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Cricket Kenya has announced preparations for next year’s World Cup will conclude in India by playing friendly matches against regional teams including Gujarat and Baroda

ESPNcricinfo staff29-Dec-2010Cricket Kenya has announced preparations for next year’s World Cup will conclude in India by playing friendly matches against regional teams including Gujarat and Baroda.They will then head to the UAE to take part in a training camp organised by the ICC which starts on January 28.Cricket Kenya’s chief executive Tom Sears said he hoped Jonty Rhodes, who worked successfully with the Kenyans earlier this year, would be in Dubai to link up again. “There’s no doubt our players have learnt a tremendous amount from him and his input can make a real difference to our overall performance.”The team returns to India after Dubai for the tournament proper, and is likely to face West Indies and Netherlands in warm-up matches.

Virender Sehwag, India’s vice-captain for the World Cup, has said that he is “fully fit” for the tournament that begins on February 19

ESPNcricinfo staff04-Feb-2011Virender Sehwag, India’s vice-captain for the World Cup, has said that he is “fully fit” for the tournament that begins on February 19. Sehwag missed India’s five-match one-day series following the Tests in South Africa to attend to a shoulder injury, but says his recovery is well on track.”I was feeling some pain in my shoulder,” Sehwag told Indian news channel . “So [I thought it was] better to quit the South Africa one-dayers. I didn’t want to get injured in South Africa tour and miss the World Cup. So I came back and went to Germany to see a couple of doctors. I got a couple of injections and now I’m fine.”I am going to the National Cricket Academy [in Bangalore] and will spend a couple of days there, to check everything – if I can bowl and throw also but if I can’t, then I’ll let them know. But yes, at the moment I’m fully fit.”Sehwag is wary of the opening game against Bangladesh, who had derailed India’s 2007 World Cup campaign with a shock win. “Because we’re playing the opening game against them in Bangladesh, Bangladeshi people are expecting them to beat us again. But this time we have to prepare well … You can say it is a revenge game for us and we won’t take the game lightly. We will give our best shot and we will come hard on Bangladesh.”Sehwag was confident of India’s chances against the other major teams in Group B – South Africa, England and West Indies. “When we played against England last time, we won 5-0 and against South Africa we did well in South Africa and we have done well; when Sachin Tendulkar got the double hundred [in Gwalior], we won the series. West Indies have good players like Pollard and Gayle, if they click then maybe it’s difficult for us but India also have very good players.”

Andrew Strauss and Graeme Swann missed training after being laid low by stomach bugs, though both are expected to be fit in time for England’s must-win match against West Indies

Siddarth Ravindran in Chennai15-Mar-2011Andrew Strauss and Graeme Swann missed training in Chennai on Tuesday after being laid low by stomach bugs, though both are expected to be fit in time for England’s must-win match against West Indies on Thursday.Strauss is also England’s leading run-scorer in this World Cup with 298 at nearly a run-a-ball, while the first-choice spinner Swann is their joint highest wicket-taker with nine.England batsman Jonathan Trott, however, was keen to emphasise after the practice session that both unwell players would recover in time for the West Indies match, which England must win to have a chance of making the quarter-finals.”They are two key players in our side, in anybody’s side they would be, especially with Andrew being captain, but I’m fully confident they will be alright,” Trott said. “These things are usually 24-48 hour things. I’m glad it happened sort of now and not tomorrow. Hopefully they will be alright tomorrow for training”Trott himself hasn’t been at full fitness over the past couple of days. “Two days of fever, I’m not quite sure what it is,” he said. “Feeling a little better today, not quite a 100%, but its good to have had a bit of running and some exercise under my belt today. “England have already lost two high-profile players since arriving in the subcontinent, with batsman Kevin Pietersen returning home for hernia surgery and Stuart Broad picking up a side strain. They play their final league match at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, where they pulled off a comeback win over South Africa nine days ago. That result has kept them in contention for a quarter-final spot despite shock defeats to Ireland and Bangladesh.

Lalit Modi has filed an appeal in the Bombay High Court against the earlier order that permitted the BCCI’s disciplinary committee hearings to go ahead

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Mar-2011Lalit Modi, the former IPL chairman, has filed an appeal in the Bombay High Court against the earlier order given by the court that allowed the BCCI’s disciplinary committee to continue investigating charges against him. Modi had challenged the existence of the committee in an earlier petition, claiming it had been improperly constituted, but on March 4 Justice SJ Kathawala dismissed the application and criticised Modi for trying to delay the proceedings. The hearings were due to restart today.”We had sought for stay on the DC [disciplinary committee] enquiry pending disposal of the appeal,” Mehmood Abdi, Modi’s lawyer, told . “We would now request with BCCI to postpone the enquiry till the High Court decides on our appeal.”On Monday, a two-person division bench made up of Justices Ranjana Desai and RG Ketkar heard arguments from Modi’s counsel, Ram Jethmalani, and BCCI’s counsel, Rafiq Dada. A further round of hearings were scheduled for today.Modi has repeatedly challenged the composition of the committee, particularly objecting to the presence of current IPL chairman Chirayu Amin and BCCI vice-president Arun Jaitley on grounds of bias against him. His case was rejected by the Bombay High Court but the Supreme Court told the board and Modi in October to come to a compromise on the issue. However, the two sides failed to do so.

