Thursday 8th May, 2008 Neutral venue for Tests and IPL clashes for Lord's? Lord's could stage neutral Test matches and games in the near future. A Test not involving England has not been staged in this country since 1912, when Australia played South Africa at Lord's, Old Trafford and Trent Bridge. But the possibility of such neu- tral series in England was mooted this year after Australia refused to tour Pakistan on security grounds. The MCC, who are committed to a £200million redevelopment of Lord's, have already held talks with IPL chiefs and billionaire businessman Sir Allen Stanford over the possibili- ty of bringing top-class Twenty20 matches to the stadium. MCC chief executive Keith Bradshaw has just returned from India, where he visited IPL franchis- es and held talks with the competi- tion's commissioner, Lalit Modi, about the possibility of bringing the mooted Twenty20 Champions League to Lord's. Bradshaw said in the Guardian: "It is our heartbeat to have major matches, so as well as our England Tests and ODIs, we have to look at whether there is the potential to stage other sorts of here such as neutral Test matches. "We would be very open to stag- ing neutral Tests and, in terms of embracing what's been mooted in terms of IPL, the Champions League or the English Premier League, why not? We have a very open mind. "I have been very impressed by what I have seen of the IPL over the last few days and we have been on the front foot, making it clear that they would be most welcome at Lord's either for IPL matches or the Champions League."

Harbhajan slapping footage shocks BCCI chief The commissioner appointed by the Board of Control for Cricket in India to look into the altercation between and Sreesanth has branded the footage of the incident "shocking". Indians off-spinner Harbhajan was banned for the remain- der of the Indian Premier League tour- nament after he slapped the Kings XI Punjab bowler at the end of their match in Mohali on April 25. The BCCI ordered a separate inquiry into the incident with Sudhir Nanavati, an Ahmedabad-based lawyer, appointed the commissioner and asked to file a report within 15 days. Nanavati, who has issued summons to the two players, on Tuesday saw the footage as part of the inquiry and expressed his dismay at the incident. "What I saw was shocking but it has made my job easier. It will also help me in my further investigation," he told Times Now as he emerged from the BCCI headquarters in Mumbai. IPL chairman Lalit Modi, board sec- retary Niranjan Shah and joint secre- tary M P Pandove were with him when he saw the footage. Nanavati is expected to submit his report to Modi on Monday after quizzing the two India players. "I have summoned them. They have been told to come either on Friday or Saturday.Harbhajan will be coming on Friday.Sreesanth is yet to confirm a date," he said. Nanavati has recorded the statement of match referee Farokh Engineer and is expected to speak to coach Lalchand Rajput soon. "I have already recorded the state- ment of one of the umpires of the match, Amiesh Saheba," Nanavati added. Saheba was handed a two-match suspension for criticising Sreesanth's behaviour during the Mohali match in an interview with a Mumbai-based tabloid. Saheba later clarified to the BCCI that he never gave any such inter- view. (cricket365.com)

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