Trouble for Cricket Australia over Big Ben Ashes advertisement

 London, Oct 29 (IANS) Cricket Australia's (CA) provocative Ashes advertisement, 'Don't forget to pack the urn', featuring holographic images of Ricky Ponting and Michael Clarke on the historic Big Ben, has backfired as the Westminster city council has threatened legal action.

'The Palace of Westminster is part of a Unesco world heritage site, and it's both inappropriate and insulting for this important location and its buildings to effectively be abused in this manner. It's also a criminal offence,' Westminster city council's deputy leader, councillor Robert Davis was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

'If an organisation wishes to display advertising on it, or any other building in Westminster for that matter, they should apply through the normal channels like any right-minded person with respect for the law. Although we've not prosecuted previously as such stunts are usually over quickly, we do feel now that enough is enough and we're considering legal action,' Davis said.

'We also fear that without taking a firm stance this style of guerrilla advertising will only increase, particularly in the run-up to (the London Olympics in) 2012,' he said.

Metropolitan Police also admitted that breach has been committed and they are investigating the matter.

I always enjoy playing in India: Shoaib Malik

Ranchi: Even though bilateral cricket series between India and Pakistan have dried up post Mumbai terror attack in 2008, but Pakistani cricketer Shoaib Malik said he always enjoys playing in India. "I enjoy playing in India in front of packed crowd," Malik said at the inaugurate of a state-of-the art Tennis Academy, set up by Jharkhand State Cricket Association (JSCA).

While the tennis academy was inaugurated by Chief Minister Arjun Munda, Indian tennis player Sania Mirza, who was accompanying her husband Shoaib, was the star attraction. Shoaib, who was not considered in the Pakistan squad for the ongoing limited overs series against South Africa in UAE, further said that there is hardly any difference between the two neighbouring nations.

"The language of both the countries is same and so is the cuisine. There is no difference," the former Pakistan skipper said, adding that he never feels being in another country when he is in India.

Responding to Malik's comments, Deputy Chief Minister Sudesh Mahto described the cricketer as "our country's son-in-law". The famed couple also exchanged a few shots with Munda and Mahto.

Meanwhile, JSCA President Amitabh Choudhary promised that a world standard cricket stadium, which is now under construction, would also be completed by 2011.

Buzz Up Chinese cricket a surprise package, says Pakistan great

New Delhi: Unfancied China should not be underestimated when cricket makes its debut at the Asian Games next month, according to Pakistan great Javed Miandad. China will play cricket on the world stage for the first time during the November 12-27 Games in Guangzhou, having qualified for the Twenty20 competition by virtue of being the hosts.

But Miandad, one of the mentors of the fledging sport in China, said the country's cricketers could prove to be the surprise of the tournament. "Cricket may not be very popular in China, but it is a known fact that when they decide to do something, they go all out," Miandad said.

"Same is the case with cricket. The Chinese are very quick learners. Just as an example, they have a player who until three months ago did not know what cricket was, he was completely clueless. But today he can bowl leg-breaks as good as many professional players. Their complete devotion to mastering anything is simply awesome. Something that is missing in Pakistan and India," the former batsman said.

Miandad, who says he will travel to Guangzhou to encourage his wards, has been in constant touch with former internationals, Rashid Khan of Pakistan and Aminul Islam of Bangladesh, who coach the Chinese men's team.

The women's team is coached by former India player Mamatha Maben. With India opting out of the competition and other top cricketing nations like Sri Lanka and Pakistan fielding second-string teams, China is hoping for a podium finish in Guangzhou.

Cricket was last seen at a major multi-sport event at the 1998 Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur, but was dropped for the next three editions in England, Australia and India.

The sport will continue to be played at the Asian Games and will be part of the programme for 2014 in the South Korean city of Incheon.

Buzz Up We should keep Gary even after WC: Gambhir

New Delhi: Prolific Indian opener Gautam Gambhir feels that the Indian cricket board should renew the contract of coach Gary Kirsten after it expires at the end of the Cricket World Cup next year.

