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Former West Indies captain Richie Richardson will join the ICC’s elite panel of match referees as a replacement for the retiring Roshan Mahanama.However, Richardson will not take up his new position until early next year, when he completes his current tenure as manager of the West Indies team. Mahanama last week announced his intention to step down from the ICC’s elite panel at the end of the year after more than a decade in the role.The appointment means Richardson will become the first West Indian to serve as a match referee in Tests since Clive Lloyd, who retired in 2007. He also follows fellow West Indians Jackie Hendriks, Cammie Smith, Everton Weekes and Clyde Walcott, who all served as match referees in the past.”I am excited and honoured to have been selected for one of the most important jobs in cricket,” Richardson said. “Having been on either side of the fence, first as a player and then as an administrator, I think I have the experience and insight to help me contribute positively alongside some of the finest and most experienced match officials.”Richardson played 86 Tests from 1983 to 1995, as well as 224 one-day internationals. He was appointed team manager of West Indies in January 2011 and will continue to serve in the role until the end of the Test tour of Australia, which concludes with the Sydney Test from January 3 to 7 next year.”Until the end of the Australia tour, I will remain fully committed and focused on my current assignment as the West Indies cricket team manager and I would like to thank the West Indies Cricket Board for its support over years as well as the encouragement it provided to me in taking up this new role,” he said.The ICC’s elite panel of match referees is made up of seven former cricketers who officiate in Test matches, and Richardson will join Ranjan Madugalle, Chris Broad, David Boon, Andy Pycroft, Javagal Srinath and Jeff Crowe. The ICC’s general manager of cricket, Geoff Allardice, said Richardson would be a valuable addition to the panel.”Richie is one of the greats of the game, who is admired for not only his accomplishments as a batsman but also the way he captained the West Indies when he embodied traits such as integrity, leadership and sportsmanship in his dealings both on and off the field,” Allardice said.”He is very familiar with the demands of international cricket through his experiences as a player, captain and now team manager, and he will bring a fresh perspective to the role. On behalf of the ICC, I congratulate Richie on his appointment and look forward to working with him. We have no doubt that he will make a strong and important contribution to ensuring the game continues to be played in the right spirit.”

Hrishekesh Kanitkar notched up a strokeful century to give Maharshtratheir first victory of the Ranji One-Day West Zone League againstSaurashtra at the Alembic ground in Baroda. Saurashtra skipperShitanshu Kotak won the toss and decided to chase a target. Maharshtrapiled up a healthy 280 for 8 in their 50 overs.Kanitkar (133) and Abhijit Kale (56) piled up a 166 run partnershipfor the fourth wicket. Shitanshu Kotak (4/58) and Rajesh Garsondia(3/26) shared the wickets.Saurashtra in their reply lost their way early and were dismissed for182 for 9 in their 50 overs. Mukund Parmar (69 not out) put up a lonebattle. Sameer Shaikh walked back with bowling figures of (4/38).Maharashtra registered a 98 run victory and picked up their firstpoints of the tournament.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) has today been having urgentdiscussions with Warwickshire County Cricket Club, other ground authorities,the ICC Match Referee Brian Hastings, and representatives of the respectiveteam managements, following the crowd incursions at Edgbaston towards theend of the England versus Pakistan NatWest One-Day International (ODI)match.Tim Lamb, Chief Executive of the ECB, said: “The crowd incursions on to the playing area last night were totally unacceptable and we are doing everything we can to ensure that there is no repetition during any of the other matches in the NatWest Series.”Our first priority is to protect the safety of the players, umpires and spectators, and we have therefore decided to act swiftly and implement a number of immediate remedial measures.”We reject the suggestion made by the Australian captain that the ECB does not regard the matter of crowd invasions as a safety issue.”The authorities at Edgbaston, who are ultimately responsible for safety matters at the ground, took the decision to double the number of police present last night and very considerable thought was given by Warwickshire to all aspects of the preparation for last night’s match.”The ECB is in close contact with other ground authorities at the venues for the remaining NatWest ODI matches.”The measures the ECB will be taking at the remaining ODI matches are:Stewarding – Ground authorities have already taken steps to increase levels ofstewarding at strategic points around the ground.Player Safety – Additional security and crowd control measures will be provided in the area around the players’ dressing rooms and in the pavilion area, whereplayers enter and leave the pitch.Suspending Play – Should spectators start to mass on the wrong side of the boundary boards and/or encroach on to the playing area whilst the match is still in progress (as happened last night), then the umpires will be given theauthority to suspend play immediately until the playing area is cleared ofall spectators.Appointment of an Urdu-speaking public address announcer – At matches involving Pakistan, an Urdu-speaking announcer will be appointed to make appropriate announcements, as necessary, in the Urdu language for the benefit of Pakistan supporters.Prosecution – Members of the general public who steal the stumps/bails and/or who cause wilful damage to the pitch will risk being prosecuted – at theinsistence of the ECB – by the police.

