Lanka orders Indian Premier League players back home

MUMBAI: The club versus country row has flared up again. Sri Lankan cricketers who are involved in the fourth edition of the Indian Premier League have been ordered back home for training ahead of next month's tour of England. Sri Lanka will be touring the UK for a 63-day tour involving three Tests and five ODIs in England and an ODI each against Scotland and Ireland in Edinburgh. 

Sports minister Mahinadananda Althugamage said he wanted team members to prioritize the national side over the IPL. "In future, national cricket players can participate in foreign tournaments only in a manner that will not affect practices of the Sri Lankan national team," the ministry said. 

Eleven Lankan players are involved in the IPL at the moment, including two captains - Kumar Sangakkara (Deccan Chargers) and Mahela Jayawardene (Kochi Tuskers Kerala). 

"All the players will have to report to Colombo by May 5. That is when we start the camp for the England tour. The team will depart for England on May 11," DS De Silva, chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC), told TOI from Colombo. 

SLC secretary Nishantha Ranatunga, brother of 1996 World Cup winning skipper Arjuna, too confirmed the development. "The conditions in England will be completely different to those that prevail in Lanka. The selectors have issued a directive to have the players ready for the camp by May 5. The team for England will be selected in a week's time. All those selected will have to be here," he told TOI. 

When asked if the players were aware, Ranatunga said, "Yes, they have been kept in the loop." To the more tricky question as to whether the players were happy or not to forgo the greenbacks for the matches they will miss, Ranatunga was more guarded. "I don't know if they are happy or not. In any case they have to be here." He also denied that SLC and the players were on a collision course and played down the possibility of action being taken on the players who will miss the camp. "I'm sure they will toe the line," was his terse reply. 

Former IPL commissioner Lalit Modi had been clamouring hard for a separate window for IPL, a sentiment echoed by Rajasthan Royals skipper and former Aussie leg-spin legend Shane Warne to save the players the dilemma of choosing between club and country. This latest episode highlights the need for it even more.

Source: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/ipl-2011/news/Lanka-orders-Indian-Premier-League-players-back-home/articleshow/7967444.cms

Kevin Pietersen out of World Cup for hernia surgery

CHENNAI: England batsman Kevin Pietersen will miss the rest of the World Cup, with a team spokesman announcing Monday he would be returning home in the next 24 hours for a hernia operation. 

England have applied to the International Cricket Council (ICC) for Eoin Morgan to come in as a replacement player, the spokesman said. 

Pietersen, moved up the order to open during the World Cup, made a duck during England's dramatic Group B win over his native South Africaon Sunday, and it is now 27 one-day internationals since his last century. 

Team officials said Saturday that Pietersen would undergo an operation, but after the tournament, although he did say the injury would "no doubt impact my preparation" during the World Cup. 

However, the procedure appears to have been brought forward after he was clearly troubled during Sunday's six-run win at the Chidambaram Stadium and looked more of a threat with his part-time off-spin than with the bat. 

Pietersen's injury was diagnosed following England's 6-1 one-day series loss in Australia which came after the Test side's Ashes series triumph. 

The batsman's early departure from the World Cup raises questions over his future in the 50-over form of the game, with Pietersen having frequently complained about a crammed international schedule. 

Advancing the surgery might enable Pietersen to appear in this year's Indian Premier League. His original plan for a six-week course of treatment after the World Cup coincided with the lucrative event, which starts next month. 

Pietersen is due to earn around $650,000 (400,000 pounds) playing for IPL side the Deccan Chargers this season. 

However, England would like their star batsman to be well-rested ahead of a busy home season of international cricket, featuring series against Sri Lanka and India. 

The first Test against Sri Lanka starts in Cardiff on May 26. 

Former Ireland batsman Morgan would have been in England's original squad but for a finger injury. His replacement, Ravi Bopara, made a man-of-the-match winning 60 against South Africa in Chennai on Sunday. 

