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Boeta Dippenaar has been elected as the president of the South African Cricketers’ Association (SACA) at its annual general meeting in Johannesburg.”I feel privileged that the players have elected me as the president of our players association” Dippenaar said. “The player voice is very important in the game and we feel that SACA plays a big part in this. Our involvement in shaping things now can only make it better for those players who will follow us in the future.”Ahmed Amla, who was elected vice-president, said: “We are hoping to build on the good work already done by SACA and to do this by working within the spirit of the game. To be elected by fellow players is an honour and I will do my best to make a contribution.”Justin Ontong and Gerald Dros were also elected as members of the executive committee. Gerald Dros, who retired as a professional cricketer at the beginning of last season, was re-elected having already served on the committee for a number of years.”It’s good to see the players elect such a strong executive committee” said Tony Irish, Chief Executive Officer of SACA. “The re-election of Dros gives the executive committee some continuity while Boeta, Ahmed and Justin are among the most respected cricketers in the country. I’m looking forward to working with these players. SACA plays a vital role in collectively representing the players in the Proteas and in each of the franchise teams. We intend to continue to take the players association from strength to strength”.

Lalman Kowlessar, an executive member of the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Board (TTCB), has called the recent strike by the West Indies Umpires’ Association (WICUA) during the sixth round of the Carib Beer Series a “total failure”.Kowlessar also praised the six umpires belonging to the Trinidad and Tobago Cricket Umpires and Scorers Council (TTCUSC), which was not a part of the strike, and who were drafted in to fill in the void created by the WICUA’s boycott. “The games went on and the umpires did a great job,” he said.The WICUA had withdrawn its services for the last two rounds of the 2007-08 Carib Beer Series to protest against the West Indies Cricket Board’s (WICB) decision to remove Trinidadian umpires Hayden Bruce and Kaso Dowlath from the list of officials for the tournament’s sixth round. The duo are linked to the newly-formed Association of Cricket Umpires of Trinidad and Tobago, a body which is not aligned with the Trinidad board.But Kowlessar said Bruce and Dowlath were not on the list of umpires recommended by the TTCUSC to the Trinidad board, though their names appeared on the list approved by the West Indies board’s sub-committee for umpires. “This was noticed by the TTCB, which informed the WICB, pointing out the perceived error. The WICB then removed those two names.”

A hike in monthly pensions for former players, plans to boost support to other sports, and venues for the 2006 Champions Trophy were some of the issues discussed in the BCCI’s working committee meeting in Mumbai on Sunday.Showing the money
Players who have figured in 25 Tests or more will receive up to Rs35,000 as pension amount while those who have played in less than 25 will get Rs25,000. The widows of Test cricketers will also receive the same amount. Former cricketers who played for India in Tests and ODIs after December 31, 1993 and all international umpires will receive a sum of Rs10,000 per month.Sharing the booty
Sports other than cricket will also benefit from the BCCI’s largesse, after they decided to set up a corpus fund worth Rs50 crore (approx US$11 million) to boost budding talents in the under-15 age group in various sports. “It’s the responsibility of the BCCI to support young talent in sports that figure in the Asian Games and Olympics,” Sharad Pawar, the president of the BCCI, said about this initiative. “The BCCI will pick the No.1 in the under-15 age group and help them in training in India and abroad. The modalities have to be worked out and the BCCI constitution has to be amended for this purpose. We will set aside Rs50 crores and add the proceeds of one off-shore match every year [around Rs40 crores] to build the corpus.”Ground work
The board, after negotiations with the ICC, confirmed four venues — Cricket Club of India, Mumbai, Jaipur, Mohali and Ahmedabad — for the Champions Trophy to be held in October-November this year. “The ICC has agreed to reduce the compensation money from US$1 million to under 200,000 dollars for the fourth venue,” informed Pawar. “The ICC rejected Chennai and Bangalore because of the threat of rain and the Cricket Association of Bengal informed the BCCI that it was not in a position to conduct the Champions Trophy games.”Pawar will choose eight venues in India for the 2011 World Cup and the “eight centres will have to send the compliance letter soon,” reported BCCI treasurer N Srinivasan. Also, a special committee headed by Chirayu Amin, the vice president, and comprising Arun Jaitley of the Delhi District Cricket Association, Lalit Modi, Bindra and Ajay Shirke, Maharashtra Cricket Association president, had been formed to come up with proposals to develop the 30 acres of land given by the Delhi Development Authority to the board.To cap it all
Agreeing with Sunil Gavaskar’s views on the India cap, Pawar announced that only the national players will wear the cap with the BCCI’s crest on it, while the support staff will not be allowed to wear it.Searching for talent
A special committee headed by former chief IS Bindra will give suggestions about optimum usage of the board’s funds, and will also offer recommendations on the Talent Research Development Wing (TRDW). “The committee will submit a preliminary report on all the related issues, including the scraping of the TRDW and the change in the format of the national selection panel [from five members to three],” said Pawar. Gavaskar had earlier criticised the proposed move to scrap the TRDW, asserting that the increase in the number of players from smaller towns was due to this system. He felt it would be a “big mistake” to scrap such a successful system.

