Cricket
of the Olympics, August 19:
Beijing, Aug 18 (DPA) The gold medals awarded at the Beijing Olympics are mostly made of silver. Each medal contains only six percent pure gold, committe secretary-general Wang Wei said. The rest is silver, he added.
The raw materials for the medals came from Australia and were vetted by a state-approved testing authority, Wang said.
Canada seals ODI win over Bermuda
Canada 260 for 7 wickets (50 overs; Ramesh David 48, Karun Jethi 47) beat Bermuda 235 for 8 wickets (50 overs; Carl Douglas 69, Jekon Edness 45) by 25 runs.
Canada won an entertaining, high-scoring game with Bermuda by 25 runs on Monday (Aug 18) in the Scotiabank Series at Maple Leaf Cricket Club, King City. Rizwan Cheema hit a breezy 38 as Canada made a flying start. The scoring rate mellowed, but there were solid contributions from Ramesh David, who made 48 and captain Sunil Dhaniram 36. A rousing finale was lead by Karun Jethi with 47 not out off 36 balls, partnered by Harvir Baidwan, 17 not out. The pair added 73 runs in less than 9 overs.
Bermuda looked to be heading to victory after a fine second wicket stand from Jekon Edness and Carl Douglas took the score to 123. Edness dismissal hardly stopped the progress as Steven Outerbridge and Douglas continued to press towards victory. At 181 for 2 wickets, Bermuda seemed in the driving seat, but Outerbridge was out for 26. Then a delighted Jethi bowled Douglas, who made 69 and a quick trail of skied hits brought some good catches. A little flutter came back into the Bermuda effort, but they ended on 235 for 8 wickets, so Canada was home by 25 runs.
Bermuda plays the West Indies on Wednesday (today) and the round robin phase concludes with Canada against the West Indies on Friday. The top two sides meet in Sunday’s Scotiabank Series Final. All matches start at 11 am.
Cricket lovers might want to bring a chair and refreshments, based on the series opener.
(Report by Eddie Norfolk)
India opening batsman Virender Sehwag has been ruled out of the one-day series against Sri Lanka after injuring his ankle in training.
India's leading batsman in the test series, Sehwag twisted his ankle in training on Sunday and missed the opener of the five-match series a day later, a contest India lost by eight wickets.
Sehwag will return home and a decision on whether to send out a replacement has yet to be made.
India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni admitted the loss of the in-form opener was a major blow.
"He was a batsman in top form but that's the way it goes in cricket," Dhoni told reporters.
India are already without talismanic batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who has an elbow injury.
of Canada,
Bermuda and the WI
Tickets are $50.00 per head (includes 2 tickets to Final on August 24) available at: Qasra Sports, 6680 Finch Ave West, Unit 2, Toronto (Finch and Hwy 427), Ph: 416.213.0734.
against Sri Lanka
Dambulla (IANS) — Indian batsmen failed to adjust to the low and slow turning wicket at the Dambulla Rangiri Int Stadium and crashed to a 8-wicket defeat by Sri Lanka in the first of the five one-day internationals here Monday.
The wicket here is known for producing low scores. Over the last eight years, in 23 ODIs, the venue has seen only four scores of over 250 and just one player has managed to score a century.
It was no different Monday as the trend continued as India were bundled out for a paltry 146 in 46 overs and the Sri Lankans reached the target losing only two wickets with more than 15 overs to spare.
India’s famous middle order that had failed to click through the Test series was replaced by youth, but it made little difference as the visitors struggled against deadly spin duo Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis.
The Indians suffered a major blow when in-form opener Virender Sehwag was ruled out with an ankle injury suffered while training Sunday and that allowed under-19 captain Virat Kohli to make his debut.
Game Summary
Aug 18: 1st ODI India v Sri Lanka at Dambulla
Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets (with 91 balls remaining)
India 146 (46 ov); Sri Lanka 147/2 (34.5 ov).
Earlier Sri Lanka won the 3rd and final Test against India to take the series 2-1. Summary scores are:
Aug 8-11: 3rd Test India v Sri Lanka at Colombo (PSS) - Sri Lanka won by 8 wickets.
India 249 and 268; Sri Lanka 396 and 123/2.
Karachi, (IANS) — Just hours after Pakistan president Pervez Musharraf announced his resignation, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Nasim Ashraf also decided to quit Monday.
Sources in the PCB told IANS that Ashraf decided to resign as PCB chief following a meeting of senior Board officials Monday. Ashraf, who was handpicked by Musharraf to become the PCB chairman in September 2006, had just returned home from a personal trip of the United States. He was one of Musharraf's close aides and it was widely speculated in the national cricket circles that if the president quits then the PCB chief will follow suit.
Ashraf, a US-based doctor before his appointment as the PCB chairman, took over the position at a turbulent period, just days after Pakistan became the first test-playing nation to forfeit a Test, against England at The Oval.
