Crispen Tsvarai and Bruce Makovah have revealed the reasons they quit Zimbabwe Cricket in an interview with the Zimbabwe Independent.The departure of Tsvarai, who was head of ZC’s technical and player welfare committee and chairman of the Bulawayo Metropolitan province, led to yesterday’s press conference where Themba Mliswa outline dhis plans to remove Peter Chingoka as ZC chairman.Tsvarai’s exit seems to have been triggered by a document he drafted in which he recommended the dismissal of Kevin Curran, the coach, and Andy Pycroft, the A-team coach.The reasons were unclear, although Mliswa hinted that Curran held an Irish passport.Tsvarai’s report was submitted to a ZC executive meeting on September 20 which he failed to attend. The other members of his committee are said to have distanced themselves from his comments.Although Tsvarai declined to tell Cricinfo the reasons for his subsequent decision to quit, and said: “Should you want to know of the reasons why please contact Mr Chingoka.”But the Independent quoted his resignation letter: “I find it hard to continue to chair a committee whose decisions are not respected by what I would call an ‘inner board’ for lack of a better term,” Tsvarai explained to Chingoka.Chingoka fired back in a typically bullish manner. “You talk about transparency in your letter. However, we are struck by the coincidence of your resignation at the time your [technical and player welfare committee] and the board had rejected your personal and unilateral wishes to dismiss Curran and Pycroft.”Meanwhile, Makovah, who had been the chief selector, revealed that he had also stepped down because of Chingoka. “Where there’s lack of policy and lack of professionalism, I have problems,” he said. “I have always had problems with fellow selectors, but my main problem is Peter. When a fish dies it’s the head that starts rotting.”ZC officials subsequently claimed Makovah had not been reappointed rather than resigned.Cricinfo was told that he had opposed attempts to lure back former players who had walked away during the ongoing crisis, and also that he opposed “too many whites in the team”.Another source told the newspaper: “Selection was chaotic and shambolic … Makovah was not attending matches yet he wanted to select players. Even in West Indies he was refusing to watch practice matches but he still wanted to have the final say.”It now seems that Makovah was instrumental in the dismissal of Terry Duffin as captain ahead of the Bangladesh series against the wishes of Curran and there were other rows over selection throughout the series.Makovah has been replaced by Kenyon Ziehl.

West Indies are hoping that Chris Gayle, their opening batsman, recovers quickly from a stomach bug after he was forced to miss his side’s warm-up game on the Pakistan tour.”Gayle caught a stomach bug during the final of the Champions Trophy in India,” Imran Khan, the media manager of the West Indies team told AFP, adding the player was resting for the two-day game. “We hope he recovers in time for the first Test.”West Indies opened the tour with a two-day match against the Pakistan Cricket Board Patron’s XI here Wednesday. The first of their three Tests is scheduled to start on November 11 at Lahore.Gayle, 27, was declared Man of the Tournament in the recently concluded Champions Trophy in India, where he smashed 474 runs in eight matches with three centuries. He backed that up with some tidy offspin, snapping up eight wickets and restricting the run-flow, and was instrumental in leading his side into the final. He couldn’t continue his fine run in the final as Australia overwhelmed West Indies by an eight-wicket margin.

