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The Delhi High Court has reinforced its earlier decision of barring the ICL from suing the BCCI in British courts. However, the ICL has claimed that the courts have given them the go-ahead to initiate action against the ICC and the ECB in London Courts.Essel Sports, the promoters of the ICL, had, in November, served a legal notice, seeking various reliefs including restraint orders and damages against the BCCI, the ECB and the ICC for boycotting the ICL. The notice said that if the league did not receive a “full and satisfactory substantive response” from the BCCI by December 7, it would file proceedings in the London court. The Delhi High Court, on December 8, disallowed the ICL from pursuing the case in London.The BCCI, in response to the ICL’s legal notice, had filed a plea for an anti-suit injunction against the league before the Delhi High Court, which retained its earlier decision.”In a suit filed by the BCCI before the Delhi High Court for an anti-suit injunction against Essel Sports Pvt. Ltd. (Indian Cricket League), the Delhi High Court today held that the attempt of Essel Sports (ICL) to file a suit in the Courts of the UK against the BCCI, when a suit by Essel was already pending in the Delhi High Court based on similar causes of action, was ‘unconscionable'”, said the BCCI in a statement.However, the ICL can initiate action against the English board and the ICC in UK courts. “An Order has been passed in the Delhi High court in the matter BCCI vs Essel Sports Pvt. Ltd. (Indian Cricket League) stating that ESPL is free to initiate action against ICC and ECB in London Courts,” said the ICL in a statement.The Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA) – a players’ lobby group – had questioned how the ICL could go ahead with the legal costs of suing the various boards while it owed the players “millions of dollars”. Most recently, the Pakistan players who were involved in the ICL filed a legal notice against the league over payments due to them since December 2008.

The IPL has released its final list of 66 overseas players who will be involved in the IPL auction on Tuesday. The list is a mix of rising stars such as Kieron Pollard and Eoin Morgan, and ICL returnees like Shane Bond and Damien Martyn in addition to Pakistan players returning to the IPL-fold. The list includes players from all eight Test-playing nations other than India, with 11 players from Pakistan, Australia and South Africa; nine from Sri Lanka; eight from England and West Indies; four from New Zealand and one each from Bangladesh, Zimbabwe, Canada and Holland.Initially, 97 players had registered for the IPL auction and once the franchises had gone through the names, the list was pruned to 66.Brad Haddin, Phillip Hughes and Doug Bollinger are prominent Australia players in the list along with Damien Martyn. Haddin’s reputation as an attacking wicket-keeper batsman, and Bollinger’s impressive performance with the ball in both ODIs and Tests, make them strong contenders. Hughes could go high in the auction, given his average of 51.22 in Twenty20 cricket.Bangladesh’s flag-bearer is allrounder Shakib Al Hasan, who, despite being ranked the No.1 allrounder during last year’s auction, wasn’t picked. Eoin Morgan’s aggression in the ODI series against South Africa will have some franchises interested – England’s players were named in the list only after the IPL organisers received a guarantee that they would be available for the full season. From New Zealand, Shane Bond’s admirable show after returning from the ICL, in the Champions Trophy, as well as in his short-lived Test comeback, makes him a bankable buy.The list also includes Pakistan’s Twenty20 captain Shahid Afridi, who had played for Deccan Chargers in the first season, and Sohail Tanvir, who struck the winning runs for Rajasthan Royals in the final of the inaugural edition. Pakistan’s finds of 2009, Mohammad Aamer and Umar Akmal, are also in the list, as are ICL-returnees Imran Nazir, Abdul Razzaq and Naved-ul-Hasan. Pakistan’s players did not participate in the IPL in 2009 following a deterioration in diplomatic relations between India and Pakistan in the aftermath of the Mumbai terror attacks in November 2008.West Indies boast an impressive group of contenders; chief among them is Trinidad and Tobago’s Pollard, whose clean, ruthless hitting in the Champions League Twenty20 could merit a lucrative IPL contract. Ramnaresh Sarwan comes back on the auction list while, for South Africa, left-arm fast bowler Wayne Parnell is in the fray for a deal.Here is the complete list:Australia: Brad Haddin, Philip Hughes, Doug Bollinger, Ashley Noffke, Adam Voges, Luke Pomersbach, Clint McKay, Graham Manou, Ben Laughlin, Jason Krejza, Damien MartynEngland: Tim Bresnan, Eoin Morgan, Robert Key, Anthony McGrath, Monty Panesar, Mark Ramprakash, Graeme Swann, Jonathon TrottPakistan: Shahid Afridi, Misbah-ul-Haq, Umar Gul, Imran Nazir, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Mohammad Aamer, Abdul Razzaq, Kamran Akmal, Umar Akmal, Saeed Ajmal, Sohail TanvirSouth Africa: Zander de Bruyn, Wayne Parnell, Tyron Henderson, Lonwabo Tsotsobe, Rory Kleinveldt, Yusuf Abdulla, Vernon Philander, Johan van der Wath, Vaughn van Jaarsveld, Morne van Vyk, Justin KempSri Lanka: Nuwan Kulasekara, Nuwan Zoysa, Upul Tharanga, Thissara Perera, Thilina Kandamby, Kaushalya Weeraratne, Chanaka Welegedara, Chinthaka Jayasinghe, Chamara SilvaWest Indies: Kieron Pollard, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Daren Ganga, Lendl Simmons, Darren Bravo, Wavell Hinds, Kemar Roach, Sulieman BennNew Zealand: Grant Elliott, Lou Vincent, Shane Bond, Nathan McCullumZimbabwe: Murray GoodwinBangladesh: Shakib Al HasanCanada: Rizwan CheemaNetherlands: Ryan ten Doeschate

