MELBOURNE: More than two-thirds of international players in a recent survey conducted by FICA believe that Indian cricket board exerts unfair influence on ICC decision-making but 40 per cent of them said they were willing to skip national duty for playing in the cash-rich IPL run by the BCCI.
Asked if ICC decision-making was influenced unfairly by the power of BCCI, 69 per cent said 'yes' while 31 per cent answered 'don't know'.
None of the respondents gave a definitive 'no' in the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations survey of 45 international players during the recent World Cup in the subcontinent.
No Indian player is a member of FICA. FICA chief executive Tim May, who released the survey results, said the findings raised important issues, with 46 per cent of the players saying the structure and composition of the ICC executive board should be reviewed.
"Players have highlighted that the governance of the game is a serious issue. FICA have continually advocated for a review of the game's governance. Its present structure is outdated, full of conflicts, cronyism and far from best practice," he said.
Interestingly, nearly a third of players polled said they would retire early from international cricket to play exclusively in Indian Premier League, citing fears over fixture clashes curbing their participation in IPL.
Around 40 per cent of players feel that given the magnitude of salaries being offered by the IPL, they could envisage a day where they would rank their obligations to IPL and other T20 events ahead of obligations to their home boards.
And, 94 per cent of the players believed that superior salaries offered by the IPL would motivate younger players to hone their skills principally to Twenty20.
Only six per cent of players polled believed that decisions at ICC board level were made "in the best interests of cricket", while 49 per cent felt decisions were made according to "party lines or best interests of the country that they are representing". The remaining players were "unsure".
"The Indian Premier League continues to be popular with the players, and its superior pay structures for the players, continue to challenge players' priority over international cricket," May said.
"When players are able to earn over 10 times their annual salary from their boards, for just seven weeks cricket in the IPL, it would be foolhardy of boards to continue to schedule international matches during IPL and expect players to remain loyal to the board and international cricket," he said.
He, however, said that the ICC day-to-day management has improved considerably and the world body's image was tarnished as a result of decisions of the ICC chief executive and board committees.
In another important finding, 77 per cent of respondents believed that the five-year bans handed to three Pakistani cricketers by the ICC for spot-fixing offences last year were too lenient.
An ICC tribunal found Salman Butt, Mohammad Aamer and Mohammad Asif guilty of orchestrating deliberate pre-planned no-balls during the Test against England last August, and they received bans ranging from five to ten years.
None of the 45 players surveyed believed the penalties were too harsh, while 23 per cent considered the bans "fair".
Notably, FICA is not affiliated with players from Pakistan, besides from India and Zimbabwe.
"The vast number of players want significant penalties to be invoked against those who are found guilty of serious corruption offences," May said.
"Whilst 100 percent of players say that they will report any corrupt approaches made to them, 20 percent of them do not have confidence in the ICC to treat this information confidentially," said May.
May said the majority of the 45 players polled were more comfortable reporting corruption approaches to their team manager, than to the ICC Anti-Corruption Unit.
An overwhelming majority of the players polled strongly supported the Umpire Decision Review System with 97 per cent of them saying that the DRS should be made compulsory in all Test matches. India has been a staunch critic of the DRS.
82 per cent said the DRS made for better decision-making from umpires at the World Cup. However, 74 per cent of the players surveyed felt the World Cup in the subcontinent was still too long while 72 per cent backed the decision to reduce the number of teams in the next World Cup to 10. 91 per cent felt the Associate nations should have a chance to qualify.
The survey also revealed strong support for 50-over cricket with only 24 per cent of the players polled favoured a change in the format of ODIs. 39 per cent felt the cricket boards scheduled too many ODIs, reducing the public interest in the format.
The FICA survey revealed some good news for the ICC, with 94 per cent of players rating the recent World Cup in the subcontinent as "good" or above, compared to only 11 per cent giving the 2007 tournament that level of support.
PORT OF SPAIN (TRINIDAD): A depleted Indian cricket captain, sans senior players Sachin Tendulkar and regular captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, arrived for a limited overs series against the West Indies, starting on Saturday.
Smartly dressed in a tee and trousers, the Indian players landed on Wednesday at the Piarco International Airport and were received by officials of Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB) and sponsors Digicel.
The Suresh Raina-led Indian side looked tired and exhausted after their long flight from Mumbai via London and Barbados.
Stand-in skipper Raina's eyes were blood-shot for lack of sleep and a few team members looked dishevelled from the exertions of a long, trans-Atlantic flight.
