Boards meet to tackle Kolpak concerns

The ECB has held a meeting with its South African counterparts to discuss a solution to the growing problem of the number of Kolpak players in county cricket.

The get-together follows hot on the heels of last week's memo to all county chairmen advising that the ECB was clamping down on registrations and insisting they ensure that any Kolpak players had the correct work permits.

A report in The Daily Telegraph claims that the two boards discussed two possible ways to tackle the problem.

One was to make it harder for players to represent another national team after they had represented their country at a certain age-group, probably Under-19s. The other was a tightening of permit regulations, so that players would necessarily have played a certain number of first-class matches - possibly as many as 50 - before being allowed to play first-class cricket in England.

Whichever route the boards want to go down, they will need to persuade the ICC of the merits of any action. The ICC executive board needs seven votes out of the ten members to pass the motion.

Although a fortnight ago Haroon Lorgat, South Africa's head of selectors, publicly endorsed South African players using the Kolpak loophole to play in England, it is believed that the board are worried at the player drain as much as the ECB are concerned at the number of players currently in county cricket.

The straw that broke the camel's back was Warwickshire's signing of Vaughn van Jaarsveld, who turned his back on South Africa after not being picked for the national side as quickly as he wanted. That brought home to the South African board the danger of home-grown talent being allowed to drain away.

Richard Bevan, the chief executive of the Professional Cricketers' Association, told Cricinfo that the only real solution was to penalise the counties financially for picking Kolpak players. "The only real factor in this day and age is money," he said. "Cash is king."

As for van Jaarsveld, the future is uncertain. He signed for Warwickshire three weeks ago professing that his aim was "to play for England". It now seems he might struggle to play for his county. He is still waiting to be granted a work permit, and that has already been turned down as he has not played in England in the previous two seasons. Warwickshire are looking at exploiting another loophole which might allow him to play 20 hours of county cricket per week.

It may well be that just as the name Kolpak became synonymous for changing the face of county cricket, that of van Jaarsveld might have been the watershed.

Source: © Cricinfo

Emburey is second man on BCCI list

Former England captain John Emburey is the second candidate for India's coaching job, the Indian board has confirmed.

Emburey joins former South African coach Graham Ford in the running for the coach's position and has been called to Chennai for discussions on June 9. The Indian board has spoken to Emburey and is expected to send him an e-mail, with more details, sometime today.

"The Board of Control for Cricket in India has invited Graham Ford and John Emburey to come to Chennai and make a presentation to the Special Committee on June 9, 2007," the board's media release said. "After this a final decision on the next coach of Indian team will be made."

Emburey's name was recommended by former Indian captain Sunil Gavaskar, BCCI's chief administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty was reported as saying. Gavaskar was one of the seven-member panel that met in Bangalore on June 4 for discussing possible candidates for the coaching job.

The board had earlier announced on Monday that it had narrowed down the search to Ford and "a foreigner whose availability could not be ascertained". Emburey played 64 Tests for England between 1978 and 1995, ending with a modest 147 wickets at 38.4. He was, however, considered a model pro on the county circuit with 1608 wickets in a career that spanned 24 years.

However, he hasn't tasted much success as a coach. He was player-coach and then coach at Northamptonshire between 1996 and 1998 before being sacked with a year of his contract remaining. In 2001 he signed to coach Berkshire, a minor county, with the intention of emigrating to Australia at the end of the summer, but on the eve of the season he was appointed as Middlesex's third coach in as many seasons, taking over from old team-mate Mike Gatting.

In six years he struggled with a side in transition, bringing in some distinctly average players as well, and at the end of 2006 the county were relegated from the top flight in both the Championship and National League. In 2007 Middlesex brought in Richard Pybus to coach with Emburey moving to the more hands-off role as director of cricket.

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Indian Cricket Board satisfied with Whatmore meeting

The Indian board (BCCI) finally admitted that they discussed with Dav Whatmore his interest in coaching the Indian team. Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, said he was "satisfied" with his "brief meeting" with Whatmore in Bangladesh and would report his feedback to the seven-member committee appointed to find a new coach for the team.

"I met with him yesterday. I will report the details to the committee," Shah, who returned from Bangladesh Sunday morning, told PTI. "I am satisfied with the meeting. It was a brief meeting, it lasted for five-ten minutes. Whatmore expressed his desire to coach India."

However, a senior board official told Cricinfo that too much shouldn't be read into the meeting. "The board hasn't shortlisted anybody. Whatmore met with Shah to express his interest but the decision on the next Indian coach will be taken only a week or two before the India team leaves for Ireland on June 20."

Shah, along with Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, administrative officer Ratnakar Shetty and vice-president Rajeev Shukla were in Bangladesh on Saturday on an invitation from the Bangladesh board.

