The IPL is likely to invite fresh tenders for an eighth team as the factions within the Kochi franchise have failed to resolve ownership disputes

Nagraj Gollapudi19-Oct-2010The IPL is likely to invite fresh tenders for an eighth team as the factions within the Kochi franchise have failed to resolve ownership disputes 24 hours before the expiry of the BCCI deadline asking them to register as a company. A team insider has said that the deadlock continues and there is little hope left for the five-company consortium. There have been six extensive meetings in the last two days, but no progress.After a recent offer by Kochi franchise promoters Rendezvous Sports, to buy out the 25% free equity – granted to it for life for setting up the consortium – was not accepted by its rival group, Rendezvous went back to the negotiation table with another offer. The equity buyout was reduced from 25% to 20% free equity. A source close to the discussions said Rendezvous’ rival group, led by Mehul Shah of the Anchor Group, did not want Rendezvous to hold 25 % “because that would give special voting rights to the owner. “In the latest development, the faction led by Shah, the biggest investor in the Kochi franchise with 26% stake, initially agreed to the 20% offer but with certain terms and conditions. It is those terms and conditions that have set up the new obstacle to an agreement.A Kochi franchise source told ESPNcricinfo, “Both groups had agreed to the 20% equity but the terms sent to Satyajitsinh Gaekwad (the head of Rendezvous Sports) said that Rendezvous would not have voting rights or a seat on the management and nor would they be part of the running of the company.”Gaekwad, who recently appointed himself as the chief executive of the franchise, was unimpressed and an official who has presided over all the franchise meetings said Gaekwad had responded by asking, “Why should we [Rendezvous Sports] invest any money? Forget equity, if our shares are not performing shares then why we should pay?”This latest development is a setback for the owners of the Kochi franchise, won the bid for the 10th IPL franchise with an offer of US$333.33 million. Subsequently, differences emerged in the consortium whose board comprised owners from diverse fields.Ownership has been the most contentious issue with Gaekwad claiming Rendezvous Sports had the right to assume control of the franchise since it had made most of the investments at the time of winning the bid. The other faction, though, represented by Anchor’s Shah, was against both the involvement of Rendezvous and the appointment of Gaekwad as chief executive. The Shah group had offered Rendezvous 10% of the equity as an exit payment from the consortium.Rendezvous, however, remained adamant and made a counter offer less than a month ago. In an attempt to save the franchise from disintegrating, Rendezvous was willing to invest 100% of the free equity, an increase from its initial offer of investing 15% of the equity to end the feud. Shah, though, remained resolute and the sources said, “he plainly did not want Rendezvous on the team. The problem is that without Rendezvous, you cannot register a company, because they are the promoters.”The last few weeks have been clouded with uncertainity for the IPL but an governing council member said that neither the confusion over Kochi or the termination of the Rajasthan Royals and King’s XI Punjab teams would have any impact on the league as a whole. “IPL 4 will happen” the governing council member said, “and it will happen with as many teams as it always has – all matters will be sorted out.”

Callum Fergsuon will join Australia’s one-day international squad ahead of Friday’s second match in Sydney after Shaun Marsh was ruled out due to a back injury

