We needed to bat more positively - McCullum

New Zealand opener Brendon McCullum believed an early burst of wickets and tight bowling in the afternoon session from Sri Lanka's spinners cornered the visitors into reticence on day one, despite having suggested they would target Sri Lanka's bowling before the match. The captain Ross Taylor had said his side would look to employ a belligerent approach against spin in the first Test, but New Zealand were cautious throughout much of their innings, scoring at only 2.66 in the 82.5 overs they faced.

Shaminda Eranga dismissed Martin Guptill and Kane Willamson in the sixth over, before Taylor fell to Nuwan Kulasekara in the ninth to leave New Zealand at 40 for 3, leaving McCullum and Daniel Flynn little choice but to rebuild steadily. Their partnership of 90 - New Zealand's highest of the day - came in 198 deliveries, before scoring almost ground to a standstill in the second session after McCullum departed.

"Our mindset was still very much being aware of the fact that the ball was turning, and the game situation as well played on our minds as we were 3 for 60 when spin came on," McCullum said at the end of the day's play. "Until my dismissal we were going pretty well. At that point Rangana Herath, who is a very good bowler, managed to seize the initiative and prize out some wickets from us. They probably looked up at the scoreboard after I got out and saw an opportunity where it was pretty delicately poised and I think they stepped up really well during that stage and put a lot of pressure on."



Flynn and James Franklin progressed at less than a run an over during their 13-over association, with Franklin making 3 from 43 deliveries. None of New Zealand's batsmen who made more than a dozen runs had a strike rate of more than 60, and the highest economy rate among the Sri Lanka's bowlers was 3.66 for Angelo Mathews, who only delivered three overs.

"From our point of view, when we are under pressure, we probably need to be more positive and grab the situation rather than let the opposition dictate terms," McCullum said. "I thought Daniel and myself were efficient against them. We were picking them up nicely and attacking the balls that they did miss on. We were putting them under pressure for periods of time, we just weren't able to do that for long enough."



Herath and Randiv bowled 51 overs between them for 127 runs, inducing plenty of turn from the Galle pitch despite it being the first day of the Test. Randiv was instrumental in subduing Flynn and Franklin during their partnership, as he spun it sharply away from both left handers from around the wicket, and Herath finished the innings with 5 wickets for 65 - his fourth five-wicket haul in as many matches at the venue. McCullum however, did not fault the surface for a New Zealand batting performance he described as disappointing.

"Absolutely no blame on the pitch. At Galle when you win the toss and bat first, you're after a total in excess of 400. We weren't able to do that today, but I thought the pitch was good. It turned a lot more than we probably anticipated it would on day one of a Test match, but that's what you expect when you come over to the subcontinent. 


"It didn't turn and bite, it was slow turn and we expect that that turn will become quicker as the Test goes on and we've got Jeetan and a couple of other guys who can bowl spin. With our seamers, our ability to reverse swing the ball, which we saw from some of their guys today, will probably be our main weapon of attack."



The first Test began just five days after the limited-overs leg of the tour finished, but McCullum said the lack of time for a warm-up match had not affected New Zealand's batting greatly. 



"In this day and age you get used to having to chop and change between various formats. Over half our squad have been at home playing four-day cricket as well, so they're very well prepared. The rest of us are pretty adaptable in terms of having to change between formats." 



New Zealand picked three seam bowlers in their attack, and will rely on wickets with the new ball to prevent Sri Lanka from taking a first-innings lead. Tim Southee and Trent Boult swung the ball considerably in five overs near the close of day one, with Southee removing debutant Dimuth Karunaratne for a duck with a hooping inswinger. 



"We've got a big first hour in the morning to try and expose the Sri Lankan middle order and if we can do that, today's misfortune will be a little bit easier to handle," McCullum said.

