Captain and two bowlers protest their innocence as players are to be interviewed by police under cautionThe three Pakistan cricketers at the centre of an alleged betting scam that has thrown world cricket into crisis were tonight charged under the anti-corruption code of the game's governing body and provisionally suspended.After a day that began with the Pakistan Cricket Board agreeing to omit the players from the team for the rest of the tour, and the Pakistan high commissioner claiming the newspaper claims were a "set-up", the ICC suspended the three pending a tribunal.Outside the west London hotel in which Test captain Salman Butt, fast bowler Mohammad Asif and brilliant teenage prospect Mohammad Amir are also staying, ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat provided the swift action many...

I think we all know that Back to the Future II has inspired much technology that is yet to become real by the year 2015. That was the year that Marty and Doc traveled to at the beginning of the film, for those that don’t remember it. Granted, we are closer to a hoverboard than we were before, and someone is working on “Power Laces”. Hopefully, you remember the scene in the movie when Michael J. Fox is dressing in future attire and puts his feet into some Nikes. The shoes tied themselves, by tightening the laces automatically, and the Nike logo glowed. (Clearly some obvious product placement by Nike.) The Power Laces trick was actually done with a motor that was behind the shoe itself. However, Blake Bevin is working on a way to make Power Laces a reality. Her...

• Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif charged• Pakistan players had withdrawn from one-day series against EnglandSalman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir have been provisionally suspended by the International Cricket Council.The game's governing body has charged the Pakistan trio with "various offences under Article 2 of the ICC Anti-Corruption Code for Players and Player Support Personnel relating to irregular behaviour during, and in relation to, the fourth Test between England and Pakistan at Lord's last month".The three players have been at the eye of a spot-fixing storm since claims in the News of The World last Sunday, and today they withdrew from the Twenty20 and one-day series against England which is due to begin on Sunday.But they would not now be eligible for...

Boffins say they have finally explained the science behind Roberto Carlos' amazing free kick goal against France in 1997.The goal scored by the Brazilian in the Tournoi de France is widely regarded as one of football's best ever free-kicks.Some commentators joked it "defied physics" and keeper Fabian Barthez was embarrassingly left standing still and red-faced by the strike.But while some thought it was a fluke, physicists have now computed the trajectory equation and shown that Carlos' goal was all skill… and science, obviously.They claim any ball kicked hard enough, with the right spin and from far enough away will follow the 'spinning ball spiral' -- so prepare to see lots of long range attempts this weekened. As Christophe Clanet and David Quéré, researchers from École...

Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, who have been dropped from tour, face top officials over betting allegationsThe Pakistani high commissioner said today he believed the three players under investigation for spot-fixing were innocent, after talking to them in London about the allegations.Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, who will take no further part in the tour of England, had been summoned to explain themselves to commissioner Wajid Shamsul Hasan, and the chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board, Ijaz Butt.After the meeting, Hasan read out a statement saying the men maintained their innocence but had requested their own removal from the remaining matches because of the "mental torture" they had faced.In response to a question, he said: "I believe in their...

A golfer accidentally started a 12-acre fire when he hit his club on a rock in California causing sparks and the resulting blaze.The hapless golfer had been playing at the Shady Canyon golf course in Irvine, when the accident happened.It's said he'd taken a swing at the ball but that his club struck a rock causing a small spark.But this was enough to start a fire in the parched area and the blaze soon covered a massive 12 acres of the densely wooded hill.Almost 200 firefighters attended the scene and the fire burnt for over seven hours… and we thought our golfing endeavours had been embarrassing. LINKSShady Canyon Golf               Orange County Fire Authority  ...

The BBC has lost it’s court battle to prevent an autobiography being published that would reveal the identity of The STIG. Turns out it is Ben Collins, a Formula 3 driver. Who? Yeah, me too. (Guess the BBC couldn’t afford to get a Formula 1 driver) For those who don’t know, the BBC carries a motoring show called Top Gear which features 3 middle-aged/old men acting like adolescent schoolboys presenting a show about cars. One feature of the show is that the driver – The Stig – that test-drives the fast cars being discussed has up till now been a ‘mystery’. (Not much of a mystery, I have to say – I’ve seen his name bandied about many a time.) Anyhow, now that he has officially unmasked himself, it seems many of the fans of the show...

