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Adam Gilchrist’s retirement from international cricket will be short-lived after he confirmed he would appear in the Indian Premier League in India during April. Gilchrist will step down from Australian duties in March, but will be back in action for the lucrative Twenty20 series.”I’m signed up like most of our players have,” he said. “I see that as an amazing entertainment package.”Eleven players contracted to Cricket Australia have IPL deals, but the Test team is due to be in Pakistan when the tournament begins. The crowded schedule no longer bothers Gilchrist and he will be free to take part alongside Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath, his fellow retirees.The new format has grown on Gilchrist, who was a reluctant Twenty20 participant when it was first played internationally four years ago. “I was a bit of a traditionalist,” he said, “and wasn’t so sure about this short version of the game.”But over time, and having played more of it and seen the way it works, I’ve realised it’s an important part of the cricket structure now. It is entertainment and I feel like I’ve tried to be entertaining all through my career, but I’ve done the real serious hard yards and enjoyed that and loved all the sweat and the tears and the laughter.”While the huge sums of money being reported will add to Gilchrist’s retirement package, he is also excited to be involved in the innovative concept. “I hear guys talk about World Series Cricket and how exciting it was to be a part of that,” he said. “I see this IPL situation being very similar to that. Who knows where it could grow to? To be part of that founding group would be a huge thrill.”

With one day of the league matches left, we finally know the teams that will be relegated: Bengal, for the first time since the introduction of the relegation system, and Himachal Pradesh, who were promoted last year.Delhi, Saurashtra and Uttar Pradesh seem likely to join Baroda in the semi-finals, though things may yet turn out otherwise. Saurashtra have frustrated Mumbai long enough to almost ensure the one point they need to make it to the semi-finals. Delhi are 95 short of an outright win, which will take them clear of Mumbai who can at best draw against Saurashtra. UP need eight Hyderabad wickets on the final day to end as Group B leaders. If they can get only three points from the match, they will be tied with Andhra at 17 points, but with a better quotient.
ScorecardDelhi shot out Tamil Nadu for 174 to lay the foundation of what should be an easy win to seal a semi-final place and possibly also take them to the top of Group A. Chetanya Nanda took his third five-wicket haul to hasten the end for Tamil Nadu after Pradeep Sangwan and Rajat Bhatia had removed the openers. It was a quick half-century from No. 8 R Ramkumar that took Tamil Nadu beyond 100 as Ramkumar and H Gopinath, from 61 for 6, added 82 for the seventh wicket.Delhi were 10 for 0 at stumps, chasing 105.
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Mohammad Kaif’s unbeaten century and three other half-centuries helped Uttar Pradesh set Hyderabad an improbable target and UP took two wickets before stumps, leaving Hyderabad needing another 383 on the final day. UP started the day at 28 for 0 and the opening stand between the Srivastavas – Tanmay and Rohit Prakash – continued for another 72 runs. After both of them got out for half-centuries, Kaif and Ravikant Shukla took over, scoring at a strike-rate of over 60 to enable UP declare 16 overs before stumps. This was Kaif’s second century of the season, making him UP’s leading run-getter so far.When Hyderabad came out to bat, Praveen Kumar struck in the third over with Abhinav Kumar’s wicket and in the last over Praveen Gupta accounted for Anoop Pai.
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With their fourth loss in six matches which yielded only eight points, Bengal have been relegated to the Plate League for the 2008-09 season. Andhra’s P Vijay Kumar and Y Gnaneshwara Rao took five wickets each to ensure a sixth successive batting failure for Bengal. Chasing 214 for a win that would have given them some chance of avoiding relegation, Bengal were shot out for 112, captain Laxmi Shukla being the top scorer with 39. Manoj Tiwary was the only other batsman to reach double figures; he scored 35.Resuming the day at 147 for 6, with a lead of 170, Andhra added 43 more, thanks to MSK Prasad who scored 54. Ranadeb Bose finished with 7 for 74.
ScorecardRajasthan turned the tables on Himachal Pradesh as they bowled them out for 122 in the second innings, knocked off the 185-run target easily, and won the relegation face-off even after having conceded a 62-run first-innings lead. Sumit Mathur was the chief destructor for Rajasthan as he took 7 for 49 to wreck the Himachal innings after they were 56 for 0 at one stage. With a healthy opening stand, and a first-innings lead already in the bag, Himachal looked on their way to avoid relegation, but they lost seven wickets for 31 runs to be reduced to 87 for 7 in a characteristic collapse. The last three wickets showed some resistance, but could take them to 122 only.Rajasthan then batted with intent, and riding on Vineet Saxena’s unbeaten century and Rajesh Bishnoi’s unbeaten 63, they chased the target down in 41.5 overs.Maharashtra 276 and 18 for 3 (Vinay Kumar 3-3) need another 251 runs to avoid an innings defeat against Karnataka 545 for 9 dec Chipli 135*, Goud 122)
Scorecard After Bharat Chipli and Yere Goud piled the runs on for Karnataka, R Vinay Kumar struck with a hat-trick to set up a depressing end to the season for Maharashtra after they led the Group A halfway into the Ranji Trophy. At the end of the third day, Maharashtra required 251 runs to make Karnataka bat again, with seven wickets in hand.Vinay Kumar’s hat-trick was the fourth in the last three rounds of Ranji Trophy and second against Maharashtra after Delhi medium-pacer Parvinder Awana had demolished Maharashtra with one in the fifth round.Earlier Chipli and Goud feasted on an inexperienced attack to score centuries and take the lead to 269 before they declared with seven overs to go in the day. Goud scored 122, while Chipli stayed unbeaten on 135. Thilak Naidu chipped in with a a half-century.
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A solid batting display by Amol Muzumdar and Ajinkya Rahane might not be enough to take them to the semi-finals as Mumbai ended the day 297 behind Saurashtra’s 484, with eight wickets in hand. Even if they manage to take a first-innings lead, they will have to hope Delhi don’t beat Tamil Nadu outright, which seems highly likely.To begin the day, Mumbai were frustrated by Shitanshu Kotak furthermore, as they took 11.2 overs to take the last Saurashtra wicket, No. 11 Sandip Maniar who partnered Kotak for 73 mintues out of his 796-minute stay at the wicket.Ajinkya Rahane and Amol Muzumdar scored unbeaten eighties, but with a run-rate of 2.46 per over to score 187 for 2 they were always operating against the clock.
ScorecardBaroda took the last seven Orissa wickets for 81 runs, but could not prevent them from taking a first-innings lead. Three points from this game would have ensure Baroda the top position in Group B. In the second innings, Baroda had scored 120 for 3 by stumps, sending the game down the draw path unless there is a dramatic collapse on the final day.Rajesh Pawar took five of the Orissa wickets to fall today to finish his 10th five-wicket haul in first-class cricket.

