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ScorecardEngland Lions put in an impressive all-round show to seal a consolation win in the final one-dayer against Bangladesh A at Sylhet Stadium. Bangladesh A took the series 3-2.The day began well for the Lions after they won the toss and made quick incisions with the new ball. Jack Brooks struck three times in his first four overs to push Bangladesh A to 13 for 3. Left-arm spinner Simon Kerrigan then came into the game with two blows as the score shuddered to 49 for 6. At that stage, even 100 seemed a far cry, but the hosts managed a recovery through the lower order led by No. 9 Noor Hossain (38 off 28 balls) to finish on 152.England Lions lost opener Joe Root for no score, but James Taylor and Alex Hales steadied the ship with a 52-run stand. Two quick wickets, within the space of seven balls, gave Bangladesh A an outside chance, but Jonny Bairstow and Jos Buttler supported Taylor well to ensure there were no further hiccups, until the winning runs were scored in the 38th over.

The BCCI has been served with 19 show-cause notices by India’s Directorate of Enforcement for alleged violations of the country’s Foreign Exchange Management Act [FEMA] totaling approximately Rs 1077.43 crores (US$ 207.52 million), according to a government report investigating the board and its management of the IPL.The BCCI’s alleged violations of the FEMA regulations are believed to have occurred when the BCCI moved the Twenty20 tournament to South Africa in 2009 amid security concerns caused by the holding of India’ s national elections at the same time as the IPL.Speaking in Parliament earlier on Tuesday, Ajay Maken, India’s sports minister, said that various government agencies have conducted inquiries into the allegations of irregularities by the BCCI.These include the FEMA violations totalling Rs 1077.43 crores, Income Tax assessments of Rs.118.04 crores and Rs.257.12 crores for 2007-08 and 2008-09 respectively (total Rs 375.16 crores) as well as the Service Tax department’s show cause notices involving an amount of Rs 159.12 crores to various service providers/ stakeholders in relation to the IPL for the recovery of service tax.The total payments being sought from the BCCI and its stakeholders amounts to more than Rs 1600 crores.The report states that the Income Tax department has withdrawn the tax exempt status of the board, and claimed back taxes amounting to Rs.118.04 crores and Rs.257.12 crores for the years 2007-08 and 2008-09 respectively. The tax exempt status had been removed because the BCCI had “amended its objects” – that is changed the basic definition of its functioning from June 1, 2006, an act which had required a fresh registration. The change had been noticed only when the BCCI’s tax assessment proceedings were being carried out for the year 2007-08. Given that there had been no fresh registration done since the changes, the government had stated that the BCCI’s old registration did not survive and neither could its tax exempt status.Government investigations are also being conducted into “the source of foreign investments in individual teams is being investigated and references through the Foreign Tax Division.” The report also stated that “preliminary investigations have shown prima facie evidence of monopolistic nature of working of BCCI and the companies involved” in awarding media rights for the IPL. The Ministry of Corporate Affairs has therefore been instructed to investigate these issues under the provisions of the Competition Act, 2002.

The pressure on suspended Goa batsman Swapnil Asnodkar to explain his actions after aborting a fourth-innings run chase against Maharashtra intensified on Thursday after a team-mate, Abhishek Raut, submitted a letter stating that Asnodkar had asked him not to go for the potentially gettable target in their Ranji Trophy Plate group match played at Porvorim last week.”Raut has said that he was told not to chase by Asnodkar immediately into the chase of the small target,” Goa Cricket Association secretary, Prasad Phaterpekar, told ESPNcricinfo.Asnodkar, Goa’s stand-in captain for the match, was suspended for two games for his unilateral decision to call off the chase as team management had explicitly decided they would go for the win during the change of innings. On Thurday, Asnodkar submitted a letter to the association explaining his actions, but Phaterpekar said it had not been opened yet.”We have started our internal investigations. Swapnil has sent his apology-cum-explanation on his act on November 9. We have not opened his letter yet. “We are taking the matter seriously and will place all our finding in front of the managing committee once the papers are ready and the investigations are complete.”Asnodkar’s troubles began on the final day of Goa’s opening round game against Maharashtra. After debutant Ganeshraj Narvekar claimed a five-wicket haul to bundle Maharashtra out for for 91 in their second innings, Goa were left needing 130 runs to get from 19 overs.Before starting their innings, the hosts decided that they would go for the win. Asnodkar walked out with a new opening partner in Amit Yadav, a hard-hitting batsman who was pushed up ahead of the regular opener Vaibhav Naik to help kickstart the chase. But when Raut walked in after the early fall of Yadav, Asnodkar informed him to go slow. He then played out the sixth over, eventually the final over the match, as a maiden before telling Maharashtra that Goa were not going for the target and the teams agreed to call off the game.In the first response from the BCCI about the case, Rajeev Shukla, currently IPL governing council chairman and member on BCCI’s marketing committee, said, “The BCCI has not come to know of any match-fixing (during Goa–Maharasthra game).” Shukla, an MP, spoke to reporters outside Parliament on Thursday and said, “There are no cases of match-fixing here as we have adopted strict measures to curb the menace. All the Indian players are clean.”

