IOC head keen to make cricket Olympic sport

Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, is keen to see cricket becoming an Olympic sport in the future. Speaking to the London Evening Standard, Rogge also indicated that if cricket were to feature in the Olympic games, it would have to be through its shorter versions.

Jacques Rogge: "People don't bet any more on the result but on the facts of a match, like bowling no-balls ... events that are not suspicious when you see them in isolation."

"The ICC will decide at the end of June whether they will make an application [for making cricket an Olympic sport]," Rogge said. "We would welcome an application. It's an important, popular sport and very powerful on television. It's a sport with a great tradition where mostly you have a respect of the ethics. In the Olympics, it will not be Test cricket, of course."

A formal application to take part in the Olympics does not appear to be on the ICC's horizon at present. "There are currently no plans to submit an application to add cricket to event programme. The matter is not on the agenda for the Board meeting in June," an ICC spokesman told ESPNcricinfo.

Rogge, the 69 year-old former Belgium rugby union player and surgeon, revealed that he was a huge fan of cricket and that he follows the sport whenever he can. "When I'm at my office, whether it be at home or here in Lausanne, I put the telly on and I have a Test match or a one-day match on," Rogge said. "I continue to work and once in a while I hear a big roar and I know something has happened, an lbw or a run out, and I watch the replay."

Rogge developed an interest in the game when he was introduced to French cricket by relatives in Cornwall, whom he visited in his formative years. "Let's be very clear, I can't play cricket, but I know the rules," he said. "I love the game. I have watched Sachin Tendulkar, Kevin Pietersen, Shane Warne, Ian Botham. It's tactically very interesting, a game of patience, a game of great skills and the only sport where, after five days, you can have a draw!"

Rogge will step down after the 2012 games in London, which will become the first city to host the Olympics three times. Rogge expects it to be a historic event, and his biggest concern is the menace of illegal bookmakers. Like cricket, football and other popular sports have come under the match-fixing spectre, and Rogge believes it can have a more damaging impact on sport than doping scandals.

"We had monitoring in Vancouver and in Beijing and there was no sign of illegal betting in either those Games," Rogge said. "But it would be naive to say this could not happen at the London Olympics. Of course, I am worried it could happen. We have to be ready.

"People don't bet any more on the result but on the facts of a match - like bowling no-balls, who is going to concede the first corner in a football match, or who is going to make the second double fault in tennis; events that are not suspicious when you see them in isolation.

"We are looking at a system whereby governments will legislate in controlling and defending sport. We also want governments to exchange information with us and Interpol. The illegal betting networks are very international. You can bet from the far end of one continent on a match played at the far end of another continent.

"We've been told by Interpol that the criminal gangs involved with illegal gambling are the same gangs who deal with drugs and prostitution. So it's not a couple of guys wanting to make a few quick bucks out of fixing a match."

IOC head keen to make cricket Olympic sport

Jacques Rogge, president of the International Olympic Committee, is keen to see cricket becoming an Olympic sport in the future. Speaking to the London Evening Standard, Rogge also indicated that if cricket were to feature in the Olympic games, it would have to be through its shorter versions.

Jacques Rogge: "People don't bet any more on the result but on the facts of a match, like bowling no-balls ... events that are not suspicious when you see them in isolation."

"The ICC will decide at the end of June whether they will make an application [for making cricket an Olympic sport]," Rogge said. "We would welcome an application. It's an important, popular sport and very powerful on television. It's a sport with a great tradition where mostly you have a respect of the ethics. In the Olympics, it will not be Test cricket, of course."

A formal application to take part in the Olympics does not appear to be on the ICC's horizon at present. "There are currently no plans to submit an application to add cricket to event programme. The matter is not on the agenda for the Board meeting in June," an ICC spokesman told ESPNcricinfo.

Rogge, the 69 year-old former Belgium rugby union player and surgeon, revealed that he was a huge fan of cricket and that he follows the sport whenever he can. "When I'm at my office, whether it be at home or here in Lausanne, I put the telly on and I have a Test match or a one-day match on," Rogge said. "I continue to work and once in a while I hear a big roar and I know something has happened, an lbw or a run out, and I watch the replay."

Rogge developed an interest in the game when he was introduced to French cricket by relatives in Cornwall, whom he visited in his formative years. "Let's be very clear, I can't play cricket, but I know the rules," he said. "I love the game. I have watched Sachin Tendulkar, Kevin Pietersen, Shane Warne, Ian Botham. It's tactically very interesting, a game of patience, a game of great skills and the only sport where, after five days, you can have a draw!"

Rogge will step down after the 2012 games in London, which will become the first city to host the Olympics three times. Rogge expects it to be a historic event, and his biggest concern is the menace of illegal bookmakers. Like cricket, football and other popular sports have come under the match-fixing spectre, and Rogge believes it can have a more damaging impact on sport than doping scandals.

"We had monitoring in Vancouver and in Beijing and there was no sign of illegal betting in either those Games," Rogge said. "But it would be naive to say this could not happen at the London Olympics. Of course, I am worried it could happen. We have to be ready.

