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Edgbaston, Old Trafford awarded extra games

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Edgbaston and Old Trafford have been awarded extra fixtures by the ECB after a T20 and an ODI handed back by Durham were reallocated. Edgbaston will host India for a T20 international next year while Old Trafford was awarded a second Australia ODI during the Ashes summer of 2015.Both matches were initially part of Chester-le-Street’s package when the allocations were made in 2011. However, in May, Durham decided to return two of the four fixtures they were due to host in 2014 and 2015, with chief executive David Harker saying they had decided “to be cautious over what we could expect to sell to the public”. The ECB then re-initiated the tender process.Edgbaston will now host India for an ODI and a T20 in 2014, as well as a Sri Lanka ODI and the domestic T20 Finals Day. Old Trafford, which will this summer host its first Test since 2010, has been awarded two Australia ODIs for 2015, as well as T20 featuring New Zealand.The ECB’s chief executive, David Collier, said: “We congratulate the two venues on being awarded these fixtures which will form part of a very exciting programme of international cricket both next summer and in 2015.”

ACSU report on BPL corruption delayed

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There will be more delays in the submission of the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit report on alleged cricket corruption in the Bangladesh Premier League, according to BCB president Nazmul Hassan.The last time he spoke to the media on June 4, he had said that the report would be available within “five or six days”, but the ACSU officials reportedly visited Dhaka last week too, and were continuing their investigation.”As far as I know the ACSU left the country on Thursday [June 13],” Hassan told the Dhaka-based the . “They could not meet me since I wasn’t in the country but I have been told that it will take one more week for them to submit the report.”I don’t know how they are going to send the report to us. The ICC AGM will take place on June 23 in the UK, so I might get it then.”Hassan speculated that there might have been more developments in the ACSU inquiry, because they did conduct one more interview after June 4.”The last time they told me that they would conduct one more interview in Dubai.” he said. “They said that in case they did not find anything new they would submit the report soon.”But they must have found some new information or else why would they come to Dhaka again? I’ll be better informed regarding the issue in the coming days.” he said.

Fawad Ahmed rushed into Australia A squad

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The legspinner Fawad Ahmed appears likely to join Australia’s Ashes campaign after being rushed into the Australia A squad for the remainder of its tour of England and Ireland. On Wednesday night, legislation was passed by the parliament’s House of Representatives which cleared the way for Ahmed’s Australian citizenship to be fast-tracked and although the bill must still be approved by the Senate, that appears to be a formality.That should mean Ahmed can obtain an Australian passport well in advance of the first Ashes Test, which starts at Trent Bridge on July 10. The Australia A matches against Ireland from June 14 to 17 and Gloucestershire from June 21 to 23 now loom as a genuine Ashes audition for Ahmed, who will join the incumbent Test spinner Nathan Lyon and the promising young left-armer Ashton Agar as the slow bowlers in the Australia A outfit.”It is a dream come true, after a long struggle and being through a really tough time,” Ahmed said in Melbourne on Thursday. “I am very happy now and it is a great opportunity for me to prove myself at that level … It’s an opportunity for me to give something to this country because this nation has given me a lot. They loved me, give me an honour and give me respect. This is now the time that I can give back to them and serve my nation.”The selectors had originally planned to send Ahmed on the Australia A tour of South Africa in July but that was when they thought he would be ineligible for a national call-up until the final Ashes Test. The expected passing of the parliamentary bill, which eases the residency requirements for certain individuals in exceptional circumstances where their becoming a citizen could benefit Australia, has encouraged the selectors to give Ahmed some time in England ahead of the Ashes.Under the ICC’s player eligibility criteria, Ahmed would be unavailable for Australian selection until August 18 unless granted a passport before then. The criteria do not apply to A-teams. When Australia’s selectors named their Ashes squad in April they chose 16 players and left one further space unfilled, which at the time was seen as an indication that Ahmed would come under consideration if he became eligible.”We are pleased to be able to provide emerging cricketers with an opportunity to show their abilities,” John Inverarity, the national selector, said. “Fawad is a spin bowler of interest and we look forward to seeing how he performs for Australia A.”Ahmed, 31, played ten first-class matches in Pakistan before fleeing to Australia in 2010 as an asylum seeker, saying his life had been threatened in Pakistan. Initially his claim was rejected but after Cricket Australia weighed in to support him, Ahmed was granted permanent residency last year and subsequently made his Melbourne Renegades debut in the Big Bash League and earned a call-up to the Victoria state side in February.”It’s just like a dream with open eyes, because I never expected something like this to happen after three and a half years,” Ahmed said of progressing to Australia A selection. “There was a question on my life [in Pakistan], there were people raising their fingers on my life, so I was just surviving. I just came here for a better life, and I was just thinking to survive here and be like other people who came here as immigrants. This is something amazing, it is like a dream. Even I couldn’t imagine this. This is something unbelievable for me.”In three Sheffield Shield matches towards the end of the summer, Ahmed collected 16 wickets at 28.37 and impressed his state captain Cameron White so much that White declared Ahmed “one of the better legspinners – if not the best – I’ve seen in first-class cricket outside [Stuart] MacGill and [Shane] Warne.”

