ICC chairmanship
While there have been reports of N Srinivasan being replaced as the BCCI’s nominee for ICC chairman, it is learnt that the board is divided on the issue. A member from the East Zone said some people within the BCCI felt that prematurely ending Srinivasan’s tenure, which is set to end in June 2016, would draw global attention to “BCCI politics”. A member of the South Zone, though, maintained that it is “highly unlikely” that Srinivasan would continue in the ICC role.Two new IPL teams
There is likely to be greater clarity on the bidding document for the two new franchises following the AGM, wherein a discussion on parties that have shown interest in buying the two new franchises is likely to happen. A BCCI official said a few companies from Kerala had shown interest in owning a franchise in the IPL.Conflict of interest
Discussion on the document prepared by BCCI president Shashank Manohar that deals with conflict of interest issues is likely to be the main item on the agenda at the AGM.Composition of IPL governing council
The IPL governing council may likely see three new independent directors introduced alongside five BCCI members. It is understood that Ravi Shastri and Sourav Ganguly, who hold key positions within the India team and the Cricket Association of Bengal respectively, may be dropped in keeping with Manohar’s attempts to eliminate conflicts of interest.The selection panel
There has been plenty of conjecture on the composition of the senior team’s selection committee, with different suggestions – ranging from a comprehensive overhaul to a continuation of the existing panel – floating around. The dominant theory, however, is the panel, save for possibly Roger Binny, is expected to continue till the conclusion of the World T20.Appointment of ombudsman
This has been one of the new administration’s pet projects. An independent observer, who according to a senior administrator will be an “eminent figure”, is likely to be appointed on Monday to offer a dispassionate assessment of the workings of the BCCI.Trimming committees
It is understood that Manohar is keen on pruning the number of members on different committees, and the downsizing is likely to be effected at the AGM.Discussion on venues
The board is likely to discuss the recent controversies surrounding the DDCA and the impact of that on Delhi hosting the fourth Test against South Africa. Cricket Association of Bihar Secretary Aditya Verma told ESPNcricinfo that he had made submissions in connection with Bihar’s affiliation to the BCCI, and the matter was set to come up in the AGM. There is also likely to be discussion on the status of the disputed stands at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai, which, if unresolved, would lead to the city losing hosting rights at the World T20. Sources in the Andhra Cricket Association have also indicated that they will push for Test status for the stadium in Visakhapatnam.

Another (overcast) day, another spectacular clatter of wickets at New Road.Even allowing for the intervention of further showers, fourteen morefigures perished today as Worcestershire and Gloucestershire’s ‘batsmen’did their best to outdo one another in seeing just how rapidly they couldfritter their innings away. As it was, though, the former lost the battlefor mediocrity and their team now holds an overall lead of 229 runs withone more second innings scalp in tact.Again it seemed that the batting calamities were no fault of the pitchalone: a view certainly shared by ECB pitch liaison officer Phil Sharpe,who will not be initiating action against the club on account of thequality or otherwise of the surface. For however lopsided the contestbetween bat and ball has become in this match, it was indeed more thecombination of some fine bowling and some equally poor strokeplay that wasresponsible. There was a suggestion too that the dull, bleak conditions inwhich the day’s play began also loomed large; a state of affairs aboutwhich Glenn McGrath was hardly complaining. He used the bowler-friendlyweather to rise to his destructive best and captured all but three wicketsin the course of a demolition job that saw Gloucestershire slidehorrendously to 87. Believeable or not after their own ineptitude of theday before, the locals had somehow seized a first innings lead of elevenruns in the process. McGrath’s rival Australian, Ian Harvey, admirablytried to stop the rot with a plucky 27 – the highest score mustered byanyone in the match until then – but even his ability to occasionallypierce a tightly set attacking field became akin to an exercise in tryingto pile up sandbags in the face of a tidal wave.McGrath was methodical, hostile and relentless. It is difficult tocomprehend the notion that he hasn’t taken a five wicket haul on thisground at any stage previously in the Championship season but then that hasprobably had as much to do as anything with the loss of substantialportions of a number of games to poor weather. In any case, his 7/29 here- the third best figures of his brilliant first class career – redressedthe situation eloquently.It did not take long for the Gloucestershire seamers to begin returning thecompliment even if their inability to make the ball lift off the pitch aseasily as McGrath allowed Worcestershire’s top and middle order slightlymore respite. Harvey (5/95) followed up with five wickets of his own onthe back of his trademark variations of pace. But Vikram Solanki found amethod of countering the apparent impossibility of occupying the crease forlong enough to make a productive contribution – by crashing his way to 41off only thirty-two deliveries – and the home team’s lead was soonbillowing beyond the positively gigantic figure of one hundred. Solanki’seffort suddenly made batting look easier, and David Leatherdale (56), SteveRhodes (50*) and Paul Pollard (20) all profited handsomely from being shownthe value of positive thinking.

