pawar says ICC to take stern action against guilty players

pawar says ICC to take stern action against guilty players

The ICC on Thursday made it clear that it would not tolerate corruption in cricket and warned of stern action against players found guilty in the spot-fixing scandal which has rocked world cricket.

"Till Scotland Yard probe is not over how can we comment on that? But if anything established we will take strong stand. Without information we should not jump into any conclusion," Pawar told reporters after a meeting with PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt at his residence.

"Prima facie there are some allegations and we have suspended the players on the basis of that. Scotland Yard has permitted them to go back to Pakistan and PCB has also promised to make them available to the investigators if required. Nobody is playing hide and seek.

"A major investigation agency is carrying out the probe and that will not take long. PCB or ICC will not interfere in the process," he added.

"PCB is not a separate entity, it is also a part of the ICC. ICC takes collective decision and we will not tolerate any nonsense or corruption. All the boards are supporting us in preserving the sanctity of the game," Pawar said.

"We are not offended for the decision. ICC asked them to individually answer and all of them have done so. If anyone is found guilty, we will not show any tolerance. ICC Code of Conduct is very clear regarding this matter," he said.

"We have talked about the three players, the Scotland Yard is investigating the matter. Till investigation is complete, neither we are commenting nor the ICC is commenting," Butt added.

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Flintoff retires from all cricket

Flintoff retires from all cricket

Andrew Flintoff announced on Thursday his retirement from all cricket in a statement released by the player's management company.read from andrew flintoff profile.

"It is with both disappointment and sadness that I am today (Thursday) announcing my retirement from all forms of cricket," Flintoff said in a statement released by International Sports Management.

"The decision to end my career came yesterday (Wednesday) after consultation with medical advisers," added the 32-year-old, who quit the Test format after helping England regain the Ashes last year.

"Having been told that my body would no longer stand up to the rigours of cricket, I had no alternative but to retire."

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Sania-Edina in doubles QF at Guangzhou WTA event

Sania-Edina in doubles QF at Guangzhou WTA event

Continuing her good run at the Guangzhou International Women's Open, Sania Mirza sealed a berth in the doubles quarter-finals along with Edina Gallovits, following a straight-set win over Sally Pears and Jermila Groth here.

The unseeded Indo-Romanian pair beat the Australian combination 6-4 6-3 in the first round of the USD hard court event. A numerous breaks were traded in the one-hour match but Sania and Edian came out triumphant after breaking their rivals thrice each in both the sets.

They will next take on fourth seeded pair of British Anna Smith of and Chinese Zi Yan. Sania has already made the singles quarter-finals where she will meet local favourite Shuai Zhang.

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ICC proposes radical changes to 50-over, T20 formats

ICC proposes radical changes to 50-over, T20 formats

An International Cricket Council (ICC) committee has recommended a cut in the number of teams in the 50-over World Cup from 14 to 10.

According to the Age, the recommendation is an admission that the 2011 World Cup format has too many uncompetitive matches in the opening rounds. The committee said that it wants cricket’s “minnows” to compete against established teams in Twenty20 instead of one-day cricket.

It has also recommended that the next Twenty20 World Cup, scheduled for 2012, should be expanded to include 16 nations. On current rankings, nations including Canada, Ireland, Kenya and the Netherlands would struggle to qualify for the 2015 World Cup, which will be jointly hosted by Australia and New Zealand.

The committee also advanced a long-awaited plan of a Test league run over four years, which would culminate in a competition between the top-four teams at the end of the period.

The first period of the championship, however, would be curtailed, with the first Test finals scheduled for 2013. Talking about the proposals, ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said that protecting and promoting the three formats of the game at the international level was “viable”.

“I believe the (committee) has shown itself to be forward thinking in tackling the challenges,” Lorgat said.

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Soaring Australian GP costs shocker

Soaring Australian GP costs shocker

The Australian Grand Prix has come under fire after figures showed the cost to Victorian taxpayers had soared 15-fold in the space of 11 years.

This year's event at Melbourne's Albert Park cost the Victorian government 49.3million Australian dollars (£29.5million) compared to 3.2million Australian dollars (£2million) in 1998/99.

Although attendance figures were up for this year's race at the end of March by 5,000 to 305,000, sales revenue had dropped by 30% whilst costs had risen by almost 20%.

"I think it is just outrageous. It has gone past a joke and it is time both sides of politics started to seriously reconsider the ongoing cost of taxpayers bailing out of this event.

"The cost for a car race when as a local member of parliament we struggle to get funding for health services, education, support services for disabled kids at schools, for roads and other infrastructure - I just think there is a whole range of services and other infrastructure which need that sort of money more than a car race."

"The economic benefit to Victoria far outweighs the cost of staging the Formula One Grand Prix," said Holding in The Age.

