Ross Taylor raced to New Zealand’s fastest Test century but the hosts failed to support their red-hot team-mate and the sides finished almost level

The Bulletin by Peter English28-Mar-2010Australia 231 & 35 for 0 lead New Zealand 264 (Taylor 138, Johnson 4-59) by 2 runs

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Ross Taylor takes in the applause after scoring New Zealand’s quickest Test hundred•Getty Images

Ross Taylor raced to New Zealand’s fastest Test century but the hosts failed to support their red-hot team-mate and the sides finished almost level after two days. New Zealand earned a slender 33-run advantage after Taylor’s 138 off 104 balls took them towards 264, a first-innings total which could have been so much stronger.Shane Watson, who survived a reviewed lbw appeal from Brent Arnel, drove well to be 28 while Simon Katich was 6 as Australia went to stumps at 35 for 0. Bad light ended play 24 overs early and the visitors will begin day three two runs ahead.While Taylor exploded in a jaw-dropping display, Australia were able to pick up regular breakthroughs, often through Mitchell Johnson, even though they gave Taylor three lives. Taylor reached his century in 81 deliveries, beating the 82-ball effort of Daniel Vettori against Zimbabwe, and blasted four sixes and 19 fours. He wanted to show his side would not be intimidated by Australia and he wasn’t, but not many of his team-mates shared the belief.In the first session Taylor received help from the opener BJ Watling, who worked hard over his 46, but that was the second highest score as the rest were unable to contribute more than Tim Southee’s late 22. When Taylor was around boundaries rained and his fireworks were more suited to a one-day or Twenty20 instead of a lazy Test Sunday in Hamilton.Having been missed on 7, 53 and 92, he knew it was his day so he kept on swinging, majestically at times and wildly at others. A fierce cut through point took him to 99 and the century came with a slice over the slips cordon.He mixed some memorable boundaries – his driving between mid-on and cover off the fast bowlers was delightful – with streaky shots, but the combination made it an exceptional performance. Following his third reprieve, when Watson missed a regulation edge at first slip, Taylor quickly brought up his century and things really got ugly for the visitors.Nathan Hauritz, the offspinner, was pounded for 25 in an over as Taylor launched three sixes in a row over midwicket, the sightscreen and midwicket again. It would have been worse if Watson hadn’t taken a catch on the boundary edge and thrown it back into the field athletically before he crossed the boundary, saving five runs. New Zealand hadn’t passed Australia’s total at that stage and were six down, but the Australian shoulders were slumping during the onslaught. By the end of the day their outlook was much brighter than the conditions.The first miss came when Taylor edged Ryan Harris between Watson and Ricky Ponting, with neither man going for the ball. He followed up by driving Johnson for four through the offside twice in two balls in a brutal response to a costly fielding error.Taylor continued to leap forward and pulled Watson to midwicket before bringing up his half-century with a six to midwicket. The milestone arrived in an astonishing 34 balls and he didn’t slow much on the way to his fifth Test hundred.Hauritz came on in the first session to goad Taylor, who swiped at his third ball, and Johnson missed a relatively simple chance above his head at mid-on. The second life led Taylor to add to Australia’s misery by slashing three offside boundaries off Doug Bollinger’s next over. Ponting was starting to scowl and chew his finger nails, but a strong second innings on the third day can eliminate his concerns.Lumped with the tail, Taylor was responsible for scrapping as many runs as possible but the task eventually became too risky. His innings ended when he attempted to pull Bollinger and collected an under-edge that was taken by Brad Haddin. Originally given not out, his decision was referred to the third umpire and Hot Spot showed the fine nick. It was so fine Taylor didn’t think he’d touched it and he shook his head as he departed.Taylor walked out in the morning with New Zealand 30 for 2 after Mathew Sinclair (11) was bowled by Johnson’s searing yorker. He put on 84 with Watling at more than a run a ball and there were 124 runs and three wickets in 26 overs during an eventful session. The pace continued with another 121 before the innings ended to signal the tea break.Watling played a handful of memorable shots through the off side off the back foot, and was a useful partner for Taylor until he played-on to Bollinger. Martin Guptill (4) and Vettori (15) fell to Harris either side of lunch while Brendon McCullum (5) and Jeetan Patel (7) both edged Johnson to Ponting.The tail delayed the hosts for a short time, with Southee hooking Johnson for six behind square before running out of partners. Johnson led the attack with 4 for 59 while Bollinger and Harris chipped in with three each. It was an innings to forget for Hauritz, who gave up 68 in 13 overs, but there was damage delivered by both sides on the second day.

