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More bad news comes the way of the West Indies Cricket Board (WICB) as an interim report by a governance committee, appointed by the WICB to examine the structures of cricket in the region, has recommended doing away with the board as it is currently constituted.In a wide-ranging report, the Patterson Committee, headed by PJ Patterson, the former Jamaican prime minister, and inclusive of noted Caribbean figures, Sir Alister McIntyre and Ian McDonald, observed that there were a number of negative perceptions about West Indies cricket, “which, whatever their validity, we consider it necessary to address”.The committee identified some of those perceptions as being that the WICB is administered inefficiently; sponsorship deals are perceived as flawed; finances are in shambles; and funding does not reach territorial boards.As a result, the committee said: “The West Indies Cricket Board should give way to a more representative body.”The report, the final version of which is due next month, proposed that such a restructuring could occur in one of two ways. The first was the replacement of the WICB with a West Indies Cricket Commission.This Cricket Commission, it was proposed, would include all the major interest groups – the territorial boards, players and officials, women, the Caribbean Community, the private sector and civil society and would have a chairman, selected after the Commission had been set up. It also recommended that there be a body of nominees – from the cricket boards, the governments, the West Indies Players Association, past players, the regional private sector and the media – to “identify, interview and nominate directors” of the Commission.It further suggested: “If final selection [of the directors] is to be dominated by the territorial boards, it should be limited to the list of names submitted by the nominating body.”The second proposal involved the WICB being run as a publicly-listed company on the regional stock exchanges, with directors accountable to shareholders, and with an annual general meeting. The committee noted this format would “help to raise much-needed capital and give the Caribbean public a sense of ownership”.However, the Patterson committee also warned that with such an entity, “there would need to be safeguards against appropriation of the board by special interests. Caps would have to be set, and the voting power so arranged as to avoid control ending up in the hands of a limited number of persons and corporations or result in a populist system which could stultify effective decision-making”. But it urged a clear delineation between the role of the board as a policy-making and monitoring entity and that of the management staff as the executing arm, regardless of the format.Additionally, the committee outlined ten steps it felt needed to be taken, “with immediate effect”, to give new momentum to cricket reform and development in the region. The steps, the committee said, could be introduced by mid-2008.Among the steps are the establishment of a cricket academy; the selection of a group of 15 players “for continuous retraining and development over the next 12 months”; and the drawing up of a business plan and budget for 2008-09.

The Indian board has decided to reject Pakistan’s proposal for a three-match one-day tour in mid-March. The Pakistan board had requested the BCCI for a series once the Australian tour was shortened but India felt their players’ schedule was too tight to accommodate another tour.”The players have had a long and strenuous tour of Australia and will return only on March 8 or 9,” Niranjan Shah, the board secretary told Cricinfo. “They have to assemble for the South Africa series on March 22. So it will be really tough to play three ODIs in between.”The series had been under discussion between the two boards following the hesitancy shown by Australia in coming to Pakistan as scheduled in March-April. It was decided recently that Australia’s tour – if it goes ahead – would be considerably shortened. Pakistan were then keen to utilise the free period in the first half of March.The Pakistan board, it is learnt, were confident that the tour would go ahead and had already began preparations for the three games, all scheduled for Lahore. The decision from the BCCI – taken by the office bearers today – was conveyed to the PCB chairman, Nasim Ashraf, by his Indian counterpart, Sharad Pawar.However, India are likely to tour Pakistan for a short one-day series before the Champions Trophy in September-October.

