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Opportunity for knocks for several members of England’s ODI squad in Sri Lanka, with plans to be finalised and places to be won ahead of the World Cup

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Nov-2014Opportunity for knocks for several members of England’s ODI squad in Sri Lanka, with plans to be finalised and places to be won ahead of the World Cup. Harry Gurney only made his England debut on a damp day in Aberdeen six months ago but if he can continue to make a good impression over the next few weeks, his left-arm angle of attack could make him a useful option in Australia and New Zealand.There will be even more chances to impress for England’s seamers, with James Anderson and Stuart Broad both absent. Anderson is resting a knee problem and Broad had begun his recovery from surgery on the same joint, so Gurney will form part of an inexperienced attack led by Steven Finn.Harry Gurney has his eyes on a place in England’s World Cup squad•AFP”From a personal perspective, my aim here is to try to cement that spot and get on that plane to Australia,” Gurney said. “I’m very confident. I think I’ve got a lot to offer. I’m the only left-armer involved here … and I hope I can offer something a little bit different. So when the selectors sit down to pick that squad, I hope I get my place.”Gurney, Chris Woakes, Chris Jordan and Ben Stokes have just 59 ODI caps between them and all have struggled to match promise with consistency so far. With two members of the squad likely to be replaced by Anderson and Broad for the World Cup – though not necessarily both seamers – all four will want to impress coach Peter Moores and captain Alastair Cook.”With Jimmy dropping out reasonably late on and not being replaced, it means all of the seamers in the squad are going to get more opportunity and more time in the limelight to show what we’ve got,” he said. “We’ve got some guys who’ve played a fair bit. Finny has and Woakesy has been around a little while now … we’ve got a good group, and we’re all putting our heads together and trying to come up with the best tactics.””I think we’ve got a group of bowlers that will adapt … and allow Mooresy and Cooky to select a well-balanced attack, given the conditions we’re presented with.”Sri Lanka A squad for England warm-ups

Sri Lanka Cricket have announced a 15-man squad for two 50-over tour matches against England. Sri Lanka A will be captained by Ashan Priyanjan, with the first match scheduled for the SSC in Colombo on Friday.
Sri Lanka A squad: Ashan Priyanjan (capt), Kaushal Silva, Kusal Perera, Niroshan Dickwella, Dinesh Chandimal, Thilina Kandamby, Kithruwan Vithanage, Jeevan Mendis, Dilruwan Perera, S A Lakshan Randika Sandakan, Remits Rambukwella, Lahiru Gamage, Dushmantha Sameera, Vishva Fernando, Nisala Tharaka

Gurney’s capacity for offering something different has helped elevate him to England’s limited-overs set-up, mixing up left-arm seam with a variety of slower balls. For express pace and bounce, England will be looking to Finn, who is still feeling his way back into international cricket after a year out of the side working on his run-up.”He’s looking really good,” Gurney said. “He’s in fine shape – and any issues he might have had are well behind him now. That’s brilliant for English cricket.”While the conditions in Sri Lanka will differ from those in Australia and New Zealand, it is in England’s interests to build confidence and work on their skills in the 50-over format. How successful they are could come down to the weather, as much as the opposition, with evening rainfall a potential problem throughout the duration of the tour – despite reserve days being scheduled for five of the seven matches.”Being English, we’re all used to a bit of rain,” Gurney said. “So that doesn’t bother anyone really. Turning up and having slightly damp footholds is not something any of us are fazed by.”Most of the ODIs have reserve days, so I think we’ll probably get a conclusion in most of if not all the games. If there are shorter games, it gives us the opportunity to go out there and maybe approach it with a different tactic. You’re going to get presented with circumstances like that in World Cups. So why not be prepared for it?”

