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The ongoing drama that is the USA Cricket Association shows no sign of ending despite the hope expressed by Chris Dehring, the independent third party appointed to try to find a solution to the imbroglio.Last Friday (November 30) Dehring wrote to stakeholders to advise them that after months of negotiations the new constitution had been released for ratification. He said: “I recommend this new constitution to you as a solid foundation to take US cricket forward.”But those hopes might come to nothing after a scathing attack on the new constitution by Atul Rai, the man who preceded Gladstone Dainty as the USACA president.In a letter to Dehring which has been circulated to all stakeholder clubs, Rai wrote: “I am thoroughly disappointed with the outcome of the six-month process, to say the least. I have examined the document that has been posted on the USACA website and I am shocked to see that the final version of the draft constitution is almost the same as what Dainty tried to force down everyone’s throats back in January. There are several areas in the constitution that remain unchanged despite your assurance to me that the new document was going to reflect the changes as agreed upon by both parties at your meetings.”Rai claims that the constitution will allow Dainty to in effect control the balance of the board. He also accuses him of creating new leagues which are “either completely non existent or they are just a bunch of guys playing cricket on a long weekend” to further boost his support. “Isn’t it ironic that these duly constituted leagues that have been in existence for a long time are not allowed to be part of the process while some bogus leagues are listed as legitimate member leagues?” he wrote. “Despite repeated requests to investigate this matter, no action has been taken.”Dainty called the shots every step of the way, whether it be by delaying things or by intimidation. The entire process of ratification of the constitution and the elections should have been conducted by an independent auditor. Without the independent auditor, a majority of the stakeholders in America, including myself, have no faith in the process and plenty of precious time and effort by many individuals has been wasted.”Rai, who is a major voice for the influential Council of League Presidents, concluded with a call to reject the constitution and “to find alternatives to USACA so that the future of USA cricket does not continue to hang in balance while the … inept administrators of USACA dwindle away precious time trying to build their own power houses”.The letter will be a blow to Dehring, who has worked hard to broker a solution, but there are strong concerns in many areas that Dainty has been allowed to establish a position where his faction will contain control of the USACA.While critics of the board are vocal, the USACA continues to maintain the virtual silence which has been a hallmark of their administration for several years.The result of the election is due to be announced on December 27.

Rahul Dravid: the third member of the Indian side who’s had an injury problem on the current tour © Getty Images

An avulsion fracture on the middle finger of his right hand has ruledRahul Dravid out of the rest of the one-day series. He will also miss the Twenty20game on Friday, and the warm-up game for the Test series at Potchefstroom(December 7-10).He will stay on in South Africa for treatment, and experts expect him to be available for theTest series that starts in Johannesburg on December 15. In his absence,Virender Sehwag will lead the side.Meanwhile, VVS Laxman has been asked to join the squad in South Africa as replacement for Dravid. “He might or might not play the next ODI but will be available for the Centurion match, which will be preparation for the Tests as well,” Venkatapathy Raju, the national selector, told Cricinfo. In South Africa Laxman has played just two matches in October 2001, scoring 15 and 5.Laxman’s experience will complement the resources already available in the form of three specialist batsmen – Wasim Jaffer, Suresh Raina and Dinesh Mongia – who sat out the defeat at Newlands in Cape Town. However, the gap Dravid leaves will be hard to fill given the current travails of the Indian top order and his own consistent perfomance – he has scored two half-centuries and a 49 in India’s last five matches.Dravid sustained the injury while trying to catch Shaun Pollock off thebowling of Harbhajan Singh at first slip. The ball flew off the edge andappeared to snap the finger back. “He does not require surgery, and theinjury will be treated conservatively,” said Rajan Nair, the Indian teammedia manager, who also added that John Gloster, the team physio, would bemonitoring the situation in consultation with a local expert.Dravid batted through the pain for 179 minutes on Sunday, scoring 63 from103 balls as India went down by 106 runs in Cape Town. He was treated onthe field during the 38th over, but was taken for an X-ray on Mondaymorning after he complained of severe pain during the night. India arealready 2-0 down in the ODI series, with games remaining at Port Elizabethon Wednesday and Centurion on Sunday.Sehwag has captained India before but, significantly, is struggling with his own form; he was out without scoring at Cape Town on Sunday.Dravid’s is the latest injury problem for India on this tour after Sehwag missed the second one-dayer at Durban. Fast bowler Munaf Patel sat out of the third match on Sunday owing to a sore left ankle. Yuvraj Singh, who hurt his knee during the Champions Trophy in late October, was earlier ruled out of the entire ODI series.

