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Essex have signed India batsman Gautam Gambhir for the remainder of the season as they look to bring success to a turbulent campaign.

ESPNcricinfo staff15-Aug-2013Essex have signed India batsman Gautam Gambhir for the remainder of the season as they look to bring success to a turbulent campaign.Embarrassed, booed off and publicly criticised by their head coach, Essex are remarkably in a position to make 2013 a year to remember. On Saturday they will take part in Friends Life t20 Finals Day and are handily-placed in both the Yorkshire Bank 40 and County Championship.Gambhir’s wealth of experience will replace the greener Hamish Rutherford, the New Zealand opener, who will be heading home to prepare for New Zealand’s domestic and international season. Gambhir is expected to join Essex ahead of their County Championship match against Northamptonshire in Colchester, which begins on August 20.That fixture is the first of Essex’s final six matches. Promotion is firmly in their sights; they currently lie 29 points off second-placed Northamptonshire and have a game in hand on every team in the division. That healthy position is somewhat inconceivable given Essex were bowled out for just 20 against Lancashire earlier in the season.They were also humbled by Middlesex in the Flt20, bowled out for 74 and booed off by their home fans, yet recovered to qualify for Finals Day with a superb 47-run victory at Nottinghamshire in the quarter-final. Qualification for the semi-finals of the Yorkshire Bank 40 is also a possibility; with two matches to play, Essex sit two points off the top of Group B.Gambhir’s 11,274 first-class runs and 8,815 List A runs could provide consistent performances at the top of the order, an absence of which has hindered Essex thorough the season.”We are delighted with the signing of Gautam Gambhir,” Essex head coach Paul Grayson said. “He is a player with pedigree, which has been showcased on the biggest stages. He will no doubt bring his experience to the squad during an important stage of the season for us.”Gambhir, who had been India’s first-choice opener in all forms of cricket over the past few seasons, was dropped from both Test and limited-overs teams earlier this year. He was left out of the squad for the home Tests against Australia and was also not included for the Champions Trophy and the tri-series in the West Indies. He has played 54 Tests and scored 4,021 runs at an average of 44.18.Gambhir is the first Indian player to sign for a county this season. In 2012, Harbhajan Singh represented Essex for the second half of the season.

Kieron Pollard believes that the semi-final clash between Mumbai Indians and Trinidad & Tobago could ultimately come down to the experience gained by the Indian side in the IPL

Renaldo Matadeen04-Oct-2013Kieron Pollard believes that the semi-final clash between Mumbai Indians and Trinidad & Tobago could ultimately come down to the experience gained by the Indian side in the IPL.Mumbai Indians booked their passage into the semis with a comprehensive win against Perth Scorchers, as a result of which, Pollard will be facing off against his T&T team-mates, who themselves come into the game on the back of a big victory against Chennai Super Kings.”Ramdin’s men know my game well but I know theirs too, so it’s going to be interesting this Saturday,” Pollard said. “Their batters are in form but our bowling and fielding have been disciplined. It will be a cracker.”Since joining Mumbai Indians in 2010, Pollard has gone on to become a key member of the franchise, and played an integral part in the team’s Champions League triumph in 2011, as well their IPL success earlier in May.”Four years with Mumbai Indians has been a learning experience for me,” he said. “The best part is that players come and go in other teams but at Mumbai Indians, the core of the team has been same for the last four years and we have enjoyed each other’s success.”Pollard also acknowledged the impact Sachin Tendulkar has had on him since he joined the team. “Sachin has helped me become a better cricketer with a lot of technical inputs. For me, it’s a sheer joy watching him enjoy those gruelling training sessions even at this age. His work ethic is something that I have always respected. He’s a mentor but more so, he’s a good friend.”Earlier, whenever I would come in to bat, the opposition captain would immediately bring in a spinner. That has changed now. I still get out but if the slow bowlers keep it in my arc, I am ready to hit it out of sight.”Pollard, who boasts an impressive strike rate of 149.73 in T20Is, also shrugged off claims that he was a specialist only in the shortest format of the game. “If people want to call me T20 freelancer, that’s their opinion. If I try to change everything, I will be trying to change the whole world. For me, it’s just a matter of what I am supposed to do and that is playing whatever format I get to play. My only priority is getting Mumbai to the CLT20 title and that’s all I am focused on.”