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Liam Davis outshone his more-fancied top-order colleagues with a century in his second match but Doug Bollinger’s five wickets helped New South Wales fight back late on the first day in Sydney. Davis, a late addition to the side, posted 116 and at the close Western Australia had 6 for 312, with Marcus North unbeaten on 13 and Aaron Heal (2) falling on the final delivery.The Warriors were well on top at 2 for 278 when a late rally from Bollinger with the new ball changed the situation significantly. Bollinger collected three wickets in five overs, the first of which was Davis lbw, ending a five-hour innings that would never have happened but for Shaun Marsh’s late withdrawal with a hamstring injury.Bollinger then grabbed a return catch to send back Adam Voges, who had made 84 and combined with Davis in a 153-run stand, and added Luke Pomersbach (10) to his collection. His 5 for 69 catapulted him to the top of this season’s Pura Cup wicket tally and he now has 39 at 14.35 from only six matches.But not even Bollinger could stop Davis, 23, from registering his maiden first-class century, which came up with a six over square leg off the medium-pacer Greg Mail. He opened with Australia’s latest Test recruit, Chris Rogers, whose return to state duties ended when was caught behind off Bollinger for 16.Another former Test opener, Justin Langer, then joined Davis and the pair added 94 for the second wicket. Langer (54) was Bollinger’s second victim but Davis kept the runs coming and ensured that even allowing for Bollinger’s heroics, the Warriors would have a healthy total to defend.

Tickets for next year’s World Cup that are bought on internet auction sites or from unauthorised outlets will not be honoured and people risk being turned away from matches.Some tickets are already appearing on sites such as eBay and have been receiving bids of more than twice their face value. A package of four tickets for matches in Barbados, with a face value of $US900, had attracted bids higher than $US1900 with a day left in the auction.Stephen Price, the World Cup commercial manager, said officials are working with eBay and internet monitoring services to work out who is selling tickets. “We’re telling people before they make a bid on eBay that those tickets won’t be valid,” he said. “We’re trying to protect people from price gouging.”Price added that the problem had first been noticed last month and that the number of tickets being offered online is in the hundreds rather than thousands.People who have bought any of the 800,000 tickets that are available through official channels won’t have received them yet as mailing only starts in January. “People are selling tickets they haven’t even received yet,” Price said.

