Dubai, Dec. 17 : ICC Chief Executive Haroon Lorgat has identified slow over-rates and verbal abuse as two key areas that must be kept in check for cricket to maintain its feel-good factor over the coming months.

Lorgat confirmed he had written to all Emirates ICC match referees and umpires asking them to be "assertive and proactive" in dealing with the issues.

And, he added that players, and especially captains, also bore a major responsibility to ensure the game was played in the right spirit and at the right pace.

London - Struggling English Premier League club Blackburn Rovers sacked manager Paul Ince on Tuesday after just 17 games in charge.

Blackburn sit one place off the bottom of the league table, with only three wins all season. A new manager is yet to be announced.

"It is with great sadness the Board announce that Paul Ince is to leave the club," Blackburn said in a statement.

Copenhagen - A Danish executive extradited from the United States on Tuesday admitted to allegations of fraud during a remand custody hearing at a Danish district court.

Stein Bagger, 41, was chief executive of the software company IT Factory and is alleged to have defrauded the group of some 182 million dollars and also falsified documents.

IT Factory was to have become co-sponsor of the CSC team of Danish ex-cyclist Bjarne Riis as of 2009.

Bagger's lawyer questioned the size of the sums during the court hearing on Tuesday, hours after Bagger's plane had landed, local media reported.

Rome - Italian Serie A strugglers Reggina said Tuesday they have hired

Warsaw - Former head of the Polish football federation (PZPN) Michal Listkiewicz took the stand on Tuesday as a witness in an ongoing investigation into corruption in the sport.

Listkiewicz said he'd answered "honestly" after about an hour on the stand in a Wroclaw court. He did not give details about the proceedings.

"I answered all the questions honestly and frankly, because I'm truthful," Listkiewicz said.

The Polish football federation voted in Grzegorz Lato in October as its new head, as Listkiewicz stepped down amid the investigation.

London, Dec. 16 : Most dailies in England have reacted with shock to their cricket team's defeat against India in the first Test at Chennai, and have particularly targeted left-arm spinner Monty Panesar for failing to come up with a credible performance.