The Sports Matrix: Thursday 28 July 2011

Frankel romps to Sussex Stakes win

Frankel won his eighth consecutive race to take the Sussex Stakes at Glorious Goodwood by five lengths. Ridden by Tom Queally, Frankel surged clear of Canford Cliffs. “He’s the best I’ve ever seen,” said Sir Henry Cecil, the horse’s trainer. MORE

Fox Hunt has the legs to defeat Poll

Fox Hunt, who has won both previous starts under jockey Silvestre De Sousa, may well surprise Opinion Poll in the Goodwood Cup at 3.15 today. Opinion Poll may be less effective than usual over this shorter trip and on drying ground. MORE

McIlroy dubbed ‘young Darren’

Northern Ireland’s three best golfers will compete in the Irish Open,which starts today, with Graeme McDowell describing Rory McIlroy as “young Darren”, referring to recent Open winner Darren Clarke. MORE

Aguero to join Manchester City

Manchester City were last night finalising a £38m move for Atletico Madrid striker Sergio Aguero. With doubts persisting over the future of Carlos Tevez, Aguero – who scored 27 goals for Atletico last season – is seen as a like-for-like replacement. MORE

Southwell ruled out of World Cup

Scotland’s Hugo Southwell will miss the World Cup after failing to recover from a knee problem. The full-back, 31, suffered the injury inMay. “We’ve decided to stand him down from our squad by mutual consent,” head coach Andy Robinson said. MORE

Benayoun ‘abused’ on Malaysian tour

Chelsea have made a complaint to the Malaysian Football Association over what they perceive as racist chants towards midfielder Yossi Benayoun during a match in Kuala Lumpur last week. “Yossi was subjected to anti-Semitic abuse,” the club said. MORE

Crusaders players to complete season

Crusaders players have pledged to fulfil their remaining fixtures – beginning with Sunday’s trip to Wakefield. “We’re definitely going to stick it out,” Lloyd White said, despite uncertainty over the club’s future. “We’re playing for ourselves and the fans.” MORE

Lancashire are set tough victory target

Lancashire need to score 250 runs today if they are to defeat Nottinghamshire in the County Championship. Lancs were 8 for 0 overnight chasing 258, after bowling Nottinghamshire out for 233, thanks to six wickets from the veteran Glen Chapple. MORE

Spofforth nearly quit after defeat

Britain’s Gemma Spofforth has admitted she almost quit the sport after losing her 100m backstroke title at the World Championships in Shanghai this week: “It was a huge decision to make overnight. A lot of thought went into it. I didn’t get much sleep.” MORE

Opinion: James Lawton

There can be only one grown-up response to the Olympics’ visit to these shores. It is ambivalence. It is knowing what the Olympics can bring but also what they threaten, despite what Lord Coe and Tessa Jowell say. MORE

Prior makes case to be called the best

Matt Prior’s continued good form makes the case for him as the world’s best wicketkeeper-batsman. He has scored three 100s in his last six innings, with eight scores above 50 in his last 18. At Lord’s last weekend, Prior was excellent, helping England to rebuild with 71 in the first innings, before an unbeaten 103, which helped England to victory. Alec Stewart paid tribute to Prior’s recent form, saying that he had improved since being dropped from the England side. “When Matt first came into the side he was still learning, he still is. “But he has settled into the role as the years have gone on. He got dropped, went back to Sussex and came back stronger, which is what good players do. I would say he’s the best keeper-batsman in the world at the moment.” MORE

Tremlett misses England training

England’s Chris Tremlett failed to train yesterday ahead of the second Test, which starts at Trent Bridge tomorrow, raising fears that he might miss the game. But England insisted they were only “managing the workload” of the in-form fast bowler. MORE

Coe rejects sliding scale for drug bans

Sebastian Coe has rejected calls for athletes who are caught taking recreational drugs to face lesser bans than those who take performance-enhancing substances. Coe said yesterday that such moves display the “morality of the knacker’s yard”. MORE