Cricket Cafe

Pietersen, Flintoff fetch record prices at IPL

2009-02-06T22:39:00.002+05:00

England players Kevin Pietersen and Andrew Flintoff fetched $1.55 million each at the Indian Premier League auction Friday, setting a record for the highest amount paid for a player in the Twenty20 competition.

Flintoff was snapped up by Chennai Super Kings, which last year set the previous record of 1.5 million for Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni. Bangalore's Royal Challengers secured Pietersen.

Bangalore's owner Vijay Mallya said he was prepared to pay more for Pietersen.

England players were not involved in the auction last year. South African J.P. Duminy was sold for $950,000 to Mumbai Indians, more than three times his reserve price.

Australia paceman Shaun Tait was the first player auctioned, going to defending champions Rajasthan Royals for $375,000. The IPL season begins on April 10.

Hayden announces retirement

2009-01-13T21:40:00.001+05:00

Senior Australian opening batsman Matthew Hayden announced his immediate retirement from representative cricket at a press conference here on Tuesday.

Hayden's anticipated announcement at the age of 37 followed a poor run of form in Australia's recent losing Test series against India and South Africa.

The aggressive left-hander leaves after 103 Tests with 8,625 runs at a batting average of 50.74.

He hit 30 centuries, which ranks him sixth all-time behind Indian Sachin Tendulkar's 41.

"Today I'm announcing my retirement from representative cricket, effective immediately,"

Hayden told the press conference.

"I know that now is the time to move on.

"I am retiring from cricket, not from life, there is still so much that I want to achieve and contribute to the community."

Family time, cooking, fishing and spending time outdoors were among the passions Hayden said he wanted to pursue.

Hayden joins celebrated cricketers Shane Warne, Glenn McGrath, Justin Langer and Adam Gilchrist, who have retired from international cricket in the last two years.

Amjad Khan called up by England

2008-12-07T21:29:00.000+05:00

Kent fast-bowler Amjad Khan has been called up by England to replace the injured Ryan Sidebottom in the squad for the scheduled two-Test tour of India.

Born in Denmark, Khan will join Kevin Pietersen's squad if they decide later on Sunday to return to India following last month's terrorist attacks in Mumbai. That decision will follow scrutiny of the latest security reports from the country.

Yorkshire leg-spinner Adil Rashid will also travel with the squad but has not officially been added to it.

Sidebottom is not among those currently preparing in Abu Dhabi for a series set to start in Chennai on Thursday, having suffered a side strain during the aborted one-day leg of the pre-Christmas tour.

Khan, 28, was awarded British citizenship in 2006 - following a breakthrough season for Kent a year earlier.

ICC chief urges fans to support India-England Tests

2008-12-07T21:26:00.000+05:00

International Cricket Council (ICC) president David Morgan has urged fans to join him in attending the upcoming India-England Test series and so demonstrate that "we will not be dictated to by terrorists".

The future of the two-Test campaign was called into question following last month's terror attacks in Mumbai which left 172 people dead.

England cut short the one-day international section of their tour to fly home but have since gone out to a training camp in Abu Dhabi, where they are due to make a definitive decision on whether to return to India on Sunday.

The first Test is due to start in Chennai on December 11 and the second in Mohali on December 19 after officials switched the venues from Ahmedabad and Mumbai respectively in response to the attacks.

Morgan, a former chairman of the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), said in a statement issued from the ICC's Dubai headquarters: "ICC chief executive Haroon Lorgat will be in Chennai for the first Test and I will be in Mohali to show the ICC's support for India and the two teams.

"I would urge as many supporters as possible to join us during the series, not only because they will see two excellent sides playing Test cricket, the pinnacle of our sport, but also because by doing so we will demonstrate that we will not be dictated to by terrorists,"

the Welshman added.

"I believe the Test series will be a clear demonstration of the resilience of the Indian people and the game of cricket and an illustration that the game has the ability to bring people together."

Morgan insisted he was sensitive to safery concerns, saying:

"Safety and security of the players, officials and spectators must be the key consideration at all times.

"But if security assessments indicate that the measures put in place are appropriate then we - players, officials and all stakeholders - have a duty to ensure cricket takes place,"

he added.

"I have been in regular contact with both the president of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) Shashank Manohar and Giles Clarke, the England and Wales Cricket Board's chairman, and it is clear they both want to play the matches if at all possible.

"The players have also demonstrated an acceptance of their role in trying to put a smile back on the face of a country that has undergone a horrendous experience."

England cancels India tour

2008-11-27T22:45:00.002+05:00

England has canceled its cricket tour of India in the wake of terror attacks that have killed at least 101 people in Mumbai.

While the English squad remained in Cuttack, where it lost Wednesday night to go 5-0 down in a seven match limited-overs series, England and Wales Cricket Board officials met Thursday morning with the Board of Control for Cricket in India.

The Indian news agency reported that the tour, which still had two limited-overs internationals and two test matches remaining on the itinerary _, had been canceled.

A high-ranking BCCI official, who asked not to be identified because he is not authorized to comment to the media, told the media that the tour had been canceled and a formal statement would be released later Thursday.

The Champions League Twenty20 tournament, due to start next Wednesday in Mumbai, could also be scrapped. Officials were not available to comment, but Australian and English provincial clubs had already postponed leaving for India.

India cancels T20 Champions League after attacks in Mumbai

2008-11-27T22:43:00.001+05:00

The inaugural six-million dollar Twenty20 Champions League has been called off because of the deadly attacks in Mumbai, organisers said on Thursday.

The tournament, featuring the top eight Twenty20 domestic teams from Australia, South Africa, India, England and Pakistan, was due to be held from December 3-10 in Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore.

"We held consultations among all the stakeholders including the founding members, the participating teams and members of the Governing Council after the unfortunate terrorist attacks in Mumbai on Wednesday night,"

League chairman Lalit Modi said in a statement.

"It was agreed that in the best interests of all concerned, the inaugural edition of the Champions League should be postponed."

"We very strongly condemn this dastardly and heinous criminal act of a few which has resulted in the loss of precious lives and injury to hundreds.

"We offer our heartfelt condolences to the bereaved families and we are with them in their hour of grief."

Modi did not say when the tournament will be played.

The teams taking part were Victoria and Western Australia (Australia), Dolphins and Titans (South Africa), Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals (India), Middlesex (England) and Sialkot Stallions (Pakistan).

The touring England team had earlier on Thursday cancelled the last two One-day Internationals of their seven-game series against India and were in talks with Indian officials over next month's two Test matches.

India's Laxman vows 'special' 100th Test

2008-11-06T10:52:00.000+05:00

Indian batsman Venkatsai Laxman on Wednesday said he was hoping for a "special" performance in his 100th Test against Australia, the team he has smashed more centuries past than any other.

Laxman has scored six of his 13 hundreds against Australia, including two double-centuries, and is only the second Indian after Sachin Tendulkar to have made more than 2,000 runs against them.

"I have always enjoyed playing against them (Australia),"

said Laxman, who on Thursday will become the eighth Indian to play 100 Tests.

"It gives you a lot of satisfaction to do well against the top side in the world. They have always been been number one since I started playing international cricket.

"It's been an amazing journey. It's a great moment for me and for all the people associated in this journey of mine. I hope I can make it special."

Laxman's liking for the Australian bowling began in 2000 when he hammered a robust 167 in Sydney for his maiden Test hundred.

His best came the following year at Kolkata when he hit 281 under pressure to turn the second Test against Steve Waugh's Australia upside down, eventually setting up India's win after the follow-on.

He looks at his fluent best against Australia, having been involved in four massive partnerships against them.

The middle-order batsman put on 376 with Rahul Dravid in 2001 (Kolkata), 353 with Tendulkar in 2004 (Sydney), 303 with Dravid in 2003 (Adelaide) and 278 with Gautam Gambhir last month in Delhi.

Laxman, 34, is a spectators' delight when on song, with timing being his hallmark. His wristy shots and impressive footwork have often reduced the opposition to a state of helplessness.

Yet, he has never felt as secure as his renowned middle-order teammates -- Tendulkar, Dravid and Sourav Ganguly -- since making his Test debut in 1996 against South Africa at home.

He was often criticised for not converting solid starts into big innings in the early stages of his career, taking three years to score his first Test century.

Laxman was also pushed up and down the batting order in the initial years, his first hundred coming as an opener.

He was upset when the media reported after a Test series defeat in Sri Lanka in August that it was time for veterans, including Anil Kumble, Dravid, Tendulkar and Ganguly, to make their retirement plans.

"It hurts when people criticise,"

Laxman said after scoring a double-century in the third Test in Delhi last week.

"Don't over-respect us, but we don't want people downgrading our contributions for so many years. Everyone keeps advising us to retire, but each of us is mature and responsible enough to make his own decision."

Kumble retired after the last Test while Ganguly has already announced he will quit after Thursday's match.

The hosts lead 1-0 in the four-Test series following their 320-run win in the second match in Mohali. The Tests in Bangalore and Delhi were drawn.

Kumble retires from Test cricket

2008-11-03T21:01:00.001+05:00

The third Test between India and Australia ended in a tame draw here on Sunday but not before the host captain Anil Kumble announced his retirement from Test cricket.

The Indians declared their second innings on 208-5 to set the tourists an improbable target of 245 from 23 overs.

The visitors, who made 577 all out in their first innings, were 31-0 when the teams decided to call off play with 15 overs still remaining in the day.

Openers Matthew Hayden (16) and Simon Katich (14) were at the crease when stumps were drawn.
The Border-Gavaskar series, which India lead 1-0 after winning the second game in Mohali, heads to Nagpur for the fourth and final match from November 6-10. The opener in Bangalore ended in a draw.
With the action on the field being only of academic interest, Kumble, 38, announced he was quitting the Test game with immediate effect. He had already given up one-day cricket.

The leg-spinner, who bowled with 11 stitches in his finger in Australia's first innings, said he made the decision because he knew he would not be fully fit for the Nagpur game.

"The injury helped me take this decision,"

he said after the match.

"I wanted to quit after the series. But after the injury here, I knew I would not be 100 percent fit for Nagpur and I did not want to let my team down.

"Ideally I would have liked to end with a win here but I am confident of sealing the series in Nagpur,"

said Kumble, who was given a lap of honour by his teammates at the Feroz Shah Kotla ground.

Kumble did get a chance to bowl one final time following his surprise announcement half an hour after tea.

But he could not add to his 619 Test wickets and his last ball in 132 Tests was a full toss that was driven straight down the ground for four by Hayden.

The day had draw written on it after Australia failed to spark the collapse that they had hoped for.
They picked up two wickets in the first session and one in the third but India's talented middle order, led by Venkatsai Laxman and Sachin Tendulkar, batted cautiously on a pitch that remained good for batting on all five days.

Resuming at their overnight score of 43-2, the hosts lost an out-of-sorts Rahul Dravid (11) early when he dragged a Brett Lee in-swinger onto his stumps for his second failure in the match.

Tendulkar and Gautam Gambhir (36) put 40 runs on for the third wicket before the opener was unlucky to be adjudged leg-before off paceman Mitchell Johnson as TV replays showed the ball would have missed leg stump.

Laxman welcomed Johnson, celebrating his 27th birthday, with a boundary, prompting the bowler to hurl a few angry words at him.

The right-hander also hit a classic straight drive off White besides a cover driven boundary off Clarke and was named man of the match, remaining not out on 59.

Three nations plan joint IPL spin-off

2008-10-24T19:42:00.001+06:00

Australia, New Zealand and South Africa have confirmed they are planning a multi-nation franchise-owned Twenty20 tournament based on the IPL, which they hope to launch by 2011. Although the competition is still in the planning stages, the idea is to have city-based teams and schedule it at a time that would allow Indian stars to take part.

The concept will involve two separate conferences - an eastern division based in Africa and a western division in Australasia - and the top sides from each will progress to the finals. It will not replace the existing domestic Twenty20 competitions; instead it is most likely to be held in October with each nation free to also retain their state- or provincial-based tournaments.

The organisers want the competition to feed teams into the Champions League Twenty20. The southern hemisphere-based tournament, which as yet has no name, is another indication of the growing dominance of Twenty20.

The first season of the IPL was massively popular this year in India, where there is also the unsanctioned ICL competition, while England will soon be playing for US$20 million in the Stanford Super Series. Peter Young, Cricket Australia's spokesman, conceded it will be a challenge to squeeze the new tournament in but the organisers were confident it could be achieved.

"It'll be short, sharp and very focused but the exact number of games is yet to be determined,"

Young said.

"Strategically we see that there's a finite amount of Twenty20 cricket that's likely to be ideal, with a number of major global blocks."

There is still a way to go before the finer details can be finalised, including the number of teams. There is also potential for the African conference to feature sides not based in South Africa and for the Australasian division to have teams from outside Australia and New Zealand. Domestic players are likely to feature heavily but the three boards are keen to ensure international stars, from India or England, for example, take part.

"Gathering a large number of the world's marquee players into a single competition over a compressed time-frame can capture the public imagination and create new audiences for cricket,"

Justin Vaughan, New Zealand Cricket's chief executive, said.

"The challenge for the three southern-hemisphere boards is to create the stage for that opportunity to be captured in a way which complements international cricket."

Cricket Australia has been considering a franchise-based Twenty20 system for some time. James Sutherland, the chief executive of Cricket Australia, said it had become clear that to reach a critical mass, a regional approach was needed.

"The idea developed out of blue-sky Twenty20 thinking over the past 18 months,"

Sutherland said. "Regional-level Twenty20 cricket played at the level immediately below international cricket has shown it can capture the public imagination and create new audiences for cricket.

"But as we have seen in India, it needs critical mass to generate major public excitement. The regional concept we have been charged with developing provides that critical mass."

Cricket Australia is also keen to increase the international focus of its state-based Twenty20 tournament. From 2009-10 it will encourage the six state teams to recruit star players from overseas.

Shakib Al Hasan sets new Bangladesh Test innings record

2008-10-20T11:35:00.000+06:00

Left-arm spinner Shakib Al Hasan recorded the best bowling figures in an innings for Bangladesh in all Test cricket when he took 7-36 against New Zealand here on Sunday.

The 21-year-old bowled 25.5 overs in an extrordinary display to help Bangladesh dismiss New Zealand for 171 in their first innings on the third day of the opening Test at the Divisional Stadium here.

Bangladesh had made 245 in their first innings.

The feat surpassed the previous best bowling figures in an innings of 7-95, also taken by a left-arm spinner, Enamul Haque, against Zimbabwe at M.A. Aziz Stadium in Chittagong in 2005.

England's off-spinner Jim Laker leads the chart of best figures in an innings since Test cricket began in 1876, with 10-53 against Australia at Old Trafford in Manchester in 1956.

Here are the best innings figures for all ten Test playing countries:
(bowler's name, figures, for, against, venue, year)

J. Laker 10-53 England v Australia Manchester 1956
A. Kumble 10-74 India v Pakistan Delhi 1999
M. Muralitharan 9-51 Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe Kandy 2002
R. Hadlee 9-52 New Zealand v Australia Brisbane 1985
Abdul Qadir 9-56 Pakistan v England Lahore 1987
J. Noreiga 9-95 West Indies v India Port of Spain 1971
H. Tayfield 9-113 South Africa v England Johannesburg 1957
A. Mailey 9-121 Australia v England Melbourne 1921
P. Strang 8-109 Zimbabwe v New Zealand Bulawayo 2000
Shakib Al Hasan 7-36 Bangladesh v New Zealand Chittagong 2008.

West Indies to host World Twenty20 in 2010

2008-10-18T20:11:00.002+06:00

Minutes after speaking about maintaining the "primacy of test cricket", the International Cricket Council chief executive Haroon Lorgat announced a World Twenty20 would be staged in the West Indies in 2010. A similar tournament will be held in England next June before the rescheduled Champions Trophy is due to start in Pakistan next September.

"There was a choice that the board had between holding a Champions Trophy or Twenty20 and it was decided it would make more sense, and get a better spread of events, for that to be a Twenty20,"

Lorgat said. After the 2009 Champions Trophy, the tournament will not be played again until at least 2012 because the World Cup is being staged in India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh in 2011.

Concerns have grown over the future of Tests with the emergence of Twenty20, which is quickly gaining in popularity. Lorgat, who attended a full ICC board meeting in Dubai this week, said the world's cricket boards "respect the primacy of test cricket" and the ICC was considering its position on a number of issues involving the abbreviated format.

The unofficial Indian Cricket League met with the Board of Control for Cricket in India, the owner of the sanctioned Indian Premier League, this week but the talks failed. The ICC will wait for an official report from the BCCI before considering an application from the ICL to become an official competition.

Players in the event, which is currently being held in India, are banned from representing their home domestic and international teams.

"We are going through a process and part of that process is to wait for a report from the BCCI and we will consider that report and deal with that application,"

Lorgat said.

The ICC is also involved in "on-going discussions" over Sri Lanka's in-doubt tour of England next May after a US$70m proposal from the BCCI for Sri Lanka's players to appear in the IPL instead of the Test tour.

"What we are seeing is the challenge between the way players want to be in terms of their earnings, the potential to earn the most while they have a window in their own careers,"

Lorgat said.

"It's clear what the position of the Sri Lanka cricket board is, they want to see their team to tour England to go through. Equally the England cricket board is keen to see it go ahead."

Lorgat said a "window" for the IPL competition, which would allow players to switch between international and Twenty20 duties, had not been discussed by the ICC.

"We are waiting to see how it all unfolds,"

he said.

"This is the first occasion we have this challenge with the Sri Lanka players. When we do a complete review of the Future Tours Programme that will be up for discussion."

Crowds in Mohali for the second Test between India and Australia have been poor and Lorgat said the attendances were a worry, especially on Friday when Sachin Tendulkar became the leading run-scorer in Test cricket.

"Absolutely, all of us who came through yesterday were quite concerned at the lack of spectators,"

he said.

"It is something we will have to look at very seriously."

Lorgat also said the ICC would be more careful over its handling of the 2009 Champions Trophy following the postponement of this year's event due to safety and security concerns in Pakistan.

"We want to make sure long before the September and October dates next year that we make a final choice on the security situation,"

he said.

Bangladesh recall Saleh for New Zealand Test

2008-10-15T19:48:00.001+06:00

Bangladesh Tuesday recalled Rajin Saleh to their 13-man squad for the two-Test series against New Zealand after the middle-order batsman spent a year in the wilderness.

The 24-year-old Saleh, who last played against Sri Lanka in 2007, was regarded as one of the finest Test batsmen in the country during his 22-match Test career before he lost form.

The first Test starts here Friday. The second Test will be played at Dhaka from October 25.

Bangladesh have also included left-arm spinner Mehrab Hossain and uncapped rookie paceman Mahbubul Alam in an attempt to balance the bowling attack.

The home team lost the three-match one-day series 2-1.

Squad: Mohammad Ashraful (capt), Mashrafe Mortaza, Tamim Iqbal, Zunaed Siddique, Rajin Saleh, Shakib Al Hasan, Mehrab Hossain, Naeem Islam, Mushfiqur Rahim, Abdur Razzak, Syed Rasel, Shahadat Hossain, Mahbubul Alam.

Canada v Zimbabwe, T20 Canada, King City

2008-10-12T19:45:00.000+06:00

Zimbabwe 135 for 9 (Taibu 37, Baidwan 3-27) tied with

Canada 135 for 7 and won bowl-out 3-1

Zimbabwe earned a win they barely deserved, claiming a 3-1 victory in a bowl-out, after scrambling to a tie against Canada as the second day of T20 Canada tournament at King City produced a thrilling game. Zimbabwe, who slumped to 61 for 5 in the 11th over, recovered through a stand of 53 between Tatenda Taibu and Elton Chigumbura, but still needed 10 off the last over. Harvir Baidwan took two wickets in two balls, but Prosper Utseya and Tawanda Mupariwa squeezed nine off the next four balls, with Utseya run out off the final delivery trying to win the match.

Under the regulations, Twenty20 matches can't be tied in tournaments so it was time for cricket's version of a penalty shoot-out. Baidwan, so nearly the match-winner, missed with his effort and so too did Sunil Dhaniram. Abdool Samad then overstepped with his delivery after Zimbabwe's bowlers hit the stumps three times. The visitors could breathe a sigh of relief, but they hardly deserved their escape route

Twenty20 again proved how it levels the playing field between teams, but Canada didn't quite have the experience or skill to hold on at the end. A few misfields came into their game and occasionally bowlers lost their nerve, but to force their way into a position where they could even contemplate victory should be a huge boost to their confidence. It also shows, once again, how far Zimbabwe have sunk. In truth they are barely the standard of a mid-ranking Associate.

Defending 135, Canada made regular inroads with local hero, Rizwan Cheema, claiming two wickets in his first over to put then on their way. Baidwan almost succeeded in the final over, but was let down by some sloppy fielding after removing Timycen Maruma and Taibu to catches at long-on. However, a crucial mistake off the penultimate ball gave Utseya a boundary and he gained one off the final ball.

After the disappointing attendances on the opening day the ground was around half full as 5000 fans, mostly waiting for the second match involving Sri Lanka and Pakistan, made their way down on a chilly autumnal morning. By the time Canada were taking out Zimbabwe's middle order there was plenty of cheering and flag-waving to keep them warm and, although the result they wanted slipped away, performances like this are what Canadian cricket needs.

In the end, though, Zimbabwe had just enough thanks to two of their more successful players. Chigumbura and Taibu hauled Zimbabwe from the brink of an embarrassing defeat by adding 53 in 5.5 overs; when Chigumbura came in his team were 61 for 5 with the game slipping away.

Cheema, to the delight of the local supporters, claimed a double-wicket maiden in his first over as Hamilton Masakadza chipped to midwicket and Chamu Chibhabha was brilliantly caught by Baidwan, who then struck with the ball to trap Stuart Matsikenyeri lbw. However, as Chigumbura and Taibu steadied the innings Zimbabwe appeared to be back in control only for Henry Osinde to remove Chigumbura.

It was down to Taibu, and when he fell to the second ball of the final the game was Canada's for the taking. But in such a tight match one slip can make the difference, and so it proved.

Canada battled impressively throughout and reached 135, a total that is proving to be about par in late-season conditions. Cheema livened the crowd going by slamming 23 off 11 balls with two sixes, one over long-on and the other over deep midwicket. As quickly as Cheema got going, though, he was gone when he edged Chigumbura. Zimbabwe clawed back the run rate when Samad was run out towards the end of the fielding restrictions.

Canada were scoring at 10 an over, but it quickly sank against the spinners with Ray Price conceding three runs off his first three overs. He also bowled Mohammad Iqbal with an arm ball and when Dhaniram was run out, Canada were floundering on 78 for 6.

However they didn't give in, far from it. Karun Jethi and Balaji Rao hit useful twenties towards the end - Rao twice managing to clear the boundary - and it was enough to give Zimbabwe a huge scare. It was the type of match the tournament needed.

Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe, T20 Canada, King City

2008-10-11T22:09:00.001+06:00

Sri Lanka 107 for 5 (Dilshan 33, Price 2-9) beat

Zimbabwe 106 for 8 (Taibu 45*, Mendis 3-15) by five wickets

Sri Lanka opened the T20 Canada tournament in King City with a five-wicket win against Zimbabwe, but were made to work hard chasing 107 in a match reduced to 17 overs per side by early-morning rain. Ray Price bowled a superb economical spell of left-arm spin, and a couple of run-outs increased the pressure, however Sri Lanka's middle order completed the chase with an over to spare in front of a few hundreds spectators.

Tillakaratne Dilshan and Mahela Udawatte began briskly, adding 36 in four overs, before Udawatte was caught behind. Price caused problems from the start and debutant Jeevantha Kulatunga struggled for 20 balls - and was dropped at deep midwicket - until being bowled for 8. A mild dose of panic hit the middle order as Thilina Kandamby was run out trying for a quick single, followed next ball by captain Mahela Jayawardene who fell without facing. It's a long way to come to not face a ball.

Dilshan was playing neatly, but in the next over he became Price's second scalp and suddenly Sri Lanka's reply was far from smooth at 77 for 5. It was proving tough to score against the spinners, while there was a hint of rustiness from Sri Lanka who only arrived in Canada two days ago.

However, no one could quite match Price's effort and when he finished his four-over spell the pressure was released. Chamara Kapugedera and Farveez Maharoof both hit sixes to calm the nerves and the sixth-wicket pair finished the match with an over to spare.