Even though he looked tired and sleepless, Raina exuded confidence that his young team will do whatever it takes to win the lone Twenty game and the five-match ODI series against the Caribbeans.
"It's a young side. The players want to do well for the country and themselves. They are extremely motivated," said Raina after arriving last evening.
Vice-captain Harbhajan Singh too opined that the starless Indian team would not be short of motivation in the upcoming series, irrespective of their relentless cricket schedule.
"These are young boys who are looking to build a career for itself. I don't think tiredness or fatigue would be a factor," said the off-spinner.
Team manager Amitabh Chowdhary said that irrespective of the long flight, the side would attend its' practice sessions as scheduled.
India will play a Twenty20 match in Trinidad (June 4) and five ODIs on June 6 (Trinidad), June 8 (Trinidad), June 11 (Antigua), June 13 (Antigua) and June 16 (Jamaica).
The one-day series would be followed by a three-match Test-rubber in Jamaica (June 20-June 24), Barbados (June 28-Jul 2) and Dominica (Jul 6-Jul 10).
The tickets for the one-off T20 match between India and West Indies has already been sold out and the ticket sales for the first two ODIs are also going on at a brisk pace.
Interestingly, the hectic response for the matches is a welcome surprise as both the sides are bereft of star value.
The Indian squad for the ODIs and the lone Twenty20 is without nine players who were part of the World Cup winning team under Dhoni.
The players missing out include the rested trio of Dhoni, Tendulkar, Zaheer Khan, the injured troika of Gautam Gambhir, Virender Sehwag and Ashish Nehra and an unwell Yuvraj Singh.
S Sreesanth and Piyush Chawla have been dropped. Dhoni and Zaheer will, however, join the team for the Test matches along with VVS Laxman, Murali Vijay, Abhinav Mukund, Rahul Dravid, and Sreesanth.
The Caribbeans, meanwhile, are without explosive Chris Gayle and pace duo of Jerome Taylor and Kemar Roach.
When India last toured the Caribbean Islands in 2006 under Rahul Dravid, the side scripted history by beating the home team (1-0 in a four match rubber) in a Test series for the first time in 35 years.
However, the team will certainly look to change the 1-4 thrashing it got in the five-match ODI series then.
KARACHI: Pakistan cricket coach Waqar Younis does not harbour a grudge against Shahid Afridi and said he was sad to hear the former captain had decided to retire.
Afridi announced his retirement from international cricket this week after the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) removed him as captain for the one-day series against Ireland.
The PCB were unhappy about Afridi's comments concerning perceived interference in his role during the tour of West Indies, where a dispute with Waqar came to a head.
"I am sad that he decided to retire," Waqar told reporters at Lahore airport after returning with the national team from Ireland. "I don't know why he took such a decision. But I have no personal grudge with him.
"I have only seen all this stuff in the media. I will be meeting with the board chairman to discuss the tour reports.
"But whatever has happened is not good for Pakistan cricket, which is progressing well despite us getting no international cricket at home."
Pakistan won the ODI series against West Indies with Afridi at the helm and drew the Test series under senior batsman Misbah-ul-Haq. They also beat Ireland in two ODIs with Misbah as captain.
Afridi faces disciplinary action for violating the PCB's code of conduct and they have terminated his contract.
PARIS: Sania Mirza stormed into her first Grand Slam doubles final as she and her Russian partner Elena Vesnina defeated American duo of Liezel Huber and Lisa Raymond in a thrilling three-setter in the semifinals of the French Open on Wednesday.
French Open 2011
Seeded seventh in the tournament, Sania and Vesnina beat their fourth seeded opponents 6-3, 2-6, 6-4 in 105 minute semifinal contest at the Roland Garros.
In the final, the Indo-Russian combo will face the unseeded Czech duo of Andrea Hlavackova and Lucie Hradecka who beat third seeded pair of Vania King of United States and Yaroslava Shvedova of Kazakhstan 6-3, 6-3 in another semifinal.
This is Sania's third Grand Slam final appearance in her career - the first two being in the mixed doubles in the Australian Open.
Sania and ace compatriot Mahesh Bhupathi had won the Australian Open mixed doubles in 2009 while they were the losing finalists in the same Grand Slam tournament in 2008.
Sania, who paired up with Vesnina only in February, had a strap around just below her left knee but did not show any apparent problem as she played some superb winning shots across the net.