Mike Gatting, the former England captain, has remembered Graham Dilley, who died on Wednesday at the age of 52, as a cricketer who “always had a smile” when he played the game.Gatting played alongside Dilley in the famous 1981 Ashes Test at Headingley where Dilley played a key role with his second-innings 56 in the crucial stand with Ian Botham. Five years later Gatting was the captain of the 1986-87 side that retained the Ashes in Australia where Dilley was again part of the squad and played four Tests including the victory at Brisbane, taking 5 for 68.”He was a quiet guy with a very dry sense of humour,” Gatting told ESPNcricinfo. “He’d have a pint and a fag at the end of the day but he loved playing cricket. He was very happy sitting down and chatting to people about the game while having a beer and he loved passing on information to the kids. He always had a smile and a chuckle. He had his moments when he got a bit cross, but that was more within himself than anyone else.”Dilley’s role in 1981 is not remembered in the same light as Botham or Bob Willis, but England’s stunning victory after following-on wouldn’t have happened without his free-spirited innings after he’d been told by Botham “to have some fun” with the match seemingly lost”Had he not got his 50-odd with Beefy we wouldn’t have got anywhere near enough runs or even gone past Australia to win the match,” Gatting said. “He also took a very good catch in that match from a top edge at fine leg [to remove Rod Marsh].”He was a wonderful bowler throughout his career,” Gatting added. “In Australia in 1986-87 he was a huge cog in the wheel of winning that series and there were many other times when he was our strike bowler. He ran in very quickly and swung it out. He was a fine, fine bowler.”Gatting also remembered fondly the head-to-head battles the two players experienced at county level in an era where England’s players were available for far more domestic cricket. “We always had a bit of fun,” he said. “There were a few times where he got me early and it was a good competition. He was one of those bowlers that you had to see off because he was capable of picking up four or five wickets quickly.”Following his playing career, Dilley moved into coaching and spent time with the full England set-up and also at Loughborough university where he worked alongside Monty Panesar among other players.”We are devastated to hear the news that Graham has passed away,” Chris Earle, the Loughborough director of sport, said. “He has made his mark on the world of cricket, not just through his success as a player, but also for his contribution as our cricket coach over the last 11 years. Graham will be sadly missed, but his legacy at Loughborough will remain thanks to the excellent cricket environment that he played a significant role in creating.”John Stephenson, the MCC’s head of cricket, said: “He was a world-class bowler who I played against many times and he became a very good friend. As a coach, he made a huge impact as part of the MCC Universities programme; he was central to the progress made at Loughborough over the last decade and he will be much missed by all of us at the club.”

