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England practice in Abu Dhabi
Mushtaq not travelling to India
Asif apologises, vows to be more careful
Rauf has no visa, to miss Test
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Ricky Ponting
Cash-strapped Honda quits F1
HC orders fresh selection of goalie
SC reprieve to Pawar, BCCI
Saina eyes top-5 bracket
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Abu Dhabi, December 5 A 38-strong English contingent, including 24 cricketers, reached here via Dubai to get some practice ahead of the two-match Test series and are waiting wait for a final go ahead from security adviser Reg Dickason before heading to India. Meanwhile, England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) managing director Hugh Morris, who arrived with the players, left for Chennai to assess the situation in the Indian metropolis which is scheduled to host the first Test from December 11. Morris and England Professional Cricketers Association (EPCA) Chief Executive Sean Morris will join Dickason and the trio would also inspect Mohali which hosts the second Test starting December 19. After concluding their recce, the trio would then report back to the team management which would then ask the team to proceed for India. As the ECB officials evaluate the security system in India, the cricketers decamp here for a weekend of training. With the warm-up match in Vadodara scrapped following the Mumbai terror attacks, England players have been left with no other option but to make do with nets. England's bowling resources already look thin with Ryan Sidebottom out of the series with a side strain while Stuart Broad, already ruled out of the Chennai Test, could also go the same way if he doesn't recover fast from a hamstring injury he picked up during the fifth ODI against India in Cuttack. England, however, have 10 players from the Performance Squad to fall back on in case they need replacements. While a lot would depend on the Andrew Flintoff, Steve Harmison and James Anderson trio, the presence of Sajid Mahmood and Amjad Khan in the Performance Squad would be a matter of relief for the team management. — PTI
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Mushtaq not travelling to India Karachi: The Indian cricket board has ensured that Pakistan's former leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed, who is England's spin bowling coach, does not travel with the English team for the upcoming Test series as the BCCI has taken a strong stand on his past links with ICL. Sources close to Mushtaq confirmed that he was not travelling with the team to India because of his past affiliation with the rebel Indian Cricket League. "Yes it is true that the Indian board made it clear to the Wales and English cricket board that they couldn't allow Mushtaq to work with the England team as spin bowling coach on the Indian tour as he had played in the illegal ICL," one source told PTI. "The Indian board made it clear to the ECB that since they had a very strong stand on the ICL and didn't recognise it and both were in a litigation they couldn't allow Mushtaq to work in India with the England team," he said.— PTI
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Asif apologises, vows to be more careful
Karachi, December 5 Asif, appearing on a cricket talk show on Geo Super channel, admitted he had let down the nation with his behaviour and promised to be more careful in future. "I apologise to the nation for my behaviour. I need to be more responsible and careful and you will see a new Asif in future," he said when asked about his recent drug escapades. Asif is suspended at present by the Pakistan Cricket Board for failing a dope test during the Indian Premier League and he also spent 19 days in detention in Dubai in June for possession of small quantity of alleged "opium." In 2006 also, he had tested positive for a banned substance in a dope test conducted by the PCB but was later cleared on technical grounds after he appealed against the ban. Asif was due to appear before the IPL drugs inquiry tribunal on November 29 which was postponed due to the Mumbai terror attacks. He said the tribunal had not informed him about a new date for the hearing as yet. Asif claimed he had never intentionally taken any drugs but admitted he had got entangled into controversies because of his careless behaviour. "Even in Dubai I was just carrying some medication prescribed by a local hakeem from my village for the elbow injury I had. I didn't know what was in the medicine," he said. Asif said he was himself shocked to learn that he had failed a dope test in the IPL as he insisted he never used banned substances. The pace bowler felt that the IPL drugs inquiry tribunal procedure had dragged on needlessly which was preventing him from returning to action. "First of all I don't understand why the test results were disclosed so late. And now I feel for some reason the IPL drug inquiry tribunal hearings are dragging on too long. I want this issue to be over. Whatever they decide, it must be decided soon as I am wasting my playing years," he said. Asif said as far as he knew even if the IPL tribunal banned him, the ban period would start from the day the hearings began and he stopped playing. Asif said he was keen to get back to playing international cricket and his personal ambition was now to return to the national side and make a mark in the 2011 World Cup. "In Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir, Shoaib Akhtar and myself we have a very good pace attack and if we can play together in the next World Cup it would be fantastic for Pakistan cricket," he said. — PTI
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Rauf has no visa, to miss Test
ICC elite panel umpire Asad Rauf of Pakistan will not officiate in the first Test between India and England starting next week as he does not have the visa for Chennai where the match has been relocated following the terror strikes in Mumbai.
Rauf had a valid visa for Ahmedabad and Mumbai — the cities originally scheduled to host the two Tests — but the matches were shifted to Chennai and Mohali respectively and the process to procure visa for the southern metrolpolis was delayed because of religious holidays. "The Indian High Commission is shut for the next five days because of the weekend and the Eid holidays," Rauf was quoted as saying by the 'cricinfo'. "So I will not be able to get the right visa for the first Test in time. There is still time for the second Test so I hope to be there for that. The BCCI has given instructions to the High Commission to provide the right visa as soon as the application is made," he added. Pakistani and Indian nationals require city-specific visas to travel to each other's countries. Rauf was supposed to officiate in the two Tests alongwith Australian Daryl Harper, while Jeff Crowe of New Zealand will oversee the matches as match referee. Although, Rauf has expressed his inability to be on time for the first Test, the International Cricket Council is yet to make any official announcement on the Pakistani’s replacement.