For the first of the warm-up games on this tour England take on an Otago side bolstered by the addition of the two Claire Taylors and Arran Thompson. England bat first and make 193 for nine on a grassy wicket.I’m behind the stumps for only the third time this year and keep tidily, picking up a stumping. The Otago Sparks batted well with contributions from the England players and Rachel Pullar (a New Zealand player who has withdrawn from the current squad) to complete a three-wicket win with five overs to spare.Sunday saw the second of the warm-up matches. England elected to field first this time and Rachel Pullar top scored for the Sparks with 100 not out to leave England with 200 runs required for the win. Rain stopped play late in the afternoon with England at the asking rate with three wickets down. It would have been a good chase for England to win and would have filled the batsmen with confidence going into the World Series Tournament at Lincoln.All of the matches on this tour will be filmed and the video footage analysed to help us make improvements to our game. We’ll track against key performance indicators such as quick singles, edges, appeals, play and misses and so on. Bowlers and batsmen alike will be able to view matchday footage of technique to check shot selection and execution or ball shape and the batsmen’s reaction. Already I’ve noticed differences in bat pick up that I’ll be able to work on in training.The next day we travelled back up to Christchurch and started our training at Lincoln University. There were a lot of memories from the World Cup for most of the players in the squad, not a very happy time for the England girls and hopefully we’ll be able to overcome that and play some more positive cricket. That evening was spent helping Laura Harper celebrate her 19th birthday.Our first match at Lincoln was another warm-up game against New Zealand A, who had just tied a match against their senior team. We scored 199 for six on a difficult track with the ball staying very low (three LBWs for the first three wickets). NZ A won the match with only two balls to spare and no wickets. A very tense competitive match which we should have sown up when they needed 21 from 18 deliveries with two wickets in hand.The opening match of the tournament saw Australia reasserting their dominance of the women’s game with a 60-run victory over New Zealand, Karen Rolton scoring a quickfire 80 from 60 balls. Our first game was against India in a rain affected 45 over match. As the scorecards show we didn’t bat well and collapsed from 49 for one to 86 all out.India made the runs for the loss of only four wickets and left us very down about our game.At training the next day we worked on skills for manipulating the ball for singles, a game against Australia bringing out intense concentration. The game itself was good for us. Another step on the ladder to getting victories against these teams. We made 158 from our 50 overs, I made 35 from 50 deliveries before a soft dismissal to gully. Australia were under pressure early on and we feel that we kept Rolton in check, allowing mostly singles in the second phase of the game.They won the game in the 39th over to claim the bonus point with seven wickets in hand after a good partnership between Rolton and Gosko.A jog and stretching for warm down followed by an ice bath and we’re getting ready for the next day’s play against the Kiwis. Once again our batting let us down and we’re defending 140 on a lightening quick outfield. The Kiwis get off to a quick start with Rolls and Lynch scoring at six an over.We meet up at the drinks break determined to make a change and in a fantastic 15-over spell take five wickets for 26 runs. It wasn’t quite enough though, as McGlashan and Mason steered the Kiwis home in the 39th over.Today we’ve been catching up with washing and preparing for a media event that was to see most of the team in the Avon river in Christchurch. Four team members were selected to represent England in the first World Series Inner Tube race with entries from India, New Zealand and Australia to take on.The race started amicably enough with Laura Newton leading the way for England. The rules stated that “mild” interference was allowed and that only deliberate capsizing of an opposition tube would lead to disqualification. Suffice to say that the race turned into an interference competition with those out of the water hampering the other teams as best they could. India’s novel approach involved getting out of the water near the beginning and running the tube and paddle down stream.The Kiwis on the riverside were all dressed in smart casuals for a team meal out so weren’t able to join in the interference employed by the Australians and English supporters. Tubes and paddles were stolen and competitors pushed back up the river whilst trying to avoid the shower of water bombs and eggs from the riverside.England were named inaugural winners since we were in the lead before all this really started. So we now have a beautiful trophy topped with a rubber duck (a nod to the official annual rubber duck race down the Avon) to add to the ECB’s trophy cabinet. Here’s hoping that we can get some wins on the board and add a cricketing trophy as well.

