Brian Westbrook

Latest News Update: espn fantasy football, espin, ew, ring magazine, espn soccer The San Francisco 49ers acted quickly to fill the hole on their running back depth chart, signing Brian Westbrook to a
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Pants on The Ground Favre

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I don’t watch American Idolatry, so I missed the awesome Pants on the Ground audition. I learned about it because America’s Quarterback, Brett Favre, did his.

AmericanIdolHQ says:’American Idol news: Brett Favre, Pants on the Ground and more (Columbus Ledger-Enquirer).

Minnesota Vikings quarterback Brett Farve strayed from his classic two-hands-in-the-air celebration Sunday to a new routine:

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Auction of IPL Season 2 Turn off

this news update by www.apakistannews.com
The D-Day is here! The much awaited auctions for the second season of the high profile Indian Premier League are set to take place in Goa today.

Following Michael Clarke’s last minute pull-out, IPL commissioner Lalit Modi’s announcement that all negotiations with the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) were successfully completed, ensured that the second season won’t be derived of any star-power.

In a press conference on Thursday, Modi also announced that a total of 17 slots were up for Friday’s auction and the franchises have to spend their remaining amount or it would lapse.

Responding to queries on Pakistani players’ participation in the Indian Premiere League, Modi said, “It is now confirm that Pakistan government has denied permission to it’s players from visiting India and hence IPL franchises have the right to suspend or terminate their contracts.”

“The decision in this regard will be purely taken by team owners who have bought these players. However, incase they terminate the contract, franchise would might risk of purchasing the same player at a higher price when they are available.”

Modi said, “Terminating a contract will throw open the slot for the franchise team and they can bid for a new player from the selected pool of 115 players.”

IPL season two would also adopt a stringent anti doping measures assured the commissioner.

Modi on auction

Indian Premier League Chairman Lalit Modi also confirmed that out of 50 players, 17 will be bought in the second IPL auction in Goa tomorrow.

“A total of USD 13.59 million dollar could be spent in the auction,” Modi said.

‘One over eliminator’ to replace ‘Bowl-Out’ rule

Introducing the One Over Eliminator rule, Modi said, “The ICC gave us two options — One Over Eliminator or Bowl-Out and we opted for the Eliminator.”

Final list of players and their base prices in USD:

Australia: Aaron Bird 45,000, Brett Geeves 45,000, Bryce McGain 50,000, Daniel Harris 50,000, Dominic Thornley 50,000, George Bailey 50,000, Jonathan Moss 50,000, Michael Dighton 85,000, Michael Hill 50,000, Phil Jacques 100,000, Shane Harwood 75,000, Shaun Tait 250,000, Steven Smith 75,000 and Stuart Clark 250,000.

Bangladesh: Mashrafe Bin Mortaza 50,000, Mohammed Ashraful 75,000, Shakib Al Hasan 75,000, Tamim Iqbal 50,000.

England: Andrew Flintoff 950,000, Pietersen 1,35,000, Luke Wright 150,000, Owais Shah 150,000, Paul Collingwood 250,000, Ravi Bopara 150,000 and Samit Patel 100,000.

New Zealand: James Franklin 50,000, Jesse Ryder 100,000 and Kyle Mills 150,000.

South Africa: Gulam Bodi 100,000, J P Duminy 300,000, Morne Van Wyk 100,000, Tyron Henderson 100,000 and Yusuf Abdullah 25,000.

Sri Lanka: Chamara Kapugedara 150,000, Kaushalya Weereratne 50,000, Nuwan Kulasekera 100,000 and Thilan Tushara 100,000.

West Indies: Dwayne Smith (To be confirmed), Fidel Edwards 150,000

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New Zealand Beat Australia in 2nd ODI by 6 wickets

this news update by www.breakingalert.com
New Zealand beat Australia by 6 wickets in the second one day match here on Friday with 7 balls remaining.
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Australia slid to their fifth consecutive defeat at home. The home side’s 226 total was a competitive target on a slow pitch but New Zealand paced their innings brilliantly.

The Kiwis started patiently and McCullum (43) was involved in two 40-plus partnerships with Fulton and Taylor (47) to ensure his team didn’t lose early wickets.

Taylor then added 72 with Elliot, but despite his dismissal, New Zealand were always in the hunt. Warner gave good support to Elliot, who made an unbeaten 61, and helped see his team through to a victory and a 2-0 lead.