Sri Lanka take lead in rain-affected match

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ScorecardlSri Lanka Under-19 took a 1-0 lead over Bangladesh Under-19 in the five-match Youth ODI series, after they were declared winners by 62 runs, according to the Duckworth-Lewis method. Rain interrupted the second innings, with Sri Lanka at 133 for 4, within reach of Bangladesh’s 138-run target. The visitors were declared winners as they had to score just 72 runs in the same number of overs according to Duckworth-Lewis method. The match was called off at 3:40pm, due to persistent rain.Sandun Weerakkody’s 62 off 80 balls set Sri Lanka on course for a victory. Legspinner Jubair Hossain was the pick of the bowlers once again, taking 2 for 34 from his seven overs.Earlier, the home side made a poor start and slipped to 62 for 5 in the 23rd over. Captain Mosaddek Hossain and Abu Sayeem added 50 runs for the sixth wicket to lift the total over 100. Sayeem made 43 off 66 balls with four fours and a six.For the visitors, Binura Fernando took three wickets while legspinner Lakshan Jayasinghe took two wickets.

Rajasthan thrash Mumbai to go top

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Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Ajinkya Rahane anchored the innings with an unbeaten 68•BCCI

This match was billed as a clash of the legends, with three of cricket’s greatest run-getters – Rahul Dravid, Ricky Ponting and Sachin Tendulkar – featuring, and there was the added draw of Sreesanth and Harbhajan Singh facing off days after Sreesanth’s barrage of tweets re-opened the Slapgate controversy from the first season of the IPL. To dash the dreams of the marketing men, the three legends played 12 deliveries in all, and Sreesanth was rested from the game as Rajasthan Royals wanted to ensure they didn’t overwork him soon after a long lay-off.Still, the fans at the Sawai Man Singh stadium were treated to one of the joys of the IPL, watching journeymen cricketers take their chance in the limelight as Royals brushed away their underdog tag to go top of the table after demolishing the high-profile Mumbai Indians. Dishant Yagnik made the most of being promoted to No. 3 to ensure the momentum wasn’t lost after Shane Watson’s high-octane start, the unheralded offspinner Ajit Chandila can tell his grandkids he’s the first bowler to have dismissed both Tendulkar and Ponting in the same match, and the under-rated Siddharth Trivedi virtually ended the chase by getting the dangerous Rohit Sharma in a wicket maiden.This was a night on which almost everything went right for Royals. Their Twenty20 superstar Watson took apart Mumbai’s main threat, Lasith Malinga, to lead Royals to 58 after six overs. The trouble for Royals has been that they have struggled to kick on once Watson departs – this time in the eight over – but Dravid decided to demote himself and gave Yagnik a go.Yagnik had shown in the limited chances he has got that he is not short on confidence, and loves to try unorthodox strokes. He began with a streaky four past the keeper, but then became far more assured as he thrashed Kieron Pollard over midwicket for six, and drilled several boundaries to point before falling for a 24-ball 34 while attempting a reverse-sweep.Ajinkya Rahane was at the other end when Watson and Yagnik were going ballistic, and though he too played some big hits in the Powerplay, he couldn’t find the boundary easily after that. He wisely decided to turn the strike over to the power-hitters, anchoring the innings with his typically orthodox strokes. He hit three fours in the final over after an extended dry spell in the second half of the innings, but the real acceleration came from Twenty20 expert Brad Hodge, who slammed a 15-ball 27.Mumbai had to chase 180 to win, and against the innocuous Chandila and left-arm spinner Ankeet Chavan, they lost Tendulkar and Ponting cheaply. Tendulkar top-edged a sweep and Ponting lobbed back a return catch, and when Trivedi had Rohit holing out to midwicket in the seventh over, Mumbai were virtually out of it. Pollard was promoted but he was done in by an inswinger from Stuart Binny in the eighth over, after which Mumbai were only looking to limit the margin of defeat. They didn’t do too well on that front either, slumping to their biggest loss in terms of runs.