Sri Lanka have left out wicketkeeper batsman Dinesh Chandimal and spinner Ajantha Mendis from their 15-man squad for the Pakistan Tests starting next week

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jul-2014Sri Lanka have left out wicketkeeper-batsman Dinesh Chandimal and spinner Ajantha Mendis from their 15-man squad for the Pakistan Tests starting next week. Fast bowler Nuwan Pradeep returns to the squad after missing the recent South Africa Test series due to injury and youngster Niroshan Dickwella keeps his place as wicketkeeper after an impressive debut earlier this week. Lahiru Thirimanne remains the vice-captain, though he was dropped for the previous Test against South Africa.Chandimal had lost his place in the XI for the second Test against South Africa after a poor outing in Galle, prompting a surprise call-up for the 21-year-old Dickwella, who had been in England with the Sri Lanka A side before having to dash back to Colombo to make it in time for his Test debut. Chandimal has joined the A squad in England. Prasanna Jayawardene, who was the first-choice wicketkeeper till he got injured before the second Test against England in June, was still not 100% fit.Mendis’ exclusion was not surprising after being the least impressive of Sri Lanka’s three spinners in the SSC Test when they were denied victory by a superb stonewalling effort from South Africa. Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews had bluntly said, “He had a quite a bad game,” after a wayward Mendis had match figures of 0 for 85 on a surface made for spinners.Fast bowlers Suranga Lakmal and Shaminda Eranga have been included, but subject to fitness. Eranga had split his webbing in Galle and was left out for the SSC Test, while Lakmal had complained of soreness in his foot after the SSC Test.The first of two Tests against Pakistan begins in Galle on August 6.Squad: Angelo Mathews (capt), Lahiru Thrimanne (vice-capt), Kaushal Silva, Upul Tharanga, Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene, Kithuruwan Vithanage, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Rangana Herath, Dilruwan Perera, Shaminda Eranga (Subject to fitness), Suranga Lakmal (Subject to fitness), Chanaka Welegedara, Dhammika Prasad, Nuwan Pradeep

Durham could now finish as high as fourth, after closing out a crushing win over Middlesex having entered this round in a relegation scrap

Alex Winter at Lord's12-Sep-2014
ScorecardChris Rushworth claimed the important early wicket of Sam Robson•Getty ImagesThere is not too great a difference between Durham and Yorkshire. Both counties have supporters fiercely proud of their corner of Britain, both have a good record of producing home-grown players, both have had financial problems related to staging international cricket and both have been strong performers in recent years.It will not quite be a Championship one-two this season but that Durham could now finish as high as fourth, after closing out a crushing win over Middlesex – just their second ever Championship success at Lord’s – having entered this round in a relegation scrap, highlights that they have not been light years behind their neighbours.Durham have actually batted better than last season when none of their batsman averaged over 40. Yorkshire have produced largely similar numbers to 2013, with Adam Lyth replacing Gary Ballance as the standout performer. The difference has been the potency of the respective bowling attacks. Last season Durham were spearheaded by Graham Onions’ 70 wickets; Yorkshire have had Jack Brooks’ 64 this time. But despite Chris Rushworth’s best efforts, Onions’ has not been replaced with injury limiting him to just five matches. Losing three other bowlers who were key components of last season’s Championship win has also hindered Durham’s defence.Another major difference has been the spin threat. Yorkshire’s legspinner, Adil Rashid, has taken 40 wickets at 25.75, whereas Scott Borthwick has only managed 13 at 54.53. Durham have relied on their healthy stock of seam bowlers – Peter Chase was registered only three weeks ago and added four wickets in this game after his match-winning five-for against Nottinghamshire last week.With his second ball on the final morning Chase trapped John Simpson lbw and had Toby Roland-Jones caught behind after lunch when he again had threatened to frustrate Durham by adding a run-a-ball half-century stand with Ollie Rayner.Durham and Yorkshire also share popular men of their shire as captain. Paul Collingwood produced handy interventions in all four innings of this match. On the final day it was to remove Paul Stirling with his ninth ball, driving via a thin inside edge into his off stump. Then with the final ball before lunch, first innings mainstay Dawid Malan was trapped lbw to remove Middlesex’s final hope before the interval.It capped a terrible morning for the hosts who began the day only one down. Sam Robson, having played so positively on the third evening, drove the second ball of the day for four only to fall lbw next delivery. Scores of 15 and 38 were not the response Robson would have hoped for after not been offered any type of ECB contract.Both Eoin Morgan – edging behind as Rushworth came around the wicket – and Neil Dexter – bowled driving a delivery that was not full enough for the stroke – failed to offer any resistance. The lower order did briefly, including some frustrated swinging from Tim Murtagh, to prevent a complete embarrassment but it was still a crushing loss and a third defeat in six matches.These are worrying times for Middlesex. They have a soft underbelly that teams have seized upon to inflict now five defeats this season. Their batting order has suffered numerous miserable collapses: 8 for 33 against Sussex; 8 for 66 and 7 for 64 against Warwickshire; 6 for 38 against Yorkshire. When they are down they have a very unhealthy habit of rolling over.Yet their batting statistics compare favourably to the top sides in the division: of those to have played eight matches or more, five Middlesex batsmen average over 40. Yorkshire have only one more, Nottinghamshire one fewer, Warwickshire just one.With a battery of fine seam bowlers and a batting line up led by two prolific openers, Middlesex were supposed to be title challengers. Three successive home wins from their opening five matches set their season up. But a fourth win, on May 21, has been followed by a lean run of three defeats and five draws. The run has drawn them into a relegation scrap.Their bowling attack has actually lacked depth, with their inability to kill sides off highlighted when Northamptonshire were 168 for 6, over 300 behind, at Lord’s at the end of June, only for a century from No. 8 to rescue the innings and Middlesex were forced to concede a draw.Losing Gareth Berg to shoulder surgery after just one innings of bowling this season has not helped but he only took 25 wickets at 37.68 in the Championship last season – not stats that would have transformed Middlesex in 2014.Middlesex are fortunate to have a game in hand on Lancashire – at Somerset next week, who have only a few grand of prize money to play for. A win would see Middlesex survive but Taunton is not your venue of choice to force a victory. Lancashire host Middlesex in the final round of the season at Old Trafford. It could become a relegation shootout.

