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The ICC is to launch a comprehensive research project into the contentious issue of player burnout, according to their chief executive, Malcolm Speed.Speaking at the ICC’s annual Business Forum at Lord’s on Friday, Speed said: “Two words that concern some of our stakeholders are `burnout’ and `saturation’. They are highly emotive words [and] they are too often used in the absence of facts and evidence.”Though the details of the research have yet to be determined, it is expected to compare player workloads across different eras, as well as assessing injury trends. “It is time some proper research is undertaken into these two often-raised but little-understood areas,” Speed added.”Many of the game’s top players are playing fewer cricket matches than their predecessors while international cricket is in greater public and commercial demand than ever.”During the course of his speech, Speed also responded to criticism of the recently-adopted six-year Future Tours Program (FTP). “A lot has been written about this FTP, some of it critical [and] not all of it based on facts,” he said. “Let me say today that the FTP is fundamentally good for the game.”Far from being concerned about the excessive volume of cricket being played by our members, we believe many of them should be looking for opportunities to program more cricket.Speed pointed out that New Zealand, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh all have fewer than 55 Test matches scheduled over the next six years, while South Africa and West Indies’ annual schedules of Test cricket only hit double figures three and four times respectively.”When the schedules of our members are looked at over the course of the forthcoming six years,” Speed added, “only three teams ever come close to reaching the players’ recommended upper limit [of 15 Tests and 30 ODIs in a 12-month period] – Australia, England and India.”Of those three, Cricket Australia, whose players are currently on a five-month break, and the England & Wales Cricket Board both have formal agreements with their player groups concerning the volume of cricket they play and both have consistently honoured those agreements.”And the Board of Control for Cricket in India, which has more cricket scheduled than anyone else, has regularly assured us their schedule has the full support of their player group.”Speed added the responsibility for managing player workloads lay in the hands of the ICC’s Member Boards. “They need to balance the demands of player workload with public and commercial interest,” he said. “The directive we have given to our members is that in instances where they are considering adding to the current schedule, they should do so in consultation with their elite players.”

The tearaway fast bowler Shoaib Akhtar has given the Australians a warning ahead of the second Test, which begins in Sharjah on Friday. Regardless of the extreme heat, he intends to bowl fast and maintain his wicket-taking ways. Although Pakistan are 1-0 down in the series, Shoaib is fresh from causing two batting collapses at Colombo, and believes the conditions in Sharjah will help him strike again.”I’m at my best. I am running fast, and the rhythm and flow is there,” Shoaib said after a gruelling net session. “I feel very strong in the legs. I’m always keen to do well against Australia. They are the best batting side in the world, and it gives me a lot of motivation to destroy this line-up.”The conditions in the desert emirate, where this is not usually the cricket season, are sweltering. The temperature is forecast to remain in the high thirties, but Akhtar relishes the trying conditions.”There will be more swing for me here. Unlike Colombo, while it is hot, it is not humid here, which suits us. I’ve played enough cricket at Sharjah to know that I’m more effective here. Since it is drier, I’d be quick off the wicket, and the dry surface would scuff the ball early for us to get reverse swing.”And reverse swing at his pace, he added, is absolutely lethal. “Other people have tried to reverse swing the ball, but it is the pace in our armoury that makes it unplayable.”Shoaib learned the art from Wasim Akram and Waqar Younis, and intends to learn more about the nuances of fast bowling while playing county cricket next season.”I want to learn more through county cricket but without wrecking myself. Now that two overseas signings are allowed to each county, it is possible to have a lesser workload,” he said. Refusing to mention the county he would join, he added that negotiations were in progress with two counties.It was evident from his demeanour and his words that he intended to inflict more misery on the Australian batsmen. “I’ve always bowled well in one-day cricket. But my Test average is not good enough, simply because I’ve not played Tests regularly.”Shoaib believes he can get to 350 to 400 Test wickets. “But my job is to win matches for Pakistan. That is what I want to do.”The Aussies are beatable. We beat them in June, and that showed the way for Sri Lanka to beat them in the Champions Trophy. We came very close to beating them in the first Test at Colombo. There they were looking at 600 (in the first innings) and I had to manoeuvre to turn things around.”I was successful in the post-lunch session. I did it again on the fourth day with five wickets in 15 balls. Faisal Iqbal, Taufeeq Umar and Younis Khan batted well, but we could not finish it off, mainly because of our inexperienced batting. But the Aussies now know that despite the inexperienced batting, beating us would not be easy.”Anyway, it is my job to lead the way, to be the inspiration, to lift the team. And I’m doing just that.”

