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Fall of Wickets (India)

During a meeting with PCB chief Ijaz Butt, Khan made it clear that he would roll back his resignation only if the board gives him a guarantee that he would not be sacked from captaincy until the 2011 World Cup.

Khan also stressed that he wanted more powers as a captain of the national team to ensure better results.

According to sources, Khan wants Butt to give the team management and the players a clear message that the Board will continue backing him as captain even in difficult times.

“What Younis wants is an end to all this uncertainty. He wants the players and the officials to know that he is their captain for at least the next two years so that they can stop conspiring against him,” The News quoted sources, as saying.

Khan had tendered his resignation on Tuesday during a National Assembly Standing Committee on Sports hearing that was held to discuss the performance of the squad in the recently concluded ICC Champions Trophy in South Africa.

The PCB, however, later rejected his resignation, but not before the game’s image was tarnished in the country yet again. (ANI)

Australia’s Mitchell Johnson has become the sixth player to win the coveted Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy after being named as the 2009 ICC Cricketer of the Year at the LG ICC Awards ceremony in Johannesburg.

Johnson fought off stiff competition to take the award from fellow short-list nominees Gautam Gambhir and Mahendra Singh Dhoni of India as well as England captain Andrew Strauss.

Johnson follows in the footsteps of India’s Rahul Dravid (2004), Andrew Flintoff of England and South Africa’s Jacques Kallis (joint winners in 2005), Ricky Ponting of Australia (2006 and 2007) and Shivnarine Chanderpaul (2008) to take the top award.

“I’m really blown away. I am just surprised to be up here. It has been a great 12 months for our side. We have lost some wonderful players in recent years and we have been rebuilding with some young guys in the team and we have played together well.

“I’m enjoying the game at the moment – that makes all the difference. The highlight for me was actually my first century in a Test match. I would be quite happy to wear the tag of all-rounder so I have been pleased with how my batting has come on. Also, winning in South Africa was a huge high for us.

“I’d like to thank my team-mates, friends and family and my fiancee for putting up with the ups and downs over the last year or so.”

ICC President David Morgan congratulated Johnson on his victory: “Mitchell has worked extremely hard over the past year to be an integral part of Australia’s bowling line-up and his effective batting style has turned him into one of the top all-round cricketers. His statistics for the last 12 months show how worthy a winner of this title he is,” said Morgan.

“I would like to extend my congratulations to Mitchell on winning the Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy. He had some tough competition to overcome, the likes of Gautam, Mahendra and Andrew but no one can deny he has been a stand-out player over the past 12 months.”

During the voting period, the 27-year-old Queenslander played in 17 Test matches, taking 80 wickets, which was easily the highest number by any Test bowler in the voting period. His best match bowling figures were 11-159 against South Africa in Perth in December of last year and Johnson’s economy-rate over the whole period was a mere 3.12.

His batting skills shouldn’t be forgotten either for in the last year he has managed to score a total of 632 runs for Australia, including a century and three half-centuries, to register an average of 30.09.

Johnson also played 16 ODI matches in this time taking 28 wickets at an average of 24.25 and an economy rate of 5.06, his best haul being 4-34 against South Africa in April of this year. He is currently ranked third in the Reliance Mobile ICC Player Rankings for Test bowlers and is 11th in the ODI rankings.

The Sir Garfield Sobers Trophy was one of eight individual prizes given at this year’s LG ICC Awards. Johnson also featured in the ICC Test Team of the Year as picked by the ICC selection panel.

The panel was chaired by West Indies legend Clive Lloyd and included former India captain Anil Kumble, former England wicketkeeper Bob Taylor, former Pakistan opener Mudassar Nazar and former New Zealand captain Stephen Fleming.

Based on the period between 13 August 2008 and 24 August 2009, the LG ICC Awards 2009 – presented in association with FICA – take into account performances by players and officials in a remarkable period for the game.

That period includes such high-profile events as the ICC World Twenty20 2009 in England, the ICC Women’s World Cup 2009 in Australia and the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2009 in South Africa, as well as several bilateral Test and ODI series.

The LG ICC Awards ceremony is now in its sixth year and this year is being held in Johannesburg to coincide with the ICC Champions Trophy 2009. Previous ceremonies were held in London (2004), Sydney (2005), Mumbai (2006), Johannesburg (2007) and Dubai (2008).

Dhoni named as captain for second year running

Umpire Aleem Dar was named ICC Umpire of the Year at the LG ICC Awards in Johannesburg tonight.

Dar, who is 41 and from Pakistan, was voted to this award by the 10 Full Member captains as well as the eight-man Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Match Referees, based on his decision statistics over the last 12 months.

It is the first time he has received an ICC award and upon collecting the trophy from ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat, Dar said: “I am very pleased to get this award. Thanks to PCB and ICC as well as my friends and family and of course my wife, who I have to leave for long periods of time.

“Normally I am quite calm and so the pressure is not big for me. It is important to stay cool and if you make a mistake you can’t let it get to you. You have to concentrate all the time.”

Dar beat off strong competition from his colleagues on the Emirates Elite Panel of ICC Umpires Asad Rauf, Tony Hill and five-time ICC Umpire of the Year Simon Taufel.

Dar, who made his international debut as an umpire in 2000, joined the Emirates Elite Panel in 2004. In the voting period of these awards Dar stood in seven Tests and eight ODIs, as well as the ICC World Twenty20 in England, where he was an on-field umpire in four of the matches, including the semi-final between Sri Lanka and West Indies.

The Umpire of the Year was one of 11 individual and team honours handed out during the ICC Awards. Based on the period between 13 August 2008 and 24 August 2009, the LG ICC Awards 2009 – presented in association with FICA – take into account performances by players and officials in a remarkable period for the game.

That period includes such high-profile events as the ICC World Twenty20 2009 in England, the ICC Women’s World Cup 2009 in Australia and the ICC Cricket World Cup Qualifier 2009 in South Africa, as well as several bilateral Test and ODI series.

The LG ICC Awards ceremony is now in its sixth year and this year is being held in Johannesburg to coincide with the ICC Champions Trophy 2009. Previous ceremonies were held in London (2004), Sydney (2005), Mumbai (2006), Johannesburg (2007) and Dubai (2008).

The ICC has confirmed the event technical committee of the ICC Champions Trophy 2009 has approved Virat Kohli as a replacement player for Yuvraj Singh in India’s squad for the tournament.

The confirmation was conveyed to the Board of Control for Cricket in India on behalf of the event technical committee today (Wednesday).

Yuvraj fractured a finger in his right hand during India’s training session at Witwatersrand University on Wednesday morning and has been advised six weeks rest.

Kohli, a 20-year-old right-handed batsman, has played in six ODIs with his last being in the final of the tri-series against Sri Lanka earlier this month. So far, he has scored 161 runs at an average of 32.32 runs.

The event technical committee of the ICC Champions Trophy consists of David Richardson (ICC, chairman), Don McIntosh (tournament director), Campbell Jamieson (representative of IDI, the ICC’s commercial arm which runs major ICC events), Mike Gajjar (CSA representative), Sanjay Manjrekar (independent nomination) and Nick Knight (independent nomination).

India plays its first game of the tournament proper on Saturday 26 September against Pakistan at Centurion.