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Zimbabwe crisis Aussies for withdrawing Zimbabwe’s Test status? Resolute McCullum rescues Kiwis
Former cricketers receive pension Murali should forsake ‘doosra’: Maninder |
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Akhtar should have sued PCB, says Imran Akhtar uncertain for county season Amritraj storms into final PHF names hockey Test venues Sanawar boys win crown UP, Punjab eves enter final
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Zimbabwe crisis
London, May 22 Although the players have paid heed to the ICC advice to approach the Disputes Committee, the ZCU is still reluctant to do so, saying such a body does not have the jurisdiction to deal with the matter. “The ICC has previously advised both the ZCU and the player’s representatives of the ICC’s view and the external legal advice that we have obtained that this procedure may be applied in this case,” ICC President Ehsan Mani said in a press release here. “At this time, the ZCU is not of the same view. It believes that a Disputes Resolution Committee does not have any jurisdiction over this dispute. However, the players have advised the ICC that they wish to take this dispute to this forum,” he said. “I understand that this is based on their own independent legal advice that the dispute falls within the jurisdiction of these ICC regulations,” he said. The dispute resolution process is a system that is independent of the ICC or any party that is involved in a dispute. Zimbabwe cricket has been thrown into turmoil by strike by 15 senior players protesting against the ZCU’s selection policies, the make-up of the selection panel and the decision not to reinstate deposed captain Heath Streak. Under the system, the Chairman of the ICC’s Code of Conduct Commission Michael Beloff, in consultation with the ICC Chief Executive, appoints a Disputes Resolution Committee comprising three to five members suitably qualified to deal with the issues that are being contested. Beloff has a wide power to decide on the make-up of the Committee to be formed to hear the dispute and its members can be drawn from within the ICC, its boards and committees or any person outside these bodies with relevant knowledge and expertise. The committee would then convene a hearing of the matter in dispute to make a decision on the issues. The disputes resolution procedures are regulations of the ICC, adopted in June 2002. Under the procedure, any decision by a Disputes Resolution Committee is final and binding on the parties involved. The ICC has only had to establish a Disputes Resolution Committee on one previous occasion when there was a disagreement between Pakistan and New Zealand regarding touring commitments. This dispute was resolved by the parties prior to going to a full hearing by this committee. — PTI
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Aussies for withdrawing Zimbabwe’s Test status?
Melbourne, May 22 “I think that (the Test status of Zimbabwe) is a question that has probably come on to the table and is higher on the agenda now than it has ever been before.’’ Asked whether the CA would lead a push to strip Zimbabwe of Test status, Sutherland said: “We’ll obviously make a judgement a lot closer to the time. “But there is no doubt that Cricket Australia and a number of other full member countries are concerned about how things have developed in recent weeks.’’ Zimbabwe’s two-Test home series against Australia, the world’s top-ranked team, was called off on Friday, 24 hours before it was due to start. In an unprecedented move, the ZCU and the CA agreed at a meeting in Harare to postpone the matches. Because of Australia’s tight schedule, the games are highly unlikely to be played for at least four years. Zimbabwe would have had to field a severely weakened team due to a festering dispute which has left the selectors without 15 experienced white players, including ex-captain Heath Streak. However, three one-day internationals, originally set for June, are being brought forward to May 25, 27 and 29. All will be played in Harare. The joint decision to call off the Tests came two hours before an ICC teleconference which looked likely to strip the series of its Test status. The teleconference was swiftly abandoned. “One can’t predict but one would assume that a Zimbabwe Second XI or Third XI playing against the best team in the world would not have been a pretty contest,’’ Sutherland said. “It’s well known that the ICC have commenced a review of the structure of international cricket.’’
Sutherland said the CA supported the ICC’s review.
‘’The circumstances around this (deferred tour) are no good for the game of cricket. The game is not worthy of this kind of speculation and uncertainty,’’ Sutherland said. “There are certainly concerns about the standard of their team at the moment and that’s something the ICC will address at their June meeting.’’
