Essex win marred by Vaas injury

Essex cruised to victory by nine wickets against Middlesex but the match was marred by injury to Chaminda Vaas.

The Middlesex bowler collided with the boundary boards on attempting to catch a Ravi Bopara drive at long-off and was taken to hospital with a neck injury.

Eoin Morgan starred for the visitors as he struck 100 in what looked to be a challenging total of 277-7 in 50 overs.

But Mark Pettini (103no) and Varuna Chopra (102) made it look easy as Essex wrapped it up with 28 balls to spare.

Bopara hit an unbeaten 56 off 42 balls to follow his century against Ireland last week as Essex completed their third win out of four matches in the Friends Provident Trophy.

But the home side's innings was delayed by 27 minutes as Sri Lanka star Vaas received treatment on the field, before he was taken to hospital as a precautionary measure.

"Chaminda unfortunately fell back into the boards and hit his head. He's been taken to do some neurological tests," said Middlesex coach Richard Pybus.

"He was conscious and could feel his fingers and feet. You've got to be very careful with an injury like this, it can sometimes be 48 hours to do the checks."

The 33-year-old paceman was assessed by a consultant at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford before being released at around 1930.

Middlesex had made a bright start to the match, openers Ed Joyce and Nick Compton putting on 52 in 10 overs before Morgan arrived at the crease to stroke a sumptuous century.

David Nash was also among the runs with 51 while Danish Kaneria was the pick of the home bowlers, finishing with figures of 4-49.

But Essex made light of the visitors' total as openers Pettini and Chopra put on 193 in 34 overs, both batsmen recording their highest one-day score against docile bowling, Ben Hutton taking the only wicket when he had Chopra caught at deep square leg.

ICC confirms make-up of revised ICC Cricket Committee

May 15, 2007

Former Australia captain Mark Taylor, Sri Lanka captain Mahela Jayawardene and Michael Holding, the ex-West Indies fast bowler, are among the people who will form part of the ICC's newly constituted cricket committee.

Also included are Umpire of the Year Simon Taufel, chief ICC match referee and former Sri Lanka captain Ranjan Madugalle and Craig Wright, the former Scotland captain.

The new structure is designed to be representative of all interests in the modern game and replaces the previous set-up which was made up of the nominated representatives from each of the Full Members (Boards and players) and leading Associates.

The new 13-member committee, which will meet for the first time on 30 and 31 May in Dubai, will be chaired by ex-India captain Sunil Gavaskar, an ICC Cricket World Cup winner in 1983.

It will also feature recently appointed Western Australia coach Tom Moody, another player to enjoy ICC Cricket World Cup success - with Australia in 1987 (as a squad member) and 1999 - and someone who coached Sri Lanka to the ICC Cricket World Cup final earlier this year.

The ICC Executive Board, which previously approved the recommendation of the ICC Chief Executives' Committee (CEC) to amend the structure of the Cricket Committee, approved the personnel set to sit on it at its meeting in Cape Town in March.

The remit of the ICC Cricket Committee is to discuss and consult on any cricket-playing matters and to formulate recommendations to the CEC which relate to cricket-playing matters.

The Committee (and the interests from which its members are drawn) will be made up of the following people:

Chairman - Sunil Gavaskar (former India captain and opening batsman and ICC Cricket World Cup winner in 1983)

Past players (2) - Ian Bishop (former West Indies fast bowler) and Mark Taylor (ex-Australia captain)

Representatives of current players (2) - Mahela Jayawardene (Sri Lanka captain; Kumar Sangakkara, the Sri Lanka wicketkeeper-batsman, was the original nominee for this position but he is unavailable due to commitments playing county cricket in the UK) and Tim May (ex-Australia off-spinner, ICC Cricket World Cup winner in 1987 and now Chief Executive Officer of the Federation of International Cricketers' Associations)

Full Member team coach representative (1) - Tom Moody (former Sri Lanka coach)

Member Board representative (1) - Duleep Mendis (former Sri Lanka captain and now SLC Chief Executive)

Umpires' representative (1) - Simon Taufel (member of the Emirates Elite Panel and named Umpire of the Year three times in a row at the ICC Awards)

Referees' representative (1) - Ranjan Madugalle (ICC chief match referee and former Sri Lanka captain)

Marylebone Cricket Club representative (1) - Keith Bradshaw (took over as the MCC's Secretary and Chief Executive in October 2006 in succession to Roger Knight; former first-class cricketer for Tasmania in Australia. MCC is the custodian of the Laws of Cricket)

Statistician (1) - David Kendix (a statistician/scorer and the man responsible for the creation and development of the LG ICC Test and ODI Championships and nominated by the ICC to sit on the committee)

Media (1) - Michael Holding (former West Indies fast bowler and now part of the commentary team for Sky Sports in the UK)

Associate representative (1) - Craig Wright (former Scotland captain)

Commenting on the change to the ICC Cricket Committee, ICC Chief Executive Officer Malcolm Speed said: "It is excellent news that both the new structure and the make-up of the committee have been approved.

