ICC referee charges 'Bad boy' Broad for hurling ball at Pak keeper

Published>Mon, Aug 09 10 02:11 PM

Edgbaston (UK), Aug.9 (ANI): International Cricket Council (ICC) match referee Ranjan Madugalle has charged England fast bowler Stuart Broad for deliberately hurling the ball at Pakistan wicketkeeper-batsman Zulqarnain Haider and hurting him on his shoulder.

Haider was just 18 runs into his 88-run knock when the incident occurred. Broad had already been showing some signs of simmering fury when was denied an appeal for a caught behind was also guilty of blatantly ignoring the umpire when appealing for another caught behind early in the day.

Broad was hauled in front of Madugalle after play and faces either a one-match ban or a fine of 50 per cent of his match fee, the Daily Express reports.

While the Pakistan players were convinced Broad's throw was deliberate, England teammate Graeme Swann was happy to give his pal the benefit of the doubt.

Pakistan skipper Salman Butt said: "It is not good to see players throwing balls intentionally at others and not excusing themselves properly. Cricket is a gentleman's game but I think they got frustrated. The throw was just one thing - there were plenty of words said, too."

Swann said: "Knowing Broady as I do, he didn't have any malice in it. He apologised right away. It was just a sign of frustration."

Haider has led an incredible turnaround, which has so far brought 191 runs for the final four wickets. On his Test debut, he was given out for his second first-ball duck of the match, but escaped a king pair courtesy of the TV replay.

He went on to score 88 and Pakistan will resume this morning with 291-9 - a lead of 112 - and with a flicker of pulling off something miraculous. (ANI)

Source: Web Search

Flintoff's career not over: Moores

Published>Mon, Aug 09 10 02:07 PM

London, Aug 9 (ANI): Lancashire coach Peter Moores has said all rounder Andrew Flintoff's career is not over, and added that he will be given every chance to return from injury.

The long awaited return of Flintoff, who underwent knee surgery, had been delayed on the advice of his county's medical team.

The 32-year-old all rounder has had two knee operations since helping England win the Ashes against Australia in the final Test at The Oval last year.

Flintoff retired from Test cricket after that match, but he still hopes to play in one-day internationals for England, as well as represent his county in domestic action.

He was set to return to action with Lancashire's Second XI last week, but was ruled out with injury for the rest of the season.

But, Moores claims there is hope for the future.

He said: "There's no point in Fred trying to rush it through to get some cricket with us. He has got to make sure his hard work is worthwhile." (ANI)

Source: Web Search

Britain's Pakistanis ask Zardari to act against PCB

Published>Mon, Aug 09 10 01:57 PM

Karachi, Aug 9 (IANS) Leaders of the Pakistani community in Britain have requested President Asif Ali Zardari to make sweeping changes in the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB).

According to well-placed sources, community leaders told President Zardari in a meeting last week in Birmingham that Pakistan's performance on the ongoing cricket tour was embarrassing and a direct result of the PCB's poor selection policies.

Pakistan were bowled out for just 72 in its second Test against England in Birmingham last Friday. It was Pakistan's lowest-ever total against England and came just days after the tourists lost the opening Test by 354 runs in Nottingham.

'Prominent leaders of the Pakistani community living in Britain requested President Zardari to take concrete action in a bid to save Pakistan cricket,' said a source, referring to the fact that as PCB's chief patron Zardari has the right to hire or fire the Board chairman.

Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, has been under fire from various quarters for the Board's policies and many critics believe that he is directly responsible for Pakistan's disastrous performance in England.

Pakistan decided against picking senior batsmen Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan for the tour and instead opted for untested youngsters like Umar Amin and Azhar Ali, who have flopped miserably in England.

Source: Web Search

CWG scam: Kalmadi aide Darbari sacked from panel

Published>Mon, Aug 09 10 01:37 PM

The services of T S Darbari, the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee's suspended joint director general, have been terminated by the Games panel.

The Enforcement Directorate has also asked T S Darbari to appear before it on Monday to probe further the alleged financial irregularities for services provided at the Queen's Baton Relay ceremony in London last year.

Official sources said Darbari, a close aide of OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi, has been asked to explain certain financial transactions undertaken during the Queen's Baton Relay ceremony.

Darbari has also been asked to bring all documents related to money transactions and grant of contracts to different agencies in London.

Sources said this has been done after British authorities referred to the High Commission a transaction with A M Films, a little-known London-based company, to which a huge sum of money was transferred through the Royal Bank of Scotland.

The authorities in London have already begun a probe into the dealings of the firm and had contacted the Indian High Commission which subsequently forwarded the details to the

Sports Ministry here for action.

The ministry had then asked Kalmadi on August 1 to immediately relieve Darbari of all duties.

The Organising Committee had suspended Darbari and Joint Director General (Accounts and Finance) M Jaychandran on August 5 for their alleged role in the Queen's Baton Relay irregularities. Deputy Director General Sanjay Mohindroo was also under the scanner but he quit his post several months ago.