Zimbabwe's efforts in the field were commendable, but their batting let them down after a delayed start due to a damp outfield. Sri Lanka's bowlers proved a tough proposition with Maharoof nipping out two with the new ball, Thilan Thushara a brace in the middle and Ajantha Mendis - on his Twenty20 debut - three at the end.

Tatenda Taibu, the former captain, offered the most prolonged resistance as he finished on 45 off 47 deliveries to push Zimbabwe into three figures. He was at the crease in the fourth over after Maharoof removed both openers and Thushara, the left-arm quick, further dented Zimbabwe's progress with a tight spell of 2 for 19.

Mendis has proved too good for far better players than Zimbabwe's lower order and he helped himself to a few easy pickings. Elton Chigumbura was caught behind and Prosper Utseya was stranded by Mendis' carrom ball, which turns away from the right-handers. Sri Lanka weren't at their best, but it was still enough to clear the first hurdle.

India v Australia, 1st Test, Bangalore, 2nd day

2008-10-10T17:39:00.000+06:00

India 68 for 0 (Sehwag 43*, Gambhir 20*) trail

Australia 430 (Hussey 146, Ponting 123, Katich 66, Zaheer 5-91, Ishant 4-77) by 362 runs

There is a wall in Bangalore that celebrates Rahul Dravid's immovability at the crease. In the city's Chinnaswamy Stadium, Michael Hussey built an impenetrable barrier of his own with a supremely focused innings of 146 that ensured an impressive total for Australia on the second day. By the close, Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir had made the visitors' 430 look a little less daunting and with a solid construction of their own reduced the deficit to 362.

It was a promising start from the openers, particularly the confident Sehwag, but the challenge will come on the third day. India will need to make certain their own wall is reinforced and on a pitch that has held up but is threatening to crack like a dry river bed they could also some putty to fill the widening gaps. Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma did what they could to make use of the variable surface but there is no doubt Australia had the best of the conditions by batting first.

Still, the visitors needed to put their plans into action on the field. After Ponting had led the way on the first day, Hussey followed on the second with his ninth Test century, an innings of intense concentration. It ended a record streak of low scores for Hussey, who entered the game fresh from five Test innings without a half-century, the longest such spell in his remarkable career.

He has spent the past few months insisting he was unhappy with some minor aspects of his technique but any deficiencies must have been ironed out during the Australian winter. Perhaps his least convincing shot was the one that brought him to triple figures from 188 balls, an inside-edge off Ishant that flew past the stumps for four. Hussey's landmark was a bad sign for India; Australia have won every Test in which Hussey has made a century.

His judgement was excellent. A pair of drives sailed through the off side off consecutive deliveries when Zaheer overpitched and a perfectly placed drive against Anil Kumble bisected the mid-off and extra cover, who weren't that far apart. He faced 189 dot balls, patiently waiting for chances to find gaps or hit over the top, like when he launched a safe six over midwicket off Harbhajan Singh.

He had some assistance from India's fieldsmen - another four came when his drive went through the legs of a sluggish Sourav Ganguly at mid-off. That was the most conspicuous fielding error but just as maddening for India was the ease with which Hussey and Brad Haddin turned the strike over during an important 91-run partnership, repeatedly pinching singles to fielders who were either flat-footed, placed too deep, or both.

The sixth-wicket stand between Hussey and Haddin came at a critical time; Ishant had just picked up Shane Watson cheaply in the fourth over of the day and at 259 for 5 there was a risk Australia would waste Ponting's strong start. Haddin hasn't struck a fifty in his short Test career but five times in his four Tests he has helped steady the lower middle-order with half-century partnerships.

The personal milestone again eluded Haddin, who had 33 when he fell for Ishant's slower ball. Haddin was so surprised by the offspin-style delivery from Ishant, who had not used it so far during the day, that he shaped to drive, hesitated, and then went through with the shot, which lobbed to VVS Laxman at short cover. Ishant decided that he was on a good thing and lured the debutant Cameron White (6) into a similarly fatal prod to cover from a near identical ball.

For most of the first two sessions Ishant looked by far the most dangerous bowler. He steamed in enthusiastically and moved the ball subtly both ways, sometimes dug in a short one and at other times used the interesting surface to keep balls low. He ended up with 4 for 77 but it was Zaheer who finished with the best figures, 5 for 91, after an unexpectedly vivid spell of reverse-swing bowling just after tea.

Zaheer had not been particularly threatening until he suddenly started moving the ball about following the break and he crashed into the stumps of Brett Lee, Mitchell Johnson and finally Hussey within the space of seven balls. The wickets had to come from Ishant and Zaheer as the two spinners struggled for impact despite probing for the footmarks. Kumble returned 0 for 129, the second time this year he has conceded a triple-figure tally without a wicket, while Harbhajan could not add to his first-day removal of Ponting.

That the innings ended with a couple of hours to play was a blessing for India, whose openers enjoyed the time to settle in against a pace attack that was taking time to find its rhythm. The third day will provide an intriguing test for the Fab Four, including Sachin Tendulkar, who needs 77 runs to break Brian Lara's all-time Test record. On a pitch likely to become more difficult the main thing could be to ensure that Dravid is at his most wall-ey.

BCCI’s 10-year agreement for $70 million with Sri Lankan board

2008-10-10T17:38:00.000+06:00

Getting the benefit of the weakness of the Sri Lankan cricket board facing financial crisis nowadays, the Board of Cricket Control in India (BCCI) has finalized a 10-year agreement with the Sri Lankan board for an amount of $70 million.

Under this agreement, the Sri Lankan players are bound to play in the Indian Premier League (IPL) and the Champions Trophy.

Sri Lanka’s ministry of sports has directed the cricket board to release the players for participating in the IPL and the reason is the attractive $70 million deal offered by the BCCI to the Sri Lankan board.

Sri Lankan board agreed to sign this deal due to its monetary crisis but this deal has left the question mark regarding its international cricket.

Sri Lanka has to tour England from May 21 to 30 for an two-Test series but now it seems impossible according to an official of the Sri Lankan board.

The English Cricket Board (ECB) has not given any indication for Sri Lanka’s playing with its junior team.

However, Sri Lankan board has offered the ECB to hold three One-day matches after May 25.

Bangladesh v New Zealand, 1st ODI, Mirpur

2008-10-10T17:36:00.000+06:00

Bangladesh 202 for 3 (Junaid 85, Ashraful 60*) beat

New Zealand 201 for 9 (Oram 57, Mortaza 4-44) by seven wickets

A determined Bangladesh recorded their first-ever win over New Zealand in emphatic manner on Thursday, making light of their player exodus to the ICL. The loss was a huge blow for New Zealand, who needed a clean sweep to take second spot in the rankings. Junaid Siddique, along with Mohammad Ashraful, ensured Bangladesh capitalise on the momentum given by Mashrafe Mortaza's bowling which helped restrict New Zealand to a modest target.

It was a significant victory for the hosts given the circumstances leading into the series but the challenge seemed to have inspired Ashraful and his team, who played sensibly with both bat and ball.

Junaid remained calm despite the fall of Tamim Iqbal, his fellow opener, in the fifth over. Even if Bangladesh's run-rate - the runs coming mainly in singles - was similar to New Zealand's after 15 overs (New Zealand were 62 while Bangladesh were 55) the hosts had lost one wicket compared to New Zealand's four. Junaid found good support in Mushfiqur Rahim, who brought up the team's 50 with a six over long-on off Tim Southee. Mushfiqur scored a useful 30 before going for another big hit, this time failing to clear deep midwicket.

During the New Zealand tour earlier this year Junaid had failed to consistently get off to good starts but today he showed he'd learned from past mistakes. He got lucky, too, on 46, when Scott Styris failed to collect a return catch. He went on to finish his half-century with a single and grew in confidence especially in the company of his captain. In the process he scored more runs than he had in his career: before this match, his ninth, his tally was 62.

Ashraful had been condemned for both his leadership and below-par batting form on the recent tour of Australia. Today he displayed a grim attitude and bolstered the good start provided by his young partner. When Daniel Vettori brought himself on in the third Powerplay - taken by Bangladesh under the new rules - in the 39th over, Ashraful immediately pulled him for a four past square leg and then stepped out for a six over long-on. Bangladesh had reached the 100-mark after 28 overs; ten overs later, they had piled up 60 more. The 109-run partnership was the highest of the day and overshadowed Jacob Oram's hard labour in the morning.

Oram had taken New Zealand to safety after they found themselves in a dangerous position at 79 for 6. Though he took a while to adapt to the low bounce and slow pace of the wicket, he managed to steadily regain the momentum. He had help from Vettori and their partnership of 70 for the seventh wicket rescued New Zealand.

For Bangladesh, Mortaza led from the front, pitching it accurately and taking advantage of the early movement after Ashraful had opted to field. Sensing the opposition batsmen's rustiness, since their only warm-up game was washed out, Mortaza hardly gave the batsmen any room in his unbroken spell of eight overs that fetched him three wickets.

New Zealand failed to benefit from any of the fielding restrictions or from the new Powerplay rule - they managed 55 in the first and then slumped in the second when they lost three wickets for seven runs. The final Powerplay, to be decided by the batting side, was taken in the 38th over but only 26 runs resulted off that.

Bangladesh had beaten New Zealand in the warm-up game during the 2007 World Cup, after which they recorded their best showing in the shorter version with four victories in the tournament. Today's win could be the start of another new chapter.

India v Australia, 1st Test, Bangalore, 1st day

2008-10-09T19:48:00.002+06:00

Australia 254 for 4 (Ponting 123, Katich 66, Zaheer 2-39) v India

Ricky Ponting erased 12 years of doubt over his record in India by striking a defiant century that gave Australia a marginal edge on the opening day in Bangalore. However, a late pair of wickets - Ponting departed for 123 and Zaheer Khan removed Michael Clarke in the final over - brought India back into the contest on what had until then been a frustrating day for the hosts. At the close Australia had reached 254 for 4 with Michael Hussey unbeaten on 46.

Zaheer's final strike - he trapped Clarke plumb lbw for 11 - gave India's fans cause to cheer on the first day of Test cricket in the country since the frenetic and colourful IPL. The contrast between the game's longest and shortest formats was stark as Australia's batsmen spent most of the day grinding down the India bowlers.

The man most responsible for the tough contest was Ponting, who in the lead-up declared that it was up to him to set the batting standard for Australia despite his disappointing average of 12.28 in his eight previous Tests in India. Australia's two most unflappable batsmen, Simon Katich and Michael Hussey, gave Ponting exactly the support he needed as he began to master his long-time tormentor Harbhajan Singh and his newer nemesis Ishant Sharma.

The two men bowled admirably and created opportunities but the pitch offered them little assistance. When Harbhajan finally picked up Ponting, lbw attempting to sweep a ball that might have missed leg stump, it came as a major relief to India, who had seen a few doses of luck go the other way throughout the day.

Katich and Hussey both prodded within centimetres of short leg against the spinners. Hussey got a thick outside edge off Kumble that Mahendra Singh Dhoni could not get his gloves to in time. Ponting survived a couple of tight lbw calls early and, after he had reached triple figures, was reprieved when replays suggested he was caught and bowled by Kumble off a delivery that was adjudged to be a bump ball.

But nothing should take away from Ponting's brilliance. Rarely can a 33-year-old veteran of more than 100 Tests claim to make a genuine career breakthrough, but Ponting's history in India was so poor that his century was exactly that.

The 2008-09 version of Ponting was more patient and less tentative than on his earlier trips. Until this innings, Harbhajan had an undeniable hold over Ponting and had dismissed him eight times in Tests. But Ponting watched the ball more closely this time and eliminated his bad habit of lunging outside off stump, a custom that had brought so many edges to Harbhajan over the years.

Instead, he trusted his judgement. He left the ball where appropriate and picked the right deliveries to hit; he twice lofted Harbhajan over wide midwicket for four. He also survived his mini-battles with Ishant, whose steepling bounce and tendency to jag the ball in had troubled Ponting earlier this year.

A couple of cracking back-foot drives through extra cover off Ishant were particularly impressive, as was the slap through cover off Zaheer that brought up his half-century. When the hundred arrived with a cut through point off Kumble, Ponting refused to smile, instead willing himself to go on with the innings.

The burden on Ponting would have increased considerably had he been regularly losing partners. Katich's determination was therefore a godsend for the captain. Katich was also under pressure to justify his selection after he was preferred over the incumbent Phil Jaques as Matthew Hayden's opening partner.

His experience and composure provided a calming influence on Ponting, who had joined him in the first over of the match following Hayden's early departure. Katich handled the first 15 deliveries from Harbhajan, which allowed Ponting time to get a look at his major danger without having to face up.

Katich was scratchy in the opening hour but as his confidence grew he worked easy runs through the leg side via his habit of walking across the stumps. His half-century came from 122 deliveries with a boundary forward of point off Harbhajan and it was the sort of watchful innings that made it hard to believe he had scored 184 in a single first-class session for New South Wales last season.

His stand with Ponting was worth 166 when Katich's concentration finally waned on 66 as he edged behind when Ishant seamed the ball away. It was a well-deserved reward for Ishant, who tried valiantly to extract anything from the benign surface. Nearly two full sessions had passed since India had had any reason to celebrate after Zaheer struck with the third ball of the match.

Hayden was given out caught behind off a Zaheer outswinger, although the ball appeared to miss the outside edge as bat hit pad. It was the perfect start for India, who had lost the toss and were staring at a long Australia batting order with the debutant and powerful striker Cameron White listed at No. 8.

The rest of the wickets did not come as swiftly. But India can be happy with their fightback after Ponting and Katich threatened to bat them into the ground. The first day has set up an intriguing battle; the second day could well be one of the most decisive of the series.

Ganguly to retire after Australia series

2008-10-08T01:18:00.001+06:00

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly said Tuesday he would retire from international cricket at the end of the upcoming four-Test series against Australia.

"This will be my last series,"

Ganguly, 36, told reporters after a training session ahead of the first Test starting in Bangalore on Thursday.

"Before coming here, I spoke to my team-mates and hopefully I will go out with a winning knock."

Ganguly was a surprise inclusion for the first two Tests after being ignored for the five-day domestic Irani Cup tie last month, regarded as a trial match for the series.

There was media speculation that the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) had struck a deal with Ganguly to give him a graceful exit, provided he agreed to quit after the series.

Ganguly denied the charge, but admitted he was disapointed at being left out for the Irani Cup, and surprised when the selectors picked him for the Tests.

"The speculation about my future has been going on for a long time, but I categorically deny any talk of a 'voluntary retirement scheme', which is what the media is calling it,"

he said.

"Such things do not happ?augh's world champion Australian side at home in 2001.

All seemed lost for India when Waugh's men wrapped up the first Test in Mumbai in three days and made the hosts follow on 274 runs behind in the second match in Kolkata's Eden Gardens.

India, however, conjured up a remarkable fightback on the back of Laxman's extraordinary 281 to win the Kolkata Test by 171 runs and then clinched the series with a two-wicket humdinger in Chennai.

Ganguly also captained India to the World Cup final in South Africa in 2003, where they lost to Australia.

High Court ruling leaves world's richest match in doubt

2008-10-08T01:15:00.000+06:00

Plans to stage the world's richest cricket match in Antigua next month were thrown into disarray on Tuesday when the West Indies Cricket Board lost a dispute with sponsors Digicel in London's High Court.

As a result of the defeat, the WICB was been told it will have to withdraw its sanction for the 20-million-dollar Twenty/20 match between the Stanford Superstars XI and England on November 1.

That could mean that either the match will have to be called off or that the Stanford Superstars side will be weakened by the withdrawal of most of the leading West Indian players.

The WICB had previously agreed to make all their players available to play for Texan billionaire Allen Stanford's select side.

But Digicel went to the High Court in a bid to establish that, as the contracted official sponsor of the WICB until 2012, it enjoyed commercial rights associated with a game that was, in effect, a West Indies XI v England.

The High Court upheld that argument and ruled that the Board would be in breach of its contract with Digicel if it sanctioned the match without granting commercial rights to its sponsor. The WICB was also ordered to pay costs.

WICB chief executive Dr Donald Peters confirmed the court defeat.

"We understand the arbitrator has ruled against the West Indies Cricket Board and at this point we are trying to evaluate what the terms of the ruling are before we make any statement,"

Peters told Britain's Press Association.

He added:

"As soon as my board has been informed there will be a statement."

The WICB and Digicel began arbitration proceedings under the auspices of the High Court last Friday but were unable to agree a negotiated resolution of the dispute.

In return for putting up the money for the match, Stanford 20/20 had wanted to find their own sponsors for the match, bypassing Digicel.

The fate of the match and several warm-up encounters involving Middlesex and Trinidad and Tobago, now depends on the outcome of negotiations between Digicel and Stanford over the next few days.

Sky Television, which is planning to broadcast the matches, said it was confident that a solution would be worked out to allow them to go ahead.

Indian batting power has been vanished: Boycott

2008-10-05T02:06:00.000+06:00

Geoff Boycott said that if the English team would go to India next month considering that it can only draw the series there then it would be in fools paradise.

He said that if the English team enters into the ground it would put India in trouble.

In his newspaper column, Boycott further wrote that many front-ranking Indian batsmen have passed through their prime and now they have no power like earlier.

The way in which Sri Lankan spinners Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis demolished Indian batting line shows that the batting power of India has been vanished and the series against Australia may be the last series for many Indian stalwarts.

Boycott wrote that Steve Harmisson and Flintoff would be main weapons of England team on the tour of India. Though Indian wickets are not more helpful to fast bowlers but the bowlers keeping line and length would certainly be successful.

ICC Confirm Rule Changes

2008-10-03T11:42:00.000+06:00

The International Cricket Council have confirmed that a series of amendments to playing conditions will take effect from tomorrow.

The ICC chief executives' committee ratified a number of proposals when they met at the end of June and all future Tests and one-day internationals will now be played under the revised laws.

The practice of players leaving the field for 'comfort breaks' to be replaced by substitute fielders has been legislated against, with clause two of the game's playing conditions explicitly stating that such reasons do not represent "wholly acceptable" justification.

Additionally, all catches can now be referred to the third umpire when the on-field officials are unsure as to the validity of an appeal.

The amended wording on disputed catches now reads:

"Should both umpires be unable to make a decision, they may consult by two-way radio with the third umpire as to whether there is any definitive evidence as to whether the catch was taken cleanly or not. Following such consultation, the final decision will be made and given by the bowler's-end umpire."

One-day captains have been handed another tactical decision to make, with one of the two options power-plays - periods of five overs when fielding restrictions are applied - to be picked by the batting side.

Current rules have a 10-over enforced power-play, with the fielding captain choosing the timing of the next two.

Another change that was brought about at the ICC meeting involved handing the umpires the chance to reduce the interval between innings when the game has been delayed or interrupted was introduced with immediate effect in June.

An ICC statement read:

"These amendments, which were unanimously approved by all 10 full members and the three associate member representatives on the CEC at its meeting at the end of June, are designed to improve the game for players, umpires and spectators."

Underwood The New President At MCC

2008-10-03T11:40:00.000+06:00

Derek Underwood takes over as president of Marylebone Cricket Club on Wednesday.

The former England star takes the reins from Mike Brearley and will preside over what is set to be the busiest year in the MCC's 221-year history.

Among the highlights will be Lord's staging an Ashes Test and much of the world Twenty20 tournament.

Underwood said: "It is indeed a great honour to become president of MCC, especially to have been invited by Mike Brearley, for whom I have always had the utmost respect and admiration. I look forward immensely to the year ahead.

"It is an exciting era for the sport with Twenty20 cricket opening up so many possibilities for the game worldwide. It is important for all those who work in cricket to embrace that change whilst protecting the game's rich heritage.

"MCC is ideally placed to be at the heart of much of this change. With its development of the Masterplan project at Lord's, its independent voice of the MCC World Cricket committee and its playing remit to develop the game worldwide, the club has the passion, stature and desire to ensure the best for our wonderful game in the years ahead."

John Barclay, Rachael Heyhoe-Flint, Peter Leaver and Peter Carroll all join the MCC committee. They replace David Faber, Matthew Fleming, former Prime Minister Sir John Major and Nick Pocock.

Ganguly retained for first two Tests

2008-10-02T12:41:00.002+06:00

India's selectors have picked Sourav Ganguly in a 15-man squad for the first two Tests against Australia. He is expected to join India A in Chennai for a Test against New Zealand A beginning on October 3 because he isn't part of the ongoing camp in Bangalore. There were also call-ups for Tamil Nadu batsman S Badrinath and Haryana legspinner Amit Mishra, who played three one-day internationals in 2003.

The squad consists of seven batsmen, one wicketkeeper, four fast bowlers and three spinners. The six batting slots are filled by Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir, Rahul Dravid, Sachin Tendulkar, Ganguly and VVS Laxman, with Mahendra Singh Dhoni as wicketkeeper. The two wicketkeepers used in Sri Lanka after Dhoni opted out, Dinesh Karthik and Parthiv Patel, have been excluded.

Despite the intense speculation on Ganguly's future leading up to the selection meeting, the new selectors apparently felt that he had the three qualities essential for a series against Australia.

"[He has] experience, character and resilience,"

said a national selector.

"Besides, whatever his scores may have been in Sri Lanka, we could not ignore the fact that he has scored in the last 10 Tests."

Ganguly had reportedly considered quitting cricket after being overlooked for the Irani Cup match between the Rest of India and Delhi but India's new selection panel, headed by Kris Srikkanth, has valued his experience over youngsters like Rohit Sharma, Yuvraj Singh and Mohammad Kaif.

Ganguly has struggled against Australia, averaging just 31.73 in 20 Tests compared to an overall average of 41.74 in 109 Tests. Since his recall in December 2006 and till the end of the home series against South Africa earlier this year, Ganguly scored 1571 runs at 50.67, including a maiden double-century. However, he managed only 96 runs in six innings during India's 2-1 series defeat in Sri Lanka this summer.

After being called in as a substitute fielder during the home series against Pakistan late last year, Badrinath had a spell in the cold till he was named as Tendulkar's replacement for the Sri Lanka ODIs, and played three games. Dhoni, his captain for the ODIs, publicly expressed his satisfaction at Badrinath's attitude during the series. He managed only 92 runs in the recent A team series against Australia and New Zealand and had a poor Irani Cup but the selectors have clearly indicated that he is the future.

"I am really happy to be selected to play against Australia,"

Badrinath said.

"I was expecting this call. I will take tomorrow's match as serious practice. It will give me some experience against them."

Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma will lead the bowling attack along with Munaf Patel and RP Singh. Anil Kumble, India's captain, Harbhajan Singh and Mishra, 25, make up the spin quotient. Mishra, who has 289 first-class wickets at 25.21, had a fine domestic season (38 wickets in the Ranji Trophy) and has also staked a claim through his good IPL performances (11 wickets at 12.55).

Mishra, a neat and organised spinner, was included in India's Test squad to face West Indies in 2002 but did not get a game then. He subsequently made his ODI debut against South Africa in Dhaka in 2003 but fell out of national reckoning since. He has now pipped left-arm spinner Pragyan Ojha, who was in the Test side for Sri Lanka and played in the ODI series. Piyush Chawla, the Uttar Pradesh legspinner, was the other name doing the rounds but he too has been overlooked.

Mishra said his stint with the Delhi Daredevils in the IPL - during which he claimed a hat-trick against Deccan Chargers - transformed his career.

"It all started from the IPL. It gave me the platform to interact with greats like Shane Warne,"

Mishra said.

"I specifically worked on my loop and top spin. I am very happy after hearing the news. I feel great as I've been expecting the call over the last year."

Before the selection meeting, the selectors were "briefed" by Shashank Manohar, the BCCI president. Manohar, apparently, delivered a "convincing and forceful talk" on the need to plan for the team's future, given that the senior players are on the last leg of their careers. He also reminded the selectors of the board's guidelines for the committee, including curbs on media assignments.

The first Test starts in Bangalore on October 9. The second is in Mohali from October 17-21. The squad for the remaining fixtures, in Delhi and Nagpur, will be named after the second Test.

Eid Mubarak to all Muslim Ummah

2008-10-01T00:14:00.000+06:00

Eid Mubarak to all Muslim Ummah, from S. M. Faisal (Owner of Cricket Cafe)

Adam Gilchrist to lead Deccan Chargers

2008-09-30T12:30:00.002+06:00

Adam Gilchrist, the former Australian wicketkeeper-batsman, has been appointed captain of the Deccan Chargers, replacing VVS Laxman, who led the team during the inaugural season of the IPL. Darren Lehmann, the former Australia batsman, takes charge as coach, replacing former India player Robin Singh.

