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The ICC has given Zimbabwe’s rebel cricketers until Wednesday to agree to go to arbitration with the Zimbabwe Cricket Union, and while they are likely to do so, serious concerns remain among them about the process.Their biggest worry – as it has been since the idea was first mooted – is that the ZCU will simply ignore the findings of the arbitration should they go against its entrenched policy. Talking to the players, the names of Ozais Bvute, Max Ebrahim and Tavengwa Mukuhlani are regularly mentioned as being the major obstacles to a resolution to the dispute – all three are seen as intransigent perpetrators of entrenched hardline policies.The other concern is that the whole process could become very expensive. Neither side has bottomless pockets, but given that the ZCU does receive substantial funding from the ICC, it is probably in a better position to get involved in a drawn-out legal battle than the players.The rebels’ attitude to the board has been hardened by reports that the ZCU has approached some of the younger players and offered them large sums of money to return to the fold. One of them said that this was little more than an attempt to bribe them to come back, and so to enable to board to claim that their return was proof that all was well inside Zimbabwe.They stress, however, that this is not the case. And concern at the ZCU’s attempts to take over all aspects of cricket in Zimbabwe grows. While the ZCU has been publicly quiet in recent weeks, behind the scenes it has been maneuvering to repress regional boards who have been opposing it. Earlier this month we reported how Mukuhlani had effectively hijacked the Mashonaland annual general meeting to prevent the election of officials less supportive of the ZCU.The constitution of the ZCU board remains a major stumbling block in a satisfactory resolution of the dispute. The players feel that has effectively become a self-electing elite, unaccountable to anyone.The rebels reiterate that they are against all forms of discrimination, which includes the stipulation of numbers representing each race in the team, in the board itself, and at every level of the game. They believe in selection on merit in every area, and black domination – eventually, and on merit – is both inevitable and desirable.Chris Venturas, the players’ lawyer, has spent the last few days in England collecting his clients’ opinions, and he is expected to go back to the ICC shortly before the 1600GMT Wednesday deadline.

The Celtic fringe is rising. After the successes enjoyed by Scotland in their debut season of National League cricket, today it was Ireland’s turn to shine – and they did it in style with a romping ten-wicket win against a dishevelled Zimbabwe side at the Civil Service ground at Stormont.Jason Molins, Ireland’s captain, led from the front as he smashed 107 not out from 101 balls with 14 fours and two sixes – the first century for Ireland against a touring team since Andrew Dunlop’s against South Africa in 1998. And with the help of their adopted Aussie, Jeremy Bray (67 not out), the Irish cruised to their first victory over a touring team since their famous crushing of West Indies in 1969.The fact that Ireland won with over 16 overs to spare emphasises how much of a stroll it was for Molins and Bray. They both made light of the heavy outfield and were in command all the way. Molins, in particular, dominated the bowling, driving and pulling powerfully and being particularly severe on Gary Brent, who clearly had not yet acclimatized.Tatenda Taibu, Zimbabwe’s acting captain, called on eight bowlers in search of a breakthrough, but none of them, not even the three who played in the last Test against England, could make any inroads.But it was a different story for the Irish bowlers as Paul Mooney and Gary Neely struck early on to reduce Zimbabwe to an embarrassing 12 for 3. Dion Ebrahim (52) and Stuart Matsikenyeri (50) did then engineer a recovery of sorts, but Zimbabwe’s eventual total of 182 was never going to be enough.The weather conditions were as variable as the Zimbabwe batting – a bit of drizzle, a bit of warm sun, but mostly overcast. For the Zimbabweans, the worst was first. Douglas Marillier drove optimistically at the third ball of the innings and Paul Mooney knocked his leg stump out of the ground, without a run on the board. Charles Coventry followed suit in Mooney’s next over, before Richie Sims was caught in the slips off Neely for the second duck in the innings.Disaster loomed, but Ebrahim and Matsikenyeri engineered a recovery by adding 96 for the fourth wicket. Ebrahim dug in without looking convincing, as he had done in the Riverside Test, while Matsikenyeri played with the ease and technique he shows in Zimbabwe domestic cricket but rarely against international opposition.Matsikenyeri was the first to reach his half-century, but then became over-ambitious and was easily stumped off Andrew White. Ebrahim also suffered a loss of concentration, bowled by Kyle McCallan as he attempted a forcing stroke off the back foot, and when Sean Ervine was slow to respond to Tatenda Taibu’s call for a quick single, Zimbabwe were back in the bog at 133 for 6.It was once again left to Taibu, captain for this brief leg of the tour, to salvage the innings. He found a useful partner in Travis Friend, who contributed some big hits in his 22. But when Friend was caught behind, the end came in a familiar flurry. Gary Brent was superbly caught and bowled by Andre Botha without scoring, and then Taibu (35) was caught at fine leg off Botha attempting a Marillier-esque scoop over the keeper. Waddington Mwayenga was last man out, caught off Neilly in the final over, to complete a poor performance and pave the way for another humiliating defeat ahead of the NatWest Series.

