Shoaib in more trouble with PCB

Shoaib Akhtar has run into more trouble with the PCB after the board accused him of violating his contract by criticising team management in a television interview.

"Akhtar has been served with a show cause notice as he violated the code of conduct," director of operations at the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), Zakir Khan, told AFP.

Shoaib was withdrawn from Pakistan's squad for last month's World Twenty20 after being diagnosed with genital warts. He claimed the team management was conspiring against him and slammed the PCB for revealing the nature of his ailment, saying he had considered taking legal action against them.

Under the terms of his central contract, Shoaib is not allowed to give interviews without the PCB's permission or to criticise the team management. He has till July 31 to respond to the notice.

Tampering with ball won't help much - Akram

Wasim Akram has disagreed with Allan Donald's suggestion that ball tampering should be legalised, and said that bowlers wouldn't benefit much even if they were allowed to alter the state of the ball.

Donald had sparked a debate when he told Cricinfo last week that the ICC should let bowlers 'prepare' the ball to redress the balance between bat and ball.

"I don't know what Donald is thinking. He never reverse-swung himself, so probably that's why he said that," he told espnstar.com. "I don't agree with him at all. Reverse-swing comes in late after bowling on a flat track. Whatever Donald is saying about legalising ball tampering, it doesn't matter. The ball will swing anyways and so it's not going to make any difference if you legalise it or not."

WIPA hits back at Lloyd and Holding

The West Indies Players' Association (WIPA) has strongly defended itself against criticism from former cricketers Clive Lloyd and Michael Holding. Speaking to Cricinfo last week, Lloyd had said WIPA was "not trying to achieve anything but strengthen their bank balance" while Holding had wondered if some WIPA officials were "trying to settle personal grouses with the board"

Pakistan launches them back in the game

Fawad Alam, Umar Gul and Saeed Ajmal fashioned an extraordinary turnaround on the second day at the P Sara Oval, with Pakistan dominating as completely as they had been dominated on the opening day. Led by superb spells from Gul and an outstanding century on debut from Alam, Pakistan recovered from a disastrous first innings, limited their deficit to 150, and, by the end of the day two, had wiped off the arrears and moved ahead, losing only one wicket in the process. As Pakistan were 178/1 at the end of the first day with Fawad Alam batting on 102* and Younus Khan batting on 35* at the end of the second day with Pakistan having a lead of 28 runs.

Fawad Alam scores a century on his debut.

Fawad Alam became the first Pakistani batsman to hit a Test century on debut away from home. Fawad Alam a new uprising Pakistani cricketer who was also a part of T2o World Cup winning team scored a beautiful 102 Not out at the end of the second day of the 2nd test match between Pakistan and Srilanka as Pakistan were 150 runs down from the first inning score of Srilanka at the start of the second innings.

England pull off great escape

James Anderson and Monty Panesar produced the most important innings of their lives as England's final wicket survived 11.3 overs to pull off a thrilling escape at Cardiff. When Paul Collingwood fell for a monumental 245-ball 74 England still trailed by six, but once Australia had to bat again, valuable time was taken out of the game leaving Andrew Strauss and a packed Cardiff nervously clock-watching. The Australians threw everything into the final hour in an electric atmosphere with the crowd cheering the two unlikely batting heroes as though the Ashes had been won. A vital moment came when Anderson collected consecutive boundaries off Peter Siddle to finally erase the deficit. It meant that two further overs would be lost from the remaining allocation, but there was yet another twist. Australia had bowled their overs quickly during the final hour, which meant it came down to a clock-watch situation for the batsmen. The crucial mark was 6.40pm: at that point it meant there was no time for Australia to start a run chase.The last pair of James Anderson and Monty Panesar combined for 39 minutes as England pulled off the greatest of escapes to draw the first Test in Cardiff