As a Cricket Umpire of Karnataka State Cricket Association Bangalore in India, I state that Muralitharan is out “RUN OUT” as the ball is not dead. So the umpire’s decision is absolutely correct. Murthy
The run-out of Murali, exhibits much of what makes cricket so much less today. If winningis so important that the “spirit” of sport is violated, then watch the diminishing live crowds and TV audiences and wonder no more. Shame on the Kiwi’s. SHAME, I switched channels. Patrick Welcome
Murali was clearly out. NZ did the right thing, this is not a charity match. Let alone how many matches he has played, the moment you represent the country you become a pro. He should have known that the ball was not dead. Sledging is not fair, but this is absolutely fair, within the rules of the game. Karthick KrishnanI’ve just read of Murali’s unfortunate runout while congratulating his partner on his 100. How cruel is that? Couldn’t the umpires have exercised some discretion and leniency as they did when Tony Greig ran out Kallicharran on his way to the pavilion at the end of the day’s play? Vidhyasagar
The run out of Murali was an absolute shocker.. I didn’t expect that from Fleming who in my view is the best captain in the world. Murali grounded his bat and went to congratulate Sangakarra. Even the umpire was walking towards the other end.. It was obnoxious on NZ’s part. Vivek Chhajer
Any Kiwi who ever whinges about the Chappell brothers and the one-day “underarm” incident, should be forced to watch the disgusting actions of Brendan Mccullum in “running out” Murali in the second innings of this test. Doing no more than congratulating his batting partner, and this keeper chooses the most unsportsmanlike action to end the innings. It’s not the first time he has brought the game into disrepute with this underhand method of stealing a wicket. Fleming should have shown appropriate leadership and decry the actions of his team-mate and called the batsman back. But not from this Kiwi team. Disgusting is the only thing I can say. Wayne
It is perfectly correct the way New Zealanders ran out Murali. There is nothing wrong in their part. There is no question of spirit of cricket coming into play here. Murali, who had played more than 100 Test matches, should be knowledgeable enough to know that he can’t walkout of the crease before the ball is dead. Bob Jacobs
It is not fair to get somebody out just for leaving the crease to congratulate the colleague who made a ton under difficult circumstances. New Zealanders, this is not cricket. Rajeendra
Murali gets out again in a bizarre fashion. He surely must be holding the record for most “weird” dismissals. I remember this one particular instance when he was running, and he kept his bat on the ground to grease it. The thing is he had kept his bat on the ground a meter away from the crease. And was running with the bat rubbing against the ground…and just before reaching the crease line. his bat got stuck unto something in the ground and fell. the wicket keeper pulled the bails off and he was given out. He was also give out for jumping in the air when the ball hit the wicket. Basically he’s one of the most exciting batsman in world cricket today 🙂 cos something or the other happens with him around.Murugan
I felt that NZ should have been sportive and let Murali play. It was not a great way to get him OUT. S.Fleming should have displayed sportmanship spirit! N Viswanath
Murali should not have left the crease but anyone could have seen clearly that he went to congratulate his mate. It is very unsportsmanlike like for a team that has been very sporty for a long time to run out Moral at the end. Anyway it shows that how people act under pressure. Good luck kiwis to win at any cost Dim
Murali should have known better. Laws are laws. NZ did absolutely nothing wrong. Sri Lanka would have done the same if they were in NZ position, i.e., tailender holding up an end.Carl Mason
I think it is Murali’s mistake to turn to greet his partner even before the ball is dead.Bala
Murali should know better. It’s a gentlemen’s game but teams also play to win.Rahul
I think that it is justified, if they did not wait for the dead ball to be called, should we let them off. Expensive lesson, but hopefully they learn it well.David
In my mind, Murali should have known better. The keeper is watching the ball come in, so if he notices the batsman leaving his crease while the ball is live, then his next instinct is to take the bails off when he receives the ball. He doesn’t know whether Murali is going for a run or not. At this level, it surely can’t be hard to put your bat in the crease until the keeper has received the ball.Jeff Moen
Clearly Murali thought it was ok to walk to Sangakkara since umpire Jerling himself started walking down the pitch. The umpire was in no position (walking down the pitch) to rule Murali out or even tell him get back. Nuwan
It may be the rule, but it’s definitely not the true spirit of the game. There are many instances where a player can be sent to the dressing room without a regular dismissal, but good players don’t do that. For example, if a batsman picks up the ball and hand it over to a fielder, we don’t see appeals. But I am truly disappointed with New Zeeland on this incident. Win or Lose but you need to keep the spirit of the game! Roshan Rupasinghe
Murali’s run out: He should have known better, but it is clearly bad sportsmanship. Everyone knew he wasn’t trying for another run. NZ have been the better team – this may well spoil a well earned victory. Steve Miller
No question, Murali was out. Even at club level, you always make sure the ball is dead before you leave your crease. He switched off and Sri Lanka paid the price. Jez
Shameful. Murali was clearly on his way to congratulate his partner, after grounding his bat. In the laws of the game, but certainly not something that adds to its decency. Chris
Talk of Mural’s dismissal being against the spirit of the game is a joke…how many times do we see batsman refuse to walk in situations they must know they have edged a catch? There are numerous examples of (particularly Australians!) grounding catches! and personal insults in the form of sledging … I mean the spirit of the game is nonsense at international level there’s no room for sentimentality and none given which is why no one should bemoan a fair and legitimate wicket which could mean the difference between victory and defeat for New Zealand. Jeff
I am an SL supporter. But based on what I saw on cricinfo, Murali should have known better- and he should not have left the crease. But having said that cricketing authorities have not been consistent. Under a very similarly situation (ball being not dead ) Kallicharan was run out Tony Greig. But authorities reversed the decision to avoid possible riots and harm to Tony. Pooji