Durham captain Jon Lewis was three short of his second century of the season when his side closed the first day on 215 for two against Worcestershire at Chester-le-Street.Play began 90 minutes late following rain and Lewis batted through the day, hitting 15 fours off 255 balls.Without a half-century in his previous 11 Championship innings, Lewis had only one narrow escape. On 21 he took evasive action against a short ball from Andy Bichel and edged it just over the slips.He had to work hard against Bichel and Alamgir Sheriyar, with the left-armer conceding only 26 runs in 18 overs. But the third seamer, Chris Liptrot, was the weak link in the attack, going for five runs an over.England Under-19 left-hander Gary Pratt contributed an impressive 37 to a stand of 85, only seven short of Durham’s highest opening stand of the season.Only nine runs came off the first nine overs before Liptrot came on and Pratt quickly hit him for three of his six fours, two of them racing through the covers off successive balls.Pratt fell lbw trying to whip Liptrot through the leg side then Martin Love shared a stand of 53 before he was snared by David Leatherdale.Coming on after tea, the medium-pacer struck in his third over when Love pushed forward and edged to wicket-keeper Steve Rhodes for 26.Leatherdale posed no problems for Paul Collingwood, who quickly cracked him for three fours on his way to 41 not out.

New South Wales 281 & 8 for 563 dec beat Victoria 216 & 370 (Jewell 99, White 57, Crosthwaite 50, Casson 4-128) by 258 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details

