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(WORLD CUP) New
Zealand Declines to Play in Kenya SYDNEY: New Zealand has declared that it will not play its World Cup match in Kenya because of security fears. As a result, the team may have to forfeit the pool B match that is to be played on February 21. The decision was announced in Wellington on Friday after a day-long meeting of the New Zealand Cricket Board following an ICC ruling that two Cup matches planned for Nairobi should proceed. New Zealand now faces censure and possible financial penalty for its rejection of the ICC directive. SC Allows
World Cup Sponsors to Remit Money in Forex NEW DELHI: The Supreme Court has permitted major World Cup sponsors, including LG Electronics India, to remit foreign exchange for the mega tournament. However, a three-judge Bench comprising Chief Justice VN Khare, Justice YK Sabharwal and Justice Arijit Pasayat, in their pronouncement on Friday, made it clear that the remittances made by the sponsors to the mega event would be subject to final orders passed by it. This interim order was passed by the Bench while postponing for eight weeks the hearing on an appeal filed by LGEI challenging the Delhi High Court order of January 22. The High Court had directed the Union Government and Reserve Bank of India that no foreign exchange, either in the form of sponsorship money or as damages, be released to ICC if the apex body debarred India from playing in the championship or imposed any penalty or damages on players or BCCI. . Fans Cheer
as Indian Cricketers Leave for S Africa (Go
To Top) MUMBAI: The Indian cricket team left for South Africa early on Wednesday to play for the World Cup. Skipper Saurav Ganguly has said he is confident that his side can regain their best batting form on bouncy South African pitches and ensure success at the tournament. India plays its opening Group A match against unheralded Netherlands on February 12. Hundreds of fans gathered ouside the airport here to cheer the cricketers. All questions in the run-up to the World Cup have centred around the failure of India's much-touted batting in New Zealand, where they lost the one-day series 5-2 and both Tests inside three days on seaming pitches. But Ganguly said the batsmen were experienced and talented enough to fight back in the showpiece event. India will be based in Durban for their final preparation and will play two warm-up games before facing the Dutch side. Coach John Wright said there could still be some uncertainty over batting positions following the debacle in New Zealand. In New Zealand, Ganguly pushed himself down the order after failing as opener while leading batsman Sachin Tendulkar was subdued after suffering an ankle injury earlier on the tour. India's success in one-dayers last year - they were joint winners in the 12-team Champions Trophy and won a tri-series in England - was attributed mainly to playing seven batsmen. Ganguly also said any change in that strategy at the World Cup to include an extra bowler would depend on the form of the frontline batsmen. Wright said it would take "courage, commonsense and passion" to regain their winning momentum but said India had developed into a side which did not give up easily. Cricketers
Not Allowed to Take Wives on World Cup Tour: Dalmiya (Go
To Top) KOLKATA: BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya said here on Sunday that cricketers going to South Africa to play in the World Cup tournament will not be allowed to take along their wives until they qualify for the Super Sixes. After a meeting of the team management attended by skipper Sourav Ganguly, coach John Wright and others, Dalmiya also announced that a South African sports psychologist would accompany the team during the mega event. All Indian cricketers bound for next month's World Cup in South Africa have cleared precautionary dope tests. They underwent the tests during their recent New Zealand tour. Drug tests have been introduced at the World Cup to comply with strict South African laws. "The medicines whatever are under the banned list and their equvivalents have been worked out and the players have been advised, they have been made aware and copies of all details have been given to them," the BCCI chief said. India are in Group A with defending champions Australia, England, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, the Netherlands and Namibia. Cricket
Products Launched in Bangalore (Go
To Top) BANGALORE: With the World Cup fever at its height, the markets these days are flooded with products related to cricket. One can find cricket drinks, books, clothes, toys and so on. And now it is the turn of cricket e-products. The Indian ace leg-spinner Anil Kumble-owned Stump Vision, a computer software company, has launched three e-cricket products: Cricket Safari, Cricket Online and Scorite. Besides, the Bangalore-based company has also unveiled a mascot called Zippy to cheer the Indian team. The 'Cricket Safari' CD has a comprehensive World Cup encyclopedia and an interactive multimedia quiz. Launching the product, India's vice-captain Rahul Dravid said that this e-product could be a collector's item. Cricket Online, another product launched by the company, is a website which will provide amateur players and cricket lovers the world over all possible data on cricket. The third product Scorite is an easy system for easy scoring. Zippy is a cartoon character, it's a cat and it will take people around the encyclopedia. It will also act as a quiz master in Cricket Safari. Contract
