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The ICC has announced that it, along with the Bangladesh Cricket Board, will appeal the verdict of the anti-corruption tribunal set up by the BCB to look into allegations of wrongdoing in the Bangladesh Premier League 2013

ESPNcricinfo staff18-Jul-2014The ICC has announced that it will appeal, along with the Bangladesh Cricket Board, the verdict of the anti-corruption tribunal set up by the BCB to look into allegations of wrongdoing in the Bangladesh Premier League 2013. The BCB had set up the tribunal after the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit had brought to its attention the instances of possible corruption in the league.Following its investigation, the BCB’s anti-corruption tribunal had found one of the owners of Dhaka Gladiators, Shihab Jishan Chowdhury, guilty of “being party to an effort to fix” a match. Ashraful confessed and pleaded guilty to wrongdoing before the tribunal’s investigation, while Sri Lanka legspinner Kaushal Lokuarachchi and New Zealand’s Lou Vincent had said they failed to report approaches made to them. Six other players were discharged as not guilty by the tribunal, and both the ICC and BCB had said they were “disappointed” by the ruling.”The ICC and the BCB can confirm that we have received the full written decision from the Anti-Corruption Tribunal. As previously indicated, we are extremely disappointed at the outcome of the proceedings, and seeing the reasons given by the tribunal for its decision has done nothing to address our concerns,” an ICC release stated. “In the ICC’s view, clear and compelling evidence of corruption by a number of individuals have not been taken into account properly.”Having now had the opportunity to review the detailed decision in its entirety and taken advice on it, we believe that we have very strong grounds on which we can base our appeal. We do not believe that the sport would be sending the right message if it does not challenge what, in our opinion, are incorrect findings.”According to the ICC release, the BCB’s anti-corruption code, which governs this matter, allows a two-stage appeal process: the first stage is an appeal to the chairman of the BCB’s disciplinary panel, and the second allows an appeal to be made to the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland.

Worcestershire’s hopes of setting an early date for a promotion party took a knock as Alex Gidman’s second century of the season put Gloucestershire in a powerful position at New Road before Richard Oliver responded

Press Association16-Aug-2014
ScorecardAlex Gidman’s 146 put Gloucestershire in a strong position•PA PhotosWorcestershire’s hopes of setting an early date for a promotion party took a knock as Alex Gidman’s second century of the season put Gloucestershire in a powerful position at New Road.Yet all may not be lost for the Second Division leaders. Their bowlers found a better line on the second day, Joe Leach’s spell of 4 for 23 wrapping up Gloucestershire’s first innings for 378 before opener Richard Oliver continued the fightback with his second half-century of the game.Batting again with a deficit of 184 after Gidman’s punishing knock of 146, Worcestershire could easily have folded when Daryl Mitchell gloved a lifter from Craig Miles and Tom Fell edged a drive off David Payne inside nine overs. Gidman held both chances at first slip, but Oliver’s response was in trademark style, going for his shots at every opportunity.The left hander reached a career-best 84 not out from 111 balls and Alexei Kervezee also played a key role with 50 as an unbroken stand of 122 cut the gap to only 30.On the second morning the West Country team were holding all the aces with half-centuries by Gareth Roderick and Gidman already on the board when they resumed at 181 for 2. Five overs brought the 14 runs required for the lead, but Charlie Morris, in a good spell from the New Road Wnd, issued a warning that the batsmen could expect a tougher examination.Gidman, on 69, was dropped at first slip, then a single brought Roderick on to strike, needing two runs for a century on his return to the side after twice breaking a finger this season. The South African wicketkeeper-batsman instinctively pulled a short ball, but only found Shaaiq Choudhry at long leg. Having played so well, hitting 15 fours, it would have been frustrating to miss a gift from the 119th ball he faced.Gidman’s progress from 76 to 100 with six fours in a row was far from secure, with four of the boundaries coming from edges, but this sketchy patch was quickly forgotten as he motored on from his century in 165 balls. It was a good way for the former county captain to mark his temporary return to leading the side in the absence of Michael Klinger through injury.Positive from the outset, he heaped further pressure on Worcestershire in stands of 56 with Hamish Marshall and 58 with Benny Howell. Marshall provided a solitary wicket for spin when caught behind off Choudhry and Ian Cockbain went cheaply, cutting Morris to third slip, but the lead was almost 150 before Worcestershire rallied to take maximum bowling points for the 25th match in succession.Starting with Howell’s lbw dismissal by Leach for 32, the last five wickets tumbled for the addition of 36, the most significant when Gidman was bowled, attempting to drive Leach. He hit 22 fours and a six from 232 balls.Matt Mason, Worcestershire’s assistant coach, saw signs of a recovery in the making as the team reflected on their first day troubles: “Sitting around the dressing room after a day like that, it can easily be a quiet sort of deflated place. But the lads were talking and discussing where we’ve gone wrong, which means they are learning. We’ve had some iffy days throughout the campaign and we’ve always come back strongly.”

