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16 Mar 21 Naveed and Shaiman banned for eight years each under ICC Anti-Corruption Code. Both the UAE players have been banned from all cricket for eight years under the ICC Anti-Corruption Code. United Arab Emirates (UAE) players Mohammad Naveed and Shaiman Anwar Butt have been banned from all cricket for eight years each after the ICC Anti-Corruption Tribunal found them guilty of breaching the ICC Anti-Corruption Code. The bans are backdated to 16 October 2019, when they were provisionally suspended for attempting to corrupt matches of the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019 in the UAE. Following a full hearing and presentation of written and oral argument, the Tribunal found both Naveed and Shaiman guilty of: Article 2.1.1 – for being party to an agreement or effort to fix or contrive or otherwise influence improperly the result, progress, conduct or other aspect(s) of a match or matches at the ICC Men’s T20 World Cup Qualifier 2019. Article 2.4.4 - Failing to disclos

Lack of snow leaves hotel rooms empty and impacts crops as Nepal heats up at the rate of ‘0.6 degrees Celsius per decade’. Over the 12 years that Baburam Giri has worked as a hotel cook in the village of Dhampus – a major tourist draw with its views of the towering Annapurna mountain range – winters have become less snowy. “The snowfall we had five years ago was more than 2 feet deep – but we didn’t have significant snowfall after that,” lamented Giri, standing at his stove at the Hotel Yama Sakura. With hotels across the world feeling the financial pain of travel restrictions to curb the coronavirus pandemic, Giri said his central Nepal community was relying mainly on Nepali tourists, who come every year drawn by the wintry weather. But this year, the bare ground means few visitors. “Many domestic and local tourists come to this area to play in the snow whenever there is snowfall,” Giri told the Thomson Reuters Foundation. “But [now] the hotel is almost empty.” From touris

Dav Whatmore, the World Cup-winning coach for Sri Lanka in 1996 and the recently appointed Nepal men’s national cricket team Head Coach has arrived in the country. According to Cricket Association of Nepal (CAN) officials, he arrived late on Sunday evening and has undergone quarantine for five more days before he is finally unveiled next week. Whatmore is yet to meet the authorities of CAN. He will watch the ongoing  PM Cup Men’s National Cricket Tournament  after finishing his quarantine period in the lead up to a busy international calendar for the year. Dav Whatmore has a remarkable coaching record, which includes a ODI World Cup title with Sri Lanka. He also brings coaching experience within the Associate game, having recently led Singapore. Expectations are high in Nepal, with Whatmore expected to take the side into the upper reaches of both the T20 and 50-Over World Cup qualification pathways. A place at a World Cup proper would be a significant milestone for coach and country.

A team of Sherpas has accomplished one of the most coveted achievements in mountaineering: the first winter ascent of K2, the world’s second tallest mountain, and the only one of the world’s 14 peaks over 8,000 metres high never to have been climbed during the winter season. Ten Sherpas, prominent among them Nirmal Purja, a former Gurkha and UK special forces member who had  previously climbed all 14 8,000-metre-plus peaks in just over six months , summited K2 in Pakistan on Saturday. They left their high camp at 1am for their summit attempt via the Abruzzi Spur in temperatures as cold as -40C but with low wind and in brilliant sunshine. K2 was first climbed 66 years ago by Achille Compagnoni and Lino Lacedelli; there had been six previous attempts in winter on the mountain, none of them successful. In the world of high altitude climbing, so long dominated by western climbers and expeditions who have relied on Sherpas to assist them, the ascent – and by such a large team –

Three Nepali players will play in the upcoming T-10 league. Among the Nepali cricketers playing T-10 are Sompal Kami, Karan KC and Kushal Malla. Sompal will play for the Maratha Arabians, Karan for the Pune Bulls and Kushal for the fourth season of the T10 League from Team Abu Dhabi. The salaries of Sompal, Karan and Kushal have not been disclosed immediately. These same players bat aggressively as well as bowl. Dipendra Singh Airy, vice-captain of the Nepali team in the draft, was not signed by any team this time. This is the first time in the history of Nepali cricket that three players have been signed at the same time. Paras Khadka and Sandeep Lamichhane played in the T10 league last season. In the upcoming season, Sandeep will not be in T-10. Paras has joined different roles in Team Abu Dhabi. This is the second foreign league for Sompal. He had previously played in the Canada Global T20 League. Dipendra Airy's name is also in the draft alon

The once-pristine mountain environment of Mount Everest is now littered with everything from oxygen cannisters to the bodies of climbers. And microplastics. Key points: Researchers found microplastics at all 19 sites sampled on Mount Everest This is the highest altitude microplastics have been discovered at The source is believed to be climbers, however atmospheric transfer can't be ruled out Scientists studying plastic pollution on Mount Everest have discovered microplastics as high as 8,440 metres up the mountain, just 408 metres below the peak. This is the first time researchers have looked at microplastics on the mountain, and they were surprised to find them at such high altitudes. The results of their study are published today in  One Earth. "These are the highest microplastics [ever] discovered so far," lead author Imogen Napper from the University of Plymouth said in a statement. "It means that microplastics have been found from the depths of the