Lou Vincent will be charged with fixing offences under the anti-corruption code of the Champions League Twenty20 tournament, jointly administered by the governing bodies of India, Australia and South Africa

Daniel Brettig23-May-2014Lou Vincent will be charged with fixing offences under the anti-corruption code of the Champions League Twenty20 tournament, jointly administered by the governing bodies of India, Australia and South Africa.ESPNcricinfo understands the charges will relate to Vincent’s appearances for the Auckland Aces at both the 2011 edition of the tournament, held in India, and the 2012 event in South Africa.Auckland lost both of their qualifying matches in 2011 but reached the main draw the following year, with Vincent taking part in every match.The charges, reportedly being prepared by Cricket Australia’s general manager of legal and business affairs and Champions League technical director Dean Kino, are expected to be formally laid next month after the conclusion of the IPL.They will follow the revelation that the ECB has charged Vincent and a fellow former Sussex team-mate, Naved Arif, with fixing offences for a county limited-overs match in August 2011.Vincent’s charges are the first fruit of a long-running investigation conducted jointly by the ICC’s anti-corruption and security unit, in conjunction with integrity officials in England, Australia and India.Under its present code, the ACSU is not permitted to fully pursue investigations or initiate charges against players for offences related to domestic matches in any format, leaving the onus upon boards responsible for the tournaments in which alleged offences have taken place to do so.CLT20 charges against Vincent will not be formally announced, as the tournament’s anti-corruption code forbids the publication of charges or the naming of “participants” until the case has been heard by a disciplinary committee and a finding reached.This clause is in line with the anti-corruption codes of Cricket Australia, the BCCI and the ICC, which all stipulate that players are not to be officially named until the case has been concluded. The ECB’s anti-corruption code states that a name can be released when the charge has been laid.After news of the charges laid by the ECB, Vincent issued a statement through his lawyer acknowledging that further charges were likely and saying it proved he had not made any plea-bargains with the ICC.”The fact of the charges, and more are likely, dispel any notions of a plea bargain having been done as unfortunately appears to be wrongly suggested by others.”

