India lack world-class cricketing facilities: Pawar

New Delhi, May 5
In a startling admission, Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) President Sharad Pawar today said the country lacked “world-class facilities” for the game, adding that these would have to be created for the 2011 World Cup.

“We have to provide permanent world-class grounds. Our stadia and wickets are just not up to the mark,” Mr Pawar said during a press conference here.

“Luckily, we have time to bring them up (to the required standards). We will be investing a substantial amount on this,” Pawar stated, even as he refused to give figures.

“We have already started work on this,” he added. The board would have to wrestle with the problem of providing “clean” stadia in New Delhi and Mumbai.

Under ICC rules, stadia have to be clear of any advertising or sponsorship encumbrances. Much of Delhi’s Ferozeshah Kotla stadium has been permanently sold to sponsors who shelled out the money for the extensive renovation it has undergone. A similar situation exists at Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium.

“In Delhi, we are in a position to build a new 150,000 capacity stadium that would be owned by the BCCI. In Mumbai, we will request them to clear the stadium or we will shift to the Brabourne Stadium,” he stated.

Meanwhile, Pawar confirmed that he would take up the issue of Nicky Boje and Herschelle Gibbs, tainted in match-fixing scandal, with the Home Ministry.

“I have got a letter from the International Cricket Council in this regard and both (ICC President) Ehsan Mani and (Chief Executive) Malcolm Speed had discussed the issue with me. I’m going to take up the matter,” Mr Pawar told reporters here today.

Both Boje and Gibbs were named in Delhi Police’s investigation into the match-fixing saga that rocked cricketing world in 2000. Since then, both have skipped the tours of India in 2004 and 2005 after failing to get an assurance from Delhi Police that they won’t be arrested.

BCCI Secretary Niranjan Shah, however, earlier said India wanted to host a star-studded Champions Trophy this year and they would like to see Boje and Gibbs in the Proteas rank. Mr Shah also informed that BCCI would like to use the good office of Mr Pawar, the Agriculture minister, to solve the imbroglio.

‘India’s turn to host 2011 World Cup final’

The BCCI on Friday expressed confidence of hosting the final of the 2011 World Cup in India. Talking to reporters here today, I.S. Bindra said going by rotation, India should host the final.

“There is a rotation policy and after India hosted it in 1987, the 1996 final was played in Pakistan. Going by the same principle (India should host the final).”

“Anyway, we don’t want any public debate on the venue for the final. Everything will be discussed when all four boards attend the first meeting,” the former BCCI President said. — IANS, UNI

Champions Trophy
BCCI plans to check doping

New Delhi, May 5
Cricket, by and large, may have succeeded in steering clear of the doping stigma but the BCCI is not taking any chances and with India yet to get a full-fledged WADA accredited laboratory, the board will send cricketers’ samples to Kuala Lumpur during the Champions Trophy.

Talking to reporters here today, senior BCCI official I.S. Bindra said, “We don’t have any WADA accredited laboratory here and the nearest one is in Kuala Lumpur. So we will send the samples there and get those checked during the Champions Trophy in October-November. We have a Sports Authority of India laboratory here but that’s not accredited by the World Anti-Doping Authority and so we have no other option but to send the samples abroad,” he said.

Asked whether the BCCI would take initiative to facilitate setting up of any WADA laboratory here, especially with India hosting most of the 2011 World Cup matches, Mr Bindra said, “The BCCI can’t set up that. If any organisation comes up with a laboratory by 2011, they are welcome.” — UNI 

Raza leads Pak A to victory 

Abu Dhabi, May 5
India A stumbled at the post as Pakistan A won by 36 runs in the final and won the Eurasia Series six-nation limited overs cricket tournament here today. Pakistan, who had lost to their arch-rivals in a league match earlier in the tournament, seemed to have saved their best for last as they outplayed the Indians in all departments of the game to score a memorable win in the day-night encounter at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium.

Bowling: Samiulla 9-1-43-1, Gul 9.5-0-37-3, Arafat 9-0-49-2, Amjad 10-0-68-4, Hafeez10-0-51-0. — PTI

Ten Sports moves SC on feed sharing

New Delhi, May 5
Ten Sports, which has exclusive rights to telecast the upcoming India-West Indies cricket series, today moved the Supreme Court seeking to restrain Prasar Bharati from downlinking the live feed of the matches.

