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Tim May, the chief executive of the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations (FICA), will discuss Andrew Symonds’ complaint about the racial taunts by the crowd in Vadodara with James Sutherland, Cricket Australia’s chief executive. “I will be quizzing James as to what happened and the positions Cricket Australia and the ICC are taking,” May told the .Symonds said he was disappointed by the local authorities’ denial that any monkey chants had been directed at him, but according to Peter Young, CA’s public affairs and anti-racism officer, Symonds decided to move on from the issue. “Andrew’s observations to James were that it was best to just ignore these things and move on,” Young said.Niranjan Shah, the BCCI secretary, was confident it would eventually turn out that the whole issue was a misunderstanding. “Nobody has pinpointed anything,” Shah said. “He [Symonds] shouldn’t be disappointed. The truth is the truth. What can you do?”There have been rumours that relations between CA and the BCCI had soured following the incident. But Young discounted them. “I am not aware that we have spoken to the Indian board at this stage,” he said. “The Indian board and Cricket Australia and the other eight nations all voted for and supported this policy when it came to the ICC table.”Young also said it was difficult to control crowd racism and added that CA itself had a problem when South African players complained of being abused by spectators in Afrikaans during their tour of Australia two years ago. “It can undeniably be difficult with spectator comment,” Young told . “Most of the time you don’t get to hear it. When South Africa were here two summers ago no one from CA or any of the state associations ever heard the comments and it made it very hard to locate the alleged offenders and then take action.”All we could do was go through the policy and reinforce all those things that we were able to reinforce the training of venue staff, ensure the communication to spectators was clear and the like.” Last year the ICC adopted the amended anti-racism code which includes penalties like imposing life bans on spectators found guilty of racial abuse and revoking the international status of the venue where the incident took place.

With the India-Pakistan ODI series over, a lot of exciting players will come back to represent their Ranji sides in the matches starting tomorrow: Virender Sehwag and Gautam Gambhir for Delhi, Rohit Sharma for Mumbai, Irfan Pathan for Baroda, Robin Uthappa for Karnataka, and Praveen Kumar for Uttar Pradesh. The flip side: Rahul Dravid and Anil Kumble (Karnataka), Dinesh Karthik (Tamil Nadu), VVS Laxman (Hyderabad), Wasim Jaffer (Mumbai), and Munaf Patel (Maharashtra) have joined the Test squad. Here’s how the Super League matches stack up:Mumbai v Delhi at MumbaiThe joint leaders in Group A meet at the Wankhede Stadium. Delhi will be bolstered by the return of Sehwag and Gambhir, Mumbai by Rohit Sharma. Read Nagraj Gollapudi’s preview here.Hyderabad v Baroda in Hyderabad Baroda are on a high after having beaten Bengal by an innings, while a depleted Hyderabad side have held their own in their first two games too. Read Sriram Veera’s preview here.Himachal Pradesh v Maharashtra at Dharamsala Maharashtra have had a good start to the season, with an outright win against Rajasthan in the second match. Himachal, though, are looking to find their feet in the Super League, coming off an innings defeat to Karnataka.Rajasthan v Saurashtra at Jaipur Rajasthan are at the bottom of Group A without any points while Saurashtra have fought out two draws to get themselves four points. Rajasthan will want to open their account here, otherwise they will be prime candidates for relegation.Tamil Nadu v Karnataka in Chennai They are both traditional powerhouses in Indian cricket, but Tamil Nadu field a young, depleted side this year. Accordingly, they have had a fairly ordinary start to the season with only one point after two matches. Karnataka, riding high on the innings win against Himachal, have seven points from two matches and will look for the maximum points here.Orissa v Andhra at Cuttack Orissa are coming off a break after they were walloped by Uttar Pradesh in the first match, while Andhra have played out two draws to reach four points. Orissa will want to do better than Himachal, the other team to have been promoted to the Super League.Punjab v Uttar Pradesh at MohaliPunjab have been struggling with injuries to their strike bowlers – Gagandeep Singh and VRV Singh. Yet had they avoided a lower-order collapse against Hyderabad, they would have had six points from two games. UP, after a blazing start against Orissa, played a tame draw with Andhra. They currently leading the Group B, but they have played one game more than the second-place Baroda.