However, both Morgan and Bopara are middle-order batsmen which leaves England needing to find a new opening partner for captain Andrew Strauss. 

Either Jonathan Trott or Ian Bell could now be promoted up the order. 

England's victory over previously unbeaten group leaders South Africa revived a faltering World Cup campaign which has featured a stuttering win over the Netherlands, a tie with co-hosts Indiaand a shock defeat by Ireland. 

Their bid for a quarter-final spot continues with a group match against co-hosts Bangladesh in Chittagong on Friday.

Source:-http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/cricket-world-cup-2011/news/Kevin-Pietersen-out-of-World-Cup-for-hernia-surgery/articleshow/7644360.cms

Biggest World Cup upset: O'Brien smashes fastest WC ton as Ireland stun England by 3 wickets

BANGALORE: Kevin O'Brien struck the fastest-ever World Cup hundred as Ireland pulled off a sensational three-wicket win over England on Wednesday. 

Ireland won with five balls to spare as they finished on 329 for seven after England, who had made 327 for eight, had been cruising when they reduced non-Test playing Ireland to 111 for five. 

But a brilliant burst of power-hitting got O'Brien to three figures in just 50 balls at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. 

That meant he'd obliterated former Australia opener Matthew Hayden's previous fastest World Cup century record off 66 balls against South Africa at St Kitts in 2007. 

O'Brien's whirlwind innings of 113 off 63 balls, including six sixes and 13 fours, ended when he was run out by Stuart Broad's throw to wicketkeeper Matt Prior. 

Ireland's target was down to three off the last over and victory was secured when John Mooney struck a four off James Anderson. 

"I don't think it's quite sunk in," said 26-year-old O'Brien, after another famous win to follow Ireland's shock World Cup triumph over Pakistan in 2007. 

"It's probably the best innings I've ever played. I just hit the ball pretty well and got a bit of luck and things went my way. I just kept going and kept attacking. 

"When we were 111-5 I said to myself we could have just pottered around and got 220 off 50 overs for eight or nine and the game would have been pretty boring to watch. 

"But I just chanced my arm and said I was going to be as positive as I can and got a few away and didn't look back." 

It was the highest successful run chase in World Cup history beating Sri Lanka's 313 against Zimbabwe at New Plymouth in New Zealand in 1992 

"It's pretty amazing," said Ireland batsman Alex Cusack, who made 47 in a decisive sixth-wicket partnership of 162 with O'Brien. 

"I was just trying to knock it around for Kev. He's got the power. That was my job and he was playing the big shots." 

England captain Andrew Strauss said: "We thought we'd done a reasonable job with the bat and we got Ireland at five down and things were looking pretty comfortable. 

"But we weren't reckoning on an outstanding innings from Kevin O'Brien. It was pretty brutal." 

Mooney struck several superb blows of his own on his way to 33 not out to complete a fine all-round display after he had claimed four wickets for 63 runs with his medium-pacers. 

O'Brien went to fifty in 30 balls when he pulled Anderson for six. 

He then lofted Anderson for an enormous six over midwicket, with television replays estimating the ball had carried for 102 metres, the longest of the tournament. 

O'Brien did have a break on 91 when a huge skyer off Paul Collingwood was dropped by Strauss. 

Ireland burst into life during the batting powerplay, scoring 62 runs in five overs. 

It was the second-time in a matter of days the Chinnaswamy Stadium had served up a run-fest after Sunday's extraordinary tie between India and England had seen the two teams make 676 runs between them. 

Anderson, whose first overs yielded one wicket for 11 runs, finished with figures of one for 49 in 8.1 overs while Broad was pummelled for 73 runs in nine wicketless overs. 

Earlier Jonathan Trott equalled the record for the fastest 1,000 runs in one-day internationals 

Trott's 92 was the centrepiece of England's 327 for eight and when he made 64 he equalled West Indies great Vivian Richards and England team-mate Kevin Pietersen in taking just 21 innings to reach four figures in ODIs. 

