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Cricket fans in India may have to reconcile themselves to missing out more matches in the near future with no solution in sight to the deadlock between Nimbus and Prasar Bharati for telecast of India’s home games over the next few weeks. Millions of fans missed the first match of the India-West Indies series on Sunday – telecast liveon Neo Sports, a channel owned and recently launched by Nimbus – and the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI), which sold the rights to Nimbus last year, says it will stand by the rights holder if the matter goes to court.Even as India’s Information and Broadcasting minister called Nimbus’s decision “unpatriotic”, Shashank Manohar, the BCCI vice-president, said that Nimbus might approachthe Supreme Court to resolve the issue and the board, having entered into a contract with the television house, would be a “joint petitioner” in the case.”BCCI is supporting Neo Sports and Nimbus. They have paid so muchmoney to get the telecast rights. Nimbus is going to the Supreme Courtand we might be a joint petitioner to it,” Manohar said on thesidelines of the series opener at the VCA stadium. He also hoped the issue would be sorted out before thesecond one-dayer, in Cuttack on January 24.Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, also said the board would stand by Nimbus.”We may be a party because our contracts are with them (Nimbus),” Shah said.”Prasar Bharati has got the highest reach in the country and Nimbuswanted to give them territorial rights as per rules and regulations.We hope that an amicable solutions comes out.”At the heart of the dispute is Prasar Bharati’s refusal to encrypt thefeed given by Nimbus and the insistence on telecasting the matches both onits terrestrial channel Doordarshan (DD) and its DTH service. However, Nimbus – which bagged the rights last year for $612 million for a four-year period – has said Prasar Bharati can telecast the matches to onlythose homes which are connected through the terrestrial network.Nimbus is believed to have offered DD a 75-25 revenue-sharing deal, which has been implemented in the past, and also the option of a 15-minute delay feed instead of live cricket.”We refuse to accept the conditions put up by Prasar Bharti and ifthese are not sorted out, we will not share the feed with them,”Harish Thawani, the Nimbus chairman, said on Saturday.The problem was not restricted to homes with only terrestrial TV; even those in metros subscribing to direct-to-home (DTH) TV missed out on Sunday’s action. Manohar said Prasar Bharati’s conditions to Nimbus included free feed to DTH services, which Nimbus has objected to.Officials of DTH companies Tata Sky and Dish TV were quoted by The Times of India as saying they were negotiating with the broadcasters on a deal for the rest of the series.

Ishant Sharma, the Kolkata Knight Riders fast bowler, has been fined 10% of his match fee for kicking the stumps down during the IPL match against Kings XI Punjab in Mohali on Saturday. Clive Lloyd, the match referee, found Ishant guilty of a level 1 offence (clause 2) as per the ICC’s Code of Conduct, which relates to abuse of ground equipment.Ishant’s is the latest in a series of penalties handed out to players over the last few days in the tournament. Harbhajan Singh, the Mumbai Indians offspinner and stand-in captain, was suspended for 11 matches for slapping his India team-mate Sreesanth, who is with Kings XI Punjab. Sourav Ganguly and Shane Warne, the captains of Kolkata Knight Riders and Rajasthan Royals respectively, were each fined 10% of their individual match fee over a disputed dismissal in a match in Jaipur.

Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif, who is missing out on the tour of India due to his elbow injury, has been advised by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) to keep on hold his contract with English county Surrey until his fitness position becomes clear.Asif remains uncertain for the Indian tour although the Board has said he has pulled out of the one-day series and is undergoing a rehabilitation programme for his elbow problem which requires rest and exercises and cannot be treated by medication.Asif, who also missed four of the five one-day internationals against South Africa last month at home due to the same injury, has been offered a two-year contract by Surrey for 2008 and 2009.The PCB’s chief operating officer Shafqat Naghmi said that given the increasing number of fitness problems, with the fast bowlers in particular, they would review in detail the policy of allowing players to sign contracts with English counties for the summer.”It is true that Pakistan has no commitments between late May and mid-September for next year but we will still have a rethink on our policy of giving permission to our players to go and play for counties,” he said. Naghmi also said their policy would be based on the fact that bowlers risk a burnout because of excessive cricket. “Otherwise we should have no objections,” he added.