"The game of cricket now has at its disposal a group of outstanding cricket brains covering all aspects of the game and with their collective input we will be able to ensure that, moving forward, a strong sport is able to grow even stronger."

Simon Taufel said: "The Emirates Elite Panel of umpires is very pleased to have representation on the ICC Cricket Committee and be able to have input into how the game is structured at the highest level.

"There is an enormous amount of cricket experience on the Elite Panel of umpires and we hope to be able to contribute in a positive way to improving the game for all participants and spectators."

Michael Holding, who has already sat on an ICC panel of experts that examined the issue of illegal bowling actions, said: "If the ICC believes I can make a contribution to the committee then I am delighted to take part as I am always happy to be involved in anything that is for the betterment of the game."

Details of the ICC Cricket Committee's agenda and of the meeting itself will be announced in due course.

Test cricket returns to the R Premadasa Stadium

May 13, 2007

The venue will host a Test after a gap of two years © Cricinfo Ltd

Test cricket returns to the R Premadasa Stadium in Colombo, the venue famous for holding the world record Test total of 952 for 6 by Sri Lanka, when it hosts the first Test of the three-match series against Bangladesh next month. The series, which also includes three ODIs, gets underway on June 25.

The stadium is currently the property of Sri Lanka Cricket who have signed a 33-year lease and acquired the premises. It has hosted only two Tests in ten years, the last one coincidentally against Bangladesh, in 2005.

The Asgiriya Stadium in Kandy was originally scheduled to host the first Test but poor ground conditions prompted a change in schedule, and it will now host the third Test starting July 11. The Saravanamuttu Stadium will host the second Test from July 3.

Bangladesh are due to arrive in Colombo on June 17 and wind off their tour on July 26.

Itinerary
June 17 - Arrival
June 20-22 - Warm-up match at Colts
June 25-29 - 1st Test, Colombo (R. Premadasa Stadium)
July 3-7 - 2nd Test, Colombo (Saravanamuttu Stadium)
July 11-15 - 3rd Test, Kandy
July 18 - One-day warm-up match, Colombo (NCC)
July 20 - 1st ODI, Colombo (Saravanamuttu Stadium)
July 22 - 2nd ODI, Colombo (R Premadasa Stadium)
July 24 - 3rd ODI, Colombo (R Premadasa Stadium)

Moody quits as Sri Lanka coach

May 14, 2007

Tom Moody will coach Western Australia next season © Getty Images

Tom Moody has resigned as Sri Lanka's coach and will return home to Perth to take up a role guiding Western Australia for the next three seasons. Trevor Penney, who worked with him as an assistant coach at Sri Lanka, will also join Western Australia under Moody.

The decision makes Sri Lanka the sixth Test-playing nation to lose their coach during or after the World Cup. Sri Lanka Cricket wants Penney, who has a contract until August, to act as caretaker coach for the side's series against Bangladesh in June-July. Sri Lanka's next assignment after the Bangladesh matches is the Twenty20 World Championship in South Africa in September.

Moody said his family, who lived in England while he worked in Sri Lanka, played a large part in his decision. "It was a very difficult decision to make given the strong relationship that has been built between SLC and myself," he said.

"But at this stage in my life it was important that I made a bigger commitment to my family. However, I will be more than happy to assist in whichever way I possibly can for the continuous success of SLC." It is expected Moody's advice will play a role in determining who succeeds him.

An SLC statement indicated there were no hard feelings. "SLC regrets that Tom Moody has to leave our services and respects his decision," it said. "SLC is grateful to Tom for his valuable contributions to the success of the national and SLC during his tenure. We wish him all the success in his future endeavors."

Moody will reportedly have his salary boosted by a sponsorship deal with Vikas Rambal, the Indian industrialist, who lives in Perth. Moody, a former captain of Western Australia who led the state to two Sheffield Shields and a domestic one-day title, has been at Sri Lanka since 2005 and before that coached Worcestershire.

He said it would be terrific to return home and work with his former state team-mates Graeme Wood, who is the Western Australian Cricket Association's chief executive, and Justin Langer. In April, Langer announced he was stepping down as captain but continuing as a player, and he let slip the move was prompted by the knowledge Moody would be taking over as coach.