Mark Boucher: can he walk the talk in the decider? © Getty Images

On February 26, 2000, Mark Boucher, South Africa’s wicketkeeper, walked out to bat at the Wankhede Stadium with the first Test against India in a fine balance. The spinners were zipping it off a wearing pitch and South Africa, requiring 35 runs with four in hand, needed an inspired knock. Boucher swept almost everything thrown at him and snatched the match away with daring 27 not out. Nearly six years on, and he was back to the same venue, just that this time he was addressing a pre-match press conference. His approach, though, hadn’t changed one bit as he swatted question after question with surprising confidence, and more importantly tons of cheek.The controversy surrounding the pitch at Kolkata was dismissed, the Sourav Ganguly issue was rekindled with a surprising perspective and the talk of pressure was hit straight back. “Reading the newspapers after the last game, there were comparisons to Kingsmead in Durban,” he said. “Whoever’s been to Kingsmead and compared the Eden Gardens wicket to that, doesn’t really know what they are talking about. Especially from a keepers’ point of view, I took most of the balls below my knees; at Kingsmead I take it over my head.”Boucher said that his team-mates were pleasantly surprised at the support they got at Kolkata, before going on to launch the most audacious stroke of all: “The support that we got at Eden Gardens in unbelievable,” he said. “We do understand that it’s because of the whole Sourav Ganguly issue. A couple of our players are wondering why he isn’t in the side and it’s a bit strange to us. We preferred bowling to the new batsmen than bowling to Ganguly.”He continued so quickly that it took some time for the mild chuckles to die down among the press. “We understand the pressure the Indian players are at the moment. It will be interesting to see how the youngsters come out and play. I don’t think the youngsters have been under such pressure in a home series, being 2-1 down. It’s a different story walking out to bat playing shots from the first ball, getting out and paying the consequences. From our side, not really a pressure situation but more eagerness to walk away with the series win.”Having set the tone, Boucher indulged in a bit more banter, something that appeared to be entirely psychological warfare. “I think controversy in the Indian team will be an advantage for us. Whenever a side’s losing there will be cracks that will open up and the big crack of Sourav Ganguly has opened up in the last few weeks. I think it didn’t really open up when you played Sri Lanka because not many cracks open up when a side is winning. We’ve put India under pressure, the Sourav Ganguly issue has reared its head and there are a couple of guys in their side who are skeptical about what’s actually going on. Trust me, we will try and use it to our advantage.”And did they have any plans for Sachin Tendulkar, playing on his home ground? Pat came the reply: “We got no particular plans for Tendulkar,” he said, “Polly [Shaun Pollock] has sorted his plans out to him, he’s got him three times and it will be nice if he can get him the fourth time as well. We understand that Tendulkar is a fabulous player but hopefully his big innings is not against us. Hopefully he has a bad series against us with us keeping him down. It’s going to be difficult for us because he’ll be in front of his home crowd, but he’ll also be under pressure because he hasn’t scored much in this series. We’ll try and put him under more pressure.”Boucher made sure the administrators had their share of things to think about as well. “We’ve been very surprised with the dew factor,” he continued. “We knew it was going to dew, but we didn’t know the wickets are going to change that much. Especially the second game, the wicket was very slow upfront and then greased up quite a bit which made it difficult for bowling in the second innings. Maybe playing day-night games at this time of the year isn’t the answer. I know it gets the crowds in but at the end of the day you need an even contest.”And he had absolutely no doubt which team had called the shots in this series, saying that South Africa had been the better team in all three departments. All through, there was a touch of insouciance, a slightly overly confident air and an attempt to throw in the gauntlet. The answers will probably resound louder if Boucher and his team-mates manage to walk the talk and return home with their first ODI series-triumph in India.

