-
Posted: January 22nd, 2008, 12:00pm EST
New Delhi, Jan 22 - Shantakumaran Sreesanth's strident appealing and his one-liners added to his histrionics complete the profile of an aggressive fast bowler from down south.A shoulder strain has kept him off the cricket field for almost two months, but he is as ebullient as ever off the field. There will no change in his on-field approach to the game in the triangular series Down Under, he says. His next line: Beware Australia!However, he, or for that matter Indians, will not be gunning f
-
Posted: January 22nd, 2008, 4:00am EST
Sydney, Jan 22 - Legendary legspinner Shane Warne doesn't believe Australia's domination of world cricket is over after India stopped them winning their 17th Test on the trot at Perth.Congratulating Anil Kumble and India on the victory, the Australian great has said in his Daily Telegraph column that it was an impressive performance. 'I can hear all the 'Eddie the experts' saying the reign is over and the decline is upon us.'I don't believe that for a second. India just played well and did
-
Posted: January 22nd, 2008, 3:00am EST
Adelaide, Jan 22 - Mike Hussey rates India's attack a poor man's swing ensemble compared with the English one that destroyed Australia in the 2005 Ashes series, the Herald Sun has reported.Indian bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad called his attack the best in the business after it dismantled Australia with swing in the third Test in Perth. But Hussey is adamant India won't bowl its way to a series-levelling win in the fourth Test in Adelaide starting on Thursday. 'I didn't play in the Ashes Te
-
Posted: January 22nd, 2008, 3:00am EST
Adelaide, Jan 22 - The stunning omission of Indian batsman Sourav Ganguly from the one-day team has thrown the tourists' preparation for the fourth India-Australia Test into turmoil.Herald Sun has reported that several Indian players have still been coming to terms with the decision to drop Ganguly for next month's triangular one-day series against Australia and Sri Lanka. Some players are bewildered enigmatic batsman Yuvraj Singh has retained his spot ahead of Ganguly, who has more than 11,
-
Posted: January 22nd, 2008, 3:00am EST
Adelaide, Jan 22 - Australia's opening batsman Matthew Hayden says he is fit to play India in the fourth Test, starting Thursday, after a hamstring strain forced him out of the Perth Test last week.Melbourne's Herald Sun has reported that Hayden's streak of 86 consecutive Tests ended when he failed to pass a fitness Test before the third Test which India won by 72 runs.An hour-long net session with national coach Tim Nielsen at Adelaide Oval Monday convinced Hayden he could regain his positi
-
Posted: January 22nd, 2008, 3:00am EST
Sydney, Jan 22 - Pakistan would be willing to play in Australia if the scheduled tour to the subcontinent nation in March is scrapped because of security fears, the Sydney Morning Herald has reported.While the Pakistan Cricket Board - would only consider the move in a 'worst-case scenario', the revelation gives renewed hope that the series would be played regardless of the fallout of Pakistan's general election on Feb 18. Cricket Australia - is investigating whether players and officials wou
-
Posted: January 22nd, 2008, 3:00am EST
New Delhi, Jan 22 - Marriages may be made in heaven but in this age they are even more promptly annulled. The rate of reconciliation of marital discords is at an all-time low, if the records of a Delhi Police cell are anything to go by.Delhi Police's Crime Against Women - cell - a reconciliatory body that serves as a nodal agency for complaints of violent crimes against women - saw a sharp decline in the disposal of cases as well as reconciliation worked out between couples in 2007.According
-
Posted: January 21st, 2008, 3:00pm EST
Raipur, Jan 21 - Chhattisgarh is to have a swanky new capital, Naya Raipur, complete with a world-class convention centre, an IT special economic zone, an 18-hole golf course, super speciality hospitals, malls and cricket stadiums. The foundation stone for the dream capital was laid by Chief Minister Raman Singh Monday.Raman Singh, along with his senior cabinet colleagues, laid the foundation stone for the first phase of the project at Rakhi village, 20 km away from Raipur.The first phase wi
-
Posted: January 21st, 2008, 3:00pm EST
New Delhi, Jan 21 - British Prime Minister Gordon Brown gave a strong hint here Monday that India's batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar could be awarded honorary knighthood.At a press conference, Brown said that there was a 'strong case' for honouring sporting achievements around the world, noting that Australian cricket legend Don Bradman and West Indies maestro Gary Sobers had been so honoured.Brown, however, pointed out that a panel does the selection and that he alone cannot pick anyone for
-
Posted: January 21st, 2008, 1:00pm EST
Kolkata, Jan 21 - Cricket Association of Bengal - president Prasun Mukherjee Monday claimed that cricketer Sourav Ganguly was dropped from the One-day team in accordance with the wishes of skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.'Today - I talked to the Board of Control for Cricket in India - president Sharad Pawar and he said the official policy is that the board does not interfere with the selection process,' Mukherjee told reporters here. 'Pawar said he was helpless and said he shared our concern. B
-
Posted: January 21st, 2008, 12:00pm EST
New Delhi, Jan 21 - In order to bind the Commonwealth fraternity, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown wants to propose the names of modern cricketers like Sachin Tendulkar for the honorary knighthood.'It used to be the case that great cricketers from the Commonwealth would be recognised by the British people through our honoured system - we think of Sir Don Bradman or Sir Gary Sobers,' said Brown, who is on an official visit of India.Brown lamented that the system of rewarding renowned sport
-
Posted: January 21st, 2008, 12:00pm EST
New Delhi, Jan 21 - India and Britain Monday identified four priority areas for ramping up their ties even as they called for greater cooperation in the war against terror.The four areas are education, science and technology, trade and investment, visiting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and his Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh said at a joint press conference after their talks here.'We should also have more people to people contacts,' Manmohan Singh said, even as he thanked Britain for
-
Posted: January 21st, 2008, 12:00pm EST
Melbourne, Jan 21 - A top Indian cricket board official has warned overseas players joining the breakaway tournaments like the Indian Cricket League - of serious repercussions, raising the question whether they have 'safeguards to protect against match-fixing'.'To have a credible tournament one must not just look at the money but, more importantly, whether the competition is sanctioned, whether it's going to have the - infrastructure, whether it's going to be around for a while, and whether i
-
Posted: January 21st, 2008, 8:00am EST
