Inter Milan's coach Leonardo smiles during an presentation at team's training center
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Thursday, December 30, 2010
I haven’t dropped my pace, says Akhtar KARACHI: Fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar, who recently made a return to Pakistan squad against South Africa after almost two years' gap, said he has not dropped his pace and is looking to play a match-winner's role for Pakistan in the World Cup February-April. Shoaib, who was once discarded as a spent force, said he can still bowl at 150 kmph. Shoaib said Wednesday he has modified his run-up and is feeling comfortable even after bowling longer spells. 'I have shortened my run-up but am still bowling at almost 150 kmph. It would have been great for my career had I modified my run-up 10 years ago,' said the 35-year-old from Rawalpindi. 'But I am still bowling well and am confident of playing a match-winner's role in the World Cup and will try to make it a memorable event for Pakistan,' said Shoaib, who took three wickets in three overs in the Twenty20 match against New Zealand at Auckland Sunday. Akhtar said that he wants to make a difference for Pakistan, currently experiencing a cricketing turmoil because of spotfixing allegations against some of the country's top players. 'I'm always an optimist when it comes to my fitness, I just want to make a difference and lead this team to some good results,' said Akhtar, who is currently in New Zealand with the Pakistan team.-Online
Pakistan football aims high Monitoring Desk LAHORE: The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) President Faisal Saleh Hayat is eyeing a berth in the London Olympics and the World Cup qualifiers. Pakistan are to participate in a host of important events including the fourth AFC Challenge Cup and the SAFF Championship next year, which can help the side to secure a place in the high-profile tournaments. “We’ve made significant progress in promoting football in Pakistan,” said Hayat. “We’re optimistic about the sport gaining more popularity in the coming years.” The PFF Congress approved the calendar for 2011 with a budget amounting to more than Rs55 million. The federation also made several amendments in the constitution on the instructions of the AFC’s Vision Asia team, which aims to promote football in developing countries. “The PFF is committed to implement Vision Asia’s principles of football development in systematically developing the game in Pakistan. We have taken a lot of positives from the Vision Asia principles. Pakistan football made a giant leap when it was steered into AFC’s Vision Asia plan.” Hayat congratulated Wapda for winning the ongoing Pakistan Premier League and earning a place in the seventh AFC President’s Cup, and asked the PFF’s operation cell to accommodate two more teams in the tournament’s format. He also praised Young Rising Star for lifting the sixth National Women Championship, and generally lauded the efforts of female footballers for earning a semi-final spot in their second international assignment during the SAFF Women Championship.
Eng retain Ashes against Aussies MELBOURNE: England stormed to an imperious innings and 157-run victory in the fourth test to retain the Ashes on Wednesday and plunge a declining Australia side into a painful period of introspection. The victory, completed before lunch on the fourth day, gave holders England an unassailable 2-1 lead in the five-test series and made Andrew Strauss's team the first to take the Ashes home since the Mike Gatting-led triumph of 1986/87. Then, as now, the venue of the decisive victory was the Melbourne Cricket Ground, a hulking coliseum where England had enjoyed precious few victories in preceding years. On Wednesday, however, it resembled a Lord's or a Headingley, with thousands of English supporters clad in white and red chanting joyously in the stands as the tourists completed a stunning rout of their former tormentors. The England players embraced and pumped their fists in the air upon the dismissal of the hapless Ben Hilfenhaus, caught behind for a duck off Tim Bresnan's bowling, as Australia were all out for 258. "I think winning the Ashes has always been a bit of a holy grail for English sides," said Strauss, whose 'no complacency' mantra has been taken fully to heart by his business-like side. "We haven't won the Ashes
yet but we've obviously retained the urn which has certainly been one of our primary goals. "The guys deserve everything
now feeling like a lot of hard work has paid dividends for us." Ricky Ponting was gracious in defeat, but it was all pain and regret for the Australian skipper,
tinue to fight for Australia's leadership, even as the side faces years of rebuilding to regain their former standing. "It's out of my control," the
MELBOURNE: Andrew Strauss of England gestures to the crowd after England won the match during day four of the Fourth Test match between Australia and England.-Reuters
they get, the players have stood up and performed when it matters, the back-room staff have prepared us well and we sit here
who also lost on tour in 2005 and last year, as his woeful form at the crease mirrored the side's greater batting struggles.