Shane Warne: X-ray revealed a broken thumb© Getty Images

Shane Warne will miss the fourth Test against India after breaking his right thumb during an eve-of-match net session at Mumbai today.Warne at first appeared to be untroubled, but soon looked in some discomfort and was taken to a local hospital for a precautionary X-ray where the break was revealed. It is thought that either Nathan Hauritz, the offspinner, or the legspinner Cameron White will take his place.”Shane experienced increased levels of pain throughout the afternoon, so we had the thumb X-rayed,” explained Errol Alcott, Australia’s physiotherapist. “The scans have detected a fracture in his right thumb, and given the amount of cricket on the horizon, we feel that it is in his best interests to get home now and rest. We can’t predict a return date for Shane, but we will review him in the lead-up to the first Test in Brisbane.””This series has been one of the true highlights of my career, so I’m really disappointed that I won’t be able to finish it off on the right note,” Warne admitted. “It would have been a great thrill to be on hand when we received the Border-Gavaskar Trophy at the end of this Test, but I’m satisfied with the knowledge that I helped contribute to our series win.”India (probable) 1 Gautam Gambhir, 2 Virender Sehwag, 3 Rahul Dravid (capt), 4 Sachin Tendulkar, 5 VVS Laxman, 6 Mohammad Kaif, 7 Dinesh Karthik (wk), 8 Anil Kumble, 9 Harbhajan Singh, 10 Zaheer Khan, 11 Ashish Nehra.Australia (probable) 1 Matthew Hayden, 2 Justin Langer, 3 Ricky Ponting (capt), 4 Damien Martyn, 5 Simon Katich, 6 Michael Clarke, 7 Adam Gilchrist (wk), 8 Cameron White, 9 Brett Lee, 10 Michael Kasprowicz, 11 Jason Gillespie.

South Africa’s cricketers were caught in the midst of an alleged terrorist attack on Wednesday, as their hotel in London had to be evacuated.The team had been relaxing at the Buckinghamshire Hotel in London, ahead of a low-key charity match, when a suspicious white powder – thought to be anthrax – was discovered in the adjoining shopping centre.”The entire area was cordoned off and there were police and sirens all over,” said Omar Henry, the convenor of the national panel of selectors. “Within minutes, the fire brigade was on the scene and people were running in every direction. I locked myself in my room and did not want to move around in the hotel.”The players were told to stay in their rooms, and they were late in leaving for their match. After police had searched the area for quite some time, the players were eventually given permission to leave the hotel through a side door.

Judgement in Hansie Cronje’s appeal against his life ban from cricket will be handed down in the Pretoria High Court on Wednesday by Justice Frank Kirk-Cohen.Cronje was banned by the United Cricket Board following his admissions in April and June last year that he had been involved with Indian bookmakers during his captaincy for a number of years and that he had offered team-mates Herschelle Gibbs and Henry Williams money to underperform in a One-Day International in India.As a result of these admissions, Gibbs and Williams served six-month bans from international cricket.Cronje based his appeal on the argument that he was not given a fair hearing by the UCB before his banning was announced and that the ban prevented him from earning a living.

Manchester United fans were treated with a bit of an unexpected starting XI ahead of their side’s Champions League clash with PSV tonight.

Louis van Gaal has been criticised for not making the most of his attacking assets recently, and many fans were calling for mega-money deadline day signing Anthony Martial to get more game time in Holland this evening.

