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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.”

Scorecard

Thirteen years ago, Chandrasekhar Raghu was just another cricketer. They come in dozens in India, rushing home after school, picking up a cheap bat and rushing to join the neighbourhood tennis-ball . It’s all very simple: whack the ball, indulge in a bit of hit-and-giggle, and retire home at sunset to bury your face in homework. It doesn’t happen to most young enthusiasts, but something changed, for the better, where Raghu is concerned.When he was 11, a neighbour who happened to be the secretary for the local Hanumant Nagar Cricket Club, picked him out of the street cricket milieu and invited him to come and practise at the club. “I owe a lot to Balaji,” Raghu told Cricinfo at the end of the first day’s play at Mysore’s Gangothri Glades Ground. From there his journey to state-level cricket started. Soon he was playing for under-13 cricket.Was he afraid of the leather ball, having never played before? “No,” he says with a smile, “I just used to go out and play.” But that’s where my transformation as a bowler happened. I used to be just a batsman but suddenly I discovered that with the leather ball, I could bowl pretty useful offspin.” In fact, Raghu played in an under-19 tournament as a spinner.Even though he found his touch as a batsman and became prolific at the league level, where he used to bat at No. 3 or 4, at the Ranji Trophy level he was still treated as a bowler. He admits, “I used to play at No. 8 for Karnataka, and they used to consider me as an ODI player.” An average of 12.72 in 10 first-class matches is a proof of that. “I was very disappointed in those times. I used to bat at No. 3 or 4 in the leagues, but when it came to playing for Karnataka, I would be relegated down the order and treated as a bowler. I never used to get a chance to prove myself. It was very tough. I was stagnating.”Others’ misfortune, as it would turn out, gave Raghu the opportunity he was looking for. “I was feeling very down but then suddenly two or three batsmen flopped last season and I got my chance.” And he grabbed it. Two centuries and a fifty in the P Subbiah Pillai tournament in February 2006. He rates his 117 against Hyderabad in that tournament, as his best and the turning point of his career. All of a sudden the bowler was publicly recognised as an allrounder.There were other innings that Raghu remembers fondly. “I got a hundred against Western Australia recently,” he said. “I wanted to prove to the selectors that I can do well in three-day matches. Those knocks gave me confidence – and possibly the selectors too.” It definitely did. Within months, he was picked for the Challenger Series where the best young talents in the country get a chance to play with senior cricketers.Raghu is one of those batsmen that make the game look easy; lazy elegance seeps through his batting. Though he admits otherwise – “I don’t think I am lazy, it looks like that to others” – Raghu has been a victim of his own fluent batting style. “Yes, so many times I have got out like that,” he said. “When playing very well, I would think this bowler is easy to play and I have got out trying few things. I used to get 30, 40 quickly and then get out. I have matured now. That’s why I maintain this is a mental game. Now I am learning to play to big innings.”His preference is to keep the ball on the ground but he remains a busy player, constantly looking for singles. While Joginder Sharma, who grabbed seven wickets in Haryana’s match against Andhra – including a hat-trick – was troubling some of the other batsmen today with his bounce off a length, Raghu played him with ease.So what does he think when he stands at the crease waiting for the ball to be released? “Nothing,” comes the answer with a smile. “I keep my mind blank, I don’t think about anything.” Sensible ploy. Like many Indian batsmen, he makes his living off the front foot. Without disagreeing, he says today it was part of a plan: “I thought on this pitch – it was keeping low at times – it was better to get on to the front foot. I got out playing the wrong line though”.One other amazing thing about him is that he has never had a batting coach. So where did this pleasing stroke play come from? “There was no coach, I just play like this,” he said. “No one taught me how to play. This game is played more in the mind. Its 70% mental. Venkatesh Prasad [the Karnataka coach] has helped to improve on the mental aspect. My aim is to score runs and I go about finding ways of doing that. I just play ball by ball, I don’t think much.”For Raghu, each day is taken in his stride. “I am sticking to the present,” he said. “I just have to do well in the Ranji Trophy as I want Karnataka to be the Ranji Champions. I want to score at least three centuries this season. I am not thinking too much ahead, just want to stick to the process.”