Australians 151 for 1 (Langer 79*, Hayden 61) are level with Zimbabwe A 151 (Sibanda 48, Gillespie 4-25)
Scorecard

The Australians cruised through the first day of their two-day warm-up game in Harare, bowling out for Zimbabwe A for 151 then finishing up level, reaching the total for the loss of only one wicket before bad light brought an early close.Zimbabwe A struggled against the probable Australian Test attack. Jason Gilespie was the pick of the bowlers with four wickets, but Michael Kasprowicz and Shane Warne took two apiece, and there was a welcome comeback wicket for Glenn McGrath, who nipped one through the opener Eric Chauluka’s defences in the first over. McGrath looked spritely in his 11 overs, and finished with 1 for 23.Only Vusi Sibanda, the Test opener, resisted the Aussies for long, making 48 before he was trapped lbw by Warne’s fellow Victorian legspinner Cameron White. Sibanda and Wisdom Sibiza (22) put on 69 for the second wicket – but after they were separated the last eight wickets tumbled for 56.When the Australians replied Justin Langer, who hit 11 fours, and Matthew Hayden put on 138 untroubled runs for the first wicket before Hayden swung Rangarirayi Manyande to deep square leg.The Australians are rotating 13 members of their squad in this match, which is not first-class.

SYDNEY, AAP – Australia must be favoured because South Africa is carrying a passenger. He doesn’t bat, bowl or field, but his presence is felt. He’s the ghost of the last World Cup.A dream final against Australia at the Wanderers in Johannesburg on March 23 will force South Africa to face its inner demons, the haunting memories of England, 1999, when they had Australia beaten not once, but twice.Both times, they choked. There’s no other description, no denying the fact. Herschelle Gibbs dropped Steve Waugh at Headingley and Lance Klusener had a brain explosion in a run-out at Edgbaston that knocked his side out of the tournament. Australia lifted the trophy.South Africa has stewed on these blunders for the last four years. A long-awaited chance for redemption is nigh but it will take courage to achieve. A nation will be watching.Fans from both countries are aching for an Australia v South Africa final. The ICC rankings demand it. Australia is No.1 ahead of South Africa with daylight third, then Pakistan, Sri Lanka, England, India, West Indies, New Zealand, Zimbabwe, Kenya and Bangladesh.But there’s no guarantee the script will be followed. Anything can happen. That’s the beauty of one-day cricket, and the problem. Luck plays a major role. The best teams don’t always win.Sri Lanka and India proved as much when they upset Australia and South Africa at last year’s Champions Trophy. Those games were in dusty Colombo, though. Conditions in South Africa – fast, bouncy pitches – will help the favourites and hinder those from the subcontinent.Australia has gained an edge over South Africa since 1999, playing 17 times for ten wins and two ties. It’s won eight of the last ten clashes including five, and a tie, from seven starts under new captain Ricky Ponting.However, leading the best of seven series 5-nil last year, Australia slipped to a 65-run loss in the final match at Cape Town. South Africa can beat Australia, but can they do it when it matters?Eight members of South Africa’s heartbroken side from Edgbaston are back: Gibbs, Klusener, Shaun Pollock, Mark Boucher, Allan Donald, Jacques Kallis, Gary Kirsten and Jonty Rhodes. Australia has six survivors: Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Michael Bevan, Darren Lehmann, Glenn McGrath and Shane Warne. The Waugh twins, Tom Moody, Paul Reiffel and Damien Fleming are gone.Both sides are brilliant. Australia has better bowlers, South Africa has the world’s best allrounders. The fielding can be breathtaking. It would be a battle royale.South Africa’s most recent series was a 4-1 home triumph over totally unpredictable Pakistan, Australia’s dangerous first opponent on February 11. Any side boasting Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Saqlain Mushtaq, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Shahid Afridi and Shoaib Akhtar is a worry.What of the others?West Indies are the wild cards if Brian Lara fires. They beat New Zealand 3-1 at home last June, then India 4-3 in India in November, and then Bangladesh 2-0 away in December. They were nudged out in the Champions Trophy by South Africa by just two wickets.Sri Lanka ran hot and cold while missing out on the tri-series finals this summer behind Australia and England. They need the stars – on the pitch and in the sky – to align. Sanath Jayasuriya, Muttiah Muralitharan are capable of great things if the gods allow it.England is travelling all right, while New Zealand has just thumped India 5-2 at home, even without Chris Cairns. He’s back for the World Cup. Zimbabwe could be a handful, on the field and off. India is a mystery but then again, so is the whole tournament. There will be 44 games in 54 days.South Africa has the advantage of playing at home, but with that comes pressure. The hosts’ biggest challenge might come from within.

