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It will be months, or in all probability years, before a final agreement is reached on whether MCC should proceed with any kind of ‘Vision for Lord’s’

Ivo Tennant02-May-2012It will be months, or in all probability years, before a final agreement is reached on whether MCC should proceed with any kind of ‘Vision for Lord’s’. A decision on whether to continue with this grandiose scheme, originally involving the rebuilding of five stands, an undercroft and a sunken real tennis court, was deferred at MCC’s annual meeting on Wednesday to enable Derek Brewer, the incoming chief executive, to look at it afresh.Brewer, who attended the packed meeting – it was delayed for 25 minutes to enable members to take their seats – starts work this week. He and Colin Maber, the architect who was instrumental in redeveloping Trent Bridge, will preside over a third working party that will decide what work, if any, should take place on MCC’s leasehold land at the Nursery End.A resolution – later withdrawn – at the meeting asked the club’s 18,000 members to “ratify the decision of the MCC committee not to permit any residential development on the club’s leasehold land at the Nursery End”. This runs alongside Wellington Road, above disused railway tunnels. Temporary hospitality marquees, where the meeting took place, stand there for the time being.The withdrawal was proposed by Robert Griffiths QC, the chairman of the original development committee, which was disbanded. Two further development committees, or working parties, have deliberated on this vexed project, which will have cost at least £3m since 2008 – and considerably more if Almacantar, the property developer and MCC’s former business partner, succeeds in suing the club.A further reason for the withdrawal of the resolution was to avoid more mud-slinging in the hour-long debate that had been set aside for the meeting. MCC reiterated that it has no evidence of money owed to Almacantar, which claims to have email evidence from Keith Bradshaw, the previous chief executive, that it would be paid. Almacantar is prepared to subpoena him and bring him back from Australia if necessary.The decision to withdraw the resolution was taken by Phillip Hodson, MCC’s president, after consultation with chairman Oliver Stocken and treasurer Justin Dowley. It was apparent that numerous members were not happy with the wording of the resolution and were prepared to put up with further delay. MCC now has to resolve whether to try to continue to work with Almacantar or choose another business partner, and how to make progress with Rifkind Levy Partnership, who own the head lease on the disused railway tunnels.Stocken was re-elected chairman through considerable support but the withdrawal of the resolution will be of some embarrassment to him given his strong opposition to major elements of the original £400m development. Sir John Major, who resigned from the main committee in protest at the way its decision-making was reached, did not attend the meeting.Numerous individuals have left the club over the past 18 months, including Bradshaw, who was originally enthusiastically in favour of sweeping changes to the ground, David Batts, the project manager, and Stephen Musgrave, a property expert, as well as members of a development committee that included Mike Atherton and Lord Grabiner QC in addition to Griffiths and Major.Mike Griffith, a former captain of Sussex who also chaired MCC’s cricket committee, was nominated at the close of the meeting to succeed Hodson as president for 2012-13. He now has to try to assist Brewer over what inevitably will be tricky and contentious decision making.

Lalchand Rajput, the coach of the India A team, has said the batsmen need to show resolve in difficult conditions to prove they are ready for the highest level of cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Jun-2012The India A team on tour in the Caribbean has struggled to produce strong batting performances in the two unofficial Test matches against a relatively inexperienced West Indies A bowling attack. In the second match in St. Vincent, India A’s batting line-up, which contains several India players, collapsed for 94 in pursuit of 220. They haven’t scored 300 in four attempts on testing pitches.However, the India A coach Lalchand Rajput said the batsmen had the technique to succeed. “Once they spend more time, the runs will start to come,” he told . “There is no fault in their technique. Just a matter of application.”The India A captain Cheteshwar Pujara was the only batsman to enjoy some success, scoring 214 runs with three half-centuries, one of which was during a successful chase in the first game in Bridgetown. The team’s top order, however, failed with Abhinav Mukund, Ajinkya Rahane and Shikhar Dhawan scoring 16, 28 and 30 runs in four innings.”It is very important for the openers to score. They have not clicked so far,” Rajput said. “We have the best batting line-up possible here and these boys have the ability to do well.”Rohit Sharma, who is competing for a spot in India’s Test middle order, began the tour with 94 in his first innings, but scored only 37 runs in his next three. The pitches were not conducive for stroke play but Rajput said the batsmen needed to learn how to cope on such surfaces.”Rohit, Rahane and Tiwary did fall prey to balls that just kept really low. The two tracks so far have been really challenging for the boys,” he said. “If these boys have to succeed at the highest level, they have to be ready for such things.”The third unofficial Test will be played in Gros Islet from June 16. The three-match series is level at 1-1.