Chris Rogers is one step closer to a dream international debut on his home ground after he was added to Australia’s squad for the WACA Test as cover for Matthew Hayden, who has a hamstring injury. Hayden trained with his team-mates in Perth on Sunday but doubts remain over his ability to recover in time for the Test, which begins on Wednesday.If his right hamstring does not heal it will end a streak of 86 consecutive Tests – Hayden has not missed a game since March 2000, which puts him seventh on the all-time list. It would also give Australia one of their least experienced opening pairs in recent memory with the uncapped Rogers set to join Phil Jaques, who himself has only just established his place in the side.Alex Kountouris, the team physio, is doing what he can to get Hayden ready for match day and Michael Clarke believes Rogers, 30, might have to wait for his Test debut. “It’s a fantastic opportunity for Chris Rogers to come into the squad and prepare like he’s going to play,” Clarke said.”But the type of guy Haydos is you’d have to chop his leg off to not see him out there this game. With Alex’s magic and Haydos’ discipline and the type of person he is I’m pretty confident we’ll get to see Matty Hayden out there.”Kountouris said it was still far too early to make a call on Hayden. “Matthew has taken part in training today,” Kountouris said. “We will continue with the program on his hamstring and make a decision about Matthew’s fitness and availability much closer to game time.”Like Hayden and Jaques, Rogers is a left-hander, and he would come to Test cricket with more than 8000 first-class runs to his name. He was named State Player of the Year for last season after posting 1202 runs at 70.70 for Western Australia, and he would have some idea of the opposition attack after making 60 against the Indians in the recent tour match in Canberra.Australia also have a decision to make at the other end of their order, with Shaun Tait trying to impress the selectors at training as they consider leaving out Brad Hogg and using a four-man pace attack. Tait was a standout at the World Cup last year and is hoping to add to his two Test caps, both of which came on Australia’s doomed Ashes tour in 2005.”He looks like he’s bowling pretty quick and swinging the ball away,” Clarke said. “It’s going to be tough for the selectors because if they’re talking about Hoggy not playing, his form in the last game was fantastic with bat and ball. He might have been disappointed not to pick up that many wickets in the second innings but I thought Hoggy did a great job and I think Taity is itching to get his opportunity.”

IS Bindra, the former BCCI president, said on Wednesday that the ICC principal advisor’s post is an ideal arrangement for him personally and stressed that his new role would not lead to an Indian domination over world cricket affairs.”I am only an advisor, not the chief executive, so there need not be any worry,” Bindra told Cricinfo. “There should absolutely be no alarm over any Indian domination of world cricket. India’s intention is not to dominate the West. India will use its immense financial powers for the betterment of world cricket, and act as an engine of growth for other countries. My being with the ICC will only cement those bonds.”Bindra’s two-year tenure is renewable and part of it is likely to overlap with Sharad Pawar’s term as ICC chairman, leading to fears that the top positions in world cricket will be in the hands of one country.Bindra, however, said that he would take up the ICC job only in July after the first edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) is over and would remain on the League’s governing council till then.”For now, I will remain on the IPL governing council and will take up the ICC assignment only in July after the first tournament of the IPL is over. By then, the IPL would have taken off anyway. I also have some other commitments which prevent me from taking over the advisor’s position sooner,” Bindra said.Bindra said that his responsibilities at the ICC would include development of cricket in North America and China, ensuring strong ties between member nations, and overseeing major tournaments like the World Cup. Some of those key responsibilities, he said, were close to his heart.”Developing cricket in North America, especially, is very close to my heart. Even when I was the BCCI president in the early 1990s, we played a major role in launching the Sahara Cup tournament in Toronto. My other responsibility, of cementing the good relationships between member countries, is something I look forward to,” Bindra said.Bindra said that the ICC job was the best thing that could have happened for him, as it would mean that he is able to retain his base in India. “It’s an ideal arrangement as far as I am concerned. I can do my best for international cricket, and at the same time serve my state association.”

