Grameenphone-Prothom Alo Award

Cricketer Sakib wins 2008 Grameenphone-Prothom Alo Award

Cricketer Sakib al Hasan was adjudged on Friday for the Grameenphone-Prothom Alo player-of-the-year award 2008 on Friday for his fabulous all-round performance last year especially in Test cricket. 

Sakib won the award beating weightlifter Fahima Akter Maina and shooter Asif Hossain, who bagged runner-up awards for winning international accolades in the same year. 

Maina bagged a silver medal in the Asian Junior Weightlifting Competition in Korea and a bronze medal in the Commonwealth Youth Competition in India while Asif, the Commonwealth Games gold medallist, bagged gold medal in his favourit 10m air rifles event in the South Asian Shooting in Islamabad. 

After introduction of this award by Grameenphone and Bengali newspaper Prothom Alo in 2004, all top five awards went to the national cricketers after Khaled Mashud, Habibul Bashar, Shahriar Nafees and Mohammad Ashraful. 

Grameenphone-Prothom Alo give three more awards annually – lifetime achievement award, emerging-player-of-the-year award and best sportswoman. 

Bashir Ahmed, the only Bengali player to play for Pakistan national hockey team, won the lifetime achievement award while chess player Minhajuddin Ahmed Sagar bagged the emerging-player-of-the-year award. 

The best sportswoman award went to national women cricket team captain Salma Khatun. 

Player-of-the-year Sakib bagged a cheque of Tk one lakh while the two runner-up, emerging-player-of-the-year and best sportswoman each were handed over a cheque of Tk 50,000. 

Bashir Ahmed was also given a cheque of Tk one lakh.

I P L

Rajasthan and Bangalore secure dramatic last over wins

The Rajasthan Royals and the Bangalore Royal Challengers secured thrilling last over victories in their Indian Premier League (IPL) matches on Thursday. 

Bangalore edged out the Chennai Super Kings by two wickets with two balls to spare, while in the day's second match in Durban the Royals claimed three Mumbai Indians wickets in the final over to snatch a two-run victory with just one ball left. 

Opener Matthew Hayden belted 60 off 38 balls to notch up his fourth half-century of the tournament but despite his effort Chennai collapsed and lost their last eight wickets for 36 runs. 

After Chennai were bowled out for 129, Bangalore started the final over of the match needing five runs with three wickets in hand. 

Ross Taylor, who top scored for Bangalore with 46 off 50 balls, was dismissed by fellow New Zealander Jacob Oram with the first ball of the over but Vinay Kumar ended Chennai's hopes off pulling off the win when he smashed a boundary to guide his team to 132 for eight. 

Seamer Albie Morkel was the pick of Chennai's bowlers as he returned figures of two for 13 off four overs. 

Rajasthan appeared to be coasting towards victory after a left-handed Australian Rob Quiney scored a quickfire 51 to help them post 145 for seven. 

In reply, Mumbai had struggled to 23 for three but Sachin Tendulkar rescued his side by stroking 40 off 30 balls. Abhishek Nayar chipped in with 35 off 18 balls before being run out in the 19th over. 

Mumbai began the last over of their innings needing what looked like a relatively simple four runs to win with three wickets in hand. 

Seamer Munaf Patel had other ideas and he trapped Dhawal Kulkarni leg-before with the second ball of the over before Chetanya Nanda was run out off the third ball. 

A single off the fourth ball left Mumbai needing three runs to win off two balls but last man Lasith Malinga was run out to allow Rajasthan to snatch victory. 
Captain Shane Warne was Rajasthan's most impressive bowler with figures of three for 24.

Australian contract

Opener Hughes awarded first Australian contract

Test opener Phillip Hughes was among seven new players awarded contracts with Cricket Australia for the 2009-10 season. 

Callum Ferguson, Graham Manou, Peter Siddle, Andrew McDonald and Marcus North were also awarded their first national contracts while off-spinner Nathan Hauritz returned to the 25-player list. 

Phil Jaques, Beau Casson, Ashley Noffke, Shaun Tait and Adam Voges all lost their contracts while Matthew Hayden and Stuart MacGill were not considered after retiring last season. 

"It's obviously a very exciting time for players receiving their first contract, such as Phillip Hughes, who has had an outstanding start for Australia and will have an important role in the team's future," Australia's chairman of selectors Andrew Hilditch said in a statement. 

The 25-man squad included players for both and test and one-day internationals and comes a week before Australia announce their squad for the Ashes test series. 

"It's obviously an important time for Australian cricket with the Ashes on the horizon. I can't talk specifically about Ashes selection today as that will be finalised next Wednesday morning," Hilditch said. 

"With respect to one-day cricket, we're building towards the 2011 ICC World Cup and that was strong in our thoughts when finalising this list." 