A Bench comprising Justice Ashok Bhan and Justice L K Panta posted the matter for hearing on Tuesday asking Solicitor-General G E Vahanvati to seek proper instructions on the issue as the Dubai-based sports channel has declined to provide the link without payment.

The private channel filed an application contending that if the matches of the Test and one-day international series were simulcast on Doordarshan, it will suffer a huge loss.

It said it has already sold the distribution right to Set Discovery Pvt Ltd (SEDT), which will have the right to license throughout the country.

The channel said if interim relief was not granted to it, the order of the court delivered before the recent Indo-Pak series would become infructuous.

Taj Television Ltd, owner of Ten Sports, had filed the petition seeking stay of the government guidelines making it mandatory for sports channels to share feed of sporting events of national importance with Prasar Bharati.

The court had allowed the live telecast of Indo-Pak ODIs on DD after an agreement was reached between Ten Sports and Prasar Bharati that latter would deposit in court Rs 15 crore.

During a brief hearing, the Bench observed that last time it was a series with Pakistan and “matches of Indo-Pak series are different from the others”. “For the West Indies, many people may not be interested,” it said.

Ten Sports has challenged the validity and legality of the downlinking guidelines, terming it as arbitrary without the authority of law.

The sports channel had challenged the Bombay High Court order of December 21, 2005, refusing it any relief. Later, the matter pending before the High Court was transferred to the apex court.

The guidelines state that sports channels will share their feed with Prasar Bharati for “national and international sporting events of national importance” in India or abroad. — PTI

Zimbabwe players want Speed to quit

Harare, May 5
Zimbabwe players and officials are demanding that the Chief Executive of the International Cricket Council resign because he has failed to address the sporting crisis in the county.

The chairmen of all seven provinces, players’ representatives, former Zimbabwe Cricket directors, and other “stakeholders” accused Malcolm Speed of failing in his duty by refusing to intervene.

In a letter to Speed, they said the new management of Zimbabwe Cricket, headed by chairman Peter Chingoka and managing director Ozias Bvute, should not be recognised by the ICC.

“They remain in their positions only because the Zimbabwe Government arbitrarily appointed a temporary committee, most of whom know nothing about cricket,” said Richi Kaschula, a former international bowler who was recently sacked as full-time selector.

“The ICC declined to intervene, which should have been their duty.”

The letter said ICC inaction over the two-year-old crisis was one of the reasons why so many quality players were leaving Zimbabwe.

It stated that Speed was wrong to allow Chingoka to investigate himself and Bvute following widespread allegations of corruption, and has failed to ensure that he received the requested full audit of Zimbabwe Cricket’s financial affairs.

Speed was also accused of doing nothing to enforce his instructions to Zimbabwe to solve player strikes.

“We believe that in the interests of cricket world wide you should do the honorable thing and resign your position,” the letter concluded.

Copies have been sent to every Test-playing country seeking support.

In October last year, the provincial chairmen, several directors, clubs and players combined to confront Chingoka and

Bvute, demanding their resignation and dismissal respectively, alluding in a long list of “queries” to allegedly dubious financial dealings.

Chingoka and Bvute were arrested by the Harare police following Reserve Bank investigations but released on the instruction of Zimbabwe’s Attorney-General.

Repeated requests to the ICC to intervene have been rejected, with the ICC claiming it is a purely internal matter.

When the government took over Zimbabwe Cricket through its Sports and Recreation Commission in January, the terms of reference were to solve the dispute involving player salaries, fees and contracts by the end of the month and a new draft constitution to be in place by the end of March.

Neither has happened and the election of a new board is scheduled for July. — AFP

Ntini, Smith put SA on top

Johannesburg, May 5
South African fast bowler Makhaya Ntini took five for 35 to dismiss New Zealand for 119 on the first day of the third and final Test today. Captain Graeme Smith then scored 63 and Hashim Amla 56 to take the home side to 133 for four before play was halted by bad light 13 overs early.

Stephen Fleming’s 46 was New Zealand’s top score and the 55 he shared with Nathan Astle for the fourth wicket was the visitors’ best partnership.

Four New Zealanders were dismissed without scoring. Paceman Dale Steyn took three for 43.

