‘Fixing case is warning for small teams’
Hong Kong: An alleged fixing approach to Hong Kong’s Irfan Ahmed is a “warning” for other emerging teams, the territory’s cricket chief said on Tuesday. Tim Cutler, chief executive of Hong Kong Cricket Association, told AFP that associate, or non-Test playing, members of ICC were particularly vulnerable to match-fixers. He was speaking after all-rounder Ahmed, 26, a former Hong Kong player of the year, was charged and provisionally suspended by the ICC for failing to report an alleged fixing offer. Ahmed, who was slated for Hong Kong’s squad for World Twenty20 championship in India in March, faces a ban of between two and five years if found guilty. Cutler said associate cricket nations, which cannot pay their players as well as Test sides, were particularly susceptible to bribery and the “underbelly of the dark chapter of cricket”.
Karni range undergoes makeover
New Delhi: Bracing up to host Asia’s last Olympic qualification event for shooting later this month, the shotgun facility at the Karni Singh Range has undergone a complete makeover for the tournament which will see participation of marksmen from 32 nations for 35 quota places. The tournament was given to New Delhi after the Asian Shooting Championships, which was held in Kuwait last November, was stripped of its Olympic qualification status owing to an Israeli delegate being denied entry visa. The continental tournament will be held in the capital from January 25 to February 3, and will witness a total of 575 shooters in action. The shotgun range has been totally redone, including installing new scoring equipments, electronic equipments and other things, National Rifle Association of India (NRAI) officials said.
liverpool sign Caulker on loan
lIVERPOOl: liverpool have signed defender Steven Caulker on loan from Queens Park Rangers for the rest of the season in response to the team’s injury problems. The 24-year-old center back will join in time to be eligible to face Arsenal at Anfield in the Premier league on Wednesday. liverpool says Caulker’s arrival “eases the injury situation the club are currently facing in defense, which includes both short and long-term absentees.” Since QPR was relegated last season, Caulker has been on loan at Southampton, where he made only eight appearances. That loan was canceled to allow liverpool to sign him.