Santosh Kumar’s six wicket haul on the final day propelled theKarnataka Under-19 team to enter the knock out stage of the CoochBehar Trophy with a 173-run victory on the third and final day overKerala in the South Zone league match at the KRL Ground in Ambalamugalon Monday. The other team to enter the knock out stage from the zoneis Andhra who scored an innings and 67 run win over Goa on Sunday.Resuming their second innings at 217 for 8, Karnataka were all out for246, leaving Kerala a stiff victory target of 300.Kerala folded up for 126 off 35.3 overs. The openers R Kapil (9) andMM Nathani (18) made a sedate start adding 24 runs in 9.4 overs. Offspinner Santosh Kumar who was introduced early into the attack thenbowled Kapil. Rejas joined Nathani and the two took the score to 38when Rejas was bowled by Santosh Kumar. The last ball of Santosh’snext over saw the exit of Nathani in similar fashion. Skipper VipinLal (19) and RP Sujith (39) took the score to 58. But at this junctureVipin was caught by Krishna off Kumar. Three balls later NJ John (0)returned to the pavilion after being bowled by Kumar.In the next over Dharmichand had AC Antony caught by KV Bhatt beforethe batsman had opened his account. At 59 for 6 in the 21st over,Kerala were staring at certain defeat. But Sujith found some goodcompany in the later order batsmen to take Kerala past the 100 runmark. Sujith after a 46-run seventh wicket stand with Aneesh (10) in7.5 overs, was caught by HTS Rao off Dharmichand. For his brightknock, Sujith faced 23 balls while hitting 6 boundaries and 2 sixes.Kumar now came back to claim the wicket of Aneesh by shattering hisdefences. Dharmichand then dismissed S Santh (12) and S Sooraj (7) offsuccessive deliveries. Santosh Kumar finished with six for 35 whileDharmichand had four for 64.

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details5:00

Agarkar: India’s top three the best in T20 cricket

India’s first series victory of any kind in Australia since the summer of Monkeygate is proving an unmitigated disaster for the hosts, who now face real uncertainty over their captaincy. Aaron Finch twanged a hamstring as his side fell apart under the pressure of a chase for the second time in as many matches.The game evolved in a near action replay of the opening match in Adelaide, as Australia were unable to capitalise on a strong start by Finch and Shaun Marsh in pursuit of a strong Indian total built upon the batting of Rohit Sharma and Virat Kohli.Steven Smith and David Warner are set to fly to New Zealand on Saturday, leaving a considerable leadership vacuum should Finch be unfit for the third T20 in Sydney on Sunday. His likely absence may at least mean an opportunity for Usman Khawaja, the outstanding batsman of the summer so far.India’s serenity made for a marked contrast, as an unchanged team from Adelaide built steadily into a firm tally batting first before defending it grandly with the help of some tremendous fielding. Ravindra Jadeja and R Ashwin were aided by Yuvraj Singh, while the medically-enforced absence of Darren Lehmann appears to have been felt in the way the Australians have shown little composure under pressure.As had been the case in Adelaide, Australia’s openers began with fluency and power, this time zooming to 94 inside 10 overs. However, the introduction of spin had again drawn chances, as Marsh and Finch (thrice) were both reprieved by MS Dhoni and his outfielders.Oddly, Marsh responded to the surfeit of good fortune by trying his luck yet again against R Ashwin and being caught at long on. Chris Lynn did not last long, skying Hardik Pandya to be taken safely by Dhoni, before Glenn Maxwell was lured down by Yuvraj and stumped in the blink of an eye by India’s captain.Momentum was now flowing to India just as surely as it had done in the opening match, and Jadeja turned it into a torrent by holding a return catch from Shane Watson that may have struck him in the head without a brilliant interception. At the other end Finch’s frustration was mounting despite his own strong effort.This all compounded in the very next over when Matthew Wade called his captain through for a single so rapid that Jadeja’s wide throw was good enough to have Dhoni breaking the stumps in time. On his way down the pitch, Finch appeared to ping a hamstring, and cursed the world as he hobbled off the field, his place in future plans now under a cloud to rank with any that hovered over Melbourne this afternoon.The rest was academic – Wade hit out by way of contrition, James Faulkner was unluckily out when Dhoni fumbled onto the wicket for an accidental stumping, and the run rate blew out to dimensions that quietened a healthy crowd of 58,787. They went home aware that Australia’s problems are mounting, while Indian plans fall usefully into place.In addition to Warner and Smith, Travis Head, Cameron Boyce, Shaun Tait and Kane Richardson were dropped in the biggest upheaval to an Australian side since another T20 series, against West Indies in early 2013.In their places were Tye, Maxwell, John Hastings, Scott Boland and Nathan Lyon. Hastings, Lyon and Tye made their T20 debuts as the selectors experimented ahead of the World T20 in India.In the absence of Tait, it was a lower velocity pairing of Watson and John Hastings who shared the new ball, but the change of pace did not serve to diminish India’s Powerplay strength. Forty-four from the first five overs was a fine start from Rohit and Shikhar Dhawan,A greasy night following considerable rain in Melbourne throughout the day was always going to make Lyon’s night challenging, and his first T20 over was to be his only one for the night. It was hurt badly by one ball that slipped, a high full toss being called no-ball and the free hit being deposited well over long on by Rohit.Maxwell was also sent into the stands by Rohit, but he was to claim the wicket of Shikhar when the opener essayed a reverse sweep. That wicket left India 1 for 97 after 11 overs, and they were unable to accelerate full from there.This had little to do with Kohli, who careered to 59 from 33 balls with some shots of matchless mastery, and more to do with an improved collective effort from the hots at the back end. Rohit lost some of his earlier momentum before being run out looking for a second, and Dhoni was not quite able to free his arms before Tye had him taken at long off as part of a generally impressive last over.If anything, Tye’s quietly assured display is the greatest discovery for Australia in the series so far. Bolstered by Big Bash League exposure, he looks capable of landing his yorkers under international pressure. By the end of the night, Tye was the selectors’ only solace – the match and series plaudits were all India’s, a feeling they last enjoyed in Australia after the triangular ODI series of early 2008.

