Flintoff to make comeback by next month

June 4, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, June 4 (ANI): England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, who retired from test cricket in 2009 after helping England regain the Ashes from Australia, is expected to return to action for his county club Lancashire by July or August.

Flintoff, 32, has been recuperating since undergoing reconstructive knee surgery after the final test at the Oval and is still ambitious to represent England in one-day cricket.

He had initially targeted England’s one-day series in Bangladesh in February for his comeback, but had to abandon that plan while conducting his rehabilitation in Dubai, Stuff.co.nz reports.

“Fred was with us last week and he had a long interview with Mike Watkinson (the cricket manager at Lancashire) and he said he is on course,” Lancashire chief executive Jim Cumbes told reporters.

“He is full of enthusiasm. It’s amazing that with the time he has been out he is still able to plough on. We are hoping to have him back by the end of July or start of August,” Cumbers added. (ANI)

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Two county players approached to fix games, says ECB

May 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Two English county cricketers have reported approaches from bookmakers, the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said on Wednesday.

“ECB can confirm that two players have formally reported approaches from bookmakers which is in accordance with the policy communicated to players from the ECB funded player education programme operated in conjunction with the PCA at the start of each season,” the ECB said in a statement.

“ECB has reported this information to the International Cricket Council Anti-Corruption Unit and to the Police Authorities.

“ECB believes unlawful activities such as those attempted here and appropriately reported by players must be eliminated.”

The Daily Telegraph reported on Wednesday that a county player had been approached by an Indian businessman who told him he could “name his own price” to fix the result of a one-day match this season.

Former England captain Michael Vaughan said he thought this was just “the tip of the iceberg.”

“By speaking out I hope this player will shame others — and I am sure more players have been approached — into also going public,” Vaughan told the Telegraph.

“In the past, players have laughed off these kinds of approaches but now they must reveal the danger the game is facing. Its credibility is at stake. This is further evidence that as far as the fixers are concerned, our game is ripe for corruption.

“That was always going to be the case as soon as county cricket was beamed abroad, which increased its exposure.”

Lancashire chief executive Jim Cumbes said there had been rumours about match-fixing on the sub-continent for some time but he had expected it in English county cricket.

“For a cricket match to be fixed you are going to need more than one individual player, probably three or four,” he said.

“But reading the report this morning, I suppose with the business of spot betting, it is easy to fix with one player.”

(Editing by Ed Osmond;

To comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

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Briton sacked for eating nut at work

May 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 27 (IANS) A British woman has been sacked for eating a piece of nut while working on the production line of a bakery.

Susan Longworth, 54, of Lancashire, was putting chopped hazelnut on toffee cakes at the Park Cakes bakery where she has worked for 17 years, Daily Mail reported Thursday.

Longworth popped a piece of hazelnut into her mouth as she was waiting for the next batch of cakes to come in.

Her boss spotted it and within minutes she was suspended and escorted out of the premises.

‘He said he was taking into consideration my honesty and the length of time I had been working there and I thought he was going to give me a warning. I could not believe it when he said he was sacking me,’ Longworth was quoted as saying.

A Park Cakes spokesperson said: ‘Park Cakes Bakeries takes issues of hygiene very seriously indeed and has very strict rules about eating or chewing on the production line. To do so is an act of gross misconduct and, as such, warrants dismissal.’

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Briton sacked for eating nut

May 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 27 (IANS) A British woman has been sacked for popping a piece of nut into her mouth while working on the production line of a bakery.

Susan Longworth, 54, of Lancashire, was putting chopped hazelnut on toffee cakes at the Park Cakes bakery where she has worked for 17 years, Daily Mail reported Thursday.

Longworth ate a piece of hazelnut as she was waiting for the next batch of cakes to come in.

Her boss spotted it and within minutes she was suspended and escorted out of the premises.

‘He said he was taking into consideration my honesty and the length of time I had been working there and I thought he was going to give me a warning. I could not believe it when he said he was sacking me,’ Longworth was quoted as saying.

A Park Cakes spokesperson said: ‘Park Cakes Bakeries takes issues of hygiene very seriously indeed and has very strict rules about eating or chewing on the production line. To do so is an act of gross misconduct and, as such, warrants dismissal.’

