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The ICC has sent its Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU), led by chief investigator Ravi Sawani, to New Zealand to sensitise players participating in the Under-19 World Cup about match-fixing. Prior to the tournament, the ACSU lectured the teams on safety precautions to ensure they did not fall into the trap of bookies and match-fixers.Chris Kuggeleijn, coach of the New Zealand team, said Sawani cautioned the players about the prevalence of match-fixing, and how bookies often tended to fix smaller details in ‘spot-bets’ rather than involve players in full-blown match-fixing. Potential spot-bets include the number of wides or no-balls bowled in a spell or even the number of fielders wearing caps on the field.”The thing that was made clear is that it is still going on, it hasn’t been stamped out, and it’s pretty scary. Fixers take you out for tea, they talk to you, always say hello and become your friend,” Kuggeleijn was quoted in the “It might even take them a year to fully build the relationship. They’re just after little snippets of information and it is things within a match to bet on rather than full-blown match-fixing.”Once you do something you’re bug*****. That’s because someone across the road will be taking a photo of you having a drink with the match-fixer or they’ll snap you taking something off him. Then you can’t get out.”Kuggeleijn expressed hope that ACSU’s measures at the World Cup would help to develop awareness among players at a young age.”The ICC approach includes prevention through education and enforcement of minimum standards and discipline in the dressing rooms; the gathering of intelligence; the investigation of reported breaches or approaches; and, where appropriate, disciplinary procedures. Hopefully, the ACSU’s presence will make players aware of the potential dangers.”ICC spokesman James Fitzgerald also reiterated that the ICC strove to control spot-betting at all levels.”Spot betting is an area we work hard to monitor. Players will be educated on that issue too. Potential corruptors look for vulnerable players and officials to provide inside information or encourage them to under-perform”, Fitzgerald said.Ross Taylor, who captained New Zealand in the 2002 edition of the U-19 World Cup, was in favour of the involvement of the ICC ACSU in the youth event.”Those involved in illegal betting like to ‘groom’ players from an early age, so quite a long way back, we decided to extend our education programme to the Under-19 World Cup. Obviously what to look out for doesn’t apply so much at that [Under-19] level but a number of those players were always going to represent their countries at the top level,” Taylor said.

It won’t matter whether Ricky Ponting or Phillip Hughes play against Pakistan on Boxing Day, they can both expect a barrage of short balls. Australia are waiting on Ponting’s fitness after he was hit on the left elbow ducking a Kemar Roach bouncer in Perth and Chris Gayle, the West Indies captain, said they unearthed a glaring weakness in the Australian’s game.Gayle said other teams should study the way Roach operated to Ponting in dismissing him three times in the series and forcing him to retire hurt. “Our plan to bowl short at him worked really well and I think they are tactics that other Test teams can use with a lot of success against him,” Gayle wrote in his Daily Telegraph column.”Ricky is a person who will always hook and pull – those are some of his favourite shots – but they can also be his major weakness. If you have a bowler with a bit of pace I think you can give him some real trouble.”Gayle said Roach tried to hustle Ponting by bowling at his body and getting him to hook or pull. “Ricky definitely looked very uncomfortable,” he said. “The plans that we came up with weren’t from watching any videos of Ricky, they were just my gut instinct.”Hughes is on standby for Ponting and had his own problems with the short ball during the tour of England, which included some rough treatment from Steve Harmison in a warm-up game and Andrew Flintoff in two Tests. He has re-found form after being cut from the national squad and is hoping to get a chance to show he is ready for a long-term run in the side.”Being dropped is a part of the sport, and I’m a big believer in that,” Hughes said in the Sydney Morning Herald. ”That’s life. What has happened has happened.”To be in a squad now for a Boxing Day Test, it’s the one as a kid you always love to watch and always want to be involved in. It’s such a big thing. I’ve been feeling good in myself but to get the numbers on the board in this game [he scored 122 and 7 against Victoria] … I’ll go to Melbourne and be ready if a chance does come up.”

