Clarke expects more Pakistan spin

New Age, 30 August 2012

Australian captain Michael Clarke hopes his batsmen will continue to show improvement against Pakistan’s spinners when the teams clash in the second one-day international in Abu Dhabi today.
Australia negotiated the high-profile Pakistan spin trio of Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi and Mohammad Hafeez to the best effect to win the first one-day in Sharjah by four wickets on Tuesday, taking a 1-0 lead in three-match series. And Clarke, 31, hopes his batsmen show improvement with each game.
‘Playing spin bowling is an area of our game that we need to continue to improve. It’s something that we’ve focused on when we’ve played away from home,’ said Clarke, who led the modest run chase of 199 with a sedate 66.
George Bailey hit a patient 88-ball 57 not out to steer Australia home in the 49th over after Ajmal (3-30) and Hafeez (2-29) threatened to catch Australia in a spin web.
Clarke was delighted with the opening win.
‘Apart from myself, I think it’s everyone’s first time playing cricket here in this heat in these conditions so that’s why it’s more pleasing to have won,’ said Clarke who led Australia to a 3-2 series win against Pakistan here in 2009. Australia considerd the option of bringing in left-arm spinner Xavier Doherty or spinning allrounder Steve Smith for the Abu Dhabi game.
‘There’s enough there for both fast bowlers and spin (on the Abdu Dhabi pitch). I’d love to see somebody in our top four go on and make a big score, make a hundred.
‘I’ve got two starts and I haven’t been able to go on (to score a hundred). I think heat is certainly a factor,’ said Clarke, who also made 75 in Australia’s 66-run win over Afghanistan in Sharjah on Saturday.

Captain Cook surprised by speed of Test ascent

New Age, 30 August 2012

He might have been the heir apparent for more than a year but Alastair Cook insisted he’d been taken aback by his elevation to the England Test captaincy following Andrew Strauss’s retirement on Wednesday.
Cook insisted he had no idea his Test match opening partner was considering not just giving up the captaincy but quitting all cricket, until told on Tuesday of his fellow left-hander’s decision.
Asked if his elevation to the job he’d long been tipped to inherit had come earlier than expected Cook, who replaced Strauss as England’s one-day captain following the latter’s one-day retirement after last year’s World Cup, replied: ‘Yes I think it has. It’s been a bit of a strange 24 hours for me personally.
‘I’m incredibly proud to be sitting here now as captain of England,’ said the 27-year-old Essex batsman, who scored a century on his Test debut against India in Nagpur in 2006.
‘It’s a huge honour for me. I’m very excited about the challenge.’
Strauss was one of England’s most successful Test captains winning 24 of his 50 matches in charge and leading the side to home and away Ashes series wins.
The Middlesex batsman, who took charge in 2009, also guided England to the top of the world Test rankings—a position they lost to South Africa after the Proteas completed a 51-run win in Strauss’s 100th, and as it turned out, last Test at Lord’s earlier his month.
‘Obviously I’ve got huge boots to fill following Straussy,’ said Cook. ‘He’s done an incredible job. Speaking for the players, it was a sad dressing room when we found out.
‘I think that speaks volumes for Straussy and what he has done for the side.’
If England had an obvious replacement for Strauss as a captain, the question of Cook’s opening partner when England play their first Test under their new skipper in India in November is far from clear-cut.
‘You take people for granted don’t you?,’ said Cook, who deputised as England Test skipper when Strauss was rested from the 2010 tour of Bangladesh.
‘Andrew’s played 100 Test matches and scored 7,000 runs. It feels like all my England career I’ve walked out to bat with
him. That’s a huge hole to fill and that’s a huge compliment to Andrew Strauss.’
Cook, who saw England’s run of 10 straight wins in completed one-dayers end with Tuesday’s 80-run defeat by South Africa in Southampton on Tuesday, added: ‘We’ve got India away and we’ve got two Ashes series in the next 18 months.
‘We have got a lot of cricket to play and hopefully I can do a good job.’
The closing weeks of Strauss’s time as England captain were overshadowed by the controversy surrounding his predecessor Kevin Pietersen, undoubtedly the most talented of England’s current batsmen.
Pietersen has been in England exile since the drawn second Test against his native South Africa, despite a brilliant 149 in Leeds, after it was revealed he’d sent ‘provocative texts’ to Proteas players, some of which were alleged to be critical of Strauss.
England have still to get to the bottom of what the messages actually said and so Pietersen remains barred from international duty.
But if he does not return soon, England could find themselves in India with a decidedly coltish-looking top order.
‘I’ve been on the outside for a lot of the saga,’ said Cook, set to lead England in the third one-dayer at The Oval on Friday. ‘The issue hasn’t changed. Clearly I’ll get involved over the coming weeks.
Strauss, asked what advice he had for his successor, replied: ‘My advice to Alastair is to really savour and enjoy captaining your country and throw yourself into it with everything you’ve got.
‘Manage your time carefully because it is an all-encompassing job at times and have no regrets. I have every confidence that’s what Alastair will do. I’m absolutely certain, with the type of person he is, that he will do a great job.’