In the end it felt somewhat ridiculous to face MS Dhoni. To sit in front of a proud man, who went 10 matches without a win, in three different formats, during the last two months in England. To ask questions of a man who had seen incredibly ten of his players get injured including two – Praveen Kumar and Munaf Patel – on the eve of, and during the final match of the series? What could he really say that had not been said before? Yet within six months after becoming World Champions, India have slid to No. 5 five in the ICC ODI rankings. And so Dhoni faced the media scrutiny for one last time on a tour that he admitted he would forget.”I have never seen so many injuries in the last five years. To lose nine to eleven players in one series is something I can never forget,” Dhoni said at the post-match conference. Praveen, his best bowler on the tour, had picked an ankle injury while playing football on Thursday afternoon. And about 24 hours later Munaf, India’s senior-most bowler in the game, slipped on the wet outfield, badly injuring his ankle. India started the summer with Zaheer Khan and Ishant Sharma leading their bowling attack. They finished it with relying on part-timers like Virat Kohli being forced to fill their boots.Unfortunately for the Indian bowlers, despite having a good score to defend, they were handicapped by the combined forces of an incessant mild drizzle, and dew which made it difficult to grip the ball. At the time Munaf got injured, the game still hung in balance with England needing a further 139 runs from the remaining 17 overs. “Munaf got injured and we had to bowl his remaining four overs by someone else. Virat bowled well but his last over was expensive. We lost five tosses and we bowled second in nearly the same conditions, which were wet and that made it tough for our spinners,” Dhoni said.Unlike England who had the luxury of playing five specialist fast bowlers across the summer and blooding young talent like Jade Dernbach, in addition to possessing a formidable group of allrounders, Dhoni was forced to manage resources that depleted after every match. The frailty of his bowling attack only added pressure on the batting order, which featured just three of the players from the World Cup team.”We had a tough series and lost quite badly. Being a team sport you need to do well in all three departments and you can’t really carry the team for a consistent period of time just on one department. Playing with three bowlers in these conditions was tough to manoeuvre,” Dhoni said.Yet all is not lost. The most heartening facet about the youngsters, some who were called up at short notice and forced to play hours after landing in England, was their positive attitude and openness. “They are up for a fight,” Dhoni said. “Each time they turn up on a field, whether for a practice session or a game, they want to give their best, they love challenges and that makes it interesting for me. You do not have to motivate them. You can then put in that effort in some other areas. We lost a few games due to the weather not [being] on our side, luck not [being on our] side, but it is not about thinking too much about things not in our control. Am glad to see the team has reacted in a similar fashion.”Scenes like this were commonplace for India right through the England tour•Associated Press

Kohli is a good example of this grit and determination of the new generation of Indian players, who are hungry and willing to work hard despite all the easy riches that have come their way through the IPL. Today Kohli, often criticised in the past for his temperament and a loud lifestyle outside cricket, showed the maturity to stand up and deliver when it mattered for his team. It was a matter of pride for him, and India, that he was the solitary centurion on both sides in the one-day series. Many times during the summer, England’s players have highlighted the advantages of a happy dressing room. Despites various setbacks the Indians have shown willingness to learn from, and, contribute to the success of their teammates. They also have been fortunate to be led by an individual who believes in keeping things simple, and does not get swayed by the swinging fortunes of victory and defeat.For 66 days Dhoni’s captaincy came under the most severe scrutiny. England had beaten India on the field and in the mind. There was never a moment in the series when England appeared within reach. Yet Dhoni kept going even as his most trusted generals and lieutenants started falling one after the other. In the end he finished as the Man of the Series in the five-match ODI series. It was the fifth time in his career he had earned this honour, the only difference this being it was the first time it had come in defeat.On Friday Dhoni was asked if the series would have taken a different course for the Indians, who fly back home early Saturday morning empty-handed, if they had cashed in on the openings that came their way during England’s first innings in the first two Tests at Lord’s and then Trent Bridge. “What is important is what you did exactly when the opportunity came your way,” Dhoni said. “I have always believed it is not about sulking as to what could have been done. It is more often about what actually went wrong.”

With the county season reaching its end, a number of Ireland’s players with commitments in England will miss the four-day Intercontinental Cup match between Ireland and Namibia in Belfast from September 6. The match was originally scheduled for early July but was postponed because the Namibia players were facing issues getting their visas. With regular captain William Porterfield missing the game, Kevin O’Brien has been appointed captain of a 13-man squad that includes some new names.Stuart Poynter, the 21-year-old wicketkeeper, joins his older brother Andrew in the squad, while 18-year-old Graeme McCarter, who took 14 wickets in the recent Under-19 World Cup qualifying tournament, has also been included. Boyd Rankin, contracted with Warwickshire, Niall O’Brien, who plays for Northamptonshire, and Sussex’s Ed Joyce will all miss the game, which is Ireland’s first four-day match in this year’s Intercontinental Cup. Trent Johnson will also miss the game with injury.Ireland have recently announced they are planning to put a first-class structure in place in order to ultimately attain Test status, and this will be their first first-class match this year.Kevin O’Brien has captained Ireland once before but only in List A games, and he said he was looking forward to leading the team in a longer format. “The four-day game gives skippers a chance to try different ideas and put their own stamp on the team,” he said. “We have a few new faces in the squad for the game, with Stuart Poynter and Graeme McCarter both uncapped at senior level. This is an excellent chance for them, and the rest of the squad to make a mark ahead of the winter schedule.”Ireland had won the Intercontinental Cup three years in a row before Afghanistan won last year’s event.Ireland squad: Kevin O’Brien (captain), Alex Cusack, George Dockrell, Phil Eaglestone, Nigel Jones, Graeme McCarter, John Mooney, Andrew Poynter, Stuart Poynter, Paul Stirling, Albert van der Merwe, Andrew White, Gary Wilson.

