Posts Tagged ‘ICC’

Johannesburg: Only a dramatic turnaround in form can cease Pakistan from winning their opening Champions Trophy match in contrast to West Indies at this juncture on now.

It is the barely cool match intended for Younis Khan’s Pakistanis in the four-team come together as West Indies are not including their first-choice trait following a contract row among the players and their cricket board.

Bangladesh, who come up with not even qualified intended for this match, lay the current West Indies team in proper perspective at what time they clinched both the Test and one-day run in the Caribbean this day.

Pakistan might not come up with asked intended for a better activation to their proposal to turn out to be barely the next team taking into consideration India to win three ICC-conducted tournaments — the World Cup, Twenty20 World Championship and Champions Trophy.

Pakistan, winners of the 1992 World Cup and 2009 Twenty20 Worlds, will come up with tougher assignments in the future as they clash with arch-rivals India and defending champions Australia in the after that two matches. The top two teams advance to semi-finals.

Many feel with the purpose of a useless West Indies trait is not the finest advertisement intended for the match, especially at what time the 50-over format is under pressure from the growing popularity of the Twenty20 cricket.

“The West Indies come up with for ever and a day been my favourite team and I’d love to compete in contrast to a full-strength trait,” Younis had supposed recently.

Star performers Chris Gayle, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Shivanaraine Chanderpaul and Dwayne Bravo all are missing from the squad, presently led by Floyd Reifer.

The focus will be on Pakistani paceman Mohammad Asif, inveterate to one-day cricket taking into consideration serving a one-year veto intended for a abortive dope test.

With Pakistan announcing their singing eleven barely on the morning of the match, it is yet to be seen whether they will disturb a complete combination to accommodate Asif in contrast to the West Indies.

Reifer supposed in a modern interview with the purpose of his team were strong to lay in an impressive peformance.

“I feel like the relations in the Caribbean to know with the purpose of this is a West Indies team with the purpose of is dyed-in-the-wool to the West Indies cricket. This is not a second-string team,” Reifer supposed.

The West Indies were winners in 2004 and runners-up in 2006.

The teams:

Pakistan (from):

Younis Khan (capt), Imran Nazir, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umer Akmal, Shoaib Malik, Shahid Afridi, Rana Naved-ul Hasan, Fawad Alam, Mohammad Yousuf, Kamran Akmal, Umar Gul, Mohammad Aamir, Mohammad Asif, Rao Iftikhar, Saeed Ajmal.

West Indies: Floyd Reifer (capt), Darren Sammy, David Bernard, Tino Best, Royston Crandon, Travis Dowlin, Andre Fletcher, Nikita Miller, Kevin McLean, Kieran Powell, Dale Richards, Kemar Roach, Devon Smith, Gavin Tonge, Chadwick Walton

Umpires: Steve Davis (AUS) and Daryl Harper (AUS).

Small screen umpire: Simon Taufel (AUS).

Match mediate: Javagal Srinath (IND)

JOHANNESBURG: Six years carry out voted for since their humiliating loss to India in a World Cup match but Pakistan captain Younis Khan says the defeat still hurts and his team would be eyeing revenge while the two sides clash in the Champions Trophy on September 26.

Voguish a 2003 World Cup match, Pakistan lost the match despite defending a competitive 270 owing to batting fireworks of Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar.

“It hurts. I played with the purpose of match. We scored 270 and still lost. A etch of 250 in these conditions is considered safe. But the way Sachin Tendulkar and Virender Sehwag batted, and backed by Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh, we lay beaten. That defeat still hurts,” Younis alleged in a pre-tournament press alliance.

“Indeed, we carry out lost to India in the majority of these ICC match-ups but no more than on one occasion. Ab hamara bhi jeetne ka haq banta hai (even we deserve to win at times now),” he added.

Younis alleged he wished in attendance were more matches stuck between the two sides.

“If you perceive beaten, it’s a long hang around to perceive even. It keeps hurting you,” he quipped.