The India selectors, while picking the one-day squad for the forthcoming tri-series, could face a dilemma between choosing from the present and planning for the future. Conditions in Australia might tempt them to pack their side with experience, but they will also know that it’s the best time to throw a few rookies in the deep end.Rahul Dravid has rediscovered some form in the Tests and would no doubt be an asset in the middle order, but whether the selectors want to look back at this point, having dropped him for the home series against Pakistan, remains to be seen. There’s a case for considering VVS Laxman too, considering the fine form he’s shown in the Tests, but that seems only a remote possibility at the moment.The selectors will also have to take a call on Sreesanth and Munaf Patel, the pair of injured fast bowlers who couldn’t make it for the Tests. Neither has resumed domestic cricket so far, but reported at the National Cricket Academy (NCA) to Dav Whatmore on January 18. Any decision on their selection will not be made without taking into consideration their NCA report. At any rate, reinforcements will be welcome, as the attack has already been depleted with the absence of Zaheer Khan, ruled out because of a heel injury.Most who took part in India’s one-day series against Pakistan will be expected to retain their spots. Robin Uthappa and Rohit Sharma would be expected to make the cut – despite not doing much in the domestic circuit [Uthappa has scored 188 at 26.85, Rohit 191 at 27.28]. The selection of Gautam Gambhir, who has cracked three centuries in the Ranji Trophy [two of them match-winning ones in the semi-final and final] could well depend on the condition of his shoulder. Suresh Raina, S Badrinath and Cheteshwar Pujara could also be considered, especially given their good domestic run.Praveen Kumar, the debutant in India’s last ODI, boosted his chances with a fantastic bowling effort in the Ranji Trophy final, when he took eight wickets in an innings. Irfan Pathan should be the other allrounder while Harbhajan Singh and Murali Kartik will be the first-choice spinners. Piyush Chawla had made a good case of himself as an allrounder in the earlier half of the season, but has been ordinary in the semi-final and the final, especially with the bat.

Shane Warne will be the Indian Premier League’s most expensive signing, at a cost of US$400,000 for the first season, set to kick off in April 2008. The finance committee of the Board of Control for Cricket in India met in Mumbai on Friday and approved several decisions taken by the IPL’s governing council regarding payment of its players.The fee quoted for Warne is the signing amount for him to be part of the player pool from which franchises will bid for the rights to employ players within their ranks. With Brian Lara reportedly being paid US$1 million to appear in the Indian Cricket League, and the market heating up over the two rival leagues, Warne and similar big-ticket signings could rope in well in excess of US$1 million, sources revealed.The second-highest signing-on fee has, not surprisingly, been paid to Glenn McGrath, whose nifty line-and-length bowling see him join up for US$350,000. Stephen Fleming, whose agents flirted with the ICL but in the end held back – to the extent that Fleming was one of those present at the IPL’s launch – also nets US$350,000.Mohammad Yousuf, who had reportedly signed with the ICL before being lured away by the Pakistan board – which made no effort to stop Inzamam-ul-Haq, Abdul Razzaq or Imran Farhat from joining the unrecognised league – has signed up with the IPL for US$330,000. A surprise entrant in the top five – and at the moment the list does not include current Australian or Indian cricketers – is Shoaib Malik, who is guaranteed US$300,000.The ICL, which is nearing the end of its inaugural edition, will hand out approximately Rs 18 crore [approx. US$4.5 million] in total prize-money for its 16-day tournament.The fees have been decided for only 34 of the 49 cricketers signed up by the IPL, sources said, and, of these, only 11 have received [partial] advance payments. The only player to receive payment in full is Yousuf, not surprising given that he was once a dead certainty to join the ICL. It is understood that McGrath is among those who have been given a sizeable advance.The 29 others who have received contracts:[All amounts in US$]
Australia Justin Langer 175,000
Sri Lanka Farveez Maharoof: 150,000, Kumar Sangakkara: 250,000, Mahela Jaywardene: 250,000, Muttiah Muralitharan: 250,000, Sanath Jayasuriya: 250,000, Nuwan Zoysa: 100,000, Dilhara Fernando: 150,000, Chaminda Vaas: 175,000, Lasith Malinga: 200,000
Pakistan Mohammad Asif 225,000, Shahid Afridi: 225,000, Shoaib Akhtar: 225,000, Younus Khan: 225,000
West Indies Shivnarine Chanderpaul 175,000
New Zealand Daniel Vettori 225,000, Jacob Oram 200,000, Scott Styris 150,000, Brendon McCullum 175,000
South Africa Loots Bosman 150,000, AB de Villiers 175,000, Albie Morkel 200,000, Graeme Smith 225,000, Herschelle Gibbs 225,000, Shaun Pollock 200,000, Ashwell Prince 150,000, Makhaya Ntini 175,000, Mark Boucher 175,000, Jacques Kallis 200,000.

