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Winds in excess of 120mph have devastated Grenada’s National Stadium Complex, after Hurricane Ivan swept through the lower part of the Eastern Caribbean.The complex, which was completed in early 2000, in time to host a one-day match between West Indies and Australia, was the national home of not only cricket, but football and track-and-field athletics as well. It had been scheduled to host the regional one-day championship next month, and is one of the eight venues selected for the 2007 World Cup.Grenada was caught right in the path of Hurricane Ivan, and officials believe there have been in excess of 20 deaths on the island. The stadium’s facilities have been ripped apart – the roofing for the covered stands has blown away, and the fixtures and fittings in the double-decker stands have been ploughed into the outfield.The electronic scoreboard at the national stadum was completely destroyed, as was as the manual version in the cricket ground. The Caribbean Disaster Emergency Response Agency has been dispatched from Barbados to conduct a detailed damage report, while the hurricane moves off into the south-eastern part of the Caribbean Sea.

Alec Stewart has announced that he will retire from international cricket at the end of this summer’s five-Test series against South Africa.”I have given it a lot of thought and I let Duncan [Fletcher] know this morning over breakfast and then informed David Graveney as well,” Stweart explained. “It’s not something I have taken lightly. I had 13 years as an international cricketer and it’s not something you just give away.”I could have left it until later on in the summer but I thought it wasbetter to get it out in the open now so we can get on with the series.”Fletcher said that news had come as surprise to him. “I still believe that Alec is the best allround wicketkeeper we have got by some distance but there are some young keepers coming through. I think he has got better and better over the last couple of years and the thing that has impressed me most is his professionalism and the way he has been a role model for younger guys.”The announcement means that Chris Read, who performed admirably during the recent NatWest one-day series, will step up and take over as England’s Test wicketkeeper. While Stewart would almost certainly like to continue as England’s No. 1 until the end of the summer and bow out in the final Test at The Oval, the selectors might not be quite as sentimental and could opt to promote Read sooner rather than later.Since making his debut against West Indies in 1990, Stewart has played in 128 Tests, the most by any English player, and scored 8281 runs at 40.19, including 15 hundreds.

In a press conference that rapidly degenerated into a forum for journalists to vent their grievances about the media-unfriendly policies of the UCB, justifications and evidence for Match Referee Mike Denness’ actions against six Indian players was sorely lacking.A sparse statement from a UCB spokesman, which basically set out the penalties imposed on Sachin Tendulkar, Virender Sehwag, Harbhajan Singh, Deep Dasgupta, Sourav Ganguly and Shiv Sunder Das, was the only concrete information volunteered from the podium. Opening the floor for questions, the spokesman warned in advance that Denness could not take questions himself, a fact confirmed by Denness in his only words during the entire conference.Tendulkar, for alleged interference with the match ball, was fined 75 percent of his match fee and handed a suspended ban for one Test match. Sehwag was fined a similar amount and banned from participating in the next Test at Centurion. Captain Ganguly was served a suspended sentence for one Test and two one-day internationals, besides being fined 75 percent of his match fee, for failing to control his players on the field. The other three players were penalised for excessive appealing and charging the umpire, attempting to intimidate him.The purpose of Denness’ presence at the press conference was immediately questioned by Ravi Shastri, who wondered why the Match Referee was there if he was not going to answer any questions. Denness himself looked sulky and annoyed at the entire to-do, frequently glancing at his watch with expressions of impatience.Other questions, more probing and to-the-point, failed to elicit any more informative answers. When asked who had brought the matter to Denness’ attention, for only certain officials designated by the ICC rules are allowed to do so, the UCB spokesman admitted that he did not know. Similarly, when the logic of handing rookie Sehwag a harsher sentence for a seemingly more innocuous act than Tendulkar was questioned, the spokesman looked puzzled and said, “I will speak to Mike later on and find out.”Technicalities that were brought out during the conference included the fact that Tendulkar, with very short fingernails, would find it difficult to tamper with the seam, even if he so wished. It was also pointed out that the umpires repeatedly checked the ball during the course of the match and no aberrations with the ball were reported even after the lunch break. Indeed, if Denness or either of the umpires had noticed any noticeable difference with the ball, why was Tendulkar allowed to bowl the first over after lunch?Meanwhile, BCCI secretary Niranjan Shah, when contacted by CricInfo, said that he was still waiting for official communication from the ICC on the incident. Yesterday, though, he spoke to Malcolm Gray, ICC chairman, after the news leaked through various media sources, and conveyed his objections. “A player of Sachin Tendulkar’s stature should not have been treated in such a manner,” said Shah.One fact that did emerge from the press conference was that there was no provision for appeal for any of the players; blackly ironic, considering that the charge against five of the six players had to do with excessive appealing.

