South Africa’s season of outlandish results produced another jaw-dropper as Sri Lanka subsided to 43 all out, their lowest total in one-dayers

The Report by Siddarth Ravindran11-Jan-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Hashim Amla made his ninth ODI century in just 51 innings•Associated Press

South Africa’s season of outlandish results produced another jaw-dropper as Sri Lanka subsided to 43 all out, their lowest total in one-dayers. The shorter format was widely expected to make the one-day series a more even contest than the Tests, but Sri Lanka’s 258-run defeat in Paarl was the third largest in ODI history, giving AB de Villiers the perfect start to his captaincy.South Africa’s batsmen had earlier enjoyed themselves despite the scorching heat as they ran up 301 after winning the toss. Hashim Amla highlighted why he’s the world’s top-ranked ODI batsman with his ninth century, and was supported by the two other big guns of the batting – Jacques Kallis provided the early impetus before de Villiers produced the most fluent innings of the match to power South Africa on a pitch where both seam and spin proved elusive in the afternoon.Lasith Malinga underscored his value to Sri Lanka, with a five-for that reined in South Africa towards the end of the innings, but his sterling efforts proved moot as Sri Lanka lost five wickets in five overs to effectively end the contest.Two South African bowlers with points to prove were given the new balls and they snuffed out the resistance even before the main man Dale Steyn was called on. Morne Morkel, coming off an indifferent Test summer, started the collapse in the first over as Upul Tharanga attempted a leaden-footed slap which ended as a low catch at backward point. In the next over Lonwabo Tsotsobe, having lost his place as third seamer to Vernon Philander in the Tests, showed how potent he can be by getting the ball to jag in and rear at the batsman. That proved too much for Tillakaratne Dilshan, who also bagged a duck by gloving to the keeper.The alarm bells were truly ringing when Dinesh Chandimal struggled to get bat on ball, inside-edging an accurate Tsotsobe three times before nicking a loose drive onto the stumps. Morkel then virtually killed off the game in the fifth over: Kumar Sangakkara’s attempted upper cut gave de Villiers his second catch, and two balls later Angelo Mathews’ awkward fend at a short ball popped to midwicket.Mahela Jayawardene then made an unforced error in the eighth over, stabbing a wide ball to point as Sri Lanka slid to 13 for 6. The match was long gone, and the immediate concern was over avoiding the ignominy of the lowest score in one-day history.In that manic Test at Cape Town in November, Australia’s last pair had averted the lowest Test total, and this time Sri Lanka’s tail did the job. Not that it offered much consolation for Dilshan, who looked shell-shocked in the dressing-room as his team disintegrated. While the pitch certainly provided a bit more help to the bowlers under lights, it was nowhere near as dramatic as the scoreline suggested.When South Africa batted there had few of the troubles Sri Lanka faced. Malinga extended Graeme Smith’s poor run in one-dayers, but till the 40th over, the likeliest cause of a South African wicket was a run-out.Amla wasn’t at his assured best early on, outside-edging a few drives and mistiming some pulls. Kallis, though, batted like a man coming off a double century a week ago, routinely releasing the pressure after Sri Lanka’s bowlers put together a few disciplined overs – most strikingly when he thumped Malinga over long-on for an imperious six, ending a run that yielded only 2 runs in 15 deliveries.Both batsmen used the steer to third man and the clip to square leg efficiently to keep the singles coming. They had sauntered to 69 for 1 in 15 overs before opening up in the bowling Powerplay, off which they took 37 runs. With both batsmen looking good, South Africa opted for the batting Powerplay as early as the 27th over, but the 144-run stand was finally broken as Kallis was run out by a direct hit from Jayawardene at cover.If there were fears that would slow down South Africa, de Villiers brushed them away as he played another of those innings where he seemed instantly at ease on a track where most others take time to settle down. He had a streak of 19 successive singles with Amla before becoming more enterprising, unleashing a series of boundaries through cover and extra cover to get to his half-century in 36 balls. Amla, meanwhile, calmly moved on to his hundred, celebrating the achievement with a gentle wave of the bat and helmet.At 241 for 2 after 40 overs, South Africa seemed headed for at least 320. A Kulasekara yorker, though, removed the rampant de Villiers, before Malinga worked his magic to rip through the lower middle order.The South African batting and Malinga’s five-for were both completely overshadowed by what followed, in a one-dayer that is destined to be remembered as the ’43 all out’ game.