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Flintoff likely to play for Queensland in Australia’s T20 Big Bash

May 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 18 (ANI): Injured all rounder Andrew Flintoff, who has still not given up hope of returning to England’s limited-overs team, is all set to play in an Australian domestic Twenty20 tournament.

Flintoff, 32, who watched England secure a historic win over the Aussies in the World Twenty20 final, is scheduled to play for Lancashire in late July.

He has been approached by three Australian states to play in the Big Bash tournament, with Queensland being his likely destination, The Sun reports.

The tournament clashes with the one-day series versus Australia in January, which builds up to the 2011 World Cup in Indian subcontinent.

But Flintoff admitted that he faces a battle to get into the England’s side following their recent success. (ANI)

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Britain”s youngest voter explains why he broke the law

May 10, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 10 (ANI): A teen, who voted in the UK General Election 2010 despite being underage by four years, has opened up about his experience.

According to Alfie McKenzie, 14, from Lancashire, he decided to vote against the Conservatives in his area after receiving a polling card in error.

“I dressed as much like a Tory as I could manage: a trench coat, reading glasses, sharp shoes,” Sky News quoted McKenzie, as writing in the Observer.

He went on: “I gave it my slightly eccentric aristocrat”s walk and my best self-righteous Conservative accent, walked into St Hilda”s polling station, went straight to the table and was directed to the slip which I was to cross.”

The schoolgoer said his secret came to light only after he told a teacher at school who reported him to the cops and the local council.

McKenzie said: “When the police arrived, I came across way too informed and understanding to claim ignorance; the burly officer”s patronising tone lowered as our interview progressed.

“Fortunately, it seems that I”m not going to be prosecuted.”

He added: “It seems I have become the first 14-year-old to vote in a General Election and, if we”re to keep some faith in our voting system and the competence of its managers, hopefully the last.” (ANI)

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England can spring surprises in Twenty20 World Cup: Anderson

April 26, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, Apr 26 (ANI): England pacer James Anderson has said that they can spring a surprise if they play well in the Twenty20 World Cup in the Carribean.

Anderson, who looked fit and in form for Lancashire last week, contradicted both Andy Flower and Kevin Pietersen before the squad left for the World Twenty20 on Sunday.

Team Director Flower suggested that England are undercooked going into the tournament, while Pietersen said that bowlers “missed the boat” by declining to put themselves forward for the Indian Premier League and gain 20-over experience, The Times reports.

“If you look at our bowlers, we had two guys, Stuart [Broad] and Graeme Swann, who played all winter and needed a break after Bangladesh. Personally, I needed a rest from my knee and there wasn’t that opportunity to go to IPL this year,” Anderson said.

“In future years it probably would help for England if we could go there and gain more experience of Twenty20, but at the moment it is not an option.

“I will have to wait and see how things go next year. I would like to play IPL because it is exciting and the more experience we get the better,” he said.

Anderson said: “I don’t think we are undercooked. We showed in the Champions Trophy in South Africa last year that we are improving in one-day cricket and we have strengthened the right areas.”

“We will have to play very, very well, but I don’t see why we can’t win it,” The Times quoted him, as saying. (ANI)

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Katich, Chanderpaul sign for Lancashire

April 23, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Australia opener Simon Katich and former West Indies skipper Shivnarine Chanderpaul have signed for English county side Lancashire for part of this season, the club said on Thursday.

Left-hander Katich will join Lancashire for the duration of June before joining the Australian squad who face Pakistan in a two-test series in England in July.

Chanderpaul, another left-handed batsman who has also played for Durham, will join in mid-July and will play for the remainder of the season.

Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara was due to be the Red Rose county’s overseas player for the second part of the season, but international commitments meant the move was cancelled.

“While it was disappointing to learn that Kumar wasn’t coming it is fantastic that we have been able to secure the services of two world-class left handed batsmen to keep the continuity within the side once Ashwell Prince departs,” head coach Peter Moores told the club’s website (www.lccc.co.uk).

(Editing by Miles Evans;

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Flintoff admits to missing Test cricket

March 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Dubai, Mar 27(ANI): Former England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff says he is missing playing Test cricket.

Flintoff, who had an operation last August after England regained The Ashes, is not expected to play until July at the earliest after undergoing further surgery in January.