The fast bowler Ravi Rampaul has been ruled out of the second Test against New Zealand due to a groin injury

ESPNcricinfo staff31-Jul-2012The fast bowler Ravi Rampaul has been ruled out of the second Test against New Zealand due to a groin injury. He has been replaced in the 13-man West Indies squad by Fidel Edwards, who has been in and out of the Test side this year.Edwards has a fine record at Sabina Park in Jamaica, where the second Test will start on Thursday; he has taken 25 Test wickets there at an average of 22.28. However, Edwards might yet be left out of the starting line-up if West Indies included Tino Best, who was part of the squad for the first Test.Rampaul picked up two wickets in each innings of the victory in Antigua, which gave West Indies a 1-0 lead in the two-game series. Kemar Roach and Sunil Narine did most of the damage with the ball in the first Test.West Indies will be searching for their first series win against New Zealand in 1996 when they take the field in Kingston.West Indies squad Chris Gayle, Kieran Powell, Adrian Barath, Assad Fudadin, Shivnarine Chanderpaul, Marlon Samuels, Narsingh Deonarine, Denesh Ramdin (wk), Darren Sammy (capt), Tino Best, Fidel Edwards, Kemar Roach, Sunil Narine.

The anticipated close finish and positive result did not materialise. Above all, though, they were thwarted by a fine century, only the second of his career, by Ian Cockbain.

Ivo Tennant at Bristol09-Aug-2012
ScorecardThe anticipated close finish and positive result did not materialise. For one thing, the pitch at Nevil Road, helpful to seam bowlers on the first day, became flatter as the match continued. For another, Hampshire, in omitting Danny Briggs, had to rely on batsmen who could bowl as opposed to a specialist spinner. Above all, though, they were thwarted by a fine century, only the second of his career, by Ian Cockbain.Cockbain is not quite what you imagine him to be. His name is not pronounced as in that jokey old television advertisement for port, although some tannoy announcers would have us believe it should be. He is not from the Cotswolds but Merseyside, as betrayed by his accent and support of Everton FC, and his batting is reflective of growing up in the harsher environment of the north of England. He watches the ball onto the bat and collects his runs in uncomplicated style off it.As Gloucestershire were struggling owing to injuries to three bowlers playing in this match – Paul Muchall (back) David Payne (knee) and Ian Saxelby (also knee) Alex Gidman had decided early in the day not to leave his opponents a target. The onus was on Hampshire to bowl them out. This they singularly failed to do in the morning, when the one wicket that fell was that of Dan Housego, who was athletically taken by Michael Bates in front of first slip off Sean Ervine.Cockbain, though, was in the form of his (short) life. In his last five Championship innings he has scored 58, 38, 55, 51 and now 112. He is, in fact 25 years old, but as well as a short spell with Lancashire was on MCC’s groundstaff. There was no evidence of nervousness: he reached his century, off 206 balls, with his 11th and 12th four. Only after tea did Hampshire dismiss him, when he played on to Simon Katich’s left-arm chinamen, having faced, in all, 227 balls and hit 14 fours.James Tomlinson picked up a couple of other wickets and Jimmy Adams brought himself on to try to break the last pair, which he did, but the overs were fast running out. Indeed, by the time Gloucestershire were finally dismissed for 277, there was not even an opportunity for a T20 style run chase. Hampshire’s target was 273 off a minimum of 16 overs, which might have been a possibility if Barry Richards and Gordon Greenidge were still opening the innings, but, understandably enough, was not entertained by Adams. Each side took eight points from the match.Should Hampshire have included Briggs? There was some turn for Katich into the rough and Liam Dawson ultimately had a fairly lengthy bowl. The scenario was no different to that at Headingley last week, when England opted not to field a specialist spinner.There is a cogent argument that every team is incomplete without one, whatever the pitch or state of a series or championship. Geoff Miller, the England national selector, came here on Monday, eschewing the Test match, to watch some of the brightest young cricketers in the country. He would reasonably have expected Briggs and James Vince, both of whom appeared in Hampshire’s last fixture, to be playing here. They did not do so.

England will face another examination against spin in their first World Twenty20 Super Eights tie against West Indies in Pallakele on Thursday

David Hopps in Pallekele26-Sep-2012England will face another examination against spin in their first World Twenty20 Super Eights tie against West Indies in Pallakele on Thursday. Destroyed by India’s Harbhajan Singh and Piyush Chawla at the group stage, they must now combat West Indies’ Sunil Narine and a potential unknown accomplice, Samuel Badree.Narine is West Indies’ “trump card” according to their captain, Darren Sammy, but perhaps it is possible to exaggerate the likely extent of the ordeal after England’s batting horrors against India. The most danger to England is more likely to emanate from the usual place: West Indies’ long list of destructive batsmen.Narine had a bowling average of 199 in England last summer in all competitions – his only wicket came when he dismissed Jonathan Trott in an ODI at the Rose Bowl and Trott is not even here. After his success in the IPL, England played Narine rather well. If he is to prove a trump card, it will have needed a change of suit since the sides last met.As for Badree, he is a 31-year-old legspinner from Trinidad whose international exposure amounts to two T20I matches against New Zealand in the United States. He claimed Tim Southee as his only wicket and is the only international player who can fairly claim to be bigger in Florida than the rest of the cricketing world. There again, he is an unknown quantity and, in England’s current state, that is a good thing to be.Stuart Broad believes England’s batsmen must “learn from mistakes but don’t dwell on them”•AFP