Kings XI Punjab have been issued a notice for having not yet paid the entertainment duty owed for the match they hosted at the PCA stadium on April 13

ESPNcricinfo staff20-Apr-2011Kings XI Punjab have been issued a notice for having not yet paid the entertainment duty owed for the match they hosted at the PCA stadium in Mohali on April 13. They were supposed to pay the amount within three days of the game but since they haven’t, the Excise and Taxation department issued a notice to the Punjab management on Tuesday asking them to submit the details of the tickets sold and revenue generated, and to pay the requisite entertainment duty at the rate of 25% of the total income.Assistant Excise and Taxation Commissioner Baldeep Kaur has directed the franchise to deposit the levy without any further delay, failing which action under the Land Revenue Act will be initiated against the organisers for recovery of entertainment duty arrears.In order to procure the rights to host matches for this season, Punjab had paid Rs 5.6mn in entertainment duty payable for two of the matches they hosted at the PCA Stadium during the third season of the IPL. They are scheduled to host three more games in Mohali this season.

Brain Evans, universally known as Ginger, a fast bowler for Glamorgan who went on to became a major force in Minor Counties cricket, has died at the age of 74

ESPNcricinfo staff17-May-2011Brain Evans, universally known as Ginger, a fast bowler for Glamorgan who went on to became a major force in Minor Counties cricket, died earlier this month at the age of 74.His 2nd XI debut for Glamorgan came as a 17-year-old in 1953 and he also made a name in South Wales club cricket, but he had to wait five years for his first county appearance. In 1960 and 1961 he took 82 and 87 wickets and briefly formed a dangerous new-ball pairing with Jeff Jones. But his career was blighted by injury issues which ultimately forced him to retire early in the 1964 season.Evans subsequently played for Lincolnshire, helping them win the Minor Counties Championship in 1966. He was a professional for Ross Sports Group in Grimsby until 1971.Even when he quit playing he retained his close links with the game as an umpire, a county official in Lincolnshire, and as groundsman at Ross Sports Group.In all he took 251 wickets at 27.04 in 88 matches, with a career best of 8 for 42 against Somerset in 1961. He also scored 1535 runs at 13.70.

Somerset have signed South Africa allrounder Roelof van der Merwe for the first eight games of the Friends Life t20

ESPNcricinfo staff29-May-2011Somerset have signed South Africa allrounder Roelof van der Merwe for the first eight games of the Friends Life t20. With Kieron Pollard not being available until the ninth game because of his commitments with the West Indies squad, van der Merwe will act as the club’s second overseas player in the opening half of the competition, with left-arm spinner Murali Kartik being the other.Director of cricket, Brian Rose, said the county had initially considered signing Dirk Nannes, the Australia fast bowler, but he wanted to play for the entire season, so they decided to bring in van der Merwe, who as an allrounder could play a similar role as Pollard.”Knowing that Kieron was not going to be available for a while, we looked at other options in terms of an overseas player who could bat at no. 6, field well and also bowl effectively in the tournament,” Rose told .”We first discussed the possibility of Dirk Nannes joining us, but he wanted to play in all 16 games and I couldn’t offer him that so he has subsequently joined Surrey. Then we found out that van der Merwe, who has done exceptionally well with bat and ball for South Africa in Twenty20 cricket, could be available after playing in the IPL.”Van der Merwe has played 13 Twenty20 internationals for South Africa and has an impressive economy-rate of 6.93. In this year’s IPL, he played four games for Delhi Daredevils, took five wickets and went for just 6.20 an over. He was also Titans’ leading wicket-taker during the Standard Bank Pro20 series in South Africa earlier in the year.Rose said the fact that van der Merwe was a left-arm spinner was one of the reasons Somerset decided to sign him.”Roelof is a big-hitting batsman, excellent fielder and bowls quickish slow left-arm deliveries, which tend to be very effective in 20-over cricket, so I believe he will prove an excellent signing.”Once we knew that his IPL team would not be qualifying for the later stages of that tournament I moved very quickly to sign him. His visa came through on Friday morning and he is due to arrive in England on Sunday evening. We have a practice match arranged for Monday at the County Ground between our batsmen and bowlers so hopefully he will be involved in that.”Also expected to join Somerset from the IPL are Kartik and Alfonso Thomas who were both part of the squad last season. Their first match in the Friends Life t20 is against Hampshire on Wednesday.

