Champions Trophy postponed until October 2009

Champions Trophy

Champions Trophy postponed until October 2009

August 24, 2008

	The Champions Trophy has been set back after the ICC task force's visit to Pakistan failed to ease security concerns © Getty Images

The ICC has postponed the Champions Trophy, which was due to begin in Pakistan in 19 days' time, to October 2009, after five of the eight participating nations confirmed during a teleconference on Sunday that they would not send their teams for the event due to security concerns.

South Africa had on Saturday pulled out of the tournament, which was originally scheduled to be held from Sept 12-28 in Karachi and Lahore, and the ICC was informed on Sunday that Australia, England, New Zealand and West Indies, too, would not be participating.

The ICC will now meet in September to finalise a window for the tournament in 2009 and, while Pakistan will be given "first preference" to host it, a decision on the venue may be taken only after a security assessment of the country is done around February, after the India tour.

Sources who attended the ICC's teleconference said there was the option of the tournament being relocated to Sri Lanka, the official alternate venue, but India and Pakistan remained adamant against a change.

Timeline May 1, 2006 - The ICC awards the 2008 Champions Trophy to Pakistan March 11, 2008 - Australia postpone their tour to Pakistan over security fears March 19 - ICC says Sri Lanka will be the alternate venue June 18 - Official launch of Champions Trophy June 19 - Ricky Ponting says Australian players are uneasy with touring Pakistan July 6 - Pakistan successfully stages six-nation Asia Cup July 24 - ICC keeps Champions Trophy in Pakistan after board meeting, high-level task force appointed July 24 to 26 - Players lobbies step up pressure to pull out; Kevin Pietersen urges ECB to make Champions Trophy decision; Graeme Smith has 'major concerns' Aug 10 - ICC task team travels to Pakistan to assess security Aug 12 - ICC drops Rawalpindi as one of the venues Aug 14 to 17 - Geoff Lawson deployed by ICC to convince Australia and New Zealand; the task force, along with Lawson, meet Australian officials; New Zealand and Australian players' associations remain unconvinced; ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat briefs England team Aug 19 - Top ICC officials meet in Dubai, announce teleconference for August 24 Aug 22 - South Africa withdraw from tournament Aug 24 - ICC postpones trophy until next year, Pakistan keep hosting rights

India, the sources said, were not willing to sacrifice Pakistan. The Sri Lankans too didn't press their case, as they supported the Pakistan view that a venue change could not be made on security grounds. The meeting was held in an amicable atmosphere because most of the issues had been thrashed out among the members beforehand, rendering the final discussions a mere formality.

"There was unanimity in the decision to postpone the event until October next year," David Morgan, the ICC president, told Sky Sports. "India is very influential but so is Giles Clarke (ECB chief executive), Australia, New Zealand - they all bring their influence to bear.

"The vote was totally in favour of the postponement until October next year. And India were quite influential in persuading some other nations that that was the right course of action."

The ICC have appeased Pakistan, at least for the time being, in choosing not to cancel the competition entirely but postponing it until October next year. Morgan, though, was insistent that "appeasement was not part of the meeting at all".

"The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have been extremely reasonable about the whole subject, (it has been very clear) they have worked jolly hard to try to give comfort to the member boards, and the eight teams that are touring, that it would be safe and secure," Morgan said. "Unfortunately, five of the participating nations found it impossible to send their team to Pakistan because of safety concerns."

Though the postponement means there will be a rare 33 days without international cricket this year, the schedule for 2009 promises to be every bit as packed - besides, the next edition of the Champions Trophy is coming up in 2010. "Every cricketing year is a busy one," Morgan said. "We're more aware of it in the UK because of the Ashes, the World Twenty20 and the one-day series against Australia, but it is no busier a year than any other.

"There will certainly be more security assessments. We're going to meet around the table in 3 or 4 weeks in Dubai to discuss the mechanisms of the postponement. There are numerous things to be discussed and we're planning on meeting in the middle of September to discuss the consequences of the decision."

Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, added: "Every one of our members wishes to ensure the ICC Champions Trophy is a world-class event and the prospect of relocating it at short notice in order to make sure it was played this year would not allow that criterion to be fulfilled."

Shafqat Naghmi, the PCB's chief operating officer, said that postponing the tournament was the only option in light of boycott threats. "Cricket is not going to die here, it's just that we are going through a difficult phase," Naghmi said. "We would have lost the hosting rights had the Champions Trophy been relocated [to Sri Lanka].

"With four of the eight teams threatening to pull out, "it made little sense to organize a four-team competition," he said.

Giles Clarke, the chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), said his board supported the ICC decision and had last week "explained their reservations and security concerns about staging the tournament in the aftermath of the resignation of the Pakistan President Pervez Musharraf last Monday."