Former BCCI President Shashank Manohar has said he was “disillusioned” by the happenings at the BCCI’s emergent working committee meeting on Sunday

Sharda Ugra21-Apr-2014Former BCCI President Shashank Manohar has said he was “disillusioned” by the happenings at the BCCI’s emergent working committee meeting on Sunday, which picked a three-member panel to investigate the IPL corruption scandal as directed by India’s Supreme Court. Manohar, who served as BCCI president from to 2008-2011, attended the meeting as a special nominee of the Vidarbha Cricket Association, which is a member of the BCCI working committee.Manohar told ESPNcricinfo he had gone to the meeting “with a particular purpose, to help handle this crisis. The Board’s reputation is the lowest that it has been in the 80 years since it was founded. The situation needed to be cleaned up.”Manohar would say no more about the meeting, at which the names of RK Raghavan, JN Patel and Ravi Shastri were picked for the BCCI panel to be presented to the Supreme Court for its next hearing on Tuesday. The BCCI is yet to officially announce the names, however, with BCCI secretary Sanjay Patel saying they could not be revealed “considering the sanctity of the court.”Manohar has been critical of how the BCCI has handled the IPL case, saying on Friday that “nothing has moved in the last one year” because the Board lacked leaders to take on Srinivasan “who is shamelessly and stubbornly sticking to his chair.”It is understood that in addition to Raghavan, Patel and Shastri, four more names were discussed: former Lok Sabha speaker Somnath Chatterjee, Justice Mukul Mudgal, who headed the Court-appointed committee to look into the IPL 2013 corruption scandal, L Nageshwar Rao, the additional solicitor general of India who was also part of the Mudgal committee and BCCI interim president Shivlal Yadav. While the names of Patel, Shastri and Raghavan were brought to vote, those of Mudgal and/or Rao and Chatterjee were not. There is some discrepancy over the number of people – either 11 or 14 – who supported Raghavan’s name at the meeting, where all proceedings were recorded in audio.The selection of both Raghavan and Shastri can be questioned for separate reasons. Raghavan, who headed the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) during the match-fixing inquiry in 2000, was one of the 52 people who deposed before the Mudgal committee. Should he be a part of the BCCI-nominated panel to look into the case, he will have gone from being witness to judge in the same case. Shastri is a paid employee of the BCCI, in his capacity as commentator. He is also a member of the governing council and – according to the website on Monday morning – part of two of the IPL’s four committees, and will personally know most of the individuals who are to be investigated, including BCCI president N Srinivasan.In order to explain Shastri’s contentious inclusion, Patel had said that the Bombay High Court, in an order in 2013, had said any BCCI probe committee needed to include one member from the Code of Behaviour committee under the IPL Operational Rules. The last BCCI-appointed panel to look into the IPL corruption scandal was declared illegal by the Bombay High Court, with differing explanations about its formation.Last week, the two-judge Supreme Court bench consisting of Justice AK Patnaik and FM Ibrahim Kalifullah, asked the BCCI to revert with “constructive, corrective” measures with regard to how it can ensure a free and fair probe. The court said it did not want to infringe on the “institutional autonomy” of the BCCI by ordering an independent probe and said: “We are not inclined to do it [hand the case over to the CBI]… But if we are compelled we will do it.”The case dates back to June 2013 when the Cricket Association of Bihar secretary Aditya Verma raised charges of conflict of interest in the formation of BCCI’s two-member inquiry panel into the IPL corruption issue. After the Bombay High Court declared the panel illegal, the BCCI and the CAB filed petitions in the Supreme Court against this order; with the CAB contending that the Bombay High Court could have suggested a fresh mechanism to look into the corruption allegations.The Supreme Court then appointed a three-member committee, headed by former High Court judge Mukul Mudgal, and comprising additional solicitor general L Nageswara Rao and Nilay Dutta, in October 2013, to conduct an independent inquiry into the allegations of corruption against Srinivasan’s son-in-law Gurunath Meiyappan, India Cements, and Rajasthan Royals team owner Jaipur IPL Cricket Private Ltd, as well as with the larger mandate of allegations around betting and spot-fixing in IPL matches and the involvement of players. The committee had submitted its findings to the court on February 10.

