Sri Lanka players may be paid after Pakistan series

Upali Dharmadasa, the chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket's interim committee, has said he is hopeful that his country's national cricketers will be paid their salaries when they return home after the series against Pakistan currently being played in the UAE. SLC is expecting to receive the remaining payments of around US$ 4.3 million from the ICC for hosting the 2011 World Cup shortly. "We are awaiting...

Katich to face CA hearing for Clarke comments

Simon Katich has continued to speak his mind about being left out of the Australia side Simon Katich, the Australia batsman, will face a Cricket Australia (CA) hearing over the recent comments he made about Australia captain Michael Clarke having a hand in keeping him out of the national side. Katich was reported under the CA code of behaviour provisions covering detrimental public comment. Details...

Sri Lankan players unpaid since World Cup - reports

About 100 cricketers contracted to Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), including national players, have not been paid their salaries since the 2011 World Cup, co-hosted by Sri Lanka, India and Bangladesh, BBC Sinhala has reported. There were also doubts over whether the SLC would be able to pay salaries in the next two months. "There is a truth in those media reports to a certain extent," SLC chairman Upali...

Rudolph recalled to Test side after five years

Jacques Rudolph's recall was widely expected following his impressive run of recent form Opening batsman Jacques Rudolph, who played the last of his 35 Tests in August 2006, has been recalled to the South Africa Test squad for the two-match series against Australia. Legspinner Imran Tahir and allrounder Vernon Philander also got their first call-ups to the Test squad. Rudolph came in for opener...

Butt has 'been caught' court told

Salman Butt ended a long spell in the witness box with further tough questioning Salman Butt, in an often fraught exchange with the prosecution headed by Aftab Jafferjee QC, was told he had "been caught" and was "controlling" the players through the no-balls. Butt's three-day vigil in the witness box ended on Wednesday - the eleventh day of the trial in London - with Butt accepting no part in the...

Afridi withdraws retirement

Shahid Afridi is ready to return to international cricket Shahid Afridi has withdrawn his international retirement and says he is available for selection for Pakistan in the limited-over formats. Afridi had announced a 'conditional' retirement from international cricket in May, after having been stripped of the ODI captaincy, saying he would return if there were changes in the PCB and the team management. Since...

Marsh to replace Lee

Allrounder Mitchell Marsh will remain in South Africa for the one-day leg of the tour Cricket Australia has named allrounder Mitchell Marsh as a replacement for Brett Lee in Australia's ODI squad for the series against South Africa. Marsh is a part of Australia's Twenty20 squad in South Africa and will remain with the team for the one-day leg of the tour, as Lee underwent a surgery for appendicitis...

Court hears million-dollar plan to fix Oval Test

Salman Butt's name was again mentioned in recordings played to the jury Mazhar Majeed, the agent of several Pakistan players, was offered US$1 million by an Indian bookmaker to ensure the team lost the third Test at The Oval against England, which they eventually won, a court heard in London on Tuesday. On the fifth morning of the alleged spot-fixing trial involving former Pakistan captain Salman...

No evidence of Australia fixing, says ACSU officer

The court heard there was no evidence to back up Mazhar Majeed's claims about Australia A senior anti-corruption officer for the ICC told a court on Tuesday that his department had no evidence of any match-fixing carried out by the Australia team. Alan Peacock, who has been with the ICC's anti-corruption and security unit since its inception in September 2000, was asked a question by Salman Butt's...

Huge odds of exact no-balls - expert

The court was shown footage of Mohammad Asif's no-ball at Lord's The likelihood of three no-balls occurring at pre-determined times in a Test match had a "one in a 1.5 million chance" of happening, a court was told on Monday during the alleged spot-fixing trial of two Pakistan cricketers. Sky Sports statistician Benedict Bermange, appearing as a prosecution witness late in the afternoon, made...

SLC gets official warning for Galle pitch

"Whilst we do not wish to see a pitch that is too heavily weighted in favour of the batsmen, in this instance, the balance was just too much in favour of the bowler" Sri Lanka Cricket has been given an official ICC warning for preparing a "poor" pitch in Galle for the first Test against Australia that was played from August 31-September 3. The ICC's pitch consultant Andy Atkinson will inspect the...

We haven't tampered with the ball - Cook

Alastair Cook came out in defence of his bowlers at Heathrow England's one-day captain Alastair Cook has rubbished claims by Pakistan fast bowler Umar Gul that James Anderson and Stuart Broad were involved in ball tampering. Cook said if Gul did have any concerns he should have gone through the proper channels. Gul hit the headlines after giving an interview in Karachi, where he suggested he had...

Spot-fixing trial set to begin

Mohammad Asif will appear in court with Salman Butt on Tuesday  Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif begin their trial at a criminal court in London on Tuesday, more than a year on from the spot-fixing allegations that engulfed the cricket world during Pakistan's troubled tour of England. The former Pakistan Test captain Butt, 27 on Friday, and fast bowler Asif, 28, will appear at Southwark Crown...

Umar Akmal dropped from Test squad

Umar Akmal was dropped from the Test squad and asked to work on playing long innings Umar Akmal has been dropped from the Pakistan Test squad for their series against Sri Lanka in the UAE starting later this month. Shoaib Malik, who was on Pakistan's tour of Zimbabwe after gaining clearance from the PCB, finds a place in the 15-man squad.Several of the first-choice bowlers who were rested...

Gul opposed to legalising ball tampering

Umar Gul is against legalising ball tampering Umar Gul, the Pakistan fast bowler, has claimed ball tampering is not new to cricket and that there are legal and illegal methods to change the condition of the ball. He was also opposed to legalising ball tampering, in contrast to Shoaib Akhtar, who wrote in his recent autobiography that it wasn't a bad idea to "set rules" for tampering."The claims...

Powerplay tweaks and end of runners

Three's a crowd: there will be no more runners allowed in international cricket West Indies' tour of Bangladesh, which begins with a Twenty20 on October 11, will be the first international series under the ICC's revised playing conditions, which are effective from October 1. The amendments are only applicable to international cricket.The ICC's cricket committee had made the recommendations after...