Man found guilty of racism at ODI

A man has been fined after racially abusing three young spectators during the ODI between England and South Africa at West End on August 28.

John Guinelly, a 44-year-old from Portsmouth, was ordered to pay each victim £500 by Southampton Magistrates' Court, with his actions towards the children described by magistrates as "threatening and abusive".

Hampshire Police launched an investigation after the incident when the three children, aged 11, 13 and 14, returned to their seats having purchased food during the match only to find that Guinelly and two other men had taken their places.

Guinelly first pretended he could not understand the children - the court heard he said "are they talking Dutch or something?" - and then used racist phrases when stewards asked him to move. Later, as Guinelly was being spoken to by stewards and police, he spotted one of the children and delivered another racist insult.

While Guinelly did not attend court, he send a letter stating that he would plead guilty to racially or religiously aggravated harassment, alarm or distress. He claimed his comments were "friendly banter". He was also ordered to pay £65 court costs.

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Ticket resale site questions ECB touts stance

Viagogo, the leading ticket marketplace, has struck back at the ECB's Touts Out campaign ahead of the Ashes and Champions Trophy contests next summer, arguing that online ticket resale sites are providing a valuable service in promoting capacity crowds and protecting fans from fraud.

The ECB launched a poster campaign last week which vowed to monitor online ticket resale sites and threatened to cancel tickets if they were sold on at more than face value.

But Ed Parkinson, viagogo's head of marketing, claimed that the ECB's campaign had actually made them busier than ever. "We have seen a spike in the number of people searching for cricket tickets," he said. "We would attribute that to the publicity that the ECB has generated. We expect thousands of fans from all over the world to buy their Champions Trophy and Ashes tickets through viagogo."

At a time when many sports and music operations have opted to work with ticket resale sites in the belief that they are minimising the chances of fraud - as well as taking a percentage of the resale price - Parkinson described the ECB's continued hostility as "highly unusual".

Among their portfolio, viagogo works alongside 10 Barclays Premier League teams as well as 10 teams in the German Bundesliga, French Open tennis and were official partners for Madonna's 2012 European tour.

"There has to be somewhere the fans can go to try to get tickets when games are sold out," Parkinson said. "Before the arrival of viagogo, people had to take their chance with buying tickets outside the ground with no guarantees that they were genuine or by using an unsecured site like eBay.

"Fans want a safe place to get tickets. There is a chance to clean up the buying and selling on the streets by working with us. There is a chance to manage the market well. People need to minimise their chances of receiving fraudulent tickets.

"The measures we take are pretty robust. We don't pay out on behalf of the purchaser until people have successfully been to the event so fraudsters know they are wasting their time on sites like ours. We also take credit card details and have financial recourse if things go wrong. It is much easier to commit fraud on the streets.

"We don't set the ticket prices - the seller does. Ultimately, the buyer makes a personal choice about the tickets which are the right price and location for them. But the majority of tickets sold on viagogo are priced very near to or below face value and are often available at the last minute. If people list their tickets for extortionate prices, they rarely sell."

Viagogo contends that the reasons people sell on tickets are many and varied and owe more to changes in personal circumstances then people out to make a quick killing.

"People resell tickets for all manner of reasons. Often for major sports events they have to buy them months in advance and then live moves on and they find they cannot go for all manner of reasons. People fall ill or get invited to weddings or their friends say they can no longer come.

"We are giving them a safe and secure platform in which to sell on their tickets. Our studies suggest that 15 to 20 per cent of tickets will be resold for major sports events. The bigger the event, the bigger the need for a resale service. The alternative to selling those tickets on is an empty seat."

Viagogo is a secondary ticketing partner of ESPN EMEA

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Vaughan tips Root to open in New Zealand

Michael Vaughan, the former England captain, has called for Joe Root to open the batting on England's tour to New Zealand in March.

Root made his England debut in the fourth Test against India in Nagpur and Vaughan saw enough evidence to suggest he will be opening the batting with Alastair Cook sooner rather than later.