Ntini had Jamie How caught by AB de Villiers at third slip with the eighth ball of the match and without a run on the board.

New Zealand had yet to score their first run four overs later when Michael Papps edged a jagging inswinger from Ntini on to his stumps.

The visitors needed 33 deliveries to move off the mark and they did so when Fleming drove Steyn down the ground for two.

Scoreboard

New Zealand (1st innings)

Papps b Ntini 0

How c De Villiers b Steyn 0

Fleming c Boucher b Ntini 46

Styris c De Villiers b Ntini 0

Astle c Kallis b Steyn 20

Oram lbw Pollock 18

McCullum c&b Ntini 0

Vettori lbw Steyn 2

Franklin c Boucher b Hall 19

Mills not out 0

Martin c Smith b Ntini 1

Extras (lb-9, nb-3, w-1) 13

Total (all out, 44 overs) 119

Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-0, 3-2, 4-57, 5-78, 6-78, 7-82, 8-118, 9-118.

Bowling: Ntini 16-7-35-5, Steyn 12-3-43-3, Hall 9-2-21-1, Pollock 7-2-11-1.

South Africa (1st innings)

Smith c McCullum b Franklin 63

Dippenaar b Martin 0

Amla c Papps b Styris 56

Kallis b Martin 9

Prince not out 1

De Villiers not out 1

Extras (nb-3) 3

Total (for 4 wkts, 33 overs) 133

Fall of wickets: 1-1, 2-99, 3-131, 4-131.

Bowling: Martin 10-0-28-2, Franklin 8-1-46-1, Oram 4-0-20-0, Mills 7-0-27-0, Astle 2-0-11-0, Styris 2-1-1-1. — Reuters 

Sarwan escapes unhurt in mishap

Georgetown, May 5
West Indies batsman Ramnaresh Sarwan escaped unhurt in a road accident and made himself available for this weekend’s one-dayers against Zimbabwe in his homeland.

The West Indies’ website reports that the 25-year-old Sarwan was involved in a collision shortly before noon in the Guyana capital.

“I am fine, no scrapes, no scratches, no bruises or anything, and I’m fully available to play cricket this weekend at Bourda,” Sarwan told the team’s website.

Sarwan was driving along one of the major thoroughfares when the driver of another vehicle failed to yield to traffic on the major road, and his vehicle ended up in the path of Sarwan’s SUV. No one suffered any major injuries in the accident.

The news was not so good, however, for international umpire Eddie Nicholls, whose son Dylon died in another traffic accident.

The younger Nicholls died when a truck collided with his mini-bus on a stretch of road that leads to the Guyana international airport.

The older Nicholls was set to be the reserve umpire for the one-dayers between the West Indies and Zimbabwe on Saturday and Sunday at the Bourda Oval, but is unlikely to fill the role now. — AFP

UAE beat Ireland A

Abu Dhabi, May 5
Medium pacer Arshad Ali grabbed four wickets to help United Arab Emirates post a 31-run victory over Ireland A in the last league match of the Eurasia Series six-nation limited-overs cricket tournament.

Chasing a victory target of 204 runs, Ireland A were all out for 172 runs in 46.3 overs in the inconsequential Group C encounter at the Sheikh Zayed stadium yesterday.

Gary Wilson’s patient half century knock went in vain as Ireland A kept losing wickets at regular intervals after Ali Asad removed both openers and left the Irishmen reeling at 20 for 2.

The middle order — William Porterfield (34), Wilson and Marthinus Fourie (20) — tried to steady the innings but after Ali (4-33) took the wickets of Wilson and Fourie, the lower order gave up without much fight.

Earlier, Ireland A had produced a tidy bowling performance to restrict the hosts to 203. — PTI

Michelle Wie makes history

Seoul, May 5
Teenager Michelle Wie made history today by becoming the first woman to make the cut in a men’s Asian Tour event on the second day of the $ 600,000 SK Telecom Open at the Sky 72 golf course. Se-Ri Pak made the cut in the men’s event on the Korean Tour in 2003 and finished tied 10th.

Jeev Milkha Singh continued his great run with a brilliant 66 that helped him finish just one off the lead at the midway stage. Jeev took his total to 10-under 134 to be tied third with Lee Seung Ho of Korea, one behind joint leaders, Thai Prom Meesawat (64) and Malaysian Iain Steel (66).

