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Nathan Bracken’s demolition of the Queensland batting order in the Pura Cup final at Brisbane has boosted his chances of being named in Australia’s squad for the Ashes tour. Bracken took 6 for 27 to rout the Pura Cup holders for just 102 on the opening day.Bracken’s last Test was against India at Sydney in January 2004, and later in the year he lost his Cricket Australia central contract. But he has responded in fine style, spearheading the New South Wales attack this season. However, he is not getting carried away with his chances of touring England.”If I get an opportunity I’ll be wrapped with it, if I don’t, I don’t,” Bracken told the news agency. “I’m happy with the way I’ve bowled this year but my priority is to finish this game here well. I set a goal at the start of the year to take 40 wickets. I’ve now taken 41. So now I’m setting my goal at 45 and taking 45 will ensure a good game here and make it a close finish.”Bracken had a brief spell with Gloucestershire towards the end of the 2004 English season and says he enjoys the conditions. “I enjoyed my time over there before. I’ve been over there with Gloucester and also on the other Ashes trip and enjoyed the opportunity to go there. The ball does swing a lot over there and you do get wickets that do a bit so I guess any fast bowler is happy with the situation where the ball swings around and seams.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

In a match dominated by South African stars, the batting efforts of Mark Boucher and Jacques Kallis edged the all-round contribution of Shaun Pollock, as Bangalore Royal Challengers recovered from Friday’s mauling to register their first win of the tournament. Set a challenging 166 by the Mumbai Indians, Bangalore rode on an unbeaten 39 from Boucher, and his 55-run stand with Kallis sealed a five-wicket win with two balls to spare.The absence of Sachin Tendulkar would have been a huge downer for the crowd at the Wankhede Stadium, but none of them could complain about the quality of action. The bounce on the pitch kept the bowlers interested, and the batsmen on their toes – one of them, Mumbai’s Dominic Thornely, was so surprised by a Zaheer Khan bouncer that he copped a blow above the eye which required 15 stitches. Robin Uthappa and Pollock were the two major contributors for Mumbai, with Sanath Jayasuriya chipping in with a cameo at the start.A target of 166 suggested a close finish, and that’s exactly how it panned out. Bangalore had contributions from all their batsmen, though none of the top five stayed through the chase. Shivnarine Chanderpaul biffed a few before getting a painful blow on the knee, while Rahul Dravid alternated between the sublime – with glorious straight- and extra-cover drives – and the tentative – five runs from 14 balls off Pollock. Ross Taylor and Virat Kohli both made 23 in identical fashion, but when Kohli fell, the match hung in the balance, with 60 needed from 39 balls.While Kallis played a typically patient hand, Boucher put in the decisive knock which turned the match Bangalore’s way. Striking the ball freely and cleanly, he ensured the asking-rate never climbed beyond ten, and got the boundaries so regularly that the pressure slowly moved to the home team. Harbhajan Singh, the Mumbai captain, was creamed through point in the 15th over, while Jayasuriya was clubbed for a straight six. When Nehra was pulled for four and blasted out of the ground for the biggest six of the game in successive balls, the requirement had suddenly come down to 11 from 12 balls, after which the result was never in doubt.Mumbai’s innings was built largely around Uthappa’s 48, which held the innings together, and a whirlwind 12-ball 28 from Pollock which turned an average total into a substantial one. The absence of Tendulkar was felt at the top of the order, as Luke Ronchi, his replacement as opener, lasted just ten balls before falling to an outstanding catch by Kohli. Jayasuriya gave every indication of making up for Tendulkar’s absence, creaming the hapless Kallis for three fours – two bludgeoned down the ground, one flicked fine – and a huge six over long-on. When he fell against the run of play, run out by a direct hit from Zaheer, Mumbai needed a steady hand to guide the innings, and Uthappa played that part well.

