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The breakaway Indian Cricket League (ICL) seems to be gaining momentum with marquee names like Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath most likely to join Brian Lara for the inaugural multi-million dollar Twenty20 tournament being funded by Zee Telefilms. “Yes, they (Warne and McGrath) are on the verge of signing and they are working out the last few details”, Kapil Dev, chairman of the executive board, told Cricinfo. “We should release the news within the next 24 hours.”Dean Jones, one of the executive directors on the ICL board, speaking from Sydney told Cricinfo that by next week a few more big names are expected to join the ICL which could have a snowballing effect, convincing many others who have been thinking twice before signing up. “I have spoken to a lot of players over the last month and the interest has been high,” Jones said. Although refusing to commit on the names of Warne and McGrath, Jones said that by next week everything will be out in open. “We plan to announce a few big marquee names that will generate further interest from others who have been thinking about the offers.”New Zealand Test team captain Stephen Fleming is one of the other names doing the rounds. Joining the ICL would of course force Fleming to retire from international cricket and it contradicts one of the stated policies of the new league to not encourage players from abandoning national duties. Fleming’s compatriot Shane Bond is also said to have been approached, along with the recently-retired Sri Lanka batsman Russel Arnold and the former Australia allrounder Ian Harvey.Meanwhile, Jones confirmed that the Western Australian duo of Justin Langer and Damien Martyn have decided to not play for the moment. “Yes, they have decided not to take the offer for this year.”The ICC, on its part, said that the ICL would not steal the spotlight from the inaugural Twenty20 World Championship slated to be held in South Africa this September. At the launch of the Twenty20 World Championship, Dave Richardson, ICC cricket manager, dismissed the ICL as a “local thing”. Richardson said, “It [ICL] doesn’t conflict with what we are trying to do in South Africa. It is not an international tournament.”The ICL is a Twenty20 series proposed to be held around October in India featuring six teams comprising four international players and two Indian stars, with the rest made up of younger players. “Potentially what we’re about is trying to find young Indian kids to represent India, as well as potential young players from Kenya and Zimbabwe and maybe some Under-19s boys from Australia,” Jones told . “They’re better off playing in this sort of league than playing club cricket for a month.”Kapil said the new league gave an opportunity for players to exploit the fact that India generated most of the revenue in world cricket. He termed the ICL “the most exciting thing,” to happen to world cricket in recent times.

A report in today’s Times says that the MCC is planning to spend up to £200 million on redeveloping Lord’s over the next decade. Every stand, other than the listed 1890 pavilion, the new Grandstand and Mound Stand, would be replaced.Initial plans were costed at £100 million, but these have now been expanded to include rebuilding of the Warner Stand (1958), the Compton and Edrich Stands (1991), the Tavern (1967) and the Allen Stand (1935). The changes are likely to boost the capacity to between 38,000 and 39,000, still less than half of some of the biggest grounds in the world, but still by far the largest in England. Other changes could include an underground Real Tennis court, an academy, floodlights and a hotel.The report added that leading architects were being approached, though even after their appointments, obtaining planning consent would take at least a year.Funding for the project would be raised from debentures and possibly by building apartments on the northern perimeter at the far end of the Nursery Ground. That would probably signal the end of the Nursery, which has increasingly been eroded by a series of developments, as a cricket pitch.”We do not want to create a stadium,” David Batts, who is in charge of the redevelopment, told The Times. “We have to be mindful of how many people will be able to walk around the ground during a Test match to buy food and drink. The walkways can be congested already, so we have to work out how many boxes and bars we put into the stands to enable spectators to eat in the stands, which is particularly necessary for the short Twenty20 matches.”The plans are part of the MCC’s attempt to move forward, aware that there is pressure on the ECB to take one of its two annual Tests away and award it to another venue.