— Reuters |
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Resolute McCullum rescues Kiwis London, May 22 At the close New Zealand, who trailed England by 55 runs on the first innings, were 134 for one in their second innings. England, who resumed the day on 246 for two, owed their eventual total of 441 to a seventh-wicket partnership of 105 from 115 deliveries between Andy Flintoff (63) and wicketkeeper Geraint Jones (46). Flintoff hit two sixes and eight fours from 85 balls and Jones one six and six boundaries from 52 deliveries. Both added 105 from 115 balls for the seventh wicket, an England record against New Zealand at Lord's, after the home side had lost four wickets in the morning session. Wickets then fell quickly and at tea, taken 20 minutes early, England were 441 all out in reply to New Zealand first innings 386. After a quiet start, Flintoff confirmed his emergence as a test class all rounder over the past year, with a splendid attacking innings. Scoreboard New Zealand (1st innings): 386 England (1st innings): (overnight 246-2) Trescothick c McCullum b Oram 86 Strauss c Richardson b Butcher c McCullum b Hoggard c McCullum b Oram 15 Hussain b Martin 34 Thorpe b Cairns 3 Flintoff c Richardson b Martin 63 Jones c Oram b Styris 46 Giles c Oram b Styris 11 Jones b Martin 4 Harmison not out 0 Extras
(b-4 lb-18 nb-19) 41 Total (all out, 124.3 overs) 441 Fall of wickets:
1-190 2-239 3-254 4-288 5-297 6-311 7-416 Bowling:
Tuffey 26-4-98-0, Martin 27-6-94-3, Oram 30-8-76-2, New Zealand (IInd innings): Richardson not out 46 Fleming c Hussain b McCullum not out 72 Extras
(b-1 lb-9 nb-2) 12 Total (1wicket, 39 overs) 134 Fall of wicket:
1-7 Bowling: Harmison 12-6-29-1 Flintoff 10-2-26-0 Hoggard 8-1-23-0 (1-nb) S.Jones 5-1-23-0 (1-nb) Giles 4-0-23-0.
—Reuters
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Former cricketers receive pension New Delhi, May 22 Over 125 players and umpires received Rs 5,000 each and each one of them greatly appreciated the Board’s gesture of rewarding the former players who had received just a pittance as match fees during their playing days. Former Test player Man Mohan Sood, who was also a former sports secretary of the DDCA and manager of the Indian team when they won the Asia Cup in Dhaka under the captaincy of Dilip Vengsarkar, said this step of the Board would benefit a number of former players, many of them now lead a miserable existence. Former Indian captain Kapil Dev chose to donate his cheque to a Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO) while Madan Lal said he would deposit the money in a fixed deposit so that he would have something to fall back on in his old age. DDCA president Arun Jaitley presented the cheques in the presence of BCCI representative C K Khanna, who is also the vice-chairman of the National Cricket Academy, former Test player Chetan Chauhan and DDCA sports secretary Sunil Dev. Other prominent Test players who were present to receive their cheques were Maninder Singh, Gursharan Singh, Vivek Razdan, Rajinder Pal, Surender Nath, Vijay Mehra, Prakash Bhandari and Chetan Chauhan. Former India captain Bishan Singh Bedi was a notable absentee as he is presently holding a summer cricket camp for the trainees of his academy in Himachal Pradesh. Among the prominent Test umpires who received the pension amount was Ram Babu Sharma, Rajan Mehra and S K Bansal.
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Murali should forsake ‘doosra’: Maninder
New Delhi, May 22 Himself a prominent off-spinner in his days, Maninder told UNI, “You can’t bowl a doosra without bending your arm-that’s simply not possible. It does not confirm to the prevalent ICC rules and hence you have to call it an illegitimate delivery. So Murali has no other way but to do away with it.” Maninder, meanwhile, came down heavily on the ICC for “toying” with the career of the Sri Lankan spinner. “A great injustice has been done with him and it’s still going on. After clearing him in the past, they are raking up the same issue time and again. He has been in the business for 15 years and he’s the highest wicket-taker in Test cricket. After seeing him play for so many years, how could you question his action?” Muralitharan bowling at the University of West Australia with his shirt taken off and sensors attached all over his torso made a humiliating picture, said Maninder. Casting aspersion on the ICC’s sincerity to get rid of suspect actions, Maninder said: “The fact is ICC was never serious about it. They did not correct Murali in the initial stage of his career. Even in the panels formed to examine his action, they did not include an umpire despite the fact that an umpire knows it best when a bowler chucks.” Now it should be left to the umpires to decide whether Murali chucks, felt Maninder. “Murali is a great bowler and let him carry on with his game. For the game’s sake, don’t tamper with his career,” he urged. He also criticised the global body for curtailing the umpires’ role by introducing technological means. “I heard they are about to introduce stump microphone technology and earpiece for the umpires to detect edges and nicks. This is ridiculous. Cricket is a game of glorious uncertainty and technology is being introduced at the cost of that charm,” he argued. Meanwhile, when asked if the long lay-off could affect the career of Harbhajan Singh who is out of action since his finger injury was detected in Australia, Maninder said:” It happened with me and cut short my career. But I think it varies from person to person and the time and situation are different. Harbhajan enjoys sound backing of Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid and when you know you have the backing of your skipper, it makes you confident. Of course not every body is a Shane Warne who scalps 20 wickets in his comeback Test. But I think present day Indian cricketers are more confident and that really helps.” — UNI
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Akhtar should have sued PCB, says Imran “Had I been in place of Akhtar I would have sued the PCB for defamation over a medical inquiry,” Khan said in a meet the press here. Khan, who now is the member of Pakistan’s national assembly from his political party — Movement for Justice — played 82 Tests and 175 one-day games and also led his country to their only World Cup triumph in 1992. “They (the PCB) have challenged the integrity of Akhtar by having a medical inquiry even though Akhtar’s medical reports confirmed he was injured,” said Khan. “He has every right to sue the PCB for defamation.” The PCB set up a medical commission to inquire whether Akhtar faked an injury during the decisive Test against India last month. The suspicions over Akhtar injury, after the pacer fell in his follow through and did not take field on the third day of the Test but batted without any discomfort on the following day, were raised by captain Inzamam-ul Haq and vice captain Yousuf Youhana.
