The Sports Matrix: Tuesday 25 October 2011

Nolan shoots West Ham into second

West Ham United moved up to second last night with a 1-0 win at Brighton. Kevin Nolan scored the game’s only goal, winning the ball from Liam Bridcutt after 17 minutes then beating Steve Harper. West Ham are three points behind leaders Southampton. MORE

England top new T20 rankings

Despite their defeats in the ODI series in India, which ends today, England were announced as the world’s top-ranked T20 team yesterday. Eoin Morgan was rated best T20 batsman and Graeme Swann the second highest-ranked T20 bowler. MORE

Hart: Balotelli has left troubles behind

Joe Hart believes his Manchester City team-mate Mario Balotelli has finally settled in. “It was difficult for him last year, he was trying to find himself. But this season, certainly in recent weeks, he’s left all that behind him. He’s accepted now.” MORE

Henry backs ‘top man’ Johnson

Graham Henry, the World Cup winning All Blacks coach, thinks England should retain coach Martin Johnson. “I’d imagine continuity is important,” he said. “He’s a top man. If you put new people in there, the whole thing has to be learnt all over again.” MORE

Fletcher: we must use pain of 6-1 loss

Darren Fletcher believes that Manchester United, who travel to Aldershot tonight, need to use the pain of losing the derby 6-1 for the rest of the year. “As I kept reiterating to the lads after the game, remember how it feels to lose by this scoreline.” MORE

Donald targets second money list

Luke Donald, who became the first European to lift the PGA Tour’s Arnold Palmer Trophy on Sunday, wants to become the first man to win the European Tour’s Order of Merit in the same year: “It would mean a big deal to win both money lists.” MORE

Opinion: James Lawton

Lewis Moody’s resignation speech required a kind of heroism. He produced it when he became the first member of the England squad to admit publicly the causes of England’s unprofessional World Cup campaign. MORE

Ferdinand likely to ask QPR to pursue Terry racism case

Anton Ferdinand is expected to ask Queen’s Park Rangers today to petition the Football Association to investigate allegations that John Terry racially abused him on Sunday. England captain Terry was accused by television viewers of using foul and racist language towards Ferdinand. The defender will make a final decision this morning after speaking to manager Neil Warnock, but i understands he wants to take it further. Terry has denied the accusations. “I would never say such a thing, and I’m saddened that people would think so,” the Chelsea player said. Yesterday roughly 250 fans were disappointed when Terry, who was supposedly due to open a reptile shop in Surbiton, did not appear. “He’s the snake,” said one angry mum. “I’m disgusted.” MORE

Eriksson leaves Leicester City

Former England manager Sven Goran Eriksson has departed Leicester by mutual consent. City are 13th in the table but lost 3-0 at home to Millwall on Saturday. Eriksson had taken over in October last year and spent heavily this summer. MORE

Talks over joint Championships

The head of the Women’s Tennis Association, Stacey Allaster, said that there have been talks about combining the tours’ end-of-year championships: “Combined events are very successful. Fans enjoy seeing men and women compete on the same stage.” MORE