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When the Board of Control for Cricket in India meets in Mumbai on Tuesday, the buzz may be singularly focussed on the Indian Cricket League (ICL) and what to do with players who have left its fold, but the BCCI has several other matters to discuss on its agenda.But first and foremost, the board will have to decide what action to take with players who have joined the ICL. In a press conference on Monday, the Zee Telefilms group announced that it had already signed up as many as 44 players. This has left several Ranji teams, notably Hyderabad, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Railways and Bengal severely depleted.It is widely believed that the BCCI will stick to its guns and slap bans on players who have signed up with the ICL. While the BCCI cannot, in any way, stop players from signing up with the ICL, it is certainly within their grasp to exclude these players from deriving any benefit from the BCCI. This means that these players will not be eligible to play in any tournaments conducted by the BCCI or its constituents.This will in turn mean that these players cannot even take part in league cricket organised by state associations – the Kanga League in Mumbai or the First Division League for the Palayampatti Shield in Chennai, for example. These players are likely to lose their jobs, which they hold solely for the purposes of representing a certain team – corporate or bank or public sector – in cricket tournaments. The players will also be ineligible for the pension that the BCCI currently pays out to former cricketers.However, one of the pressing matters that the board will be attending to, when it comes to making constitutional amendments, is finding a successor for Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, in September 2008. Pawar will become vice-president of the International Cricket Council in July 2008, and will then have to relinquish office at his home board. The BCCI is set to appoint an interim president for the three-month period from July till September 2008, when the elections are set to take place.Once the ICC announced that David Morgan of the ECB, and Pawar from the BCCI, would take up office as ICC president in 2008 and 2010 respectively, the BCCI decided to clear the stage for similar practice at home, wherein the president elect will be chosen a year in advance. This suggestion, sources reveal, came from Inderjit Singh Bindra, former president of the BCCI and current president of the Punjab Cricket Association. It was suggested that such a practice would ensure that the president elect had a good working knowledge of the board, and that elections would proceed in a smooth manner.As per the procedural changes being suggested, the interim president for that period will be someone from the same zone as the existing president – West Zone – which in this case will be Chirayu Amin. By rotation the next turn, which will be for a full three years, from September 2008 till 2011, goes to Central Zone. The front-runner here is Shashank Manohar, who is the president of the Vidarbha Cricket Association and vice-president of the BCCI, apart from being a close aide of Pawar. What this will mean, in effect, is that there will be no elections for the post of president in 2008 and the current regime will continue, unchallenged, till 2011.It is understood that Lalit Modi, the man behind many of the financial and business aspects of the board, is to have suggested that a similar procedure be adopted for other office bearers of the board, apart from the president, in order to ensure some sort of continuity. However, it is unclear how other members of the board have taken this suggestion.The BCCI will also have to make changes to its constitution for the appointment of paid selectors. It is believed that from 2008 onwards – till then the existing system will continue – there will be a pool of five selectors, preferably but not necessarily one from each zone, with a tenure of three years and an option of a one-year extension. Also set to change is the criteria for selectors. All senior selectors will now have to have played at least five Test matches or 50 first-class matches. Currently a selector merely has to have played one first-class match. To be a member of the junior selection committee, the eligibility will be a minimum of 25 first-class matches.

A senior Pakistani minister has been denied a visa to visit India for the second one-day international between the hosts and Pakistan. The news comes after 46 Pakistani journalists, awarded media accreditation for the five-ODI and three-Test tour, were unable to cover the first match as they were yet to be issued visas by the Indian High Commission (IHC).Railways minister Sheikh Rashid Ahmed intended to watch Thursday’s second match at Mohali, but was informed by the IHC in Islamabad that he could not be issued the required visa. “I was planning to travel on Wednesday but they left me disappointed,” he told . “They didn’t give any reason for not granting me the visa.”This time I had got invitation from the Board of Control for Cricket in India and even then they did not give me the visa at the eleventh hour.”According to the minister, official permission was sought from the Pakistan government for the required travel and as a result, a protest has been lodged and the Pakistan prime minister informed. No official from the IHC was available for comment.While visas were famously relaxed and citizen-to-citizen contact was actively encouraged during the last three series between the two countries, a similar trait has yet to be seen this time around. This surprised the minister, who firmly believed that “there should be people-to-people contact between the two countries.”

