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Send us your feedbackCricket Kenya is on the verge of offering its leading players one-year contracts.The board has agreed terms with the players, Roger Harper, the coach, hasgiven his views and the national selectors are now drawing up a final listof between 18 and 20 names who will be invited to sign the contracts. Theselectors also need to divide the players into three categories, based onseniority and ability, which will determine how much they get paid.”They will be offered one-year deals,” Samir Inamdar, the board’s chairman,told Cricinfo. “This has been made possible by the money we received fromwinning the World Cricket League and also from the Nimbus TV deal.”Those chosen will receive a regular monthly salary as well as appearancefees for ODIs. For four-day Intercontinental Cup games they will get theequivalent fee for three ODIs.”The board has also offered to share a third of prize-money and appearancemoney with squad players. And people can still be picked from outside those oncentral contracts, but they will be paid on a match-by-match basis.A few leading Kenya players have contracts overseas and Inamdar stressedthat these could continue subject to the prior agreement of the board.Their central contracts will be suspended for the period they are employedplaying cricket elsewhere.Inamdar said that at the moment the contracts were for one years and thesituation would be reviewed after that. Much depends on whether theboard is able to attract new sponsors and also how much the board’sshare of the new ICC media deal with ESPN brings in.

A nationwide siege programme has caused havoc in Bangladesh’s National Cricket league, with Dhaka’s match against Barisal being postponed for “an indefinite period” and Chittagong’s clash with Sylhet also under threat.A non-stop countrywide blockade has been enforced by a 14-party alliance headed by the opposition Awami League, and according to Dhaka’s Daily Star newspaper, the police have been directed to fire gunshots if the demonstrators attack them.The demonstration means that Dhaka will have to wait to take their five remaining Barisal wickets at the Fatullah Stadium, after Mohammad Rafique’s three-wicket burst gave them the upper hand on the third day’s play. Needing 247 to win, Barisal were shakily placed at 78 for 5.At the Chittagong Divisional Stadium, Sylhet were forced to follow-on after being bowled out for just 100 in their first innings, and though they reached 130 for 2 second-time around, the security situation is such that the match could be shifted to Monday, according to the match referee Rafiqul Alam.The entire day’s play at the Rajshahi Divisional Stadium was called off due to rain and later, bad light. The hosts were leading by nine runs on the second day.

Virender Sehwag blamed a collective lack of application from the Indian top order for the five-wicket defeat against England at Jamshedpur. “We didn’t bat well at all,” he said at the post-match press conference. “If even one of the top-order batsmen had been associated in a significant partnership with Dhoni at the start of the innings, it could have been an exciting game. The main reason for today’s defeat was our batting failure. There was responsibility on every single top-order batsman. You can’t criticise any single individual – if either of Yuvraj, Kaif, Raina, Venu [Venugopal Rao] or Sehwag had played for any length of time with Dhoni, things would have been a lot different.”While insisting that his team should have put more runs on the board Sehwag gave England’s batsmen credit for the manner in which they went about chasing the modest target. “They played quite well,” he said. “227 wasn’t that bad a total, but Strauss and Bell got them off to an excellent start, and they didn’t look back after that.”Inevitably questions were asked about the lack of form of Sehwag himself, and also Mohammad Kaif. “When the team is winning, you can afford to have one or two batsmen not in form because captains don’t usually change a winning combination,” said Sehwag. “At the end of the day, it all depends on the situation. Maybe it is best for me that I sit out a game, take a break. When you keep playing, it may not be possible to analyse things. Sometimes, rest is an option. Perhaps I will miss the next match, perhaps Kaif will. Rahul will be back as captain for the last match, it is up to him to decide what combination he wants to field.”Sehwag also came to the defence of his fast-bowlers, backing them to do well in the future. “There was a lack of experience in our bowling attack today. We were playing without Pathan, Agarkar and Sreesanth. RP Singh, VRV Singh and Munaf Patel don’t have a lot of experience, so they couldn’t deliver. I am sure if they play more regularly and pick up more experience along the way, they will definitely deliver the goods.”He was especially sympathetic to VRV Singh, who made his debut in this match but could not pick up a wicket and ended returns of none for 33 from five overs. “It is not easy to perform in your first international match. I remember when I made my debut, I only made one run. It is tough to perform on debut, you need to be lucky to be successful in your first match. Maybe VRV felt a little bit of pressure, maybe he was nervous. But he is a good bowler, and I am sure he will bounce back in time.”

