A day after being banned by the PCB for five years, Shoaib Akhtar lashed out at the decision, claiming the board had targeted him for special treatment.”I have been victimised, I have been pinpoint targeted,” Shoaib said at a packed and heated press conference in Islamabad. “I should be told what I did and when I violated discipline. I am what I am because of Pakistan but my punishment is also because I am Pakistani. Banning a guy who played for his country with high fever is wrong.”As had been widely expected, moves to overturn the ban are already underway. The newly-elected prime minister, Yousuf Raza Gillani has told the board chief Nasim Ashraf to review the case again. Hanif Abbasi, a member of parliament from Shoaib’s constituency, has also promised to bring up the matter in the national assembly.And Shoaib himself was typically bullish, warning that he would go to great lengths to contest the ban. “I will not go down without a fight. Even my doping case was mishandled,” he said. “I will appeal, as is my right. If that fails I will go to court, if that fails then I will go to the Supreme Court.”It is unlikely that the case will go that far. The PCB is likely, in coming days, to come under increasing pressure from a variety of political sources to overturn the decision, most likely when Shoaib appeals to the board itself. Ashraf is a close associate of President Musharraf (patron of the PCB), whose various political opponents are now in power following general elections in February. Talk of an administrative change has already begun.Shoaib was hauled up for comments he made after not being offered a contract by the PCB, in which he lashed out at domestic tournaments, pitches and the administration in general. Complicating the matter was the fact that he was on a two-year probation after hitting team-mate Mohammad Asif with a bat before the World Twenty20 last year, an act which also saw him banned for 13 matches and fined over US$50,000. The board had insisted at the time that any further breach would result in an automatic life ban.Shoaib has, of course, escaped bans in the past, most notoriously when a two-year ban for doping was controversially overturned on appeal in December 2006.
Brian Lara, Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath and “more big names to follow” are being linked to a breakaway Twenty20 competition taking place in India this October, according to the latest issue of Spin magazine. There is expected to be a formal announcement on the same on May 14.Both McGrath, the former Australia fast bowler and Lara, West Indies’ former captain, announced their retirement from cricket after last month’s World Cup. Warne retired from international cricket earlier this year following Australia’s 5-0 trouncing of England in the Ashes, but it appears the trio’s playing days are not quite finished.The series, called the Indian Cricket League (ICL) was announced in April by Subhash Chandra, who heads Essel Group – the owners of Zee TV who will broadcast the tournament, though it is only now that names as high-profile (and retired) as Warne are being mentioned. Equally, confirmation of the players’ involvement has yet to be made from their respective agents.The tournament is rumoured to take place mere weeks after the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship in September, held in South Africa.
England’s selectors will have to wait until the end of the week before finding out whether Steve Harmison will be fit for the second Test which starts at Edgbaston in eight days.Harmison will play for Durham against Nottinghamshire at Trent Bridge today, but Duncan Fletcher, England’s coach, has made it clear that he will not rush him back from his shin injury.”Hopefully he’ll be fit for the next Test but we just have to be careful about his fitness,” said Fletcher. “There is a lot of cricket ahead and if we rush him and there is a problem we’re only going to have to rest him again later on. He’s only played one one-day game so far after two months off, so we will have to see how fit he is. There’s a good chance he’ll be called up into the squad and we will analyse him, but he’s only got one four-day game to get himself right.”Unless England go with an all-seam attack, Harmison’s return will mean that either Sajid Mahmood or Liam Plunkett misses out. Fletcher was keen to praise both. “I thought Plunkett bowled really well after his first spell, when he was probably nervous,” he said. “Mahmood showed us he had raw pace, which is what we’re looking for. He reverse-swung it and gives the attack a bit of balance if players like Simon Jones aren’t there.”
