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Sri Lanka’s domestic season is facing chaos after 18 clubs threatened to pull out of the Premier League unless Sri Lanka Cricket’s interim committee enforces the rules and relegates Badureliya SC to the league’s Tier B.The dispute came about after a decision was made that Badureliya, who finished bottom in last season’s competition, would not be demoted to the second division. The clubs have delayed the agreement of fixtures for the domestic season, and the league, which is due to start on October 22, is now facing postponement.The clubs have expressed fears that any move by the interim committee to ignore their protest could lead to first-class cricket coming to a complete standstill making national selection also an issue.Two weeks ago Ajith Jayasekera, the tournament committee chairman, and MahindaHalangoda, another member, resigned from their posts over the interim committee’s failure to relegate Badureliya SC.As a result, the five-member tournament committee is unable to function as it has been reduced to just three members.

Ricky Ponting believes Andrew Symonds has taken some major steps towards returning to the Australia team by admitting his behaviour over the past year has been sub-standard. Symonds was at Queensland training on Tuesday, where he signalled his intentions to work his way back to international cricket, and Ponting was pleased with the development.”I actually think there were some really positive signs over the last couple of days with Andrew,” Ponting told . “He’s actually fronted the media and admitted that there’s some room for improvement in certain parts of his life.”Ponting was not in Darwin when the team leadership group ejected Symonds from the recent ODI series but he was involved in the decision by phone. Ponting will be leading a Test squad in India next month without Symonds, who was not considered for selection as he continues his Cricket Australia-organised programme to get him back on track.”He’s a terrific player and his Test record and one-day record over the last couple of years for Australia has been outstanding,” Ponting said. “Hopefully for him as a person, if he can get those things sorted out, then we’ll have him back in the team.”The next opportunity for Symonds to come back to international cricket would be during the home Tests against New Zealand in late November. Ponting said he would love to have Symonds in the squad “sooner rather than later”.

Adam Gilchrist, the former Australian wicketkeeper-batsman, has been appointed captain of the Deccan Chargers, replacing VVS Laxman, who led the team during the inaugural season of the IPL. Darren Lehmann, the former Australia batsman, takes charge as coach, replacing former India player Robin Singh.Gilchrist said it was a “tremendous thrill and honour” and looked forward to working hard and making the team successful. Gilchrist was Deccan’s leading run-getter in the league’s first edition, scoring 436 runs at 33.53. He led the team in eight of their 14 matches, after Laxman suffered a wrist injury.”Adam Gilchrist commands respect within the team and right around the cricket world. He has redefined the role of wicketkeeper-batsman in modern cricket,” Tim Wright, the Deccan Chargers chief executive, said. “I am confident Gilchrist will unite Deccan Chargers’ outstanding talent. Four members of our squad were on the India tour of Sri Lanka, more than any other IPL team, and the quality of our overseas players is well known. These players will play for Gilchrist.”We are delighted to be giving Darren Lehmann his first post as coach and have no doubt he will be a great success,” Wright said. “He has already brought considerable energy into the group and has a no-nonsense approach to winning cricket matches. Lehmann is in India this week to run player trials in Hyderabad. We are looking to build a solid talent base for the future.”Robin, meanwhile, has said he will discuss his future with the franchise. “I was aware of the discussions which had been going on for a while about some new appointments,” he told Cricinfo. “Definitely I will be featuring in some capacity in a role that is suitable and in line with what I would like to do. We will have to sit and have a mutual agreement on that.” Robin , who also holds the role of a fielding coach with the Indian team, expressed disappointment over Laxman being replaced. “It’s a bit sad about VVS, but it is for him to talk.”Deccan finished last in the inaugural edition of the league, winning only two of their 14 matches. The team’s poor performance was surprising given a star-studded batting line-up, with Andrew Symonds, Shahid Afridi and Herschelle Gibbs joining Gilchrist, Scott Styris, Laxman and Rohit Sharma. While Symonds was only available for four games, Afridi and Gibbs both averaged below 20.

