London, Mar. 21 : Liverpool football star Steven Gerrard has expressed relief after an assault charge against him was dropped on Friday.

The Liverpool midfielder, who faced the possibility of going to jail for five years for allegedly causing bodily harm to businessman Marcus McGee, 34, in a wine bar last December, hugged his lawyer after the charges were dropped.

On Friday, according to the Daily Star, prosecutors told magistrates they had decided to drop the assault charges due to lack of evidence.

Sydney, Mar. 21 : Sidelined Australian cricket stars are eyeing the second edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) to make a bid to return to the national squad for the 20-20 World Cup or the Ashes.

Players such as Brett Lee, Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson and Shaun Marsh are looking forward to the cricket extravaganza as they see it as a proper opportunity to send out a message to the selectors, The Australian reports.

Brisbane (Australia), Mar. 21 : Former Australian Test opener Matthew Hayden has kickstarted a campaign to restore Queensland''s image after the oil spill that disfigured Moreton Island.

Hayden will promote Tourism Queensland's Donate a Day to the Bay campaign after news of the devastating oil spill prompted people around the world to cancel holidays.

Lahore, Mar. 21: The 2011 cricket World Cup is scheduled to be held in the four sub-continent countries India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, and Bangladesh but with several teams expressing their worry over the security scenario in Pakistan it is now been speculated that Pakistan might not get to host any matches of the event, in such eventuality the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) would lose around 12 million dollars.

Sydney, Mar, 21: It was double joy for India on Saturday when after men''s team sealed victory in the first Test in Hamilton, the Indian eves beat Australia by three wickets in the Women''s World Cup to be ranked third in the tournament.

The match was played at the Bankstown Oval.

India clinched the win with 13 balls to spare in a match that was reduced to 46 overs after a 104-minute morning rain delay.

Lahore, Mar. 21: While Pakistan appealed to the international cricket fraternity not to abandon it in the wake of the terror attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team, it has been learnt that it was the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) insistence for more security during the Bangladesh tour that led to it being cancelled.

“The truth is there were some apprehensions about playing in Bangladesh on our side as well and we had asked for additional security measures,” The Daily Times quoted a top PCB official, as saying.