Australia A beat Pakistan A by eight wickets in 2nd One-dayer

BRISBANE, Australia – Callum Ferguson scored an unbeaten 72 as Australia A beat Pakistan A by eight wickets to level their three-match limited-overs cricket series at Allan Border Field on Sunday. With victory set up by the home side's pace attack, which dismissed the tourists for 188 in 48th over after Pakistan won the toss and elected to bat. No player except captain Mohammad Hafeez and wicketkeeper Sarfaraz Ahmed could make any significant contribution. Hafeez made 75 and Sarfaraz hit 45 runs. Brett Geeves (3-32) and Clint McKay (2-25) led Australia A's bowlers. In reply, Australia A achieved the winning target for the loss of two wickets in the 35th over. Ferguson and Adam Voges (49 not out off 53 balls) combined for a run-a-ball 95-run stand to claim victory with 16 overs remaining. The win leaves the series at 1-1 with the decider to be played in Brisbane on Thursday.

Pietersen, Johnson involved in a heated argument

The tiff took place when Pietersen struck a ball that landed where the Australian players were warming up and missed Johnson narrowly. The Australian bowler confronted Pietersen, and the duo were seen standing against each other and exhanging words before Johnson was pulled away by Stuart Clark. The incident completely rattled Pietersen. When the day's match began, he played some rash strokes during his 16 minutes' stay at the crease before his stumps were flattened by fast bowler Ben Hilfenhaus. Pietersen edged Johnson just short of second slip and also survived a leg-before shout from Peter Siddle and was dismissed for just eight runs.

Srilanka is dominating at the end of the first day

.Srilanka are in a strong position at the end of the first day on stumps. Kumar Sangakkara was not out on 81 runs while Thilan Samaraweera was not out on 13 runs. Srilanka are in a strong position scoring 164/3 and lead by 74 runs with 7 wickets remaining in the 1st innings.

KMDN Kulasekara and BAW Mendis crushes pakistan

KMDN Kulasekara and BAW Mendis crushes pakistan for 91 as Pakistan were all bowled out in 36 overs. While Kulasekara took 4 wickets for 21 runs and Mendis taking 3 wickets for 20 runs. Shoaib Malik was the top scorer for Pakistan scoring 39 runs.

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If you missed to watch the UFC 100 live stream online, then you must see the UFC 100 Replay UFC 100 Results Play by Play as the biggest event in UFC history. The fight that stood out from the crowd was between Brock Lesnar vs Frank Mir. .Below are the UFC 100 Results for the other matches:Dong Hyun Kim Defeated TJ Grant via Unanimous DecisionJim Miller Defeated Mac Danzig via Unanimous DecisionJon Jones Defeated Jake O’Brien via SubmissionMark Coleman Defeated Stephan Bonnar via Unanimous DecisionShannon Gugerty Defeated Matt Grice via SubmissionTom Lawlor Defeated CB Dollaway via Submission.

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Alan Belcher's tattoo is raising a whole lot of questions in the hours after his split decision loss to Yoshihiro Akiyama at UFC 100, so let's clear up what it is: It's Johnny Cash. Except it's a deformed Johnny Cash.

The tattoo looks to me like Belcher got it when he was younger, and through strength training he's built up the muscles in his arms and made Johnny's face look a little lumpy. That makes it, frankly, look like it's a little bit deformed, with all due respect to Belcher. And that's why no one can tell what it is, and everyone is googling "Alan Belcher tattoo."

So why does Belcher have a Cash tattoo on his arm? I've never heard him go into much detail about it, other than he's a Mississippi boy who's a big Johnny Cash fan. Oddly, he didn't use Johnny Cash for his entrance music, instead choosing Bob Dylan's Hurricane.

Police arrest man accused of stalking Sania Mirza

CHENNAI, India: Police have arrested a man accused of stalking the country`s top-ranked woman tennis player, Sania Mirza, local media reported on Thursday. The man was arrested near 22-year-old Mirza`s residence in Hyderabad on Tuesday night after her father lodged a complaint that she had been receiving obscene mobile text messages, the Times of India said, quoting an unnamed police official. Mirza, currently ranked 86th in the world, became a youth icon in a nation starved of sporting success when she became the first Indian to win a WTA tour title and break into the world`s top-50 in 2005. She was set to be engaged to her 23-year-old fiancee Sohrab Mirza on Friday, the paper said.

