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Almost two years ago West Indies captain Chris Gayle spoke a mouthful when calling for the board to improve its own performance if it wanted the players to do the same.He was publicly ridiculed by the board’s hierarchy for what a former local prime minister might have termed muscular language in putting his case for balance. He was threatened with disciplinary action because it was felt it wasn’t politically correct to criticise your de facto bosses in public. Generally speaking that statement is true, but it doesn’t necessarily suggest that one’s position is flawed.Truth knows no boundaries, has no friends, takes a natural course like a flowing river. Irrespective of the consequences you might have to face for speaking your mind, it doesn’t change the colour of the picture you have painted.For whatever reason, Gayle escaped sanction for speaking out against the board in public. The decision not to take action against him may have been influenced not only by the fact that he was right, but that public support for his stance was overwhelming.Truth be told, the West Indies skipper can make the same call now, and it is possible that events would play out in the same exact fashion because nothing has really changed from the board’s end, and this is truly an indictment of its leadership.Realistically for me, the only significant gain under current board president Julian Hunte is that he has been able to bridge the gap between the board and the players by inviting the players’ representative, the West Indies Players’ Association, through its president Dinnanath Ramnarine to be part of the decision-making process.Whether it had to do with players contracts, imaging or intellectual property rights or even being caught in the middle of commercial wrangling between telecommunication powerhouses, there used to be great uncertainty amid the tension whether a tour would be jeopardised if the players weren’t available or if, as the board was forced to do a few years back, choose a second-string team to tour Sri Lanka. This appears to have been solved. If this can be considered to be good news then it is very difficult to find anymore.And the board’s latest faux pas with the Stanford Super Series game compounds the situation. Not to mention the board’s chief executive officer Donald Peters putting his foot in his mouth when two players training with the Stanford team were axed for alleged drug abuse.In all of this it is not a case where the board doesn’t have the expertise, it seems like a question of whether it speaks with one voice. Does the right hand know what the left is doing? Are there personality clashes that will further damage the image of the board? Perhaps the biggest and most salient question is how to get the board to function efficiently despite having a core of intelligent and successful people at its disposal?Some may argue that the board sets policy and its up to its administrative staff to carry out these functions on a daily basis. To others this might be seen as a way of shifting blame, so in essence, the buck stops at the top.Bottom line. Hunte promised to put the West Indies Cricket Board in order. The same issues that made headlines before he became president are still hot topics.The board has to get its act together.

Brad Haddin, Australia’s wicketkeeper, believes playing as a specialist batsman on last year’s ODI tour of India will help him when he plays his first Tests there next month. Haddin’s only Test appearances so far have been in front of small numbers in the West Indies and the Indian crowds will be something else entirely.But having played four of the one-day games this time last year, Haddin feels he is well prepared for the noise and buzz of Test cricket in India. “I really enjoyed the atmosphere [batting] over here last time, it was different with the crowd and the heat but it was something you don’t often experience, that sort of hostile crowd anywhere in the world,” Haddin told .”There’s so many people here and you’re out right in the middle of it and it is quite hostile but it’s something you’ve got to deal with and another challenge you’re looking forward to. New South Wales versus Western Australia at the SCG when there’s 200 people there you don’t have the luxury of playing in these pressure situations where you have to deal with the crowd.”Haddin is trying to fill the massive gap left by Adam Gilchrist, whose final Test came against India in Adelaide in January. His role as the No. 7 batsman will be important but his main task is to be sharp behind the stumps and keep the side buoyant through some exhausting days in the field.”I think it’s important over here as a keeper that your tempo’s consistent, because you do get long, hot days and it can get quite draining,” Haddin said. “You don’t want to be high at the start and have low patches and fluctuate too much during the game, you’ve got to make sure you have an even tempo so your game and the fielding is on even keel.”His first Test in India has been a long time coming. Seven years ago he was rushed there as a back-up when Gilchrist had a slight niggle between Tests, although in hindsight Haddin is glad the 23-year-old version of himself was not thrust into the first XI.”I’m actually lucky I didn’t play, I don’t think I was ready to play Test cricket seven years ago,” he said. “The experience was great, I was only here a short time, I was in and out in a couple of days because Adam was fine, but seven years down the track I feel pretty comfortable.”Haddin will be searching for some consistency with the bat during the four Tests after failing to post a half-century during his debut series in the Caribbean. He will also be aiming for an injury-free trip having nursed a broken finger through most of the West Indies tour.

