No rift with Pak board, says CSA

Durban: Cricket South Africa (CSA) does not see any souring of relations with Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) following the former’s decision not to play in the Champions Trophy.

Reacting to reports that the PCB had expressed dismay at South Africa becoming the first country to pull out of the tournament, CSA chief executive Gerald Majola scoffed off any possibility of rift between the two boards.

“There is no way that the relationship between us and Pakistan has been damaged. Everybody understands our position. In fact we withdrew from other tours (Sri Lanka) and that did not hamper our relations with the boards.

“I cannot see that would happen with with Pakistan,” Majola was quoted as saying by an Afrikaans daily.

Afridi livid

Karachi: Pakistan’s flamboyant allrounder Shahid Afridi has denounced Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) initiative to organise a tri-nation one-day series in South Africa during the holy month of Ramazan.

The PCB was trying to organise the series after the deferred Champions Trophy, which was scheduled to be held in Pakistan from September 12. Senior batsman Mohammed Yousuf had also withdrawn from the Champions Trophy saying he wanted to concentrate on his religious duties during Ramazan.

Pilcom case

Calcutta: The Calcutta high court on Tuesday rejected an appeal by Income Tax department claiming that Pilcom, a committee set up to organise 1996 World Cup, had not paid taxes on prize money to international players, while admitting two petitions on payments to foreign cricket boards.

A division bench comprising Justice P. C. Ghose and Justice S. P. Mitra rejected the appeal as the IT department could not establish that it was Pilcom, which paid the money to players.

Open cancelled

Bangalore: The Bangalore Open scheduled to be held from September 29 has been suspended due to the local promoter’s security concerns, according to the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) board.

“The ATP board can confirm that it has, regrettably, accepted a petition from the Bangalore Open to suspend the 2008 event due to the local promoter’s security concerns,” ATP said in a statement.

Beijing bonus

Beijing: China’s Olympic gold medallists will each get a cash bonus of 350,000 yuan ($50,000), almost double the amount paid after the 2004 Athens Games, media reports said on Tuesday.

Games auction

Beijing: More than 20 million items of memorabilia from the Beijing Olympics, including the extra-long bed slept in by Chinese basketball star Yao Ming, are to be auctioned, state media reported on Tuesday.