At the end of the third day’s play, with New Zealand 70 for 3 and facing the daunting task of chasing down the fourth highest fourth-innings score, Daniel Vettori was a confident man. Shortly after New Zealand were bowled out for 263 during the second session on day four to lose the Test, Vettori’s tone was far more terse as he turned the heat up on his batsmen following another poor display.”It’s pretty simple. It smacks us straight in the face that that first-innings batting performance put us in the position that we are in,” he said. “To bowl a team out for roughly 250 in both innings was a fantastic achievement but we couldn’t back it up with the bat. That has been our problem for a long time. We’re searching for ways to address it but not getting it right.””There was no excuse for our first-innings performance,” he said. “It can’t be explained and you can’t apologise for it. It was devastating for our bowlers to do so well and then to only bat for 36 overs. In my mind I have to balance not being too scathing with trying to give these guys some confidence going in to a deciding Test match. There’s no point getting down because if you get another chance, you have to take it.”A volley of possible reasons for a recurring theme were thrown up to Vettori at another monotone post-match press conference. Was it a confidence issue? Was it just a simple lack of self belief? Or was it a matter of technical shortcoming with the batsmen?”It’s probably all of those,” he said. “Guys have fought their way back into the team with strong first-class performances so they should be in a good space about their form, and others have got some Test-match performances under their belt … but I think if we could pinpoint it that would make a huge difference. At the moment, of our top six Ross Taylor is the only one who is stepping up and leading.”As a selector, Vettori must now sit down with his fellow decision makers this evening and take some tough calls before the third and final Test in Napier next week. Tim McIntosh, who came into the series with some good first-class form, continued a disappointing trend of failing to get a start. He has scored 37 runs in four innings, including a first-ball dismissal in the first innings of the first Test. Martin Guptill has twice been dismissed in the first over of an innings and averages 18.75. Daniel Flynn, seen at one stage as a long-term candidate for No. 3, has 57 runs in four innings. Grant Elliott, taking Jacob Oram’s spot at No. 6, has not inspired much confidence either.”A couple guys are going to come under severe scrutiny … and that’s only right,” said Vettori. “That is the nature of Test cricket. You get some chances but not too many. Some of the guys are going to have some tough news but there are three other selectors to consult on that. The team will be out either tonight or tomorrow morning.”Napier has a reputation of being a flat batting track, and there is a chance that a few players will be given another shot to try and bat their way into form and confidence. “This was a pretty good deck too, so if you couldn’t score on this then it’s frustrating,” said Vettori. “Particularly for the guys at the early stages of their Test careers, maybe that will weigh in their favour.”Vettori said he would have to sit down with his fellow selectors before he could name possible replacements for a shaky middle order, but confirmed that bar Taylor, “the top six would be scrutinised”. Pressed to name individuals, Vettori singled out those in form in the four-day Plunket Shield – Craig Cumming, BJ Watling, and Neil Broom – and said that “anyone scoring runs would be considered”.

