Edwards celebrates the spirit of women's game across Europe

The ICC Women’s World Cup-winning captain, Charlotte Edwards, and member of the ICC Cricket Committee Clare Connor have welcomed the growth of the women’s game across Europe ahead of the Europa Cup, which will celebrate 100 years of the International Cricket Council (ICC).

The Europa Cup has been organised by the Deutscher Cricket Bund (DCB) to celebrate the ICC’s centenary with under-17 girls teams from Austria (Austria CC Wien), Czech Republic (Prague), France (Dijon), Germany (Bristol Phoenix CC, Munich Youth Cricket, Oldenburg CC, Passau, Schwerin CC, Tegernsee CC), Hungary (Comenius CC, Székesfehérvár) and Slovakia (Bratislava) all competing in Munich this weekend.

The tournament is one of the ICC’s Catch the Spirit celebrations aimed at promoting the ICC’s centenary, the great spirit of cricket and the wide appeal and diversity of the game. Each of the ICC’s 104 Members is holding an event which captures the collective commitment and values which are central to the sport and the spotlight now falls on Germany to showcase the spirit of the game across the world.

The Catch the Spirit flag, the symbol of the ICC’s centenary year, will also be present at the tournament, collecting signatures from the icons of the game.

ICC Women’s World Cup-winning captain Charlotte Edwards said: “I’m so pleased to see girls capturing the spirit of cricket across Europe. The game is really developing globally and I hope that seeing women’s cricket on the world stage at the forthcoming ICC World Twenty20 will encourage more girls to take up the sport. Cricket has so much to offer girls of all ages and I’m delighted to act as a role model encouraging more youngsters to take part in this fantastic sport.”

Newly appointed member of the ICC Cricket Committee Clare Connor added: “The Associate and Affiliate Members of the ICC have a big role to play. I’m delighted that this tournament will host female cricketers from a range of countries and showcase the spirit of the game right across Europe.

“There are so many opportunities for girls and women to get involved in the sport. Women’s cricket is played in more than 78 of our Members. Ireland, the Netherlands and Scotland will all be playing in the LV Women’s County Championship in England this year. This summer will also see the ICC European women’s under-17 tournament in the Netherlands (27-30 July 2009) and the ICC European senior women’s tournament in Dublin (3-6 August 2009). I’m sure these opportunities will continue to grow in the years to come.”

President of the DCB Dr Brian Fell said: “I’m really pleased that DCB is playing its part in the ICC’s centenary year and celebrating the spirit of cricket. It’s fabulous that we have so many girls team from across Europe coming to Munich. I’m grateful to Charlotte Edwards and Clare Connor for their support for the tournament. With the continued investment by the ICC and role models such as Charlotte, I’m sure we will continue to inspire youngsters to take up the sport.”

Richard Holdsworth, ICC Europe Regional Development Manager, said: “The staging of this tournament shows the significant appeal of the sport in Europe. The ICC has recently begun investing US$300 million into the development of the game around the world, so I’ve no doubt cricket will thrive across Europe in the years to come.”

The Catch the Spirit celebrations will continue across ICC’s Europe region during the summer. The events due to take place shortly include the inaugural under-13 national training camp in Finland from 10-14 July, the Limerick World Cup in Ireland from 12-24 July and the Maccabiah Games in Israel from 12-24 July.

Afghan U-19s show success was no fluke

Kuwait, May 07: After the heroics of the senior team in the ICC World Cricket League (WCL) and ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier, the Afghanistan under-19s has just shown that the future of the sport in that country is in good hands by getting to the final of the ACC U19 Elite Cup 2009 in Kuwait.

Although Shir Shairzai and his team yesterday suffered defeat at the final hurdle to a strong Hong Kong side, there were enough positives to indicate that the performances of the senior team were not freak occurrences and we should expect similar success in the future.

“It was a good tournament and very impressive to see such young talent on display from all 10 teams taking part,” said ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat, who attended the final few days of the event.