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Nov-2010Callum Fergsuon will join Australia’s one-day international squad ahead of Friday’s second match in Sydney after Shaun Marsh was ruled out due to a back injury. Marsh made 31 in Australia’s one-wicket loss at the MCG on Wednesday, but he did not take the field at all during Sri Lanka’s innings and will miss the remaining two games in the series.”Shaun Marsh injured his lower back in the latter part of his batting innings yesterday against Sri Lanka,” the team physio Alex Kountouris said. “With the short turnaround between games in this series it was decided that the best management of this injury is to withdraw him from the remaining two games to allow him time to recover. His return to cricket will be based on his recovery over the next few days.”Marsh has had back troubles before, and a similar problem sidelined him for Australia’s one-day tour of New Zealand earlier this year. His latest niggle has opened the door for Ferguson, who was in the ODI squad in India last month but did not play a game, and is still waiting for his first appearance in Australian colours since seriously injuring his knee in the Champions Trophy final in October 2009.”Callum has been in extremely good form of late for South Australia in interstate cricket and has a very good one-day international record for Australia, averaging 46 with the bat, so we know he can perform well on a big stage,” the chairman of selectors, Andrew Hilditch, said. Ferguson was due to link up with the squad in Sydney on Thursday, but his chances of playing on Friday are slim.Ricky Ponting will be back in the side having missed Wednesday’s game to attend his grandmother’s funeral, and Marsh would have been the likely man to make way for Ponting. The Australians haven’t got much time to turn around their form after losing a match they should have won comfortably at the MCG, and the coach Tim Nielsen said the players had a frank discussion after Sri Lanka’s triumph.”The most important thing is that we don’t run away from it, we identify the things we’re doing well and maybe not so well,” Nielsen said on the Melbourne radio station SEN. “We had a chat about that as a group last night, while it was very fresh and hitting pretty hard. Rather than just walk away and say ‘we got close’, we sat down and were pretty honest with each other about how we’re going and what we’re doing.”We just have to make sure that we don’t panic. There’s going to be a lot of speculation, there’s going to be a lot of theories and rumours and ideas on how we can get better. We just can’t afford to keep doing the same things like we did last night. We kept bowling bouncers that were chest high rather than head high, we bowled a few wides, we bowled a few slower balls that we didn’t land properly, and we didn’t really do anything out of the ordinary or different to what we’d been doing all night.”

Brett Lee’s five-for negated Shaun Marsh’s century to give New South Wales the victory against Western Australia at the WACA

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Nov-2010
ScorecardBrett Lee has taken 11 wickets in four games in the Ryobi Cup•Getty Images

A five-wicket haul from Brett Lee earned New South Wales a tense victory against Western Australia, despite Shaun Marsh’s 132 at the WACA. In a tight finish, the equation had come down to 13 needed off 11 balls with Marsh at the crease, and Western Australia were favourites to complete the chase of 260.But Stuart Clark had Marsh caught by Nathan Hauritz, before Lee completed his five-for in the last over to leave the hosts seven runs short of their target. Marsh’s century looked like it would be enough to get his team through after the match had swung like a pendulum during the hosts’ second innings.With 157 required at the halfway point, Marsh and his brother Mitchell took the Warriors to 4 for 198 with over eight overs to go. But Steven Smith, who was left out of the final squad for the first Ashes Test, bowled Mitchell, and then Lee, who last month announced he was ready for a return to international cricket, struck twice in the next over to leave Western Australia in trouble at 7 for 202.Shaun, however, was undeterred; he got to his century and then accelerated to get Western Australia to within touching distance before Clark struck the crucial blow. New South Wales chose to play their first block cautiously, reaching 2 for 88 at the break. Smith then gave the innings some impetus as he got 51 off 43, before Steve O’Keefe ended with a few big hits, notching up four sixes in his 44, which came off 28 balls.The total eventually proved good enough for New South Wales to stay in third position as they picked up four points, while Western Australia got one. Lee’s five wickets and Clark’s two have taken them to joint second place in the list of top wicket-takers in the Ryobi Cup, with 11 each.

A police case has been registered against Goa Cricket Association (GCA) president Dayanand Narvekar and his family members, on charges of forging his son’s birth certificate to make him eligible for the Under-15 level

ESPNcricinfo staff25-Dec-2010A police case has been registered against Goa Cricket Association (GCA) president Dayanand Narvekar and his family members, on charges of forging his son’s birth certificate to make him eligible for the Under-15 level.Narvekar, a former law minister, his wife Sushma, son Ganeshraj and Dr. Ravindra Chodankar have been named as accused in the First Information Report (FIR) lodged by the Mapusa police, based on former GCA executive member Shekhar Salkar’s complaint.
As per the complaint, Ganeshraj, who featured in the U-15 level for two years under his original name, was allowed to play for the third year by changing his name and faking a birth certificate. This was in violation of the BCCI rules that allow a player a maximum of two years at the U-15 level.In the GCA records, Ganeshraj’s birth date is recorded as September 1, 1993, while a certificate procured from the local municipal body, and approved by Dr. Chodankar’s hospital, shows it to be February 28, 1993. According to the complaint, Ganeshraj played the extra year under the name Anish, while also being in possession of a third birth certificate that said he was born on February 28, 1992, allegedly to help in his school admission. Salkar has claimed that all this was done when Narvekar was in power as a cabinet minister.This is not the first time Narvekar’s name has courted controversy. In 2001, he was charge-sheeted by the Goa police in connection with a fake ticket scam during an India-Australia one-dayer in Margao.

