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Giles Clarke, the chairman of the ECB, has branded the end of the Investec Ashes “totally unsatisfactory” and called upon the ICC chief executive to change the regulations regarding bad light

George Dobell at The Oval25-Aug-2013Giles Clarke, the chairman of the ECB, has branded the end of the Investec Ashes series at The Oval “totally unsatisfactory” and called upon the ICC chief executive, David Richardson, to change the regulations regarding bad light at the earliest opportunity.A full house crowd booed the umpires after they led the players from the pitch with England requiring 21 more runs from the final four overs of the match.It was a disappointing end to a dramatic final day that had seen 447 runs scored, 17 wickets taken and Kevin Pietersen score the fastest half-century by an England player in Ashes history after a bold declaration from Australia and a sustained run-chase from England.Set 227 to win in 44 overs, England appeared to be on the brink of the win that would have secured a record-breaking 4-0 victory – a score line they have never achieved in an Ashes series in England – before the umpires intervened.It left Clarke fuming. While he understood that the umpires had little choice but to end play – the ICC playing regulations state that they are obliged to take the players from the field once the light has dropped to the level it had been when deemed unfit for play earlier in the match – he felt there should be some flexibility to respect the requirements of a spectator sport.”It’s totally unsatisfactory the way the game ended,” Clarke said. “The rules are clearly unacceptable and I expect David Richardson to change it at the next ICC chief executives’ meeting.”Tempers also become frayed on the pitch. With Australia sensing that the game was slipping away from them and their fielders struggling to pick-up the ball, captain Michael Clarke brought his concerns to the attention of the umpires.When the umpires attempted to take light meter readings out of sight of Clarke, Aleem Dar seemed to gently push the Australian captain away. It left Clarke unimpressed.”I remember Aleem touching me and I asked him politely to not touch me because if I touched him I’d be suspended for three games,” Michael Clarke said. “That’s all I can really remember. I just know a player is not allowed to touch an umpire. But for me personally, I have absolutely no issue with it at all.”The umpires took the players off the pitch on the second day of the game due to bad light. At the time they took a reading on their light meters which, in accordance with ICC regulations, set a precedent for the rest of the game. Whether the light on either day could be considered to have suggested an “obvious and foreseeable risk to the safety of any player or umpire, so that it would be unreasonable or dangerous for play to take place”, as the regulations currently state, is debatable.Michael Clarke, at least, felt the light was considerably worse by the end of day five than it had been at the end of day two. He also felt it was worse than when the umpires had led the players from the pitch in Manchester when Australia were in the dominant position.”There was no comparison,” Clarke said. “I don’t think I’m going to get into the numbers but I remember seeing the reading when I got told we had to go off in Manchester and I stood in the middle of the wicket today and there was a big difference. But for us, we just have to go on the umpire’s call. If they think it’s safe to keep playing then we keep playing.”I just asked the question: why we haven’t got the meter out here? It took a few overs to get it out. Just going on what’s happened in the past through this Test series, you know around that time is generally when it’s getting close to when the umpires have consistently taken us off the field.”Alastair Cook, the England captain, also expressed his empathy with the umpires. While he was naturally disappointed to be denied a memorable win, he admitted it has become “pretty dark”. He also credited Australia for an enterprising declaration that had set-up a highly entertaining final day of the series.”It would have been nice to finish the game off,” Cook said. “But rules are there for a reason. It was pretty dark and the umpires have strict guidelines. If the boot had been on the other foot, we would have asked the same questions as the Australians.”Of course we understand the frustration. It’s a shame for an amazing crowd. But you can also see the other side of it. We understand the rules and regulations. The umpires have to take emotion out of the game and do their job. They have to be consistently fair to both sides.”It is disappointing to be sitting here when we felt we could have scored those runs in the final four overs, but I understand the umpires’ decision.”

Kevin Pietersen has accepted substantial libel damages from optician services group Specsavers over an advert that implied Pietersen might have tampered with his bat to deceive Hot Spot during the Ashes.

