http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/ en Copyright 2009 Tue, 03 Mar 2009 06:44:02 +0000 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss "It has never happened before in Pakistan, sports persons haven’t been targeted," Javed Miandad told GEO TV. "It’s terrible and really sad. It looks like a well-thought and planned assault. Sri Lanka and Pakistan have always helped each other. They have never said no to tour Pakistan and have always helped us in troubled situations. The foreign teams were already not coming and this [incident] is going to affect Pakistan cricket in the future. This is not to say that cricket will stop. The world will have to stay united and fight terrorism. I hope they just don’t say they won’t tour Pakistan. If we do that we will only support the terrorists’ cause." http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/03/terrible_and_ve.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/03/terrible_and_ve.php Lahore terror attack Tue, 03 Mar 2009 06:44:02 +0000 Pakistan police’s disposal unit inspector Abdul Ghafoor said that two car bombs had been defused, one at Liberty Square and the other at Firdus Park. "We have defused a bomb in a white Hyundai and after some time we got information about a suspect car in the Firdus car park. We also defused the bomb there," he told AFP. Local sector warden Malik Fayyaz told AFP that grenades, three kilograms of explosives, a pistol and a one-metre detonating cable had been recovered. http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/03/two_car_bombs_d.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/03/two_car_bombs_d.php Lahore terror attack Tue, 03 Mar 2009 06:42:20 +0000 Dominic Cork, who is commentating on the match in Lahore, spoke to Sky News: "I won't be coming back here while I'm still living. I don't think international teams should come back to this country, whether it's 10 or 20 years." http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/03/dominic_cork_wo.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/03/dominic_cork_wo.php Lahore terror attack Tue, 03 Mar 2009 06:35:17 +0000 Reg Dickason, the security expert hired by England and Australia, said " A lot of concerns we raised during the Champions Trophy have unfortunately come home to roost. The notion of sporting teams being a protected species was held by many, but it was not a view that we shared, unfortunately." http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/03/concerns_have_c.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/03/concerns_have_c.php Lahore terror attack Tue, 03 Mar 2009 06:26:36 +0000 The Sri Lankans were on their way to the Gaddafi Stadium when their bus was attacked by five armed terrorists near Liberty market. Habibur Rehman, chief commissioner of police, said 12 masked terrorists fired at the Sri Lankan team bus. The gunmen shot at the wheels of the bus and also injured the driver. A grenade was also thrown at the bus but it missed. "The bus came under attack as we were driving to the stadium, the gunmen targeted the wheels of the bus first and then the bus," Mahela Jayawardene told Cricinfo. "We all dived to the floor to take cover. About five players have been injured and also Paul Farbrace [a member of the support staff], but most of the injuries appear to be minor at this stage and caused by debris." Lahore police chief Habib-ur Rehman said, "They appeared to be well-trained terrorists. They came on rickshaws." Television footage of several gunmen creeping through the trees, crouching to aim their kalashnikovs then running onto the next target were aired by Pakistan's private channel Geo, AFP reported. Crystals of broken glass littered the road next to a gun cartridge and an empty rocket-propelled grenade launcher. A police motorbike was shown crashed sideways into the road at the Liberty Chowk (roundabout) in Lahore. Bullet holes ripped through the windscreen of another vehicle and a white car was shown smashed headlong into the roundabout as nervous security officers guarded the site. http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/03/how_the_attack.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/03/how_the_attack.php Lahore terror attack Tue, 03 Mar 2009 06:22:18 +0000 NDTV are reporting that there's shock among the players in the Indian dressing room in New Zealand ... India were scheduled to tour Pakistan but the trip was cancelled after the terror attacks in Mumbai by Pakistan-based terrorists. Sri Lanka stepped in to fill the gap for Pakistan. Pakistan are scheduled to host the Champions Trophy later this year ... http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/03/indians_in_nz_s.