LONDON: Kevin Pietersen was dropped by England on Tuesday for the first time in his international career. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) said in a statement that the 30-year-old batsman had been omitted from their squads for the Twenty20 internationals against Pakistan which start on Sunday and the five one-dayers that follow. Twenty20 squad: Collingwood, Anderson, Bopara, Bresnan, Broad, Steven Davies, Kieswetter, Morgan, Sidebottom, Swann, Luke Wright, Yardy. One-day squad: Strauss, Anderson, Bopara, Bresnan, Broad, Collingwood, Steven Davies, Morgan, Shahzad, Sidebottom, Swann, Trott, Luke Wright, Yardy.
Written on August 31, 2010 | Posted in
Cricket,
International,
Pakistan,
Sports,
UK,
ad,
ads,
aid,
england,
twenty20 |
Leave a comment
Three people have been arrested by Customs officials in connection with betting allegations against Pakistani cricket players. Two men and a woman, all from London, were questioned yesterday as part of an investigation into money laundering before being released on bail, HM Revenue and Customs said. The development came as it was announced that three Pakistan cricketers will meet officials from their country in London tomorrow.
Written on August 31, 2010 | Posted in
Cricket,
Oman,
Pakistan,
Sports,
aid,
cia |
Leave a comment
TAUNTON: Pakistan cricket team management present in England stopped three players – Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer and Salman Butt – from taking part in practice and they are being sent to London. Sources said that Pakistan high commissioner in England Wajid Shamsul Hasan has summoned these three players to London where they are also expected to meet with wellknown lawyer Elizabeth Robert. All three players have been charged for match-fixing. As per sources, replacements of these three players may be announced but the accused players cannot go outside England until the investigations are completed. Meanwhile, an important meeting is going on between Waqar Younis, Shafqat Rana and Ijaz Ahmed.
LONDON: Pakistan Cricket Board said Tuesday it would not suspend top players accused over a betting scam while the claims are probed, but reports suggest they will not play the rest of the tour in England. The International Cricket Council (ICC) has promised “prompt and decisive action” if the allegations made by a British Sunday newspaper are proven, insisting that corruption would not be tolerated. Pakistani authorities have also promised severe punishment but the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said Tuesday it would not suspend any players while police investigated the players. “Chairman Ijaz Butt just told me that since there is a case going on with the Scotland Yard we are not going to suspend any player,” a PCB spokesman said. “He further said that this is only an allegation so far. There is still no charge or proof on that account. So at this stage there will be no action taken.” According to British media reports, the players named in the News of the World allegations — captain Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamer, Mohammad Asif and Kamran Akmal — are unlikely to play in the series of one-day internationals against England. The Pakistan team begin their preparation for the one-day series, which follows the Test series in which the alleged betting scam took place, with a practice match against English county Somerset on Thursday. The first one-day match against England is on Sunday. The News of the World, a British Sunday tabloid, alleged that a middleman took 150,000 pounds (230,000 dollars, 185,000 euros) to arrange for Pakistani players to deliberately bowl the no-balls. The Daily Telegraph newspaper said it understood that the ICC had asked the Pakistan authorities for the four players cited in the allegations to be dropped from the squad, although no official request has been made. Other British press reports said the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) was adamant that the players at the centre of the allegations should be omitted from the one-day series. Citing an ICC source, it also reported that the same players had been under investigation for months by their anti-corruption unit.
Written on August 31, 2010 | Posted in
Cricket,
ISI,
International,
News,
Pakistan,
Sports,
ad,
aid,
captain,
cia,
corruption,
england,
icc,
media,
police,
pta,
scam,
uth |
Leave a comment
NEW DELHI: India on Tuesday announced additional $20 million assistance to Pakistan which is grappling with the worst floods in recent history of the region. The announcement by External Affairs Minister S M Krishna in the Lok Sabha comes in the wake of Pakistan’s readiness to accept India’s initial aid offer of $ 5 million which is to be routed through the United Nations. “As a more concrete assessment of the damage inflicted by this natural disaster and the urgent needs of the people of Pakistan emerges, Government has decided to increase its assistance to Pakistan from $ 5 million, announced earlier, to $ 25 million,” he said in a suo motu statement. Of the total aid, $ 20 million would be contributed to the ‘Pakistan Initial Floods Emergency Response Plan’ launched by the UN office for the coordination of humanitarian efforts, he said. The balance $ 5 million would be contributed to the World Food Programme for its relief efforts in Pakistan, Mr. Krishna said. He noted that India had offered $ 5 million aid to Pakistan during his telephonic talks with Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi on August 13. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, in a conversation with Pakistan Premier Yusuf Raza Gilani on August 19, had conveyed that India was ready to do more to assist the neighbouring country which is facing the worst floods in the past 80 years. Pakistan was reluctant to accept the aid and agreed only after a nudge from the US. However, last week Pakistan conveyed to India to route the aid through the UN. “We cannot remain unconcerned with this grave humanitarian crisis of enormous magnitude in our immediate neighbourhood,” Mr. Krishna said. He noted that the recent floods have been described as the worst in that part of the region in the last 80 years. According to the latest UN figures, 17.2 million people have been affected by the floods which have left 1,600 people dead. More than 1.2 million houses have been damaged or destroyed besides widespread damage to infrastructure, Mr. Krishna said. “All the four provinces of Pakistan and Pakistan-Occupied Kashmir have suffered the consequences,” he said.
