Salman Butt agreed to bat maiden over – prosecutor

LONDON: Former Pakistan cricket captain Salman Butt agreed to score no runs in an over during a Test match against England last year as part of a ‘spot-fixing’ scam, a court in London heard on Thursday.

Prosecutors said Butt, 26, confirmed in a telephone call with his agent — a conversation recorded by an undercover journalist — that he would bat out a maiden in the third Test at the Oval in August 2010.

Butt is on trial with fast bowler Mohammad Asif, 28, on charges of conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, and conspiracy to cheat at gambling. They have both pleaded not guilty.

Prosecutor Aftab Jafferjee told Southwark Crown Court that Butt’s agent Mazhar Majeed rang the journalist from the now-closed News of the World tabloid, after an earlier arrangement for no-balls to be bowled in exchange for £10,000 ($15,500, 11,600 euros) fell through.

In what Jafferjee said was “potentially damning evidence concerning Salman Butt directly”, a plan emerged for Butt to bat out a maiden in the first full over he faced.

The journalist said that could happen in any case and that he wanted proof, so Majeed called Butt on his other phone and put it on loudspeaker so the reporter could hear.

“You know the maiden we were doing in the first over?”, Majeed said.

“Yeah”, Butt replied. Majeed then tried to get him to do another in his third over, but Butt did not want to, the jury heard.

The following day Majeed met the journalist, then texted Butt four times to remind him to tap the middle of the pitch after the second ball he faced as a signal that he would bat out that over.

Jafferjee said that that day, “as events transpired at The Oval, matters were somewhat out of Butt’s control”, as he had come in to bat earlier than expected, faced a new ball and had to take a single run.

The journalist had pressed Majeed on why the promise he had paid for had not materialised. Majeed explained and the reporter said he wanted a no-ball or something from Butt.

Majeed said he could have two ‘brackets’ for £150,000 in the next Test at Lord’s. A bracket is where bets are made on incidents during a certain period of play, for example 10 overs.

“As events would prove, he got a bit of both — no-balls from Asif and Aamer which could not have taken place without Butt’s complete involvement,” Jafferjee said.

Young Pakistan bowler Mohammad Aamer and Majeed have also been charged with the same offences but are not standing trial alongside Butt and Asif. AGENCIES

Captain should be one in trio formats of cricket: Imran Khan

Captain should be one in trio formats of cricket: Imran Khan

The former captain of Pakistan cricket team Imran Khan has said that there should be one captain for the all formats of cricket. He said that with this, the team can run on the victory way. He was addressing in Lahore in a ceremony, in honor of ICC Elite Umpire Panel. Aleem Dar, who was the only umpire in the World Cup 2011 whose all decisions were 100% accurate and not a single decision upheld when review.

Imran Khan said that Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) should persuade Shahid Afridi to become the captain of Test cricket team too due to this the actual capabilities are came into know. He added that, in Indian cricket team MS Dhoni is the captain of trio formats, he captained well in hard circumstances and made his side world champion. Former captain said that nothing will be change by changing coaches again and again, the system will be better if captaincy became right.

We couldn’t handle the pressure in semi-final: Imran Khan

Imran Khan further said that the players feel a lot of pressure in World Cup and I am very hurt on the defeat of Pakistan in semi-final against India in Mohali. Imran Khan said that if green shirts came under pressure, if it got success in losing pressure, defiantly they can defeat the home side. Imran Khan said that I advised many times to correct the batting order, but the management not listed to me, due to which the result came in defeat, he said that four catches of Sachin Tandulkar were dropped but despite of this he played the innings of 85 runs. Indian team batted in pressure, but when it came on us, we failed to handle this.

Imran Khan says, Amir was more talented then Wasim Akram

Imran Khan said that if Pakistan’s cricket system was strong, we don’t have to lose the bowler like Muhammad Amir I haven’t seen bowler like him in my life. In regard to his age, he was more talented pacer then Wasim Akram.

Ricky Ponting Resigned From Captaincy

Australian captain Ricky Ponting has resigned from captaincy but he will continue his play as player. He was having pressure on him since the defeat against Pakistan and India. There were some news that he might step down from captaincy and so he do.

