Yousuf will leave for England on Thursday

Published>Wed, Aug 04 10 04:58 PM

Karachi, Aug 4 (IANS) Former Pakistan captain Mohammad Yousuf will rush to London Thursday to join the national cricket team ahead of its second Test against England which gets underway Friday.

Yousuf, who was recalled by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) following the team's crushing defeat in the opening Test against England in Nottingham last Sunday, has managed to obtain a visa and will join his teammates in Birmingham on Thursday night.

A Pakistan team official said that a decision on whether to include Yousuf in the playing eleven for the second Test will be taken by the tour selection committee following a meeting on Thursday night.

Yousuf, 37, was banned 'indefinitely' by the PCB after leading Pakistan in its catastrophic tour of Australia earlier this summer. In protest, Yousuf retired from international cricket.

However, after Pakistan's batting flopped miserably in Nottingham where the visitors lost by 354 runs, the PCB was forced to recall Yousuf, who is one of Pakistan's most successful test batsmen.

Pakistan captain Salman Butt has warned that Yousuf alone will not be able to change the batting fortunes after his team was dismissed for 80 in the second innings in Nottingham.

Source: Web Search

There's no limit to fudging rent in the great Con-wealth ripoff

Published>Wed, Aug 04 10 04:38 PM

THE MOST advanced computers are unlikely to cost beyond '60,000 - and that is a fact that everyone except the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (OC) is well aware of.

How else does one explain the fact that the OC paid an astronomical '89,502 per computer as "rent" for 45 days, when it could have easily bought the machines for '50,000-60,000? Headlines Today has unearthed a preposterous scam which highlights the manner in which the taxpayers' money is pocketed by corrupt officials in the name of Commonwealth Games.

The Con Games

And it's not just computers that have been hired at such exorbitant rates.

A liquid soap dispenser, which should not cost more than '460, has been hired for '3,397. The OC has rented 2,883 such units.

Documents of the OC's murky dealings have revealed that it has rented 6,218 six-ampere plug points at '1,219 per unit. But a market survey would easily establish that the maximum a plug point can cost is '75.

As many as 970 pedestal fans have been rented at '4,412 each.

The list price of the most exorbitantly priced fan does not exceed '4,500.

Similarly, the OC is hiring mosquito repellants for '135 each as against their unit price of '100.

Rent for 43 ice-making machines cost the OC about '46 lakh, at '1,06,279 per unit, when these could easily have been purchased for '1.5 lakh.

Beleaguered OC chairman Suresh Kalmadi has denied the charges of corruption but is at a loss to explain the fraud. The deals, after all, took place only after the OC gave the go-ahead.

A list of 500 such items were rented at a total of '650 crore.

The OC, however, remains defiant in the face of all allegations of corruption. It has maintained that it has followed proper procedures and contracts were awarded to the "lowest bidders". "The contracts were allotted on a competitive bidding basis," committee secretary general Lalit Bhanot said.

Reproduced From Mail Today. Copyright 2010. MTNPL. All rights reserved.

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Source: Web Search

'India shouldn't have become CWG host'

Published>Wed, Aug 04 10 04:22 PM

Indian football captain Bhaichung Bhutia feels the country would have been better off without hosting the Commonwealth Games given the organisational chaos that has marred the build-up to the October 3 to 14 event in Delhi.

The much-delayed and perhaps the most expensive Commonwealth Games ever have now been hit by allegations of wide-scale corruption and Bhutia said India never had the infrastructure to host such a mega-show.

"We should not have taken a decision to host the Games. The infrastructure is not ready. Look at the situation, the grounds are not ready. Even in hockey, there are not many Astroturfs in India. Even a nation like Malaysia is better-placed to host the Games. We should not have bid for the Games," he told reporters here.

Bhutia was part of the Queen's Baton Relay for the Games and asked why he didn't express his views at that time, the veteran striker said, "Since the nation has taken the decision to host the Games, I wanted it to be successful."

He hoped that the Games organisers would ensure a cultural rather then a Bollywood bonanza in the opening and closing ceremonies of the October 3 to 14 event.

"Hopefully the opening and closing ceremony would not turn out to be a Film fare awards ceremony. I want it to showcase our culture," he said.

Source: Web Search

Hot spot unlikely in 2011 World Cup

Wed, Aug 04 10 04:08 PM

New Delhi, Aug 4 (PTI) The Hot Spot technology, which is used in adjudging close caught-behind and LBW decisions under the ICC''s Decision Review System, may not be used for most part of the cricket World Cup in South Asia next year due to high cost and shortage of cameras. "For the World Cup 2011, there is no chance for Hot Spot being available for all 50+ early round matches," Warren Brennan, the owner of BBG Sports, the firm that supplies the technology, told ''Cricinfo''. "At present we only have four Hot Spot cameras, this would limit us to providing Hot Spot for only quarter-final matches onwards," he said. Brennan said there are just not enough cameras for the World Cup. "This would include two cameras for the quarter-finals and semi-finals, with the possibility of four cameras for the final in Mumbai. This is something I have discussed with David Richardson from the ICC, but have not had any updates in the past 6 weeks," he said. With just a handful of companies capable of making such cameras, Brennan said it was important to check veracity. "We have to go through various processes. Are they good guys? Can we trust them? Have they sold any cameras to Al-Qaeda? You can''t just go into a 7-Eleven and buy one," he said. Under the current system, the cost for installing the Hot Spot technology is borne by the broadcaster and not everyone is willing. "They (the ICC) know that if they want to take the system further, they have to figure out the funding models," Brennan said.