New South Wales became the Pura Cup champions for the third time in six years with a 258-run win over Victoria after Beau Casson grabbed four wickets on the fifth day. Nick Jewell looked set to pick up a consolation century but his dismissal for 99 was indicative of Victoria’s season – so near and yet so far.The Bushrangers were consistent enough to make all three domestic finals, however for the second summer in a row they had to settle only for the Twenty20 title. The Blues, on the other hand, had a terrible limited-overs campaign yet completed the Pura Cup undefeated and deserved the triumph.Even without their Australian stars returning for the decider, New South Wales would have been hard to beat. As it was, Brett Lee picked up five wickets and made 97 in his first Pura Cup final, Stuart Clark grabbed handy victims and Michael Clarke contributed a useful 64.The Blues had batted Victoria out of the contest on the fourth day and they began the final morning wondering only if they would secure the title with a victory or a home draw. They knew how the Bushrangers felt as New South Wales started the fifth day of last year’s decider 567 behind, with ten wickets in hand away from home against Tasmania; Victoria had eight wickets up their sleeve and were down by 532.It looked like being a quick kill when David Hussey (31) drove Lee to cover in the first over of the morning without adding to his overnight score. However, Jewell and Cameron White combined for a handy 115-run stand, Adam Crosthwaite chipped in with a half-century, Bryce McGain posted his highest first-class score and the last pair, Dirk Nannes and Shane Harwood, combined for 52 to extend the match to within ten minutes of tea.Casson bowled 29.3 overs unchanged on the fifth day and finished the job with McGain caught at bat-pad for 25 before finally trapping Nannes lbw for 32. New South Wales celebrated and as their major contributors, including the captain, Man of the Match and Player of the Series, Simon Katich, and the centurion Phillip Hughes, grabbed stumps, the injured Doug Bollinger and those who made way for the international stars, such as Mark Cameron, joined the fun on the SCG.Katich made 86 and 92 and passed the all-time record for most runs in a season during the decider, but said the only thing that mattered was the title. “The main thing is we’ve got this trophy in the cabinet,” Katich said. “It’s nice to have done well but this is what means the most. I’m just so proud of the boys.”The Blues had endured a longer wait for the party than they anticipated after White and Jewell frustrated the hosts through most of the first session. White entertained the crowd with consecutive sixes pulled and slog-swept off Casson before he skied a catch to mid-on on 57, giving Clark a wicket in his first over of the day.That started a mini-collapse as Casson had Andrew McDonald (4) caught at silly point and Jewell was lbw to Clark from the last ball before the break. It was a disappointing end for Jewell, who wanted a healthy score to help him confirm his spot as Victoria’s No. 1 opener for 2008-09 after averaging 31.31 for the season before this innings.He was in a more positive frame of mind than usual, freed of the burden of expectation as Victoria knew they could not win the match. Jewell narrowly missed his first six of the summer when he pulled Stuart MacGill marginally short of the midwicket boundary, and he cover-drove and flicked through the legside with confidence.Like Jewell, Crosthwaite could not afford to throw his wicket away as he aimed to stay in front of Matthew Wade as Victoria’s preferred wicketkeeper. He helped himself to 50 – he previously had only one half-century from a first-class career spanning four seasons – before Casson’s wrist-spinner stayed low and struck the stumps.The win was the 45th domestic first-class title for New South Wales – the first 42 were Sheffield Shields and the remaining three were Pura Cups. They will return in 2008-09 as defending champions of a competition that will have either a completely new name or an old familiar one, as the Pura Cup is farewelled and the Sheffield Shield could be reinstated.

Shimron Hetmyer has been named captain of West Indies for the Under-19 World Cup to be held in Bangladesh in January-February 2016.Hetmyer, who was also featured in the 2014 edition of the tournament in the United Arab Emirates, is one of two players along with Alzarri Joseph, the pacer, to have first-class experience.Hetmyer made his first-class debut for Guyana in April 2014, and has played five matches since. Joseph, meanwhile, made his debut for Leeward Islands and has picked up 17 wickets in five matches, with a best of 7 for 46.”We have put together a group of players we believe will perform for the West Indies,” said Clive Lloyd, the WICB chairman of selectors. “We see them as future Test cricketers for the West Indies and this tour is an opportunity for them to be exposed at the international level against strong opposition.”West Indies are placed in Group C alongside England, Fiji and Zimbabwe. They open their campaign on January 29 against Fiji in Chittagong.Prior to the tournament, West Indies will play Bangladesh Under-19 in a three-match series as part of their preparation for the World Cup.Squad: Shimron Hetmyer (capt), Keemo Paul, Kacey Carty, Shahid Crooks, Michael Frew, Jyd Goolie, Tevin Imlach, Ryan John, Alzarri Joseph, Kirstan Kallicharan, Obed McCoy, Gidron Pope, Odean Smith, Shamar Springer, Emmanuel Stewart

Officials from the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) have distanced themselves from the Indian Cricket League (ICL). Shafqat Naghmi, PCB’s chief operating officer, indicated the matter was the concern of the Indian board.”The ICL is happening in another country so it is not our business,” said Naghmi. The ICL was launched by India’s Essel Group earlier this year. However, Naghmi admitted that the PCB might get involved if some players contracted by the Board are approached by the organisers of the ICL.”If some former [Pakistani] cricketer or a player who doesn’t have a contract with the PCB decides to play in the series then we have no way to legally bound him against going to India.”However, if any player contracted by us wants to go there then that would be a different case.”The PCB has not yet announced its list of contracted players for the upcoming season.The ICL has generated controversy in India, with the BCCI revoking the pensions of players associating with the league. Kapil Dev is one of the former players to have joined the league, and has publicly criticised the BCCI for treating the ICL as a potential rival.