On Tuesday he announced that he is stepping down the captaincy and will be available as a player. Ponting also favored the Vice Captain Michael Clark as a captain. He added that the decision of retirement is his sole decision and no one has asked him to do so.

Ponting said that he is leaving the captaincy of both ODI and test cricket and will be available for both formats of the game. He added that now team has to do a lot to get back the Ashes in 2013-14 and world cup in 2015.

He looked confident and said that he will give his full support to his captain and he will always behind the new captain and helps him in all ways. Ponting took over from Steve Waugh and played 228 matches as captain and won 164 matches. He also won 2003 and 2007 world cup for Australia. Bad Ashes performance and world cup defeat has made him to step down as captain.

Shoaib Malik Back Shahid Afridi As Captain

Former Pakistan captain and all-rounder Shoaib Malik said that PCB should not change the captain for the national team for the world cup. He said that Shahid Afridi is doing well for Pakistan and he will able to lead the team in the world cup 2011. Malik is recently named as captain of Punjab team and he also supports Shahid Afridi as a captain for Pakistan team.

Now a day there is race for captaincy between Shahid Afridi and Misbah Ul Haq as PCB has named the national team for the world cup but so far the name of the captain is still not announced.

PCB decided to name the captain for the world cup 2011 after the New Zealand’s ODI series. Misbah has leaded the team well in the world cup and now he is also performing well in ODI’s. Shahid Afridi who was not in form has now came back in form as he scored quick 65 runs in 25 balls in last match.

Both Afridi and Misbah is doing well for Pakistan and now PCB has to decide about the captain. Shoaib Malik is of view that by changing the captain there will be disturbance in the team. he favors Afridi as captain.

Shoaib Malik Named As Punjab’s Captain

Former Pakistani captain and off spinner Shoaib Malik is appointed as captain for the Punjab team. He has been name as captain after he is facing difficulties. He is also not selected in Pakistani world cup squad and also facing allegation of illegal money transferred to his account from India. He was not able to satisfy the PCB fact Finding committee.

He performed well during the domestic set up before the selection of national team for the world cup but was not selected in the national team.

While playing from PIA he has scored 799 runs in 2010-11 during the Quaid-e-Azam trophy. Lahore Shalimar’s team twp players Usman Salahuddin and Saad Nasim are also included in Punjab’s tam as reserve players. They are not selected in the final team.

Punjab team selected also included Imran Farhat and former Pakistani captain Muhammad Yousaf. Both these players are also not included in the world cup squad. Baluchistan team has still to name their captain. Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited leg spinner Yasir Shah has been named as captain for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa team. Iftakhar Anjum will captain the Fedral Areas team.

World cup is also approaching and Pentangular tournament is also starting. Cricket season is starting and fans are ready to have fun.

World Cup 2011: Pakistan’s Captain will be Announced After 19 January

The captain for Pakistan cricket team for ICC World Cup 2011 will be announced after 19 January, said Ijaz Butt chairman of Pakistan Cricket Board on Saturday. The PCB sources said that there is no decision is taken by PCB yet that who will lead the team in the mega event, Afridi is not a certain choice as captain but the final decision about this isseu will be announced after 19 January, the day when the Test series between Pakistan and New Zealand ends. Afridi came under scathing attack for his leadership when talking to media, he critisized on some issues. The limited-over captain was the leading run-scorer in One-Day Internationals for Pakistan last year with 601 and also retrived the highest 19 wickets with Shoaib Akhtar.

Afridi was maintained as captain for the T20 series against New Zeland. However, defeat in the series there were questions regarding his captaincy skills as the PCB decides on a successor. There is an opinion within the PCB that test team captain Misbah-ul-Haq should be made leader for the limited-overs cricket too and if the test captain will give his full performance and give good results, there is a possibility give him the responsibility for the leadership of the mega event. The chairman Ijaz Butt was asked by a media man, if changing the captain right before the World Cup would harm the team, the chairman said, “The media is going create a ruckus if we announce it now and if we do it later. So it’s better if we wait.”

The supporters of Shahid Afridi believe that a particular lobby based in Lahore is already pushing for his sacking as captain and wants him to be replaced by Misbah-ul-Haq, who is the captain of test cricket team of Pakistan.