Earlier, Australia made 225 runs for loss of five wickets.

Michael Clarke was declared the Man of the Match for his 98.


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Sri Lankan Cricket Team Arrived Karachi Today

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KARACHI: Led by Mahela Jayawardene, a 14-member Sri Lankan squad arrived Karachi today, on the first phase of their tour to Pakistan to play three One-Day International against the home team starting from January 20. Sanath Jayasuriya had reached Karachi this morning.

The first two Day/Night ODIs will be played at National Stadium on January 20-21 while third match of the series will be played at Gaddafi Stadium Lahore on January 24.

After the short ODI series, Sri Lankan will return back to Pakistan on February 14 to play a three-day side game and two Test matches against the hosts in February/March.

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has arranged the tour after India pulled-off of their schedule tour to Pakistan after Mumbai attacks.

Visiting Sri Lankan squad comprises of Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Chamara Kapugedera, Jehan Mubarak, Tillakaratne Dilshan, Thilina Kandamby, Muthiah Muralitharan, Ajantha Mendis, Farveez Maharoof, Dilhara Fernando, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thilan Thushara, Angelo Mathews.

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Full players Data of Sri Lanka Cricket Team

Upcoming Cricket schedule

Imran Khan Criticizes India Decision to Cancel Tour

KARACHI: Former captain Imran Khan has criticised India’s decision to cancel next month’s tour to neighboring Pakistan.

“This will not help build up trust (between the two countries) and it is a wrong decision by the Indians,” said the Pakistan great on a talk show on Thursday.

Imran said India should have applied the same criteria as they did when they asked England to return to their country after last month’s militant attacks in Mumbai.

“When some English cricketers had security concerns going back to India they were told if they didn’t return it would be a victory for the terrorists behind the Mumbai attacks,” he said.

“While deciding on the Pakistan tour they should have thought in similar fashion. The cancellation of the series is not good for cricket in the region.”

Imran added that all countries reluctant to send teams to Pakistan should remember no sportsmen had ever been targeted in his country.

India cancelled next month’s tour after the government refused permission following the attacks in Mumbai which killed at least 179 people.

The Indians had been due to play three tests, five one-dayers and a Twenty20 game.

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Dravid, Gambhir Slam Fifties; India 134/1 At Tea

Mohali: Rahul Dravid gave a glimpse of his ‘Wall’ stature as he cracked his gritty 54th Test fifty off 151 balls. The effort ensured that the second spell of the day was dominated by the home team as the Indian scorecard read 134/1 at tea time.

India had clawed back into the game with the slow and steady approach as Gautam Gambhir scored a hard earned fifty before his counterpart at the other end. The effort also took the total past the 100 run-mark with Dravid too looking in some good touch.

Morning Session

The first session of play yielded good results for England. They managed to restrict India to 51 runs and picked up a crucial wicket of danger man Virender Sehwag as well. Stuart Broad claimed the prized scalp for a duck and justified his inclusion in the squad.

The duo of Dravid and Gambhir then took the mantle in their hands and threw caution to the winds, thereby not allowing further hiccups. Dravid finally broke one jinx in the session, he hit his first boundary in four innings. Toss

Indian skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first against England at Mohali. The other captain Kevin Pietersen rued the opportunity of losing the toss as the wicket would offer help to the bowlers in the first as well as the last innings of the game.

The start of the second and final Test match had been delayed due to bad light. An overnight fog persisted over the stadium and hence the umpires had to wait before the toss could commence.

England had made a change in their team composition by bringing in Stuart Broad in place of Steve Harmison. The move could have been made after the pitch inspection by the skipper as the presence of lots of cracks but with a hint of grass would mean that Broad would have a go at the batsmen in the scenario.

The first Test at Chennai ended on a high note for the home team as the batsmen made merry of the English bowling, winning by six wickets in the process. With a whitewash in the ODI series as well, England would be hoping to end the tour on a winning note and carry back some pride to their abode.

India (Playing XI): Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman, Yuvraj Singh, Mahendra Singh Dhoni(w/c), Amit Mishra, Harbhajan Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ishant Sharma

England (Playing XI): Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Ian Bell, Kevin Pietersen(c), Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Matthew Prior(w), Graeme Swann, Stuart Broad, James Anderson, Monty Panesar

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Sri Lanka To Tour Pakistan After India Cancels 2009 Tour

Sri Lankan cricket authorities have confirmed their tour to Pakistan in January and February, a Pakistan Cricket Board official told reporters on Friday.