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Pankaj and Rituraj run through Madhya Pradesh

Madhya Pradesh 256 (Bundela 53, Rameez 54, Rituraj 4-68, Pankaj 4-63) v Rajasthan
Scorecard

Pankaj Singh, 27, has been on the domestic circuit for nine seasons, while Rituraj Singh, 22, had played only nine first-class matches before Rajasthan's Group A game against Madhya Pradesh. The right-arm seamers complemented each other in Jaipur, like they did repeatedly last season, and took four wickets each to dismiss the visitors for 256 on the first day.

Rajasthan could have finished the day in a stronger position had Rameez Khan and Anand Rajan not added 88 for the eighth wicket after MP were 150 for 7.

Pankaj and Rituraj utilised the bowler-friendly conditions after stand-in captain Vineet Saxena chose to field, and they were ably supported by left-arm pacer Aniket Choudhary. Most of the wickets didn't come off exceptional balls; the accuracy of the seamers forced the MP batsmen into committing mistakes. While Naman Ojha and Jalaj Saxena, MP's aggressive batsmen, threw their wickets away by chasing wide balls, the two standout dismissals were those of Zafar Ali and the captain Devendra Bundela.

Both the Singhs hardly got the new ball to swing, but once the senior partner had a word with Rituraj after Ojha's dismissal, the younger Singh started bending his back. The result was some extra bounce, which induced an edge from Ali to the keeper.

In the second session, when Bundela and Rameez Khan had begun to form a partnership, Pankaj struck. Despite bowling an immaculate line and length, Pankaj gone wicketless in his first two spells, but moments after Bundela made his 36th first-class fifty with an edge through the slip cordon, Pankaj managed to get one in sharply and trapped Bundela lbw.

Rajasthan were primed to end MP's innings, but with the blazing sun taking its toll on the three seamers, who had bowled more than 50 overs collectively in the first two sessions, Rameez and Rajan dominated the final session.

The moment the second new ball became available after 80 overs, Saxena gave it to Pankaj, who had been resting while the part-timers were operating. Rituraj had taken three wickets in his first spell, and Pankaj did the same in his last, dismissing Rameez, Rajan and Ishwar Pandey to end MP's innings.

"The wicket did ease out after the early morning moisture evaporated but still, it was commendable on Rituraj and Aniket's part to keep asking questions of batsmen," Pankaj said. "After the kind of first session we had [MP were 90 for 5 at lunch], we would have ideally liked to dismiss them for 200, but nevertheless we have done our job."

Pankaj has been a successful bowler on the domestic circuit for the last five years and has had a bigger role to play in this game after the captain Hrishikesh Kanitkar was sidelined by a calf injury. "We discussed it in the meeting [ahead of the game] that I shall have to bear the additional responsibility of not just leading the bowling attack but also being more involved by interacting with the bowlers more than before. It is expected that it will take time to get accustomed to what a new captain is thinking and we managed it well, I think."

Rituraj was cramping after bowling an eight-over opening spell followed by a nine-over spell either side of lunch. Pankaj then told him to cut back a little. "Since he had bowled a long spell, I asked him to hold himself back a little and bowl in short spells," Pankaj said. "And anyway we had decided to rotate the three of us. As a result, while Rituraj bowled a long first spell up front, I bowled a shorter one and then bowled a seven-over spell after lunch. The more we interact with each other, the better we perform as a team."

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ICC reviewing stance against government interference

The ICC is reviewing its stance against government involvement in the administration of cricket in its Members, the ICC president Alan Isaac has said. Removal of government interference had been one of the Woolf report recommendations approved by the ICC but Isaac said it had recognised the role governments played in developing cricket in several countries and is rethinking its position.

"In the ICC annual conference, we made some changes and introduced some onerous penalties if they [issues related to government interference] are not complied with," Isaac said in Dhaka. "In the last meeting, we discussed the issues and the realities are we need to reflect on perhaps the draconian nature of some of those requirements.