PSV v MAN UNITED – LIVE BLOG

And they’ve got their wish, and some, with van Gaal handing the 19-year-old his first start for the Red Devils alongside Memphis Depay and Ashley Young, with Juan Mata slotting in to his favourite No.10 role. It’s a very pacy, attacking and fearsome attacking line up for United, and fans are now expecting their team to turn on the style to mark their return to Europe’s elite competition with three points.

Just moments after the teams were announced tonight United fans took to Twitter to express their delight and excitement for the evening ahead, and tipping their hat to what really is an impressive starting XI – and they almost broke the internet!

Here’s some of the best tweets…

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Celtic have been dealt a late injury concern ahead of their upcoming Scottish Premiership clash.

What’s the latest?

According to a recent report by the Glasgow Evening Times, Ange Postecoglou revealed in his pre-match press conference that Giorgos Giakoumakis, who missed the 0-0 draw with Hibernian last weekend due to illness, is once again a doubt for the visit of St. Mirren this evening – with the 56-year-old suggesting that the centre-forward has a 50/50 chance of making the squad.

In their report, the Glasgow Evening Times write: “Speaking to the media, Postecoglou revealed he will have a 50/50 chance of making the squad.”

Postecoglou will be fuming

Considering just how lacklustre Celtic were in the final third against Hibs on Sunday, the news that Giakoumakis could once again be unavailable for selection for tonight’s clash with St. Mirren is sure to have left Postecoglou fuming.

Indeed, the £1.8m-rated Greece international almost singlehandedly secured all three points in the Hoops’ close-fought encounter with Dundee FC towards the end of February, scoring a hat-trick in an extremely unconvincing 3-2 victory over the bottom of the table Dark Blues.

He has been in red hot form beyond that clash too, scoring five in his last nine outings taking his tally to six in all competitions.

And, with both Kyogo Furuhashi and Albian Ajeti remaining sidelined due to injury, and Daizen Maeda having drawn a blank in his last three outings for Celtic, the continued absence of the £8.2k-per-week Giakoumakis would undoubtedly come as a huge blow to the Bhoys’ chances of picking up three points this evening.

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Anything but a win potentially brings with it disastrous consequences to the Hoops’ hopes of going on to reclaim their Premiership crown this season.

In other news: Ange can unearth Celtic’s new Rogic in “talented” 17 y/o who “knows where the goal is”

East Zone
Opener Shreevats Goswami’s 53-ball 81 helped Bengal chase down 178 with five wickets to spare against Jharkhand in Kolkata. Goswami was the common factor in two half-century stands – 73 for the second wicket with Abhishek Raman, and 71 for the fourth wicket with Pramod Chandila – and he brought Bengal to within ten runs of the target by the time he was dismissed in the 18th over. Chandila, who was unbeaten on 37 off 21 balls, helped the side reach 178 with five balls to spare.Sent in to bat, Jharkhand posted 177 for 6 riding on contributions from Saurabh Tiwary (44), Virat Singh (42) and Pratyush Singh (39), before wicketkeeper Sumit Kumar and Anand Singh added 30 off nine balls for the sixth wicket in a late burst.File photo – Biplab Samantray’s fifty pushed Odisha to 143, but they lost by six wickets•BCCI

Opener Pallavkumar Das’ 51 off 30 balls, including eight fours and a six, helped Assam chase down 144 against Odisha in Kolkata. The result meant Assam finished second in the East Zone points table while Odisha finished third. Bengal topped the table with four wins from four matches.Assam lost Rishav Das and Sibsankar Roy cheaply in their chase but Pallavkumar and Amit Verma put the team back on track with a 34-run partnership for the third wicket. The stand ended in the tenth over when Pallavkumar was dismissed by left-arm spinner Dhiraj Singh. Verma then added 34 with captain Arun Karthik to take the team closer to victory. By the time Verma was removed, Assam needed 31 off 30 balls and they eventually won by six wickets.Having opted to bat, Odisha were reduced to 48 for 3 inside nine overs. Biplab Samantray, the captain, then rescued the innings with his second T20 fifty, which contained five fours and a six. When Samantray fell, Assam were 117 for 6, but a string of cameos from the lower order pushed the total to 143. Verma impressed with the ball too, picking up 3 for 19 in four overs.File photo – Akshadeep Nath’s fifty was not enough for Uttar Pradesh to put it across Vidarbha•BCCI