ESPNcricinfo staff08-Oct-2013Kevin Pietersen has accepted substantial but undisclosed libel damages from optician services group Specsavers over an advert that implied Pietersen might have tampered with his bat to deceive Hot Spot during the Ashes.Pietersen did not attend the High Court in London for the settlement of what his solicitor, Louise Prince, described as a “serious and defamatory allegation”.The advert contained the statement “‘Bat tampering’ in the #Ashes? Apparently Hot Spot should’ve gone to Specsavers” alongside a photograph of Pietersen.The advert, part of the campaign, was in reference to allegations made by Australian broadcaster Channel 9 during the third Ashes Test at Old Trafford that Pietersen and other batsmen attempted to deceive Hot Spot by applying silicone tape to their bats – to which Pietersen issued a strong denial.Prince told the court the allegation of bat tampering was completely untrue and without any foundation whatsoever. She said the advert was published on the company’s Twitter account and Facebook page in August, and also appeared in various newspapers and magazines.Specsavers Optical Group Ltd issued an apology to Pietersen on October 2 and in court accepted Pietersen did not behave in the manner suggested, agreeing to pay Pietersen substantial damages and his legal costs for the distress and embarrassment caused.The group’s solicitor, Niri Shan, said it did not intend to imply that Pietersen may have tampered with his bat and acknowledged the allegation was false.

Taunton is billed as the bowler’s graveyard but Lewis Gregory has overcome one of the most batsman-friendly venues in the country to earn an unexpected call up for England’s ODI against Ireland next week

Alex Winter29-Apr-2015Taunton is billed as the bowlers’ graveyard but Lewis Gregory has overcome one of the most batsman-friendly venues in the country to earn an unexpected call up for England’s ODI against Ireland next week.Gregory, who will turn 23 a fortnight after the match, has quietly developed his right-arm seamers in the West Country, progressing up the land from his home in Plymouth, where he first played for Devon age-groups, to Taunton for a 2nd XI debut in 2008 aged 16, and this winter a little further to Loughborough, as part of the Potential England Performance Programme, where he worked with Kevin Shine, the ECB lead bowling coach, and Neil Killeen, Durham’s bowling coach who also leads the PEPP.Shine was at Taunton on the second day of the current Championship match to watch Gregory take four wickets, to which he added two more on the third morning to celebrate his call up by equalling his best haul in a first-class innings.That career best, 6 for 47, came last year at Northampton during a bright start to the season. A hamstring injury suffered while batting contributed to him playing only nine Championship matches in 2014 but he still returned an impressive 43 wickets at 26.06.More pertinently for Gregory’s ODI call up, his overall List A record is healthy: 39 wickets at 26.43, including 13 at just 14.92 in 2011 when he was only 20. He has since developed under the guidance of Jason Kerr, the Somerset bowling coach, and now Matthew Maynard, who joined as the new director of cricket over the winter.”He’s a very exciting young cricketer,” Maynard told ESPNcricinfo. “He does all three skills exceptionally well. The call up is reward for the hard work he has put in over the past few years and a lot of credit must go to Jason Kerr who has seen him through the academy.”He just does great things. He’s got that uncanny knack of getting a wicket when you need it. I haven’t seen the best of his batting yet but when we’ve done the Twenty20 practice, and game scenarios, he has struck the ball very well. He’s very athletic in the field too and takes some great catches. He’s a very talented cricketer. I’m delighted for him and I hope he gets his opportunity.”Gregory is reputed to be a better batsman than bowler but it is his form with the ball that has caught the eye and he will hope to complete his week by leading Somerset to a final-day victory over Middlesex. He said: “It’s hugely exciting and a massive honour. I’m absolutely buzzing at the moment. Last year was really good for me and it’s been a solid start to this summer so far. I’m really happy with where my cricket is at the moment and hopefully I can go there and show what I can do. I’m very excited and looking forward to it.”It was a really nice surprise. Matt Maynard took me to one side last night and told me the news and needless to say I was really chuffed. It’s a huge opportunity and I can’t wait to see what I can do on the big stage. I’m going to go out there, enjoy myself and do what I do here for Somerset.”

Hampshire bounced back from defeat last week with a NatWest Blast T20 victory over Glamorgan by 21 runs on a tired pitch at the SWALEC Stadium with Mark Wood the stand-out bowler with four cheap wickets

ECB/PA29-May-2015
ScorecardChris Wood’s four wickets helped to secure Hampshire’s victory [file picture]•Getty Images

Hampshire bounced back from defeat last week with a NatWest Blast T20 victory over Glamorgan by 21 runs on a tired pitch at the SWALEC Stadium.Those conditions were very much to the liking of the Hampshire attack, who did a fine job of defending 149 in the South Group contest.Sean Ervine’s 49 runs anchored the Hampshire innings, before a brilliant spell from Chris Wood made sure the home side finished a long way short of the target.It started so well for Glamorgan. Their fans were made to wait for Wayne Parnell to make his debut but once he had recovered from the groin injury that saw him miss the first two fixtures of the season he made an immediate impact.

