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Most people never run far enough on their first wind to find out they’ve got a second. –William James
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SPORTS
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Sunday, 4 August, 2013
australIa maIntaIn grIP desPIte PIetersen ton oLD TRAffoRD
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OR a little more than two hours, England asserted the measure of control they required to secure this match, and the Ashes themselves. Though Australia’s bowlers had toiled manfully and persistently, finding life where their opposite numbers had not, Kevin Pietersen and Ian Bell stood firm, the former thrusting to a fine hundred, the latter caressing his way towards a third such score of the series. But right at the moment the tourists may have begun to flag, Ryan Harris found a way through the previously impassable Bell, tilting back his off stump and revitalising Australia. The wickets of Jonny Bairstow and Pietersen himself followed, leaving the Old Trafford Test finely balanced with two days remaining and maintaining Australia’s heartening revival as belatedly serious
Poa respects court order, restrains from holding its general council meeting LAHORE: The house was in order and all was set to hold the general council meeting of Pakistan Olympic Association but the POA-led by Lt Gen Arif Hasan decided not to hold it in the light of a order issued by Lahore High Court. “The meeting was summoned as per a direction of the Supreme Court but Lahore High Court issued a stay order against it and showing respect to the court orders we have decided not to hold the meeting and rather “adjourned“ it and its new dates will be announced in due course of time after getting the stay order vacated from the court “, said Arif Hasan while talking to media in the presence of 78 member house, out of a 120 house, here on Saturday at a local hotel. He said they will be submitting their point of view to the respective court on August 5 to get the stay order vacated as the Supreme Court had already given its direction to hold the meeting to discuss the issues of the national Olympic committee and to find their solution. “ The presence of majority of the affiliated units of the POA for the meeting endorses our claim that POA is the genuine body which is recognized by the international Olympic committee and Olympic Council of Asia “,he asserted. Gen Arif said facts were concealed for getting the stay order from the court and it was not even mentioned that the POA general council meeting is being held as a per a direction of the apex court. “ POA is a law abiding national organization and we will put the matter before the court to seek justice “,he said. To a question, he said, on the request of the national Olympic committee the common wealth games confederation based on its earlier expression of interest has agreed to send invitation to Pakistan Hockey federation for the participation in the next years Commonwealth games andAugust 16 is the dead line in this regard. “Now it depends on the PHf that it team’s participates in the Games or not, we are doing our best to ensure our teams participation which will be help it to expose its players to high quality exposure besides preparing the team for future mega events,” he added. STAFF REPORT
contenders for the urn. On a day of high quality and considerable intrigue, Harris, Mitchell Starc, Peter Siddle and Shane Watson all delivered searching spells. Pietersen and Bell can seldom have played better, their calculated attack on Nathan Lyon a critical passage on a pitch taking turn and bounce throughout. There were imponderables, too. Pietersen on 62 would have been out lbw had Michael Clarke assented to Watson’s opinion that his old-ball inswinger was bound for the
stumps. When Starc dismissed Pietersen lbw there was Hot Spot evidence of the merest nick. Starc’s contribution should not be underestimated, for his knack of taking wickets countered a tendency to lose his length and line at times. A mediocre delivery accounted for Alastair Cook thanks to a supreme leg-side diving catch by Brad Haddin, but Bairstow and Pietersen fell victim to a sublime spell of reverse movement as the evening drew in.
SCOREBOARd AuSTRAlIA ENGlANd 1ST INNINGS AN Cook c †Haddin b Starc JE Root c †Haddin b Siddle TT Bresnan c †Haddin b Siddle IJl Trott c Clarke b Harris kP Pietersen lbw b Starc IR Bell b Harris Jm Bairstow c Watson b Starc mJ Prior† not out SCJ Broad not out EXTRAS (lb 7, nb 1)
527/7d 62 8 1 5 113 60 22 6 9 8
294 TOTAl(7 wickets; 120 overs) TO BAT GP Swann, Jm Anderson FAll Of WICkETS 1-47 (Root, 23.4 ov), 2-49 (Bresnan, 27.3 ov), 3-64 (Trott, 38.6 ov), 4-110 (Cook, 53.6 ov), 5-225 (Bell, 90.2 ov), 6-277 (Bairstow, 106.1 ov), 7-280 (Pietersen, 110.1 ov) BOWlING: RJ Harris 26-9-50-2,mA Starc 26-5-753,Nm lyon 26-8-77-0, SR Watson 15-7-26-0,Pm Siddle 25-6-53-2,SPd Smith 2-0-6-0 mATCH dETAIlS TOSS Australia, who chose to bat
‘team ProgreSSIng Well’
LAhoRe STAFF REPORT
Pakistan’s women cricket team returned home from Ireland after qualifying for ICC World T20, Local TV reports on Saturday. The team, which won 12 matches during their tour, was given warm welcome upon their arrival at the airport. While talking to media, Captain Sana Mir said the team was encouraged to beat England on its home ground. Mir said that the team would perform well in the world T20 event. The manager of the Pakistani women’s cricket team has backed the side, saying that it is ‘progressing well’ following the side’s sharing the ICC Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier title with Sri Lanka in Ireland.