Group AAustria beat Gibraltar by six runs in Port Soif, on the first day of the European Championship Division One Twenty20. Having been asked to bat, Austria put up n 141 in 19.1 overs, mainly due to handy cameos from the lower order. Gibraltar fell just short of the target, finishing on 135 for 8, despite an unbeaten knock of 66 from 60 balls by Mark Bacarese.Italy chased down 90 in a tight game against Croatia in St Peter Port, winning by one wicket. Choosing to bat, Croatia’s innings lacked momentum, as they limped to 89 despite having four wickets in hand at the end of their 20 overs. Italy were not convincing in the chase, but sneaked home on the back of a knock of 26 not out from middle-order batsman Damian Crowley. Croatia’s fast bowlers John Vujnovich and Vivek Sharma were impressive, claiming three wickets each in tidy spells.Guernsey registered a comprehensive 10-wicket win against Norway at Castel. Choosing to bowl they shot out Norway for 57, before openers Tim Ravenscroft and Ross Kneller chased down the target in 7.1 overs. James Nussbaumer was the pick of their bowlers, knocking over three top-order Norway batsmen and conceding only seven runs in a 3.2-over spell.In their second game of the day Italy turned out an improved performance, easing past Austria by seven wickets in Castel. Batting first, Austria were bowled out for 105 in 19th over, as none of their top order were able to build on double-digit starts. Peter Petricola did most of the damage with the ball, claiming 4 for 20. Steady batting from Italy in the chase saw them through without much drama.Norway recovered well from their one-sided defeat against Guernsey to beat Gibraltar by a comfortable eight-wicket margin in Port Soif. Batting first, Gibraltar managed only 77 for 8 in their 20. Legspinner Muhammad Butt produced the best figures of the game, 3 for 13, before Norway’s batsmen clicked. Driven by an innings of 35 from 20 balls by Zaheer Ashiq, they knocked off the runs 62 balls to spare.Guernsey remained unbeaten on day one, beating Croatia by three wickets with an over to spare in St Peter Port. Chasing 98, the Guernsey top order was shaky and wickets fell at regular intervals, but a steady 34 from Stuart Le Prevost and a couple of timely lower-order cameos saw them home.Group BBelgium beat France by five wickets with two balls to spare in St Clement. Choosing to bat, France’s innings was hampered as both openers were run out. There were no sizeable contributions from the rest of the order, as they folded for 114 in exactly 20 overs. In the chase, four of Belgium’s top five batsmen got into double figures, ensuring their side began with a win.Denmark eased past Israel by eight wickets in St Martin, chasing down a target of 95 with five overs to spare. Denmark’s ploy of bowling first worked, as their bowlers shared the wickets around in tidy spells to restrict Israel to 94 for 9. The chase was steered by a fluent, unbeaten 44 from opener Freddie Klokker.A solid all-round performance helped Jersey beat Germany by six wickets in St Brelade. Choosing to field, Jersey kept Germany to 99 for 7. Only middle-order batsman Imran Chaudhry was able to launch an attack, scoring 36 off 25, before being bowled by Anthony Hawkins-Kay who claimed 3 for 13. Jersey were solid in the chase. Their top order produced steady cameos, which carried them to a win in the 17th over.Belgium won a nail-biter against Denmark by one run when last man Sair Anjum was caught off the bowling of Faisal Khaliq with two to get and three balls remaining in St Clement. Having chosen to bat, Belgium were bowled out for a modest 104. Bobby Chawla was the pick of the bowlers, taking 3 for 13. Denmark got off to horrendous start, losing half their side with only 19 runs on the board. However, a lower-order resurgence saw them fight back to within touching distance of victory, but Belgium, and Khaliq, eventually had the final say to remain unbeaten after two games.Tony Carlyon starred with the ball and Dean Martin with the bat as Jersey routed Israel by eight wickets in St. Martin. Put in to bat by Jersey, Israel crawled to 87 all out from their 20 overs, with Carlyon taking 4 for 9 in four overs. He was ably backed up Anthony Hawkins-Kay, who took 3 for 16. Martin then made sure there would be no jitters chasing the small total with a brutal, unbeaten 64 from 44 balls, laced with three fours and five sixes, to see Jersey home with eight overs to spare.An allround bowling performance helped France beat Germany by 34 runs in St Brelade. Put into bat, France managed 126 for 7, with Usman Khan top scoring with 36. Germany struggled from the start, losing wickets at regular intervals, and were bundled out for 92 in 18.3 overs. Zika Ali picked up 3 for 17, while Usman chipped in with the ball as well, taking 2 for 22.