Insights

Last week it was overshadowed by the brilliance of Sam Northeast and Alex Blake but Hampshire’s lower-order played a pivotal role in lifting them from 127 for 5 to a competitive 172 for 6. Against Glamorgan they were similarly effective, elevating Hampshire from the mire of 73 for 5 after 10.4 overs to 148 for 8 at the end of their 20 overs.
Ervine, Wheater, Smith and Wood, numbers 5 to 8, scored 116 runs between them: 78% of Hampshire’s total. While the form of the top-order is a slight concern it is a sign of Hampshire’s quality that their lower-order are able to rescue them from weak positions.
Freddie Wilde

The South African left-armer claimed the wicket of James Vince from the fifth ball of the match caught at first slip by Colin Ingram, then in his second over he had Jimmy Adams caught at third man by Craig Meschede.The wickets continued to tumble as Graham Wagg replaced Parnell at the River Taff End and picked up two more wickets, dismissing Michael Carberry and Owais Shah. Wagg was fantastic throughout the Hampshire innings, finishing with 4 for 27 from his four overs.Ervine combined with Adam Wheater to put on 34 runs in four overs before Wheater holed out to Parnell at long-on off the bowling of Andrew Salter.While the wickets fell around him Ervine continued to hold the Hampshire effort together. When Ervine fell leg before wicket to Wagg for 49 Will Smith took up the fight. Smith’s 30 off 24 balls was enough to see his side to a competitive
total on a worn pitch.The Glamorgan chase could not have got off to a worse start as Ben Wright, Chris Cooke and Ingram were all bowled inside the first four overs. Wood was the chief destroyer with two of those wickets to leave Glamorgan struggling at 13
for 3.The 69 runs Rudolph and Mark Wallace put on was the only partnership of note for the hosts – and when Rudolph mistimed a pull off Ervine to depart for 38 it was the beginning of the end for the Welsh county.A rain delay took the players from the field for 20 minutes and when the action resumed the Glamorgan batsman could not find a way to score quickly while keeping wickets intact.Wallace played a lone hand in trying to get his side home but he alone could not keep the run rate under control. His 37 from 41 balls was the home team’s most telling contribution with the bat.Glamorgan’s second defeat in a row at home means they will be hoping for a significantly improved performance when in-form Middlesex visit Cardiff next week .For Hampshire, this is a welcome return to winning ways – with Wood’s four wickets for just 16 runs after a disappointing performance against Kent pleasing for the visitors.Rudolph blamed his side’s poor start for the setback. He said: “The fact that we lost three wickets for the first 10 runs put us a bit behind the eight ball. However, I thought with the partnership that myself and Mark Wallace had I
think we still needed just over 90 runs in the last 60 balls with wickets in hand, you should potentially back yourself.”I think we lost a little bit of momentum when the rain came but it is not an excuse. We got to be a little bit hard on ourselves.”

Sharad Pawar beat his erstwhile protege Vijay Patil by 34 votes to retain his post as president of the Mumbai Cricket Association

Amol Karhadkar17-Jun-20154:17

Karhadkar: Government votes helped Pawar in MCA election

Sharad Pawar has beaten Vijay Patil by 34 votes to retain the Mumbai Cricket Association president’s post. The Pawar-Mahaddalkar panel has also swept the biennial polls, winning 15 of the 17 managing committee posts.The election result came as a severe blow for Patil’s Cricket First panel, whose ambitious campaign bore little fruit, resulting in his panel tasting success in only two posts. In 2013, when Patil had formed his panel for the first time, he had won four seats in the managing committee despite not contesting for all the posts.With 24 hours remaining for the polling day, there was little to choose between the two panels. But the tide turned in favour of the Pawar-Mahaddalkar group’s favour during its last meeting with the voters on the eve of the election. Pawar indicated that all the MCA voters would be allotted memberships at MCA’s plush facilities at the Bandra-Kurla complex and Kandivali.To add to the move which worked like a trump card, Pawar ensured that he personally met with each of the 321 members who cast their vote a minute before they entered the polling booth and his personal appeals to every voter helped his panel. According to Pawar-Mahaddalkar panelists, the masterstroke was the catalyst for the panel’s landslide victory.

