S Badrinath cracked a belligerent century to snatch the reins out of Mumbai’s hands and put Tamil Nadu back in the saddle at the Bandra-Kurla complex

Nagraj Gollapudi in Mumbai08-Dec-2009
Scorecard
S Badrinath rescued Tamil Nadu from 50 for 5•Sivaraman Kitta/K Sivaraman

S Badrinath cracked a belligerent century to snatch the reins out of Mumbai’s hands and put Tamil Nadu back in the saddle at the Bandra-Kurla complex. Earlier in the morning incisive seam bowling from the new-ball pair of Usman Malvi and Dhawal Kulkarni reduced the visitors to 50 for 5. But Badrinath stood strong and found an equally sturdy partner in C Ganpathy and the duo raised an unbeaten 201-run stand for the sixth wicket.In a way the stage was set for Badrinath, one of the most resilient minds on the first-class circuit in addition to being a consistent batsman in domestic cricket over the last five years. Over the last two years he has been on the fringes of the Indian team, picked in the national squad for various series. Time spent with illustrious company has definitely made him that much more resolute and today he brought that mental fortitude to the fore.Badrinath had already seen his team-mates restless during their brief stints at the crease. They were constantly troubled by both Malvi and Kulkarni, who were accurate with their lengths and made optimum use of the moisture in the track by hitting the seam to get sharp movement. Abhinav Mukund, beaten by both pace and movement, tried to go for an unconvincing cut against a rising ball from Kulkarni; the resulting edge went to the wicketkeeper.M Vijay, standing in as captain for Dinesh Karthik, who is with the Indian team to play the Twenty20s against Sri Lanka, started off with couple of fluent boundaries. The first one was a clip to the leg side off Kulkarni in his first over and then a forward punch that rolled past the straight boundary. He had come into the game after playing an important role with his 82 in the Mumbai Test against Sri Lanka. But a consistent length by the Mumbai fast men tied Vijay down and Kulkarni eventually induced an edge off a delivery that was seaming away.The visitors lost the next three wickets in quick succession. Malvi found himself on a hat-trick in the 16th over having got rid of Anirudh Srikkanth and Suresh Kumar. But Ganpathy firmly defended the good length delivery to deny Malvi a memorable return into the team. Tall and broad shouldered, Malvi is well-known for his aggressive style of bowling, but the team management had preferred the likes of Kulkarni and Aavishkar Salvi in the previous games.Malvi was getting a game after Ajit Agarkar pulled out due to a groin injury. In the past Malvi had flattered to deceive by resorting to the short ball frequently in unhelpful conditions, allowing batsmen to settle down. A similar thing happened later in the afternoon as Badrinath frustrated Malvi by ducking his bouncers and sometimes pulling when he was in the right position.But it wasn’t just the fast bowling that Badrinath was comfortable facing. He is 29 now, one the oldest players in the team, and he used his feet freely against the spin combination of Ramesh Powar and Iqbal Abdulla, punishing them whenever they challenged him with flighted deliveries. In the space of a few overs on either side of the lunch break, he stepped out to hit both spinners for three sixes over the straight boundary.Badrinath was taking risks but they were calculated. He understood that he had to remain the last man standing for Tamil Nadu to avoid being on the receiving end of a relatively flat pitch. So he and Ganpathy rotated strike without attempting any big strokes in the whole of the second session even as the scoring-rate dropped. But importantly the pair had succeeded in doing damage control after the morning’s wreckage.But Badrinath did not shy from jumping from 95 to his second century of the season by once again charging Powar and hitting over the sight screen. Immediately he took off his cap and doffed it to his team-mates in the dressing room. The manner in which he played so far was a good example for many of the Tamil Nadu youngsters. Badrinath too has been a keen learner all his career. Till IPL arrived he believed more in being defensive. Today he is more free in his strokeplay.”The fielders were inside and spinners tossing the ball up. I had enough time to take a chance,” Badrinath said. “Earlier I used to play risk-free strokes but the IPL is a reason for the change in my batting.”