Bermuda resurrected hopes of a top two finish with a thumping 87-run win over Suriname on Tuesday afternoon at Indianapolis World Sports Park

Peter Della Penna in Indianapolis06-May-2015Bermuda resurrected hopes of a top two finish with a thumping 87-run win over Suriname on Tuesday afternoon at Indianapolis World Sports Park. David Hemp was named Man of the Match for his unbeaten 72 off 57 balls as he teamed with captain Janeiro Tucker for an unbeaten 90-run stand to give their side an easily defendable 142 for 2 after winning the toss and batting first.The wide margin, achieved by bowling out Suriname for just 55 in 18.1 overs, boosted Bermuda’s net run rate from -1.829 to +0.859, which is two tenths of a point better than USA, though Bermuda has two points to USA’s four. However, a Bermuda win over USA on Thursday would put both teams level on points with Bermuda ahead on the net run rate tiebreaker to set up a tense finish to the tournament.Suriname had a pair of early breakthroughs when medium pacer Troy Dudnath yorked opener Dion Stovell for 2 and left-arm spinning allrounder Sauid Drepaul trapped an indecisive Oliver Pitcher on the crease for 8 in the eighth over. It was smooth sailing though for Hemp and Tucker with Hemp flaying the Suriname attack repeated to the cover boundary. The 44-year-old former captain finished with six fours and one six in his knock.Tucker had one six in his 43 not out in 41 balls but was superb at getting singles to give Hemp most of the strike as Suriname toiled in the heat on what was by far the warmest day of the tournament thus far with temperatures climbing into the 80s. Offspinner Gavin Singh was the only bowler able to genuinely restrict the pair, bowling a tight line to finish with 0 for 11 in his three overs.Suriname’s first wicket fell two balls into the chase when Shazam Ramjohn tried pulling medium pacer Stefan Kelly but a top edge eventually came down into the hands of the keeper Christian Burgess. Muneshwar Patandin offered a low return catch to Stovell to fall for 7 in the fourth over before Stovell seized on Drepaul’s lack of foot movement to pin him on the crease for 5 to make it 17 for 3.Bermuda stuck with spin most of the way as the pitch, which was being used for its sixth match in three days, finally started to show signs of wearing down with a series of balls keeping low to give Suriname even more trouble. Gavin Singh was the only batsman to cross double-digits and finished with 15.Delray Rawlins bowled the cheapest spell to finish with 1 for 9 in four while Jacobi Robinson and Stovell claimed 2 for 10 in four overs each. Joshua Gilbert had the final two batsmen caught in the deep to end the match as the offspinner finished with 2 for 4 in 1.1 overs.

Andre Fletcher has been fined EC $2000 (740.75 USD) for possession of ammunition after appearing before a magistrate in Dominica

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Jun-2015Andre Fletcher, the West Indies and Windward Islands wicketkeeper-batsman, has been fined EC $2000 (USD 740.75) for possession of ammunition after he appeared before a magistrate in Dominica. He had been arrested last week at the Douglas Charles airport in Dominica.Windwards Islands manager, Lockhart Sebastian, told that the levied fine was paid and that attempts were being made to have Fletcher leave Dominica to get some rest.He said Fletcher was unaware of his possessions while entering the airport. “There was no intention of criminal activities,” Sebastian said. “He did not realise he had the ammunition. It could happen to anybody.”Fletcher has played 15 ODIs and 22 Twenty20 internationals for West Indies; his most recent appearance being in a T20 game against South Africa in Durban in January this year. He has played 60 first-class matches and was a regular in the Windwards Islands side during the 2014-15 season.