Sydney, Jan 21 - World cricket's incoming boss has said he hoped Australia would go ahead with their proposed tour to Pakistan in March, but Ricky Ponting's side will not come under pressure from the hosts if the trip is deemed unsafe, thanks to an insurance policy that means they will lose minimal money if the series is cancelled.A report in the Sydney Morning Herald quoted the International Cricket Council - president-elect David Morgan as saying that he has put his faith in the security me
-
Posted: January 21st, 2008, 8:00am EST
Perth, Jan 21 - Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh could not be a part of the winning Indian side that halted Australian's winning streak in the Perth Test but that hasn't doused his spirit.The off-spinner, speaking for the first time since receiving a three-Test ban for a supposed racist remark to Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds at the Sydney Cricket Ground -, insisted that the events of the Sydney Test match helped galvanize the team and India's victory at Perth can be attributed to them,
-
Posted: January 21st, 2008, 8:00am EST
New Delhi, Jan 21 - Oxford University, one of the world's most venerable educational institutions, wants to 'learn' from India's growth story, its Vice Chancellor John A. Hood has said.'Oxford University wants to learn the finer nuances of India's growth, its vibrant economy, the growing innovations and knowledge society,' Hood told IANS in an interview.'We want to learn lessons of India and tell the whole world and our students from across the globe how you guys have made it to the top,' sa
-
Posted: January 21st, 2008, 6:00am EST
Perth, Jan 21 - India's bowling coach Venkatesh Prasad has revealed that Australian fast bowling great Dennis Lillee provided his fast bowlers valuable tips on using the 'Fremantle Doctor' wind in Perth.Lillee's inputs were of great help for India's rookie speedsters in storming through Australia's barricade and mastermind a stunning 72-run win in the third Test here Saturday.As the 'Fremantle Doctor' blew, India's unheralded pace attack got the ball to swing madly at the Western Australia C
-
Posted: January 21st, 2008, 6:00am EST
Auckland, Jan 21 - New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond's desire to play the upcoming home and away series against England despite having signed for the breakaway Indian Cricket league - has brought him in direct confrontation with his country board's and the issue is heading for the courts.According to the Herald on Sunday newspaper: 'Bond and New Zealand Cricket - are one step away from heading to court as a mediator has stepped in to help resolve the fast bowler's dispute with the national b
-
Posted: January 21st, 2008, 6:00am EST
New Delhi, Jan 21 - As the Indian economy continues to surge ahead, Oxford University Vice Chancellor John A. Hood Monday said the institution wants to learn lessons from India's growth for a better world.'Oxford University wants to learn the finer nuances of India's growth, its vibrant economy, the growing innovations and knowledge society,' Hood told IANS.'We want to learn lessons of India and tell the whole world and our students from across the globe how you guys have made it to the top,
-
Posted: January 21st, 2008, 5:00am EST
Adelaide, Jan 21 - The Australians might have missed a rare feat to snatch their 17 straight win in the Test cricket but skipper Ricky Ponting has chosen to take the loss in his stride.In his column in The Australian, Ponting said that the he is proud his team managed to equal their previous record of 16 wins.'To win one Test is hard work, so to play well enough to win 16 in a row without the weather intervening is something quite special,' said Ponting in his column Monday.On his team's lo
-
Posted: January 21st, 2008, 5:00am EST
Perth, Jan 21 - Umpires' job will become easy if cricketers behave well on the field and show controlled aggression, International Cricket Council president-elect David Morgan and India's bowling Venkatesh Prassad have said.'Player behaviour is of utmost importance. I don't believe, to use an English expression, that cricket fields should be as silent as churches and I don't believe that cricketers should behave like church mice,' Morgan was quoted as saying in The Australian newspaper.'But
-
Posted: January 21st, 2008, 5:00am EST
Perth, Jan 21 - Fast bowler Stuart Clark, who tasted his first defeat in his 14-Test career when India beat Australia in the third Test here Saturday, says left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan was the 'real difference' between the two teams.'They bowled very well, they swung the ball better than we did and full credit to them. I think Irfan Pathan was a real handful and probably the real difference in the game,' Clark told The Australian newspaper. Pathan, who was adjudged the Man of the Match for sc
-
Posted: January 21st, 2008, 2:00am EST
Chandigarh, Jan 21 - Be it in government affairs or in ruling Akali Dal politics, Sukhbir Singh Badal's stamp is all too visible in Punjab nowadays and it seems only a matter of time before he ascends to the chair of chief minister, now held by his father.Seen as the political heir to his towering 81-year-old father, Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal, the Akali Dal's top leadership and even alliance partner Bharatiya Janata Party - seem reconciled to the fact that Badal Junior is well on the
-
Posted: January 20th, 2008, 3:00pm EST
Perth, Jan 20 - Ricky Ponting and his players must disregard the notion that in the space of one turbulent fortnight they have become a bunch of likeable losers, says columnist Peter Roebuck, who argues that it was not that Australia lost the Perth Test, India won.'Doubtless, the usual assortment of boneheads will suggest that Australia played a lame game and were therefore consigned to defeat against a more abrasive opponent,' Roebuck said in his Sydney Morning Herald column Sunday.He said
-
Posted: January 20th, 2008, 2:00pm EST
Perth, Jan 20 - Puzzled by the tremendous success of young Indian medium-pacers on the pitch at Perth, former Australian swing king Terry Alderman has demanded an inquisition into why India's fast bowlers could click when their Australian counterparts could not.A report in the Herald Sun said Sunday Australia's top-order was all at sea against a patched-up young Indian attack of R.P. Singh, 22, beanpole teenager Ishant Sharma, 19, and man-of-the-match Irfan Pathan, 23, in a stunning 72-run de
-
Posted: January 20th, 2008, 2:00pm EST
New Delhi, Jan 20 - Widespread resentment swept through cricket fans over Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and in-form V.V.S. Laxman being dropped from India's squad for the triangular one-day series with Australia and Sri Lanka in Australia.While cricket fans were angry at the decision of the national selectors, most former Test stars, some of them former selectors, have welcomed the move to build a team for the future, keeping in view the 2011 World Cup in the subcontinent. The decision to dro
-
Posted: January 20th, 2008, 2:00pm EST
New Delhi, Jan 20 - When visiting British Prime Minister Gordon Brown asked a group of Indian girls their ambitions, he must have been taken aback by the answer of a slight-looking schoolgirl.'Cricket player,' grinned 14-year-old Laxmi Arya, whose aspiration certainly stood out in a crowd of more conventional desires to be a policewoman, engineer or a doctor. For his first engagement on arrival in India Sunday on a two-day whirlwind visit, Brown and his wife, Sarah, came to a gathering of 15
