ICC Has Ruled Out Eden Gardens
Saturday, January 29, 2011
In a major embarrassment to the BCCI, the ICC has ruled out Eden Gardens as the host of the game between India and England on February 27. The ICC's inspection team, which included some of the leading experts in the field of stadium and ground preparation, felt that Eden Gardens would not be ready in time. No alternate venue for the match has yet been named. The Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai and the three World Cup stadiums in Sri Lanka were all given the go-ahead by the ICC.
"Regrettably, Eden Gardens has not made sufficient progress to justify the level of confidence required to confirm that the venue would be ready in good time," Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, said. "This was no easy decision to take and while it is most unfortunate, it is absolutely necessary." The Cricket Association of Bengal is having an emergency meeting to discuss the development.
Kolkata was to host three other matches in the World Cup, but the status of those games is still unclear. "At this stage no decision has been taken on those matches," an ICC spokesperson said. The India-England clash was the only chance for fans in Kolkata to see the home side.
BCCI president Shashank Manohar said that there was no need for the BCCI to call any emergency meeting, but pointed out that he would consult his "office bearers" to finalise the venue for the match. It is learnt that Bangalore is tipped to be a favourite. "99 % it will be Bangalore," an ICC source said.
The news of switching the match from Kolkata comes just two days after the tournament director, Ratnakar Shetty, waved away worries over readiness of World Cup venues. Media personnel had been barred from a recent inspection of Eden Gardens.
The venue, one of the largest cricket stadiums in the world, has hosted some of the highest-profile matches of the previous two World Cups held in the subcontinent including the final in 1987 and the semi-final in 1996. No international matches have been held in Kolkata since the Test between India and South Africa in February as the stadium was being renovated.
"All venues had ample time in which to prepare for World Cup matches," Lorgat said. "We had been understanding and had provided extensions to the deadline dates but unfortunately we are now at a point where we must carefully manage our risks.
"The Central Organising Committee had provided venues with a deadline of 30 November 2010 to complete all construction work and then to be match-ready by 31 December 2010. An extension was granted by the ICC for five venues, which were again inspected over the past week. Sadly, Eden Gardens in Kolkata was unable to meet the final deadline date of 25 January 2011."
The ICC is still deciding on the new venue for the India-England match. "We will work with the new venue, the tour operators and the ticket distributors to manage the logistical challenges that will surely arise," Shetty said.
Labels: BCCI, Eden Gardens, ICC
posted @ 12:50 PM,
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ICC Demands Answers After Aamer Plays
Thursday, January 27, 2011
International cricket chiefs are demanding answers on why suspended Pakistani paceman Mohammad Aamer, at the centre of a corruption probe, played in a domestic club match, an official said Wednesday. The 18-year-old Aamer, along with Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, was suspended over allegations of spot-fixing during Pakistan's tour of England last year in a case that shook the global game.
But media reports in Pakistan said Aamer featured in a domestic club match for Pakistan Army against Rawalpindi despite being suspended from all forms of cricket that come under the umbrella of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). "The ICC wrote to the Pakistan Cricket Board on the matter on Tuesday," an ICC spokesman confirmed to AFP from its headquarters in Dubai. A PCB spokesman confirmed they were investigating the issue.
"Yes, we have come to the knowledge of Aamer playing a match in Rawalpindi and we are investigating the matter," PCB spokkesman Nadeem Sarwar told AFP An ICC anti-corruption tribunal heard the case relating to the three suspended players in Doha, Qatar, last month and is due to announce its verdict on February 5.
All three were provisionally suspended by the ICC in October, with the world governing body's code of conduct carrying a minimum five-year ban if corruption charges are proved. The maximum punishment is a life ban. Their suspension came after reports in the British newspaper News of the World, which claimed several Pakistani players - including the trio - obeyed orders from an alleged bookmaker during the Lord's Test in August.
The newspaper said it paid Mazhar Majeed, an agent for several Pakistan players, 150,000 pounds (237,000 dollars) in return for advance knowledge of pre-arranged no-balls which could then be bet upon. In a separate case, Majeed and the three Pakistani players face criminal charges for defrauding bookmakers in England. The minimum punishment in the case is ten years' imprisonment. Scotland Yard has handed two reports to prosecutors in Britain, who have yet to decide on further action.
