Darryn Lifson, Pakistan physiotherapist, has said Mohammad Asif was naive in taking dietary supplements without realising their possible consequences. “I would say Asif was a victim of innocence. When he injured his elbow he took an injection for that, otherwise he was taking a powder which I was not aware of. When I came to know about it, I stopped him,” Lifson said.Asif had told a doping tribunal last month that while in England with the Pakistan team in June 2006, he was given an injection for his elbow injury which did not work. He had received two more injections during his stay. After his return, he had been using a nutritional supplement called Promax-50, he told the tribunal.Asif was banned for one year and Shoaib Akhtar for two years after internally-conducted tests revealed both had excessive limits of banned steroid Nandrolone in their urine samples.The tribunal in its verdict had justified the lesser ban on Asif as he had little knowledge of doping and was never tested before, unlike Akhtar who had been tested twice previously.Lifson described Asif as serious and honest player. “Asif takes training very seriously and is a fantastic guy to work with, honest, hard-working and a very good man,” Lifson said.Lifson was shocked when he got the news of Asif testing positive. “I was shocked and my first opinion was that there must be something wrong with the testing program. It was my opinion that there was something going on that Asif wasn’t aware of, that he was given some supplement that I was not aware and may have given possible positive test.”
Warner Park has become the newest international venue and will stage a Test and a one-dayer when India tour West Indies next year. While it has never hosted international matches, Warner Park has previously hosted international teams, since it was a regular stop for warm-up matches for visiting sides to the Caribbean.Ken Gordon, the new president of the West Indies Cricket Board, delivered the good news to St Kitts & Nevis Prime Minister and Minister of Sports, Dr Denzil Douglas, when he paid a courtesy call on Friday.”St Kitts & Nevis will be holding its first one-day international on May 24 next year, and its first Test on June 22, so the federation of St Kitts & Nevis has now emerged into one of the international cricket venues of the world, and congratulations are in order,” Gordon told a news briefing.Gordon admitted that the announcement of the two international matches at Warner Park was being made prematurely, although the formal announcement would have been made after ratification following a WICB directors’ meeting on Sunday in Antigua.Douglas, the elated prime minister, indicated that the staging of the two international matches was further justification for his government’s decision to upgrade Warner Park, and put forward the Federation to host matches in the 2007 ICC World Cup in the Caribbean. “The infrastructural development, the organisation, and the planning that we are doing for 2007 has landed us these very important and historical first international matches.”
Next week’s ICC Intercontinental Cup match in Florida between the USA and Canada (May 28-30) will mark 160 years of cricket competition between the two countries.In a revival of one of the world’s oldest sporting rivalries, Canada and the USA will play each other in their opening match of the ICC Intercontinental Cup – a new tournament giving leading Associate Member countries exposure to the longer version of the game.The long standing rivalry between the nations – which began in New York in 1844 – will resume in a three-day game at the Brian Piccolo Park in Florida beginning on May 28.The 12-match ICC Intercontinental Cup is being played across four continents between March and November 2004. It is the first time a first-class competition has been staged for countries below Test-match level.The USA and Canada have previously met on four occasions in major ICC tournaments – at the 1982, 1986 and 2001 ICC Trophy competitions, and the recent ICC Six Nations Challenge in March – with the record standing at 2-2.The contest at the ICC Six Nations Challenge in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) saw the USA prevail by six wickets before going on to win the tournament and qualify for the ICC Champions Trophy in England this September.USA captain Richard Staple said his team was looking forward to renewing the rivalry and gaining experience in a first-class competition. “The ICC Intercontinental Cup is a tremendous opportunity for the game to excel among the associate membership of the ICC,” said Staple. “Being exposed to playing in a first-class atmosphere can only improve the status of the sport as well as the players.”Canada is always a challenge for us and on this occasion, they will have a more experienced and rounded complement of players than they had when we last played in Sharjah in March. There is now a little more focus on us because of our recent results so we will have to be ready physically and mentally to play and win.”The ICC Intercontinental Cup sees the top-ranked team from the matches played in each of the four regions (Asia, Africa, Europe and America) progress to the semi-finals and finals in the UAE in November.The chance for teams to play three-day matches is a major development opportunity for players