“I’m retired. I’ve retired from Test cricket. I am missing playing Test cricket, but every player who’s retired will say the same thing. They’re always willing to play again. I’d love to still be able to play,” The Sydney Morning Herald quoted Flintoff, as saying.

“It was a decision that had to be made. My last Test match was at The Oval, me on the podium having played a part in winning the Ashes. I’ll sit back and watch it from now on,” he added.

The 32-year-old further hopes to pick up a bat next month and get back on the field with Lancashire by the end of July.

He believes the next step after Lancashire, would be getting back into the English dressing room.

“It will be back to normal. Absolutely. There”s no done deals, but I”m confident of it. I”ll get back in the Lancashire side first and I believe that, playing well and being fit, I get to England’s one-day and Twenty20 side,” Flintoff added.

Flintoff had announced his retirement from Test cricket at the conclusion of the 2009 Ashes series, but made himself available for future commitments in ODI and Twenty20 international games. (ANI)

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Flintoff’s England contract won’t hinder his IPL windfall

September 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Sep 14(ANI): The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have admitted that despite the incremental contract, they would not be able to stop star cricketer Andrew Flintoff from hawking his cricketing talents around the world.

Flintoff had announced his retirement from Test cricket at the conclusion of the 2009 Ashes series, and under the terms and conditions of the new contract, he must only make himself available for all short-form matches. Outside that, England team director Andy Flower can no longer demand where and when he plays, but only make requests to the all-rounder, The Mirror reports.

It means that once Flintoff recovers from his knee injury he would be free to sign lucrative contracts with Indian Premier League team Chennai Super Kings, Lancashire and England.

The new contract is also an encouraging sign for Flintoff’s agent Andrew Chandler, who has been in negotiations with local teams from Australia, South Africa and the West Indies for the all-rounder’s services. (ANI)

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Flintoff wants 6,000 pounds Ashes urn mosaics in his swimming pools

August 30, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Aug 30 (ANI): England all rounder Andrew Flintoff is stumping up 6,000 pounds to have two giant mosaics of the Ashes urn built into the bottom of his swimming pools.

The England all-rounder is including two pools in the basement of the 4 million pounds mansion he’s having built.

He was so bowled over by his Ashes triumphs against the Aussies that he hired craftsmen to create 6ft tile mosaics of the coveted old trophy to go on the pool bottoms.

Freddie, 31, planned the 3,000 pound-a-piece works before England clinched their latest Ashes triumph at The Oval.

But after last week’s victory he had the years 2005 and 2009 added to recall both series wins, News of the World reported.

“Freddie wanted the urn mosaics because that 2005 Ashes win was so special to him. Then when he and the lads took the Ashes again he decided to have the dates added as well,” a pal of the Lancashire star revealed.

“Every time he takes a dip he’ll be able to savour the glory once more. And if he ever puts the house on the market it’ll be a unique selling point – unless the buyer’s an Aussie!”

Freddie, who has just retired from Test cricket, is over-seeing construction of the house in Mottram St Andrew, Cheshire.

He bought the former home of Man City boss Mark Hughes for 1.85 million pounds, had it demolished and is spending two million pounds on a six-bedroom home for himself, wife Rachael and their three children. (ANI)

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2,500-pound machine strapped around Flintoof’s knee to save his cricket career

August 30, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Aug 30 (ANI): England all rounder Andrew Flintoff is praying that the 2,500 pound machine strapped around his knee will save his cricket career.

The Lancashire all-rounder has to strap himself to the contraption for eight hours every day as he starts his gruelling rehabilitation from his latest operation.

The state-of-the-art Continuous Passive Motion equipment was prescribed by surgeon Andy Williams and is designed to bend the 31-year-old Ashes hero’s knee up to 1,500 times a day, News of the World reported.

“I had a choice of either using this machine or doing three sets of 500 knee bends a day, so I thought the machine might be the way forward. I strap my leg into it for eight hours a day. It bends my knee up and down all the time and makes sure the movement is controlled,” Flintoff revealed.

“I will have the machine on most of the time, even when I’m sleeping. The hard part is getting used to having your leg strapped into a machine for most of the day. It’s designed to help with the healing but, inevitably, my right leg is going to waste away a bit and the muscles are going to disappear. There’s not a lot I can do about it because I can’t bear any weight on my right leg for six to eight weeks.”

