IPL winner Wasim Akram hopes for Indo-Pak thaw

Wasim Akram : was upbeat about growing signs that India and Pakistan are to resume cricketing ties.Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Zaka Ashraf is in India negotiating a revival of matches after watching the Indian Premier League (IPL) final.India has also allowed the Sialkot Stallions to take part in October s Champions League, the first such participation by a Pakistani team since 2008.Wasim, who as bowling coach helped Kolkata Knight Riders win their maiden IPL title on Sunday, said there were signs of a thaw."I acted as an ambassador for Pakistan as everyone knows me and during my stay I have seen that people want Indo-Pak cricket to start and for me the invitation for Sialkot is the first step," Wasim said.Pakistani players featured in the inaugural IPL in 2008 and Sialkot was due to participate in the first Champions League the same year, until the Mumbai attacks saw cricket ties suspended.Wasim, 45, expressed his hope that the doors to the IPL will open for Pakistani cricketers next year."Pakistani players Shahid Afridi, Umar Gul, Umar Akmal and Mohammad Hafeez are popular in India and Indian fans have realised they can add to the charm of the league," said Wasim, who played 104 Tests and 352 one-day internationals for Pakistan.Wasim added that India not playing Pakistan was a great setback for the millions of spectators in both countries."I am a great advocate of Indo-Pak cricket and I hope all the issues between the two countries are solved so that millions of fans are not deprived of such entertaining cricket," said Wasim, who led Pakistan on the tour of India in 1999.Turning to Pakistan s imminent tour to Sri Lanka, Wasim said: "Pakistan has done well in the past year and although it will be tough playing Sri Lanka on their home grounds I am sure this Pakistan team will do well."Pakistan play two Twenty20, five one-dayers and three Tests on the tour of Sri Lanka, with the first Twenty20 taking place in Hambantota on Friday.

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No link between moisture and swing bowling

AJMAL : Researchers from Britain and New Zealand reviewed scientific literature on the subject.The widely-held belief that moisture in the air during humid conditions helps make a cricket ball swing has been clean bowled in a scientific study.Swing bowling when a delivery curves sideways in mid-air -- has long been regarded as one of the game s dark arts, not only deceiving hapless batsmen but also puzzling cricket-loving scientists.Researchers from Britain s Sheffield Hallam University and the University of Auckland in New Zealand reviewed scientific literature on the subject and conducted their own tests to try to get to the bottom of the mystery.From the earliest studies of the phenomenon in the 1950s to the "seminal review of sports ball dynamics" by NASA scientist Rabindra Mehta in 1985, they found humidity was consistently cited as a crucial factor in achieving swing.The researchers tested the theory using 3D laser scanners in an atmospheric chamber to measure the effect different humidity levels had on deliveries using balls which had been "aged" to simulate match conditions.While altitude and the age of the ball both increased swing, the scientists did not discover any link between moisture levels in the air and sideways movement of the ball."This study shows that there is no direct or indirect manner in which humidity can significantly affect the ability of the bowler to make the ball swing," they concluded in research published in the online journal Procedia Engineering this week."It is therefore logical to conclude that humidity may not have the significant influence on swing bowling that is widely assumed."Instead, the researchers put forward their own theory that cloud cover provided the ideal environment for swing bowling because it reduced turbulence in the air caused by heating from sunlight.They said such still conditions meant the air surrounding the ball during the delivery was less likely to be disturbed, making it easier to produce the "asymmetrical" flight needed for swing bowling.
"What is clear is that the scientific community should turn their attention away from the question of humidity and focus their efforts to test the cloud cover hypothesis," they said.

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Hafeez: Pakistan fully fit ready to face Sri Lanka

Pakistan : are fully prepared for Sri Lanka tour, says Skipper Hafeez.
Pakistan arrived in Sri Lanka on Monday ahead of a two-T20, five-ODI, three-Test series, and Hafeez said his lads were looking forward to getting their competitive edge back against their sub-continental counterparts.


Hafeez said ahead of the seven-week tour: "We all know that Sri Lanka is always good on their own soil and we are looking forward to a very tough series.


"We have experience playing them in the recent past and had good success against them. I personally feel the boys have worked really hard in the last one and a half months.


"Although we were not playing any international cricket (recently) some of the guys were doing their own training and the PCB arranged some matches for us to get match practice."


Pakistan coach Whatmore added: "Although Pakistan is unable to play any international matches at home due to the security concerns in their country, they managed to practice together before coming to Sri Lanka.