Allrounders the world over are either fighting frequent injuries or giving up one form of the game to prolong their careers in another, but not Jacques Kallis. He’s remained remarkably durable over a 14-year career, performing consistently with bat and ball, and has no intention of giving up a format, or forgoing his bowling, to extend his career.”As I sit here at the moment, I’m still fit enough to keep going and I enjoy all three formats,” Kallis said. “I enjoy both batting and bowling. Certainly in Test cricket, if I spend a day in the field without bowling, it feels like it’s two days. For me to give up bowling would be tough, and I’ll only do that if my body tells me to. The day I wake up and it gets too much, [and] I’m not really enjoying it, I’ll stop.”Kallis has scored over 10,000 runs and has taken more than 200 wickets in both Tests and ODIs but his career, which has remained largely injury-free, has been the exception during a time when genuine allrounders are becoming a rarity. Andrew Flintoff’s spate of injuries forced him to give up Test cricket in order to prolong his limited-overs careers, and New Zealand’s Jacob Oram has often said that he could be forced to give up bowling in order avoid sitting injured on the sidelines.”With the amount of cricket that is played around the world, it’s tough,” Kallis said. “I’ve been fortunate in my career, I haven’t been injured too often, but the life of an allrounder is pretty tough. It is tough on the body and that’s probably why there are not so many top allrounders still playing all three formats.”Kallis recently received high praise from Kevin Pietersen, who called the allrounder the “greatest cricketer ever”.”It’s a great compliment, especially coming from a player like him,” Kallis said. “But you’ve got to look at the stats – sure, the runs might be there and the wickets might be there, but we’re playing a lot more cricket these days than the guys in yesteryears. I’m sure that if they’d played the amount of cricket that we play today, they would have achieved what modern-day cricketers achieve as well.”A side-strain prevented Kallis from bowling during the second Twenty20 international against England on Sunday but he is expected to be fully fit for the first ODI in Johannesburg on Friday.

For half an hour at the Feroz Shah Kotla on Friday, James Hopes took throwdowns from Tim Nielsen in the nets even as the rest of his team-mates warmed up in the main stadium. He made sure he stretched while playing the sweeps, paddles and reverse-paddles. He then proceeded to bowl quite a bit, before batting some more.Australia were desperate, but after the fitness test they chose not to risk Hopes. Brett Lee bowled a few deliveries from four paces, and it was clear he wouldn’t be playing either. Graham Manou, the replacement wicketkeeper for the injured Tim Paine, was still several hours’ flying time from India.Two days ago after being mauled in Nagpur without Lee and Hopes, Australia are ‘Paine-less’ as well.The win in Vadodara was just five days ago but this already seems a different world for them. Till Harbhajan Singh and Praveen Kumar’s freak partnership, it seemed like the highs from the England series and Champions Trophy hadn’t ended for Australia.Lee couldn’t bowl out his quota then, Hopes’ hamstring gave way and Shane Watson and Peter Siddle came down with a sudden bout of half-volleys and full-tosses. It was reminiscent of 2008 when Harbhajan and Zaheer saved the Bangalore Test, after which it was all India.From looking like world champions, Australia are struggling to find 11 men standing, let alone a best XI. They might be desperate but they are not panicking just as yet. Ricky Ponting doesn’t worry about what has happened over the last six days.”I am not a big believer of momentum from game to game,” Ponting said. “Momentum is all that’s happening in a particular game. I don’t think much of it carries from game to game. I think many of the games that I have played in the past have changed too quickly to be attributed to momentum.”India played very well in the last game, and the injuries we have cost us at Nagpur. We know we have to improve. It’s one thing to talk about, and another thing to go out and do.”Ponting has a point, in that you land in a city, rest for the night, train the next day, play the day after, and travel to the next city. Throw in new pitches, new grounds and new environments and repeat the cycle six times. If anything, it should be difficult to build momentum in such a series. There is hardly any time to brood over a loss either.India, though, see the things differently. “We can say that we lost the first match because we didn’t bat well or bowl well, but we took a lot of positives from that game,” MS Dhoni said. “The way Praveen and Harbhajan batted, the momentum swung towards us slightly, and then we performed well in that second match in all departments. We are paying more attention to the momentum that we have, and are hoping to capitalise on it. We will try to do well this match rather than worrying about injuries in the Australian team.”However, Dhoni indicated he wasn’t overestimating the concept. “What really happens in a long series like this is that it suddenly becomes a five-match series,” he said. “You carry a bit of momentum and confidence, but for every game you have to start from scratch. Every batsman who is in good form has to go out and score runs for the side. At the same time, the players who have not done well in the last couple of games need to come back and perform.”Both teams are treating it differently, and it is perhaps too early in the series to talk of decisive momentum. The scoreline still says 1-1 and, though it may well be a five-match series from now on, Australia – who came into this series without two first-choice men – have lost three more. They will do well to overcome that on Saturday as the series promises a couple of more shifts in momentum.

