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Zimbabwe’s selectors are not expected to spring any surprises when they name their 15-man squad for the Twenty20 World Championship to be held in South Africa next month.Although Zimbabwe has staged a domestic Twenty20 competition of sorts, the pool of players available for selection is shallow and so the squad will be based on recent one-day performances.The only surprise could be the inclusion of Charles Coventry who has not played international cricket for over a year. Coventry, a hard-hitting batsman, is better suited for the Twenty20 game and was named in a provisional 30-man squad that was never made public. Also in that group was Gregory Strydom, who is playing club cricket in England at the moment.Coventry walked out on Zimbabwe during their tour of the West Indies in May last year after he fell out with coach Kevin Curran and Andy Pycroft, at the time the team manager. He failed to resolve his differences with Curran and never reported for camp ahead of the World Cup, missing out on the prestigious event.

The Karachi City Cricket Association (KCCA), which is hosting the four-day Nissar Trophy match between Mumbai and Karachi Urban, has played down the absence of star presence in the visiting team.KCCA secretary, Siraj-ul-Islam Bukhari said that he could understand the problems faced by the visiting team. “Obviously we would have liked to see some big names in their team to attract the crowds. But the main thing their team represents Mumbai and they are playing in Karachi which is a big thing.”The Mumbai team got a lukewarm reception on arrival with no player recognisable to Pakistani fans. Mumbai and Karachi play the four-day game from September 8 at the National stadium on basis of being the national champions in their countries.

Match abandoned due to wet outfield 50 overs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Michael Clarke returned to the scene of his triumphant Test debut and finessed another magnificent century, but rain then played spoilsport in the opening match of the Future Cup. Australia recovered from a Sreesanth-induced wobbly spell to post an imposing 307 for 7 and Mitchell Johnson then sent Sachin Tendulkar packing for a blob before the heavensopened and the prospect of a gripping contest was washed away.After Australia slumped to 90 for 4, Brad Haddin played the support role perfectly, adding 144 with Clarke. As the afternoon wore on and the boundary count grew, India encountered a reality check after the euphoria of the ICC World Twenty20 win. Clarke got going with some delightful clips off the pads against Zaheer Khan, adding 60 with Matthew Hayden for thethird wicket after both Indian new-ball bowlers had struck early.After Sreesanth had left the innings rocking, it was Clarke and Haddin that rebuilt it, patiently at first and then with considerable flair and aggression. After taking 68 balls for his 50, Clarke cruised to three figures in just another 40 deliveries, playing some gorgeous shots off hispads in the process.There was a stunning glance-on-the-walk against Irfan Pathan, and a peachy on drive off Zaheer before a dismal full toss from Ramesh Powar was swatted over the square-leg rope. Haddin’s dismissal, stumped trying to give Yuvraj Singh the mow, didn’t stem the Clarke tide either, and another full toss from Powar was dismissed over midwicket to herald his patentedhelmet-badge-kissing celebration.The new rules that allowed for a ball change after 34 overs made little difference as Australia turned it on. Haddin was no less effective, hitting down the ground and through the covers with power and timing, and picking off the leg-side gaps effortlessly each time the bowlers erred.The pair ran the singles easily too against an Indian side that was again less than electric in the field.Towards the end, even Sreesanth went for plenty as James Hopes came in and hinted at his all-round potential with a punishing 37-run cameo. With Clarke eyeing the straight boundary, India wilted as 87 came from the final 10 overs. Clarke was run out for 130 off the final ball, but by then, his heroics had almost banished any memory of Australia’s initial vulnerability.The pitch may have been placid, but Sreesanth certainly wasn’t early on. Sensibly though, he let the ball do the talking. Prior to the game, he had spoken of how much contests against Australia meant to the players, and how he himself feared no one. Talk is essentially cheap, butSreesanth backed it up with some fiery bowling, clocking 147kph at one stage.Neither he nor India had started well though. After a chorus of boos had greeted the batsmen, Adam Gilchrist started with his usual panache, jabbing through cover and then glancing for fours, and it took a stupendous catch from Yuvraj to give India some respite. Zaheeroffered some width, Gilchrist tore into it, and most eyes were already on the backward-point rope when Yuvraj threw himself to his right to take it with both hands.Both Sreesanth and Zaheer were erratic with their line, and the batsmen couldn’t settle, and after a couple of scattergun wides, it was Sreesanth who struck with a superb delivery to Brad Hodge that swung in to the pad.That brought Clarke to the crease, and Sreesanth wasn’t too shy to have some words when he played a couple of streaky shots. But with Clarke clipping Zaheer beautifully through midwicket and Hayden emerging from a circumspect start to muscle them away, the runs quicklymounted.Rudra Pratap Singh, India’s Twenty20 hero, came on, but was treated disdainfully by Hayden, who cover-drove and pulled him for fours before a miscued pull went down to fine leg for six.