T20 series winners NZ to rest McCullum
Shankar, Ehsaan-Loy compose song for WC
WELLINGTON: New Zealand's Brendon McCullum will miss Thursday's third and final Twenty20 international against Pakistan, having missed the first two with a back injury, New Zealand Cricket said on Wednesday. With New Zealand winning both the Twenty20 matches in Auckland and Hamilton, the Christchurch match has been rendered inconsequential, prompting the selectors to provide McCullum further rest ahead of the two-match test series against Pakistan starting on Jan 7, followed by six oneday internationals against the same opponents.
"Hopefully I'm not just remembered as that guy, the guy who lost those three Ashes series... I guess this result here is not one of my proudest."
"Brendon got through the fitness test well and we are pleased with the progress he has made," selector Glenn Turner said in a statement. "Although the signs are good the selection panel think the sensible approach is to rest Brendon for the final Twenty20 international against Pakistan. "This is in view of the heavy workload Brendon will shoulder in the upcoming test and (one-day) series. We believe the extra rest will be of benefit in the longer term." McCullum sustained the back injury during New Zealand's tour of India in November.-Online
PESHAWAR: A view of playing a valleyball match in connection 31st National Games at Qayyum Stadium.-Online
DUBAI: There will be a touch of Bollywood in next year's cricket World Cup in the subcontinent with the celebrated Indian musical trio of ShankarEhsaan-Loy composing the event's official theme song titled 'De Ghumaa Ke' with versions in Hindi, Bangla and Sinhalese. All three versions will feature in the build-up to and during the tournament that will run from February 19 to April 2 in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh. The three are one of the most popular and critically acclaimed music directors of Bollywood. "'De Ghumaa Ke' is a passionate expression that creatively captures the fierce sense of competition and the desire to win. It literally means Hit It Hard. This local cricket euphemism is every fan's wish and every cricketer's intention. It encapsulates all that it takes to win a match," the ICC said in a statement. The song will be released on December 31 via various radio networks in India and also on ESPN STAR Sports, the ICC's global production and broadcast rights holder.-Reuters
Speculation has been rife that the 36-year-old might relinquish the captaincy in disappointment, but Ponting said he would con-
under-fire skipper said of his tenure at the helm, as selectors prepare to choose the side for the fifth test in Sydney.
Australia had resumed on 169 for six, still facing a 246-run deficit to make England bat again but lost their remaining wickets shortly before lunch with a day and a half left to play. Chris Tremlett shattered Mitchell Johnson's stumps for six, while Peter Siddle defiantly slogged his way to 40 before belting a lofted drive off Graeme Swann straight to Kevin Pietersen at long on. The injured Ryan Harris did not take his place in the side, while wicketkeeper Brad Haddin, who had refused to gift his wickets cheaply like so many of his playing partners at the top of the order, was left stranded on 55 not out. Bresnan, called into the side for Steve Finn, was the pick of England's bowlers in the second innings, finishing with 450 after ripping through Australia's top order after tea on day three to quash the hosts' slim hopes of salvaging a draw. He and Tremlett, who replaced the injured Stuart Broad for the Perth test, made vital contributions in an England side whose collective efforts trumped an Australian team too often forced to rely on brilliant cameos. The win was also a stunning turnaround from the third test in Perth, where England slumped to a 267-run defeat that levelled the series 1-1.-Reuters
Afridi should not criticise players in public: Moin Khan Karachi: Former Pakistan captain Moin Khan has advised current skipper Shahid Afridi to stop criticising his own players in public. Afridi rapped his batsmen for Pakistan's defeat in their opening Twenty20 International against New Zealand in Auckland last Sunday and then turned his guns on his bowlers after the tourists crashed to a 39-run loss in the second T20 game in Hamilton Tuesday. Moin, a former Pakistan Test wicket-keeper, said the bowlers were below-par but was quick to add that instead of rapping them at the presentation ceremony, Afridi should talk to them in the dressing room. 'A captain should refrain from criticising his players in public because it can affect team spirit. Afridi is a very experienced player and should be aware of it,' said Moin Khan. Pakistan allowed New Zealand to post 185-7 at
