World Of Cricket

Karacho — Pakistan on Monday added Sohail Tanvir to the one-day squad against Sri Lanka after the left-arm paceman excelled in the Twenty20 series draw.

Sohail Tanvir was named 'man of the series' in the latest concluded T20I series between Sri Lanka and Pakistan

The 27-year-old fast bowler failed to make the original one-day squad but was included at the request of team managers. Tanvir replaced opener Nasir Jamshed who suffered a finger injury before the tour began.

Tanvir was declared man of the two-match Twenty20 series which Pakistan levelled on Sunday with a thumping 23-run win in Hambantota. Sri Lanka won the first match, also in Hambantota, on Friday by 37 runs.

Chief selector Iqbal Qasim confirmed Tanvir’s inclusion.

“In view of the request from the team management and keeping in consideration the current form of Tanvir, the selection committee has decided that he may be retained for the one-day series in Sri Lanka,” Qasim said in a Pakistan Cricket Board statement.

Pakistan and Sri Lanka play the first of five one-day matches at Pallekele on Thursday. The one-days will be followed by three Tests.

Tanvir has so far taken 55 wickets in 43 one-day games.

Lahore: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced its central contracts, divided into four categories, for the year 2012 on Saturday.

Pakistan's cricket team fielding coach Julien Fountain (C) gives tips to the cricketers during the team practice at the Gaddafi stadium in Lahore on May 19, 2012 © Getty Images

Courtesy: Express Tribune

Shahid Afridi, Misbahul Haq and Umar Akmal were all given an ‘A’ category contract, while Shoaib Malik was handed B category contract.

Mohammad Sami, who has been performing well in the domestic setup, was left without a contract for the second time in two years.

From the categories, 21 players have been given central contracts, while 21 players have been handed stipends.

Earlier on Friday, PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf had announced a 25% increase in all categories with a 10% increase in the Match Fee. This is the first increase in the central contract in three years.

According to an earlier report, it was estimated that a Category A player will make Rs313,000 per month and also earn Rs385,000 for each Test appearance, Rs330,000 for taking part in a One-Day International and pocketing Rs275,000 for a Twenty20. The same category saw the player earn Rs350,000 for a Test, Rs 300,000 for a ODI and Rs250,000 last year. The Category A has also been expanded, with two players being handed contracts in the slab, Shahid Afridi and Umar Akmal.

A Category B player will now earn Rs218,000 per month (previously Rs175,000). A Test appearance will fetch him Rs330,000 (previously Rs300,000), an ODI Rs275,000 (previously Rs250,000) and a Twenty20 appearance will now be worth Rs220,000 (previously Rs200,000). The category shrunk by two players.

Similarly, in Category C, a player will make Rs130,000 per month (previously Rs100,000). The same player will earn Rs275,000 for a Test (previously Rs250,000), Rs220,000 for an ODI (previously Rs200,000) and Rs165,000 for a Twenty20 (Rs150,000).

Category A: Misbah-ul-Haq, Younis Khan, Umar Gul, Mohammad Hafeez, Saeed Ajmal, Shahid Afridi, Abdur Rehman, Umar Akmal

Category B: Shoaib Malik, Taufeeq Umar, Azhar Ali, Asad Shafiq, Junaid Khan, Aizaz Cheema

Category C: Sarfraz Ahmad, Adnan Akmal, Hammad Azam, Wahab Riaz, Imran Farhat, Faisal Iqbal, Nasir Jamshed

Stipend category: Sohail Tanvir, Khalid Latif, Sharjeel Khan, Shakeel Ansar, Haris Sohail, Raza Hasan, Ahmed Shahzad, Usman Salahuddin, Mohammad Ayub, Imran Khan, Bilawal Bhatti, Awais Zia, Shahzeb Hasan, Mohammad Khalil, Anwar Ali, Afaq Rahim, Bismillah Khan, Babar Azam, Sami Aslam, Zia-ul-Haq, Usman Qadir

PCB’s new match fees:

• Category A: Tests - PKR 385,000, ODIs - PKR 363,000, Twenty20s - PKR 275,000
• Category B: Tests - PKR 330,000, ODIs - PKR 275,000,Twenty20s - PKR 220,000
• Category C: Tests - PKR 275,000, ODIs - PKR 220,000,Twenty20s - PKR 165,000

Colombo: Sri Lanka on Thursday recalled seamer Dilhara Fernando, all-rounder Jeevan Mendis and fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep to the one-day squad for next month’s home series against Pakistan.

