The New Nation - Internet Edition

GP-BCB Academy plays 2nd one-day against Sri Lanka Cricket today

UNB, Dhaka

The touring GP-BCB National Cricket Academy team plays their 2nd one-day match against Sri Lanka Cricket Academy team in the three-match one-day series at the SSC ground today (Tuesday).

Earlier in the first one-day on Sunday, the visitors earned a thrilling one-wicket win over Sri Lanka Development XI.

The GP-BCB Academy team will play the third and final one-day match on Thursday (Sept 25) at the NCC ground.

Brothers Union taste first win beating Khulna Abahani 3-1

UNB, Dhaka

Brothers Union Club tasted their first win in the Citycell 2nd B League beating Khulna Abahani by 3-1 goals at Khulna Stadium Monday.

It was the first win for the Dhaka giant after making a 1-1 draw with Chittagong Mohammedan SC in their opening match on September 17.

In the day's match, foreign recruit Devine put Brothers Union ahead converting a penalty stroke in the 17th minute (1-0) and Tapu doubled the winners' margin in the 73rd minute (2-0).

The winners led the first half 1-0.

Mehdi Hasan pulled one back for Khulna Abahani in the 78th minute (2-1) while Monju completed the winners' tally scoring the 3rd goal one minute before the long whistle (3-1).

Brothers Union dominated the entire proceeding, especially in the 1st half, and got some more scoring chances, but failed to increase their goal margin.

Today's match: Rahmatganj MFS vs Farashganj SC (BNS 3:30 pm).

Bangladesh Boys Club beat Sadharan Bima

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh Boys Club beat Sadharan Bima KS by 1-0 goal in a match of the Second Division Football League at the Bir Shreshtha Shaheed Sepoy Mohammad Mostafa Stadium at Kamalapur Monday.

Harunur Rashid scored the all-important goal for the winners in the 55th minute.

In the day's another match, Basabo Tarun Sangha played to a 1-1 goal draw with Police SC at Banani Army Stadium.

Khaled Bari put Basabo Tarun Sangha ahead in the 21st minute, while Amirul scored the equalizer for Police SC in the 37th minute.

Today's matches: Prantik KC vs T&T Club Motijheel (Kamalapur Stadium 3 pm).

Tendulkar fit for Australia Tests

AFP, New Delhi

Batting superstar Sachin Tendulkar will be available for India's upcoming Test series against Australia despite racing against time to be fit, an official said today.

Tendulkar, 35, opted out of a five-day trial match starting in Vadodara on Wednesday after being advised to take a week's rest to recover from an elbow injury sustained during the recent Sri Lanka tour.

The news sent shockwaves across India, but cricket board secretary Niranjan Shah denied media reports that Tendulkar could miss the four-Test series against the world champions starting on October 9.

"The physiotherapist wants him to take another week off as a precautionary measure, but he will certainly be available for the Test matches," Shah told reporters.

Tendulkar will be replaced by Subramaniam Badrinath in the Rest of India squad that takes on Ranji Trophy champions Delhi in the five-day Irani Cup match in Vadodara.

The Indian squad for the first Test in Bangalore will be named after the match.

Tendulkar, a veteran of 150 Tests, needs 77 runs to overtake retired West Indian Brian Lara's record tally of 11,953 runs and become Test cricket's highest run-getter.

The Indian already has a record 39 Test and 42 one-day centuries and is also the world's leading one-day batsman with 16,361 runs from 417 matches.

Tendulkar is hoping to make amends for a poor series in Sri Lanka, where his highest score was 31 in three Tests which the hosts won 2-1.

The world's most senior cricketer, who made his Test debut in 1989, has been plagued by a spate of injuries in recent times and underwent corrective surgery on his left elbow in 2005.

Cash row threatens to stump Stanford match

AFP, Antigua

The world's richest cricket match the 20-million dollar Stanford Super Series clash here on November 1, may be abandoned without a ball being bowled because of a commercial row.

The Stanford organisers and Digicel, the multi-million dollar sponsors of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB), are locked in a row over commercial rights at the match being played at the Stanford Cricket Ground.

Digicel believes its five-year deal with the WICB includes the match, which features the Stanford Superstars taking on Kevin Pietersen's England, as it is officially backed by the board; the Stanford organisers claim as the Superstars are not an official side it is outside any existing sponsorship deal.

"The International Cricket Council (ICC) and the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) have confirmed that they do not consider the Stanford Superstars team to be a West Indies team," said a Stanford statement.

"The Superstars team is selected solely by Stanford 20/20 and Stanford 20/20 is not willing to gift to Digicel valuable rights to which it is simply not entitled and which Stanford 20/20 intends to sell as part of a presenting sponsor package for the Stanford Super Series."