Sajjad blanks top seed in Bangkok snooker event

Pakistan’s top ranked cueist Muhammad Sajjad got off to a sterling start on the opening day of Sangsom 6-Red World Grand Prix Snooker Championship when he beat top ranked Scottish Professional John Higgins 5-0 in Bangkok, Thailand on Tuesday, according to a message received here. Higgins, who clashed Peter Murphy in World Championship at the Crucible in May, failed to match Sajjad’s cue control and potting and was completed routed. Sargodha-born Sajjad will be up against former World Champion Nappadon Noppachorn of Thailand in his second-round match. While Sajjad made great start, his compatriot Raees Aslam Khan was blanked 0-5 by England’s Peter Ebdon. Raees will meet Nappadol Sangnil of Thailand in his second-round match on Wednesday. Michael Holt of England registered the first maximum break of 75 in the fourth frame while beating Ang Boon Chin of Singapore 5-2. World’s top 48 professionals and amateurs are taking part in the event which carries lucrative prize money of Bahat 3.72 million with winners taking Bahat one million.

Liverpool sign French youngster Mavinga

Liverpool have signed French left-back Chris Mavinga from Paris St Germain while forward Nabil El Zhar has penned a contract extension. Mavinga, 18, can also play in the centre of defence and has represented his country at under-18 level. El Zhar, 22, is the latest Reds player to sign a new deal and he has committed himself to the Anfield club until 2012. The Moroccan international joined Liverpool from Saint Etienne in October 2006 and made 19 appearances for the first team last season. His only goal for the club came in a 2-1 Carling Cup victory over Cardiff in 2007.

Ibrahimovic off the market, says Inter president

Inter Milan are no longer willing to sell Zlatan Ibrahimovic and have taken Serie A's top scorer off the market, according to club president Massimo Moratti. Inter had stated they were willing to offload the Sweden international, who was linked to Barcelona, Real Madrid and Manchester United, but no club was willing to meet an asking price of about €70m. Moratti says that means the 27-year-old will be staying at the San Siro. The Nerazzurri chief said: "Zlatan Ibrahimovic is absolutely off the market." Ibrahimovic, who had intimated he wanted a new challenge, is now "happy" to remain at Inter. The former said: "What happens happens. I am happy to be here, I am as pleased as the first day when I came to Inter. " Meanwhile, Moratti added that Chelsea centre-back Ricardo Carvalho and Blues midfielder Deco were unlikely to join Inter after talks broke down over the price tag. "These targets are more and more difficult to obtain because they are players that are very useful only at the right cost," he said when asked about the pair. "Otherwise, they risk being bad buys." Moratti also said there will be no excuse for failure in next season's Champions League after coach Jose Mourinho played down Inter's chances, saying he was not a magician like Harry Potter or Merlin. "We can win the Champions League, I don't want excuses," Moratti said. "Miracles aren't needed, like it wasn't a miracle winning the Italian championship last year. "I don't think it will be difficult or miraculous to do better than last season in the Champions League."

City star Richards recovering from swine flu

Micah Richards has revealed he is stranded on holiday after being diagnosed with swine flu. The Manchester City defender he has been confined to his hotel room in Cyprus after being told he cannot fly back to the UK until he has fully recovered. "At first I thought it was a really bad chest infection, or maybe alcohol poisoning," he told The Sun. "I felt so weak that I couldn't move or eat. My friends had to bring me drinks in bed. "When I was told I had swine flu all sorts of things started going through my mind. You see on the news people dying of it." The 21-year-old went on the holiday after helping England reach the final of the Under-21 Championships in Sweden. He added: "My club have been very understanding. I'll get some stick from the lads when I do return - they will probably all turn up to training in surgical masks."

We need to bat as long as we can - Sangakkara

Sri Lanka captain Kumar Sangakkara has asked for better contributions from his batsmen in the second Test at the P Sara Stadium in Colombo as his team look to record their first ever home series win against Pakistan. Sri Lanka staged a sensational turnaround on the fourth day in Galle to take a 1-0 lead in the series but the team failed to cross 300 in either innings. Sangakkara was quite aware of his team's failings despite the victory.