Only two weeks of the Crusade left and it promises to be very tense as we push for one of the three promotional spots that are for grabs.Twenty-one points cover the top four teams so there is still plenty of room for some last minute shuffling.While I can look positively towards the finale of our four-day cricket, the same cannot be said about our one-day performances this year.This week has seen us lose heavily to Essex and Sussex which leaves us with only two wins from 14 games.We have, to be fair, had a few games washed out but our position, second from the bottom, is very disappointing.From my point of view it has been an incredibly frustrating experience with my scores reflecting my troubles.I have struggled on most occasions to adjust to the conditions, an example of this was against Essex when I was caught at slip looking to hit the ball through square leg. The pitches we have played on throughout this season have been diabolical!If we are not playing on old used wickets then we find ourselves on local club grounds that have been given an opportunity to host a one-day match.This is the problem that Middlesex faces as Lord’s is not always available due to finals or other occasions such as Test matches.Testament to this is that I have had only one bat at Lord’s in my coloured clothing. The rest of our home games have been scattered around the greater London area, similar to Sydenham Park in Christchurch for those of you who have played there.The frustration comes from wanting to play a brand of cricket that is attractive to watch and spectators can see some genuine entertainment.Instead we are forced to continually scrape and scratch on low, slow seaming wickets inching our way to scores between 100 and 150. I hear the argument that players should be good enough to adjust and I agree which adds to my frustration. But there is a bigger issue and that is competition.With many an activity now on offer during the weekends, players and officials must realise we are competing for the entertainment dollar. Bringing a family along to watch a game where a good score is below 150 with only a handful of boundaries does not make a good day out!We now have nothing to play for in this competition apart from the ole favourite of pride. The club needs to look now towards next year and I will be promoting the use of younger players into the side to gain precious experience.I, on the other hand, will be putting all my time into finishing the season on a positive note and then joining the New Zealand boys in Pakistan.This week, between games for Middlesex, I made my way up the M1 to Sheffield to play a benefit game for Darren Gough. It was an International XI versus an English XI made up mostly of Darren’s Yorkshire team mates. The International side had a nice blend – Viv Richards (captain), Mathew Sinclair, Fleming (New Zealand), Stuart Law, Greg Blewett, Ian Harvey (Australia), Franklyn Rose, Junior Murray, Phil Simmons, Ricardo Powell (West Indies) and Paul Strang (Zimbabwe). Rain ruined what could have been a big earner for Goughy but, we still managed 30 overs-a-side that attracted around 5000 Yorkshiremen to the ground.For the record we scored a healthy 316 only to be pipped in the last over by a Darren Gough six that left him 63 not out. I hope the Anti-Corruption Unit weren’t watching!

Defending champions Wellington started their Georgie Pie campaign with a seven-wicket win against Canterbury in a rain-hit match at the Hagley Oval in Christchurch. Wellington’s top order starred in the 15-overs-a-side match as they chased down 135 with two balls to spare.Rain had reduced the overs even before the match begun and Canterbury were given a strong start by opener and captain Ronnie Hira’s 36-ball 44, after they were put in. He stitched a crucial stand of 53 runs in five overs with Peter Fulton (25) that gave them the impetus for a strong total. However, they lost three more wickets before reaching 100 and a 13-ball 23 from Andrew Ellis took them to 134 for 5.Wellington were off to flying start with an opening stand of 37 in inly 3.2 overs, including 21 runs off the third over, between Michael Pollard and Michael Papps. Pollard had contributed only six runs to the partnership and his dismissal in the fourth over was Wellington’s only stutter. Craig Cachopa’s 37 off 32 then led the chase with Stephen Murdoch (40*) even after Papps fell for a quickfire 22-ball 39, with four fours and two sixes, and when Cachopa was run-out, Wellington needed 14 from the last over. Murdoch started off with a six off Ellis’ first ball, and Matt Taylor struck one too two balls later, to ease it down and claim four points.

