Indoor cricket coach in Australia slept with 14-yr-old girl club member

Published>Thu, Dec 02 10 04:38 PM

Melbourne, Dec 2 (ANI): An indoor cricket coach and umpire, who scattered rose petals over his bed on a Valentine's Day in order to bed a teenage girl who was a member of his club, has been sentenced to two years' imprisonment.

e man, who was 35 at that time, slept with the 14-year-old for the first time that evening on February 14, 2003, after she came to his Townsville unit, reports News.com.au.

The defendant, who is now 43, pleaded guilty in the Townsville Magistrates Court to four counts of unlawful carnal knowledge of a child under 16.

The cricket official was first introduced to girl when she joined the club at the age of 10.

Four years later, as a teenager, she started working at the centre and socialising with the accused and this is when the pair had sexual relations about four times.

The teen, who made the complaint in 2009 at 22 after confessing to her mother and friends, could not remember all of their sexual encounters but said to the police other occasions included after a Cowboys match and during her high school exams.

"There was never any manipulation, threats or coercion. This is an unusual case because the girl was aware that my client was married," said defence barrister Justin Greggery.

He said the defendant had since lost two jobs and his wife because of the offending.

Magistrate Ross Mack accepted that the man was remorseful.

"It was a significant time ago, there was no predatory aspect to it and no resistance on the part of the complainant," the magistrate said.

"But a 35-year-old man taking advantage of a 14-year-old girl is a very grave matter indeed," he added. (ANI)

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'In form' Kamran, Malik disappointed over exclusion from Test, T20 squads for NZ tour

Published>Thu, Dec 02 10 04:08 PM

Karachi, Dec 2 (ANI): Pakistan cricketers Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik have expressed their disappointment at having been overlooked by the selectors for the Twenty20 and Test squads against New Zealand.

"I am disappointed at being left out, because I passed an email from the ICC to the PCB last month which cleared my name for selection, so I should know why my name was excluded," the Daily Times quoted Kamran, as saying to a news agency.

Kamran's name was also mentioned in a video footage aired by a Pakistani TV channel this week, in which alleged bookmaker Mazhar Majeed claimed that the wicketkeeper was among the seven Pakistani players obeying his orders during matches.

Kamran admitted that Majeed was his marketing agent, but denied that he had been involved in any wrongdoing.

"Majeed has been a Pakistani players' agent. He was Inzamam-ul-Haq's agent, Yousuf's agent and an agent for several other players, including Umar Gul and Salman Butt. But I have never been involved in any wrongdoing," he said.

The wicketkeeper was not selected for Pakistan's recent series against South Africa in the United Arab Emirates because he was recovering from an appendicitis operation. But he has since featured in domestic matches, hitting his highest first-class score of 268 last month.

"I am performing well at first-class level, so I still hope to play for Pakistan in the one-day series against New Zealand and then in next year's World Cup," said Kamran.

Shoaib Malik, who hit two hundreds in domestic matches last month, said that he was upset after being excluded from both squads for the New Zealand tour.

"I am really disappointed," he said, adding, "I have performed well in the domestic season."

"Throughout my 11-year career I have never been involved in any wrongdoing and was not even in the team when all those (fixing) allegations were levelled," stated Malik, who played neither in the Sydney Test nor the England series this year, during which spot-fixings allegedly took place. (ANI)

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Zaheer returns; Sreesanth, Raina rested for next 3 ODIs