Bermuda’s Under-19 players could have a chance to put themselves in the frame for pro contracts when they compete at the youth World Cup in Malaysia next month.Bermuda cricket development director Arnold Manders said the youngsters, who travel to India at the end of this month for a pre-tournament tour, would be in the international spotlight at the showpiece tournament in February. And he said the game against England could be a chance for the likes of Rodney Trott, Malachi Jones and Stefan Kelly to impress county coaches from the English professional leagues.He said the U-19s have been training like a professional team with five sessions each week in the gym and in the nets. They have also travelled to Trinidad for a training camp and taken part in a leadership and training day at Warwick Camp.The 15-man squad, officially announced yesterday, will travel to the Royal Cricket Academy in India on January 31 to take part in a further training camp and to play three warm-up matches against local opposition.They will play two more practice matches against fellow qualifiers Nepal and Namibia before the tournament begins with the opening match of the World Cup against Bangladesh on February 18.Manders said the target was to reach the Super Eight stage of the competition – meaning they will have to finish in the top two in a group that also includes Ireland and England. “If we don’t do that we at least want to reach the final of the plate competition and be the top Associate team.”He added that there was an extra incentive for players to excel with talent scouts likely to be watching the tournament, looking for the next generation of professionals. “It will be an opportunity for them, if they can do well – particularly against England. You could see some names going off to the county teams, I don’t know.”Manders said the commitment and desire from the squad had been first class with the players themselves requesting an extra weekly training session in the Olympic Gym. “They have been to Toronto and Trinidad. They are going to Malaysia and India. They have had opportunities to speak to some of the greats of Test cricket. This is a programme they want to be involved with.”They are prepared to put in the work because they see the light at the end of the tunnel. They have had more exposure than most teams and I think more than most of the senior team did when they were youngsters.”Manders said the Under-19 programme would continue to thrive beyond the World Cup with the Sir Garfield Sobers Tournament and possible involvement in the senior first division. He said the set-up would serve as a model for national programmes at other age groups.”We think we have a good model with the U-19s and we are going to try and roll that down to U-13s and U-15s. We are also trying to set up an U-10 development squad. We have the right template there with the director, the manager and the coaches. It’s just a matter of finding the right people.” He said the aim was to provide a steady supply line to the senior team and increase the pool of talented players available for selection.Of the 15 selected for Malaysia, Manders added: “The coaching staff is very pleased with the team selected for the U-19 World Cup. It has a very balanced bowling attack led by senior World Cup players Malachi Jones and Stefan Kelly, three offspinners in captain Rodney Trott, Tamauri Tucker and Chris Douglas, one legspinner in Tre Govia and an abundance of medium pacers in Jordan DeSilva, Kyle Hodsoll, Gregory Maybury and Lamar Richardson.”In the batting department, the team will rely heavily on the senior experience of captain Rodney Trott and vice captain Malachi Jones along with Chris Douglas, Terryn Fray, Young player of the Year Deunte Darrell, Stefan Kelly, Dennico Hollis and Lamar Richardson.”This article first appeared in the Bermuda Sun

Gary Kirsten, the former South African batsmen who is the front-runner to become India’s next coach, said that the deal with the Indian board would be “pretty much signed and sealed” by Monday.Kirsten was interviewed in Delhi on November 26 by the coach selection committee, comprising former captains Sunil Gavaskar, Ravi Shastri and S Venkataraghavan, BCCI joint secretary MP Pandove, treasurer N Srinivasan and secretary Niranjan Shah. Anil Kumble, India’s Test captain, was also present at the meeting.”They [BCCI] have given me a week to make a decision but it’s pretty much a reality,” Kirsten told PTI. “I have turned down numerous coaching opportunities due to family reasons in the past but this is such an esteemed one that I have to take a different look at it. I am very keen in principle to take up the post.”At present, I am just looking at the logistics with my family and how it is going to work out. Negotiations are underway about this and I will make a final decision by Monday.”The coach selection committee had wanted to speed up the process by appointing a coach before the tour of Australia next month, but Kirsten said that although the job would become effective immediately, he had obtained an assurance that he could start later because of a number of commitments in South Africa.”The reality is that I was approached quite late by the Indian board, and, in accepting the job, I told them I had commitments over Christmas and New Year,” Kirsten explained to the . “But it looks like we are close to resolving that issue, and I will join the team for the last two Tests.”The last thing you want to do is come in and be a distraction, but I have spoken to Anil [Kumble] about my situation, and he is comfortable with me joining the tour again later. I will not be coming in and imposing my ideas on them. That would be wrong. Instead, I will try and blend in and help anyway I can.”Kirsten, 40, was one of South Africa’s leading batsmen, playing 101 Tests scoring 7289 runs at 45.27 and playing 185 ODIs scoring 6798 runs at 40.95. Soon after his retirement from Test cricket in March 2004, he embarked on a coaching career, taking up an assignment as Cricket South Africa’s high performance manager, after which he set up the privately-run Gary Kirsten Cricket Academy.

