All posts by csb10.top

Nasty blow of the day
As Kyle Mills moved around from point to collect Graeme Smith’s dab towards third man it all looked a fairly innocuous piece of cricket. However, Mills then began to writhe around the ground in agony. Slowly the picture came to light as the replay showed the ball bounce up and strike Mills where, if he’d been batting, there would have been a box to protect in. This time, though, there was no plastic to dull the strike and it took Mills a minute to compose himself before he could continue. And, yes, there were a few giggles. Aren’t there always?Pain of the day
New Zealand already had three players missing from this game with various injuries so watching Ross Taylor pull up with a leg problem won’t have made them feel any better. He was sprinting back for a tight second as Kallis hurled in his throw and as he crossed the crease pulled up sharply and grabbed his hamstring. For a moment he was heading straight off thinking he was out, but he’d just made his ground so opted to bat on with a runner. The seriousness of the injury will determine if he gets another innings in this tournament.Flick of the day
Brendon McCullum normally finds himself behind the stumps but has handed over the gloves to Peter McGlashan early in this tournament and is proving a useful addition in the field. South Africa had made a steady start to reach 49 without loss when McCullum intercepted Smith’s shot at midwicket and flicked the ball into the stumps at the non-striker’s end. Nobody seemed to think that Jacques Kallis was out, but the relays revealed a different picture and he was short by an inch. Maybe it’s time to put those keeping gloves away for a bit longer.Duck of the day
Roelef van de Merwe made his name on the South African domestic circuit as someone who throws the bat and followed that trend in his early international games and some cameos at the IPL. Today, though, it didn’t quite go to plan as he played out five dot balls, despite trying a range of shots from the cut to the reverse sweep, before coming down the pitch and yorking himself against Nathan McCullum. It came in a period of the innings where South Africa stalled badly and from overs seven to 13 they added just 21 runs.Spell of the day
When Ian Butler made his international debut against England in 2002 he was picked mainly because of his pace as New Zealand tried to cover for an injury to Shane Bond. The 2009 version of Butler is a very different bowler having cut down on the speed and improved the accuracy. He held his nerve during the Seven7 against Scotland to claim the Man of the Match and in this outing produced New Zealand’s third-most economical Twenty20 figures, and the second-best for a completed four-over spell behind Bond. The second coming for Butler may not be as flashy, but it could be the making of him.Spell of the day II
van der Merwe may have struggled with the bat, but being an allrounder he had a second chance and made up with it with the ball. The New Zealanders had huge problems trying to get his left-arm spin away as he sent down his four overs for a meagre 14 runs and picked up the wickets of Ross Taylor and Brendon McCullum for good measure. His strangle proved the crucial spell.Rather meaningless cliff-hanger of the day
For such a thrilling finish, it’s a shame this match doesn’t actually mean anything. Both teams had already qualified and no points are carried forward to the Super Eights. Still, it gave the decent crowd some good entertainment before they battled the London transport system during a Tube strike. With 10 needed off three balls, Jacques Kallis dropped a catch that could have sealed it, then Jacob Oram inside-edged for four. With four needed off one ball, though, Oram could only club two down the ground. In truth, it wasn’t a very good chase from New Zealand as they finished just four wickets down. They’ll be glad it doesn’t mean anything.

Gloucestershire 190 for 4 (Spearman 50*) beat Nottinghamshire 189 (Lewis 4-34) by six wickets
ScorecardGloucestershire’s new-ball pair of Jon Lewis and Steve Kirby sealed their side’s place in the semi-finals of the Friends Provident Trophy with seven wickets between them, as Nottinghamshire’s campaign hit the buffers at Bristol.In a quarter-final clash that had to be delayed because of the ODI between England and West Indies at Nevil Road last month, Nottinghamshire won the toss and chose to bat first, but were immediately made to regret that decision as they were reduced to 9 for 3.Kirby made the initial incisions, removing both Ali Brown and Alex Hales for ducks, before Lewis removed Mark Wagh for 3. Only the captain, Chris Read, provided any lasting resistance with 57 from 78 balls, but he was one of four victims for Lewis, who finished with 4 for 34.Chasing a modest 190 for victory, Gloucestershire stumbled briefly to 68 for 3, but an unbeaten half-century from Craig Spearman sealed a six-wicket victory with more than 12 overs to spare.Gloucester now meet Sussex at Hove in the semi-final on July 5.