Scorecard

As many as 22 wickets tumbled on a sensational opening day of the four-day Quadrangular Stage Patron’s Trophy Cicket Championship match, between Habib Bank Limited (HBL) and Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA), in Karachi.Shabbir Ahmed, the fast bowler, captured 5 for 32 runs in 12.1 overs and fellow medium pacer Kashif Raza managed 3 for 52 as HBL, inserted to bat first, were bowled out for 125 on a seaming and bouncy track in Karachi. The WAPDA batsmen fared worse, being shot out for a 72 in reply. When play ended for the day, HBL were 80 for 2 in the second innings with an overall lead of 133.Shahid Afridi, leading HBL, was the star of the day. Fahad Masood caused the early damage in the WAPDA’s innings while Afridi polished off the tail with three wickets. Afridi then slammed 51 off 55 balls, including four fours and two sixes. Aftab Khan (24) and Azhar Mahmood (14*) were the other batsmen to reach double figures.At one stage HBL were reeling at 33 for 5 but Afridi and Aftab added 55 for the sixth wicket. Afridi also held two catches in the WAPDA first innings.
Scorecard
Only 65 overs of play were possible on the opening day owing to fading light but Khan Research Laboratories (KRL) ran up an impressive score of 220 for 2 in the Quadrangular Stage Patron’s Trophy Cricket Championship match in Karachi.After they were put in to bat first by Zarai Taraqiati Bank Limited (ZTBL), KRL lost two wickets for 48. Then, wicketkeeper Zulfiqar Jan and left-hander Saeed Anwar jnr joined hands in a magnificent 172-run unbroken stand for the third wicket.The 28-year-old Saeed from Burewala is nearing his first-class career’s ninth hundred, as he ended the day at 92 not out. His runs have come off 169 balls with the help of 15 fours and a six. Zulfiqar, who has two previous first-class tons to his credit, was unbeaten on 75.

The ICC have revealed David Morgan, the chairman of the ECB and Sharad Pawar, the BCCI president, as the two nominees to succeed Percy Sonn as president of the board.Sonn, 57, began his two-year term at the ICC’s annual conference in 2006. The board has the option of extending his contract to three years but, if not, his successor will take office at the annual conference next year. Pawar, who became the BCCI’s president in November 2005, has the backing of five member boards, including the Asian bloc.The voting process, however, is not restricted only to the 10 full-member boards. There are also the votes of the 32 associate members of the ICC, and the 55 affiliate members. Naturally the votes cast by the full members count for more than those of the others. The winning candidate needs to secure a two-thirds majority among the full-member countries, and a simple majority overall. The votes are weighted 75% in favour of the member boards, with 25% going to the associate and affiliate members. The 55 affiliate members only get five votes between them. It sounds rather complicated, but, basically a two-thirds majority of the full members will do the trick.A new nominations committee, put in place in July 2005, will meet soon to consider the nominations, before announcing its recommendation to the next executive board meeting in March. Voting will then take place at the annual conference which, this year, is being held in London; the successful candidate must secure support from two-thirds of the members.”This is the first time this method of selecting the ICC president has been employed,” said Dr Muttiah, chairman of the ICC nominations committee. “It is a fair and transparent process and one that we believe will ensure the most suitable candidate gets the job.”

