PCB sues ICC!

Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has filed a case against International Cricket Council (ICC) in a Lahore Court against the ICC's move to strip the World Cup hosting rights of PCB.

"The (ICC) board has no authority to move the secretariat and that's why we have filed the case," the PCB's legal adviser Tafazzul Rizvi told AP. "We have to fight all out against a decision which is legally flawed and to step up our pressure, we have sued the ICC, IDI (ICC Development International) and the Central Organising Committee (for) World Cup 2011.

"The IDI gave the World Cup to four countries. So the ICC Executive Board was not entitled to take a decision on a World Cup move, only the annual general meeting can take such a decision."

Now, ICC has to respond!

source: cricinfo.com

Why Not ICL?

What is happening in Cricket? What is the Cricket governing body of international cricket--ICC is doing? They want to promote cricket, but at the same time, do not allow people who help the cause?

The ICL (Indian Cricket League) started by the Zee Television Group was the eye opener for BCCI. It is almost like privatization of government handled units or activities. BCCI does not want anybody to conduct any kinds of matches.

Why? I have analyzed the situation like anyone else and found few reasons which may be valid from BCCIs pespective, though they are not correct:

Loss of Revenue:

Every citizen of India and people around the world who follow cricket knows the reason. If they accept ICL, the money would be shared between BCCI and ICL, which means loss of revenue for BCCI.

Sharing of Power:

The money power that BCCI has today may go away or at least get reduced if there is a competitor.

Confusion for Players:

If both BCCI and ICL conduct events, then players will be in dilemma which one to pick. Though priority can be worked out between BCCI and ICL, the former would try to dominate always.

Ego:

They have not accepted ICL at the first instance and started banning players. Now, if they go back, it would hurt their ego. More than the game, the individual ego is playing a key role.

Can a person in the stature of Kapil Dev would do anything bad to Indian Cricket? The chances he had while playing was more than the chances he has now to spoil Indian cricket. He could have lost a game, he could have taken bad decisions when he was a member of BCCI or coach of Indian Team. If he didn't do it when he had the power or opportunity to do, do you think he is doing it now? Crazy.

I would strongly suggest and recommend ICC that accept ICL as a recognized body and allow them to conduct cricket events. BCCI alone cannot play opportunities to 1.2 billion people or at least 25% of them, who really play cricket.

We still need one more body like ICL and all of them should work together to find the right talent for the game and for the country.

When BCCI is accepting and allowing Indian players to play in English County, why not in another event within our own country?

Guys, competition brings out the best! You are trying to kill or make your partner dark and then play. This is not fair game and not good for Cricket and Country! I don't have anything against BCCI or anything in favor ICL, I am just thinking about CRICKET and COUNTRY and so many young people dreaming that they will get an opportunity!

BCCI v. PCB!

While PCB is trying to find out all the possible routes to conduct the Champions Trophy, BCCI is becoming a bottleneck in their approach.

After the announcement by ICC to postpone the event to next year, Pakistan was trying to invite various teams to play with them a ODI Series or a triangular tournament. But, nothing went in favor of them.

Extract from Times of India:

As per PCB sources, "India is not interested in having the Champions Trophy at all. It has made clear that they see no necessity for this event on the ICC Calendar."

BCCI is clear that they will not change the Australian itinerary scehduled in October 2008 for a 7-match ODI series.

With Australia, England, South Africa and New Zealand annoucing withdrawal from the tournament fearing security and safety reasons, ICC postponed the event to October 2008. They retained the hosting rights with Pakistan.

India basically feels that with world cup scheduled for every four years and T20 World Cup every year, Champions Trophy is not needed. But, ICC feels that this woudl spread cricket and help fuding the associate countries.

Pakistan is hopeful of conduting the Champions Trophy next year.

ICC Succumbs to Pressure! CT Postponed

The ICC has decided to postpone the Champions Trophy to next year. In a tele-meeting held today, considering the threat from Australia, New Zealand, England and South Africa, and possible split within ICC if venue is moved out of Pakistan, the ICC decided to postpone the event to next October.

They have asked for a detailed report from the security team about conducting the event in Pakistan.

The issue is that, if venue is changed, then the next world cup to be hosted jointly by India, Pakistan and Bangladesh will also be under threat. The top teams may boycot the world cup.

