Video: The Thinking Behind AB the Editor
AB de Villiers and Brendan Cooper
We had quite a bit of fun at SI headquarters last month with Proteas star and current top-ranked ODI batsman in the world AB de Villiers guest editing the October edition.
We played a bit of Wii Golf (which he was rather good in), went for a very long lunch and just had a great time allround – as you can imagine, he is a genuinely nice guy.
In this video, SI editor Brendan Cooper explains what exactly it is that AB did in his time here, the thinking behind it, and what readers can expect from the edition, which hits shelves on September 13.
And just in case you missed it, here is a video of SI firing 20 Questions at the ridiculously talented AB.
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- de Villiers displaces Dhoni as No. 1 ODI batsman (cricinfo.com)
Warne: Ban Them For Life
Shane Warne: No matter how you spin it, match-fixing is wrong!
Former Australian spin-bowler Shane Warne has said any players involved in match-fixing or gambling should be banned from cricket for life.
Warne extended his damning judgement to any other form of illegality related to gambling in cricket, following a British newspaper’s allegations last weekend that Pakistan bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir were paid to deliberately bowl no-balls during their fourth test against England at Lord’s, which finished on Sunday.
Pakistan test captain Salman Butt, Asif and Amir are to meet their country’s High Commissioner in London on Thursday to discuss the allegations, while Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Ijaz Butt will also attend the meeting.
“If it is true and they have been found (guilty of) match-fixing and throwing games and spot betting with the no-balls and stuff, if that’s the case they should be thrown out,” Warne told reporters in Melbourne on Thursday. “If it’s fixed by players, they should be banned for life. Anyone who’s involved should be thrown out.
“The ICC have to flex their muscles and just go after Pakistan.”
Warne, who was fined for admitting he had taken money from an Indian bookmaker for providing pitch and weather information in 1994, said he had been shocked by the latest allegations, especially since the International Cricket Council had instituted an anti-corruption unit.
“I thought that the game was clean now with the anti-corruption people there,” Warne added. “(But) if you look back over the incidents they’ve had in the past, you’d have to say no, they haven’t really flexed their muscles. So you’d hope that at this stage they can flex their muscles and show that they do run the game.”
REUTERS
KP In Hot Water Over Tweet
Kevin Pietersen
Kevin Pietersen not only had to endure the ignominy of being dropped by England for the first time in his international career, but he could face disciplinary charges for tweeting about his omission before the two one-day squads had been announced.
“Yep… Done for rest of summer!! Man of the World Cup T20 and dropped from the T20 side too… It’s a f— up!! Surrey have signed me for l…”, at which point the Tweet cuts off.
Pietersen, left out of both the 50-over and T20 squads, promptly removed the tweet but not before many had seen it. Last month, Azeem Rafiq’s, England’s U-19 captain was suspended from cricket for a month and ordered to pay £500 costs after a similarly foul-mouthed tirade after he was dropped from an England side.
Pietersen may escape punishment though, after a spokesman for the England and Wales Cricket Board claimed the post was a mistake, with Pietersen convinced he’d simply replied to a personal message. Later, Geoff Miller, the national selector confirmed he would be “asking serious questions” about the matter.
“I don’t like that kind of language and I don’t use that language at all,” said Miller, who also makes a living as an after-dinner speaker. “I’ll talk to KP and if he wants to apologise or thinks there is a need to apologise then so be it – I will certainly explain to him what my feelings are.
“It sounds like it might have been an accident, but not something you’d want to see and perhaps should be banned. I don’t see where the word accident comes into it.
“Writing columns in newspapers or whatever leaves a player open to making questionable statements and I see this twitter in the same boat. I’m not for it I must admit.
“My priority is the England side and it is not about individuals but about the team, so it is something I could do without. “
Pietersen has missed one-day internationals before in his 14-match career but they have been through injury. Against Australia last year, he missed all seven and England lost 6-1, though they did mostly win without him in the Champions Trophy, a tournament now seen as the catalyst to their recent one-day successes.
Sent back to the shires to resurrect his form, Miller confirmed that Pietersen’s place in the Ashes squad, named on 30 September was not in doubt.
“He is in our plans, and I fully anticipate seeing Kevin Pietersen back to the way he was when he dominated opposition attacks,” confirmed Miller yesterday.