"In this part of the world and lots of other countries, quite honestly, cricket and other sports depend on the government. We are having a little bit of post-change review. I am not making any comment about what those changes might result to, but I think we are having a period of reflection."

The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is one of those bodies that has historically had its president appointed by the government. Current BCB president Nazmul Hasan was also appointed by the government after Mustafa Kamal was made the ICC vice-president and had to relinquish his position with the board.

Among other boards, Sri Lanka Cricket board members are elected, however major financial expenditures must be approved by the government, and the sports minister must also approve squad selections. This power was most conspicuously used in 2008, when the sports minister intervened to revive the career of Sanath Jayasuriya, who became a Member of Parliament with the governing party in 2010, while he was still playing. The PCB president is also appointed by the patron of the board, who is the President of Pakistan.

The Woolf report had stated that "governments taking an interest in the development of cricket and providing support and patronage to Member Boards may be acceptable or even desirable. It is a matter of achieving an appropriate balance between support and interference. It is important for the credibility of such safeguards that once defined, they are enforced rigorously and consistently." At its annual conference in 2011, the ICC gave its member boards two years to become democratised and free from government and political interference.

In this year's annual conference, the BCB had amended its constitution to include the election of its president, and put an end to the government appointment system. The National Sports Council, the sports regulatory body in the country, ratified this change but also stipulated that there must be three government-appointed directors.

Isaac said the ICC were in talks with the BCB to get acquainted with the board's constitution before recommending any changes. "It is not so much about the elected president; it's more the lack of government interference. The ICC staffs are in discussions with the BCB to understand what the constitution actually says to some of those aspects."

Isaac also reiterated the ICC's stance regarding the possibility of Bangladesh touring Pakistan in the near future, saying they would provide match officials if the security arrangement met their standards. "These are bilateral matches. ICC's role was to provide match officials and referees and obviously it has some responsibility towards these people," Isaac said. "We are all keen to see cricket return to Pakistan as quickly as possible. I think David Richardson and the team has been working with the BCB officials and the PCB officials to do everything they can to get cricket back in Pakistan.

"That work has been done at the moment and an assessment is to be done of the security. If they have not been able to or the officials are not prepared to go, what is likely to happen is the ICC will allow Pakistan officials to stand. That was an arrangement we had agreed previously as a special exception to facilitate cricket returning to Pakistan."

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Injured Andrew McDonald out for the season

Andrew McDonald is expected to miss the rest of the season due to a hamstring injury that will require surgery. McDonald, the Victoria allrounder, will have an operation on Monday to repair an ongoing problem with his hamstring that has worsened in the past few weeks, ending any hopes of a recall to the national side this season after he captained Australia A against the touring South Africans earlier this month.

McDonald, 31, started the Sheffield Shield season in outstanding form with the bat, scoring 101 at better than a run a ball against Western Australia at the WACA, followed by 64 at the MCG against Tasmania. It's an unfortunate case of déjà vu for McDonald, who two years ago began the Shield season with three centuries in three games, but then broke his hand and was not able to capitalise on the strong form.

"Timing is everything in this game. Unfortunately I'm injured now so my timing's not great," McDonald told the Sunday Age. "What we put our bodies through in terms of playing cricket ... your body every now and then is going to let you down. Bowling's not great on the body, I think that's just part and parcel of playing cricket.

"One thing about this is I've got to get my body right. I feel as though I've got a lot of good years left in me. The way my batting's improved over the years, I think I can hold down a spot as a batsman, and once I get this hamstring problem fixed my bowling will be back to where it was a few years ago."

McDonald played four Tests, all against South Africa in early 2009, and would have come into strong consideration this summer had the selectors decided to replace the injured Shane Watson with another allrounder. He was also part of Australia's Ashes tour of England in 2009 but did not play a Test.

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Twin delight for Powell

On the fourth day of the Dhaka Test, Kieran Powell became the first West Indies batsman to score hundreds in each innings of a Test since Brian Lara achieved the feat against Sri Lanka in Colombo 11 years ago. The only other West Indies opener to hit twin Test centuries is Gordon Greenidge in 1976, but Powell was more concerned about what awaits his team on the fifth day than in history.