Pakistan had invited Sri Lanka to play three tests, three one-day internationals and a Twenty20 game after the Indian government refused to permit its team to undertake their test tour of Pakistan from next month.

India called off the tour on Thursday amid simmering tension between the nuclear-armed neighbours over the militant attacks in Mumbai in November.

“Sri Lanka has agreed in principle to tour for the series. We are now working out the final details… of the tour with them,” Saleem Altaf, the chief operating officer of the Pakistan cricket Board told reporters.

Altaf said the President of the Sri Lankan board, Arjuna Ranatunga, had sent his consent for the tour after Pakistan invited them for the unscheduled series.

“Sri Lanka will travel to Pakistan straight from Bangladesh where their tour ends in the third week of January,” Altaf said.

He said Sri Lanka would start off with a Twenty20 game and one-dayer in Karachi and then play two one-dayers and a test in Lahore.

Financial Setback

“The second test would be in Lahore and the final one in Karachi,” he added.

Pakistan is hoping to generate much needed revenues from the Sri Lanka series after they suffered a setback due to the cancellation of the Indian team`s tour and have not played a test since Dec, 2007.

“Obviously the cancellation of the Indian series is a setback especially in financial terms,” Altaf said.

Pakistan is expected to lose out on estimated revenues of around $20 million from the cancellation of the Indian series.

The PCB official said the board would soon be holding a meeting to take some policy decisions on the participation of Pakistani players in the Twenty20 leagues in India.

“It is something we need to look at because of the existing relations between the two countries and the fact that India has decided not to have cricket ties with us at the moment,” he added.

Around 30 Pakistani cricketers, many of them members of the current national side, are signed up to play for the official Indian Premier League and the Indian Cricket League.

Improving ties between the two neighbours suddenly dipped when India blamed Islamist militants based in Pakistan for the attacks in Mumbai which killed at least 179 people.

Political tensions have forced the cancellation of previous series between the neighbours.

In 2004, India toured Pakistan for a full series for the first time in almost 15 years following a thaw in tensions.

The Indians went on to clinch their first test-series win on Pakistan soil..

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Gambhir, Dravid in Century Stand for India

MOHALI: Gautam Gambhir hit a second successive half-century and Rahul Dravid finally returned to form Friday as India consolidated in the second Test against England.

The pair put on 128 for the unbroken second wicket as India recovered from the early loss of Virender Sehwag to take their lunch score of 51-1 to 134 without further loss by tea on the opening day.

Left-handed Gambhir, who made 66 in the second innings of the first Test in Chennai which India won by six wickets, was unbeaten at the break on 78 with 10 boundaries.

Dravid overcame his recent poor run to make 50 not out, his first half-century in nine innings.

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India began slowly after electing to bat in overcast conditions, groping for the first 10 overs of the match to make 15 runs for the loss of the dangerous Sehwag.

Fast bowler Stuart Broad, returning to the England side in place of Steve Harmison after missing the first Test with a hamstring injury, struck with his sixth delivery.

Sehwag, man of the match in Chennai for his explosive 83 off 68 balls, failed to score as he edged Broad’s well-directed outswinger to wicket-keeper Matt Prior.

Dravid walked in at his usual number three position despite making just 342 runs in his last 10 Tests at an average of 19.

His lone four in the morning session, a pull off James Anderson off the 46th ball he faced, was his first boundary in five innings.

It was left to Gambhir to keep the scoreboard moving with six fours before lunch, including two in Monty Panesar’s first over.

India ended the morning session on 51-1 from 21 overs, 35 of those runs coming from Gambhir’s bat.

Dravid opened out after the break, driving Panesar through the covers for his second boundary, before two fluent on-drives off Andrew Flintoff and Broad showed he was finally middling the ball.

Another off-drive off Panesar brought up India’s 100 in which Dravid’s contribution was 39.

Gambhir stroked freely at the other end, but was lucky to escape twice after reaching 70, off-spinner Graeme Swann being the unlucky bowler both times.

Paul Collingwood failed to grasp a sharp chance in the slips as Gambhir edged Swann, before umpire Daryl Harper turned down the bowler’s loud shout for leg-before.

Television replays showed ball heading towards the middle stump.