Mohammed Shami, who has been out of action since the World Cup, has revealed that he bowled through pain and injury during the tournament

Sidharth Monga26-Jun-20152:48

‘Can’t wait to get back on the ground’ – Shami

Mohammed Shami, who has been out of action since the World Cup, has revealed that he bowled through pain and injury during the tournament, and that the discomfort in his left knee began as early as during the first Test of India’s tour of Australia. That Test match was played from December 9 to 13. India’s last match in the country, the World Cup semi-final, was played on March 26. Between the two matches, swelling on Shami’s knee kept making repeat appearances.Shami, who has since had a surgery and is currently undergoing rehabilitation at the National Cricket Academy in Bangalore, is unlikely to be match-fit in time for India’s tour of Sri Lanka in late July.Two days before every World Cup match Shami would have fluids sucked out of the knee, then practise on the day before the match, and then play. India didn’t want to risk the momentum they had built, Shami says. He himself didn’t want to let the team down. After a point Shami was sure he would have to sit out for a long time so he pushed himself as far as he could. The prize in sight was too tempting to not go for, and Shami has statistically been one of the best ODI bowlers in the world over the last 18 months.It was a bit of a vicious cycle: Shami was critical to India’s success; the better he did, the more confidence India gained, the more they didn’t want to risk changing the winning combination, the worse the injury got. Shami was India’s second-highest wicket-taker at the World Cup, with 17 scalps at 17.29 and an economy rate of 4.81. Had he not sat out of the UAE game, he would have had every chance of taking more wickets than Umesh Yadav’s 18.Now Shami has had to undergo a surgery. For 40 days he was on crutches. Only about the time India left for Bangladesh could he stand on his legs again. Now he is walking and jogging lightly. He says his progress has surprised the doctors, who were expecting him to only now begin walking. The real test, though, will be when he starts running again. How the knee responds to that running will decide how long it takes him to be back on the cricket field. If it heals at a miraculous pace he could be ready for the Sri Lanka tour, but that won’t be a realistic expectation.The trouble all began when he landed funnily in his bowling stride during the second innings of the Adelaide Test. “I was landing in the exact same spot as the Australian spinner [Nathan Lyon] did,” Shami told ESPNcricinfo. “That landing spot was up and down. It resulted in swelling. It kept on getting worse, but in the end it came to a stage during the World Cup where I found the momentum and the team found the momentum, and we didn’t want to lose that. When we came back from the World Cup, then we did proper tests and found there was a tear in the knee.”Shami then missed the Brisbane Test, but the team management kept the news of the injury to itself. When Shami came back for the Melbourne Test, he did so in place of the bereaved Varun Aaron, who went back to India. Shami proceeded to play the Sydney Test, and also all the four ODIs in the triangular series.When asked if he could have rested and limited the damage, Shami said, “It was difficult to rest. We were struggling during the triangular series. And World Cup lay ahead. The way be began against Pakistan, we didn’t want to lose that momentum. The only chance I got to rest was against UAE, and I took it.”The day before Shami rested for the UAE game, the team management for the first time mentioned an injury, and it sounded pretty serious despite the use of the word “mild”. “Mohammed Shami has got mild left knee problem and had ultrasound guided-injection yesterday for his long-term management perspective,” BCCI’s media release said. “He won’t be available for tomorrow’s match against the UAE.”Shami explained how India went about it match by match. “The doctors with us had told me what is happening now had to happen at some point,” Shami said. “So they would see if I could play despite that, if I could work hard despite that, and then they would clear me for the match. And what has happened now would have happened earlier too.”Even though Shami kept recovering temporarily, he knew through the scans after the third Test that his injury was going to ultimately result in a long break. A break he finds hard to endure. “It is very frustrating,” he said. “To watch all the players play the IPL and you are sitting at home and watching on TV. That is one of the most difficult things to do for a player. Yet you have to realise that injuries are a fact of a sportsman’s life. You have to keep that in mind. It was tough, it is tough, and now I am just waiting to get back on to the field.”Had India won the World Cup this would have been a much-celebrated story, like the ones that emerged after 2011. India haven’t. They have even lost an ODI series in Bangladesh. However, Shami’s part in the run to the semi-finals, the pain he played through, should not be forgotten.