Former BCCI president AC Muthiah has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the board’s rules that permit BCCI and IPL administrators to own league teams

Cricinfo staff23-Apr-2010Former BCCI president AC Muthiah has filed a petition in the Supreme Court challenging the board’s rules that permit BCCI and IPL administrators to be part of the IPL and own league teams. The petition follows the Madras High Court’s decision last month to dismiss a similar plea filed by Muthiah and is significant in light of the fact that the board secretary, N Srinivasan, is also the owner of an IPL franchise, Chennai Super Kings.Prior to the amendment, clause 6.2.4 of the Regulations for Players, Team officials, Umpires and Administrators, said: “No administrator shall have, directly or indirectly any commercial interest in the matches and events conducted by the Board.” After the amendment, though, the clause said “no administrator shall have directly or indirectly any commercial interest in any of the events of the BCCI excluding IPL, Champions League and Twenty20.”Muthiah’s petition echoes his recent statements that Srinivasan’s convening of Monday’s crucial IPL governing council meeting is invalid given the conflict of interest.The meeting is set to decide Lalit Modi’s future with the IPL. Modi, who is under fire over allegations of corruption, has questioned Srinivasan’s authority in convening the meeting for the same reason as Muthiah.”All he [Srinivasan] is actually is an ex-officio member of the council, as an office-bearer of BCCI, and he is a conflicted party who owns an IPL team. He has never and can never call a governing council meeting,” Modi wrote in a mail to BCCI president Shashank Manohar.Last month, however, the Madras High Court dismissed Muthiah’s application that sought to remove Srinivasan of his role as a BCCI office-bearer given his involvement in the IPL. Under its original rules, the BCCI prohibited its office-bearers from having commercial interests in the league, but this rule was retrospectively amended in September 2008, eight months after the inaugural round of bidding for IPL franchises.The Chennai franchise was won by the company India Cements, of which Srinivasan is the managing director, and BCCI’s ruling validated his involvement in the IPL.In December that year, Muthiah filed a civil suit in Madras High Court, questioning the BCCI’s amendment that effectively said the IPL was out of the board’s purview. Muthiah also filed an application seeking an interim stay on Srinivasan functioning as BCCI secretary, for the period until the suit was heard.That application was turned down in March this year, while the suit is yet to be heard by the court. The court’s stand was that the clause was a code of conduct and not a rule, and as such could not be challenged by an individual from outside the BCCI. The court however ruled that the merits and demerits of various clauses could be examined during the hearing of the civil suit.The governing council is set to meet on April 26, and at the latest on May 1, if Modi’s attempt to defer it is successful. The suit is unlikely to be tried between now and the meeting, which makes Modi’s line of defence against Srinivasan untenable.Meanwhile, Muthiah expressed his support to Modi’s claim, reiterating his original argument. “I quite agree with Lalit Modi. Srinivasan is an interested party and I filed a case against him for conflict of interest. He is a secretary and he is a holder of franchise. It is clear he has no right to call for a meeting,” Muthiah told PTI.

The pool stage is over, the minnows have all been swallowed and only the big fish remain swimming on to Barbados for the Super Eights. Now, the real test begins for New Zealand and South Africa

The Preview by Brydon Coverdale06-May-2010

Match Facts

Thursday, May 6, Bridgetown

Start time 1330 (1730 GMT)Morne Morkel could once again prove a handful on the bouncy Barbados pitch•AFP

The Big Picture

The pool stage is over, the minnows have all been swallowed and only the big fish are gliding on to Barbados for the Super Eights. Now, the real test begins. New Zealand and South Africa bring slightly different form to this meeting, with Daniel Vettori’s men undefeated against a lacklustre Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe, and Graeme Smith’s group having lost to India and beaten Afghanistan.Barbados has provided a more lively surface and having played all their games, including the warm-ups, on the slower pitches of Guyana, New Zealand will need to adjust quickly. It might mean a rethink of their tactic of giving the new ball to the spinner Nathan McCullum, who has been a revelation in being named Man of the Match in both their games.South Africa got through with a comfortable win over the Afghans and had a good chance to get used to Kensington Oval. However, while their bowling was excellent there were some question marks over their batting. Although Jacques Kallis has scored more than 100 runs in the two games, South Africa need him to find the boundary more frequently, while a couple of his colleagues got out to lazy shots against Afghanistan.