Matara Sports Club defeated Kurunegala Youth Cricket Club a by 12 runs in their Premier Limited Overs match which was held at NCC Grounds today. In a tense, low scoring affair Matara scored just 140 but then bundled out Kurunegala for just 128.Kurunegala had won the toss and elected to field first. The decision looked to have been justified as the opening bowlers exploited the moisture that remained in the wicket after heavy rains during the previous night.Kumara, the opening bowler, proved to be a real handful. He struck two early blows by dismissing Lokuge and Ravin to leave Matara 30 for 2. The batting side slipped to 109 for 7 before being rescued by Ramzan, who top scored with 40 runs. He added a valuable 30 runs with Buddika (30). When the pair were separated, Matara lost their remaining wickets for just 1 run.Kurunegala started the run chase in positive fashion. The openers, Kariyawasam (11) and Rajapaksa (22) added 29 runs for the first wicket. Jayawardana (11) took the score to 49 before he was stumped. The Kurunegalan innings then went into freefall as three wickets fell for just 9 runs.When 24 runs were added for the fifth wicket and 28 for the 6th the batting looked to have recovered sufficiently. However they lost 5 wickets for just 18 runs to give Matara a dramatic victory in the 48th over of the match.

The death of Hansie Cronje, South Africa’s disgraced former captain who was killed in a plane crash in the Western Cape in June 2002, may have been no accident, according to a report in the latest edition of Observer Sport Monthly. The report alleges that Cronje, who had been banned for life from cricket for his part in the match-fixing scandal, may have been murdered to ensure that the full extent of the corruption never reached the light of day.Cronje, who had been forging a new career as a businessman, was killed along with two pilots when his chartered plane crashed in mountains near his estate in George, a small town on South Africa’s Garden Route. It later transpired that Cronje had missed an earlier flight and had arranged a lift in a cargo plane, but at the time no suspicious circumstances were reported. Given that Cronje was a devout Christian, it struck many as being the ultimate act of divine retribution.But Gavin Branson, the chief executive of AirQuarius, the owners of the crashed plane, is one of many people who remains troubled by the circumstances. “There are a lot of unknowns about what happened,” Branson is reported as saying. “I think it will be a long time before the [Civil Aviation Authority] report comes out. I have a million questions that I haven’t even started asking yet. We’d been flying that route daily and in far worse weather without experiencing even a hint of trouble.”The investigation is destined to take a long time, especially as there are unconfirmed rumours that the ground landing system at George Airport had been tampered with. “I understand that police have found evidence of sabotage,” one investigator is reported as saying. “But they’re reluctant to go public on this. The full cost of a follow-up investigation would be too great in a country that is already riven by crime. It suits the police to have a closed case.””A lot of people wanted Cronje dead,” adds the source. “They feared that he would one day tell the full truth, and then many more would be implicated. I know people who have looked closely into what happened but who were warned off by threatening phone calls. They’re scared of getting a bullet in the head.”Cronje, who first stood in as South Africa’s captain at the age of 24, finished his career with a record of 27 victories in 53 Tests, making him South Africa’s most successful captain in Test history. He scored 3,714 runs at an average of 36.4, including six centuries, and to this day remains revered by many of his former team-mates, despite his spectacular fall from grace.At the King Commission in 2000-01, which investigated the extent to which match-fixing had permeated the game, Cronje confessed to what he called “an unfortunate love of money”. He claimed to have accepted at least $130,000 from illegal bookmakers, although recent revelations suggest that he possessed as many as 72 bank accounts in the Cayman Islands. His death, one way or another, has ensured that the full story may never be told.Click here to read the full Observer Sport Monthly article