Compromise: India to Play World Cup(Go
To Top) NEW DELHI: The International Cricket Council (ICC) executive board on Friday formally accepted the conditional contracts signed by Indian players for the World Cup, paving the way for the smooth participation of India's best cricketers in theCup. BCCI president Jagmohan Dalmiya said in Kolkata that he is happy about the development. According to the compromise, the players will be barred from advertising for rivals of official sponsors only during the Cup. And the contracts row will be resolved after the Cup through arbitration. LG Favours
BCCI-ICC Compromise (Go
To Top) BANGALORE: LG Electronics India, a major sponsor of the cricket World Cup, on Friday said it favoured a compromise between the Board of Control for Cricket in India and the International Cricket Council to settle the contracts row. "ICC and BCCI must compromise, nicely looking at cricket first," KR Kim, Managing Director of LGEIL, which has signed a five-year 25 million dollar sponsorship contract with ICC, said. Asked what LG would do if a second-string Indian cricket team is sent, he said the BCCI "must not kill cricket. We are together not to kill the cricket. We are friends of the cricket game." To another query, he said the company would follow whatever decision the ICC and BCCI took on the contracts issue. He said there was no dispute between LG and Samsung on the issue of advertisements relating to the World Cup. World Cup
Sponsorship Row Likely to Blow Over (Go
To Top) NEW DELHI: The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) met in New Delhi on Wednesday amidst reports that the International Cricket Council (ICC) had offered to end the ongoing World Cup sponsorship row between the two. BCCI chief Jagmohan Dalmiya was due to address a press conference later in the evening. Sources say, a specially convened World Cup contracts committee of the ICC agreed by teleconference last weekend to clear the way for India's participation in the competition, which begins in South Africa on February 9. It will accept India's refusal to sign up to its World Cup sponsorship rules in their entirety in return for a reimbursement from their board of any future claims for compensation arising from that. This proposal is expected to be endorsed by a full board meeting of the ICC on Friday. India's top players, backed by their board, had refused to accept a suspension of their individual sponsorships just before and during the competition, arguing that the ICC had no right to sell their image rights. Meanwhile, an Indian court added more teeth to BCCI's case as it asked the Government to penalise World Cup cricket sponsors if the sport's world governing body moved against Indian players. The Delhi High Court's interim ruling orders the Government to block foreign exchange for sponsors, which include major multinationals, if Indian players are barred from the World Cup or if any penalties are imposed on them or the Indian board. The court also said World Cup sponsors should be banned from advertising in India during the February 9-March 23 competition in South Africa. Kapil Dev and other former players and officials had petitioned the court saying temporary sponsorship restrictions imposed by the ICC on non-World Cup sponsors during the Cup were unfair. All ICC member-countries are expected to earn around 9 million dollars for competing at this year's World Cup, which is being co-hosted by South Africa, Zimbabwe and Kenya. Delhi
High Court Notice to Govt, ICC on World Cup Contracts (Go
To Top) NEW DELHI: On a petition challenging the controversial players' contracts for the upcoming World Cup, the Delhi High Court on Friday issued notices to the Government, International Cricket Council and its marketing arm ICC Development International, Board of Control for Cricket in India, Reserve Bank of India and six sponsoring companies. A Division Bench, comprising acting Chief Justice Devinder Gupta and Justice BD Ahmed, issued the notices on a petition filed by former Union minister and BCCI president NKP Salve and five others, including former cricketers Kapil Dev and Madan Lal. The petition challenged the contracts on the ground that even though 80 per cent of ICC funds were generated in India, ICC had imposed stringent and unreasonable conditions on Indian players to participate in the World Cup. All the respondents, including Pepsi, Hero Honda, LG, Nimbus Communications, TVS Motors, Coca Cola, Sahara India Financial Corporation and Samsung, are directed to file their replies by January 21 giving reasons why the petition should not be admitted. cricketnext.com
Wins Internet Rights for World Cup(Go