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/03/indians_in_nz_s.php Lahore terror attack Tue, 03 Mar 2009 06:17:11 +0000 The BCCI issued a release expressing its "sorrow and anguish over the dastardly attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team at Lahore. We pray for the speedy recovery of the injured cricketers, and sympathize with their families and compatriots. Cricket Australia chief executive officer James Sutherland said Australian cricket was shocked to hear the news. "Australian cricket has many friends in Sri Lanka and in Pakistan and we sincerely hope they are all safe after this awful incident,” he said. “Early reports are unclear but we are deeply saddened to hear reports that security officials in Pakistan have been killed in this attack." This is what the Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapakse had to say. "I condemn this cowardly terrorist attack targeting the Sri Lankan cricket team," Rajapakse told AFP. "The Sri Lankan players had gone to Pakistan as ambassadors of goodwill." http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/03/bcci_ca_condem.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/03/bcci_ca_condem.php Lahore terror attack Tue, 03 Mar 2009 06:10:13 +0000 Our sources tell us Samaraweera and Paravitarana were the ones most seriously injured and have been taken to hospital. they had shrapnel wounds in the chest and hamstring which have been dressed and they are doing fine. http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/03/samaraweera_par.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/03/samaraweera_par.php Lahore terror attack Tue, 03 Mar 2009 06:07:25 +0000 Sri Lanka's foreign secretary Palitha Cohona has confirmed that the team will return today. He said they hoped to take the first available flight. He said that six players were hurt and that the players were being evacuated from the stadium and taken to a safe play. He's praising the Pakistan authorities for their cooperation and is appalled that a sporting team has been targeted in this manner. http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/03/team_to_take_fi.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/03/team_to_take_fi.php Lahore terror attack Tue, 03 Mar 2009 06:01:38 +0000 Ijaz Butt, the PCB chief, has said the Test has been called off. Salman Tasheer, the Punjab governor, said a helicopter will soon evacuate the Sri Lankan players from Gaddafi stadium and take them to a nearby airbase from where the team will fly back to Sri Lanka. The reserve umpire Ahsan Raza was also injured in the attack. Nadeem Ghauri, the TV umpire, who was traveling in a bus behind the Sri Lanka team bus said the firing continued for some time. He said the bus driver was critically injured in the attack. Umpire Steve Davis, who was on the team bus, called the terrorist attack “terrible”. “I’m lost for words,” he said. http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/03/sri_lankan_team.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/03/sri_lankan_team.php Lahore terror attack Tue, 03 Mar 2009 05:56:26 +0000 Terror struck at the heart of cricket when masked gunmen attacked the bus carrying the Sri Lankan cricket team to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. Five cricketers, including Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lankan captain, and his deputy Kumar Sangakkara, received minor injuries. The attack also left six security men and two civilians dead. Duleep Mendis, the Sri Lanka Cricket chief, said that they were "getting the team back [to Sri Lanka] today". http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/03/sl_cricketers_a.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/03/sl_cricketers_a.php Lahore terror attack Tue, 03 Mar 2009 05:51:17 +0000 Will Luke, Andrew Miller and Andrew McGlashan Ten balls. That was the sum of the first day's play between West Indies and England in Antigua owing to an unfit, sandy outfield which was eventually deemed too "dangerous" for play. As they scrabble to find a solution, or a replacement venue, we will be keeping this updated as events unfold in the Caribbean

	Antigua's 366th beach © Getty Images

