So it’s not just football (soccer) and Don King-era boxing that are badly tainted by rumours of betting and match-fixing by players and officials. Two Pakistani cricketers, unfortunately named Butt and Asif, have been found guilty in a UK court of conspiracy to cheat and accept money as part of a betting scam.
The verdict, which relates to play in a 2010 Pakistan v England test match, is serious: both players face the possibility of jail time. In Butt’s case, he could see as much as 7 years behind bars. If this happens, he’ll be 35 when he gets out, and too old to play. Not that this really matters, as the disgraced players will certainly be banned from any further competition at any decent level.
Mumbai: Batting maestro Sachin Tendulkar has started training after a month out of action due to a toe injury during the One-Day International series in England.
Tendulkar visited the Bandra-Kurla Complex in Mumbai on Friday, where he was seen joggling lightly on the sidelines of a C. K. Nayudu Under-22 game between Mumbai and Gujarat, the Hindustan Times reported.
“They had a huge physical presence from minute one to minute 80, led by Richie (McCaw),” All Blacks coach Graham Henry said of his side, adding that McCaw was “outstanding both in playing and leadership”.
“There wasn’t any doubt who played the better game, but Richie would probably be modest and say our front five dominated theirs and gave us a bit of an edge, which they did. But I thought he was pretty special, myself.”
“We were not able to slow down their ball as much as we would have liked,” said Pocock. “I do not want to comment on the referee. He did his best. I personally found it a very frustrating game, but we did not lose because of what happened at the breakdown. New Zealand were better than us on a night when they showed real quality.”
