Cricket News

Pakistan match-fixing claims: Wahab Riaz to be questioned by police

Bowler to become fourth Pakistan player to be interviewed by police as part of match-fixing investigation.

telegraph.co.uk Thu, 09 Sep 2010 15:27:14 +0000

Pietersen to play for Kwazulu-Natal next month

JOHANNESBURG: Cricket South Africa has approved a request from the Dolphins for Kevin Pietersen to play two games for his former team next month. The South African-born England batsman will play for the Durban-based Dolphins in two four-day games in the domestic SuperSport Series in a bid to regain his form ahead of the Ashes series in Australia. He will play against the Warriors from Oct. 7-10 and against the Titans from Oct. 14-17. Pietersen made his first-class debut for the Dolphins, then known as Natal, in 1997 before pursuing a career in England. He qualified to play for England in 2004. Pietersen was dropped from England's Twenty20 and one-day teams last week and hasn't scored an international century in 18 months. The 30-year-old England star was born in Pietermaritzburg, where Kwazulu-Natal Inland is based. "I'm extremely keen to get as much cricket as possible under my belt before a challenging and exciting winter," Pietersen said. "My sole focus is to continue playing a leading role for England and joining Natal is the perfect opportunity to prepare in excellent conditions immediately before the Ashes. "These two matches would enable me to work on my game against the Kookaburra ball in southern hemisphere conditions which is the ideal preparation for Australia." Pietersen is currently on loan at Surrey from fellow English county side Hampshire. He is hoping to play for Kwazulu-Natal Inland against North West from Oct. 7-10 and against Eastern Province from Oct. 14-17 before England's tour of Australia begins Nov. 5. The first of five Ashes tests starts Nov. 25. England Team Director Andy Flower said: "We're very pleased Kevin is seeking to get some more high quality cricket in at a crucial period before the Ashes. "We are well aware of Kevin's attention to detail and thoroughness when it comes to preparation and he would gain a great deal from working on his batting against tough opposition in South Africa. "Kevin's commitment and desire to work on his batting and play a significant part in a successful England team is unquestioned." Pietersen was dropped from England's team for the Twenty20 and one-day series against Pakistan after a disappointing run in the tests, where he scored just one half-century in eight innings. He hasn't scored a century since March, 2009. The former England captain was also fined an undisclosed amount by the ECB for making a profane comment on Twitter after learning he had been dropped. Pietersen was once a controversial character in South Africa after turning his back on his country of birth to pursue a career in England. He made his first-class debut for Kwazulu-Natal in 1997 before voicing his displeasure with South Africa's then-policy of racial quotas, which sometimes favored black players over whites. He qualified to play for England in 2004.

Dawnnews.com Thu, 09 Sep 2010 15:08:32 +0000

Shadow of spot-fixing looms as CL T20 kicks-off

The glitzy Champions League Twenty20 gets underway on Friday under the watchful eyes of the International Cricket Council's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) and the shadow of the spot-fixing scandal that has shaken the core of the game.

rediff.com Thu, 09 Sep 2010 14:24:47 +0000

Wahab Riaz to be questioned by police: PCB chief

LAHORE: The chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board says fast bowler Wahab Riaz will appear before Scotland Yard police next week in relation to match-fixing allegations. Ijaz Butt said on Thursday that the left-arm paceman will be interrogated by police on Sept. 14. Butt also said the three Pakistani players accused of spot-fixing by a British tabloid will be flying back home within the next few days. Riaz will be the fourth Pakistani player to be questioned by police. Test captain Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir had earlier been questioned by Scotland Yard for nine hours before they were provisionally suspended by the International Cricket Council last week. A British tabloid last month accused Butt, Asif and Amir of accepting money in return for bowling deliberate no-balls during the Lord's test against England.

