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Bangladesh’s cricketers hit out at arrangements that saw them fly economy class even as their hosts flew executive class on their flight to Multan ahead of the third Test on Wednesday.While the entire Pakistani squad flew executive class, only Dav Whatmore, manager MA Latif, physio John Gloster and trainer Dean Woodford were allotted executive class seats. According to , Bangladesh’s liaison officer explained the arrangement by saying that the list of the touring squad had been received late.One Bangladesh cricketer, who remained anonymous, said: “We have never heard of such silly excuses. Whenever any foreign team tours Bangladesh, we book the best hotel for them. We even compromise with our comfort by moving to a cheaper hotel to accommodate the guests. The Pakistani authorities should have had the decency to do the same.”Whatmore was more vocal. “This is not a good gesture. If there was any problem, the home team should have taken the economy class and offered the executive class to the Bangladesh team. I have never seen anything like this in my life.” Whatmore had even offered his and Woodford’s seats to Khaled Mahmud, Bangladesh’s captain, and his deputy Habibul Bashar. “If required I will sit in the economy class and leave my seat to my captain. It’s a matter of prestige.”But a spokesman for the Pakistan Cricket Board denied that the Bangladesh side had been victimised. “There is a player contract with the Pakistan team that stipulates domestic travel for the team be executive class. The plane to Multan was a small one with only 25 seats thus the manager and officials were flown executive class.”He added that on the longer flight between Karachi and Peshawar, made on a bigger Airbus, both sides flew executive class.International Cricket Council regulations stipulate that touring teams must be flown in at least economy-class for internal flights, while overseas and long-distance flights must be undertaken in a higher class.

Delhi won their Ranji Trophy league match against Jammu & Kashmir by amargin of 200 runs, picking up eight points at the Feroze Shah Kotlagrounds in Delhi on Tuesday.Set a target of 469, Jammu & Kashmir never looked to go after it andcould only hope for a draw. When their in-form batsman, KavaljitSingh, fell after making 90 with the score on 193, having spent 310minutes at the crease, Delhi sniffed a chance to bowl their rivalsout.They did not mess it up. Sarandeep Singh (4-60) and Amit Bhandari(3-76) combined to destroy Jammu & Kashmir’s lower order, bowling themout for 268. Some resisting efforts from the lower middle-ordernotwithstanding, Delhi finally won in a canter.

Shashank Manohar has emerged as the latest favourite to be the next BCCI president, a position he vacated only four years ago, after receiving the endorsement of the powerful Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), the political outfit that not only runs the federal government in India but also has a wider say in the running of the Indian cricket board. Sharad Pawar, Manohar’s mentor and predecessor as BCCI president, is understood to have pulled out of the reckoning and told his supporters to back Manohar.On his part, Manohar declined to divulge details of his meeting with Arun Jaitley, the federal finance minister and former Delhi association chief, which he termed as a “private conversation”. He also said he would wait for his group’s opinion before making up his mind.However, he acknowledged that he met Jaitley on Thursday evening in Delhi. Also present at the meeting were BCCI secretary Anurag Thakur, also the head of the BJP’s youth wing, and Ajay Shirke, former BCCI treasurer and current president of the Maharashtra Cricket Association.A BCCI official, speaking off the record, said a formal announcement was likely by the BJP camp soon to make public that Manohar was their “unanimous choice” candidate to stand for the elections for the president’s post necessitated by Jagmohan Dalmiya’s death on September 20.This fresh development also means N Srinivasan, the current ICC chairman, is likely to be an isolated figure within the BCCI with the BJP clearly wanting to maintain a distance from him given his recent legal issues. Srinivasan had met Pawar in Nagpur on Wednesday evening and assured him support from his camp. Pawar did not commit to any deal, but informed his supporters who, as reported on Friday, were a disgruntled lot.At the Delhi meeting, called by him, Jaitley made it clear that the BJP was willing to support Manohar but not Pawar. The other possibility was Rajiv Shukla, the IPL chairman, who has expressed his desire to fight the elections. Shukla, however, did not have adequate support. Manohar and the rest asked Jaitley himself to stand for the top job in BCCI, but he refused and made clear his preference for Manohar.According to the BCCI official, till Friday Pawar was banking on the 18 votes he felt he was assured – 12 from the Srinivasan camp and six from his own group of supporters. But with the key members of his own camp – including Maharashtra, Saurashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Vidarbha – not in favour of Srinivasan, the official said, Pawar realised he was standing on weaker ground. The BJP’s antipathy towards Srinivasan was also made this clear to him.If Manohar does indeed step into the ring as candidate, all aspirants from the East Zone will now have to retreat. According to the BCCI’s rotation policy it is the turn of the East to have the first say in nominating a name for the interim president’s position, whose tenure will end in 2017. Immediately after Dalmiya’s death, majority of the six members of the East Zone had stated that they did not want an outsider and would work towards picking one of their own. But that seems highly unlikely now.

