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Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Steven Finn wins Emerging Player award

The England fast bowler Steven Finn has capped a remarkable maiden year of international cricket by being named as the ICC's Emerging Player at their annual awards ceremony in Bengaluru.
Finn has claimed 32 wickets at 23.21 in his eight Test appearances against Bangladesh and Pakistan, including consecutive five-wicket hauls at Lord's and Old Trafford in May and June. He made his debut in Chittagong back in March, having flown out to Bangladesh only days earlier as an injury replacement for Graham Onions.
Receiving his award from legendary West Indies bowler Joel Garner, Finn said: "It's a great honour, and one that I wasn't expecting. It's been a great honour just to play Test cricket for my country over the past 12 months, because Tests are the highest level of the game, and though it's been tough at times, there's the joy of representing your country."
Finn's 6'7" frame, allied to a solid temperament and an intelligent game-brain, has made him an integral part of an England bowling attack that has secured victory in seven of their last eight Tests, and even at the age of 21, he is regarded as integral to England's hopes of successfully defending the Ashes for the first time since 1986-87.
"We are very confident going into the Ashes," said Finn. "We are very well prepared, and though we are going in as underdogs, we have a very settled side."
Finn was one of two Englishmen to make the final shortlist for the awards, alongside his team-mate Graeme Swann, who was nominated for the Player of the Year category. He beat Pakistan's Umar Akmal, Sri Lanka's Angelo Mathews and Australia's Tim Paine to the Emerging Player title, which was won last year by the Australia fast bowler, Peter Siddle.
The Emerging Player of the Year Award was one of nine individual prizes given at this year's ICC Awards. Players eligible for this award must be under 26 years of age at the start of the voting period (August 24, 2009) and have played no more than five Test matches and/or 10 ODIs before the start of the voting period

AB named ODI Player of the Year

De Villiers, the top ranked one-day batsman in the world, beat off tough competition from India's Sachin Tendulkar and the Australia duo of Shane Watson and Ryan Harris to take the prestigious award.
During the 12-month voting period to August, de Villiers played 16 ODIs and scored 855 runs at an average of 71.25.
In that time he hit four half-centuriess and four tons. He also kept wicket four times for the Proteas, playing a hand in five dismissals, and helped his side to victory in 10 of the 16 matches in which he played.
De Villiers was also named as the only South African in the ICC ODI Team of the Year.
“I've really enjoyed this season and it's great to have been named the ODI Cricketer of the Year," De Villiers said.
“It's a World Cup season and a World Cup is something we would love to win and we rate our chances pretty highly.”

Sehwag is Test Cricketer of the Year

Virender Sehwag, the India opener, has been named the Test Player of the Year during the 2010 ICC Awards ceremony in Bangalore. He won the award, the first of his career, ahead of Sachin Tendulkar, Dale Steyn and Hashim Amla, who were the other nominees in the category.
"It's fantastic to win the award, to take over the title from Gautam Gambhir," Sehwag said after receiving the prize from Courtney Walsh. "I think I got motivated when Gambhir got this award last time, I was discussing with him that I hope I get it this time and I got it. I'm a huge fan of Test cricket and I love to play it more than Twenty20 or one-day cricket.
"When I was growing up, I was playing lot of 10-over, 12-over games, so I had to score off every ball, same thing I have continued. I followed my instincts and played in the same way in T20, ODI and Tests. It's a great strength to have."
Sehwag scored 1282 runs in ten Tests at an average of 85.46 between August 2009 and 2010, which was the period under consideration for the award. He was also named in the Test Team of the Year, which was captained by MS Dhoni.

Sachin Tendulkar is ICC's Player of the Year

Indian batting icon Sachin Tendulkar today bagged his maiden ICC Cricketer of the Year trophy along with the People's Choice Award, while compatriot Virender Sehwag was named the Test Cricketer of the Year at a glittering ceremony here.
Tendulkar, who has an international career spanning over two decades, clinched the coveted trophy by beating South African Hashim Amla, Englishman Graeme Swann and Sehwag.
"It's better late than never. I am getting the award in the 21st year of my career, so it's fantastic. I have been working hard for this award," Tendulkar said after receiving the honour.
Tendulkar, who made his debut as a 16-year-old against Pakistan way back in November 15, 1989, was also named the winner of LG People's Choice Award.
"To play well is a challenge that you take in your stride and work hard to perform. I am doing this for the last 21 years and I take a lot of pride to play for my country," Tendulkar said.