-
Posted: January 20th, 2008, 11:00am EST
Kolkata, Jan 20 - Yesterday they shouted hoarse for India as the Indian cricket team sealed a scintillating victory against bete noire Australia. Today the same people were on the streets against the 'enemy within' - the team selectors who dropped Sourav Ganguly for next month's one-day tri-series in Australia, which also includes Sri Lanka.Despite a fairly successful year to his credit, Sourav, along with team-mate Rahul Dravid, failed to find a place in the team squad as the Board of Contro
-
Posted: January 20th, 2008, 11:00am EST
New Delhi, Jan 20 - Uttar Pradesh batsman Suresh Raina was always hopeful of making a comeback into Team India but for the cricketer the main challenge now is to breaking into the XI for the triangular series in Australia.'I was always hopeful of my comeback as I was scoring runs consistently in the domestic level. And hard work always pays and it did this time also. But the main challenge for me will be to get into the XI,' an ecstatic Raina told IANS Sunday, after he got the news of his sel
-
Posted: January 20th, 2008, 8:00am EST
Mumbai, Jan 20 - The national cricket selectors, with an eye to the 2011 World Cup, Sunday dropped former captains Rahul Dravid and Sourav Ganguly from the 16-member Indian squad for the Commonwealth Bank triangular series next month with Australia and Sri Lanka.The selectors, however, retained Sachin Tendulkar, obviously not wanting to ignore the present for the sake of the distant future, though he, too, may not be around till the next World Cup in the subcontinent. V.V.S. Laxman is anothe
-
Posted: January 20th, 2008, 7:00am EST
Perth, Jan 20 - A former military officer, now a leadership consultant, says the Australian cricketers are not driven by arrogance and that they only have strong views about the way they play the game.Ray McLean, who was summoned by the Australians to help defuse the racism row in the wake of the explosive Sydney Test, oversaw a two-hour meeting during which the players reiterated their commitment to the 2003 spirit-of-cricket pact. Ponting was buffeted by criticism for his handling of the r
-
Posted: January 17th, 2008, 2:00am EST
Perth, Jan 17 - Left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan was back in his rhythm, snaring two batsmen in three balls to have Australia struggling at 22 for three wickets at lunch in their first innings, replying to India's 330, at the third Test here Thursday.Pathan, opening the bowling attack after a long time, swung the ball appreciably to send Australia on the back foot at the Western Australian Cricket Association - ground. While Pathan dismissed Phil Jaques and debutant Chris Rogers in his second ove
-
Posted: January 17th, 2008, 2:00am EST
Perth, Jan 17 - The Australian cricketers are trying hard to adjust to life after the fiery Sydney Test. But is an Australian team without verbal aggression like a dragon that cannot breathe fire?This was a question floating around the Western Australia Cricket Association - Ground Wednesday as a deliberately less hostile Australia did battle with India, who seemed less intimidated by its opponent than it had been in Sydney and Melbourne, the Herald Sun reported Thursday.The on-field chatter
-
Posted: January 17th, 2008, 2:00am EST
Perth, Jan 17 - Left-arm pacer Irfan Pathan swung out two batsmen in three balls to have Australia struggling at 22 for three wickets at lunch in their first innings while replying to India's 330 in the third Test here Thursday.While Pathan dismissed Phil Jaques and debutant Chris Rogers, Rudra Pratap Singh, also a left-arm pacer, dismissed Mike Hussey for nought to reduce the home side to 14 for three. Captain Ricky Ponting - and Michael Clarke - were batting at the lunch break at the Wester
-
Posted: January 17th, 2008, 2:00am EST
Perth, Jan 17 - Following is the scoreboard at the end of India's first innings of the third Test against Australia at the Western Australian Cricket Association ground here Thursday:Third Test, Day 2, India vs. Australia, Western Australian Cricket Association - Ground, PerthIndia -:Wasim Jaffer c Gilchrist b Lee 16 Virender Sehwag c Gilchrist b Johnson 29Rahul Dravid c Ponting b Symonds 93Sachin Tendulkar lbw b Lee 71Sourav Ganguly c Hussey b Johnson 9 V.V.S. Laxman c Tait b Lee 27
-
Posted: January 17th, 2008, 2:00am EST
New Delhi, Jan 17 - Their lives are constricted by the high walls and iron bars, but their dreams soar high. Unfettered by their surroundings, the children in the kindergarten inside the capital's Tihar Jail dream of being doctors, cricketers and policepersons.While their mothers serve jail time for various crimes ranging from murder to petty theft, the tiny kindergarten in Tihar is where 61 children - 26 boys and 35 girls - get their first lessons in life. Learning their ABCs, how to wield a
-
Posted: January 16th, 2008, 12:00pm EST
Dhaka, Jan 16 - The Bangladesh Cricket Board - Wednesday named an under-19 squad for the home series against Nepal and West Indies and also for the World Cup to be held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia next month.Apart from the selected 15, who will attend a training camp starting Thursday, the BCB has also named five stand-by players. The board is yet to name the captain. The Squad: Mohammed Sohrawardi Shuvo, Dollar Mahmud, Mohammed Marshall Ayub, Shubhashis Roy, Mohammed Rubel Hossain, Syed Gulam
-
Posted: January 16th, 2008, 11:00am EST
Perth, Jan 16 - Australian fast bowling spearhead Brett Lee said perseverance helped him to pick up the two crucial Indian wickets of Rahul Dravid and V.V.S. Laxman at the fag end of the opening day in the third Test at the Western Australia Cricket Association - Ground here Wednesday.'If we had them four-down for 300 it might have been a different story, but with those two late wickets, making it six-down, Australia are in a pretty good position,' Lee told reporters here at the end of the da
-
Posted: January 16th, 2008, 11:00am EST
New Delhi, Jan 16 - Rahul Dravid missed his 25th century Wednesday but his workmanlike 93 on the opening day of the third Test against Australia in Perth was reason enough to cheer him as he consolidated his world record of maximum century partnerships.With his 139-run stand for the third wicket with Sachin Tendulkar, Dravid took his century partnerships to 71. This association helped India to 297 for six wickets at stumps. Tendulkar, with 65 partnerships of hundred plus, is now second in th
-
Posted: January 16th, 2008, 11:00am EST
New Delhi, Jan 16 - Sachin Tendulkar Wednesday emerged as the leading run-getter on either side in India's ongoing Test series against Australia with a fine 71 to help his team to 297 for six wickets on the opening day of the third Test here.Tendulkar's knock - at the Western Australian Cricket Association - ground took his tally to 314 runs at 78.50 in five innings. He has now overtaken Australia's Matthew Hayden - and Andrew Symonds -.Tendulkar, 34, established several other milestones bef
-
Posted: January 16th, 2008, 9:00am EST
