Mumbai, December 14
In a major reprieve to Indian Premier League franchisee Rajasthan Royals, the Bombay High Court today upheld the order passed by an independent arbitrator granting stay to the termination of its contract by the BCCI. Justice S J Vazaifdar today dismissed an appeal filed by BCCI challenging the stay granted by the arbitrator and permitted Rajasthan Royals to participate in the IPL-4 auction that is to be held on January 8 and 9. The Court, however, imposed a condition on Rajasthan Royals directing them to file an affidavit before it by January 3 specifying full details of its ownership pattern and mode of control.

"It is necessary that the bonafides of the three owners - Emerging Media (IPL) Ltd, Tresco International and Bluewater Estates Ltd - are established. BCCI is entitled to call for full disclosure of ownership under the franchisee agreements," the court observed. Apart from specifying the mode of control, the affidavits should also include a statement from all the three company owners that they are in full control of their investment companies.

The Court also directed Rajasthan Royals to submit $2.83 million as guarantee to the BCCI for the contract and $18 million as bank guarantee for the players.

The arbitration proceedings shall continue unless BCCI approaches the Supreme Court challenging the stay. BCCI had on October 10 terminated the franchisee agreement of Rajasthan Royals - winners of IPL in 2008 - after the team allegedly committed breach of contract by having changes in its corporate structure without consent. Rajasthan Royals had on October 26 approached the High Court against BCCI.

However, the case was kept pending as both the parties agreed to resolve the matter through arbitration. On November 30, Justice B N Srikrishna, who was acting as arbitrator, granted injunction in Rajasthan Royals favour by staying the termination of its contract. BCCI then challenged this before the High Court. — PTI

Centurion, December 14
India skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni is confident that past experience of playing in the Indian Premeir League and Champions League in South African conditions will hold the team in good stead during the three-match Test series against the Proteas. "It will be important for us to adapt to the conditions. Yet I believe we will be better prepared than before, because the guys have played here in the IPL and in the Champions League and it is not that foreign to them," Dhoni said.

"The most important thing is to remain focused and well prepared for what awaits us," the India skipper added. The second edition of the IPL was shifted to South Africa due to general election in India and the rainbow nation also hosted the Champions League earlier this year. Countering the hosts' threats of preparing fast and bouncy tracks Dhoni said, "We are so used to that question - about how we will handle it when we are bombarded with short balls.

"The answer is that it will not bother us. Most of our batsmen have recently played quite a lot in South Africa and are much more familiar with conditions than was the case in the past," Dhoni added. The Indian captain, however, believed that the South African fast bowlers are at the moment focusing on the short-pitch stuff to unsettle his team.

"It is not something which we are not expecting. It is after all how South Africa have achieved success against us in the past," he said.

Despite India's none-too-impressive record here, Dhoni is unperturbred and said his team is in good form and are not thinking about past record in South Africa. "We do not pay attention to what history says about what happened here in the past. We do not think too much about the statistics," said Dhoni.

Perth, December 14
Buoyant England will need to overcome a long hoodoo at the WACA as well as an Australian side scratching for form if they are to retain the Ashes in the third Test of the series starting Thursday. The tourists hold a 1-0 lead in the five-Test series after a thumping innings victory in Adelaide following a draw in Brisbane, and a win in Perth would guarantee they keep hold of the Ashes they won back in England last year.

But England have a dismal record at a venue once famed for offering unrivalled pace and bounce, with just one victory in 11 attempts, way back in 1978 under skipper Mike Brearley. Australia have won their past five Ashes clashes in Perth but England coach Andy Flower said the side were not daunted by the weight of history.

"England do have a poor record in Perth," he said. "One win in 11 and that was back in 1978 in World Series Cricket days. "We do recognise the challenge in front of us, and I think the guys are excited about attempting to turn it around."

Although the WACA has not boasted pace and bounce in recent years, curator Cam Sutherland has been talking up the possibility of a lively pitch with a healthy covering of grass. But Flower embraced the prospect of a more traditional WACA wicket. "I think it's really exciting for everyone," he said. "It makes for exciting cricket and that is why we are here." England are expected to promote Chris Tremlett to replace fellow paceman Stuart Broad, who has been ruled out for the rest of the series with an abdominal strain.

Tremlett, who has played three Tests, is expected to be given the nod ahead of Tim Bresnan and Ajmal Shahzad and play his first Test since August 2007. The towering Tremlett is expected to be suited to the WACA pitch and has been in good form in the tour games, with seven wickets at 25.43.