"Gary is the best coach India has ever had. I have often said that and I keep on stressing that we need Gary. I don't need to speak much about him. His fabulous record speaks for itself. He has been a great man-manager. So I believe that he should be retained after the World Cup also," Gambhir said.

Gambhir is thus the latest among the Indian stars to join the bandwagon who want the South African to be retained as Cricket South Africa wants him to take over once he finishes his stint with the Indian team.

The opener also supported Kirsten's idea of sending the top-order batsmen to South Africa, a week in advance so that they can get themselves acclimatised to the pace and bounce of wickets over there.

"We haven't played much cricket in South Africa of late. So it will be a great idea if we go there a bit early to get used to the conditions. If such a thing happens, it may just work in our favour," Gambhir said.

He also reiterated that one can't continue his blazing form for life and there is bound to be ups and downs. "Right now I am coming back from injury. It's always a difficult thing when you come back from injury. Only when you spend considerable time out there in the middle, you get to know how it's shaping up for you," he said.

The Delhi batsman also feels that just because Bangladesh whipped New Zealand 4-0 in the ODI series, it did not mean that it will be a cakewalk for the Indians when they meet the Black Caps from November 4.

"You can never take any international opposition lightly. Just because Bangladesh beat them 4-0 doesn't mean that we can take it easy against the New Zealanders. Their team consists of some proven match-winners who can turn a match head on. So we need to be very careful and can't take things for granted," Gambhir said.

On a lighter vein, he said that walking ramp is tough but not as tough as opening the batting for the country. He also said that he hasn't seen the likes of Yuvraj Singhs and Mahendra Singh Dhonis walk the ramp but said that a cricketer's endeavour is to perform on field rather than score points off it.

Buzz Up Australia readies Big Bash T20 league to rival IPL

 SYDNEY (Reuters) - Cricket Australia (CA) approved an IPL-style league on Friday but conceded the eight-team event would not be able to rival the financial gloss of the Indian Twenty20 tournament.

After the board meeting in Melbourne, chief executive officer James Sutherland said CA were "amenable" to private ownership in the expanded Big Bash League from 2011-12 season but finalising the terms would take more time.

"The Board has considered the position of private investment into these teams and taken a view that the board is amenable to that situation," Sutherland told reporters.

"It will, over the coming months, consider the terms under which that private investment may take place but the Board is certainly open to that."

Local media reports claimed Indian companies were eyeing minority stakes in some of the teams, while Sutherland said the new league would not vie with the glitzy $4 billion IPL.

"I don't think we see ourselves as a competitor to the IPL (in terms of player earnings) and certainly the revenues that the Cricket Australia Big Bash League can generate," he said.

"In a small market such as Australia it's not going to be the same as the Indian Premier League. But at the same time this league is on the international stage and the teams that play-off in the finals will qualify for the Champions League."

The CA official envisages the league, to be played over a 5-6 week period in December and January, to be a 10-team affair by the next five years but ruled out any threat to the traditional Boxing Day (Dec. 26) test.

Strauss excited by Ashes challenge

Andrew Strauss is ready to deal with the pressure of expectation as England prepare to depart for Australia with their best chance of winning down under in more than 20 years. The pre-Ashes hype is well underway on both sides of the world although Strauss doesn't feel the need to be drawn into any slanging matches before the action gets underway. 

England haven't won in Australia since 1986-87 but on the back of a successful 18 months which has seen the team win the Ashes at home, draw in South Africa and beat Pakistan 3-1 there is a feeling that the squad has the ability to turn over the hosts who have lost their last three Tests and slipped below England in the rankings. Victory in Australia would cement Strauss's position as one of his country's finest captains, but he is putting individual thoughts to one side.

"I think we all feel a slight burden of responsibility but that's mixed in with a huge amount of pride in representing our country in what is a massive series," Strauss said. "From my own point of view I'm relaxed but excited about our prospects. Those of us on the last tour know what a tough place it is to tour but we also know what an amazing thing it would be to win out there. I think we have a great chance. The only time the 5-0 result will be wiped out is if we go out and win this time. That's our challenge."

