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Mohammad Asif’s rehabilitation from elbow injury could rule him out for another three months, which means he may face a race against time to be ready for the home series against Australia in March.Asif missed four ODIs out of five against South Africa in October and also the entire tour to India because of his right elbow. The problem is a long-standing one, having forced him to miss three Tests last year against England as well.He has just undergone successful keyhole surgery on the elbow in Sydney, Australia. The surgery was carried out by a prominent specialist on Monday. “The initial reports are that it was not a major operation and it has been successful,” Shafqat Naghmi, Chief Operating Officer of the PCB, told .”But Asif’s recovery could take up to three months before he resumes playing,” Naghmi said. A specialist will soon determine how long the full rehabilitation period will be.”We fear he would require a three-month rest, which means he is certainly out of next month’s home series against Zimbabwe,” he stated.Naghmi also said that Asif might then face a race against time to be completely fit for the home series against Australia, tentatively scheduled to begin from March 9.

New Zealand Cricket has decided that Hamilton will not host a one-day international during Australia’s tour which starts next month. Westpac Park was scheduled to host the fourth match of the series on March 2, but following criticism of the pitch there during New Zealand’s match against the FICA World XI on January 26, the board decided that an alternative venue would be sought.Martin Snedden, NZC’s chief executive, said that the pitch had probably not settled completely since being laid in April 2004, and indicated that it might not match up to international standards. “We have decided to move the Australian ODI as we can’t afford to risk the pitch for that match not being up to international standard. We need to ensure the match is played on a good-quality surface.” The match is likely to shift to Auckland, Christchurch or Wellington.”The Hamilton City Council has done tremendous work improving facilities and upgrading the quality of the ground at Westpac Park,” said Snedden. “The issue with the wicket block is likely to be short term. With the exception of the pitch issues there were a large number of positives from the day [the January 26 match] which showed that the venue has the ability to successfully host ODIs.”We made the decision to play Wednesday’s match at Westpac Park based on previous experience with Waikari wicket-blocks. We had expected that the block would have settled enough to allow an acceptable playing surface to be prepared. That wasn’t the case, and ultimately the responsibility for that decision rests with NZC.”I am happy with the efforts of the Westpac Park turf-management team. The issue appears to be one with the block not settling as quickly as would be expected, rather than with the preparation of the playing surface.”The pitch at Hamilton came in for severe criticism, with Shane Warne, the World XI captain, suggesting that it wasn’t upto international standards. The World team was bundled out for 81 in that game, and the match finished in just more than 35 overs, forcing the sides to play a ten-overs-a-side game.

Geoffrey Boycott has launched a scathing and wide-ranging attack on the state of English cricket, in an interview on Radio Five Live. He called England’s performance against South Africa “pathetic'”. He also strongly criticised the selectors for looking to the future instead of the present, and called Nasser Hussain “stupid'” for the resigning from the captaincy when he did. The strongest criticism however, was reserved for Duncan Fletcher.Boycott has been forced to watch most of England’s recent matches on television, as he has fought throat cancer from which he is now in remission. In this interview, however, he showed that he has not become any softer.”I don’t take much notice of their wins against Zimbabwe,” he began. “Quite frankly they [Zimbabwe] weren’t up for it. A club side could have beaten Zimbabwe, so saying England have had a good summer so far is nonsense. We’ve not been tested until South Africa came here, and we’ve not only been found wanting – we’ve been pathetic.”Boycott believes that the selectors should not pick young cricketers simply because they’re looking to build a team for the future. He insists that Nasser Hussain and Alec Stewart still have roles to play. “Every time we have a bad match, the selectors come up with the old chestnut of `sack the older players, bring on youth, build for the future’.””Well to hell with the future – what about now? What the public could do with is a tonic now – they could could do with England whacking South Africa at Trent Bridge. So I wouldn’t sack Alec and I wouldn’t sack Hussain – I think they’ve got it right.”Fletcher, who prefers to work quietly from the sidelines, is not spared either: “Whenever there’s any publicity, it’s shove the captain forward. When the team plays well, he [the coach] takes a lot of the plaudits. I think you’ve got to take some of the pressure off Michael (Vaughan) and stand up a bit.”Boycott suggested that England needed someone who properly recognised the importance of County cricket: “He [Fletcher] hasn’t played county cricket and he doesn’t understand the passion we have for it, and resting all the players all the time is killing county cricket. I just feel that it would be better if we had an Englishman who understands that we have a professional county game to support, as well as Test matches to win. You have to marry the two.”Hussain might have got the Boycott vote as player, but the timing of his resignation comes under fire: “Stupid – not good for English cricket. I accept that maybe he was mentally shot – but he should have known that before he went on the field. He did a lot of talking before that first Test match and I thought ‘this guy’s talking himself out of a job’.”

