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	Michael Kasprowicz doesn’t think a lack of commitment is going to be an issue when he plays in the ICL © Getty Images

Retired Australian stars such as Michael Kasprowicz, Damien Martyn and Jason Gillespie were named in the squads announced by the unofficial Indian Cricket League for its Grand Championships. The event which starts on March 9 features eight teams – including one consisting entirely of Pakistan players – up from the six in the inaugural Twenty20 tournament held last December in Panchkula.Kasprowicz called time on his first-class career last month, finishing with a record 501 wickets for Queensland. “The decision to join ICL was actually a no-brainer. I have played 19 years of first-class cricket for Queensland, have had my time at the top with Australia and have also played county cricket,” he told Cricinfo. “It would be a great opportunity for me to live in India and play here. I love coming to India, I love the passion, hospitality and the people here. My best days of international career were here.”Asked whether he would able to give his 100% commitment while playing a Twenty20 league, he said, “It’s about personal pride. You can’t relax while playing and I have always played my cricket hard.”He also questioned the rationale behind banning players who have joined the ICL. “It can only be good for Indian cricket,” he said. “So many domestic players get a chance to play with the players from around the world and the quality can only go up. It’s sad that the players are being banned.”The other big-name signings for the ICL include New Zealand pair Shane Bond and Lou Vincent, Justin Kemp, Heath Streak, Russel Arnold and Wavell Hinds.Squads for Grand championships
Ahmedabad Rockets Damien Martyn (capt), Murray Goodwin, Heath Streak, Wavell Hinds, Jason Gillespie, Abhishek Tamrakar, Anshu Jain, Baburao Yadav, P Bhima Rao, Parviz Aziz, Rakesh Patel, Pallav Vora, Reetinder Sodhi, Sachin Dholpure, KM Sanjeev, Sridharan Sriram, Sumit Kalia
Chandigarh Lions Chris Cairns (capt), Mathew Elliot, Lou Vincent, Andrew Hall, Daryl Tuffey, Amit Uniyal, Bipul Sharma, Chetan Sharma, Dinesh Mongia, Gaurav Gupta, Harpreet Singh, Ishan Malhotra, Karanveer Singh, Love Ablish, Manish Sharma, Rajesh Sharma, Sarabjeet Singh, Tejinder Pal Singh
Chennai Superstars Stuart Law (capt), Ian Harvey, Russel Arnold, Shabbir Ahmed, Adam Parore, Michael Bevan, G Vignesh, Hemang Badani, Hemanth Kumar, J Hariesh, P Vivek, R Jesuraj, R Sathish, Syed Mohammed, Dakshinamoorthy Kumaran, Thirunavukarasu Kumaran, V Devendran, Vasanth Saravanan
Delhi Giants Marvan Atapattu (capt), Avishka Gunawardene, Nic Pothas, Dale Benkenstein, Shane Bond, Abbas Ali, Abhinav Bali, Abhishek Sharma, Abid Nabi, Ali Murtaza, Dhruv Mahajan, Dishant Yagnik, JP Yadav, Mohnish Mishra, Raghav Sachdev, Shalabh Srivastava, Taduri Prakash Sudhindra, Ali Hamid Zaidi
Hyderabad Heroes Chris Harris (capt), Nicky Boje, Justin Kemp, Abdul Razzaq, Jimmy Maher, Alfred Absolem, Ambati Rayudu, Anirudh Singh, Ibrahim Khaleel, Inder Shekar Reddy, Kaushik Reddy, Pagadala Niranjan, Shashank Nag, Stuart Binny, Syed Sahabuddin, Vinay Kumar, Zakaria Zuffri
Kolkata Tigers Craig McMillan (capt), Lance Klusener, Upul Chandana, Nantie Hayward, Andre Adams, Abhishek Jhunjhunwala, Abu Nechim, Deep Dasgupta, Mihir Diwakar, Pritam Das, Rajiv Kumar, Rohan Gavaskar, Sayed Akhlakh Ahmed, Shiv Sagar Singh, Subhomoy Das, Sujay Tarafdar
Lahore Badshahs Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Azhar Mahmood, Taufeeq Umar, Imran Farhat, Mushtaq Ahmed, Saqlain Mushtaq, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Shahid Nazir, Hasan Raza, Naveed Latif, Humayun Farhat, Imran Nazir, Mohammad Sami, Arshad Khan, Riaz Afridi
Mumbai Champs Brian Lara (capt), Nathan Astle, Johan Van der Wath, Tino Best, Michael Kasprowicz, Anupam Sanklecha, Avinash Yadav, Dheeraj Jadhav, Kiran Powar, Nikhil Mandale, Pushkaraj Joshi, Ranjit Khirid, Robin Morris, Shreyas Khanolkar, Shridhar Iyer, Subhojit Paul, Suyash Burkul, Raviraj Patil