Also hurting Younis and his teammates are accusations from previous players and media back domestic with the purpose of Pakistani players might be involved in match fixing.

“Those who promote to these accusations be supposed to think ahead of speaking. It affects youngsters. But being a cricketer from the sub-continent. We are used to such pressures. A player from the sub-continent faces more pressure not at home of the deal with than on it. That’s why cricketers who carry on it are truthfully eminent,” he alleged.

“Somebody like Sachin Tendulkar is really eminent as he has withstood the pressure pro all these years and still succeeded,” he added.

Younis fractured his little finger at some stage in nets but played down the injury scare.

“It’s a little breakage. Nothing serious. We will assess it on Monday. Hopefully it be supposed to be alright,” he alleged.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) has confirmed  the schedule of warm-up matches beforehand of the ICC Champions Trophy which begins on 22nd September in South Africa.

Only England and Australia, who will individual appearance a bilateral One-Day International run on 20th September, will not take the part of warm-up matches former to the game getting underway.

The two dates designed for the warm-up matches are Friday, 18th September, and Sunday, 20th September.

On Friday, South Africa take the part of the West Indies in Potchefstroom, Pakistan be introduced to Sri Lanka in Benoni and New Zealand take the part of South African domestic authorization the Chevrolet Warriors in Pretoria.

On Sunday, New Zealand be introduced to India in Potchefstroom, Pakistan take the part of the Warriors in Benoni and Sri Lanka be introduced to the West Indies in Pretoria.

Matches by the side of Potchefstroom and Benoni will be day/night affairs while Pretoria will host day of the week matches individual.

Friday, 18th September:

South Africa v West Indies, Potchefstroom
Pakistan v Sri Lanka, Benoni
New Zealand v Warriors, Pretoria

Sunday, 20th September

New Zealand v India, Potchefstroom
Pakistan v Warriors, Benoni
Sri Lanka v West Indies, Pretoria

Dubai: A record prize pool of $4 million will be at stake in this year’s Champions Trophy in South Africa, the International Cricket Council (ICC) confirmed on Monday.

The prize money is almost a four-fold increase from the 2004 and 2006 editions, when the total prize money was $1.15 million, an ICC press release stated.

The tournament will be a re-modelled short event of 15 matches in only 14 days in September and October taking place at two venues – Centurion Park and The Wanderers.

The new format and the increased prize pool are just two of the series of innovations to be announced in the coming weeks.

Australia, England, India, New Zealand, Pakistan, hosts South Africa, Sri Lanka and the West Indies – have been divided into two pools of four, with the top two from each pool progressing to the semi-finals stage. The tournament begins September 22.

“We are delighted to announce the fixtures and prize money for this year’s ICC Champions Trophy,” ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said.

“The format, with two pools of four leading to the semi-finals and final, means that every match counts and each side has to hit the ground running,” said Lorgat.

The Champions Trophy was supposed to take place in Pakistan in 2008 but was relocated to South Africa because of security apprehensions.

St John’s (Antigua): The International Cricket Council will offer its help to broker peace between the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) and its protesting players because ICC wants them to field their strongest side in this year’s Champions Trophy.

ICC General Manager Dave Richardson conceded the governing body was worried with the stalemate that saw frontline West Indian players boycotting the ongoing home series against Bangladesh and said they would soon contact WICB to offer help.

“The ICC is concerned. We will be contacting them soon and ask them if we could offer any help,” Richardson said.

“Certainly if the West Indies (board) does not sort out their relationship with their players it is a concern because we need a strong West Indies team coming to the Champions Trophy,” he said.

Richardson’s comments came soon after the cricketers, through West Indies Players’ Association (WIPA), approached the Caribbean Community and Common Market (CARICOM) to intervene and solve the imbroglio.

In another development, WICB has written to individually to all the protesting players, accusing them of breaching their contract by boycotting the Official Ticket Launch of Twenty20 World Cup in St Lucia and refusing to travel to St Vincent for the first Test against Bangladesh.

The WICB has also written to WIPA, saying the strike breached the Memorandum of Understanding between the two entities.