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Kumble Nominated To Anti Doping Panel

MOHALI, India: India’s former cricket skipper Anil Kumble has been nominated to the athletes’ committee of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA).

The leg spinner, who retired last month as the third highest test wickettaker with 619 wickets, has been included in the list announced on the WADA website.

Kumble’s term will start on Jan. 1. One-third of the panel members, who play an advisory role in policy and priority development of the agency, are replaced on a rotational basis annually.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is a signatory to the WADA Code.

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Retirement Whispers Are Following Big Mathew Hayden

Sydney: Recent failures to score runs by Australian opener Matthew Hayden has put his Test future in doubts with retirement whispers growing that he may not last to fulfill his dream to play a farewell Ashes tour in England next year.

As Australia’s batting strongman failed again in Perth, his former opening partner Justin Langer admitted that he did not know what the future held for his best friend and is unsure if the struggling opener wants to play his farewell Ashes tour.

Hayden was once dubbed “Bradman with a suntan”, but now he’s just got the suntan, Fox Sports reported.

Hayden’s grand plan of a farewell Ashes tour needs an urgent injection of runs or it is in danger of imploding before his eyes.

“My gut feeling at the moment is … maybe he’s not sure. There are whispers about retirement. If he doesn’t know how long he’s going to go on for, that can become a distraction,” Langer told ABC radio.

“If he doesn’t, it’s going to become a bit of a grey area and he’s going to keep going through what, by his standards, is a rough patch. The most important thing is that if Matthew Hayden decides he wants to go to the Ashes then he will have clarity into the future,” he said.

“Great players, if they are clear in their mind then they always perform. As long as he knows what he is doing the runs will follow,” Langer added.

Hayden appears to be caught between two worlds. Part of him wants to blast his way out of his batting slump, like he tried in the second Test against India in Mohali and also against New Zealand in Adelaide.

Part of him wants to be circumspect, remembering that is how he came out of the dark days of his torment during the 2005 Ashes tour.

But whatever he tries, it simply doesn’t appear to be working. (ANI)

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ATF Supports Pakistan as Davis Cup venue

ISLAMABAD: The Asian Tennis Federation (ATF) has announced its support for Pakistan for organising the Davis Cup tie against Oman in March 2009 and has requested the International Tennis Federation (ITF) to stage this event in Lahore at all costs.

“Pakistan is a safe country and has successfully hosted eight international tennis tournaments in 2008 including the ITF International Future and ATF’s events,” Subramanium, the India-based secretary general of the ATF, has written to the ITF in this regard.

In his e-mail, which he sent to the ITF secretariat and copy to the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF), Subramanium has said that Pakistan has no security issues for tennis in general and for Davis Cup tie against Oman in particular.

The ATF secretary has ensured the ITF that Pakistan is a sport-loving country and there will be no harm to any player.

The PTF officials are hopeful the ITF will have to reverse its decision of shifting the Davis Cup event from Lahore to Oman.

“The international body will surely take back their decision and our case is much stronger after the ATF support,” said an official of the PTF.

He said the strong track record of the PTF was self explanatory about the issue. The Davis Cup tie between Pakistan and Oman was scheduled for March 7-9 at Lahore’s grass courts. However, the ITF last week judged Pakistan as a security threat and shifted it to Oman.

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Cricket-Pakistan’s Akhtar Urges Board To Launch Twenty20 League

According to the fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, Pakistani Twenty20 league would encourage foreign teams to tour the country.

Akhtar urged the PCB to start its own league, similar to the multi-million dollar Twenty20 Indian Premier, which was launched this year. He told the reporters, “We need to find our own solution or else cricket will die in Pakistan. We should have our own twenty20 professional league. The money is there and that is one way to get foreign players to play in our country. I know personally there are wealthy individuals and companies in Pakistan and abroad willing to put money into such a project because cricket has big commercial pull in Pakistan.”

Akhtar, while praising England on returning to India for their test series after the Mumbai terrorist attack, said that the Pakistani players were frustrated because of the lack of opportunities to play international cricket this year.

He further said, “We have played no tests this year and teams always have issues with coming to Pakistan due to security. The Indians and other teams need to show the same respect (shown by England) for our cricket and play in our country if our government is giving them security assurances.”

Akhtar added that he wanted to continue playing until the 2011 World Cup although he is suffering from disciplinary and fitness problems this year,

He went on to say, “I am working hard on my fitness and I am going to nurse myself through matches. If I can do that properly I see myself completing 400 wickets in one dayers and playing until the next World Cup.”