Source: Published>

Photos of ciggie puffing England WC stars, WAGs shock fans

Published>Wed, Aug 04 10 03:52 PM

London, Aug.4 (ANI): Fans of the England World Cup stars have reacted with shock to photographs of Wayne Rooney, 24, Aaron Lennon, 23, and Ashley Cole, 29, puffing cigarettes and cigars.

At least two other England players are known to like a smoke. Defender Wayne Bridge, 29, who did not go to South Africa, likes a sneaky drag as does cigar-loving David Beckham, 35.

According to the Daily Star, the players are not the only ones to indulge in an occasional fag, the WAGS - like Victoria Beckham, 36, Steven Gerrard's wife Alex, 27, and Peter Crouch's girlfriend Abbey Clancy, 24, have all been seen dragging on cigarettes.

Medical experts said smoking can make all the difference in the thin line between success and failure at the highest level.

Professor John Britton, Director of the UK Centre for Tobacco Control Studies, said: "Elite runners would not dream of smoking. It would affect muscles and performance."

"It is utterly bizarre for football clubs and national teams to employ nutritionists and other experts to look at various ways of making sure elite athletes are performing at their very peak, if at the same time the players are smoking. It's madness to be smoking," Britton added.

Rooney was recently spotted smoking both during a holiday in Las Vegas and then at the weekend outside Manchester's Panacea bar during a party night that went on beyond 5 a.m. (ANI)

Source: Web Search

Tea scoreboard: India vs Sri Lanka, Third Test, Day 2

Published>Wed, Aug 04 10 03:48 PM

Colombo, Aug 4 (IANS) Scoreboard at tea on the second day of the third cricket Test between Sri Lanka and India here Wednesday.

Sri Lanka 1st innings (overnight 293/4)

Tharanga Paranavitana c Dhoni b Sharma 8

Tillekaratne Dilshan run out (Vijay/Dhoni) 41

Kumar Sangakkara c Sehwag b Ojha 75

Mahela Jayawardene lbw Ojha 56

Thilan Samaraweera not out 137

Angelo Mathews lbw b Ojha 45

Prasanna Jayawardene lbw b Ojha 9

Suraj Randiv c Dravid b Sehwag 8

Lasith Malinga c & b Mishra 4

Ajantha Mendis c Raina b Sharma 3

Chanaka Welegedara c Dhoni b Sharma 4

Extras (b 8, lb 4, w 7, nb 16) 35

Total (all out in 138 overs) 425

Fall of wickets: 1-15 (Paranavitana, 3.6 overs), 2-102 (Dilshan, 24.3), 3-157 (Sangakkara, 42.4), 4-241 (Mahela Jayawardene, 72.6), 5-330 (Mathews, 100.3), 6-359 (P Jayawardene, 112.5), 7-381 (Randiv, 122.6), 8-386 (Malinga, 123.5), 9-421 (Mendis, 137.3), 10-425 (Welegedara, 137.6)

Bowling

Abhimanyu Mithun 22 2 78 0

Ishant Sharma 23 6 72 3

Amit Mishra 42 3 140 1

Pragyan Ojha 46 10 115 4

Virender Sehwag 5 0 8 1

India 1st innings

Murali Vijay batting 6

Virender Sehwag batting 21

Extras (nb 1) 1

Total (for no loss in seven overs) 28

Bowling

Lasith Malinga 4 1 8 0

Chanaka Welegedara 3 0 20 0

Source: Web Search

CAB joint secretary Arun Mitra is no more

Wed, Aug 04 10 03:38 PM

Kolkata, Aug 4 (PTI) Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) joint secretary Arun Mitra died today of a heart attack while on way to his factory. He was 72 years old and is survived by wife Bithi and only daughter Swagata. Mitra was known for his close association with the Ganguly family. According to his nephew Bhaskar Chanda, he died before he could be taken to a private nursing home in Beliaghata. "I was travelling in the same car when he had the massive attack on the way from his residence to factory in Chingdighata. He succumbed there only, though we took him to the nursing home," his nephew told PTI. Mitra''s body will be brought to CAB in the evening to pay the last homage, joint secretary Biswarup Dey said. A strapping 6 feet 4 inches tall, Mitra''s association with Bengal cricket was 32 years oldeven before the Ganguly brothers -- Snehashish and Sourav -- picked up the willow. Mitra was a close friend of Sourav''s father Chandidas and played a huge role in shaping the career of the most successful Indian captain. Sourav''s elder brother Snehashish, however, is yet to convey the news to his father who has not been keeping well. "He will be deeply sad... I am yet to tell him," the elder Ganguly told PTI. Remembering his contribution to Bengal cricket, Snehashish said, "For more than three decades he has served Bengal cricket. "I remember of seeing him when as a kid, I used to go to CAB holding dad''s hands. He was so affable among us. His contribution to Bengal cricket is immense," he said. Away in Delhi, Sourav, however could not be contacted. Mitra, who represented Belgachia United, has held several posts in CAB including team manager, selection committee chairman and was elected uncontested for a third term as joint-secretary.

Source: Published>