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Modi dismissed Srinivasan’s response as illegal, for it was, according to him, a private decision and not one taken by the board

Cricinfo staff24-Jun-2010Lalit Modi, the suspended IPL chairman, has lashed out against N Srinivasan, the BCCI secretary, who rejected the replies filed by Modi to the three show-causes notices issued by the Indian board. Modi dismissed Srinivasan’s response as illegal, for it was, according to him, a private decision and not one taken by the board. He has issued a 48-hour ultimatum to Srinivasan, demanding him to “recall” his views, inform the board that the views were his own and that the board, and not him, would decide the way forward. Modi also reiterated his demand that Srinivasan, like the BCCI president Shashank Manohar, recuse himself from the disciplinary committee that will consider the case against him.”I wish to make it absolutely clear that I do not accept the legality of any of your suggestions, findings or recommendations,” Modi said in his letter, a copy of which is available with Cricinfo. “The decision contained in the said document appears to be your private decision and is not an institutional decision of or on behalf of, the Board. Any reference, by you, to the Board, of your private decision is and will be, wholly un-constitutional, illegal and null and void ab-initio.While responding to the first show-cause, on May 15, Modi had asked the IPL governing council to remove Manohar and Srinivasan from all proceedings involving the charges filed against him, and instead constitute an independent panel to adjudicate on the matter. Modi had accused Srinivasan of misusing his position as board secretary to benefit the team he owns, Chennai Super Kings, and added there was enough reason to be apprehensive of bias on Srinivasan’s part.While criticising Srinivasan’s involvement in the proceedings, given Modi’s allegations against him, Modi also questioned the legality of the board secretary taking the decision on his own.”I dare say that what is even more disturbing is that despite the Honorary President having rescued himself, you have chosen to decide the matter. Please confirm under which provision of the BCCI constitution, you have done so.”The three show-cause notices had contained charges of irregularities in the bidding process, broadcast rights and theatrical rights among others. Modi filed detailed responses to the three, including a reply that ran into 15,000 pages for the first notice.Modi accused Srinivasan of showing malice, pre-empting the board’s response by substituting them with his own. The replies filed for the show-cause notices, Modi said, ought to have been circulated to the “General Body” to arrive at a collective decision but Srinivasan had chosen to act on them independently.”It has also become absolutely clear that as far as you are concerned you are acting out of malice. Further, it is obvious that if any inquiry is warranted, it should be into your conduct rather than into the meaningless trumped up allegations levelled in the Show Cause Notice, and to safeguard your position you have taken this ridiculous step of giving your decision as it were, which is a mockery not only of the BCCI constitution but also of the rule of law,” Modi said.”I regret to have to observe that your actions have completely deprived these proceedings of even a semblance of credibility. The fact that the Secretary of the BCCI has, in a manner involving such immense public scrutiny and interest as the present, chosen to act in such a fashion, threatens to potentially undermine the fair name of the BCCI itself.”Srinivasan has passed his findings to the members of the general body for ratification at the Special General Meeting, (SGM) scheduled for July 3, when a decision on Modi’s future will be taken.

Cricket Australia is standing by John Howard and seriously considering whether to repeat its push to have him installed as ICC vice-president