A new speed record has been set at the World Bog Snorkelling Championships... after the bogs were cleaned for the first time in ten years.More than 150 competitors from around the world had attended the event - now in it's 25th year - near Llanwrtyd Wells, Wales, to take part.Once there they had to see how long it took to complete the 110 metre course by swimming two lengths of the murky - and still very muddy - trench. Organisers said they'd anticipated fast times as the trenches had recently been cleaned but couldn't believe how much faster it was… we can't believe how murky the bog must have been last year. The world record previously held by Joanna Pitchforth (1.38.15), was smashed by local man Dan Morgan of Brecon in an astounding 1:30.66  Last years Junior Winner,...

At 5 p.m. today, the Premier League management teams will have to name their 25-man squads. Eight have to be 'home grown', meaning they must have spent at least three years training with an English or Welsh professional club before they reached the age of 21. A number of senior pros will simply not make the cut under the new rule changes, implying that the Championship may gain further stars, perhaps with the most notable to date being Craig Bellamy who recently tied up a deal with Cardiff City. Thankfully Barnsley FC will not see any of our own established and promising talent leave permanently. With the loan window now the only major area to create change, MR has spoken about loans in and out a distinct possibility. Under this tweak to the squad system, what will result from the...

UEFA, European football's governing body, has ruled that vuvuzelas should be banned from their matches.This means the irksome plastic trumpet, which became infamous at the World Cup, will not be heard at Euro 2012 qualifiers and Champions League games.Bosses say they came to the conclusion the instrument should not be taken into stadiums at matches in UEFA competitions after consultation with 53 member associations.It was decided the noise could drown-out the singing and chanting of fans andthat "for reasons related to Europe's football culture and tradition" they should be banned.However, we can think of one or two players who would probably prefer the constant drone of a vuvuzela to fans chants… Yes Emile Heskey, we're thinking about you. A spokesperson for UEFA said: "The...

…I didn’t even know it was open. One of the joys of not having Sky Sports News anymore is being able to let 6pm on August 31st pass without having to listen to Jim “hyperbole king” White frothing at the mouth over the loan move of Marcus Bent from Brum to Wolves. It was very easy to stay at a distance from this year’s deadline with the thought that what little business Spurs were going to do has already been done. Sandro had signed some time back and had finally turned up, Pletikosa finally arrived on loan after what seemed like years of will he, won’t he. And of course there is Gallas. But that was it, a bunch who were no where near the first team were either offloaded completely or let out on loan. Unfortunately the deal everyone wanted to see was...

This is the Finis Swimsense wrist-worn performance monitor, and it is made for swimmers. It has some sort of internal motion sensors, and I cannot believe how accurate they area. Apparently, the Finis Swimsense can detect how many laps that you took, and what pace that you took them at. It can even calculate how many strokes you took to get there, and what you were doing. I guess your arm reacts differently when you do the breaststroke, as opposed to the freestyle, backstroke or butterfly swimming. This is provided you enter in the proper information about the pool like its length and such. The Finis Swimsense will also show you how many calories have been burned after you get out of the water. Okay, this leads me to wonder how in the world the Swimsense can do this. I mean,...

Salman Butt, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif claim allegations are part of a conspiracy against themScotland Yard detectives conducting a criminal investigation into allegations of a conspiracy to fix an international cricket match are to reinterview three Pakistan players this week, the Guardian has learned.The news comes as Customs officers said Mazhar Majeed, the agent at the centre of the match-fixing allegations which erupted on Sunday, had already been under investigation by UK authorities as part of a money laundering inquiry.The Pakistani players, who were first questioned at their London hotel on Saturday evening, told Pakistani cricket officials they are innocent of the allegations and are ready to face an investigation. Pakistan's captain, Salman Butt, and opening bowlers...

