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Channel Nine forked out a colossal sum to retain television rights for Australia’s home international matches, while Channel Ten has promised fresh new faces to front its Big Bash League broadcasts

Brydon Coverdale04-Jun-2013Richie Benaud will not be disappearing from Channel Nine’s cricket coverage after the network forked out a colossal sum to retain television rights for Australia’s home international matches, but Channel Ten has promised fresh new faces to front its Big Bash League broadcasts. The two free-to-air stations will have a share of the cricket schedule this summer after a deal was finalised on Monday to provide a monstrously large boost to Cricket Australia’s broadcasting revenue for the next five years.James Sutherland, the CA chief executive, said the deals were worth a total of A$590 million over five years, an increase of 118% on the previous agreement, which he not surprisingly declared “an outstanding result” for Australian cricket. CA has also agreed to work with Channel Nine on a $60 million digital rights joint venture, for mobile and broadband coverage of international cricket, and the network’s CEO David Gyngell said that was an especially exciting aspect of the deal.However, while Gyngell said there was never any doubt that Nine would retain the rights it has held for more than 30 years, having to pay such a hefty price was “an ouch moment”. The network was forced into outlaying more than it intended due to Channel Ten’s bold bid to poach all of the cricket rights. Gyngell said that ultimately he was comfortable with the decision, which will also eliminate the traditional coverage “blackouts” in the host city.”As long as the management team we have got is at Channel Nine we won’t be losing cricket,” Gyngell said. “It is Australia’s national game. It is wallpaper over summer. It is a much bigger sport than the ratings always say it is because people are at holiday places, campsites, all sorts of things. The exciting thing for us is we’re partnering with Cricket Australia on the digital rights. Digital rights is going to be television everywhere. That’s where the world is going.”Cricket is in our DNA and we’re very proud of it. A lot of people would say we over-invest in it from a broadcasting point of view but it has defined our network … It is wallpaper. You walk in off the beach, off the farm, wherever you are in the summer and you go ‘what’s the score, who’s doing what?’ That is a very deep thing for us. We were never going to not do that.”Part of that “wallpaper” over summer has been the ongoing presence of Benaud, Bill Lawry, Ian Chappell and until his death late last year, Tony Greig, in the Channel Nine commentary box. Gyngell said the network and its commentary team would continue to evolve, but he did not envisage any major changes as a result of the new deal.”I can’t imagine cricket without Richie,” Gyngell said. “Richie will do cricket for as long as he wants to do cricket. We’ll never be telling Richie what he can and can’t do. I’m always honoured to be in his presence as a person and I’m always interested in hearing what he has to say. Bill is in the same space. We’ve got a dozen commentators and they’re all a range of ages and they’ve come through in different periods.”While Test, one-day and Twenty20 international cricket will not be changing stations, the BBL will for the first time be broadcast on free-to-air television instead of Fox Sports on pay TV. Hamish McLennan, the CEO of Channel Ten, said the network was thrilled to be entering the cricket market and to be showing every BBL match live, even though it had missed out on securing the international rights.”We always thought from the beginning that David and Channel Nine had the last right of refusal and they were most likely to exercise that,” McLennan said. “We put a very healthy bid on the table. We saw a great opportunity around the Big Bash and we’re really delighted that we’ve got a format we can do something with and that will grow.”We see that there are some opportunities to bring some fresh, new faces onto the Ten broadcast, but it’s too early to announce what we’re going to do. But we are looking at a range of candidates and we’ll be announcing that in the next months. I’d say the vast majority will be from a cricket background.”Ten will also broadcast the Women’s National Cricket League T20 final as part of a double-header with the BBL finals but it appears to have little interest in the Ryobi Cup or the Sheffield Shield. However, Sutherland said Cricket Australia was still exploring options regarding the Ryobi Cup, which has previously been broadcast on Fox Sports, and one possibility was squeezing the entire tournament into a short period at the start of the season.”We’re certainly considering various possibilities with Ryobi and that may or may not be directly related to broadcasting opportunities,” Sutherland said. “There’s also team performance aspects of it that are an important consideration. There’s no doubt we’ve done a little bit of work on considering a window in October for the Ryobi Cup to launch the season if you like and I think that has been reasonably well received. There’s always pros and cons with this sort of thing but we see it as a good opportunity to get into Shield cricket through the middle part of the summer.”

