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The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has reacted strongly to comments made by Chris Gayle and Jerome Taylor about the lack of communication from the board about their injury and rehabilitation prior to their departure to India to play in the IPL. The WICB stated, in a release, that both players “unilaterally decided to resume playing before being given final clearance from WICB appointed therapists.”Gayle, in an interview with KLAS Sports, a radio station in Jamaica, said the board hadn’t checked on his rehabilitation after the World Cup – where he sustained an abdominal muscle strain – and that he was “stunned” when he found out he hadn’t been picked for the limited-overs series against Pakistan. Taylor, in an interview with ESPNcricinfo, had said the WICB did not contact him about his back injury before he left to play in the IPL, and it only did so on April 7, once he’d arrived in India.In response, the WICB has released detailed timelines of the two players’ rehabilitation and correspondence with the board. In the case of Gayle, the board’s timeline notes that between April 17 and 18 this year: “Chris departs for India. Has not had required medical review, nor did he complete rehabilitation program and physiotherapy review as required, neither did he complete fitness testing prior to competition resumption.” It also published an exchange of messages between Gayle and West Indies team physio CJ Clark about his fitness during the period March 24-April 8.With regard to Taylor, the board claimed “he had not kept physiotherapy appointments for weeks prior to his deciding to resume playing.” Its timeline notes that as per early April this year, “Jerome departs to India without completion of rehabilitation, medical assessment or approval” after missing a scheduled review with Dr. Akshai Mansingh, part of the WICB medical panel, who had been tracking his progress.The board also reacted to criticism from Shivnarine Chanderpaul, saying “as a centrally contracted player the Board will address this matter through contractual provisions at the appropriate time.”

Zulqarnain Haider, the Pakistan wicketkeeper who fled to London in November last year claiming he had received death threats from unidentified people seeking to draw him into match-fixing, has announced his intention to resume his cricket-playing career.Haider, who retired from international cricket soon after arriving in the UK, returned to Pakistan in April after receiving assurances from the government about his and his family’s safety.”I have decided to abandon retirement and will soon meet PCB officials once I get clearance to go out of my home,” Haider said in Lahore. “I did not retire from first-class cricket, so I can still play for my department where my job is permanent [Haider plays for ZTBL].”Haider had gone missing from the Pakistan team hotel in the UAE before the fifth and final ODI against South Africa. He fled to the UK to seek protection and placed an application for asylum that hinged on the nature of the information he was able to divulge, as the extraordinary nature of his case appeared to fall outside the usual conditions required of a person seeking refugee status.A fact-finding committee subsequently set-up by the PCB, who suspended his contract, to look into the affair failed to find any clear motives behind his actions.A board official told ESPNcricinfo last month that there was no “official next step,” as far as Haider was concerned. “The fact-finding committee’s last communication with him was to seek some more details, but they never heard back from him. The board will do nothing now until he gets in touch with us. After that we can decide on a future course of action, whether disciplinary because he breached the code of conduct, or otherwise.”

