Nannes rejects Afridi ball tamper claims
February 2, 2010 |12:47 | Players By : Team X
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.

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














