Ponting Quits Twenty20 Internationals

Tuesday 8th September, 2009 13 46th SL Army Inter Ponting quits Twenty20 Regiment Athletics C’ship from today The Sri Lanka Army’s present, the Army has the 46th Inter Regiment largest number of athletes Athletic Championship is in the National pool. internationals scheduled to commence The Inter Regiment today at the Sugathadasa Athletics Championship is T20 cricket on Monday, ahead of the opportunity to prolong my tive James Sutherland said he Stadium in Colombo, from the stepping stone for sol- his return flight to England for Australian Test and one-day understood the reasons behind 8.00 a.m. onwards. diers to come out with the end of the seven-match ODI career, an opportunity I am Ponting’s decision to quit This year’s meet, for their best as this will defi- series which Australia leads 2-0. extremely determined about,” Twenty20. the first time, will run for nitely pave the way for “The last 10 or 12 days for me Ponting said. “I am hoping to con- “Needless to say he will be a three consecutive days. them to enter the national have been a lot about reflection, tinue playing Test cricket for as huge loss to the Twenty20 side, The Army, which started limelight. Since 1960 it has looking back to the Ashes and long as possible and retiring from but it does present opportunities its athletic championship been the Sri Lanka Army looking forward to my playing the Twenty20 format gives me for the other players and leaders way back in the year 1950 that has produced the future,” said Ponting, Australia’s the best chance of doing this.” within Australian cricket to gain as the Inter Unit highest number of medal leading runscorer in Test and Australia lost the Ashes 2-1 further experience,” Sutherland Championship changed its winners for Sri Lanka at one-day cricket. “As of today I’ve last month with defeat in the fifth said. name to Inter Regiment international meets. decided to retire from interna- and final Test at The Oval, slip- Cricket Australia said a deci- Championship with the The organists expect all tional Twenty20 cricket. The deci- ping from No. 1 to No. 4 in the sion regarding Ponting’s replace- expansion of the cadres medal winners at the sion I’ve made is all to do with international Test rankings. ment as captain of the Twenty20 into the Army in the recently concluded SAG my longevity in the game.” There were calls from some side will be made later in the recent past. Games to compete during Ponting’s decision goes critics for Ponting to be fired year. Michael Clarke led The army athletes have these three days where against a recent trend for older after he became only the second Australia in Ponting’s absence in played a major role in Sri many records are also players to retire from Test crick- Australia captain to lose two Test England. Lanka’s athletics team. At expected to tumble. et to specialize in T20, the newest series in England. Australia’s next Twenty20 Ricky Ponting and shortest form of the game. It But he almost immediately set International will be held Feb. 5 SYDNEY (AP) - Australia is expected he will remain con- his sights on returning to against T20 world championship captain Ricky Ponting has quit tracted to Kolkata in the Indian England for the 2013 Ashes winner Pakistan at the Twenty20 international cricket Premier League, which is classi- series, as captain or just as a bats- Melbourne Cricket Ground. in a bid to prolong his career in fied as a domestic T20 tourna- man, regardless of how the Ponting has played 136 Test the Test and limited-overs for- ment despite its array of star return series in Australia plays matches for Australia, scoring 38 mats. players from around the world. out in the 2010-11 season. centuries, behind only India’s The 34-year-old Ponting Ponting said he’d discussed He even speculated at the time Sachin Tendulkar, who has 42. skipped two T20 internationals in his decision with chairman of about the idea of giving up the He has scored 11,345 Test runs England to return home follow- selectors Andrew Hilditch, captaincy in one of the forms of at an average of 55.88. He has ing Australia’s Ashes Test series Australia coach Tim Nielsen and the game to concentrate on Test also played 315 limited-overs loss to England last month. He vice-captain Michael Clarke. cricket. matches, scoring 11,523 runs at an made his announcement about “This decision provides me Cricket Australia chief execu- average of 42.52. Report: Pakistan player helps fix ICL matches ISLAMABAD (AP) - The unnamed ICL official. However, “those players are now team named Lahore Badshah in the involvement of a former Pakistan ICL organizers were not imme- been assured that their payments ICL while few other Pakistani play- test cricketer with bookmakers last diately available to comment on the will be cleared in a month’s time,” ers like Taufeeq Umar, Shabbir year forced organizers of the unau- reports when contacted by The Jang said. Ahmed and Hasan Raza competed thorized Indian Cricket League to Associated Press on Monday. The ICL is reported to have suf- for other teams competing in the withhold payments to all of its After the matter came into the fered a heavy financial loss last non-sanctioned league. Pakistan players, local media notice of the ICL, the player in year, slowing the process of paying Earlier this year, the Pakistan report. question was sidelined and dropped the international players involved. Cricket Board gave amnesty to all “This (Pakistani) cricketer fixed from remainder of the Twenty20 An International Cricket those ICL players who severed their (ICL) matches with the help of local tournament. Council official, who declined to be ties with the rebel league. bookmakers,” Urdu language daily Jang also reported that it was named, told The AP that the sport’s All-rounder Abdul Razzaq, fast Jang quoted an unnamed ICL offi- due to the Pakistan player’s involve- governing body has nothing to do bowler Rana Naved and opening cial as saying. ment with bookmakers that the rest with the issue as the ICL is an batsman Imran Nazir have made Another Urdu language newspa- of the tournament’s Pakistani unsanctioned league. comebacks to the national team per, The Daily Express, published a cricketers have been unable to have Former Pakistan captain after terminating their contracts similar report, quoting the their payments cleared by the ICL. Inzamam-ul-Haq led a Pakistani with the ICL.

Duckworth-Lewis fiasco at Under-15 quarter-final Joseph Vaz call for replay by Reemus Fernando Cricket at Joseph Vaz College, he said that he casts but nothing positive took place. requested for DL forecasts from the match referee When contacted about this, the SLSCA secre- Joseph Vaz College, Wennapuwa has appealed throughout their innings but did not get it until tary M. T. A Rauf said that the tournament com- to the Tournament Committee of the Sri Lanka the end of the match. “I was requesting the DL mittee will consider the letter of appeal when Schools Cricket Association for a replay of their sheets from the match referee right throughout they meet today (08). Inter School Under-15 Division I quarter final the match. He promised to give it, match against De Mazenod College which was but it never happened until the surprisingly played without the Duckworth- end of the match,” said Dinesh. Lewis forecasts being delivered to the teams until Dinesh also said that he the match ended abruptly before the full quota of informed a number of SLSCA offi- overs, due to rain at the CCC Grounds on cials, including the Under-15 Saturday. Tournament secretary, the SLSCA The quarter final match was played without secretary and the treasurer about the D/L forecast being given to the teams and the unavailability of the D/L fore- Joseph Vaz, who were chasing a tar- get of 127 to win were 79 for seven wickets (31.4 overs) when rain ended the match. The DL forecast reached the venue after rain ended the match and it was declared at that stage that De Mazenod had won the match accord- ing to the DL method. There was also a rain inter- ruption in the 28th over when Joseph Vaz were 68 for four wickets. A Joseph Vaz college official said yesterday that the college appeals to the SLSCA to replay the match. “We were treated unfairly and it demoralizes our cricketers. It was a huge loss. We don’t reach quarter finals often and after discussions with the college management and the cricket wing, we decided to appeal to the SLSCA to replay the match,” the offi- cial told ‘The Island’ on Monday. When contact- ed,R.Dinesh,the Master in Charge of