Dawnnews.com Thu, 09 Sep 2010 14:06:47 +0000

I care about playing quality cricket: Tendulkar

He has been playing cricket for over 20 years now, but Sachin Tendulkar says he remains as passionate about the game as he was in his initial days in the sport.

rediff.com Thu, 09 Sep 2010 13:25:11 +0000

ICC asks Butt, Akmal for phone records during World Twenty20

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has now asked Pakistan captain Salman Butt and wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal to hand over their phone records during the World Twenty20 in the Caribbeans.

hindustantimes.com Thu, 09 Sep 2010 13:03:23 +0000

Poor Pakistani cricketers seek game's riches

KARACHI: For millions of dirt-poor Pakistani boys, a professional cricket career is an escape route into a world of glamour, celebrity and untold riches. But it can also represent a fast-track on the road to ruin as the corruption scandal which has engulfed the international team has so dramatically highlighted. Many of the country's best players - like Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, currently under investigation in the 'spot-fixing' scandal - hail from small villages, from poor and uneducated backgrounds. Pakistani players' agent Salman Ahmed believes it is a lack of grooming and guidance that leaves players stumped by excessive money and open to manipulation. "An 18-year-old who bursts into the limelight and the glamour world needs special grooming. Not only in terms of cricket, but manners and awareness of good and bad," said Ahmed, whose Portfolio World has had a contract with the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) since January 2009. "Most importantly, wealth managers should be introduced to them, to these boys, who at one time could not buy a beverage and today are brand ambassadors for it," added Ahmed, referring to Amir. Former PCB chairman Tauqir Zia managed to establish the National Cricket Academy in Lahore seven years ago, where courses to educate the players were finally introduced. But many commentators believe that players' focus on the remuneration details in a contract and ignore the code of conduct. Big money came to Pakistan cricket only after Australian media tycoon Kerry Packer hired a dozen of them for his World Series of Cricket in 1978. Before the Packer circus, the only money-earning avenues for Pakistani players were stints in county cricket in England. Currently, Pakistani players can earn money through central contracts, soft-drink and mobile phone sponsorship and endorsements. Players in the A category of central contracts get 250,000 rupees a month; B category brings 175,000 and in C they get 100,000. In addition, a top-category player gets 350,000 rupees for playing a Test match and 300,000for an ODI and 250,000for a Twenty20 match. Players in the corresponding categories get 50,000less in each form of the game. There are special win bonuses and cash awards on performances, opening up riches largely unseen in a country where 74 per cent of the population survive on less than two dollars a day, according to the World Bank. "An average player in the national team can make from 100,000 to one million dollars a year, depending upon his popularity and seniority," said Ahmed. Endorsements for bats can range from 30,000 dollars to 100,000 dollars per annum, while top players like Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Akhtar can easily make 25,000 to 150,000 a year through commercials. But compared to the superstars of the Indian game, these sums are modest. Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni earlier this year signed a three-year endorsement worth 2.1 billion rupees (42 million dollars). It was in India where Pakistani players looked set for life when they featured in the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL). Four out of eleven Pakistani players were bought at the IPL auction for over 400,000 dollars a season, with Afridi topping the chart with 675,000 followed by Asif with 650,000. But Pakistani players' were then hit hard when they were banned from the next two IPL seasons after relations between India and Pakistan came to a flash point following the terrorist attack on Mumbai, an atrocity which New Delhi blamed on militants based across the border. Many observers believe that those losses in the IPL forced the Pakistani players to find short cuts to boost their incomes and fell into the trap of the illegal bookies. "All Pakistan players need is guidance and stability, this will bring loyalty and eliminate any shortcuts which one might need to take to fulfil dreams, aspirations, and at times, unlawful desires," said Ahmed.