Peter English01-Jul-2010Cricket Australia is standing by John Howard and seriously considering whether to repeat its push to have him installed as ICC vice-president despite his swift rejection in Singapore. The appointment of Howard was stopped at an ICC board meeting on Wednesday by a group of Asian and African members in a result that left Australian and New Zealand officials “gutted”.Jack Clarke, Cricket Australia’s chairman, will consult with his board this week, but Cricinfo has learned Howard remains the organisation’s nomination for the position despite the refusal of seven ICC board members to support the application. It sets up the prospect of Howard’s name being returned as the joint Australia-New Zealand candidate by the August 31 deadline, although this depends on New Zealand Cricket wanting to continue the fight.Australia and New Zealand have been asked to put forward another candidate and Haroon Lorgat, the chief executive of the ICC, said the organisation did not have to give justification for rejecting Howard. Lorgat told reporters in Singapore on Thursday that the ICC “does not have to give those reasons”.”There weren’t sufficient number of directors in support of the nomination,” Lorgat said. “[It] did not go to a vote and the outcome was to request Cricket Australia and New Zealand Cricket to reconsider their nomination and to return to the ICC by the 31st of August.”Howard was standing firm despite the embarrassing turn of events. “I haven’t withdrawn, I’m still the nomination and I won’t be withdrawing,” he told Sky News.Clarke and Wally Edwards, his deputy, will host a meeting with Cricket Australia’s board members, who were said to be “very angry” with the Singapore result, over the next couple of days to determine whether to keep pushing for Howard. Once they have decided the way forward they will discuss the position with New Zealand Cricket, which originally wanted its former chairman Sir John Anderson in the role.Both Clarke and Alan Isaac, the New Zealand chairman, were angry and frustrated with the outcome of the ICC board meeting in which the Howard issue didn’t get to a vote. Under the ICC’s regulations, it was Australasia’s turn to choose the vice-president, who would then assume the top job in 2012.However, India, Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Bangladesh, South Africa and West Indies signalled their intention on Tuesday night to block the move. Zimbabwe, privately the most critical of the appointment, did not join the list but were a crucial player in the decision.India also had a role in providing support to deny Howard. “If India said yes, it would have got through,” a source close to the negotiations told Cricinfo.Cricket Australia asked Howard to take up the post and he said it was on the understanding that if he fitted the ICC guidelines and didn’t have a criminal record he would be approved. Both the Australian and New Zealand boards argued he came through the most rigorous selection process and deserved the role.Clarke was disappointed at the treatment of such a well-qualified applicant and the hurt was compounded by no reasons being given for the rejection. Howard said he had spoken to a board chairman from one of the opposing countries, who told him he could not say why the appointment had been blocked. “It’s a very unusual situation,” Howard said.Criticisms of Howard vary from his decisions regarding Zimbabwe during his time as Australia’s prime minister to him not being involved previously with Cricket Australia in an official capacity. “Frankly, we did not want an outsider to meddle with the ICC,” an Indian board official told AFP. “There was nothing personal against Howard. But we do accept the argument that only a man with previous experience in cricket administration should head the ICC.”

Nilesh Kulkarni, the left-arm spinner who played three Tests and ten ODIs for India, has announced his retirement from first-class cricket

Cricinfo staff28-Jul-2010Nilesh Kulkarni, the left-arm spinner who played three Tests and ten ODIs for India, has announced his retirement from first-class cricket. “I have a small announcement to make that I am retiring from international and first-class cricket,” Kulkarni said at the launch of Indian Institute of Sports Management, in Mumbai.Kulkarni, 37, has been a stalwart for Mumbai since 1994-95. He took 308 first-class wickets for his team and 95 wickets in List A games. Kulkarni made his Test debut against Sri Lanka in Colombo in 1997-98 and he hit the record books immediately by claiming a wicket off his first ball in Tests, that of Marvan Atapattu. He is the only Indian bowler to achieve this feat and the 12th bowler in the history of the game. He sent down 70 overs but amazingly enough that was the only Test wicket he took for he had the misfortune to bowl when the Sri Lankan batsmen set several records in running up the highest total in Tests.He played in one more Test at home against Sri Lanka but had to wait till 2001 for a Test return. He took one more wicket in the Chennai Test against Australia, which turned out to be his last. He claimed 11 wickets in ten ODIs with a best of 3 for 27.He ends his first-class career with 357 wickets and List A with 135 strikes.

Steven Davies kept alive Surrey’s hopes of clinching a semi-final place in the Clydesdale Bank 40 with a superb 101 off 85 balls as the Lions overcame the Unicorns by 66 runs at Wormsley

