Patel to fight removal from BCA in court

Sanjay Patel, the BCCI secretary, has challenged his expulsion from the Baroda Cricket Association in court. Patel, who was removed as the BCA joint secretary on Saturday, has filed a suit in the Vadodara District Court.

"This act of the BCA managing committee is nothing but a premeditated act of vengeance by some of the BCA managing committee members, so I have challenged it in the court," Patel told ESPNcricinfo. "After consulting my lawyers, I am convinced that the managing committee has committed an unconstitutional move, so I will fight it out legally to be reinstated in my home association that I have been serving for over a decade."

The case will be heard on May 1.

On Saturday, the BCA managing committee cited Patel's unlawful co-option into the BCA managing committee in 2002 and ordered him to step down as an office-bearer and vacate his position from all sub-committees of the BCA. Patel was co-opted into the managing committee two years after becoming a BCA member in 2000. Since the BCA rules state a member cannot be co-opted for at least three years after his membership is approved, the managing committee removed Patel and three other members.

Read More..

Wagg of the tail saves Glamorgan

Leicestershire 500 and 77 for 1 (Smith 45*) lead Glamorgan 359 (Rees 72, Rudolph 65, Wagg 57) by 218 runs
Scorecard

Graham Wagg starred again with a fine 57 as Glamorgan made a good fist of responding to Leicestershire's first innings total of 500 all out on day three of their Championship Division Two match at Grace Road.

Wagg, who had taken four first-innings wickets to limit the Leicestershire damage, passed his half-century before he was caught by Rob Taylor off Charlie Shreck shortly after helping them to avoid the follow on, to bring an end to the Glamorgan innings at 359.

In a match delayed by bad light, Glamorgan had resumed on 126 without loss but Jacques Rudolph managed to add just two to his overnight total before he was run out in the fourth over of the day on 65. Fellow opener Gareth Rees reached 72 before he was bowled by Ben Raine as Glamorgan fell to 161 for 2. A solid 35 from Stewart Walters and 41 from Jim Allenby maintained the visitors' momentum.

Anthony Ireland was the pick of the Leicestershire bowlers with 3 for 81 off his 27 overs, figures almost matched by Shreck, for whom the wicket of Wagg gave him a total of 3 for 84 off 29.

Leicestershire launched a solid reply in their second innings with Greg Smith and Matthew Boyce putting on 63 for the first wicket before Boyce was caught by Mark Wallace off Dean Cosker for 24. Smith went to reach an unbeaten 45 and Ned Eckersley joined him as Leicestershire reached 77 for 1 at stumps for an overall lead of 218.

Read More..

Kervezee ton gives Worcs upper hand

Worcestershire 432 for 9 (Kervezee 110, Moeen 99, Andrew 71*) lead Derbyshire 219 by 213 runs
Scorecard

Alexei Kervezee's 110 and 99 from Moeen Ali put Worcestershire well on top at stumps on day three of their Championship clash with Derbyshire at New Road. Former Netherlands international Kervezee reached his ton off 132 balls and helped the hosts, responding to Derbyshire's below-par first innings total of 219, reach a hefty 432 for 9 at close.

Resuming on 31 without loss, openers Daryl Mitchell and Matthew Pardoe put on 72 for the first wicket before the Derbyshire attack had belated success when Mitchell was caught by Dan Hodgson off David Wainwright for 26. On a frustrating day in the field, spinner Wainwright was the pick of the Derbyshire attack as he finished with 3 for 102 off his 28 overs.

Pardoe followed seven overs later, one run short of his half-century, and the visitors scented a change in fortune when Tom Kohler-Cadmore fell lbw to Tony Palladino for 11. But those hopes were extinguished by a fine fourth-wicket stand of 78 between Ali and Kervezee before Ali met Wes Durston's offspin with a back-foot shot straight at Tim Groenewald just before tea.

Kervezee battled on to make his century before he was caught by Wayne Madsen off Mark Footitt to leave Worcestershire on 388 for 7. Jack Shantry's departure from the next ball left Footitt on a hat-trick, but Footitt would have to wait two more overs for his third wicket of the innings when he had Saeed Ajmal caught by Chesney Hughes for 1.

At the close, Gareth Andrew was providing sterling resistance on an unbeaten 71 with last man Charles Morris 13 not out as Worcestershire carved out a lead of 213.

Read More..

Brown 'encouraged' by Trott latest

England's Jonathan Trott joined his Warwickshire team-mates in the dressing room to witness their 98-run win over Nottinghamshire from the pavilion balcony but head coach, Dougie Brown, played down the prospect of another attempted playing comeback for the troubled batsman.