Karachi, July 5: India defeated Pakistan by 33 runs in a match ofacademic interest in the Asia Cup Under-15 cricket tournament at KualaLumpur on Wednesday.Both the teams qualified for July 9 final.Batting first, Indian teenagers slumped to 79 for five before reaching181 for seven from the allotted 40 overs. An unbeaten 52 bywicketkeeper-batsman Abhinav Kumar, who starred in a 83-run sixthwicket partnership with N.Chaudhary (28) was the feature of theinnings.In reply Pakistan could manage only 148 for 9. Brief scores: India181-7 in 40 overs Pakistan: 148-9 in 40 overs on Tuesday, Pakistanbeat Bangladesh team by seven wickets in its fourth pool match.After being put in to bat first, the Bangladesh could score 131 forthe loss of eight wickets in the stipulated 40 overs. Mahmoodullahtop-scored with 39 consuming 48 balls and hitting two fours. AnwarHosain scored 15. Pakistan’s paceman Talal Zia and Muhammad Azhar Alitook three wickets, each.Pakistan won the match by scoring 132 for the loss of three wickets in26.1 overs. Opener Syed Sibtain Raza remained not out at 44, consuming81 balls and hitting four boundaries. The other opener Shahid Yousufalso scored 44 but on 39 deliveries and hit one six and four fours.Mahmood Asim Butt scored 15.Mahmoodullah (Bangladesh) was declared the Man-of-the-Match.

Already enjoying a marked advantage in batting and bowling, Auckland hit Northern Districts with an even sharper third fielding skill as they completed their second cricket Max win, following yesterday’s win at Kaipara Flats with an even stronger 36-run win at Cornwall Park today.Today Auckland may have been slightly below their most efficient form in reaching 119 for three wickets after batting first, and Northern Districts opened strongly in their first innings, against some wayward Auckland bowling.However, just when ND seemed on the point of taking control the Auckland fielding pulled in five stunning catches of varying stages of brilliance. Tama Canning took two in the outfield, Chris Drum pulled in a hard chance to remove the danger man Michael Parlane, and Heath Davis plunged forward at point to take a difficult, low catch which brought Hamish Marshall back to earth after gaining New Zealand selection earlier in the day.Then, with the finest catch of them all, John Aiken dived across and forward to pick up a centimetre or two above the grass tops a cover-drive by Grant Bradburn which was a good imitation of a white tracer bullet.So ND were cut short at 91 for six wickets in their first innings, and seemed daunted as the Auckland batsmen swung onto attack to develop their first innings lead of 28.Aaron Barnes, the Auckland opener, seemed upset – with cause – when he was run out after being impeded by a Northern Districts fieldsmen.He had the consolation of watching Lou Vincent (52 not out) and Llorne Howell (42) set Auckland racing away to 137 for three, helped by some slapdash ND fielding at the end.Only while Bailey was blasting away did ND look as if they might challenge Auckland, reaching 80 after five overs, but once Davis had Bailey caught and bowled Neal Parlane and Simon Doull in one over, ND were finished.After two of five preliminary matches Auckland have seven points and Northern Districts one, so an Auckland win on Sunday at Cornwall Park will give Auckland an unbeatable lead in the five-match series.

