After the pub brawl, cricketers crawl

May 27, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Mumbai, May 26 (IANS) Six Indian cricketers Wednesday apologised to the Indian cricket board for their involvement in a pub brawl in St.Lucia, West Indies, after the team’s exit from the World Twenty20.

Ravindra Jadeja and Rohit Sharma e-mailed their apology to Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) secretary N.Srinivasan while Yuvraj Singh, Zaheer Khan, Ashish Nehra and Piyush Chawla met a senior board official and said that in future they would restrain themeselves from involving in any such incident.

In an e-mail to the BCCI secretary, Jadeja wrote: ‘I very much regret that the board has to send me a notice for the incident in the West Indies, and please accept my apology. I beg to inform you that I had gone to the restaurant (pub) for dinner along with other Indian team members. Some other guests which I presume were (of) Indian origin of USA also come to the restaurant and on seeing us they started abusing us, this may be because they were unhappy with our poor performance. We requested them not to abuse us but they did not stop despite of our repeated request. No way I was involved in any ugly brawl and I went to the pub only to have dinner with my teammates.’

Jadeja added: ‘If the board still thinks that I have brought any disrespect to the game of cricket or our board and our country, I once again sincerely tender my unconditional apology and assure you that I will take care that in future no way my name will be involved in any such incident.’

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Amy Winehouse offered free booze to go back to St Lucia

May 19, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 19 (ANI): St Lucia tourism chiefs are trying to cash in on Amy Winehouse’s drunken antics last year.

They are trying to lure the singer back with free booze.

“She’s always welcome back to St Lucia,” the Daily Star quoted Allen Chastanet, minister for tourism, as saying.

“I wish that she could have done a better performance last year but that’s something she’ll have to deal with.

“But in terms of showing up on time and living up to her commitments she was very professional. I’d love to have her back. No one artist has ever done for the exposure of the island what Amy did he added.

“She totally immersed herself in the island culture and was very down-to-Earth.

“She didn’t walk around with a huge entourage, she got mixed in with the nightlife and generally St Lucians loved having her here. We wish her only the best and hopefully there are better days ahead for her,” Chastanet added. (ANI)

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“Heartbroken” Ajmal says Hussey’s final over onslaught will forever haunt him

May 18, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Islamabad, May 18 (ANI): Pakistan’s stunning loss to Australia in the semi-final of the ICC World T20 Championship at the Beausejour Stadium, St Lucia has left off-spinner Saeed Ajmal ‘heartbroken’.

Chasing a challenging 192 for victory, Australia needed 48 runs from the last 18 deliveries.

Skipper Shahid Afridi threw the ball to the trusted Ajmal to bowl the final over of the match with the Kangaroos still needing 18 more runs.

Pakistan looked all set to reserve a berth in the final of the T20 World Championship for the third consecutive time. But Mike Hussey had some other ideas. He smashed Ajmal for three sixes and a four in the final over to register a breathtaking win over the defending champions.

Hussey’s merciless hitting is still playing on Ajmal’s mind, as he has still not been able to cope with the heavy defeat.

“When Hussey hit the last six I was absolutely heartbroken, I am still heartbroken. It was a very emotional and difficult time for me. My teammates all came up to me and consoled me and told me not to worry, but I was very upset. The pain is there, when you lose a game of this magnitude it hurts really badly,” Ajmal told PakPassion.net.

Ajmal, who boasts an economy rate of only 6.24 in the slam bang version of the game, said that it was pre-planned that he would be bowling the final over of the match and that he had his own game plan ready.

“The first delivery was perfect, it was what I had planned, it was a perfect yorker to Johnson and it only went for a single. However then the wind seemed to pick up and I was bowling into the wind which made me lose my line and length,” he said.

Ajmal, however, did not deny Hussey the credit for his stupendous show in the all important tie.

“It was an amazing innings, you have to give Hussey a lot of credit for playing that sort of innings in such an important match at such a crucial time,” he said.

Now that the tournament is over, Ajmal says he is already looking at doing better in the upcoming tournaments.