Sri Lanka will play 2 T20I's, 5 ODI's and 3 Tests

The governing body also named a separate Twenty20 squad, for the series that will be played in the island’s south of Hambantota on June 1 and 3. It will be followed by five one-day games in Pallekele and Colombo from June 7 to 18.

Selectors led by Asantha de Mel, also included spinner Rangana Herath, but left out all-rounder Farveez Maharoof and spinner Ajantha Mendis.

For the T20 series, Sri Lanka recalled left-arm seamer Isuru Udana and leg-spinner Kaushal Lokuarachchi. Udana last played for the World T20 in 2009, while Lokuarachchi has not played since 2007.

Sri Lanka also plays three Tests with Pakistan that begins on June 22 and the squad for the series will be named later.

Twenty20 International squad:

Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Thirimanne, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekera, Sachithra Senanayake, Lasith Malinga, Chamara Kapugedera, Upul Tharanga, Isuru Udana.

ODI squad:

Mahela Jayawardene (captain), Tillakaratne Dilshan, Kumar Sangakkara (wk), Dinesh Chandimal, Angelo Mathews, Lahiru Thirimanne, Jeevan Mendis, Thisara Perera, Nuwan Kulasekera, Sachithra Senanayake, Lasith Malinga, Rangana Herath, Upul Tharanga, Nuwan Pradeep, Dilhara Fernando.

London: England’s test captain Andrew Strauss reveals continued passion to lead England. He is enjoying test cricket both as a captain and as a batsman and isn’t looking to surrender his test job.

Andrew Strauss at Trent Bridge cricket ground in Nottingham © Reuters

Captaincy in international cricket is a challenging job, a test of mental stamina on top of the physical demands of playing the game with a high intensity. Andrew Strauss, the senior of England’s three men’s captains, admits that a five-day Test can leave him shattered on both counts. Time off is vital, he says, especially when one Test follows another, back to back.

“When you are playing in such a crowded schedule you need to use your time off wisely, to recharge the batteries, but it is important to do things like this,” Strauss said. “If we disassociate ourselves from the grass-roots we miss a great opportunity to help the game flourish.”

Strauss dismissed the idea that the pressures of leadership might be something he would give up. He surrendered the one-day captaincy last year, but has no intention of passing on the Test job.

“I love captaincy, I love the challenge, it is what makes me get out of bed in the morning,” he said. “As a batsman, it can be a double-edged sword. If you are going through a bit of a bad patch and you need to spend time on your own game you can find your opportunities are a bit more limited, but on the other hand it can help you in that you have less time to think about it. In my mind thinking is overrated when it comes to batting because you want to be on autopilot as much as possible.

“It has been a fantastic learning curve for me, the leadership stuff, learning how to manage people, learning how to try to bring everyone together, to get the best out of them. These are things I find exciting at this stage of my career.

“Coaxing the best out of individuals is the big challenge, bigger than the tactical side of the job. You listen to commentators and they will talk about bowling changes or fielding positions but I don’t think that’s what wins you Test matches. I believe that what creates performances on the pitch is having the right off-field environment. It’s about what sort of team ethos you have, what sort of work ethic. It is those things that enable you to get people to play close to their potential, for the side to be greater than the sum of its parts. We work very hard on that.

“When you first start [as a captain], you are a bit more conscious about what you are doing and you try to prove yourself to everyone else. After a time you get a bit more comfortable in the job. I don’t find it difficult now but I’m still loving the challenge.”

Lahore: ICC umpire Aleem Dar appreciated former Pakistani captain Imran Khan for giving an idea of bringing neutral umpires.

Aleem Dar - Umpire from ICC Elite Panel

Winner of three consecutive ICC Umpire of the Year awards in 2009, 2010 and 2011, Pakistani umpire Aleem Dar has rejected the suggestion that with the introduction of Decision Review System (Decision Review System), neutral umpires in cricket matches should be done away with.