His familiarity with the opposition bowlers – Vinay Kumar, Sunil Joshi and B Akhil are all state-mates in first-class cricket – helped him along too, as Vinay was late-cut delightfully and then hooked for six off successive balls. Uthappa improvised cleverly, moving to leg to clip the ball fine, or walking down the pitch to upset the bowlers, but he also reined in his attacking instincts, knocking the ball in the gaps during the middle overs.When he fell just two short of his half-century, though, Mumbai only had 125 on the board with just 19 deliveries to go. Enter Pollock, who immediately turned it up a few gears. After Abhishek Nayar had creamed a straight six off Vinay, Pollock dismissed the same bowler for a four and a six off consecutive balls. Praveen and Zaheer were taken for boundaries as well, as 40 came off the last five overs. The opposition team, though, had two other South African heavyweights to seal the deal.

Scorecard
Kent overcame a shaky start thanks to another fine innings from Martin van Jaarsveld. He received impressive support from Darren Stevens, who contributed 80 to a fourth wicket stand of 143, after Kent stumbled to 60 for 3. David Fulton fell to the first ball of the match, caught behind off David Harrison, while Robert Key fell in Darren Thomas’s opening spell. Robert Croft and Dean Cosker, Glamorgan’s spinners, kept their side in the game with a middle-order wicket each but could not dislodge van Jaarsveld. Each middle order batsmen chipped in a useful partnership contribution, with James Tredwell making 27 in his first Championship appearance of the season. van Jaarsveld passed 700 runs for the season when he reached 166 and this was fourth hundred of the summer. Despite their best efforts Glamorgan’s attack lacked the killer touch as the early strikes in the morning session became a distant memory in the face of van Jaarsveld’s stroke play.
Scorecard
The opening day at Lord’s produced some fascinating cricket as the pendulum swung one way then the other. For a full report see Match of the Day.

Jason Gillespie will become the latest of Australia’s thirty-somethings to call time when he announces his retirement during South Australia’s Pura Cup tie against Queensland which starts on Friday.Gillespie, who will turn 33 in April, is widely reported to have signed with the unsanctioned Indian Cricket League, and that means he has delayed any announcement to allow him to bow out in the match. Gillespie would have been barred from playing were he to confirm a deal with the ICL .A source close to the player told The Australian newspaper that there would be a press conference at the close of the first day of the match. “He’s not allowed to announce it prior because it is not a sanctioned league.”Gillespie was one of Australia’s leading quick bowlers during their outstanding period of dominance. In 71 Tests he took 259 wickets at 26.13 with a best of 7 for 37 at Headingley in 1997. His last major act for Australia came in his final Test when he was recalled in 2006 after a dismal Ashes campaign the previous year and hit 201 against Bangladesh.Although Gillespie enjoyed a good season in 2006-07, taking 30 wickets at 28.43 for South Australia, this summer he managed 24 wickets at 35.87 and there was speculation that his contract would not be renewed.The news also caught Glamorgan, who Gillespie had signed to play for in 2008, on the hop. Only yesterday they issued the details of their squad to the media, but if he does sign with the ICL then he will be unable to honour that commitment.

The West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) has announced it is to pay West Indies players $135,000 of outstanding sponsorship fees and incentive payments for their tour of Australia last year.The board were quick to confirm that the sponsors, Digicel, weren’t responsible for the delay in payment. In a press release on Saturday, the board said that “it has put facilities in place to settle these outstanding liabilities,” which would take place on Monday January 30. The board also reiterated that “payments from the team sponsors Digicel are fully up-to-date and Digicel is in no way responsible for the delay in payment.”This isn’t the first payment dispute to surface in the West Indies. Speaking to CaribbeanCricket.com, a source was quoted as saying “[the] WICB is always in breach of the contract. This is something that happens all the time, every time”.

Shaun Pollock, the South African allrounder, has been passed fit to play in the third Test against England which starts this Sunday (Jan 2) at Cape Town. Pollock was hit on the gloves twice by Steve Harmison during his innings of 35 in fading light on the fifth day of the second Test at Durban. The diagnosis on Friday was heavy bruising, and no fractures.Boeta Dippenaar, who scored 110 against England at Port Elizabeth, returns to the squad for the third match after recovering from the knee injury that made him miss the Durban Test. Martin van Jaarsveld, who hit a 52-ball 49 on Thursday, loses his place to accommodate him.Ashley Giles, the England spinner, has overcome the back problems that prevented him from bowling in South Africa’s first innings at Durban. Giles had suffered a back spasm on the opening day while facing a hostile spell of bowling from Dale Steyn. Giles told reporters: “I’ve been through the wars, but I’m fine – the back seems to have fully recovered and the bruises will heal with time. I’ve never had a problem during a game with it before, which is frustrating, particularly sitting out for a day and a half watching the guys battle it out.”