Perth, Jan 16 - Comeback opening batsman Virender Sehwag, who managed a stroke-filled 29 on the opening day of the third Test against Australia here Wednesday, has not scored a half-century in his last nine Test innings.The 'Delhi Dasher', who is back in the Test side after a year, last scored a half-century in June 2006 and that was 65 against the West Indies at Basseterre.Since then he has scored 0 and 4 in Kingston in June 2006, 4 and 33 at Johannesburg in December 2006, 0 and 8 in Durban
-
Posted: January 16th, 2008, 9:00am EST
New Delhi, Jan 16 - The Supreme Court has decided to hear a petition seeking to bar those who do not know even the ABC of the game from holding positions in the Board of Control for Cricket in India - and also to remove the word 'India' from its title.A bench of Chief Justice K.G. Balakrishnan, Justice R.V. Raveendran and Justice J.M. Panchal Tuesday decided to hear the petition on Jan 28 after the petitioner, Prince Lenin, a Lucknow resident, sought an urgent hearing of the plea filed recent
-
Posted: January 16th, 2008, 8:00am EST
Perth, Jan 16 - The following is the scoreboard at stumps on the opening day of the third Test between India and Australia at the Western Australian Cricket Association - ground here Wednesday:SCOREBOARDThird Test, Day 1, India vs. Australia, Western Australian Cricket Association - Ground, Perth -India -:Wasim Jaffer c Gilchrist b Lee 16 Virender Sehwag c Gilchrist b Johnson 29Rahul Dravid c Ponting b Symonds 93Sachin Tendulkar lbw b Lee 71Sourav Ganguly c Hussey b Johnson 9 V.V.S. L
-
Posted: January 16th, 2008, 6:00am EST
Perth, Jan 16 - Sachin Tendulkar and Rahul Dravid smashed half-centuries as India overcame first-session blues to score 177 for two wickets by the tea interval on the opening day of the third Test against Australia here Wednesday.Tendulkar was batting on 59 and Dravid was on 52 as India made light of the loss of Virender Sehwag - and Wasim Jaffer - in the morning session after captain Anil Kumble had won the toss at the Western Australian Cricket Association -.It was the first time in the se
-
Posted: January 16th, 2008, 4:00am EST
Perth, Jan 16 - Australian tourism operators have warned that the country's share of the increasingly lucrative Indian tourist market will drop after the recent Test cricket fracas.The warning has prompted the Queensland government to direct a trade mission to India to try to smooth ruffled feathers. Travel Impact, a Bangkok-based travel news service, says the row between the Indian and Australian teams will deter Indians from visiting Australia. 'That many among the Indian travelling publi
-
Posted: January 16th, 2008, 4:00am EST
Melbourne, Jan 16 - If India's cricketers have gone through a terrible week in Australia, the country's tennis star Sania Mirza has been going through hell, facing threats of a three-year jail term for an alleged insult to the national flag, Australian media has reported.Asked about the eight-day sporting 'war' between India and Australia resulting from the second Test in Sydney, the 21-year-old exciting Indian icon said recent legal threats have led her to consider if quitting tennis was a g
-
Posted: January 14th, 2008, 10:00am EST
Mumbai, Jan 14 - World Sport Group - and Sony MAX have bagged the global audio-visual rights of the Indian Premier League - for 10 years for $1.026 billion, the Indian cricket board announced here Monday.Making the announcement, IPL chairman and commissioner as well as vice-president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India - Lalit Modi said WSG-Sony outbid Network Solutions Pvt. Ltd., a consortium led by NDTV and ESPN-Star Sports. 'We are absolutely delighted that, after an open and tra
-
Posted: January 14th, 2008, 10:00am EST
Melbourne, Jan 14 - The Indian and Australian cricket teams may be engaged in a war of words, but on the tennis court Leander Paes is hoping to strike a successful partnership with Australia's Paul Hanley at the Australian Open.Meanwhile, Sania Mirza will also be partnering an Australia, Alicia Molik, in women's doubles. In mixed doubles, Mahesh Bhupathi will play with Sania.While fifth seed Indo-Aussie pair of Paes and Hanley will be starting their campaign against Luis Horna of Peru and St
-
Posted: January 14th, 2008, 10:00am EST
New Delhi, Jan 14 - Delhi all-rounder Virat Kohli will lead India in the under-19 World Cup in Malaysia, starting Feb 17, it was announced by the Indian cricket board here Wednesday.The team coached by Australian Dave Whatmore will undergo training at a preparatory camp in Bangalore from Feb 1-8.Ravindra Jadeja, whose all-round skills recently helped Saurashtra qualify for the Super League semi-finals for the first time ever, will be the vice-captain. India, finalists in the last edition in
-
Posted: January 14th, 2008, 9:00am EST
Perth, Jan 14 - In an attempt to clear the muddied atmosphere following slanging matches and acrimony, the Indian cricket team dropped charges of abuse against Australian spinner Brad Hogg here Monday.In a meeting attended by both captains and convened by International Cricket Council's - chief match referee Ranjan Madugalle, India skipper Anil Kumble handed over a letter to Madugalle, rescinding all charges against Hogg. The decision to withdraw the charges was reported by IANS Sunday.Hogg
-
Posted: January 14th, 2008, 8:00am EST
New Delhi, Jan 14 - India have a poor track record at the fast Western Australian Cricket Association - ground at Perth-- venue of the third Test against Australia starting Wednesday.India have lost both Test matches they have played in Perth in the past. India lost to Australia by two wickets in the 1977-78 tour and by 300 runs in the 1991-92 tour. Overall, Australia have won 20 of the 34 Tests played at WACA ground. The home side has lost seven and seven others have drawn. Interestingly, f
-
Posted: January 14th, 2008, 7:00am EST
New Delhi, Jan 14 - Uttar Pradesh cricket captain Mohammed Kaif wants his team to achieve the same level of consistency and stature as 37-time national champions Mumbai.Kaif, who is in Mumbai to play the Ranji Trophy final against Delhi, starting Wednesday, told IANS over phone that with all its traditional cricket centres, Uttar Pradesh has enormous potential to become one of the best teams in the country.'My goal is to see Uttar Pradesh acquire the reputation of being the best team in the
-
Posted: January 14th, 2008, 7:00am EST
New Delhi, Jan 14 - Uttar Pradesh captain Mohammed Kaif said Monday that his team, just one match away from winning the Ranji Trophy for the second time in three years, is aiming for a 'strong finish' in the national championship.Kaif, who captained the side when Uttar Pradesh won their historic maiden crown in 2005-06, said his team is confident of beating Delhi in the final, starting Wednesday in Mumbai, but would do nothing unusual to try and win their second title in the 74-year history o
-
Posted: January 14th, 2008, 6:00am EST
New Delhi, Jan 14 - Sony television Monday bagged the rights of the Indian cricket board's Indian Premier League - at a cost of $1 billion for 10 years. The first edition will be held in April.As part of the package, Sony will pay the Board of Control for Cricket in India $908 million for the telecast rights and $108 million for promotion of the tournament comprising Twenty20 matches.