"He looked an England player from the minute he went out to bat in the Test match," Vaughan told ESPNcricinfo. "He looks like he'll have a tremendous future with the team."

Root made a composed 73 to help England out of trouble in the first-innings in Nagpur and demonstrated the attacking side of his game in a second-innings unbeaten 20 that saw England safely to a draw.

Vaughan, a batting mentor for Root, also began his career at the same Yorkshire League club, Sheffield Collegiate. He would like to see Root's talent immediately utilised at the top of the order - a move which would also create space in the batting line up for another young, talented Yorkshireman.

"I would go for Root in New Zealand and bring Jonny Bairstow back at No. 6," Vaughan said. "Jonny was unlucky to miss out in India with what he did against South Africa and probably has to do a bit of work on playing spin but if you look at the next 10 months - New Zealand and Australia home and away - it's seam bowling conditions which Johnny plays so well. You'd want to get him back into the team."

Bairstow only played the second Test against India as cover for Ian Bell, who returned home for the birth of his son, and has not travelled with the England ODI squad because of a family illness.

His absence gave Root the chance to make his ODI debut in a winning start for England in the opening match in Rajkot; a performance that impressed Vaughan. "Since the first Test defeat England have been quite outstanding and winning the first ODI was very important to get their confidence back. It was a big win for the team.

"It's a good sign that players are playing to their natural ability. The batting is strong, there is such depth. They can all hit the ball out of the park."

The victory continued England's excellent form in ODIs; form they will hope to carry through to the Champions Trophy in June and an Ashes summer - the ODI leg of which Vaughan will be following on his cycle challenge to raise funds for Chance to Shine and the Laureus Sport for Good foundation.

Vaughan will be joined by other cricketing personalities on a five-leg route from Leeds to London, via Manchester, Birmingham, Cardiff and Southampton.

"Chance to Shine have done a great job of getting cricket played in state schools and the more funds you raise the more expertise you can provide," Vaughan said. "Along the journey we'll be dropping into schools and doing some coaching and getting involved with some of the Laureus projects as well. It's a great opportunity to cycle around the country, raise some money and watch a bit of cricket."

The ODI series follows the Ashes, for which Vaughan has England favourites by a good distance but warns of the ability of Michael Clarke to stir up a new group of players. "In Clarke they have a captain who's very positive, he's very vibrant and has a young set of players around him that are all going to work and play for him and the baggy green. They'll be very well led but I don't think they'll have enough experience to compete against England in English conditions."

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BCCI likely to take decision on Azharuddin

More than two months after the Andhra Pradesh High Court struck down the life ban imposed on former India captain Mohammad Azharuddin, the BCCI is set to take a call on whether to terminate or retain it on Tuesday. The Azharuddin case is one of the main issues on the agenda of the BCCI working committee that will be convened at the board's headquarters in Mumbai.

After the High Court termed BCCI's punishment to Azharuddin for alleged involvement in match-fixing as "unsustainable", the last working committee of the BCCI had deferred the decision. The working committee decides all issues pertaining to the governance of the game in India; it felt the legal cell needed more time to study the court order.

Since the Azharuddin issue is "on the agenda", as revealed by a BCCI insider, the committee's decision today could be significant. "If the legal cell is convinced that the decision can be challenged in the apex court, the board may do that. Otherwise, it would depend on what the members feel on floor," the source revealed.

Despite speculation in the media, the working committee is unlikely to discuss the fate of Duncan Fletcher's tenure as the India coach. While most of the board members are convinced that there is "no way" Fletcher's contract will be renewed after it expires at the end of the Australia Test series in March, the issue is unlikely to be discussed officially. "In the middle of an international series, it's not fair to discuss such issues. But if a member raises a concern with the permission of the chair at the end of the meeting, it can be discussed," another source revealed.

