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Haroon Rashid, the Pakistan team manager, has denied reports of being sacked before the Indian tour, and has clearly stated that his contract with the Pakistan Cricket Board will end only in July this year. Earlier, the board had indicated that it needed to replace Rashid due to the sensitivities attached with the Indian tour. He has held this position since April 2003.”The board has given me a contract for one year until July 2005 and I have a clear conscience that I have done my job with commitment, honesty and dedication,” Rashid told , a Pakistan daily. “I think my performance should be judged by what the other members of the team have to say about me. But if the board has planned something else it is their decision and I will not protest. I have always been available for Pakistan cricket and have done my duty properly. But yes, if anyone questions my competency as a manager I think it is unfair because throughout my tenure there has not been a single instance where anyone can say I have not fulfilled my responsibilities.”Rasheed received support from a senior board official, who clarified the PCB’s stand on the issue. “The board was looking to appoint a new manager to handle the diplomatic and political aspects of the Indian tour which has its own sensitivities. We will be sending two managers to India. It is not right to say we have decided to remove Haroon.”Rashid, who has also been the coach and national selector of Pakistan, also suggested that more was being made of Shoaib Akhtar’s disciplinary problems than was necessary. “Shoaib has a problem with his cricketing discipline. He is inconsistent in his commitment to the game and as a player. But overall his behaviour has never been offensive and there is no doubt when he is giving 100% he is a major asset for the team.”Rashid felt that Shoaib was perhaps influenced by constant media attention. “No other player including the Australian and West Indians even came close to the popularity and media attention he got in Australia. At times I thought he could not handle it. But overall he remained on good behaviour and the only problem arose on cricketing grounds. But even before he returned home he made it clear to Bob Woolmer that he was totally committed to the team and would do as advised by the team management to be at his best in future matches.”

Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium will not be hosting any of the matches of the Indian Premier League after the league and Reliance Industries, owners of the city franchise, found unacceptable the conditions imposed by the Cricket Club of India (CCI), to whom the stadium belongs.The Mumbai Cricket Association (MCA) had enquired whether the CCI could stage matches at the Brabourne; the CCI’s executive committee decided to offer the ground but not the clubhouse and the club members’ children’s enclosure.These conditions were unacceptable to both the IPL and Reliance Industries Limited, the owners of the Mumbai franchise, since the agreement between the franchise and the IPL states that 80% of all categories of seating must be available to the franchise, and the remaining 20% to the concerned local association, in this case MCA, the BCCI, and the IPL.”If the [club] members are not able to watch the match, we won’t have it. It’s an inherent right of the CCI member to watch the match and not pay for it and this is mentioned in the by-laws of the club,” Raj Singh Dungarpur, the CCI president and former BCCI president, said. Hosting future international matches, he said, would not, however, be an issue.”There is no confrontation between us, our issue is that just the staging authority wouldn’t be able to watch the match and that’s not right. There is no misunderstanding and we will continue to host matches for the board [BCCI].”The move puts the MCA in a quandary, since the local associations are responsible for finalising the stadiums for the eight city-based franchises of the IPL. Mumbai is slated to host a total of ten matches, including the seven home games of the Mumbai Indians, and more importantly the semi-finals and final of the inaugural edition. The Brabourne Stadium had been tipped to host the semi-finals and final.However, with it being ruled out, the options left are the DY Patil Stadium and the Wankhede Stadium; renovation work scheduled for the latter may now have to be postponed till the end of the IPL.

Cricket fans in Australia will get a chance to watch the Women’s World Cup finalin South Africa after television network Foxtel today secured the rights to show the game live from SuperSport Park in Pretoria. Australia will take on India on Sunday, April 10 in a repeat of the men’s final in 2003 and Foxtel’s coverage of the match will commence at 1800 (AEST) on its Main Event Channel.”This is an outstanding result for Australian cricket fans,” said James Sutherland, Cricket Australia’s CEO. “And we are absolutely delighted with the support and enthusiasm shown by Foxtel and the Chief Executive of Fox Sports, David Malone, to bring the telecast of this game into Australia.”Normally, the Main Event Channel is a pay-per-view channel,” Sutherland added, “but once again Foxtel have put their support behind our women’s team and advised that the match on Sunday will be telecast free of charge to Foxtel,Austar and Optus subscribers.”Australia had finished as runners-up in the last edition of the Women’s World Cup in 2000 after suffering a heart-braking loss to New Zealand in the final. This time they start favourites after a comprehensive five-wicket win over England in the semis.

South Africa’s tour of India will not be affected by any Delhi police interest in questioning Herschelle Gibbs and Nicky Boje over their supposed links to match-fixing, according to Gerald de Kock, the South African cricket board’s media manager. He said that both players were available to be interviewed by the relevant authorities ahead of the tour, which is due to start on November 14.”We have heard nothing from the Indian authorities in any case,” said de Kock. He then denied suggestions that Gibbs and Boje, who were implicated in the Hansie Cronje match-fixing saga, would be detained for questioning by Indian police if they travelled to India, saying there was no basis for such speculation.”There’s no chance of them being arrested as they land, but if the Indian authorities would like to interview Herschelle and Nicky, then they must just let us know,” he said. “We would need to get legal representation for the players and arrange a suitable time and place for the interviews. But there has been no official request.”South Africa are due to play two Tests in India, the first at Kanpur from November 20 and the second at Kolkata from November 28.

The Indian players received their dues upto a sum of Rs.10 crore ($2,257,846) from the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) on Thursday, before departing for Pakistan.A BCCI official told : “All outstanding money up to December 31, 2005 has been cleared. This includes the match fees up to the third Test against Sri Lanka played at Ahmedabad. The 15 players for whom contract was awarded for the period October 1, 2005 to September 30, 2006 have been advanced 25 per cent of the contractual sum. That’s Rs. 12.50 lakhs (app. US$28,223) for the Grade `A’ players, Rs. 8.75 lakhs ($19,756) for Grade `B’ and Rs. 5 lakhs ($11,289) for the Group `C’ players. The cheques were given to them in Delhi.”Currently non-contracted players like Gautam Gambhir, Dinesh Karthik and Mahendra Singh Dhoni received a proportionate sum because they had fulfilled the criteria of five Tests or 15 one-day internationals.The BCCI’s gross earnings is expected to exceed Rs. 500 crore each over the next four years once the television rights contract is finalised. The earnings for the current fiscal year too look bright, and first-class cricketers stand to make maximum gain out of this. In the ongoing 2005-06 domestic season, the match fee could touch Rs. 1 lakh ($2,258).

Matthew Hayden, whose partnership with Adam Gilchrist at the top of the order provided much of the impetus for Australia’s thrilling 17-run victory over New Zealand at the Sydney Cricket Ground, could miss the third and decisive game of the Chappell-Hadlee Trophy with a hamstring strain.Hayden has scored heavily in most of his appearances in front of home crowds at the Gabba, and Australia’s medical staff are treating his hamstring in a bid to get him fit for the encounter. Hayden himself was desperate to play, after some lackadaisical batting from the top order in recent matches.According to , he said, “We’ve all got off to starts, well the top three in both games have got off to decent starts, and haven’t gone on and got a big score, which you need to. That’s an area, losing wickets in bundles is a problem area.”Torrential rains lashing the Brisbane area have also created logistical problems. Kevin Mitchell, the curator, has been forced to abandon his first-choice strip, and use the pitch that was prepared for an ING Cup game between Queensland and Tasmania. That will in turn affect spectators, with sightscreens and TV camera vantage points also having to be moved.The series is beautifully poised at 1-1, with New Zealand having eked out a thrilling four-wicket win in the first match at Melbourne. Victory in Brisbane would edge them closer to Australia at the top of the ICC table.

Brett Dorey, the Western Australia fast bowler, has been released from the Australia one-day squad and will figure in tomorrow’s crucial Pura Cup match against Western Australia at the SCG. Dorey played three ODIs in the VB Series after the selectors were impressed with his domestic first-class form of 26 wickets in five matches. However, he has been a fringe figure in the 14-man national finals squad and arrived in Sydney this morning to train with the Warriors.The Blues had hoped some of their international players would also be available, but with the VB Series heading into a third game they have had to rely on their strong squad base as they attempt to keep pressure on the competition leader Victoria. Jason Krejza, the 23-year-old offspinner, will play his first game of an injury-hit summer and is expected to combine with Stuart MacGill on the turn-friendly surface.Phil Jaques and Brad Haddin also give New South Wales some star quality and their fast bowling will be led by Matthew Nicholson. Dorey’s addition is the only change to Western Australia’s side that beat Tasmania by seven wickets two weeks ago. The Warriors, who are on 14 points, need to win outright to retain a chance of making the final. New South Wales are third on 20 points, four behind Victoria.New South Wales Phil Jaques, Craig Simmons, Matthew Phelps, Dominic Thornely, Brad Haddin (capt, wk), Aaron O’Brien, Grant Lambert, Jason Krejza, Matthew Nicholson, Aaron Bird, Doug Bollinger, Stuart MacGill.Western Australia Justin Langer (capt), Clint Heron, Marcus North, Chris Rogers, Adam Voges, Shaun Marsh, David Bandy, Luke Ronchi (wk), Beau Casson, Steve Magoffin, Ben Edmondson, Shawn Gillies, Brett Dorey.

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Himachal Pradesh were within touching distance of the Plate Group title, shooting out Orissa for 202 for 8 in their second innings at Cuttack. Having amassed 477 in their first innings, thanks to Sarandeep Singh and Ashok Thakur cracking half-centuries, HP’s bowlers left Orissa struggling by the end of the fourth day.Resuming on 405 for 8, HP rode on fifties from the overnight pair. Sarandeep and Thakur smashed 16 fours between them and thwarted Orissa for 26.2 overs. A lead of 160 was always going to be vital and HP’s bowlers chipped away at the Orissa innings for the rest of the day. Vikramjeet Malik, Vishal Bhatia and Sandeep Sharma snared two wickets apiece and didn’t allow any big partnerships to develop.Several Orissa batsmen got starts – Halhadar Das top-scored with an unbeaten 47 – but none kicked on to a big score. With only two wickets in hand, and a slender lead of 42, it may just be a matter of time before Orissa are vanquished on the final day.

