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ICC sacks Hair from Elite Panel
Shoaib, Asif lodge
appeal
North Zone off to sound start
Sunny drives away with day’s honours
Asian Games
Uberoi sisters crash out
PPS riders shine
Jeev extends lead
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Good
news — the best two teams from this tournament are about to contest what should be a cracking final. While Australia’s form has improved steadily throughout the competition and the favourites are in pole position to take their first Champions Trophy title, the West Indies have got to the final the hard way. All in all, it sets us up for a proper contest. Australia have all the incentives they need to produce one more quality performance. The chance to win it for the first time and go home as champions would give them all the ammunition they need to taunt the recently arrived England team as the build-up to the Ashes continues. The Aussies will use any and every psychological tool to further emphasise what they see as the gulf between the world’s top two Test teams before the first Test begins in Brisbane in just over two weeks’ time. They also have the motive of revenge. The West Indies, of course, beat them earlier in this tournament and the Aussies will not be happy to see that happen again. Since then, the Aussies have seen improvements all round with more batsman in form and Glenn McGrath also shaping up a lot better now that the rust has started to leave those old bones. But if the Aussies think they have improved enough to turn the tables, then the West Indies can say that they too have made progress throughout this whole exercise and I would say that man for man they have more men in form than do the Australians. It would be sad and unfortunate if Shivnarine Chanderpaul is not fit enough to take his place but there are enough in-form batsman around to put the necessary runs on the board. Chris Gayle has been brilliant. If he were able to add yet another hundred to his name at the Brabourne Stadium it would be a marvellous and extraordinary feat, something from a comic book. We have seen the fiery side of Gayle in this tournament as evidenced by his spat with Michael Clarke in the first encounter with the Aussies. Neither side would have forgotten that and it might well be that another score would be settled in this final on account of that. However, the outstanding memory for us will be that his strokeplay has reached new heights in India and, more importantly, he has added new determination to his batting. Lara played a pivotal role in the first Aussie match as well but has done little with the bat since, not that he has needed to. Men of his stature and at his stage in life tend to save their best for when it is absolutely necessary and there is no better place than a one-day final to prove that. Runako Morton has also had a great time in India and the bowlers have kept excellent control over the opposition throughout as well. It has been a most heartening time for all fans of West Indian cricket; not so long ago it was all doom and gloom in the Caribbean as it seemed that outside influences had conspired to undermine the West Indies’ great love affair with cricket. That affair is still going strong and there would indeed be an air of romance if the West Indies are able to take this title for the second time in succession. However, let us not forget the Australians’ fine record in finals of one-day competitions, whether they be World Cups, VB tri-series finals or whatever. With Ponting and Hussey both recipients of major ICC awards, it is a salient reminder of the strength of Australian cricket. They are still favourites, if only by a whisker, to take this year’s ICC Champions Trophy.
— PMG
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ICC sacks Hair from Elite Panel
The decision to drop Hair, who was at the centre of the Oval Test fiasco, was taken during the two-day Executive Board meeting of the ICC here. "Hair will not be appointed for any international or first-class game in the future. We discussed the issue and the members came to the conclusion that they have lost confidence in him," ICC President Percy Sonn told a press conference after the meeting. "We tried to find a way out for him but overwhelming pressure from the board members worked against him." The Asian countries tabled a motion seeking Hair's ouster and the members voted 7-3 in favour of it. Only England, Australia and New Zealand voted against the motion. Hair's contract with the ICC runs till March, 2008. "The members have instructed the management to hold talks with him," Sonn said. The Hair issue was one of the major topics which was taken up for discussion on the opening day of the meeting. The Pakistan Cricket Board had written a letter to the ICC seeking a thorough investigation of Hair's conduct during and after the Oval Test. The Australian, who has often found himself in controversies, had accused Pakistan of ball tampering and awarded five bonus runs to England on the fourth day of the match. Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq had refused to take the field in protest which led to the match being forfeited in favour of England, the first such case in the history of the game. Inzamam was subsequently charged by the ICC for ball tampering and bringing the game into disrepute. However, after a hearing by adjudicator Ranjan Madugalle, Inzamam was cleared of ball tampering but banned for four ODIs for bringing the game into disrepute. Ban on Ata-ur-Rehman lifted
The ICC lifted the life ban on former Pakistan pace bowler Ata-ur-Rehman, six years after he was punished for his role in an international match-fixing scandal. Ata, 31, was banned and fined in 2000 for committing perjury during an 18-month match-fixing inquiry in Pakistan. He appealed to the ICC to lift the ban to allow him to play as a professional in England. The ICC board cleared him to resume playing from next May on the recommendation of its Code of Conduct Commission after an application by the Pakistan board. Ata, who has played 13 Tests and 30 one-dayers, had appealed, saying that he was now a British citizen but was unable to get a playing contract due to the ban. ICC, BCCI resolve MPA impasse
The International Cricket Council and BCCI, at loggerheads over certain clauses in the contentious Members Participation Agreement (MPA), today resolved all their differences in this regard. The ICC said it had persuaded BCCI to sign the MPA, which puts certain commercial restrictions on member countries and their players. The Indian Cricket Board also withdrew its tender bid for the marketing rights for all the ICC events organised directly by the world body from 2007-2015, ICC President Percy Sonn told a press conference here. The Indian Board had earlier refused to sign the MPA claiming it would adversely affect its commercial interests and those of its players. Sonn said the ICC had no issues with the BCCI and all pending matters vis-a-vis the MPA, which the latter had stead-fastedly refused to sign, had been resolved. An ICC source told PTI that no board had as yet signed the document and a fresh draft would be sent to all the members.