Some men fill a room with their aura as soon as they step into it, others seem to shrink when all eyes turn towards them. Kevin Pietersen, who has been ruled out of the rest of the Ashes after undergoing an operation on his Achilles tendon, falls emphatically into the former category. The challenge for Ian Bell, the man who will replace him at No. 4 in Thursday’s third Test at Edgbaston, is to prove he does not belong exclusively in the latter.It’s hard to envisage two more contrasting characters in the entire England set-up, and you’d certainly never have imagined either man being earmarked as a like-for-like replacement for the other. But that’s how it’s set to pan out this summer, with Bell earning his Test recall through Pietersen’s misfortune, but deserving it as well on the back of a 60-plus average for Warwickshire in the County Championship.”I do have a lot to offer to England,” said Bell, who has missed each of his country’s last eight Test matches since February, the longest period he has spent out of the side since making his debut in 2004. “When you’ve played and become a regular, and that gets taken away from you, I think that tells you how much it means to you, and how much you miss it. You do a lot of thinking inside about what you want to do when you get that next opportunity. This is an opportunity I probably didn’t think I was going to get this summer, and hopefully I’ll take it with both hands.”Of course, with someone like Kev, he’s a world-class player and you’re going to miss that,” he said, “but we know as a batting unit what we have to do to win this Test match. We all have our own sort of tempo, Kev has his methods, I have my methods and strengths, and I have to play to them. I can’t go out and play like Kev, I’ve just got to go out there and think about how I want to score my runs, and make sure we get a good first-innings score.”Aside from the identity of the man he has to replace, the circumstances couldn’t really be better for Bell. England have a lead in the series thanks to their historic win at Lord’s; Australia’s bowlers are low on confidence after a shocking and decisive display in the first innings of that match, and the third Test is taking place at Bell’s home ground of Edgbaston, a venue where bat has dominated ball for two seasons solid. In the post-Warne and McGrath era, he has a glorious opportunity to improve upon a ten-match Test record of 502 runs at 25.10 against Australia, which is more than 15 runs below his overall Test average.”I know that my record against Australia is the weakest out of all the countries I have played, and that’s up to me now to turn around,” he said. “It’s a new-look Australia to the one I’ve played in the past, and it’s up to me now to go out and perform, and contribute to the team by playing well in this Test match. It doesn’t worry me what other people think, I just have to get myself ready [because] I know how I can play at my best.”It would be quite some development for Bell to emerge as the hero of England’s Ashes summer. Four years ago in his first full season of international cricket, he batted once again in that No. 4 position, and struggled to seven single-figure scores in ten Ashes innings. Eighteen months later, his returns improved to the tune of four half-centuries in five Tests, but his image did not, as Shane Warne handed him the geeky nickname of “Shermanator”, a taunt that resurfaced in his newspaper column this week.”Warne’s a legend, what more can you say about the guy?” said Bell in response. “I think he’s tried to pick on the whole of the England team, and this week it’s been my week to cop a bit. I don’t have to play against Shane Warne this week, so he can say what he wants, but if I want to get rid of that name tag I have to play well against Australia, and that’s fact. I’ve played well against other teams in the world, and now I have to do it against the 11 guys out there.”Even though the reputation of the bowling attack is several notches lower than Bell has previously experienced in Ashes competition, he’s not a character who’s likely to get complacent in a hurry. “Warne and McGrath are legends of the game, but this is a good Australia side as they showed at Cardiff,” he said. “You can’t just walk into a Test match against Australia and do what you want. You have to get stuck in and work hard for everything, and I fully expect that against this team, even though they haven’t got Warne and McGrath.”The players within the current Australian set-up are rather more diplomatic in their opinion of Bell than their former team-mate, although Michael Clarke did allude to the possibility that they were rather pleased to have him in their sights rather than Pietersen. “England will be disappointed to lose Kevin,” said Clarke. “Any time a very good player is no longer playing it will give the team a boost, but it’s important we concentrate on Ian. He is a wonderful player and has been successful around the world. We have to study Ian and look at where he scores his runs. We know he’s a good player.”Whatever happens this week, Bell believes he is fighting fit for the challenge, a legacy of the strenuous fitness work he put in during England’s tour of the Caribbean in February and March. After being made a scapegoat for England’s humiliation at Kingston in the opening Test of the series, Bell did not play again in the series, and instead worked hard with Reg Dickason, the team’s security advisor, boxing on the beach at 6 o’clock in the morning, and using a rare break from the front line to work on an area of his game that goes beyond mere batting practice.”Reg helped me through for two months that could have gone either way,” said Bell. “I could have been sitting on my bum not doing a lot, or getting up and making sure that by the time the England season came around I was physically ready to just worry about cricket, and nothing else. By the end of our sessions I’d be on my knees, but Reg was good to me, he wanted to work me hard and by the time the season came around I’d used that opportunity to absolutely nail something that, with the amount of cricket we play, we don’t often get that window to do.”The circumstances of Bell’s axing in the Caribbean provided a particular spur for his sparring sessions. A loose shot on the stroke of lunch on the fourth day at Sabina Park set in motion a collapse of such dramatic proportions that the game was all over by tea, with England rolled over for an embarrassing 51. “After Jamaica, a Test like that, your last Test, there are a lot of thoughts in there about how you want to carry on. There was a lot of motivation in there for wanting to train hard that winter, so that I could take my opportunity.”Even after the training, Bell still had to wait, and the size of the task he faced to get back in the side was brought home to him on the first day of England’s home season against West Indies at Lord’s in May, a fixture he had not missed since 2006. “The first time the guys walked out [of the pavilion], watching that on the screen here at Edgbaston, really hit home to me what it means to be involved in a Test match for your country. Because of the game I was playing here, I very quickly had to get that out of my mind, but for [the] first ten minutes I couldn’t think of anything else. That told me how much it hurt.”And so it all comes down to the chance he has before him. A clear run through to September is his if he wants it, with Pietersen laid low and few other contenders making their presence known on the county circuit. “At 27, I still have a lot to offer international cricket,” said Bell. “I thought I’d have to wait a lot longer to get this opportunity, but this is a chance I’ve got to go and show people how good a player I am.”

The bidding for the eight franchises of the inaugural Karnataka Premier League (KPL) has fetched a total of Rs 35 crore ($7.36 million approx) , with Brigade Enterprises, part of the Brigade Group, making the highest bid of Rs 7.20 crore ($1.51 million approx) for the ownership rights of the Bangalore Urban team. The realty group won the bid, payable over a period of five years, during the bidding process which took place at the Chinnaswamy Stadium on Wednesday.”The response is tremendous and we will receive a sum of Rs 35 crore over a period of five years,” said Karnataka State Cricket Association (KSCA) secretary Brijesh Patel. “This is more than we expected. We have a good group of people on board and we can now work together to develop the game in all parts of the state. It is now our responsibility to give the people of Karnataka who have backed us, a good product.”Initally, 22 bids from a group of corporates, real estate builders and politicians were filed, and after scrutiny, SVK Minerals was rejected on technical grounds. Melmont Constructions Pvt Ltd, part of the Puravankara Group, netted the Bangalore Rural team with a winning bid of Rs 5.55 crore ($1.15 million approx), while Mysore, Belgaum, Shimoga, Mangalore, Hubli-Dharwad and Gulbarga were the other zones that were grabbed up. However, Bellary and Raichur missing out from the list announced by KSCA president Srikantadatta Wadiyar.Up next is the players’ auction on August 14, and the KSCA is finalising the first list of the top 48 players — six per each zonal team — who will be part of the player-pool besides a second rung of 72 cricketers. The first list will be produced to the team owners by Friday. Before the auction though, the KSCA will need to obtain permission from the BCCI for releasing the non-Karnataka players, three per team, who will not coming under any budget cap.Meanwhile the reservations expressed by Anil Kumble and Javagal Srinath over the league not being a positive development were countered by Patel. “The two players – Kumble and Srinath – have nothing against the tournament or the Twenty20 format. They are against the franchisee model that we have used for the tournament. It’s their view.”We decided upon this tournament in our managing committee meeting and we are doing this to help improve the infrastructure in the rural areas and also give exposure to players. Rural players will get the chance to play day and night matches, under lights, watched by crowds and once they cope with this pressure they can play anywhere.””There is no doubt that Anil and Srinath are iconic players and they are entitled to their views in a democratic set-up but this tournament will help the game in Karnataka,” Wadiyar said.Most of the fixtures in the tournament, which runs from September 12-27, will be held in Bangalore, with Mysore also hosting four matches.Winners:
Bangalore Urban – Owner: Brigade Enterprises, Rs 7.2 cr ($1.51 million approx)
Bangalore Rural – Owner: Melmont Constructions, Rs. 5.55 cr ($1.15 million approx)
Mysore – Owner: Girish Auto, Rs 3.25 cr ($0.68 million approx)
Belgaum – Owner: Subash Enterprises, Rs 3.81 cr ($0.80 million approx)
Shimoga – Owner: Jayaprakash Hegde, Rs 3.25 cr ($0.68 million approx)
Mangalore – Owner: Fiza Developers, Rs 4.23 cr ($0.89 million approx)
Hubli-Dharwad – Owner: Shiv Shankarappa, Rs 3.77 cr ($0.79 million approx)
Gulbarga – Owner: Vivid Creations and Nandish Reddy Group, Rs 3.5 cr ($0.73 million approx)

ScorecardWilliam Porterfield top scored for Ireland with 77•International Cricket Council

Gordon Goudie and Majid Haq took nine wickets between them on a cold day in Aberdeen to dismiss defending champions Ireland for 202 at Mannofield Park. Scotland’s batsmen then recovered from a shaky start to build on their bowlers’ performance by reaching 76 for 2 at stumps, trailing by 126 with eight wickets in hand.Ireland, who are aiming for their fourth consecutive ICC Intercontinental Cup title, got off to a solid start before opener Jeremy Bray’s forward defensive against Goudie resulted in an edge to the wicketkeeper. The innings, however, was anchored by William Porterfield, who was released last minute by Gloucestershire for the game. He drilled Alasdair Evans down the ground and through cover before pulling Goudie into the car park. Porterfield attacked Gordon Drummond’s short balls as well, pulling to the midwicket and square leg boundaries and cutting a wide one through cover point. He scored 77, standing firm at one end as Haq trapped Alex Cusack, who thought he had hit the ball, and Andre Botha lbw in successive overs.It was Goudie, though, who struck the telling blow by having Porterfield caught on the cut by Richie Berrington, diving forward for a sharp take. Ireland were struggling at 160 for 5 and the lower order and table offered little resistance. Goudie and Haq shared the last five wickets between them and bowled the visitors out for 202.In reply Scotland’s openers had made a slow but steady start, reaching 20 in the ninth over before Trent Johnston broke through Fraser Watts’ defence and splayed all three stumps. Ireland were boosted again shortly afterwards when Regan West got one to turn and bounce on Douglas Lockhart and the resulting edge was comfortably taken by Johnston at first slip. The hosts were 33 for 2 but Qasim Sheikh and Ryan Watson ensured Ireland would not gain any more ground with a solid partnership until the close of play.

Division One

2nd dayNottinghamshire took a 45-run lead by the end of the second day against Yorkshire at Trent Bridge as they chased division leaders Durham in the County Championship. Nottinghamshire bowled out Yorkshire for 256, after they had resumed on 220 for 8, and ended the day on 301 for 7, with Scott Newman and Bilal Shafayat contributing fifties. Newman and Alex Hales added 76 for the first wicket before Hales mis-timed a drive back to the bowler Richard Pyrah. Yorkshire struck more quick blows and had Nottinghamshire struggling at 153 for 5 but Chris Read added 78 with Shafayat to take their team close to the visitor’s total. Read was approaching his fifty when he charged David Wainwright and was stumped after the left-arm spinner bowled the ball wider. Matthew Hoggard then bowled Shafayat middle stump for 66 but Paul Franks scored an unbeaten 46 to steer Nottinghamshire through to stumps.3rd dayClick here to read George Dobell’s report of Warwickshire’s match against Worcestershire at Edgbaston, where the visitors are following-on and have been hit with the news that Kabir Ali has asked for permission to talk to other counties.Rain dominated the third day at Old Trafford but Michael Yardy ensured that Sussex were in a satisfactory position against Lancashire. Click here to read John Ward’s report.4th dayThe crucial match between Durham and Somerset was drawn after a second successive day was washed out at Chester-le-Street. Somerset also had a point deducted because of a slow over-rate which left them with six points to take from the match compared to Durham’s nine. The result left Durham 33 points ahead of Somerset, who have two games in hand, and all but secured them the Division One title. However, Durham’s director of cricket Geoff Cook refused to assume the Championship was already won and said that the upcoming game against Nottinghamshire was “a big one”. Durham currently have 195 points, which is five more than their end-of-season tally last year, and three matches in hand.”The weather influenced two of our first three games, when we were in a good position and had to settle for draws,” Cook said. “Other than that we’ve been reasonably fortunate, although our positive cricket has helped us to win in three days a couple of times when a fourth might not have been available.”We’ve got a very big game coming up against Nottinghamshire. It’s going to be absolutely crucial and it’s really important we are tuned into playing good, positive, aggressive cricket.”

Stephen Peters and Rob White scored brisk half-centuries to lead Northamptonshire to a six-wicket victory against Middlesex at Wantage Road. Northamptonshire’s bowlers set up the game by dismissing Middlesex for 207 in their second innings, leaving their batsmen a target of 220 to chase. Peters hit 73 off 101 balls while White made 85 off 102 as they reached the target in the 46th over. The victory might have been a lot easier for Northamptonshire had Gareth Berg not made a rearguard 94 to lift Middlesex from dire straits at 47 for 6. However, his effort merely served to delay defeat as David Lucas (4 for 43) and Johann van der Wath 3 for 32 wrapped up the innings. There were a couple of nervous moments in Northamptonshire’s chase – Niall O’Brien was out for duck and Alex Wakely and Riki Wessels fell with the score on 65 – but they were shepherded to victory by Peters and White.Leicestershire’s bowlers dismissed Glamorgan for 218 in their first innings, securing a lead of 64 which was extended to 85 at stumps, but the rain-hit contest at at Grace Road is likely to end in a draw. Leicestershire’s last wicket added 13 to their overnight total of 269 for 9 before Andrew Harris was lbw to James Harris, who finished with 4 for 85, leaving Claude Henderson unbeaten on 79. Glamorgan’s reply got off to a poor start when Gareth Rees shouldered arms and was bowled by Iain O’Brien in the first over. Mark Cosgrove was lbw to Andrew Harris shortly after, while trying to play across the line, and Glamorgan were soon 64 for 3. Mike Powell, who top-scored for Glamorgan with 61, and Jamie Dalrymple steadied the innings but both fell lbw to James Benning in successive overs. Henderson then took three lower-order wickets to ensure Glamorgan were bowled out and finished with 3 for 31. Paul Nixon and Mathew Boyce took Leicestershire to 21 for 0 at stumps.Alex Gidman’s career-best 176 put Gloucestershire in a commanding position against Surrey at Bristol. Gidman led Gloucestershire from their overnight score of 224 for 3 to 523 for 7 declared, while Chris Taylor contributed 111 and Hamish Marshall 84. Surrey reduced the 340-run first-innings deficit to 204 by reaching 136 for 3 at stumps on the third day. Marshall was dropped in the slips on 72 early in the day, before he was run out shortly after, but there was little success for Surrey as Gidman and Taylor added 197 for the fifth wicket. Taylor, though, was lucky to get off the mark because he was dropped by Usman Afzaal at slip off Jade Dernbach. He made Surrey pay by reaching his half-century off only 42 balls while Gidman got to his hundred with consecutive fours off Stuart Meaker. Gidman was eventually caught at backward point while attempting to reverse-sweep Rangana Herath and Taylor got to his century off 97 balls before a yorker from Meaker broke through his defences. Surrey began their innings solidly, with openers Jonathan Batty and Michael Brown adding 75 before Batty was caught behind off Marshall. They lost two further wickets and will battle to avoid an innings defeat on the final day.Derbyshire secured a 302-run lead after Chris Rogers scored a double-century and Garry Park made 178 against Kent. Mark Pennell watched the action.

