| PCB expects no leniency over allegations • Ijaz Butt insists PCB is fully supportive of ICC suspensions• 'If anything is found in investigation, there will be no tolerance'The Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, Ijaz Butt, said the governing body fully supports the decision to suspend three players in the wake of spot-fixing allegations and will not expect leniency for any of the trio if found guilty.Butt met the International Cricket Council president, Sharad Pawar, today in New Delhi, with the recent allegations which have shaken the sport high on the agenda.Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif have been suspended by the ICC after claims the trio were involved in spot-fixing during the fourth Test against England were published in the News of the World last month.The trio, along with the fast bowler Wahab Riaz, have been questioned by Scotland Yard over the allegations.Although Butt was unable to discuss the issue in detail, he confirmed the PCB is behind any inquiry into the claims. "This matter is under investigation with Scotland Yard. The process is ongoing and until it is finished neither we nor the ICC can comment on it," he said. "The ICC has charged them and unless that suspension is revoked, they cannot play."There is no disappointment with the provisional suspension, though. We had asked the ICC about the matter of the suspension and they replied, saying they have asked the players to respond individually to the charges."Butt denied reports the PCB has asked for leniency in the case of 18-year-old Amir because of his age. "No demand has been given [for leniency]," he said. "If there is anything found in the investigation, then as far as we are concerned, there will be no tolerance."Pawar maintains the PCB has done all it can to assist in the investigation. "The ICC is not a separate organisation," he said. "It is a collective organisation formed by the boards of all cricket playing nations – including the Pakistan board."Any decisions taken by the ICC is done so via policy. It is made collectively and only after proper deliberations. As far as the question of wrongdoing in cricket is concerned, the ICC and member boards – including the PCB – will never tolerate any nonsense or any corruption of cricket."We'd like to maintain the sanctity of the game. And in the interest of maintaining sanctity, every board, including the PCB is fully supportive of the ICC."Prima facie there was an allegation and that is the only reason the ICC has suspended the players. After the initial inquiry the players were allowed to fly back home. But at the same time the PCB has said they are ready to send the players back for further inquiries any time. Nobody wants to hide anything. The ICC will take ruthless action if spot-fixing proved."Pakistan cricket betting scandalPakistan cricket teamCricketguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Workforce expected to be given green light for Arc de Triomphe • Decision on run expected after early-morning gallop• Derby winner pleasing in buildup to Sunday's raceWorkforce's participation in Sunday's Prix de l'Arc de Triomphe is set to be confirmed tomorrow after a final workout under the reigning champion jockey, Ryan Moore, at Newmarket .Despite having set the new course record when winning the Investec Derby at Epsom in June, Workforce will go into the big race with plenty to prove after suffering a comprehensive defeat at the hands of Harbinger and others in the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes at Ascot the following month.However, the colt has been quietly pleasing his handlers in recent weeks and showed no ill-effects after a workout at Sandown last week after which Teddy Grimthorpe, the racing manager for Workforce's owner Khalid Abdulla, described the horse as having been given "the amber light" for Longchamp.Much hangs upon the decision from a financial point of view, with another poor run sure to have a major effect upon Workforce's future value as a stallion.Neither of Sir Michael Stoute's previous Derby winners, Kris Kin and North Light, ever managed to win another race after their Epsom glories and both horses have disappeared into relative obscurity in their breeding careers. North Light's stallion fee in Kentucky this year was little more than £6,000, more than 10 times less than last year's Derby winner Sea The Stars, although North Light did sire the recent St Leger winner Arctic Cosmos.Yet, despite no explanation having ever been offered for Workforce's Ascot flop, he remains an obvious leading contender for the Arc, for which 26 horses were left in at yesterday's acceptance stage, Stoute's runner being part of a five-strong British contingent made up of the John Gosden-trained Duncan, Mick Channon's Youmzain, Godolphin's Cavalryman and the Gerard Butler-trained 500-1 chance Tinaar.Youmzain, second in the race for the past three years but available at 16-1 to break his duck in the €4m contest, showed his wellbeing in a final workout on the gallops at West Ilsley."I'm just relieved, to be honest. He's done plenty of work already and if he's not fit now he never will be," said Channon."It was just about getting him across the village for a change of scenery and coming home safe. So much can go wrong at any time but in the buildup to big races all sorts of factors play on your mind. He's back in his box safe and sound now and he'll just canter away until Friday when he leaves for Paris."Behkabad, who has topped the betting for the race with British bookmakers since his victory in the Grand Prix de Paris in July and is also likely to be the favoured choice of the French punters, will