCG. Picture Wayne Ludbey Source: News Limited

But Glenn Maxwell (25 not out) and Matt Wade (3 not out) made light work of the remaining chase.

Wright, who showed no ill-effects of the ball that smashed into his visor on a misjudged hook shot against the 150km/h bouncer, said the Stars' intention had been not to let the small target become problematic.

"I wanted to come out and put the bowlers under pressure," the Englishman said with great understatement.

But it was the bowlers who deservedly got the plaudits.

The Strikers had been cruising behind Michael Klinger (42 off 49) with only Alex Hales's loss of any note after 5.1 overs had yielded 37.

But extraordinarily, the Strikers could only manage three more fours and just one six after that as they limped along at a rate akin to Australia's in the fifth Test in Sydney.

In that time, there were 55 dot balls to highlight the Stars' bowlers total domination.

Kane Richardson (21 off 24) was the only other batsman to reach double-figures - and he also wore a James Faulkner bouncer to his helmet for his trouble.

James Faulkner celebrates a wicket at the MCG. Picture Wayne Ludbey Source: News Limited

The Tasmanian all-rounder has come of age and was exemplary in returning 3-9 from four intense overs with four routine play-and-misses among his 17 dot balls.

John Hastings was frugal, James Muirhead turned the ball a long way at times in his two overs - including for the stumping of Michael Neser - and Jackson Bird fought back well after the early onslaught.

And to cap it all off, Lasith Malinga returned to his near unplayable best in recording 2-8 off four mesmerising overs.

The win leaves the Stars two games and a huge run rate clear on top of the ladder, with a home semi-final seemingly a formality.

The Strikers stayed fourth, but their run rate took a hammering.

Capping their bad night, the visitors didn't have Klinger on the field for much of the run chase after he suffered back spasms after batting.

Relive all the action from the MCG in our match blog below.

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Strikers 'humiliated' by Stars: Berry

Adelaide Strikers coach Darren Berry says he was embarrassed by his team's performance against Melbourne Stars. Picture: Wayne Ludbey. Source: Wayne Ludbey / News Limited

COACH Darren Berry launched a scathing attack on his Adelaide Strikers on Thursday night, saying they'd been "humiliated".

After an eight-wicket drubbing at the hands of the Melbourne Stars with 12.3 overs to spare, Berry said he'd rarely been more embarrassed after a match.

MATCH REPORT: STARS SHINE TO SHOOT DOWN STRIKERS

"I've been around cricket for a long, long time and rarely have I walked from the field humiliated," Berry said after his team was held to a ground record low 9/90.

"But our group tonight, we were humiliated on the MCG - we had our arses hanging out.

"We were just humiliated on international television.

Melbourne Stars batsman Glenn Maxwell plays another big shot on his way to a quick 25 runs. Picture: Darrian Traynor/Getty Images.

"We came here tonight with an expectation that we could knock them off, so I'm a little bit gobsmacked.

"From a coach's point of view, I'm now looking for a response from our playing group.

"I haven't for a minute lost faith in our playing group.

"We assembled this list and I think we've got a really good list, but what we displayed tonight was pitiful, humiliating and now, in elite sport, you're looking for a response."

Berry said he'd given the Strikers three days away from cricket before next week's match against the Perth Scorchers.

Adelaide Strikers fast bowler Shaun Tait was unable to make much impression defending such a low total. Picture: Robert Cianflone/Getty Images.

"We've got a lot of good players (but) we've had a shocking night," he said.

"But purely and simply we've got three matches remaining.

"If we win two we play in the finals and I think we're good enough to play in the finals."

Berry took in an extra bowler to face the Stars, resting Callum Ferguson in a plan that backfired spectacularly in the face of some extraordinarily tight bowling by the league leaders who took five top-order wickets in quick order.

"Clearly it killed the plan but I'm not looking for excuses. I'm not looking for scapegoats," Berry said.

"It's better in life to have a plan than not to have one.

"We felt we needed an extra bowler against the Melbourne Stars and we thought the plan was sound.

"(But) with 90 runs on the board, you can have all the plans you like, it ain't gonna work."

Berry said the brief history of Twenty20 cricket was full of aberrations and that he hoped Adelaide's collapse was temporary.

"My experience tells me that it can change really quickly.

"From my point of view, whilst I'm really disappointed tonight - and we've been humiliated tonight, absolutely smacked to the bottom of the barrel - we've got three or four days to freshen up and we'll come again."

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Anger as 'old' Olympic champ cut

Slovakia's ice hockey coach has been accused of picking younger players over former NHL star Miroslav Satan (r) for the Olypmic hockey team. Picture: AP Source: AFP

Slovak Christian Democrat MEPs on Thursday accused the coach of their nation's wildly popular ice hockey team of ageism for cutting former NHL star forward Miroslav Satan from the Olympic line-up.

``The coach preferred younger but not necessarily better players,'' said Anna Zaborska, an EU lawmaker with the European People's Party (EPP).

``Had any employer acted in this way, he would have violated the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights, which forbids discrimination based on age.''

At 39, Satan is a legend. He won the 2009 Stanley Cup with the Pittsburgh Penguins and played on the Slovak side in four winter Olympics and 10 world championships.

``Satan belongs in the Olympics, he's one of the best players Slovakia has,'' said retired NHL hero turned MEP Peter Stastny, also with the EPP.

The politicians themselves may not be going for gold, but Bratislava commentators believe they are using the hot issue to raise their profiles ahead of the European Parliament elections in May.

Earlier this week Slovakia coach Vladimir Vujtek unveiled his lineup for the Sochi Olympics including NHL veterans Jaroslav Halak of the St Louis Blues, Michal Handzus and Marian Hossa of the Chicago Blackhawks as well as 12 Olympic first-timers.

``We needed to freshen up the team. Satan's performance wasn't better than other nominees (for the February 6-23 Winter Games),'' Vujtek said.

Satan, who is currently with Slovan Bratislava in Europe's Continental Hockey League, said he would end his active career later this year.

Hockey is a national obsession in Slovakia, an ex-communist country of 5.4 million people. It narrowly missed the podium at the Vancouver 2010 Olympics, placing fourth behind Canada, the USA and Finland.

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