The controversy surrounding Muttiah Muralitharan’s run-out in the first Test at Christchurch has been reignited by Stephen Fleming, New Zealand’s captain, on the eve of the second Test at Wellington. Two days after Sri Lanka said they had put the issue behind them – while maintaining the run out was bad sportsmanship – Fleming accused the tourists of taking the gloss off New Zealand’s five-wicket victory.”We won’t necessarily move on,” he told reporters. “It’s a mistake by them and they covered it up by taking the moral high ground. We won a good Test match and it’s been diluted by that situation. We’re very proud of any Test win we get and to have that not mentioned or talked about is annoying.”Mahela Jayawardene, Fleming’s opposite number, was surprised that the issue had been brought up again but stood by his original opinion. “I’ve played enough cricket to know that was unsportsmanlike,” he said. “It’s over for us now. If Stephen wants to talk about it then he obviously has something in his mind which is bothering him.”New Zealand’s batting has been an issue of concern – as Fleming pointed out, “We weren’t convincing winners [in Christchurch], there’s still enough areas of concern to have us twitchy going into this game,” – and the major threat remains Muralitharan.New Zealand’s top spinner, meanwhile, has voiced his opinion on the seam-friendly pitches used both at Christchurch and Wellington. “It’s disappointing, it makes it tough being a spin bowler in this country,” Daniel Vettori told stuff.co.nz. “It makes it difficult growing up aspiring to be a spin bowler. What do you have to look forward to? You want wickets that everyone can play a role in. I haven’t seen those for an extended period of time. In terms of the wickets we play on and the conditions, you get so much more done with fast bowling and medium pace.”Vettori admitted that playing a supporting role on such pitches was difficult. “It’s a little bit depressing sometimes not actually bowling,” he said. “I’m so used to contributing in most games I play that when you stand out in the field and not do much it makes it tough.”In Vettori’s view, such pitches could precipitate a downslide in New Zealand’s fortunes overseas.”If we want to produce teams to win test matches we need to keep encouraging spinners to come through the system because otherwise we’re never going to consistently win overseas,” he said. “The only teams that win in India and Pakistan, and even Australia, are teams with good spin bowlers. If you don’t have one of those you’re not going to compete at Test-match level.”Teams (from):New Zealand: Stephen Fleming (capt), Craig Cumming, Jamie How, Mathew Sinclair, Nathan Astle, Jacob Oram, Brendon McCullum (wk), Daniel Vettori, James Franklin, Shane Bond, Chris Martin, Iain O’Brien (one to be omitted).Sri Lanka: Mahela Jayawardene (capt), Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Kumar Sangakkara, Tillekaratane Dilshan, Chamara Kapugedera, Chamara Silva, Prasanna Jayawardene (wk), Farveez Maharoof, Chaminda Vaas, Lasith Malinga, Dilhara Fernando, Akalanka Ganegama, Muttiah Muralitharan (three to be omitted).