Former India captain Sourav Ganguly has slammed the team’s preparations for the high-profile England tour, saying the amount of cricket being played cannot be used as an excuse for their poor show in the first two Tests. His comments came shortly after MS Dhoni had suggested that the start of the tour less than a week after three back-to-back Tests in the Caribbean had affected India’s performance.”I’m too fed up hearing this “time to recover” [excuse] – don’t play for India then, you know this is what it is, you have to come back and play a Test series,” Ganguly told Indian news channel . “And it was an important Test series, it was a marquee Test series to decide who was the No. 1 Test side in the world and you cannot say that. Okay you’ve lost and you haven’t played well, the matter ends there, just accept that and move on.”India’s No. 1 ranking is now in jeopardy after two thumping defeats to England, who now only need to draw the remaining Tests to take the top spot. Ganguly urged the Indian players to move on from the demoralising two weeks.”You have to put it behind … You are 28, 29, 30, you won’t get to play for India all your life. Make the most when you get it, once it goes, you won’t get it back, even how much you want it.”Ganguly also lashed out at India’s “soft cricket” and the long-standing failings against the bouncer, singling out the younger batsmen who are yet to cement their place. “The number of batsmen who got out to the short deliveries today was appalling,” he said. “Suresh Raina, Yuvraj Singh, Abhinav Mukund – it was an opportunity for them to establish themselves, Raina and Yuvraj are fighting for a place in the Test squad to get that No. 6 slot which is still vacant for a long long time now.”At Trent Bridge, Gautam Gambhir’s absence due to injury disrupted India’s batting order, pushing Rahul Dravid to the opening spot and VVS Laxman to No. 3 – a position Ganguly felt Laxman was unsuited for in seaming conditions. “Laxman is comfortable against the bouncing ball because that’s his technique, he hangs back. But the moment the ball starts swinging, he doesn’t get on the front foot. He should be batting five or six.”He also questioned the absence of a back-up opener in the squad, especially after Virender Sehwag was ruled out of the first two Tests. “You must remember – every time you travel abroad, you have to carry three openers. They knew Sehwag was injured, and you needed to carry some, what’s wrong with Wasim Jaffer? What wrong has that kid done?”Another source of disappointment for Ganguly was the batting of the Indian tail-enders. While India’s final four wickets contributed only 118 runs in the two innings at Trent Bridge – most of those runs coming too late to impact the course of the game – England’s tail put on 338. “You look at [Stuart] Broad, [Tim] Bresnan, [Graeme] Swann they had put a price on their wicket; but that was not the case with Praveen Kumar, Sreesanth, even Harbhajan Singh until he did in the second innings,” he said. “Rahul Dravid was stuck with them in the first innings and they kept falling like nine pins. In the second innings, we saw today Sachin Tendulkar was batting and they kept getting out.”The series and the No. 1 ranking are still not lost for India, and they will be boosted by the return of Gambhir for the third Test, and two other key players – Sehwag and Zaheer Khan – could also be back. “India need to quickly recover from this; they have a Test match in Birmingham in a week’s time, and have a lot of issues to settle.”