Trott, who left England's Ashes tour to Australia after the opening Test because of what was described as a stress-related illness, returned to Championship action for his county just under three weeks ago only to suffer a relapse, after which it was announced he would take an indefinite break.

"I assume he will be around the dressing room for the next little while," Brown said. "We had a good chat and we know where he is at and all I can say is what we spoke about is very encouraging."

However, Brown would not be drawn on the subject of a return to playing cricket, even at 2nd XI level. "Let's just see where he is at," he said. "He is dealing with something that has been ongoing for a while and the last thing I want it to be, just because he is back in the dressing room, is it turning into a circus.

"I would really like it to be understated, for him to do what he needs to do to get back into cricket and for people to leave him to do that. People now understand that this is something he has got to focus on to get himself back to where he needs to be, without it being a circus."

Interviewed before the season began, Trott insisted he was not suffering from depression but burnout in Australia, where his problems became public knowledge after he suffered a peppering from Australia fast bowler Mitchell Johnson in the opening Test.

He had hoped a period at home with his family, away from the pressures of an Ashes series, would enable him to make a quick recovery. However, after a low-key comeback in a pre-season University fixture, Trott was selected for Warwickshire's opening Championship match against Sussex at Edgbaston, where he looked comfortable in the first innings but again struggled against short-pitched bowling in the second, twice being hit on the head and body before he was caught at deep square leg playing a poor leg-side shot.

His troubles were compounded when he then dropped a routine catch in the slips offered by the Sussex matchwinner, Ed Joyce, and confessed to his team-mates afterwards that his problems had resurfaced.

Read More..

Gloucestershire stumble to Masters

Gloucestershire 104 for 6 (Masters 4-39) v Essex
Scorecard

Essex made a strong start to their LV= County Championship Division Two game against Gloucestershire but the visitors were frustrated as the match was interrupted by bad weather for the second day running.

David Masters led the Essex charge, taking 4 for 39 as Gloucestershire were reduced to 104 for 6 before play was prematurely stopped for bad light and rain after 31.1 overs.

Winning the toss and choosing to field, Essex looked to make up for lost time after the elements had ensured not a single ball had been bowled on the opening day.

Gloucestershire made a disastrous start as they fell to 0 for 2 after just three overs with both Michael Klinger and William Tavare removed for ducks by Masters. Klinger, who has now scored just three runs in his last three innings, was the first to go as he was clean bowled and, three balls later, Tavare joined him when he played straight into the hands of Ben Foakes.

Opener Chris Dent dug in and together with Alex Gidman, Gloucestershire looked like they might begin to build a platform. In the seventh over, however, Gidman fell to the bowling of Graham Napier, nicking the ball behind, leaving the hosts in trouble at 23 for 3.

Gloucestershire's morning went from bad to worse soon after as Napier took his ninth wicket of the Championship season when he bowled Hamish Marshall for 4.

Will Gidman managed eight better than his brother but was unable to turn an encouraging start into a big score as Masters induced the edge and Alastair Cook held on at first slip. However, Dent, fresh from a half-century at Glamorgan, kept the Gloucestershire score respectable as he hit eight fours on his way to 47.

Just as the opener looked to reach his half-century, play was stopped for bad light before heavy rain extended the delay. The action temporarily resumed later and it took just eight balls for Essex to add another scalp to their tally as Cameron Herring edged Masters' delivery to Foster.

Ian Saxelby joined Dent at the crease but in the 32nd over the umpires again sent the players back into the pavilion for bad light before more rain saw the day's play brought to an early close.

Read More..

No sign of BCCI calling AGM on Srinivasan issue

More than a week has passed since the BCCI discussed convening a special general meeting to replace N Srinivasan on the board's disciplinary committee, but now it appears as though the meeting may not happen in the near future.

An SGM requires a 21-day notice period but as of today no notice had been served by the BCCI secretary to any of the board's member units. According to BCCI regulations, for an SGM to be convened, the secretary must issue the notice within ten days of "a resolution of the working committee". However, because there was no resolution passed at the working committee meeting on April 20, neither the secretary Sanjay Patel nor acting president Shivlal Yadav, who has powers to call a meeting in special circumstances, are in a hurry to convene the meeting.

Representatives of at least one member from all five zones who attended the working committee meeting confirmed to ESPNcricinfo that despite a vocal suggestion to convene an SGM, no resolution was passed. Patel, who is set to lose his post at the Baroda Cricket Association, didn't respond to questions, but a BCCI source revealed the SGM may not be convened at all.

