Category Uncategorized

Scorecard

Romesh Kaluwitharana finished his first-class career by captaining Colts to victory in the 2004-05 Premier League Tournament. It was Colts’s first domestic title since 2001-02.Victory was all but assured after BRC were bundled out for 178 to give Colts a decisive, and match-winning first-innings lead of 196. Chaminda Vaas collected with 5 for 32 to go with his first-innings century as BRC lost their last five wickets for 34 runs, The lower order failed to continue the good work put in by Manoj Mendis, who, on the second day, had propped up BRC with a spirited 73 with 12 fours.Colts needed to bat out time on Sunday afternoon, and Kaluwitharana dispelled any fears of a dramatic turn-around by putting on 77 for the first wicket with Shantha Kalavitigoda before being out for the last time in his career, to Duncan Arnolda. Kalu was given a rousing send-off, and his team-mates gave him a guard of honour. Kalavitigoda pressed on, despite Sajeewa Weerakoon cutting through the Colts’s middle order to claim 3 for 60, and reached his hundred from 117 balls with 12 fours and a four sixes before umpires called time.At the post-match presentation ceremony, Weerakoon was awarded the bowler of the tournament, while Rashan Peiris of Colts was player of the tournament. Russel Arnold, who wasn’t playing in the final, was batsman of the tournament.

Outgoing International Cricket Council (ICC) president Malcolm Gray hasadmitted that the contracts controversy was laced with evils like “greed andparochialism”, according to a report from India Abroad News Service.Gray, who will hand over stewardship of the ICC to Pakistan’s Ehsan Mani onThursday, spoke at length about issues that have strained relationshipsbetween players, national cricket boards and the ICC. The interview quotesGray as saying: “The contracts issue was a problem that was entwined withgreed, bad management, lack of communication, nationalism and parochialism.”Further, he admitted that the ICC could have handled the imbroglio moresensitively. “We at ICC should have realised that the communication betweenthe players and the boards was lacking in many parts of the world. Maybe wecould have done more to ensure the players were properly informed and theirviews taken into account.”Gray’s statements come in the wake of a claim of £ 50 million by the GlobalCricket Corporation (GCC), who earlier entered into a US$ 550 million,seven-year sponsorship deal with the ICC. The deal assured the GCC of antiambush-marketing measures, some of which could not be fulfilled in thecourse of the World Cup.Shortly before the ICC Champions Trophy and the World Cup, uneasycompromises were reached and the tournaments got under way. It is thesecompromises that have given rise to circumstances in which the GCC can stakeits claim for £ 50 million from the ICC.Gray appreciated the gravity of the situation, but remained optimistic thata solution would be reached. “It is a complex issue and the claims that haveemanated will take time to find solutions. However, if they are approachedwith a sense of reasonability by all parties, an answer could be arrived atin a relatively short time.”

As early as day two of the CricInfo Championship, Division Two clash between Middlesex and Warwickshire at Lord’s, a stalemate has been achieved.History suggests a draw: as Middlesex haven’t won at Lord’s against The Bears since 1983. Warwickshire last beat Middlesex in 1992. Last year’s game was a typical high scoring draw.Middlesex reached an epic 502-7 declared at tea, with Paul Weekes (107) and David Nash (103*) completing centuries today.Warwickshire replied with 158-2. Mark Wagh, in his 50th championship appearance stroking an unbeaten 82 and Ian Bell, in his ninth championship game, making an unbeaten 65.With depleted attacks and a flat pitch, early breakthroughs were essential. Warwickshire didn’t take a wicket until mid afternoon, after Weekes and Nash had added a record between the counties of 189 for the sixth wicket. This surpassed the record of Mark Ramprakash and Keith Brown, who added 184 at Lord’s in 1996.Today was just the second time that four players had made centuries in an innings at HQ following Middlesex’s 1920 quartet of P.F Warner, H.W Lee, J.W Hearne and N.E Haig.Stephen Fleming and Ed Joyce made tons during another record Middlesex v Warwickshire stand yesterday.Warwickshire’s debutant, Jamie Spires, 21, who wasn’t required to bowl today, commented: “If you didn’t bowl off stump, any error in length is punished.”This partly explains why just five wickets fell for 322 runs in 88 overs today.Middlesex’s declaration brought relief for Warwickshire. But just as the home team had been 33-3 early yesterday, Warwickshire began badly to be 6-2 after just nine balls.Fraser straightened one to trap Mike Powell lbw, then Tim Bloomfield bowled Nick Knight for a duck, on the back foot as the ball came in down the slope.But the contrasting styles of Wagh and Bell were then illustrated, particularly in two overs from Middlesex medium pacer Simon Cook. In the first, Wagh’s graceful straight drive brought up as 45-ball 50 containing nine fours. In the next the more compact Bell pulled two sixes into the nearby Grandstand to bring up the team’s 100 in just 132 balls.Yet another 1920’s stand between the counties was threatened as 19-year-old Bell, and 24-year-old Wagh passed 150 for the third wicket, three overs from the close.

