Annual
Day of Modern High School celebrated
Excelsior Correspondent
JAMMU,
Feb 13: Minister
for Health and Medical Education Mangat Ram
Sharma has underscored the need for inculcating
and imbibing modern and moral education system
for the youth of the State. He said, "We
should adopt such an education system that will
prepare our children to face the challenges of
the future boldly rather to take refuge from the
past".
He was addressing
annual day function of Modern High School
Channi-Himmat today.
Later, the
Minister distributed mementos among the students
of the institution who have achieved distinctions
in academic and co-curricular activities.
An impressive
cultural programme depicting the brotherhood,
amity and communal harmony of the state was
staged by the school children on the occasion,
mesmerized the audience.
A large number of
people including prominent citizens, parents,
students and teachers participated in the
function.
Earlier, the
Minister lighted the traditional lamp on the
opening ceremony of the function.
OZ
players asked to sign contract else face a 3-year
ban
SYDNEY,
Feb 13: The
lucrative Indian Premier League (IPL) has offered
Australian players a chance to play in the
Twenty20 tournament without a No Objection
Certificate (NOC) from their governing body else
they would face a three-year ban from the league.
The chairman of
the IPL, Lalit Modi said all the players will
have to return their signed contracts by Sunday
so that the they could be auctioned to the eight
franchises next Wednesday.
"They are
running out of time,’’ Modi told the
Herald.
"We will
gladly take the Australian players without NOCs,
we don’t want to go down that path but if we
have to, we will.
"I am not the
type that won’t follow through with what I
say; if the contracts are not signed and returned
by sunday the Australian players will not be
allowed to take part in the IPL for three years.
"We are
taking a list to owners on Monday.
IPL is a
temptation that is hard to resist and a
three-year ban would mean that veterans like
Matthew Hayden, who are likely to retire by then,
will be denied a chance to earn huge money at the
end of their careers.
"Each
franchise has a 5 million dollars cap for their
team, and the contracts are for three years, so
when they bid for players at the auction they
will use up all of their cap - there will be no
money to buy other players later. He said.
But the issue
about which Cricket Australia (CA) is most
concerned is that the Australian players will
have to advertise rivals of their own sponsors,
and Modi reiterated last night that global
protection for CA’s sponsors would not be
given ‘’under any
circumstances’’.
IPL will only have
‘entertainment’ value: Gilchrist
Retiring
Australian wicketkeeper Adam Gilchrist today said
the cash-rich Indian Premier League would remain
only as an "entertainment" option which
will not be able to lure cricketers away from
their national commitments.
Gilchrist said the
players would be more interested in their
achievements in the Test and one-day arena than
raking money through IPL.
"I understand
the fear of that happening, (but) I just really
believe what motivates players to take on the
journey, you have got to take and endure and
enjoy to play for your country, it comes from
more than just the financial side of it,"
Gilchrist said.
"It is a
genuine passion, if you don’t have it you
are going to get found out. I think they will
have genuine desires to fulfil their career, to
make sure they get every bit out of their
international careers as possible," he was
quoted as saying by the ‘Sydney Morning
Herald’.
The 36-year-old
Australian said it would be more of an evening
out process for players as they end their
careers.
"We see
players at my age (36), there is going to be a
natural transition from international
cricket," he said.
"Probably
when the real professional era has kicked in
there has been a bit of a tendency for guys to
hang on too long, and we don’t see younger
guys getting in as young as we used to.
"It might be
the evening out process that there is something
for the older guys to move into." (PTI)
Sami,
Mushtaq among eight Pakistani cricketers join ICL
NEW
DELHI, Feb 13: The Indian Cricket League (ICL)
today received a shot in the arm with eight
Pakistani players, including Mohammad Sami and
Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, joining the Essel
group-backed venture.
Apart from Sami
and Naved, Mushtaq Ahmed, Humayun Farhat, Shahid
Nazir, Hasan Raza, Imran Nazir and Riaz Afridi
also joined the rebel league which already boasts
of names like Brian Lara, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Chris
Cairns and Craig McMillan.
"We are
extremely pleased to welcome these players to the
ICL family. These talented and experienced
cricketers will definitely be a great source of
learning for the youngsters who will play with
them," Chairman of the ICL executive board
Kapil Dev said in a statement.
"Under their
guidance, the ICL players will develop skills
comparable to the best of international
cricketing talent," he added.
The former India
captain also hinted that some other players would
join the league soon.
