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Lancashire might consider they slightly underachieved on the second day of the 250th Roses match

Jon Culley at Headingley30-May-2010
ScorecardHaving put together solid partnerships for each of the first three wickets, Lancashire might consider they slightly underachieved on the second day of the 250th Roses match. When every batsman sets down the foundations for a good innings, at least one would be expected to build something substantial. In the event, none did, and while Ashwell Prince set himself impressively for a meaningful send-off in the last match of his Lancashire stint, the South African will feel he let an opportunity slip in being out for 78.Nonetheless, Lancashire have the upper hand, although after a day lost to the weather, the way to a positive outcome may need some canny declarations. Yorkshire’s bowlers worked hard but have not found the pitch particularly helpful. There is not too much pace and the ball has rarely deviated much.It was hard going for spectators, too. Some gathered in the lower tier seats of the unfinished pavilion but nowhere offered shelter from a fierce and chilly wind. Shirts rippled and flags stretched for much of the day.Lancashire won the toss and revealed a changed batting line-up, in which Luke Sutton dropped back to No. 7 after his three-match run as opener, an experiment that was skewed slightly by the hundred he made against Somerset at the start of the run.The new team of Paul Horton and Stephen Moore looked better equipped and were going along solidly, taming the new ball, until Horton pushed at a delivery from Oliver Hannon-Dalby and was caught at third slip. Still, their partnership was the equal, at 53, of Lancashire’s highest for the first wicket this season.The arrival of Prince alongside Moore denied Yorkshire any quick follow-up to their breakthrough, the pair seeing Lancashire through to lunch satisfactorily at 99 for 1. Tino Best, wicketless, was looking visibly frustrated at times, while Ajmal Shahzad, back home after England duty in the Caribbean, probably needed some overs.However, his pace is always liable to pose problems and did so for Moore, into his 40s and looking to kick on, when a ball that hit the pitch hard contrived to skid rather than bounce and slipped under his defences. Moore stared ruefully at the pitch as he turned for the pavilion but there were not many balls that behaved similarly.Coming early in the second session, the wicket encouraged Yorkshire but again there was a long wait for more success. Mark Chilton had a hairy moment when he edged Shahzad but the ball somehow went between the first and second slips with neither able to react.Once he had settled, Chilton began to find gaps in the field regularly but like Moore he found his progress ended just as he must have felt well set.This time Rashid was rewarded for persistence, three overs before tea. The legspinner bowled with discipline but was into his fifth over before he was able to make something happen, getting some bounce and enough turn to induce an edge from Mark Chilton, taken one-handed by Jacques Rudolph at slip to end a 27-over partnership of 81.At the other end, however, nothing much had troubled Prince, with a second century for Lancashire seemingly there for the taking. But he, too, failed to deliver the pay-off, going back to a ball from Steve Patterson that looked at first to be one he could despatch towards the off-side boundary but which maybe bounced more than he expected, the upshot being that he somehow jabbed the ball straight to short extra cover.Croft was then caught at mid off in what was undoubtedly the poorest piece of cricket of the day as Rashid began a new spell with a chest-high full toss and the allrounder miscued an attempted heave to midwicket.Lancashire are well placed and if Tom Smith, unbeaten on 46, can buck the trend and make his good start count they will be in better shape still.

The controversial run-out of Pakistan batsman Umar Amin in the dead rubber against Bangladesh has again brought into focus the much-debated spirit of cricket