MCA election results

President: Sharad Pawar (176 votes) beat Vijay Patil (142)
Vice-presidents: Dilip Vengsarkar (195), Ashish Shelar (183) beat Pratap Sarnaik (124) and Abey Kuruvilla (122)
Treasurer: Nitin Dalal (189) beat Mayank Khandwala (129)
Joint secretaries: Dr PV Shetty (185), Dr Unmesh Khanvilkar (159) beat Ravi Savant (140) and Lalchand Rajput (129)
Managing committee members: Arman Mallick (205), Vinod Deshpande (190), Navin Shetty (185), Pankaj Thakur (183), Arvind Kadam (183), Deepak Patil (179), Pravin Amre (170), Shrikant Tigdi (169), Shahalam Shaikh (165), Ramesh Vajge (163), Ganesh Iyer (161)

“The poll mandate was an apt response to those who had said whatever about us in the lead-up,” Pawar said, taunting at Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray’s statement of Pawar’s unwillingness to retire while supporting Patil’s panel. “We accept the mandate of the MCA members with all humility. Now that the election is over, it is time for all the elected candidates to work together as a team.”Former India captain Dilip Vengsarkar and Bharatiya Janata Party member of state legislative assembly Ashish Shelar, both from the Pawar-Mahaddalkar faction, were elected as vice-presidents. It resulted in former India pace bowler Abey Kuruvilla, contesting for Patil’s Cricket First group, suffering a loss for the same post.While Pawar and his winning candidates, especially Shelar from the BJP, celebrated emphatically, Patil made a quiet exit. The only consolation for Cricket First came in the form of Dr Unmesh Khanvilkar and former India cricketer Pravin Amre getting elected as joint secretary and managing committee member, respectively.”As Mr Pawar said, now we both are as good members of his team. It will be up to them now to consider some of our ideas and see if they can be implemented,” said Khanvilkar, who emerged as the giant killer.While Dr PV Shetty retained his post, Khanvilkar was elected along with him, ahead of former BCCI vice-president Ravi Savant [Pawar-Mahaddalkar group] and former India opening batsman Lalchand Rajput [Cricket First]. Pawar referred to Savant’s loss with a proverb in Marathi: “Gad aala pan sinh gela [We have captured the fort but lost a knight].”The ruling faction’s Nitin Dalal, who was a joint secretary for the last four years, prevailed over Mayank Khandwala in the battle for the treasurer’s post.In the first major decision of the new regime, Pawar announced that the MCA rulebook would be amended to create reserved seats for women representatives from the next election onwards.”I want to see women being part of the managing committee and we would try to make the necessary constitutional amendment so that women are represented in the next committee,” Pawar said after announcing the election results.None of the 34 candidates who featured in the election was a woman. In fact, no woman has ever contested an MCA election so far. The modalities of Pawar’s decision are likely to be worked out in the first managing committee of the new regime on Friday.

Jonny Bairstow is not yet a great batsman but he is capable of playing brilliant innings. He has the rare gift of being able to transform a cricket match

Paul Edwards at Chester-le-Street28-Jun-2015
ScorecardJonny Bairstow is enjoying playing at Chester-le-Street this season – it was where he played a match-winning hand for England•Getty Images