Bulletin - Match abandoned after ten deliveries News - Third Test moved to Antigua Recreation Ground Quotes - Captains raised concerns before Test Andrew Miller - Antigua's lost legacy Martin Williamson - Insider: 'The game should never have been allowed to start' Stats - Shortest Tests by balls bowled 3.20pm The fans at the ground, who were not informed of the cancellation until 40 minutes after the game, have hopefully not thrown their tickets away in disgust. If they have retained their stubs, they will get into the ground for free. Fish them out of the bin (or eBay) quick ... 3.15pm Hunte insisted at the press conference that he does not feel this is a resignation issue, although questions must also be asked of the ICC, who did not inspect the ground in the build-up to this match, and instead arrived en masse on the eve of the game. Here is what Hurst had to say. "In the short term it was not going to be possible to bring this ground up to a condition that would be fit for play. We may have been able to improve it, but there wouldn’t have been a guarantee that no further occurrence would happen. We’ve investigated going to a new venue, the Recreation Ground, there is a suitable wicket and it will be worked on over the next 24 hours so the decision was made to transfer the match." "This match will now be abandoned, it will stand as a Test match, the game starting on Sunday will be a brand new Test and will the third Test [of a five-Test series]" 3.10pm Andrew McGlashan has emerged from the press conference with lots of caveats to the decision. Perhaps most significantly, there will be no referrals in the match, because according to Alan Hurst, there will be limited camera angles available. Lorgat, who is clearly less than pleased with the WICB (for whom Donald Peters and Julian Hunte were present) adds that the Sir Viv Stadium's future is now under serious threat. As if we hadn't ascertained that already ... 3.04pm It's official - the Test match will start again at the Antigua Recreation Ground on Sunday. A press conference has just taken place, involving Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, and Alan Hurst, the match referee. A brave decision, bearing in mind the vast logistical problems that everyone involved will face. But in the circumstances, what choice did they have? Stayed tuned for more updates. This one still has a distance to run ... Andrew McGlashan is still at the ground and tells us that Sky are packing up their equipment and rigging and miles of cables. It's all over, red rover. No word on where their trucks are heading just yet. Nasser Hussain quips that the England and West Indies might be at the ARG on Sunday, but there's a strong chance there may not be a game. It's not a lot of time in which to prepare a ground which hasn't hosted a Test since 2006... The ARG hasn't quite fallen into disuse - it's used for training purposes, and that's where England prepared for this Test. All 10 balls of it. Have a read of Andrew Miller's tour diary for the 2007 World Cup where he visited the abandoned home of Antiguan cricket. 2.15pm Breaking news: the second Test will take place on Sunday at the Antigua Recreation Ground and it will be restarted, according to Sky Sports. Well, well, well. 1.55pm Debate continues as to where the Test might be played. Jamaica is being mooted, as is the ARG, but there's also a strong possibility that St Kitts could be a suitable venue. It's less than half-an-hour on a little plane, or a short hour's boat-ride away (see map), and could be ideal for the swathes of English tourists who are currently milling around wondering where they'll go. 1.30pm The ICC are currently at the Antigua Recreation Ground (ARG) where, at 2pm, they will conduct a full meeting to assess its suitability. They are holding a press conference one hour later at 3pm. "The game of cricket doesn’t need this," said Andrew Strauss. The England players came down and spent quite a while with the supporters, signing autographs and chatting. And, in some cases, keeping the spectators informed of what was happening. Not ideal. 1pm Hugh Morris, managing director of England cricket, handed a letter to Alan Hurst last night. "We did have concerns about it and I wrote a letter to that effect last night and handed to Alan Hurst. Pointing out that we had serious concerns about the outfield, especially the run-ups." "This is like the long-jump pit at the school athletic day," spits Bob Willis who is currently and emphatically in his element. It's worth adding that for the poor, touring England supporters, it's unlikely they'll be able to get the Test ready before Monday or Tuesday if they relocate to the old Recreation Ground. And Tuesday, of course, is when this Test should have ended... "The Stanford ground isn't an option because the pitch hasn't been tendered since November," Andrew notes. The West Indies' physio emailed the board's CEO, Donald Peters, yesterday with his concerns about the outfield according to Andrew. And we've heard England's physio was similarly unimpressed too. Alastair Cook, speaking to Sky, was disappointed yet unsurprised. "They have dug a trench at the North End and it's like a sandpit underneath," comments Andrew McGlashan. "They are going to try and re-lay the bowlers' run-ups; the match referee is currently at the ARG (Antigua Recreation Ground) inspecting those facilities." 