Form guide (most recent first)

New Zealand: WWTLW
South Africa: WLWLL

Watch out for…

The conditions suited the slower bowlers in Guyana but the first day of games at Kensington Oval proved the fast men will be a handful. That is good news for Shane Bond, who is the quickest of New Zealand’s attack and could therefore become their key weapon in the Super Eights.South Africa will look to Morne Morkel for pace and bounce once again, after he devastated Afghanistan’s inexperienced top order on the same surface. New Zealand’s batsmen are more adept, but Morkel’s height makes him a tough proposition on any pitch that offers him assistance.

Team news

Despite the change in venue, New Zealand’s coach Mark Greatbatch said it was unlikely they would alter their winning team. There will be some pressure on the top order to perform, after Jesse Ryder was the only man to really fire against Sri Lanka, while opportunities were limited in the shortened game against Zimbabwe.New Zealand (probable) 1 Brendon McCullum, 2 Jesse Ryder, 3 Martin Guptill, 4 Ross Taylor, 5 Scott Styris, 6 Daniel Vettori (capt), 7 Jacob Oram, 8 Gareth Hopkins (wk), 9 Nathan McCullum, 10 Tim Southee, 11 Shane Bond.The comfortable victory over Afghanistan should mean South Africa also take an unchanged line-up in to their first Super Eights clash. The experiment of Kallis opening with Loots Bosman was abandoned after the loss to India, and Graeme Smith will be expected to walk out first once again.South Africa (probable) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Loots Bosman, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 AB de Villiers, 5 JP Duminy, 6 Mark Boucher (wk), 7 Albie Morkel, 8 Roelof van der Merwe, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Morne Morkel, 11 Charl Langeveldt.

Pitch and conditions

The first day of action in Barbados resulted in 21 of 34 wickets falling to fast bowlers. Batsmen struggled to adjust to the extra pace and bounce after the slower surfaces in St Lucia and Guyana.

Stats and trivia

• The teams have met in four Twenty20 internationals. New Zealand won the first one, back in 2005, and South Africa have triumphed in the three since then
• During the victory over Zimbabwe, Brendon McCullum became the first man to reach 1000 career runs in Twenty20 internationals and the first man to strike 100 fours
• Daniel Vettori and Graeme Smith are the two most experienced captains in Twenty20 internationals
  

  Quotes

  “We’re going to have to up our ante with our batting. It’s going to be a key area.”
  Mark Greatbatch, the New Zealand coach, wants more from his top order.

South Africa had the better of a scrappy outing in the first Twenty20 yesterday, but there is still some way for them to go before they are back to their best.

The Preview by Liam Brickhill20-May-2010

Match Facts

Thursday, May 20

Start time 1400 (1800 GMT)Ryan McLaren ripped through West Indies on a helpful surface in the first Twenty20•AFP

The Big Picture

South Africa had the better of a scrappy outing in the first Twenty20 yesterday, but although they will have been desperate for a positive start to their tour after the fallout of their unsuccessful World Twenty20 campaign, the circumstances of their victory call for further introspection, and there is still some way for them to go before they are back to their best.To be fair, South Africa can hardly take all the blame the low-intensity, sloppy display of the first match. Although the outfield held up well, the pitch at the Sir Vivian Richards stadium remains substandard, especially for limited-overs cricket, and West Indies’ efforts in the game were hardly inspirational. The stadium was only around a tenth full, and it remains to be seen whether today’s game will attract more local interest.South Africa have made something of a fresh start in the shorter formats, with Herschelle Gibbs and Mark Boucher left out, with Alviro Petersen and Ryan McLaren slotting in to the line-up, with AB de Villiers keeping wicket. While Petersen, who normally plays as an opening batsman, failed when brought in at No. 7, McLaren took his chances to record the second-best bowling figures in Twenty20 history with 5 for 19.After a wearily familiar performance from West Indies yesterday, in which they performed well in fits and starts but never built up any consistency as a team, it may be time for them to do some re-thinking and clearing out too. Indeed, Chris Gayle has warned his underperforming batsmen that their time is running out, and the side will be under intense pressure to perform today.