-
Posted: January 14th, 2008, 3:00am EST
Melbourne, Jan 14 - Former Australian tennis star Pat Cash says sledging only makes a contest an even tougher mental battle.The 1987 Wimbledon champion endorsed sledging by lashing out at fellow Sport Australia Hall of Fame members John Bertrand, Herb Elliott and Robert de Castella over attempts to stop Australia's cricketers from sledging opponents.Cash said he was appalled to receive a letter from Bertrand - endorsed by Elliott and de Castella - 'assuming they could rely on my support in t
-
Posted: January 14th, 2008, 3:00am EST
Dubai, Jan 14 - West Indies all rounder Marlon Samuels has been reported for illegal bowling action during the third Test match against South Africa.The International Cricket Council - confirmed that on-field umpires Simon Taufel and Aleem Dar and third umpire Brian Jerling reported Samuels for a suspected illegal bowling action on one particular delivery during the third Test match in Durban, Sunday.ICC chief match referee Roshan Mahanama has informed both the world body and the West Indies
-
Posted: January 14th, 2008, 3:00am EST
Sydney, Jan 14 - The International Cricket Council concedes it has placed added pressure on replacement umpire Billy Bowden, but insists it had no choice but to stand down Steve Bucknor after his lamentable performance in the second Test against India in Sydney, the Australian media has reported.Dave Richardson, the ICC's general manager -, said the decision to remove Bucknor from the Perth Test was not tantamount to the council caving in to the demands of the powerful Board of Control for Cr
-
Posted: January 14th, 2008, 3:00am EST
Perth, Jan 14 - Stung by the widespread criticism of their on-field behaviour, the Australian cricket team Sunday night sought the help of leadership guru Ray McLean in a bid to salvage their battered image.At the end of it, they have reinforced their pledge to play the game in the right spirit.Australia captain Ricky Ponting and his men first a two-hour meeting before Sunday morning training at the Western Australia Cricket Association - Ground here, but waited until later to discuss the fa
-
Posted: January 14th, 2008, 3:00am EST
Perth, Jan 14 - In a move that could go a long way in healing the rift between the Australian and Indian cricket teams, Michael Clarke has apologised to skipper Anil Kumble for not leaving the crease after being caught at slip in the second Test in Sydney, the Australian media has reported.Clarke telephoned Kumble to say he was sorry and deeply regretted not walking after clearly slicing a ball to first slip in Australia's second innings.But Clarke stuck to his guns on another controversial
-
Posted: January 14th, 2008, 3:00am EST
Sydney, Jan 14 - Pacer Sreesanth, under instructions from the Indian cricket board, has declined to say anything on the conflict between his teammate Harbhajan Singh and Australia all-rounder Andrew Symonds, but has vowed to renew his onfield battle with the Queenslander during the upcoming One-Day Internationals - tri-series.Symonds' old sparring partner Sreesanth declared his availability for the one-day series and said he was looking forward to renewing his duel with the Australians.Symon
-
Posted: January 13th, 2008, 3:00pm EST
Mumbai, Jan 13 - Over 200 political activists protested author Salman Rushdie's stay in Mumbai and burnt his effigy Sunday evening, demanding that he should be asked to leave the city.The activists, led by Farooq Ghosi, the president of the Mumbai unit of the Samajwadi Party, also raised slogans against the Maharashtra and central governments for permitting Rushdie to visit India.'It was due to Rushdie's blasphemous writings that 12 innocent youth lost their lives when the police fired on a
-
Posted: January 12th, 2008, 12:00pm EST
New Delhi, Jan 12 - The Indian cricket team should have been recalled from Australia after the controversy over racist abuse, Railway Minister Lalu Prasad said Saturday, targeting his cabinet colleague, Agriculture Minister and Board of Control for Cricket in India - president Sharad Pawar.'If I had been there I would have recalled each and every Indian player from Australia. This is a game in which the player should be able to play freely and not be subjected to abuse and humiliation,' Lalu
-
Posted: January 12th, 2008, 12:00pm EST
Islamabad, Jan 12 - A 23-member Zimbabwe cricket squad led by spinner Proper Utseya arrived in Karachi Saturday on a three-week trip during which they will play five One-Day International - matches.Pakistan Cricket Board - Director - Zakir Khan and other officials received the team at Karachi airport.From the Quaid-e-Azam International Airport, the cricketers were driven to their hotel with a very heavy security escort. The PCB officials said that all the matches would be held under high se
-
Posted: January 12th, 2008, 12:00pm EST
New Delhi, Jan 12 - Delhi bowling coach Manoj Prabhakar said Saturday that his team has an even chance of beating an in-form Uttar Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy final, starting in Mumbai Wednesday.Prabhakar, a former India all-rounder, told IANS here that Uttar Pradesh is not a team to be taken lightly and they can't be given a free hand to run away with the match. 'Uttar Pradesh must realise that they would be as much under pressure as Delhi would be,' said Prabhakar who joined the Delhi squa
-
Posted: January 12th, 2008, 12:00pm EST
Sydney, Jan 12 - Bastard, the term for which Brad Hogg will face a hearing in Perth, was not among the words listed by the teams as racially offensive before the Australia-India series.Under the International Cricket Council's - anti-racism code, the touring team is asked to advise the match referee, in this case Mike Procter, of terms regarded as offensive in its culture, so that ground managers can also be advised of what words should be prohibited among spectators.Hogg was reported by Ind
-
Posted: January 12th, 2008, 9:00am EST
Durban, Jan 12 - Former South African captain Shaun Pollock will honour his commitments with the Indian Professional League - Twenty20 League despite his retirement from international cricket.Pollock said he has also had offers from English county sides, but has not yet made any decision about this. He also refused to comment on speculation that he would take up coaching positions.Pollock had replaced the disgraced and late captain Hansie Cronje in the wake of the 2000 match-fixing debacle t
-
Posted: January 12th, 2008, 6:00am EST
New Delhi, Jan 12 - In-form opener Gautam Gambhir, unlucky to miss out on the ongoing Test series in Australia due to a shoulder injury, is hoping to make up in the upcoming one-day triangular series Down Under.For the present, Gambhir has his eyes trained on the Ranji Trophy final. Before the Indian team for the triangular series is announced Gambhir will lead Delhi in the Ranji final against Uttar Pradesh in Mumbai from Wednesday. 'That's my immediate goal - I am going in with just one goa
-
Posted: January 12th, 2008, 6:00am EST
Melbourne, Jan 12 - Thursday's bomb attack in Lahore have increased doubts over Australia's tour of Pakistan as Cricket Australia - executives met foreign affairs officials in Canberra.However, Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson, former Australian fast bowler, who is in Karachi, reaffirmed his sense of safety in the strife-torn country.Australian cricketers are scheduled to arrive in Pakistan in March. A suicide bomber triggered an explosion outside Lahore High Court, killing at least 22 people an
-
Posted: January 12th, 2008, 6:00am EST
Sydney, Jan 12 - Former captain of English county Somerset and eminent cricket writer Peter Roebuck came in for some flak from readers of his syndicated column for being lenient with Indian player Harbhajan Singh. They felt the off-spinner's behaviour also must come under scrutiny.Roebuck, who is now an Australian resident, in his latest column Saturday accepted that the readers' point is valid.He now says the main objection to Harbhajan concerns not his loose mouth but his insulting behavio
-
Posted: January 12th, 2008, 6:00am EST