Jonny Bairstow is not yet a great batsman but he is capable of playing brilliant innings. He has the rare gift of being able to transform a cricket match, of taking rules of engagement that apply inflexibly to other players and disregarding them in a welter of magnificent strokes. “Youth is to all the glad season,” wrote Thomas Carlyle, and Bairstow is a mere 25 years old. Who knows what this game might yet have in store for him?Bairstow’s gifts were on display in abundance on the first day of the match between Durham and Yorkshire at Chester-le-Street. Until he arrived at the wicket, the match between Division One’s top two sides had been characterised by understandable caution and orthodoxy. On a slowish wicket and under cloudy skies in the morning session, Yorkshire’s top-order batsmen had taken no risks at all. When Bairstow came to the wicket, Andrew Gale’s side were 124 for 3 in the 54th over. Then Yorkshire’s wicketkeeper-batsman hit his first ball for four and the whole day’s cricket began to change.Having made a very fine hundred against Hampshire at Headingley and an even better one against Middlesex, also on his home ground, Bairstow, whose attendance was not required at England’s pre-Ashes training camp in Spain, now topped the lot, and this in one of his team’s most important games of the season. He has a sense of occasion, too.Three balls after arriving at the wicket, he watched Gale fend John Hastings to Paul Collingwood at slip, the Durham skipper making a one-handed acrobatic catch look absurdly simple. Bairstow then shared brief partnerships of 22 with Aaron Finch and 39 with Adil Rashid. Yet when Rashid was caught by Collingwood off Chris Rushworth, Yorkshire were 191 for 6 in the 68th over and Durham’s bowlers could feel perfectly satisfied with their work.It was three overs after tea when Tim Bresnan arrived at the middle. What happened over the next two hours or so will be cherished by the good number of Yorkshire supporters who made the journey to the North-East. On a pitch which remained tricky, Bairstow and Bresnan added 138 in an unbroken stand for the seventh wicket with Bresnan making an immensely valuable unbeaten 66 off 85 balls while Bairstow went from 34 to 102 not out, reaching his century off the final ball he faced in the day when he drove Collingwood to extra cover.What was noticeable in that glorious evening session was the way in which Bairstow took virtually no risks. His drives, cuts and pulls were pure but his ability to seize on the even slightly loose ball is, on his day, as rare a talent as there is in the English game. Bowlers like Hastings and Jamie Harrison, who had bowled economically against Yorkshire’s other batsmen were suddenly being milked for boundaries and on many of these occasions, they were doing little or nothing wrong.Since returning from England’s tour to the West Indies, Bairstow has now scored 519 County Championship runs at an average of 86. In eight innings he has passed fifty on six occasions. He is in some of the form of his still developing career. Trevor Bayliss is surely taking note and maybe wondering what to do about it. At least James Whitaker will be able to advise him. The national selector was in attendance to see Bairstow’s innings and one would love to overhear their conversation.In a way, it was almost unfair on some of Yorkshire’s other batsmen that Bairstow should bat quite as brilliantly as he did on the first day of this game. Until he took Yorkshire’s innings and shaped it differently, opener Alex Lees could feel quite pleased to have made 40, his highest score in ten innings; and Lees had added 56 for the first wicket with Will Rhodes before Rhodes was bowled for 24 by left-arm seamer Harrison, who was making his first appearance of the season.Harrison was later to take the wicket of the in-form Jack Leaning, who was bowled for 28 runs carefully accumulated in two hours’ concentrated effort. Indeed, the first four in Yorkshire’s order had all done their best in difficult circumstances against accurate bowling. But when it is Bairstow’s day, there is little bowling to him and spectators at this game may have left the ground feeling privileged to have seen him bat as he did.

Andrew Poynter, the Ireland batsman, has been named as a replacement for Paul Stirling in the World T20 Qualifier after approval from the Event Technical Committee

ESPNcricinfo staff26-Jul-2015Andrew Poynter, the Ireland batsman, has been named as a replacement for the injured Paul Stirling in the World T20 Qualifier after approval from the Event Technical Committee. Stirling sustained an acute tear on the right Achilles tendon but was passed fit to play in Ireland’s five-wicket loss in the semi-final against Netherlands. He will not play the third-place playoff against Hong Kong at Malahide on Sunday, and his availability for the ODI against Australia on August 27 is in doubt.Stirling had scored 146 runs in seven matches in the World T20 Qualifier at an average of 20.85, with one half-century, and also picked up four wickets.Poynter, 28, has played 19 ODIs and 14 T20s for Ireland and scored a combined tally of 452 runs. He made his international debut in 2008, and his T20I average of 21.88 is higher than his ODI average of 19.61.

