The subject of the number of overseas players in English cricket has been argued over for years, but the recent influx of players under the Kolpak ruling has taken the debate onto a new level. The number of South Africans playing county and club cricket has never been higher, and most benefit from having British passports through parents or grandparents.But while the issue is a concern to the English, it is also a worry for South Africa. Graham Ford, Kent’s South African director of cricket, has been responsible for an influx of his countrymen to Canterbury, but he is worried by the trend.He told AFP that he is inundated by phone calls and e-mails from South African parents desperate to get their sons into one of the leagues. “Every week, I receive hundreds of queries. I’m extremely concerned that so many quality players are deciding to play elsewhere. If we continue to lose so much talent it’s bound to threaten our depth and it’s going to be terribly difficult in the long run to maintain that same quality.”It was Ford, who coached the South African national side until 2001, who first identified that Kevin Pietersen was a special talent. “A lot of people ask me how we could let someone like that go,” Ford shrugged. “I don’t have an answer. I tried to keep him in South Africa but it didn’t work out. The really worrying thing from a South African perspective is that we have no idea how many other potential matchwinners we are losing.”South Africans have a big problem regarding KP [Kevin Pietersen]. They don’t want to acknowledge that this guy is an exceptional talent. Of course it’s sad seeing Pietersen winning games single-handedly for England when he could be doing it for South Africa,” said Ford.Ford added that the player drain was continuing. Former international wicketkeeper Nic Pothas, 32, will qualify to play for England this season – although his chances of a call-up are almost non existent – while Jonathan Trott, who is only 25, could well be drafted in after strong performances.”The lure of the pound is very strong and you can’t always fight against that,” admitted Ford. “But there are other reasons as well. Disillusionment is just one of them. And then there are a whole lot of guys who simply haven’t made it and are feeling sorry for themselves. It’s a convenient excuse to blame the situation back home.”This winter, Ford, who coached the South African national side until 2001, will return to the republic to take charge of the Dolphins.