Gilchrist said it was a "tremendous thrill and honour" and looked forward to working hard and making the team successful. Gilchrist was Deccan's leading run-getter in the league's first edition, scoring 436 runs at 33.53. He led the team in eight of their 14 matches, after Laxman suffered a wrist injury.

"Adam Gilchrist commands respect within the team and right around the cricket world. He has redefined the role of wicketkeeper-batsman in modern cricket,"

Tim Wright, the Deccan Chargers chief executive, said.

"I am confident Gilchrist will unite Deccan Chargers' outstanding talent. Four members of our squad were on the India tour of Sri Lanka, more than any other IPL team, and the quality of our overseas players is well known. These players will play for Gilchrist.

"We are delighted to be giving Darren Lehmann his first post as coach and have no doubt he will be a great success,"

Wright said.

"He has already brought considerable energy into the group and has a no-nonsense approach to winning cricket matches. Lehmann is in India this week to run player trials in Hyderabad. We are looking to build a solid talent base for the future."

Robin, meanwhile, has said he will discuss his future with the franchise.

"I was aware of the discussions which had been going on for a while about some new appointments,"

he told.

"Definitely I will be featuring in some capacity in a role that is suitable and in line with what I would like to do. We will have to sit and have a mutual agreement on that."

Robin , who also holds the role of a fielding coach with the Indian team, expressed disappointment over Laxman being replaced.

"It's a bit sad about VVS, but it is for him to talk."

Deccan finished last in the inaugural edition of the league, winning only two of their 14 matches. The team's poor performance was surprising given a star-studded batting line-up, with Andrew Symonds, Shahid Afridi and Herschelle Gibbs joining Gilchrist, Scott Styris, Laxman and Rohit Sharma. While Symonds was only available for four games, Afridi and Gibbs both averaged below 20.

ICC To Hear Out ICL Owners

2008-09-26T13:20:00.001+06:00

International Cricket Council president David Morgan has agreed to a request to meet with the owners of the rebel Indian Cricket League.

The ICL is not officially recognised by the ICC and has been in conflict with cricket's authorities since its inception last year.

Now Morgan has agreed to meet with Subhash Chandra of Zee Entertainment Enterprises Limited, who own the ICL.

Morgan said:

"The ICL had previously written to the ICC requesting its approval and now it has asked for this meeting, to which we have agreed.

"All members of the ICC Board have been informed of this meeting and I will report back to those directors at the Board's next meeting, in Dubai on 14 and 15 October."

The ICC refused to comment on the subject of the meeting, but it is expected Chandra will wish to discuss the matter of official sanctioning for the ICL.

Representatives from the ICL are unhappy that the league's players are being prevented from playing top-level cricket, with a report on Zee's own website in July suggesting the matter could be taken to London's High Court.

At an ICC board meeting in the same month, the body formed a committee to look at the issues of official, unofficial and unauthorised cricket.

The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), whose vice-president, Lalit Modi, is the chairman and commissioner of the Indian Premier League, have an understanding with other major nations that individuals who participate in the ICL will not be allowed to ply their trade in any top-level competition.

Both Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Mushtaq Ahmed faced a battle to be allowed to play in the English County Championship this season after their participation in the ICL.

Since then, English Twenty20 Cup runners-up Kent have been prevented from taking part in the upcoming inaugural Twenty20 champions League, co-organised by the BCCI, because they have players who took part in the ICL.

High security arranged for Aussies : India

2008-09-26T13:18:00.002+06:00

Indian government said that strict security has been arranged for the Australian cricket team and the visitors should not be worried in this regard.

Spokesman of the Indian government’s interior ministry Onkar Kaidia said that whenever a foreign team comes to India the government makes all out efforts to provide it suitable security to avoid any unpleasant incident and extraordinary arrangements have been made to provide security to the Australian team.

The spokesman further said that if more request is made regarding security then it may be considered but the visitors should not be worried as the most fool-proof arrangements have been made.

I had rejected IPL offer: Mashrafe Mortaza

2008-09-26T13:16:00.001+06:00

Bangladesh vice-captain Mashrafe Mortaza said that he had rejected the offer from the management of the Indian Cricket League (ICL) to represent Dhaka Warriors.

Mahrafe Mortaza said in an interview that he had received many phone calls from the ICL, offering him to play for Dhaka Warriors but he preferred to play for his country instead of playing for the ICL.

He said it has now become the part of history and he did not think necessary to tell this thing anybody as he was not interested in that offer.

Mortaza further said that this is wrong to say that the Bangladesh players did not perform well in Australia due to the ICL offer. They made all out efforts for victory but unfortunately, lost the series 0-3 due to poor batting.

Sri Lanka lifts domestic ban on 'rebel' ICL players

2008-09-21T10:51:00.000+06:00

Sri Lanka will re-admit players aligned with the unauthorised Indian Cricket League into domestic cricket, officials said on Friday, in a move that defies the world cricket establishment.

"Players will be allowed to play for their respective clubs and share their expertise, but cannot represent the country,"

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) media manager Shane Fernando said.

The SLC had last year banned its five ICL players -- Marvan Atapattu, Russel Arnold, Upul Chandana, Avishka Gunawardena and Saman Jayantha -- from playing any official cricket matches.

The decision comes two days after the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) joined its counterparts from other countries in banning 13 players, including former captain Habibur Bashar, who has signed up with the ICL.

The ICL, bankrolled by India's largest listed media company Zee Telefilms, was launched last year in a direct conflict with the powerful Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).

The BCCI not only barred any ICL player or official from taking part in official cricket, but also convinced other boards to take similar action against their 'rebel' players.

The Indian board also started its own lucrative Indian Premier League Twenty20 competition, featuring the world's top stars, to counter the ICL.

Not surprisingly, ICL officials welcomed Sri Lanka's decision.

"This is a step in the right direction,"

ICL business head Himanshu Mody told the Cricinfo website.

"We hope that this decision will pave the way for Sri Lankan cricketers to play both for the ICL and their country in the near future."

The ICL's first season last year comprised Twenty20 and 50-overs-a-side matches between eight teams that included a mix of international players and domestic Indian cricketers.

Among the top stars aligned with the ICL are retired former Test captains Brian Lara of the West Indies and Inzamam-ul Haq of Pakistan, besides fiery New Zealand fast bowler Shane Bond and veteran Chris Cairns.

The Dhaka Warriors will be added as the ninth team in the second season starting on October 10.

BCB receives retirement letters from six players

2008-09-14T20:32:00.000+06:00

Six leading Bangladesh players - Habibul Bashar, Aftab Ahmed, Shahriar Nafees, Farhad Reza, Dhiman Ghosh and Mosharraf Hossain - have informed the Bangladesh Cricket Board they intend to retire from international and domestic cricket. The news, announced by the BCB, follows a report in the Bangladesh daily Prothom Alo which said 14 players, including the six mentioned above, were set to join the Indian Cricket League. ICL officials contacted by Cricinfo said nothing had been finalised as yet.

The report said the players will represent the Dhaka Warriors in the ICL. Besides the six, those named include current internationals Alok Kapali and Nazimuddin, four players who represented Bangladesh previously - Mohammad Rafique (now retired), Tapash Baisya, Manjarul Islam and Mohammad Sharif, and Golam Mabud and Mahbubul Karim, currently touring Sri Lanka with the Bangladesh Academy team.

If such an exodus does take place the effect on Bangladesh's cricket could be disastrous; the ICL is not recognised by the ICC and players appearing in its tournaments are liable to be banned from all top-class cricket. In effect, Bangladesh would have to create a national side almost from scratch. The report quotes some of the cricketers as claiming their contracts would have a clause releasing them for national duty.

The BCB said the players hadn't stated a reason for their retirement announcement and expressed

"concern at the abrupt decision by so many players to retire from the game".

Aftab, Nafees, Reza, Ghosh and Mosharraf have been part of Bangladesh's recent teams while Bashar, Bangladesh's most successful captain, last played in February. The six have been summoned by the board on Tuesday to explain their decision.

The report suggests the main reason for the players risking their international careers is money. Those playing for the national team are expected to pocket around $200,000 each after signing the three-year contracts, several times what they can ever expect to earn while playing for Bangladesh; the academy players will receive $30,000 each.

That kind of money is a rarity in Bangladeshi cricket but is more common in the IPL; however, only one Bangladesh player is currently in the IPL - Abdur Razzak, who signed up with the Bangalore Royal Challengers.

The plan for a Bangladesh team in the ICL had first been floated last year, soon after formation of a similar team in Pakistan called Lahore Badshahs, captained by Inzamam ul-Haq. The Bangladesh captain, Mohammad Ashraful, told Prothom Alo he had been approached by the ICL to form a team but had turned down the offer.

Kiran More, a member of the ICL's executive board, said no formal agreement had been reached.

"We are currently in the state of discussion with a few Bangladeshi players but nothing has been finalised yet."

He, however, declined to reveal the names of the players with whom the ICL was in touch.

The new ICL season will begin on October 10, featuring 34 matches across four venues in India.

ESPN Star pay $1bln for Twenty20 Champions League rights

2008-09-12T20:11:00.002+06:00

ESPN Star Sports will pay nearly one billion dollars for commercial and marketing rights of the Twenty20 Cricket Champions League.

The inaugural tournament will be held from December 3 to 10 with $6 million in prize money. It will feature eight teams, two each from Australia, India and South Africa and the champions from the England and Pakistan domestic leagues.

Organizers said on Thursday the broadcaster had bid $900 million for a 10-year deal, plus some $75 million for marketing.

"The commercial rights were won by ESPN STAR Sports with a bid of $975 million (including $75 million for marketing of the tournament)," they said in a statement. "This makes the Champions League Twenty20 the highest value cricket tournament on a per game basis."

The Australian, Indian and South African boards will jointly organize the Champions League, an off-shoot of a lucrative Indian version launched this year.

"We are absolutely delighted that after a fair and transparent process, we have what we believe to be the best commercial deal for the inaugural Champions League season and for cricket fans across the world," Lalit Modi, vice-president Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) said in the press release.

India reject Champions Trophy in October 2009

2008-09-11T23:12:00.000+06:00

The Indian board has rejected suggestions made during the ICC's chief executives' committee meeting in Dubai on Wednesday to conduct the Champions Trophy in October 2009 because it will clash with the "very important" one-day series at home against Australia. The issue now passes to the ICC Board, which meets on Thursday.

"We have said that the Champions Trophy in October will not be possible for us since we are hosting Australia at that time,"

Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, told Cricinfo.

"The one-day series against Australia is a very important fixture for us. It has been scheduled and we can't do anything about it. All the boards will have to find another solution or window for the Champions Trophy."

The BCCI is planning to hold the first of the seven one-day matches against Australia on October 13, three days after the conclusion of the Champions Twenty20 League, which it is organising along with Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa (CSA).

However, the Pakistan Cricket Board's chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi remained hopeful the Champions Trophy would be held next October.

"The future tours programme was discussed in detail on the first day of the meeting and besides India other countries have also said they can't change their prior commitments,"

he told PTI.

"But Pakistan is pushing for the tournament to be held in October because as it is the ICC has an agreement with its broadcasters that it can't postpone the tournament for more than 13 months."

The ICC board had, on August 24, decided to postpone the Champions Trophy that was originally scheduled to be held in Pakistan from September 12 after five of the eight participating nations expressed security concerns about the host country. David Morgan, the ICC president, said

"it was considered prudent to postpone the event to October 2009, a time when we all hope conditions may be more acceptable for all the competing teams".

The concept of an alternative structure to bilateral tours, including an enhanced Test championship, with the ICC taking a greater central "ownership" of the programme, was also discussed at Wednesday's meeting. However, sources said it did not appear to make much headway during the CEC meeting with a number of boards unconvinced about the idea, especially about the extent of their ownership and role under such an arrangement.

The concept was kicked off during the ICC annual conference in Dubai in July, and Cricket Australia was entrusted with the job of coming up with a plan. The key considerations were: all three formats of international cricket should be protected and promoted with Test cricket identified as the pinnacle of the sport; "icon" Test series must be protected; ICC should look at ways of taking greater central "ownership" of international cricket outside its events or at least providing for more consistency in marketing/promotion; and the concept of a Test Championship and/or play-off should be explored further.

Jayawardene calls for single Twenty20 vision

2008-09-10T20:34:00.001+06:00

Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene has said there should only be one major Twenty20 cricket event a year so as to preserve a balance with the Test game and ensure a fairer spread of the sport's riches.

Authorities in India, world cricket's financial powerhouse, were initially wary of the shortened format, which has proved popular with fans around the world after being pioneered professionally in the English county game.

But the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has since embraced Twenty20 with the creation of the Indian Premier League (IPL), a lucrative competition featuring the world's best players appearing for franchise teams.

Now there are plans to expand the IPL and, in the meantime, English cricket chiefs, alarmed about losing control over their own players, have signed up to a million dollars a man winner-takes-all Twenty20 clash in Antigua in November against a Caribbean 'Superstars' side put together by Texan-born billionaire Allen Stanford.

Next year will see the launch of the English Premier League (EPL) and Jayawardene, a nominee for the International Cricket Council's player of the year award, due to be presented in Dubai on Wednesday, said the feeding frenzy had to stop for the overall good of the global game.

Jayawardene was in no doubt about what should happen next. "The way forward would be to have one big T20 tournament, whether that's IPL, EPL or Stanford, and it will accommodate everyone's interests.

"The best players will play over a short period and the income generated can be shared,"

the 31-year-old veteran of 98 Tests and 283 one-day internationals explained.

"That way, you still have your ODIs and Tests, and the FTP (Future Tours Programme) functions properly."

Sri Lanka's senior players are currently in dispute with their board over next year's hastily arranged tour of England, brought about by England's decision to break off cricket relations with Zimbabwe.

Jayawardene said the row revolved around financial security for his side which, for all the exciting cricket it often plays, is not considered a big commercial draw by other nations.

"There's no compromise when it comes to playing for our country,"

said ayawardene.

"We put everything on the line but, regardless of how well we play against England or Australia, we'll still get paid what we get right now (about 2,500 pounds per Test and 1,500 pounds for a one-day game).

"But when we're given an opportunity like the IPL, it's a chance to play six weeks of cricket and make the sort of money that the rest of the world makes just by playing for their countries."

Sri Lanka, a small island nation plagued by civil war, have consistently punched above their weight in international cricket but Jayawardene said a lack of matches was restricting their progress in five-day Tests, still widely considered as the pinnacle of the sport.

"I think we have only 10 Tests in the next three years. Out of that, we're playing Bangladesh (Test cricket's weakest nation) home and away. So where's our opportunity to climb up the ladder?"

Stanford call seals Harmison comeback

2008-09-10T20:32:00.000+06:00

Stephen Harmison's transformation from international exile to a key member of all England's cricket teams was confirmed when the fast bowler was included in the squad for the cash-rich clash with Allen Stanford's Superstars in Antigua in November.

As recently as last month the Durham quick, who'd announced his one-day international retirement before the 2007 World Cup, was out of the Test side after being dropped following a poor display in New Zealand earlier this year.

But he starred in the final Test against South Africa at The Oval, where Kevin Pietersen marked the start of his England captaincy with a victory against the land of his birth.

Pietersen then helped persuade Harmison to end his one-day isolation and the bowler responded by leading England's attack in a 4-0 thrashing of the Proteas.

Now the paceman has been included in the 15-man squad for arguably the most lucrative match in the history of cricket, with the winners of the Twenty20 contest at Stanford's own ground in Antigua guaranteed an eye-watering million dollars a man each.

Even the four players who don't make the final XI will, if England win, get to share a million dollars of the Texan-born billionaire's money between them as they become the best-paid drinks waiters in the business.

Ever since he reversed his one-day retirement Harmison, who is also in the squad for the seven one-dayers away to India later in November, has been acutely sensitive to the suggestion he was doing it just for the money.

"Steve Harmison did say he didn't want to play in Stanford early on,"

said England's national selector Geoff Miller after announcing the squad at Lord's here on Tuesday.

"He didn't want to be seen to be coming back into the side just for financial reasons - but we want him to be in it and his results this year in both kinds of cricket show it's the right decision.

"We said 'we'll pick this side on cricketing factors and not on monetary factors'. We took the decision out of his hands and made it for him."

The squad is made up of the unchanged XI which defeated South Africa 4-0 plus original squad members Alastair Cook, Ravi Bopara, Graeme Swann and Ryan Sidebottom, subject to the left-arm quick passing a fitness test.

In a separate announcement, former England captain Michael Vaughan was given a 12-month central contract despite the Yorkshire batsman's loss of form.

Vaughan, who led England to Ashes glory in 2005, resigned as Test captain after South Africa clinched their first Test series win in England since 1965 last month and was replaced as skipper by Pietersen.

Vaughan, who sat out the final match of the South Africa series, has struggled for runs this season. His last fifty, for Yorkshire, was followed by scores of two, nought, 21, nought and 17 against South Africa.

A break from cricket did not lead to an upturn in his fortunes when he came back, with the 31-year-old Vaughan, who hasn't featured in one-day internationals since England's lacklustre World Cup campaign in the Caribbean, managing just 10, nought and 19 in his next three innings for his county.

"The award of an England central contract to Michael Vaughan reflects the selectors' view that Michael still has a role to play in the England Test squad over the next 12 months,"

said Miller.

England are due to announce on September 29 their squad for a two Test tour of India in December.

Symonds cannot return to national team: CA

2008-09-10T00:35:00.001+06:00

Cricket Australia said that now all-rounder Andrew Symonds may not come back to the national team and he has possibly played his last international match for Australia.

Cricket Australia had dropped Symonds for home series against Bangladesh for going on fishing by leaving the team meeting.

Later, it was reported that he would not be the part of the team for the tour of India also.

Chief executive James Suderland said that it would be a great loss for not having Symonds in the team but there are various talented young players who are eager to display performance in international cricket.

He said that Shane Watson could get full opportunity in absence of Symonds.

India's Ganguly may quit international cricket: report

2008-09-10T00:30:00.000+06:00

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly may quit international cricket "sooner rather than later" with him facing the axe for the upcoming home series against Australia, a report said Tuesday.

The 36-year-old was left out of the Rest of India squad for the five-day Irani Cup match against Ranji Trophy champions Delhi in Vadodara from September 24, seen as a trial match for next month's Test series.

Ganguly's omission from a virtual Test line-up that includes fellow seniors Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Anil Kumble and Venkatsai Laxman means he is unlikely to figure in the highly anticipated series starting in Bangalore on October 9.

The Telegraph newspaper, published from Ganguly's home city of Kolkata, said the stylish left-hander may not attempt to make a comeback into the Indian team.

"The fight may just have gone out of Sourav Ganguly,"

the paper said in a frontpage story.

"The former captain could decide to call it a day -- sooner rather than later -- instead of striving for a return to the Team India dressing room."

The paper quoted an unnamed person close to Ganguly saying:

"I don't think he is hungry the way he was, say, two years ago."

Ganguly, India's most successful Test captain with 21 wins, was sacked in 2005 and later dropped from both the Test and one-day team after a public spat with the then coach, Australian batting great Greg Chappell.

But he returned to the Test squad in late 2006, emerging as the highest scorer in the away series in South Africa and making useful contributions against England and the home series against the South Africans.

The selectors, however, ignored Ganguly for the Irani Cup after he averaged just 16 in three Tests on the recent tour of Sri Lanka, which the hosts won 2-1.

Tendulkar, who averaged 15 on that tour, and Dravid, who averaged 24, were given another chance by the five-man selection committee headed by former Test captain Dilip Vengsarkar.

"I have no reaction, no comments,"

Ganguly told The Telegraph.

2009 Champions League scheduled for September-October

2008-09-05T19:11:00.000+06:00

The second Champions Twenty20 League will take place next year between September 25 and October 11, and will feature 12 teams, four more than the first edition to be held between December 3-10, 2008.

Next year's league has been scheduled in the same month the ICC proposes to hold its Champions Trophy, which was postponed from September 2009 after five of the eight participating nations said they would not send their teams for the event given security concerns in Pakistan.

The dates were announced in a release issued by the three founding members - the BCCI, Cricket Australia and Cricket South Africa.

The 2008 Champions Twenty20 League was initially due to begin on September 29, the reserve day of the Champions Trophy final, but the ICC expressed its unhappiness over the scheduling. It asked the Champions League organisers to rethink the programme after which the tournament was shifted to December.

The 2009 Champions League will involve 12 teams and 23 matches, while this year's competition has eight teams - the winners and runners-up from domestic Twenty20 competitions in India, Australia and South Africa plus the winner of 2008 Twenty20 championships from Pakistan and the reigning Twenty20 Cup champion from England, Middlesex.

According to the Future Tours Programme, Australia are scheduled to play seven one-day internationals in Octover 2009.

ICC to introduce women’s ODI rankings

2008-09-05T19:08:00.002+06:00

Women’s cricket takes another step towards integrating with the game at large with the ICC introducing ODI Player rankings. The rankings will be launched in October, ahead of India’s tour to Australia.

The news comes ahead of a busy year for women’s cricket, with two World Cups — 50 over and Twenty20 — to be played in the first half of next year.

The rankings, expected to raise the profile of the game and bring the spotlight on top players, have been put together by the same statistical experts who have put together the ODI Player Rankings for men.

The ICC decided to consider one-dayers only since a majority of women’s matches are played in that format.

Since 1934 131 women’s Tests have been played by 10 teams, with only Australia, England, India and New Zealand featuring in more than three each. The same logic applies to Twenty20s, of which only 19 have been played since 2004.

Lisa Sthalekar, the Australian vice-captain, said the introduction of the rankings would generate a lot of interest and competition among players and provide an additional challenge for each series.

“Not only will you want to help your team win the series but you will also want to improve your own individual rating as well. Hopefully the battle to be the number one in the batting and bowling ratings will generate a lot more media interest as well in women’s cricket,”

she said.

“Previously we have only had the Player of the Series award at major events and the Women’s Player of the Year at the ICC awards to give us any indication on who the best players in the women’s game are,”

she added.

Jhulan Goswami said

“it will increase the competition amongst the players, as everyone will want to be the number one player.”

Charlotte Edwards said

“we need to make sure that women’s cricket uses the next twelve months, where we have two major international events.

Chappell takes on new coaching role in Australia

2008-09-03T20:24:00.003+06:00

Former India coach Greg Chappell has been appointed as the new head coach of the Cricket Australia (CA) Centre of Excellence in Brisbane.

The CA announced Chappell's appointment on Wednesday, and the former Test batsman was expected to start his new role later this year.

The appointment follows his controversial and ultimately unhappy two-year stint as coach of India, which came to an end after the side's demise at last year's World Cup.

That was followed by a similar role at the Rajasthan Cricket Association's Centre of Excellence.

The 60-year-old said he was looking forward to passing on his experience to some of the country's most exciting young players in a new era of Australian cricket.

Chappell played 87 Tests and 74 one-day internationals and also coached South Australia in the Australian domestic competition.

CA's Centre of Excellence was launched in 2004 and replaced the Cricket Academy that was based in Adelaide for the previous 15 years.

Hick to call it a day

2008-09-02T18:16:00.000+06:00

Former England batsman Graeme Hick announced on Tuesday he will retire from county cricket at the end of this season.

The 42-year-old Zimbabwe-born player, who last played for England in March 2001, was one of the most prolific batsmen of his generation and has scored 136 first class centuries.

During a career which began in 1983 Hick scored 41,112 runs in 526 matches at an average of 52.23, with 294 scores of 50-plus in first class matches.

Hayden considering retirement due to prolonged injury

2008-08-27T01:13:00.002+06:00

Australian batsman Matthew Hayden is looking very desperate regarding his career due to his prolonged injury and he has started thinking seriously for taking retirement from One-day cricket.

The veteran opener said that he is making all out efforts to overcome his fitness problems.

The Player of the Tournament in the World Cup 2007, Matthew Hayden, is going to be 37 in October.

Suffering from Achilles, Hayden said that he does not want to make any hasty decision for announcing his retirement but if he does not overcome his injury then he can think about leaving cricket.

Hayden has been ruled out of the ODI series against Bangladesh due to his injury.