The PCB has responded to charges in a local newspaper of nepotism and cronyism among journalists while asserting that Nasim Ashraf, chairman of the board, remains committed to the reorganization of the administration of cricket on modern lines.A column in , a Karachi-based daily, by Saad Shafqat, a local writer, claimed that the current chairman had appointed relatives to key positions in the organization, as well as allegedly currying favour among journalists by sending them, at the board’s expense, to the tour in South Africa.But in a response published in today, Ahsan Malik, PCB director communications and media, categorically denied the charges. “Recently there were some untrue assertions reported in an article in dated January 10. For the record, let me categorically state that there is no relative of the chairman employed in the Board, as erroneously reported in that article.”Second, it is totally false that any journalist was sent to South Africa by the PCB at its expense. As a matter of fact, we are developing an open and transparent policy where sport journalists would be asked to cover international tours on rotation basis with cost sharing by their respective Newspapers/organizations.”Malik also expanded on Ashraf’s tenure as chairman so far, detailing a number of achievements since he took over in October last year. “The long-standing issue of ad-hocism is now finally set to get resolved as the board constitution is expected to be implemented this month. Also, a complete audit of the organization has also been carried out by reputable firms like Fergusson Associates and KPMG.”Ashraf has had to face a number of controversies in this period and Malik insisted they had been handled as openly and efficiently as possible. The doping scandal, which saw Shoaib Akhtar and Mohammad Asif banned and then reinstated within a month, was one such. “Pakistan is one of the four countries carrying out internal voluntary drug screening since 2003.”We recalled Shoaib and Asif rather than sweeping the issue under the carpet. The management then followed the laid down procedure and appointed an independent commission to deal with the doping case which was overturned by an Appellant Tribunal on technical/legal grounds. But whatever the final outcome, the PCB handled the issue in a transparent and an open manner.”There has been progress on the domestic front as well, says Malik. New corporate sponsor partnerships have been created, a benefit not lost on this year’s Quaid-e-Azam trophy and the Twenty20 tournament. “Prize money for the Quaid-e-Azam and Patron’s Trophy has been increased significantly, junior level tours are being increased to provide experience to the youngsters while women’s cricket has also been given special attention. Pakistan has now earned the right to host women world cup qualifying rounds this year.”New coaches have been hired at the academy and an Under-15 talent hunt was launched. The organisation of a national school championship will eventually see 25 youngsters undergoing a month’s training at the academy with subsequent tours to South Africa or Sri Lanka.”The board has also set up a pension scheme for former Test players, while regional associations have been given a degree of financial autonomy, a policy in direct contrast to the last administration. “A decision has been taken to plough all revenue from gate-money back to the local associations.”

Kenya’s players met with board officials at Cricket Kenya’s headquarters on Thursday after expressing unhappiness at not receiving their match fees for the abandoned tri-series match against Canada at Mombasa last month.The game was called off after Canada informed match officials that they were unable to field a side because of illness in their squad. Under ICC regulations, that means the game was deemed never to have started and, as such, Cricket Kenya did not pay its players appearance fees of between $60 and $90 each. The players, however, believed that this money should have been forthcoming even though the game was scrapped the day before and they never even left their hotel. They still received their $30 daily allowance on the day concerned.”We were concerned about our allowances for the Canada match,” Thomas Odoyo, the Kenya allrounder, told Kenya’s , “but that matter has now been resolved. With that issue now behind us, we can now focus all our attention on training.”Cricinfo has learned that the board agreed to pay the fees as a one-off, on the understanding that this did not set a precedent.The news comes days after Cricket Kenya announced its players would each receive $5000 bonuses for their success in the World Cricket League last week.”We will pay them this appearance fee soon and they have agreed to resume training,” Tom Tikolo, Cricket Kenya’s chief executive said. “They are now settled and we don’t anticipate any more issues. They [the players] also expressed concern regarding the issue of World Cup bonuses and we assured them they would get paid on time.”

Habibul Bashar expects a tough test from Canada when Bangladesh play their second tri-series match in Antigua and also revealed that there are lingered fitness concerns around key strike bowler Mashrafe Mortaza.”Mortaza had a minor foot injury before the last match and was rested,” Basher told . “That problem is gone but he is now complaining of back-pain. The physio feels it is not anything too serious but we have to wait and see whether he’ll be available to face Canada.”Basher said his team won’t underestimate the Canadians. “We haven’t had a chance to watch [them] in action but from the information I have received they seem like a decent side,” he added. “Gus Logie [Bermuda ‘s coach] told me that he thinks this Canadian team is better than the one that appeared in the 2003 World Cup.”Also, they have won a practice game here against Antigua where they chased 231 with five wickets and more than seven overs to spare. Bermuda were okay but I believe Canada will be stronger.”Bashar said the return of Shahadat Hossain, Bangladesh’s quickest bowler, is one certain change to their line-up for the second match, but he thought the team did well in all departments against Bermuda.”We were playing without our two main fast bowlers [Mortaza and Shahadat] but the others did not do a bad job. The wickets here are excellent for batting and there is not much turn for the spinners so the bowlers did well in checking the runs. All the batsmen looked in good touch too.”