ESPNcricinfo staff12-Apr-2013Sreesanth, the India and Rajasthan Royals bowler, has alleged the IPL withheld the “real video” of the incident between Harbhajan Singh and him in IPL 2008. In a series of tweets from his personal Twitter handle Sreesanth said Harbhajan had not slapped him but was a “backstabbing person”, and he received “no support whatsoever” from “selfish” people involved in the issue even though they knew “it was not my fault”.”I want the world to c it..Whn I went to shake hands afte the match..he had lost it..he had already planned to hit me(elbow me)all his anger,” Sreesanth tweeted. This tweet, along with several others, has since been deleted.Harbhajan refused to comment on the issue when he was approached in Mumbai by the media.He was scared to speak out earlier, Sreesanth said, but now wants the “world to know what happened”. The truth would be revealed by the video he said, which was kept “in hiding” by the IPL. He said Sudhir Nanavati, the BCCI-appointed commissioner who investigated the incident, knew the truth. He also said the “incident was planned by a few”.However, Sreesanth did not reveal his version of events. Footage of the actual incident has never been shown to the public.Meanwhile, Nanavati contradicted Sreesanth’s claims that he was elbowed saying that Harbhajan did slap him. “In the video footage, I have seen Harbhajan use the backside of his right palm to give him (Sreesanth) a slap on the right side of his face,” Nanavati told . “It was clear cut, it was there to be seen in the video footage.”What I have seen in the frame of the video was that Harbhajan, after giving him a slap, was coming back once again to hit him but at that time, two security personnel had stopped him.”The 2008 incident involved Mumbai Indians’ Harbhajan Singh hitting Sreesanth, his India team-mate who was then playing for Kings XI Punjab, during the routine round of handshakes after the game between the two teams in Mohali. The incident itself was not shown on camera but Sreesanth was spotted in tears after that. Harbhajan was banned for the rest of the tournament, while Sreesanth was let off with a warning. After the hearing by match referee Farokh Engineer, the then IPL chairman Lalit Modi said Engineer had found Harbhajan’s attack to have been “totally unprovoked”.The outburst was prompted by a report in Friday’s that said the Virat Kohli-Gautam Gambhir spat during the IPL game in Bangalore on Thursday was similar to “slapgate”. As Kohli was heading back to the pavilion after being dismissed, Gambhir ran past him on his way to celebrating with his team-mates. They appeared to exchange words and then charged at each other before the other players and one of the umpires separated them.Harbhajan and Sreesanth are due to meet on April 17 in Jaipur, when Royals play Mumbai Indians.

A century from Khurram Shehzad, and nine wickets between seamer Samiullah Khan and spinner Imran Khalid helped Faisalabad clinch the Bottom Six final against Bahawalpur in Multan

ESPNcricinfo staff28-Feb-2013
ScorecardA century from Khurram Shehzad, and nine wickets between seamer Samiullah Khan and spinner Imran Khalid helped Faisalabad clinch the Bottom Six final against Bahawalpur in Multan.After conceding a first-innings lead of six runs, Faisalabad put up a solid batting performance in their second dig, led by Shehzad’s 117 and half-centuries from Mohammad Shahid and Ali Waqas, which helped them set their opponents a stiff target of 385. Bahawalpur, besides Rehan Rafiq and Kamran Hussain, both of whom scored fifties, crumbled as Khalid took four wickets, and were bowled out for 262 on the final day.After being put in to bat, Faisalabad had struggled as their top order was destroyed by legspinner Imranullah Aslam. They recovered from 97 for 5; a knock of 69 from Mohammad Salman and 41 from Ali Waqas got them to 273. Bahawalpur, in reply, were in trouble early at 4 for 3, before Bilal Khilji, who ultimately scored a century, and Faisal Mubashir steadied their innings. The rest of the middle order also contributed to help them get past Faisalabad’s total. Seamer Samiullah Khan finished with five wickets.Faisalabad made amends by setting up the base for a strong total on the third day, which led them to a convincing victory.