James Marshall has been handed the captaincy for the tour to Australia in July © Getty Images

James Marshall will lead New Zealand A during the four-country emerging players tournament in Queensland in July. The 14-player squad may grow after the World Cup, when another player could be added, and it includes Iain O’Brien, the fast bowler who last played for New Zealand in 2005.Jesse Ryder and Craig Cumming were unavailable for the tour, which includes seven one-day games and two Twenty20 matches. The national selectors hope it will be used to prepare for the Twenty20 world championships in South Africa in September.”A number of new players have been included in this year’s team as a result of their domestic performances,” Glenn Turner, the national men’s selector, said. “We hope that this competition will test and challenge them at the next level.”Turner said the team would spend three weeks in Darwin preparing for the series in Brisbane and Maroochydore. Squads from Australia, India and South Africa will also take part in the tournament.New Zealand A squad James Marshall (capt), Neil Broom, Grant Elliott, Gareth Hopkins (wk), Jamie How, Nathan McCullum, James McMillan, Warren McSkimming, Rob Nicol, Iain O’Brien, Mark Orchard, Michael Papps, Aaron Redmond, Bradley Scott.

Terry Jenner will visit Nairobi next month to hold a four-day coaching clinic.Jenner, the former Australian legspinner whose coaching has been instrumental in the success of Shane Warne, assisted Collins Obuya in the winter, and this latest initiative will help some of Kenya’s up-and-coming stars.The camp, which will be held between May 16 and 19, has been organised by Cricket Kenya in association with Richard Done, the ICC’;s high performance manager.

Greg Lamb’s unbeaten 100 for Hampshire was in vain as Northamptonshire edged home by four wickets at The Rose Bowl. Usman Afzaal and David Sales each struck 49 for the visitors as they knocked off their target of 227 in a close-fought encounter. Northants had Hampshire in some bother at 23 for 3 – Kevin Pietersen (11) among the fallers – but the opener Lamb biffed a century and Craig McMillan added 39 to take them to a decent total. But it wasn’t enough, and despite three wickets from the veteran spinner Shaun Udal, Northants held firm.Dominic Cork took 4 for 14 as Lancashire crushed Gloucestershire by six wickets at Bristol. Glenn Chapple and Mark Chilton steered Lancashire to an easy victory after they were left needing just 87 following a dramatic Gloucestershire collapse. Lancashire’s bowlers proved they have a killer instinct which they so badly lacked against Middlesex at Lord’s earlier this campaign when they let them off the hook at 37 for 6 and went on to lose by 69 runs. They showed no such mercy this time, killing off Gloucestershire’s innings, with the top score a tame 24 not out from Mark Alleyne. Lancashire lost Mal Loye and Brad Hodge early (16 for 2), but from then on their third win this term was never in doubt.Darren Gough destroyed Nottinghamshire‘s top order with 4 for 16 and helped Essex to a six-wicket victory at Trent Bridge. James Middlebrook gave strong support with 2 for 27 from his nine overs, to shoot Notts out for 154. The Essex captain Ronnie Irani led the charge, striking 53 from the same number of balls, before Ryan Sidebottom – Notts’ most economical bowler with 2 for 15 from seven – held a return catch to dismiss him. Andy and Grant Flower each reached the thirties as the visitors cruised home with nine overs to spare.Ed Smith struck 93 and Scott Styris added 80 to help Middlesex defeat Worcestershire by 32 runs at New Road – and remain at the top of the table. Smith and Styris’s efforts lifted Middlesex to an unassailable 224 for 7 and, although Vikram Solanki and Stephen Moore started well in reply with an opening stand of 47, and Zander de Bruyn added 55, wickets tumbled at regular intervals as Middlesex’s bowlers continued undaunted.

