Allen Stanford jailed for 110 years in fraud case
Allen Stanford, the disgraced Texan financier who came to embody English cricket's most embarrassing alliance, has been sentenced to 110 years in jail for one of the biggest frauds in history. He was convicted in March on 13 of 14 charges of defrauding investors of more than $7 billion (£4.5 billion). Stanford was hailed as cricket's American sugar daddy when he bankrolled an international cricket tournament in Antigua that promised to transform cricket finances in England and West Indies and, in the eyes of ECB executives, provide a rival to the burgeoning Indian Premier League. B
Perera has potential to be Sri Lanka Test regular - Ford
Sri Lanka coach Graham Ford has said allrounder Thisara Perera could establish himself in the Test side, if he can replicate the bowling form he showed in Saturday's ODI against Pakistan with more consistency. "With the talent he has got and the way he bowled [on Saturday], there's no doubt he can be a regular Test player," Ford said. "His work ethic is good and he knows the areas he has to improve on. I am sure, with the many years he has got ahead of him, he will become a very effective Test player. "He is a still a young man and hits the ball extremely hard. He is working harder o
Best's great day brings West Indies cheer
Tino Best, whose career as a Test batsman was previously encapsulated by Andrew Flintoff's "mind the windows" jibe at Lord's eight years ago, struck back with a world record innings by a Test No. 11 on his return to the West Indies Test side, a fantastical affair that shattered England's faint chances of winning the Edgbaston Test in the process. In the innings of his life, all that was lacking was the first century by a No. 11 batsman in Tests. He fell attempting a wind-up over long-on that he envisaged would clear the ropes and give him that historic hundred, only to be deceived by
Awful weather means further delay
England's ambitions to inflict a 3-0 whitewash upon West Indies were frustrated by the weather as rain washed out the first day of the third Test at Edgbaston. It was the first time a full day's play in a Test in England had been lost because of bad weather since the third day of the 2009 Ashes clash against Australia, also at Edgbaston. Rain is forecast on Friday as well, raising the possibility that the opening two days of a Test in England could be abandoned without play for the first time for nearly 50 years, since an Ashes clash at Lord's in 1964. The toss and team announcemen
Seamers set up comfortable win for Pakistan
It turned out to be a good toss to lose for Pakistan, as their seamers, led by Umar Gul, set up a comfortable six-wicket win by keeping Sri Lanka to a paltry 135. The ball nipped around, skidded, turned and bounced alarmingly and tested the technique and patience of the batsmen, with the cloudy conditions giving the bowlers an overwhelming advantage. Three rain interruptions in the first innings did little to help Sri Lanka's cause. They struggled to build momentum and sizeable partnerships, and following a lengthy rain interruption, the overs were culled to 42, leaving very few over