Michael Di Venuto, the former Australia batsman, has been named in the Italy squad for the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers to be held in the UAE

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Feb-2012Michael Di Venuto, the former Australia batsman, has been named in the Italy squad for the ICC World Twenty20 Qualifiers to be held in the UAE between March 13-24, 2012. The ICC has finalised all 16 squads for the tournament, from which the top two teams will qualify for the ICC World Twenty20 to be held in Sri Lanka from September 18 to October 7, 2012. The other notable inclusion is that of Geraint Jones, the former England wicketkeeper, in the Papua New Guinea squad.The Hobart-born Di Venuto, who is of Italian origin, played nine one-dayers for Australia in 1997. When he left the Australian domestic scene he was Tasmania’s leading one-day run-scorer, was second to Jamie Cox on the state’s lists of Pura Cup-Sheffield Shield appearances and runs scored, and owned the most half-centuries in Pura Cup-Sheffield Shield history. He was also a prolific scorer in county cricket, representing Derbyshire and Durham.Afghanistan will be defending the title they had won in 2010, when the qualifying tournament was an eight-team event. They had beaten Ireland in the final in Dubai by eight wickets, and both sides qualified for the ICC World Twenty20 2010 in the West Indies.Ed Joyce, the left-handed batsman who has played limited-overs matches for England, returns to the Ireland squad. The squad also features the uncapped fast bowler Max Sorensen.Notable omissions from the squads include Netherlands’ Ryan ten Doeschate, who has opted out due to ‘other cricket commitments’, and Canada’s Ashish Bagai.Afghanistan – Nawroz Mangal (captain), Javed Ahmadi, Merwais Ashraf, Mohammad Nabi, Hamid Hassan, Mohammad Zamir Khan, Mohammad Shahzad, Gulbadin Naib, Shabir Ahmed Noori, Karim Khan Sadeq, Samiullah Shinwari, Dollat Zadran, Noor Ali Zadran, Shapoor ZadranBermuda – David Hemp (captain), Jason Anderson, Lional Cann, Fiqre Crockwell, Terryne Fray, Joshua Gilbert, Stefan Kelly, Kamau Leverock, Stephen Outerbridge, Josclyn Pitcher, Samuel Robinson, Curt Stovell, Rodney Trott, Janeiro TuckerCanada – Jimmy Hansra (captain),Manninder Aulakh, Harvir Baidwan, Rustam Bhatti, Rizwan Cheema, Khurram Chohan, Tyson Gordon, Ruvindu Gunasekera, Zahid Hussain, Nitish Kumar, Henry Osinde, Hiral Patel, Raza Rehman, Junaid SiddiqiDenmark – Michael Pedersen (captain), Aftab Ahmed, Shehzad Ahmed, Sair Anjum, Bobby Chawla, Basit Javed, Frederik Klokker, Jacob Larsen, Kamran Mahmood, Rizwan Mahmood, James Moniz, Martin Pedersen, Bashir Shah, Hamid ShahHong Kong – James Atkinson (captain), Irfan Ahmed, Muhammad Moner Ahmed, Nadeen Ahmed, Waqas Barkat, Babar Hayat, Asif Khan, Mohammad