To Top) NEW DELHI: The website, cricketnext.com, has bagged global Internet rights for the upcoming World Cup in South Africa beginning February 9. "It is exciting, we feel challenged and fired up. It is a global tie-up in every sense. World Cup is a mega event and we will be deploying exceptional editorial, marketing and technological resources to make the event a runaway success. Channels are according to countries. But websites, as you know, are beyond territories," a visibly thrilled Sanjay Jha, MD, cricketnext.com, told exchange4media. "Although I can't tell you about the amount I have paid, I am confident that it is a profitable deal for us. In fact, we have already tied up with a few sponsors," added Jha. ICC to Review
Zimbabwe as World Cup Venue(Go
To Top) LONDON: The International Cricket Council (ICC) has formed a standing committee to monitor whether or not games at the forthcoming World Cup can be played in Zimbabwe. The African nation is due to host six of the 54 World Cup matches when the tournament gets under way next month, but food riots in Harare and Bulawayo have raised safety concerns. ICC president Malcolm Gray told the BBC: "The committee will keep a watching brief over security and will act if need be." There has been widespread opposition to the Zimbabwe matches, with politicians and human rights groups saying they must be played elsewhere in protest against the policies of President Robert Mugabe. The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has come under strong pressure from the British Government to pull out of their match With Zimbabwe in Harare on February 13, although ministers have stressed that the final decision was for the cricket authorities. The ICC maintains that the only reason for moving matches from Zimbabwe would be on safety and security grounds. Gray said: "You can't take the issue of security and relate it to the political question as to whether England go or not. I think the ECB has been doing a miraculous job and the management has taken a strong stance," he added. "If any team doesn't go to the World Cup they won't be looked upon kindly by fellow members of the ICC." And ECB chairman David Morgan is also worried by the possibility of a split in world cricket, with India and Pakistan having both made it clear they were happy to play their matches in Zimbabwe. "I want cricket to be united and I think it (the Zimbabwe leg of the World Cup) has to go ahead for the game to remain united," Morgan told the BBC. "It's a possibility, and a worrying possibility, that Zimbabwe won't come to England to play in the Test and one-day series this summer. "That's more important than some of the financial considerations." (More) Tight
Security for World Cup Venues(Go To Top) JOHANNESBURG: The South African police is to take over all the venues of the forthcoming World Cup two weeks before the big event gets under way as part of a nation-wide security operation, reports Dawn. The grounds will be thoroughly screened and "swept" for bombs and will be sealed ahead of the opening ceremony on January 8 at Newlands in Cape Town. Superintendent Muller, the national police spokesman for matters concerning the World Cup 2003 security, said the SA Police Service will have complete control of all the grounds. Sniffer dogs will be deployed to detect explosives. "We are going to have a complete lock-down after we have 'bomb-swept' the stadiums and no one will be allowed to enter unless they have the right accreditation," said the police spokesman. According to Muller, the security was planned in such a way that people would not be delayed in reaching the venues. They were aware of the warning from some countries about possible terrorist activities in South Africa and intelligence arms had not been idle and were gathering information nationally and internationally. The security plan is to be co-ordinated with World Cup Organisers, the police, the SA National Defence Force and the National Intelligence Agency and will include provisions for "no-fly zones" as well as regular air patrols and deployment of members of armed forces. No Second
Thought on Waqar: PCB (Go To Top) KARACHI: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has finally decided to retain Waqar Younis as captain for the coming World Cup. Reliable sources close to Board Chairman Tauqir Zia told the News that there were now zero chances of Waqar being changed as captain before the World Cup. "Despite complaints about his attitude with other players and team's poor results in South Africa, it has been decided that Waqar will continue as captain for the World Cup," a source confided. Following confirmed reports that some of the players had some problems with Waqar and the team's poor results in South Africa, there were indications that the Board was still considering appointing a new captain. Indian
Cricketers Sign Contract on Condition (Go