Thu, Dec 02 10 03:52 PM

Jaipur, Dec 2 (PTI) Pace spearhead Zaheer Khan, who missed the first two matches due to a injury, today returned to the Indian team for the next three games of the ODI series against New Zealand while the selectors decided to rest batsman Suresh Raina and pacer Sreesanth ahead of the upcoming South Africa series. The selectors announced two seperate teams for the third ODI in Baroda on Saturday and fourth and fifth matches of the series in Bangalore and Chennai on December 7 and 10 respectively Gautam Gambhir has been retained as the captain of the side for the next three matches, BCCI Secretary N Srinivasan said in a press release after a meeting of the selection committee here. Even though the selectors have called back Zaheer, they have decided to prolong the rest period of four senior players -- regular skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Virender Sehwag, Sachin Tendulkar and Harbhajan Singh, who were not considered for the first two matches due to injury concerns. Zaheer makes his way into the team in place of in-form Sreesanth, who has picked up an impressive seven wickets in the first two ODIs and has been rested ahead of the upcoming South Africa series. Zaheer missed the third Test against New Zealand and the first two ODIs of the five-match series after sustaining a groin injury during the second Test in Hyderabad last month. Left-arm pacer Ashish Nehra, who was a late induction in the team for the first two ODIs after Praveen Kumar was down with fever, has also managed to retain his place in the side for the next three matches alongwith Praveen. However, wicket-keeper Wriddhiman Saha, who retained his place for Baroda match, will hand over the gloves to Parthiv Patel in the last two matches, while R Ashwin will make way for Rohit Sharma. India lead the five match ODI series 2-0 against New Zealand. Indian team for third ODI in Baroda: Gautam Gambhir (captain), Murali Vijay, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Sourav Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), R Ashwin, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra, Praveen Kumar, Munaf Patel, Ravindra Jadeja, R Vinay Kumar. Indian team for the fourth and fifth ODIs in Bangalore and Chennai: Gautam Gambhir (captain), Murali Vijay, Virat Kohli, Yuvraj Singh, Sourav Tiwary, Yusuf Pathan, Parthiv Patel (wk), R Ashwin, Ashish Nehra, Munaf Patel, Zaheer Khan, Praveen Kumar, Ravindra Jadeja, Rohit Sharma.

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Hilfenhaus facing possible axe for Adelaide Test

Published>Thu, Dec 02 10 03:08 PM

Adelaide, Dec.2 (ANI): Australian fast bowler Ben Hilfenhaus could face the axe in the Adelaide Test, following his one wicket haul at the Gabba.

The host team for the second Test has already been given a shake up, with out-of-form speedster Mitchell Johnson dropped from the 12-man squad on Thursday.

Johnson's omission almost certainly means a Test recall for New South Wales quick Doug Bollinger.

Hilfenhaus and Ryan Harris are believed to be fighting for the final seamer's possession.

Hilfenhaus is under pressure after taking the wicket of Strauss on the third ball of the Gabba Test but then going wicket less in his ensuing 50 overs.

Ponting said a final decision on Australia's XI would be a tough one.

"Hilfy's strengths are his ability to swing the new ball, he's a very consistent bowler and bowls in good areas to tie batters down," Ponting said on Thursday.

"Ryan's strengths are that he has played much of his cricket here (at the Adelaide Oval), he's probably slightly quicker in the air, he hits the wicket harder than Ben does and probably he's the better reverse swing bowler for later in the game.

"Ben did a terrific job for us in the India in conditions that will probably be similar to what the wicket will be like here, particularly over the last couple of days.

"It makes that decision a pretty difficult one which is why we need a fair bit of time to think about it."

Blewett said Hilfenhaus should get another chance unless the tough conditions in Brisbane had taken too much of a toll on the Tasmania swing bowler. (ANI)

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Pace attack awaits India on South African tour