"The race was seen by about 12.8 million people in Europe this year and the massive television exposure the grand prix receives has helped to build our world-wide reputation as a great place to visit and a great place to live.

"This year's grand prix attracted the biggest crowd in five years and a television audience of 4.6 million in Australia, and with Mark Webber in such good form we expect next year's grand prix will be even more exciting."

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Ferrari could take title says Alonso

Ferrari could take title says Alonso

Fernando Alonso believes Ferrari's versatility could translate into victory in this season's Formula One title.

"Despite failing to score in Spa, where the accident on the first lap weighed heavily like a stone, Ferrari and I have scored more points than anyone else in these last four races," said Alonso.

"That makes us even more confident, and the fact these results were on tracks with very different characteristics to one another, confirms our car is pretty versatile."

"Feeling so close to the tifosi that I had the impression I could touch their enthusiasm with my hand was really something special," added Alonso.

"There is a passion for Ferrari all over the world, but in Italy it is stronger still, and I was fortunate enough to be at the wheel of an Italian car winning the Italian Grand Prix.

"A few days on from that really happy moment in Monza, we can claim to have made a good step forward.

"At Spa, things did not go well, so it was hard to say beforehand what we might really be capable of.

"However, we knew that as long as we did our best, we would be in with a chance and that's how things turned out.

"Now our aim must be to try and do the same in the final five races of the championship."

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Mourinho revels in Madrid masterclass

Mourinho revels in Madrid masterclass

Real Madrid coach Jose Mourinho purred over his side's 2-0 win over Champions League Group G opponents Ajax.

"The goals will come. Some team is going to pay heavily for this lack of scoring and the scoreline is going to be huge. The best player in both the Osasuna and Mallorca match was the keeper. Today Ajax's keeper was very good," Mourinho told reporters at a post-match press conference.

"We played well. We pressured a lot and in a very advanced position.

"We didn't allow Ajax to play, and they are used to controlling the ball on an open pitch. The team's physical and mental strength increases by playing. They need time to adapt to the new playing method. They need time to adapt because we play with a lot of intensity."

"Cristiano can solve his scoring anxiety by one day not playing so well and scoring two or three goals. This happens a lot. You play and try your hardest, you build plays, you assist so that the team shines, but you can't score. It can happen, but the goals will come."

"Karim Benzema is intelligent and I hope he knows what he has to do to play more. It's easy. You can see the game very well from the bench... The way the opposing defense moves, the changes in positioning, the aggressiveness... It's a perfect spot. He will understand sooner or later."

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Mascarenhas suspended for 14 days

Mascarenhas suspended for 14 days

The England and Wales Cricket Board have suspended Dimitri Mascarenhas for 14 days following his foul-mouthed Twitter outburst.

The Hampshire captain pleaded guilty to two charges at a Cricket Discipline Commission panel after he blasted England national selector Geoff Miller in two separate posts on his Twitter page.

Mascarenhas "apologised unreservedly" for his actions and in addition to his suspension was ordered to pay £500 in costs for the hearing.

"The panel considered this to be a serious breach of the regulations, particularly given his status as a senior cricketer and club captain," an ECB statement read.

"It took account of the fine of £1,000 already imposed by Hampshire."

"Chairman of selectors came to Liverpool and didn't even come and say hi...what a p***k. Doesn't take much to say hello, does it."

Mascarenhas, who is currently sidelined by injury, later claimed he had written the posts after a night out and described the actions as "stupid".

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Raina led CSK to a thumping win against Wayamba

Raina led CSK to a thumping win against Wayamba

Suresh Raina, who led CSK to a thumping win against Wayamba finds it easier to maintain his flow for Chennai rather than India.

By Rajarshi Gupta in Centurion

The Sri Lankan T20 champions were in control of the game in the first five overs. Ajantha Mendis had struck early to get rid of the dangerous Matthew Hayden and Wayamba were looking to tighten the noose around a star-studded IPL champs.

"Batting at number six or seven for India makes it very difficult to get the scores everytime. It is not easy when you come to bat in the 38th over or so and then expected to get some quick runs.

"When you are batting at number three and know you have more overs at hand, then that makes a lot of difference to you as a batsman," Raina said.

"I went in and told Vijay that we needed to rotate the strike and we had to be positive and hit the bad balls away. By the grace of God, we executed our plans well," Raina said after Chennai virtually sealed a last-four spot with a 97-run win.

"It has always been a lucky ground for me. I almost scored a hundred in the IPL last year and I could have even bettered that had I stayed on.

But the important thing is we batted well and won at the end of the day."

"The next round is going to be very exciting and the important thing is to play like champions. There will be good teams to compete against and we have to be at our best."

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