Dawnnews.com Thu, 09 Sep 2010 12:05:21 +0000

Ban cheats for life: Vettori

WELLINGTON : New Zealand skipper Daniel Vettori said on Thursday any player caught cheating should be banned from cricket for life to protect the game's integrity. Vettori's comment follow the suspension of three Pakistan players - captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif - for allegedly bowling deliberate no-balls in a Test against England at Lord's last month. "If they are proved, those allegations, then it has to be the harshest possible (punishment) and that's a life ban," Vettori told Radio New Zealand . The International Cricket Council (ICC), the sport's world governing body, has suspended Butt, Aamer and Asif pending further investigation after a British newspaper published the allegations of spot-fixing in the Lord's Test. The News of the World reported it had paid an agent for several Pakistan players 150,000 pounds (230,000 dollars) for advance knowledge of no-balls in the Test, which could then be bet upon. British police have since raided the Pakistan team's hotel and are investigating the matter. New Zealand 's Black Caps notched a dramatic Test win over Pakistan in Dunedin last December but Vettori said the spectre of cheating cast a shadow over all results, even if these were legitimate. "Whenever incidents like (these) recently have come under the spotlight then people are going to question every single game that Pakistan played in," Vettori said. "The key for cricket is to clean it up as quickly as possible, so that people don't turn up at the game and think there's something going on. Cricket needs to be squeaky clean." Pakistan are scheduled to tour New Zealand in December. -AFP

Dawnnews.com Thu, 09 Sep 2010 11:01:10 +0000

Flower says Pak match-fixing claims have soured England's summer of success

England cricket team coach Andy Flower has admitted that the "gloomy atmosphere" generated by the Pakistan spot-fixing allegations has undermined his side's achievements.

www.indiavision.com Thu, 09 Sep 2010 10:59:51 +0000

PCB chief jeered on return to Pakistan

KARACHI: Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt was jeered at Lahore Airport on Wednesday on his return home from London for the first time since the spot-fixing scandal engulfed the Pakistan team. Butt's emergence from the terminal was met with cries of 'shame, shame' from protesters who waved placards lambasting Butt and the three Pakistan players caught up in the scandal. "The accusations against them still have to be proven but if any player is found guilty, the board will take the most severe action," Butt told a large media contingent. "The fact is until now the accusations have not been proven, neither has the ICC or Scotland Yard charged them even after nine hours of interrogation," Butt added. Butt confirmed that the PCB had filed detailed replies to the charge-sheets issued to the players by the ICC but the ICC had said it wanted the players to respond themselves. "We had filed a detailed reply but the ICC says the players must respond," he said.

Dawnnews.com Thu, 09 Sep 2010 09:58:51 +0000

Cricketers not guilty until proven: PCB chief

Despite questioning them for over nine hours, the Scotland Yard could not press any charges against three Pakistani cricketers accused of spot-fixing and they cannot be held guilty "unless something is proved", Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Ijaz Butt said Wednesday.

www.indiavision.com Thu, 09 Sep 2010 09:08:08 +0000

Now, England's T20 World Cup triumph comes under match fixing scanner

England's triumph in the World Twenty20 is sensationally the latest event to come under the match-fixing microscope.

rediff.com Thu, 09 Sep 2010 08:34:11 +0000

Fearing backlash in Pak, Asif wants to stay in UK

Fearing a violent backlash in Pakistan for his alleged involvement in the spot-fixing scandal, pacer Mohammad Asif is considering taking political asylum in Britain. Asif had a 35-minute meeting with an immigration lawyer last Friday, reports say.

hindustantimes.com Thu, 09 Sep 2010 08:00:03 +0000

England's World Twenty20 triumph tainted as Salman Butt and Kamran Akmal investigated

World Twenty20 in Caribbean, which provided England with one of its finest moments, is being investigated.

telegraph.co.uk Thu, 09 Sep 2010 07:23:59 +0000

Sachin: We are here to win Champions League

With cricket reeling from match-fixing allegations, the Champions League Twenty20 tournament will be played under strict anti-corruption controls amid hopes the gloom surrounding a sport that has slumped to one of its lowest points will be lifted.