His appeal against 18 months ban and seven million rupees ($86,515) fine, imposed by the PCB this year, is pending in the Lahore High Court.

Until the court suspend the ban and till the appeal is decided, he is unable to play.

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Its Honor For Me to Play in Australia: Sohail Tanveer

KARACHI: Fast-rising Pakistani all-rounder Sohail Tanveer said Thursday he was looking forward to playing Twenty20 cricket in Australia as a way to gain valuable match experience.

The 24-year-old will fly out next week on a short five-match contract for South Australia after being cleared to play by the Pakistan Cricket Board.

“It is a great honour for me,” Tanveer told in an interview to a news agency. “Not many international players have played in Australian domestic cricket and this opportunity will help me to learn and progress toward my goal of being a top class all-rounder.”

Tanveer is expected to replace his Pakistan teammate Younus Khan, who played for South Australia in the current Sheffield Shield season.

The left-arm paceman has taken big strides at the international level after replacing the troubled Shoaib Akhtar on the Pakistan squad for the Twenty20 World Cup in South Africa last year.

Akhtar was expelled from the team after hitting team-mate Mohammad Asif with a bat just days before the event.

Tanveer played impressively in Indian Premier League competition earlier this year, finishing as the leading wicket taker with 22.

He said he hoped his short stint Down Under would help him get used to Australian pitches ahead of Pakistan’s three-Test tour there set for 2009.

“A lot of people say that it’s tough to bowl in Australia, so I will have my chance to learn how to bowl there. This will also help me when I become part of the Pakistan team which will tour Australia next year,” he said.

Tanveer said he had also been approached by a few English county sides, but remained committed to representing his country.

“At the moment the top priority is to play for Pakistan, but in between if I get a chance, I will also play in county cricket, which is also a good learning process,” he said.

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Akhtar urges PCB To Launch Cash-Rich T20 League To Attract Cricket Stars

Karachi: Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar believes Pakistan can lure foreign cricket stars back to the country by showing them the money.

The enigmatic pacer star told reporters here on Tuesday that holding a cash-rich twenty20 league in Pakistan, the country’s cricket officials could raise hopes of international cricket returning to the country.

“We need to find our own solution or else cricket will die in Pakistan,” The News quoted the 33-year-old, as saying on the sidelines of a Pentangular Cup One-day Championship match between his Federal Areas Leopards and the Balochistan Bears.

“We should have our own twenty20 professional league. The money is there and that is one way to get foreign players to play in our country,” he stressed.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) had made plans to launch the Pakistan Premier League in 2009, but the current batch of officials have shelved the project owing to multiple problems, including the security situation in the country.

Pakistan have suffered major losses this year because of the cancellation of bilateral series against Australia and the postponement of the ICC Champions Trophy which was supposed to take place in Karachi and Lahore in September because of security issues.

Shoaib believes a lucrative twenty20 spectacle similar to the star-studded Indian Premier League (IPL) could bail Pakistan cricket out of the current crisis.

On the issue of bring cricket back to Pakistan, he said: “The Indians and other teams need to show the same respect for our cricket and play in our country if our government is giving them security assurances.”

India is scheduled to tour Pakistan to play three Tests, five One-day Internationals and a Twenty20 International during January-February next year.

But the tour is in doubt because of strained relations between the two countries in the wake of last month’s terror attacks in Mumbai. (ANI)

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Shoaib Akhtar Vows To Be Fit Enough to Play In 2011 World Cup

Karachi: Pakistan fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has vowed to make himself fit enough to be considered for the squad for the 2011 World Cup, despite persistent injury problems.

“I believe I still got three to four years international cricket left in me. I have fully gained my fitness and looking forward to serve the country,” the Daily Times quoted him as telling reporters at the Karachi National Stadium.

Akhtar, who is currently leading the Federal Areas in the Pentangular Cup, said that for bowlers like him, crossing the barrier always involved taking chances with injuries.

He cited the examples of great fast bowlers like Wasim Akram, Waqar Younus, Brett Lee and Ian Bishop to establish his case.

Shoaib claimed that he had worked very hard on his fitness and cut down his weight to around 15 kilos.

“I am now much stronger. But I needed some matches to regain my rhythm,” he said.