Flintoff underwent keyhole surgery in London on Monday night – just a day after helping England beat Australia at the Oval to regain the Ashes.

It was the second op on his troublesome knee and the ninth of his career, following four on his left ankle, two for hernias and another on his back.

Flintoff announced his retirement from Test cricket during the Ashes after admitting his 16-stone body could no longer cope with five-day cricket.

“I have set myself a target of returning for the tour to Bangladesh, which is from mid-Febuary to the middle of March, but whether that’s realistic or not, I’m not sure,” admitted Flintoff.

“There is a possibility I may not play again. It’s something I’m going to have to be prepared for in case the operation is not as successful as I hope. There will be a question mark in my mind about whether I have played my last game until I know how the operation has turned out.

“I’d be lying if I said it hadn’t crossed my mind, but the success rate for an operation like this is pretty good,” the paper quoted him, as saying. (ANI)

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Punters back Freddie for Knighthood, Ponting for sack

August 25, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Aug 25(ANI): Punters have improved England cricketer Andrew Flintoff’s odds of getting a knighthood and winning the BBC Sports Personality of the year award following his Ashes heroics.

Betting and gambling website William Hill has placed the Lancashire all-rounder at 16-1 odds for being knighted, down from its earlier bet of 25-1, which now compares favourably with the 7-2 quote by Paddy Power.

He is also priced at 7-1 to win the BBC Sports Personality of the year award and 16-1 with Ladbrokes to make a Test comeback, The Mirror reports.

While Flintoff’s stars are rising, punters are piling on the possibility of Australian captain Ricky Ponting facing the music when he returns to Australia.

Hills offer 10-1 that Ponting is given the sack on return to Australia, but he is 4-6 to lead Australia to victory in the next Ashes and 33-1 to win the Ashes in a 5-0 whitewash. (ANI)

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Freddie out for dinner with missus and family after Ashes victory

August 25, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Aug.24 (ANI): England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff, who is to go under the knife on Tuesday, will take his wife Rachael, parents and kids out for dinner, to celebrate the return of the Ashes with the 197-run victory over Australia at The Oval.

“I will take the missus out for dinner and spend the day with my family. But I’ll be ‘nil by mouth’ after midnight on Monday because of the operation,” The Sun quoted him, as saying.

Freddie hurled and hugged his son Corey and sister Holly, five, after the win, while Rachael brought one-year-old son Rocky down from the stands.

Freddie’s emotional dad Colin, 57, joined the wild celebrations, shedding tears of joy as he enjoyed the magical moment. The star’s proud mum Susan also came over to give him a hug.

Fred, who will have an operation to fix a knee injury tomorrow, said: “This is a special moment. I was nearly in tears when I saw my Mum up there. It’s like a dream, quite surreal at the moment. I don’t know what to do with myself.”

The Lancashire hero admitted he would not be repeating the boozy antics which saw him in a near-daze as he celebrated England’s last Ashes triumph in 2005.

The party mood spread nationwide last night among thrilled fans who’d seen England thump fierce rivals Australia to win the fifth and deciding Test by 197 runs.

The resounding victory ensured they clinched the summer series 2-1 and reclaimed the coveted Ashes urn they lost Down Under in 2006.

Captain Andrew Strauss said: “The guys have done amazingly. When we were bad we were very bad, and when we were good, we managed to be good enough.”

The squad headed straight from the pitch to the players’ lounge for a post-match party.

A security guard revealed two more crates of booze had to be sent in early in the evening after the stars nearly drank the bar dry.

The England squad left the Oval in a convoy of taxis just after 11 p.m. to continue their celebrations at their East London hotel.

Fans partied in pubs around the ground – many draped in England flags. England and Aussie supporters drank side by side. Downing Street also saluted the squad last night.

A spokesman said: “The Prime Minister will be writing to congratulate them on their exhilarating victory.”

London Mayor Boris Johnson, called England’s win an “incredible triumph”.

Even gutted Australians praised England in defeat. Tim Hussey, 28, from Melbourne, said: “It was an epic series. And I’m pleased Freddie went out with a bang.” (ANI)

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Brit soldiers ‘made Iraqis dance like Jacko

July 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, July 14 (ANI): British soldiers manipulated the cries of pain of Iraqi prisoners and made them dance like Michael Jackson, an inquiry into the death of Baha Mousa has heard.