James Sutherland, the chief executive of Cricket Australia, is confident India’s tour will continue as planned and he has called on the captains Anil Kumble and Ricky Ponting to sort out their differences in the next few days. Despite rumblings of discontent from within the Indian team, Sutherland said Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, had indicated the remaining two Tests would be played and the squad would not be heading home early.”There’s nothing to suggest that it won’t [go ahead],” Sutherland said. “Sharad Pawar, who is the president of cricket in India, has overnight made such commitments, so that’s good enough for me. We’re looking forward to Perth now.”Australia won the second Test on Sunday with barely ten minutes remaining and after the match Kumble questioned whether Australia had played within the spirit of the game. Ponting angrily defended his integrity and Sutherland said following such a tense finish it was understandable that emotions were running high.”It was a classic Test match, it went right down to the wire,” Sutherland said. “Anil Kumble had a fantastic Test match as a captain and as a player, and no doubt he was disappointed in the end.”To some extent it’s not surprising in that emotionally charged environment that he would say what he has. It is only appropriate in that circumstance for Ricky Ponting and Anil Kumble to get together and to talk about exactly what differences of opinion there may be in that regard.”The match was marred by poor umpiring, contentious catches, queries over walking and a report that resulted in Harbhajan Singh being suspended for three Tests for making a racist comment to Andrew Symonds. Brad Hogg might also face the match referee over allegedly using offensive language during the match but Sutherland was unsure when or if a hearing would take place.”I don’t know any of the detail,” he said. “As I understand it a report hasn’t specifically been laid yet but it may well be pending.”The controversies during and after the game have taken the gloss of Australia’s record-equalling 16th consecutive Test victory. Sutherland said it should have been no surprise that Australia would fight tooth and nail to win the match.”It has always been the Australian way to play the game of cricket hard but fair,” he said. “Tough and uncompromising is certainly the way in which all Australian teams have played no matter who has been the captain and this team under Ricky Ponting is no exception.”

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Career-best figures from medium-pacer Shakeel-ur-Rehman helped North West Frontier Province dismiss Sind for 149 and an unbeaten 68 from captain Younis Khan took the lead to 200 by stumps on day two in Karachi. Sind had resumed on 60 for 1 but Shakeel dealt quick blows to secure his side a 54-run lead.His first victim was opener Khalid Latif, caught behind for 17 from 75 balls to make it 79 for 2. Faisal Iqbal, the Pakistan international, was out for 1 and the dangerous Shahid Afridi was removed for an 18-ball 17. Naumanullah was then bowled for 47, the best contribution of the innings, and two swift strikes cut through the tail. Pind had proceeded to lose nine wickets for 89 runs.Rafatullah Mohmand and Yasir Hameed got NWFP’s second innings off to a solid start, adding 41, but a double-strike from Anwar Ali threatened to bring Sind back. Hameed hit 26 from 30 balls before he was trapped leg before by Anwar, a former Under-19 star. Riaz Kail suffered a similar fate for 4 as NWFP slipped to 51 for 2. That became 71 for 3 when Mohmand fell to Uzair-ul-Haq’s medium-pace, but Younis proved difficult to dislodge.Coming off two fifties against Zimbabwe and a one-match breather in the clean sweep, Younis rattled his way to an unbeaten 68 off 95 balls, with 13 boundaries, by the close of play. Offering solid support at the other end was Wajahatullah Wasti, the former Pakistan opener, with a sedate 14 from 81 balls. NWFP’s tail wagged in the first innings and further such contributions could be enough to seal Sind’s fate as this match progresses.