Adam Gilchrist was weary but not exhausted. His baggy green, sweat-lined and with a desperately faded coat of arms, was more ragged than its owner. Relieved and happy that his Test career was over, he had been sad enough at tea that he bawled his eyes out to his team-mates.At the back of the Adelaide Oval’s indoor centre his large family watched him say goodbye. A baby squawked a couple of times and Gilchrist choked up when thanking his wife and children for sticking by him. The extended members of the clan huddled beside the television cameras and were partly responsible for him walking away. Over the past couple of years the new additions made him understand how much his life had moved on.A simple dropped catch of VVS Laxman on the opening day was the sealer. The moment of clarity arrived between the ball hitting his gloves and the ground. He quickly looked up at the replay on the big screen.”It made me realise in the ensuing 10 or 15 minutes that that’s it,” he said. “I’m not moving quite as well as I have, not just on the field but in training and my fitness. I just realised I didn’t have the absolute desperation that you need to continue to maintain your standards.”Gilchrist’s wicketkeeping, which he felt he had to defend throughout his career because of the high-quality work of his predecessors, had slipped over the past month. “I don’t think anyone in this room has missed the fact that I did miss a few chances this series,” he said. “It was bugging me and I couldn’t understand why.”He was enjoying the team, the change in leadership, the new players and was thinking of retiring from one-dayers to extend his Test career. Everything changed with the sound of a ball bouncing out from two gloves. After 96 Tests, a world record 416 dismissals and 5570 runs, he has finished.There were so many groups of people waiting for him throughout the day that he must have felt like a bridegroom. India’s batsmen and Australia’s fielders lined up on the ground in the morning, allowing Gilchrist to run through them, a reception which was repeated for the final session. Two catches were added to his tally and he was ecstatic as his team-mates converged.Stumps were called early and there was no rush to grab a wicket, but there was an urgency to reach Gilchrist. He waved, he hugged and walked off first, his team-mates staying on the field and applauding in a gesture that was symbolic of the months ahead. They will miss him for many reasons.After speaking for 20 minutes about his highs and lows a group of first-aid workers cheered and waited for his autograph. He was looking forward to celebrating with his family, friends and team-mates, and trying to finish the dressing-room speech he had to stop when overwhelmed by emotion.The camaraderie, passion and pride of the side were the things that stood out most during his 12 years in international squads. “The way that legacy is passed on is the most glaring strength in Australian cricket,” he said, “and I’m certain I’m seeing it happen in other countries as well.”In a career of so many individual and collective medals he chose another group moment as his best. Australia hadn’t won in India for 35 years when he was thrust into the captaincy after Ricky Ponting broke his finger during the 2004 Champions Trophy. “From that moment on I started to get nervous and had a few self doubts and considered not taking it on,” he said. “To captain that team for the bulk of the series and be part of the leadership group that constructed that was the highest point and greatest achievement of my career personally.”The magnificent 149 in the 2007 World Cup final sealed a third successive trophy and the drawn-out nature of the tournament weighed heavily on Gilchrist. Five days before he left for the Caribbean his third child was born. As the event wore on he was lonely and a long way from home. “That was one of the most difficult parts of my career, getting through the World Cup,” he said. “To pick myself up [for the final] was very special.”Australian audiences have another six weeks to say their goodbyes as he joins the CB Series circuit. He wants to excite people, but when he sensed the crowd’s demand for something special in his final Test innings he fell to a loose shot on 14. “If I keep thinking I’m going to entertain,” he smiled, “I’ll get knocked over very easily.”Gilchrist’s international career began as a specialist limited-overs player and he was pleased it would wind down in the same format. “I’m thrilled the way it’s gone, that I didn’t pull out of one-day cricket and then extend my Test career,” he said. “One-day cricket gave me a chance to make a statement to the selectors and to the world. That filtered into Tests. To now play the last part of my career in one-day cricket, I am so excited about it.”Having thanked his coaches, a group of close team-mates and those who had supported him since he was child, Gilchrist was almost ready to go to his family. They exited first and he followed slowly, being interrupted at almost every step. In March he will re-join them for good.