This was a day so tense and full of unexpected twists and turns that it would have been no surprise had Al Gore turned up to demand a recount. It finished with Auckland 74-2 in their second innings, a lead of 42.The highlight was a gutsy tenth wicket partnership of 80 by Bruce Martin and Graeme Aldridge for ND. This swung the game ND’s way, but Blair Pocock and Richard King did much to move it back again in the final session.With thirteen wickets having fallen on the first day the batsmen had as much trust in the pitch as in a Florida election official. Their lack of faith appeared justified as the heart of ND’s middle order was removed in the first hour.Auckland’s left-arm seamer Richard Morgan was the main destroyer, removing Bradburn caught behind from a bouncer, Bailey caught at short leg and Hood, off stump removed for a debut duck. Morgan demonstrated the twin dangers of the pitch. There was bounce and there was movement. It was difficult to deal with one while remaining alert for the other.Morgan finished with career best figures of 5-44.At 49-7 ND faced a substantial first innings deficit. Simon Doull began the recovery. Doull has a good record with the bat against Auckland, mostly by adopting the no-nonsense aggression he showed here. His 27 included a six over mid-wicket.When Doull’s departure was followed shortly afterwards by that of Robbie Hart, clearly annoyed to have been given out caught behind, it seemed that Auckland would have a lead of forty or so.Martin and Aldridge were soon to prove that to be a false assumption.Their partnership contained strong elements of good fortune, particularly in the early stages. But it contained a good deal of skill too, as well as a large slice of bloody-minded determination. There were few memorable shots, though Martin’s effortless lift over square leg to level the scores was one. The way in which both men resolutely stood up to short-pitched deliveries will be recalled as will their discipline in leaving as much as possible alone.The innings ended when Barnes found the shoulder of Martin’s bat to have him caught in the gully by Canning with the score on 178.Both batsmen left the field with personal highest scores (Martin 51, Aldridge 21 not out). They were only two short of breaking ND’s tenth wicket record against Auckland, set up by Martin in partnership with Simon Doull in the Shell Trophy final last April. Most importantly, they handed ND an unexpected lead of 32.Auckland’s second innings got off to the worst start when McIntosh was caught at second slip by Bailey off a Doull delivery that moved from leg to off. No runs were on the board.A quiet, but important phase of the game followed. Pocock and King put on 70 for the second wicket. It was slow at first, but gradually the shots came more freely. A slow outfield helped to keep the scoring rate down.Almost imperceptably, the balance of the game shifted towards Auckland. Joseph Yovich was the most dangerous bowler, twice having appeals for legside catches to the wicketkeeper, one for each batsman. However, Yovich was limited to one four over spell and may be injured.Doull returned to remove Pocock lbw to one that kept low shortly before the close of play.Today was first class cricket of a high order, not in terms of shot making, but as a contest in which concentration and determination are allied with skill to overcome the opposition and the conditions.These are the factors that will decide the outcome of the game, but in whose favour? To use the phrase with which we have become so familiar in recent weeks, it is too close to call.

Nightmare on Elm Street terrorised cinema-goers across the world in the eighties. But in real life Freddie Kruger, or rather the actor who played him Robert Englund, is surprisingly nice, always smiling for photographs and obliging with autographs.Cricket has its own villain, albeit a pantomime one. Yet his on-camera persona – snarling, sledging, slavering – is also a world away from his true identity: natural charm personified.Yet that’s because when you see him steaming in for South Africa and following through with some choice words, you’re not seeing Andre Nel. You’re seeing Gunther.”It’s my second personality,” smiles Nel, who’s highly relaxed following a nap in the Essex changing room during their match with Northamptonshire. “Gunther is a guy who lives in the mountains and doesn’t get enough oxygen to the brain and that makes him crazy.”It’s a nice German name,” he adds, and one bestowed by one of the technical team three years ago. After Shaun Pollock wrote it on his run-up against Bangladesh, he went on to take 6 for 43, it stuck. “It’s white-line syndrome. When I walk on the cricket field I get all worked up and quite aggressive.”In fact, it’s best not to wind him up. “The more people abuse me the more I get fired up. In one way I enjoy it when people abuse me. If you give it out you’re going to take it so I expect I’m getting abuse.”He means good-natured abuse, of course, not racism. The latest incident of which was at Surrey earlier this week when a spectator called out offensive things. “It’s uncalled for. I can take it because it can happen everywhere but there’s no reason to get abuse from someone who doesn’t even know what the word properly means.”But when the audience’s perception is filtered through a lens why not try to act a little less? “I think they see on TV I’m a big bully and a real idiot and they really don’t know me as a person. People are going to make their own mind up about you. I can’t really worry what people think about me.”Away from the pitch he is calm and polite. “I’m a plain and simple Afrikaans boy who grew up in a small town. I was brought up well. My dad brought me up to be competitive and do your best in any situation. That’s the way I do most of things. Live life to the fullest and no regrets.”He had a strict upbringing in Boksburg, a town in eastern Gauteng, but admits: “I was a naughty little boy at school. I was very naughty. [The worst thing was] when I was 13 or 14 throwing stones into a guy’s pool. My dad was not pleased. I got the biggest hiding ever. There’s probably a lot more I’ve done that I can’t remember.”He was discovered by Ray Jennings, his former provincial and national coach. “He’s like my second father.” That figures; both have had their crazy moments – Jennings knocked Graeme Smith out while practising slip catches, and made his players run a lap for every no-ball. “He fired me up and pressed the right buttons to be the best bowler. I’m really grateful to him.”

