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Players viewed me with suspicion: Wright
Dalmiya moves court over BCCI summons
Pietersen props up England
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North Zone to start under-13 cricket tourneys
SC tells DD not to interfere with Ten Sports live feed
Ashish wins bronze in Asian gymnastics
Bagan juniors for Manchester Cup
Colts squander advantage
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Players viewed me with suspicion: Wright
New Delhi, August 4 “My interaction with them (players) was positive. When there was suspicion and doubt, it was understandable since I was the first foreign coach ever to be part of the team,” he told PTI in a telephonic interview. “They were all performers for their country, proud warriors who viewed with trepidation if a foreigner would be good enough for their team. It would be the same if some foreigner was to coach any other team in world cricket.” The former New Zealand captain said despite his fond association with the Indian cricket team, he could not think of taking up the job again. “For me this break was very important. My kids are now 14 and 12 and it’s good to be back to them. I do look forward to visiting India soon, there are many things I miss and my great affection is reflected on anyone who has read the book in its entirety. But to be the coach of India again is far removed from my thoughts.” The genial New Zealander is taken aback by the controversy that his just-published book has generated in India and urges fans to read the book in entirety before forming an opinion. “One must read the book where I feel my affection and warmth for India has come through. There are a lot of things in India which I miss.” Wright had kind words for his successor Greg Chappell who chose to deride the New Zealander’s role in the Indian dressing room in his infamous leaked e-mail. “I think the team has made good progress, especially in the one-day arena. You just need to be patient with Greg, who is a good man,” remarked Wright, who is presently on a promotional tour of his autobiography. Wright also shows no cynicism towards Sourav Ganguly, who chose to fly to Australia and seek Chappell’s tutorials even when he held the reins of the team as the coach. “I had no problem with Sourav flying over to Australia ahead of the tour Down Under. He did take me into confidence and I actually welcomed it. It showed the player had shown initiative. Sourav had shown a desire to improve and be ready for the Australian challenge. The proof of the pudding is in eating it and his hundred at the Gabba (Brisbane) meant it was worth it.” Wright said he was extremely impressed with the current crop of youngsters who are making a space for themselves in the Indian dressing room. “I am extremely impressed with the likes of Munaf Patel, Sreesanth and RP Singh. I would have loved to work with them, see them grow. I thought the team was absolutely marvellous in securing that victory in the final Test in the Caribbean recently.” The New Zealander approves of India’s attempt to widen its players base, especially in the bowling arena, and believes it is the best way possible to prevent burnouts. “I wouldn’t say there is excessive cricket being played in international fields these days. It is all about managing your resources, expanding your pool. Once you can widen your base, the cricketers wouldn’t suffer from overload or injuries.” A perceptive Wright has not missed out on the fact that India have not produced a quality spinner for a while but believes such emergence of quality slow cricketers happen in a cycle. “If you look around the world, quality spinners are not exactly appearing in bunches in Australia or South Africa, New Zealand or England. In that respect, India is no exception. I believe quality spinners emerge out of nowhere and that would happen with India too. Quality spinners come in cycles.” The New Zealander feels there is no dearth of inspiration for youngsters with quality spinners like Harbhajan Singh and Anil Kumble who, between them, have picked up nearly 800 Test scalps, being around. Chappell bats for predecessor All praise for his Kiwi predecessor, Team India’s coach Greg Chappell said the issues raised by John Wright in his book needed to be addressed. “I haven’t read the book but I think he made comments which need to be addressed,” said Chappell who just returned from a vacation in the USA. “John put in place so many things and laid the foundation of the team we have. He made things easier for me. I’ve tremendous respect for him and I feel that he’s got a lot of points. We need to see them in right perspective,” the coach told CNN-IBN However, Chappell denied any zonal bias in the team selection. “It might have been happening earlier, I can’t really comment on that but definitely not now. The selectors pick the best team possible and I am saying that from my own experience,” he said. — PTI, UNI
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Dalmiya moves court over BCCI summons
Kolkata, August 4 City Civil Court chief judge PK Sarkar fixed the matter for hearing on August 10. Dalmiya challenged the BCCI’s notice to appear before its Disciplinary Committee claiming that the board’s previous summons to appear on July 26 was challenged by him before the court and during pendancy of the petition, the board could not issue fresh summons. The BCCI had earlier asked Dalmiya to appear before its committee on July 26 in connection with the PILCOM accounts issue, but as Dalmiya had moved court challenging the summons, it had deferred the notice. — PTI
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Leeds, August 4 Ian Bell, having hit centuries in each of the first two games of the series, was on 66 not out. Matthew Hoggard was dismissed with the final ball of the day by fast bowler Umar Gul, who took four for 73. Pietersen, on 104 not out, was set to resume his innings tomorrow. England lead the four-match series 1-0 after having won the second Test at Old Trafford inside three days. Scoreboard England (1st innings) Trescothick c&b Sami 28 Strauss c Younis b Nazir 36 Cook c&b Gul 23 Pietersen retd hurt 104 Collingwood c Umar b Gul 31 Bell not out 66 Read lbw Gul 38 Hoggard b Gul 0 Extras
(b-7, lb-5, nb-9) 21 Total (6 wickets, 89.4 overs) 347 Fall of wickets:
1-67, 2-67, 3-110, 4-192, 5-345, 6-347. Bowling: Sami 19-1-102-1, Gul 18.4-3-73-4, Nazir 22-6-62-1, Kaneria 24-3-72-0, Umar 2-0-8-0, Butt 4-0-18-0.