Though his new captain is doing all he can to support him, Cameron White is fast running out of time to locate the power game that until six months ago had marked him as one of cricket’s most fearsome hitters. A dreadfully laboured innings of 20 off 50 balls against Bangladesh in Mirpur summed up White’s problems all too well, as he made his customary circumspect start but was then unable to slip through the gears when needed.By way of a comparison, White’s previous international half-century in October last year was a galloping 89 off 49 balls, an innings that for now looks like his last glorious hour. Michael Clarke resorted to pushing White’s seldom used legspin as a means of getting him back into the game, but even he admitted White’s place would be discussed before the second match on Monday.”We’ll wait and see, Whitey’s a huge player for us, not only with the bat but as I’ve said with the ball as well, he only bowled one over today but I always had that option, which is handy,” Clarke said. “Whitey’s performed really well in one-day cricket for Australia throughout his career. He obviously hasn’t made a big score of late and I know he’s working his backside off to try to make that big score. But in regards to the team we’ll wait and see, I’ll chat to Andrew Hilditch tomorrow and again try to work out what the best XI is going into the second game.”While the two-gear batting approach favoured by White throughout his career continues to malfunction, Clarke was not ready to suggest a change in method. “I don’t think so, I think he’s had success playing for Australia the way he plays, and I continue to tell him to back himself and do things his way,” Clarke said. “He just hasn’t been able to get that start and be in a position then to accelerate. So I’m confident if he keeps doing what he’s doing, and keeps working as hard as he is, he’ll turn it around, because he’s got a lot of talent, we’ve seen that already.”Conditions were quite hard to start today as well so it did take everybody a bit of time to get in and they’ve got four pretty good spin bowlers as well.”A victory and a century in Clarke’s first match as Australia’s full-time captain was an auspicious start, even if the latter overs of Bangladesh’s failed chase were decidedly inglorious. For this, Clarke thanked his predecessor Ricky Ponting, who played with striking fluency before he was run out. “Ricky’s been so supportive and he’s made my job a lot easier by giving me advice and help, and by being one of the boys, which makes it easy for me,” Clarke said. “I have a great relationship with Ricky and I was very confident coming here he would do everything in his power to make my job easier to help me out, and I was certainly right about that today.”I thought he batted beautifully and was very unlucky to get run out. In my opinion he’s still one of the best fielders in the world and he showed that today. He’s 36 going on 25 at the moment, running around like a youngster and today he batted as well as he did in the World Cup in that last game against India.”Mitchell Johnson, with runs and wickets, was Australia’s most arresting performer save for Clarke.”He played beautifully,” Clarke said of Johnson. “He’s always been a good striker of the ball, Mitch, and it’s just about opportunity and spending a little bit of time in the middle.”He might’ve mistimed the first couple and then he hit one out of the middle and he was away, so he’s an amazing player, a big player in our team in all forms of the game. I think he’s enjoyed the chance to bowl with the new ball, there wasn’t much swing there today for him, but he bowled beautifully. I thought he and Brett (Lee, in his 200th ODI) did a really good job.”

ScorecardLuke Fletcher removed Rahul Dravid for a duck on a day for the bowlers•Graham Morris

The first day of the English domestic season may have been staged in the UAE desert of Abu Dhabi but wickets tumbled as though it was an early-spring green-top back home. Nottinghamshire, the county champions, crumbled to 86 for 8 having dismissed MCC for 218 which included a second-ball duck for Rahul Dravid.However, Dravid wasn’t the only batsman who failed to score as four Nottinghamshire players departed without a run. Steve Kirby, who has moved to Somerset, took 5 for 29 while Hamid Hassan, the Afghanistan paceman and former MCC Young Cricketer, claimed a couple.The match marks a curious start to the English season although the major purpose is further trials of a pink cricket ball with MCC continuing their experiments with a view to day/night Test cricket. The bowlers certainly enjoyed the change in colour along with a surface that didn’t live up to its reputation as a batting paradise.Kirby, who played in last year’s equivalent fixture, made the first breakthrough for MCC after they were dismissed by tea when he removed Mark Wagh – who almost walked for his lbw – as they soon made their own total appear very significant. Toby Roland-Jones then trapped Neil Edwards lbw before the real action began against the middle order.Alex Hales and Ali Brown both fell to Kirby and Hassan made an impression when he removed Chris Read and Steven Mullaney for ducks to leave Nottinghamshire 37 for 6. Samit Patel, who earlier took four wickets, offered momentary resistance and struck some sweet boundaries but couldn’t survive the session when he became Kirby’s fourth scalp. Kirby wasn’t finished, either, as he completed his five-wicket haul by bowling debutant Brett Hutton. In the County Championship a pitch inspector would have been on his way.The wickets started to fall early as Paul Franks claimed the first of the season with his second delivery when Chris Rogers edged to slip then Luke Fletcher removed Stephen Peters with a ball that lifted. When Dravid fell lbw to the impressive Fletcher it was 17 for 3 but Dawid Malan and Stephen Moore added 51 until Fletcher had Moore caught behind.Malan was the mainstay of MCC’s effort and his 71 included 13 boundaries. He added 57 with Steven Davies to steady the innings until lunch but the wicketkeeper fell on the resumption when he became Patel’s first wicket. Patel’s display of accurate left-arm spin showed why the England management are so exasperated that he can’t reach the desired fitness levels to be considered for international duty.Fletcher continued his good work to have Mohammad Nabi caught behind but the batsman lingered for a long time at the crease and had to be told to leave again by the umpire which didn’t do the player any favours. Malan was trapped lbw by Patel but the lower order provided some resistance to bolster the total.The most entertaining period of the innings came when Hassan entered at No. 11 and began by cracking his first three deliveries from Patel for four. He continued in a similar vein to reach 26 off 14 deliveries before giving Patel his fourth wicket to end a last-wicket stand of 38 with Roland-Jones.