“He will have some middle workouts with Surrey until the end of the season and I’ll reiterate that he is a world class player when he is playing well. There is still a long way to go until that first match in Brisbane with three warm-up games in Australia as well.”
With Pietersen omitted, Ravi Bopara returns to both squads while Steven Davis, Surrey’s hard hitting wicket-keeper replaces Craig Kieswetter in the 50-over squad but not in the T20 one.
Kieswetter has not enjoyed the best of summers with Somerset but whereas the selectors are hoping he can rediscover his dominant ways on the international stage they are sending KP back to school.
Courtesy of The Telegraph
20 Questions with AB de Villiers
As some of you might remember, Sports Illustrated recently had the honour of having Proteas superstar AB de Villiers guest-edit the October edition.
As you would expect, AB was a hero during his time in the offices, game for anything and always willing to give you some of his time.
SI online cornered him for a quick video session of 20 Questions, and there were some revelations – including a first-hand account of who eats more during lunchtime in the Proteas set-up, and the most irritating player he has come up against.
ODI Will Go Ahead Despite Allegations
ECB chair Giles Clarke ironically awards Mohammed Amir of Pakistan his player of the series medal.
Pakistan’s team management believe that their one-day series against England will go ahead as planned next week, despite allegations of spot-fixing during the Lord’s Test.
England’s captain, Andrew Strauss, however, admitted to mixed feelings about the series of five ODIs and two Twenty20s that gets underway in Cardiff on September 5, and said that he and his team needed to come to terms with the current issue before turning their attention to the rest of the tour.
“I honestly think that the best thing to do is let the dust settle on this,” said Strauss, when asked about the feasibility of the tour continuing. “It’s all new and raw and it’s easy to get quite emotional about things right at the moment. For all of us, it’s better to see how things pan out – clearly the ICC, ECB and Pakistan Cricket Board have to sit down and put their heads together, and decide what the best way forward is, and we as a cricket team we have to take stock as well.
When asked if he was happy to carry on playing against a team that has been accused of deliberately underperforming, Strauss offered a response that was non-committal at best. “It’s just so hard to say with incomplete information at this stage,” he said. “From our point of view we are going to sit down and have a couple of drinks and celebrate the fact that we won the series tonight. And then in the next few days I’m sure a lot of things will become a lot clearer.”
The ultimate decision, he added, would be made at boardroom level. “That’s something for the ICC, the ECB and the PCB to sit down and decide what the best way forward is. Clearly there are going to be some very strong reasons for the series to go ahead, but they’ve also got to sit down and think about what the right thing to do is, going forward, and that’s their decision.”
Pakistan’s manager, Yawar Saeed, however, insisted that the itinerary would continue as planned, with a one-day warm-up against Somerset at Taunton scheduled for Thursday. “As far as I’m concerned the one-day series is on,” he said. “We are driving to the West Country the day after [Tuesday].”
Strauss added that whatever the outcome he hoped cricket would emerge better from its latest crisis. “I hope this time things can be proved categorically – and if that leads to a cleaner sport in the future that can only be a good thing.”
The allegations of spot-fixing that broke at the close of play on Saturday completely overshadowed the final morning of the fourth Test, in which England wrapped up Pakistan’s last six wickets to win by an innings and 225 runs. The matter is currently being investigated by the police, who have seized mobile phones belonging to Salman Butt, the captain, and his two main bowlers, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif.
Yawar, the manager, confirmed that phones had been removed. “Telephones yes, only these three gentlemen. The police have taken their mobile phones away,” he said. “The skipper [Butt], and Asif and the third one was Mohammed Amir”.
Pakistan lost the Test on Sunday by a record margin and after the match Butt rejected the idea of stepping down from the captaincy. “These are just allegations, anyone can say anything about anyone, that doesn’t make them true,” he said.
The issue has already escalated to the highest levels of the PCB. PTV, Pakistan’s state broadcaster, quoting official sources, said that the President of Pakistan Asif Ali Zardari, who is also patron of the PCB (who appoints the chairman), has taken strong notice of the spot-fixing scandal and has asked the PCB to submit a detailed preliminary report.
News of the World claimed that seven Pakistan players were involved, though only four have been named so far. Saeed confirmed to Cricinfo that “one or two were questioned by Scotland Yard,” last night soon after the story broke. He dismissed reports that the passports of several players had been taken away, saying that all passports were in the possession of the team management.
Courtesy of Cricinfo
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