Darrell Hair resigns from post

2008-08-22T22:49:00.002+06:00

Darrell Hair, the Australian umpire, has tended his resignation with the ICC in order to take up a coaching role.

Hair returned to top-flight umpiring in March, six months after a period of rehabilitation that was enforced by his employers, the ICC, in response to the forfeited England-Pakistan Oval Test in 2006. Hair officiated in two Tests between England and New Zealand in May but, in spite of continuing to be on the Elite Panel of umpires, he has not been offered any more.

Consequently, he has decided to end what has been a successful umpiring career, albeit one blighted by controversy in recent years. He takes up his new role with the New South Wales Umpires and Scorers Association (NSWUSA) in 10 days.

"Darrell will concentrate on what he will do best: mentor, coaching and getting umpires up to a higher level,"

Peter Hughes, a spokesman for the NSWUSA, told The Australian.

The fracas at The Oval in 2006 was the first game in history to be forfeited after Pakistan refused to take the field, following Hair's ruling that they had tampered with the ball. Hair was subsequently stood down from any matches which involved full-member nations, although never officially removed from the Elite panel, but continued to stand in Associate games. Indeed, he is currently standing in West Indies' match against Canada in King City. He took the ICC to court claiming racial discrimination, but withdrew his claims seven days into a tribunal in London last October.

He moved back to Australia and went on a six-month rehabilitation course before being reinstated at the ICC's March meeting in Dubai. Yet although he made a quiet return to the fold in England this year, the fact he was to be "kept away" from matches involving Pakistan led many to question his status as an international umpire. In addition, Pakistan were outraged at his return to the fold.

India level series with tense victory over Sri Laanka

2008-08-20T22:42:00.000+06:00

Mahendra Singh Dhoni capped Zaheer Khan's devastating spell with a crucial 39 as India posted a tense three-wicket win over Sri Lanka in the second one-day international here on Wednesday.

Left-arm seamer Zaheer ran through the top order in his incisive opening spell to finish with 4-21 as India bundled Sri Lanka out for a meagre 142. He was brilliantly backed by paceman Praveen Kumar (3-34).

But India skipped a few heartbeats before achieving the modest target with more than 10 overs to spare to level the five-match series 1-1.

They were wobbling at 75-5 after seamers Thilan Thushara and Nuwan Kulasekara shared four wickets, but skipper Dhoni and debutant Subramaniam Badrinath (27 not out) held their nerve under pressure.

When Dhoni inside-edged paceman Dilhara Fernando's delivery on to his stumps, his team were just eight runs short of the win with four wickets in hand.

Unorthodox Sri Lankan spinner Mendis yet again made the Indian batsmen struggle for runs with shrewd variations, getting the big wicket of Yuvraj Singh before finishing with 2-22 off 10 overs.

Yuvraj (20) tried to ease the pressure by smashing Thushara for three fours in two overs, but his flourish did not last long. He was trapped leg-before by Mendis to leave his team wobbling at 52-3.

India appeared to have squandered the advantage given by Zaheer when they lost makeshift opener Irfan Pathan and Suresh Raina in Kulasekara's opening spell and then Virat Kohli (37) and Rohit Sharma in Thushara's one over.

Dhoni and Badrinath then applied themselves well to add 60 for the sixth wicket which proved vital in a low-scoring game.

Sri Lanka were earlier in danger of falling to their lowest-ever total of 96 against India when they were reduced to 44-6, but Thushara (44) and Kulasekara (25) rallied their side with a defiant 74-run stand.

The Indian skipper's decision to put the hosts in to bat after winning the toss produced instant results as Zaheer bowled Kumar Sangakkara with his sixth
delivery which moved in sharply to hit the off-stump.

Man-of-the-match Zaheer claimed two wickets in his third over, removing in-form Jayawardene and Chamara Kapugedera.

Kumar had Chamara Silva caught by Kohli at point to reduce the hosts to 11-4. He also ended Sri Lanka's fightback when he dismissed Thushara and Kulasekara in the same over.

Sri Lanka's aggressive opener Sanath Jayasuriya, watching the disaster unfold from one end, was not allowed to play strokes as he faced 37 balls for his 13 runs before being trapped leg-before by Zaheer.

Tillakaratne Dilshan (16), the last specialist batsman, was caught by a diving Badrinath at deep midwicket off a mistimed pull off seamer Irfan Pathan.

Sri Lanka named Fernando in their playing eleven in place of left-arm seamer Chaminda Vaas, who missed the match due to a hamstring injury.

The third match will be played in Colombo on Sunday.

Champions League will start on December 3

2008-08-15T16:20:00.000+06:00

The inaugural Champions League Twenty20 will be played between December 3 and 10, instead of October, the organisers - the boards of India, Australia and South Africa - have announced. To accommodate the change, the first Test between Australia and South Africa in Perth has been pushed back from December 12 to December 17.

The eight-team tournament was initially due to begin on September 29, the reserve day of the Champions Trophy final, but the ICC was unhappy with its timing, given its close proximity to the Pakistan event. It asked the three founding members of the Champions League to rethink the programme.

No other international fixtures have been scheduled on those dates, allowing all players to participate, although the domestic seasons of Australia and South Africa will have to be rearranged. The tournament has been sandwiched between India's seventh one-dayer against England and the first Test in Ahmedabad, games which start a day before and after the tournament respectively.

"We are happy that we were able to find a window during the first week of December,"

Lalit Modi, the IPL commissioner, said.

"There was a gap in between the one-day internationals and Tests [in India] against the touring England squad, which will enable both the Rajasthan Royals and the Chennai Super Kings (the IPL finalists) to regroup and focus on the Champions League."

Gerald Majola and James Sutherland, the chief executives of the South African and Australian boards respectively, said they had consulted the players, players' associations and the Western Australian Cricket Association (WACA) - the hosts of the Perth Test - before deciding the dates.

"We were pleased with the WACA's reaction that the new playing dates offer local fans, including corporate groups wanting to entertain at the cricket, good dates for pre-Christmas Test match enjoyment,"

Sutherland said.

"We also took feedback from players that the changes could be accommodated without compromising what will be a defacto World Test Cricket Championship bout between Australian and South Africa during December and January."

Majola told Cricinfo that the organisers have "conveyed the new dates to the ICC and they are fine with it". The venues and commercial partnership details will be finalised in the coming weeks.

The Champions Twenty 20 League comprises the Twenty20 domestic finalists from India , Australia and South Africa, Pakistan's winner Sialkot and England's champion Middlesex. The competition was announced on July 30, with a total prize money of US$6 million which will be shared between all teams.

Gilchrist calls for including Twenty20 at Olympics

2008-08-04T20:56:00.000+06:00

Former Australian star Adam Gilchrist has called for the inclusion of cricket's Twenty20 format at the 2020 Olympics, saying it will help secure the global future of the game.

The wicketkeeper-batsman, who retired from international cricket this year but played in the Indian Premier League (IPL), said the International Cricket Council (ICC) must push for Twenty20 to become an Olympic sport.

"It doesn't matter where the 2020 Olympic Games are held,"

he wrote in a column for Indian daily the Deccan Chronicle on Monday.

"But many of us who've experienced international Twenty20 cricket and the IPL are convinced that cricket should bid to become an Olympic sport in time for the Games,"

he wrote.

Gilchrist, 36, said re-introducing cricket as an Olympic sport would help the sport grow internationally and also boost the Olympic movement in the subcontinent.

"We have a responsibility to grow our game in new territories and amongst the women of the world.

"I believe the Olympic Games is the vehicle the sport should use to aggressively sell the message of our sport to all 202 competing Olympic nations.

"So that our sport is strong and robust in countries where it is currently played, and exciting and ground-breaking in countries who haven't yet caught the 'cricket-bug',"

he said.

Cricket was part of the Olympics just once, in 1900, but last year it was recognised as an Olympic sport -- the first step towards full admission to the Games.

"With Twenty20 cricket here to stay, now is the time for the 10 full-member nations of the ICC to plan for the development of the sport over the next 100 years,"

Gilchrist said.

Gilchrist said winning an Olympic medal would be the ultimate for any cricketer.

"Take it from someone who has won almost everything cricket has to offer -- the Olympics is the absolute pinnacle in sport.

"Cricketers won't care about the money. The chance to stand on top of the Olympic podium, to wear an Olympic gold medal and the pride of belting out your national anthem would be a life-changing money-can't-buy experience,"

he said.

India’s 170-run win levels series against Sri Lanka

2008-08-04T00:34:00.000+06:00

Teenager Ishant Sharma gave a superb display of fast bowling to help India square the series with a 170-run victory over Sri Lanka in the second Test here on Sunday.

Sharma finished with 3-20 off 15 testing overs as Sri Lanka were shot out for 136 in their second innings in the closing session on the fourth day chasing a challenging 307-run target.

India lost the opening match of the three-Test series by an innings and 239 runs. The final match starts in Colombo on August 8.

Off-spinner Harbhajan Singh (4-51) and leg-spinner (2-41) built on Sharma's effort to help their team win with more than a day to spare.

Harbhajan, who took six wickets in the first innings, completed his fifth haul of 10 or more wickets in a Test.

The 19-year-old Sharma wrecked Sri Lanka's top order with two quick wickets in a sharp opening spell before returning to break a stubborn partnership in his second spell.

Sri Lanka were on the backfoot following Sharma's double-strike before collapsing against spin late in the day. The hosts lost their last five wickets for just six runs, with Harbhajan taking three and Kumble two.

The hosts began the chase on a disastrous note as they lost three wickets for a meagre 10 runs in the opening four overs, with Sharma taking two and left-arm seamer Zaheer Khan one.

India's spinners were expected to call the shots on a wearing track but the tourists seized the advantage through their fast bowlers as Sharma unsettled the batsmen with his pace and bounce and Zaheer with his movement.

Thilan Samaraweera (67 not out) and Tillakaratne Dilshan (38) alone defied the Indian pace-spin combination with a 76-run stand for the fifth wicket.

Sharma broke the stand immediately after the tea-break when he had Dilshan caught by wicket-keeper Dinesh Karthik. Harbhajan had Prasanna Jayawardene caught by Sourav Ganguly, who took a well-judged catch at square-leg.

Sri Lanka were in deep trouble after losing Kumar Sangakkara (one) and in-form skipper Mahela Jayawardene (five), who were known for playing long innings.

Sharma, who removed Malinda Warnapura with his third ball, got the big wicket when he had Jayawardene caught by Rahul Dravid at gully. Jayawardene scored a century in the opening Test and 86 in the first innings here.

Zaheer struck in his second over when he dismissed Sangakkara, beaten by the movement to be caught by Venkatsai Laxman at second slip.

Michael Vandort was dropped before he had opened his account when Dravid failed to latch on to a high catch at third slip in Zaheer's opening over.

The Sri Lankan batsman was on six when he offered another chance, this time Dravid holding the catch but off a Zaheer no-ball. His uncomfortable stay at the crease ended when he fell leg-before in Harbhajan's opening over.

India earlier faltered against Sri Lankan spinners Ajantha Mendis and Muttiah Muralitharan as they were bowled out for 269 after resuming at 200-4. They lost their last five wickets for 17 runs in a dramatic collapse.

Unorthodox spinner Mendis, who took six wickets in the first innings, finished with 4-92 to complete a maiden 10-wicket haul in only his second Test.

Muralitharan took two of the six wickets that fell in the morning to finish with 3-107.

Vaughan quits as England captain

2008-08-04T00:33:00.002+06:00

Michael Vaughan on Sunday resigned as England cricket captain, saying it was both the hardest and the easiest decision he has made.

His decision follows Saturday's five-wicket defeat against South Africa in the third Test at Edgbaston, which gave the Proteas an unassailable 2-0 lead in the four-match series.

It meant the 33-year-old had overseen three series losses against top-class opposition since returning from a career-threatening knee injury.

"I've made the decision to stand down as England captain,"

a tearful Vaughan told a press conference.

"It's the hardest decision I've ever had to make but also the easiest.

"The hardest because I'm giving away the job I've loved for the last five years, one I've put my heart and soul into, but also the easiest because my mind has told me to pack it in.

"I felt if I kept going my career could come to an abrupt end - hopefully, this can prolong my career.

"I will carry on playing because I think there are a lot more runs in me.

"This decision will prolong my career. I'm moving better than ever in the field so hopefully this decision will make my last few years a very exciting time."

Vaughan said he does not want to be considered for the final Test of the series and would take a break to consider his future before coming back and finishing the season for county cricket side Yorkshire.

"I will take a break from the game so I won't be playing at The Oval,"

he said.

"I just want to try and freshen up the mind and get back to playing as a batsman. I do believe these could be the best years of my playing career.

"That's the one thing I want to get back doing."

And Vaughan revealed he had first considered resigning at the start of the year during the tour of New Zealand, when England came back from 1-0 down to win 2-1.

"In New Zealand I had a few thoughts that I might go,"

said Vaughan.

"It is a fairytale to captain your country but it hasn't had a fairytale ending. I know that it is the right time because my mind told me it was. My body is working well but my mind is not.

"I wish whoever gets the job all the luck in the world, it's a great privilege."

Vaughan made his Test debut in South Africa in 1999, and captained his country for the first time at Lord's.

Smith leads South Africa to series win against England

2008-08-04T00:31:00.002+06:00

South African captain Graeme Smith hit what he described as the best century of his career to lead his team to a series-clinching victory on the fourth day of the third Test against England at Edgbaston on Saturday.

Smith made an unbeaten 154 as South Africa won by five wickets to take a winning 2-0 lead in the four-Test series.

"I've had some meaningful innings in my life but with the whole situation and for the people back home, it's bigger than just us, this victory. I'd have to say it's my best innings,"

said Smith.

England counterpart Michael Vaughan said defeat was a bitter blow but paid tribute to Smith.

"We've all just witnessed a very, very special innings. The way Graeme Smith came out and played was as good as I've seen anyone chase down that sort of target under that sort of pressure."

South Africa were set to make 281, by 70 runs the highest successful fourth innings chase in a Test match at Edgbaston and South Africa's fourth highest of all time.

It was South Africa's first series win in England since 1965 and ended a sequence of three series in the country in which they failed to capitalise after going one Test up.

The victory seemed unlikely when South Africa slumped to 93 for four, with two of the wickets falling to balls from Andrew Flintoff which the batsmen did not see.

But Smith survived the collapse and found able partners in AB de Villiers (27) who helped him put on 78 for the fifth wicket and Mark Boucher (45 not out), who shared an unbeaten 112-run stand for the sixth wicket.

Flintoff, who first swung the momentum towards England with a fiery spell on the second evening, made vital breakthroughs with full deliveries which the batsmen appeared not to see.

He trapped Neil McKenzie leg before for 22 after McKenzie and Smith put on 65 for the first wicket. McKenzie appeared to lose the ball completely and was ducking when the ball hit him on the boot.

Jacques Kallis also ducked against a ball which struck him on the full on his right thigh in line with the stumps.

Kallis, bowled by a Flintoff yorker in the first innings which he admitted he did not pick up from the bowler's hand as it was delivered against the backdrop of the committee room balcony immediately above the sightscreen, showed his anger as he was given out leg before.

In between Flintoff's two wickets, Hashim Amla was leg before to an arm ball from left-arm spinner Monty Panesar. Flintoff was rested after taking two for 28 in eight overs but Ashwell Prince was caught behind off James Anderson as South Africa crashed to 93 for four.

South Africa, leading the four-match series 1-0, earlier bowled out England for 363 in their second innings. Paul Collingwood was last man out for 135.

Former India Test batsman Mankad dies aged 61

2008-08-02T19:19:00.000+06:00

Former India Test batsman Ashok Mankad died in his sleep here on Friday aged 61, cricket officials said.

Mankad, regarded as a shrewd thinker of the game and one of India's finest domestic captains, played 22 Tests between 1969 and 1978 and scored 991 runs at an average of 25.41.

His record in first-class cricket was more impressive as he scored 12,980 runs at an average of 50.90 before retiring in 1982-83. He scored 44 in his only one-day international, against England at The Oval.

"Indian cricket lost one of its stalwarts when Ashok Mankad passed away early on Friday,"

Indian cricket board secretary Niranjan Shah said.

"He was a gifted batsman, an outstanding captain, and a respected cricket guru. An individual who dedicated his life to the sport, he will be missed by every single follower of cricket in this country,"

he said in a statement.

Board president Sharad Pawar said the country had lost one of its sharpest cricketing brains.

"Mankad had a great cricketing brain and was regarded by one and all as a great tactician,"

he said.

"His contribution and records in domestic cricket are unmatched."

The middle-order batsman, son of legendary Test all-rounder Vinoo Mankad, is survived by his wife Nirupama, a former national tennis champion, and two tennis-playing sons Mihir and Harsh.

Mankad also served as manager of the Indian cricket team in 1982-83 and coached first-class sides like his native Mumbai, Madhya Pradesh, Railways and Baroda.

Former India left-arm spinner Bapu Nadkarni said Mankad could not fulfil his potential because he was promoted as an opener.

Former India captain Ajit Wadekar also said Mankad could have done better had he continued as a middle-order batsman.

"He could have done better had he continued to play in the middle order. He was a great reader of the wicket and opposition.

"He was a perfect team man who kept his mates in good humour in the dressing room,"

Wadekar said.

India to go ahead with Twenty20 League as scheduled

2008-07-31T12:07:00.003+06:00

India will host the inaugural Twenty20 Champions League between September 29 and October 8, defying the game's world chiefs who want the tournament to be rescheduled.

"The event will go ahead as scheduled,"

top Indian cricket board official Lalit Modi announced here Wednesday after a meeting with representatives from the Australian and South African boards.

"The three boards have reached an agreement to stage the inaugural Champions Twenty20 later this year,"

Modi said.

"This would mark the introduction of a long awaited football-style Champions League format for cricket, which will pit the best-of-the-best clubs in domestic cricket globally against each other."

The venues for the six-million dollar league, featuring eight Twenty20 domestic sides from around the world, would be decided later, Modi said.

The tournament is sandwiched in the short 11-day gap between the Champions Trophy final in Pakistan on September 28 and the first Test between Australia and India in Bangalore from October 9.

The announcement is likely to upset the International Cricket Council (ICC) which had reminded its member countries on Tuesday that holding a tournament within seven days of an ICC event violated a playing agreement.

Modi said two teams each from South Africa, Australia and India will feature in the tournament.

"The decision on the remaining two teams will be taken shortly,"

he said.

England were originally slated to take part in the event but announced Tuesday that it wanted to stage its own version of the league in the United Arab Emirates on the same dates.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB), which opposes the terms and conditions laid down by the Indians, claimed that the Abu Dhabi royal family had agreed to bankroll their tournament.

Local media reports on Tuesday said India had turned down England's offer to send two teams for their event in the Gulf -- and also does not expect English sides to feature in their own tournament.

In a letter to the ECB, the Indian board wrote it "wished the ECB all the best" with its tournament but "unfortunately, we cannot accept" the invitation, reports said.

Talks between the Indian board and the ECB failed to resolve the issues of tournament rights and the availability of players who took part in the unauthorised Indian Cricket League (ICL).

India, the sport's financial powerhouse, wanted to retain a 50 percent stake in the tournament and would not allow teams that fielded ICL players from taking part.

Kent, one of the two teams set to represent England in the Champions League, has two ICL players in Pakistan's Azhar Mahmood and Justin Kemp of South Africa.

First Cricket Champions League to be held in India

2008-07-28T12:52:00.001+06:00

The first Cricket Champions League will be played in India and one team from Pakistan is also expected to take part in the event.

Indian Cricket Board official and commissioner Indian Premier Leage Lalith Modi said that the matches of the event would be played in Jaipur, New Delhi and Mohali during the current year.

Eight teams will participate in the Cricket Champions League. The teams securing the first and the second positions in the domestic Twenty20 events of South Africa and Australia besides the winner and runner-up of the Indian Premier League will also take part in the event.

Under a proposed schedule, two teams from England had to play in the IPL but due to differences between the Indian and English boards on some administrative matters of the Champions League any team’s participation in the event from England is not looking possible.

Lalith Modi said that if no team comes from England then any team from Sri Lanka or New Zealand would fill this gap.

He said that a team from Pakistan would also take part in the event and the PCB has ensured its complete cooperation in this regard.

England recall Harmison for third Test

2008-07-28T01:33:00.000+06:00

England have recalled Stephen Harmison to their 13-man squad announced Saturday for the third Test against South Africa starting at Edgbaston on Wednesday.

The Durham fast bowler has not played for England since being dropped along with new-ball colleague Matthew Hoggard following the first Test defeat away to New Zealand at Hamilton in March.

But he has looked back to somewhere near his best during county cricket this season and now the 29-year-old has been recalled to add extra pace to an attack that has taken just 13 wickets in the last 344.3 overs bowled at South Africa during the series.

Australia-raised seamer Darren Pattinson, controversially awarded a Test debut in the second Test at Headingley, where the Proteas won by 10 wickets to go 1-0 up in the four-match series, and squad member Chris Tremlett have both been dropped.

England have also recalled Harmison’s county colleague Paul Collingwood, dropped at Headingley where England’s top five batsmen managed just one fifty between them in the whole match.

Left-arm quick Ryan Sidebottom, a Nottinghamshire team-mate of Pattinson, returns to the squad after missing the second Test because of a back injury.

But it is the recall of Harmison which was the eye-catching move and England national selector Geoff Miller said:

“Steve Harmison has been bowling well for Durham this season and his inclusion in the Test squad gives us another option in terms of our bowling attack for the Edgbaston Test.”

Turning to Sidebottom, Miller added:

“Ryan Sidebottom has been progressing well with his back injury over the past week and we’re confident he’ll be fit for selection but obviously he’ll be monitored closely in the lead up to next Wednesday.”

Collingwood, who had played 33 consecutive Tests until being dropped, could now return if England decide to bolster their batting by opting for a four-man, rather than five-man, attack at Edgbaston.

“Paul Collingwood was unlucky to miss out on a place in the team for the second Test match but this decision was based on a number of factors,”

said Miller.

“He has shown what a true professional he is by returning to Durham over the past week and playing well for his county,”

he said.

Victory for South Africa at Edgbaston would give them an unbeatable 2-0 lead and see them win a Test series in England for the first time since 1965.

England squad: Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Michael Vaughan (capt), Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Andrew Flintoff, Tim Ambrose (wkt), Stuart Broad, Stephen Harmison, James Anderson, Ryan Sidebottom, Monty Panesar.

Sri Lanka v India, 1st Test, SSC, Colombo, 4th day

2008-07-26T19:48:00.000+06:00

Sri Lanka 600 for 6 dec (Jayawardene 136, Dilshan 125*, Warnapura 115, Samaraweera 127) beat India 223 (Laxman 56, Murali 5-84, Mendis 4-72) and 138 (Gambhir 43, Murali 6-26, Mendis 4-60) by an innings and 239 runs

In a match dominated by not one but two spin wizards, Sri Lanka completely destroyed the Indian batting line-up twice over to script their best win at home. India started the fourth day needing 242 runs to avoid the follow-on but, with 77 minutes to go to stumps, they had slumped to their third-worst Test defeat ever with an abject collapse to the pair of Muttiah Muralitharan and Ajantha Mendis.

Murali and Mendis, assisted by the ever-alert close-in fielders and the wicketkeeper, did not loosen the vice-like grip they had had over the batsmen from the moment the ball was thrown to Mendis in the 10th over of India's first innings. With Mendis keeping the batsmen on a leash - his only two bad deliveries were the full tosses in his first two overs - and leaving the batsmen mesmerised, it was Murali who smiled his way to two five-fors, his 21st ten-wicket haul, which was also his fourth at the SSC.

There was no respite for the batsmen from either end as 19 wickets fell to the spin pair, who bowled 87.5 overs out of the 117.5 that India faced in the match. Mendis' non-bowling hand, just before delivery, was the most symbolic image of the match: the left hand came down with the index finger pointing out, just as when an umpire gives a batsman out. One of the most anticipated debuts of recent times turned out to be the best for a Sri Lankan.

