T&T reach semis, Windwards make it four in four

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A round-up of matches from the Caribbean T20 on January 19

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Jan-2012Windward Islands sealed their fourth straight win in the Caribbean T20, edging past Guyana in a closely-fought, rain-affected game at the Kensington Oval in Barbados. Choosing to field, Guyana, relying on important contributions from opener Sewnarine Chattergoon (27) and captain Christopher Barnwell (32) and a late surge from Veerasammy Permaul, reached 140 for 8 in 20 overs. Darren Sammy picked up 3 for 11, excellent figures in a four-over spell. All of his wickets came in one over.Rain intervened after Windwards had reached 5 without loss in the chase, and the target was revised to 119 in 16 overs and Windwards just about managed that. Opener Johnson Charles led the way with 65, off 43 balls, striking three fours and three sixes. Charles was the third wicket to fall with the score on 88, and Windwards needed 31 off 21 balls at the time.Though Devendra Bishoo bowled economically, picking three for 15 in four overs, Devon Smith saw Windwards through, making an unbeaten 25 off 19 balls with two fours and a six. In the final over, at the fall of Shane Shillingford’s wicket, Windwards needed 3 off 3 balls and the win was sealed off the last ball of the match. Windwards are among the two decided semi-finalists.In another rain-affected match at the same venue, Trinidad and Tobago brushed aside Canada, winning by eight wickets and sealing their place in the semi-finals. Canada, after opting to bat, began in encouraging fashion, their openers Hiral Patel and Ruvindu Gunasekera adding 43 for the first wicket. But the innings fell apart after that, nine wickets falling for 56 runs. No one else, apart from the extras column, reached double-figures and Canada were kept to 99 for 9. Ravi Rampaul was the wrecker-in-chief, taking 4 for 26, and Dwayne Bravo helped him out with 3 for 20 in four overs.T&T lost Lendl Simmons early and Adrian Barath was given out obstructing the field upon deviating the wicketkeeper’s throw. Darren Bravo and Denesh Ramdin, however, ensured there were no further hiccups. Rain halted play in the 12th over and the target was revised to 91 in 18 overs. Darren Bravo top-scored with an unbeaten 42 off 41 balls and Ramdin chipped in with 30 off 27 in a 59-run stand. The win was achieved in the 16th over.

'Secret tiebreak rule helped some franchises'

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The secret tiebreaker rule was devised by Lalit Modi and benefited Mumbai Indians during the 2010 auction, an official from one of the original eight IPL franchises has said

Nagraj Gollapudi08-Feb-2012The secret tiebreaker rule in the IPL player auction was devised by Lalit Modi, the former IPL chairman, and benefited Mumbai Indians during the 2010 auction, an official from one of the original eight IPL franchises has said.The official’s comments were made to ESPNcricinfo after Modi, during an interview to Indian television channel CNN IBN, said the tiebreaker was meant to level the field in the IPL. When asked why the tie-breaker had to be kept secret, Modi chose not to answer the question.”The tiebreaker only came in because, how do you determine when you have a fixed purse for the tournament. And this is well researched, that you reach the cap and still two teams are bidding, secret tie-breaker came as a penalty clause where the team actually pays back a higher fee but it goes back to the BCCI, which is then used to offset other player costs,” Modi said. “But the objective, again, was to make it equal. All bidders get an equal opportunity to buy a player.”The secret tie breaker became a high-earning option for the BCCI as compared to the others – a draw of lots or the toss of a coin – in the case of two teams hitting the League’s player’s salary cap during an auction. The competing franchises are invited to submit secret bids in a sealed envelope, and the highest bidder gets the player. The value of the secret bids are not disclosed and the amount in excess of the maximum open-auction bid goes to the BCCI and not the player.The franchise official said the field had not been level even during Modi’s time as IPL chief as the secret tie-breaker could usually benefit teams with deeper pockets. “The truth is, has there been favouritism in the IPL? Of course there has been,” the official told ESPNcricinfo. “There has been favouritism in the sense, if you create a rule like the tiebreaker, you know it favours only certain franchises. That rule was made by Modi himself and Mumbai Indians were able to get Kieron Pollard in the auction.”So far only three players have been bought via this rule. In the 2010 auction, more than one franchise made the maximum open-auction bid – $750,000 – for Pollard and Shane Bond. During the tiebreakers, Mumbai made the winning bid for Pollard while Kolkata Knight Riders bought Bond. In the 2012 auction on February 4, Chennai Super Kings and Deccan Chargers bid their entire purse – $2 million – for Ravindra Jadeja, forcing the sale to be decided via a tiebreaker, which was won by Chennai.The franchise official also pointed out another example of Modi altering regulations, in the case of the selection of Indian Cricket League players, who were given amnesty after their bans. “The original idea was that there would be draft pick,” the official said, explaining that the franchise with the poorest record would get the first pick. “But instead, Modi said anyone can pick anyone. Mumbai Indians immediately picked R Sathish, Ambati Rayudu and Ali Murtuza, who played a significant part for Mumbai in the first three years. Two of the most significant rule changes, which favoured big teams, happened during Modi’s time.During the interview Modi targeted the BCCI president N Srinivasan, who is also the managing director of India Cements, the company that owns the Super Kings. Modi alleged Srinivasan was bending rules to suit Super Kings’ needs. While the official ESPNcricinfo spoke to said the rules did favour the bigger franchises, he said it was not cheating.”If you ask me, if the system favours Mumbai or Chennai, yes wherever it can. For example if there is a rule that Rs 30 lakhs is the limit (for uncapped domestic players) to come and sign whoever you want, you knew that players would be signed by the big guys and they would pay obscene amounts under the table for the players they wanted. But to say that is cheating, is not correct.”