Yorkshire’s off-field problems have surfaced again with the news that former England allrounder Anthony McGrath has left the club with immediate effect.It had been widely reported that McGrath was unsettled, and he had been linked with other counties even though he had three years remaining on his contract.In a statement issued through his agent, McGrath announced that he had left Yorkshire. “It is obviously very sad for me that I will not be playing for Yorkshire any more,” he said. “I have been here since I was 11 years old and have been a professional at the club for 14 years.” He strenuously denied reports that the decision was made for financial reasons.A statement from Yorkshire said that the county had only learned of the player’s decision through the press release. “The club would like to put on record that it has worked tirelessly over the past few months trying to find a solution to the grievances raised by Anthony,” it said. “This has included the offer of releasing him from two years of his contract at the end of the 2007 season if he was still unhappy. In addition, he has subsequently been offered the captaincy of the club, an improved package of personal terms and the chance to lead the team he has played for since his childhood thus being able to address many of the deficiencies he complained of in 2006. In all cases he chose to turn down the club’s offers.”

Stewart Regan, the county’s chief executive, added that legal advice was being sought. “We believe he is in breach of his contract in trying to terminate his agreement with the club in this way. We have tried endlessly to resolve the differences Anthony has with the club and feel very hurt that he has chosen to try and break his contract in this manner after being with us for so long. We are now in discussions with our solicitors regarding the possibility of legal action against Anthony and also prospectively against his agent regarding his role in this matter.”Recent events, including the departure of David Byas and the farcical transfer that never was of Chris Adams, have added to the feeling that Yorkshire are in the sort of mess than dogged them through the 1970s and 1980s.

Samir Inamdar, Cricket Kenya’s chairman, has spoken of the difference that qualifying for the final of the World Cricket League will make to Kenyan cricket.Both Kenya and Scotland, who meet on Wednesday, are set to receive US$250,000 from the ICC as their reward for finishing in the top two of the round-robin stage, as well as a place in September’s inaugural Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa. That is the real reward, and while winning the final would be the icing on the cake, it is actually of only significance as far as local bragging rights are concerned.Kenya has been strapped for cash for years, and Inamdar inherited debts of $500,000 from the old regime when his new board took over in May 2005. Since then, they have had to manage on their annual ICC Associate grant of $70,000 and a high-performance grant, earned by a top-six finish in the 2005 ICC Trophy, of $125,000.”It’s enormously significant,” Inamdar, who admitted he was so nervous before the final round of matches that he didn’t sleep, told Cricinfo. “It will enable us to give the player some incentives for winning it and will give them and us some medium to long-term security.”This gives us a chance to structure something for the medium-term at least. It enables us to look at our infrastructure and development, which is very important. We simply haven’t had the resources or the manpower to deal with it until now.”All in all, this is a sizable advance made by Cricket Kenya. It enables us not to have to worry about how we pay people and how to keep the national team going. It will mean the players know where the next pay cheque and the next meal is going to come from.”He added that he hoped to persuade Scotland to travel to Kenya ahead of the September Twenty20 tournament to give both countries exposure to a format that neither has played at international level. He also would be speaking to South Africa to see if the Kenyans could participate in their domestic Twenty20 competition.

England are facing up to the likelihood that their captain, Michael Vaughan, will not be fit enough to lead the side in their must-win encounter against New Zealand at the WACA on Tuesday.Vaughan damaged his left hamstring while fielding during England’s solitary victory of their CB Series campaign, against New Zealand at Hobart on January 16, and Andrew Flintoff, his deputy, admitted England could not be sure he would be ready in time.”Vaughan is doubtful, there is a doubt surrounding his fitness,” Flintoff told a news conference on Monday. “I think the final decision will be made tomorrow, see how he rocks up. He’s done some running out there today but I think a final decision will be made in the morning.”And, as if that was not bad enough for a flatlining side, both of their most impressive fast bowlers to date, James Anderson and Jon Lewis, have been ruled out of contention with niggling injuries.The absences will be another devastating blow to a team whose morale is, in Vaughan’s opinion, as low as he has ever known it. New Zealand thrashed England by 90 runs in their last meeting, at Adelaide last week, before running Australia improbably close in a high-scoring encounter in Perth on Sunday.Defeat at the WACA would leave England needing victories in both their final matches, against Australia and New Zealand, to qualify for the finals. “I think the one thing now is we can’t dance around it,” Flintoff said. “We have got to be honest with ourselves.”We have just got to stand up. I could sit here and tell you all types of different things — but we have got to score some runs.”