22-Aug-2010

ScorecardSteven Davies kept alive Surrey’s hopes of clinching a semi-final place in the Clydesdale Bank 40 with a superb 101 off 85 balls as the Lions overcame the Unicorns by 66 runs at Wormsley.
Davies, who shared in three-figure stands with Rory Hamilton-Brown and Stewart Walters, marked his 100th one-day appearance with his fifth century in List A cricket, and his first for Surrey, as the visitors posted 273 for 4. In reply, the Unicorns could only muster 207 for 8 as Steven Cheetham picked up career best figures of 4 for 32.Hamilton-Brown brought the 50 up for the Lions in the seventh over when he drove Neil Saker past mid-on for four. Seven overs later, the Surrey skipper reached his own half-century off 45
balls, though not before he had lifted Saker over the rope at long-on for six. The fourth 100-plus partnership between Hamilton-Brown and Davies in this season’s CB40 arrived in the 14th over.
But, moments later, Hamilton-Brown departed for 52 when he lofted Jahed Ahmed to mid-off.Davies, who pulled and on drove with authority, offered just one chance, on 67, when he was dropped by Josh Knappett off the bowling of Jackson Thompson. Two overs later, Walters went to his second successive half-century in the CB40, off 64 balls, by despatching Thompson’s offspin over wide mid-on for his fourth boundary.Glenn Querl, who was the pick of the Unicorns’ attack, then pegged Surrey back, bowling Davies and Jason Roy in successive overs with almost identical full-length deliveries. With Matthew Spriegel falling to a brilliant catch at long-off off the bowling of Jonathan Miles in the 38th over, the Lions had lost three wickets in five overs for 19 runs. But Walters finished with an unbeaten 78 off 85 balls to give the visitors a daunting total.Jackson Thompson briefly had Surrey worried when he struck three off-side boundaries in the first over of the Unicorns’ reply. But, three overs later, Steven Cheetham found a way through Thompson’s defences. With Chris Murtagh slicing to backward point in the 12th over, the 22-year-old had first-spell figures of 2 for 23.Any hopes the Unicorns had of pulling off a surprise were scuppered four overs later when Knappett, sweeping, fell leg before to Chris Schofield and Keith Parsons was run out at the bowler’s end, after working the former England legspinner to Jade Dernbach at short fine leg.After Sean Park fell to a catch behind off Gareth Batty, Mike O’Shea and Atiq Chishti added 66 in 13 overs for the sixth wicket. Atiq hit Schofield over long-on for six and then down the ground for four to bring the hundred up for the Unicorns in the 22nd over. But he was caught behind immediately upon Cheetham’s return to the attack, though not before O’Shea had posted a 61-ball half-century.Two overs later, Cheetham, who is on loan from Lancashire until the end of the season, picked up a fourth scalp when O’Shea holed out to deep square leg for 65.

Mohammad Ashraful has been named captain of the Bangladesh Cricket Board XI that will take on the touring New Zealand team

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Sep-2010Mohammad Ashraful has been named captain of the Bangladesh Cricket Board XI that will take on the touring New Zealand team in the first warm-up match in Savar on October 1. Ashraful, who has been in and out of the Bangladesh side following a prolonged run of poor form, was left out of the squad that will play five ODIs against the visitors, but gets the chance to show the selectors they made a mistake.The selectors have opted for youth, picking a number of players under the age of 23 in the 14-man squad. Shamsur Rahman, 22, averaged 67 in two unofficial Tests against South Africa A earlier this year. He was also part of Bangladesh’s squad for the World Twenty20 in 2009, and was called up to the Test team that toured England earlier this year as back-up.The bowling attack includes 21-year-old Dolar Mahmud, who last played for Bangladesh against Zimbabwe in 2009, and 18-year-old legspinner Noor Hossain, who has just four first-class matches under his belt. Meanwhile 20-year-old Mithun Ali will keep wickets.The BCB XI plays two one-day matches against New Zealand, the second of which is also at Savar on October 3. The five ODIs will be hosted in Mirpur from October 5 to 17.Bangladesh Cricket Board XI squad: Mohammad Ashraful (capt), Shamsur Rahman, Faisal Hossain, Shahadat Hossain, Mahbubul Alam, Syed Rasel, Nazimuddin, Noor Hossain, Dolar Mahmud, Rony Talukder, Nasir Hossain, Mithun Ali (wk), Shabbir Rahman, Shuvagata Hom Chowdhury

Doug Bollinger will have only one match to prove his fitness ahead of the first Ashes Test after Cricket Australia confirmed he won’t start bowling again until next week

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Oct-2010Doug Bollinger will have only one match to prove his fitness ahead of the first Ashes Test after Cricket Australia confirmed he won’t start bowling again until next week. Bollinger suffered a stomach muscle strain during the first Test in India, following a controversial preparation that involved him playing Twenty20 instead of first-class cricket.He arrived in India two days before the first Test, having been told by Cricket Australia to stay in South Africa until his Champions League Twenty20 campaign ended. The team physio Alex Kountouris said Bollinger was now expected to make his comeback in a Sheffield Shield game for New South Wales starting only eight days before the Ashes begins.”On returning to Australia, he had scans that have cleared him of any significant muscle injury,” Kountouris said. “As such he will commence bowling next week and is likely to be available for selection for the Weet-Bix Sheffield Shield game for New South Wales against Tasmania starting November 17.”The Blues have a Sheffield Shield match starting this Sunday and another beginning on November 10, but Bollinger is not expected to be rushed back for either of those games. However, Simon Katich, who has been recovering from a thumb injury, should be available for the second of those fixtures, which will give him two matches before the Gabba Tests.”Simon Katich injured a thumb ligament prior to the first Test in India,” Kountouris said. “Since returning home, he has seen a specialist who advised him take a short break from batting and then return to training. As such, he has not batted since returning from India but will do so next week.”The fast bowler Ryan Harris could also be in the mix for the Brisbane Test, having made what Kountouris called “good progress” from the knee surgery he had in July. Harris had been hoping to make his comeback for Queensland at the start of the summer, but is now expected to play a Futures League game next week and, provided he suffers no setbacks, he should play one or two Sheffield Shield matches before the Ashes.