Bosman sent back due to incomplete paperworkLoots Bosman, the South African batsman signed by the IPL, was forced to return to Johannesburg late on Tuesday night after immigration officials at the Mumbai airport found that he had incomplete paperwork. Bosman, who is a member of the Mumbai Indians outfit, has now sorted things out with diplomatic officials and is expected to land in India on Thursday.Warne’s birthday wish for SachinShane Warne has wished Sachin Tendulkar as many playing years as he wants. This came a day before Tendulkar’s 35th birthday. “He is a great player. We may have to wait for many-many years to have another player like him. He should be allowed to continue till he wants to,” Warne was reported as saying.Maxwell misses the point
Neil Maxwell, the CEO of the Mohali franchise, can’t understand the fuss over members of the side being given preferential treatment with regard to the hotels they are staying in. “I could stay under the table to play alongside some of the best in the world,” he was reported as saying in the . This comes in the wake of reports about lesser-known players of the franchise being asked to move out of the five-star hotel to accommodate important guests.Meanwhile, Maxwell, while talking to the Sydney Morning Herald, said that Australia cannot sustain its own version of the IPL since its market is too small. Maxwell, who is the chief executive of Kings XI Punjab, said it would be a good idea if the Australian board charged a transfer fee for players signing on with domestic leagues like the IPL.Gayle arrives but still uncertainChris Gayle has joined the Kolkata Knight Riders’ squad but his participation in team’s next few games is still uncertain. He didn’t take part in the net session on Wednesday. His groin injury, which he picked up in the recent home series against Sri Lanka, is still being monitored and he remains a doubtful starter for the next match against Chennai on Saturday.McGrath looks to expand breast cancer foundationGlenn McGrath and wife Jane are looking at expanding their breast cancer foundation into India to help tackle a soaring incidence of the disease, the reported. “Obviously there’s huge opportunities for us to get involved with something over here,” he said. “I think we need to do our homework. It’s doing amazingly well back home, so if that could be a blueprint for other countries, that would be great.

The company behind the Bermuda Classic, the veterans Twenty20 tournament held in April, has gone broke after it appeared that government decided not to increase the funding to the Get Fit Foundation (GFF).The Bermuda government gave more than $1 million last year to help underwrite the event, but it was last week reported that GFF were looking for an additional $3 million this year after reporting losses of around $700,000.A spokesman for the company said that without government backing, and with little corporate interest, there was no money left to pay the bills. He added: “As a result, the GEFF directors have no alternative than to work with legal advisors with a view to placing the company into the hands of the official receiver.”The Royal Gazette reported that a number of local firms were owed money by GFF, and it also claimed that the rental charges for the pitches had not been paid.Keith Pont, the former Essex fast bowler who headed the GFF, had claimed that a loss was expected in the first year, but only half the tickets were sold and expected corporate sponsorship did not materialise. He was unavailable for comment.