The Indian batsmen had struggled in the first innings, but the second was a greater embarrassment as Murali and Mendis nailed the batsmen with similar deliveries to the ones that had done them in in the first innings. With India trailing by 377 in the first innings, the follow-on decision was a no-brainer. The new-ball bowlers were fresh: they bowled only 16 overs in the innings, with Murali and Mendis bowling 49 successive overs in tandem. In the second innings, the fast bowlers had even lesser work to do: Jayawardene promptly summoned his spinners five overs into the second, and the move worked immediately. Murali accounted for Sehwag in a controversial manner, with what was the last ball before lunch. Sehwag shouldered arms to one that pitched barely on leg stump and straightened. Umpire Mark Benson turned down the appeal, but changed his mind after what seemed like errors from the Virtual Eye and third umpire Rudi Koertzen.

The next session sealed the game for Sri Lanka, as India lost five wickets. Perhaps hoping for a repeat of Kolkata 2001, India sent Laxman, the first-innings half-centurion, at No. 3. He hit three beautiful boundaries off the medium-pacers, before Mendis had his number. This time it was the quicker googly which baffled him. Laxman didn't have a clue as to which way it would spin, and was out plumb in front.

Sachin Tendulkar was a tad unfortunate when he missed a sweep outside the leg stump, and the ball caught the back of the bat and lobbed to leg slip. Tendulkar stood his ground, and it needed a review to send him on his way. Gambhir was drawn forward for the second time in two innings and beaten in flight before Prasanna Jayawardene completed an exceptional stumping.

Just before tea, Murali and Mendis worked their magic again in successive overs. Sourav Ganguly never looked comfortable against Murali and edged to second slip. Mendis then made Rahul Dravid revisit the first-innings horror when a quick carom-ball legbreak just missed off stump. The next ball, a googly, had Dravid playing in front of his pad. The inside edge lobbed to short leg, and though the appeal was turned down, the review came into play again, making Dravid the third Indian batsman to perish in that manner. The rest was just a formality, which Murali and Mendis finished in style, with Mendis taking the last two in the same over.

The first half of the day was slightly better only when compared to what transpired later. Muralitharan completed his 64th five-for with Harbhajan Singh's wicket, but it was Mendis who inflicted major damage. Even Laxman had trouble picking him, the carrom ball being his main tormentor. Laxman was let off in the second over of the day, as an outside edge off Mendis bisected the keeper and Mahela Jayawardene at slip. The other batsmen were even more clueless. Anil Kumble and Zaheer were trapped by Mendis' top spinners. Harbhajan played for a Murali doosra, but got an offspinner, which resulted in an easy bat-pad catch.

Despite having only the tailenders for company, Laxman didn't farm the strike, twice allowing his partners to take a single off the last ball of the over. Harbhajan fell in the over that followed, while Zaheer survived. When Ishant Sharma joined him, Laxman finally took more of the strike and continued to do so until he was fairly confident in Ishant's ability. Laxman had himself grown in confidence, reading Mendis better and employing the wristy flick. Despite the odd leading edge, he continued to attack. But Mendis, after having bowled an unbroken 27-over spell, returned from Murali's end to get his man. He first beat him with a 95kph legbreak, angling in and then breaking it away, before squaring him up with a googly, ending his 158-minute stay at the crease. Dravid and Laxman foxed in each innings of his first Test - as dream debuts go, there can't be many better than this.

Through the first two-and-a-half days of the match, the pitch seemed a shirtfront and a draw seemed the most likely result, especially given the inclement weather at the start. The magic of two outstanding spinners meant the game didn't even go into the fifth day. Sri Lanka last lost a Test at home in April 2006, against Pakistan in Kandy. With Murali and Mendis so frighteningly effective in tandem, it's hard to imagine an overseas team defeating this double threat any time soon.

Proteas dismayed by ICC decision

2008-07-26T19:47:00.001+06:00

The International Cricket Council’s (ICC) decision on Thursday to keep the Champions Trophy in Pakistan was met with dismay by South Africa’s team.

The ICC decided the tournament would go ahead there in September, despite reservations expressed by players from New Zealand, Australia and England.

The South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) said they shared those concerns and would seek an urgent meeting with Cricket South Africa (CSA) to discuss the situation.

“The South African team are very disappointed with today’s decision and remain extremely concerned about safety and security in Pakistan,”

Tony Irish, chief executive officer of SACA, told Reuters on Thursday.

“We hope Cricket South Africa will sit down with us and talk to us about whether they are seriously considering sending a team to the Champions Trophy in Pakistan or not,”

Irish said.

England v South Africa, 2nd npower Test, Headingley, 4th day

2008-07-22T13:19:00.000+06:00

South Africa 522 and 9 for 0 (McKenzie 6*, Smith 3*) beat

England 203 and 327 (Broad 67*, Cook 60, Morkel 3-61) by 10 wickets

After the first Test at Lord's, Mickey Arthur promised that the real South Africa would turn up at Headingley. And so they did, with an emphatic 10-wicket win over England. They were made to work for their victory today, but with England only squeaking a lead of eight runs, it is South Africa who have taken a 1-0 series lead with two Tests to play. England have plenty to ponder.

However great the feeling of inevitability was that England wouldn't survive six sessions, they didn't lie down submissively and wait for the axe to fall. South Africa were frustrated by Alastair Cook and James Anderson at the start of the day; by Stuart Broad and Darren Pattinson at the end. Broad smacked his third Test fifty and most authoritative to date, with 11 perfectly timed fours in a partnership of 61 in just 12.3 overs with Pattinson.

Broad has improved with each of his Test innings, but while his batting average is going in the right direction, he is taking his wickets at forties. Not that his place was directly under threat today, but his innings 57 was a timely reminder of how valuable he is at No.8. His back-foot play through the leg-side off Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn was remarkable for the timing he showed, twice swivelling on shorter deliveries to lift them over the infield. After bringing up his fifty from just 41 balls, a powerful cover drive off Makhaya Ntini handed England the lead, though Pattinson was bowled shortly afterwards to end the entertainment. Graeme Smith and Neil McKenzie knocked off the nine runs in seven balls as South Africa recorded an emphatic 10-wicket win.

South Africa have enjoyed the better of the conditions, truth be told, but such is the advantage of winning the toss at Headingley. Regardless of the pitch, however, their bowling performance was far improved than at Lord's. Today's effort with the ball was a team performance. Steyn and Morkel each took three apiece; Kallis and Ntini two. Even Paul Harris briefly threatened, even though he went wicketless. Graeme Smith's seamers were made to work for their wickets, however, and England nearly managed to survive until lunch unscathed, thanks to a partnership of 59 between Cook and Anderson.

Anderson played with impressive composure and no shortage of class, though South Africa passed the edge of his bat on numerous occasions. Morkel and Ntini opened the bowling and Anderson, mostly playing off the back foot, was beaten twice by Morkel as the fourth-day pitch began to show worrying variable bounce. Balls shot through; the occasional one from Morkel, with his extra height, spat up, but it was an early concern for South Africa that they extracted so little movement.

Cook showed excellent judgement of his off stump all morning and the pair began to irritate South Africa with impish running between the wickets. If anything, it caught South Africa off-guard. Anderson was particularly eager, nudging singles out to cover and midwicket and taking on the fielders. These were decidedly dangerous runs, but South Africa's wild throws missed the stumps repeatedly. England were beginning to really frustrate them.

A languid cut by Anderson demonstrated his growing confidence, and he bettered it with two excellent fours off Harris, threading him through cover with the panache of a No.4. Steyn, meanwhile - delayed into the attack until the 12th over of the day - persisted with a war of bouncers against both batsman, and only when he pitched it up did he trouble the two left-handers. He was at his most vicious from around the wicket, however, and rapped Anderson a nasty blow on his forearm that required physio.

The next ball, however, really shook Anderson's resolve when the batsman ducked into a bouncer, the grill hammering into his right jaw. He was immediately floored, prompting Steyn and Hashim Amla to assess the damage, and though he looked groggy and stunned by the bouncer, he gave a sparse Headingley crowd reason to cheer by deciding to bat on. He only lasted a few more overs, but richly deserved the standing ovation for his courage.

Kevin Pietersen marched to the crease for a frenzied 13 from five balls, and Ian Bell fell to a screaming catch by de Villiers at gully - taking it low to his right - while Cook carved out an impressively calm 148-ball fifty. Unlike South Africa's rescue act at Lord's, no England batsman could contribute a hundred, and although Tim Ambrose and Andrew Flintoff briefly threatened to take on the bowlers, South Africa were too disciplined and probing to let England get away.

Some of South Africa's fielders practised their golf swing at mid-on and mid-off earlier in the day, and tomorrow represents a much-needed break for both teams before the third Test gets underway at Edgbaston. England, however, need more than recuperation if they are to bounce back and level the series a week on Wednesday.

Mendis named in first Test squad

2008-07-21T17:49:00.000+06:00

International cricket's new spin sensation Ajantha Mendis was named in Sri Lanka's 14-member squad for the first Test against India starting at the SSC on Wednesday.

The 23-year-old Mendis, who bowled Sri Lanka to a 100-run victory over India in the Asia Cup final in Karachi this month, is most likely to make his Test debut and partner Muttiah Muralitharan, the Test world record holder.

Selection committee sources said that Sri Lanka could opt for a 'six batsmen and four bowlers' combination.

Sri Lanka have, however, fallen short in the fast bowling department with Dilhara Fernando also out of the reckoning along with Lasith Malinga and Farveez Maharoof - all recovering from injuries. Fernando, who last played a Test in December, suffered a knee injury while bowling in the three-day match against the Indians which concluded at the NCC grounds yesterday. The selectors have named Thilan Thushara and Nuwan Kulasekara in the squad, one of whom will partner the experienced Chaminda Vaas with the new ball.

While batsmen Michael Vandort, Malinda Warnapura, Thilan Samaraweera and wicketkeeper Prasanna Jayawardene have sealed their spots, there could be a tussle for the No.6 slot between Chamara Silva and Tillakaratne Dilshan. Silva was impressive in the tour game, compiling half-centuries in both innings. Chamara Kapugedera, another middle-order batsman, makes a comeback to the Test squad after an impressive last few months with the one-day team.

BD-NZ cricket series itinerary announced

2008-07-20T17:01:00.002+06:00

The Bangladesh Cricket Board has issued schedule of the home series against New Zealand to be held in October.

According to the itinerary, the New Zealand team will arrive in Bangladesh on October 4 and the One-day International series between the two countries will begin from the match at Dhaka on October 9.

Second match will be played also at Dhaka on October 11 while the third match will be held on October 14 at Chittagong.

The first match of the two-Test series will be played from October 17 in Chittagong and the second Test will be held in Dhaka from October 25.

Amla salutes South Africa's crown Prince

2008-07-20T16:55:00.002+06:00

Hashim Amla paid tribute to fellow batsman Ashwell Prince after the South Africa vice-captain's second hundred in as many matches against England steered the Proteas into a commanding position in the second Test here at Headingley.

Prince, at stumps on Saturday's second day, was 134 not out in a total of 322 for four that left South Africa with an overnight lead of 119.

He had so far added 179 with AB de Villiers (70 not out) for the fifth wicket after South Africa had been 143 for four in reply to England's first innings 203 all out.

Prince's ninth hundred at this level followed his 101 in the first innings of the drawn first Test at Lord's.

"I think his temperament is superb and he keeps the game quite simple,"

Amla said of Prince.

"That's basically his biggest trait.

"He's batting very well at the moment on key occasions for us and he's produced two fantastic knocks."

Amla, who also made a century at Lord's, was the only man dismissed Saturday when lbw for 38 to England's Australia-raised but Grimsby-born debutant pace bowler Darren Pattinson.

South Africa have been a transformed team since being made to follow-on at Lord's and have so far piled up 715 runs for the loss of seven wickets since being bowled out for just 247 in their first innings of this four-Test series.

Amla, asked what had changed, replied:

"At Lord's, in the first innings maybe we didn't apply ourselves as well. Maybe we were a little overwhelmed.

"But in this Test, we were battle-hardened. We just tried to up the tempo."

England have spent 365 overs in the field during the past five days, with just a three-day break between the first two Tests.

"All I know is that I would be feeling stiff,"

said Amla.

It does feel close, especially when you spend one day travelling, but I understand this is the nature of international cricket.

"It's a tough school and at the end of the day you've got to be fit enough to deal with it."

Aussies in shock over Pattinson's England call-up

2008-07-19T19:45:00.000+06:00

The Australian cricket community was caught by surprise on Saturday at Australia-raised paceman Darren Pattinson's bolt from obscurity to the England Test team.

The 29-year-old Nottinghamshire bowler was a surprise choice to replace his injured county colleague Ryan Sidebottom in the England side for the second Test against South Africa at Headingley on Friday.

Although born in Grimsby, northern England, Pattinson grew up in Melbourne and his Australia-born younger brother, James, has represented the Australia Under-19 team.

Cricket officials from his home state Victoria admitted surprise that Pattinson, who is contracted with Cricket Victoria, was not an Australian citizen and even eligible to play for England.

"We didn't realise he wasn't an Australian citizen and didn't have an Australian passport,"

Victorian general manager of cricket operations Shaun Graf said.

"He actually only had a British passport and hence when he came home from playing overseas a couple of times he needed to get a visa which is a little bit strange."

Pattinson's opportunity only evolved when Cricket Victoria received an offer to play with Nottinghamshire, Graf said.

If Pattinson kept his English origins quiet while he was playing in Australia, it wasn't for fear of being sledged.

SA squad for Champions Trophy announced

2008-07-18T19:25:00.000+06:00

South Africa have included four uncapped players in the provisional squad of 30 players for the Champions Trophy in September. The rest of the squad have international experience, but fast bowler Charl Langeveldt, who opted out of the India tour following his controversial selection ahead of Andre Nel, has been omitted.

Fast bowler Yusuf Abdullah and Ethy Mbhalati and allrounders Rory Kleinveldt and Johann Louw find a place in the list of 30. Louw was named the Most Valuable Player in the SA Cricketers’ Association’s awards: the 29-year-old Dolphins’ medium-pacer took 41 wickets at 18.31 in the SuperSport Series, 24 wickets at 14.62 in the MTN Domestic Championship and 12 wickets at 15.16 in the Standard Bank Pro20 competition.

Provisional squad: Yusuf Abdullah, Hashim Amla, Goolam Bodi, Loots Bosman, Johan Botha, Mark Boucher, AB de Villiers, JP Duminy, Herschelle Gibbs, Paul Harris, Jacques Kallis, Rory Kleinveldt, Johann Louw, Ethy Mbhalati, Neil McKenzie, Albie Morkel, Morne Morkel, Andre Nel, Makhaya Ntini, Justin Ontong, Robin Peterson, Alviro Petersen, Vernon Philander, Ashwell Prince, Graeme Smith, Dale Steyn, Alfonso Thomas, Thandi Tshabalala, Morne van Wyk, Monde Zondeki.

No player refused to tour Pakistan: NZ Cricket

2008-07-17T21:08:00.001+06:00

The New Zealand Cricket said that none of the New Zealand cricketers has refused to go to Pakistan on security basis.

Spokesman of the NZ Cricket, Steve Edison said that the New Zealand cricket team’s tour of Pakistan for a three-ODI series before the Champions Trophy would be finalized after the security report to be released by the ICC on Sunday.

New Zealand will play three One-day Internationals on the tour of Pakistan in late August.

Edison said that no Kiwi player has so far refused to go on the tour of Pakistan on the basis of security.

ECB unveils new Twenty20 tournament

2008-07-16T21:19:00.000+06:00

The much-anticipated English Premier League will get underway in 2010, with two divisions made up of ten teams, after the ECB unveiled a radical shake-up of the domestic game following its board meeting at Lord's.

In a unanimous decision, the format that has been agreed upon will involve all 18 first-class counties, plus two overseas sides to make up the numbers. The current Pro40 competition will be scrapped to make way for the competition, and the matches will be played primarily on Friday nights in July and August.

"I am delighted that the board unanimously supported these creative proposals,"

said the ECB chairman, Giles Clarke.

"I would like to congratulate everyone for their hard work and thank those who went to considerable time and trouble to produce documents for discussion.
"We have already received enormous broadcast and sponsor interest from around the world which was reported to the board by the chief executive David Collier."

The proposal that had been put forward by the MCC chief executive, Keith Bradshaw, and Surrey's chairman, David Stewart, for a nine-team league modelled on the Indian Premier League was rejected out of hand, although in a press release, Stewart threw his weight behind the new initiative.

"These are extremely exciting and satisfying proposals for the future of domestic cricket in England and Wales,"

he said.

"I am delighted to support them.

"They incorporate some excellent ideas and Keith Bradshaw and I were delighted to be able to submit our ideas as part of the decision making process and to build on the robust structure proposed by the ECB as a result of detailed consultations undertaken."

According to the ECB, the structure of the new league was decided upon following detailed market research in which spectators stated their desire to watch more Twenty20 cricket. Some of the funding ideas in Bradshaw and Stewart's plan were incorporated at the meeting.

The board also agreed the 2010 season would include a single 50-over competition and 16 County Championship matches in a two-division structure.

"We looked at the Schofield Report, which stated that we should be playing competitions that mirror international competitions,"

Clarke told Sky Sports News.

"Spectators want to watch Twenty20 cricket on Friday nights, in the months of July, August and September, and the county championship in midweek. This is about giving the spectator what they want."

Sheffield Shield returns to Australian cricket

2008-07-16T21:14:00.003+06:00

Australia's 116-year inter-state cricket competition will revert to being called the Sheffield Shield, ending a nine-year period named after a commercial sponsor, Cricket Australia said Wednesday.

The traditional first-class competition, contested by six states, is considered the essential foundation for Australia's sustained run of success in Test and one-day cricket.

Cricket Australia announced the Sheffield Shield, which has its origins in 1891-1892 when Lord Sheffield was in Australia as the promoter of the English team led by W.G. Grace, would not have a naming sponsor from next season.

The switch to a commercial sponsor in 1999 was not popularly received by cricket lovers around Australia.

"Cricket Australia is passionate about bringing back the history and tradition of the Sheffield Shield and we are appreciative of the new sponsor for giving us the opportunity to do this," CA chief executive James Sutherland said.

Sutherland said CA had found a sponsor which did not want to put its name at the front of the competition.

England recall Flintoff for second South Africa Test

2008-07-15T21:05:00.000+06:00

England recalled Andrew Flintoff to a 12-man squad for the second Test against South Africa starting at Headingley on Friday after drawing the first of a four-match campaign at Lord's here Monday.

The fast-bowling all-rounder, who hasn't played Test cricket since captaining England to defeat against Australia at Sydney in January 2007, as they lost the Ashes 5-0, because of ankle and side injuries, was added to the team that played at Lord's.

Reserve fast bowler Chris Tremlett was dropped from the squad.

England 2nd Test squad:
Andrew Strauss, Alastair Cook, Michael Vaughan (captain), Kevin Pietersen, Ian Bell, Paul Collingwood, Tim Ambrose (wk), Stuart Broad, Ryan Sidebottom, James Anderson, Monty Panesar, Andrew Flintoff.

England v South Africa, 1st Test, Lord's, 5th day

2008-07-14T23:30:00.000+06:00

South Africa 247 and 393 for 3 (Amla 104*, Prince 9*) drew with England 593 for 8 dec

Hashim Amla's fifth Test hundred guided South Africa safely to a draw on the fifth and final day at Lord's. Two days ago, it seemed unlikely the visitors scrap it out into the fifth, yet it was England - the team who so dominated the first three days - who trudged off wearily 75 minutes after tea. South Africa may not have won, but they will take heart from their characteristically dogged performance with the second Test only four days away.

Remarkably, this was the sixth draw in as many Tests at Lord's. Indeed, the home of cricket hasn't witnessed a win since Australia's 239-run win in the 2005 Ashes, and barring a spectacular collapse by South Africa, it was unlikely that the trend would be broken today by Michael Vaughan's men. This isn't to discredit a wholehearted bowling performance, more to emphasise the benign surface that Lord's has produced over the last few years. In truth, they needed an Andrew Flintoff, and shortly after play his name was included in England's 12-man squad for Headingley.

Amla and Neil McKenzie deadened the match in the morning session, surviving unscathed at lunch, though by no means did England simply go through the motions. They persisted in a war of bouncers against Amla, attacking his supposed weakness; James Anderson, in particular, cranked up impressive pace from the Pavilion End, and fired in bumper after bumper to try and unsettle Amla. Yet not even an extraordinary leg-side field reminiscent of Bodyline could waver Amla's concentration, as he ducked, weaved and evaded all Anderson threw at him. Anything on his legs was duly whipped through midwicket with subcontinental elasticity. With Amla nudging and nurdling on a lifeless pitch, this was more Lahore than Lord's.

Meanwhile, McKenzie continued where he left off last night, showing remarkable resolve as he notched up his 400th ball faced. Such were England's attacking fields that anything wide could be easily dispatched, as was the case when Stuart Broad offered McKenzie a gift outside his off stump that was languidly back-cut.

Not even the introduction of Monty Panesar could turn England's fortunes for the better.

In fact, Panesar bowled the first over of the day to McKenzie, and could well have had him caught at short-leg, the ball narrowly evading his bat. Yet thereafter, for all his guile and occasional turn, Panesar was rarely a threat - unsurprisingly given the pitch's lack of bounce. Only occasionally did the odd ball leap alarmingly, and Amla's concentration failed him for once when he drove loosely at a wider spinning delivery. The very next ball was thumped through cover for four, before Amla nurtured more runs through midwicket to bring up the pair's hundred partnership from 250 balls, and his own cultured fifty from 116 balls. The match was subsiding into a draw.

Or was it? England were given cause for brief hope just after lunch when Anderson, visibly tiring in the field, offered McKenzie a wide to which he slashed behind to Tim Ambrose. In strode the ominous figure of Jacques Kallis, who made just 7 in the first innings, and again he struggled to pick up England's seamers, driving streakily just wide of Alastair Cook in the gully. Panesar troubled him in the next over, too, with one that finally spat up off a length, but Kallis responded in commanding style to pull him over midwicket. The authority he showed in one stroke eluded him entirely a few overs later, however.

Sidebottom chose this moment to produce his best ball of the match to South Africa's best batsman. Appearing to angle across Kallis, it bent back markedly on the right-hander to rip out his middle stump. South Africa were effectively 11 for 3, and the excitement of the situation chivvied Panesar into producing a fine over to the new batsman, Ashwell Prince. Two very close shouts for lbw were turned down by Daryl Harper, while Prince insisted on padding up to viciously-spun balls turning out of the rough.

As South Africa took the lead, Amla visibly settled, working twos through midwicket and occasionally pouncing the odd boundary off any strays that England offered. His was a controlled, disciplined innings - the type none of his team-mates, with the exception of Prince, could muster in the first innings; the like of which South Africa will need at Headingley, too. A back-cut for four brought up his hundred from 231 balls, and the match was as good as saved.

Farce briefly threatened to scuff the shine off South Africa's gutsy effort when the umpires halted play for bad light - in near-bright sunshine. And a patient crowd were then victim to watching Alastair Cook's time-stalling offbreaks for an over, before common sense prevailed and an exhausted Graeme Smith gave the thumbs up to Michael Vaughan from the balcony. The match might have petered to a draw, but both sides have given a tempting glimpse into the battles that lie ahead in the final three Tests.

Strauss leaves Lord's for birth of child

2008-07-14T20:53:00.000+06:00

England batsman Andrew Strauss left Lord's on the final day of the first Test against South Africa here on Monday to be with his wife Ruth, who was due to give birth to the couple's second child.

With the opening match of this series heading towards a draw and the Proteas batting, it was no great inconvenience for England to let Strauss join up with his wife.

England captain Michael Vaughan led the way in adopting a more 'family friendly' approach when, three years ago, he raced off the field at Headingley during a Test against the West Indies in order to be at the birth of his first child.

Left-handed opener Strauss himself followed his skipper's lead by missing the final Test against Pakistan in December 2005 and flying home to be present at the birth of his son, Sam,

But all-rounder Andrew Flintoff adopted a more old-fashioned outlook when he remained in India two years ago after being given the England captaincy instead of flying home to be at the birth of his second child, Corey.

The second Test of England's four-match series with South Africa starts at Headingley on Friday.

Australia undecided on players who refuse to tour Pakistan

2008-07-13T11:52:00.000+06:00

Cricket Australia is yet to consider the position of players who refuse to tour Pakistan for the Champions Trophy. James Sutherland, the CA chief executive, said the board was currently interested in understanding the security issues and concerns and about whether the tournament will go ahead.

"Then we get down to the decision for us as to whether we're comfortable,"

Sutherland told the Age.

