ICC assesses Karachi security for Champions Trophy cricket
An International Cricket Council (ICC) delegation has completed a security assessment of the volatile Pakistani city of Karachi for this year's Champions Trophy, an official said Monday.
The four-member ICC team, which includes two security experts, arrived on Sunday and inspected the National Stadium and two other practice grounds for the biennial Champions Trophy to be held in Pakistan from September 11-28.
"We are here today to review security as per the normal protocol. Such tours are completely normal visits for all ICC events," the ICC's Campbell Jamieson told reporters after completing the visit.
The other members of the delegation are ICC member Bruce Ewan and two members of the ICC security consultant company from England -- James Withington and Kean Steele.
The delegation had to cancel an earlier assessment mid-way through when a state of emergency was declared in Pakistan in November last year.
Early this year Australia also put off their March-April tour of Pakistan over security fears.
But since general elections in February and the formation of a new government security has improved in Pakistan, allowing Australia to reschedule their tour in 2009 and 2010.
The ICC delegation will also tour Lahore and Rawalpindi before submitting its report to the game's governing body. Karachi will host five matches including one semi-final.
The Pakistan Cricket Board has promised high-profile security for the eight teams participating in the Champions Trophy.
Pakistan is also hosting the six-nation Asia Cup in June-July this year.
Foreign teams have raised safety concerns over touring the country amid political unrest and a surge in terrorism since the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.
South Africa, Zimbabwe and Bangladesh have played in Pakistan in the past eight months.
South Africa played a three-day match and a five-day Test in Karachi on their tour, which started in September last year.
But their last one-day match in the port city was shifted to Lahore after a blast targeting former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's homecoming parade.
Bhutto survived that blast but was later killed in a suicide attack in Rawalpindi on December 27.
(c) 2008 AFP
ICC wants to save Tests from Twenty20 lure
The International Cricket Council (ICC) will look at ways to protect Test cricket in the wake of Twenty20's growing impact at a two-day board meeting starting in Dubai on Monday.
The India Premier League (IPL) was launched last month involving several high-profile players and has taken the cricket world by storm with the England board also planning their own league.
"Following the changing cricket landscape after the explosion of Twenty20 cricket, the committee will discuss international cricket as the pinnacle of the game, the impact of Twenty20 cricket on other formats of the game and the impact of domestic leagues on the international game," an ICC statement said.
The lure of the IPL has been such that several Australia and New Zealand players put the games ahead of country commitments, including tours of West Indies and England respectively.
The ICC are also facing calls to carve a window in their Future Tours Programme for the league.
The Dubai meeting will also finalise details of this year's ICC Champions Trophy in Pakistan and the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup in England, as well as trialing an umpires' decision review system.
(c) Thomson Reuters 2008
The future's bright, the future's pink
Dubai: The white cricket ball that is being used in one-day matches may soon become history. The International Cricket Council (ICC) is likely to introduce pink balls for day and night one-day matches. Experiments have already commenced with the pink ball and the response has been good.
The white ball was introduced during the rebel World Cricket Series in 1978 by television tycoon Kerry Packer. After three decades it has been discovered white balls are losing their colour quickly, get dirty faster and are turning out to be difficult for the batsmen to spot.
Experiments conducted by scientists at the Imperial College revealed the pink ball can be spotted a fraction better than the white one by the batsmen and that it can retain its colour throughout the match.
Delighted
The pink ball was first experimented during a Twenty20 women's cricket match between Queensland and Western Australia in January. The women were delighted with it and said that they saw the ball clearer than the white ball.
Last Monday, the pink ball was used in men's cricket at the Lord's during a match between MCC and Scotland.
MCC, which holds the responsibility for the laws of the game, has been experimenting with different kinds of balls for the last few years. John Stephenson, a former England batsman, is the head of MCC. He led the MCC team against Scotland. The match began raising doubts on the credibility of the ball as Scotland lost two wickets for just two runs but then went on to pile up 253 for seven. MCC chased the huge total and won the match too proving that pink ball is comfortable for the batsmen.
However, the question now is will the pink ball make it so comfortable for the batsmen that the bowlers will have to struggle harder in one-day cricket for wickets?
Orange and blue tests
The MCC is keen to have pink balls being used in the 2009 Twenty20 World Cup to be held in England. Kookaburra, the ball manufacturer, has already started producing pink cricket balls.
The MCC selected the pink ball after trying out orange and also blue balls. The orange ball was first used in the Refuge Assurance Cup in 1989 and the blue ball was used during a women's cricket match.
A study conducted by scientists revealed that the pink ball is also clearer for the television viewers when compared with orange and blue balls.
The pink ball may get the approval only after finding out whether fielders will find it difficult to catch it as the colour of the ball can get mixed with the colourful dress of the spectators in the stands.
Transition of the cricket ball
- The white cricket ball was introduced following the arrival of floodlight cricket. It enabled the batsmen of the team batting second to see the ball clearly under floodlights.