The Pakistan Cricket Board has approved a deficit budget for 2011-2012 as its finances continue to be hit by teams refusing to tour the country due to security concerns

ESPNcricinfo staff22-Jun-2011The Pakistan Cricket Board has approved a deficit budget for 2011-2012 as its finances continue to be hit by teams refusing to tour the country due to security concerns, a reality that has forced Pakistan to ‘host’ teams at neutral venues.Ijaz Butt, the PCB chairman, though insisted that not being able to host matches at home did not mean that the board was losing money each time Pakistan play a series abroad. “We have been forced to play away from home for the last two years but the impression that we suffer losses in every series played at a neutral venue is not correct,” Butt said after a meeting of the PCB governing board.Pakistan have played ‘home’ series against New Zealand in New Zealand, and against Australia and England in England. They then played a full one-day and Test series against South Africa in the UAE and have chosen that venue for their upcoming series against Sri Lanka in October this year and England in January next year.Butt also outlined a proposal to boost the standard of club cricket in Pakistan. “We have plans to lift club cricket so that our domestic cricket improves and for that we have planned around 5000 matches at club level in the country in the next season.” Former spinner Abdul Qadir has been appointed co-ordinator for club cricket.Pakistan is also hoping to host its own Twenty20 league, according to Butt, modelled on the lucrative Indian Premier League. “We want to stage our own Twenty20 league. Although we do not have the expertise, we are still trying.”In a decision that is a reflection of the numerous disputes the board has been involved in with players, a panel of 12 lawyers has been appointed to help the PCB with its legal issues.

Ravi Shastri has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to help with their probe into the alleged financial irregularities in the tournament

ESPNcricinfo staff21-Jul-2011Ravi Shastri, a member of the IPL Governing Council, has been summoned by the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to help with their probe into the alleged financial irregularities in the running of the tournament during its first three seasons.”It’s a routine thing”, Shastri told AFP at Lord’s, where he is part of the commentary team for the first Test between England and India. “Everyone who was on on the Governing Council has been asked to help with this inquiry.”The IPL was thrown into controversy during its third season when then chairman Lalit Modi was sacked for alleged financial irregularities relating to, among others, the bidding process for IPL franchises, the mid-over ad sales and the sale of theatrical rights. Modi left for England shortly after his removal, citing threats on his life, and refused to return to India to appear before the ED. Consequently, his passport was revoked after the ED wrote to India’s foreign affairs ministry.Reports indicate Shastri will have to return to Mumbai sometime next week to meet ED officials. Shastri and former India batsman Mohinder Amarnath are the only two cricketers on the IPL Governing Council, which is headed by BCCI vice-president Chirayu Amin.

A round-up of matches from the second weekend of Kenya’s new East African Cup and East Africa Elite League

ESPNcricinfo staff30-Aug-2011

East Africa Elite League

Rift Valley Rhinos and Rwenzori Warriors maintained their unbeaten records in the second round of matches, but there was a surprise defeat for Nairobi Buffalos, the form team of the opening games.To some extent the weekend was marred by the continuing dispute between the board players, who continue to feel they are in a position to negotiate better deals despite the national team’s feeble performances of late. As a result, several sat out the matches.At Nairobi Club, Rift Valley Rhinos were comfortable nine-wicket winners over Coast Pekee. Coast Pekee made 104 for 5 thanks largely to Peter Kituku’s 52-ball. However, the target was overhauled without much trouble with David Obuya (52*) and Mitesh Sanghani (31*) easing them home.Nile Knights restricted Kongonis to 84 for 6 in their 20 overs and eased to a six-wicket win with 13 balls to spare. Asadu Seyiga was the pick of the Knights bowlers, taking 3 for 14 to rip the heart out of the Kongonis middle order. But Frank Nsubuga took the Man-of-the-Match award for his 21-ball 33 not out.Nairobi Buffaloes never recovered from losing a spate of early wickets as they failed by four runs to chase down Rwenzori Warriors’s 135 for 8. Irfan Karim, Kenya’s Under-19 keeper-batsman, ensured the game went to the wire with a 43-ball 65 not out, and he appeared to have steered them home as Buffalos started the last over needing eight. But Brian Masaba only conceded three runs.

East African Cup

Rain put paid to two of the three second-round matches, with only the game between Rift Valley Rhinos and Coast Pekee going ahead. Coast Pekee, who have now lost all four of their matches across the two formats, may have wished it had not taken place after sliding to a 105-run loss.Rhinos cruised to 243 for 5, with the veteran Ramesh Mepani capitalising on a tiring attack to thump 66 from 50 balls late on. Coast Pekee, whose batsmen have found the competition too good for them, never mounted a challenge and were content to play out their allocation of overs, finishing on 138 for 8.