Ishant Sharma, the India fast bowler, is uncertain for the remainder of the first Test in Mohali after he injured his knee on the opening day

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Oct-2010Ishant Sharma’s participation in the remainder of the first Test in Mohali will be clear only on the morning of the second day, Mayank Parikh, a team official, has said. Ishant injured his knee on Friday afternoon and left the field – after a lacklustre spell of 7.4 overs in which he conceded 49 runs – for an MRI scan.India clawed back on the first day of the series, limiting Australia to 224 for 5 with Zaheer Khan bagging three wickets, including two late in the day. Ishant, however, had a tough time, bowling eight no-balls – one of which resulted in Ricky Ponting nicking to the wicketkeeper.India have gone in with two seamers and two specialist spinners and Ishant’s injury, if it persists, could hurt their chances. Pragyan Ojha, however, was optimistic about Ishant’s condition when speaking after the first day’s play. “Right now, if Ishant was there, it would have been great,” said Ojha, when asked about the lack of a second pace bowler once the ball started to reverse towards the end of the day. “We don’t want to look at the negatives. The other three bowlers have done brilliantly, and we also expect Ishant to come back. Zaheer was amazing. He did the job.”

Richie Richardson, the former West Indies batsman, is disappointed that leading Caribbean cricketers have declined to sign central contracts with the board

Andrew McGlashan10-Nov-2010Richie Richardson, the former West Indies captain, is disappointed that leading Caribbean cricketers have declined to sign central contracts with the board. Chris Gayle, the recently replaced leader, along with allrounders Dwayne Bravo and Kieron Pollard turned down offers from the WICB so that they are free to take up lucrative Twenty20 offers around the world.At the time of not signing their contracts the three players – some of the most marketable Twenty20 stars in the world – insisted they remained fully committed to West Indies cricket. Gayle and Bravo are part of the Test squad currently in Sri Lanka, and Pollard is likely to be included for the one-day series next month, but their decisions have done little to ease tensions between the players and the board.”Playing for your country should always be No. 1 then anything else comes after that,” Richardson told ESPNcricinfo. “It might be different for a player who is coming towards the end of his career or hasn’t been selected much, but the main players should be contracted to the board. I know they’ve stated their full commitment to West Indies, but clearly there are distractions around the game these days.”West Indies are a distant second favourite for the Tests in Sri Lanka which start on November 15, but Richardson is hopeful they can mount a challenge in a country where they never won a Test in six attempts. That’s despite the efforts of Brian Lara in 2001-02 when he hit 688 runs, a record for a three-Test series, and still West Indies lost 3-0. Yet the scale of their challenge was clear on the opening day of their warm-up match against a President’s XI when the visitors’ batting crumbled for 176.”I’m always hopeful and I always want West Indies to do well. But it’s going to be tough, there’s no hiding from that,” Richardson said as he announced the launch of his own cricket academy in Antigua. “Sri Lanka are playing really good cricket and have just beaten Australia. It’s a tough country to tour for any team, not many sides have gone there in recent years and won, and West Indies haven’t been playing all that well, but you have to go in with a positive frame of mind. Anything is possible.”Darren Sammy has replaced Gayle as captain after the West Indies board decided it was time for a fresh face to take the side forward into the World Cup and beyond. Richardson has first-hand knowledge of the unique challenges involved in leading West Indies having captained them on 24 occasions – albeit before the severe decline set in – and believes Sammy has the personality and skills to be a success.”It’s too early to make a judgement on whether it’s a good or bad move, but from what I’ve seen he is a very passionate cricketer which is what is needed,” he said. “He’s been playing well in the last couple of years and he’s shown in some of his performances that he has leadership qualities so I’ll certainly be supporting him.”However, Richardson is mystified by the absence of Ramnaresh Sarwan who wasn’t even offered a central contract after the board voiced concerns over his fitness following a string of injuries. To leave out a batsman averaging 41.73 in Tests seems a luxury West Indies can ill-afford. “I don’t know what is going on with Sarwan but he’s certainly got the time to get back into the side,” Richardson said. “He’s one of our premier batsmen and I’m not quite sure why he isn’t with the team or what the problem is. He’s been playing cricket back home so should be there.”While the immediate prospects for West Indies remain bleak, with his academy hat on Richardson is convinced the game can thrive again on and off the field. “There are still a lot of youngsters in the Caribbean who want to play cricket,” he said. “Obviously there are other distractions these days, but I’m convinced the passion is still there and will always be there. It’s part of the Caribbean way of life. It will always be in the veins of Caribbean people.”