Australia’s selection chairman Rod Marsh has said that he and the coach Darren Lehmann had no choice but to retain Peter Nevill ahead of Brad Haddin for the Edgbaston Test match.In one of the most vexing selection decisions to confront the panel for some time, Haddin was not reinstated for the third match of the Investec Ashes series after withdrawing from the team for the Lord’s Test as his ill daughter Mia was in hospital. It is a decision that effectively ends Haddin’s 68-Test career, barring injury to his replacement.Nevill took seven catches and scored a fluent 45 on debut, playing a key role in Australia’s 405-run victory over England that levelled the series after Haddin endured a poor match in Cardiff. The performances of the two glovemen in their respective appearances left Marsh to conclude that the younger man had to be chosen.”We’ve made the call to stick with the same XI that played at Lord’s and we were hoping we were able to do this,” Marsh said. “Obviously we had to wait on Chris Rogers but we decided that Nevill had such a good game at Lord’s, the team played that well, won by 405 runs, it was very hard to change a winning side.”Haddin has taken the decision as well as could be expected, but others including Ricky Ponting have criticised the selectors’ choice of Nevill. As coach, Lehmann has always emphasised the importance of “family first”, and there is some disquiet at how Haddin could have been in line to play at Lord’s but then fallen behind in the space of one match. Marsh, though, cited Haddin’s recent loss of batting form.”He’s a fantastic player with a fantastic attitude,” Marsh said, “but he’s averaging 15 in his last 12 Test matches, we needed runs down there, he didn’t keep well and he’ll admit that at Cardiff and the new boy did very, very well at Lord’s, so in my way of thinking, we didn’t have an option.”The omission of Haddin was difficult for numerous members of the squad to deal with, not least the captain Michael Clarke. Marsh has also known Haddin for a long time, referencing their time together at the Cricket Academy in Adelaide more than 15 years ago.”It was amazingly hard call, but we have to try and do the best thing for the country and the selection panel believe that was the best thing for the team, for the country,” Marsh said. “I’ve known Brad for a hell of a long time. I had Brad at the academy back in Adelaide at the turn of the century, even before that.”The opening batsman Chris Rogers looked uncomfortable when asked about whether there was unease within the team over the decision. “I don’t really want to talk about that,” he said. “That’s something for the selection panel. Maybe at the end of the series I can think about that, but at the moment I don’t really want to.”

Suriname’s anticipated debut at the ICC Americas Under-19 Division One championship will have to wait at least another two years after the team was forced to withdraw from the event starting on Sunday in Bermuda. According to an ICC release, the U-19 Division Two champions had to pull out after failing to secure transit visas.A source told ESPNcricinfo that because there were no direct flights from Suriname to Bermuda, the squad needed to secure visas to transit through either the USA or Canada in order to get to Bermuda. However, the visa applications were not processed in time.The tournament’s format originally stipulated that the four competing teams – Bermuda, USA, Canada and Suriname – would play an initial round-robin stage after which the lowest-ranked team on the points table would be eliminated before commencing a second round-robin stage with the three remaining teams. Instead, USA, Bermuda and Canada will play a double round-robin amongst themselves, as was the format in 2013.The first-place team in Bermuda gains automatic entry into the 2016 ICC U-19 World Cup in Bangladesh. The runner-up will have a second chance at qualification in a global qualifier comprised of runner-up teams from other ICC Associate regions due to be held in Nepal later this year.In addition to the 10 Full Members who received automatic entry, other teams to have qualified for next year’s U-19 World Cup include Afghanistan, Namibia and Fiji while the runner-up teams who have gained a spot at the repechage qualifier are Nepal, Uganda and Papua New Guinea. The ICC Europe U-19 Qualifier begins on July 11 in Jersey.

