London, June 9 : The five-year ban slapped on Pakistani bowler Mohammad Aamer by the International Cricket Council (ICC) on spot-fixing charges may be extended, as he was caught playing league cricket over the weekend in violation of the terms and conditions of his sanction.
Aamer, who faces criminal charges over the bowling of two no-balls in the fourth Test against England last August, claimed he had been told by Surrey Cricket League side Addington 1743 that the game against St Lukes was a ‘friendly’.
However, the ICC, who is investigating the matter, has made it clear that the ban prevents Amir from playing cricket at any level, and if it takes a dim view of Aamer’s appearance in New Malden on Saturday, his exile may be extended, The Daily Mail reports.
It is understood that Aamer - who, along with Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt, faces a criminal hearing at Southwark Crown Court in October over charges relating to cheating and conspiracy to obtain corrupt payments - was on friendly terms with three of Addington’s players.
One of them contacted Surrey League officials before the match to check eligibility rules, which state that a cricketer is ineligible to play if ‘during the current season he has played first or second XI county cricket or in the minor counties’ - criteria that do not apply to Aamer for obvious reasons, the report said.
But Sportsmail has learned that his name may not have been mentioned in the conversation, and there is little doubt that league officials would have ruled out Aamer’s participation had they known who they were dealing with, it added
"I was informed by club representatives before the game that it was a friendly match, being played on a privately owned cricket ground. I asked the club representatives if the match fell under the jurisdiction of the ECB and they informed me that the match did not," Aamer said.
"I spoke to several club representatives about the issue and they all told me that it was a friendly match and therefore would not contravene my ban from the ICC. I was informed that I was fine to play," he added.
Meanwhile, the England and Wales Cricket board (ECB) has said it is ‘investigating and liaising with the ICC as appropriate.’
© ANI
Saturday, June 11, 2011
12-Test-old Pak batsman Azhar ?worried? over failing to score century so far
Karachi, June 9 : Pakistan Test cricketer Azhar Ali, who has won over fans and critics alike through his gritty batting, has expressed his worry over not being able to score a century so far.
Azhar, who was introduced to international cricket with six Test matches in England last year against Australia and the hosts, has rattled up nearly 800 runs in only 12 test matches at an average of just over 37.
He has crossed the 50-mark eight times so far, but one statistic that is certainly playing on the batsman’s mind is that he has not reached three figures yet.
"I''d be lying if I said it wasn''t a worry. I''ve crossed the half century mark eight times in 12 tests and am yet to score a century, so yes it is a concern as the conversion rate is zero and I should be converting the fifties to hundreds," PakPassion.net quoted Azhar, as saying.
"However I''m trying to not let it affect my batting and levels of concentration and I''m sure that once I''ve scored one test century and the pressure is off, then God Willing there will be many more to come," he added.
Azhar cited Indian bating maestro Sachin Tendulkar’s example, saying that he had also passed through a bad phase when he was regularly dismissed for nineties, but he ultimately made his first ODI century after playing 75 matches for India.
"In the match situation I continue to play each ball on merit irrespective of how many runs I have scored. It''s not as if I change my approach after reaching the half century mark or it''s a mental block. It happens to even the greatest players, I recall Sachin Tendulkar going through a phase where he was regularly being dismissed in the nineties and I look at the example of Tendulkar and he made his first ODI century in his 76th match for India. For myself sometimes there have been some good deliveries, I was run out in the West Indies recently, but I''m sure the century is not too far away," he said.
Azhar also said that although he is flexible enough to bat at any position, he thinks that the number three position is ideal for him.
"Batting at number three is just like opening really. I don''t mind where I bat if the truth be told. Whether it''s opening, at number three or the middle order, I''m happy to bat wherever the captain and coach want me to bat. I''ve opened in domestic cricket so if at some point in the future I''m asked to open the batting I would happily do that. As an international batsman you must have the ability to bat at any position and be flexible."