Rajasthan Royals are seeking US$30 million in damages from the BCCI to compensate them for their summary expulsion from the IPL last October. The franchise has written to the BCCI and the arbitrator, Justice Srikrishna, who is hearing the case between the two parties, arguing that their unilateral termination, and the court cases that followed, have hurt their reputation and caused a loss of revenue, for which they should be compensated.”This is all part of the arbitration process,” a franchise official told ESPNcricinfo, explaining that Justice Srikrishna had asked Rajasthan what outcome they were seeking from the process, and will now go to the board and ask for a response.Srikrishna has already issued an interim stay order on the expulsion, allowing Rajasthan to take part in the player auction earlier this month and to compete in the 2011 tournament that begins in April. The BCCI challenged the decision in the Bombay High Court, which upheld the arbitrator’s ruling. However, a final decision on the expulsion will only be issued after Srikrishna has completed his review of the case.The franchise retained Shane Warne and Shane Watson prior to the auction, and also bought former India captain Rahul Dravid, as well as Paul Collingwood and Johan Botha, the England and South Africa T20 captains respectively, at the auction.Rajasthan’s IPL affiliation was terminated by the BCCI on October 10 on charges of transgression of shareholding and ownership norms that threatened to “shake the very foundation of the tender process”, as the notice put it. The two sides then decided to settle their dispute over the termination through arbitration on November 15 after Rajasthan had filed a case in the High Court challenging the board’s decision to take the step unilaterally.

Canada’s preparation for the World Cup has been hampered by a delay in Indian visas for four key players in their squad.Batsman Rizwan Cheema, allrounder Umar Bhatti, paceman Khurram Chohan and back-up keeper Hamza Tariq – all Pakistan-born – were all ruled out of Canada’s recent pre-tournament warm-up in India and Ranjit Saini, the Cricket Canada president, told Pakistan’s Daily Mail the problems have damaged the team.”[We have been] waiting to have visas processed for several months now,” he said. “Canada took a pre-World Cup preparatory visit to India in November and the visas were applied for before that.”We couldn’t take these players to India and as a result our training plans have suffered. [It’s] a source of distraction and is hurting team morale in general. We are making efforts but so far there is no outcome. They are the star players of our team, Rizwan Cheema was in the IPL auction.”Saini confirmed that Canada will take a full-strength to Bangladesh in February for the official World Cup warm-up matches and the opening ceremony before proceeding to Colombo for their opening fixture, against Sri Lanka. The team is currently competing in the Caribbean T20, where they won a stirring encounter with England domestic Twenty20 Champions Hampshire.They have just two days from returning from that tournament before they head off to Dubai to prepare for the World Cup and Saini is hoping the visas can be sorted by then.”The problem is that if this is not resolved in next week or so, the team will be on the move and players can’t come back to Canada for visa processing. The short window of opportunity is now causing the issue to become a major problem.”

It was a day that crawled along, and then plodded on, but in between, the freak run-out of Rajasthan opener Vineet Saxena provided some drama amid the dullness. Saxena mistimed a drive off the first delivery after lunch, and the ball rolled away to the leg side. Bhargav Bhatt from midwicket ran in to field the ball. Meanwhile, Saxena, who was outside his ground, took two steps back in to the crease, and then strode out to do some gardening on the pitch. When he was about two feet outside the crease, he gestured in the direction of square-leg umpire K Hariharan, asking for his permission to step out of his ground.An alert Pinal Shah, the Baroda wicketkeeper-captain, sensed an opportunity and gestured frantically to Bhatt. Bhatt, who was standing beside the ball, suddenly swung into action and threw down the striker’s stumps with a direct hit, with Saxena miles down the track. Even as Baroda went up in appeal, Saxena looked confused, and Hariharan walked up to umpire Shavir Tarapore. After some discussion, the matter was referred to third umpire SS Shamsuddin, who ruled Saxena out.Now the rule says that a batsman is run-out if he is found out of his ground while the ball is still in play, whether or not a run is being attempted. A ball is in play till it settles in the hands of the wicketkeeper or the bowler. In this case, the umpires felt that the ball was in play, and the referral was made to check at what point the batsman sought permission to step outside his ground. Replays clearly showed that Saxena was well outside when he gestured to Hariharan, and was adjudged out.There were conflicting opinions among the teams and former players about the entire incident. Pinal felt he was within his rights to claim the run-out. “It was not a planned move. The ball was in play. He just walked out, and did not ask for permission before doing so. Generally if you are walking out, you just inform the umpire or the keeper or the slip fielder.”Hrishikesh Kanitkar, the Rajasthan captain, was understandably unimpressed. “I have heard it was within the rules, but I wouldn’t have claimed that wicket; that is for sure.” Pinal felt that Kanitkar’s reaction was to be expected. “If I was in the opposition, and my batsman would have got out, even I would have said the same thing. But I thought he (Saxena) made a mistake by walking out.”