ScorecardRavindra Jadeja continued to press for his return to international cricket with another six-wicket haul – taking his season tally to 17 wickets in three innings – before scoring a fighting 58 to help take Saurashtra into the lead on a day that 20 wickets fell on a powdery surface in the Madhavrao Scindia Cricket Ground. The selectors will want to look at the wicket hauls with a pinch of salt, or the puff of dust that flew from ball one onwards. Then again Jadeja can turn around and tell you he scored 58, the second-highest individual score of the match so far, on the same pitch that he took six wickets for 71.With the ball Jadeja had to overcome a special innings – 87 off 69 balls with eight sixes – by Jharkhand opener, 17-year-old, left-hand batsman Ishan Kishan. Kishan scored 87 of the 120 runs that came while he was at the wicket, thrilling the 100-odd spectators. Once Jadeja got rid of Kishan, though, finally through a miscued chance held at long-off by Jaydev Unadkat on the second grab, he ran through the rest of the Jharkhand batting with his accurate left-arm spin. He was helped along by offspinner Kamlesh Makwana, who took four wickets in 18 overs, conceding just 46 runs.Jadeja wasn’t done, though. He had to rescue his side, which was reeling against the left-arm spin of Shahbaz Nadeem, flat legbreaks of Samar Quadri and offbreaks of debutant Vinayak Vikram. Saurashtra’s first big hope fell to Quadri’s legbreak, caught at gully. Pujara’s wicket left Saurashtra at 63 for 4, with prospects of the tailored pitch backfiring on them. That was when Jadeja and Sheldon Jackson got together, the rescuing pair from the last match. That was also around the time when the Jharkhand spinners began to bowl too many long hops and full tosses. “We were dying for one loose ball when we batted,” Kishan said. “But we didn’t get it. We, though, gave them quite a few.”Jadeja made full use of them, hitting seven fours and a six, much to the delight of the small crowd that kept shouting “”. Jharkhand pulled back again on a seesaw day, reducing Saurashtra to 172 for 9, a lead of only four runs, but the experience of Jaydev Unadkat came in handy as he hustled through to 23, taking the lead to a valuable 35.The day ended with the match referee Shakti Singh’s long look at the pitch. He even took photos of it with the cell phone. He wouldn’t say, though, if taking photos of a pitch at the end of the day’s play was regular protocol (to prevent pitch tampering overnight) or if he was doing this for an unfavourable report on the pitch. The Saurashtra camp, though, remained confident there was nothing wrong with the pitch because “there was no dangerous bounce on the pitch”. When pointed to the puffs of dust and turn from ball one, a Saurashtra official said, “What’s wrong with it? You don’t say the same when it seams from ball one.”

Brendon McCullum, New Zealand’s captain who is set to retire from international cricket next month, will give the annual MCC Spirit of Cricket lecture at Lord’s in June.McCullum has been widely praised for the way his side have played the game since he took charge at the start of 2013. An emphasis on team spirit, enjoyment and fairness coincided with one of the most successful periods in New Zealand’s history and saw the team feted at home – where rugby usually dominates – and around the world during their run to the 2015 World Cup final.The MCC Spirit of Cricket lecture was first delivered by Richie Benaud in 2001, with notable speakers including Desmond Tutu, Imran Khan, Kumar Sangakkara and Ian Botham. McCullum will become second New Zealander to deliver the address, after Martin Crowe in 2006.The MCC has also announced that McCullum will join its World Cricket Committee – a think tank that examines issues affecting the game, from the development of pink balls to Olympic participation – from October.”It was an honour to be asked to deliver the MCC Spirit of Cricket Cowdrey lecture – especially given the stature of some previous speakers – so I was very pleased to accept the invitation,” McCullum said. “There are a number of important issues in world cricket at the moment that I am looking forward to addressing, and I hope it is an interesting evening for everyone watching. I’m also very pleased to be joining the World Cricket committee in October and being given the chance to discuss and have an impact on world cricket.”McCullum was handed the New Zealand captaincy in difficult circumstances, with his predecessor, Ross Taylor, unhappy at the way he was removed from the job. Taylor opted out of the subsequent tour of South Africa but, after two innings defeats – New Zealand were bowled out for 45 in Cape Town – McCullum quickly turned the team around, presiding over a two-year unbeaten run in Tests that was ended by Australia in December.His attacking style of captaincy was epitomised by continuing to stack men in the slips during ODIs and New Zealand were many neutrals’ favourites after reaching their first World Cup final – though they were heavily beaten by Australia at the MCG.In 2014, McCullum became the first New Zealander to score a Test triple-hundred, against India in Wellington, and last month he drew level with Adam Gilchrist as the only batsmen to hit 100 sixes in Tests. McCullum will sign off his 14-year international career with three ODIs and two Tests against Australia in February.MCC president Roger Knight said: “Brendon McCullum is one of the best cricketers of his generation and I’m sure will be a very engaging speaker, especially given his insight in to the modern game. He has embodied the play hard, play fair message of the MCC Spirit of Cricket throughout his playing career, especially in his captaincy, so is a perfect fit for this event.”We are delighted that MCC’s relationship with Brendon will continue after the lecture when he joins our World Cricket committee in October, and I’ve no doubt his experience will be a valuable asset to the group.”After the Spirit of Cricket lecture, which will take place on June 6, McCullum will join a panel of players for a question-and-answer session that will discuss topics arising from his speech and other issues affecting the game.

Caught between the legs
This one will surely be one of the top contenders for the bizarredismissal of the tournament. Upul Tharanga bottom-edged an intended pull,but Mushfiqur Rahim, the Bangladesh wicketkeeper, ingeniously knew exactlywhen to bring his legs together so that the ball would nestle in nicelybetween his thighs. Tharanga was aghast, but Bangladesh weren’tcomplaining.No-ball him, ump
Off the sixth ball of the ninth over, Kumar Sangakkara tried an ungainlyreverse-sweep and missed. That should have been the end of the over, butthe eagle-eyed Sangakkara had spotted only three fielders in the ringinstead of four, and promptly brought it to the notice of the umpires anddemanded a no-ball, which he promptly got. Someone pointed out in themedia centre that it’s a good thing that the free-hit rule is only inplace for front-foot no-balls. Otherwise, with the field not allowed tochange for the free-hit delivery, we might have seen an endless loop ofdeliveries with three fielders in the ring, all of which would have beencalled no-balls as well. Now that wouldn’t have been very interesting towatch, would it?Sweet, but far too short
Aftab Ahmed strode to the crease, and immediately the tempo of the gamechanged. The first ball he faced, from Chaminda Vaas, was clouted over thebowler’s head for three. More frenetic hitting followed in the next over,as he clipped Dilhara Fernando twice through midwicket and then chargeddown and blasted him through the covers. Seventeen runs in six balls wasexciting stuff, but unfortunately it was too exciting to last long.

Virender Sehwag, who injured his ankle during India Blue’s match against India Red in the Challenger Series on Sunday, is certain to be fit for the Champions Trophy. Dilip Vengsarkar, the Indian chairman of selectors, said that the injury was not a cause for worry, and that a final assessment on his fitness would be made on Tuesday evening.”We have another two weeks to go for our first match in the Champions Trophy and it is not a worry,” Vengsarkar told Press Trust of India. “Sehwag’s fitness condition will known by tomorrow evening.”Opening the innings, Sehwag twisted his ankle while turning around for a second run. He had on-field medical attention but was run out shortly after, for 28. His injury has ruled him out of the final, should India Blue qualify. India play their first match of Champions Trophy on October 15 against England.

Delhi survived by the barest of margins at the Sardar Patel Stadium in Motera, drawing the game with only their last pair standing. They had to chase 157 in 30 overs, but messed it up in the pursuit of runs. It was a surprising turnaround for Gujarat, who trailed Delhi by 216 when they began their second innings. At the end of the third day, they were 205 for 5, still nine runs behind, but today the overnight batsmen, Kirat Damani and Bhavik Thaker, remained unbeaten till the team was 68 runs ahead.Damani scored 86, with eight fours, Thaker was last man out for 95, with 12 fours, and Gujarat had managed to post a healthy total of 372. Soon after, Delhi were in trouble. They were 37 for 2 within six overs, and though they continued to score quickly, they just kept losing wickets. The eighth fell for 90, with eight overs still remaining. Mithun Manhas was out just before the day ended, but Rahul Sanghvi and Amit Bhandari did not fall, giving Delhi the unlikeliest of escapes.Murtaza Lodhgar played a big role for the second time in Karnataka’s 116-run loss to Bengal with another five-wicket haul at the Jadavpur University Campus in Kolkata. Karnataka fell for 226, well short of the target of 343. Sujith Somasunder top-scored with 46, and was followed by Stuart Binny (42) and Vijay Bhardawaj (40). Lodhgar ended with innings figures of 5 for 89, and a match haul of 11 for 117. It was a match keenly watched because Sourav Ganguly’s form had been questioned since the start of the series against Australia; he managed 32 runs in two innings.Tamil Nadu won by an innings and 108 runs against a hapless Hyderabad side that failed to go past 190 in either innings. Ramakrishnan Ramkumar did the damage, claiming 6 for 71 to go with his first-innings six-wicket haul. It gave him match figures of 12 for 128 at the Chidambaram stadium. Hyderabad scored 190, with Daniel Manohar the top-scorer. Tamil Nadu claimed a bonus point for the innings victory, in addition to the regular four for a standard win.The game between Mumbai and Railways petered out to a dull draw after Mumbai sat tight on their first-innings lead, and scored only 219 runs in 86 overs at the Karnail Singh stadium in Delhi. Vinayak Mane remained unbeaten on 111, an effort that consumed nearly six hours, and Vinit Indulkar scored 52. Mumbai reached 221 for 3, and took away two points for the lead.Jyoti Yadav scored 103 to set up a competitive declaration by Uttar Pradesh, who scored 317 for 8, but Punjab preferred to play it safe and not mount a challenge on the target of 279. They ended at 164 for 5, with Yuvraj Singh unbeaten on 41. Reetinder Singh Sodhi brought an end to UP’s innings, claiming 4 for 39 in nine overs.Andhra played at a snail’s pace, drawing their game with Madhya Pradesh. They took away two points for their first innings lead. Venugopal Rao, unbeaten on 60, and Reddy, who scored 56, played patient knocks at the Maharani Usharaje Trust Cricket Ground in Indore. They reached 195 for 3 when stumps were called and the game was drawn. For four days, runs came at the trickle of 2.57 runs an over.Assam continued to pile on the runs on the last day of their game against Baroda, and had two century-makers as the match was drawn. They made their way to 360 for 4 at the Nehru Stadium, with Zuffri (106) and Saravanan (102 not out) running up patient hundreds. However, Baroda were awarded the points for their lead in the first innings.

Australia 66 for 1 (Gilchrist 24*) beat USA 65 (Gillespie 4-15, Kasprowicz 4-14) by nine wickets
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Ricky Ponting’s pre-match comments gave us a clue as to Australia’s intent in this match. It is rare for an international captain to be anything other than placatory when sizing up an opposition of lesser ability, but not on this occasion. Instead, Ponting sounded utterly unenthused at the prospect of a wasted day in the field, and warned that the USA might not learn a great deal from today’s match. He’s probably right as well – they didn’t hang around long enough to pick up any tidbits, as the entire match was done and dusted in just 31.5 overs.After winning the toss, Ponting made light of the perils of batting last on the same pitch that was used for India’s match against Kenya on Saturday, and chose to bowl in an attempt to brush the match aside as quickly as possible. Australia made the perfect start as well. Brett Lee, steaming in with the intent of a man who had not been an original choice today, struck with his second delivery of the match, as USA were introduced to the rigours of cricket at the very highest levelIn fact, Lee might have struck even earlier than that. Facing up to his first ball, Rohan Alexander dug out a screaming yorker that had set its sights on his big toe. But Lee’s second delivery was too good for the left-handed Mark Johnson, who stepped across his stumps and was bowled round his legs by a rapid inswinger (1 for 1).Leon Romero should have made it two in two when he flinched at an off-stump lifter, but Michael Clarke couldn’t cling on to a one-handed diving chance at third slip, after sighting the ball late. But Australia soon had their man. In Glenn McGrath’s first over, Romero set off for a quick single, took a detour around McGrath’s gangling frame, and was run out by six inches by Damien Martyn’s direct hit from gully (2 for 2).

A complete debacle was on the cards, but Steve Massiah, who spanked a magnificent 142 not out as USA beat Zimbabwe earlier in the week, was intent on demonstrating his side’s fighting qualities. He pulled a McGrath long-hop through midwicket with some of the flourish of a Michael Vaughan, before thumping Lee for two fours in a ragged over that went for 12, including two no-balls.That prompted a change of bowling, with Mike Kasprowicz entering the fray, and he too struck in his very first over. Alexander had been playing late and cagily ever since his early scare, dropping the ball into the gully region at every opportunity, but Kasprowicz’s second delivery took a thin edge through to Adam Gilchrist, and USA had slumped to 32 for 3. Two overs later, Kasprowicz struck again. Richard Staple, the captain, had just got off the mark with a streaky shoulder-of-the-bat four through third man, when he was pinned plumb in front by a fuller, faster delivery (38 for 4).With little support forthcoming from the opposite end, and Clayton Lambert watching from the sidelines after injuring himself in the New Zealand match, Massiah decided to take matters into his own hands. But he chose to take on the wrong bowler. An attempted smear off Kasprowicz was launched high into the off side, where Darren Lehmann positioned himself well beneath a steepling chance (46 for 5). And that was the end of the resistance. Kasprowicz immediately found himself on a hat-trick, as Tony Reid shuffled across his stumps, and though Kasprowicz overstepped for the crucial delivery, there was a fourth bowler awaiting his piece of the action.Jason Gillespie had been waiting in the wings, but now he devastated the tail in six venomous overs. The No. 11, Howard Johnson, provided some resistance (9 from 15 balls), but a total of 65 wasn’t exactly threatening – although Australia needed to complete their chase inside 11.5 overs to ensure that their run-rate was superior to New Zealand’s.Matthew Hayden certainly didn’t think much of USA’s efforts. His brief innings was erratic to say the least – full of premeditated charges and feints that bordered on the insulting. So it was with some glee that Howard Johnson found Hayden’s outside edge with a booming outswinger, to ensure it would not be an entirely fruitless day for USA.One over later, and it might have been even better for USA, but Tony Reid couldn’t cling onto a firm return chance. It was the only sniff that Gilchrist gave, and he wrapped up the match with a vast six over midwicket, to complete the match in 7.5 overs – the third-fastest run-chase in ODI history.

India’s cricketers will soon be on par with their counterparts in Australia, New Zealand and England, once the system of player contracts is put into practice by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI). The new pay structures could be in place as early as end-July, long before New Zealand arrive for a two-Test series.Under the present system, the fringe players earn as much as established internationals when it comes to match and logo fees. As a result, players like Sanjay Bangar, Ajit Agarkar and Parthiv Patel – who didn’t play a single World Cup match – managed to bank as much prize money (Rs 75 lakh) as those who played every game.Under the formula that Dalmiya has proposed, the top 20 players will be offered contracts, and within that group, there will be four different grades – based initially on experience, and later, on performance.Senior Indian players first started lobbying for central contracts after Anil Kumble missed out on the entire 2001 season as a result of a shoulder injury that required surgical intervention. If they have their way, it’ll be those on the fringes – along for the ride, for the most part – who end up with noses out of joint.