For the first time in nearly 15 years, Pakistan have their best chance to do anything other than be thrashed by Australia

Osman Samiuddin at the MCG25-Dec-2009With due pardon to England and South Africa, no country would be as happy
to be not facing Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne anymore as Pakistan. In 14
Tests the pair played together against Pakistan, they picked up a
staggering 157 wickets between them, leading to 11 wins and only two
losses; pace and spin have never been, and are unlikely to ever again be, this
potent, at least until Usain Bolt signs up with Max Clifford. Largely
because of the two, Pakistan have lost nine Tests in a row to Australia.
They’ve come close to winning only one. In hip-hop parlance, Pakistan has
long been Australia’s she-dog.The pair’s reign brought out the worst truths about Pakistan’s batting;
McGrath exposed inadequacies with bounce and indiscipline outside off and
Warne burst open regularly and brutally the myth that Pakistan could play
spin. They have only ever played Indian spin well. Now, as more
teams are discovering, they will also find out that Australia without that
pair is not the same Australia at all. Now, for the first time in nearly
15 years, Pakistan have their best chance to do anything other than be
thrashed by Australia. A Test win is not beyond them, though a first-ever
series win in the country probably is.”That was a top bowling attack and those two were the best in the world,”
Yousuf, who averaged under 30 against them, said. “That is all in the past now. I want to be realistic
about our chances this time round. This is not Twenty20. We need to play
good cricket over five whole days, not just a session or two.”Many things will have to go right for the realism to come through, not
least the batting. Yousuf is another in a long line of Pakistani batsmen
to have fared poorly against Australia, though at least he has the memory
of a shimmering Boxing Day hundred in 2004-05 to fall back on. Younis
Khan is not around, so the burden on Yousuf and the Akmal brothers down the
order is already inordinately great.The younger Umar scored big in Australia on an A tour against a handy
attack earlier this year which bodes well. Mostly, just the prospect of
watching a rare and genuine batting talent is enough and only excitability
can do him in; at nets on Friday, he was the last man to leave and that
too only after Waqar Younis, the bowling and fielding coach, told him to so as to ensure he is relaxed before the Test. But one of the openers and one from the middle order of Faisal Iqbal or Misbah-ul-Haq will have to produce something somewhere.And though spilt catches do not always mean lost matches in Pakistan’s
case – they dropped six in Wellington and still won comfortably – they cannot afford to be lax here of all places. They have an attack that creates a fair amount of work in the slips and the absence of Younis, in that regard, becomes doubly harmful.The brightest prospects for a Pakistan win, however, revolve around their
pace attack. Pakistan’s finest moments in Australia historically have been
pace-oriented. Imran Khan’s Sydney 12, Sarfraz Nawaz’s Melbourne spell of
seven for one, Wasim Akram’s coming of age in 1990-91, a couple of Shoaib
Akhtar spells in the 2000s; what cheer there has been has come from fast
bowlers. This time, Mohammad Asif, Mohammad Aamer and Umar Gul combine to
give Pakistan a lovely shape where most angles, save perhaps extreme pace,
are covered. They should enjoy the conditions here. Danish Kaneria has
fond memories of Australia too but the suspicion is that he will be a fine
foil to any success, rather than an instigator.The package can be a formidable one, as Ricky Ponting acknowledged.
“They’re a better team than West Indies, a more skilled group of
players, no doubt about that,” Ponting said. “We know with Pakistan when
they put their best foot forward they are a very, very good cricket team,
no doubt, Tests, ODIs and Twenty20. They have a lot of mystery about them,
probably the word that sums them up the best. There are a number of very
good players, the young left-arm quickie [Aamer] looks good, Gul has been
around, Asif is a world class bowler, Kaneria too. Mohammad Yousuf, the
two Akmals – a number of very good players in their side that we will have
to pay attention to. They are unpredictable, one day brilliant, another
day pretty ordinary. We have to make sure they have more ordinary days
than brilliant ones over the next few weeks.”