MS Dhoni has said that the distance from his family might prevent Gary Kirsten, India’s coach, from renewing his contract once it runs out after the 2011 World Cup. “Of course,” Dhoni said when asked if India were trying to do everything within their powers to make Kirsten stay. “But what you also need to see is he has been part of the Indian cricket team for the last three years. His family – Joshua is a growing kid right now and James is a young kid too [both Kirsten’s sons] – which means Gary wants to spend time with his family. That will be the most crucial thing apart from the money aspect.”He has given [the Indian team] whatever he could, the best he could, and of course it was a pleasure to have him in the side, but then again it is a decision he will have to take. More than the cricketing part, it will be his family that will have a real impact on the decision.”Dhoni said there haven’t yet been discussions with Kirsten about extending his contract because the team is focused on the South Africa tour and the World Cup. “It’s a discussion that will take place. We will wait for the right time. After this series we have the World Cup coming, which means he still has close to two, two-and-a-half months with us. We will try to get the most out of him, but at the same time, as I always say, it will be a pleasure to have him for another three years.”Dhoni reiterated Kirsten’s value to the team over the course of his tenure as coach. “I have always said that he is one of the greatest things to have happened to Indian cricket apart from the talented cricketers we have got. Throughout he has been away from the media, he just concentrates on the work he needs to do. We have had a great time under him. It is an advantage to have him in the side.”Kirsten joined India after the acrimonious tour of Australia in 2007-08, and under him India have completed their ascent to No. 1 Test ranking, lost just one Test series, and are going into the World Cup as one of the favourites. His behind-the-scenes-yet-hands-on style has been appreciated by the Indian players, who have taken every opportunity to thank him.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
Mahela Jayawardene marched to his second half-century of the match as Sri Lanka scuppered West Indies’ hope for a win•AFP

A lacklustre post-lunch performance from West Indies, and rain clouds that once again swooped over Galle in the afternoon, ensured that Sri Lanka held on for a draw in the first Test in Galle. The visitors were stiff in the field, allowing too many easy runs and despite the fall of two wickets in the afternoon session to go with two from the morning, West Indies failed to make sufficient inroads into the Sri Lankan line-up.The debutant seamer Andre Russell lacked the fire and intensity to cause any concern after lunch as the well-set pair of Tharanga Paranavitana and Mahela Jayawardene negotiated the early overs of the afternoon with relative ease in comparison to the discomfort caused by Kemar Roach in the morning. While Russell maintained a consistent line and length, he lacked the pace and movement to pose a threat, and even the return of Roach could not make an impact.Shane Shillingford too, was handled confidently in the afternoon, despite the offspinner’s dismissal of Paranavitana for 95, midway through the session. Darren Sammy, who had dropped Paranavitana off the same bowler earlier on, held on to this one at slip, after the batsman had looked edgy in the 90s. Mahela, though, who had been tormented by Shillingford through the Test, began to play him with more assurance, twice punching him past point off the back foot, and finding singles and twos in the vacant outfield as Sammy pushed for wickets with men around the bat.Mahela progressed to his second half-century of the match with a straight six off part-timer Brendan Nash, but fell to him two overs later, tamely chipping back to the bowler when he had looked good for a long innings. Thilan Samaraweera struck three fours in his 19 and was looking good in the company of Angelo Mathews before rain intervened once again, forcing the teams off the field and shutting the door on a riveting Test match.It was not always such smooth sailing for Sri Lanka on the final day, though. An electric spell from Roach in the morning had blasted out Tillakaratne Dilshan and Kumar Sangakkara. Roach sizzled through that opening burst, hurling down two hostile maidens to Paranavitana before sending Dilshan’s off stump cartwheeling with a fiery yorker. Sangakkara fell in Roach’s next over, edging outside the off stump, to leave Sri Lanka tottering at 110 for two before Paranavitana and Mahela combined to claw and scrap their way to lunch. The pair survived a tense spell from Shillingford, whose fizzing, biting deliveries did everything but make the crucial breakthrough for the visitors, and took control of the situation after the lunch break.Despite the stalemate, West Indies had positives to take into the second Test following their impressive work in the first innings. Sri Lanka’s second-innings batting and Ajantha Mendis’ spell on the second day was the silver lining in what was otherwise a bleak Test for them. West Indies’ strong show completed the week of the underdog in world cricket as they came away with laudable draws against more fancied opponents, just as New Zealand and Pakistan did against India and South Africa respectively.