Andrew Symonds will not play Australia’s Tests in India while the incumbent slow bowler Beau Casson has also been overlooked in favour of the uncapped 36-year-old legspinner Bryce McGain. Shane Watson returns to the Test frame and the bowlers Jason Krejza and Peter Siddle are hoping for debuts after joining a 15-man squad with several changes to the group that visited the West Indies this year.Australia are pleased with Ricky Ponting’s recovery from wrist surgery and Matthew Hayden, while chosen subject to completely overcoming his ongoing heel injury, is expected to play. One of the biggest question marks was over Symonds, who has averaged 77.70 in Tests in the past 12 months. He was also one of the central figures in the heated home series against India earlier this year, when he was involved in a racism row with Harbhajan Singh.It was widely expected that Symonds would struggle to be in contention having been sent home from Darwin only a fortnight ago due to the team’s frustration with his attitude. Andrew Hilditch, the chairman of selectors, said Symonds was now going through a process managed by Cricket Australia to give him the chance to decide on his future.”Cricket Australia has told us that selectors will be advised once Andrew can be considered again for selection and we hope we can look forward to that advice in due course because as we all know, a fit and fully-committed Andrew Symonds can be a world beater,” Hilditch said. “In the meantime, our advice was that he was not available to be considered for selection this time.”His exclusion leaves Australia without one of their best players of spin and a part-time bowler on a trip where Harbhajan and Anil Kumble could be a handful. Of equal concern to Australia is that their own slow-bowling stocks are thin, with two untested players the preferred options. Casson, McGain and Krejza were expecting a bowl-off of sorts on their Australia A trip to India this month but rain and injuries meant only McGain had a decent opportunity.Casson, who made his Test debut in Barbados in June and is the only frontline spinner with a Cricket Australia contract, sent down just one over against India A in Bangalore before hurting his hamstring. Krejza had no chance to bowl when the second match in Hyderabad was washed out. McGain picked up three wickets in the opening game but missed out on a second-innings spell due to a minor strain to his right shoulder and has been selected subject to fitness.McGain’s relative success and strong Pura Cup season for Victoria makes him the likely first-choice spinner just a year after he was working full-time in the IT section of a bank. Having been kept out of state cricket for most of his career by a succession of Victoria slow men including Shane Warne, Colin Miller and Cameron White, McGain now has a good chance of becoming Australia’s oldest Test debutant since the 38-year-old Bob Holland in 1984.He will be competing with Krejza, 25, an aggressive offspinner who likes to flight the ball but does not have an especially strong first-class record with 43 wickets at 45.46. He has not managed a five-wicket haul at state level and collected 18 first-class victims at 47.11 in 2007-08, which was his second season with Tasmania having switched from New South Wales.”Bryce McGain was the standout leg-spinner at interstate level last year and we think he is really well suited to the Indian conditions and bowling plans,” Hilditch said. “His story is a great example of how those who perform at interstate level will be rewarded. Jason Krejza had a good season for Tasmania last year but is a selection very much for Indian conditions. The selectors felt right-arm finger spinners would perform well in India and Jason now has a chance to prove himself at the international level.”Siddle, 23, also comes into the squad fresh from the Australia A trip. A right-arm fast bowler with genuine speed and the ability to swing the ball, Siddle has had three stints at the Academy while establishing himself with Victoria. He has had ongoing shoulder problems and missed more than half the Pura Cup season due to injury in 2007-08, but his 33 wickets at 15.75 from five games highlighted his value as a strike weapon.Siddle is likely to be second in line outside the starting pace attack with Doug Bollinger set for a long-awaited Test debut should the opportunity arise. Ashley Noffke was not included in the squad despite being part of the group that visited the West Indies.Australia must also weigh up how to use Watson, who has replaced Symonds as the seventh batsman. Simon Katich’s two Test centuries in the Caribbean make him the likely candidate to fill Symonds’ position in the starting 11, although Watson’s all-round skills and new-found fitness make him a tempting prospect.Despite being on the international scene for six years Watson has played only three Tests, all of which came in 2005. A terrible run with injuries, particularly hamstring problems, has limited him to on-and-off ODI appearances, although he has now established himself as a quality one-day opener and is hoping to transfer the success to the Test arena.The changing nature of Australia’s line-up has left the squad with only four men – Ponting, Hayden, Katich and Michael Clarke – who have played a Test in India. The players depart on September 21 and they will have two warm-up games and nearly a fortnight in India before the first Test in Bangalore, which starts on October 9.Squad: Matthew Hayden, Phil Jaques, Ricky Ponting (capt), Michael Hussey, Michael Clarke, Simon Katich, Shane Watson, Brad Haddin (wk), Brett Lee, Jason Krejza, Mitchell Johnson, Peter Siddle, Bryce McGain, Stuart Clark, Doug Bollinger

