Sports

MILAN: The Italian government on Thursday agreed to ease quarantine restrictions for football teams in the case of a positive coronavirus test as Serie A prepares to return to action this weekend. Italian football federation president Gabriele Gravina hailed the decision as “another step forward for the completion of this sporting season”. The required two-week quarantine period for the entire …

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka’s sports ministry on Saturday ordered an investigation into former sports minister Mahindananda Aluthgamage’s allegation the national cricket team’s loss to India in the 2011 World Cup final was fixed by “certain parties”. The sports minister Dullas Alahapperuma has ordered the investigation and asked for a report on its progress every two weeks, the ministry said in a statement. The …

KARACHI: Legendary off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq, who recently took over as head of international players development at PCB’s High Performance Centre, said the tours by West Indies and Pakistan teams to England are giant steps towards resumption of cricket in these very extra ordinary times of coronavirus pandemic which will surely create history. “There is no doubt these are very different …

COLOMBO: Sri Lanka “sold” the 2011 World Cup final to India, the country’s former sports minister said on Thursday, reviving one of cricket’s most explosive match-fixing controversies. Mahindananda Aluthgamage, who was sports minister at the time, is the second senior figure to allege the final was fixed, after 1996 World Cup-winning skipper Arjuna Ranatunga. “I tell you today that we …

PERTH: Australian coach Justin Langer revealed on Thursday long-time batting assistant Graeme Hick was among 40 jobs axed due to Covid-19, and said telling him was like “facing Curtly Ambrose and Courtney Walsh without a helmet and a box on”. Cricket Australia announced the round of cuts on Wednesday, a day after chief executive Kevin Roberts resigned, with the former …

LAHORE: Upcoming paceman Haris Rauf on Thursday said that he is hoping to make his Test debut on the England tour if given a chance to make the final eleven in any of the three matches. Talking to media in a tele-conference arranged by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Haris said Test cricket is the supreme format of the game …

LAHORE: The Covid-19 tests of Pakistan’s entire England bound squad comprising 43 members — including 29 players and 14 officials — will be held on June 22 at their respective cities of residence. The team is most likely to leave for England on June 28 through a chartered flight to be arranged by the England and Cricket Board (ECB), the …

KARACHI: Batting prodigy Haider Ali has pledged to make impact during Pakistan’s upcoming tour to England after coming thro­ugh junior level ranks to gain maiden selection in the senior national squad, following a successful domestic season. Haider — one of two uncapped players in Pakistan’s 29-man touring squad with slow left-armer Kashif Bhatti being the other — made a rather …

NYON: This season’s Champions League, suspended in March because of the Covid-19 pandemic, will be completed with an eight-team mini-tournament which will be held in Lisbon in August, European football’s governing body UEFA said on Wednesday. The quarter-finals and semi-finals will be staged over one leg, instead of the usual two, with the final to be held on August 23, …

NEW DELHI: England’s premier ball manufacturer has some advice for bowlers worried about being unable to generate swing due to a ban on the use of saliva to shine the ball: “Carry a cotton towel.” Polishing one side with sweat and saliva has been used by fast bowlers to alter the aerodynamics of the ball but the International Cricket Council …