The rain affected South Zone Cooch Behar Trophy match between Kerala andGoa, predictably enough, ended in a disappointing draw at the MedicalCollege ground in Trivandrum today. Play was possible only for 133 minuteson the first day during which Goa made 71 for eight wickets. The second andthird days were completely washed out and the teams got three points each.This was the second successive no result for Kerala.

Mahela Jayawardene, the Sri Lankan captain, has blamed his side’s poor batting for the series loss to England after conceding an unbeatable 3-1 lead with one match to play. A comfortable five-wicket win at the Premadasa Stadium sealed England’s first ODI triumph in the subcontinent since 1987.”I don’t think we’ve batted well for the last three games,” said Jayawardene. “One or two individuals have been having good days but we’ve not been batting as a unit to put runs on the board for the bowlers to bowl at.”He admitted England were the better side and that they deserved to win the series. “Losing matches is not easy for us, especially at home, but credit should go to England because they’ve played some really good cricket. Some of their players have performed really well and they’ve basically outplayed us in the last few games.”Paul Collingwood, the England captain, termed his side’s comeback “unbelievable” after they won their first one-day series in Sri Lanka despite losing the series opener.”Before we came here a lot of people wrote us off. We lost that first game and the way the lads have bounced back has been unbelievable. They’ve learnt and adapted new skills and showed a lot of character.”I am very, very proud and it was a very proud moment when we knocked those runs off. I’m proud of all the players that have been involved and the management have been fantastic.”He said the series victory against India had given the team a lot of confidence.”We knew the areas we needed to improve and the key has been the belief we have built up over the last few weeks, especially the India series which was a big thing for us – that belief was not going to go after one game.”Alastair Cook and Kevin Pietersen scored half-centuries to help England coast to victory after the bowlers had restricted Sri Lanka to 211.

The Duke of Edinburgh greeted Sussex’s cricketers at Buckingham Palace this week, to present them with the ECB/Lord’s Taverners County Championship Trophy, after their narrow victory over Lancashire in this year’s tightly contested title race.Prince Philip, who is also patron and twelfth man of the Lord’s Taverners, has presented the trophy at Buckingham Palace to the winners of the County Championship each year since Hampshire won in 1973.This year’s victory by Sussex is the second time in four years that the county has won the Championship since it was inaugurated in 1890. Sussex won the trophy for the first time in their history in 2003.They also won this season’s C&G one-day final, and their captain, Chris Adams, who received the trophy from the Duke, said: “From 2003 it’s a different side but it’s a magnificent feeling and to do the double has meant 2006 is Sussex’s year.”Also present at Buckingham Palace was the England women’s captain, Charlotte Edwards, who received the women’s trophy on behalf of her county, Kent, who won the competition for the first time in their history.

Mark Williams, chief executive of The Lord’s Taverners said: “These two teams have performed extraordinarily well throughout the season and are deserving winners of the trophies.”We are particularly pleased for Sussex,” he added. “Not only have they played some compelling cricket but also Chris Adams and other Sussex cricketers gave up some of their rare days off during the season to turn out for The Lord’s Taverners cricket team, which raises much needed funds for the charity.”Both the men’s and the women’s County Championships are sponsored by the Liverpool Victoria Group, who generously donate £6 to The Lord’s Taverners for every six hit in the county championships, as well as £10 a run for the highest individual score in the championship. In 2006 the combined donation to the charity from Liverpool Victoria amounts to £9,444.