Norman Arendse, the president of Cricket South Africa (CSA), has called for better regulation of Twenty20 cricket so that it doesn’t override other formats of the game. His comments come a day after ICC CEO Haroon Lorgat told Cricinfo the world body was re-thinking its own role in light of the proliferation of Twenty20 tournaments.Speaking at CSA’s annual meeting in Johannesburg on Friday, Arendse also revealed CEO Gerald Majola was in talks with Cricket Australia over the formation of a Twenty20 competition along the lines of the Super 14 rugby tournament, contested between clubs from South Africa, Australia and New Zealand.”Twenty20 is a very popular concept, but we need to manage and contain it,” Arendse said. “Private entrepreneurs see it as an opportunity to make money, but we need to preserve the integrity of the game and make sure it is played on an organised and controlled basis.”CSA are moving quickly to immerse themselves in the newest format of the game, with earnings from the Champions League – in which two teams from South Africa will take part – projected at Rand 50 million [USD6.8 million] a year. A host of bilateral and trilateral agreements are being negotiated with Australia and India.”India have the money and the audience, but they need us because we have player power; we have some of the best cricketers in the world,” Arendse said. “There is an issue around the timing, but the Champions League is a fantastic idea and there is a lot of money at stake.”Arendse also spoke about sharing the wealth from such tournaments, a point made by his Sri Lankan counterpart Arjuna Ranatunga. “The IPL was a tremendous success and it was huge for the players. We released them to play in it, but it didn’t bring back a cent to us. Hopefully the Champions League will be payback for us.”He asked the ICC to regulate the formation of multiple cricket leagues within member nations, following the dispute between the Indian Premier League and the Indian Cricket League that has affected the game globally. The ICL has not been sanctioned by cricket boards world over and with the exception of England. ICL recruits have been barred from their respective domestic tournaments.”The IPL/ICL issue still haunts us and we need to manage better the formation of two domestic leagues in the same country,” Arendse, who is a member of an ICC committee on the issue, said. “It could happen tomorrow to any of the other member countries of the ICC and, like FIFA (the football federation), we need to have every aspect of the game fully regulated.”At the moment, the member countries are left to be autonomous and to decide for themselves what they want to do domestically, but the impact of those decisions affects cricket globally.”

