Briefly cricket

WADA sets time limit for ICC
New Delhi: The WADA on Tuesday gave ICC time till November 2011 to convince its member boards to accept the vexed 'whereabouts' clause. WADA director general David Howman also served a veiled warning to BCCI when he
indicated that India could be barred from participating in this year's Asian Games in Guangzhou, where cricket in the form of Twenty20 would make its debut in the multi-sport extravaganza if the stand-off continues. "It will be Olympic Council of Asia's decision," he said.

SA win despite Sammy's knock
Antigua: South Africa withstood a late West Indies fightback led by Darren Sammy's 58 from 24 balls to prevail by 17 runs in the second one-day international on Monday and take a 2-0 lead in the five match series.
Brief scores: South Africa 300 for 5 in 50 overs (G. Smith 37, H. Amla 92, J Kallis 85, AB de Villiers 41;Taylor 2/50, Pollard 2/39) vs West Indies 283 all out in 48.1 overs (D. Richards 51, D Bravo 74, D Sammy not out 58; Morkel 3/58).

ICC gives Sydney Test clean chit
Melbourne: The ICC has stopped investigating the Australia-Pakistan Sydney Test after finding no evidence of match-fixing, a Cricket Australia spokesman said. "The ICC has replied, saying it has seen no evidence of match-fixing and that there is no current investigation of match-fixing," CA spokesman Peter Young was quoted as saying by The Australian. "Haroon Lorgat has assured James Sutherland that Australia won the match on its merits," Young added.

Afridi to lead in all formats
Lahore: Pakistan on Tuesday named Shahid Afridi captain for next month's Asia Cup and the subsequent full tour of England, opting for a single skipper for all three formats of the game. "Afridi will lead Pakistan in one-day and Test cricket and is our best choice," Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ejaz Butt told reporters.

Swann voted best English player
London: Off-spinner Graeme Swann beat competition from his skipper Paul Collingwood among others to clinch the 'England Cricket of the Year' award at Lord's. Selected by the British media, Swann claimed the award beating the likes of Stuart Broad, Andrew Strauss, Paul Collingwood and James Anderson. Swann played 45 matches in all formats of the game, taking 99 wickets at an average of 26.26.

Clarke retained as Australia's Twenty20 captain

Melbourne, May 24 (ANI): Michael Clarke has been retained as Australia's Twenty20 captain after his tenure was under review over his poor batting in the shortest version of the game, Clarke was named skipper when the two limited-overs squads were announced today for matches against Pakistan and England in Britain.

Clarke will need to show a marked improvement in his batting at the T20 level if he is to retain the post beyond the two T20 matches against Pakistan, The Herald Sun reports.

The one-day squad named today is the one, which won the ODI series in New Zealand earlier this year, except that Shaun Marsh has recovered from injury and returns to the side in place of Adam Voges.

Twenty20 Squad: Michael Clarke (Captain), Cameron White (Vice-captain), Daniel Christian, Brad Haddin, Ryan Harris, Nathan Hauritz, David Hussey, Mike Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Dirk Nannes, Steven Smith, Shaun Tait, David Warner and Shane Watson.

Marsh back for ODIs, Clarke captain of Twenty20

Opener Shaun Marsh has been selected in the Australia one-day international squad after recovering from injury while Michael Clarke will continue as captain of the Twenty20 side in matches against England and Pakistan over the next two months.
Marsh replaced fellow Western Australian Adam Voges while Clarke is in a 14-man squad which is the same, minus second wicketkeeper Tim Paine, as the one which lost the world Twenty20 title to England in the West Indies this month.
Australia is playing two tests and two Twenty20 matches against Pakistan in England due to security concerns in Pakistan. That series will be preceded by five one-day matches against England.
"Australia has made great progress in Twenty20 cricket in the last 12 months, winning an extremely high percentage of our games and of course being the only undefeated side in the tournament until the final," Australia selectors' chairman Andrew Hilditch said Monday.
Australia opens its tour on June 17 with a limited-overs match against Ireland at Clontarf. It then plays English county side Middlesex at Lord's on June 19 in a one-day tour match, followed by five one-day matches against England _ June 22 at the Rose Bowl, June 24 at Cardiff, June 27 at Old Trafford, June 30 at The Oval and July 3 at Lord's.
The Pakistan series begins with Twenty20 matches on July 5 and 6 at Edgbaston, followed by a two-day tour match July 8-9 against Derbyshire. Australia plays tests against Pakistan beginning July 13 at Lord's and July 21 at Headingley.
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One-day squad: Ricky Ponting (captain), Michael Clarke (vice captain), Doug Bollinger, Brad Haddin, Nathan Hauritz, Ryan Harris, James Hopes, Mike Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Shaun Marsh, Clint McKay, Steve Smith, Shane Watson, Cameron White.
Twenty20 squad: Michael Clarke (captain), Cameron White (vice captain), Daniel Christian, Brad Haddin, Ryan Harris, Nathan Hauritz, David Hussey, Mike Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Dirk Nannes, Steven Smith, Shaun Tait, David Warner, Shane Watson.