The proposed Twenty20 match, where each member of the winning team is set to win a million dollars, has already been the subject of legal action at London's High Court, where an arbitration hearing is set to take place early next month.

This latest commercial fall-out comes just days after claims that two players from the squad created by Texan billionaire Allen Stanford, including a West Indies batsman, had failed drugs tests.

West Indies Cricket Board chief executive Donald Peters has objected to media reports linking him to confirmation of the alleged positive tests.

"We cannot confirm anything because we have no formal reports that the players were ever tested, and the Stanford people have not informed us who the players were, so we are not able to confirm it," Peters said.

"An Indian reporter contacted me about the matter, and the next thing I know, I see this report on a website quoting me, so I will have to ask for a retraction and, hopefully, it can be dealt with speedily."

Since no formal notification has been received from the Stanford group, Peters explained the WICB could not proceed with any sanctions.

But if any player was found guilty of a positive test, action would be taken by the regional governing body following legal advice.

"This is the normal course of action should someone return a positive test, since the WICB does indeed have a disciplinary process in place for anti-doping cases."

He added the WICB would also need to consult with their lawyers, since this was a unique case, with the players in the Stanford Superstars side not directly under the supervision of the board.

India's new men's coach returns to his women

AFP, New Delhi

India resumed their search for a men's field hockey coach on Monday after the selected candidate opted to continue working with the women's side.

Former Olympian Maharaj Krishan Kaushik was appointed the national men's coach last Wednesday to replace Joaquim Carvalho, who quit in March after the former champions failed to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.

Five days later, Kaushik returned to his old job as the women's coach for which he is contracted until the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China.

"I am still the women's coach," said Kaushuk, 53, but declined to say why he had accepted the men's job last week, as claimed by members of the ad hoc committee running Indian hockey.

Former captain Dhanraj Pillay, one of the selectors to pick the men's coach, said he was surprised at the development.

"When we shortlisted the candidates, Kaushik did not tell us he did not want the job," said Pillay. "In fact, he seemed very enthusiastic to coach the men's team.

"We now have to look for someone else."

Media reports said the Indian Women's Hockey Federation had protested that it had not been informed of Kaushik's selection as men's coach.

"He is contracted with us till 2010, so how can he go anywhere else without informing us," women's official Amrit Bose was quoted as saying in the local media.

"But I am happy Kaushik is back with us now."

Kaushik was the men's coach when India won the Asian Games gold medal in Bangkok in 1998, its only major triumph in the last decade.

The row comes amid a tumultous period in Indian hockey which saw the eight-time champions miss out on the Olympics for the first time this year.

In April the Indian Olympic Association sacked the sport's administrators after an official was embroiled in a cash-for-selection scandal and constituted an ad hoc committee to run the game.

Australian hockey legend Ric Charlesworth quit his post as the Indian team's technical adviser in July and flew back home, reportedly unhappy with the way the ad hoc committee functioned.

Sensational Barca smash Gijon for six

AFP, Madrid

Barcelona registered their first league win of the season and they did it in style with a 6-1 demolition of ten-man Sporting Gijon on Sunday.

Barcelona started the match in the unusual position of third from bottom after struggling to convert chances but they let off steam by running riot in Gijon.

Two goals inside five minutes from Xavi and Cameroon striker Samuel Eto'o put Barca in control and an own goal made it 3-0.

Andres Iniesta then capped a brilliant move with a delicate finish and Argentine Lionel Messi scored twice in the final five minutes to push the Catalans up to ninth.

It was Pep Guardiola's first league victory since replacing Frank Rijkaard in the summer and Barca are now just three points behind the leaders.

Real Madrid moved to within a point of the leading quartet with a 2-0 triumph at Racing Santander.

Midfielder Ruben de la Red, back at Real after a successful season's loan at Getafe, scored his first league goal for the club and Ruud van Nistelrooy produced a deadly finish as the champions rose to sixth in the table.

The clean sheet will also please coach Bernd Schuster who criticised his team for conceding five goals in their opening two league fixtures.

"At the beginning of the season there are always problems that emerge that you need to work on," said Schuster.

"We are working day by day and the most important thing is that the attitude is right. I thought we were much better tonight."

Four teams share top spot in Spain including title dark

horses Villarreal and Valencia who recorded victories over

Numancia and Osasuna respectively.

Villarreal, who earned a creditable 0-0 Champions League draw at Manchester United on Wednesday, came from a goal down to defeat Numancia 2-1 with Jose Llorente scoring the winner with his first goal for the club.

"It is no surprise that Barcelona lost here and it was a difficult game," said Villarreal coach Manuel Pellegrini. "Patience was the key."

