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Inzamam-ul-Haq, the former Pakistan captain who now plays for the ICL, is optimistic the country’s president, Asif Ali Zardari, will help resolve the issue between the league’s players and the PCB.The Pakistan board, acting in accordance to the BCCI’s wishes, banned all Pakistani players in the ICL from representing regional teams as well as the national side. But Inzamam said he met Pakistan’s law minister Farooq Naek and told him the ICL contracts gave top priority to national duty and the league was willing to release a player if he was selected to play for the country.”Mr Naek heard us out and even had a look at our contracts,” Inzamam told the . “Then the law minister had a word with Pakistan president Asif Ali Zardari about our request. The president has said he will meet the ICL players and the board and try to sort the issue out. I am hoping for a positive result.”Inzamam said players like Imran Nazir and Abdul Razzaq could still play for Pakistan and there was no reason to ignore them just because they played for the ICL. The ICL’s second season starts on Saturday with hosts Hyderabad Heroes taking on the Lahore Badshahs, led by Inzamam.

Shahid Karim, the lawyer representing Pakistan fast bowler Mohammad Asif in the IPL doping hearings, will focus on several discrepancies in the procedure followed by the IPL in conducting dope tests to defend his client. The IPL drugs tribunal conducted a preliminary hearing in Mumbai on Saturday but adjourned the hearing to November, after Karim addressed his objections to them.”There were certain things on which the IPL had gone wrong so the entire day was consumed in this in the hearing,” Karim told . “We scored a few points and made it known to the tribunal that there were serious discrepancies that had crept in.”The IPL announced in July that Asif, who played for the Delhi Daredevils, had tested positive for the banned steroid nandrolone during its first season earlier this year. His B sample was also positive but the level was different to the first sample. The second sample had a nandrolone concentration of 5.4 nanograms per millilitre of urine while the first had 6.2 nanograms.Based on these facts, Karim was confident his client will be given the benefit of the doubt. “I am very hopeful that he will come clear,” Karim said. “He will come out clean because we have serious objections to this entire procedure which I can’t disclose fully for various reasons now.”At the hearing Karim argued that due to these discrepancies, Asif should be cleared on technical grounds. “If that is not done, then we have been told to present our evidence, medical experts and also the other side on the next date of hearing so that the entire proceedings of the inquiry can be wound up probably at the next hearing in November.”Asif was earlier banned for one year by a Pakistan Cricket Board tribunal after testing positive for nandrolone during the 2006 Champions Trophy. The punishment was overturned a month later on appeal. He is currently suspended by the PCB till the IPL completes its inquiry.Also, in June this year, Asif was detained for 19 days at Dubai airport for possessing an illegal substance. The PCB has completed its investigation into the matter, but a final verdict is pending. He was accompanied at the last hearing by Karim and sports medicine expert Dr Michael Graham.

MCC chief executive Keith Bradshaw is expected to step down from his position on the ECB management board after experiencing too much conflict of interest according to a report in the .Bradshaw is known to have concerns about the future direction of the world game, especially the development of the English Premier League, the role of Allen Stanford and the dominance of the BCCI. During the recent Stanford Super Series he spoke about the ‘integrity of cricket’ and admitted to concerns about the planned quadrangular event due to be staged at Lord’s.”I do feel I have a conflict of interests given the MCC’s role in the world game and its need to be an independent voice,” Bradshaw told the .An MCC spokesman confirmed to Cricinfo that the matter was on the agenda for the next committee meeting, but added that nothing has been confirmed. “MCC’s role as the guardian of the Laws is of paramount importance to Keith,” the spokesman said.Bradshaw’s resignation would enable him to comment freely on matters involving English and world cricket, creating some potentially interesting situations for the ECB.He is due to take two months off in the New Year for further treatment for bone cancer, although he insisted that was nothing to do with his decision.

