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The Lodha committee is expected to come down severely on the glaring loopholes and absence of any mechanism in the BCCI to deal with and remove the conflict of interest issues both within the board and the state associations. The conflict of interest point is likely to be strongly highlighted when the committee unveils its recommendations on the governance of and structural reforms for the BCCI, a task delegated to the three-member panel by the Supreme Court last July.In the interviews conducted by the panel with BCCI officials, it is understood that the first question posed by the chairman of the committee, RM Lodha, former chief justice of India, was on conflicts. In his interactions with a number of current and past BCCI officials, Lodha made it clear that conflict had to be eradicated completely if the BCCI wanted to bring in a professional structure.In their defence, a number of representations were apparently made by senior BCCI officials to the panel expressing the inevitability of former cricketers needing to hold multiple positions to make a decent living after retirement. This was placed in the context of the existing BCCI structure, where many posts are honorary and part-time in nature. It was represented that while this is far from an inconvenience to those in politics or business, for retired cricketers their residual sources of income would naturally be from allegedly conflicting activities such as coaching, commentary and media work.Any intention to stop the former cricketers from holding multiple roles, the panel was told, could perversely drive former cricketers out of leadership positions in the sport’s administration. While sympathetic to these concerns, it is understood that the Lodha committee’s desire is for cricket administration to move towards a culture and a structure where conflict of interest is not seen as a given or a fait accompli. The committee is likely to be of the view that reforms must be wholesome and, when combined with a BCCI structure with paid professionals in key posts, there ought to be no room or apology for conflict of interest.Incidentally, the committee discussed all this with Shashank Manohar immediately after he was elected as the BCCI president in October. Since then the BCCI has announced a slew of measures that have pointed to a board that wants to be transparent and professional. Manohar issued a three-page directive to BCCI and state association members, employees along with players, coaches and selectors, listing out guidelines to avoid conflicts of interest. The BCCI also appointed an independent auditor in PriceWatherhouseCoopers to check the books of all the state associations to ascertain that the various subsidies that were granted by the board have been utilised appropriately.However legal experts, who have knowledge of the workings of the BCCI, remain cynical. They feel in the absence of other reforms, this standalone conflict of interest policy is a “band-aid” measure and could further entrench existing powerful administrators who have no playing history. Experts believe that it would be incomplete to stop just at conflict issues, and that the Lodha Committee is likely to dig deeper and will also look at other forms of impropriety, whether these relate to favours, allocation of match-hosting rights, ticketing, tendering and contracting practices, etc. “As we have seen with FIFA, there is a broader ethics challenge that needs to be met head on when it comes to sports administration,” one legal expert said.

Anil Kumble has been ruled out of the opening match of the Indian Premier League, Rahul Dravid, the captain of the Bangalore Royal Challengers, has confirmed. Kumble’s absence is the latest blow to a side still uncertain about the availability of some of its international stars.Kumble, who missed the third Test against South Africa in Kanpur, is yet to recover from a groin injury. “He will miss the first game definitely but we’ll see how it goes as we go along,” Dravid said in Bangalore. “Anil is keen to play and we hope in about 4-5 days he should be able to play. The physio at the National Cricket Academy – Paul Close – and the franchise physio are both in discussion and we’ll take a decision on that.”There has been some uncertainty over players’ availability for the Bangalore franchise. Jacques Kallis and Mark Boucher were expected to leave for the South African domestic Twenty20 competition but will now stay back. Dale Steyn, though, won’t be available for the early stages and both Misbah-ul-Haq, the Pakistan batsman, and Abdur Razzaq, the Bangladesh left-arm spinner, will miss the opening clash because of the ongoing series in Pakistan.”There’s been a lot of uncertainty over who is available,” said Dravid. “We were waiting to see whether the South African players will stay back, Anil and [Nathan] Bracken miss out because of injury – Anil hopefully only for a game, Bracken maybe till May. We have [Ashley] Noffke and Ross Taylor till end of the month. And now we have Kallis and Boucher for more. Steyn’s arrival will depend on how his franchise does in their Twenty20 competition back home. As for Misbah and Razzaq – a series is on. So they can join only after that.”The franchise wasted little time in getting a replacement for Bracken, the Australian left-arm seamer, who was ruled out for at least four weeks. “Bracken was unavailable till his injury situation, maybe the first week of May. Opportunity came up to sign up Noffke, only for the first four games, after which he goes back to Australia. We looked at him as a good allrounder potential. He’s had a good season with Queensland.”The good news, though, comes in the form of another left-arm seamer, Zaheer Khan, recovering from injury. “Zaheer is coming on really well,” Venkatesh Prasad, the coach said. “He was not really 100% before the start of the series which we played [against South Africa] but now he’s coming along quite well. He’s been bowling 90-95% in the net sessions. We’re playing a practice game and it will give us a good indication.”Bangalore kick off the tournament with a home game against Kolkata on April 18.