Aizaz Khan, Mohammad Nizakat Khan, Courtney Kruger, Roy Lamsam, Kinchit Shah, Daljeet Singh, Maxwell TuckerIreland – William Porterfield (captain), Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Trent Johnston, Nigel Jones, Ed Joyce, Rory McCann, John Mooney, Kevin O’Brien, Boyd Rankin, Max Sorensen, Paul Stirling, Andrew White, Gary WilsonItaly – Alessandro Bonora (captain), Gareth Berg, Damian Crowley, Gayashan Munasinghe, Luis Di Giglio, Michael Di Venuto, Dilan S. Fernando, Damian C. K. Fernando, Andrew Northcote, Hayden Patrizi, Dell’agnello, Vincenzo Pennazza, Peter Petricola, Stanly H. J. Samaraweera, Carl SandriKenya – Collins Obuya (captain), Ragheb Aga, Duncan Allan, Tanmay Mishra, James Ngoche, Shem Ngoche, Alex Obanda, David Obuya, Nehemiah Odhiambo, Nelson Odhiambo, Elijah Otieno, Morris Ouma, Rakep Patel, Hiren VaraiyaNamibia – Craig Williams (captain), Sarel Burger, Merwe Erasmus, Hendrick Geldenhuys, Zhivago Groenwald, Louis Klazinga, Christiaan Opperman, Bernard Scholtz, Nicolaas Scholtz, Gerrie Snyman, Ewald Steenkamp, Louis Van Der Westhuizen, Raymond Van Schoor, Christoffel ViljoenNepal – Paras Khadka (captain), Pradeep Airee, Mahaboob Alam, Prithu Baskota, Amrit Bhattarai, Shakti Gauchan, Krishna Karki, Paresh Prasad Lohani, Gyanendra Malla, Anil Kumar Mandal, Basant Regmi, Sanjam Regmi, Chandra Sawad, Sharad VesawkarNetherlands – Peter Borren (captain), Wesley Barresi, Mudassar Bukhari, Atse Buurman, Tom Cooper, Tom De Grooth, Tim Gruijters, Timm Van Der Gugten, Tom Heggelman, Alexei Kervezee, Ahsan Malik, Stephan Myburgh, Pieter Seelaar, Michael SwartOman – Hemal Mehta (captain), Sultan Ahmed, Qais Bin Khalid Al Said, Syed Amir Ali, Adnan Ilyas,Syed Aamir Kaleem, Awal Khan, Farhan Afzal Khan, Ajay Lalcheta, Sufyan Mehmood, Rajeshkumar Ranpura, Zeeshan Ahmed Siddiqi, Jatinder Singh, Vaibhav WategaonkarPapua New Guinea – Rarua Dikana (captain), Geraint Jones, Jack Vare-Kevere, Jason Kila, Willie Gavera, Chris Amini, John Boge Reva, Tony Ura, Assadollah Vala, Chris Kent, Mahuru Dai, Vani Vagi Morea, Joel Tom, Hitolo AreniScotland – Gordon Drummond (captain), Richard Berrington, Kyle Coetzer, Joshua Davey, Ryan Flannigan, Gordon Goudie, Majid Haq, Calum Macleod, Preston Mommsen, Matthew Parker, Safayaan Sharif, Jan Stander, Craig Wallace, David WattsUganda – Davis Arinaitwe (captain), Arthur Kyobe, Brian Masaba, Deusdedit Muhumuza, Roger Mukasa, Benjamin Musoke, Frank Nsubuga, Jonathan Sebanja, Asadu Seiga, Ronald Semanda, Laurence Sematimba, Henry Ssenyondo, Charles Waiswa, Arthur ZirabaUnited States of America – Sushil Nadkarni (captain), Orlando Baker, Adil Bhatti, Ryan Corns, Muhammad Ghous, Elmore Hutchinson, Asif Mehmood Khan, Aditya Mishra, Azrudeen Mohammed, Nauman Mustafa, Abhimanyu Rajp, Gowkaran Roopnarine, Usman Shuja, Steven Taylor