As I’ve covered some football linked news as well as price increases I thought you might be interested in this bit of news that’s just come in. Sky Sports customers are looking at a subscription increase from Sept 1st (tomorrow) of £3 per month – Sky Sports and Sky Movies customers being hit with a £2.50 increase. The increased charges mean Sky customers will pay around £240m more for all TV services over the next year – that’s based on 9.78m Sky Subscribers in the UK and RoI What could you buy with a £240m windfall? Well, you could slam down the cash for Tottenham Hotspur (£241m) or Manchester City (£166m), according to valuations by Forbes. How about three Christiano Ronaldo’s (£80m), four Kaka’s (£56m) or seven...

Laurent Fignon, twice winner of the Tour de France, has died. However, I didn’t get to see him until after his wins when Channel 4 started the first regular British coverage of the Tour (every night at 6.30, if I remember correctly) and so my overriding memory of him is from the 1989 Tour. Specifically,...

If you can dodge the traffic at Brockley Cross, you can dodge a ball.Dodgeball is a sport of violence, exclusion, and degradation. Which means that Brockley should be to the sport what Kenya is to long-distance running. To capitalise on our people's natural advantage, The 'Awful Dodgers' were born.The Dodgers are a Brockley based team who have just joined the Dodgeball UK Autumn/Winter League and will be playing fixtures on Thursday nights from the 16th September at T47, London Bridge.Baller Steve writes:There doesn't seem to be much sports action appearing on your blog so why not start by featuring a sport that no one realised actually knows the rules of of knew actuall existed?In our inaugural season we currently recruiting for a couple of more players who might have seen the film and...

Inquiry will draw on anti-corruption unit's analysis as well as information obtained during newspaper stingThe Pakistan players allegedly at the centre of one of the biggest betting scandals in cricket history had been under investigation for months by the International Cricket Council's anti-corruption unit, according to a source within the ICC.When a three-strong delegation from Pakistan's highest law enforcement unit, the Federal Investigation Agency, arrives in England to carry out its own inquiry, it will be presented not only with information obtained during a News of the World sting, but with the anti-corruption unit's own analysis of the potential corruption in Pakistan cricket.Senior officials of the unit are said to relish the opportunity to provide the police with details of...

Government to publish series of brochures for parents after children as young as seven found to betting during World CupThe Thai government is publishing a series of parenting guides on how to prevent children from gambling on football matches, after those as young as seven were found betting on the World Cup.The Guide to Watching Football With Your Children and Loved Ones will be the first in a three-part series to be distributed at schools nationwide in October, Thanakorn Komkris, a co-ordinator at the Thai Health Promotion Foundation, said today.The agency, which is part of the prime minister's office, is sponsoring the series that uses cartoon characters to convey that watching professional football can be a fun family activity that sometimes requires parental supervision."Now that...

• ICC president reacts angrily to cricket's latest scandal• PCB, ECB and ICC agree tour should continueThe International Cricket Council president Sharad Pawar today ruled out the possibility of the Pakistan team abandoning their tour of England following allegations of spot fixing. "It is the desire of the ICC and the cricket boards of England and Pakistan that the game should continue," he said.The Pakistan Test captain, Salman Butt, fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, and the wicketkeeper Kamran Akmal were questioned by police at the team's hotel in London following reports that players had been bribed to fix incidents during the fourth Test against England at Lord's.Pawar and other ICC officials, including the head of the council's anti-corruption and security unit...

…games like that. A team trots into town who last time they were in the neighbourhood shipped nine goals, to one in reply, and so far this season in their two previous games had conceded a total of ten, four of which were scored by a team new to the division. A couple of hours later they’re heading back up North with a clean sheet and their first three points of the new season and Spurs have lost their first home game in a while. First since the last bunch of no-hopers rolled into town. ‘Arry seemed to portion the blame between the team and the fans… These are not games you enjoy. People turn up here today and they expect you to walk all over them. After two minutes we give the ball away and it’s ‘Oooh!’ and they’re on your case -...

• Federal Investigation Agency sends three-man delegation• Pakistani prime minister laments spot-fixing scandalPakistan has sent a three-man delegation representing the Federal Investigation Agency – the country's highest law enforcement agency – to London to investigate allegations of spot-fixing in the fourth Test match against England at Lord's.Pakistani cricket was hit by controversy as Scotland Yard officers investigated claims that reporters paid a middleman £150,000 in return for exact details relating to play during the final Test of the four-match series.The middleman – the 35-year-old Mazhar Majeed – was arrested on Saturday and released on bail to appear before police at a future date. Pakistan's interior minister, Rehman Malik, said his country would not back down...

