Retired cricketer Warne denies romance with Jemima Khan

SYDNEY (AFP) – It was the story the cricketing world found too good to be true — retired Australian leg-spinner Shane Warne was romancing the Jemima Khan, the former wife of Pakistan cricket legend Imran Khan.

And it was just that.

In a front page story on the cover of Woman’s Day magazine, Khan was named as the “other woman” in Warne’s life and the cause of the latest split from his ex-wife Simone Callahan.

But Warne, embroiled in a messy public tit-for-tat exchange with Callahan over alleged infidelities, Wednesday dismissed the story as nonsense, saying he was “just friends” with the glamourous Khan.

“There’s absolutely no truth in that one whatsoever,” he said in Melbourne.

“We’re good friends, friends with the family and that’s it. Hopefully that all clears it up with you guys.”

Warne retired from international cricket this year and moved to England where he attempted to reconcile with Callahan, whom he divorced in 2005.

But the pair now say they have parted for good, with Callahan recently claiming in a paid magazine interview that the relationship ended after Warne accidentally sent her a cheeky text message intended for another woman.

Warne has denied her account but Wednesday said he would not engage in a public feud with the mother of his three children.

“I’m not going to start a tennis match with Simone, backwards and forwards,” he said. “Simone knows the truth, that’s the end of that one.”

Sri Lankan players cleared for IPL

The Sri Lankan cricket authorities on Wednesday cleared seven of its eight players to play in the BCCI backed multi-million Indian Premier League (IPL) scheduled to begin from April 2008.

Captain Mahela Jayawardene and spin wizard Muttiah Muralitharan are among the players to sign up to play in the inaugural season of the IPL.

“We have approved the names of seven players to play for IPL and the eighth player Nuwan Zoysa does not have a contract with us though his name will also be cleared for playing in the league,” secretary of Sri Lankan Cricket (SLC) K Mathivanan said.

Despite announcement of the Lankan players signing up for the IPL on Monday , the SLC sources had earlier maintained silence on the issue.

The sources had merely said that only the Sri Lankan cricket board could make any announcement regarding their national cricketers who had a contract with the SLC.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had recently launched the IPL, which will be played in the globally popular Twenty20 format and  will operate in direct competition with the rebel Indian Cricket League (ICL).

McGrath set for another Sydney farewell

October 3, 2007

Glenn McGrath might wear New South Wales colours one more time © Getty Images

Glenn McGrath could make one last appearance in a Twenty20 match for New South Wales this season. The Age reported that the Blues were talking to McGrath about playing Queensland at Sydney’s Telstra Stadium on January 8.

That would give McGrath a final chance to farewell his home state before he becomes available for the Indian Premier League Twenty20 competition. As part of the IPL and Champions League concept, McGrath could potentially be recruited by a domestic side from another country to play against the best Australian Twenty20 teams, even if that means lining up against New South Wales.

Dave Gilbert, the chief executive of Cricket New South Wales, said Australian states would struggle to do the same and lure an international star like Kevin Pietersen. “You never say never, but with the commercial opportunities available to those guys these days, they don’t get out of bed for less than probably £100,000, so it’s going to be very difficult to lure them here,” Gilbert said.

The rapidly evolving league creates an interesting challenge for state sides who will undoubtedly take the domestic Twenty20 tournament more seriously this season. “A lot has changed in the last couple of weeks,” Gilbert said.

“Now it’s on the world stage, and if you finish in the top two, you’re guaranteed $250,000 for participating in the Champions League and potentially $2 million. It’s extraordinary, when you’ve got a Pura Cup where the winning team gets $100,000.

“I suppose that’s my concern – is it going to change the focus of our players in terms of the financial rewards? I just hope we get the balance right. Twenty20 has its place but we must not overdo it.”

Sri Lankan Cricket Surprised Over BCCI’s Claims Of Having Signed Eight Test Cricketers For Indian Premier League (IPL)

With the BCCI claiming that it had already signed eight Sri Lankan players for its Indian Premier League (IPL), its counterpart in Sri Lanka has expressed surprise over such disclosures.

A UNI report from Colombo on Tuesday said that the Sri Lankan Cricket expresseed surprise over reports of top eight signings, including skipper Mahela Jayawardene, Muttiah Muralitharan,Sanath Jayasuriya and Kumara Sangakkara joining IPL.

“We are unaware of anything regarding this. As far as we are concerned, no Sri Lankan national team player has informed us to this effect,” a top Sri Lankan Cricket official was quoted as saying to UNI on conditions of anonymity.

