the lure of mobile for a selfie proving costly ! for a cricketer

Which mobile phone do you have ? [more than one !!] – and would you whip it out in public place to take a Selfie or the place or an celebrity !  - for some the temptation is too high to resist .. . there have been instances where the celebrity smashed the mobile to the ground or one lands in trouble as this Paki player found out !

A decade after Cooper made that first call, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission approved Motorola's DynaTAC phone for public use, the phone became available for consumers. In 2002, the first phones with built-in cameras became publicly available, including the Nokia 7650 and the Sanyo SPC-5300.   The Nokia phone boasted "a large 176x208 pixel colour display," according to a media release at the time. The Sanyo version offered three user-controlled tones, white balance and zoom.

 

The 2020 IPL will be "comparatively more secure" from the influence of corruptors since the tournament will be played in a biosecure environment. That is the view of Ajit Singh, the head of BCCI's anti-corruption unit [ACU], who said even though he was broadly confident about the tournament, he remained "wary" of the challenge posed by social media, a route through which corrupt approaches can be made to "compromise" a player.  With India the present scenario of the  pandemic, the BCCI has received the federal government's approval to stage this year's IPL in the UAE. The 53-day tournament will be played in Dubai, Abu Dhabi and Sharjah between Sept 19 and Nov 10. Teams will arrive in the UAE from August 20.

Key players from England and Australia including Jos Buttler, Ben Stokes, Jofra Archer, Steven Smith, David Warner and Pat Cummins could be in danger of missing their teams' respective first matches in the IPL, with the BCCI unlikely to relax the mandatory seven-day quarantine period, which involves team members clearing three tests before they can start training. England are scheduled to host a limited-overs series against Australia comprising three T20Is and three ODIs. The tour itinerary has not been announced yet, but it is understood the series will end by September 15, which is four days before the IPL takes off in the UAE. A total of 29 players from England and Australia are part of the eight IPL squads, some of whom, like the Australian pair of Cummins and Glenn Maxwell, were signed at the 2020 IPL auction for record sums of money.

On  rain affected day 1 at Southampton Pakistan were 126 for 5 (Azam 25*, Rizwan 4*) v England.  James Anderson repaid England's faith, doing all he could to demonstrate he was back in rhythm even if a rain-hampered opening day of the second Test against Pakistan was far more erratic.  Anderson's two wickets on a day when a heatwave-breaking storm allowed only 45.4 overs helped England close in a comfortable position after a frustrating start, caused by their own poor fielding rather than the weather.

He snared Shan Masood  with his eighth ball of the match for a seventh time in five Tests. Masood top-scored in a losing cause for Pakistan at Old Trafford, while Anderson had a torrid time with match figures of 1 for 97, which he said left him hungry for wickets to put things right. England believed Anderson, their veteran seamer who is now just eight away from claiming 600 career Test wickets, deserved every opportunity to do so and he was effectively the first name on the team sheet if Joe Root's pre-match comments were anything to go by.  With Pakistan having won the toss, opener Abid Ali received two lives, first on 1 when he was dropped by Dom Sibley at third slip off the bowling of Stuart Broad, and then on 21 when Rory Burns made a meal of a juggled catch at second. Sam Curran, in the side for a resting Jofra Archer but also to bolster England's batting in the absence of Ben Stokes, almost had Azhar Ali out for 11 but the edge failed to carry to Root at first slip.

He looked creepy and different – I mean the stance.  I have seen Mohinder standing squared with a double-eyed stance.  There have been elegant stylish stance as the ones adopted by Sunil Gavaskar, Dilip Vengsarkar, Sachin Tendulkar to name a few .. .. Fawad Alam is different.  He appeared nowhere near was looking elsewhere as Chris Woakes bowled to him – caught plumb in front – Richard  Kettleborough thought otherwise.  England went for the review which ended  Alam's long wait of a four-ball duck! Smashing the top of middle stump, according to Hawk-Eye. Quacker-jack ball to the crabby Alam, who shuffled  off to the dressing room.  He reminded one of Shivnaraine Chanderpaul but if he could achieve % of what Shiv achieved, he would feel happy.

Mohammad Hafeez, the Pakistan allrounder, has been told to self-isolate after breaching biosecurity protocols by posing for a photo with a member of the public. Hafeez posted the photo, taken on the golf course adjacent to the on-site hotel at the Ageas Bowl, on Twitter on Wednesday morning, saying: "Met an inspirational young lady today morning [sic] at golf course. She is 90+ & living her life healthy & happily. Good healthy routine."

While players have been permitted to use the golf course at the Ageas Bowl, they have been advised to avoid interaction with anyone outside the biosecure bubble, since the course is still open to the public. The ECB's medical team were made aware of the photo, and a PCB statement confirmed that Hafeez had been instructed to isolate "for his [safety] and the safety and security of everyone around him". Hafeez underwent a Covid-19 test on Wednesday afternoon, and the PCB said that he would be free to join back up with the rest of the touring party "at some stage" on Thursday provided his test result is negative. Hafeez is not part of the Test squad, and is on the tour ahead of the three-match T20I series starting August 28.

The sanction is lenient when compared to other breaches. Phil Simmons and Joe Root were both asked to self-isolate for five days and return two negative tests following their departures from the bubble for a funeral and a birth respectively, while Jofra Archer was also required to self-isolate for five days and return two negatives after stopping off at his flat when travelling from Southampton to Manchester. An ECB spokesperson confirmed that the discrepancy was because Hafeez had not officially left the bubble.

On Tuesday, Kent announced that batsman Jordan Cox had been dropped for their next Bob Willis Trophy match after posing for a photograph with a member of the public, meaning he was forced to enter self-isolation and miss their next match this week - a similar offence to that committed by Hafeez.

With regards – S. Sampathkumar

14.8.2020