Last night Channel 4 showed a really great programme called Inside Incredible Athletes. As regular readers will know I've sometimes mentioned the 'differently enabled' athletes* I've come across in the fields of athletics and bowling.The show, which if you missed it is on 4OD here, is well worth a viewing and does show how differently enabled many of these athletes actually are....

I had a very enjoyable day today half-watching the Hopi fund raising cricket match in which a team including the very cream of the Green Party's sporting elite thrashed the Labour Representation Committee in a game so friendly that rules were taken as mere guidance and the huge bribes paid to produce no balls were returned to their benefactors.A good amount of money was raised for Workers Fund for Iran, and factory workers in Tabriz who are threatened with job losses had already passed on their thanks for our efforts - although their views on the dodgy LBW decision that saw Hopi's Ben Lewis knocked out undeservedly early are as yet unknown.The day saw some particularly interesting bowling which seemed more inspired by modern jazz dance than Shane Warne, which got me to thinking about...

Police confiscate mobile phones from three players after allegations of spot fixing during the Lord's TestScotland Yard detectives have confiscated the mobile phones of three of the Pakistan cricket team's leading players as part of an investigation into one of the biggest betting scandals in the sport's history that is threatening to engulf the game.The cricketers – including captain Salman Butt and bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif – were questioned by detectives following allegations that they were involved in a betting scandal during the Lord's test match won by England today. As well as their phones, detectives took away documents and other possessions in plastic bags.Police have contacted the Crown Prosecution Service, and officers from the Met's economic and specialist...

B.B. King – Live At The Regal only £3.99 at play.com, if you don't own this album there's something missing in your life… # @ProTonePedals They don't seem to be able to turn the other cheek either in reply to ProTonePedals # If Giggs and Scholes are so great why do they bottle out of taking so many penalties? # @yawnerddn Yup, but thankfully he stopped it being 8 or 9 so I didn't actually lose any points in reply to yawnerddn # Natasha Kerplunk in the scud! Quick doctor the eye bleach! # Otis Rush, haunting blues. # I'm going down, down, down. Down, down. Yes, I've got my feet in the window. Got my head on the ground – http://bit.ly/cWozYg # Chat show Charlie ain't crossing the house he just staggered after having a few #...

• Arsenal midfielder was involved in an incident this morning• Spokesman says youngster is 'unlikely' to face chargesThe Arsenal and England midfielder Jack Wilshere was arrested in the early hours of the morning following a "fracas", according to a spokesman for the player.Wilshere, who came on as an 84th-minute substitute in yesterday's 2-1 win over Blackburn, was arrested but released on bail.The statement, issued by the Wasserman Media Group on behalf of the 18-year-old, went on to assert Wilshere was "unlikely" to face charges.The statement read: "Jack Wilshere was arrested by police in the early hours following a fracas but was released on bail later. The police have made it very clear that he is an important witness to the incident and played the role of peacemaker and is...

Roberto Mancini had reason to regret not bringing his famous blue and white woolly scarf to a cold and windy Wearside on an afternoon which offered a foretaste of what could be a harsh winter ahead for Manchester City.After failing to convert their early ascendancy into goals, Mancini's side were forced to withstand a second‑half onslaught from a seemingly reborn Sunderland who looked as if they had belatedly decided this was their cup final.It ended with the previously "under pressure" Steve Bruce performing a wonderfully uncoordinated dance of joy in front of City's dug-out after Darren Bent's 90th‑minute penalty gave his Sunderland team an inaugural win of the season as City conceded their first goal of the campaign.Undone by a teasing cross from Ahmed El Mohamady, a right‑winger...

With the new football season now well and truly under way, fans all over the country are keeping a keen eye on transfer stories before the window closes at the end of the month. What better place to do so than Sky Sports News? Especially now that the channel is now available in high definition through your Sky HD box. However, it is now more accessible than ever with its appearance on the App Store for both the Apple iPad and iPhone. Care to take a look? Keep reading to check out our review of Sky Sports News iPad app! When I saw the Sky Sports News app on the iPad for the first time, I was blown away by the design. The layout of the application makes checking the headlines really easy. Although I will be using the application predominantly for the football news and live football scores,...