It was a day when the honours, in the grand scheme of things, were too early to dish out. But Worcestershire enjoyed enough success at the beginning of the day to claim it.

Vithushan Ehantharajah at Uxbridge21-Jun-2015
ScorecardJames Franklin rescued Middlesex from a tricky position•Getty Images

It was a day when the honours, in the grand scheme of things, were too early to dish out. But Worcestershire enjoyed enough success at the beginning of the day to claim it. Rarely will the opening day of a Championship game bring wickets on its first and last ball, but strange things tend to happen at Uxbridge.As a place, it’s hard to describe. Uxbridge Cricket Club sits as its own green off-shoot from an A road that for moments of the day were parted for sirens and, occasionally, the odd motorbike treating the recommended speed limit as a previous high score. It may not have the quaintness of an Arundel, or the postcard print of New Road, but it is very Middlesex. The clubhouse sits raised at 45-degrees to the closest end. Inside, mates congregate to talk runs, wickets and wrong-uns from the set of league fixtures the day before. The beer is fizzy, the standards are mixed but the desire is real and raw.Few of these weekend warriors were in when Sam Robson was walking back, having edged the first ball of the match from Charlie Morris to Tom Fell at third slip. Not surprising, though, given the timing of Robson’s dismissal was actually a minute before the official start time. But they were well-sauced and in full voice when Morris’ hands were pierced by a James Franklin hook that bounced just in front of the rope for four. It would take the Middlesex captain to 124 and be the only let off he enjoyed during a second Championship century of the season, before his innings was finished at the day’s end.Having won the toss and decided to bat, Franklin returned to the middle in the 20th over, with the electronic scoreboard reading 51 for 4 (as ever at club grounds, the rate at which the manual one updated suggested it was still operating on Greenwich Mean Time).His innings was put into context by his teammates. Nicks Gubbins and Compton were staunch in defence but unable to really get full value for their attacking shots. The frustration was palpable when Compton, having been served a leg-stump full-toss from Joe Leach, hammered it aerially to Richard Oliver at midwicket, who dived forward to take a smart catch. Compton indicated that he thought it had bounced in front of Oliver, but the umpires dismissed the claim.Joe Burns accompanied Franklin in a partnership of 51, gritted out first before playing some well-timed, almost open-chested drives through the off-side in making 57. Having done the hard-work, he seemed to have wrestled back control of his own fate before becoming Jack Shantry’s third wicket of the match.It was Shantry who benefitted the most from a green pitch that slowed rather than seamed, as evidenced by his wicket of Gubbins; Shantry getting the ball to hold-up and pop, as ever, giving Saeed Ajmal a simple catch at mid-on. And it was Shantry who brought the day to a close when he got his fourth by making a 15-over old new ball tail and skip into Franklin, who worked it around the corner to leg-slip.From nought to 120, Franklin was flawless. It is hard to remember a false stroke or even one meant for the floor that spent time in the air. Everything seemed to come out of the middle. When he’s in this kind of form, the Kiwi looks less practical batting-allrounder and more moving art installation: his arms and joints moving with the breeze rather than reacting to the tics and twitches he has honed from more than a decade of cricket. Given that the ball was not coming onto the bat, his drives down the ground were worth savouring, particularly his straight checked effort on the front foot off Shantry, which took him from 99 to 103.Franklin added 72 in the middle session, part of which contributed to a 170-run partnership with John Simpson, who made 41. With both gone, batting time might be a tough ask for the Middlesex lower order; the likes of Ollie Rayner, James Harris and Toby Roland-Jones would rather live fast than die old.At stumps Shantry, one away from a second consecutive Championship five-wicket haul, said three more wickets within the allotted bonus point overs would be ideal. If they manage that, and if this Uxbridge track plays to type and flattens out, they will be in a sound position.As for Moeen Ali, he got little from a dull track. If there can be any criticism from his 12 overs, it could be that his length could have been drawn back a fraction to get the batsmen pushing out to him. He was given the token over before lunch, the one before tea, only to miss out on the holy trifecta when Daryl Mitchell gave him the penultimate one before the close.

