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Somerset Under 16’s were frustrated by the weather in their 2 day match against Sussex at Horsham.Batting first Somerset had reached 68 for 6 , with Nick King making 23 and Robert Woodman being unbeaten on 23 before the rains came down and prevented any further play.Two days later the Under 16’s beat Wales at Weston super Mare Cricket Club.The visitors won the toss and asked their hosts to bat first. Liam Lewis was in fine form scoring 104, well supported by Ollie Norris who made 32 as Somerset made 188 for 6.In reply Wales were bowled out for 119, Simon Martin taking 3 for 13, Alan Carroll 2 for 15 and Nick King 2 for 26.

One of the longest-running soap operas in Indian cricket is over ­ atleast for the time being. That’s precisely what the contract rowbetween the three principal “characters” ­ the International CricketCouncil (ICC), the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) andthe players ­ resembled. And like any soap opera, it got tiresome veryfast. Initially the questions were many. Will the players sign? Will asecond-string team be sent? Will Jagmohan Dalmiya come down from hishigh horse? Will the ICC succeed in brokering a peace agreement? Whois right and who is wrong? The debate went on endlessly. Towards theend, however, there was only one question being asked. When will allthis end?

So is it a case of all’s well that ends well? Unfortunately not. Whathas been put together is a hasty ad hoc patch-up for the Colombotournament. Once the competition ends on September 29, it is on thecards that there will be another protracted battle on the issue,possibly affecting the run-up to the World Cup in South Africa earlynext year.With the monetary angle being a ticklish subject ­ especially whenmillions of dollars are at stake ­ there is no guarantee that therewill be a quick and early end to a controversy that threatens tobecome one of the most serious the game has faced. Cricket has hadmore than its share of problems of late, and it has severely damagedthe fabric of the once-noble game. But who cares when personal egosand one-upmanship become the governing factors?Players and administrators are the twin pillars of the game.Spectators may watch the cricketers in action, and the players maybring in the large television audiences. But without administratorsbringing in more bucks through attractive packaging and lucrativecontracts with sponsors, the respective boards – and consequently theplayers – would not enjoy the monetary benefits. The two are interdependant on one other, and it is thus imperative that there betransparency and trust on both sides. The players should not keep adistance from administrators, who for their part should not let thecricketers feel alienated.The lack of trust that the players feel towards officials has almostalways been present, and if anything, the present sorry episode hasproved that this attitude has not been unjustified. The officials havebeen less than transparent in their dealings with the players, and thecontracts row is only the latest in a long line of deals that hashelped sow greater mistrust between players and administrators. Thetwo have to work closely together for the betterment of the game, andthis is perhaps the most important lesson driven home by thecontroversy.The television rights market was a major factor in influencing thefinal deal. If any proof was needed, it was provided when the board ofdirectors of the IDI – the financial arm of the ICC – taking part inthe marathon one-hour-45-minute telephone conference that wasessentially to be between the ICC, the BCCI and the boards of othercountries. With so much money emanating from Indian sponsors, there islittle doubt that fielding anything other than a full-strength Indiansquad would have caused a major problem. Thus it is imperative thatthe BCCI takes the players into confidence, almost as partners, as theofficials are fully aware that the major stars have contracts of theirown.But administrators generally have been living in an ivory tower, faraway from the players and from the reality of any given situation.This in a nutshell is the genesis of the unhappy episode that, with asome give and take on all sides, could have been solved quickly. Itwas a comparatively simple issue that became complex throughmishandling by the main protagonists. It snowballed into a matter ofprestige and with no-one wanting to lose face, it just dragged on andon.For all one knows, it may even drag on once negotiations are resumedafter the end of the Colombo tournament. A permanent solution has tobe found before the conduct of the World Cup in South Africa earlynext year. The second episode of the controversy could last evenlonger unless the central players in the drama are willing to learnfrom the mistakes committed over the last month.It is important that the ICC, the BCCI and the other boards, and theplayers do not think in terms of victory or defeat, of having scored apoint or two. They should realise that the image of the game hassuffered and endeavor their best to plug the holes. To achieve this,an understanding approach from all sides is necessary. A rigid stancewill not help matters.To be sure, all the parties had seemingly valid points of view. Therow centered on a conflict between official tournament sponsors andthe players’ own individual sponsors. The players had to safeguardtheir contracts and not for a minute is anyone suggesting they shouldnot make as much money as they can. The ICC on their part had theprotection of the ambush marketing clause uppermost in their minds.They too had signed contracts running into millions of dollars and sothey could not back down. The BCCI, after asking the ICC to talkdirectly with the players in an effort to find a solution to the vexedproblem, rejected the compromise deal, arguing that it could provokelegal action from sponsors.But there is little doubt that the image of all the three involvedparties took a dent to some degree or other. Ultimately BCCI chiefJagmohan Dalmiya climbed down after member countries of the ICCassured him that the Indian Board would not have to pay any damages,should they be sued by disgruntled tournament sponsors. It finallytook an international tele-conference with just over two days for thestart of the tournament to reach an uneasy truce ­ surely not the bestway to handle a sensitive issue.