— Reuters
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Murali, Malinga restrict SA
Colombo, August 4 The off-spinner’s 55th five-wicket feat, that took his career tally to 650, saw South Africa being bowled out for 361 off the penultimate ball of the day. Seamer Lasith Malinga chipped in with 3-81 as South Africa, happily placed on 231-4 at tea, lost six wickets in a dramatic final session on a sporting Sara Oval pitch. In a day of swinging fortunes, South Africa were reduced to 31-3 by the eighth over before captain Ashwell Prince (86) and AB de Villiers (95) put on 161 for the fifth wicket. The duo, which batted through the post-lunch session, fell in the space of seven overs after tea to hand the initiative back to the Sri Lankans. Veteran Shaun Pollock marked his return with an unbeaten 57 off 70 balls, sharing a last-wicket stand of 34 with Makhaya Ntini that boosted the total. Pollock, who missed the first Test due to the birth of his second daughter, hit five boundaries and two sixes before Ntini holed out against Muralitharan after making 13. South Africa are seeking a series-levelling win after being thrashed by an innings and 153 runs in the first Test at the Sinhalese Sports Club, in which Muralitharan claimed 10 wickets. Scoreboard South Africa (1st innings) Gibbs lbw Vaas 0 Hall c Dilshan b Malinga 0 Rudolph b Malinga 13 Amla lbw Muralitharan 40 Prince c P. Jayawardene De Villiers c P. Jayawardene Boucher b Muralitharan 32 Pollock not out 57 Boje c Sangakkara b Maharoof 11 Steyn c Jayasuriya Ntini c Maharoof Extras 8 Total (all out, 89.5 overs) 361 Fall of wickets:
1-0, 2-4, 3-31, 4-70, 5-231, 6-256, 7-273, 8-307, 9-327. Bowling:
Vaas 18-4-71-1, Malinga 18-4-81-3, Muralitharan 33.5-2-128-5, Maharoof 15-2-52-1, Jayasuriya 5-0-29-0.
— AFP, Reuters
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North Zone to start under-13 cricket tourneys
Dharamsala, August 4 The decision was taken at a meeting of officials of the associations here last evening. It was decided that since very young boys would be playing in the under-13 category, five-ounce softball would be used, as in the case of women’s cricket games. A separate set of rules would be framed for this category and the distance of the boundary would also be brought down. Mr Sanjay Sharma, a spokesman for the Himachal Pradesh Cricket Association (HPCA), told The Tribune that the decision was taken to promote cricket among youngsters and the under-13 tournaments would give selectors a chance to identify promising cricketers. Till now, under-15 used to be the youngest BCCI-sponsored category. The details of the first tournament to be hosted by the PCA, including the schedule, would be finalised soon. Mr Anurag Thakur, president, HPCA, proposed that the under-13 trophy be named after Dhruv Pandove, a promising cricketer from Punjab who had died in an accident. This was unanimously accepted by the officials from various associations. Mr MP Pandove, joint secretary, BCCI, and secretary of the PCA, also attended the meeting. The president-secretaries of state associations are members of the North Zone committee. Even though all players in the under-13 category would be school students, the tournaments would not be played at the school level but would be inter-zonal, sponsored by the BCCI.
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Sania loses in singles, wins in doubles
New Delhi, August 4 The 19-year-old Indian braved a three-hour delayed start due to rain and rallied from a first-set deficit but the fourth seeded Dementieva emerged the better of the two to bag a nervous third set for a 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 third-round victory yesterday. Dementieva will play fifth seed Patty Schnyder of Switzerland, who defeated Argentine Paola Suarez 6-3, 3-6, 6-1, in the quarterfinals. Sania, however, compensated for her singles loss by reaching the doubles quarterfinals with Liezel Huber. The Indo-South African pair defeated Anna Chakvetadze of Russia and Jill Craybas of the USA 7-5, 6-2. Sania, who has shrugged off her wretched form this season to play some attacking tennis on the US hardcourts, was off to a rusty start, conceding a 0-5 lead in the first set. Playing before a packed grandstand, Sania gave her fans something to cheer about as she staged a mini-rally by breaking Dementieva at love and holding her own serve to make the score 5-2. The fourth-seeded Dementieva held serve in the next game to win the set. Sania then broke Dementieva in the second game for a 2-0 lead in the second set. She saved two breakpoints — one courtesy an unforced error by Dementieva and the second through a beautifully angled volley winner — to maintain her lead. The Hyderabadi teenager closed out the set in style, hitting her second ace of the match. Dementieva, who committed 10 doublefaults in all, forged ahead to 5-3 by breaking Sania at love in the eighth game. The Russian, who ousted the Indian in the first round at Wimbledon, then served out the match without trouble.