Scorecard and ball-by-ball commentary
How they were out

Australia entered the first Test with concerns over their fast bowlers, but South Africa’s batsmen were the ones with problems on the opening day as Stuart Clark’s five wickets on debut dropped them for 205. While much of the lead-up was spent wondering about the missing Glenn McGrath, Clark, a 30-year-old first-gamer, and Michael Kasprowicz, one of Mark Boucher’s “Ashes rejects”, were responsible for flooring the host’s ambitious plans after winning the toss.Clark’s stunning welcome of 5 for 55 was the best by an Australian since Brett Lee’s 5 for 47 against India in 1999-2000 and Lee’s three wickets finished off the work his back-up bowlers had started. It was not a day for fluent batting and by stumps Australia had cut the deficit to 142 for the loss of Justin Langer for 16.Langer escaped a caught-behind decision in the first over before leaving to a doubtful lbw to Andre Nel, and South Africa craved the tight and penetrative Shaun Pollock towards the close. A back injury forced Pollock out before play and his absence was a relief for Matthew Hayden, who strolled past Don Bradman’s career tally of 6996 and 7000 runs in making 22, and Ricky Ponting (20). Australia coped brilliantly without their key manRecovering from Sunday’s unbelievable one-day demolition, the visitors found their Test groove much more quickly than the edgy batsmen and showed that at least in the short-term they could cope without McGrath. The true tests will come on pitches offering nothing and batsmen showing confident blades, but under bowler-friendly skies all the fast men gained considerable movement off the pitch. Nobody created more problems than Clark, who narrowly won his spot on a hunch ahead of Stuart MacGill. Australia guessed correctly and collected.Religiously described as McGrath-like, Clark performed a perfect impression of the man Australia are desperately trying to replace after taking his baggy green from Merv Hughes. Three wickets before lunch, including the brilliant removal of Herschelle Gibbs’s off stump, sparked contagious smiles from the Australians and he added Boucher and Nicky Boje to complete his haul. The only downsides of a remarkable entry were a dropped catch off Lee and being belted for a six by Andre Nel during a team-high last-wicket partnership of 32 that lifted South Africa above 200.Kasprowicz had to wait three Tests for his first wicket in 1997, but Clark picked up his maiden dismissal – a vital one – after only nine deliveries. Held back until Andrew Symonds’s had delivered an over of medium pace, Clark continued Graeme Smith’s poor long-game run against Australia when he forced him to push forward on 19 and gave Adam Gilchrist an easy take.After a superb wicket and the lucky one of Jacques Kallis, who cut a short delivery straight to Hayden at gully, Clark produced a sensational ball that nipped away to collect Gibbs and leave South Africa struggling on 61 for 4. The faith in the untried pairing of Kasprowicz, who collected 2 for 44, and Clark was shown when Ponting gave them long spells after lunch ahead of Lee and Shane Warne – the two big guns expected to fire while McGrath cares for his sick wife. Instead, the lesser lights combined for the first six wickets with the help of some sharp and clever catching.

Marking his return after eight-Tests with an early off-cutter that knocked over AB de Villiers, Kasprowicz picked up Jacques Rudolph shortly after lunch with a piece of footwork from Warne that would have had Mark Viduka bullocking towards the home supporters. Warne was surprised to see Rudolph’s edge heading for him at first slip and fumbled it on to his thigh, but as the ball fell towards the ground he flicked it up with his toe to Gilchrist.At the other end Clark was running into a fresh breeze and doused Boucher’s positive 16 with another fine leg-cutter that was accepted by an in-form Gilchrist, who dived low to his right. Clark’s fourth wicket – and the team’s sixth at 104 – was quickly followed by Lee’s first, with another sharp Hayden catch ending Ashwell Prince’s 17-run resistance.The recovery was left to the lower order and Andrew Hall picked up 24 at No. 8 while Boje top scored with 31 and Nel (18) and Makhaya Ntini (17 not out) gave the home crowd some late fun. South Africa’s batsmen found it hard to find the right tempo after such a short gap between the end of the one-dayers and the start of the Tests. The problem was expected to be more damaging for the Australians, but at the end of day one they had lost their worries and regained the momentum.