Harbhajan Singh’s exoneration for his alleged “monkey” comment towards Andrew Symonds has been hailed as a victory for justice in India, but the decision has incensed Australia’s cricketers, who believe their board has caved in to overwhelming pressure from the game’s financial superpower.In a front-page article in Wednesday’s Sydney Morning Herald, an unnamed Australian cricketer has hit out at the decision, which was only reached after Cricket Australia persuaded their five players at the hearing to downgrade their charge against Harbhajan from racism to abusive language. Instead of being banned for three Tests as per the original verdict, he was fined 50% of his match fee.”The thing that pisses us off is that it shows how much power India has,” the anonymous contracted player told the paper. “The Aussie guys aren’t going to make it [the accusation] up. The players are frustrated because this shows how much influence India has, because of the wealth they generate. Money talks.”In what the paper described as a “brazen act of provocation”, the Indian board chartered a plane to whisk their one-day squad from Melbourne – the venue for Friday’s Twenty20 fixture – to Adelaide, so that they could fly home to India if the charges against Harbhajan were not dropped. The move was described by MV Sridhar, the team’s assistant manager, as a “show of solidarity”.Friday’s match alone – the curtain-raiser for the lucrative CB Series – is expected to attract a crowd in excess of 90,000, and Cricket Australia, fearing the loss of millions of dollars in TV rights, sponsorship and gate takings, opted not to call India’s bluff. It was also believed to be under pressure from broadcasters who could have sued had the series been abandoned. The reported the players had an often fiery meeting with Cricket Australia officials during the fourth Test and it was agreed the charge would be lowered if Harbhajan apologised.An Indian pull-out would have threatened Sri Lanka’s participation in the CB Series as well. Arjuna Ranatunga, the chairman of Sri Lanka Cricket, and other senior board officials told the earlier that the board was keeping an eye on the developments in the hearing before deciding whether to commit to the tour or not.The issue was resolved late on Tuesday night, when Cricket Australia and the BCCI issued a joint statement, saying Symonds and Harbhajan had “resolved” the issue and that both captains were also “satisfied with the outcome”.Australia’s unofficial opinion, however, is less placatory. The team maintain that Harbhajan abused Symonds both in Sydney and three months earlier during an ill-tempered one-day series in India. In audio evidence supplied by Channel 9 – and played before the appeals commissioner, Justice John Hansen – Matthew Hayden is heard remonstrating with Harbhajan. “You’ve got a witness now, champ,” says Hayden. “It’s racial vilification, mate. It’s a shit word and you know it.”Harbhajan can be heard protesting that Symonds started the verbals, but the actual word is inaudible on the tapes. “Ultimately, truth has prevailed,” said the BCCI vice-president, Rajiv Shukla. “India has always stood against racism. Cricket is the victor in all this.”Ranatunga, a former Sri Lankan captain, called for a ban on sledging and hoped the Australians would learn their lessons from this controversy.”Australia have had these issues with some touring sides,” Ranatunga told . “History shows whenever they get it back, they struggle. Sometimes they also need to learn a lesson. I’m a great believer they should stop all shouting in the grounds.”