Pakistan beat women’s team by six wickets

New Age, 30 August 2012

An all-round performance by skipper Salma Khatun went in vain as Pakistan beat Bangladesh women’s cricket team by six wickets in their second Twenty20 match of the tri-series tournament in Dublin on Wednesday.
Bangladesh, who beat Ireland a day earlier, rode on Salma’s 23 from 26 balls and Lota Mondal’s 22 off 37 balls to post 96-6 in their 20 overs but it was not enough as Pakistan cruised past the total with four overs in hand.
Rumana Ahmed was the other notable run-getter for Bangladesh with her 19 from 21 balls. Nida Dar (28) and Qunita Jalil (17) put on 40 runs in six overs to give Pakistan a solid start before Salma dismissed both of them to return with an impressive figure of 3-11 in four overs.
However, Bismah Maroof brought Pakistan’s innings back on track with her unbeaten 23 which came off 22 balls devoid of any boundaries or over boundaries.
Earlier on August 29, Pakistan beat Ireland by eight wickets in the tournament.

Sabina hits hat-trick in warm-up

New Age, 30 august 2012

Bangladesh women’s national football team beat the under-19 women’s team 5-0 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium on Thursday in their preparation match for the upcoming SAFF Women’s Football Championship.
Prolific striker Sabina Khatun scored a hat-trick, while her team-mates Suinu Pru Marma and Surovi Akter Ety added one each to give the Colombo-bound team an easy victory in their second warm-up match.
Bangladesh national women’s team had defeated their under-19 counterparts in the first practice match 4-0 last week.
The Bangladesh women’s team will depart for Sri Lanka on September 5 where they will face defending champions India, hosts Sri Lanka and Bhutan in group A in the competition, to be started from September 7.

Lotto to sponsor women’s football team

New Age, 30 august 2012

Famous sports accessories brand Lotto was officially introduced as the kit sponsor of Bangladesh Women Football Team in the 2nd SAFF Women’s Football Championship to be held in Colombo from September 7 to 16.
On this regard Lotto Bangladesh, the local franchisee of the Italian conglomerate, signed an agreement with the Bangladesh Football Federation at the BFF Bhaban on Thursday.
As per the agreement, Lotto will provide two sets of all the sporting gears including, match jerseys,
practice jerseys, dining wears, boots, running shoes, shoulder bags and trolley bags for 30 players, coach and the manager of the team.
Kazi Jamil Islam, the managing director of Lotto Bangladesh and BFF senior vice president Salam Murshedy signed in the agreement on behalf of their respective organisation while the BFF women’s wing chairman Sirajul Islam Bachchu were also present among others.

Tendulkar rules out retirement for now

New Age, 30 August 2012

Batting legend Sachin Tendulkar on Wednesday indicated that he would not retire for now.
‘As long as there is a reason to wake up with a reason in the morning, it makes sense in continuing (playing cricket). The day I don’t enjoy wielding bat in my hands, I will think otherwise. But that moment hasn’t come as yet. When I will get that feeling, I will confirm on that,’ he said after receiving the Test Cricketer of 2011 at an awards function.
His younger contemporaries like Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid and VVS Laxman have hung up their boots from international cricket.
Receiving Special Award for notching up a double ton in an ODI match against the West Indies, Virender Sehwag said his next target was to play 100 Tests for the country. In a lighter vein, Sehwag said superstition did not apply to him when he approached double ton in any form of cricket as he did not give any room for the bowlers to think much.
‘If the ball is there to hit along the fence or over it, I do that without much thinking,’ he said.
However, Sehwag said he was a bit superstitious when Tendulkar neared his first double ton in one-day internationals.
‘We all thought even if Sachin gets out on 190s, we will all stand up and clap anyhow. But when he got there, all players and sports staff gathered at the players balcony and applauded his achievement. That feeling cannot be expressed,’ he said.
Receiving Performance Under Pressure Award, Gautam Gambhir said last two T20 World Cups were disappointing for Team India after winning the first. However, the team would try to give 100 per cent and play well in the competition.
‘I am not sure of winning the cup. It is not in our hands, but will put up a good show in the upcoming T20 World Cup to be played in Sri Lanka,’ he said.
On lifetime achievement awardee Ajit Wadekar, Tendulkar said the former Indian captain was a fantastic coach who knew the art of mentally preparing before he walked out on the field.