Both Shah and Pawar denied during their press briefing that the purpose of their visit was to have a discussion with Whatmore, who has emerged as a major contender for the post vacated by Greg Chappell. Asked about the turn of events, Shah said, "Whatmore wanted to meet me. I couldn't say no."

Shah had earlier said that the seven-member committee, which includes former captains Ravi Shastri, Srinivas Venkataraghavan and Sunil Gavaskar, would meet in Bangalore on June 4 and the new coach would be named four to five days later.

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The Bob Woolmer murder

Police dismiss speculation about second autopsy

Cricinfo staff

March 28, 2007

Jamaica's deputy police commissioner Mark Shields on Wednesday denied media reports that a second autopsy would be performed on the body of Bob Woolmer. "I can assure you there is no post mortem, there is no planned second post mortem," Shields was quoted by AFP.

He added that any post mortem would only be announced in consultation with the Kingston coroner's office. "If there was any question of a second post mortem it would be something that I would discuss with him and announce," Shields said.

Several newspapers carried claims that the first autopsy was not thorough, and some have gone as far as suggesting that there were enough inconsistencies to indicate that Woolmer might not have been murdered at all, but could have died after falling heavily against a bathroom sink.

The forensic pathologist, Ere Seshiah, initally claimed that the results of the first autopsy had been "inconclusive", and Shields conceded that this might become an issue in the event of a trial. "The jury may want a second post-mortem and if we arrest someone this week and charge them, the defence counsel will want a second."

Shields also said the quality of footage taken from the CCTV cameras in the hotel was better than expected. "There were some people in the footage that I'd met in the week after the murder of Bob Woolmer that I could clearly and easily identify," Shields said.

His priority was to locate and interview as many witnesses as possible. "We are working from the inside out - it is those that we know were close to Bob Woolmer, were associates of Bob Woolmer, people who were on the same floor or close to him from the time he returned to the hotel until the time he was murdered."

He also said that it was highly likely that people had left traces of DNA at the crime scene. "The reason we're taking DNA samples from everybody is to exclude them," he said.

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Indian board to discuss Twenty20 rules

The Board of Control for Cricket in India's (BCCI) Technical Committee, headed by Sunil Gavaskar, will meet in Chennai on January 20 to discuss the ICC rules and regulations on the domestic Twenty20 tournament in April.

"The Technical Committee meeting in Chennai will discuss the rules and regulations for Twenty20 format of the game that we have received from the ICC," said Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI's chief administrative officer. "We are planning to host the domestic Twenty20 event among all units in the first week of April."

The inaugural Twenty20 World Championship will be played in South Africa this September and the domestic tournament is being billed as a forerunner to the global event. The BCCI has not conducted any such tournament in the domestic circuit so far. India played their first Twenty20 International on their recent tour of South Africa and won it too.

Shetty added that the committee will also review the Ranji Trophy points system and the recommendation of MP Pandove, the BCCI joint secretary, to play all the Super League group matches, semi-finals and final at neutral venues from next season. At present the matches are held on rotation on a home and away basis.

The Ahes: Fletcher rules out Vaughan return

England coach Duncan Fletcher has ruled out former captain Michael Vaughan's return in this Ashes series.

Fletcher does not believe there are enough tour games for Vaughan to regain full fitness after having knee surgery.

"There's not much cricket between now and the third, fourth and fifth Tests.

"Especially cricket where he has to stay in the field for a long time, probably two days standing on that leg and for a long innings," Fletcher said.

"So until he can do that and he's confident in his knee, we won't consider Michael Vaughan."

Vaughan, the 2005 series winning captain, himself had targeted the fourth Test, which starts in Melbourne on Boxing Day.

But he has struggled with the bat in his first two matches since undergoing surgery.

He was out for a duck playing for an England Academy side against a Western Australia XI and then hit just nine runs on Wednesday against a WA Second XI.

The third Test starts in Perth on 14 December with Australia leading the series 2-0.

England play two matches, a one-day game against CA Chairman's XI at Lilac Hill on Friday and a two-day game against Western Australia, starting on Saturday.

Vaughan will play in the two-day game along with England Test squad players who have not featured in the first two Test matches.

The Ashes: Warne and Hussey sink England

The Ashes: Australia v England, 2nd Test, Adelaide,

By: Andrew Miller at Adelaide

December 5, 2006

Australia 513 and 4 for 168 (Hussey 61*, Ponting 49) beat England 6 for 551 and 129 (Collingwood 22*, Warne 4-49) by six wickets

Mike Hussey and Adam Gilchrist celebrate Australia's incredible victory © Getty Images

Australia have won the second Test at Adelaide and taken a 2-0 lead in the Ashes, after Shane Warne bounced back to form on a sensational final day to spark a dramatic England collapse. From 1 for 59 overnight, England lost their last nine wickets for 60 in 42 panic-stricken overs, with Warne right in the thick of things taking 4 for 27 in an unbroken 26-over spell. And then, needing 168 to win in an extended final session, Australia romped home with 3.1 of their 36 overs to spare. It was left to the ICC one-day Player of the Year, Mike Hussey, to crack the winning runs in an unbeaten 61.