Meanwhile, the IPL governing council, which is also set to meet on Tuesday, is likely to finalise the venue for the player auction slated to be held on February 3. Though the date of the auction was announced during the workshop with IPL team owners last month, the venue hasn't yet been confirmed, with Kolkata and Chennai being favourites.

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Witness says he told fixing inquiry 'different story'

Henry Williams, the former South Africa bowler who was involved in the Hansie Cronje match-fixing case, has admitted he was never offered a specific amount of money to fix games but had told a different story to the King Commission in 2000. Williams was banned for six months after the investigation but did not play for South Africa again.

At the inquiry, Williams testified that he had been offered US$ 15,000 from his captain Cronje to concede more than 50 runs in his 10 overs in the fifth ODI between South Africa and India in Nagpur. The same amount of money had been offered to Herschelle Gibbs to score less than 20 runs. However, while speaking to ESPNcricinfo during the practice match between the South African Invitation XI and the New Zealanders in Paarl two weeks ago, Williams claimed that no such details were discussed. Instead Cronje had joked with Gibbs and him, according to Williams, who said they were later convinced to pad up their stories for the King Commission.

In the match in question, Williams injured his shoulder and only bowled 11 balls while Gibbs scored 74, and neither received any money.

Williams admitted to being afraid of what might have happened to him and that he thinks there was a lot of pressure to produce a more detailed story to prove Cronje's guilt. "It was serious then, and after that I thought, alright, life must go on: it can't stop," he said. "But at that particular moment there was fear.

"When we testified to our lawyers what the story really was, they came up with a threat that we could be prosecuted for doing something like this. So it means we actually lied to our lawyers, who had to tell another story to get to somebody. I believe that was to get to Cronje and whoever was involved in this.

"I had never been in a court before. We gave our Senior Counsel the story. We had to come back and testify to the King commission - a different story. I don't know if we were forced to lie to get to somebody else. I'm still confused today.

"When people ask me I will tell them the truth. I'll say, 'That's what I said to my lawyers; what really happened'. Then, to the King commission, a different story. I don't know why, because we were forced by the prosecution. I didn't know what the hell was happening, what can happen to me. So I came up with a different story."

The version of the story Williams said is true was never heard by the King Commission, but he did expand on the details of what happened, almost 13 years later. "By the time I was in the shower [the morning of the Nagpur match], I heard Cronje in the room speaking to Herschelle but I don't know what they are talking about.

"When I put my shirt over my head, he [Cronje] said, 'Hey, let's throw this game'. I said, 'Ja, let's throw this game'. Because now he's smiling with me and I'm smiling with him - if you're going to bullshit me I'm going to bullshit you, so fine. There was nothing involved.

"At lunchtime, he [Cronje] came to me and said, 'We scored too many runs'. I looked at him and said, 'What do you mean?' He said, 'Guys, the deal is off'. I said, 'So what?' He never spoke to us about money - you're going to get this and you must go for that."

The lawyers who represented Williams and Gibbs at the King Commission, senior counsel Mike Fitzgerald and attorney Peter Whelan, deny that they had convinced Williams to lie on the stand. "That's outrageous," Fitzgerald said. "Why would I give my own client a version that implicates him? If I somehow persuaded him to lie, to whose benefit would that be?" Whelan called the allegations, "fundamental rubbish".

The King Commission secretary John Bacon said it was unlikely the investigations will be reopened unless they received something from Williams in writing.

Williams currently works with the Boland Under-19 team, while Gibbs plays in various Twenty20 leagues around the world. He is at present with the Perth Scorchers for the Big Bash League and refused to get involved in the current issue. "I spoke to Herschelle and he wasn't interested in commenting," Scorchers media manager Daniel Davini said from Perth yesterday. "He said, 'I have nothing say about that and I don't want to have anything to do with that'."

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Second, du Preez shine in Knights' win

Knights 475 (Second 210, du Preez 118, von Berg 4-117, de Villiers 4-73) and 42 for 0 beat Titans 335 (Davids 92, Malan 65, Siboto 4-47, du Preez 3-41) and 181 (van der Merwe 65, Kuhn 51, du Preez 5-53) by ten wickets

A double-century from Rudi Second and an all-round performance from Dillion du Preez led Knights to a ten-wicket victory against Titans in Benoni. The result put Knights fourth in the league, while Titans remained last, having lost five out of six games.

Titans won the toss but their first-innings suffered because no one went on to convert a start into a massive score. Five of their top six batsman made more than 30 but the top score was Henry Davids' 92. Pieter Malan and Graeme van Buuren also scored half-centuries, van Buuren being a witness to a slump that sent Titans from 245 for 4 to 335 all out. Du Preez took 3 for 41 while Malusi Siboto claimed 4 for 47 for Knights.

Not as many batsmen got starts for Knights but Second converted his into a double-century, the second of his career. He did not have much support though, and Knights slipped to 190 for 7, until du Preez came to the crease. Du Preez scored his second first-class century and added 253 for the eighth wicket with Second. By the time they were separated, Knights were leading by more than 100. Second was the last man dismissed, for 210, with Knights on 475.

Trailing by 140, Titans lost three second-innings wickets before they had scored. Johan van der Wath struck in his first over and du Preez bowled two batsmen in the sixth. There was no coming back from 0-3. Heino Kuhn and Roelof van der Merwe scored half-centuries but du Preez worked his way through the line-up to finish with 5 for 53. Titans were bowled out for 181. Knights had to chase 42 for victory and their openers did the job.

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Patel savours unfamiliar England success

Samit Patel, born in Leicester but of Indian heritage, knows a bit about cricket on the subcontinent. And having taken part in ten consecutive ODI defeats with England in India, he was well placed to put into context their success in the first match of the current series in Rajkot.

England's nine-run win was their first ODI victory in India since 2006 - and even that was the blip in a 5-1 thrashing. In 2008 and 2011, on each occasion Patel was a member of the side that lost 5-0 and when England last went to Rajkot four years ago, in a match played at the old Madhavrao Scindia Stadium, they suffered a 158-run mauling. That was Patel's seventh ODI appearance, and his first experience of defeat, but it was soon to become a wearyingly repetitive one.

"I've been here for ten ODIs before and lost all ten," he said. "It's just great to get a win here. Sometimes people don't realise how much of an effort it is to beat these guys over here. They're just good players in their own back yard. They play good one-day cricket all around the world but in India they dominate spinners and they dominate cricket in general.

"On past tours here we've not even won a warm-up game. To win the first ODI in Rajkot was fantastic. We lost the first two warm-ups again so we knew how crucial it was. We knew the boys were ready but what a great win and what a great start."

Patel has forged a reputation as one of England's best players of spin - his top scores in both limited-overs formats have come on the subcontinent - but it was against India's quicks that he did the damage during the final overs at Rajkot, clubbing 44 from just 20 balls to hoist England to a defendable total. The sensation of victory, at least, should help make up for the lack of applause.

"To play India in 2008 was quite demoralising," he said. "We put up good scores and they knocked them off; they put up good scores and we got nowhere near them. As a batsman when you hit a boundary and you don't get a clap it can be a bit hurtful really. You know you've played a good shot and no one's really appreciated it. That can eat a bit under your skin but it's about how you handle it."

England have not won an ODI series in India since 1984-85, when they had their sole success, and recent tours have resembled something like a nonviolent resistance, without the same end result. But despite well-documented weaknesses against slow bowling, Alastair Cook led the one-day side to an unexpected whitewash of Pakistan in the UAE last year and followed that up with a Test series triumph in India for the first time since that same tour of '84-85. Such improvements, suggests Patel, have given the squad confidence that they can pull off another upset.

"I think the way we've learned how to play their spinners is outstanding and a credit to us as a team because in past tours we've struggled," he said. "It just shows if you put in the hard yards and you learn you get your rewards.