Never let it be said that West Indies cricket is incapable of maintaining a level of newsworthiness to keep it almost perpetually in the public eye.This CJ issue thing will eventually boil down like bhaji and then we will all move on to some other matter to keep the fires of politically-inspired bacchanal burning. Israel will sooner or later complete the obliteration of southern Lebanon, especially with their civilised Western allies facilitating the process of annihilation in adopting a hands-off policy. And a month after Trinidad and Tobago’s final game at the World Cup, the football frenzy has run out of steam.But, as always, sports editors wondering about the prospects for a good lead story can always rely on the players, administrators and apparently now even the accountants associated with West Indies cricket to provide them with main headline material, unless of course someone like George Bovell goes and wins gold and bronze medals in the swimming pool on the same night at the CAC Games, as he did on Wednesday in Cartagena.The challenge, of course, is to choose from the many items generously spread across the massive buffet table. Would you like to try the auditors’ damning report on the level of the West Indies Cricket Board’s indebtedness? How about the decisions to overlook Dwayne Bravo for a retainer contract and investigate Brian Lara’s public criticism of selection and pitches? Don’t forget that you can also satisfy your appetite with a bit of what the Players’ Association is now saying in response to the WICB’s latest pronouncements. Maybe you should get a bigger plate, but still come back for a second helping.If this is a calculated effort to distract attention from the inaugural Stanford 20/20 in Antigua, then it is a masterstroke, although, to be fair, the tournament hasn’t exactly ignited much interest in this part of the Caribbean as yet (I don’t know too many people losing sleep to watch the delayed television coverage).While none of the information leaked or released in the past week is entirely surprising, it is still instructive as to the real depth and scope of the problems in West Indies cricket, raising enough questions to suggest that a few too many trumpets were used in all of the fanfare about running a tighter, more efficient ship and establishing a new relationship between administration and players.If the WICB and its World Cup subsidiary can incur a net loss of over $120 million for the financial year ended September 30, 2005, what will be the situation at the end of September, 2006, given that considerably greater activity would be taking place in the lead-up to the hosting of the 2007 World Cup? Are we to believe that such losses are normal, given the size of the undertaking, apart from the general year-to-year operations, even if it meant that the WICB’s accumulated deficit at that stage had soared beyond $210 million?One of the many things we learnt in school was the danger of putting all your eggs in one basket, yet the Board is relying heavily on the success of the World Cup to haul it out of the abyss, even though the auditors have observed that “the extent of the financial success of this event is not guaranteed”. No roti shop worth its dhalpouri would operate like this.Dinanath Ramnarine, West Indies Players’ Association president and chief executive officer, has stated that the decisions to bypass Bravo for a retainer contract on the basis of his recent personal endorsement deal with Cable and Wireless, and to appoint a committee to investigate Lara’s comments after the fourth Test against India earlier this month, “contravene fundamental aspects” of agreements in relation to the Memorandum of Understanding and Collective Bargaining Agreement, among other matters, between the WICB and WIPA.If so, was the Board engaged in mamaguy tactics three months ago just so that the home series against Zimbabwe and India could proceed untroubled by the threat of industrial action? Given the evidence of the last year-and-a-half, is this how it’s going to be ahead of every series or tour for the foreseeable future, especially with speculation already in the air that the proposed money-spinning one-day series against India in Toronto next month is in jeopardy because it was agreed to without any consultation with WIPA?And what is to be made of this investigation of Lara? Right or wrong, good or bad timing, Lara’s remarks in Kingston were the culmination of a series of comments relating to selection and pitches throughout the series against India, all of which were made publicly and were extensively reported in the regional and international media. So what are Sir Alister and Messrs Gordon, Lloyd and Shillingford going to investigate?As usual, such a bewildering course of action could only come from an organisation divided unto itself, with some members determined to show the captain who is boss, especially after they were apparently sidelined in the process to appoint Lara as captain for a third time. So now, two of the Caribbean’s leading personalities – Sir Alister McIntyre and Clive Lloyd – have been dragged into this foolish exercise to give it legitimacy.If anything, the real challenge for these four gentlemen is how to come up with a report that will accomplish the dual purpose of saving face for the Board and not getting the captain blue mad.I wish them well.

Mickey Arthur, the South African coach, admitted that the tour of Sri Lanka was a disappointing one for the team, having lost the opportunity to square the two-Test series and missing out on valuable match practice in the shorter version of the game.Arthur said that the players were disappointed not to complete the tour, as the tri-series would have been an ideal warm-up for the Champions Trophy in India in October. “We could see the security situation was not great, but we were really looking forward to playing,” he said on Saturday after the team arrived home, having pulled out of the three-nation Unitech Cup which also included India. “The guys were really ‘amped’ up for the series. It was a great opportunity for some of the younger players to stake a claim for a place in the squad for the Champions Trophy and the World Cup.”From a cricketing point of view, pulling out of the tour is a disaster. We need match practice. We will have to ask Cricket South Africa to see if they can schedule some matches for us.”South Africa pulled out of the one-day tri-series that was to follow the Test series citing security concerns after a bomb blast near the team hotel in the morning of their opening match against Sri Lanka. While Sri Lanka Cricket promised extra security for the teams, the South Africans decided to withdraw after a report from an independent security consultant to Cricket South Africa found the current risk to the team to be at an “unacceptable level”.”Missed opportunities cost us the second Test,” Arthur said, reflecting on the Test series. South Africa lost the first Test by an innings but fought back in the second, losing narrowly by one wicket. “We should have wrapped it up, and we didn’t,” he said.Despite the defeat, Arthur stated that there were a few positives gained from the series, given that the team was without senior players like Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis. “Our guys played (Muttiah) Muralitharan very well,” he said. “Sure, he took 22 wickets, but he bowled more than half the overs. He told us that we had played him better than any other international side in Sri Lanka. He said that he normally took 30 overs to take five wickets, but with us, he needed 55. We were without some of our key players, but everybody in the team put their hand up and took responsibility.”South Africa have agreed to host Zimbabwe for two one-day internationals and a Twenty20 match in mid-September.