Sydney, Jan 12 - It now transpires that Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh may have used a colloquial Punjabi curse that sounds suspiciously like 'monkey' during his spat with Andrew Symonds, making the Australian cricketer misinterpret it as a racial abuse.The tourists may argue at Harbhajan's appeal hearing that what he said cannot be termed a racial slur but was a commonly mouthed abuse, used more in reflex in Punjab and northern India. While this defence may land him in hot water for bein
-
Posted: January 12th, 2008, 3:00am EST
Sydney, Jan 12 - Australian captain Ricky Ponting believes the umpires on the Elite Panel of the International Cricket Council - are overworked, resulting in their making mistakes.Ponting has called for an overhaul of the ICC umpiring panel by expanding it, to avoid the mistakes that blighted the second Test in Sydney, reports Herald Sun.He wants the 10-member Test umpiring panel enlarged amid fears that some umpires are making errors because of exhaustion.After the first Test at the Melbou
-
Posted: January 11th, 2008, 1:00pm EST
Pune, Jan 11 - 'A cinema should be in its original form, as it was intended to be - this means imposing minimum and only necessary censors,' said Sharmila Tagore, chairperson of the Central Board of Film Certification -, Friday.She was in town to receive the lifetime achievement award at sixth Pune International Film Festival -.Indicating that she ensures free choice to her children, Tagore told presspersons that she never imposes herself on children Saif and Soha Ali Khan. 'I allow them to
-
Posted: January 11th, 2008, 1:00pm EST
London, Jan 11 - Indian cricket captain Anil Kumble has warned that he may tear up his agreement with Australian skipper Ricky Ponting if the rival team continues to dishonour it at the Perth Test.In an article published in The Times Friday, Kumble also accused Ponting of treating racism 'lightly' in making controversial charges against Harbhajan Singh.Kumble said in the second innings of the Sydney Test, Australian batsman Michael Clarke had clearly edged the ball to the slips but 'stood th
-
Posted: January 11th, 2008, 10:00am EST
New Delhi, Jan 11 - Delhi captain Gautam Gambhir, setting aside the disappointment of not being in Australia, wants to channelise all his energies to win the Ranji Trophy cricket tournament.'If Delhi win, it would be a dream-come-true,' said Gambhir.'There is only one thing in my mind and that is to win the Ranji Trophy. It's now or never, that's how I look at it,' Gambhir told IANS Friday.Delhi meet Uttar Pradesh in the Ranji Trophy final from Jan 16 at the Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.'Every
-
Posted: January 11th, 2008, 8:00am EST
Sydney, Jan 11 - Thursday's suicide bomb blast outside the Lahore High Court, which claimed 25 lives, has cast another shadow on Australia's cricket tour to Pakistan, scheduled in March.The series was already under threat following the assassination of former Pakistan prime minister Banazir Bhutto last month during an election rally at Rawalpindi. After the assassination, several Australian cricketers expressed fears about their security.According to a report in the Sydney Morning Herald, Cr
-
Posted: January 11th, 2008, 8:00am EST
Kolkata, Jan 11 - Sharad Pawar, President of the Board of Control for Cricket in India - Friday came out in support of Harbhajan Singh, stating that the player could not have made any racist comment to his Aussie counterpart Andrew Symonds.Pawar, who is here in his capacity as agriculture minister, said: 'I am confident that Harbhajan has not made any such comment to Symonds. I checked with Sachin Tendulkar, Anil Kumble and other senior players and they are all standing firmly behind Harbhaja
-
Posted: January 11th, 2008, 6:00am EST
Canberra, Jan 11 - Former India cricket captain Sourav Ganguly said Friday that umpire Merk Benson could have consulted square leg umpire Steve Bucknor before adjudicating him out on the controversial catch taken by Michael Clarke during the second innings in the Sydney Test.'I thought he - could have done a better job if he had consulted Bucknor. The moment I nicked it I turned back and saw it didn't carry. But that's the way it is. It was agreed to stick by the captain's word and we have to
-
Posted: January 11th, 2008, 3:00am EST
Sydney, Jan 11 - International Cricket Council's peacemaker, chief match referee Ranjan Madugalle, is confident he can restore order to the Australia-India Test series, the Australian media reported here Friday.'They - are two captains with a great amount of experience, and they would know that the game is bigger than everything,' Madugalle was quoted as saying by the Sydney Morning Herald.Madugalle said that both Ponting and Kumble are reasonable men, well capable of reaching an amicable ar
-
Posted: January 11th, 2008, 3:00am EST
Port of Spain, Jan 11 - After cricket, philanthropy is his second love. World's cricket icon Brian Lara has announced a plan to pay for the treatment of one cancer patient every year at the Brian Lara Cancer Treatment Centre here.Lara made the announcement at the launch of the Cancer Treatment Foundation - at the Queen's Park Cricket Club Tuesday.The cancer treatment centre named after him is the first of its kind in the Commonwealth Caribbean and was opened in May 2007. It treats all forms
-
Posted: January 11th, 2008, 3:00am EST
Sydney, Jan 11 - At a time when the Australian cricket team is under fierce criticism from all quarters for their unsporting behaviour in the Sydney Test against India, Australian Cricketers' Association - chief executive Paul Marsh came out in support of the beleaguered team saying that the accusations are hardly in line with the cricketer's charitable behaviour off the field.'Much has been said and written about the Australian cricket team this week. As the representative body of past and c
-
Posted: January 10th, 2008, 11:00am EST
New Delhi, Jan 10 - Delhi bowling coach Manoj Prabhakar said here Thursday that if the batsmen put up a big total in the Ranji Trophy cricket final against Uttar Pradesh, beginning Jan 16 in Mumbai, the team would get a big advantage despite playing at a neutral territory.'We will need a huge total from the batsmen. If they are able to score big runs, my bowlers will take care of the rival batsmen,' Prabhakar told IANS after the team's first practice session at the Ferozeshah Kotla.Prabhakar
-
Posted: January 10th, 2008, 11:00am EST
Harare, Jan 10 - The Zimbabwe cricket tour to Pakistan has been cut short so that it does not coincide with the re-scheduled elections in the volatile South Asian country, local media said on Wednesday.Zimbabwe, who are expected to arrive in Pakistan Feb 12, will now play just one four-day game before engaging Pakistan in five one-day internationals, The Herald said.The authorities have also scrapped matches set in Hyderabad and shifted them to Karachi. Zimbabwe Cricket media and communicati
-
Posted: January 10th, 2008, 9:00am EST
New Delhi, Jan 10 - Former India all-rounder Gyanendra Pandey, now Uttar Pradesh coach, is just one match away from joining a unique club of cricketers who have been part of the Ranji Trophy winning team both as a player and coach.If the Mohammed Kaif-led Uttar Pradesh beat Delhi in the final, starting in Mumbai Jan 16, Pandey will join the select group that includes legendary spinner Bishan Singh Bedi -, Chandrakant Pandit - and Karsan Ghavri -.'It will indeed be a big and rare honour for m
-
Posted: January 10th, 2008, 8:00am EST
Melbourne Jan 10 - The Australian cricketers, in a bid to improve their on-field behaviour, will watch the video of the controversial Sydney Test against India and make sure that they don't repeat their 'arrogant' attitude.'We'll look at some of the footage, its perception and the way people see things when they're off the field. I might be talking to opposition players on the field but it might be construed by people watching on television that you're in a slanging or sledging match when tha
-
Posted: January 10th, 2008, 7:00am EST