Another Indian, Harmeet Kahlon, dropped a bogey on the last hole and finished with a 69 that took his total to five-under 139 and tied 17th place.

Jeev, who has struck good form of late, opened with a birdie on first and had a total of seven birdies and just one bogey on the 11th.

His other birdies on the front nine came on the sixth and ninth to be three-under. On the back stretch he started with a birdie on 10th, but dropped one on 11th and then picked birdies on 14 th and 15th.

Amandeep Johl shot a two-under 70 for a two-day total of par 144 and was at tied 64th place, which saw him make the cut on the line. It was the second time in three weeks he was doing that. Earlier in Beijing, he rose from the cut line to 20th in the Volvo China Open.

Wie made the halfway cut for the first time against the men after a sizzling three-under-par 69 in the second round. She became the first woman since Babe Didrikson Zaharias in 1945 to make the cut on a men’s international Tour.

Wie’s two-day total of 139 sees her tied with India’s Harmeet Kahlon, Thailand’s Chinarat Phadungsil and American Bryan Saltus, who finished second in last week’s Maekyung Open. — PTI 

Ashok Kumar wins golf title

Gurgaon, May 5
Ashok Kumar carded his worst round of the week, but his four-over 75 was still good enough to win him the TSM - Golden Greens Open 2006. Ashok’s triumph at the par-71 Golden Greens Golf and Country Club was his second title triumph on the Amby Valley PGAI Tour’s 2005-06 season.

He tallied a four-day aggregate of nine-under 275 and pocket the winner’s cheque of Rs 2,37,300.

Delhi’s Arjun Singh played consistent golf to shoot a one-under 70 and earn the second spot at five-under 279, while the overnight second-place holder Gurbaaz Mann (Chandigarh) shot one-over 73 to finish third at four-under 280. Arjun and Gurbaaz pocketed Rs 1,63,050 and Rs 91,800, respectively. — PTI 

Army XI enter hockey final
Our Correspondent

Solan, May 5
Army XI defeated Air-India 2-0 today to enter the final of the 13th Indian Oil Him Gold Hockey Tournament. Army XI took the lead in the 27th minute of the first half through right-out S. Munda. Munda struck again in the 67th minute to give his team a 2-0 lead.

In another semifinal, Sikh Regiment Centre beat Indian Airlines 4-3 in a penalty shootout after both teams failed to score any goal in regulation time. Sikh Regiment Centre created a major upset as top Indian players like Bimal Lakra, Arjun Halappa, Adrian D’Souza and Dhanraj Pillay were part of the Indian Airlines team.

Indian Airlines enter semis
Our Sports Reporter

New Delhi, May 5
Defending champions Indian Airlines defeated Food Corporation of India (FCI) by five wickets to enter the semifinal of the 16th All-India Om Nath Sood Cricket Tournament for the Sperry Trophy at the Sri Guru Gobind Singh College of Commerce ground here.

Airlines owed their victory to a stellar all-round performance by Uttar Pradesh Ranji medium-pacer Praveen Kumar, who took 4 for 14 and then cracked 34 with one six and five boundaries. Mohammed Kaif chipped in with three slip catches. Praveen Kumar won the man-of-the-match award.

Brief scores: FCI: 125 (Pankaj Thakur 29, Yogesh Sachdeva 22; Praveen Kumar 4 for 14, Ishan Ganda 2 for 15, Sonu Sharma 2 for 25).

Indian Airlines: 127 for 5 (Ravneet Ricky 41, Praveen Kumar 34, Shafiq Khan 24, Pankaj Thakur 2 for 36). 

Mahindra rout Mohammedan Sporting

Margao, May 5
S. Venkatesh scored in each half to guide Federation Cup champion Mahindra United to a thumping 5-0 win over Mohammedan Sporting to take a clear four-point lead over their nearest rival East Bengal and keep them on course for the title in the 10th National Football League, played at Nehru stadium, here today.

Mahindras, which led 1-0 at half time, scored through Venkatesh (stoppage time of first half and 68th minute) and one each through Yusif Yakubu (54) Rauf Khan (74th) and K Annes (83rd).— PTI