Tickets are still available for the Cheltenham & Gloucester Trophy Final – between Gloucestershire and Worcestershire – at Lord’s on Saturday 30th August.No further advance bookings are being taken. Tickets will be available from the North Gate Sales Points in Wellington Place from 8.45 am.Only three types of ticket currently remain available – Adult tickets to the Upper Tier of the Grand Stand (£45 each), Adult tickets to the Mound Stand (£40) and Juvenile tickets to the Lower Tier of the Mound Stand (£5 each).

Surrey have ended their search for a replacement for Keith Medlycott with the announcement that Steve Rixon has signed a two-year deal to be the county’s manager.Rixon, 49, who played 13 Tests for Australia between 1977 and 1985, is currently coaching New South Wales and will move to England in late March when his current contract expires.”Having been offered roles in English cricket before, I feel this is the opportunity and challenge that really excites me the most," Rixon said. "Working for what I see as the premier county, I’ve been very impressed with what I’ve seen of Surrey so far. It’s clearly a squad with high quality players who I am looking forward to working with. I believe we will continue to build on the winning ways of the past few years.””We have searched the world of cricket to find the best person for this crucial position within the club," Paul Sheldon, Surrey’s chief executive, explained. "Having spent time with him last week in Australia I am convinced that we have found the right man to lead the team into a new era."

This one-sided game added fuel to the debate. Not whether the Champions Trophy should be scheduled for the last half of September in a small, damp north-European island, but whether the Rose Bowl should be hosting international cricket. (And, given that its stands were painted sky blue with great swathes of fans wearing the Indian one-day kit, delphinium or gentian somehow seemed more appropriate than rose.)The new Southampton ground, make no mistake, is a magnificent venue. Everyone has a cracking view even when wandering round or queuing for beer, it sits beneath attractive wooded slopes, the pavilion is light and graceful, and it’s a stone’s throw from the motorway network. With the extra seating brought in for the occasion, it can seat a respectable 16,000, so what’s the problem?Maybe there isn’t one, but a key ingredient of international cricket is still missing. The Rose Bowl doesn’t yet have an international-standard pitch. Even India, arguably the finest batting line-up in the game (admittedly without Sachin Tendulkar), and facing Kenya’s modest attack, could not ignite this match.The Southampton wicket remains a grudging, curmudgeonly pitch that tends to suffocate an innings. One-day internationals thrive on harder, faster surfaces than here, and this fixture suffered.Despite the best efforts of the most partisan and enthusiastic set of fans the Rose Bowl can have seen in its short history – if you looked very carefully, you could just make out the odd pocket of Kenyan leaf-green in the fervent light-blue sea – onfield sparkle was in short supply.With play beginning at 10.15 on a dewy autumnal morning, the Indian top order were justified in playing safe, and in the first 15 overs the crowd had to content themselves with more Mexican waves than boundaries. Virender Sehwag, though, can do only so much playing safe, and he had already gone to an ugly heave across the line that would have caused a wince or two on the village green.Sourav Ganguly and VVS Laxman looked secure, if not at home. They prospered against largely innocuous bowling, but the stodgy pitch and treacly outfield prevented any fireworks. Both managed just four fours in their fifties as India hit only ten boundaries in their first 30 overs.Against far sharper bowling, Kenya naturally found it even harder going. India’s effervescent supporters, clanging, cheering, shouting and klaxoning their team towards the rout, probably wouldn’t complain, but it could all have been so much more entertaining. And as the Kenyans’ strength remains their batting, it should also have produced a closer game.It might seem churlish to complain when the Indians totalled 290, but the Rose Bowl is due to host Test cricket in the near future. It has excellent facilities, it just needs the pitch to go with them.Hugh Chevallier is deputy editor of Wisden Cricketers’ Almanack.

