Australia & New Zealand agree first day-night test match

JUN 30 - Australia and New Zealand will meet in cricket's first day-night Test match later this year.

Starting on November 27, the final Test of their three-match series will be under lights in Adelaide, with a pink ball and both teams wearing whites.

Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland said he hoped the idea would increase interest in the game.

The New Zealand Cricket Players' Association said its members were "nervous" about the experiment.

NZCPA chief executive Heath Mills indicated concerns about the difficulties of playing Test cricket under varying light and of dealing with the pink ball.

He said: "It's uncharted territory and because of that there will be uncertainty and apprehension."

Mills added that, despite their reservations, the players could see the "greater good it brings to all levels of the game".

The pink ball is designed to be visible under floodlights, while still allowing players to wear traditional whites.

Cricket Australia has carried out tests during domestic competitions in an attempt to allay concerns that the ball behaves differently to its red equivalent.

New Zealand Cricket agreed to the day-night match as part of a lucrative financial package secured by arranging their first Test series against Australia since 2011.

Sutherland said: "One of the global challenges with Test cricket is that most of the matches outside holiday periods are played on weekdays, in the middle of the day when people are at work and kids are at school.

"By shifting the playing times, each day's play can go into the evening and allow people to come in after work or after school to attend the last few hours of play."

He added it would also allow people "in other parts of the world or other parts of the country" to watch more television coverage of the match.

As part of the break with tradition, the intervals between sessions - traditionally lunch and tea - will be renamed tea and dinner.

‘No dispute, I’m here to stay’

KATHMANDU, JUL 01 - The controversy surrounding the appointment of National Sports Council’s (NSC) new Member Secretary Keshab Bista is seemingly heading towards an end after the CPN-UML leadership reportedly agreeing to stick with Sports 

Minister Purushottam Poudel’s decision.

On June 25, Poudel appointed Bista as chief of the country’s apex body of sports. The appointment of Bista, who is under a one-year suspension for allegedly helping Nepali athletes defect during Asian Games in South Korea last year, triggered dispute between the UML top brass. Following the controversial hiring, party Chairman KP Sharma Oli put pressure on Youth and Sports Minister Purushottam Poudel either to roll back the decision or face consequences.

But Poudel, backed by senior UML leaders Madhav Kumar Nepal and Jhala Nath Khanal, remained adamant over his decision.  Bista, on the other hand, claimed everything had been sorted out in the party and that he would lead the Nepali sports for the next four years.

“The news of my appointment was blown out of proportion,” Bista told a press conference on Tuesday. “It’s all standard practice in any political party where the leaders hold discussion over big decisions. There was no rift in UML,” Bista added, with council’s vice-president Lama Tendi Sherpa, close to UML chief Oli, on hand.

The NSC boss reiterated that his four-year tenure will be dispute-less and equally transparent. “We will be committed in solving all the issues that have been dogging Nepali sports. Under our leadership, Nepali sports will go through a golden period.

Bista added his first task would be to hold the seventh National Games this year. “We have not been able to host the Games although it was supposed to take place two years ago. We will definitely host the Games in the supposed venue this year,” informed Bista.

The Member Secretary, who later revealed that he had called on the press meet to clear out the confusion surrounding his appointment, said his team will work out to come up with further plans. “We have to leave these controversies behind now. Our team will soon work together in coming with a master plan in the development of sports.”

Argentina routs Paraguay 6-1, reaches Copa America final

CONCEPCION, JUL 01 - Lionel Messi helped set up five goals as Argentina trounced Paraguay 6-1 in the Copa America semifinals on Tuesday, setting up a final against host Chile .

Messi assisted in first-half goals by Marcos Rojo and Javier Pastore and one of Angel Di Maria's second-half goals. The Barcelona star also helped set up the final two goals by Sergio Aguero and Gonzalo Higuain.

Messi showed his brilliant play-making abilities when he beat three defenders — poking the ball through the legs of one of them — in a remarkable run from near midfield that culminated in Argentina's fourth goal by Di Maria.

"We knew the goals would come eventually," Messi said through a translator. "We were playing well, creating chances, and today we finally got all the goals."

Argentina had scored only four times coming into Tuesday's match.

"We are committed to keep playing the same way," Argentina coach Gerardo Martino said. "The team showed precision and efficiency in front of the goal."