Scotland captain Preston Mommsen and his Netherlands counterpart Peter Borren both heaped praise on their respective squads after the two teams were declared co-champions at the World Twenty20 Qualifier following a rained-out final

Peter Della Penna in Malahide26-Jul-20153:42

‘We are ecstatic as a team’ – Mommsen

Scotland captain Preston Mommsen and his Netherlands counterpart Peter Borren both heaped praise on their respective squads after the two teams were declared co-champions at the World Twenty20 Qualifier following a rained-out final. Despite the gloomy day, both captains maintained a sunny disposition about their teams’ performances over the last 18 days.”It’s the first time that we’ve topped this tournament, we’re ecstatic as a team,” Mommsen told ESPNcricinfo after lifting the trophy with Borren. “Throughout this tournament it’s been a genuine all-round team performance. There have been many contributions in many different aspects of different games where guys have put in performances to get us over the line.”I think obviously one or two standout performances but you can look at the squad, the players that took the field are always contributing and that’s obviously a sign of a very healthy team, a lot of confidence in each other’s skill and that showed throughout the tournament.”In particular, a special mention to Ali Evans who topped the wicket-taking list, being able to strike at crucial moments, saving us on a lot of occasions with the ball. I think a lot of credit to him but very happy with the way the team has played and gelled together throughout the past three weeks, a very positive sign for the next year at least.”Scotland, on their part, will be making their third trip to the World T20 after qualifying for the first two editions in 2007 and 2009, though they are yet to record a win. Netherlands will also be making their third trip after participating in 2009 and 2014, where they notched Full Member wins over England on both occasions.Borren was especially pleased with his squad’s performance in this tournament as the result comes just four months after Netherlands watched the 2015 World Cup from home. A stunning upset at the hands of Kenya prevented their participation in the knockout stage of the World Cup Qualifier last year in New Zealand and also meant significant decrease in funding from the ICC. Borren, however, felt the team responded positively after a wake-up call that could have crippled cricket in the country.”We were absolutely gutted to miss out on what was a fantastic World Cup in Australia and New Zealand earlier this year,” Borren said. “I think Netherlands have pretty consistently been at world tournaments so that was one we were very disappointed to miss. In a way, a lot has changed in the last two years in Dutch cricket. We’ve become far more professional.”Guys are training five times a week and we’ve worked really hard. It could have been a real knock-back for us, not making the World Cup. There were a few people who said that could have left Dutch cricket in a difficult position but a lot of credit to the guys and Anton Roux our coach.”He’s really driven us forward in a more professional manner and I think we’re a pretty good team now. It’s not just that we have talented players but talented players who have worked hard together and you can see that in our results and how we play out in the middle.”Borren made it clear to point out his team was far from achieving the bigger goal of making the main draw of the tournament. Borren does not even consider the eight-team opening round – which the six Associate qualifying teams will participate in for a chance to go into the main draw – an actual part of the tournament. Instead, he refers to the tournament as a 10-team World T20 in which his side have now just progressed to the next stage of qualifying.”It’s not really up to me but it’s very strange that we have to play a million games to try and actually play our first game in the proper World Cup,” Borren said. “Last year, Ireland won the qualifying tournament (in 2013), won every game (going 8-0), lost one game against us (in the preliminary phase in Bangladesh) and they don’t get to go to the World Cup. It’s unbelievable. It’s ridiculous.”

Shane Warne has delivered a broadside at Australia’s selection chairman Rod Marsh for the decision to recall Peter Siddle ahead of Pat Cummins for the fifth Investec Ashes Test at the Oval