The ECB and the IPL have failed to reach an understanding over the release of England players for the 2009 edition of the league during a two-day meeting in Mumbai. Giles Clarke, the England board chairman, and chief executive David Collier held discussions with Lalit Modi, the IPL chairman; they are expected to meet again in the coming weeks.The two sides were to negotiate on a reciprocal agreement, with the ECB pushing for having Indian players in the English Premier League, slated to kick off in 2010, in return for their contracted players taking part in the Indian league. The reported the the participation of English teams in the Champions Twenty20 League was also discussed. Middlesex, the domestic Twenty20 champions, will play in the inaugural tournament in India next month, but Kent, originally slated to take part by finishing second, were barred because they fielded players contracted to the ICL.The England players have not yet signed their central contracts for the year, with the players’ association keen on clarifying the position on the IPL. “The guys are keen to get the central contracts signed and we are 99% of the way there,” Sean Morris, the Professional Cricketers’ Association chief executive, had told BBC Sport. “The Stanford and IPL windows are new things that have never been there before, it’s a new workload. We don’t know what the calendar is going to be for next year and are waiting to be told.”Until then, we don’t know what the guys are committing to in signing the contracts and we need that to be clarified. The players themselves are pretty comfortable about the situation.” The next IPL player auction is set for February 6 next year, but Modi wants the players to be available for a majority of the matches.At the moment England are scheduled to play four Tests and five one-day internationals in the West Indies, a tour which ends on April 3, 2009, after which they host Sri Lanka from May 7. The series against Sri Lanka will clash with the IPL, which is to be held between April 10 and May 29. There are doubts over the availability of several Sri Lankan players for the tour of England though, because of their IPL commitments, but even if the tour is cancelled, the ECB have lined up West Indies as back-up.

USA beat Canada to move within one match of the title, Bermuda beat Argentina and Cayman Islands defeated Suriname

USA took a significant step towards the 2008 Americas championship with an 81-run victory over Canada at Central Broward Regional Park. In what was in reality a see-saw battle, with periods of holding the upper hand for both sides, it was the USA perseverance and determination that saw them through critical periods of play. The result leaves USA needing to beat Cayman Islands to win the title.After winning the toss, the USA were soon 3 for 2, Sushil Nadkarni and Lennox Cush both falling to Umar Bhatti. Despite some repair work from Carl Wright (40) and captain Steve Massiah (22), at 89 for 6 after 29 overs, they were still in trouble. But Aditya Thyagarajan and Orlando Baker then added 105 in 20 overs, and steered USA to 201 for 8. Thyagarajan finished unbeaten on 84, made from 99 balls, while Baker was 38 not out.In reply, Canada made a slow but steady start, with Sandeep Jyoti (40) and Asif Mulla putting on 44 for the first wicket, but once they had been separated the innings fell away as Orlando Baker (5 for 31) ripped through the middle order, the last eight wickets falling for 42. He received excellent support from Imran Awan (3 for 14 from 8.5 overs) and Sudesh Dhaniram (1 for 10 in 9 overs).Bermuda cruised to a 146-run win over Argentina at at Central Broward Regional Park B Field, the outcome never in doubt after they made 341 for 4, Glenn Blakeney leading the charge with an unbeaten 118 off 113 balls. David Hemp chipped in with 58 not out off 68 balls, the pair adding 139 for the fifth wicket. Lionel Cann continued his rich vein of form by blasting 63 off 33 balls, including 5 sixes. Despite losing two early wickets, Argentina did well to make 195 for 6 without ever threatening an upset, Tomas Francis using his time in the middle to make an unbeaten 50.”Today was a morale boosting and confidence building performance,” Gus Logie, Bermuda’s coach, said. “The players knew they underachieved in their previous game [against USA] and they were determined to get back on track. It was especially pleasing to witness the quality and class of Blakeney’s first hundred for Bermuda, but it was a little disappointing we were unable to bowl out the opposition.”At Brian Piccolo Park, Suriname were again heavily defeated, but showed some signs of improvement against Cayman Islands. After being put in to bat, Suriname were dismissed for 103, but it was the first time they had reached three figures in the tournament. Veteran leg-spinner Michael Wight took 5 for 7 in 6 overs. Cayman Islands took 21 overs to complete an eight-wicket win.Suriname now face Argentina in the final round of matches, with relegation to Division 2 awaiting the losers. On form so far, it is hard to see Suriname pulling off an upset.

