Showing posts with label cricket news. Show all posts
Showing posts with label cricket news. Show all posts

Tuesday, November 8, 2011

Shane Warne returns to play in Big Bash T20

Cricket great Shane Warne will make his return from a short-lived retirement after signing for the full season with the Melbourne Stars in Australia`s revamped Big Bash League Twenty20 tournament.

Warne told a media conference Tuesday that once he decided to make his comeback in the Big Bash, he was determined play the full season rather than a token one or two appearances.

The leg spinner`s first game will be against the Sydney Thunder at the MCG on Dec. 17.

The 42-year-old Warne had retired from top-class cricket in May after the Rajasthan Royals` last game of the 2011 Indian Premier League. He played his last test for Australia in 2007, finishing with a then-world record 708 test wickets.


Warne, who will combine his playing commitments with the Stars with his role as a television commentator, said the Big Bash could be played alongside this summer`s test series against India without being detrimental to either format of the game.

"I don`t see a conflict in that at all," he said.

Warne said one of his main reasons for making a comeback was so that his three children, now aged 14, 12 and 10, would get a better appreciation of what he did for a living.

And it was "an added bonus" that his partner, British actress Liz Hurley, would get to see him play at the MCG.

Warne has not ruled out extending his contract with the Stars beyond one season if everything went well in the 2011-12 campaign.

"I`m a young 42 at the moment, so I`ll see how it goes this year," he said. "This is something fresh, this is something new and we`re all learning straight away. Let`s see how it goes this year and we`ll take it from there."

Wednesday, November 2, 2011

Pakistani cricketers Salman Butt, Asif guilty of spot-fixing case

Pakistani cricketers Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif were held guilty in the spot-fixing case on Tuesday by a London court, making them the first ever cricketers to have been convicted for on-field corruption.

Salman Butt has been held guilty of conspiracy to cheat and accepting corrupt payments while Mohd Asif has been convicted of conspiracy to cheat.

Though the quantum of punishment has not been announced yet, Butt faces a maximum custodial sentence of seven years.


The judge, Justice Cook, is likely to pronounce the sentence on Thursday.

The jury hearing the trial of the accused will soon also reach a decision on the charges of Asif accepting corrupt payments.

The decision came on the 20th day of the trial at Southwark Crown Court and required 16 hours of deliberation by the jury.

Teen pacer Mohammad Aamir, who was also involved in the conspiracy, did not face trial as he had reportedly pleaded guilty.

Butt and Asif were accused of spot-fixing following the infamous Lord’s Test against England in 2010 where they conspired with a bookmaker Mazhar Majeed and fast-bowler Mohammad Amir to bowl no-balls at pre-determined times.

Butt was banned for 10 years, five of which suspended, Asif for seven years, while Aamir was suspended for five years by the Pakistan Cricket Board in earlier disciplinary action against the trio.

Noted cricket commentator Harsha Bhogle said immediately after today's development that he is happy that the judgments have been delivered quickly.

Reacting to today’s judgment, former ICC chairman Ehsan Mani said that this is the terrible day for him as well as Pakistan cricket. “It’s a confirmation of what we always knew,” Mani added.

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Champions League matches likely to be shifted from Eden Gardens

Eden Gardens is set to lose all its three Champions League Twenty20 matches with the Cricket Association of Bengal (CAB) favouring shift of the matches due to monsoon rains lashing the city almost daily.

"When the conditions are such, how can we host the matches? We need time to prepare the track. Who will gain if we organise the matches and not a ball can be bowled?" said a CAB official.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), however, left the decision to the CAB.

A teleconference was held between CAB officials and their counterparts in the BCCI on the matches late Monday, where the local association pointed out the forecast of rains in the coming days.

However, the final decision in this regard will be announced on Tuesday.

Eden Gardens was slated to host two matches -- Sep 25 and Sep 27.

If Eden backs out finally, then the matches are likely to be shifted to Hyderabad.