Form guide (most recent first)

South Africa WLLWW
West Indies LLWLW

Watch out for…

Given the gloves for the first time in T20 International’s last game, AB De Villiers did a sterling job. Chances were easily snaffled and his leg-side stumping of Narsingh Deonarine off Johan Botha was exhilarating. However, with the bat for South Africa he’s flickered without firing for too long in this format. The pitch may not be easy but it’s time for him to lift his and South Africa’s game.When things start to go wrong, West Indies can too often let their shoulders slump and allow the game to drift. One man, though, is always fighting, always bustling and always believing. Dwayne Bravo may be struggling for form with the ball but he was West Indies’ best batsman in the opening fixture and, given the responsibility of batting three, could be the man to carry a fragile batting line-up.

Team news

Shivnarine Chanderpaul was left out of the line-up for the first game, but with West Indies under pressure after their defeat he could well come back in to provide some stability to a shaky top order. Andre Fletcher failed with the bat, but looked sharp behind the stumps and should retain his place, although whether he opens or comes in down the order remains to be seen.West Indies (possible) 1 Chris Gayle (capt), 2 Shivnarine Chanderpaul, 3 Dwayne Bravo, 4 Ramnaresh Sarwan, 5 Kieron Pollard, 6 Andre Fletcher (wk), 7 Darren Sammy, 8 Jerome Taylor, 9 Nikita Miller, 10 Sulieman Benn, 11 Kemar Roach.South Africa’s experiment with Alviro Petersen down the order didn’t quite work out in the first game, and they could well opt to bring in 20-year-old Dolphins left-hander, David Miller, who made a 60-ball 115 for South Africa A during their recent match against Bangladesh A in Mirpur.South Africa (possible) 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Loots Bosman, 3 Jacques Kallis, 4 AB de Villiers (wk), 5 David Miller, 6 JP Duminy, 7 Johan Botha, 8 Ryan McLaren, 9 Dale Steyn, 10 Roelof van der Merwe, 11 Charl Langeveldt

Pitch and conditions

The outfield at the Sir Vivian Richards Stadium looked far improved from the sandpit that lead to the farcical abandoned Test during England’s tour last year, if a little on the slow side. But the pitch had a mottled hue, and was unpredictably two-paced. It seemed to have settled down a touch by the time West Indies batted, but conditions for the batsmen are likely to be less than friendly today once again.

Stats and trivia

• Ryan McLaren’s figures of 5 for 19 in the first game are the second-best in Twenty20 history, behind Umar Gul’s stunning 5 for 6 against New Zealand. He also became just the fourth bowler to register a five-wicket haul in the format, and Darren Sammy is one of the three other bowlers to reach the feat.
  

  Quotes

  “We all know the nature of T20 cricket – the bowler is always up against it.”
  Ryan McLaren talks up his man-of-the-match winning 5 for 19.
  “We have to pick ourselves up. This is no time for pointing fingers.”
  Chris Gayle urges his side to remain motivated despite their loss in the opening game.

Shaun Tait hopes to be able to kick start Australia’s one-day series against England at Old Trafford with some express pace after his surprise call into the touring squad

