After a lengthy teleconference call yesterday, the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) appears no closer to a definitive solution to the contracts dispute with the players that has placed West Indies’ tour of Sri Lanka in jeopardy.A terse two-paragraph communiqué, issued through the WICB’s corporate communications manager Leonard Robertson, shed absolutely no light on the discussions of the executive committee yesterday morning. “The executive committee of the board of directors of the WICB met on June 23 and discussed ways of ensuring that the West Indies meets its obligations under the International Cricket Council’s Future Tours Programme,” the communiqué said. It added that the WICB will release a full statement on the matter at a later date, and confirmed that three of the 13 players to make themselves available for the tour to Sri Lanka had accepted the invitation at the deadline date of June 21.Incumbent captain Shivnarine Chanderpaul, fast bowler Daren Powell, and uncapped wicketkeeper/batsman Denesh Ramdin are the three players who have agreed to the terms. It is understood that the WICB may issue letters of invitation to another batch of players for the tour as one of its options.The executive committee of the WICB were forced to hold an emergency teleconference early yesterday morning after only three players accepted the contractual terms for the tour. Meanwhile, WIPA executive president Dinanath Ramnarine wanted to assure cricket fans that the association was very anxious to have the tour to Sir Lanka proceed, but added it must act to protect its members’ rights and interests.Ramnarine has put forward three conditions under which the tour could proceed, but they have apparently been spurned by the WICB. “WIPA proposes that both WICB and WIPA agree to binding arbitration set for a fixed date of all issues and questions either party may have,” the association outlined in a news release.Ramnarine added: “Clause 5 of the present match/tour contract be adjudicated by Justice Adrian Saunders at a date and time to be agreed, and in the event of the WICB being in breach in its present match/tour contract to Sri Lanka, then the WICB shall compensate the players at a rate agreed or by further negotiation to settle the matter. He continued: “And the players’ sponsorship fee for the Sri Lanka tour to be negotiated and agreed between the WICB and WIPA on or before Monday, June 27.”Ramnarine said WIPA believed this approach would not only ensure the tour goes on, but allow matters to be settled for the future, so that it would be unlikely to have such difficulties recur. West Indies are set to face Sri Lanka in two Tests, before tackling the hosts and India in a three-way limited-overs international competition.

Following on from its Under-19 National Open Tournament in Chicago in August, Major League Cricket (MLC) has announced its plans for an inaugural Inter-State Cricket Cup for North America, to be launched in November 2005.The plans are for a nationally organised tournament with representation from 16 US states and Canadian provinces. They will be competing on two levels – a Senior Division, and an Under-25 Division. Florida has been chosen as the location for the tournament, which is to be played from November 14 to 20, 2005.MLC also announced that the former West Indian batsman, Desmond Haynes, has been appointed US National Coach, and will oversee the Inter-State Cricket Cup tournament as well as the future training of the select MLC US squads following the tournament.Once the tournament is complete, MLC is planning to select two 25-member US squads, one each from the Senior and Under-25 Divisions. Coaches and managers will be selected to work with both squads to train the teams for regional and international competition. The Inter-State Cricket Cup competition will offer state-level players the opportunity to show off their abilities and potential. MLC believes that this display will provide tournament officials the criteria needed to accurately select – on two levels – future national USA cricket teams.Bernard J Cameron, president and CEO of MLC noted that, as part of MLC’s long-term initiative, the Inter-State Cricket Cup would be one of the main strategic anchoring mechanisms for the grass-roots development and growth of American cricket.To promote and market this event, MLC Events, the programming and publicity arm of MLC, will wage a campaign for securing sponsors who would benefit by access to the estimated 6 million people belonging to the diverse cricket-loving community in the US.MLC claims that, according to the KBS Media Guide, more than six million cricket fans reside in the United States and Canada, out of a global audience of over two billion. In addition, more than 50,000 of these enthusiasts actually play the sport in North America.In the USA alone, there are more than 700 cricket teams. This makes the United States the ninth most-active cricket-playing country in the world, ahead of all except the top-tier Test-playing countries. Over 1.3 million Americans watched pay-per-view coverage of the 2003 Cricket World Cup, paying three times as much per viewer than their counterparts elsewhere in the world.There has never been a sustained campaign launched in the USA to attract major sponsors for cricket in the USA. MLC has already set a good record for attracting sponsors to its National Open U-19 Championships in Chicago in August, and hopes to build on its achievements between now and November 2005.