Flower said England's preferred 11 was "pretty clear in our minds" for the third Test, but would not be announced to the squad until tomorrow. He added that England's draw against state side Victoria following the euphoria of the second Test win in Adelaide was a timely "reality check" for his team.

The English are confident lively seamer James Anderson, who has put previous poor form in Australia behind him with eight Test wickets at 32.12, will not be unduly affected by a dash back to England for the birth of his child. Anderson arrived in Perth on yesterday afternoon. — AFP

Johannesburg, December 14
South Africa captain Graeme Smith had termed Sachin Tendulkar as "great ambassador of the game" and said his desire to become a cricketer got wings after watching the Indian batting maestro during his childhood. Smith was a 11-year-old kid when Tendulkar first toured the Rainbow nation following the country's readmission to the international fold after decades of isolation because of apartheid.

But on Thursday, Smith will lead South Africa in the first Test against India at Centurion in what could well be Tendulkar's last tour to the country. "He (Tendulkar) is a world class player and a great ambassador for the game," Smith said as he reminisced at an official reception for the Indian cricket team here last night.

"As a youngster I watched the games and that's where all my dreams started. You see the players (like Tendulkar) on TV and you think that I want to be like that one day, and here we are," he said. India is presently touring South Africa for three Tests, five ODIs and one-off Twenty20 International. Smith also lauded former South Africa opener and now India coach Gary Kirsten, saying he commands great respect in the cricketing fraternity.

"Gary (Kirsten) was one of my heroes while I was growing up, so obviously it was great to get the opportunity to play with him," he said. "He's a guy that I respect a hell of a lot and I'm sure the Indian team itself respects him. That respect will also go onto the field. It's about playing well for South Africa, but that respect will always be there," the Protea skipper added.

India speedster S Sreesanth too was full of praise for his coach. "He's (Kirsten) been a great motivator and a great friend to each and every player," Sreesanth said. Sreesanth described as "spot on" Kirsten's recent comment that India could be a world class team only if they beat South Africa on their home turf.

Sreesanth spoke for the Indian team during the function after captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni opted to send the Kerela speedster up on the dais to join Smith. He also said India will be benefited in the series by some of its players' previous experience of playing in South African conditions.

"I did not play play in the Champions League but other team members have played. They know how to acclimatise with the conditions. "Dhoni lead Chenai Super Kings to Champions League title here earlier this year and he had also helped us in our preparation," Sreesanth said. — PTI

London, December 14
Manchester United beat Arsenal 1-0 on Monday night at Old Trafford to leapfrog their opponents and go top of the English Premier League. Ji-Sung Park's first-half goal proved to be enough for all three points for a United side that could even afford for Wayne Rooney to miss a penalty.

United, who remain unbeaten and still have a game in hand, are now two points clear of both Arsenal and Manchester City. "We had to play well, in these major games you want to perform and I think we did tonight, particularly in the first half we did very, very well, United manager Sir Alex Ferguson said.

But the manager admitted that he had been concerned when Rooney fired his penalty way over the crossbar. "It was an unusual penalty, normally Wayne always keeps them down, I have never known him to hit one over," he said.

"That gave Arsenal a bit of impetus but we defended very well, the back four were fantastic tonight, absolutely magnificent." United left Dimitar Berbatov out of their starting line-up, while Arsenal gave a debut to young Poland goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny, who saved well on a number of occasions.

Szczesny did well to stop Anderson from opening the scoring, but United were dominant in possession as Arsenal, with Csec Fabregas, Robin van Persie and Theo Walcott on the bench, could not get a handle on the game. It looked as if Arsenal would survive to half-time, but Park had other ideas, and his brilliant reaction header put United ahead after the ball had deflected off Gael Clichy on its way to him.

Arsene Wenger brought on Van Persie and Fabregas early in the second half, but United should have had a second goal when Clichy was adjudged to have handled the ball inside the area.

Television replays suggested that the decision was harsh, but Rooney spared Arsenal by blasting the ball over the bar.

Arsenal huffed and puffed in search of an equaliser but failed to create enough chances, and United held on for all three points.

Arsenal manager Arsene Wenger said the state of the Old Trafford pitch had not helped his side's chances. "The game was very intense, both teams were well-organised, the intensity of the game was very high and on a very bad pitch," he said.

"Overall the technical quality of the game suffered from a very bad pitch and that was why on both sides you have seen unusual technical mistakes. I don't think we failed to deliver, we lost a game and that can happen here." — DPA

Hyderabad, December 14
Ace Indian shuttler Saina Nehwal is in no hurry to become the World number one and said winning the prestigious Hong Kong Super Series title in Wanchai was as good as achieving the numero uno status as she had beaten some top players en route to her victory.