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Wasim Jaffer and Ajinkya Rahane led West Zone’s strong reply to England Lions’ 355 on the second day at the Moti Bagh Stadium in Vadodara. West, needing an outright win to advance, ended the day on 187 for 1 with Jaffer and Rahane still unbeaten.Earlier, the Lions’ overnight batsmen, captain Michael Yardy (169) and nightwatchman Graham Onions (31) guided their side to a solid 322 for 4 before a dramatic collapse allowed West back into the game. The Saurashtra pair of Sandeep Jobanputra and Rakesh Dhurv shared five of the last six wickets to spark West’s fightback.Jobanputra accounted for the overnight pair; bowling Yardy and then removing Onions in his next over before wicketkeeper James Foster fell to Dhurv for a duck. Liam Plunkett swung his bat around for a 22-ball 19, scoring all the runs in a partnership with Adil Rashid, who ground out 9 off 55 deliveries.After the Lions innings folded, West’s reply got off to a poor start with Sahil Kukreja offering Foster a catch in the first over. There were no more successes for the Lions as the Mumbai pair of Jaffer and Rahane forged a 187-run partnership to keep West’s hopes of progressing still alive.Jaffer, who has been a regular Test opener for the Indian side over the past two years, ended the day on a patient 87, including thirteen boundaries while Rahane was a touch more aggressive, stroking 18 fours in his 93.With a strong batting line-up – including Parthiv Patel, Cheteshwar Pujara, the highest run-getter in the Ranji Trophy this season, and Yusuf Pathan, who slammed a whirlwind century in his previous game – to follow, West will fancy their chances of racking up a big first-innings score to pile the pressure on the Lions.

Bermuda travelled to Africa for the Intercontinental Cup finals in a confident and optimistic mood, but they will return home deflated after a semi-final defeat by Ireland and losses to Namibia in two highly unsatisfactory one-dayers.The form book suggested that Kenya would be too strong for Bermuda, themselves something of a surprise package in the finals, and so it proved, although Bermuda’s batting came through with flying colours. The problem was the bowling, although on shirt-front pitches bowling Kenya out twice was never going to be easy, and a skewed points system meant Bermuda were up against it from the moment they lost the toss.After going out of the competition, Bermuda played two one-dayers against Namibia, but there was a climate of hostility throughout, and this spilled over in the second game when Gus Logie, the coach, withdrew his side from the field in protest at three successive bouncers aimed at tailender Kevin Hurdle by Kola Burger.The sides clashed during the ICC Trophy in Ireland in July, and the anger was quick to resurface. Both coaches took swipes at the other. Logie accused the Namibians of dangerous play and said that they were sore over failing to qualify for the World Cup, while Andy Waller, his opposite number, said Bermuda were cry babies who did not deserve to their own spot at the event.The first game on Thursday had already been tarnished after accusations by the Bermuda players that they had been racially abused by the Namibians, and the umpires were forced to step in. It was much the same on Saturday.But the scene grew almost farcical when Burger peppered the No. 10 Hurdle with bouncers, even though Bermuda were staring at inevitable defeat. The first was called a wide by Roger Dill, Bermuda’s umpire, and the second as a no-ball. Dill then warned Burger for intimidatory bowling. When Burger quite deliberately sent down another short-pitched ball, Logie had had enough and called the batsmen off. As they milled around, a number of players could clearly be seen arguing and one unnamed Namibian player had to be restrained by his team-mates. The post-match press conference was lively.”We are in the World Cup, they are not and that is their problem,” said Logie, who was obviously livid. “If they have a point to prove and think they can prove it by bowling like that against our No. 11 batsman then I am not just going to stand by and watch. I did call them off and I did it for their own safety. This is a practice match and I am not going to put my players at risk.”Waller was equally blunt. “It is just not acceptable for this type of match and I’m not happy about it. You’d expect a bit more from a team who are meant to be preparing for a World Cup. I’ve never seen anything like it in all my years in cricket.”And then, warming to his task, he slammed the Bermuda side and warned them that they better be ready for more of the same. “I can’t see why they are getting upset at that sort of bowling … this is a guy bowling at 130 kmh, and teams in the World Cup are going to be going a lot faster than that. If they can’t handle this, they are really going to struggle. There was some talk about sledging and some complaints from some of their guys but, again, they have to be able to handle that. It’s a part of cricket and it is something they are going to have to deal with if they are going to play in international matches.”By this time, Waller was in overdrive, and he had a swipe at Bermuda’s fitness.”I just don’t think these guys look like they are prepared to compete at this level. You only have to look at these guys to see they are not yet ready to cope with the demands of this level of cricket … they have a lot more work to do on the fitness front.”The Bermuda Cricket Board backed Logie’s decision and added that there would be a full investigation. The Namibian Cricket Board declined to comment until it had all the facts in front of it.