Aleem Dar wins ICC Umpire of the Year 2010

Pakistan's umpire Aleem Dar has won the David Shepherd Trophy for the second time after being named ICC Umpire of the Year at the LG ICC Awards in Banglore (India), ICC announced on Wednesday. 42-year-old Dar, was voted to this award by the 10 Full Member captains as well as the eight-man Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees, based on his decision statistics and officiating skills over the past 12 months.
It is the second year in a row that he has received the ICC award which has been newly named after the late England umpire David Shepherd and upon collecting the trophy from Chris Broad, Dar said “I think the fact I'm still playing cricket in Pakistan makes me a good umpire, in the last four times I've played cricket I scored centuries so I definitely think that has helped.
“I'm honored to have been named the winner for the second year in row.” he commented.
Lahore-based Aleem Dar beat off strong competition from his colleagues on the Elite Panel of ICC Umpires Steve Davis, Tony Hill and five-time ICC Umpire of the Year Simon Taufel.
Dar, who made his international debut as an umpire in 2000, joined the Elite Panel in 2004. In the voting period of these awards, Dar stood in three Tests and 17 ODIs, as well as nine Twenty20 Internationals.
He stood in the ICC World Twenty20 in the West Indies, where he was an on-field umpire in eight of the matches, including the final between England and Australia.
The Umpire of the Year is one of 12 individual and team honors handed out during the ICC Awards. Based on the period between 24 August 24, 2009 and August 10, 2010, the LG ICC Awards 2010 presented in association with FICA take into account performances by players and officials in a remarkable period for the game.
The LG ICC Awards ceremony is now in its seventh year and this year is being held in Bangalore. Previous ceremonies were held in London (2004), Sydney (2005), Mumbai (2006), Johannesburg (2007 and 2009) and Dubai (2008).

Clouds gather ahead of Butt's return

Ijaz Butt will, in a few days, complete his second year as PCB chairman, though amid growing speculation that his time may be up. Butt returns to Lahore from a trip to the UK, on Wednesday morning, and is likely to find domestic pressure mounting on him to step down.
Though criticism has been a constant companion to Butt's tenure, it has sharpened considerably in the wake of the spot-fixing scandal and, in particular, his handling of it; talk over the last two days has focused only on his removal.
The key factor, as one observer said, is that any such decision will be a "domestic political one." The PCB chairman is a direct appointee of the country's president, who is also chief patron of the board. The chairman has increasingly become a political appointment so that his performances become useful capital in politics. So is the case with Butt; in the national assembly on Monday, for example, leader of the opposition Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan devoted considerable time to lamenting the mismanagement of the game under Butt, to generous applause from across the political spectrum.
More significant is a letter written by Wajid Shamsul Hasan, Pakistan's high commissioner to the UK and a vocal presence when the spot-fixing crisis first broke, to the president Asif Ali Zardari. Hasan, who is thought to be close to the president, writes in the letter - seen by ESPNcricinfo - dated September 17, "It seems everything was happening under the nose of PCB officials and they did not bother to take note of it… It will have to be investigated since their critics claim they looked the other way." Hasan also asks that the structure of the PCB hierarchy be looked at and that "young office-bearers" be appointed.
But fuelling much of the speculation was a meeting on Monday between the president and Chaudhry Ahmed Mukhtar, the defence minister, who is Butt's brother-in-law and widely considered to be the reason Butt is chairman. It has been speculated that cricket was discussed, though the presidential spokesperson Farhatullah Babar played down the significance of the meeting as well as the murmurs around Butt.
"There is nothing to all this [speculation about Butt's future], these are just rumours," Babar told ESPNcricinfo. "The president did meet the defence minister but the president meets ministers every day and it was a routine meeting."
One keen presidency-watcher and former cricket official also believes it will amount to nothing. "People are trying to make political capital out of this. As far as I am aware the presidency is in no mood to remove Butt."
But the pressure is building. The national assembly's standing committee on sports has called top board officials for a hearing on October 11. The committee can only make recommendations to parliament or the president, but it has become an increasingly vocal check on the board over the last year. Iqbal Mohammad Ali Khan, the committee chairman, said on a popular TV show on Monday night that his members would consider resigning if some change was not brought in the set-up.
Should a change be implemented, various names have been floating around as possible replacements. Former ICC president Ehsan Mani, Pir Aftab Shah Jillani, the former sports minister, and Zardari associate Tufail Sheikh, are most often touted as names to sit on an ad-hoc committee which might run affairs until the board's constitution is put back in place. Mani is believed to be willing should the opportunity arise and his global experience as an administrator is likely to hold him in good stead, though ESPNcricinfo understands no contact