Contracted players for 2009/10: Doug Bollinger, Nathan Bracken, Stuart Clark, Michael Clarke, Callum Ferguson, Brad Haddin, Nathan Hauritz, Ben Hilfenhaus, Brad Hodge, James Hopes, Phillip Hughes, David Hussey, Mike Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Simon Katich, Brett Lee, Graham Manou, Shaun Marsh, Andrew McDonald, Marcus North, Ricky Ponting, Peter Siddle, Andrew Symonds, Shane Watson, Cameron White.

BCCI raises insurance cover for cricketers

 BCCI raises insurance cover for cricketers

 The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) has increased its life insurance cover on its men and women's cricketers on overseas trips following the attack on the Sri Lanka cricket team bus in Pakistan in March, media reported on Thursday. 

Each player will now be insured by the Indian board for 25 million rupees ($502,008) on every overseas trip, DNA newspaper reported, apart from the annual cover of one million rupees ($20,080) for this year. 

Six Sri Lankan players and a coach were wounded when heavily armed men attacked the team bus heading into the stadium in Lahore during the second test.

India to play one-dayers in Caribbean

 India will play four one-day matches in the Caribbean after the Twenty20 World Championship in England next month, the Indian cricket board said today (Thursday). 

If India, the Twenty20 defending champions, make the knockout stages of the competition, they will fly direct from London to Jamaica for the one-day series, which is part of the International Cricket Council's Future Tours Programme. 

The first two one-dayers will be held at Sabina Park, Kingston, on June 26 and 28 and the remaining two at Gros Islet, St Lucia on July 3 and 5. 

Itinerary: 

June 26: First one-dayer, Sabina Park, Kingston 

June 28: Second one-dayer, Sabina Park, Kingston 

July 3 : Third one-dayer, Gros Islet, St Lucia 

July 5 : Fourth one-dayer, Gros Islet, St Lucia

Dropping Ajmal

PCB mulls dropping Ajmal

The Pakistan Cricket Board is seriously considering withdrawing the off-spinner Saeed Ajmal from the ICC World Twenty20 squad as they await the results of the tests done on his bowling action.
  Ajmal’s doosra was reported by the umpires during the second one-day international against Australia in Dubai last month but was allowed to continue bowling till an assessment of his action, done by the ICC’s appointed biomechanist Bruce Elliott, is completed.
  ‘Elliot is supposed to send a report based on the tests to the ICC in 14-days time maximum but he can do it earlier,’ Saleem Altaf, the PCB’s chief operating officer, told Dawn. ‘So we are waiting to see what happens. But we are also pondering the possibility of pulling him out of the [Twenty20] World Cham-pionship and including a reserve player.’

ICC World cup news

PCB seeks support on WC fight

Pakistan’s cricket chief left Friday on a South Asian tour to try to win support in his battle against the ICC’s decision to strip the country of its World Cup matches, an official said.
  The Pakistan Cricket Board has legally challenged last month’s decision by the International Cricket Council to move the country’s 14 World Cup 2011 matches due to the ‘uncertain security situation.’
  The PCB said the decision to remove Pakistan as a co-host contravened ICC articles and the 2006 agreement that awarded the competition jointly to Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
  PCB chairman Ijaz Butt flew first to Sri Lanka Friday following former ICC president Ehsan Mani’s suggestion to keep ‘back-channel communications’ with the ICC and its member countries open throughout the dispute.
  Butt will meet Sri Lanka Cricket interim committee head Somachandra De Silva in Colombo and then travel to Delhi to meet ICC vice president Sharad Pawar on Monday regarding the World Cup decision, PCB chief operating officer Salim Altaf told AFP.
  The PCB has complained to the ICC that the World Cup move was legally flawed and on Tuesday sent a letter to ICC Dispute Resolution Committee.

Pakistan plan for English summer

The summer of 2010 in the UK may turn out to be a Pakistani summer, as the PCB is involved in negotiations with various boards that could result in them playing six Tests in England next year and nearly ten limited-overs internationals.
  The Pakistan board is already in discussions with Cricket Australia and the ECB to ‘host’ a series against Australia in England next year, which now consists of two Tests and two twenty20 internationals. Pakistan are now also in the running to replace West Indies next year as England’s opponents for a four-Test series.
  ‘Ijaz Butt [PCB chairman] has met Giles Clarke [ECB chairman] and negotiations are underway for a series of four Tests, five ODIs and two twenty20s,’ Salim Altaf, PCB chief operating officer, told Cricinfo. ‘As West Indies has toured this year for two Tests, filling in for Sri Lanka, their slot for next year may now be empty so we are in a position to fill it.’
  Pakistan tours England, on average, every four to five years and last visited in 2006, a series it lost 3-0. As a touring team, Pakistan have always been popular, attracting big crowds, especially from the large British Asian communities in various cities throughout England.