Trinidad and Tobago’s progress to the finals of the Champions League Twenty20 in India has created an unusual dilemma for the national cricket board (TTCB), which is struggling to send its players back home in time for the WICB President’s Cup that gets underway on October 28. T&T play New South Wales in the Champions League final in Hyderabad on Friday.Forbes Persaud, the TTCB’s chief executive, said the WICB had rejected a request to change the dates of the domestic one-day tournament in Guyana. They were still trying to get confirmed tickets for the players, he said, and that the squad may return in two batches. Colin Borde, the team manager, told Cricinfo that the team’s departure was originally booked for October 19, ironically because nobody expected the team to perform this well.”Well, we came on British Airways but they can’t secure enough seats for the whole team so we have been trying some other options like Virgin Airlines,” Persaud told the . “They [the tournament organisers] probably didn’t believe we would have reached this far in the tournament so there were no reservations for us.”Persaud, who in India with the team, said the majority of the team would probably leave on Sunday, a day later than intended, on two separate flights. They will then dash to Georgetown, Guyana, fight off jet lag and take on Jamaica in their opening game.Deryck Murray, the TTCB president, was however confident his team would make it back in time. “This situation is a reality of life for the modern-day cricketer with a packed schedule. But for us, this is a nice problem to have since we always intended to make it to the final,” Murray told the paper.Participation in the President’s Cup is crucial for the players as it serves as a selection trial for the tour of Australia, more so for the senior players who went on strike with the WICB over contracts.

Indian batsmen Rohit Sharma and Dinesh Karthik have been approached by New South Wales after the latter lost out on Kieron Pollard to South Australia for the Twenty20 Big Bash later this season. New South Wales coach Matthew Mott said he’d been impressed Rohit’s and Karthik’s IPL performances for Deccan Chargers and Delhi Daredevils.Mott added that they spoke to Adam Gilchrist (Deccan’s captain) and the Delhi camp to get feedback on the players.”I’ve known Rohit since his Under-19 days,” Mott told Cricinfo. “I was involved with the Australia U-19 team that played a few games with the Indian team then. In my eyes, he is a world-class player. I spoke to Gilchrist who had nothing but good words for Rohit and forwarded my interest to Rohit through Gilly.”Mott, who was the assistant coach with Kolkata Knight Riders, said that the NSW chief executive Dave Gilbert spoke to Karthik after getting good feedback from his sources in the Delhi team. NSW have a verbal agreement with Sri Lanka’s Kumar Sangakkara but feel he might not be available given Sri Lanka’s scheduled tri-nations series against Bangladesh and India coinciding with the Twenty20 tournament.Karthik said he was excited about the opportunity of play for NSW but stressed that his availability would depend on any existing Indian domestic cricket or international commitments. “I am delighted as it presents a good opportunity to sharpen my skills under different conditions.” The quarter-finals of the Ranji Trophy, India’s premier domestic tournament, end on December 27, a day before the start of the Twenty20 Big Bash in Australia (NSW’s first game is on December 30). However, the dates of the two tournaments overlap from then on till the final of each.The BCCI’s chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty said: “As long as an Indian domestic tournament is going on, no player will be allowed to play in another domestic tournament.”Apart from bureaucratic glitches, there is also the issue of Indian players playing in Australian conditions. Mott, though, said the top players shouldn’t have any problem in adapting. “If you are a top player, you can adapt to all conditions. It will be great for their development as well. Also, the wicket at home (Sydney) here is pretty similar to Indian conditions. It will be slightly slow and have some turn. I see it as a win-win situation for us and them.”Mott said that Gilbert had spoken directly with Karthik, while they had approached Rohit through Gilchrist. “We will be stepping up our negotiations with both of them so that we settle our team as soon as possible.”

