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ICC chief executive David Richardson has delivered scathing criticism of the leadership of the USACA in a strongly-worded letter

Peter Della Penna10-May-2017ICC chief executive David Richardson has delivered scathing criticism of the leadership of the USA Cricket Association (USACA) in a strongly-worded letter outlining the reasons for the ICC Board’s decision to table a resolution for expelling the board. The USACA is in danger of being expelled as an Associate Member of the ICC at the annual conference in June. Richardson also warned the USACA that if it follows through on its threats to commence legal action in an attempt to block or overturn an eventual expulsion, “you should be in no doubt that the ICC will defend its position vigorously.”The letter from Richardson was addressed to USACA president Gladstone Dainty days after the recent ICC Board meeting in Dubai in which, the chief executive said, there was a 13-0 vote to table the resolution for expulsion, with the West Indies Cricket Board choosing to abstain from voting on the matter. Richardson said that the USACA’s refusal to ratify an ICC-approved constitution was the last straw among the issues they did not remedy as laid out in the 39 terms and conditions for reinstatement.”If USACA had adopted the ICC-approved constitution, thereby creating a sustainable governance framework that the entire US cricket community could unite behind, then perhaps USACA’s other failures, including its failure to satisfy the other reinstatement conditions, could have been forgiven,” Richardson wrote. “But without the ICC-approved constitution to offer hope of a new beginning, what is left is a string of unsatisfied reinstatement conditions, which are serious enough when considered in isolation, but when taken together are more than enough, in the view of the ICC Board, to warrant the proposal to bring USACA’s membership in the ICC to an end.”Several elements of the constitution the USACA approved at its April 8 SGM rankled with Richardson and the ICC. The USACA version would allow the incumbent board to remain in power until March, rather than expediting elections for September, and the USACA also insisted on overseeing their own elections rather than having outside oversight from ICC Americas, ICC Legal & Audit plus an independent auditor. In reply, Richardson said that “is clearly not justified given the sorry history of previous elections to the USACA board.”The incumbent USACA board also wanted to maintain decision-making authority over who would be allowed to vote, something Richardson said was severely problematic given the board’s history of election controversy. As a result, they could not see how such governance would bring the US cricket community together.”The ICC Board considers that the changes that USACA has made to the ICC-approved constitution seriously undermine, if not destroy altogether, USACA’s chances of uniting that community,” Richardson wrote. “Far from offering the prospect of a fresh start under the guidance of an independent leader free from any political affiliation and history, the amended constitution will be perceived by the many disaffected members of the US cricket community as perpetuating the power and influence of the incumbent USACA board and current USACA members, who lost the trust and confidence of their peers many years ago. It is the view of the ICC Board that the wounds of the past will not be healed, they will be perpetuated; and the ICC Board’s imperative of uniting the US cricket community behind the ‘new’ USACA will be entirely undermined.”Richardson said the USACA’s current membership base represented a minority interest in stakeholders, making them unfit to continue as the national governing body. He also criticised them for failing to provide evidence refuting allegations that “ghost leagues” had been given member status in order to influence victories for incumbent candidates in previous elections, and highlighted concerns that the same practice had been carried out at the April 8 SGM.”USACA appears to have done little to extend its membership base beyond its traditional power base of leagues in New York, New Jersey and Florida,” Richardson wrote. “USACA appears to have done little or nothing in terms of development programs, either at national or at regional level, whether for men’s senior cricket, for youth cricket, for female cricket, for coach/umpire training, or otherwise.”There have been allegations of serious improprieties tainting each of the past five elections to the USACA board of directors (in 2003, 2005, 2008, 2012, and 2015), including repeated and persistent allegations of granting of votes to ‘ghost leagues’, in order to keep the incumbents in power.”One of the conditions fixed in 2015 by the ICC Board for reinstatement of USACA to ICC membership was that it produce evidence refuting these allegations. Despite repeated requests, however, the USACA board has failed to provide any such evidence, without any good reason or excuse. In such circumstances, it is not difficult to understand why there is apparently so little trust and confidence in USACA among the US cricket community.”Richardson went on to criticise the behaviour of USACA’s board members for their unwillingness to meet in good faith to rectify the litany of issues. He specifically called out the USACA’s leadership for its response to the ICC-approved constitution by “openly disparaging the integrity of the ICC Board, myself as ICC CEO and other members of ICC management (including describing the ICC-approved constitution as ‘the apartheid document’, imposed by the ICC ‘so they can discriminate against blacks’).”Contrary to what the USACA communicated in messages to its membership base about what was needed to be done to lift the suspension, Richardson said a host of other issues were a cause for concern. He pointed out that the board failed to stop USACA vice-president Owen Grey from initiating legal action last year on behalf of USACA in an attempt to stop Caribbean Premier League matches from going forward in Florida. The lawsuit was eventually dismissed but Richardson said the ICC was forced to accumulate unnecessary legal fees of its own to fight the action in court.”Ultimately, it does not matter why the US cricket community has been so fractured and disunited,” Richardson wrote. “This state of affairs is unacceptable and must be remedied, whatever the reasons.”

Despite producing a four-wicket haul to beat UAE, Sri Lanka captain Lasith Malinga said that he might consider announcing his retirement from T20 international cricket

Mohammad Isam in Mirpur25-Feb-20161:23

‘These are maybe my last few months’ – Malinga

Two wickets in his first over and two more in his second spell was how Lasith Malinga marked his comeback into competitive cricket after more than three months. Figures of 4 for 26 helped Sri Lanka beat the UAE by 14 runs but the performance didn’t entirely make him happy.Instead, Malinga said that he is on his last legs and might even consider announcing his retirement from T20Is. Towards the end of the post-match press conference, Malinga was asked if he would make a retirement announcement before the World T20 like Mahela Jayawardene and Kumar Sangakkara did in 2014.”There might be,” was Malinga’s response with a smile, before there was a long pause which eventually ended the briefing.He had earlier said that his international career is now at a stage from where he can’t really take long breaks, like he had to take after the knee injury that kept him out for the last three months.”I am playing [for] 12 years in the national team, I am 32 years old,” Malinga said. “I think if now I have an injury, it is hard to get rest. If I take rest for a year or more, that’s the end of my career. If I need to play for my country, I have to play tough cricket in the last few months or years. I don’t think I can fully recover from this injury but I try to manage this in future.”I don’t know how many months or years I will play. [At the] end of my career, I try to play maximum number of games for my national team or in the IPL. I want to play as long as possible, and at my best.”Malinga said that this has been a difficult comeback for him given that he hadn’t played a game since November last year, due to a knee injury which he said was similar to the one he suffered in 2008 that kept him out of cricket for nearly a year.”I am not happy [with my performance today],” Malinga said. “I haven’t bowled a single ball in the last three months. I just bowled in the nets in the last two days. I am happy with the result but I think I have to do more for the team. I will try my best in the next game. [This performance] is not my 100 percent, maybe 60-70 percent, but still I managed to bowl yorkers and slower balls. Team expects more than that from me.””I had a very bad injury in the knee. Same thing happened in 2008. I needed two years rest to recover. I had same injury in the other leg. This is not the right time to rest since we have the World T20. I am the experienced bowler in the T20 format. I have to use painkillers and injections, whatever I have to do [to play]. This is the end of my career so I want to do something for the team. I want to give my best in the last few years or maybe few months.”Coming back to the game, Malinga said that they were not too sure of the total they would have to put in front of the UAE as the pitch surprised them.”We were not prepared for this wicket in Bangladesh. This is a really good wicket. We didn’t know a target batting first. I am always saying we have to set a target. We got 129 so this is the best score for our team.”We had to minimise those boundaries to defend that total. Their bowlers did really well, there was movement off the wicket and bit of grass. We managed to do well because we have experienced bowlers like myself, Rangana [Herath] and [Nuwan] Kulasekara. I am really not disappointed with the batsmen. UAE is a good side. I never underestimated them.”

A quickfire century by Robert Key kept Kent’s YB40 campaign alive as they overcame Worcestershire by 39 runs at New Road

11-Aug-2013
ScorecardFabian Cowdrey continued to make a good impression for Kent•Getty Images

A quickfire century by Robert Key kept Kent’s YB40 campaign alive as they overcame Worcestershire by 39 runs at New Road.The former county captain made 112 from 93 balls – his eighth hundred in one-day competitions – and shared in an opening partnership of 182 in 26 overs with Sam Northeast (93).When 20-year-old Fabian Cowdrey hit a last-ball six to reach an unbeaten 52 on his List A debut, Kent had 289 for 6 on the board but in ideal batting conditions, the home side were dismissed in the final over for 250.Kent went on the rampage from the outset in their bid to move into second place behind Group A leaders Nottinghamshire. Northeast made the first big statement by driving Jack Shantry over long-on for six and the innings was only in the seventh over when Key took the total past 50 with three boundaries off Gareth Andrew.Key rarely needed to resort to strong-arm methods as he continued to find gaps in the field with unerring placement, but he did have an early let-off when Brett D’Oliviera dropped a difficult return chance.The opening pair went on to complete their third three-figure stand in the competition this season in the 15th over and Northeast moved on to his 50 from 46 balls when pulling Daryl Mitchell for only his fourth four.Key’s hundred arrived with his 12th four and he added two more before Ross Whiteley ran 25 yards round the boundary from long-on to take a well-judged catch.Worcestershire then began to pick up wickets, including Northeast when he cut a ball from Shantry to short third man, but Cowdrey – the third generation of his family to represent the county, after grandfather Colin and father and uncle Chris and Graham – treated the crowd to a glimpse of his considerable potential. An effortless straight six off Moeen Ali would have been a shot to savour in any form of the game.Worcestershire never looked like mounting a serious challenge after Moeen and Alexei Kervezee were caught on the mid-wicket boundary in the first five overs. There was just a glimmer of hope as Mitchell went beyond 50 for the fourth time in nine innings in this season’s group games, but wickets kept falling at regular intervals.Mitchell (68) was leg-before attempting to sweep Adam Riley and the same bowler removed the last major threat when Andrew was caught at mid-on after hitting two sixes in his 43 from 34 balls. However D’Oliveira and Ben Cox delayed the inevitable by putting on 54 in seven overs.

Essex strengthened their grip against Leicestershire at Chelmsford on day two. After centuries from Tom Westley and Jaik Mickleburgh lifted Essex to an imposing 434 for 3 declared, the visitors were reduced to 32 for 2 at the close.

02-Aug-2012
ScorecardTom Westley took his CB40 form into red-ball cricket•Getty Images

Essex strengthened their grip against Leicestershire at Chelmsford on day two. After centuries from Tom Westley and Jaik Mickleburgh lifted Essex to an imposing 434 for 3 declared, the visitors were reduced to 32 for 2 at the close.David Masters roared in to remove Greg Smith and Ned Eckersley as the visitors ended the day still 253 short of being asked to follow on.When Essex resumed on 161 without loss, Westley and Mickleburgh continued to find the gaps with relative ease without pressing the accelerator – the 200 was raised in the 67th over. It represented the first double-century opening stand for the county since Alastair Cook and Will Jefferson performed the feat in 2004 when Leicestershire were again on the receiving end.Shortly afterwards, Mickleburgh became the first batsman to move into three figures when he on-drove Michael Thornely to the long-on boundary to register his third century for the county. The milestone arrived from 195 balls and contained one six among Mickleburgh’s 13 boundaries.Westley was to celebrate his third ton for Essex with a quickly-taken single, an effort spanning 230 balls, 11 of which he despatched to the boundary. It was the first time two Essex openers had scored centuries in the same Championship innings since Cook and Jefferson put Leicestershire to the sword.The new ball was taken at 232 but it was a run-out 16 runs later that brought the visitors their first success of the match, Mickleburgh failing to regain his ground as Thornely threw down the stumps from short-cover after the batsman had been sent back. Mickleburgh’s innings of 126 was spread over 243 deliveries, including 14 fours and one six.Lunch was taken at 259 for 1, the morning session having produced 98 runs, and soon afterwards Westley’s fine effort was ended on 125 by medium-pacer Wayne White, who produced a delivery which kept low. Two deliveries later, rain arrived to cause an 80-minute hold-up and when play resumed Owais Shah and Mark Pettini saw Essex to 300 in the 98th over and a third batting point.Another stoppage after fewer than eight overs brought about an early tea at 308 for 2. When play did restart, Shah soon fell lbw to left-arm spinner Claude Henderson for 36, spread over 59 balls.The arrival of Ryan ten Doeschate brought about a welcome increase in the tempo. He quickly found the extra cover boundary and followed it with an off-driven six against Henderson to bring up the 350 in the 110th over. Another ten Doeschate six against the same bowler, this time an on-drive, inflicted further punishment on the toiling visiting attack.Pettini also scored freely enough to complete his half-century, containing five fours, from 60 balls before ten Doeschate’s third six against Henderson saw him to the milestone in 48 balls. The next landmark was the 100 partnership in 17 overs before the declaration arrived, with Pettini unbeaten on 72 from 89 balls. Ten Doeschate’s contribution to a stand of 120 was 63 in as many balls.Leicestershire were soon plunged into trouble when they replied. With only six runs on the board, Mickleburgh picked up a smart catch at short-leg to remove Smith and provide Masters with his first success against his former county. Two runs later, the fast bowler struck again as ten Doeschate held a catch above his head at short midwicket to remove Eckersley.

Royal Challengers Bangalore are working on retaining Chris Gayle for the 2012 IPL even though his one-year term with them as an injury-replacement player has expired

Tariq Engineer19-Jul-2011Royal Challengers Bangalore are working on retaining Chris Gayle for the 2012 IPL even though his one-year term with them as an injury-replacement player has expired. Sidhartha Mallya, one of Bangalore’s franchise directors and the owner’s son, told ESPNcricinfo, “There are ways to keep Chris [Gayle]. We are obviously working on it and looking at every possible opportunity.”Gayle was the architect of a complete turnaround for Bangalore in 2011, arresting a four-match losing streak and setting up a record seven-match victory run that eventually led Bangalore to the final.Under current IPL rules, contracts for replacement players last only for a single year on the premise that the injured player will be available the following season. Replacement players such as Gayle must go into an auction where all the franchises would be able to bid for them. Gayle’s explosive performances with the bat – he was IPL2011’s leading run scorer, and had a strike rate of 183.13 – are expected to trigger a bidding war should he be put into an auction.Mallya, however, said the Bangalore franchise had been in touch with IPL management about the possibility of keeping Gayle, but would only know for certain after the Champions League Twenty20 in September whether they can hang on to him. The IPL, Mallya said, won’t give out the guidelines until the Champions League is up. (Sundar Raman, the IPL’s chief executive, did not respond to an email asking if the league was considering new guidelines).Gayle, in 2011, also helped Bangalore’s fans come to terms with the departures of Rahul Dravid and Ross Taylor, two favourites who were not retained by the franchise. “There was a lot of backlash but there was [also] a lot of backlash when Shah Rukh Khan didn’t keep Sourav Ganguly,” Mallya said. “Ross Taylor was a big favourite for Bangalore. The crowd loved him and we thought that would have an effect but when you have players like Chris Gayle and [AB] de Villiers, it was easy for the fans to get over that and they have taken to the new side very well.”Off the field, Mallya said he was not worried by the drop in television ratings this season because, he felt, there was naturally going to be a lag in the wake of India’s successful World Cup campaign. He also felt that shuffling the players every few years while allowing teams to retain a four-man core was a good system. “Then it doesn’t become like an English Premier League where only one or two teams will keep winning. It makes it (the IPL) even and it makes it open.”Mallya also said that he was satisfied with the amount of input franchises had in the running of the league, “We do get a voice. We are heard… After the season finished, Peter Griffiths of IMG came and spoke to us all. He took our feedback on the season. He was more than happy to listen to us about what our feelings were. Because at the end of the day they want to do what’s best for the league, best for us and best for everyone moving forward. “Bangalore were one of the first franchises to embrace social networking and reach out to fans through contests and competitions and now have more than 100,000 followers on their website and over 12,000 followers on Twitter. What they are still working out is how to get merchandising revenue on a firm footing given that such a short season makes it difficult to generate consistent sales. “I know it is difficult to sell premium jerseys because they are a lot of money,” Mallya said. “It is replica jerseys and replica stuff. It is finding a balance of what people want and I think we are still in the process of finding that balance of what people want and going forward I am sure we will be able to give people what they desire.”One potential boost for Bangalore is the Champions League, which gives them a second tournament with which to create fan interest and excitement, as well as pad the bottom line. “It will be huge not only from a financial point of view but from a prestige point of view. I would love to win it. It is the best 10 teams in the world, domestic teams in the world, competing and it would be a great honour for us.”Sidhartha Mallya was speaking as an ambassador of Kingfisher beer

The Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg, St. Georges Park in Port Elizabeth, Kingsmead in Durban and Centurion Park in Centurion will host Champions League Twenty20 2010

Cricinfo staff17-Jun-2010The Champions League Twenty20 governing council has named the venues for the second edition of the tournament to be held this year in South Africa. The Wanderers stadium in Johannesburg, St. Georges Park in Port Elizabeth, Kingsmead in Durban and Centurion Park in Centurion will host the competition that will feature ten of the top domestic Twenty20 teams, from September 10 to 26.”South Africa is widely regarded as a top international host nation, having successfully hosted most major international cricket events in recent years,” said Shashank Manohar, the league chairman. “The Governing Council is satisfied with the four venues that Cricket South Africa have recommended. We are excited about the future of CLT20, and call on the South African public to come out and support the second edition of this tournament, which features the best of the best.”Gerald Majola, the CEO of CSA, was pleased with South Africa getting the opportunity to host another major sporting event. “CSA is proud to be hosting CLT20 in what is an iconic year for South Africa with the soccer World Cup currently being hosted here. We are encouraged by the eagerness of the four host venues to make this tournament a success.”CLT20 has already picked the interest of South African fans, especially with the Lions and Warriors (South African teams participating in the tournament) having qualified for this prestigious event. We are confident of hosting a successful CLT20.”Following the the 2003 one-day World Cup, South Africa have been one of the favourite destinations for multi-team cricketing tournaments, including the inaugural World Twenty20 in 2007, the second edition of the Indian Premier League and the Champions Trophy in 2009.The inaugural Champions League was held in India last year, with New South Wales beating Trinidad & Tobago to win the event that was contested by 12 teams. This year’s event will feature ten teams, nine of which have already qualified. The tenth spot will be taken by a representative from the West Indies following the Caribbean Twenty20 tournament in end July. The CLT20 2010 will feature 23 matches, with the tournament format and match schedule to be decided at the next governing council meeting on June 28 in Singapore.Teams contesting Champions League T20 2010:
From India – Chennai Super Kings, Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bangalore
From Australia – Victorian Bushrangers and South Australian Redbacks
From South Africa – Warriors and Highveld Lions
From New Zealand – Central Stags
From Sri Lanka – Wayamba Elevens
From the West Indies – TBC

Rohit and Kohli faced net bowlers on spin-friendly surfaces as India begin their run of ten Tests with two against Bangladesh next week

ESPNcricinfo staff13-Sep-20242:57

Takeaways: No Shami, Sarfaraz gets retained

India’s preparation for the long Test season ahead began on Friday with some new faces saying hello and some old ones saying, miss me? Virat Kohli is back on the red-ball grind for the first time in nearly nine months. Rishabh Pant looks ready to pick up where his Test career left off two years ago. And Gautam Gambhir was there overseeing it all as the team gears up to face Bangladesh (two Tests in September), New Zealand (three Tests in October) and Australia (five Tests in November-January).India’s Test squad arrived in Chennai on Thursday and took to training in batches. The captain Rohit Sharma addressed them in a huddle and was one of the first to get out there and take a hit. He was joined by Kohli as the two of them faced a series of net bowlers on specially prepared pitches at either end of the square in the MA Chidambaram Stadium.Related

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One had a black-soil base, with so many footmarks around the full and good length area that it almost looked scorched. The other had a red-soil base and it bore marks of selective watering; the short and good length area was pristine but everything fuller than that was roughed up. The centre wicket, though, was cordoned off and it seemed to contain a fair bit of grass. In previous years, India have tried to simulate fast-bowler friendly conditions in home Test matches to prepare for significant away tours.Rohit and Kohli worked alongside their top-order team-mates Yashasvi Jaiswal and Shubman Gill, who will be coming into the new season with plenty of confidence after coming-of-age performances against England earlier this year. All four of them alternated between the two nets and were fed a diet rich in left-arm spin. Tamil Nadu’s Ajith Ram and M Siddharth kept wheeling away in an attempt to mirror threat that Shakib Al Hasan will pose in the coming weeks. Varun Chakravarthy was there too, and so was Himanshu Singh, a 21-year-old offspinner from Mumbai who seems to have borrowed R Ashwin’s bowling action.