Phil Goff: ‘The Zimbabwe cricket team should not anticipate that it will be granted entry into New Zealand’
New Zealand may ban a planned tour by the Zimbabwe cricket team scheduled for December because of “appalling abuses of human rights” perpetrated by Robert Mugabe’s government, Phil Goff, the country’s foreign minister, has stated.”The Zimbabwe cricket team should not anticipate that it will be granted entry into New Zealand,” Goff said in a statement. “The imposition of a ban on the team would send a strong message to the Mugabe regime that New Zealanders and their government abhor the actions it is taking against its people.”Mugabe’s government has been pulling down thousands of homes and businesses, leaving hundreds of thousands homeless in winter, according to the United Nations. The destruction targeting mostly poor areas has been condemned worlwide and follows March elections described as a sham by foreign governments. Goff said he had been advised Thursday of the planned tour by Zimbabwe and he had not yet had a chance to discuss it with the cabinet or get legal advice.”However, given the current appalling abuses of human rights and relentless trend of the Zimbabwe government towards a dictatorship, the New Zealand government would not welcome a visit from a side representing Zimbabwe at this time.” New Zealand Cricket officials were not available for comment. Martin Snedden, the NZC chief executive, and Sir John Anderson, the chairman, were on their way to London for the ICC annual meeting.Earlier, Goff said the government had no legal way of stopping the scheduled tour by the New Zealand cricket team to Zimbabwe in August. Full strength Test and one-day squads for the tour were announced by NZC on Wednesday.”Only a dictatorial, autocratic regime can stop New Zealanders from leaving their own country,” Goff explained. “That’s exactly what we’re protesting about in terms of what Mugabe is doing.”Nevertheless, the government would prefer the tour not take place but NZC said that its players had unanimously agreed to embark on the five-week tour after an independent security report gave the all clear. Snedden told reporters that the team would be liable for a fine of more than $2 mllion under ICC rules if it pulled out.
The International Cricket Council has delivered a rebuff to Kenya’s hopes of receiving Test status, telling them that they "must accelerate the pace of reform within Kenyan cricket before seriously considering applying".The announcement followed two days of meetings between the ICC and the Kenyan Cricket Association in Nairobi as part of the ICC’s African leg of its visit to member countries.Ehsan Mani, the ICC’s president, explained that the jump from ODI to Test status was huge and that the KCA needs to ensure that it has solid foundations in place before seeking to make the move."After Kenya’s strong showing in the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003, the ICC and the KCA mapped out a series of milestones that need to be passed before any consideration could be given to an application for Test status,” he said. “The ICC has committed $US 1 million through to 2005 to make this happen. Over the past two days we have been able to see first hand how the KCA is progressing in achieving these objectives. While things are moving forward, the pace of progress is too slow. Some deadlines have been missed and we have underlined the need for the KCA to commit to and deliver against the agreed plan.”The KCA has many critics within the country, and has been accused of not doing enough to promote cricket in Kenya, and of allowing the board’s finances to become a mess.The KCA complained that it was not being given enough one-day cricket to help them develop, and this was acknowledged by Mani. “All ICC Full Members have previously committed to provide regular international competition for Kenya but, for whatever reason, this has not happened,” he said. “The ICC and the KCA both recognise the importance of this type of competition for Kenyan cricket and we will be working together to try and put in place a more regular international calendar for the Kenyan team.”
The International Cricket Council has confirmed that England’s World Cup opener against Zimbabwe will not go ahead in Harare.The ICC’s chief executive, Malcolm Speed, has told a Cape Town media briefing that the fixture had been cancelled by the ICC after the England and Wales Cricket Board decided not to fulfil it.”The ECB has told us they will not play match in Harare on Thursday,” saidSpeed. “The ECB cited safety concerns for the players as their reason for notfulfilling that commitment.”The ICC give a direction to the ECB to comply and play the match in Zimbabwe. The ECB said today that it does not believe that direction is reasonable. Accordingly the ICC has moved to cancel the match which is scheduled forThursday. The ICC is disappointed that the match will not go ahead.”Speed added that the ICC’s technical committee would consider the issue ofpoints from the match.”The ECB has asked the ICC to consider relocating the match to a venueoutside Zimbabwe at a later date. That process won’t be something that will be resolved today.”The ECB has asked the technical committee to consider new evidence that has come to light since the appeal to Justice Sachs last week. I certainly would not assume that the match will be relocated.”The ECB responded at a separate media briefing, where chairman David Morgansaid: “This has not been a sordid squabble about money. We are concerned for the cricket fraternity in Zimbabwe and particularly those who would have been spectators at the match on the 13th.”Throughout this process we have been trying desperately to keep the world ofcricket united and are mindful of our responsibility in this regard. Although this process been lengthy we have not dithered or been guilty of procrastination.””The safety and security of our players and their families has been a matter of paramount importance.”The ECB’s chief executive, Tim Lamb, added: “We had hoped the the ICC would, as the ECB has done, put the interests of players and officials first.”The ECB considers that the well-being of its players would be endangered if it compelled them to play in Harare in these circumstances. There are no winners in this situation.”The ECB asked for the game to be moved out of Zimbabwe last week, citing fears over player safety. The ICC turned the request down, and despite a final appeal to independent judge Albie Sachs, their decision stood.Earlier today England’s players were urged to concentrate on playing cricket while negotiations continue. The team met ECB chairman David Morgan this morning, and were told that he and ECB officials would take care of all non-cricketing matters.Plainly there are further intensive negotiations in prospect before the matter is resolved, if indeed resolution is possible.