Tk 1cr VoIP tools seized in Sylhet

New Age, 30 August 2012

The Rapid Action Battalion seized huge instrument of voice over internet protocol worth about Tk 1.0 crore in Sylhet city on Wednesday and arrested a man.
The arrested was Ziaul Haque, 19, a resident of village Enayetpur under Fulbari upazila of Mymenshing.
RAB 9 conducted a drive at Khasdabir area in the city at around 8:00pm and seized a VoIP instruments from a flat of a house in the area. The battalion arrested Ziaul for his suspected involvement in the illegal business.
RAB-9 media wing commander Bazl-e Mawla confirmed the matter and said the arrested was sent in jail on Thursday afternoon following the order of a judicial magistrate court.
The elite force also seized an abandoned shooter gun after chasing a group of robbers at Tilagar Eco Park in the city in the early hours of Thursday, sources in the RAB said.

SA dominate ICC Test team

New Age, 30 August 2012

Australian captain Michael Clarke was on Thursday selected skipper of an International Cricket Council Test team of the year dominated by South Africans.
South African fast bowler Dale Steyn figures in the team for the fifth year in a row, with team-mates Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis and Vernon Philander also making the grade. A fifth South African, AB de Villiers, was named 12th man.
The team, picked by a five-member panel and taking into account performances in a 12-month period that ended on August 6, was announced by the world governing body in Colombo.
Amla, Kallis and Sri Lankan Kumar Sangakkara were picked for the third successive year, while the England duo of Alastair Cook and Stuart Broad appear for the second year in a row.
Former West Indies skipper Clive Lloyd, who chaired the panel, said it was a tough job picking the side.
‘The team has a strong batting line-up, while the bowlers are a tough combination of pace and spin who could dismiss any line-up on any surface,’ Lloyd said in an ICC statement.
‘The selectors did utilise a vast amount of statistics from the period under observation, but we also took into account all other factors like the opposition, pitch conditions, match situation etc.
‘But when you have only 12 places to fill from a big group of world-class players, there will always be a few who will miss out.’
ICC chief executive David Richardson, who announced the line-up, added: ‘Those selected can be justifiably proud of their achievements and are well deserving of the recognition they receive as great cricketers of their era.
‘The quality of Test cricket played over the course of the year has been exceptional and I did not envy the selectors in their task of selecting the best.
‘Congratulations to those who have made it. They make a formidable team.’

Most districts distance from Fed Cup

new Age, 30 August 2012

Country’s new football season will begin with the Federation Cup shield phase on September 12 though poor response from the District Football Associations took some gloss off from the competition.
The initial plan of the Bangladesh Football Federation was to organise the shield phase with 18 teams in three venues outside Dhaka and they invited all district sides to take part in the tournament barring Gazipur and Barguna, who have no elected football bodies.
The BFF had also invited seven Bangladesh Championship League teams, four services teams, six universities and BKSP for the tournament and the plan was to hold a lottery to pick the 18 sides for the phase.
However, only six districts responded along with six Championship teams, two services sides, and BKSP, taking the number of interested teams to 15.
The BFF, however, finally decided to keep the sides limited to 12, largely because of time constraints as they are already behind schedule. It also helped them simplify the format which saw the teams are divided into two groups.
Three teams from each group will qualify for the Cup phase which is expected to start on September 22 with 10 Bangladesh Premier League sides joining the qualifiers.
The poor response from district teams for the Shield phase came as a surprise for the BFF officials, who are often accused of keeping their activities limited in the capital.
District football was a big issue during this year’s BFF election and all candidates
promised to try and give more exposure to district football if they are elected.
Tabith Awal, the BFF vice-president and chairman of BFF’s competitions committee, questioned the integrity of district organisers and said they are only better in making a fuss.
‘They [the district organisers] were complaining all the time that they are not given enough exposures in top competitions. Now when a chance was created for them there is hardly anyone to grab it,’ said Tabith.
Ariful Islam Moon, the general secretary of Nilphamari District Football Association, one of the districts that turned down the BFF invitation, however, held lack funds responsible for their absence.
‘It is very costly to form a team suitable for such a big competition,’ said Moon, who is also an elected member of the BFF. ‘The amount of money the BFF pays is never enough to meet the expenses,’ he told reporters.