Arjuna Ranatunga and Aravinda de Silva are the latest players to have beencleared of the match-fixing charges made by bookmaker Mukesh Gupta’s in theCentral Bureau of Investigation (CBI) report.According to Gupta, De Silva and former captain Ranatunga had agreed tounder-perform in the Lucknow Test Match against India in 1994 and de Silvahad been paid US$15,000 after the game. Gupta further alleged that the pairhad been willing “to do” other Tests.Desmond Fernando, however, appointed by the Sri Lankan board to investigatethe allegations in November last year, was unable to question or cross-examine Gupta and was therefore forced to accept the testimonies of theplayers.Fernando handed over his report to the Sri Lankan board this week and isbelieved to have recommended that no action be taken against the twoplayers.This follows the news that England wicket-keeper Alec Stewart, accused by Gupta of accepting US$5000 for providing pitch, weather and team information, was also cleared by the England and Wales Cricket Board after Gupta’s steadfast refusal to face legal cross-examination by the Lord Condon’s ICC Anti-Corruption UnitThe Sri Lankan enquiry focused entirely on the claims made by Gupta. Noindependent evidence was uncovered and cross-examinations were restricted tothe two players directly concerned and present captain Sanath Jayasuriya,who is believed to have turned down an offer of US$500,000 to fix aninternational game.Extracts from his report, published in the Sunday Times this weekend, revealthat Fernando described Gupta’s CBI statement as “inadequate and untested”and believed that there were “infirmities which rendered his statementimpossible to be acted upon”.”In my view, the inquiry held by me has a higher evidentiary value than themere statement of Mr Gupta. His statement lacked precision,” he argues,pointing to the failure to state where the conversations took place, wherethe money was handed over to de Silva and whether it had been handed over incash or otherwise.”On the other hand, I saw the two cricketers, I heard them giving evidence,and they also indicated their willingness to answer any question put by me.”De Silva admits to having established a relationship with Gupta andidentified him from a photograph during his interview. Ranatunga was not socertain, saying that he might have met Gupta, but he was not sure that hecould remember the face.Describing Gupta as a person with “an immense knowledge of cricket”, DeSilva reveals that he first met Gupta in India, but was not introduced tohim by Manoj Prabhakar, as is alleged. The first meeting was apparentlycasual and after that Gupta would sometimes phone de Silva in Sri Lanka.He categorically denies having agreed to under-perform or having acceptedmoney, claiming: “We did not perform as a team. We did not produce the goodsand that was the reason for our debacle.”De Silva does though refer an incident, “in 1996 or 1997,” when he wascontacted by Gupta and asked to meet an associate, who was trying toorganise a series of exhibition matches. When de Silva met this man in hishotel room the subject quickly turned to fixing the match the following day.De Silva claims to have ended the meeting immediately and contacted the teammanager, Duleep Mendis, who then ordered a team meeting to warn the players.Mendis has confirmed to Fernando that de Silva had approached him.After that incident, De Silva says: “Every time he called I used to say,’please don’t call’, because I had a little bit of doubt. I just wanted to tryand keep away from him.”Ranatunga has vehemently denied the allegations all along, which he arguedwere “based entirely on the wholly uncorroborated evidence of aself-confessed rogue”. In a characteristically abrasive letter shortly afterhis interview, he described the allegations as “patently ridiculous”, arguingthat Gupta’s statement was riddled with logical shortcomings.Most colourfully, he alludes to the apparent failure to set a price beforethe alleged under-performance, stating: “Even Judas Iscariot agreed upon aprice of 30 pieces of silver before he betrayed Jesus Christ!”In Fernando’s report Ranatunga explains away his and de Silva’s failure(both batsmen scored an aggregate of 33 runs in their four innings) as theresult of poor umpiring: “Both of us were two batsmen only. The umpiring hadbeen terrible. So I was one of the victims on this particular one.”After the disastrous tour the Sri Lanka board launched an internal inquiry,later called the Skanda Kumar report. The report, which was highly criticalof Ranatunga’s captaincy and de Silva’s attitude towards other team members,stated that: “There is evidence that a bookmaker of Indian origin hasattempted to make his presence felt in the national cricket scene.”Ranatunga denied to Fernando any knowledge of the bookmaker referred to inthe report.Fernando’s final report will now be analysed by the Sri Lankan board. Noofficial statement has so far been given and it is not known as to whetherFernando has recommended a general inquiry into matching fixing in SriLanka.