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Salman Butt’s unbeaten 143-ball 135, in an opening stand of 191 with Mohammad Hafeez, gave Punjab a superb start to their first innings on day two in Lahore. Butt shrugged off an ordinary series against Zimbabwe by taking the Federal Areas attack to task – Punjab scored 219 for 1 at 4.56 runs an over – after Abdur Rehman and Wahab Riaz combined to reduce the opposition from an overnight 301 for 4 to an eventual 383.Butt struck 24 fours and a six , or 75% of his score, to launch a stirring reply. With Hafeez, another opener with international experience, he defied a line-up that included Shoaib Akhtar, Sohail Tanvir and Yasir Arafat. Hafeez was a bit more relaxed in his approach, scoring 77 from 113 balls, but with his partner going all-out it suited the situation expertly. Butt ticked along at a strike rate of 94.40, doing plenty to keep this match from meandering to a draw. Punjab still trail by 164 but with the likes of Misbah-ul-Haq, Mohammad Yousuf and Kamran Akmal to follow Federal Areas may be in for a tough third day in the field.Earlier, Rehman, who has played two Tests and 11 ODIs, snared 4 for 86 with his left-arm spin to support opening bowler Riaz. Usman Saeed and Naved Ashraf were cut short after crossing fifty and there was little action from Federal Areas’ lower order. Riaz, who had handed a maiden ODI cap against Zimbabwe last month, took 4 for 112 to help Punjab maintain damage control. Then it was over to Butt.

Australia’s Test cricket season started with a row between Cricket Australia and various media groups which led to several organisations being locked out of the Gabba after they refused to agree to new terms demanded by the board.The world’s top three global news agencies – Agence France-Presse, Reuters and Associated Press – have suspended all coverage of the season unless a deal can be agreed. The stand-off also involves Getty Images, who provide photos to newspapers and websites across the world.Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive, said he hoped the matter would be resolved amicably. “It’s a very complicated issue,” Speed admitted. “CA has been firm, based on principles. It’s a sensitive issue. Only time will tell [how it’s resolved].”In a separate incident, CA officials were forced to apologise for an “inappropriate comment” that led to News Limited reporters being ordered not to report on the match. A resolution over the media accreditation dispute between CA and News Limited had been agreed in principle shortly before the match was due to start, but senior management ordered its journalists back to their offices after a radio interview given by a CA official.Peter Young, CA’s general manager of corporate affairs, told the ABC that News Limited’s proposals would transfer money available for community cricket “into the pockets of [News Limited boss] Rupert Murdoch”. James Sutherland, CA’s chief executive, apologised and retracted the comment. “I hope we can resolve current discussions as soon as possible,” he said, “and get back to the business of staging and reporting cricket.”As the players returned to the field after a morning rain break, the reporters left the footpath outside the ground and at the time News Limited, which publishes papers including the Australian, the Daily Telegraph, the Courier-Mail and , had no plans to cover the match. However, a deal was signed late in the day.The main problem centres around rights to photographs and the amount of text and data allowed to be sent from the ground.”It is most regrettable that we are unable to provide our usual comprehensive coverage of cricket due to CA’s refusal to extend reasonable accreditation terms to international agencies,” Pierre Louette, the AFP chairman, said. “The accreditation terms imposed by CA make it impossible for news agencies to achieve the impartial and independent coverage that is our core mission.”Fairfax, which publishes the and the , and , the national news agency, reached agreement with CA in the lead-up to the match. CA has tightened its regulations with the emergence of new media and the organisation believes money made from commercial interests should be shared with the game. “Where cricket generates commercial value, we believe that some of it should be available for investment in the future of cricket,” Young said earlier this week.The global agencies declined a compromise offer from CA under which they would pay a license fee to resell photographs, arguing such a charge would run counter to the fundamental principles of news coverage. “Among the principles that we will not cede on is that we will not pay to cover news,” Louette said.The agencies are part of a coalition of more than 30 media organisations set up to oppose CA’s stance and say they will not “allow CA to have control over the way news is presented”. The agencies still hope, however, that the latest dispute can be resolved.”We are ready to continue negotiations with CA and sincerely hope that we will be able to agree on acceptable conditions that will allow us to resume normal coverage of Cricket Australia events,” Louette said. A similar stand-off occurred in the lead-up to the 2007 Rugby World Cup in France, but the International Rugby Board relaxed its regulations after photographers who turned up to a major promotional shoot for a sponsor pointed their cameras at the ground.