Patna, Jan 10 - With the men in blue battling Australia, Bihar's prison department has decided to keep inmates of its overcrowded jails in good humour by introducing cricket matches.Faced with increasing trouble, violence and protests by prisoners, officials feel that introducing the country's most popular game in jails would certainly cool tempers. 'We strongly feel cricket matches in jails will help reduce tension,' Inspector General - Sandip Paundrik told IANS.The innovative idea was moo
-
Posted: January 9th, 2008, 1:00pm EST
Dubai, Jan 9 - International Cricket Council - president Ray Mali said Wednesday that removing umpire Steve Bucknor from the third India-Australia Test was a 'practical solution' that averted a political, diplomatic row between the countries.Mali also stressed that Bucknor's removal, owing to India's strong protest over the mistakes he made during the second Test in Sydney last week, was not linked to Harbhajan Singh's racial comments issue that led to him being banned for three Tests. He sa
-
Posted: January 9th, 2008, 12:00pm EST
New Delhi, Jan 9 - The controversy in the second cricket Test between India and Australia at Sydney will affect people-to-people ties, said Australia's envoy to India John McCarthy.'Government-to-government - it does not matter, but it certainly affects people-to-people ties,' McCarthy told IANS here.He said there was limited role for the governments in such a scenario but they had done some quiet talking behind the scenes. 'We talked to the cricket authorities and asked them - resolve the i
-
Posted: January 9th, 2008, 12:00pm EST
Sydney, Jan 9 - Former Australian coach John Buchanan asked whether 'monkey', the term allegedly used by Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh to address Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds, is racist.'When I was growing up as a young fella, 'you little monkey' was a common colloquial reference for all children due to our ability to be a bit cheeky at times,' Buchanan wrote in his column on the Australian Broadcasting Corporation - website Wednesday.'Now, it is a racist term. How the world ch
-
Posted: January 9th, 2008, 11:00am EST
London, Jan 9 - Former International Cricket Council elite empire David Shepherd says the only way to avoid mistakes like the ones made by Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson in the India-Australia second Test in Sydney is to use more and more technology.'Technology has got to be used more. Cricket will lose something of its spirit as more decisions are referred, but ultimately it is a game for players, not for umpires, and something has to be done,' Shepherd, who officiated in 92 Tests and 172 One
-
Posted: January 9th, 2008, 11:00am EST
Canberra, Jan 9 - Anil Kumble has said that he would want to review the captains' agreement on low catches. The Indian skipper, while talking to the media Wednesday in the Australian Capital, said he would bring it up in a discussion once the team reached Perth.'It was not that the spirit of the game was attacked but the focus has been to ensure that better spirit prevails in the game. We - are all equal partners to ensuring that cricket is played in the right spirit and, I'm sure moving forw
-
Posted: January 9th, 2008, 11:00am EST
Sydney, Jan 9 - Former Australian fast bowler and current Pakistan coach Geoff Lawson has slammed the on-field behaviour of the Australian players, saying they are disrespecting the baggy green with their arrogance.Lawson is quoted in the Herald Sun as saying that the Australians did not play within the spirit of the game in their 122-run second Test win over India at the Sydney Cricket Ground last week.Lawson made his comments hours after International Cricket Council - chief executive Malc
-
Posted: January 9th, 2008, 10:00am EST
Dubai, Jan 9 - New Zealand High Court Judge John Hansen has been appointed as the commissioner in Indian off-spinner Harbhajan Singh's Code of Conduct appeal hearing, it was announced by the International Cricket Council - here Wednesday.Harbhajan and the Board of Control for Cricket in India have appealed against the three-Test ban imposed on the player after he was found guilty of making a racist remark against Australia all-rounder Andrew Symonds during the second Test at Sydney.Hansen wa
-
Posted: January 9th, 2008, 10:00am EST
Canberra, Jan 9 - As the focus slowly but surely shifts away from controversies to matters cricketing, India captain Anil Kumble hinted that the practice match against the Australian Capital Territory - team would be crucial in selecting the team for the third Test in Perth, starting Jan 16.'The focus for us is to the get the best possible exposure out of this game. Some of the guys haven't had a hit in the middle so it is important to get the best out of this game,' said Kumble.While expres
-
Posted: January 9th, 2008, 10:00am EST
Canberra, Jan 9 - India captain Anil Kumble revealed Wednesday that Australian counterpart Ricky Ponting turned down his request not to press charges of alleged racism against off-spinner Harbhajan Singh.'I did make a request actually when that incident happened on that particular day,' said Kumble after landing here for the two-day practice match starting Thursday.'His response was it had already been reported. Having played cricket for this long, I knew such an allegation would definitely
-
Posted: January 9th, 2008, 9:00am EST
Sydney, Jan 9 - The Indian cricket team may lose public sympathy by holding the tour to ransom in its bid to clear off-spinner Harbhajan Singh of racism charges and get rid of umpire Steve Bucknor, says eminent cricket writer Peter Roebuck.'By no means can the Indians escape censure for the unpleasantness that took place in cricket's dark hour at the Sydney Cricket Ground -. By sulking in hotel rooms the tourists stand in danger of losing public sympathy. Of course vociferous fanatics will re
-
Posted: January 9th, 2008, 9:00am EST
New Delhi, Jan 8 - The Indian team's controversy-ridden Australia tour will continue conditionally even as the cricket board Tuesday threw its weight behind Harbhajan Singh on the issue of racial charge made against him by an Australian player.At an emergency meeting of the Board's working committee here, the committee members gave full authority to Board president Sharad Pawar to get the off-spinner 'cleared of the obnoxious and baseless accusation' by Andrew Symonds during the second Test i
-
Posted: January 9th, 2008, 9:00am EST
Durban, Jan 9 - The International Cricket Council's - decision to replace umpire Steve Bucknor for the third Test between India and Australia is 'a big mess' that world cricket could not afford, according to former West Indian great Clive Lloyd.'I find it strange that - now makes a sudden change, as it creates a dangerous precedent,' the South Africa media Wednesday quoted Lloyd as saying. He also wanted to know if Billy Bowden, who replaces Bucknor, would also be replaced if he made mistakes
-
Posted: January 9th, 2008, 9:00am EST
Sydney, Jan 9 - Former Australian umpire Darrel Hair, who has seen more than his share of controversies, came out in support of Steve Bucknor and said the International Cricket Council - should embrace an umpiring referral system to relieve pressure on the game's decision-makers, the Australian media reported.'I feel for Steve ... it's probably best for him to stand down and relieve the pressure a little bit,' Hair was quoted as saying by The Age.Hair has been in a similar situation in which
-
Posted: January 9th, 2008, 9:00am EST
Perth, Jan 9 - Officials at Perth's Western Australia Cricket Association - Ground have heaved a sigh of relief with Indian cricket board's decision to go ahead with the tour.Perth is the venue for the third Test between India and Australia, starting Jan 16, but the WACA officials said they are not considering employing extra security for the match despite tensions surrounding the tour and a history of racial abuse from spectators at the venue.The series has already been marred by Indian off
-
Posted: January 8th, 2008, 3:00pm EST
New Delhi, Jan 8 - The Indian cricket board's working committee Tuesday authorised its president Sharad Pawar to take all possible steps to get Harbhajan Singh cleared of the charge of racial abuse even as it decided the Indian squad will continue the Australia tour 'for the present'.
