Yousuf set for England but unlikely to play 2nd Test

Tue, Aug 03 10 01:51 PM

Karachi, Aug 3 (PTI) Senior batsman Muhammad Yousuf is expected to join Pakistan''s cricket team in England tomorrow but is unlikely to play in the second Test starting on Friday. "Yousuf has a visit visa on which he can''t play cricket in the United Kingdom. We have applied for a work permit visa and hopefully he will be issued the fresh visa on Tuesday," a PCB official said. "If he gets the visa on time we will put him on the first available flight to London on Wednesday," the official said. But he admitted that Yousuf is unlikely to be played directly in the second Test starting in Edgbaston from Friday. "In all probability he will be given a chance to practice for a few days and also play a tour match before the third Test that begins on August 19," the official said. Yousuf, a former Pakistan captain, kept a low profile yesterday avoiding speaking to the media. The senior batsman, who has played 88 Tests and 283 one-day internationals, was called back from retirement to join the team after Pakistan lost the first Test against England by a whopping 354 runs in Nottingham. Pakistan was bowled out for 80 runs in their second innings in that match. Meanwhile Pakistan tour manager Yawar Saeed has rubbished reports that captain Salman Butt and head coach Waqar Younis were not taken into confidence regarding Yousuf''s call-up. "This is totally untrue all decisions taken after the first Test were taken after taking Butt and Waqar into confidence. Chairman of PCB Ijaz Butt spoke to the touring selection committee consisting of Salman, Waqar and myself we all agreed on Yousuf and Raza''s inclusion and Danish Kaneria''s omission from the squad," Yawar told a television channel. PTI COR PM

Source: Published>

Technical teams moved to CWG venues: Bhanot

Published>Tue, Aug 03 10 01:37 PM

New Delhi, August 03 (ANI): Secretary General of the Commonwealth Games Organising Committee (CGOC) Lalit Bhanot in New Delhi on Monday said that the designated technical teams for the Games have been shifted to the respective games stadia in New Delhi and the work on overlays has commenced. He noted that the things were going as scheduled and asserted there was no delay. In context to approaching deadline, he confidently said that they are ready to host the games. There has been a constant debate from politicians and the general public on the preparations of the CWG over the alleged poor quality of work.

Source: Web Search

Anderson restoring dying art of swing bowling in cricket: Moores

Published>Tue, Aug 03 10 01:07 PM

London, Aug 3(ANI): Former England coach Peter Moores has said that fast bowler James Anderson is restoring one of cricket's dying arts - swing bowling.

Moores reckons that Anderson's ability to deceive batsmen by swinging the ball both ways makes him unique these days.

The 28-year-old returned stunning figures of 11-71 as England thrashed Pakistan by 354 runs in the first Test at Trent Bridge.

"The key is he can swing the ball both ways to left and right-handers," The Sun quoted Moores, as saying.Swing bowling has been a bit of a dying art for the last 10 years or so. With Jimmy, there isn't any discernable change of action when he swings the ball the other way," he added.

He also believes that as England puts together a bowling attack to take on the world, Anderson is an inspiration for the team's younger bowlers.

"Jimmy is a mature performer now and, with Stuart Broad and Steve Finn, England look to have a good pace attack," he added. (ANI)

Source: Web Search

BSP members raise alleged diversion of SC/ST funds for CWG

Tue, Aug 03 10 12:57 PM

New Delhi, Aug 3 (PTI) BSP today disrupted proceedings in the Lok Sabha over alleged diversion of about Rs 750 crore, earmarked as special component for the development of SC/ST, for Commonwealth Games. BSP wanted a debate on the matter and had given a notice to Speaker Meira Kumar for the same. Parliamentary Affairs Minister P K Bansal refuted the charges saying no diversion of funds has taken place and assured the BSP members that he would look into it. Even as the Speaker gave an assurance that she would decide on the notice today, the BSP members led by Dara Singh Chauhan staged a walkout. Chauhan alleged that as much as Rs 72,000 crore have been diverted in the name of Commonwealth Games over the last five years and termed it as gross irregularities in the name of games.

