Bakheet Al Jasmi of UAE competes in the heats of the Men's 4 x 100m Medley Relay
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Monday, December 20, 2010
Salman Butt prepares second reply to ICC LAHORE: The spot-fixing saga continues as Salman Butt's attorney prepares to send a fresh reply to the International Cricket Council (ICC), after the world body rejected his initial 40-page response to allegations against him. The former Test skipper had filed the initial reply to the ICC through his attorney Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan and Shahid Syed. Syed told Express News that the ICC's bias in the case was 'obvious'. He said the entire appeal has been decided by the ex-parte decision on a preliminary response without hearing Butt or his counsel. He said that Butt's preliminary response was sent on time and contained his objections to jurisdiction, composition and process of the tribunal in the language of the law, adding that it was the legal right of respondent. Syed also said that the reply was not made public because of ICC's confidentiality but "the truth will come out soon" when the response is made public. Syed added that he has strongly advised Butt to immediately appeal the ICC's decision before the Court of Arbitration for Sports. Spotfixing tainted fast bowlers Muhammad Aamir and Asif's lawyers have prepared their cases and submitted them to the ICC. Aamir's lawyer Shahid Kareem sent his case a day earlier on Thursday, while Barrister Allan Alexander Cameron, who is the brother of the British Prime Minister David Cameron, prepared Asif's case today.
Nat’l cricket’s team security manager quits ISLAMABAD: The Security Manager of Pakistan Cricket Team, Khawaja Najam Javed has resigned, media said Sunday. Talking to the media, he said that he had tendered his resignation with PCB Chairman Ejaz Bhatt on December 14. Pakistan Cricket Team has left for New Zealand without Javed, who was the security manager of the team in last two tours of Pakistan team to England and then United Arab Emirates (UAE).-NNI
Zidane, Ronaldo raise funds for Pak victims ATHENS: Zinedine Zidane and Ronaldo joined a star-studded squad for a United Nations charity match in Greece organised to raise funds to support flood-devastated Pakistan and earthquake hit Haiti. The World Cup-winning legends and UNDP ambassadors brought together an All Stars team who drew 2-2 against Greek giants Olympiakos in front of 30,000 fans in Athens, although players changed sides freely in a night of entertainment on Tuesday, according to details provided by the UN on Thursday. Ronaldo did not feature in the match due to injury, but Zidane joined a host of past and present stars for the eighth annual Match Against Poverty.
Portugal's Ricardo Sa Pinto scored twice for Zidane's men, who were coached by Radomir Antic and Hugo Sanchez. The hosts, who started with a team of fringe players and club legends before bringing on much of their current XI midway through the first half, came back in the second half through Kostas Mitroglou's double. Zidane, who was substituted to a standing ovation in the 70th minute, said: "It is important that we reach out in solidarity with those affected by extreme poverty". "We cannot allow the people of Haiti and Pakistan to suffer in silence. Through this match we hope to let the world know ence."It really inspires me to this great country still come we're in this together", Zidane see that despite the economic together in solidarity with the told a pre-match news confer- crisis in Greece the people of poor of the world", Ronaldo
Sachin shines on with 50th test ton
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achin Tendulkar smashed a historic 50th Test ton as he steered an unbroken 170-run partnership with MS Dhoni to reduce India’s deficit to 37 on the fourth day of the first Test against South Africa on Sunday. Tendulkar (104) and Dhoni (89) denied the South Africans any success in the post-lunch session The duo, who added 117 runs from 28.1 overs, were not at any discomfort facing the South African bowlers as they scored at a brisk pace, raising hopes of saving the match though there is more than one day’s play left in the match. Tendulkar stood rock solid while Dhoni was even more aggressive than his senior partner at one stage. Dhoni gave Dale Steyn some special treatment by hitting the South African strike bowler for a flurry of fours, that too after the home side had taken the new ball. South Africa took the new
ball after 2.1 overs in the post-lunch session but Tendulkar and Dhoni were undeterred as they punished Morne Morkel with three fours in the same over — two of them coming from the Indian captain’s blade. Dhoni raced to his 20th Test fifty in quick time, from just 41 balls with the help of nine fours. Surprisingly, the Indian duo did not take much chance against left-arm spinner Paul Harris who was hit for just a four — by Dhoni. Earlier, India lost the wickets Rahul Dravid (43), VVS Laxman (8) and Suresh Raina (5) and nightwatchman Ishant Sharma (23) in the morning session and trailed by 207 runs as they reached 277 for six at lunch. Resuming at 190 for two, the visitors added just 87 runs from the 33.4 overs they faced in the morning session, which started half an hour before scheduled time to compensate for loss of time on the first day. -Agencies