No play before tea

Rain meant there was no play before tea on the second day of the second Test between England and the West Indies at the Riverside here on Friday.
  England, having won the toss, were 302 for two with Alastair Cook 126 not out and nightwatchman James Anderson unbeaten on four.

ENG VS WI TEST

Centurions salute Gooch

Essex duo Ravi Bopara and Alastair Cook both paid tribute to watching mentor Graham Gooch after they each scored centuries on the first day of the second Test against the West Indies.

Left-handed opener Cook (126 not out) and No 3 Bopara (108) shared a stand of 213 which was the backbone of England’s total of 302 for two at the Riverside here on Thursday.
Bopara’s innings meant he’d become only the fifth Englishman, and first since former Essex and England captain Gooch against India in 1990, to score hundreds in three successive Test innings.
‘I felt good from the minute I went in. I’m seeing it quite nicely,’ said Bopara, whose Test-best 143 at Lord’s last week sent England on their way to a 10-wicket win which put them 1-0 up in this two-match series.
‘Graham Gooch talks about when you are in good nick, make the most of it.’
Told he’d equalled one of Gooch’s landmarks, Bopara said: ‘I wouldn’t put my name in the same sentence as him, he’s done a lot for me, a lot for cricket.’
Bopara added he’d received a few words of advice from the maestro, a world-class opening batsman in his time, before play got underway.
‘He popped into the nets this morning and said ‘keep playing straight, no better place to hit the ball then down the ground, there’s no fielders there’.’
Bopara’s current purple patch is all the more impressive as early in his now six-match Test career he made three straight noughts away to Sri Lanka in December 2007.
‘Sri Lanka was probably the toughest point of my career,’ Bopara said.
‘I found ways to keep getting out but not once did I think I was never going to play Test cricket again, it drove me on to come back.’
And again a pep talk from Gooch gave Bopara a boost.
‘Graham said to me ‘I got a pair in my first Test (against Australia at Edgbaston in 1975)’ but you will come back from this. It was nice to hear that from such a legendary batsman.’
Cook too said Gooch had been a major influence.
‘Goochie’s been amazing for me and Ravi, the amount of hard work he’s put in. When I was 18 he would be throwing at me from 8.30 in the morning for an hour. With his record, for him to do that was something special.’
Cook was also especially pleased to share such a large stand with fellow 24-year-old Bopara. ‘It’s just a great day to bat with Rav.
‘We played Under-14 cricket together and now to be playing a Test match together and scoring hundreds, it’s put a smile on my face.’

Instead of waning with age, Sachin Tendulkar is getting better with every passing day, former Australia captain Steve Waugh said here on Friday.

"He is improving day by day and in his prime form," Waugh said and added in a lighter vein: "Looking at the way (Sachin) Tendulkar is playing, it seems he can play till 50 years."

The Australian great had earlier compared Tendulkar with Sir Don Bradman.

Asked whether he is interested in coaching, the 43-year-old said, "Not thinking about coaching now. Maybe in future, I will think about coaching." Talking to reporters at a cricket clinic at Beleghata in north Kolkata, he praised India's South African coach Gary Kirsten's way of work while describing the jobs of a captain and a coach.

"The captain is always the boss on the field, as he has to be on the spot. The coach on the other hand plays a supporter's role quietly. Look at Kirsten. He goes on about his job very quietly which is exactly the coach's role." Waugh termed Indians as favourites to defend the title in the second edition of the ICC World Twenty20 due in England in June.

"Indians have a very good side. The youngsters are really impressing and the IPL has done good for them.

"But Australians also have a strong chance for the title," he said. 

With the England led by a rather inexperienced Andrew Strauss, Waugh said the Baggy Greens have a good chance to retain the Ashes.

"Aussies have an advantage over England. I think Strauss' elevation will only help us," he said, ending his three-day whirlwind tour of the city.

On the last day of the trip that began with visiting to Udayan, a rehabilitation home for children from leprosy colonies near Barrackpore and then getting his hands and feet dirty by taking part in a drive to clean-up city canals, Waugh today gave tips to children in the cricket clinic.

Sreesanth: "I'm grown up enough to realise how to play cricket"

Sreesanth has been flicking through a book on temperament during the series and said the game was "almost 90% mind". "How you manage yourself on the field is important and even if they are playing mind games on it or off it, cricket is very funny, it always wins," he said in the Australian.
Almost 90% mind, could very well be a game of poker. Clearly the book and the almost 90% is not helping Sreesanth; though he thinks "it always wins," Australia won the series.

If it is 90% mind, Sreesanth better see a Shrink.

Bracken: We are better prepared

Left-arm paceman Nathan Bracken believes Australia is much better prepared for next month's ICC World Twenty20 than it was for the corresponding tournament two years ago.