Full tournament schedule

West Indies, the hosts, will play the first match of the 2007 World Cup against Pakistan, in Jamaica, on March 13, 2007. The match, from Group D, will be staged at the newly renovated Sabina Park in Kingston.Australia, the defending champions, will open their tournament against Scotland in St Kitts on March 14. Overall the tournament will involved 51 matches in 47 days and the final will take place on April 28 in Barbados.Trinidad & Tobago will host Group B. Matches will commence on March 15 when Sri Lanka meet Bermuda, India and Sri Lanka meet in the group’s showpiece game on March 23.St Lucia, which is hosting England’s group for the round robin stage of the tournament, starts its matches on March 14 with Kenya taking on Canada. Kenya will also close out the group by playing England, who’s first match is against New Zealand on March 16.The round robin play will see six games over a period of 11 days in each of the four groups. The winners and runners-up from each group will earn the right to advance to the Super 8 stage of the tournament where teams will play each of the other teams advancing – except the team which advanced from their own group – for a total of six games each.The Super 8 stage of the tournament, which begins on March 27, will be played in four countries: Antigua, Guyana, Grenada and Barbados. The last match of this segment of the tournament will take place on Saturday 21 April.For the semi-finals the four remaining teams will travel to Jamaica and St Lucia. On Apri 24 Sabina Park in Kingston will be the venue for semi-final one, where the second and third place finishers from the Super 8’s will square off against each other.On April 25 the Beausejour Stadium in St Lucia will stage semi-final two, pitting the first and fourth place finishers from the Super 8’s against each other.The event logo and event mascot were also unveiled at an event in Trinidad and Tobago. The event mascot is a teenage character called `Mello’ who embodies the lifestyle of the region.

Shane Warne is having an amazing effect on this summer of cricket. Even when he is not actually on the field, he can inspire a team to victory. As Warne watched his Australian team mates get hammered around Chelmsford, his county side, Hampshire, were grasping their hands on the C&G trophy, their first domestic silverware for 13 years. Shaun Udal, their victorious captain on the day, said Warne had played a major part in getting the county into this position.”He has already been on the phone,” said a delighted Udal at the post-match press conference. “He set the foundations of the club because obviously we were struggling when he arrived – but it is down to him that we are in this position now. He is an awesome man and cricketer.”However, Udal did admit that he was concerned about his teams prospects ofvictory as Nick Knight and Ian Bell batted Warwickshire into a commandingposition. But Bell, who had played a superbly composed innings of 54,suffered from a severe bout of cramp which required treatment, and Hampshire sensed their moment. When Bell chipped to mid-off, Hampshire throttled Warwickshire’s innings thanksto the brilliant death bowling of Shane Watson and Andy Bichel – two Aussies who have that winning feeling their national side would love to taste next week.”I was very concerned at one point,” said Udal. “But then the rate started to increase and I thought the cramp that Bell [suffered from] helped us, because it was tough for a new batsman coming in.”

Udal was also full of praise for Hampshire’s century-maker Sean Ervine, the former Zimbabwean allrounder. Ervine hit 104 – to back-up his match-winning hundred against Yorkshire in the semi-final. Udal said: “He has taken to county cricket like a duck to water. We have promoted him up the order in the Championship and he has responded with half-centuries andnow he has hit two centuries in this competition.”Ervine has left Zimbabwean cricket behind and is getting to the stage where he will have to decide where his future lies. He is travelling back to Australia to play for Western Australia this winter but has yet to make up his mind between England and Australia. “At the moment I am justplaying cricket but my ambition is to play Test cricket again. I probably have a year or two left to decide on my options but, at the moment, it is edging towards England.”While Ervine and Udal were happy to look to a bright Hampshire future, Knight, Warwickshire’s captain, was left to reflect on his fruitless 118 in their chase. Even after his stand with Bell had been broken, victory was still within his team’s grasp as he and Jim Troughton carried them past 200.However, Troughton fell the ball after a lengthy standing ovation, following the announcement on the big screen that Richie Benaud was on his last commentary stint at Lord’s. “It’s just part of the game, there were a lot of stoppages to today.”However, he did pinpoint Bell’s cramp as a key moment in the match, although refused to make excuses. “What is it with these young guys? They are supposed to be fit and train hard,” Knight ruefully joked in the press conference. “I started to get a bit of cramp at one point but managed torun it off, but I am a fair bit older than him so I’m allowed to get it.”

