Gayle, Roach to play for Western Australia in Twenty20

Published>Tue, Mar 30 10 12:10 PM

Sydney, Mar 30 (ANI): West Indies captain Chris Gayle will return to Western Australia next summer to play for the Warriors' Twenty20 campaign. Fast bowler Kemar Roach will also join him.

Gayle was restricted to just two games for WA last summer after picking up a side strain in his first outing for the Warriors.

But the 30-year-old still made a sizeable impact, hammering 40 off just 16 balls against South Australia, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

Roach has quickly emerged as the most exciting pacer in the Test arena.

The 21-year-old has taken 20 wickets in five Tests and injured Australian captain Ricky Ponting last summer with a fearsome bouncer.

"In Chris Gayle we have secured one of the game's best Twenty20 players for the second successive season, while Kemar Roach is one of the most promising young pacemen in world cricket," WACA chief executive Graeme Wood said.

"It has been extremely disappointing to miss out on the opportunity to compete at the first two Champions League Twenty20 tournaments," he added. (ANI)

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Tiger Woods' wife 'to skip his comeback tournament'

Published>Tue, Mar 30 10 11:54 AM

New York, March 30 (ANI): Tiger Woods' wife Elin Nordegren will not be present when he makes his return to golf at Augusta on April 8, sources say.

The Swede model has apparently decided to skip the Masters event and instead visit his homeland to meet her family.

"She is also being asked by Tiger to attend the Masters, even if for a half day, to look like she is interested in supporting his return to golf," the New York Daily News quoted a source as telling People.com.

The insider added: "But she would rather not be there."

Meanwhile, pornstar Joslyn James will be performing at the Pink Pony strip club in Atlanta on the same day Woods makes his comeback.

Earlier, James' manager, Gina Rodriguez, told the sportsBYbrooks web site: "She was invited out to Atlanta to make an appearance at Pink Pony".

Woods has publicly apologized several times for cheating on his ife. (ANI)

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After 'miracles' for Gambhir, Sachin, Rajapaksa's doc wants to 'cure' Becks

Published>Tue, Mar 30 10 11:48 AM

'Miracle doctor' Eliyantha White has treated several Sri Lankan players, while Gautam Gambhir - who returned to the field on Monday - swears the cure works. In fact, White says he can even ensure footballer David Beckham overcomes his Achilles tendon injury to play the World Cup later this summer.

Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa's personal physician and spiritual healer claims he uses herbs from the high Himalayas, thick rain forests and from deep inside the sea, besides his inner powers to cure his patients.

White's quick-cure is rapidly gaining popularity among the walking wounded in the Indian Premier League. Days after India and Delhi Daredevils mates Gambhir and Ashish Nehra travelled to Lanka to consult White, the doctor says he has added Mumbai Indians batsman Ambati Rayudu to his list of high-profile cricketer patients - one that already includes Sachin Tendulkar, Sanath Jayasuriya, Lasith Malinga and Tillakaratne Dilshan.

"Because of the high stakes and hectic schedules, cricketers can't afford to sit out nursing an injury for long. I have the fastest and most reliable cure possible," the Sinhalese-speaking White told The Indian Express from Colombo, through his translator-cum-coordinator Ruwan Edirisinghe.

The doctor claimed that Gambhir's hamstring strain and Nehra's rib injury were healed within 48 hours of them being given a special herbal potion. Gambhir, returned to captain the Daredevils against Kolkata Knight Riders at the Kotla on Monday, endorsed the claim. "Before I went for the treatment, I had pain but now it has disappeared," Gambhir said.

While it was Daredevils teammate Dilshan who suggested White to Gambhir and Nehra, Rayudu took the word of his Mumbai Indians senior Jayasuriya and flew to Lanka. "Rayudu had an elbow fracture. A couple of days after the visit he was on the field," said White.

Dilshan, Jayasuriya and Malinga have in the past credited White with their quick recovery from cricket injuries. After returning to action after a long knee injury lay-off last year, Malinga said, "President Rajapaksa introduced me to Dr White. He works with supernatural powers and herbs. I don't know what he does and how he does it but it works. I am very grateful to him and the President."

Tendulkar had visited the doctor late last year, after the series against Australia. "His knee joints were paining because of constant strain on them but he was completely cured. We couldn't treat his elbow problem because Sachin's schedule was too tight. He has promised to return," said White.

The doctor is reluctant to reveal the secret of his healing touch. "A lot of people have asked this question. This is a special formula that is very close to Ayurveda. It has taken me more than 15 years of research to get it right. It requires no surgery and it can cure anything," he said. Coordinator Edirisinghe added to the mystery by saying, "He has inner powers that are difficult to explain. He has even treated patients even without giving any medicines, by just sitting in front of him."

White said he has extended an invitation to Beckham to consult him. "I am willing to help any person in the world coming from anywhere in the world. I am ready to treat Beckham. His condition (Achilles tendon injury) can be easily treated. Within three days he will be playing. It's a very simple case," said White.

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Shoaib Malik 'married' Indian girl, 'divorced' her

Published>Tue, Mar 30 10 11:20 AM

While Sania Mirza is all set to marry former Pak cricket team captain Shoaib Malik, there is no getting away from the scandal he was involved in.

This is an agency report carried by Indian Express online on February 1, 2008.