By the first drinks break, Australia were cruising, but as so often happens, the break in play upset a batsman’s concentration. Sreesanth came round the wicket and angled one in, and Hayden’s scything attempt connected only with air. The stands erupted, but better was to follow forthose of an Indian persuasion as Sreesanth struck again.This time, the victim was Andrew Symonds, big-hitting dangerman utterly deceived by the change of pace. The slow loopy delivery appeared to take an eternity to reach him, and he played all around it. When the appeal was upheld, Sreesanth thumped the turf in delirious celebration.With the crowd chanting Sreesanth’s name, Haddin was greeted with a fast beamer – an apology duly followed – and the momentum was certainly with India as the Powerplays ended. Powar nearly had Haddin with a splendid loopy offspinner, but it missed both the stumps and Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s gloves. Haddin was on seven then, and it would prove a costly miss.Clarke also enjoyed a reprieve when on 31 after a vociferous leg-before appeal from Pathan was turned down. Clarke had wandered out of the crease, and Dhoni’s underarm throw missed the stumps much to Australia’s relief. Both batsmen cashed in too, coming down the crease to Powar and giving him something to think about. Clarke thumped him down to the sightscreen forfour and Haddin then cleared the rope, and Australia had once again transformed a crisis into a cruise. Even they couldn’t do anything about the rain though.

Salman Butt, the Pakistan vice-captain and opener, was admitted tohospital early this morning with suspected gastroenteritis.Talat Ali, the Pakistan manager, said Butt experienced severe pain in hisstomach late last night and a decision was taken to take him to hospitalearly this morning. “He is still at the hospital. He was on a dripinitially but the doctors suspect gastroenteritis.”No word was forthcoming on whether or not Butt would take the field at anystage but Yasir Hameed has taken his place in the field. This is Butt’sfirst Test for Pakistan in over a year and is also his first asvice-captain.

Scorecard
In a thrilling start to the season, Floyd Reifer hit 130 off 111 balls as Combined Campuses and Colleges (CCC) tied their maiden KFC Cup match against Trinidad & Tobago (T&T) at the Providence Stadium in Guyana.Though CCC had been behind the run-rate for most of the chase, Reifer’s innings boosted their chances of winning and it was a last-ball run out of Jason Parris that ended the match in a tie.Half-centuries from Daren Ganga and Dwayne Bravo got T&T to 252 and it looked like they would defend the total with ease when CCC collapsed to 198 for 6. CCC needed 20 runs off the final two overs and after 12 runs were taken off Bravo, eight more were required off the last over.Reifer, injured after colliding with Bravo in the previous over, had Craig Emmanuel running for him and fell when five more were needed. Parris and Jason Bennett were scrambling for a match-winning second run off the last ball, when Kieron Pollard’s direct hit at the batsman’s end dismissed Parris for eight.Pollard also contributed with 3 for 48 off seven overs.
Scorecard
Ramnaresh Sarwan hit a 102-ball 70 to power Guyana to a three-wicket victory against Windward Islands in their opening game of the KFC cup at the Albion Community Centre ground.The Crandon brothers – offspinner Royston (3 for 32) and fast bowler Esuan (2 for 22) – set up the game for Guyana by restricting Windwards to 179 for 9. Guyana stumbled to 20 for 2 before Sarwan stitched together an 83-run stand with Narsingh Deonarine in 22 overs to set Guyana on course.Sarwan started the chase with two feisty square cuts and was severe on anything loose outside off stump. The legspinner Rawl Lewis broke the partnership when he lured Deonarine (29) into driving to deep mid-off. Sarwan carried on, reaching his fifty in 65 balls, with the help of four boundaries. However, after surviving a reprieve on 62, off Pascal, when Andre Fletcher dropped a sitter at backward square leg, Sarwan fell, repeating the stroke in the next over.Assad Fudadin (18) and Darwin Christian (19) inched Guyana close to victory and though the two fell three short of the target Guyana scampered home with seven balls to spare.Earlier, Darren Sammy, benefiting from two chances when on 21 and 22, added 60 runs with Donwell Hector, who was also reprieved twice, for the fourth wicket after Esuan had removed the openers early to push Windwards to 53 for 3. However, the lower order collapsed and Windwards finished with a below-par score.

