McGrath given life membership of Cricket NSW

SYDNEY: Cricket New South Wales (NSW) has granted champion fast bowler Glenn McGrath life membership at its annual general meeting at the Sydney Cricket Ground (SCG).

Cricket NSW chief executive David Gilbert said life membership of the NSW Cricket Association was a fitting tribute to McGrath's brilliant career.

"He has left a lasting legacy for all aspiring young cricketers to emulate," Gilbert was quoted as saying in Daily Telegraph on Monday.

Laxman needs to be more aggressive on the field: Afridi

KARACHI: Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi on Tuesday denied undermining the authority of VVS Laxman, his captain at Deccan Chargers, but maintained that the Indian lacks aggression.

The flamboyant all-rounder started a war of words with Laxman with his unflattering remarks that the Indian lacked both aggression and leadership qualities. Afridi also felt that Adam Gilchrist would have been a better skipper for the Deccan Chargers in the inaugural edition of the Indian Premier League.

Stung by Afridi's remarks, Laxman said the Pakistani lacked team ethics and criticised him for his outburst without any provocation.

Seeking to placate Laxman, Afridi said he was being misunderstood but maintained that Laxman was not aggressive enough.

"Perhaps what I said about the Chargers team on the television show has come out a bit too strong but my only point was that Laxman needs to be more aggressive on the field," Afridi said.

"There was neither any intention to demean Laxman's stature or contribution as a player and captain nor to create a controversy. I was asked a simple question and I answered it honestly," Afridi said.

Once again making it clear that he was less than impressed by Laxman's captaincy, Afridi said, "I still maintain that Laxman needs to be more aggressive on the field and push his players. In Twenty20 cricket the captain pushes and motivates the players it is such a short game. I just felt that Laxman should have played a bit more on the front foot instead of the back foot," Afridi said.

He also made it clear that it was his personal opinion that Gilchrist was a better captain.

"There is no question of me violating team ethics. I know I disappointed my fans, captain and management in the IPL and I aim to make amends in the next season. In fact I did say clearly that only Gilchrist, Rohit Sharma and Laxman had made some good contributions in the IPL but we didn't click as a team," said Afridi who himself was a big flop with the bat.

Sidhu makes silver screen debut in Punjabi film

Mumbai (PTI): Former cricketer and MP Navjot Singh Sidhu, known for his quirky one-liners is all set to showcase his acting skills in a Punjabi film, "Mera Pind."

The film directed by cinematographer turned director Manmohan Singh, also stars singer-actor Harbhajan Mann and Kimi Varma.

"In the film, Sidhu plays an NRI who has chosen to settle in his native village. With the help of the youth in the village, he sets off a revolution of development.

The village is transformed into a modern prosperous hamlet, changed by Sidhu's simple but extremely enterprising initiatives, " Singh said.

The film aims to make Punjabi audiences realise the importance of being an entreprenuer in one's own land rather than showing one's skills in the West where Punjabis are said to be fairly successful and hardworking, an impression which belies the visible reality back home, he added.

"Mera Pind", to be released on September 8, is a complete family entertainer with a perfect blend of emotions, drama and comedy, he added.


Courtesy:thehindu.com

ICC postpones Champions Trophy

Brisbane, august 25:: Stand-in Australia captain Michael Clarke has welcomed the International Cricket Council’s (ICC) decision to postpone the controversial Champions Trophy until 2009.

Faced with the likely absence of a number of top sides, with South Africa having already announced they would not play in Pakistan due to security fears, the ICC decided over the weekend to delay the event until October next year.

Despite attempts by the ICC to address security concerns in a string of meetings across the globe last week, England, Australia, the West Indies and New Zealand were all expected to follow South Africa’s lead.

The teams had been concerned about the continuing security situation in Pakistan following a number of suicide bombings in the country over the past few months.

Cricket Australia (CA) had not announced a final decision on its team defending their title if the tournament -- one of the premier competitions in limited overs cricket -- went ahead next month.

However, the recommendation of the powerful Australian Cricketers’ Association (ACA) was that its players should not tour.

Speaking as the team prepared for a three-match one-day series against Bangladesh that was intended to be a Champions Trophy preparation, Clarke said the Australians were “happy” the matter had finally been resolved.

“I think my view has been all the time that the ICC, Cricket Australia and the ACA would make a decision and they have finally done that,” Clarke said.

“It’s a tournament Australia currently holds.

“So, come next year whenever they put it back on, we are looking forward to retaining that trophy.

“Right now I think all the guys are rapt that the ICC has made a decision.” One problem posed by the proposed change is that the tournament will clash with India’s scheduled seven-match one-day series against Australia.

Australia hasn’t played in Pakistan since 1998. Their our scheduled for earlier this year was also postponed.

CA spokesman Peter Young said they were hopeful future tours of Pakistan would go ahead as planned.

“What we’re all hoping now is the situation in Pakistan allows us to go there next year,” Young said. “We’re passionately keen to be able to do that.

“The former president is now resigned ... we’re all hoping the civil situation returns to order.

“We haven’t had a senior Australian team in Pakistan for a long time.” He added that it was crucial for world cricket that Pakistan cricket was strong.

Punish Mendis to bring him under pressure: Dhoni

Colombo, August 25: : Indians must get on the top of their Sri Lankan nemesis Ajantha Mendis by punishing him for his bad deliveries to bring him under pressure, says Indian skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

"It is more about him (Mendis). If he bowls a bad ball then punish him and build up pressure on him. If you continue to defend him then you know he will also be on top," Dhoni said.

"It is very important that whenever he bowled a bad bowl we will get runs out of them so that you know he (Mendis) gets under a bit of pressure," Dhoni said after winning the match by 33 runs to take 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

"I think S Badri(nath)'s effort was great. He took on Mendis. He went for a big shot but that is what you need to do at times to put some pressure on the bowler. Till now he (Mendis) was never under any sort of pressure. So he was bowling at his best," he added.

His match-winning 76-run knock notwithstanding, Dhoni said India won the third one-dayer in Colombo because of a team effort with no body having a bad day and would prefer it this way in the coming matches as well.

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"It is better to have a contributory effort while winning a match but we are not relying on one individual," he said.

"If you will have the privilege of getting individual performances like Zaheer played well in the last match. In this match also he has bowled well. But it is always better to win in the sense when it is a team effort and every one enjoys. No body had a bad day. It is good overall if we can continue to do this way," he added.