Seddon Park and never really came close to achieving a much-needed win to level the series. The worst performance of the day came from pacer Umar Gul, who was milked for runs by the Black Caps. Gul, one of the most successful bowlers in the shortest format of the game, gave away 47 runs from three overs at 15.66. Fellow fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar was also quite expensive as he gave away 42 runs from his quota of four overs. 'We were let down today by our bowlers,' said Afridi, whose team has lost in all three of its matches played on the tour so far. 'I was expecting a much better performance from them but they were unable to bowl well in the match,' he added. Meanwhile, Ramiz Raja, another former Pakistan captain, suggested that Afridi should bat down the order instead of playing as an opener. 'The team needs his experi-
ence in the middle order,' he said. Afridi has promoted himself as an opener for the T20 series against the Black Caps but has so far failed to make much of an impact at the top of the order. Tuesday's loss means that Pakistan have already lost the three-match Twenty20 series but Afridi was confident that his team will now allow the hosts a clean sweep. 'We have to raise our game and I'm confident that we will do it in the next match. The team is going to improve in the coming games,' he stressed. Pakistan will meet New Zealand in the last match of the T20 series in Christchurch Thursday (tomorrow). It will be followed by two Tests and six ODIs. Experienced batsman Misbah-ul-Haq will take charge of the team as Test captain Friday while Afridi and a few other teammates will head back home.-Online
Ponting says losing vim after Ashes loss MELBOURNE: Heart-broken after failing to regain the Ashes on Wednesday, Ricky Ponting was forced to admit the captaincy issue was out of his hands and his powers with the bat may be on the wane. His team lost their remaining wickets before lunch to concede an innings and 157-run defeat to England in the fourth test, allowing the tourists to forge an unassailable 2-1 series lead and take the Ashes home for the first time in 24 years. Ponting, whose struggles with the bat have mirrored Australia's underwhelming campaign, became his country's first captain in 120 years to lose the Ashes three times. "I guess the fact that I lost
those three series is disappointing for me, hopefully I'm not only remembered as that guy, the guy that lost those three Ashes series," the 36-year-old told reporters. "As a player in the series I haven't achieved what I needed to achieve for the team to be in with a chance to win the Ashes back which I'm very disappointed about." Ponting scored 10 and 20 in both innings in Melbourne and as Australia's bowlers were put to the sword in England's innings of 513, his frustration spilled over into a heated tirade against the umpires over a failed video review on Monday. He was fined part of his
match-fee and later apologised but may find little forgiveness from a shattered Australian public after the team's slump in the five-test series. Ponting holds the record of 48 test wins at the helm, but has never been perceived as a great captain at home, where Ashes defeats to bitter rivals England are regarded as virtually unforgivable. He led Australia to a 5-0 whitewash of the tourists in 2006/07, but the triumph was bookended by losses on tour in 2005 and last year. Criticism of his captaincy has been his cross to bear and he has worn it defiantly amid his team's long decline following the retirements of greats
like Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath. But his sublime gifts with the bat, which have yielded 39 test centuries over the course of a glittering 15-year career, have never been in question. That they are now following a series in which he has scored a solitary half-century from eight innings, has proved almost as galling to the Tasmanian as defeat to bitter rivals England. "I wish I knew," Ponting told reporters with furrowed brow, when asked to explain his form lapse. "I've trained the same way, I felt like I've been well prepared for every game." "We've had four tests and
eight innings, a few of those I probably felt I hadn't done a lot wrong to be dismissed. "When you're having a run like I'm having at the moment, you tend to try and find ways of getting out and the game can just really grab hold of you and you feel like you're unlucky all the time." MOVE DOWN? Ponting has stuck barnaclelike to the number three position for most of his career, but admitted that selector Greg Chappell had talked to him about a possible move down the order to number four before the opening Brisbane test. The notion was a "twominute" conversation at the
time, Ponting said, but conceded the following three tests had taken their toll. "I guess there's been a few doubts creeping into my mind over the last couple of weeks, I'm not going to hide that," he said. "I definitely have to re-evaluate where I'm at as far as where I bat in a test match is concerned." The free-scoring Usman Khawaja, an untried Pakistanborn cricketer, had been floated as his successor. Ponting praised Khawaja as one of Australia's most technically-gifted players, but suggested his place at number three would not be conceded without a fight.-Reuters