Abu Dhabi series to go ahead as scheduled

May 9, 2007

All three matches will be played under floodlights at the Sheikh Zayed stadium

The three-match ODI series between Pakistan and Sri Lanka has finally been confirmed after the organisers secured sponsors and a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed by the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), according to one of its officials. The series was originally scheduled for May 9 but was postponed till May 18 due to Sri Lanka's delayed arrival from the Caribbean and lack of interest from sponsors and television channels.

"The Abu Dhabi cricket officials have informed us that there are no financial issues anymore and the series would go ahead as planned," Zakir Khan, PCB's Director of Cricket Operations, told The News.

Zakir also rejected reports that Sri Lanka was set to receive a bigger amount or their participation in the desert series. "It is absurd. Both Pakistan and Sri Lanka would be paid the same amount to feature in the series," he said without disclosing the amounts involved.

The organisers in Abu Dhabi had initially planned for a triangular tournament featuring Pakistan, Sri Lanka and South Africa but were forced to alter their plans after the South Africans refused to participate in the proposed event. The series would also be without several stars from either side as leading Pakistani batsman Younis Khan and pace star Shoaib Akhtar made themselves unavailable for the event. From the Sri Lankan side, Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas and Kumar Sangakkara would miss the series.

The three matches there would be played on May 18, 20 and 22 under floodlights.

Sri Lanka decide to ring changes

World Cup runners-up Sri Lanka have named a much changed squad for a three-match series against Pakistan in Abu Dhabi later this month.

Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas and Kumar Sangakkara will all be absent playing county cricket in England.

And the selectors have left out former skipper Marvan Atapattu and seam bowler Nuwan Kulasekera.

Among the new faces are uncapped opener Malintha Warnapura and seam bowler Ishara Amarasinghe.

"Malintha deserves the break. He's done exceptionally well with the 'A' team and his choice was automatic," said chief selector Asantha de Mel.

"Ishara bowls at a good pace and he's got the talent - we want to see how he goes. He's like Lasith Malinga, unusual action and troubles batsmen often."

Only nine members of the World Cup squad will be involved in the series, which includes matches on 18, 20 and 22 May.

Wicket-keeper Prasanna Jayawardene, who played the last of his three one-day internationals four years ago, will replace Sangakkara and there are also recalls for batting prospect Chamara Kapugedara and leg-spinner Kaushal Lokuarachchi.

The decision to leave out Atapattu is an indication that the 36-year-old's international career may be drawing to a close, at least as far as one-day cricket is concerned, although De Mel insisted the door was still open for him to return.

"Marvan will be considered in the future, but for this series we thought of going with a couple of young guys," De Mel added.

Sri Lanka squad: Mahela Jayawardene (Captain) Sanath Jayasuriya, Upul Tharanga, Chamara Silva, TM Dilshan, Farveez Maharoof, Dilhara Fernando, Malinga Bandara, Lasith Malinga, Malintha Warnapura, Prasanna Jayawardene, Ruchira Perera, Ishara Amarasinghe, Kaushal Lokuarachchi, Chamara Kapugedara.

President welcomes Sri Lanka Cricket team

Tuesday, May 8, 2007

May 08, Colombo: Sri Lanka President Mahinda Rajapaksa and First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa hosted a welcoming ceremony for the Cricket World Cup runners-up Sri Lankan team this evening at the Temple Trees.

Gilchrist's squash ball was "unethical", says SLC secretary

Gilchrist's squash ball was "unethical", says SLC secretary

May 7, 2007

Sri Lanka aren't happy with Adam Gilchrist's use of the squash ball during the World Cup final © Getty Images

Kangadaran Mathivanan, the Sri Lanka Cricket secretary, has said that Sri Lanka believe Adam Gilchrist's use of a squash ball in his left glove during the World Cup final was "unethical" and may take up the matter at the ICC annual general meeting in June.

"We are of the opinion that it was unethical for Gilchrist to use a squash ball to give unfair advantage," Mathivanan told AFP. He said Sri Lanka could call on the ICC's cricket committee for stringent application of Law 42 on fair and unfair play to ensure only the approved protection equipment was used. He said that SLC would discuss the issue before deciding whether to raise it in London.

The MCC, who are the guardians of the Laws, told Cricinfo that the official view is that the action was legal "It is no different to wearing inners, etc," Jon Stephenson, said.