Siddarth Ravindran in Dambulla21-Jun-2010The controversial run-out of Pakistan batsman Umar Amin against Bangladesh has again brought into focus the much-debated spirit of cricket.Amin had punched a delivery to long-off and completed an easy single in the 22nd over with Pakistan coasting at 135 for 1. After grounding his bat, Amin started to walk across the stumps to take up his position at the non-striker’s end because the bowler, Mahmudullah, was bowling from round the wicket. While doing so, Amin was out of the crease with his bat was in the air, and the bowler – not facing the batsman, and unaware of Amin’s position – perfunctorily whipped off the bails. Shakib Al Hasan, fielding at extra cover, noticed Amin was out of his crease and appealed for a run-out. The third umpire declared the batsman out. Pakistan coach Waqar Younis, speaking to reporters after the game, termed the dismissal “unfortunate”.Younis said that though Amin was out according to the rules, it was sad his innings had ended in that manner. “I mean he was out, if you open the law book, he’s out, but the way whole thing happened, it feels sometimes it was sad,” Younis said. “He’s a youngster, he’s talented, he needed time out there, which I think he took. He looked very good, but it’s just unfortunate.”Jamie Siddons, the Bangladesh coach, did not wish to comment on the incident. “I wasn’t even watching, so I don’t have a clue,” he said.The spirit of cricket had also taken centre stage during last year’s ICC Champions Trophy when Angelo Mathews was recalled by England captain Andrew Strauss after he was run out following a collision with bowler Graham Onions while turning for the second run.There have been several incidents similar to the Amin run-out in the past, the most recent being Muttiah Muralitharan being declared run-out during the Christchurch Test in 2006 after the stumps were broken once he rushed to congratulate his batting partner Kumar Sangakkara for completing a hundred. The man who dismissed Murali on that occasion was Brendon McCullum, who had been involved in another such run-out, of Chris Mpofu, in a Test against Zimbabwe in 2005.Perhaps the most famous of this sort of dismissal is former England captain Tony Greig running out Alvin Kallicharran during the first Test against West Indies at Port-of-Spain in February 1974. Unbeaten on 142, Kallicharan watched Bernard Julien defend the final delivery of the day. He had backed up a few steps, but seeing the wicketkeeper flick off the bails to indicate the end of the day he continued to walk towards the pavilion. Greig then threw down the stumps at the bowler’s end and Kallicharan was ruled out. The decision, however, was overruled after a two-and-a-half hour meeting at the ground.

