New Delhi, Mar 2 (PTI) The ban on him has been reduced by a match but Indian forward Shivendra Singh today said even the lighter penalty amounts to “injustice” on him as he has been punished for no fault. He would be sitting out of the matches against Australia and Spain

Tournament Director Ken Read, while handing out the initial three-match suspension to Shivendra, said the act was “deliberate”.

The first One-Day International to be held on October 25 at Vadodara for seven-match ODI series in against India. Australia had recently lifted the Champions Trophy in South Africa and they are confident to put good show here too.

According to BCCI, Aussies will play two warm-up matches in Mumbai on October 21 and 22. Later team will leave for Vadodara.

An under-19 cricketer, Gagandeep Singh, was shot dead in a Meerut hotel on Friday night by an unidentified gunman.

The cricketer had been in the city for the CK Nayudu cricket tournament and had gone to a hotel with his friends, where unidentified gunmen opened fire in the hotel premises after a verbal altercation with the hotel owner.

A bullet accidentally hit Gagandeep killing him on the spot.

The Punjab player had recently toured Australia with the Under-19 Indian team. He had also played for IPL team of Kings XI Punjab in 2008.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting says his team will not be taking Saturday’s ICC Champions Trophy encounter against the West Indies lightly despite the Caribbean side fielding a weakened line-up.

Australia begin their defence of the title with a rematch of the 2006 final but due to a contractual dispute between the West Indies board and its leading players, an unfamiliar team will be lining up against Ponting’s men.

“We all know the contractual issues the West Indies have been having but although their strongest team is not here, they will be as dangerous as they always are,” Ponting told reporters on Wednesday.

“They are naturally very attacking and flamboyant and, with One-day cricket being the way it is, we will give them the respect they deserve.”

Australia have had a packed year of cricket, including Test series against South Africa and England as well as a host of One-dayers and the World Twenty20, but Ponting insists the team remains focused on performing well at the ICC Champions Trophy.

“This is not just another tournament, it’s the second-biggest One-day event we play in, and post-Ashes it was all about making sure that we could produce our best cricket in these two weeks,” he said.

“We’ve managed to keep in really good shape, both mentally and technically, and we just need to acclimatise to being at (altitude) here. But having played a lot of cricket recently is a positive and we’re in as good shape as anyone.

England edged Australia 2-1 in the Ashes series but Ponting was buoyed by his team’s subsequent 6-1 thrashing of the hosts in the One-dayers.

“The mood in the squad the last few weeks has been particularly good. Even though we lost the Ashes, we gave it our best shot and it was a special series to be part of,” he added.

“And there’s no doubt we enjoyed the last couple of weeks because we’ve been winning well.”

Melbourne, September 20 (ANI): Commonwealth Bank has requested customers of Campbelltown branch in Australia to return the money they withdrew last week, as the ATM had dispensed 50 dollar notes instead of 20 dollar ones.

Seemingly, the bank has faced a loss of 48,000 dollars, but the Commonwealth’s official spokesman said the figure was “more like 20,000 dollars”.

Once the customers became aware of the fault they returned through the night to withdraw more cash, News.com.au reports.

Explaining the error the reps said: “The wrong canister was inadvertently put into the wrong slot. It doesn’t happen very often, but it’s just a case of human error.

“We’ll contact everyone who withdrew money that day and request they refund the money. We’ve recovered more than 75 per cent of it already.”

CCTV footage is being used to recognize those customers who withdrew money.

Also, staff will be instructed on properly inserting the ATM canisters. (ANI)

Karachi: Former captains Aamir Sohail and Rashid Latif have vouched for disgraced pacer Mohammad Asif’s inclusion in the playing eleven in Pakistan’s ICC Champions Trophy opener against West Indies on September 23.

Both Sohail and Latif were of the view that Asif should be allowed to make his comeback against the Caribbeans to ease him out for the big matches against India and Australia.

“It would be wise to play him against the West Indies so that he gets a feel of international cricket and is ready for the two big matches. It would be injustice if he is asked to play his first game against India,” Sohail said.

The former left-handed opener said he rated Asif as one of the best new ball bowlers he had ever seen in his career and once the selectors have included him in the 15-member squad, he should be played from the start of the tournament.

Latif, who worked on Asif’s fitness during a conditioning camp in Karachi, said the game against West Indies will give the selectors a fair idea about Asif’s fitness ahead of the crucial ties against ties against India and Australia.

Karachi: Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam today exuded confidence that his team has the potential and depth to win the ICC Champions Trophy which begins in South Africa on September 22. Intikhab said Pakistan has the firepower and can repeat their T20 World Cup success in South Africa.