Gilchrist scored a matchwinning 149 against Sri Lanka in the final and later revealed his batting aid. "I had a squash ball in my bottom-hand to help with my grip in training and I decided in this World Cup to use it in a match."

The World Cup will be remembered for the wrong reasons

The World Cup will be remembered for the wrong reasons Sir Richard Hadlee

	April 30, 2007 07:57 IST Last Updated: April 30, 2007 11:56 IST It is pretty much an anti-climax that Australia won their third successive Word Cup in Bridgetown, Barbados, on Saturday, albeit a fantastic achievement. It was fully deserved, as they were clearly the best team in the competition. But what a farce the final turned out to be! How can cricket's showpiece end in such a shambolic way, with total confusion as to when the match was officially over? How can the main event be reduced to a 38-over contest when two days are set aside to find a winner? Both teams needed the opportunity to have fair and equal conditions to compete. Those people who know little about the game and were watching it on television in different parts of the world would have been instantly turned off with this debacle. The ICC will defend itself by using the rulebook to its advantage, but does that make it right? Common sense please! My 12-man World Cup Super Star Team based on performances and team balance is: Matthew Hayden, Adam Gilchrist, Ricky Ponting (Captain), Jacques Kallis, Mahela Jayawardene, Kevin Pietersen, Scott Styris, Brad Hogg, Shane Bond, Muttiah Muralitharan, Nathan Bracken,

Muralitharan has no plans to retire

Sri Lanka spinner targets another two years at the top

Muralitharan has no plans to retire

May 6, 2007

Muralitharan has 674 Test wickets, trailing Shane Warne's 708 © AFP

Muttiah Muralitharan, the Sri Lanka spinner, has no plans to retire and intends to play both Test and one-day cricket for at least two more years.

The past six months has seen several high profile names bow out of the game - Shane Warne and Glenn McGrath the two most notable. But Muralitharan, a youthful 35, has no such desire.

"I will have to call it a day some time. But I am hoping to play for at least another two years and see how good it is and how my fitness is," he said. "I need to be involved in the game to be fully motivated and interested."

He is but a spring chicken to his team-mate Sanath Jayasuriyra, though, who turns 38 at the end of June, and Muralitharan is adamant age should not be a factor in limiting a player's career.

"Sanath is very fit and although he is nearly 38 he can play in any ODI side. He can play as long as he is fit," Muralitharan said. "And knowing Sanath he looks after himself so well. And [Chaminda Vaas] is just 33. [Courtney] Walsh played until he was 37 or 38, [Curtly] Ambrose too played well into his late 30s and [Glenn] McGrath was 37 when he retired.

"I don't think Vaas should be looking to retire. He should maintain his fitness and continue and should be looking at the next World Cup too. As for [Russell] Arnold, maybe he thought it was time. He was somebody who was in and out of the side and it is only he who knows what the best time is to quit. I think he has realised it is now."

Muralitharan is second on the all-time list of wicket-takers in Test cricket with 674, trailing Warne's 708. He is also placed second in one-dayers with 455, just 47 behind Wasim Akram.

Sangakkara, Vaas and Murali to miss Abu Dhabi series

Three ODIs scheduled between May 18 and 22

Sangakkara, Vaas and Murali to miss Abu Dhabi series

Chaminda Vaas will be playing for Middlesex when Sri Lanka travel to Abu Dhabi © AFP

The three-match one-day international series between Sri Lanka and Pakistan will take place in Abu Dhabi between May 18 and 22. Sri Lanka, however, will be missing Muttiah Muralitharan, Chaminda Vaas and Kumar Sangakkara who have county commitments in England.

K Mathivanan, the Sri Lanka Cricket secretary, said he had received confirmation that the series would be played from May 18-22 and that Sri Lanka would receive US$ 750,000 as participation fees from the Abu Dhabi Cricket Council (ADCC) who have organised the matches. He said Sri Lanka would leave for Abu Dhabi on May 15 and the matches would take place on May 18, 20 and 22.

The series was originally slated to begin on May 9 but Sri Lanka sought a postponement after they qualified for the World Cup final against Australia and were later stranded in London without a connecting flight to Colombo following the cancellation of flights to the capital due to air raids conducted by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The team eventually arrived in Colombo on May 3.

2007 World Cup winners

R. George Manuelpillai Tel: 2588578

85/25 Jawatha Gardens

Colombo 05

April 30, 2007

The President

The International Cricket Council

World Cup Tournament

P.O. Box 5000/70

Dubai,

United Arab Emirates

Dear Sir,

Subject: 2007 World Cup winners -Australian Cricket Team be

Disqualified and the Sri Lanka Cricket Team be declared

as the winners, because Adam Gilchrist admits concealing

a performance enhancing device, inside his bottom hand

glove a squash ball.