An open split has emerged among the three-member committee that was established by the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) to review the sponsorship negotiations with Digicel. Against a background of media leaks on aspects of the report submitted by the committee, Avondale Thomas and Gregory Georges have disassociated themselves from a dissenting “declaration” by Justice Anthony Lucky that was not part of the main report, but which he has made available, along with signed copies of the report, to Ken Gordon, the new WICB president.According to Georges and Thomas the declaration by Lucky, which is quite critical of the board’s negotiating process with Digicel and, among other factors, suggests the need for renegotiation, does not form part of the committee’s report that makes no “reference to the contract being null and void …”.Contrary to the position adopted by Georges and Thomas, Justice Lucky said that, as both have admitted, they were privy to his personal “declaration” before it was presented, along with the committee’s full report, to Gordon on August 15.Lucky said his declaration, that also raised serious doubts about the legal status of the WICB and Digicel contract, was given as “an appendix” to the report which leaves serious doubts about how the negotiations of the sponsorship contract took place. On reflection, Lucky said, “perhaps it is a good thing that some things have come out in the media because the WICB has been running the show as if it was a secret society or private club.”While his committee colleagues, Georges and Thomas, have the right to reject his declaration, equally he has the right to present his dissenting position to the board “because I am part of an independent committee, and as one not receiving calls from any board member telling me who to interview and who not to interview …”Officially, the review committee’s report remains a document yet to be considered by the executive board of the WICB. This is scheduled to be done on September 4. What is certainly not in either the main body of the report or among the appendices, is the actual sponsorship contract between Digicel and the WICB, negotiated and signed in secret, as various board members themselves have claimed but are still not ready to say on record.

Surrey 225 and 45 for 1 trail Warwickshire 338 (Knight 117, Loudon 60, Powell 60, Saqlain 4-80) by 68 runs
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Points TableWhile the nation’s attention was elsewhere – as was that of the few who had turned up at Edgbaston – Warwickshire secured the bonus points which ended the mathematical possibility that they could be relegated, and left Surrey and Middlesex to go head-to-head to escape the drop at The Oval in eight days time – assuming that Surrey avoid defeat in this match.Surrey’s bowling in the morning underlined why they find themselves in danger of the drop, although Jade Dernbach’s opening burst promised more. Dernbach, a 19-year-old European-qualified South African, bowled Ian Westwood and Jonathan Trott with full-length balls, but it was a false dawn.Warwickshire feasted on their waywardness, Nick Knight completing his second hundred in three matches (and passing 1000 runs for the season) and Alex Loudon and Michael Powell chipping in with a brace of 60s. Surrey did find some penetration after tea, Saqlain benefiting as Warwickshire lost quick wickets, but they still finished with a first-innings lead of 113.By ensuring their safety, Warwickshire softened the blow of the news that they would be without Makhaya Ntini for the rest of the season after the South African board insisted he return home to play in a benefit match.