On the 40th anniversary of Garry Sobers hitting six sixes in an over, Floyd Reifer, the former West Indies batsman, has emulated the feat during a match in the Barbados Cricket Association’s Twenty20 league. On August 31, 1968, Sobers, batting for Nottinghamshire, had smashed every ball of a Malcolm Nash over for six in Swansea to become the first man to do so in first-class cricket.”One thing I always wanted to do in my cricket career was to hit six sixes in an over and I was delighted I achieved it on Sunday. To be honest, I did not really sink in,” Reifer was quoted as saying in the . “Then to hear that I did it on the anniversary of Sir Garry’s achievement is even more amazing. I have the greatest respect and admiration for Sir Garry. This feels really, really great.”Simon Steel, a part-time offspinner, was the bowler at the receiving end as Reifer eventually finished on 88 off 26 balls to set up the University of West Indies’ win over Wanderers.”I was in a groove and everything just worked in my favour. When I came in we only had five overs left so I had to have a go. The first ball went straight and the second went straight. I went to Simon and told him ‘I think this over will go for six sixes . . . you or me’.”The third ball was a lovely hit over midwicket, the next went over long-off, fifth over ‘cow corner’ and the last went straight and far. I played good cricket shots – there was no swiping.”

After all the kerfuffle that surrounded England’s selection for the second Test at Headingley, a degree of normality has been resumed. Darren Pattinson has been whitewashed from the memory banks (although he may one day be resurrected as a pub-quiz question), and for all the scorn and excitement that greeted Steve Harmison’s return to the squad, he too has been deemed surplus to requirements.And so, despite the selectors’ best Buckaroo imitations, the side that takes the field against South Africa at Edgbaston on Wednesday will contain a solitary change from the team that was unchanged for a world-record six Tests in a row. A tired Stuart Broad makes way for the returning Paul Collingwood, and Ryan Sidebottom comes back in for the luckless Pattinson – who, in hindsight, was only included as insurance against the fitness of Broad’s man-for-man replacement, Andrew Flintoff. Surely the selectors could have found a simpler route from A to B.Graeme Smith certainly thinks so. After captaining South Africa through five often-turbulent years of transition, Smith has learnt all about the destabilising effect that surprise selections can have on a team. Even by the standards he has had to endure, however, Smith felt the Pattinson saga was a pretty poorly managed affair.”No-one really knew anything about him so, if things don’t go well, there is a point where [the selectors] are going to have to answer a lot of questions,” said Smith. “What has surprised us more is the indecisiveness around the England leadership. That has surprised a bit more than the actual selection.”After England’s ten-wicket defeat at Headingley, Michael Vaughan suggested that the “confusion” surrounding Pattinson’s selection had destabilised the team, a remark that caused the national selector, Geoff Miller, to seek a meeting for clear-the-air talks. “Just the calling in, and the discussions, and no-one taking responsibility for it. That surprised me a bit,” said Smith. “Inside the dressing room I don’t see how one guy making his debut can affect a dressing room that has been together for so long.”England, however, have done their best to draw a line under the events of last week, and the early unveiling of their third-Test team is a positive step after the mayhem of the first morning at Headingley. What is more, if there was any venue at which England could wish to regroup after such a dispiriting defeat, it would have to be Edgbaston – a ground that has long been a favourite of the players for the close proximity of the fans, and which assumed mythical properties after the legendary series-turning victory in the 2005 Ashes.For South Africa, however, Edgbaston holds some fond memories as well. It was here that Smith launched the 2003 series with his career-best 277, and just as he demonstrated with his second-innings hundred at Lord’s in the first Test, the prospect of living up to past glories does not faze him. His participation is, however, in some doubt because of the back problem he picked up while batting against Bangladesh A last week. If he does feature, England will doubtless target his lack of mobility should they end up bowling first tomorrow morning.

