Corruption in the IPL---Sreesanth vows to return from 'biggest setback'

Corruption in the IPL

Sreesanth vows to return from 'biggest setback'

A day after he was hit with a life ban by the BCCI, Sreesanth has vowed to make a comeback. He called the ban the "biggest setback" of his life, and continued to maintain that he was innocent.

"The BCCI action is the biggest setback in my life and I am disappointed," he told reporters in Kochi. "I will try to overcome the crisis and make a strong comeback."

His brother Dipu Santh told ESPNcricinfo that Sreesanth's camp will wait on the court's verdict before deciding on a further course of action. "Sreesanth is not in a hurry to challenge the BCCI sanction," he said. "He wants to wait on the Delhi court that is hearing the case of spot-fixing registered by Delhi Police against him and the other Rajasthan Royals players. The Patiala House Court is expected to hear the case on October 7 and Sreesanth's camp is confident that he would be acquitted of the all the allegations pressed against him by Delhi Police. We will wait for the court decision on October 7 before deciding on our next step."

Dipu Santh said his brother was more surprised than shocked by the BCCI disciplinary committee's verdict: "He thought the BCCI might take action only after the court's verdict. He did not expect the BCCI to take a decision so early."

On Friday, the BCCI had handed Sreesanth and his Rajasthan Royals team-mate Ankeet Chavan life bans after ruling them guilty of spot-fixing during IPL 2013.

Sreesanth reiterated he was not guilty. "I can tell that I have not done anything wrong," he said. "The only consolation for me now is that I am at home, not in a jail."

On Saturday morning, he tweeted: "Plss have faith in me..I am sure I will prove my innocence soon....I will get through this..I ve full faith ..God is great."

Sreesanth, Chavan and another Royals player, Ajit Chandila, were arrested by Delhi Police on May 16 in Mumbai, for the alleged fulfilling of promises made to bookmakers, along with eleven bookies including Amit Singh. Royals later suspended their players and the BCCI set up an inquiry into the matter, headed by its Anti-Corruption and Security Unit chief Ravi Sawani. Apart from the action taken by the board, the players face possible prison sentences should they be found guilty in a court of law. They were among 39 persons named in the Delhi Police's chargesheet on alleged corruption in the IPL in July, charged with criminal conspiracy, cheating and dishonesty under sections of the Indian Penal Code and the Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act. 

Sreesanth may be guilty, but where is the evidence? After he was arrested, each day media reported that strong evidences are collected by police against him. But nothing had been produced before the court. The court even asked the police that were he was framed. When he was sure to be granted bail, police suddenly came up with MCOCA law which kept him some more days in the jail. The charge was then removed by the court. Then the police requested to change the court and it was granted. I also believed that he was corrupt initially. But after smelling all these foul, now I have my doubts. After all, he was supposed to concede 14 runs in the over. But only 13 was scored in that over. In the first 4 balls only 5 runs were scored. If there was agreement, would a bowler wait for the last 2 balls to concede 9 runs, that too with clearly out of from gilchrist in the crease. And would the bookies pay the money for the bowler who conceded 1 runs lesser than the agreement. I have my doubts.  

At age 30, there will be no comeback for Sreesanth. That is obvious. And as far as guilty or innocent verdict goes I,as a reader and viewer of the media has not seen anything concrete yet. Above all, how can we , accept the continued presence of Sreenivasan in BCCI ? 30 lakhs rupees look peanuts, when we look at the corruption at the higher levels. I am in no way condoning the punishment for match fixing, but why is there no enquiry against Meiyappan or Sreenivasan ? If a genuine and honest ( LOL) enquiry is made, where do you think it will end ?

 

Rohit Sharma happy with new role as opener "Two new balls a challenge"

India news

Rohit happy with new role as opener

Rohit Sharma, the India batsman, has said his recent stint as ODI opener was the result of discussions with his captain MS Dhoni, who believed he had the skills to handle the moving ball. Batting at the top of the order, Rohit said, had given him more time to get acquainted with the conditions, which helped lend consistency to his game.

"We (Rohit and MS Dhoni) haven't spoken at length about this," Rohit told Times of India. "But whatever little MS spoke with me, he did suggest that I have the ability to open the batting and counter the new ball. I'm glad he finds me capable of it and I've also been working hard on it."

With the new ICC rules of having a new ball at either end in ODIs, Rohit said the job had got more challenging. "Oh yes, facing two new balls is not easy. The new rules have had an impact and we're happy we could manage to do well and adjust to them. As far as opening is concerned, it is about how mentally strong you are, what kind of pressure you can manage to take and deliver."

Rohit first opened for India in January 2011 during the tour of South Africa, but had a lean return with only 29 runs in three innings. He was given the role again during the home ODIs against England this January, and immediately made an impact, scoring 83 in Mohali. Taking into account his performance this year, Rohit has scored 580 runs at 41.42 in 16 innings as an opener, which is nine runs higher than his career average (32.37). He has also struck six fifties during this period but no centuries.

Rohit is aware of how heavy expectations can be. "Well, earlier it was about not getting runs, now it's about not converting 50s into 100s. I'm sure next it's going to be about not converting 100s into 150s. I don't know why people pick on these things so easily.

"Okay, I do understand that challenge is a good thing and it makes you work harder. But I've also just started playing a new role in the team (as opener). It's been just four months. People do expect too much in a very limited period of time. I know people want me to do well. But sometimes, these expectations are just too high.