Division Two

Sussex snuck home on the penultimate ball against Somerset in a big-hitting thriller at Taunton, in which nearly 600 runs were plundered from 90 overs. Ian Blackwell struck an unbeaten 134 from No 7 to set second-placed Somerset a whopping 297 for 5 from their 45 overs – only to watch Sussex knock the runs off. Ian Ward and Matt Prior got Sussex off to a flying start with a stand of 40, but Ward and then the in-form Michael Yardy fell in quick succession as the match swung back in Somerset’s favour; Keith Parsons responding with 4 for 38 and the heat was on. It was edge-of-your-seat stuff, but it was Sussex who kept their cool and overhauled the total thanks to Prior’s 77 and an unbeaten 73 from Johannes van der Wath, who took Sussex home on the penultimate ball.Tim Murtagh took 3 for 17 as Surrey consigned high-flying Durham to their first defeat of the season. James Benning and Rikki Clarke put on 129 for the fifth wicket to rescue Surrey from dire straits at 26 for 4, Jon Batty and Mark Ramprakash each making a duck. Benning smeared Durham’s bowling attack with 66 from 84 balls, and Clarke did further damage with 54 from 67 as Surrey reached 219 for 7. Durham were immediately in trouble in their reply at 10 for 3 as Murtagh struck three times in quick succession – each wicket an lbw. Dale Benkenstein and Nicky Peng added 95 for the fourth wicket to give the visitors some hope, but when Benkenstein was caught by Jon Batty on 44 off Ian Salisbury with the score at 105, they were back in trouble. Peng made 63 but his efforts could not save his team.Craig White took 3 for 20 as Yorkshire defeated Scotland to by 60 runs at Headingley. Yorkshire put on 214 after Scotland put them in, Anthony McGrath plundering 57 from 69 balls. In the face of an asking-rate of more than five an over, the visitors duly folded to 154 all out, Deon Kruis backing up White’s efforts with 2 for 15 from nine overs to stifle the visitors’ reply from the outset. Despite 60 from Gavin Hamilton – against his former team-mates – they never recovered.

Promising batsman Craig Philipson has continued his rapid rise in theXXXX Queensland Bulls ranks with selection today for next week’s PuraCup match against the Tasmanian Tigers in Hobart.Philipson, who will play his first match for Queensland tomorrow in theING Cup day/nighter against NSW at Sydney’s Telstra Stadium, will makehis first class debut for the Bulls if he takes the field against theTigers next week.The 21-year-old right-hander replaces the injured Lee Carseldine (back)in the Bulls line-up. The only other change sees pace bowler DamienMacKenzie, who was 12th man in this week’s Pura Cup match in Perth,omitted from the twelve.The Bulls will travel to Hobart on Monday, departing on Qantas FlightQF525 and arriving in Hobart on QF1713 at 5.20pm.The Tigers are second on the Pura Cup ladder on 20 points with the Bullsin third spot on 16 points.XXXX Queensland Bulls v Tasmanian Tigers, Pura Cup, Hobart, Wed Jan 21 -Sat Jun 24:
Jimmy Maher (c), Clinton Perren, Martin Love, Stuart Law, CraigPhilipson, James Hopes, Wade Seccombe, Ashley Noffke, Nathan Hauritz,Michael Kasprowicz, Joe Dawes, Chris Simpson. (12th man to be named).