Akmal threatens to sue Pakistan coaches over fix claims

KARACHI (Reuters) - Wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal has threatened to sue former Pakistan coaches Intikhab Alam and Aaqib Javed for defamation unless they apologise for suggesting his performance in Australia may have been linked to bookmakers.

Akmal said on Saturday Alam and Javed should substantiate their allegations or make a public apology to him.

"I am fed up with these allegations. My family is disturbed. I go out and people hoot me and I am mentally disturbed. I want to clear this unwarranted stigma with my name," he told Reuters.

"I want an apology from these people. I will be speaking to the chairman of the board about this as they are employees of the board. If they don't apologise I intend to go to court in my personal capacity."

The International Cricket Council's (ICC) anti-corruption unit said on Thursday it was examining Pakistan's dismal tour of Australia this year when they were whitewashed in the test and one-day series.

However, PCB chairman Ijaz Butt told reporters the board had informed the ICC they had found no evidence of match-fixing by any player on the Australian tour.

Pakistan slumped to defeat in the second test in Sydney after they appeared to have victory in their grasp with Akmal dropping three catches and missing a run out.

His performance came under scrutiny during a Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) probe into the team's poor tour with the two former coaches suspecting Akmal may have links with bookmakers.

The pair's statements caused an uproar in Pakistan when video recordings of the inquiry committee proceedings were leaked to a television channel this week.

"The point is (if) these people suspected me of deliberately under-performing why did they keep on selecting me for other matches?" Akmal said.

Akmal said it was about time someone took action against people making baseless allegations of match-fixing or the ordeal for Pakistani players would never end.

Alam and Javed were removed as team coaches after the Australian tour but given top positions in the national cricket academy by the board.

Sri Lanka tour of Australia 2010/11 Schedule-Fixtures

Sri Lankan cricket team will travel to Australia for a short tour of three ODI and only one twenty20 international in the later part of October 2010.

Sri Lanka will begin their tour with three practice game. The first game they will play against Queensland on October 22^nd, and two against New South Wales on October 24^th and 27^th before playing the twenty20 international on 31^st of October at WCG, Perth.

Sri Lanka will play their first ODI at MCG on 3^rd of November, second ODI at SCG on 5^th of November and last ODI at Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Brisbane on 7^th of November 2010.

Here are the complete Sri Lanka v Australia Series 2010 Fixtures (All timings are mentioned in GMT+05:30)

Timing	Teams	Venue
Fri 22 Oct 05:00 AM	Tour Match – Queensland v Sri Lanka	Brisbane Cricket Ground, Woolloongabba, Brisbane
Sun 24 Oct 05:00 AM	Tour Match – NSW v Sri Lanka	Sydney Cricket Ground
Wed 27 Oct 05:00 AM	Tour Match – NSW v Sri Lanka	Sydney Cricket Ground
Sun 31 Oct (D/N) 14:00 PM	Only T20I – Australia v Sri Lanka	Western Australia Cricket Association Ground, Perth
Wed 3 Nov (D/N) 08:45 AM	1st ODI – Australia v Sri Lanka	Melbourne Cricket Ground
Fri 5 Nov (D/N) 08:45 AM	2nd ODI – Australia v Sri Lanka	Sydney Cricket Ground
Sun 7 Nov (D/N) 08:45 AM	3rd ODI – Australia v Sri Lanka	Western Australia Cricket Association Ground, Perth