It may not have been all that tough for Shivnarine Chanderpaul to relinquish the West Indies captaincy. Except for any superficial damage to his ego, it was his only real option after a turbulent year in which he enjoyed only one Test victory and two one-day wins. Would it have been any different if he and his team had held their nerve and won the first Test against New Zealand at Eden Park?Probably, but the fact that they didn’t reinforced the belief that this is a side that has become so accustomed to losing that they are almost paralysed by anxiety in a tight situation. The fact that there is no obvious successor, and really hasn’t been for the last five years, speaks volumes, not just about the parlous state of the game, but the quality of individuals being produced by West Indian societies.Despite all of that, the West Indies Cricket Board must announce the new captain sooner rather than later. We can do without all sorts of wild speculation over the coming days, especially with the start of the seven-match limited-over series against Zimbabwe just two weeks away.Even if I still believe that Wavell Hinds will do a good job, I have to concede that going the way of picking a captain who is not an automatic selection in the final XI is unprecedented in contemporary West Indies cricket and would probably create more problems that it solves. For all of his apparent reluctance to take on the responsibility, too much time, money and effort has been invested in Ramnaresh Sarwan for him not to recognise that he has a duty to step up to the challenge if called upon.As vice-captain for most of the last three years and an established batsman in the middle-order, the 25-year-old “veteran” has enjoyed a free ride-seniority without real responsibility-for long enough. It may bring the best out of him and we will all say why the decision wasn’t made earlier. The other side of the coin, of course, is that the burden of leading a team that will still be losing much more than winning for some time could take a toll on his confidence and his batting, much in the same way as Chanderpaul has been affected.But like ending one footballer’s World Cup dream in a month’s time, tough decisions have to be made with an eye to the future. Unlike the legal profession, you can’t opt for a course of action, lose and then interpret it as a victory. Only politicians and their rabid following fall for that nonsense.

Bangladesh have named their 15-man squad for the World Cup and, as widely predicted, they have left out their experienced wicketkeeper Khaled Mashud and chosen Mushfiqur Rahim, who performed well on the recent tour of Zimbabwe.Habibul Bashar, the captain, said that he was looking forward to the tournament. “I was a member of the World Cup team four years back and then we had hardly any ambition rather than playing good cricket,” he said. “The scenario is totally changed now after we have already won a number of matches in the recent past.””We are going to the World Cup with lot of confidence this time, especially after the away series victory and definitely our target is to make a second round berth. We know it will not be an easy task to beat at least one team like India and Sri Lanka to make our dream come true. But I think there is hardly any meaning to our trip if we have no target. I will not be surprised if my team beat any big fish in the competition.”Bangladesh squad Habibul Bashar (capt), Shariar Nafees, Tamim Iqbal, Aftab Ahmed, Saqibul Hasan, Mohammad Ashraful, Mushfiqur Rahim (wk), Mohammad Rafique, Abdur Razzak, Mashrafe Mortaza, Shahadat Hossain, Tapash Baisya, Syed Rasel, Rajin Saleh, Javed Omar.

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.

Ian Bell, England’s designated No. 3 batsman, is expected to be passed fit for the first Test at Brisbane tomorrow, after coming through a practice session 24 hours after being struck a painful blow on the left wrist. An ECB statement said that a final decision would be made on the morning of the match.Bell, who had been batting in the nets against James Anderson, was given ice treatment and taken away for a precautionary X-ray, which revealed heavy bruising but no fracture.England had been optimistic all along that the injury was nothing serious. “It would be a blow [if he missed out],” admitted Andrew Strauss yesterday, “but we are talking about hypotheticals. From what I’ve seen it won’t prevent him playing. The nets had a little bit of extra bounce, but they are very, very good, probably the best we’ve seen this tour.”If Bell was to be ruled out, then Strauss’s Middlesex team-mate, Ed Joyce, would be thrust into the starting line-up, just days since arriving in the country as a replacement for Marcus Trescothick.”For me, Ed’s greatest strength is his ability to keep a cool head under pressure,” said Strauss. “So, if there’s any guy I know who’ll be well set to make a debut, it’s him. It’s a big ask, but everyone know’s he’s a quality player. Even so, we’re very hopeful that Ian’s going to play.”

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.

Trevor Penney, Sri Lanka’s stand-in coach, believes his side are as tough as Australia, and can compete with them in all aspects of the game.Speaking ahead of the three-Test series against Bangladesh, Penney said: “[Adam] Gilchrist was the difference at the World Cup. Otherwise, I think we are pretty much level with Australia with our fielding, our bowling and our batting. We’ve got some great talent.”The Australians are brought up tough. They are a tough team. The thing is that we are tough now. That’s the line we’ve got to keep working on, practising hard and playing tough as we proved in England last year, in New Zealand and in the World Cup.”Penney says Sri Lanka’s improvement over the past two years has been noted by Sandy Gordon, the sports psychologist who has often been consulted since June 2005. Gordon was called in for the forthcoming series, too.”He was very pleased with the guys, the way they have matured mentally,” said Penney. “I think that’s important. We’ve had him about six times. He was complimentary about everybody. He thinks there is a massive lift in the mental side of the game.”Penney then talked about the passion he himself brought to the practices. “When you play all the time you need someone to lift you up a lot. When I am training them or practising with them I am keener than they are so I am passionate about every single thing. Fielding certainly comes out the way, the way they are fielding these days.”This is his first full series as coach of a national team, after taking over from Tom Moody who has gone to coach Western Australia. Penney, though, has had experience working under Moody for Sri Lanka.”Tom allowed me a free rein to do a lot of the coaching because often he will be either talking to reporters, attending selection meetings… We both understood each other really well.”Penney believes that trust is a big part of Moody’s legacy. “The players knew they could trust Tom wholly. He would never lie to them. He was always straight up front yet he did it in a pleasant way. He tells you straight, but in the next breath he will be helping you as well. I’ve learnt a lot from him.”Some people want to stay on the fence. They don’t want to say something to a guy even if he is a senior player. It’s been important for us because we had a lot of senior players who had to be dealt with around the bush. Tom just went in straight and levelled the playing field so that all players are actually equal in our team now.”What’s nice about this team is that they stepped up a standard now and they all expect it from each other.”Penney said playing away from home had improved the team’s mental toughness.”It has been a big plus point for Sri Lanka. They are ready to take up the challenge.Mahela [Jayawardene] as captain has been wonderful. He is so strong and he’s got the team right where he wants them.”

Cricket South Africa’s anti-corruption and security unit (ACSU) has charged an “intermediary” under its anti-corruption code for “contriving to fix, or otherwise improperly influence aspects” of the recently completed domestic T20 tournament, the Ram Slam Challenge.CSA has provisionally suspended the unnamed individual under Article 4.7.1 of the Code. The ACSU has also charged them with “failing or refusing, without compelling justification, to cooperate with an investigation carried out by CSA’s Designated Anti-Corruption Official”, the board said in a release on Tuesday.The intermediary will now be required to respond to the charges via the ACSU.”The provisional suspension means that the intermediary may not be involved in any capacity in any match or any other kind of function, event or activity (other than authorised anti-corruption education or rehabilitation programmes) that is authorized, organised, sanctioned, recognised or supported in any way by CSA, the ICC, a National Cricket Federation or any member of a National Cricket Federation,” CSA said.Haroon Lorgat, CSA’s chief executive, added: “Our attitude to corruption will always be one of zero tolerance and we are confident that we have the necessary structures in place to effectively deal with any corrupt activity. We will relentlessly pursue under our code and the law of the land any persons we believe to be involved in corrupting the game and, with assistance from the police, we will also seek criminal prosecution.”The Ram Slam T20 Challenge 2015-16 was played between November 1 and December 12, with Titans winning the final against Dolphins on Saturday.

The Indian team has been awarded a bonus of US$ 3 million by the Board of Control for Cricket in India for their victorious campaign in the ICC World Twenty20. Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, also announced a cash award of Rs 1 crore [US$ 253,000] to Yuvraj Singh for hitting six sixes in an over in the match against England.The team, which will land in Mumbai on Wednesday morning, will go on a victory march to the Wankhede Stadium where they will be received by Pawar and be presented the prize-money. Pawar appealed to the people and former cricketers to join the march to provide a fitting welcome to the team.Each of the team’s support staff will be awarded Rs 15 lakh [US$ 38,000] for their efforts. India beat Pakistan by five runs in a thrilling final in Johannesburg.Meanwhile, a few state governments too have chipped in with cash rewards for its players. Joginder Sharma, who took the wicket of Misbah-ul-Haq to seal the victory, is set to receive a cash reward of Rs 21 lakh [US$ 52,920] from Haryana chief minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda. Maharashtra chief minister Vilasrao Deshmukh has announced a cash reward of Rs 10 lakh each [US$ 25,250] for Mumbai players Rohit Sharma and Ajit Agarkar. Rohit Sharma was one of the biggest finds for India after playing crucial roles in the victories over South Africa and Pakistan in the final.Air India, the international airline which employs six players in the squad, announced out-of-turn promotions for each of them. Praful Patel, the civil aviation minister, said that all the 15 members of the winning squad and their family members would also be given additional free travel benefits for five years.The team lost just one match, against New Zealand, in the Super Eights. Following the defeat, the side knocked hosts South Africa out of the tournament and Australia in the semi-final.