Ireland's victory was all the more impressive as they lost captain William Porterfield to the first ball of their reply when he dragged on to Anderson.

Read more: Biggest World Cup upset: O'Brien smashes fastest WC ton as Ireland stun England by 3 wickets - The Times of India http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/sports/cricket/cricket-world-cup-2011/news/Biggest-World-Cup-upset-OBrien-smashes-fastest-WC-ton-as-Ireland-stun-England-by-3-wickets/articleshow/7613583.cms#ixzz1FVa47HZ6

World Cup catches betting flu, 13 arrested

With due apologies to Australian cricket captain Ricky 'Punter' Ponting, he is not the only punter playing in this World Cup. Seriously, there have always been punters in cricket and they never retire.

Ever since the game evolved from the humble village of Humbledon in England, people have been wagering their money - from outcome of matches to something as strange as the colour of Bishan Singh Bedi's turban. Bedi apparently used to change his turbans for each session of a Test match and the Aussies used to love betting on the colour he would choose for a particular session.

That was when cricket was played by gentlemen in crisp flannels. Today, betting is a highrolling syndicate in the Western world and a similar big money spinning nefarious activity in our parts.

The World Cup give this "vice" a frenzied lease of life, spawning crores of rupees on the sly. Since the law of the land does not agree to such activities, the police obviously swoop down on such rackets operating from decrepit houses in dark alleys with an assortment of modern high-tech communication gadgets. These fly by night operators thrive on the human instinct to make money and more money.

Of late, the police have been hot on the heels of betting rackets across the country. In Delhi, they have busted three betting syndicates over the past three weeks.

On Sunday, inspector Arvind Kumar's team arrested five punters - Kuldeep Jain (32), Suresh Chand Jain(42), Ajay Jain (34), Manoj Jain (39) and Avdhesh Sharma (44) - from a house on rent in East of Kailash, south-east Delhi. These five were not taking bets directly, but 32 bookies across the city were doing their job. They were offering Rs 1.60 for every rupee invested.

The police said the punters use a computer software, Back and LayPro, to place the bets. The software can be downloaded from the internet or bought from Gaffar Market, the police added.

A rented room often attracts the police. Hence, many syndicates have moved to cars and vans. "Cars are the safest place to run a betting racket. All you need is a laptop with WiFi, mobile phone, television and a notebook.

The police have so far arrested 13 bookies in the Capital. Nine of them CUP CATCHES are property dealers. They confessed that were trying to cash in on the World Cup fever to make a quick buck.

Down south, the betting mafia has made Karnataka its new hub for the World Cup. The police have busted rackets in five different locations across the state over the past 15 days - arresting more than 25 people in Bangalore, Bellary, and Belgaum.

"We had clear information that the betting mafia has moved to Karnataka from Mumbai. They have formed a ring in the state. All the five gangs that we nabbed are interconnected," a senior police officer said.

What has appalled the police is the presence of armed guards from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar outside the houses of the betting gangs. "This is new to Bangalore. Armed guards are common in Mumbai. The Bangalore underworld does not rely on guards from other states," the officer added.

In Andhra Pradesh, the Vijayawada police on Sunday arrested five persons for betting on the India-England cricket match in Bangalore and seized Rs 2.10 lakh in cash, 12 mobile phones and a laptop.

Here again, real estate dealers from Hyderabad were involved in the betting racket. Subba Raju, a punter and property dealer, said cricket betting has two categories: match betting and fancy betting.

"Match betting is simple. In this, one can bet, for instance, on 40:42 when two favourite teams are playing. The bookie gets Rs 40,000 extra for every one lakh he bets on the first team if it wins the match. If the second team wins, he would lose Rs 42,000 for every one lakh straightaway.

As the match progresses, the bookies can raise their stake, but the basic figure remains the same," Raju explained.

Source:-http://indiatoday.intoday.in/site/Story/131256/top-stories/world-cup-2011-betting-mafia.html

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