Powell wasn't even aware of who he stood a chance of emulating with his 117 and 110, saying he was reminded by a member of the support staff the night before. "Last night I was speaking to my massage therapist and he told me that this is perfect opportunity to do something like this," Powell said. "I am not too sure how often it happened but I am happy that it happened to me."

After fielding for a day and a half, Powell's second-innings century has been a reflection of his marked improvement as a batsman in the past year. He has now scored three centuries this year, solidifying his position in the Test side. Even in the space of two innings, Powell has showed the maturity that has escaped many West Indies openers when batting in the subcontinent. He adjusted perfectly to the match situation and the pitch, playing a lot straighter in the second innings while he had played all around the wicket in the first innings.

He was however part of the reason West Indies are in a position of weakness as they slipped from 212 for 3 to 244 for 6 at stumps. Powell was the fourth wicket to fall when he misjudged a straighter delivery from Shakib Al Hasan, exposing two new batsmen. That too in the absence of the experienced Shivnarine Chanderpaul, who was ill and resting at the team hotel on the fourth day.

West Indies are 215 ahead with four wickets in hand, which Powell felt was a score from which they could push for a win. "I think we are still in a good position. I think once we get to 300 tomorrow we should be in a good position to look for a win or even trying to save the game.

"All we need to do tomorrow is to bat through the first session. Once we do that we should be in a safe position and then push forward from there. I think we have enough time considering the [state of the] wicket."

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Vermeulen ton sets up big win for Rhinos

Mid West Rhinos 265 (Vermeulen 68, Mugava 52, Waller 42, Jarvis 4-37) and 433 for 7 dec (Vermeulen 146, Sibanda 89, Taylor 68) beat Mashonaland Eagles 245 (Utseya 77, Jarvis 48, Chibhabha 42, Chinouya 5-61) and 130 (Rainsford 3-36, Madziva 3-22) by 323 runs
Scorecard

A century by Mark Vermeulen and an effective second-innings bowling performance led to Mid West Rhinos' 323-run victory over Mashonaland Eagles in Harare. The contest was even after the first innings, with Rhinos gaining a slender lead of 20 runs. But Vermeulen, opener Vusi Sibanda - who scored 89 - and captain Brendon Taylor guided them to 433 for 7 before declaring the innings 25 overs into the final session on the third day. Eagles were derailed by six wickets from seamers Neville Madziva and Ed Rainsford, and folded after 46 overs on the final day.

After being put in to bat, Rhinos were struggling after regular strikes from Eagles but half-centuries from Vermeulen and Simon Mugava, and a knock of 42 from middle-order batsman Malcolm Waller, guided them to 265. Eagles' reply progressed similarly as No. 7 Prosper Utseya, who scored 77, No. 9 Kyle Jarvis, who had taken four wickets earlier, and opener Chamu Chibhabha led them to 245. Seamer Michael Chinouya claimed five wickets, following on from the ten-for he took against Rocks last week.

The balance of the game shifted when a 144-run second-wicket stand between Sibanda and Vermeulen was followed by a 134-run stand between Vermeulen and Taylor. At 304 for 2, Rhinos were in a position to set a huge target for their opponents, which was ultimately 435. Eagles couldn't bat to save the game or try for an improbable win, and ended up crashing to a big defeat.

Matabeleland Tuskers 380 (Querl 188*, Duffin 63, Coventry 50) and 67 for 0 (Duffin 37, Chari 30) beat Southern Rocks 152 (Slater 37, Burgoyne 30, Mpofu 6-21) and 292 (Mutumbami 75, Masvaure 72*, Slater 42, Querl 4-31, Moeen 3-73) by ten wickets
Scorecard

An unbeaten 188 and five wickets by allrounder Glen Querl helped Matabeleland Tuskers to an easy ten-wicket victory in Bulawayo. A 228-run first-innings lead, helped by Querl's ton and seamer Chris Mpofu's six wickets, helped them gain the big win despite a strong second innings by Rocks.