Australia have till August 15 to name their final squad for the Champions Trophy and Sutherland expects to have a better picture of the situation by then.

"We have a high level of confidence in the consultants that have been engaged to work with ICC and the authorities in Pakistan. Now it is a matter of getting a better understanding in the coming couple of weeks from those consultants of how successful that implementation has been."

Andrew Symonds, the Australian allrounder, has expressed his reservations over touring Pakistan, a country that in the past year has had a state of emergency imposed on it, suffered the assassination of a former prime minister, followed by riots and bomb attacks on two of its cities. But other players, including Shane Watson and Nathan Hauritz, have said they will be happy to play anywhere as long as they get to represent Australia.

Earlier this year Australia postponed their tour of Pakistan due to security concerns. They are now scheduled to visit the country for bi-lateral series in 2009 and 2010.

Army promotion for Mendis after Asia Cup victory

2008-07-10T20:01:00.000+06:00

Sri Lanka's new spin sensation Ajantha Mendis has been given a double promotion in the army after his exploits in the Asia Cup final, officials said on Wednesday.

Mendis, 23, a gunner, was promoted to 2nd lieutenant by President Mahinda Rajapakse, who is also commander-in-chief of the armed forces.

Mendis destroyed India with record-breaking figures of 6-13 as Sri Lanka won Sunday's Asia Cup final in Karachi by 100 runs.

It was the best bowling performance in the continental tournament, surpassing Pakistani Aaqib Javed's 5-19 against India in Sharjah in 1995.

Mendis, who hails from the Colombo suburb of Moratuwa, finished with 17 wickets in the tournament.

"I am delighted to have played a part in Sri Lanka's victory,"

Mendis said after returning from Pakistan.

"I just want to bowl as best as I can every time I come to the bowling crease. I did that on Sunday."

The young Mendis uses an unusual grip in which he appears to squeeze the ball out of his fingers, bowling off-spin, leg-spin, googly, the top-spinner and the flipper.

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was the first to concede that Mendis was simply unplayable.

"We just could not read him and we knew he was a surprise bowler,"

he said.

"You need to be there in the middle to understand what he bowls. It was tough to pick his deliveries. It is not that the batsmen played badly, they played expecting something and the ball did something else."

India will face Mendis again when they tour Sri Lanka from next week for three Tests and five one-day internationals.

ICC's 2009 conference to be held at Lord's

2008-07-10T19:59:00.000+06:00

The ICC's annual conference in 2009 will be held at Lord's, David Morgan, the ICC president, has confirmed. Lord's had held the yearly conference since the first in 1909, but the meeting this year was hosted in Dubai, the first time it had been moved from the body's former London headquarters.

The shift to Dubai, where the ICC headquarters is located, came after it emerged that officials from Zimbabwe may not be granted visas by the British government due to the prevailing political situation in that country. But it's believed the conference will be held at Lord's next year even if visas are not granted to Zimbabwe officials, as the decision to host the meeting in England was unanimously endorsed by the ICC board, which includes Peter Chingoka, the president of Zimbabwe Cricket.

"It is perfect timing as it will allow Lord's, the ICC's home for the first 96 years of its existence, to play a central role in our organisation's centenary celebrations, as 2009 is the 100th anniversary of the founding of the ICC,"

Morgan said.

"That central role will involve not only the hosting of our biggest ever annual conference week, with all 60 Affiliate Members invited for the first time alongside the Associate and Full Members, but also the staging of matches in the ICC World Twenty 2009, including the finals of both the men's and women's events on 21 June.
"The ICC's centenary will be a time to look back at the legends who have shaped the game over the previous 100 years,"

he said.

"It will also provide an opportunity to look forward and celebrate the thousands of volunteers who sustain the game's grassroots and, at the same time, the ICC will use the year to highlight the special spirit of cricket on and off the field of play."

Looking ahead to his two years as ICC president, Morgan said he would spend much of the next year meeting the ICC's members - their officials and their stakeholders. "We are a members' organisation and so we need to know what type of ICC our members want.

"Do they want a toothless tiger that is only useful to blame for any failings when things go wrong? Or do they want a strong governing body invested with the power to run, and make decisions based on the best interests of, the game, and a body they can trust to do just that?
"Haroon Lorgat [the ICC's new chief executive officer] and I will travel to Full Members, Associates and Affiliates over the next 12 months to seek some answers,"

he said.

"But we also want it to be a two-way street. We want to meet boards and key stakeholders including players, ex-players, media, sponsors, even governments.
"We want those stakeholders to know what the ICC does and to ask if we can do anything differently or better. And, at the same time, we will ask what they can do for the ICC.
"By this time next year, when I report back to the ICC's annual conference, we should have a better idea of how we can help our members - and how our members can help the ICC to ensure cricket remains a strong sport, growing stronger."

Sri Lankans top ICC Test batting, bowling rankings

2008-07-09T19:59:00.000+06:00

Latest edition of the International Cricket Council (ICC) Test player rankings issued Tuesday (rankings as on June 17):

Leading batsmen (rank, player, team, rating, average, highest rating)

1. Kumar Sangakkara (SL) 893 55.19 938 v ENG at Kandy 2007
2. Shivnarine Chanderpaul (WI) 890 49.08 890 v AUS at Bridgetown 2008
3. Mike Hussey (AUS) 882 68.38 921 v WI at Kingston 2008
4= Ricky Ponting (AUS) 880 58.37 942 v ENG at Adelaide 2006
4= Mohammad Yousuf (PAK) 880 55.49 933 v WI at Karachi 2006
6. Jacques Kallis (RSA) 877 57.14 935 v NZ at Centurion 2007
7. Matthew Hayden (AUS) 834 53.51 935 v ENG at Brisbane 2002
8. Mahela Jayawardene (SL) 810 51.93 844 v WI at Guyana 2008
9. Younis Khan (PAK) 799 49.14 856 v ENG at Headingley 2006
10. Kevin Pietersen (ENG) 795 49.55 909 v WI at Headingley 2007

Leading bowlers (rank, player, team, rating, average, highest rating)

1. Muttiah Muralitharan (SL) 897 21.95 920 v BD at Kandy 2007
2. Dale Steyn (RSA) 892 21.60 897 v IND at Ahmedabad 2008
3. Stuart Clark (AUS) 863* 21.46 863 v WI at Bridgetown 2008
4. Brett Lee (AUS) 794 29.58 811 v WI at Antigua 2008
5. Makhaya Ntini (RSA) 777 27.85 863 v IND at Durban 2006
6. Ryan Sidebottom (ENG) 748* 25.11 748 v NZ at TrentBridge2008
7. Chaminda Vaas (SL) 709 29.09 800 v IND at Chennai 2005
8. Anil Kumble (IND) 708 29.06 859 v SL at Bangalore 1994
9. Shoaib Akhtar (PAK) 684 25.69 855 v NZ at Wellington 2003
10. Shane Bond (NZ) 668* 22.39 778 v WI at Auckland 2006

Note: * = provisional rating: a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.

Leading Test all-rounders (rank, change, player, team, rating, highest rating)
1. (- ) Jacques Kallis (RSA) 495 616 v PAK at Durban 2002
2. (- ) Daniel Vettori (NZ) 324 360 v ENG at Lord's 2008
3. (- ) Andrew Flintoff (ENG) 302 501 v PAK at Multan 2005
4. (+2) Dwayne Bravo (WI) 295 295 v AUS at Bridgetown 2008
5. (-1) Chaminda Vaas (SL) 294 300 v WIS at Guyana 2008

Note: * = provisional rating: a batsman qualifies for a full rating after playing 40 Test innings; a bowler qualifies for a full rating when he reaches 100 Test wickets.

Rohit and Ojha included for Sri Lanka Tests

2008-07-08T23:11:00.001+06:00

India have included uncapped players Rohit Sharma and Pragyan Ojha in the 16-member squad for the three-Test series in Sri Lanka. Yuvraj Singh has been left out, while Gautam Gambhir wins the opener's slot ahead of Wasim Jaffer. Zaheer Khan also returns to the team after injury niggles ruled him out of international action so far this year. With Mahendra Singh Dhoni opting out, the selectors have named two wicketkeepers in Dinesh Karthik and Parthiv Patel. The selection committee also announced the 30 probables for the Champions Trophy in September.

A source in the BCCI said the selectors decided to give Yuvraj "a break" with an eye on the amount of cricket coming up and considering the slim chances of him getting a slot in the final XI for the three Tests in Sri Lanka.

"The selectors decided to give him a break, considering the amount of cricket he has played recently and the cricket that is coming up in which he will play a crucial role,"

the source told Cricinfo.

"Also, they felt it would have been difficult to accommodate him in the final XI for the Tests in a line-up that already has Tendulkar, Dravid, Laxman and Ganguly. These were the two main factors that were considered in Yuvraj's case."

Unlike Dhoni, Yuvraj did not ask for a break, but it was felt that he needed one, the source said.

Yuvraj marked his comeback to the Test team with a 169 against Pakistan in Bangalore last year, but was dropped from the XI after scoring 19 runs in four innings during the Test series in Australia. Yuvraj is also susceptible against spin, another factor that could have gone against him, given the conditions in Sri Lanka.

Irfan Pathan, Piyush Chawla, Mohammad Kaif and Ramesh Powar are the other omissions from the Test squad that featured in the home series against South Africa. Harbhajan Singh returns to international cricket after completing his five-match ODI ban for slapping Sreesanth, who wasn't in the reckoning as he's still recovering from a side strain. The squad consists of seven batsmen, two wicketkeepers, four fast bowlers and three spinners.

Part of the winning ICC World Twenty20 side in South Africa, Rohit impressed in the CB Series in Australia earlier this year and continued his form for the Deccan Chargers in the IPL. Ojha, the Hyderabad left-arm spinner, recently earned a call-up to the ODI side.

"It's a dream come true. Any cricketer would want and expect to play for the country,"

Ojha told Cricinfo.

"I didn't particularly think about the Sri Lanka series but I knew if I keep bowling well I would get a chance. No wild celebrations now as I want to perform on the field. I will be concentrating on my flight and changes in pace and will generally try to bowl like I do in the Ranji Trophy."

Gambhir forces his way back into the Test team on the string of impressive performances in limited-overs cricket and domestic tournaments. He replaces Jaffer, who's had a poor run in Tests since the Eden Gardens Test against Pakistan last year, in which he scored a double-century.

Parthiv last played for India in October 2004; since then Karthik and Dhoni have won favour for a spot in the Indian team. Karthik last played the Bangalore Test against Pakistan, which Dhoni had to skip due to an ankle injury. Karthik had played as a specialist opener in Test series in Bangladesh and England last year, and in the home Tests against Pakistan.

Karthik was surprised with his selection.

"I didn't know if Dhoni was playing the series or not. It feels great that they have given me a chance."

he told Cricinfo.

"I don't see this a stop-gap arrangement for Dhoni but will look at this as a great opportunity to perform and prove my credentials.

"Ajantha Mendis will be a tough bowler to pick but it's really exciting challenge to play someone like him. I am confident that if I get a chance I will do my best to perform both in batting and wicketkeeping."

Parthiv was due to lead India A in the Emerging Players Tournament in Australia. Suresh Raina replaces him, while S Badrinath will captain the team. Parthiv had an impressive 2006-07 first-class season, scoring 1103 runs in 13 games at 58.05 as he captained Gujarat to victory in the Ranji Trophy Plate League.

"It's a great opportunity,"

Parthiv told Cricinfo.

"I've been performing really well in the last three domestic seasons. At the back of my mind, there was the possibility of me being picked. I know what it takes to be a Test player."

Source: Cricinfo

Australia could take Champions Trophy decision in two weeks

2008-07-08T23:10:00.003+06:00

Australia could decide within a fortnight whether to pull out of September's Champions Trophy in Pakistan.

According to a foreign news agency, Australian Cricketers Association (ACA) chief executive Paul Marsh said a decision will not be made before it get reports from its security experts and the Federation of International Cricket Associations.

Cricket Australia is expected to take a decision within two weeks, according to their spokesman Peter Young.

ECB name Sri Lanka as Zimbabwe replacement

2008-07-08T23:10:00.001+06:00

England will host Sri Lanka for two Tests and three ODIs in April and May next year. Sri Lanka's tour slots in the fixture gap caused by England's decision to suspend bilateral ties with Zimbabwe and the cancellation of their 2009 visit.

David Collier, the ECB chief executive, was pleased with Sri Lankan's willingness to step in and ensure England will have a competitive series ahead of the Ashes later in the summer.

"The strong and close relationship which we built up during our recent winter tours to Sri Lanka allowed the ECB, at short notice, to be able to approach Sri Lanka and confirm their availability for the international matches in the early part of next summer,"

he said.

The ECB cancelled Zimbabwe's tour last month, minutes after Gordon Brown, the prime minister, told the House of Commons that he wanted the tour scrapped. The ban on a team from Zimbabwe entering the country also put in doubt England's hosting of next year's World Twenty20 next year, but as of now the issue has been resolved with Zimbabwe pulling out of the event.

Sri Lanka play three three-day games ahead of the Tests series, followed by a warm-up one-dayer before the ODI series.

Western Australia to aid Malaysian development

2008-07-08T23:07:00.000+06:00

The Western Australian Cricket Association said on Monday it has signed an agreement to develop cricket in Malaysia.

WACA chief executive Graeme Wood signed a four-year memorandum of understanding with the Malaysian Cricket Association in Kuala Lumpur, it said. The two organisations will share proposals and programmes and cooperate on cricket development. Wood, a former Test opening batsman, said there was great synergy between the two cricketing organisations.

“Kuala Lumpur has played host to international matches and the inaugural Super 8’s tournament, while the recent ICC Under 19 World Cup showcased the nation as a major cricket destination,”

he said in a statement.

“Both the WACA and the MCA will encourage and promote an exchange of programmes, experiences, information and knowledge in a partnership to improve the game in both regions.”

Two of Malaysia’s leading players, Banerji Nair and Harris Abu Bakar, went to Perth to train and play early in their careers and both have shown the benefit of their Australian experience in their local competitions.

Ricky Ponting undergoes wrist surgery

2008-07-07T21:05:00.000+06:00

Ricky Ponting, the Australia captain, has had surgery on his injured right wrist and is no certainty to take part in the team's next matches, a series of three ODIs against Bangladesh in Darwin starting in late August. Ponting suffered the injury while batting in the third ODI against West Indies in Grenada last Sunday.

He was released from the tour and sent back to Australia, where he immediately had an assessment with Cricket Australia medical staff and had the operation in Melbourne on Monday. The process was completed as quickly as possible to give Ponting the best chance of taking part in the Darwin ODIs and the Champions Trophy that follows.

"We're not sure [on his availability against Bangladesh] at this stage,"

a Cricket Australia spokesman told AAP.

"We'll have to assess him as we go along. But that's why they got him in for assessment so quickly, so they could decide on a course of action rather than him going home [to Sydney] and leaving it a week. This way it gives him more time to recover."

Trefor James, Cricket Australia's chief medical officer, said Ponting had a tendon injury that "requires repair of tissues that hold the tendon in place". In Ponting's absence in the Caribbean, Michael Clarke led the side for the first time in one-day internationals and completed the 5-0 whitewash that had started under Ponting.

West Indies v Australia, 5th ODI, St Kitts

2008-07-07T13:29:00.000+06:00

Australia 341 for 8 (Symonds 66, Ronchi 64, D Hussey 52, M Hussey 51, Sarwan 3-57, Edwards 3-86) beat

West Indies 172 (Findlay 59*, Johnson 5-29) by 169 runs

In a series that has been as one-sided as a Möbius strip, it was somehow appropriate that Australia saved their biggest victory for the final match. They completed a rare ODI cleansweep in the Caribbean with a 169-run thrashing of West Indies and in the process highlighted their enviable depth as Luke Ronchi and David Hussey made two of the fastest half-centuries in one-day international history.

Both men were batting for only the second time in ODIs and their destructive striking suggested that they will become valuable members of the evolving limited-overs side. Ronchi stunned the Warner Park crowd with a 22-ball fifty that was briefly the second-fastest by an Australian in an ODI, but he was quickly bumped down the list when Hussey completed his in only 19 deliveries.

The two men were major contributors to Australia's monster score of 341 for 8, which was their highest ever against West Indies, and the home team never looked like making a successful chase. Mitchell Johnson ended what had been a disheartening tour for him personally on a high with 5 for 29 as Australia became only the third team to wrap up an ODI whitewash against West Indies in the Caribbean.

Johnson was handed the new ball instead of Nathan Bracken and made the most of the opportunity, drawing an edge behind from Chris Gayle and deceiving Ramnaresh Sarwan with a slower ball that had West Indies in trouble at 21 for 2. From there it was a steady decline and the only real bright spot for West Indies was the innings of Shawn Findlay, who in his second match showed some much-needed resolve to finish unbeaten on 59. Johnson returned to grab the final three wickets and earned his second ODI five-wicket haul.

West Indies fizzled out for 172 and it was a limp end from a team whose only strong effort in the series came at the same venue on Friday when they lost by one run. On that occasion they were chasing 283; this time the task was way too tall. Australia's 341 was the sort of score they posted in St Kitts three times in last year's World Cup. For a team used to playing on huge expanses like the MCG, the dimensions of the tiny Warner Park were unlikely to contain their powerful strikers.

Most pleasing for a team being led by an inexperienced captain was that the brightest stars were fringe players. Ronchi, the owner of the fastest domestic one-day century in Australia, brought his skills to the international stage with a 28-ball 64 that justified the captain Michael Clarke's decision to promote him to No. 3. No bowler was safe as Ronchi clubbed six sixes in an innings that will keep the incumbent wicketkeeper Brad Haddin on his toes. He gorged on Gayle's offspin, slamming three drives over the long-off boundary in one over, and he muscled Fidel Edwards over long-on and midwicket for another pair of sixes.

Ronchi also proved himself capable of more conventional shots. He square-drove when given width and brought up his half-century with a powerful drive wide of mid off against Edwards. The St Kitts crowd has witnessed some amazing strokeplay over the past couple of years - it's the venue where Herschelle Gibbs struck six sixes in an over and Matthew Hayden made the quickest World Cup hundred - and after Ronchi's fireworks they were treated to more of the same from Hussey.

His half-century was one ball short of the Australian ODI record, set by Simon O'Donnell against Sri Lanka in Sharjah in 1989-90. It also consigned Ronchi's effort to equal third, alongside Damien Martyn's mauling of Bangladesh in Cairns in 2002. Hussey was aided by some questionable captaincy from Gayle, who asked Sarwan to bowl the 50th over. Hussey brutally dispatched two of Sarwan's legspinners over midwicket and long on - one of the strikes left the stadium - and against the frontline bowlers he swung wildly and accurately. His urgent approach was only possible because of the earlier hard work of his brother Michael and Andrew Symonds.

The pair calmly built a 113-run partnership that ended when Symonds, on 66, edged behind off Edwards. That brought the Hussey brothers together at the crease for the first time in Australian colours. The pair played much backyard cricket in their Perth home as children and there was a flashback to the days of metal stumps for David when his under-edge to Edwards crashed into the stumps at pace, yet failed to dislodge the bail. It capped off a horror day for Edwards, who finished with 3 for 86 from nine overs.

The only bowler to escape with his reputation intact was Nikita Miller, whose 1 for 38 from ten overs suggested West Indies should persist with him for longer than they often do with slow men. In a series where almost nothing has gone right for West Indies, there were at least positive signs from Miller and Findlay.

For Australia, the tour has allowed a series of fringe players to shine. Shaun Marsh played well for his 49 to add to his 81 on debut a fortnight ago, Ronchi has been brilliant behind the stumps and with the bat, David Hussey has two half-centuries from his only two ODI innings and the reinstated opener Shane Watson was the side's leading run scorer in the five games. To cap it all off, Clarke's first two one-day internationals in charge brought victories. The Champions Trophy in September will be a different challenge but for Australia the future looks bright.

India v Sri Lanka, Asia Cup final, Karachi

2008-07-06T23:35:00.002+06:00

Sri Lanka 273 (Jayasuriya 125, Dilshan 56, Ishant 3-52) beat
India 173 (Sehwag 60, Mendis 6-13) by 100 runs

Eight years ago, , Sanath Jayasuriya scored a magnificent 189 before Sri Lanka's bowlers sent India tumbling to 54 all out, and a humiliating 245-run defeat. At Karachi's National Stadium, Jayasuriya, now 39, smashed another superb century before Ajantha Mendis, the mystery spinner still classed as a slow-medium bowler, bamboozled a highly rated batting line-up to finish with astonishing figures of 6 for 13.

Virender Sehwag's blistering early onslaught was rendered irrelevant as Sri Lanka stormed to a 100-run victory, retaining the Asia Cup and extending India's miserable record in tournament finals.

With Sehwag hammering an exhilarating 60 from just 35 balls, India had romped to 76 from just nine overs. Muttiah Muralitharan prefers not to bowl during the Powerplays, and it was to Mendis, who the Indians had never faced before, that Mahela Jayawardene turned as he sought to staunch the flow of runs.

Even he couldn't have predicted the impact that Mendis would have. Like a combine harvester scything through a field of corn, Mendis sliced through a line-up that has quite a reputation when it comes to playing spin. Sehwag charged his second delivery and watched helplessly as it drifted away from him. Kumar Sangakkara did the rest. Two balls later, Yuvraj Singh was utterly befuddled by one that skidded on. Suddenly, 274 appeared a long way away.

That Sri Lanka got anywhere near that was down to a man who refuses to bow to Father Time. India picked up four wickets in the first 12 overs, with Ishant claiming three of them, but Jayasuriya's 114-ball 125, and a 131-run partnership with Tillakaratne Dilshan utterly changed the complexion of the game.

It's perhaps no coincidence that India haven't won the Asia Cup since Jayasuriya became a regular at the top of the Sri Lankan order, and his mastery over the opposition was best revealed in the 16th over, bowled by RP Singh. RP had managed to escape relatively unscathed in his opening spell, conceding 24 from five overs, but when he returned, Jayasuriya took to him like a bull that had been riled by the matador's cape.

Sixes on either side of the sightscreen were followed by two wallops over cover, and after a one-ball lull, he pulled one over midwicket for six more. With Dilshan then taking three successive fours off Irfan Pathan, Mahendra Singh Dhoni had no option but to turn to spin, with Pragyan Ojha and Virender Sehwag managing to have something of a fire-extinguishing effect.

India had started poorly, with RP conceding two boundaries to fine leg in the opening over, but a mix-up between two experienced hands gave them the opening they so desperately needed. Jayasuriya tapped one to short mid-off, and Sangakkara had already hared halfway down the pitch before he realised the striker had no interest in a single. Suresh Raina's underarm flick was the ultimate punishment.

But with two maiden overs bowled in the first five, India wrested back a measure of control, despite Jayasuriya's sporadic bursts of aggression. With the pressure building, it was Ishant who struck, as Jayawardene slapped one straight to Rohit at point. No bother for Jayasuriya though. A swivel pull sent an Ishant delivery for six, and Pathan's introduction was greeted with three fours in the over.

The problem was at the other end, where Ishant was wreaking havoc with the extra bounce he extracted from a comatose pitch. Bounce and a hint of lateral movement had Chamara Kapugedera playing one off the leading edge to point, and two balls later, the other Chamara - Silva - inside-edged one back on to the stumps.

Jayasuriya's version of consolidation involved a pull for six off Ishant and a slice of luck as a as a miscue off Pathan evaded RP, who ran around in circles and failed to get his hands to the ball. Dilshan contributed only four to the first 50 the pair added, from 30 balls, but he did his part, turning the strike over to allow Jayasuriya to inflict maximum damage.

With Sehwag and Ojha - Rohit contributed three tidy overs too - taking the pace off the ball, it was a different story. With the field spread, the boundaries dried up and the runs came mainly in singles. India missed a couple of run-out opportunities and Dhoni put down a sharp chance offered by Dilshan when he was on 37, but the helter-skelter pace of the Powerplay overs soon gave way to relative calm.

Eventually, the lack of action got to Jayasuriya and a flat slog-sweep off Sehwag only found Ishant at deep midwicket. After that, Sri Lanka lost their way. Dilshan eased to 50 from 68 balls, but when Pathan returned to bowl round the wicket, he popped a catch to Dhoni. Vaas, back in the fray after missing the last game, square-drove Ishant for the first four in more than 20 overs, but was castled by RP soon after.