A round-up of the second round of games from the European Under-19 Championship

Cricinfo staff24-Jul-2010
Scorecard
Twenty-four hours after Scotland defeated Ireland on the last ball – Jersey scraped through by one run, again off the last ball, against the Netherlands. Needing five to win from the last over with one wicket left, Paul van Meekeren had seemingly guaranteed a tie for the Dutch by driving Charles Perchard through the covers, but a brilliant diving stop from Andrew Rabet at long-off kept the batsmen to a couple.Three dot balls followed before van Meekeren took a single to leave last man Werner Erkelens needing two from one. Perchard bowled it full and straight and though Erkelens did get bat on it it was only enough to return the ball to the bowler, who comfortably won the footrace to the non-strikers’ stumps, sending Jersey into raptures.Earlier in the day, Jersey were reduced to 58 for 6 by some impressive Dutch seam bowling. Skipper Sebastian Braat led from the front, picking up 3 for 28 in his ten, while Philip van den Brandeler continued his good firm by taking 3 for 26. The most economical spell, however, belonged to left-armer Zacahary van Baren, who got through his ten for only 14.From here, though, Alex Noel (30) and Alex Cooke (31) staged a recovery, and their dogged seventh-wicket partnership of 64 hoisted the Jersey total into the realms of competitiveness: 140 for 8.In reply, the Dutch started equally poorly, losing wickets to the seam of Perchard, Cooke, and Noel before Stevens and James Faudemer took over. The left-arm spinners bowled beautifully together, conceding only 29 runs from their combined overs. The seamers returned and when Aiden McGuire ran out van Baren to leave the Dutch 102 for 8, the Islanders had become favourites.Nevertheless, a ninth-wicket stand of 33 between van Meekeren and the tenacious James Gruijters swung the match back towards the Netherlands before Gruijters – whose mature 42 was undoubtedly the innings of the day – was caught at point with the score on 135. By this stage, a number of Derriaghy locals had made their way to the ground and so a sizeable crowd was present to witness another remarkable climax in this absorbing week of cricket.
Scorecard
At Belmont, Scotland had a comfortable seven-wicket victory over Denmark. Winning the toss, Scotland had no hesitation in asking their opponents to bat first and Denmark were soon in trouble on a soft, damp pitch.Scotland captain Paddy Sadler bowled his ten overs on the trot, taking four wickets for just 10 runs as the top order collapsed. Bashit Javed at No. 6 was the only batsman to get to grips with the bowling and pitch, making 32 of the 55 runs scored. Denmark fell to a final total of 100 in the 45th over. Freddie Coleman grabbed the last three wickets at a cost of four runs in four overs.Scotland began slowly, losing TomMcBride with just 11 on the board. Coleman and Luthra then took the score to 38 before Coleman was run out following a fine piece of work. However, Luthra was joined by Bailwal and they took control and saw Scotland to within sight of victory before Luthra was caught on the deep midwicket boundary by Raja.Scotland reached their target in the 28th over, Bailwal finishing the match with the only six of the day. This victory leaves Scotland with two victories after two rounds of matches.
Scorecard
Ireland put the disappointment of their reversal against Scotland firmly behind them when they comprehensively defeated Guernsey by seven wickets at Stormont.Adam Martel had put Guernsey in a strong position with his 46 from 80 balls, which included five fours and a six. At 94 for 1, Guernsey were well set, but the dismissal of Martel by Irish captain George Dockrell proved a pivotal moment in the game, and Guernsey contrived to lose their last 9 wickets for just 44 runs to finish on 135 all out in just over 44 overs.Andy McBrine (3 for 25), George Dockrell (2 for 13), Shane Getkate (2 for 23) and Barry McCarthy (2 for 25) were the successful wicket takers. Any thoughts that Guernsey could make Ireland struggle were quickly dispelled as Jason van der Merwe and Ryan Hunter launched a blistering attack on the opening bowlers. The pair added 61 in just 4.3 overs, with Van der Merwe striking 4 fours and a six in his 28 from just 14 balls.Hunter went on to score a deserved half century making 55 from just 49 balls. Andy McBrine (20*), and George Dockrell (13*) saw Ireland over the finishing line with more than 30 overs to spare.

Legendary West Indian batsman Brian Lara is to deliver the keynote address as guest of honour at Zimbabwe’s CBZ Bank Cricket Awards in Harare on September 3

Cricinfo staff25-Aug-2010Legendary West Indian batsman Brian Lara is to deliver the keynote address as guest of honour at Zimbabwe’s CBZ Bank Cricket Awards in Harare on September 3. The awards honour the men and women who have made a particularly impressive contribution to cricket in the country over the past year.”We are honoured that a cricket personality like Brian Lara has agreed to come and be with us on the day that we will honour the stars of Zimbabwe Cricket,” said Zimbabwe Cricket’s managing director Ozias Bvute. “If you have to put it in a football context, it’s like Pelé agreeing to come and be the guest of honour at our Soccer Stars of the Year.”We are humbled by Lara’s decision to come here because to us it means a lot more than him gracing the occasion but also shows that he is happy to be a partner of Zimbabwe Cricket. For us that is very important in our quest to get back to where we believe we belong among the Test playing nations of this world and you can’t get a better player, as a model Test cricketer for your players, than Brian Lara.”The ceremony includes awards in the categories of Best Schools Cricketer, Batsman, Bowler and Female Cricketer of the Year, as well as paying tribute to the country’s best umpire, scorer, groundsman, coach and administrator, among a host of other prizes.

