2008 Monkeygate inspired India at Perth: Hussey

Perth, Jan 9 (IANS) Australia's veteran middle-order batsman Mike Hussey feels the 'Monkeygate' incident during the 2008 Sydney Test motivated the Indian team to come back strongly and win the Perth Test in the 2007-08 series.

Australian Andrew Symonds had accused Indian spinner Harbhajan Singh of calling him a monkey during the acrimonious Sydney Test. The duo, however, made up later and played togther in the Indian Premier League (IPL) for Mumbai Indians.

Hussey felt the Monkeygate incident galvanised India to rattle Australia at the WACA Ground by 72 runs, just a week later. Australia, however, held their nerve at Adelaide to secure a 2-1 series win with a draw in the fourth Test.

'There was obviously a lot of controversy after the Sydney Test match, which I think in a way really galvanised the Indian team. They came to Perth with a real determination to do well,' Hussey was quoted as saying by The Age.

'I didn't feel at the time that it affected our team, but maybe it did a bit with all the controversy going on outside of the game,' he said.

With India trailing 0-2 in the current series, Hussey said it was too early to write off the visitors. Hussey also praised the calming influence of India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, with whom he shared the dressing room at Chennai Super Kings during the Indian Premier League.

'Whether things are going well or whether things are going poorly, he keeps a very level head. He doesn't get too emotional. He's a very calm character and he tries to instil a lot of belief into his players,' he said.

Hussey also praised Australian skipper Michael Clarke, who posted an unbeaten 329 last week.

'I think Michael Clarke learnt a lot from playing under Ricky Ponting for quite a few years. He wants the game to go forward all the time. He's an aggressive sort of a captain and he wants the team to be scoring quickly. He's always thinking as a captain and he's very passionate about the job,' he said.

Kiwi cricketers hailed across world for wonder catch at T20 match

Wellington, Jan 9 (ANI): New Zealand cricketers Bevan Small and Michael Mason have been hailed across the world for their barely-believable outfield catch in the country's Twenty20 competition.

Brad Wilson's straight shot seemed destined for six as it cleared the Bay Oval boundary rope but a leaping Small, on the field as a replacement fielder, leapt beyond the rope, and in the same motion looped the ball back to a diving Mason to complete the catch, the Stuff.co.nz reports.

The catch has been replayed on international television. One British newspaper has reportedly rated the catch as among the best witnessed in cricket at any level. (ANI)

Akram fears another 0-4 drubbing for India

Sydney, Jan 9 (IANS) Former Pakistan captain and fast bowling legend Wasim Akram fears India will suffer another whitewash against Australia after their horrendous English summer when they not only failed to win a single match but were also dethroned from the No. One Test spot.

India are trailing 0-2 in the four-match Border-Gavasakar Trophy series after suffering massive losses in Melbourne and Sydney. The innings defeat at Sydney was India's sixth successive Test loss.

'Winning matters, but to win overseas is the real thing. India does well in their backyard but are found wanting when they play on foreign pitches. When I was playing, Pakistan had won in New Zealand, Australia, West Indies and England and that made us a top side,' Akram was quoted as saying by espnstar.com.

Akram feels there is something seriously wrong in India's planning and execution.

'India are seriously looking out of sorts. There seems to be no planning in the team. Players are just looking like individuals and not gelling as a unit. This is surprising, considering the fact that almost the same team were world No. 1 just a few months back,' he said.

Referring to India's humiliating loss in Sydney, Akram said: 'India lost the plot on the second day itself. It was disheartening to see the fielders lose hope as the Aussie batsmen piled on the runs. The lack of coordination between players made me feel that India are going to field for another two days.'

'The seniors were not talking with their young bowlers. It was only Sachin Tendulkar whom I saw chatting with Ishant Sharma. Such body language was very unlike Dhoni and company.'

Akram said India failed to capitalise the opportunity when Australia were reduced to three for 37 in the first innings.

'Australia were three down for 37 on Day 2 and it was the opportune time for India to strike hard. But as soon as Ponting and Clarke took control, the complexion of the Indian attack changed for the worse in just six or seven overs. The shoulders drooped and the fielding became dull. So, the overall body language was very negative,' he said.