© ANI
Azhar, who was introduced to international cricket with six Test matches in England last year against Australia and the hosts, has rattled up nearly 800 runs in only 12 test matches at an average of just over 37.
He has crossed the 50-mark eight times so far, but one statistic that is certainly playing on the batsman’s mind is that he has not reached three figures yet.
"I''d be lying if I said it wasn''t a worry. I''ve crossed the half century mark eight times in 12 tests and am yet to score a century, so yes it is a concern as the conversion rate is zero and I should be converting the fifties to hundreds," PakPassion.net quoted Azhar, as saying.
"However I''m trying to not let it affect my batting and levels of concentration and I''m sure that once I''ve scored one test century and the pressure is off, then God Willing there will be many more to come," he added.
Azhar cited Indian bating maestro Sachin Tendulkar’s example, saying that he had also passed through a bad phase when he was regularly dismissed for nineties, but he ultimately made his first ODI century after playing 75 matches for India.
"In the match situation I continue to play each ball on merit irrespective of how many runs I have scored. It''s not as if I change my approach after reaching the half century mark or it''s a mental block. It happens to even the greatest players, I recall Sachin Tendulkar going through a phase where he was regularly being dismissed in the nineties and I look at the example of Tendulkar and he made his first ODI century in his 76th match for India. For myself sometimes there have been some good deliveries, I was run out in the West Indies recently, but I''m sure the century is not too far away," he said.
Azhar also said that although he is flexible enough to bat at any position, he thinks that the number three position is ideal for him.
"Batting at number three is just like opening really. I don''t mind where I bat if the truth be told. Whether it''s opening, at number three or the middle order, I''m happy to bat wherever the captain and coach want me to bat. I''ve opened in domestic cricket so if at some point in the future I''m asked to open the batting I would happily do that. As an international batsman you must have the ability to bat at any position and be flexible."
© ANI
England hopeful of Pietersen 'purple patch'
England's Kevin Pietersen is bowled out by sri Lanka's Rangana Herath during the second Test at Lord's in London © AFP
Herath did for him again at Lord's on Tuesday, producing a fine ball that pitched outside leg and clipped the top of off-stump.
That was the 20th time in his past 65 Test innings that Pietersen had been dismissed by a left-arm spinner.
But he had looked in increasingly fluent touch before failing to complete what would have been his first Test century in England since he made exactly 100 against his native South Africa at The Oval in 2008.
"It wasn't an easy situation when he (Pietersen) went in, dark cloud cover and the lights on," England captain Andrew Strauss told reporters.
"Lord's does a lot more in those conditions, added the opening batsman of his Middlesex home ground. So he did have to graft pretty hard then.
"He did that outstandingly well and then obviously came out the other side and played some lovely shots today (Tuesday).
"We always knew he was going to score runs at some stage, and we hope this is the catalyst to go and have a purple patch like Alastair Cook's having."
Cook, Strauss's opening partner, made 106 -- his third Test century in four innings where his other score was 96 in the first innings of this match.
Strauss, by contrast, managed just four runs in total in the second of a three-match series that left England 1-0 up ahead of the finale at Hampshire's Rose Bowl ground, which stages its first Test starting on June 16.
"I was obviously frustrated to miss out twice on a good batting surface," Strauss said. "But I think to some extent that's the nature of the beast as an opening batsman ... sometimes you get a couple of good ones early."
Of perhaps greater concern was the way England's attack, missing injured Ashes spearhead James Anderson, struggled on a good pitch.
Fast-medium bowler Stuart Broad managed just two wickets in the match at a total cost of 154 runs.
Meanwhile Steven Finn, Anderson's replacement, was repeatedly wayward, although he did take four for 108 in Sri Lanka's first innings 479.
"There was a lack of consistency there, obviously," Strauss said.
"But the guys are not machines, and sometimes the rhythm's not there -- and it's hard work.
"I think Steven Finn got a lot better as the game went on."
As for Broad, Strauss added: "I don't think he's quite getting the rub of the green at the moment. He's bowled some very good balls that are passing the edge, and has probably bowled better than the statistics say."
