Suspended Pakistan Trio to Return Home

The three Pakistani players at the centre of the spot-fixing scandal will return home within the next 48 hours Pakistan's interior minister Rehman Malik has said. The imminent return of Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir does not, however, mean they are cleared from the ongoing criminal investigation: the government of Pakistan, Malik said, will provide a written assurance that the players be made available if needed for further investigations.

 

"We have spoken to Scotland Yard, and the [Pakistan] high commissioner to the UK, Wajid Shamsul Hasan, has also been in talks with them and they have agreed that the players can return to Pakistan," Malik told ESPNcricinfo.

A source close to the negotiations said the Pakistan team was waiting for a final green signal from Scotland Yard. "There are 30 per cent chances of them going on Friday and 70 per cent on Saturday," the source said. All three, the source added, would travel back together.

 

The trio were provisionally suspended by the ICC last Thursday and were quizzed by police the next day for their alleged role in bowling deliberate no-balls during the fourth Test at Lord's between England and Pakistan; an undercover sting operation by the tabloid News of the World apparently revealed that they had done so at the behest of Mazhar Majeed, an agent to the players. Majeed was arrested but released on bail while the players had their mobile phones confiscated. No charges have been pressed against them yet.

 

The development comes on the same day the PCB chief revealed that Wahab Riaz, the left-arm fast bowler, will be the fourth player to be interviewed by the police in relation to the scandal. Ijaz Butt sounded confident in his press conference at Gaddafi Stadium earlier that the three players would return to Pakistan soon and though he indicated that the criminal case against them might not be as strong, he did not say they would be cleared. The PCB's legal advisor Taffazul Rizvi confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that investigations will continue.

 

The players also have to respond to the suspension notices served to them by the ICC for which they have one more week left. That investigation and process is separate to whatever conclusion police officials reach.

Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan Banned For Lifetime

The Pakistan Cricket Board has barred former captains Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan from the national team indefinitely for behavior they say contributed to Pakistan's poor performance on its recent tour of Australia.

The PCB on Wednesday also imposed one-year bans on Shoaib Malik and Rana Naved after implementing the recommendations of an inquiry committee formed to evaluate Pakistan's dismal performance against Australia in December and January.

"Younis and Yousuf both cannot represent Pakistan in any international games, but they can play in domestic cricket and compete in county cricket," PCB legal adviser Taffazul Rizvi told the Associated Press.

Both Yousuf and Younis were involved in infighting while on tour, which resulted in bringing down the whole team, the PCB said in a statement.

"Their attitude has a trickle down effect which is a bad influence for the whole team," it said.

Malik and Naved were also fined two million rupees (US$23,500), wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal was handed a fine of three million rupees (US$35,200) and Umar Akmal, younger brother of Kamran, was fined two million rupees (US$23,500).

Shahid Afridi was fined 3 million rupees (US$35,200) for ball tampering during the one-day series against Australia.

Afridi and both Akmal brothers will be on a probation of six months during which their conduct will be strictly monitored, the PCB said in a statement.

The inquiry committee comprised PCB chief operating officer Wasim Bari, board member Wazir Ali Khoja, director of cricket operations Zakir Khan, team manager Yawar Saeed and Rizvi.

ICC Cricket Champions Trophy 2009 - Match 2 - Pakistan Vs West Indies Summary

Match 2: ICC Champions Trophy 2009 Highlights - Pakistan (PAK) Takes On West Indies (WI) - Group A

Played At: New Wanderers Stadium (Johannesburg)

Team Pakistan:

Team West Indies:

Toss: West Indies Won and Selected to Bat First

West Indies Innings: 133/10 (34.3) ( NO Miller 51, Mohammad Aamer 3/24, Umar Gul 3/28)

Pakistan Innings:  134/5 (30.3) (Umar Akmal 41, GC Tonge 4/25)

Match 2 Result:  Pakistan Won By 5 Wickets

Player of the Match: Umar Akmal (Pakistan)

England Keep Hopes alive in World Cup T20 By beating Pakistan

England Vs Pakistan ( ICC World Twenty20 2009 ) - England kept its World Twenty20 hopes alive after beating Pakistan by 48 runs at The Oval on Sunday. Kevin Pietersen struck 58 and Stuart Broad took 3-17 as England qualified for the Super 8 stage thanks to its superior run rate.

Chasing 186 to win, Pakistan lost early wickets and fell well behind the required run rate.

England struck an early blow when Ahmed Shehzad was caught for four by a tumbling England captain Paul Collingwood off Dimitri Mascarenhas in the third over.

Pakistan must beat Netherlands convincingly at Lord's, on Tuesday, to avoid elimination.

Massive Six by Misbah-ul-Haq To Bracken

Massive Six by Misbah-ul-Haq of Pakistan to Fastest Bowler Nathan Bracken of Australia.

ICC WORLD CUP 2008

India-Pakistan Game The Big Draw For Fan: ICC WT20

Vs

As England gears up to host the second ever ICC World Twenty20, Seatwave, Europe’s leading fan-to-fan ticket exchange, is seeing explosive demand for tickets. In the past seven days the Twenty20 tournament has even out sold U2 by almost 3-1.

Pakistan is the team that fans most want to see with 29% of all tickets sold for days when they are playing. Moreover, the most popular match looks set to be Pakistan’s clash with India in the warm-up stage, before the tournament proper even gets underway.

Those two sides played out a thrilling final in 2007, India winning by five runs and fans are no doubt keen to avoid missing out should a clash between the two nations not materialise when the tournament gets underway.

The tournament is proving popular with fans across the world. Seatwave has sold tickets to fans in 17 different countries, excluding the UK. The majority of these sales have been in India but Seatwave has also sold tickets to fans from far-flung destinations such as Hong Kong, Australia and Saudi Arabia. In fact, 6% of all tickets sold have been to fans based abroad, and of those, 20% have bought tickets to more than one game – great news for the UK economy.

Joe Cohen, CEO and Founder of Seatwave said: “The Twenty20 England World Cup is set to be one of the sporting highlights of 2009 and fans are keen to watch their cricketing heroes in action. We expect sales to continue to rise until throughout the tournament as fans follow their team’s progress. The secondary market provides increased flexibility and access for fans which is why an increasing number of buyers are taking advantage of Seatwave.”