“The best way for me to get over this match is to start playing cricket again, get the ball in my hand and to start bowling again. Thankfully the Asia Cup is not far away and I am looking forward to playing in that tournament in Sri Lanka. I have faith in my ability and I am confident that I can bounce back after the match in St Lucia,” he said.

But the question is would Ajmal bowl the final in a crunch match again?

“Of course I would,” is his answer. (ANI)

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Team India manager admits verbal pub spat, Nehra denies

May 16, 2010 By Leave a Comment

New Delhi, May 15 (IANS) The Indian cricket team’s tour manager Ranjib Biswal and speedster Ashish Nehra Saturday presented contradictory versions of reports that the players were involved in a pub brawl in St Lucia after the team’s disappointing exit from the World Twenty20.

Biswal said the players had a minor ‘argument’ after being harassed by some fans in the pub.

‘It was nothing big. It was just a verbal talk. The boys had gone there for dinner and were harassed by Indian fans and there was some argument over that,’ said Biswal.

Nehra, on the other hand, denied any such incident.

‘I came to know about it only while reading the newspapers in London. I was surprised to see where this news came from. It is baseless.’

‘We went to have dinner there and were watching the West Indies and Australia match. About the rest, I have no knowledge,’ he said.

‘No one said anything to us. There were many fans from all over the world.’

On team’s performance, Nehra said: ‘We are all disappointed. We had a good team and we could have done better. But it’s a part of the game. The same team won World Cup two years ago.’

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Coach Flower asks KP to control bad temper ahead of T20 final

May 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Sydney, May 15 (ANI): England coach Andy Flower has put his star batsman Kevin Pietersen on notice, urging him to control his temper before and during the World Twenty20 final against Australia.

Pietersen, who travelled back to London for the birth of his son and returned in time to score an unbeaten 42 from 26 balls in England’s semi-final win over Sri Lanka on Thursday in St Lucia, is known to have a short fuse.

Pietersen knows that Australia is gunning for him.

Pietersen was seen giving his teammates stick for their sloppy fielding during the Sri Lanka match, The Sydney Morning Herald reports.

“There is a fine line between demanding high standards of your fielders which is a healthy place to be for a side and then stepping over that line into a petulant world, and a world that damages the team in any way,” Flower said.

“We are constantly on at our guys to stay the right side of that line,” he said.

Flower said he was always confident Pietersen could skip a game in the Super Eights and slot neatly back into the side without drama.

“We were quite lucky with the way it fell but I suppose we got two good results in the first two Super Eights games so we made our own luck,” he said. (ANI)

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I couldn’t watch the last over, says nervous Clarke

May 15, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Melbourne, May 15 (ANI): A nervous Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke said he couldn’t eatch Mike Hussey’s heroics in the last over of the World Twenty20 championship semi-final against Pakistan at St. Lucia’s cricket stadium on Friday.

Clarke spent his time in the dugout biting his nails.

Needing 18 off the last over to pass Pakistan’s 6-191, Hussey hit two sixes, a four and another six from consecutive balls to deliver Australia a spot in the final against England in Barbados.

“I enjoy biting my nails when I”m nervous I guess. I couldn’t watch the last over. I watched the first ball when Mitchell Johnson got a single. Then I’ve gone back into the change rooms. I heard loud cheers,” The Herald Sun quoted Clarke, as saying.

“I knew it was a six and then another six and I thought oh my God, what is going on out there? I was too nervous. I couldn’t watch,” he said.

Hussey said he had a fairly simple game plan in the final over.

“Just try to slog every ball for six. I knew he (spinner Saeed Ajmal) would probably try to spear a few fast yorkers in. If he got them right then I don’t think there’s too much I could have done. Thankfully he probably just missed his length a little bit,” Hussey said.

“I don’t know what I was saying to myself. It’s all a bit of a blur. I was just saying please this last ball, please come out of the middle. I just wanted to feel what it felt like. I didn’t know what it was going to feel like and it’s an absolutely amazing feeling.

“It’s the best feeling you can ever have, to hit the winning runs for your country, particularly in such a big game as a semi-final. I’m so happy and it was great to see the elation on all the other boys’ faces. We’re so excited to be in the final,” Hussey added.