Mohammad Ashraful, Bangladesh’s captain, believes his young side can give New Zealand a run for their money in a three one-day international contest later this month. Bangladesh also play two Tests in New Zealand but its in the limited-overs format that their captain feels they can win, provided they get runs on the board.”Our bowling attack is reasonably good. If we can post a good total, it will not be impossible to win one or two games in the one-day series,” Ashraful told the before the team’s departure. “We are not too concerned about the Test matches right at this moment. First of all we will try to put a good show in the one-day series.”Bangladesh, who have only played two Tests previously in New Zealand, are scheduled to begin their tour with a warm-up match against Northern Districts starting on December 19. The first one-dayer is on December 26 in Auckland, followed by fixtures Napier (December 28) and Queenstown (Dec 31).”If we can do well in the one-day internationals, the spirit in the Tests will be high automatically,” said Ashraful. “No doubt it is going to be a tough tour … but we have confidence in ourselves. We are not going to be easy prey for New Zealand.”Mashrafe Mortaza has been named Ashraful’s deputy; the tenures of both the captain and vice-captain have been extended until December 2008. “As a bowler I might get some advantage from this kind of condition but overall it’s a very tough tour for us” said Mortaza, Bangladesh’s pace spearhead.Jamie Siddons, Bangladesh’s coach, kept it simple. “I have already talked a lot about this tour. Nothing could have been better then if we can win some matches. But my main desire is to see my boys playing as per their potential.”

James Anderson has been called into England’s ICC World Twenty20 squad as a replacement for Ravi Bopara, who was ruled out earlier this week with a broken thumb sustained during the fifth ODI against India.Anderson’s impressive one-day form in the current series will have counted in his favour as the selectors opted for a strike bowler instead of an allrounder. Anderson currently holds the record for the most expensive figures in international Twenty20, his four overs against Australia at Sydney costing 64.It had been expected that Dimitri Mascarenhas would slot into Bopara’s place, especially after hitting five sixes in five balls against India at The Oval. However, England may need another replacement with Andrew Flintoff’s position still uncertain as his ankle problem is assessed.The ICC later clarified that they had given permission for the call-up to go ahead.

Bangladesh will once again employ three spinners as they head to Mirpur for the second ODI against South Africa. Conditions in Mirpur, the venue for both the second and third ODIs, are expected to be similar to those of the first match in Chittagong, which South Africa won comfortably by nine wickets.For the hosts, Mashrafe Mortaza makes a return to the playing XI and will spearhead the attack in place of Shahadat Hossain. Mortaza, the vice-captain, was overlooked for the first ODI, in which Bangladesh opted for three left-arm spinners in Abdur Razzak, Shakib Al Hasan, and Mosharraf Hossain.The other change for Bangladesh has Junaid Siddique making way for Nazimuddin, who will become the sixth ODI debutant in the series. “We rested Mortaza in Chittagong and hopefully he will be fresh and energized for tomorrow’s match. We need him to be in his best form with the ball. His big-hitting in the closing overs will also an added bonus,” Mohammad Ashraful, the Bangladesh captain, said. “Junaid we feel is a little low on confidence after not getting the runs in ODIs. He has featured in partnerships but has not made the scores he is capable of. He has been given a break.”Bangladesh’s persistence with spin means the pitch is again likely to be low and slow, also acknowledged by Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach. “We will have our work cut out once again for the second and third matches as the conditions will be virtually the same,” Arthur told the . “There’s nothing in the pitch that indicates that the quick bowlers will have any juice in it for them. They will need to put their backs into it and stick rigidly with their disciplines.”South Africa restricted Bangladesh to 178 in Chittagong on Sunday, and all their frontline bowlers were among the wickets. Andre Nel was the most impressive of the lot – with 3 for 24 off his ten overs. The visitors played two spinners in Johan Botha and Paul Harris, and Arthur indicated the two would feature in Wednesday’s match.”It certainly looks that way,” Arthur said. “But a final decision will be made after a practice session later today. We don’t know what the curator is going to be up to this morning as he was still working on the track late yesterday [Monday]. These issues change by the hour in this part of the world and until their job is complete you cannot cast anything in stone.”Graeme Smith and Herschelle Gibbs led the chase in Chittagong, but an inexperienced middle-order – with Jacques Kallis rested for the series – is a vulnerability Bangladesh could exploit if they can make early inroads.Wins in both matches will see South Africa jump to the top spot in the ICC rankings for ODI teams, and would be the ideal way to head to the tougher test that awaits them in India.Team:
Bangladesh: 1 Tamim Iqbal, 2 Nazimuddin, 3 Shahriar Nafees, 4 Mohammad Ashraful (capt), 5 Shakib Al Hasan, 6 Raqibul Hasan, 7 Dhiman Ghosh (wk), 8 Mashrafe Mortaza, 9 Mosharraf Hossain, 10 Abdur Razzak, 11 Syed RaselSouth Africa (probable): 1 Graeme Smith (capt), 2 Herschelle Gibbs, 3 Hashim Amla, 4 JP Duminy, 5 AB de Villiers (wk), 6 Alviro Peterson, 7 Albie Morkel, 8 Johan Botha, 9 Paul Harris, 10 Andre Nel, 11 Charl Langeveldt