Cameron White finally showed he could be a potent force at home as his muscular century pushed Australia to a five-wicket win in the opening ODI against Pakistan

The Bulletin by Peter English at the Gabba22-Jan-2010
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out
Cameron White passed fifty for the first time in one-dayers in Australia•Getty Images

Cameron White finally showed he could be a potent force at home as his muscular century pushed Australia to a five-wicket win in the opening ODI against Pakistan. Over the past six months White has starred in England and India to confirm himself as a key batting figure and he powered the hosts as they over-hauled the target of 275 with nine balls to spare.It was the first time White, playing his 48th ODI, had passed fifty in Australia and he almost made it to the end before falling for 105 off 88 balls. Australia were uncomfortable after slipping to 3 for 84 with Ricky Ponting’s exit, but White joined with Michael Clarke in settling the nerves and then took on the major responsibility with the vice-captain’s departure.White is a hulky figure and he peaked with three consecutive sixes off Shahid Afridi between long-on and midwicket in the 41st over that downgraded Australia’s assignment from difficult to comfortable. Afridi is used to dishing out that sort of sequence and did his best to provide the memorable moment of the day with a 26-ball 48, but White made sure it was his fireworks that will be recalled first.He picked up four sixes and eight fours, including an unorthodox cross-bat down the ground off Rana Naved-ul-Hasan followed by a textbook cover drive in the same over, and added his second century to follow the 105 against England in Southampton in September. He was bowled by Rana trying for another boundary and left to a standing ovation. Michael Hussey, who was unbeaten on 35, finished off the match to earn a 1-0 lead in the five-match seriesThe result continued Australia’s successful summer and stopped Pakistan, who had been heavily reinforced after the 3-0 Test loss, from gaining any momentum ahead of Sunday’s second game in Sydney. They had chances to contain Australia further in the field following their useful start, but a few run-outs or catches will always be missed by this outfit.Both Australian openers departed by the ninth over to leave Ponting and Clarke trying to consolidate during a 47-run partnership, but that ended when the battling Ponting (27) drove at Afridi and was taken behind point. Clarke was in much better touch and accumulated cleverly, hitting 40 singles on the way to 58, and put on 102 with White. However, Clarke departed when attempting a quick single only to be beaten at the striker’s end by Rana’s underarm.Mohammad Aamer was slippery in his opening spell and Shane Watson was so behind in a defensive push on 5 that the ball hit the end of his handle and flew to Saeed Ajmal at mid-on. Aamer followed up by hitting Ponting on the hip and in his second spell stung Clarke’s ribs with a lifter. By the end of the match it was the only lasting pain inflicted on the hosts.Salman Butt’s 72 put Pakistan on track for a sizeable total and Afridi made sure it happened with a powerful late surge that took them to 274. After winning the toss, the visitors had a series of useful stands over most of the innings but none that dominated the game until Afridi arrived at No. 7.Australia had fought back from Butt’s display through Watson and Clint McKay, but after the visitors wobbled to 7 for 227 in the 44th over Afridi quickly steadied them. Afridi forced a six to long-off from Nathan Hauritz before pulling Peter Siddle into the stands at midwicket to provide a much-needed boost during the batting Powerplay. He also found three boundaries in a row off McKay before the final delivery of the over went for four legbyes.After swatting Watson for six to long-on, he was caught at midwicket trying for another clearance and the innings soon ended with Mohammad Asif’s run-out with two balls remaining. Watson finished with a career-best 4 for 36 off 10 while McKay returned 3 for 61 in a mixed bowling display for the Australians, who had less support than usual with the crowd of 19,758 the smallest for an ODI at the ground in 11 years.Butt added 62 with the recalled Kamran Akmal (34) before joining forces with Younis Khan. He dominated the partnership with Younis, who scored 8 of the 55 for the second wicket, but fell to his 81st ball when he top edged a pull off Doug Bollinger to become one of Haddin’s four catches. Yousuf (2) quickly followed when he played on to a steepling delivery from Bollinger and Pakistan were on the brink of trouble at 3 for 123.Younis came in for his first match since giving up the captaincy and was struggling with the added intensity on the way to 46. He knew he would get better with time and hung in to be the support partner in stands with Butt, Umar Akmal (23) and Shoaib Malik (28). When he departed pulling McKay to deep square leg the tourists were in trouble. Afridi dug them out briefly before White came of age at home.