-
Posted: January 8th, 2008, 4:00am EST
London, Jan 8 - A cricket crime fighter and a horse racing investigator will headline the attempt of the Association of Tennis Professional - to clear tennis of illegal betting, the men's sanctioning body confirmed Tuesday.The pair, both former London policemen, will work with governing bodies of the game including the International Tennis Federation as the sport tries to clean up any lingering odour of illegal betting or match fixing by players or outsiders.'Integrity of competition is the
-
Posted: January 8th, 2008, 4:00am EST
Melbourne, Jan 8 - Team India heaved a sigh of relief as controversial West Indies umpire Steve Bucknor will not be officiating while Harbhajan Singh can play in the third Test against Australia in Perth starting Jan 16, the top International Cricket Council - official announced here Tuesday.In a hurriedly convened press conference at the Melbourne Cricket Ground -, ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed said that Billy Bowden of New Zealand would replace West Indies' Bucknor, an Elite Panel umpir
-
Posted: January 8th, 2008, 3:00am EST
Sydney, Jan 8 - Australia's bratty world-champion cricket team is learning that winning is not everything.After not giving visitors India a sporting chance of evening the score after two games and allowing the four-match series to continue in a competitive manner, the team has fallen foul of its own fans. Many sympathise with the Indians in suspending further play until an appeal is heard against a three-match ban the International Cricket Council - imposed on Harbhajan Singh for allegedly s
-
Posted: January 7th, 2008, 2:00pm EST
Sydney/New Delhi, Jan 7 - Battle lines were drawn Monday as India sought the axing of the three-Test ban slapped on off spinner Harbhajan Singh after his alleged racist abuse against Australian Andrew Symonds and asked the Indians not to leave Sydney for Canberra for the next match.The Indian cricket board also lodged a complaint that Australian spinner Brad Hogg had used abusive language against Indian captain Anil Kumble. Simultaneously, it demanded that umpires Steve Bucknor and Mark Benso
-
Posted: January 7th, 2008, 2:00pm EST
New Delhi, Jan 7 - Sachin Tendulkar, the lone witness to the Harbhajan Singh-Andrew Symonds confrontation during the second Test against Australia in Sydney, has thrown his weight behind the off-spinner.In an SMS to Sharad Pawar, president of the Board of Control for Cricket India -, Tendulkar, who was batting along with Harbhajan when the incident happened, informed him that his colleague was clean.'Harbhajan is innocent and I can assure you on this. In this hour of crisis, the board should
-
Posted: January 7th, 2008, 2:00pm EST
Kolkata, Jan 7 - When the infamous Mike Denness controvery erupted during an India-South Africa Test in Port Elizabeth in 2001, the Dalmiya-Ganguly combine did all the talking with the International Cricket Council -, recalled former stumper Deep Dasgupta, one of the six played banned for various reasons.'The BCCI - backed us wholeheartedly. They asked us to focus on the match and leave everything else to them,' Dasgupta told IANS here. 'The team management had told us that Dalmiya had calle
-
Posted: January 7th, 2008, 2:00pm EST
New Delhi, Jan 7 - Following is the text of the statement issued by the Board of Control for Cricket in India - Monday after its emergency meeting discussed the three-Test ban on Harbhajan Singh on charges of racial abuse:The BCCI has viewed the happenings during the second cricket Test between India and Australia in Sydney with great concern as some of these can have a far-reaching impact on international cricket. Some of incidents are highly regrettable considering the warm and friendly re
-
Posted: January 7th, 2008, 2:00pm EST
Sydney, Jan 7 - Former Somerset captain Peter Roebuck Monday called for sacking Australia captain Ricky Ponting in the aftermath of the umpiring and racial issues that tainted the home side's win in the second Test here Sunday.'Ricky Ponting must be sacked as captain of the Australian cricket team,' said renowned cricket writer Roebuck in the Sydney Morning Herald. 'If Cricket Australia - cares a fig for the tattered reputation of our national team in our national sport, it will not for a mo
-
Posted: January 7th, 2008, 2:00pm EST
Dubai, Jan 7 - Despite India losing the second Test to Australia in Sydney Sunday, Sachin Tendulkar climbed up to the 13th position in the International Cricket Council - rankings for batsmen but captain Anil Kumble slipped two places.Tendulkar, the best placed Indian, has 702 rating points while Australian Mike Hussey became the 24th batsman in history to reach 900 points the rankings. Hussey is placed fourth with exactly 90.India's V.V.S. Laxman gained three places in the batting rankings
-
Posted: January 7th, 2008, 12:00pm EST
Kolkata, Jan 7 - Harbhajan Singh Monday received backing from his former India teammate Deep Dasgupta on the racial slur issue. The Delhi-born Bengal wicketkeeper said the Indian cricket board should put its foot down like it did in 2001 in the face of a somewhat similar controversy.Dasgupta, who is now a member of the rebel Indian Cricket League, said that on the tour of South Africa in 2001, the Jagmohan Dalmiya-headed Indian Board had firmly backed the national team after six players, incl
-
Posted: January 7th, 2008, 12:00pm EST
London, Jan 7 - Calling the standoff between Australian and Indian teams the biggest crisis to hit the cricketing world in 75 years, British cricket writers Monday slammed the Australian team over the way it played and won the second Test against India.Most papers backed Indian manager Chetan Chauhan's view that Australia would not have won the second Test but for incompetent umpiring.'The Australians have come out of the second Test not only with a 16th successive victory that they did not
-
Posted: January 7th, 2008, 11:00am EST
Sydney, Jan 7 - Australian all-rounder Andrew Symonds has been gagged by Cricket Australia - and International Cricket Council - from commenting in his weekly column in a leading daily on his alleged racial row with Harbhajan Singh which resulted in the Indian off-spinner being banned for three Tests.Explaining reasons for not carrying the column, The Sunday Telegraph said 'Symonds was gagged by Cricket Australia and threatened with censure by the ICC.'The newspaper was not granted access to
-
Posted: January 7th, 2008, 10:00am EST
New Delhi, Jan 7 - The Indian media Monday blasted umpires Steve Bucknor and Mark Benson and the Australians for what they felt were inefficient umpiring and lack of sportsmanship during the second Test in Sydney.India lost the second Test by 122 runs Sunday, and the International Cricket Council's match referee Mike Proctor found Harbhajan Singh guilty of hurling racial abuse at Andrew Symonds and handed him a three-match ban.'Team India c Benson b Bucknor,' screamed the Indian Express bann
-
Posted: January 7th, 2008, 10:00am EST
Sydney, Jan 7 - The Indian cricket team stayed put in Sydney and delayed its departure to Canberra in order to complete the paperwork regarding the appeal against the ban imposed on Harbhajan Singh.The Indians also filed a complaint against Brad Hogg, who is alleged to have abused Indian captain Anil Kumble during the second Test at the Sydney Cricket Ground.Indian cricket board vice president Rajiv Shukla confirmed that the Indians had lodged a complaint with the International Cricket Counc
-
Posted: January 7th, 2008, 10:00am EST
Johannesburg, Jan 7 - Veteran South African cricketer Daryll Cullinan has cried foul after being removed from his position as a commentator for the satellite television service SuperSport because of his involvement with the breakaway Indian Cricket League -.Cricket South Africa - withdrew Cullinan's accreditation after he was appointed coach of ICL team Kolkota Tigers.This resulted in Cullinan being unable to commentate on the two Tests so far in which home side South Africa have taken on We