Brad Haddin takes swipe at struggling Indian team

Sydney, January 10, 2012 (AFP) - Australian vice-captain Brad Haddin has taken aim at strugglingIndia, 

Australian vice-captain Brad Haddin and India's Sachin Tendulkar

saying the tourists "break quicker than anyone in the world" and turn on each other when things are not going their way.

Wicketkeeper Haddin turned up the heat onIndia, trailing 2-0 ahead of Friday's third Test in Perth, by revealing that Australia had discussed the tourists' mental frailties.

India were crushed by an innings and 68 runs in last week's second Test in Sydney after losing the series opener in Melbourne by 122 runs.

Australian captain Michael Clarke scored 329 not out, and Ricky Ponting and Michael Hussey hit centuries as Australia kept the Indians slaving in the field for almost 11 hours in amassing 659 for four declared in Sydney.

"We spoke about a bit of that when we were batting," Haddin was quoted as saying in the Sydney Morning Herald. "The longer we could keep them out on the field the bigger chance we had of breaking them.

"We know this side can be as fragile as any team in the world if things aren't going their way and they can turn on each other and the media turns on them pretty quick. We knew if we could keep them out there and put the numbers like we did on the board we knew we'd get the rewards because they break quicker than anyone in the world."

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Fast bowler Ryan Harris, expected to play in Perth for the injured James Pattinson, has also saidIndia were "down and out already" and being torn apart by internal divisions.
Former players and captains have criticised the Indian team's performance with the latest focus on senior batsman V.V.S. Laxman.

Former Indian batsman Sanjay Manjrekar believes Laxman, 37, should be dropped at the WACA ground, allowing for a Test debut for Rohit Sharma in the middle order and for Virat Kohli to retain his place.

Haddin also indicated Australia had detected a weakness in Sachin Tendulkar, whose quest for a 100th international hundred will resume in Perth.

Tendulkar has been the standout Indian batsman in the first two Tests, making 226 runs at an average of 56.5, but he is still short of that elusive milestone. "What we have found is if we can build enough pressure on him he wants to score and he wants to feel bat on ball and he wants to get into a rhythm," Haddin said.

"We find if we can push him a little wider, make him feel for the ball a bit we can build enough pressure to get a chance and it's worked in the last two Tests."

Haddin told a radio sports programme that paceman Peter Siddle had the ability to get under Tendulkar's skin. Siddle dismissed him twice at the MCG before Pattinson and Clarke removed the 38-year-old legend in Sydney. "We've found he can be a bit uncomfortable in the areas Siddle's been bowling to him," Haddin said.

"I knew if we could build enough pressure we can create a chance to get him. He's a great player and it's always a privilege to play against guys like this. There's been a lot of talk about his hundredth hundred but from our point of view it's our job to make sure he doesn't get it this series."

New challenge for De Villiers

Paarl, January 10, 2012 (AFP) - AB de Villiers takes on a new challenge when he captains South Africa in

South Africa's AB de Villiers plays

the first one-day international against Sri Lanka at Boland Park on Wednesday.

De Villiers was appointed captain of South Africa's one-day and Twenty20 teams when Gary Kirsten was named coach last June, but a hand injury kept him out of matches against Australia. Hashim Amla took over as captain in a drawn Twenty20 series and a one-day series which Australia won 2-1.

It will be a tough baptism for De Villiers, one of South Africa's key batsmen, because he has also been selected to keep wicket.

Sri Lanka, coming off a 2-1 Test series defeat, will seek to recapture the form that took them to the World Cup final last year. Their squad includes fast bowler Lasith Malinga, one of the most effective bowlers in limited overs cricket, who is no longer available for Tests.

The first four matches are being played at some of South Africa's lesser venues before the fifth and final game is staged at the Wanderers Stadium in Johannesburg. Paarl has not hosted an international match since the World Cup in 2003. The pitch at Boland Park is known as one of the slowest in South Africa, which should suit a sub-continental team such as Sri Lanka.

The conditions could encourage Sri Lanka to field unorthodox spin bowler Ajantha Mendis, who did not feature in the Test series, alongside left-armer Rangana Herath, who was one of his side's best bowlers in the Tests.