Nasir Hossain’s dismissal left the Bangladesh dressing room incensed as they felt the batsman was erroneously given out caught behind by umpire Paul Reiffel

Mohammad Isam in Chittagong06-Feb-2014Bangladesh plagued by injuries

Bangladesh have a string of injuries that could affect them in the course of the ongoing Test. The biggest difficulty is likely to be behind the stumps as captain Mushfiqur Rahim will take the field but not as wicketkeeper.
Imrul Kayes has multiple injuries. He pulled his hamstring on the final ball of his innings, had hurt his groin and suffered a blow to his back on the second day. Abdur Razzak’s bowling in the second innings will depend on how he shows up as a batsman on the fourth morning.
“Imrul has cramps at the moment so after his pain goes away, I can assess his hamstring injury,” physio Vibhav Singh said. “I will see how Razzak bats in the first innings tomorrow, see how he turns while running. I will assess Mushfiqur on a day-to-day basis, but he is unlikely to keep wickets tomorrow.”

Nasir Hossain’s dismissal on the third day left the Bangladesh dressing room irked as they felt the batsman was erroneously given out caught behind by umpire Paul Reiffel. The decision brought back focus on the BCB’s continued avoidance of the Decision Review System (DRS) or the Officiating Replay System (ORS).Hossain had tried to cut an Ajantha Mendis delivery late in the day and was caught low by wicketkeeper Dinesh Chandimal. The Sri Lankan close-in fielders went up in a huge appeal, but the batsman and the non-striker Mahmudullah were crestfallen. After coach Shane Jurgensen saw a replay of the dismissal on the team analyst’s laptop, he let out a scream that showed the frustration in the team. Later, Shamsur Rahman termed it a “bad decision”.”Our day was ruined by one bad decision, which was of Nasir Hossain,” Shamsur said. “We would have had an altogether great day had Nasir not been given out like that. I think you have seen it on television what happened. I don’t think it touched his bat when he attempted the cut. We saw it in the replay several times. He has now had two such calls in two consecutive matches.”Nasir is a key player for us in that position. He performs in all formats, be it Twenty20s, ODIs and Test cricket. The whole team suffers if such a performer becomes victim of a bad dismissal.”There had been one questionable decision in the previous Test when Mushfiqur Rahim’s leg-before decision appeared to have an inside edge. Bangladesh have had issues with umpiring errors in the past, most notably against England at home in 2010 when several leg-before appeals from Bangladesh were turned down. The other prominent series in this regard was in Zimbabwe last year when umpiring decisions led the Bangladesh coach to visit the match referee’s room on several occasions.BCB’s stance on DRS has been peculiar. As the No. 10 ranked Test team, Bangladesh certainly could do with the aid of the DRS. This was first highlighted by Shakib Al Hasan during the 2010 home series against England, when he criticised the BCB for spending money on welcoming the then ECB chief David Morgan rather than employing the DRS.ESPNcricinfo understands that when the tender notice was placed for the broadcasting rights of the current series, the companies were given a choice to either include or not include the DRS in their bid. None of the bidders went for the “with DRS” deal.

Most of Australia’s biggest hitters are happier when the ball comes on at pace than when dealing with tweakers with tough variations