Stuart Clark arrived at the MCG expecting nothing from the pitch, but with the assistance of reverse-swing he was able to overcome his pessimism and seriously damage India. The surface did not inspire him during a Pura Cup match for New South Wales at the start of the month – it still doesn’t – and he requested series-opening matches in conditions that would give the home side an advantage, such as Brisbane and Perth.When Clark operates like he did on day two, there is no need for Australia to have any extra benefits. In a pace attack that complemented each other, restricting runs without negating the aggression, Clark caused the most problems, curling the ball to capture four of India’s most wanted while giving up only 28 from 15 overs.Despite his success, his view of the pitch remained. “Nothing has changed,” he said. “If you bowl badly you can go for plenty of runs, but it’s flat, low and slow. What was in our favour was the ball scuffed up nicely and we got some reverse-swing, which made it easier to bowl.”His spell either side of tea was the most destructive as he snuffed out India’s recovery by removing Sachin Tendulkar, Yuvraj Singh and MS Dhoni in 12 balls. Tendulkar had crafted a delightful 62 when he tried to force Clark through the offside to a ball that was too close to his body and ended up under-edging on to the stumps. It came off the pitch slower than Tendulkar expected, but Clark had cramped him and relieved Australia’s concern over his 65-run partnership with Sourav Ganguly.Yuvraj was given out wafting outside the off stump from the final ball before tea, a decision which convinced the Australians but not the batsman, and two deliveries after the break the threat of Dhoni was extinguished when an inswinger caught him in front. In the first session Rahul Dravid needed serious effort to remove after three false alarms, including a dropped catch, a take off a no-ball and a huge lbw appeal, but Clark finally raised Billy Bowden’s finger with an off-cutter that stayed low and struck the pad.Clark had a relatively quiet series against Sri Lanka, taking seven wickets in the two Tests, and was cut from the one-day squad to face New Zealand. “It was nice to get out there today, get a few wickets and make some of the doubters who thought I shouldn’t be in the team to think otherwise,” he said. He also provided some more concerns for India.

Scorecard

Gautam Gambhir hit a furious ton to help Delhi defeat Baroda and enter the final of the Ranji Trophy Super league. His 136-run opening stand with Shikar Dhawan allowed Delhi to overcome the 271-run target without breaking a sweat.The victory came with an unexpected ease. The target could have proved tricky, especially considering they had lost the services of their regular opener Aakash Chopra – on drips in the hospital after a sudden bout of nausea and giddiness – but Gambhir and Dhawan attacked from the start to put Delhi on a cruise mode.Baroda had earlier folded up after stretching their lead from the overnight 209 to 270. Yusuf Pathan fell after reaching his ton. But with his aggressive knock he had shown the pitch held no demons and probably inspired the Delhi openers to adopt a similar path.Gambhir, in particular, pounced at every opportunity to attack. He had missed out on the first innings, trapped by a length delivery from Sumit Singh that curved in. He took care not to repeat the mistake here. The front leg was not pressed too far across and he negotiated the new ball easily. He started off with a couple of trademark crisp off drives before easing into his cuts and pulls when the bowlers erred on length.Known for his penchant to take the attack to the spinners, he never let Rajesh Pawar settle into any kind of rhythm. It was textbook batting on how to attack spin. Go down the track to play a few shots, force the bowler to alter the length before unfurling cut shots. Lofted drives crashed into the straight boundary, cuts pinged the point boundary and he threw in a couple of inside-out drives over cover in the mix.Gambhir also attacked the offspinner Yusuf with gusto. He drove him repeatedly before upping the ante with improvised strokes. Twice in succession he backed away, made his own room and cut deliveries outside leg stump to point boundary. The third ball, of the same over, also disappeared to long-on before he fell to a sharp diving take from Connor Williams at midwicket.Williams gave him a non-verbal but animated send-off and Gambhir stalled briefly before walking off to a generous reception from his team-mates. Gambhir had been involved in some heated exchanges throughout the day with the fielders, in particular Azharuddin Bilakhia and Pawar and his celebration upon reaching his hundred – he reversed the bat, pointed the handle to the dressing room, as his wont, and gave a furious wind-up of the wrist – had shown how badly he wanted to make his presence felt.Aditya Jain, with an unbeaten 39, ensured that Delhi would just suffer one more casualty before wrapping up the victory. Chopra had returned from the hospital by the end to see his team cross the line.Delhi would now take on Uttar Pradesh in the final, starting from January 16 in Mumbai.

