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New Zealand pacer Tim Southee has been fined for breaching the Code of Conduct following a confrontation with Kirk Edwards on the second day of the Test against West Indies in Port-of-Spain

ESPNcricinfo staff19-Jun-2014New Zealand pacer Tim Southee has been fined for breaching the Code of Conduct following a confrontation with Kirk Edwards on the second day of the Test against West Indies in Port-of-Spain.The incident occurred around the 31st over of West Indies’ first innings and a release from the ICC said Southee ignored previous warnings from the on-field umpires, Ian Gould and Rod Tucker. The over was bowled by legspinner Ish Sodhi, who dismissed Edwards for 55 off the third ball.Southee was fined 30% of his match fee by the match referee Chris Broad after he pleaded guilty to breaching Article 2.1.8, that relates to “conduct contrary to the spirit of the game”.”Southee’s behavior towards Edwards was unacceptable and contrary to the spirit of the game,” Broad said. “He disregarded the on-field umpires’ previous warnings and continued to engage with Edwards, which required the intervention of the umpires in the middle of the pitch. In doing so, Southee neither showed respect to his opponent nor to the umpires, something which has no place in our sport.”

The BCCI working committee has decided to suspend all bilateral tours to West Indies, in response to the visitors pulling out of their India tour

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Oct-20146:14

‘Potentially catastrophic for West Indies’

The BCCI working committee has decided to suspend all bilateral tours to West Indies, in response to the visitors pulling out of their India tour. India were expected to play five series against West Indies in the next eight years, including four visits to the Caribbean.While a BCCI release made no specific mention of any claim for damages, the Indian board will also initiate legal proceedings against the West Indies Cricket Board.The board statement also did not mention any action against West Indies players who participate in the IPL. The players were unlikely to be suspended from participation in the league, with franchises backing them.The working committee meeting in Hyderabad was convened to discuss the aftermath of West Indies’ pullout. The members unanimously felt that strong action needed to be taken against WICB in order to prevent recurrence of such an event.A working committee member revealed that the BCCI’s legal cell said that the bilateral agreement “has been breached” and the BCCI has “every right to claim damages”. This, according to him, made the decision easy for the committee. Another member revealed that the claim amount and the jurisdiction will be decided by the legal cell.It is understood that during the informal discussions during the build-up to the meeting in Hyderabad, some members had suggested that the BCCI suspend ties with WICB for a specific period. However, the committee was convinced that the abrupt manner in which the tour was called off deserved the harshest possible punishment. As an insider revealed “the manner in which the WICB put its hands up” during the whole standoff with its players which led to the cancellation of the tour midway made the BCCI believe that the bilateral ties should be suspended “indefinitely”.”At the moment, it looks unlikely that the bilateral series would resume anytime soon. It will be up to the legal cell now to see if and when a settlement takes place,” revealed an insider.

The Indomitable Lions continue with their push for a sixth Afcon title when they tackle the tournament debutants

Cameroon will be aiming to reach the Africa Cup of Nations quarter-finals when they take on Comoros in a Round of 16 match at Paul Biya Stadium on Monday.

This is how coach Toni Conceicao has lined up his team.

BackpagePix.Goalkeeper: Andre Onana

The 25-year-old has not kept a clean sheet in his last three Afcon games.

AdvertisementBackpagepix.Left-back – Nouhou Tolo

The Seattle Sounders defender has been a consistent figure in Cameroon's team and his inclusion was a sure bet.

Backpagepix.Centre-back – Michael Ngadeu

The defender played in all the group games without being substituted and starts in this crucial Comoros encounter.

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GettyCentre-back – Jean-Charles Castelletto

The 26-year-old former France junior international returns to start his second match of the tournament in place of Harold Moukoudi who is on the bench.

Jamaica batsman Marlon Samuels will miss the Regional Four Day Competition final for Headley-Weekes Trophy against Windward Islands after failing to recover from a hamstring injury

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Apr-2014Jamaica batsman Marlon Samuels will miss the final of Headley-Weekes Trophy against Windward Islands after failing to recover from a hamstring injury. The injury had forced the batsman to miss the semi-final against Barbados last week. Opener Jon-Ross Campbell has been named as Samuels’ replacement in the squad.Samuels has played just one game for the side this season, scoring 12 and 11 in Jamaica’s last league match against Combined Campuses and Colleges after his return from the World T20. The 59-run win in that game against CCC helped Jamaica qualify for the semi-finals, where they managed a close one-wicket win against defending champions Barbados.The final against Windwards will give Jamaica a chance to win their sixth first-class title in seven years. They had won the title for five successive years, before Barbados became champions last season.