Scorecard

Stephen Fleming scored a chanceless 129 off 176 balls on the first day New Zealand’s match against the BCB XI, their only warm-up ahead of next Tuesday’s first Test. New Zealanders finished on 285 for 6 after rain and bad light had permitted only 66 overs.Fleming and Hamish Marshall had put on 119 for the fourth wicket, after the Shahadat Hossain and Alamgir Kabir exploited the morning’s humid conditions to reduce the New Zealanders to 86 for four. After a consolidating Fleming and Marshall unfurled an elegant range of shots to accelerate either side of lunch.Kabir dismissed Marshall for 51, which did not slow Fleming’s scoring, but rain, which came an hour after the resumption, did. Fleming retired out during the break to allow his other batsman time in the middle. He had been particularly severe on Nadif Chowdhury, a left-arm spinner lofting him for two straight sixes.Before fading light brought an early finish, Shahadat Hossain Rajib made one delivery to bounce off a length to have Jacob Oram caught behind.The Bangladesh selectors – Faruque Ahmed, Athar ali Khan, Golam Nowsher and Dav Whatmore -were in attendance and will wait until the final day of this match before announcing the squad for the first Test at Dhaka.

Craig White’s hopes of making an England comeback appear to have been dashed yet again after he broke down with a recurrence of the muscle strain which sidelined him for much of the winter.White, who underwent surgery on his ribs at the start of the season, left the field during Yorkshire’s National League match against Surrey on Sunday. “It has been sore since I started bowling against Somerset at Taunton, but I knew and I was just hoping it would gradually get better,” White told the Yorkshire Post. “I tried to bowl a bouncer at Mark Butcher but as soon as I had released the ball I had excruciating pain in the same area. It was as if someone had stabbed me with a knife.”White will be examined by Yorkshire’s physio later today at which time it is expected that the nature of the injury will become clearer. “We don’t know the full extent of his injury, but even if it is bad it will be a case of taking the appropriate course of action and giving him the correct treatment,” explained Geoff Cope, Yorkshire’s director of cricket. “We just hope it isn’t as bad as it looks.”But White, who has been dogged by a series of injuries in recent years, hinted that if the strain is serious then he might reconsider his career. “I love the game and although I knew that the rib operation was quite a major thing I decided to go through with it to prolong my career for a couple of years or so,” he told the Yorkshire Post. “But there is only so much hurting anyone can take.”

Brendon Kuruppu, a former opening batsman and selector for Sri Lanka, has been appointed interim team manager for Sri Lanka’s forthcoming tour to Pakistan. Kuruppu takes over on a temporary basis after Ajit Jayasekera, the manager for most of the last four years, requested a break.Sri Lanka Cricket is set to start a recruitment process for a two-year contract starting with Sri Lanka’s tour of New Zealand, and Jayasekera has not ruled out reapplying for the position. Jayasekera had excelled in the job, earning the respect of the team and the media, but the constant travel had become an increasing burden and he decided to spend more time at home with his six-year-old son.Kuruppu takes over having just returned to the island after a coaching stint in Singapore. Anura Tennekoon and Michael Tissera, both former Sri Lanka captains, had been the frontrunners to stand-in for Jayasekera. A senior board official has confirmed that Kuruppu’s name has been sent to the Minister of Sports for ratification.

