Bryan Adams to perform at World Cup opening ceremony

Popular Canadian singer Bryan Adams will be the only western artist to perform at the opening ceremony for the 2011 ICC Cricket World Cup to be held in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The Feb 17 performance will fall near the end of Adams' India tour, which begins Friday in Pune. Also, on the itinerary is Bangalore, New Delhi, Hyderabad and Mumbai.

While the gala opening ceremony of the Cricket World Cup-2011 is on Feb 17, the matches are scheduled from Feb 19 to April 2 and 14 countries will vie for the trophy in 49 matches spread across India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Adams will stay one more day in Dhaka for a special acoustic concert featuring songs from his current CD "Bare Bones", before finishing this leg of the tour in Kathmandu, Nepal.

I feel sorry for Aamer but glad that ICC took action: Waugh

ABU DHABI: Steve Waugh feels sorry for young Pakistan pacer Mohammad Aamer, who was handed a five-year ban for being involved in spot-fixing, but the former Australian skipper is glad that the ICC sent out a strong message by acting tough on corruption in international cricket. 

Apart from the 18-year-old Aamer, the ICC banned Pakistan's former Test skipper Salman Butt and pacer Mohammad Asif for 10 and seven years respectively for their involvement in the spot-fixing scandal that shook international cricket last year. 

"All I know is that ICC has stepped up and I am glad that they have acted. I feel sorry for Aamer because he is a young kid. I am sure he would learn that he should not interact with certain people, be careful of certain individuals," Waugh, who is in Abu Dhabi for the Laureus World Sports Awardsas part of its jury member, said. 

"As a young kid, I hope he takes the sentence positively and learns. Obviously it can be reduced as well."

ICC judgement may not be made public

Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir will on Tuesday receive full written judgments on the verdicts and sanctions they were handed by a three-man tribunal on Saturday. Whether the judgment becomes public is, however, still not clear; the ICC is keen to publish it the same day, but complications have arisen in the wake of the decision of the UK's Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) to press chargesagainst the three.

Butt was banned for 10 years, Asif for 7 and Amir for 5 after they were found guilty by a tribunal headed by Michael Beloff QC, on charges the ICC had brought against them for being involved in the bowling of deliberate no-balls during the fourth Test against England last year. Amir plans to appeal against the decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport, while Butt has also said he disagrees with the verdict.

On Saturday, a short statement was read out by Beloff, flanked by the other two tribunal members Justice Albie Sachs and Sharad Rao, in which they also urged the ICC to publish the report as soon as possible. The report has become a keenly-awaited document, because it is expected to expand on the reasons given for the verdicts - and, equally importantly, the evidence, put together by the ICC's legal team, that it was based on.

The length of the sanctions has attracted support and criticism alike. But the most intriguing development was the tribunal's recommendation to the ICC to make "certain changes to the code with a view to providing flexibility in relation to minimum sentences in exceptional circumstances." On this point, Amir and Butt have suggested - the former more directly than the latter - that it indicates that the tribunal was willing to give lower sanctions but was bound by the ICC code. The nature of any potential appeals, as well as the feasibility, will become clearer once the report has been seen.

There remains uncertainty over whether the wider public will be able to see how such a landmark case in the game's history unfolded. One day before the tribunal gave its verdict, the CPS announced that the three players, as well as player agent Mazhar Majeed, will face criminal charges in a British court of conspiracy to obtain and accept corrupt payments, and also conspiracy to cheat. All four have been summoned to appear for a first hearing at the City of Westminster Magistrate's court on March 17.

The ICC wants to publish on Tuesday but has been seeking legal advice from Jonathon Caplin QC, a media law specialist, because, as ESPNcricinfo understands, the CPS has "strongly advised" the ICC not to publish the full judgment. The CPS noted in its statement that "particular care needs to be taken to not publish material" which may prejudice a criminal trial.