A brilliant all-round performance by Shaun Pollock led Warwickshire Bears to a comfortable victory over Notts Outlaws at Trent Bridge.Following up his belligerent innings of 70 by removing the cream of the hosts’ batting in an aggressive opening spell, the South African showed his worth in an 85-run victory that saw the Bears remain top of the NUL first division.The Outlaws never looked likely to threaten the visitors’ total after losing their top three within the opening overs. Welton survived a confident lbw appeal second ball, but it did him little good as he was adjudged out next delivery to Pollock. Boje followed a few minutes later; slashing optimistically outside the off stump before Bicknell edged Pollock through to the keeper to leave his side reeling at 13-3.Although Usman Afzaal and Chris Read threatened to turn the game with a brisk partnership of 59, Pollock responded to being recalled into the attack with the wicket of Read. And when Afzaal, who batted well for his 51 (in 82 balls with three boundaries) was bowled charging down the pitch to Neil Smith’s off-spin the writing was on the wall. Shafayat, playing in place of the injured and much-missed Kevin Pietersen, skied a catch off Dougie Brown and Giles mopped up the tail to finish with 3-27.Earlier Pollock’s innings was the corner stone of a challenging Bears score of 236-8 after Notts Outlaws enjoyed the best of the early overs having won the toss and inserted the visitors. Tight bowling by Greg Smith led to Nick Knight, a certainty for England’s one-day squad and in fine form following his unbeaten 255 against Hampshire in the week, driving straight to mid off in impatience. But Pollock, once again batting at number three, struck two enormous sixes in his 76-ball stay and enjoyed excellent support from his captain Mike Powell in a 68-run stand.With Dominic Ostler (40 from 38 balls with two sixes) showing his value as he returned from injury, and Trevor Penney weighing in towards the end (34 not out from 32 balls) the Bears took advantage of some loose bowling in setting their testing target.Nicky Boje kept the Outlaws in the game. His miserly nine-over spell brought the crucial wickets of Pollock and Bell at a cost of just 25 runs, but in the end the absence of Jason Gallian, Paul Franks and Kevin Pietersen proved too much of a burden for the Outlaws.

Hatton National Bank and John Keels have qualified for the final of theMercantile Cricket Association Division A, which is to be played nextweekend at NCC Grounds in Colombo.HNB, the tournament favourites, were forced to fight hard for their finalplace after a fine batting performance from Sampath Bank that saw them post290 for nine in their 50 overs.Opener Shantha Kalavitigoda led the way with 68, with captain ChandikaHathurusingha (67) and BMAJ Mendis (65) also scoring half centuries. KumarDharmasena took three for 51 with his off breaks.HNB were unfazed by the size of the target. Avishka Gunawardene celebratedhis selection for the Natwest triangular series with a blistering 66 off 33balls.Tillakaratne Dilshan, a surprise omission from the Natwest squad, thenscored 85 with Dharmasena guiding HNB home with an unbeaten 43.John Keels only qualified for the semi-finals after the elimination of EastWest for breaking player registration rules, but they defeated Janashakthiconvincingly by 35 runs.Michael Vandort scored 101 from 115 balls as John Keels posted 227 forseven. Janashkthi were bowled out for 192 as Jehan Mubarak grabbed fourwickets.

Ed: Maria Naureen is our correspondent from Karachi, a FM 101 radio talk-show host, cricket radio commentator and sports journalist

New Zealand have agreed to a match being dropped from the itinerary of their West Indies tour.New Zealand Cricket’s chief executive Martin Snedden said today that a request had been received from the West Indies to drop a planned three-day game between the One-Day Internationals and the first Test.Snedden said the West Indians felt it would be better to have three days as rest days and he agreed, especially after the vigorous programme of games New Zealand will have had in Pakistan and in the ODIs.Apart from a one-day warm up game against the University of West Indies Vice Chancellor’s XI in Jamaica, every other game on the tour will be an international.

Canterbury survived the fourth day to gain an honourable draw in the Shell Trophy match with Central Districts at Blenheim this afternoon.Canterbury started the final day with the home team heavily favoured to achieve an outright victory.Central Districts needed only six Canterbury wickets but had not figured on some stout red and black defence.In the event the game finished an hour early at 5pm in a draw with Central Districts gaining two points for their first innings lead.Canterbury batted all day to force a draw on a good Horton Park batting pitch.Captain Gary Stead (79), Shane Bond (66 not out), Carl Anderson (65) and Aaron Redmond (35) continued on to allow Canterbury to occupy the crease and to also reach 422/8. That meant Canterbury was 152 runs ahead when both captains agreed there was not prospect of an outright result.It was a game that was dominated by the batting of Jarrod Englefield for Canterbury with 172 and 90 and David Kelly for Central Districts with 212 not out.The bowlers of both sides never really held the ascendancy on an excellent batting pitch and played a secondary role to the batsmen in the contest. Leg spinner Tim Anderson had a long bowl in partnership with off spinner Glen Sulzberger. Anderson finished with four for 150 and Sulzberger two for 126.However, Central Districts looked the more competent unit and because of this thoroughly deserved their points for the first innings lead.

The working committee meeting of the Board of Control for Cricket inIndia (BCCI) at New Delhi yesterday made a decision that has beenwidely viewed as the first step in a long drawn battle with the IndianGovernment. Following the Government’s ambiguous stance on playingagainst Pakistan, the BCCI has decided not to take part in any eventsinvolving Pakistan. This includes fixtures conducted under the aegisof the International Cricket Council (ICC) like the ICC KnockOutTrophy and the World Cup.”In the absence of clear-cut guidelines in this matter, the Board hasdecided to play only in bilateral or triangular series involving Testplaying countries. We will not participate in tournaments such as AsiaCup, ICC Knock-out series (2002) and the 2003 World Cup because we donot know whether we would be able to play certain sides, likePakistan, or not,” said Board President AC Muthiah. Only recently, theIndian Government issued a directive to the BCCI prohibiting them fromtaking part in tournaments in certain offshore venues includingSharjah, Singapore and Toronto. Citing the reason that these venuesfostered irregularities like betting and matchfixing, the Governmentmade a unilateral decision not to play in these venues for threeyears.The agenda for working committee meetings of the BCCI is always laidout well in advance. In this case, there was no mention of thiscrucial decision prior to the meeting although the BCCI made it clearthat it would discuss a host of issues, including the irregularitiesin ticket sales at Goa where the last One-Dayer against Australia tookplace, the appointment of the BCCI media manager and the affiliationof four new states to the BCCI. The fact the Board President came outwith this announcement soon after the meeting took reporters andanalysts by surprise.It is quite clear the BCCI has not taken kindly to the Governmentclipping its wings in this regard. After withdrawing from thetriangular series in Sharjah, India came up for a lot of criticism ininternational fora. As is to be expected the Pakistan Cricket Boardcame out strongly against the BCCI and went to the extent of askingthe ICC to take some disciplinary action. With the ICC ruling out thepossibility of any disciplinary action on the basis that the Sharjahtourney was not an ICC endorsed event, the controversy subsided.However the latest decision taken by the BCCI has put the Governmentin a spot. Only recently, India put in a strong bid to host the ICCKnockOut Trophy which is scheduled for September next year. Thehosting of the event was already in doubt, with the Indian Income Taxauthorities not withdrawing tax exemptions that were earlierprevalent. The BCCI is doing its best to secure the tax exemption andhas suggested that it would even go to the courts if necessary. ICCPresident Malcolm Gray has given the BCCI time till April 30 to securethe tax exemption. If the BCCI fail to secure the exemption, the eventwill be shifted elsewhere.In case the BCCI does secure the right to host the ICC KnockOut, theGovernment will be in a strange and very embarrassing predicament. TheBCCI has said it will not take part in the tournament unless theGovernment comes up with a “clear-cut” stance on the matter. It’s notoften that a team hosts an ICC event without taking part. Indeed,would be a case of throwing a party without taking part in theoccasion…