Mpofu ran through the top order and the lower order to help dismiss Rocks for 152 in their first innings. The last six wickets fell for 21 runs.

Tuskers built on that performance to set a strong total. Querl, who came in to bat at No. 3, played an aggressive knock, making his first first-class century and led Tuskers to a massive lead. He scored at a strike-rate of 84.68 and ran out of partners, remaining unbeaten 12 short of his double-century. His two major partnerships, both worth more than a 100 runs, came with opener Terry Duffin, and with wicketkeeper Charles Coventry.

Rocks were in danger of losing by an innings but that didn't happen thanks to a much-improved batting performance in the second innings. Wicketkeeper Richmond Mutumbami and Prince Masvaure scored half-centuries, with Masvaure remaining unbeaten at the end of the innings. However, with no one going on to score a big century, the small target of 65 wasn't going to challenge Tuskers, who eclipsed it without the loss of any wicket in the 16th over of their innings.

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Patel fronts up to England failings

Maybe they are in denial or maybe he was simply in an impossible position, but there were times when it was hard to remain straight faced when Samit Patel spoke to the media after the second day's play in Ahmedabad.

It was not his laudable faith in his teammates, or his admirable desire to fight from the desperate position in which England find themselves that provoked the raised eyebrows. Both are to his credit. It was the insistence, in the face of all facts, that England were "good players of spin" that was hard to take. For England, with one or two notable exceptions, are not good players of spin. The record does not suggest that. It grabs us by the shoulders and screams in our faces. It has been proved over the last year really rather often and no amount of insistence otherwise will change that. Only an improvement in form will do so.

Patel's explanation for England's struggles in their reply was also grimly amusing. "The ball's harder and I think it spins more when the ball's harder," he explained. And, while there is some truth in that, it ignores the fact that England also had a new ball. In fact they had two of them.

To be fair to Patel, he was in an almost impossible position. Having been kept out in the field for the best part of two days and then lost early wickets, there was little positive to take from proceedings. At least when he spoke of the challenge ahead, his words rang true.

"We have two world-class batsmen at the crease," he said. "Ian Bell is still to come, there's me and there is Matt Prior. There is a lot of batting. There's no question about how long we can bat. We've got the same potential of batting as India have and we've got to keep believing that. I think the telling time will be when the ball gets soft; then we can get in.

"We've put in the hard yards; we know what we can do. Tomorrow, we hope we can show what we're made of. We're going to have to play some good cricket. It's hard work - but that's Test cricket. We have to front up. We can't go anywhere. We've got to stand up and be counted. It's no place for hiding."

Patel was also quite right to acknowledge that India's batsmen had played beautifully. "Sometimes you have to give credit to the batsmen," he said. "Sehwag played outstandingly well and Pujara carried on. Yuvraj played as he does. They're good players of spin. As the Indians showed, if you bat a long time, you can wear teams down. That's what they did. It's something we expected. You lose the toss, and field for two days. We knew what was coming and we're prepared."

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Harris pushes Robin Peterson's Test case

A frontline spinner is likely be included in South Africa's starting XI for the second Test against Australia next week after the dalliance with an all-pace attack proved unsuccessful in Brisbane. While Imran Tahir is the obvious choice, being the incumbent, former Test player Paul Harris had some other advice for the national selectors.

Speaking to ESPNcricinfo before the series, Harris said he would "love to see Robin Peterson get a go in Test cricket". Peterson may always be remembered as the man Brian Lara took 28 runs off in a single over at the Wanderers in 2003, still the most expensive over in Test history, but he has made massive strides since then.

