I do not want to be a one-hit wonder: Adlington

LONDON, Dec 27: Britain’s double Olympic swimming gold medallist Rebecca Adlington says she is determined to raise her game in 2010 after a slump in form following her Beijing triumphs.

“Beijing may turn out to be the best week of my entire life but I’d hate to think that everything went downhill from the age of 19,” she told the Mail on Sunday newspaper.

“I don’t want to be a one-hit wonder. I’m always going to remember 2009. I’ll always recall how it felt not to perform. “I’ll never forget those feelings. And I’m never going to let it happen again,” she added. Adlington won the 400 and 800 metre freestyle golds in Beijing in 2008 but came only third in the 400 and fourth in the 800 at the world championships in Rome in July.

The Briton had earlier spoken out against the latest, now-banned, bodysuits as “technological doping” and had refused to wear them.

“We’ll never know what difference the swimsuits made in Rome,” she said on Sunday. “What I do know is that I swam the 800 metres three seconds slower than in the previous year.

Final ODI abandoned

Delhi ground may be banned

NEW DELHI, Dec 27: The Ferozeshah Kotla stood disgraced on Sunday after the fifth and final India-Sri Lanka One-dayer was abandoned because of a dangerous pitch, which not only brought about an embarrassing end to the series but also put a question mark over its stature as an international venue.

The game was abandoned after 23.3 overs, leading to unruly scenes in the packed galleries with incensed spectators hurling water bottles and chair covers and damaging the stands to bring about a shameful end to the five-match series which India won by 3-1 margin.

The relaid track at Ferozeshah Kotla was a virtual minefield as the Sri Lankan batsmen, unlucky to be asked to bat first, fended for life as odd balls reared up alarmingly. The Sri Lankan innings was into its 24th over when Thilina Kandamby complained to the on-field umpires, which led to a mid-field conference involving Match Referee Alan Hurst, India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and his Lankan counterpart Kumar Sangakkara, coaches from both sides Gary Kirsten and Trevor Bayliss and the man in the eye of storm, Kotla curator Vijay Bahadur Mishra.

Delhi and District Cricket Association (DDCA) officials, including its vice-president and former Test player Chetan Chauhan, offered another strip to Hurst but the match could not be saved.

Today’s incident was uncannily similar to the December 25, 1997 India-Sri Lanka ODI in Nehru Stadium, Indore which was called off after just three overs and the fiasco invited a brief suspension for the venue.

Sanath Jasuriya, who scored 31 on Sunday, is the only player to feature in both the games.