Group B

New South Wales v Sussex, Delhi

Start time: October 11, 10.30 GMT
After his success in the IPL, Piyush Chawla turns out for Sussex•AFP

New South Wales kicked off their Champions League Twenty20 campaign on a high, with a comprehensive win over Eagles in Delhi. Sussex play their first game of the competition on Sunday, and if the pitch at the Feroz Shah Kotla behaves in a manner similar to Friday, where the bounce as uneven, turn was plenty and the ball didn’t come on, NSW, with their expert adaptation to the conditions, start favourites. Sussex were champions at the Twenty20 Cup in England this summer, and have a side that rely heavily on allrounders. Dwayne Smith, Yasir Arafat, captain Michael Yardy, Rory Hamilton-Brown and Luke Wright provide plenty of ammunition to the team with both bat and ball, and NSW might well be in for a challenge.Watch out for
The Sussex medium-pacers, of whom there are a few, will aim to emulate NSW and Victoria in their respective games in Delhi where they maintained a tight line, exploited the low bounce, and played a critical role in shutting out the opposition.Piyush Chawla‘s Twenty20 record is impressive with an economy rate of 7.33 and a strike-rate of 18.4; his variations should test the NSW batsmen.Simon Katich led by example against the Eagles, opting for patience over aggression on a difficult pitch and took his team to a match-winning score. Add to that experience of Stuart Clark and the all-round skills of Moises Henriques, andNSW have enough talent to bank on to make it two in two.

Group D

Delhi Daredevils v Wayamba, Delhi

Start time: October 11, 14.30 GMT
Like for Royal Challengers Bangalore, Delhi Daredevils’ first game didn’t go to plan and they are left needing to hit their stride against Sri Lanka’s champions Wayamba to stay in the tournament. Their batting is studded with fearsome Twenty20 hitters, but it was blunted by the accurate Victoria seamers and the slow-and-low pitch. Already without AB de Villiers, Paul Collingwood and Daniel Vettori, they could also lose Mithun Manhas after he pulled a hamstring during the first game. On Sunday, they are up against opponents who have 11 players with international experience in their squad.Mahela Jayawardene is the biggest name in the Wayamba squad but their strength is likely to be their bowling. Isuru Udana was the best bowler in Sri Lanka’s domestic tournament, Ishara Amerasinghe adds firepower to the pace department, and Ajantha Mendis and a much-improved Rangana Herath provide spin options. They also have Farveez Maharoof, who will use this tournament to try re-capture the allrounder’s spot in the Sri Lankan team from Angelo Mathews.Watch out for:
Virender Sehwag: After a long injury lay-off, Sehwag showed signs of being back at his murderous best, clubbing four fours in a 15-ball 21 against Victoria. An hour of Sehwag in full flow is just what the Delhi crowd want.Farveez Maharoof had a great first IPL season with Delhi but didn’t much of a look-in this year. What better stage could he ask to prove his point to the Delhi brains trust? Also, his knowledge of the Delhi pitch and the squad could prove quite useful.