12.45pm The press conference has taken place, Chris Gayle in attendance among others. We'll have news from our man in Antigua shortly. The consensus at the moment is that England are dead-keen to get back into this series, but it seems implausible that it'll happen at this ground. The most logical solution would be to play at the old Recreation Ground, but they will need at least two or three days to prepare the pitch (let alone the outfield). The second over 10.40am Slow hand-clapping now, as this delay extends into its fifth minute. Strauss and Gayle are in deep discussion, just as Atherton and Lara were in 1997-98, and now the match referee, Alan Hurst, is on his way to the middle to join the deliberations. Yet another aborted run-up, and Edwards flings the ball away in disgust. This is becoming a very serious issue indeed ... Edwards and Gayle are now in discussion with the umpires. Shades of Sabina Park 1997-98 are in the air here. That was dangerous to batsmen, this is just hopeless for bowlers. There's nothing that Edwards can do about it. He is an elite athlete, who expects, at the very least, to be able to sprint to the crease without fearing that the ground beneath his ankle is going to give way beneath him 1.4 Edwards to Strauss, no run, pinged down, well wide of off stump. This is unsatisfactory, to be frank. There's nothing Edwards can do about it, but bundle to the crease and hope for the best Another aborted run-up. Edwards grimaces as he gives up three yards short of the crease. He just can't get any balance 1.3 Edwards to Cook, 1 run, tucked away off the hip, and Cook is underway Another aborted attempt at a run-up. Edwards finds his boots are sinking into the quicksand, and he pulls up short of the crease Rain stops play Oh dear, that's unfortunate. The shower is sweeping in, and we have a delay. Hopefully it is only a brief interlude. Gnasher, our man on the ground, claims he can see a kid building a sand-castle at fine leg. That's not a kid, it's Ian Bell, who's suddenly got a lot of time on his hands on this trip 1.2 Edwards to Strauss, 1 run, full and outside off stump, and worked into the leg side Unfortunately, the groundstaff are hovering ... rain in the air 1.1 Edwards to Strauss, no run, good ball but poor shot. Full and just outside off stump. Strauss picks the wrong line, and the ball seems to pass the inside edge. That could have been a calamitous play-on The first over 0.1 Taylor to Strauss, 2 runs, swinging onto the pads and tucked safely off the hip. Taylor is already having problems with the run-ups. One aborted attempt, and then that delivery was bowled from in line with the stumps! 0.2 Taylor to Strauss, no run, full length, outside off stump this time, and met with a full face of the blade Taylor is kicking up sand with every step to the crease. This is not good at all 0.3 Taylor to Strauss, 2 runs, a firm push down the ground, no give in the outfield for the runs either. This really is beach cricket Which, on balance, possibly gives West Indies the advantage ... Round the wicket for Taylor, but Strauss pulls out of his stance, which won't improve his early mood 0.4 Taylor to Strauss, no run, decent length, pushing Strauss back into the crease, and fended to gully 0.5 Taylor to Strauss, 1 run, overpitched outside off stump, and that's a handsome checked drive into the covers. Nash opts not to slide to field, which is very wise of him 0.6 Taylor to Cook, no run, down the leg side and half an appeal as Ramdin gathers, but umpire Harper gives that not out Interesting that Harper is the man in the middle alongside Hill for this Test. The senior umpire, Rudi Koertzen, is on third umpire duty, presumably to prevent more referral farces ... we shall see. Here's Fidel Edwards]]> http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/02/sand_stops_play.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/02/sand_stops_play.php England in West Indies 2008-09 Fri, 13 Feb 2009 20:57:00 +0000 Mashrafe Mortaza, the Bangladesh allrounder, is the first player up for sale from Pool F. There were no bids for him initially but just before the hammer went down, Kolkata made a bid at the base price of $50,000. It was the start of the most dramatic sale at the auction. Kings XI Punjab entered the race, competing against Kolkata, for Mortaza. The bids spiralled slowly towards $400,000 and when the auctioneer asked Punjab if they want to bid $410,000, Priety Zinta nodded. With teams largely sticking to raises of $10,000, the bidding went on and on and on. Kolkata finally touched the $500,000 