Scorecard
Ed Rainsford celebrates after hitting the winning runs•Zimbabwe Cricket

Ed Rainsford was Zimbabwe’s hero as they squeaked home with a last-ball, two-wicket win in the first one-day international at Harare Sports Club. Chasing 201, the home side needed six runs from the final over and managed to draw level with some frantic running before Rainsford clubbed the last ball from Kevin O’Brien – a full toss – over long leg for six to seal the match. Rainsford had also come to the fore with the ball, nipping out three top-order wickets and returning to take a fourth as Ireland were bowled out in the 48th over, and was deservedly named Man of the Match for his efforts.Ireland were undoubtedly 30 to 40 runs short after being put in by home captain Elton Chigumbura, but they rallied with the ball and the Zimbabwean batsmen were on the defensive from the moment Hamilton Masakadza was nipped out first ball by O’Brien. Tatenda Taibu’s 15th ODI half-century kept Zimbabwe on course, but when he was dismissed by Trent Johnston for 62 the momentum swung back to Ireland .When Charles Coventry was run out in the 43rd over Zimbabwe still needed 48, with Chigumbura the last recognised batsman at the crease. He responded with a calm knock under pressure, brushing off the loss of Prosper Utseya with a straight six – the first of the innings – in the 48th over to reduce the runs still required to under 20. But when he slapped a full-toss from Trent Johnston straight to John Mooney at long-on one over later Ireland were back on top, as Graeme Cremer was joined at the crease by Rainsford with only Chris Mpofu still to come.Either batsman could have been run out off the last ball of the 49th over, but Will Porterfield’s throw was wide and amid further frenzied running in the last six balls there was a moment of controversy.The Irish were convinced a diving Rainsford had been caught short of his ground when Niall O’Brien whipped the bails off as the batsmen pushed for a tight second run from the penultimate ball. But umpire Amiesh Saheba ruled Rainsford safe, and with the scores level a repeat of the two sides’ tied encounter at the 2007 World Cup was a distinct possibility. But Rainsford responded to the pressure with the first international six of his career to seal Zimbabwe’s win in the first of a three-match one-day series.Rainsford had also played a leading role in the field, taking a career-best 4 for 23 as Ireland were dismissed with 15 balls still remaining in their innings. He was on a hat-trick in his first over when Porterfield and the elder O’Brien were removed in consecutive balls, and though Niall’s younger brother Kevin survived his first ball Rainsford and his new-ball partner, Mpofu, kept up the pressure and Ireland’s top four had been sent back before the end of the 10th over.Andrew White and Gary Wilson averted disaster with a 115-run stand for the fifth wicket before both were removed by legspinner Graeme Cremer to stall Ireland’s charge at the end of their innings. Mooney and Johnston swung merrily, but when Zimbabwe’s opening pair returned the lower order folded quickly and Masakadza then closed the innings when he had George Dockrell caught by Coventry.To their credit, Ireland fought back well in the field and the 18-year-old Dockrell put Zimbabwe under real pressure with 3 for 27 in 10 overs of guileful left-arm spin. In the event, Zimbabwe had just enough in the tank to squeeze past the visitors, and though they will take an important 1-0 lead in the series the signs suggest that the next two games should be closely-fought encounters.