January 4
Harbhajan Singh is charged with a Level III offence under the ICC Code of Conduct following his on-field altercation with Andrew Symonds on day three of the second Test in Sydney. Harbhajan is summoned to a hearing with match referee Mike Procter for “using language or gestures that offends, insults, humiliates, intimidates, threatens, disparages or vilifies another person on the basis of that person’s race, religion, gender, colour, descent, or national or ethic origin”.January 5
Harbhajan’s hearing is deferred from January 5 till the conclusion of the Sydney Test.January 6
Harbhajan Singh is found guilty of making a racist comment to Andrew Symonds on the third day of the Sydney Test and handed a three-Test ban.January 7
The Indian team rallies around Harbhajan and does not leave for Canberra – as earlier scheduled – until it receives further instructions from the Indian board. Meanwhile, an appeal is filed with the ICC against the ban.James Sutherland, the Cricket Australia chief executive, brushes off rumours that the tour might be called off.Mike Procter defends his decision – which raises a huge outrage in India – and says that the previous day had been one of the most difficult days of his life.January 8
The Indian board says the tour would continue “for the present”.January 9
New Zealand judge John Hansen is appointed commissioner for Harbhajan Singh’s appeal.January 10
The Indian team manager Chetan Chauhan says Andrew Symonds broke a pact when he instigated a confrontation with Harbhajan Singh during the Sydney Test.Malcolm Speed, the ICC chief executive, insists the body will not bow to India’s demands on the Harbhajan Singh issue.January 12
BCCI president Sharad Pawar says there is no possibility India will pull out of their tour of Australia.January 14
The ICC announces that Harbhajan Singh’s appeal over his three-Test ban will be heard in Adelaide on January 29 and 30, which leaves him free to play the last two Tests against Australia.Meanwhile, India drop their charge of abuse against Brad Hogg, Australia’s chinaman bowler.January 25
A leaked copy of his report reveals Procter relied on the evidence of three Australian players – Andrew Symonds, Michael Clarke and Matthew Hayden – in reaching his decision.January 28
Justice John Hansen, the judge scheduled to hear Harbhajan’s appeal, suggests that new evidence in the shape of recordings from the stump microphone could be used. However, the BCCI protest that introducing new evidence at this stage was not a normal court practice.January 29
The racism charge against Harbhajan Singh is dropped and the three-Test ban lifted after an appeal hearing in Adelaide.The charge against the offspinner is reduced from Level 3.3 to Level 2.8, under which he is fined 50% of his match fees.