The prospect of a full-strength West Indies squad boycotting the World Twenty20 due to a contracts impasse appears less likely after the team captain, Darren Sammy, informed the West Indies Cricket Board that the team wants to play the tournament, which starts in India from March 8.

‘You cannot continue to be unfair, unreasonable’

Dear Sir,
As captain of the WT20 team, I wish that we can settle this matter and focus on preparations for the tournament. I want to state on behalf of the players that we want to play and will represent the West Indies to the best of our abilities. The embarrassment and fiasco of the Indian Tour which was called off by the Board must not be allowed to happen. However, it is the arrogance and high-handedness of the Board which cause these problems. You cannot continue [to] force players to be represented by a body that they are not members of and do not want to represent them. You cannot continue to be unfair and unreasonable. Issues like this will continue to plague West Indies cricket unless you have an MOU and arrangements for non-WIPA players are fair and just. ‎We are aware that, win or lose, this may well be the last tournament for most of us as reprisals will set in but we will speak out for what is fair. We are players and we know that unless radical changes take place, players will always have the grievance of which we complain.

In an email sent to the board over the last 24 hours, Sammy, however, reiterated his original demand asking the WICB to double the match fees, and share 50% of the sponsorship revenue and 100% prize money with the players. Sammy also asked the board if they would be ready for a mediation to settle the matter in case of a disagreement. Sammy’s latest communiqué comes after the WICB had set February 14 as the deadline for the players to agree to the terms of the contract, failing which it would be assumed they had refused selection for the World T20.”As captain of the WT20 team, I wish that we can settle this matter and focus on preparations for the tournament,” Sammy said in his third e-mail this week to WICB CEO Michael Muirhead. “I want to state on behalf of the players that we want to play and will represent the West Indies to the best of our abilities.”All through this week Sammy, who is playing for the Peshawar Zalmi franchise in the Pakistan Super League, has been involved in a dialogue with the WICB through a series of e-mail exchanges with Muirhead. In his previous two e-mails to Muirhead, Sammy said the WICB needed to double the players’ remuneration for the World T20 and stated they did not recognise the West Indies Players Association (WIPA) as their representative. Muirhead told Sammy that WIPA was the “exclusive collective bargaining agent for West Indian players.”Muirhead also let Sammy know that the WICB did not agree with the “old hierarchical system” of payment to players for ICC events under which senior players received “grossly disproportionate” amounts solely based on the number of international matches played.Sammy said that he would not be happy to repeat the “embarrassment and fiasco” of West Indies’ pull-out from the India tour in 2014 but pointed out that the WICB could not continue with its “high-handedness”, the main reason behind the frequent run-ins between both parties.”You cannot continue [to] force players to be represented by a body that they are not members of and do not want to represent them,” Sammy said referring to the WIPA. “You cannot continue to be unfair and unreasonable. Issues like this will continue to plague West Indies cricket unless you have an MOU and arrangements for non-WIPA players are fair and just.”Sammy said he was aware, yet unafraid, of the “reprisals”, and stated that “unless radical changes take place, players will always have the grievance of which we complain.”For the third time this week, he also asked the WICB to double the match fee of $6,900 on offer in addition to sharing 50% of sponsorship fees and 100% of the prize money with the players. “If you don’t agree to the above, would you consider that this matter goes to mediation for a settlement,” Sammy asked.