"We are in
talks with some of the finest players in the
cricketing arena. The announcement for the same
will be made shortly.
"At ICL,
it’s our endeavour to showcase the best of
Indian talent and to provide them with the best
of facilities to help enhance the talent,"
Kapil said.
Though there was
no official confirmation about spinners Saqlain
Mushtaq and Arshad Khan, Pakistan Cricket Board
(PCB) sources said the duo have already signed
contracts with the ICL.
ICL had earlier
netted Inzamam, Imran Farhat, Abdul Razzaq,
Shabbir Ahmed, Taufiq Umar and Azhar Mahmood for
its rebel league. All of them have been banned
from playing in domestic cricket in Pakistan, a
decision they are likely to challenge soon in the
court. (PTI)
Afridi
game for short-term offer from Glamorgan
KARACHI, Feb 13: Pakistan’s flamboyant
all-rounder Shahid Afridi has said he is ready to
consider a good short-term offer to play for
Glamorgan in the county championship but would
not sacrifice any assignment for Pakistan.
Glamorgan have
shown interest in signing on Afridi for their
Twenty20 and one-day assignments but are waiting
for the Pakistan Cricket Board to announce a
clear cut policy on allowing its players to turn
out for English counties.
Afridi said he was
ready for a short term deal with glamorgan
provided it did not clash with the planned Asia
Cup to be held in Pakistan in June.
"The Asia Cup
is more important for me. But if my contract
terms with Glamorgan don’t clash with my
Pakistan commitments, I would be interested in
signing up with them," Afridi told.
Glamogan have said
they want a top-class player who will win them
matches and also drag people through the gates
and Afridi is someone who fits the bill.
However, Pakistan
players including leg-spinner Danish Kaneria, who
has a two-year offer from Essex, are waiting for
a board ruling in this matter.
An executive board
meeting of the PCB will be held on March 8, when
more strict guidelines on the use of Pakistan
players in country cricket are expected to be
unveiled.
But players who
have been offered county contracts privately
expect PCB to compensate them for lost contracts
if the executive board does not allow the use of
players in English cricket, like it did in the
case of pacers Mohammad Asif and Umar Gul.
But the board has
said it was a one-off case and it cannot
compensate every player who are already getting
well paid in their central contracts and will
also earn handsomely playing in the Indian
Premier League. (PTI)
Players
may walk away to play in IPL: agent
MELBOURNE, Feb 13: Sending a strong signal to
Cricket Australia, Indian Premier League’s
agent Neil Maxwell has warned that players may
take premature retirement or simply walk away if
they are not allowed to take part in the
BCCI-backed lucrative Twenty20 venture.
Maxwell, who
manages Brett Lee and Mike Hussey, said if the
conflicting issues are not resolved, the lure of
money may persuade players to opt for the ipl
instead of their national teams.
"The cricket
world is going to have to respond to the ipl,
given the magnitude of it," Maxwell said.
"I know
(Australian players’ union boss) Paul Marsh
made the logical suggestion that ultimately there
needs to be a six-week window carved out of the
playing itinerary, the future tours programme.
"Otherwise
players will be leaving. Players will be
retiring. Unfortunately at the moment we have a
conflict. If that is taken out, there won’t
be conflict," Maxwell was quoted as saying
in ‘The Courier Mail’.
IPL chairman Lalit
Modi has already said that global protection for
CA’s sponsors would not be given and has set
a Sunday deadline for the players to sign the
contracts.
The clause which
requires A ‘No Objection Certificate’
of the respective boards has also been waived to
facilitate the star players to take part in the
franchisee auction.
Australia’s
top players were expected to miss the inaugural
IPL, starting April 18, because of the scheduled
tour of Pakistan, but that could change if the
already threatened series is postponed.
CA does not have
an issue with Adam Gilchrist’s decision to
retire and play in the IPL as he is 36 and had
been on the international circuit for more than a
decade.
But there are
concerns that other established players,
especially those in their early 30s, could quit
to make as much money, if not more, in 44
days’ work in the IPL as they would by
playing for Australia, the report said.
Maxwell, heading
home to Sydney after attending an IPL
stakeholders meeting in India, said cricket
needed to follow the lead of football’s
English Premier League.
"Every other
sport does it now. It carves out windows for
other representative tournaments. It carves out
windows for players to go and play for their
country."
Maxwell suggested
there would be a "club versus country"
debate among players unless ca provided its top
25 players with extended contracts, the report
said. (PTI)
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