Pakistan coach Waqar Younis refused to blame his bowlers for letting the game get away from them. (ANI)

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Defending champions Pak raring to go against Oz in T20 WC semi-final

May 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Islamabad, May 14 (ANI): Ahead of their semi-final clash with Australia in the World T20 Championship, Pakistani cricketers are fancying their chances of making it into the final of the tournament for the second consecutive time in a row, and are eagerly waiting for the match to be played today (Friday, May 14).

Speaking over telephone from St.Lucia, Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed said the mood in the dressing room is upbeat and players have vowed not to repeat their past mistakes.

“They (players) needed a bit of confidence and they got that with their victory against South Africa. Now the team has attained a level where it would not be easy for any side to beat us,” The News quoted Saeed, as saying.

“How we have reached the semis and how Australia has made it to the pre-final is immaterial now. Australia faces same challenges that we face. The better team would come out victorious,” he added.

Saeed said the Pakistan team have been closely watching videos of the match played against the Kangaroos earlier in the tournament, and have noted their mistakes.

“Players have watched the TV footage of the earlier match against the Aussies and realised where they were wrong. Every player has vowed not to repeat the same mistakes and play the match to the best of their abilities,” he said.

Another team official, who chose not to be named, said the defending champions have been busy chalking out strategies for the game from the last two days, and apart from some small issues everything has been finalized.

“There is only one place where there is a chance of making adjustments. Misbah-ul-Haq has not been able to get his hundred percent so far. Should he be dropped or there is a need for his readjustment is questions that needed an answer,” the official said. (ANI)

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`No team can get near us,’ says Tait

May 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

St. Lucia (West Indies), May 14 (ANI): Lightning fast bowler Shaun Tait has said that no team “can get near us” if Australia continue to play to their ability at the World Twenty20 in the West Indies.

“”If we play well, I don”t think anyone can get near us. We”re a disciplined outfit. We all know our games very well. We have gelled as a team perfectly and we”re playing really good cricket. The only way we can come unstuck is against ourselves,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Tait, as saying.

“We”re our biggest challenge. If we play badly, I think that”s the only way we can bomb out of the comp,” he added.

“Without getting too far ahead of ourselves and too cocky or arrogant, if we play our best cricket we”ll win the tournament,” Tait said on Wednesday.

Undefeated Australia play defending champions Pakistan in their semi-final in St Lucia on Friday.

England has entered the final after beating Sri Lanka by seven wickets in the first semi-final on Thursday.

Tait was one of the heroes for Australia in the 2007 World Cup with 23 wickets in the Caribbean, and can see plenty of similarities between the current T20 campaign and the way Australia crashed through all comers in the one-day international showpiece three years ago.

“Definitely. It sort of reminds me a little bit of the World Cup in 2007 when we went through flawless,” Tait said.

Despite not advancing beyond the semi-finals in the two previous World T20 tournaments in 2007 and 2009, Australia have swept through the group and Super Eights rounds.

“We”ve been pretty relaxed, the atmosphere. We haven”t had great long meetings about opposition teams,” said Tait.

“We are just concentrating on our own game. We know that we”ve got the team and the players. If we play well, we should win the competition,” he said. (ANI)

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Keeper Haddin says Clarke is the best in the business

May 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

St. Lucia (West Indies), May 14 (ANI): Australian wicketkeeper-batsman Brad Haddin has described skipper Michael Clarke as one of the best in the business in the modern era, and rubbished criticism about his form in the ongoing World Twenty20 championship in the Caribbean.

Clarke has made just 48 runs in the World T20 at an average of 12, but has had more success with his captaincy, guiding Australia to five wins from five outings.

His strike-rate in the tournament of 70.58 ranks him well below the other five batsmen in Australia”s top six, but Haddin says the skipper is desperately needed when Australia”s openers fail to fire.

””Michael”s still our best player. He”s still a world-class batsman. Class is always class. The role he plays here can”t be underestimated,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Haddin, as saying.

””Michael is there to do the role that”s pretty tough, running hard between the wickets. He comes out when we”re in trouble. You need explosive batsmen but you need players like Michael to play in any different situations,”” he added.