Toby Roland-Jones fell foul of the London tube strike congestion to miss the first 40 minutes of play but returned to help Middlesex bowl out promotion-chasing Worcestershire for 313

07-Sep-2010
ScorecardToby Roland-Jones fell foul of the London tube strike congestion to miss the first 40 minutes of play but returned to help Middlesex bowl out promotion-chasing Worcestershire for 313 on the opening day of the County Championship Division Two game at Lord’s.Roland-Jones was not held responsible for his late arrival by the club and the 22-year-old fast bowler came back well from his stressful start to the day to take 4 for 51, making him the pick of the Middlesex attack. Several other Middlesex players – including England pair Steven Finn and Owais Shah – also struggled to make it to the ground on time, although it was only Roland-Jones who actually missed the 10.30am start.Many roads were gridlocked in the capital as a result of the 24-hour tube strike and the resulting increase in those trying to get to and from work by car, and Roland-Jones was held up in traffic so bad that he could not even consider using an alternative route to Lord’s.But when he finally made it onto the field, after Worcestershire had won the toss and chosen to bat, he wasted little time before making an impact with the wicket of left-handed opener David Wheeldon, caught behind to one angled across him.Middlesex, who opted for a four-man frontline pace attack and left out veteran offspinner Shaun Udal, were unlucky not to get more than the one wicket of Wheeldon, for 14, before lunch. The ball beat the edge of the bat on numerous occasions, although two catches were missed – one offered by Wheeldon when he had made seven.A mid-afternoon collapse saw Worcestershire slide from 101 for 1 to 126 for 4. Daryl Mitchell, who had batted solidly for 47, left a ball from Finn which trimmed his off bail, and Vikram Solanki edged Neil Dexter to first slip on 39.Roland-Jones then contributed again, moving one away from Alexei Kervezee to have the Dutch right-hander caught at second slip. Moeen Ali and Shakib Al Hasan repaired some of the damage with a fifth-wicket partnership of 78, but former Bangladesh captain Shakib then mishit Shah’s offspin to midwicket after scoring a bright 34.James Cameron swung Dexter’s medium pace over mid-wicket for six – a stroke Moeen had also earlier played – but the Middlesex captain hit back by having Moeen well held to his left by Shah at slip as he tried to steer a short ball to third man. Moeen hit a six and 10 fours in an attractive innings of 66.After Cameron had fallen to the second new ball, lbw to Pedro Collins as he fell across his stumps, and Ben Cox had been superbly held by a diving Dan Housego at backward point to give Dexter figures of 3 for 50, some excellent hitting by Gareth Andrew helped Worcestershire to a third batting bonus point.Andrew finally miscued an attempted pull at Roland-Jones to be caught at long-off for 36, but last pair Jack Shantry and Alan Richardson made sure the visitors got past 300. Roland-Jones finished his eventful day by having Richardson caught at the wicket swinging the bat.In Middlesex’s solitary over of batting before the close, nightwatchman Finn played out a maiden from Alan Richardson.

Mohammad Sami, the Pakistan fast bowler, is targeting a return to the national team for the series against South Africa in the UAE in October and the World Cup early next year

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Sep-2010Mohammad Sami, the Pakistan fast bowler, is targeting a return to the national team for the series against South Africa in the UAE in October, and the World Cup early next year. Sami last made an international appearance in May, during the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean, and has been out of reckoning since. However, with the uncertainty over the availability of fast bowlers Mohammad Amir and Mohammad Asif following the spot-fixing controversy, Sami could be in the frame for a comeback.”I’ve not taken much time off during the off season and have been working hard on my game at the Rashid Latif Cricket Academy, as well as training on my own,” Sami told . “I want to ensure that I am 100% ready when the new season starts. I am hopeful that the hard work will pay off and I can be given another chance for Pakistan.”Sami began his international career on a high, grabbing eight wickets on Test debut in 2001, against New Zealand in Auckland, and a hat-trick against Sri Lanka in Lahore in his third game. He formed a promising opening bowling combination with Shoaib Akhtar, and was tipped for a bright future, but failed to meet expectations, averaging 50.73 in 34 Tests to date.”Sometimes statistics don’t always tell the full story,” Sami said. “I don’t want to offer excuses, but those that have followed my career will appreciate that I have not had the best of luck. I am a better bowler than my statistics suggest and I will prove that in the coming months and years if given the opportunity.Sami was dropped from the national team in 2007 and he went on to participate in the unauthorised Indian Cricket League before returning to the official fold. Since his return, he has played just one Test, the controversial defeat against Australia in Sydney in January. “I was given one opportunity in Australia and took three wickets in the first innings. I removed the top three Australian batsmen and felt in good shape, but then I never played in the next match. I’m desperate to be given another chance and to show what I can do, if given a decent run in the side.”Sami, currently the captain of the domestic team Karachi Blues, has a significantly better ODI record, averaging 28.44 for his 118 wickets. Selection to the 2011 World Cup squad means more to him than just making an international comeback. “The memory of the 2007 World Cup still haunts all of the squad,” he said. The tournament itself was a disaster for Pakistan cricket and of course Bob Woolmer’s death was heart-breaking for all of us. I want to put that terrible tournament behind me and to make the 2011 World Cup a success for Pakistan.”

