Sports

LAHORE: Former fast bowler Shaoib Akhtar’s lawyer Abuzar Salman Khan Niazi has replied to the legal defamation notice served on the pacer by Taffazul Rizvi, the lawyer of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), on April 29. Shoaib’s lawyer has dismissed the legal notice of defamation by saying: “That, the notice under reply, for all the intents and purposes, is manifestly …

LAHORE: Former Sri Lankan captain and MCC President Kumar Sangakkara has praised the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), the Pakistan Government, its security officials and the cricket fans for lending their full support and cooperation during the highly successful MCC tour to Pakistan last February and said the world of cricket needs to see Pakistan cricket getting back to its fiercely competitive ways. …

ZURICH: Swiss Attorney General Michael Lauber faces the start of proceedings on Wednesday that could lead to his impeachment after criticism of his handling of an investigation into alleged corruption surrounding football’s governing body FIFA. Lauber has been accused by anti-corruption campaigners of botching a fraud trial over payments linked to the 2006 World Cup in Germany. The five-year statute …

LONDON: Premier League clubs received a boost to their hopes of completing the season on Monday as the government published a “roadmap” that could see the return of elite sport in England from June 1. As the 20 English top-flight clubs met for further talks on “Project Restart”, ministers announced plans to ease the coronavirus lockdown. Under step two of …

ZWOLLE (Netherlands): Dutch Olympic champion Anna van der Breggen has said she will retire from cycling after defending her road race title at the rescheduled Tokyo Games in 2021. The 30-year-old, who won road race gold at the Rio Olympics in 2016, will become a coach with the Boels-Dolmans team after ending her professional career. The 2020 Tokyo Olym­pics have …

LONDON: Former Australia captain Ian Chappell says some form of ball-tampering could be allowed in cricket, with saliva and sweat considered health risks due to the coronavirus crisis. Bowlers regularly shine one side of the leather-clad ball to make the ball swing sideways in mid-flight and deceive the batsman. But rubbing spit or sweat into the ball’s surface is expressly …

LAHORE: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) is somehow looking in a hurry to announce the next central contract of the players on Tuesday, in times when uncertainty is looming over the resumption of the international cricket activities around the world due to the coronavirus pandemic Moreover, the cricket committee meeting of the PCB is also going to be held on …

LAHORE: Despite the cricket boards of Pakistan and England meeting through a video link on May 15, a final decision on Pakistan’s tour of England scheduled to begin from July 30 will only be taken by mid-June. Pakistan are due to play three Tests and as many Twenty20 Internationals in England during the tour and Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chief …

Scrapping the money-spinning Indian Premier League this year because of the coronavirus pandemic would cost more than half a billion dollars to the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), but cutting players’ pay was not yet being considered, a top official has told AFP. The world’s richest Twenty20 tournament is staring at a first wipeout in its 12-year history …

KABUL: Afghanistan wick­et-keeper/batsman Shafiqullah Shafaq has been hit with a six-year ban after he accepted four charges of breaching their Anti-Corr­uption Code, the country’s cricket board (ACB) said on Sunday. The charges relate to offe­n­ces during the first edition of the Afghanistan Premier League (APL) T20 in 2018, where Shafaq played for the Nangarhar Leopards, and the 2019 Bangladesh Pre­mier …