Mike Procter, South Africa’s convener of selectors, has backed opener Herschelle Gibbs to bounce back after being dropped from the ODI and Twenty20 squads to face Zimbabwe and England at home next month. Procter explained that Gibbs’ inconsistency had cost him his place and added that his omission will leave the door open for experimentation at the top of the order.Gibbs failed to get going for the Cape Cobras in the Champions League Twenty20 in India, scoring just 43 runs in four games. He scored 42 of those in the semi-final against Trinidad and Tobago but prior to that, recorded two first-ball ducks.”We have lost patience with his inconsistency and I had a chat with him this morning and we agreed that he has been inconsistent,” Procter told . “We have to keep 2011 [the World Cup] in mind and we need to spread our wings a bit. But the door is not closed for Herschelle, although it will be tough for him. He is 35, but he is fit and he is a huge talent and if he makes a mountain of runs and is batting consistently then things change.”Procter said the team management had discussed the possibility of Jacques Kallis opening the batting with captain Graeme Smith, instead of Lions opening batsman Alviro Petersen, who was recalled to the squad. However, Procter added that the batting order was still flexible.”Mickey Arthur (the coach) and Graeme [Smith] want Jacques to open and AB [de Villiers] will then move up to three and JP Duminy to four,” Procter said. “We’re looking at Alviro at five. We know it’s out of position, but we believe he can adapt and he has been a prolific run-scorer in the last couple of seasons.”But we have so many options. Hashim Amla or Alviro could open if the Smith-Kallis partnership does not work and we’re also looking to take pressure off Albie Morkel in terms of his bowling. We’d like to take the responsibility of bowling ten overs off his shoulders and he can make up for it with the bat. We’d like to play him at six and use him as more of a pure batsman.”Charl Langeveldt also earned a recall after relinquishing his Kolpak status and Procter praised the fast bowler for making himself available for national selection. The uncapped allrounder Ryan McLaren, a proven performer with Kent, too dropped his Kolpak status and was named in the squads.”We’re absolutely thrilled to be able to choose Charl again,” Procter said. “He bowls very well at the death and he’s able to get both late and reverse swing.”

Graeme Smith has withdrawn from the Cape Cobras squad for the Champions League Twenty20, which starts in India from October. Smith had suffered cramps while batting against England in their final Champions Trophy match, and Cricket South Africa (CSA) made the decision on Tuesday after being advised by the medical committee.”After much discussion and deliberation, the Proteas’ management together with the medical committee of Cricket South Africa headed by Dr Shuaib Manjra have made a decision to withdraw Graeme from the upcoming Champions League in India,” said Dr Mohammed Moosajee, the national team manager. “This decision is based on Graeme’s current upper limb dysfunction.”Team physiotherapist Brandon Jackson indicated that it was important for Smith to abstain from playing for the next four to six weeks in order to get through a very long season. “We need to work on strengthening his muscles around the shoulder area and continue his post-operation rehab,” Jackson said. “The elbow operation was 100% successful and I am confident that he will be ready for action by the start of the England series in November.”Smith said he was very disappointed not to be leading the South African domestic Twenty20 champions in India. “It is very important for South African cricket that the two franchises representing us in India should do well,” he said. “And, like all the national players, I enjoy playing franchise cricket whenever national circumstances permit.”It is likely, though, that Smith will make his return at the end of October when the Cobras have four matches in the MTN Domestic Championship between October 28 and November 6. The next assignment for South Africa is the first of two Standard Bank International Pro20 matches against England on November 13.Jacques Kallis, another South African who will be featuring in the Champions League Twenty20, with the Royal Challengers Bangalore, is making a quick recovery from his side strain and will leave at the weekend for the tournament.The Eagles leave for India on Thursday and the Cobras on Friday.