Former Australia fast bowler Geoff Lawson has called for Ricky Ponting to be removed as captain to enable him to concentrate more on his batting

ESPNcricinfo staff14-Oct-2010Geoff Lawson, the former Australia fast bowler, has called for Ricky Ponting to be removed as captain so he can concentrate on his batting. Australia were beaten 2-0 by India in a Test series where Ponting’s tactics drew criticism from various quarters, including former team-mate Shane Warne. The seven-wicket loss in Bangalore was also Australia’s third in a row, prompting concerns ahead of the Ashes later in the year.”I mean he’s now lost five series, it may be time to say ‘look mate, we’ve got Michael Clarke ready to go with a nice fresh young mind, he can be the captain and you focus on your batting and try to restore yourself to the level we know you’re capable’,” Lawson told .Ponting notched up three half-centuries in four innings on the tour of India, his best returns in a series in the country. But Lawson claimed he could have done better. He referred to Sachin Tendulkar’s experience with captaincy and the prolific run he’s enjoyed since being relieved of his leadership duties.”It’s a great point and Ricky’s still batting reasonably, he got two scores of 70 in this [Bangalore] Test match,” he said. “The difference is that Tendulkar got a double-hundred and then backed it up with a 50-odd not out and obviously he can focus on those big scores.”You’ve got to look at the way Ponting is batting and think mentally he can’t concentrate for long enough.”

A round-up of the second day of the second round of matches in the Super League of the Ranji Trophy

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Nov-2010Group AR Ashwin was in his element on the second day•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

Rohit Sharma may have been demoted in the BCCI contracts lists that were announced today, but he hit back, pounding his third first-class double-century as Mumbai bossed over Bengal at Eden Gardens in Kolkata. Resuming at 287 for 4, Mumbai suffered early setbacks when Abhishek Nayar and Ajit Agarkar fell within the first eight overs of play. Rohit was in no mood to relent though, and found a willing partner in No. 8 Iqbal Abdulla to take the game away from the hosts. Abdulla fell 18 short of his second first-class ton, after swinging 12 fours in an aggressive effort. Rohit had looked ominous in his brief stay on the first evening and carried on in the same vein, stroking 23 fours and three sixes to push Mumbai towards 600. Butter-fingered Bengal let themselves down in the field, with Shreevats Goswami, Wriddhiman Saha and Ashok Dinda dropping easy catches off Rohit. Ramesh Powar and Dhawal Kulkarni chipped in to help Rohit reach 200 at which point Wasim Jaffer declared. There was more trouble for Bengal before stumps, with Aavishkar Salvi removing opener Arindam Das cheaply, leaving them facing a mountain on day three.