“We have all been impressed by the Afghanistan team, which progressed from Division 5 of the WCL to coming fifth at the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier in less than a year. It is particularly heartening to see the next generation of Afghan cricketers performing so well. By beating defending champion Nepal in the semi-final, I think the players have really come of age and we can expect big things from them in the future,” he said.

Mr Lorgat said he was impressed with the tournament, which is the Asia regional qualifying event for the 10-team ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier that takes place later this year. Both the winner Hong Kong and Afghanistan progress to that event.

In the final, before an enthusiastic crowd of around 3,000 people, Afghanistan batted first and made a competitive 215-9 off 50 overs with Asgher Hotak (70) and Murad Ali (68) doing most of the damage. In reply, a fine 94 from man of the match James Atkinson ensured Hong Kong claimed the title with three overs and eight wickets to spare.

“There was a great atmosphere for the final with so many Afghans in the crowd to support their team. Events like this don’t happen without considerable planning and hard work from so many volunteers. It shows to me the marvelous spirit of cricket when people give up their free time and devote it to the game in this way.

“I would like to congratulate Hong Kong on this victory and I wish them and Afghanistan the best of luck in the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier later this year. If the under-19s from Afghanistan show the same willingness to learn as their senior counterparts, they will be a very useful side by then,” said Mr Lorgat.

Although it did not win one of the four places at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2011, by coming fifth in the qualifier, Afghanistan’s senior team gained One-Day International status for the next four years and also booked a place in the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifier 2009 and the first-class, four-day ICC Intercontinental Cup 2009-10.

That success also brings with it the opportunity to access considerable ICC funding which – in line with the ICC’s new funding policy for all Associate and Affiliate Members – will likely be targeted in areas such as improving the administrative, playing and capital infrastructure of the game so that cricket can build on this success and continue to grow and flourish in Afghanistan.

The event in Kuwait was part of the ICC’s centenary celebrations, giving Associate and Affiliate teams from Asia the chance to “Catch the Spirit” just as it is being done in each of the ICC’s 104 Members around the globe. The Catch the Spirit flag has been flying across the region to promote the ICC’s centenary, the great spirit of cricket and the wide appeal and diversity of the game.

Meanwhile, other hopeful under-19 teams are all vying for places in the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup Qualifier with regional events taking place across five continents. The Africa qualifier is currently underway in Zambia while the European, Americas and East Asia-Pacific (EAP) events will take place shortly.

The EAP version is scheduled for Papua New Guinea from 30 May to 8 June, the Americas tournament will run from 12 to 18 July in Toronto while the European event will take place in Jersey from 14 to 20 July.

The global qualifier will take place later this year at a venue yet to be determined. The top five teams from that will join the 10 Full Members plus host Kenya in the ICC U/19 Cricket World Cup 2010.

England will gain ranking with a 2-0 win over WI

London, May 07: England’s big summer of cricket got underway at Lord’s with the first of two Tests against the West Indies. Currently placed sixth on the ICC Test Championship table, Andrew Strauss’s team will immediately move up one spot if it wins both matches.

Victories at Lord’s and again at Durham would earn England three ratings points giving it a total of 101, a single point ahead of Pakistan. A 1-0 series win would leave it on 100 ratings point but behind Younus Khan’s team by a fraction.

However, a 2-0 win for the West Indies would leave just one ratings point separating the two with England dropping three points to 95 and the men from the Caribbean gaining five points to 94.

This short Test series is the first action in a busy few months for England. Following three ODIs against the same opposition, it will host the eagerly awaited ICC World Twenty20 in June followed by the five-Test Ashes and seven ODI series against Australia before the team heads to South Africa in September for the ICC Champions Trophy.

There will be a number of players keen to use these two Tests to kick-start their summer and gain a bit of momentum and on paper the sides look pretty evenly matched. The West Indies has three players in the top 25 – including number-one batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul – compared to England’s four, while both squads boast two bowlers in the top 25.