Smith admitted that, back in 2003, he had been unsure whether to bat or bowl first, and with a week of unsettled weather on the horizon, it promises to be another tough call tomorrow morning. Steve Rouse, the Warwickshire groundsman, pre-empted the omission of Harmison when he suggested that this would not be a surface for the hit-the-deck bowlers, and should Smith choose to bowl first for the third match running, Sidebottom and Anderson will be hopeful of exploiting the lateral movement that England failed to locate under clear blue skies at Headingley last week.South Africa’s pace attack offers a different sort of challenge, and one that England’s reinforced batting line-up will have to repel for the sake of the series. In the absence of Dale Steyn, who swings the ball at pace from a full length, they will rely on the bounce and aggression of Morne Morkel, Makhaya Ntini and Andre Nel, who will be as fired up as any player in the match in his first Test opportunity for six months. “Andre is an experienced bowler who’s done well over a period of time when he’s played,” said Smith, “and as a captain it’s nice to know you’ve got really good back-up coming into the squad.”The target for all South Africa’s bowlers will be England’s apparently brittle middle order, of which the recalled Collingwood is an integral part. Smith, though admiring of his fighting qualities, believed his team had seen enough already to unsettle him. “He thrives on pressure so we need to bowl well at him to create the chances from the weaknesses that we’ve worked out,” said Smith. “If we can create openings in the top-order, and get to Paul and Ian Bell as quickly as possible, it does allow us the opportunity to put them under pressure.”All series long, even back when England were fielding their six-match unchanged side, Smith and his team-mates were claiming that appearances were deceptive. The events of Headingley have reconfirmed the suspicion that England are not quite as sure of their strongest eleven as they would have their onlookers believe. In fact, the situation in recent weeks has not been dissimilar to the one that befell the South Africans themselves in the last series between the two teams in 2004-05 – when the likes of Mark Boucher were omitted in favour of such ephemeral players as Thami Tsolekile and Zander de Bruyn.”As an opposition team, every time you can see the other team is under pressure, it does benefit you,” said Smith. “We know if we can play really good cricket for the first couple of days at Birmingham, we can maybe open up some wounds and put some certain players under a lot of pressure in this Test.”

Saleem Altaf, the PCB official who was sacked two weeks ago, has been reinstatedto his position on the basis of an order from the Lahore High Court. The ruling, however, is a temporary one pending a final resolution to the writ Altaf’s lawyers have filed.”Saleem Altaf’s petition was heard today and in an interim order he has been reinstated. He has now reverted back to his position as of June 12, 2008,” Altaf’s lawyer Aftab Gul told Cricinfo. Gul, a former Test cricketer himself, said that Altaf was now free to go back to his offices from tomorrow. “It is up to Altaf whether he chooses to go back from then.”Altaf, director special projects at the time, was reportedly sacked for allegedly leaking sensitive information to the press, a charge he has strenuously denied. The board had allegedly recorded a number of conversations he had with journalists during his time as director special projects, which were played back to him before his services were terminated.Altaf filed a writ petition in the High Court for malafide dismissal. The matter was heard in court today and in the afternoon, the judge decided to suspend the order of termination until the petition has been heard out.The Pakistan board publicly refused to talk about the matter though in last Saturday’s governing board meeting, where members decided to back the decision to relieve Altaf of his duties. The date for the next hearing has not been decided yet.

Middlesex 116 for 3 (Morgan 47) beat Essex 115 for 9 (Dexter 46, Murtagh 3-24) by seven wickets
Scorecard