David Obuya hit an unbeaten 115, adding 203 with his brother Collins, to lead a strong Kenya batting effort after Ryan ten Doeschate moved to a double century which lifted Netherlands to 385

Cricinfo staff21-Feb-2010
ScorecardDavid Obuya hit an unbeaten 115, adding 203 with his brother Collins, to lead a strong Kenya batting effort after Ryan ten Doeschate moved to a double century which lifted Netherlands to 385.The combined efforts of the Obuya brothers propelled Kenya to 235 for 2 at the close and they will now sense the opportunity to build a first-innings lead. David Obuya’s second first-class hundred was the ideal response for Kenya and his hundred came from 148 deliveries shortly before Collins Obuya was bowled for 89 late in the day.Netherlands’ bowlers found it tough work after ten Doeshcate had provided an early breakthrough by having Rakep Patel caught behind. They had to wait another 46 overs before Mark Jonkman managed to break the second-wicket stand and the fact the attack managed just five maidens in 56 overs shows how they were dominated.Their batting effort had almost been a one-man display with ten Doeschate providing comfortably more than half the total. He resumed overnight on 129 and added 83 of the 109 runs Netherlands compiled before being bowled out. His double ton arrived off 267 balls during a final-wicket stand of 43 with Pieter Seelaar who didn’t contribute during his 23-ball occupation.Elijah Otieno eventually ended the innings to finish with impressive figures of 4 for 57 from 25.1 overs.

Paul Harris tried to stem the run flow by adopting a leg-stump line. It didn’t work and he was often called wide by umpire Ian Gould

N Hunter15-Feb-2010Paul Harris was a completely different bowler today. In Nagpur his sole aim, especially in the second innings, was to clamp down on India’s batsmen. He went about doing so by pitching consistently on leg stump or outside and turning the ball into the right-handers from the rough. The Indian batsmen played him conservatively from the crease. They played into Harris’s hands and he succeeded in stemming the run flow. His attempt today had drastically different results.On a harder pitch, which didn’t take much turn from the rough, Harris tried to apply the same leg-side suffocation but was punished by Virender Sehwag and Sachin Tendulkar, as well as umpire Ian Gould.Umpires have taken flak for not taking a firmer stand on the indiscretions of the players but Gould exercised his power and penalised Harris each time he bowled a straighter delivery behind the batsman’s legs. Harris, however, refused to change his line and forced Gould into calling the ball wide on 12 occasions.Corrie van Zyl, the South African coach, accepted Gould’s decision but said his spinner suffered only because the ball was not turning. “You can see it as a negative line and the umpire did think so, too, and obviously those were called wides,” he said.About five years ago, the standard playing regulations for Test matches were amended in an effort to prevent negative leg-side bowling. Law 25.1 – Judging a Wide – states: “For bowlers whom umpires consider to be bowling down the leg side as a negative tactic, the strict limited-over wide interpretation shall be applied.”An ICC spokesperson admitted that in order to prevent bowlers from easily adopting leg-theory to stem the run-flow, the law needed to be updated. “Some bowlers like Shane Warne used leg-side bowling as an attacking option, while some have used it negatively to frustrate batsmen and stem scoring-rates. It’s usually pretty obvious when it is attacking because there is a short-leg in place and the ball is turning, so it becomes difficult for batsmen to survive, let alone score runs.”Another factor that thwarted Harris’ plan was the way Sehwag and Tendulkar dealt with him. They were happy to deflect him to the on side whenever there was no fielder at short leg. Otherwise they let the straighter ones go, confident the ball would not turn. Sehwag even slog-swept for a six over deep midwicket and then reverse swept when Harris tried to cram him.van Zyl said Harris could have been more diligent in his approach. “Some of them did turn out of the rough and some of them didn’t. But Harry [Harris] did a good job for the team, but it was a lot tougher than it was in Nagpur, where there was some assistance.”