Scotland, Netherlands get ICC funding

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Scotland and Netherlands have each been awarded a grant of $1.5m over the next three years as part of the ICC’s Targeted Assistance and Performance Programme (TAPP). They are the second and third Associate Members, after Ireland, to benefit from the initiative, which is aimed at increasing the level of competition in international cricket.Both Cricket Scotland and the Netherlands board will receive the extra funding until 2015. Scotland’s plan involves continuing development work to increase the profile of the game. Netherlands hope to use the money to enable them to play more international fixtures, as well as increase domestic cricket; it will also help provide more support for current and future players.”We are thrilled to be signing a TAPP agreement with the ICC, and are extremely grateful for this enhanced support to improve our internal domestic structures and to have more international fixtures, all geared to making us competitive on the world stage,” Cricket Scotland’s chief executive officer, Roddy Smith, said.The Netherlands board chief executive officer, Richard Cox, said: “KNCB is extremely grateful to the ICC for this award, which will help us achieve our medium- and long-term objectives and help the Netherlands become even more competitive – from the domestic level with the new regional domestic playing structure through to the international arena. It is a real boost for everyone involved.”ICC chief executive, David Richardson, added: “I am very pleased to have witnessed the signing of these TAPP agreements. Both Cricket Scotland and KNCB provided excellent submissions to the ICC Board, and I have no doubt that both Boards will do their very best to deliver those plans to continue the enhancement of competitiveness at the higher levels of cricket.”New Zealand, West Indies and Zimbabwe are also expected to agree TAPP funding with the ICC in the near future.

Bhuvneshwar ready for Tests

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Bhuvneshwar Kumar*, one of the new faces in India’s Test squad, has said he was hopeful of getting a call-up for the series against Australia. While Bhuvneshwar replaced Parvinder Awana as the third seamer in the 15-member squad, Dhawan replaced Gautam Gambhir.”I would be lying if I say I was not hoping for this,” Bhuvneshwar told . “Having done well in the ODIs recently, I thought it would be the right time for me to have a go in the Tests as well.”Bhuvneshwar made his debut in a Twenty20 match against Pakistan last December and made an immediate impression with his swing. He returned with match figures of 3 for 9 and continued his good form in the ODIs where he regularly bowled 10-over long spells.When asked if he was ready for Test cricket on Indian pitches, he said, “Having played five years of domestic cricket, I know what it takes to get wickets on Indian pitches. Test cricket won’t be like the ODIs, but I’m ready for the challenge, mentally and physically.”Bhuvneshwar, who has taken 149 first-class wickets in 46 matches at an average of 26.02, said he would continue sticking to his strengths.”I’m not overdoing things. I know my strength, which is swing and seam, and I will not try anything that would weaken my strong point.”* February 11 6.15pm GMT This story has been modified to focus on Bhuvneshwar Kuamr