Later, Pakistan cricket went through a lot of turmoil in 2007 when the country suffered an embarrassing first round defeat in the World Cup in the West Indies and more importantly lost their coach Bob Woolmer in suspicious circumstances.
Tournament launched across the Caribbean
Nine thirteen-and-under cricket teams from across the Caribbean converged on St. Kitts this past weekend to participate in the St. Kitts-Nevis 13 & Under Invitational Cricket Festival.
Coaches, parents and players from Antigua & Barbuda, Barbados, Bermuda, Anguilla, Montserrat, Dominica, St. Kitts, Nevis and reigning champions, Trinidad and Tobago attended the opening ceremony held at the Basseterre High School auditorium on Saturday, August 16th.
St. Kitts-Nevis Prime Minister Hon. Dr. Denzil Douglas told the attentive youths that they should seize all such opportunities to play cricket and represent their respective countries.
“When I was a young boy, I didn’t have the opportunity to play in world class facilities like the Warner Park Stadium here in St. Kitts. Nor was I afforded the chance to travel overseas to represent my country like you are doing now. I believe cricket on a whole has come to a low end and needs to be revived. It has to begin at this level, with the younger ones. I firmly believe that in time, we will once again be able to face the cricketing world with confidence,” he opined.
Douglas also disclosed that he was concerned with building the physical resource as well as the human resource and skills necessary to compete successfully in international cricket.
Referring the ridicule facing the current West Indies Cricket Team, he told the players that once they believed in themselves, they “could take the mantle of leadership” forward.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Sports, Lloyd Lazar addressed the youth and urged them to make friends with players from other countries as the tournament would serve as a catalyst for regional integration for the young sporting people.
“Under 13 cricket is the way to go to get West Indies to the epitome of the sport. Our vision is to see West Indies as prominent leaders for international cricket so we are pleased to see all the territories represented here as it signifies they share the vision that West Indies reach the pinnacle of the success as it had in years past,” he said.
Team captains took the players’ oath promising to play the game fairly and in true spirit, followed by St. Kitts’ umpire, Steadroy Tisheira who took the umpires’ oath.
Matches will be played throughout St. Kitts at various cricketing venues with the Nevis team playing its matches on the sister island. All teams will be able to play at least one match in the historic Warner Park Cricket Stadium.
begin Oct 10
Karachi, (IANS) — A four-nation Twenty20 cricket tournament in Canada which was supposed to take place in August will now be played in Toronto from Oct 10-13.
According to a spokesman of the tournament organisers, Pakistan, Canada, West Indies and Bangladesh - the four participating teams in the contest - have agreed to the new dates of the event, which is aimed at reviving international cricket in Canada.
The Toronto quadrangular was scheduled to take place this month but was postponed after the West Indians failed to sign a memorandum of understanding with the event's organisers. Pakistan, Bangladesh and hosts Canada had signed the MoUs for the event.
The spokesman said that this time the West Indian Cricket Board has given an assurance that it would soon sign a contract that would commit its team's participation in the tri-nation tournament. He said the other three competing nations have also agreed to the new dates.
The tournament is to be organised by a Pakistani business house that plans to bring more int'l action to Canada including a series between old rivals India and Pakistan next year.
Both players left the tour of West Indies early, with Ponting heading home during the one-day series, and Hayden departing without playing a Test. "I'm feeling pretty good but if you'd asked me this time last week I would have said I was no chance," Hayden told the Australian. "I saw my local physio [on Friday] and he said it was a completely different tendon to the one he treated last week. He was really worried.
"It's a race against the clock. Given its rapid improvement from last week I'm certainly a chance but I can't give a definite answer whether I'm in or out. I've got to be careful I don't take any risks over the next month or so given what we have ahead of us. I'll certainly be conservative with it."
Michael Clarke, who was in Melbourne for a meeting with ICC officials over the Pakistan situation, will take charge of the 14-man squad. Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, said the three games against Bangladesh in Darwin would be ideal preparation for a busy time over the next 18 months. "While it is disappointing not to have Ricky Ponting available," Hilditch said, "we are confident that continuing his recovery and missing this series will assure Ricky is ready for the demanding cricket schedule ahead."
Australia's previous engagement was the 5-0 win over West Indies and players such as Shaun Marsh, Cameron White and David Hussey have held their spots. "This series provides us with an exciting opportunity to see our senior players and youth combine in what will be a very important series for us," the coach Tim Nielsen said. "We are very hopeful of Matthew Hayden being able to rejoin the team and our medical staff will continue to monitor him over the next two weeks."
The Australians go into camp next week in Queensland before the first match of the series on August 30. Originally Bangladesh were supposed to appear in two Tests, but they were postponed to 2010 when it was realised they clashed with the Olympics. Both teams will use the contests to fine-tune for the Champions Trophy, due to start in Pakistan on Sept 12.