It is not that the Pallakele pitch is expected to favour the spinners, not this early in the tournament anyway, just that West Indies have unsurprisingly taken a view. It was hard not to after the way England capitulated to India, bowled out for 80, their lowest Twenty20 score.But even if you add in the offspin of Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels, who are both most notable for the expenditure of a minimal number of calories in delivery, England will be telling themselves that their fallibility against spin is in danger of being overplayed.England’s T20I captain, Stuart Broad, is doing his best to shrug it off. “We are ready for that,” he said. “It is not as if we have found out yesterday that people are going to bowl spin at us. Coming to Sri Lanka, we sort of knew that because those are the conditions we will face. It is important as individuals we try to counteract it.”Broad refuses to accept that England have technical issues against spin bowling. Even if he harbours doubts, it is far too late to do much about it now. The only option is to try to restore self-belief and trust that England somehow brazen it through.”The challenge is all mental,” he claimed. “It is all about getting yourself back into a positive frame of mind and reminding the guys in the team that they are good players. They have performed well to get into this England team and we have match-winners in this side.Darren Sammy has suggested that West Indies will target England’s perceived weakness against spin•Associated Press

“We just talked about our strengths. Learn from the mistakes you make but don’t dwell on them. We have players who have played spin well. We have talked about how we’ve done that.”But Sammy looked particularly perky as he presented Narine as a potential matchwinner. “We will definitely look to bowl spin against them,” he said. “I think everyone who comes on to bowl has a big part to play but Sunil is our trump card. He has done well for us in international matches and hopefully he’ll have a big impact on the English batting line-up.”England are the defending world champions. I don’t think they will allow the last game India to play on their minds. We have our plans and just have to go out and execute them.”Sammy excused Narine’s poor show in England on the grounds of miserable weather, which did not make the pitches conducive to spin and pointed out, accurately enough, that England’s senior spin bowler, Graeme Swann, also survived on meagre returns.Broad is not the first person to extol the attractions of Pallakele. Contrast that with Sri Lanka’s unveiling of the jerry-built, and unfinished, Dambulla Stadium to unsuspecting England tourists about a decade ago and it is a huge stride forward.”It’s my first time to the ground, it looks fantastic,” Broad said. “It reminds me a bit of Caribbean grounds actually.”Another reason, perhaps, why Sammy was feeling so content.

Akram Raza, the former Pakistan offspinner, has been reinstated to the Pakistan Cricket Board umpiring panel, following his suspension for his involvement in an illegal betting racket

Umar Farooq27-Sep-2012Akram Raza, the former Pakistan offspinner, has been reinstated to the Pakistan Cricket Board umpiring panel, following his suspension for his alleged involvement in an illegal betting racket. He was arrested and charged by police following a raid on bookmakers in Lahore. After year-long proceedings in a Lahore court, he regained his PCB role.The PCB today announced the 2012-13 domestic season calendar with Raza named as a match official for the inaugural President’s Trophy Grade 1. Javed Miandad, PCB director general, defended his appointment, saying the umpire had produced proof that he was innocent.”He [Akram] has cleared his name and wanted to revive his services,” Miandad said at the Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. “There is no surprise in reinstating him as in the past, so many players in contention extended their playing careers so there is no difference in this case too. He actually came up with the court notice which proves that he has cleared his name and we cannot challenge the court order. After a lengthy deliberation, we decided to reinstate him.”He was one of the top umpires in the circuit and we have no reason to snub him if he has cleared his name.”Raza, 47, played nine Tests and 49 ODIs for Pakistan from 1989 to 1995. He was one of the six Pakistani players fined in a match-fixing inquiry conducted by Justice Malik Mohammad Qayyum in 2000. Until 2011, he had been officiating as a first-class umpire for six years.”I have reapplied for job after the court cleared me,” Raza told ESPNcricinfo. “I once again insist that I had nothing to do with the betting. The PCB had suspended me but I fought my case in court over the last year to come clean. Unfortunately, I have lost ample time in court cases but now it’s time to do my umpiring job.”