Six days into the competition and still Canada found a way to breathe fresh life into this ICC Trophy tournament with an extraordinary two wicket victory over the United Arab Emirates today. Even as Scotland reaffirmed its status as tournament favourite and glamour team Uganda powered its way to another sensational victory, it was the Canadians’ thrilling win which stood out as the day’s main highlight.Following two successive losses in Group 1A, the Canadians bowled with great purpose during the morning session to contain the UAE to a total of 228/7 on a Toronto Cricket Skating and Curling Club pitch that offered even bounce and pace for most of the day.It then appeared that the hosts were poised to record a regulation win as they worked their way toward a score of 183/3 in reply. But a bad mix up resulted in the needless run out of top scorer Ian Billcliff (63) at that point and the wheels suddenly began to fall off the innings.Another run out and the accurate bowling of Mohammad Tauqeer (3/38) and Khuram Khan (1/36) contrived to leave the Canadians requiring 11 runs off the final eight deliveries with only two wickets in hand. Two big strokes from Davis Joseph (10*) helped reduce the odds but the match was still hanging in the balance by the time its fate was finally settled in astounding style four deliveries into the final over.With four runs still needed, Joseph hammered a Khan delivery to long off, and ran two quickly before the return came back. His heart was set on the third and he turned and raced toward the bowler’s end. But partner Ashish Bagai (13*) failed to respond and the pair were joined, stranded close to 22 yards away from where one of them needed to be. By all rights, a comfortable run out should have been effected but a wild throw eluded the wicketkeeper as Bagai madly scrambled back.In the by-now almost complete confusion, Joseph had also headed back towards the striker’s end. But, as the fieldsmen again failed to take advantage of the madness of the running, there was by now a chance for Bagai to beat a quick path to the bowler’s end once more to somehow scramble a fourth and winning run.If predictability is the enemy of good sport, this match had friends in all the right places.Group leader Scotland set up its thumping ten wicket win over Singapore at Malton with another excellent bowling performance. The Scots permitted themselves the luxury of resting arguably their two best pacemen in John Blain and Asim Butt yet still encountered few problems in dismissing the Singaporeans for 114. One of the replacement players, Keith Sheridan (4/13), grasped his chance with both hands, bowling with remorseless accuracy as he cut a swathe through the middle order.Promoted to roles as opening batsmen, Douglas Lockhart (47) and Craig Wright (58) then completed the job with a brisk stand that took their team just beyond the scheduled halfway point of its innings.The Scots stay firmly entrenched at the head of Group 1A, unbeaten from four games. Their last remaining preliminary round match – against fellow competition powerhouse, the Netherlands, on Thursday – will be the most eagerly awaited game of the entire tournament to date.In a team laden with charismatic players, Ugandan all-rounder Junior Kwebiha (109*) has been a revelation throughout the event. Today, he stepped up the level of his performance even further by scoring a brilliant unbeaten century and occupying the central role in an extraordinary end-of-innings acceleration. As many as 166 runs were clubbed from the final fifteen overs of Uganda’s innings – 121 of them from the last nine – as it exploded to a tally of 303/5 that simply took the match beyond Argentina’s reach.Stylish opener Charles Lwanga (58) played a classy innings full of attractive strokes and, following his sizzling 54-ball century earlier in the tournament, pinch hitter Kenneth Kamyuka (36) chipped in to perform another very useful role from the fifteen deliveries that he faced. The power, not to mention the sheer distance, of some of the hitting had to be seen to be believed.Kwebiha (2/31) then returned to capture two wickets with his medium pace in the