In an exclusive interview with PakPassion.net, Dar said he doesn’t think the concept of neutral umpires in international cricket should be negated, and also appreciated former Pakistan captain Imran Khan’s idea of bringing neutral umpires to international cricket.

When asked whether he thinks with the introduction of DRS and other technology in international cricket, neutral umpires should be done away with, Dar replied: “No I disagree. I must appreciate Imran Khan’s idea of bringing neutral umpires to international cricket.”

“I’m very grateful that I’ve been the top ranking umpire for the last 3 years but the opportunity to umpire in the Ashes is just something special and I would not have had that opportunity if it had not been for the introduction of neutral umpires,” he added.

Dar also revealed he feels more stress while umpiring in a match involving Pakistan than any others, including the extremely demanding Ashes series.

“Umpiring in the Ashes series is very tough due to the intensity, but I feel more pressure umpiring a match involving Pakistan than I do in any other match,” he said.

Dubai: In the remembrance of first-class cricketer John Thayer who died shortly before his 50th birthday in the sinking of the RMS Titanic on April 15, 1912.

Titanic sunk 100 years, 1514 people lost their lives & John Thayer was one of them

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Early Life and Cricket Career:

John Borland Thayer, Jr. was born on April 21, 1862 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania – USA. He was member of a prominent American cricketing family (three of his brothers also played). Thayer attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he was captain of the baseball team in 1879. He played his first match for the Merion Cricket Club as a 14 year old. Thayer was a part of the Philadelphian side that visited England in 1884. During that tour he scored 817 runs with an average of 28, and took 22 wickets for 21 runs each.

In 1884, Lillywhite said of him: ” Bats in finished style, and, with more patience, would be the best in the team in that department. Can hit hard, and is a dangerous man when once well in. Bowls medium round-arm with good command of the ball and a break both ways. Is a splendid mid-off, and shows fine fielding whenever he is placed either at the boundary or close to the wicket.”

In his cricketing career, Thayer appeared in seven matches now recognised as first-class. Three of these were played for the Philadelphians and four were played for an “American Born” side. All were played at the Germantown Cricket Club in Pennsylvania. In his first-class career, he scored 138 runs at 11.50 and took six wickets at 26.83. His highest score (24) and best bowling (3 for 17) both came for Philadelphia against the United States in October 1883.

Family:

On November 9, 1893, in Philadelphia, he married Marian Longstreth Morris (1872–1944), the daughter of Frederick Wistar Morris and Elizabeth Flower Paul. Both her parents were descendants of old-moneyed Philadelphia families. They had four children:

>>> John “Jack” Borland Thayer III (1894–1945)*
>>> Frederick Morris Thayer (1896–1956)
>>> Margaret Thayer (1898–1960) (Mrs. Harold Elstner Talbott, Jr.)
>>> Pauline Thayer (1901–1981) (Mrs. Henry Hoffman Dolan)

*Of the four children, only Jack accompanied his parents on the Titanic.

Titanic Voyage:

Following his cricket career, Thayer entered the business world. He was a vice-president of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Thayer and his family (wife – Marian Longstreth Thayer , son – Jack Borland Thayer , maid – Margaret Fleming) had been in Europe as guests of the American Consul General in Berlin, Germany.

On April 10, 1912 the family boarded the Titanic as first-class passengers from Cherbourg, France. The family had been preparing for bed on April 14, 1912 when the collision with the iceberg occurred. As the ship sank, Thayer made sure that his wife and maid boarded lifeboats, after being told by the Titanic’s designer, Thomas Andrews, that the stricken ship did not have “much over an hour to live”.

His wife Marian Longstreth Thayer and maid Margaret Fleming both managed to board lifeboat No. 4. His son, Jack, dove from the sinking ship and was able to swim to an overturned collapsible boat (B), and was then transferred to lifeboat No. 12 where he also survived. However, Thayer Sr. made it clear that he had no intention of boarding a boat and remained on the Titanic as it went down.

When all of the lifeboats were gone, one eyewitness reportedly saw Thayer looking “pale and determined by the midship rail aft of lifeboat 7.” A short while later, he had gone, so it is likely that he moved to the stern like many other passengers and crew. Thayer’s body, if recovered, was never identified.