Promoted way up the order, Shoaib Malik treated the best crowd of the season here at the Sharjah Crickt Stadium to a dazzling unbeaten century, and Mohammad Sami claimed a hat-trick to land Pakistan an emphatic 51-run victory, their ninth on the trot, with more than 15 overs to spare.For the second successive match, the West Indies showed a hint of a fight, only to cave in timidly in the end. While Pakistan somehow kept finding the man for the moment whenever they were in a tight spot, the Windies had no such luck.Young Shoaib is a case in point; his remarkable innings, which has certainly advanced his credentials as an all-rounder, earned him the man-of-the-match award.A whirlwind knock from Chris Gayle threatened to break Pakistan’s sequence, but Shoaib Akhtar avenged the hiding he was given by Gayle (62, 45 deliveries, 6 fours, 3 sixes) by having him caught at point by Shahid Afridi in his comeback spell to bring Pakistan right back into the game.So often these days when a West Indies wicket falls, it is followed by a bunch. Gayle’s departure triggered a collapse as the remaining two Pakistani speedsters – Waqar Younis and Sami – claimed a wicket apiece in their second spell. But not before Wavell Hinds, who was lucky not to be given caught behind off Razzaq earlier, was castled by an Akhtar toecrusher.From 101 for one, the West Indies quickly slided to 133 for five, as Waqar got his counterpart Carl Hooper plumb in front, and Sami bowled the debutant Runako Morton through the gate.Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ryan Hinds batted sensibly in a stand of 45 for the sixth wicket, but then Razzaq accounted for both of them in the same over to kill hopes of a victory. The West Indies tail is not known for any displays of resilience, and Sami’s marvellous hat-trick hastened the end as Ridley Jacobs was lbw while Corey Collymore and Cameron Cuffy were clean bowled.When Gayle and Hinds were going great guns, raising 100 for one wicket, that of Darren Ganga, adjudged caught behind first ball of the innings, the West Indies seemed to be coasting. But once Pakistan got amongst the wickets, they kept chipping away until they had secured the victory.Earlier, as Pakistan won the toss and batted, there was experimentation galore. Wasim Akram and Saqlain Mushtaq were rested, and Inzamam-ul-Haq was sent up to open the innings in the hope that he would regain some semblance of form. But a palpably out-of-sorts Inzamam flashed at a widish Cameron Cuffy delivery, edging it to Gayle in first slip.Already dropped by Merv Dillon off his own bowling in the very first over, the bowler made amends when Afridi offered him a second chance. Seven for two, and out walked Shoaib Malik, who with Younis Khan tried to make a rescue effort. Cuffy, whose four overs out of the first five were maidens, and Dillon tightened things up, and Pakistan was slowed to a crawl.As the two tried to open up, Younis was plumb in front after hitting Cuffy for a four to long-on; Youhana was trapped in identical fashion by Corey Collmore, not making the most of a reprieve when Jacobs failed to hold on to an easy chance. 51 for four in the 17th over, and Pakistan seemed to be drifting towards disaster when Naved Latif joined Malik in the middle.With hard-hitting Latif (45, 70 deliveries, 5 fours and a 6 off Hooper over mid-wicket) taking charge, Malik decided to play second fiddle and by the time Latif departed, his lofted drive straight over Hooper’s head finding Cuffy a few yards inside the fence, Malik was well set.Having executed three lovely drives to the fence in the cover region, Malik notched his 50 off 90 balls, as Razzaq started where he had left the previous evening, twice clouting Collymore beyond mid-wicket boundary, once into the stands. Pakistan seemed to be on song as with overs fast running out Malik too went after the bowling with real gusto. He clubbed Ryan Hinds for two fours, at cover and square leg, to raise 50 of the partnership before Razzaq was dismissed, flashing at a wide Hinds delivery only to be splendidly caught by Gayle at point.There was no stopping Malik now; he smashed Hinds over extra cover to raise the team’s 200 and ease into the 90s, then flicked Dillon for four to long leg as wickets kept falling at the other end. Having reached his sparkling century, Malik took two boundaries off Dillon in the 49th over as Shoaib Akhtar and Sami fell with one over unused.On a good batting wicket, 232 was not the kind of imposing total Waqar would have felt comfortable with, but he must have been relieved with it after the collapse at the top of the order.