Nasir Hossain has played six innings in 12 ODIs for Bangladesh this year, never batting higher than No. 7. It is a position from which, given the nature of limited-overs cricket, one doesn’t always get a chance to build an innings. He has faced only 143 balls in ODIs in 2015, an average of less than 25 balls per outing. In his last two matches against India A, Nasir has faced a total of 167.On Friday in the second one-dayer against India, Nasir went out to bat at with Bangladesh A at 82 for 5 after 18.1 overs. He had plenty of time to get his eye in, build an innings and stretch the score as much as he could, with the only risk being a lack of batting partners. And that’s what he did. He started out playing second fiddle to No. 5 Liton Das, who was middling the ball better than the top-order batsmen, built a solid base as the sun shone more and more, and after Liton fell, launched an attack in the company of the tail-end batsmen.Nasir had been waiting for such opportunities to score big and bat under pressure. He later said he didn’t have a clearly defined plan when he walked out but knew that he wanted to bat out 50 overs.”I like batting at No. 7, I’ve batted there for the national team so I’m happy to do it here also,” he said. “When I was there, the wicket was good for batting, I just wanted to bat throughout. I always enjoy batting with Liton. There was no particular plan when I went out to bat, we were just looking to build a partnership and play till the end. So we played accordingly and the plan clicked.”Nasir had enjoyed Liton’s company in the first one-dayer too, when the pair added 120 runs from a score of 87 for 5 to give India A a scare in their defence of 322. Nasir followed that innings of 52 with a century today to steer the team out of a storm and then, with returns of 5 for 36, ensured they reached the shore, too.His only moment of weakness with the bat came in the 23rd over off Karn Sharma when he went for an aerial drive. Luckily for Nasir, the ball landed wide of a diving Gurkeerat Singh at deep cover. Those mistakes were corrected the next time he came down the track. It was against Karn again in the 28th over, but the ball was middled better and hit well wide of long-on for four.But Nasir knew that one small mistake, one mis-hit, would expose the tail. So he reduced the risks but still found the boundaries. There was a late cut off Gurkeerat in the 31st over, a back-foot punch off Rishi Dhawan along the ground soon after Liton was dismissed, and a sweep to bring up his fifty off 54 balls in the 37th over.The tougher parts came with the tail-end batsmen. Nasir’s 50-run, seventh-wicket partnership with Arafat Sunny had taken the score past 200. Arafat fell in the 43rd over, but Nasir chose to wait before switching gears. It was only once Shafiul was run out, in the 46th over, that Nasir floored it.He followed his nudge to third man for four with a single to keep strike. And on 76, he targeted Suresh Raina, who had conceded only eight runs from his two overs, with a slog sweep off the first ball and then a cover drive over the in-field. Two balls later, he unleashed another powerful drive to sprint to 88, and made his way into the nineties with a boundary in the next over.His celebration on reaching the three-figure mark was not as dramatic, a manner perhaps similar to his first ODI hundred, but he knew he had done what he was expected to do, and what he was eagerly waiting to accomplish.”Every partnership was very important, the one with Liton was a big one, but runs with Sunny and Rubel were equally important to post 252,” Nasir said. “The pressure was always there but I wanted to bat all 50 overs, I didn’t have a target in mind.”He batted for over two hours when the chips were down, something he enjoys and something he was first selected for back in 2011.”I really enjoy batting when the team is under pressure,” Nasir had said after his maiden ODI century nearly four years ago. “When four or five wickets are down, I love batting in those situations. I really don’t know why but I really enjoy it.”

The Ugandan government has instructed Interpol, the international police, to hunt down the two international players who defected to live in Adelaide. They want Jimmy Okello and Patrick Ochan deported after the pair fled the ICC World Cricket League final in Darwin in June.However, the players, both 19, have defied the demand for the arrest, instead playing for West Torrens, their adopted club.Uganda’s Minister of State for Sports, Charles Bakabulindi, said it was “indiscipline of the highest order for sportsmen to disappear in countries where they are representing their nation. We cannot simply sit and watch as our sportsmen who go to developed countries simply disappear in those countries.”We have to react because they damage the image of our country. We have requested Interpol to arrest them and deport them back.”Ochan said he wasn’t aware of the developments, but that he wasn’t too concerned as he was applying for refugee status. “I am not worried,” he told the newspaper. .”But I don’t want to be sent back home. I want to stay and improve my cricket here.”He and Okello are both orphans and say it would be too hard to go back to Uganda. “There are a lot of wars, people fighting too much in the north – sometimes you survive, sometimes not. It’s a hard life over there.”An Australian Federal Police spokesman said no request from international authorities had been received, and the pair are not, as yet, listed as wanted on the Interpol website.