be ridden by Christophe Lemaire after the jockey chose to follow the market and partner him ahead of the filly Sarafina, whom he also had the option of riding.Georges Rimaud, the racing manager to the Aga Khan for whom Lemaire is the retained rider, said: "He's made up his mind now and will be riding Behkabad. He feels he has a better chance with the horse. He's going to progress from his last race [the Prix Niel] even though he won it."Lemaire's decision means that Gerald Mosse will take the ride on Sarafina.Conditions seem increasingly certain to be soft at Longchamp this weekend with officials expecting rain to hit the track on Thursday and Friday."Conditions are not looking great," added Rimaud. "We have been getting some rain and apparently we are to get some more. I suspect we have to deal with it. If we get some sunshine it might dry out a little bit, but it's a bit uncertain."Horse racingPrix de l'Arc de TriompheWill Haylerguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Old man John Carney helps rescue Saints from mistake-prone offense John Carney's still-strong, 46-year-old leg proved the saving grace on a day when the Saints offense coughed up two fumbles, turning what quarterback ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
Yao holds court as Rockets top Nets 95-85 in China By 2010-10-16T16:56:00ZGUANGZHOU, China (AP) -- With a home crowd chanting his name, Yao Ming looked sharp as he tested his surgically repaired foot Saturday in helping the Houston Rockets beat the New Jersey Nets 95-85 in a preseason game.... hosted.ap.org |
Goldikova in mood for Breeders hat-trick The feisty and brilliant five-year-old French mare has lost none of her sharpness ahead of her attempt at history in KentuckyAfter a 43-year career in racing, first as a jockey and now as a trainer, Freddy Head is confident of his ability to spot a horse with promise, but he cheerfully admits to an early loss of faith in the one now established as the best he has ever had. Goldikova was beaten in the first three races of her three-year-old season, at which point Head told himself: "Well, she's good, but maybe not that good."Now five, this exceptionally tough and durable mare has won 11 Group One races, more than any European-based horse in the 40 years since top-class races were so classified. A week on Saturday, she will line up at Churchill Downs, Kentucky, for the TVG Breeders' Cup Mile, a race she has won for the past two years. No horse has ever won three times at the Breeders' Cup but, at 5-4 with Betfair, Goldikova is widely expected to become the first."What's special is she's as good now as she was years ago," Head reflects as he watches Goldikova being led across the frozen lawn at his stable in Chantilly, north of Paris. "That's very rare and when you see her on the gallops today, she's exactly the same as when she was a three-year-old. Sometimes, with time, they get lazier but she's exactly the same. Put her on the gallop, all she wants is to go."Goldikova has been blessed with robust physical health but Head feels her natural aggression has been as important in sustaining her career. "You can't pat her. She's not that sort of a horse," he says, but forgets that advice moments later when posing for photographs and barely escapes with all his fingers intact. "Sometimes she would kick if she doesn't like you. She's got so much class and so much energy. With time, she got a bit naughty, I suppose."So bullish is Goldikova's behaviour on the gallops that Head, who was champion jockey in France on six occasions, has never dared to get on her. "I haven't got the condition any more and I couldn't ride her in a canter at the moment. She's a bit too strong, but I would love to. It's a thing I'm thinking about," though he says it with a broad grin.The mare's headstrong persona nearly brought defeat in the Queen Anne at Royal Ascot this summer, when she pulled her way to the front two furlongs from home and barely resisted Paco Boy's late finish. But Head feels it makes her well suited to the style of racing in America, where the early pace is generally furious, allowing her to settle behind the leaders.As to the quality of the sport in America, Head is less convinced and he queries some of the achievements of Zenyatta, the unbeaten mare from California who will try for her own Breeders' Cup hat-trick in the Classic, about two hours after Goldikova's race. Though he acknowledges her as "a champion", Head refers to some of the races she has won as "Group One and a half", meaning they fall somewhere between Group One and Group Two."We race with three-year-olds and four-year-olds in England and in France and we meet together all the time, with the best. That's a bit more. Running against Paco Boy and all those horses, it's something different than running against four-year-old mares."Goldikova is reported "in great form", though the trainer reserves the right to run her on Lasix, the anti-bleeding drug which is permitted in Kentucky and which he used on her for the first time last year. On Thursday she will do her final piece of fast work before being flown to Kentucky on Saturday.By the time she returns to France, her retirement may have been announced. The expectation is that she will shortly embark on a new career as a broodmare but it seems that Head is not yet ready to say goodbye.Asked if her owners might be persuaded to keep her in training next year, Head's face fills with dismay and he bolts from the room. "We'll see, we'll see," he calls back, en route to the door. "We don't say anything for the moment."Breeders' CupHorse racingChris Cookguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |