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Shane Bond, the fast bowler, has been added to New Zealand’s squad for the third one-dayer against Sri Lanka at Christchurch on January 2. Bond, who’s had a start-stop career owing to a slew of injuries, missed the opening two games to undergo a reconditioning program.With New Zealand pulling off a thrilling one-wicket series-levelling win in the second match at Queenstown, the selectors retained the same 12 that were selected for the first two games. Craig McMillan, who came into the squad to cover for the then injured Nathan Astle, has been released.On regular captain Stephen Fleming’s omission for the third consecutive match, John Bracewell, the New Zealand coach, said that the purpose was to give Fleming an extended break and also to assess Daniel Vettori’s captaincy.The series is evenly poised after two matches – Sanath Jayasuriya steered Sri Lanka to a 1-0 lead before James Franklin starred in a thrilling series-levelling win.New Zealand squad Nathan Astle, Brendon McCullum (wk), Ross Taylor, Peter Fulton, Hamish Marshall, James Marshall, Andre Adams, Daniel Vettori (capt), Shane Bond, James Franklin, Mark Gillespie, Michael Mason, Jeetan Patel.

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.”

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 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.

Steve Harmison was knackered but content at the close of a drainingfirst day at Galle. Although play was restricted to a mere 55 overs,the heat and humidity were as oppressive as he has ever known in his56-Test career. It was not a day for the faint-hearted – which, in thenot-so-distant past, might have included Harmison himself. And yet,for the second innings running, he was the pick of a committed Englandattack. It’s been quite a turnaround in form, fortune and most of all, attitude.”I’ve come to the conclusion I’m going to smile rather than let thingsget on top of me,” said Harmison, as he laughed and joked his waythrough an upbeat press conference. “That’s all I’m going to do. I’ve stopped beating myself up, I’ve tried to staypositive and tried to make the most of it. If it doesn’t happen, itdoesn’t happen. But if you get three wickets on a hot day in Galle,then well done.”Well done indeed. Without Harmison’s hard-earned interventions,England might well have squandered a golden opportunity to level theseries. As it is, they are still not as well placed as the early-morning conditions suggested that they should have been. But Sri Lanka’s coach, Trevor Bayliss, admitted that his team had been intending to bowl first as well, on a Galle track that has been thesubject of so many setbacks that no one really had a clue how itmight play. If the pitch bakes hard for England’s innings beforecrumbling when Sri Lanka’s second turn comes about, then a first-dayscoreline of 147 for 4 might yet prove to be crucial.Even so, Harmison admitted that England had let their advantage slipearly in the day, when they misjudged the tactics needed for successon such a track. “Sometimes when you see the amount of rain we’ve hadhere, and the amount of time that wicket has been under covers, andhow damp it was, and you get three quick bowlers with a brand newKookaburra in their hands after the captain’s won the toss and bowled- you start clapping your hands and thinking wickets.”But sometimes that can go the opposite way, and to be honest it did,”said Harmison. “We bowled full but we floated it. We had a chat atlunchtime, and decided we needed to hit the deck a bit more, or if wedid bowl full, we had to bowl with some purpose. So we came out anddid that, and the rest of the day was a lot better. But that’s whathappens when your captain wins the toss and bowls – sometimes you go50 for 5, sometimes it’s 80 for 1.”

Overall, Harmison felt that the pitch had not quite played toEngland’s expectations. “When it did things this morning it did itbig, so that if the batsman played down the line he was never going tohit it,” he said. “But since then, it’s not done that much. For thelast four overs I bowled cross-seam, and that seemed to skid the ballon a little bit, with the odd one bouncing from round the wicket. Itprobably didn’t do as much as we thought, but they are 140 for 4, sowe’ve got to be happy.”For all his efforts, Harmison did give England a scare at the end ofhis eighth over, when he trudged towards the dressing room, looking as though he’d suffered another back spasm. The truth, however, was rather more mundane. “I was knackered,” he said. “I couldn’t breathe, so I had to go off. That middle session of an hour and a half was real hard work, as tough as it has been in Testcricket.”Harmison declared that England were very happy with the waytheir day had gone, after a build-up to the match that, while full ofemotion and significance, was not exactly ideal for Test cricketers.”We still had a Test match to play, and to win, and I thought we’vebeen very professional so far in doing what we’ve done,” saidHarmison. “What happened three years ago was a horrendous time forthese people, and what’s happened in this last 48 hours probablywasn’t the best preparation for us. But the game had to be playedtoday. It had to be played no matter what, and it’s great for Englandthat we did well and hopefully put on a good spectacle for the SriLankans.”Harmison has now emerged with honours from two of the toughest days ofcricket he’s ever been put through, and with his confidence restored,he was able to look back objectively at his performances in an eventfulyear. “I’ll always do what I have to do, and if it’s good enough, it’sgood enough. It hasn’t been good enough for the last 12 months, butit’s hopefully going to get better and better.”

