Walker agrees Canterbury return

Matt Walker, the batsman who enjoyed a 19-year career in county cricket, is returning to his old club Kent as part of their new coaching setup for 2014.

Walker, who scored over 12,000 first-class runs, returns to Canterbury to become assistant coach under Jimmy Adams, leaving Essex where he held the same role for the past three seasons having finished his playing days at Chelmsford.

The change comes following a very disappointing 2013 for Kent where they failed to challenge in all three competitions. Walker is one of a number of new personnel at Kent with Dan George stepping up to become first team physiotherapist.

Other changes see Michael Najdan appointed analyst and Jon Fortescue, who previously worked with Surrey, Hampshire and Warwickshire, becoming the club's strength and conditioning coach.

"I am delighted to be returning to my roots," Walker said. "I cannot wait to get back to Kent and get started in helping the club deliver some on field success. A return to my home club is something I hoped for and I aim to help a talented group of players deliver what they are capable of.

"I want to say a huge thank you to everyone at Essex. When I came as a player, everyone has made me feel extremely welcome, for which I'm grateful. I would especially like to thank Paul Grayson for giving me the opportunity as a player and obviously as a coach. He put his faith in me as a coach and I am eternally grateful for that opportunity."

Grayson expressed his disappointment at seeing Walker move on: "It is hugely disappointing to lose Matt as he is an excellent coach. He is a super bloke and we've enjoyed him as both a player and also coach.

"We completely understand his reasons for going. He's going to leave us with a lot of memories and will be missed but we wish him all the best in his new career."

Walker will be reunited with Essex when they travel to Canterbury for a County Championship match on Saturday, June 7.

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BCCI's demand for more revenue justified - Patel

Sanjay Patel, the BCCI secretary, has said that the BCCI's demands for a larger share of the ICC's revenue are justified given India's commercial pull in world cricket.

The BCCI, along with Cricket Australia and the ECB, had drafted a "position paper" that stressed on a new revenue distribution model favourable to the Big Three boards. The "position paper" also suggested a new model of governance and changes to the existing Future Tours Programme (FTP) structure.

"(One) who is contributing more should get more than what they get," Patel told reporters on the sidelines of the Ranji Trophy final in Hyderabad. "Earlier we used to get only 4%, though we were responsible for generating more than 60-70% of the total revenue. So in that aspect, it is absolutely fair (to demand more) and by taking the governance model and joined with that, we are expecting the overall gross revenue will more than double within this cycle (2015-2023). The cricket part can be taken care of by utilising the well-generated revenue with good governance."

According to the proposed system, prepared by the three boards under ICC president Alan Isaac's instructions, the BCCI is expected to get nearly a third of the ICC's revenues. The Full Members were presented with the position paper at an ICC Board meeting on January 9 and the Big Three had hoped the proposal would be cleared during the meeting on January 28 and 29.

The members, however, failed to arrive at a conclusion on January 28, although the ICC announced that the key principles of the draft had "unanimous support" of the Full Members. In spite of the criticism generated after the original draft was leaked, Patel termed the paper and its recommendations as "positive" and said it had nothing to do with power games.

"We are quite okay with the position paper. There were a lot of misconceptions about the paper and it was a very good position paper whereby we were considering the Indian position in a real perspective rather than what has come out," Patel said. "I would like to say one thing - it has been mentioned that it is a power game that we are playing, but it was absolutely nothing regarding power. The role of leadership required at the ICC is to be provided by three big contributors, India, England and Australia. Since ours is a major contribution, in terms of cricket and financial things, it has been agreed by almost all of us [Full Members] regarding the financial concept of what we are claiming."

The proposed governance model resulted in opposition from various quarters, including many former ICC executives. It also meant that the rest of the Full Members entered the meeting on January 28 without clarity on several issues, including the two-tier Test system, the conversion of the FTP into bilateral arrangements and revenue distribution. Cricket South Africa, that was not a part of the proposed Test fund in the original draft, demanded the withdrawal of the suggested restructure. Patel, however, denied that any of the members registered their protest over the proposal.