Cricket New South Wales chairman Harinath resigns

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The summer of change at Cricket New South Wales has continued with the resignation of Harry Harinath as chairman. Harinath will retain his position as a member of the state board and as a director of Cricket Australia but after stepping down as chairman at a Cricket New South Wales board meeting on Tuesday night he was replaced by fellow director John Warn.Already this season the state has lost its head coach Anthony Stuart and the chief executive David Gilbert, while Stuart Clark also resigned as chief executive of the Sydney Sixers Big Bash League team. Cricket New South Wales and in particular Gilbert also came in for stinging criticism from Brett Lee, who in December said that Stuart had been unfairly blamed for problems that had built up over several years.Gilbert stepped down after a special board meeting at the SCG in January and while Harinath’s position was also discussed, he survived until this week’s meeting. Harinath, who has sat on the state board since 2000 and served as chairman since 2008, said he was honoured to have spent nearly five years in the role.”I step down as chairman of the Cricket New South Wales board, knowing what an incredible honour it has been to have been involved with such a great state,” Harinath said. “It felt like the right time to make the decision and to give the organisation the chance to look to the future.”It has been a humbling experience to have been part of so many positive developments in recent years and I leave the role knowing that Cricket New South Wales is in a strong position to move forward. I am also confident in the knowledge that John will bring a strong commercial background, excellent cricket administration skills and a new energy to the role.”Warn, a former first-grade cricketer and administrator with Manly-Warringah, said he was keen to work closely with former players around the state to help return Cricket New South Wales to a position of strength.

SACA withdraws player action against CSA

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The South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) has withdrawn playeraction against CSA after commitments were made to board restructureyesterday, but remain unhappy with the possibility of expanding the board.SACA lodged a dispute with the country’s Commission for Conciliation,Mediation and Arbitration (CCMA) in November last year as it looked toforce CSA to follow the recommendations of the Nicholson report. Thatdocument suggests an 11-member board with five independent directorsincluding the chair.CSA has opted for a 12-man structure with the same number of independentsbut not the chairperson and will expand the board after 18 months. Then,they will have 16 directors with seven independents and nine provincialpresidents to satisfy the South African Sports Confederation and OlympicCommittee (SASCOC) who require that all nine provinces be represented onthe board.Since SASCOC is the governing body for all sports federations in thecountry and the Nicholson report was a “guideline” only, CSA decided theirmost recent decision would be the best compromise for all parties. SACA issatisfied with most of the decisions including the non-independent chairbut their chief executive, Tony Irish, hinted they could go back to theCCMA when the enlargement happens.”The players have stood up for good governance in cricket. We have a worldclass national team and the players expect world class governance in thegame. Yesterday’s resolution by CSA to implement a 7:5 director board isnot perfect, but it is a vast improvement on the existing 22 director Board.”There has been so much politics and in-fighting within the existing boardand we hope that the significant reduction in size and the higher degree ofindependence on the board will make it less unwieldy and political and morefocused on good cricket decision-making.”Hopefully they will appoint the best person for the chairmanship bearing inmind he is also likely to be the person who will sit on the ICC’s executiveboard. Good cricket credentials and an understanding of the internationalcricket landscape are vital here.”SACA and the players are not happy, however, with the indication given thatCSA will increase the Board to 16 directors in the future. We don’t thinkthere are good reasons for this and it simply moves further away from theNicholson Report recommendations and closer to the existing structure,which we all know has been a problem. Should this actually happen it islikely to again become an issue for SACA and the players.”The players are also unhappy that acting CSA chief executive Jacques Faulwill not apply for the job permanently. Faul told ESPNcricinfo he will remain in the role until a new boss is found, which is after the February2 AGM, but then he will pursue other interests. “Jacques has done a lot forcricket in the short time that he has been acting chief executive. He hasbeen primarily responsible for bringing sponsors back into the game despitewhat has gone on at board level,” Irish said.Under Faul, CSA signed major sponsors across all formats, having lost themin the throes of the bonus scandal. Although many of the contracts werealready in negotiation when Faul began in the job last March, he managed toget the deals signed and there is worry in circles of South African cricketthat the corporates may become nervous of CSA once again.Sponsorship has been the only area in which the national team was directlyaffected by the administrative issues. They played a T20 and ODI series in2011 against Australia without corporate backing and the domestic one-daycompetition that season was also unfunded.While that did not affect player payments, potential existed for it to doso in the long-run, if companies continued to stay away from cricket. Irishdoes not want to run the risk of that again, hence the objection forstraying too far from the Nicholson suggestions.