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.

Piyush Chawla, the Uttar Pradesh legspinner, and Pankaj Singh, the 22-year-old Rajasthan fast bowler, have been asked to join the five-day bowlers camp in Mysore starting on June 4th. Former India seamer Venkatesh Prasad, who was the team’s fast bowling during the recent visit to Bangladesh, would assist the 14 bowlers.Chawla was to leave last night for Australia where here was scheduled to train at the Centre of Excellence in Brisbane along with Tamil Nadu medium pacer Yomahesh and Saurashtra batsman Cheteshwar Pujara.It was also speculated that Chawla had been advised to cancel his Australian sojourn since he could be named in the Indian squad for the one-day internationals against South Africa and Pakistan later this month. That team was to be picked on June 11.Zaheer Khan and Harbhajan Singh, who were part of the originial list, would not take part in the camp as they would be playing in the Afro-Asia Cup. Sreesanth, who has been included in the Asia squad for the lone Twenty-20 International against Africa on June 5, would join the group the following day. The camp would be held at Infosys Complex and stringent security has been put in place.The batsmen’s camp would be held from June 9 to 12 at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore.The 14 bowlers to train at the camp: Anil Kumble, Ajit Agarkar, Rudra Pratap Singh, Sreesanth, Irfan Pathan, Munaf Patel, Ramesh Powar, Vikram Rajvir Singh, Ranadeb Bose, Ishant Sharma, Rajesh Pawar, Piyush Chawla, Pragyan Ojha and Pankaj Singh.

ScorecardGujarat, struggling at 155 for 9, managed to reach 228 and then reduce Assam to 56 for 4 at stumps on day one in Ahmedabad, with two former Tamil Nadu batsmen – S Ramesh and S Sharath – in the middle.Put in, Gujarat made a cautious start, but didn’t get a partnership going until the very end. Parthiv Patel, who had scored five centuries in his last five first-class innings, upped the scoring, but fell one short of 50, after which the rest of the line-up folded easily. Digant Popat, the No. 6 batsman, found a good partner in No. 11 Siddharth Trivedi, and the two put on 73 runs in 12 overs. Popat top scored with a 72-ball 63. Trivedi carried the confidence from his batting through, and as if out of inertia got Assam opener Sauran Bhagawati to edge one in the first over.
ScorecardJammu & Kashmir denied Railways a wicket for the first 37.5 overs and 104 runs, but thereafter collapsed to 194 all out. Madan Yadav, the Railways left-arm spinner, bowled a miserly spell of 22.3-12-22-4. The wicket of Ian Dev Singh, who fell to Yadav for 62, triggered the collapse. Ian’s opening partner Sajjad Shaikh soon followed, caught by Amit Pagnis off Harvinder Singh, for 40.The second-highest partnership came for the seventh wicket: 34 runs between captain Vijay Sharma, who made and unbeaten 34 and Samiullah Beigh. Harvinder, who toiled for more overs than Yadav, had four wickets to show for his efforts.
ScorecardNine of Services’ batsmen failed to reach double figures as they were bowled out for 102 in Agartala. Timir Chanda, Tripura’s captain and right-arm opening bowler, started the slide, reducing Services to 8 for 2 by the sixth over.It could have been worse for Services but for the 32-run stand for the ninth wicket between No. 3 Devendra Israni and left-arm spinner Arun Sharma. Israni was caught and bowled by off-break bowler Jayanta Debnath, who finished with 4 for 13 in 11.4 overs. Sharma stayed unbeaten on 24 and extras, 13, were the third-largest contributor.Manoj Singh and Subal Chowdhury consolidated after Tripura lost a quick wicket, and finished with the lead all but erased and eight wickets still in hand.
ScorecardAfter a delayed start because of overnight rain, scoring was not high on the priority list as Madhya Pradesh crawled to a total of 100 for 4 in 50.3 overs at the Keenan Stadium in Jamshedpur. More than half the runs came from Jatin Saxena’s bat: he was also the quickest batsman with a strike-rate of 46. Opener Mudassar Pasha took 47 deliveries for his 6, and Devendra Bundela, No. 4, took 35 balls to score 1 run. Shankar Rao, the right-arm medium pacer, took two wickets.
ScorecardAn unbeaten half-century down the order by Aditya Angle helped Goa to 258 for 8 against Haryana at Margao. After choosing to bat, the Goa got off to a steady start, with the openers adding 55, but Haryana took the initiative after bagging four wickets within ten overs. Captain J Arunkumar resisted with 55, before legspinner Amit Mishra picked up three middle-order wickets to peg the home side back again. Angle, who finished unbeaten on 54, added 57 for the ninth wicket with Ryan D’Souza as Haryana were unable to wrap up the innings, especially after Goa were struggling at one stage at 159 for 7.

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.

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.”