‘Cricketers seek help for problems’
LONDON, Feb 28, (AFP): Former Arsenal footballer Tony Adams has revealed that professional cricketers are receiving treatment at his Sporting Chance clinic, in the wake of the inquest into the death of Tom Maynard.
A coroner reported earlier this week that former Surrey batsman Maynard had taken cocaine and ecstasy and was nearly four times over the drink-driving limit when he was fatally hit by a London Underground train in June last year.
“We are already putting cricketers through the Sporting Chance Clinic, rugby players, jockeys,” Adams told The Independent newspaper.
“Denial is strong in some other associations but all in good time, when they are ready.
“The PFA (Professional Footballers’ Association) are taking responsibility. The RFL (Rugby Football League) are taking responsibility.
“They are recognising it and if you do want help, there are places where you can go now. That’s a big change.”
Adams established his clinic after struggling with alcoholism himself and says it is now much easier for high-profile professional sportsmen and women to seek help.
“Sixteen years ago, when I got sober — and this is why I started the charity — I had nowhere to go, no-one to talk to, noone to point me in the right direction,” he said.
“Certainly in football now, at the PFA now, within one hour they can get someone to talk to you with the network of counsellors we have got.”
Tests on hair samples showed Maynard, 23, may have been using drugs on a daily basis in the three and half months prior to his death, the inquest at Westminster Coroner’s Court heard. KARACHI: Former Pakistan captain Moin Khan Thursday demanded the sacking of national coach Dav Whatmore following the team’s 3-0 whitewash by South Africa, saying a local man should replace him.
Pakistan flopped miserably against the world number one Test team, losing the first Test by 211 runs, the second by four wickets and the last by an innings and 18 runs.
Whatmore masterminded Sri Lanka’s triumph in the 1996 World Cup and led minnows Bangladesh to their first-ever Test series victory and their first appearance in the World Cup Super Eights in 2007. But Khan said he was not up to the job. “Whatmore is an overrated coach,” Khan told AFP. “There is a concept in Pakistan that a foreigner will not get involved in players’ politics but Whatmore is now fighting for survival.”
Former Australian batsman Whatmore took over in March last year and led Pakistan to the semi-finals of the World Twenty20 tournament, but he has come under fire after two successive Test series defeats.
Khan, who managed only four wins in his 13 matches as Pakistan captain, said Sri Lanka’s World Cup win in 1996 owed more to its players than Whatmore.
“Ask any player of that team and he will tell you that in 1996 Sri Lanka had world-class players and their success was due to their players and not because of the coach,” said Moin.
Khan also criticised Test and one-day captain Misbah-ul Haq.
Maynard’s housemate Rory HamiltonBrown and fellow team-mate Jade Dernbach, who had been drinking with him on the night of his death, both told the inquest they were unaware of the former Glamorgan batsman’s drug use.
Also:
Frazer McLaren and Clarke MacArthur scored for Toronto (12-9), which had won three straight at home.
Kings 2, Red Wings 1 In Los Angeles, Anze Kopitar scored the tiebreaking goal on a slick pass from Dwight King with 4:48 to play, and Los Angeles rallied from a third-period deficit against Detroit for its fifth straight victory.
Jonathan Bernier made 32 saves for the defending Stanley Cup champions, who tied it with 9:34 left on Jeff Carter’s goal during a two-man advantage. King then made a spinning pass from the boards in front to Kopitar, who beat Jimmy Howard for his sixth goal of the season.
Howard stopped 27 shots for the Red Wings, who had won two straight after an 0-3-2 skid.
Ducks 5, Predators 1 In Anaheim, California, Kyle Palmieri ended a 10-game goal drought with his first NHL hat trick, Viktor Fasth made 20 saves, and Anaheim beat Nashville for its seventh straight home victory.
Nick Bonino and Saku Koivu also scored for Anaheim. Corey Perry and Ryan Getzlaf assisted on all three goals by Palmieri, who hadn’t scored since netting back-to-back game-winners on Feb 1-2 against Minnesota and Los Angeles.
Palmieri completed his outburst against Pekka Rinne 1:07 into the second period, during a power play after Nashville had too many men on the ice.