to improve and become better equipped to handle the progression to the next level of competition.The ICC Intercontinental Cup features innovative playing conditions including a points system specifically created for the event.Teams receive 14 points for a win plus any bonus points accumulated, while teams that draw or lose a match receive only their bonus points. Only in the event of a tie will teams pick up seven additional points.Bonus points can be accumulated in both innings with a maximum of six batting points per innings awarded on the basis of 0.5 points for every 25 runs scored up to 300 runs. A maximum of five bowling points are available per innings allocated at 0.5 points per wicket taken.To encourage teams to play for a result, the first innings of each side is restricted to 90 overs unless the team batting first does not use its 90 overs in which case the team batting second can bat for its 90 overs plus the overs short of 90 not used by the team batting first.A minimum of 105 overs must be bowled on the opening two days of the match.Three matches have so far been completed in the ICC Intercontinental Cup. Nepal drew with hosts the UAE in March, with the home side earning 18 points to Nepal’s 14.In April, Nepal bounced back from its first-up loss to defeat Malaysia by nine wickets and receive 27.5 points, while Malaysia earned 9.5 points.Uganda collected 32 points to lead the African regional table after defeating Namibia by five wickets, while the hosts received 16 points.The ICC Intercontinental Cup is part of the High Performance arm of the ICC’s Development Program launched in 1997 to develop cricket as a global sport.Since its inception, the Development Program has helped the number of ICC members increase by over 40 in the past seven years. The ICC now has 89 member countries; 10 Full, 27 Associate and 52 Affiliate members.
The England and Wales Cricket Board has announced a further delay in their decision on whether to travel to Harare to play Zimbabwe in the World Cup on Thursday.A boycott of the match had seemed likely after the squad were told that a hoax death threat to the players had been received by the ECB.A complicated series of discussions then took place between the the players, their representatives the Professional Cricketers’ Association and the ECB, after which a statement was made by the ECB chief executive, Tim Lamb.”Specific information regarding the safety and security of the England players and officials came to light earlier today,” Lamb said. “This information has confirmed the concerns of the ECB that we have had regarding safety and security in Zimbabwe.”An announcement with regard to whether the England team will travel to Harare to fulfil the fixture has therefore been delayed until the new information has been formally committed to the ICC, and their response has been received.”This announcement will be made as soon as practically possible. The England team will remain in Cape Town for at least another 24 hours, pending further developments. A practice session will be held for the England team in Cape Town tomorrow.”England’s players, who have been locked in a string of meetings since Friday, are worried about security in Zimbabwe following political and social unrest in the country. They are due to play in Harare on Thursday.England lost an appeal on Friday to have the game moved to South Africa when World Cup organisers insisted Harare was safe.The managing director of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, Richard Bevan, said there were concerns over the Kroll report, an independent report carried out by a New York security firm on behalf of the International Cricket Council.”The author of the Kroll report made a presentation to the Team Englandplayers, along with a number of other people,” Bevan said.”The author contradicted himself on at least three occasions on a very serious point in front of the ICC’s World Cup head of security and 20-odd people in the room – including the ECB management team.”We still have not seen the Kroll report. We were fighting to see it on atleast four occasions last week.”Indeed, on the plane flying over here a couple of days ago I was told we could see the report on the basis of signing a confidentiality agreement, which did not enable me to explain any of the issues or content to the players. I declined a copy of the report – and signing the confidentiality agreement.”The ECB were asking for more information, hence why there was a delay. That information has now come through and that is now subject to the ECB working with the ICC under the statement that Tim Lamb read out.”The World Cup holders, Australia, are also watching the situation carefully, after expressing concerns about their match against Zimbabwe in Bulawayo later in the tournament, while New Zealand have refused to play a game against Kenya in Nairobi.The England camp’s concerns range from personal security issues to the ethical dilemma of playing in a country facing major upheaval.Half of Zimbabwe’s 14 million people face food shortages while main opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai is currently on trial facing a possible death sentence on a charge of trying to kill Mugabe.Planned opposition protests around World Cup matches have fuelled fears for players’ and fans’ safety.