It is to be noted that at the time when all other cricket boards are giving final shape to their preparations for World Cup 2011, Pakistan cricket is teeming with conspiracy theories. The World Cup 2011 is just about six weeks away and Pakistan are already dogged by a series of problems including spot-fixing scandal.

The victory of Bangladesh against Zimbabwe in 5 ODI series

The dream of Zimbabwe to win the series against Bangladesh is broken and the host side is successful to give happiness to their crowd. It became a very hard task for the Bangal tigers to win against red shirts but they worked hard in order to fulfill their aim and they got success in winning the series against the African side with the margin of 3-1.

The first match of the series between the two week sides was played on 1 day of December at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Dhaka. Bangladesh won the toss and elected to Field first and with the fall of all wickets Zimbabwe can score 209 runs. Abdur Razzaq the left arm spinner was the most successful blower from the host side he took 4 wickets. The target of 209 runs was not seems difficult for the host side but in the same number of over Bangal tigers was all out at just 200 runs. The Zimbabwean blowers did not give them the chance to chase the target and Zimbabwe wins this match by 9 runs.

After the gap of one day both teams was ready to face the challenge of each other at Shere Bangla National Stadium, Mirpur. The toss coin once again gives the decision in the favor of host side and their decision was the same as in the last mach they played against the guest side. But this time the blowers of Bangladesh proves the decision of their captain true and all the Zimbabwean team was all out at just 191 runs. Off spinner Abdur Razzaq once again gives the excellent performance and took 5 wickets. This time the Bangal batsmen easily chased their required target with the lost of 4 wickets.

The series was equal with 1-1. Both teams come again to in the same city and on the same ground. This time Zimbabwe was the lucky team that won the toss and they repeated the same decision as Bangladesh made in the first two matches. Bangladeshi players played well and they scored 246 runs with the fall of 7 wickets in the limited number of over. Prosper Utseya the captain of the Zimbabwean team was the most successful blower from their side. in order to chase the target of 246 runs the host side was total failed and the whole team was all out at just 181 runs. The captain Prosper Utseya fulfills his responsibility again by scoring 67 runs. Abdur Razzaq was the most successful blower again and he took 4 wickets again Shafiul Islam took the equal number of wickets and contributed his part. The next match was Match abandoned without a ball bowled due to rain.

Zimbabwe Vs Bangladesh 5th ODI at Chittagong

Pak. hockey team honored by CM Punjab

Staff Report

LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has given a reception, in honor to the gold medal winning Pakistan hockey team in Asian Games, in the Chief Minister House on Sunday.

CM Shahbaz welcomed the hockey players led by the captain Zeeshan Ashraf. All the players were wearing gold medals in the reception.

The president of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Qasim Zia and others were also present in the reception. Trend Pk

China repeats apology demand after Japan frees fisherman

BEIJING/TOKYO: China pushed its demand for an apology from Japan for detaining a Chinese fishing trawler captain, showing no sign of an end to the row after Japan released the captain and said no apology was necessary.

The dispute illustrates the fragility of ties between Asia’s two biggest economies troubled by Chinese memories of Japanese wartime occupation and territorial disputes over parts of the East China Sea that could hold rich reserves of gas.

Tokyo came under criticism from domestic media for “caving in” to Chinese pressure by releasing the captain after China detained four Japanese citizens, although Japanese officials have denied the linkage.

The four were detained on suspicion of violating the law regarding protection of Chinese military facilities, though the exact offence was not clear.

Fishing trawler captain Zhan Qixiong arrived

China repeats apology demand after Japan frees fisherman

BEIJING/TOKYO: China pushed its demand for an apology from Japan for detaining a Chinese fishing trawler captain, showing no sign of an end to the row after Japan released the captain and said no apology was necessary.

The dispute illustrates the fragility of ties between Asia’s two biggest economies troubled by Chinese memories of Japanese wartime occupation and territorial disputes over parts of the East China Sea that could hold rich reserves of gas.

Tokyo came under criticism from domestic media for “caving in” to Chinese pressure by releasing the captain after China detained four Japanese citizens, although Japanese officials have denied the linkage.

The four were detained on suspicion of violating the law regarding protection of Chinese military facilities, though the exact offence was not clear.

Fishing trawler captain Zhan Qixiong arrived

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