mark. Punjab went further at $550,000. The atmosphere in the room grew quieter as the bids rose and the auctioneer attempted to speed up the process. Kolkata was the first to bid $600,000 for Mortaza at which point Punjab bowed out of the race. It was the longest lot in the auction, almost as long as a short chess game. Kolkata's purchase of Mortaza was a bit similar to Ishant Sharma's surprise $950,000 tag towards the end of the first auction last year. Mortaza's $600,000 tag was 12 times his base price - the highest jump at last year's auction was Manoj Tiwary's, from $100,000 to $675,000. Bet there are celebrations in Narail, Mortaza's hometown. What a moment for Mortaza, he's the first Bangladesh player to be bought at the IPL auction this year. Wonder what Shakib is thinking? He's had such a fabulous year with bat and ball and yet there were no bidders for him. Do the franchises look at ICC rankings? Mortaza's base price was $50,000 and he went for $600,000. I think I missed out England allrounder Samit Patel who was on sale in the previous pool. He remained unsold. The second player on sale from Pool F is Yusuf Abdulla from South Africa but there were no bids for him. South Australia batsman Daniel Harris and Kemar Roach, a bowler from West Indies, also did not attract bids. Neither did Aaron Bird, the New South Wales bowler, and Michael Dighton, the Tasmanian batsman. Chennai made a bid for George Bailey, a Tasmanian batsman, for $50,000 and won it because there were no other bidders. Michael Hill, who was the U-19 captain for Australia in the last World Cup, also remained unsold, as did Brett Geeves, the Tasmanian bowler. Kings XI Punjab asked for Jerome Taylor and they will get him at his base price of $150,000. That brings us to the end of the player auction. It's been intense and manic. http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/02/mortaza_is_the.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/02/mortaza_is_the.php IPL 2009 Fri, 06 Feb 2009 07:04:56 +0000 There are ten players in Pool E. Tamim Iqbal, the Bangladesh opener, is the first player from the pool up for sale. His bidding starts at $50,000 but there are no bidders. None of the Bangladesh players - Shakib, Ashraful and Tamim - have been bought so far. Jon Moss, the Victoria allrounder, also had no buyers. Moss, a former Victoria allrounder, retired two seasons ago and now commentates on one-day games in Australia. He still plays Sydney grade cricket. Bryce McGain, the Victoria spinner, had a base price of only $50,000 but he too remained unsold. Another Victoria player Aiden Blizzard was also not bought. New Zealand's James Franklin is returning from injury and has developed into a handy allrounder but the bidders weren't convinced. Ramnaresh Sarwan's bidding started at $100,000. He played a few games for Kings XI Punjab last season but hasn't been bought this year. Michael Klinger and Kaushalya Weeraratne kept Sarwan company in the unsold group. Klinger, a South Australia batsman, won the State Player of the Year (best domestic player) for the 2008-09 Australian domestic season. Many reckon that Sri Lanka's Prasanna Jayawardene is the best wicketkeeper on the circuit these days but he too did not attract any bids. Neither did New South Wales' Dominic Thornely, who played for the Mumbai Indians last year. http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/02/no_takers_for_b.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/02/no_takers_for_b.php IPL 2009 Fri, 06 Feb 2009 06:56:23 +0000 Remember a franchise can have only ten foreign players on their rolls. Delhi have already exhausted their quota. Pool D's bidding begins, the first player is Bangladesh allrounder Shakib Al Hasan, the world's best allrounder at the moment according to the ICC rankings. Shakib's bidding began at $75,000 but he had no bidders. Bangladesh's captain Mohammad Ashraful, who's known for his flashy stroke play, did not have any bidders at his base price of $75,000. Deccan Chargers bought Dwayne Smith, the West Indian allrounder, at his base price of $100,000. There were no bids for South Africans Gulam Bodi and Morne van Wyk, who is a wicketkeeper, and West Indies fast bowlers Daren Powell and Jerome Taylor, whose bidding opened at $150,000. Australian under-19 and New South Wales allrounder Steven Smith's bidding also start at $75,000 but he too remained unsold. Ashley Noffke, who was Nathan Bracken's replacement at the Bangalore Royal Challengers last season, had no takers either. http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/02/no_buyers_for_s.php http://blogs.cricinfo.com/breakingnews/archives/2009/02/no_buyers_for_s.php IPL 2009 Fri, 06 Feb 2009 06:43:18 +0000