midst of a comparatively disappointing reply from the Argentinians. Guillermo Kirschbaum (31) continued to bat well but the extent of the task of having to score at better than a run a ball for the entire innings appeared to weigh heavily on the minds of almost all of the batsmen. The South Americans’ cause was not helped either by the absence of Martin Cortabarria, who had broken a finger while wicketkeeping and was forced to see out the day in hospital.Although the Ugandans had entered the match between the two previously unbeaten Group 2A teams as hot favourites, they could barely have been more impressive. Although they still have two preliminary matches left to play (against France and Israel), they now look near-certainties to head their group and to move into the next phase of the competition. It would take a serious reversal of form for them to be denied.Denmark meanwhile tightened its hold on the leadership of Group 1B with a convincing six wicket victory over Papua New Guinea at Sunnybrook.Just a day after claiming a hat-trick to skittle the United States, Soren Vestergaard (2/17) produced another excellent display to join Thomas Hansen (2/14) in ruining the Papua New Guinean top order. Lars Andersen (5/24) then went to work on the middle and lower order batsmen to limit the total to a paltry 92, only Jamie Brazier (26) and Aukuma Noka (23) looking comfortable with the bat.For a short period in the early afternoon, the appearance of thick grey clouds and the occasional spot of rain threatened to halt proceedings. In seeking to put an end to the game quickly, the Dutchmen lost four early wickets, opening bowler Tuku Raka (3/21) returning his best figures of the tournament as he applied the screws to the early scoring rate with excellent line and length.As the prospects of any kind of serious rain-enforced interruption receded, though, so did the Papua New Guinean hopes of preventing the match from reaching a very early finish. The hard-hitting Aftab Ahmed (39*) and Mickey Lund (22*) joined in a quickfire half-century partnership for the fifth wicket that ended the contest with more than twenty-three overs still remaining.Rohan Alexander (110*) starred as the United States of America recorded a 49-run win over Hong Kong at Maple Leaf. With partner Dave Wallace (68), Alexander dispirited the Hong Kong attack with an opening partnership of 153 that went a long way to settling the outcome of the match. Tabarak Dar (4/34) grabbed a series of late wickets but several dropped catches and misfields allowed the total to reach 254/8.The Hong Kong side made a reasonable fist of the chase, but the task of scoring at better than five runs per over against a disciplined attack proved too challenging. Javid Nasir (4/46) stood out with the ball.In defeating East and Central Africa by four wickets and with 37 deliveries to spare, Malaysia also completed a solid win.Although the task of overhauling the score ultimately proved more challenging than expected, the Malaysian bowlers effectively set up the win by holding the Africans to a score of only 140. Rohan Suppiah (3/20) generated an outstanding ten over spell to inflict much of the damage.Well contained by Shamsher Madhani (2/22) and Arif Paliwalla (2/22), the Malaysians fell to 33/4 early in the afternoon. But an excellent innings from Rohan Selvaratnam (48*) and fine support from Suresh Navaratnam (34) and Muniandy Krishnamurthi (15*) was enough to tilt the balance decisively back in the Malaysians’ direction.
According to The Sun, Old Firm rivals Celtic and Rangers are battling it out for the signature of Liverpool youngster Harry Wilson. The 21-year-old will be looking to build upon a fine loan spell at Hull City last term in a bid to continue his development, and were Steven Gerrard’s Gers to beat the Bhoys to the winger’s signature, they would draw first blood in the Scottish Premiership title race.
The Breakdown
Ultimately, the 21-year-old came up through the ranks at Anfield but has only gone on to play once for the senior side, which came back in January 2017 in their narrow 1-0 success over Plymouth Argyle in an FA Cup third round replay.