Shane Watson has declared himself ready to tour India as a non-bowling batsman after a single innings of 30 in Sydney grade cricket, but Moises Henriques’ immediate international prospects have clouded over due to a badly infected right index finger

Daniel Brettig26-Jan-2013Shane Watson has declared himself ready to tour India as a non-bowling batsman after a single innings of 30 in Sydney grade cricket, but Moises Henriques’ immediate international prospects have clouded over due to a badly infected right index finger.It was a contrasting tale for the two New South Wales cricketers on Sunday, Watson returning to the game following a calf strain and facing 50 balls for Sutherland against Campbelltown-Camden while Henriques was invalided out of the Sheffield Shield match against Western Australia at Blacktown Oval.If his innings was insubstantial, the sight of Watson merely playing the game will be a help to the national selectors as they sit down to finalise the squad for the subcontinent. While Watson will not play a first-class fixture before the squad is named, making do with a domestic limited-overs match for the Blues against Western Australia on Wednesday, he has continued to covet the opening spot currently occupied by Ed Cowan.”The opportunity to be able to take the first ball and take on the quicks with the new ball is something I do absolutely love,” Watson said, reiterating his desire to open. “A few balls were seaming around a bit [on Saturday] … which hopefully I’m going to have to get used to opening the batting in some form of games anyway.”Hopefully I can get back in the team as soon as I can. In a perfect world I do play in India as a batsman with an eye on slowly building up bowling to hopefully bowl some overs throughout the Ashes. But the world isn’t always perfect so we’ll see how we go.”Less encouraging was the news that Henriques’ finger was in such a bad way that he had to leave the Blues’ Shield match to have surgery on his finger, which had grown increasingly swollen and painful. Watson’s inability to bowl in India has opened the field for all-round options, with Henriques impressing recently during his ODI appearances for Australia against Sri Lanka, and making 71 at Blacktown.However his place in the ODI team to face the West Indies is now open to question, depending on his recovery from the finger problem, which is expected to stop him from playing or training for at least a week. The finger trouble was aggravated during his Shield innings by a couple of precisely-directed balls from Nathan Coulter-Nile, which struck Henriques on the gloves.”Due to concern over increasing swelling and infection Moises was reviewed by a Sydney hand specialist this afternoon and has undergone a minor surgical procedure,” New South Wales team physiotherapist Murray Ryan said. “Moises will be unable to play or train for at least one week. His availability for state and international cricket will be determined as the injury heals.”

ESPNcricinfo’s preview of the first Twenty20 between Australia and Sri Lanka in Sydney