Only two weeks since the USA Cricket Association (USACA) was stripped of its membership in the community of cricketing nations, some familiar patterns are beginning to emerge in US cricket. And depending on how one reads the tea leaves, they may bode well for its future.True to form, of course, the USACA website carried no mention of its suspension, let alone an explanation of its actions that had led to this unfortunate event. The site did carry a brief note saying that “More than 70% of the member clubs voted in favor of ratifying the proposed USACA constitution. 29.97% were against,” ignoring the fact that this so-called ratification was under court challenge and had also failed to meet the standards set by ICC for a valid tally.If the USACA was playing its usual game of inscrutable secrecy, the media were under no such constraint. Stories of USA’s suspension appeared in newspapers and on websites all over the world, even in far-off places like India, Pakistan, Africa and Singapore. The idea that the USA could be suspended for anything by a world body must have tickled people’s fancies – it was as if the United Nations had disqualified the USA for failing to live up to its international obligations.Some folks even wondered if the whole thing was a marketing ploy by the ICC, USACA or some other interested parties– after all, it did draw attention to US cricket, more than anything else had done in the past 20 years. Unfortunately, the situation is real enough, as are its intended and unintended consequences.One of those consequences has been the ascendancy of the rejuvenated Council of USA Cricket League Presidents, or USACA-CLP (called CLP for short) as the unchallenged leader in the active arena of US cricket politics. The original members of the CLP’s policy-making group, the Interim Committee as it was called, had been browbeaten into silence by a salvo of lawsuits filed by Gladstone Dainty’s lawyers against both the CLP as a whole and separately against all its individual members. Their place was taken by newly elected representatives of US cricket leagues who had had enough of the USACA Executive and its antics.They have raised the banner of cooperative democracy under which USACA had originally been founded, and rejected the actions of the current USACA executive as anti-democratic, unconstitutional and irrelevant to the issues confronting US cricket. And now that ICC has implicitly supported the CLP position in its official letter to Dainty, they have every hope that the long nightmare of the past three years of egregious mismanagement of US cricket may at last be coming to an end.Meanwhile, US cricket is not waiting on the USACA to resolve its internal problems. Plans for long-run development are being implemented, on a decidedly ambitious timetable.The LA Open, which has established itself as a leading 20/20 tournament where international teams descend on Woodley Park to mix it up with aspiring regional talent in a frenetic display of skill, is on for September 5 to 8. Meanwhile, a quadrangular affair between the four cricket leagues in the rapidly growing Pacific Northwest region is being planned for a weekend in late March. A team representing the Midwest Cricket Conference in Chicago is on an invitational tour if Hyderabad, and may be the first overseas team to play in the new state-of-the art stadium built to accommodate first-class international cricket in South India.Meanwhile, the Houston Astrodome, with the full support of municipal authorities, is going through a multi-billion dollar reconstruction featuring cricket as its showcase sport. And Broward County, having helped to stage the successful Interstate championship organized last year by Major League Cricket (MLC), is trying to get the ECB and the WICB to use their newly developed facilities as cricket’s equivalent of baseball’s Cactus League in Arizona, beginning in 2007 and continuing thereafter.All of which goes to show that the problem with US cricket has never been with those who have actively participated in the sport. As the ICC itself has stated, “It is especially disappointing that the USA players have had to be penalized in this way …The ICC hopes … that all those with the good of the game at heart will come together and take control of this unfortunate situation.” This is precisely what the CLP is proposing to do, and one can only wish them success in this difficult endeavour.