The fast bowler Ryan Harris has all but ruled himself out of Australia’s Test series against South Africa this summer as he continues his recovery from shoulder surgery. Harris had an operation two months ago and he believes it is “pretty unrealistic” for him to return for the South African series, which starts at the Gabba on November 9, and is instead hoping to be available for the Test series against Sri Lanka, beginning in Hobart on December 14.Harris played two of the three Tests during Australia’s tour of the Caribbean in April and was Man of the Match in Barbados for his five wickets and unbeaten half-century. Since he made his Test debut in early 2010 only Pat Cummins and James Pattinson, who have played far fewer matches, have had better Test bowling averages for Australia than Harris, who has collected 47 wickets at 23.63 in 12 appearances.However, his workload has taken a physical toll and the Australian team management is reluctant to overuse Harris, who turns 33 next month. The only time Harris has played all the Tests in a series was during his debut series in New Zealand, and he knows that it does not make sense to take any risks in an attempt to rush himself back into contention for the South Africa matches.”I would love to be able to be back against South Africa but at this stage it is pretty unrealistic. It is one of those things I can’t control,” Harris told News Limited newspapers. “I will get back for Queensland and let the rest take care of itself before any Australian stuff. In theory I will be up and going in six weeks but it is an injury we will not rush. The pain is going, I just have to build confidence now but believe I can get back well.”Although the absence of Harris is a blow for Australia, the depth in their fast-bowling stocks should allow the attack to remain strong against South Africa. If Pattinson and Cummins remain fit they will be in contention for the Gabba Test having both impressed in their initial Tests last summer, while Ben Hilfenhaus and Peter Siddle will shoulder much of the workload. The left-armer Mitchell Starc is another candidate.The Australians will be battling for the No.1 spot on the ICC’s Test rankings when they take on South Africa, having not lost a Test series since Michael Clarke took over as captain. South Africa are on top of the rankings table and have not been defeated in a series since Australia beat them 2-1 in early 2009, but in their past 20 Tests South Africa have not won any two consecutive matches.

Almost as inevitable as the sight of Michael Clarke and Graeme Smith walking out for the toss at Adelaide Oval on Thursday will be the sound of their two sides resuming a noisy and pungent on-field dialogue from the moment the first ball is bowled.Both camps expect the verbal battle to return in the second Test, particularly after a lively and even ill-tempered final afternoon in Brisbane passed without either the umpires Billy Bowden and Asad Rauf or the match referee Ranjan Madugalle raising a formal charge against either side. The umpires did, though, have a cautionary word to the bowlers at various points of the five days. This has effectively defined a generous line for the players’ on-field aggression, leaving Adelaide to witness more jousting from Thursday.”It’s part of the game, once you get out in the middle and emotions start to rise, it’s good for the game to see a bit of competitive spirit out there between the two teams,” Michael Hussey said. “A lot of the players in the past have used it as a mental battle against batsmen and it’s probably worked in the past as well.”Whether it works on these South African batsmen I don’t know. They’ve shown they’ve been a great team for a period of time now, they don’t get to No. 1 in the world without enduring these sorts of things before. But once you get over that white line, competitive spirit between bat and ball starts, and there’s always going to be things that are said, but as long as it doesn’t go too far and players [don’t] cross the line I think it’s fine.”Clarke spoke before the series about “pushing the line” of legal aggression in this series, whether it was in terms of short-pitched bowling or a pointed choice of words. Australia’s players make no secret of their use of verbal aggression towards the opposition as a way of firing themselves up, something witnessed quite pointedly earlier this year during the World Twenty20 in Sri Lanka when the ears of the Irish among others were left ringing by fighting words from the mouths of Shane Watson and David Warner in particular.In Brisbane it was James Pattinson who vented his distaste for batsmen most freely, with Smith copping plenty on the final afternoon after he pulled away from one delivery as the bowler entered his delivery stride. Ultimately Pattinson, who won the duel, delivered a send-off to South Africa’s captain that might have forced Madugalle to act had it been even a fraction more prolonged.Smith had played the role of instigator earlier in the match, confronting Ed Cowan with an attempt to disturb the opener’s concentration as he prepared to face up to the first over of the fourth day’s play. Smith’s words were brushed aside by Cowan, but provided further proof that Australia and South Africa are most comfortable when flinging a little mud each other’s way in pursuit of victory.Nevertheless, AB de Villiers noted that Australia’s bluster proved unsuccessful in the 2008-09 series in Australia, a useful reminder of the fact that sharp words can quickly appear hollow if not backed up by sharper deeds.”They thought so in 2008 as well and it didn’t really happen that way, so hopefully we can prove them wrong again,” de Villiers said of the contention that Australia considered sledging to be a way to get into South African heads.”There’s always a bit of chat around. We’re talking about two very good teams who want to win the game. You do whatever you can to get a few wickets when the pressure is on. Whatever you can do to get an edge over the opposition, you will do it.”