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'Jonty's Way' fielding coaching camp launched

Vadodara: Former South Africa cricketer Jonty Rhodes on Thursday launched a coaching camp called Jonty's Way Fielding Coaching Camp with cricketers and coaches taking part in it.

The camp, which will run till October 15, has players and coaches of all age group, Ranji and women's cricket being imparted fielding tips by Jonty. Another such four-day camp will be held in Hyderabad from October 24.

Talking to PTI after launching of the camp at Alembic Ground here, Jonty said, "This will go a long way in improving fielding standards of the teams. The players and coaches who turned up at this camp realised as to how fielding plays a vital role in deciding the fate of a match."

"Cricket is now business and every team wants to win. It is necessary to give more emphasis is given on fielding. Saving runs has resulted into winning games," he said.

During the camp, Jonty demonstrated the participants various techniques on how to collect ball from the field and throw it accurately.
SourceTI

 

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We're not match-fixers, says Australia captain Clarke

Australia test and one-day captain Michael Clarke has defended his players against match-fixing allegations after a sports agent said the country's top cricketers were "the biggest" culprits.

Mazhar Majeed, accused by prosecutors of taking bribes to fix matches, also said that
Australian cricketers had fixed "brackets", a set period of a match on which punters bet, a London court heard on Monday.

The accusation drew a scornful response from Cricket Australia earlier this week and Clarke said on Friday he was "very confident" no Australian players were involved.

"For me personally, it's not the Australian way," Clarke told reporters in Sydney before boarding a plane for the tour of South Africa.

"Never in my time have I experienced a conversation with anybody about any such thing.

"There's obviously been a couple of occasions when guys have been approached and that's been reported to our team manager and the ICC ... so all the boys in the Australian team are aware that it is happening, it is going on.

"But it's never involved me and I'm very confident it's never involved any of the Australian players."

Clarke's comments come as the trial involving spot-fixing allegations against former Pakistan captain Salman Butt and bowler Mohammad Asif continues in London.

Prosecutors allege that Majeed conspired with Butt and fast bowlers Asif and Mohammad Amir to fix parts of the Lord's test between England and Pakistan last August.

Clarke will lead Australia in three one-day internationals and two tests against South Africa in October and November.
Newspaper: Hindustan Times, 14th Oct

 

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New ICC ODI rules are a bit tricky: MS Dhoni

Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni termed the new rules for ODIs set by the ICC as "tricky" and said that getting reverse swing could be a problem as two new balls will be in use from both ends. According to the new ICC rules, there would be two new balls used from the two ends while batting and bo
wling powerplays needs to be taken within the 16th and the 40th over.

"It's a bit tricky as we have not yet played any match under this new powerplay. It would certainly need a different approach as the second and third powerplay will now be taken within the 16th and the 40th over.

"Earlier while chasing, teams would be happy to keep the batting powerplay for the last five overs. But now we have to make few changes in tactics. It will be giving different results till we get used to it," the Indian captain said on the eve of their opening encounter of the five-match ODI series against England.

The skipper also seemed worried about the fact that there may not be a lot of reverse swing as both the balls will be only 25 overs old at the most.

"A bit of swing will definitely be there but there may not be much reverse swing as we expect in the sub-continent. Now the reverse swing also depends a lot on the nature of outfield and how you make the ball but of course legally," the skipper said.
Newspaper: Hindustan Times, 14th Oct

 

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Fans deprived of early overs due to govt-channel fight

NEW DELHI: The live broadcast of the first India-England one-day match from Hyderabad was delayed by three overs on Friday because right holders Neo Sports Broadcast Private Limited - which shows the matches live on its channel Neo Cricket -- and the government were locked in a tussle over payment issues.

This resulted in delayed permission for uplinking facilities.

The screens showed "no coverage due to technical issues" as the pre-match show was extended, depriving feed from the first 15 minutes of the game to the rights holders, Doordarshan, Sky TV in Britain and affecting live streaming on the BCCI's website too. The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting did not approve the uplinking facilities till before the start of the first ball, resulting in the delay. In a statement issued midway through the game, Neo Cricket attributed the delay to an "unreasonable demand" from Prasar Bharati, which uplinks live telecasts.