“The ICC Champions Trophy is a tournament in which we have not done well. We have never won it. I think the depth we have in our side if we play to our potential we can win the event,” Intikhab told reporters at the Karachi airport before leaving for South Africa for the eight-nation tournament.

The former Test captain said a very balanced side had been selected for the tournament keeping in mind the conditions in South Africa.

“The batting has experience, youth and firepower. While I think our bowling remains our strongest point. We have quality pace bowlers and in Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal we have to world class spinners,” he said. The 67-year-old Intikhab, who has been under scrutiny in recent times for his age, said the team needed to show the same form and resolve they had shown in the T20 World Cup in England.

“We are carrying a lot of expectations to the ICC Champions Trophy. We are the T20 World Champions and we need to perform like Champions. I have told the boys to focus on the group matches which are going to be tough and challenging against teams like India and Australia,” he added.

I am in the unusual position of having the week off after being rested for three one-day internationals.

When it was put to be that I was going to be rested, part of me was disappointed because you always want to play for your country, especially against Australia.

However, you need to look at the bigger picture, and the constant treadmill I have been on since 2005. I have only missed a few games when I was banned, but otherwise it has been almost non-stop cricket and there comes a time when your body and mind need a rest.

We have got a lot of cricket coming up and it was a strong decision and a good one from the England management. I know how I was feeling, and I was starting to wear down a bit.

It is something quite new, and you don’t really know how to respond when you are told, because you are used to just ploughing on and getting little breaks wherever you can.

But it is something Andy Flower and the management team have done increasingly – Jimmy Anderson is also getting a rest at the moment and Andrew Strauss and Stuart Broad had some games off just after the Ashes.

It is something that is going to become increasingly common, and I think in future it will be done in a pre-planned way. Over the next 18 months I think we’re on duty for something like 450 days. It’s amazing, and it is vital that players showing signs of fatigue get a chance to recharge.

I was told on Friday, and they basically told me to go away and do nothing for a few days! So we went up to Scotland and had a beautiful weekend away at Loch Lomond.

Now I am back at home and am booked in for some pilates and yoga sessions this week. People might laugh at that, but it’s something that has always given me core strength and a good base.

I’m hoping to be involved in the final game against Australia at Durham on Sunday, and we will be hoping to end the summer on a high note after a one-day series that has been pretty disappointing so far.

I have been completely detached from cricket so I haven’t had much of a chance to look at the central contracts for next season.

Steve Harmison will be disappointed to have missed out but Graham Onions has come in and done exceptionally well.

As we have seen, a central contract is no guarantee you will play, so there will be plenty of chances for Harmy and others to prove themselves and win a place in the team.

Courtesy: http://uk.eurosport.yahoo.com

Southampton (UK), Sep.9 (ANI): The greatest quality that Australian middle-order batsman Callum Ferguson possesses is not his vision or footwork but that he does not believe his own publicity.

The South Australian is the clear candidate to fill the boots of Michael Hussey when the 34-year-old calls it quits.

Ferguson, 10 years Hussey’s junior, has been marked by some of cricket’s finest judges as Australia’s next batting wonder and has emphatically underscored his potential by averaging 56 after 15 one-day international innings.

He barely twitches at the crease, but Ferguson is a bashful character off the field, praised by team-mates and coaches.

Australian captain Ricky Ponting said the moment he saw the right-hander he knew Ferguson was a Test player in the making.

“That’s very nice of him to say that. Obviously, coming from such a fantastic legend of Australian cricket, it’s fantastic of him to say that and very kind. I’d love to get there at some stage, but time will tell,” The Age quoted Ferguson, as saying.

“That’s something that is a goal of mine and when that comes, if it comes at all, is not in my hands, it’s for the selectors. It’s something I’d love to do at some stage but whether that ever comes, who knows, but I’d love to be there at some stage,” he added. (ANI)

LONDON (Reuters) – Graham Onions has been called up to replace Andrew Flintoff in England’s Champions Trophy squad and added to the squad for the current one-day series against Australia, the England and Wales Cricket Board said on Monday.

All-rounder Flintoff was initially named in the 15-man Champions Trophy squad but was subsequently ruled out of the tournament after having surgery on a knee injury.

The Champions Trophy event technical committee has approved the replacement of Flintoff with Onions for the tournament in South Africa from Sept. 22 to Oct. 5.

Fast-medium bowler Onions has been in previous England one-day squads but has not played an international. He made his England test debut this year against West Indies and featured in the Ashes series victory over Australia.

He will join the England squad on Tuesday as the team prepares for the third one-dayer against Australia in Southampton on Wednesday.

Australia lead the seven-match series 2-0.

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