European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - March 25, 2007, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Sunday March 252007 stars and stripes Page 47 coach death puts spotlight on Sleazy Side of Cricket Pakistan Woolner killed in Jamaica after teams humiliating loss to Ireland in world cup by Robert Mill Ward the associated press death of Paki stans coach during the Cricket world cup is focusing attention on How far the sport has strayed from its sedate gentlemanly image of Village greens and Tea Breaks modern Day professional Cricket is plagued by doping scandals Misbehaviour by players match fixing Ball tampering cheating and riots police in Jamaica Are trying to determine whether the death of Bob Woolmer is connected to the Sleazy Side of the sport jamaican authorities say Wool Mer was strangled in his hotel room last sunday less than 24 hours after his team was ousted from the world cup with a humiliating loss to lightly regarded ire land during the past 15 years Cricket has become a target for gamblers and bookmakers especially in Asia big Money bets have led to a series of match rigging cases theres an underground Busi Ness and the bookmakers Are ruin ing the game said former South Africa fast Bowler Allan Donald who played under Woolmer it Woolmer seems to me that will never Stop because bookmakers have such easy Access to players on the Field players have been caught cheat ing scratching the surface of the Ball or lifting the seam to make it deviate More inflight three Days after Woolmer death former Ireland Cricket Union president Robert Kerr was found dead of a suspected heart attack although police have not linked the two deaths they have cast a Cloud on what should have been a festival of Cricket the sport has been tainted by scandals for years Woolmer was South Africa coach when team Captain Hansie Cronje was exposed for match fix ing in the 1990s Cronje admitted he took up to from gamblers and Book makers while on a tour of India in 1996 in return for match information although he denied fixing a game he was banned for life in 2000 and two years after the scan dal was exposed died in a plane crash at age 32 that scandal also ended the Ca Reers of former India Captain Mohammed Izharuddin who was banned for life along with team mate Ajay Sharma and Pakistan batsman Salim Malik and fast Bowler ataur Rehman for conspiring with bookmakers to fix matches it is still going said former Pakistan fast Bowler Sarfraz Nawaz i believe Woolmer found out about what went on and was about to reveal a Wool Mer is not the first person in Cricket to be fooled by these people Hansie Cronje died in a plane crash that has never been properly explained Woolmer was among the South african Cricket officials questioned about the 1996 scandal Al though he never was accused of match fixing he was writing a Book that touched on corruption in Cricket and Pakistan team spokesman Parvez Mir said the coach was upset that proofs of the Book were missing Bob told me the proofs had been misplaced and he was very disturbed Mir told reporters i dont know what was in the Book but that was his Only copy at the time Woolmer was coaching Paki Stan when it was involved in Ball tampering allegations during last years test series in England australian Umpire Darrell hair accused Pakistan of breaking the rules by changing the condition of the Ball team Captain in Zama Mulhau rejected the claim and refused to Lead his team out for the final session the match was declared a forfeit the first in the 129year history of test Cricket although Inzamae was cleared by a disciplinary commit tee of tampering with the Ball he was banned for four games for bringing the game into disrepute hair who penalized sri Lanka spin Bowler Muthiah Mur Alitha ran for throwing rather than bowl ing the Ball was accused of Bias against South asian teams Paki Stan India and sri Lanka said they didst want him in charge of their games and the sports world governing body the International Cricket Council banned him from officiating matches involving the leading test nations Pakistan then ran into a doping controversy fast bowlers Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammed Asif tested Posi Tive last year for the banned sub stance a Androlones and initially were banned for two years while their suspensions were Over turned by a Pakistan Cricket Board appeals panel that Deci Sion has been challenged by the world anti doping Agency and International Cricket officials the two bowlers pulled out of the world cup citing injuries Shane Warne the worlds great est spin Bowler who has taken the most test wickets in the game was banned for a year and had to pull out of Australia team for the 2003 world cup in South Afri Ca after he tested positive for a banned diuretic passions run so High in India and Pakistan that Cricket fans have rioted if their teams Arent winning Indian fans started fires and showered the Field with bottles in Calcutta during the 1996 world cup semifinal against sri Lanka forcing the match to be abandoned Reid returns to duties with eagles after helping sons the associated press Philadelphia Philadel phia eagles coach Andy Reid re turned from a temporary leave of absence Friday five weeks after leaving the team because of his two oldest sons Legal troubles Reid returned to his duties full time Friday in time for the nil owners meetings in Arizona next week he also is the teams head of football operations its Good to be Back Reid said i thought it was very important that i took a Little time and had the Chance to spend the time with my family Reid took a leave of absence feb 12 because his sons were embroiled in Legal troubles Stem Ming from their arrests on Jan 30 Reid said he didst seriously consider quitting As coach family obviously is the most important thing in my life Reid said to say walking away i cant say it Doest Cross your mind i