"People don't bet any more on the result but on the facts of a match - like bowling no-balls, who is going to concede the first corner in a football match, or who is going to make the second double fault in tennis; events that are not suspicious when you see them in isolation.

"We are looking at a system whereby governments will legislate in controlling and defending sport. We also want governments to exchange information with us and Interpol. The illegal betting networks are very international. You can bet from the far end of one continent on a match played at the far end of another continent.

"We've been told by Interpol that the criminal gangs involved with illegal gambling are the same gangs who deal with drugs and prostitution. So it's not a couple of guys wanting to make a few quick bucks out of fixing a match."

Kamran’s career not over: Mohsin

KARACHI: Pakistan on Wednesday told calamitous wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal to give an ‘outstanding’ performance on the domestic circuit if he wanted to win back a place in the national team.

The butter-fingered Kamran was on Wednesday dropped from Pakistan’s squad for the limited-overs series against West Indies following a spate of poor outings in the World Cup and speculations are rife that his international career might be over.

But Mohsin Hasan Khan, Pakistan’s chief selector, told ‘The News’ that he will take Kamran back with ‘open arms’ if the stumper managed to impress in domestic matches.

“We have decided to give him (Kamran) a break,” said Mohsin, a former Pakistan Test opener. “But now he will have to give an outstanding performance in domestic cricket to win his place back in the Pakistan team,” he stressed.

“Our domestic circuit is pretty easy as compared to international cricket but it’s still a good platform for players to prove their. If Kamran does that then we will welcome him back in the team with open arms.”

Mohsin rejected the impression that it was the end of the road for Kamran, who is regarded by many as the most unreliable wicketkeeper in international cricket.

“He is still 27 or 28 years old and can play international cricket for four or five more years.”

Mohsin delivered a similar message for veteran allrounder Abdul Razzaq, who was also dropped from the team because of his poor showing in the World Cup.

Razzaq has accepted the challenge. “I will continue the hard work to regain my place in the Pakistan team,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

Mohsin, meanwhile, said that by including several fresh faces in the national team for this month’s tour of the Caribbean, Pakistan have signaled the start of a rebuilding phase for the 2015 World Cup.

“There are four or five new boys in the team and that shows that we moving into a rebuilding phase. The idea is to try out maximum possible youngsters on the international stage. The idea is to select the players purely on merit to ensure that we make a good team even with youngsters,” he said.

After the tour of West Indies which will include one Twenty20 International, five One-day Internationals and two Tests, Pakistan will make a short trip to Ireland and will later tour Zimbabwe.

Mohsin said that Pakistan will inject new blood in the team for all the three assignments.

“We want to utilize these three assignments to try out a number of talented youngsters who are on the selectors’ radar,” said Mohsin. “We have a number of new and talented kids who have done well in domestic cricket and the idea of try them out international matches.”

Mohsin said that the experimentation will help the national selectors to raise a strong and balanced team for the 2012 ICC World Twenty20 Championship in Sri Lanka. “The Twenty20 championship is our next big assignment and we want to make it sure that Pakistan take the best possible team there.”

Pakistan players set to receive lucrative prizes

KARACHI: Pakistan cricket team has become richer by more than US$1million due to their stupendous show in the World Cup, where they lost the semifinal to eventual champions India.
The World Cup also promises a financial boost for the Pakistan Cricket Board, which lost the hosting rights in 2009, shortly after militants attacked the Sri Lankan cricket team in Lahore.
According to reports, the Pakistani team scooped up cash prizes of US$1.5million. The prize money includes reward for Pakistan’s five wins in the group matches for each of which they won $60,000 plus $750,000 for reaching the semifinals.
According to the regulations, the International Cricket Council will pay the prize money directly to the PCB, which will distribute it among the players and officials. The Pakistani players can also expect cash bonus prizes for reaching the semifinal from the Pakistan Board.
The Punjab chief minister Shahbaz Sharif has already announced that he will distribute half-a-million rupees each to every player of the team for their good performances.
A source in the Pakistan team said that players have decided to share their prize money with the management and support staff. The PCB will also be richer by around $8million, which was assured to them for being the co-hosts.
“The money from the World Cup will definitely improve our financial health as we have already lost out on a lot of estimated revenue due to India’s refusal to tour Pakistan in early 2009 for a bilateral series. We have also been forced to play our last few ‘home’ series abroad at neutral venues,” a board official said.

Indians not as large hearted as Pakistanis: Afridi

ISLAMABAD: Days after winning the hearts of numerous Indian fans with his remarks after his team's loss in the World Cup semifinal, Pakistancricket captain Shahid Afridi has said Indians are not as large-hearted as Pakistanis. 

Indians not as large-hearted as Pakistanis: Afridi

Afridi also slammed the Indian media for its "very negative approach" and said the Pakistani media was a "hundred times better" than its Indian counterpart.

"In my opinion, if I have to tell the truth, they (Indians) will never have hearts like Muslims and Pakistanis. I don't think they have the large and clean hearts that Allah has given us," Afridi said during a talk show on Samaa news channel when he was asked about relations between the two countries.

"It is a very difficult thing for us to live with them (Indians) or to have long-term relationship with them. Nothing will come out of talks. See how many times in the past 60 years we have had friendship and then how many times things have gone bad," he said as the audience in the TV channel's studio applauded him repeatedly.