Alam eyes NZ tour to ready for WC KARACHI: Pakistan team manager Intikhab Alam hopes a successful tour of New Zealand will put the squad in the perfect position to mount a serious World Cup challenge. "Although the pitches in New Zealand and the sub-continent, where we play the World Cup, are different, a six-match oneday series at the end of the tour will help us build a combination and overcome our shortcomings," Alam told . Pakistan, who departed Saturday, open the tour with the first of three Twenty20 internationals on December 26 before playing two Tests and six one-dayers, their last commitment before theFebruary 19April 2 World Cup. Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka jointly host the mega event. Alam, a former coach and captain, said New Zealand will be low on morale but tough to beat at home. "It is true that NZ were blanked in BD (4-0) and in India (5-0) in the ODI and would be low on confidence, but they will be playing on home ground and would be tough to beat," -APP
added. I'm really impressed that the stadium is sold out tonight."The UNDP Director of Communications, Stephane Dujarric, stressed that sports can be a powerful tool for bringing a positive impact to millions of people. Through sport we can bring people together to focus on a common goal a world without poverty where everyone on the planet can live with dignity, he said. The owner of Olympiacos, Evangelos Marinakis, said his team will donate its share of the money raised to a group that helps children with special needs, as well as to homeless and disadvantaged communities.-APP
Australia name unchanged 12-man squad for fourth test PERTH: Australia named an unchanged 12-man squad for the fourth test in Melbourne following the team's dominant 267-run win over England in Perth on Sunday. Opening batsman Phillip Hughes has retained his place in the side following twin failures at the WACA ground, while untried spinner Michael Beer holds hopes of being selected for Melbourne after being the only man left out in Perth. Captain Ricky Ponting remains the sole injury concern after breaking his little finger in a catch attempt during the dismissal of England batsman Jonathan Trott on Saturday. Ponting rated himself a good chance to play in Melbourne despite admitting that the injury was 'sore and angry'. "Should the NSP (National Selection Panel) determine the need for a standby player for Ricky Ponting, this will be announced in due course," a team statement said.
No Dravid, Pathan in India WC squad MUMBAI: Veteran batsman Rahul Dravid and off-colour pacer Irfan Pathan failed to find a place in India's 30-strong list of probables announced on Saturday for next year's ODI cricket World Cup in the subcontinent. In a squad which didn't offer any major surprises, youngsters Cheteshwar Pujara and Ajinkya Rahane were included along with established stars such as Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag. The squad would be pruned to half by next month and chairman of selectors Kris Srikkanth said whatever be the final combination, it would do well at the quadrennial megaevent starting February 19 and to be played in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. "As you know there are no big surprises. This is a probables team and everyone selects himself. There is one more month to go to select the final team and we will sit down and think calmly before finalising the team," Srikkanth told reporters after a meeting of the
selection panel. "I am confident that the team will do well in the World Cup. They have been doing well in one-day cricket. The World Cup is happening in the subcontinent and I am confident that the team will do well," he added. Apart from the omission of the 37-year-old Dravid, who has not played an ODI since September last year, and Pathan, on the sidelines since February 2009 in ODIs, there aren't any surprise selections. The batting list expectedly features Tendulkar, Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Rohit Sharma and Suresh Raina. The 22-year-old
Pujara along with Virat Kohli are among the youngsters picked at least in the preliminary squad. The bowling line-up is also on the expected lines with the pace attack led by Zaheer Khan featuring Ashish Nehra, S Sreesanth, Munaf Patel and Ishant Sharma. The spin department has the experienced Harbhajan Singh along with Amit Mishra, Piyush Chawla, Pragyan Ojha and R Ashwin. Apart from Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the probables list has three other wicketkeepers in Parthiv Patel, Wriddhiman Saha and Dinesh Karthik.-Agencies
If Caroline’s Queen, then Serena is the King PARIS: Denmark's Caroline Wozniacki ended the year the women's world number one, but the consensus is that Serena Williams is the best player on earth. The problem as ever with the American, who will turn 30 next year, is her level of commitment to the sport as she continues to dabble in everything from acting to fashion design to her charity work in Africa. Williams opened the year with a blast when she won the Australian Open for the fifth time by defeating comeback queen Justine Henin in a tough three-setter final. She then played just two tournaments before turning up in Paris in May for the French Open where, as top seed, she lost in the quarter-finals to Australia's Samantha Stosur, who went on to lose to Italy's Francesca Schiavone in the final. One again though charges that Williams was past her best were firmly quashed a few weeks later when she swept to her 13th Grand Slam title in imperious style at Wimbledon winning all seven games in straight sets including a lopsided final against Russia's Vera Zvonareva.