Only six of the South Africans played in the Test series. Vernon Philander, the fast bowling discovery of the Test summer, was not included, nor was opening batsman Alviro Petersen, who made a century in the final Test.

Amla is expected to open with Test skipper Graeme Smith, who relinquished the one-day captaincy after the World Cup. Test wicketkeeper Mark Boucher no longer appears to feature in South Africa's one-day plans.

Test spinner Imran Tahir was not included in South Africa's squad but one-day regulars, off-spinner Johan Botha and left-armer Robin Peterson, will carry out spinning duties. Other one-day specialists include batsmen Faf du Plessis and J.P. Duminy.

The withdrawal through injury of batsman Dean Elgar means that fast bowler Rory Kleinveldt, who has appeared in Twenty20 internationals, is the only player in the South African squad who does not have a one-day cap.

By contrast, the Sri Lankan squad includes 10 players who appeared in the Test series. With Malinga and Mendis likely to strengthen the team for one-day purposes, the tourists could provide stern opposition for a South African team under new leadership.

Squads

South Africa: AB de Villiers (capt/wkt), Hashim Amla (vice-capt), Johan Botha, J.P. Duminy, Faf du Plessis, Jacques Kallis, Rory Kleinveldt, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Wayne Parnell, Robin Peterson, Graeme Smith, Dale Steyn, Lonwabo Tsotsobe 

Sri Lanka: Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), Angelo Mathews (vice-capt), Dinesh Chandimal (wkt), Dilhara Fernando, Rangana Herath, Mahela Jayawardene, Kosala Kulasekara, Nuwan Kulasekara, Lasith Malinga, Ajantha Mendis, Thisara Perera, Dhammika Prasad, Kumar Sangakkara (wkt), Upul Tharanga, Lahiru Thirimanne.

Fixtures - 

Jan 11: Paarl (day/night)
Jan 14: East London (day)
Jan 17: Bloemfontein (day/night)
Jan 20: Kimberley (day/night)
Jan 22: Johannesburg (day)

Time Runs Out For Modi

The Enforcement Directorate (ED) will soon file a criminal case against former Indian Premier League (IPL)

Former IPL chief Lalit Modi during his heyday

commissioner Lalit Modi in the Bombay High Court and seek help from the London Police for his extradition to India. He is wanted in connection with 22 IPL-related cases filed by the ED and Income Tax officials, ranging from financial irregularities to rigging bids to proxy holdings and kickbacks in broadcast deals.

Modi shifted to London in April 2009 and has visited India only once in April 2010 to meet his lawyers. He was sacked as IPL commissioner and dropped from the Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) governing body in May 2010 after allegations of irregularities in the selection of ipl franchises surfaced. His passport was revoked by the Government in January 2011. He replied to a notice invoking criminal conspiracy issued by the Chennai Police in a case of financial misappropriation filed by the bcci, but is yet to respond to four show-cause notices issued by the ED.

Mahmood Abidi, Modi's lawyer, says his client's appeal in 2011 to the Ministry of External Affairs to restore his passport met with no response. He adds that Modi is in the process of replying to the ED's show-cause notices. "We will have the replies soon," says Abidi, adding, "This is a witchhunt against him by some vested interests. My client has repeatedly said he cannot come back to India because his life is under serious threat from the Mumbai underworld."

In October 2011, Modi told ED that he would answer queries over video conference. He even offered to fly down ED officials for an interrogation in London. Both the offers were rejected by the investigating agency. The former IPL commissioner, who has started a website with six photos of himself on the home page, has micro-blogged on every single grouse he had against current BCCI officials from London. His latest tweet blames the BCCI for not paying Sunil Gavaskar Rs 4 crore it owes the former India captain for services rendered during the IPL.

Pressure is also mounting on the bcci with the ed claiming that the board entered into financial transactions worth Rs 16,500 crore but accounted for only Rs 250 crore during the second edition of ipl in South Africa in 2009. This was in contravention of India's foreign exchange rules. The board could be served 12 show-cause notices, in addition to those already served, by the ED in January. The tournament was shifted to South Africa after the Indian Government expressed its inability to provide security to the matches since they coincided with the Lok Sabha elections. The BCCI hosted the tournament after entering into an agreement with Cricket South Africa (CSA).