Former Zimbabwe captain and current Middlesex batting coach Dave Houghton will join Ireland as a batting consultant for their upcoming tour of Zimbabwe.Houghton, who played 22 Tests, has a coaching career spanning 20 years. He had a short stint as coach of Ireland during the 1994 ICC Trophy in Kenya, before going on to coach Worcestershire and Derbyshire. He was also assistant coach at Somerset.”What a great opportunity it is to have the likes of Dave Houghton with us for the Zimbabwe leg of the tour,” said Ireland head coach John Bracewell. “His experience as a coach and knowledge of Zimbabwe is a real bonus to the group.”I have played and coached against Dave for over 30 years and have always admired his manner and temperament in and around cricket. He has always been generous with his time and knowledge and I believe he will be invaluable to all skill-sets on tour.”Expressing delight at being offered the role Houghton said, “This is a very exciting time to be involved with Irish cricket, as they sit on the cusp of achieving their ambition of entering the Test arena. I hope that my knowledge and energy will be of great benefit to them.”Ireland will play three ODIs against Zimbabwe on October 9, 11 and 13 before playing a four-day fixture against Zimbabwe A starting on October 17.

Harbhajan Singh has been banned for the remainder of the current IPL season for his altercation with Sreesanth at the end of Mumbai Indians’ match against Kings XI Punjab on Friday. The ban is for 11 matches, including last Sunday’s game, extendable to 13 if Mumbai progress to the semi-final and final.Sreesanth was let off with a warning after video evidence showed Harbhajan slapped him without any provocation. The duo embraced at the end of the hearing after Harbhajan offered an apology in front of the cameras. Harbhajan will not be appealing against the ban.”The referee studied video tapes of the incident and found the assault by Harbhajan was totally unprovoked. The footage exactly showed that Harbhajan went down the line, wishing all the players, shaking hands with a few players,” said Lalit Modi, the commissioner of the IPL who is also a vice-president of the BCCI. “Sreesanth was the third player that he met. Instead of shaking his hand he actually slapped him and continued down the line, shaking hands with the other players.”Farokh Engineer, the former Indian wicketkeeper who was the match referee, fined Harbhajan 100% of his match fee for Friday’s game. He will now be paid only for the first two matches of the IPL.Lalchand Rajput, the coach of the Mumbai side, has also been found guilty of a level 2 offence and fined 50% of his match fee. “Rajput was right behind Harbhajan when the incident took place,” said Modi. “He didn’t take any step to restrain him. He has been fined 50% of his match fee.”The ban on Harbhajan comes as a jolt for Mumbai, who have lost all four games so far in the tournament. “We don’t have a say in matter as far as the ban is concerned,” said Tushar Pania, head of corporate communications at Reliance Industries Limited, who paid US$111.9 million for the Mumbai franchise. “But it does have an impact on the team now especially considering Sachin Tendulkar is injured.”Harbhajan also faces separate action from the Indian board, which has asked him to explain, “as a contracted player”, his role in the incident which came to light after Sreesanth broke down in front of the cameras.Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, said on Monday that Sudhir Nanavati, a lawyer, has been appointed to conduct a “preliminary inquiry” and submit a report “within 15 days” to Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, who will refer the findings to the board’s disciplinary committee for possible action.Shah also confirmed that Harbhajan had replied to the board’s show-cause notice. “He has given his reply, but I cannot reveal its contents.”