“I don’t know what they are doing,” remarked IPL Commissioner Lalit Modi about Jaipur, his home team, after the first players’ auction in Mumbai on February 20. Of the nearly US$ 42 million that was spent by the eight teams on blockbuster names, Jaipur had spent only around US$ 2.95 million.On Tuesday, after the second auction, Jaipur spent just US$ 385,000 more but emerged with the biggest smile of them all.For a total of US$ 3.35 million – just half a million over what Chennai and Hyderabad spent for MS Dhoni and Andrew Symonds in the first auction – Jaipur’s Rajasthan Royals are looking quite formidable: Shane Warne, Graeme Smith, Younis Khan, Shane Watson, Dimitri Mascarenhas, Kamran Akmal, Yusuf Pathan, Mohammad Kaif, Munaf Patel, Morne Morkel and Sohail Tanvir.”We have put together a great squad from the two auctions at our price,” Fraser Castellino, the CEO of the franchise, told Cricinfo. “I would call this a victory for us. Other teams have great squads too, but now I believe they may have overspent a bit. We believe we are well-placed now, as good as any of the other teams.”While spending just under three-fourths of the near US$ 5 million that the seven franchises have spent, Jaipur’s strategy of staggering their purchases across the two auctions seems to have worked.”We would like to be called a strategic franchise now,” Castellino said. “After today, few people will say we are a weak team. There were a lot of people who made fun of us last time. What they failed to understand then was we had a clear strategy, and we were as sure as they were that this was serious business.”On Tuesday, Jaipur started the ball rolling by picking up England allrounder Mascarenhas (US$ 100,000), with whom they had been negotiating for the last few days. Hampshire’s Twenty20 specialist was a last-minute addition to the auction after being cleared early on Tuesday morning by the county, which also has Warne on its rolls.Then, they bought Australian allrounder Watson (US$ 125,000), South Africa fast bowler Morkel (US$ 60,000) and Pakistan left-arm seamer Tanvir (US$ 100,000).Explaining the strategy, Castellino said, “Yes, there were good players in the first auction. But we also knew then that there were a lot of good Twenty20 specialists who missed out and who would come into play in the second auction. We targeted them this time, and our strategy has worked.”However, Jaipur could still run into some trouble with the second part of their strategy – tackling the minimum cap of US$ 3.3 million for the first auction in two attempts. While Castellino claimed that the cap covered the entire auction process and included the amount spent in the second auction as well, IPL governing council member IS Bindra told Cricinfo that the penalty for falling short last month “still stands”.”It was very clear early on that the first auction was just the first step,” Castellino said. “All the franchises knew then that there would be a second auction. And as far as we are concerned, we have crossed the minimum cap and adhered to the rules.”Jaipur now plans to rope in some more players from India, some of them through their Cricket Star talent hunt, steered by former India coach Greg Chappell.”We will be taking a few more players from India, especially through our Cricket Star programme through which we are currently talent-spotting across the country,” Castellino said. “If we find some exceptional talent we will fast-track him into the team this season, but there will be somebody from the programme in the team definitely next time.”