Australia suffered a shock five-wicket loss to Zimbabwe in the opening game of the inaugural ICC World Twenty20 in 2007, before being eliminated by eventual winners India by 15 runs in the semi-final stage of the competition after failing to chase down an imposing target of 188.

But the Australian team has played a host of Twenty20 matches since that disappointing night in South Africa two years ago and Bracken thinks his side will be ready to go when they face the West Indies in their opening game of the tournament at The Oval in London on June 6.

"The big thing we learnt (from the last ICC World Twenty20) is how quickly the game can change," Bracken told cricket.com.au after learning about his inclusion in the squad for next month's tournament.

"From the last tournament we learnt that if you don't get it right any team can beat you and unfortunately we found that out the hard way with a loss to Zimbabwe to start off with."

"Hopefully that doesn't happen this time and we can just go out there, play some good cricket and make sure we really put the pressure on."

There is sure to be plenty of competition for spots in the team for the ICC World Twenty20 and many players will get the chance to perform on Thursday when Australia faces Pakistan in a one-off Twenty20 clash in Dubai.

Australia just completed a 3-2 victory in a closely fought five-game one-day series against Pakistan and Bracken is expecting another hard struggle in the Twenty20 clash on Thursday.

"It is going to be a tough game and we have got to make sure we get it right," he said.

"I know it is already being compared to a warm up for the ICC World Twenty20 so for us it is about getting out there, playing some good cricket, making sure we do what we need to do and try and leave here on a winning note."

Bracken, who played in four of the five one-day games against Pakistan, will line-up for Australia in the Twenty20 match on Thursday, before heading to South Africa to play for the Bangalore Royal Challengers in the IPL.

 

The New South Welshman will then be on a plane to England for the ICC World Twenty20, but the 31-year-old said his body is holding up well despite the amount of cricket he is playing.

"I am still alive and kicking," Bracken said.

"The cricket does get a bit draining, but a lot of the fatigue is about being away from home."

"We have got plenty of medical staff and fitness staff that make sure you back up and the body stays in good nick. It is just the emotional strain of being away from family."

Cricket Tips

Bowling toward the end of an innings

The extraordinary one-dayer between Australia and South Africa not so long ago has definitely shown how far one-day cricket has come since being introduced since the 70s. Today, to be the best bowler in the world you need to know how to bowl an impeccable line and length, but also to know how to bowl to batsman who wants to belt you over the fence no matter what. This is where a lot of bowlers get into trouble these days... Always being taught to bowl short of a good length, outside off stump has caused bowlers to find it awkward to deliberately bowl elsewhere, and therefore they get punished when the batting side are looking for some quick runs at the end of an innings. You might be like... 'So what?'. But when you the other team scoring 70 odd runs off just 6-10 overs you'll be wishing you'd bowled a bit tighter.

So how do you stop batsmen from scoring so quickly? 

a) Pitch the ball up: Aim for the toes/base of middle and leg stump. The worst thing you probably do is tee the ball up off a nice bounce for the batsman to wack over the fence. Sure, you're no Glenn McGrath - but you'll at least get a couple landing perfectly at the toes (practice!), and if not they will be low full tosses which are pretty hard to get underneath.

b) Set the field: It's best that you set your field fairly spread out so that those potential boundaries can be cut down to ones and twos. Start off by having a deep mid-on and mid-off, deep cover, deep mid-wicket and deep fine leg. Soon you'll start to see where the batsman's favourite spots are. 

c) Change it up: Try to avoid consistently bowling at the same pace. Sure it's easy to say, but a lot of bowlers neglect how important a good slower ball is. You want to keep the batsman guessing... this is probably one of the easiest ways to do it. 

d) Take your catches: Pretty obvious. Catches win matches. A slogfest is usually perfect for practising your outfield catches in a real-match situation. Try to have your best fieldsmen (who can not only catch, but are also quick on their feet) in key positions in the outfield.

e) Sledge: A rather neglected ploy, but it gets batsmen cocky - enough to make them lose concentration.

Profile : NZ (wk)

Brendon McCullum

Full Name  :Brendon Barrie McCullum

Born           :27 September 1981 , Dunedin

Province    :Otago

Playing Role :Wicketkeepr-batsman

Batting Style :Right-hand bat

Test Cap No: 224

ODI Cap No: 126

McCullum is one of the world's leading wicketkeeper/batsmen and an agile and alert presence behind the stumps. 

The diminutive glovesman will be familiar to county cricket audiences from a short spell with Glamorgan, when he set a new record for the highest debut innings in a first-class match with 160. 

The Otago Volts player is vice-captain of the BLACKCAPS and led them in this year’s Twenty20 internationals against England

Profile : NZ Women Crickter

Suzie Bates 

The White Ferns batting star talks about her record 168, batting plans and a potential face off with the English. 

On her scoring 168 against Pakistan… 

"I obviously got off to a good start and wicket was the best we’ve played on in this tournament and Haidee really kept me ticking along. I seemed to be seeing the ball like it was a lot bigger than it was."  

On the feeling out in the middle... 

"Really enjoyable! It’s been disappointing the way I’ve gone up until now but it’s good that I’m timing my form at the right time and hopefully I can carry it on to the next game if we make it there."

On building on her previous innings of 47* against India… 

"It was a huge boost to finish off a game like that. We haven’t been so good at chasing runs in the past. Today I could relax and let loose and I think the previous innings was a huge boost for that."

On setting records in her partnership with Haidee Tiffen… 

"I didn’t know about too many records really. I knew my own highest score and that was about it. I was told to hit sixes and keep my head still so it was easy to concentrate on that."  

On a potential match up with the English in the final… 

"We’ve all been looking forward to it. We wanted to get this game out of the way so we’re pretty confident we’ve put enough on the board. England, we lost to earlier in the week and the girls really know we are up for a huge challenge and it’s going to be a really big one for us. If we can build partnerships and put on big runs I think we have the bowling attack to finish it off."  

On taking confidence and momentum into the final… 

"I think it’s a whole new game. I can’t take too much out of this one or the previous game. The form I had earlier in the tournament could come back so I’ve got to take each game as it comes and I’ll be starting all over again from ball one."

On targeting 200 runs…. 

"To be honest once I reached a hundred I knew the batting power we had and was just going to hit it if it was there and score as many as I could. Obviously it would have been nice to reach that but didn’t really think about it too much."

On breaking the record for the highest score by a White Fern… 

"It’s a huge honour. To do it at a World Cup is pretty special and I’ve really enjoyed the day."

On the Pakistan bowling attack… 

"At the start they were bowling nice and straight, tight line and we had to work hard for our singles. We ran a lot of singles but then the pitch and boundaries out here helped me. They didn’t give me too much width and were bowling well but it just happened to be my day I guess."

Cook and Bopara prosper on placid track

Ravi Bopara became the first England batsman to score three Test centuries in consecutive innings since his hero and mentor Graham Gooch in 1990, while another of Gooch's protégés, Alastair Cook, made an unbeaten 126, as West Indies were made to toil with minimum reward on the first day of the second Test at Chester-le-Street.

Profile

Scott Styris

Team:      Deccan Chargers
Batting:    DNP
Bowling:   DNP


Deccan Chargers batsman Dwayne Smith blasted 47 off 32 to help his team through to 166. It was too much for the Rajasthan Royal who were bowled in the final over still 53 runs short of their target. Chaminda Vaas had a fine all-round game for the Chargers hitting 20 with the bat and taking two for 19 off his four overs.

Watson injury fears ease ahead of Ashes squad selection

Australia all-rounder Shane Watson is likely to be available for this year's Ashes series in England after his injured groin was deemed less serious than initially feared. 

Holders Australia will announce their squad for the July-September series next week with Watson expected to be included in the side. 

The Queenslander's participation was cast in doubt after he picked up the injury in the recent limited-overs series against Pakistan but tests revealed the problem was only a minor one. 

"Scans have confirmed a minor right groin injury to Shane and we expect him to be fit to play in (next month's) ICC World Twenty20," Australian team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris said in a statement on Wednesday. 

"He'll be monitored over the coming weeks and is expected to be available for consideration for Ashes selection."

Olympic Cricket

Cricket to make Asian Games bow in China next year

The sound of leather against willow will be heard for the first time at an Asian Games next year after the Olympic Council of Asia (OCA) announced that cricket had been added to the programme on Wednesday. 

 

P C B

PCB sues ICC again

Pakistan is suing international cricketing bodies for moving the World Cup 2011 secretariat out of its country and into India, a lawyer said Wednesday.

The move is a further escalation of Pakistan's protest against an International Cricket Council (ICC) decision late last month to strip the country of its 14 matches in the contest over security fears in the troubled Muslim nation.

The ICC also moved the World Cup 2011 secretariat out of Pakistan's cultural capital Lahore to India's financial hub Mumbai and distributed Pakistan's matches to three other host countries -- India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh.

The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said Saturday it was mounting a legal challenge against the ICC decision to move the Pakistan games and on Tuesday said it had written to request international arbitration in the matter.

Co-hosts India will now have 29 matches, including a semifinal and the final, while Sri Lanka will host 12 matches with one semifinal, and Bangladesh will hold eight matches and the opening ceremony.

PCB legal adviser Taffazul Rizvi said Wednesday that a case had also been filed at the civil court in Lahore against the relocation of the World Cup 2011 secretariat.

"We have to fight all out against a decision which is legally flawed and to step up our pressure, we have sued the ICC, IDI (ICC Development International) and the Central Organising Committee World Cup 2011," Rizvi told AFP.

"After our initial arguments the court has summoned the three parties on May 18," the lawyer added.

Rizvi said the ICC Executive Board, which decided to strip Pakistan of its matches, was not entitled to do so.

"The IDI gave the World Cup to four countries... so the ICC Executive Board was not entitled to take a decision on a World Cup move, only the annual general meeting can take such a decision," said Rizvi.

Rizvi said until an ICC dispute committee or the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sports resolve the case, the World Cup secretariat cannot be moved out of Pakistan.

"Pakistan can also claim a relief on the relocation of the secretariat," said the legal adviser.

Pakistan's already dented reputation as a safe sporting venue was left in tatters after attacks by gunmen on the Sri Lankan cricket team bus in Lahore on March 3 left seven Sri Lankan players and their assistant coach wounded and eight policemen dead.

Even before the attacks, foreign teams had refused to tour Pakistan over security fears in a country locked in an increasingly bloody conflict with Taliban and Al-Qaeda extremists.

Bhatia drubs Deccan

Deccan Chargers skipper Adam Gilchrist smashed a rapidfire half-century, but failed to stop Delhi Daredevils from posting a 12-run win in an Indian Premier League match here on Wednesday.

Delhi scored 173-7 before restricting Deccan to 161 despite Gilchrist's 33-ball 64 to boost their chances of qualifying for the semi-finals.

Delhi lead the eight-team competition, followed by Chennai, Deccan, Mumbai, Rajasthan, Bangalore, Punjab and Kolkata.

Gilchrist went for his shots from the beginning, hitting seamer Ashish Nehra for four boundaries in the opening over. He cracked five sixes and as many fours before inside-edging seamer Pradeep Sangwan's delivery on to his stumps.

Andrew Symonds kept the momentum with a 22-ball 41 before seamer Rajat Bhatia (4-15) triggered a dramatic collapse which saw Deccan lose their last seven wickets for just 12 runs.

Dinesh Karthik earlier helped Delhi set a stiff target with a 23-ball 44 not out, including 18 runs off the last five deliveries from Sri Lankan paceman Chaminda Vaas.

Tillakaratne Dilshan set the pace, plundering 24 runs in an over from paceman Shoaib Ahmed. He cracked one six and seven fours in his 18-ball 37 before being caught by Ravi Teja in the deep off Symonds.

AB de Villiers kept the scoreboard moving after Dilshan's dismissal, scoring a 36-ball 44.

SCORES IN BRIEF:-

DELHI: 173-7 in 20 overs (Karthik 44 not out, de Villiers 44, Dilshan 37; Ojha 2-26, Vaas 2-52).

DECCAN:161 all out in 19.4 overs (Gilchrist 64, Symonds 41, Teja 27; Bhatia 4-15, Sangwan 3-18)

Result: Delhi won by 12 runs.

Flintoff feeds off healing power of Ashes incentive

Andrew Flintoff has no regrets about playing in the Indian Premier League (IPL) despite suffering a knee injury that ruled him out of the first part of England's busy summer. The Lancashire all-rounder said he already had his sights set on facing Australia in the Ashes series starting in July after undergoing surgery on a torn cartilage. 

"My injury was building up and while it's frustrating, at least it happened now," the injury-prone 31-year-old told The Sun on Wednesday. 

"There was always going to be people commenting about it. But it wasn't one incident that did it, it was a gradual thing that had built up over time. 

"I would have been playing for Lancashire had it not been Chennai in the IPL, so this would have happened." 

Flintoff, who played for Chennai Super Kings, is expected to be fit for the Twenty20 World Cup in June but says the prospect of facing Australia is driving him on to get fit. 

"When you've had the problems I've had, with the ankle operations and now my knee, then it's the dream of playing Ashes cricket and beating Australia that keeps you going," he said. 

"That's the motivation during rehab but when the time comes around I have to make sure I'm on top of my game, too. 

"It is the series you want to play in. People ask if the 5-0 whitewash in 2006-07 motivates me for revenge. But, to be honest, I don't need any more motivation than just to play in The Ashes again."

IPL suspends controversial mobile phone-based contest

Indian Premier League (IPL) organisers have suspended a controversial mobile phone-based contest following concerns raised by the country's sports minister last week that it amounted to gambling. 

The IPL, promoted by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) and featuring some of the top players in world cricket, had introduced a SMS contest aimed at keeping interest in India alive. 

The league, which was a huge commercial success in its inaugural edition in India last year, is being played in South Africa this year as the tournament clashes with India's general elections. 

"There was no formal complaint. Such SMS contests are being played world over," IPL governing council member Rajeev Shukla told Reuters on Tuesday. 

"But it has been closed for now," he added. He did not say for how long. 

Former Indian cricketers had raised serious misgivings about the contest, in which participants have to predict the sequence of runs that will be scored in the next over, saying that it amounted to gambling, which is illegal in India. 

India's Sports Minister Manohar Singh Gill expressed concern that it could also give rise to a fresh bout of corruption in the game. 

"We have already hadta match-fixing scandal in the game," he said in a strongly worded statement on Saturday, referring to a scandal that broke in India and rocked international cricket in 2000. 

"It seems the ICC (International Cricket Council) had expressed concerns about such possibilities in the IPL league," he added.

New life byReview

Umps' review from Oct

This summer's Ashes series will be one of the last in which the umpire's decision is final, after the ICC confirmed that its controversial Umpire Decision Review System (UDRS) is set to be introduced permanently into the game on the basis of a "phased roll-out" from October 2009.

The ICC chief executive, Haroon Lorgat, confirmed the plans at a press conference at Lord's, following a two-day meeting in which the results of nine months' worth of trials were assessed by the ICC's cricket committee.

A final decision on whether the new system will become a permanent feature of Test cricket will be taken by the ICC's chief executives committee and their main board, whose next meetings are due to take place during their annual conference at Lord's from June 22-26.

"I'm excited that the committee concluded the umpire decision review system had a positive effect on the game," said Lorgat. "It reduced the number of incorrect decisions and also cut down on instances of player dissent.

"We will seek [provided the ICC chief executives and board agree] to roll out the system from October 2009. The time ahead of that date will allow us to firm up the playing conditions, technical specifications and protocols, ensure additional training for match officials and further brief the players so that the process can be successfully implemented."

Though designed to reduce controversy, the new system -- which gives players the opportunity to request a review by the third umpire of a decision made by the on-field umpire they believed was wrong -- has so far muddied the waters in several instances, not least during the Jamaica Test between England and West Indies in February.

"The protocols were clear, maybe the application was not so good," said Lorgat. "It's the really bad errors we want to eliminate. We had a fair amount of feedback from players and most of it was positive. They accept the fundamental thing that we want to get decisions right."

The cricket committee, chaired by the former West Indies captain Clive Lloyd, said it believed the new system, for all its faults, would reduce instances of bad decisions.

The committee also looked into the possibility of playing day/night Test cricket, and staging a trial five-day game under lights in 2010. But first they said more research was needed on finding a suitable ball, with the standard red one unsuitable for floodlit cricket, while Lloyd pointed out the effect of early evening dew would also have to be considered. Trials with light green and pink balls are currently taking place.

The committee also said there was no need to alter the present format of 50-overs international cricket, amid concerns the format was becoming jaded in the Twenty20 era, and that there was not a need to impose weight restrictions on bats

It also said it had no problems with double-sided bats and confirmed that the switch-hit, as pioneered by Kevin Pietersen, should remain legal.

The committee also called for stricter enforcement of rules on over-rates, and the doubling of fines for slow play, so as to cut down time-wasting by both batting and bowling sides. Lorgat said it was vital Test match over-rates were maintained or improved so the five-day game could continue to "engage" with spectators.

Indian Premier League

Better being a cheerleader?

Tuesday's defeat confirmed what had become evident early in the tournament -- that the Kolkata Knight Riders neither had the ammo nor the drive to make at least the semifinals of the Indian Premier League.

The inaugural season, last year, had seen the franchise finish sixth. This time, the Knights have been monopolising the absolute bottom of the eight-team table.

Poor man management, beginning with the shoddy manner in which icon Sourav Ganguly was sacked as captain, apart, the resources just haven't been utilised in the best manner.

Not that the most exciting exponents of Twenty20 pack the Knights' dressing room. Indeed, there are quite a few very average cricketers wearing the black and gold colours. 

To talk of the talent available, it's strange (if not shocking) that John Buchanan hasn't deemed it fit to give Bangladesh's premier strike bowler, Mashrafe Bin Mortaza, even one game.

Eleven have gone and the line-up for the last match, against the Royal Challengers Bangalore, saw as many as four changes. Not that the chopping and changing worked. 

The treatment meted out to Mortaza lends credence to whispers that Buchanan, who heads the franchise's cricket operations, didn't exactly want him in the squad and that principal owner Shahrukh Khan had 'intervened' during this year's auction. 

Apparently, one reason for signing Mortaza was to extend the Knights' 'appeal' in Bangladesh, which isn't much more than a stone's throw away from the franchise-city. If anything, folks there must be rather furious.

The 25-year-old right-arm quick, who is a handy bat too, is understood to be cut up. Frustrated as well. With perfectly legitimate reasons.

According to The Telegraph's sources, the other day, Mortaza told a confidant: "It would have been better to be a cheerleader. That way, I would have been doing something... what's the use of sitting?"

The Bangladesh captain, batsman Mohammed Ashraful, is probably in the same state of mind: He hasn't made the eleven in any of the Mumbai Indians' eleven games. The Sachin Tendulkar-led team has, however, been winning.