— PTI
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Italian coach for Punjab boxers
Chandigarh, August 4 “It is a joint effort of the Punjab Sports Department and the Punjab Amateur Boxing Association. Up-and-coming boxers in Punjab have been selected for the specialised coaching under Petrino. He would also update the technical knowledge of the 25 coaches of Punjab who will be joining the camp after a week,” he said. The training programme will include screening videos of professional boxers as well as Olympians. After showing the videos, Petrino will analyse the bouts and provide vital tips to the boxers as well as trainers. “I have seen a lot of potential in Indian boxers. There is a need to polish their talent. Importantly, I need time to understand Indian language and culture which is important to have good rapport with the pugilists,” said Petrino. Petrino would be the second foreign trainer to recently visit Punjab and provide technical guidance to coaches and trainees. Earlier, NBA coach Robert Reid visited Ludhiana during the Junior National Basketball Championship. Giving credentials of the Italian boxing coach, Mr RPS Pawar, IAS, Principal Secretary, Sports, Punjab Government, said Petrino had trained a number of Italian professional and amateur boxers. Roberto Camarella, coached by Petrino, had won the bronze medal in the Olympic Games and the World Cup. His other important trainees are junior world champion (welterweight) Daniel Petrocci, Valantino, Pinto, Dirocco, Mino Rali, Clemente Russo and Fabio Russo. Arjuna awardee boxer Jaipal Singh has been instrumental in chalking out the Italian coach’s programme to train Punjab boxers. Jaipal is also adviser to the Punjab Sports Department regarding the promotion and popularisation of boxing in the state. Pargat also informed mediapersons that international trainer Harpreet Singh had been appointed as coordinator, adding that international coaches Laxmi and Bhagwant Singh were also associated with the coaching-and-clinic programme under Petrino.
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SC tells DD not to interfere with Ten Sports live feed
New Delhi, August 4 Acting tough against Prasar Bharti, a Bench comprising Justice Ashok Bhan and Justice Markandey Katju also told the public broadcaster not to take any coercive action against the private channel for simulcasting the live telecast of sporting events on Doordarshan. Besides the tri-series, Doordarshan will be unable downlink the live feed of US Open tennis from August 28 to September 10, World Cup hockey for men and women from September 6 to 17 and from September 27 to October 8, respectively. When the application was filed by Ten Sports, it had sought similar relief relating to Champions Trophy hockey for men and women which concluded last month. The court also restrained Prasar Bharti from exercising its power for downlinking the live feed of the sporting events as per its April 5 order, by which it had listed certain disciplines as of national interest. The order was to give effect to the government guidelines making it mandatory for channels to share feed of sporting events of national importance with the public broadcaster. The court today made it clear to Prasar Bharti that the guidelines cannot be enforced against Ten Sports.
— PTI
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Ashish wins bronze in Asian gymnastics
Allahabad, August 4 Ashish was in his element right from the beginning and gave the home crowd enough hope for a medal. Having played his first Sub-Junior National Gymnastics championship in 2004, Ashish has till now won 30 gold, 11 silver and one bronze medal in national championships. He made his debut in international events in the 29th Tulit Peter International Gymnastics Championship in Hungary in December, 2003, and has won five gold, four silver and five bronze medals at the international level.— UNI
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Bagan juniors for Manchester Cup
New Delhi, August 4 All-India Football Federation (AIFF) President Priya Ranjan Dasmunshi, at a function to fete the team here today, said the MUPC was an international tournament conducted by Nike in association with the Manchester United Club to popularise the game at the grassroots level and encourage young talent to participate in a global tournament. The MUPC India final was conducted for the first time in the country in association with the AIFF in March this year in Kolkata. Mohun Bagan, winners of the India round, also emerged winners in the South-East Asian regional finals in May at Bangkok when they beat Singapore Sports School 2-0. Over 8,000 teams from 40 countries in five continents competed at various stages of the tournament before the 20 finalists emerged. The two finalists of the final round will play at Old Trafford, the “Theatre of Dreams”, for the title. Mr Dasmunshi said the Indian team would get a dream chance to play against the senior Manchester United team.
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Colts squander advantage
London, August 4 At stumps yesterday, England U-19 were in the driver’s seat at 190 for two. Skipper Varun Chopra, who scored a ton in the first innings, blunted the Indian attack and was five runs short of another century. O Shea was batting at the other end on 24 at close of play. Earlier, India, who were firmly placed at 230 for three on day two, capitulated before leggie Adil Rashid, who claimed eight wickets. India lost wickets at regular intervals with Virat Kohli (59) scoring the only half century of the day for them. The tailenders — Shahbaz Nadeem (22), V Yo Mahesh (35 n.o.) and Abu Ahmed (22) added 64 runs to prevent further humiliation.
— PTI
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New Delhi, August 4
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