Cricinfo staff26-Jun-2010Shaun Tait hopes to be able to kick-start Australia’s one-day campaign against England with express pace after his surprise call into the touring squad. The tourists are 2-0 down following defeats at the Rose Bowl and in Cardiff and Tait was summoned ahead of the third ODI at Old Trafford after Nathan Hauritz, the offspinner, was forced to fly home with a foot injury while there are also concerns over Ryan Harris who has a groin injury.Tait, who has retired from first-class cricket since his brittle body couldn’t withstand the strain, has been playing in the Friends Provident t20 for Glamorgan and was given a hint by touring selector Merv Hughes that a call could be coming as he watched Thursday’s match. His last ODI was in February 2009 and since then he has forged a specialist Twenty20 career, playing a key part in Australia’s progress to the World Twenty20 final in Barbados.While his body can’t cope with the stress of first-class cricket, he continues to push the speed gun to its limits in limited-overs cricket and will provide the cutting edge to an Australian attack, lacking a host of key quicks, that has struggled to contain England’s batting in the first two one-dayers.”Hopefully there are a couple of overs in there that I can make an impact and if I do get a game and get a couple of early wickets,” he said. “We’ll see what happens here. It tends to reverse swing a bit up here in Manchester from what I have seen in the past.”Tait’s one-day recall will be a new test of his fitness after he has remained injury-free through a whole season for the first time in his career but he doesn’t know whether hitting top pace throughout 10 overs is a realistic aim.”I am not sure about that, we will see,” he said, “but no doubt about it, I will be able to get through. You never know with the speed gun it just depends on the day you turn up and see how your body is feeling. You have those days when you come out and bowl with good pace and some days not so much. All I can do is give it every thing you want.”He is also hoping to begin correcting a poor record on English soil. In seven matches for Glamorgan this season he has five wickets and in 2004 he had a forgettable stint with Durham where 18 first-class overs cost 176. He made his Test debut in the following summer’s Ashes series, but struggled to make a major impact at Trent Bridge or The Oval.”The times I have bowled in England I have not gone that well,” he said. “I played a couple Tests here and I had a stint with Durham which was terrible when I was younger and for Glamorgan I have bowled okay, nothing brilliant. So we will see how we go and hopefully I can improve on that.”His call-up has also raised hopes that he will be considered for Australia’s World Cup campaign in the subcontinent next year, where express pace and the ability to find reverse swing will be valuable. Tait played a key role in the 2007 tournament in the Caribbean when he helped spearhead Australia’s unbeaten campaign.”It is nice to be back in the squad and that the selectors are still thinking of me as a one-day cricketer which is fantastic,” he said. “We have another set of fast bowlers on the sidelines at the moment that are pretty handy. It will be pretty interesting to see what the set up is like leading into the World Cup. For now I will just concentrate on this game and hopefully help Australia get this series.”

The ongoing limited-overs series between Canada and USA will determine who goes on to participate in the Women’s World Cup Qualifier to be held in Bangladesh in 2012

Cricinfo staff14-Jul-2010The ongoing limited-overs series between Canada and USA will determine who goes on to participate in the Women’s World Cup Qualifier to be held in Bangladesh in 2012. USA won the first of the three games comfortably in King City, Ontario.Canada, who are led by Mona Persaud, qualified for this series by virtue of their victory in the 2009 Americas Region Women’s Championship, where the USA were runners-up. Each of the three games will be held in King City, with the winner moving a step closer towards qualifying for the 2013 Women’s World Cup in India.George Codrington, the Canada coach, said his team was up to the challenge. “We have had a good week’s training camp in Toronto before the big games and the girls have been training all spring – they’re ready,” he said.Chandra Gocool, Cricket Canada’s CEO recognized the growing importance of women’s cricket and Canada’s women’s team. “Over the past few years we have stepped up our commitment to the women’s program and we have seen marked improvement at the highest levels. We are excited to see more and more women participating in cricket across the country in recent years. It’s a positive sign for the future of the women’s teams.”The teams also play two Twenty20 games on Saturday.Canada squad: Mona Persaud (capt), Kim Coulter, Nicole Gallagher, Helene Gaffney, Jennifer Gruno, Mahwish Khan, Monali Patel, Santhiya Rajaram, Kiran Samra, Natasha Springett, Suthershini Sivanantham, Sheryl Tittlemier, Mikaela Turik, Saniyah Zia, Vindhya Varanasi

Northamptonshire moved back into contention for promotion in the County Championship by upsetting the odds with a four-wicket win against Worcestershire at New Road