The Preview by Brydon Coverdale22-Mar-20141:17

Crowe: Conditions not to Australia’s liking

Match factsMarch 23, 2014, Mirpur
Start time 1530 (0930GMT)Big Picture This is where it all begins for Australia, the push for that elusive World T20 title. George Bailey’s men enter this tournament with five wins from their past five games but those were all in vastly different conditions in Australia and South Africa. The slower pitches in Bangladesh will provide a new challenge, although the massive opening stand of 113 from eight overs between David Warner and Aaron Finch in the practice match against New Zealand in Fatullah was encouraging.Pakistan’s campaign started with a defeat at the hands of India on Friday and while one loss might not hurt their overall chances too much, two from two would make it difficult to fight back into the tournament. It was a lacklustre batting display that set Pakistan on the road to defeat and that is where they require a big improvement in this contest. If any team in world cricket is capable of following a shambles with a success two days later, it is Pakistan.These teams have not met in a T20 since the group stage of the 2012 World T20 in Sri Lanka, when Pakistan cruised to victory thanks to their spinners. And that is the big danger for Australia once again. For all of the power in their batting line-up, most of their biggest hitters are happier when the ball comes on at pace than when dealing with tweakers with tough variations. And with India and West Indies also in this group, this match will be a pointer to how Australia might handle similar spin challenges later in the tournament.David Warner has been in scintillating form in all formats•Getty ImagesForm guide (completed matches, most recent first)Australia WWWWW
Pakistan LLWWWWatch out for David Warner’s recent form across all formats is as imposing as any batsman in this tournament. In the ODIs against England in January he made 65, 18 and 71, then followed that in the South Africa Tests with 12, 115, 70, 66, 135 and 145. Then there was the small matter of 40 from 16 balls in the rain-shortened T20 in Durban. And to cap it off, his only warm-up in Bangladesh brought 65 from 26 deliveries against New Zealand. This is a man who is striking the ball as well, and as consistently, as he ever has. He just needs to make sure Saeed Ajmal and co do not get on top of him.In 10 T20s against Australia, Saeed Ajmal has collected 18 wickets at 13.22 and has gone for five an over or less every time he has met them in Asia. In turning conditions Ajmal ties the Australians down; they cannot get him away and the pressure builds wickets. His doosra especially will cause some headaches for batsmen who have spent the summer dealing with more conventional spin.Team news Australia allrounder James Faulkner will miss the game, as he is yet to recover from a knee injury. It could mean that Daniel Christian retains the bowling allrounder spot.Australia (possible) 1 Aaron Finch, 2 David Warner, 3 Shane Watson, 4 Glenn Maxwell, 5 George Bailey (capt), 6 Brad Hodge, 7 Brad Haddin (wk), 8 Daniel Christian, 9 Mitchell Starc, 10 Nathan Coulter-Nile, 11 Brad HoggIt was Pakistan’s batting that let the side down in their loss to India and the only backup batsman in the squad is Sharjeel Khan. However, given that spin is likely to be their trump card against Australia, they may play two seamers rather than three and bring in the left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar.Pakistan (possible) 1 Kamran Akmal (wk), 2 Ahmed Shehzad, 3 Mohammad Hafeez (capt), 4 Umar Akmal, 5 Shoaib Malik, 6 Shahid Afridi, 7 Sohaib Maqsood, 8 Bilawal Bhatti/Zulfiqar Babar, 9 Umar Gul, 10 Saeed Ajmal, 11 Junaid KhanPitch and conditionsSpin played a key role in the first game at this venue, the Bangladesh victory over Afghanistan, and again in Friday’s India-Pakistan match. Again the slow bowlers should have plenty to work with. However, the teams will have to keep an eye towards the skies; it rained in Dhaka on Saturday and more wet spells are forecast for Sunday afternoon.Stats and Trivia Australia and Pakistan have met in 11 T20s – Pakistan have won six, Australia four and there has been one tie, which Pakistan won in a Super Over The Pakistan side features the three top wicket takers in T20 internationals: Saeed Ajmal (82), Umar Gul (75) and Shahid Afridi (73)Quotes “These conditions – the ball turning – that is more suited to us against Australia and the other teams.”