Former foes, including Ricky Ponting and Sourav Ganguly, have become Indian Premier League team-mates and publicly patched up their differences. Ponting and Ganguly played small parts in Kolkata’s 140-run thrashing of Bangalore and set out to work together on the field.”We’ve always got on really well right throughout our careers,” Ponting said in the Daily Telegraph. “Ganguly mentioned that he wanted to work pretty closely with me to make sure we get everything right on tactics on the field.”Ganguly said any tension between the players was in the past and he was excited about joining forces with Ponting. “Things happen when you compete in series,” he said, “and that’s over and done and we need to look forward.”Matthew Hayden, one of the key figures in the hearings after the SCG Test, now believes the events surrounding Harbhajan Singh’s race charge were “blown out of all proportion”. “Bhaji is a true fighter and we enjoy the on-field rivalry,” Hayden said. The pair is likely to face off again when Hayden’s Chennai take on Harbhajan’s Mumbai on Wednesday.”Whatever happened in Australia was blown out of proportion and has been talked to death,” Hayden said. “In fact, playing Bhaji helped me understand how to get into the mind of a spinner.”Shane Warne and Graeme Smith, who had a prickly on-field relationship before the legspinner’s international retirement, are in the same team at the Rajasthan Royals, but Warne doesn’t expect any problems. “We have had a fair go at each other as opponents but I believe we will jell quickly,” he said in the Herald Sun. “He is a competitor and is always up for a scrap, which I like, and I’m sure playing in the same side will be fun.” Smith’s entry has been delayed while he completes domestic duties in South Africa.

Tim May, the Federation of International Cricketers’ Associations chief executive, has begun investigating how many players have not received their initial Indian Premier League fees and has warned if the problem is widespread they could walk away from their contracts. The Twenty20 tournament is due to begin on Friday and the Age reported two Australians had not been given a payment following the first IPL auction in February.May said the rush to set up the competition had led to teething problems, but he was concerned by the absence of crucial documents and financial transfers. “There is a worry that some players have not been paid nor received their signed copies of contracts,” May told the paper. “We need to get a good feel on how widespread it is. If it has just alienated a couple of players I’m sure the thing can be worked out reasonably sensibly.”He said organisations that started from scratch needed some leeway before warning the IPL of the potential consequences. “There may be a significant amount of players and their managers who, if obligations from the employer have not been honoured at this stage, the player, if he’s taken the proper procedures to recover these obligations, might want to walk away from the contract or not take part in the game,” he said. “That is a long shot at the moment. We need to get a feel for the size of the problem and then try to address it properly.”David Hussey, who sold for US$625,000 in February, is one of the Australians who has not received the 15% payment for their auction price, which was reportedly due on April 1. “It’s been an absolute nightmare in terms of the paperwork required to get the players there,” Hussey’s manager Rick Olarenshaw said. “I don’t think it’s anything sinister. We’re expecting to have all the paperwork done and Huss will be ready to play.”