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The Australian Cricketers’ Association is encouraging Australia to develop a Twenty20 competition that is similar to the Indian Premier League and could run in conjunction with the main tournament. Paul Marsh, the ACA’s chief executive, has been in India to monitor the opening week of the IPL and said the expansion of the concept could follow soccer’s model.”The Indian league will be the Premier League, and then you have the Australian league as the second league, or even the English league,” Marsh said in the Daily Telegraph. “Over time players could go and play in one of these leagues and then you’ll have a situation where the ICC could license each league, get a return and distribute it to each of these boards.”The initial success of the IPL has other countries trying to think of ways to benefit financially from the concept. Support is also growing for the ICC to implement a set time each year for Twenty20 so it doesn’t overlap with Test and one-day internationals.”We need to find this window and then find how to get a return from it for each of the boards,” Marsh said. “We might find a window and it opens a door for a whole lot of these leagues.”Marsh is also interested in the idea of an IPL team based in Australia. Michael Brown, Cricket Australia’s general manager of cricket operations, has said the franchise idea would be considered.Brown told AAP on Tuesday the start of the IPL had been “outstanding”. “It’s fantastic for cricket – we’re here in Melbourne in an incredible AFL environment, yet people are talking up cricket,” he said. “That’s a real positive for the game and the little bits I’ve caught from our players, it’s been very successful.”

All but one of the 14-man squad named by the West Indies selectors for the first Test against South Africa in Guyana have signed match/tour contracts and so will be available to play. However, Jerome Taylor, who was due to sign the contract, has been ruled out of the first Test due to a stiffening of the back which will prevent him from being able to perform at his best. The board’s medical panel has advised Taylor to rest for four to six weeks as a precautionary measure.That the contracts have been signed ends speculation that some players might go on strike in support of the seven who had been left out because of their contracts with Cable & Wireless.Meanwhile, Dinanath Ramnarine, the president of the West Indies Players Association (WIPA), was due to arrive in Barbados to try to find a solution to the stand-off and was expected to meet Teddy Griffith, the board’s president. “We certainly want to resolve this issue because this impasse is not doing anything good for anyone,” Ramnarine told the Trinidad Express. “We are trying to compromise as much as possible so we can make sure that the best team is out there. We are still optimistic.”Roger Braithwaite, the board’s chief executive, looked relieved that at least he would have a side to take the field. “I don’t want to speculate on anything WIPA may have been doing,” he told The Nation. “All I can speak to is that the players are eager. They are here. They are committed to playing for the West Indies and have indicated that commitment by signing the contracts.””The fact that the players have turned up and they are eager and looking forward to representing the West Indies speaks to what has been going on,” Brathwaite continued. “Obviously we have a situation that not all the players are here … we understand those reasons why. Hopefully, at some point in the future when they become eligible, they will be taken into consideration.”We have the best team here available to represent the West Indies, guys who are hungry and looking forward to the opportunity of representing the West Indies and making a name for themselves in Guyana.”

Gordon Greenidge has been appointed as the new convener of West Indies selectors, following a meeting by the directors of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) in Barbados. Greenidge, a former West Indies opening batsman, will be joined by Andy Roberts and Clyde Butts in the new selection panel.Roberts is the new face in the current panel, following Joey Carew’s resignation a few days back. Butts and Greenidge were already members of the old panel.The board also retained Lara as captain and confirmed that he is indeed a part of the panel along with Bennett King, the West Indies coach. During the recent series against India, Lara revealed that he was informed of his position as a selector just days before the final Test in Jamaica, causing resentment on his part. West Indies lost the Test and the series 1-0, and the circumstances made him reconsider his position as captain once the new selection panel is announced. Carew insisted that his decision to resign had nothing to do with Lara’s comments on team selection and quality of pitches in the Tests against India.