January will also see ED issuing notices to all franchise holders of the ipl who got funds from abroad. The agency, which maintains some franchisees indulged in violations of the Foreign Exchange Management Act, 2000, will continue its investigations against team owners. In August 2011, ED officials interrogated former board president Shashank Manohar, who claimed all financial decisions pertaining to ipl were taken by Modi "without informing other BCCI officials". The agency interrogated Shah Rukh Khan, owner of Kolkata Knight Riders, for his IPL investments and the franchise he bought in January 2008 for $75.09 million for a 10-year period. It also questioned former India captain Ravi Shastri, a member of the IPL governing council when it was headed by Modi, on whether he was privy to the league's financial dealings.

"We have answers to the financial transactions and have told the ed that the bcci did not indulge in any hawala transactions. Four notices have come from the ED and we have been told other notices could follow," BCCI legal head P.R. Raman told India Today. He said BCCI had informed the ed that Rs 250 crore was remitted to CSA from the current account in a branch of the State Bank of Travancore in Jaipur and hence the board did not seek any prior permission from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI). "We understand that only capital account transactions need to be intimated to the authorities and not current account transfers," says Raman. But the ED maintains that all fund transfers must have RBI approval.

"We are confident of explaining everything to the ED," says Raman, adding that BCCI President N. Srinivasan will soon depose before the agency.

In black and white Cricket, like we knew it in the old days

Children playing cricket with a stick and a coke can outside the gates of Buffalo Park on February 15, 2003 in East London, South Africa. (Photo by Shaun Botterill/Getty Images)

A score board attendant changes the score during the ICC Women's World Cup 2009 Super Six match between the West Indies and England at Drummoyne Oval on March 17, 2009 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)

A view of signs on the old manual scorebaord during day two of the LV= County Championship Division 1 match between Essex and Somerset at Castle Park on August 19, 2010 in Colchester, England. (Photo by Richard Heathcote/Getty Images)

A general view of the SCG late in the evening during day two of the Sheffield Shield match between the New South Wales Blues and the Victorian Bushrangers at the SCG on November 11, 2010 in Sydney, Australia. (Photo by Mark Nolan/Getty Images)

Australian captain Ricky Ponting looks on aftrer day five of the First Ashes Test match between Australia and England at The Gabba on November 29, 2010 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Hamish Blair/Getty Images)

Isaac Hayes of the Homies & the POPz looks out at the SCG pitch at the Sydney Cricket Ground on January 31, 2011 in Sydney, Australia. The team, comprised of African Americans and Latinos from Compton, a city notorious for gang violence, was formed to find an alternative to the gang lifestyle. The team will be in Australia for two weeks, playing matches in Sydney, and Melbourne and participating in fundraising events to support Australian flood victims. (Photo by Brendon Thorne/Getty Images)

Stuart Broad, Nottinghamshire and England cricketer poses during a portrait session on the 19th January 2011 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

Stuart Broad, Nottinghamshire and England cricketer poses during a portrait session on the 19th January 2011 at Trent Bridge, Nottingham. (Photo by Laurence Griffiths/Getty Images)

Scorer Alan James works during the Friends Life T20 match between Middlesex and Somerset at Southgate Cricket Club on July 10, 2011 in London, England. (Photo by Harry Engels/Getty Images)

A general view of play during the one day international match between England under 19 and South Africa under 19 at the St Lawrence Ground on July 30, 2011 in Canterbury, England. (Photo by Harry Engels/Getty Images)

Brett Lee poses during a portrait session on July 24, 2011 in Coolum, Australia. (Photo by Hamish Blair/Getty Images)

David Hussey poses during a portrait session on July 24, 2011 in Coolum, Australia. (Photo by Hamish Blair/Getty Images)

Matthew Wade poses during a portrait session on November 28, 2011 in Brisbane, Australia. (Photo by Hamish Blair/Getty Images)

Children from Kalo village in Central Province dive for a catch in a game of beach cricket during an ICC coaching clinic in Kalo on July 6, 2011 in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea. (Photo by Mark Dadswell/Getty Images)

Phil Jaques of the Hurricanes bats against the Adelaide Strikers at Adelaide Oval on December 28, 2011.