Like mariners clinging to wreckage in the hope of eventual rescue, Lancashire’s cricketers hoped to confound the logic of experience on the second day of this game

Paul Edwards at Old Trafford24-Sep-2014
ScorecardSteven Croft sweeps past the wicketkeeper during his vital 60•Getty ImagesLike mariners clinging to wreckage in the hope of eventual rescue, Lancashire’s cricketers hoped to confound the logic of experience on the second day of this game.For over five months grimly inadequate first-innings totals had led to them escaping from some games with soggy, miserable draws or losing others when doughty rearguards had failed to compensate for collective errors. Another such display of incompetence and Old Trafford officials would be making block hotel bookings in Leicester, Derby and Bristol. Very pleasant places to pitch one’s tent, by Jove, but a swift return to the Division Two had been far from Lancastrian thoughts in green and carefree April.Middlesex, though, were also in danger and Wednesday’s play eventually became a game within a game as Glen Chapple’s batsmen, 3-1 ahead on bonus points at the start of play, sought to extend that margin to three before turning their minds, bodies and hearts to winning the match itself and overtaking Chris Rogers’ teamThe result was an utterly wonderful day’s cricket for partisans and neutrals alike, even though matters had not been resolved when the players left the field in the evening sunlight. After three sessions in which the two sides had scrapped unsparingly for the slightest advantage, Lancashire have a 45-run lead on first innings with four wickets in hand.Far more significantly, though, both teams had picked up two more points and Lancashire must now score 41 runs off 14 overs without losing three more wickets if they are to go into the second half of this game with their hopes of victory and survival intact.And, indeed, all this is pretty simple when set beside the situation just after tea when it was thought that Lancashire might declare on 250 for 5 and some wondered whether they would fall foul of the Declaration Monitor, who is not a bureaucratic ghoul from Kafka or Gogol, but an ECB worthy, in this case David Capel, dispatched to such September games as these to ensure that any closure is within the spirit of the game and not “extraordinary”.However, once the admirably pugnacious Steven Croft had been caught down the leg side for 60 to give the equally hard-working Toby Roland-Jones his third wicket of the day – the ball surely flicked only his clothes, by the way – the situation was simplified rather. Glen Chapple and Luke Procter’s unbroken seventh-wicket partnership of 38 has now left matters deliciously poised on the penultimate day of what has truly been a county season to live for.The morning’s play had offered Lancashire supporters slightly unexpected encouragement that their top order batting might be able to establish a first innings lead in traditional fashion without worrying overly about declarations. Although the home side lost Paul Horton, lbw for 7 when half forward to a very straight delivery from Tim Murtagh, Luis Reece and Ashwell Prince calmly added 76 to leave Lancashire reasonably placed on 88 for 1 at the break.Even in the first session, though, Middlesex’s bowlers had beaten the bat sufficiently often to encourage them that the blue skies and clear air had not made batting a completely straightforward exercise. The afternoon’s cricket proved the point much more clearly as an attack led very capably by Roland-Jones took four wickets while conceding only 77 runs.Reece, having made a technically competent 45, shaped a drive at a full-length Roland-Jones delivery but only edged the ball to Dawid Malan at second slip although it was mighty close to a no-ball. Four overs later the same bowler grabbed the vital wicket of Prince, who seemed to stop a drive yet only scooped the ball to Rogers at mid-on.Middlesex’s best period of the game was concluded when Karl Brown inside edged James Harris onto his stumps for 13, a sad end for a batsman who once timed the ball so well, yet now, in four-day cricket at least, sometimes gives one the impression that he is trying to bat when wearing someone else’s spectacles.Those three wickets left Lancashire on 118 for 4 and the gloom-mongers in the pavilion were probably doing a fair trade. But Jos Buttler added 42 with Croft before he was lbw to slow left- armer Ravi Patel for 23 and it was left to Procter and Croft, two veterans of another memorable September afternoon – Taunton 2011, “a date phrased like a vintage” – to add 61 for the sixth-wicket against a Middlesex attack astutely skippered by Rogers.As for the third morning, Lancashire will hope to establish as big a lead as possible without losing their ninth wicket inside 110 overs. Then, having seen Patel get a good measure of turn from the Old Trafford pitch, Simon Kerrigan and Croft will hope to exploit the widening cracks in the wicket to put their opponents under the sort of pressure they have rarely encountered.