…is the most shocking thing. Many have stated their shock at the news that a middle man has been arrested after allegedly taking £150,000 to fix three no-balls from Pakistan bowlers in the recent test match against England at Lords’. Is it really shocking that this is still going on? Especially for spot betting about little nothings such as no-balls, which are very easy to fix with one or two players. The captain, Salman Butt, has been implicated but the captain doesn’t even really need to be involved, it’s pretty obvious who is going to open the bowling, so who will be bowling the odd and even number overs. So it can be down to one player. If a certain other player had been involved it would have been easier as nearly all his deliveries have been no-balls...

• Hit F5 for the latest or select the auto-refresh button below• Follow all of today's action on our live scoreboard• Email all your thoughts to simon.burnton@guardian.co.uk18 mins: Pienaar hits the corner of post and bar with a lovely curling shot from the corner of the penalty area, Brad Friedel absolutely rooted. This time the full-back was the creator: Leighton Baines spotting the pass.14 mins: Dunne clips Beckford's ankles, and is treading a disciplinary tightrope already, not especially delicately.12 mins: Beckford totally does Dunne for pace, and although there was cover the big Irishman sticks out a stocky leg and Beckford goes over a massive thigh. Yellow card for Dunne.GOAL! Aston Villa 1 Everton 0 (Luke Young, 9 mins) Excellent run by Young, which nobody predicted or...

England, 446, beat Pakistan, 74 & 147, by an innings and 225 runsEngland hurried to victory at Lord's this morning, winning the fourth Test by an innings and 225 runs over Pakistan to wrap up a 3-1 series win with a day to spare.Yet celebrations were eerily muted for what appeared a significant achievement as Andrew Strauss's team chalked up their seventh win in eight Tests to continue impressive preparations for the winter's defence of the Ashes in Australia.It was their misfortune to do so against opponents batting under the cloud of "spot-fixing" allegations and who, Umar Akmal's incongruously defiant 40-ball 50 apart, surrendered so tamely to be bowled out for 147 in their second innings that it was near impossible to avoid the conclusion their minds were not properly on the...

• Hit F5 for the latest or select the auto-refresh button below• Follow all of today's action on our live scoreboard• Email all your thoughts to simon.burnton@guardian.co.uk45 mins: Three minutes' stoppage time to be played here.43 mins: Holden, probably Bolton's best midfielder, creates a shooting opportunity for himself, the ball deflecting wide for another corner.41 mins: Bogdan, who curiously wears No1, has previously played one league game, on loan at Crewe against Bury last September. Crewe lost 3-2.38 mins: Johnson gets booked, though I can't be sure why. There appeared to be quite a bit of post-red-card jiggerpokery out there. Bolton will bring on their substitute goalkeeper, Adam Bogdan, for his Premier League debut for Martin Petrov, who is furious about coming off, and...

Match goes ahead at Lord's despite allegations against bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad AsifThe Pakistani cricket team will play at Lord's under a cloud of suspicion today amid allegations that several members of the squad were involved in a huge match-rigging scam.England's Test match against Pakistan is scheduled to go ahead even though players were interviewed by police throughout the night.The interviews followed claims that two bowlers, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, delivered three deliberate no-balls against England on Thursday and Friday – in line with the predictions of an alleged middle man in London who met undercover reporters posing as members of a gambling cartel.The alleged fixer, 35-year-old Mazhar Majeed, was arrested last night on suspicion of conspiracy to...

• Hit F5 for the latest or select the auto-refresh button below• Pakistan embroiled in no-ball betting scandal v England• Man arrested over on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud• Pakistan on the brink as England show no mercy• Email all your thoughts to barney.ronay@guardian.co.ukMohammed Amir walks out to one or two boos, but otherwise a potent silence. WICKET! Kamran Akmal c Prior b Anderson 1 (Pakistan 64-6) It's worse now. Oh dear Kamran Akmal. 85mph, little bit of away nibble, decent line in the corridor outside off, a tame prod, a nothing shot and Prior takes a simple catch. Kamran is off in no time at all and guess who's coming out to bat now?Pakistan, by the way, still trail by 308 runs following on. This is a proper walloping .19th over: Pakistan 64-5 (Kamran Akmal 1,...