Sri Lanka captain Tillakaratne Dilshan was named man-of-the-match for his first innings 193 -- the highest Test score by a Sri Lankan at Lord's.
But in the midst of that effort he suffered a broken thumb after twice being hit by fast bowler Chris Tremlett.
Dilshan sat out the last two days and is unlikely to play at the Rose Bowl where Kumar Sangakkara, his immediate predecessor as Sri Lanka captain and the acting skipper at Lord's, will lead the side if the opener is ruled out.
"At the moment I am out for the third Test," Dilshan said. "The physio and doctors have advised three to four weeks to heal.
"I have 10 days, so if it's a quick recovery it might be I can play."
© AFP
Upul Tharanga in deep trouble
The left-handed player was informed by the International Cricket Council (ICC) that he had tested positive for a banned substance, said ministry spokesman Harsha Abeykoon, adding that a national inquiry would also be held.
“The Sports Minister (Mahindananda Aluthgamage) named a three-member panel to launch a domestic investigation and as a first step they will record a statement from Tharanga at the earliest,” Abeykoon said.
He said Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), the country's governing body for the sport, had not yet been formally informed by the ICC.
The blood sample was taken in Colombo during the World Cup, which was co-hosted by India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. Cricket officials in Colombo said no Sri Lankan player had ever failed a dope test before.
Embarrassing
The embarrassing development comes amid allegations by a former skipper that Sri Lankan players were involved in match-fixing since 1992. Sri Lanka says the allegations of match-fixing are still under investigation.
A press report on Sunday said Tharanga had already retained a lawyer to defend himself at an upcoming ICC inquiry into his doping results. There was no immediate comment from Tharanga.
It said Tharanga, 26, had claimed that he was given a substance by a faith healer in Colombo who also treated other international players.
Medical sources in Colombo said that tests were carried out on at least two Sri Lankan players for banned performance enhancing substances during the World Cup.
“There's nothing I can say at this stage,” ICC spokesman James Fitzgerald told AFP in an email response to a local newspaper report.
Two medical doctors with extensive experience of sports medicine were included in the panel headed by sports ministry secretary Udaya Seneviratne to probe Tharanga's case, Abeykoon said.
Tharanga is not part of the Sri Lankan side currently on tour in England. However, he opened against England in its World Cup semifinal and went on to score an unbeaten century. Sri Lanka won the match by 10 wickets, but lost the final to India. — AFP
Monday, June 6, 2011
Rolling In The Deep Adele
There’s a fire starting in my heart
Reaching a fever pitch, it’s bringing me out the dark
Finally I can see you crystal clear
Go head and sell me out and I’ll lay your shit bare
See how I leave with every piece of you
Don’t underestimate the things that I will do
There’s a fire starting in my heart
Reaching a fever pitch
And its bring me out the dark
The scars of your love remind me of us
They keep me thinking that we almost had it all
The scars of your love they leave me breathless
I can’t help feeling
We could have had it all
Rolling in the deep
You had my heart inside of your hand
And you played it
To the beat
Baby I have no story to be told
But I’ve heard one of you
And I’m gonna make your head burn
Think of me in the depths of your despair
Making a home down there
It Reminds you of the home we shared
The scars of your love remind me of us
They keep me thinking that we almost had it all
The scars of your love they leave me breathless
I can’t help feeling
We could have had it all
Rolling in the deep
You had my heart inside of your hand
And you played it
To the beat
We could have had it all
Rolling in the deep
You had my heart inside of your hand
And you played it
To the beat
Throw your soul through every open door
Count your blessings to find what you look for
Turned my sorrow into treasured gold
You pay me back in kind and reap just what you sow
We could have had it all
We could have had it all
It all, it all it all,
We could have had it all
Rolling in the deep
You had my heart inside of your hand
And you played it
To the beat
Album: 2010122, Size: 3.49 MB, Type: mp3
Rolling in the DeepDuration: 3:49, Type: mp3
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