Asif May Be Cleared of Doping Charges!

The sample B drug test taken in May 2009 turned positive. But, there was a discrepancy in the two samples tested and he could be cleared.

"There is a major discrepancy in the two (urine) samples of Asif which came out positive, and in such cases, the player has a chance to be cleared," Dr. Danish Zaheer, president of Sports Medicine Association of Pakistan, told the Associated Press.

Good luck Asif! If you are a believer of God and the philosophies around it, you know that you can cheat others, but not your own self and the GOD, assuming you are really guilty. In case if you are not guilty (which you only know), then god saved you buddy!

Munaf Patel fined!

Indian bowler Munaf Patel was fined 75% of his match fee for arguing with the umpire in the 2nd ODI against Sri Lanka.

Munaf was penalised for breaching ICC's level 2 offence after on-field umpire Gamini Silva lodged a complaint to match referee Chris Broad citing that Munaf argued with him regarding an LBW decision.

However, the Indian team management denied the allegations saying that the Baroda pacer has never got into an argument with Silva.

Team manager Sanjay Desai said they will decide whether to appeal against the decision after discussion with the BCCI.

Champions Trophy Decision on Sunday!

With unsuccessful attempts in convincing the players of New Zealand, England and Australia, the ICC will be discussing over conference call on Sunday to decide on the fate of Champions Trophy in Pakistan.

Ite seems that players association of New Zealand and Australia have advised their players against touring Pakistan.

With major countries pulling out, it will be tough decision for ICC. The decision will be taken on Sunday's meeting.

ICC Tries to Convince Teams!

ICC is trying to convince Australia, England, New Zealand about playing in the champions trophy. These teams were not ready to participate in the Champions Trophy 2008 stating the current situation Pakistan.

They were not convinced about the security of the players and all the players are worried about playing in Pakistan.

South Africa was considered as the second option, but ICC finally decided to stay with Pakistan. After this decision, Australia, England and New Zealand continued to say that they will not be participating and ICC is talking with each team.

Ponting is not sure about his team's participation. New Zealand continues to remain with their decision of not participating and ICC is not able to convince them yet.

Champions League to as Scheduled!

The chairman of the IPL Lalit Modi has not taken the letter from ICC indicating that the schedule of Champions League is against the ICC rules. According to ICC, no international event should be conducted 7 before and after an ICC event.

ICC has scheduled the Champions Trophy between September 11 and 28. The Champions League starts on 29th.

As far as the venue of the event is concerned, Modi said, "we had initially announced that Delhi, Mohali and Jaipur would host the matches of the Champions League. But we have received various offers. We would like it to be in India in the first year and then ideally rotate it among the founder members. We are quite open (on the issue of venues). It can be in one geographical area too depending on the available infrastructure."

This indicates that the venue can be outside India for the inagural event.

The eight teams are: Two from IPL, Two from Australia, Two from South Africa, One each from Pakistan and England.

Conflict between ICC and IPL!

The ICC has sent a letter to the IPL and Champions League committe that as per the ICC rules they are not supposed to conduct an international event within 7 days of ICC events. The Champions League is planned to start on September 29 whereas the CT ends on September 28th.

Champions Trophy Retained in Pakistan!

The ICC committee has decided to continue with Pakistan for the Champions Trophy 2008. South Africa was expecting that the venue would be changed to their country but ICC went ahead with their decision. Based on the report submitted on the security situation in Pakistan, ICC has gone ahead and did not change the venue.

Several countries are not happy with this decision and not sure about their participation in this Champions Trophy.

Australia is almost sure that they will not play this season. England has confirmed 90% that they will not participate. They said no players should be forced to play as the security of the players is more important.

New Zealand board is talking with the players to find out their comfort level.

With major teams not participating or at least hesitating to participate, it is better that ICC change thier venue or work out some other solution by which all the countries participating in this tournament are free from fear and play competitive cricket.

Holding Quits ICC over decision on Pakistan England Match!

The former West Indian fast bowler Michael Holding has resigned from the ICC cricket committee. The reason stated was, "he is unhappy with the ICC's decision to change the result of the 2006 Oval Test between England and Pakistan from a forfeited win for England to a draw."