Who is the oldest living Test cricketer? On the face of it, this mayseem an unlikely question to ask, except at quiz time. But a clearerpicture will emerge when I point out that this question is being askedon a former Test cricketer’s 95th birthday. But is he, at this age,the oldest Test cricketer alive?The doubt arises because the Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack lists Alf Goveras the oldest Test cricketer alive. Gover, a right-arm fast-mediumbowler, played for England in four Tests in the 1930s and 1940s. Hemade his Test debut against India in 1936, toured this country withLord Tennyson’s side in 1937-38, and played his last Test against Indiaon his home ground at The Oval in 1946. Wisden lists his date of birthas February 29, 1908. Interestingly enough, just a few entries aboveGover is the name of MJ Gopalan. The former Indian cricketer’s date ofbirth is given as June 6, 1909.This was the accepted entry till a few years ago, till members of hisfamily clarified that he was born on June 6, 1906. Since then it isaccepted in certain cricketing circles that Gopalan is the world’soldest living Test cricketer.Not that these contradictions mean anything to Morappakam JoysamGopalan. For him, today was just another day. A recent hip injury hasrestricted his movements and so a visit to the temple, regretfully,was not possible. But there was time for a puja at home, followed by afew visitors and a generally quiet day spent at home with familymembers.When this writer rang him up to wish him, Gopalan himself picked upthe phone. Blessed with a strong physique and good memory, the formerdouble international – he also represented the country in hockey as acontemporary of the peerless Dhyan Chand – spoke in calm and cleartones. Asked whether he looked forward to his 100th birthday, Gopalanexclaimed “My God, is living 95 years not enough. I am also not invery good physical shape these days with age having caught up and withthis injury I have.”Asked pointedly whether he was born in 1906 or 1909, Gopalan clarifiedthe correct year of birth was the former. “I don’t know how theschool where I studied listed my year of birth as 1909 but that stuck.It’s so long ago that I don’t know how it happened. But I can confirmthat I am 95 today,” he asserted.Gopalan is well known in India even though his international cricketcredentials, on the face of it, may be modest. He played just one Test- against England at Calcutta in 1933-34, scoring 11 not out and 7,taking one wicket (James Langridge) with his medium pacers and holdingthree catches. He also toured England in 1936 but, not unexpectedly,does not wish to recall the events of that unhappy tour.In fact, Gopalan with the benefit of hindsight, probably made thewrong decision. Having toured New Zealand as a member of the Indianhockey team under Dhyan Chand in 1935, he was an automatic choice forthe Indian team that was certain to retain their gold medal at theBerlin Olympics in 1936. Faced with the choice between cricket andhockey, Gopalan opted for the former, thus denying himself a goldmedal which the Indian team, predictably enough, won.If Gopalan is well known in India, he is a living legend in Chennai.He played with distinction for the state in the Ranji Trophy andagainst visiting sides. To him goes the honour of bowling the firstball in the national competition, on November 4, 1934. The all rounderled Madras for many years, and after his playing career was over, wasa member of the national selection committee for three years in thelate fifties and early sixties.Having retired from active public life for many years now, Gopalan isstill a highly respected figure in sports circles. Whenever he attendsa function, he is the cynosure for both young and old. Sunil Gavaskarfor one, always bends down to touch the feet of the doyen whenever thetwo come together at a public gathering. With a toothy smile and afirm handshake, MJ as he is popularly known, greets everyone withchildlike enthusiasm.Gopalan can never be cynical. In frequent conversations with him, Ihave never heard him say, “you know, in my day…”, that ratherirritating phrase so common to cricketers of yesteryears. He enjoysthe modern game, has a kind word or two about the present daycricketers and eschews, like the plague, the controversial and seamierside of the game. He watches the game on TV and is ready for apleasant discussion on any aspect of cricket.It really does not matter whether Gopalan is 92 or 95, or whether heis the oldest living Test cricketer in the world or not. He is thefather figure of Indian cricket, a man who lives and breathes sport.No Test cricketer has lived to be a hundred. We all hope and pray thatthis gentleman cricketer will be the first to reach the `century.’