Striker Lucas Barrios scored the lone goal for Paraguay, which was trying to reach its second straight Copa America final after losing to Uruguay in the 2011 tournament.

In Saturday's final, Argentina will attempt to end a 22-year title drought to give Messi his first triumph with the national team, while Chile , boosted by the home crowd and its best generation of players in years, will be going for its first South American championship.

Argentina hasn't won a significant trophy since the 1993 Copa America , when Messi was 6 years old. The Argentines were eliminated by eventual champion Uruguay in the Copa America quarterfinals at home in 2011, and lost consecutive finals to rival Brazil in 2004 and 2007.

But Argentina has won the previous four Copa America s played in Chile — the last in 1991. It's also never lost to Chile in the tournament.

Argentina outplayed Paraguay during most of the match in Concepcion, controlling possession and creating scoring chances from the beginning. The team only struggled for a few minutes before halftime, but came back to crush its rivals in the second half.

"It was a sizable score, but Paraguayans have to be proud of this team, which is continuing to improve," said Paraguay's Argentine coach Ramon Diaz, who took over the squad in December after it finished last in World Cup qualifying. "I am very proud of them, they have been working hard to overcome many things and made it to the last four at this tournament."

Paraguay lost two key players because of injury in the first half — playmaker Derlis Gonzalez in the 26th minute and veteran striker Roque Santa Cruz in the 30th. Gonzalez was crucial in the quarterfinals against Brazil, scoring the equalizer and converting the decisive penalty in the shootout.

"We were playing against the best team in the world," Diaz said of Argentina. "They were better than us in all aspects."

Rojo opened the scoring in the 15th after Messi's free kick into the penalty area. Paraguayan defenders failed to clear the ball and Rojo easily found the net from the six-meter (yard) line.

Messi than set up Pastore's goal in the 27th by feeding him the ball in perfect position for a low shot from the top of the area.

Paraguay pulled one closer in the 43rd when Barrios fired a powerful shot from just outside the area after Argentina defender Nicolas Otamendi erred by trying to move the ball forward with a long pass.

Di Maria added to Argentina's lead just two minutes into the second half after entering the area free of any defenders and scored again five minutes later after Messi's spectacular run past three Paraguayan defenders. Pastore received the pass from Messi, but his shot was saved by Paraguay goalkeeper Justo Villar, and Di Maria found the open net off the rebound.

Messi also started the play that led to the fifth goal, an 80th-minute header by Aguero after a left-side cross by Di Maria. In the sixth, Messi poked the ball forward to set up Higuain's close-range shot in the 83rd.

Messi nearly scored himself with a curling free kick in the 39th that barely missed and also came close in the 68th with a close-range shot that was saved by Villar.

Paraguay has never beaten Argentine in 24 Copa America matches.

Schools reopen in districts amidst uncertainty, confusion

DHADING, JUN 01 - Despite the general chaos and uncertainty in the wake of the April 25 earthquake and endless series of aftershocks, students and teachers reached the schools on time on Sunday.

The students, who had reached their respective school in the district in their neat uniforms, were, however, not able to enter the severely cracked school buildings despite the scorching midday heat.

Therefore, instead of resuming classes, students and teachers at Sangkosh Higher Secondary School which was built with financial assistance from the Japanese government, engaged in extracurricular activities, including cleaning up the debris of the school in the premises.

The students and teachers also shared their individual earthquake experiences and observed a moment of silence to mourn the death of around 240 teachers and students of the school in the earthquake before ending school session for the day. However, a majority of schools in the district engaged their students in clean up sessions before ending the school day.

While teachers have been focusing on facilitating a child-friendly environment for students after taking stock of the pitiable condition of the school building and its infrastructures, a number of schools are having trouble clearing the debris piled high in its premises after not being able to find workers to remove them. When asked whether the school management will appeal for help to clear the debris of the school building, Baburam Shrestha, a local teachers, said that they feel awkward to float the idea among parents as their own situation was no better.

“We went to the school, played around the grounds while gazing at the cracked school building and structures and recalled fond memories before returning home,” said Subarna Tamang, a ninth grader at Tamangkharka Secondary School at Gumdi.