While Peterson has only played six Tests, his last more than four years ago against Bangladesh, he has become and ODI and T20 regular. He was South Africa's top wicket-taker at the 2011 World Cup and was preferred to Johan Botha in the home series which followed that summer. Botha has since relocated to Australia, which has created more opportunity for Peterson, and he has made the most of it. He also finished the August one-day series in England with the most scalps and has been involved in the past three touring Test squads.

"He has always been a good bowler and has had a chance to show that now," Harris said. "What I've been impressed with is the way he flights the ball, he is not scared at all." Having a more permanent place in the side is something that has helped Peterson shed the fear, according to both Peterson himself and Harris. "It's a massive thing to know you are backed," Harris said. And he would know.

Harris played 37 Tests for South Africa between 2007 and 2011, during which he was often criticised from the outside but praised from within for his ability to dry up an end. He formed an important part of South Africa's building to the No.1 ranking and was part of the squads that won in England and Australia in 2008. During Harris' time, South Africa did not lose a series on the road and although he was not given much credit for that run, he did have something to do with it.

"I knew I had a job to do and a lot of the time my job was to hold up an end," he said. "With the attack we had at the time, it wasn't part of my role to be attacking. And maybe it would have been nice at time to be able to be more aggressive and take wickets but that wasn't the strategy then and I was happy with that."

Harris thinks Peterson is in a position where he may be able to do both. "Robbie has got the ability to take wickets and we've seen that but he is also capable of doing the holding role," he said. "That is an important job too, even if it's not very glamorous."

The South African attack's inability to keep Ed Cowan, Michael Clarke and Michael Hussey quiet during the Brisbane Test was proof that a so-called boring bowler is not surplus to requirements. Debutant Rory Kleinveldt and Graeme Smith both admitted that the unit did not bowl well "in partnerships," and even where one bowler strung a few quiet periods together, the others could not back him up.

Tahir could easily fall into that category too and has been expensive in the past. Harris believes the selectors should take note of Peterson's ability to be miserly. Peterson is also a competent lower-middle order batsman and, with South Africa having lost JP Duminy, may fit better into Andrew Hudson's preferred "like-for-like replacement" category than Dean Elgar, a top-order batsman who joined the squad yesterday.

Harris said it would also be novel to see both Peterson and Tahir in the same XI, as South Africa's attitude to spin has changed enough to accommodate two. Spin went from being a defensive must-have to a genuine attacking option when Tahir made his debut in November last against Australia. Tahir has played 10 Tests since, although his return has been a modest 26 wickets at an average of 40.19, but much has been invested in him.

Not since Paul Adams has South Africa had a wrist-spinner. Both captain Graeme Smith and coach Gary Kirsten have said they are excited by the option Tahir provides and have suggested they will continue to back him in future. So far, they have reneged on that twice, both times for tactical reasons.

An all-pace attack was fielded in Wellington in March this year when Jacques Kallis had a stiff neck overnight and South Africa had to make last-minute adjustments to their XI. In that match, Duminy made his comeback and bowled 10 overs and was due to perform a similar role in Brisbane. If Harris has his way, Peterson could take over in the near future.

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Gibson defends West Indies' declaration

Following Bangladesh's fight back on the third day in Mirpur, West Indies coach Ottis Gibson has defended his team's decision to declare their first innings when they did. West Indies were cruising at 527 for 4 at tea on the second day, when Darren Sammy called the innings closed, after which Bangladesh pushed on to 455 for 6 by stumps on day three.

"You can make 600 but you will still need to have enough time to come back and win the match," Gibson said. "The pitch is flat and the ball didn't do much for pace or spin. So if you want to get 20 wickets, you need more time to bowl them out."

Sunil Narine going wicketless so far, giving away 89 runs from 21 overs, has been another problem for West Indies. Tamim Iqbal and Shakib Al Hasan have picked him well, while the maiden centurion Naeem Islam faced 52 deliveries of his to score 32 without being troubled too many times. Gibson expressed his disappointment over Narine, while having good things to say about debutant Veerasammy Permaul.