Over a crackling long-distance phone line, late Sunday night, the representative of a franchise in Indian Premier League made this confession: “There are still so many permutations and combinations to work out. Frankly, I am confused.”A couple of days before Wednesday morning’s auction in Mumbai for some of the biggest names in world cricket, the IPL’s eight franchises are working feverishly, round-the-clock. Tentative team lists are being prepared, strategy meetings are being scheduled at odd hours, ‘sources’ in rival camps are being tapped, former cricketers are being roped in to help the men in suits who own the eight franchises, even the four “icon” players are working the lines to get their favourites on board.Some of this is because this is completely uncharted territory; some of it is due to the high stakes, and millions of dollars, involved. And some of it is down to the complex rules governing the auction and the signing of players.The rules of team composition, in brief: there are four designated ‘icons’ who can only play for their home team [and who each will earn 15% more than the next-best paid player]; each franchise can have eight overseas players from the IPL pool of 85, four players from the local catchment area [specified for each franchise], four Under-22 players, and of course, the big-name Indian players in the pool.Then there’s a new twist: the Cricket Australia stipulation that each franchise can have no more than two Australians.Even so, there is scope for flexibility, as one franchise representative explained: “You can play a maximum of four overseas players in the XI, and you can work around the other two categories by having four under-22 players from the catchment areas. Remember, the icon player can serve as a catchment area player, too.”Within this framework, auction blueprints that are slowly taking shape in corporate boardrooms across India.”Four things are clear,” one representative, who will be bidding at the auction, said. “Sachin Tendulkar, Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly and Yuvraj Singh are not up for sale because they are the designated icons for their cities. The rules say that you have to spend a minimum of US$3.3 million at the auction but can’t go above US$5 million. You can’t take more than two current Australian players per team. And everybody wants Adam Gilchrist or Mahendra Singh Dhoni.”The rest is up in the air,” he said.Not exactly – strategies are being firmed up, and in a way they reveal the different aims of the franchises. One team is planning to build a team of around 20 bottom-up – get the four best India Under-22 players to fill that mandatory quota, get the four best international players at the auction and fill in the middle from the remaining budget on Wednesday or look outside the IPL pool of 85 players, if necessary.Another team, which does not have an icon player, will go for a couple of big names at the auction “just to bring in the crowd” and then focus on multi-skilled cricketers to get them through the tournament. Then there’s one that will not go for big names at all if “the bids shoot up” and concentrate instead on winning the tournament by picking potential match-winners.One franchise has already finalised its wishlist XI. “Ideally, my XI will have six multi-dimensional players, one wicketkeeper/batsman and four bowlers,” the team representative said. “All of them, or at least nine or ten of them, would be top-notch fielders and quick runners between wickets. That’s what I am looking for.”All of them want all the stars from their own area, at any cost: Bangalore wants Anil Kumble and Robin Uthappa, Mumbai Rohit Sharma and Ajit Agarkar, Delhi Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir, Hyderabad VVS Laxman, Chennai Dinesh KarthikThe biggest buzz though is about big names – the superstars who could be worth, as one representative said, anywhere from $600,000- 800,000.Gilchrist rates high because he is a wicketkeeper-batsman with class and style – and because he is, effectively, a free agent following his retirement from cricket next month. Others of his ilk – Kumar Sangakkara, Mark Boucher and Brendon McCullum – also rate highly. The most-wanted batsmen include three current Australian players – Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting and Andrew Symonds – and Sanath Jayasuriya. The bowlers include Brett Lee, Glenn McGrath, Mohammed Asif, Mitchell Johnson and Shaun Pollock.Among the Indian players, the list starts with Dhoni. “Oh, a lot of people will be gunning for Dhoni,” a franchise representative said. “Apart from being a good keeper, he is an explosive match-winning option. Maybe Irfan Pathan, for his dual ability. Others include Virender Sehwag, Gautam Gambhir and Robin Uthappa. And as for the other youngsters, Rohit Sharma might be a big thing, too.”The number of big names signed by a franchise may also be a pointer to its business plans. You may find them doing more work for their teams off the field, in ad campaigns. “That’s why most teams are looking at four to five names with star value. There’s more to this than just cricket,” a senior official of the Indian board said.”You may see more of these big names in teams backed by the bigger corporate houses like Reliance [Mumbai] or United Spirits [Bangalore]. For them, big names like [Shane] Warne or [Glenn] McGrath would be more useful on the brand-building front. You can have them promote your brands, hold coaching clinics under your name, appear on ads, whatever,” he said.A representative from the Bangalore franchise concurred. “I think four or five expensive players are needed for various reasons,” he said. “For their abilities, for sure. The marquee name, for sure – you’ve got to fill seats in the stadium … a lot of the spending will have to be understood as a very high-profile brand promotion for the company, gains that you can’t really put your finger on in terms of money.”So there you have it. Big names or match-winners? Specialists or allrounders? Veterans with dodgy knees or youngsters with attitude? Finally, business or cricket?As the IPL takes its first big step, all these questions distil into one wish, voiced by one franchise representative. “We just hope there’s no confusion at the auction.”