Former West Indies seamer Ian Bishop has labelled the current crisis surrounding the WICB, WIPA and the players as “disappointing” and one which occurred at “the wrong place and the wrong time”.

Renaldo Matadeen28-Oct-2014Former West Indies seamer Ian Bishop has labelled the current crisis surrounding the WICB, WIPA and the players as “disappointing” and one which occurred at “the wrong place and the wrong time”.Bishop said he was shocked when West Indies’ ODI captain Dwayne Bravo broke the news that the players would be pulling out of their tour of India, and expects their actions to lead to “potentially a great setback.””There’s a lot of disappointment in terms of the Indian nationals,” Bishop told Line and Length TV. “There’s a lot of goodwill for the West Indies in India and that is based historically on the tours that have taken place here going way back and the great players who started their careers here. And of course, in more recent times, the way that the Pollards, the Russells and the Narines have performed in the IPL.”Bishop also admitted that he fully understood the BCCI’s fury as well as that of the Indian public regarding the “drastic” action taken by West Indies.”A lot of fans were angry. It’s unprecedented what happened. There’s a sense of disbelief. It is not a move I would have advocated. It [India] is the biggest cricketing market.”Bishop felt the players did not grasp how dire the financial consequences of their actions would be, and said the players, WIPA and WICB all bore a share of the blame for allowing matters to escalate so much after the tour had started. Regarding the MoU disagreement and subsequent disputes over payment structures, Bishop chalked it down to mis-communication between the parties and believed that the situation was well within resolve.”It’s been well-ventilated. I like WIPA. I like Wavell Hinds. He is a principled and intelligent guy who really formulates his own views but to me there’s been a misstep with him and one or two of his executive colleagues in not communicating back to the players the mandate that they were given before they signed off on it.”The players were not in opposition to the proposed financial structure but they wanted a final say and to be more included in the process. Now, the conversation is going away from what happened and unbelievably to how the other countries can help the West Indies.”Bemoaning the players’ lack of foresight in recognizing the domino effect that was prompted by their strike, Bishop said West Indies should have known how this could also affect the regional game, given the financial framework in place regarding the India trip and television rights.”Knowing what you know now, given that you don’t understand television rights, the millions of dollars lost by the innocent party, the BCCI; given the income that would have come in; the revenue that would have come in to the West Indies to fund youth cricket, women’s cricket, grassroots cricket, the professional league,” he said. “If India weren’t as kind, and they are being kind because they can take the West Indies to the cleaners, you could kill the goose that laid the golden egg for you. You could wipe the whole thing out.”The West Indies board as well, they understand television rights, they have negotiated way back their own television rights as well so they should have understood the impact and maybe have moved in sooner to cull this whole antagonism that was going on.”With the possibility that West Indies’ upcoming tour of South Africa could also be cancelled, Bishop called for swift and decisive action from all parties, conceding that West Indies now risked the tag of being unreliable, which he believes could be one of their most detrimental steps to date.”It’s not a good reputation to have. Communication has to be improved. Administration has to be improved.”

