Spinner plunges Cup into chaos

LONDON – England’s Twenty20 Cup tournament is in turmoil after a match was cancelled late on Monday when it was discovered that Yorkshire spinner Azeem Rafiq had been ineligibly selected earlier in the competition.

Rafiq, who was born in Pakistan and moved to England in 2001, featured in the group stage against Nottinghamshire last month without being registered as a first-class player with the England and Wales Cricket Board. The discovery led to Monday’s quarterfinal match between Yorkshire and Durham being postponed minutes before the start.But ahead of tomorrow’s ECB hearing, Durham has demanded it automatically advances to the July 26 semi-finals, which are played on the same day as the finals.With both finalists qualifying for the lucrative international Champions League – which has a first prize of US$5 million Durham will not want to jeopardise its chances of challenging the top two clubs or provinces from Australia, India and South Africa in late September.Durham said rearranging the Yorkshire fixture would create fixture congestion.”To be honest the only fair outcome now is that we go to the finals and, if it’s a result of Yorkshire being kicked out, then so be it,” Durham chief executive David Harker said Tuesday.”Any other solution which doesn’t have Durham automatically proceeding to the finals day is going to further disadvantage us and that can’t be right.”The ECB also discovered that Rafiq had captained England under-15s despite not holding a British passport.The 17-year-old Rafiq’s only contribution to the June 27 match against Nottinghamshire was to bowl two wicketless overs and he did not bat.Nampa-APThe discovery led to Monday’s quarterfinal match between Yorkshire and Durham being postponed minutes before the start.But ahead of tomorrow’s ECB hearing, Durham has demanded it automatically advances to the July 26 semi-finals, which are played on the same day as the finals.With both finalists qualifying for the lucrative international Champions League – which has a first prize of US$5 million Durham will not want to jeopardise its chances of challenging the top two clubs or provinces from Australia, India and South Africa in late September.Durham said rearranging the Yorkshire fixture would create fixture congestion.”To be honest the only fair outcome now is that we go to the finals and, if it’s a result of Yorkshire being kicked out, then so be it,” Durham chief executive David Harker said Tuesday.”Any other solution which doesn’t have Durham automatically proceeding to the finals day is going to further disadvantage us and that can’t be right.”The ECB also discovered that Rafiq had captained England under-15s despite not holding a British passport.The 17-year-old Rafiq’s only contribution to the June 27 match against Nottinghamshire was to bowl two wicketless overs and he did not bat.Nampa-AP