Afridi Booked Under Article 2.2.9 of ICC Code

Afridi Booked Under Article 2.2.9 of ICC Code

Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi, who was slapped two Twenty20 International ban for ball tampering in the final ODI against Australia here, was booked under article 2.2.9 of ICC Code of Conduct and the match referee imposed him the maximum penalty for his offence.

Afridi, who led the visiting side in place of regular skipper Mohammad Yousuf, will miss Pakistan’s next two Twenty20 Internationals against the same opponents on February 5 in Melbourne and against England in Dubai on February 19.

“Shahid was charged with an article 2.2.9 offence of the ICC Code of Conduct which relates to ‘changing the condition of the ball in breach of Law 42.3 of the Laws of Cricket’. He has received two suspension points after breaching the Code. Two suspension points in the code means a ban of a Test, two ODIs or two T20Is,” ICC said in a statement.

The charge was laid by on-field umpires Asoka de Silva of ICC Elite Panel of Umpires and Paul Reiffel of International Panel, third umpire Rod Tucker and fourth umpire Mick Martell.

The incident that led to the charge being laid took place when the Pakistan captain was observed in the act of changing the condition of the ball during Australia’s innings without the permission of the on-field umpires.

ICC Elite Panel Match Referee Ranjan Madugalle said, “I imposed maximum penalty under the code and reminded Shahid of his responsibilities as a national captain which is to ensure the match is played according to laws of the game and in the spirit it is intended to be played. Shahid, when pleading guilty, apologised and regretted his actions.”

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Two-Match T20 Ban on Afridi for Ball Tampering

Two-Match T20 Ban on Afridi for Ball Tampering

Pakistani all-rounder Shahid Afridi was on Sunday banned for two Twenty20 Internationals after pleading guilty to a ball-tampering
charge during the fifth and final ODI against Australia in Perth.

Pakistan coach Intikhab Alam confirmed that Match Referee Ranjan Madugalle has banned Afridi for two matches after holding a hearing on the complaint by on-field umpires Asoka De Silva and Paul Reiffel immediately after the match.

“It is unfortunate what has happened because Afridi was due to lead Pakistan in the Twenty20 match next week against Australia,” Alam said from Perth.

Afridi, who led Pakistan in the final ODI in place of the unfit Mohammad Yousuf, was caught on camera chewing on one side of the ball while walking to the run up with bowler Mohammad Asif.

Trying to change the condition of the ball through illegal means prompts strict penalties from the ICC.

In 2005, Afridi was banned for twisting his spikes and trying to change condition of pitch during a Test match in Faisalabad against England.

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After The Catcher in the Rye Came Fame and Then a Lifetime of Solitude

After The Catcher in the Rye Came Fame and Then a Lifetime of Solitude

J.D. Salinger was catapulted to fame in 1951 with the publication of a short novel, The Catcher in the Rye, which has become the treasured handbook of alienation for generations of angst-ridden teenagers.

With its themes of rebellion, young sexuality and lost innocence, it tells the story of teenager Holden Caulfield, who is both protagonist and narrator. Caulfield, apparently the victim of a mental breakdown, reflects on his expulsion from the privileged surroundings of his Pennsylvania boarding school and his subsequent experiences over three days in New York.

As well as being an immediate bestseller, the book continues to sell a quarter of a million copies annually. Salinger never wrote another novel, and in the next 12 years, before retreating to rural New Hampshire as a permanent recluse, published only three volumes of short stories and novellas. The three books after The Catcher in the Rye were For Esme – With Love and Squalor (1953); Franny and Zooey (1961); and Raise High the Roof Beam Carpenters, and Seymour: An Introduction (1963).

After 1963, Salinger spent the rest of his life successfully avoiding all but a minute circle of neighbours in Cornish, a New Hampshire hamlet. The other inhabitants gradually learnt to be defensive about their odd, uncommunicative neighbour.

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Toyota Tells Workers it has Found Fix For Gas Pedals, Update Coming on Friday

Toyota Tells Workers it has Found Fix For Gas Pedals, Update Coming on Friday

Toyota Motor Corp. says it has figured out how to fix a problem with sticking accelerator pedals and will update employees with details.

The company said in an email to workers Thursday night that it presented a remedy to federal regulators. The email obtained by The Associated Press says that plans are being developed on a variety of fronts. The company says it will update workers on Friday.

The company says its engineers are working around the clock to fix the problem in eight of its models, including the top-selling Camry midsize sedan.

Toyota says accelerators rarely stick. But earlier this week the company halted sales and production of the models. It has recalled at least 2.4 million cars and trucks in the U.S., Europe and China because of the problem.

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Shah Rukh Khan is ’scared’ of Getting into Relationships

Shah Rukh Khan is ’scared’ of Getting into Relationships

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan has said he is ’scared’ of getting into relationships and finds himself socially and emotionally inept.