26 schools out of contact    

In Gorkha, 26 schools from seven VDCs are yet to come in contact with the District Education Office with the report of their present situation including damages they have suffered in the earthquake. While there is a dilemma over operating classes in villages above Sirdibas, the DEO stated that they had not received any word on the situation of the schools there. Likewise, as the staffs from DEO or teachers from the area have not been able to come into contact, they were yet to assess the damage to the schools in the worst quake-hit areas of the district.

As per the DEO, apart from the 26 schools in northern area of the district, 17 schools resumed classes from Sunday onwards. School supervisor Rajendra Dhakal said that they had not been able to contact teachers or parents from Chekampar, Chumchet, Sirdibas, Bihi, Prok, Lho and Samagaun VDCs. The obstruction caused by landslide along the Aarughat-Sirdibas section of Manaslu foot trail had fractured the ability of these VDCs to come into contact.

Pvt schools deemed safe, community schools unsafe

In Kavre, discrepancies have been found in damage assessment of the schools. It has been found that most of the community schools have been given red (high-risk) stickers while private schools have been granted green (safe) stickers. Indicating the level of discrepancies, schools with similar damages have been found granted different stickers.

The DEO has deployed a team of 20 technicians from a private organisation with assistance from Unicef at the coordination of Department of Education. When asked about the discrepancies, District Education Officer Dipendra Gurung expressed ignorance over the matter. “We are sure that the team is fulfilling its duty without anykind of bias and it would not be appropriate for us to comment on the matter as the team has been assessing the damage taking into account a number of variables,” Gurung claimed.  

Monsoon raises fear of landslides, floods

KATHMANDU, JUN 26 - The Meteorological Forecasting Division (MFD) issued a special weather advisory on Thursday, warning about heavy downpours and thundershowers in central and western Nepal as mosoon gathers momentum, bringing rains throughout the country.

The Far Western Region witnessed heavy rainfall from early Thursday morning, and the MFD has said that there is a risk of floods and landslides in some places. Mahakali River in Darchula district has swollen, raising flood concern among the riverside settlers. Two years ago, the Mahakali flood had killed nearly one dozen people and left hundreds of others displaced in the district.

"Rain has affected the ongoing embankment construction, and the locals are fearful that there could be another flood," said Madhav Raj Bhatta, a resident of Khalanga Bazaar.

In Kailali district, too, monsoon rains have increased the risk of flood, particularly in Mohana and Karnali rivers.  

The MFD has advised the people in the Mid-Western and Far-Western regions to remain cautious as the monsoon is likely to intensify in the coming days.

Meanwhile, continuous rainfall since Thursday morning triggered a landslide at Bagjhora section of Tribhuvan Highway in Makwanpur, a district in Central Region. Dozens of vehicles were stranded after the landslide rendered the road impassable.

Many hill districts in the Central Region are at high risk of landslides as the 7.9 magnitude earthquake of April 25 and its aftershocks have destabalised the slopes.

Hollywood star Jackie Chan in Kathmandu (in pictures)

KATHMANDU, JUN 09 - Hollywood actor and martial art expert Jackie Chan distributed relief items to the differently-abled people sheltered at a camp in Jawalakhel, Lalitpur on Tuesday. He arrived here in Nepal to attend the relief distribution programme for the victims of recent earthquakes.

He arrived on a China Air flight that landed at Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu , at 11:27 this morning.

The distribution programme was organised by International Red Cross Society. A Chinese Red Cross team also landed with the actor.

He also distributed relief at Chyasal and Sanagaun in Lalitpur.

The 61-year-old actor has also personally donated to the cause. He will return to Hong Kong today itself after completing the programme.

Hollywood star Jackie Chan in Kathmandu (in pictures)

KATHMANDU, JUN 09 - Hollywood actor and martial art expert Jackie Chan distributed relief items to the differently-abled people sheltered at a camp in Jawalakhel, Lalitpur on Tuesday. He arrived here in Nepal to attend the relief distribution programme for the victims of recent earthquakes.

He arrived on a China Air flight that landed at Tribhuvan International Airport, Kathmandu , at 11:27 this morning.

The distribution programme was organised by International Red Cross Society. A Chinese Red Cross team also landed with the actor.

He also distributed relief at Chyasal and Sanagaun in Lalitpur.

The 61-year-old actor has also personally donated to the cause. He will return to Hong Kong today itself after completing the programme.