The ICC Contract controversy

Cricket's world governing body on Sunday widened a rift with India's star players by refusing to accept the team's official sponsor at this month's Champions Trophy. The International Cricket Council (ICC) rejected India's plea to allow the players to wear the logo of Sahara India, the team's official sponsor for Test and one-day internationals, at the September 12-29 tournament in Sri Lanka. Sahara India, whose wide-ranging businesses include a domestic airline, is considered to be a rival of one of ICC's official sponsors, South African airlines, an ICC release said. ICC President, Malcolm Gray of Ausralia, said it was essential that the ICC's commercial partners were protected. "South African Airways is an important partner of the ICC and the ICC members have reaffirmed their commitment to protect its partners rights," the release quoted Gray as saying. The ICC's directive creates futher headaches for India's embattled cricket chief, Jagmohan Dalmiya, as he tries to persuade the country's top players to take part in the Champions Trophy. India's entire 18-member Test squad currently touring England, including captain Sourav Ganguly and star batsman Sachin Tendulkar, has refused to sign the ICC's controversial sponsorship contract.

India in England

England have named Essex all-rounder Ronnie Irani in their squad for the deciding Test against India at The Oval on Thursday. Irani last played Test cricket in the summer of 1999 but made a successful return to international cricket with England's one-day unit earlier this season. And Marcus Trescothick's appearance for Somerset in the C&G Trophy Final was enough to convince the selectors that he is fit to return to Test cricket. Trescothick broke his left thumb while fielding in a county match in mid-July and Saturday's final was his first game back. But though he played with heavy strapping on the digit he was not unduly inconvenienced and now has a further four days before the critical Oval Test. The series is tied at 1-1 after India's emphatic innings-win at Headingley, following England's victory in the first Test. Irani's last Test match was also at The Oval when England lost a critical game against New Zealand and with it the series at a low point of England fortunes. His form has been superb for Essex this summer with both bat and ball in both one-day and Championship cricket. Irani will probably compete with Dominic Cork for the all-rounder's spot and his ability with the bat will be in his favour.

PSO Tri-Nation Tournament

Kenya Tri-series, 3rd ODI: Pakistan 181-3 (38.4 ovs) beat Kenya 179 all out (42.3 ovs) Pakistan cruised to their second win over Kenya in this warm-up tournament before the ICC Champions Trophy. But they had to weather a poor start to their run chase after their African hosts had reduced them to 13 for two and 54 for three. It was the class of Younis Khan which finally told, as he hit 87 not out in an unbroken stand of 127 with newcomer Misbah-ul-Haq (50 not out). Openers Saeed Anwar and Shoaib Malik had fallen early on. Anwar was caught by wicketkeeper David Obuya off Martin Suji for two, and Malik was trapped lbw by Kenya pace bowler Thomas Odoyo for three.

Miscellaneous

The Himalayan kingdom of Bhutan on Sunday concluded its first professional cricket coaching camp, after years of relying on television to learn the game. A two-day camp was held in the capital of this tiny Buddhist kingdom by former Sri Lankan Test player Roshan Mahanama and cricket administrator Jayantha Paranatala. The duo were brought here by Sri Lankan Foreign Minister Tyronne Fernando to popularise the game, which is almost a common religion in South Asia. The Bhutanese Cricket Association (BCA), which was affiliated to the International Cricket Council (ICC) last year, hopes to improve the standards and attract young players to the game. BCA President, Lyonpo Kandhu Wangchuk, who is also the Minister of Trade and Industry, said Bhutan's cricketers were used to high altitudes and could easily adapt to conditions anywhere else. "Till now, cable TV was the only source of coaching for our players," Wangchuk said, referring to the 45 cable TV channels that broadcast, among other things, a steady dose of international cricket matches. Australia leg-spinner Shane Warne wants to make a fourth Ashes tour of England in 2005 and may give up one-day cricket to pursue his goal, an Australian newspaper said on Sunday. Warne, 33 next month, is the second leading wicket-taker in Test cricket and will be a key player for one-day captain Ricky Ponting in next year's World Cup defence in South Africa. "I think another Ashes series (tour) is a realistic goal," Warne was quoted as saying by The Sunday Age newspaper. "Maybe I'll only play one form of the game. That might prolong my Test career. "Maybe I could play four or five years of Test cricket. They're all the things you have to weigh up. "But you don't want to get too far ahead of yourself. That's when your form wavers and you're out of the side anyway." Graham Thorpe will meet with the England management during the Oval Test this week after revealing that he wants to tour Australia this winter. After the first Test against India in July, left-handed batsman Thorpe said he was taking a break from cricket to spend more time with his children. Since then he has not played a competitive game either for England or his county Surrey. But he is about to represent Surrey once again to show that he is mentally able to play professional cricket at the highest level again. Chairman of selectors David Graveney said on Sunday that he intends to invite Thorpe to this week's final Test against India and speak to him personally. "Graham has spoken to Duncan [Fletcher, the coach] already and I'm going to ask him to come down to the Oval and talk to myself and [fellow selector] Geoff Miller," explained Graveney. "We have made provisions in our Ashes squad both with Graham and without him but it will be good to speak to him face to face. For the first time since the Sri Lankan civil war began, a member of the national cricket team has been to Jaffna, the town at the heart of two decades of separatist struggle. More than 10,000 people turned out to see Muttiah Muralitharan, one of the world's top spin bowlers play a friendly match against the local team. The event that would have been unthinkable before this year's ceasefire agreement between the Tamil Tigers and the Sri Lankan Government. Whereever he goes, Murali is a phenomenon, but in Jaffna he was literally mobbed as he went on and off the pitch. Fans were desperate to touch him, grab his cap, or just get a glimpse up close. Police had problems controlling the crowd, and on occasion, resorted to beating them back with sticks. The turnout far exceeded expectations, with spectators perched on trees and the surrounding walls for hours on end. Murali is an international cricket legend, with 400 Test wickets to his credit. But in Jaffna, he is doubly revered as the only Tamil in the Sri Lankan team.

Archive September 1, 2002

Design: Imran Shaikh