If you were walking across a Burma bridge, clambering up monkey ropes, swinging on a Damdama jhula and jumping over a khadda; you could either be a cadet going through an obstacle course at an army camp … or a student at the Rajasthan Cricket Academy under the observation of former India coach Greg Chappell and biomechanist Ian Frazer.It’s been a month and a half since Chappell was appointed director of the Rajasthan Cricket Academy and the emphasis has been on training young cricketers to be athletes.”The cricketer of the future is going to look very different from the cricketer of the past. We are looking for athletes who can play cricket,” Chappell told reporters in Jaipur. “We have seen the short version, Twenty20, really taking off and playing a bigger part in the international scene. The cricketer of the future is going to have more demands placed on him than ever before. It is being able to find that athletic talent and training that to the needs of the future.”What attributes should a future cricketer have? “Firstly they have to go beyond fear,” Chappell said. “They have to be accountable and they have to take responsibility to what happens to them and the team.”When pressed for an example of a future cricketer from the current Indian squad, Chappell said that he would rather not name anybody in case it was taken out of context but said players such as Matthew Hayden, Ricky Ponting, Adam Gilchrist, Andrew Symonds and Andrew Flintoff fitted the bill.

“They [cricketers of the future] are going to be athletic, strong, impact players. If you want to stand out in the future game, particularly as the game appears to get shorter, you have to be an impact player; you’ve got to be somebody who can impose themselves on the game.”Chappell believed that cricket was going through an exciting phase with the growing influence of Twenty20 cricket and the advent of the IPL in 2008. He said that the format could change the face of cricket.”The basic talent demands of the game won’t change, the physical and mental demands will. The identification and training process are going to have to change. The demands will be greater because of the distinct formats at the international level. Players will have to be flexible more mentally and physically then ever before. The best players have always been mentally strong and will have to be in the future as well.”The obstacle course at the academy is an attempt to provide a simple, low-cost and easily reproducible means of training strong and flexible cricketers. Chappell stressed the importance of such a system to develop fitness for it is easy to implement even in the districts where facilities and finances weren’t as easily available as in the larger centres.Chappell said he did not believe that there was a scarcity of athletes in India and didn’t think the training process would take much time once the students were identified.”It is important to start with the vision of what we are looking for. Once you establish that then you can save a lot of time looking for that type of player. If I have to give you a good guesstimate [I would say] between 18 months and two years before we start players coming through to the first-class level from a programme like this.”

The chief executive of Melbourne’s second-largest stadium wants to poach international cricket from the MCG and has not ruled out bidding for the Boxing Day Test. Ian Collins, who is in charge of the Telstra Dome at Melbourne’s Docklands, believes the ground should stage more than just the occasional limited-overs fixture.The right to host Melbourne’s international matches could be put to tender unless Cricket Victoria reaches a better commercial deal with the Melbourne Cricket Club. “The contract is up with the MCG in 2009,” Collins told the . “Hopefully, we will be talking to cricket and hopefully, they will be talking to us about some or all of it.”Telstra Dome has held 12 one-day internationals on its drop-in pitches since 2000 – including the Super Series matches – and is an attractive option in the off-season because of its retractable roof. It was also used when the MCG was unavailable due to Commonwealth Games commitments but it is primarily an Australian rules football ground and has a capacity of about 50,000 – half the size of the MCG.Collins said it would be more difficult to extend the Docklands ground’s hosting rights to Test matches but it was not out of the question. “I think it would be hard to justify playing a Test away from the MCG, especially Boxing Day, but it’s a changing market,” he said. “We are running a business and when the contract is up we would be very happy to talk to cricket for some or all.”The reported that one possibility was for the MCG to retain the Boxing Day Test while Telstra Dome would stage Melbourne’s ODIs. In 2004, Cricket New South Wales put its international games to tender but in the end gave all the rights to the SCG ahead of Telstra Stadium at Homebush.

