Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Ijaz Butt wants a formal ICC inquiry into Shane Warne's prediction that the India-England World Cup match would end in a tie. While Warne joked on his Twitter page that he should consider a career in astrology after his flippant prediction proved correct, some influential cricketing figures in the subcontinent insist the retired spin great is deserving of further scrutiny. Former Pakistan captains Moin Khan and Aamer Sohail both believed Warne's pre-match tweet should not be laughed off. Sohail insisted a similar prediction from a subcontinent player would have been seized upon by the Western media, ''but since this prediction comes from an Australian player it is declared a stroke of genius''. The captains' views were effectively endorsed by Butt. ''We will raise the matter and ask the ICC to conduct a fair inquiry into the matter,'' he said.
THE RAIN MAN
To make formula one more exciting, the sport's controversial boss has floated the idea of artificial rain. Bernie Ecclestone says that on wet tracks there is always far more overtaking and there are already racetracks that boast the technology to mimic rainy conditions. ''Look at the races we have now,'' Ecclestone declared in a wide-ranging interview with F1's official website. ''Overtaking is almost impossible because in the dry there is only one line good for maximum speed because of the rubber on the track. You have a completely different picture when it is wet. We always had the most exciting races in the wet so let's think of making rain. There are racetracks that you can make artificially wet … why not let it 'rain' in the middle of a race? For 20 minutes or the last 10 laps?''
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OWL STUFFED
The injured owl that was kicked off the field by a player during a Colombian football match has died from shock. Vet Camilo Tapia said the owl went into shock after it was taken in for treatment on Sunday. Pereira defender Luis Moreno kicked the bird about three metres to get it off the field. The owl served as the mascot for Atletico Junior and Moreno later apologised to home fans. The Barranquilla newspaper El Heraldo said the owl would be preserved by a local taxidermist and put on display at the football stadium.
FLOYD BACK?
Unbeaten boxer Floyd Mayweather jnr is talking about staging a fight in South Africa in July, his uncle Jeff says. Jeff Mayweather, a former fighter, told www.fighthype.com his nephew was in talks with the family of Nelson Mandela about a possible fight around the time of Mandela's 93rd birthday on July 18. Having Mayweather, 41-0 with 25 knockouts, fight anywhere has become a rare event. His last bout was 10 months ago when he won a unanimous decision over Shane Mosley, who will fight Filipino star Manny Pacquiao on May 7. Fight fans have dreamed of a Pacquiao-Mayweather showdown, although it is unlikely ''Pretty Boy Floyd'' would take on such a fight in South Africa after a lay-off and that Pacquiao would return to the ring so soon. A July fight could set the stage for a possible November or December fight against Pacquiao.