Since then, the Wales international has enjoyed a decent loan spell at Championship side Hull City to further underline his credentials, with Wilson netting seven goals and laying on four assists in 13 league games to help Nigel Adkins’ side avoid the drop.
Thus, there is no surprise that the likes of Rangers and Celtic are eyeing up a move for the talented youngster, but if Gerrard’s men were to beat Brendan Rodgers’ side to his signature, it would be a clear statement of intent from the Gers that they are ready to challenge the Bhoys.
Ultimately, beating Celtic to a signing would further underline the sort of impact Gerrard’s arrival as manager could have on the Light Blues, as it’s arguable that his arrival as manager will open their doors to a much wider range of possible additions.
And not least young players at Liverpool who may have worked with him in the past, and have seen the 38-year-old become a legend at Anfield during his professional career – the opportunity to play for him may be too good to turn down.
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But winning the race for Wilson would suggest that Rangers are able to compete with Rodgers’ men in the transfer window, and as such could strike a damaging blow to the defending champions ahead of the 2018/19 Scottish Premiership campaign.
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Thus, were Rangers to indeed fend off their bitter rivals for the £900,000-rated sensation (as per Transfermarkt), they could draw first blood in the title race for the upcoming season.
Centrals and Northerns both completed wins inside three-days in a low-scoring first round of this year’s much-postponed Logan Cup.In Mutari, Northerns beat defending champions Easterns by 65 runs thanks to a good all-round effort from Ray Price. He finished with match figures of 9 for 51 and also chipped in with useful runs. On a slow and low pitch, Brendan Taylor provided the anchor in Northerns’ first innings with a solid 62 while Shingi Masakadza, Hamilton’s young brother who is making a return to cricket from football, and fellow seamer Silent Mujaji, bagged three wickets each.Easterns were rather below par with little of note other than Hamilton Masakadza’s 60 and opening batsman Johnson Marumisa’s 52, conceding a first-innings lead of 62. Northerns also struggled when batting again, with offspinner Timycen Maruma taking a career-best 7 for 82. Set 219 to win, Easterns were sunk by the spin pairing of Price (5 for 39) and Graeme Cremer (3 for 42).In Kwekwe, the match also ended in three days with hosts Centrals beating Westerns by seven wickets, Tafadzwa Ngulube making the only hundred of the round with 111 in Westerns’ first innings of 187.After stinging criticism in a leading state-run newspaper last weekend, you might have thought that Zimbabwe Cricket’s bloated media department would have pulled out all the stops to get scorecards to the media – all the more so as last season it took testy intervention from the ICC to get cards for matches several months after the conclusion of the competition.Sadly, it was pretty much business as usual with the Logan Cup being conducted in the kind of secrecy that surrounds the outcome of the presidential election. Not even the official ZC website could manage reports or cards. A day after the conclusion of the two matches the site still led with a preview of the games.
Former captain Rameez Raja backed the appointment of young Shoaib Malik as Pakistan’s captain but stressed that he needs a strong system and support from all corners to succeed.Malik, on Thursday, became the 25th man to captain Pakistan after Inzamam-il-Haq had decided to resign following a dreadful World Cup campaign that saw them crash out in the group stages.”On one side it is a good decision because he is gutsy and a team player but he can be emotional and temperamental because he has not been tested at the top level so he needs a strong system for support,” Raja told AFP.”I am a bit guarded as well, it’s young leadership but it can only be good if you strengthen the system which must assure the young talent is not taken hostage by senior players,” he added.Malik’s selection at the helm came about after Inzamam’s deputy of two years, Younis Khan, turned down the board’s offer to take on the team’s captaincy and other senior players like Mohammad Yousuf, Abdul Razzak and Shahid Afridi were over-looked for various reasons.”It is a right decision because every team is now looking four years ahead to give it a refreshing look and for me it is a chance worth taking and its now up to Malik to show his capabilities,” said Raja.Malik’s first assignment as captain will be in next month’s Abu Dhabi series against Sri Lanka which starts on May 9. The team for that tournament will be announced by the recently-appointed selection committee on May 6.