Jesse Ryder’s manager believes the batsman is a genuine chance to receive a New Zealand Cricket (NZC) contract and a place in the ODI squad to tour England despite his off-field problems earlier this year. The selectors are meeting in Christchurch this week to decide on the touring parties as well as the group of contracted players for next season.Missing from last year’s list will be Stephen Fleming, Craig McMillan, Shane Bond and Lou Vincent. Based purely on form, Ryder would appear likely to make the cut as he made his ODI debut in the home series against England and averaged 49 from five games.However, it is unclear whether the incident where Ryder punched a window in a local bar, leaving him with a severely injured hand, will be held against him. Ryder’s manager Aaron Klee said the batsman had used his enforced time away from cricket to lose five kilograms in a bid to show the selectors he was improving his attitude.”NZC have to weigh everything up – fitness, behaviour and injury rehab – and I’m sure they’ll weigh risks up along with the opportunity,” Klee told the . “He’s in with a shot. I think they are pretty pleased with Jesse but they’ve given me no indication whether he’s in line for a contract or might get picked for the one-day team.”Klee was confident Ryder would be fit for the one-day portion of the England tour if selected, although his hand will not have recovered in time for the Tests. However, he said while Ryder’s behaviour was improving giving up alcohol was not part of the equation at the moment.”He is 23. You are not going to change Jesse 100%, but if he can learn to make some smarter decision he will get over the line,” Klee said. “Going to a 23-year-old and saying you can’t drink any more is a big call.”He is still wearing a protective splint but he’s pretty much got complete movement back in his thumb and his index finger has three-quarter movement in it, so the medical specialists are pretty happy with it. We think he will be ready for the one-dayers if they want him, then we just need to find a club or a county second XI that he can get some cricket with beforehand.”New Zealand’s general manager Lindsay Crocker said the team management had not yet made a decision on Ryder’s immediate future. “We’ve got a very open mind on the subject, so yes, it will be a point of discussion for the selectors,” Crocker said. If Ryder does receive a contract from NZC he will be on a minimum of NZ$74,000 a year, with the top-ranked player to be paid $174,000.The contract list will be decided before the England trip although the new deals will not officially start until June 1. “Generally speaking, all the players on the tour of England will have got contracts,” Crocker said. “But often their relative rankings are a topic of much discussion among the players so we want to get them out of the way a bit earlier.”

Ben Stokes said that his England team would take pride in ending their 15-year wait for an Ashes victory on Australian soil, but acknowledged that the circumstances were “not ideal” for his side, on a surface heavily favoured towards the bowlers, and with the series already surrendered after three straight losses across the opening 11 days of action.Stokes and his predecessor as captain, Joe Root, were both part of the 2013-14 squad that arrived in Australia off the back of three straight Ashes series wins, only to suffer a 5-0 whitewash that set in motion a run of 16 defeats and two draws down under that culminated in last week’s 82-run loss in Adelaide.Now, however, they have helped to oversee victory in just two days at the MCG, on a spicy surface in which no player on either side made a half-century. England were required to chase 175, the highest score of the match, after being bowled out for 110 in the first innings to concede a 42-run deficit, but did so at a familiarly brisk rate, requiring just 32.2 overs to end their long wait, thanks to key contributions from Jacob Bethell (40), Zak Crawley (37) and Ben Duckett (34).”Yeah, we’ve got the win, but honestly, it’s not what you want, really,” Stokes told TNT after the match. “The conditions were heavily sided to one skill of the game, which is not ideal, and the game lasts less than two days.”But when you take all that away, you are confronted with conditions, and what you’ve then got to do is decide on what’s the best mode of operation to be able to give you the most chance of success. Chasing 170 was always going to be difficult, but I thought the way that we took the game on from the outset was the exact way that we needed to do that.”Related

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Despite the fact that the series has already been lost, both senior players took pride in the resilience that the team had showed after a torrid build-up to the Test. In the fall-out from the Adelaide defeat, focus had fallen on the team’s mid-series trip to the beach resort of Noosa – in particular a viral video of Ben Duckett looking worse for wear after a night out. But the squad managed to put the furore to one side to deliver a long overdue win.”It’s disappointing that it’s not to affect the series,” Root admitted. “But I think it’s really important, after everything that’s been thrown at the group over the last little while, for us to respond in that fashion, and to find a way on that wicket. It showed good cricket smarts, and great bravery, to read that situation and play with that conviction. So I’m very proud of the boys, and hopefully we can build on it and use the momentum into the next game.”Speaking before the match, Stokes had vowed to rally round his embattled players, not least Duckett, and attempt to provide them with the support they needed to play with the freedom that their team ethos has long espoused. He was proud that his message had fallen on receptive ears.”In the few days building up to this, you front up to a few things,” he said. “The big thing for me, walking out on day one, was obviously understanding that there’s going to be 94,000 people here at the MCG, it’s going to be loud, so just it’s about making sure everyone was on top of the way in which they held themselves, in terms of body language and intensity in the field.”He also thanked the England fans who had made the long trip to Australia for the series.”We’re very lucky that we get to be involved in a sporting occasion like this on Boxing Day,” he said. “We obviously get it here, and every now and again in South Africa, but playing on Boxing Day in front of 95,000 at the MCG, is something pretty special.”But the noise difference was no different to the first couple of games, and that shows we’ve got an unbelievable fan base. They are with us through thick and thin. They’ve been absolutely awesome, and they’ve spent a lot of hours in the sun over there today, so I’m hoping [expecting] that few of them wake up with a sore head.”We’re over the moon. We’re excited that we’ve managed to get on the right side of the result. But, before this game started, we knew what the goal was. We’ve got two games left, and we want to leave here with two results. So, our focus isn’t going to change when we go to Sydney. We’re still going to go out there with the exact same mindset and intensity towards beating Australia. There’s no such thing as a dead rubber when you represent your country.”