"It was not a protest. Do not call it a protest. It is a deliberation they required, so complete freedom was provided to all members to discuss and learn," Patel said, adding that all topics were discussed in detail in Dubai. "There were two different meetings ranging between five-six hours and later at least some members preferred to go back to their Board and inform them about the reality. But, principally the entire issue of financial models, leadership and the governance has been accepted by all of them."

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Surrey hope to bring ICC to London

The Oval has emerged as another potential administrative base of the ICC as the organisation considers a partial relocation.

ESPNcricinfo understands that Surrey have joined forces with the Mayor of London's office in an attempt to persuade the ICC of the attraction of a London base.

The bid includes providing office space within the Oval ground with views of the pitch. The club are understood to have offered to build offices in the area around the Lock and Laker stands and have planning permission. The initial scheme to build a hotel has been deemed financially unviable.

The Mayor of London's office, appreciating the prestige of the city hosting a governing body, has promised its support as required.

While the ICC has no immediate plans to move their official base from Dubai, the organisation is exploring the possibility of relocating its administrative base in order to have wider access to potential employees and commercial partners.

The ICC would also be given access to The Oval pitch to experiment with new technologies during Surrey games, subject to ECB approval, such as spider cam and for third umpire training.

London, as an established hub for some of the ICC's media and commercial partners, has obvious attractions. Manchester United and Manchester City are among the sporting organisations to have bases in London.

It also has an obvious drawback of being an expensive location. But if Surrey and the Mayor of London's office are to offer an attractive package, that is a hurdle that could be cleared.

"There is a reason that Manchester United have a base in London," Surrey chief executive Richard Gould told ESPNcricinfo. "This is a global financial centre and it is only right that the ICC base themselves where their commercial and media partners are located.

"We would be very keen to welcome them to The Oval and think it could be a partnership that works very well.

"We have discussed this at a high level with officials from the Mayor of London's office and they are very supportive. We have not sought financial assistance. London is a confident city and will sell itself as the best destination, not necessarily the cheapest."

Several other media and cricket companies have already made the Oval their base with the Professional Cricketers Association, Chance to Shine and a radio station all located in SE11. Gould said the ICC would be part of that "cricket, media and culture community."

Cardiff, who are understood to have the support of the Welsh Assembly, Colombo and Singapore are other options for the ICC. While the ICC has, in the past, been keen to present an image of itself as impartial and reluctant to have a base in the country of one of its full members, recent events suggest that such issues are no longer a priority.

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Taylor, Williamson rebuild after slow start

25 overs New Zealand 120 for 2 (Taylor 42*, Williamson 39*) v India
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details

India got off to their best start of the series, keeping the New Zealand openers quiet with tight lines, but ran into the in-form pair of Ross Taylor and Kane Williamson, who rebuilt with an unbeaten partnership of 79 at 6.23 an over to take New Zealand to 120 by the end of 25 overs. This was the first time India didn't concede a boundary in the first over; in fact it took New Zealand 32 balls and a risk to hit one.

India were helped by conditions both underfoot and overhead that allowed just enough movement to make carefree stroke-play difficult. It didn't help the batsmen that Westpac Stadium presented the lushest outfield and an even lusher square that made piercing the gaps difficult. The only boundaries that came in the first 14 overs had to go over the infield; Taylor managed to pierce a gap for a four for the first time in the 15th over.

Credit belongs to the bowlers and the captain too. Mohammed Shami, in particular, was exceptional with his discipline. He began with successive maidens, and conceded the first run off the bat with the last ball of his third over, that too a thick edge from Jesse Ryder. He was helped by MS Dhoni, who gave him a gully and a 7-2 off-side field, eliminating Ryder's favourite scoring area given the slow square. Shami still had to stay away from the pads, which he did.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar remained good at the other end, and produced the edge to get Ryder. Martin Guptill batted himself into a hole, unable to get singles or boundaries, reaching 2 off 20 before desperation took over. It will frustrate him much more that he had finally begun to look good and had enjoyed a drop by the time he got out. Varun Aaron, who had dropped Guptill in the 10th over, got the wicket in the 13th via a strange stop-shot, chipped to mid-on.