There is unlikely to be any shortage of mentions of what happened four years ago when England arrived holding the Ashes before being thrashed by a rampant home side, but already there are differences from that tour. The squad is settled and the ECB have gone to great lengths to lay on the ideal preparation with a month-long lead-in period before the first Test including three first-class matches.

"We've had a lot of success over the last 18 months so confidence levels are very high," Strauss said. "Our preparation has been very good and so there's a feeling of relaxed excitement of what lies ahead. We have an excellent chance of winning out there, we are a nice tight unit and know what to expect.

"We've left no stone unturned in making sure that we hit the ground running. Ultimately preparation only takes you so far and you have to front up in the crucial sessions but I have every confidence our players will be able to do that."

Strauss also attempted to put to bed talk about injuries sustained during the team's bonding camp in Germany. James Anderson returned with a cracked rib and it also emerged that Chris Tremlett suffered bruising, but both are not causing the captain any concern. "Chris is 100% fit. I think he had a tiny niggle but it hasn't affected his preparation at all," he said. "Jimmy Anderson is coming on well and we fully expect our squad to be 100% fit by the first Test."

ICC not to investigate Sydney Test: Lorgat

Melbourne: The International Cricket Council will not re-investigate the Sydney Test between Australia and Pakistan despite being confronted with reports that it knew of suspected match fixer Mazhar Majeed's "activities" during the game.

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said the governing body did not have "sufficient evidence" to warn the Australian authorities about Majeed's activities during the January series.

Australia won the Sydney Test after Pakistan suffered a dramatic collapse and committed several fielding errors.

In a sting operation conducted by a British tabloid a some weeks ago, Majeed was shown boasting that the match had been fixed.

But Lorgat insisted that the ICC will not launch a re-investigation unless "credible evidence comes forward."

"We've kept it open, we concluded in the end it was a dysfunctional team," he told ABC channel.

Asked whether the ICC should have issued an advisory when it came to know of Majeed's presence in Sydney, Lorgat said, "these are leads that we have to follow through and be quite confident before we make allegations and it was the subject of an ongoing investigation and we weren't in a position to make any allegations."

"We were not satisfied of the extent of his activities and we needed to be quite confident before we levelled any accusations," he said.

Ind-NZ: Time to turn things around for Ishant

New Delhi: Shell shocked and bemused, Aussie skipper Ricky Ponting could not have been more clueless during the 2008 Perth Test against India when a certain upstart by the name of Ishant Sharma dared to put one of the greatest batsman in contemporary cricket through an ordeal that left world cricket gasping for its breath.

But that was then and almost three years hence, one might be tempted to politely inquire as to what happened to that phenomenon who promised to be the the next best thing for Team India?

It is probably one of those inexplicable topics that one can go on about without quite getting to its bottom.

To be fair to Ishant, he had some creditable performances with both bat and ball during the recently concluded Test series against the Australians at home.

However, it was not that long ago that the lanky fast bowler from Delhi seemed to have answered the prayers of millions and arrived on the scene as an Indian bowler with genuine pace.

On 17th February 2008 he bowled a delivery which clocked 152.6 km/h in an ODI against the Aussies at Adelaide, no mean feat by an Indian pacer many of whom struggle to touch 130 at times.

He was probably one of those multi-dimensional quick bowlers that India had never possesed in its ranks.

Apart from an ability to generate pace and bounce, Sharma could also make the ball talk and at least Ponting would not have a counter theory to that.

With 15 wickets to his name, he was declared man of the series in the home fixture against Australia a couple of years back when the Indians won the four Test match series without much of a scare.

Aged only 19, the world was at his feet, but what followed was a downward slide that never seemed to come to an end.

There were a number of expert opinions ranging from IPL burnout to a wrong wrist postion and as one of the television commentators rightly observed, Sharma was under the scanner every time he ran in to bowl.

Having said that, all is not lost for the Delhi paceman and his performance has been improving ever so slightly.