Neo alleged there was a change in the agreement in the date of payment of a bank guarantee of Rs 4 crore to Prasar Bharati. Under the draft agreement between the two signed on October 12, 2011, Neo was required to submit the bank guarantee within five days of signing the formal agreement.

"It was expected that the agreement would be signed on the 13th or 14th and thus the bank guarantee would be submitted on the 19th or 20th of October 2011 (i.e. five dates after signing)," Neo said in the statement.

Prasar Bharato CEO Rajiv Takru, however, told TOI: "We had informed the rights holder on October 10 itself that they would have to give a bank guarantee of Rs 4.5 crore. We can't help it if they decided to wait till the last minute to comply by the agreement requirements. We are willing to cooperate but not at the cost of sacrificing the government's interest."

Neo said that the night before the match, the ministry sent a letter (a copy of which is with TOI) stating that uplink permission would be granted to Neo only after it submitted a bank guarantee before the start of the first ODI.

The letter sent on Thursday by the ministry to BCCI said, "You are advised to immediately take up the matter with Neo Sports and ensure compliance with the provisions of the Sports Broadcasting Signals (mandatory sharing with Prasar Bharati) Act 2007."

Neo said it paid the entire bank guarantee to Prasar Bharati at 12:37 pm on Friday.
Newspaper: Times Of India, 15th Oct

 

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Tendulkar gets back to action

Sachin Tendulkar was seen practicing at the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai on Friday, and this should ensure that a billion Indians sleep better at night. It has been just over a month since Tendulkar was ruled out of the one-day leg of the English tour with a toe-injury. Tendulkar spent a couple of hours practicing at the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) Recreation Centre at Bandra. He was also seen jogging lightly on the sidelines of a C.K.Nayudu Under-22 match between Mumbai and Gujarat.

Tendulkar was found to suffer from a recurrence of an inflammation to the bone in his big toe on the right foot on the eve of the first ODI at Cardiff in September. The injury meant that maestro returned from England without managing to get his 100th international ton.

He was also forced to sit out of the Champions League that followed and was seen travelling with his team, the Mumbai Indians, that clinched the title.

Tendulkar will be looking to get in to the groove for the West Indies series at home and the important tour of Australia, later in the year. He could also be targeting a return to the Indian team when England play the fourth ODI, of the return leg, in his own backyard in Mumbai on October 23.
Newspaper: Hindustan Times, 15th Oct

 

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Aussies no fixers: Clarke

Australian Test and one-day captain Michael Clarke said yesterday he was "100 percent confident" that no Australian cricketers were involved in match-fixing.

His comments followed allegations made in a London court this week implicating Australian players during the corruption trial of ex-Pakistan cricket captain Salman Butt and fast bowler Mohammad Asif. "Me personally, I have never been approached by anyone," he said on his departure for South Africa for a three-match one-day series that kicks off on October 19 ahead of Tests in Cape Town and Johannesburg in November.

"The players I have played with, I'm 100 percent confident they would never be involved in that," he added on the Cricket Australia website. "It is not the Australian way. Never in my time have I experienced a conversation with anybody about any such things." He admitted that some Australian cricketers had been approached, but it had always been reported to the authorities.

"There has obviously been a couple of occasions where guys (in our team) have been approached and that has been reported to our team manager and to the International Cricket Council," he said. "So all the boys in the Australian team are aware that it is happening and that it is going on. "But, like I said, it has never involved me and I'm very confident that it has never involved any of the Australian play.
Newspaper: Mid Day,15th Oct

 

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Botham & Co, mere spectators!

The team of David Lloyd, Sir Ian Botham, Paul Allot and Nick Knight could not perform on-air commentary duties for England's host broadcaster Sky Sports during the first one-dayer here yesterday.

MiD DAY learnt that Sky Sports did not receive the necessary permission from the authorities and thus had to settle for the Indian broadcast feed. The blackout was caused by a breakdown in negotiations between rights-holding production company Nimbus, the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and the Indian government.