"I have just written my letter of resignation to the ICC cricket committee because I cannot agree with what they've done," Holding said while commentating for Sky Sports during a domestic match in England. "That game should never, ever be a draw. When you take certain actions, you must be quite happy to suffer the consequences.

"A lot of things are happening today that I don't want to be involved with, so I've moved on." He also felt that Pakistan deserve the punishment because they did not come to the field though they were cleared off ball tampering. The refusal to go play should not go unpunished.

Click here to read Other Story related to this topic!

Zimbabwe Stays in ICC! Pulls Out of World Cup T20!

After few days of discussion and boardroom negotiations, the ICC decided to retain Zimbabwe as part of ICC.

Zimbabwe, though decided to pull out from the World Twenty20 and cleared the roadblock for the competition to be staged in England, will receive its full participation fee for the tournament.

"We have been informed that the British government may not grant visas to our players, and that situation may prevail during the Twenty20 World Cup. We don't want to be gatecrashers; we will attend only those weddings to which we are invited," said Peter Chingoka, Chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket.

Samuel to Fight Two Year Ban!

Marlon Samuel has hired lawyers to fight his case agains the two year ban. The disciplinary committee found Samuel breached section C4 of the ICC's Code of Conduct regulations, which involves receiving money, benefit or other reward which could bring him or the game of cricket into disrepute.

"From the outset, we wish to make it pellucidly clear that we propose to challenge the findings of the majority [3 to 1] by way of judicial enquiry, as we believe a most grave injustice has been done by their finding of our client's liability of one of the ICC's disciplinary offences," the lawyers said in a statement issued yesterday.

The lawyers raised the following points to make a case for their client:


"The evidence in the hearing was that the hotel bill paid for our client by Mr Mukesh Kochar was a loan from a friend and father-figure which was to be repaid on Marlon's return to the West Indies."

"The evidence in the hearing was that Mr Mukesh Kochar was not a bookmaker."

"The evidence in the hearing was that Marlon only came to need a loan because money which he had expected to earn from a contract to participate in a television reality show that would have earned him a sum considerably in excess of the hotel bill, did not in fact materialise. Further, his credit card which he had tendered to meet the bill, was declined."

"It is because of the foregoing why we consider that an application for judicial review stands a realistic chance of success and we, therefore, propose to pursue it actively," the attorneys said.

Samuel to Appeal Against Ban!

West Indian all rounder Marlon Samuel, who was found guilty of dealing with bookmaker before a one-day match against India in Nagpur in January 2007.

Read: Samuel Found Guilty!

He has been slapped with a two-year ban for leaking weather information to an Indian bookie during the Indian series.

The player has decided to move the court against the ban. The unofficialn news is that, he has the support of one of the members who imposed the ban.

Good luck Samuel!

IPL Clears SRK Cloud!

The IPL Chairman and Commissioner Lalit Modi has announced that an all-area accreditation badge will be issued to one member from each team franchisees.

The immediate corrective was taken after the anti-corruption unit stopped the Kolkata Knight Riders owner Sharukh Khan from entering the players dressing room and the players dug out.

Read: SRK Barred by ICC!

Following which, Sharukh Khan said that he was hurt by the ICC rules and no one can stop him from entering the Eden Gardens.

ICC said that it had no role in stopping the actor as it was a domestic tournament organized by IPL, part of BCCI.

Read: ICC Has No Role in Stopping SRK!

"There have been reports in the media about denial of a team owner access to the dug out and dressing room. The IPL is conducted as per the rules and regulations of the ICC whose ACSU officials were just doing the job entrusted," Modi said.

"They go strictly by the colour code. A red badge issued by the ACSU, on approval of the team manager, will help the person holding it access to all areas," he said.

"This is what we intend to do by giving each of the team owners one such badge each. They do have the right to sit with the players in the dug outs and dressing rooms," Modi told a media conference here.

"If we make mistakes we are willing to set them right. This is the first year of IPL." "We had already provided such badges to Preity Zinta (owner of Punjab King's XI) and Vijay Mallya (owner of Bangalore's Royal Challengers) as we had received such a request from them in advance," Modi explained.