Adam Gilchrist, the opening batsman for Australia admits to the correspondent, Bridgetown, Saturday, AFP of using a squash ball concealed inside his bottom hand glove, a performance enhancing device, to catapult the cricket ball. Using a squash ball enclosed inside the glove is considered as an illegal practice, resulting in catapulting and/or catastrophic consequences, thereby assisting Gilchrist to accumulate an induced score of 149 runs in the one day cricket finals at Barbados.

The Laws of Cricket 2000 Code 2 Ed. 2003: The Preamble to the Laws- specifically states that “the game of Cricket is a game that owes much of its unique appeal to the fact that; it should be played not only within the rules, but also with the spirit of the game. Any action thereof, that is seen to abuse this spirit cause injury to the game itself. The major responsibility of ensuring the spirit of fair-play rests with the Captain”.

Based on the information related above, the opening batsmen Adam Gilchrist used a performance enhancing device in his bottom hand glove, a squash ball, challenging not only within its laws of Cricket, but also within the ‘spirit of the game’. Any action which is seen to abuse the spirit causes injury to the game itself. Based on the Preamble, the Australian Cricket Team should be disqualified for the illegal practice of concealing a squash ball in the glove, a performance enhancing device. In lieu, the Sri Lankan Cricket Team be re-awarded the Cricket World Cup 2007.

The Captain was aware of the fact that Adam Gilchrist did practice wearing the spring loaded squash ball, concealed in the glove, a prohibitive exercise, with his friend, a squash player - Bob Meuleman, Western Australian Cricketer. So, the Captain in the ‘Spirit of the Cricket Game’, should have brought it to the notice of the

Page 2:

Umpires, and obtained prior approval, before the Cricket game got started. Therefore it is pertinent that the ICC Committee take disciplinary action against both Gilchrist and the Captain-as they are jointly and severely guilty of the illegal device that was employed, and should be suspended for life. Furthermore, the Australian Cricket Team be disqualified from the World Cricket Cup 2007, and the cup be re-awarded to the Sri Lankan Cricket Team.

The characteristic of the squash ball indicates that the ball is made of vulcanised rubber with additions of polymers and synthetic material to achieve a degree of fairly low resilience. The lower the resilience of the object the higher the proportion of energy used in deforming it. Thus when a batsmen hits the cricket ball, the air inside the squash ball gets pressurised or deformed, releasing a spring load of energy, that is transferred directly to the bat, resulting in a catapulting effect on the cricket ball, as evidenced by the spectators, watching Gilchrist’s batting spell bound.

In this context, it is evident that wearing a performance enhancing device (Squash ball) is prohibitive against the ‘Spirit of the Cricket Game’ and is analogous to an Athlete using performance enhancing drugs to win his event. Furthermore, the Australian Cricket Team should be disqualified from the World Cup 2007 and in lieu Sri Lankan Cricket Team be re-awarded the World Cup 2007

Laws’ the Bat: It defines that the bat should be made solely of wood and the hand and glove be part of the bat The specification of the glove is not defined, but it is prohibitive to enclose a performance enhancing device in the glove. Tampering the glove is synonymous to the tampering of the cricket ball, thus the practice is not allowed/acceptable. Moreover, it is explicit that no outside appliance/device can be introduced into the glove; more specifically a spring loaded device as evidenced in the squash ball and is prohibitive.

In conclusion, I write with a firm hand that the ICC conduct disciplinary hearings and the 2007 World Cricket Cup re-awarded to the Sri Lankan Cricket Club and a decision that both Adam Gilchrist and the Australian Captain be banned for Life.

In the event I do not hear from you, Legal Action will be meted against the ICC.

Soliciting your assistance,

Yours sincerely,

R. George Manuelpillai

A cricketer and an enthusiast .from Sri Lanka

Page 3:

CC: 1. The President – MMC – I would appreciate the views from your office, and

your actions with the ICC and the Australian Cricket Board..

2. The 16 Cricket Teams – Please be reminded that Adam Gilchrist did admit to

concealing a squash ball in his glove. What assurance is there that other

Australian Cricketers too may have used the same technique in recording big

scores in the tournament just concluded? I suggest that in the ‘Spirit of the

Cricket Game’ that all the teams that did loose their matches to the Australian

Team should take legal action individually or in unison against the ICC and/or

the Australian board, for the use of a Performance Enhancing Device, a

catapulting effect to register big scores