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Another PCB official quits

KARACHI, Oct 10: Pakistan Cricket Board’s Director (Operations) Abbas Zaidi has resigned from the post following in the footsteps of his mentor Shaharyar Khan.

Zaidi was a key figure in the board during the tenure of Shaharyar, who quit as PCB Chairman last week in dramatic circumstances a day after Younis Khan had refused to captain the side in the Champions Trophy.

"Yes I have resigned. I decided this was the best time to go. I am feeling very relieved. I felt it was fair that the new chairman should be given the opportunity to have his team to run the cricket affairs," Zaidi told PTI yesterday.

Zaidi’s resignation did not come as a surprise as he was seen as Shaharyar’s right hand man since December 2003.

"I think Pakistan cricket has seen some very positive developments during the time of Shaharyar Khan. He brought me into the board and I felt it was only fair I should resign when he decided to leave," Zaidi said.

New Chairman Nasim Ashraf, who reappointed Younis as captain on his first day in office and also sacked leg-spinner Mushtaq Ahmed as the assistant coach for the Champions Trophy, has hinted that he would be making changes in the board and firing all irrelevant staff within 45-days.

Ashraf is also expected to change the national selection committee headed by Wasim Bari.

Zaidi was incharge of media affairs and tried his best to get a positive image of the board conveyed in the national and international media. "I think generally we got some very good press and there was transparency in all our dealings. The team’s performance was also pretty consistent."

He said the successful holding of the home series against India in 2004 was the highlight of his tenure. (PTI)

Power-plays reducing spinners’ role in ODIs: Vettori

NEW DELHI, Oct 10: Power-plays, introduced as innovations in one-day cricket, had made life even more difficult for spinners who were forced to bowl defensively and avoid flighting the ball, says New Zealand’s ace tweaker Daniel Vettori.

Fielding restrictions now apply for 20 overs in a one-day international, as against the 15 previously, and slow bowlers were finding it difficult to adapt to the change.

"The power-plays have made the balance of the game even more uneven in favour of batsmen and most spinners have to bowl defensively to keep the batsmen in check," Vettori said.

The length of the slower bowlers had seen a change since the innovation came into operation, the left-arm spinner said.

"The spinners are resorting to shortening their length to avoid being hit out of the park," he said.

The 27-year-old said spinners now needed to rely more on varying their pace and trajectory to be effective in the modern limited overs format.

"Most pitches around the world are pretty flat and spinners have to keep the batsmen guessing to be successful," the New Zealand vice-captain said.

The dew, which could be a major factor at day-night events such as the ongoing Champions Trophy, would also work against tweakers.

"The moisture on the pitch and the outfield would make it quite difficult to spin the ball," Vettori said.

The role of a spinner in the one-day game has also undergone a change with the rules.

"Instead of looking for four or five wickets for 25 runs, a spinner now has to be happy with figures of one for 40 in 10 overs," Vettori said.

But the spinner, who has 167 one-day wickets in 173 games, said the key lay in adapting to the changing match situations.

"The best spinners always make a contribution to their teams, no matter how adverse the conditions are," he said.

"I enjoy watching Harbhajan Singh bowl as he proves his usefulness to the side under all conditions," the bespectacled spinner said.

Asked about the inspiration behind taking up spin bowling, he mentioned Australian legend Shane Warne as one of the reasons.

"Shane Warne has inspired many youngsters to take to spin bowling and I have also been heavily influenced by him," Vettori said.

He admitted that bowling spin was a difficult proposition in New Zealand where pitches tended to be seamer-friendly and grounds were small.

"There is a lot of difference in conditions in India and New Zealand and one has to bowl with a different attitude when playing in the two countries," Vettori, the fastest spinner to get to 100 test wickets, said.

On left-arm spin being called a dying art, he said the discipline had not developed many variations as yet.

"A top class leg-spinner has several different balls in his repertoire. Off-spinners have also developed a `Doosra’, but left-arm spinners have only the armer as a variation," he noted. (PTI)

Gibbs to be questioned by Delhi Police on Thursday

NEW DELHI, Oct 10: Six years after the match-fixing scandal shook the cricketing world, Delhi Police will question South African batsman Hershelle Gibbs on his role in the high-profile case on Thursday, the day of his arrival here for the Champions Trophy Tournament.

He will be grilled by a high-level team of Crime Branch officials led by Joint Commissioner of Police Ranjit Narayan on "all aspects" of the scandal, which came to light after police tapped a phone conversation of the late South African skipper Hansie Cronje during his team’s tour of India in 2000.

"Gibbs will join investigations on October 12," Chief Spokesperson of the Delhi Police Deependra Pathak told PTI here.

Among other things, investigators will seek answers from gibbs on questions like "as to who had contacted him? what was the information sought? and who all were involved in the entire match-fixing episode?" sources said.

The South African cricketer is yet to face the Indian Police in the scandal.

Scheduled to arrive here along with two of his lawyers, Gibbs will appear before the Delhi Police for quizzing before he joins his teammates for the Champions Trophy Tournament.

Police has been awaiting to lay their hands on Gibbs, who has been skipping tours to India in the past fearing detention ever since the controversy broke out, to complete their probe in the case.