Dale Steyn is prepared to share the bowling plaudits around as South Africa aim for a clean sweep in the ODI series against New Zealand

Firdose Moonda01-Mar-2012There was a time in South African cricket where the bowling spotlight was occupied entirely by Dale Steyn. It probably started when New Zealand toured South Africa in the summer of 2007 and Steyn made his big splash, first by remodelling Craig Cumming’s face – thanks to a fractured cheekbone – and then by taking 20 wickets in two Tests.From that season, Steyn was among the most talked-about bowlers in world cricket. He went on to take 10-wicket hauls in Melbourne in 2008 and Nagpur in 2010, and engaged in an enthralling battle with Sachin Tendulkar at Newlands the next January. Morne Morkel contributed to some of the glory and the two formed what became known as the most-fearsome new-ball pair in the world but it was obvious Steyn was the ringmaster and Morkel his trusty aide.Now Steyn has to share the sunshine with a clutch of his countrymen. Vernon Philander is his latest opening partner and has already hogged headlines in the home series; Morkel is coming into his own; Lonwabo Tsotsobe’s reliability is being recognised; and Marchant de Lange is the man batsmen may be hiding their faces from. Steyn is still the No. 1 Test bowler but he is 16th in the ODI rankings, behind Tsotsobe and Morkel, and is happy to share the success with them.”If Morne is picking up five wickets and Lopsy is picking up wickets, I’m not going to moan,” Steyn said. “I’m happy. I know if I just keep doing this somewhere along the line I will get a performance that comes my way.”Steyn joined up with the squad for the ODI leg of the tour and has played the first two matches of the series. His return in both was identical – 1 for 37 – and he has looked every bit as dangerous as always, although he said he is still finding his rhythm. He called his first ball of the tour, a late away-swinger at top speed a “jetlag delivery” but said he has been putting in some of his most focused preparation as he continues to spearhead the attack.”AB wants to me to strike all the time and that’s what’s I am doing. I am trying,” Steyn said. “I haven’t found the edge. I’ve gone past the bat countless number of times in the last two games. I’ve gone back and watched my performances and said where can I make it better? But when you are getting 1 for 37 in a one-day game, there’s not much to complain about. That doesn’t happen often for strike bowlers, they should be going at six [runs per over], attacking more and so on but I am quite happy with what’s happening.”Steyn is known to take a bit of time to find his best form but the scheduling of international cricket has meant that he cannot play every match. He was rested for the last two of the five ODIs against Sri Lanka, once the series had been won, and the three T20Is against New Zealand.South Africa’s management seem to be planning it so he will peak in the Tests but Steyn said is being careful not to think that far ahead. “My mind is firmly on the last one-day game,” he said. “It’s fair to say that as South Africans, in the past we’ve been known to wrap up series and then take our foot off the pedal for the last two games and that’s speaking quite critically of our team. We want to win three-nil.”The series has already been sealed in South Africa’s favour so the dead rubber match could hardly be described as crucial but Steyn said it will play a vital part in the context of the tour as a whole. “We’re looking at the future and it comes down to crunch games. This could be the type of game that could be a crunch game for us. Rather than letting the momentum slip away into the Test series, we want to make a proper dent.”With New Zealand already disappointed, even demoralised, South Africa have already made significant inroads into their hosts’ mindsets. The rest of the work remains to be done on the pitch. New Zealand have begun preparing more seamer friendly wickets for their four-pronged pace attack and Steyn said if that trend continues, the South Africans will be equally well accommodated. “The way the wickets have played here so far, there’s been a bit of pace and bounce in them and if the Test wickets are the same we could cause quite a stir,” Steyn said, before concluding with a little cheek. “Like we’ve done so far.”Edited by Alan Gardner

Lee Fortis is to return to The Oval as head groundsman at the end of April

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Apr-2012Lee Fortis is to return to The Oval as head groundsman next week. Fortis, 30, was previously assistant head groundsman and, since leaving the club in 2006, has been in charge of tending the Honourable Artillery Company ground in the City of London.He will take charge at The Oval on Monday April 30, leading a team that will include former head groundsman Bill Gordon, who remains at the club in a consultancy role and has led the ground staff team in the interim period following the recent departure of Scott Patterson.”It will be good to return to The Oval and an honour to once again work at such an historic ground and be part of a successful Surrey,” Fortis said.Richard Gould, Surrey’s chief executive, added: “The job of head groundsman at The Oval is never an easy one, but in Lee Fortis I believe we have found a formidable candidate that will be able to provide consistently world-class wickets for many seasons to come.”The appointment comes at a time when groundsmen around the county circuit are having to deal with wet spring conditions that make preparing pitches increasingly difficult. Surrey batsman Mark Ramprakash has been a vocal complainant after the earliest start to the Championship in the competition’s history.