Following on from the ICC issuing a set of 39 terms and conditions that the USA Cricket Association must meet in order to be reinstated as an ICC Associate member, ICC chief executive David Richardson recently stated that the USACA may be “rebranded”

Peter Della Penna06-Aug-2015Following on from the ICC issuing a set of 39 terms and conditions that the USA Cricket Association must meet in order to be reinstated as an ICC Associate member, ICC chief executive David Richardson recently stated that the USACA may be “rebranded”. It’s another hint that USACA’s time as the ICC’s member governing body in the USA may be coming to an end, at least in its current form.At a press gathering in Ireland during the World Twenty20 Qualifier, Richardson was asked if the ICC views the American Cricket Federation or some other third party group as a viable alternative to USACA in the event that the board is unable to fulfil the stringent reinstatement demands made by the ICC. His response indicated that the board may be reshaped, one way or another.”The bottom line is we have to try to get all of the stakeholders together and take USA cricket forward from there,” Richardson said. “Hopefully, USA Cricket Association in title may be rebranded. Who knows under a new strategy who will be the ones to do that but it will only be possible if they are able to unite the country from a cricket perspective.”The 39 terms and conditions include passing a new constitution with sweeping governance reforms recommended in a 2013 report by TSE Consulting as well as turning over numerous financial records and accounting documents. The USACA has shown reluctance to fulfil these in the past two years. Richardson was optimistic that they will work towards fulfilling the conditions but acknowledged the challenges the organisation would face in doing so.”We are hopeful they will work with us,” Richardson said. “I think on their own, they will find it difficult to meet all of those terms and conditions simply because in my view it’s probably harder to run USA cricket than it is to run Indian cricket. It’s such a vast country. There are so many leagues that are going on. Some are part of USACA, some part of other bodies, some on their own. It’s going to take a major effort to bring them all together. I don’t think the ICC could do it alone and USA cricket on its own will battle.”Expulsion of the USA Cricket Association or US cricket will be no good to anybody. You only have to look at Ireland going back a number of years where they used to have a governance structure where all clubs were voting for their representatives on the board and were going really nowhere. The changes they implemented on the governance side were the catalyst for Ireland taking huge leaps forward as a cricketing nation. They’ve done it. There’s no reason why USA can’t do the same.”Under previous ICC suspensions handed down to USACA in 2005 and 2007, USA had their participation in the 2005 Intercontinental Cup and 2007 World Cricket League Division Three rescinded. As a consequence, USA dropped down to WCL Division Five when they were reinstated in 2008 and have found it difficult to climb back up the Associate ladder ever since. However, USA were allowed to play at the qualifier in Ireland in spite of the suspension and produced impressive wins over Hong Kong and Papua New Guinea. Richardson reiterated the ICC’s on-field support for USA.”The idea is not to prejudice USA cricket in any way if at all possible,” Richardson said. “So hopefully we can work with the USA Cricket Association in trying to remedy those resolutions and recommendations that were made to make sure that the suspension is lifted. There’s a lot of work to be done in that regard but I’m confident that it can be done and the necessary governance changes can be made.”But in the mean time, we don’t want to prejudice cricketers who are playing cricket in the US. Ideally, we keep an eye on how the competition structures are run there, how the trials and teams are selected so that we give every chance for cricketers in the USA to go to these tournaments and hopefully qualify.”Aside from assisting the national team development with projects like the upcoming ICC Americas Cricket Combine next month in Indianapolis, Richardson once again highlighted the ICC’s hopes of tapping into USA’s commercial market potential if the administrative issues can be sorted out.”There is enough potential for the USA to be participating at major global events,” he said. “There’s enough cricketers, there’s enough money in the country and the economy is strong. So we think if correctly administered, there is the potential. It’s not for other member countries to benefit financially from cricket being strong in the US.  Yes, the ICC might benefit from the fact that if USA is at a major global event, then we are hoping to attract sponsors from the part of the world of our events and obviously broadcasters as well.”

A comprehensive bowling performance from Dolphins saw the side kick off their Momentum One Day Cup 2015-16 campaign with a bonus-point, 76-run win over Knights in Pietermaritzburg