"He [Sunil Narine] didn't bowl as well as we expected him to bowl, but this is his [fourth] game in international cricket and it's a learning experience for him. On the other side, young [Veerasammy] Permaul bowled really well. He flighted the ball.

"Sammy bowled well too. Today was not all bad for us. We probably expected to get a few more wickets, but we need to work a little harder."

After the first session of this Test match, the Shere Bangla National Stadium pitch lost all moisture that would have ensured some bounce and turn, and transformed into a featherbed - that only ten wickets that have fallen in three days serves as evidence of the same.

Gibson put the onus on Bangladesh to still play positive cricket, the hosts yet being adrift by 72 runs in the first innings with four wickets in hand. "There are still two more days to go and I would like to say that Bangladesh will definitely want to win it. If they targeted to draw the match then it would be a negative situation. They played a really good day today and that will give them confidence to win the game. But there are two days ahead of us and they are still behind us, so who knows what will happen."

West Indies most successful bowlers so far have been the faster bowlers: Ravi Rampaul picked up three wickets from his 26 overs while captain Sammy was rewarded for being patient. Gibson said the conditions had taken a lot out of them. "There is not a lot on the pitch, not a lot of swing. So guys running in were trying hard. They put in a lot of effort.

"On a flat pitch like that you need to unsettle them with bouncers. But credit to the Bangladesh batsman, they didn't let us bully them too much."

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Pakistan seek Lorgat's help for launching T20 league

Haroon Lorgat, the former ICC chief executive, will be assisting the Pakistan Cricket Board in setting up the proposed Twenty20 league, contributing at a strategic level to ensure the board is headed in the right direction.

Lorgat, who was headed to Sri Lanka, stopped over at Lahore after the PCB chairman Zaka Ashraf invited him for his expert opinions on launching the league in March next year.

"It's not a long time from now to then but there is still a lot of planning and work has been done and a lot to be done but I can see that there is a lot of energy to get this league off the ground," Lorgat said at the PCB headquarters. "Cricket is a growing game and Twenty20 cricket seems to have taken roots and I am pleased to see the progress the PCB has made in that respect."

He served as the ICC chief executive for four years before stepping down at the end of June. He has been assisting Sri Lanka Cricket as a special advisor to help the board revamp its domestic cricket structure and improve the administration of cricket in the country. The PCB, however, didn't offer him a permanent role.

"At this stage (I am supporting the PCB) at a strategic level, ensuring that the details are being attended to and that the concept (for the league model) is correct," Lorgat said. "With my experience in dealing with sponsors, broadcasters, setting up models, the kind of objective and the financial matters are the level where I am contributing at the moment. It appears like the PCB has already done a lot in linking with the member boards and interactions have been made with the international players as well."

Lorgat sees the proposed premier league as a stepping-stone for the revival of international cricket in the country and said it needed to exploit the shortest format of the game on a commercial scale. International sides have refused to tour Pakistan since the Sri Lankan team bus was attacked in Lahore in March 2009. Last month, a World XI side played two unofficial T20s against a combined Pakistan XI in Karachi.

"Twenty20 cricket is certainly an attraction, lots of new audiences are coming and a lot of exciting players are coming into it. I can recall a few years back even players didn't consider it as a serious form of the game. So on one front Pakistan should not be left out. They should have a league of the highest professional standard and there are commercial opportunities and the PCB is looking to exploit that."

So far, Bangladesh is the only full member board to give Pakistan a positive response in breaking the ice, towards the revival of international cricket. "You do lots of little things to grow in confidence, you will get those interested in coming to Pakistan and the league will go a long way in securing the confidence that cricket can be played in Pakistan.

"It's a good stepping-stone, if international players come in personal capacity to play. Many of them can experience it themselves that cricket can be played at a secured venue and there's no reason why they can't convince the member boards to send their national teams."

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