Akram marries Ausssie girlfriend
LAHORE: Former Pakistan cricket captain WasimAkram on Wednesday announced he had married his Australian girlfriend, Shaniera Thompson, after clerics contended it was “sinful” for the couple to live together without being wed.
“I married Shaniera i n Lahore last week in a simple ceremony and this is the start of a new life for me, my wife and for my kids,” Akram was quoted as saying by a local journalist.
Akram, 47, proposed to the 30-year-old former public
relations consultant last month and they married on August 12 in the presence of immediate family, sources said.
“Last week, Akram married Shaniera during a gathering at a farm house on Defence Road. Only family members participated in the ceremony,” a source told PTI.
Akram?s father is unwell and wanted to see his son married again, the sources said. His first wife Huma died in 2009.
Thompson came to Karachi earlier this month and flew to Lahore to meet Akram’s father.
Since Thompson arrived in Pakistan about three weeks ago, some clerics criticised Akram for spending “days and nights” with his fianc? under one roof without getting married.
“This is un-Islamic and sinful. Akram should separate himself from her and make living arrangements for her somewhere else till he gets married to her,? Mufti Abdul Qayyum told reporters.
Sections of the media too questioned Akram about thematter.
Sources said that since Akram had made up his mind to marry Thompson, he wasted no more time in tying the knot in order to stave off criticism from hardliners. Reports said Thompson had converted to Islam and was learning Urdu.
Akram’s first wife Huma died of multiple organ failure in
a hospital i n Chennai in October 2009. She was being flown in an air ambulance t o Singapore when her condition worsened and the aircraft had to land in Chennai. He had two sons with Huma RYDER AIMING FOR SUMMER RETURN TO NZ SIDE SYDNEY: New Zealand cricketer Jesse Ryder has said that he still wants to play for New Zealand this summer despite being handed a six-month ban after failing a drug test.
According to the Sydney Morning Herald, the troubled cricketer, who has fought with alcohol problems and spent two days in a coma in March after being assaulted outside a Christchurch bar, took a weight-loss product, which contained a banned substance.
The Sports Tribunal of New Zealand banned Ryder for six months from April 19, which means he is free to play for his new provincial side Otago from October 19, the report said.
Ryder said that he had been through a lot this year and the main goal for him this summer was to get back into the Black Caps side.
The player recently had a meeting with Black Caps coach Mike Hesson about coming back, and was in contact with skipper Brendon McCullum, the report added. HAYDEN LASHES OUT AT ARTHUR FOR OZ Former Australian cricketer Matthew Hayden has hit out at sacked coach Mickey Arthur and said that he has no right to have an opinion on the culture of the national side.
According to news.com.au, Arthur had recently admitted that he lost former vice-captain Shane Watson after the infamous homework saga in India, and said several young members of the Test team had big egos despite not being great players.
However, it was Arthur’s comments about the influence of ex-players in the current Aussie dressing room that really got Hayden angry, the report said.
Hayden said that the country was, in fact, an old boys’ club sine there were more than 450 players that had played for the country.
The former cricketer said that Australia was proud of its culture and proud of its community of cricketers. Arthur was sacked just two weeks before the start of the Ashes series, with a lack of discipline amongst the squad seen as one of the key reasons for his removal, the report added.