Shield final coverage resurrected

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Tasmania’s Sheffield Shield title defence against Queensland at the Gabba will now be shown on television after the pay television provider agreed to provide full coverage

Daniel Brettig13-Mar-2012Tasmania’s Sheffield Shield title defence against Queensland at the Gabba will now be shown on television after the pay television provider agreed to provide full coverage of the competition decider.As reported by ESPNcricinfo, the final was set to be played without full television coverage for the first time since 2007, as Fox Sports had decided the schedule was too packed to show the game.The greater number of outside broadcasts required by this summer’s Twenty20 Big Bash League and their attendant cost was also a factor.Instead, Fox had planned to provide a two-camera webcast from the Gabba, with Brendon Julian and Mark Waugh to comment on the match from the studio.However upon returning to work following a Monday public holiday in Melbourne, Cricket Australia and Fox Sports have thrashed out a deal to show the final in full from Friday on its main channels, relegating parts of the concurrent Test match between New Zealand and South Africa in Hamilton to the “red button” multi-channel option.It is understood the extra use of multi-channel technology required an increase in the bandwidth provided to Fox Sports by its parent pay television service Foxtel. The webcast will also go ahead, meaning viewers without a Fox subscription will be able to watch the final.”We are delighted to confirm the Sheffield Shield Final will be broadcast live and in full on Fox Sports and will be streamed simultaneously on the Fox Sports website,” the Fox Sports chief executive Patrick Delany said. “We are committed to over 183 hours of live sport from Friday through to Tuesday so it’s been a challenge with scheduling.”But we’ve worked with Foxtel to enable the match to be broadcast live with coverage of the final two days of the second Test between New Zealand and South Africa moving to Viewer’s Choice and available via the red button on Fox Sports 1.”Fox Sports has broadcast the Sheffield Shield Final live each year since the 2007-08 season and we are once again looking forward to providing live coverage, both on television and online, of one of Australia’s iconic sporting events.”Players on both sides were happy to hear that the match would now be televised, and the Bulls fast bowler Ryan Harris said it provided a greater incentive for the younger players in particular to display their talents.”It’s always good when you’re on TV, it’s always great when you know people are watching,” Harris told ESPNcricinfo. “When I read that it wasn’t being televised I was disappointed, because I myself in the years I’ve been in the country and not played in the final, I’ve sat and watched it. Young guys get recognised if they play well and a lot of people get to know the younger guys and the new guys if they do play well.”Personally it wouldn’t make too much difference because I have had time where I’ve been on TV and got used to that. But for younger guys definitely it will make a big difference, because they know a lot more people are watching, it may add a bit more nerves before they walk out and play. When I heard it was definitely on TV I was happy with that and I’m glad the right decision’s been made.”The ABC will provide a national digital radio broadcast of the final, with local radio stations to offer coverage into Queensland and Tasmania.