The old firm of Taylor and Williamson came together at 41 for 2 with 311 runs scored in each other's company over three partnerships in the series, and at least a fifty put up on all three occasions. Taylor began the turnaround with two scorching drives, one to the left of cover and the second to the right, in the 15th over. The second of those brought up 250 runs for Taylor in the series. He is the only one in the New Zealand top seven to have not hit a six.

That over turned things around for New Zealand. R Ashwin had also to be brought on, and there was nothing for him in the pitch. Williamson frustrated him by using his feet and reaching the pitch of the ball almost every time. On the odd occasion that he was beaten in the flight - like in the 16th over - he recovered well. Runs now came easily with Aaron missing the accuracy of the opening bowlers. When Aaron conceded the second boundary of the 21st over, the first time that Taylor had gone aerial, the two had brought up another fifty-run stand.

Signs were ominous for India as Williamson played his lovely trademark chip over extra cover in the 24th over to hit his second boundary. After 25 overs, Williamson was 11 short of reaching a fifth successive half-century; only Andrew Jones has scored more for New Zealand on the bounce. Taylor had reached a run-a-ball 42.

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ACF launches North American Championship

The American Cricket Federation (ACF) has announced that it will stage a North American Cricket Championship in Phoenix, Arizona from March 7-9.

The championship will consist of a three-match, 40-over series played between a team representing the Midwest Cricket Conference, winners of the ACF Twenty20 National Championship in Florida last October, and a team from the prestigious Toronto Cricket, Skating and Curling Club.

"It is my hope that this elevated level of competition, along with the first introduction of national structure and context to the American cricket season, will ultimately result in better cricket throughout the country," the ACF's chief executive, Jamie Harrison, said.

"I also expect that this opportunity to compete at higher levels, given to all ACF member leagues, will spur local and national rivalries and create a new level of competitiveness that USA cricket needs to progress."

The matches will be played at Nichols Park Basin, a turf wicket facility in suburban Phoenix that is used by the Arizona Cricket Association. The ACF is also in the planning stages of organising a domestic inter-league competition, tentatively scheduled to get underway this summer, called the American Cricket Champions League that will feed into the ACF National Championship.

"The American Cricket Federation is dedicated to providing greater opportunities for all cricket stakeholders and this is just the beginning of that process," Harrison said.

The creation of the North American Cricket Championship is another step towards legitimacy in ACF's battle with the USA Cricket Association. Formed in 2011, the ACF is a rival governing body to the USACA, which is the ICC-recognised national governing body for cricket in America.

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'Big Three were more likely to make progress' - Isaac

Alan Isaac, the ICC president, has said that he pushed the three financially strongest boards to collaborate on the revolutionary proposals, instead of involving all Full Members, as they "were more likely to make progress more quickly". Isaac also said the Big Three have been working on draft proposals that called for sweeping changes in world cricket since last July.

"We've been working for some time on the process for selling our commercial rights for post 2015 and part of that process required that we had a members participation agreement (MPA)," Isaac said at the end of the ICC's two-day meeting in Dubai. "You can't go to the market unless you have demonstrated that all members will participate. Round about July last year, I encouraged CA, ECB and BCCI to work together and develop conditions of which all members could happily agree to an MPA."

David Richardson, the ICC CEO, explained why the Big Three were entrusted with drawing up the proposals, with other Full Members only seeing them at the a meeting earlier this month. "There were numerous negotiations with all members but only towards the end of that process were the sticking points to be determined," Richardson said. "Those sticking points primarily related to Australia, England and India and to make progress they were asked to discuss things among themselves and see what can be sorted out."

Isaac's reasoning was simpler. "You have to start somewhere. To have the three bigger, stronger members in a room coming up with something that was a basis for discussion - and that is what the draft was, a basis for discussion."

He also said the smaller group helped push discussions along. "It's not unusual to have a working group to look at a particular issue - this is no different than that. I could've added extra people to it, [but] I just felt that the board members from CA and ECB working with India were more likely to make progress more quickly."

When asked why there had been no vote on the proposals at the ICC meeting, Isaac said some of the details were still being worked on. "The resolutions are still being discussed, the content of resolution and some of the details behind them. That's why we took an approach of not having a vote because there was nothing to vote on but we thought it was important to make some progress around some principles."

Isaac was also not worried that under the new governing structure which could give the Big Three control over the world game. "[The ICC] has a group of people who are charged with being directors who have to act in the best interests of world cricket. That responsibility was reiterated many times in the last two-three days. It is accepted of course that they sit around the table as presidents or chairmen of member boards but the discussion of the last two days has been in respect of their roles as directors of ICC acting in the best interests of world cricket."

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Veteran Hodge called up for second Twenty20

Brad Hodge could play his first match for Australia in nearly six years after being called into the squad for the second Twenty20 in Melbourne on Friday.

At 39, Hodge is Twenty20 cricket's leading run scorer of all time, with 5844 at an average of 36.98 from his 209 matches in the format, and could be a valuable player at the upcoming World T20 in Bangladesh if the selectors chose to utilise his experience.

However, while the Melbourne match could be viewed as an audition for the World T20, Hodge's chances of playing in that tournament appear slim with Shane Watson and David Warner to return to the top of the order in addition to the men who beat England in Hobart on Wednesday.

The allrounder Moises Henriques played in that victory but will now fly to South Africa for the Test tour and Cricket Australia confirmed that Hodge would be added to the squad for the Melbourne game as a replacement for Henriques.

Whether Hodge will stay with the group for the third T20 in Sydney on Sunday remains to be seen but whatever the case, the call-up should give him a chance to play international cricket for the first time since the Test tour of West Indies in May 2008.

The last of his eight T20 internationals came almost six years ago to the day, at the MCG on February 1, 2008, when Adam Gilchrist was still part of a side that accounted for India.

Hodge's recall is comparable to the call-up of a 40-year-old Brad Hogg in January 2012, when he was picked on BBL form and with a World T20 in spinning conditions in Sri Lanka on the horizon.

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Departing Rixon takes a swipe at Cricket Australia

Steve Rixon, Australia's outgoing assistant coach, has declared that he had "very little respect" for Cricket Australia and in particular what saw as interference with cricket decisions from above.

Rixon has been axed from the coaching staff, although he said he had no problem with head coach Darren Lehmann's desire to build his own coaching group and he would have finished his tenure before this year's IPL anyway. However, in a radio interview on Thursday, Rixon took a parting shot at Cricket Australia and its general manager of team performance, Pat Howard.

"I'm not getting into a slinging match ... I have very little respect for the organisation, so I think we best just leave it there," Rixon said on Sky Sports Radio. "I don't like a lot of things they do. They interfere basically with a lot of the cricket decisions over the period of time and I don't necessarily agree with that.

"It's none of my business. At the end of the day, I do what I do, I go out and do it to the best I know how. But it's probably just draining and the one thing I've lived my cricket life with is a major passion for the game."

When pressed on whether it was Howard, a former rugby union international, who Rixon had a problem with, Rixon replied: "Let me say, I hope he was a good rugby player."

Rixon was brought into the setup as fielding coach in June 2011, before Mickey Arthur was named head coach later that year. Rixon said as well as his duties in drilling the fielders, part of his role was to be a sounding board for the then new captain Michael Clarke, with whom he had a long-standing relationship from Clarke's junior years.

"With Michael now being very content with where he is, Boof's obviously come in with a stronger approach to that," he said. "That's why I think cricket's in a very good shape with Australia, we're starting to get all those bits and pieces.

"Darren will eventually get a team around him that he's very, very comfortable with and that's fine. That's the way life is, that's the way it is with coaching. He's come in with some heavy hands and he's done a very good job in actually sorting a few of these things out and I complimented him for that. If he continues down this road, he'll get the best out of this Australian cricket team."

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Faulkner ruled out of South Africa Test tour

James Faulkner has been ruled out of Australia's Test tour of South Africa due to a knee injury and Shaun Marsh and Jackson Bird are still in doubt and will remain in Australia for further assessment while the rest of the squad departs on Wednesday.

Faulkner has been replaced in the squad by fellow allrounder Moises Henriques, who played his only three Tests on the tour of India early last year and will fly to South Africa after playing in Wednesday's first Twenty20 against England in Hobart. Faulkner will have arthroscopic surgery on his right knee on Tuesday after picking up an injury during Sunday's final one-day international against England in Adelaide.

"James' exact rehab plan and return to training and playing will be determined after surgery but unfortunately for him, he will not be available for the upcoming Test tour of South Africa," the team physio Alex Kountouris said. "We are hopeful that he will recover in time to play the Twenty 20 games on that tour and take part in the ICC World Twenty20."

Faulkner's presence in the Test squad would have given the selectors another option for balancing the side in South Africa if they chose to move the wicketkeeper Brad Haddin up to No.6. Henriques appears much less likely to play in the Tests than Faulkner would have; Henriques played three Sheffield Shield matches in the first half of the season and scored 202 runs at 33.66 and took five wickets at 36.60.

The Australians also have concerns over the fitness of Marsh, who strained his calf during the ODI victory in Adelaide. Marsh had been scheduled to travel to South Africa on Tuesday night but instead will remain in Perth for further treatment over the coming days and Cricket Australia said in a statement that "a decision on whether he will travel to South Africa will be made in due course".

Similar doubts will keep Bird in Australia while the rest of the squad departs. Bird jarred his back while fielding for the Melbourne Stars in a BBL match last week and Cricket Australia confirmed he will remain in Hobart "to be assessed by CA's medical staff and return to bowling to determine if he has recovered sufficiently enough to take his place on the South Africa tour".

Bird was unlikely to be in the starting XI for the first Test in Centurion, given the success of the pace trio of Mitchell Johnson, Ryan Harris and Peter Siddle during the Ashes. However, when the squad was named last week there appeared a strong chance that Marsh would be part of the starting XI, given the absence of the incumbent No.6 George Bailey from the squad.

The majority of Australia's Test players will depart for South Africa over the next two days, although their first official tour match does not begin until next Wednesday in Potchefstroom. Faulkner had been the only player from the Test squad also named for the T20s against England over the coming week; his place in the T20 squad will now be taken by the fast bowler Kane Richardson.

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ZC close to clinching sponsorship deal

Zimbabwe Cricket are close to clinching a sponsorship deal which could lead to the resumption of domestic cricket in the next few weeks. ESPNcricinfo understands ZC have been in positive talks with Lay's, the potato chip company, who are interesting in backing them.

Although the deal will not cover the total cost of salaries ZC owes their players, it is expected to provide a portion of it. ZC are also hopeful of securing a loan from the ICC, which could ensure they have the funds needed for the game to restart.

Their request for a loan was subject to an audit of ZC's financials which was completed last week. ZC are now waiting to hear from the ICC about whether the money will be made available to them and on what terms. Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor hinted the decision could be finalised at the ICC board meeting, which starts tomorrow. He tweeted: "A massive week for us. We all hope some positives come out for ZC and all involved at the ICC meeting in Dubai on Wed. #fingerscrossed."

Initially, ZC asked US$3 million from the ICC, which would cover both the outstanding payment amount (believed to be in the region of US$700,000) and enable them to stage domestic games. The money will not see ZC move completely into the black. They remain steeped in debt to the tune of approximately US$15 million.

While cash-flow problems are not new to Zimbabwean cricket, they have recently become serious enough to disrupt the game. There has been no cricket in Zimbabwe since mid-December, when franchise players went on strike because of non-payment. As a result, there have only been two first-class matches and three fifty-over matches played since Zimbabwe's series against Pakistan last September.

Incoming tours from Sri Lanka and Afghanistan were cancelled while Zimbabwe also had to turn down an offer to play a one-off Test in South Africa because of the financial problems and subsequent refusal of players to take the field. That has left the players with little practice ahead of the World T20 in March, something they are keen to rectify as soon as possible.

An insider confirmed the national players are staying match fit by staging warm-up games against the under-19 team but hope to have other competitive cricket as they prepare for the World T20.

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