One of the cases waiting to be heard by the disciplinary committee, which comprises BCCI president Srinivasan and vice-presidents Yadav and Rajeev Shukla, is that of Ajit Chandila, one of three Rajasthan Royals cricketers arrested on corruption charges during the 2013 IPL. He filed a reply to the disciplinary committee in April but the case has not proceeded because the Supreme Court sidelined Srinivasan from the BCCI's affairs as a fall out of corruption allegations in the IPL.

While the ruling faction in the BCCI believes the remaining two members of the disciplinary committee can meet and decide on Chandila, a bereavement in Yadav's family has resulted in the acting president taking a break from his responsibilities.

Read More..

Chris Adams to work with Sri Lanka

Former Surrey coach Chris Adams has been appointed as a consultant for Sri Lanka for their upcoming tour of England. SLC had conducted a search for a coach with English experience since losing Paul Farbrace's services last week, and have settled on Adams, who played 331 first-class matches, scoring 48 hundreds, in addition to his five Tests and five ODIs.

The appointment was made on the recommendation of a three-man panel comprising chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya, head of coaching Jerome Jayaratne and chairman of the cricket committee Ranjit Fernando - the same trio that had also recommended Marvan Atapattu be appointed interim coach.

Both the consultant and interim coach appointments were rubber-stamped by the SLC executive committee on Monday, an official release said. Ruwan Kalpage's interim role as assistant coach was also confirmed until the end of South Africa's July tour of Sri Lanka.

Adams had become Surrey coach in 2008, but a poor start to the 2013 county season following a string of mediocre results in previous years, contributed to his mid-season removal. Sri Lanka's former coach Graham Ford eventually replaced him, after Alec Stewart had borne the coach role temporarily in 2013.

One of Wisden's five Cricketers of the Year in 2004, Adams had been a highly successful captain at Sussex, whom he led to their first County Championship title in 2003, then again in 2006 and 2007, as well as to limited-overs titles. Known for his bruising strokeplay, Adams had hit 19,535 first-class runs at 38.68.

He will be hoping to help Sri Lanka outwit an England side coached by Peter Moores who Adams formed a strong partnership with at Sussex as captain and coach. Moores, subsequently also a Championship winner with Lancashire, was reappointed as England coach last week - having previously held that position between 2007 and 2009.

Sri Lanka will hope Adams' local knowledge, gleaned over 20 years as a player and five as a coach, will aid them in their travels, particularly in the Tests at Lords and Headingley. They play one T20I, five ODIs and two Tests against England, starting on May 22.

Read More..

Gambhir's form tops KKR agenda

Kolkata Knight Riders are worried about Gautam Gambhir's abysmal form in the first four matches, the team's assistant coach Vijay Dahiya has said. He stressed that Gambhir remains Knight Riders' best batsman, and that he needed to find a way to spend more time at the crease to get through the rough patch.

"Things have happened in the first few balls he has faced, when he was not set," Dahiya told ESPNcricinfo, on the eve of Knight Riders' match against Rajasthan Royals. "Rewind the tape and you will see [Lasith] Malinga got him with a brilliant yorker. Then [against Delhi Daredevils] he played instinctively and the ball went straight to the short fine leg. The third match [versus Royal Challengers Bangalore], against Mitchell Starc, it was swinging a bit and he played across. That you could say was a technical mistake but it was understandable as he wanted to get a start. Then in the last match [against Kings XI Punjab] when he stepped out, the ball was there to be hit.

"Credit to him he is showing the confidence, and that he went for the shot. So things are happening too fast. And more than technical it is a bit of a mental thing."

Despite Dahiya's confidence, Gambhir, the KKR captain and one of the two players retained by the franchise, has just one half-century in his last 15 innings, with five ducks. According to Dahiya, whenever Gambhir has achieved a rhythm he is not over-thinking things. "The best frame of mind for any batsman is to see the ball and play the ball," Dahiya said. "How quickly you can reach that state of mind is important for someone who is finding it a little difficult to get runs."

In the previous match against Kings XI, Gambhir shifted from his usual opening slot to No. 3. Was that a reaction, an admission that the loss of form was having an impact? "Not at all," Dahiya said. "It was a team decision. The team knows how important he is, how important the way he plays. He can control the game for us. There was a suggestion he bat at No. 3. He agreed. In fact he was feeling guilty that Manish Pandey, who was getting runs [at No. 3] was asked to open."