In a fresh eruption of dissent in the Indian board, Sharad Pawar resigned from its marketing committee, a move which could destabilise the recent uneasy truce worked out among rival factions over the membership of the high-powered committee that handles television rights and other marketing matters.The resignation of Pawar, union agriculture minister and a candidate for BCCI presidency, came barely two days ahead of the committee’s crucial meeting to decide on the issue of television rights. Meanwhile, there were reports that N Srinivasan, another member of the committee, had also put in his papers, though this news could not be confirmed.There were conflicting reports on why Pawar, who is also the president of the Mumbai Cricket Association, resigned from the post. While a source in the Mumbai Cricket Association said that Pawar, who alsoheads the Union Government’s Disaster Management Committee, resigned as he could not devote time in view of the earthquake relief work, a key dissident faction leader Raj Singh Dungarpur claimed that Pawar had quit because the BCCI accounts were not in order.”Mr Pawar has resigned from the BCCI marketing committee and has sent a letter to this effect. He has said in the letter that because of his busy schedule in the government’s disaster management cell he would not be able to devote time to the committee’s matters,” a source in the MCA told PTI.Dungarpur said Pawar and Srinivasan chose to quit as they were not shown all the papers and because of a lack of transparency in the functioning of the committee.Pawar was not in the original marketing committee of the BCCI but was inducted into the high-profile panel at the last AGM of the board in Kolkata which was adjourned last month. Pawar will thus not be attending the committee’s sitting on Sunday to be chaired by Ranbir Singh Mahendra, the BCCI president.The committee is expected to open the sealed technical bids received by it for the telecast rights for the next fours years, but has been directed by the Delhi High Court not to disclose the outcome of the meeting following the filing of a petition on the telecast rights issue. The BCCI has been told told to inform the outcome to the court on October 19, when the matter comes up for further hearing.Srinivasan is currently in Geneva on a private visit and will return only on October 17, which means he will also miss the committee’s meeting on Sunday.

Jermaine Lawson has been included in West Indies’ 15-man squad for the forthcoming tour of Australia despite continuing concerns over both his action and fitness.The squad contains almost all the big names who missed the recent Sri Lanka tour following a strike over contracts. Dwayne Bravo, Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Brian Lara, Ramnaresh Sarwan, and Devon Smith are all included in the side, while Shivnarine Chanderpaul will continue as captain.But notable absentees include Pedro Collins, Sylvester Joseph, Daren Ganga, Omari Banks and wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh. Ganga, who led the A team in Sri Lanka, was critical of the role of certain officials in pressurising junior players to break the strike and appears to have paid for his stance. On that tour, Ganga easily scored the most runs for West Indies in the three `Tests’.The tour starts with a four-day match against Queensland in Brisbane from October 27. The Tests will be played in Brisbane from November 3, Hobart from November 17 and Adelaide from November 25 with a four-day match against Victoria scheduled in Melbourne from November 11.West Indies squad Shiv Chanderpaul (capt), Tino Best, Dwayne Bravo, Corey Collymore, Fidel Edwards,Chris Gayle, Wavell Hinds, Brian Lara, Jermaine Lawson, Daren Powell, Denesh Ramdin, Marlon Samuels, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Devon Smith, Dwayne Smith

The effect that Andrew Flintoff has on a cricket ground was witnessed again at Lord’s today, as he made his much anticipated comeback from injury. His 17 may not have set the world alight but it was a significant milestone in his recovery from the left ankle bone-spur that forced him home from the tour of South Africa and resulted in surgery.There was a reasonable crowd to see Flintoff back to competitive action and after watching him buzz around the field for 45 overs Lancashire quickly got into the spirit of the occasion, losing three early wickets. As Flintoff strode to the crease at No 5 the crowd shuffled to the edges of their seats, put down their newspapers and balanced their coffees so their hands were free for the applause.After a quick pat of the pitch and a flex of the arms he faced his first ball from Nantie Hayward, the red-haired South African quick bowler. He calmly went onto the back-foot, and played the ball right under his eyes. Flintoff’s last competitive match was the Centurion Test in January and although he played a practice game at Old Trafford earlier this month he could be forgiven for being a little rusty.It took him 10 balls to get off the mark. He played and missed at two in succession from Scott Styris and then inside-edged onto his pads. Then, however, things began to click. A short-arm pull through mid-wicket was followed by a perfectly executed on-drive towards the Lord’s pavilion. In the next over he forced an extra-cover drive towards the Tavern boundary. He was even feeling confident enough to run the quick singles and there was only a momentary flex of the offending ankle.He was looking comfortable and it came as a surprise, and disappointment, when he was trapped lbw by Styris after 23 balls and 33 minutes. As Flintoff departed so did sections of the crowd and the press box became a hive of activity – he was, of course, what everyone had come to watch. The main event was over, and although it had only been an appetiser, rather than a main course, most people seemed satisfied with what they had seen.