Now that his eight-year term as vice-president of the Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) is up, former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar has set his sights on becoming president. To get there, he will have to defeat his fellow vice-president, and former Maharashtra chief minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh in Friday’s election, but Vengsarkar believes his experience as a player gives him a “huge advantage”, especially since it is combined with the administrative expertise he has gained during his tenure as vice-president.”A cricketing background allows you to take the right decisions and implement them as well,” Vengsarkar told ESPNcricinfo. “A person has to be a hands-on person and he has to be there all the time. Implementation is very important. You can take the correct decisions, but if the implementation is not there, then all purpose is lost.”Mumbai cricket has been the target of criticism in recent times, with some commentators suggesting that India’s most successful domestic team has lost its edge, especially after the team lost to eventual champions Rajasthan in last season’s Ranji Trophy quarter-final. But Vengsarkar defended the team, pointing out that Mumbai were champions the year before and said it was a case of other states catching up as cricket has spread across the country rather than Mumbai declining.At the same time, he said there was a need to respond to the shifting plates of domestic cricket, and believed it started with improving cricket at the grassroots level in the city to make sure no talent went untapped. “We have to give lot of boost to school cricket, college cricket, official club cricket. Concentrate a lot on grassroots cricket. Make it stronger. Tap the talent and groom the players. We need good grounds and good wickets. We want to train 150 coaches and if schools and colleges want them, we can employ them there.”Improving the maidans in Mumbai is another priority for Vengsarkar as maidan cricket has long been the lifeblood of the sport in the city, with the likes of Sunil Gavaskar and Sachin Tendulkar first forging their reputations playing on these generally oval-shaped open spaces. “Maidan cricket is very important,” he said. “We need to improve the facilities for maidan cricket and we have to assist them financially also.”Another pillar of Vengsarkar’s campaign is the revival of office and corporate cricket so that jobs are created for players in corporate houses. He also told the , that there are plans to launch a Mumbai Premier League in the near future.

Abhimanyu Mithun, the India fast bowler, is back in the Test squad after injuries ruled Zaheer Khan and Sreesanth out of the tour of the West Indies, and is hoping that this latest opportunity will give him the chance to establish himself in the squad. Mithun made his Test debut against Sri Lanka last July – he replaced Zaheer who missed that series with an injury as well – but was then overlooked in favour of Jaidev Unadkat for India’s tour of South Africa at end of 2010.”It feels good to be picked again,” the 21-year-old Mithun told the after a practice stint on Saturday. “I did expect to go to South Africa but … I am hoping to get a chance and prove myself again, like I did on my debut in Sri Lanka.”Mithun took six wickets at an average of 62 in three Tests against Sri Lanka, similar figures to Ishant Sharma, who took seven wickets at 61.71. He was initially disappointed about not going to South Africa, but said he was lucky to have received good advice from a number of people who told him to concentrate on playing for the love of the game rather than obsess over not playing for India. In particular, he gave credit to Sanath Kumar, the Karnataka coach over the past two seasons, according to the newspaper.”Initially I felt sad and at the net sessions that followed I did lose some concentration, focus and so on. Fortunately for me, a lot of people spoke to me and advised me well. Everyone encouraged me, told me I am a good bowler.”But the best advice I got was when I was told that when I started playing cricket I did so as I loved the game. At that point I wasn’t thinking of playing for India and so why think about it now, I was asked. That set me thinking and slowly I regained my confidence and got back to normal.”When asked whether Test cricket was too much pressure to handle, Mithun said he actually found it easier than playing domestic cricket as it wasn’t his job to lead the attack. “I found it easier in the Tests. There I was a rookie, I only had to look after my bowling, for which to the seniors were very much around to help. I was freer in a way. But when I got back to first class cricket, it was very different. The expectations had gone up and I was looked upon as someone who will get wickets whenever I bowled.”That was something I found it tough to deal with initially but slowly got used to that as well and started to enjoy my bowling once again.”

Scorecard
A solid batting performance from the top order set up Pakistan A’s huge win over Afghanistan in Rawalpindi, helping the hosts seal the three-match series 2-0 with a game to go. Sharjeel Khan, Babar Azam and Umar Amin set up the win with half-centuries, as the Pakistan A line-up feasted on the Afghanistan bowling.Sharjeel and Azam galloped to a century opening stand before Sharjeel was bowled by Mohammad Nabi for an aggressive 64 which included ten fours and a six. Amin arrived and kept up the onslaught in the company of Azam. Despite the middle order not being able to capitalise on several starts, wicketkeeper Sarfraz Ahmed’s unbeaten 46 off 28 deliveries ensured Pakistan A would finish well above 300 with an unbeaten. Dawlat Zadran was the most successful bowler for Afghanistan, but he conceded 82 for his three wickets.Afghanistan were never in the chase, with left-arm seamer Sadaf Hussain striking repeatedly to peg them back. Javed Ahmadi and captain Nawroz Mangal hung around for a while but it was only due to Samiullah Shenwari’s dogged half-century that Afghanistan were able to better the 152 that they managed in the first game. Hussain, who was Player of the Match for his 4 for 46, was supported by his captain Sohail Tanvir and left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar who picked up two wickets apiece.The third and final one-dayer will be played in Faisalabad on Sunday.