Ijaz Butt terms ban on players “regrettable”

KARACHI: The head of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) on Monday said lengthy bans given to three Pakistani players for spot-fixing were “regrettable” but promised to help them in their rehabilitation.
“PCB terms the verdict against the three players as regrettable and a sad reality which must be faced,” Ijaz Butt said in a statement.
An International Cricket Council (ICC) anti-corruption tribunal on Saturday banned former Pakistan captain Salman Butt for ten years, Mohammad Asif for seven years and Mohammad Amir for five years after a hearing in Doha.
The charges against them related to alleged incidents during the Test against England at Lord’s last year, when Britain’s News of the World newspaper claimed the players were willing to deliberately bowl no-balls.
The newspaper alleged the three had colluded in a spot-fixing betting scam organised by British-based agent Mazhar Majeed.
“PCB has full confidence in the process followed by the tribunal culminating in the sanctions on the three players under the Anti Corruption code”, PCB chief Butt added.
In a separate development on Friday, British prosecutors charged the three players as well as Majeed with corruption offences and summoned them to appear in a London court on March 17.
Salman and Amir have indicated they wish to appeal against the ICC tribunal’s verdict, but Asif till now has given no reaction.
The players have 21 days to appeal against the sanctions at the Court of Arbitration for Sports, based in Switzerland.

PCB will not appeal against bans: Ijaz Butt

KARACHI: Pakistan will not appeal against the five-year bans imposed onSalman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir for corruption, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt said on Saturday.
“The PCB does not have the jurisdiction to challenge the bans on these three players because this is a matter directly between the players and the International Cricket Council (ICC) anti-corruption tribunal,” Butt told Reuters.
An ICC tribunal found the trio guilty of spot-fixing on Saturday by arranging for the delivery of deliberate no-balls in the fourth test against England last August.
Former ICC president Ehsan Mani criticised the PCB for its handling of the issue.
“I think the PCB failed to handle this issue properly and didn’t bother to guide the players at all. While the bans were neccessary to discourage corruption in cricket I think Ijaz Butt also morally should resign immediately,” Mani said.
Former test captain, Moin Khan said it was a shameful day for Pakistan cricket.
“It is really sad for Pakistan cricket that we have to face such embarrassment but at the same time I support the ICC tribunal decision because these players have brought shame to Pakistan and world cricket,” Moin said.
Former test pace bowler Sarfraz Nawaz said the bans were a lesson for a future generation of cricketers.
“If players do corruption they must not be spared. Obviously the ICC anti-corruption unit was able to convince the tribunal with their evidence against the players,” Sarfraz said.
Fans on the street said they felt the bans were harsh but justified.
“If the players are guilty of spot fixing they should be banned but perhaps the ICC should have gone soft with Amir because he is very young and was instigated by others to do their bidding,” student Amina Khalid said.
Professor Siraj Bukhari said that the bans would eventually prove to be beneficial to Pakistan cricket.
“The ICC has sent out a clear message now they will not tolerate corruption in any form and I think these players needed to be made examples,” he said.

Nasim Ashraf feels ‘great sadness’ at trio’s bans

NEW YORK, Feb 7 (APP): A former Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman, Dr Nasim Ashraf, has voiced “great sadness” at the lengthy bans given to three Pakistani players for spot-fixing, but said that the punishment was justified because there was no place for corruption in Cricket.An International Cricket Council (ICC) tribunal on Saturday banned former Pakistan captain Salman Butt for 10 years, with five years suspended, fast bowler Mohammad Asif for seven years, with two suspended, and teenage paceman Mohammad Aamer for five years.

“It is a matter of great sadness not only for these three players, Butt,Asif and Aamer, but for all of cricket, particularly Pakistan cricket,” Dr.Ashraf said in a statement issued on Monday. “One really feels for Aamer, an 18 -year- old who got sucked into the dirty world of Corruption.”

But, he said, there must be “Zero Tolerance” for corruption and breaking the law, something these three players did. “Not only did they shame themselves,they brought shame upon the entire nation! For the sake of future Aamers and Asifs, and for cleaning up cricket all over the world, the punishment is justified. Let this be a lesson for all cricketers—young and old—there is no place for corruption in cricket, I hope we learn a lesson from this.”
The trio were charged over incidents during the Test against England at Lord’s last year, when Britain’s News of the World newspaper claimed the players were willing to deliberately bowl no-balls.
The newspaper alleged the three had colluded in a spot-fixing betting scam organised by British-based agent Mazhar Majeed.
“Cricket players are Icons in any country particularly Pakistan! They are role models! They have to live up to the immense faith and adulation reposed in them by the nation,” Dr. Ashraf said.
“It is a sad day for all cricket, but Pakistan must show to the world that we are just as capable of meeting our moral and legal responsibilities like any other civilised nation.”