ICC chairman N Srinivasan has asked the Supreme Court of India to allow him to be reinstated as BCCI president since the Mudgal committee report had made it clear that he was not involved in any fixing or betting

Nagraj Gollapudi21-Nov-20144:06

‘Srinivasan on a strong wicket for now’

ICC chairman N Srinivasan has asked the Supreme Court of India to allow him to be reinstated as BCCI president since the Mudgal committee report on the IPL 2013 corruption case had made it clear that he was not involved in any match-fixing or betting.According to Srinivasan, the only incriminatory issue raised by the Mudgal report against him was the instance of him – along with four other BCCI officials – not taking any action against an unnamed player despite knowing the player had violated the code of conduct. That, Srinivasan said, was a “minor” incident, and happened when Shashank Manohar was heading the BCCI.This is the third time Srinivasan has asked to be allowed to return as BCCI president, a post he was forced to leave earlier this year after the three-man Mudgal panel had named him as one of 13 individuals who needed to be probed further in a seal envelop handed over to the court. Subsequently, the court said he would need to stop discharging his duties as a president till the investigation was complete.”I have read the final report of the Mudgal committee and I believe the conclusions in the report that I was not involved in any betting or matching-fixing activity, nor did I scuttle any investigation, clearly vindicate my stand that all the allegations made against me by the petitioner and other persons inimical to me were completely false, baseless and motivated out of malice,” Srinivasan said in an affidavit filed in the court on Friday.Srinivasan also contested the Mudgal committee’s charge against him, which said: “This individual [Srinivasan], along with four other BCCI officials, was aware of the violation of the Players Code of Conduct by Individual 3, but no action was taken against Individual 3 by any of the aforesaid officials who were aware of this infraction.” Individual 3 is so named as the Mudgal panel had assigned numbers to the players named in its report, and let only the court know of their identities, to protect their identities for now.According to Srinivasan, during the emergency working committee meeting held in Chennai on November 18, IPL chairman Ranjib Biswal, who also is the Orissa Cricket Association president, pointed out that the Mudgal panel might have referred to an incident that occurred when he was manager of the Indian team on one of its tours. Srinivasan said the said incident Biswal referred to happened when he was BCCI secretary and Shashank Manohar was the board president.”I state that I do not know the identity of Individual 3, however, at the meeting of the BCCI working committee held on 18.11.2014, which I attended as president of the TNCA, the issue was discussed and Shri Ranjib Biswal, president of Orissa Cricket Association, while taking no names, felt that the incident referred to might have occurred when he was the manager of the Indian cricket team. Assuming the same to be true, I may state that at the relevant time, Mr Shashank Manohar was the president of BCCI and I have learnt from Mr Ranjib Biswal, the then manager of the Indian team, that he had sent a report only to the then president, BCCI, at the end of the tour.”He had apparently called the president soon after the incident and received instructions to warn the supposed Individual 3, which he did. I was the honorary secretary of the BCCI at the relevant time and I was never instructed by the president to do anything in the matter. Indeed the tour report was not sent to me,” Srinivasan said in his affidavit.Stressing that there was “absolutely nothing in the [Mudgal] report incriminating me”, Srinivasan also said that the incident involving Individual 3 did not take place in the IPL. He said: “Further, it was not in relation to any corrupt activity, betting, gambling, fixing of matches etc, but a minor incident.”Srinivasan said he had spoken to the player who he thinks is Individual 3 about the incident, but passed the onus on Manohar to take any action. “Though I do remember to have spoken to the supposed Individual 3, it turned out to be a minor incident for which the Individual 3 was warned. Therefore, it is not correct to say that no action was taken by me and four other board officials. Apparently, the then president, BCCI, had dealt with the issue directly and I cannot be attributed with any inaction.”Srinivasan said there was “absolutely no reason for me to continue to stay away from my elected position in BCCI”, and asked the court to pass an appropriate order.