There were smiles all around the Hong Kong camp at the Maple Leaf North-West Ground despite ending up on the losing side. Hong Kong managed to qualify for the ICC Under-19 World Cup on the basis of a superior net run-rate and in the process managed to edge out Netherlands and Uganda – who were all tied on points before this game – with one qualifying spot at stake. They lost narrowly by one wicket on Sunday against USA – a thrilling last-ball finish – but that was enough to see them through to the World Cup finals.Irfan Ahmed was the stand-out performer for Hong Kong, as his 90 helped them to 210 for 8. His innings came at a very crucial stage in the innings when they were struggling at 84 for 6. He was helped along the way by Asif Khan (34) and Aizaz Khan (30*). The USA batsmen failed to convert their starts but were still on course to the target at 189 for 6. But quick strikes by Niaz Ali and Aizaz turned the script, before Saami Siddiqui and Salman Ahmad steered them home.”All the boys are just over the moon that we have qualified and at the way we fought back after such a poor start to the event,” Jamie Atkinson, the Hong Kong captain, said. “It would have capped it off to get a win against the USA, but we couldn’t quite manage it.”Hong Kong join Ireland, Afghanistan, Canada, Papua New Guinea and USA in the U-19 World Cup in New Zealand next year.Meanwhile, Ireland clinched the U-19 World Cup Qualifiers title after demolishing Vanuatu by 291 runs at the South-East ground. Such was the dominance that one batsman – Paul Stirling – managed to score twice of what 11 Vanuatu batsmen could manage. His blazing 164 off 128 balls pushed his team to 373, before the opposition was bundled out for 82.Stirling blazed 17 fours and seven sixes in his knock, which helped Ireland get to the 300-mark. Graham McDonnell then carried on the momentum with an aggressive unbeaten 74 off 38 balls. The game was over 15 overs into the chase as Shane Getkate and Craig Young took six and four wickets respectively to wrap up the match. Lazaro Carlot was the only batsman who managed to get double figures.”I’m really delighted with our performance,” Ireland captain Andrew Balbirnie said. “We thought that net run-rate would come into it so we wanted to score lots of runs and the lads performed really well.”Getkate said Vanuatu had got off to a great start so the bowlers concentrated on bowling straight. “It’s a great opportunity for us to go and play in the World Cup. I missed the last World Cup through injury so hopefully that won’t happen again. We want to defeat a Test nation at the event and be competitive and we also know that some good performances might help us get into the senior team.”The hosts Canada recorded a comfortable five-wicket win over Afghanistan at the South-West Ground. It was a disappointing day with the bat for Afghanistan, as they could only manage 165. Hiral Patel and Nitish Kumar took three wickets apiece to set up the win. Ruvindu Gunasekara led the chase with an unbeaten 57 as Canada got home with more than six overs to spare.Heni Siaka’s 103 laid the foundation for Papua New Guinea‘s 86-run win against Netherlands at the North-East Ground. His 127-ball knock included eight fours. The target of 255 proved way out of reach for Netherlands, whose batting crumbled to 103 for 8. Ferdi Vink and Lucas Brouwers then delayed the inevitable to push the score to 168. PNG ended on third place, behind Afghanistan.

