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
Giggs: Wayne Rooney Will End Goal Drought
Wayne Rooney
Manchester United veteran Ryan Giggs is in no doubt Wayne Rooney will recapture his goalscoring form from last season after the England striker netted his first of the current campaign against West Ham United on Saturday.
Rooney ended a lengthy goal drought, that had stretched into the end of the last campaign, with his effort from the penalty spot. Giggs feels that getting a goal early on this season will help him settle any lingering anxieties he may have had over his form.
“It’s only the third game of the season, and he’s only played in two of them,” the Welshman told United’s official website.
“But a goalscorer is a goalscorer and, especially with the season he had last year, he was keen to get off the mark.
“I’m sure he’ll start putting the ball away quite regularly now.”
However, Giggs insists that the burden of finding the net cannot only be left to Wayne Rooney, and he was encouraged by Dimitar Berbatov and Nani’s goals on Saturday against West Ham United.
“We can’t just rely on Wayne like we did last season,” he told MUTV.
“Berba has started on fire – in the games so far, he’s had a lot of chances and he’s putting them away.
“But everyone needs to chip in, midfielders, defenders, everyone. As a team, we need to score a lot more goals from different areas on the pitch.”
Giggs has been pleased with the way in which the Red Devils have begun this campaign, although he admits that there is room for improvement after the draw with Fulham.
“We’d have liked nine points out of nine, but it’s not to be,” he added.
“In our two homes games, we’ve played some really good stuff which is pleasing.
“We know we could be in a better position, but the last two years we’ve lost at Fulham, so maybe we should look at that as a point gained.”
Giggs has also hailed the form of blossoming winger Nani after his man of the match performance against West Ham.
He said: “It was a really good performance from Nani.
“His positional play was good. He was staying out wide and getting the crosses in.
“He scored a goal and made one. He could have had a few more.
“I was really pleased for him. He deserved man of the match.”
Courtesy of The Bleacher Report
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
Casey Stunned To Be Left Off Team
Paul Casey
Paul Casey had not checked his cell phone after his final round at The Barclays to see if he had made the Ryder Cup team for Europe.
He didn’t have to.
“Caroline’s a great friend,” Casey said. “She would have said something to me if I had been picked. So at that point, I knew that I hadn’t. I was trying to keep my composure and put in a solid performance today.”
It was never going to be easy for European captain Colin Montgomerie, who had three picks for five worthy candidates. It sure wasn’t easy for Casey and Justin Rose, two Ryder Cup veterans who will have to watch this competition from home.
Edoardo Molinari birdied the last three holes to win the Johnnie Walker Championship, making him a realistic choice. That left two picks among Harrington, Casey, Luke Donald and Justin Rose, all of whom were in New Jersey when he announced his selections.
Montgomerie went with Harrington and Donald, who were relieved.
Casey did well to keep his composure so soon after he had finished his round of 69. When asked if it was awkward to play the last 12 holes with Harrington, who had made the team, Casey replied with a smile, “It was difficult. Can I go now?”
Even some of the American players were stunned that Casey was not selected.
He is No. 9 in the world ranking, despite coming off a rib injury that cost him the second half of the 2009 season. He tied for third at the British Open, has played in the last three Ryder Cups, won the World Match Play Championship in England and twice has been a finalist in the Match Play Championship in Arizona.
Equally disappointed was Rose, who won the Memorial and the AT&T National at Aronimink earlier this summer. Rose played in his first Ryder Cup two years ago and went 3-1-0.
“I thought I had as good as shot as anyone,” Rose said. “With Paul Casey not picked as well, I think it’s a very interesting selection. I don’t think many people would have gone with those three.”
Donald is No. 10 in the world ranking and has a 5-1-1 record in the two Ryder Cups he has played. Harrington is a three-time major championship winner, although he has not won a sanctioned event since his PGA Championship in 2008 at Oakland Hills. In the last two cups, the Irishman is 0-7-2.
“It was going to be a difficult situation,” Harrington said. “As I’ve said all along, if you don’t qualify for the team, you don’t have an automatic right to be on the team. It comes down to Monty’s decision.”
Harrington said Montgomerie could not have gone wrong no matter whom he selected. It might have helped Harrington to have the experience of playing on five teams, because six Europeans will be Ryder Cup rookies.
“I won’t normally play the age card, but this time, it obviously suits me,” he said.
Montgomerie had said he was able to contact everyone except Casey, although Harrington and Donald said they did not find out until after they were on the course at Ridgewood Country Club.
Donald opened with six straight birdies and went out in 28, which put him two shots out of the lead. He learned he was on the team at the 10th hole, and it was no coincidence that he bogeyed three of the next four holes. Donald shot 28-40 for a strange round of 68.
“It did throw me off a little bit,” Donald said. “I was trying to get it out of my head and just play golf. But I didn’t do a very good job on the back nine.”
Donald felt particularly bad for Casey because his brother is Casey’s caddie.
“It was probably one of the craziest selections for a Ryder Cup ever,” Donald said. “Guys in top 10 didn’t know if they were going to be playing. It was very anxious moments, and obviously, there was some relief. Very excited to be back on the team and to be part of the Ryder Cup again.”
Harrington said it was awkward to learn of the news in the middle of his round, especially with Casey at his side.
“I think with Edoardo doing what he did, there could never have been a happy ending in my group, because there was me, there was Paul and Christian Donald,” he said. “There was only two spots left after Edoardo. No matter what, somebody in our group was going to walk away unhappy.”
Courtesy of The Bleacher Report
Don’t Mess With Harry Redknapp
Harry Redknapp
Harry Redknapp shows who is boss when he walks out of an interview.
After Tottenham’s defeat to Wigan, Sky’s Rob Palmer chose the wrong phrase when trying to find out if Harry Redknapp plans any further dealings in the transfer market before the window closes.
So good ole Harry tells him where to get off.
Please be advised videos contain some foul language.
And this isn’t the first time Redknapp has used some colourful language to show his dissatisfaction- on camera.
This one is amusing, but serves as a warning to all buggers kicking a ball when Harry is around.
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