Pak players eye IPL participation

LAHORE: Top Pakistani cricketers have started to campaign for another stint at the Indian Premier League after the lucrative T20 tournament was moved out of India.Sources close to the players said that although IPL chairman Lalit Modi has ruled out the possibility of Pakistani players’ participation in this year’s edition of the league, the players are lobbying for participation.Pakistani government barred the players from participating in the IPL following security concerns in the wake of terror attacks in Mumbai. The Kolkata Knight Riders had released its players Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Hafeez and Salman Butt but Umar Gul was kept by the franchise run by Bollywood star Shah Rukh Khan.

Australia keep spin option open for Ashes

JOHANNESBURG: Ricky Ponting has brushed off the idea that Australia could enter the Ashes without a specialist spinner after their spin cycle washed up further damage to their stocks during the tour of South Africa.Australia have now used seven specialist spinners in Tests since the beginning of 2008 and are none the wiser about who should be their frontline option heading to England this year. Nathan Hauritz looms as the most likely candidate after solid if not spectacular performances in the home Test summer. Hauritz was overlooked for the Cape Town Test as the Australians gave the legspinner Bryce McGain an opportunity but it was an inauspicious debut for McGain, whose figures of 0 for 149 from 18 overs left him with an inflated economy-rate of 8.27. Adding to the hurt for McGain was the fact that the part-timer Simon Katich came on late in the South African innings and picked up 2 for 9 from three overs after he had also collected three wickets in Durban. The batsman Marcus North also had success with the ball in South Africa with his off-spinners, and Michael Clarke is another handy option but Ponting said he could not envisage relying on a combination of part-timers to fill the spin role in England. But the question is who to take. Stuart MacGill and Brad Hogg have both retired in the past 14 months and their initial replacement, Beau Casson, played a Test in the West Indies only to be dropped from the Australia and New South Wales sides. Cameron White played in India but it was a confusing selection as he is a batting all-rounder whose spin is secondary. Jason Krejza collected 12 wickets on debut in Nagpur only to be pounded out of the attack by the South Africans in Perth, although he is likely to have jumped McGain in the queue for an Ashes ticket after the outcome in South Africa. Ponting said regardless of which spinner was chosen he would be also inclined to hand the ball to Katich more often following his success in South Africa. “His (Katich) back seized up on him in the warm-up on Sunday, so when it’s one of your opening batsman and you’re 400 runs behind going into the second innings you’ve got to be a bit careful how much you use him. “What I do know with him is that when he bowls well he’s actually got some good wicket-taking balls and I think we’ve seen that in the last few games. If his body is holding up all right then I will definitely be inclined to use him in coming matches.” Katich rarely bowls in the nets and he was clearly in discomfort as he batted on the fourth day in Cape Town, where the previous afternoon he had sent down only three overs. Ponting was criticised for not introducing Katich until the 150th over, when the match had all but slipped away, but he said it was important that he gave McGain a decent chance to prove himself.McGain and Katich will both fly home this week and won’t have any first-class cricket before the Ashes. Hauritz is likely to get some opportunities in the one-day series, which begins in Durban on April 3, in a squad that also features the spinning all-rounder White.

Retired Steve Bucknor praised

ISLAMABAD: Former Pakistan captain Inzamam-ul-Haq praised the consistency and example set by Steve Bucknor on Monday after cricket’s most seasoned umpire stood in his 128th and last Test — South Africa’s innings win over top-ranked Australia in Cape Town.“It was an absolute privilege to play in matches he umpired,” Inzamam said. “I always respected his decision-making, man-management skills and above all, his humble and friendly attitude.”Inzamam retired from international cricket in 2007 after scoring 8,820 runs in 120 Test matches and 11,739 from 378 One-day Internationals. “I first met Steve during the 1992 World Cup in Australia and New Zealand and it was the time when I was trying to cement my place in that multi-talented Pakistan team,” Inzamam said in a statement released by the International Cricket Council.“The journey since then with Steve has been fabulous and the more he stood in our matches the better I got to know him.” Inzamam hoped that 62-year-old West Indian would pass on his experience to the up-and-coming umpires. “I also know he was an inspiration to many young umpires who took up umpiring with him as their role model,” he said.“I sincerely hope he keeps his association with this great game and passes on his rich experience and knowledge to the umpires and continues to play the mentor’s role.” Bucknor is the most experienced umpire to date in Test cricket, with 29 more Test matches than South Africa’s Rudi Koertzen. Koertzen is the leading umpire in ODIs with 195 compared with Bucknor’s 179.Bucknor has been umpiring at international level since March 1989 when he took charge of the One-day International between the West Indies and India at the Antigua Recreation Ground. His first Test, between the same opponents, in his native Jamaica, started just over a month later, on April 28.Since then Bucknor has umpired five consecutive World Cup finals since 1992. Bucknor lingered briefly in the middle of the ground to pray and then embarked on a final lap of the ground at Cape Town when South Africa defeated Australia in the third Test on Sunday.Since then, administrators, colleagues and former players have all paid tribute to Bucknor. Former West Indies captain and coach Clive Lloyd described Bucknor as an honest and dedicated umpire. “Things that come to mind about him are his honesty and hard-working attitude,” said Lloyd. Bucknor was a high school teacher and a qualified football referee before becoming part of the ICC’s elite umpire’s panel in 1993. The quiet but assured Bucknor had an unblemished umpiring career until confusion over the World Cup tournament regulations led to the 2007 final finishing in the dark at Barbados.He was also removed from the Test series between Australia and India in January last year, at India’s behest, after some contentious decisions in the pivotal second Test at Sydney. Bucknor recently lamented that decision by the ICC, saying his ratio of correct calls was still very high in the match.Bucknor’s colleague Koertzen said it would be tough to fill the gap on the ICC’s elite panel of umpires. “It is a huge loss for us as a panel with him leaving,” Koertzen said. “It was the same when David Shepherd left too, you just can’t make up for experience. I have the utmost respect for Steve.”