"A first innings total is always vital and our job is to go out there and bat as long as we possibly can," Sangakkara said. "We've got a batting line-up of seven that has scored runs against almost every opposition in world cricket. We are just asking everyone to chip in.

"In modern cricket the impact of the tail and how long they keep batting for and how many runs they score is very important. All eleven players contributing to a total is good and big enough for us to put pressure on the opposition."

Sangakkara, however, warned of a backlash from Pakistan, who were in firm control before the fourth day in Galle.

"Any victory gives you a psychological advantage, slightly more confidence than if it was a draw or a loss. But at the end of the day, it's a new Test match and the Pakistanis will come out fighting," Sangakkara said. "We have to be good to absorb the pressure as best as we can."

Interestingly, Pakistan has had the upper hand in contests between the two countries played in Sri Lanka, with the home team winning only two out of 13 Tests. The current series gives Sri Lanka the chance to put that record straight, but in order to do that they need to put sufficient runs on the board to pressurise the opposition.

Australia are going for a victory

Australia are scenting victory in the opening Ashes Test as England stumbled to 20 for 2 in the face of a daunting total on the fourth day at Cardiff. Mitchell Johnson and Ben Hilfenhaus both struck early after Marcus North and Brad Haddin, who added 200 for the sixth wicket, completed a crushing batting performance with Australia registering four hundreds in an Ashes innings for the first time as they finally closed on a massive 674 for 6. After England's bowlers toiled through 181 overs for six wickets the Australians made two breakthroughs inside seven overs when Ricky Ponting declared with 45 minutes of the afternoon session remaining and a 239-run lead in the bag. Alastair Cook played round a straight ball from Johnson and Ravi Bopara was given out leg-before to Hilfenhaus, although he could probably feel slightly aggrieved as the ball looked high. There would also have been a huge shout against Andrew Strauss had it not been for a no-ball from Hilfenhaus and both Strauss and Kevin Pietersen couldn't get to the dressing room quick enough. The weather closed in as tea arrived, but such were the strides made by Australia during the shortened day that they still have plenty of time to force a series lead. Although the fast bowlers have done early damage this match could still bring a glorious twist with Nathan Hauritz, so derided before the game, having a potentially crucial role to play. England's spinners returned the combined figures of 1 for 246 from 73 overs and Hauritz has been the pick of the slow bowlers on show. After the dire forecasts, the rain held off for two sessions and instead the deluge of runs continued. North reached his hundred before lunch off 206 balls - the second of an young three-match career - while Haddin needed 138 deliveries, and 48 to go from 50 to 100, as he produced a fine impression of Adam Gilchrist by tearing into the bowling. In 15 overs after lunch Australia smashed 97 runs with Haddin responsible for 71 of them.