A new state-of-the-art stadium in New Delhi will host the final of the 2011 World Cup, the Indian cricket board (BCCI) announced. This will be the first stadium owned entirely by the board, said Lalit Modi, vice-president of the BCCI.The BCCI stadium will be situated in south New Delhi, in a 70-acre area alloted by the authorities between the Maharani Bagh area and the banks of the Yamuna river. Modi stated that it was still very early to give out details regarding the cost of the stadium, but gave a glimpse of the proposed facilities. He added that construction work would begin later this year.”We are going to pull out all stops to make sure that by 2011 World Cup final, which will be hosted in this new stadium in Delhi and which has already been decided by the ICC and the four members (India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh), the stadium is ready,” Modi told Indo Asian News Service. “It’s too premature to talk in detail because at this stage we are only looking at it with a vision to make a world-class facility. There will be accommodation, club houses, floodlights, academies.”The project was conceived in 2001 but slowed down because of renovation work at the Feroz Shah Kotla, the regular venue which has hosted international matches. Eden Gardens in Kolkata is the only other ground in India which has hosted a World Cup final (1987).India was awarded the 2011 World Cup finals after a meeting in London by representatives from the four host nations. It was also decided that The Gadaffi Stadium in Lahore and the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo would host the semi-finals.

When you’re next in a book store, look out for . That is the title of a book Russell Domingo, South Africa’s coach, is threatening to write, presumably to shed light on some of the decisions made in South African cricket that have been questioned in the aftermath of back-to-back series losses.As expected when defeats are analysed, everything from selection to the make-up of the support staff will come under scrutiny and, with South Africa being shot out for their two lowest totals since readmission over the last two series, the absence of a batting coach has been glaring. But Domingo explained it was not for lack of trying.”Everybody thinks we have not been looking for a batting coach but we’ve been trying for the last year,” he said. “Every team’s got it. England have got one, Australia have got one, India have got one. We’ve offered the position to quite a few people and we offered the position whilst things were going well not whilst we’ve been bowled out for 80 and 90.”In the near future, South Africa hope one of the people they have offered the job to will take it. “We’ve been looking for somebody and we’ve got somebody in mind. We are waiting for him to commit to us. We’ve had a few people who said they were interested but they wouldn’t commit to it simply because traveling is not that fun when you are away from your family for a long time and when there is a lot of pressure and a lot of criticism you are faced with when things don’t go well. It’s probably easier to say it and write about it than to actually get down and do it.”Domingo did not reveal who the “somebody” was and was not asked whether former captain Graeme Smith could be the man, although that seems unlikely. Smith became the fourth batting consultant in Domingo’s tenure, after Gary Kirsten, Mike Hussey and Lance Klusener, when he was roped in for a net session ahead of the Newlands Test. Hashim Amla, captain at the time, thought Smith had signed on for the full series but his commentary commitments prevented him from doing that.So continued a drawn-out saga which started when Smith suggested there was unhappiness in the team camp in Durban, where the first Test was played, before being pulled into the tent. Once back out, following the Johannesburg Test, Smith said everybody should be questioned, including team management.One South Africa player, Dean Elgar, moved quickly to defend the back room, who he said deserved a lot of praise. AB de Villiers, who was criticised in the media by selector and commentator Ashwell Prince, remembered how when some former players were active, they said they would “never become like that” and take shots at the team.Against the waves of attack, the South Africa squad stood firm, which pleased Domingo even more than the consolation win in the final Test against England.”The main thing I take out of it was the way side responded to a lot of noise that has come from the public and the media,” he said. “When you have one or two bad series, everybody makes you sound like you are the worst players and the worst coaches in the world which is not necessarily the case.”That’s why when you do have one or two good series you are not necessarily the best side in the world and the best coaches in the world. You’ve got to keep a balance. Our players have maintained their composure really well through some tough times. To play the way they have played these last couple of days makes the coaching staff really proud because it has been a tough series.”The Centurion win may silence some of those sounds but even if it doesn’t, Domingo has learned to shut most of it out. “When you’re losing, there’s always going to be a lot of noise so you’ve just got to believe what you are doing as a team is good enough to withstand that,” he said. “Hopefully this performance will quieten that noise until something else comes up.”There may be another six months before that something else actually happens because that is the gap between Tests for South Africa. In that time, despite inactivity, South Africa hope to be able to find some of what they had before, which Domingo somewhat enviously pointed out England have now.”England are very fortunate that they have what South Africa had a year or two ago – four frontline seamers and a spinner,” Domingo said. “South Africa don’t have someone like Ben Stokes who scores hundreds and takes five-wicket hauls. Jacques Kallis used to do that. Their bowling all-round strength is a massive factor. Bowlers win you games and that has been the difference as far as I’m concerned – they have sustained the pressure a lot better than we did throughout the series.”Questions over the lack of a South African allrounder since Kallis have also swirled. Perhaps Domingo’s book will have some answers.