Carlton Baugh, the West Indies wicketkeeper, has openly questioned Australia’s readiness to battle the spin of Devendra Bishoo after the tourists were made to look ordinary by a modest pair of local slow bowlers in their only warm-up for the Caribbean Tes

Daniel Brettig in Barbados04-Apr-2012Carlton Baugh, the West Indies wicketkeeper, has openly questioned Australia’s readiness to battle the spin of Devendra Bishoo after the tourists were made to look ordinary by a modest pair of local slow bowlers in their only warm-up for the Caribbean Test series.Having struggled to read and play the offbreaks and variations of the IPL-bound Sunil Narine in the limited-overs matches, Australia’s batsmen will soon be pitted against Bishoo, winner of the ICC’s Emerging Player of the Year award for 2011 after a series of wily performances against India’s spin-conversant batsmen at home and away.Bishoo’s four most recent appearances for Guyana in the regional first-class competition have reaped 24 wickets, and his skills are far in advance of those used by Ryan Austin and the part-time wrist-spinner Nkrumah Bonner at the Three Ws Oval. Baugh had little hesitation pointing this out, and also Australia’s periodic difficulties against quality slow bowlers down the decades.”To be honest, over the years Australia doesn’t play spin that well,” Baugh said. “Not taking away anything from them, they’re pretty good players, but tradition follows on from the years that they’re not the best players of spin.”It is pretty interesting because Austin is a natural offspin bowler and Bonner is pretty much a part-time legspin bowler, so it was pretty interesting to see what others can do, especially Devendra Bishoo and other spin bowlers.”Bishoo was hidden from Australia’s view during the ODIs and Twenty20s, and Baugh said this sleight of hand “could be [an advantage], and on Bishoo’s day you never know what can happen”.Watching from behind the stumps as captain of the WICB President’s XI, Baugh saw Michael Clarke make a smooth 30 and Ricky Ponting a brief 13. He reasoned that the visitors’ preference for faster surfaces had contributed to a mediocre first innings of 214 for 9 declared.”Today for them wasn’t the best day in terms of how the wicket was playing, they are accustomed to wickets coming on just like in Australia,” Baugh said. “This wicket wasn’t the best and they struggled a little bit. Hopefully when the Test matches start if we can continue to keep them on that road, eventually we should surprise them.”Our team is growing in confidence and you can see what we’ve been putting in and it’s paying off, so we’re just taking it one step at a time, and hopefully we can be very much competitive, just like the one-day series. They weren’t at their best as you can see and they played a few batters short, but at the same time it is the Australian team and I think we bowled pretty well in patches. To restrict them to 214 even though they had declared, we still got nine wickets and that is a plus for us.”Shane Watson, the touring vice-captain, admitted the Australians were “not entirely” happy with how they had gone in their pursuit of a smooth segue to day one of the series.”We would have liked guys going on to get bigger scores and a bit more consistent batting but the practice matches are here for the guys to adjust to conditions as well as we can and get some time in the middle,” Watson said. “It’s certainly better than training. It’s more to get out of it as much as you can. So far most batters have had enough time in the middle to get their head around their game plans are going to be on these types of wickets.”As for Bishoo, Watson said he was formulating his method to combat the Guyanese legspinner. “I’ve seen a fair bit of him already because there was a chance he was going to play the one-day series and the Twenty20s,” Watson said. “I’ve already had a fair look at his footage so far and I’ve seen the way he bowled throughout the World Cup for the West Indies very closely.”Without playing him I’ve got an idea of what his skills are and how he’s going to bowl, it’s moreso until you get out there and see what he’s doing and whether the wicket is turning before you know how big a challenge he’s going to be. There’s no doubt he’s got some really good skills. It’s going to be a good challenge for our batting group.”

ESPNcricinfo previews the IPL match between Kings XI Punjab and Chennai Super Kings in Dharamsala

The Preview by Devashish Fuloria16-May-2012

Match facts

Thursday, May 17, Dharamsala
Start time 1600 (1030 GMT)Ben Hilfenhaus has added spark to Chennai Super Kings’ bowling•Associated Press

