Roger Knight, the former secretary and chief executive of the MCC, has been awarded honorary life membership of the club.It is the second major honour inside two weeks for Knight, who retired from his post in August 2006 after 13 years, following the award of an OBE at the start of the year for services to sport.Commenting on Knight’s inclusion in the New Year Honours List, MCC’s Chairman, Charles Fry, said: “Roger thoroughly deserves this award, for his decades of service to cricket – as a player, a captain and, for thirteen years, an outstanding Secretary & Chief Executive of MCC.”During Knight’s 13 years at the helm he transformed the facilities at Lord’s, launched the MCC’s Spirit of Cricket initiative, and oversaw the admission of women members.Since his retirement he has continued to serve as Chairman of the European Cricket Council – which, like MCC, is based at Lord’s.

Pakistan will announce their 30-man provisional squad for this year’s World Cup in the Caribbean early next week, according to Ahsan Malik, the PCB’s director of communications. With Wasim Bari, the chief selector, out of the country and Iqbal Qasim, the former Test cricketer and member of the national selection committee, hospitalised after suffering a heart attack, Pakistan were forced to hold back on the announcement.”We are more or less clear on what sort of pool to announce for the World Cup but would announce the provisional squad after a final round of discussion among the selection committee and the national team management,” Malik told . “The list would be announced within a couple of days after the chief selector returns home. The selectors might have a few discussions among each other and may also discuss the issue with [Bob] Woolmer and Inzamam-ul-Haq before naming the squad.The deadline is January 13, though several of the 16 teams, including defending champions Australia, have already announced their squads. Pakistan are unlikely to make any surprise additions to a list of 25 players who attended a brief conditioning camp in Lahore late last month in preparation for the tour of South Africa. Medium pacers Mohammad Khalil and Samiullah Khan, Fawad Alam, the young allrounder, and and Imran Niazi, the opener, are likely to be added in the World Cup preliminary squad. Fawad, who was the best player of the domestic Twenty20 Cup last month, is the only new face expected to make the list.According to the ICC, the deadline for submission of the final 14-member squads for the World Cup is February 13, a month before the tournament’s opening game between Pakistan and the West Indies on March 13 in Jamaica.

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.

Tropical Cyclone Favio has hit the eastern highlands town of Mutare, Zimbabwe and has made it virtually impossible to hold cricket matches. Cyclone Favio killed at least 10 people, injured 70 and left tens of thousands homeless in central and southern Mozambique in the past week.Manicaland provincial manager Samuel Mutsutsururu said: “The cyclone is wrecking havoc on our match schedule and on the pitches. Every time we take to the field it starts pouring, so for the time being our cricket league is on hold, as soon as the weather clears we hope to get back on track.”Matches have continued smoothly in Bulawayo. In the latest round of the Metropolitan League, Zimbabwean allrounder Gregory Strydom clubbed a massive 177 as Queens Sports Club 259 all out (36.4 overs) beat Bulawayo Athletic Club 240 (40 overs) by 19 runs on Saturday. Gavin Ewing top scored for BAC with a well-crafted 53 and Charles Coventry made 39.

Sourav Ganguly is likely to miss India’s warm-up match against West Indies after injuring his ankle at net practice the day before.The team management may not wish to take a risk and play a half-fit Ganguly whenIndia is scheduled to play its first match of World Cup – against Bangladesh in Trinidad – in less than ten days time.India play West Indies in their second warm-up match today at the Trelawny Stadium in Jamaica.Meanwhile India’s other opener, Virender Sehwag, has said that the backing he received from Rahul Dravid to be included in the World Cup squad was a huge morale booster and he would like to repay the captain’s faith in him by scoring plenty of runs in the tournament.”I now want to justify the faith in me and live up to the expectations,” Sehwag was reported as saying in AFP. “I was confident of staging a comeback and the time I spent away from international cricket helped me get my focus back.”Earlier Dilip Vengsarkar, the chairman of selectors, had said that Sehwag had been selected on Dravid’s insistence. “When I was leading India, I never got the team I wanted and I didn’t want Rahul to go through the same,” Vengsarkar had said. “He insisted on having Sehwag and that made the difference.”Sehwag was included despite scoring just 273 runs in 15 one-day games, including an unimpressive 19 off 23 balls against Sri Lanka a day before the squad was picked on February 12.However he appeared to regain form with an aggressive 46 in the final match against Sri Lanka five days later. “I’m quite happy with my form now. It’s getting better and better with every session in the nets. I want to stay longer at the crease.”

Mark Shields, the chief investigator, says it may take another eight weeks to get the final results of Bob Woolmer’s toxicology tests. The reports are crucial to proving whether Woolmer was poisoned or drugged and the delay means a quick end to the investigation is unlikely.”It’s in everyone’s interest to know exactly when he died and how,” Shields said in the Sunday Times. “But frustrating as it may be, science goes at a certain pace.”Shields denied reports Woolmer was alive when he was found in his hotel room on March 18 by staff at the Pegasus Hotel in Jamaica. “There were two doctors and a nurse,” he said. “Having spoken to them, they said there were no visible signs of life.”Gill Woolmer, Bob’s widow, had given permission for the publication of the book which will be published in September. “I want to keep Woolmer’s name going for the next 100 years and we shall ask one of his successors to update it in the years to come,” Tim Noakes, a Professor of Sports Science at Cape Town University, told .The proceeds will go to the Bob Woolmer Trust, on which Noakes, Barry Richards and Jonty Rhodes, the former South Africa batsmen, are trustees.