Umar Gul and Rao Iftikhar Anjum have been recalled for the first two one-day internationals against Bangladesh, but there is no room for Shoaib Akhtar in a near-full-strength Pakistan squad. Three finds from the ODI series against Zimbabwe at home recently – Nasir Jamshed, Sohail Khan and Wahab Riaz – were handed another opportunity to impress, while there was a recall for Bazid Khan after a fine Pentangular Cup.Gul, who travelled to Australia for a medical check-up on a longstanding back problem that prevented him from taking any part in the Test series against India last year, and Iftikhar – who had a poor series against Zimbabwe – return from injury to boost the bowling. With Mohammad Asif ruled out and Shoaib waiting to be cleared by the PCB’s disciplinary committee, Pakistan’s bowling attack also included Sohail Tanvir, Sohail Khan and allrounders Fawad Alam and Shahid Afridi, who make up the spin quotient.Bazid, who played one Test and three ODIs in 2004-05, finished as the Pentangular Cup’s second-highest run-scorer with 522 at 74.57, including three hundreds.In the ODIs against Zimbabwe, Pakistan tried out opener Jamshed and bowlers Sohail Khan – who shot to fame in his debut first-class season by grabbing 91 wickets – and Riaz, among other young hopefuls. Jamshed impressed with 197 runs at 39.40 as did the two bowlers. Both wicketkeepers from that series, Kamran Akmal and Sarfraz Ahmed, have been retained.While announcing the 16-man squad Salahuddin Ahmed, head of the selection committee, said that players such as Yasir Hameed, Yasir Arafat, Faisal Iqbal, Naumanullah, Abdur Rauf, Kamran Hussain, Junaid Zia, Yasir Ali, Umair Khan – who have all performed well on the domestic circuit – would be considered for the next three ODIs.The five-match series runs from April 6 to April 20.Pakistan squad Shoaib Malik (capt), Salman Butt, Nasir Jamshed, Younis Khan, Mohammad Yousuf, Misbah-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi, Kamran Akmal (wk), Umar Gul, Sohail Tanvir, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Sohail Khan, Wahab Riaz, Fawad Alam, Bazid Khan, Sarfraz Ahmed (wk).