ESPNcricinfo staff11-Oct-2015A comprehensive bowling performance from Dolphins saw the side kick off their Momentum One Day Cup 2015-16 campaign with a bonus-point, 76-run win over Knights in Pietermaritzburg.Opting to bat, Dolphins lost Morne van Wyk in the third over but a brisk 71-run, second-wicket partnership between Cameron Delport and Vaughn van Jaarsveld lifted them to stability. After Delport fell, van Jaarsveld was involved in another fifty-plus stand, this time with Andile Phehlukwayo, giving the side a strong platform going into the final leg of the innings. Once van Jaarsveld fell, however, after top-scoring with 82 off 112 deliveries, Dolphins lost wickets in a heap and were eventually dismissed for 246 in the final over.The pace trio of Craig Alexander, Robbie Frylinck, Ryan McLaren and left-arm spinner Keshav Maharaj ensured that the poor finish with the bat did not have too much bearing on the result. Frylinck struck off successive deliveries in his first over and by the 26th over of the innings, Knights had lost half their side, including opener Reeza Hendricks, who top-scored with 38. Malusi Siboto, at No.8, was the only other batsman to score more than 30 as Knights folded for 170 in the 47th over. Frylinck and Maharaj finished with three wickets each while Alexander and McLaren chipped in with two apiece.

Chris Cairns told Andre Adams that the Indian Cricket League was “powerless” to stop match-fixing, according to prosecution evidence given by Adams in the Cairns libel trial at Southwark Crown Court

ESPNcricinfo staff16-Oct-2015Chris Cairns allegedly told the New Zealand players that he attempted to recruit to his match-fixing operation that the Indian Cricket League (ICL) was powerless to stop their actions, according to Andre Adams, the latest witness to give evidence in Cairns’ perjury trial in London.Adams, who was speaking via videolink, played for the ICL franchise, Kolkata Tigers, in the 2008 tournament and alleged during his testimony that Cairns had made the remark during a dinner in India, although he could not recall the actual words used.”I can remember Chris saying: ‘If there was match-fixing, what can they do? How will they get anyone? It is not a sanctioned event,” Adams told the court. “I cannot remember the exact words but it was something like ‘how will they ever prove it?'”The prosecution argue that Cairns, who denies two counts of perjury and perverting the course of justice, was so confident of his standing within the game, and among the players he attempted to recruit, that no one would dare to speak out against him.”For us and beyond he was a leader, certainly one of my heroes,” Adams told the court. “He took time out for me when I was struggling in 2006-07 and talked to me about my game. In New Zealand he was certainly a hero but in India he was like a god really.”Adams added that he had subsequently been approached by Lou Vincent at a café in Manchester’s Trafford Centre during the summer of 2008. Vincent, who was banned from cricket last year after admitting to match-fixing, reportedly told Adams of an “opportunity”.”You do not have to do it but you can make some money here,” Vincent said. “I do not want you to miss out.”Vincent, who admitted in his own testimony earlier in the week that he had been suffering from depression at the time, was, according to Adams, in a “pretty fragile” mental state. Adams added that he had not reported his friend because he feared the consequences of such an action.”I just went along with it really,” Adams said. “I did not feel like it was the time or place to make him feel like he had done a bad thing. Technically our time was up and we were outcasts in internationals … I just said: ‘Okay, whatever, send it through and I will look at it’, but I never intended to have a look.””I felt like if I had reported him … it might be the straw that broke the camel’s back. I did not want to push him to the edge.”Kyle Mills, who also took the stand via videolink on Friday, added that he had been “gobsmacked” when Brendon McCullum, the current New Zealand captain, told him of Cairns’ alleged attempt to recruit McCullum to his operation.McCullum admitted the approach to his then team-mates, Mills and Daniel Vettori, in 2009, who two years later advised him to report it to the ICC’s anti-corruption officials following a briefing in Bangladesh.”I was pretty gobsmacked with that information alone,” said Mills. “He [McCullum] and Chris Cairns had met and asked Brendon if he could be involved in spot-fixing and that he himself was involved in it.”Sasha Wass QC, the prosecutor, then asked Mills to clarify whom he had been referring to with the word “himself”. Mills replied “Chris Cairns”.Though he admitted to have been “taken aback” by the revelation, Mills said that he had left the situation in McCullum’s hands. His brother, Heath Mills, is the chief executive of the New Zealand Players Association, but Kyle Mills said he did not divulge the information to him either.Under cross-examination by Orlando Pownall QC for Cairns, Mills said that Daryl Tuffey, another player whose name has been linked to Cairns’ alleged operation, was not a cricketer about whom he could remember anything suspicious.”Not in those games. I have enough to worry and look out for in playing for your country. Nothing was suspected of Daryl in those games.”The case has been adjourned until 9.30am on Monday.