Real are the Super kings of Spain

New Age, 30 august 2012

Gonzalo Higuain and Cristiano Ronaldo struck first-half goals as Real Madrid beat 10-man Barcelona 2-1 to lift the Spanish Super Cup before a full house at the Santiago Bernabeu on Wednesday.
With last Thursday’s first leg at Camp Nou having ended in a 3-2 Barca victory, Madrid took the title on away goals after a 4-4 aggregate draw.
All the action came in an exciting first half, where Lionel Messi replied with a brilliant free-kick for Barcelona, who had previously lost Adriano to a straight red card for a last-man foul on Ronaldo.
It was a timely success for Madrid, who have already fallen five points behind arch rivals Barca in La Liga after a draw and a loss in their first two league games.
‘The team went out well from the start and created chances, got the goals and then they (Barcelona) went down to 10 men,’ said Madrid assistant coach Aitor Karanka.
‘After all that, the result was a lot closer than we expected, but we’re happy to lift the trophy. We got a reaction from our players and that’s the important thing.’
Barca coach Tito Vilanova said he was pleased with his players’ response after a difficult start.
‘I congratulate Madrid on their win, but I felt proud of our performance with only 10 men, especially in the second half, where we had five good chances to level the game,’ he said.
With the tie finely balanced, both sides started with near full-strength teams.
Madrid coach Jose Mourinho kept faith with
Higuain, who had scored in consecutive league games, leaving Karim Benzema to start on the bench with Luka Modric, who made his first appearance for Madrid after signing on Monday.
Barca, however, had to cope with a problem just before kick-off when Jordi Alba replaced Dani Alves, who seemed to pick up an injury in the warm-up.
Madrid were quick out of the blocks and goalkeeper Victor Valdes made a superb block from Higuain on seven minutes to stop a certain opener.
However, three minutes later he could do nothing in a similar situation after Javier Mascherano had misjudged the flight of a long ball out of defence from Pepe. Again Higuain found himself in space and this time he slotted home.
Marcelo went close before Ronaldo doubled Madrid’s lead on 18 minutes.
Again it was a long ball out of defence that troubled Barca.
This time Gerard Pique failed to clear a Sami Khedira ball and the Portuguese star pounced on the loose ball to advance on goal and finally, after a quick check-back, beat Valdes with a low shot to claim Madrid’s second of the evening.
It got worse for Barca when Adriano received his marching orders on 27 minutes for a trip on Ronaldo, who was running on to another long ball out of defence.
Barca made their first real attack of the evening in the 36th minute, but nobody was able to connect with Andres Iniesta’s dangerous cross.
Messi then struck with a perfectly curled free-kick to reduce Madrid’s lead.
The second half could not continue at the same pace and, as Barca gained more possession and settled into a more comfortable passing game, chances became rare.
Pedro Rodriguez came close to levelling for Barca on 62 minutes, latching onto a long ball only for Iker Casillas to stop brilliantly with his feet.
At the other end, Valdes saved from Khedira but Barca were controlling the game, despite the numerical disadvantage, and the home crowd was getting restless.
Those nerves were not helped on 79 minutes when Higuain’s shot agonisingly drifted to the foot of the post after beating a retreating Valdes.
Modric was then introduced to a standing ovation for his first taste of life as a Madrid player, Alex Song having earlier entered the fray to do the same for Barca.
What they both experienced was a frantic finish.
Messi came close to taking the title back to Catalunya in injury time with a shot that flashed wide from the edge of the box, but Madrid held on to trigger joyous celebrations in the Spanish capital.