The Preview by Brydon Coverdale25-Jan-2013Match factsShaun Marsh’s BBL form has earned him a recall to Australia’s side•Getty ImagesJanuary 26, Stadium Australia
Start time 1935 (0835 GMT)Big PictureSri Lanka didn’t quite manage to win the one-day series but they will fancy their chances in this two-match Twenty20 contest. The No.1-ranked T20 side in the world, they are taking on an outfit led by George Bailey that sits in seventh place on the ICC rankings. Not that Bailey’s team bears that much of a resemblance to the side that played at the World T20 last year: of the 12 men in the squad for this game, only six were part of the World T20 group. The selectors have instead rewarded BBL form, allowing men like Shaun Marsh, Adam Voges, James Faulkner and Ben Laughlin another chance at international level. The Sri Lankans, on the other hand, have plenty of international experience in their line-up. The two matches also mark the end of Sri Lanka’s near two-month tour and after their disappointing Test series and shared result in the ODIs, they will be keen to finish on a high.Form guide(Most recent first)
Australia LLWWW
Sri Lanka LWWWTIn the spotlightTwelve months ago, Shaun Marsh’s international career was on life support. Three months ago it appeared the situation was terminal. A big night out in South Africa during the Champions League did Marsh’s reputation no good – although plenty of Perth Scorchers team-mates had also been out partying – and when the players returned home his form was so poor that he was dropped from the state side. But a productive BBL in which he was the leading run scorer encouraged the selectors to give Marsh another chance in the national T20 side. If he grabs it, 2013 might be a much more pleasing year for Marsh than 2012.Something about T20 cricket just agrees with Lasith Malinga. Only Dirk Nannes has taken more wickets in the format than the 191 Malinga has collected. At times in the BBL he was devastating as batsmen struggled to handle his yorkers, slower balls and bouncers. Although he was overshadowed in the ODIs by Nuwan Kulasekara, Malinga is back in his best format and looms as the key man for Sri Lanka.Team newsAustralia’s batting line-up appears settled, with their main decision surrounding the make-up of the attack. There are four fast men in the squad – Ben Cutting, James Faulkner, Mitchell Starc and Ben Laughlin – along with the spinner Xavier Doherty and the allrounder Glenn Maxwell. They can also extract some overs of spin from Adam Voges.Australia (possible) 1 David Warner, 2 Aaron Finch, 3 Shaun Marsh, 4 Adam Voges, 5 George Bailey (capt), 6 Matthew Wade (wk), 7 Glenn Maxwell, 8 Ben Cutting, 9 James Faulkner, 10 Mitchell Starc, 11 Xavier Doherty.Sri Lanka might choose to give the teenage spinner Akila Dananjaya his first outing of the tour, while Ajantha Mendis is also a likely inclusion.Sri Lanka (possible) 1 Tillakaratne Dilshan, 2 Mahela Jayawardene, 3 Dinesh Chandimal (wk), 4 Angelo Mathews (capt), 5 Lahiru Thirimanne, 6 Jeevan Mendis, 7 Thisara Perera, 8 Nuwan Kulasekara, 9 Lasith Malinga, 10 Ajantha Mendis, 11 Akila Dananjaya.Pitch and conditionsThis will be Stadium Australia’s second international match, after it debuted last summer with a Twenty20 between Australia and India. In the four BBL games there this season scores were not particularly high, although that was perhaps as much more to do with the Sydney Thunder’s poor form as the venue.”A couple of low scoring games here [during the BBL] so we’ll have a look at that,” Bailey said. “It can be a little slow and the other thing with the drop-in wickets is you don’t get much pace off the square either so a little bit of adjustment. But it is always tempting to see how short it is straight here too.”Stats and trivia Australia and Sri Lanka have met in six T20 internationals. Sri Lanka have won four and Australia two This will be Australia’s 59th T20 international and if Cutting debuts, he will be the 60th player to represent Australia in T20sQuotes”It’s the same game but just with accelerated decision-making and upping the ante a little earlier [than ODIs]. But I don’t think there’ll be too much as far as new shots or anything like that. I certainly don’t have that up my sleeve. And for those who haven’t been playing the one-dayers it’s perfect preparation – they’ve just come out of the BBL.”
“We would probably say the top seven batters [not just Warner], they’re really good, so we’re not concentrating on any individual, but we as a team have been doing really well in the one day series and we hope to continue in the T20 form as well.”

