Sydney—Australia captain Ricky Ponting called
for a rethink of one-day cricket to end
meaningless dead rubbers as he left for a
seven-game series in India. Ponting said a
points system was needed to give all one-dayers
“significant meaning,” citing Australia’s
lop-sided 6-1 win against England last month.
Islamabad—Twenty20 Cricket
Captain Shahid Khan Afridi has said that he
would be able to take the team all the way to
the next World Cup in 2010. In an exclusive
interview with Gulf News, he said he is looking
forward to playing again in the UAE against New
Zealand. “Obviously, I am disappointed that we
are not playing the series in Pakistan, but the
UAE is a hospitable and exciting place to be and
the public has always made me feel welcome”.
DAREN Ganga, the captain of the Trinidad &
Tobago side that has remained unbeaten
throughout an impressive Champions League
campaign, believes that the unity and team
spirit shown by his island nation must serve as
a warning to the warring factions within West
Indies cricket. Unless the players and
administrators can resolve their differences,
Ganga believes it is “inevitable” that the
region’s individual countries will seek to go it
alone in the future.
Paris—Liverpool,
their Premier League hopes punctured by their
bizarre ‘beachball’ loss at Sunderland, must
establish their European credentials on Tuesday
with a Champions League win over Lyon. After
opening their Group E campaign with an
uninspiring win over Hungary’s Debrecen prior to
a demoralising loss at Fiorentina, Liverpool are
aware dropped points against the French could
see their Champions League hopes beached as well
as their domestic dreams.
Dhaka—Prime Minister
Sheikh Hasina called upon the authorities
concerned to impart extensive training to
Bangladeshi players ahead of the 11th South
Asian Games scheduled to be held in Bangladesh
from January 29 to February 9 next year.
