Twenty20 paceman Dirk Nannes has rejected Shahid Afridi's claims on ball tampering and insists bowlers can be effective without breaking cricket's laws.The claims made by the suspended Pakistan star, that every side in the world illegally tampered with the ball, did not wash with Nannes, who is in the Australian squad for Friday night's Twenty20 game at the MCG and has played county cricket in England, in the Indian Premier League and with the Dutch national side.

"It's no secret that everyone wants to change the condition of the ball but that's through shining the ball and things like that," Nannes said on Tuesday."Everyone around the world does that in cricket. "I'm not really sure what he was referring to with those comments, but I know from a Victorian perspective we don't do that sort of thing and I don't know anyone around the country who actually does it.

Nannes said he did not know of anyone in Australia or England who had done anything to alter the condition of a ball, even though bowlers were capable of gaining conventional or reverse swing. Afridi's all-round talents will be sorely missed on Friday night by Pakistan, who were white-washed by Australia in the three Tests and five one-dayers.

Read the complete story

The 29-year-old Afridi, leading the team in the absence of rested captain Mohammad Yousuf, was caught by television cameras chewing on one side of the ball while walking with bowler Rana Naved-ul-Hasan in the fifth and final match at the WACA in Perth.

Under International Cricket Council rules any attempt to change the condition of the ball through illegal means is a violation of the players’ code of conduct and is liable to punishment.

The on-field and third umpires reported the incident to match referee Ranjan Madugalle who conducted separate hearings with team manager Abdur Raqeeb and Afridi before handing the player a two-match international Twenty 20 ban.

Afridi pleaded guilty and told AFP from Perth he was ashamed of the mistake.

“I am ashamed. I did it in the heat of the moment as the match was a close one, but I should not have done that, it's a serious offence,” Afridi said.

“I apologise to all and everyone involved in the match and to the fans around the world. This will never happen again."

Read the complete story

Australia won the under-19 cricket World Cup tournament today, beating Pakistan by 25 runs in the final at Christchurch. Batting first, Australia posted 207 runs for the loss of nine wickets. It proved to be too many for Pakistan as Josh Hazlewood and Australia's spinners took control to dismiss them for 182 with 3.2 overs in hand.

It was Australia's third title, having won it at home in 1987-88 and in New Zealand in 2001-02. They had relied on Luke Doran's impressive three for 32 and fast bowler Hazlewood's four for 30 to stop Pakistan's unbeaten run, while Jason Floros' 1 for 19 off eight was also important.

Read the complete story

Hours after he preached forgiveness and said it was time to move on after the Indian Premier League (IPL) auction controversy, flamboyant Pakistan all-rounder Shahid Afridi took a u-turn, saying apologies could not compensate for the humiliation faced by the Pakistani cricketers.

Afridi said he is no longer interested in taking part in the IPL, which is in clear contrast from his earlier statement in which he said that he had forgotten what had happened in the auction of the T20 leagues auction in Mumbai earlier this month.

I am not at all interested in taking part in the IPL. These issues of the Pakistan cricketers should have been sorted out before the auction, The Daily Times quoted Afridi, as saying.

Read the complete story

Some members of the Afghanistan cricket team here for the Under-19 World Cup cricket team will avoid eating meat during the rest of the tournament until they leave the country this Saturday.

Team manager Sayed Shah Aminzai told SportToday yesterday players and management in Napier were reluctant to eat meat of any description after they were served toasted ham sandwiches on Sunday morning at the Nelson Park pavilion.

"I was one of the persons who ate it with one or two other players but the rest of the team is upset," Aminzai said from McLean Park, where Afghanistan were playing Hong Kong yesterday.

Read the complete story

Australia can wrap up the series with victory in Adelaide after going 2-0 up at the SCG, where they enjoyed their third-greatest winning margin over Pakistan in terms of runs with a 140-run triumph.