Shahid Afridi, Pakistan’s captain for the one-off Twenty20, believes his team played ‘mature cricket’ to beat Sri Lanka and end their six-week tour on a winning note. Afridi, leading his country for the first time, got Pakistan to rally around him magnificently in carving out a win which went to prove that Pakistan’s victory in the ICC World Twenty20 final against Sri Lanka was no fluke.As in the Lord’s final it was Afridi’s all-round brilliance that tilted the scales in favour of Pakistan. He scored a well-paced half-century off 37 balls, took a vital wicket and also affected a run out to grab the Man-of-the-Match award on his debut as captain. “As captain I am really happy to have won. The guys really played mature cricket. What I told them was we are the champions and we should play like a champion team and the guys gave me a good response,” said Afridi. “We really struggled in the Test series and we didn’t play too well in the ODIs. This is a good victory for us. It will keep the guys morale high in the future.”About his game Afridi said: “I love to play my natural game but the situation was not right, we lost an early wicket but I thought if I stayed long the players will rally around me and I can have the scoreboard running.”Afridi spoke about giving youngsters a chance at the expense of seniors who are not performing to expectation. “If the seniors are not performing we should give them a rest and give opportunities to the youngsters to show their talent. This was an opportunity to give the younger guys and they have lived up to it.”Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara said that Pakistan outplayed them and that a loss always hurt. “They batted much better than we did and bowled disciplined lines and lengths. At the end of the day you can analyse our game to bits but Pakistan played just better than us.”It was a chaseable target and we didn’t do well to get there. We’ve got to accept that responsibility and say that it was a match we should have won but we weren’t good enough. At 100 for 3 with seven overs to go it was a very gettable total but we fell away and lost too many wickets too quickly. Partnerships are key in any form of the game and we didn’t have too many of them either.”Sangakkara said the turning point of the match was the way Afridi batted. “We made early inroads but that little captain’s innings of his really took the game away from us. That’s the way he bats he comes up the order and enjoys that responsibility in Twenty20 cricket. We were ready for that but he just batted us out of the game.”

Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif has described his recall to international cricket as a “rebirth” after a tumultuous two-and-a-half years in which he failed dope tests and was embroiled in a detention case in Dubai. Asif was named in the 30-man probables squad for the Champions Trophy in South Africa this September.Asif is currently banned from playing any form of cricket till September 22, after testing positive for the banned anabolic steroid Nandrolone during the IPL last year. Pakistan play their first game of the Champions Trophy on September 23, against West Indies.”You can say that it’s a sort of rebirth for me,” Asif told AFP. “I was performing well but then suddenly my career derailed and it was tough to get over those difficult days.”Asif’s troubles began in October 2006 when he first tested positive for Nandrolone before the Champions Trophy in India. He had pleaded ignorance over the substances he was using and though he was initially banned for a year, that punishment was scrapped on appeal. In June 2008, he was detained at Dubai airport for allegedly possessing opium. He was deported after 19 days after prosecutors argued that the offence was a ‘trivial’ one and a case not worth pursuing. Asif was fined Rs 1 million (US$12,500) by the Pakistan board over his detention. He was banned by the IPL for the steroids offence this February but the one-year ban was back-dated to September last year, thereby making him eligible for the Champions Trophy.Asif said he was determined to put the past behind him and also work on his fitness.”Maybe these events happened so that I could learn my lesson,” Asif said. “I would like to forget what happened to me over the last two years. I have learnt my lessons and will definitely do my best to avoid anything like this in the future.”[The incidents] may have happened to teach me a lesson or to give me a chance to fully recover from an elbow injury which was hampering in bowling.”He added that he was shaping up well as far as his bowling was concerned. “I am fit and have been bowling in the best of rhythms,” he said. “South Africa is my favourite place and I did well when we went there to play a Test series in 2007, so this time around, again I want to help my team win the Trophy.”Asif last played for Pakistan in a one-day international in Karachi in April 2008.

What is World Anti Doping Agency (WADA)?
The WADA is based in Lausanne and was set up in 1999 with backing from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to promote and coordinate the fight against doping in sport internationally. It remains the only credible, independent and official anti-doping watchdog and consists of representatives from the Olympic movement and public authorities.When did the ICC join hands with WADA and why?
The ICC has been conducting anti-doping tests at its events since 2002 but became a signatory of WADA in July 2006. Compliance with WADA norms will enhance cricket’s credibility as a world team sport and is a mandatory requirement for participating in global multi-sport competitions like the Asian Games and Olympics. The updated WADA code was unanimously approved last year by the ICC board.The players are not against anti-doping tests but what is the clause in the amended code that they are unhappy about?