A round-up of matches from the second match-day of the One Day National Cup Division Two 2010-11

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Jan-2011Group A
A strong batting effort led by Shoaib Khan’s 60 gave State Bank of Pakistan an easy win against Hyderabad Hawks at the Niaz Stadium in Hyderabad. As many as six SBP batsmen got more than 20, as they reached an impressive total of 314, and Hyderabad fell 37 runs short in their chase. Shoaib Khan and captain Kashif Siddiq put together 73 for the first wicket, with Siddiq getting his 46 at a strike-rate of 143.75. Adnan Raees and Rameez Alam both made contributions in the middle order as Hyderabad’s bowlers all went for runs. Legspinner Rizwan Ahmed was the only one to go for less than 5 an over, taking 3 for 46 in his 10 overs. Hyderabad’s chase got off to a shaky start, with three wicket falling early, but half-centuries from Aqeel Anjum, Rizwan and Lal Kumar in the middle order gave them a chance. Left-arm spinner Nayyer Abbas took three wickets towards the end of Hyderabad’s innings as they were bowled out for 277.A century by opener Abid Ali led Lahore Lions to an easy victory over Quetta Bears at the National Bank of Pakistan Sports Complex in Karachi. Quetta’s opener Rashid Yousuf scored a century too, but they batted too slowly and only managed 217 in their 50 overs despite losing just five wickets. Lahore Lions needed 43.2 overs to chase the total, with Abid striking at 84.39 during his unbeaten 119, compared to Rashid’s strike-rate of 66.44 during his 101. Captain Mohammad Yousuf scored 61 off 55 balls as Lahore Lions lost just three wickets on their way to victory.

Group B
Khan Research Laboratories chased down Pakistan Television’s 203 in 46.3 overs to pick up a five-wicket win at the Rawalpindi Cricket Stadium. Pakistan TV lost three early wickets after being put in to bat, but Awais Zia held the innings together with his 72. Zia and Fayyaz Ahmed put together 97 for the fourth wicket, but they lost wickets steadily after that and ended up being all out in 43 overs. KRL’s chase was led by opener Saeed Anwar jnr’s 70 and Mohammad Idrees’s 58.Abbottabad Falcons beat Lahore Eagles by just three runs on the Duckworth-Lewis system in a rain-affected match at the Gohati Cricket Stadium in Swabi. In a reduced first innings, Abbottabad were bowled out in 31 overs for 162. Opener Sajjad Ali scored 41 and Khalid Usman got a quick 30 towards the end of the innings. Lahore Eagles were set a revised target of 124 to win in 25 overs. They got off to a solid start, reaching 75 for 1, but then lost four quick wickets and fell short of the target by four runs.

Luke Woodcock, the only uncapped player in New Zealand’s World Cup squad, has been included in 12-man team for the third ODI against Pakistan in Christchurch on January 29

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jan-2011Luke Woodcock, the only uncapped player in New Zealand’s World Cup squad, has been included in 12-man team for the third ODI against Pakistan in Christchurch on January 29. Ross Taylor will captain the side while Daniel Vettori will stay with the team but won’t play the match.”We think it’s important for everyone in the World Cup squad to get a run before they head to India,” Mark Greatbatch said. “Normally the selection panel would pick a squad for two matches but because of the short game in Wellington and the rained-out match in Queenstown we wanted some flexibility.”Luke Woodcock comes into the squad and deserves his place after playing so well for Wellington over a number of seasons. It’s important he gets some exposure to international cricket and I’m sure he will make the most of the opportunity when he gets his chance. Kyle Mills is a proven performer at international level and will slot back into the squad with Jesse Ryder and James Franklin going back to play domestic cricket.”Franklin and Ryder will be available for Wellington’s one-day match against Northern Districts on January 30.Squad: Ross Taylor (capt), Hamish Bennett, Martin Guptill, Jamie How, Nathan McCullum, Brendon McCullum, Kyle Mills, Jacob Oram, Tim Southee, Scott Styris, Luke Woodcock, Kane Williamson.