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Left-arm spinner Dave Mohammed had a dream debut, claiming figures of 5 for 8 to help dismiss St Lucia for 105, after which Trinidad and Tobago chased the target with ease to claim an eight-wicket win at the Stanford Cricket Ground. Incidentally, Mohammed’s were the best ever returns in Stanford 20/20 history.Chasing 106, openers Lendl Simmons and William Perkins gave Trinidad a blazing start, putting on 75 runs in 51 balls, before Perkins, who made 25, was caught by Cyrille Charles of offspinner Shervin Charles. Simmons failed to reach his half-century, when, after scoring 42 with four fours and a six, he was dismissed by seamer Xavier Gabriel. Daren Ganga and Kieron Pollard then knocked off the remaining runs to complete a facile win.Earlier, St Lucia’s openers Keddy Lesporis and Johnson Charles added 45 runs in eight overs before Charles was bowled by Richard Kelly. The second-wicket stand between Lesporis and Shervin Charles (17) fetched 35 runs, before Charles was caught by Mervyn Dillon of offspinner Sherwin Ganga.But the complexion of the match changed when Lesporis, who had kept up St Lucia’s scoring rate with a 40-ball 45 with three fours and a six, was caught by Samuel Badree of Mohammed, who was introduced in the 16th over. Mohammed then dismissed Mervin Wells to make it two wickets in succession. Medium-pacer Rayad Emrit claimed the wickets of Cyrille Charles and Sergio Fedee, while Mohammed had Alleyne Prospere caught by Sherwin Ganga before adding two more wickets to get his five-for. Not surprisingly, Mohammed went home richer by US$25,000 when he received the Man-of-the-Match award.

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Seamer Rayad Emrit starred with a four-wicket haul to help Trinidad and Tobago comprehensively beat Guyana at Providence. Guyana fought back after a poor start but their total of 208 wasn’t enough as Kieron Pollard helped his side ease to the target.Guyana were weakened when captain Ramnaresh Sarwan pulled out before the start of play after sustaining an ankle injury during training. Sent into bat on a pitch which tested the batsmen with variable bounce, the Guyana openers added 36. However, they lost their way as Mervyn Dillon dismissed Sewnarine Chattergoon with a good delivery that moved away from him and Emrit proceeded to take three wickets in quick succession.At 77 for 5, with Guyana in danger of folding up early, Neil McGarrell and Leon Johnson counter-attacked with half-centuries. Johnson added 43 for the sixth-wicket with Derwin Christian that pushed the total to 120. McGarrell continued the rebuilding process as he supported Johnson in a quick-fire stand of 47 for the seventh wicket. Johnson’s 50 came off 72 balls with four fours and two sixes while McGarrell’s 51 was more aggressive, coming off 39 balls with three fours and a six. Guyana added 42 off the last five overs to finish on 208 for 8 at the end of 50 overs.The target wasn’t enough for the Guyana bowlers to defend as Mario Belcon and Daren Ganga led a steady reply. Dwayne Bravo chipped in with 28 but the finishing touches were added by Pollard who helped himself to an unbeaten half-century. His 52 came off 62 balls with three fours and a six as T&T reached the target with four overs to spare. T&T now head the Zone B table with 12 points and the win has given the defending champions a boost ahead of the semi-finals.
ScorecardAn impressive performance by the spinners helped Windward Islands ease to a five-wicket win over Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) in Berbice. After wrapping up CCC cheaply for 131, Darren Sammy and Under-19 batsman Donwell Hector reached the target in the 34th over. It was a consolation win for Windwards who were already eliminated from the tournament after losing their two opening games.After being put into bat by Rawl Lewis, the openers Shirley Clarke and Omar Phillips began steadily, adding 45. However, spinners Shane Shillingford and Gary Mathurin struck quickly to peg CCC back at 54 for 3. The spinners continued to make life difficult for the batsmen as Lewis and Liam Sebastien ran through the middle and lower order, sharing six wickets between them. CCC lost their last six wickets for 20 runs and were left to defend a rather modest score.On a pitch with variable bounce, the CCC bowlers had their moments, picking up three quick wickets after the Windwards openers added 43. Sammy and Hector then added 43 for the fourth wicket to push their side closer to victory.