England captain Strauss is currently in 15th position in the ICC Player Rankings for Test batsmen but such is the tightly packed nature of the ladder at present, he could conceivably break into the top 10 with strong performances at Lord’s and Chester-le-Street.

England’s highest-ranked batsman is Kevin Pietersen in sixth position but the 28-year-old will feel that he belongs even nearer to the top and, after a break of nearly two months from Test cricket, he will be anxious to hit the ground running and post some big scores.

Naturally, the highest-ranked batsman from either side is Chanderpaul who is still placed in first position. The 34-year-old has been a rock in the West Indies’ line-up in recent seasons and much of his team’s fortunes could again depend on his form with Ramnaresh Sarwan his only team-mate in the top 20.

Captain Chris Gayle is just outside that in 21st position so a return to the top 20 is well within in grasp, just as it is for England duo Paul Collingwood (22nd position) and Alastair Cook (joint-23rd place).

Meanwhile, Jerome Taylor of the West Indies, in seventh position, is the only player named in either squad currently enjoying a place in the top 10 of the ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers.

England’s injured pair of Ryan Sidebottom in 10th position and Andrew Flintoff in joint-15th place will play no part in the match at Lord’s so there could be opportunities for James Anderson (joint-15th place), Monty Panesar (20th), Graeme Swann (31st) and Stuart Broad (46th) to make their mark on the latest rankings, not to mention potential debutant Graham Onions of Durham.

For the West Indies, Fidel Edwards (in 22nd position), Chris Gayle (40th), Sulieman Benn (49th) and Darren Sammy (59th) can all make an impression as everyone still chases Muttiah Muralidaran of Sri Lanka who is the number one-ranked bowler in the world.

With Flintoff out of action, Gayle is the only man from either team in the top five of the ICC Player Rankings for Test all-rounders and a good performance in the two Tests will most likely lift the big Jamaican above Flintoff into fourth position. South Africa’s Jacques Kallis still rules the roost in that category.

Pak, Australia look forward to ICC World Twenty20 2009

Dubai, May 07: Pakistan cricket captain Younus Khan and his Australian counterpart Brad Haddin moved into Twenty20 mode by saying that they were looking forward to the face-off. They also said they were looking forward to next month’s Twenty20 World Cup in England.

“We’re looking forward to the event in England and we’d definitely like to take the trophy home with us. We had a good tournament in 2007 in South Africa, reaching the final but losing to India. This time around we want to go all the way and win it,” Younus said.

“We’re excited about playing in England and being in a group with them and the Netherlands will provide its own challenges. It’s always tough playing the hosts but I’m confident my side will do well,” he added.
Haddin, standing in as captain of the Australia side for tomorrow’s T20I against Pakistan said: “I’m really looking forward to taking part in the summer’s ICC World Twenty20 in England, the country where this format of the game was created.

“We’ve got a tough group stage with the West Indies and Sri Lanka in our pool but I’m confident we’ll make it through. It would be great to be part of a team that adds the ICC World Twenty20 trophy to Australia’s existing trophy cabinet.

“It’s an impressive looking trophy and one we’d definitely like to lift in England this summer.”

Karthikeyan to race for Team Kolles in Le Mans series

New Delhi, May 07: Team Kolles has roped in Indian driver Narain Karthikeyan for the Le Mans 24-hour race as well as the European Le Mans series after he impressed the owners during tests in the Audi R10 TDI LMP1 Sportscar.

Karthikeyan, the only Indian to race in Formula One, will take part in the 24-hour endurance race at Le Mans on June 13 and 14 while his first race for Team Kolles will be at European Le Mans Series in Spa on Sunday.

"I am very excited and happy to be racing in the Le Mans 24-hour race with Team Kolles and would like to thank Dr Kolles very much for this opportunity," Karthikeyan said in a statement.

"I really enjoyed the recent endurance test at Paul Ricard which gave me a good idea of the performance of the car and the difficulties I will be faced with, all I can say is I cannot wait to get behind the wheel. I am also really looking forward to racing on Sunday at Spa in Belgium, in the LMS series and this is a 1000km endurance race."