— PTI, Reuters
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Islamabad, November 4 The panel will be headed by Justice Fakhruddin Ibrahim and include former Test cricketer Hasib Ahsan and a doctor, who is to be named later, PCB Chairman Nasim Ashraf told Pakistan’s Geo TV. The new committee will announce its verdict within seven days of hearing the appeal of the bowlers, who were banned by a PCB-appointed drug tribunal, headed by barrister Shahid Hamid. Shoaib was banned for two years and Asif for one after they tested positive for a banned steroid in a dope test conducted by the PCB before the Champions Trophy. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Supreme Court has declined to admit a petition filed by one Iqbal Haider challenging the verdict of the drug tribunal to ban the two bowlers. Haider claimed that the panel had no locus standi and could not ban the players but the apex court returned the petition, saying that it did not fall in the category of violation of fundamental rights. — PTI
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Guwahati, November 4 Yashpal Singh (65) was at the crease with M Rawat (12) when the umpires called off the day’s play due to bad light. Gambhir, who failed to make it to the ODI squad for the South Africa tour despite some good knocks in the Challenger Trophy, batted with resolve for his 86 and put North back on track after they received some early blows on electing to bat. The Delhi southpaw forged half-century partnerships with Ravneet Ricky for the second wicket and Yashpal for the fourth wicket after former India paceman Debashish Mohanty dismissed skipper Akash Chopra cheaply. Normally aggressive, Gambhir played a restrained knock and took 204 balls for his 86 with nine hits to the fence. He was dismissed by Saurasis Lahiri who also scalped Ricky (29) and Mithun Manhas (21). Yashpal, on the other hand, was fairly relaxed and wielded his willow whenever he got an opportunity. He hit nine fours and sent the cherry over the top twice in his 113-ball 65. For East, Lahiri took three for 96, while Mohanty got one for 23. Former India skipper Sourav Ganguly also chanced his arms and bowled five overs giving away eight runs. Arjun rescues South
Kolkata: A tremendous rearguard action from Arjun Yadav saved South Zone the blushes and helped them reach a respectable 266 all out after Sri Lanka A’s Akalanka Ganegama wrecked havoc with the top order on the opening day of the Duleep Trophy tie here today. In a fiery burst of opening spell, Ganegama’s raw pace saw the South Zone top order fall apart as the bowler returned Robin Uthappa, VVS Laxman, Venugopal Rao and Ambathi Rayudu and Prasad returned Dinesh Kaarthick to reduce South Zone to five for 15. It was at this time that Arjun Yadav walked in and in a tremendous display of dogged batting rescued South Zone from the brink of disister. He remained unbeaten on 133 off 190 balls studded with 13 boundaries and four sixes. He was given good company by S Badrinath who scored 48 valuable runs and Kaushik Reddy lower in the order with 26 runs. In reply Sri Lanka A lost opener Michael Vandort for 14 runs to Yo Mahesh. At stumps, Mahela Udawatte was batting on 22 and M Warnapura on
nought.
— UNI
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Sunny drives away with day’s honours
Chandigarh, November 4 Results (provisional): Overall category: Sunny Sidhu/Vivek Anandan (Team JK Tyre, Baleno) 1:29.36; Karandeep
Singh/Jaidas Menon (Team MRF, Baleno) 1:29.45; Vikram Mathias/Nikhil Pai (Team JK Tyre, Ford Fiesta) 1: 29.47; Lohit
Urs/Moosa Sherief (Team MRF, Baleno) 1:30.16; Gauravsingh Gill/Farooq Ahmed (Team JK Tyre, Mitsubishi
Cedia) 1:32.27. 1400cc category: Sanjay Agarwal/Pradeep Kumar (Esteem) 1:36.19; Anil
Wadia/Anmol Rampal (Esteem) 1:44.32; Arindam Ghosh/Sourabh 1:50.03.