ICC praise for NoW as Pakistan cricketers banned

The International Cricket Council has praised the “good work” of the News of the World in exposing a match-fixing scandal which saw three Pakistan players banned from the sport on Saturday.

Former Pakistan captain Salman Butt has been banned for 10 years, five of which are suspended; Mohammad Asif was banned for seven years, two of which are suspended and Mohammad Amir was banned for five years.

The bans come a day after the three were told they would face criminal charges in the UK for allegedly cheating bookmakers.

Butt, Asif and Amir - who were questioned by Scotland Yard detectives last August - will also face criminal charges in the UK for allegedly conspiring to cheat bookmakers, along with agent Mazhar Majeed, the Crown Prosecution Service said on Friday.

Michael Beloff QC, who chaired the three-man anti-corruption tribunal in Doha, said: "The tribunal found that the charges under Article 2.1.1 of the code that (respectively) Mr Asif agreed to bowl and did bowl a deliberate no ball in the Lord's Test match played between Pakistan and England from 26 to 29 August 2010, Mr Amir agreed to bowl and did bowl two deliberate no balls in the same Test, and Mr Butt was party to the bowling of those deliberate no balls, were proved."

International Cricket Council chief Haroon Lorgat said: "I acknowledge the decision to deliver these bans to all three players and know that this would have been hard to achieve without the good work of the News of the World.

"The verdicts make that message crystal clear - there can be no place in our sport for corruption. The ICC has a duty to protect the integrity of this great sport and the public's confidence in it.

"We are pleased that the News of the World helped us achieve that."

The News of the World investigation into allegations of match-fixing involving the Pakistan cricket team began with a phone tip-off to the paper’s investigations editor Mazher Mahmood in January 2009.

A former member of the Pakistan cricket management team told him that the England versus Pakistan series that summer would be rigged to get huge betting wins for crooked syndicates. And Mahmood was told that Mazhar Majeed, a businessman and agent for Pakistani players, was the fixer.

Mahmood met Majeed on a series of occasions in August last year posing as a rich businessman keen to hold a cricket tournament in the Middle East.

Majeed boasted of his ability to facilitate betting scams and eventually, at a meeting on 25 August, predicted exactly when Amir and Asif would bowl no-balls against England at the Oval the following day in exchange for £150,000. The News of the World handed over a dossier of evidence to Scotland Yard on the eve of publication the following Saturday.

The NotW marked the story this weekend with an eight-page supplement providing a detailed account of the investigation.

Pakistan cricket greats call for reform

Pakistan cricket faces an abysmal future unless it cleans up the game and institutes sweeping reforms after three key players were banned on corruption charges, former players and commentators said on Monday.

Former Test captain Salman Butt was banned for 10 years, with five years suspended, bowler Mohammad Asif for seven years, with two suspended, and teenage pace sensation Mohammad Aamer for five years.

The bans follow alleged incidents during last year's Test against England at Lord's, when Britain's News of the World newspaper claimed players were willing to bowl no-balls deliberately.

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The newspaper said the three colluded in a spot-fixing betting scam organised by British-based agent Mazhar Majeed.

On Friday, British prosecutors charged the players and Majeed with corruption, summoning them to appear in a London court on March 17.

"Pakistan's cricket image is tainted badly," former captain Zaheer Abbas conceded.

"But on the other hand the latest bans give us a last chance to root out corruption and indiscipline from our cricket or else we might be thrown out of international cricket," he told AFP.

After the scandal surfaced, the International Cricket Council (ICC) ordered the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to keep tabs on players through an integrity committee and introduce harsher punishments in their annual contracts.

PCB complied, refusing to clear some tainted players for selection in the national squad, introducing a corruption code for domestic cricket and bringing in anti-corruption lectures - all steps praised by the ICC.

Despite these measures, Imran Khan, the only captain ever to lead Pakistan to World Cup victory, called for major upheavals.

