Latif fears World Cup format encourages fixing

Rashid Latif , the former Pakistan captain who blew the whistle on cricket corruption eight years ago, fears that the current World Cup format encourages fixing. 

Latif said that the 14-team line-up at the Feb 19-April 2 event in the subcontinent in which six teams have little or no chance of winning, opens the door to corruption on the back of bribes from illegal subcontinental bookmakers. 

"It is obvious that the real competition will only start from the quarter-final stage," he told PTI in an interview released on Sunday. 

"This means it encourages bookmakers to try to corrupt players to indulge in white collar spot-fixing crime in the group matches," Latif said. 

Latif, 42, wrote a letter to the International Cricket Council (ICC) in 2003 citing his concerns about the sport.

Earlier this month, three of his compatriots, former skipper Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, were found guilty of deliberately organising no-balls (spot fixing) against England last August. 

The ICC banned them for a minimum five years but the trio have denied wrongdoing and sport's highest court of appeal, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will hear the case. 

"The formation is such that even if a top team loses a match or two this really will not stop it from qualifying for the quarter-finals," he said in the PTI interview. 

"Take for example Group A. How can the ICC expect teams like Kenya or Canada to cause any upset and it is obvious Zimbabwe is weaker compared to Pakistan, Australia, Sri Lanka and New Zealand? 

"My fear is this format and formation only encourages spot-fixing and it is difficult for anyone to identify such things." 

Latif said that the event should be restricted in the future to the leading eight test teams. 

ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat has already said that from 2015 in Australia and New Zealand, the event will be reduced from 14 to 10 teams with the associate members (non-test playing teams) concentrating on the Twenty20 World Cup. 

This decision was taken on the grounds of developing these countries in a more constructive way rather than reasons of avoiding temptations for corruption at the 50-over World Cup.

Sri Lankans want team to tour Pakistan

While the debate on the revival of international cricket in Pakistan continues, and its repercussions are weighed, most Sri Lankans, including the country’s cricket journalists, have urged their team to undertake their scheduled tour of Pakistan later this year.

Scheduled to tour in October as part of International Cricket Council’s (ICC) Future Tour Programme, the tour remains unconfirmed given the security situation in Pakistan after the Lahore attack in 2009. The Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) Chairman DS de Silva left the decision for the ICC which, in December, gave individual boards the power to decide for themselves.

While the officials mull over the decision, most of the cricket fans in Sri Lanka have given their team a go-ahead for the tour.

“Sri Lanka should go and play in Pakistan,” Arun Kumar, a Colombo-based journalist told The Express Tribune. “The tour is vital for the revival of cricket in Pakistan and our team should not deprive them of international cricket. The Lahore incident was unfortunate but such things do not happen every time.”

Sean Wittachy, an IT professional, felt it was time for his country to support Pakistan cricket which always helped them promote the sport in Sri Lanka.

“We faced years of crisis due to the Tamil resurgence but Pakistan never refused to visit Sri Lanka and now the SLC should help the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) in reviving international cricket. Sports should work as a bridge in connecting nations.”

Ali Fatharally, a management accountant, also urged the team not to withdraw from the tour.

“There is no point in deciding against touring Pakistan because terrorists attacks can take place anywhere. Hopefully the World Cup will be held in a befitting manner but incidents like that can also take place in this tournament. I am confident that the SLC will not disappoint Pakistan cricket.”

However, Dammika Deeptha Agampodi, editor of Lanka E Reporter webportal, spoke out against touring Pakistan.

“I think the tour should be held on a neutral venue as Pakistan is not a safe place nowadays. We cannot afford to take a second risk as our players are very important to us.”

Afridi the spinner takes precedence

Shahid Afridi the spinner has arrived. After making a name for himself as a power hitter, he has matured and is now showing his expertise as spinner and skipper.
If his performance against Kenya was considered a flash in the pan against minnows, Sri Lanka was no pushover. A four-wicket haul has certainly put him in the top bowlers league.
The most memorable moment of the day came when he had Thilan Samaraweera stumped with a beauty. The ball, seemingly innocous, pitched just around off stump and deviated enough to make Samaraweera lunge at it and miss it. But the most important part of the delivery was the dip he managed.
From considered as someone who just turned his arm over part time, Afridi's control in the last two matches has been very impressive. Dip, turn and bounce -- all attributes that make him a deadly wicket-taker especially on Indian pitches.

Two-in-Two for Pak, Afridi

With his arms spread he stood in the centre of the pitch, striking his customary ‘king-of-the-world’ pose as teammates engulfed him in an embrace. Having just dismissed his counterpart Kumar Sangakkara, who till then had looked the lone obstacle in Pakistan’s path to a convincing victory, Shahid Afridi’s jubilation — and that of his entire team — did seem warranted though. That wasn’t the only opportunity, however, that the Pakistani skipper got on Saturday to showcase his passion.

And on what proved to be another near-perfect display by the Men in Green at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, it was Afridi, with his second consecutive man-of-the-match winning performance, who hogged the spotlight again in his team’s 11-run victory. The perpetually unsung pair of Younis Khan and Misbah-ul-Haq had, meanwhile, earlier in the day provided their team with a competitive target of 278 to defend with a century-plus partnership.Led by Shoaib Akhtar, who produced probably one of the balls of the tournament by breaking open the defences of Mahela Jayawardene, all the Pakistani bowlers played their part to the hilt, always keeping their team in front. The focus, however, stubbornly remained transfixed on Afridi — whether while he rocked the Sri Lankan batting with the wickets of Tillakaratane Dilshan and Thilan Samaraweera or as he marshalled his forces in his usual animated fashion.

There is hardly a passive moment when the Pakistan skipper is in the field. And he was all over the place on Saturday, shouting orders, egging his bowlers on whenever they erred and even once asking them to get a move on by gesticulating towards his watch.

Butt, Amir file appeals against bans

Salman Butt and Mohammad Amir have filed appeals against their bans from the game with the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland.

Butt and Amir, along with Mohammad Asif, were found guilty of orchestrating three pre-planned, deliberate no-balls during the Lord's Test against England last August. The trio, who were provisionally suspended by the ICC in September, were given sanctions ranging from 5 to 10 years by an independent tribunal headed by Michael Beloff QC after a full hearing in Doha, Qatar in early January, with the verdicts being handed down on February 5.

"Today my legal team served a statement of appeal upon The Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) to appeal against the Tribunal's findings in relation to the Lords Test and the sanctions imposed at the recent Hearing in Doha. Full Grounds for the Appeal will be lodged in due course," a statement from Butt's lawyer, Yasin Patel, said.

As captain at the time, Butt received the stiffest sentence, though the ban comes with a suspended sentence of five years. On the day the verdict was announced, Patel had indicated that the tribunal's recommendation to the ICC to revisit sanctions in their code was encouraging. "The tribunal's hands were tied by the ICC's code to a five-year minimum," he said. "Mr Butt is encouraged that the tribunal advised the ICC to change the code or revise the minimum term."

Butt also confirmed that he would appear at a London court on March 17th for a hearing into the criminal charges he faces - along with Asif and Amir - into the same incident.

Amir was given a straight five-year ban with no suspended sentence and had indicated his intention to appeal on the day the judgments came. "We have filed an appeal against the ban [on Friday]," Shahid Karim, Amir's lawyer, said. "The process is now set into motion. We have challenged the judgment on various grounds."Asif has so far not said whether he will file an appeal.