"We don't want to fight with each other but a third country - everyone knows which one it is - is trying to spoil our relations. (This country) is taking advantage of Pakistan and wants to take advantage of India. I don't want to go into details but these people will not let us come together," he added.

Asked about the Indian media's coverage of the Pakistani team during the semifinal with India at Mohali on March 30, Afridi replied: "The Indian media has a very negative approach and very negative thoughts. The people may not be like that but I think the media had a very dirty role in spoiling relations between us and India.

"Our media, which is criticised by people, is hundred times better than theirs," he said.

India beat Pakistan in the semifinal, which was watched by the Prime Ministers of the two countries, who used cricket diplomacy to boost the peace process between the two sides.

Afridi also criticised Interior Minister Rehman Malik for warning the Pakistani team not to get involved in match-fixing and Indian cricketer Gautam Gambhir, who vowed to dedicate victory in the World Cup final to victims of the 2008 Mumbai attacks.

"I think they were both very stupid comments by Rehman Malik and Gautam Gambhir...I wasn't expecting this from Gautam...This is all politics, what do you know about who carried out the Bombay attacks?" he said.

The Mumbai attacks, which left 166 people dead, were carried out by Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba.

ICC considers 12-team World Cup for 2015

Twelve teams may contest the 2015 World Cup as the ICC is considering a compromise between the 14 teams of 2011 and a tight 10-team model currently on the table for the tournament's next edition.

The ICC's executive council is meeting in Mumbai on Monday and on the agenda is the format for the next World Cup, to be hosted by Australia and New Zealand, following the rousing success of this year's edition, which was won by India.

Michel Clarke, like several other international cricketers, wants to see Associates at the World Cup

Following much discussion of the 10-team tournament favoured by organisers, and an outcry by Associate nations given their likely exclusion, the ICC may now be leaning towards a 12-team event, possibly with two pools of six teams followed by quarter-finals, semis and the final.

"At the moment it is still 10 teams but we are discussing the 12-team option," an ICC official told ESPNcricinfo.

The same format was used in the 1996 tournament, co-hosted by India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and won by the Sri Lankans. Another path is to choose a round-robin model where each team plays each other once before the semi-finals, as was the case when Australia and New Zealand hosted in 1992.

Prior to his team's departure for Bangladesh, new Australian captain Michael Clarke reiterated the desire of most international players to see Associate nations given their chance on the limited-overs game's biggest stage.

"I really enjoy seeing the minnow teams getting an opportunity to be honest, I guess it's up to the ICC to work out whatever they think is for the betterment of the game, that's obviously their priority," Clarke said in Sydney.

"For me I think the two World Cups I've been involved in have been fantastic, it certainly does feel between games like you have a long period, when you've got six and seven days between games, but I've enjoyed seeing some of the minnow teams or all of the minnow teams play.

"I think we've seen throughout this World Cup that there were a few upsets and some great cricket played, so I just hope and am certain that the ICC are looking to improve the game of cricket."

Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, said the executive council meeting would finalise much of the discussions surrounding the next event, plans for which are already being mapped out by the Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket."The length of 50 overs will find certain teams out but I think there are 10 teams that can seriously compete in that format," Lorgat told Sky Sports News. "That's a debate we are still finalising; in fact the board meeting over the next two days will consider that and will determine which teams will play in the 2015 World Cup."

Ireland were the best Associate nation at each of the past two tournaments, and their chief executive Warren Deutrom had said the deferral of a decision on the tournament format until after the 2011 event was a sensible one.

"I think that is the right decision," Deutrom said. "What it does is allow the ICC board to make a decision based on all the evidence, rather than no evidence whatsoever. We are pleased because if two or three teams do perform well during the group stages, that does provide an option to look favourably on qualification, and to see if the number of teams is quite right."

Afridi ready to tour West Indies

KARACHI: Pakistan's limited overs cricket captain Shahid Afridi has made himself available for the tour of West Indies after previously opting for a break.

"Earlier I had decided to skip the tour because I wanted to take a well deserved rest from the game, but some former players and my family and friends told me to change my decision at this crucial time for Pakistan cricket," Afridi told a tv channel on Monday.

Afridi, 31, who has played 320 one-day internationals, led Pakistan to the semi-finals of the recent World Cup where they lost to eventual winners India.

The seasoned all-rounder, who finished with 21 wickets in the tournament, said he wanted a break from cricket but the upcoming tour was an ideal opportunity to groom two or three new players.

"That is why I want to be part of the team on the coming tour and carry on the momentum we got from the World Cup," he said.

Afridi revealed the morale of the players was boosted by the warm welcome they received on returning from the World Cup hosted in India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

"It is an indication that Pakistan cricket is on the right track and on the coming tours to West Indies and Zimbabwe we can form an ideal one-day combination," he added.

The Pakistan team will play a Twenty20 match against West Indies on April 21, then five ODIs and two Tests.

Indications from the national selectors suggest they plan to rest some of the senior players for the limited over matches in the Caribbean and try out new players who have performed well in domestic cricket.