"I'd personally like to believe that as long as the team is winning, the contributions are in place and players are taking care of the responsibility assigned to them, it's fine. Probably, the next step is to be the match-winner and be consistent at it. It will happen with time. It's a learning process forever."

When asked whether his concentration was a concern, Rohit said: "No. That's not the case at all. There's so much competition, you cannot afford to think like that. If you look at my first-class statistics, I have 16 hundreds and 20 50s, which means I hold an appetite for longer innings.

"I have three double-hundreds and a triple. I like to bat longer. Recently, on the A tour of South Africa, I played 250 balls to get my hundred in the first Test. It has not been my nature to play that kind of an innings. But eventually I was glad I did it. It was very satisfying. It is something I will keep working on."

India's next limited-overs assignment is a home series against Australia beginning on October 10.

 

France's New Love for 'Criquet'

The French government is introducing the most English of sports into the school curriculum

LONDON—It's the quintessential English sport, often dismissed as a pastime for eccentrics with its origins dating back centuries, but now cricket is being taken up by one of the most unlikely nations of all: France.
Children across the country are slowly taking up the sport thanks to a government pilot project aiming to introduce the sport to around 200 schools over the next eight years.
According to figures released by the International Cricket Council, there are just 69 cricket clubs in France. Trivial compared to the 5,000 in England and Wales, but half of those playing the game in the nation of football and rugby are French, rather than expatriates or the children of immigrants from traditional cricketing countries such as Australia and England, and that number is growing.

Christopher Bartlett

Immigrants and expatriates like Rory Gribell, an Englishman seen playing for France, above, will be joined by more French players if new plans succeed.

France Cricket, the sport's ruling body in the country, says there are only 850 registered players, but the lack of numbers has not prevented some success. France won the ICC's under-17 championships in Corfu in 2001 and the nation is also the reigning Olympic silver medal holder in cricket—though the sport was last played at the Games in 1900, and the country currently ranks a lowly 49th in the world rankings.
There have even been suggestions that cricket's roots may lie in France. The game's origins remain a mystery—it is believed that a primitive form of the sport was being played in England in medieval times—but the name may have originated in France. According to the ICC, records in the French national archive show "criquet" was being played in the north of the country in 1478 with an incident in one match leading to the death of a batsman.
Centuries later, a planned tour by the Marylebone Cricket Club in 1789 had to be cancelled due to the small matter of a revolution, while a team of Parisians later toured Nottinghamshire in 1899.
Over a century on, the French sporting authorities are now hoping a boost in funding could improve the country's performance. Following the ICC's sale of its broadcast and sponsorship rights for $1.5 billion France received around $300,000 to help promote the game in the country.
"Thanks to the extra funding, [France Cricket] is looking to establish cricket as a main sport in the country," said Richard Holdsworth, regional development manager for Europe at the ICC in London. "They are trying to increase the participation three or four times."
Mr. Holdsworth said the push to increase the sport's popularity in France was part of a bigger strategy. "We launched 13 years ago a development program to bring awareness to places where there is no culture of playing cricket," he said.
"One of the biggest challenges is that people don't understand the game with 42 different laws and a lot within that," he said, adding that some in France see cricket as completely alien to their own culture. "France is also a tough market to penetrate with cricket still being perceived as a very gentleman's game. But cucumber sandwiches and tea [traditionally served at cricket clubs in England] are long gone. We have a massive product to sell across the world."
There are now more popular formats of cricket designed to make the game faster, simpler and more appealing to wider audiences. One of cricket's most recent successful variations is Twenty20, a shortened version of the sport usually completed in about three hours. And cricket is now played well beyond the borders of the major cricketing nations with the ICC boasting 105 members from Australia to Peru.
David Bordes, a coach for the national under-17 and under-19 teams, points out that by introducing cricket to people at an early age the potential for growing interest is huge. As an adviser for the French Sports Ministry, Mr. Bordes has been overseeing a pilot project designed to teach children how to play cricket at schools in central France as part of their school curriculum.
"We are training new coaches in areas where there are no expat English communities. If this project goes well we would expect to have it in around 200 schools at a national level in eight years," he said.
Admittedly, the take up will be slow. "This program will either take about 10 years to gain track or we need a miracle almost to get a lot of places interested at once," said Tony Banton, manager of France Cricket. "It is going to be hard work and the progression will be slow."
Some lovers of the game still struggle to explain to people in France what cricket is all about. "Most French wouldn't even know that cricket is even played in their country," explained Christopher Bartlett, head coach of the under-17s. "It is perceived as a very English thing and some even confuse it with croquet or even polo."
There are some skeptics too. Stefan Szymanski, a sports economist at London's City University and a former consultant on the establishment of the Indian Premier League, said: "It makes sense for Commonwealth countries to want to beat England at their own game, but why would any self-respecting French want to learn cricket? That would be the ultimate collapse of the French, who have a very strong sense of national identity."
Despite skepticism, young players in France are simply enjoying the game. Waseem Bhatti, a 31-year-old Pakistani cricketer who has been living in France since 2000, said he had seen the rising popularity of the sport among French teenagers. "Young boys are more and more interested in the game. They want to know the rules and they are very crazy about putting the cricket kit on," says France's senior national captain.
And following the poor performance by the French national football team at the World Cup, learning a new sport might not be such a bad idea.