Gavaskar backs neutral umpires

Sunil Gavaskar, Chairman of the ICC Cricket Committee, said the neutral umpire system eliminates the suspicion of bias.

“If a third country umpire makes a (questionable) decision, it won’t be as acrimonious as if a home umpire made that decision. It is a lot better to have a system in place rather than having any controversy regarding decisions,” he said.

Sandeep named in probables list

Drag-flicker Sandeep Singh returned to the reckoning for a berth in the national squad as he was picked among the 29 probables announce on Friday for the three-nation hockey tournament starting January 22, reports PTI from Chennai.

Mid-fielder Pavan Lakra and young forward Bikash Topo were also named in the list. The probables will undergo a national camp in Bangalore from January 10 for the lead-up tournament to the Olympic qualifiers in Chile in March.

‘Aussies may face attack in Pak’

Australian academicians have warned that country’s cricket team may be attacked by extremists during their Pakistan tour in March, reports PTI from Melbourne.

Michael McKinley, senior strategy lecturer at the Australian National University, said the national cricket team was a ‘possible target’ for terrorists. “If we use the precedents, they are in danger. The people who’d attack an Australian cricket team don’t care too much for cricket,” McKinley said.

“They regard it as something Western, which is undesirable. If you were doing a risk-analysis for the Australian cricket team, you would have to say either the grounds, the spectators, or the team itself is on a target list,” he was quoted as saying by the Herald Sun newspaper.

Ashok Lal passes away

Former East Bengal football team captain Ashok Lal Banerjee passed away due to a lung ailment on Thursday, reports PTI from Kolkata.

Ashok Lal, popularly known as ‘head master’ in the local football circle, was 61 and is survived by wife and two daughters.

One of the best defenders the country had in the 60s, Indian soccer’s golden era, Ashok Lal played for India in the Merdeca Cup in 1970.

England axe Prior for NZ tour

England have axed wicketkeeper Matt Prior for next month's tour of New Zealand, reports Reuters from London.

Test squad:
Michael Vaughan (captain), Tim Ambrose, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Stuart Broad, Paul Collingwood, Alastair Cook, Stephen Harmison, Matthew Hoggard, Philip Mustard, Monty Panesar, Kevin Pietersen, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Andrew Strauss, Graeme Swann.

One-day squad: Paul Collingwood (captain), Tim Ambrose, James Anderson, Ian Bell, Ravi Bopara, Stuart Broad, Alastair Cook, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Philip Mustard, Kevin Pietersen, Owais Shah, Ryan Sidebottom, Graeme Swann, James Tredwell, Chris Tremlett, Luke Wright.