It is not an exaggeration to say that Marcus North’s century at the Basin Reserve was a career saver

Brydon Coverdale at the Basin Reserve20-Mar-2010Marcus North is a smart man. He knows words can suffice only so long before they must be backed by actions. Even the Australian selectors, so reluctant to change a winning team, have their limits. It is not an exaggeration to say that his century at the Basin Reserve was a career saver. How long it will extend his stay in the Test team remains to be seen, but expect to see him at least for the Ashes later this year.North kept saying he was the man for the job but a slight worry was the presence on tour of Steven Smith, the dazzling allrounder who is everything North is not: young, exhilarating and in wonderful first-class form. Not that it means Smith would be a better Test No.6 than North, but failures in Wellington might have encouraged the selectors to find out next week in Hamilton. Being axed at age 30 is usually permanent.As North strode to the middle in his languid, lopey style, he realised the seriousness of his situation. This was a man who scraped through the home summer with an average of 23 and then went on to struggle in the Sheffield Shield. From his second ball, which was driven confidently straight down the ground for four, he looked like a different batsman. There was no tentative prodding outside off, nor streaky edges that flew past stumps or slips.In truth, some of the Sheffield Shield attacks he has faced over the past month might have tested him more than this New Zealand group, which fed him with half-volleys and moved the ball only a little. But an out-of-form North would still have found ways to hit catches or get caught on the crease. Instead, his driving was wonderful, gaps were found regularly and his timing was perfect – in more ways than one.The innings will ensure that he retains his Cricket Australia contract when the new list is decided in the next couple of months. Had he lost his place in the team, North’s deal would have gone south. It remains a concern that North is a fail-or-fire batsman, for whom middling scores are rare. But he was one of Australia’s best in the Ashes loss and he is desperate to be there for the next battle for the urn.”It was a great experience playing in England but there’s certainly that motivation to play another Ashes series and make things right,” North said. “I guess you never want to be part of a losing Ashes series. Unfortunately my first experience was. But I’ll be doing everything I can over the next three Tests to make sure I’m there for the first Test next summer.”Ricky Ponting wants North in his Ashes line-up as well, and has been one of his staunchest supporters. Ponting and Justin Langer have worked hard in the nets with North this week to overcome a slight technical flaw. North found his eyes weren’t as level as he thought and fixed the glitch, which he believes has helped him hit straight down the ground. Finding the problem is half the battle, and it significantly boosted his confidence after a tough few months.”Without doubt the pressure was there and when you haven’t made a lot of runs in the last couple of months, there is a lot of speculation about your position,” North said. “It’s not a great feeling but you have to try and use the experience to motivate and focus on the job at hand. The three days preparation was ideal, it gave me the background to back myself and where my game is and to keep my mindset simple.”When North reached his century with a lucky top-edged boundary from an attempted hook, he jumped and raised the bat, but it was a mostly subdued celebration. There was a casual kiss of the helmet and a slow stroll to his partner Brad Haddin for a handshake, but less of the raw emotion that Michael Clarke had displayed upon scoring his ton.North can be a hard man to read and rarely looks troubled, but the pressure boiled over earlier in the summer when he swung his bat angrily over his broken stumps after being bowled by Mohammad Aamer at the MCG. This time, the only sign of frustration came when Ponting declared.North had reached 112, had slog-swept a couple of sixes off Daniel Vettori and wanted to capitalise on his opportunity. Haddin hared off the field to get ready for his keeping duties, while North hung back at the pitch, wishing for a few more overs. At least he ensured he will get a few more matches.