Preview of the Twenty20 series between New Zealand and West Indies in Florida

The Preview by Sidharth Monga29-Jun-2012Match FactsSaturday, June 30, Start time 1500 (1900 GMT)
Sunday, July 1, Start time 1400 (1800 GMT)
Will the slow -and-low pitches handcuff Chris Gayle?•PA PhotosThe Big PictureAmericans have previously claimed PG Wodehouse is American. Over the next two days, the claim they’ll lay to a sport Wodehouse wrote extensively and endearingly on will be of a slightly different nature. It will mostly come from those who have moved to America from cricketing nations, and the Caribbean people have a big presence in Florida. Which is why it makes more sense to have New Zealand – a team committed to development of cricket in US – play West Indies, unlike the last time when Sri Lanka and New Zealand failed to draw big crowds in 2010.Also, unlike the last time, the organisers will hope for more encouragement from the conditions. New Zealand Cricket did send one of their best groundsmen to inject some life into the slow and low pitches that made for dull cricket the first time around. Jacob Oram, though, is of the view the pitch hasn’t changed much. It will obviously take them time to get pitch preparation right in Florida, but it is arguable how much dull contests – with stroke-making difficult and little help for bowlers – will help spread the game there.New Zealand won’t complain about the slow and low conditions, though, because they should level the playing field a little. West Indies are the clear favourites on paper, with Chris Gayle and the many allrounders in their squad. New Zealand, on the other hand, are without Brendon McCullum, Jesse Ryder and James Franklin. A slow and low pitch can help neuter the big hitters to an extent, and those saved and scampered singles will become more important if the T20s there from two years ago are any indication.This will also be one of the final chances for the two sides to identify their combinations for the World Twenty20 to be held in Sri Lanka.Form guide (most recent first)West Indies LWLLW
New Zealand LLWWWWatch out for…Sunil Narine didn’t have the best of Test debuts when English conditions and the absence of pressure to score eight-nine runs off his each over got the better of him. Batsmen also kept watching for the thumb sticking out as he entered the delivery stride, which was a clear sign he would bowl an offbreak. Twenty20 on slow and low pitches might be a different story yet again.Nathan McCullum is another man who’ll cherish these conditions. He has been adept at opening the bowling in both forms of limited-overs cricket. In his last Twenty20 in Lauderhill, McCullum bowled four overs for 15 runs and Kumar Sangakkara’s wicket. He is now the 10th-highest wicket-taker in all T20Is.Team newsGiven the conditions, legspinner Samuel Badree should make his international debut to give West Indies an extra spinning option. If he does get the nod, Fidel Edwards is the likelier man to miss outWest Indies (possible): 1 Chris Gayle, 2 Dwayne Smith, 3 Lendl Simmons, 4 Marlon Samuels, 5 Dwayne Bravo, 6 Kieron Pollard, 7 Denesh Ramdin (wk), 8 Darren Sammy (capt.), 9 Ravi Rampual, 10 Sunil Narine, and 11 Samuel BadreeNew Zealand will have to rely on atypical T20 batsmen like Kane Williamson and Dean Brownlie. Nor will these games feature sides that will start out in the World Twenty20 because McCullum, Daniel Vettori and Franklin will walk into that team. Tom Latham won the wicketkeeper race, and was ready to debut.New Zealand (possible): 1 Rob Nicol, 2 Martin Guptill, 3 Kane Williamson, 4 Ross Taylor (capt.), 5 Dean Brownlie/Daniel Flynn, 6 Jacob Oram, 7 Tom Latham (wk), 8 Nathan McCullum, 9 Doug Bracewell, 10 Tim Southee, and 11 Ronnie Hira.Stats and trivia Statistical evidence points to a close match. Two of these sides’ three encounters have been ties and one won by New Zealand. The tiebreakers were split. This is the first time these times are playing a T20I against each other outside New Zealand.Martin Guptill is now the 10th-highest run-getter in T20Is, with 788 at an average of 35.81. Only six players have hit more sixes than his 67.Ross Taylor, with 29 catches, is the most prolific in T20Is.Quotes”I don’t think it’s going out there and trying to play any differently or showcase it just because it’s an American audience. First and foremost we’ve got to win. But I’d hope to say that we play a good brand of cricket anyway and we don’t need to worry about that. “

“It’s been a big change. It was a very cold and damp summer in England. We barely had four or five nice hot days in two months so to come here is a big change but for most of the West Indians I think they’re at home in this.”