””His captaincy has been first class. All the teams have explosive bats and world-class bowlers, but what he”s brought to us is make sure we”re doing our little things best, a presence in the field, taking all the catches,”” Haddin said. (ANI)

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Umar Akmal doubtful for semi-final clash against Oz in T20 WC

May 14, 2010 By Leave a Comment

St. Lucia (West Indies), May 14 (ANI): Young Pakistan middle-order batsman Umar Akmal is a doubtful starter for today’s World T20 Championship semi-final clash against Australia.

According to reports, Umar was taken to a local hospital here after he complained of back pain, and would be going through an MRI scan later.

Any final decision regarding Umar’s inclusion in the final eleven for the all important match against the Kangaroos would be taken after his MRI report comes, The News quoted sources in the Pakistani dressing room, as saying.

There are speculations that uncapped young batsman Hammad Azam may replace Umar, if he is declared unfit to play.

Umar’s absence could severely dent Pakistan’s hopes of playing in the final of the ICC World T20 Championship for the second consecutive time, as he has been in good form in the ongoing tournament.

He scored a brilliant 51 of 43 balls in the last Super Eight match against South Africa at the Beausejour Stadium here, which helped Pakistan register an easy 11 run win knocking the Proteas out from the tournament. (ANI)

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Pak must aim at wickets, not containment to win T20 title: Imran Khan

May 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Islamabad, May 13 (ANI): Former Pakistan captain Imran Khan has said that the Shahid Afridi led team should adopt a ‘wicket taking’ policy rather than just focussing on preventing other teams from scoring runs, if it has to move further in the ICC World T20 World Championship.

He said Afridi should adopt the same strategy which was adopted by the 1992 World Cup winning Pakistan squad, which was to look for wickets.

“This is what the Aussies have been doing and this has made them a great team,” The Nation quoted Imran, as saying.

Pakistan would be taking on Australia in the second semi-final of the T20 championship at St.Lucia tomorrow (Friday, May 14).

He also suggested that Pakistan should use fast bowler Mohammed Asif as an attacking bowler, and not as a ‘run stopper’.

Imran, one of Pakistan’s most successful captains, said that batting was Pakistan’s main problem in the on going tournament, as apart from opener Salman Butt none of the other batsmen have fired so far.

He said that since Pakistan’s batting has not been upto the mark, Afridi should always look to bat first rather than chasing.

He also suggested some changes in the batting order, saying Afridi should bring himself and Misbah-ul-Haq up the order so that they can accumulate maximum runs when the ball is new and hard. (ANI)

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Australia hopes to face England in World Twenty20 final

May 13, 2010 By Leave a Comment

Sydney, May 13 (ANI): Australian skipper Michael Clarke has said the team is focused for the semi-final encounter against Pakistan and is hoping to face England in Sunday’s World Twenty20 final, which would be a good start for the Ashes series to be held later in the year.

The two old rivals face tough matches in their semi-finals, with Australia taking on defending champions Pakistan in St Lucia on Friday and England playing Sri Lanka on Thursday.

“I’d look forward to that, yeah. If we beat Pakistan and meet England in the final, it would be a good start to what is going to be a very good and interesting summer back in Australia as well with the Ashes,” Clarke said.

“For me, right now, I’ve got both eyes on Pakistan, and I’ll worry about everything else after that. We didn’t come here to make the semi-finals,” The Sydney Morning Herald quoted him, as saying.

Clarke said his side is more motivated by the fact that the World T20 Cup is Australia’s missing link, having dominated Test cricket for more than a decade and won four one-day international World Cups, including the past three.

“No doubt, it has motivated every player, not just throughout this tournament but throughout the last 12 months,” said Clarke.

“We’ve certainly improved over the last 12 months. But again it’s important that you stay focused. We need to understand that what we’ve done in this tournament so far right now is irrelevant. We need to beat Pakistan in this game on Friday. Beating them a week ago is irrelevant,” he added.

Australia was semi-finalists in the inaugural World T20 in 2007 and first-round losers in 2009, meaning they were not among the eight seeds for the Caribbean event.

“We’ve come into this tournament ranked very low and our performances have been outstanding,” Clarke said. (ANI)

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Cool Bresnan is England’s most improved player of the year

May 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

London, May 12 (ANI): Yorkshire all-rounder Tim Bresnan is cool as a cucumber, and it has shown in his latest performance.