"Our cricket system is wrong," said Khan, now head of the political party Teherik-e-Insaaf (Movement for Justice).

"The chairman of the PCB should be an elected person held accountable for all such incidents.

"What prevails in our system is that the patron of the PCB (President Asif Ali Zardari) appoints the chairman who doesn't ban key players because he fears his team will lose and he will get sacked," he told AFP.

Many believe Pakistan missed the chance to purge cricket after a match-fixing inquiry led by judge Malik Mohammad Qayyum between 1998-2000 saw Salim Malik and Ata-ur Rehman banned for life.

Six other players - Wasim Akram, current national coach Waqar Younis, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Mushtaq Ahmed, Saeed Anwar and Akram Raza - were fined.

"I conducted a judicial inquiry which could have served as a way to purge our cricket but my recommendations to keep close eyes on Pakistan players were now followed," Qayyum said recently.

Former captain Ramiz Raja said the latest bans will serve as a warning to future players.

"It will go a long way towards putting the fear of God in all Pakistan cricketers and cricketers of the world, that cheating doesn't pay and rogues have no place in this beautiful game," said Ramiz.

The local media also raised hopes of a silver lining to the punishments.

"Whether the ICC verdict will affect the culture of illegal betting that has infected cricket, is doubtful. What it will have done is put down a marker for other who may follow the example of the trio," said English-language daily The News.

"Pakistan must use the opportunity to prevent a repeat of such scandal," cautioned Pakistan's oldest newspaper Dawn

Cricket team fully capable of winning upcoming world cup, says Munawar

Amir jamaat-e-Islami Syed Munawar Hassan has said that the national cricket team is fully capable of winning the upcoming world cup, adding that he is hopeful that the team would give surprise to the nation by winning the world cup.

He said that the well wishes of the whole nation are with the cricket team, adding that the Pakistan Cricket Board had left alone the cricketers charged with the spot fixing allegations and the PCB is responsible for the punishment announced by the ICC.

This Syed Munawar Hassan said in a panel interview on the occasion of visiting the South Asian News Agency (SANA) here on Sunday.

He said that the PCB had not initiated any steps for pleading the cases of Salman Butt, Muhammad Asif and Muhammad Amir, who were alleged with the spot fixing charges.

He said that until the incumbent Chairman of PCB Ijaz Butt is present in his office no positive step for the welfare of the cricketers could be taken.

He said that Ijaz Butt is the close friend of President Asif Ali Zardari that is why he is not being removed from the post; instead of the fact that well fare of the cricketers and Ijaz Butt could not continue working side by side.

Syed Munawar Hassan said that fingers are being point out on Ijaz Butt for his involvement in alleged corruption in PCB.

He said that there is a lot of money in cricket; that is why it is believed that the high ups also get their share of corruption.

He congratulated the cricket team for winning one-day and test series against New Zealand.

He said that there should be a Constitution of the PCB, adding that without the rules and regulations improvement in the performance of the team could not be made.

He said that there is a rich talent of cricket present in the country but the regional cricket is not present in the country, adding that the responsibility of this fat also lies on the administration of PCB.

He asked the PCB to work for the promotion of regional cricket in the country, adding that due to some reasons Pakistan was excluded from hosting the upcoming world cup.

He said that India, Siri Lanka and Bangladesh are going to host the world cup and it is the history of the cricket world cup that no host country had won the world cup, adding that due to this fact the chances of Pakistan for winning the next world cup are bright.

Pak cricket team returns home today

Pakistan cricket team will return home here today after winning the Test and One-day International series against New Zealand.

After a long tour of two months, the national team is returning home from Auckland via Hong Kong.

Pakistan after tasting defeat in the Twenty20 series, won the Test series 1-0 and ODI series 3-2.

The Test team was led by Misbah-ul-Haq while the T20 and ODI team was captained by Shahid Afridi.

The national team after taking a three-day rest will leave in the night of February 10 for Bangladesh to participate in the ICC World Cup 2011.

The team in Bangladesh will attend the inaugural ceremony and play two warm-up matches before leaving for Sri Lanka for playing its World Cup games.

Pakistan will play their first match in the World Cup 2011 against Kenya at Hambanthota on February 23.