The Indian income-tax department is believed to be acting on information of certain IPL players receiving illegal payments from their employers

Ashok Malik23-Apr-2010The Indian taxman’s scrutiny of the mess surrounding the IPL is not necessarily limited to the league’s officials, franchise owners/managers and partner companies. It is understood the income-tax department is also acting on information of certain players receiving illegal payments from their employers.A specific episode under assessment goes back to August 2009, when the IPL announced an amnesty scheme for players linked with the unauthorised Indian Cricket League (ICL). Former ICL players who had no international cricket experience were allowed to be signed on by IPL franchises for an annual fee of between Rs 8-20 lakh ($18,000-45,000).There are reports that at least two franchises breached this salary cap and paid individual players in excess of IPL stipulations. The extra payment was made in cash. It is believed in some cases the quantum of ‘black money’ payments was substantial and almost doubled the cricketer’s fee.The IPL imposes salary caps on various categories of cricketers. The ICL amnesty scheme is one example. Players from the Indian squad that won the 2008 ICC Under-19 World Cup were also restricted in what they could earn in a season, depending on their first-class or international experience.Yet, as became evident during the recent Ravindra Jadeja investigation, this regulation was not considered sacrosanct. The Rajasthan Royals cricketer admitted to negotiating with two franchises to play IPL’s third season for a fee of Rs 2 crore ($450,000). Under the IPL rules, he was entitled to only Rs 40 lakh ($90,000). It is unclear how the incremental payment would have been made, had the deal gone through.Suspicions of a tax dodge by cricketers, with the active collaboration of their franchises, may only be the tip of the iceberg. The issue of salaries and salary ceilings is likely to enmesh the IPL in greater controversy in the coming months. In some respects, it is a microcosm of all that is wrong with the manner in which the league has been run. There are perceptions of the law having been broken – as in the case of the cricketers under scrutiny – as well as conflict of interest issues. Whether irregularities or merely angularities, the IPL will need to address these.When the IPL began in 2008, each team was allowed to spend $5 million a year to hire cricketers. For the 2011 season – and beginning with the big auction planned for October 2010, which will see franchises populate their squads for the 2011-13 period – this limit has been raised to $7 million.The idea behind a salary cap was to equalise competition and not give an opportunity to any one franchise, with extensive cash resources, to buy out the best players and use money power to dominate the tournament.The logic was strong and the precedent of the English Premier League (EPL) was there to learn from. In the EPL, teams like Aston Villa and Fulham tend to do well and finish in the first half of the table – but they never win. On the other hand, a Manchester United and a Chelsea are in serious contention for the title year after year. The difference between the two sets of teams is their bank balance.At least in the early years of the IPL, the league authorities were concerned about games or even a full season becoming lopsided and final positions predictable. Today this ‘equalisation’ principle is in danger of being subverted by not just cash payments – over and beyond official salaries – but also other perquisites offered by some franchises to key cricketers. This has been particularly so in case of franchises wholly or largely owned by business corporations.BCCI officials have been worried about instances of regular ‘jobs’ being offered to cricketers by the mother company of their franchise. Earlier this week, another conundrum was thrown up when England batsman Kevin Pietersen was announced as the ambassador of the Whyte & Mackay brand of whiskeys.At one level, this is a perfectly understandable endorsement arrangement. Pietersen is one of the finest cricketers in the world. He has name recall in India, is of South African origin and plays for England. All of these are markets Whyte & Mackay executives said they were focused on, and the Pietersen stamp would help.However, Pietersen bats for the Bangalore Royal Challengers in the IPL. The Bangalore IPL franchise has been bought by the same business group that owns Whyte & Mackay. Is there a conflict of interest here?It’s a tricky question and it is plausible that the two motivations – hiring Pietersen as a player for a cricket team and as an ambassador for a whisky brand – are different.Nevertheless the IPL is also at the cusp of fervid inter-season lobbying and negotiation as teams try and retain talent and persuade star cricketers to possibly drop out of the October auction and stay on with the old franchise. Salaries will be discussed; the equivalent of loyalty bonuses and golden handcuffs could figure in the conversation.How does Pietersen’s endorsement of a sister brand of the Royal Challengers fit into this? Will it give other cricketers and other franchises ideas? How does it square up with IPL’s ‘equalisation’ norm? At some stage before Season IV, those questions will have to be clarified.