England’s net session at the WACA today marked the start of what, in Kevin Pietersen’s estimation, is “a huge, huge week” for the team. “It’s crunch time,” he told the press in Perth, as England faced up to the prospect of a make-or-break Ashes showdown. “We’ll be coming out all guns blazing, wanting positive cricket. We mean business and we know what we need to do. I don’t want to be sitting here next week talking about being 3-0 down.”Pietersen is never a man to dwell on a difficult situation, and his pre-Test rallying cry was predictably gung-ho. “The boys have been put through their paces massively today,” he added, “and from the first ball that was bowled this afternoon, it was 90mph-plus. Our training sessions are huge for us, and we need to up it to Test intensity.”Even so, there is a feeling in the Australian camp that all this Sturm und Drang has arrived at least two Tests too late. At the exact time that England were going through their motions, a loud and celebratory function was taking place in a nearby marquee. Among the guest speakers was a certain Glenn McGrath, who announced over the microphone that he was “disappointed” how one-sided the Ashes battle had so far been.And McGrath’s sentiments were later echoed by Australia’s vice-captain, Adam Gilchrist, who spoke cryptically about his team’s wider goals and motivations before adding, damningly, that “the Ashes are not the be-all and end-all for this group.””That’s not disrespecting the title or what we’re trying to achieve or what we lost last year, but there’s other things around,” added Gilchrist. “We’re getting closer to achieving a goal that we set ourselves. That may not just be to win the Ashes, it might be something else within the group, and there’s certainly a good vibe around as we pursue that goal. There’s results, there’s trophies, there’s things where we stand up.”Gilchrist wouldn’t go far as to say that Australia were gunning for a 5-0 clean sweep (“Pigeon might say it,” he joked) but the underlying message from both players was clear. This Ashes campaign has been far, far too easy, and what is more, they no longer believe that England have the wherewithal to turn their fortunes around.

Not even Pietersen could sound quite as bullish as usual. “I don’t think people realise how good a feat it was for us to beat Australia in England,” he said. “Everyone thought we’d come out here and it’d be level pegging, but if you get a champion in the corner he’ll come back at you. These blokes are a champion team, the best Australian team they’d had, and they’ve come back doubly hard.Few have come back harder than Shane Warne, who masterminded that astounding last-day victory at Adelaide and now needs just six more wickets to become the first bowler to reach 700 in Tests. According to Gilchrist, he’s buzzing with excitement already. “He’s got a real spring in his step at the moment. He’s been quite vocal within the group, really vibrant and energising the group. It’s been really encouraging for a young guy like Adam Voges, seeing a 140-Test veteran so keen to get into the action.”He was at his brilliant best in Adelaide,” added Gilchrist. “He led us and we all followed. He knew the assistance was there from the wicket. He knew England had shut up shop and were trying to scramble, and he was like the vulture circling overhead but he couldn’t get down to have a peck. He just had to remain patient and he did, allowing the pressure to build up for the guys to get results at the other end.”There was a bit of a negative outlook on his performance in the first innings,” added Gilchrist, after Warne had managed just 1 for 167 in 53 overs, “but that was a combination of a lot of thoughts. It was the best approach to keep England, and particularly Pietersen, in check. It took them a long, long time to get those runs. Warnie did the work, took the blows to his ego, but then got a sniff in the second innings and was back to his brilliant best. The view from behind the stumps was fantastic, that’s why I play the game.”Pietersen’s wicket was the key breakthrough for Australia. After his first-innings 158, he was bowled by the first ball he received from Warne second-time around. “To be fair I missed it, but we’re all allowed to miss a ball occasionally,” he shrugged. “It was not a pre-determined shot, it was a way I was going to play Warne. I work on four areas when I bat, and when balls are in different areas I look to score first, then defend. I thought it was there in my area, and I missed it. I’m not too fussed.”

Even so, he wasn’t entirely able to shrug off the incident. “I’m a really positive bloke but it was hard,” he said. “I was in my bedroom that night and it was like ‘how the heck could that have happened? Am I dreaming, is this for real?’. But at the end of the day it’s one of the little wars lost. Warne is the greatest bowler who’s ever played the game. It only takes one ball from a great man to knock you over. You can’t really win the battle as a batsman.”England now face a major test of resolve, not least because of the doubts about the form and fitness of two of their key players. Andrew Flintoff trained with heavy strapping on his troublesome left ankle, while doubts continue to persist about Steve Harmison’s mindset, after managing just one wicket for 288 in the first two Tests.”I see him daily and Freddie just seems to be fine,” insisted Pietersen. “He’s got that belief and he knows how good he is. He’s a true champion, the best allrounder in the world, so there’s not a lot that can get to him.””Steve’s just a great bloke. Very giving, very thoughtful. He’s such a nice guy you can’t really hate him. If he has a bad day you pick him up because he’s always there for everyone else. It’s what the squad’s about. We’re all good mates and keep each other going. We work for each other and work as hard as we can with each other.”It’ll take more than mateyness, however, to unsettle an Australian side in full steamroller mode.

