Clarke Lauds Team Effort in Series Win

Michael Clarke has praised his players for their sudden turnaround following the Ashes after their comprehensive win over England at the Gabba secured an unassailable 4-1 lead. Instead of being overwhelmed by the scale of the Test losses, the limited-overs players have regrouped so quickly that the final two games will be dead rubbers.

"After a pretty tough start to the summer, losing the Ashes, I think it shows a lot of courage for us to come back and play well throughout the series," Clarke said. "I think it was a great performance from the whole group, everyone contributed."

Clarke's 54, his highest score of the series, set up Australia's 249, a total which seemed small until the attack knocked over the tourists' main men by the 26th over. Clarke said the bowling of John Hastings (2 for 35) and Steven Smith (1 for 29) effectively shut down England's chase.

The pair was responsible for ruining England's middle order when the visitors lost Kevin Pietersen, Eoin Morgan and Ian Bell for eight runs and fell to 6 for 105. "John Hastings and Steve Smith probably won us the game with that partnership," Clarke said. "They worked together, certain guys wanted to bowl to certain batters, so they communicated really well and did a great job."

Brett Lee was also impressive early, taking two wickets as England fell to 3 for 22. "Brett has been a wonderful bowler for a long time," Clarke said. "His execution throughout this series has been spot-on, but I think he feels he can get better. He probably feels he's bowling okay at the moment but has work to do before the World Cup - as we all do."

Australia are now in a relatively healthy position heading towards the tournament, which starts in three weeks. The only setback for them came with another hamstring injury to Shaun Marsh, who suffered badly with similar problems last summer.

Clarke said the injury was minor, but Marsh is due to undergo a scan on Monday to determine whether the side requires a replacement for Wednesday's sixth game in Sydney. Marsh is not in the World Cup squad but is the leading contender to replace Michael Hussey if he fails to recover from hamstring surgery.

Marlins will be Home Team at Seattle

A three-game series between the Florida Marlins and Mariners June 24-26 has been moved from Miami to Seattle because of a U2 concert.

An appearance by Bono and U2 in late June will force the Marlins to move three home games against the Mariners to Seattle.
Major League Baseball said Thursday the change was made because of the scheduling conflict at Sun Life Stadium. The rock band U2 is scheduled to play at the stadium June 29 and the Marlins must vacate the stadium to allow setup time for the concert.

Marlins president David Samson told MLB.com that the team was anticipating the series would be moved and invoiced the Marlins' season-ticket holders for only 78 games this season.

"What happened was U2 had to reschedule for a year later, and the baseball schedule was such that there was no other way to have us at home that series," Samson told MLB.com. "We obviously couldn't play at home, because we don't control the stadium. For one final season, we are tenants.

"So we worked closely with baseball for an alternate venue. The best and only solution was to play the games in Seattle."

The Marlins are scheduled to move to a retractable-roof stadium in 2012 and will change their name to the Miami Marlins next season.

Florida will remain the home team and will bat last, and the series will be played under NL rules, without a designated hitter.

Dustin Byfuglien and Tobias Enstrom Are Selected For the 2011 NHL All-Star Team

It should come as no surprise to anyone, especially Atlanta Thrashers fans, that Dustin Byfuglien and Tobias Enstrom were selected to the 2011 NHL All-Star squad. The NHL recently published the official roster and the two talented defensemen were on the list.

Both Atlanta players are having exceptional seasons at the halfway point. Byfuglien has consistently led his team in goals and points and Enstrom has upped his game, scoring more goals while setting up players for opportunities with astute passes.

Without a doubt, Byfuglien and Enstrom have helped lead the Thrashers to a winning record and perhaps their first playoff berth in years and only the second one in Thrashers history.

Byfuglien is on track to score 27 goals and nearly 80 points. He also is one of the league leaders in game winning goals.

Enstrom has improved his play offensively and defensively, utilizing smart positional play along with his excellent puck handling skills to engineer consistent offensive opportunities for his defense partner, Byfuglien and his other Atlanta teammates.

Enstrom is also on track for a career high season tracking at 70 points.

Both players have been the linchpin for the team all season and are deserving of their All-Star selections.


FORWARDS
David Backes (St. Louis), Sidney Crosby (Pittsburgh), Matt Duchene (Colorado), Patrick Elias (New Jersey), Loui Eriksson (Dallas), Claude Giroux (Philadelphia), Alex Hemsky (Edmonton), Jarome Iginla (Calgary), Patrick Kane (Chicago), Ryan Kesler (Vancouver), Phil Kessel (Toronto), Anze Kopitar (Los Angeles), Evgeni Malkin (Pittsburgh), Rick Nash (Columbus), Alex Ovechkin (Washington), Corey Perry (Anaheim), Brad Richards (Dallas), Daniel Sedin (Vancouver), Henrik Sedin (Vancouver), Patrick Sharp (Chicago), Martin St.Louis (Tampa Bay), Eric Staal (Carolina), Steven Stamkos (Tampa Bay), Jonathan Toews (Chicago)

DEFENSEMEN
Dan Boyle (San Jose), Brent Burns (Minnesota), Dustin Byfuglien (Atlanta), Zdeno Chara (Boston), Tobias Enstrom (Atlanta), Mike Green (Washington), Erik Karlson (Ottawa), Duncan Keith (Chicago), Kris Letang (Pittsburgh), Nick Lidstrom (Detroit), Marc Staal (N.Y.Rangers), Shea Weber (Nashville)

GOALIES
Marc Andre-Fleury (Pittsburgh), Jonas Hiller (Anaheim), Henrik Lundqvist (N.Y. Rangers), Carey Price (Montreal), Tim Thomas (Boston), Cam Ward (Carolina)