Big Picture

Chennai Super Kings are placed fourth on the points table with 17 points and need to win their last league game against Kings XI Punjab to put themselves in a strong position to qualify for the playoffs. A loss, however, would put them at the mercy of the others. Kings XI are also on the brink of elimination after their loss to Delhi Daredevils on Tuesday and would need two wins in two matches plus other favourable results to push them through to the top four.The task for Kings XI is difficult as they face two in-form teams, Super Kings and Delhi Daredevils, and both matches will be played in Dharamsala, negating any home advantage that was available in Mohali. But Kings XI have fought well this season and surprised big teams, including Super Kings in Chennai. If their batting and bowling complement each other, Kings XI have the firepower to down any team. However, they would have to avoid the distraction of losing two of their players to the spot-fixing controversy.Two years ago, Super Kings had arrived in Dharamsala under similar circumstances for their last league match. That day, MS Dhoni had launched an attack on Irfan Pathan’s last over, and from there on, the team went on to win the IPL title. This year, Super Kings have been in must-win situations in the last few games and their batting, which has always been their strength, has finally started to come together while Ben Hilfenhaus has added spark to their bowling.There is a chance of rain in Dharamsala, but both teams would hope that it stays away because in case of a washout, Kings XI will be knocked out while Super Kings’ chances will get trickier.

Form guide

(most recent first, completed games)
Kings XI Punjab : LWWLW
Chennai Super Kings: WWWLW

Players to watch

David Hussey has said that Parwinder Awana has been Kings XI’s find of the season. Awana has continued to impress with the pace he generates off the pitch. He bowled another incisive spell in Delhi where he picked up three important wickets to give Kings XI a chance against Daredevils’ strong batting.Three matches ago, Ben Hilfenhaus was taken apart by Dwayne Smith in Mumbai. Since then, Hilfenhaus has won two back-to-back Man-of-the-Match awards and his pace and late swing has caused problems for all batsmen. The highlight of his last week’s exploits was the wicket of Virender Sehwag, who was beaten by the late outswing and lost his off stump.

Stats and trivia

• In Super Kings’ last three games, Ben Hilfenhaus’ figures read 11-1-61-6.
• Super Kings’ batsmen have scored five half-centuries in IPL 2012, which is the lowest for a team along with Pune Warriors. Royal Challengers Bangalore have 15 half-centuries – the most by a team this season.
  

  Quotes

  “We will take one game at a time and won’t think for the playoffs now. We have to win our next match.”

  “Delhi are a very talented team. But we have shown the fans that we fight till the end and can still chase the finals.”

Ravi Bopara’s unbeaten half-century rescued a difficult situation for Essex at Northampton

06-Jun-2012
ScorecardRavi Bopara battled Essex out of a difficult position•Getty Images

Ravi Bopara’s unbeaten half-century allowed Essex to recover from a shaky start on a rain-affected first day of their County Championship Division Two clash at Northamptonshire.Essex were reduced to 57 for 4 just before lunch but England international Bopara’s 65 not out off 129 balls, including 12 fours, helped the visitors to move on to 138 for 4 before rain brought about an early close at Wantage Road.Northants paceman David Willey took 2 for 23 as the hosts’ attack dominated early on with former Sri Lanka seamer Chaminda Vaas also claiming a wicket.Essex won the toss and chose to bat but they lost Tom Westley for 12 in the fourth over when he edged Vaas to James Middlebrook, who took a simple catch at second slip. Former England batsman Owais Shah then faced just one ball before he was run out by a direct hit at the stumps by Ben Howgego from point after he tried to run a quick single off Vaas.The visitors’ morning then took another turn for the worse when Mark Pettini was judged to have edged Willey to Northants wicketkeeper David Murphy after making 32. Willey struck again in the penultimate over of the morning when his delivery crashed into Ben Foakes’ off stump to dismiss the youngster for a seven-ball duck.Essex struggled to 62 for 4 at lunch, during which the heavens opened meaning the start of the afternoon session was delayed by an hour and a half and 16 overs were lost.In the second over after play restarted, Essex captain James Foster was given a scare before he opened his account when he edged Jack Brooks but Kyle Coetzer put down a difficult chance at third slipBopara, who had originally taken 67 balls just to reach double figures, went on to complete a half-century off 112 deliveries with a straight four off Lee Daggett. But he was also given a second chance after being dropped on 60 by Murphy off the same bowler before rain forced the players off again.Umpires Trevor Jesty and Tim Robinson came onto the field half an hour later for an inspection but the skies began to darken again and a heavy downpour meant play was officially called off at 5.20pm.Bopara will be looking to complete his second century of the week when play resumes tomorrow, with Foster striving to add to his unbeaten 25 off 71 deliveries.