Gambhir, Dahiya said, has not been doing anything "special" during the team's net sessions. Usually an intense character, Gambhir has been exchanging banter during training and throwdowns with Dahiya. "I will be lying to you that he is not feeling the pressure," Dahiya said. "Every time he holds a bat he is trying to work things out. When you go through this kind of a run you do not want to do anything special.

"We all know the way he has played his cricket, he is somebody who is gritty and always fighting it out. But sometimes it stays in your mind and you want to get out of that rut. Sometimes you want to get out very quickly."

According to Dahiya the key is to spend more time at the crease. "The best thing is Gauti knows that," Dahiya said. "He has done that in the past."

Dahiya stressed that Gambhir was Knight Riders' best batsman. "Look at the numbers," Dahiya said. "Whenever we have done well, he has always set the tone." They have done okay so far without Gambhir setting the tone, just about staying in the top four, but surely it can't be easy to sustain?

Read More..

Patel set to depart from Baroda Cricket Association

Sanjay Patel, the BCCI secretary, will have to vacate his position in the Baroda Cricket Association, his home body, following a managing committee decision to bar him on technical grounds. Though Patel's position in the BCCI remains tenable, the development is a huge setback for the man who is considered as a N Srinivasan confidante.

Patel has been serving as one of the two joint-secretaries of BCA and is into his second two-year term. Even though he resumed office after a controversial election last year, the opposition faction led by former cricketers Anshuman Gaekwad and Kiran More have the majority in the present managing committee.

As a result, a resolution was moved during the last month's managing committee meeting against Patel's unlawful co-option into the managing committee for the first time way back in 2002. After seeking legal opinion on the matter, president Samarjitsinh Gaekwad upheld the decision to cancel Patel's status as an office-bearer along with three other co-opted managing committee members. Patel will be formally asked to resign from the post on Monday.

Patel became a BCA member in 2000 and a technicality was recently pointed out that the BCA regulations doesn't allow a member to be co-opted into the managing committee before three years since his membership has been approved. Patel is expected to contest the managing committee decision in the court.

The BCA decision, however, will not have any impact on Patel completing his one-year tenure as the BCCI secretary. The BCCI rules don't require an office bearer to hold a post in his home unit. According to the BCCI rules, eligibility to contest for an office-bearer's post is "(a) Past or present office bearers or vice presidents of the board. or (b) Any person who has represented a full member in at least two annual general meetings of the board as a representative of such member."

Since 2014-15, the tenure of the BCCI office-bearers will be increased to three years.

Read More..

BCB lifts ban on Mosharraf, Mahbubul

The BCB has lifted the provisional ban on Mosharraf Hossain and Mahbubul Alam, two months after the players were cleared of wrongdoing in the BPL by the investigation tribunal. Both players are looking to play in the Bangladesh Cricket League, which will restart in early May.

The decision comes three weeks after the BCB had decided not to involve the duo in the National Cricket League, as it planned to appeal against the tribunal's decision to hand the two a clean chit. But ESPNcricinfo has learned that the charges against the duo wouldn't have resulted in suspension, which supposedly prompted the BCB's legal team to suggest lifting the ban.

BCB's acting CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury said on Sunday that there is no bar on the duo from participating in any tournament. "They are free to take part in any form of cricket," Nizamuddin said. "We have sought legal opinion and they suggested there is no problem regarding their returning to cricket."

Mosharraf and Mahbubul were among nine individuals accused by the ICC's Anti-Corruption and Security Unit for being involved in corrupt practices or failing to report corrupt approaches made to them during the BPL's second edition. The BPL tribunal, on February 26, acquitted six players and officials and only found an owner of the defending champions, Dhaka Gladiators, guilty.

Left-arm spinner Mosharraf said that he was happy with this decision of the BCB. "I am extremely relieved," Mosharraf told New Age. "I feel that the toughest phase of my life is just over. I am expecting to play for Walton Central Zone in the BCL. I was practicing and making every effort, still I could not play.

"It was really hard. At times the future looked very bleak, making me wonder what is really in store for me. I am hoping to go to England after the BCL and see whether I can find a team in Minor County. Though their season has started, still I will try to get somewhere."

Pace bowler Mahbubul was also satisfied with the decision. "I cannot explain through words how I am feeling. For the last one year it was quite hard for me because of the mental pressure that I went through. Socially it was really hard, as these days cricket is followed by a lot of people.

"I don't know about my immediate future as there are only a few games left in the BCL. I feel that probably I will be back with the Dhaka Premier League."

Read More..