Phillip Hughes was the victim of a freakish accident, the kind that is rarely seen in any sphere of life and has only once before been recorded as the result of being struck by a cricket ball

Brydon Coverdale27-Nov-20141:45

Hughes suffered rare injury

Phillip Hughes was the victim of a freakish accident, the kind that is rarely seen in any sphere of life and has only once before been recorded as the result of being struck by a cricket ball.When Hughes was hit in the neck by a ball during the Sheffield Shield match between New South Wales and South Australia at the SCG on Tuesday, one of the main arteries to his brain was compressed, and such trauma can often be immediately fatal. Hughes initially stood for a second or two before collapsing forwards onto the ground, as players rushed to his assistance and called for medical help.”Phillip took the blow at the side of the neck and as a result of that blow his vertebral artery, one of the main arteries leading to the brain, was compressed by the ball,” Peter Brukner, the Cricket Australia doctor, said on Thursday. “That caused the artery to split and for bleeding to go up into the brain. He had a massive bleed into his brain. This is frequently fatal at the time.”However, Phillip was resuscitated and then managed by, in particular, Dr John Orchard, the Cricket NSW doctor, and paramedical staff, and we were fortunate enough to have Dr Tim Stanley, an intensive care specialist from Newcastle, who was in the crowd and came and helped. They all did an excellent job of keeping Phillip alive and he was able to be transported by ambulance to hospital in reasonable condition.”Peter Brukner, the Cricket Australia doctor: ‘It was an injury to the neck that caused haemorrhage in the brain’•Getty ImagesHughes was transported to the nearby St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney and was quickly admitted for surgery. Dr Tony Grabs, the trauma director at St Vincent’s, said it was necessary to immediately relieve the pressure on Hughes’ brain from the compressed artery.”The head injury that he suffered was catastrophic,” Dr Grabs said. “He arrived well intubated and [had been] resuscitated very well. It was our recognition that the first priority in this situation is to get an urgent CAT scan of the head to determine what we can do. This CAT scan occurred very early and it was recognised early that we had to make an intervention into the brain to actually help get the pressure down in the brain.”What sometimes happens in the brain is, if you put blood around the brain, a small amount, you will start to become a bit drowsy. If you put a lot of blood around the brain, you will become unconscious. Once we had made the diagnosis of blood around the brain, and it’s a subarachnoid blood, which is under pressure from the artery, the immediate transfer to theatre was necessary. He went to theatre and had extensive surgery to remove some of the skull around his brain to help allow the brain to expand so it wasn’t compressed.”The surgery took approximately 80 minutes and Hughes was then transferred back to the intensive carer unit and placed in an induced coma, in order to allow the brain to rest. However, Hughes showed little improvement over the next 48 hours and died on Thursday afternoon.Asked whether faster ambulance transport to the hospital on Tuesday could have helped Hughes survive, Dr Brukner said such matters were more important when a patient was not receiving treatment.”I think ambulance waiting time is really more relevant when the injured or sick person is not being treated,” Dr Brukner said. “By any standard or observation he was receiving excellent quality treatment from Dr Orchard and Dr Stanley and the paramedics at the ground, and hence arrived at the hospital in excellent condition.”Dr Brukner said that while it was worthwhile reviewing safety equipment and procedures, including helmet design, it was important to understand how extraordinarily rare such an incident was.”This was a freakish accident, because it was an injury to the neck that caused haemorrhage in the brain,” he said. “This condition is incredibly rare. It’s called vertebral artery dissection, leading to subarachnoid haemorrhage – that’s the medical term for it.”If you look in the literature there’s only about 100 cases ever reported, so this is incredibly rare. Only one previous case ever reported as the result of a cricket ball. So I think it’s important to realise that yes, we need to review all our procedures and equipment, but this is an incredibly rare type of injury.”Dr Grabs said it was unlikely St Vincent’s Hospital had ever seen an injury of that nature.

Kyle Mills, the New Zealand quick bowler, will play no further part in the ODI series against Pakistan due to a groin strain

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Dec-2014Kyle Mills, the New Zealand quick bowler, will play no further part in the ODI series against Pakistan due to a groin strain. With Tim Southee and Trent Boult rested for this series, Mills’ injury leaves New Zealand with a raw pace attack – Mitchell McClenaghan with 25 ODIs is the most experienced quick.Mills, 34, suffered the injury while bowling in the nets ahead of the second ODI in Sharjah on Friday. Mills will fly home for further assessment of his injury, and it is still unclear how long he will be sidelined by it. Mills has already missed the 2007 World Cup due to a knee injury, and missed part of the 2011 campaign due to a quadricep strain.No replacement has yet been named for Mills. The one-day series is tied 1-1 after two games, with three more over the next week.