Uttar Pradesh 91 for 3 (Shukla 46*, Zaheer 2-11) trail Mumbai 402 (Rohit 141, Nayar 99, Bhuvneshwar 5-78, RP 3-100) by 311 runs
Scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Uttar Pradesh paid for their own fielding errors, and a crucial umpiring one just before stumps as Mumbai gained the upper hand on the second day. After letting Mumbai get past 400 through buttered fingers and then losing two quick wickets, UP started the long journey towards recovery through a circumspect Shivakant Shukla and Mohammad Kaif.But with 3.4 overs to go Zaheer Khan bowled a superb reverse-swinging delivery, which fooled the batsman and umpire too. It wasn’t a real shocker, though: Zaheer bowled from round the stumps, got the ball to straighten, and the bat hit the pad as the ball passed Kaif. There was deviation, there was a sound, and it was a forgiveable error. But it became a crucial decision, in that UP had come back from 6 for 2 to 91 and Mumbai hadn’t taken a wicket for 40 overs.But for that final drama, the second day of the Ranji Trophy final was not one for attractive cricket: first Rohit Sharma edged and nudged his way to 28 more runs, then UP missed catches and run-outs to let the tenth wicket frustrate them, before Shukla and Kaif settled on mere survival after the early blows. Only 196 were scored through the day, and UP played out 24 maidens in their 47 overs.After the many chances UP had accorded Rohit yesterday, they turned their generosity towards Zaheer and Dhawal Kulkarni today. In all they dropped four catches, and missed one stumping and two run-outs. UP may have had a tough time surviving the middle session, but they should have been batting much earlier.In the morning, they finally got Rohit’s wicket after several indiscretions from the batsman had gone unpunished. Kaif’s moves in the field worked too, as Praveen Gupta, the left-arm spinner, struck twice in his second over of the day. But once again, when it seemed the balance in the match would be restored, wicketkeeper Amir Khan dropped No. 11 Kulkarni, and the familiar story continued.Rohit’s was an excruciating innings: he survived many close calls, but still managed the shots of a man in prime form. He edged thrice, and played and missed twice in the first six overs of the day, but finally fell to the spin of Gupta, who was brought on fairly early, when the second new ball was 23 overs old. Rohit leapt out of the crease, ended up too far from the pitch of the ball, and lobbed the heave to point. The next three wickets came quickly, and Mumbai should have been bowled out for 363 but for the reprieve by Amir. Zaheer punished them after that, and got out finally in the first over after lunch. Not before UP had missed another run-out and a catch, and the umpire an edge.UP’s unorthodox field placings had hurt them too, and when their turn to bat came they lost their first two wickets in an unusual manner. Tanmay Srivastava, their highest run-getter this season, looked to leave a wide bouncer from Zaheer Khan, but acted too late and got the toe of the bat almost after the ball had passed him. Suresh Raina, keen to get off the mark first ball, went for a quick single after playing the ball off the back foot towards cover. Raina was slow off the blocks and dived to save himself, but the bat was in the air when Sairaj Bahutule’s throw hit the stumps.Zaheer, assisted by Kulkarni, then gave Shukla and Kaif a stern examination. Scoring was not high on their priority as Zaheer kept them occupied with very existential doubts. The first seven overs yielded just seven runs, and six of them in the first over by Srivastava. In the next, Kaif edged Kulkarni twice, once to fine leg and then between third slip and gully. After those scares, Kaif recovered to strike two cover-driven boundaries off Kulkarni and Agarkar.Till moments before tea, Mumbai had been all that UP weren’t in the field: alert, safe, orthodox and managing direct hits. But four minutes from the break, Ajinkya Rahane missed a sharp chance from Shukla at gully. Shukla was 18 then, and ended the day unbeaten. Zaheer tested him with short ones, and though he looked uncomfortable, he hung on.When Agarkar came on he finally got an easy scoring opportunity, on-driving for his first four. Once Zaheer and Kulkarni were done with their first spells, batting got easier, but the run-flow didn’t increase. Kaif, in particular, went ultra-defensive, although he was solid at that. At one point after tea, he had scored only one run off 38 balls. Shukla, from the other end, continued in much the same flow as his unbeaten 821-minute 178 in the semi-final. Nothing was tempting enough for him, and he looked in no hurry.The final test came with a four-over spell of high-quality revere-swing from Zaheer, which was also the most exciting part of the day. In this last spell, Zaheer bowled all maidens, came close to getting Shukla, and got Kaif. Just as in the final two years ago, Zaheer promised to be the difference between the winners and runners-up.