Chris Gayle’s management have retained the services of a “leading Australian media lawyer” with the intention of “immediately” launching defamation action against Fairfax Media over allegations that he indecently exposed himself to a woman in Sydney during the World Cup last year.The allegation arose following Gayle’s widely decried actions in an interview with the Ten Network sports presenter Mel McLaughlin while playing for the Melbourne Renegades in the Big Bash League.The Renegades fined Gayle $10,000 for the incident, and the Cricket Australia chief executive James Sutherland declared the West Indian opening batsman would be facing far more severe consequences if he transgressed further.It is believed a substantiation of Fairfax Media’s indecent exposure allegation against Gayle, which it claimed had taken place during a training session at the SCG before the start of the tournament, would be viewed by CA as sufficient cause to tear up his existing contract with the Renegades.Gayle would also be banished from playing for any club in the BBL – a competition designed in part to be a welcoming tournament for females – in the future.”Chris Gayle has strongly denied allegations first published by Fairfax Media that he indecently exposed himself to a woman during last year’s World Cup in Sydney,” Gayle’s manager Simon Auteri said in a statement.”Despite such denials Fairfax Media continues to publish the false and defamatory allegations which have received widespread re-publication in media throughout the world.”As a result Chris Gayle has retained Mark O’Brien, a leading Australian media lawyer to immediately commence defamation proceedings against Fairfax Media.”

Following New Zealand’s exit from the World Cup semi-final, Stephen Fleming, the Test captain, is hopeful their coach John Bracewell will stay on after his contract expires next month. “I think Braces should stay on, I think he’s a fine coach, he’s worked well with this side,” Fleming said in The Press.Bracewell, who is expected to submit a detailed performance appraisal of the squad to New Zealand Cricket (NZC), said a review of the World Cup campaign would determine his future. He was recently under-fire from Martin Crowe, the former New Zealand captain, who suggested that he should resign.However, Bracewell hasn’t given any indication he would join the mass exodus of international coaches and said the priority would be to sort out the player contracts for the forthcoming season. “Once we’ve gone through that review process I’ll make that decision on whether to continue, or that decision will be made for me,” Bracewell told .”Ric Charlesworth [the NZC high performance manager] has a lot of things on the table when we get back in terms of the development plan. We have a month of hard cricket ahead of us, not in terms of playing, but players’ contracts have to be sorted out. There’s a lot of work to do.”New Zealand impressed through the group stages but faltered towards the end of the event. They were exposed in all departments in the semi-final against Sri Lanka, raising questions about their ability to lift their performance in knock-out games. This was their fifth semi-final loss in World Cup history.Though NZC were non committal on Bracewell’s future, Justin Vaughan, the newly-appointed chief executive, was also hopeful that he would continue. He said the off-season would be ideal time for the players to reflect on their performances. “They have been going at it since the series against Sri Lanka in December so they deserve the chance to sit back and reflect on things,” Vaughan said.Reflecting on his side’s showing in the tournament, Bracewell said they had performed above expectations, but admitted they were completely undone by a far superior side in the semi-final. “We were as well prepared as any side that’s has been put together,” he said. “We really have to put our hands up and say we didn’t perform on the day. A good dose of Test cricket will do us the world of good – players like Ross Taylor and Peter Fulton need it to continue their development.”