Two cricketers at the opposite ends of their careers faced the media at the end of the first day’s play at Bangalore. And at the opposite ends of their tether as well, to judge by the outward appearances of Anil Kumble and Michael Clarke.Kumble, who had been laid low by a flu virus and managed just six hours’ sleep on the eve of the match, was tired but contented after becoming the ninth man in Test history to reach 400 wickets. Australia’s boy wonder, Clarke, on the other hand, was utterly unfazed by his achievement in batting for more than four hours on debut to reach an unbeaten 76.For Kumble, it was the third occasion he had brought up a landmark on home turf, after taking his 100th and 300th wickets here at Bangalore too. “It’s just a coincidence,” he shrugged. “Somehow it often seems to work out like that. I did start thinking about it as I got closer, but really we just had to get on with the game, and break that partnership [between Simon Katich and Clarke].”Clarke, for his part, also admitted to nerves, although they were scarcely on show in the course of his innings. “It was great to get off the mark,” he admitted, “but obviously the longer I spent out there, the more comfortable I became. Batting with Simon really helped as well – he’s at New South Wales now, so it was great to spend time with him. He played really well, and deserved a hundred, but unfortunately he missed out today.”Katich, in the end, became Kumble’s landmark victim, as he was bowled off an inside edge for 81. “It’s a great honour to have 400 wickets,” said Kumble afterwards, before setting his sights even higher than that. “Obviously the next target for me is another 35 wickets, to go past Paaji bhai [Kapil Dev], but it’s more important to win this Test, and if I contribute to that then records will take care of themselves. I just want to keep taking wickets, and I feel good at the moment.”Tomorrow it will be Clarke’s own milestone that takes centre stage, and if anyone has the self-confidence to get to a hundred on debut, it is he. “Yeah, I hope I can get there,” he enthused. “I’ll come back tomorrow, aim to put on a good partnership with Adam [Gilchrist], and hopefully get to a hundred.”

The pitch was certainly in the batsman’s favour. “Good” was Clarke’s verdict, Kumble’s was “slow”. “I’m sure we’re getting the best use out of it, by winning the toss and batting,” added Clarke, “but on the fourth and fifth days it should break up.”Kumble dismissed suggestions that he had lacked support from Harbhajan Singh, who managed just the one wicket, albeit the big one of Matthew Hayden. “He bowled well, maybe [he was] a bit unlucky. But the wicket was slow, and they looked to get after the spinners, and on a first-day wicket, you can’t expect a pair of five-fors and the [opposition] team being bowled out for 200. We still have a very good chance.”Clarke had few problems in facing the Indian pairing, and attributed his expert use of the feet to the schooling from his Indian coach, Neil D’Costa, who sat right there in the press briefing. He added that his prior knowledge of India, where he came with the one-day side last year, helped settle his nerves no end.”One-day cricket in general has been good to me,” added Clarke. “Today was a lot easier as a result. I felt a lot more comfortable with the players and that played a big part. A lot of cricket at the top level is mental, but I backed myself to play in my own way, and fortunately today it came off.”

The first hearing put to the South African board regarding their restructuring process has been postponed indefinitely. The Griqua Diamonds, who wish to challenge the board, claim that the delay is the fault of the board and of Free State.Griqua Diamonds, the professional arm of the Griqualand West, are opposing the granting of the central franchise to Free State, arguing that the process followed in awarding the franchise was flawed. The case was due to get underway in the High Court on April 28, but it has been postponed.Brian Roodt, Griqualand West’s media manager, explained the reasons for the delay. “The United Cricket Board and Cricket SA, and the Free State Cricket Union and Free State Cricket were late in filing their papers, and this gave the Griqua Diamonds legal team no reasonable opportunity to prepare themselves properly,” he said. “So the hearing has been postponed indefinitely.”He added, “The Griqua Diamonds legal team will now need to go through the documentation, prepare themselves and then apply for a new court date.”