Chanderpaul wicket puts Australia on target

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West Indies fought hard on the fourth day in Dominica but the loss of Shivnarine Chanderpaul in the last over left Australia five wickets from victory

The Report by Brydon Coverdale26-Apr-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsShivnarine Chanderpaul made 69 but was out from the last ball of the day•AFP

For 16 years Australian bowlers have been trying to chisel Shivnarine Chanderpaul from the crease. It was fitting, therefore, that on the day when he squirreled away his 10,000th Test run, Chanderpaul spent the afternoon doing what comes naturally: obstructing, counter-attacking and above all frustrating Australia’s Test cricketers as they sought a way into the West Indies lower order in their push for victory.But as has so often been the case, Chanderpaul’s fight appeared insufficient to save West Indies. His departure to a successful Australian review in the final over of the fourth day in Dominica gave Australia an enormous chance of finishing the match early on the fifth day, with West Indies still requiring 197 runs for a highly unlikely victory with five wickets in hand and only one specialist batsman – Narsingh Deonarine on 11 not out – still in play.It was a depressing conclusion for West Indies, who started the day by celebrating Shane Shillingford’s ten-wicket match haul and spent much of the afternoon dreaming of an upset as Chanderpaul and Darren Bravo compiled a century stand in their chase of 370. Michael Clarke tried all sorts of things to break that partnership and the success eventually came through Shane Watson, though it was Clarke’s part-time spin that proved Australia’s best weapon.Clarke was the man who got rid of Chanderpaul for 69 from the first ball of the day’s last over. Clarke had extracted some significant turn from the Windsor Park pitch earlier in the innings and again his spin troubled the batsman, who played and missed a ball ripping in from outside off stump. The umpire’s decision of not out was reviewed by Clarke and replays showed Chanderpaul had been struck in line and the ball would have hit the stumps.It was the perfect end for Australia, who had started with three early wickets before the Chanderpaul-Bravo partnership took hold. Ben Hilfenhaus struck before a run had been scored when Adrian Barath clipped a ball off his pads and was snapped up brilliantly by a diving Ed Cowan at square leg. There was some resistance to come from Kraigg Brathwaite and Kieran Powell, but Clarke’s decision to bowl himself proved an inspired move.Brathwaite was on 14 when he tried to work Clarke from off stump through leg side and it was an ill-advised choice of stroke. The umpire Tony Hill gave him out lbw and Brathwaite’s review did not save him, replays showing umpire’s call for both impact on off stump and whether the ball would have clipped the bails. A few overs later Powell, on 24, drove loosely and simply missed a ball that turned in between bat and pad and was bowled by Clarke.But that brought Chanderpaul to the crease and he was keen to keep the scoreboard ticking at a healthy rate, ensuring the ones and twos piled up without taking unnecessary risks. One such single, tucked through the leg-side off Clarke, brought Chanderpaul to the milestone of 10,000 Test runs, a feat he acknowledged by removing his helmet and raising his bat modestly, aware that his job had only just begun.Chanderpaul waited on the bad balls – a David Warner long hop was pulled over the infield for four and there were occasional cuts and drives that reached the boundary – and otherwise acquired his runs through familiar methods. His half-century came from his 90th ball and he was congratulated by Bravo, who unusually for any stand involving Chanderpaul was the quieter partner.Bravo was happy when Nathan Lyon dropped short and he was able to cut with ferocity, and he showed his deftness by running Shane Watson behind point neatly for another boundary. But it was Watson who eventually had the better of the battle when he enticed an edge behind and Bravo, on 47, was disconsolate as he walked from the field. The 110-run stand was over, and with it went a large chunk of West Indies’ hopes.Not that they had ever been favourites, despite finishing the Australians off in the morning for the addition of 59 runs. Shillingford finished with 4 for 100 to give him match figures of 10 for 219 in his first Test at his home ground of Windsor Park, and he was the first West Indian spinner to take ten wickets in a Test since Lance Gibbs in 1966, and only the second to do it in the Caribbean, after Wilf Ferguson achieved the feat in Trinidad in 1948.Shillingford gave West Indies a good start to the day by removing Michael Hussey, the last of Australia’s recognised batsmen, for 32 when he found a thin edge that was snapped up by Darren Sammy at slip. Ryan Harris soon followed when he top-edged a slog sweep off Deonarine and was caught by the wicketkeeper Carlton Baugh for 9.Hilfenhaus gave Shillingford his tenth when he pushed forward and was brilliantly caught at silly point by Brathwaite, who thrust his right hand out as the ball seemed destined to pass him. Mitchell Starc and Lyon added a few late runs in a 22-run partnership for the final wicket before Kemar Roach finished the job by bowling Starc for 21.That left West Indies needing 370, and only once before had they chased down such a high target to win a Test, in their world-record pursuit of 418 in Antigua in 2003. They had reached 370 in the fourth innings of a Test three times in the past five years, but the challenge was always going to be significant on a tricky Windsor Park pitch.

