Demand for ICC revamp withdrawal
New Delhi: The opposition to the revamp plan of the ICC piloted by India, Australia and England grew stronger on Sunday with former West Indies captain Clive llyod and ex-ICC top officials Malcolm Gray and Malcolm Speed joining hands in demanding withdrawal of the controversial proposal. The trio, along with former Pakistan Cricket Board Chairmen Shahryar Khan and lt Gen (retd) Tauqir Zia, have joined hands with former ICC chief Ehsan Mani in asking for withdrawal of the proposal, which will cede most of decision-making to the so called 'Big Three'. Gray, a former ICC chief, and Speed, a former ICC CEO, have broken away from their national board's position by taking the stand against the proposal. lloyd was a one-time chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee as well as ICC match referee. Cricket Australia chief Wally Edwards has defended the plan. According to a report in 'Cricinfo', the former top officials have signed a formal letter and sent to the ICC and member nations requesting that the "big three" proposal be immediately withdrawn.
Run-outs dent Sl Women's chance
Vizianagaram: Four run outs dented Sri lanka Women's chances of clinching the three-match series, as they lost the second Twenty20 International against India by nine runs, here on Sunday. Sri lanka Women had won the first T20I by three wickets. It was a golden chance for the visitors today to post a victory as they had restricted India to a meagre 127 for eight in their allotted 20 overs. But four run outs, including that of their top-scorer Chamari Atapattu (40) denied the Islanders success. Put in to bat, India were reduced to 29 for four with their top order back in the pavilion. Thanks to tail-enders Jhulan Goswami (23), Amita Sharma (23) and Soniya Dabir (23 not out) that Indian eves could cross the 100-run mark.
Boniface hopes to compete at Rio
Bangalore: After being chosen for the prestigious Padma Shri award, wheelchair tennis star Boniface Prabhu on Sunday hoped to get clearance from the Paralympic Committee of India (PCI) to compete in the 2016 Rio Paralympics. "I hope PCI takes note of my achievements including the Padma Shri award and selects me to represent India at Rio Olympics," he said here. PCI is the body responsible for selecting athletes to represent India at the Paralympic Games and other international athletic meets. After participating at Atlanta Paralympics in 1996, Boniface has not played in any of the paralympics ever since, despite being the highest-ranked Indian player. "If PCI allows me to compete in Rio Paralympics, I will do my best to win a gold and do my country proud," Boniface said. Boniface is the first Indian wheelchair player to reach the semi-finals and finals of the major grand slam wheelchair championships including Autralian Open, British Open, French Open and US Open.
lendore creates wr in indoor 400m
Bridgetown: Caribbean athletes made a promising start to the 2014 track and field season including a world leading indoor time by Deon lendore of Trinidad and Tobago. lendore, Wayne Davis Jnr, Janeil Bellille were victorious at the Texas A&M Triangular, which also include Texas Tech University and louisiana State University (lSU), while Chris Brown and Kim Collins were impressive at the Sainsbury's International Meet in Glasgow, Scotland Saturday, reports CMC. lendore (Texas A&M) posted the fastest time in the world thus far when he won the 400 metres in 45.74 in College Station, Texas. The Trinidadian quarter-miler eclipsed Bahamian Chris Brown's 45.93 world lead and stadium record four hours earlier at the Emirates Arena in Glasgow. Two other Trinidad & Tobago athletes were on the victory podium in College Station, with Wayne Davis Jnr (Texas A&M) winning the men's 60m hurdles in 7.75 seconds and Janeil Bellille (Texas A&M) securing the women's 400m in 53.58.
leverkusen, Dortmund stumble
Berlin: leverkusen lost 3-2 to Freiburg and Dortmund shared points with Augsburg's following the 18th round in German Bundesliga football. leverkusen failed to reap an expected win at relegation threatened Freiburg Saturday, reports Xinhua. The "Werkself" caught a bright start as Germany international lars Bender scored with a well-placed shot from 30 meters into the bottom left, five minutes into the game. As a consequence of the early opener leverkusen controlled the proceedings on the pitch meanwhile Freiburg focused on their porous defence. leverkusen's Emre Can was unlucky when his shot only rattled the post at the ninth minute. However, the visitors remained unable to extend their lead. Therefore Freiburg shocked the "Werkself" when Admir Mehmedi curled the ball into the top right corner from the edge of the box to restore parity at the 27th minute. Yet, leverkusen responded in an unimpressed manner through Simon Rolfes, who headed home a corner nine minutes later. The hosts continued with their courageous performance and they were rewarded eight minutes into the second half. Jonathan Schmid's free-kick cross from sharp angle were deflected by Stefan Kieling to give leverkusen's custodian Bernd leno no chance to make a save. The match was on the knifes-edge but Freiburg punished leverkusen with a turnover in the dying minutes into the match. Schmid assisted Felix Klaus with a square pass into the box, who made it 3-2 to kill the game.
Blaszczykowski out for season
Dortmund: Borussia Dortmund midfielder and Poland captain Jakub Blaszczykowski has been ruled out for the rest of the season with a torn cruciate ligament in his right knee. The Bundesliga club says a scan Sunday morning confirmed the extent of the injury which happened early in Saturday's 2-2 draw at home with Augsburg. Blaszczykowski, who will undergo an operation in the coming days, tells the club website, "Nothing can throw me off so quickly. I will do everything to return to the pitch stronger than ever before." Dortmund doctor Markus Braun says the 28-year-old player can expect to return to training after the summer break. Dortmund has already had to cope with long-term injuries to Ilkay Gundogan, Mats Hummels, lukasz Piszczek and Neven Subotic this season. Poland failed to qualify for World Cup.
lanka seek Test revival in B’desh
Dhaka: Sri lanka will look to bounce back after an embarrassing setback last week as Angelo Mathews' tourists begin a two-Test series against an equally inconsistent Bangladesh from Monday. The Islanders were left red-faced when Pakistan chased down 302 in 57.3 overs on a fifth-day pitch to score a series-levelling win in the final Test in Sharjah last Monday. The drawn series, after securing a nine-wicket win in the previous Test in Dubai, meant Sri lanka remained in the lower half of the Test rankings at number six, an indicator of poor results in recent years. Since the retirement Muttiah Muralitharan in July 2010, Sri lanka have won just six and lost 12 of their 32 Tests.