The Sports Matrix: Friday 12 August 2011

Jadson arrives to replace Fabregas

Arsenal hope that the £12m signing of attacking midfielder Jadson from Shakhtar Donetsk will lessen the pain of losing Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri, who are set for imminent departures to Barcelona and Manchester City respectively. MORE

Johnson rings the changes for Wales

England manager Martin Johnson has made 13 changes to his line-up for tomorrow’s game with Wales in Cardiff, with only Alex Corbisiero and Mark Cueto keeping their starting places. Johnson names his 30-man World Cup squad a week on Monday. MORE

Reformed Cipriani ‘yearning’ to play

Danny Cipriani is devastated to be missing the World Cup. “I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t feel a yearning to be involved,” said the 23-year-old. “But I also have to accept there were moments when I was out of control.” MORE

United give up on Sneijder signing

Manchester United do not expect Wesley Sneijder to sign for the club ahead of the new season. The player’s high wage demands continue to prove a barrier to any potential deal and the Premier League champions now consider the matter closed. MORE

Widnes to tackle artificial pitch

Widnes are to play their Super League matches next season on an artificial pitch. The Vikings will install the “i-pitch” to be ready for pre-season. “This is a first not just for the Vikings or rugby league, but for sport,” said chairman Steve O’Connor. MORE

Enrique heads to Anfield for £6m

Liverpool finally agreed a £6m deal for Newcastle United leftback Jose Enrique last night. The Spaniard, who was Newcastle’s player of the year in 2009/10, underwent a medical at Melwood yesterday. Liverpool had been interested in Gaël Clichy. MORE

Terry: Players all respect Villas-Boas

Andre Villas-Boas has the respect of the Chelsea squad, according to John Terry. “A lot of lads kept in contact with him throughout his time at Porto and when he was away with Jose [Mourinho],” said Terry. “So the players completely respected him.” MORE

Woods is ‘really angry’ with his 77

Tiger Woods recorded his worst opening round in 16 years of majors yesterday. The former world No 1 signed for a seven-over 77, going into bunkers 12 times. “I’m really angry right now,” he said. “And there’s a lot of words I could use beyond that.” MORE

West Bromwich in Hargreaves hunt

Roy Hodgson revealed last night that West Bromwich Albion have offered a contract to Owen Hargreaves and are waiting for his response. The Albion medical team have tested Hargreaves, who is a free agent after leaving Manchester United. MORE

Opinion: James Lawton

There can have been few occasions when England have taken the kind of command they enjoyed at Edgbaston last night. Alastair Cook had re-found the appetite for run-gorging he displayed at the Ashes. MORE

Cook builds huge lead for England

Alastair Cook batted all day as England continued their domination of India at Edgbaston. Cook finished on 182 not out, with England 232 runs ahead for the loss of just three wickets. England’s openers resumed yesterday morning on 84 without loss, responding to India’s first innings score of 224. They scored another 102 runs before Andrew Strauss was bowled by Amit Mishra for 87. Ian Bell scored an artful 34 in a stand of 66 with Cook before he was bowled by Praveen Kumar. England did not slow down, though, and Kevin Pietersen hit an excellent 63. The Indian bowling was listless with Sree Sreesanth, Mishra and Ishant Sharma all conceding over 100 runs. The fielding was poor, too, as easy catches went down. After Pietersen’s dismissal Eoin Morgan took over, while Cook continued to accumulate. Morgan and Cook had put on 82 for the fourth wicket at stumps. MORE

England ‘focused on Test not ranking’

England opener Alastair Cook insists the team are still focused on the match, and not their world ranking. “We are not even halfway through this Test yet,” he said. “We’re not thinking about No 1 at this stage, just about building as big a lead as possible.” MORE

Charlton waiting on Bated Breath

Bated Breath, one of the favourites for next week’s Nunthorpe Stakes, is at risk of missing it after bruising a foot. “There has to be a doubt about his participation,” said trainer Roger Charlton, “even though at this stage we are staying hopeful.” MORE