Paul Weekes, Middlesex’s allrounder, is to retire at the end of their match against Kent at Canterbury. In May this year, he made it clear of his intention to move – making himself available for a possible loan – but no counties were forthcoming.”Paul has been an exceptional cricketer for the club,” Middlesex’s chief executive, Vinny Codrington, told BBC Sport. “His consistently excellent performances over the past two decades have made him a firm favourite of all those who love Middlesex cricket.”Weekes made his debut against the touring New Zealanders in 1990, has scored 11,000 first-class runs and taken 300 wickets. A mainstay of Middlesex’s lineup throughout the 1990s, his crab-like stance at the crease belies a left-hander who, while not the most elegant, scored quickly and enterprisingly. In 1996, against Somerset at Uxbridge, he became one of a select band of Middlesex players to have scored hundreds in both innings of a match (171* and 160). And, against Yorkshire last month, he struck his 20th first-class century.Playing in a strong Middlesex team during the 1990s – among the likes of Angus Fraser, Phil Tufnell, John Emburey and Mike Gatting – he couldn’t quite make the step-up to international honours, in spite touring India with England A in the mid-1990s. He also took two fine catches at short-leg, as substitute for England against the West Indies at Lord’s in 1995.

James Sutherland, the chief executive of Cricket Australia, is concerened about the increasing number of reports on Australian players for bad on-field behaviour over the last year. He has told Ricky Ponting, the Australian captain, that expectations of how they handle themselves on the field had risen.The most recent offender was Ponting himself when he protested against umpire Asad Rauf’s decision to call a wide during the DLF Cup in Kuala Lumpur. He has been found guilty of dissent twice by the ICC. Adam Gilchrist, Brett Lee and Glenn McGrath have also had to appear before the match referee for bad conduct in the recent past.”I know it’s something the players have talked about in recent times, even at the camp to address areas of concern, areas of susceptibility,” Sutherland told the . “I am sure they are making conscious efforts to keep the slate clean and play the game in the right spirit.””If you have a look at a case-by-case scenario, I think they have been relatively minor” added Sutherland. “I am not in any way condoning that behaviour, but they are level one. My strong feeling is that the bar has actually been raised a little bit by the ICC over the last 12 months, 18 months. Mentally we need to continue to keep up with that.”

The international flavour in Indian domestic cricket is getting stronger and stronger with Vikram Solanki and Kabir Ali being the two latest imports. They will turn out for Rajasthan in the Elite Group of the Ranji Trophy as well as in the domestic one-day competition.Solanki, who was born in Udaipur in Rajasthan, plays for Worcestershire in the County Championship, and has been spoken about as being a strong candidate to lead Rajasthan in this year’s competition. He arrived in India on Wednesday along with Kabir and was received at the airport by Murali Kartik, the Indian left-arm spinner, who is an old friend of Solanki’s.This follows the news that Sarfaraz Nawaz, the former Pakistan fast bowler, is scheduled to conduct a seven-day coaching stint with Delhi’s fast bowlers. However, neither are firsts. Maharashtra have employed Darren Holder, the Australian, as coach for some time now, and Punjab used the services of Intikhab Alam, the former Pakistani captain. Technically, neither Solanki nor Kabir will be the first foreign players to compete in Indian domestic cricket.Nayan Doshi, who, like his father Dilip, also bowls left-arm spin, has turned out for Saurashtra, the state his family originally hails from. Nayan, who lives in England now and turns out for Surrey, is a British passport holder, so he would technically qualify as a foreign player. Jermaine Lawson, the West Indies fast bowler, has been recently linked with Maharashtra.The rules allow each state team to field up to three “professionals” – players from outside the state in the XI. Cricketers moving from state to another have to obtain a no-objection certificate from their home states, but, of course, no such thing exists for cricketers who come from outside the country.