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Following the impressive display by their batting team-mates, Maharashtra’s bowlers came to the party and routed a woeful Rajasthan for 86 and 191 en route to an innings and 250-run win at Ratnagiri. Rajasthan, reduced to 42 for 4 at the close of the second day, crumbled against Anupam Sanclecha and Aditya Dole, the opening bowlers, and Sairaj Bahutule, the former India legspinner. Sanclecha removed Mohammad Aslam with his third ball of the day and added two more victims to finish with 5 for 54, while Dole and Bahutule shared the other five. Still 439 in arrears, Maharashtra could only muster 191 in their second innings, as Bahutule, opening the bowling, and Dheeraj Jadhav, known for his stylish batting more than his part-time offbreaks, seized seven wickets to complete a crushing victory, and help their side gain five points.
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After being dismissed for 145 in their second innings, Andhra’s bowlers took five Saurashtra wickets to keep their chances of a win alive going into the final day at Rajkot. Set 274 to win, Saurashtra slipped to 127 for 5 as Venugopal Rao, the host captain, lead the way with two key scalps and changed his bowlers around to good effect. Only Shitanshu Kotak, unbeaten on 57, offered resistance and held the key for Saurashtra. Sandeep Jobanputra, the left-arm fast bowler, and Rakesh Dhurv, the left-arm spinner, took 3 for 78 and 3 for 7 in Saurashtra’s impressive bowling effort.
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Chasing 122 to beat Uttar Pradesh, Karnataka slipped to 54 for 5 before stumps were drawn on day three at Kanpur. Karnataka’s bowlers combined to bowl UP out for 194 in their second innings, with Sunil Joshi (3 for 41), Chandrashekar Raghu (2 for 35), R Vinay Kumar (2 for 26) and KP Appanna (2 for 22) sharing the spoils. Shivakant Shukla top-scored with 47 in an inconsistent UP innings. Shalabh Srivastava and Praveen Kumar, UP’s opening bowlers, picked up two wickets each to keep their side in the hunt.
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Mayank Tehlan turned his overnight century into a maiden double, and Rajat Bhatia added three figures of his own as Delhi posted 493 against Baroda at the Feroz Shah Kotla. Overnight on 108, Tehlan began the day with a series of boundaries and though he lost Virat Kohli early, was offered solid support from Bhatia in a 149-run stand for the fifth wicket. Four deliveries after he stole three off Yusuf Pathan to get to 200, Tehlan fell to the same bowler, but Bhatia (106) ensured the effort was not lost and shouldered a feeble lower order before he was last man out. Pathan (4 for 103) and Rajesh Pawar (4 for 149) were the only bowlers to have any effect on Delhi.
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Gaurav Vashisht, Haryana’s young offspinner, took a career-best 6 for 24 to spin out Tamil Nadu for just 149 at Chennai. In a 25-over spell, which included 15 maidens, Vashisht ran riot over TN’s middle and lower order, after Joginder Sharma set the tone with three wickets at the top. In reply, Sumit Sharma and Ankit Rawat, Haryana’s openers, added an unbeaten 31 to extend the lead to 149 by stumps.
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Powered by Niraj Patel’s career-best 173, Gujarat took a 205-run lead over Hyderabad and removed two of the home side’s batsmen to finish the third day in Uppal firmly in the driving seat. Overnight on 109, Patel forged the lead with Bhavik Thaker (56) and despite a middle-order wobble, Gujarat posted a commanding 406. Pragyan Ojha and Inder Shekar Reddy, Hyderabad’s left-arm spin duo, accounted for eight wickets between themselves. In response to Gujarat’s total, Tirumal Suman and Anirudh Singh, Hyderabad’s captain, were dismissed.
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A 133-run sixth-wicket stand between Amol Muzumdar, Mumbai’s veteran batsman, and Wilkin Mota, the rookie allrounder, took Mumbai to within 81 runs of Punjab’s first-innings total on the third day at Mohali. Punjab began the day well, removing Vinayak Mane, Bhavin Thakkar and Sahil Kukreja (43) in the first session, and adding two more in the second, but Muzumdar joined forces with Mota, all of four matches old, to steady the ship. Muzumdar finished unbeaten on 86, while Mota fell to Ishan Malhatra on the last ball of the day. Amanpreet Singh, the right-arm medium-fast bowler, was the most successful home bowler with 3 for 54.

