Jaipur, Sept 26 (ANI): BCCI vice-president and IPL chairman Lalit Modi has said that he had cleared Indian star cricketers Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh and Mahendra Singh Dhoni to play for Australian state teams if they wanted to.

Modi's statement assumes significance in the wake of Cricket Australia (CA)'s plans to beef up its domestic Twenty20 competition by holding a glittering tournament featuring the world's best players in 2009-10.

Cricket could soon have domestic Twenty20 competitions in the mould of the major soccer leagues around the world, Modi said in an interview with the Courier Mail.

"I think if you look at the soccer leagues around the world, you have the English Premier League, you have the Bundesliga in Germany, the Italian, the Spanish leagues. You have rugby going on in various countries. I think each country will develop talent. It may not be on the same scale as the IPL. It may not be eight, 10 or 12 teams, but it may be six teams in Australia," the paper quoted him as saying in Jaipur.

Modi, seen as one of the power centers of Indian cricket, said that he was keeping a close watch on CA's plans and would assist in any way possible to ensure its IPL clone was a success.

"We are very excited they are doing that. We understand they are looking at a franchise model, developing other models, too. We are keenly watching that and are most supportive of that. The Australian Cricket Board has been most supportive of the Indian Cricket Board. They have asked us already if we would release our players for that and we said yes. They have been gracious enough to release their players for us," he said.

Earlier this week, the BCCI had announced a record net income of 260 million dollars, but Modi vowed CA would not share in the IPL's financial spoils. "It's a domestic tournament. When county cricket (in England) was going well for hundreds of years, we never got the spoils. You have got to understand Indian cricket never made money until three or four years ago. It was always England first, Australia second, South Africa third and then India would get a little bit of money. Our market has developed, our game has developed," he said. (ANI)

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Karachi, Sept 26 (ANI): Pakistan fast bowler Suhail Tanvir has joined the list of his teammates who have described Australia adopting "double standards" in refusing to play in Pakistan but going ahead with India tour despite the recent serial blasts in New Delhi killing 22 people.

Australia had refused to tour Pakistan on two occasions this year over security concerns, but decided to go ahead with Indian series despite Delhi blasts, The News quoted Tanvir as saying in a TV interview.

Terming Australia's conduct as "double standard", Tanvir said: "Pakistan has not seen much cricket the whole year after Australia's refusal to tour Pakistan."

Earlier, a host of Pakistani cricketers, including skipper Shoaib Malik and veterans Imran Khan and Javed Miandad, have Australia's conduct as "double standard" in differentiating between India and Pakistan when it came to play the game in the two countries.

Imran had blamed the "weak" Pakistan Cricket Board in losing the two series - first against Australia in March and then the ICC Champions Trophy in September. He said that if the PCB was strong enough, it would have succeeded in bagging both the tournaments. (ANI)

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London, Sept.26 (ANI): Former England football coach Terry Venables turned down the role of caretaker manager at Newcastle because it was only for the short term.

"Newcastle United means too much to too many people to take the job on a short-term basis. It demands total commitment and dedication from a manager prepared to throw himself heart and soul into the club," The Sun quoted Venables, as saying.

"I was ready and willing to give it a real go. But all they could guarantee was I'd be in a job until Mike Ashley sells the club - whenever that might be," he added. (ANI)

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London, Sept.26 (ANI): Tormented former England football star Paul Gascoigne has said that he wants to blow all his money away and leave his family penniless.

Refusing all offers of help from both family and friends, Gazza, 41, prefers the company of drug pushers and hangers-on rather than those most concerned about him.

They include dad John, 62, mum Carol, 65, brother Carl, 40, and sisters Anna Marie, 42, and Lindsay, 35. Gazza was recently spotted with a drug-dealer in Newcastle and bragged about blowing 1,000 pounds on cocaine in two days. The star, holed up in a hotel, frequently starts boozing at 10 a.m. as he goes on 16-hour benders. He was spotted drinking in the early hours yesterday with a girl on his arm.

Already sectioned twice in February and June this year, he has refused his dad's pleas to enter rehab.

The friend said: "He's told his family he wants to blow all his money so they cannot get it." (ANI)

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