Dwayne Smith, the Mumbai Indians allrounder, has said that he backed himself to score 14 off the last three balls in his first IPL match of the season

ESPNcricinfo staff07-May-2012″Take a single and give me the strike, I shall do the rest,” is what Mumbai Indians allrounder Dwayne Smith said he told RP Singh when 15 runs were needed off the last four balls against Chennai Super Kings. Smith, who was playing his first match of the season, backed himself to score 14 off the final three deliveries, and he did.Chasing 174, Mumbai Indians were ahead for most of the innings, with Sachin Tendulkar and Rohit Sharma putting on a 126-run stand. Following Tendulkar’s dismissal for 74, they needed 40 off 25 balls with eight wickets in hand. Mumbai Indians then lost five wickets for 24, leaving Smith and Lasith Malinga to score 16 off the final over, from Ben Hilfenhaus.Smith managed just a single off Hilfenhaus’ first ball, and then watched Malinga get bowled by a yorker. RP Singh pushed the third ball to cover, and gave Smith what he wanted, the strike. “I just backed myself. I know as long as I can watch the ball I can do it,” Smith said. “I told him to give me the three balls that were left as I knew I could do it from there.”Having been ignored at the 2012 player auction, Smith was signed by Mumbai Indians as a replacement for the injured Mitchell Johnson and only joined the squad on May 3. “I actually thought I was going to be here with one of the teams from the beginning, but that didn’t happen,” he said. “But I am happy to be here now and win some games for Mumbai. I remember winning a game for Barbados in similar fashion. It went into the super over. I got two sixes off the last two balls.”Smith clubbing the last three balls for six and two fours to the straight boundary kept Mumbai Indians at No. 3 in the points table and prevented Chennai Super Kings from progressing from No. 4.The Super Kings coach, Stephen Fleming, said that his team were “favourites going into that last over”. “It was an amazing game of cricket, [we have] mixed emotions really,” Fleming said. “There was phenomenal see-sawing throughout the day. Through their batting innings we were down and out but we fought back with some great fielding.”The challenge, according to Fleming, would be to lift the players’ spirits after such a defeat and get them ready for the final quarter of their league campaign. “We must win three from four games, we played pretty well today and if I get the same performance from my players for the next four games then I think we’ll go close,” he said. “It’s a flat dressing room now but that’s the challenge, we have a few days off which is good. We’re still in the competition and won’t give up.”

West Indies remained firmly on top after three days of attritional cricket in Barbados, where Darren Sammy’s early strikes and Devendra Bishoo’s variations kept Australia’s batsmen from making significant progress