An MRI scan has revealed no major damage to Andrew Flintoff’s left side, after he was pulled out of England’s warm-up against a St Kitts Invitational XI, and he will continue to be assessed on a daily basis.Flintoff made a four-hour round trip to Jamaica on Monday to have the problem investigated and the scans were checked by the ECB’s chief medical officer, Nick Peirce, back in the UK. While the results are promising it won’t ease all concerns surrounding his fitness ahead of the first Test on February 4.He first felt the problem during an early-tour net session but was named in the opening tour match. However, after his brief innings of 11 on the first day he reported more soreness and was withdrawn from the contest as a precaution. Stuart Broad took his place in side and claimed two wickets on the second day.The team management insisted that Flintoff’s trip to Kingston was precautionary, but there will be concerns given his fitness history. Another side injury caused a delay in Flintoff’s return to the England side last year, when he was being earmarked for a recall for the home series against New Zealand following ankle surgery.He picked up that problem in the County Championship against Durham in early May and was forced to sit out international cricket until the second Test against South Africa, at Headingley, in July. Since returning his bowling has been impressive and he has regularly hit the 90mph mark. During the India tour before Christmas he was used extensively by Kevin Pietersen and said his body felt as good as ever.Meanwhile Owais Shah, England’s other casualty of an eventful 24 hours, is hopeful of a swift recovery after waking up with blurred vision on the second morning of the match. He was left ruing his misfortune after suffering a scratched left cornea following his unbeaten 125 on the opening day of the match.”I don’t know how I did it,” Shah told reporters in Basseterre. “The doctor didn’t know either, she said it could have been anything, maybe a tiny bit of sand went in, and I just rubbed my eye.”When I spoke to the physio, I was concerned about my eyesight going but he said ‘you can’t lose your eyesight overnight’,” he said. “The doctor put some medicine in there, covered it up and she reckons it should heal up overnight. Hopefully it will be okay tomorrow.”It was an untimely injury for Shah, who had seized his opportunity to impress ahead of the first Test at Kingston on February 4, but now faces an anxious wait to see whether he can recover in time to play in England’s first-class warm-up against West Indies A later this week.”It is timing, isn’t it?” said Shah, who has played only two Tests in the three years since he made his debut in 2006. “Sometimes you can do what you want and sometimes you might not get the opportunity. But I am actually not that frustrated any more – maybe 12 months ago I was, but I have sort of gone past that stage now.”