Scorecard

An unbeaten seventh-wicket stand of 213 between David Hemp and Saleem Mukuddem turned a likely first-innings deficit into a lead of 54 for Bermuda on the third day of their Intercontinental Cup match against Netherlands. Barring something remarkable tomorrow, this fightback all but ends Netherlands’ hopes of progressing to the final.Hemp, the current Glamorgan captain, is now plying his trade with Bermuda – the country of his birth – when his commitments allow and showed the value of having professional players in the team. He faced 231 balls, with his century coming off 158 deliveries, and struck 20 fours and six as he turned the Bermuda innings around from a rocky 219 for 6.However, Hemp would not have been able to cream the bowler without the support of Mukuddem who made his second first-class half-century. He is now just 11 short of a maiden century having faced 182 balls.The mammoth stand has ensured Bermuda are virtually safe from defeat, a prospect that was far less certain when Ryan ten Doeschate, another county professional with Essex, struck twice during the morning session. He removed Clay Smith and Steven Outerbridge, who only added 19 to his overnight 61.But Hemp, who reached as far as England A level earlier in his career, used his years of experience as the Netherlands attack was made to toil after their earlier success. If he can maintain this form Bermuda’s prospects over the coming months may not be as bleak as previously thought.

Shoaib Akhtar once again attracted controversy when he was fined by the organisers of the Twenty20 Cup for refusing to wear a sponsors’ logo during the event.A Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) official said on Tuesday that Shoaib was fined Rs10,000 after he flatly refused to wear the logo of Mobilink, which sponsored all the participating teams of the Twenty20 Cup held in Karachi from December 21 to 26.Shoaib, still in danger of being banned for doping, was told by match referee Anwar Khan to wear the cellular company’s logo when he featured in the Twenty20 Cup for the Rawalpindi Rams. He was told that all players have to wear the logo since the PCB has an agreement with the company. However, Shoaib refused, saying that he had no contract with the PCB and was not being paid by the board or the sponsors to do it.Shoaib hid the logo on his T-shirt with a sticker and played two matches for the Rams who were bundled out of the competition at the first hurdle.The PCB official said that after giving Shoaib repeated warnings, the event’s officials decided to fine him.Shoaib was not present to hear about the fine as was among 25 players invited by the PCB for a conditioning camp that got underway at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on Tuesday in preparation for next month’s tour of South Africa.

ScorecardThings didn’t get any better for Railways as Himachal Pradesh, led by their captain Sandeep Sharma, piled on the runs and the frustration against a team fighting to gain a promotion to the Super League. Sharma batted for the better part of two days for his 161 before Sanjay Bangar finally ended his marathon knock, which came off 521 balls. Mukesh Sharma chipped in with an unbeaten 44 as Himachal extended their lead to 117 with three wickets in hand. With only two days to go, it would take a minor miracle for Railways to fight back in this one.
ScorecardPritam Das, in his first-class debut did Assam proud as his five-wicket haul helped his side gain an invaluable two run lead in the semi-final against Orissa at Cuttack. Orissa were in danger of folding up for under 200 but the last-wicket pair of Sourabha Sehgal and Sukanta Khatua resisted. Das finally brought an end to the innings after trapping Khatua for 14. Assam in their second innings were jolted first by Debasis Mohanty who picked up three early wickets and later by Sehgal, who took two late wickets in his six overs, during which he conceded just one run. With Assam ahead by just 102, both teams head to the final day evenly matched.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Rain ruined the deciding ODI between New Zealand and Sri Lanka as the match was abandoned without a ball being bowled. The two sides were tied 2-2 after the first four games of the five match series.New Zealand won the toss and elected to bowl but the game couldn’t get underway owing to incessant showers. Both teams were at full strength with Sri Lanka naming an unchanged side after their 189-run win at Eden Park. New Zealand recalled Danierl Vettori, James Franklin and Nathan Astle. Billy Bowden was to officiate in his 100th ODI.However, the climax turned into a damp squib and the two sides shared the trophy in a well-contested series. New Zealand will now head to Australia to compete in a tri-series against the host nation and England. Their first game will be against Australia this Sunday in Hobart.