Ian Thomas scored his first one-day half-century as Glamorgan beat Derbyshire by six wickets in their NUL clash at Cardiff.The 22-year-old left-hander, deputising for the injured Jimmy Maher, shared in an opening stand of 91 in only 14 overs with Keith Newell in their pursuit of 200 to win.Thomas’ 50 came up in just 40 balls, with a six and eight fours.Newell also went to a half-century as Glamorgan passed 100 in the 17th over and reached the winning post with 26 balls to spare.Glamorgan were indebted to a quick start, especially as they lost wickets at regular intervals on the way to victory.But a responsible 40* from Maynard guided Glamorgan to their fifth division two victory of the season to keep them in touch with the promotion race.Half-centuries from Steve Stubbings and Matthew Dowman were the mainstays of the Derbyshire innings after stand-in skipper Michael Di Venuto, deputising for Dominic Cork and the injured Tim Munton, won the toss.Derbyshire suffered a setback when Rob Bailey was dismissed to the fourth ball of the innings from Andrew Davies, but despite also losing Di Venuto, Derbyshire were indebted to Stubbings and Dowman, who contributed 109 in 24 overs.The spin of Croft and Cosker slowed Derbyshire’s progress, with Cosker taking three wickets, two in one over including a very sharp caught and bowled.Darren Thomas got into the action by dismissing Nathan Dumelow and Paul Aldred with consecutive balls as the Derbyshire innings rather tailed off with only 54 runs coming from the final 15 overs.
According to reports in the Sunday Telegraph, Chelsea are ready to launch a second offer worth more than £25m for Leicester City midfielder Danny Drinkwater having already had one for £15m rejected by the Foxes earlier in the summer.
What’s the word, then?
Well, the Sunday Telegraph says that the Blues are ready to make another offer for the England international as they look to bring in three new players before the window slams shut at the end of this month.
The Sunday Telegraph says that Drinkwater has been left in the dark over his future and he missed out on Leicester’s 4-3 defeat to Arsenal in their opening Premier League match of the season at the Emirates on Friday night because of injury.
The report adds that the 27-year-old is willing to make the move to Stamford Bridge despite the fact that he could find himself behind N’Golo Kante, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Cesc Fabregas in the pecking order, although the latter duo are currently missing through injury and suspension respectively.
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How did Drinkwater do last season?
Following an outstanding 2015/16 campaign when the Foxes won the Premier League title against all the odds, like many of his Leicester teammates the 27-year-old failed to live up to those performances again last term.
The Three Lions midfielder scored one goal and provided a further three assists in 43 appearances in all competitions, while he showed his defensive capabilities by making 60 clearances and 40 interceptions in 29 English top flight outings.
Would he be a good signing for Chelsea?
He certainly would be.
While the Blues have Kante in the middle of the park, they have sold Nemanja Matic to Manchester United and can’t be sure that Bakayoko will be an instant and successful replacement for the Serbian.
There is no doubt that Antonio Conte needs further reinforcements in central midfield and Drinkwater would provide some much-needed depth, and comes with both Premier League and Champions League experience following his exploits with Leicester.
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The 27-year-old became well known for his through-balls through the middle and into the channels for the likes of Jamie Vardy at the King Power Stadium, but it remains to be seen whether that style of play would be utilised for Eden Hazard, Alvaro Morata and Pedro.