Labels: Aamer, ICC, Pakistan Cricket, PCB
posted @ 10:52 AM,
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The story of International Cricket Council
Friday, December 3, 2010
The process of drawing up rules and regulations for a particular system has always been a tedious and tiresome task. Inevitably, a rule maker has to make sure that he is acting just and fair because rule making is actually a godly act.
Talking about the game of cricket, we never bother to worry about making new rules because we know that there is an organisation fully responsible and capable of managing the game of cricket. It is none other than the International Cricket Council. Indeed, ICC is the international governing body of the game of cricket.
The International Cricket Council was founded as the Imperial Cricket Conference in the year 1909. It was renamed as International Cricket Conference in 1965, and the year 1969 it got its current name. Currently, the headquarters of ICC are located in Dubai, UAE and the organisation has 104 member countries.
International cricket is the only major source of income for the ICC. According to one estimate, sponsorship and television rights of the Cricket World Cup brought in about 1.6 billion dollars to the ICC and this happens to be ICC’s major source of income. And keeping this fact in mind, ICC has sought to create new events in order to augment the revenue generated from the cricket world cup. The new events include The ICC Champions Trophy and ICC Super Series.
The international umpires and the match referees that ICC employs are all sponsored by Emirates Airline. The three umpire panels that ICC operates include: Elite Panel, International Panel and Associates and Affiliates Panel. The Elite Panel consists of eleven umpires two of which officiate at every Test match. The members of the Elite panel are full employees of the ICC and they may even umpire in the First Class Cricket in their country.
The international panel consists of officials who are elected from ten Test playing cricket boards of the world. The international panel members may take overseas umpiring assignments in order to augment their experience in the field of umpiring. It is very interesting to note that all of the official third umpires that ICC hires are first class umpires in their own country. This shows that ICC lays special emphasis over decision making and making the game of cricket as transparent as possible.
A big challenge that ICC has to face from time to time is the corruption in the game of cricket. Being the sport’s governing body, ICC has to make sure that the corruption is kept to a minimum. From time to time ICC has to deal with drugs and bribery scandals often involving some of the top cricketers. ICC set up an Anti-Corruption and Security Unit in the year 2000.
The retired commissioner of London Metropolitan Police, Lord Cordon was made the head of this security unit. The ACSU continues to monitor the corruption taking place in the international cricket. It is responsible for creating certain laws like prohibiting the use of mobile phones in the dressing in order to minimise the disease of corruption.
Inevitably ICC has an iron-clad rule of being relentless with those involved in corruption. The organisation is quite vigilant and intolerant towards corruption and that’s the reason we see that most of the international goes on smoothly.
ICC has always maintained an excellent public policy. It makes sure that it has access to a common man so that cricket education may be available to all. In order to achieve this goal, ICC telecasts a weekly 30 minute program on television called ICC Cricket World. The program is produced by a sports brand and provides all the latest cricket news including all the recent Test and one day matches.
So far so good! ICC has always strived for excellence and it has done it well so far. It seems that the organisation has been able to uphold the traditions of the glorious game of cricket. One of the prime games of the organisation is to keep the many cricketing powers united on a single plat form. So far it has been able to achieve this goal and let’s hope that ICC succeeds in keeping up the traditions of the glorious game of cricket.
Labels: ICC
posted @ 11:12 AM,
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ICC on spot-fixing
Tuesday, October 12, 2010
Spot-fixing allegations against three Pakistan players and the Future Tours Programme from 2012 to 2020 are the main agenda items that the ICC Executive Board would discuss at its two-day meet, beginning on Tuesday.
Test captain Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif were provisionally suspended by the ICC after allegations surfaced that they took bribes for bowling deliberate no-balls during the Lord's Test against England.
"The ICC Board, which has a zero-tolerance approach to corruption in cricket, will be updated on the Spot-fixing allegations against three Pakistan players during a recent tour to England," an ICC release said.