Nuwan Kulasekara flailed the bat to finish with an unbeaten 29, but a target of 274 was expected to be well within reach for an Indian side that had included seven specialist batsmen. But after his extraordinary first over, Mendis soon set about making a mockery of the predictions.

Raina had been fortunate to survive a vociferous leg-before shout before he decided to play the worst shot of the evening, an ugly pull to a delivery that pitched on middle stump. Rohit soon followed, struck on the back pad by one that deviated away a touch, and by the time Jayawardene decided to take him out of the attack, Mendis had stunning figures of 4 for 8.

No one including the umpires knew quite what to expect, and the batsmen appeared unsure whether to play him as a slow bowler or a medium-pace one. That indecision was to prove fatal, especially against the carrom ball that was being propelled by a flick of the middle finger. As eye-catching was his accuracy. There was no width for the batsmen to work with, and hardly a loose delivery. Only Dhoni, who played the ball as late as he possibly could, showed any signs of coming to grips with him.

With Mendis casting such a spell, Murali's introduction went almost unnoticed, but with him in parsimonious mood, the tourniquet was tightening around India. Robin Uthappa and Dhoni added 38 in attritional fashion before Murali struck from round the wicket. Uthappa missed a flick, and the appeal from the bowler was just a formality.

Jayawardene waited a while longer and then brought back Mendis for the 30th over. India somehow survived that, but the game was up in his next. Pathan's attempt to flick through the leg side ended up at slip, and RP walked off bemused after one deviated away to take off stump. He should have had the hat-trick too, only Simon Taufel was as perplexed by a ball that pitched in line as Pragyan Ojha was.

Dhoni had watched it all from the other end, defending stoutly and striking the odd four when he could. But once he inside-edged Chaminda Vaas to the keeper, the Sri Lankan dressing room readied for the celebrations. When Kulasekara cleaned up Ishant with 63 balls still to be bowled, they could begin in earnest. The combination of the six-hitting veteran and the six-wicket carrom-ball spinner had been far too much for India to handle.

Guernsey becomes ICC associate member

2008-07-06T19:42:00.000+06:00

The Channel Island of Guernsey has been awarded associate member status of the ICC.

Guernsey became the 34th associate member after a unanimous vote at the ICC’s annual conference in Dubai this week, the ECB said Friday.

The Sussex County Cricket Board entered an agreement with its Guernsey counterpart two years ago that Sussex officials would help run the island’s senior team.

“It’s great news for Guernsey and Sussex Cricket,”

said Keith Greenfield, the Sussex cricket performance manager.

“Our link with Guernsey has gone from strength to strength and it’s a wonderful opportunity for the standards of their cricket to improve,”

he said.

Two other countries applied for associate status, but Vanuatu’s bid was rejected on the grounds they had not beaten two associate members, while Mozambique withdrew their application.

Three European nations, Bulgaria, Estonia and Turkey were granted affiliate status, giving the ICC a total of 104 members.

Asia has become cricket’s powerhouse: Sangakkara

2008-07-05T21:42:00.001+06:00

Sri Lanka's wicket-keeper batsman Kumar Sangakkara Saturday said Asia leads international cricket as the financial hub and custodian of the game which has pioneered unprecedented globalisation.

"Asia have transformed from minnows of world cricket to the true powerhouse of cricket and we are now the economic driving force behind the world cricket,"

said Sangakkara at a seminar marking the silver jubilee of the Asian Cricket Cricket Council (ACC).

The seminar, "past, present and future of Asian cricket" was attended by current and former cricketers and administrators from Pakistan, India, Bangladesh and Sri Lanka and various other Asian countries.

The ACC was formed in 1983 and now has four full and 18 associate members. The seminar was hosted on the sidelines of ninth Asia Cup which is hosted by Pakistan.

Sangakkara, who will play for Sri Lanka in the final against India on Sunday, said Asia was now the spiritual home of the game.

"There is no doubt that Lord's in London has traditionally been accepted as traditional home of the game but, in my opinion, there has been a gradual shift with magnificent stadiums in Asia.

"The ravages of tsunami being soothed by the panacea that is cricket and when I see this all I have to ask has Asia not now become the new spiritual home of world cricket? I think it has."

Sangakkara said Asia had produced world class players who have revolutionised the game.

"Asia have produced teams that have impacted the game in profound ways and cricketers who have individually shaped the way cricket is played and introduced new skills in the game,"

he said.

ACC chief executive Ashraful Huq said Asian cricket had come a long way in the last 25 years.

"From a body formed by some eight experienced administrators, the ACC has come a long way and so has Asian cricket. It is a long successful journey and we are proud to be the leaders of world cricket,"

said Huq.

Pakistan Cricket Board chairman Nasim Ashraf, who will take over as ACC chairman from Sri Lanka's Arjuna Ranatunga on Sunday, said Asian cricket had progressed by leaps and bounds.

"Asian cricket is like Ferrari, going fast and smooth and if we follow the rules of transparency and integrity there is no reason why Asian cricket do not attain maximum heights,"

said Ashraf.

ECB considering to hold Test Championship

2008-07-05T19:39:00.000+06:00

England & Wales Cricket Board (EWCB) is considering to hold Test championship for promoting Test cricket.

Chairman ECB Giles Clarke told this while expressing his views at the seminar of the Asian Cricket Council.

He said that Twenty20 cricket has become very popular and this can be judged from the fact that 95 per cent tickets of the T20 World Cup, going to be held next year, have been sold.

Giles said that the ECB did not oppose to change the result of the infamous 2006 Oval Test at the ICC meeting because there is no racial discrimination in cricket and all differences are within the ground limits and all are equal off the field.

West Indies v Australia, 4th ODI, St Kitts

2008-07-05T14:55:00.000+06:00

Australia 282 for 8 (Symonds 87, D Hussey 50) beat

West Indies 281 for 6 (Gayle 92, Sarwan 63, Chanderpaul 53, Lee 3-64) by 1 run

Australia snatched a victory that should never have been theirs as Shane Watson delivered a superb final over that consigned West Indies to a devastating one-run defeat. Chris Gayle's 92 had set up what appeared certain to be a successful chase as West Indies pursued 283, but a string of late wickets ensured Michael Clarke tasted success in his first ODI as Australia's captain.

Clarke found out just how tough it is juggling bowlers at the end of a tense match as he used up his main men Brett Lee and Nathan Bracken in the 48th and 49th, leaving Watson as the only realistic option to send down the 50th. But crucially the final overs of Bracken and Lee contained a wicket each and when Shivnarine Chanderpaul (53) was bowled trying to turn Bracken through leg it left eight required from six balls.

Darren Sammy and Denesh Ramdin could only manage six singles as Watson pitched the ball up magnificently. Three were needed from the final delivery, which Sammy drove to mid off, where Clarke collected it cleanly to keep them to one and give himself a perfect, if stressful start to his one-day captaincy career.

He probably could not believe the result after West Indies were cruising through most of the innings. With eight overs remaining, they had seven wickets in hand and needed just 41 with Dwayne Bravo and Chanderpaul at the crease. Bravo was bowled by James Hopes for 31 but the momentum didn't really start to shift until a cracking late spell from Brett Lee, who tied down the debutant Shawn Findlay and took 1 for 10 from his final three overs.

Lee picked up Findlay through a stunning catch from Michael Hussey, who dived at full stretch to his left at midwicket. Four dot balls to Ramdin followed and West Indies could sense something was going wrong. Disappointment is a feeling that has been common for them in this series, but to throw away such a promising start would have been heartbreaking.

Gayle and Ramnaresh Sarwan had set them off to a terrific start with a 137-run second-wicket stand that was a welcome change in a series where they have cried out for contributions from their senior batsmen. After battling a groin injury and a dip in form, Gayle was back to his best in an innings that featured some powerful strikes, including a ferocious six over long on from a Lee half-volley.

Gayle also took a particular liking to Hopes, whom he clubbed flat and straight for six before clipping him for four through the leg side in an over that cost 14. His half-century came in 45 deliveries but his frustrating exit just short of triple-figures - he skied Watson to point, where Hopes took a terrific catch - turned out to be a key moment.

Already Sarwan had departed for a well made 63, edging behind off Lee having just dispatched him for a pair of fours. Sarwan pounded the part-time offspinner David Hussey straight over his head for six having started superbly with his first two deliveries driven straight and through cover for boundaries off Lee.

The Gayle-Sarwan union seemed to confirm what most observers thought: Australia's 282 for 8 was unlikely to be enough on a ground with a lightning fast outfield and tiny boundaries. In their three previous one-day internationals at Warner Park, all at last year's World Cup, the lowest total Australia had reached was 334. On this occasion, despite an excellent 87 from Andrew Symonds and a promising 50 from the debutant David Hussey, it was a string of unfulfilled starts from the top-order players that limited the team's score.

Daren Powell nipped the new ball around dangerously and removed both Shaun Marsh and Watson after they made starts, and when Clarke and Michael Hussey fell in the 30s, Australia were 129 for 4 and in a bit of a hole. But Symonds, the Man of the Match, paced his innings well, starting with singles and twos before launching a late attack that featured a massive six straight down the ground off Powell. It was Symonds' 101st six in ODIs after he brought up his 100th with a controlled drive over long on against the first-gamer Nikita Miller.

Symonds also showed off his version of the reverse sweep, an unconventional take on an already unusual stroke. When Miller pitched the ball on his pads, Symonds shaped as if to play a normal sweep, then ran the ball off the back of his bat down to the third-man boundary. It was nowhere near as gobsmacking as Kevin Pietersen's switch-hitting but it was innovative all the same.

When his 78-ball 87 ended with a drive caught at mid off, it was the finish of a 127-run partnership with Hussey, whose 50 from 51 deliveries included a six slogged over midwicket off Bravo and another driven viciously over long off against Powell. To their credit, West Indies' bowlers pegged back the rate in the dying overs when they picked up 4 for 23.

It was enough to limit Australia to a gettable total. As West Indies know only too well, they should have got it. Instead they will return to the same venue on Sunday for the final match, desperate to prove a point to their critics, including their own disgruntled board president.

Zimbabwe pull out of World Twenty20

2008-07-04T17:03:00.000+06:00

Zimbabwe have agreed to pull out of next year's Twenty20 World Cup in England, clearing the roadblocks for the competition to be staged there, but will retain their status as Full Member of the ICC and receive funding as usual. They will also receive their full participation fee for the tournament.

"We have decided to pull out in the larger interests of the game,"

Peter Chingoka, the chairman of Zimbabwe Cricket, told Cricinfo.

"We have been informed that the British government may not grant visas to our players, and that situation may prevail during the Twenty20 World Cup. We don't want to be gatecrashers."

"It was a collective decision and I was a part of that decision,"

Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, told Cricinfo.

"The full membership of Zimbabwe is currently not in doubt,"

ICC president David Morgan said.

"There was not even a discussion on the issue of Zimbabwe's membership. Everybody stands to benefit from the decision. Zimbabwe will be entitled to participation fees in the tournament like any other member. The ICC could not jeopardise the tournament."

The decision, Chingoka said, pertained only to the tournament in England.

"We are now looking forward to more tours and international cricket with our Asian friends, especially India."

The Zimbabwe issue had occupied a large part of the discussions during the ICC executive board meeting, which carried over to an unscheduled third day on Friday after a failure to reach a consensus.

Some countries, led by England and South Africa, had been pushing for Zimbabwe to be stripped of Full Member status but that move had been opposed by India.

Ray Mali, the former ICC president, has recommended the setting up of a sub-committee to "advise the ICC board on all matters relating to Zimbabwe cricket including its return to full participation in the international game. The specific terms of reference for the sub-committee will be finalised in due course." The sub-committee, if approved, will chaired by Julian Hunte, the head of the West Indies board, and include Arjuna Ranatunga and another official (who hasn't been confirmed).

Norman Arendse, the president of Cricket South Africa, was satisfied with the ICC's resolution on Zimbabwe.

"Cricket South Africa welcomes the ICC resolution on Zimbabwe as a step forward in the right direction,"

Arendse said.

"The Zimbabwe issue is difficult and complex, and was discussed at length. At least, the ICC decision extricates all Full Member countries from the potential problem of the Twenty20 tournament to be played in England in 2009.
"CSA's recently articulated position in relation to Zimbabwe Cricket will, however, remain as is, until the Zimbabwe situation is resolved to the satisfaction of all parties concerned."

India v Sri Lanka, Super Four, Asia Cup, Karachi

2008-07-04T00:14:00.001+06:00

India 310 for 4 (Gambhir 68, Dhoni 67, Raina 54) beat
Sri Lanka 308 for 8 (Kapugedera 75, Jayawardene 50, Silva 50) by six wickets

For the second day in succession, a target of 309 was overhauled without much trouble. Each of India's batsmen played their part as India reached the final with a convincing six-wicket win over Sri Lanka. Muttiah Muralitharan was the only bowler to unsettle the batsmen but, with little support from the rest, India triumphed with 19 balls to spare.

In contrast to their bowling effort, four of Sri Lanka's top six made significant contributions to help them post an imposing total. However, having already qualified for the final, they rested the experienced Chaminda Vaas as well as their new spin sensation Ajantha Mendis, a decision that worked in India's favour.

Gautam Gambhir and Virender Sehwag provided their now-familiar blazing start as India started their chase in earnest. It wasn't an all-out assault from them. Runs were scored with a combination of well-timed boundaries and a host of sharp singles - even Sehwag's six over midwicket was an effortless pick-up off his pads. In fact, the only shot in the first Powerplay, based on brute force, was an on-drive from Gambhir off Nuwan Kulasekara in the 10th over.

With little in the pitch for the fast bowlers, the openers were only troubled when taking some ill-judged singles. Gambhir demonstrated his confidence level by repeatedly charging the fast bowlers while Sehwag nonchalantly pulled even length deliveries to midwicket. Though India had raced to 71 in the first 10 overs, Jayawardene decided to take the second Powerplay. The decision seemed to backfire as 21 runs came off the next nine balls but the breakthrough came when Sehwag tapped a slower ball down leg side to Dilhara Fernando at short fine leg.

Suresh Raina started off with a confident pull to midwicket but was fortunate to see a lofted drive dropped by substitute Jehan Mubarak at cover. He and Gambhir took India to 135 before Gambhir was trapped lbw for 68, failing to pick a straighter one from Murali. Dhoni promoted himself ahead of Yuvraj Singh probably to ensure two left-handers didn't have to deal with the wiles of Murali.

Dhoni hardly showed any effects of having kept in back-to-back matches and playing a long innings yesterday as he and Raina scampered quick singles and twos. He started out cautiously before opening out after the 30th over - four fours (including a powerful, fine paddle-sweep off Murali) and a six came in the next four overs as the required-rate dipped to manageable levels.

Raina was run out soon after when going for a tight third and Dhoni was foxed by a quicker one from Murali to leave with two new batsmen at the crease, and 56 runs in the arrears. Yuvraj and Rohit Sharma, though, settled India's nerves with a composed partnership and set up a rematch in Sunday's final.

Unlike the Sri Lankan bowlers, India started off well as the new-ball bowlers turned in a much-improved performance, so much so that the first convincing boundary came only in the seventh over.

Ishant Sharma was the pick of the bowlers, exploiting the variable bounce in the pitch and effectively using the slower ball to trouble the batsmen. In one of cricket's typical quirks, amid an excellent spell, Ishant got his wickets off two of the worst deliveries he sent down - both short and down the leg side.

His opening partner RP Singh was also economical and Sri Lanka were limited to 39 for 1 after eight. The introduction of Irfan Pathan, though, let them off the hook as 26 came off his two overs. Sanath Jayasuriya had just switched to fifth gear before gloving one to Dhoni off Ishant. With the pitch easing up, Jayawardene and Kapugedera collected the singles against the spinners while punishing the loose deliveries from the faster bowlers to put on 78. Kapugedera, in particular, was impressive with a series of classical off-driven boundaries early on.

Risk-free batting took Jayawardene on to his half-century but he perished soon after as he stepped out and chipped Pragyan Ojha straight to long-off. Kapugedera was next to go, trapped lbw by Praveen, but not before he added 68 with Chamara Silva. Silva used the cut and sweep shots well against the spinners to make a well-deserved fifty and cameos from Kaushalya Weeraratne and Thilan Thushara pushed Sri Lanka beyond 300.

India's cause wasn't helped by their fielding, which has been below par right through the Asia Cup - catches were misjudged, dives at the boundary rarely saved the fours and several run-out opportunities were spurned. Ultimately, though, their batting covered up the deficiencies in the other departments to take them to the final at the expense of Pakistan.

ICC agrees to change Oval forfeiture to draw

2008-07-03T11:40:00.001+06:00

An agreement in principle is believed to have been reached to change the result of the controversial Oval Test between England and Pakistan in 2006 from an English victory to a draw, following pressure from the Pakistan Cricket Board during the annual ICC meeting in Dubai. The decision will be deemed official and final only after the board meeting concludes on Thursday and if the issue is not revisited before that.

"England and Pakistan have agreed to declare the Oval Test as a draw to maintain the dignity of Pakistan in world cricket, especially after the ball-tampering charges were dropped,"

a source who attended the meeting said. The topic took up a considerable chunk of the morning's proceedings.

The Test was originally awarded to England by umpire Darrell Hair after Pakistan did not come out to field after tea on the fourth day, following accusations of ball-tampering.

Pakistan had, at the time, been in a strong position in the match, having secured a first-innings lead of 331 and removed four England batsmen second-time around. There was nothing at stake in the series, with England already leading 2-0 after wins at Headingley and Old Trafford, but the eventual forfeiture was the first in the history of Test cricket. The removal of England's win could affect their standing in the ICC Test Championship - they are currently third on 110 points, one ahead of their next opponents, South Africa, on 109.

The result had huge off-field ramifications as well. Hair went on to be suspended from the ICC elite panel, and though that decision was overturned last year when he took his employers to the High Court in London, the initial decision formed the basis of Pakistan's appeal for a rethink of the result.

A PCB source told PTI:

"Members of other boards supported us in our stand that the result should be officially changed to a draw as an ICC adjudicator later found Hair guilty of transgressing his authority and not behaving properly during the entire episode. The board agreed the result should be a draw not a forfeited win for England."

Bangladesh v Sri Lanka, Super Four, Asia Cup, Karachi

2008-07-01T01:06:00.000+06:00

Sri Lanka 332 for 8 (Jayasuriya 130, Sangakkara 121) beat

Bangladesh 174 (Raqibul 52, Nazimuddin 47, Muralitharan 5-31) by 158 runs

As birthday bashes go, this was pretty special, with Sanath Jayasuriya bludgeoning Bangladesh into submission as Sri Lanka sauntered into the Asia Cup final. Kumar Sangakkara's elegant 121, just 24 hours after a century against Pakistan, was the supporting act, and with Muttiah Muralitharan at his supple-wristed best with the ball, Bangladesh were brushed aside by a massive 158 runs. Nazimuddin and Raqibul Hasan showed some defiance, but even against an attack missing Lasith Malinga and Farveez Maharoof, 333 was never on.

Some of the Bangladesh players were still in diapers when Jayasuriya made his debut, and they must have felt as helpless as babies when he celebrated his 39th birthday with the fluent shot-making and power-hitting that typified his halcyon years. He raced to a century off only 55 balls, and though it turned out to be a two-man show, Sri Lanka still had enough to pull off their fourth successive win of the tournament.

Having added 201 with Sangakkara in only 27.5 overs, Jayasuriya finally ran out of puff in the Karachi heat. A poor delivery from Alok Kapali was lofted to deep cover where Tamim Iqbal took the catch. There was scarcely any joy from the fielders, because by then Jayasuriya had pounded 130 off only 88 balls, with a heady rhythm of cuts, pulls and drives.

Sangakkara carried on though, having been reprieved by Kapali off his own bowling on 51. He drove beautifully down the ground and made good use of both the orthodox sweep and the slogged version. Occasionally, he would also come down the track and loft the ball over the infield, and Bangladesh appeared bereft of options.

When Jayasuriya lashed Mashrafe Mortaza's opening delivery past point for four, it appeared to be a sign of things to come, but with Shahadat Hossain bowling a maiden first-up, Bangladesh conceded only 20 in the first five overs. The trouble started after that, with Jayasuriya dusting off his pull stroke and driving over the infield with immense power.

Sangakkara wasn't to be left behind, piercing the packed off-side field cleverly occasionally, but after a while he gave up trying to keep pace. Jayasuriya was unstoppable. When the bowlers dropped short, he would pull over midwicket. If they were too full, the disdainful flick was unveiled. Too much width and the hoardings behind the point boundary were battered with short-arm cuts. And if all that wasn't punishment enough, he would also jump down the pitch before lashing the ball over the covers.

The half-century took only 31 balls, and when Abdur Razzak came on, he was taken for 19 runs in his second over. Two crisp fours off Farhad Reza and a single to long leg later, he had a century, the 26th of an illustrious career. Sangakkara, who had caressed some lovely drives himself, was the perfect foil, and Bangladesh's cause wasn't helped when Mushfiqur Rahim fluffed a catch behind the stumps off Razzak right after Jayasuriya had got his hundred.

His eventual departure, after slamming 16 fours and a mere six sixes, did stem the tide though, with the other batsmen unable to support Sangakkara. Mahela Jayawardene eased to 20 before pulling a long hop from Kapali to midwicket and neither Chamara, Kapugedera or Silva, could get going. Tillakaratne Dilshan was run out by a direct hit from Raqibul, and when Razzak finally sneaked one under Sangakkara's defence, Bangladesh had managed a comeback of sorts. But thanks to their openers becoming only the 18th pair to score centuries in the same game, Sri Lanka were nearly out of sight by then.

Bangladesh were notionally in the contest till the halfway stage of their innings, with Nazimuddin and Raqibul playing some fine strokes in the face of an imposing asking-rate. Nazimuddin took his time to settle, but then launched into some delightful cuts and drives. Ajantha Mendis, who had bamboozled the Pakistanis, was thumped for a four and a six, and only a miscommunication with Raqibul saw him run out when in sight of a half-century.

By then, he had already seen Tamim and Mohammad Ashraful, the side's leading lights, depart. With Chaminda Vaas and Nuwan Kulasekara giving nothing away early on, Tamim quickly became restless, and a tame nibble at a Vaas delivery was easily taken by Dilshan, deputising for Sangakkara behind the stumps.

Ashraful came in and took three fours off a Vaas over, but then had one of those brain-fades that he's become prone to. He was in no sort of position to try and pull Thilan Thushara, and the top-edge came down into Dilshan's hands.

But with Raqibul starting in strokeful fashion and Nazimuddin determined to tilt at windmills, the run-rate quickly soared, with Thushara coming in for harsh treatment. Nazimuddin's dismissal, halted the charge though, and after that it was all about Murali.

Mushfiqur edged one to slip and Kapali was trapped in front by a doosra. Raqibul's brave innings was curtailed by another that went the wrong way, and Razzaq cleaned up going for the sweep. When Mortaza top-edged a sweep, he had five wickets for the ninth time in ODIs. It may sometimes be a young man's game, but it was the old hands that blew the candles out on Bangladesh.

West Indies v Australia, 3rd ODI, Grenada

2008-06-30T11:35:00.000+06:00

Australia 227 for 3 (Watson 126, Ponting 69) beat

West Indies 223 (Gayle 53, Bracken 3-26) by seven wickets

Shane Watson made his first ODI century and Ricky Ponting bounced back to form as Australia completed yet another one-sided victory over West Indies to take an unbeatable 3-0 lead in the five-match series. Chasing 224 on a decent batting pitch, Australia ruthlessly took advantage of a lacklustre bowling effort from West Indies to cruise to one of their easiest wins in recent memory, reaching the target with seven wickets in hand and 57 balls to spare.

Watson is competing with Shaun Marsh to become the permanent limited-overs opening partner for Matthew Hayden and his 126 will do his cause significant good. He fell late in the chase, paddle-sweeping to short fine-leg, but Andrew Symonds and Michael Clarke had no trouble getting Australia over the line. As well as Watson played, he will rarely enjoy an innings at international level where he is under less pressure.

West Indies' total was never likely to be enough but when Fidel Edwards removed Marsh in the first over there should have been some spark. Instead there was nothing. Just as their woeful batting display on Friday led to a couple of omissions for this match, their ordinary effort with the ball on this occasion must raise questions over the attack, while their fielding was also distinctly sub-par.