Daniel Brettig at the Oval20-Aug-2015Shane Warne has delivered a broadside at Australia’s selection chairman Rod Marsh for the decision to recall Peter Siddle ahead of Pat Cummins for the fifth Investec Ashes Test at The Oval.Siddle was ignored by Marsh and the coach Darren Lehmann for the two previous Tests played on seaming wickets at Edgbaston and Trent Bridge, and was known to be particularly upset by his absence from the XI for the pivotal fourth match. However another green-tinged pitch at The Oval moved the selectors to include him in place of Josh Hazlewood, having earlier seemed set to choose the younger Cummins.The retiring captain Michael Clarke was seen in animated discussion with Marsh before the side was named, and after play began Warne expressed in the strongest possible terms that Siddle should not have played in a dead Test when there was an opportunity to have Cummins gain valuable experience.”I don’t think anyone thought Peter Siddle should have played in this Test match,” Warne said on commentary for Channel Nine. ” I can understand the conditions where Peter Siddle would have played but to me it looks like it’s a selection that should have been for the last Test match and while we got that wrong last Test match, let’s play him this Test match.”I just can’t understand why Pat Cummins is not playing in this Test match. Peter Siddle will do a good job – that’s irrelevant because he should have played the last Test. For me they’ve got the selection wrong again and Rod Marsh has to be accountable for that. There’s been so many selection issues this series they’ve just got wrong. Someone has to be accountable.”They’ve got Bangladesh coming up which Peter Siddle won’t go to and you’ve got a 23-year old Pat Cummins. What an opportunity to look at him in a Test match here. I just can’t understand it. I just could not believe it when the team was announced today.”The Siddle selection is the latest in a series of hotly-debated calls this series, where a heavily- favoured Australian side has fallen well short of expectations. Shane Watson and Brad Haddin dropped out of the team after the first Test, but when the wicketkeeper made himself available again after withdrawing from the Lord’s Test for personal reasons he was ignored. It was a move that miffed numerous members of the touring squad.At Trent Bridge, the selectors delayed informing the team of the XI to take the field until shortly before the toss, and in dropping Mitchell Marsh for his brother Shaun abandoned a long-held commitment to playing five bowlers. Shaun Marsh was out cheaply in both innings and the bowling attack was left unbalanced by the absence of an extra option.Lehmann has conceded that this was a mistake, and has also suggested that two separate squads should have been chosen for the West Indies and England instead of naming one group for the two tours. However Marsh has defended the work of his panel, saying he could not think of any other cricketers they could have picked for the trip, and that deliberations over the team for the fourth Test were the hardest he had ever experienced.

Sharad Pawar has emerged as a strong contender for the BCCI president’s election, necessitated by Jagmohan Dalmiya’s death on September 20