It was a day dredged straight from the pit of English Ashes misery, and it was sparked, inevitably, by Warne. After his first-innings haul of 1 for 167, it was questioned whether he could ever again be the force of old, especially given the savage treatment that Kevin Pietersen had meted out on him in the course of his 158. And yet, the old showman proved that it's never too late for another encore. With England wobbling after two early setbacks, he reverted to his attacking line from over the wicket and bowled Pietersen round the legs with a prodigious first-ball legbreak that pitched in the rough and exploded onto off stump. It was a seminal moment, and England's resolve crumbled in an instant.

Pietersen had gone for 2, England had lost three wickets for four runs in three overs, and they had absolutely no place to turn. Andrew Strauss had fallen to a dubious catch at short leg and Ian Bell to a suicidal run-out - both dismissals inspired by Warne - and the combination of nerves and bad karma swept through the dressing-room like a bushfire. Australia went in for the kill, with sweepers on both boundaries to asphyxiate the runs and slips in place to pile on the pressure, and no-one other than the steadfast Paul Collingwood had any answer to the onslaught.

Andrew Flintoff certainly had no clue how to approach the situation. With his mind seemingly everywhere but on the job, he swished at a succession of wide deliveries from Brett Lee and eventually snicked one through to Adam Gilchrist, and Lee needed just four balls after the break to set Geraint Jones up for the big outswinging half-volley that he slapped straight to Matthew Hayden at gully. Ashley Giles - included in England's line-up as an insurance policy for a day exactly like this - then lasted just eight deliveries before Warne squared him up with a big ripper and Hayden again pouched the catch at slip.

Collingwood by now was entrenched, starved of run-scoring opportunities and rapidly running out of partners. Matthew Hoggard dug in as best he could, but having ground his innings out for 24 obdurate deliveries, Warne served up a thinly disguised googly that took the inside-edge of an ambitious swish. And Glenn McGrath, who had been brooding in the outfield for three hours and 20 minutes, struck in his first over to end Steve Harmison's brief resistance.

James Anderson hung around with Collingwood for 10 precious overs, but runs were at an absolute premium, with England managing just three boundaries in the entire day's play. McGrath eventually picked Anderson off lbw for 1 from 28 balls, leaving Collingwood high and dry, unbeaten on 22 from a strokeless but steadfast 119 balls.

Scenting blood, Australia made a breathless start. Justin Langer signalled his intentions by dancing down the wicket to Matthew Hoggard's second delivery, and clubbed it off a good length through midwicket for four. But Hoggard had his revenge in his next over, when Langer threw the kitchen sink at a wide one but cut it straight into Ian Bell's midriff at point.

The start of the rot: Shane Warne appeals successfully for Andrew Strauss's wicket © Getty Images

Hayden came and went in a similar manner, thumping Flintoff for two big boundaries before top-edging an attempted pull Collingwood, running back from midwicket. Australia had slipped to 2 for 33 after six overs, but Ponting joined forces with Hussey, who had been promoted above Damien Martyn in the Australian order, and the pair switched instantly to one-day mode, nudging the singles and keeping the run-rate ticking over.

As Giles entered the attack, Flintoff posted sweepers on the off and leg side and attempted to cut off the easy singles behind square, but Australia's batsmen were too canny with their one-day expertise, and milked Giles out of the attack with a series of expert dabs and reverse-sweeps. Hoggard returned with the keeper standing up but had to retreat after conceding ten runs in one over, most of them dabbed through third man.

England's shoulders began to droop as Flintoff's captaincy became increasingly lacklustre. Anderson got one to kick off a good length to Hussey, but the edge eluded slip and raced away for another boundary, and though they briefly came back into the reckoning when Strauss clung onto two catches in four balls to see off Ponting for 49 and Martyn for 5, the final insult came when a hyperactive Pietersen fielded a relay throw from Hoggard at long-on, and hurled it over the boundary to give away seven precious runs.

As the replay screen counted down the runs required, it could have been a replay of the closing stages at Edgbaston or Old Trafford last summer - with one prominent exception. The fight had gone out of England long before Hussey picked off the winning runs through cover point. It is ironic, given the disdain they have shown for one-day cricket this year, that their Ashes campaign might just have been ended by a one-day style capitulation.

Andrew Miller is UK editor of Cricinfo

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