The new code mandates the establishment of an International Registered Testing Pool (IRTP) of players who are nominated for random testing based on their ICC rankings. Players from this pool have to inform the ICC at the beginning of every quarter (three-month period) of the year, a location and time that they will be available for an hour each day in that quarter for testing. If a player changes his/her schedule in between, then he/she needs to update the whereabouts information to the nodal officer either online or even through SMS. However, if the player is not in the location at the time specified, he/she will have a strike recorded against his name. Three such strikes and the player will have breached the code and can face up to a two-year suspension from the game.Why are cricketers concerned about the WADA’s ‘whereabouts’ clause?
Those in the ICC’s testing pool feel that the code infringes on their privacy and personal space, especially during off-season or when they are not playing cricket. They have also raised concerns on a practical level and claim the system has a high risk of catching athletes who are simply not administratively inclined.But have all international cricketers agreed to abide by the WADA code?
Despite their concerns, yes. Except players from India.Why have the Indian players not submitted to the code?
There are 11 Indian players in the ICC’s IRTP, namely Harbhajan Singh, Gautam Gambhir, Irfan Pathan, Zaheer Khan, MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh, Munaf Patel, Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Jhulan Goswami and Mithali Raj. Apart from privacy and practicality issues, the Indian players, some of whom like Dhoni and Tendulkar, have received security threats from terrorist organisations before, have raised questions about the confidentiality and security risks involved in providing whereabouts information in advance. These concerns have been raised earlier by the Indian players before the ICC, which has attempted to allay those fears through briefing sessions that were conducted for all international players.What is the ICC’s position and how is it planning to address the concerns of Indian players?
The ICC agrees that most of the players’ concerns are genuine and hope to take them up with WADA when the norms are reviewed this year-end. Meanwhile, an ICC lawyer will meet BCCI officials and some of the Indian players in the testing pool in Mumbai on Sunday to address their concerns once again. The ICC has proposed various ways forward. It has said that players need not fill up the whereabouts forms themselves but can do so through a nodal official nominated by their home boards. The ICC has also promised that its testing programme will be reasonable and conducted around matches, and not on holidays or when players are on vacation. Besides, only two ICC officials, who will be bound by stringent confidentiality agreements, will have access at any point if time to players’ whereabouts.What will happen if the Indian players continue to refuse to submit to the WADA code?
The ICC cannot let them participate in any match that is organised under its umbrella. The Indian players have already missed the July 31 deadline for filing the whereabouts information for the next quarter and face one ‘strike’ against their name (see above).What can the BCCI do in such a situation?
The BCCI will find itself in a difficult position if its players continue to refuse to abide by the code because the Indian board was part of the unanimous ICC resolution last year to adopt these new anti-doping norms. However, BCCI is hoping that it can work out a mutually acceptable solution with the ICC on this issue. One thorny issue that the Indian board confronts is that of penalties for Indian players who have missed the whereabouts information filing deadline. The BCCI is keen that its players should not be punished as it feels their concerns are genuine.Does the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) support the stand of Indian players?
Indian cricketers are not part of FICA but the international players’ association agrees with the concerns expressed by them. However, as other international players have agreed to submit to the new WADA code, the FICA has warned that if the ICC does not penalise India’s players for failing to do so, it would ensure that players from all other countries would be relieved from similar obligations.Do only cricketers have a problem with WADA’s requirements?
This is not a cricket-specific issue. It is a concern for a number of other sports, particularly team sports such as football. FIFA, football’s governing body, is still not completely WADA-compliant due to similar concerns. FIFA, in fact, has suggested that only players they deem as high-risk be included in the testing pool. Tennis stars such as Serena Williams and Rafael Nadal have also spoken out against the stringent WADA norms, especially the filing of whereabouts information in advance. As of now, this issue is a work in progress. In fact, there is a meeting of world player associations, including FICA, in London in early September with WADA to discuss concerns about the whereabouts requirements for those who participate in team sports.