Written on August 31, 2010 | Posted in
ISI,
News,
Pakistan,
ad,
aid,
fair,
floods,
india,
kashmir,
media |
Leave a comment
KARACHI: Federal Interior Minister Rehman A Malik said the investigative team of Pakistan would jump into probe after the report by Scotland Yard is finally made public, Geo News reported Tuesday. Talking to media along with Federal Sports Minister Aijaz Jakhrani here, he sought people of Pakistan to hold on until Scotland Yard police report, adding ‘We have written a letter regarding collaboration on the investigations with Scotland Yard and elicited from them the investigative report. Responding a question about the video, the federal minister said the video may be forged, adding action would be taken against any players if found involved in the match-fixing scandal. Aijaz said, ‘The incident caused cutting grief to the fans of cricket and we don’t need to send any other team to London.’ Rehman said the government did not rule out any anti-Pakistan conspiracy in the scam, and if there is any plot in the making, it should be uncovered. The police in the two countries may join hands in the probe under agreement between the two countries, he clarified.
Written on August 31, 2010 | Posted in
Cricket,
Mali,
News,
Pakistan,
Sports,
ad,
aid,
conspiracy,
karachi,
media,
police,
scam,
scandal |
Leave a comment
SYDNEY: Former coach of Pakistan cricket team, Geoff Lawson, has come to the defence of tainted Pakistani players being accused of match fixing during the ongoing Test series in England. Geoff Lawson has made some startling revelations from times when he used to coach the embattled side. Lawson feels that even if match fixing happened, it might have nothing to do with money. He claimed that during his tenure as the Pak coach, he came across fixing which was actually based on threats issued by bookies. He is adamant that family members can be kidnapped or harmed if Pakistani players don”t co operate with bookmakers. The former Australian cricketer said that the players and their families were threatened with dire consequences if they did not play a particular way. As the ICC considers standing down players at the centre of the spot fixing scandal, Lawson believes there’’s much more at stake than just money. Lawson recalls one situation where he was being forced to pick a player because a selector’’s daughter was in danger. He says he was told unless he included the player, the girl would be kidnapped and never seen again. Lawson says the tense situation was only sorted once the Pakistan President called in his security forces to track down the kidnappers.
Written on August 31, 2010 | Posted in
Australian Cricket,
Cricket,
Pakistan,
Pakistan Cricket Team,
Sports,
ad,
aid,
australia,
defence,
england,
icc,
ngo,
scandal |
Leave a comment
The second tallest man from Pakistan has along with the tallest woman and shortest fellow countryman taken their world tour to promote Pakistani culture to Malaysia.
Prominent religious clerics in Pakistan have formed 'The World United Ulema and Mashaikh Council' (WUUMC) to counter anti-Islam conspiracies and tackle them at national and international forums.
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’’s top crime investigative agency will send a team to Britain this week to probe corruption allegations against some of the country’’s cricket players, a senior official said on Tuesday. Investigations by British police and the International Cricket Council (ICC) are already underway into a newspaper report alleging three Pakistan players had been bribed to fix incidents in last week’’s fourth test against England. London police have confiscated the mobile phones of test captain Salman Butt as well as pace bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, and the trio — plus wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal — have been questioned at the team’’s hotel. A senior official at the Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) in Karachi said the three-member team was likely to leave for London on Wednesday and planned to meet British police and players. The Pakistan team arrived in Taunton in west England on Monday to play a warm-up game for a seven-match one-day series against England, which starts on Sunday. Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt said the players being investigated would not be suspended without proof of wrongdoing, however. “There is a case going on over here with Scotland Yard,” Ijaz told website cricinfo.com. “This is only an allegation. There is still no charge or proof on that account. So at this stage there will be no action taken.” The ICC’’s anti-corruption unit has been asked to submit a report on its investigation within the next three days. ICC president Sharad Pawar said on Monday the issue had been discussed in a teleconference by the head of the council’’s anti-corruption unit Ravi Sawani, Ijaz and his English counterpart Giles Clarke. “We at the ICC are waiting for definite information from the PCB and our own anti-corruption unit. We hope to get something in the next two to three days” time and that information would lead to appropriate action, if required,” he said. Pawar has ruled out the possibility of Pakistan cutting short their tour of England. ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat said anti-corruption officials were also helping London police with their investigation and would ensure “appropriate punishments” for any players found guilty. “We will not tolerate corruption in this great game,” Lorgat said in a statement. On Monday, the police said they had released on bail a 35-year-old man who had been arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers following the report in Britain’’s News of the World newspaper. According to the report, Mazhar Majeed, an agent who claimed to represent 10 Pakistan players including Butt, said Amir and Asif had bowled three no-balls between them by pre-arrangement in the fourth test against England which finished on Sunday. The report also cast doubt on the second test between Pakistan and Australia in Sydney this year when Australia made a remarkable comeback to win by 36 runs after overcoming a 206-run first-innings deficit.
Written on August 31, 2010 | Posted in
Cricket,
International,
Mobile,
News,
Pakistan,
Sports,
War,
Web,
ad,
aid,
australia,
captain,
cia,
conspiracy,
corruption,
cricinfo,
england,
fraud,
icc,
islam,
islamabad,
karachi,
police,
pta,
world news |
Leave a comment