Hyderabad: The father of a Hyderabadi girl whose love story involving Pakistani cricket captain Shoaib Malik went sour contested his claim that the couple did not enter into a 'nikah' and pressed the player to give a "formal divorce."

M A Siddiqui in a statement said the family will move the court if his daughter does not get divorce which was needed to help her start a "new life."

He was reacting to Malik's statement in Karachi on January 21 when the cricketer claimed that no 'nikah' took place between him and Ayesha Siddiqui.

"The 'nikah' of my daughter (Ayesha) with Shoaib Malik took place on June 3, 2002. We also have the proof," said Siddiqui amid reports that the couple got 'married' through a telephone 'nikah' on that date.

Siddiqui, a resident of posh Banjara Hills in the Andhra Pradesh capital, also challenged Malik's claims that his marriage plans with the Hyderabadi girl ended because both families could not reach an understanding on certain issues.

"Yes I had a long relationship with her and we planned to get married. But no nikah ever took place and in the end our families could not reach an understanding on various things," Malik had said.

Siddiqui alleged Malik wanted to end the relationship not for the reasons he had stated but "just to gain goodwill and build his image."

Siddiqui said his daughter is "devastated and traumatised" by the whole issue and claimed she was hospitalised many times.

Siddiqui claimed that his family called Malik and his family umpteen times but they "refused to talk to us."

"Shoaib Malik never tried to even talk to us even once. This behaviour has saddened deeply," he said.

On his daughter's future, he cited a media report quoting a Maulvi as saying that rightly his daughter needed a "divorce" in order to start a "new life".

Pakistani players were even feted to a grand reception by the Siddiqui family in Hyderabad when the team toured Indian in 2005.

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Nowitzki's triple-double boosts Mavericks over Nuggets

Published Tue, Mar 30 10 11:10 AM

Dirk Nowitzki recorded the second triple-double of his career to lead the Dallas Mavericks to a 109-93 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday.

Nowitzki, who had failed to reach 20 points in his last four games, posted 34 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists as Dallas maintained their grip on second spot in the Western Conference.

The Nuggets (48-27) have lost five of their last six games and dropped to fifth in the West behind the Phoenix Suns. Denver also surrendered their leaed in the Northwest division to Utah.

J.R. Smith had a team-high 27 for Denver but Carmelo Anthony had an off-night, finishing with just 10 points.

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Tevez hat-trick keeps Man City on course for fourth

Published Tue, Mar 30 10 10:48 AM

Carlos Tevez grabbed a quickfire hat-trick against 10-man Wigan Athletic to give Manchester City a 3-0 victory and boost their bid to finish fourth in the Premier League on Monday.

City, five points behind fourth-placed Tottenham Hotspur before kickoff, struggled until Wigan's Gary Caldwell was shown a red card for a foul on Tevez after 56 minutes but finally clicked into gear thanks to the Argentine striker.

Roberto Mancini's side moved to 56 points from 31 matches, two more than Liverpool who have played 32. Tottenham, who City still have to play at home, have 58 points from 31.

After spending vast sums of owner Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan's money on signing the likes of Tevez, Emmanuel Adebayor and Roque Santa Cruz, fourth spot and a chance of Champions League football was the minimum requirement for City.

Tevez brought that possibility a step closer at Eastlands with an inspired second-half display which brought him three goals in 13 minutes.

Wigan, desperately trying to stay clear of the relegation zone, still looked dangerous after Caldwell's slightly harsh sending-off but Tevez put City ahead on minutes when he tapped in as Wigan keeper Vladimir Stojkovic failed to gather a routine ball under pressure from Adebayor.

Another simple finish made it 2-0 two minutes later and Tevez wrapped up the points with his best effort of the night, a classy finish after waltzing into the Wigan area.

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Bayern wait on Robben and Ribery, Lyon eye first semi

Published>Tue, Mar 30 10 10:44 AM

Bayern Munich will know hours before their Champions League quarter-final first-leg match whether key midfielders Arjen Robben and Franck Ribery will be fit to face Manchester United on Tuesday.

Robben, who pulled a calf muscle in Bayern's 2-1 loss to VfB Stuttgart on Saturday, will play only if fully fit to avoid a longer-term injury as the team are also in the running for the Bundesliga and German Cup, coach Louis van Gaal said on Monday.

It is also unclear whether French playmaker Franck Ribery, recovered from an ankle injury, will be on the pitch from the start or will come on as a substitute. Bayern will certainly be without suspended midfielder Bastian Schweinsteiger.

"I don't know if Robben and Ribery will play but I will have to plan against them," Manchester United coach Alex Ferguson said on Monday.

United, in a record 11th Champions League quarter-final, have no injury scares with striker Wayne Rooney and defender Rio Ferdinand rested over the weekend as they attempt to make their fourth consecutive Champions League semi-final.

In the other quarter-final match of the day, Olympique Lyon need to come out on top in the first ever Champions League all-French tie against Girondins Bordeaux to make their first semi-final appearance.

Lyon, who won seven Ligue 1 titles in a row before seeing Bordeaux break their run last season, are almost at full strength.

Bordeaux, who lost their League Cup final to Olympique Marseille 3-1 on Saturday, will be without suspended holding midfielder Alou Diarra and defender Marc Planus, who is nursing a knee injury.

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