Somerset rollercoaster up and running

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Supporting Somerset must have been a roller-coaster ride over the years, especially of late when one prize after another has been snatched from their grasp. Missed run-out chances by Middlesex kept them on top.

David Lloyd at Taunton06-Apr-2012
ScorecardWhat could possibly go wrong? Nothing, it seemed, as Somerset worked their way through Middlesex’s middle and lower order and then made a sprightly start to their reply. But those who watch Somerset on a regular, rather than occasional, basis, know better than to take anything for granted – and they were right to urge a bit of caution.Supporting Somerset must have been a real roller-coaster ride over the years, especially of late when one prize after another has been snatched from their grasp. But, really, followers cannot help but be optimistic about a team containing so many talents and, by close of play on the second day, most of those leaving the County Ground were once again anticipating a home victory in this first championship match of the season.Mind, it needed an unbroken fourth wicket stand of 99 between Nick Compton and Craig Kieswetter to halt Middlesex’s fightback. Both made half-centuries and they trooped off with their team only 44 runs in arrears at 202 for three.From purring along in cruise control, Somerset had threatened to lose their way with Marcus Trescothick and James Hildreth falling in the space of five balls before Kieswetter survived a clear run out opportunity on six.Middlesex deserve a fair share of the credit for the home side’s failure to take complete charge of this contest. They might have been rolled over for not much more than 150 as Vernon Philander converted three first-day wickets into a well deserved five-for, but instead clambered up to 246 with Tim Murtagh and Toby Roland-Jones making 45 and 23 not out at Nos. 9 and 10.Things looked bleak again for last season’s second division champions with Trescothick, initially outscored by opening partner Arul Suppiah, threading sweetly-timed drives through the covers. Another hour or two of Trescothick in vintage form and Middlesex would have been staring down both barrels but the slightly belated introduction of offspinner Ollie Rayner for the 27th over changed the picture.Trescothick, having hit nine fours in his 47, pushed tentatively forward at Rayner’s fifth ball which turned enough to find the outside edge and travel to slip. With Hildreth promptly yorked by Gareth Berg, Middlesex suddenly had a spring in their step again – and all it needed then, from their point of view, was for Joe Denly to run out Kieswetter.England’s one-day wicketkeeper almost reached the far crease before realising that his partner,Compton, was going nowhere but he still managed to regain his ground, with the help of a desperate dive, after Denly had thrown at the striker’s stumps, and missed, when he could have waited for a team-mate to arrive at the timbers.Kieswetter had eased the tension by pulling Rayner a couple of times when the slow bowler dropped short – and it was he who reached 50 just ahead of his colleague. Compton, though, had moved ahead by the close to finish a good day personally following his earlier direct hit run out of Murtagh.It was another run-out incident, the one that saw Kieswetter escape, that really cost Middlesex dear, however. A scoreboard reading 111 for 4 was what might have been.

Ponting can make 2013 Ashes – Arthur

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Australia coach Mickey Arthur has said Ricky Ponting is “not going anywhere” and remains firmly in Australia’s plans for the next Ashes tour of England in just over a year’s time