Former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe had been diagnosed with lymphoma, a type of cancer

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Oct-2012Former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe had been diagnosed with lymphoma, a type of cancer. The diagnosis, New Zealand newspapers reported on Monday, was “very new” and Crowe’s family was still coming to terms with it. No details have as yet been released of how serious or at what stage the cancer is.”Understandably the family have a number of issues to confront over the next couple of weeks, the diagnosis is very new, the family is still in shock and obviously dealing with the understanding that life as they know it for the unforeseeable future is different,” Louise Henderson, a close family friend and manager, was quoted as saying.One of New Zealand’s most celebrated batsmen, Crowe, 50, had played 77 Tests between 1982 and 1995, before he was forced to quit international cricket due to a bad knee. He had briefly attempted to return to competitive cricket last November, saying that he considered it a means of self-motivation and a tool to get fit, and also an opportunity to score the 392 runs he needs to tally 20,000 first-class runs. However, the attempt was aborted three balls into his first innings, as he pulled a thigh muscle while batting for Cornwall against Parnell in a club game.

A dreary day in Sydney prevented a nicely poised match from being played to its conclusion as New South Wales and Victoria drew the Sheffield Shield encounter

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Nov-2012
ScorecardA dreary day in Sydney prevented a nicely poised match from being played to its conclusion as New South Wales and Victoria drew the Sheffield Shield encounter at the SCG.Only five overs’ play were possible, the batsmen Scott Henry and Peter Nevill nudging NSW to 3 for 194 and an overall lead of 157 before the umpires called the match off.Victoria took the two first innings points thanks to a century by the opening batsman Chris Rogers, while Mitchell Starc’s four wickets for the Blues enhanced his claims for a spot in the Australian Test team to play in Adelaide.

Brett Lee is standing by his criticism of Cricket New South Wales and its chief executive David Gilbert despite being ordered to face a Cricket Australia disciplinary hearing

Daniel Brettig28-Dec-2012Brett Lee is standing by his stinging criticism of Cricket New South Wales and its chief executive David Gilbert despite being ordered to face a Cricket Australia disciplinary hearing after being reported for allegedly breaching the Code of Behaviour during an interview. Lee has been reported by Cricket New South Wales following the interview he gave Fairfax Media last weekend, in which he said Gilbert should be sacked.Lee was critical of Gilbert’s handling of the termination of coach Anthony Stuart’s contract and also of the way Lee himself had been treated during the final stages of his state career. Although Lee is no longer contracted as a New South Wales player he is playing in the Big Bash League and thus remains bound by Cricket Australia’s Code of Behaviour.Speaking after the charge and hearing were announced, Lee said he was not backing down from his comments, stating he had taken the decision to say what many in NSW were thinking about the recent travails of cricket in the state.”What I said I meant,” Lee told Channel Nine. “I did it in the best interests of NSW cricket. I’ve loved playing every moment for NSW and I feel in the last five or six years it’s gone off the boil. Losing all these players, there’s a lot of people that thought it but didn’t want to say it so I took the leadership to stand up and I believe it should start right from the top and that’s why I mentioned David Gilbert.”There’s a lot of changes that need to happen to improve NSW cricket and I’ll stand by what I said. I’m going next week for a hearing from NSW cricket because I can then express my views and the reasons why I said this.”I’ll be looking forward to getting there and having a chat to the guys, whether it’s the commissioner or whoever it might be just to give my thoughts on how NSW cricket can improve. I said it out of the kindness of my own heart, I want to see NSW cricket strong again, I believe it’s fallen off the pace a bit.”Lee is alleged to have breached Rule 6, regarding unbecoming behaviour, as well as Rule 9, which deals with detrimental public comment. Rule 6 states that players and officials “must not at any time engage in behaviour unbecoming to a representative player or official that could (a) bring them or the game of game into disrepute or (b) be harmful to the interests of cricket”.Rule 9 states that players and officials “must not make public or media comment which is detrimental to the interest of the game”.A date and time for the hearing is yet to be confirmed.

Mohammad Yousuf, the Pakistan batsman, has passed on the captaincy of the Lahore Lions team to Mohammad Hafeez

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Dec-2012Mohammad Yousuf, the former Pakistan batsman, has passed on the captaincy of the Lahore Lions team to Mohammad Hafeez, the national team’s T20 captain, for the ongoing Faysal Bank T-20 Cup to help the latter gain experience.”Yousuf himself surrendered his captaincy and offered Hafeez to lead the side,” Lahore City Cricket Association president Khawaja Nadeem said. “It’s a great gesture from a great player to let Hafeez gain experience as captain. I have happily accepted his decision.”Hafeez, who was appointed the Pakistan T20 captain in May this year, wasn’t considered for the role originally. But minutes before the Lions’ first match against Karachi Zebras at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore, Yousuf announced his decision.Hafeez has been playing for his native side Faisalabad Wolves in the national twenty20 cup since 2004. But this year, being a resident of Lahore city, chose to represent Lions – a side possessing nine international cricketers.