A round-up of the fourth day of the fourth round of the Regional Four-Day Competition

ESPNcricinfo staff01-Mar-2011Needing 11 for victory in their second innings, Jamaica completed a ten-wicket win over Leeward Islands at Warner Park in Basseterre. Beginning day four on 132 for 5 after being made to follow on, Leeward was rocked early, losing two wickets without adding a run to their overnight score. Tonito Willett briefly steadied the innings before being run out for 60. The only other resistance came from Jacques Taylor, who remained 47 not out as the innings folded on 209. David Bernard, who had ripped through the Leeward top order on day three, finished with five wickets, while legspinner Odean Brown snagged three. Jamaica opener Danza Hyatt knocked off the required target with three boundaries. Jamaica took 12 points from the game to remain at the top of the table after four games.Trinidad & Tobago captain Daren Ganga crafted a match-winning 134 not out to hand Windward Islands a 51-run defeat at the Arnos Vale Ground in Kingstown. T&T had resumed effectively on 95 for 4, with Ganga on 62. The middle and lower order produced a couple of useful cameos, which in combination with Ganga’s sublime knock took T&T to 255 for 9, before they declared with two sessions left to play. Chasing 224 for victory, Windward were dismissed for 172 with medium-pacer Rayad Emrit (4 for 40) and legspinner Yannic Cariah (3 for 15) doing most of the damage. The only resistance was from first innings’ centurion Andre Fletcher, who scored 67. After Fletcher was dismissed, Windward lost their last five for 22 runs. With 12 points from the game, T&T leapfrogged England Lions to take the second spot on the points table.Defending stoutly after a mini-collapse, Barbados played out a draw against hosts Guyana at Providence Stadium. Guyana resumed their second innings on 90 for 4, but did not make much progress as wickets tumbled in the morning session courtesy the pace trio of Kevin Stoute (4 for 47), Pedro Collins (2 for 41) and Jason Holder (2 for 14). Guyana declared on 163 for 9 with two sessions left and a 291-run lead. In reply, Barbados went from 16 for no loss to 49 for 4 before Stoute (24*) and Roston Chase (18*) played out the rest of the day at less than two runs per over to ensure a draw. Guyana took six points from the match for securing the first-innings lead, while Barbados got three.Ending the day on 204 for 7, Combined Campuses and Colleges hung on for a draw against England Lions at the Three Ws Oval in Barbados. Earlier in the day, England Lions lost wickets in a hurry as they looked for quick runs. Overnight centurion Craig Kieswetter (103) was dismissed after adding just one run to his score, while Jimmy Adams made 72 before holing out. England Lions declared on 256 for 7, the wickets shared between spinners Nkruma Bonner (4 for 27) and Kavesh Kantasingh (3 for 79). Set 302 for victory, most of the CCC batsmen got into double figures but could not carry on – barring Bonner with 72 – as the team scraped through to a draw with three wickets to spare. They took three points form the match, while England Lions earned six for taking the first-innings lead.

The New Zealand team told the ICC of a suspicious approach during the 2010 Hong Kong Sixes tournament.

