Hughes not given preparation time: Coach
Melbourne: Struggling Australian batsman Phil Hughes’ batting mentor has lashed out at Cricket Australia for denying his ward preparation time ahead of his maiden India Test tour. Neil D’Costa, Hughes’ batting coach, claimed that he emailed the CA before the Indian tour requesting one-on-one time to educate Hughes on sub-continental conditions foreign to the left-hander.
He said the CA chiefs rejected his proposal, citing a lack of time in a hectic playing schedule to free up opportunities for Hughes to work with his batting mentor. “I sent CA an email saying I’d like to see Phil for a period to help prepare him for India. Unfortunately, through Cricket Australia’s great wisdom, that didn’t happen. They said there wasn’t time in the schedule for it and it would have to be within the team framework,” D’Costa said. “I said OK, ‘can you let me know a timeframe’, and they never got back to me. Then they were off to India. It’s ridiculous,” he was quoted as saying by Courier Mail.
South face East in Deodhar Trophy opener
New Delhi: The 2012-13 edition of the Prof DB Deodhar Trophy will kick start at the Nehru Stadium in Guwahati tomorrow with South Zone taking on East Zone in the only quarterfinal of the limited-overs tournament. The first semi-final of the event will be played between Central Zone and North Zone on March 11, while defending champions West Zone will face the winners of the match between South and East in the second semifinal on March 12. The final is scheduled for March 13.
Sri lanka Cricket censures Malinga
Colombo: Speedster lasith Malinga has been warned by Sri lanka Cricket to maintain better relations with the media following his spat with journalists. The SlC, CEO Ajith Jayasekera in a report had recommended Malinga to be censured and advised on his behaviour when dealing with the press in future, a SlC release said. The SlC executive committee has appointed a 3-member committee to advise Malinga on his behaviour.
Junior boxers leave for Asian C’ships
New Delhi: A 13-member Indian junior men’s boxing team will be able to participate in the Youth Asian Boxing Championship in Subic Bay, Philippines after finally getting visas, the application for which was twice rejected by the host country. The application was rejected by the Philippines embassy because the IABF did not provide it with some necessary documents (undertaking letters from the parents of the boxers). The scanned copies of the undertaking documents were submitted but the officials demanded the original letters, resulting in another rejection.
PNS/Agencies