The Canadian board has announced that the quadrangular Twenty20 tournament this September has been postponed. Canada had hoped for West Indies and two other full-member ICC countries to play a competition in Toronto ahead of the World Championships the same month.The board says there was not enough time to obtain TV rights for such an event, but will continue to look at possibilities in 2008 and afterwards. A Canada spokesperson told Cricinfo: “Unfortunately, due to the difficulties of securing global media support in such a short timeframe, the CCA reports that it has proved impossible to bring the project to fruition in 2007.”The West Indies board apparently remains committed to working with the CCA to expand cricket in Canada, particularly through exposure to the Twenty20 version of the game, which is ideal for the North American cricket public.

An ECB working party has examined ways of maintaining well-behaved crowds following a few isolated incidents last season. Gordon Hollins, the head of venues, led the group after the 2007 domestic Twenty20 tournament was marred by unruly behaviour at some games.Last season at Southgate some Middlesex players had their wallets stolen and the Hampshire team bus was pelted by stones. Robert Croft also spoke about the abuse he took while fielding on the boundary at Taunton.Now the ECB are implementing the same crowd standards that apply for international matches, which includes encouraging the grounds to designate one area a family zone and a ban on bringing in alcohol.”ECB want to ensure that the type of behaviour which caused some unfortunate headlines last summer is not allowed to resurface in cricket during the summer of 2008 and spoil the enjoyment of the majority,” said Hollins. “We were adamant that we had to be proactive in this area to nip these issues in the bud.”There will also be a zero-tolerance policy concerning foul language, and anyone using racist language shall be subject to prosecution. We are trying to ensure that all those who do wish to drink at matches also consider the spectators around them.”David Collier, the ECB chief executive, said: “We have a great tradition of sporting crowds at cricket in England and Wales and so were concerned by a limited number of examples last season which if not addressed could lead to a decline in the standards of behaviour we are seeking to preserve at cricket events in this country.”

Fresh doubts have arisen over whether the latest date for the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association due to take place on November 7 will actually be stuck to.The NPCA AGM was originally held in July -for the first time since 2004 – but clubs refused to approve accounts and the meeting had to be postponed. Since then, it has been cancelled several times, and Cricinfo has been told that could happen again as several clubs have not received any notice while others have got a note saying there is an AGM with an “agenda to follow”.If this is accurate, then it will render the notice of the meeting as unconstitutional and so lead to another rescheduling. The agenda has to be sent out so that members can give the prescribed 14 days notice of the matters they want to discuss.Cricinfo understands the Constitutional Review Committee chairman has written to the NPCA asking for the meeting to be deferred until the new constitution is in place.

The board of the Barbados Cricket Association (BCA) is still awaiting a decision on a disciplinary matter involving Sulieman Benn earlier in the season.Benn, who has been named in a 16-man Barbados squad for the upcoming KFC Cup, was embroiled in an on-field confrontation with Robin Parris on June 23 during the Banks Division 1 match between arch-rivals Super Centre Spartan and ICBL Empire at Queen’s Park.BCA chief executive officer, Dr Roland Toppin, said after receiving a report from match officials, that the matter was referred to the complaints and disputes committee. It was heard by a sub-committee but the findings are yet to be passed on to the office.The incident, which both clubs apologised for a week later, developed after Benn delivered a beamer to Parris. When Parris was attempting to run a single off the next ball, television cameras captured Benn gently kicking him.Parris showed his frustration by walking past the stumps at the bowler’s end and approaching Benn in a face-to-face, glove-pointing remonstration