Colin Kolles, owner of Team Kolles said, "I am happy to have Narain on board and looking forward to this weekend at Spa.

Amritraj bows out of ATP Challenger event in Israel

New Delhi, May 07: Nursing a leg injury, Prakash Amritraj bowed out of the ATP Challenger event in Ramat Hasharon, Israel after giving a walkover to local Harel Levy.

Amritraj picked up the injury at last week's Challenger event in Greece.

The Indian had beaten Bulgarian wildcard Grigor Dimitrov in the first round of the tournament in Israel.

Kuznetsova ends Jankovic's reign in Italy

Rome, May 07: Russia's Svetlana Kuznetsova ended Jelena Jankovic's two-year reign as Italian Open champion when she beat the Serbian 6-1 7-6 on Thursday to go through to the semi-finals.

Jankovic, who beat Kuznetsova in the 2007 final for the first of her two Rome titles, could find no answer to the venom in her seventh seeded opponent's forehands in the first set.

She fared better in the second set, twice pulling back dropped serves and forcing two break points on set points in the 12th game.

But former U.S. Open champion Kuznetsova, in fine fettle after ending a title drought stretching back to 2007 at last week's Stuttgart Grand Prix, saved them both before sealing victory in the tiebreak.

World number one Dinara Safina meets Spain's Maria Jose Martinez Sanchez and American fourth seed Venus Williams will battle with Poland's Agnieszka Radwanska for a place in the last four later on Thursday.

Three Indian-origin boys selected for Chelsea Academy trials

London, May 07: Three youngsters of Indian origin will get a shot at playing for Chelsea Academy side after they were selected for a initiative by the London-based English Premier League club to rope in young Asian-origin players.

Jai Singh Dhillon, Jordan Sadhu and Aameer Kstantin Murphy will appear for trials in August to test whether they can be part of the Chelsea Academy.

Dhillon from Hitchin was selected in Under-14 category while Sadhu of Ilford and London's Murphy won the Under-12 and Under-13 competitions respectively after three days of intense competition among more than 350 young boys.

The selection of the trio under 'Search for an Asian Soccer Star' initiative is designed to give a much needed kick-start to greater Asian representation within the sport by uncovering potential future professional footballers from a so far under-represented community.

The initiative was launched by Chelsea Chief Executive Peter Kenyon on May 2 and the boys battled it out over three days of tests, matches and competitions.

It was joined by a host of Chelsea first team stars keen to lend their support including Nicolas Anelka, Petr Cech, Florent Malouda, Salomon Kalou and Deco.

Assistant Manager Ray Wilkins also led a couple of training sessions for the players.

The boys underwent a a series of individual tests developed by the Chelsea Academy to evaluate core skill levels and allowed trialists to be measured against boys already in the Academy. They were followed by coaching sessions with the Academy staff and competitive matches in the afternoon.

An elated Dhillon said, "I'd tell anyone who is thinking about taking part to try it even if you don’t think you are the best player. It is good fun."

Twelve-year-old Aameer Murphy finished top of the tests and asked how did he feel to have won the opportunity of a lifetime.

Referee smuggled out of Eng following death threats

London, May 07: According to various reports in the British press, the referee from the Champions League semi-final second leg between Chelsea and Barcelona at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday has been smuggled out of England after receiving death threats.

Tom Henning Ovrebo was confronted by several Blues players, most notably Didier Drogba and Michael Ballack, following the game after the west London club were dumped out of the competition thanks to a late Andres Iniesta equaliser which sent La Blaugrana through on away goals.

Having failed to award Chelsea a penalty during the match, of which there were around three or four separate claims, the Norwegian has apparently become a target of a hate campaign from the club's supporters.

Fearing for his safety, it is said that police changed Ovrebo's hotel before finally smuggling him out of the country.

Police in the 42-year-old's home city, Oslo, have revealed that they are investigating death threats issued via the internet.