Brydon Coverdale01-May-2012Australia coach Mickey Arthur has said Ricky Ponting is “not going anywhere” and remains firmly in Australia’s plans for the next Ashes tour of England in just over a year’s time. Arthur has returned to Australia after Michael Clarke’s men completed a 2-0 Test series win over West Indies, a series in which Ponting made starts and finished with a half-century but was the least prolific scorer of Australia’s top seven.However, Ponting was coming off an outstanding home series against India, in which his 544 runs at 108.80 was second only to Clarke. As a Test-only player, Ponting now has no cricket on his schedule until the domestic summer begins in October, and he must then find his form ahead of home campaigns against South Africa and Sri Lanka ahead of the 2013 Ashes.”I know there was a lot of media pressure and talk around Ricky [in the West Indies], but Ricky’s not going anywhere,” Arthur told reporters in Perth on Tuesday. “We hope Ricky’s scoring enough runs to go to the Ashes, most certainly, in England. Ricky’s still got a lot of Test runs still in him, there’s no doubt about that.”I thought Ricky was very unlucky [in the Caribbean]. He was always bubbling away. His form was always good, so no worries about Ricky Ponting at all. Ricky is definitely no way considering retiring, I wouldn’t have thought from my conversations with him and he’ll be fit and ready to go against South Africa … I think if we win the Ashes, then maybe he’ll go out on the top of his game.”While Ponting has a decade and a half’s worth of Test cricket experience to call on, a less experienced pair will also be aiming to regain their best touch at the start of the home summer. The openers David Warner and Ed Cowan were Australia’s fifth and sixth best scorers in the West Indies and each managed only one half-century, but Arthur believes they are on the improve.”I think Warner and Cowan will get better and better,” Arthur said. “Ed Cowan came on through the summer … he got better and better at playing spin bowling. We want Dave to get more consistent but it’s not his style. We certainly don’t want Dave to lose his character, because that’s what made him special.”Some of the Australians have headed to India to take part in the remainder of the IPL and the limited-overs players have series against England and Pakistan during the off season, followed by the ICC World Twenty20. For others like Ponting and Cowan, a long winter at home has just begun.

Tendulkar takes oath as Rajya Sabha MP

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Sachin Tendulkar has officially become a Member of Parliament after taking oath at a ceremony in New Delhi

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Jun-2012Sachin Tendulkar has officially become a Member of Parliament after taking oath at a ceremony in Delhi. He had been nominated to the Rajya Sabha, the upper house of Parliament, in April and has become the first active India sportsperson to become an MP.Tendulkar was named as one of the 12 presidential nominees for Rajya Sabha membership that is reserved for those persons “having special knowledge or practical experience in respect of such matters as literature, science, art and social service”. A Rajya Sabha MP’s tenure is six years.After the ceremony, Tendulkar said his cricket career would remain top priority. “I’m here because of my cricketing career,” he said. “I can’t take any focus away from my cricket that is where it all started for me… as and when there is time in between, I will look at other things, how I can help and bring in whatever changes not only (for) cricket but all other sports demand.”Tendulkar also said that as MP he would look to improve not just cricket but other sports as well. “I think I’m in a better position, not only to help cricket but also other sports in the country which is really important, it means a lot to me,” he said. “I’d be happy if I’m remembered as someone who has contributed to all sports in India rather than just my cricket statistics, that would be fantastic.”The swearing-in ceremony was held in the chamber of Hamid Ansari, the vice-president of India, who is also the chairman of the Rajya Sabha. reported that while few MPs were around as the parliament was not in session, the parliament staff had lined the corridors in anticipation of Tendulkar’s arrival. Accompanied by wife Anjali to the function, Tendulkar read out his oath in formal Hindi. The ceremony lasted longer than the normal hour, vice-president Ansari telling Tendulkar after the formal signing-in, that he was a cricket enthusiast. Tendulkar in turn enquired about the functioning of parliament.

Gayle 'takes all the pressure off' – Powell

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The opener Kieran Powell has said he needed to divorce himself from Chris Gayle’s brisk scoring to ensure he did not throw his own wicket away on the second day in Antigua