knew i needed to take some time and to make sure i addressed the Issue Britt Reid 21 faces a felony charge of carrying a firearm with out a License and Misdemeanour drug charges stemming from a Road rage incident in which he allegedly pointed a gun at another Garrett Reid 23 faces charges he injured a woman in a traffic Accident while under the influence of heroin because of the pending Legal is sues Reid said Little about his sons and his personal life he asked a packed auditorium to try to keep the questions related to football were doing Well Reid said were working through this sports briefs despite being away from the team Reid has maintained con tact with the eagles during the Start of free Agency and has been available to participate in person Nel decisions redskins release or Patten Ashburn a David Pat ten was Cut by the Washington redskins on thursday after catch ing just 23 passes Over two sea sons the redskins released Patten with three years remaining on the five year million contract he signed As a free agent from new England in 2005 mens coach Miller agrees to contract Extension with Xavier Cincinnati Xavier mens basketball coach Sean Miller agreed to a contract Extension that runs through the 201516 sea son the school said thursday no further details were re leased Miller 38 took Over the program in 2004 after Thad Matta took the head coaching Job at Ohio state Miller has led the team to two straight 20victory seasons Xavier finished 259 this sea son and won the Atlantic 10 regu la season title the musketeers advanced to the second round of the Mcaa tournament losing on saturday to no 1 Ohio state 7871 in overtime texans Cut Carr d Williams Houston Tex ans waived quarterback David Carr the first draft pick in fran Chise history five years ago and running Back Domanick Williams the texans never have had a winning record and Carr often was the Scapegoat he completed 60 percent of his passes but also threw 65 interceptions and was sacked 249 times in five seasons Houston hoped Carr would flourish under new coach Gary Kubiak last season but the Tex ans went 610 Williams formerly Domanick Davis is Houston career Rush ing Leader with 3195 Yards he spent All of last season on injured Reserve with a knee injury also Friday the texans resigned former Heisman Tro Phy Winner Ron Dayne who joined the texans just before last season and blossomed late in the year Rushing for 429 Yards and five touchdowns in december the texans released Carr a Day after signing Matt Schaub and saying he would be their Start ing quarterback general manager Rick Smith said thursday the team was trying to Trade Carr who had two years left on a con tract that was to pay him million for those seasons Williams sat out most of train ing Camp last season with sore Ness in his right knee he showed up in the texans locker room on Jan 1 saying he had legally changed his last name from Davis to Williams his mothers Maiden name Gordon wins pole Toyota puts five camry in Bristol Field Bristol term Jeff Gor Don won the first pole of the car of tomorrow Era putting his Chevrolet Impala in the top Start ing spot at Bristol motor Speed Way on Friday Gordon ran a Lap at 125453 Mph to win his fifth career pole at Bristol he beat Evernham motor sports teammates Kasey Kahne and Elliott Sadler who qualified second and third in Dodge avengers Kahne posted a Lap at 125313 Mph while Sadler came in at 125183 did i mention How much i love the car of tomorrow joked Gordon critical of the car during its developmental stage Ive said the whole time whether i like the car or not we Are going to do our Best to be competitive i dont care what the car is Chevrolet and Dodge Are both introducing new models with the cot a Nasca developed car that makes its Sextel cup debut on sunday Ford is sticking with its fusion Model and Toyota in its first year at Nastars top level is using the camry Bristol is the first of the 16 races that will use the cot this season its scheduled to be phased in through 2009 but Lascar Hopes teams will ask to use the car full time next year based on fridays results the Toyota teams probably want to use the cot everywhere the japanese automaker has struggled to get its cars into the first four races this season and hit a Low three weeks ago in Las vegas when Only two of seven camry made the Field but five Toyota Drivers Quali fied at Bristol including a Allmendinger and Jeremy Mayfield who will make their Long awaited season debuts on sunday Wyoming hires new coach Laramie Wyo Wyoming hired Heath Schroyer As its basketball coach Friday reuniting him with the Man who gave him his last head coaching Job Schroyer comes to Wyoming from Fresno state where he was associate head coach for two years before that Schroyer was head coach at Portland state for three years he was hired there by athletic director Tom Burman who now holds the same Job at Wyoming Kentucky c Morris signs with kicks Lexington by Kentucky Center Randolph Morris signed a free agent contract with the new York kicks on Friday another big loss to a program already Deal ing with the departure of coach Tubby Smith Smith averaged 161 Points and 78 rebounds for the wildcats this season and was a firs team Al Southeastern conference he will join a team fighting for an Eastern conference playoff berth the kicks played in Cleveland on Friday night there was no immediate word on when Morris would join the team Morris declared for the 2005 Aba draft following his freshman season but went und rafted he re turned to the wildcats after sit Ting out an inca mandated 14game suspension averaging 133 Points and 60 rebounds in 21 games Morris said he expected to re turn to the wildcats following the loss but didst completely Rule out leaving for the Aba a provision in the nabs collective bargaining agreement pre vented Morris from reentering the Aba draft and he was Given free agent status throughout the 200607 season