ScorecardNatalie Sciver top-scored in England’s chase with 66•Getty Images

A series of moments of brilliance – rather than an excellent all-round performance – can take credit for England’s win in the first match of the multi-format Ashes series at Taunton. With Australia well set, they found four run outs to stifle the subdued tourists, before, following the loss of two quick wickets and the relative shakiness of 80 for 4, Lydia Greenway and Natalie Sciver shared 122 to take them within touching distance of their target in front of a 3000-strong crowd.On a fine pitch and with a rapid outfield, this shaped as an excellent toss for Meg Lanning to win. But Katherine Brunt is as forceful as she is canny with the new ball and had soon trapped both openers in consecutive wicket maidens. Elyse Villani made a flying start, with a stunning cover drive in the first over, before chipping simply to square leg, and Jess Jonassen – bumped up the order in place of the concussed Nicole Bolton – was starved of the strike and never got going, eventually dragging on. When Lanning was pinned in front in Kate Cross’s first over – although replays showed that the batsman had hit the ball – Australia had lost 3 for 10 in 32 balls.Ellyse Perry and Alex Blackwell were the architects of Australia’s revival, with a stand of 121 in 26 overs, ended only by the outbreak of England’s direct-hit-fest. Perry – surely the world’s finest all-round cricketer, whatever the format, whatever the gender – scored her sixth consecutive ODI 50 and anchored the innings. She traded heavily in boundaries, scoring from just 42 of the 96 balls she faced, punching brilliantly down the ground with straight checked drives and cutting spectacularly through the well-marshalled point region. Blackwell was watchful with flourishes, notably a flick through midwicket and drive down the ground.As the partnership crawled away from England towards the end of a productive batting Powerplay, Heather Knight, that adaptable, resourceful cricketer, brought it to an end with a brilliant direct hit from mid-off to dismiss Blackwell, the ball after she had driven past Knight’s fingertips. Jess Cameron looked fluent before being sent back by Perry when searching for a non-existent single and run out by Greenway at point.Australia stuttered through the final ten overs to finish with 238, 20 below par, in Perry’s eyes. After playing brilliantly – despite being dropped by Rebecca Grundy with a caught and bowled on 21 – she lobbed to Sciver in the deep, before Erin Osborne was run out by a direct hit from mid-on and Sarah Coyte by Brunt’s strong arm at fine leg and Sarah Taylor’s collection at the wicket.An attractive finish from Alyssa Healy – wristy and dexterous, especially when reverse-sweeping – took Australia somewhere towards a total Perry and Blackwell’s middle over fightback had deserved. Those England run outs perhaps masked a fielding display that had otherwise been a touch ragged.In reply, Charlotte Edwards pulled Perry’s first delivery for four but was soon on her way, dragging on, before Knight, who was very scratchy for 45 minutes, lobbed Coyte to mid-on, where Lanning took a fine catch. Amy Jones also never settled and was caught on the second attempt when hitting hard to midwicket.At the other end, Sarah Taylor had bristled with insouciance, scooping Coyte and unfurling a stunning extra cover drive followed by a pair of wristy flicks over midwicket off Holly Ferling – bowling with a remodelled action after a stress fracture to the lower back. Taylor’s pace had slowed by the time she was joined by Greenway – who struggled to lay bat on ball when she first came in – and eventually fell to a fine Healy catch when cutting.Sciver smote her first ball through the covers off the back foot and was soon into her stride, looking as comfortable as any on the surface. Greenway grew in confidence, unfazed by poor timing and a failed reverse-sweep, playing her strokes and eventually using her feet to hit hard down the ground.She fell slogging to midwicket, but only after consecutive boundaries, the second of which – carved over mid-on – took her to 50. Sciver was strong on the sweep and brutal on the drive, although was lucky on 37, when a direct hit came in as she lazily failed to run her bat in. Unlike her maverick, hard-hitting counterpart in the men’s team, Ben Stokes, she was already home. When Sciver sliced Osborne to mid-off, it was over to Elwiss, who slipped Osborne through the gap at point to inflict Australia’s first ODI defeat in 11 matches.The accepted wisdom is that England’s men won the 2013 Ashes by simply winning “the big moments”. They were not much better than Australia, and could easily have lost three of the five matches. There was a sense of that here; England were not excellent and at times made heavy weather of all three disciplines, but they had enough to see off Australia, who looked ring-rusty, having not played since November. It was not always pretty but it certainly was professional, and with one win and two of 16 points, off to Bristol England go, with a certain spring in their step.

The draw for the knockout stages of Champions League paired Tottenham Hotspur with AC Milan in the last 16, meaning that Spurs fans will travelling to the Italian city once more this season. Many Tottenham fans went to see Spurs be defeated by Inter Milan in an entertaining match earlier in the season that ended 4-3, with some respectability for Tottenham earned by Gareth Bale’s hat-trick. However, if you didn’t travel to Milan for the Champions League group stage game, here is a guide to the Italian city so that you can watch Tottenham in Milan this time round.