Stuart MacGill’s dream first-class return from injury has ended a dark patch that threatened to close his international career. However, after taking 5 for 49 for New South Wales on the opening day of the Pura Cup match against South Australia he is back at the front of the queue and the country’s spin stocks are suddenly much healthier.During MacGill’s absence Brad Hogg was the leading slow man, but when he retired Bryce McGain and Dan Cullen were the main options if MacGill did not recover from the wrist surgery he had late last year. The operation was required after MacGill felt numbness in his bowling arm and he performed poorly in the second Test against Sri Lanka in Hobart. There was doubt about whether he could regain fitness – he was also struggling with a knee injury – but he has overcome the initial hurdle.MacGill started with a wicket first ball and was satisfied with his return during 17.4 overs. “The reason I’m happiest is that it didn’t go completely to plan,” he said in the Australian. “For a long period I wasn’t exactly as I wanted to be playing. Probably at the end when I was going for the most runs was when I thought I could put the most work on the ball.”On an SCG surface sympathetic to the spinners – Cullen picked up 3 for 9 on day one – MacGill captured Daniel Harris with his opening delivery. “There was definitely luck, there was no question of luck being with me,” he said. “You know, first ball, half-tracker, straight to point, that’s probably as lucky as you are going to get. Mind you, I’ve been lucky a number of times in my career if that’s the criteria, but maybe it was straight back into form first ball, I don’t know.”MacGill is 37 but Andrew Hilditch, the national chairman of selectors, is not bothered by age and wants a high-class spinner with the Test squad. “The reality is that we envisage, as we did at the start of the season, that we were really looking to get from Stuart, or perhaps Hoggy, a couple of years of cricket where we get a period of time for the younger spinners around the country to develop and take that next step,” Hilditch told the paper. “Obviously with Stuart’s injuries and now Brad Hogg’s retirement, that plan’s pretty much on hold at the moment.”We’re obviously interested in how Stuart goes in his comeback. I haven’t seen him for a little while. I’m told he’s looking extremely fit and has made a lot of progress over the last couple of months so it will be interesting to see how he goes.” He has started well and will have another opportunity as New South Wales chase hosting rights for the final.

ScorecardCharlie Hemphrey struck a brisk 79, featuring eight fours and a six•Getty Images

Charlie Hemphrey’s sensible half century guided Queensland to a comfortable victory over Tasmania on the fourth day-night of the Sheffield Shield match at the Gabba.Queensland had restricted Tasmania to 233 in their second innings through an even bowling effort, most notable for the wicketkeeper Chris Hartley’s 500th catch.That left the hosts with a last-day chase of 158, and after Marnus Labuschagne was out early, Hemphrey and Matt Renshaw combined for a stand that soothed any nerves in Queensland’s viewing area and condemned the visitors to defeat.While Renshaw fell one run short of 50, Hemphrey endured, pushing along at a good rate to take Queensland home with plenty of wickets and time to spare.

The Indian Cricket League (ICL) has sent a reminder to the ICC seeking a response to its request last month for official recognition of their unsanctioned venture.”We have received an acknowledgement of our letter from the ICC. We have been waiting for a response and have sent them a reminder, too,” Himanshu Mody, the business head of ICL, told Cricinfo.Malcolm Speed, the ICC CEO, told reporters in Mumbai last month that the issue had been referred to the ICC’s lawyers. Though Speed has since proceeded on leave an ICC spokesperson confirmed that the matter was “still under consideration”. “There is no time frame and all we can say is that we will deal with this as soon as it’s possible for us,” the spokesperson said.The ICL, meanwhile, considers the ECB decision to let their players appear for county cricket as a major victory, especially since the matter was settled before the issue could reach the courts in England. “Earlier, about 10-15 ICL players were blocked from playing in England but that issue has been resolved without the league taking the legal route,” an ICL official said.The ICL, which kicked off as a twenty20 event in 2007, has also nearly finalized its calendar of dates and events for the coming season with officials yet undecided on starting four-day games. The calendar is expected to be formalized within the next 10 days, the official said.