Pak's entire 'dysfunctional' Oz tour under ICC scanner

The entire Pakistan tour of Australia in 2009-10 is under a cloud with the International Cricket Council (ICC) anti-corruption unit investigating the visiting team's performance during the series, and not just the 'controversial' Sydney Test.
Outgoing ICC Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) chief Paul Condon said that his department has been concerned about the entire tour and not just the New Year's Sydney Test.
"It is a series that worried us. The challenge is to find where the solid fact is, because what you've got there is a lot of internecine strife within the team and within Pakistan politics, with rival camps making allegations," The Australian quoted Condon, as saying.
"We are satisfied that that was a totally dysfunctional tour from a Pakistani point of view, and that dysfunctionality in the dressing room led to players not performing well, and maybe making them potentially underperform deliberately," he added.
Condon further said the ACSU was still inquiring into the series to establish facts.
"What we are trying to establish is whether that was because rival camps wanted to (bring) down captains or potential captains, or whether they were doing something more serious, for a financial fix," he said.
Meanwhile, Cricket Australia (CA) has promised to co-operate, but chief executive James Sutherland has written to the ICC for more details of its investigation.
"We have no knowledge of any concerns and we'd have expected to have some knowledge if there were any," a CA spokesman said.
"If the ICC had any concerns, we would absolutely provide them with whatever support they needed. At this stage we believe we won that game on the merits of our performance," the spokesman added.
The Pakistan Cricket Board punished almost half of the Pakistan team for their performance in Australia. Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan were banned indefinitely, Shoaib Malik and Naved-ul-Hasan were suspended for a year, while Shahid Afridi and the Akmal brothers, Umar and Kamran, were fined and placed on probation for six months

"Pak's entire dysfunctional tour of Australia" under ICC anti-corruption scanner

Sydney, May 22(ANI): The entire Pakistan tour of Australia in 2009-10 is under a cloud with the International Cricket Council (ICC) anti-corruption unit investigating the visiting team's performance during the series, and not just the 'controversial' Sydney Test.

Outgoing ICC Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU) chief Paul Condon said that his department has been concerned about the entire tour and not just the New Year's Sydney Test.

"It is a series that worried us. The challenge is to find where the solid fact is, because what you've got there is a lot of internecine strife within the team and within Pakistan politics, with rival camps making allegations," The Australian quoted Condon, as saying.

"We are satisfied that that was a totally dysfunctional tour from a Pakistani point of view, and that dysfunctionality in the dressing room led to players not performing well, and maybe making them potentially underperform deliberately," he added.

Condon further said the ACSU was still inquiring into the series to establish facts.

"What we are trying to establish is whether that was because rival camps wanted to (bring) down captains or potential captains, or whether they were doing something more serious, for a financial fix," he said.

Meanwhile, Cricket Australia (CA) has promised to co-operate, but chief executive James Sutherland has written to the ICC for more details of its investigation.

"We have no knowledge of any concerns and we'd have expected to have some knowledge if there were any," a CA spokesman said.

"If the ICC had any concerns, we would absolutely provide them with whatever support they needed. At this stage we believe we won that game on the merits of our performance," the spokesman added.

The Pakistan Cricket Board punished almost half of the Pakistan team for their performance in Australia. Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan were banned indefinitely, Shoaib Malik and Naved-ul-Hasan were suspended for a year, while Shahid Afridi and the Akmal brothers, Umar and Kamran, were fined and placed on probation for six months.

Appeals of Naved and Malik adjourned

An arbitrator has adjourned appeals of Pakistan allrounder Rana Naved and former captain Shoaib Malik against one-year suspensions and fines.

Pakistan Cricket Board lawyer Talib Rizvi told reporters in the eastern city of Lahore that Malik's appeal has been adjourned until May 29 while Naved's appeal will be heard on June 19.

"Naved's lawyer wanted to make some amendments in the appeal and needed some time," Rizvi said.

Malik's laywer had presented his arguments in the last hearing on May 15, but Rizvi said the PCB needed time to discuss it.

"PCB chairman (Ijaz Butt) was out of country and only returned home yesterday so we will discuss all the legal matters with him before giving our reply in the next hearing," Rizvi said.

The PCB suspended both players for one year and fined them two million rupees ($23,500) each for poor performance and ill discipline during the tour of Australia earlier this year.

Six players filed appeals against suspensions and fines except for former captain Mohammad Yousuf, who has retired from international cricket.

Arbitrator Irfan Qadir said he wanted to wrap up the proceedings as quickly as possible in all the six appeals and wanted it to be transparent.

"Video recordings of all our proceedings will be done so as to bring transparency," Qadir told reporters.

The PCB imposed fines and suspensions on the recommendations of an inquiry committee formed to evaluate Pakistan's performance during the winless tour of Australia.

Players launched accusations at each other in a leaked video recording of the PCB inquiry's proceedings.

In the videos, former coaches Intikhab Alam and Aqib Javed questioned wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal's poor performance in the Sydney test.

Alam told the inquiry committee he was "flabbergasted" when Akmal missed an easy run out of Shane Watson and later said he had heard stories about match fixing