ICC to hear tainted trio appeals in Qatar

The International Cricket Council has decided to hold the appeal hearings of the tainted Pakistani trio Salman Butt, Muhammad Aamir and Muhammad Asif, for their alleged involvement in spot-fixing in Qatar instead of London.
The ICC had notified the lawyers of the three players in writing about the venue and dates, likely between October 30 and 31, for the appeal hearings, sources told PTI.
As per reports, the hearings were earlier scheduled in London but some of the alleged cricketers requested the ICC to shift the venue, saying the British media is not in support of the players.
The cricketing body had provisionally suspended Butt, Aamir and Asif under the code of conduct soon after a British tabloid News of the World sting accused the trio of being involved with bookies in a spot-fixing scam during a Lord's Test against England in August.
A source said that Michael Beloff QC, a prominent UK barrister, will head an independent tribunal which will hear the appeals of the players.
However, the lawyer of Salman Butt has requested the ICC to bring the dates of the hearing forward.
"The lawyer for Salman Butt feels that the dates of October 30 and 31 are too late and has requested the ICC to hold the hearings at an earlier date."
All three players are represented by different lawyers and are bearing the legal expenses themselves since the Pakistan Cricket Board has denied to foot their bills since they are alleged to have violated the anti-corruption codes.

Pakistan cricket team in jeopardy in absence of tainted trio in a series against South Africa

Pakistan cricket board (PCB) are awaiting the decision of the fate of the tainted-trio from International cricket council (ICC) in order to decide upon their inclusion in the squad for series against South Africa.
Test captain Salman Butt alongside fast bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir are facing charges of being involved in spot-fixing, and their appeals against the ban to be removed have been rejected initially. They are the key players for Pakistan, and if they are not available for selection then it will be big blow for Pakistan team.
Mohammad Amir has been one of the brightest young prospects in international cricket alongside Stuart Broad. He would have easily won the young player of the year award, but due to his alleged involvement in spot-fixing his name was removed from the list. He is tipped as new Wasim Akram of Pakistan; his performance after his international debut suggests that he is similar to fast bowling legend.
Pakistan’s chief selector, Mohsin Hasan Khan admitted that it would be really hard to find replacements and he is concerned that if the trio didn’t get the green signal from ICC, then it would be nearly an end of their professional career. Pakistan is due to face South Africa in UAE, and it will be a very tough series especially if three of the match winners are out of the team. Mohsin further highlighted the fact that it is really tough to find replacement for three of your best players especially when you are up against one the best sides of the world.
Salman Butt was given the responsibility to lead the Test side of Pakistan after Shahid Afridi decided to retire from longest version of the game citing fitness and temperament problems. In his first Test as captain, Salman Butt guided Pakistan to their first-ever Test victory against Australians in more than fifteen years. Not only this, he has also been Pakistan’s most consistent batsman in last couple of years, and his absence will certainly leave a big whole in batting department especially in Test matches.
After the retirements of Saeed Anwar and Amir Sohail, Pakistan has not been able to find the right opening combination that can set a solid platform in order to ease the pressure off for other incoming batsmen. They have tried and tested many openers with likes of Yasir Hameed, Taufeeq Umar, Imran Farhat but they all didn’t perform on consistent basis. Only Salman Butt has been the brightest one among all. Chief selector can recall opener Khurram Manzoor to fill the void left by the suspension of Test captain.
Mohammad Asif cannot take part in the series whether he gets clear or not because he has been barred from an entry in UAE following the discovery of a banned substance in 2008. He has been the front line bowler for Pakistan in absence of Shoaib Akhtar and the Pakistan pace attack revolves around him. So that means, Pakistan will also lose another cutting edge over the Proteas.
The series against the South Africans starts from October 26 and Pakistan’s tainted-trio have time up till October 15 to respond to ICC, in order to get a timely decision from ICC. The series consist of two Tests, five One-day Internationals (ODI) and two T20s which will be played in Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Pakistan will leave couple of days before the start of the series, and it remains highly unlikely that tainted-trio will be able to get back into the mix.
Salman Butt’s suspension can be a blessing in disguise for former Pakistan captain Shoaib Malik as he will get another chance to revive his international career, but only if he is called back for national duty.

Intikhab likely to be named manager

Former Pakistan coach and the current head of the National Cricket Academy Intikhab Alam is likely to replace Yawar Saeed as Pakistan’s manager with his first assignment starting end of this month in the UAE.
According to the details received , the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is also considering cutting down the coaching staff, including two assistant coaches, to reduce confusion.
The selection committee is yet to name a replacement for Salman Butt as Pakistan’s Test captain and the decision will be taken by the PCB Chairman Ijaz Butt.
Meanwhile, the appeals of the suspended Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif will be heard in Qatar.
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