Nel had further growing up to do, though. There was a time when Gunther was off the pitch, too. He was caught smoking dope with some colleagues in 2001, drink-driving in 2003. It’s only in the last three or four years that he’s calmed down.A sobering serious back injury ironically helped and now the indiscretions seem a thing of the past. “Now I can control what I’m doing, using the aggression in better ways. The nice thing is the captain, Graeme, backs me to be that way because he wants me to use the aggression and bring energy to the side. It lifts the side up.”Rugby didn’t fire him up in the same way, even though he was playing both sports professionally when his real dad told him to make a decision. He chose cricket – although he only took up the game at 14 and only became a fast bowler when he bulked out at 17 – because it offered him the chance of playing for South Africa. “Playing for your country is any child’s dream.” Plus, he had grown too big to be fly half.He knows it’s a huge privilege to represent his nation, but he rarely watches the highlights, with the gurning, the gesticulations. “I didn’t even know I pulled those faces!” He gets embarrassed when he’s recognised, though he happily signs autographs. “They’re the people who support you. It doesn’t cost you anything to be nice and humble.”That’s probably why few know he’s a qualified accountant, although he couldn’t now see himself in an office. (Could you? “Hello, Gunther here.”) But that’s more because his boredom threshold is low.He’s a bundle of nervous energy – and this manifests in frequent dressing room pranks. “I enjoy playing cricket but find it unbelievably boring to watch. Most guys playing find it boring. My mind’s very active. I get up to no good most of the time. [He laughs really naughtily] You’ve got to be active and mess around. A bit of wrestling … and mess around a bit more.”You can’t deny he just loves the game – he stayed to chat about cricket long after the interview was over – even if he thinks there’s too much being played. “Money is always going to overpower the players anyway. You have to get on with it.”He also has a fear that his hero Allan Donald’s knowledge won’t be used by the South Africa board. “It would be stupid and sad not to,” he says, worrying that Donald will make his bowling coach role with England more permanent. “It would be a big loss to South Africa. I grew up looking and watching him and Polly [Pollock]. I don’t have the best action compared to them, but the same kind of thought pattern.”And of course he wants to keep playing as much as he can for South Africa , even at 33 in the next World Cup. And so do the opposition, as “I’m the first one in the other dressing room with a beer.”Ultimately, he knows where to draw the line. “When it’s finished, I’m probably the easiest person to get along with, the softest person off the field ever.”