To Top) SYDNEY: In a significant step towards breaking the impasse over the vexed contract issue, all the 15 members of the Indian World Cup squad in Auckland, New Zealand, signed the ICC players' terms contract on Friday but made it clear that certain clauses in it were not acceptable to them. Although the cricketers made themselves available for the mega event by honouring the January 14 deadline set by the ICC, they have objected to certain "restrictions" in the contract. The signed forms will now be sent to the BCCI which will forward it to the International Cricket Council. The Indian players have signed the forms only after declaring their non-acceptance of a few contentious clauses, it is reported. Skipper Sourav Ganguly said the players' stand had already been explained in detail to the ICC. "We are in contact with the BCCI. We have told the ICC what our problems are. We have given our terms and conditions. There are certain areas that need to be looked into," he said. It is learnt the players are willing to persuade their sponsors not to air conflicting advertisements for the duration of the World Cup (February 8-March 23) but not ready to do so for a month before and after the event. They have also voiced their objection to the images clause, according to the sources. PCB Bans
Wives' Travel With Team(Go
To Top) LAHORE:The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has decided against allowing wives to accompany the players to South Africa. The decision was taken at a meeting chaired by PCB chief Lt Gen Tauqir Zia on Monday, reports Dawn. Earlier, manager-designate of World Cup squad, Shaharyar Khan, was given a detailed briefing about the players' contract and the Code of Conduct of the mega event by the PCB boss. Zimbabwe
Caught Between World Cup and Politics (Go
To Top) HARARE: There are several cross-currents of opinion on the World Cup fixtures in the Zimbabwean Capital. Captain Heath Streak, whose family faces the prospect of losing their farm in Matabeleland under President Robert Mugabe's land redistribution programme, has urged England to go ahead with the matches and ignore calls for a boycott. According to him, sport and politics should be kept apart. "It would be sad for us not to play them (England) in our group match," Streak told BBC. "We want to play all the group games here in Zimbabwe. Hopefully they will go ahead, but if it doesn't happen, that's one of those things." "We have had good rivalry in the past, and hopefully they will come, but at the end of the day it is up to the ECB (England and Wales Cricket Board) and the British Government what happens." Streak's father, Dennis, was detained earlier this year when he failed to comply with a Government deadline for White farmers to vacate their land, and it is not clear if the cricketer was speaking under duress. "We are contractually bound over what we can and cannot say. It is a tough one for me. At this stage we are on quite delicate ground. I am caught between a rock and a hard place, " he later told The Telegraph. But other members of the Zimbabwe team have told the media, obviously anonymously, that they are opposed to World Cup matches being hosted in the country because of the human rights record of the Mugabe regime and the growing famine. One player told the Advertiser, an Australian newspaper: "There comes a point when the game just doesn't go on. The world would see a happy, multi-racial crowd enjoying a game of cricket in an apparently happy environment and that would be wrong - it would be sickeningly wrong. The stadiums will be managed and policed in such a way as to make it impossible to stage a demonstration or protest." Another senior Zimbabwean cricket source said: "We are all worried that if World Cup cricket matches scheduled for Zimbabwe are not played here, the Government will refuse to allow the national team to compete in the Cup at all." The source added that the Zimbabwe cricket team "has been dominated by politics for ages." England's players and cricketing authorities are coming under increasing pressure from the Government not to play the fixture in Zimbabwe. The ministers will meet senior officials from the ECB next week to discuss the situation. The ECB faces a possible 1 million pound fine from the International Cricket Council if it refuses to play the match in Zimbabwe and is seeking compensation from the Government if it withdraws from the game, but Mike O'Brien, Foreign Office minister, has ruled out compensation. On the other hand, Michael Vaughan, the England batsman, said he and his team-mates were prepared to play in Harare. "If the ECB tell us to go, we will go," said Vaughan. Cairns,
Harris in NZ Squad for World Cup (Go
To Top) SYDNEY: Veteran all-rounders Chrish Cairns Chris Harris have been included in New Zealand's 15-member squad for the World Cup. Cairns, who had a knee injury, and Harris, out of favour with the selectors in recent times, missed the Test series against the touring Indian side. However, the latter will play in the fourth ODI against the visitors on Saturday. The selectors have listed in the 15 most of the cricketers currently playing against India but left out medium pacer Paul Hitchcock and wicket-keeper Chris Nevin, placing their faith on Kyle Mills and Brendon McCullum. -ANI |
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