The first thing you’ll want to do is get your hands on those coveted tickets for the match in the San Siro. The first leg takes place in Milan on Tuesday 15th February and you can check ticket availability by clicking here. The stadium is located in the San Siro district, in the Western Milan area, about 5.5 km from the centre of Milan. You can take the Metro on Line MM1 to Molino Dorino or Line 16 on the tram from Cathedral Square.

If you go down the route of car hire then heading to Milan from Torino you need to proceed towards Venice after the pay-station, up to the intersection for ‘Milano Certosa’. From there follow the road signs to the stadium. If you’re travelling from Rome you need to take the ‘Tangenziale Ovest’ Bypass and get off the road at the Statale 11 Interchange. From there, follow the signs to the stadium. You can search for car hire options, alongside flights, by clicking here.

Buy AC Milan v Tottenham Champions League tickets here!

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There are a number of flight options available to you, although as the Champions League fixture approaches the demand for air travel to Milan is sure to increase. Flights are available from Luton, London Gatwick, Stanstead and Heathrow direct to Milan Malpensa Airport. You can decide to stay in Milan for the night and get a return flight back the next day so that you can explore the Italian city as well as watch the football.

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If you plan to stay in Milan for the night then you’ll need to book hotel accommodation alongside flights. The Football FanCast Travel Page is ideal for this as you can bring up all the hotels within a five mile radius of the San Siro. The available hotels are also listed in order of price so that your Italian football trip doesn’t have to cost you the earth. A handy map illustrates just where you’ll be staying, too, with Hotel San Siro Fiera on the doorstep of the AC Milan stadium.

So you can book football tickets, flights, hotel and accommodation for the AC Milan v Tottenham Champions League fixture with a couple of clicks of your mouse. This will ensure your trip to Italy is as simple as possible, then you just have to hope that Spurs do the business in the San Siro.

France moved to within a point of qualifying for the last eight of Euro 2012 beating co-hosts Ukraine in Donetsk after an electrical storm threatened to abandon the game.

Dutch Bjorn Kuipers was forced to bring a halt to proceedings in the fourth minute as a torrential downpour and lightening pounded the Donbass Arena and the pitch soon became unplayable amid concerns over the safety of  the players and fans. Play resumed an hour later but it took until the second half for France to make the breakthrough as Jeremy Menez scored from close range on 53 minutes before Yohan Cabaye sealed the win three minutes later with a neat finish. It was harsh on Ukraine who had chances of their own but paid the price for poor defending on both goals and must home England are held by Sweden to keep their hopes of progressing to the quarter finals ahead of their meeting with Roy Hodgson’s men on Tuesday.

Once the weather had calmed and the game was able to get underway but the delay didn’t seem to effect Laurent Blanc’s side as Karim Benzema tested Andriy Pyatov. Menez then thought he’d opened the scoring in the 16th minute after converting Frank Ribery’s pass but had strayed into an offside position before blasting over after being teed up by Ribery again before. A third chance came Menez’s way mid-way through the half as Ribery seized upon Anatoliy Tymoshchuk’s weak backpass and crossed for the winger who could only shoot straight at Pyatov’s legs.

Ukraine’s first clear sight of goal came in the 34th minute but Andriy Shevchenko couldn’t repeat his heroics of the win against Sweden lashing a half volley straight at Hugo Lloris after stealing in behind Adel Rami. Pyatov then ensured they would go in at halftime on level terms keeping out Phillipe Mexes’ header from Samir Nasri’s free kick. But he was beaten eight minutes after the break as Menez latched onto Benezema pass, drifted inside Yevhen Selin on the right and lashed a low effort inside the near post to give France the lead. That was doubled just three minutes later and Benzema was again the provider playing in Cabaye and the Newcastle man kept his composure to strike a low shot across Pyatov and into the bottom corner.

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A wonderful spell of fluid passing and movement ended with Cabaye cracking a fierce right footed volley off the post whilst Ukraine posed little threat to Les Bleus’ lead to win their first game in nine at a major tournament and put them in pole position to qualify from Group D ahead of their game with Sweden on Tuesday.