Ricky Ponting has insisted Australia’s shock defeat to Bangladesh two years ago won’t be a factor when the two sides meet on Saturday in Antigua.Australia, unbeaten in World Cup matches since their 1999 group match against Pakistan, are favourites to win the Super Eights clash. However, Bangladesh beat them by five wickets at Cardiff in 2005 led by a 101-ball 100 by Mohammad Ashraful. Before that game Andrew Symonds had been dropped from the Australian side after a late-night drinking session and Ponting said lessons from the extraordinary reverse had long since been learnt.”We’ve worked it out. A lot’s been said about it already,” said Ponting. “It’s long gone and forgotten about as far as we are concerned. We just didn’t play at our best that day and there was a bit of other stuff happening around the ground.”I had a few things on my mind during the course of the day. We lost that game, Bangladesh played well, we made a lot of mistakes and hopefully we are a better team tomorrow than we were on that day. I think we are.”The cricket you’ve seen us play the last few weeks would indicate that tomorrow, the way we are going at the moment, that we should be able to play cricket good enough to win this game. That’s all we’ve been focused on the last couple of days.”We played a very good game against South Africa , an excellent game against West Indies . We feel we are very well prepared, we’ve played a game here we should know these conditions pretty well.”Australia beat South Africa by 83 runs and West Indies by 103 runs and have posted a record-total of 300 plus scores six times in a row.Bangladesh beat India in the group stage and are no longer considered minnows by the rest of the teams including Australia. “They are in the Super Eights part of the World Cup tournament so you have to pay them the attention they deserve,” Ponting said.”We have spoken about it. They’ve probably used the minnow tag very well in their favour. I think they are actually a bit better than that. They have improved a lot, there’s no doubt about that. They almost beat us in a Test match when we went straight there after South Africa last year.”They’ve got some young players who are very capable on their day and we have prepared for them as we would a South Africa, a West Indies or a New Zealand game. We’ve seen some good young talent come out of Bangladesh and hopefully they continue to improve – just not tomorrow.”

Michael Hussey is happy with his batting form despite scoring only 20 runs in his opening five World Cup matches. While Australia’s top order has fired, posting four 300-plus scores, Hussey has struggled at No. 6 with 4, 2, 5 and 9.”I’ve been hitting the ball well in the nets,” Hussey, who has dropped two spots to No. 3 in the world rankings, told AFP. “But I haven’t really had too many opportunities.”The strong form of the batsmen above him has limited Hussey’s time at the crease and he may be shuffled down another spot if Australia prefer Brad Hodge to Mitchell Johnson for the game against England on Sunday. “I’ve only been coming out in the last three, four or five overs when you have to take a lot of risks,” he said. “Unfortunately for me they haven’t come off in the last couple of games and I hope that will turn around in the next couple of games.”That’s part of one-day cricket and part and parcel of my job. It’s an important job in the team and one I really enjoy a lot. But I know there are going to be times throughout this tournament when I might have to come in when the team is in a bit of trouble and resurrect the innings. I need to be ready for that when it comes.”Hussey knows his role and is happy alongside Australia’s power hitters. “I can’t bat like a Ricky Ponting or an Adam Gilchrist or an Andrew Symonds, I have my particular style,” he said. “In our team we complement each other very well. It’s important for me to stick to my plans and my game.”

Victoria have signed Matthew Wade, the Tasmanian wicketkeeper-batsman, in a move Wade hopes will increase his chances of playing state cricket next season. Wade, 19, made his limited-overs debut for the Tigers in 2006-07 as a specialist batsman but managed only one match.With Sean Clingeleffer re-establishing his place in the Tasmania Pura Cup team and Tim Paine looking settled behind the stumps in the one-day competition, Wade believed his opportunities in his home state would be limited. “Tasmania has a strong squad and I’m really grateful for the time I spent there, but the reality for me was that I was third in line as far as the keeping position was concerned,” Wade said.”I’m hoping that with a fresh start with Victoria and more hard work, I can create greater opportunities to play state cricket. I’m really looking forward to joining the Bushrangers.” Wade, a left-hand batsman and former Australia Under-19 representative, could pose a serious threat to Adam Crosthwaite, who has established himself as Victoria’s first-choice wicketkeeper over the past two seasons.Greg Shipperd, the Victoria coach who has also led Tasmania, saw Wade’s development as a young player and was thoroughly impressed. “He’s a pocket rocket,” Shipperd told the . “What he does do is score hundreds, and he has consistently done that since his junior days. He’s got a good technique, really solid. He could really challenge as a batter and a keeper. And it will present Adam with a serious challenge with healthy competition for a place in the side coming into the group.”Tim Coyle, the Tasmania coach, said Wade was a talented player and the Tigers had offered him a two-year senior contract to entice him to stay. “We understand that Victoria guaranteed him selection in its Pura Cup team to win his signature,” Coyle said.”We are not in a position to guarantee any player a game of first-class cricket as we prefer to see people earn the right to represent Tasmania at this level. But in saying this, we wish Matthew all the best for the future.” Wade, who was named Tasmania’s Young Player of the Year in March for the second consecutive season, is part of the 16-man Australian Institute of Sport intake for this year.