The ex-England cricketers had to sit on the opposite end of the media facility here at the Tata End and watch the match. In fact for the first few overs, English viewers were witnessed to a still photo of Uppal with Lloyd and Knight commentating through a phone line.

Meanwhile, The London Telegraph reported that there was a row between the Indian host broadcaster and BCCI, which left English viewers without pictures. "Just a few minutes before the scheduled start of England's ODI match at Hyderabad, it emerged that a bust-up between the BCCI and the Indian host broadcaster had seen the board withhold rights to show the match," the English daily was quoted as saying.

Meanwhile, the Indian viewers too suffered as there was no commentary for the first three overs due to a satellite glitch in the broadcast feed. Hence, Paul Collingwood and Venkatesh Prasad, who are in Mumbai in the TV studio, had to fill in.
Newspaper: Mid Day, 15th Oct

 

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New ODI rules confusing for now, says Kohli

NEW DELHI: India's middle-order batsman Virat Kohli finds the new ODI rules introduced by the ICC confusing and feels that the playing condition, which allows for a run out if a batsman is deemed to have obstructed the field, is "vague".

The new ICC rules came into application in the ongoing five-match India-England series, the first game of which India won by 126 runs in Hyderabad.

"It is a good change. It might turn out to be more interesting and exciting eventually but in the first match it was very confusing. The run out rule is a little vague, no one knows how the obstruction rule will apply," Kohli said on the eve of the second ODI.

According to the new rule, on appeal from the fielders, if the umpire feels that a batsman, while running between the wickets, has significantly changed his direction without probable cause (to save his wicket) when a fielder attempts to run the batsman out, should be given out "obstructing the field". It shall not be relevant whether a run out would have been effected or not.

For making a decision to declare the batsman out obstructing the field, the on-field umpires may consult the third-umpire.
Newspaper: Times Of India, 16th Oct

 

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Pietersen and Swann are still friends, insists Flower

LONDON: Graeme Swann's criticism of Kevin Pietersen in his autobiography has not affected their friendship, insisted England cricket coach Andy Flower but conceded that he would have wanted the off-spinner to wait till retirement before writing such a book.

In his autobiography, Swann had criticised Pietersen's captaincy stint, saying that he was a bad choice to lead England in 2008 and 2009.

Flower praised Pietersen for his "mature handling" of the situation and hoped that such tell-all books are kept for after the retirement.

Asked whether he believes players should wait until retiring to air such revelations in print, he said: "That's my personal opinion, yes."

"I personally don't think that it's a good idea for current players to be talking about their fellow players," Flower was quoted as saying by 'The Daily Mail'.

"The written word does come across very, very differently - when you can't judge a person's tone - and particularly with Swann's words, that is an accurate and important point."

Flower insisted that England's team spirit was intact despite the controversy.

"It's all been handled in-house - without many problems. Pietersen and Swann get on well, and I think Pietersen has handled it very maturely," he said.

England, touring India right now, are down 0-1 in a five-match ODI series.
Newspaper: Times Of India, 16th Oct

 

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Mohsin defends axing Umar Akmal

Karachi: Pakistan chief selector and interim coach Mohsin Hasan Khan on Sunday defended the axing of young batsman Umar Akmal from the Test squad, saying the youngster need to back to domestic cricket and learn playing big innings.

"To tell you the truth I was chief selector when we dropped Umar for the Test series but even if I had been the coach I would have still dropped him. He would not have found a place in my team," Mohsin said.

The former Test player said Umar was extremely talented but has been dropped to make him realise he needed to do more to wear the Pakistan cap.

"There is no doubt over his potential or talent. But he has not done enough to remain in the team. Basically we have given him a message go and play domestic cricket and learn to play big innings. Learn to turn your thirties and fourties into hundreds for the team. Stop being selfish," Mohsin said.

Umar the younger brother of ousted wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal has already hit two centuries in the first two rounds of the ongoing Quaid-e-Azam trophy.

Mohsin said since he took over as chief selector last year after the disastrous Australian tour and in tough times, his main task was to send out a clear message to every player that he should not take his place in the national side for granted.