Shoaib, 33, has taken 219 wickets in 138 ODIs, and said his ambition is to complete 400 wickets in One-day Internationals.

He said Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) officials are treating him well and selectors are using him with planning to cut the burden on him to extend his career. (ANI)

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5 injured as Winter Olympics Tower Collapses

VANCOUVER: Five people were injured when a gondola tower partially collapsed on Blackcomb Mountain at Whistler, the Canadian ski resort hosting alpine events during the 2010 Winter Olympics.

Two people were sent by ambulance to the resort’s emergency health center and were “in stable condition,” while three others had minor injuries, said Anna Marie D’Angelo, health authority spokeswoman.

A total of 53 people were trapped by the incident on the Excaliber ski lift, said a press release from Whistler-Blackcomb. As night fell mountain ski patrollers and local fire, police and ambulance officials were using ropes, ladders and fire trucks to rescue people.

Temperatures in the area, just above the village of Whistler, were minus 9 degrees Celsius (16 degrees Farenheit). Whistler is about 120 kilometers (75 miles) north of Vancouver.

The gondola was built in 1994 and had “an extensive safety check” by a British Columbia provincial authority within the last six months, said Whistler-Blackcomb.

The incident comes just four days after the company opened its new peak-to-peak gondola connecting the tops of Whistler and Blackcomb mountains.

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ICC Asks Umpires To Curb Slow over Rates

NEW DELHI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has called on match officials to clamp down on slow over rates and verbal abuse.

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat wrote to umpires and referees asking them to be “assertive and proactive” to help cricket maintain its feel-good factor.

He has urged players, especially captains, to help ensure the game is played in the right spirit.

“After the recent test match in Chennai there is a real feel-good factor about the game, and rightly so,” Lorgat said in a statement.

India achieved the fourth highest successful run chase in tests to beat England in a thrilling match on Monday.

The series was almost called off before England resumed their tour despite safety fears following last month’s militant attacks in Mumbai.

“It’s great that the game is in the news for all the right reasons,” Lorgat said. “I want that to carry on now we’ve moved into what is traditionally the busiest period in the cricketing calendar.

“Verbal abuse and slow over rates have the potential to impact negatively on the way the game is perceived.”

The ICC celebrates its centenary year in 2009 amid a busy calendar which includes the World Twenty20 and Champions Trophy.

Slow over rates have previously led to suspensions for captains and Australia’s Ricky Ponting was fined last month.

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Is Ian Bell Danger for Rahul Dravid?

Mumbai: Out-of-form batsman and veteran Rahul Dravid was told to play more of domestic cricket to regain his form by chief selector Kris Srikkanth on Tuesday. The move comes after ‘The Wall’ has not been able to deliver a big knock despite being given many chances.

It was also learnt that his place in the team would be retained for the last Test match at Mohali but his batting position might be revised from number three to number five.

Dravid has been under immense pressure of late due to calls for his retirement and his failure to deliver runs.

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Tendulkar is `Mother Teresa of Cricket’

London/Chennai, Can batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar be regarded as a unifying factor In India. Most certainly yes, if you ask John Etheridge of the Sun.

According to Etheridge, Tendulkar has always been able to unite India and bring joy to its billion inhabitants.

But he says that what he did in Chennai on Monday was extraordinary even by his exalted standards.

“He is the Mother Teresa of cricket, a great little person, and his century helped ease the pain and suffering (of the Mumbai terror attacks).

The Little Master completed his 41st century with the winning boundary that took India to the fourth-highest successful run chase in the history of Test cricket . . . 387.

Forget that England bowled poorly and surrendered by six wickets in a match that they dominated for three days. Remember instead Tendulkar’s innings and what it means to this cricket-obsessed nation.

Perhaps the man himself can explain it best.

He said: “There’s no way I’d say this will make everyone forget what has happened in Mumbai but it was a wonderful match and people are again enjoying cricket the way it is meant to be. What happened in Mumbai was extremely unfortunate. I don’t think India winning or me scoring a hundred will make the people who lost loved ones feel better. It is a terrible loss and our hearts are with them - but we will try to help them in whatever manner we can.”

“I look at it (the terror strike) as an attack on India, not just Mumbai, and it should hurt every Indian. It was one of the most emotional moments I’ve had on a cricket field. I dedicate this hundred to all the people of India, especially those who have gone through terrible times,” The Sun quotes Tendulkar, as saying. (ANI)

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