Former West Indies allrounder Eldine Baptiste has been appointed the coach of Kenya and will be in charge of the team until June 2011.”Eldine brings to the national team a wealth of cricketing experience having been a national player himself for West Indies and in recent years after retirement from international cricket has held several coaching positions,” Cricket Kenya said in a statement.Baptiste, 49, represented West Indies in 10 Tests and 43 ODIs in 1983-90. He was also the head coach of the Stanford Superstars, who went on to win US$20 million after beating England in the one-off Stanford 20/20 for 20 match last year. He held coaching positions in South Africa with the domestic side Dolphins, and as technical director for Fidentia in Port Elizabeth.Kenya have a busy year-end calendar ahead – with a tour of Zimbabwe later this month followed by a tour of South Africa in November – and the board hoped that Baptiste would put the team “high on the international stage.””The contract commences on September 15 and Baptiste’s immediate role will be to prepare and train the Kenya national team by defining and setting out the performance programme for the team’s training. He will be responsible for all direct coaching and management issues of the team,” the board said.Baptiste was on a five-man shortlist interviewed for the post left vacant after a decision not to extend the contract of Andy Kirsten.

It is no coincidence that Australia’s Ashes resurgence has coincided with that of Peter Siddle. Thirteen wickets at 17.15 at Edgbaston, Headingley and The Oval have taken the Victorian pace man from a precarious position within the Australian attack to the leading wicket-taker in the series (20).After Lord’s, Siddle’s place in the Australian line-up was a major discussion point, with many calling for the dependable Stuart Clark to take his place. Ricky Ponting and Tim Nielsen, however, argued otherwise, and their faith has been rewarded with a series of aggressive, relentless performances for which Siddle is fast growing a reputation.His four wickets on Thursday owed much to persistence, and a little to fortune. Alastair Cook again proved susceptible to the ball angled across his body, pushing meekly at a delivery he might well have left, while Paul Collingwood chased a wider ball he will surely regret. Siddle’s dismissals of Ian Bell and Graeme Swann were more authoritative affairs, however, and set Australia on course for a late day revival.”I’m just happy to be able to go out there with how I started series, I was a little disappointed personally,” Siddle said. “To now be back on track… and getting a bit of success [is satisfying]. I don’t think I had to change natural aggression. I’m feeling comfortable now and more at ease in an Ashes series.”Siddle sent a scare through the Australian camp in the first session when he fell heavily in the field. He spent several minutes flexing his left knee, but bowled relatively unhindered for the remainder of the day.”I don’t know about the box seat, but pretty we’re in good position, having been asked to bowl first and go out there on a decent wicket,” he said. “To get eight wickets and they’re 300, it’s a pretty even day.”It started off well with the new ball, carried through and plenty of pace. It soon flattened out and as the ball got older, it became deader and you had to work a bit harder. I don’t know about them capitulating. They worked hard and after lunch we tried to be patient and we won every hour after lunch.”

Ricky Ponting has said the absence of Kevin Pietersen for the rest of the series will be a major positive for Australia as they aim to recover from their 1-0 deficit. Ponting believes without Pietersen, Andrew Flintoff will face enormous pressure to carry the England side to a series victory.”He [Pietersen] is a massive loss,” Ponting told the . “He’s such an x-factor in their side, the way he can score quickly and the ability he has to put the bowlers on the back foot by putting extra pressure on them.”I think Pietersen does leave a pretty big hole in their batting. For us it will be a real positive. It probably puts a bit more pressure on Flintoff to perform. He has to stand up big time now.”Ponting said he had been pleased with how his bowlers had tackled Pietersen in the first two Tests, when he looked well below his best form. He also said Australia might be able to capitalise on any nerves shown by Pietersen’s replacement, Ian Bell, on his return to the side at Edgbaston.”If you look at the way we’ve bowled to [Pietersen] and the way he’s played, he’s been one of the England batsmen we’ve been able to put the most pressure on,” Ponting said. “Ben Hilfenhaus in particular has bowled beautifully to him.”Now England has a much more sound, technically correct, but scratchy player like Bell. If we happen to get him in at the right time he’s a pretty nervous sort of bloke as well.”