On Sunday, Saina capped a dream year with her fourth Super Series title when she won the Hong Kong Open but that is unlikely to push her to the number one ranking. "I will be happy if I finish the year with number one ranking. I don't know yet what is the system and how it is going to happen. I think this year I will be remaining at world number three or four but winning this tournament is like becoming world number one for me. So it's ok," Saina told reporters here.

"I will achieve it this year or next year. I mean, all players want to become world number one and I have the same dream. Lets us see when I will achieve it," she added. Saina bagged three back-to-back titles this year, winning the Indian Open Grand Prix Gold in Chennai, Singapore Super Series and defending the Indonesian Super Series. The girl from Hyderabad also won the Commonwealth Games gold medal in New Delhi, before having a heartbreak at the Asian Games but Saina made sure she ends the year on a high by winning the Hong Kong Open.

"It has been a dream year for me. I played five super series out of 12 and really happy that I did well in three of them and lost in the semifinals in one of them. Also winning the Commonwealth Gold was a memorable one," Saina said. — PTI

Chandigarh, December 14
JCT Football Club have announced their home fixtures for the month of December. The Millmen have not had the best possible start to the league and had lost, surprisingly, to HAL in the opening league fixture. Under the announced home fixtures, they will play Kolkata giants East Bengal at the Guru Nanak Stadium in Ludhiana on December 17.

The game will be an acid test for the team as they hope to find some groove as the season picks pace. That fixture will be followed up by a clash with another Kolkata-based team, Mohun Bagan on December 23. The last home tie of the month will see JCT playing VIVA Kerala on December 29. All matches will start at 2pm.

BRIEFLY

Want respect as coach: Waqar
Karachi: Pakistan's national team coach Waqar Younis is keen to emulate his achievements as a player in his new coaching role. "I want to earn the same respect and adulation as the national coach as I earned as a player while representing the country," Waqar told Geo Super channel. "I am someone who is trying to give the same commitment and responsibility to the team as coach like I did as player. I want to leave my coaching position with the ," the former Test captain and fast bowler said. — PTI

Hughes full of confidence
Perth: Recalled opener Phil Hughes said on today that he was ready to be Australia's Ashes saviour, despite his stuttering form with the bat in domestic cricket. An Achilles injury to veteran Simon Katich opened the door once more for the 22-year-old Hughes for the vital third Test against England, starting Thursday at the WACA Ground in Perth. "I am pumped and I can't wait to get out there," he said. "Mentally I feel really good and I am hitting them good in the nets, which is always a good sign." Hughes burst onto the Test scene with a pair of centuries against South Africa in his second Test, before falling out of favour during the 2009 Ashes tour of England. — PTI

Nadal, Wozniacki honoured
London: Rafael Nadal and Caroline Wozniacki have been named ITF World Champions for 2010. Nadal, who won the French Open, Wimbledon and the U S Open, won the award given by the International Tennis Federation for the second time. Wozniacki, a Dane who won six tour titles this year to take the No 1 ranking but failed to reach a Grand Slam final, won for the first time. Nadal, who completed a career Grand Slam by winning in New York, says "after a difficult year in 2009, it was an amazing feeling to regain the No 1 ranking and finally win the U S Open." — AP

Greatbatch ready to quit
Wellington: Attributing the recent drubbing at the hands of India on lack of mental toughness, the coach of New Zealand cricket team Mark Greatbatch said that the players found ways to lose after an encouraging start to the tour. Expressing his disbelief, Greatbatch said, "The tour started pretty positively. We'd got ourselves into a position to perform better. And then to end like that was not a great feeling. It was pretty disappointing and embarrassing to an extent." — PTI

Zaheer in doubt for 1st Test
Johannesburg: India looked a side at comfort with itself during their first full practice session with the whole squad for the Tests, but there was cause for concern with Zaheer Khan choosing to go through just fitness drills due to what seems like a hamstring injury. The scans have failed to pick anything, but neither Zaheer nor the team wants to risk aggravating the injury. "As of now he is not [fit]," a team source said. "There are still three days to go to the Test, so we didn't want to take any risks." So, even as the rest of the team had a good workout in the nets, Zaheer spent time with Paul Chapman, the team physio. — Agencies

‘Perform or get a pay cut’
Wellington: New Zealand cricketers are bearing the burnt of their disastrous tour of India as they have been issued a warning by their Players' Association to either perform or get ready for a less pay package. Heath Mills, general manager of the New Zealand Cricket Players' Association (NZCPA), said the leading players are all on annual contracts and if they play well they will be rewarded or else they must be ready to drop down the pecking order with an associated cut in salary. — PTI