| England accused of throwing ODI match • 'Some players were paid enormous amounts of money to lose'• ECB has not yet responded to the commentsEngland's troubled series against Pakistan has further descended into farce after the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Ijaz Butt, accused English players of accepting money to lose Friday's one-day international.England lost the match by 23 runs, and Butt has claimed there has been talk among bookmakers that there was a conspiracy to defraud the Pakistan team.The allegations come in the wake of the "spot-fixing" allegations against three Pakistan players, Mohammad Amir, Mohammad Asif and Salman Butt, who were accused of deliberately bowling no-balls in the fourth Test against England last month. The ICC has also launched a fresh investigation into claims by the Sun newspaper that overseas bookmakers knew the details of Pakistan's innings during Friday's match."There is loud and clear talk in the bookies circle that some English players were paid enormous amounts of money to lose the match," Butt said. "No wonder there was total collapse of the English side."We won the match and we are under suspicion. England lost, their players should be investigated," said Ijaz Butt. "You don't lose a match if you are doing fixing. We have cooperated so far with all this investigation but after the third ODI we get this feeling it is not a conspiracy to defraud bookies but to defraud Pakistan cricket."There was no immediate comment from the England and Wales Cricket Board.Pakistan's Waqr Younis, meanwhile, has insisted that his team-mates have played to the best of their abilities despite the claims."I don't know who is saying these things," he said. "I think if somebody knew these things, they'd come and coach us on how to play like that."We are trying our level best to keep away from these things [reports]. We know how important tomorrow's game is, and we are motivated."As far as I am concerned, my boys and captain are concerned, we tried our best - and we won the game."Waqar admits it has become increasingly difficult to cope with a crisis which will not go away."I don't know what to do. You win, you're a fixer; you lose, you're a fixer," he said. "We played good cricket in that last match and won fair and square - simple as that. The game will be destroyed, if you go into these sort of details."Whatever has happened in this last 15 or 20 days, I'm not really sure if there is any truth in it or not. But it has been very disturbing for the country and the cricket team."Butt was equally dismissive of the spot-fixing allegations surrounding Salman Butt, Amir and Asif. "You can't fix a match by bowling three no-balls," he said.Pakistan cricket betting scandalEngland cricket teamPakistan cricket teamEngland v Pakistan 2010Cricketguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Angry Clint Bowyer claims NASCAR 'needed to set an example' Bowyer is completely convinced that his car that won last Sunday's Chase race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway was legal. He believes NASCAR wanted ... rssfeeds.usatoday.com |
Steve Busfield: MLB, play-offs and no-hitters The post-season began with three games live in the UK and Roy Halladay pitching only the second ever play-off no-hitterI love ESPN America. Maybe too much. Having been sucked into loving baseball by Channel 5's now-departed through-the-night coverage when working on night shifts, it is now so good to be able to watch the sport at a more reasonable hour of the (UK) day on ESPN.And last night was a real treat: the opening night of the 2010 post-season featuring one real rarity. Philadelphia's Roy Halladay pitched a no-hitter as the Phillies beat Cincinnati 4-0, meaning that not one Reds batsman reached first base with a hit. This was only the second no-hitter in post-season history, the last one being Don Larsen's for the New York Yankees in the 1956 World Series. Larsen's was in fact a "perfect game": the difference between the two being that Halladay allowed a walk.While the thrill of baseball normally comes with the big hits, the rising tension at Citizens Bank Park was palpable as Halladay closed on his landmark. And it was very nearly ruined off the very last pitch of the game:As fans roared and waved white rally towels in anticipation of history with two outs in the ninth inning, Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips hit a 0-2 curveball in front of the plate. Phillies catcher Carlos Ruiz ripped off his mask and pursued, but the bat landed in fair territory and the ball rolled up the length of the bat. Ruiz dropped to his knees, picked up the ball and made a perfect throw to Phillies first baseman Ryan Howard to beat Phillips to the bag. "I was panicking," Ruiz said.Funnily enough I almost saw a no-hitter against the Phillies earlier this season. Los Angeles Dodgers' Hiroki Kuroda was within five outs of achieving the feat in August before Shane Victorino stroked a single. The Dodgers won 3-0. Coincidentally, during the same trip to California, I also saw the Dodgers play last night's other team, the Reds.Last night also saw the Yankees come from behind to beat the much-fancied Minnesota Twins 6-4. The Twins had a great record during the regular season, but, as Jim Caple of ESPN says:Season after season, the Twins win the AL Central. And October after October, the Yankees beat them senseless in the postseason. It's like winning the lottery one day only to have the IRS, your credit card company, your student loan lender, your mortgage holder, your ex-spouse, your unemployed cousins and your bookie show up at the front door the next day and take all the money, then raid the fridge for good measure.Indoors or outdoors; home or road, summer or autumn – it doesn't matter. The Twins played their first outdoor postseason game in 40 years on Wednesday night, led early, threatened late and still lost to the Yankees as usual, this time 6-4 in the opener of their American League Division Series. It was Minnesota's 10th consecutive postseason loss and 13th in its past 15. Ten of those 13 losses have been against the Yankees.I had gone to bed by the time the Yankees worked their voodoo on the Twins, but, thanks to ESPN's entry into the UK TV sports market, I had already seen history being made.For those who are interested, the Texas Rangers beat the Tampa Bay Rays in the other play-off game.MLBUS sportSteve Busfieldguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Federer uses between-the-legs shot in Shanghai By 2010-10-13T17:34:09ZSHANGHAI (AP) -- Roger Federer has marked a winning return to play Wednesday with another between-the-legs shot in his 6-3, 6-4 victory over American John Isner at the Shanghai Masters.... hosted.ap.org |
Semenya struggling for sponsorship • South African runner overlooked for endorsements• There isn't spare money, says coachCaster Semenya is finding it hard to get sponsors despite being a world champion, her coach said today."It is tough for Caster," said Michael Seme. "If you look overseas you will see other world champions featuring in a lot of advertising campaigns and you see their faces up on billboards but that doesn't happen for Caster."Semenya, who underwent gender verification tests after winning the 800m gold at the world championships in August 2009, does not have as much financial backing as she would have liked, Seme said."Caster does receive help from Nike while the Department of Sports and Recreation and the University of Pretoria help out with her education but there isn't spare money," Seme said. "For instance, if she requires special equipment she can't just go out and get it."Reports in South Africa about Semenya's financial situation have sparked a campaign by a group of fans to raise one million rand (£90,000) for the runner by December."People love her," said Thobeka Magcai, spokesperson for the campaign. "She has been through such a lot at such a young age and we just want to show our support for her and say that we want to see you back on the world stage, winning medals."Semenya, who is studying towards a sports science degree at the University of Pretoria, pulled out of the recent Commonwealth Games in Delhi because of a back injury. "Caster's treatment is going well and she has just started some light training," Seme said. "But we are taking it slow to allow her back to heal properly."Caster SemenyaAthleticsguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |