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Gladstone Dainty, the president of USACA, has broken the board’s silence following the dismissal of Don Lockerbie as chief executive.While none of the board has been willing to discuss events leading to Lockerbie’s removal, Dainty, who almost never speaks to the media, gave an interview to dreamcricket.com.In it, Dainty revealed almost nothing about what happened with Lockerbie, aside from a completely non-committal response. “You know getting into details about personal issues, that’s not my style and I don’t think that should be discussed of anybody that’s professional,” he said. “That was a personal issue and there’s a confidential aspect of that that I won’t get into that. But we’re not together anymore. He’s not together with USACA.”Pressed to explain if Lockerbie was fired or resigned, Dainty said: “We’re just not together anymore.”He did, however, insist there would be a replacement. “We are expecting to have somebody who would lead the organisation. It costs a lot of money and administratively with Don being there we realised that having a full-time person is very important so we’re trying to get not only a CEO but hopefully we can get resources to increase our professional staff.”Asked if Lockerbie’s departure would impact on the image of the USA both in international cricket and with sponsors, Dainty said: “You’re always concerned about your image, especially when people leave. But in any organisation, you have change and I mean to say that change for better or for worse sometimes people are uncomfortable with it. But once you know the facts surrounding these departures, then… you know it’s not as… the organisation will continue.”A second part of the interview is flagged and it has to be hoped Dainty is pressed about reports USACA’s finances are in a poor state following the Florida Twenty20 event and other recent initiatives which have fallen by the wayside.

Doug Bollinger declared himself fully fit after bowling in the SCG nets on Thursday and he will continue his comeback in club cricket on the weekend. Bollinger is aiming to prove himself ready for the first Ashes Test at the Gabba starting on November 25, after he suffered a stomach injury in the Mohali Test last month.Bollinger will be joined on the grade scene by Simon Katich, who the Australians hope will have recovered from a fractured thumb in time for the Ashes opener. Both men are planning to play for New South Wales in next week’s Sheffield Shield match against Tasmania, which will be their only chance to impress before the Test.”I’m 100% mate, 100%,” Bollinger told reporters after his net session. “Feeling good, 100 per cent everything. All of the above.” He bowled a scorching spell to his state team-mate Moises Henriques, who is also out injured, and was so happy with his aggression that at one point he asked Henriques if he’d like to change his underwear.It was a good sign for the selectors, who will on Monday choose the squad for the first Test. The attack is likely to be made up of Bollinger, Ben Hilfenhaus, Mitchell Johnson and Nathan Hauritz, although Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle are also in contention, while Peter George performed well on Thursday against the England XI in Adelaide.There were also encouraging words from Katich, who played both the Tests in India in October with a broken thumb because he believed it was only bruised. Should he be unavailable, the selectors would likely make a straight swap for his New South Wales team-mate Phillip Hughes, but Katich is confident of being fit.”The thumb is feeling good,” Katich told the . “I saw the hand specialist yesterday. It’s coming along nicely. It feels a lot better than it was.”

Two of Zimbabwe’s main venues, Harare Sports Club (HSC) and Mutare Sports club (MSC), are set for an upgrade after Zimbabwe Cricket announced its plans to renovate both grounds.The work will see an increase in crowd capacity and an improvement in playing and spectator facilities and is the latest in a series of positive measures taken as Zimbabwe bids for re-entry into the Test arena.The project at HSC is expected to be completed before the start of the domestic Twenty20 series which is scheduled for November. The franchise-based Twenty20 cup competition was a success last season and ZC is hoping that the improved facilities will bring even bigger crowds to the game.The plans at HSC will see elevated grass embankments being constructed at the east end of the ground and the installation of floodlights for day/night matches to be played during the Twenty20 tournament and possible international fixtures.Meanwhile, the playing field and training nets field are set for a revamp at MSC in an attempt to arrest the steady decline in the quality of the outfield – that has become slow and rough – and to introduce turf nets to replace the existing artificial ones.

Scorecard
Junaid Khan finished with nine wickets in the match•ESPNcricinfo Ltd

The unofficial second Test between Sri Lanka A and Pakistan A was tantalisingly poised at the end of the second day in Hambantota, with the visitors requiring 86 more to win with five wickets in hand in conditions where the ball has dominated proceedings. Twenty-two wickets had fallen on a riveting first day with both teams being bowled out for under three-figures but Sri Lanka’s batsmen put up an improved performance on the second to give their team a good chance of a win.Sri Lanka’s middle-order batsmen chipped in with important contributions but were prevented from converting them into something substantial by the duo of fast bowler Junaid Khan and left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar, who shared nine wickets between them. Junaid increased his match tally to nine and together with Babar pegged away at the batting after Sri Lanka had threatened to post a more challenging target. Dinesh Chandimal top scored with 40, Thilina Kandamby made 32 and Janaka Gunaratne did his bit with 29, helping Sri Lanka set a target of 179.Pakistan had suffered a horrible start in their first innings, but began steadily in their chase with the openers adding 22. But captain Azeem Ghumman’s run-out triggered a slide with Jeevan Mendis rising to the occasion with his legbreaks. He trapped Abid Ali in front, bowled Aamer Sajjad and broke a 33-run stand between Naved Yasin and Hammad Azam. Pakistan ended the day on 93 for 5 but with Azam settled at the crease with an unbeaten 23.

Suspended IPL commissioner Lalit Modi’s troubles have deepened after the Bombay High Court rejected his plea for the recusal of his successor Chirayu Amin and BCCI vice-president Arun Jaitley from the disciplinary committee investigating charges against him. Modi had sought the removal of Amin and Jaitley from the committee on grounds that they were biased against him.Ratnakar Shetty, the BCCI’s chief administrative officer, said the court order would allow the disciplinary committee – scheduled to meet later on Wednesday – to proceed as planned. “There are witnesses on the list prepared by the committee and we will go ahead with that list.”Modi’s lawyer Mehmood Abdi said he would consider filing a special leave petition against the order. He was also unhappy that the board did not accept his request to defer the hearing to a later date. “What’s the hurry? It’s humanly impossible to reach there (committee member Jyotiraditya Scindia’s house by 2pm, about an hour and a half after the court’s ruling),” he said. “The list of witnesses was given and it was clear who will depose first. It was to start with Sundar Raman but now they say the foreigners would be examined first.”How can you examine all witnesses in three-four hours? What was the need to bring all of them [foreigners] together? This is unprecedented haste, speaks volumes for itself.”The committee has until October 26 to submit its recommendations to the board. The BCCI suspended Modi immediately following the conclusion of IPL 3 in April and charged him with financial irregularities relating to the bidding process for IPL franchises, the mid-over ad sales and the sale of theatrical rights. He was also charged with colluding to set up a rebel league in England.

As Ricky Ponting walked through the MCC Museum at Lord’s on Monday, he passed within metres of the Ashes urn. He was on his way to face the TV cameras ahead of a neutral series against Pakistan but in an Ashes year, how could he not have one eye on regaining the greatest prize in Australian cricket? The tiny trophy was right there in front of him, taunting him, yet he must wait four months before it is up for grabs.Between now and November, Australia have four Tests to put themselves into an Ashes-winning frame of mind. They have made a good start, having won seven of their eight Tests since leaving England empty-handed last year. Stumbling against Pakistan, who haven’t beaten them in a Test in nearly 15 years, would be a massive snag in their plans.For that reason, Ponting has his sights set firmly on stopping Shahid Afridi, the new Pakistan captain, from having any influence on the game. In a side without Mohammad Yousuf and Younis Khan, Afridi is the undisputed leader of a young group. He claims to have restored the unity of the team but Ponting knows that if Afridi fails on the field, so might his colleagues.”From an outsider’s point of view at the moment it looks as though they’re sort of running a bit off him,” Ponting said. “I think a lot of their younger blokes look up to him and he’s their leader, the bloke they go to when they need something to happen, so it’s pretty much like every captain of every side is. We always talk about trying to nullify the captain and take the captain down early and we’ll try and do that in this series as well, there’s no doubt about that.”Equally, while Australia are keen to shut down a new-look Pakistan, they also want to try some fresh ideas themselves. Steven Smith will audition for an Ashes role, Tim Paine will gain valuable experience in case he is required again in the near future and Michael Clarke will be promoted to No. 4, a shift that will remain in place for the Ashes.The move up the order for Clarke is a significant step for the man most likely to be Australia’s next Test captain, and potentially their No. 3 when Ponting eventually retires. Over the past year, Clarke has been Australia’s leading Test run scorer while Michael Hussey, who is heading down to No. 5, has sometimes looked scratchy when exposed to the new ball.”It’s just about how well he’s played,” Ponting said of Clarke. “I think his game is very well suited to higher up the order against the new ball, probably a bit more than what Hussey’s is right at the moment. That’s the reason. He has been our most consistent player and that’s been in pretty much all conditions around the world.”The last Ashes series over here he showed that at different times and in challenging times when the ball was moving around quite a bit, that he can do the job up the order. He has developed his game nicely over the last couple of years and hence when you have those guys who are playing that well, we all know they need to be batting as soon as possible, so that’s why he’s moved up an extra spot.”It’s a change that was made with the Ashes in mind. In England last year, Clarke was comfortably Australia’s leading scorer and not surprisingly, they want to get the most out of him in the return battle. The two Tests at Lord’s and Headingley, in addition to the two Tests in India in October, will also provide some insight into Australia’s bowling ahead of the Ashes.Ben Hilfenhaus is back after a long bout of knee tendonitis, which kept him out of all but the first Test of Australia’s home summer, while Smith’s ability as a Test-class spinner will be closely monitored. If he shows enough promise in England, and in India if given the chance, he could threaten Nathan Hauritz come the first Test at the Gabba. All in all, Ponting sees the next two weeks as a valuable building block towards Ashes redemption.”It absolutely is,” he said. “But we’re not solely focused on November. We’ve got a lot of cricket to play before then. I see this as a great opportunity for the young guys to gain some more experience about Test cricket. It’s the true form of the game, it’s the game that tests you out the most, so we’re going to be learning a lot about our players in not only this game but every game we play before the start of the Ashes.”Australia should remain too strong for Pakistan but if they cast their gaze too far ahead, their building block could turn into a stumbling block.

Shahid Afridi has said one of his immediate priorities as Pakistan’s new captain is to ensure his players aren’t guilty of any unruly behaviour while on tour. Pakistan cricket has had its reputation in tatters of late with a history of infighting within the team and Afridi sent out a warning to his team-mates before departing for the Asia Cup that any indiscipline will not be tolerated.The squad for the tournament in Sri Lanka includes two controversial players in Shoaib Malik and Shoaib Akhtar, who have been accused of either flouting team rules or creating rifts within the team. Afridi said he had a word with both in particular and expected them to set a better example going forward.”In the training camp I spoke to Shoaib and also Malik and explained the new set of rules that we expect them to follow in the team,” Afridi told reporters in Lahore.” I explained that being senior players I require their support to introduce a new culture in the team.”The board has also made it clear that the captain and manager have full authority to take action against any player they feel is getting out of line.”Pakistan’s turbulent tour of Australia earlier this year resulted in several senior players, including Afridi, being fined or banned indefinitely for various offenses. After the players appealed, the PCB reduced and wrote off the punishments of five players. The indefinite ban on former captain Younis Khan was lifted, Malik’s one-year ban was removed, the Rs 3 million fine on captain Afridi, for ball-tampering, was revoked entirely, while the fines on the Akmal brothers for acts of indiscipline were reduced.Following the retirement of Mohammad Yousuf, who was also banned indefinitely, Afridi was appointed captain in all formats for the Asia Cup and the tour of England. Aiming to make a fresh start, Afridi called on his players to put the past behind them and perform.”We have enormous talent and we have some exciting new players coming up. I am confident that if we play as a unit we can beat any team in the world.”

Tillakaratne Dilshan will lead Sri Lanka in Zimbabwe in the absence of Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, both of whom have been rested for the triangular series also involving India. Sanath Jayasuriya, who had a horrid World Twenty20, and Lasith Malinga also have been rested. Angelo Mathews, the allrounder, will deputise for Dilshan, who is on his first assignment as captain for an ODI series.Muttiah Muralitharan, who was ruled out during the World Twenty20 due to a groin injury, also hasn’t been picked. Sri Lanka have drafted in allrounder Jeewan Mendis, who’s been in his country’s domestic circuit for almost ten years but is yet to make a international appearance. Also featuring in the squad of 15 is left-handed batsman Lahiru Thirimanne, who played for Sri Lanka in two ODIs in Bangladesh in January.Returning to the squad are opener Upul Tharanga, middle-order batsman Chamara Silva and fast bowler Dilhara Fernando, who were not picked for the World Twenty20 in the Caribbean.The tournament gets underway in Bulawayo on May 28, with Zimbabwe taking on India in the opener.Sri Lanka squad: Tillakaratne Dilshan (capt), Angelo Mathews (vice-capt), Upul Tharanga, Thilan Samaraweera, Dinesh Chandimal, Lahiru Thirimanne, Chamara Kapugedera, Suraj Randiv, Nuwan Kulasekara, Thilan Thushara, Ajantha Mendis, Jeevan Mendis, Dilhara Fernando, Chamara Silva, Thissira Perera.

Salman Butt, the mainstay of Pakistan’s batting in the recently concluded World Twenty20, believed that his success during the event was based on understanding that the youngest format of the game was not about just slogging.”Twenty-over cricket has a place for what I would term “proper stroke-makers” – batsmen who play their shots on the merit of each delivery,” Butt told . “Bowlers are fighting back when it comes to this form of the game and they are finding new ways to innovate and to restrict the batting side. As a batsman I think you have to play the high percentage shots, the shots that you know you can play, the shots that you feel you can score off effectively.””If you think about it, get four or five singles in an over and one boundary in the same over, and you have accumulated eight or nine runs in that over, which if you can maintain and you will end up with 160-plus. It’s not just about the fours and sixes”. Butt was the third highest run-getter in the tournament, with 223 runs at 44.60, and a strike-rate of 131.17. Interestingly, he hit only four sixes during the tournament, fewer than anyone else in the top fifteen.His top score came in the Super Eights match against New Zealand, which Pakistan contrived to lose by one run, when tail-ender Abdur Rehman spooned a catch into the deep off the last ball, with Butt stranded at the non-striker’s end on 73. Butt had run a bye off the penultimate ball to relinquish the strike, and he backed his decision in hindsight.”We needed 11 off the last over and then three off two deliveries after I managed to hit two boundaries. Rehman and I had a chat before the penultimate delivery and decided that we would go for a bye even if I did not connect with the ball. We scampered a bye and then had another chat before the final delivery. We decided that again we would run for anything and we were confident that if it went to the super over, in Mohammad Aamer we had a bowler who would see us to victory.Rehman had not batted previously in the tournament as of course it was his first match, so I said to him to at least look for a single. However when the ball was bowled by [Ian] Butler, Rehman’s eye’s lit up at the leg-stump half volley. He went for a boundary and connected really well. If the ball had been a few yards either side of the fielder it would have gone for a boundary. Thinking back I thought the planning was satisfactory and it was really painful when we did not at least score a single on that final delivery,” Butt said.Despite that loss, their second in two Super Eights games, Pakistan roared back into the tournament with a fine victory against South Africa to enter the final four. They dominated their semi-final match against Australia from the outset and looked on course for their third consecutive World Twenty20 final before running into a rampaging Michael Hussey, who stole 18 off the final over to put it past them. Butt admitted there was little his side could have done to deny Hussey in that kind of form.”Yes we can be satisfied with reaching the semi-finals, but the target is always to win trophies. We came back very well after the New Zealand defeat to beat the South Africans and I thought we were gaining enough momentum and on our way to the final. “We made the highest score any team made in the tournament against Australia, but it was one of those occasions where you have to credit Mike Hussey for his batting. I would say that rather than Pakistan losing the semi-final, it was more a case of Hussey winning the match for Australia,” Butt said.Butt credited his coaches, Ijaz Ahmed and Waqar Younis, for his fine run of form in the West Indies. “They really backed me during the tournament and gave me a lot of self-belief and confidence. As a batsman once you receive the backing and you have the self confidence, then that is half the battle,” Butt said.Butt hopes to feature in Pakistan’s next assignment, the Asia Cup one-day tournament which will be held on the bowler-friendly wickets at Dambulla in Sri Lanka. “Hopefully I will get selected. The conditions in Dambulla are very tricky for top order batsmen as the ball seams around a lot in the first hour or so. Winning the toss could be pivotal in the result of the matches in Sri Lanka,” he said.After the Asia Cup, Pakistan embark on a tour of England where they will face the hosts and Australia in six Tests, and Butt is up for the potentially tough examination. “Facing the Australian and English bowling attacks will be a tough test. They are amongst the best bowling attacks in the world at the moment and they will thoroughly test me and the other Pakistani batsmen. However when you face tough opponents, it helps you to develop your game and to work harder at improvements in your game and technique,” Butt said.Butt’s name has done the rounds as a potential captain for Pakistan in Test matches, following the retirement of Mohammad Yousuf, but he has not dwelled much on the possibility. “I have read a few articles in the press and I know that a few ex-players have suggested that I should be given the opportunity. Of course it would be an honour to lead my country, but it is not something I have been thinking about. I would much rather concentrate on my batting in the upcoming Asia Cup and tour of England,” he said.