Another to watch tomorrow is the 22-year-old Ross Minter, son of Britain’s last undisputed world welterweight champion, Alan Minter. He makes his debut at welterweight against Birmingham’s Brian Coleman. Definitely one to keep an eye on, so to speak.Going potty over the webYou’d think by now that the World Professional Billiards and Snooker Association would have learned their lesson after the attempts to ban the doyen of the sport’s scribes, Clive Everton, proved not only only abortive but costly But no. Here they go again on the eve of the world championships in Sheffield next month by declaring that any journalists supplying information to the TSN website, run by would-be rivals The Sportsmasters Network, will have their accreditation withdrawn. Disregarding the tiresome legal spats which so frequently engulf the sport, one would have thought that snooker needed all the publicity it can get, via the Web, or whatever. The snooker writers have responded, as they did in with Everton, by threatening not to mention the name of the sponsors. In the interests of solidarity, this column will do the same, especially as the product can seriously damage your health.Double top marks for schoolsTaking a day off school to play darts sounds like a bit of a skive until you discover the deal also includes a 2,000 metres run around a muddy playing field on a bitterly cold March afternoon.

But for 24 boys and girls from eight London schools accuracy at ‘arrers proved as important as their speed as harriers when the inaugural Schools Modern Pentathlon was held at Brunel University last week. As with its Olympic big brother, running and swimming were component parts of the event but darts replaced shooting, a rowing machine represented riding and table tennis stood in for shooting. Grey Court, from Richmond, carried off the Royal & SunAlliance Trophy. A fun day, with the top points scorers invited to the real thing, the world championships, at Millfield, in July, a treat even for those more inclined to be Jocky Wilsons than Jim Foxes or Steph Cooks.insidelines independent.co.uk. Pakistan will never play cricket against India again after its archrival refused to participate in next month’s tri-series limited-overs tournament in Sharjah, Pakistani cricket authorities said Monday. Pakistan will never play cricket against India again after its archrival refused to participate in next month’s tri-series limited-overs tournament in Sharjah, Pakistani cricket authorities said Monday.
“It’s finished,” said Lt Gen Tauqir Zia, chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board. “We are not going to play against them (India) anywhere in the world.”The Indian government, for the fourth time in two years, has refused to grant permission for the national cricket team to compete against Pakistan due to the long-standing dispute over the Himalayan territory of Kashmir.Indian authorities twice pulled out their team from a limited-overs series in Toronto, Canada, and refused to allowed the team to compete against Pakistan in a scheduled three-Test series earlier this year.”Enough is enough and we are not going to re-think on this issue,” Zia said.The Pakistan cricket chief also called on the game’s governing body, the International Cricket Council, not to allocate next year’s ICC Knocout Tournament to India.”We would not compete in that tournament too if India gets the right to host it,” he said.Pakistan, India and Sri Lanka were the three participating teams in April 8-20 tournament in Sharjah, United Arab Emirates.

Zia said that the PCB would send its team to the desert venue despite India’s withdrawal.”Pakistan would definitely compete (in Sharjah) no matter what happens because we always fulfill our international commitments.”Zia blamed the ICC for not exerting its pressure on India when it comes to competing against Pakistan.”They (ICC) should put pressure on India like FIFA does in soccer. It is compulsory for all the soccer playing nations in the world to compete against each other. So why can’t ICC do the same? It (ICC) should be strong enough to react.”Further, Zia asked, “If India can play against us in field hockey why not cricket?”He was referring to last week’s Prime Minister’s Gold Cup Tournament in Dhaka, Bangladesh, where India beat Pakistan in a penalty shoot-out final.Zia also criticized the Asian Cricket Council, saying there was no need of such a council if two of its key members do not compete against each other.”What’s the point in having such a forum when Asia is not together?” he asked.Zia is the chairman of the ACC, but said that he would not be presiding over the next meeting in Sharjah on April 15 as he thought “it would serve no purpose.”Indian authorities reportedly reached a decision on Sunday to prohibit the national team from competing in Sharjah. The Indian Board of Cricket Control was expected to make the decision public later Monday.. England spin bowler Robert Croft received a severe reprimand from International Cricket Council match referee Hanumant Singh of India Monday for “violating the spirit of the game”

England spin bowler Robert Croft received a severe reprimand from International Cricket Council match referee Hanumant Singh of India Monday for “violating the spirit of the game” after clash with a rival during England’s 66–run loss Sunday to Sri Lanka.Croft, 30, was running for a quick single near the close of England’s innings in the day–night match when he collided with left–arm seamer Chaminda Vaas.Singh called a disciplinary meeting after his attention was drawn to the incident. After considering evidence of both players, he gave both a reprieve by issuing a warning and reprimand.Singh said Croft’s conduct brought disrepute and “violated the spirit of the game during play.”Singh, the top ICC official in this series, had already fined Sri Lanka’s Muttiah Muralitharan 65 percent of his match fee and had given him a suspended three–match ban for displaying dissent during the opening match of the series at Dambulla last Friday.Sri Lanka has clinched the three–match series 2–0 with one inconsequential game scheduled for Tuesday in Colombo..

India have just humbled Australia in a Test series here, stopping the antipodean juggernaut in their tracks, but the true victor is the game of cricket in the subcontinent Suddenly it’s as if the match-fixing scandal never happened. India have just humbled Australia in a Test series here, stopping the antipodean juggernaut in their tracks, but the true victor is the game of cricket in the subcontinent. Suddenly it’s as if the match-fixing scandal never happened.
Last Thursday, the fifth day of the Madras Test, after an afternoon of excruciating tension, India squeaked home by two wickets, the winning runs being scored by the sensation of the series, the 20-year-old Sikh off-spinner Harbhajan Singh. It was the conclusion of an amazing nine days which saw the game restored as if by divine intervention to India’s pride and joy.Why cricket, rather than any other activity, should have become the glue that binds this country together is a complicated question to answer.