Seamers and Dhoni script 33-run win

Sri Lanka v India, 3rd ODI, Colombo

Seamers and Dhoni script 33-run win

August 24, 2008

India 237 (Dhoni 76*, Raina 53, Mendis 3-56) beat Sri Lanka 204 (Jayawardene 94, Zaheer 3-23, Munaf 3-42) by 33 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

	Zaheer Khan, who claimed figures of 3 for 23, was the driving force behind India's win © AFP

For the second game in succession, an inspired opening spell by India's seam attack of Zaheer Khan and Praveen Kumar brought a powerful batting line-up to its knees. A middle-of-the-road target of 238 was always going to be competitive under lights but a flurry of early wickets before effectively sealed the match before the first Powerplay ended. Both captains arrested top-order slides with fighting half-centuries, but his bowlers made Mahendra Singh Dhoni's effort count in the end.

For Sri Lanka, only Mahela Jayawardene displayed the technique and temperament to craft a lengthy innings and though he had Thilan Thushara for company to give his side a glimmer of hope, their partnership came a little too late. Jayawardene fell six short of a deserved century when a paddle scoop ended his knock and with it, Sri Lanka's last chance of snatching a miracle.

The pre-match talk centered around the better batting conditions at the Premadasa Stadium when compared to the two-paced surface in Dambulla. Though the conditions were a shade easier to bat on in the afternoon, it got considerably challenging under lights as the seamers managed swing and nip off the pitch while the spinners got turn and bounce.

While the swing was hard enough for the batsmen to negotiate under lights, the nagging stump-to-stump line was largely responsible for the spurt of lbw decisions early on. Kumar Sangakkara, Chamara Kapugedera and Chamara Silva were all trapped as the trigger-happy umpires wasted no time in pondering over the appeals.

Sanath Jayasuriya whiplashed Praveen for boundaries over his favoured off side region but perished after edging an away swinger off the same bowler. Zaheer relied more on hitting the deck hard and like in Dambulla, squared up Sangakkara with one that nipped back in and struck him high on the pad.

Kapugedera began confidently with a clipped six over square leg off Praveen but paid the price for shuffling too far across his stumps. Silva became the third lbw victim of the evening, this time to Zaheer, trapped in front of middle stump to one that straightened. Tillakaratne Dilshan, tied down by the seamers' nagging accuracy, feathered an edge to Dhoni off Munaf Patel.

All the while, Jayawardene cut a lonely figure. The revival began when Thushara joined him in the middle. Runs were hard to come by initially but Jayawardene was probably mindful of India's weak link - the fifth bowler. With the field spread out and the ball getting softer, Jayawardene placed faith in his partner by rotating the strike.

Yuvraj and Rohit Sharma conceded 46 off nine combined overs as Sri Lanka added 50 runs between overs 37 and 43. Thushara regularly made room to loft the ball over vacant spaces and the anxiety began to tell on the Indian fielders as they dropped catches off Thushara and Jayawardene. Zaheer returned to york Thushara to end the 81-run eighth-wicket stand, and when Munaf sent back Jayawardene, the contest was all but over.

	Mahendra Singh Dhoni top scored for India with 76 © AFP

Sri Lanka will no doubt look back at where they let the initiative slip. After reducing India to 97 for 4 at the halfway stage, two fifty partnerships - with Dhoni the central figure in both - resurrected the innings after another jerky start. The significant factor in India's recovery in the middle overs was that the threat of Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis was negated fairly comfortably. Though Mendis ended with three wickets, two of those came at the fag end of the innings. Murali, on the other hand, had a forgettable wicketless outing.

Once again, Dhoni walked in to bat with the Indian innings wobbling. Often he has played a lone hand, but this time Suresh Raina and Rohit Sharma offered excellent support. Raina needed runs, and with his captain for company, accumulated steadily with the spinners operating from both ends, and never at any stage did the Indians get bogged down. Dhoni was comfortable against Mendis, committing himself forward to smother the spin of the full-length deliveries, but when the length was short, he rocked back and cut and pulled for runs.

Raina, too, was fleet-footed against the spinners, nudging, flicking and driving Muralitharan for singles in his workmanlike knock. Using his feet, he drove the same bowler to the extra-cover boundary before edging towards his sixth ODI fifty, which came off 75 balls. The running between wickets was excellent throughout, but ironically, it was a run-out that ended the 54-run partnership.

Dhoni was fortunate to find an equally able partner in Rohit, who calmly rotated the strike. Short of runs over the last few innings, Rohit grafted initially before taking his chances against the spinners. The partnership came at a quicker rate than the Dhoni-Raina stand, with the pair bringing up their fifty stand in 55 balls. Dhoni brought up his own half-century off 64 balls and celebrated it with successive boundaries off Murali, using his feet well on both occasions. Just when a score in excess of 250 seemed likely, Sri Lanka struck. Rohit fell while attempting a slog off Thushara, after which the wickets continued to fall. Dhoni was dismissed in the 49th over, scooping to cover for a 80-ball 76 and in the end his efforts didn't got to waste.