In accordance with the provision of the code all three have appealed that provisional suspension and the independent hearing will take place in Doha, Qatar, on 30 and 31 October and will be chaired by the head of the ICC Code of Conduct Commission, Michael Beloff, QC," it added.
The Board will also consider the recommendations from the ICC Chief Executives Committee (CEC), which met in Cape Town last month.
These recommendations seek to give context and content for international cricket within the Future Tours Programme (FTP) after 2012 and also to consider future ICC events.
Acoording to ICC, the Board would consider a lot of the recommendations including that the FTP should consist of a Test league to provide context for all Test matches.
The league would determine the top four teams to qualify for an ICC Test play-off.
The other recommendations include that the play-off should be held once every four years to determine the Test champion team with a request to hold the first such play-off in 2013.
Another recommendation is that the FTP should also consist of a One-Day International league, the first to run from April 2011 until April 2014, culminating in the crowning of an ODI league champion. This would run separate to the ICC Cricket World Cup
The ICC Cricket World Cup should consist of a 10-team format from 2015 and the World Twenty20 should consist of a 16-team format from 2012, with the women's event continuing to run alongside, is another recommendation.
The Board will also consider introduction of Twenty20 International rankings table.
The Board will also hear reports from the Asian Cricket Council (ACC) on cricket development in China while New Zealand Cricket, which has a principle partnership agreement with the United States Cricket Association, will report on progress in America.
Labels: ICC, Spot-fixing
posted @ 12:24 PM,
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After Football, Scammers Pursue the Cricket World Cup
Thursday, July 29, 2010
The ICC 2011 Cricket World Cup begins on February 17, 2011, and phishing sites promoting the tournament have already been observed:
One of the phishing sites spoofs a popular social networking site and has a logo of the brand containing some artwork. It is interesting to note that the artwork has a sketch of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The fraudster probably intended to represent the Gateway of India in Mumbai, since the cricket finals will be held there. When the logo is clicked, information related to the event is displayed. Below the logo are icons for the sponsors and sports channels in India that will broadcast the tournament. The schedule of the matches has been finalized and tickets have been available for sale since June 1, 2010. The phishing site claims that users can get tickets to the matches by entering their login credentials. If the fraudsters are successful with the lure, users will give up their login credentials to the phishing site in the hopes of obtaining tickets for the Cricket World Cup.
The phishing sites were hosted on free Web-hosting domains. The URLs contained words that indicated the content was related to the World Cup. Below is an example of one such URL: hxxp://icccricket2011.******.com
Internet users are advised to follow best practices to avoid phishing attacks.
posted @ 11:05 AM,
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Salman Butt - Captain of Pakistan Cricket Team
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
New Pakistan captain Salman Butt would welcome an extended stint in the role after replacing Shahid Afridi for the second test against Australia and the following four against England. “Everybody who gets into this kind of challenging position, it helps to be permanently appointed,”. “But this is what we have and it goes like that with everyone. Hopefully if we can do well we can stretch it (his tenure) a bit longer.”
Opening batsman Butt, 25, who registered his team’s top scores in both innings in the losing first test at Lord’s, will captain his country for the first time against Australia starting at Headingley on Wednesday. Afridi, who had come out a self-imposed four-year test exile to captain his country for the first time, quit after throwing his wicket away in both innings, citing his “lack of temperament for test cricket”.
Next Assignment
Butt’s next assignment after Australia is the four-test series against England starting on July 29 at Trent Bridge in Nottingham. “The Pakistan captaincy is a great honour, there is no doubt about it but the way it has come is not a way it has come to anyone before so I hope it goes well,” Butt said.
“It’s a challenge for me but I have to keep on going as a player and as a batsman which is more important. It’s a young unit so shouldn’t be that much of a hassle.” Butt praised what he called Afridi’s “honest” decision and said it was to the benefit of the team because a test specialist will come in. Butt did not reveal his replacement though it is expected to be former captain Shoaib Malik, who was omitted at Lord’s.
