Right decision to tour India:Ponting

Melbourne: Captain Ricky Ponting has defended Cricket Australia's decision to go ahead with India tour despite recent bomb blasts in New Delhi, saying the the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and independent security experts have given them green signal.
Terming the decision 'serious', Ponting told the Australian, "Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade have obviously been in very close contact with CA over the last few days.
"As we all know and has been outlined already, these are very different circumstances between India and Pakistan right at the moment and the Board has made that very clear."
He added that both as captain and player of the team he is comfortable to visit India on the advice of CA and the Australian Cricketer's Association.
The skipper also welcomed volatile all-rounder Andrew Symonds decision to return to the game as a better person.
"I actually think there were some really positive signs over the last couple of days with Andrew," said Ponting.
"He's fronted the media and admitted that there's some room for improvement in certain parts of his life," he added.

Source: www.mid-day.com

B'desh upbeat despite exodus as NZ loom

Bangladesh are confident the exodus of players to the unofficial Indian Cricket League (ICL) would not cripple the national team in next month's home series against New Zealand, a cricket official said on Thursday. Former Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar and 12 other leading players signed for the Twenty20 league on Tuesday. The board has said it would slap 10-year bans on those playing in unofficial tournaments. "No doubt it is a setback for us," Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) media chief Ahmed Sazzadul Alam told Reuters. "But we are confident that we have enough players in the pipeline to fill the void. Bangladesh, who play three one-dayers and two tests against New Zealand, have only won one of their previous 53 tests (47 defeats) since making their debut in 2000. "The players waiting in the pipeline are equally talented," Alam said. "The only thing we will be missing is the experience of a few players." Among those who have signed up for the ICL, only Alok Kapali, Farhad Reza and Dhiman Ghosh were in the Bangladesh squad which played three one-dayers against Australia this month. Batsmen Shariar Nafees and Aftab Ahmed played in the previous test series, at home against South Africa in February. At least seven contracted players including Bashar, Nafees and Aftab have put in requests for retirement with BCB without giving any reason. Alam said many key players had not joined ICL. "Most of the players like Mohammad Ashraful, Mashrafe Mortaza, Sakib Al Hassan, Tamim Iqbal, Abdur Razzak and Shahadat Hossain who are regulars in the national team, are still with us. "Our bowling department is not at all affected with their departure." New Zealand arrive in Bangladesh on Sept.30 and play two ODIs in Dhaka on Oct. 9 and 11 with the final game in Chittagong on Oct.14. The tests will be played in Chittagong and Dhaka from Oct.17 and 25 respectively. The BCB officials are also hopeful its depleted team and the Australian test tour of India happening around the same period would not affect the interest in the Bangladesh series and its income.

source: www.circbuzz.com

Racism row will not mar tour - Tendulkar

Sachin Tendulkar is confident that the racism row that marred India's tour of Australia in January will not cast a shadow on next month's test series against the world's top-ranked team. "I don't think there is any friction between us," Tendulkar told reporters on Thursday. "As far as the Indian team is concerned, we would want to be competitive but play in the right spirit. I am very sure that the Australians would want to do the same thing." India threatened to pull out of the series in Australia after spinner Harbhajan Singh was initially found guilty of racially abusing all-rounder Andrew Symonds in the acrimonious second test in Sydney. A standoff between the teams ended after the charge was downgraded on appeal to using abusive language and the bowler let off with a fine. Australia won the series 2-1. Symonds was omitted from the touring squad named on Friday after missing a compulsory team meeting to go fishing. "I do agree they don't happen every weekend," Tendulkar said of the row. "But such things have happened in the past as well." Australia arrive this month in India ahead for the four-match series which begins on Oct. 9 with the first test in Bangalore. Tendulkar, who returns from his latest injury layoff in a premier domestic game next week, played down talk that the tourists were a weak unit. SERIOUS FORCE Australia named uncapped leg-spinner Bryce McGain, who could make his test debut at the age of 36, and offspinner Jason Krejza in the squad to replace retired Stuart MacGill. "As we all know it (Australia) is the number one team in the world. They will come here with serious force," Tendulkar said. "They still have a lot of experienced players in the team. It is not that it is a completely transformed side with no senior players in the team," he added. Tendulkar put the rivalry against Australia over the one against neighbours Pakistan. "I think it has become bigger only because of the competitiveness," he said. "All the series we have played in the recent past, taking from 2001, they have all been close ones. "Australians like good standard of play, and they enjoy healthy competition. We were able to surprise them on occasions."