Who will pay for washing the Indian cricketers’ linen?An SOS on this issue has gone all the way from Mutare to Chennai.The laundry bills are a source of bother for the Indian cricketers whohave just begun a 45-day tour of Zimbabwe.Some of the players have made millions from the game but their dailyallowance on this tour is 32 dollars (approx 2,000 Zimbabweandollars). Laundering one set of clothes will cost about one-sixth ofthat allowance, leaving very little for food and other expenses.When the Zimbabwean team toured India last winter, the Indian CricketBoard provided for free laundry of six clothes a day for them.Now the Indian cricketers, who have yet to receive any payment fromtheir Board on this tour, want the Zimbabweans to reciprocate.The tour management has now sent a letter to Board President ACMuthiah requesting him to take up the matter with the Zimbabwe CricketUnion.After all, the team wants to turn out smartly. The ball is now in theBoard’s court.The popular team is flooded with invitations to dinners, felicitationsand shop openings from the local Indians in Zimbabwe. That distractsfrom their basic mission of preparing for the series but they wouldn’twant to disappoint the local fans.So, in a compromise of sorts, the team has decided to selectivelyaccept such invitations without the players turning up en masse.”We have made a decision before we embarked on this tour,” said vicecaptain Rahul Dravid. “The visit to these functions is optional andnot everyone has to turn up and show his face. It is important for usto satisfy the desire of a billion back home rather than cater to thedesire of a hundred on an overseas tour,” he said.”We understand their feelings but we have the job of winning in frontof us and we want to be well-prepared for every match,” Dravid said.Sure enough, there was a function by the Indian community here onMonday evening and very few from the team attended it. Coach JohnWright, captain Sourav Ganguly and Sachin Tendulkar were among thosewho preferred to stay in their hotel rooms and mentally prepare forthe next day’s play.Despite a big hundred earlier in the day and niggling pain in hisright thigh muscle, Dravid did make it to the function to cheer up theexpatriates who had come in from as far as Harare and other parts ofZimbabwe.”You would notice it on this tour – we will keep (attending) suchfunctions to the minimum,” Dravid said.After all, the team has the job of reversing the trend of not winninga series abroad in the last 15 years. In its seven decades of Testcricket history, India has won only five series abroad – two rubbersin England, one each in West Indies, New Zealand and Sri Lanka. It hasyet to win a series in South Africa, Australia and Pakistan.Zimbabwe presents an excellent opportunity to reverse the currenttrend and there is little doubt the team wants to do it badly.The Indian Cricket Board, it seems, is finding it difficult to keeppace with the new-found professionalism of its cricketers and thepresent squad must be the cleanest to have left the Indian shores inthe last decade – if not on laundry then at least on the match-fixingaccount.Board secretary Jaywant Lele visited Zimbabwe earlier this month toinspect facilities, wickets and thrash out small details with ZCU.If he, or the Board he was representing, had taken care to discuss itwith the cricketers before finalising things, Lele would have heard aresounding no on the hosts’ plan to have 105 overs a day for the twofirst-class games preceding the first Test.This was an experiment which the South Africans had carried outagainst the Indians during the tour of 1997 and it had been roundlydisapproved.The Indian cricketers were again unhappy at the extra hour they weremade to play against Zimbabwe A here yesterday. The odd thing is,whatever overs are short for the day will be added to the next day.