South Africa
AB de Villiers b Kasprowicz 8 (24 for 1)
Graeme Smith c Gilchrist b Clark 19 (42 for 2)
Jacques Kallis c Hayden b Clark 6 (48 for 3)
Herschelle Gibbs b Clark 18 (61 for 4)
Jacques Rudolph c Gilchrist b Kasprowicz 10 (76 for 5)
Mark Boucher c Gilchrist b Clark 16 (104 for 6)
Ashwell Prince c Hayden b Lee 17 (124 for 7)
Andrew Hall c Hayden b Lee 24 (148 for 8)
Nicky Boje lbw 31 (173 for 9)
Andre Nel lbw Lee 18 (205)

The two teams could not have had more contrasting routes to the final. Bengal were steady throughout, with a couple of outright wins and no defeats. They had well laid-out plans and went about executing them quite professionally, spearheaded by the bowling of Ranadeb Bose and the batting of tyros Abhishek Jhunjhunwala and Manoj Tiwary. Mumbai’s progress was far more dramatic: at one stage they were staring at relegation, before they scripted a quite amazing turnaround, winning their last three group matches.BengalRound 1, v Punjab at MohaliFirst morning in chilly Chandigarh, put in, and 18 for 5. Deep Dasgupta and Laxmi Ratan Shukla resurrected the innings, Dasgupta at his gritty best. Sourav Ganguly provided the crucial breakthroughs with the ball for Bose to mop up the tail. Ganguly played a quick cameo with the bat too to set up a competitive target. But it was Ashok Dinda, filling in for the injured Shib Shankar Paul, who provided the decisive blows in the second innings to provide a win that would contribute hugley, both arithmetically and psychologically, to their advance into knockouts.Round 2, v Mumbai at KolkataA first in mutual history. Bengal enforcing a follow-on on Mumbai, Manoj Tiwary converting promise into numbers. Bose raised his game a notch, persisted on a dead Eden Gardens track, and ended up with figures of 34.1-14-69-5.Round 4, v Gujarat at Kolkata
If Punjab was a narrow escape, this time they conceded the first-innings lead by three runs. The game was always going to be a first-innings battle, and Bengal looked good with Shukla and Bose carrying them from 291 for 7 to 324, and then they collapsed to lose the next three wickets for only two runs. This loss of two points could have proved crucial in the end.Round 5, v Maharashtra at KolkataLosing the toss at Eden is not good news if you are a medium-pacer. Yet Bose and Sourav Sarkar, a 22-year-old debutant, somehow got Maharashtra out cheaply. The batsmen did nothing spectacular but all eight of them (Lahiri at No. 8) got starts and that was enough to get the first-innings lead.Round 6, v Hyderabad at HyderabadBengal’s most sensational result. Having fallen behind by more than 100 in the first innings in an away match, they came back with the resolve of champions. Bose this time changed identity: from a workhorse on flat tracks he became a destroyer, taking seven wickets in 20 second-innings overs for only 25 runs. The win restored them to the top of the table; they still needed to seal their place in the semis, though.Round 7, v Rajasthan at KolkataBose just couldn’t do anything wrong. He and Sarkar, answered the captain’s call of bowling first on an Eden Gardens track with typical bravery, and blew away Rajasthan. Tiwary, Ganguly, and Jhunjhunwala joined in the festivities to book that semis berth.Semi-final, v Karnataka at KolkataBose and Sarkar were lethal again on first day. Before Karnataka knew what hit them, they were bowling on Day One. Contrary to style, though, Bengal failed to close the game out in the first innings, giving Karnataka a glimmer which they used in the second innings to set an imposing target. But Tiwary again came to the party with his third score of 150-plus, as Bengal cruised to 307 for 4.