Little clarity has emerged from two key meetings within the Pakistan Cricket Board centering around the future of Younis Khan as captain of Pakistan.Younis met Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, on Thursday in Lahore and Butt then presided over a meeting on Friday with the chairman of selectors, Iqbal Qasim, the coach Intikhab Alam, the team manager Yawar Saeed, associate manager Shafqat Rana, and the team’s vice-captain Shahid Afridi. Younis had been invited, but had informed the chairman that he would not be able to make it.The PCB was unwilling to make any official comment on the conclusions of either meeting, save to say that a final announcement will be made “in the next couple of days.” That is likely to be on Monday, after Butt meets the PCB governing board and discusses the matter with them as well.”We will make an announcement soon,” Butt told Cricinfo. “I will not comment on either meeting but will say only that today’s meeting was a regular debriefing of the kind we hold after big series and tournaments. We wanted to address issues and concerns arising out of the Champions Trophy. Younis had told me he would not be able to attend so there is nothing in his absence.”At least one board official, closely monitoring the situation – which arose with Younis’ resignation at a National Assembly hearing looking into match-fixing allegations earlier this week – is privately confident that Younis will return. “The meeting with the chairman went fairly well yesterday from what I know. Younis told him what he would like and they are fairly just requests, so I expect they will be accepted and he will return,” the official told Cricinfo.Reports in local media yesterday said that Younis had asked for a guarantee of his captaincy tenure till the 2011 World Cup, but both the official and sources close to Younis have denied such a demand was made. “He is realistic enough to know that such a long-term assurance is not possible in Pakistan,” the official said. “But he does want the board to announce him captain for longer than just on a series-by-series basis. Maybe for the next six months or so, but more than a specific time he just wants some stability so he can plan how his team will be and how it should play.”The other matter supposedly discussed at Younis’ meeting with Butt is possibly more telling. Younis, it is believed, wants to streamline the process of selecting the final XI; during the Champions Trophy, as many as five people were often involved in selection, including the captain, vice-captain, coach, manager and associate manager. Younis wants the panel to be reduced: captain, coach and a member of the selection committee at home and captain and coach on overseas tours.Friday’s meeting is believed to have discussed these conditions. Additionally, Qasim wants senior players in the team to have a meeting among themselves, to clear the air so to speak, over issues that have been floating around the team since Younis took over. Even though the board has denied it, speculation over the role of a lobby, led by Shoaib Malik, and Afridi’s own desire to be captain, in trying to undermine Younis’ authority is rife.There are those close to Younis who believe, however, that the situation remains 50-50. “The conditions he has laid down at the meeting are things he has been requesting over the last 6-8 months. Not much has emerged about how the meeting with the chairman went but those two conditions were laid out. If the board doesn’t agree to them, or compromises further on it, I can’t see Younis changing his mind and coming back.”