Shoaib Akhtar has been dropped from the Asian team for the Afro-Asia Cup due to lack of fitness. Mohsin Khan, a member of the Asian Cricket Council’s selection committee has said that Akhtar had not yet fully recovered from a knee injury.”We have dropped Shoaib Akhtar from Asia’s squad because it has been reliably learnt that he is facing fitness problems,” Khan said. He cited Akhtar’s unavailability from the Pakistani squad for the three-match Abu Dhabi series against Sri Lanka. “If a player doesn’t think himself to be fit enough to play for his own country then how can he play for any other team,” he said. Khan added that he had spoken to Pakistan Cricket Board officials to ascertain Akhtar’s level of fitness.Interestingly, Akhtar was selected for the Afro-Asia series after he had made himself unavailable for the Abu Dhabi series and despite having not played in the recently concluded World Cup due to injury. In fact he had played a solitary Test and four ODIs in the past year. Soon after being selected he said he was considering dropping out of the Afro-Asia Cup, citing personal commitments, but changed his stance a few days later, making himself available.Mohammad Yousuf and Mohammad Asif are the remaining Pakistani representatives in the Asian squad after Akhtar’s exit. The Afro-Asia Cup, comprising a Twenty20 match and three ODIs, will be held in India between June 5th and 10th.

Tom Moody has ruled out a return to international coaching in the immediate future and he is looking forward to “three to five years” with Western Australia. Moody has confirmed his decision to relocate to Perth was based mostly on family reasons.”I’ve had a taste of international cricket – it’s very demanding, particularly when you’ve got a young family,” Moody told . “At this stage of my life and career, I don’t see myself looking at international posts in a short or mid-term. Who knows in the long term what will happen? Certainly in the next three to five years I look forward to working at this level.”Moody quit as Sri Lanka’s coach after the World Cup and despite being mentioned as a candidate for several other international positions, he signed a three-year deal with Western Australia. He said the chance to return to where he had scored a state-record 8853 Pura Cup runs was ideal for him, as well as his wife and two children.”When I sat down and looked at what the important things are in my life at this stage, it became pretty clear and then it became a lot easier,” he said. “This was a terrific opportunity for me to relocate the family to a place that I grew up in and am very fond of, and have the opportunity to work at the WACA where I’ve had many, many enjoyable years as a player.”Moody said he did not expect his arrival to revolutionise the Warriors, and better results on the field could only be achieved if the players constantly challenged themselves. One of the main differences next season will be the change in captaincy, after Justin Langer stepped down from the role.”With the change of chief executive with Graeme (Wood) heading the WACA and a new coach involved, it’s probably the right time to look for the next three to five years,” Moody said. “I don’t think Justin has quite got that left in him, but he may have one or two years. The timing was probably right and we’ve got plenty of candidates who I’m sure will be eager to take on that responsibility.”However, Langer will play on for the Warriors, meaning he is almost certain to break Moody’s state record for runs scored next season. Sitting third on that all-time list is another player who will occasionally represent Western Australia in 2007-08, Michael Hussey.