The on-off saga of Yorkshire’s attempts to buy Headingley finally ended when Leeds City Council agreed to provide the Club with £9 million of funding under the Government’s Prudential Lending Scheme.Yorkshire’s bid had been on the verge of floundering before the council granted the loan, payable over a 15-year period at a fixed rate of 4.5%, allowing the county to purchase the freehold of the cricket ground and the cricket-related income streams from existing owners Leeds Cricket Football & Athletic Company.”The arrangement represents a victory for both the city and the county club,” said a clearly relieved Robin Smith, Yorkshire’s chairman. “The city’s future and reputation will be enhanced by the continuity of test and international cricket at Headingley, which the loan will ensure. Cricket lovers can enjoy the sport knowing that the future of the ground is secure.”Without the council’s loan this transaction would have been impossible and now that the loan has been made to us we can put in place a platform for enduring progress for the club and for Yorkshire cricket. There is still lot of work to do to complete the transaction and we are aiming to have it all completed by December 31.”

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.”

A forthright 94* from Mark Wallace, supported by a fine 70 by Matthew Maynard, plus a resolute 66from Adrian Dale, saw Glamorgan finish the second day of their Championship matchagainst Durham at Cardiff on 331/6, just 24 runs behind the visitors, with four wickets in hand.The day had begun with Glamorgan polishing off the Durham innings inside five overs, as thevisitors added just 2 more runs to their overnight score of 353, with Michael Kasprowiczbowling Phillips and Robert Croft having Mark Davies caught behind to finish with 6/98.Glamorgan then suffered an early setback as they lost Jimmy Maher in the 7th over when theleft-hander was caught at backward point driving at Neil Killeen. His opening partner Jonathan Hughescontinued to play fluently against the seam bowlers, and had struck 7 boundarieswhen he was bowled in Bridge`s second over, after Jon Lewis opted for left-arm spinrather than seam at the Cathedral Road End.The introduction of Phillips` off-spin at the River Taff End put a brake on Glamorgan`s progress,before Dale broke the shackles by hitting Bridge for two successive fours through the off-side. After acircumspect start before lunch, Mike Powell appeared to grow in confidence after the interval, twicedriving Phillips to the boundary for four, but Phillips gained his revenge with a classicoff-spinners dismissal as Powell popped up a ball to Peng at short-leg after after 47with Dale.Dale continued to play patiently, reaching his half century after facing 127 balls and striking 7fours, but on 66 he drove Phillips to mid wicket where Gary Pratt took a good diving catch tomake it 161-3. Glamorgan mighyt have lost a fourth wicket, but Matthew Maynard had a life on 11as Vince Wells failed to cling onto a top edge from an attempted sweep,Maynard continued to play patiently up until tea before before unleashing some furious strokes after tea,hitting Phillips for three fours in an over after he switched to the Cathedral Road End, toreach his half century from 82 balls with 7 fours. Four more crisp boundaries saw Maynard to 70,but he was then trapped leg before by Bridge, after adding 84 runs in 37 overs with Mark Wallace.Wallace continued to play some sweetly timed drives, and he became the third Glamorgan man to the fiftymark with his ninth four that bisected the two gullies that Lewis had placed in an attempt tosnaffle the Glamorgan wicket-keeper.With Croft dropping anchor at the other end, Wallace continued to punish anything offline, andthe doughty Glamorgan wicket-keeper played a delightful array of shots all around the wicket. Healso used his feet to nullify any threat from the Durham spinners, and together with Croft he had added86 runs for the sixth wicket when the day`s play ended in identical fashion to the first, as Croft wasdismissed leg before by the penultimate delivery of the day.However, Wallace remains just 6 runs short of his first Championship century of the season, and if he continues to playassertively with the remaining batsmen, he should help Glamorgan build a useful first innings lead.

Bowled out for 318, Punjab took a first-innings lead of 114 runs intheir Ranji Trophy league match against Haryana at Gurgaon on Monday.Ankur Kakkar, batting overnight on 81, fell just three runs short of awell-deserved century, becoming the eighth wicket to fall. Hisdeparture hastened the end of the Punjab innings, which only lastedfive overs more.Haryana, beginning their second innings badly with the fall of oneopener early, then consolidated to some extent. The middle-orderbatsmen, although able to get a start, could not take it further, andthe side found themselves on 173/6 at the close of play on Day Three,with skipper Parender Sharma (21*) and S Vidyut (23*) at the crease.