The Indian Premier League’s governing council has accepted, pending final approval, requests from the Delhi and Hyderabad franchises to name Virender Sehwag and VVS Laxman as icon players, which means the two will only turn out for their respective home cities in the BCCI-backed tournament.However, there is a stumbling block to the move. The decision taken by the IPL governing council needs to be approved by all eight franchises ahead of the players’ auction on Wednesday. The IPL’s original tender only had the names of Sachin Tendulkar [Mumbai], Sourav Ganguly [Kolkata], Rahul Dravid [Bangalore] and Yuvraj Singh [Mohali] in the ‘icon players’ category, and thus a move to add any more players to the list needs to be ratified by all the franchise owners.”All the franchises will have to approve this decision as the original IPL tender had only four icon players,” Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI’s chief administrative officer, told Cricinfo. “The IPL [governing council] will meet all the franchises just before the auction on Wednesday for a final decision.”At an earlier meeting, the owners of the Delhi (GMR) and Hyderabad (Deccan Chronicle) franchises had made the request for naming Sehwag and Laxman as icon players. If all the franchises agree, then Sehwag and Laxman will not be among the pool of players to be auctioned on Wednesday. As icon players, they stand to earn 15% more than the next-best paid player in their team.The Mohali franchise has already named Yuvraj as their team’s captain, with Australian Tom Moody as coach.Meanwhile, India Cements Limited, the owners of the Chennai franchise, announced that their team will be known as the “Chennai Super Kings” and unveiled their team logo as well.Kris Srikkanth, former India captain, was named the brand ambassador of the team while former Indian batsman VB Chandrasekhar, who used to be a part of the selection committee of the Indian team, will be responsible for picking the players.”Chandrasekar, having been an India player and also a national selector, has the requisite credentials to head our operations in so far as selecting the players for Chennai Super Kings is concerned,” N Srinivasan, vice-chairman and managing director of India Cements, said. “We plan to have 23 players in Super Kings.”

Whoever thought that Bangladesh would run away with the match after a brave showing with the bat saw them score 232 for 8 in 50 overs had to eat his words as England proved their superiority in the match by achieving the target with 6.1overs and eight wickets still intact.The man of the match, Alec Stewart, and the England skipper, Nasser Hussain, shared a 175 run partnership for the second wicket to steer their side to the quarter-final of the of the ICC KnockOut. Both batsmen played shots to all parts of the ground to make a mockery of the target set by their opponents.Alec Stewart, who did the most of the scoring after the departure of Marcus Trescothick at the total of 33, was all patience after completing his half-century. He was content in watching most of the proceedings from the non-striking end, as Hussain hit all the Bangladeshi bowlers with strength and vigor. Hussain was particularly harsh on spinners, especially the off-break Muhammad Rafiq, as he hit 5 sixes and 8 fours for his 95 scored in 120 balls. However, he was unlucky not to get his first ODI century as trying to steer the ball to the leg side, he top edged an easy catch back to the bowler, Muhammad Rafiq.After the departure of Hussain at the total of 208, it was an easy going for EnglandGraeme Hick making a quick-fire 23 off 19 balls to take his side to victory. Stewart remained not out on 87 off 112 balls.Earlier, a confident looking Bangladesh side cashed in on some below par bowling and sloppy fielding by England to post a respectable total on the board. The opening batsmen, Javed Omar, scored 63* and the skipper, Naeemur Rehman, contributed with 46 studded with two sixes after Bangladesh had been reduced to 96 for 4 in the 29th over. Javed, returning to the crease after a rising delivery from Gough had earlier forced him to retire hurt, grafted his inning sensibly to enable his side to a total past 200, which looked a bit difficult at one stage. It was mainly because of his efforts that the Bangladesh team could collect 83 in the last 10 overs of their innings.For England, Mark Ealham was the most successful bowler taking 3 for 48 in his ten overs. Andrew Caddick and Craig White took two wickets each, whereas one batsman was run out.England now play South Africa in the quarter-final which would be played on Tuesday.