Kerala’s sole home Ranji Trophy match this season may be shifted from Kochi to Palakkad as the dates for the match clash with Kerala Football Association (KFA) plans to use Kochi’s Nehru Stadium for its national league games.Since the Nehru Stadium is hosting the second of the seven one-dayers between India and Australia on October 2, the KFA scheduled nine of its home matches after October 22. So, the Ranji match, from November 12 to 15, against Services was going to coincide with the football league games.”That could be a problem but I think we can settle the issue amicably after discussions with the cricket association,” KMI Mather, the KFA president, told the . “The All India Football Federation plans to have a strict schedule this season. And we’ll need at least two weeks to prepare a football ground after a cricket match, with the focus being mainly on the wicket.”But shifting the match to Palakkad’s Fort Ground will prove costly for the Kerala Cricket Association (KCA). “[It] will mean an expense of Rs 500,000 to Rs 600,000 because we have to prepare the ground all over again,” said TR Balakrishnan, the KCA interim president.

Having lost their captain, Chris Gayle, with a broken thumb and hamstring injury, West Indies are contemplating promoting Shivnarine Chanderpaul to No.3 in their bid to square the five-match one-day series against South Africa after losing the opening game at Centurion on Sunday.Speaking on the eve of the second game at Newlands, stand-in captain Dwayne Bravo said the new opening combination of Brenton Parchment and Devon Smith would be persisted with, with Chanderpaul moving one notch up the order, ahead of Marlon Samuels.”We need to get better starts at the top,” Bravo said after the team’s practice session on Thursday. “There might be a change in the order with Chanderpaul going up to No. 3 for more stability.”The top order failed to convert their starts at Centurion, losing half their side with the score on 72. Runako Morton and Darren Sammy led a late revival to lift the score to 175 in 36 overs but it wasn’t enough as South Africa coasted home with two overs to spare.Coach John Dyson also concurred with Bravo, he didn’t use the inexperience of the opening combination as an excuse, despite being up against bowler-friendly conditions. He said the newcomers in the squad should utilise this opportunity to step up and make the most of it if the conditions are more batting friendly.”[Sewnarine] Chattergoon’s played before, Parchment of course is brand new, and Devon will be looking at his tour so far and saying to himself, ‘I could have done better,’ ” Dyson said. “So whoever gets the job tomorrow, it’s got to be in their mind that this is an opportunity to cement their place in the squad.”West Indies will be boosted by the return of fast bowler Jerome Taylor, who batted and bowled in the nets after injuring his shoulder in the Twenty20 international in Johannesburg. It is uncertain, however, who he would replace as Sammy turned in a good performance with the bat to cover for his expensive spell of 1 for 57 in seven overs.Graeme Smith, the South African captain, said he was pleased to see the competition for places pushing his players to perform at their best. However, he touched upon the need to restrict the run scoring in the death overs. The bowlers couldn’t halt West Indies’ late revival at Centurion, with Morton and Sammy adding 69 for the seventh wicket.”We’ve bowled very well up until about ten overs to go, but I don’t think we’ve finished really well,” Smith said. “That’s something we’ve been discussing and working on.”I’d like to see guys really contributing in the last ten. If teams have got momentum going into the last five overs, it becomes difficult to pull it back.”South Africa will be forced to make a change, with allrounder Justin Ontong ruled out for the next two games with a knee injury. Smith said South Africa would probably go in with the same line-up which beat New Zealand at Newlands last month, with Herschelle Gibbs returning to open the innings and AB de Villiers dropping down to No.6. Offspinner Johan Botha is likely to replace Ontong.