Patience is a virtue, even when you’re pressed for time.One of the distinctive characteristics of West Indies batting efforts so far in the Super Eights phase of this World Cup has been the almost indecent haste to push the score along, regardless of the quality of the bowling. It has already proven to be a costly adventure. No-one involved in the leadership or management of the regional side is going to openly admit it, but there was clearly a plan to go after Glenn McGrath on Wednesday, with disastrous consequences.Chris Gayle and Marlon Samuels both fell to skied catches in the first two overs from the champion bowler, and when he returned for a second spell to tighten the screws on a struggling home side, Dwayne Bravo joined in the succession of reckless dismissals by gifting his wicket via a mistimed drive.Maybe they were influenced by the manner in which the Australians, and especially opening batsman Matthew Hayden, went after Shaun Pollock last Saturday in St Kitts. South Africa’s most experienced and successful bowler was targeted for a merciless assault, leaving Graeme Smith in a quandary as to how to stem the tide and providing further evidence that, despite their status as the top-ranked team in one-day international cricket, the South Africans seem far too regimented and mechanical to navigate through moments when intuitive genius and inspiration are required.But part of being a developing, learning team, or even an outside chance to lift the prize here in the Caribbean, is being able to think on your feet, to respond to the different challenges as they unfold and adapting to the changing circumstances that seem almost inevitable, especially in the shorter version of the game.An element of that thinking process involves recognising the quality of the opposition and not simply going hell for leather just because that might have been discussed at a team meeting the previous evening.There’s no need to fear any opponent. But common sense dictates that a world-class performer should be respected. There is no question that McGrath falls comfortably into that category, so if the ball is not there to hit, the better option must surely be to acknowledge a good delivery, try to keep wickets in hand for the later stage of the innings and push for a competitive total. It was almost the same story yesterday, except that the consequence of impatience was 42 runs worse than the day before, when Australia romped to a 103-run victory. In the context of a determined, disciplined New Zealand line-up and a pitch that seemingly holds no terrors for the batsmen, the odds were obviously stacked against the home side denying the Black Caps a victory that would have further drained the already limited enthusiasm of West Indian fans for this vital stage of the tournament.This mood of concern, bordering on depression, would not have been helped by West Indies selector and former fast bowler Andy Roberts openly expressing his bewilderment, in a lunchtime interview with Keith Holder on the CMC CricketPlus radio coverage yesterday, at the decision to include batsman Lendl Simmons at the expense of fast bowler Jerome Taylor. Such public dissension in the ranks cannot possibly help a cause that is desperately in need of unity, cohesiveness and for all the principals to at least be moving together in the same direction. The inadequate batting performance against New Zealand again featured dismissals defined by impatience, poor shot-selection and the failure to acknowledge quality bowling by giving it due respect.

Jacob Oram’s success in removing Ramnaresh Sarwan, Samuels and Gayle to a succession of loose strokes seemed to have much to do with a degree of mental relaxation by the batsmen at the fact that Shane Bond was out of the attack. The tearaway fast bowler’s removal of Shivnarine Chanderpaul and the pace he was generating early on were definitive statements of intent. That he was able to respond immediately when summoned again by his captain to remove Bravo, and then polish off the innings by knocking over the hapless Corey Collymore, underlined the value of a wicket-taking bowler.Whether fast or slow, to be able to call upon such an individual with the expectation that, more often than not, he can provide the breakthrough is an invaluable asset to any team in any form of the game.Much has been made over the past 15 years, especially since the decline of West Indies and the disappearance of the overpowering armoury of fast bowlers, about the contention that the “bits-and-pieces” performers – the assortment of medium-pacers who bat – are the way to go instead of the out-and-out specialists.Well, that may be the case to an extent, especially when you want some depth in the batting line-up. But for all the talk about containment and limiting scoring opportunities, there is still no better way to arrest the run-rate than to take wickets, as Bond, left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori and medium-pacer Oram showed yesterday at West Indies’ expense.Champion teams are still spearheaded by genuine strike bowlers, whether they rely on raw pace or sleight of hand. When faced with that sort of threat, it is up to the opposition to come up with a plan to counteract it. Swinging for the hills may be the macho thing to do. Yet as we have already realised, unbridled bravado may be exposed as a pitiful attempt to mask technical and temperamental inadequacies.