Australia, New Zealand exchange cricket umpires

Australia and New Zealand have introduced an international exchange program for their senior cricket umpires.

Simon Fry, a member of Cricket Australia's international panel, and Barry Frost, a member of New Zealand Cricket's international panel, will be the first umpires to benefit from the program, which is designed to provide senior umpires with potential to officiate at international level the opportunity of experiencing foreign conditions.

Fry will officiate in a Plunket Shield first class match in Auckland, starting on November 23, while Frost will officiate in a Sheffield Shield first class match in Melbourne, starting three days later.

Both countries already have a similar relationship in place with Cricket South Africa.

Pietersen fined over Twitter rant

Kevin Pietersen was fined an "undisclosed amount" by the England and Wales Cricket Board yesterday for his foul-mouthed Twitter tirade after being dropped from the England squad.

Pietersen, never before axed when fit from England duty in a four-year international career, pre-empted last Tuesday's announcement by several hours that he'd been left out for the upcoming Twenty20 and limited overs matches against Pakistan with a post on social networking site Twitter.

The South Africa-born batsman would have been in trouble for that act alone.

But the 30-year-old Pietersen, man of the tournament during England's victorious World Twenty20 campaign in the Caribbean earlier this year, told his followers: "Done for rest of summer!! Man of the World Cup T20 and dropped from the T20 side too.

"It's a f up."

England coach Andy Flower had to leave the national side in Cardiff, where the World Twenty20 title holders won the first of two Twenty20 internationals against Pakistan on Sunday, to travel to a disciplinary hearing at Lord's on Monday ahead of the second and final T20 in the Welsh capital on Tuesday.

An ECB statement said: "ECB has announced that Kevin Pietersen today (Monday) attended a disciplinary hearing at Lord's convened by Hugh Morris, Managing Director - England Cricket, and Andy Flower, England Team Director.

"Pietersen proffered an unreserved apology to ECB and the England team management for his actions."

"The hearing considered his comments to be prejudicial to the interests of Team England," the statement added.

"He has been fined an undisclosed sum in accordance with the terms and conditions of his England central contract."

Pietersen, struggling for runs at international level, was released back to on-loan county Surrey in a bid to regain form ahead of England's defence of the Ashes in Australia later this year.

It looked a good move as he hit a century for Surrey on Saturday in a 40-over match against Sussex.

Record ICC rap for spot 'fix' trio

THE three Pakistan players in the dock for spot-fixing have been hit with a staggering 23 charges after a News of the World undercover investigation.

Skipper Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir stand accused of involvement in a multi-million pound betting scam organised by 'fixer' Mazhar Majeed.

And the International Cricket Council charges run to a massive SIX pages per player. We have also learned Butt had previously been warned FIVE times about his duty to report illegal approaches before the latest betting scandal.

The three players and Majeed are the subject of a Scotland Yard investigation, with the Pakistan stars also facing the wrath of an ICC desperate to save their sport's battered reputation.

Test captain Butt and veteran bowler Asif both face life bans, although there is a growing sense among ICC top brass that 18-year-old Amir should be dealt with more leniently.

They have all been charged under Article 2 of the ICC's anti-corruption code, with Butt's charge sheet the longest of the three. In total, the charges run to 18 pages which were handed to the players on Thursday night after the ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit swooped.

Pakistan's one-day skipper Shahid Afridi yesterday apologised for the conduct of his former team-mates on the eve of Sunday's Twenty20 clash in Cardiff. But his apology is unlikely to save the career of Butt.

Pakistan insist NOTHING will stop them completing their tour, while England bosses will take a final decision this morning on the wisdom of carrying on.

England's T20 skipper Paul Collingwood said: "If I was approached by anybody, I would certainly tell somebody about it."

Pakistani star Yasir Hameed blows lid off cricket corruption

A PAKISTAN cricketer who played in the rigged Lord's Test has sensationally confirmed that there WERE cheats in his team.

Respected opening batsman Yasir Hameed claims bent teammates were fixing "almost every match".

And he provided a devastating insight into the shady world of betting scams, telling how he:

• REFUSED bribes of up to £150,000 from a corrupt bookmaker to throw matches.
• LOST his own place in the squad and saw his career damaged as a result.
• WATCHED as crooked colleagues splashed out on plush properties and expensive sports cars funded by their illicit activities.
• LEARNED that shameless players pocketed an astonishing £1.8million for rigging a Test match against Australia earlier this year.

Hameed, once rated amongst the world's finest batsmen, said of his scandal-struck colleagues: "They've been caught. Only the ones that get caught are branded crooks.

Now, captaincy is big challenge, says Afridi

Shahid Afridi Friday said that leading the side in the upcoming one-day International series, against England, would be the biggest challenge of his career in the wake of spot-fixing allegations against the three of their top players.

Afridi, who has played 27 Tests, 296 ODIs and 35 T20 matches, also said that Pakistan players were feeling the heat after the allegations surfaced.

“It has not been easy for the players. But I think the team management took the right decision to release these players even before they were suspended.

“Because not only were Salman (Butt), (Mohammed) Aamer and (Mohammed) Asif under pressure, but also the rest of the team were also feeling the heat of the allegations,” he said.

Afridi said the players were making an effort to avoid discussing the issue during training or in the dressing room and were trying to just focus on the cricket.

“The players are avoiding talking about it because they know that the best thing they can do right now is to focus on the upcoming matches and try to do well in them,” he said.

“For me, personally, it is a big challenge to lead the team in the existing conditions… But I have tried my best to relax the players and insist they just concentrate on cricket.”

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) announced two youngsters — batsman Asad Shafiq and left-arm pace bowler Mohammed Irfan — as replacements for the suspended trio, for the ODI series.

Afridi, however, said that he was consulted before the finalisation of the replacements.

“I know they have lot of talent and it is a challenge for me to try to get this team to fight hard. Obviously, we will miss the three (players), but we have good back-up talent and we have to manage with it,” he said.

Afridi also said that he hoped that the three players would eventually be cleared of any wrongdoing.

“I feel sad at the current situation and I hope it turns out well for Pakistan cricket. But for the time being, we just need to show the world that we are a top cricket nation,” he said.

Pakistan team manager Yawar Saeed, too, urged the squad to stay strong and “ride the pressure” for the remainder of the tour.

“We are human beings. Everybody has pressures in life — we have to ride the pressure, not give in to the pressure,” Saeed said.

He also insisted that in spite of the spot-fixing allegations, he never thought about cancelling the tour.

Meanwhile, England team director Andy Flower thinks that the game will “survive” inspite of the recent controversies.

“It’s not great discussing these topics and nobody wants that sort of news on the front or back page. We’ve got to see the outcome of these investigations first. Obviously it’s a not a very healthy position that we seem to be finding ourselves in right now,” Flower said.

“But the game will survive, there’s no doubt about that. It’s a great game, people love playing it, people love watching it and that’s why it will survive.