"We had a pretty decent two weeks camp before we came here finishing up with some practices that were attended by conservatively 15,000 people who were starved of cricket and they just loved them.
"The advantage a country like Sri Lanka has, apart from IPL of course, is they are all centralised in one spot. In our case a lot of the boys are spread out.


"There are a lot of weeks of build-up before we come together for a camp. From that point of view you can t be in all the places at once taken in good faith that they are working and the boys have. But the two weeks was very good at the other end."


Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene was looking forward to the challenge, and said they would be using the series to prepare for the World T20 on home soil in September.


He said: "If you take their performances in the last six months they have performed well in all three formats. To play them in our conditions is a good challenge.


"One-day cricket is important to us and also the T20 because in another 3-4 months we have the World T20 so the T20 matches against Pakistan and the two we will play against India in July are extremely important to us."


The first T20 is on Friday 1 June in Hambantota, and the final Test starts at Pallekele International Cricket Stadium on 8 July.

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Kolkata erupts as IPL heroes return home

KOLKATA: Police used bamboo sticks to beat back huge crowds thronging the streets of Kolkata on Tuesday as the city's victorious Indian Premier League (IPL) team received a raucous welcome home.
Gautam Gambhir, captain of the Kolkata Knight Riders, led celebrations as the players took an open-top bus tour through a sea of frenzied fans to the team's home ground at the Eden Gardens stadium.
Crowd barriers were pushed aside and streams of people broke through police cordons, as officers struggled to prevent the stadium from becoming dangerously congested for the free-entry event.
Officials said 60,000 people were in the packed venue, with another 30,000 locked outside.
The Knight Riders' victory on Sunday was their first success in the IPL, an annual Twenty20 tournament which pulls in huge audiences across India with its blend of hard-hitting cricket and Bollywood-style entertainment.
"It was a dream victory. They have made us proud," said Partha Tripathi, 50, a manager at the United Commercial Bank who took the day off work to enjoy the party.
"I want to be a witness to the epic celebration that the team deserves," he said as he lined up to enter Eden Gardens.
Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal state, of which Kolkata is the capital, met the players and posed with the golden IPL trophy that the team won with just two balls to spare in the final.
Shah Rukh Khan, leading Bollywood actor and the enthusiastic co-owner of the Kolkata Knight Riders, added celebrity glamour to the occasion as confetti was fired into the air.
"We have been waiting for this day so long," he told crowds. "Thank you Kolkata. Thank you West Bengal on behalf of every member of the team. Only Kolkata will rule."
Accompanied by loud music and dancing, the team completed a lap of honour in the stadium to complete the celebrations.

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Tahir turns to Qadir ahead of England tour

South African leg-spinner Imran Tahir has returned to his native Pakistan to seek tips from old tutor Abdul Qadir in a bid to exploit England's weakness against spin when the teams meet in July.

Tahir, who developed as a spinner in Pakistan before qualifying to play for South Africa last year, arrived last week and trained with Pakistan legend Qadir on Tuesday.

"I will try my best to learn more and more from the master," said Tahir, 33.

"Whatever leg-spin I bowl was taught to me by Qadir who in his day was a master spinner and a role model for youngsters."

Qadir, 56, who was revered as a great leg-spinner during the 70s and 80s, predicted Tahir could play a lead role for South Africa, whose attack is dominated by pace.

"I have told him how to bowl differently," Qadir told AFP. "Tahir is very talented and since he is my old student I agreed to help him when he contacted me last month."

"If conditions in England remain dry and there is less rain then I am sure Tahir will be very handy against England," added Qadir, who took 236 wickets in 67 Tests for Pakistan

South Africa will play three Tests, five one-days and three Twenty20s on their tour of England. The first Test begins at The Oval on July 19.

Tahir will hope that South Africa can follow Pakistan's example when his team confronts England.

England, world number one Test team, were routed 3-0 by Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates earlier this year, with off-spinner Saeed Ajmal taking 24 wickets and left-armer Abdul Rehman finishing with 19.

Tahir refused to compare himself to Ajmal or Rehman, saying he had his own style which he hoped would prove successful.

"What Ajmal and Rehman have achieved is great," said Tahir. "I have my own skill and I will try my level best to get wickets for my team and I am learning to control my delivery which is a bit faster than the normal leg-breaks."

Tahir said England's batsmen would be tough opponents but his experience of English conditions would be useful. Over the past eight years, Tahir has played for four different English counties.

"England's batsmen will be different on their grounds, but I have experience of English conditions which would be handy," said Tahir, who has 18 wickets in seven Tests as well as 14 in five one-dayers.

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