Central Zone
Vidarbha won their second game in two days after completing a comfortable four-wicket victory against Uttar Pradesh in Jaipur. Lower-order batsmen Apoorv Wankhade (27 off 14 balls) and Shrikant Wagh (14 off 9 balls) added an unbroken 38 runs in 19 balls for the seventh wicket after Vidarbha were reduced to 133 for 6.Having opted to bat, UP put up 169 for 4 thanks to half-centuries from opener Eklavya Dwivedi and Akshdeep Nath. Wagh was the pick of the bowlers for Vidarbha, claiming 2 for 17 in four overs. Ambati Rayudu and Ganesh Satish then laid the groundwork for the chase with thirty-somethings before the lower order sealed the deal. Nath and fast bowler Ankit Rajpoot took two wickets each for UP.Fifties from allrounder Mahipal Lomror and wicketkeeper Dishant Yagnik powered Rajasthan to 184, a total they defended by 21 runs against Railways in Jaipur.After opting to bat, Rajasthan lost three early wickets, but Lomror and Yagnik offset the early wobble and then gave the innings muscle with a 78-run stand in 52 balls. Lomror struck seven fours and three sixes during his 65 while Yagnik hit three fours and three sixes on his way to 60, before he was the eighth Rajasthan batsman to be dismissed.Railways started positively in their chase with opener Saurabh Wakaskar scoring 55 off 29 balls, but the middle order could not sustain the momentum, despite an unbeaten 42 off 32 balls from captain Karn Sharma. They ultimately fell short with seamers Tanvir Ul-Haq and Deepak Chahar taking two wickets each.

Cricket Australia has denied charges of complacency after the first Test of the summer attracted disappointing crowds and TV viewing figures.Although last year’s comparable Test was the opening one in the Ashes, the drop of 40.7% in viewers was more than expected. An average audience of 625,000 watched the Sri Lanka Test compared to more than a million for the England match. The aggregate Gabba crowd of 55,953 was also down 66% on last year’s record of 164,727. Only 7629 turned up on Sunday and 1285 for the final day.Graham Dixon, the chief executive of Queensland, criticised CA for “sitting on its laurels”, a reference to a limited TV promotional campaign. “Was the Test promoted properly? I don’t think so,” he said. “Did Cricket Australia rest on its laurels? Yes. I think that is a fair criticism.”[Shane] Warne and [Glenn] McGrath would always market a match in their own right because they were such big names. But this Test was never going to sell itself. The marketing people had plenty of notice to come up with a good campaign, probably since last March, but all we have really seen is Nathan Bracken bowling at a coin on a wicket.”The charges were denied by Peter Young, the board’s spokesman. “We are not taking our foot off the pedal, in the same way as Ricky Ponting is not taking his foot off the pedal,” Young said. “No one can afford to rest on their laurels … it doesn’t matter what market you are in.”And he pointed out that the crowd at the Gabba was the third biggest since the 1970s. “It’s a serious discussion but let’s not forget that the crowd figures speak for themselves.”However, Dixon’s view was partially backed by David Johnston, the CEO of Tasmania who host the second Test which starts this Friday. Around 7000 tickets have been pre-sold and Johnston said that he had had to increase local advertising to promote the game.”We’ve done a lot of local promotions with radio stations and hopefully that is working well,” he said. “There are things I would have liked done differently but Cricket Australia get their advice from their advertising agency and sometimes people on the ground in the state associations have a different view on things.”