Dissatisfied with the way the Barbados Cricket League (BCL) has beenmanaged in recent times, general secretary Carl Chapman has quit withimmediate effect.BCL president Glyn St Hill, however, has responded by saying Chapman’sperformance in the job could have been better.Chapman, an experienced cricketer and a former BCL Division 1 captain,submitted a resignation letter to St Hill last Friday.In the letter, he stated that recent events led him to believe thatthe board of management made decisions without any ideological orphilosophical concepts."It is my belief that members, void of independent thought, also makedecisions based not so much on the issue but moreso on the personputting forward the issue," Chapman said.This is quite sad, as their opinion on the same matter can fluctuatefrom side to side and time to time, dependent on the personnel who putforward the issue at the time.When contacted, St Hill said he was amazed by Chapman’s charges."Whenever we make a decision, it is always a majority or unanimousdecision," St Hill said. "There is always discussion and it is nevera unilateral decision."In his letter, Chapman also expressed disappointment in the manner theboard of management handled some constitutional matters and the choiceof the BCL First XI captain this season.Chapman, an all-rounder who performed with some distinction for theBCL Division 1 side in the early and mid-1990s, said he was constantlyreminded of the scenario between the smart and the powerful."It is simply a case where the smart put forward brilliant ideas butthese ideas are always opposed by the powerful and labelled as stupidand unable to work," Chapman said.Later, when it pleases the powerful, they reintroduce and implementthe same ideas so as to make it seem like an original of the powerful.Chapman took over general secretary in 1999 after unsuccessfullycontesting the post of president against St Hill.St Hill said he immediately told Chapman he was willing to work withhim, but he said that over a period of time he was not happy withChapman’s output."I have tried my best to bend over backwards to co-operate with him,but I don’t think he expected the workload that was involved," StHill said.While Chapman is no longer interested in serving in office, he stillremains a member of the BCL."I would like to wish the members all the best in their futureendeavours and pledge my undying support for the teams of the leagueand the management of the league," he said. "I will continue topractise in the hope of gaining selection to the senior team at somepoint in time."

The Chief Executive was delighted with the results of the last few days. “We got our first points in the National league in six starts – we lost the last three in 2000, and had lost the previous two this season,” he said, but went on: “the trouble is we are not setting other teams targets when we bat and we are not reaching targets when we are chasing.””At Leicestershire we got out of jail and in the end we were happy to get the draw which keeps us in touch with the CricInfo Championship leaders. We’ve prepared properly, but once again we have had no luck with injuries which have affected us badly.”With regard to Ben Trott, the fast bowler who Somerset released at the end of the 1999 season and who helped his new county Kent to a fine win over Essex, taking a career best 11 for 79 he said: “I’m thrilled to bits for him. There wasn’t a way through for him here. Our attitude is that when anyone moves on we wish them well, so were delighted for him.”Mr Anderson also talked highly of two other young players; Joe Tucker, who took 12 wickets in the match to help Somerset Second XI defeat a strong Surrey Second XI team at Taunton last week, and Michael Cole, who plays club cricket for Bridgwater and who scored two 60s.

Bridgenorth:
Shropshire 192 & 293-6dec (AB Byran 61, G Home 51no)
Cornwall 213 & 163-7 (JP Kent 58, AB Byram 5-42)Match drawn: Shropshire 9 pts, Cornwall 7 pts