Daniel Brettig17-Apr-2011The New Zealand team told the ICC of a suspicious approach during the 2010 Hong Kong Sixes tournament, it has emerged. The news was confirmed by Heath Mills, the New Zealand players’ association CEO, who called for cricket’s governing body to deploy its anti-corruption officials at this and similar unofficial tournaments, which are held with the ICC’s approval.Members of the New Zealand side, which included Daryl Tuffey, Nathan McCullum and Scott Styris, dined with a man in Hong Kong who introduced himself as a Middle Eastern diamond dealer, but grew uncomfortable when he began offering them products. They reported the interaction to the team manager Steve Wilkins, who in turn informed NZC, and the players were subsequently interviewed by the ICC’s anti-corruption unit.Mills said the process had shown players are now well educated about potential dangers.
“We were comfortable with the process New Zealand Cricket followed and the players had done nothing untoward, they were quite open about it,” Mills told ESPNCricinfo. “The players informed NZC they were not comfortable with this man’s behaviour, having gotten quite close to the team in Hong Kong and starting to offer them various products. That’s the sort of thing the ICC tell them is a bit of a red flag.”However Mills argued the episode should provide the catalyst for a greater ICC presence at the event and other such “festivals”, which are not official events but take place with the approval of the game’s governing body. Without the supervision of the anti-corruption unit, Mills agreed the Sixes constituted a blind spot in the ICC’s efforts to rid the game of corruption.”The Hong Kong Sixes aren’t the usual bilateral series or an ICC event, these sorts of events that do take place that are festivals if you like, and obviously if there isn’t an ICC anti-corruption official there to police it, a lot of the protocols aren’t going to be followed,” Mills said.
“They have pretty good systems in place now, the anti-corruption guys are around for official events.”But if we’re going to have an international event like this, and we know the game is doing all it can to make sure we have got competitive cricket that no-one is suspicious about, then I know New Zealand cricket are keen to have people monitoring the Sixes.”The Sixes tournament began in 1992 and has featured players including Viv Richards, Sachin Tendulkar, Mark and Steve Waugh, Inzamam-ul-Haq, Adam Gilchrist, Jonty Rhodes and Wasim Akram. Australia won the 2010 event after David Warner and Ryan Carters managed to belt 48 runs from the last over of the final against Pakistan.

Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Nishantha Ranatunga has said two more provinces will be added to the Sri Lanka Premier League after the first few seasons

ESPNcricinfo staff10-May-2011Sri Lanka Cricket secretary Nishantha Ranatunga has said two more provinces will be added to the Sri Lanka Premier League after the first few seasons. Seven provinces will be a part of the first tournament, with the Rajarata and Sabaragamuwa provinces the only ones of Sri Lanka’s nine not to have a team. Ranatunga said their exclusion would not last long.”We merely wanted to limit the number of teams to ensure competitiveness,” he told the . “So far, we have had only five teams in our domestic provincial tournaments. We added North (Uthura) and East (Negenahira) for this first tournament, and as we progress with it in the next few seasons, we will add the other two provinces as well.”The first edition of the SLPL, which will be played over 18 days starting at the end of July this year, will see all its matches played at the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo; this despite Sri Lanka having built two new stadiums, in Pallekele and Hambantota, for the recently concluded World Cup. Ranatunga explained logistical reasons meant only one stadium could be used for the tournament.”We had to finish everything within two or three weeks. The logistics of playing the matches at various venues are too cumbersome. The players would also be tired if they have to travel heavily within a short period. So we had no option but to limit the tournament to Colombo.”Unlike the IPL and the new format of the Big Bash League in Australia, the SLPL will not feature city-based teams. Ranatunga said having provincial teams would allow an entire province to associate themselves with a team and thus create a bigger following for the tournament.

Jacob Martin, the former India batsman, has been arrested in Delhi in connection with a human-trafficking case that was registered at the Indira Gandhi International Airport police station in 2003

ESPNcricinfo staff27-Apr-2011Jacob Martin, the former India batsman, has been arrested in Delhi on Tuesday night in connection with a 2003 human-trafficking case. The case, registered at the Indira Gandhi International Airport police station, alleged that Martin had taken a youth to the UK on the pretext of playing cricket there in exchange for money.The issue came to notice, according to a , when one Nimesh Kumar was found travelling with a fake passport. He subsequently disclosed that his trip had been arranged with the help of Martin and an associate for a sum of Rs 7 lakh.”Martin formed a bogus team – ‘Ajwa Sports Club’ – and identified himself as a playing member,” RA Sanjeev, the Deputy Commissioner of Police at the Indira Gandhi International Airport, was quoted as saying by .According to the report, Martin was repeatedly asked to assist the investigation but refused to do so. The Supreme Court, last week, rejected an anticipatory bail plea filed by Martin and asked him to surrender. The Delhi Police announced a cash reward of Rs 25,000 for anyone who would provide information about him.Martin played 10 ODIs for India between September 1999 and October 2001, averaging 22.57. He represented Baroda and Railways on the Indian domestic circuit, and his last first-class appearance was in December 2009.