Tom Moody will delay a decision on his coaching future until after he talks with the Sri Lankan board. Moody is in high demand after guiding Mahela Jayawardene’s side to the World Cup final and he has options to stay in Colombo or take charge of his former state Western Australia.”I’m not making any decisions on my future until I’ve had a chance to speak to the Sri Lankan cricket board, until I’ve had a chance to reflect and have a look to see where I want to be professionally and personally,” Moody told AAP.Western Australia are confident of securing Moody, who has said his family would be the top priority in his choice. “I have intentionally put this whole thing on the back burner because it wouldn’t be right professionally if I didn’t give 100% to Sri Lanka,” Moody said.Sri Lanka were the second best side in the tournament but they were out-played in the final, although rain and bad light did not help their chances of defeating Australia. Moody is confident the team will again be a threat at the next World Cup in 2011.”If we continue the professionalism that we are adopting,” he said, “there’s no reason why Sri Lanka as a cricketing country can’t compete with the likes of Australia.”

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.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

Inspired by another outstanding century from Shivnarine Chanderpaul, West Indies levelled the three-match one-day series with a 61-run win at Edgbaston. Chanderpaul’s unbeaten 116, and a third-wicket stand of 175, formed the backbone of an impressive total as West Indies’ final 10 overs brought 102 runs. England’s chase never got off the ground with Ravi Rampaul claiming the key wickets of Kevin Pietersen and Owais Shah.It was an impressive resurgence from West Indies after their drubbing at Lord’s, especially after they’d been asked to bat in overcast conditions and a day after the ground was soaked by torrential downpours. They assessed the situation early on, forming a solid platform before the late assault from Chanderpaul and Samuels launched them to a strong total. Chanderpaul’s seventh ODI ton was a perfectly paced innings off 114 balls and showed the importance of not panicking if early momentum is tough to come by.No-one could produce a similar performance for England as wickets fell at regular intervals. Alastair Cook and Matt Prior are still getting used to their opening partnership, and the styles they need to play, but Cook made a positive start with three flowing boundaries in his 19 before inexplicably carving to mid-off where Fidel Edwards produced a well-timed leap. However, Ian Bell can feel unlucky with his dismissal after the ball struck him high on the back leg and would have carried over off stump.Kevin Pietersen hasn’t quite seemed at his peak since the end of the Test series and his failed whip across the line, against the impressive Rampaul, ended a brief stay and left England with an uphill struggle. Prior and Owais Shah were in the tricky position of needing to ensure against further loss, while also keeping an eye on the Duckworth-Lewis figures with showers never far away from Birmingham.Prior again mixed solid defence with some fine attacking shots including – amazingly for a batsman renowned for his power-hitting – the first six of his ODI career when he pulled Powell over mid-on. He went to his first ODI fifty off 71 balls, then in the following over spooned a limp chip shot to midwicket with his job only half done.England suffered from not having a wicket-taking option in the middle overs – relying on medium-pace throughout – but, sensing the kill, Chris Gayle was able to recall the hostile Edwards at Paul Collingwood. After one searing bouncer, Edwards aimed at the stumps and trapped Collingwood plumb and proceeded to give Shah a working-over too.

Shah, though, kept England’s hopes alive in a 54-run stand with Michael Yardy. He had a dip against Dwayne Smith, taking two fours and a swivel-pull for six. However, in the space of four balls Yardy picked out deep square-leg with a pull and Shah got a thin-edge on a similar shot, as Rampaul collected a career-best haul, to ensure the series goes to a decider in Nottingham.The result vindicated the long-awaited move of making more of Chanderpaul’s prolific form. After a tour of walking to the middle with his side in trouble, Chanderpaul was finally shifted up the order to No. 3 and was able to build on a 50-run opening platform from Gayle and Devon Smith. His runs came with a sense of inevitability, although for large sections of his innings he didn’t set the world alight with the scoring rate.Chanderpaul flicked and squirted his way to an 85-ball fifty, against accurate but unthreatening bowling, but needed only 29 more to move to three figures. He raced into the 90s by taking 19 off Ryan Sidebottom’s eighth over – including a disdainful six over long-on – and he went to 98 with a brazen sweep off Anderson.Chanderpaul’s chief ally was Samuels – normally eager to launch the ball into neighbouring streets – who reined himself in until given licence to thrill in the final 10 overs. After collecting a golden duck on Saturday he found it difficult to force away the medium-pacers and didn’t hit a boundary until his 21st ball. Then he was put down by Collingwood – off his own bowling – on 14, a simple catch by Collingwood’s standards, before slowly expanding his strokeplay and reached fifty off 83 balls.Samuels ignited the final 10-over charge by sending James Anderson’s eighth over for 18 and was finding his full range when he cut to short third man. Chanderpaul, though, ended in style as Anderson finished with his most expensive ODI figures, including a final four overs that were dispatched for 50. The charge had been timed to perfection and there is still a chance of West Indies leaving the tour with some silverware at Trent Bridge on Saturday.

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).