India: Truth, Facts & Cricket

W hereas, the craze for the games like Football & Tennis is getting momentum in American & other European countries, the cricket fever is in full swing in the Asian countries. Especially, the cricket is everything in South Asian countries. The countries like Bangladesh & Sri Lanka have not only organized their cricket teams but they are throwing a challenge to the world teams in cricket also.

Undoubtedly the media has played an important role to make cricket popular in Asian countries. The most important role has been played by the increasing network of the television. At present cricket has become everything. Cricket has entered in the life of a common man But how far it is proper that the few professionals have taken rights to telecast the cricket matches?

In the last days, a Twenty-20 world cup in cricket was organized in South Africa. Although all the matches were thrilling & interesting but two Semifinals & a Final caused a shivering sensation to the lovers of cricket, the Semifinals were between India Vs Australia & Pakistan Vs New Zealand & the final was between India & Pakistan.

These matches were a centre of excitement for the public. But the common people couldn’t watch matches being telecast. The reason was that a TV channel company has bought all the rights to telecast it. It simply means that only that TV channel can telecast these matches that have got rights to telecast the cricket World Cup.

If we talk about the countries of Southern Asia, especially India, Pakistan & Bangladesh, we see that most of its population lives in villages. Those people mostly lack the television ownership. Generally the national programmes are telecast on their TV sets. Whereas the only private channel that has got the rights to telecast the World Cup, can’t be received unless there is a cable network.

If there is no cable network, the dish available in the market, being sold by many companies can be made use of to watch the matches. But all these things whether cable network or dish can only be made available by the rich people or by the dwellers of the cities.

As it was observed that on one side, there was a final match between the traditional cricket rivals India & Pakistan, being fought in the playground & on the other side, the common people were craving to watch the final on their TVs.

This match was not being telecast by the Indian Doordarshan. Undoubtedly, the electronic media & different TV channels have molded themselves in the globalization. It is also true that profession can’t be linked with the feelings But, can this so called professionalism, ban the rights of watching a thrilling match of players of one’s own country?

Can the rule of telecast not be liberalized to the extent that the people of the country, whose players are playing the match to see it? Or the national TV channel is available for the people of the country? If there can’t be such a setup then what else can it be called but only a planned conspiracy against the people of that country?

Clearly this electronic media aroused the interest of the people by its open telecast in the beginning. When the people became habitual of inebriation, some professionals deprived them to watch by buying the rights to telecast. This professional maneuvering means that if someone wants to watch the match, he must arrange for the dish, may not for his bread & butter.

This craze for watching cricket matches has given good chances of earning to professionals & at the same time, it has compelled India to turn again towards its golden age of games. The hockey which kept itself as a national game of the country is being forgotten by the people of India. From 1928 to 1956, it was golden age of hockey.

During this period, India played 24 matches & won all of them. India scored 178 goals in all. It means the average score was 7.43. Hockey is the only game in which India won 8 Gold Medals. The highest award of games in India is the Arjun Award. By now, only hockey players succeeded to secure this award maximum number of times.

Today we are well known to the names of Sachin Tendulkar & Saurav Ganguly. But it was an age when the names such as Dhyanchand, K D Singh Babu, Pragat Singh, Ajit Pal Singh, Gagan Ajit Singh, Zafar Iqbal, Bhaskaran, Aslam Sher Khan, as players of hockey were well known in the world.

First of all Indian hockey federation was organized in 1928 in Gwalior. Hockey team was the first team to go on world tour in 1932. It toured places such as, Malaya, Tokyo, Los Angeles, Omaha, Philadelphia, Amsterdam, Berlin, Paraguay, Budapest etc. & brought credit to India.

Undoubtedly, the revolution in media has enabled us to know instantly about the games of the world level players, their records & their extraordinary talents. But there was the golden age of hockey & electronic media was in its infancy, even at that time the name of Dhyanchand was well known by the people of the world.

The world record in 1936 in Berlin Olympics set by Indian Hockey team has not reached yet. In this match there were 38 goals in all. Out of these, 11 goals were scored by the captain of Indian hockey team Dhyanchand. Dhyanchand was called the magician of hockey stick.

The man who wished to win the world was Hitler. He was a dictator & once at the time of the dinner, he put a proposal before Dhyanchand. He offered him the title of Colonel, if he accepted the citizenship of Germany. But Dhyanchand, who was a patriot to the backbone & full of Indian ideology, refused this offer.

Because of hockey, the name of Dhyanchand touched the heights that Bradman’s in Cricket & Pele’s in Football. The adorers of Dhyanchand crossed all the limits in Vienna. A statue of Dhyanchand has been set up in the memory of Dhyanchand in Vienna in which he has been shown with four hands & a hockey stick in each hand.