The Report by Brydon Coverdale09-Apr-2012
Scorecard and ball-by-ball detailsDarren Sammy had David Warner caught at slip•AFPWest Indies remained firmly on top after three days of attritional cricket in Barbados, where Darren Sammy’s early strikes and Devendra Bishoo’s variations kept Australia’s batsmen from making significant progress. At stumps on day three Australia were 248 for 5, with Michael Hussey on 47 and Matthew Wade on 19, and while they had almost passed the follow-on mark they were not yet safe in the match.The big challenge for West Indies remained finding a way to turn their impressive performance into a victory. Rain again played a part on the third afternoon and their task for the final two days was to run through Australia’s lower order quickly, bat again and set the visitors a target, and then skittle them a second time. The way this match has unfolded so far, that looked like it would be easier said than done.But through Sammy and his colleagues West Indies had at least put themselves in the much stronger position. Last time the two sides met in a Caribbean Test series, the hosts had several days of inspired cricket but were unable to string together enough in one match to take a victory from Australia. This time they had started with two encouraging days, and worked through the third in the same fashion.Michael Clarke provided Australia with a fighting half-century but threw his wicket away, while Shane Watson and David Warner also failed to capitalise on solid starts. Watson was also accountable for the ugly run-out of Ricky Ponting, a calamitous confusion that left Ponting fuming as he walked off the field.The pair had come together after Sammy removed both openers in almost identical fashion, pitching the ball on off stump and nipping it away from the left-handers Warner and Ed Cowan. Cowan was on 14 when his thin edge found the wicketkeeper and Warner had made a promising start and had 42 when he edged to second slip, and Sammy’s accuracy and persistence was impressive.Those strikes were followed by the run-out of Ponting for 4 when Watson turned the ball behind square leg and took a single, and then called for the second, hesitated, and called Ponting through again. The throw from the deep to the wicketkeeper’s end found a confused Ponting out of his ground as Watson loitered halfway down the pitch and Ponting’s frustration was evident.Watson was nearly involved in another run-out later when Clarke was saved only by a wayward throw. That, together with poor use of the review system, were the only real blemishes that could be attached to the West Indies fielding effort. Twice Watson survived lbw appeals that could easily have gone against him, once when he offered no shot to a prodigious inswinger from Sammy, who asked for a review and saw the replays show a perilously close prediction that had the ball hitting off stump, but only in the “umpire’s call” zone.In the next over, Kemar Roach appealed for lbw against Watson and also received a not-out verdict. This time Sammy decided against asking for a review but replays showed the ball would have struck enough of leg stump to have the decision overturned. West Indies wasted their second review after lunch when Sammy was off the ground and the vice-captain Kirk Edwards asked for the third umpire to check another Roach lbw appeal that was clearly sliding down leg.But those errors of judgment didn’t prove too costly. Watson threw his wicket away in the first over after lunch when he flashed impetuously at Roach and was caught behind for 39. It was hardly the innings Australia needed from Watson in his first Test batting at No.3. Clarke and Michael Hussey led a fightback with an 82-run partnership and they had to work hard against Bishoo, whose variations kept them from scoring freely.Clarke used his feet against the legspinner and lofted him straight down the ground for six, but otherwise the Australians typically waited for poor balls from Bishoo and did the best they could to keep the good ones out. Clarke brought up his half-century from his 121st delivery with a fine cover-driven boundary from the part-time offspin of Narsingh Deonarine, and he was fortunate to have got there after a contentious review when he was on 27.Clarke was adjudged caught behind off a Bishoo ball that stayed low and he immediately challenged the out decision from the umpire Tony Hill. Replays did not clearly show that he hit the ball but nor did there seem to be overwhelming evidence to overturn the call, but that was what happened and it was a serious let-off for Clarke.Eventually, Bishoo had his reward when Clarke tried to clear long-off but succeeded only in skying a catch, and it was an unwise shot selection at a time when Clarke and Hussey needed to continue building their partnership. Hussey was more watchful and by stumps was approaching a half-century, and Wade struggled against Bishoo with a packed close-in field, but he was good enough to put away the bad balls when they came.Bishoo’s challenge on the fourth day will be to run through the tail, although with the new ball due Sammy will first turn to his fast men to do that job. And if they can manage it, victory will be a possibility, although a draw remains the more likely outcome.

The ICC has introduced a “special dispensation” to be made only in “exceptional circumstances” in order to ensure that bilateral series take place even if the ruling body has determined it “unsafe” to appoint its officials for such series

