Tottenham captain expected to confirm his retirement

"Andre Villas-Boas will be cautiously optimistic that his side are prepared for life without him."

Reports suggest that Ledley King will call time on his playing career and instead assume a behind-the-scenes position at Tottenham...

Speculation is growing that Ledley King will announce his retirement from professional football at the age of 31 over the last 24 hours after years spent struggling to fight the effects of a seemingly incurable knee injury.

The Tottenham captain, who is likely to be given a new role either as a coach or ambassador, hasn't managed more than 24 league starts in a campaign since 2006, with the problem proving increasingly restricting.

Remarkably, neither the pain endured nor the sporadic nature of his participation affected the quality of his performances, at least until a dip over the past few months as the years of battling appeared to finally take their toll.

It is a testament to his ability that, despite it being widely accepted that his fitness issues rendered him incapable of playing more than once a week, Fabio Capello opted to include him in his England squad for the last World Cup.

The career-long Spurs stalwart represented his nation 21 times, his first cap being awarded by Sven-Goran Eriksson in 2002. His admirers feel that, were it not for his knee, he would have rivalled the 77 and 81 appearances accumulated by former Senrab team-mate John Terry and Rio Ferdinand.

His standing as a Tottenham icon is assured having been the one constant at the club in a 14-year period that featured plenty of upheaval and difficult moments, but also a season of Champions League football and a Carling Cup triumph.

The fact that King was always an automatic starter when available, regardless of how long he had been out, says everything about his reliability, though new boss Andre Villas-Boas will be cautiously optimistic that his side are prepared for life without him.

French defender Younes Kaboul enjoyed his best campaign at White Hart Lane last term, Michael Dawson - while also susceptible to injury - rarely disappoints, Jan Vertonghen has arrived, William Gallas remains (for now) and Steven Caulker showed considerable promise on loan at Swansea.

The Lilywhites are 2.881/1 to finish in the top four in 2012/13, and 34.033/1 to win the title.

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Cheltenham 2012: Kauto on brink of retirement

News / Timeform / 17 March 2012 / Leave a Comment

Kauto Star was one of the best chasers of all-time

"The 12-year-old will go down in history as one of the true legends of the National Hunt game..."

Owner Clive Smith is "90% sure" the great Kauto Star, who reached a Timeform Rating of 191 in his peak, will be retired after he was pulled up in Friday's Cheltenham Gold Cup with over a circuit to run...

The 12-year-old will go down in history as one of the true legends of the National Hunt game, and the joint-third best chaser (with Mill House) in Timeform's experience, after becoming the first horse to regain the Gold Cup crown in 2009 - in addition to his five victories in the King George VI Chase at Kempton.

The Paul Nicholls-trained gelding was written off at the start of the season after pulling up at Punchestown at the end of the last campaign, but he roared back to the delight of his army of fans with victories over Long Run in the Betfair Chase at Haydock and in his history-making win at Kempton on Boxing Day.

However, his preparation for a third Gold Cup hit a major snag when he suffered a schooling ground fall just a few weeks before the race, leaving his participation in serious doubt.

But having been nursed back to fitness by connections, taking in a racecourse gallop at Wincanton that went down as a resounding success, the stage was set for his latest date with destiny at Prestbury Park.

Roared by the crowd as his name was read out during the pre-race parade, Kauto headed to post with the masses firmly behind him.

All appeared to be going well in the early exchanges, but Ruby Walsh began to give off distress signals heading down the back straight and within seconds Kauto Star was falling back through the field.

The inevitable followed as Walsh sensibly pulled up his mount, a move that brought a rousing applause from the grandstand.

Despite returning from the race unscathed, Smith admits Kauto Star is unlikely to run again.

He said: "It's pointless saying he's retired now as opposed to a month's time.

"It's probably 90% sure (he'll be retired).

"I'll make my mind up about it and I'll take advice, but somebody would have to work very hard to persuade me that we'll see him out again."

With previous Gold Cup champions Best Mate and Dawn Run having lost their lives on the racecourse, Smith is keen to take such a scenario out of the equation.

"I wouldn't want to have a Best Mate situation or a Dawn Run situation and it might be best to call it a day now. It probably won't be long," he added.

"He's not seriously injured at all. It's just like when we get a tweak in the back if we're playing golf or something.

"Ruby could feel him dropping back straight away, instantly almost, and he felt he should pull him up.

"It was sad to see as you always want to see a real contest, but equally I was pleased that Kauto was all right.

"I can look back on a wonderful career. He's been a fantastic horse and I couldn't have wished to own one better.

"I'm so proud to have owned him and so many people have loved seeing him run.

"People have said to me he's changed their lives."

Walsh insisted he felt he had little option but to stop Kauto Star's race early, a move which brought back memories of the great Istabraq, who was similarly pulled up early when bidding for a fourth Champion Hurdle in 2002.