Mickey Arthur, the South Africa coach, says he is “worried” about the addition of Paddy Upton to Gary Kirsten’s coaching staff for India’s home series against South Africa, since the mental-conditioning specialist possesses inside knowledge on his key players.Arthur hoped Kirsten, the retired South Africa opener and the team’s former batting consultant, would do well as India’s new coach “except against South Africa”, but suggested that he was not so sure about Upton.”I am worried about Paddy Upton,” Arthur told Cricinfo. “I hope that he will respect the confidentiality of his relationship with the players, which is similar to a doctor-patient relationship because he has worked on the mental approach of most of our top six.”Kirsten took over as India coach on March 1 and recommended Upton to the BCCI, which is finalising the paperwork for a full-time contract.Upton, closely associated with Kirsten’s academy in Cape Town, has worked with most of the current South Africa players, including Graeme Smith and Jacques Kallis. He was also South Africa’s biokineticist and fitness trainer in the mid-to-late 1990s, and a fitness trainer with the team from 1994 to 1998.”Gary is a genuine cricket man and I wish him all the best except against South Africa,” Arthur said. “Coaches analyse their opponents anyway so I not worried about his intimate technical knowledge of our players.”Arthur is currently in Bangladesh with his team for a two-Test series and three one-dayers. South Africa is expected to reach Chennai a few days after their Bangladesh tour ends on March 14, for the first of their three Tests against India.Asked to assess India’s performance during the recent Australia series, Arthur felt they had played particularly well. “They put pressure on Australia and seem to have developed a ruthless streak,” he said. Arthur, however, hoped that unlike in Australia, the forthcoming Test series would be “tough and uncompromising but played in the right spirit”.On the Indian Premier League, which follows the India series, Arthur said that while it was good for cricket, “there must be a window period for it in the international schedule.”

The South African players were fined 5% of their match fees – Graeme Smith, their captain being fined 10% – for a slow over-rate during the second Test against West Indies in Cape Town.Roshan Mahanama, the match referee, imposed the fine after South Africa were ruled to be one over short of its target after time allowances were taken into consideration.In accordance with the ICC Code of Conduct regulations governing over-rate penalties, players are fined 5% of their match fees for every over their side fails to bowl in the allotted time, with the captain fined double that amount.South Africa won the match by seven wickets to square the series 1-1. The next Test, to be played at Kingsmead in Durban, begins on January 10.

Lendl Simmons and David Miller were the big winners in the Caribbean Premier League 2016 draft on Thursday in Barbados, going first and second overall to fetch top tier $160,000 contracts. Simmons went to the St Kitts & Nevis Patriots, having represented Guyana Amazon Warriors in 2015, while Miller was snapped up for the first time by a CPL team going to the St Lucia Zouks second overall.Miller will team with Shane Watson to fill the void left by Kevin Pietersen, who opted to withdraw himself from the CPL for this season. Sohail Tanvir’s pick at fifth overall by Guyana essentially meant he and Simmons made a straight swap between teams. Chris Gayle (Jamaica Tallawahs), Dwayne Bravo (Trinbago Knight Riders) and Kieron Pollard (Barbados Tridents) were all retained by their franchises in the first round.The six designated marquee overseas players were all taken in the second round beginning with AB de Villiers by the Tridents. He was followed by Martin Guptill, who will switch from the Patriots to the Amazon Warriors for 2016. Brendon McCullum went next to the Knight Riders, Kumar Sangakkara to the Tallawahs, Watson to St Lucia and Faf