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has signed off players’ rights with their agreement to a ten percent commission pay-out to International Sports Management (ISM), their United Kingdom-based brokers. The commission is deductible from the players’ base fees and even on their bonuses, a scenario described as grossly unacceptable and potentially dangerous by the Sponsorship Negotiation Review Committee (SNRC).The details of this aspect of the Digicel agreement were revealed in Justice Anthony Lucky’s SNRC report, which was handed over to Ken Gordon, the new WICB president, on August 15. The report will be discussed at an executive board meeting on September 4, in St John’s, Antigua.In chapter three of the report, entitled “Does an improper relationship exist between the WICB and Digicel?”, it is explained that the two commission agreements, one dated February 23, 2004 and signed by Roger Brathwaite, the chief executive officer of WICB, and the other dated July 6, 2004 and signed by Teddy Griffith, the then WICB president, commit the WICB to the payment of a ten percent commission to ISM or the belatedly created company Sports Bureau International (SBI). SBI was only established in 2004, after negotiations began with the WICB. SBI was also a company that David Brookes, an ISM director, admitted was created to mask the identity of Digicel when the WICB asked Cable & Wireless (C&W), 18-year-long sponsors of West Indies cricket, to match the rival bid, a clear breach of the contract the WICB had with C&W at the time.Clause five of the agreement, signed by Brathwaite in February that year, states the following: “The WICB shall pay to ISM a commission equal to 10 per cent of the aggregate value of the sponsorship agreement [in money or monies worth and including, without limitation, any bonuses or incentives] paid or received by the WICB pursuant to a sponsorship agreement.”The report declared: “So not only does ISM get a 10 per cent commission on the base fees but even the players’ bonuses negotiated under the contract”. The committee also found that the WICB would not have had to pay a commission to C&W and would have stood to earn approximately US $600,000 more than they ultimately received from the Digicel contract.The SNRC report interviewed sports management professionals, all of whom stated they were not aware of any sponsorship agreement where commissions are paid on players’ bonuses. Further, under the agreement signed by Griffith on July 6, 2004 and Andrew Chandler, an ISM director, the WICB’s supposed sponsorship funds are to first pass through ISM/SBI for the deduction of their commission before the WICB receives its share.Clauses one and two of the agreement state: 1. Subject to and in accordance with the provisions of any act or regulation applicable to the same, all payments under the Master Sponsorship agreement shall be made by Digicel through ISM to WICB. 2. ISM shall be entitled to deduct from each of such payments the commission to which it is entitled under the commission agreement before accounting for the same and paying the balance to the WICB.The SNRC did not agree with this arrangement. “In the view of the Committee,” the report states, “this is grossly unacceptable.” The report also raised serious concerns over a clear conflict of interest for ISM/SBI as it was determined that they ultimately represented both sides and that the WICB was paying all the commission.Brathwaite told the Committee that the situation was so because ISM/SBI brought the sponsor. The Committee also asked the question: “Why did the president (Griffith) and CEO (Brathwaite) not insist on the Board’s money coming to the Board as well? This was like a salesman who works on commission telling the company’s costumers to make cheques payable to him or her and not to the company. So the company who has the majority of the cheque has to wait on the sales representative to pay the company its majority share from his or her personal account.”The report stated that the situation was not only highly unusual but potentially dangerous and could result in serious financial losses to the WICB. For example, should any creditor or the government of the United Kingdom appoint a receiver/liquidator to ISM shortly after the funds have been transferred from Digicel for subsequent transfer to the WICB, those funds as well as future cash flows could end up frozen, the document pointed out. As was stated in an earlier report, WICB’s Memoranda and Articles of Association were not adhered to and the SNRC was unable to discover any evidence of Board discussion or ratification or of a resolution authorising the president and other WICB directors to sign the new agreement.The following questions were raised: 1. Why did the WICB sign the new agreement when there was a potential new and better offer on the table from a proven, tried and tested company (C&W) with whom the WICB had an 18-year relationship, if it did? 2. Why did the CEO and president not use the opportunity to up the ante to get the best deal possible by making C&W, Digicel and any potential sponsors fight it out to maximise its offer? 3. Why if ISM was representing the WICB it tried to conclude the deal with Digicel when potentially there was a possibility of a better offer?Brookes had stated he did not want to lose the deal he had worked hard to secure. So his personal interest was paramount and not necessarily the WICB who at the end was bearing the cost of the whole deal.