David Warner has defended his use of the words “speak English” during an on-field squabble with Rohit Sharma during Sunday’s ODI at the MCG, but has been fined 50% of his match fee over the incident

Brydon Coverdale19-Jan-2015David Warner has defended his use of the words “speak English” during an on-field squabble with Rohit Sharma during Sunday’s ODI at the MCG, but has been fined 50% of his match fee over the incident. Warner admitted during a radio interview on Monday morning that he was in the wrong by engaging with Rohit.The incident occurred at the end of the 23rd over of India’s innings, when India took an overthrow and the Australians showed their displeasure, seemingly believing the ball had ricocheted off Rohit’s legs. Replays suggested that was not necessarily the case, but during the crossover at the end of the over the umpire had to step in to hose down a verbal stoush between Warner and Rohit.”On the cricket etiquette side of things when you throw a ball to the keeper and it hits a player you don’t run,” Warner said on Sky Sports Radio on Monday. “A few of the boys said something to him and when I went over to say something he sort of said something in their language and I said ‘speak English’, because if you’re going to say something for me to understand theoretically, I cannot speak Hindi.Warner told to ‘stop looking for trouble’

Cricket Australia’s chief executive James Sutherland and high performance manager Pat Howard have both cautioned David Warner over his behaviour after his clash with Rohit Sharma during Sunday’s ODI in Melbourne.
“He has worked very hard on his leadership and behaviour over the past 12 months and I have told him very clearly that instances like this only serve to set back the progress he has made,” Sutherland told the .
“Quite simply, he needs to stop looking for trouble. This is the second time he has been before the ICC match referee this season and that’s twice too often.
“From my discussion with David, I am satisfied that his comments to Rohit Sharma were not racially motivated. That said, I have reminded him that he needs to carefully reconsider the manner in which he approaches these sorts of situations in the future.”

“So I did the polite thing and asked him to speak English, therefore he did, and I can’t repeat what he said. I thought I was okay by asking him to speak English and I’m going to say it a couple of times if he keeps saying it in Hindi. I got slapped on the wrist yesterday by the ICC, I shouldn’t have engaged him and should have went to the other side to my fielding position, but I didn’t.”The guys behind the wicket said it hit him. I walked in because I presumed it hit him as well. I was in the wrong. What he was saying to me I asked him to speak English. I got in trouble for engaging the player, which technically you’re not allowed to do that now … You’re not supposed to walk at the player. It was between overs and I should have walked around to my fielding position.”Australia’s coach Darren Lehmann said his side would always “teeter pretty close to” the line of acceptability, but he admitted the Warner-Rohit incident was not a good look for the game. Lehmann said Australia supported Warner’s aggressive style but would work with him to ensure his behaviour was within acceptable standards.”It’s not a great look,” Lehmann said. “The ICC have done something about it. At the end of the day we have to work better at those situations and get better as a group … Davey said he’s been fined 50%, so we’ll deal with that and move on. It’s not an ideal scenario, but we’ve got to make sure we’re playing the cricket we want to play without crossing the line.”David’s an aggressive character and we support that. It’s just making sure he does the right things on the ground, and he knows that more than most. We’ll work with him with that. We’ve just got to be mindful of the game of cricket, it’s an important entertainment spectacle for people around the world. We’ve got to make sure we play hard but fair, and don’t cross the line.”The incident led to a wide range of criticism, including an editorial in the that slammed Warner’s actions and cricket’s lack of leadership in dealing with sledging.”Warner has confirmed he used the words, but says he did so politely,” the newspaper said. “His intentions certainly did not look polite. Warner deserves to be roundly condemned. Remarks such as these have no place on the cricket field or anywhere else.”[F]ines are no deterrent to poor behaviour if that behaviour helps a side dominate its opponent. That is not good enough. Effective deterrence is needed here. Whatever measures are adopted in response to unacceptable sledging should be designed to stamp the practice out.”The stoush marred Australia’s four-wicket win at the MCG, where there were also serious concerns about Australia’s shoddy over-rate during India’s innings. Stand-in captain George Bailey was suspended for the next match against England in Hobart on Friday after Australia’s bowling effort went 26 minutes over time.

