The 35-year-old joined the Blues on loan in 1999 from Italian side Castel Di Sangro and signed a permanent deal a year later, costing the club £130,000.
Cudicini will provide competition for Heurelho Gomes who has been the subject of much criticism this season.
"Chelsea can confirm Carlo Cudicini has signed for Tottenham Hotspur on a free transfer," read a Chelsea statement.
"The club would like to take this opportunity to thank Carlo for his years of service and wish him well."
Tottenham paid PSV Eindhoven £7m for Brazilian Gomes in the summer and he struggled with his form initially before a string of improved displays.
Monday, January 26, 2009
A wizard, a star
was in Melbourne recently when I spied an interesting advertising banner. It said: "Coming soon, Shane Warne the musical." I stopped. A musical about a cricketer. Really? But then it was Warne, a larger-than-life cricketer, who had the most colourful of journeys and a career of triumph on the field and controversy off it, inciting awe, wonder and criticism along the way. A musical? why not? And if I were asked to pick a soundtrack, Frank Sinatra's "My Way" would be the automatic choice.
Love him or hate him, we were definitely very lucky to have him. Warne may have self-destructed at times off the field, ruining his chances of being one of Australia's greatest captains, but on the field he was an undisputed legend, a legspinner of the highest class with a wizard's cricket brain. I still find it amazing that we had Warne, Murali and Kumble all at the same time, cricket's equivalent of the Three Tenors.
As a schoolboy, I first watched Warne play at the Sinhalese Sports Club back in August 1992. During the first innings he was mashed to all corners, conceding 107 from 22 wicketless overs. But when Sri Lanka came out to chase just 181 for victory, he showed his now famous instinct for grabbing the limelight at the right time, claiming 3 for 11 from 5.1 overs. We collapsed from 127 for 2 to 164 all out, one of our most painful defeats to this day. Yet, still, at that stage, there was no obvious indication that within less than a year Warne would be well on the way to becoming the greatest legspinner to play the game.
I may be no bowler, but I know one thing: the art of legspin is very, very hard to perfect. It offers the greatest opportunity for variety to bamboozle and deceive, but problems with control, accuracy and injuries are common. Warne surmounted nearly all these challenges with astounding success. His greatest strength was his control. He could bowl legbreaks of varying turn, a straight one, top spinner, the flipper and an occasional googly. This variety is amazing but it was the control of these variations that made him so potent. It allowed him to adapt every aspect of his bowling to suit the pitches he played on. He was a master of his own turn, line and length.
I remember well how he would tease you. In one over he could make you play stump to stump, from leg to off and back again. Right-handed batsmen would be greeted by big-turning legbreaks, which would result in them covering the line of the ball with their pads. Slowly, delivery by delivery, Warne would coax the batsmen to put their front pads across their stumps, setting them up for an lbw to his straight one.
He had many other ploys up his sleeve too. He would change the angle of delivery by going round the wicket. He would vary pace and flight, even drift, at will. He developed the flipper, a delivery that that had everyone guessing for a couple of seasons while his shoulder was at its strongest.
When a pitch did not offer him much, and if a right-hander got on top of him, he would resort to bowling round the wicket into the rough - a traditionally negative tactic that he enterprisingly turned into an attacking option, embarrassing many of us along the way, as apparently harmless deliveries sneaked through the back door.
He had no one tactic against me but he usually tried to cut out my lofted drive over mid-on. He then tried to put me under pressure, drying up the runs and then trying to tempt me to play an expansive drive outside off stump.
Playing him was never easy and always highly intense. He expertly scanned and analysed your technique and game plans, probing for chinks and weaknesses to exploit. He was a master of the mental game and loved playing mindgames. In between overs and deliveries he'd let you overhear snippets of conversations with his wicketkeeper and captain during which he explained your coming demise, openly announcing his tactics with a gleeful spark in his eye. He would cleverly manoeuvre his field, opening up spaces and trying to distract you. You knew it was all an act, but it still got you thinking.
The thing was, he was so often four to five steps ahead of us. Like a brilliant chess player who looks into the future, planning several moves ahead, Warne hunted down his prey over a series of overs, setting them up.
He backed his craft up with confident, intimidating and effective appealing - which bagged him a huge number of lbws. Every aspect of his bowling was thought through.
His talent and cunning aside, another reason for his success was undoubtedly the quality of the Australian pace attack, and Australia's powerful top-order batting. The quicks routinely made early inroads, creating pressure for Warne to exploit, and the batsmen added to this with mountains of runs, giving him the luxury of dictating terms.
Love him or hate him, we were definitely very lucky to have him. Warne may have self-destructed at times off the field, ruining his chances of being one of Australia's greatest captains, but on the field he was an undisputed legend, a legspinner of the highest class with a wizard's cricket brain. I still find it amazing that we had Warne, Murali and Kumble all at the same time, cricket's equivalent of the Three Tenors.