An Oslo police spokesperson said, "We are watching closely what is being posted on the internet. Anything we believe would threaten his personal safety will be taken seriously."

Meanwhile, former international referee Graham Poll has had his say on the matter.

"This morning he's being smuggled out of our country under police escort - this is a referee of a football match. That is a disgrace," Poll told a Radio.

"When he booked in a hotel they had to change the hotel he was staying at because of the fear that maybe fans would find him.”

"When you see players acting like that, fans are called fans because they are fanatics - they may feel it's time to take action themselves.

India U-14 Girls excel in AFC football fest

New Delhi, May 07: Indian Under-14 Girls' team produced a commendable performance in the just concluded AFC Football Festival for South and Central Asia by winning six matches, losing and drawing once each in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

The Indian girls started their campaign in the April 30-May 5 tournament with a thumping 9-0 victory over Bhutan, whom they again spanked 15-0 in their second meeting.

This was followed by a 3-1 win over Iran though they drew goal-less with the same opponents in the second match.

Indian girls also beat Sri Lanka 8-0 and then spanked 6-0 when they clashed again.

They suffered their only defeat when India went down to Jordan by a solitary goal, but took the sweet revenge by taming them 8-3 in the reverse encounter.

The Indians scored highest number of goals with Tanvi Bhargava producing 10 goals followed by Ronnie, Oshin and Prerna who found the net on nine occasions each.

The Indian team earned 21 Green Cards -- the maximum by any side -- which was given by taking into account the number of wins, draws and losses, number of goals scored for and against, fairplay points and skill level of players.

Chelsea rally behind Drogba over referee rant

London, May 07: Chelsea captain John Terry and manager Guus Hiddink have rallied behind Didier Drogba as the Ivory Coast striker faces potentially severe punishment by UEFA over his furious confrontation with the referee after the club's Champions League exit.

A stoppage time goal from Andres Iniesta earned Barcelona a 1-1 draw at Stamford Bridge on Wednesday and put the Catalans into a Rome final with Manchester United.

Chelsea's players were left incensed over referee Tom Henning Ovrebo's performance and Drogba, who had been substituted late in the game, stormed on to the pitch at the final whistle to harangue the official, who had to be escorted down the tunnel by a group of stewards.

Drogba then aggravated his extremely intimidating behaviour by screaming obscenities into a television camera, forcing some broadcasters who were carrying the match live to apologise to viewers.

"Are you watching this? It is a disgrace," Drogba shouted.

Hiddink, who attempted to restrain Drogba, acknowledged that the striker's conduct was close to the limit of what is acceptable but said he fully understood his frustration over what he described as the worst refereeing performance he had seen in his long career.

"Of course I can fully understand his reaction - full of adrenaline and emotion," said Hiddink. "People say he should be in control. The moment a player starts hitting then he is going beyond where he should go.”

"I can understand his emotion and his behaviour after the game. I will protect that."

Hiddink felt Chelsea might have had as many as four penalties, so found it hard to understand why Ovrebo had failed to award at least two of them, and questioned why the Norwegian had been given such a big match.

"In big games like this you need top-notch referees who have had big experience in leagues like Spain, Italy, England and Germany," he said.

"There is an overall feeling of being robbed, of there having been an injustice. That's why they were so hot and angry.”

"Of course the players make mistakes, coaches make mistakes and referees can make mistakes that are why we talk about giving the benefit of the doubt.” "But if you have seen three or four situations waved away, then it's the worst I have seen."

Terry put the penalty count at six or seven and appeared to suggest that Ovrebo's handling of the match was influenced by a perceived desire by UEFA to avoid another all-English final.

"Not one player made one mistake in the two legs," Terry said. "The referee has made four or five or six big errors and now we're out of the competition.” "The word conspiracy is maybe the wrong one. It's difficult when players are so high on emotion after a game. People are saying we should not have reacted the way we did but the fact is that six decisions went against us. For the ref not to give one of them is unusual."