Gibbs has already served a six-month ban slapped by South African cricket authorities while his teammate Nicky Boje, also named in the scandal, has denied any wrong doing. Both of them had answered a detailed questionnaire put to them by the Delhi Police in 2004. (PTI)

Shatra Shaheed Football Championship
Young Star, Young Heroes win matches

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 10: Young Star and Young Heroes today defeated their respective opponent teams in the ongoing Shatra Shaheed Football Championship being played at GGM Science College grounds, here.

In the first match, Young Star defeated Jammu Sports-B by 3-0. The first goal of match was scored by Karan Kumar in the 10th minute. With Vishal Bhardwaj scoring second goal in the 34th minute, Young Star maintained 2-0 lead over Jammu Sports-B in the first half.

Though Jammu Sports-B made several attempts to score goal yet they were foiled by strong defence of Young Star which has maintained attacking performance from the very beginning of the match.

The hopes of Jammu Sports-B to score goals in the second half were dashed by Young Star which gave no opportunity to Jammu Sports-B to score goal. Sunil made third goal for Young Star to win the match by 3 goals to nil.

In the second match, Young Heroes defeated Akhnoor Club by 3-0. Young Heroes was leading with 1-0 in the first half. In the second half, Young Heroes scored two goals in the 42 and 65 minutes. The scorers were Pankaj, Vishwamitter and Ram Kumar.

JU Football team leaves for NZ Inter-Varsity Competition

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 10: Jammu University Football Men team today left for Chandigarh to participate in North Zone Inter-University Football (Men) Competition scheduled to be held at Punjab University Chandigarh from October 12, 2006.

Jammu University team comprises of 16 players from different colleges of Jammu region and Post-Graduate Departments of the University.

The team comprises Chander Uday Singh, Ram Partap Singh, Sunil Bhagat, Vishal Bandral, Raman Kumar, Mohd Salim, Ravi Kumar, Arun Jamwal, Sandeep Phull, Vivian, Rahul Slathia, Vivek Verma, Inder Pal Singh, Maninder Pal Singh, Rohit Sangral, Nizam Ahmed Bhat and Ravinder Singh (Manager).

Dr Brij Baloria, Incharge Director Physical Education and Incharge BPEd Course, University of Jammu, interacted with the University Football players before the departure of the team to Chandigarh.

Prior to participation, the Department of Physical Education conducted coaching-cum-selection camp of the selected probables from the Inter-Collegiate Football Tournament held in University of Jammu.

J&K teams leave for National Circle Kabaddi Competition

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 10: Jammu and Kashmir Circle Kabaddi teams today left for Chandigarh to participate in the Junior National Circle Kabaddi Championship to be held from October 11 to 15, 2006.

Before leaving for Chandigarh, the teams attended 21 days preparatory camp organised by J&K Amateur Circle Kabaddi Association.

Minister for Sports Babu Singh interacted with the Circle Kabaddi teams at MA Stadium before their departure and asked the players to bring laurels to the State.

The team were trained by Bansi Lal, coach under the supervision of Ved Sharma, general secretary of the Association.

The men team comprises Gulzar Ahmed (captain), Mohd Yakub from Kathua, Ajay Anand, Sunny Tidyal, Pankaj, Palab, Zahid, Amar Singh, Romesh Kumar Zutshi, Sandeep Sharma, Kulbir singh, Anchal Lal.

The women team comprises Menu Sharma, Nisha Rani, Artee, Sushma, Manmeet Kour, Usha, Pooja, Poonam Verma, Konika and Retta.

16 cricketers named by JKCA

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 10: Jammu and Kashmir Cricket Association today announced names of 16 players, who have been selected by the Selection Committee.

Out of these players, a team will be selected for match against Punjab in Under-22 team of BCCI Tournament starting at Patiala on October 13.

The team comprises Veemrash Kaw, Rahul Roy, Parveez Ahmed (captain), Sandeep Sharma, Anil Balgotra, Rohit Bhat, Showkat Ali, Asif Rasool, Omar Alam, Ubaid Ahmed (wicket-keeper), Sameet Ali, Amit Baloria, Manik Jamwal, Adil Misgar, Sumit Khajuria and Mohsin Mushtaq.

The stand bye are Ravi Pandita, Mohisn, Raman Thaploo, Manzoor Illahi, Sahil Balwal, Mubashir, Manish Raghuvanshi, Puneet Koul and Tanveer Rashid.

According to hony general secretary of the Association Saleem Khan, the team is selected for one match only which is going to be played at Patiala.

National Group Song Competition
KC Public School clinches first position

Excelsior Sports Correspondent

JAMMU, Oct 10: KC Public School Jammu secured first position in both Hindi and Sanskrit Group Song Competitions during National Group Song Competition organised by Bharat Vikas Parishad at Government Women College, Gandhi Nagar Jammu.

The KC Public School will now represent J&K in Hindi and Sanskrit Group Song Competitions to be held in Bikaner (Rajasthan) and Nasik (Maharashtra) respectively.

The students, who participated in the competition, were Simriti Raina, Harshita Raina, Vibhuti Wattal, Ayushi Gupta, Ayushi Koul, Urvashi Sharma, Shaviya Manhas, Nidhi Bhat, Supreeti and Sahil Thaploo.

The students were prepared by Rita Sharma, Vicror Sotra and Kuldeep Kumar, teachers of Music Department of KC Public School for these competitions.

Principal of the School Jorawar Singh felicitated the winners in a special assembly organised in the school premises.