MumbaiRound 2, v Bengal at KolkataMumbai’s young attack got ground into dust as the seniors Ramesh Powar and Nilesh Kulkarni failed to inspire. Nine bowlers were used, only seven wickets taken over more than two days. The inexperience in batting showed too, with only Bhavin Thakkar making any impression.Round 3, v Punjab at MohaliThis was a cracker, even if only for the first-innings lead. From 139 for 5, Amol Muzumdar stitched partnership after partnership with the tail, and fell in freakish circumstances. Mudeep Mungela, No. 11, straight-drove Amanpreet Singh who got a touch on to the ball which hit the stumps at the non-striker’s end, where Muzumdar was backing up too far. On his way back, Muzumdar wept.Round 4, v Hyderabad at HyderabadIf Muzumdar had thought he had seen the worst, he was wrong. The batsmen hit a new low and the bowlers never reached threatening proportions, except for a lone battle put up by Ramesh Powar. Three matches, all three with the toughest sides of the group, one loss but no points. They needed inspiration which was not coming their way.Round 5, v Gujarat at MumbaiTheir first home game and Mumbai found inspiration in a young batsman, a young allrounder, and two old spinners. Rohit Sharma finally got a first-class hundred – a double, at that – and, with the help of Abhishek Nair, put up enough for the spinners to come into play. With the Wankhede pitch assisting them, Nilesh Kulkarni and Powar became an imposing proposition, and Mumbai was alive again.Round 6, v Rajasthan at MumbaiThe pace bowlers got their act together this time and all of a sudden Mumbai started to look like contenders. After dismissing Rajasthan cheaply, they made enough – Muzumdar got a century – for bowlers to chip in towards a collective second-innings effort. Two wins with bonus points from both meant they were still alive and within a win of a semi-final berth.Round 7, v Maharashtra at NashikLosing to Maharashtra last year had hurt them the most, which is probably why they had reserved their most emphatic display for their junior neighbours. Youngsters Kukreja and Shah took them across 500. Ajit Agarkar, on a break from international cricket, forced Maharashtra to follow on, and Kulkarni showed his lethal side again, as Mumbai literally stormed into the semis.Semi-final, v Baroda at VadodaraThe value of Muzumdar’s 97 in the first innings was felt in the other three scores: 142, 145, and 173. But the semi-final win did not come without its twists. After securing a first-innings lead on a green top, Mumbai got off to the worst possible start in the second. Five ducks at the top of the order, and no run on the board; that was embarrassing. But their lower order had little time to think about embarrassments; they were busy collecting enough runs which would matter in the end and not the scoreline that once read: 5 for 0.

The much-touted Major League Cricket Interstate Cricket Tournament which was due to be held next week in Florida has been postponed because of the destruction caused by Hurricane Wilma. The event will now start on November 30.The decision came after talks between MLC officials and Broward County officials. The local authorities explained that all their resource was committed to the local clean-up and that staging the festival was not really an option against that backdrop.Parag Harolikar, the MLC operations manager, said that while the news was disappointing, it would allow “all the teams to better prepare for the tournament and for better chemistry among team members.”