Thilan Samaraweera, whose century rescued Sri Lanka from a dicey 99 for 6, said the key to securing a win in the second Test at the Queen’s Park Oval would be how the visitors utilise the new ball.”The pitch is still allowing the bowlers to seam the ball around, and the bounce is up and down,” he said. “If we can get two or three wickets with the new ball, we can put some pressure on them, since we have a world-class spin bowler (in Muttiah Muralitharan). Chris Gayle was getting the ball to turn a little bit, but the new ball will be the key.”Samaraweera’s 138-run partnership with Chaminda Vaas for the seventh wicket left West Indies chasing a challenging 253 for victory. “My approach when I went in to bat was to play as straight as possible,” he said. “I played a bad shot in the first innings – a ‘nothing shot’ – and found playing straight and playing off the front foot was the key.”My strategy was to bat through the innings, but I think Chaminda (45) helped a lot since he was batting so well at the other end. When I came to the crease, we were 32 for 3 and I felt that we could still get a good score since Tillakaratne Dilshan, Chamara Silva, and Vaas were still to come.”Besides shoring up Sri Lanka’s fortunes, his sixth Test century is also likely to guarantee him an extended run in the side. “This innings is important for me, since there is a lot of Test cricket coming for us this year – we have about six Tests remaining – and I feel strongly that I can establish myself in the side again,” he said. “I have a key role to play in the side. I have to play among a host of stroke-players, and I can play the long, patient innings which I did a few years ago when we were in a similar situation and I scored a hundred against Pakistan.”I also thought this innings was crucial because I had set myself the goal in this series to take the pressure off Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, since they have been tremendous for Sri Lanka over the last three or four years.”Looking ahead to the fourth day’s play, and a possible series win, he said: “We want to create history by becoming the first Sri Lanka team to win a Test series in the Caribbean, and whitewash West Indies in a series at home for the first time in their history.”

Rumours about Sourav Ganguly signing up with a new marketing agency have gained ground, with a rediff.com report suggesting that Nimbus, a sports production company, have clinched the deal with a Rs 60-crore offer (US$12.5 million approx) over a five-year period. Ganguly’s current contract, with Percept D’Mark, expires on September 22, and according to the report, Nimbus is likely to announce its deal with Ganguly on the same day. The report also states that Ganguly would be guaranteed the entire amount even if he does not remain captain of the Indian team over the five-year period.Rumours about Ganguly signing up with Nimbus have persisted for more than a month, even though Harish Thawani, co-chairman of World Sports Nimbus, had denied them in early August. The had quoted him as saying: “We have given no such proposal to Ganguly, nor are we contemplating to. There is no resolution even in the company board of taking cricketers on board for celebrity management.”

One of Kenya’s most influential organisations, the Coast Cricket Association (CCA), has called on the International Cricket Council to intervene to halt the constitutional review currently being undertaken by the Kenyan Cricket Association.The review was announced by the KCA in October, and was backed by the ICC, who appointed Bob Merriman, the chairman of Cricket Australia, to oversee the process. But opponents of the board – and there are many – argued from the start that it was little more than a cosmetic exercise aimed at maintaining the current management’s control.In a letter to the ICC chief executive Malcolm Speed, Samir Inamdar, the CCA’s influential chairman, wrote: “Having regard that over 90% of cricket is played in Nairobi and Mombasa, it is difficult to resist the conclusion that the KCA national executive have, by using the name of the ICC, embarked on an exercise in subterfuge by hand-picking its own appointees simply to serve their own narrow personal interest without regard to the views and wishes of any of the other stakeholders in Kenya cricket, and such an exercise is clearly doomed to fail.” He concluded that the review would deepen hostility between the board and the bulk of stakeholders.And Inamdar was unhappy that the KCA set up the review and appointed members without any reference to stakeholders. “The composition of this committee appears also to have changed,” he told Wisden Cricinfo, “again without any notification.”He continued: “No account appears to have been taken either by the ICC or KCA of the fact that the existing KCA constitution is under scrutiny by the courts, and that at the heart of the dispute between the KCA and its provinces is the question of democracy, transparency and accountability … all of which are underlying problems which need to be addressed first before launching into a review of this kind.”Inamdar said that a properly constituted review was needed, but not one designed simply to authenticate the KCA’s existing structure. The KCA, he added, had recently told him that it would be holding meetings in Mombasa without asking for the input of the CCA, which runs the region. Nor had the views of the Nairobi Provincial Cricket Association, Kenya’s largest single stakeholder, been sought.The KCA is embroiled in an ongoing court case with the CCA over its constitution. Sources explained that the announcement of the review was made without any reference to them, and that the general consensus was that it had been instigated for two reasons: one was to bypass the legal process, and the other was to appease the ICC, which had privately been understood to have grown weary with the constant in-fighting.The main thrust of the opponents’ objections stemmed from one simple fact. Given that the constitution being used by the KCA was subject to legal review and is, it is argued, illegal, the board had no right to take such a major review until that fundamental point had been resolved.They were also deeply unhappy that Merriman’s involvement was likely to give the process authenticity. Apart from a brief visit to Nairobi, where he was landed by the KCA with a press conference he was not expecting, Merriman’s role was more of an overseer than a hands-on representative.Inamdar said that Merriman scored an own goal when, in that conference, he “welcomed the formation of this ‘independent’ body and asked everyone to take careful heed of what happened in Zimbabwe”. Said Inamdar: “Many of us here fail to see the connection between our constitutional review and the findings of the ICC’s commission of inquiry into the allegations of racism in Zimbabwe cricket. Having made these observations to the local press, Merriman flew out of Nairobi less than 24 hours after his arrival. This committee includes his name as a member. Presumably he will not participate in any active sense, which makes a nonsense of the ICC’s stated role in overseeing this review for the betterment of Kenyan cricket.”Speed is understood to have replied to the letter, and has promised to investigate the claims.

