ICC bars players and team management from tweeting
The International Cricket Council (ICC) has told players and team managements taking part in the 2011 World Cup that they are not to use Twitter during any match of the tournament. The global event will begin from 19th February in http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sri-Lanka-c758
and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Bangladesh-c747.
This new directive from the ICC has come in a bid to keep tabs on the possibility of match-fixing during cricket’s biggest event of the year. The game’s governing body wants to keep this World Cup free from controversies regarding corruption in the sport
after last year’s spot-fixing scandal which tarnished the reputation of the sport.
The restrictions on tweeting were confirmed by the ICC’s media manager James Fitzgerald. While talking to newsmen he said, “Tweeting has been banned during all matches of the World Cup. This decision is not made with the idea of preventing particular players
or officials, but is a precautionary move. We want to ensure that no information is passed on, even inadvertently, so as to be used by others for betting.”
Fitzgerald added that the ban was not on using twitter but on tweeting during matches.
Speaking further on the matter he said, “When it comes to issues of corruption we prefer to err on the side of caution. We don't want to spoil anyone's fun but there is a chance that sensitive information could be passed on during matches in this way.”
Twitter has seen a rise in popularity among cricketers, who now use the social networking site on a daily basis. During the recent Ashes series players from Australia and England tweeted heavily before and after matches to stay in touch with their fans.
Cricket Australia (CA) has in fact encouraged its players and team management to make full use of the new way to interact with the outside world.
However, Tweeting did land some players in trouble, such as England’s middle order batsman Kevin Pietersen who was fined for tweeting against the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) after he was dropped from the English squad last year. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Australia-c746’s vice
captain Michael http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Clarke-c51120 was also bashed by many for spending too much time tweeting when he should have been in the nets trying to regain his lost form during the Ashes.
The ban will now see an end to the tweets by Australian team manager Steve Bernard, who has been regularly tweeting for the last six months. This ban will ensure that people who have links with bookmakers are not in a position to contact any of the players
or members of the team management during a match.
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