Just now, Middlesex, who have done little but struggle in recent seasons, are finding cricket a rather easy game. After beating Hampshire on Wednesday, they cruised to a seven-wicket win over Essex at Lord’s with 19 balls to spare, a result which takes them to the giddy heights of the top of the South Division.Buoyed by three straight wins, Middlesex were tight in the field, capped by a string of good steepling catches, and batted with sense in a well-paced chase. Essex, however, will take nothing from a game where their batsmen perished to a series of swings and cross-batted swipes, and their fielding verged on the woeful.Essex’s innings never got out of first gear, and bar a slog-swept six from Neil Dexter, the only batsman to show any inkling of how to bat in this format, there was little to inspire a crowd of around 18,000. Ed Smith, the Middlesex captain, rotated his quick bowlers – there were five bowling changes in the first ten overs and 11 in all – and used his spinners to choke the life out of the middle overs.Tim Murtagh, Dirk Nannes and Tyron Henderson all mixed yorkers with deliveries just short of a length and the batsmen, who almost all opted not to use their feet to any purpose, showed little inclination to try to break the stranglehold. This allowed Smith to maintain attacking fields – as late as the tenth over there were two slips in place – and Shaun Udal and Murali Kartik added to the pressure with tight wicket-to-wicket bowling.Dexter played an excellent anchor innings but found nobody remotely likely to stay with him. Middlesex held all but one chance that came their way, the best being a running, diving catch at third man by the evergreen Udal, and fielded like a side who knew there was a multi-million pot at the end of the rainbow.Defending such a low total, Essex’s only hope was to take early wickets. As it was, they spilt five catches, four in the slips and even their ground fielding grew shabbier by the over.Andrew Strauss, who on Tuesday had joked he doubted he was high on any IPL wish-list, met his own expectations with a scratchy 11, dragging a drive into his stumps, but it was a success the bowlers failed to capitalise onEoin Morgan made a mockery of Essex’s earlier efforts, cracking a 36-ball 47 with some lovely strokeplay. He unleashed two textbook cuts that fizzed to the boundary and then lofted a six over extra cover. He deserved a fifty but was deprived by a misunderstanding with David Malan when the result was done and dusted.Smith was dropped three times, twice off routine catches at first slip by James Middlebrook, and did not seem hampered by a injury sustained when he slipped turning for a second run early in his innings. If anything, he batted better when hobbling with Strauss running for him.This was far from a Twenty20 classic – it was too one-sided for that. In all there were only 19 fours and two sixes. The crowd were subdued – the chilly evening did not help – and it was a far cry from the razzmatazz of the IPL.A fortnight ago disgruntled Middlesex members called for a special meeting to discuss the club’s plight. Since then the side has reeled off a series of wins and at this rate that evening could turn out to be more of a party. For now, at least, it’s happy days at Lord’s.

The Pakistan Cricket Board is hoping to bring Mohammad Asif back to Pakistan as soon as possible from Dubai where he is detained, though they admit they are still in the dark about the case.Asif was detained by officials at the airport Sunday morning, according to Nadeem Akram, a senior PCB official, for possessing a contraband drug in his wallet. That sample has now been sent for tests and a meeting is underway between Asif’s lawyer and the public prosecutor.”Asif was detained on Sunday,” Shafqat Naghmi, the board’s chief operating officer, said while addressing a press conference at Gaddafi Stadium in Lahore. “We don’t have all the details right now about why he was. Authorities in Dubai are still investigating. We do know that it was about something Asif had in his possession. But we stress that no charges have yet been laid against him.”Naghmi said the board was hoping the case was a mistake of some kind, but owing to the gravity of the situation, the Pakistan Embassy in Dubai had been alerted. “We hope this has been some sort of mistake, but we have appointed legal counsel there from one of the best firms in Dubai.”The embassy has also been contacted. Nadeem Akram has been there since that night. We are just hoping that Asif gets back as soon as possible, hopefully in time for the Bangladesh tri-series.”Dubai’s laws on drug possession are among the strictest in the world and Naghmi warned that if Asif was found guilty, he would have to be dealt with according to the laws of the land. “The UAE government has a very straight procedure. If something is found in your possession an investigation begins straightaway. If he is found to be in possession, then he will be treated according to their laws.”If Asif does get out of the situation, it is inconceivable that he will not face any disciplinary action from the Pakistan board, though Naghmi said that wasn’t the priority right now. “First we just want him to be back in Pakistan. Only after he gets back and the situation is clearer will we look at that possibility and see. Right now there is no charge-sheet against him.”Speculation has predictably buzzed since the news broke, though Naghmi stressed that it was just that and nothing more. One local channel claimed to have spoken to Asif, who said that he had been implicated after getting into a drunken brawl with security officers at the airport. This was denied to Cricinfo by Akram, as well as Naghmi during the press conference.”This is all just speculation. We cannot hide stuff like this and remember there is no chargesheet yet. I have been told that what was found was some medicine given to him by a local Pakistani Hakeem.”