Jonny Bairstow goes into the opening warm-up game of England’s tour of South Africa, against an Invitational XI at Potchefstroom tomorrow, knowing that he is at last England’s first-choice wicketkeeper in Test cricket, having twice been handed the role mid-series following an incumbent’s loss of form.Bairstow, whom England’s coach Trevor Bayliss confirmed at the weekend would start the Boxing Day Test at Durban, inherited the gloves for the final Test of England’s tour of the UAE, at Sharjah last month, after Jos Buttler had mustered 430 runs at 23.88 in 12 previous Tests in 2015. And this time he believes he is ready to make the job his own, having originally been handed the role in invidious circumstances during England’s whitewash tour of Australia in 2013-14.On that occasion, again for a Boxing Day Test at Melbourne, he took over from Matt Prior with England in freefall, 3-0 down in the series and with the Ashes already gone, and he proved powerless to resist the tide with scores of 10, 21, 18 and 0 in a pair of crushing defeats.Bairstow believes, however, that he is stronger for that experience. Though he does not doubt that Buttler has the wherewithal to battle back into contention, not least after his eye-popping 46-ball hundred in the recent ODI series against Pakistan, the chance to start the series with the gloves, having already earned selection as a pure batsman since the midpoint of last summer’s Ashes, will help him to play a key part in what he terms a “massive” series.”There’s always healthy competition,” Bairstow told reporters in Potchefstroom. “Jos has played some fantastic stuff in one-day cricket and Test cricket so the competition for places is there but that will drive us on to become better players and better people.”You can never take anything for granted,” he added. “Every spot within the side has got to be treasured and every opportunity you get you’ve got to try and take. So from game to game you’re always wanting to do as well as you can and get a run.”Hopefully I’ll be able to secure that spot. I’ve only kept in three Test matches but it’s an exciting time for me personally. I’m really looking forward to the challenge and with that comes a lot of responsibility.”Looking back on his baptism of fire in the 2013-14 Ashes, Bairstow was phlegmatic about the experience, from a personal point of view as well as that of the overall team.”I think I’ve grown as a person over the last couple of years since the two Tests in Australia,” he said. “The position of the squad and the morale in the camp is completely different from what it was going into those Test matches in Melbourne and Sydney.”When you’re 3-0 down against an Australian side that’s flying it’s never going to be an easy Test. So there’s different circumstances that are around this group of players at the moment and it’s an exciting time to be involved in English cricket.”As if being a Test wicketkeeper-batsman is not an onerous task in itself, Bairstow will have to match the standards of arguably the best current allround cricketer in the world, following South Africa’s decision to hand AB de Villiers the wicketkeeping duties for the Durban Test, with Dane Vilas, who held the role during their recent 3-0 series loss in India, left out of the squad.It is not exactly an onerous task as far as de Villiers is concerned. He has performed the role in 23 of his 102 Tests, including as a 20-year-old way back in his debut series against England in 2004-05, while his Test average in those matches is a remarkable 58.26. Seven of his 21 Test hundreds have come while doubling up with the gloves, most recently against West Indies at Cape Town in January.”You want to do as well as you can against the best that you can,” Bairstow said. “Obviously comparing yourself to someone like AB is going to be a fantastic challenge and if you do come out being the better of the wicketkeeper-batsmen then I will have had a very good tour.”Having the confidence of the captain and coach going into the warm-up games and hopefully the first Test allows you to be relaxed and enjoy yourself,” he added. “That’s when I play my best cricket and hopefully I’ll be able to do that not only in the warm-up games but going into the series.”