Nagraj Gollapudi07-Mar-2012The ICC has introduced a “special dispensation” to be made only in “exceptional circumstances” in order to ensure that bilateral series take place even if the ruling body has determined it “unsafe” to appoint its officials for such series. This would allow such series to be manned by “non-neutral match officials”, a departure from the ICC’s Standard Playing Conditions, pending permission from the ICC’s Executive Board.The dispensation, announced at the end of the ICC’s Chief Executive Committee (CEC)’s two-day meeting in Dubai, will have special significance for the proposed tour of Pakistan by Bangladesh, the planning for which is at an advanced stage.The CEC stated that it had limited powers to take a decision over safety issues as to whether tours should take place or not. It reiterated that the ICC’s role in bilateral series was “limited to considering the safety and security of the match officials after a tour had been confirmed and a security plan produced.” The decision as to whether a particular tour should take place or not was, the CEC stated, “one for the participating countries.”The CEC statement has ensured that the ICC’s own officials need not be appointed for Bangladesh’s tour of Pakistan. That could be seen by Pakistan as a stumbling block towards hosting top-level international cricket; other nations would be wary of touring if the ICC deemed the situation was not safe for their officials.For Bangladesh, the seal of ICC’s approval would have ensured greater vigilance around security issues. Last week, a nine-member Bangladesh delegation, led by their cricket board president Mustafa Kamal, gave a nod to the security arrangements at various venues after a two-day visit. Both Kamal, and Zaka Ashraf, the Pakistan Cricket Board chairman, had said that they would approach the ICC to approve the tour.It is understood that the ICC dispatched individual letters to both the PCB and BCB on Monday, saying that it could not give the tour a go-ahead. The CEC’s introduction of this special dispensation around “non-neutral match officials” did not make a specific reference to the ICC’s disapproval of the series or that the tour had been deemed “unsafe” for its match officials to stand in. The dispensation however, creates the opportunity for the series to go ahead with Pakistani or Bangladeshi umpires and match-referees.There had been two itineraries proposed for the tour, one of which includes a three-match ODI series, and the other a series of two ODIs and one Twenty20 international, to be completed in one week in April. Lahore’s Gaddafi Stadium and Karachi’s National Stadium are the venues expected to host the matches.ESPNcricinfo understands that Bangladesh’s security team had expressed its reservations in playing in Karachi, and instead hope to play all the proposed matches in Lahore. Earlier, Rawalpindi was dropped as a venue from the plan.”It is important the tour goes ahead for Pakistan cricket to show the country can host games again,” Subhan Ahmad, the PCB’s chief operating officer, told . “We will have the highest level of security possible.”Haroon Lorgat, the ICC chief executive, pointed out that special dispensations however should not become a norm. “Bearing in mind that safety and security is the sole responsibility of individual member boards for bilateral matches, the CEC regarded this as an exceptional circumstance in which the appointment of non-neutral match officials could be justified but stated clearly that it should not to be regarded as a preferred option or precedent if the dispensation were to be granted,” Lorgat said.There has been no international cricket in Pakistan for exactly three years now after masked terrorists attacked the Sri Lankan team bus and the van carrying ICC match officials, who were on their way to the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore on March 3, 2009, on what was the third day of the second Test.

Sri Lanka Cricket are set to replace current coach Geoff Marsh with Graham Ford, the former South Africa coach, ESPNcricinfo has learned

Tariq Engineer22-Jan-2012Sri Lanka Cricket are set to replace current coach Geoff Marsh with Graham Ford, the former South Africa coach, ESPNcricinfo has learned. The decision, which is expected to be announced after the one-day series against South Africa, is the latest by the board to revamp the set-up around the national team – the selection panel was replaced last week and it is believed the captaincy is also set to change hands.Ford earlier this week resigned as head coach of the Dolphins, the Durban-based franchise, saying he wanted to “follow my dreams of involvement at an international level”.He will be the third coach appointed by Sri Lanka since Trevor Bayliss stepped down after leading them to the 2011 World Cup final. Marsh was appointed for two years in September, 2011 and was in charge for the tours against Pakistan and South Africa. His appointment appeared to end a period of upheaval following Bayliss’ exit. Stuart Law, who was Bayliss’ assistant, took over for the England tour before quitting to coach Bangladesh. Rumesh Ratnayake then took over for the home series against Australia, before Marsh’s appointment.Ford took over as coach of South Africa from Bob Woolmer in 1999 and held the position till 2001. He moved to Kent as director of cricket in 2004, and in 2006 he returned home to take charge of the Dolphins. In June 2007, he was offered the challenge of coaching India but declined. In 2009, he withdrew his name from the shortlist of candidates for the England coaching job.Sri Lanka has come in for much criticism since reaching the World Cup final, having lost every Test and ODI series they have played since then and captain Tillakaratne Dilshan might also be replaced by Mahela Jayawardene following their poor performance in South Africa. When asked in Kimberley, on the eve of the fourth ODI, whether he would accept the job if offered, Jayawardene said, “I will have to think about it. I will need some time.”Phone calls to SLC president Upali Dharmadasa went unanswered while secretary Nishantha Ranatunga said he could not comment on the matter.Sri Lanka have lost three and won one of the five Tests they played under Marsh’s stewardship, though that win was their first ever in South Africa. They have also lost seven of the nine ODIs they have played. When he took over, Marsh had said he was keen to extend his two-year contract to help Sri Lanka win another World Cup. Instead, his term has lasted just four months.