An Impressive Sydney Thunder inflicted Perth Scorchers’ first defeat of the BBL season with a comfortable 34-run victory in Canberra.Thunder proved Scorchers were beatable after a dominant all-round performance having set up the victory with a strong 7 for 200 before running through the league leaders’ powerful top-order.There were no heroics this time from red-hot Mitchell Marsh as Scorchers’ six-game winning streak came to a halt, while Thunder (3-3) made a statement.Thunder dominate Scorchers’ attackThunder haven’t really got going this season partly because dynamo Alex Hales has struggled and again he looked out of sorts falling for just 13. They were in deep trouble at 2 for 23 but English import Sam Billings came in and looked the goods from the get go – unlike his beleaguered compatriots earlier in the day at the MCG.He hit a beautiful on-drive boundary first ball and quickly changed the game’s momentum with shots all around the wicket. Billings swept the spinners with aplomb and also took a liking to the extra pace of speedster Lance Morris.He found a willing ally in Jason Sangha who continued his strong form as the pair combined for a century stand to put an increasingly ragged Scorchers under pressure. Billings’ exquisite timing meant he didn’t have to do anything rash until he tried to accelerate in the power surge to fall for a 35-ball 67.Thunder never lost momentum with handy cameos down the order and Jason Sangha the fulcrum throughout. They conjured the toughest task this season by dominating Scorchers’ brilliant attack to post their highest ever score against them and earn a standing ovation from the faithful in the terraces.Scorchers endure sloppy performanceFor the first time this season after winning the bat flip, Scorchers decided to go against their preferred method of batting first. Perhaps the league leaders wanted practice chasing or maybe they knew that seven of the last eight games at Manuka Oval had been won by the team batting second.Whatever the reasoning, the Scorchers struggled despite quick Matt Kelly starring with menacing late swing to finish with three wickets. With Tymal Mills resting, the returning Kelly made the most of his opportunity but the same could not be said of Morris, who made his season debut as an x-factor replacing spinner Peter Hatzoglou. He struggled to find his top gear of 150 kmh/93 mph and bowled just 1.3 overs.Scorchers were shorthanded when Andrew Tye bowled two waist high full tosses in the 15th over and he was not allowed to continue having only bowled 1.3 overs.It highlighted a sloppy performance from Scorchers with the ball and in the field – bad habits which trickled over after a lethargic effort late last game against Melbourne Renegades. Perhaps they are jaded having been confined to the road permanently but the Scorchers clearly didn’t meet their high standards.Disciplined Thunder throttle ScorchersEven though they posted a strong total, Thunder knew the job was not complete but quicks Saqib Mahmood and Nathan McAndrew ensured they didn’t need to stress with five wickets between them.Mahmood bowled with venom to set the tone while McAndrew hustled the batters, including the key wicket of Marsh. His most impressive scalp, however, was Scorchers skipper Ashton Turner who he deceived with a perfectly executed slower ball.Just when Scorchers were making a bold rally, Mahmood stepped up in the power surge with the wicket of Laurie Evans as the disciplined Thunder once again gained a stranglehold.With the quicks doing the heavy lifting, Thunder didn’t need to rely on frontline spinner Tanveer Sangha in a performance that should provide them with genuine belief for the second half of the season.Scorchers misfire in chaseJosh Inglis’ miserable BBL season continued when he was bowled for a golden duck but Scorchers still had hope when Marsh entered the crease and he smoked an early boundary to underline his sublime form.It didn’t last with Marsh enduring a rare failure when he holed out on 6. In-form Kurtis Patterson, making his return from a hamstring injury, and Turner also fell within seven overs.Too much was left for Colin Munro who tried gallantly with a half-century to revive Scorchers but to no avail despite some late fireworks from a pumped-up Tye.Scorchers will rue their off-performance and other teams might sense a blueprint on how to beat them.

Nasir Hossain’s unbeaten run-a-ball 106 got Gazi Group Cricketers home in just 37 overs as they crushed Mohammedan Sporting Club by seven wickets at the BKSP-3 ground in Savar.After shutting down Mohammedan for 220 for 8 in 50 overs, Nasir slammed five sixes and nine fours during his innings, during which he shared a 54-run third-wicket stand with Anamul Haque (54) which rebuild their chase after they lost two wickets in the first 4.1 overs.Then he added 144 runs for the unbroken fourth wicket with Indian recruit Parvez Rasool who made 53 off 57 balls.Mohammedan’s score meanwhile would have been much smaller if their Afghanistan recruit Rahmat Shah and Mehedi Hasan Miraz hadn’t made half-centuries. Shah struck six fours in his 91-ball 78 while Miraz, slowly emerging as an allrounder of note, made 52 off 70 balls.For Gazi Group, seamer Alauddin Babu and offspinner Mahedi Hasan took two wickets each.Rubel Hossain’s third six-wicket haul in List-A cricket derailed Kalabagan Krira Chakra as Prime Bank Cricket Club won by five wickets at the BKSP-4 ground in Savar. Later it was Prime Bank’s Indian batsman Unmukht Chand who took them to their 185-run target with 19 balls to spare.Chand finished on an unbeaten 61 that included four boundaries.Rubel though had laid the foundation for the easy win. He removed both Kalabagan openers Mohammad Ashraful and Jashimuddin before accounting for Mehrab Hossain jnr and Muktar Ali in the middle-order and tail-enders Sanjit Saha and Nabil Samad.File photo – Nasir Hossain slammed five sixes and nine fours in his 106-ball knock•Associated Press