Kent will go into the final day of their Championship dual against Essex at Chelmsford with a lead of 283 with five second-innings wickets remaining

12-May-2010Kent 474 and 150 for 5 Essex 341

Scorecard
Tom Westley held the Essex innings together with 132•Getty Images

Kent will go into the final day of their Championship dual against Essex at Chelmsford with a lead of 283 with five second-innings wickets remaining.After Essex had been bowled out for 341 to leave their opponents with an
advantage of 133, the visitors reached the close on 150 for 5 in their second
innings. Tom Westley’s 132, which equalled his career best, provided the backbone of the
Essex innings after they had begun the day needing to reach 325 to avoid
following on.They largely succeeded in that quest through the efforts of Westley and Ryan
ten Doeschate, despite some fine bowling by paceman Azhar Mahmood who went on to
claim five for 63 in 25.2 overs.After James Foster was caught at slip with only four added to the overnight
total of 172 for 4, Westley and Ten Doeschate were to revive Essex with a
stand of 115 before it was broken just after lunch. Makhaya Ntini ended it by trapping Ten Doeschate lbw for 66 that included eight
fours and a six.When Westley’s superb effort, spanning six-and-a-quarter hours, was ended by a
brilliant diving catch by Joe Denly at mid-off, an innings that included 19
boundaries, Essex were still 22 short of avoiding the follow-on with only two
wickets left.But a few belligerent strokes by David Masters banished such fears before
Mahmood removed Chris Wright and Danish Kaneria to complete his five-wicket
haul. When Kent set out to build upon their sizeable lead, they contrived to gift
wickets to their opponents.Denly was needlessly run out when called through for a single by Robert Key,
who then put up a simple catch to Masters at mid-on. Wright did produce a good delivery to have Martin Jaarsveld taken at first slip by Alastair Cook, but then Geraint Jones managed to pull a long hop into the hands of Billy Godleman at mid-wicket.Kent then lost their fifth wicket when Darren Stevens was removed lbw by
Kaneria with a delivery that kept low, but 20-year-old Sam Northeast survived to
reach the close just one run short of his second half century of the match –
although not without a degree of good fortune.He was involved in a controversial incident shortly before the close when Tim
Phillips dived forward to hold what he believed to be a return catch. However,
after umpires David Millns and Nigel Cowley had consulted, the batsman was given
the benefit of the doubt. Then in the final over of the day, Northeast was put down at first slip when Cook failed to accept an easy chance.

In the end, only two players, Sahara India Pariwar and Bharti Airtel, submitted bids for the right to sponsor the Indian team.