England’s elite players would have more of a say in the management of their workloads under proposals that are being drawn up by PCA

David Hopps at The Oval19-Jul-2012England’s elite players would have more of a say in the management of their workloads under proposals that are being drawn up by the Professional Cricketers Association (PCA) ahead of the redrafting of central contracts next year.If PCA proposals are accepted, England would shift slightly towards the sort of squad system that has become an accepted part of Premier League football, as the most senior and successful players such as Kevin Pietersen were given more licence to miss matches regarded as less important.Angus Porter, chief executive of the PCA, facilitated unsuccessful negotiations last week between Pietersen and his representatives and Hugh Morris, the managing director of England cricket, which failed to end the stand-off which has led to Pietersen’s premature retirement from all England limited-overs cricket.Pietersen wanted rest from more one-day matches and also proposed missing at least one of England’s May Tests to enable him to play a full IPL season.Porter remains adamant that a more formalised rotation system is essential if England’s top players are to maximise their time in the game. The current three-year agreement expires in autumn 2013 and the PCA and ECB are anxious to draw up a new deal before next summer’s Ashes series.”This is an issue we need to get to grips with and one that we will be discussing in the next central contracts negotiation,” Porter said. “We all recognise that with a really hectic schedule managing workloads is important particularly for senior players who have played the longest and who play in all formats of the game.”We need to find a way to provide a little bit more structure to what is already happening – to develop England cricket as a squad game where you not only try to win every game but you try to keep the talent fresh and at the top as long as possible.”Some kind of process that introduces some form of flexibility for those players who have been at the top for a good length of time is desirable and consistent with that.”Porter also pointed to the example of the ATP circuit where leading tennis players are exempt from less prestigious tournaments and so delay their retirement as a result. Roger Federer, who defeated Andy Murray in the Wimbledon men’s final earlier this month, may already have retired without the management of his playing demands.Reducing the amount of international cricket is virtually impossible under the self-perpetuating system where the Future Tours Programme is fixed until 2020 and TV rights have been sold well ahead – Sky TV in the UK have a deal until 2017 with a further two-year option – on the basis of these deals. That only leaves the options of rest and rotation and a more orderly fixture list.”The existing rules work well in some cases – Andrew Strauss is a good example of somebody who has benefited – and less well in others,” Porter said. “It is not inconceivable that they might allow players to retire from Test cricket and play in both forms of one-day cricket.”What central contracts could not resolve, said Porter, was the ECB’s uneasy relationship towards IPL.”I do think the ECB and the other boards have to grasp that nettle, accept the IPL exists and identify a window for it so we do not always have to manage the consequences of an event which without constraint will continue to grow and move around the schedule. It shouldn’t be the most difficult thing in the world.”IPL is this dirty great big thing that is not fixed in time and space in the FTP and until or unless the Boards and the ICC get to grips with it, accept that it is here to stay and identify a window of a sensible length for it, it is impossible for any of us to plan.”That will become increasingly evident between 2014 and 2016. ICC one-day tournaments are scheduled in March and April for each of those years, pushing IPL even later into the year – infiltrating England’s international season to an even greater extent.”Like most traditionalists, I believe that Test cricket is the priority,” Porter said, adding that it was an understandable ambition for England players to want to take part in “the most lucrative, high-profile and fantastic tournament. Being practical about it, IPL is different and is bigger. It is not impossible for us to do something about it if we can get the IPL placed in a window. “Unless accommodation between English cricket and IPL is found, Pietersen, depicted by many as a self-obsessed maverick, might turn out to be the harbinger of a battle-scarred future as future England players are frustrated in their desire to play in cricket’s most glamorous and rewarding T20 tournament.Porter, closer to the negotiations than most, said: “I can’t take issue with either side in the argument. Both have been very reasonable in their points of view and have tried to find some middle ground but you come back to the fact that at the moment there is an irreconcilable issue that IPL clashes with test cricket and the ECB regards Test cricket with absolute primacy. Much as they want to be reasonable they can’t and won’t budge.”