The men claim they were also verbally abused, burned, stamped and urinated on and forced to lie face down over full latrines during the time they were held by the Queen’s Lancashire Regiment in Basra in September 2003.

One of those detained, hotel worker Baha Mousa, 26, died from 93 separate injuries inflicted on him over a 36-hour period while other prisoners examined by a doctor suffered “extensive and serious” injuries.

Much of their treatment was meted out in a bid to soften the men up for interrogation.

An inquiry into the abuse which opened in London on Monday heard that it may have provided extremists with a “rallying cry” to incite further attacks on UK forces in the war torn country.

According to Gerard Elias QC, the Counsel to the Inquiry, it also undermined the sacrifices made by other members of the Armed Forces working to improve security and rebuild the infrastructure following the fall of dictator Saddam Hussein.

The men were held in custody for as long as 56 hours, during which time conditioning techniques such as hooding and the use of stress techniques, outlawed in 1972 as a result of abuse in Northern Ireland, were used on them.

The Baha Mousa Inquiry is expected to last into next year and will hear evidence from soldiers involved as well as the detainees. (ANI)

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Leave Flintoff alone, says ex-Lancashire mate Stuart Law

July 8, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, July 8 (ANI): Former Lancashire captain Stuart Law believes that England all-rounder Andrew Flintoff should not be a topic of discussion and that the ECB should value the cricketing giant who is in their midst.

Flintoff is public property again and an expectant nation is at loggerheads over whether to delight in his humanity or to suspect that his ill-timed lapse into unprofessionalism so close to the Australia series is a harbinger of doom in the Tests that lie ahead.

But Law, who played one Test and 54 ODIs for Australia, sees it differently.

“People tag people. They do that to Freddie. He has celebrated an Ashes victory and not many Englishmen have done that. He is a young man who enjoys a beer as every young man does, but you will not see a guy work harder. His detractors, mate, I’d like to see them live his life for a few weeks, to do all that rehab every day to fight back from his injuries, to receive a phone call from his physio saying ‘we need you here, now’, and to put himself through it again. They couldn’t cope for more than a few minutes,” The Guardian quoted Law, as saying.

“Freddie is the most selfless man I have ever met. He doesn’t care about himself. He cares about others. He will have been distraught enough because he had let his teammates down. I have seen him just after injury and he is destroyed, heartbroken and he feels that he is letting everybody down if he can’t play like he his supposed to. He has learned to cope with that now but it has taken him a long time,” he added.

Law, now on a one-day contract at Derbyshire.

Lancashire coach Moores is too polite to advise England coach Andy Flower.

But he did predict that England could anticipate Flintoff at full throttle:

“Fred doesn’t hold back a lot. You wouldn’t want that. That’s not how he plays. You want him to play full out. That’s what makes him different. He has his ability to raise his game for big games. One of the big challenges is can you get it out of you when you really want to? Fred has shown he can do that,” said Moores. (ANI)

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UK man makes up kidnap story to avoid wife’s nagging

July 4, 2009 By Leave a Comment

London, Jul 4 (ANI): A man, who was weary of his wife’s nagging, made up a story that he had been kidnapped at knifepoint as he dared not tell her he had been to the bookies.

Peter Woodward, 57, told a court that in order to get away from his wife, he made up the story about being abducted by three armed men, and even reported it to the police at Crosby, Liverpool.

Prosecutor Sandra Arden told South Ribble Magistrates Court that on the morning of April 2, Woodward, of Leyland, Lancashire, had gone for a drive and then to the bookmaker’s, where he won some money.

On his return, to explain where he had been, the part-time cleaner made up a story that three men had carjacked him and made him drive 25 miles to Liverpool before robbing him of 90 pounds.

“A major investigation was commenced and the victim re-driven along the route,” the Daily Express quoted Arden as saying.

“In the end, he just wanted to go for a ride without answering to his wife.

“He went for a drive to Liverpool and thought up the kidnapping story to account for his movements,” she said.

But following a thorough police investigation, he admitted that he had in fact visited a bookmaker’s and had a large amount of cash on him.

He was arrested on May 6, and admitted falsely reporting an offence to police.

On July 3, Woodward, who was supported by his humiliated but loyal wife Janet, was ordered to pay 1,000 pounds compensation for the 185 man-hours the police put in investigating his claims at a cost of more than 5,000 pounds.