Source: Web Search

India take on depleted New Zealand in tri-series opener

Mon, Aug 09 10 12:57 PM

T V Sriram Dambulla (Sri Lanka), Aug 9 (PTI) Missing key players and just done with an exhausting drawn Test series, India swiftly shift to the one-day mode as they take on an equally-depleted New Zealand in the opening match of the cricket tri-series starting here tomorrow. Also featuring Sri Lanka, the series starts just two days after India drew 1-1 with the hosts in an engrossing Test series. India will be without in-form batting veteran Sachin Tendulkar and spin spearhead Harbhajan Singh, both of whom have been rested, and injured opener Gautam Gambhir in the series. Pace spearhead Zaheer Khan remains sidelined with a shoulder injury, which might give a woefully out-of-form Ishant Sharma his first one-day international of the year. Ashish Nehra will take over the responsibility of leading the attack and on current form, the lanky pacer would be expected to add some zing to the not-so-impressive pace department, which struggled in the Test series. On the batting front, the series is a chance for off-colour Yuvraj Singh to get over the disappointment of the Test series, in which he flopped in the opening match, missed the second due to flu, and was dropped for the third after his replacement Suresh Raina scored a century on debut. Virender Sehwag will once again shoulder the responsibility of providing the sort of cracking starts that India have come to expect of him and Gambhir''s absence, Dinesh Karthik will give him company in the opening slot. A rather volatile mix of batsmen occupy the middle-order in Kohli, Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma, who can be destructive while they are on song but their unpredictability can also cost the team dearly. Young and eager to make a mark, the new-look Indian middle-order has often let the team down with extravagant shots in crunch situations. The New Zealanders, on the other hand, are in their familiar dark-horses role, more so in the absence of inspirational skipper Daniel Vettori, who has skipped the series to be with his wife for the birth of his second child. Also missing from the Kiwi line-up is the explosive duo of Jesse Ryder and Brendon McCullum. .

Source: Published>

Lefty shifts focus to PGA Championship after Firestone flop

Published>Mon, Aug 09 10 12:51 PM

Phil Mickelson swiftly turned his thoughts to next week's U.S. PGA Championship after squandering a golden opportunity to replace Tiger Woods as world number one on Sunday.

The American left-hander could have moved to the top of the rankings by finishing the WGC-Bridgestone Invitational alone in fourth place or better but he slumped into a tie for 46th.

"I wanted to have a good weekend and get a little bit of momentum going into the PGA," second-ranked Mickelson told reporters after carding a dismal eight-over-par 78 at Firestone Country Club.

"So I'll have to kind of do what I did at Augusta, with Houston the week before. I played like this in Houston and I'm going to have to try to get it turned around here in three days."

Mickelson tied for 35th at the Houston Open in April before clinching his fourth major title in the U.S. Masters at Augusta National the following week.

The year's final major, which he won at Baltusrol in 2005, starts on Thursday at Whistling Straits in Kohler, Wisconsin.

Before then, Mickelson will have to bury all the memories of his stumbling finish at Firestone.

"It's hard to be upbeat after a round like today," the 40-year-old Californian said after posting a three-over total of 283 to finish 15 strokes better than Woods.

"I felt pretty good today. I felt like I was sharp and ready to go attack the golf course and make some birdies. And it just didn't happen."

Mickelson began the final round in a tie for 10th, just four shots off the lead, but he spectacularly crashed out of contention with an outward nine of six-over 41.

"The round obviously got away," he said. "It didn't feel like it was far off, but it turned out to be.

"If you miss some shots here, the rough and the trees and the challenging greens will lead to bogeys. The way I drove it, I was fighting for pars on a lot of the holes."

Asked how frustrated he was after wasting another chance to depose Woods as world number one, Mickelson replied: "If I keep finishing ahead of him every week, eventually it'll happen.

"But the problem is there are guys behind me (in the rankings) who will pass me because I'm not playing well enough right now. I've got some work to do to get my own game sharp."

Source: Web Search

CWG OC terminates Darbari''s services

Mon, Aug 09 10 12:37 PM

New Delhi, Aug 9 (PTI) Acting on the persistent plea of the Sports Ministry, the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee today terminated the services of its tainted Joint Director General T S Darbari in the wake of the corruption scandal that has rocked the event. Darbari, who had been suspended pending an inquiry after his name cropped up in alleged corruption during the Queen''s Baton Relay''s launch in London, has been told to hand over charge to Additional Director General V K Saxena. "The Ministry had written several letters to OC asking for his ouster because of the cases in Enforcement Directorate and the last such communication was made on August 6. The Ministry was not happy that he was merely suspended," a source told PTI. The OC has finally acted on the instructions and given the marching orders to Darbari, who appeared before the Enforcement Directorate today in a probe over his alleged customs violations. "According to an order from the OC, pending an inquiry by the ED into the case of alleged involvement of Darbari, who is the Joint Director General (PSUs, sponsorship and marketing), in the payment of an unreasonable amount to a British firm at the time of the QBR ceremony in London, his services are hereby terminated with immediate effect," the source said. "He will hand over all documents, papers and equipment to V K Saxena Additional DG (PSUs, Marketing and sponsorship)," he added. According to OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi, Darbari oversaw the QBR preparations in London, which became the focal point of a corruption storm following revelations that a little-known UK-based firm A M Films was paid lakhs of pounds for its "services" during the event. Later, an e-mail from the Indian High Commission which Kalmadi made public to justify payments to AM Films also turned out to be doctored, forcing OC to launch a probe into the entire episode. Although the OC probe report is yet to come out, the Sports Ministry had been demanding Darbari''s removal ever since his name figured in a customs violation case.

Source: Published>