Barbados’ cricket selectors faced their sternest test of the season last night.They met at Kensington Oval to pick a squad for the final preliminary match of the Carib Beer Series against West Indies "B" starting Friday at Kensington Oval.The selectors’ dilemma stemmed from finding places for three West Indies players – Vasbert Drakes, Pedro Collins and Corey Collymore – following their return to the Caribbean after World Cup duties in South Africa.The cream of the national team – especially the bowlers – which just won the Cup segment of the competition, have performed commendably for six matches and it would be a tough blow if some of them were omitted.It is unthinkable to play as many as five specialist fast bowlers, and once the West Indies trio is available, it means that either Ian Bradshaw or Tino Best will have to watch from the sidelines this weekend.Both have impressive credentials this season.The 21-year-old Best, arguably the fastest bowler on show this season, is the competition’s leading wicket-taker with 28 scalps at 16.17 apiece and must be considered a genuine contender for an international call-up.Left-armer Bradshaw, 28, has bowled well all season, and his 25 wickets (ave. 20.08) place him joint fourth in the competition. His solid left-handed batting that has brought him a half-century in the lower order adds to his value.It is a difficult call for the selectors.The one player certain to be dropped from the eleven that played in the last match against the Leeward Islands is Randy Thomas, the BCL captain who made 17 and one on his debut at No. 3.Dwayne Smith, the promising 20-year-old, could also give way. For all his potential, Smith failed to score a half-century in any of his nine innings for an aggregate of 201 runs (ave. 28.71).If both Thomas and Smith are omitted, it means that captain Courtney Browne might have to move up to No. 5, an indication that the balance of the line-up will have a bias slightly towards bowling.If Smith is retained in the eleven, then one of the slow bowlers will miss out.Tall left-arm spinner Sulieman Benn is level with Bradshaw on 25 wickets and surely deserves another chance.So does Ryan Hurley. On his return to the Barbados team for the first time since 2000, the under-bowled Hurley has not done much with the ball, but has played two vital innings – one that produced a century in the opening match and the other a half-century last weekend.There has been some talk about resting a few of the leading players for the match against bottom-of-the-table West Indies "B" before fielding the strongest possible team for the semifinals of the International Challenge. That seems unlikely, however.The likely 13: Courtney Browne (captain), Philo Wallace, Sherwin Campbell, Ryan Hinds, Floyd Reifer, Dwayne Smith, Ryan Hurley, Vasbert Drakes, Ian Bradshaw, Sulieman Benn, Pedro Collins, Corey Collymore, Tino Best

• It was the 1736th ODI in cricket history.
• It was India’s 470th and New Zealand’s 381st match – 59th betweenthese two sides. The record now reads : New Zealand 26, India 30,abandoned 3.
• Umpires DN Pathirana and G Silva were officiating in their 11th andeighth match respectively.
• Rahul Dravid was playing his 150th match. He became 56th playeroverall and tenth Indian to do so.
• Zaheer Khan became second Indian after Debabis Mohanty to claim awicket off the first ball of the match when he trapped MatthewSinclair LBW. Mohanty had West Indian makeshift opener Ridley Jacobscaught by Nikhil Chopra at Singapore (Kallang) on September 5,1999. Inaddition there have been four instances of an Indian bowler capturinga wicket off the first ball of the opponent’s innings (second inningsof the match).
• Nathan Astle (117) scored his tenth hundred in ODIs in his 135thmatch. The hundred was Astle’s third against India which equals thetally of Chris Cairns for New Zealand.
• The hundred was fifth for Astle in his 51st floodlit matchonly oneless than all other Kiwi batsmen have scored in floodlit matches.Others with hundred in floodlit matches for New Zealand are StephenFleming (2), Matthew Sinclair (2), Chris Harris (1) and Chris Cairns(1).
• Astle, on 26,completed his 2000 runs in `away’ matches for NewZealand. At the end of this match Astle has a tally of 2091 runs from77 matches. He became 62nd batsman in all and fifth New Zealanderafter Martin Crowe (2820 runs in 86 matches), John Wright (2752 in106),Stephen Fleming (2323 in 89) and Adam Parore (2032 in 90) to doso. Incidentally India’s Sachin Tendulkar with 6712 runs from 183appearances holds the record of aggregating most runs in a career in`away’ matches.
• India’s total (127) was its second lowest in all matches against NewZealand after the 113 (in 44.2 overs) at Perth on January 18,1986.