Valencia lead the standings on goal difference after a late Juan Mata goal downed ten-man Osasuna at the Mestalla.

Mata struck seven minutes from time for the breakthrough after Osasuna had been reduced to ten men with Cesar Azpilicueta received his marching orders just after the hour for a second booking.

"Being top is not that significant as there are various teams with seven points," said Valencia coach Unai Emery.

"The most important thing for us is that we are improving and collecting points from difficult games like this one.

"We knew it was a test of patience because Osasuna are hard to open up."

Four teams are locked on seven points at the summit with

Almeria continuing their great start to the season with a 1-0

home victory over Malaga.

Alvaro Negredo struck on 74 minutes with the decisive goal and undefeated Almeria join Espanyol, Villarreal and Valencia at the top.

Honours were shared in the hotly-contested derby match between Real Betis and Sevilla at the Manuel Ruiz de Lopera which ended 0-0.

"We didn't lose but perhaps we should have been more ambitious like we were in the final 25 minutes," said Sevilla coach Manolo Jimenez.

Sevilla completed a league double over Betis last season and the hosts set up with a 4-5-1 to make life difficult for the visitors.

It worked as Sevilla, 2-0 winners over Salzburg in the UEFA Cup, failed to find a way through the bottleneck.

Elsewhere, Deportivo La Coruna failed to get their UEFA Cup nightmare - they lost 2-0 to Norwegians Brann - out of their system in a frustrating 0-0 draw with Real Mallorca.

National cricketers begin practice

UNB, Dhaka

National cricketers on Monday began practice under team coach Jamie Siddons ahead of their home series against New Zealand at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium (SBNS).

All 24 cricketers made outdoor, indoor, stretching and center wicket practices this morning. They also did gym practice in the afternoon.

Talking to reporters, Coach Siddons said they were hopeful of doing well against New Zealand with the young team in the upcoming home series.

He said the probable squad, comprising some young talents and experienced ones, would be able to yield a good result.

Siddons said it is the best opportunity for the newcomers and the experienced players to make their places permanent in the team proving their worth.

He, however, did not make any comment on the seven rebel national cricketers. "It's entirely the board's matter," he told the journalists.

The seven national cricketers along with seven more Academy and junior level cricketers recently registered their names in the banned Indian Cricket League (ICL) after quitting the domestic and international crickets, defying the board request.

The two-session practice camp will continue till October 6. However, the cricketers will get a tree-day Eid holyday.

Volleyball Federation election on Oct 20

UNB, Dhaka

Bangladesh Volleyball Federation election will be held on October 20 on the National Sports Council (NSC) premises.

The Election Commissioner of the federation and NSC secretary M Haiyul Kaiyum on Sunday announced the election schedule to elect one president, five vice-presidents, a general secretary, two joint secretaries, a treasurer and 20 executive committee members.

The voting will be held at the NSC conference room from 10 am to 5:00 pm.

As per the election schedule, the draft voter list will be published on Sept 24 at 10 am, while objections and complaints on draft voter list will be received on Sept 25 from 10 am to 1 pm.

Hearing on Objection and complaints will be held on Sept 29 from 10 am to 1 pm.

The final voter list will be published on Sept 30 at 4 pm.

Nomination form will be distributed on Oct 6 from 10 am to 2 pm while the nomination papers will have to be submitted on Oct 8 from 10 am to 1 pm.

Scrutiny of nomination papers will be made on Oct 12 from 10 am to 2 pm while the date for withdrawal of nomination is Oct 13 from 10 am to 2 pm.The final list of candidates with ballot numbers will be published on Sept Oct 14.

Prizes of Fide Rating Chess handed over

UNB, Dhaka

Prize distribution ceremony of the Destiny 2000 Limited 3rd Open FIDE Rating Chess Tournament was held on Monday at the NSC conference room.

President of Bangladesh Chess Federation M Abdus Salam Khan and Chairman of meet's sponsor Destiny 2000 Mohammad Hossain handed over the prizes. Tournament Committee Chairman Syed Shujauddin Ahmed and Federation general secretary Jamilur Rahman were also present on the occasion.

Grand Master Reefat Bin Sattar of Bangladesh Biman emerged unbeaten champions securing eight points to receive Tk 40,000 as prize money.

FM Minhazuddin Ahmed of Destiny 2000, who finished runner-up with 7.5 points, got prize money of Tk 8,000.

Third to eighth place holders -- FM Sk Nasir Ahmed, FM Abu Sufian Shakil, Debaraj Chatterjee, Monir Hossain, Sohel Chowdhury and Sk Khairul Islam -- received TK 2,500 each.

A total of 140 players took part in the nine-round Swiss League system meet concluded on Sunday.