New IPL regulations, including the right-to-match card, have led to mutters from franchise officials that some teams stand to benefit more than others

Nagraj Gollapudi24-Dec-2013The new player-retention rules released by the IPL have attracted an unfavourable response from some franchises, who are particularly displeased by the newly introduced “right-to-match” card. The right-to-match card allows IPL franchises to buy back a specific number of their own players after releasing them for auction by matching the highest bid they attract. The card was recommended by the IPL primarily to help franchises retain a bigger core group of players. Some franchises, however, privately argue that instead of facilitating franchises to retain their core group, the right-to-match rule was devised only to benefit certain teams that were keen to ensure they retained a majority of their best players.According to the IPL 2014 player regulations, every franchise is allowed to retain five players with a specific amount deducted from their auction purse of Rs 600 million ($9.67 million). Franchises can spend a maximum of Rs 390 million on retaining the five. Yet, the new rules state that irrespective of the negotiated amount between the franchise and the retained player, only the designated amount for each retained player (as per IPL regulations) will be listed on the books. This, some franchises argue, makes the idea of a salary cap redundant.The new rules ensure that every franchise can hold on to a maximum of six players with a combination of retentions and players re-signed using the right-to-match card. The rule, said one franchise official, was skewed to start with.”The rule has been tweaked to suit certain teams,” argued an official from another franchise. “The team which retains five gets rewarded with one more (card) whereas the team that does not retain anyone gets only three (cards). This team should be allowed at least one more right-to-match option if not two.”Franchise officials believe that, with the introduction of the right-to-match card, certain players, like the marquee names, might want to put their hats in the auction ring to raise their worth. Considering that retention is a two-way process and is futile without the player’s nod, franchises fear they might end up paying more for the same player in comparison to the previous season.”If I tell the player I will pay him $2 million to retain him, he will not accept and say I want $2.5 million. So if I retained him I would have paid him 125 million rupees. But still I have to pay him more (than the designated amount). So the sanctity of the purse is broken immediately. Now if the same player was picked in the auction at 150 million I would not have a problem,” a franchise official said.

“The rule has been tweaked to suit certain teams. The team which retains five gets rewarded with one more (card) whereas the team that does not retain anyone gets only three (cards). This team should be allowed at least one more right-to-match option if not two.”A franchise official

The right-to-match card was placed at the table during the IPL workshop in Singapore in November. The idea was to offset the original retention rule that was introduced in 2011. That rule allowed a franchise to retain a maximum of four capped players. Not all franchises subscribed to that rule. Some felt that they ended up spending more money buying players in the auction compared to rival franchises that paid half the sum to retain players. To give an example, Kolkata Knight Riders had spent $5.6 million to buy the trio of Gautam Gambhir, Yusuf Pathan and Jacques Kallis whereas Chennai Super Kings retained the quartet of MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, M Vijay and Albie Morkel for $4.5 million.Consequently, some of the affected franchises even suggested in the Singapore workshop that the IPL bring all players into the auction. However, not all eight teams were on the same page. It is understood that one of the bigger franchises wanted a combination of five retained players and three right-to-match cards. Another franchise wanted the card option to retain the capped Indian players while another was interested in exercising that option to buy back uncapped players.This only re-opens the debate over whether the the IPL is a level-playing field as was claimed by Lalit Modi, the first chairman of the league. Smaller franchises argue that their bigger rivals have managed to flex their financial muscle and power to tweak the rules to suit their needs and buy the players they want.”With a salary cap now, at least you know a franchise is paying Rs 390 million if you retain five players,” another franchise official said. “In many ways it is a fair system regardless of the mischief you play in paying under the table. If there was no salary cap then the bigger franchises could have paid anything for any player and gone to the auction and bought more players at ridiculous costs. But today if I retain all five players I am left with just Rs 210 millon to buy the rest of the players to build a balanced squad. So the salary cap puts some sort of restriction.”According to this official the best thing to happen in this auction is that Indian domestic players will be part of the pool unlike in the past. Uncapped players till now were paid upto Rs 3 million, but franchises admit players were lured through various kickbacks. “Giving a BMW to an uncapped player would not help anymore,” the official said.Not everyone agreed. A franchise chief executive was less confident and felt the rules would continue to be bent. “The concept of a salary cap is being abused for the last five years and the trend will continue with the new set of rules. We don’t know how much the teams were paying the big names who had been retained in the last season. And it will be pretty similar this time around. The right-to-match card just adds to the woes as the players’ demands will keep on increasing and the teams will be on the back foot.”