As a schoolboy, I first watched Warne play at the Sinhalese Sports Club back in August 1992. During the first innings he was mashed to all corners, conceding 107 from 22 wicketless overs. But when Sri Lanka came out to chase just 181 for victory, he showed his now famous instinct for grabbing the limelight at the right time, claiming 3 for 11 from 5.1 overs. We collapsed from 127 for 2 to 164 all out, one of our most painful defeats to this day. Yet, still, at that stage, there was no obvious indication that within less than a year Warne would be well on the way to becoming the greatest legspinner to play the game.
I may be no bowler, but I know one thing: the art of legspin is very, very hard to perfect. It offers the greatest opportunity for variety to bamboozle and deceive, but problems with control, accuracy and injuries are common. Warne surmounted nearly all these challenges with astounding success. His greatest strength was his control. He could bowl legbreaks of varying turn, a straight one, top spinner, the flipper and an occasional googly. This variety is amazing but it was the control of these variations that made him so potent. It allowed him to adapt every aspect of his bowling to suit the pitches he played on. He was a master of his own turn, line and length.
I remember well how he would tease you. In one over he could make you play stump to stump, from leg to off and back again. Right-handed batsmen would be greeted by big-turning legbreaks, which would result in them covering the line of the ball with their pads. Slowly, delivery by delivery, Warne would coax the batsmen to put their front pads across their stumps, setting them up for an lbw to his straight one.
He had many other ploys up his sleeve too. He would change the angle of delivery by going round the wicket. He would vary pace and flight, even drift, at will. He developed the flipper, a delivery that that had everyone guessing for a couple of seasons while his shoulder was at its strongest.
When a pitch did not offer him much, and if a right-hander got on top of him, he would resort to bowling round the wicket into the rough - a traditionally negative tactic that he enterprisingly turned into an attacking option, embarrassing many of us along the way, as apparently harmless deliveries sneaked through the back door.
He had no one tactic against me but he usually tried to cut out my lofted drive over mid-on. He then tried to put me under pressure, drying up the runs and then trying to tempt me to play an expansive drive outside off stump.
Playing him was never easy and always highly intense. He expertly scanned and analysed your technique and game plans, probing for chinks and weaknesses to exploit. He was a master of the mental game and loved playing mindgames. In between overs and deliveries he'd let you overhear snippets of conversations with his wicketkeeper and captain during which he explained your coming demise, openly announcing his tactics with a gleeful spark in his eye. He would cleverly manoeuvre his field, opening up spaces and trying to distract you. You knew it was all an act, but it still got you thinking.
The thing was, he was so often four to five steps ahead of us. Like a brilliant chess player who looks into the future, planning several moves ahead, Warne hunted down his prey over a series of overs, setting them up.
He backed his craft up with confident, intimidating and effective appealing - which bagged him a huge number of lbws. Every aspect of his bowling was thought through.
His talent and cunning aside, another reason for his success was undoubtedly the quality of the Australian pace attack, and Australia's powerful top-order batting. The quicks routinely made early inroads, creating pressure for Warne to exploit, and the batsmen added to this with mountains of runs, giving him the luxury of dictating terms.
McCullum signs on for New South Wales
New South Wales have secured a major coup with Brendon McCullum, the big-hitting New Zealand wicketkeeper, drafted in to the state's squad for the Australian domestic Twenty20 final in Sydney on Saturday. McCullum owns the most famous century in the format for his 158 off 73 balls in the opening match of the inaugural Indian Premier League and by playing for the Blues he will immediately qualify for the lucrative Champions League Twenty20 in October.
McCullum, who can also reach the tournament through his Kolkata Knight Riders franchise, will open the batting for New South Wales against Victoria at the Olympic Stadium. Australia rarely call on overseas talent to boost their squads, but David Gilbert, the Cricket New South Wales chief executive, said the move was an important one in preparation for the US$6 million tournament in India.
"With the potential losses the New South Wales squad may suffer depending on which two IPL teams qualify for the Champions League, it is vital that we strengthen our squad ahead of that tournament," Gilbert said. "Brendon is one of the most dangerous limited-overs batsmen in world cricket and will be a tremendous asset in terms of his considerable international experience and the match-winning ability he brings."
Nathan Bracken (Bangalore Royal Challengers), Brett Lee (Mohali), Simon Katich (Kings XI Punjab) and Dominic Thornely (Mumbai Indians) were New South Wales players who were part of the opening season of the IPL while Michael Clarke remains a target for the franchises. David Warner, the boom limited-overs opener, has signed with Delhi Daredevils for the second tournament and Moises Henriques has agreed to join McCullum's team.
The McCullum news is another blow for Victoria, who are likely to lose Brad Hodge with a leg injury sustained during their victory over Queensland in the preliminary final on Wednesday. The Bushrangers, who gained a place in the Champions League with the win, will also be without the big-name players David Hussey and Cameron White, who are on Australian one-day duty.