ScorecardFahad Masood’s fifty and three wickets went in vain•PCB

Shoaib Malik and Sheharyar Ghani scored fifties to chase Habib Bank Limited’s competitive target of 181 which meant Fahad Masood’s all-round performance went in vain.After Pakistan International Airlines chose to field, Habib Bank lost Imran Farhat after he struck three fours which was followed by a 101-run stand between Asad Baig and Masood. The pair batted for 12.2 overs, scoring at more than eight an over. Masood was dismissed for 64 which included eight fours and two sixes. Baig was joined by Hasan Raza and the two scored 60 off the last 32 balls to take them to 180. They were also aided by 20 extras.PIA were in trouble early, as three of their top four batsmen scored five runs in all. They were 7 for 2 after the first five balls and 29 for 3 in the fifth over. However, Malik and Ghani revived them by scoring 118 runs in only 12.3 overs. They needed 56 from the last five overs and when Malik was run-out for 78, they still needed 34 off 16. Anwar Ali was also run-out in the next over but Ghani scored 19 in the penultimate over and his unbeaten 71 ensured they won with two balls to spare. Masood took all three wickets that were taken by bowlers.
ScorecardState Bank of Pakistan (SBP) overcame a stop-start batting performance to beat Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) by three runs to record their first win of the Ramadan T20 Cup.Choosing to bat, SBP’s openers began brightly with Rameez Raja collecting a four off the first ball. But just as Raja and his opening partner Farrukh Shehzad were getting into their stride, Mohammad Mudassar accounted for both of them in successive overs to leave SBP at 36 for 2 in the sixth over. SBP flourished again with Adnan Raees and Usman Saeed as they added 52 runs off 38 balls, but both of them were removed in the 17th and 19th overs respectively. SBP lost a further three wickets in the last seven balls to score 139 in 20 overs. Zulfiqar Babar and Mudassar took three wickets apiece for WAPDA.WAPDA began well and had the target in sight even as late as the 12th over when left-arm spinner Mohammad Waheed turned the game around. Needing 70 runs off 51 balls with eight wickets in hand, the well-set Sohaib Maqsood was run out and Waheed capitalised by removing Mohammad Ayub and Saad Nasim to leave WAPDA at a precarious 92 for 5 in the 16th over. Ayaz Tasawwar came up with a threatening cameo but fell in the eighteenth over. With 12 needed off the last over, Rizwan Haider came up with two crucial dot balls to give away only eight and seal the win.

Ahead of what has all the makings of a competitive one-day international between India and Australia, Adam Gilchrist believes his side are well prepared. Australia were knocked out of the ICC World Twenty20 by India in a tight semi-final but as Gilchrist put it, there was no excuse here.”We’re very excited about it, it’s great to be here and having some cricket under out belts. We feel like we’ll be ready to go tomorrow,” he said before Australia’s practice session at the Chinnaswamy Stadium. “We have enough preparation leading into this series. We were probably caught short at the T20 tournament but there’s no excuse now. We know the conditions well here and with the amount of networking we’ve done we should be good to go.”Australia are without Ricky Ponting, Michael Hussey, Shane Watson and Nathan Bracken due to injuries and personal leave. According to Gilchrist this was the time for Australia to fall back on their greatest strength – depth. “We definitely have to rely on the depth in our squad. We have six changes in this, our first ODI since the World Cup, owing to retirement and injuries and babies being born. We’ve got a few new faces which not a lot of people would have seen a lot of, and we’re confident about them.”Australia have often engaged in a war of words before tough series. Ponting has said that the pressure is right back on India and the return of Sachin Tendulkar, Sourav Ganguly and Rahul Dravid might work in Australia’s favour as they’ve played against the three many times. Andrew Symonds too felt that there was too much celebration after India’s triumphant return from South Africa.Was this a deliberate plan? “No, it’s far from a plan to get verbal,” said Gilchrist. “There’s been a lot of focus on the fiery nature of the Indian players in that semi-final and I think they’re going to continue playing that like. And that’s fine; we expect that. If you don’t have a bit of fire in the belly as a fast bowler I think you’re already sort of half-knocked as a team. It doesn’t matter what you say, you’ve got to back it up with good cricket. And India did that throughout the T20 tournament. We’ve been doing that for the last ten years.”When questioned as to whether Australia saw any perceived threat from India, Gilchrist shot back his reply. “Definitely there’s plenty of threat. As you saw they knocked us out of the Twenty20 final,” he said. “They play with great passion and energy and they’ll be relying on all those same qualities in the next seven games. We’re expecting them to come out full of confidence and that’s a great challenge.”Gilchrist said he had a brief look at the surface and expected it to play out well for the batsmen and bowlers. “It has been a good track in the past. We’ve played Test and ODI cricket here and scored runs so we’ve got fond memories. It looks like it’ll come through nicely again.”If Australia are reading from their stand-in captain’s script, then its business as usual as the seven-match contest gets underway.