Form Guide – Tracking ESPNcricinfo’s players to watch this season

• R Ashwin: Came into his own on the second day, running through Delhi with his ninth first-class five-for

• Rohit Sharma: Made the most of three dropped chances and scored a fluent double-ton

• Virat Kohli: Could not convert his century into a mammoth effort and his untimely exit gave TN an opening

• Piyush Chawla: Scored a sparkling 79, but the real challenge will come when he bowls tomorrow

• Ravindra Jadeja: Failed with the bat in the first innings, but will hope to make it up with the ball

• Jaidev Unadkat: Made an instant impact before stumps and will want to make further dents on the third day

• Abhinav Mukund: His cheap dismissal heralded a top-order collapse for TN

Delhi ran into an inspired spell of offspin from R Ashwin to stumble from a position of strength, before their bowlers wrested back the initiative against Tamil Nadu on an intriguing day of cricket at the at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The slide began early, with centurion Virat Kohli driving Ashwin straight to midwicket after adding 20 to his overnight 119. His exit gave TN an opening and Ashwin pushed through with purpose, registering his ninth five-wicket haul at the first-class level, as Delhi lost 7 for 23 to fold up for 318. The hosts held the upper hand when they came out to bat, but they had to contend with Delhi’s fired-up attack. Pawan Suyal removed Abhinav Mukund cheaply and, despite holding firm for a 45-run stand, neither Srikkanth Anirudha nor Arun Karthik could kick-start TN’s reply. Dinesh Karthik and R Satish fared even worse as left-arm spinner Vikas Mishra got into the groove, reducing the home side to 82 for 5. Delhi bowled to a plan, with Suyal and Parvinder Awana bowled fast early on and used the short ball to good effect before Mishra dried up the runs with a good line and length and forced the batsmen into mistakes. S Badrinath responded with a mix of caution and aggression, striking two sixes and three fours in his unbeaten 45 off 127 balls, to take his side to stumps without further loss.Assam got themselves back into their match at the Karnail Singh Stadium in Delhi, reducing Railways to 164 for 8 by stumps on the second day. Resuming their innings at 174 for 7, Assam added only 13 more runs in the hazy morning before being bowled out. Dhiraj Goswami, the fast bowler, then struck twice in his opening spell as Railways stuttered to 33 for 4. TP Singh scored 41, but Assam continued to take wickets at regular intervals and it took a 30-run eighth-wicket partnership between allrounder JP Yadav and left-arm spinner Murali Kartik to get Railways close to Assam’s score. While it was the spinners who had taken the bulk of the wickets for Railways, the seamers did the damage for Assam, with Goswami taking 4 for 43 and Ranjitkumar Mali finishing with 2 for 31. Railways will start day three 23 runs behind in a match that looks destined for a result.Gujarat seamer Ishwar Choudhary picked up four wickets as Saurashtra folded up for 262 in their first innings at the Lalabhai Contractor Stadium in Surat. Rains stayed away after washing out the opening day, and Gujarat dominated from the outset after choosing to field. Opener Bhushan Chauhan resisted with a doughty 41, but regular strikes at the other end reduced the visitors to 104 for 4. Captain Jaydev Shah counterattacked, hitting three sixes and eleven fours in his 94, and repaired the innings in a 119-run stand for the fifth wicket, with Sagar Jogiyani. The lower order, however, could not contribute much and Gujarat wrapped up the innings with six overs to stumps. Seamer Jaidev Unadkat made a breakthrough in the final passage of play, leaving Gujarat at 20 for 1 and the game evenly poised going into the third day.Group BRobin Uthappa celebrated his 25th birthday by marching to his 11th first-class ton as Karnataka seized the first-innings lead against Punjab at the Punjab Cricket Association Stadium in Mohali. The visitors finished the day at 346 for 6, 103 runs ahead of Punjab who were bowled out on the opening day. It was a tough day for the home bowlers after the early hope fuelled by the cheap dismissals of Karnataka’s openers. Ganesh Satish blunted the attack with a half-century and added 130 runs for the third wicket with Uthappa as Karnataka assumed control of proceedings. Uthappa was in his usual attacking mindset, caning 16 fours and two sixes in his 149 that came off 182 balls. After Satish was run out, Manish Pandey joined in the fun, scoring 49 off 61 balls. After conceding the lead, Punjab managed to pull things back marginally with three late wickets, but Karnataka held all the aces going into the third day.Yusuf Pathan piled up the misery on Haryana with a typically brutal 195 off 138 balls as Baroda took a 343-run first-innings lead at the Bansi Lal Cricket Stadium in Rohtak. Haryana had been bowled out for 127 on day one and had an equally disastrous start to the second day, with Yusuf and opener Connor Williams (114 off 316) adding another 192 to their overnight stand of 87. Haryana captain Rahul Dewan was forced to use nine different bowlers before eventually dismissing Baroda for 470. Yusuf bashed nineteen fours and ten sixes, before he was bowled by part-timer Nitin Saini, five short of his second first-class double century. Thanks to Yusuf, Baroda maintained an innings run-rate of 4.12, giving them ample time to push for a win.Parvinder Singh and Piyush Chawla scored contrasting half-centuries for Uttar Pradesh as they reached 403 in their first innings against Orissa at the Dr Akhilesh Das Stadium in Lucknow. While Chawla scored at a strike-rate of more than 70, middle-order batsman Singh took 206 balls for his 78. It was slow progress for UP who only marginally improved on their slow first-day run-rate, getting 229 runs at 2.65 on day two. Orissa were left with just one over to face, which they negotiated safely.