31-Jul-2010

ScorecardNorthamptonshire moved back into contention for promotion in the County Championship by upsetting the odds with a four-wicket win against Worcestershire at New Road.Successfully chasing 223 on the third afternoon, they completed an outstanding recovery after trailing by 129 runs on an unpredictable pitch. Having bowled out the home side for 93 in their second innings – the third lowest total in the Championship this summer – they sealed their sixth victory of the season after a mature performance by Alex Wakely.The former England Under-19 batsman made a crucial 68 with 12 boundaries, and after losing three wickets in quick succession, Northamptonshire eased over the line with two fours from David Murphy in the second over after tea. Wakely, at 21, is still making his way in the first-class game but he was not lacking in composure after beginning his innings when Richard Jones pounced from cover to run out Ben Howgego for the second time in the match.Initially watchful in a valuable stand of 45 with Stephen Peters, he successfully resisted the main challenge from Matt Mason and Alan Richardson. The veteran seamers were again a handful in helpful conditions, but Peters made an important 37 before jabbing the fifth ball of Richardson’s second spell to Daryl Mitchell at second slip.The match then took a decisive turn as David Sales bounced back from a first-ball dismissal on the previous day. Gradually finding his timing to hit eight boundaries, the former captain made 46 from 67 balls until he was lbw to a full-length delivery from Mason.This could have been a damaging blow for a side missing a number of senior batsmen but Newton more than proved he was up to the task. Born in Somerset and brought up in East Anglia, he completed a productive debut with scores of 23 and 33.Although there was some turn to help Worcestershire, Shakib Al Hasan was unable to make an impact when bowling 10 overs for 35 runs. Instead it was off-spinner Moeen Ali who removed Wakely with a catch at short leg by Alexei Kervezee. There were still some alarms before the job was completed. Like Howgego, Andrew Hall was run out for a second time and Newton brushed a catch behind the wicket in the following over from James Cameron.Earlier, Northamptonshire kept their target within reasonable bounds by mopping up Worcestershire’s last two wickets for the addition of 21 runs. Hall (two for 10) claimed a 35th birthday success when Mason, attempting to pull, edged to the wicketkeeper after driving a six off James Middlebrook.Even then, the former Essex off-spinner had conceded only 23 runs when Jones became his third victim, leg-before wicket to the second ball of his 10th over.

Ireland’s trip to Zimbabwe has been confirmed, and in addition to the Intercontinental Cup match against Zimbabwe XI, three one-day internationals between the senior national teams have been arranged

Cricinfo staff26-Aug-2010Ireland’s trip to Zimbabwe has been confirmed, and in addition to the Intercontinental Cup match against a Zimbabwe XI, three one-day internationals between the senior national teams have been arranged. All of the games will take place in Harare, with the four-day fixture starting on Monday September 20. The ODIs follow on September 26, 27 and 30.Zimbabwe withdrew from Test cricket in 2006 and were subsequently admitted to the Intercontinental Cup on the understanding that their four home games would be played at neutral venues. But along with the relative political stability in the country, Zimbabwe Cricket has worked hard to improve its structures after divisive squabbling between players and administrators had wrecked cricket in the country.There had been some speculation as to whether Ireland would make the trip at all, and for a time there had been a possibility that the Intercontinental Cup fixture would take place in South Africa. But both Kenya and Afghanistan recently played their Intercontinental Cup matches in Zimbabwe, who also hosted Sri Lanka and India in a one-day tri-series in June this year, so the pressure on Ireland to make the trip was always going to be immense. Now that their tour has been confirmed, it is almost certain that Scotland – who are scheduled to play Zimbabwe XI in the middle of October – will also make the trip.The Zimbabwe XI are currently in third place behind Afghanistan and Scotland in the Intercontinental Cup, having drawn against Afghanistan and beaten Kenya, Netherlands and Canada. Ireland are fifth on the points table after draws against Scotland and Kenya and a loss to Afghanistan at Dambulla.

A day after the ICC launched a formal investigation into Pakistan’s win in the third ODI at The Oval, Ijaz Butt has hit back at what he believes to be a “conspiracy to defraud Pakistan and Pakistan cricket”