Sania and Vesnina broke their opponents early in the first set to race to 4-1 ahead before pocketing it 6-3 in 30 minutes.
The second set was a longer affair with both sides breaking serves though Sania and Vesnina were broken thrice in their serves to lose it 2-6 in 38 minutes. In the deciding set, Sania and Vesnina broke their opponents' serve in the first game itself and held theirs to take a 2-0 lead.
BOSTON: Shaquille O'Neal, one of the most dominating big men in NBA history in his prime, announced his retirement Wednesday after a 19-year career that saw him win four NBA titles.
"Shaq" was at his finest from 2000 through 2002 when he combined with star guard Kobe Bryant to guide the Los Angeles Lakers to three NBA crowns, and he added another in 2006 with Miami, two years after being traded to the Heat.
"im retiring," O'Neal posted on his Twitter microblogging website, which also included a video link in which he thanked his followers on the social media site.
O'Neal, 39, was nagged by injuries in the later seasons of his career, including failed stints to help bring titles to Phoenix, Cleveland alongside LeBron James and the Boston Celtics this season.
A nagging right Achilles tendon injury proved more than "Shaq" could overcome and said that he considered making a comeback but did not want to disappoint Celtics fans.
"I really thought about coming back but this Achilles is very damaged and if I had it done the recovery would be so long we'd have the same outcome as this last year - everyone sitting around and waiting for me," O'Neal said.
"I didn't want to let people down two years in a row. I didn't want to hold Boston hostage again.
"I'm letting everybody know now so ... the organization can try to get younger talent. I would love to come back, but they say once the Achilles is damaged it's never the same. I don't want to take that chance."
O'Neal, a 15-time NBA All-Star, ranks fifth on the all-time NBA scoring list with 28,596 points and his three NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Awards trail only Michael Jordan on the all-time list.
O'Neal, who ranks 12th on the NBA all-time rebound list with 13,099, played only 37 games for the Celtics this season, only three of those appearances coming in the last 2 1/2 months of the season.
Among NBA players with at least 2,000 baskets, O'Neal ranks second in shooting percentage with a 58.2 percent accuracy rate.
"Shaq" made the most of outside opportunities his NBA career offered, playing a genie in the 1996 movie "Kazaam" and the 1994 film "Blue Chips" where he played a young basketball star.
O'Neal also made rap albums, notably talking about growing up with his mother and stepfather in the song "Biological Didn't Bother".
The Orlando Magic made O'Neal the fist pick in the 1992 NBA Draft and "Shaq" was the NBA's 1993 Rookie of the Year.
He won the NBA scoring title in 1995 when he helped Orlando reach the NBA Finals, only to be swept by Houston, and in 2000, when the Lakers beat Indiana for O'Neal's first NBA title.
O'Neal famously announced his joining the Los Angeles Lakers in 1996 at the Atlanta Olympics, where he was a member of the US Olympic "Dream Team III" that captured a gold medal.
Bryant and O'Neal grew into a formidable combination but the two grew apart and after the Lakers lost the 2004 finals to Detroit, O'Neal was traded to Miami, where he and Dwyane Wade proved a formidable pairing, bringing a title to the Heat five years ago.
That was the last glory day for O'Neal, whose penchant for nicknames such as "The Big Aristotle" led him to dub himself "The Big Shaqtus" in Phoenix and "The Big Shamrock" in Boston.
His final season was his worst after losing a week in November to a bruised right knee, a week in December to a calf injury and a week in January with a sore right hip before the Achilles problems. He averaged only 9.2 points and 4.8 rebounds in 37 games.
O'Neal sported a Superman logo tattoo on one arm and another that featured a giant hand looming behind the Earth with the abbrevation TWISM, which stood for "The World Is Mine".
A Boston Celtics spokesman said the club had not received official notification of O'Neal's plan to end his career.
SYDNEY: Five-year bans handed to three Pakistani cricketers for spot-fixing offences were too lenient, according to a survey of international players released on Thursday.
Over three-quarters of respondents to the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations (FICA) players' survey, said the bans meted out to Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Aamer were inadequate.
The trio, accused by Britain's News of the World of conspiring to deliberately bowl no-balls as part of a 'spot-fixing' betting scam last year, were banned by the International Cricket Council (ICC).
All deny wrongdoing and are appealing the verdicts at the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
"The vast number of players want significant penalties to be invoked against those who are found guilty of serious corruption offences," said FICA chief executive Tim May.