Australia, seeking their eighth consecutive test match victory, have not lost a test to Pakistan since 1995 and their captain Ricky Ponting said Butt would be under pressure. “There is obviously more responsibility on you when you are captain and a top-order batsman so it’s going to be a hard job for him,” Ponting said. “But he has being made captain for a reason and the way he batted last week was as good as I have ever seen him play.” -Reuters
Labels: ICC, Pakistan Cricket, PCB, Salman Butt
posted @ 10:56 AM,
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Imran Khan Inducted into Hall of Fame
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Legendary all-rounder Imran Khan on Wednesday became the fourth Pakistani cricketer to be inducted into the ICC Cricket Hall of Fame at Lord’s.
The former captain received his commemorative cap from ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat, who was accompanied by PCB chairman Ijaz Butt, Cricket Australia chairman Jack Clarke and the MCC President John Barclay. Imran joins batsmen Hanif Mohammad and Javed Miandad and paceman Wasim Akram as Pakistan’s representatives in the initial intake of 55 players into the Hall of Fame.
The induction ceremony was held during lunch break of the first Test match between Pakistan and Australia. “I achieved many things during my cricketing career, including winning a World Cup in 1992, but to be named amongst the initial 55 inductees, alongside Hanif and Javed makes me very proud,” Imran said after receiving his cap. Imran captained Pakistan in 48 of his 88 Test matches scoring 3,807 runs averaging 37.69, while with the ball he claimed 362 Test wickets with an economy rate of 2.54.
He led Pakistan to its first series victory in England in 1987, taking 10-77 to claim victory for the side at Headingley after every other match of the series had been drawn. Imran played 175 ODIs for Pakistan and captained the side on 139 occasions between 1982 and 1992. He claimed 182 wickets at an average of 26.61 and scored 3709 runs at an average of 33.41.
The biggest moment of his 21 years international carrer came in 1992 when he led Pakistan to the World Cup win. Pakistan beat England by 22 runs in the final to lift the trophy. “Imran’s brilliance in Test match cricket and in the 50 over One-day International format had captured the imagination of fans, including me, across the world. “He played in great spirit and built a reputation as a magnificent all rounder in both formats,” ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat said in a statement.
Labels: Hall of Fame, ICC, Imran Khan
posted @ 10:42 AM,
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Pawar Set to Take Over ICC Power
Monday, June 28, 2010
Sharad Pawar will take over as the new International Cricket Council (ICC) President during the Chief Executives' Committee meeting and annual conference, commencing today in Singapore.
Pawar, a veteran politician and also the Union Minister of Agriculture, was the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) before and then took over as the vice-president of ICC with the aim of becoming its president before the 2011 World Cup — to be hosted in the sub-continent. He will take over the reins from England's David Morgan, who will complete his two-year term as the president of the ICC this week.
The meeting and conference is scheduled to be held at the Raffles City Convention Centre in Singapore. Incidentally, the executive board will also discuss the nomination of former Australian Prime Minister John Howard from Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket as the next vice-president.
If Howard's nomination is cleared, then as per the ICC's rotational policy for the president's post, he can become the next president by 2012.
Mazhar Khan, the Administrator of the Emirates Cricket Board, representing UAE, will attend the annual conference in which Pawar will take charge as the seventh president of the ICC on July 1. Khan is also scheduled to attend the Asian Cricket Council annual general body meeting.
The ICC Associate and affiliate members will also nominate their ICC executive board director representatives, who will serve a two-year term. During the Chief Executives' Committee meeting discussions will be held on the Future Tour Programme from 2012 to 2020.
Plans are also on for staging an ICC event covering the Test format as well as One-day International league as proposed by the ICC Cricket Committee.
The board meeting will also take decision on the implementation of the Umpires Decision Review System (UDRS) in Test matches as well as in all the 2011 ICC World Cup matches. The Committee will also decide on the eligibility rule and the stand out period required for a player moving from an Associate member to a full member team.
The executive board will also discuss an application from Seychelles to become an affiliate member. If granted, Seychelles will become ICC's 105th member. X
Labels: ICC
posted @ 10:57 AM,
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