— PTI |
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Melbourne, December 5 Forced home early from the West Indies tour, Ponting put his wrist under the knife in July but returned to the Australian side which toured India for a four-match Test series which they lost 2-0. Ponting, in fact, needed a cortisone injection in the Mohali Test and the 34-year-old Australian captain, who saw surgeon Greg Hoy yesterday, said the decision to return ahead of the India tour was surely premature. "Probably right at the time, with the break that I had after the West Indies and leading into the Indian series, and the Indian series being as big as it was, I was probably not forced, but I wanted to come back and resume playing as soon as I possibly could," Ponting said. "It would have been nice to have another couple of months off, but I wasn't afforded that luxury," the Australian captain was quoted as saying by 'Herald Sun'. Though Ponting has been cleared to play in the home series against South Africa, the Australian said he was feeling the pain, while driving. "At the moment it's an inflammatory injury. Hitting straight down the ground is probably where I have the most discomfort. "I will keep working on it, I will keep icing it, I will keep doing the treatment I need to do over the next little period and hopefully, by the end of the summer, it's not around any more," he said. After the defeat in India, Australia run the risk of losing the number one status to South Africa in the upcoming series, an idea Ponting is not comfortable with. "We have have never referred to ourselves as being the best team in the world, the champion team, that is just something that is said about us all the time. It's taken us a long time and a lot of great wins in different conditions around the world to give us that No. 1 spot. "So, if South Africa beat us 3-0, I don't know if that gives them enough points to get over us or whatever. But if they simply won the series 1-0 or 2-1, I don't think that would mean they deserve to take over that mantle," Ponting said. — PTI
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Tokyo, December 5 He said 2008 would be Honda's last season. The Japanese carmaker will not supply its engines to any other teams. “This is a complete withdrawal. The future is a blank sheet,” he said. “Five years from now, I think history will show we made the right decision. This difficult decision has been made in light of the quickly deteriorating operating environment facing the global auto industry, brought on by the subprime problem in the United States,” Fukui said. Japan’s number two automaker will hold consultations with the team’s staff and drivers about their future, including a possible sale. Investors reacted cautiously to the announcement. Honda shares dropped 1.9 per cent to close at 1,653 yen as a stronger yen hit exporters. Honda first competed in F1 in 1964 and has since clocked up three Grand Prix wins, including Jenson Button’s in Hungary in 2006. Its engines have also been behind dozens of victories by stars such as Nelson Piquet, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost. The team finished ninth in the constructors championship this season with 14 points. Veteran driver Rubens Barrichello achieved the team’s best result with a third-place finish at Silverstone. Honda Motor also supplied engines and other technical support to Formula One team Super Aguri, which called it quits due to financial problems in May. Formula One events are also feeling the pinch with this year’s Australian Grand Prix going $27 million into the red and France axing its race over money worries. Shanghai organisers recently cast doubt on the future of the Chinese Grand Prix but then retracted their remarks. — AFP
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HC orders fresh selection of goalie
Chandigarh, December 5 After her father Harbhajan Singh of Jalandhar moved the high court, the Division Bench of Justice Uma Nath Singh and Justice Daya Chaudhary today directed that a board, comprising sports director Pargat Singh, ex-captain Rupa Saini and two others, complete the process of fresh selection for goalkeeper on Saturday. The Bench also directed Union Ministry of Sports to ensure the clearance of the team for participation from December 9 to December 22. As the matter came up for hearing, counsel for the parties prayed to the Bench to pass a consensus order for constituting the board of Saini, Pargat Singh and two other eminent players to be nominated by the Sports Authority of India, Luckhnow.
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SC reprieve to Pawar, BCCI
New Delhi, December 5 A Bench, comprising Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan and Justice P. Sathasivam, gave the ruling after a battery of leading lawyers argued for the petitioners - BCCI president Sashank Manohar, former secretary Niranjan Shah, chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty, secretary N. Srinivasan and Junior Cricket Committee chairman Chirayu Amin, besides Pawar. At present, Pawar is vice-president of the International Cricket Council (ICC) and has earlier been BCCI president. The forgery case pertains to the reported false affidavits filed by them in the High Court in connection with the December 16, 2006 suspension of then BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya for alleged misappropriation of Rs 40 crore during the 1996 World Cup when he was chairman of the Organising Committee. During the arguments, the Bench observed that preliminary inquiry, recording of the findings and hearing of the accused were necessary under section 340 of CrPC under which the HC had ordered criminal proceedings against them. But none of these was done. Senior counsel K.K. Venugopal and Altaf Ahmad argued for Dalmiya, while G.E. Vahanvati, Mukul Rohatagi, Abhishek Singhvi and Ruington Nariman appeared for Pawar and other petitioners. The proceedings in the HC would remain stayed till further orders. |
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Saina eyes top-5 bracket
New Delhi, December 5 The Hyderabadi ace, brimming with confidence, said she is not in a mood to stop and will do whatever it takes to grab a place in the top-five ranking. "My next target is to break into the top five within next year. I know it won't be easy because from here on, I will have to play the quarters and semis, if not the finals, in all the tournaments against top class players. But I know I can do it," Saina said.
— PTI |
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Hard pressed to squeeze in some practice ahead of the Test series against India, Kevin Pietersen and his men lost precious little time and headed for the nets at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium here today.
Karachi, December 5