“There are days I feel lonely. I have never gotten into relationships, because I’m scared to. I lost my parents, so now I don’t like to lose relationships,” Shah Rukh has been quoted as saying in ‘GQ India’ magazine’s latest issue.

About his reported uncomfortable relationships with contemporaries and seniors in Bollywood, where he has spent nearly two decades, Shah Rukh said his fall-out with Salman Khan was personal and not work-related.

“With Aamir (Khan) and Amitabh Bachchan, there is no fall-out,” the 44-year-old actor said.

And while talking about her friend filmmaker-choreographer Farah Khan, Shah Rukh said, “I’ll be honest about Farah. Her work defines her. None of us owe anything to anyone. I always believe that.”

To a question on what has he learned in the film industry, he said, “Everyone doesn’t understand my humour. Happiness comes on a successful Friday. And all this happens if you’re happening. The industry is the nicest place to be because it’s straightforward.”
“If you believe you are a means to an end, you will always be successful in this industry. If you believe you are the end, you will feel cheated, unhappy, let down,” King Khan said

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Echoes of ‘Catcher’ Resonate in American Films

Echoes of ‘Catcher’ Resonate in American Films

The rebellious teen anti-hero is so common in today’s cinema it’s easy to forget that such a kid was not as prominent in American culture before Holden Caulfield.

The protagonist of the J.D. Salinger novel “Catcher in the Rye” shook the literary world when he debuted in 1951, full of angst and railing against the adult world. He also ushered in a disillusioned demographic of movie characters who wear their nonconformity as comfortably as a T-shirt.

“What J.D. Salinger achieved with Holden Caulfield is he really invented a voice that became the voice for a lot of disaffected youth,” said Gregg Kilday, film editor for The Hollywood Reporter. “Slangy, suspicious of adults, looking to call out ‘phonies’ wherever he saw them.”

From James Dean’s Jim Stark in “Rebel Without a Cause” to Matthew Broderick’s character in “Ferris Bueller’s Day Off” and beyond, Holden’s legacy resonates in Hollywood. There was even a 2001 film titled “Chasing Holden” about a troubled young man who embarks on a journey to find Salinger.

Syracuse pop culture professor Robert Thompson points out that rebellious youth existed in literature before “Catcher” in the works of James Joyce, Ernest Hemingway and others.

The emergence from the post-war era marked a shift in attitudes, said Thompson, and there was an emerging baby-boom generation ripe for disaffection and protests.

“I think probably Salinger actually caught something that was afoot in the culture anyway with Holden Caulfield,” Thompson said. “He created a character that I think was kind of predictive in ways that all kinds of people were going to feel about in the subsequent generation and generations after that.

“I think he gets credit for beautifully nailing a certain piece of emotional and literary real estate and doing it really early.”

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FAQ: What We Now Know About the iPad

FAQ: What We Now Know About the iPad

After the blood-in-the-water, Tiger shark-like frenzy leading up to the unveiling of Apple’s new tablet this week, it’s understandable that you might feel, well, a tad underwhelmed. Even the Apple rumor mill can’t peg every nut and bolt, so there’s always something that was touted by the gossip, but didn’t show in the real deal.

No, the iPad — a name that’s struck some as offensive — doesn’t make popcorn. It won’t recharge by setting it in a sunny spot. It won’t even run Flash, for cryin’ out loud.

What will it do? What’s inside? And most important, what’s it going to cost?

Surprisingly, there were some surprises yesterday when Apple CEO Steve Jobs — still looking thin but no longer sickly gaunt — showed off the iPad, beginning with its price, which was lower than most had predicted.

To get going, we’ve answered some of the first round of questions about what Jobs called “magical” and “revolutionary,” but which a lot of pundits called much more mundane.

How much will it cost? $499 at the bottom, $829 at the top, with four more configurations in between.

Here’s the deal … the iPad comes in two models: One with WiFi connectivity only, the second with both WiFi and 3G. For each model there are three configurations based on the amount of flash RAM storage.

The WiFi-only models costs $499, $599 and $699 for the 16GB, 32GB and 64GB configurations, respectively. Add $130 to each of those prices for the WiFi+3G model and you get $629, $729 and $829.

Some experts have said the $130 surcharge for 3G is “ridiculous,” noting that a 3G chipset adds less than $10 to the materials cost of the iPad. Other hardware in the model, such as GPS, would add a few more dollars.

When can I get one? Apple’s saying “late March” for the WiFi-only model, “late April” for the WiFi+3G iPad. And no, you can’t order one yet.

The company isn’t taking pre-orders at the moment. Instead, Apple’s only accepting names and e-mail addresses, which it will use to notify customers when the online store is ready to take credit card numbers.

I’ve heard some say the iPad is fast. What’s that about? The tablet’s powered by what CEO Steve Jobs yesterday called an “Apple A4″ processor, which he also acknowledged was Apple-designed. Jobs didn’t come out and say it, but everyone is assuming that the chip was created by P.A. Semi, the Santa Clara, Calif. boutique microprocessor design company Apple acquired in 2008.

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