So much so, that he is being projected as England’s most improved player of the year. Not bad for a lad who not too long ago was seen as a daft personality from Pontefract.

According to Bresnan, there is a novel way to dealing with pressure – not accepting that it exists at all.

As he contemplates a global semi-final here versus Pakistan in St Lucia tomorrow, he said: “Craig White, my old captain at Yorkshire, summed it up. We were going out to bowl at the start of the season and I said, ””Chalks, the ball””s not coming out that well””.

“He replied, ””Mate, who cares? You can only bowl as well as you can, you might be in a box tomorrow””.

“That””s what he said – and it takes the pressure off.

“My mentality is that I could be doing something totally different that I wouldn””t enjoy as much as playing cricket. I am playing cricket, staying in St Lucia, in a magnificent hotel. Life is not exactly a hardship,” The Sun quoted Bresnan, as saying.

Bresnan, 25, is already pencilled in for next winter””s Ashes as an all-rounder.

“I think I””ve always been good enough to perform at international level. One of these days you will see how good I am. You are seeing little glimpses now but I still have a lot more.”

“If we keep playing the same brand of cricket, we should win this tournament,” he concludes. (ANI)

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S. Africa’s Smith says only England ”can challenge” Australia in T20

May 12, 2010 By Leave a Comment

St. Lucia (West Indies), May 12 (ANI): South Africa’s cricket skipper Graeme Smith has said that only England can stop Australia from winning the World Twenty20 in Barbados on Sunday.

Smith”s side were knocked out of the tournament after their loss to Pakistan on Monday in St Lucia and the big left-hander had no doubts about which teams were the main chances to claim the T20 world title.

“It”s about having good players with confidence who really believe and know their game very well and know their strengths,” Smith said.

“Australia probably at the moment are playing the most dominant cricket. They have really beaten teams comprehensively throughout this tournament. Having played against England, they played positive cricket against us,” Smith said.

“If they can maintain that level of play then I think they are probably the one team left that can challenge Australia”s pace attack,” he added.

England topped Group E in the Super Eights with three wins en route to Thursday”s semi-final against the second team in Group F (0130 AEST Friday).

Australia has topped Group F overnight, avoiding a semi-final clash with England on Friday. (ANI)

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Gayle says he”ll sledge Watto and other Aussies in 20-20 decider

May 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

St. Lucia (West Indies), May 11 (ANI): West Indian cricket captain Chris Gayle has said that he intends to sledge Australian opener Shane Watson and other members of his team when the two sides engage in a Super Eight World Twenty20 encounter at the Beausejour Cricket Ground tomorrow.

“I”m definitely looking forward to a victory, but I”m not going to get personal with anyone. I”ll stick to what I can do and try to get my team up and ready against Australia and get the guys confident. I”m not going to target anyone. But I might well just be doing some sledging of them,” Gayle said.

Gayle and Watson clashed heatedly when the Australia all-rounder comically celebrated after taking the prized wicket of the Windies skipper in the Perth Test in the summer.

Gayle later said: “I didn”t expect anything better. That”s typically Shane Watson.”

Both opening batsmen will play crucial hands in a match that looms as the best of the tournament to date.

Australia must win to ensure a semi-final berth – potentially against England – even though they remain undefeated after their 81-run win against Sri Lanka at Kensington Oval. (ANI)

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Brutal Australia sweeping all aside in quest for T20 crown

May 11, 2010 By Leave a Comment

St. Lucia (West Indies), May 11 (ANI): Australian cricket captain Michael Clarke is confident about his team lifting this year’s World Twenty20 Cup title after two unsuccessful attempts.

””With the strength of our squad, we”ve spoken about any situation we get in, we believe we can win,”” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted Clarke, as saying.

Clarke’s has said that their last Super Eight fixture against the West Indies has to be about enjoyment and doing what is right.

It is Australia alone who are assured of their place in the semi-finals.

West Indies can reach the semi-finals with a victory against Australia, but a defeat has left India facing almost certain elimination after their second loss in the Super Eights stage. (ANI)

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