Source: Published>

Lankans make a strong start after initial jolt

Tue, Aug 03 10 12:51 PM

Colombo, Aug 3 (PTI) India dismissed both the openers in the first session even as Sri Lanka faired decently to reach 102 for two at lunch on the opening day of the third and final cricket Test here today. Tillakaratne Dilshan (41) was run out at the stroke of lunch while Tharanga Paranavitana (8) became a victim of young pacer Ishant Sharma early in the innings. Skipper Kumar Sangakkara, dropped on 23, was batting on 48 and will resume the innings with a new partner at P Sara Oval. It could have been different for India had Suresh Raina, proffered over Yuvraj Singh, not dropped Sangakkara off Abimanyu Mithun. The Karnataka pacer, bowling around the wicket, induced an edge which flew in the slip cordon straight to second slip VVS Laxman but Raina lunged on the chance from the left and in utter confusion the opportunity was lost. The young Indian pace duo did a much better job, with the track being a little helpful in morning conditions. Ishant bowled fast, troubled batsmen and got the wicket of Paranavitana, who edged one to Dhoni behind the wicket as early as in the fourth over of the innings. Unlike the first two Tests, Ishant and Mithun did succeed initially to contain the batsmen but once the Lankans got their eye in they were at their usual best. Dilshan smashed Ishant for two cracking boundaries and Kumar Sangakkara hit Amit Mishra, who came in for injured Harbhajan Singh, for a four and a six to break the shackles. Together they raised a 87-run stand, which ended with a brilliant piece of work by Murali Vijay in the close fielding position. Dilshan pushed one off Pragyan Ojha and left his crease anticipating that Vijay, at silly point, will not be able to stop the ball. But a full stretched Vijay succeeded in clutching the ball threw it towards Dhoni, who took off the bails in no time and left Dilshan bamboozled. Dilshan hit four fours in his 70-ball knock while Sangakkara faced 65 balls and helped himself with four fours and a six. Earlier, Dhoni lost his third successive toss and India were forced to bowl in batting friendly conditions.

Source: Published>

Federation wants quality stamp for all stadiums

Published>Tue, Aug 03 10 12:23 PM

Alarmed by reports of substandard material being used to construct stadiums, the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF) has sought quality assurances before it takes over venues.

It has written to Organising Committee (OC) chairman Suresh Kalmadi, asking him to seek mandatory guarantees of quality from government agencies.

CGF chief executive Mike Hooper told Mail Today on Monday that the world body was concerned over the Central Vigilance Commission (CVC) report which highlighted the use of poor quality material for building the stadiums.

"The CGF has written to the OC about the reports that have been coming in on the quality of material used for the venues," Hooper said, adding, "The OC must ensure that the government agencies provide a guarantee that the venues are safe and fit for the purpose."

Last week, Sam Ramsamy, the vice-president of the International Swimming Federation (FINA) - who was in the Capital for a test event - had also raised concerns over the "shoddy and inferior quality of work" at the Shyama Prasad Mukherjee swimming complex.

Hooper pointed out that the delay in completion of venues had held up work in many operational areas.

He said he had no knowledge about the financial transactions made by the OC, but admitted that the CVC report had come at a very wrong time.

On Friday, a CVC report revealed that there were large scale procedural violations and almost all organisations executing infrastructure work for the Games had flouted rules in tenders and increased their prices, suggesting that contractors were paid excess amounts.

Stung by the charges of corruption and mounting pressure around him, Kalmadi has convened an executive board meeting of the OC on Thursday.

A little-known UK firm was alleged to have been paid lakhs of pounds for its services during the London leg of the Queen's Baton Relay, which pointed out to various financial irregularities on the part of the OC.

Indian Olympic Association (IOA) secretary general Randhir Singh wrote a letter to Kalmadi on Monday, asking him to call an emergency meeting to discuss the 'grave' issue with all the executive board members.

"The success of the Games should be a bigger concern for us at the moment. Let the Games begin and it will be the athletes and other officials who come here who will decide about the success," Hooper stressed.

He said the CGF's board members will meet in the Capital on August 18 and federation president Mike Fennell will also be present.

Indian Olympic Association (IOA) vice-president and BJP leader VK Malhotra came down heavily on the Delhi government for the corruption and inordinate delays that have marred the buildup to the Games, saying none of the newly-built stadiums seemed ready to host the event.

"It was shocking that despite spending huge amounts of money, most of the stadiums are not ready," Malhotra, who heads the General Association of National Sports Federations and the Archery Association of India, said.

The Delhi BJP held a protest in the city on the issue, demanding a judicial probe into the financial bungling. Hundreds of BJP workers staged a demonstration near Parliament House and shouted anti-government slogans.

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

Source: Web Search

Full-bore shooters cry out for relief

Tue, Aug 03 10 12:17 PM

Chandigarh, Aug. 3 -- It's just 60 days to the Commonwealth Games but Indian shooters don't have the rifles to train for the full-bore event, which is a medal sport in the Games. The absence of rifles has ruled out the possibility of holding coaching camps, which not only translates into distant medal hopes, the hosts' participation too is uncertain. The current mess is despite the country having spent around Rs 40 crore towards constructing a full-bore range at Kadarpur village in Gurgaon. Incidentally, the range suffered damage in the recent showers. "What's the point in spending crores on a full-bore range when we don't even have rifles," asked one of the eight core-group shooters for the event. Their plight can be gauged from the fact that rifles had to be borrowed from foreign competitors during the Commonwealth Shooting Championship. "The government has placed an order for the rifles and we'll be getting them soon. What we are concerned about is training, as the shooters will have to compete in the Games with their rifles," a Sports Ministry official had told HT during the Commonwealth Championship. More than three months have lapsed and the rifles haven't arrived. A source in the Ministry confirmed that an order for the rifles was yet to be placed. "We haven't got the rifles, so forget about training," said Avtar Singh Sethi, working president, National Rifle Association of India (NRAI). "There are two medals at stake in the Commonwealth Games and God only knows if we will get to compete. Being the hosts, it is shameful," said another NRAI official.

To make matters worse, Beret Browden, the Australian coach for big and full-bore, is yet to arrive.

Source: Published>