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Bermuda’s captain Clay Smith led his country’s fightback with an unbeaten century after they had looked dead and buried yesterday, but it seems unlikely to be enough to prevent Kenya moving into Thursday’s final.Bermuda were in trouble at 72 for 3 in reply to Kenya’s 403 for 6, but Smith, who was given excellent back-up by Irvine Romaine and wicketkeeper Dean Minors, who both scored fifties, dealt well with an uninspired Kenyan attack. After struggling to 13 off as many overs with the loss of Cutis Jackson last night, Bermuda lost opener Kwame Tucker went early on, falling to Thomas Odoyo.Romaine’s and Saleem Mukuddem’s third-wicket partnership added some respectability and obviously gave Bermuda confidence. At Mukeddem’s wicket, Smith took the attack to the Kenyans and turned a one-sided match back into a contest. After Romaine fell for 56, Janeiro Tucker added a useful 30 from just 29 balls as Kenya continued to throw away advantage Tikolo had given them yesterday. Tucker’s wicket brought no respite, Minors sustaining the fast-scoring with a run-a-ball 51, falling to Tikolo. Kenya’s captain was on a hat-trick after Lionel Cann fell first ball, offering a return catch to Tikolo.There was little to celebrate for the out-of-form Collins Obuya, one of the stars of Kenya’s World Cup in 2003. He struggled for any consistency and took 0 for 74 off 14 overs. He is scheduled to spend some time in Australia working on his bowling when this tournament is over.Kenya took a lead of 61 into the second innings, and although they lost Maurice Ouma before the close, it will take something remarkable on a good pitch for Bermuda to prevent them reaching the final.

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Five-wicket hauls from Haryana’s Joginder Sharma and Sachin Rana consigned Uttar Pradesh to a disastrous 20-run defeat on day four at Kanpur. Set 145 to get after dismissing Haryana for 177 in the morning session, UP never got off the blocks as Joginder (5 for 47) and Rana (5 for 34) combined to deflate a batting line-up that had posted 310 in its first innings. Earlier, Haryana had stretched its overnight score of 135 for 9 to 177 thanks to a valuable 50-run partnership between Pardeep Sahu and Jitendra Malik. Joginder continued on his impressive 67 and 4 for 99 in the first innings with key strikes up the order, after which UP could not stage a fightback.
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Despite a superb 7 for 93 from Saurashish Lahiri, the offspinner, Maharashtra successfully averted defeat by batting out a large share of the final day’s play at Pune and setting Bengal an improbable 222 from a possible 39 overs post-lunch. Hrishikesh Kanitkar’s 147-ball 48 and useful contributions from Dhruv Mohan and Sairaj Bahutule were enough to confront Lahiri’s offbreaks and take Maharashtra to 249. In the end, Bengal’s only option was to bat out what was left of the day, and a 76-run opening stand between Subhomoy Das and Arindam Das in 30.2 overs summed up Bengal’s resolve.
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Chances of a result in the Andhra-Baroda clash at Anantapur were seriously hampered by rain on the first two days, and after dismissing Andhra for 204 in the morning session on the final day, Baroda batted out the remainder of the sessions to end on 166 for 4. Ambati Rayadu’s dour 87 apart, none of the other Andhra batsmen could come to terms with testing spells from Zaheer Khan and Rajesh Pawar, the left-arm spinner, as both finished with four-wicket hauls. Jacob Martin, the Baroda captain, ended the day unbeaten on 56, and Kiran Powar clubbed three sixes en route to an entertaining 42 that offered some excitement in an otherwise drab encounter.
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Half-centuries from Mumbai’s young duo of Omkar Khanvilkar and Vinit Indulkar ensured their team gained two points from a drawn encounter against Delhi at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Having gaining a 220-run lead, Mumbai didn’t have the time to force an outright result and settled on batting practice instead. Khanvilkar, playing just his third first-class game, produced a stroke-filled 71 while Indulkar was the more patient of the two with a 124-ball 55. Earlier, Ramesh Powar, the offspinner, snapped up two more wickets and ended with an impressive six-wicket haul.
ScorecardRailways’ top order made amends for their first-innings blemishes but Karnataka had done enough to ensure a draw at the Karnail Singh Stadium. Amit Pagnis and Sanjay Bangar, the Railways’ captain, added 127 for the first wicket as both grafted runs on an attritional day. Bangar’s painstaking 61 was compiled in 230 balls as the game petered out to its inevitable conclusion. Railways finally decided to declare towards the closing stages, as Karnataka were forced to bat out ten overs before walking away with two points, on the basis of their first-innings advantage.
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Tamil Nadu walked away with two points in their rain-affected game against Gujarat at Tirunelveli. Tamil Nadu were bolstered by contributions from different batsmen with Subramanium Badrinath top-scoring with a patient 57. Tamil Nadu were in a precarious position at 130 for 6, with Siddharth Trivedi, the medium-pacer engineering a fightback, with 29 runs still needed to match Gujarat’s score. But Badrinath received support from the lower order, with Sridharan Sharath and Ramadoss Naresh chipping in with 30s, and they comfortably eased past the target.
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Pankaj Dharmani steered Punjab to a tricky target of 216 as they posted a comfortable six-wicket win over newly-promoted Services at Mohali. Services, having started the day at 228 for 8, stretched their score to 291, thanks to AK Mohanty and Arun Sharma. But that proved futile as Ravneet Ricky and later Dharmani, the captain, chased down the total to earn four points for Punjab.