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Jul-2012The opener Kieran Powell has said he needed to divorce himself from Chris Gayle’s brisk scoring to ensure he did not throw his own wicket away on the second day in Antigua. West Indies will now set their sights on batting into day four after making such a strong start to the first innings against New Zealand, with the total having reached 145 for 0 at stumps on the second day.It was already the highest opening stand in a Test by a West Indies pair since Gayle and Daren Ganga added 162 in Multan in November 2006. The performance highlighted the importance to the West Indies side of Gayle, who was playing his first Test in more than 18 months, and he moved along to 85 from 124 deliveries while Powell shuffled along at his own pace to 58 from 164.”It’s a big relief because it takes all the pressure off your scoring,” Powell said of having Gayle at the top of the order. “The shots you see him play, you just have to put yourself in your own bubble and get away from that or you try and do things and get out. It wasn’t difficult, I just got myself in my own little bubble and just tried to steady. It didn’t matter what I saw at the other end from Chris. I just tried to stick within my limitations.”The West Indies openers had already undone much of the good work New Zealand had put together over the first day, although he deficit remained 206 runs at stumps. But with the world’s No. 4-ranked batsman, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, still to come, along with men like Marlon Samuels and Narsingh Deonarine, finding a way through to the West Indies tail looms as a tough challenge for New Zealand.”It’s always important to get a good start when you’ve got guys like that in your team,” Powell said of Chanderpaul and the middle order. “They know they can come in and play under no pressure and express themselves a bit earlier in their innings as well. We’ve got a good start early, so if we can bat the whole of tomorrow and a piece of day four we should be in a good position to bat once and have New Zealand out twice.”The New Zealanders felt they were on top after the first day, when they closed at 232 for 4, but Sunil Narine’s first five-wicket haul in a Test match meant they were dismissed for 351 soon after lunch on the second afternoon. Daniel Vettori said that although New Zealand’s bowlers hadn’t started as they would have hoped when Gayle and Powell walked to the crease, they believed the pressure was building by the end of the day.”It wasn’t the way we wanted to start but I thought by the end of the day we were actually bowling pretty well and starting to create some pressure and maybe if the session had gone a little bit longer we could have taken some wickets,” Vettori said. “You can’t give those freebies away to Gayle because he’s like a Sehwag, he’ll just really hurt you.I think we were going at sixes and sevens pretty early on and it puts you on the back foot and you have to bowl to defensive fields and you probably don’t bowl as well as you’d like. That was pretty disappointing after what was a reasonably good batting performance.”We created some pressure at my end, I thought Kane [Williamson] bowled really well and then Neil Wagner at the end, being able to get it to reverse and starting to ask some questions. That’s going to be a handy asset for us tomorrow. I think the goal is to keep West Indies around a par score, because that wicket is going to get tougher and tougher to play on.”Wagner finished his first day of Test bowling with 0 for 35 from eight overs and although he leaked eight boundaries, Vettori said that was not a reflection on how he had bowled.”He can actually bowl reverse and he does it really well. He runs in hard and asks a lot of questions,” Vettori said. “On these sorts of wickets he’s going to be tough going and we’ve got to make sure we create that sort of pressure so we can attack.”We need to make sure they come away about par and that’s by getting early wickets tomorrow, particularly Gayle’s wicket and probably Chanderpaul’s as well, because he has the ability to bat for a long time. If we can do that, who knows, we can create some pressure and the chance to win the game.”

BCB committee suggests better structured domestic season

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The cricket operations committee of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has suggested that the domestic first-class competition, the National Cricket League (NCL), be completed before the commencement limited-overs tournaments in the 2012-13 season

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Aug-2012

BPL franchises face tax issues

The National Board of Revenue in Bangladesh has frozen the bank accounts of Shihab Trading Company, the firm that bought the ticket-selling rights for the inaugural edition of the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) and owns one of the league’s franchises, the Dhaka Gladiators.
“We have asked our officials to attach, or freeze, all bank accounts of Shihab Trading Company after they failed to pay us any of the tax levied on the BPL’s ticket sales,” Kanon Kumar Roy, director general of Directorate of Inspection (Taxes), said. “We asked them to pay 5% of all ticket sales, which amounted to Tk 2.25 crore [$275,000 approx]. They insisted it was Tk 2.16 crore [$265,000 approx], but they haven’t paid any money as tax.”
In response, Shihab Trading Company chairman Salim Chowdhury told : “I think there has been a miscommunication. The tickets that we gave to the BCB [to distribute] are worth Tk 20-22 crore, so those tickets can’t be taxed.”
Also, Roy said, till now, only one out of the six BPL franchises have met tax requirements. “One franchise [unnamed] has been forthcoming, but the rest haven’t followed their lead.”

The cricket operations committee of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has suggested that the domestic first-class competition, the National Cricket League (NCL), be completed before the commencement limited-overs tournaments in the 2012-13 season. A final decision on the recommendation will be taken a board meeting on August 6.The 2012-13 domestic calendar, for the main local competitions, looks quite structured at this early stage of discussion: The first-class competition has been scheduled to begin in early October, running till mid-January, after which the cricketers will take a break and then play the Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) from mid-February. The one-day Dhaka Premier League (DPL) tournament is slated to begin in March and run till May.”The committee has recommended that after completing the NCL, there will be the BPL and the DPL. If the national cricketers are not available during the one-day competition, we will not be using the players’ pool,” the BCB spokesman, Jalal Yunus, said on Wednesday.The cancellation of the players’ pool would mean that the DPL clubs are no longer bound to pick three current national cricketers each, as they won’t be available during the time – Bangladesh are scheduled to tour Sri Lanka in March and Zimbabwe in April next year.The 2011-12 domestic calendar took on a disorganised air, after the BCB’s decision to stop the NCL, which had begun in October, with just one match remaining in its second round. The DPL then began, only to be interrupted by the BPL in February. Though the NCL was eventually completed in April, the DPL dispute added to the scheduling confusion. The season ended in June, the longest it has run.A proposal for a franchise-based four-day domestic competition will also be discussed at the meeting on August 6. Currently, negotiations with various companies interested in buying franchises for the proposed tournament are on.