Jharkhand face stiff test against Punjab

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Match facts

January 6-10, 2012
Start time 0900 (0330 GMT)Harbhajan Singh has been out of form for a while•Fotocorp

Big Picture

The Steel City is still mourning the retirement of Ratan Tata, its most beloved personality. But at the Keenan Stadium, traditional home of cricket in Bihar and now Jharkhand, it is time to move on as a crunch Ranji Trophy match is at hand. With the young bunch from Jharkhand having surprised many by making it to the quarter-finals, it’s time for them to rise up to the occasion against a star-studded Punjab line-up.Shahbaz Nadeem, the Jharkhand skipper, tried his best to underplay the star factor. “If you see, barring Harbhajan Singh, a great spinner, there aren’t many big names in the Punjab line-up,” Nadeem, the most successful spinner this season, said. “And even our squad has three-four players who have experienced the big stage by being part of the IPL, so that shouldn’t be a big factor.”In fact, barring the experience of Harbhajan, both the line-ups are full of youngsters. As a result, the team that shows nerves of steel over the next five days will proceed to the next stage. However, Punjab have the edge when it comes to making requisite adjustments from four-day games to five-day matches. “Hardly any of us have played a five-day game, but we are up for it,” Nadeem admits. With the Keenan pitch appearing dry, it won’t be a surprise if the match doesn’t last five days.While Jharkhand qualified for the knockouts with an outright victory against Group C table-toppers Services on the New Year’s Day, Punjab seemed to have lost the fizz towards the end of the league stage. However, a fortnight’s break seems to have done Punjab a world of good. “When you play eight consecutive matches with just three days in between, that too with all the travelling, the players were bound to be jaded towards the end of the league stage. So the last two weeks have helped them recover are we are ready to roll again,” Punjab coach-cum-manager Arun Sharma said.The fact that Punjab were the first team to seal a spot in the quarters – with three matches remaining, shows the kind of form they have been in. And with most of their matches producing outright results, don’t expect a dull game at the Keenan over the next five days.

In the spotlight

Despite being the preferred home venue for the last three decades, Jharkhand haven’t enjoyed the Keenan experience this season. While they lost to Assam here in November, in the next round, they saw Goa hanging on for a hard-fought draw after being made to follow on.The two men who will hold the key for Jharkhand’s fortunes are captain Nadeem and left-handed batsman Saurabh Tiwary. While Nadeem will be competing with Punjab’s new-ball bowler Sandeep Sharma in the race for the highest wicket-taker of the season, Tiwary will be hoping to anchor their innings as he has done for a better part of the season. With Ishank Jaggi also coming good from time to time, Punjab bowlers would expect resistance.For the visitors, Harbhajan Singh will be gunning to make his mark by picking a big match-haul, something that he has failed to do thus far. Jiwanjot Singh, the opener who has stolen the limelight in his debut season, will be keen to regain the momentum that he seemed to have lost towards the end of the league stage.

Squads

Jharkhand: Shahbaz Nadeem (capt), Akash Verma, Saurabh Tiwary, Ishank Jaggi, Rameez Nemat, Shiv Gautam (wk), Ajatshatru Singh, Samar Quadri, SS Rao, Ajay Yadav, Manish Vardhan, Ashish Kumar, Sunny Gupta, Kumar Deobrat, Jaskaran Singh.Punjab: Jiwanjot Singh, Ravi Inder Singh, Taruwar Kohli, Mandeep Singh, Uday Kaul (wk), Gurkeerat Singh, Amitoze Singh, Harbhajan Singh (capt), Siddharth Kaul, Manpreet Gony, Sarabjit Ladda, Bipul Sharma, Karan Goel, Rajwinder Singh, Sandeep Sharma.

Stats and trivia

  • This would be the first time Punjab and Jharkhand play each other, though Punjab have played Bihar twice. This would be Jharkhand’s first quarter-final appearance since 2001 when they lost to Haryana.
  • Sandeep Sharma, the Punjab seamer, and Jharkhand left-arm spinner Shahbaz Nadeem are close behind Ishwar Pandey’s season-haul of 48 wickets. While Sharma has 41 wickets this season, Nadeem has 40.

    Quotes

    “At the start of the season, our team goal was to go one step further than last year’s performance. Not that we have achieved it, we have revised the goal to go one step further than the quarter-finals. Let’s hope we can achieve that too.””The form over the last two games doesn’t bother us. What matters the most is how we turn up tomorrow.”