Walsh said: "I jumped the water and I wasn't happy at that stage, when Kauto Star couldn't lay-up with Midnight Chase I knew I was in trouble.

"I drifted further back and further back and I was struggling badly going to the fourth last the first time. I landed and AP (McCoy) said to me if I was you I'd pull him up, and he was right.

"It would have been a hell of a lot worse if I'd turned him over and he broke his neck at the third last.

"I got a good break and jumped the first well, pinged the second and was OK at the third. He jumped the water great, but he was never coming on the bridle.

"He's been a wonderful horse - a horse of a lifetime.

"He's won five King Georges, two Gold Cups. He'd be my favourite horse anyway.
"I doubt I'll ever ride a horse as good as him again."

The question is bound to be raised whether Kauto Star should ever have run, but Walsh insists it is impossible to tell if a horse is really ready for the heat of battle until it has begun.

"If they were like humans and could tell you when they're feeling OK and they're not feeling OK, it would be so much easier. Half the horses I rode this week probably wouldn't have run," Walsh said.

"But they're not, they're animals and you can only go off the signs they're showing you.

"He schooled great on Monday, and he showed everyone at Wincanton last Friday he was in good heart, but until you jump out here in a Gold Cup and go that speed, you don't know.

"These things happen. Nobody's died."

Nicholls has left the door open for a potential return to the racecourse for his star, but is not intending on making a snap decision.

He said: "We won't worry about whether or not that was the last run of his career.

"He has been a blinding horse, so we will turn him out during the summer and then see what happens. He is unlikely to run in the Gold Cup again.

"I will have a talk with Clive - I am not going to make any rash decision at the moment - he has been a wonderful horse and we will do what is best for him.

"We wouldn't have run him unless he had gone through all the tests.

"That is why we took him to Wincanton, schooled him, and made sure everything is right - but you still can't replicate the pressure of a race.

"We might bring him back in the autumn and have a go at the Betfair Chase at Haydock, but that's only speculation."
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Rahul Dravid announces his retirement from Test cricket

Bat and ball / Jamie "The Pacman" Pacheco / 08 March 2012 / Leave a Comment

Eyes on the ball. Rahul Dravid sweeps during his last-ever Test series against Australia.

"You also know a Test batsman is a bit special when in a game that relies so heavily on resolute defence, patience, stamina and concentration you get nicknamed “The Wall”. "

One of the greatest batsmen of all time has played his last-ever Test match and we won't be seeing Rahul Dravid in the international arena again. The game of cricket is all the poorer for it.

Rahul Dravid is set to announce his retirement from Test cricket after a career in the longest-format that spanned 15 years. You know you're talking about an exceptional player when you're the second-highest Test run scorer of all time in the longest format (behind only Sachin Tendulkar) with over 13,000 runs scored at an average of 52.31. You also know a Test batsman is a bit special when in a game that relies so heavily on resolute defence, patience, stamina and concentration you get nicknamed "The Wall". But in this age where the power of the internet rules supreme, it's perhaps the greatest compliment of all when news of your retirement causes the world's most influential cricket website - www.cricinfo.com - to crash. So many fans of the great man were desperate to read the details of the news that the site simply couldn't cope.

Dravid wasn't just a talent in the five-day game. He also scored over 10,000 runs in ODIs, though sadly his retirement from the 50-over game came before India finally managed to win the World Cup since he began his international career. Victory over Sri Lanka in the final was secured after a match-winning knock from skipper MS Dhoni in April 2011.

And if Dravid wil best be remembered for the sheer weight of runs he contributed to his country, we shouldn't forget that that he was also one of the greatest catchers to ever occupy the slip cordon and that he often also donned the wicket-keepers' gloves, particularly in limited-overs matches. And to cap it all off, 'The Wall' epitomised everything that was right about the game of cricket: honesty, integrity, fairplay, decency. He also had a spell as captain of the national side.

His retirement comes in the wake of a certain criticism that the older members of India's Test batting line-up prolonged their careers just a little too long. Gautam Gambhir, VVS Laxman, Virender Sehwag and Tendulkar are all also the wrong side of thirty and whereas they haven't lost any of their class or ability with the bat, their running between the wickets slowed down over the years and their athleticism in the field isn't what it once was. It was typical of Dravid to call time on his own career before he outstayed his welcome.

He will continue playing in the shortest format of the game - T20 - when the Indian Premier League resumes on the April 4 for at least one more season ; he's still contracted to the winners of the first-ever edition, the Rajasthan Royals.

But he certainly won't be turning up for India in the 50-over format at the Asia Cup, which begins on March 11 and where India are [2.56 ] to be crowned champions. But Tendulkar will be there, as he carries on his pursuit of his 100th international century. If he does get it, his own retirement may not be too far away.

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