— TNS
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Asian Games
New Delhi, November 4 Apart from these three players, defender Kanwalpreet Singh and midfielder Nitin Kumar are the other two who were left out in the first phase of the camp at Rourkela. Meanwhile, full-backs William Xalxo and Harpal Singh and forward Adam Sinclair have boosted their chances of a comeback into the Indian team for next month’s Asiad. The camp will continue till November 24. Probables: Goalkeepers: Adrian D’Souza, Bharat Kumar Chetri, Sreejesh, Sanmugasundram; Fullbacks: Harpal Singh, William Xalxo, Raghunath, Dilip Tirkey; Midfielders: V.S. Vinaya, Prabodh Tirkey, Gurbaj Singh, Ajmer Singh, Senthil, Viren Rasquinha, Vikramjeet Singh Forwards: Tushar Khandekar, Shivendra Singh, Rajpal Singh, Tejbir Singh, Adam Sinclair, Arjun Halappa, Hari Prasad, Gurwinder Singh Chandi. Women's team announced
Lucknow: Indian Women's Hockey Federation yesterday announced a 22-member team to represent India in the 15 th Asian Games scheduled to be held at Doha in December. According to a press release issued by Federations's Hony. Secretary Ms Amrit Bose here today, the team comprises of four goalkeepers, three full-backs, six half-backs and nine forwards. Team: goalkeepers: Deepika Murty, Marita Tirkey, Jasdeep Kaur, Poonam. Fullbacks: Suman Bala, Binita Toppo,Pushpa Pradhan. Halfbacks: Rajwinder Kaur,Asunta Lakra, Joydeep Kaur,Subhadra Pradhan, Gagandeep Kaumr, Jasdeep Kaur. Forwards: Surinder Kaur, Jasjeet Kaur, Saba Anjum, Jyoti Sunita Kulla, Deepika, Mamta Kharab,Binita Xess, Ranjita and Ritu Rani.
— PTI, UNI
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Sania-Paes to play in Asian Hopman Cup
Hyderabad, November 4 Sania said it was “exciting” to be a part of the Indian team alongside Paes but she was prepared for a tough competition on home turf. “It’s good that the event is happening in India, more so in Hyderabad. Although we have the support of the home crowd, it would be tough competition and we will try to give our best,” she said. About her partnership with Paes, she said, “It all depends on the schedule and we really did not talk about it. A couple of days’ practice before the session would do a lot of good.” China, Japan, Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Uzbekistan and hosts India would take part in the tournament which has a male and a female player from each country playing one singles match each and pairing for the doubles tie. “China and Chinese Taipei have very good players and it’s not going to be a very easy tournament. The lowest rank of the players could be somewhere between 75 and 80,” she said. — PTI
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New Delhi, November 4 The Uberoi siblings ran out of steam and tamely surrendered to their American rivals Laura Granville and Carly Gullickson, who cantered to a facile 6-0, 6-1 win, according to information received here today. After they upstaged the top seeded Russian duo of Galina Voskoboeva and Anastassia Rodionova in the first round, much was expected from the sisters but they simply could not find their feet and managed to win just one game in the entire match. Fed Cup player Shikha had earlier failed to make it to the singles main draw after losing her final qualifying round match. — UNI
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PPS riders shine
Nabha, November 4 They won a total of 33 medals — 13 gold, 12 silver and eight bronze. Maj-Gen Sureshwar Tiwari (retd), an alumnus of PPS, gave away the prizes to the winners. Jatinder Singh, Harmandeep Singh and Vikramjeet Singh, all of PPS, were declared the best riders in children, sub-junior and junior sections, respectively. PSEB, Banga college in final
Nabha: S.N.College, Banga, defeated JCT Academy 5-4 via tiebreaker in the first semifinal of the 31st All-India Gurdarshan Singh Memorial Football Tournament. In the second semifinal, PSEB derailed RCF, Kapurthala, 6-0.
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Fukuoka, November 4 Jeev, the current UBS Asian Tour Order of Merit leader, opened with three birdies and closed with three birdies to be ahead of second-placed Yoshikazu Haru (67). Jeev needed 28 putts today to go through the round and his iron play was once again the main feature of his play. He had an incredible nine birdies and four bogeys as he attacked the pins relentlessly. “I am playing well and I am feeling confident with every shot,” said Jeev. “I had a great start and a great finish and in between, too, I played well, though the few dropped shots set me back a little. But five-under and a decent lead after three rounds puts me in a good position to go for the title,” said the Chandigarh-based golfer. Jeev’s nearest rival Tetsuji Hiratsuka (70), who was one behind overnight, seemed fine with two birdies on the first three holes, but it was on the back that Jeev moved into a different zone. After turning in two-under, Jeev started with a bogey on the 10th. But he quickly grabbed a birdie on the 11th only to drop a shot on the 12th. Then came birdies on the 13th and 14th, before he missed a par putt on the 15th. At this stage, he was tied for lead with Yoshikazu at 15-under. While the Japanese player parred his last three holes, Jeev birdied all of them. Interestingly, Jeev’s total of 18-under 198 for 54 holes equals his best for 54 holes. He had the same total after three rounds in the 2004 Asia-Okinawa Open, when he finished tied second after leading the tournament by four shots after three days. The Indian, who won the Volvo Masters of Europe last weekend, is looking to add another title on the third international Tour in this incredible season. He has already won on Asian and European Tours, and has nine top-10 finishes in 14 starts in Japan this year. — PTI
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In video (
The somewhat 20th century system by which the teams are ranked well in advance of these tournaments and seeded accordingly meant that the West Indies had to qualify along with Sri Lanka to enter the business part of this Champions Trophy. Except for one blowout against their fellow qualifiers, it has been a very impressive showing by the West Indians over these past few weeks.
Mumbai, November 4