Rubel had taken his previous six-wicket hauls in a span of six weeks in 2013, once in the DPL and the other in an ODI against New Zealand.Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club rounded off a day for the chasing sides with a two-wicket win over Victoria Sporting Club at the Fatullah Cricket Stadium. There was a bit of a flutter in the penultimate over in which Dhanmondi Club lost two wickets but couple of singles in the final over got them to the target of 210.Victoria were bowled out for 209 in 48.2 overs with the Uttam Sarkar top scoring with 88 runs off 102 balls that included five fours and three sixes. Four other batsmen got starts but couldn’t kick on, as left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak finished with four wickets and Sohag Gazi took three wickets.In reply, Dhanmondi Club saw plenty of batsmen getting starts but only Nurul Hasan hitting the match-winning score, 80 off 94 balls with five fours and a six. Left-arm spinner Monir Hossain took three wickets to give Victoria a sniff of victory, but Dhanmondi Club’s tail-end batsmen held on for a tight win.

R Ashwin has said Steven Smith’s look towards the Australian dressing room for DRS advice on day four of the Bengaluru Test was “completely unheard of”. Speaking to his team-mate Cheteshwar Pujara in a video, Ashwin said the incident reminded him of his junior cricket days.”Steven Smith actually turned back and asked the dressing room if he could take a review,” Ashwin said. “That is completely unheard of. The last time I thought that to happen was in an Under-10 game, when my coach used to suggest where point fielders and cover fielders used to stand.”It was really surprising. I have a lot of respect for Steven Smith, but that was very very surprising.”

BCCI comes out in support of Kohli

A day after the Bengaluru Test ended, the BCCI issued a release in support of Virat Kohli and his team with regards to the Steven Smith-DRS referral issue. The Indian board said it had asked the ICC to “take cognizance” of the matter.
“The BCCI, after due deliberation and seeing the video replays of the episode, steadfastly stands with the Indian cricket team and its captain Mr Virat Kohli,” the release said.
“Mr Virat Kohli is a mature and seasoned cricketer and his conduct on the field has been exemplary. Mr. Kohli’s action was supported by ICC elite panel umpire Mr Nigel Llong, who rushed in to dissuade Mr Steve Smith from taking recourse to inappropriate assistance.
“BCCI has requested the ICC to take cognizance of the fact that the Australian skipper Mr Steve Smith in his press conference admitted to a ‘brain fade’ at that moment.”

There was a lot of chat on the field between the Indian and Australian players through the Test match, and Ashwin and Pujara detailed specific instances during their conversation. Pujara said he had been in David Warner’s ear, telling him about Ashwin’s record against him. Ashwin ended the match having dismissed Warner in both innings – and nine times over his career.”Well, see, they were talking a lot and probably sledging is something which, as a unit, we felt that we can give them back,” Pujara said. “They were always under pressure when they walked in to bat, and I wanted to make sure their batsmen were thinking about it, especially David Warner. Whenever he walks in to bat, Ash [Ashwin] is always happy, so I always keep reminding him that Ash is the one who picks [up his wicket].”After dismissing Mitchell Starc, Ashwin sent him off by repeatedly pointing to his own forehead – mimicking the gesture Starc had made after Abhinav Mukund had top-edged him for six in India’s second innings.”I saw yesterday, Abhi [Mukund] pulled Mitchell Starc for a six, he top-edged it for six,” Ashwin said. “But yes, I don’t think he was in any sort of hurry when he pulled that ball, and Mitchell Starc suggested that he would hit him on the helmet. I don’t know, people generally have the habit of saying I’ll hit you back on the helmet at Gabba.”It doesn’t matter, this is Bangalore, so I thought I must tell him that he got hit off me, in the first innings, on the helmet.”Pujara also revealed that he had batted with a sore neck while scoring 92 in India’s second innings.”It was my neck which was troubling me a lot,” Pujara said. “To be honest, it was a serious issue when I went in to bat in the second innings. I would like to thank Patrick Farhart, our physio, who made it possible for me to bat, and bat at No. 3, because there was one stage where I felt I might not be able to bat No. 3 because my neck was really sore. But he worked on it and ultimately I achieved the goal for the team.”