Shoaib Akhtar, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan and Mohammad Asif have been included in Pakistan’s 30-man provisional squad for the Champions Trophy in India in October. All three fast bowlers are currently recovering from injuries and haven’t played any part in Pakistan’s ongoing tour of England.”The 30 probables have been submitted by the selection committee in consultation with the national selection committee”, Saleem Altaf, the Pakistan Cricket Board’s (PCB) director of cricket, told PTI. “The squad would be trimmed to 15 by the end of this month. The deadline for submission of the squad is September 7 and hopefully we would be able to comply with the (ICC) advice well in advance.”The squad also includes Mohammad Hafeez, the opening batsman, who had an impressive A tour of Australia for the Top End Series, as well as Asim Kamal, Bazid Khan and Yasir Hameed. The uncapped players in the squad are Shahid Yousuf, Tahir Khan, Abdul Rehman, Mansoor Amjad, Akhtar Ayub and Samiullah Khan Niazi. Shoaib Malik, the allrounder, who pulled out of the tour of England due to an elbow injury, has also been included.Pakistan probables Inzamam-ul-Haq (capt), Salman Butt, Imran Farhat, Taufeeq Umar, Mohammad Yousuf, Younis Khan, Faisal Iqbal, Asim Kamal, Bazid Khan, Kamran Akmal, Zulqarnain, Danish Kaneria, Shahid Afridi, Abdul Razzaq, Yasir Hameed, Shoaib Malik, Shoaib Akhtar, Mohammad Sami, Rana Naved-ul-Hasan, Mohammad Asif, Umar Gul, Rao Iftikhar Anjum, Mohammad Hafeez, Shahid Yousuf, Tahir Khan, Abdul Rehman, Mansoor Amjad, Mohammad Irshad, Akhtar Ayub, Samiullah Niazi.

USA beat Argentina by seven wickets
Argentina won the toss and elected to bat on a good batting stripe but only Ignacio Redruello with a fine knock of 35 offered any resistance to the USA bowling attack. Argentina were all out in the 39th over for 105.Mohammed Rehman and Abhemanyu Rajp took care of business capturing nine wickets between them. For Rajp it was his second five-wicket performance in as many games.USA got off to a fine with the first wicket partnership putting on 60 runs. Severel thunderstorms passed through the area but play resumed after a one-hour delay. The USA easily passed their target in the 21st over by seven wickets. For his efforts in capturing 5 wickets for the second consecutive match, Abhemanyu Rajp was named Man of the Match.Canada beat Cayman Islands
Cayman Islands won the toss and elected to bat. In their tradition style of holding on to wickets , they slowly made their way through the 50 overs and ended with a modest score of 143 for 8. Gunjan Patel was Canada’s best bowler, giving up only 23 runs in his allotted 10 overs, while taking two wickets. Marc Chin was Cayman’s top scorer with a fine innings of 41.Canada’s target was revised to 121 in 36 overs under the D/L method as one hour of play was lost. Opening batsman Aneesh Joshi with his skipper Kenneth Carto put on a dazzling display with a 94-run stand before Joshi was out for 29. Carto was joined by his club mate Ryal Lall, the pair brought Canada home in the 19th over, with Man-of-the-Match Carto reaching his 50 and Lall not out on 21.The results today saw no change to the table, and with tomorrow being a well deserved rest day for all teams, it seems that second place is all that is up for grabs as USA have a stranglehold on the top spot.