Virat Kohli is the surprise retention for his team for the next three seasons, while Sourav Ganguly, Rahul Dravid, Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir have been released by their respective franchises

Nitin Sundar08-Dec-2010Rahul Dravid, Sourav Ganguly, Yuvraj Singh and Gautam Gambhir are among the big names released by their IPL franchises, along with Brendon McCullum, Chris Gayle and Andrew Symonds, while Virat Kohli is the surprise retention for his team for the next three seasons. Wednesday was the deadline for the franchises to name the players they would retain from their current squads and while there is no common thread running through the choices of players retained and released, the key factors seem to be form, brand appeal and age.Kolkata Knight Riders, Deccan Chargers and Kings XI Punjab have decided not to retain any of their players, while all the other IPL franchises have held back at least one current player. Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians, the 2010 finalists, have retained the maximum of four players each, in the process parting with half of the $9 million salary cap available to teams.According to the auction rules for IPL 4, teams can retain up to four players, only three of whom can be Indians. The retained players – who must have been part of the franchise’s registered squads for the 2010 season – will be valued at $1.8 million for the first player, $1.3 million for the second, $900,000 for the third and $500,000 for the fourth.Mumbai, as expected, held on to Sachin Tendulkar, the highest run-scorer of the 2010 season, offspinner Harbhajan Singh, West Indies allrounder Kieron Pollard and Sri Lanka seamer Lasith Malinga. Chennai took the Indian trio of MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina and M Vijay out of the auction, in addition to South African allrounder Albie Morkel, their regular opening bowler. Delhi Daredevils retained only Virender Sehwag, meaning Gambhir – their captain for the last two seasons – is in the auction pool.

The retained players

Mumbai: Sachin Tendulkar, Harbhajan Singh, Kieron Pollard, Lasith Malinga
Chennai: MS Dhoni, Suresh Raina, M Vijay, Albie Morkel
Rajasthan: Shane Warne, Shane Watson
Delhi: Virender Sehwag
Bangalore: Virat Kohli