Man arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers over no-ball deliveries during current Test at Lord'sEngland's Test match against Pakistan was embroiled in scandal last night after police arrested a man reported to be at the centre of a huge match-fixing ring. Play is due to resume at Lord's today overshadowed by allegations that several members of the Pakistan team were involved in cheating during the game.The News of the World alleged that two bowlers, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, delivered three deliberate no-balls against England on Thursday and Friday – in line with the predictions of an alleged middle man in London who met undercover reporters posing as members of a gambling cartel.A police investigation is now under way and a Scotland Yard spokesman said last...

Police arrest man on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers during current Test at Lord'sPolice arrested a man on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers earlier today following allegations of match-fixing during the current cricket Test match between England and Pakistan.The penultimate day of the Test at Lord's gets underway tomorrow morning overshadowed by allegations in the News of the World that a number of members of the Pakistan team were involved in cheating during the current match.A Scotland Yard spokesman said: "Following information received from the News of the World we have today arrested a 35-year old man on suspicion of conspiracy to defraud bookmakers."The newspaper alleged that two bowlers, Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif, delivered three deliberate no-balls...

Only in the universe that surrounds Wayne Rooney could this summer be called a drought. Until he converted a first-half penalty here, the most naturally gifted footballer Old Trafford has seen since Bobby Charlton had not scored in more than 18 and a half hours of competitive football. The counting will cease and since Rooney's goals have always come in waves, there should be a frisson of anxiety among the Bulgarian back-four when he appears in an England shirt on Friday night.Statistics apart, Rooney was far from the central figure on what was not so much a comfortable victory as a cashmere-covered one over a West Ham side that have lost their first three League matches and struggled to overcome Oxford in the Carling Cup. Only Kieron Dyer, who struck the side‑netting in the first half...

Press F5 or use the autorefresher for the latest updates and email the catchy alan.gardner.casual@guardian.co.uk with your wit and whimsyAnd another one, from the FA Cup in 2001.Scenes the like of which we wont see again today but which may provide some small solace for Hammers fans.Preamble: I think we all have an idea about which way this one will go, don't we? West Ham, a side still seeking an identity under new coach Avram Grant, have lost two out of two in the league this season and fudged their way past League Two side Oxford in the Carling Cup thanks to a 90th-minute winner. United cruised past Chelsea in the Community Shield and then Newcastle on the opening day of the Premier League season before coming slightly unstuck against Fulham last weekend. Still, West Ham haven't scored...

Hit the auto-update button for the latest posts, email rob.bagchi@guardian.co.uk and follow the match on the slyOversight corner: Forgot to say it's a fine day at Lord's and we're set fair for a full day's play and, hopefully, the sun is shining on Bull's nuptials. Good morning Well, wasn't that something special? As exciting a day's Test cricket I've seen along with all four days of Edgbaston 2005 and the Friday of the Lord's Test against West Indies in 2000. I think Jonathan Trott and Mohammed Amir are shoo-ins for two of the five Wisden Cricketers' of the Year now and I was mightily impressed by both. I can't say Trott has exactly thrilled me in his Test career to date, with his touch of the Tavare. But I stand corrected now. His control was immaculate and he displayed Collingwoodesque...

He can run 100m in 9.58 seconds, but says he's lazy. He's the best sprinter on the planet, but fancies turning his hand to professional football. And as for settling down? Forget that.Usain Bolt is a freak of nature. There's the size, for starters: 6ft 5in with size 13 feet (ideal sprinters are thought to be between 5ft 11in and 6ft 1in). Then there's the condition that should have ruled out a career in sport – scoliosis, or curvature of the spine, which resulted in one leg being half an inch shorter than the other. And the attitude – at warm-up, a do-or-die intensity is etched on the faces of his rivals, but Bolt smiles, hangs out, even dances. And, of course, the records: Bolt is the fastest man ever – at both 100m and 200m. Finally, and most outrageously, he wasn't even...