New Zealanders bowled Jamaica Select XI out for 90 in just 32.5 overs to wrap up a 123-run win in their final warm-up game at the Trelawny Stadium

ESPNcricinfo staff05-Jun-2014
ScorecardFile photo – Ross Taylor scored an unbeaten 55 in New Zealanders’ second innings•Getty ImagesNew Zealanders bowled Jamaica Select XI out for 90 in just 32.5 overs to wrap up a 123-run win in their final warm-up game at the Trelawny Stadium. They must have wished, however, that the match had gone on longer than it did, considering the lengths they went to get in more practice for their bowlers ahead of the first Test, which starts on Sunday.When Select XI lost their eighth wicket with their score at 43, their opening batsman Horace Miller walked in to bat for a second time in the innings. When they lost Miller 7.4 overs later, he was replaced by his opening partner John Campbell, also batting a second time. And after Select XI were bowled out, New Zealanders continued bowling to their batsmen, till the scheduled 5.00pm finish.The day began with the umpires deciding that the pitch used for the first two days was too dangerous to continue playing on. The new pitch was too damp for play to begin immediately, however, and the start was delayed by 40 minutes.Resuming on 65 for 7 in their second innings, New Zealanders went on to declare on a score of 132 for 9, with Ross Taylor, who batted at No. 8, unbeaten on 55 off 62 balls. Medium-pacer Derval Green took both the wickets that fell in the morning to finish with figures of five for 41.Set 214 to win, Select XI got off to a disastrous start, with Trent Boult and Tim Southee reducing them to 3 for 3 inside seven overs. Offspinner Mark Craig then struck three times in the same over to have them 20 for 6. There was no recovery after that, even though Paul Palmer, Select XI’s captain, went on to score 52 off 67 balls. Craig finished with four wickets in the innings and five in the match, to go with three in New Zealanders’ one innings of bowling in the first tour game and stake a claim for a Test debut in Kingston.

Dinesh Chandimal embraced the hopes that have been heaped high upon them, instead of downplaying Sri Lanka’s prospects in the World Twenty20

Andrew Fidel Fernando15-Mar-2014Top-ranked in the format for 17 months, exultant and exalted after the Asia Cup win, all after six loss-less weeks in Bangladesh – if World Twenty20 has a favourite, it must be the Sri Lanka team. There is the small matter of final-phobia, seemingly induced by pressure, but captain Dinesh Chandimal is not a man to back away from a challenge, even when he is outmatched. As the team prepares to leave for Bangladesh, he embraced the hopes that have been heaped high upon them, instead of downplaying Sri Lanka’s prospects.”There’s a lot of expectation among the fans that we will win the tournament as well, and even within the team, there is a belief that we can win this,” Chandimal said. “We played in Bangladesh for two and a half months, so we have some experience on how the wicket is behaving there and also when the dew factor comes into play. Most of the players in the World Twenty20 squad played in the Bangladesh tour, so that’s a big advantage.”It’s a great opportunity, but we can’t take it for granted. We will have to put in a lot of effort, and take it from game to game – first working towards the semi-final. We have some things up our sleeve. We have a game plan for each team. Everyone is set for the short format, and we’re looking forward to that.”Sri Lanka have England, South Africa and New Zealand in their group, in addition to a yet-to-be-determined qualifier, and though Chandimal acknowledged the fickle nature of Twenty20 cricket, he felt his team were well-placed for the group stage.”There’s a big advantage in our group, because out of the four teams, three aren’t very familiar with subcontinent conditions. But we don’t take any team lightly. In Twenty20, a match can turn in one or two overs. But we have plans for each team, and we’ll use that.”Perhaps the most obvious chink in Sri Lanka’s game, has been Chandimal’s own Twenty20 form. He averages 13.36 in the format – worse in the past 12 months. Chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya suggested team management would back Chandimal to the hilt in the tournament, but Chandimal himself did not warm to the notion of moving to a preferred spot up the order to improve his output.”I’ve been a little uncomfortable in the middle, but I’ve been practicing hard,” he said. “The question is not whether I can play better at No. 3, it’s what will be better for the team. If I can come in and perform, then I will bat in that position. But if there is someone better suited to that position, he will go in. We are looking at what the team needs to do and how the team can win. That’s how we’re approaching it.”Chandimal did not speak of Sri Lanka’s recent history of botched finals, but Jayasuriya – who had been similarly upbeat about the team’s World Twenty20 chances – said Sri Lanka’s jinx had now been lifted.”Since 2007 we have done well in ICC events, but unfortunately we faltered in the final. But I think during the Asia Cup we came out of that barrier. We won chasing 260. That gave us confidence. We put undue pressure on ourselves when we scores of 260 or so, but I think now the players are experienced enough to adapt to such situations. We didn’t win the finals, but the good thing is that we have reached those finals.”

