‘DRS will not be used during India, England series’

The developers and suppliers of Hot Spot have decided not to make their infra-red cameras available for the five ODIs and a lone Twenty20 match in India, the ICC said in a statement.
The Indian cricket board (BCCI) has been a strong opponent of the use of ball tracking technology in DRS but agreed to the ICC’s proposal of a modified version of the technology which allows teams to challenge umpire decisions.
The modified version of DRS, minus the ball tracking technology, was used during India’s recent tour of England and requires mandatory use of infra-red cameras.
However, the BCCI’s newly elected president N. Srinivasan said last month that the board does not wish to use the DRS even in its minimum form after the Hot Spot technology drew flak for inconsistent results during the tour.
“At the time, we were under the impression that Hot Spot was very good. It is not necessary for me to dwell on the accuracy of Hot Spot, it was there for everybody to see,” Srinivasan said.
“The BCCI will, at the next ICC meeting, raise the issue. We want to revisit it because we feel that Hot Spot is insufficient.
“We do not wish to use the DRS in its present form, even in its minimum standard.”
Meanwhile, former India coach Gary Kirsten was surprised at the disappointing show of Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s men in the recent tour of England, which saw them lose the world number one Test spot, but said they are good enough to bounce back.
“It has surprised me. The injuries haven’t helped. For me, they’re a good enough cricket team that they can come back. It has been a disappointment. They probably lost a bit of momentum,” Kirsten said.
“It’s been a little bit sad to watch them not play well because there was much anticipation around that series in England. Also with Duncan (Fletcher) coming in as new coach and he’s just been there for a couple of months, he needs to stamp his mark about what he’s going to do. I guess it was always going to be a difficult time upfront,” Kirsten, who is now the coach of South Africa, was quoted as saying by a cricket website.
Kirsten praised England for their performance, saying they were the much better side than India during the English summer.

“England are a quality cricket team. They are well coached, have a good structure, good people, they have stability in their team and are putting India under pressure. I don’t think they’d been put under pressure (by India) in the whole series.”

South African cricketer gets drugs ban

The 26-year-old Van Jaarsveld, who has played two One-day Internationals and three Twenty20 matches for South Africa tested positive for the banned stimulant sibutramine in November after taking weight loss medication prescribed by his doctor.
Sibutramine is a stimulant which, although present in certain medications, is also on WADA’s prohibited list.
Initially, Van Jaarsveld received a reprimand from the South African Institute for Drug Free Sport (SAIDS) after it found that the medication had been taken for legitimate weight loss reasons and not to enhance performance.
But WADA appealed against the decision, resulting in SAIDS handing down the three-month ban.“This is a particularly harsh outcome for Vaughn, given the circumstances of this matter,” SACA’s chief executive Tony Irish said in a statement.
“It seems likely that Vaughn will not be in a position to appeal and so will have to live with this suspension which comes at the worst possible time for him. We, as his player association, will be supporting him through this period.

“The decision does, however, illustrate the dangers for all sports persons unwittingly taking medication, or supplements, which may potentially contain prohibited substances. It has become so important that players and athletes actually check and double check the contents of all medications,” he added.—Reuters

Sehwag fit for opening one-dayer

NEW DELHI:
The 27-year-old suffered back spasms in the third Test defeat in Mumbai and had to bat with a runner on the final day.
India are already without leading batsman Sachin Tendulkar, who has flown to London to undergo shoulder surgery.
Paceman Munaf Patel is expected to be fit despite missing training on Monday with a bruised left heel.
"Virender has done two days of exercises and all the practice," said India skipper Rahul Dravid.
The series gives us a chance to know how we are developing as a one-day side with the World Cup nine months away
"Losing Sachin as a batsman is tough. He also did a great job for us in Pakistan with his bowling."
Sehwag’s recovery will be a relief for India, who lost to England by 212 runs in Mumbai as the Test series was drawn.
He has scored more than 4,000 runs in limited overs internationals and has a strike-rate of over 97 per 100 balls faced.
Dravid expects England to offer tough opposition in the seven-match series, even though they are missing a host of senior players.
"They are a very good side and played very good cricket in the Tests," said Dravid.
"They have impact players like Andrew Flintoff and Kevin Pietersen and they are a good fielding side.

"It gives us a good chance to know how we are developing as a one-day side with the World Cup nine months away."