Sri Lanka Cricket (SLC) is still in discussions with the ECB about the status of their tour to England next year, according to Graeme Labrooy, the Sri Lanka Cricketers’ Association (SLCA) secretary.SLC had earlier said that they would revert to the players’ body by Wednesday on the tour, which clashes with next year’s Indian Premier League, but Labrooy said that “with informal discussions still going on between SLC and the England and Wales Cricket Board, we now expect to be updated by the weekend”.”I have been informed by SLC that discussions are still going on, and some clarity may come through by the weekend,” Labrooy told Cricinfo. “I believe the discussions basically revolve around how best the tour can go forward, whether the tour schedule can be reworked or whether the IPL franchises can release some players for the tour and so on. But we are not pushing SLC because the tour is still a year away and the players are right now focussed on the India series starting on July 23.”It’s believed the SLC interim committee, headed by Arjuna Ranatunga, is scheduled to meet soon to discuss the issue.Sri Lanka’s proposed tour to England clashes with the IPL, for which 13 top Sri Lankan cricketers, include Mahela Jayawardene, their captain, Kumar Sangakkara, the vice-captain, and Muttiah Muralitharan, have signed three-year contracts.On July 8, the ECB announced the dates for Sri Lanka’s visit, which starts with a warm-up game against Leicestershire on April 21, and ends with the third and final ODI against England on May 30. But two days later, following an intervention from the country’s president on behalf of the players, Mendis announced the Sri Lankan players would be allowed to appear for the IPL and that a compromise would worked out with the ECB.The tour was firmed up during the recent ICC conference in Dubai, where Ranatunga agreed to the ECB’s request to fill in the slot vacated by Zimbabwe for the 2009 season.

The England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) today announced that LoughboroughUniversity Centre of Cricketing Excellence (UCCE) has been accorded ‘First Class’ status for the 2003 season. Loughborough joins Oxford, Cambridge andDurham UCCEs as the fourth university to gain ‘First Class’ recognition.Loughborough has won all three of the major university cricket competitions in the last two seasons – the UCCE Championship, the UCCE One-Day Challenge and the BUSA Championship.John Carr, ECB Director of Cricket Operations, said, “The Board’s Cricket Advisory Committee made this recommendation to the Management Board in recognition of the outstanding progress made in such a short time at the Loughborough UCCE and the very good performance of the Team in 2001 and 2002. I congratulate all those involved with the UCCE at Loughborough on this well deserved upgrade in cricketing status!”Dr Guy Jackson, Director of Cricket at Loughborough UCCE, said, “This recognition is very welcome and reward for the work that Head Coach Graham Dilley and several others at the University have invested. The experienced coaching team, the facilities boosted by the National Cricket Academy centre now under construction, and the advanced sports science and medicine supportservices at Loughborough make this an excellent base for cricket development. In many ways I believe this is a boost to the whole UCCE scheme, where the ECB, in partnership with leading Universities, are helping young players to develop their cricket whilst maintaining their education and gaining essential qualifications.”The success of Loughborough players such as Monty Panesar, Steve Selwood and Rob White last year show that with the right support, young players can complete their education and compete within County Cricket.”

England today announced that the Lancashire all-rounder Andrew Flintoffisto fly to the ECB’s National Academy in Adelaide tomorrow for furthertreatment following his recent hernia operation.Flintoff, who underwent surgery following the 3rd npower Test againstIndia this summer, has not yet recovered full fitness and missed theopening match of England’s tour of Australia at Lilac Hill yesterday.Coach Duncan Fletcher said: “Although Andrew’s recovery programme isrunning behind schedule at present, we remain confident that he will beable to take part in the Ashes Series.”However, our physio Kirk Russell has a heavy workload at present due tothe number of injuries in the squad and we feel that the medical team atthe Academy are best placed to give Andrew the intensive one-to-onetreatment heneeds if he is to be fit for the first Test in Brisbane.”No decision has yet been made as to whether the England selectors willsend for a replacement for Flintoff while he is undergoingtreatment at the ECB National Academy.