The people of Vienna say that a man with two hands & a stick can’t play hockey as Dhyanchand used to play. So it is proper to show him in this form.

Anyhow, India has won the Twenty-20 World Cup in Cricket. Before it, India was the winner of World Cup in Cricket in 1983. It was an event that happened 24 years ago. Undoubtedly, the cricket players of India deserve to be congratulated for this success. But the fame of the success of Cricket, ignoring the success in Hockey & this craze for the Cricket & to fall a prey to a professional circle, doesn’t look proper.

Interview: Matthew Hayden

October 3, 2007

Purple patch: five of Hayden’s ten ODI hundreds have come this year, and he isn’t slowing down any

Damien Martyn retired at 35. He confessed that the challenge of international cricket called for “people who are more than 100% committed, dedicated, disciplined and passionate about the game”. Matthew Hayden is fast closing in on 36. And he possesses in abundance the qualities his former team-mate listed. Don’t bother asking him if he has a valedictory speech lined up for anytime soon.

“I can give you an answer, but it’ll be a flippant answer,” Hayden says when the subject is brought up. “As long as I’m enjoying the game, and stay in good touch with the game, I’ll play,” he said in Bangalore before the first game of the Future Cup.

Tall and bear-like, Hayden’s eyes look at you with an intensity that burns. Ask him a question and the answer does not come at the breakneck speed with which he dispatches the ball on the field. He gives the matter his full consideration first.

It has been an extraordinarily plush year for Hayden so far. In February he made a masterful 181 not out against New Zealand in the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy, the highest individual score in ODIs since October 2005, when Mahendra Singh Dhoni made 183 against Sri Lanka. Of his ten career ODI hundreds, five have come this year. His 1364 runs from 26 games are 310 more than second-placed Mahela Jayawardene, who has played two more matches. Unsurprisingly Hayden has hit the most sixes in 2007 so far, 33. He was the top run-getter at the World Cup, and for good measure also in the World Twenty20, supposedly a young man’s game.

All this from a man who was dropped from the side in the wake of the 2005 Ashes and only played two ODIs the following year, before being recalled for the CB Series early this year where he stuttered initially but hung on to finish strongly with two fifties and a hundred in his last five matches. Just how did Hayden reinvent himself?

“It’s a bit of a fallacy that I’ve reinvented myself,” he says. “I just have had a particularly good run. I’ve played 150 one-day games [147 to date], my record’s been consistent the whole time really – probably been exceptional over the last six months or so. What you’re saying is, I’ve had a really good run of form.”

That may have something to do with the fact that he has begun to spend more time at the crease. “I’ve been batting longer and that way it sort of gives us a platform and gives me the opportunities to score big scores. The pace of my innings has been good, I’ve picked target players, I’ve summed up the conditions well – it’s just experience and not that my skills have improved or anything.”

The English cricket media, among others, have in the past written off Australia’s old dogs at their own peril – most notably just about a year ago when Ricky Ponting’s men were lampooned as a Dad’s Army ripe for the toppling. Instead the Australians just seem to get better with age: Ponting, Hayden, Gilchrist and Michael Hussey are all still at their peaks; all four figure in the top ten of the ICC ODI rankings.

That is not to say that there isn’t fresh blood coming through. There is, and Hayden, for one, likes the idea of being kept on his toes. Moreover, the elder-statesman role is one he enjoys. “Firstly I stay fit and motivated. Younger guys coming in make it a fresher environment. In addition I see my role as mentor to some of the guys, in particular the young batsmen, so that keeps me fresh in the mind.”

He may well have one of these youngsters opening the batting with him in Tests soon. Australia’s first Test against Sri Lanka in November will be the first in years where Hayden won’t be opening with Justin Langer, with whom he paired up in 64 Tests (of which Australia won 46). How much is the absence of his long-time partner going to matter?

“For sure, yeah, I’ll miss him,” Hayden says. “Justin was such a solid human being and a wonderful little tenacious cricketer. He had a lot of skills which you really do need as an opener. It’s gonna be an interesting time, a challenging time, to get used to another partner.”

Does he think Australia need to take the plunge and opt for a young player like Phil Jaques or Chris Rogers at the top of the order? “It’s not just [specialist] openers, there are middle-order players as well that are putting their hand up to open,” Hayden says. “The batting structure or the selection policy will be to pick the best batsman available.” This could well be a nod at what Ponting hinted at before the ICC World Twenty20, of Australia possibly opening with an allrounder like Shane Watson.

For Hayden it is yet another challenge that he is up for. “It’s important to me that the game stays strong in Australia for many years to come,” he says, “and if I can be a part of that, that’s definitely a role that I see myself playing.”