"The Test series win was outstanding. It took a lot of courage, a lot of desire, a lot of hard work. It is something good to be a part of and I think [the one-day squad] can achieve it if we stay calm and level headed. If we look to be positive and back our own ability then we have a good chance."

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Clarke, Warner, Wade return, Henriques called up

Michael Clarke, David Warner and Matthew Wade are back in Australia's ODI squad for the matches against Sri Lanka in Brisbane and Sydney, while Moises Henriques has been included for his first international matches since 2009.

The selectors dropped Aaron Finch, Usman Khawaja and Steve Smith after the opening two matches, while Brad Haddin was also left out having picked up a hamstring injury in Australia's loss of the second ODI in Adelaide. Mitchell Starc and Mitchell Johnson have been deemed fit to play, forcing out Ben Cutting and Kane Richardson.

"Changes to the squad that played the first two matches of the Series are the return of Michael Clarke, David Warner and Matthew Wade, after having a break," the national selector John Inverarity said. "Moises Henriques also comes into the squad as a genuine all-rounder whose bowling will be suited to conditions often found at the Gabba.

"Moises is a young man who has shown promise for some years with both the bat and the ball. This will be an opportunity for him to impress as we look for a good seam bowling all-rounder."

The national team coach Mickey Arthur meanwhile will have a break from the team for the Brisbane game on Friday, and will return to the team on Saturday ahead of Sunday's match in Sydney.

Australia squad: Michael Clarke (capt), George Bailey, Xavier Doherty, Moises Henriques, Phillip Hughes, David Hussey, Mitchell Johnson, Glenn Maxwell, Clint McKay, Mitchell Starc, Matthew Wade, David Warner

More to come...

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We weren't able to cope under pressure - Hesson

New Zealand's inability to deal with the heat is what worries their beleaguered coach Mike Hesson most. After a second successive substandard performance with the bat in the first innings of a Test match, Hesson was let down equally by his team's lack of application as he was by their lack of heart but he does not seem to have a fix either.

"It's a very disappointing 24 overs," Hesson said in his third fronting up to the media on this tour. "We prepared really well. We knew what we were going to be confronted with. The most disappointing thing was that when we were under pressure, we weren't able to cope."

Notably, Hesson's reason for his team's under-performance was more deflecting than it was explanatory. He heaped praise on a strong South African XI who applied wave after wave of pressure on the vulnerable New Zealand line-up, so much so that they simply could not withstand.

"We spent five and a half sessions out there, so we knew what to expect from the conditions. The pressure is sustained. Guys are under pressure in terms of pace and bounce and their techniques are getting exposed. I know the guys are working extremely hard and that why it's disappointing.

"We sustained pressure at times but they coped with it and that's the thing we are struggling to do. When we get pressure enforced on us, we struggled to get through and the more you talk about it, the harder it gets.

"South Africa is a very tough place to tour. They are the world No.1 side for a reason. They replaced Vernon Philander with Rory Kleinveldt - another high-class bowler. Once their bowlers smell a bit of blood, they are ruthless."

New Zealand held practice sessions every day after their first Test defeat and Hesson confirmed that the standards of practices remain high and the commitment from the players is unmatched. "The players are working extremely hard to get better. After the last Test, we could have put our feet up and gone oh well, tomorrow is another day," he said. "The guys know that we are nowhere near where we need to be and we are putting the work in. The players are trying their very best but we are being outclassed."

An example of that is Martin Guptill, who has scored two runs in three innings and continues to look inept as a Test opener. Hesson said Guptill, just like the rest of the unit, has been putting in the hard yards but just cannot make them count. "Martin prepared well for this Test, he was in a good space and he will be very disappointed with the way he was dismissed," he said. "When the ball swings at pace, you do tend to follow the ball. Sometimes you play and miss those…"

But blame cannot be laid at Guptill's door alone and Hesson and his troops are willing to take their chunk of it. "We all share the load. I can't fault the work ethic. We've got a support staff who work extremely hard but this Test match and the last Test match, we just haven't been up to it.. All of us start to think if we are challenged in whether we are doing the right things and whether we are challenging the players in the right way but I can't fault the work ethic."