Souce: www.cricbuzz.com

Cricket South Africa president quits

CAPE TOWN (Reuters) - Cricket South Africa (CSA) president Norman Arendse stood down on Wednesday, a year into a three-year spell at the head of the governing body. Arendse's resignation, which he announced at a news conference, comes with CSA set to merge their professional and amateur arms into one body on Sept. 26. They will hold fresh elections to choose officials and Arendse was being challenged for the presidency by Mtutuzeli Nyoka, head of cricket for the Gauteng province. Announcing his retirement, Arendse blamed a lack of support from CSA chief executive Gerald Majola and the 11 provincial affiliates and anti-transformation forces for his demise. "Although I was returned unopposed as president of CSA in August 2007 for a three-year term, I never at any stage enjoyed the full trust and confidence of the CEO, and all 11 affiliates," he said. "The CEO is of the view that the president is merely a ceremonial head there to preside over meetings, and to attend matches and functions. "By contrast, I hold the view that the CEO is employed by the Board, and is accountable to it," Arendse added. "As a consequence of these sharply contrasting positions, the relationship between the CEO and I has broken down irretrievably." Majola denied there was any personal enmity between himself and Arendse, in a statement released by CSA later on Wednesday. "The differences between us were of management style, and hardly irretrievable in my view. "We will thus continue our vision of making South African cricket a truly national sport of winners. We face the future with vigour and confidence," Majola said. Arendse added that he believed the affiliates who did not support him were against the transformation of the game to reflect the demographics of the country. MOST UNHEALTHY "Historically, the 6:5 split in South African cricket has bedevilled the administration of the game... and has reared its ugly head again. Currently six of the 11 affiliates appear not to support me as president. "The manipulation of this situation ... is most unhealthy, and detrimental to the game. "Since unity in 1992, those affiliates who continue steadfastly to support me... have traditionally been the affiliates that are supportive of transformation in cricket as they come from the non-racial fold. "The other affiliates have battled to come to terms with transformation and, in some instances, transformation is completely lacking and remains a foreign concept. "The charges against me appear to be my transformation agenda, and my demand of the CEO that he be accountable to me in my representative capacity as the president of the Board. "I plead guilty to both charges, and have nothing to say in mitigation of sentence," Arendse, who is a lawyer, said. Arendse said he will also step down from all his positions with the International Cricket Council, which is the sport's world governing body. Arendse has been involved in three selection disputes with the South African national team that have brought him into conflict with Majola.

soruce: www.circbuzz.com

Bangladesh T20 rebels banned for 10 years

Bangladesh cricket chiefs said on Wednesday that 13 players who opted to compete in the unauthorised Indian Twenty20 league will be banned for 10 years. The Indian Cricket League (ICL) unveiled late Tuesday its new Dhaka Warriors team in New Delhi, which comprises 11 Bangladesh internationals reportedly earning 200,000 dollars each over a three-year period. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) held an emergency meeting Wednesday and decided to ban the players for joining the unapproved league for 10 years, BCB spokesman Rabeed Imam said. "We don't have full reports of who have joined the ICL. But today, the board has decided that whoever has joined the unapproved league would be automatically banned for 10 years," he said. The board was also considering legal action against the 13 for breaching International Cricket Council rules, he added. At least seven of the 13 players informed the BCB they were retiring from Bangladesh cricket, citing personal reasons. The 13 players announced for the Dhaka Warriors include former captain Habibul Bashar and senior team-mates Shahriar Nafis, Dhiman Ghosh, Mohammad Rafique and Alok Kapali. The others are Aftab Ahmed, Farhad Reza, Manjural Islam, Mabud Chowdhury, Mahbubul Karim, Mohammad Sharif, Mosharraf Hossain and Tapash Baisya. Players aligned with the ICL -- bankrolled by India's largest listed media company Zee Telefilms -- are banned from playing official domestic and international cricket. The meeting was held a day after the board announced it would not accept the players' retirements. Earlier Wednesday, Bangladesh's Australia-born coach Jamie Siddons, who joined the cricket minnows a year ago, denied the sport was in crisis. "We can't afford to lose that many players on a regular basis. We'll replace these guys with young players but my biggest concern is that the ICL will come knocking again next year," Siddons told AFP via telephone from Australia. Bangladesh captain Mohammad Ashraful told the leading Bengali language newspaper 'Prothom Alo', in an interview published Tuesday that he was offered a 700,000-dollar contract to play in the ICL, which he declined.

source: www.cricbuzz.com