“It was due to the extensive investigation that Mr Woodward’s lies were uncovered,” Detective Sergeant John Cass, of South Ribble CID, said.

“All allegations made to the police have to be fully investigated, but it is a sad fact that some people do fabricate being victims of crime.

“Mr Woodward made a very serious allegation to the police, that he had been kidnapped, which will always be investigated extremely thoroughly.

“Mr Woodward was prosecuted due to the amount of time invested in this investigation, which could have been put to better use investigating real crime,” he added. (ANI)

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Muslim NHS dentist imposed Islamic dress code on patients

July 2, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Lancashire, July 2 (ANI): In a shocking revelation a Muslim NHS dentist in Lancashire refused to treat his Muslim female patients unless they wore headscarves, and while the men had to take off their gold jewellery.

The General Dental Council ruled that Omer Butt had imposed a dress code on Muslim patients for more than two years at his Unsworth Smile Clinic in Bury, Lancashire, the Daily Star reports.

Chairman Gill Brown told the dentist: “It is clear you were using your position as a dentist to seek to influence patients as to non-clinical issues.”

“The committee is satisfied from all the evidence that your attitude went beyond merely seeking to persuade, request or advise Muslim patients and that you sought to impose the dress code upon them.” The panel will decide today on what disciplinary action they will take and could strike him off,” she added.

According to reports, Dr. Butt even kept a box of hijabs at his practice to dish out, and was also found to have had confrontations with two patients.

Earlier, Butt had received a warning from the General Dental Council for the same offence, but continued to enforce his religious dress code.

Butt had a sign on his waiting room wall informing Muslim patients to adhere to his code.t was during a visit by NHS managers in April 2005, that he was ordered to discard the guidelines or face a misconduct hearing.

Following the incident, Butt had removed the sign but persisted with the dress code. (ANI)

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Two students, teacher asked to remove veils to visit a Roman Catholic school

June 30, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Lancashire, June 30 (ANI): Two students and their teacher from Islamic school in Lancashire were asked to remove their face veils in order to visit a Roman Catholic school in Blackburn.

The three were visiting St Mary’s College to attend its annual open day function.

While the two girls agreed to take off their veils, their teacher refused to take it off. Subsequently, she taken to the administration office of the college and told that she would not be allowed on the premises, the Telegraph reports.

St Mary’s College defended the move on Monday and claimed that the college staff had requested them to remove the traditional Islamic veils as they were against the school’s dress policy.

“At the start of one of our taster days for prospective students last week, some visitors did arrive wearing the veil. When the policy was explained to them, all except one were willing to remove it. This lady, a member of staff at the school, refused, and opted to leave the premises,” said Kevin McMahon, principal of St Mary’s College.

Meanwhile, muslim leaders in UK have condemned the college’s reaction, and claimed that their action threatened to re-ignite the debate over religious clothing.

“I am very disappointed with the incident that took place,” said Abdul Quereshi, chairman of the Lancashire Council of Mosques. (ANI)

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Olympic Boxing silver medallist Amir Khan plans gala boxing event to raise fund for a firefighter

June 14, 2009 By Leave a Comment

Lancashire, June 14 : Olympic Boxing silver medallist Amir Khan is planning a gala boxing event among the firefighting crew of ‘999′ in order to raise funds for fellow firefighter Steve Morris, who was severely burned while trying to save a family in an arson attack.

“We want to raise money for Steve Morris who suffered terrible burns saving an Asian family trapped in a house fire. It is a great thing for us to be able to do, bringing the community together after such a tragic event. The local police and firefighters have been training down at Amir’s gym for some time now,” the Daily Star quoted Amir’s manager Asif Vali, as saying.

Steve had sustained horrific burns as he tried to escape from a house in Great Lever, Bolton in June 2008.

Billed as the “Battle of the Badges” it will be held at Bolton’s Reebok Stadium on July 4 and will comprise several individual bouts under full Amateur Boxing Association rules.

Captain of the fire-fighters team, Simon Wood, revealed that the competition for the event is fierce among the crew.

Simon has been training for the event despite breaking his nose and a rib in an early session.

“It’s been difficult but really enjoyable. Everyone has grasped it and taken everything on board,” Simaon said. (ANI)

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