— PTI |
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Akhtar uncertain for county season
Islamabad, May 22 “I have been advised up to two weeks’ rest by the doctors after they had a second bone scan of my injury. There is a definite stress fracture in my rib on my lower left side. I will have another examination after the rest period and let us see how it goes,” Shoaib told local daily ‘The News’ from London. Although Shoaib was unwilling to speculate on his chances of playing for Durham, who are reportedly paying him over eight million rupees for the entire season, sources close to him said that he had already informed the county management that they should start looking for a replacement. “The very fact that Shoaib himself has told the Durham management about his condition and asked them to look for a replacement does not augur well for his chances of lasting out the season for them,” sources were quoted as saying by the daily. — PTI
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Amritraj storms
into final New Delhi, May 22 This is the first instance of an Indian reaching a Challenger final since Leander Paes won in Mumbai in 2000, according to information received here today. The last time an Indian made it to the final in a Challenger abroad was in 1998 when Paes won the title in Bangkok. Amritraj is bound to enter the top-230 in rankings after the victory, another feat to emulate Paes who was placed at 232 more than two years ago before his singles ranking came down. Sunil Kumar Sipaeya, the other Indian in the draw, saw his winning streak come to an end with a 5-7, 1-6 loss to top seed Igot Kunytsin of Russia in another semifinal. Sipaeya had beaten three top-400 players, including compatriot Harsh Mankad in the quarterfinals, on his way to the last-four stage. Earlier, the Uzbekistan event was witness to three Indian reaching the quarterfinals of a Challenger for the first time. Their performance is good news for Indian tennis, particularly in the wake of the loss to Japan in Davis Cup in April after maintaining a stranglehold on the traditional rival for 74 years.
— PTI |
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Lahore, May 22 S. Dasgupta, the Leisure Sports Management head, looking after Indian Hockey Federation’s (IHF) marketing aspect, arrived here accompanied by an official of Sahara, the Indian team’s sponsor, to discuss the marketing issues and other matters with the PHF officials. Meanwhile, in a press conference yesterday, PHF secretary Musharatullah Khan said the federation had proposed two matches here in Lahore under floodlights and one each in Peshawar and Karachi. “Rawalpindi has been ruled out because there is no Astro-turf while there is a technical hurdle when it comes to Faisalabad,” he said. The series, likely to be held between September 26 and October 14, would be an annual feature and a similar series at the junior level has also been planned for March, he said. “The response from the marketing point of view has been very encouraging so far and we are certainly going to benefit financially,” he informed. Talking about floodlight facilities here, he said, “We have procured the lights and at the moment are looking for companies to install them at the National Stadium.” The Lahore stadium, which will also host the Champions Trophy in December, was also being equipped with an artificial pitch, he said. “We will have the turf in place by August 31 and an electronic scoreboard by July.” — UNI
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Sanawar boys win crown Subathu, May 22 The hosts, Pinegrove School, lifted the girls trophy, defeating Lawrence School, Sanawar, 28-20 in an exciting encounter. Tanika scored eight, Pragya six and Rupinder four points for the winning team. Vivek High School girls stood 3rd in this competition. In the first cliffhanger semifinal in the boys section, Pinegrove School boys lost to Lawrence School, Sanawar, 15-32 points. For the winners Karan scored 15 points and Amir eight points while Sumit scored five points for Pinegrove. Pragya Yog of Pinegrove School and Karan Hora of the Lawrence School, were adjudged the highest scorers in the girls and boys sections, respectively. Tanika Sharma of Pinegrove School was adjudged the Best Player in the girls section while Amir Khubber of Lawrence School was adjudged the Best Player among boys. Mrs Madhu Bala Sharma, Additional Secretary, Animal Husbandry, Fisheries and Transport, Himachal Pradesh, was the chief guest and gave away prizes to the winners. |
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Renukoot (UP), May 22 On the other hand, UP boys won both their outings of the day in the super league stages of the 21st Sub Junior Boys National Handball Championship at the same venue. In the girls category, UP beat strong contender Manipur to enter the final, while Punjab came out winners against Mumbai Academy. In the boys section, UP beat Punjab 34-21 and then went on to win this second match against the Delhi boys 42-18. In the other boys matches, Delhi — in their second encounter — beat Andhra Pradeh 31-29, Assam beat Jammu and Kashmir 30-28 and Maharashtra beat Rajasthan 28-21. Among women, encounter Punjab won against Andhra Pradesh 39-29 and J and K beat Maharashtra 28-21. — UNI
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New Delhi, May 22
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