The news that England’s first-choice spinner, Ashley Giles of Warwickshire, will be fit to play if required in the First Test, which starts tomorrow at Edgbaston, will hearten an England team buffeted by injuries, illnesses and lack of fitness.Michael Vaughan and Graham Thorpe are definitely out, almost certainly for the first two Tests. Nasser Hussain has played little first-class cricket since breaking a thumb, Craig White has been recovering from a back injury, and Andy Caddick will wear a protective pad on his left hand after breaking a finger.With Robert Croft and Matthew Hoggard both sent home today, it appears that the selectors are close to their final team, with the only remaining option being between fit-again Giles and a fourth seamer, Dominic Cork.The biggest blow to the home side has been the loss of Graham Thorpe with a calf problem. Steve Waugh, the Australian captain, has said that “if Thorpe was playing he would have been the key batsman”.The absence of Michael Vaughan, who is undergoing keyhole surgery on his knee tomorrow, and who will be unavailable at least until the Third Test at Trent Bridge, leaves England with an inexperienced batting line-up. Yet Waugh has pointed out that the younger players are “ones we don’t know and are unpredictable”.Australia, on the other hand, have a settled line-up with no injury worries but Waugh will not be taking England’s challenge lightly. “They’ve got some good players in the side and we are going to respect all of them. They’ve had two wins on the subcontinent which is very hard to do. They must be doing something right.”A few weeks ago, a victory at Edgbaston in the First Test was England’s aim, whereas now many would settle for avoiding defeat. But Hussain insists: “We’ve picked a side which I’m fully behind and one which can do well. Because of the injuries and preparation we may be more underdogs than before but we know how much the Brits love the underdog”.Hussain is fully prepared for the sledging that is bound to come England’s way. “They give you a bit of stick and they say words to you,” he says, and so it is imperative that England “show them we’ve got the character we have worked on for 18 months – then we can beat them”.”I would love the crowd to get behind us because it’s very important to our side”, continues Hussain, describing the atmosphere in 1997 as “unbelievable”. On that occasion, the home side won by nine wickets before the Australian machine kicked into gear to win the series 3-2, and tomorrow’s play will, both captains agree, be the most important of the summer.Waugh points out that “whenever you lose a Test, it’s because you have one really bad session. Generally if you win the first session, you win the first day, and if you win the First Test you normally win the series. It really is crucial, the first morning session of the First Test”.England (from): N Hussain (Essex, capt), MA Atherton (Lancashire), ME Trescothick (Somerset), MA Butcher (Surrey), IJ Ward (Surrey), AJ Stewart (Surrey, wkt), U Afzaal (Nottinghamshire), C White (Yorkshire), DG Cork (Derbyshire), D Gough (Yorkshire), AR Caddick (Somerset), AF Giles (Warwickshire).Australia: SR Waugh (capt), ML Hayden, MJ Slater, RT Ponting, ME Waugh, DR Martyn, AC Gilchrist (wkt), SK Warne, B Lee, JN Gillespie, GD McGrath.Umpires: SA Bucknor (WI) & G Sharp.

Hundreds from Chris Taylor and Jeremy Snape, plus a half-century from Kim Barnett, powered Gloucestershire to 415-5 on the opening day of the CricInfo Championship second division match with leaders Sussex at Cheltenham.Sussex captain Chris Adams chose to field first, but saw his decisionbackfire as his team put down four catches and struggled to stem the flow ofquick runs on a fast-scoring ground.To add to their woe, wicket-keeper Matt Prior departed midway through thesecond session with a injured thumb on his left hand, which had beensustained in the third over as he made a legside stop from a James Kirtleydelivery.Adams took over behind the stumps and held the catch that ended Barnett’s accomplished innings of 79, which contained 14 fours and came from 135 balls.Dominic Hewson and Matt Windows fell for ten and 22, to Kirtley and Adamsrespectively, and Mark Alleyne soon followed Barnett back to the pavilionwhen he was caught by Bas Zuiderant at slip off Mark Robinson for one.That left Gloucestershire on 193-4, but thereafter there was no stoppingTaylor and Snape as they peppered the short, square-side boundaries in afifth-wicket partnership of 204.Taylor brought up his second hundred of the season ­and the third of his career with a cut four to backward point off Kirtley.He was finally undone shortly before the close when he drove a low returncatch to spinner Mark Davis, having struck 25 fours and one six in his 226-ball innings of 140.Snape, who has prospered since being moved up to six in the order over thepast couple of months, brought up his century with a single to long leg inthe penultimate over of the day, bowled by Umer Rashid.He finished on 100 not out, with 11 fours and two sixes so far in his 155-ball innings.