The ICC Elite Panel of Umpires will be officiating with six other umpires for the 2011 World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Dec-2010The ICC Elite Panel of Umpires will be officiating with six other umpires for the 2011 World Cup. Sri Lanka’s Kumar Dharmasena, Australia’s Bruce Oxenford, India’s Amiesh Saheba and Shavir Tarapore and England’s Richard Kettleborough and Nigel Llong are the six outside the panel that have been chosen to officiate in the tournament that begins in February next year.”These six have been identified as emerging and talented match officials, who have already officiated at international level with experience of conditions in the Asian subcontinent and are now ready to umpire at cricket’s flagship event,” an ICC media release stated.The umpires were selected by Dave Richardson (ICC’s general manager of cricket), match referee Ranjan Madugalle, former player and coach David Lloyd and former India captain and umpire S Venkataraghavan.The umpires who form the ICC’s Elite Panel are: Billy Bowden, Aleem Dar, Steve Davis, Billy Doctrove, Marais Erasmus, Ian Gould, Daryl Harper, Tony Hill, Asad Rauf, Asoka de Silva, Simon Taufel and Rod Tucker.Bangladesh’s Enamul Haque Moni has been named as reserve umpire for the tournament.The match referees for competition are: Madugalle, Chris Broad, Jeff Crowe, Roshan Mahanama and Andy Pycroft.

The partners of the newly formed entity Cricket Holdings America are hoping to start a Twenty20 league in the USA for the summer of 2012 according to USA Cricket Association President Gladstone Dainty

Peter Della Penna22-Dec-2010The partners of the newly formed entity Cricket Holdings America – New Zealand and American cricket boards – are hoping to start a Twenty20 league in the USA for the summer of 2012, the USA Cricket Association President Gladstone Dainty has said. Speaking to ESPNcricinfo on Tuesday, Dainty said the group is hoping that more Twenty20 matches played by New Zealand in Florida during 2011 and 2012 will provide the platform to kickstart a successful domestic league in the United States.”We are looking at the schedules, looking at the room, looking at the ICC’s Future Tours schedule,” Dainty said. “We’re certainly looking at playing games in 2011 and leading up to the T20 league in 2012, but they’re going to be different fixtures. The commercial company is anticipating that’s going to be the year [2012], somewhere in between June and August, to have that T20 league going.”The number of teams has not been finalised, but, according to Dainty, it will be a minimum of four and a maximum of eight. The cities that each team will be based out of also remain undecided but Dainty said that New York is a key destination for the league to bring in fans and that other cities, including Fort Lauderdale in Florida, will be utilised.”The New Zealand games initially I think are going to be in Florida, but the for T20 type games I think they are looking at different locations. New York is very high on the radar.”Currently, the only ICC approved stadium venue is at the Central Broward Regional Park in the Fort Lauderdale suburb of Lauderhill. It will be difficult to build and upgrade venues to get them up to ICC standards in time for 2012, but Dainty said that they will make do with what they have available for the time being.”I don’t think the standards [for Twenty20 leagues] are as high as Test cricket or ODI cricket. And especially with T20 games evolving and professional teams, not international teams, playing, I don’t know if that strict standard applies.” Asked if the investors are considering playing league games outside of Florida on artificial wickets, Dainty said, “A decision has not been made on that, but I think that whatever they do, they’re really not going to try to give a fake product. It’s going to be an authentic product.”I don’t think any of them are suitable right now but I’m sure there are lots of venues out there which we can make suitable with alterations.”As for the ownership stake in Cricket Holdings America and the money that it will generate for USACA, Dainty said the contract was signed for 10 years with the first three years guaranteed. USACA will get US$2 million per year in licensing fees for the first three years.”After three years, USACA will negotiate to see if the money is going up or down.” Another source reported that USACA also received an additional US$3 million at the start of the deal in guaranteed share sales, meaning the organisation has US$5 million at its disposal heading into 2011. USACA will also be able to collect profits for other rights deals signed as part of its ownership stake in Cricket Holdings America.”USACA has 31% of the company. So in the case of any profit shares, USACA is getting 31% of the deal. USACA also has the majority of members of the board under the corporation, the LLC.” There will be seven board members for Cricket Holdings America, with four of those seven representing USACA. How those four will be appointed has not been decided. USACA also has an option to buy out the other stakeholders in Cricket Holdings America after 10 years.