"The team owners have the right to be with the team at all times. They are very much part of the team's strategies," he added.

He also said that in addition to the badge, each team will be given four visitor's pass with the condition that the holder of that badge, one at a time, can sit with the team members during the match for a maximum period of 15-minutes each.

The card must be returned to the manager who issued it after the usage.

He also said that the children of the team members including the support staff will not be allowed to enter both dressing room and the dug outs.

With this new approach, the problem of owners spending time with their teams has come to an end!

Good job Modi! Well Done!

ICC has no role in stopping SRK!

The ICC expressed shock over SRK's statement on barring him from entering the players dressing room and the dug outs. The anti-corruption unit staff stopped him from entering these places and asked him to be away from these areas in the remaining matches.

He was seen in the players dug out in the match against Chennai Super Kings. He said, "I like to hang around with the boys. I am very energetic. I am very disappointed that the ICC has stopped me," he said. "I don't know the ICC rules. I'll tell only one thing. Nobody dare stop me from coming to Kolkata. I'll be here whenever my team plays a match at the Eden."

The ICC spokesman said in Dubai that, "The reported incident has nothing to do with the ICC as IPL is a domestic tournament which is being held under the Rules and Regulations of the BCCI."

The spokesman also said that a consensus was arrived at to have IPL introduce a code of conduct, an anti-corruption code and an anti-dope code that complies with the ICC regulations.

The CEO of Knight Riders Joy Bhattacharya said the ICC rules were meant to stop bookies entering the players area and is not applicable to domestic tournaments like IPL. He was logical when said that the franchise concept was not there when the rules were formed. So, the rules have to be framed considering these concepts.

Meanwhile, BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah, asserted that Shah Rukh has to go by ICC rules, even though he felt nothing could really stop the actor from entering the dressing room.

"He should take permission from IPL's anti-corruption officer before entering into the dressing room," Shah said.

Read: SRK Barred by ICC!

SRK Barred by ICC ACU!

The Anti-Corruption Unit of ICC has barred Shahrukh Khan from entering the players dressing room and the team dug out. He is the owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders and was seen in the ground encouraging his team players.

He was also seen in the players dug out during the match between Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings.

"I like to hang around with the boys. I am very energetic. I am very disappointed that the ICC has stopped me. I don't know the ICC rules. I'll tell only one thing. Nobody dare stop me from coming to Kolkata. I'll be here whenever my team plays a match at the Eden," Khan said.

Sources revealed that he was asked to stay away from the dressing room and players dug out during the remaining matches.

Not sure what the BCCI and ICC would do as he is the owner of a team!

Samuels found guilty of violating ICC Code, in trouble!

Marlon Samuels has been found guilty by West Indian Cricket Board's disciplinary committee of violating "ICC's Code of Conduct for receiving money, or benefit or other reward that could bring him or the game of cricket into disrepute."

In February 2007, Samuels was caught on tape by the Indian police for passing match related information to an Indian bookie during West Indies' one-day series in India.

Samuels denied the allegations and said he did not give any information outside. He also promised to the board that he will support the enquiry.

The ICC's anti-corruption unit arrived in India for an enquiry. He was allowed to play in the world cup in West Indies.

The Anti-Corruption Unit's report said that he indulged in inappropriate activity and the behaviour was prejudicial to the interests of the game of cricket.

WICB, though supported Samuel, said that the enquiry will be conducted in a transperent manner. It conducted the inquiry and found that he is guilty.

The ICC has said that, they are happy with the enquiry conducted by WICB and the punishment will be decided soon.

He is facing a life ban, the maximum punishment. The disciplinary committee will spell out the punishment for Samuels soon!

Delhi Daredevils and Mumbai Indians fined!

Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils have been fined by the IPL for maintaining slow over rate durng their match in Mumbai on Sunday, May 4.

The home team won by 29 runs upsetting the Delhi Daredevils, who were in the winning freak.

Match Referee Javagal Srinath found both the team guilty of bowling slow and hence fined them. Since IPL is following ICC rules, for every over short, the team would be fined $500.

Mumbai Indians found to be two overs short and Delhi Daredevils one over short. Both of them have been fined $1000 and $500 respectively.

This was already a worry for the IPL organizers as the teams were taking more time in the field.