du Plessis rounded out the marquee picks going to the Patriots.Hashim Amla was taken by the Knight Riders in round four, one pick ahead of Big Bash player of the tournament Chris Lynn by the Amazon Warriors who represented the Tallawahs in 2015. Adam Zampa, who had a breakout season in the BBL with Melbourne Stars to fetch both an Australian call-up and an IPL contract with Rising Pune Super Giants, was taken in the sixth round for $60,000 by the Amazon Warriors.Besides Lynn, other players on the move were Samuel Badree and Brad Hodge, who were swapped up in consecutive rounds by the Patriots; Shakib Al Hasan, who went from the Zouks to the Tallawahs after being taken in the third round; David Wiese, from the Amazon Warriors to the Tridents; and Umar Akmal, from the Amazon Warriors to the Knight Riders; and Dwayne Smith from the Tridents to the Amazon Warriors.Among the overseas CPL veterans in the auction pool who went undrafted were Shahid Afridi, Misbah-Ul-Haq, Tillakaratne Dilshan and Johan Botha. However, Michael Hussey managed to fetch a $90,000 price tag in the fourth round from St Lucia Zouks. He’ll be teammates with Morne Morkel, who was taken in the seventh round for $40,000.One more player that caught most attendees off guard was Kieran Powell, who fetched a $10,000 price tag in round ten from the Patriots. Powell, 25, last played for West Indies in June 2014 and had declared his interest in January to pursue a career in baseball. He recently had a tryout attended by several scouts at the IMG Academy in Florida. However, he did not secure a contract with any Major League Baseball franchise.Ramnaresh Sarwan was also a surprising name plucked in the final moments of the draft going with the first pick in the 15th round to the Knight Riders for $4000. Sarwan last played any form of competitive cricket with Leicestershire in 2014 and hasn’t played any regional cricket in the Caribbean since the 2014 Nagico Super50 with Guyana.Six Associate players were taken in the final round of the draft, all of them representing USA and Canada. The Patriots retained Canada offspinner Nikhil Dutta, who debuted for them last year, and the same went for Florida batsman Steven Taylor with the Barbados Tridents. Canada batting allrounder Nitish Kumar went with the second pick in the final round to the Zouks, followed by fast bowling allrounder Timroy Allen to the Tallawahs, wicketkeeper Hamza Tariq to the Knight Riders and fast bowler Ali Khan to the Amazon Warriors.St Kitts & Nevis Patriots: Lendl Simmons, Faf du Plessis, Samuel Badree, Brad Hodge, Thisara Perera, Jonathan Carter, Krishmar Santokie, Evin Lewis, Tabraiz Shamsi, Kieran Powell, JJ Smuts, Devon Thomas, Shamarh Brooks, Tino Best, Jeremiah Louis, Nikhil DuttaSt Lucia Zouks: David Miller, Shane Watson, Darren Sammy, Michael Hussey, Johnson Charles, Andre Fletcher, Morne Morkel, Fidel Edwards, Derone Davis, Eddie Leie, Keron Cottoy, Shane Shillingford, Delorn Johnson, Kyle Mayers, Keddy Lesporis, Nitish KumarJamaica Tallawahs: Chris Gayle, Kumar Sangakkara, Shakib Al Hasan, Andre Russell, Imad Wasim, Lasith Malinga, Rovman Powell, Chadwick Walton, Jon-Russ Jaggesar, Andre McCarthy, Jonathan Foo, Alex Ross, Kesrick Williams, Nkrumah Bonner, Garey Mathurin, Timroy AllenTrinbago Knight Riders: Dwayne Bravo, Brendon McCullum, Sunil Narine, Hashim Amla, Umar Akmal, Kevon Cooper, Sulieman Benn, Colin Munro, Anton Devcich, Ronsford Beaton, Nikita Miller, Javon Searles, William Perkins, Yannick Cariah, Ramnaresh Sarwan, Hamza TariqGuyana Amazon Warriors: Sohail Tanvir, Martin Guptill, Dwayne Smith, Chris Lynn, Rayad Emrit, Adam Zampa, Jason Mohammed, Christopher Barnwell, Veerasammy Permaul, Orlando Peters, Assad Fudadin, Anthony Bramble, Paul Wintz, Steven Jacobs, Steven Katwaroo, Ali KhanBarbados Tridents: Kieron Pollard, AB de Villiers, Shoaib Malik, Nicholas Pooran, Ravi Rampaul, David Wiese, Robin Peterson, Raymon Reifer, Ashley Nurse, Wayne Parnell, Akeal Hosein, Imran Khan, Kyle Hope, Navin Stewart, Kyle Corbin, Steven Taylor