Malcolm Gray, President of the International Council (ICC) hoped that his visit would help normalize cricket activities in Pakistan and its relations with India.Gray was talking to reporters on arrival here on Thursday to attend a two-day ICC Development Committee Meeting to be held in Lahore on Dec 7 and 8.The ICC chief who later flew to Islamabad in the afternoon said that he would be meeting President General Pervez Musharraf, Patron of the PCB, later in the evening. “This might be a small step and we at the ICC would love to see cricket relations between the two countries normalize so that we can resume our programmes.”Pakistan pins its hopes on Gray’s visit to restore normal cricket to the country badly hit in the post September events of last year and its deadlock of the cricket activities with its neighbour India.It may be noted that Pakistan has only staged two Tests since the post September 2001 events, which sparked security concerns in and around Pakistan.The ICC boss said that there were two separate issues of his visit, one is to attend the ICC Meeting and then to meet President Musharraf and the High Commissioners of Australia, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and South Africa.”I will discuss a wide-range of issues with the President, but security will be the top priority and then I will be able to get a better understanding about the security position in the country. I hope that as a result, International cricket will be back in Pakistan,” Gray went on to add.The West Indies and Australia refused to tour Pakistan due to security reasons and Pakistan was forced to play these series in neutral countries earlier this year.Before that the New Zealand team had to cut short their tour to Pakistan. in May, following a bomb blast which occurred outside their hotel in the port city of Karachi.Pakistan hopes that India will tour Pakistan in April-May next year, although India continues its boycott of bilateral cricket with its neighbour, alleging that Islamabad is responsible of creating trouble in Indian administered Kashmir.The South Asian giants whose cricket series generates great and frenzied interest on both sides of the border, have not met each other on the cricket field since June 2000, when Pakistan beat India in the Asia Cup in Dhaka.”We at the ICC have no powers to control relations between two feuding nations. However, we would do everything in our power to influence those relations which would be good for sports,” Gray said.India and Pakistan are due to meet each other in a World Cup match in South Africa in March next year. India will be bound to play since this is an ICC event. “We believe that sports can help relations improve India and Pakistan and hope the Indian Government will have the same view as well.Commenting on giving compensation to Pakistan over the financial losses incurred due to the cancelled tours, Gray said that he had no news on that front, that they should go through the legal process and if it has been processed legally there has been no actual hearing about that subject.When asked about the Indians not naming their provisional 30 players for the World Cup within the due dates the ICC Chief said that this is only a preliminary squad and is not important. He said the Indian squad will name their team in a few days.When asked how did the ICC react when Pakistan visited Zimbabwe for their series although some top teams thought it was just too dangerous to visit over there during the World Cup, Gray said that the ICC was most appreciative that Pakistan toured Zimbabwe under extreme security concerns.”I will encourage other countries to treat seriously the Pakistan claims to come here”, he said.When asked about the security conditions in Zimbabwe, Gray said that recently a delegation had visited Zimbabwe ahead of the World Cup and that security report has yet to be finalised.

The XXXX Queensland Bulls will welcome back Australia ‘A’representatives Jimmy Maher, Martin Love, Ashley Noffke and NathanHauritz for this weekend’s Pura Cup match against the Western Warriorsat the Gabba.All four Queenslanders enjoyed success during the ‘A’ match againstEngland in Hobart with Maher captaining the team and Love scoring hissecond double century of the summer against the tourists.They come into the Queensland team in place of Daniel Payne, ClintonPerren, Scott Brant and Andy Bichel, who all played in the Bulls’outright win over Tasmania at the Gabba last week.The twelve is the same that narrowly lost outright to Victoria inMelbourne earlier this month.Sunday is Dollar Day with patrons admitted for $1, with each patronreceiving a voucher allowing them to buy a $1 drink and a $1 pie.The Bulls and Warriors will also meet in a day/night ING Cup match onFriday next week, with the Warriors adding allrounder Kade Harvey totheir twelve man squad for the match.XXXX Queensland Bulls v Western Warriors, the Gabba, Sunday – Wednesday:Jimmy Maher, Brendan Nash, Martin Love, Stuart Law, Andrew Symonds, LeeCarseldine, Wade Seccombe, Ashley Noffke, Michael Kasprowicz, NathanHauritz, Joe Dawes, Damien MacKenzie (12th man to be named).Western Warriors: Mike Hussey (c), Ryan Campbell (vc), Jo Angel,Michael Clark, Murray Goodwin, Brad Hogg, Shaun Marsh,Matt Nicholson, Marcus North, Chris Rogers, Brad Williams, Paul Wilson(12th man to be named).