South Africa sense 'something special'

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South Africa have inched closer and closer to that edge in their quest to become the No.1 ranked Test team in the world and now they find themselves right on it.

Firdose Moonda12-Aug-2012There is a thrill that comes with being on the edge. It is a mixture of exhilaration in knowing that something potentially amazing awaits and fear of the possibility of falling off.South Africa have inched closer and closer to that edge in their quest to become the No.1 ranked Test team in the world and now they find themselves right on it. In less than a week, something they have worked toward for years could finally come together. And they don’t even have to win a match for that happen.All South Africa need to do is the thing they have become almost flawless at doing for the last six years: not lose. In six years, since Sri Lanka 2006, South Africa have not been defeated in a series away from home. Whatever the result of the Lord’s Test, that record will remain intact. But if the result is either a draw or a South African win, the record will sprout some bells and whistles and it’s those sounds that the players are starting to hear.”I’m pretty excited about Lord’s,” Dale Steyn, South Africa’s premier fast-bowler, said. “Gary Kirsten mentioned the other day that we are on the brink of something special. In a few days’ time we could be the number one Test team in the world. He said we should enjoy this time because this is what we’ve worked for.”Since Kirsten took over last June, this is the most excited he has allowed the team to be. One of his first acts was to promote a mood of stability. Wins and losses were treated with fairly similar feelings, there was no over-celebration for the former and no deep disappointment of the latter. All of them were part of a “process,” a word Kirsten has used to often it has become nauseating to listen to.The actual details of the process have not been revealed to those outside the dressing room except to say that it does not end in England, irrespective of whether the No.1 status has been achieved or not. It seems obvious that some part of the process will be completed next week at Lord’s and the sense of anticipation has become too big to simply file away and Kirsten is allowing a little more than expression.Not too much, because when Steyn was asked whether there was a feeling that something special was around the corner, he immediately reigned in his thoughts. “It’s weird. We’re just in a really nice groove and in such a good environment that we haven’t had too much pressure. Everybody seems so up for it.”Guys know what their job is. There’s a lot of trust. If we go on and win then in a month, two months after this, maybe in a year, we might sit back and say maybe we should have had different feelings. But we’re 1-0 up with one game to go and I’m not going to change the way we do things.”Consistency has been a major advantage to South Africa in this Test series, highlighted perhaps by the chaos in the opposing dressing room.England have had their first-choice No.6 batsman, Ravi Bopara, pull out because of personal reasons and had to replace him with a debutant. They have also the person many consider their best player, Kevin Pietersen, embroiled in a text message controversy and were forced to drop him and bring in someone who has not fared well in his previous international encounters, Jonny Bairstow. They changed their attack, leaving out a spinner for the first time since 2003 and it did not work and their bowling attack cannot seem to find the venom they once had.By contrast South Africa have seemed serene. Their big guns, Graeme Smith, Hashim Amla, Jacques Kallis and Dale Steyn, fired in the first Test. Then one who struggled, Alviro Petersen, was their standout player of the second Test. Their biggest worry has been Imran Tahir’s no-ball issue and he may have rectified that, having not overstepped once during the two-day match against Derbyshire. While England have to iron out dressing room creases, South Africa have had endless bonding sessions, starting in Switzerland and most recently having dinner cooked by the country’s first Masterchef winner.They are, as Graeme Smith told ESPNcricinfo before the series started, at peace. Ironically, that means their killer instinct has never been sharper. Even though they have the option to play defensive cricket and hold on to their 1-0 lead, they do not want to do that. Steyn gave a guarantee that they will go for the win at Lord’s, the same way they did at Headingley when Smith declared and put England in on the final day and later confirmed he did it with the intention that South Africa could for the win.”If the weather wasn’t around I reckon we would have been in a better situation,” Steyn said. “A draw is not in our eyes. We’ve come out here to play good, attacking positive cricket. It’s the way we want to play and we are definitely going for it at Lord’s. It just shows Test cricket is definitely alive and that this current South African team is trying to push for it.”