In questioning the methods and strategies, Hesson conceded that perhaps the management group could implement stricter controls on the group. "We train hard, we train bounce and swing, we ramp the machine up and work on that and maybe we've got to do that more. We are just touching the surface in that area," he said. "Guys don't like to be challenged too much but we are making training more difficult and that's something we will look to continue."

As for the Taylor-shaped elephant in the room, Hesson addressed it candidly while being careful not to create the impression that the former captain alone would have been the difference. "I've said all along we'd be a far better side if Ross Taylor was here," he said. "But we've also got some other fine batsmen, who haven't quite been able to show it in those first three innings and they've got one more innings in this Test match. I'm sure they will be very determined to make a difference." If sentiment in New Zealand is to be believed, Hesson's job may hinge on that.

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Root role revives childhood memories

Joe Root's debut winter with England could not have turned out more strangely. If his first Test appearance might have been designed for him as he had licence to bat as cautiously as he liked, his one-day debut was quite different as he found himself asked to provide a crucial role with the ball.

Root has not been more valued for his bowling since he was 12 years old, a slip of a lad experiencing his first taste of adult cricket, and given a few overs of offspin along the way, but that was his lot on his ODI debut against India in Rajkot as he did not bat and then bowled nine overs as England held on for a nine-run win.

"That probably hasn't happened since I was 10 or 11 years old, playing my first men's cricket," he confirmed, "but it was fantastic and I wouldn't change a thing."

That Root's bowling option might become useful, certainly in one-day cricket, has been apparent to all who have watched him at Yorkshire, but he has been used sparingly in county cricket for all that. He has taken only seven wickets for Yorkshire in his career and bowled only 80 overs, hardly the sort of grounding for a high-pressure one-day international.

In fact, he had become best known for Yorkshire's habit of giving him the first over in Friends Life t20 before whipping him off before opponents measured him up, a target largely designed to provide more bowling options later in the innings.

But Root did his England captain, Alastair Cook, proud. His first five overs cost 17, matching the success of Suresh Raina for India on a day when part-time spinners did well. In all, he conceded 51 from nine overs, a sound return in a match which yielded 644 runs on a flat pitch and glassy outfield.

He was scheduled to make his ODI debut against India in Rajkot at No 4, but he was slipped down the order to allow England's faster scorers to take charge of the closing overs and, as they posted a formidable 325 for 4, he never got to the crease. His claims are perhaps stronger for a Test batting place, but England's top six is not overly blessed with fill-in bowlers and his adaptability will not do his one-day chances any harm.

"I've been working hard on the bowling to give the captain as many options as possible out there," Root said. "The aim was that if I possibly had a chance to bowl I wouldn't disappoint and be consistent as possible.

Mushtaq Ahmed, England's spin-bowling coach, is building on the preliminary work carried out at Yorkshire. "I've been working really hard for a couple of years now and working here with Mushy," he said. "I need to make sure it is going to be a really big asset for me in the future and take any chances of having as many options as I can to give myself the best chance of selection."

It was all a different challenge from his unexpected Test debut in Nagpur in December. On a desperately slow pitch, and with England needing only to draw to win the series, he was preferred over the likes of his Yorkshire team-mate Jonny Bairstow and Middlesex's Eoin Morgan and made a technically-accomplished 73 in four-and-three-quarter hours which perfectly suited his side's needs.

His first Twenty20 appearance in another England win just before Christmas probably owed most to a short-handed squad as Bairstow left the tour early for personal reasons and he completed a hat-trick of debuts across all three formats in Rajkot, where he was once again part of a winning side. He must reflect on all the tales of England defeats in India and wonder about how well things are turning out.

"There are a few guys out here who have been on two tours before and not won a game, so I'm really pleased for those who have put all that hard work in and finally come up with a win. As for me, I'm still 22 years old and I just want to play as much as possible and take the opportunity if I get it."

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