It was a perfect way for Mahela Jayawardene to begin his final series as captain of Sri Lanka. He went past 8000 Test runs during the course of his 25th century – his first against Pakistan – on the opening day of the Karachi Test and also became the tenth batsman to have scored centuries against all the Test-playing nations.Jayawardene’s unbeaten 136 off 239 balls came after a string of poor scores in one-day internationals, a format in which he’s managed only one half-century from his last 17 innings. However, he felt that his ODI form was not as bad as it was made out to be.”I’ve always thought that my one-day form has been good,” Jayawardene said. “It’s just the execution and the gameplan that hasn’t been there, and that’s something I need to work on. I’ve been hitting the ball pretty good in one-day cricket, but it’s just that I need to spend more time out there.”When you’re given the opportunity to bat for long periods, it’s much easier to execute a gameplan in Test cricket. I’m quite happy with the effort today.”Jayawardene played a vital part in an unbroken 229-run stand for the fourth wicket with Thilan Samaraweera, who also remained unbeaten on 130. Together, they were the driving force behind Sri Lanka reaching 406 for 3 by stumps. Jayawardene, however, felt that Sri Lanka’s bowlers would fare better than Pakistan’s did.”The pitch is slowing down and it’s tough work for the fast bowlers,” he said. “But I think you can still make use of it by bowling a lot of variations and deceiving the batsmen. I’m sure our guys are looking forward to bowling on this pitch.”It is going to be tough but we have a job to finish. We have to bat well, get a good score on board and then give the spinners an opportunity to attack them.”

Andrew Symonds has revealed the depth of his lows during a troubled year that involved twice being suspended from Australia’s teams. Symonds, who has also battled a knee injury and various off-field controversies, said he had experienced “bad days and really bad days” during the summer, including bouts of binge drinking.”They didn’t sit me down and tell me I was diagnosed with depression,” Symonds told the Sunday Telegraph. “But I was affected somehow … I had bad days and really bad days, and then I had great days and really great weeks.”It’s all part of my personal development and improving. These bushfires and this terrorism stuff towards the Sri Lankans, it puts things into perspective as to what’s important. Walking out there and scoring no runs is pretty unimportant if you have had your house burnt down and you have lost your family. Things like that have helped me realise what’s important in life.”Symonds has had regular counselling sessions since being sent home from Darwin before the Bangladesh one-day series last year, and he was also stopped from being part of the South Africa Test tour. “I’ve become more tolerant of the way I’ve got to accept I’ve got to live,” he said. That’s the thing that used to frustrate me. I enjoy it [counselling]. It’s really helped. I’ll see it right through because it’s been great for me.”Symonds said there were times during the season when he was “drinking too much and binge drinking, using it as an out or as an excuse if I’d had a bad day”. “The answer for me is controlling it and knowing when to have a beer and what’s appropriate,” he said. “I believe I’ve done that well now.”He also lost money in the collapse of a financial firm he invested in and broke up with his girlfriend during the season. However, the pair has reunited and he is now looking towards the Ashes.”If I was to never play for cricket for Australia again, that’s something I could live with,” he said. “But it’s something I’m not prepared to give up trying to achieve.”

Chris Gayle and Fidel Edwards will be appearing for the Kolkata Knight Riders and the Deccan Chargers respectively in this season’s IPL, but will be available for a little less than two weeks. With both West Indian players expected to arrive in England for the return series no later than May 1, their IPL stints are expected to last just 12 days.There were concerns that West Indies’ best players would not have been available for the tour, which begins with a three-day tour match against Leicestershire on April 21, after some of them signed deals to appear in the IPL. However, with the first Test scheduled at Lord’s from May 6, a window has opened up for the players to turn out for their respective franchises in the tournament being played in South Africa from April 18-May 24.”We have named 17 players because we have got a couple of our players going off to play in the IPL,” Clyde Butts, the West Indies chairman of selectors, said while announcing the squad. “Gayle and Edwards will travel to the IPL and will join the squad just before the first Test.”One of the complaints which the players raised in their recent dispute with the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) was the ruling body’s unilateral decision to stage the tour which was organised last October without their consultation and would be contested in direct conflict with the IPL.The series was arranged bilaterally between the WICB and the ECB, following the withdrawal of Sri Lanka – whose players demanded that they be allowed to play in the IPL.West Indies are scheduled to play two Tests and three ODIs on the tour of England which ends on May 26. Their next assignment is the World Twenty20 to be held in the same country from June 5.