Nagraj Gollapudi and Tariq Engineer29-May-2010In the end, only two players, Sahara Group and Bharti Airtel, submitted bids for the right to sponsor the Indian team. Both Sahara, the existing sponsors, and Airtel bought the tender document at the last possible minute before the submission deadline, and Cricinfo has learnt both companies have submitted the mandatory Rs 50 crore (US$10.7 million) deposit required by the BCCI.The Indian board issued the tender on Monday inviting companies to bid for the rights, whose tenure is three-and-a-half years beginning July 1, 2010. Other companies in the fray included the ADA Group (ADAG), consumer electronics major Videocon, Delhi-based Monnet-Ispat, sports broadcaster Nimbus, which owns the rights to matches played in India, and advertising firm Percept.A source close to Nimbus said the broadcaster was approached by ADAG on Saturday morning, as its top brass was reluctant to commit as much as Rs 400 crore (US$ 85.6m) on its own. Nimbus, meanwhile, was trying to put together a consortium to bid for the rights, but was unable to pull it off due to the short time-span – less than a week – between the date the tender was released and the date the bids were submitted. “They released the tender on Monday and all the bids need to go in by Saturday, which is just about four working days by the time the tender was in hand. That is not very easy to work out when you are trying to get people to commit to Rs 400 crore.”It was reported widely that the BCCI was against consortiums bidding for the rights, but one of the interested players, who was among the first to pick the document, said that the board never had any issues there. “They had sent a clarification stating they did not want any marketing agencies to be part [of the consortium].”The BCCI has set a base price of Rs 2.5 crore per match for a three-and-a-half year period, during which India will be playing between 144 and 167 matches, depending on how far the team progresses in the ICC tournaments.The current price represents a 16% discount from the tender the board issued late last year, which had a base price of Rs 3 crore per match, and failed to attract a single bid. As a stop gap measure, the Sahara Group agreed to extend its sponsorship of the Indian team for a further six months, a period that ends on June 30.The lack of interest in the tender six months ago and the subsequent lowering of the base price represents “the impact of the IPL,” according to Hiren Pandit, Managing Partner-Entertainment, Sports and Partnerships at Group M, a prominent media buying agency. Pandit believes the IPL gives firms an alternative avenue to get involved with cricket, thereby reducing the exclusiveness of the Indian team.After winning the bid for the Pune IPL franchise, Sahara chairman Subrata Roy had said the company would re-evaluate its sponsorship of the Indian team. Subsequently, when contacted by Cricinfo, the company declined to comment to on whether it would be bidding this time around. The Sahara Group had paid roughly Rs 400 crore in 2005 for the right to sponsor the Indian team for four years.At least one prospective bidder, who bought the bid document, thought the current base price was still too high. “Anyone who bags the rights will have to spend on an average 125 crore annually only on this. That is a huge amount of money.”Shailendra Singh, joint managing director, Percept Limited, which had reportedly purchased the bid document for a client, says the Indian team is still the best cricket brand around. “From a value perspective, the sport of cricket stands unparalleled as a property for sponsors today,” he said. “For any fan, especially in India, the national team is the ultimate. People follow IPL because you have the cricketers from the Indian team playing, they are the main attraction. Hence this in no way reduces the importance or following of Team India. Team India will be one of the best cricket properties always.”The BCCI will announce the winning bid after holding its marketing committee meeting in Mumbai on Monday.

Kamran Akmal has threatened to sue former coach Intikhab Alam and his deputy Aaqib Javed after they hinted a lapse he committed during the Sydney Test may have been more than just a “cricketing error”

Cricinfo staff22-May-2010Kamran Akmal, the Pakistan wicketkeeper, has threatened to sue former coach Intikhab Alam and former assistant coach Aaqib Javed after they raised concerns over a run-out he missed during the Sydney Test against Australia earlier in the year, hinting it may have been more than just a cricketing error. The questions over Kamran’s keeping were made during their meeting with the six-man committee set up to inquire into Pakistan’s winless tour of Australia, and had emerged in a video leaked to a leading Pakistan sports channel.”I am fed up with these allegations. My family is disturbed. I go out and people hoot me and I am mentally disturbed. I want to clear this unwarranted stigma with my name,” Kamran told . “I want an apology from these people. I will be speaking to the chairman of the board about this as they are employees of the board. If they don’t apologise I intend to go to court in my personal capacity.”The point is (if) these people suspected me of deliberately under-performing why did they keep on selecting me for other matches,” Akmal said.Kamran dropped Michael Hussey thrice in Sydney, enabling Australia to fight back and eventually beat Pakistan, but the lapse that aroused suspicion was when he failed to take off the bails to run out Shane Watson despite having collected the ball cleanly. When asked by the committee if Kamran’s lapse had been deliberate, Aaqib had said: “I’m not sure, but my suspicions are pretty high. They are high because of other things I know about the process, the people in the surroundings. There is a high percentage. These things are not new in Pakistan cricket. These things have happened and I was a victim of them. There is a question mark, yes.”When Intikhab was posed the same question, he said: “That run-out I saw, I was flabbergasted. If you see it, it is shocking….the ball came, he was diving so far out, what can I say? We couldn’t believe it.”The PCB, upon the inquiry’s conclusion, said there was no evidence of match-fixing and the chapter was closed. The ICC’s Anti-Corruption Unit (ACSU), however, is currently investigating the tour to establish whether Pakistan’s performance was the result of what it called a “dysfunctional” team or “something more serious.”