Three India eves in WWC ‘Dream Team’

SYDNEY: Three Indians, including former captain Mithali Raj, figured in the team of the tournament of the ICC Women’s World Cup announced on Monday.Fast bowler Amita Sharma and wrist spinner Priyanka Roy were the other two Indians who found place in the World XI team. Skipper of the Cup-winning English side and ICC Women’s Player of the Year in 2008, Charlotte Edwards was named captain of the 12-woman world team.Five of the team are from champion England while losing finalist New Zealand has provided three, including the 12th woman. Third-placed India has three and fourth-placed Australia has one representation.The world team was selected by a specially assembled panel of experts, headed by former Australia captain Belinda Clark, which had also picked the player of the tournament.The side includes five specialist batters — Suzie Bates, Shelley Nitschke, Claire Taylor, Mithali Raj and Charlotte Edwards — an all-rounder in Kate Pulford while Sarah Taylor has been picked as wicketkeeper/batter.The four bowlers include wrist spinner Priyanka Roy and off-spinner Laura Marsh and fast bowlers Katherine Brunt and Amita Sharma. The players who made the team will be presented with commemorative caps to mark their selection.Announcing the side, Belinda Clark, who is the most successful batter in women’s ODIs with 4,844 runs, said, “It has been a very difficult decision to select the team as there were some very strong performances throughout the event.”Team of the Tournament ICC Women’s World Cup 2009: Suzie Bates (New Zealand), Shelley Nitschke (Australia) Claire Taylor (England), Mithali Raj (India), Charlotte Edwards (England, captain), Kate Pulford (New Zealand), Sarah Taylor (England, wicket-keeper), Amita Sharma (India), Katherine Brunt (England), Priyanka Roy (India), Laura Marsh (England), 12th woman: Sophie Devine (New Zealand).

Games safe despite venue switch: India

NEW DELHI: The decision to move cricket’s Indian Premier League out of the country due to security concerns will not affect the 2010 Commonwealth Games, a top sports official said on Monday.“We are not worried about security for the Games,” Indian Olympic Association secretary general Randhir Singh told reporters.“Moving the IPL out of India does not reflect any security worries as far as other sports events are concerned, especially the Commonwealth Games, which we will host in New Delhi.“The government has said it did not want to burden security forces at the time of the elections. There will be no such issues for the Games next year.”The Commonwealth Games are due to be held in the Indian capital from October 3-14 next year.

PCB to contact BCCI on IPL status

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board has said it would contact its Indian counterparts and seek advice from its government on the status of the national players’ chances of playing in the Indian Premier League which will now be staged in South Africa or England.PCB chairman Ijaz Butt said there were lot of issues to be cleared up regarding the participation of Pakistani players in the IPL which was shifted from India on Sunday as it clashed with the Indian general elections.“I will be talking to the Indian board president and also our government. I am sure some of the players would now like to play in the IPL if possible,” Butt said. Butt said he was not in a position to say if the government would reconsider its stance on allowing players to appear in the IPL now.“But if some players are interested in playing in the IPL and if their commitments don’t clash with our national team commitments I will talk to the relevant authorities,” Butt said. The former Test player described the shifting of the IPL from India as unfortunate and said security issues and fears were playing havoc with cricket in the region. Pakistan has suffered the most because of the security situation in the country in the last few years with chances of international teams now touring the country dim after the terror attack on the Sri Lankan team in Lahore this month by suspected militants.

Pakistan may name ODI squad after April 1

KARACHI: Pakistan are likely to name their 15-man squad for the one-day series against Australia after the conclusion of the National One-day Championship on April 1.National coach Intikhab Alam told this correspondent on Monday that after mutual consent it has been more or less decided that the selectors will wait till the end of the one-day spectacle before naming the squad for the ODI series to be played in Dubai and Abu Dhabi from April 22-May 7. Pakistan will play five One-day Internationals and Twenty20 game against the world champions. Intikhab said that the team management will give its input on the line-up for the series after following the performance of the players in the ongoing domestic event.“It is better to wait for a few days and see how the players perform in the domestic tournament before naming the national team,” said Intikhab. Meanwhile, chief selector Abdul Qadir has said that he would meet Ijaz Butt, the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman, in Lahore on Tuesday (today) before taking a final decision in this regard.Qadir also said that pacer Shoaib Akhtar can make a return to Pakistan duty if he proves his fitness in the next few days. He said the selectors had been keeping an eye on Shoaib’s performance to decide whether he could be brought back into the team for the one-dayers against Australia. Qadir pointed out that Shoaib recently gave a good showing in a one-day game which he said was a good sign.