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Daryl Tuffey claimed three wickets and Andrew Hall two, apart from bowlinga tight final over to kick off the Indian Cricket League in Panchkula. Ina match where Indian cricketers matched their skills with internationalones, the ‘home team’, Chandigarh Lions prevailed over Delhi Jets by eightruns.It was a day for both sport and entertainment but the intensity was hard to miss. The fielding was of higher standard, compared to what’s generally on display in domestic cricket, and Abhishek Sharma running out Imran Farhat was one of the plays of the day.Chris Cairns and Marvan Atapattu sparkled, apart from Tuffey and Hall, butthey had to slug it out against local talent trying to make a name. AliMortaza, a left-arm spinner from Uttar Pradesh who was an India Under-19star till recently, impressed with 3 for 16, including a wicket off hisfirst ball. Abhishek, the legspinner from Delhi, bagged three wickets tooand JP Yadav, the former Indian allrounder, contributed with both bat andball.Abbas Ali, the grandson of the legendary Mushtaq and a mainstay of theMadhya Pradesh middle order, cracked three sixes towards the end to openthe game up. Backing away from the stumps, he lofted the medium-pacerseffortlessly to bring the Delhi Jets to within striking distance.Hall, standing at midwicket, dropped a clanger off the first ball of the19th over – when Rajesh Sharma swung wildly – but he made amends byconceding just five in the final over, when 14 were needed.”I think he just wanted to be a hero and win it with the ball in the lastover,” joked the Lions captain Cairns when asked about the drop. “But Ithought it was a great way to kick the tournament off. Good game, goodcrowd, good entertainment . That’s all you ask for when you walk in for amatch.”

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Powered by a counterattacking 90 by Abhishek Nayar, and a steady display by their medium-pacers, West Zone beat South Zone by 26 runs in Bangalore to finish second in the Deodhar Trophy. Central had already secured the title by winning their first three matches with a bonus point in each of them.West had started a middle-order collapse when Nayar came into bat at 105 for 3 in the 25th over. In the next 10 overs, they stumbled to 165 for 6, and were in danger of being bowled out. That’s when Nayar found stable company in Ajit Agarkar, and by the time Agarkar got out West were in a position to accelerate in the slog overs. The two added 66 in 11.1 overs, while some lusty blows towards the end to take West to 272. Nayar was the last man out – in the 50th over, for an 80-ball 90.South’s chase never got going, and they had lost Robin Uthappa, M Vijay and S Vidyut in the first 13 overs for 51 runs. S Badrinath, along with mini contributions from the middle and the lower-middle order, kept them within an outside shot, but once Badrinath got out for 64 in the 42nd over, the task was too much for the lower order. Munaf Patel and Siddharth Trivedi took three wickets apiece.
ScorecardAnustup Majumdar and Saurabh Tiwary helped East Zone recover from a precarious situation to put up 296, a total North Zone did not have the firepower to chase. This ended a dismal campaign for North Zone, who failed to win anything and conceded bonus points in two of their matches. East finished third with nine points from four matches.When Majumdar and Saurabh came together, East had lost three wickets for 75 runs, and were in need of a partnership that would be big and one that would keep the rate up. The two did just that, adding 133 runs in 31.1 overs. Saurabh contributed 73 of those – off 74 balls, with the help of three fours and three sixes. Majumdar, though, went on to get his second List A century and his highest List A score, hitting 10 fours and two sixes in his 107-ball 109.The lack of impetus in East’s slog overs – last nine overs went for 56 – proved inconsequential, as a slow start followed by a middle-order collapse meant North were never with a shot. A mini recovery by Virat Kohli had taken North to 96 for 2 in the 22nd over, but it soon became 134 for 7 as East wrested control.