The upcoming series against New Zealand will be a fair indicator as to where Ishant is headed and with the World Cup round the corner, let's hope that he hits his straps and rediscovers his old self sooner rather than later.

Ishant Sharma is simply too good a player to be languishing in the wilderness for a length of time and his fall from grace would be one of the all time lows for Indian cricket.

Ponting doubts legitimacy of Sydney victory

Melbourne: Australian captain Ricky Ponting's doubts about the genuineness of his team's win in the Sydney Test against Pakistan are mounting amid reports that the ICC knew of suspected match fixer Mazhar Majeed's activities during the game.

Ricky Ponting fears one of the proudest moments of his career could not be real. © AFP

The game had been investigated and cleared of any match-fixing by the ICC a few months ago but Majeed claimed that the result was indeed manipulated during a sting operation carried out by a British tabloid.
And the latest report about ICC knowing about Majeed's activities but choosing not to issue a warning during the match has only added to the suspicions surrounding it.
"I probably have a few more doubts now that there have been some allegations made about some of the finer points and littler things that happened during that Sydney Test match," Ponting told ABC channel.
"The one thing I'm very protective of though is the performance that we put up that day ... touch wood the Sydney Test match is not one that has anything untoward happening out of it because I really feel that coming off the ground that day, that's one of the proudest moments of my career," he added.

But Cricket Australia chairman James Sutherland said he still firmly believes that the match, which the Aussies won after a stunning Pakistani collapse, was clean.

"That's scuttlebutt that is to be proven. I trust that is the subject now of a proper investigation by the ICC and we can get to the bottom of that, because if there is any truth to that then that's obviously something of great concern to cricket fans and cricket administrators all over the world," Sutherland said.

Kochi hoping for more time from BCCI

Mumbai: The deadline set by the BCCI has expired but the Kochi IPL consortium still wants some more time from the Cricket Board to resolve its internal differences.

The franchise, which has roped in former India captain Sunil Gavaskar in an advisory capacity, said it is hopeful of getting the time from the BCCI.

"We consortium partners are very close to resolving our internal differences and would like the BCCI to give us some more time and have also sought this," franchise CEO Satyajit Gaekwad told PTI on Tuesday.

"We have not defaulted on any payment to the BCCI and just want some more time," he said.

BCCI president Shashank Manohar has convened an emergency meeting of the IPL Governing Council tomorrow at Nagpur to decide on the Kochi franchise issue.

The crux of the dispute is who will run the affairs of the franchise, bought from the Cricket Board for USD 333 million, once the joint venture was formed.

The investors include corporate firms Anchor Earth, Parinee Developers, Rosy Blue and Film Wave - who hold 75 per cent of the equity.

The remaining 25 per cent has been given to the family of Gaekwads - Shailendra, his brother Ravi and their parents plus a few others, all part of the group of promoters - Rendezvous Sports World - as free equity for services rendered in successfully bidding for the franchise.

The Board had given the franchise 10 days' time on October 10 to resolve their internal differences and the franchise responded by submitting a letter to the BCCI on the last day of the deadline - October 20.

The legal team of the Cricket Board had been entrusted with the task of studying the letter which has been forwarded to Manohar.

"Today was the last day given to the the Kochi franchise for responding to the notice given to them. They held a few meetings in the last two-three days and submitted a letter which has been sent to the president (Shashank Manohar)," BCCI's Chief Administrative Officer, Prof Ratnakar Shetty, had told reporters on October 20.

Without revealing the contents of the letter submitted by the franchise, whose partners have been squabbling over the nitty gritties of forming a Joint Venture Company as per the norms and regulations stipulated by IPL, Shetty said the Board would take a call on the letter's contents after its legal department studied it.

"The president will study it, our legal team will study it before taking a decision," he said, adding that the Board, at present, has not thought about calling a meeting of the IPL Governing Council.

On having brought in Gavaskar into the franchise in an advisory capacity, Gaekwad said that it was done only after the cricket legend quit as a member of the IPL's Governing Council.