• India’s total was the joint sixth lowest total to include anindividual fifty (Laxman- 60). It was also the second lowest suchtotal for India. The accompanying table has the details :

• Laxman’s 60 represented 47.24% of India’s total – the fourth maximum byany Indian batsman in a completed innings.The details :

• Chris Harris by holding four catches equalled the record of mostcatches by a fielder in a match for New Zealand. Ken Rutherford hadtaken four catches also against India at Napier on February 16,1995.Harris also became 14th fielder in ODIs to take four catches in amatch as a fielder with South African Jonty Rhodes being alone inholding as many as five.
• India suffered its third worst defeat against New Zealand in terms ofmargin of runs. New Zealand had beaten India by 108 runs at Dunedin onMarch 1,1990 and by 99 runs at Nagpur on November 26,1995.
• Nathan Astle was winning his 17th Man of the Match award. He is nowonly three away of Martin Crowe’s New Zealand record of 20 MoM awards.

Justin Langer and Ben Hutton put Middlesex back in the running for a National League Second Division promotion place with competition-best perfomances at Edgbaston.Skipper Langer’s patient 93 laid the foundations for a commanding 201 for nine and Hutton’s four for 32 undermined Warwickshire as they floundered under the Edgbaston floodlights.Hutton needed to take the wickets to get back in favour with Langer after he was involved in the run out that cost his captain a certain century.Langer had taken no risks and appeared in no trouble in a sensible 122-ball innings until Hutton changed his mind about a quick single in the penultimate over and Langer was unable to beat Dominic Ostler;s throw from midwicket.Langer gave Hutton a backward glance as he trudged back to the pavilion but the youngster, the grandson of Sir Leonard, was quickly forgiven as he applied the brakes to Warwickshire’s innings.Hutton, bowling gentle seamers, concentrated on line and length and struck in his first over when he had Ashley Giels stumped.The wickets of Dominic Ostler and Trevor Penney, both LBW, and Michael Powell, who was bowled through the gate followed, as Warwckshire slipped to 186 all out and their fourth straight home defeat in the competition.Langer said when he won the toss and opted to bat first that he did not fancy the chances of the side batting last under the temporary floodlights and so it proved.His innings ensured that Middlesex had just enough runs to force victory but his stands of 68 for the third wicket with Mark Ramprakash and 73 for the fourth with Irishman Ed Joyce enabled Middlesex to survive a late clatter of wickets of their own.

Nottinghamshire have signed Luke Fletcher, a 19-year-old fast bowler from their second XI, on a one-year contract.Fletcher, who stands at 6ft 6in, plays for Papplewick in the Nottinghamshire Premier League alongside the club’s bowling coach, Phil DeFreitas, and was a regular for the county’s second XI last season.”Luke has worked very hard over the winter and has impressed all the coaching staff over the past 12 months,” Mick Newell, Nottinghamshire’s director of cricket, said. “He’s definitely someone we want to continue looking at over a longer period of time and will be expected to provide competition and pressure on the first-team bowlers.”It’s nice to have another local lad in the squad and I know how keen he is to make a career in cricket, and play for Notts.”Fletcher showed plenty of promise on Nottinghamshire’s pre-season tour to South Africa in the winter, but he revealed that he had “never really taken cricket seriously up to last year”.”Last summer I was a bit star-struck when I was around the dressing room but having spent time with the players on pre-season, I now feel settled in and a full part of the squad,” he added. “I can’t wait for the season to start and I’m determined to push on from here for a first-team place before the end of the season.”

Points Tables

North Conference

The one match to escape the weather produced a major upset with Scotland beating Lancashire by 10 runs at Old Trafford. The contest was reduced to 22 overs per side and Ryan Watson’s 41-ball 43 propelled the Scots towards a competitive 142. Their total grew in significance when John Blain took two wickets in an over – including Brad Hodge for a second-ball duck – to leave Lancashire on 7 for 2. Mal Loye and Steven Croft (44) attempted a recovery but the increasing run rate led to a collapse. Australian Ian Moran removed Loye and Luke Sutton before Majid Haq and former captain Craig Wright collected three each. It’s the second time in four years Scotland have come out on top at Old Trafford, in 2003 they won in what was then Division Two of the National League. This is Scotland’s first victory of the season and virtually ends Lancashire’s hopes of making the semi-finals.A washout was declared early at Northampton as Northamptonshire and Leicestershire shared the points.

South Conference

All three matches in the South fell victim to the weather with no play possible at The Oval, Swansea or Taunton. Surrey’s point for their washout against Ireland moves them into a semi-final spot, ahead of Hampshire on net run-rate, while Kent stay top after a point against Somerset.