Oddly, that was the last game she played in 2010 as Williams sliced open the bottom of her foot while stamping on a broken glass in a Munich restaurant just days after her London triumph. That meant no US Open and no season-ending WTA
ing her withdrawal from Melbourne. "I am praying for a healthy recovery and I promise my Aussie fans and my fans around the world that I will be back better than ever as soon as I can be." In her absence, the ever-
Championship and she has even pulled out of January's Australian Open as she continues the healing process. What the rest of the year will hold in store for the American diva is impossible to discern although she has no doubt that she can win again. "This decision, though heavy on my heart, is the right one," Williams said when announc-
popular Kim Clijsters successfully defended the US Open title concluding with a 6-2, 6-1 demolition of Zvonareva which at 59 minutes was the fastest final since timing records were first kept. Prior to that, the Belgian had continued to push ahead with the thrilling comeback she launched in August 2009,
although she came up short in the first three Grand Slams of the year. There was more success for Clijsters at the WTA Tour Championships in Doha at the end of October where she defeated Wozniacki in the final, although the Dane was already assured of finishing the year top ranked after a win earlier in the tournament. The 20-year-old Dane is the youngest player to end the year as number one since Martina Hingis in 2000, but she has still to convince everyone that she is worthy of being the top ranking player. A model of consistency, fitness and regularity, Wozniacki has been panned for being one-dimensional and lacking imagination and she has been compared to Dinara Safina who was world number one for most of 2009 despite also never having won a major. The big Russian endured a torrid year in 2010 struggling with injuries and lack of confidence to the extent that she has slumped to 63rd in the rankings. If tennis legend Martina Navratilova is to be believed, the same fate will not befall Wozniacki.
"Wozniacki played great all year but not done that well in the Slams," she said. "But she was the best player day in, day out. She needs to win a Slam, she wants to win a Slam and most likely next year she'll win one." Other talking points in
says the 28-year-old "definitely has three great years at the highest level ahead of her." Sharapova has struggled to reproduce the form that brought her three Grand Slam titles following an operation on her right shoulder in October 2008.
women's tennis as the year ends were whether Henin and Maria Sharapova can once again compete at the top. Henin's comeback from retirement was derailed in June when she damaged ligaments in her right elbow in a fall while losing to Clijsters at Wimbledon. Her recovery has been slow, but trainer Carlos Rodriguez
But she has a new coach in the shape of Swede Thomas Hogstedt and a new determination to add to her Grand Slam total. Serena to return after April Serena Williams has announced she is unlikely to play again until April as the mystery surrounding her foot injury deepens. In July this year the former
world No 1 cut her foot on some broken glass in a Munich restaurant and has since undergone two rounds of surgery in a bid to get herself back on court. But this news is the latest blow to Williams' recovery and comes just weeks after she announced her withdrawal from defending her title at the Australian Open. Amid fears the injury could be a cover for a more serious problem, when asked about her progress, Williams said: "I hope to be out of the cast and back on court by the spring. "I looked at my foot and knew it shouldn't be like that. The big toe was drooping and it was obvious something wasn't right. I had a scan and the doctors decided I shouldn't play. "Pushing myself back into intensive training only caused further injury and damage. While I desperately want to get back, it is imperative for my health that I continue to work with my doctors to ensure my foot heals properly." An April return would put Williams' chances of appearing at the French Open in doubt but would allow her plenty of time to get back into the swing of things for Wimbledon.-Agencies