After Kapil Dev and Kiran More it may now be the turn of Sandeep Patil to lose his pension from the Indian board (BCCI). Patil is the latest among former Test cricketers to join the Indian Cricket League, a potential rival to the Indian board, and the BCCI is contemplating strict action, including the withdrawal of monthly pensions, on players associated with cricketing activity not recognised by it.”We have written to all associations and specifically informed that former and current players involving themselves in any tournament or body that does not have the approval of the BCCI should be stopped from getting any benefits,” Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI’s chief administrative officer, was quoted in the .The monthly pension of approximately Rs 35,000 (approx $ 900) is reportedly no longer available to Kapil and More, who have been removed from the BCCI’s pension list, and More indeed confirmed that the Baroda Cricket Association, whose secretary he is, had communicated with him in this regard.The formation of the Indian Cricket League was announced by Subhash Chandra of the Essel Group in April. The Essel Group-owned Zee Television has earlier been involved in disputes over television rights with the BCCI. The league is rumoured to begin in October, and according to the May issue of magazine, big names such as Shane Warne, Brian Lara and Glenn McGrath have been approached.

Amit Varma and Anand Vasu discuss the second day of the St Lucia Test
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Streaming Audio: Real :: WMAWhy did West Indies’ batsmen find the going much harder on the second day of the St Lucia Test than the Indian batsmen? Amit Varma discusses that with Anand Vasu, who wrote the bulletin for this Test, and who feels that it’s a combination of the pitch becoming more helpful to bowlers and India’s bowlers bowling much better than the West Indians did.Varma and Vasu also discuss Mohammad Kaif, who’s got a bit of a raw deal in his Test career so far, and whose success here might put pressure on VVS Laxman to come up with a big innings. Vasu also feels that it won’t necessarily be easy going for the Indians in this Test – not with Shivnarine Chanderpaul still at the crease.Listen in.Download MP3 (right click and select “save target as”)
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As Bangladesh prepared to leave England, Mohammad Ashraful vowed to use the trip as a springboard for further, more consistent, success. Although Bangladesh twice went down by an innings in their two Tests against England, they rallied in the one-day internationals with Ashraful’s run-a-ball hundred setting up their shock five-wicket win against Australia in Cardiff.It is now four years since Ashraful, on the verge of his 17th birthday, became the youngest player to score a Test hundred when he reached three figures against Sri Lanka.Although he failed to live up to that promise during the Tests against England, Ashraful was pleased by the way he responded to early failures later in the tour by scoring 259 runs in the Natwest Seires at over 43.”I was not happy with the Test series against England but I’ve been happy to comeback in the one-dayers and score runs again. I had the thinking before that I could score 100 in every innings, so my thinking was not mature – but I am more mature now. I know I can’t get a 100 every game but I can continue my form.”I am more mature now in my thinking and batting. I want to continue being consistent in the next series. I think I can do that against Sri Lanka in our next series. If I do that, then I hopefully will have got rid of the inconsistency tag. I don’t just want to have scored runs in this series in England. I want to be a success all the time.”Bangladesh’s victory against Australia in Cardiff was their lone internationalsuccess of a tour that featured some heavy defeats. But an upbeat Ashraful insisted: “I feel Bangladesh can become an even better side. In two or three years we can challenge anyone. At the moment we get a good start to the innings and don’t always catch up in the middle or late order.”I think this can happen. If we can score runs all the time, then we can challengeanyone. To beat Australia gave us a big lift. Before that we were not in good form butafter that match everyone was changed mentally. It gave us self-belief.”Meanwhile Bangladesh captain Habibul Bashar said several of his players could dowell in English county cricket. “I don’t know if they are going to get any offers but I think Ashraful, Shahriar Nafees and Aftab Ahmed are capable of playing at that level. I’d be very happy if they get offers and the chance to play in the county games. I hope that the counties have been looking at some of our players.”Nafees, who won the man of the match award for his 75 against Australia atCanterbury on Thursday, and Ahmed will be returning to England with the BangladeshA team later this month along with Nafees Iqbal and Nazmul Hossain.Nafees, 19, said: “We have to take good things out of every game on this tour and work out the areas which went wrong and improve on them. It has been a big learning curve for all of us.”