tour de france 2009 stage 7 results

Christian Vande Velde's prediction was right on the money.In his last conversation with the Tribune, the cyclist from Lemont said Thursday's stage six of the Tour de France would be "nervous. There are going to be crashes."And that was before Vande Velde knew it would be raining for much of the 113-mile ride from Girona to Barcelona, Spain. There were multiple crashes, splitting the pack into several parts before Norway's Thor Hushovd won the uphill sprint finish on Montjuic.The result was Vande Velde moved up four places in the standings to 8th, even though he gained no time on leader Fabian Cancellara of Switzerland, who remained 22/100ths of a second ahead of Lance Armstrong. Vande Velde is 1:16 behind Cancellara as the race heads Friday to the Pyrenees, with a stage including two climbs that reshuffle the overall standings more dramatically.A decade ago, when Armstrong won his first of seven straight Tours, Vande Velde was a support rider on his team, and that seemed to create a lasting mutual respect.But Armstrong dissed Vande Velde in a biography ("Lance. The Making of the World's Greatest Champion") published just before the 2009 Tour.One of the reasons Armstrong cited for his decision to competition was his disdain for the results of the 2008 Tour, won by Carlos Sastre with Vande Velde fourth (he moved up from fifth after the fourth finisher was busted for doping.) "The Tour was a bit of a joke this year," Armstrong says in the book. "I've got nothing against Sastre ... or Christian Vande Velde. Christian's a nice guy, but finishing fifth in the Tour de France? Come on!"Here is what Vande Velde about that and Armstrong's comeback in our two most recent conversations:
Q. Does what Lance said in the book bother you?A. No. It really doesn't. That's his view, and if he thinks that, then I can't do anything about it.Q. Have you spoken with each other about it?A. He apologized to me. He (said) he didn't mean for it to come off that harsh. He was very upfront with it. We agreed to go onward and not really worry about it, so it is behind us.Q. From what little bit you had seen of him since his comeback, what did you expect of Lance in the Tour?A. I expect everything from him. He had a great Giro (Tour of Italy, finishing 12th) and then a great rest and build-up afterwards by going to altitude. It was a complete page out of my book from last year.Q. There has been a lot of discussion, some from other riders, that Lance seemed a lot more nervous on the bike (in the Giro) than he ever was before. Did you get a sense of that?A. That was the Giro. If you weren't nervous there, then you should have your head checked. I don't fault him for being nervous. I think he will have gotten a lot of his eye of the tiger back after the Giro.Q. Are you surprised at where he is in the Tour at this point?A. Lance is doing awesome. Everything is going exactly right for him. Their (Astana) team did an amazing ride (winning the team time trial, with Vande Velde's Garmin-Slipstream team second), as we all thought they would. And he was one of the people who was very alert (when the peleton split in stage three) and was in the right place at the right time.

McCallan and Porterfield lead Ireland to victory

Kyle McCallan's restrictive and incisive spell, followed by William Porterfield's composed half-century led Ireland to a three-wicket victory in the first ODI against Kenya in Dublin. Ireland restricted the visitors to 214 for 9 after which they chased down the target with seven balls to spare.
That Kenya were kept to only 214 was down to McCallan's spell which cut through the middle order. They had made a solid start with the openers, David Obuya and Kennedy Otieno, adding 80 for the first wicket before McCallan had Obuya stumped for 41. He provided the second wicket as well, trapping Alex Obanda lbw with the score on 126.
McCallan then drove home Ireland's advantage by dismissing the experienced Steve Tikolo for 1 and struck again, trapping the wicketkeeper-captain Maurice Ouma leg before to reduce the visitors to 146 for 4. Alex Cusack took the vital wicket, that of Otieno for 78, and the Kenyan innings never recovered the lost momentum. McCallan finished with 4 for 30 while Cusack ended with 3 for 37.
Porterfield took charge of the chase, anchoring the innings with a steady performance. He received useful, if not substantial contributions from his team-mates and put together a succession of handy partnerships that took Ireland towards the target. He was the fourth wicket to fall, for 81 off 111 balls, but the middle and lower order batsmen chipped in to secure victory in the 49th over. Thomas Odoyo was Kenya's best bowler, taking 4 for 33 off his ten overs with two maidens, but his effort went in vain.

Shoaib Akhtar looking for Srilanka in ODI series

Shoaib Akhtar, who missed the ICC World Twenty20 due to a skin infection, is eyeing a return to international cricket in the upcoming ODI series against Sri Lanka which starts at the end of this month. Shoaib last represented Pakistan in the five-match ODI series against Australia two months ago. He had just recovered from a knee injury which kept him out of Pakistan's scheduled tour of Bangladesh in March, subsequently postponed due to security concerns. The ODI series in Sri Lanka will begin on July 30, after the conclusion of the three-match Test series which Pakistan currently trail 1-0.
Shoaib, 33, has not been a regular member of the Pakistan side of late due to disciplinary issues and injury. He was involved in a tussle with the PCB after reportedly criticising the board publicly for not awarding him a central contract. Subsequently, upon his return to international cricket, he was dropped after a poor ODI series against Sri Lanka and again under-performed against Australia, taking three wickets with an average of over 50.