Omar Henry, who has Test match and international one-day cricket on his CV as well as the captaincy of Scotland, has been appointed convener of the South African selectors in what amounts to an almost total clean-out of Rushdi Magiet’s discredited previous panel.Of Magiet’s six selectors, only Haroon Lorgat remains on the new five-man panel named on Wednesday. Along with Henry and Lorgat, Pat Symcox, Hugh Page and Douglas Maku, the black African representative, will pick South Africa’s national teams in a season that will culminate with next year’s World Cup.According to United Cricket Board chief executive Gerald Majola, the UCB general council wholly endorsed the recommendations of the newly-constituted National Cricket Committee. Although there was a slight delay in announcing the new panel, this was largely the result of the time it took to inform the axed former selectors that their services were no longer required. Along with Magiet, Morris Garda, Graeme Pollock and Peter Bacela did not win re-election. Mike Procter, who is now an ICC match referee, was not available to be re-elected.The most striking feature of the new panel is that it possesses far greater credibility than its predecessor. Given the performance of the previous panel, it could be argued that this is no great feat, although, in fairness, the previous selectors tended to be hamstrung by the inept and muddled Magiet.Along with Henry, who will relinquish his position as Boland coach, Symcox has also played post-isolation first-class and international cricket and will be a popular choice among the wider South African public. Within cricketing circles, the appointment of the genial Page, who played for South Africa during isolation, will also be welcomed and his brings to the new panel his knowledge of South African junior cricket as convener of the national under 19 panel.Lorgat provides continuity with the former selectors while Maku, a Border selector, is unlikely to be a dominant influence in his first season on the panel, but will remind the selectors of the UCB’s commitment to transformation.It is Henry, though, who will attract the most attention. A left-arm spinner and handy lower-order who played in the 1992 World Cup, he started his career under the old South African Cricket Board before switching to the SA Cricket Union. He remains the oldest player to have made his Test debut for South Africa – he was 40 years and 295 days old when he played against India at Kingsmead in 1992.More significantly, Henry’s appointment signals the end of some of the old grudges and suspicions that have lingered on in South Africa cricket. Because he crossed the floor from black to white cricket, he was at one point viewed as a sell-out. His new appointment, however, indicates a softening of some previous hard-line attitudes. With the performance of the selectors bound to be closely monitored ahead of the World Cup, Henry’s credentials should go a long way towards satisfying most of the sometimes disparate elements that make up South African cricket.The first tasks facing the new panel would seem to be resolving the question of the nationally contracted players as well as naming a training squad with the World cup in mind. As selection convener, Henry will remain on the National Cricket Committee, but Symcox and Lorgat will have to drop off. It is not entirely clear when and by whom they will be replaced.

Mario Olivier, the Warriors right-arm seam bowler, dismissed all ten Eagles batsmen to become only the third South African to do so at first-class level. “I can’t describe my feelings, but I’m on cloud nine,” Olivier told after claiming figures of 10 for 65 in the SuperSport series in Bloemfontein on Saturday (December 1).The last South African to perform the feat was Western Province’s Stephen Jeffries, who had figures of 10 for 59 against Free State in 1987-88.Olivier, 25, was given a break after taking eight wickets in an uninterrupted 12-over spell, and was hoping that none of the other bowlers took the remaining wickets while he was waiting to be brought back by captain Zander de Bruyn.”Zander knew I wanted to bowl to get the ten,” Olivier said. “He is the captain and I respect his decisions. But he did say it was my day and I would bowl again after lunch. It was probably not a nice thing to do but I prayed that no one else would take a wicket.” On his return, Olivier dismissed Boeta Dippenaar and then had Victor Mpitsang caught behind to reach the landmark as the Eagles were bowled out for 300.Olivier’s efforts were in vain, though, as the Eagles dismissed the Warriors for 215 in their second innings and knocked off the 24 runs required, to go to the top of the leader board in the SuperSport series.

Australia’s Under-19 squad will undergo a reconnaissance mission in Malyasia in September to prepare for next year’s Youth World Cup. The outfit will contest two one-day games against Malaysia, who will host the global tournament in February, on the way to a five-match series with Pakistan in October.”Playing in Malaysia will provide a valuable opportunity for the coaching staff and players to gain experience in the conditions,” Geoff Tamblyn, the youth selection panel chairman, said. The final squad for the tournament will be picked after the national under-19 championships in December, but all players on the Asian tour will be available.”Our fast-bowling stocks have been boosted with Kane Richardson and James Faulkner both available for selection after injury,” Tamblyn said. “It’s exciting they are getting the opportunity now after missing out on the team’s previous tour.”Australia beat Pakistan 3-2 in a one-day series in Queensland in April and the return leg will give the players another chance to test themselves against the world champions. A 13-man squad was picked for the tour while Jeremy Smith and Jamie Smith, who has played three limited-overs games for South Australia, were placed on standby. Michael Hill has a rookie contract with Victoria, Faulkner is on a similar deal at Tasmania and Philip Hughes, who scored two centuries against Pakistan, is on the books of New South Wales.Australia Under-19 squad Isaiah Borgas (SA), Daniel Burns (NSW), James Faulkner (Tas), Josh Hazelwood (NSW), Michael Hill (Vic), Philip Hughes (NSW), Anthony Murphy (WA), Dom O’Brien (Qld), Sam Robson (NSW), Clive Rose (Vic), Kane Richardson (NT), Kumar Sarna (Vic), Mitchell Starc (NSW), Jeremy Smith (Tas, standby), Jamie Smith (SA, standby).