The History of Logan Park, edited by John Heslop. Published by the University Oval Development Committee. Price $29.95.It is interesting that books on two sports grounds in New Zealand should be published around the same time, especially when the subject matter is not entirely top of the pops.The Basin Reserve’s history is much more international in shape.But in the case of John Heslop’s effort of editing “The History of Logan Park”, for the University Oval development committee, anyone who has ever been associated with the ground of significance in Dunedin and the home of Otago University’s sport, will appreciate an enduring record of the Park’s development from the tidal lake to the international standard sporting complex that will be presented when the latest ground renovations are complete.It is not beyond the realms of possibility that Logan Park’s University Oval will be the next Test cricket venue to be listed in New Zealand.An extensive development has taken place at the ground, largely as the result of the continuing encroachment of rugby into traditional cricket time at the main sports ground in the city of Carisbrook.Heslop provides an in-depth record of the characters and times that resulted in the development of the ground, largely pushed through after years of debate as the venue for Dunedin’s Exhibition of 1925-26.The arguments are well documented as is the life story of the man after whom the Park is named, John Logan.An interesting style has been used in the book, to break up the material into more easily identifiable sections. And at the end of each section, an index is provided.The second part of the book records the history of the Otago University Cricket Club which was based at the Park. Compiled originally in 1978 by esteemed Dunedin historian George Griffiths, the story is completed with an addendum by Heslop and it is sad to note a touch of concern about the future viability of the amalgamated clubs of University and Grange.But Griffiths’ work provides an indelible record of the club’s place in Otago cricket history and recalls the strength of the club in the 1960s when it was able to call on a squad of outstanding strength, built around the fast bowling skill of Murray Webb and the abilities of players who had, or would, play first-class cricket in: Ray Hutchison, Murray Parker (who toured Pakistan and India with New Zealand in 1976), Richard Ellis, Graham Henry, Rudi Webster, Russell Stewart, Stewart Edward, John Mitchell and Ata Matatumua.The Albion Cricket Club also featured at the ground for a significant period of its history, shifting to its home at Culling Park in 1958. The background of this club is provided by Iain Gallaway, and he recounts a fascinating tale of a run out at the bowler’s end orchestrated by Albion’s captain of the day, Walter Hadlee. The season was 1945/46 and Hadlee was the New Zealand captain at the time.He attempted to run out former Otago fast bowler Ron Silver. The umpire said he wasn’t out but Hadlee then proceeded to tell the umpire that Silver was out.”The umpire stood his ground and so did Ron and we all waited apprehensively as the argument developed and tensions grew. Finally our skipper stated that if the umpire did not give Ron out the game would not continue so Ron was given out! Some 20 metres from the huts he threw his bat away and it crashed through one of the hut windows. He let everyone on Logan Park know in stentorian tones that he would never play another game of cricket – and he was true to his word!” Gallaway related.A similar record of the most prolific provider of All Blacks for New Zealand’s rugby teams, Otago University is also included in the book with the contribution provided by Hugh Tohill.Each section has its own collection of timeless photographs.The hope has to be that the burgeoning interest in New Zealand’s history will be the inspiration for more local sporting histories of the this type. Logan Park is certainly well prepared for the next stage of its history as a result of Heslop’s methodical work in this publication.