Osman Samiuddin19-Sep-2010In an extraordinary outburst, PCB chairman Ijaz Butt has pointed a finger at the English cricketers for their role in the batting collapse that cost England the ODI at Oval and said the board was investigating a conspiracy, involving “august cricket bodies”, to defraud Pakistan and Pakistan cricket.In a prepared statement read out to ESPNcricinfo – and repeated on Pakistan TV channels – a day after the ICC started a formal investigation into Pakistan’s win in the third ODI at The Oval, he also launched thinly-veiled attacks on the ICC, some cricket boards and the media.”This is not a conspiracy to defraud bookies but a conspiracy to defraud Pakistan and Pakistan cricket,” Butt said. “We have taken it in hand to start our own investigations. We will shortly reveal the names of the people, the parties and the bodies involved in this sinister conspiracy and we also reserve the right to sue them for damages.”There is loud and clear talk in bookie circles that some English players have taken enormous amounts of money to lose the match [the third ODI]. No wonder there was such a collapse.”When asked by this reporter whether the board had any proof of the allegations regarding English players, Butt responded with a question: “Did you ask the other people who made allegations against our players whether they had any proof? What did they say? We have thought about this properly and we have positive proofs here before us just like they say they have also.”Butt then concluded his statement: “We feel the media in certain countries is biased and not fair. We feel august cricket bodies are also involved in this conspiracy, which will damage the great game of cricket.”The statement is an extension of the one the board released late on Saturday indicating its unhappiness with the way the ICC handled the Oval allegations. Nobody in the Pakistan board was informed by the ICC that an official investigation was being launched; the chairman, the team manager and the captain only learned of it through media reports.An ICC spokesperson told ESPNcricinfo they tried to contact Butt all through Friday but his phone was unavailable. “On Saturday morning [after the ICC press release was sent out] we came to know that Mr Butt was in Dubai. Haroon Lorgat [the ICC chief executive] sought out and met Butt in Dubai on Saturday evening and discussed matters of mutual interest,” he said.However, there is no indication that the ICC tried to contact anyone else in the PCB, nor tried to reach Butt – who was in New Delhi after meeting the ICC president Sharad Pawar – through any number other than his Pakistan mobile.The PCB also seems unhappy with the official implication that Pakistan’s batsmen were under the scanner. Though the ICC didn’t point the finger at Pakistan in their statement – though did so in their report – the subsequent statement from the ECB confirmed that no English players were involved.”One statement from a very august official of the ICC said no, only Pakistan players were involved,” Butt said, though he refused to elaborate.Butt also refused to give more details of the nature of the board’s investigation, though he said it had already begun. “I will be revealing names of people and organisations who are involved in this, so I don’t want to comment more on the investigations just now. Details will come out only once our investigations are complete.”Butt’s comments may well signal the final nail in the coffin of the PCB’s relationship with the ICC, if they have not completely broken down already. Under Butt’s tenure, the two have clashed consistently. In 2009, the PCB threatened to take the ICC to court after Pakistan was removed as a venue from the 2011 World Cup, following the Lahore terror attacks on Sri Lanka in March. The dispute was resolved out of court but tensions have simmered consistently since.They boiled over again in the aftermath of allegations of spot-fixing during the fourth Test at Lord’s. The ICC provisionally suspended the three players at the centre of the scandal, Salman Butt, Mohammad Asif and Mohammad Amir, after the Pakistan board refused to do so. At a press conference in Lahore soon after he returned, the board chairman expressed his unhappiness with the ICC’s decision while a police investigation was still ongoing against the three.Butt then went to Delhi to discuss the investigation and allegations with Sharad Pawar, the ICC president. He travelled on Saturday to Dubai, the ICC HQ, though it is unclear whether he has met with officials there. He said, however, that he would raise these issues at the next ICC meeting, on October 11.

India won the three-ODI series 1-0 as the final match was abandoned without a ball being bowled in Margao

ESPNcricinfo staff24-Oct-2010Match abandoned
ScorecardIndia won the three-ODI series 1-0 as the final match was abandoned without a ball being bowled in Margao. Heavy rain on the eve of the game clogged the ground and, though the weather was clear on match day, the outfield was not suitable for play.The result meant a winless tour for Australia. The last time they experienced something similar in India was on their tour in 2008-09 where they drew the tour game and lost the Tests 0-2.The first ODI in Kochi was also washed out in similar circumstances. It was an unfortunate result for the locals who had turned up at the stadium. The series was effectively reduced to a solitary game in Visakhapatnam and both teams took a couple of positives.For India, Virat Kohli scored a century to move ahead of Rohit Sharma in the selection pecking order and R Ashwin impressed with the ball. India, though, struggled in the end overs with Australia looting 84 from the final five overs. For Australia, Michael Clarke made a century after a disappointing performance in the Test series, in which he managed just 35 runs in four innings. Mitchell Starc, the 20-year old left-arm seamer, made a promising debut and the other debutant John Hastings too had a decent outing.