The IPL governing council has set August 31 as the deadline for the owners of Deccan Chargers franchise to clear player payments and sort out the financial problems with the banks to avoid any stringent action

Nagraj Gollapudi15-Aug-2012The IPL governing council has set August 31 as the deadline for the owners of Deccan Chargers franchise to clear player payments and sort out the financial problems with the banks to avoid any stringent action. In an emergency meeting called on Tuesday in New Delhi, the governing council confronted the owners of Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited, who hold the rights for the Hyderabad-based franchise, to explain in detail as to why the company had mortgaged the team ownership rights with two leading Indian banks.According to the BCCI officials, the board owns the ownership rights and that no franchise could mortgage the rights on its own.”The governing council asked the owners of Chargers to clear the players’ payments as by this time usually almost 60-70% of the contractual amount usually gets paid. But the franchise had defaulted on that. Secondly, they need to sort out the financial mess with the various banks to make sure the team remains unbothered. We need to protect both the IPL and the players,” a governing council official said.According to the official, the BCCI was concerned after the banks had directly sought the board’s involvement, asking to pay all the money set for the franchise, directly to them as Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited owned them big money. “What is more concerning is the Deccan Chargers owners have hypothecated the intangibles. They have told the banks that the team has a certain market value and based on that they had procured the loans,” the official said.T Venkatram Reddy, the owner of franchise, was present at the meeting, but was adamant that the issue was unnecessarily blown out of proportion. “He outrightly blocked all the allegations by the banks and was confident all issues would get sorted by August 31,” the official said. However, it is understood that the BCCI had already checked with the Registrar of Companies and found out that Deccan Chronicle Holdings Limited had accumulated borrowing charges amounting to INR 3200 crore.According to the official, the banks were interested in knowing if they were in any position to sell the franchise on their own since the owners had defaulted to clear the dues. “We don’t know what exactly the amount is but the very fact that the banks have approached us means it is a serious issue,” the board official said.At the two-hour meeting, the Deccan Chargers were told that their immediate step should be to clear player dues over the next fortnight. The 15-day deadline has also given the Deccan Chargers owners the option of giving the presenting the details of the prospective buyers of their franchise to the Governing Council. Officials say that the prospect of the termination of the franchise had arisen “almost 15-20 days ago” however, the BCCI was “keen to be seen to aid the franchises to a limit.”

Ross Taylor, the New Zealand captain, has said he expects the ball to swing in Hyderabad and hopes his pace-strong bowling attack can deliver

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Aug-2012Ross Taylor, the New Zealand captain, has said he expects the ball to swing in Hyderabad and that his pace-heavy bowling attack can surprise India. Taylor said New Zealand will be playing “at least” one spinner and hinted James Franklin, the allrounder, could also be included.”Obviously the overhead conditions might play a bit of a part. It might swing around a bit for the first hour, an hour and a bit,” Taylor said. “We will be playing at least one spinner. But Franklin batting at six gives a good balance to our side and gives us an extra bowling option as well. Every day we have been here so far, it has been cloudy. We are expecting it to swing. It swung in training and hopefully it can swing for five days as well.”The other seamers in the touring squad are Chris Martin, Trent Boult, Doug Bracewell, Tim Southee and Neil Wagner.India last played New Zealand at home in 2010. “Most of our batters have played against India here last time, so they won’t be a surprise to MS [Dhoni],” Taylor said. “But it will be a bit of a surprise when he faces some of our bowlers.”New Zealand are under a new coach, Mike Hesson, who took over from John Wright. “Mike has been great for the group. He has brought in a new energy and the way we have gone about our training,” Taylor said. “There is a bit more of a buzz around the team and I think any new coach is going to have different philosophies and theories and the team is responding well to those at the moment.”New Zealand had a poor tour of the West Indies, losing the Tests 0-2. The batting had let them down then and Taylor said the team needed bigger performances. “It’s just about batting each ball and if we do that, we have the best chance to bat for long periods of time. It’s not about scoring 50s or 100s,” Taylor said. “If we have match-winning performances, then hopefully we get the right results at the end of the day.”