Queensland's Andrew Symonds said the signing was against the spirit of the game. "That's not Australian to me," Symonds said in the Courier-Mail. "Is that what New South Wales cricket is having to do? I am trying to understand the modern world."
Greg Shipperd, the Victoria coach, said the rules on overseas players "don't seem to be particularly clear". "Our view was not to play them domestically at this point in time but today's decision obviously might reopen that door," he told AAP. "These rules are emerging and they're flipping and flopping at different times so we'll just go with the flow and roll with the regulations as they are unfolded to us."
New Zealand Cricket officials cleared McCullum's move and he will miss Otago's last group game of the State Shield one-day competition. However, the squad members for the Chappell-Hadlee Series will not be available for the finals of that tournament. McCullum, who has played 143 ODIs and 18 Twenty20 Internationals, will be able to use the Sydney match to fine tune for the five one-dayers against Australia starting on February 1.
McCullum, who can also reach the tournament through his Kolkata Knight Riders franchise, will open the batting for New South Wales against Victoria at the Olympic Stadium. Australia rarely call on overseas talent to boost their squads, but David Gilbert, the Cricket New South Wales chief executive, said the move was an important one in preparation for the US$6 million tournament in India.
"With the potential losses the New South Wales squad may suffer depending on which two IPL teams qualify for the Champions League, it is vital that we strengthen our squad ahead of that tournament," Gilbert said. "Brendon is one of the most dangerous limited-overs batsmen in world cricket and will be a tremendous asset in terms of his considerable international experience and the match-winning ability he brings."
Nathan Bracken (Bangalore Royal Challengers), Brett Lee (Mohali), Simon Katich (Kings XI Punjab) and Dominic Thornely (Mumbai Indians) were New South Wales players who were part of the opening season of the IPL while Michael Clarke remains a target for the franchises. David Warner, the boom limited-overs opener, has signed with Delhi Daredevils for the second tournament and Moises Henriques has agreed to join McCullum's team.
The McCullum news is another blow for Victoria, who are likely to lose Brad Hodge with a leg injury sustained during their victory over Queensland in the preliminary final on Wednesday. The Bushrangers, who gained a place in the Champions League with the win, will also be without the big-name players David Hussey and Cameron White, who are on Australian one-day duty.
Queensland's Andrew Symonds said the signing was against the spirit of the game. "That's not Australian to me," Symonds said in the Courier-Mail. "Is that what New South Wales cricket is having to do? I am trying to understand the modern world."
Greg Shipperd, the Victoria coach, said the rules on overseas players "don't seem to be particularly clear". "Our view was not to play them domestically at this point in time but today's decision obviously might reopen that door," he told AAP. "These rules are emerging and they're flipping and flopping at different times so we'll just go with the flow and roll with the regulations as they are unfolded to us."
New Zealand Cricket officials cleared McCullum's move and he will miss Otago's last group game of the State Shield one-day competition. However, the squad members for the Chappell-Hadlee Series will not be available for the finals of that tournament. McCullum, who has played 143 ODIs and 18 Twenty20 Internationals, will be able to use the Sydney match to fine tune for the five one-dayers against Australia starting on February 1.
Friday, January 23, 2009
WWE Interview: Randy Orton's life as "the bad guy"
How careful do you have to be when punting your boss in the head?
Well, if you're Randy Orton, the most hated heel in the wrestling industry and your boss is billionaire bad boy Vince McMahon, the answer (backed up by the sick thud of replay) is not so safe.
And that's just how WWE wanted to lead into their second biggest pay-per-view of the year, with Orton kicking McMahon in the head to the shock/cheers/boos/disbelief of the millions of Raw fans who scrambled for their DVR remote to watch the kick again.
"If you watch the replay, I wasn't too careful. I definitely let him have it," Orton admits when talking about what transpired Monday night. "My wife DVR'd it for me because I had to watch it for myself. My foot still hurts. And if that's the case, I'm sure he has a nice migraine right now."
ESPN caught up with Orton as he prepared for the 30-man Royal Rumble match to talk about what it's like playing the role of a heel, the story behind his new tats, and the future of The Legacy.
Well, if you're Randy Orton, the most hated heel in the wrestling industry and your boss is billionaire bad boy Vince McMahon, the answer (backed up by the sick thud of replay) is not so safe.
And that's just how WWE wanted to lead into their second biggest pay-per-view of the year, with Orton kicking McMahon in the head to the shock/cheers/boos/disbelief of the millions of Raw fans who scrambled for their DVR remote to watch the kick again.
"If you watch the replay, I wasn't too careful. I definitely let him have it," Orton admits when talking about what transpired Monday night. "My wife DVR'd it for me because I had to watch it for myself. My foot still hurts. And if that's the case, I'm sure he has a nice migraine right now."
ESPN caught up with Orton as he prepared for the 30-man Royal Rumble match to talk about what it's like playing the role of a heel, the story behind his new tats, and the future of The Legacy.
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