Pakistan’s centrally contracted players will have to seek permission from the board (PCB) before speaking to the media, once the new code of conduct takes effect. Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, has said the board is tweaking its existing code in order to prevent controversies and leaks to the media from the players.”We have a code of conduct in the existing contracts but it has loopholes and is not spelt out clearly. The new code will be stricter and carry more penalties,” Butt told . “The idea of the new code is to stop players from speaking on team and cricket matters that have negative effects and create controversies.”Butt said that only the captain, coach and manager have the freedom to speak to the media without permission. Other players who intend to give interviews, make statements or television appearances will have to seek clearance from the PCB.Pakistan cricket plunged into controversy yet again after its semi-final exit from the ICC Champions Trophy, from allegations of match-fixing to the resignation of the captain Younis Khan, which was later rejected by the PCB. There were also murmurs that certain players were unhappy with Younis’ captaincy.”We have seen a spate of statements from some players which were not needed and only caused problems,” Butt said.The PCB is expected to award new central contracts by the end of the year.

Sean Morris, the former Hampshire player and chief executive of the Professional Cricketers’ Association, has been appointed as Rajasthan Royals’s new chief executive. Morris will take over the post immediately and will be particularly focused on development of the brand outside of India.Manoj Badale, chairman of Rajasthan Royals, said: “Sean represents a great addition to the outstanding existing management team. He brings a strong mix of skills, and a real enthusiasm for the IPL. His international experience and relationships afford us great scope to continue to build the brand across the world.”Morris, 41, took over the PCA role in January 2008 as a successor to Richard Bevan, and his tenure coincided with some dramatic developments, including the rise of Twenty20 cricket, the terrorist attacks that interrupted England’s tour of India last winter, and the high-profile falling-out of Kevin Pietersen and Peter Moores at the beginning of the year. Morris was also responsible for delivering a 35% increase in PCA commercial income despite the difficult financial climate.”The Rajasthan Royals are a huge success story and I am thrilled to be joining such a progressive and successful organization,” said Morris. “On the field they are the most innovative and charismatic IPL side and have developed a huge international following. The vision and professionalism of the club is second to none, and I look forward to working with the players, the board, our sponsors and the fans to build on the huge achievements so far.”Shane Warne, captain of the Rajasthan Royals, welcomed Morris’ appointment. “I am delighted that Sean will be joining the Rajasthan Royals management team,” he said. “He is well respected by players around the world and we look forward to him helping us build on the phenomenal successes that we have enjoyed so far”.The Rajasthan Royals won the inaugural IPL in 2008, played in India, but failed to repeat their success in this year’s edition held in South Africa.

The ICC task force looking into reviving Pakistan’s reputation as an international cricket host met in Dubai on Saturday, a meeting which ECB chairman Giles Clarke has said was “constructive and purposeful”. Clarke leads the five-member team which discussed how the PCB could fulfill its commitment under the Future Tours Programme given the security problems in Pakistan.”The objective of the meeting was to come up with possible solutions in consultation with the PCB to ensure that the cricketing talent remains attached and attracted to the sport despite the PCB’s inability to host international cricket at home in the near future,” Clarke said. “The PCB made an impressive and strong presentation in which it sought ICC’s assistance in retaining its position as a competitive team in world cricket and a self-sustaining and revenue-generating organisation.”The task force, which also includes the ICC’s general manager for cricket, Dave Richardson, former international captains Mike Brearley and Ramiz Raja, and ICC match referee Ranjan Madugalle, will now put together a report which will be submitted to the ICC’s board in February 2010.Several countries have refused to tour Pakistan due to security fears. Cricket in the country was dealt a severe blow when the Sri Lankan team’s bus was attacked in Lahore in March this year, killing eight people and injuring five visiting players. The 2009 Champions Trophy was moved out of Pakistan to South Africa and the country lost its share of 2011 World Cup matches later.