Less than 48 hours have passed since the final of the Challenger Trophy at Mohali, and the Punjab Cricket Association (PCA) finds itself embroiled in a new controversy over television rights with the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI).The first volley was fired by SK Nair, BCCI secretary, as he accused the PCA of not releasing the full financial details of the television deal with Zee Sports, which broadcast all four games. “We have sent them letters asking them to give us the financial details of the deal but PCA refuses to divulge information,” Nair has been quoted as saying by . “We would like to know how much money PCA has made because it affects the gross earnings of the board from which subsidies are given to affiliated units.”The BCCI claims that it is the PCA’s responsibility to maintain transparency regarding any financial dealing, such as who determined a final amount for the TV rights and on what basis, given that the PCA is an affiliate of the BCCI.IS Bindra, PCA president, disapproved Nair’s statements and has dashed off his own letter to the board, dated October 13 and delivered to Nair, by hand, on October 14. Bindra has cited that the PCA went ahead and found sponsors for the Challenger Trophy and arranged for its telecast at the request of the Annual General Meeting, and that he does intend to submit a detailed financial report.Nair’s comments and Bindra’s response are sure to raise the tempo of discussions at the board’s marketing committee meeting to be held in Mumbai on October 16, where the technical bids for TV rights for coverage of all matches till 2009 will be discussed.

After banning Maurice Odumbe for five years, the ICC is now investigating further accusations of corruption involving Kenyan players, according to Reuters reports. Individual interviews with 14 players will be held between November 30 and December 2 by two members of the Anti-Corruption and Security Unit, Martin Hawkins and Alan Peacock.Sammy Obingo, the Kenyan board’s general manager, issued letters to the players in question, in which he told them: “The purpose of their visit is to carry out investigations into matters that arose during the recent Maurice Odumbe inquiry in Nairobi. The investigations are centered on the players and officials of the 1999-00 Kenya team of which you were a member.”The current investigations were sparked by comments made by Odumbe’s ex-wife at the inquiry, where she suggested six Kenya players may have been involved in corrupt practices.”I think this is a follow-up of what emerged at the Odumbe inquiry involving other national team members,” said the chairman of the Kenyan board, Sharadh Ghai. “I think this is what they are coming to conduct further investigations on.”The banning of the charismatic and influential Odumbe following the inquiry hit the Kenyan team hard. And although he protested his innocence, his request for an appeal was turned down.The current investigation is just the latest in a series of events to set back Kenya. Steve Tikolo resigned after the Champions Trophy – and a players’ strike followed. The new captain, Hitesh Modi, said: “We’ve gone ten steps backward since the World Cup.” Interestingly, he defended Odumbe, saying, “I thought it was unfair that he got a five-year ban. There have been players who have admitted to have taken money but who have got away. And they are only saying he knew a bookie, but they have not pinpointed any game which was affected.”

Douglas Hondo picked up five wickets and Grant Flower cracked a century togive Zimbabwe the upper hand against British Universities at Edgbaston, inthe opening match of their tour.After a rain-affected first day, the Universities resumed on a healthy 92for 2, but by the time Hondo had taken four wickets in three overs, theirinnings was in tatters. They folded for 146, as 15 wickets fell in the day.Zimbabwe launched their reply with a brace of fifties for Mark Vermeulen andStuart Carlisle, but by the time Rob Ferley and Justin Bishop had rippedthrough the middle order, Zimbabwe were themselves in some considerablestrife at 183 for 7. Flower, however, stood firm, adding 119 for the eighthwicket with his captain Heath Streak (37 not out).

Tickets for the Cheltenham and Gloucester Final at Lord’s on September 1st will go on sale to the general public at The County Ground in Taunton from 9am on Monday.The initial allocation of 4,500 was all sold by the middle of last week, but the club has been successful in obtaining a further 1500 from Lord’s.In addition a large number of Somerset fans have obtained their tickets direct from the ticket office which means that when the Cidermen walk out on to the pitch at Lord’s they will be greeted by as many as 9,000 of their supporters.Chief Executive Peter Anderson told me: “I have been amazed by the demand for tickets, it’s even more than last time, which is very pleasing.”