"Whilst 100 percent of players say that they will report any corrupt approaches made to them, 20 percent of them do not have confidence in the ICC to treat this information confidentially."
May said the vast majority of the 45 players polled were more comfortable reporting corruption approaches to their team manager, than to the ICC Anti Corruption Unit.
Meanwhile, nearly a third of players said they would retire early from international cricket to play exclusively in the Indian Premier League, citing fears over fixture clashes curbing their participation in the money-spinning event.
"The Indian Premier League continues to be popular with the players, and its superior pay structures for the players, continue to challenge players' priority over international cricket," May said.
"When players are able to earn over ten times their annual salary from their Boards, for just seven weeks cricket in the IPL, it would be foolhardy of Boards to continue to schedule international matches during IPL and expect players to remain loyal to the Board and international cricket," he said.
The survey also found that 54 percent of the players would retire from one or more formats of the game because of too much international cricket.
Players cited the major issues facing the game as governance, corruption and an overkill of international cricket, while only a single-figure percentage said decisions made at ICC Board level were in the wider interests of the game.
SOFIA: Manchester United striker Dimitar Berbatov has no plans to leave the club despite the huge disappointment of being left out of the squad for the Champions League final against Barcelona on Saturday.
The 30-year-old former Bulgaria captain has been strongly linked with a move away from Old Trafford but he said he was determined to fight to regain his place.
"I'm a Manchester United player and I'll be glad to fulfil my contract," Berbatov told Bulgarian 24 Chasa daily.
"Everyone is going through some difficulties but I've always been fighting for a regular place and I'll continue fighting for it. I never gave up in my life.
"On July 4 everything begins all over again, the battle for the cups, the battle for the regular places."
Berbatov revealed that he watched the Champions League final on TV in the dressing room.
"I was disappointed," said Berbatov. "I was ashamed that I was left out of the squad.
"And that's why I didn't want people to see how sad I was... because I can't hide my emotions.
"I preferred to stay on my own in the dressing room. Berbatov joined United from Tottenham Hotspur in 2008 for a club record fee of 30.75 million pounds ($50.44 million) but soon came under fire from British media and United supporters after failing to reproduce his scoring form.
"I had many happy moments with United," said Berbatov. "We won the 19th title and I became the league's top scorer.
"I'm very proud of it. I came to England from a little country and I know that during every training session, during every game I have to be better that the others because I'm a foreigner.
"To be the top scorer in England is just fantastic. "They're all precious," Berbatov replied when asked about his most valuable goal of the season.
"But, of course, I can't skip the Liverpool hat-trick. To score three goals against Liverpool is a great achievement and the fans always remind me about it, so I just can't forget this one."
Michael Owen signed a contract extension and Berbatov knows it will be another tough season for him.
"Manchester United is the biggest step for me," he said. "Everything beyond United is a step back.
PARIS: Maria Sharapova moved to within two wins of a career Grand Slam on Wednesday when she defeated Germany's Andrea Petkovic 6-0, 6-3 to reach her second French Open semifinal.
French Open 2011
The seventh seed, who next faces Li Na, the Chinese sixth seed, for a place in the final, also ended Petkovic's hopes of becoming the first German in the last four in Paris since Steffi Graf in 1999.
Sharapova, a semifinalist in 2007, was in unstoppable form in the first set, breaking in the first, third and fifth games before taking the opener 6-0 with the Russian allowing the German just seven points on her serve.
The Russian star, who needs a French Open title to become just the 10th woman to complete a career Grand Slam, hit deep, pinpoint winners off both flanks.
Petkovic, who had defeated Sharapova to reach her first Grand Slam quarterfinal in Australia in January, was quickly 0-2 down in the second set before she stopped the rot, finally getting on the scoreboard after 51 minutes.
The 23-year-old then levelled at 2-2 with her first break of the match but Sharapova, playing with a rare freedom of movement on a surface which has caused her numerous problems in the past, clawed back the break for a 3-2 lead.
Petkovic then broke for 3-3 after a lengthy sixth game, but former world number one Sharapova, who had been a set and 1-4 down against French teenager Caroline Garcia in the second round, once again summoned her famed fighting spirit.
She retrieved the break to lead 4-3 and held for 5-3.
Sharapova went to two match points in the ninth game with another booming forehand and claimed victory when Petkovic dumped a tired forehand into the net.