Watson's innings ticked over at around a run a ball but he hardly needed to take any risks, instead pouncing on short and wide offerings and clipping confidently through leg when the fast men strayed onto his pads. He cut an out-of-sorts Sulieman Benn for thee fours in one over when the spinner repeatedly pitched too short and wide and the third of the boundaries gave Watson his half-century from 48 deliveries.

However, his innings should not be regarded lightly and there were moments of pure Watson perfection, as when he clubbed Dwayne Bravo back over his head for a huge six, and a couple of straight drives highlighted a sound batting technique. His century came up from 106 balls with a pulled four when Chris Gayle dropped short and a double-arm-raised cheer showed how important the milestone was after 68 matches and six on-and-off years in the team.

Ponting was equally happy to make the most of the insipid bowling display. Early in his innings he dispatched four boundaries in three overs when Daren Powell and Edwards constantly overpitched - the ultimate gift for a man who started the series with a pair of failures - and he rarely looked threatened until slog-sweeping a catch to Xavier Marshall at long-on when he had 69.

That ended the innings of "R Pointin", according to the National Cricket Stadium's scoreboard, which for most of the day didn't even work and left the fans with no idea of the progress as there was no manual scoreboard as a backup. It hardly improved Grenada's reputation after Friday's unacceptable and repeated sightscreen glitches, but really the off-field embarrassments were trivial compared to West Indies' regular malfunctions on the park over the past three days.

The batting looked like it might finally gel when Gayle and Marshall put on an 86-run opening stand after being sent in by Ponting but another string of unfulfilled starts left the fans disappointed. Even allowing for the frailty of the West Indies middle order, it was impossible to believe they would fail to bat out their overs after the openers lasted until the 18th over.

But it all fell apart for them again and Australia were all smiles as Brett Lee became the fastest man to reach 300 ODI wickets with a skied caught-and-bowled that removed Darren Sammy, and then soccered the ball onto the stumps in a comedic run-out as Powell dropped the ball at his feet, started, stopped, started again, slipped, and was caught short trying to crawl back to his crease. That dismissal told the story of West Indies' day.

It could have been so different but Marshall, Shivnarine Chanderpaul and Ramnaresh Sarwan were all caught after making solid starts and reaching the 30s. Sarwan and Chanderpaul guided them to 160 for 2 before Chanderpaul edged behind off Symonds and was snared by some sharp work from Luke Ronchi, who knocked the ball up on his first attempt and pouched it second grab. Four overs later, when Sarwan had 31, he impatiently drove Mitchell Johnson straight to Symonds at cover after being tied down for four consecutive dot balls.

Wickets just kept falling. Andre Fletcher had 12 when he came out of his crease to Nathan Bracken, apparently forgetting that Ronchi was keeping up close, and was brilliantly stumped when he missed an attempted pull. It was the third outstanding piece of glovework from Ronchi, playing only his second ODI. He also sent Marshall back for 35 when he hurled himself to his right, toward where a first slip might have been, to grasp a thick edge.

Marshall had taken a backseat to Gayle, who looked so ominous that shots he appeared to mistime even flew to the boundary. He hammered three sixes on his way to 53 from 54 balls and recorded his 100th six in one-day internationals when he picked up an outswinger on a driveable length off Bracken and slammed it back over the bowler's head. But the only bright point of West Indies' day was extinguished when Marshall's straight drive clipped the bowler Johnson's fingers and rebounded onto the stumps to have Gayle unluckily run out.

It was all a downhill slide from there. After a Test series that, while won 2-0 by Australia, was fiercely competitive, the one-day portion of the tour has been awfully one-sided. And there are still two games to go.

England v New Zealand, 5th ODI, Lord's

2008-06-29T00:05:00.001+06:00

New Zealand 266 for 5 (Styris 87*, Oram 52) beat

England 215 (Shah 69, Vettori 3-32, Southee 3-49) by 51 runs

Scott Styris and Daniel Vettori, New Zealand's two most experienced ODI players, guided their team to a 51-run victory that ensured their often disappointing and sometimes heated tour ended on a high. Styris set up the success with an unbeaten 87 before Vettori wrecked the England middle order, giving Kevin Pietersen a torrid first match as captain and confirming a 3-1 triumph for the visitors.

It was an outstanding result for New Zealand in a series where they managed to stay on top despite being dealt two cruel blows. At Edgbaston they were denied what seemed a likely win when rain ended their chase one over short of the 20 required to constitute a game, and at the Oval they won on the last ball in a match where ill feeling spilled over due to a controversial mid-pitch collision and subsequent run-out.

But New Zealand like being the underdogs. They are the masters of talking themselves down, which at times seems unjustified but also serves to heighten the joy whenever they triumph in a series. They are also more consistent in the one-day arena than in the Test format and it was two of their premier limited-overs players who set the platform for the final win with a 77-run partnership.

The efforts of Styris and Jacob Oram, who had enough experience to slow the tempo having lost top-order wickets, before launching a late attack, must have made Pietersen question his decision to send New Zealand in on a good batting pitch. Not that scoring should have been that difficult for England either, they just failed to copy Styris and capitalise on their starts.

Three of their top four fell after promising much. Alastair Cook and Ian Bell made an encouraging 53-run opening stand that might have had Vettori a shade nervous. Bell drove Kyle Mills through the on-side for a pair of boundaries in the first over but it was just another tease for frustrated England supporters and he was lbw for 27 when he walked across his stumps to Mark Gillespie.

Cook displayed similar promise in reaching 24 before edging behind off the second ball from Tim Southee, who had a cracking series and finished with 13 wickets at 18.23 after adding a watchful Pietersen, who cut in the air to point for 6. When Vettori deceived a confident Ravi Bopara (30) with an arm ball and added Luke Wright and Tim Ambrose cheaply, the result was certain.

Only Owais Shah managed a hint of what Styris had achieved, finishing with 69 to become the only man besides Styris to pass fifty twice in the series. The big difference was that Styris, who played a perfectly-paced innings, had impressive support from Daniel Flynn, Grant Elliott, and Oram. England's bowlers had chipped away at the top order, which meant Styris had to settle and ensure they batted out their overs. After they built a solid platform of 170 for 4 from 40 overs, New Zealand added 96 in the final ten as Pietersen failed to work out how to plug the leaks.

At the 40-over mark New Zealand had managed only eight fours and a six; by the end they had more than doubled the boundary count. Oram cut loose with a pair of sixes that cleared long on, giving him a 37-ball fifty and leaving Shah with a double-figure economy rate, and even though he departed to a catch at long off, the crowd was given further fireworks when Styris suddenly lifted his tempo.

When Styris reached his half-century from 75 deliveries - with a miscued six - he had managed only two fours. His next 34 came from 16 balls as he powerfully launched Ryan Sidebottom and James Anderson into the crowd to leave England ruing the life they gave him on 13. Styris flashed hard at a Graeme Swann delivery outside off stump and the ball flew over the head of the backward point, Bopara, who hurled himself in the air only to see the ball bounce off his outstretched hand.

It was a tough chance by any measure, but it was just one of a handful of fielding lapses from Pietersen's men. Flynn was put down at cover by Bell on 21 and when Jamie How had 4 his top-edged pull was grassed by Ambrose, who should have snared the highly gettable opportunity running back with the flight. Styris made England pay, while the other let-offs gradually added up.

Even so, the surface was true enough that with a more disciplined batting display England could still have chased successfully and gone out with a 2-2 draw. But ultimately it was New Zealand who donned the black caps to deal a fatal blow to England's series.

Bangladesh v India, Super Four, Asia Cup, Karachi

2008-06-29T00:03:00.000+06:00

India 284 for 3 (Raina 116*, Gambhir 90) beat

Bangladesh 283 for 6 (Kapali 115, Tamim 55) by seven wickets

Alok Kapali's dazzling 115 gave Bangladesh a fighting chance, but their inability to hold on to catches meant that India breezed past another stiff target at the National Stadium in Karachi. Two days after making mincemeat of 300 against Pakistan, they overhauled Bangladesh's 283 with 40 balls to spare. Suresh Raina, with a century against Hong Kong and 84 against Pakistan earlier in the tournament, stroked a magnificent unbeaten 116, adding 139 for the third wicket with Gautam Gambhir to set up the game for India. Gambhir's 90 spanned just 84 balls, and there was enough time for Yuvraj Singh to thrash a couple of mighty sixes before the curtain came down.

Shahadat Hossain, all lively pace and whole-hearted grunting, had hinted at an upset with two wickets in the first Powerplay, but the partnership between Raina and Gambhir upset Mohammad Ashraful's best-laid plans. Butter fingers didn't help.

Gambhir had made 56 when his attempt to muscle Mashrafe Mortaza over the infield was sliced up in the air towards point. Farhad Reza made a mess of the catch. Soon after, still in the final Powerplay, Raina experienced his own adrenaline-rush moment, top-edging a pull. But again, Mortaza's celebrations were aborted as Mahmudullah spilt the chance at fine leg. Raina had made just 16.

Bangladesh had started well enough, with Robin Uthappa inside-edging a full delivery onto his stumps. That brought in Rohit Sharma, another batsman whose fortunes have waned in recent times. With Bangladesh especially generous with overthrows, India didn't need to take undue risks, and Rohit soon got going with an imperious pull and a cover drive for fours.

With Gambhir cutting and pulling anything that was slightly off target, the 50 came quickly enough, but soon after Rohit flicked Shahadat straight to midwicket. Raina was content to rotate the strike early on, and Gambhir quickly got to his half-century with a four and six off Mahmudullah. Then came the bloopers, and that was effectively that.

Slipshod fielding had played its part in Bangladesh's surge to 283 as well. Kapali had made just 25 when Manpreet Gony misjudged a catch at long-on off the bowling of Yusuf Pathan. Gambhir gave him another reprieve late on, but by then he had roared into three figures.

The innings exploded into life in the final eight overs, when 90 runs were amassed as Kapali cut loose with a ferocity that brooked no answer from the Indians. Mahmudullah turned over the strike at the other end, contributing only 24 to the 112-run partnership as Kapali struck the ball with power and precision.

Pragyan Ojha had bowled a tidy spell and taken two wickets on debut, Yusuf had given little away, and Ishant Sharma had kept things quiet when called upon. But when Yusuf came on to bowl his final over, Kapali, then on 47 from 64 balls, exploded into life. Two big slog-sweeps for six set the tone, and when RP Singh returned, both batsmen scythed him over backward point for fours.

Gony, whose second international outing was a great deal more taxing than the first against Hong Kong, then went for 4,6 and 6 as Kapali started to swing with genuine confidence. Mahendra Singh Dhoni once again turned to Ishant to apply a tourniquet, but to no avail. Kapali clipped a slow yorker beautifully through midwicket and then carved one past point as 61 came in just five overs. Of that, 50 had come off Kapali's bat.

Bangladesh had started sedately, but when Nazimuddin cut RP straight to third man, Mohammad Ashraful arrived to up the ante. With Gony straying on to the pads once too often, the runs came quickly. With Tamim Iqbal driving the ball fluently and Ashraful utilising both power and touch, the run rate soared to six.

Unfortunately for Bangladesh, Ashraful's profligate streak came to the fore just when his team were on top. Gony had been brought back for a second spell, and a half-hearted drive on the up went to Ojha at mid-off. A first international wicket for Gony, and a first catch for Ojha.

Raqibul Hasan and Tamim continued to pick up runs at a fair clip, and Dhoni threw Ojha the ball in the 17th over. He started tidily enough, giving little away, and was unlucky as a thick outside edge that took Tamim past 50 just evaded the man at slip.

Yet again though, a moment's carelessness cost Bangladesh dearly. Having creamed Ishant through the covers for four, Tamim then tried to deflect one fine off the pads. Too fine as it turned out, with Dhoni making good ground to his right to take a splendid catch. The second and third Powerplays had fetched just 42, and Bangladesh had to do it all over again.

Raqibul expressed the desire to push on with a big heave over long-off against Ojha, but was flummoxed soon after, as Ojha came up with a beautiful delivery that turned past the defensive prod to take off stump. Mushfiqur Rahim and Kapali consolidated with a 49-run partnership, but India's bowlers, with Ojha varying his flight cleverly, were slowly establishing a stranglehold.

Ojha's second wicket came courtesy a little extra bounce, with Mushfiqur's attempt at a cut finding only Dhoni's gloves, but the scent of a quick kill turned into a bloody nose as Kapali blazed away like a Catherine Wheel. Had Bangladesh taken their catches, there might have been even more fireworks to illuminate the Dhaka night. Raina and Gambhir certainly weren't anything like as generous.

West Indies v Australia, 2nd ODI, Grenada

2008-06-28T17:09:00.000+06:00

Australia 213 for 5 (Hussey 62, Clarke 56) beat

West Indies 140 for 8 (Chanderpaul 45*, Clarke 3-26) by 63 runs (by D/L method)

Michael Hussey and Michael Clarke showed West Indies how to apply themselves on a difficult pitch but their hosts ignored the lesson and threw away wickets when the going got tough, handing Australia a comprehensive 63-run Duckworth/Lewis win. When the rain came after 26 overs West Indies' hopes were already dashed and at the resumption they needed a ridiculous 146 more off 14 overs, ensuring Australia took a 2-0 series lead.

The victory came because of two men. On a surface that was sluggish and offered tricky seam movement, Hussey and Clarke compiled a restrained and at times soporific century partnership that allowed Australia to reach 213 for 5 after they had wobbled to 35 for 3. West Indies fell to an almost identical 41 for 3 in the chase but whereas Hussey and Clarke went into Test mode and focused on batting out the overs, West Indies' middle order showed as much patience as a hand grenade.

Australia's attack adopted a stump-to-stump style that suited the conditions and while Shivnarine Chanderpaul displayed his customary resolve, his partners exhibited no such commonsense. Dwayne Bravo had 3 from 21 deliveries when he was frustrated into lofting Shane Watson's slower ball to Hussey at deep midwicket and West Indies were 49 for 4.

Patrick Browne was equally unable to find the gaps and with 1 from 18 balls he edged Clarke to first slip, where Cameron White took a superb diving chance on the second grab. If the situation was not dire enough, Kieron Pollard came in and from his second ball played the worst shot of the lot. In a situation that required a slow and steady consolidation, Pollard went over the top and lobbed Clarke straight down the throat of Watson at long off, much to the frustration of his older, wiser partner.

At the time Chanderpaul had worked hard for 13 from 42 deliveries and when rain halted play one over later, it at least delayed the embarrassment for West Indies. Their revised target, 204 runs from 41 overs, was unattainable and Chanderpaul finished unbeaten on 45 while Clarke ended up with 3 for 26. If little went right for West Indies in the first ODI in St Vincent, there were even fewer positives in Grenada.

Their chase got away to the worst possible start when Brett Lee found Xavier Marshall's edge from the first delivery of the innings. The ball flew low and to the right of Luke Ronchi, who made a good take to give him the perfect introduction behind the stumps in his first ODI. Lee was once again in fine form, seaming the ball effectively and often beating the bat of both Andre Fletcher and Chris Gayle.

A watchful Gayle did not get off the mark until his 13th ball and although a calm and composed innings was required, the captain set a poor example for his troops by miscuing an attempted pull off Mitchell Johnson to Ricky Ponting at mid off. It was a disappointing shot selection, though not as bad as that of Fletcher, who tried to pull a James Hopes delivery that was far too full, and lost his off stump.

The difference between their approach and that of Australia could not have been more stark. Clarke and Hussey knew that after a shaky start - Jerome Taylor and Daren Powell jagged the ball around early and picked up three handy wickets - runs were not their immediate concern. Accordingly, they added only eight runs in the first ten overs of their partnership. Until Clarke drove Darren Sammy back down the ground in the 26th over, there had been no boundaries for 104 deliveries. But Clarke and Hussey are both smart runners between the wickets and they were largely responsible for the fact that 94 of Australia's 213 runs came in singles.

Plenty of comfortable ones and twos were on offer when the spinners operated and if runs weren't exactly leaking there was at least a nagging drip that Gayle needed to deal with. He was not helped by his fielders, who seemed to switch off after the early enthusiasm. Browne was sloppy behind the stumps and Bravo made a meal of what should have been a catch at first slip when Clarke was on 30 and facing Sulieman Benn. Bravo inexplicably moved right, trying to anticipate the cut shot rather than watching the ball, and he failed to get a hand on one that would have gone straight to him had he stayed still.

It was a costly mistake as Clarke went on to sweep and cut a few boundaries in his half-century, which came off 87 deliveries. He eventually fell for 56, struck in line by a straighter Benn ball that he was trying to work through midwicket as Australia gradually tried to lift their rate. Hussey picked up the pace with a six swept over midwicket off Benn and, appropriately given the hard grind for most of his innings, brought up his half-century with a thick edge that flew away for four to third man.

When Hussey holed out to long on for 62 from 105 deliveries his job was done. He had set a solid platform so the lower order could attack and White finished unbeaten on 40 from 39 balls while Hopes added a run-a-ball 17. The allrounders, who might have been under undue pressure had they come in earlier, had an easy task after the Clarke and Hussey partnership, which was worth 100 off 29 overs.

It also gave Ponting, in his 300th ODI, some justification after choosing to bat on a pitch with some moisture. His run of big milestone innings ended when he chipped a catch to short midwicket for 13, out to Taylor for the fifth time in his past six international innings. Australia had already lost Shaun Marsh and Watson, who waited 15 minutes for the first over due to yet another tedious sightscreen fault that did little for West Indies' image after a similar ridiculously long wait in Barbados. In the end it was a batting malfunction that really damaged West Indies' reputation.

Sri Lanka v UAE, Group A, Asia Cup, Lahore

2008-06-27T00:05:00.000+06:00

Sri Lanka 290 for 9 (Udawatte 67, Jayawardene 61, Shah 3-49) beat

UAE 148 (Amjad 77, Mendis 5-22) by 142 runs

Sri Lanka scored another big victory to make it two wins in two days and progress to the second round with two points, by virtue of their win over fellow qualifiers Bangladesh. UAE, who are now out of the tournament, looked like they would make a match of it as opener Amjad Ali made a spectacular half-century, but they hurtled to defeat after his departure.

Shrugging away any exhaustion after having kept wickets earlier, Amjad made his aggressive intentions clear from the first over. He took three consecutive fours in the opening over by Nuwan Kulasekera. A wristy flick over square leg, a fine glance past fine leg and then a punch between mid-on and midwicket proved Amjad was not going to wait for the bowler to err.

Perhaps the shot of the day came in the next over when a mere forward punch from Amjad, powered by a Brian Lara-esque high backlift, sent the ball racing past mid-off. Even the loss of his opening partner Arshad Ali, who was beaten by a brilliant pick and throw by Chamara Kapugedera early on, did not hinder Amjad's approach.

His cavalier approach had UAE at standing firm at 83 for 1 after 15 overs and even forced Mahela Jayawardene to delay taking the third Powerplay. Although their hopes of reaching the target in 39.1 overs - in order to pip Bangladesh to the second round - looked unlikely, they were still in with a chance to pull off an upset. However, those hopes faded when Amjad fell trying to clear the long-on boundary off Tillakaratne Dilshan in the 24th over.

There was hardly any resistance from the others and with the tail unable to deal with Ajantha Mendis' mystery spin, UAE slumped to a 142-run loss. Mendis finished with career-best figures of 5-22 as UAE lost their last six wickets for 15 runs.

Despite the huge margin of defeat, it wasn't the easy game Mahela Jayawardene would have expected. Having elected to bat first Sri Lanka received an immediate jolt when yesterday's centurion, Kumar Sangakkara, was trapped plumb low on his back leg by the accurate Zahid Shah. Bowling a tight line and hitting the seam hard, Shah kept the batsmen guessing and was easily the best fast bowler on the day.

After that initial setback, Sri Lanka picked themselves up and sped to 76 for 1 by the end of the first Powerplay. Shah didn't get any support from Fahal Alhashmi, his new-ball partner, who was, at best, erratic. After bowling two wides in his first over, Alhashmi delivered four more in his next, conceding 15 runs off that over, including an exquisite straight boundary by Mahela Udawatte, who went on to make a patient 67.

There was a brief lull before Shah was clubbed by Jayawardene for four consecutive boundaries. But it was important to keep the tempo going in the muggy heat and Jayawardene, who had reached his half-century, looked tired after the drinks break and was run out off a direct hit when going for a tight single.

At one stage, Sri Lanka seemed likely to cross 300 for the second successive day, but a mixture of exhaustion, poor shot selection and impatience helped UAE, who had only played 10 ODIs coming into the game, restrict them.

The two Chamaras, Kapugedera and Silva, didn't show any patience and, attempting to force the issue, threw their wickets in quick succession. Though Sri Lanka raced to 147 in 20 overs, they had lost four top-order batsmen and were left with their last recognised pair of Udawatte and Tillakaratne Dilshan at the crease. The run-rate started to dip as just seven boundaries were scored after the 15th over. And there was not one six in the entire innings.

The onus fell now on the tiring Udawatte and Dilshan. But UAE sensed they had an opportunity as runs dried up in the middle overs. Alhasmi came back in style to first get rid of Udawatte, who mistimed while trying to clear the rope and holed out to midwicket. Dilshan then chased a wide off-side delivery and managed a thick edge to the keeper.

With just the tail to deal with and Sri Lanka stuttering at 189 for 6 after 30 overs, UAE failed to curb Kaushalya Weeraratne and Nuwan Kulasekara, who stopped the slide and constructed a valuable 53-run eighth-wicket partnership.

UAE managed to put on a much better show than the other Associate nation in the tournament, Hong Kong, but the big boys proved too strong for them.

Pietersen replaces banned Collingwood as captain

2008-06-26T23:34:00.000+06:00

Kevin Pietersen has been named England's captain for the final match of their one-day series after Paul Collingwood was banned for four ODIs. Collingwood was found guilty of Level 3 ICC Code of Conduct breach following his side's failure to bowl their overs in the required time during their dramatic one-wicket defeat against New Zealand at The Oval on Wednesday.

In addition to missing the final one-dayer against New Zealand at Lord's on Saturday, Collingwood will also play no part in England's ODI against Scotland, their Twenty20 international against South Africa on August 20, nor the first of seven ODIs a week later.

"I'm humbled to have been handed the England one-day captaincy in Paul Collingwood's absence for the final game at Lord's,"

Pietersen said.

"Captaining England has been a dream of mine but I also understand that I'm assuming the role in Paul's absence as he is the captain and leader of the one-day side. To be asked to captain your country is the ultimate honour in sport and I feel privileged and proud to have been asked to lead the side on Saturday.
"I'm very much looking forward to leading the team against New Zealand and am excited by the challenge of captaining such a young and talented side. We can't win this series but I, like the rest of the dressing room, expect an outstanding England performance to finish the series on a high."

It remains to be seen whether Pietersen will continue the captaincy for the other three ODIs that Collingwood is missing, although there is no other obvious candidate - he is the second-most experienced of the options after James Anderson. Who replaces him at No.5 for the South Africa matches is harder to guess, but a shift in the batting order could be made to accommodate Alastair Cook - England's leading run-scorer in their last two one-day series - who has now fully recovered from his shoulder injury. Luke Wright and Ian Bell's opening partnership has promised much, but if Cook does return, it seems probable he will open the batting. Wright could then bolster the middle-order.

"Obviously I'm disappointed to be missing England's next four limited overs matches but as a team we are aware of the rules and regulations in place and it's my responsibility to bear the penalties for such a breach,"

Collingwood said.

"Clearly we'll look to address the problem so it doesn't happen again.
"The England captaincy means the world to me and already I'm looking forward to leading the one-day team against South Africa in August. I wish my team-mates all the best for Saturday's final ODI as we aim to finish the series with a win."

Collingwood's four-match ban comes hot on the heels of yesterday's controversial match at The Oval. With Grant Elliott being run out after colliding with Ryan Sidebottom, Collingwood was offered the chance to withdraw his appeal. He turned it down, however, a decision he later apologised for.

A deficit of more than two overs in an ODI brings with it an automatic Level 2 charge against the captain involved, but if that captain has already been charged and found guilty of the offence within the preceding 12 months then the charge is elevated to Level 3.

England also felt short of the required over-rate against India in Bristol on August 24 last year. On that occasion the team was, as at The Oval on Wednesday, three overs down and Collingwood was fined 50% of his match fee. The regulations also state that players shall be docked 5% of their match fees for every over short of the required mark, with the captain fined double.