Australia face the prospect of beginning their ICC World Twenty20 campaign against Zimbabwe without several key players who are nursing injuries. Shane Watson has a strained hamstring, Michael Clarke has a lower abdominal strain and Matthew Hayden has been struggling with back spasms.Australia had a long break after their World Cup victory in the Caribbean and played two Twenty20 warm-up games in South Africa, beating New Zealand and losing to the hosts. Tim Nielsen, the coach, said the players were just getting into the groove before their tournament opener on Wednesday.”It’s normal early season stuff at the moment,” Nielsen told . “The fact that we have had some competitive hit-outs have been beneficial from a skill point of view, but physically at the moment it’s taken a bit of time to get up and going.”Hayden hurt his back against New Zealand and batted at No. 7 against South Africa as a precaution. “He’d been flat on his back overnight,” Nielsen said, “so Alex Kountouris [the physio] had done a great job to get him up and going.”Clarke was rested for both warm-ups and Nielsen was uncertain of his availability for the Zimbabwe clash. “He’s getting better, all the signs are that he’s improving, and again it’s just a management thing and seeing how he goes,” Nielsen said. “We’re hopeful he’ll be playing during the week, whether it’s Wednesday or Friday [against England].”Watson injured his hamstring at a training session in Australia last week and although he has been retained in the squad he is unlikely to play Zimbabwe. Watson arrived in South Africa on Monday along with Ricky Ponting, who had initially stayed home because of concerns over his wife’s health.
The pressure on coach Kevin Curran is increasing after Zimbabwe’s dismal display in their opening match in the Champions Trophy. Zimbabwe were dismissed for 85 in 30.1 overs by West Indies, losing the match by nine wickets.Curran had already been under fire at home. Last week it emerged that a senior board official and the head of selectors had resigned after attempts to have him dismissed were rejected by the main board.One source close to the Zimbabwe squad said that a number of players did not have faith in Curran and they accused him of having several favourites. It was a showdown over the inclusion of Terry Duffin in the squad during the series against Bangladesh which triggered events leading to last week’s resignations.And yet, in a manner which seems to be the norm in many walks of life in Zimbabwe itself, Curran refused to even acknowledge what was clear to everyone – that his side might be immensely keen, but they are woefully short of being good enough. “These boys are all very talented,” he said after the rout. “If you look at our stats, we have won eight of our last 20 ODIs. That makes for a 40% success record.”In fact, since Curran was appointed following the controversial dismissal of Phil Simmons, Zimbabwe have played 21completed ODIs, winning eight. Of those successes, five have been at home, three against Bangladesh and two against Kenya. The other three wins were abroad … against Bermuda (twice) and Canada. Their record against the bigger fish is poor, but the real stat that should be worrying Curran is the margin of defeat in those games.Not that Curran was about to let minor details like that get in the way of the party line. “Previous Zimbabwean teams with a lot more experience and a lot more fanfare had a success percentage of 27,” he concluded, manipulating statistics to the extreme. “We are looking forward to doing well.”The result will also add to pressure on the ICC to reconsider Zimbabwe’s status unless they turn things around dramatically in their remaining games. The match yesterday did not even run half its course, and Cricinfo learned from the ground authorities that only 32 tickets had been sold shortly before the scheduled start. The stats might say one thing, but it’s clear that the public are not so easily fooled.
Sourav Ganguly has said that he does not mind playing under Rahul Dravid, the current Indian captain for the triangular series in Sri Lanka. He has also said that he was pleasantly surprised that his ban for slow over-rates had been reduced from six ODIs to four. He will now be available for selection for the game against Sri Lanka at Dambulla on August 3.”I did not expect that the ban will be reduced so much,” said Ganguly quoted by PTI. He said that as a cricketer, his sole aim was to play for India irrespective of whether he was captain or not. “I don’t mind playing under anybody – be it Dravid or [Virender] Sehwag or Harbhajan [Singh].” He also said that, though he had played primarily as an opener, he did not mind batting at any position if it was in the team’s interest.Ganguly was initially banned by the ICC for six ODIs after India twice failed to bowl its 50 overs within the allotted time against Pakistan in April. The reduction to four matches came after the Indian Cricket Board argued Ganguly’s case with an ICC Dispute Resolution Committee after an earlier appeal was rejected by an ICC Appeals Commisioner.Ganguly, who did not play the last two ODIs in the series against Pakistan, has to sit out for two more matches to serve his ban. He will leave for Colombo on Sunday and join the Indian team in Dambulla before their third match of the IndianOil Cup.