Digicel, a mobile-phone company, have decided to offer unprecedented incentives in an attempt to drag West Indian cricket out of the morass of mediocrity in which it has been marooned for much of the past decade. The new sponsorship deal will see the players awarded bonuses for victories against top-notch opposition, and comes soon after the West Indies hit rock-bottom, losing at home to England for the first time in 36 years.”We wanted to ensure that we achieved the best performances on the field,” said Roger Braithwaite, chief executive of the West Indies Cricket Board. “We wanted to move to a situation where players were getting rewards,” he added, according to a news report on the BBC Sport website. “There was a feeling that not going down that road had perhaps impacted on the side.”The Board and the players are currently negotiating the terms of the agreement, though Braithwaite ruled out the possibility of fines for below-par performances. It is expected, however, that the team will get bonus payments for victories againt any side ranked higher in the ICC’s Test or one-day championship table. That means just about any victory will be lucrative, with the West Indies abysmally placed at eighth in both tables.The agreement will come into effect next January, just before the team takes on Australia. The five-year deal with Digicel is worth over £10.9million over the next half-decade, and it means that Cable & Wireless, the previous sponsors whose deal expired recently, are out of the picture.

Webmaster – “John, we are six weeks into the season, your first as Hampshire captain, how has it been going”.Crawley – “On the whole the results will say we have not had a particularly good start to the season, two real factors I think are, we have been disrupted quite heavily in the Championship by the rain, which hasn’t helped anything. We have actually when we have got on the field have gone out there and played good stuff, and have been competitive in the matches we have played in, with certainly at certain times chances of winning each of them. That’s one outstanding thing, the others were almost freak wins by Middlesex in the National League and Sussex in the Cheltenham & Gloucester, which were games we had already won and they took the games away from us, that early on in the season is not very easy to come back from. The only game we have played poorly in, I think was the National League game against Lancashire at Old Trafford. Apart from that everything has been going reasonably well. There is obviously room for improvement, but I think on the whole there has been not as much doom and gloom as the results might say.Webmaster – “Scotland coming up at the weekend, then Durham in the Championship, Sunday must have been a big relief”‘Crawley – “Yes, I think we played really well, it was great day for Derek (Kenway), he played really well, he has been struggling for runs, and struggling for form, as an opening batsmen a loss of form is not particularly easy to deal with. The two knocks he played were brilliant really for us and for him. They were two different types of pitches. The one on Sunday was I think, the best pitch I’ve played on here at The Rose Bowl, and it was great for us to play so well on that sort of surface”.Webmaster – “What about your own form this season?”Crawley – “In and out really, obviously I had a good start to the Championship season, and should have gone on really in one of those 4/5 half centuries, I should have gone on to make a big score in one if not two. The One Day stuff started slowly, which is disappointing.Webmaster – “You may not want to talk about it, but, left out of the England squad, a big disappointment”?Crawley – O a hugh disappointment, I think I have not spoken openly about it to many people. I am still pretty bewildered and amazed by the whole thing to be honest, I did have chats with some of the selectors beforehand and they gave me the odd reason. Nobody has spoken to me since the selection has been made, but the reasons that they were putting forward before hand were not really satisfactory from my point of view. In the last eight test matches since coming back into the side, I played a big part in two of England’s wins at the time, helped to save the game against Sri Lanka at Lord’s, and averaged 47 plus with the bat. OK, I didn’t really light up any bonfires in the winter, but there were a lot of other batsmen who didn’t also, and I can take a lot of credit from the fact that I can look myself in the mirror and tell myself in all honesty that I have fought as hard as I possibly could for England. To be dropped after that for not really any reason as far as I can see, is by far and away the most utterly disappointing thing that has happened to me in my cricket career”.Webmaster – “Are you still optimistic that you could get back?Crawley – “Well certainly, the ball is in my court to do so, I’m not sure because as the season goes on and obviously the press is very powerful in this country, and they will be clamouring for more and more young faces in the side, so the pressure will be on the selectors to go that way I think they probably will, whether it is right or wrong they are under pressure, so that is the way it will go, so I will have to perform. I just really have to score double hundreds on more than one occasion.Webmaster – “OK, John that super, thank you very much.