Guided by Gurkeerat Singh and Sandeep Sharma, Punjab overcame a torrid struggle to chase down a target of 135 and eventually beat Haryana by three wickets in Lahli

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Nov-2013
ScorecardFile photo – Sandeep Sharma picked up 6 for 50 before scoring an unbeaten 37 to guide Punjab to victory•ESPNcricinfo LtdGuided by Gurkeerat Singh and Sandeep Sharma, Punjab overcame a torrid struggle to chase down a target of 135 and eventually beat Haryana by three wickets in Lahli.Having reduced Punjab to 46 for 6, Haryana had the match in the bag but Sandeep and Gurkeerat put together an assured 71-run stand. Where the other Punjab batsmen, including their top-order, were bogged down under the pressure of the chase, Gurkeerat, who had scored 51 in the first innings, and Sandeep focused on settling down and playing the ball on merit.Their stand promised to take Punjab to victory but was broken by Harshal Patel who had Gurkeerat caught behind for 37, a decision the batsman was unhappy with. Sandeep then took charge of the innings and hit the winning runs, a little more than four overs after Gurkeerat’s dismissal.Sandeep, promoted ahead of Gurkeerat in the batting order, said he was initially focused on supporting his partner. “I didn’t think I could do this on my own. I was initially focused on just staying at the wicket and supporting Gurkeerat. But I learnt from his innings,” Sandeep said.Earlier, Haryana’s plans of setting a challenging fourth-innings target were scuttled by VRV Singh and Sandeep. Sachin Rana and Amit Mishra pushed the score to 130 but Rana’s wicket, trapped lbw, was part of a slide in which Haryana lost their last five wickets for 25 runs. Sandeep picked up three wickets on the third morning to finish with 6 for 50, while VRV Singh took three wickets for 50 runs.

Kieron Pollard, the captain of the Barbados Tridents, has said that he isn’t worried by the team’s recent losses to the Guyana Amazon Warriors and the Antigua Hawksbills

Renaldo Matadeen17-Aug-2013Kieron Pollard, the captain of the Barbados Tridents, has said that he will remain calm and collected despite Barbados’ losses in their previous two games in the inaugural Caribbean Premier League. Barbados currently top the table after starting with four wins on the trot, though indifferent form later on meant losses to the Guyana Amazon Warriors and the Antigua Hawksbills.”I never worry or panic. I trust and believe in my players and they, in me. We have areas to improve on, I admit. The team needs to be more consistent,” Pollard said. “Two losses can be overturned and we’re here to play cricket as professionals and win. We’re looking to top the table and need to be sharper in the field, and not lose wickets in clusters.”Desmond Haynes, the Barbados coach, also emphasised that the recent defeats were not cause for concern, as the team can assure top spot on the table with a victory over the Jamaica Tallawahs in Kingston today. “I think we’re going to bounce back. Jamaica’s dangerous but we have our plans set out. Our players know the job that needs to be done against them,” Haynes said.Paul Nixon, the Jamaica coach, meanwhile, saw his team fall to third after Thursday’s loss to Guyana and admitted that stiff lessons were learnt.”We made our mistakes and I fell short in terms of strategy and tactics, but we know we need to step it up big time against what many see as the best team in the CPL.” Nixon said.Fast bowler Vernon Philander, Jamaica’s South African signing, has been turning in remarkable cameos with the bat. He said he was hungry to derail Barbados. “The Jamaica camp has been great. The boys are gelling well and having fun,” Philander said. “We play the game to win and obviously we’re going to give it our best shot and hopefully it comes off. We want to top the table though it will be hard.”I came out here to get the experience with the white ball and to prep for me moving forward at the international level. Hopefully I can take a lot more sticks and obviously keep a lot of people happy and a lot of [batsmen] unhappy as well. I want to scalp out Barbados first and foremost.”