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GUYANA CHRONICLE Friday September 5, 2014
WICB president dismisses Arthur reports KINGSTON, Jamaica West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) president, Dave Cameron, has dismissed reports that former Australia and South Africa coach, Mickey Arthur, is a front-runner for a similar post in the Caribbean. Arthur, who guided world champions Australia between 2011 and 2013, and South Africa from 2005-
2010, has been tipped to take over from Ottis Gibson, who parted company with the WICB recently. “His (Arthur) name has been mentioned by the press, not by the West Indies Cricket Board,” said Cameron when asked about the South African. “We have been accepting applications, and, have shortlisted a couple of
people and are having talks with them. “We expect that this process will take a few months, as mostly everybody is already contracted, but it will be very transparent.” Arthur, who led a transformation of South Africa’s fortunes during his tenure, including several series wins over Australia
Mickey Arthur and England, coached the Jamaica Tallawahs during the recently concluded Caribbean Premier League Twenty20. The 46-year-old, who was the first foreign-born coach of Australia, was last month also listed as a frontrunner along with fellow ex-
South African coach, Ray Jennings, for the position of coach of Sri Lanka. NO POLICY POSITION Meanwhile, Cameron, who is hoping to fill the vacancy by later this year, said the board has not adopted a policy position as
to whether or not the coach should be West Indian. “There is no preference at this point,” he said in response to questions as to what is the preferred choice of the new coach’s nationality. West Indies, who are at present being coached by manager Sir Richie Richardson, against touring Bangladesh, are scheduled to travel to India next month for three Tests, five one-dayers, and a one-off Twenty20. They will then travel to South Africa, where they are scheduled to play three Tests, five one-dayers, and three Twenty20s in December and January. The ICC World Cup in Australia and New Zealand will then follow in February and March 2015. (Jamaica Gleaner)
Game would be better off without IPL, says Botham LONDON, (Reuters) - The Indian Premier League (IPL) should be scrapped to safeguard the long-term health of cricket, according to former England all-rounder Ian Botham. Botham believes the big-money Twenty20 competition featuring eight franchises which bid for the cream of the world’s leading one-day talent has become too powerful and could be fuelling corruption in the game. “I am worried about the IPL,” Botham said during his MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey Lecture at Lord’s. “In fact I fear that it shouldn’t be there at all as it is changing the priorities in world cricket. “Players are slaves to it. Administrators bow to it.” Former England batsman Kevin Pietersen was picked by Delhi for this year’s tournament, a deal worth 20 million rupees, although India’s Yuvraj Singh drew the highest bid of 140 million Indian rupees ($2.32 million) from the Vijay Mallya-owned Bangalore franchise. “How on earth did the IPL own the best players in the world for two months a year and not pay a penny to the boards who brought these players into the game?” Botham said. Botham said the IPL, which has been tarnished by several corruption cases since its inception in 2008, could fuel the scourge of spot-fixing. “Corruption is enough of a problem in itself, but the IPL compounds that problem given it provides the perfect opportunity for betting and therefore fixing,” he said.
Former India Test bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth has been banned for life. Earlier this year India’s top court temporarily relieved N. Srinivasan of his duties as the country’s cricket board president in the wake of his son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan being indicted for illegal betting on the 2013 IPL tournament. The scandal surfaced when former Test bowler Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and two other local cricketers, all playing for the Rajasthan Royals, were arrested on suspicion of taking money to concede a fixed number of runs. Sreesanth, who had denied any wrongdoing, was subsequently banned for life by the BCCI. (1 US dollar = 60.3750 Indian rupees)