I have read the clarification by Sheldon Ellis published on Cricinfo and I have also read the proposed draft constitution. As the former president of USACA and also being one of the three individuals who wrote the existing constitution, here are my comments.1. The draft constitution, Article 8-section3(a) states that for the first electoral cycle, each regional director (which is current incumbent) shall appoint a maximum of four persons to the regional administration. These four individuals – along with the league presidents in the region and the current director included – shall then appoint the representative from the region to the executive board. So, let us assume that region X has five leagues out of which 2 league presidents are friends of the current director, who now has a possible 7 votes (including his own) out of a total of 9.Therefore, it is very easy for the incumbent to appoint himself to the executive board for another three years.The elections of the regional administration and other items mentioned in the constitution only are applicable to the next elections, i.e. after three years.This also applies to the appointment of the executives. The nominating panel (appointed by the incumbents) select the individuals by a process that is poorly defined.Article XII-Section 3-Subsection i & ii: The nominating panel shall have the following responsibilities:1) To evaluate prospective candidates for the executive positions2) Veto any candidate for potential conflict or other problematic background issues.Under this scenario it is possible that the panel (possibly the current members of the Board with one or two other appointments) can disqualify any nominee that is not to their liking. This is not an election as defined by the Corporate not for profit laws.2. Article XXIV section iii- states that proposed amendment to the constitution shall be ratified by three-quarters of the members present and eligible to vote. Now this begs the question as to who are eligible vote. The constitution does not clearly define who are the full eligible voting members of the organisation. Let us assume that clubs are full members; unless the clubs provide a proxy to the league president, the constitution as written does not authorize the league president to vote on their behalf. One has to understand that voting on the constitutional amendment is not the same as voting on another resolution at the AGM.3. Notice of the meeting has to be disseminated to all the members by acceptable means such as US postal mail, email or fax within a reasonable time frame in any non profit organization. Posting the notice on the web site is unacceptable.4. Complaint procedure, termination or suspension of membership and sanctions: once again it comes down to who are the full members of USACA. If clubs are full members, then in any non-profit organization, the executive Board serve at the pleasure of the membership.Therefore, the majority members of the organization shall always have the right to reverse the decision of the Board or the Executive that has been appointed to serve them.This is because there have to be checks and balances in the organisation. In case there is an executive body that conducting the business (making decisions) against the acceptable principles, the membership should have some recourse other than to wait till the next elections.By the same argument charging members a fee to file a complaint (frivolous or not) is unacceptable even if the fee can be waived by appeal to the executive board for financial hardship. This is in violation of the rights of the membership.5. Interestingly, I noticed that Mr. Sheldon Ellis has been named as the Arbitrator for the ratification process and he was also on the constitution review committee. That would be a conflict in my opinion. Also, the arbitrator does not write comments on the pros and cons of the draft.6. Further, I also noticed that several issues that were raised in the open letter to USACA have not been addressed in this clarification and I have copied them as written in the letter:i) The notice for the constitutional amendment is inadequate as per the existing constitution (it requires 21 working days notice)ii) The plan is to count only the returned ballots -for Example: if only 10 clubs returned the ballots and seven of them said yes, then the constitution shall be considered as amended. This is unconstitutional since the current constitution requires a 2/3rd majority vote of the member clubs.iii) Article XVII-Conflict of interest: The present draft states that “If any member of the executive board….has a financial interest in any contract or transaction involving USACA…., such individual shall only disclose such conflict of interest or simply not participate in the evaluation of the contract, business affair or vote. No one should have financial interest in any contract or transaction involving USACA while being part of the USACA executive board. This can also lead to USACA’s disqualification of IRS 501(C) 3 non profit status.This section should have stated that any member of the executives, BODs or any other office bearer shall not have such a conflict of interest, knowingly or otherwise. Anyone found guilty of violating this rule shall be subject to immediate removal from office and further penalties.iv) Restructuring of the regions: There is no mechanism by which the number of regions can grow. The Appendix C of the draft Constitution calls for three Leagues with at least 8 teams each to be able to form a region. This is in direct conflict with Article III Section 1 which calls for at least fifteen (15) members. There is no upper limit on the number of leagues in a region before which it needs to break into more regions such as the case with New YorkIn the Central West for example, there are currently four leagues but two of them do not have the requisite minimum number of 8 teams… Does this mean the Leagues in Central West are going to be voting to de recognize their own region? If so where will they belong? The Constitution does not address this.7. Significantly, ICC wrote a letter to USACA executive body back in March of 2006 stating that the sanctions imposed on USACA shall be lifted subject to certain conditions. One of the most important conditions listed in the letter is as follows:That – in addition to any auditor role within the USACA Constitution – the Interim USACA Board agree on a third-party to oversee the next election of the USACA Board of Directors and that the ruling of this third-party on any related matter be binding.Unfortunately, the executives failed to follow the ICC directive.Therefore, I believe that it is time for the cricket loving people of this country to speak up and act now before it is too late. I believe that this entire process that USACA has adopted is unconstitutional and also against the directive of the ICC as well as the courts. There is no independent monitor for this process. Therefore, this process is illegitimate.