Briefly Cricket

With the Pakistan Cricket Board deducting a Rs seven million fine from his annual salary against the earlier fine imposed upon him...

Akhtar gets 550 as 2009 earnings

Karachi: With the Pakistan Cricket Board deducting a Rs seven million fine from his annual salary against the earlier fine imposed upon him,Shoaib Akhtar was left with just USD 550 as match fees,bonus and contract fees in the year gone by. Akhtar,who has not played for his country since May 2009,earns Rs 250,000 per month as salary for being in the top category of the central contracts given to players. Shoaib does not feature in the new list of players who would be given central contracts for the year 2010.

Jayasuriya vs Ranatunga in SL polls

Colombo: Sanath Jayasuriya has taken the political plunge and will have a face off against ex-teammate Arjuna Ranatunga during election campaigns for their respective alliances for the April 8 Sri Lankan parliamentary polls. Jayasuriya is expected to contest the upcoming General Elections under the ruling coalition United People Freedom Alliance UPFA ticket from the southern coastal Matara district. Jayasuriya,however,ruled out giving up cricket just yet. 8220;I will not give up cricket though I am coming into politics. I was pushed to this decision after an exhaustive study,8221; the opener said.

BCCI ultimatum to Tiwary

Kolkata: Taking a serious view of his dressing room misdemeanour,the BCCI has in a letter informed Bengal player Manoj Tiwary that he will be banned from playing domestic cricket if he will not behave well in future. Irate after being adjudged leg-before during the match against Jharkhand,Tiwary abused umpires and smashed items inside the dressing room at the Barabati stadium in Cuttack. He has an India cap and a talented cricketer but this sort of behaviour is not acceptable. We have sent him a letter,hope he understands, Ratnakar Shetty,BCCI CAO,said. Tiwary has also been asked to pay for the damages in the dressing room. Match referee had slapped him a one-match ban and docked 100 per cent of his match fee.

Guptill,McCullum in record stand

Hamilton: Overnight batsmen Martin Guptill and Brendon McCullum shared a 339-sixth wicket partnership as New Zealand posted a massive score of 533 for 7 before declaring their first innings. Guptill scored 189 while McCullum hit 185. At stumps on Day Two,Bangladesh were 87 for the loss of one wicket,trailing by 466 runs.

Brief scores: New Zealand 553/7 decl Martin Guptill189,Brendon McCullum 185; Rubel Hossain 5/166 vs Bangladesh 87/1 Tamim Iqbal batting 57