ICC to bring BCCI and ICL on table

DUBAI: In a step aimed at ending the tussle between the Indian Cricket Board and the Indian Cricket League, the International Cricket Council has invited both the parties to a meeting in Johannesburg on Monday.

ICC president David Morgan and the chief executive Haroon Lorgat would meet with representatives of the BCCI and the ICL.

The representative of the BCCI and the ICL had met in October last year but the talks had failed.

Morgan said he had arranged the meeting to try and bring about a settlement to the long-running dispute between the two parties.

"I've long regarded it as a priority to bring together the BCCI and the owners of the ICL and I'm pleased to say we have fixed a meeting to take place in Johannesburg on Monday," Morgan said in a statement.

The ICC president cautiously said they were hoping to see an end the dispute but nothing can be promised.

"I hope we might be successful in coming to a mutually acceptable conclusion. I can't be certain that will be the case but I hope we can at least make a start in bringing about a settlement.

"I think this is significant because experience tells me that the best opportunity to solve a dispute is to have the parties face-to-face," he said.

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Money has ruined cricket: Dickie Bird

LONDON: Umpiring legend Dickie Bird says he is pained to see how money has ruined the game, the latest example of which is the mess created by England Cricket Board's now-terminated alliance with fraud-accused business tycoon Allen Stanford.

The 75-year-old retired umpire feels the ECB did the right thing by terminating their contracts with Stanford but reckons the damage has already been done.

"It was right for the England and Wales Cricket Board to terminate all contractual links with Allen Stanford. But it is too late because the damage has already been done.

"It depresses me what has happened to the game I knew and was brought up with as a boy. Money has been the ruination of cricket," Bird wrote in British tabloid The Sun.

Bird, who officiated in three World Cups, said he could sense something was wrong when Stanford first got associated with the game.

"When Sir Allen showed off the case with the $20 million prize money for the West Indies and England winner-take-all game last year, Viv Richards and Ian Botham were beside him.

"They were all smiling, but when they pulled back the blanket to reveal the cash I thought it was horrendous.

"I thought 'there is something wrong here' and I have been proved right. I thought 'don't get involved with this man'. I wondered 'what is in it for him' and I wondered 'where is the money coming from?," Bird wrote.

Bird said Stanford's fraud act will affect the Caribbean cricket the most and it was a big setback for the West Indies Board.

"Unfortunately, the authorities saw the dollar signs and dived in head-first, without thinking. The people who are going to suffer most are the people in the West Indies, where he was bankrolling the game.

"Many Caribbean youngsters had been turned off the game because they were watching American TV and playing basketball. It was hoped that with extra investment in grass-roots cricket this could change. But those youngsters will suffer, as will the West Indies Board of Control.

"The West Indies used to be so powerful and there are signs that they are coming back. But this is a terrible setback for them," he said.

Source:http://cricket.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Money-has-ruined-cricket-Dickie-Bird/articleshow/4165708.cms

NZ series will judge Dhoni as a captain: Ganguly

MUMBAI: Expressing concern over lack of practice matches for the Indian team on the tour of New Zealand, former skipper Sourav Ganguly on Friday said that the visit will test Mahendra Singh Dhoni's leading ability.

"The series will judge Dhoni as a captain as he has led the squad mostly in the sub-continent. But the side did well under him to beat Australia in the ODI's Down Under," Ganguly said.

The left handed batsmen, who led India during the last tour to New Zealand in 2002, said lack of match practice for the squad in tough conditions will only add to the challenges.

"The worrying aspect for the side is that there is no warm-up game. It's tough, especially when you are playing in Australia, England and New Zealand," Ganguly said.

Ganguly said the Black Caps were difficult to beat at home but the Indian side had the necessary quality to perform the job.

"New Zealand is a tough side to beat at home but ours is also a good side," he said pointing out that India had done well in similar conditions in Ireland and England under Rahul Dravid in 2007.

Asserting that the India team will have to bat well, Ganguly said each member of the squad would have to contribute if they were to register the first series win in New Zealand in over 40 years.

"There is no senior or junior in sports. Each member of the team will have to perform if the team has to win," Ganguly said.

The southpaw, who retired from the international cricket last year after scoring 7,212 runs in 113 Tests and 11363 runs in 311 ODIs, said the team's performance during next two years would decide if they could become the number one squad in the world.

"India will participate in many overseas tours in the next two years. Their performance in these tours will decide if the team can claim to be top side in the world. But on the current form, South Africa are the number one team. We should also not count out the Aussies," the 36-year-old cricketer said.

Lauding Gary Kirsten's role as the coach, the former skipper made a veiled attack on former coach Greg Chappell, saying a coach should not try to dominate the team and should work from behind the scenes.

"Gary has done a wonderful job for India. (Like him) coaches should remain behind the scene. A captain is the most important member of the team. It is when that a coach tries to dominate that problems creep in as was the case with Graeme Smith, Kevin Pietersen and for India."

Soruce:http://cricket.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/NZ-series-will-judge-Dhoni-as-a-captain-Ganguly/articleshow/4161839.cms

Sri Lanka make crisp start against Pakistan

KARACHI: Opener Malinda Warnapura and Kumar Sangakkara scored crisp half centuries to lead Sri Lanka to 120 for two against Pakistan at lunch on the opening day of the first Test in Karachi on Saturday.

Sangakkara was unbeaten on 51 while captain Mahela Jayawardene was on five at lunch after Tharanga Paranavitana fell for a first ball duck on his debut at National Stadium.

Pakistan awarded Test caps to opener Khurrum Manzoor and pacer Sohail Khan. Sri Lanka won the toss and batted first on a pitch which offered some movement to the fast bowlers.

Umar Gul struck for the home side on the fourth ball of the first over when he had Paranavitana caught at second slip by Misbah-ul-Haq.

Warnapura and Sangakkara then teamed up to play some fluent shots, putting on 90 from 105 balls as the tourists made steady progress.

Warnapura hit seven fours in his sixth Test fifty before he was also caught at second slip by Misbah off Yasir Arafat who was Pakistan's best bowler in the session.

Sangakkara also made his 29th Test fifty from 84 balls, striking six fours.

Pakistan is playing its first Test after 14 months after overseas teams refused to tour the country because of security fears.

Soruce:http://cricket.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/Sri-Lanka-make-crisp-start-against-Pakistan/articleshow/4165570.cms