A round-up of the Sunfoil Series matches that ended on March 1, 2015

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Mar-2015Mthokozisi Shezi and Dane Paterson both finished with five-fors, helping Cape Cobras to a 170-run victory against Titans in Paarl. Cobras, batting first, lost wickets at regular intervals, but a 61-run stand between Dane Piedt (66) and Travis Muller for the ninth wicket powered the team to 308.Titans replied with 50-plus stands for the first two wickets, but lost their momentum after Graeme van Buuren’s dismissal in the 39th over. Shezi collected 6 for 51, as Titans folded for 175 in 65 overs.With a 133-run lead in hand, Dane Vilas further enforced Cobras’ advantage, his unbeaten 100 guiding the team to 341 for 7 after which they declared. It meant Titans needed 475 for the win, but once again, they failed to capitalise on a strong start. Dean Elgar and Henry Davids both stroked fifties during a 154-run association for the second wicket, but Paterson ran through their middle order, picking up 5 for 63 to bowl them out for 304.Knights just about hung on for a draw against Dolphins in Durban. Following on after conceding a first-innings lead of 218, Knights were buoyed by a 110-run opening stand between Gihahn Cloete (80) and Reeza Hendricks (45), but Mathew Pillans gave Dolphins an opening, taking 4 for 62 to wreck Knights’ top order. Knights continued to lost wickets at regular intervals, and at 202 for 9, were heading towards an innings loss. However, the final-wicket pair of Malusi Siboto and Quinton Friend dug in, playing out almost 16 overs to secure the draw.The result would’ve been a blow to Dolphins, who dominated the game after compiling a first-innings total of 455 for 5. That score was built around centuries from Divan van Wyk (171) and Morne van Wyk (103*), as well as a patient 67 from Daryn Smit. Pilans then had Knights in bigger trouble, as he notched six scalps (6 for 67) to bundle them out for 237. Dolphins, though, couldn’t go all the way and register only their third win of the season.Bad light cruelly denied Lions the chance to extend their lead at the top of the table. Chasing just 98 to beat Warriors in East London, Lions made their way to 81 for 4 with 14 overs still scheduled but the light faded and no further play was possible. Early progress was stalled by a burst of 4 for 13 from Andrew Birch. Temba Bavuma and Thami Tsolekile steadied and were taking Lions to victory before they were denied by the light.Earlier, it looked light no chase would be needed when Warriors slipped to 100 for 5 still 74 runs behind but Colin Ingram and Darryl Brown settled with a stand of exactly 100, both men making half-centuries. Chris Morris removed both and Hardus Viljoen picked up 5 for 70 as Lions reduced the target to double figures – which would have been fewer but for a 10th wicket stand of 32 – only to be denied in their pursuit by the dying of the light.

Ray Payne has been confirmed as the new chief executive of Northamptonshire but inherits a testing financial position after the club declared a loss of £305, 636 for 2014.

ESPNcricinfo staff02-Apr-2015Ray Payne has been confirmed as the new chief executive of Northamptonshire but inherits a testing financial position after the club declared a loss of £305, 636 for 2014.Payne, a Northampton local, took up the role on an interim basis following the departure of David Smith in November. Payne’s background is in the hospitality and leisure industry, most notably as managing director of the Champneys Group.He has been brought in to bring commercial vision to the club. A turnaround is certainly needed after disappointing financial results. Tim Robinson, a member of the club’s board, warned that a similar deficit is expected in 2015.The club have invested in the facilities at Wantage Road with new stands and a revamped hospitality suite now in place. As part of a five-year plan, Payne has plans for a Jazz Club at the ground and a possible festival to attract more people.A number of senior players were let go at the end of last season after Northants’ relegation, easing pressure on the wage bill and affording the county a chance to rebuild with a younger squad focused on home-grown players.Club chairman Gavin Warren and other Northants officials recently met with new ECB chief executive Tom Harrison and incoming chairman Colin Graves. “They were very supportive and it was apparent that we’re not the only club facing financial challenges,” Warren said. “We asked them if they see a future with 18 first-class counties and a future for Northamptonshire – and they said yes. But there’s no doubt that cricket in this country is set for radical change. A paper is due to be presented later this year.”