The Titans moved to the top of the Standard Bank Cup table thanks to a 111 not out from Martin van Jaarsveld as they cruised to a six wicket win over the Dolphins with 14 balls to spare.Set a big target of 247, the Titans innings got away in a rush but some poor discipline, first from Alviro Petersen running past a Andrew Tweedie ball to be bowled for 30, then Goolam Body involved in a silly run out for 20 and finally Zander de Bruyn also walking past a Tweediedelivery for six, put the brakes on the rate, giving the Dolphins a slight opening. Van Jaarsveld and Gerald Dros (28) got the innings back on track putting on 66 runs and opening the way for Johan Myburgh (48 not out) to play some entertaining shots. It was however van Jaarsveld who took the honours going to his 100 off 94 balls and then taking the Titans to victory.Earlier the Dolphins innings had not got off the ground with both openers out within the first five overs. Hashim Amla steadied the ship with a solid 49 but it was Dale Benkenstein (87 not out) and Lance Klusener (49 not out) who gave the Dolphins a defendable total of 246 for 6. They struck nine boundaries and six sixes in their undefeated 91-run partnership as 70 came in the final seven overs.However, one must question the Dolphins’ tactic of sending in Klusener at No.8, and remaining unbeaten at the end of the innings. Ethy Mbhalati was the most impressive Titans bowler taking 1 for 13 in seven overs.

Andrew Strauss was determined to look at the positives after England slumped to their fourth defeat in five matches, this time a one-wicket loss in their warm-up fixture against Pakistan A at Bagh-e-Jinnah.”It’s never ideal to lose, and the warm-up before the Test series showed that,” said Strauss, who stood in as England’s captain in the absence of Michael Vaughan and Marcus Trescothick. “But there were some positives from today’s performance. That’s encouraging, because there are a lot of the guys who’ve been sitting on the sidelines for a long time, and it’s good for them to get out to the middle.”Strauss singled out four players for particular praise. “Matt Prior did very well at the top of the order, Colly [Paul Collingwood] continued his good form, and Liam Plunkett and Jimmy Anderson were very impressive.”But it’s important to realise that three of our biggest players weren’t playing today,” he said, referring to the absence of Trescothick, Andrew Flintoff and Steve Harmison, all of whom sat out the match after their efforts in the Test series. “We’ll have a stronger side on Saturday, no doubt.”Strauss himself wasn’t quite at his best, having only just returned from England where he attended the birth of his first son, Samuel. “I’m a little jaded,” he admitted, “but I always enjoy captaining a side. As much as anything today it kept me awake!”I haven’t pick up a bat for ten days,” he added, after being dismissed for just 5. “I need to use the practice time constructively, spend some time with Fletch [Duncan Fletcher] and hit my straps on Saturday. Today was tricky, coming straight off the plane, but after a couple of days’ practice there’s no reason I can’t get runs.”Strauss admitted that it was England’s batting, once again, that let them down in this match. “We were probably 15-20 runs short today, but that comes with rustiness and not having played one-day cricket for a long time. We’ll look back on the game tomorrow, and see where we could have improved.”