The squad remained unbeaten in the event and booked their berth in next year’s World Twenty20 in Bangladesh by reaching the final, which was washed out due to rain. The team also leveled their Twenty20 series with England besides defeating England Academy and Ireland earlier on the marathon tour. Defining the tour as ‘highly constructive’ for Pakistan, team manager Ayesha Ashar said the team’s performance in the qualifier was helped by their hard work, adding that reaching the finals without losing any game proved that the team is progressing well. Ashar further said that the Pakistani women cricketers have started entering slots of the top ten players according to the Twenty20 rankings, which placed all-rounder Bismah Marof at the sixth place and Sadia Yousuf at the fifth bowler position.
regIonal BodIes’ PresIdents to suPPort setHI LAHORE: former presidents of regional cricket bodies functioning across the country have decided to lend support to Caretaker Chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board, Najam Sethi, apparently ending a crisis in PCB which restricted its Chairman from taking important decisions pertaining to various issues. The on-going crisis started after the decision of the Islamabad High Court and raised questions upon the decisions taken by the Caretaker Chairman whereby Mr Sethi was declared as Caretaker and authorized only to take day to day decisions. former LCCA President Khawaja Nadeem and Major (R) Ahmad Nadim Saddal, who challenged the election of Zaka Asrhaf and former President, Abbottabad region, AamirNawab, former President, Sialkot region, Malik Zulfiqar and former President, Ch Muhammad Anwar are the vanguards at this initiative. “we look forward to support the caretaker chairman to effectively manage the affairs of PCB enabling him to break this impasse created by the pending legal proceedings. Cricket in Pakistan needs a strong Board to effectively manage the cricket at every level. we further unequivocally reject any or all allegations being levelled in the media against Najam Sethi with regard to being a tax defaulter or being involved in any wrong doing etc. from today onwards we stand behind Sethi and we have full confidence in his ability and intentions to take Pakistan Cricket to the higher levels” said Kh Nadeem Ahmed said on Saturday. STAFF REPORT
PromotIon of crIcket our collectIve aIm LAHORE: former President, Lahore City Cricket Association, Khawaja Nadeem Ahmed has called for continuation of efforts to achieve the collective aim of promotion of cricket in the city. He was speaking at an Iftarreception which he hosted in the honour of over one hundred clubs of three affiliated zones of LCCA, East west and North on friday night. Prominent among others were former manager, Pakistan Cricket team, Azhar Zaidi, Chairman, ad-hoc committee,LCCA, Aizad Syed, Mian Munir Ahmad, MPA, Nawab Mansoor Hayat and all the Zonal Presidents and officials. Kh Nadeem said if re-elected for the second successive term, he would continue his endeavour to work for the betterment of LCCA to maintain its status of a role model body besides unveiling ambitious activity programme for engaging clubs in competitive cricket. “Our past three years efforts focussed on the revival of cricket and we were able to lift the game out of doldrums and now the stage has come to set sight on achieving excellence which is only possible with the continuation of our polices and addition of more cricket activities for clubs”, he added. Nadeem, himself a former first class cricketer was of the view that the affiliated zones of LCCA were behind his success as they extended all out cooperation to implement his vision and plans for the revival of the game. “Today the presence of such a large number of clubs endorses my claim that we are together for a common cause of cricket and I am sure with their full support I will be able to win the elections to remain hand in hand with to strive further for LCCA cricket”, he added. STAFF REPORT
elBa ramadan golf troPHy for aBdul Islam
Piece of cake: irfan feels comfortable bowling in any condition LAhoRe STAFF REPORT
Pakistan pacer Mohammad Irfan felt an improved and furnished bowler after he tour India last year and said that he feels comfortable bowling to any batsman on any condition. Irfan, who was sidelined for 18 months after making his Pakistan debut in England in 2010 in a solitary one-day match, made a comeback on the tour to India in December. “The Indian tour was a great learning curve for me. Bowling to quality batsmen and before full crowds helped me become a more confident person and bowler,” Irfan said after returning home from the West Indies. The nearly 7 feet tall left-arm pacer said that he had not looked back since the Indian tour. “For someone starting afresh, a tour to India can be a make or break one. For me, fortunately it was a good tour and I have not looked back since.” “After the Indian and South African tours, I
think I also became a more lethal bowler because of the 10 days I spent in the Wasim Akram camp in Karachi. He taught me there how to bowl the inswing and once as a left-arm pacer you learn to swing the ball both ways, it is easier to pick up wickets. “I have pace and bounce but with the ability to swing the ball both ways. I am always sure I can get wickets with the new ball no matter who the batsman is,” he said. The tall and lanky bowler whose fitness remains a source of debate even now said he was aware that he needed to work hard on his fitness more than other players. “But I don’t think it is a serious issue now I am spending lot of time on my fitness and my diet. Most importantly, I now have the right size shoes when I bowl so that also means I face no fitness problems while bowling.” Irfan, who has left a big impact in his appearances in two Tests, 19 ODIs and four T20 matches so far, said he wanted to representPakistan consistently for another four to five years.
LAHORE: The three segments Elba Ramadan Rose Bowl Golf Championship for 2013, concluded at the Royal Palm Golf and Country Golf Course yesterday. And the fortunate competitor who achieved spiritual and winning glory was an upcoming golfer, Abdul Islam. Although he played really well he was fortunate to be declared as the ultimate winner as four other contenders had under par scores similar to his and as per rules the count back rule had to be applied. Based on application of this rule he managed to edge past his score hugging rivals like Saeedul Haseeb, Khurram Mazhar, Abbas Chaudry and waqar Butt. Some of the other competitors could not make it to the top but succeeded in winning the subsidiary prizes at stake. Imran Amin won nearest to the pin prize while Haris Naseer lodged his drive to a distance of 274 yards to capture the longest drive. Asif Malik was amongst the honours too, with the best nine holes trophy falling in his hands. faisal Sayid got hold of the best nine holes gross prize by playing exceedingly well. STAFF REPORT