Thu, Dec 02 10 02:48 PM

Johannesburg, Dec 2 (PTI) Andrew Hudson, convenor of selectors for the Proteas, said that South Africa would concentrate on its strong points when they announce their Test squad for the upcoming series against India. "We will most probably choose just one spinner and depend on South Africa''s traditional strength, its pace attack," Hudson told the Afrikaans daily Beeld. Hence, India can expect a pace attack when they start touring in South Africa from December 16. There was still a view among the South Africans that despite India''s strength being their batting, they remained vulnerable to bounce balls," said Beeld cricket writer Altus Momberg. "This will be tested (against India) this summer," Momberg said, adding that Dale Steyn and Morne Morkel were extremely dangerous under South African conditions. The South African squad for the Test series against India will be announced at the end of this week. Momberg speculated that the proposed tactic of the South Africans was probably why Indian coach Gary Kirsten and ten members of his team, including captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Sachin Tendulkar, would arrive in Cape Town next Wednesday itself to get used to the South African conditions ahead of the first game on December 16. The rest of the team, still playing in a one-day series against New Zealand, will only arrive in Johannesburg on December 12. India, during their tour of South Africa, however, will not face South Africa''s first national cap of Pakistani origin, Imran Tahir. The addition of Tahir, who has lived in South Africa for the past four years after marrying a local woman, was announced by Cricket South Africa (CSA) and then almost immediately withdrawn after it was discovered that he did not qualify because he was not yet a South African citizen. Although Tahir''s papers are expected to be ready by the end of the month, Hudson said he would not be considered for the series against India.

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Pietersen labels Adelaide groundsmen "pathetic

Published>Thu, Dec 02 10 02:08 PM

Adelaide, Dec.2 (ANI): Key England batsman Kevin Pietersen's tweet labeling Adelaide Oval groundsmen as pathetic has not gone down well with his team, or with Australian fans here.

Key batsmen Pietersen fumed when practice pitches were uncovered during a sudden downpour in Adelaide on Wednesday, forcing the tourists to train indoors.

He reportedly made his feelings known to curators at the ground before using Twitter to express his displeasure, reports the Herald Sun.

"What should a groundsmen make sure he does 2days out from a test match????" Pietersen wrote.

"Cover the nets when it rains maybe??? "PATHETIC!".

Pietersen in September used Twitter to reveal his dropping from the England side for a one-day series against Pakistan, before any official announcement.

Captain Strauss said England's cricketers had strict guidelines on the use of social networking sites, but refused to say what they were.

Asked if Pietersen had crossed the line, Strauss replied: "No, he didn't.

"But it was obviously, there are kinds of degrees of everything, and we don't want anything that distracts our attention from what is important, which is getting on the cricket pitch and performing."

Strauss said Pietersen failed to realise the potential ramifications of his tweet. (ANI)

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Media bashed Ponting looking to turn things around in Adelaide Oval Test

Published>Thu, Dec 02 10 01:38 PM

Adelaide, Dec.2 (ANI): Australian captain Ricky Ponting has fond memories of the Adelaide Oval, which will be the venue of the second Ashes Test against England from Friday, and is hoping that the media bashing that he has copped after the Gabba Test will reduce with a better performance from his team and himself.

Ponting has scored five of his 39 Test hundreds at this ground, and says that he always loves to come back.

"It's one of my favourite places to bat, and once you're in, then it's one of the best places to bat in the world," Ponting said.

"Venue-wise, it's a nice place to come and I've always said that once I finish playing, if I ever come back to watch a Test match then it will be at Adelaide. The new stand looks terrific. You can always appreciate the beauty of different venues around the world and this is certainly one of them," he added.

Meanwhile, Ponting has come in for some media stick this week.

Labelled 'Clueless' in one newspaper, he then had to contend with his former teammate Shane Warne saying that this Test was crunch-time for the captain.

"At the end of the day it was a draw in Brisbane," said Ponting.

"People probably expected us to push a bit more for the win, but give England some credit for the way they fought their way out. We come here at nil-all and looking forward to another challenge," the Daily Express quoted him, as saying.

When Australia beat England in Adelaide in an extraordinary turnaround four years ago, life was much easier for Ponting as captain. He simply had to throw the ball to Warne or Glenn McGrath and wait for them to do the damage.

These days, wins are much more difficult to come by for Australia, but Ponting says he finds the challenge much more absorbing.

"When you're not expected to win and there are doubts around you, like there is now, it heightens everyone's instincts and makes you work that little bit harder, makes you stick together and achieve something special. That's certainly the feeling I've got around my group at the moment. We know we were a bit off our best last week but the end result was a draw. We come here hoping to play a lot better than we did at The Gabba," Ponting said. (ANI)

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