Zander de Bruyn, the South Africa allrounder who played three Tests in 2004, has announced his retirement from professional cricket

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Apr-2014Zander de Bruyn, the South Africa allrounder who played three Tests in 2004, has announced his retirement from professional cricket. De Bruyn, 38, made his first-class debut in 1995-96 and in 242 games he has scored in excess of 14,000 runs with 29 centuries and picked up 285 wickets with his right-arm medium-pace.He has also played 242 List A games, in which he has scored 6085 runs with six centuries and picked up 166 wickets. He amassed 125 T20s with a highest score of 95 and picked up 62 wickets. De Bruyn has represented several teams in his professional career, including his franchise Lions, Gauteng, MCC, Somerset, Surrey, Titans, Transvaal, Warriors, Worcestershire and Abahani Limited.”A decision like this is not made overnight and it is something that I have given a lot of thought. I am eternally grateful for the career that I have been able to have in this sport and it is definitely something I am going to miss,” de Bryun said.”The Bidvest Wanderers (the Lions’ home base) is an incredibly special place to me and although I have played for other teams, this has always been my home. I consider myself privileged to have been able to finish my career here and am happy to reminisce about the many change room memories and the incredible people I have met along the way. Cricket will always be close to my heart and I look forward to now supporting the boys from the sidelines.”De Bruyn’s career took off when he joined Easterns in 2002, where he prospered under coach Ray Jennings. In 2003-04, he emulated Barry Richards by becoming only the second player in South African domestic cricket history to score 1000 runs in a SuperSport Series or Currie Cup season.He was selected for the 2004 Test tour to India and his career began promisingly, with 83 on debut in Kanpur. He played the second Test in Kolkata and the first Test of the home series against England later that year, but that Test at Port Elizabeth turned out to be his last. He never made a fifty after his debut innings and picked up three wickets across the three games.He then turned to county cricket as a Kolpak player, first signing for Worcestershire in 2005. He then moved to Somerset in 2008 where he established himself as a valuable senior player, averaging 53 in one-day games, before joining Surrey in 2010.Greg Fredericks, CEO of Lions and Gauteng Cricket Board, commended De Bruyn on his career. “Having a career that spans over nearly two decades is not something that every cricketer is going to experience in their lives and I take my hat off to Zander for that,” he said. “He has served Gauteng Cricket loyally and has been a true ambassador of the game. I wish him and his family all the best in the road ahead.”

Aaron Finch made his highest first-class score for nearly two and a half years but missed out on a century as Victoria fought to stay in the match against South Australia at the MCG

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Dec-2013
ScorecardAaron Finch made 97 for Victoria (file photo)•Getty ImagesAaron Finch made his highest first-class score for nearly two and a half years but missed out on a century as Victoria fought to stay in the match against South Australia at the MCG. At stumps on the third day, the Redbacks were in a strong position to push for victory with the Bushrangers 128 in front with only two wickets in hand, with Jon Holland on 32 and Scott Boland on 13, and the total on 8 for 353.Victoria batted throughout the day and added 275 to their total for the loss of eight wickets, with the majority of the resistance coming from Finch and Glenn Maxwell. Finch has been in outstanding limited-overs form for some time but has been unable to adapt that to the red ball, and has not scored a first-class hundred since he made 122 for Australia A against Zimbabwe in Harare in July 2011.He was unable to break that drought but reached 97 from 248 deliveries before he was caught off the bowling of Kane Richardson, the fourth Victorian wicket to fall. Maxwell scored much quicker and his 82 came from 121 deliveries with ten boundaries before he was bowled by Gary Putland, who picked up 3 for 93.

Seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been handed a Grade A contract by the BCCI for the 2014-15 season, a promotion from the Grade B contract he had last season

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Dec-20143:51

Ugra: Clear the selectors don’t want to go back to Yuvraj, Gambhir

The BCCI’s contracts list for 2014-15

Grade A

MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina, R Ashwin, Bhuvneshwar Kumar
In: Bhuvneshwar Kumar
Out: Sachin Tendulkar

Grade B

Pragyan Ojha, M Vijay, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja, Ishant Sharma, Shikhar Dhawan, Umesh Yadav, Rohit Sharma, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Mohammed Shami
In: Mohammed Shami, Ambati Rayudu, Ajinkya Rahane
Out: Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh

Grade C

Amit Mishra, Varun Aaron, Wriddhiman Saha, Stuart Binny, Pankaj Singh, Vinay Kumar, Mohit Sharma, Dhawal Kulkarni, Parvez Rasool, Akshar Patel, Manoj Tiwary, Robin Uthappa, Karn Sharma, Sanju Samson, Kuldeep Yadav, KL Rahul
In: Varun Aaron, Stuart Binny, Pankaj Singh, Dhawal Kulkarni, Parvez Rasool, Akshar Patel, Robin Uthappa, Manoj Tiwary, Karn Sharma, Sanju Samson, Kuldeep Yadav, KL Rahul
Out: Dinesh Karthik, Jaydev Unadkat

Seamer Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been handed a Grade A contract by the BCCI for the 2014-15 season, a promotion from the Grade B contract he had last season. He joins MS Dhoni, Virat Kohli, Suresh Raina and R Ashwin in the top level, after being one of the successes for India on the tour to England this summer, where he claimed 19 wickets from seven Test innings at 26.63.Mohammed Shami, Ambati Rayudu and Ajinkya Rahane have been promoted from Grade C to Grade B, while Gautam Gambhir, Yuvraj Singh, Dinesh Karthik and Jaydev Unadkat have been dropped from the contracts list.There are several players who did not have contracts last year but have been included in Grade C this time, including Varun Aaron, Stuart Binny, Pankaj Singh, Dhawal Kulkarni, Parvez Rasool, Akshar Patel, Robin Uthappa, Manoj Tiwary, Karn Sharma, Sanju Samson, Kuldeep Yadav and KL Rahul.Pragyan Ojha, Ishant Sharma, M Vijay, Shikhar Dhawan, Umesh Yadav, Cheteshwar Pujara, Ravindra Jadeja and Rohit Sharma have been retained in Grade B, while Amit Mishra, Wriddhiman Saha, Vinay Kumar and Mohit Sharma remain in Grade C.The BCCI said in a release that players who have not received contracts but play for India in any of the three formats this season will be given Grade C contracts once they debut.The only players in India’s 30-man probables list for the 2015 World Cup who had not made it to the contracts list are batsmen Manish Pandey and Kedar Jadhav, and fast bowler Ashok Dinda.Wicketkeeper-batsman Naman Ojha, who was called up to the India Test team as injury cover for Saha and Dhoni during the series in England earlier this year as well as the ongoing series in Australia, has not been given a contract.The BCCI did not announce how much the players will be paid under each grade, since their fees are decided at the AGM. The AGM is usually held before September 30 every year, but has not been held for 2014-15 as the BCCI is embroiled in a legal tussle following the 2013 IPL corruption scandal. Last season, a Grade A contract came with an annual retainer of Rs 1 crore for Grade A players (US$ 158,000 approx), Rs 50 lakh for Grade B players (US$ 79,000 approx), and Rs 25 lakh for Grade C players (US$ 39,000 approx).

Medium-pacer Zia-ul-Haq picked up three wickets, before a 96-ball 62 from Saud Shakeel helped Pakistan Under-19 to a three-wicket win over England Under-19 in Abu Dhabi

ESPNcricinfo staff09-Dec-2013
ScorecardPakistan Under-19’s bowling attack restricted England Under-19 to 168, before a 96-ball 63 from Saud Shakeel helped Pakistan to a three-wicket win in Abu Dhabi.Pacers Zia-ul-Haq and Irfanullah Shah led the attack for Pakistan, who after electing to field, bundled England out in 43 overs. The opener Ryan Higgins top-scored with 80 off 84 balls, but received little support from the rest of the batsmen. Zia finished with 3 for 32, while Shah and Karamat Ali chipped in with two wickets each to run through an England batting order in which seven of their players failed to get into double digits.England made a bright start during the chase as the seamer Josh Shaw picked up three early wickets to leave Pakistan rattling at 39 for 4 in the 11th over. But Imam-ul-Haq and Shakeel led the recovery, adding 71 for the fifth wicket, before the former fell for 49 in the 31st over. Saifullah Khan was immediately dismissed in the next over, but Shakeel and Zafar Gohar contributed 53 for the seventh wicket to all but seal Pakistan’s second straight win of the tournament.