- White balls are known to swing better than red balls. The need for a change began as soon as white balls began to show scuffs and blemishes more than the red ones.
- All cricket balls are made from a core of cork, which is layered and tightly wound and covered by a leather case with slightly raised sewn seam.
- The manufacturing method of making a cricket ball has not changed much in nearly 250 years. As per the original laws in 1774, the ball should weigh between 5 1/2 and 5 3/4 and this weight has remained unchanged. The size of the ball did undergo changes. In 1838 - the circumference of the ball was 9 to 9 1/4 inches but was altered in 1927 to 8 13/16 to 9 inches.
- Cricket balls have so far been made in five colours: red, white, pink, blue and orange.
(c) Al Nisr Publishing LLC 2007
BCCI plan to map IPL in ICC calendar
Kolkata: The Indian Cricket Board will request world cricket body ICC to include IPL's T-20 into its cricket calender.
In a published report here, India's supreme cricket body Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI)'s Secretary Niranjan Shah said, ''The BCCI would soon write to the International Cricket Council in Dubai to incorporate Indian Premier League(IPL) into its annual calendar, so that overseas players could join in this shorter version of cricket.
His comments came close at the heels to the ICC head Malcolm Speed's statement in Mumbai recently on the issue. He had told newspersons that there is no need to put the IPL in the world cricket calendar as yet.
Niranjan Shah also suggested that instead of auctioning players every year, the IPL should consider the option of signing contracts of a minimum of three years with the players.
(c) Copyright Sify Technologies Ltd
ICC to review Pakistan security in May
International Cricket Council Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Speed on Wednesday said a security assessment of Pakistan will be undertaken before taking a call on the 2008 Champions Trophy, which is to be held there.
Pakistan is scheduled to host the multi-nation tournament in September, but a series of bomb blasts, which forced Australia postpone their tour of the country last month, have cast a cloud on the event.
"At this stage it is full steam ahead for the Champions Trophy in Pakistan. Later this year, in May or June, the ICC will send an independent security assessment team to Pakistan," Speed told rediff.com in Mumbai.
He said the security team's report will help the ICC make a decision on whether the tournament will be held in Pakistan or not.
"They will report back to ICC after their assessment. If it is unsafe to hold the tournament there, it will not be held in Pakistan. But, at this stage, I am very hopeful that it will be held in Pakistan this year," Speed added.
The schedule and groupings for the 2008 Champions Trophy, from September 11 to 28, was announced by the ICC last month.
India, Pakistan and Australia have been drawn in Group A along with the West Indies. The other pool features South Africa, New Zealand,Sri Lanka and England.
(c) 2008 Rediff India Limited
Namibia edge one-wicket thriller
An unbroken 47-run final-wicket stand between Deon Kotze and Louis Klazinga pushed Namibia to a thrilling victory in Windhoek, keeping their unbeaten record in the Intercontinental Cup alive and leaving Scotland with an almost impossible task to qualify for the final.
Sarel Burger kept the innings afloat with 79 off 162 balls, although when the last pair came together it appeared they'd been left with too much to do. Boundaries were rare, but Kotze and Klazinga worked hard to tick off the runs, piling pressure on the Scotland attack as they tried to claim the final breakthrough.
Scotland had controlled proceedings for much of the third day after Namibia started on 45 for 3 chasing 237 on a sporting surface where wickets have fallen steadily. They chipped away at the resistance with John Blain taking his match haul to nine wickets while Glen Rodgers chipped in with a couple.
But the defeat leaves them well adrift in the table with three matches remaining. Namibia, however, go from strength to strength and now sit with 82 points from their 100% record. Kenya, with a game in hand, are their closest challengers with Ireland 33 points behind in third place although they have played two matches less.
(c) Cricinfo 2008
Former ICC chairman Dalmiya charged with misappropriating funds
MUMBAI, India: Former International Cricket Council chairman Jagmohan Dalmiya has been charged with misappropriating funds.
Police in the western city of Mumbai said Friday that Dalmiya, 67, was charged with misappropriating money from a bank account he operated for the 1996 World Cup that was jointly hosted by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
Dalmiya, the Indian cricket board's secretary then, was chief organizer of the 1996 World Cup, and went on to become the first Asian president of the International Cricket Council.
After his tenure as ICC chief finished, Dalmiya returned to become president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India, but his group of officials was ousted from power in a bitterly contested election in 2005.
On a complaint from the current board officials, police investigators discovered alleged misappropriation of nearly US$720,000 (Euro 456,100).
Dalmiya, who was granted bail by a Mumbai court, filed a separate complaint for perjury against cricket board officials in the eastern city of Calcutta.
The Calcutta High Court on Friday took up the perjury case -- for allegedly submitting false documents -- and posted the matter for hearing on April 18.
Copyright (c) 2008 the International Herald Tribune All rights reserved
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