The visitors will find it difficult to come back in the five-match series but the first step must be to win on Australia Day to ensure the final two games in Perth do not become dead rubbers.

To achieve that, they will need a much stronger batting performance than they showed in Sydney, where they were skittled for 127 chasing 268.

Pakistan continue to be haunted by questions over the captaincy. Mohammad Yousuf remains nominally in charge.

Read the complete story

Diplomatic spats and warmongering between India and Pakistan are old stuff. Now a new row has broken out between the nuclear-armed South Asian neighbours over Pakistani cricketers being left out of a lucrative Indian tournament.

Pakistan is furious that its leading cricketers, who enjoy iconic status in the cricket-crazy nation, were overlooked in the annual auction of players for the multimillion-dollar Indian Premier League (IPL).

In the auction held in a Mumbai hotel on Tuesday, none of the eight team owners  either business barons or Bollywood actors  bid for the 11 Pakistani players who were listed among 60 leading international cricketers.

Read the complete story

India led by 385 runs over Bangladesh in the first Test at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium here on Wednesday at tea on the fourth day.

India were 384 for seven in its second innings with V.V.S. Laxman (51 n.o.) augmenting the earlier efforts of Gautam Gambhir (116) and Amit Mishra (50). It was Gambhir’s ninth Test century and fifth in a row.

The scores.

India – 1st innings: 243.

Bangladesh – 1st innings: 242.

India – 2nd innings: G. Gambhir c Shahriar b Shafiul 116 (129b, 10x4, 1x6), V. Sehwag c Raqibul b Shakib 45 (58b, 4x4, 1x6), A. Mishra c Tamim b Mahmudullah 50 (70b, 6x4), R. Dravid (run out) 24 (50b, 3x4), S. Tendulkar lbw b Rubel 16 (26b, 2x4), V.V.S. Laxman (batting) 51 (73b, 4x4), Yuvraj c Ashraful b Shahadat 25 (32b, 3x4), D. Karthik c Rubel b Mahmudullah 27 (42b, 4x4), Zaheer (batting) 17 (11b, 3x4).

Extras (b-1, lb-5, w-2, nb-5): 13. Total (for seven wkts., in 81 overs): 384.

Fall of wickets: 1-90 (Sehwag), 2-188 (Mishra), 3-233 (Gambhir), 4-245 (Dravid), 5-272 (Tendulkar), 6-313 (Yuvraj), 7-362 (Karthik).

Bangladesh bowling: Shafiul 15-0-87-1, Shahadat 15-1-49-1, Rubel 12-0-77-1, Shakib 25-2-104-1, Mahmudullah 13-0-52-2, Ashraful 1-0-9-0. 

The auction of 67 players for the third season of the Indian Premier League got underway in Mumbai today.

With 12 spots up for grab in the 8 franchisees, Shahid Afridi was the first player to go under the hammer but none of the teams showed interest and the Pakistani all-rounder went unsold in the first round of bidding.

The bidders though upped the ante when the West Indian Kieron Pollard was on offer. Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings matched each other till the end as both kept bidding for the player until they reached their price cap of $750,000. At this point Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders also joined for a 4 way tie.

Read the complete story

Shane Bond is expected to be snapped up when the latest Indian Premier League auction gets underway tonight.With Bond retiring from test cricket, he will only miss a few days of the competition, unlike many of other big name players. He says his record speaks for itself, and with a lot of bowlers currently injured, he is hopeful of a substantial contract.

Bond has a reserve price of US$100,000 and is the most sought-after New Zealander up for grabs, with the Delhi Daredevils and the Kolkata Knight Riders believed to be the most likely bidders for his services.Nathan McCullum, Lou Vincent and Grant Elliott are other New Zealanders listed in the auction.

Vincent's form in the domestic HRV competition could see him command a high price, while McCullum's prowess as an offspinner gives him value. Elliott has a considerable talent for one-day cricket but remains unproven in Twenty20.

Read the complete story