The most interesting choice came from Royal Challengers Bangalore whose sole retention is Virat Kohli, currently on an impressive run in ODIs. There is no place for Dravid, their icon player, nor for Anil Kumble, their captain and the head of the state association. Kolkata’s decision to drop Sourav Ganguly, the biggest cricketing name to emerge from the city and the face of the franchise’s on-field persona, is a bold step.Punjab’s decision to release all their players was expected following their dismal 2010 season, which means Kumar Sangakkara, Mahela Jayawardene and Yuvraj Singh will go under the hammer.Siddhartha Mallya, owner of the Bangalore franchise, said the decision to retain just one player was backed by financial logic. “You must realise that with retention, a big chunk of your budget gets taken away,” Mallya told ESPNcricinfo. ” Mumbai and Chennai have kept four players, which means that half their budget is gone. It finally comes down to how much money one was going to lose. We have a big balance sheet but we have lost $1.8 million for keeping one player. We still have about $7-odd million left but if we had retained four then we would have had to buy virtually an entire squad with the remaining half.”Age is not a universal disqualification. It didn’t count in Tendulkar’s case, nor in that of Shane Warne, Rajasthan’s coach and captain, who was retained by Rajasthan Royals, along with Shane Watson, a day ahead of the deadline. One franchise official explained the difference: “Warne is a global brand so that only helps to promote the franchise.”If Rajasthan opted for Warne because they have always viewed the IPL as a global brand, Mumbai went with Tendulkar and Harbhajan for their popularity. Pollard and Malinga may have made the cut on account of being impact players, who have backed up their strong Twenty20 credentials with consistent performance.Sehwag’s match-winning abilities, coupled with his rapid emergence as a brand, clearly had a say in Delhi’s decision to retain him. MS Dhoni and Suresh Raina must have been shoo-ins for Chennai following their compelling IPL and international form. Vijay’s performances, coupled with his potential to attract a strong local fan-base, must have tilted the scales in his favour, while Morkel’s proven all-round skills were always going to be an asset. If there is a stranger in this crowd, it could be Kohli. Despite his owners trumpeting his recent performances, Kohli is still work in progress. But he is young, ambitious and has the youth appeal – all qualities of the UB Group’s target audience.

The Pakistan Cricket Board had refused to meet Danish Kaneria’s lawyer, in another setback to the legspinner’s attempts to seek clarification on his continued exclusion from the Pakistan team

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Jan-2011The Pakistan Cricket Board had refused to meet Danish Kaneria’s lawyer, in another setback to the legspinner’s attempts to seek clarification on his continued exclusion from the Pakistan team. “We have received another email from their lawyer saying again they are not prepared to have a meeting so obviously we are very, very disappointed about that,” Steve Haurigan, Kaneria’s lawyer, said yesterday.Kaneria was one of three players – alongside Kamran Akmal and Shoaib Malik – who were summoned before the PCB’s inquiry committee in order to gain clearance to play for the country. Pakistan had delayed the announcement of their 30-man World Cup squad till January 5 to complete investigating the three players, but only Kamran was included in the preliminary list for the tournament. Kaneria was also in the original squad to play two Tests against South Africa in the UAE, but was told moments before he was about to leave for the airport that he hadn’t been cleared to play.Haurigan said the PCB’s reluctance to clear Kaneria was also hampering his prospects with English county sides. “We want to know what objections the PCB have against Danish continuing to play? Because they haven’t told him or us what those objections are. They are blocking him playing not only in Pakistan for the Pakistan team but also obviously outside Pakistan. The effect of the PCB being reluctant to clear Danish is that the county sides in England who are willing and almost queuing up to sing up Danish are reluctant to do it, understandably because they are not sure what’s going on.”Kaneria was the subject of a criminal investigation in August by Essex police over allegations that he was involved in spot-fixing during a county game, but was released without charge in September. He has not been retained by the county for the upcoming season, but Kaneria has said that is only due to ‘financial reasons’. Haurigan said Kaneria was prepared to answer all questions regarding the UK investigations. “There are issues as regards what happened in the UK last year. He’s been cleared by the ICC and the British police, and he wants to carry on playing. He is frustrated that nobody is telling him what the problem is.”Danish is effectively being called in by his boss, the PCB, and told you can’t work anymore, but they haven’t told him why, and they won’t tell him why. We are not here to annoy any people and start proceedings. Danish wants nothing more but to continue playing. He’ll love to put on the colors of the Pakistan team and get out there bowling again that’s all he wants to do.”Haurigan hinted at the possibility of further legal action if the PCB continued to stick to its stance. “At this stage, we can’t rule out anything. We want to get it resolved in Danish’s favour as quickly as possible, but we are aware of all the options that are possibly open to us. If we don’t get the information then we have to do something sooner rather than later.”