Mitch aims to intimidate Eng in ODIs
Wellington: Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson has warned England he can be as intimidating with a white ball as a red one as he prepares to return to for Friday’s second one-dayer at the Gabba. Johnson claimed 37 wickets as Australia won the Ashes test series 5-0, playing a larger part than any other player in allowing Australia to unsettle, then dominate the England team. His return to the Australian one-day side will add to the pressure on England after the test series whitewash and their loss in the opener of the four-match one-day series. “I proved that in the last one-day series in India and England, you can still use the short-pitched ball and be aggressive,” Johnson said. “I really enjoy bowling with the white ball, it swings a bit more and you can still be as intimidating with the white ball. That doesn’t change a thing for me.”
NZ name squad for ODIs vs India
Napier: New Zealand on Wednesday named a virtually unchanged squad for the upcoming ODI series against India with the selectors keeping faith in players who drew the recent five-match home assignment against the West Indies. The 13-player squad, which drew the series 2-2 against the Caribbeans, was more or less retained with reserve batsman Colin Munro, who will return to play for his provincial side, being the only omission. “The BlACKCAPS selectors have named a settled line-up for the ANZ One Day International Series against world no.1 India starting in Napier on Sunday,” New Zealand Cricket said in a statement. Squad: Brendon McCullum (captain), Martin Guptill, Jesse Ryder, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Corey Anderson, luke Ronchi, Jimmy Neesham, Nathan McCullum, Tim Southee, Kyle Mills, Mitchell McClenaghan, Adam Milne.
Finn’s Australian nightmare ends
Sydney: Steven Finn was considered one of England’s top fast bowlers just a year ago, but he was sent home on Wednesday after failing to figure against Australia. “England fast bowler Steven Finn will miss the remainder of the limited overs series against Australia,” the England and Wales Cricket Board said in a statement. The 24-year-old last played in a tour game against a Cricket Australia Chairman’s XI in Alice Springs in November when he returned figures of no wickets for 61 runs.
HC restores Ashraf as PCB chief
Karachi: Pakistan cricket fell fall into further chaos on Wednesday with a two-member divisional bench of the Islamabad High Court restoring Zaka Ashraf as Chairman of the Board. Zaka had filed an appeal against his dismissal by the single bench of the IHC headed by Justice Shaukat Siddiqui in July last year. Justice Siddiqui, while ruling the election of Ashraf as malafide, had removed him as Chairman with immediate effect after which the government appointed Najam Sethi as acting Chairman of the board. However, the two-member bench, while restoring Ashraf, also only accepted parts of the appeal filed by the PCB against Justice Siddiqui’s order to stop Sethi from exercising his full powers. There was no official explanation from the board but its legal advisor, Tafazzul Rizvi said the position would be clear in a few hours time when the full judgement copies are available to them.
NZ beat WI, win T20 series 2-0
Wellington: New Zealand inflicted a further defeat on the West Indies in their second Twenty20 international on Wednesday to bring a dismal end to the visiting team’s tour. The four-wicket win gave New Zealand the Twenty20 series 2-0 to go with their 2-0 win in the Tests. The one-day internationals were shared 2-2, the West Indies’ only success on their six-week tour. After New Zealand won the first Twenty20 by 81 runs, they were struggling at 79-5 in the second match before a 68-run partnership between Ross Taylor and luke Ronchi turned the innings around. Taylor played the anchor role with 39 off 41 balls while Ronchi belted an unbeaten 51 off 28 deliveries in an innings that included four fours and two sixes.
Nachappa hails Anju’s gold
Mumbai: Former India sprinter Ashwini Nachappa on Wednesday expressed happiness over ace long jumper Anju Bobby George’s upgraded gold medal in an event that she took part in eight years ago and said the nation is proud of her feat though it has come after so long. “Whether it is eight years, a gold medal is a gold medal. She was at the peak of her performance at that point of time. We cherish those moments when she won the silver and we are happy that she got the gold, of course for other reasons,” Nachappa said during a promotional event here on Wednesday. “She is extremely happy and we are very proud that she got a clean chit and the one who cheated got caught,” the 46-year-old former athlete told reporters on the sidelines of the launch of a relay event for school children in three cities — Bangalore, Delhi and Mumbai.
Sushil to join Wrestlers later
New Delhi: Olympic medallists Sushil Kumar and Yogeshwar Dutt have opted out of travelling with the 10-strong Indian wrestling contingent, which will leave for the Dave Schultz Memorial International tournament in Colorado Springs from January 30 to February 1, here tonight. Two-time Olympic medallist Sushil and london Games bronze medallist Yogeshwar will not be a part of the touring squad for the training-cum-competition programme, starting January 17th, due to their respective personal issues. The contingent comprises Amit Kumar Dhankhar, Amit Kumar Dahiya, Sandeep Tomar, Bajrang, Rahul Aware, Praveen Rana, Pawan Kumar, Satyavrat Kadian, Jaideep and Rohit Patel and will be accompanied by chief national coach Vinod Kumar.
Sochi bound athletes to get funds
New Delhi: The Sports Ministry on Wednesday cleared the three Indian athletes qualified for next month’s Winter Olympics at government cost despite the trio taking part in the Sochi Games as Independent Athletes. Shiva Keshavan (in luge), Himanshu Thakur (in alpine skiing) and Nadeem Iqbal (cross country skiing) have been cleared by the government for the February 7-23 Games after a meeting chaired by Sports Minister Jitendra Singh. The Ministry decided to provide the funds for air travel, out of pocket allowance, for sports kit including ceremonial dress, and boarding and lodging in case it is not provided free in the Games Village in Sochi.
Sl says Bangladesh tour still on
Colombo: Sri lanka is to go ahead with a tour to Bangladesh later this month after carrying out its own security assessment in the violence-plagued country, cricket board officials said Wednesday. “We are very positive about playing in Bangladesh,” Sri lanka Cricket (SlC) secretary Nishantha Ranatunga told AFP. “We look forward to playing there.” Confirmation that the tour is going ahead comes after SlC vice president Mohan de Silva and the board’s former chief executive Ajith Jayasekera travelled to Bangladesh earlier this week. Ranatunga said the pair were joined by Sri lankan diplomats as they held discussions in Dhaka about player safety for the tour.