Nagraj Gollapudi25-Sep-2015Sharad Pawar has emerged as a strong contender for the BCCI president’s election, necessitated by Jagmohan Dalmiya’s death on September 20. Not only has Pawar received formal backing from N Srinivasan, the ICC chairman, but it is also understood that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), which runs the federal government in India and controls a sizeable number of BCCI votes, could be open to aligning with Pawar for larger political motives.However Pawar’s biggest hurdle could be his own supporters, a number of whom who are against any alliance with Srinivasan given their recent mutual hostility. Pawar – currently president of the Mumbai Cricket Association – has rarely faced open opposition in his long political and administrative career, preferring to negotiate and broker deals away from the spotlight, but the adamance of his supporters will test his skills.Pawar, who met Srinivasan on Wednesday night in Nagpur, is understood to have briefed his key supporters (Maharashtra, Saurashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Vidarbha and Mumbai) about Srinivasan’s offer of support. However, a senior member of Pawar’s camp told ESPNcricinfo that some of the West Zone members made it clear that it was not a wise move.”Srinivasan promised him support and said they should have an election, but some of us are not in agreement to this and we told Pawar our support wouldn’t be unanimous,” the camp insider said. “Key members of Pawar group had resigned because of the allegations against Srinivasan.”Significantly, one of his key supporters and longtime associates, Shashank Manohar, was not present during the Srinivasan meeting though he was in the nearby hill station of Mahabaleshwar. Once allies, Manohar – who was BCCI president in the term between Pawar and Srinivasan – has turned into a vocal critic of Srinivasan in the last two years. Pawar would need all his powers of persuasion to get Manohar on his side in this matter.On Friday, Maharashtra Cricket Association president Ajay Shirke met Pawar at the Yeshwant Rao Chavan centre in Mumbai, but he said it was not to discuss the BCCI at all. “There is a book being published to mark Pawar’s 75th birthday celebrations and I am contributing a chapter there. We were there to discuss the book,” Shirke said. “He did not tell us about any deal,” he added.Shirke and Sanjay Jagdale had quit as BCCI treasurer and secretary, respectively, in 2013, after the IPL corruption scandal broke. They were protesting against Srinivasan’s refusal to take moral responsibility and step down as the BCCI president.According to the insider, if Pawar did stand for the elections with Srinivasan’s backing, he would only be guaranteed about 12 votes, which would not be enough to garner a majority number in the 30-member BCCI. From the West Zone vote bank, Pawar has assured support from Maharashtra, Saurashtra, Baroda and Mumbai, and from Central Zone he has the backing of Vidarbha and Madhya Pradesh.One BCCI official told ESPNcricinfo he wondered why Pawar would be interested in aligning with Srinivasan considering the Tamil Nadu heavyweight just had a handful of confirmed votes on his side. “Why does he need to make a deal with Srinivasan? He [Srinivasan] is doing all this to stay in the news. Even on the eve the last AGM in Chennai he told his supporters he had the majority of the votes and in the end how much did he get – just 13 and lost the critical vote of the secretary. Between then and now his stock has improved? It is an effort to remain in fray and not get marginalised. And Pawar is too seasoned a politician to not understand this.”Such talk does not, however, dissuade the Srinivasan camp, which is confident that Pawar will get nominated for the elections, a date for which will need to be announced at the BCCI’s special general body meeting, scheduled soon. “At this time, BCCI needs an experienced person like Sharad Pawar to handle various difficult situations,” a Srinivasan camp official said.The X factor in this is IPL chairman Rajiv Shukla, who is an MP from the opposition Congress party but has always maintained cordial relations with the rivals – both in the political sphere and within the BCCI. He also has a good rapport with current BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, who is head of the BJP youth wing. It is evidently clear that the BJP will play an integral part in who becomes the next BCCI president and it will most likely take that decision based on larger political factors.

Travis Dean scored a half-century on first-class debut as Victoria chipped away at Queensland’s 444 on the second day in Melbourne

The Report by Brydon Coverdale at the MCG29-Oct-2015
ScorecardTravis Dean had a hard act to follow when he walked out to bat in his debut first-class innings. Chosen ahead of international batsman Aaron Finch for Victoria in the opening Sheffield Shield round against Queensland, Dean walked out to bat with Finch having on the same day scored an unbeaten double-century for the Cricket Australia XI against New Zealand in Sydney.But Dean seemed unperturbed by events at Blacktown, and by stumps had scored a composed 81 not out as Victoria chipped away at Queensland’s first-innings total of 444. At the close of play Victoria were 2 for 147 with Dean batting alongside Peter Handscomb, who had 46; Handscomb had been the last Victorian before Dean to score a half-century on first-class debut, when he achieved the feat in 2011.Like Victoria, Queensland found that the pink ball offered little assistance once the shine had worn off. Ben Cutting claimed both the wickets from consecutive deliveries, Rob Quiney lbw for 17 and Marcus Stoinis bowled for a golden duck when he failed to get bat and pad close together and saw the ball zip through the gate.There was little else the Bulls could do and they adopted similar tactics to Victoria, placing fields heavy on men forward of the wicket – at one stage a cordon of three catchers were spread from short mid-on to short midwicket – on the assumption that no edges would be flying to slip. At least their batsmen had made good use of the friendly batting conditions earlier.Queensland had resumed on 4 for 298 and lost Jack Wildermuth, run out for 8, and Nathan Reardon, who edged to second slip off John Hastings for 36 early in the day. However, the experienced pair of Chris Hartley (55) and James Hopes (33 off 30 balls) ensured some handy late runs, along with 30 from Ben Cutting.Hopes holed out to long-on off the bowling of Fawad Ahmed and Hartley was caught behind off Hastings, who finished with 4 for 59 from 34 overs and was the most effective of Victoria’s bowlers. Peter Siddle was typically hard to score off but went wicketless, with 0 for 57 off 23 overs.