Like Mortaza, Ashraful was bought at the last auction, for two seasons. 

Mortaza went for a whopping 600,000 dollars, thanks to a rather bizarre bidding war between the Knights and the Kings XI Punjab, where Preity Zinta has a big stake.

For whatever reason, Shahrukh didn't want to come off second best and that was made clear to his men at the auction table in Goa. 

Ashraful, incidentally, came cheap for the Mukesh Ambani-owned Mumbai Indians. The franchise paid no more than $75,000.

While just about everybody else has, among other things, been getting invaluable exposure in the lead-up to next month's World T20, the Mortazas have been getting rusty.

Nothing worse could happen to a professional.

(Lokendra Pratap Sahi wrote this on the Kolkata Telegraph website).

Ashes news

'Last Test before Ashes'

Andrew Strauss, the England captain, may be reluctant to talk about the Ashes ahead of the start of the second Test against the West Indies but that has not stopped Paul Collingwood.

The Durham all-rounder, set to play in front of his home crowd when the final Test of this brief series starts at the Riverside here on Thursday, is well aware that a strong showing following England's 10-wicket first Test win at Lord's, will help cement players' places ahead of the Ashes.

This is England's last Test before their series opener with Australia in Cardiff on July 8.

Collingwood, a bit-part player when England won the Ashes on home soil in 2005, was a regular when the Australians got them back in 2006/07 with a 5-0 thrashing of their oldest foes.

England will regain the Wisden Trophy they lost earlier this year in the Caribbean if they avoid defeat at the Riverside.

But Collingwood could not help looking ahead to what all-English cricketers regard as the biggest prize of the lot.

"There's been a real progression, the players feel that and we realise this is the last Test match before the Ashes," middle-order batsman Collingwood told reporters here on Tuesday.

"We can't get away from the fact that it is and we want to put a big performance in and win this trophy back -- it hurt us when we got beaten by the West Indies out there and we want to get it back."

"We just want to keep progressing all the time and get into a position where we can win those Ashes," he said.

England have added batsman Ian Bell and left-arm quick Ryan Sidebottom to their squad. But they are likely to be unchanged after wrapping up victory inside three days at Lord's against an undercooked West Indies on the back of fine individual displays from some of their least experienced players.

Ravi Bopara, in his first Test at No 3 made 143, off-spinner Graeme Swann won the man-of-the-match award for his maiden Test fifty and six wickets while Collingwood's Durham colleague Graham Onions took seven wickets on his debut with some well-directed fast bowling.

"The atmosphere we've created in the dressing room is very relaxed at the moment," Collingwood said.

"The new guys that have come in have pointed out it's a very enjoyable place to be and that has made it easier to go out and perform."

One reason why England won so quickly at Lord's was that Swann, who turns the ball away from left-handers, removed Shivnarine Chanderpaul for a golden duck and then a second-ball four.

Chanderpaul, who up until that match was ranked as the world's number one batsman, was all but impregnable when West Indies last toured England two years ago, batting for nearly seven hours during the corresponding Riverside Test while making an unbeaten century.

He may not have been unduly concerned by his own Lord's failure but, with the West Indies having four left-handers in their top six, Chanderpaul admitted Swann was a real threat.

"It puts all our left-handers in the firing line. He's got all of us out so far, so we have to make sure we go out and find a way to deal with it."

England though would be well advised not to get too far ahead of themselves. Had not West Indies dropped six catches in the final session of the first day to undo some of the good work of fast bowler Fidel Edwards, England's first innings total might have been considerably less than 377.

And the chances of both West Indies captain Chris Gayle and Chanderpaul, who played at the Riverside for Durham, failing for two matches in a row are slim.

"We just have to put Lord's behind us, come out here and play as well as we know we can," Chanderpaul said. "We're one down already, so the only way to save the Wisden Trophy is to win this game."

T20 First Ball er Captain

Fahad the 'First Ball er Captain'

     Abdulla Al Fahad became the lucky winner of the 'Pepsi First Ball er Captain' contest and will be on his way to England to bowl a ceremonial first ball in a match of the ICC Twenty20 World Cup.

The winning contestant was chosen through a two-stage process. During the first stage the contestants SMS-ed a unique code from a scratch card, which was obtained from the purchase of a Pepsi drink. The 200 contestants who sent in the highest number of unique codes were selected to participate in the second phase, the "Prove Yourself Day" where they were evaluated on their performance on a series of activities. The eventual activity was to bowl at a single stump where Fahad was able to hit the stump consistently in sudden death and was adjudged the winner.

Star all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan presented Fahad with the air ticket to England while the other four top contestants earned the opportunity to have diner with players from the Bangladesh national team.

Tejinder Khurana, country manager of PepsiCo International, and general manager of Transcom Beverages Limited Khurshid Irfan Chowdhury were also present at the event.