At the start of next week the great and the good from around the world assemble in Dubai for one of the most important meetings in the ICC’s 99-year existence. Not since the Packer Circus has the ICC’s executive board met against a backdrop of such upheaval in the structure of the world game. They not only have to select a chief executive, a potentially divisive task by itself, but have to confront a phenomenon that is threatening to rewrite the rules of game.The Indian Premier League (IPL), which has left several boards floundering helplessly against the tide of cash on offer to their players, has cast a palpable shadow over recent months. The big question is if a window will be carved out in the international calendar for the franchise-based tournament which now has its roster the cream of international talent. Indications are that this is unlikely to happen. It can be argued that the Future Tours Programme (FTP) is flexible enough to allow it to accommodate the IPL. The real problem comes from the extra tournaments and one-day series the boards shoehorn into any gaps in the FTP, and that is down to them to address.What is likely to happen is that there will be an agreement that national duty will get priority over the IPL. The clear message that will send is that domestic competitions are secondary.As far as the ICL goes, the ICC has already made its position clear and the continuing ostracisation of those associated with it will continue informally between the various boards. As with so many things, these issues will dominate the more informal gatherings in which so much is actually decided.The subject of Zimbabwe, the thorn in the ICC’s side that won’t go away, will again be raised. Almost two years after Zimbabwe Cricket started its own, largely discredited, forensic audit into accounts that many inside the country claim are seriously flawed, the ICC’s own independent auditors, KPMG, are set to present their own report.Even before the findings have been presented, the ICC finds itself in a no-win situation. It is certain that malpractices will be revealed – ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed himself pointed them out last June – but it is expected that ZC chairman Peter Chingoka will plead that Zimbabwe’s economy is in such a mess and the local currency so worthless, that nobody adheres to standard practices and every business does whatever is necessary to function.The ICC executive will have to decide whether to accept that argument. This is where politics comes into play. Chingoka has assiduously courted and received the backing of the Indian board in return for his support when push comes to vote. How strong that bond is, is likely to be tested to the full in Dubai, but it is predicted he will survive. The UK government are clearly suspicious, requesting a copy of the audit in advance because, as a Westminster source told Cricinfo, they suspect a potential cover-up and want to see what KPMG have to say for themselves.

Assuming he lives to fight another day, Chingoka himself is also an issue as he is due in London in June for the ICC annual conference but the UK authorities, as things stand, have ruled him persona non grata and refused a visa. Behind-the-scenes meetings to try to get him into the UK have, so far, failed, and the executive will need to decide if they want to hold the meeting without one of their most senior members or move it abroad. Unless the government stands down, it is likely an alternative venue will be sought. That could raise warning signs about next year’s ICC World Twenty20 in England where even if Zimbabwe are allowed, Chingoka again might be turned away.As if that was not enough, Darrell Hair has almost completed the rehabilitation programme agreed with the ICC at the collapse of his racial discrimination tribunal in October. He remains in contract until March 2009 and at some stage the bullet will have to be bitten and a decision made what to do with him. If his rehabilitation has gone well then it becomes hard not to allow him back – by the ICC’s own admission he is a good decision-maker – but harder to see how several countries will permit it. A behind-the-scenes compromise seems the only way out.Recommendations made by the ICC’s chief executives committee last month will also be discussed, including the greater use of technology, with a possible “umpire decision review system” which, if approved, could be trialled as early as this July when England meet South Africa at Lord’s. After the ructions in Australia during the visit of India, a zero-tolerance approach to inappropriate public comment and abusive behaviour by players, team officials and individual board members will be affirmed.The format for the 2011 World Cup will also be approved, but the horse-trading has long since finished and the recommendation of the host countries – a 14-team format with two initial groups of seven – certain to be rubber-stamped.