"We approached him after he was no longer a member of the IPL Council to Sunil Gavaskar to act in an advisory capacity with the franchise and he has accepted the offer," Gaekwad said today.

"He does not have any stakes in the franchise," the franchise CEO informed.

Gavaskar to power IPL Kochi team

New Delhi: The controversy behind the Kochi team has taken another turn when it was finally revealed that former India captain Sunil Gavaskar is the 'big player' who had helped the Kochi franchise pull off a stunning coup in the controversial Indian Premier League auction.

This was confirmed by the Gaikwad family which owns 25 per cent free equity and 1 per cent paid equity in the team. Gavaskar is said to have masterminded the creation of Rendezvous Sports World Pvt Ltd.

It was under the guidance of Sunil Gavasker that they decided to bid for Kochi franchise. Gavaskar was to look into the IPL Kochi's cricketing operations for a stake in the franchise.

Gavaskar had recently been dropped from the IPL governing council after the board decided not to pay any former cricketer on that board, and did not even ask Gavaskar about his availability.

The IPL governing council is expected to meet in two days to decide the fate of the franchise which is struggling with internal disputes.

Ruthless India demolish Australia

Bangalore: Debutant Cheteshwar Pujara proved an unlikely hero as India thrashed Australia by seven wickets in the second and final Test on Wednesday to sweep the series 2-0. Pujara hit a fluent 72 as the hosts, set 207 runs to win on a wearing wicket, cruised home soon after tea on the fifth and final day at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore.

Veteran Sachin Tendulkar, who hit a double-century in the first innings, remained unbeaten on 53 as India enhanced their reputation as the world's number one Test side.

Ricky Ponting's Australia, preparing for next month's start of the Ashes series at home against England, slipped to fifth place behind India, South Africa, Sri Lanka and the Englishmen.

India followed their dramatic one-wicket win in the first Test in Mohali last week to retain the Border-Gavaskar Trophy in front of some 20,000 jubilant home fans.

Tendulkar stamped India's superiority by smashing off-spinner Nathan Hauritz for two consecutive sixes just before the tea interval. The world batting record holder was named both the man of the match and the player of the series for notching up 403 runs in four innings at an average of 134.33.

"I don't count. Let the others count. I just want to continue scoring," Tendulkar, 37, said when asked about his awesome record this year in which he has already hit six centuries.

"This series was a fantastic one for the entire team. Pujara showed tremendous character and his partnership with Murali Vijay was very crucial one."

Pujara and Vijay put on 72 for the second wicket to revive India after the accomplished Virender Sehwag was dismissed in the third over for seven. Sehwag edged Ben Hilfenhaus to wicket-keeper Tim Paine, one delivery after hitting a four to the point boundary.

Pujara, who was promoted to number three in place of Rahul Dravid, then added 57 for the third wicket with Tendulkar before he was bowled by Hauritz. The 22-year-old, awarded a Test cap only because Venkatsai Laxman was injured, hit seven boundaries during his two-hour stint at the crease.

A disappointed Ponting admitted his team were outplayed by the hosts. "We have played reasonably good Test cricket in the series, but we were outplayed," the Australian captain said.

"We needed to get a few early wickets today, we got one, but Pujara and Vijay batted well. The crowd here have been fantastic. We would like to thank the crowd for their love and support for Test cricket."

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni also paid tribute to the large number of fans who turned up for the match on all five days. But Dhoni rued his bad luck with the toss which he has lost nine times in succession in Test matches.

"As a captain I keep losing tosses which means the bowlers have to come in and bowl on flat tracks," he said. "But they have bowled really well. In both games, the first innings was high scoring and it changed in the second innings. In India you can lose a Test in two sessions. You need to play well on all the five days."

Australia, starting the day with a lead of 185 runs with three wickets in hand, were earlier all out for 223 in their second innings an hour into the morning session.

Zaheer Khan and left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha finished with three wickets each, while Shanthakumaran Sreesanth and off-spinner Harbhajan SinghAustralia will now play a three-match One-day series starting in Kochi on October 17. claimed two each. India and