According to reports in today’s papers, Lord’s is fighting for its right to host two Tests a summer. There are simply too many venues and too few big matches to go around, and the likes of Chester-le-Street and the Rose Bowl are agitating for their share of the action.Today’s extraordinary events in St John’s Wood, however, could hardly have been more timely for the MCC. Back in the winter of 2003, they took the bold decision to dig up and relay the entire square, at the cost of £1.25 million. Today, as two months’ worth of rain fell on the ground and then vanished, that investment was justified a million times over.Other grounds up and down the country would simply never have coped with the deluge – Worcestershire’s flooded executives at New Road, for instance, can only look on in envy as they contemplate the cost of aborting their second home fixture in a row. It’s a moot point whether England’s batsmen were quite so enamoured by Lord’s powers of recovery, however.”We were surprised we were playing as early as we did, considering the rain we had,” said James Anderson, ever England’s master of understatement. At 12.30 this afternoon, there was simply no way back for the day – the top tier of the Edrich Stand was doing a passable impression of the Jog Falls, while the Hooghly and the Meghna seemed to have been spirited from the Bengal Delta to the Tavern Stand boundary. Two hours (and a frantic scramble for the pads) later, England had lost their last six wickets for 30 in a performance that left a succession of bemused batsmen blinking into the sunlight.The rain had freshened up the pitch and made the ground especially receptive to swing, but England’s mindset seemed to go a little bit rusty in the interim – little wonder, seeing as the same players who had risked trenchfoot as they trudged across the square to the indoor nets were now expected to gather their thoughts and face a trio of fast bowlers who had learned swift lessons after their wayward performance on the first morning.India’s transformation was as dramatic as the weather itself. Venkatesh Prasad, the bowling coach who performed with such distinction on the 1996 tour, doubtless impressed the importance of keeping things simple as Sreesanth, the pick of the attack with three lbws in 14 balls, spoke of hitting the “right areas” no fewer than six times in a five-minute chat with the media.”Maybe the rain helped us, we really enjoyed ourselves in the dressing room,” said Sreesanth. “It was a good break and we were really together. I listened to a lot of music, just relaxing, and the moment the umpires said the game is on from 1.50pm, I said ‘okay cool’.” Such an angst-free attitude will carry the squad far.India’s progress was so serene, in fact, that they were able to make light of the sort of moment that might have caused a more highly strung unit to snap. When Kevin Pietersen edged Zaheer Khan to MS Dhoni behind the stumps and trudged off for 37, he had made it all the way to the pavilion gate before turning round to find that the umpires were still in consultation about the legitimacy of the catch. Two balls later, he was on his way again – another edge, another take and this time no dispute.

It was a messy situation all round. The umpires are entitled to change their decision at any stage, although it was ironic that Pietersen, perhaps in the spirit of the recent Cowdrey Lecture at Lord’s, had walked for the edge before Simon Taufel had raised his finger. But Steve Bucknor was less certain, as were certain members of the England dressing room who caught Pietersen’s attention as he reached the rope.”A few of the guys spotted it, but I’m not sure exactly what happened,” said Anderson. It mattered not in the end. Rarely has Pietersen looked so confused on a cricket pitch – his on-off switch had been flicked so many times in the course of the hour his lights had effectively fused.By the day’s end, however, England’s bowlers had turned the situation to their favour, as the young-gun attack of Anderson, Ryan Sidebottom and Chris Tremlett made light of their rookie status with a performance that was as mature as it was professional. They may boast just 23 caps between them, but lurking in the dressing-room is a man with a lifetime of situational experience to hand out.Allan Donald was actually ushered off the pitch by the umpires as he attempted to bring on the drinks and a few words of advice, but his influence had already been ingrained in his charges. “He has a very different approach – he talks more about match situations and less about run-ups,” said Anderson. In his previous incarnation as an England cricketer, Anderson was as anonymous as the fifth Beatle, notable only for the way in which he would wheel away at a single stump during Test-match intervals.Now he is leading England’s line, his confidence restored after classy performances in the championship for Lancashire, and massaged by the scalps of both Rahul Dravid and Sachin Tendulkar. “I felt during the one-day matches a little more responsibility, and I enjoyed that today,” he said. “I see this as a chance to show what sort of form I’m in and what I can do.”